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DARREN VEGAS (June
2010) | Interview By:
Chad Kiser
Darren Vegas is a multi-platinum producer who has worked with several of
hip-hop’s finest including Snoop Dogg, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, Crooked I, Too
Short, Boo Yaa Tribe, and 40 Glocc aka Big Bad 40 (Welcome To Cali) to name
only a few. Raised in Orange County, CA, Darren is no stranger to the west
coast music scene, as his first label Killa Cali Records released the group
Killafornia Organization, with the help of Tha Chill (of CMW) and sold
350,000 of that record. From there, Darren’s production would soon get
noticed by Snoop Dogg, which led to him producing “Dippin’ In My Low Low”
featuring the LBC Crew for the Tha Doggfather album.
Soon after, Darren's career was in full motion. It was then when an M.C. by
the name of Crooked I came into the picture. After their first record at
Virgin failed to come out over a record company scandal the two joined
forces and began recording Crook’s new record “Untouchable Cali”. It was
during this time that Crooked I, who had then signed to a deal with Dogg
Pound records, hashed a deal with Death Row and Suge Knight. After Big C
Style, Daz and Suge fell out Crookid then signed a deal directly with Death
Row.
While at Death Row, Darren produced on 2Pac’s “Until The End of Time” and
“Nu Mixx Klassics”, the “Dysfunktional Family” soundtrack, several tracks
for TLC’s Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes’ N.I.N.A. project, Crooked I, Keyshia Cole,
Ray J, Kurupt and others.
Dubcnn sits down with multi-platinum and Hood Star producer Darren Vegas for
an exclusive interview, where we discuss Death Row & Suge Knight, Crooked
I’s only official solo album to date, why Hood Star wasn’t released long
ago, his thoughts on the WIDEawake/Death Row Records situation, what he’s
currently working on, what his current relationship is with Crooked I and
much more.
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Interview was done in June 2010
Questions Asked By:
Chad Kiser
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Dubcnn Exclusive – Darren Vegas
By: Chad Kiser
Related Media
Big Bad 40 aka 40 Glocc -
Welcome To California Remix (ft. E-40, Snoop Dogg, Too Short, Xzibit
& Seven) (Produced By Darren Vegas)
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Dubcnn: Let’s start this with an obvious question: Why do you think Hood
Star didn’t come out back in the day through Tha Row?
Only one man can answer that and that is Suge Knight. I think Suge
was getting blackballed. He was trying to get into doors and people weren’t
letting him in anymore. This album would have, and should have been released
after Suge was released from prison. That’s when we finished the album and
it really would have been a west coast classic. That’s what should have
happened.
Dubcnn: Why do you think Suge was getting blackballed?
When he came out of prison, I think because of the reputation he had of
strong arming people, just from people hearing his name and getting scared,
they didn’t want to deal with him. Other people didn’t want that drama
around them anymore at the time. And then you had other people who were just
trying to get away from gangsta rap.
Dubcnn: Have you heard the Crooked I record “I’m Ready?”
That mixtape track he did over the Alicia Keys joint?
Dubcnn: Yeah, where he disses “Hood Star” and tells people to
bootleg it…
Yeah, I heard that.
Dubcnn: Why do you think Crooked is doing that?
I think Crooked might have signed away his royalties off this record in
order to get released from his contract at Death Row. At the time, he would
do anything to get off Death Row. Maybe that’s why he’s not supporting it,
but that’s just me speculating though.
Dubcnn: That’s an interesting concept. Do you know for sure if he
did or didn’t sign away his royalties?
I don’t know whether he did or didn’t. I’m just speculating because he would
have done anything at that time to get off of Death Row. He was starving and
he couldn’t do anything else because rap is his hustle. He would have done
anything. He needed to support his family. That’s just speculation though.
The only person who truly knows how to answer that is Crooked I.
Dubcnn: When did you meet Crooked I and first hear his music?
