BAD AZZ  (June 2003) | Interview By: Nima

       Dubcnn.com recently sat down with Mr Bad Azz himself to speak on issues fans wanted to know! In this exclusive interview, our most indepth with an artist so far, we discuss his past, Death Row, The LBC Crew, Tha Low Lifes, His future releases and much more! We have both the transcript and audio for you to check and feel free to send any feedback regarding the interview to : nima@dubcnn.com

Huge thanks to Bad Azz for taking out time to answer the questions fans wanted to know! (Interview was done by phone In June of 2003)

Questions Are From Fans Over At The WCC Forum And Asked By : Nima

Bad Azz Gave Dubcnn.com A Shoutout! Check That Here

Bad Azz Dropped Us A Freestyle! Check That Here

Full Interview In Audio : Here

 

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dubcnn.com : Sup Bad.. To hit it off, where were you born and raised?

Long Beach California.


dubcnn.com : And how was it growing up there?

I was born in uhm, it's a suburb, it's like right after Long Beach, it's considered Long Beach on the big map, but it's called Hawaiian Gardens, so I was born right there. It's a little drama, my parents was livin' in Long Beach when I was born, but that is the hospital I was born at, I always like to be specific cause alotta people, alotta my homies that I mess with was born in hospitals in Long Beach, and when I say I was born and raised in the beach I don't wanna get it confused, cause I was born in Hawaiian Gardens hospital, and I was raised in Long Beach California, you know what I mean? It's all really real though, but it's all good for me, I don't feel like a outsider, or a non local cause we used to walk from Hawaian Gardens to Long Beach, it's like one of them kinda spots, it's like the next lil city, it's like closer to Compton than Long Beach, you know?


dubcnn.com : How did you decide to start rapping?

How did I decide to start rapping.. Well first you know black people love music, and I grew up around my family and alotta music, and I always liked to sing and dance, but I kinda started taking it more serious during the middle of high school.. 15, 16, Snoop was rapping we had heard about him in the neighborhood, he was coming out with some stuff with Dre, he was popular on the streets and the neighborhood before he got out, we used to listen to alotta lil mixtapes that Snoop rapped on, and some other lil cats, so it kinda started being like less of a fad and more of a real thing, back then around that time, late 80's early 90's, 89, 90, 91, it was starting to become more of a serious thing! People that rapped wasn't just rapping for fun no more, we would rap at school and bag on each other, clown on each other whatever, make little freestyles up, tryna destroy each other, you know, humiliating each other at the lunch table and stuff and that's where we got our skills, that's where the initial skills came, just practicin,
battling with the homies, rapping against other little local rappers who was
from other blocks, you know the northside rappers, the westside rappers, I
was from the eastside, so we would rap with them other eastside rappers.. I
had a little homie, he was a real dope rapper, he died in the early '90's,
he was a nigga that would have been real heavy on the rap scene, I remember
me and him had rocked a party right before he died, he died as a teenager
too, like 15, 16.. But the catch was, guys like him strengthened my skills, that I would hear about them like "Yo bad azz is tight!" And I had my little homies Lil J, and Shorty K, and all these other little local cats that was around that was making noise rapping, and we all had ran into Snoop, or seen him, or knew him! Cause he was a little local rapper, he was a lil older than us and there were rumours that he was hooked up with Dre, and him and Warren G... Everybody out here knew Warren G was Dre's step brother in the neighborhood, so it was like him and Warren G and Nate is puttin out some stuff, and we heard stuff that he had done with Dre before it came out, we had heard other little stuff that Snoop had done in big studios on the streets, and like I said that was just a big inspiration for us. So what really really set me off is, 1991, as a matter of fac '92, I had met Snoop,
I had seen him before, but hadn't really talked to him. So '92 he had put the Chronic out, it was just out, it had probably been out 2 weeks, it was doing real good, and it was popular as fuck! And I saw Snoop at V.I.P.! I was catchin' the bus, or I don't know, I can't remember right right now, it always slips my mind what I was doin' then, cause it's like the story of my life! Whatever I was doin', I was over there by VIP, me and two of my friends, and we were about to jump on the bus and go back towards my house which was about a mile up the street, like we coulda walked, but we used to catch the city bus, it was like 75 cents, it would take 5 minutes to get that lil mile.. So what happened was, one of my homies looked up and said "hey there goes Snoop Dogg!" and believe me, he wasn't as famous to us as he is now.. Even though we respected him and we liked him, it's always hard to explain to people like Snoop was a fuckin' nobody *laughs* He just wasn't that big to us! He was a local ass nigga who did a rap wit Dre, you know
what I mean? It was tight though cause I was comfortable to go talk to him at that point, it wasn't like "oohh some superstar dude that's gone be actin' funny or actin' hollywood". So we saw him and I was like "let me holler at this nigga"... He was like "Yo whatup lil homies" actin like he know us and shit, we had seen him in the neighbourhood, but never really talked to him, you know? So this time, we walked up to his car we started talkin' to him, I was like "man we do rapping too, we like what yo doin' for the city, you representin hard, and we young niggaz we feelin you, we be listenin to your little underground tapes and, we like the Chronic album wit Dre, and when you come out wit your shit you gone be large!" And he was like "yeah you little niggaz I like your style!" And I was like "yeah we rap!" So
he asked to hear it, and I started rapping! What happened was, by us bein' in a small city and the side of the city we were on, it was like local to us because we knew everybody around there, I happened to know some guys that Snoop knew, and I happened to meet some other guys that hung wit him! So one day I was walkin down the street which happened to be less than a week after I met him, and some of his friends was in his car when I met him, and uhm, they were sittin behind him and they never opened the door so I never got to see these guys, so when I walked by like three four days later around the corner from my house, they jumped up like "Ay, that's Bad Azz! The one that was rappin wit Snoop the other day!" and he's like "Ay man every since 3 days ago when you rapped wit Snoop he been talkin about you every day!" And I'm like "No Way!" So they were excited just to see me again, and that's kinda how it clicked. What happened was Snoop had been talkin' to his boys, just talkin' about me after he met me like "That lil kid is dope! If you see him around town, keep in touch wit him, he's dope!" and then when I ran into them it was like ironic, I just happened to see them again and they were tellin me "Snoop is big on you, he been talkin about you ever since then" So what happened was, I kicked it wit them that day, I chilled with them the
next day, I saw them everyday I lived around the corner! And they told me Snoop would come by, I was like "No way!", and I went over there 3-4 days in a row and by like the fourth day Snoop came by! And he was like "Wassup!!!" and they had told him the first day that they seen me, like "Yo Snoop, we seen that little dude Bad Azz and bla bla bla" and Snoop was like "Cool! I knew he lived around the corner somewhere, he's from the Eastside!"Basically after that, I started kickin' it wit them, those two guys happened to be Lil C-Style and Ty Cuzz! He [Ty Cuzz] was never a Dogg Pound rapper but he always from the Dogg Pound, still is, he's from Portland, Oregon, he's a homie that my homies had met through the hustle game, Snoop and C-Style, and Lil C-Style and them had met Ty Cuzz in Oregon, and they clicked! Style used to hustle wit Ty Cuzz, he used to go to Oregon, met Ty Cuzz, and they used to hustle. Ty Cuzz was from LA but he grew up in Oregon.
So that was a catch, we met these guys, and he was like "Yo I'm from L.A.!" and they like "No way!".. He happened to be from the 60's where Kurupt was supposed to be from. So its just ironic, he was like "I'm from 60 Crips" and they were like "We got a homie from 60 Crips, Kurupt!" So Kurupt and Ty Cuzz hit it off, they from the same neighborhood, and they started askin questions about people, like who you know etc, so they knew alotta the same people, Ty Cuzz hit it off wit him, he was from the Dogg Pound, him and Lil C-Style used to be stayin' at Ty Cuzz house, where now, Lil Half Dead lives, because Half Deads wife, and C-Styles wife are sisters! So that's just some inside family shit, in other words I was just trying to mention that cause that building is still occupied by family! So the place that I met and really really got cool wit Snoop and started hangin' wit him and we all started kicking it, we would meet up all the time, its still our spot, Half Dead's place! And thats the place where I got cool wit Half Dead, where I got
cool wit Swoop G, where I got cool wit Lil C-Stlye, all these cats from the Dogg Pound, where I first met Kurupt, I first met Hersey Loc there, I met Kriss Kross there, they would come to the spot! If you'd come to this apartment building, you'd never believe that all these superstars kicked it here! It's a real fucking ghetto two bedroom apartment building, on a little block in Long Beach, a little residential neighborhood.. It's a classic spot for us, it's a historical, cause we all used to be there, we all would hang out, it was Big C-Styles house, he was the older homie, which right now Big Style is bout 36, 37, so he's older than me, Snoop, Tray Deee, he's older than all of us, and he stayed around Long Beach. And he was like a big brother! Like a uncle! He had love for all these kids that would come over there, he helped Snoop and them get on the right track, taking him to the studio to see Dre when they didn't have cars, you know what I mean?
Stuff like that, he was like a big brother, he would buy them weed to smoke,
when they didn't have money, get them burgers and stuff, so it was like it
all bubbled up to something where everybody needed each other, you know?


dubcnn.com : Do you feel you did the right thing?

Yeah! Because I feel like it was my destiny in a fashion where, if I would have done something else I wouldn't have been near as happy because you have ups and downs in any profession, you have ups and downs in any career, and I don't think that the ups and downs of any other profession would have been suitable for me. I enjoyed the roller-coaster ride of the rap game, I feel good when I'm down I feel good when I'm up, it's never a situation where.. Put it like this, I've been financially broke since I been in the rap game, I been financially rich since I been in the rap game, I been very popular since I've been in tha rap game, I've been kinda not popular, so it's kinda like all the ups and downs it don't bother me. You know right now I feel like I'm on one of my down points, where I'm less popular than I have been, and it's cool cause that means I have the room to blow it back up! Bad Azz is a character that, you know how some people come in and they say "blabla fell off". I never fell off. The only thing that's gonna make me fall off is when god says "Jamar Stamps I want your soul". Other than that I'll never
fall off cause I'm one of the greatest writers, one of the greatest freestylers, one of the greatest rappers that ever lived the life of rap! Also because I'm around one of the biggest superstars that ever touched the game and that's Snoop Dogg and Snoop Dogg knows that I'm a heavy competition for him on that skill, on that level, you know? So it's like, I never fall off they just sayin' that cause I haven't been heavy on the scene, but what's so good is, everytime you fade out on the rap scene, the fans say you fell off, so that's always good to me because nobody falls off and comes back, falls off and comes back. What I do is, I get in the situation where people SAY I fell off "Where's Bad Azz, I ain't heard from him he ain't been
doin' shit!" And then they hear something new and phat and they like "Oh he's still around he ain't went nowhere!". And then it happens again, a year later "Oh whatever happened to Bad Azz? He disappeared!" "Oh there he is!!!"And I'm not goin' anywhere like I said until the world turns and Bad Azz died, I'ma be out here makin' hot music and makin dope shit, whether it's sellin a whole lot of records or whether it's sellin a little bit of records, cause now I got it to where we sell a little bit of records and we still make good money. And we didn't know how to do that at first, we didn't know how to capitalize off small sellin' albums, and it's not about sellin' alotta records! I mean in the mainstream world, yes it is. But as Daz knows,
which I call Daz the King of the independent game right now, he knows it don't even matter if you sell alotta records! You can sell 100,000 and make a million dollars, who gives a fuck if you sellin! That will make the fans wanna find out who you are, that wanna make them reach out to the internet, go to a store that has your CD and get it! And that way, when it does sell 300,000 400,000 500,000 gold, a million, you already know all the genuine fans! Cause I ain't gonna lie man, alotta 50 Cent fans are just hype, are just people that are drivin the bandwagon. They not real 50 fans! They ain't like Bad Azz, like they really like 50 as a person, they really like 50 as a rapper, they really understand how he blew up, how he blew himself up hot on the streets, how he made Dre and Eminem attracted to what he was doin' on the streets, made them wanna put money into him, and that's what the Rap Game is all about! He blew up classically, he blew up how the majority of rap blows up and stays. That's the way any rapper wants to blow up, you wanna stay hard on the streets, keep your heavy street followin, then you wanna take all that love and blow it up to the mainstream, because once you got
all this love on the streets, then you can on TV, everybody that loved you from the streets is always gone watch you on TV, it's like if you blow up on the streets but you never get on TV, it's like it's not advancing your fans to the next level. Your fans wanna see you grow, the fans wanna see you get bigger. So if your fans see you on the streets rappin on the corner, and then they walk by and say "that guy is gonna blow up", and then 2 months later they see you on TV, they gonna your record! They gonna be overwhelmed by you, they gonna be entertained by your experience. They gone be like "Oh that's that same guy!" and that's how I understand it because I went from the streets to the TV, and to the radio, and before that I came around, that guy that heard me on the radio that used to say "You gone get on the radio one day!" they were so proud of me, they were so overwhelmed, they were so my fans, because they like "Daaamn, 2 weeks ago I was SAYIN this fuckin guy was gonna get on the radio!!!" And it feels so good when your eye can see something, you feel so good when you can recognize, when you can see talent. When you can say "That guy over there on the corner rappin', he got on dirty shoes, and he ain't got no jewelry right now, whatch when you see him a few years from now, he gonna have on jewels, he gone be shinin, he gone pull up in a nice car, and he's gonna be doin the same thing that got him there, rappin on that corner. And that's why I feel like rap was the best venture
for me as far as a career, because I could be me, I dress how I wanna dress! Don't get me wrong, I could have been a clean cut business man, I could have
been a doctor, I had the brain to be alotta things, but I love being a rapper. Even though sometimes people kinda look at you like "Oh you a rapper you not very intelligent" And I'll sacrifice that stereotype to be me. And that's what I love, because when people really meet and they can just talk to me and see how articulate I am, and they see how smart I am, they say "damn this kid could have been a doctor!" And then I'm a rapper, and they like "Oh you choose to do that". I'm not a rapper because I have to be! I'm not a rapper because there's nothing else for me to do! I'm not a rapper because my criminal record is so fucked up I can't get a.. I don't have a criminal record! I'm a gangsta! I kept my shit clean! I might have to kill somebody, so if I have to kill somebody, and I got a fucked up record that the judge says "I knew you gone kill somebody" then I'ma be in trouble. But if I got the kinda record where, the judge will look at my record and say "this is a clean cat" and I tell the judge "Yo I only hurt that man because he was tryna hurt me" then it's bigger than all these niggas out here! Because most of the rappers out here today got fucked up records, and if they shoot somebody they goin to jail for life! And my record ain't like that, if I cap some nigga down right now, believe me I'm not gonna do alotta time in jail cause I'm not gone shoot nobody for nothin, I'm only gone shoot somebody fuckin' wit me for the wrong reason and I'm gonna have a self defense case. And that's what it's all about, and when I say I've learned and I put myself in a position where I can really really really utilise the rap game for what its worth, cause that's what I am! I dress how I want, I wake up and go to work when I want, I set up the studio time when I want, I work with who want, I do it the way I want in the rap game, and that's so
lovely, because I never wanted to work for nobody, you know? As smart as I was, I never wanted to.. Cause if I do the rap shit, once I learned it, and it came to me in a early age, I'm sayin "hey! i can fuckin dress how I want, I can smoke weed wit the boss" I can do all this shit, and I can still be a successful prosperous business man!


dubcnn.com : When did you hook up with the Low Lifes?

