***EXCLUSIVE**** Noncentz Presentz...SHORTY B - THA INTERVIEW!! (IN FULL)

[Chad]

It’s been a long time comin’ but I have finally tracked down none other than Dangerous Crew producer, Shorty B.  Shorty B took the time to talk with me in a very in-depth and exclusive interview.  We discuss what he’s been doing lately, and what’s in store for the future with his projects.  We talk about Shorty B’s beginnings in music, how he met Too $hort, and get in-depth about the Dangerous Crew.  We end the interview with his thoughts on the current state of Hip-Hop.  Those are just a few of the things we touch on in this exclusive interview with Shorty B.  Read on, and be pleasantly surprised…………

Please feel free to leave any feedback about this interview to:  ckiser42@yahoo.com

Interview was done by phone, February 28, 2007

Interview conducted by:  Noncentz

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I want to send a speacial shout out to Lamont, Raiders, Akcranker, SJ, GP and EazyE for their help and support in bringing the Dangerous Crew back into relevance.  And homies, it ain’t gonna stop here as you’re about see….
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Shorty B Interview – Part 1


Noncentz:  This is Noncentz, hookin’ up with none other than Shorty B, of the famous Dangerous Crew.  Shorty B, What’s up?  How you been doin’, man?

Shorty B:  Aw, it’s pretty good man. Just workin, man, tryin’ to keep my career up and runnin’.  Yeah, I’m doin’ pretty good man. I’m still Platinum!

Noncentz:  I hear ya!  What projects are you workin’ on right now?  What artists are you workin’ with?

Yeah, I’m producin’ right now workin' on the Ying Yang Twins solo projects and the new Ying Yang album.

Noncentz:  Ok, Ok…what are doin’ for them?

Just producin’ some songs for them.  I already done about 18 or 19 songs for them so far.

Noncentz:  So you puttin’ in some work, huh?

Oh, man I stay busy, you know what I’m sayin’?  The phone never stop ringin’.

Noncentz:  Well lemme say this , Shorty B…you gotta be the funkiest bass player in the hip-hop/rap game, hands down!  Do you feel like you get recognized for that?  Is that what people in the industry know you for?

(laughs while I say that)..Well yeah, that’s everywhere I go, you know what I’m sayin’?  It kinda messes me up though, cuz I don’t really like playin’ that bass shit, but you know I do what I do.  But I’m actually a better producer than I am a bass player. It’s just like I put that funk down so hard that I guess it just stuck on everybody’s brain. 

Noncentz:  Keepin’ with that, I guess a lot of people don’t know or realize that you play drums, keyboards, etc…are you self-taught?

I play a little bit of everything.  I don’t read at all.  I learned to read in junior high school, but hell, I done forgot all that shit now…(laughter).

Noncentz:  Lemme go back in time with you a little bit…

OK

Noncentz:  Tell everybody where & how you grew up.  And who you’re influences were coming up in the music scene and all that…

Well, I grew up in Washington, D.C.  I came up in the Go-Go scene, Go-Go music, ya know.  I used to play in a group called Hot/Cold Sweat, and another group called Heavy Connection.  You know, Go-Go first started like when EU, Rare Essence, Chuck Brown, all those Go-Go groups that really never made it nationally, but they would be in the local area.  So you know I did that for quite a few years up until I was about, I think 18.  And, uh, this is a helluva story.  Believe it or not, man, uh, I don’t even know that I should tell you all of this..(laughs)

Noncentz:  Well, you tell me what you wanna tell me…

It’s all good, you know what I’m sayin?  When I was young, right?  I was actin’ a lil’ bit of the ghetto, you know Palmer Park, Maryland/Washington, D.C., you know everybody was basically tryin’ to come up any way they could.  I had actually hit a lick, and I had been off and on messin’ with George Clinton and the Parliament Funkadelic, like Michael Hampton and Eddie Hazel, and really Michael Hampton and I are best friends, and Michael Kid one of the guitar players with Funkadelic, and I had just talked to Mike yesterday.  And Eddie Hazel, we…hold on (had another call)….(continues)..Yeah, Chad, where’d I left off dog?

Noncentz:  You was talkin’ about Michael Hampton and all them…..

Yeah, Eddie Hazel he did alotta guitar, he was like one of the first guitar players for Funkadelic, and he was like my fishing buddy.  We used to go fishing, then come home and jam for hours, then go fish some more.  We was stayin' at D.C. at the time, and so eventually I ended up doin’ a few gigs for Funkadelic here and there in different cities, and stuff, and me & Mike ended up living together in Long Beach for a while and after that I actually, uh…what year was that…I left D.C….I hit a lick…had went to California….I hit the bus station out there D.C. and said gimme a ticket to California.  The dude behind the counter said “where to?”  I said ANYWHERE!  So he said “how about Oakland?”  And I said I don’t care! You know what I’m sayin, I just wanna go to California…I’m leavin’ D.C. startin’ a new life, so I really don’t care.  So he gave me a ticket to Oakland, and it was the best thing that had actually happened to me because, if he woulda sent me to L.A., there’s no telling..I prolly woulda end up gangbangin’, Crippin’ or Bloodin’ or whatever.  But he sent me to Oakland, and I ended up hookin’ up with Shock G of Digital Underground.  And I had wrote a song, ‘cause I had already been in & out the Funkadelic, and Shock G, he always wanted to meet George Clinton, and I told him I was one of the band members.  And as a matter of fact, George and them was doin’ a show up in San Francisco that weekend, so I told Shock to come with me and I would introduce him to George.  And I did just that.  And to this day Shock G and George Clinton is pretty good friends.  So after I finally arrived in Oakland, I ended up workin’ at the guitar center downtown..I think it was on 18th street and San Pablo or somethin’…and that’s when I started meetin’ all the cats from Oakland.  Hammer, Toni, Tony, Tone, I mean everybody because everybody came into the guitar center and I was runnin’ the guitar department with a guy named Rusty Alex, who was actually the bass player for Sly & The Family Stone.  He replaced Larry Graham after he left.

Noncentz:  Oh, OK

Right, so I remember getting’ off the Greyhound Bus, it’s about 2 blocks down from the guitar center, and I had a couple guitars and a couple of bags.  And I remember I had just went to a show right before I left D.C. at the RFK stadium with E.U., Con Funk Shun, Frankie Beverly, Maze…alotta people.  And I remember I was standin’ on stage, watchin’ Frankie Beverly playin’, and that’s when the drum machine had just started to come out, and they was tryin’ to use the drum machine..I think to start this song called Starlight I think it was. But the drum machine kept actin’ up, right?  And I’m standin’ right there, and I remember that.  So the show had went on, a couple days later I get on the bus and went to Oakland, California.  When I got off the bus, I walked up the street and I walked by the guitar center, and I said to myself, “damn, look at all those guitars!”  So I backed up a lil’ bit, went in, put my guitar and bags up against the wall, walked up to the counter and said, “hey man, lemme play one of these guitars..”  He said, “pick whatever you want.  What amp you wanna play to?”  So I grabbed a nice guitar, I think it was a Jackson or somethin’…I’m not sure.  He plugged me up, and man I went to wailin’ away.  I went to showin’ off, man.  Did a lil’ Eddie Van Halen, you know…

Noncentz:  You was in heaven, huh?

I really ain’t no joke with these instruments, man!  But as I looked around, there was about 30 people standin’ around me, right?

Noncentz:  Uh-Huh….

