NEW CROOKED I INTERVIEW 11.9.2005

[Episcop Cruel Cvrle]

NEW Crooked I interview Sep 11, 2005 !!!!!!!!!
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by B-More.net

Crooked I: The Neo of this West Coast Rap Ish, West Up homie.

Stranded on Death Row? Not hardly, Crooked I has been one of the better known West Coast rhyme slingers since the late 90's. He was ordained by Suge Knight to bring the West Coast back to its Early to Mid 90's form but due to label issues and the fight to leave Tha Row, Crooked I has suffered a few setbacks. But that's all in the past, right now, Crooked I has an album due in November, and DVD documentary about his time at Death Row in October. If anything, Crooked I is still in position to be one of the leaders in a new rebirth of the West Coast hip hop.

B-Moore: When did you first start rhyming?

Crooked I: I started when I was a little shorty, about 6 or 7 years old. I was dead serious even at that age. Just trying to get those skills up man, I've been doing this for a long time.

B-Moore: How did you end up with Death Row?

Crooked I<: As you know, I'm from Long Beach, and Long Beach has been affiliated with Death Row ever since the Dogg Pound days. Alot of people in the Death Row entourage is from Long Beach. I had mutual friends, at the time I was on Virgin Records, Daz, my home boy Big C Style, who is one of the founders of the Dogg Pound. He came at me one day and was like, ‘We want you over here with us.' Then I saw Suge, at the time Suge was incarcerated. He was at the Mill Creek Penitentiary in Northern California, we discussed the contract and we made it happen.

B-Moore: So all that time you were over there, no album was released, what happened?

Crooked I: The album, I think I did a few albums over there. I was over there for about 4 ½ years. I work fast, so I can go in the studio and make an album every week if I wanted to. I have a lot of material stacked over there. You know, to be honest with you, I think the album never dropped because of the distribution channels. He had Koch distribution, and Koch is a great place but for a label like Death Row that's used to selling 3 and 5 million records at a time, that normally doesn't happen at Koch. In [Suge's] mind, he probably thinking if I drop this album and it doesn't do well it's going to be bad on Crooked and bad on me as an executive. People are going to think I'm over and finished as an executive. I saw signs of this as well; he was just trying to get different distribution channels, to open up to him. A lot of the industry is not fuckin with dude. Based on they don't want to see him get nothing again. They intimidated by that dude. If you got small distribution and you can't get bigger distribution because the doors are closed then you stuck between a rock and a hard place. And we just sat there between the rock and the hard place long enough and it was time for me to make a jump and be my own boss.

BM: Suge has a track record of not letting former artists go cleanly. Did he cause you the same trouble he's caused his other former artists?

CI: When I left, I thought that they would understand. They know I stayed on the front line for 4 1/2 years. I dealt with all the bull that being on Death Row from the industry blackballin, from the drama on the streets from being affiliated with Death Row. So I thought after 4 ½ years doing everything that they asked me to do that they would let me leave with blessings. But after I left and started doing my thing, I hooked up with another company they sent a cease and desist to the office saying ‘Stop this project'. We are going to court to see who has the right to put out a Crooked I project and that really kinda disappointed me because people be leaving saying ‘***** Suge' and ‘***** Death Row'. A lot of people do that shit, my whole thing was, I saw the business side and I think his hands was tied. So I'm going go out here and do me. For them to send that paperwork to stop everything I was doing disappointed me more than upset me.

BM: Was your time at Death Row a learning process?

CI: It was a learning process; people in corporate America have to give you a certain amount of respect when you come from Death Row. When you come from Death Row you see the highest level of business being done in the industry of music as far as paperwork. [Record Labels] put artist in pretzel trying to twist you, get you for your money, ***** you and all that. When you come from a level like Death Row, they give you more respect in the meetings, in the process of negotiations. As far as just the learning experiences, I saw what to do, and what not to do. Suge introduced me to a lot of people; I met the Lloyor's, the L.A. Reid's.

BM: Tell us about the DVD you're dropping?

CI: Its coming out October, "Life After Death Row". We are really trying to push it October and November. Its coming out 7376 Entertainment and Dynasty Films which is my company. Master P is on there, Russell Simmons is one there, Loon, different people fro the history of Death Row is on there. We got a mini soundtrack with 8 new songs.