Well the Low Lifes I was actually wit them before Snoop, so when I mentioned
the guys I used to rap with I said Lil J and Shorty K, and a homie Derauki, my homie Cyco Al, my homie Luv The Lyrical, we started the Low Lifes before. I came up with the name, that's why when you hear me I say I'm the founder, I didn't start it but I started it. I conspired it, I thought it up as a name and a representation for me and the kids that I hung with. And I said I'm not gone force anybody on it, I'm not gonna say anybody that hangs wit us gotta be the Low Lifes, but everybody that assists it, and feels like that, they went and got tattoos, we made our own typa crew, and then my homie said "We should do like a gang, and everybody that wants to be from the Low Lifes we should jump them in!" And I said no! I said this is how we make people from the Low Lifes. We don't say no ones with the Low Lifes, only people that are really with the Low Lifes are people that come to us, hang wit us and say "guess what. I'm from the Low Lifes, with you guys, and they got get a tattoo and they say it cause that's when it's more true! Cause if you hang wit us and we say "oh we gotta beat you up to make you
down" they ain't gonna really be down! And that's what happened, and we just
grew! And everybody right now that's from the Low Lifes, I could name all the kids, it's alot of us now. Only four of us rap, we have Ms. Legacy, she's doin 10 years in the federal penitentiary for a bank robbery, and if you ain't never heard of her, she was on alotta songs on that compilation shit, Legacy, she's in jail right now, she did somethin and she gotta suffer the consequences. We still in heavy contact with her, I'ma put her on some of these records that I'm doin', cause we got verses of her that nobody heard, and just keepin a little stuff. Basically we got Coco Loc, he got this King Coco concept that he's doin', he messes with all these girls, and he'll bust it out, you'll get a chance to see it! So me, Tip, Shorty and Lil J, you know we still the Low Life crew, we holdin it down. I met this chick Mimi that sang on that Dj Quik and Dr. Dre song.. Her name is Mimi and she did the hook, real sexy.. So I hooked up with her, she's real cool, she can rap and she has a cool look, and she sings.. I was thinkin' of puttin her in the crew as not to replace Legacy, but just to stand in as the female of our group. She's comin dope, I mean she ain't a rapper really, she's a good writer, she's a good performer and she has a good look. She's cool, me and her been chillin and kickin' it with each other and vibin. I think I might put her on a few songs, and get it crackin. But Legacy is the first lady of the Low Lifes, and like I said along with Lil J, Tip, Shorty K, Coco Loc and me. And then the rest of the Low Lifes are more like extended family. It's
like the Dogg Pound, Daz and Kurupt is the Dogg Pound, but everybody is the
Dogg Pound that rolls with us! That's the family of the Low Lifes, the Low Lifes as a rap group is Bad Azz and the Low Lifes, Bad Azz featuring Lil J, Coco Loc, and Lil Tip and Ms Legacy was the female. She went to jail so now it's Lil J Shorty Coc and Tip. That's basically where the Low Lifes stand. We got like alotta stuff, but we doin is savin the Low Lifes for some platinum success, because Bad Azz is a sacrifice. We already got fucked up record deals with Bad Azz, we already knew that was gonna happen, Bad Azz was the risk. Bad Azz was takin the chance, Bad Azz was the one that will loose or draw, I was the one that didn't care, I was the one that said "I'ma win regardless. If I put out 2 floppin' records, I'm still the nigga that can pop out platinum records." And not sayin' I would ever put out anything
wack, but the records that I put out, Priority didn't capitalize on the success. So, that didn't hurt me, that didn't hurt me cause I got more props! I'll put it like this, I got props off the record like it went platinum. Off both of them, you feel me? And everybody can't do that, and I know that, cause when I walk around, people... Put it like this man, I don't walk up to know one and say they're dope when they're not. I don't walk up to no wack rapper, even if I like one of their songs, I might say "ay man I like that song you put out" But I'm not gonna say "AY MAN YOU DOPE!! I LOVE YOUR SHIT!" I'm not gonna sing your lyrics! So I know these people are
genuine, I've had thousands and thousands of people that run up to me and say "Bad Azz!!" and sing a line from my lyrics and say "I love that record!" I've had people that thought it went platinum, I've had people that bought it and know it didn't go platinum and said "Bad Azz they cheated you on that record!! I bought it twice, that shit should have went double platinum!" I feel those people, and I feel the same way as them! And it's nothing in my heart, because the record didn't do as good as it could, it's nothing in my hear that could make me feel like "oh maybe I'm wack, maybe people weren't feelin it like that" No! I was just in situation under circumstances that my label and I didn't capitalize on platinum success with the record! And I mean.. just your opinion, have you heard my records?

dubcnn.com : Of course!

So, when you listenin' and you a Bad Azz fan and you like it, and you like "why didn't this go platinum?" Now I have the same question for people, but I do have some of the answers, I'm not totally positive that all of the answers I have are the right reasons why it didn't go platinum, BUT, I know that Priority was a label that did that to Ras Kass, and he was a similar artist to me, which sayin' that he was a dope artist, he was in development, he hadn't really really sold alotta records, but he was on Priority trying to. So basically, that's another reason why I didn't feel
that bad sayin' "damn, if they can't sell platinum success with Ras Kass, one of the dopest rappers on the face of the planet, and everybody will tell you that, you can go interview Eminem, he'll tell you Ras Kass is dope, you can go interview Obie Trice, he'll tell you Ras Kass is dope, you can go interview Bad Azz he'll tell you Ras Kass is dope, I have not met a rapper that has said that. Snoop Dogg will tell you Ras Kass is dope. So now when I say why hasn't Ras sold a platinum record, and the only reason I can say that I believe he didn't, WAS because Priority. I think if Ras was on Def Jam on those two records he put out, he would have sold platinum, or gold. If Ras was on Interscope, he would have sold, you know what I mean? And it's not to blame priority, or to put it all on them, but they had the access to capitalize on platinum success with us. And we gave them the right records, and we gave them the right situation, and we gave them us! So when they didn't do it with Ras, then they didn't do it with me, and Mack 10 barely got a platinum, and Mack 10's records were good too when he first put them out then, his first record I think went platinum, and his second went like gold, and his third didn't do that well at all!


dubcnn.com : What were your thoughts after meeting Suge the first time?

After the first time? Naw it was cool then! Suge was cool back then! I'm glad you brought that up! Nobody asks that *laughs* That's kinda crazy cause nobody has ever asked me that. But Suge was a nice guy man, me and Suge, I don't know if he would ever say it, but me and him was cool once upon a time, until the time I got jumped but, he said that the night he got me jumped, like "Bad Azz, me and you always been cool man, I always liked you man, but you said fuck me?" *laughs* No we was cool man, I mean like this, alotta niggas was scared of Suge, I ain't never been a fearful person, I mean when Suge would walk in the room and say wassup to everybody, I'll walk up and put my arm around him and sit by him, and roll up a blunt and smoke.. He never smoked weed around us that much, every once in a while I seen him hit a blunt, but I would come sit next to him when he would smoke on a cigar, I be smokin and it was like everybody loved Suge back then man! We had no hard feelings, Suge he used to protect us, I remember one time I got into a fight with this limo driver cause he wasn't treatin us right, and
Suge was like our big homie, our CEO, our mentor, our bodyguard, he would ride for the Dogg Pound! Everybody that came thru there, "oh that's Bad Azz, Techniec, they with Suge, watch out!" and it was like that! He would ride for us, and then the game kinda changed, people was starting to feel different about what they were getting financially and everything.. But that's really real man, I would never lie about it.. cause right now I ain't too fond of the cat, but I would never take back the initial feeling and I had good feelings for him when I first met him. He had a bad reputation back then, don't get me wrong!! Some of my homies and niggas that didn't kick it wit us alot in Long Beach that would come around they were kinda like "Man you better watch that guy.." and we were like "Nah, he's cool man! He got love for us!" and we would stand up for him.


dubcnn.com : Were you signed to Death Row Records?

Nope. I was on Doggystyle/Deathrow, so I wasn't directly on Death Row. And that's another reason why when everyone started leaving it was easy for us to leave, you know what I mean?


dubcnn.com : Who was part of the LBC Crew?

The original LBC Crew is Bad Azz, Techniec and Lil C-Style that was the orignial LBC Crew that Snoop created. And if you remember, alotta people thought that all of us were the LBC Crew, which we kinda were, but what it was was when we put out Beware Of My Crew it was LBC Crew featuring Tray Deee and South Sentrelle. If people paid attention, they woulda seen it was LBC Crew feat So. Sentrelle and Tray Deee. So what it was was it would be LBC Crew featuring Soopafly. Because he wasn't, he was but it was like the Dogg Pound! Snoop was the LBC Crew, Tray Deee was the LBC Crew cause we all the Long Beach City crew, that's what it was! Just like the Dogg Pound, but as far as I can see in the entertainment industry, the Dogg Pound, was Daz and Kurupt, but the Dogg Pound IS Nate Dogg, Half Dead, Bad Azz, Tray Deee, Goldie Loc, we are the Dogg Pound. We are the Dogg Pound Gang. And that's kinda what it was with the LBC, all of us accepted the representation, but the LBC Crew was Bad Azz, Techniec and Lil C-Style. And it was dope man, that was a dope combination because C-Style was more of a laid back non-rapper. Techniec was more of a MC, and I was more like a MC Gangsta Rapper. So it was tight cause all of us were different, C-Style was straight gangster, Lil C-Style ain't even a rapper, he's a gang banger that can rap.
For real!


dubcnn.com : That album could have been one of the greatest... Why didn't it ever happen?

LBC Crew, the name of the album was "Haven't You Heard, We Givin' Something
Bacc To The Street". The album, I guarantee would have sold 4 million, at least! I was so big on it, I still got some of the songs, but I don't have a good copy to put them out, cause I was askin' Snoop if I could get a DAT copy so I could put them on mixtapes and stuff, because alotta people still never heard those songs, those songs are like classic Dogg Pound songs, some of them that never came out. Have you ever heard "Boom Boom Boom (Out The Moon)"?


dubcnn.com : Yeah, the original version...

With Lil Style on the end!


dubcnn.com : Didn't ya'll play that on the radio once, 92.3 The Beat.

That was one of our songs. See what happened was, do you remember "Blueberry"? Remember "Gold Rush"?


dubcnn.com : Yeah!

All of those songs, Blueberry, Gold Rush, Boom Boom Boom and a couple more
songs that Snoop had done for us, once it got to the point we decided not to put the record out, Snoop was like "ay guys, don't feel bad, I'ma get you guys another deal, and I'ma release some of the songs off your album to keep your guys. As a matter of fact I'ma put (he was just working on the Doggfather) some songs offa you guys album on there!" So that's how come I was on two songs off the Doggfather, because he put the gold rush on there and he put the blueberry on there. Those weren't even songs that we did for tha Doggfather, those were two dope songs off our album, that Snoop decided to use.


dubcnn.com : By the way, about "Out The Moom" OG, did you mean this one? *plays the song ripped of the radio way back*

Yeah! And you know what? That's the remix. The original version was on Gridlock'd. That's what I'm tellin you now, the original version was on Gridlock'd, BUT the OG version was that beat without 2Pac with Lil Style on the end. DJ Pooh did that version. I'm doing mixtapes right now cause I'm goin through my old shit, man I got everything dogg.


dubcnn.com : What about this track? *plays Intro To Indo (lbc crew)*

Yeah, you're sick for that, I don't even got that! I like that man, that's some classic shit, I've been looking for that! You know when you be looking for some shit, and it's not even existent, and then you can on the phone and just play me that! *laughs* And you know that song on Daz album "I'd Rather Lie To Ya"? Let me tell you what happened with that, I did that with Daz, I wanted the song, Daz is my best friend on earth man, and he asked for it and when somebody asks for something he wants, and if its a good friend.. Daz would give me everything in the music game, you know what I mean? He came to me and was like "Yo Bad let me HAVE that!!" and it was so crazy because he redid it before he asked for it! He goes "you know that I'd Rather Lie 2 Ya, I wanna put that on my album, I redid it, and if you like it I can use it if its cool!" He wasn't jackin' it, he redid it and on the sense where "if you don't want me to use it, I won't use it". I wasn't gonna tell him no, you know Daz is my buddy! He was like "Yo I like the song, I redid it" and when he did it I liked it! You know what other song I also did like that? Did you
ever hear "What Chu Talkin' Bout" off RAW? See Daz would produce some great
songs, and then they would sit at my house for so long, and I didn't use them and he was sitting there listening to it and I couldn't blame him!


dubcnn.com : Let's get back to the LBC Crew... Why didn't the album ever see the light of day?

Well, basically, just from my point of view and my opinion, well it's kind of fact, but I'll say it kinda my opinion cause I look at it a different way than alotta people, you'd ask Snoop that he'll prolly tell it to you slightly differently. But it's all generally the same. We had problems with the Death Row situation. That's just sayin it briefly so I don't take the real, because Suge kinda got in the way. I don't wanna place the blame totally on him like he was just totally against it, but what happened was he wanted Snoop to sign our project with Death Row, and Snoop hadn't, but he had recorded it at CanAm Studios that Suge was leasing for them to record a Death Row project. So what Snoop did, he recorded the LBC Crew on his studio time that he was supposed to be doin' a project! A Snoop Dogg project.
Either a compilation or Snoop Dogg solo or something, and he decided to do the LBC Crew and to me that was very smart of him after putting out his first record, instead of coming back with a second record he's coming back with a new crew, not the Dogg Pound, that everybody knows, he's breakin out some new guys cause he's already put out the Dogg Pound, they have a name, they haven't even come with their record, they workin' on it and they bout to release it, and they waiting on the record, and we finished our record before Dogg Food ironically! And our record was being held back, cause how are we gonna bring the LBC Crew before the Dogg Pound? And no ones ever heard a Dogg Pound record with Daz & Kurupt, but they waiting on these guys from being all over Dre's record, being all over Snoop's record and now it's their turn. So what we did was, we finished our record and it was one. Daz Kurupt, Nate everybody helped us with our record, we finished our record a little bit earlier, it got hyped up, so we would be workin on our record when Daz and Kurupt was supposed to be working on theirs and they would come over next door to our studio and vibe with us! It was a bigger vibe at the time, you understand? We had Snoop totally working wit us, we had me Tray
Deee, Lil C-Style, Techniec, So. Sentrelle, Big C-Style was around, Nate Dogg was around helpin us, he wasn't workin' on no solo shit he was just there everyday singin hooks for us. Like everybody was there.. The only person that wasn't around heavily for us was Warren G, but he had his own G-Funk Records at the time with The Twinz, The 5 Footaz, and they would be in and out, but they just weren't there consistently every day, but that's how we all were. Everybody was together workin, and Snoop had his new LBC Crew project and Big C-Style had kinda put it together, through Lil Style and them I met Big C, and he was like "Yo, I'm kinda managin what Snoop's tryna do right now as far as the LBC Crew" and he was the one who would pick us up and bring us to the studio with Snoop like calling me at my house "Yo, you gotta be at the studio at 4 oclock today and I'll be through at 3 o'clock to pick you up, Snoop got some stuff you gotta do today, and we would be up there, go through it, hang out, smoke, eat, rap, do a couple songs, you know, we would crash at Snoops house, stay with Snoop for a couple days and then he brought me back home, I just stayed home for 2-3 days and then he'd pick me up I'd stay wit him for another week, and we were just workin' on this project, and then bonding us as family and friends aswell! We were bond to each other, goin through alotta Snoops functions, Snoop would have TV Shows, or he would have this or have that, and he would have us come and introduce us, and he would have us get nice clothes to get dressed and go wit him, and you know.. give us a lil money, it was goin' good man!


dubcnn.com : Is there any chance of either hearing the old album or a brand new one?