So I looked and I’m like “damn!”’Cause you know I was just jammin’, getting’ the feel of the guitar, and the amp was soundin’ good.  I was just wailin’ away, and I had looked up and seen 30-35 people standin’ around me, and I had seen this one black dude who looked familiar to me.  So, I just told you I had hit a lick, haha, and I’m lookin’ like damn, this guy looks familiar to me.  I seen him in D.C., did this guy just follow me all the way out here?? 

Noncentz:  ha-ha, no shit…

He walks up to me and says, “man, are you playin’ that guitar without no effects or nothin’??”  I said, “yeah, man..just me and the wood.”  He said, “maaaan..” …and I think it was the drummer from Frankie Beverly…damn, what’s his name?  I think his name was Billy White, I think it was..I said, “man, you gotta be kiddin’me!  I just did a show with y’all in D.C. at RFK Stadium…I remember y’all kept tryin’ to start this song called Starlight and the drum machine kept messin’ up.”  So he start laughin’, right?  And he said, “Yeah!”  So I felt better, and I said, “No wonder, ‘cause you look familiar to me, and as a matter of fact, I was standin’ right next to you.”  I was standin’ right next to him, on stage.  He said, “Oh, that’s why I know you!”  Cuz when he had walked up to me, I knew I had seen him before.  So, I figured out who he was.  And then he says he wants me to meet somebody.  So we walked into the back to the pro audio, and it was the bass player named Robin Duke.  He said, “yeah, man, I hear you playin’ that guitar..”  and said, “yeah, man, I used to play with E.U., and I just left D.C. 4 days ago.  I was just standin’ on stage with y’all, when y’all was playin’.”  So, just while I’m talkin’ to him Chad, the guy, the manager, he was also the VP of the guitar center now, his name is Don Rider.  He walked up to me and said, “Hey, man, my boss wanted me to ask you if you knew anything about guitars.”  I said, “man, I could take a guitar apart and put it back together with my eyes closed.!”  (I’m laughin’)  he said, “well, he told me to offer you a job.”  And I’m standin’ there with drummer and bass player for Maze..ain’t been off the ground but like 10 minutes..15 maybe..and I said, “man, I don’t even know where I’m at.  I just got off the bus…I ain’t never really been here.”…so I asked the bass player if he kinda…well actually I had about $16,000 and a few other things in my backpack. so I had some money, but I didn’t wanna tell nobody…so I asked him if he could give me a place to stay, that’s kinda cool in the area, so I can kinda find me a job, or somethin’ ‘cause I don’t know my way around right, but I just had to come to California.  So he said, “Is that your stuff over there?”  I said, “yeah, that’s my stuff.”  I told the guy, that I really didn’t have no place to live.  He told me to grab my stuff and come fill out this application.  So filled it out, put name on it, and he put his address and phone number and he said, “you can come on and stay with me at my house.”  Just like that!  Now mind you, I ain’t even been off the bus 15 minutes, and I’m playin’ in the guitar center, and 20 minutes later I got a house up in the hills, to stay.  It was just absolutely crazy. So I grabbed my stuff, jumped in his Porsche, and rolled up in the Oakland hills.  And two days later…it was a Friday, and they told me I could start Monday morning.  I said, “Damn, Robin, I’m fresh out here and I don’t know nothin’.”  I ain’t got no friends really,  I got a lil’ money, I mean I could buy me a lil’ car but he said nah man, I’ma draw you a map.  He lived a very good life.  He got about 5 or 6 cars…Porsches and all kinds of stuff.  So he gave me a Mustang to use. a classic, it was green..I think it was a ’61, but it was clean!  He Drew me a map to the guitar center, gave me a car.  So my first day on the job, I think sold about 3 or 4 guitars, right? Because they had never seen nobody like me that could really relate to the customer.  You know play it, and tell’em all about the guitar, what kind or style of music, because, and you might interested in this, but because I was actually comin’ from a guitar playin’ standpoint, you know what I’m sayin’?  And I could relate to the people.  So what happened was, after the first day, on the second day this girl had walked in and she had two lil’ kids with her.  And she was fine, right?  So, I got the name and she gave me the phone number and invited me to dinner.  So after work I went out to dinner, and the next thing I know, boom! She had gave me the keys to her house. 

Noncentz:  Damn!  So in this short amount time, you was already up in the scene and everything!

Yeah, all this shit had happened in a matter of days.  So before I knew it, I was meetin’ everybody!  Toni, Tone , Tone used to come out there…and this is before they even got a record deal, before they was even thinkin’ about bein’ large.  So, I was at a Funkadelic show ‘cause they had come out to Cali, so I went to the show to hang out with the band, right?  And play with them.  And this was at the time I had met Shock G.  I recognized who he was from the Digital Underground.  I introduced myself, and we exchanged numbers.  Shock asked me how long I had been playin’ with the group.  So, you know I gave the history and what not.  To make a long story short, we ended up becoming friends and I told him I could introduce him to George Clinton ‘cause they was doin’ another show out here and we gonna go to the show and introduce him there.  So that’s what I did. 

Noncentz:  Ok, cool…

So then, it was so many cats in Digital Underground, but what was funny is I had wrote a song and produced it, and Shock put it on the Sons of the P album, and it’s called Tales of the Funk.  I wrote the rap, I did the beat, I wrote my rap, and Humpty Hump’s.  It’s me and Humpty Hump doin’ the rap on that album, right? You can go listen to it, it’s called Tales of the Funk.  So I did that, the record had come out, and it was kinda weird ‘cause I was the newest member of the group.  You know, 2Pac was there, Money B all them…me 2Pac became REAL tight!

Noncentz:  Oh yeah?  Tell me about that…

Me and 2Pac, we used to run together everyday.  I was about 10 years older than them, and they used to call me Unc.  And ‘cause I had my money on, they respected me ‘cause I was a hustler.  I had about 50 g’s on me, I was in the street a lil’ bit hustlin’, ya know, I ain’t gonna lie, I’m getting’ it. So, uh, I used to go to Pac’s house everyday. He used to live right next door to another member named Edward Cooks, we called him Smoov-E.  It’s all Digital Underground.  We used to all hang out.  So it was like so many people tryin’ to get in the position of bein’ a writer, or a producer in the group.  But all the sudden Shock just let me produce and let me put my song on the album and everything, so it kinda tripped everybody out.  They didn’t hate on me or nothing, they was just like damn!, this nigga come outta nowhere and just did it! 

Noncentz:  Right, Right….

So one day I’m in the hood, I used to live in west Oakland, I used to hustle in the projects called Acor(?) projects in west Oakland.  So, I had a homeboy named Kerm, who had came to my house to get some weed, ya know, I used to keep a lil’ weed shit for when you came by.  I think it was on a Sunday I think it was, I asked him where he was goin' and he said he was goin’ back over to Jerry’s house, which is actually Myrtle street, where we used to make all our records, right?  I’m gonna be over there with Too $hort watchin’ the game.  I said, “yeah?  I wanna meet him.”  I grabbed up a ounce of weed, and told him I was gonna follow him up over there, and go over there and smoke him out.  So when I went over to the house, Kerm introduced me to Too $hort.  Told him I was Shorty B, and that I played with the Funkadelic.  And at the time I had so much equipment in my house, you know, I had amps, guitars, I had a whole room set up like stage or a band…I had every instrument you could think of from drums, amps, keyboards, just everything.  So Kerm was tellin’ $hort how much I played, and $hort liked the Funkadelic so much that he couldn’t believe he had actually met one.  So I took him back to my house, and I played every instrument in there and just killed it…the drums, the keyboards, guitar, bass..everything.  So $hort was so impressed..I had just met $hort.  This musta been 1989, 1990, or somethin’ like that.  So from that moment on I would hear, like at about 9 o’clock in the morning, a horn blowin’ outside my door.  I look out the window…it’s $hortdog.  I thought he was comin’ to get the weed, but he wantin’ me to roll with him.  So me and $hort start rollin’ together everyday.  And $hort had booked some studio time, and the first song I did for Too $hort was a song on the Shorty The Pimp album, I did Shorty the Pimp too, but the first song I ever did for Too $hort was called In The Trunk. 

