TAADOW  (September 2006) | Interview By: Lil Jay

   

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Interview was done in August 2006

Questions Asked By: Lil Jay

Taadow Gave Dubcnn A Shoutout! Check That Here

For more info, visit www.taadow.com

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Talk about your background and how you came up in the game.

I grew up at Far Rockaway, Queens. We're outside at Jamaica and all that, so we're real respected by the Queens community. Kurupt was from Philly, Pac from Brooklyn, Xzibit from New Mexico, Taadow from Queens. But we rep this West Coast to the fullest. So if you respect that, you get the respect back from this side. I mean I got L.A. tattoos and I'm from Queens, so I rep it to the death. I make West Coast clothing! People out here be like 'Can we get Taadow East please?' But it ain't about that, cause Taadow is dedicated to what I love and to the people that helped me get on. Dre, Snoop and them, they put me on. I mean, I've been doing shit since 88.

I got in the game by working with a stylist making leather gear. When them cats couldn't do it, they would call me. I would make them customs for the videos. Leather jerseys, jackets and wardrobes. We'd go an hook up gear that match the pants for Biggie. Father MC was my homie, we went to school together. Puffy was a dancer for us when we was at Uptown. We was like the headliners. And that was when Father MC brought Mary J. Blige and Jodeci to the studio, we brought them to Uptown. So all the shit you see in their videos, I made all that. After that, Father MC left, and Puffy left the label with Biggie and he created Bad Boy, so I was doing my own thing.


That was when you started Leak Wear?

Yeah, I had a couple of new ideas and started Leak Wear. Me and my homeboy MC Serch would hang with Redman and DJ Twins. So Redman was on the cover of Rap Pages with his dogs with a Leak Wear hoodie on. That was bigger than life, cause big stores started calling. I was like 'Yo I do shit just for the artists and the stylists, custom leather apparel for videos!' They wanted to see catalogues and the line, so I got with this Korean cat and he manufactured all the goods for us. My sister in law is Fran Spero, she's managing Puffy right now. So I went back on tour with Puffy doing merchandizing. And then it was on again, I was doing all the shit for Bad Boy. Puffy, Biggie, Mase, 112. I never got no credit for any it, but I got the check! Their stylists Mike B and Grovey Lou would come to me and show me the concept of the video, or Puffy would be like 'Yo Taadow, make it like this!' And we laced it out, we made sure they loved it. We did anything. We could turn a pair of sweat suit into a gator suit.


What happened after that?

I connected with Loud Records to make all their sweatshirt from Xzibit, M.O.P., Wu-Wang, and them. All their sweatshirts got Leak wear stamp on the sleeves. So I had the budget for the whole Loud Records for the last 2 years. Al Pittman, Xzibit's security guard, he hooked me up with Dre and showed him some shit that I created, and that nigga loved it! Dre was like 'I want this as the official Up In Smoke tour shirt'. I was like 'No doubt!', so I ended up clicking with Dre cause he wanted me to do some more shit. Plus me and my man MC Serch was holding down Eminem. Somebody else was supposed to be doing their tour, but I just took the shit over. The niggas just had to fall back! Nobody wanted their shit, it became a Leak tour! First the ad with Dre came up, then I did the ad with WC. So it went down. I made custom shit for Snoop, and then Snoop came out with his line. Then we did shows in Vegas together. Snoop had just dropped his Snoop Dogg Clothing, so it was a family thing!

Then I created a Leak surf line for the white kids. So I turned it into Leak Surf Designs, Leak Skate Designs, Leak Snow Designs. I knew a lot of kids in Hawaii, so I wanted to get into that market. So I wanted to create Taadow and make that the official line and dedicate it to the West. Because when I was rockin with all the West Coast cats, all they had was Dickies! I was like 'I can't wear this shit, it's like you're on the job or something. This shit don't match, and its uncomfortable! I don't like this, so I'ma create y'all the right brand!


What's the whole mindstate behind the Taadow West clothing line?