BM: For the longest time you were regarded as the person who was supposed to bring the west back, but it looks like The Game slid into that position, how do you feel about that?

CI: Well I don't trip; I've been doing this since I've been 7 or 8. Kriss Kross took my spot [laughter] I was a kid rapper, so it don't even matter to me. I'm happy what's going on, on the West Coast. Game is bringing light to the West. There's other people out here doing their thing. I'm cool with Game. Me and Game rock with each other. So its like, I don't feel like that. Plus I know what I'm bringing to the table haven't been brought yet. I always feel like I got a spot in the history of West Coast hip hop from what I bring to the table.

BM: Do you think there is any truth to the West falling off?

CI: Yeah no doubt. The West fell off. I don't think nobody pushed us off. I think we pushed ourselves off. It's so hard to get brothers out here on the west coast to unite with each other. It's just like, trying to get an artist to work with each other business wise as well as music wise. That was one of our real problems. We can't work with each other. Without helping each other out, of course we gonna fall off. Everybody got egos. We gotta reconstruct this culture. It's a bad look homie. It's a real bad look. We been fall off. Niggaz like the west ain't went no where, BULLSHIT! Everybody know what the west was looking like in 95, 96, 94 when Snoop was multi platinum, 2Pac was multi multi platinum and E-40 had the north, the bay area poppin. We were doing our thing. [Record] Deals were like falling out the air. New artists were walking into record labels saying, ‘hey I'm from the West Coast' getting record deals. I blame part of that on, us being next to Hollywood like this. A lot of us got spoiled because Capitol Records is right down the street. A lot didn't keep us hustles superior. We had corporate America doing so much for us. It's like people in South don't got Hollywood down the street. Where there's movies and distribution companies. They have to grind out, build something; it's a process that makes a person an entrepreneur. And once you become an entrepreneur they can't stop you like that. So I'm glad the south is doing what they doing. I'm glad the east is doing what they doing, espeCIally the media part of hip hop. The west, we got to sit down at a round table and focus with each other. We got to show the world we can do good business. After the deaths of 2Pac and Biggie a lot of that it's still being blamed on us because it happened on our soil. We have to show them that ‘hey we can still do business' we just want to make good music and keep bringing this west coast hip hop to the table.
 
 
BM: What's up with your label?
CI: Dynasty Entertainment, we got acts were developing right now. We got the Horse Shoe Gang, which are my brothers. We just try to keep developing these acts, we trying to move something and create something that's going to stay around for awhile. We just trying to bring something back. My mission statement for our label is that music over here is our new hustle, our legal hustle. It trickles down to the street. And it saves lives. We not trying to put out music just to sell so we can lamp on an island somewhere and horde the money. We trying to put out music that's going to make the kind money that's going to save the homies in the street who can't get a job nowhere. We're on a mission.

BM: When's the album dropping?
CI: The album, Boss Music, is dropping in November. The album is in effect. I got Bun B, he came and splashed on there with me. I already wrapped it up. I'm trying to go down south. I'm talking to Slim Thug, I want to get him on there before it's over with. Jadakiss rocked with me. Scott Storch production, Rik Rock production. It's definitely gonna be something brand new from the west.

BM: What's the first single going to be?
CI: The first single was supposed to be Cali Boyz but it leaked man! [laughter]. Somebody got a copy of that muh fukka and leaked it. It was produced by Scott Storch so we trying to regroup right now.

BM: Any promotional dates planned as of yet?
CI: I'm trying to go everywhere I gotta go. This is independent; I don't have a big ass machine that's going to make me a superstar. So I gotta touch everybody, hood to hood, ghetto to ghetto.

BM: There were rumors about you and Dre working together, did that ever happen or is it in the future?
CI: Naw man, what happened was, me and Dre talked on the phone a couple of time. We spoke on it, but we didn't do it. If it's left up to me, something like that will happen. For me it ain't about the stamp of Dr Dre. I respect this man as a legendary producer. As far as what he brought to the table. For me to work with OG's and legends who paved the way would be a privilege. I'm not trying to rush it and stay on top of it so I can have him on the first album. I'm not even trippin. You know lets just put in some work and make some history.