Noncentz:  That song was a banger right there….!

Right!  I had done alotta other songs on that album, but that was the first one I did.  And then I messed around and caught a case and had went to jail for 6 months. 

Noncentz:  Damn…..

$hort stopped the album.  He didn’t do no recordin’ until I got out!  I Couldn’t believe it. 

Noncentz:  I remember that between $hortdog’s in the House and Shorty the Pimp, there was a long gap between those albums.  I always wondered why that was cuz $hort was always good for releasin’ an album about every year or so, and it took about 2 – 2 ½ years before Shorty the Pimp dropped following $hortdog’s in the House…

Right, but as soon as I had got out we went back in and finished up Shorty The Pimp the album, and the rest is pretty much history.  I just kept makin’ records and doin’ my thing.  I been multi-platinum ever since.  All that just gives you a short little summary of how all that went down. 

Noncentz:  Yeah, that was cool.  That’s exactly what I was lookin’ for….

Yeah, that’s the background I came up with.

Noncentz:  Now, when you had hooked up with $hort, you guys started doin’ the whole Dangerous Crew thing…?

Well $hort had already had the Dangerous crew.  I think he had 4-Tay and a few other people, that I think he had already recorded a Dangerous crew album, if I’m not mistaken.

Noncentz:  Right, he did, he did….

So he was ridin’ with 4-Tay, and uh, basically, the next Dangerous crew album I basically produced myself.  I think I did about 10 songs for that, all by myself.  So that was basically my album.

Noncentz:  See, that’s what I was gonna ask you bout because when that album came out, Don’t Try This At Home, that was the first time we had all seen you with that much production on one album.

Right, right…I couldn’t be denied!  You know, basically, ever since we hooked up, I was doin’ all the music anyway!  Another thing is, I had met Ant Banks before I even met $hort.  And me and Ant Banks had did a couple of records with a guy named MC Ant.  And actually, me and Banks had brought Pooh-man to $hort, ‘cause we had already did a song called Fuckin’ Wit’ Dank with Pooh-man before we had introduced him to $hort.  So I had introuduced $hort to Ant Banks. 

Noncentz:  Oh, Ok…I see…

Ant Banks was with me!  Ant Banks, you know, he could mix and stuff , but he couldn’t really play nothin’.  But he was good with turnin’ the knobs.  And I was good with creatin’ the music.  So that was like a good combination.  I hooked him up with $hort, and then, so uh…I had so many songs…a lot of OUR songs, ended up on $hort’s albums.  Songs like Gettin’ It, I’m A Player, Somethin’ To Ride To…I mean just tons.  Alotta my songs, $hort was just like “lemme get that.”  ‘Cause you know, I was gonna come out with my own album ‘cause you know I used to rap back in the day. I never wanted to be a rapper, but I could.  I was pretty good at it.  I could write real good.  Like on Tales of the Funk.

Noncentz:  That’s what I was wonderin’ after the Dangerous Crew compilation came out, cuz me personally, I was expectin’ after that showcase of you, Goldy, Fatha Dom, Pee-Wee and all them, I thought we was about to get hit up by the Dangerous Crew. 

Well, see, lemme tell you one thing about $hort.  $hort’s my homie, but $hort didn’t have good business skills.  $hort led us to believe he knew what the fuck he was doin’, but he didn’t.  ‘Cause the album went gold and $hort, basically he was a hustler, he was signin’ shit just to get him some money.  Without really realizin’ who we were and what we were, and how the people was standin’ behind it.  So basically, the music I was makin’, it couldn’t be denied.  And I know that it couldn’t ‘cause $hort would start gettin’ my songs and puttin’em on his albums.  “Lemme get that song Shorty B!”  It was nothin’ about givin’ him a song ‘cause that’s what I do, I make records.  Makin’ music is nothin’!  it’s just what I do.  It’s like breathin’ air.  So uh, I say to him, that we didn’t have no keyboard player.  I played keys alright, but we needed a pro keyboard player.  And I said I got a homeboy with Digital Underground named Pee-Wee.  And that I was gonna get him to come over here with us.  I told Pee-Wee that I was over here producin’ Too $hort, and told him he should come over here cuz we ain’t got nobody doin’ keyboards and shit like you do.  So I brought Pee-Wee, and Pee-Wee came on and got down with us and the new Dangerous Crew basically between me, Pee-Wee, Fatha Dom, Ant Diddley Dog, Rappin’ Ron, and a few others.  I just decided to put alotta songs together, cuz I was always in the studio, and I just put all the homies on’em.  Alotta different songs, and before we knew it we had about 30 songs with everybody in our camp on’em.  So me and $hort decided we just gonna go ahead and put this album together, and I had basically already put the album together, but you know, I make music..that’s what I do so wasn’t nobody really in our crew that was really as talented as I was.  They couldn’t play nothin’.  They didn’t really know about music like that…like I did.  Cuz I had been in these bands and everything.  So I had already basically put an album together for $hort to say, “well let’s just go on and call it the Dangerous Crew!”.  But, yeah, I had done the title track called Don’t Try This At Home, and I was actually tryin’ to put a rock band together called Ebony Stone, which, you know, is another word for Black Rock. 

Noncentz:  Right, right….

And then $hort wanted to put that track, Don’t Try This At Home…that was for my album, and the title, that was the name of my album.  So $hort ended up gettin’ that song from me too, and put it on the album.  So I think I did about 9 or 10 songs, that I produced myself for that album.  I played every note. 

Noncentz:  Ok, lemme ask you this since you brought up the Black Rock and Ebony Stone, is that still something you’re experimenting with and somethin’ you still wanna try to bring out?

Yeah, that’s just something…as a matter of fact, I’m gonna complete that this year.  I just got an endorsement from this company, and since you puttin’ this together, definitely mention them in this article, they’re called XENOPIE, they just gave me some amps and stuff so…I was just talkin’ to Mike Hampton the other day, we thinkin’ about goin’ ahead and puttin’ our own lil’ group together that’s gonna be a lil’ bit of everything…there’s gonna be live, I’ll get some hip-hop, drums, just sounds cuz we can do anything we want to.  But I’ll give that Ebony Stone thing another try cuz I never really wanted to travel a lot as far as flyin’cuz, I don’t mind flyin’ but that turbulence shit be fuckin’ with me…I can’t stand that shit!  Let me stay on the land!

Noncentz:  Oh, me too!  I hate flyin’…I ain’t blamin’ ya on that shit!

Yeah man, I mean it’s beautiful when the plane is flyin’ smooth..but when that muthfucka get to jumpin’ around!!

Noncentz:  You gotta knock me out to get me on a plane!  I’m like Mr. T, you gotta knock me out before you put me on there!