Well, we, as in me Lil C-Style and Techniec, we talked about doin' a LBC Crew record because we are the LBC Crew, and I was gonna change it a little bit, because I was gonna write it with the Cru, C R U, so that's kinda alternate to be a little be different from what people knew. That's the way I write it like I sign autographs, you know it's like the all new LBC Crew. And that would be another thing to put in it because we are a all new crew but we're old, and that would be classic because it's like 213, they've been a famous rap group for as long as Snoop and Nate and Warren G have been out because they were an original group before the Dogg Pound or anything, it was 213 Crew and that was our area code in Long Beach. And Long Beach is area code, we've been victim of the area code changin' in L.A. cause everytime it does change, we become changed, like L.A., certain parts have always been 213, they've never changed. And it was 213, the whole of Los Angeles, Southern Cali. Then, it got too many numbers in 213 so they brought a new area code, which was 310. Long Beach became changed to 310 from 213.. We've never said the 310 Crew! And just so happened, after a few years it changed again, Long Beach is now 562! We the 562 area code but originally it's 213, so when you really really get a grasp of it and say where 213 come from, that was just representin the area! It's like Brooklyn, it's like sayin "Yo this is Brooklyn!" "Yo this is L.A." "Yo this is 213 Crew" you know? And that was classic because no one was on the representation like that. And that shit was tight, so now they've done the 213 album, I'm not sure if it's all the way done, but I've been dealin' wit Snoop, I didn't rap on it because I came, it only took them 2 or 3 weeks to do it, and I came like last week, 2 weeks ago and started on all these new mixtapes we been doin' and all this other lil stuff that's classic right now, and it's like, basically that 213 record is done, and that's kinda what we wanna do with that, cause alotta people have been askin' for Techniec, and he's around!! Like you were askin' about Techniec, and I got alotta other people like "Yo Bad wassup wit Techniec man? Are you guys still rappin' are you guys cool?"
And you know me and Techniec we always cool, I reached out I saw his brother
on the freeway a couple weeks ago, and I was like "Yo tell Tech I'm trying to get at him, I got his number, and I'ma hit you guys, we need to put some stuff together where we can talk about doin' this record or something that's really really really displayin' us as the crew that Snoop build that never came out!" And if it had came out, we all would have had a greater success, we woulda had greater success if we would have put that record out. And we all still rather successful, everybody that Snoop intended to... Put it like this, his first round draft pick, Soopafly, he's a hit producer, he's produced platinum tracks on platinum records, he has his own artist Latoiya Williams who's signed on Fly2k which is his record and Doggystyle, Tray Deee has his own label, SPop Entertainment, Bad Azz has his own label Double Dolla Sign Records, Daz has his own label DPG Recordz, even Kurupt who ain't wit us right now has his own label, even Techniec has Dynamic Records, LLC. So basically all of us have elevated to a level where we've all grew, we've all made good money off this thing, and I was very very happy that Techniec
had signed with Mack 10, not sayin' that it did go good, because it prolly could have went better, but I was very pleased with that because Mack 10
was, he was like a Snoop Dogg at the time, whether people knew it or not, he
was prosperous, he was starting a label, he got Hoo Bangin' Records started, and he was tryna open up some doors for some other talent, some new talent, and he was on his way but you know, as far as me knowin Mack, Mack's a real good guy and it was difficult, it was something that was difficult for him to really deal with all the different attitudes, all the different people that he was dealin' with, I seen Boo Kapone the other night, and I brought it up, I asked her hows Mack doin, and he was like "Mack's doin' good, he's chillin', I just had talked to him we just did a movie" and my whole point was, Boo was one of his artists and he's not signed with them anymore but they still doin' stuff together where it's like me and Snoop! I'm not signed wit Snoop, but we still got love, relationship, we still love each other like brothers, and we still deal with each other on constant, where people
would think "Yo bad azz ain't wit Snoop right now, they fell out, he ain't wit them" NO I'm totally DPG'd out, I'm fuckin' wit them I'm rappin' on the record, it's just that I'm really tryna establish my own shit as a rap entity, I'm tryna establish my own as my own independent entity, where Bad Azz and Double Dolla Sign Records is Snoop Dogg and Doggystyle Records. And that way I can have doors open for Snoop so when I put Snoop on these big records, I can tell him the 50 or the 100 gz that he's worth, for the verses when right now he'll give me a verse for my label or for a song on my shit to help. Like that song you played me before, that "Heard It Thru The Eastside" with just me and Snoop, I wanna get that, and even if I have to redo it, I love that man, and I haven't heard that for so long, if I can get that and I take it to Snoop and get him to memorize his verse, we can flip it on a new beat and it'll sound even better! And then even if people recognize it, because Daz, he recycles alotta raps, but I don't think he does it constructively where the fans can accept it, cause we always talkin' bout it, talk shit bout him like "Daz, you rap the same rap!" and I know you heard some of those songs and you hear a new song from Daz and it has the old verse on it, and we always tellin him what he does isn't hot, you can't recycle your old verses, but you gotta do stuff like that that's classic, that people will respect and say "I see why you did that, that got lost in the mix" but he'll put out a song that he already did a hit single with and then do an underground song and put the same verse! And it's like Nooo what you gotta do is, you gotta classically recycle your stuff to where like I said people will respect it! They'll be like "Ohh yeah I remember that verse on that old song that never came out!!" Specially like I said when you wanna hear something new, and you hear a new song and you're thinkin something new, and then you hear some old verse you're like "wait a second!".. Like remember where he does the one "I stay in major loot on khaki suits" I've heard that verse on so many songs I'm like Daz you can't keep doin' that! But we open about it, and Daz will be like "Fuck that shit man, they like to hear that shit!" And I'm like "Man you ruinin shit because I know you're ruinin it for me because you'll play a new song for me and I'll think it's all the way new, you have a new beat and a new hook and then you come around talkin bout "I stay in major loot on khaki suits" and I'm like man you said that already!! So you know, it's cool though, like I said you gotta recycle
it in a fashion where it's all the way where its classic! But the LBC Crew will arrive, it will arrive and if we don't do an album, we'll get together and do some songs for some records and title it LBC Crew as we get together, cause me Lil Style and Techinec are still cool, and that would be nice, to maybe have one of these new Dogg Pound compilations, or one of these mixtapes, and we come together and we do a song, and we do a new title song, and bam it's by the LBC! Just to get it surfaces and you can always reinvent yourself, look at Ol Dirt McGirt on the ROC! I was thinkin like "wooow!" so they got Ol Dirt McGirt, he done changed his name, he's on Rocafella now, I'm thinkin he's gonna blow! And that's all the elements you need, cause the Roc right now is a good label, they got superstars on that label, even Freeway shit ain't doin' real good real fast but he's gettin there he's doin' good man, thats his first record I don't think he should expect to go like Jay-Z or like Cam'ron or even like Beanie you know? Freeway, he's new, he's cool, I ain't gonna say I like it all the way through but I love Freeway as a person and he's a dope lyricist, and he got room to grow with me. I ain't turnin my lights off on him right now, I ain't thumbs down on him you know what I mean? It's like I'ma give him a chance, he needs another record or two, we gotta let him get like Fabolous and get a second record and see what he does. I like Fabolous, I'ma Fabolous fan man, people say he sounds like Mase and other lil stuff, but Fabolous, he's good to me, he came out on his first record he went platinum, he did it cool to it, didn't go super out the gate Eminem style, 50 Cent style, he worked for it, he put his
singles out, he went and did his shows and he went and did his TV interviews and he did his radio interviews, and people were feelin him everywhere he went, and kept buyin it and it went platinum! And then he comes back with the new one with Lil Mo and it's radio.. it ain't real street, but I like the rhyme on it, what I really love about his new single is the concept, cause he did that, and that's where we gotta take it back to, as the LBC Crew, as the Dogg Pound, as the West Coast, we gotta take it back. And that's what we comin wit right now, if you really get a chance to see the inside Snoop shit, he's makin' mixtapes now, we've done 3 mixtapes in the last 2 weeks. We rapped on the "All Day I Dream About Sex" by Killa Mike.. Me, Snoop, Half Dead we did that, they rapped on the Freeway song "Clap for me mami hey!" and Half Dead flipped the hook so hard, he says "We make the bitch GET down, a little bit of drink is all it takes to make the bitch STRIP down, a little bit of gangsta dick is what she gets to lick IT down" man that shit is so hard how he frlipped it cause it sounds like the Freeway hook, it's just Dogg Pound style! And they flipped the Lil Mo song, her single with Fabolous.. Snoop, Half Dead and them flipped that, it's sick! I'm feelin' it man! When my boys can rock me, when I'm around them and we can feel like a fan again of the shit, its really dope to me, cause I'll never loose my fan in me, I know dope music, I know a good artist when I see one. It's love man, I'm tellin you. Snoop ain't heavy on that Pimp shit no more, alotta didn't like it, alotta people did..


dubcnn.com : It was cool at first...

Yeah but once it started gettin burnt out you get tired of it and that's what alotta people said but he's off that, he enjoyed the ventures aswell. it's not like he changed, but he got introduced to something new to him!


dubcnn.com : There were rumours of you and Daz beefing for a while... How did that get resolved?

We just good friends, and it was over some bullshit. What happened was, I did some work with Daz, I needed some money, I was short, he was doin' kinda good to me at the time. So I asked him, like "Ay Daz, you know I need a couple bucks" and we never charge each other for raps, so what it was was I did some work with him to where I'd say "Ok I did 5 Gz worth, you come give me two thousands dollars but I need it, I wouldn't ask you for money if I was phat right now." And what happened was I asked him for the money he told me he was gonna give it to me, and he kinda was like irresponsible about givin it to me, and then I ended up callin' his woman that's what happened. So it was my fault, and it never really got to the public but people knew we were beefing cause Daz told all the homies "I ain't never fuckin' wit Bad Azz" and I was like "Fuck him!".. What happened was I called his house, and instead of bein' polite sayin' "Hey Mrs. Daz, can I speak to Daz" and her sayin' "he ain't in" and me sayin' "Ok, well tell him to call me", I told
her "Hey that PUNK owes me some money, tell him to call!!" And I spit all business to his woman, and she got kinda alarmed and she called him like "Hey, I don't know what's up Bad Azz sounded mad and he called and he was talkin' kinda rude" and he don't know what I said! But by her sayin' that, he took it like "Yo you callin talkin rude to my girl!" And I said yah that wasn't right, I was wrong. Daz is like one of my best friends I apologized to him for my wrongs, and the money came out and it was cool! But what we did suffer from was that Daz wasn't on my first record because of that. He did the hook for me on the song "I ain't concerned" and it was so tight because no one ever heard Daz sing! And he sung that hook, like he sung it exactly like it sounds on my album except another person sung it. And the way he sung it you could tell its Daz! *sings the hook* And that shit was raw! And when we fell out, I still used the song, and he went like "You know what fuck you Bad Azz take me off your record I don't want to be involved in your shit, don't go put me on your album I don't wanna rap wit you again" and I took him off! What I did was, me AND him wrote the hook, and that's
how I ended up keepin it, sayin if he does want something for his portion of the hook that he wrote, he started comin with the melody, I started feelin it and I wrote a little bit wit him, we both wrote like half and half of the hook. So I said I'ma keep it on there, I'ma just have somebody else do it since he don't want his voice on my record, and like I said that was something that as our history goes on, Daz Dillinger ain't on Bad Azz first record, I got Kurupt on there, I don't have Nate Dogg on there either but it wasn't for any negative reasons, it's just that we didn't get the hook up, you know what I'm sayin? But that shit kinda hurt me when it was over, like me and Daz are like the best of friends now, me and Daz are like Daz and Kurupt was you know? So it's like now when I look at it it just kinda hurt me just even today thinkin' about it like "daamn daz ain't even on my first record!"


dubcnn.com : In 1998, you released "Word On Tha Streetz" through Priority and 19th Street Records. Are you happy with that record?

Yeah, I love that album! But I know what's the catch about it and I knew it could have been better once it came out and once that I did it but it was my first record, and what I was doin' was I was makin' a model, I didn't know how to make a record, I knew how mentally, but physically and actually I had never made one, I just had the game to do make it. So what that was, that was a model, that was me takin' a shot dog, that was me sayin' "here's bad azz, whoopty woop I'm 22 years old, I never made a record, I been rappin' all this time, I'm makin' it professional, put it together and put it out. win loose or draw" And that's why I was proud of it. Like I said, I felt it could have been better, I felt I coulda done a lil more job to up my standards because I didn't put out the best record at that time when I had the mentality and I had the rap skills to do it. And that's where I learned alot from. That's why Personal Business was alot better and I always feel
like that, Personal Business was a competitive record, it was a record that competed with alotta records that came out that time. It was good it was
comparable to the Jay-Z's, to the people that game out at that time. Now my other record, it was like the young dude tryina be in the big world that's how I look at it, criticisin myself sayin I did a good job, I know that the record ain't as good as it could have been like I said, but I did a great job for not even knowin what to expect, not even knowin where I was goin, I just was goin. And I got there! So that was cool for me like I said, I was happy that I just made a record man! Me bein a rapper and bein around Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre and Kurupt and Daz, and these niggas made real good records and they didn't help me make that record, I made that record and I put them on there, I said "ay I want you to rap right here can you come get on this song?" and it was like "yeah!". Now if Snoop would have made that record for with his experience at that time, it probably would have been alot better, but I can honestly say I made that record MYSELF. I executive produced that, I picked out every beat, I picked out every concept, you know what I mean? With my young fresh mind, I went win loose or draw like "I don't know
if this concept is gonna be big to the world! I don't know if this is gonna be pleasin to the hiphop community but I'ma try it!" And I was pleased with it personally. On Personal Business like I said I was a little more focused, I was a lil more ready, I was a lil more in touch with what I wanted to do, what I wanted to come out with, I did that record twice too, so that was the catch, I did it again not because I had to, but because I wanted to, I got with Snoop and I didn't his essence on it like I knew I could have it, and I went back thats how we got the Doggystyle stamp on it. It wasn't on Doggystyle, but for the public and for the people that know that me and Snoop are affiliated and I'm his protege, I needed that like that, I needed
it to be Doggystyle/Priority, where they like "Yo you on Dogghouse?" "Yeah! I'm wit the House! I never went nowhere!" But I wasn't signed with them contractually, you know?

dubcnn.com : Yeah. Why wasn't this song on there? *plays West Coast Plantation with Xzibit*

Because it was kinda like, we weren't.. it was.. I don't know.. He got kinda voted out, it wasn't really.. I don't know what it was, it was like a label decision.. I love that song..


dubcnn.com : Yeah! It was tight!

Yeah I love that song too, and I'll put it on my mixtape that's comin out! I found a real clear version on CD, that I'll mix, a master version that I got, and I'll put it on there, it's on there. I'll send you a copy I got it in the computer, just havin' it mixed and mastered down.


dubcnn.com : I also remember the video of "U Don't Wanna Be Broke".. with you on the skateboard.

