the source with the gun to his head is my pictures (thats my blue couch that the mag was laying on), they came from the old cocaine blunts boards when i was a mod there.
Someone will prolly like this 8)
(http://img165.imageshack.us/img165/1647/drecover2jh.jpg)
(http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/855/dre19fd.jpg)
(http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/8309/dre23fe.jpg)
(http://img165.imageshack.us/img165/3648/dre33ne.jpg)
(http://img177.imageshack.us/img177/3589/dre47dr.jpg)
(http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/6166/dre50gi.jpg)
Damn this is some good shit, I remember that Mr. Officer song was supposed to be on the album, but it didn't make it I think it was released on Death Row Chronic 2000 but they changed it up...
Snoop Dogg & Dubcnn - The Interview: Part 4 (Jan. '07)
http://www.dubcnn.com/interviews/snoopdogg07/part4/
Dubcnn: *laughs* Alright! Now we got another throwback question! Many people know that the song "Mr. Officer (Crooked Officer)", which appeared on the Geto Boys album, was going to be a song from the Chronic. How did it end up on the Geto Boys album?
Basically, that song... Big Mike had created that song! It was a Convict song, the group was called the Convicts! Big Mike and Lord 3-2, that was the act from Houston that Suge was gonna sign. Actually, Big Mike had created that song "Mr. Officer", we did that song late night one night, me, Lord 3-2, Big Mike and Warren G had produced it. So Dr. Dre heard it, flipped it, took it, made it his shit, but then he didn't really like it like that. Big Mike took it back to Rap-A-Lot, and the Geto Boys did it, cause he was the new Geto Boy. Does it make sense now?
Dubcnn: Yeah, I guess. Shit, I still would like to hear that version though, it probably don't even exist anymore, huh.
Shit, it probably exists! But who owns the masters to all that Death Row shit? It's a bunch of songs that we did that was dope as fuck that never came out that nobody never heard, that used to just be party classics! And I say that because Dre used to have parties every friday at his house, and we had certain records that we would just play strictly at these parties! And they never made them real records, we just did the songs in the back, and whenever the party got cracking we popped this record on, and muthafuckas would get to grooving! Bam, boom, that just was a party classic!
Massive Feature on Dr.Dre In Scratch
(http://img48.imageshack.us/img48/2711/drdrescratchscan1ap2.jpg) (http://imageshack.us)
(http://img48.imageshack.us/img48/161/drdrescratchscan2yy8.jpg) (http://imageshack.us)
(http://img168.imageshack.us/img168/9559/drdrescratchscan3uf2.jpg) (http://imageshack.us)
(http://img59.imageshack.us/img59/5017/drdrescratchscan4oz7.jpg) (http://imageshack.us)
(http://img59.imageshack.us/img59/414/drdrescratchscan5py4.jpg) (http://imageshack.us)
(http://img48.imageshack.us/img48/7932/drdrescratchscan6wu6.jpg) (http://imageshack.us)
nice job chad, but can you also upload page 76 of MURDER DOG vol.10? apparently that's where the interview with the D.O.C. starts.
....and lol at that bullshit Chronic 2001 review; i wonder if they actually listened to the The Chronic and Chronic 2001? :laugh:
damn i really wonder what that Mr.Officer track would sound like; anyway, these interviews are interesting, hopefully somebody will upload the interview dre did right after he left death row ( i think it as with the source).
298 The Firm review in Rap Pages December 1997(http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2245/2243891331_c28b129603_b.jpg)
Interview with DOC By Charlie Braxton
www.murderdog.com/archives/doc/doc.html
Because of your association with NWA, a lotta people assume that you’re from the West Coast, but you’re really from the South.
Yeah. I’m from Dallas, Texas….West Dallas Projects to be exact.
What was it like growing up in West Dallas Projects?
Growing up in Dallas was pretty cool.
Drugs and stuff hadn’t really gotten to Dallas when I started becoming a young adult
so I didn’t see a lotta of the crazy shit that went on later in life.
I spent a lot of time as a youth staying inside. I was a reader back then.
I wasn’t selling, I wasn’t gang-banging or doing none of that kind of shit.
I just spent a lotta time reading books.
That explains why you were so good with words. What did you read back then?
I read pretty much whatever I could get my hands on…books outta school.
By the time I reached High school I took to reading the dictionary because I didn’t go to school,
I needed to sound intelligent so that people would think that I was at school.