Yeah, man!  Shit, I just say let me just stay on the land and just keep it comin’…but right now, I’m willing to actually do my thing if I can get this ebony stone off and runnin’ and we can get them big large concerts, get us a couple of hit songs..and I’m really willing to give it another try cuz my plan is….right now my chops is bugged,  man…I’m like a Ingvie Malsteen, if you ever heard of him.  I’m the black Ingvie Malsteen..I’m killin’ you know what I’m sayin?  (laughs)  So, I really wanna take it on the road..believe it or not, man I’ll be 46 years old, Sunday, the 4th of March…

Noncentz:  (laughs)  You’re still young….

Yeah, hell, I’m lookin’ 28…(laughs)

Noncentz:  Let me ask you this, you brought up Bad N-Fluenz ( Rappin’ Ron & Ant Diddley Dog)…

Riight…

Noncentz:  RIP to Rappin’ Ron, he was one of the flyest dudes I ever heard on the mic. 

Yeah, I used to love Ant Diddley and Rappin’ Ron!!  I don’t know where in the hell Ant Diddley is!  I ain’t seen him in like 15 years. 

Noncentz:  Yeah, that’s a question alotta people have is what happened to Ant Diddley, cuz he was raw too….

I don’t know…I really don’t know…it’s like what happened to him??  Alotta cats, it’s like I was tellin’ you the other day, alotta cats didn’t weather the storm.  I always figured that as long as there was music, I’ll be doin’ fine.  I didn’t just rely on rappin', I played everything..before I ever thought about rappin’. 

Noncentz:  And you’ve hooked up with everybody from TLC, to…..

I’ve hooked up with everybody..T.I., TLC, Lil’ Kim, Nelly..uh, as a matter of fact I just did 3 songs for the Lunatics album.  Big Gipp just called me the other day from L.A. and let me hear 2 of the songs with Nelly on’em, and he says he writin’ to another one, so I don’t know, it might turn that I might be, uh..I got so many tight ass beats that I’m gonna hit him with next time he come back cuz if he fell in love with the ones I gave him, you know what I’m sayin, it may somethin’ that can’t be denied.  I may end up gettin’ 4 or 5 songs on the Lunatics albums.  Maybe a couple on Nelly’s.  Yeah Gipp from the Goodie Mob…you know I work real close with Rico Wade, he’s a good friend of mine, he also like me, but it’s just that, uh, he kinda be too slow for me..you know I’m an independent, I’m an entity to myself, so I can’t really put myself up under somebody else’s camp, cuz I do me just fine.  But these my homies.  Alotta cats I got hit records with, they all show me love, respect, AND admiration, so that kinda keeps me goin’ too. 

Noncentz:   With so many classic albums and songs, like Shorty The Pimp, Get In Where You Fit In, The Big Badass, In The Land Of Funk, Don’t Try This At home, Cocktales, Gettin’ It….

Yeeeah, all that!


Noncentz:  What happened?  I know you touched on it a bit about $hort not really being a good business man, but….

Yeah, and we really kinda thought he was, but I guess $hort had to fake it as long as he could, you know what I’m sayin’ (laughs).  But he really wasn’t a business man.  Like I’m still in a deal with Zomba, and they don’t wanna let me out!  I been signed to Zomba for 16 years!  And these muthafuckas do not wanna let me go.  They gonna drop everybody from the contract that I got, except me.  You know why?

Noncentz:  Cuz you make hits…

Cuz I’m the muthfucka that still make hit records! To this day!  So it’s like they won’t let me go, or give me a new deal, so I’m like actually gonna start recordin’..I created Don Boss ..I’m gonna start recordin’ under a new name…I’m tryin’ to get this shit right…you know, gimme a million or two for what I do, or I’m gonna start cuttin’ you muthafuckas short cuz I’m gonna start recordin’ under another name.  I’m gonna have to quit Shorty B..all my fans’ll know it’s me..but I’ma get it done so legally Zomba can’t get their hands in my pockets.  In 2004 I just paid the IRS…Zomba had sent me a check for $70,000, right?  They sent a W-9 that had a misprint that said $700,000.  the IRS go crazy, and they take $78,000 out my bank account! 

Noncentz:  Damn!!

And I been strugglin’ ever since.  I’m just now getting’ back on my feet.  I mean I’ll hustle and make me some money one way or another, and I sell beats ..but who can afford to lose $78,000, in one day?  It taught me like…(laughs)…do your taxes..if you makin’ any kinda money over $30,000/$40,000, like I always was…you wanna do your taxes.  Cuz them folks will come and take your paper.

Noncentz:  Hell yeah they will…they won’t even wait on that shit!

Yeah, they’ll come and take your paper.  I just got them to release it off me about 2 or 3 weeks ago…I just started receivin’ checks again for about $10,000..and I usually get about 4 or 5 checks a year for about $17,000…$20,000..maybe 30,000…In royalties, I usually get about $125,000 a year…and that’s just royalties, you know?  And I’ve always been able to live off my talent, you know?  Nice house, nice car..whenever I want it.  My talent has actually provided enough for me to be comfortable with my lifestyle.  But I’m about to come out hard again, man.  I never was a “Hollywood” cat..I never did interviews, or took alotta pictures..I just did a few videos.  I was never an industry cat, you know what I’m sayin’?  I never wanted to be famous.  I just wanted to be rich.  Cuz if you was famous and rich, you couldn’t enjoy your money.  But I knew if you was rich, and nobody knew you, other than your name..you could live like you wanted to.  And I knew that from hustlin’ at a young age, and havin’ alotta paper..and sayin shit like when Young Jeezy be talking, I done every word in life he speakin’ of, at the least.  It’s like when I listen to Jeezy, I damn near think he’s talkin’ about my younger life!  Cuz he say so much shit, that I lived, it’s like he talkin’ about me.  Cuz that’s the life I lived before I came up in this music.  And since I did, I been stickin’ to it, you know, hustlin’ hard…but shit, Chad, you know, just ask me questions you wanna know  and I’ll run it off to you, dog…

Noncentz:  You’re straight, dog…I’m enjoyin’ listenin’ to you.  I gotta few more questions for you though.  Like this one:  Do you still keep in touch with members of the Dangerous crew, like Pee-Wee, Fatha Dom, etc..?

Oh yeah, yeah…I ain’t seen Goldy in a while. I went to Oakland last year and bumped into Goldy at the uh…you know alotta them cats, man, it’s like..they my homies, but if you didn’t weather the storm, as far as you’re still eatin’ off this shit..this wasn’t what you was supposed to be doin’.  Cuz alotta them cats, it was just like, the trend at the time , if they coulda came up at the time then they woulda.  But the fact that didn’t weather the storm, and that you don’t hear from’em to this day, this isn’t what they was cut out for.  Alotta cats didn’t weather the storm.  And all these cats, I got nothin’ but love for’em, they friends of mine, but this is what I do and what I been doin’  when you met me.  And cats from the Dangerous Crew, or any other crew for that matter, it’s like life is about opportunities..and I guess after a while you don’t get’em and you just give up.  I can’t give up.  Cuz this is what I do.

Noncentz:  In one of your e-mail responses, you mentioned that Ant Banks had contacted you a few months ago and…

I can give you all they numbers if you wanna interview them to, you know what I’m sayin’..I can give you, uh, I got Ant Banks number, I got…lemme see..lemme go through my phone and see what I got…I think Fatha Dom went crazy, I think he’s in the..last I heard he was in the crazy house..he went crazy

Noncentz:  Damn!  That sucks…but I mean, I’ll take any of their contact information, so that way I can track them down and bring you guys, the Dangerous Crew and all that back up in the game for those who don’t know, and make sure they check you guys out..