Yeah! I met the director of that yesterday, I had a chance to see him, cause I hadn't seen him in a year or two, and I got with director Goby, was with his for a few hours yesterday, and we watched the video. And it was so funny, we watched the video, and soon as we watched the video we go ahead and out to get some burgers, and soon as we walk out, some Mexicans drive by in a truck bumpin' U Don't Wanna Be Broke *laughs*


dubcnn.com : How was it making the Smokefest 2 video?

Oh that was live man! That was overseas! That was when I got to come to, I don't know if we went to the North or the South of Germany.. We went to Cologne, Germany, we went to a couple spots out there, all of that was filmed there, we filmed some in Hawaii, we filmed some in Japan, we filmed some in New Zealand, that's where they filmed that song.. remember that song that's on there "smoke was so dope that I didn't wanna pass the j" *laughs* We came up with that back there, I made that lil hook up and they started singin it, these New Zealanders, and that made it on the Smokefest.. And that "greeeeen laadyyy!" you remember that? That was one of my favorites, it was funny, cause the lady was all green, and we were on the tour bus and I was like "greeeen laaaady" and it was funny. That shit about Big Jeffrey, he came about cause Snoop had made a joke, and he was lookin for some shit, and I guess something came out missin and he was like "yo man, check this out" and he was speakin and just made up the name Big Jeffrey, he's lookin for his jersey, his hat, and everything about Big Jeffrey was like he was like a big dude, and he was trippin everytime and it was like "Big Jeffrey said you can't smoke in here!" and Big Jeff came along and Snoop came up with those teeth one day, and I ain't gotta lie man me knowin' Snoop for as many years,I had never thought he would made me laugh like that, like off that
character.. That character was like as funny as Eddy Murphy to me, I would tell him like "where's big jeffrey?" and he was like "aw he left, he'll be back.. don't askin bout BIG JEFF!!" and then he would go in the bathroom and come out with this fuckin shower cap on and these big ass teeth like "big jeffreys in the house where snoop dogg at?" and I was like this cat is funny.. So that's where the Smokefest 2 originated, I was really really obliged to be a part of that, cause I didn't go with the camp on the first overseas tours that they went, and this time when I ended up goin Daz and Kurupt wasn't goin wit us, Nate wasn't goin wit us, Warren G wasn't wit us, it was me, Snoop, Sean Dogg, DJ Jam, Snoops wife, Dave Arren our engineer, Tasha our hairdresser, and a couple of other people, a couple securities, a couple homies, my homie Choppa came on a couple, my homie E who's just a
good friend of mine he came on some of the tour with us, he a little ballin cat, he said he wanted his money.. So everything just came out so nice, it was more personal, it wasn't like a big crew thing with all of us, it was like me Snoop and Sean Dogg everyday with Dave Arren and DJ Jam.. We was out there like 30 something days and we went to alotta different countries, and flyin and drivin all around different countries, and performing for fans that hadn't got a chance to see Snoop, fans that never got a chance to meet Bad Azz, it was live man! And that Smokefest 2 is just the visuals of it all.


dubcnn.com : Any plans for Smokfest 3?

Uhm yeah of course, there's gonna be different volumes. What it is is that Snoop is so caught up with other stuff I'd have to mention it, people have to mention and it's good that you mention now, cause it's about time. But what the Smokefest consists of is the tour. So the next tour and the next overseas tour will consist of Smokefest 3, thats what I'm sure Snoop will compile it, because he go on United States tours, but Smokefest consists of the overseas outlook, so we would have to touch overseas, and the only place we've been outta the country is Canada recently, so he does have footage from that and I could mention to him that he should incorporate the Canada footage with the rest of the Smokefest 3 footage.


dubcnn.com : Now honestly, is Snoop Dogg a good CEO and a good business man?

Uhm, well, not really. No but see, it's like we don't wanna say no and take nothin from him, cause we all talk about that as our family, and alotta times we bring it up aside of Snoop, cause it's hard to talk about it in front of him, but hopefully he will get a chance to hear or read this interview, and he'll hear it and it will be easier for him to accept it. BUT it's not that he's not a good business man, he's not as good as a business man as he COULD be. So that kinda hurts, but Snoop, he makes up for it in other ways, by being a very good artist, bein a very good friend, so we don't hold that against him, I don't expect for Snoop to be a great business
man for me, or be a great business man for a company. Snoop is a great business man for himself.


dubcnn.com : I mean Kokane was on 8 tracks of the Last Meal, he was on 9 tracks of Tha Eastsidaz 2nd record, and yet he never released a solo project! And now he left...

Exactly.. and that's where.. But don't get me wrong! Look at Soopafly he's been with Snoop aslong as me, he was actually signed with Snoop and Doggystyle Records before me, I signed with Snoop in 1995, and Soopafly was signed in 94 or early 95, that would be almost eight years he's been signed with Snoop and he hasn't put out one record. The only record that he did put out was the independent record that Daz put out cause he alotta songs of Soopalfy.


dubcnn.com : But isn't it sad to wait 8 years for an album?

And that's why we know Snoop is not a good business as far as those things, but sometimes you have to wonder, is it the artist, is it Soopafly? Why wouldn't he put out a record in that time as he's a artist and he knows that these are things that a artist needs. He should be workin. I ask him everytime, like I'm over there I go to his house and say "ay what's up with Latoya's record?" cause he's workin on that, and he says "I'm workin on it still".. "when you gonna do the new Soopafly record?" and he's like "I'm doin some songs for it, I'm almost done, I got alotta songs for it" but he's not as inspired to do it and put it out as he should be!


dubcnn.com : Right.. in our interview he said his record would come out summer of 2004!

See? And that's just a long shot, sayin "is he sure?" He's probably hopin' that it's gonna come out, why would it be set a year from now if it's ready to come out? It's not ready to come out, he's just assuming that hopefully he can get it done by that time and get it out. And that's cool, but that's where it goes back to is Snoop a good business man. Why isn't Kokane out? Why isn't this.. Kokane's record was done! Me personally I heard Kokane didn't release his record because of other circumstances that he was goin' through, he had personal problems and other things that kinda slowed him down from doin the record, so him and Snoop had decided and agreed that Kokane was gonna leave. Kokane kinda felt like "oh they sittin round here too long" and that could be good or bad. And I can't see Kokane in a better position than with Snoop, even though his record wasn't comin out, Snoop was helpin him do his record and gettin it to the point where it was done and have features on it that wasn't hard for Kokane to get, and all this other stuff you know what I'm sayin'?


dubcnn.com : Tha Eastsidaz had departed ways with Snoop for a while too, but it seems as though they're back together.

Yeah, well you know, it's always just misunderstandings and similar to money issues and other lil stuff.. It's money issues and other lil stuff that happens, but all in all, everybody is still friends, and what I really notice is that people get frustrated over the misunderstandings of the business. And I've been frustrated about it, but I've never taken it to the level where like me and Snoop would have fell out, even though me and Daz fell out, but I kinda passed up because I got a understanding about the stuff, I never tripped off money, I never tripped off none of this stuff that people would trip off that would make you fall out as friends. I would never let it get to me, because I understand that me and these guys got
something bigger than money and music. That's how I feel personally. And now
Tray Deee and Tha Eastsidaz, Tray Deee and Goldie and Snoop everything is cool, everything is cool.. I know that Tray Deee and Snoop they gonna always be cool. They just got a chemistry that's gonna fall out and they'll prolly fall out again! Because Tray Deee, his temper is to the point where when he is fed up about his business, he snaps. But to me that's good for Snoop, because Tray Deee is a person that keeps Snoop in line as far as the business because even me, even though I haven't been signed wit Snoop so it's hard for me to go like even E-White.. He goes "wassup, man I just wanna work man, Bad Azz you were the first one signed with Snoop give me some advice" and I say "you good wit Snoop Dogg, but you gotta make your own thang crack because Snoop is a rapper and he's busy and he's doin' alotta things, and he still does alotta things for you, but you'll have to utilise what he does for you to make it big for you. And like if I was signed with Snoop right now, I would be one of the guys like Tray Deee that would raise hell when shit ain't right, but in a positive way that Snoop could understand. This guy he needs something, he's not fussin because he's just an asshole, he ain't fussin because he got something that he doesn't deserve, he's just bringin up legitimate issues. And that's what it's all about, nobody's perfect, Snoop ain't perfect, even if he was the best CEO in the world, or the best business man in the world, he would still make mistakes. But as far as all of us bein' a family, we have to keep all the mistakes to a minimum, so if one person does make a mistake we have to help him, we correct him, we condition him not to make those mistakes, and that's what its all about! And Snoop is growin' man, he's a lot better business man than he was yesterday, today. And tomorrow he'll be a lot better business man then. And I have no doubt in him, he's gonna pervail and take us to the next level as a superstar, and he's gonna keep workin' so hard that he's not gonna let his little homies surpass him in the rap game such as Tray Deee who is older than Snoop, he's not gonna let him surpass him, he's gonna keep workin hard where Tray Deee's success will still fall behind Snoops cause he was in front of him. I was sellin platinum records before you, so if sell a platinum record I'll sell another one, if you make a hit song, I'll make two! And I respect Snoop for that! That's like Michael Jordan lettin Kobe surpass his thing. Now as Michael Jordan retired, and Kobe breaks one of Michael Jordans records, thats cool, but that doesn't mean you're a greater player than Jordan, because that man set a mark that.. that mark will always be there no matter what you do after that, and that's what Snoop is. Snoop is that kinda character, no matter what Eminem does, Snoop is always gonna be a historical legendary rapper!


dubcnn.com : Why weren't you on Paid The Cost To Be Da Boss or Doggystyle Allstars?

Well Doggystyle Allstars I wasn't around.. What was the other record you said?


dubcnn.com : Paid The Cost To Be Da Boss

Oh just because I wasn't really really heavily around a lot, and when I came around I was kickin it, I wasn't really tryna get on no records, I wasn't trippin, I was goin through my thing, and I've always been around. So during those records I would come through, I was in the studio sessions while they were recording, I just wasn't into it like that because the Allstars record, whatever Snoop Dogg does with his proteges, I always want them to shine and if he needs me to support them as far as a feature act like "ohh the allstars got a song with Bad AZz!" and I'm there. But he didn't need me cause they had alotta other superstars performin with them, they had Camron on the album, he had Hi Tek, you know just the people on the album that to me, they could have used me or they could have not. You gotta understand how I am, I gotta leave it open for people to come and those are my family because I'm always here. Even if you guys miss me, like when you said that, that feels so special to me, like I said I'm not goin' nowhere until god says Bad Azz is dead, I'm here! Watch these new mixtapes you gonna love
them, mark my words, when you hear them and talk to me afterwoods, you gonna
say you wasn't lyin.


dubcnn.com : How much did "Personal Business" sell?

Uhm right now to this day like 170, maybe 180 (thousand)..


dubcnn.com : That ain't too good though is it..

Nah, I mean it's not.. For Bad Azz at that time comin out on his second record even sellin hundred and something units, that was coo.. I sold records thats all that matters.. It kept me in the game, let the record labels know "oh this kid can sell some records, he ain't platinum yet, but if he can sell 170, he can sell 270, if he can sell 270, he can sell 370, and we can sell platinum!" That's kinda how they think, and I feel that's good for me. Its not overall good, but overall records to 10 million, 7 million, Nelly records sell like 7 million so a hundred and something thousand compared to 7 million, that sucks, but like I said for Bad Azz to
even move some units on his own, for me to go to Priority or to Def Jam and say "Yo can I get a record deal?" and they like "who are you?" "I'm Bad Azz!" and they like "Oh fo sho! We'll give you a deal" And that's where I'm at now because I need whatever label I'm wit to feel like "Yo we can push him to the next level, we can be the label that gets him the gold record."


dubcnn.com : Were you unhappy with the promotion?

Uhm not really, I was unhappy with the fact that they didn't capitalize after.. See what they did was they promoted it good at first, it got good inital responses, it sold good at first, and then they just let it go. So that's why I wasn't pleased with how they followed up, you know? They didn't really follow up on the record. They didn't really follow up to the extent where it could have sold more. Cause right now we could still be workin' Personal Business, it could be at 1.2 million right now, we're still doin shows and tours off of it, and puttin out another video, but they kinda left it.. That's why I left! I was like you guys suck, you guys couldn't sell a platinum record with fuckin Snoop Dogg, and I left! For real, and look at them how hard it was to get his new record platinum, so I'm already sure that it wasn't me man, I gave them a good record, Personal Business was good, if it wasn't a platinum record it was a gold record and they didn't do either! They didn't do gold or platinum, so.. All I can say is they fucked it up. I went to every interview they hooked up, every person like you that called me, I talked to them for hours like me and you doin, gave them everything they needed, and that's what they told me they needed for them to sell my record platinum! "We need you to go to texas, to this radio station" "Ok when? tomorrow? Oh well I'm goin!" And after that they needed me to go here, and everything they told me, every store, and it was so cold, cause this is what they told me when I was there doin it. They said "You know what Bad Azz? You're gonna sell alotta records, you know why? We hooked up all kinda artists with this, Mack 10, even Ras Kass, and they said you the only
artist wo's done all your promotional work, and it's always there, on time, and ready to go and ready to do every interview!" And I said "If that's what you guys need me to do to sell records, and I'm doin' that, why aren't we sellin any records?!" and I left, I left when Priority was sold to Capitol Records, it was a good time, my lawyers told me it was a good time, cause it was a whole new company, and that wasn't the company I signed to, so I don't wanna be here anymore and they let me go.

dubcnn.com : You went for the independent route, why?

What I did was I signed ah, see a lot of people don't know that I signed a deal which is an independent deal it's only for one record. I offered to do 2 records, I'm going to do 2 records with them.


dubcnn.com : With Who?

D3 Entertainment. They are like the best independent establishment, and when
I say independent, they are independent such as Cash Money or such as Ruff Ryders, or such as Rocafella with no rap family. Cause its just an independent company that’s doing as well as some companies like Rocafella but on the underground, I mean I wouldn't say it's as good as Rocafella but they sellin good records. These guys are selling gold and platinum records. They sold Insane Clown Posse like 600,000, 700,000 copies which was the first act that they put out. I see Fredro signed last night he gave me some advice and said "don't fuck wit those guys they don't know what the fuck they're doin'!". So you can have good or bad experiences. I signed with them cause I saw their track record off of thier last 4 or 5 independent records they put out, and saw how many they put out. They sold ODB 300,000, that means at 3 dollars a record, thats like 900 Gs, this guy made off a 300,000 sellin record.


dubcnn.com : Thats great

And thats the kind of money they are givin me off this record. So if I sell the kind of units I sold off my first records, I'ma almost be rich.


dubcnn.com : Yeah, you hooked up with Big Hollis to release an album, but at the same time you signed with D3 didn't you?