So I would use words from the dictionary on my parents so that it would appear that I was very studious,
when in actuality, hell, I hadn’t even been to school that day.
What kept you out of school?
School and me didn’t really get along.
I was a natural born comedian and I’m a very inquisitive person and I’m not a follower, I’m a leader.
So if you tell me,for instance,that Christopher Columbus discovered
America then it’s my nature to ask you how can he discover some place where folks are already at.
Now when you’re in school they ain’t gonna accept no shit like that.
I was always bucking the system and kids would get a kick out of it.
I would always go to the office a lot so I was sort of an outcast in high school.
I was a loner all through high school.
While you were playing hooky from school, what did you do?
Just sorta walked around. If there were other kids out there fucking off, I’d hang with these kids.
By the time I got to high school there were a whole lot of white kids so I’d hang with these cats while they’d skate around and shit.
Texas is known for producing a lot of Blues musicians. What kind of music did your parents listen to when you were coming up?
My family listened to the Blues. But my father has a beautiful singing voice. The guy used to sing all the time.
When I first started this I used to sing just like my father. This was back when I had my voice.
But my father has a beautiful, beautiful voice. He used to sing Nat King Cole around the house all the time.
I remember that as a kid.
In fact, he had a big influence on me back then. He’s the reason why I speak so well, because he spoke well.
He annunciates his words real clearly. Even though he’s from the South you can’t tell by the way he speaks.
My love of music comes from him.
I think that in his heart of hearts he always wanted to be in show business
because he would always remind me of how he was out on the corner doing his doo wop thing, singing with his homeboys.
I don’t think that it would have been very easy for a nigga back then to even consider doing music in Dallas.
The world may have gotten in front of his dream.
I think that a lot of my getting into show business may have something to do with him.
What was your first exposure to Rap music?
My first exposure was "Rapper’s Delight." That was the first I’d ever heard of Rap. It kinda seeped into me slowly.
When I heard it I didn’t go, "oh, that’s what I wanna do. I wanna rap." No, it wasn’t like that.
Back then I was a young guy and it was what it was. I remember "Apache Jump on It"….I used to play that song all the time.
But I really kinda got serious when Run DMC came on the scene. Run had everything I wanted.
Naw, let me take that back—Run had everything I had, in my opinion.
He had the same vocal styling,the same command in his voice, whatever the fuck he was saying,he meant that shit.
I emulated this guy a lot. I also wanted to be like DMC. Then I discovered this guy named KRS-1 who was the teacher.
I checked out LL Cool J, who was the young rebel, and then Slick Rick, who was a great storyteller.
But in the midst of all that I heard this guy named Rakim, who ignited in me the kind of fury that you never let go.
How did you come up with the name D.O.C.?
It was so funny and so spiritual how it all came together.
When Dre was in a group called the World Class Wreckin’ Crew--
this was before I met Dre, I met Dre later on—Dre had a song on one of the Wreckin’ Crew album called "Surgery."
My given name is Tracy and my friends call me Tray.
When that song came out whenever we playing around that’s what people would say, Dr Dre.
When I started rapping, I used to call myself Dr. T. Then T went to Doc T.
When I finally got with NWA I figured we’re all in this bitch together if y'all got periods then I got periods.
Y’all N.W.A., now I’m D.O.C.
What was going on in the early hip hop scene in Dallas?
Krush Groove was my earliest memories of the Fila Fresh Crew.
It was around the time that Krush Groove came out that me and a guy named Curtis used to rap.
He used to rap and talk about me on the corners in the projects, just rapping on like how niggas do the dozens, ya know.
He used to do that shit on me. Eventually I got sick of shit so I started doing the shit back to him.
And surprisingly,because I was so good at fucking around with words and other shit,
I was pretty goddamn good at the shit off the bat.
And people started to say damn, you’re pretty goddamn good.
Once a motherfucker start giving you confidence, you feel like well, shit…And that’s what I ended up doing.
I was like writing five and six hours a day. I was writing everyday. All the Fila Fresh Crew shit, I wrote it.
All the stuff that everybody else said on the album I wrote it because I wanted it to be perfect.
Who were the members of the Fila Fresh Crew?
There were three of us in those days. It was me, Curtis, Fresh K and a DJ from the West Coast who had just moved to Dallas.
His name was Dr. Rock. He had a Saturday night mix show. Before he came to Dallas he was in a DJ group with Dr Dre.