Yessir, yessir!!  As a matter of fact, I’m gonna call Ant Banks and let him know I’m gonna give you his number and you can call him and get some information outta him.  Ain’t no tellin’ what he knows. 

Noncentz:  Ok, yeah that’d be cool right there!  I’ll get that from you at the end of the interview, if that’s cool…but, um in an interview with Too $hort about a year ago, he mentioned that the time frame from Shorty The Pimp up to Gettin’ It was the most fun he ever had making songs.  How do you feel about that era?  How was it being in the studio with those guys?

Yeah, I guess it was cuz let me tell you somethin’ that’s funny.  Me & $hort fell out in like ’95, right?  He kept offering everybody all these wack-ass exclusive contracts, and I wouldn’t sign it, and I wouldn’t sign it to this day.  I told him I do however many songs he wanna do, but I ain’t signin’ with you exclusive cuz you gonna give me $70/80,000 and that’s gonna be it for me.  And I can’t work with nobody, so when that $80,000 gone, I’m through!  It ain’t goin’ down like that, so I never signed the contract.  Everybody signed that muthafucka, but I wouldn’t sign it.  So it’s like the minute I left, $hort ain’t been platinum since.  It ain’t nothin’ but the truth, you  know what I’m sayin? And you can print that!  When Shorty B left, it all went down hill.  It’s seems like I took a million sales with me, just by lookin’ at the record sales after I left.  $hort didn’t even go gold after I left..like 4 or 5 albums.  And I came back and did Chase the Cat, and I don’t know how many that did.  It may of did 300,000/400,000.  But Jive wasn’t really fuckin’ with $hort…after a while they wouldn’t even answer his phone calls.  We had did Album Number 10, and he thought that was gonna be the biddin’ war, but they wasn’t trippin’ on $hort.  And then the funny part, this is the God-to-honest truth, Jive gave Ant Banks a record deal thinkin’ he was me!

Noncentz:  Are you serious??

Hell yeah!  They gave Ant Banks a record deal, but Ant banks wasn’t makin’ the music.  Ant Banks was just mixin’ the music.  I don’t know how they thought that shit, cuz it was fucked up.  Alotta shit that was sold, soley mine, $hort kinda played me out of it, and put “Produced by The Dangerous Crew.”  That wasn’t no goddamn Dangerous Crew…that was produced by Shorty B!  Period!

Noncentz:  So in the credits, if it says Produced by The Dangerous Crew, it’s really Shorty B?

Yeah that’s me, cuz them muthafuckaz didn’t play nothin’!!  Goddamn!  The reason why Ant Banks ain’t poppin’ is cuz Ant Banks, I think he got confused himself and started to think that he was really gonna be…he wanted to be Dr. Dre, but how you gonna be Dr. Dre and it’s me!  But see, Jive didn’t know that and that’s why they dropped him after they found out that banks couldn’t deliver.  That’s it, they dropped him.  I was like, “you stupid muthafuckas, it wasn’t him from the beginning!”  Cuz Banks don’t play nothin’. 

Noncentz:  But what about his TWDY albums…?

I mean, you know he producin’..doin’ alright.  And then Banks got a song called 4 Tha Hustlaz, with 2Pac on it…that’s me, that’s my shit..I did that song!  That’s all Shorty B.  So there was some old faulty shit goin’ on, but I knew it couldn’t really hold me back cuz I knew it was comin’ from my fingers..I knew where it was comin’ from.  Even if my homies had confused themselves, I knew where it was comin’ from, and everybody else knew.  Cuz it’s my sound to this day.  It’s like I did a song on T.I.’s last album, the last song on Urban Legend.  Me & Daz.  I did it, Daz rapped on it.  But if you listen to that song that’s like I just gave T.I. that old Dangerous Crew sound.  If you listen to that, it’s called My Life.  I told him I was gonna give him that old dangerous Crew sound, and it worked.  And the record was so big, that T.I. didn’t know what to do with it.  He just put it on his album.  It was the last song on the album and he just put it on there..it was so big, man….I dunno..there’s just so many cats out here man that are so faulty and confusin’…I’m from the old school where if it ain’t about loyalty, it ain’t about nothin’.  If you ain’t gonna do what you say, and say what you do, then it ain’t sense even fuckin’ with you. 

Noncentz:  Yeah, I got some homies I be fuckin’ with, tryin’ to do some things…and they be sayin they gonna do this and do that, but then you don’t hear from for like days and shit…

Right!  Yeah, you know it’s like the industry know me, but I ain’t never been an industry cat.  I say what I do, I do what I say.  Period! 

Noncentz:  And get paid!

Yeah!  Simple as that!  I ain’t bullshittin’ or got time to be bullshittin’.  And I don’t bite my tongue.  I say exactly what’s on my mind.  I dunno, but it’s like the only thing I been tryin’ to tell Ant Banks..see Ant Banks is gonna finally realize that it ain’t him..it was me..and I’m out here still cuttin’ records..I’m still platinum as a muthafucka…I don’t know when the last time Ant Banks went Platinum…you know, that’s my homie…I love Banks, but it’s like they waited too long to realize did what.  And by not realizin’ it, they fucked it all off. And so I had to leave cuz muthafuckas had their hands in my pockets , and they acted like they didn’t really realize what it was. 

Noncentz:  Do you think we will see some sort of a Dangerous crew “reunion” happen where you, $hort, Banks, PeeWee and some of the other rappers from the Old Crew get back together, is that a possibility?

Oh yeah, yeah…the only thing is it would have to be some straight up money upfront and it has to be stipulated what’s asked of me.  And I need my money..right now!  Every muthafuckin’ dime..cuz we can’t get down all the way.  $hort my homie, but he like…kinda soft to me.  $hort know he gotta play real ball with me because $hort done seen me do some shit that he don’t really want.  He don’t want no part of.  And I don’t really want it to have no part of him, when you get on that side of me, you know what I’m sayin’?  What was that group he had out here…with the guys from all the different place….?

Noncentz:  Oh, Badwayz?  With Studd, Joe Riz , Murda One??

Yeah!  You know, I ended up pistol-whippin’ Joe Riz at Lake Havasu In front of $hort into a bloody pulp.  And I think that kinda registered with $hort like “Ok, Shorty B is not playin’!” 

Noncentz:  Yeah, Shorty B’s for real…(laughs)
   
Shorty B is not playin, man.  And I’m not fuckin’ with him on no bullshit no more.  So when $hort come to me, it gotta be straight upfront.  Ain’t no ass kissin’ cuz I done made a 100 records that went platinum since I ain’t fucked with you..been on everybody’s records.  So, $hort respect and I don’t think..I wonder about that Dangerous Crew shit cuz ain’t nobody really gonna put no money behind it, I don’t think.  You know because if it’s up to $hort, since I guess he owns the name, the business ain’t gonna give us nothin’ but problems.  Cuz one thing I notice about $hort, and I love $hort, but he don’t know how to take money and make money.  $hort just know how to make money and spend money.  He don’t know how to take the money he made and make it make money.  Cuz to me, $hort done fucked off 2 record labels:  Dangerous Music and Too $hort Records.  And what will fuck me up with $hort, is that we would get a nice video budget, and $hort would spend all the money and then shoot a wack-ass video!  So that’s what hurt $hort a lot cuz he was so greedy, that he would spend all the money and then give the people bullshit.  Shootin’ them wack-ass videos and I was like man, we gotta stop this.  After that I was like I don’t need them, they need me, so I’ma take my shit and go on, and I been doin’ my thing ever since, man. 