You gotta figure it out like, when you get off your 8 hour shift and you go buy your uniforms, there's no choice. There's Dickies, there's Carhartt. There's no choice. And who the fuck is a Dickie? Do you know who Dickies is? No. Do I know who Dickies is? No. They ain't got nothing with colors that match eachother. And they don't give a fuck. And they will tell you straight off the back, cause I called them personally. 'Can I get something that matches? Can my shirt match my pants?' They told me they don't have the same colors, this is made for workwear, and this is not a stylist line. That was in the middle of me designing Taadow to see where this Dickies shit came from. So now your favorite rappers rappers wearing the shit, it's a workwear product, it's got the same price range as Dickies, and it's available at workwear stores. So now you got a choice! And I'm telling you, I got the West riding with it!


How's the response on the West Coast been?

Me being from New York, once it came down, I got out there to L.A. and the love was shown to me from cats who didn't even know me. They opened up their doors to me and really showed me true love. Like Dre, dude got a million cats around trying to get at him all the time and trying to do the same thing as me. Dude didn't know me from a hole in the wall, and he opened up his doors to me. Why? I got tired of asking why! Why did this man bless me with this shit? Cause I'm Taadow nigga! That's why. They call me Taadow for a reason. How I do things, it's not just a name, it's an expression. This is how I get down, my shit is always Taadow. I get the job done, I make shit that nobody can touch. It takes a lot to live up to this name! Snoopy is the one who gave me that name. 'Nigga you Taadow! You move just like Taadow. You Taadow!'

L.A. cats showed me love, so Ima show them love. I see the difference of the hustle. In New York alone, the lifestyle, you gotta keep it moving all the time, people move to quick. But in L.A., people be like 'Don't trip if you're late, we'll do it tomorrow!' If I work a hard month in L.A., that's like putting a full year's work in New York time. And that's just the way it is! L.A. is just a little more dedicated to what they do, and it's a lot of loyal cats out there, like the Dre's, the Snoop's, Bad Azz, 40 Glocc, WC is my homie. I love that cat, he showed me a lot in L.A. Those are the cats that I deal with directly.

And it's a blessing, and I'ma hold it down to the fullest. And that's why I've been chosen because I can hold the weight on my back. And when somebody try to come at me 'Nigga you ain't even from L.A.', I'm like 'Come on man, I got more L.A. in me than a L.A. nigga.' Nobody would ever come in my face and say that I'm confused, cause I'm not. And I got my shit on lock. I got respect from the top notch cats. My communication shows it, my work shows it, my ads show it. We did 5 million in the first year, it was like magic!


Who else are you looking to secure for an ad?

I'm trying to work out this deal with Ice Cube that Brother Ron Muhammed hooked up. I called him about getting involved in this Taadow company so talked about a partnership. So we're just waiting to hear back from him. We got a couple other people back and forth on it right now. I don't wanna put it in the air yet, cause we're still in discussion so it's looking good. But it's funny, cause Cube is a different monster. I didn't touch Cube for the whole Up In Smoke tour. I mess with his right hand man, WC. I was with Dre, and I didn't touch Cube! We said Whats up, cool, but then he was gone everytime we tried to get him. I got Leak Wear out to everybody, but he didin't get one piece of it.

It's like Suge, I had the biggest deal with Suge. When Suge first came home, he got at me cause he saw all the ads with Dre on it, WC on it. So we was in a club in L.A. and they came at us about getting with us. So Suge invited us on his yacht, and it was a holiday and he just got home. He wanted to buy Leak Wear. I was like 'Dog, I feel where you coming from. But if you wanna be a silent partner, you're just too loud dog, we can't really rock with you like that. We can do things for your artists, maybe do an ad with Crooked I or something. But as far y'all becoming our partners right now, it's kinda fucking up what we got going on right now. We respect your gangsta, but you gotta respect us too. We ain't from here, we some New York cats.' And he did! He respected our gangsta, and that was real. We saw him a couple times at the club, my partner had this ill Viper truck, and Suge had a Harley Davidson truck. He wanted to see the truck, and we rolled the block a few times. But he was by himself. But it was crazy how he came at us, but he came at us right cause he found out that we wasn't no L.A. cats. It what just that we were getting so recognized by everybody to the point where people love you so much and that nigga mad at you! (laughs)