No, I signed with D3 after I did the comp project with Hollis. That was a totally really independently project that I did with Hollis as far as Hollis was my homeboy he was doing some independent shit, they gave me 30 g's we did this compilation, we brought our people in that I wanted to get, you know on this record that was just some independent people that we had was 40 Glocc one of my homies who just released a little independent record, and the rest of the low life gang which I didn't even get all of them on it, I had Lil J on it. I had Tip, conflict, I had a song with Lil J and Shorty K, and uh, I had Bonnie who was one of my female friends I grew up with since I was a little kid, and shes a dope singer that I'm trying to
help develop and get her out as an r&b act. She sang on my first record "dear god", you know the one with me and Tray Deee? *sings the hook* Yeah, that was the only song with Tray Deee on Word On The Street. That is her on there singing, Bonnie. Her and her sister were childhood friends of mine, and she's just always been into singin, and I knew if I ever got a head start in the music game before her, then I would always try and help her, and you know, she helped me out alot also. But as far as trying to get her out there and get her some exposure and get her on some hit songs and stuff like that, so I put her on that record and Hollis put a couple of his guys on there like Skee 64 which is one of his artists and um, this other guy who I forget his name right now, but he sings real good. And um, we came together to make a compilation. It turns around, Hollis gets this idea that
it would be better as a solo record, so he tries to put it out as Bad Azz "Money Run". So it comes out, and it's not doing that good, you know, it's the controversy, I had an article come out in showcase magazine tellin about the whole thing, how I hooked up with him and did a record, about how he betrayed me and switched it, and made it into a solo record when it was a compilation, and he registered it that way with the retail stores. So now all the retail record stores are carrying that album like it was bad azz's new solo. So a lot of people lookin at that album, like my last album that didn't do so well, and they sayin I'm goin down, with my sales, and quality, and they like you know puttin it out on a smaller label, like you went from Priority, and you know people are lookin at it like, I'm fallin down, instead of blowin up, and he didn't care, thats not his career, and I told him specifically that this album could mess up my career as far as, well not overall, cause I'm gonna keep mashin hard so people will overlook that as a solo project, I'ma make sure of that cause its not. I would never put out a solo record that shabby and that fast. Not sayin that thats not a good record, but thats a good record for a compilation. It's a good record for a feeler. Thats what it was a feeler for cats like you who like bad azz, who like "when is your new solo record comin out?" "Okay, don't trip, I got some new music for you double dollar sign records presents thats the money run." Why you think it's called the money run? Cause I went on a money run. That's all it was. The concept was really self titled, that's what that was. I'm come out here and put on some new music for my fans, and get a little extra change, while I'm workin on my new solo project.


dubcnn.com : I mean, it had a couple tight tracks tho

Oh no, I mean it was COOL, I mean I ain't gonna lie. I was pleased to a certain degree. I would never tell you that that was the best record I did, it wasn't the best record out. i'm not gonna lie about my own stuff. I'm not the type of person who every record I put out I'm like THATS IT, THATS THE BEST RECORD EVER. I listen to Nas's shit, and say this record is better than this record, and I don't care if Nas did it or Bad Azz did it. It's not my judgin of the characters or rapper that did it, this record is better than this record. You can say whatever you want. If you say nas is better than Bad Azz, or feel Jay Z is better than nas because Nas's record was better or Jay-Z's record was better cool. That dont' mean you are a better rapper.


dubcnn.com : Was there a legal problem too? For Hollis to put out money run?

The legal problem was that I tried to put a restraining order on the album because he tried to do it the way it wasn't supposed to be done. And you know, the label, the judge granted them the rights to put it out, because they had the paperwork, and signatures sayin they had legal rights to put a record out. it didn't say if it was a compilation or solo record so they kind of won. But Hollis loses because he loses the freindship, he loses the essence, he loses everybody that would mess with him again. Snoop would never rap with him again. I would never rap with him again. Daz would never rap with him again.


dubcnn.com : So D3 sued Hollis, but Hollis won in court?

No, they didn't sue them, we just tried to put a restraining order so we could stop the record, until they changed the title, but they won, and the record is out, there is nothing we could do. D3 was kind of upset, but D3 was like, "yo bad azz we signed you, we felt you and we support you". So they are puttin out this new record that I'm puttin out called Executive Decisions. And this is the first interview that the title has been disclosed. And that is the next venture after Personal Business. After Personal Business all you could do is make Executive Decisions. So that's what the next record is. Executive Decisions, and I already got 12 songs
done. I'ma put 14. I'ma do 2 more this week, close it up, and it will be out in the next 2 to 3 months. I'ma send you an advanced copy.


dubcnn.com : So now after a kind of disappointing money run, that wasn't even supposed to be a solo album, bad azz is comin with Executive Decisions. How is it? Whats the vibe?

The Vibe is, to me its like when people... I gotta song on there called Legendary Life. It's sick man. Kokane does the hook. *sings the hook* "I never knew that this would be, goin down in history, this is my ghetto testemony, my whole life is a legendary story." I come on, and it its so sick, I say uhh... Fuck, it's on the tip of my tounge I got the song, I'm gonna just plug it. This shit is dope man, I want to get these lyrics to you, cause you can see where I'm comin from.. this is one of the songs where I'm like, what it is, the executive decisions is like what everyone wants to hear about bad azz. I'm touchin on everything mutha fuckas wanna know. Like what is bad azz really feel about whats goin on right now, And thats what is good, I'm talkin about me. I'm talkin about the situation. I'm talkin about,
I don't know, this shit is sick to me. I'm tellin you about myself and where I'm comin from as far as letting people get an idea about what I been on. The Legendary Story is like, one of those ones. *Plays Song* Meech Wells Did
the Beat.

dubcnn.com : That shit is tight!

That shit is wild man. And I got this other one, I'ma bust you the first verse of it. Once you hear it you'll understand. It's 3 verses, and right now the hook is talkin about how my life is a legendary story, and it's like that's really what it was. Kokane already had that hook over at Meech's house, before I got there, Meech had a beat with that hook on there, and we did that, and I got one song on there with E-White. My homie Scoop was on that song the other song I played for you, he was on that, then I got this other song *plays track* I was thinkin about Suge right there.


dubcnn.com : Yeah

So you know, the devil he wanna pay for killas and have em bring you their tounge, the reason why I say that is cause we rap, and that is one of the things Suge would love to see happen have our fucking tounge cut out so we couldn't rap no more. AK47 nigga sleep with ya gun. The song is called Understand What It Is. So the last verse on that one it goes... *raps verse* That shit is raw. I got like this one with Soopafly it's like some happy shit, it's gotta a nigga bustin on some real bad ass, I wouldn't say party shit, but some summertime like real laid back shit, smooth shit, and he was talkin about um ya'll already know mr. bad lives a real cool life *drops verse, sings latoya's hook* It's a fuckin hit dogg, for the summer. Watch it. I'm coming back. And when I say I'm comin back I'm comin back for the radio, I'm comin back for the video, and I'm comin back to the streets. I
got 10 hot songs for the street. I got 10 hot songs for the radio. I got 10 hot songs for the video. And if they all gonna make it, I got 3 or 4 apiece, so I got 3 new videos, if I'm on tv, I'mon the radio, I'm on the streets everywhere this summer.


dubcnn.com : Can you list me some other producers on there?

Yeah, so far…I got have you ever heard or Rhythm D?


dubcnn.com : Yeah of course!!


Yeah Rhythm D produced one. That’s the first time I ever collaborated with him and he is gonna do one more so that’s love. He did one called “Bumpin’ and Poundin’” that’s fuckin sick! So Rhythm D got one got one with BattleCat so far…3 with Mike Smoove he produced for Jodeci, Bizzy Bone, some other cats… Bad Azz he did one on my album with me and Snoop and Lil Tip Toe, he did one on my album with me and one of his R&B singer cats that did the jam and I got one with me, Johnny Chronic and Little Tip and Chucky who is the Reggae singer that messes with DJ Quik a lot.. so Chucky is on that with Mike Smoove production….you got to put mike smoove down he is one of the hottest…he not new…but hes rising where people are starting to recognize him now like I said he produced for Jodeci and he does R&B and Rap and he is real dope and he produced for Jodeci and he produced for Bizzy Bone the “Heavens Movie” Record…. The Manisky Mob and he produced a lot of tight songs on that… *sings some Bizzy Bone* So he did a lot of hot shit… Mike Smooth did, I got 2 from Fred Wreck I got 2 from Meech so far Meech is gonna do another one.. and most of the people are gonna do one more, but im already like 12-11 songs deep


dubcnn.com : Do you have Daz on there?

Yeah Daz is on here for sure.


dubcnn.com : Did he produce?

No he didn’t produce, as a matter of fact im not sure im not gonna say he is not because he did do me a beat and I told him I needed it like he did a beat and im supposed to come get it but I haven’t gotten it yet so hopefully I can grab that and use it.


dubcnn.com : Did Soopafly produce?

Yeah Soopafly produced one with me and Latoiya the Round and Round but he
didn’t rap on it yet, he didn’t rap on the album yet. So im gonna go back and do one more with him this week. So im closing up this week, im gonna do like 3 or 4 more songs but what im gonna do is make them all collaborated no solo’s im gonna do one with me Nate and probably Warren G, Me Soopafly and maybe somebody


dubcnn.com : No solo tracks?

Oh yeah I got a lot of solo tracks on their, im just not gonna do any more solo’s and what im gonna do is….have you ever heard of Pinky?


dubcnn.com : Yeah she's was on the first Eastsidaz record..

You be up on your shit she even did a hook on there, that's great you be up on your shit. But yeah that’s my homegirl she used to rap with the 5 Footers she still does but she was like a member of the crew. Yeah I went to do a song with her yesterday because she is tight and Snoop might sign her on Dogghouse so I fuck with all the family and even if he doesn’t sign her me and her we still tight and we real good friends and ima slam her on this record too, so I might put her on one of the songs with ..you know one of the collabo…like me her and Soopafly collaborate that would be a nutty collaboration. And what im trying to do with these last few songs im just trying to really make some nutty collaborations because I don’t have Nate on this album I don’t have Warren G on this album I don’t got Soopafly rappin on this album I don’t got Goldie and Tray Deee on this album and I don’t
want to make it all featured out but I want my family on it so the majority of the people of the family I can get you know if I can get Tray Dee and Goldie on it ill get them on it. Its just like I said its at the end I only need a couple more songs so what I want to do is even if I can just collaborate a couple of party songs with like 4 people on them Me, Tray Dee, Goldie, Snoop and Warren G.

dubcnn.com : So who do you have as far as guest appearances for now?

Right now I have Snoop, I got E White, I got Lil Tip Toe of the Low Lifes, I got Kokane. And like that’s it the rest of the songs are just me oh and I got my homie Scoop he did one hook for me but like everything is like minimum anyway everyone is like not doing all the features like ill do like 2 verses on the track and they do one or have them do the hook or something like that, so its not really like all the features are over crowding me cause a lot of people like that actually have to shine on the record by yourself not a lot of features so that’s what im kinda on. Even though I have kinda a lot of features the way they are placed on the record is perfect its not like a lot of people its not like they all over my song.


dubcnn.com : You should get Lil J on there.

Yeah of course im gonna put Lil J, I have song with him I might do another one or I might use that one. so what I did was I have when I said I have like 9 – 10 songs I might use I have done 15 songs I have done for this album already im only gonna put 14 on the album but the extra songs im not gonna throw them away im just gonna put them on these mix tapes and compilations. Like nowadays we not gonna waste a song I don’t want no more songs to get old like those ones you got and we just like almost forgot about them. All the shit I been doing recently if it don’t come out on the album you will hear it on a mix tape im putting it out.


dubcnn.com : Are we down with Daddy V?

Yeah! I just talked to Daddy V right before I talked to you he called me and he said he was coming out towards my house and he might so yeah me and Daddy
V are real cool on Daddy V since we used to be in the Compton swap meet and
you know he hooks us up since he been down with Snoop and us hes been a real
big piece of the family cause he does a lot of filming that we cant do that he does and brings to the table so that’s real love I like Daddy V.


dubcnn.com : So how does the production sound?

I like it because its not different where you can't relate to it, but its some new different shit. New as a west coast flavor but it has a universal flavor more and that’s what im trying to stick to because im not gonna lie I was watching that MTV MC Battle yesterday. Ill tell you a story about Locksmith, Locksmith is the only cat who has ever beat me on a battle live by votes on the radio I got it on tape and I was gonna put it on my first DVD documentary that I do cause I served a lot of niggas I got shit on their that I served niggas and I got shit on their by the votes he won and it was so crazy to see him up there and even take it that far and it was so funny cause I gave him credit for serving me I had to take it away that day
because I heard him say that same rhyme that he said to me. So I gave him
credit because he did win he legitimately won but we were freestylin’ and he busted a written’ so I was really freesylin’ I remember if you can say a written that sounds like you are freestylin’ of course you gonna win because you already wrote it down and you already know what you gonna say and you freestylin and he just bust a written like he was freestylin’ but I knew he wasn’t freestylin’ when I heard him. I was here watchin’ the battle with some people like “Hey this guy Locks that’s the guy that won me in a battle” and I aint sad to say it cause it was one guy out of a million so im like yeah he beat me in a battle on the radio in San Jose in Cali and shit and I was like yeah he wasn’t even that tight to me but I guess the locals knew him and shit so they all called up there and voted for him like yo “you served Bad Azz, you served Bad Azz, you served Bad Azz” so when all the
votes came in he won and they said it live on the radio like the winner of the battle is Locksmith unanimous votes and whatever blah blah blah so when I seen it I was telling my people I was watchin the MTV battle with this guy battled me and won and they like for real? That ironic that, and I told him the rap that he said ill never for get it because the nigga said “Ill punch you in your nuts and your sperms will come out with black eyes” I started laughing right and they showed the clip and he said the same rap and I said “This fuckin punk” you know he was bustin, he was! I didn’t see what happen cause I watched the first battle and then remember Ludacris performed and I didn’t watch the second half who won.


dubcnn.com : So do you think you have better promotion and distribution this time around?

Well that’s a good question because I don’t know but im hoping I can work it to that level because I seen what they can do…its like seeing 50 Cent right now and seeing hes good and you want to rap with him but you don’t know if doing a song with him will make you platinum so I understand they are a good label I have seen what they have done with other people hopefully they can get the same results with Bad Azz hopefully I can utilize that company for all that they are worth and get out of it what I need but I don’t know if im gonna have the right promotion the right this the right that I got to turn in the record and sit down with them and see where they gonna go with it and once they start growin and we all understand and agree and we all have a open say on the record and I hear their opinion and we roll with some of the things they think and they roll with some of the things I think it will be beautiful.


dubcnn.com : Are you hoping to blow up and go mainstream?

Yeah, of course what im trying to do with this one is make enough money. So im gonna do two records with them ima do a Bad Azz record ima do Executive Decisions and I don’t know maybe the next one will be a Bad Azz presents compilation style record which I already talked to them. Well the deal im doing with them is only for one record but the catch was they said “we want you to do the record and want to have options to pick up the second one if it does good” I told my lawyer lets do two records with them and they don’t have no options after that. In other words it was kinda giving me the leverage cause two records with them is not bad cause all im gonna do is make money and if I don’t make money im not gonna lose anything cause im gonna make good records and I already got a platinum record half way done so im already knowing where im going with it. This record is gonna be as good or better than Personal Business so I know im gonna do good and if I only sell the same as Personal Business I make a few hundred thousand dollars so if nothing else ill be doing good financially where I can make other moves or at least put out a record on my label or go get a label deal with somebody hooked up through Doubla Dolla Sign, and Id still have that avenue, cause my thing right now is for this to elevate me that’s the whole plan to
sum it up for you I need this project to elevate me whether it gives me platinum success gold success or a lot of money, Cause right now im doing good financially I pay my bills and shit but im not ballin’ I aint rich so what I need to do is I need this record to make me a lot of money so either make me a lot of money, sell good or both.


dubcnn.com : Are we ever gonna see a real Low Life Gangsta’s Album?