Noncentz:  Well, let’s kinda start wrappin’ this up a little bit.  If you want, you can go ahead and give me those numbers you was talkin’ about earlier….

Hold on for a second. I got to look in my phone, so hold on a second.  Ant Banks number is ***-***-****.  Tell him I gave you his number.  And I’ma give you Pee-Wee’s number too.  Hold on.  Pee-Wee’s number is ***-***-****.

Noncentz:  Cool, yeah !  I’d like to holla at him too, so….

Well just hit him up…call him up.  Tell him you just did this interview with Shorty B about the Dangerous Crew, tell him I gave you his number, so you can put it on the front line. 

Noncentz:  Here’s another question for you…

Yeah, go ahead, man….

Noncentz:  What’s been the one song, out of all these songs you’ve worked on, what’s been you’re favorite? 

Uhhhh, shit man, that’s a hard one right there, man. I’m not sure I can even answer that one.  Let me see for a second….a song that I had the most fun doin is I guess, uh..I don’t know man cuz we had so many…I guess,  I think it was We Do This, with 2Pac, on Too $hort album.  I had ran in to him at Rimshop one day in Atlanta, and I said, “yo, Pac!”, and he said “Shorty B! What’s up?” I told him to come over with me to Dallas Austin studio and I’m finishin’ up $hort’s album and I need you to come put a verse on it.  Pac said, “sure man, come on!”  And he followed me over to the studio and he laid the verse on it.  We had fun, smokin’ and shit all night.  He went and laid it, wrote his verse in 30 minutes, just laid it..and we kicked it and had fun.  But it’s so many sessions, man!  And Gettin’ It was cool, cuz George Clinton was there, Parliament Funkadelic..we has havin’ fun, singin’ in the studio…so I guess, I dunno..Gettin’ It and that Pac session. 

Noncentz:  So the atmosphere when you was recordin’ during that particular time was just all fun and just playin’ music….

You know, it’s like, we were winnin’.  All my records were goin’ platinum, Pac was doin’ good and he was a real good friend of mine.  And you know, I put Pac on $hort’s album.  $hort really didn’t even know Pac like that.  He knew of him and had seen him and stuff, but he ain’t never know Pac.  Cuz you know, me and Pac used to run together, live together and all that, so you know, it’s like umm…

Noncentz:  With Pac, did you do anything on any of his albums?

Yeah I did a few songs with Pac!  I did The Life I Lead, I did…I gotta go back and look cuz I don’t know titles anymore…(thinkin’)….I did Lil’ Homiez…I gotta look at the titles and I can let you know exactly what songs they are.  But yeah, Pac and me had did about 10 songs together. 

Noncentz:  Wow!  That’s something I wouldn’t have known right there.  Cuz I know you was with Digital Underground for a bit, but I guess I wouldn’t have thought that cuz that was before Pac was big, but that makes sense that you guys were close like that.

Oh yeah!  Me and Pac was like the closest cuz we had used to run, you know, when we wasn’t in the studio, we was runnin’ together in the streets.  Man, I had so many pictures I had left up in storage and they had took my shit.  But I had sooo many pictures of Pac.  I mean me and Pac..Me and Pac was homies before Pac even had one tattoo.

Noncentz:  Damn, that’s way back!

You know what I’m sayin’?  That’s what I’m tryin’ to tell cats.  When I knew Pac, Pac ain’t have no tattoos. Not a one.  So I did a lot of stuff with Thug Life, I did a lot of stuff with the Outlawz..I just talked to Big Syke the other day, cuz they all my nephews.  Outlawz, Thug Life, they call me all the time..I hear from them quite often.  All of’em call me Unc.  “What’s up Unc?”  Big Syke just called me the other day, “What’s up, Unc?”…”What’s up, Syke baby?!”  Pac’s mother, Pac’s sister, they all love me.  They always show me love and hug me and kiss me every time they see me.  Afeni Show me love every time she see me.  You know, Pac’s sister Setra show me much love every time she see me like, “Shorty B, how you been?”..just hugs me and kiss me.  They always treated me like family.  I remember, lemme tell you this story one time, man, so make sure you record this….

Noncentz:  I got it goin, homie….

What I did, I was at our studio, me & $hort, we had a studio out here in Atlanta.  And Biggie came through one day, right?  As a matter of fact, first I was at $hort’s house when he was livin’ in his first house in Gifford Forest (??).  and somebody knocked at the door.  I told $hort somebody was at the door..I’ma get it.  When I went to the door, it was Biggie.  He was standin’ there with his cane..had a lil’ black suit on.  He gave me five and shit..he came on in, we sit down, smoke a lil’ weed, and so $hort say he goin’ to the studio cuz he wanted me to let Biggie hear some beats, right?  So we went to the studio and I let Biggie hear some beats.  Then Lil’ Kim showed up at the studio.  So I played this beat, for the Booty Call Soundtrack called Call Me. 

Noncentz:  That was a tight song!

Yeah, I did that.  I produced every note of it.  And Kim fell in love with it.  She keep sayin’ “I want that beat! I want that beat!”  So, then Puff showed up.  So basically, he said I’ma fly you out to New York in about 3 days, which he did.  He flew me, $hort and my homeboy P.O. out to New York.  And $hort was in one studio with Puff doin’ (sings, “the world is filled with pimps and hoes…), you remember that song, that they did?

Noncentz:  Yeah, it’s called The World Is Filled…off of Biggie’s Life After Death album…

Right! The World Is Filled…they was in the other studio next door doin’ that one, and me and Biggie and Lil’ Kim was in the other studio doin’ my song, right?  So Biggie had came through, he had this big-ass muthafuckin’ jar cuz I had bought Biggie a ounce of weed because when he was out in Atlanta, he used to be like “Is that California weed we havin’?  So I had brought him an ounce of weed to New York.  But when I got to the studio, Biggie had this big-ass..like a jelly jar..full of chronic!  And I said, “Shit, well you don’t need this!” He pulled it out, and said, “Yeah, I’m BIG.”  But he went ahead and got it.  I gave him the ounce of weed and we was kickin’ it, stayin’ there all night.  So, Biggie had kinda taken a likin’ to me.  I told him to let me see that ring that he got on his pinky finger.  I wore his ring for like a couple of hours during the session, you know we was just kickin’ it.  I asked him what he was doin, cuz Biggie don’t write rhymes.  He was actually writin’ the rhyme he was about to do in his head!  I’m sittin’ next to him like “what you doin’?”  He says, “Wait a minute Shorty B, I’m almost through….Ok, I just had to do my rhyme.  I’m finished.”  And I said, “so you just wrote a rhyme while I was sittin’ right here next to you?”  He said, “yeah…I’m finished.”  And he let me hear the rhyme and shit.  So I said to him, “It’s true?  You really don’t write no rhymes?”  He said, “Nah, I don’t write rhymes.”  And I notice T.I. kinda does that too, when I be in the studio with T.I.  It’s kinda like he freestyles it a lil’ bit, but it’s more like he writin’ it the way he put it down.  So, anyway, We stayed out there for about 3 days and did the song.  So when I got back..the night that I got back, Biggie called me.  He told me Mary J. Blige was havin’ a birthday party, and invited me and $hort to come down.  He said he’d pick us up from the airport.  I told him I was with it, and I’ll call $hort and see what’s up?  But I really think they was tryin’ to get me up on the production team or something, you know what I’m sayin’?  I mean, Biggie had just kinda taken a likin’ to me.  But I was fucked up because in the back of my mind, I know Pac was my nephew.  And I know the shit gonna come out sooner or later, but I just left it alone.  So, anyway, I had called $hort and told him and $hort was like, “You sure you wanna go up there?  Cuz them cats might found out how tight you are with Pac…”  And I had thought about that then and I was like” Whhooo..! I didn’t think about that!”  $hort said, “one of them fools might find out how tight you is with Pac, and then it goes into some other shit!”  And I never felt like that’s what was happenin’ cuz I felt like Biggie had taken a likin’ to me as a friend, and as a person, and as a man.  And I was good at what I did, you know, I made music.  You know, anybody wanna be around somebody who what they do…if you’re good, you know what I’m sayin’?  But I Had to call  Biggie and tell him we had another show and we wasn’t gonna be able to make it.  And he said that he was just callin’ to make sure he keep in touch.  That was the night I got back.  8 o’clock the next morning. Guess who called me? 