I first heard Crooked I and his music back when he was still signed to
Virgin Records. Big C-Style played Crooked I music for me. I was like who is
this dude? He’s dope! I started working on the record right away. As soon as
I heard his music, I knew I wanted to work with him. Dave Knight is a
producer who was a good friend of mine at the time and he was also producing
some records for Crooked I. Everything just made sense. C-Style introduced
me to Crooked I and I started working with him. I produced four cuts on his
record that Virgin never put out.
Dubcnn: How many records would you say you’ve recorded with Crooked
I?
I don’t know. 100 or possibly more. It’s hard to say because we used to work
together every day.
Dubcnn: That’s dope. What do you think Crooked I has made of his
career since then?
I think he’s kept his head above water. The industry has changed so much. A
lot of artists didn’t know where to go. People weren’t giving out deals and
artists were still starving. This business tears you apart. They had a fear
of doing business with former Death Row artists. That made it tough for
anybody let go from Death Row. Both of us [Crooked I & Darren Vegas] were
still locked in at our contracts at Death Row. At the same time, we couldn’t
go anywhere else anyway. Music is all we knew in our lives. We’ve all gone
through a lot.
Dubcnn: Do you think “Hood Star” is good for his career?
It’s good for his career because anytime people are talking about you and
hearing dope songs of yours that you did, it can only help you. Even with
him currently protesting against it, I think it may make some people want to
buy it and I hope it does help push his career even further.
Dubcnn: Do you prefer old Crooked I or new Crooked I?
To be honest with you, I haven’t heard a lot of current Crooked I material,
just because we went our separate ways. I hear some internet stuff out there
and he’s still a dope MC. I haven’t really heard a lot though. I loved that
Death Row shit we did together. It was just so fierce. I think he still
sounds dope though.
A lot of the stuff that leaked on the internet was stuff that I had
produced. When I saw the track listing for “Hood Star” and I realized that I
produced almost every song on this album except for two. It’s actually good
that they contacted me because I’m going to let them know who produced what.
And my boy Monsta’ from the Boo Yaa Tribe played the guitar all over that
record. He was with Death Row at the time with me for all of those years. He
was still with me when I was making records with Bone Thugs-N-Harmony.
Dubcnn: What do you think of those who have been very negative
towards the whole WIDEawake/Death Row thing?
People are going to feel the way that they feel. They probably don’t know
everything that has happened. All I know is that myself and Crooked I made
some dope ass music over there that nobody got to hear. And we didn’t get
paid what we were supposed to be paid because it never got released. We were
both caught in a bunch of drama because of it. Labels were afraid to fuck
with both of us because of Death Row. Even if Suge had released people from
their Death Row contract, at that time, record labels were so afraid to fuck
with you if you had ever fucked with Death Row before. They didn’t want Suge
showing up at their office, not to say he would or wouldn’t. They didn’t
want any drama. I guess Treacherous [Records] wasn’t afraid to deal with it.
I have some stuff for WIDEawake/Death Row, which is a completely un-leaked
album of Crooked I. I have the Left Eye [Lisa Lopes] stuff; I did the bulk
of her project. I even have some stuff with Kurupt over there.
Dubcnn: What are you currently up to with your own personal
projects?
I am doing 40 Glocc’s album right now. I just produced a record for it
featuring Snoop Dogg, Xzibit, Too $hort and E-40 alongside 40 Glocc. Their
all over one song called “Welcome
to Cali.” That is for 40 Glocc’s album and we are about to
release the song to radio. I just did a remix to it too. There is going to
be two other versions with the same beat. We have verses from Crooked I, Ras
Kass, MC Eiht, King T, Kurupt and Roscoe. I think there done with it.
I’m also back in contact with Layzie Bone and am about to be working with
him again. You can check out
DarrenVegas.com and
BeatMafia.com, which is my new production company. You can
check those sites out right now.
Dubcnn: Do you have any last words for Dubcnn?
I really want people to check out and support “Hood Star.” Also, me and 40
Glocc will be in the Palms in Las Vegas filming live in the studio with
another big artist who is yet to be named. We’re gonna’ put that record out,
but first, people will get to check out the behind the scenes footage as if
we’re putting together a documentary. I hope y’all enjoy all of that.
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