Oh yeah we really really workin on it me and my boys are tight as fuck and we all still workin together and you’ll see that soon we were gonna do it on this first D3 record but what happen was that we ended up not doing it because everybody’s schedule we did have the record it was gonna be called “D3 and Double Dollar Sign Records presents Bad Azz and the Low Life Gang” that was gonna be the name of the record it kinda like I said every bodies schedules Lil J is on some solo shit he has his own little label, and Lil Tip me and him been kinda heavy, Shorty has a little family situation him and his girlfriend are moving into their new house together and all that so our schedule was then limited so then that's when I decided we gonna do the Executive Decisions and we might come back with this next record after this one and do the Bad Azz and the Low Life project I never know but it is guaranteed that we gonna do it for sure.


dubcnn.com : You had a bangin track with Techniec called “New Age Outlaws” can we expect any more Bad Azz Techniec Collaborations?

Oh Yeah of course I been trying to get with Techniec to put together the LBC crew or to just to do some stuff and title the work as the group as LBC crew me him and Technique or maybe just me and him and we been planning and its just a mater of time before we get together to do it.


dubcnn.com : Do you know if Technique will ever drop a solo?

Yeah what happen was that he was gonna do 18 and Over with Mack 10 he finished the record and I don’t know why he didn’t drop it but he had end up
leaving Hoo Bangin with Mack 10 the last priority and basically what it boiled down to was that it was left on Technique and right now he doesn’t have a deal he is independent and he is trying to land a deal I talked to him, I have been in close contact so he has been trying to land a deal with the new music that he got.


dubcnn.com : Is Bad Azz and the Twinz a possible combination?

Oh yeah man the Twinz are probably gonna be on this new record like I said when I was telling you about the collaboration I been doing I been talking to just all the Long Beach family I got Half Dead gonna sing me a hook and when I do these next few songs they are gonna come used with a lot of those people im not positive that im gonna put the Twinz but I already talked to them I already sat down with them recently like last week. “Whats up we doing something for this new record?” “fo sho lets do it” and its really just a matter of time and this week see yesterday I was in the studio today is Sunday and I live like about an hour from Hollywood so I had to drive home and chill with my family.


dubcnn.com : You had a track with Brotha Lynch Hung can we see that again in the future?

I don’t know he called me to do that and I liked him as you know ..for one I don’t really mess with rappers that rap like him I have been a fan of him and I heard of him but don’t get me wrong I wasn’t a big fan like I listened to a lot of his music but the stuff that I heard I liked it. Yeah I like a certain thing about him because its just a certain chemistry about him but you know me personally im not the type of rapper that you should expect to rap with a no nigga that says “eat a person” or “eat a kid” or some shit like that but some of that stuff to me from Brotha Lynch Hung is entertaining and some of it is just raw shit that he likes to kick, but like
I said when he came with me and even the song that we did was more on the
level of our collaboration I liked and that was some bad ass Brotha Lynch Hung that was like for you to represent your side and me to represent my side I like my rap on that shit.


dubcnn.com : You were part of the “Down With US” song how did that come together?

Oh you heard that already? Yeah I got that I was thinking of putting that on my record, yeah of course Fred Wreck made that and he asked me to be a part of it im a anti war guy …man im like this I always say this every time it comes up I had a situation with my women we got into a little fight the domestic violence situation is real big out here but never beat her up never hurt my women she would leave me if I beat her up like. I slapped her and shit but the catch is I got in trouble for hittin my women one time didn’t even break nothing didn’t even wrack her eye or nothing didn’t bust her lip nothing I hit her I admitted to it no one seen it my women went outside of our house she was cussin we were yellin my neighbors got alarmed and called the police I got a domestic violence charge I go to anger management class c’ mon man if they gonna send me to domestic violence anger management class for having a little altercation with my women, George fuckin Bush and Saddam Hussein need to go to anger management class cause there is no reason to kill 20,000 mutha fuckas just cause you want some oil, so that’s why I was down with the anti war song because like I said that aint no war over no
political belief its not a war over religious belief it’s a war over money. They having war over money they having war over property they want the oil they want to go kill Saddam take his oil so they can have gas and shit for they car. And its like c’ mon man there is no reason for war like that on that level, you should war with people for a reason that’s no reason to war. They should have hundreds of thousands of slaves or something and the United States was going to break the slaves free or something they didn’t help no body now that’s a reason why I can see the United States go over and drop bombs because saying “The Iraqi government has the people of Iraq hostage and they wont let them go and wont let them eat or work” then that’s different then you should send a powerful army to help those people those people weren’t suffering like that and they made up political reason that maybe people would take sides to, to say “yo these are the reasons we going over there kickin Saddam’s ass he has weapons of mass destruction” so does the United States!!! How come Saddam cant have weapons of mass destruction? Cause he is crazy? George Bush is crazy and he has weapons of mass destruction so this shit is dumb man and that’s why I don’t agree with it because the same shit they say the reason we going against Saddam Hussein “cause he crazy and he psychotic and has weapons of mass destruction” so is George Bush junior he is psychotic and he has weapons of mass destruction so what the fuck is the difference?


dubcnn.com : I heard you're gonn be on the IV Life Records compilation, the new one..

Yeah, I get down with them, they my guys I like all those guys over there! I started out just goin' through there, gettin smoke and hangin' out with them, on some street shit you know? They had their lil thang goin' I had my thing goin', and you know we tied it up! I did a few songs with them so yeah they got some new stuff they can use with me!


dubcnn.com : How deep is the beef with Kurupt at the moment? Any chance of it getting cleared up again?

Nah, I don't fuck with him. I don't fuck with him. I'm cool. I don't want to say nuthin negative cause I don't want to hurt him but I'm never gonna be cool with him. He watched them beat me almost to death. Me personally, if my homeboys invite kurupt back to the Dogg Pound I might never fuck with them again. Really, I love Snoop, even Daz siad that. Daz agreed with me because he has beef with him where he says he'll never be Kurupts friend agian. He went and hanged with Suge, when Suge don't got good intentions for us. That's like me and you best friends but you go hang with my worst enemy that wants to hurt me. I'm not fuckin wit you again! And that's how it is with Kurupt. Kurupt goes and hangs with our worst enemy and Kurupt was there when they beat me up. I was talkin to Kurupt! Have you heard the story?


dubcnn.com : Nah, we're gonna come to that later.

Ok.


dubcnn.com : What about Roscoe?

Nah that's Kurupt's brother. They hang out. They brothers.


dubcnn.com : I know that, but are you cool with him?

No. They together. What I'm sayin is I don't got no personal beef with Roscoe cuase he wasn't there but I ain't cool with Kurupt why am I gonna be cool with his brother.


dubcnn.com : But what has his brother got to do with that, he's just his brother!

No, I feel you but they hang together. I can see if his brother didn't kick it with him and he kicked it with us, and then I would fuck with him. But he kicks it with Kurupt and Suge.


dubcnn.com : Would you fuck with him if he came to you sayin "Yo that's Kurupt's story I'm just his brother I'm down with yall and I want to fuck with yall on some
music"?

I don't know. The only reason I say that cuase I don't trust him. Now see it's hard for me because I fear for my family and my life and of anybody like that who would hurt me. I don't want to expose a lot of shit on an interview, you know I want to tell you everything but I don't want to expose shit on an interview where mutha fukas say "bad azz is a snitch". Suge don't like us, homie. So what I'm thinkin is, if Kurupt comes and be cool with me, Suge gonna come around. He hangs with Suge. Kurupt is scared of Suge. If Kurupt was at my house and Suge calls Kurupt's cell phone he gone be like "where are you" and he'll be like "I'm at Bad Azz house". "where at"? and he'll tell him! He's a bitch! I would never be cool with
Kurupt. He's a coward to Suge. That's real talk. If me and Kurupt hashed it up we said "we cool", "ok just don't bring Suge Knight around me cause he don't like me". and Kurupt be like "yeah we friends. I won't". If Kurupt was at my house at a Bar B Q and Suge called his cell phone, Kurupt would say "what's up"? and he would be like "what are you doing? where you at?" "um just chillin at a homies house." "What homie?" "Bad Azz" "where at? tell me! WHERE AT?" And he would tell him, you know what I mean? Bitch! I would never be cool with him. And I don't take Roscoe as a bitch cause I don't know him like that but that' Kurupt's brother. Man, I would think that if I wanted to fuck Kurupt up, Roscoe gonna help Kurupt, right? I want to fuck Kurupt up! I wasn't tryin to tell you a whole lot. You can put it
in the interview but....I don't like 'em. Fuck 'em!


dubcnn.com : Are you gonna be involved with the Row Killa project?

Yeah! Hell yeah! Fuck Death Row!


dubcnn.com : When is that gonna be?

I'm waitin on Daz. He's doin it. So when ever he calls us and says "yo let's do a song for it." Cause he already has a couple of songs for it. and I'm all the way with it. I'm like "Fuk 'em" See my experience is, You havn't heard about the story of them jumping me. So you don't really understand. I'm never cool with them! Suge Knight, never! I'll never be cool I don't care if he kisses my feet, I don't care if he apologizes and gives me ten million dollars! I'ma fuck him up! Soon as I get a chance.


dubcnn.com : So what exactly happened that one night in Vegas? Can you describe the night in detail, step by step?

Well, I havn't seen Kurupt since he went with Suge and it's been like three months. Before that, We were on tour together, sayin "Fuck Suge Knight" in all the songs, Kurupt was participating. We were all on some Dogg Pound back together with out Suge Knight shit, right? So, we do our little tour and we come home. The whole time we were on tour, Kurupt was talkin to Suge and plannin on doin business and hangin with him and just bein back with him. So, we don't know this. We all vowing that we don't fuck with Death Row no more and we ain't messin with Suge this and that. Kurupt was agreein and it's like that, no body from the Dogg Pound should mess with Death Row. So, as it all boils down, when Kurupt comes home he goes directly to Suge, gets from checks from him, does some music with him, and gets on t.v. with him. Remember seein him on BET? Well, that was the first time, we were hearin rumors that Kurupt was gonna be on BET. We heard from one of our friends in New York, he called us sayin, "Hey why is Kurupt in New York with Suge?" and that's when we first heard about that. the rumor was that Kurupt was kickin it with Suge. and we like "nuh uh". We don't have any
proof at this time. So we hear the rumor, it's not even a rumor. Someone calls us in California while Suge in New York with Kurupt and they on Hot 97 and Kurupt is anouncin that he is back home with Death Row for the first time. He was like "yo I'm with Suge at the station right now and I'm back with the row." and people be callin up there sayin "Are you still cool with the Dogg Pound?" and at this time, he hasn't heard nuthin from us, so of course he's sayin "Yeah, I'm still from the Dogg Pound. I'm just over here messin with Suge. It's all good." But the fans don't know that Suge Knight been lookin for us to fuck us up! We been runnin around on tour sayin fuck him. So, Kurupt is there with Suge now and two or three months goes by. Snoop never sees Kurupt, Daz was talkin to him on the phone for a lil while
but he lost contact with him. So by the time I see Kurupt, Daz hasn't talked to him for two months, I haven't talked to him for three months, Snoop hasn't talked to him for three months, Soopafly was one of the last ones to talk to him. Soopafly had talked to him about a month ago. Daz had talked to him about a month ago, I hadn't talked to him in three months, Fredwreck was talkin' to him a little bit, he had talked to him within the last month, but the whole catch was he had been wit Suge the last 3 months, hangin' out wit Suge goin' to his house, then flyin' outta town goin' to radio stations together, just hangin' wit Suge! So, one day it was in
November.. I forgot what day it was, like a wednesday morning, earlier part of November, we were in Vegas! My homebody, one of my best friends, he's from the Dogg Pound too Uncle Chuckey, he's my manager and my best friend, he had moved to Vegas so he was out there, and it was just a weekend and I was goin out there just to kick it, on some real hang out shit, it was a poppin weekend, Too Short was givin' a party, Death Row was performin out there which I didn't know, some other little functions were goin on aswell that was tight! So he called me it was a wednesday night and he goes "Yo come out here!" and I'm like "ok I'm comin, fuck it!" "There's a party tonight and there's some shit goin' on Friday, Saturday and Sunday! The whole weekend is gonna be crackin" So I'm like allright let's do it! So he calls me that wednesday night, I get packed up and I roll. I get into Vegas at 3 oclock that morning, while I pull into Vegas I call him as I pass the
state line like "where you at?" so I won't get to far so I don't go to the wrong place right now, Im comin straight to you, I'm in town, I've been sleepin in the ride, me and my homegirl were takin turns drivin, so she slept for a lil while, then she drove and I slept, and vice versa, and then bam we get there, we both charged up! So I'm wide awake, it's 3 in the morning, I'm ready to party where you at? And he was like "I'm at this "Liberaci mansion party, Suge Knight and Kurupt are here!" I said "No way!" and at that time, I'm knowin that it's beef, but I'm not thinkin that if they see me they really gonna just fuck me up right? But I told him, like "Look man, I'm not tryna hang around them, even though Kurupt's here I'm not tryna hang around no Death Row niggaz, we ain't cool with them they might wanna do something to me" I considered it, but I just didn't assume that it would happen, cause I wasn't puttin myself in a position to be even around
them. They didn't see me. Like I know they there but they don't know I'm there. So to make a long story short, they go to another club, we go to another club, they get there first, we don't know they're there and we pull up in the club, it's a afterparty and everybody in town knows about it, so I should have considered they were gonna go, but when I got there, I didn't see nobody. I didn't see Suge, I saw Kurupt! And that was the first time seein' Kurupt in three months, and me and Kurupt at that time, we love each other, we good friends! And he's left the Dogg Pound to go be with Suge, and he hasn't talked to Snoop Dogg, these are all our best friends, which are my friends and his friends, but he hasn't talked to them , he hasn't talked to Daz. I talked to Daz yesterday he hasn't talked to Daz in 2 months. So when I see Kurupt that day, he's like "BAD AZZ!!!" huggin me, I'm huggin him like "WHASSUP!! HOW YOU BEEN NIGGA!" "I been alright, wassup?!?!" and we in the club! And then, the other homie Kurupt was wit, which is like his God brother goes "ay Bad Azz, you one of my best friends too, and the other side
is we came with Death Row! And they in here!" and I'm like cool, where they at?" "They on the other side of the club" "Cool, I'ma just keep my eye out, I'm ready to go anyway, I ain't finna stick around too long" Kurupt already knows they wanna fuck me up, this is why I have beef wit him, cause he could have told me "Ay Bad Azz check this out, this ain't a good time for me and you to be talkin' cause if Suge and them see you they gone fuck you up, so get outta here right now before they see you" and I would have left and never would have got jumped. I talked to
Kurupt all the way until Suge Knight walked up to me and bumped into me like he didn't see me, looked at me like "oh excuse me sir.. OH BAD AZZ!! Wassup!" and I'm like "wassup Suge.." "Yeah let me talk to you for a second.." and I don't know he's on some ra ra shit.. I walk off and go talk to him in the corner. Next thing I know, he says "You said fuck me? You told Ray J fuck me?" I'm like "Oh my god, you trippin! Yea I told Ray J fuck you, you should have told Ray J don't be throwin your name up! It was general, it wasn't personal, if he woulda said Mike Tyson at that time, I woulda said fuck mike tyson too! Cause he was talkin bout "Oh you scared of Death Row, you scared of Suge" and I ain't! Still, still to this day after they kicked my ass, I still ain't scared of them fuck them! But Ray J was like "Are you scared of me because I hang wit Suge and Deathrow?" and I'm like "Fuck you
Ray J, Fuck Suge Knight AND Death Row" Now if you wanna talk to Snoop he might be scared or he might have some other feelings, but you'd have to talk to Snoop, and Ray J was talkin to me cause Snoop wasn't lettin him on his tour bus. We ran into Ray J outta town in Kentucky and it was like Ray J was outta town, didn't know Snoop was gonna be there, Snoop didn't know Ray J was gonna be there. And we all friends! But at this time, Snoop was cuttin all ties with people who hang with Death Row, like if you hang with Death Row, don't come around me. And everybody knows each other, in other words what Snoop was doin' was make the people that knew both of them choose! Choose sides, you can't rap with Snoop and Death Row. You either wanna rap wit Suge, make money wit Suge, or you wanna mess wit Snoop and get money wit Snoop. And if you mess wit Suge, we ain't fuckin wit you. And that's how we did it, and that's what happened. When we went in, and Suge had bumped into me and we talked, after that he was like "Yo you wanna fight one of my lil homies?!" but the whole time he already got it in for me, he's gonna get me fucked up anyway. So he's like "Yeah you wanna fight ONE of my lil homies" he calls like 5 guys over there and they all come surround me, one of them socked me in the face! I didn't even fall down or nothing, I turn, looked at them and walked outta the club, like "Fuck that!" So I walked out the club, Suge came and catch up to me, put his arm around me like "where you goin?
you leavin so soon? we wanna talk to you, we not finished!" and I'm like "Man you trippin Suge, I'm by myself man, I don't have no win, it's like a giant squashin' a bug right now, gimme a pass, let me go, I ran into a fuckin spider web, let me out!" I was like, not pleadin' for my life, but on some gangsta shit like "look man, you won right now, don't get me right now. I'm by myself! Only thing you could do is kill me right now, don't kill me! Just gimme a pass, let me get outta here, I can't win right now, even if I fight one of you guys and I beat his ass, ya'll gone fuck me up, so I can't win. Just let me go!" And he got me fucked up, and I'll hate him forever! He told those guys "Fuck him up" and I swear to god I thought I never woulda made it out of that scene alive man, I pray to god that I'm here today and
I'm alive right now and I can move around you know what I'm sayin? That I got my life, that I'm still here with my children and everything, and since that day, I knew that I would never fuck wit Kurupt again, FUCK him, you know? And when you talk to these other guys, and they have situations, he didn't watch them almost get beat to death. He didn't do nothin to help me!