Noncentz:  Who was that?

2Pac! 

Noncentz:  No Shit?

No wait, I’m trippin’.  At 8 o’clock the next morning, Biggie called me. At 9 o’clock..like a hour after Biggie had called me…2Pac called me!  He said, “Shorty b there?”  I said, “ yeah, who’s this?”  he said, “it’s Pac.”  So I looked at my phone, and said, “you over there?” He said, “yeah, I’m at my momma’s house.”  I said, “Nigga, I’m on my way, I’m comin’ right through, I’ll be there in a few minutes.”  He said, “bring all the weed you got!”  (laughs)…So I’m trippin’ cuz I had just got off the phone with Biggie, and now Pac is callin.  I can’t really tell Pac that Puffy just bought a song from me, and had gave me $55,000 for the song!  So, I had to go get that money.  You feel me?  They gave $55,000 for that song!  So I go over to Pac’s momma’s house and I knock on the door and Jasmine Guy open the door.  And her hair was all over the place, so I teased her and said, “whoooo!  My nephew home in major way, huh?”  But she started laughin’ and said, “go on boy and stop actin’ silly.”  Cuz I had just made a joke about Pac wearin’ her ass out, right? (laughs)..So I went in and just hung out all day with him.  It was Thanksgiving, 1995.  At Pac’s momma’s house.  I had pictures of it and everything.  That had just tripped me out that it had all just went down like that.  I was like, damn, I had just talked to both of these cats…they trippin’..and Pac is like my nephew and Biggie’s like a friend.  You know what I’m sayin?  So I never told Pac and I never told Biggie.  I just let it do what it do.  I’ll never forget that.  I always wanted to tell somebody that story.  They had called like a hour apart and I just couldn’t believe it. 

Noncentz:  That makes another question pop in my head, cuz you worked with Pac & Biggie, 2 of the biggest and greatest rap artists of all time….

Oh yeah, and they was both pretty much friends.  I was both of’em.  Pac was like my brother, basically.  And Biggie was just like my friend.  He just took a likin’ to me, and we just kicked it.  I never told Pac that cuz I felt so strange, and then now I got Biggie callin’ me wantin’ me to hang out with him! 

Noncentz:  Yeah, I bet that was a tough situation to be in…

Yeah, man that shit tripped me out!  And I didn’t know what to do cuz I couldn’t tell nobody. 

Noncentz:  It almost don’t get no bigger workin’ with both of them…

You know, and I never did get a song out with Biggie that actually came out, but I knew that’s where he was headin’, wantin’ to get into the studio.  I had taken alotta things up there with me, and he had liked all of’em!  I just wonder what woulda happened if I woulda went up there.  But then, I couldn’t really go because I didn’t want that shit to get back to Pac the wrong way.  You know, I didn’t want him lookin’ at me crazy, so I just left it alone, man. 

Noncentz:  So after workin’ with 2 superstars like that, George Clinton, Parliament Funkadelic, and all the others you’ve collabed with, is there anybody left that you REALLY wanna work with, that you haven’t worked with yet?

Uhh…I would say Prince….just to top it off.  You know, I would love to jam with Prince.  But lemme see…is there anybody else that I would…you know what I would really love to….damn, I done near worked with everybody!  I guess, I’d have to go to icon status like Mick Jagger or some shit…(laughs)…But seriously, I guess I would really have to say Prince..I would love to go in the studio with Prince, and see what we do. 

Noncentz:  Damn, I would…that would…I mean…

It would just be so hardcore funk!  It would be ridiculous. 

Noncentz:  Yeah!  I don’t even know what to say about that.  I don’t even know if I could imagine that! 

I know! Me neither!  I just wonder what would we create?  Me and him in the studio…and just kill somethin’! 

Noncentz:  Yeah!  I can’t even speak on that, cuz that would be wild!

Yeah, man, me too!  (laughs)

Noncentz:  What about Dr. Dre??

Oh, as a matter of fact I’m glad you said that.  I had met Dr. Dre one time, but it’s like..i wonder..as a matter of fact, that would be my other choice cuz that’s the only cat in hip-hop, that’s somebody, that I don’t have on my resume.  And I would love…I’d have to say Prince & Dr. Dre.  That pretty much would do it for me. 

Noncentz:  That’d be a great kinda, icing on the cake for you resume right there with those two!

Yes sir!  But you know, Dre like…to me havin’ Dre on my record don’t even do nothin’ for me no more, cuz Dre don’t have the respect…I mean, he got the respect, but he ain’t really had nothin’ really in a while.  I’m sure he gonna come out with this Detox album and set the record straight or whatever he gonna do.  But it’s like, I don’t know…Dre ain’t on the frontline, I guess you could say, no more like he should be. 

Noncentz:  Yeah, he’s more laid back with it now….

He done got rich!  He can just wait on his album..so he can release an album every 5 years.  I mean it’s funny, cuz like I learned music.  I didn’t get in this game for the money!  I got into cuz I had God-given talent.  I had no choice.  The money would come.  But it seems like after alotta cats got money…it’s like I heard Timbaland say in a magazine, that kinda fucked me up, He up there sayin he tired of doin’ beats, or some shit.  I’m like you pompous muthafucka!  You done got all this money and you would say some shit like that?  And as a matter of fact, it was in the Source where they got at the bottom it say “Negro Please!”..(laughs)..like when cats say stupid shit.  One of them thangs.  And I was like, how could say some shit like that?  This game done took care of you…of course you gave somethin’ back to the game, but that’s how it goes.  That’s the name of the game.

Noncentz:  Now, you actually had a song on the Don’t Try This At Home album called Out For The Props….

Out For The Props..exactly!

Noncentz:  Where you was bashin’ The Source for their ratings.  Speak on that for a minute…

Yeah..and that album had went gold!  And they wouldn’t make no more copies of that album.  They just refused to sell any more of it.  But that’s what it was about.  Here we just went platinum, and they give us 3 ½ mics, and these other cats sold maybe 100,000, and they give them 5 mics!  It’s like, who was writin’ this shit?...(laughs)…

Noncentz:  That’s what alotta people be thinkin’…

Yeah, that’s how I felt.  I thought it was crazy. 

Noncentz:  With Nas proclaiming hip-hop is dead, and Timbaland recently saying it’s been dumbed down by the hooks and jingles, what is your opinion on the current state of the rap game?

I can wrap that shit up so fast, man..it’s like you gotta bunch of young kids that’s gettin’ rich, right?  But they ain’t got nothin’ to give back to the game.  They just out to get somethin’ out the game, get paper, so they can get paid.  But they ain’t givin’ nothin’ back to the game.  They not really good for hip-hop.  Alotta young kids is getting’ rich,  but they ain’t got nothin’ to offer the game and give it longevity.  The bottom line for your question is that what’s wrong with hip-hop is like the rules is missing.  I mean, the youngsters got the game, but ain’t got no rules with it.  You know why? 