BM: Being that Hurricane Katrina just happened, how do you feel about how it was handled?
CI: Man I'm upset man. I'm very upset. SpeCIfically at the government and how they handled it. That's the whole thing. I got to give Kanye props for saying what was on his heart on live television. I would have done the same thing. Feel me. Its just some real shit. You don't allow people to die of starvation, to go without mediCIne, without food, water, clothes, shelter. They could have went in there before the hurricane even hit. You have to realize these are some of the poorest people in the nation. You know what I'm saying. It could have been population control, you know. Some of America's step children just died, and blame it on a natural disaster. Now they trying to do an investigation the Bush Administration. But we need to investigate them. They could have easily called shots and saved a lot of lives. I'm going to Houston this weekend, to give out clothes, hand out some stuff. I just hope that a lot of the Black American people wake up. It's not to be raCIst toward anyone, but it's just to know to what people are capable of and how they feel about us as a race. We got to always be aware of this and teach our kids the same shit.

BM: Do you feel that more artists and entertainers should speak out and let their voices be heard?
CI: Of course I do, but it's a business. If you run up in there and say, ‘hey I gotta song right here and its soCIally consCIous' a lot of record companies ain't gonna put that Hype Williams, Little X, Benny Boom video money into your budget. A lot of record companies won't put that money into the machines that won't get your record rotated on the radio and on the club level. A lot of record companies don't see that vision. There's a lot of people out there that come with these kinds of songs. But the company will say, "No Nigga, you niggaz, you better rap out some bling bling, rims, rap about some bitches with some big asses, your house. If you don't rap about that we're not putting X amount of dollars behind your project to make you a star." You can forget about BET and MTV. You can forget about all that. It's really a good look for Kanye to be signed by an mc which is Jay-Z. Because that changes the whole thing. That's why a lot of the Aftermath artists are successful. Because Dr Dre, running things at the label, is a music maker who himself has made historical music, Jay Z is the same way. You can go to them about concepts and ideas you want to put out to the world. Instead of going to someone in a suit that graduated from Harvard. They never have experienced one thing you experienced. They are going to go strictly by numbers. A formula, this formula works, this one doesn't. It's hard for me to say rappers ain't doing their jobs, it's the industry ain't doing their job for not allowing people to express themselves the way they want to.

BM: How do you feel about hip hop right now?
CI: Hip Hop is in a state where we making more money than we ever made in the history of the game. It's such a business. It's such a corporate thing now. It's so crazy right now, we got to really unite right now. It's a shame that it takes a disaster to get people to unite. Look at Birdman and Master P, they talking right now. We have to take control of corporate America. They trying to rape hip hop. They know they ain't have to start they label with no D money. They know they didn't have to get their money off the block to start Universal. So after they rape you for everything you got, they throw the cops at you because they know you affiliated with someone got some drug or criminal past. Then they try to break your label. Hip Hop is in a real crazy state right now. But the hip hop summits we're having and the conferences, we have to keep this communication going and find a way to keep it and preserve it.
 
 

[Intriago33]

appreciated cvrle, nice avatar too.

[Meho]

seems like crooked i is starting to give up.i could be wrong but wasnt he saying that hes gonna finally get promoted with the deal he has, but now hes independet and everything?

[Episcop Cruel Cvrle]

seems like crooked i is starting to give up.i could be wrong but wasnt he saying that hes gonna finally get promoted with the deal he has, but now hes independet and everything?

you right homie...its realy hard to make it on your own, i hope things gonna start gettin better for crooked....

[EFFeX]

Na, Crook ain't giving up... he's working his ass off to give the fans what they want...

And when I read that about how he has to re-think his plan cause Cali Boyz got leaked got me really heated. It makes you sit back and think how mass distributing an independent aritsts tracks illegally really affects their career. It's bullshit.

The album is dropping no matter what... it's up to us as the fans to help from that point on though. Hopefully, people BUY it and don't DOWNLOAD it!

[GangstaBoogy]

november 9th 2005

[ABN]

good interview.