dubcnn.com : So Kurupt was standin' next to you watchin' you..

Watchin' me get damn near beat to death man. And I would never fuck wit him
again, and now when you ask me would you be cool wit Roscoe, FUCK his little brother, I would do something so cold to his lil brother to make him feel it, that's how I feel. And I don't even wanna say nothing stupid cause I don't wanna threaten nobody or put no fuckin terrorist shit.. but I don't like those niggaz, fuck them forever! If Snoop and them be cool with them, you'll call me again to interview me again, I'll never talk to Snoop again. I don't care about Kurupt like that, and if I do go around Snoop, I'ma go around him to fuck Kurupt up, right in front of him and see what he does, cause I don't care man, you violating, I'll never betray Snoop so don't ever betray me! Me and you are friends, Kurupt is not our friend anymore, he can never be our friend, right? And that will be like that, and if it changes, cool, I know Daz is ridin' wit me, and Daz & Kurupt was best friends, Daz vows he will never fuck wit Kurupt again, due to the stuff that he's been
through with Death Row, the same with me. He hasn't got jumped by Death Row,
but he went through similar nightmares with Death Row, where it's like I would NEVER be cool with Death Row, Fuck Suge Knight, Fuck Kurupt, Fuck everybody who's down with them, it's OVER. So write it in the history books, we were once cool, now we're not, and we'll never be cool again. I don't wanna hurt him like I said, but if I get around him and I see him and they wanna do something to me, oh we can get it crackin now!


dubcnn.com : So who from Death Row was there that night?

About forty people, everybody, Crooked I, Spider Loc, almost everybody that rolls with Death Row.


dubcnn.com : But Crooked I wasn't involved in the fight, was he?

Oh no they didn't do nothin, but I still blame them the same, they didn't help they didn't tell no one to leave me alone, say "stop it you gonna kill him".


dubcnn.com : I thought Spider socked you in the face..

Yeah he punched me once, and then some other guys punched me... and after
Spider punched me somebody kicked me, somebody else kicked me, somebody else punched me, they jumped me. See they tryin to make it in the rumours like
Spider fucked me up right? No way man c'mon like 10 guys jumped on me! Spider was the first one to sock me, like 10 guys beat me up. So I always set the record straight about Spider. He's a bitch, he punched like a little girl, he socked me from the blind side, he didn't break my jaw it's nothing. If I had a fair fight with him I would demolish that guy. I'd beat him up like a 3 year old.


dubcnn.com : So what's the situation with Spider, did you know him before that night?

I met him, I met him one time through one of my girlfriends ex boyfriend tried to hook me up to put him in the rap game, and I guess he felt that I didn't give him enough attention and he always hated me from that day. Some real hater shit man, I promise you, I was gonna help this guy get in the rap game because he was introduced to me by a friend that I love. I even called this friend and ex'd this friend outta my catalogue, cause I call a friend of his and he's like "Ay man he went to jail!" So when he gets out I call him and I'm like "Yo man you introduce me to this guy to put him in the rap game, then you go to jail, I run into him with Suge Knight and they beat him up!" And he tries to justify what Spider did! He goes "Ah yeah Spider said you were actin funny" and bla bla and I'm like "WHAT THE FUCK?! YOU BITCH ASS NIGGA YOU INTRODUCED ME TO HIM, I NEVER ACTED FUNNY WIT THAT DUDE! FUCK YOU AND FUCK HIM!" So I had met Spider, and I swear to god I would have really really really gave him a chance and give him the opportunity to
collaborate wit me or something. I guess he felt like I wasn't movin' fast enough for him cause I told him I would hook back up with him and I'd do whatever with him, since he's a friend of the family. I guess in the meantime he hooked up wit Suge, and he felt like that but he's a loser man, he's weak, smalltime wheeny, real smalltime.. You know he's mad cause I got on the internet and I dissed him, and I never said his name! You know in the rap game, I won't blow him up, I seen what Pac did for Jay-Z and all these guys that he dissed, he blew them up, so like Crooked I, I'll diss Crooked I, I feel like if Crooked I blows up off a battle wit me, he deserves it. Spider, I don't know who the fuck he is, he's some fake ass LA Gangbanger who wants to be a rapper, who wants to battle wit Bad Azz so he can blow up, cause I have millions of fans and he has none. He'll never get that, I
always refer to him as the web slinger, the fuckin sucker, the lil Suge Knight fuckin advocats, hes a prick, he's follower, he'll never be a leader, he'll never run a spot, he'll never run a block, he'll never own his own company and be big like Bad Azz, he's a fuckin smalltime weenie, he's forever gone be lil, he's gonna die and no one is gonna go to his funeral but his mama and his family. He's a fuckin smalltime prick man!


dubcnn.com : I heard you have been writing for Warren G's new album. Will you have a guest spot too?

Oh yeah yeah, right right right now I haven't rapped on it, but I just was writing, and Warren G was kinda working on the 213 also, so what I did was, I just been supporting him on the 213 album, cause Warren G likes my writing. So, I helped with as much as I can, so whenever I'm in the studio and he's there, and he's working on something and asks me to write, you know he has a couple of other lil homies that write for him, my homie Dept, but I like Warren G, he's a talented artist and he's one of the familiar Long Beach personalities that people know, and I always try to help him have good music, and Warren G is talented, and he knows that if he can't write it, he needs somebody that can to keep that good vibe, he's all about making good music regardless how he has to do it. He's like his big brother! You know Dre ain't the best producer or the best rapper, but he is, because he knows what to get, he knows what rappers to have him help rap to become the best rapper, you know? And that's what Warren G does, Warren G knows if Bad Azz writes me a rap it's gonna be a good song, and that's smart! It's not about being the best rapper, it's about knowing the resources. If you're not a
good rapper, you have to know how to get the right people. It's like Puffy,
he always makes good raps and makes good songs, but how? He's a wack rapper, and he's a wack producer, but he'll get a dope producer, have him produce a track and he'll put a little bit on it and he'll have a dope rapper write him a rap and he'll put a little bit on it, and then he'll bust it, you'll hear Puffy singin' it you know? That's what its all about, it's about politicin wit the right people and do the right thing, and that's how Warren G is and I love him as a friend, I love him as a person, and I love makin' music wit him! I'm helpin him wit his new record though, like tomorrow when I go see the boys, we gonna politic, he's gone gimme a couple beats for my record too. For Executive Decisionz fo sho. So I'll probably write him a
verse for that, to rap on that with me.

dubcnn.com : When can we expect that record?

See this is the catch, I don't know cause I haven't asked him, cause what he's doin' is Snoop and him and Nate decided to do 213 record almost at the same time as he was workin on his record, ironically like Warren G started workin' on his new record, prolly did a few songs for it, and then Snoop goes "hey lets do this 213 record" so they started workin on that. So now the 213 record is done, and Warren G's record is in the middle, so they'll probably release the 213 record first, that's gonna be the next project that comes out, after these mixtapes, prolly later on this year they comin wit the 213 record. And it's nice! I like it, it's nice, it don't got all that pimp shit on it, its like that old school long beach shit, like the first
Dogg Pound shit to me, it reminds me of Murder Was The Case.


dubcnn.com : Wow!

Yeah it's nice, its like classic, lil gangsta shit, lil smooth shit, but it's still got that Long Beach, that old school Long Beach feeling.


dubcnn.com : We saw you in the booklet to Dr. Dre's Chronic 2001, however you didn't appear on the album. Are you trying to get on Detox?

Yeah, hell yeah, I haven't talked to Dre lately, I'd love to be on Detox, you know I wasn't on either of the Chronics, but I was in the booklet cause I wrote "Just Dippin" for Snoop and Dre, and that was the same day we took those pictures, because they were doin some other shit, and it was a blessin for me to be in there, because people seen me invovled with the family, even though I wasn't on the record, but I don't know man. I don't know how Dre feels about me as a artist, he's never been really anxious to work with me, but I ran into him alotta times, I've asked him for beats, he always says "Yeah Bad Azz you got it, you're dope" but I mean he hasn't acted on it, so I dunno how serious he is about it but I like Dr. Dre as a producer, I never wanted to need him. Like alotta people say Snoop needs Dre. I don't wanna rap wit Dre and then do good and then don't have him and do bad, and people say he needs Dre like they do Snoop. Cause that sucks to me, cause I really don't think Snoop needs Dre, I think they got good chemistry, and they make beautiful music together, I love them together, but I don't feel
like Snoop Doggy Dogg NEEDS Dr. Dre. Cause The Neptunes are as dope as Dre,
Just Blaze! is as dope as Dre, so if he needs Dre, why don't he need the Neptunes you know?


dubcnn.com : The Neptunes ain't as dope as Dre though man..

Shiiit.. It's opinionated, I ain't gonna try and force my opinion on you, but I say it, write it down in my interview, Bad Azz said The Neptunes are as dope as Dr. Dre. And I didn't say doper, and they're new, they ain't as old as Dre, but on me, they PRODUCED all they songs, Dre don't produce all his songs, look Dre gets props for songs that he didn't produce! So who's doper? The Neptunes produce allllll they're songs, Dre gets props for.. Focus produces Dre songs, Mel Man produces Dre songs, Daz produced Dre songs, Warren G has produced Dre songs, like remember that Watcher song? Dre didn't do that beat! Dre did not do that beat! 50% of the shit Dre does, he doesn't really do! He has this little kid named Ryan right now, that nigga is DOPE as fuck! He has this guy named Focus that produces beats.. You know who else like got a song compilation wit Dre.. Khalil, Khalil has been producin for Dre. Dre needs dope producers, and he'll take a rough track
that they did and he'll fix it up and he produced it. The Neptunes are way doper than Dre, Battlecat is way doper, I'm talkin' about niggas like Jelly Roll, that produce, really produce they're own tracks. Did you hear that song Jelly Roll produced for Dre? On the Wash soundtrack? Comon now, Dr. Dre hasn't made a beat that dope in years, and that's Jelly Roll! But people think Dre did it! Even The Wash, what about that, that's the last beat Dre did that I can honestly say Dre did, and that's a sample! Dre did that, that's a Dre beat, but c'mon man I can name a gang of beats that are tighter than that that people think Dre did, so I feel you when you say like "Dre! He's the greatest!" but believe me man, alotta these young niggas are doper than him, but he has the credit, he as the power, he's the man, he's the credible producer that says "I did more work, I did produce more songs than you guys" So it's not like these niggas ain't better, caues Jelly Roll, I'ma be honest with you, Jelly Roll, BattleCat, Fredwreck, The Neptunes, Just
Blaze, those niggas are fuckin wit Dre man. And these new dope ass producers
that are really makin the hits right now, they fuckin wit him man! Mel Man..
have you heard Mel Mans shit?


dubcnn.com : Of course!

Mel Man is fuckin vicious, and now Mel Mans still produces shit that Dre gets credit for right now! And that's why I say The Neptunes is nobody that produces for them! The Neptunes are Chad, Hugo and Pharrell Williams and thats it. They make ALL the beats, that little chinese dude thats behind Pharell, he makes, he programs beats, Pharell does the keyboard and the hook, and that's the beat. And they produce for Michael Jackson, they produce for Justin Timberlake, they killin Dre! They REALLY get 100Gs a track, Dre don't get 100 Gs a track! From who? Who does Dre sell? He sellin to Eminem for 100 Gs a track? Nooo, he GIVIN Eminem beats? Snoop ain't buyin no tracks from Dre for 100 Gs, The Neptunes are really sellin beats to people for 100 Gs. Pass The Courvoisier, they got 100 Gs for that, Beautiful, they got 100 Gs for that, that other song Snoop did, they got a 100 Gs for that. They got $200,000 from Snoop for his record, for that. Dre ain't gettin paid like that! He's not, I swear to god, and the reason why I say that is that Dre makes DEAL. Like Jay-Z is gonna say look Dre, gimme 2 beats I'll write you two verses. So he ain't gettin 100 Gs a beat, I mean he's worth a 100Gs a
beat, they gonna sell enough copies for him to make 100 Gs, but he ain't gettin paid believe me, mark my words, he ain't gettin paid like the neptunes. Like Rodney Jerkins, he produces R&B, he gets 150-200 Gs a TRACK! Dre ain't gettin that! And even though like I said Dre is worth it, but he ain't gettin that. If we name all the artists Dre produced for recently, 50 Cent ain't payed 100 Gs for these tracks, Dre gave him those beats! He might have got 40 or 50 a beat because Interscope probably paid him.. All in all Dre ain't even workin for no outside people that would! Anybody thats big enough to pay 100 Gs for a Dre track, if they do they stupid because like if Tony Braxton want a Dre beat, all she has to do is say "look Dre I'll do you a favor you'll give me a beat" Or they gonna get it discounted, that's why I say The Neptunes are really gettin 100 Gs a beat. But that's just because I give credit where credit is due, I don't say nothing against Dre dog, Dre is the greatest producer that ever touched the game, but because of alotta reasons, not because he's the best beat maker right now because he's not. And I know it, I swear to god I know it. He gets dope beats from all the dope niggas that's out there! He gets beats from Battlecat, he gets beats from Jelly Roll, and he changes them up a little bit and putsh is name on
them. He gets beats from this little nigga named Ryan. He plays in the church, he plays in the fuckin church, and this dude named Focus, he was makin beats at his house, and he was so killer, somebody took a beat to Dre, like listen to this beat. And he was like "Who made that?" Listens to this other one and he was so dope Dre was like "Man bring him to me!" You understand what I'm sayin? But Dre is smart, that's smart, that's how I am, I can't produce a beat, I'ma be like Dr. Dre, I'ma hook up wit every dope producer and put it out under my jurisdiction!


dubcnn.com : Why is the West Coast shown no love on the radio and on TV?