Noncentz:  Why is that?

Cuz the disappearance of the OG.  Ain’t nobody settin’ those structures and the youngsters done gone rampant and they don’t really know how to have that respect and loyalty and to look out for your homies that been there with you all the time.  And now that you done got the money, you don’t even know him no more!  That shit burns me up!  And I know these youngsters today crazy…they ain’t never had no money, so then when they wake up with a million dollars they don’t know how to act.  It’s like Jazze Pha…I raised Jazze Pha!  Jazze was up under me and Too $hort for years!  That’s why he keep givin’ Too $hort beats , cuz he be doin’ those beats for Too $hort outta respect.  And we did a couple songs together, and I give it Jazze, and every now and then he reach back and show a lil’ love and a lil’ loyalty.  But alotta cats out here, man, because there ain’t no OG’s…the OG has to be welcomed back into this game!  Or it’s all gonna fade out, cuz we already listenin’ to samples of samples of samples!  I mean, where’s the musician?  And there’s so many of them, and so little of us, but the game need us! 

Noncentz:  It’s like there’s no creativity in the game no more….

Right!  Yeah!  There’s none because they done eliminated the OG.  There’s just cats like me that refuse to lie down!  I’m in this for life!  I’ma be on the charts forever!  Cuz I know what I do, and it’s gonna keep me on the charts forever.  But there’s alotta other cats out here that don’t get that opportunity..so many OG’s that play and got such good music.  It’s like rap needs a year of the OG.  Like everybody come back.  D.O.C., Shorty B, Kool G. Rap..you know, cats that made a difference in the game.  The OG is missin’ man.  The game is full of games that ain’t got no rules.  So how long it gonna last?  That’s my opinion.  And you can quote me, Shorty B said there has to be a year of the OG’s to replenish some realism in the game cuz it’s like..i don’t even respect…don’t get me wrong, but you got producers like Just Blaze and all that doin’ that Jay-Z shit, right?  But I don’t respect…I mean I respect him as a man, bein’ black or white or whatever, cuz he’s feedin’ his family and all that, and I respect that you came up one way to feed you family.  But I don’t respect you as a producer because you gotta take somebody else’s record and come up on it and make a hit that was already a hit?  When cats like me gotta go in there and create and think of what I’m gonna play and what it’s gonna be.  I don’t get my hit records from somebody else ideals.  I can’t respect you with fifty cents outta that shit.  Now I respect real producers, who go in there and play, come up with the ideas and bring it to life!  You know what I’m sayin, when it comes from your hands, your ideals, your imagination.  That’s a producer to me.  I’m not trippin’ on no Just Blaze and shit like that when you gotta go..the first thing you do..and I done even see Rico Wade do this, but I been around Rico long enough to know that he IS very talented and he WILL get the job done by his own hands..cuz I know he a Pisces and he talented like that.  But what I don’t understand is..there’s no way I can respect you, no matter how multi-platinum you is, comin’ up off someone else’s shit!  And then I’m supposed to respect you.  Like you the shit.  But then there’s cats like me that gotta go in there and make it up, play it and everything…put all the hard work into it, and then don’t really get the props for it!  But you gonna go give him his props when he done took somebody else’s record and put another drum beat to it?! 

Noncentz:  Right, right…

I mean, please print that in big le

[Sanford - V. President of the Dangerous Crew Movement]

 

 

 

[Sanford - V. President of the Dangerous Crew Movement]

you know im droppin feedback after i finish reading all this!   

[eazye]

PROPS MAN!!!!!!!!!     

I've read half of this interview, and I gotta say it's real interesting.Shorty B sems like a cool dude and he is more of a key figure to The Dangerous Crew than I thought

ANd thanx for the shout out man 

[Tanjential]

PROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOPS. This is easily the best non-Nima interview I've seen on dubcnn. The pac/big story is priceless as fuck...this shit is BANGING. Dude shorty b is dope, this ain't be the guy who intro'd Clinton to Shock G, Ant Banks to Short, pac to short etc. this dude is dope


crazy, he was a bassist for 70's acts, dude is a mad artist. and he pistol whipped muthafuckas in lake havasu, mad gangster. and is a mad stoner. this interview is the shit.
-T

[Mr.Smurf]

DAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMMMMMMMMNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!! Dope ass interview!! I just scanned through it real quik but I'll be back later to read the whole thing. Propz on this and hooking up with Shorty!!

[eazye]

Motherfucking dope ass interview man, I really liked it.The story about Pac and BIG was crazy and it seems Shorty played a major role in Ant Banks productions, I mean, he did 4 Tha Hustlaz.Damn!

Props once again man for doing this

[akcranker - The Dangerous Crew Movement]

Damn took me forever to read that LOL.. dope interview!!  Props to Shorty B for doing the interview and for giving up those numbers to Banks & Peewee!!!  Props to Noncentz for doing this!!!

Man some crazy shit in that interview.. all those great stories.. props for not cutting him off.. let him ramble.. shit was dope to read.  And I also didn't know that he played such a major role in The Dangerous Crew.. I always thought Banks did all the major production.. now I'm going to have to go back and check all the credits and listen to everything again!!!

HEY NIMA, RUD, LIL JAY...... YOU ALL NEED TO POST THIS DAMN INTERVIEW ON THE MAIN PAGE.. THE MASSES NEED TO READ THIS SHIT!!!

[Tanjential]

HEY NIMA, RUD, LIL JAY...... YOU ALL NEED TO POST THIS DAMN INTERVIEW ON THE MAIN PAGE.. THE MASSES NEED TO READ THIS SHIT!!!

[Noname]

Major props for this homie! 

I got a lot of information i never knew. Nice job!

[Sanford - V. President of the Dangerous Crew Movement]

 

so without Shorty B, there really isint "The Dangerous Crew."  and jazzy phae came up under $hort and shorty b, crazy shit.  Father Dom went crazy!?!   

dude, on some real talk, that was the best interview ive ever read on this site.  dubcnn should give you this job, because that shit was so fucken well done...everything was so interesting, no boring questions and great answers!   

this nigga really got Ant Banks' number, crazy shit!   

HEY NIMA, RUD, LIL JAY...... YOU ALL NEED TO POST THIS DAMN INTERVIEW ON THE MAIN PAGE.. THE MASSES NEED TO READ THIS SHIT!!!

[Tanjential]

that's tight that he played with fuckin PFUNK and DU aaaand TDC...so dope.

that's tight that he shouted out the d.o.c. and those pac/biggie stories are so dope.

a direct descendant of the  70's funk scene.

-T

[$Eg2$]

Mad Props homie 4 real you put it down great interview.......



E-G

[akcranker - The Dangerous Crew Movement]

I got to ask because I don't know if all of you overlooked the beginning of this thread but I see it saying "Shorty B Interview – Part 1" Which to me means there's a part 2.. plus the interview kinda seemed like it stopped abruptly so I got to ask... IS THERE A PART 2?  IF SO WHERE IS IT? LOL

[Sanford - V. President of the Dangerous Crew Movement]

I got to ask because I don't know if all of you overlooked the beginning of this thread but I see it saying "Shorty B Interview – Part 1" Which to me means there's a part 2.. plus the interview kinda seemed like it stopped abruptly so I got to ask... IS THERE A PART 2?  IF SO WHERE IS IT? LOL

oh shit, youre right.