But I made the right decision, and nobody ever really told me to chose a side, and I've been blessed on that part. Like my Boo Yaa cats, Cobra, Godfather, all them cats. Real Piru bloods, and them niggas go all out for me man. I ain't gotta be one of them, but I am one of them! I do me, and they do them. See, New York has no idea about real gangbang shit. None, whatsoever. None. Either they see the movies or they heard about it. You see plenty of niggas with red rags and shit, but they don't know nothing about it.


What does the future hold for you?

As for the future, if I can get 10% of what Dickies is working with, I think we did it. If I can get Cube with this, I think there's nothing else to say. It will be just as classic as the Reebok ad. If Cube doesn't get on with it, I see new generation. Maybe having a photo with Cube, Dre, Snoop, like a big West Coast scenery. This is how the West was one, maybe on Santa Monica beach with lowriders, palm trees and barbeques. I'm really trying to take it over. I think that I've always made history by having the only ad with Dr. Dre, ever. Now I got his son, so I got something old and something new. We know Dre got a bunch of kids, but this is his son. Hood Surgeon gonna be the one. He's gonna be in New York. Flex is about to drop bombs on him, Big Kap is working on his New York mixtape. The kid is outta here, the kid is gonna be the truth. He's learning Hip Hop from the ground up. He ain't rapping under his pops wing, cause Hip Hop won't accept that. Niggas in the streets won't accept that cause that's not street credibility so he's gonna have to prove himself. You gotta know how to kick the shit. Lil Eazy doing the same thing, he's putting in work on the streets. You gotta found your foundation. But watch, Hood and Game gonna have some problems. Hood ain't a problem, he's a very humble and thankful cat. He from Compton, him and Game went to the same school, they know the same people. But Hood is my nigga, I'm fucking with Hood!


Any last words for everybody out there?

Hip Hop is just a rough business man, street business, shit you gotta deal with from the labels. It's a ugly fuckin game. I'm from Far Rockaway but I dont live in Far Rockaway anymore. But they love me when I come back! I know certain niggas don't love me and wanna get at me, but they can't touch me. They talk about it, so be about it. It's like come on, everybody get threats once you get to that level. This is the business we chosed! If you ain't got a stomach for it then nigga what you doing here? Do something else, this is some real shit. Be a Kanye rapper. I'm not saying niggas is gay, but don't come out trying to spit that shit if you ain't that shit. Being real get you killed, not being real will get you killed quicker.

My people got love for me cause they got love for me, not cause I pay them. And that's unconditional love. But to be a boss, you gotta play your part. And I'm a general. I've seen it all. Been there done that. I've been in the first week of Hip Hop. I've seen and I know Kool Herc. I call the nigga right now and get him on a 3-way with us. I know the first week of Hip Hop, I was there. I'm 37 years old god. I may look like I'm fuckin 22, but I'm old. Born in Brooklyn, raised in Queens, seen the world 3 times over. And I rep another place that I'm not even from, and I get respected for it. Can't say much more than that about me, my name is Taadow.

Here are some exclusive photos of various rappers reppin' Taadow West (formerly known as Leak Wear). A lot of these pictures were taken at the Up In Smoke tour, as Taadow West served as an official sponsor during the tour. As you can see, you have the whole crew giving it up for Taadow. From left to right, top to bottom: Bad Azz, Tray Deee, WC, Warren G, Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, Xzibit, Proof, Eminem, Mel-Man, Fredwreck, Devin the Dude, Kenan Thompson, Hood Surgeon, Leak Wear Ad (Taadow, Caffine, Big Kap), Taadow