Because we don't have no hot shit right now, I ain't mad! It sucks, but for real, who has hot shit that needs to be on the radio out here on the West Coast right now *laughs* And that sucks that it is us, but we ain't puttin out and makin it real evident right now. But Snoop and the Dogg Pound, me and Snoop, Bad Azz, Daz, Soopafly, we're the niggas thats really holdin down the west with the dope music, but are we putting it out like we should? I got a new record coming out but I should have 2 records out right now. So the catch is that we're not really really doin it tough enough, doin it hard enough for our own side to recognize, "Yo we need to be on the radio!" I haven't even sent enough songs to the radio right now for them to have enough stuff to vibe offa Bad to say "this some new Bad Azz shit!" What we're doin though, we're uppin the standards right now, we're puttin out new shit, mixtape shit, I got shit just for the radio right now, that I'ma just
give to the radio, just for them to bump to hear, and I know they gonna like it. And if they like it they gone play it, so that's why I know we'll be back in a second.


dubcnn.com : Who's the King Of The West at the moment?

Snoop Doggy Dogg!


dubcnn.com : Snoop Dogg or Snoop Doggy Dogg...

Snoop Dogg! But you know he always been Snoop Doggy Dogg to me since he came out, but Snoop is the king, I don't take nothing from him man, the reason
why I say he's the king is that Ice Cube not here, Ice Cube could be the king cause he was the old vet and one of the dopest but he ain't around like Snoop. Snoop been arond since 1992, on Deep Cover, blowin up the spot, sellin platinum records, puttin niggas out, doin songs for every rapper here, from Fabolous to Bad Azz to Freeway, he rapped for niggas who are broke, he rapped for niggas who are famous, he rapped wit niggas who are not famous, he rapped wit all the dope niggas! And its to the point where he does hold the crown!


dubcnn.com : Do you think you'll ever be able to hold that spot?

Yeah I'm the next in running. I'm the next one on the West Coast. You know who I'd say could be the next before me, who I honestly give credit? Tray Deee. But you know why he ain't gone run it? Cause he hasn't took a solo position yet, he's wit Goldie and they're a group, and they can be one of the best groups on the West, but I'm gonna be the next biggest solo artist on the West Coast.


dubcnn.com : I hope so!

I will be! There's no taking it from me, even Techniec is as dope as me, but he hasn't did as much as me, even Soopafly, Daz is as good as me, but they haven't did what I did! They haven't touched the marks that I touched, they don't hold the essence that I hold and it's a good thing that I know, cause I'm not sayin it in an arrogant way like "I think I'm better than them" but I'm the very best cat that could be the king of the West Coast! As a matter of fact, I'm the prince! I'm Snoop Doggs lil protege, he's the king, so it's like, who has 2 solo records out that Snoop put out, the Dogg Pound don't even have two records out expect the Dogg Pound 2002 and that was a fake compilation that Suge put out after. So I'm the only protege that Snoop put out besides Warren G that got 2 records and Warren G ain't even Snoops protege he's his peer! So if you understand, I'm already in the prince position meaning I'm the furthest progressed solo artist Snoop has ever put
out.


dubcnn.com : Is there anybody outside the West you'd like to work with?

Hell Yeah. I wanna work with Jadakiss and The Lox, Fabolous I like Fabolous, and it's a couple other fools.. I asked Nas to do something with me on my last record, he said yeah, he ended up sayin he needs 100 Gs to do it, it didn't go through, but I still would like to work with Nas, even though like I said I would never do a song with him, he just made me mad because he tried to charge me so much. I felt like I was a up and coming artist, he knew I couldn't afford it, in other words I think he was tryin to kinda insult me, or scare me from doin it, or sayin "if you can't affford this 100 Gs and you can't pay me nigga I'ma get you for it" knowin that he wasn't really worth 100 Gs a verse. I ain't takin nothin from Nas, he's a good
rapper, but I always say when you ARE worth 100 Gs a verse like Snoop Dogg,
who really gives it to you? People make favours with you, trading bars, they say "ok we'll give you this for that" You want 100 Gs? How about we give you this new truck and the new watch, and it's cheaper than 100 Gs, so you ain't gettin 100 Gs a verse, even if you worth it! And that's what I told Nas, like look I know you worth 100 Gs, could you do it for 50, my label will pay you that, but I'm not gonna let my label pay you 100 Gs unless you give me 30 Gs back. Fuck that I know rap, I love rap, Nas knew he was a great rapper, he was legendary, but that was like a insult! That was like sayin' "I don't really wanna rap with you, but if you can come up with this high ass price I'm rap with you" But like I said Nas, he's one of the greatest, I would love to rap with him, I already rapped with Jay-Z so I ain't really
trippin, I rapped on the Change The Game Remix, they just took me off.. even though it didn't come out to the public live, I satisfied my mack to wanna rap with Jay-Z, eventhough after not liking him cause I was one of Pacs good friends, but after Pac died and I kinda developped a liking for Jay-Z and he asked the Dogg Pound, Daz & Kurupt to come get on Change The Game with him, and I respected him for just even rapping with them, I was like "Oh you hustled that!" he hunted them down and called them like "Yo I want you guys to come to New York and do this!" And I happened to be goin to New York that same week, so me and Daz went together, we met Kurupt out there and we did the Change The Game remix!


dubcnn.com : There has been some controversy about your track with 2Pac called Ghetto Star. Who recorded the original version with 2Pac, you or Nuttso?

Nuttso had the song, Priority had got the song for me, I didn't know Nuttso did the song, so that's why I did it. I would have never done it, like Priority brought it to me Marvin had got the verses, he gave it to me the two 2pac verses wit a new beat that they had said that they got these 2 verses, so they kinda lied to me. And I rapped on it, Nuttso ended up gettin payed, I never put it out because of that reason, Priority white labeled it, and it blew up.


dubcnn.com : So you didn't record it with Pac in the studio.

No no I didn't do that. I got that verse, Pac was dead when I first heard that. They had got it, and like I said they confronted me like "Yo we got this pac verse" And I had never heard it so I thought they were tellin the truth, I was like "No one ever put this out? This was just a verse pac had layin around?" and they was like "Yeah, he did this song with Ant Banks, no one else was on it but they lied, they took Nuttso off thinkin that Nuttso would never surface. They thought Nuttso is some nobody ass rapper, but at the same time he was like a small time rapper but that was Pac's homie! Pac did that song wit him!


dubcnn.com : Thanks for clearing that up. How much do you charge for 16 Bars?

5 Gs and I always work it out. Sometimes, don't get me wrong, I've gotten more than that, the most I've got for a verse was like 15 Gs but I usually 5 cause thats what Snoop first started pain me and that was a good price for me and it always worked out it was never too high for people, they always felt like Bad Azz is worth 5 Gs. And I always went down from there for people who are friends are certain kind of relationship. I've done verses from anywhere, from $500, that's about the cheapest I've went, but it's always like friends, like I just did a verse for my homeboy Leathal who's a Long Beach producer and he's one of my good friends and he's doin a compilation and he asked me for a verse, and he offered me that and I took it! And that's how it goes sometimes, in other words I would have did it for him for free, and just gotten my publishin in the backhand, but he offered
me like "Yo Bad I got this song and I could a couple bucks, it ain't what you worth but I got 500 bucks for you" and 500 dollas is money! I went over there, did the verse, got the 500 bucks and smoked a couple joints and we was chillin! But yeah on a regular, Ima charge 5 Gs! If Jadakiss says "Yo Bad Azz I want a verse!" I'll be like 5 Gs! But look, don't pay me shit, just throw me a Jadakiss verse! So that's how you work it out sometimes. That's why I said alotta these niggas ain't gettin paid, it's not like they ain't gettin compensated, cause a Bad Azz verse is worth a Jadakiss verse, I feel like that, and if Jadakiss feel like that, unless he feels like a Jada verse is bigger than a Bad Azz verse, then I'ma say "Fuck you! A Bad Azz
verse worth a million more than a Jadakiss verse!" But other than that, if he's feelin mutual, if he wanna swap, if he feels like "Bad Azz verse is worth a Jadakiss verse" then I'Ma do it! Then we both just shine from havin each other on our shit! That's what the rap game is all about!


dubcnn.com : How much did you charge Ecay Uno?

Ecay I think I did like 2 Gs, something like that.. But see I hooked up wit Ecay through Killa Tay so its like homie love. I met Ecay with I-Rocc. I-Rocc happened to be doin' some stuff with Killa Tay, and he asked him if he had a rapper, and Killa Tay was like "yeah Bad Azz! He's like one of my best friends! I'll call him right now!" Killa Tay calls me like "wassup nigga whatchu doin?" "chillin just thuggin what you doin?" and he's like "I'm in San Diego!" so I say "Nigga what you doin down here, and you didn't call me man you this close to me!" so he's like "I DID call you, I'm callin you right now! AND I got some money for you! You drive down here right now, my little homie Ecay he raps and my homie I-Rocc got the budget he's gone shoot you a couple Gs" and bam! And from then on I started goin down there and chillin wit Ecay and chill with them niggas like all the time! We went
to mexico and shit, still friends with them to this day!


dubcnn.com : What are you trying to achieve in the future? Any projects?

In the future? I'm trying to utilise the rap game to maximise my life, to success all my life, and why I say that is because the rap game is my most prosperous fincancial situation right now, and I wanna crack it open to make atleast a million dollars so I can probably get into some other little businesses that I wanna get into aswell as having a prosperous record label, that's one of my goal. And also I wanna get into property, because property will always sell and I like nice property, I like nice offices, nice buildings and I wanna get into that so I can have ownership to some of these things because why have a membership at a gym and you don't have ownership to it if you a smart person. So if I wanna go get healthy and I
have a basketball court, I hook up the gym, and that way its recreation for family members and other people, and if you get into houses, alotta people in my family, like I'm a young home owner in my family, I have aunties and uncles right now who have never owned a house and I own a house, and that' why I'ma get into real estate after I capitalize on the rap game to go to maybe a real estate school for a second to take some training and education, because I know how real estate works, but I need to get filled in on the details, and I would like to be financially straight and I know the rap game can do it. So that's my aim, I'm gonna be workin and enjoyin myself, I'm not that old, I'm 27, I'ma sit back and be in this real estate game in my late 30's, so for the rest of these years, I'ma be like a young rapper, I'ma be like a 21 year old rapper for the next 7 years, and after that, then I'ma be
the grown mature man that I've always been growin into, but what i'm doin is, it's just extendin my youth, the rap game, you feel me? It's extendin my youth to where it's like I'm still young right now, I still feel like a young kid with heart that wanna rap and serve niggas and make dope songs and get on the radio and wear big chains, and take my lil son wit me and put him TV, I still got that fire. So these next couple years as I do that from the standpoint that I'm doin it, cause now I'm doin it in the best position of my life because of this: now I got alotta stuff that I used to really work hard for, that I never knew if I'd get. I got songs wit 2Pac, I didn't have that when I was tryna develop Bad Azz.. I was trying to get that stuff and I didn't know if I could ever get that. So even though I got a song "Ghetto
Star" that's famous with me and pac that I did record when he was dead that
alotta people don't know, but eventhough I got stuff like that, I got famous songs with Pac that I did, live in the studio drinkin hennesey, smokin weed with him.. Like Out The Moon, I was there, I recorded that with him, the one on Daz album "Only Move 4 The Money" I did that live in the studio wit Pac.. I did like 10 songs live in the studio with him. It's no mystery that me and Pac had a beautiful history, but like I said, it's the fact that back then I didn't have all the stuff that I got now, I didn't write I want it all for Warren G back then, I didn't write I Shot The Sherrif for Warren G back then, once I did all that and I kept doin' more and kept doin' more, today Im Bad Azz wit the history that I got, and I'm not as famous as Snoop I'm not as famous as Pac, but I did as much as them, you know? So it's like I did alotta stuff, Snoop has done alot more records than me solo, but he's been in a better position to do them because after all these years I feel I could have done as many records as Snoop! But he's been really bangin them out, he's been in the position to really get in the studio everyday, he has his studio at his house, when you got your studio at your house you can make more songs! I gotta get up and go to the studio, he wakes up and he's at the studio! So I put myself in that position, but the question, I did answer it kinda long but that was the last question, it's really like I'm utilisin the rap game for the rest of it, to put myself in a position where I can max out and get into other ventures of life that I wanna get into, and retire!


dubcnn.com : That was a good answer!

That's real, and the rap game is good, I'm kinda glad that I'm goin late. This is just some personal shit for you, but I'm kinda glad that it came late for me, because it makes my time long, and I knew, I kinda had an idea that I was blessed with that from the beginning. In other words, I always say this, the Dogg Pound, we were blessed with fame and longevity. We wasn't blessed with money, we had to get our money. And that's what we're blessed with. Kurupt, he's always gone be famous, he's gone be in the game until he wants to get out! Daz, he'll be in the game until he wants to get out! Snoop he'll be in the game until he wants to get out! What about people like Special Ed who come in the game, go platinum and then fall off and you never hear from them again for 10 years. Now he's tryna come back, do you think his record will be successful? And that's what I don't think, and I'm being realistic. If Daz, even though Daz records aren't as successful as you said as they could be, Daz is still currently in the game, Special Eds not! So my whole point is, even though Daz kinda went to a different kinda level of the game, he kinda metamorphasized and now he's in a different place, but you can still buy a brand new Daz record with brand new songs on them. And you'll be able to get one next month! But my whole point it, we was all blessed with that, look at Techniec, people still ask about Techniec and that's what I was sayin', we was blessed with fame and longevity, because Techniec hasn't put out a record in a long time since the Mack 10 lil hood compilation, or hasn't put out no big stuff for people to really see nationwide, and he's still bubblin! I got everywhere and people ask me about this guy all the time! Soon as they see me it's like they think about him and I haven't really been hangin with him! It's like they seen me wit him
recently, and then they see me again and go like "Where's Techniec?" I'm like "You askin me about him like you seen him wit me the last time! You seen me 15 times and you haven't seen him wit me! But yet you'll see me and ask me about Techniec" But it's chillin, I talked to him and he's still plannin to knock the rap game over! And I love it, we all still here it's a blessin! I hate that Kurupt left, I hate that, and I love Kurupt, to the point where I wish he never went the way he went, because I'm not gonna change it you know? I wish it was like that, but the Dogg Pound is here, we're here to stay, and it's beautiful! The only thing we missin is Kurupt and Roscoe...


dubcnn.com : Allright man, that's it for the questions, thanks for taking to time to answer them!

Aight man, chop it up then let's get it crackin!

dubcnn.com : Cool man..

Aight Peace!