That is how me and Dre met and ended up working together.
Dre had came down here to be a guest DJ on this guy’s show and Dre heard me rap and
he pulled me to the side and told me in one of those classic Dr. Dre tones that I was the best muthafucka he had ever heard rapping.
He said that I’d come back with him to California and that in a year we’d both be rich.
And about six or seven months later, the shit ended up happening.
Was Dre a member of NWA at the time?
Naw, NWA hadn’t quite formed just yet.
They were making records then, but it was real underground and it was real street so it wasn’t concrete yet.
As a matter of fact, right before I got there the original members of what was called
NWA started breaking off and doing their own thing.
A guy named Arabian Prince ended up just getting kicked to the curb, I think.
Cube was going to school because I don’t think that it wasn’t quite panning out.
The Boys in tha Hood record was just slowly starting to make noise underground, but the gel hadn’t really come together yet.
That’s the reason why you never saw me in pictures or muthafuckas never really talked about me.
They were really serious about their group.
Probably because niggas had been coming in and out their group and
they finally just decided that this is going to be it right here, goddamn it, nobody else.
Did Dre have plans to make you a member of NWA?
No.
It was their intention all along to make you a solo act?
Yes. I am a solo act. I’m not a member of that group…although I am, I’m not.
I was meant to be a solo artist in this bitch.
My time was coming and when it came I was going to go home and start my own situation like NWA.
That was my plan.
Did you write any of the early NWA stuff?
Most of that early NWA shit, I help write.
Songs like "Boys in the Hood" and the four other songs that were done on the EP were done before I got there—
"I Got My Radio" and a few others—but those were the only NWA songs that were done before I got there.
You’re saying that you wrote some of Straight Outta Compton?
I wrote most of Straight Outta Compton.
What about NWA & the Posse?
Most of that was all older shit mixed in with Fila Fresh Crew shit.
All of that was before I got to LA. Really all of that shit was before NWA, the group that you know today.
All that shit was really before we got together.
It wasn’t until Eazy E’s first record, We Want Eazy, I think it was called, that NWA became the NWA that you know.
What songs on Eazy’s album did you write?
"We Want Eazy," the title track for his video, "Still Talking Shit" and a couple of more songs on Eazy’s record.
I wrote all of Eazy’s parts on the NWA records as well as being the extra set of ears for
Dr. Dre because I was the only person that he really trusted.
Back in those days Dre really trusted my ears.
I read somewhere that Eazy offered you a gold chain for your publishing, is that true?
No, he didn’t offer me a gold chain.
This was when the Eazy record had been out and the NWA record was getting ready to come out.
We all had been working real hard. Those guys were starting to get benefits from it and I hadn’t started to get no money.
And they’re buying big dookie gold chains and all of that. I was talking to Eric like, yeah man, what’s up?
I want some gold too. And he tells me,
"I’ll tell you what,if you sell me the publishing on the songs that you wrote on this,this and this I’ll give you whatever you want."
Now me being an 18-19 year old ,I didn’t know what the hell publishing was so I told him
"Yeah, give me that chain, give me that watch and that ring."
I took about five thousand dollars in jewelry and give him about a million bucks worth of publishing.
When did you all started working on your record No One Can Do It Better?
After we put out the Eazy E record and the NWA Straight Outta Compton we started working on my record.
It was the natural progression. I was the best thing that we had in that camp, so that’s what we were going to put out.
Michele’s record was supposed to come out before mine, but we ended working on mine.
And then Above the Law’s album even came out before Michele’s did.
The first time I heard your lead single "Funky Enough" I thought that you were from Jamaica.
You know that song was a sample of "Misdemeanor" from the Sylvers. I always thought that the song had a Jamaican feel to it.
I had been begging Dre to sample that goddamn song for at least a month.
But there was no place on the record that you could sample so he would shoot me down.
But I would beg the guy and beg the guy and he finally sampled it.
When he got the beat done, I had been in there drinking all day, so when I got under the headphones the shit sounded Jamaican.
Dre went like, "Since you’re in the booth why don’t you go on and give us a level on it?"
I said to myself, since the shit sound Jamaican, I’m gonna give it a Jamaican feel because it sounds Jamaican to me.
I did the whole song in one take and we never changed it.
Can we talk a little bit about the accident that altered your voice?
We were doing two videos, "The Formula" video and the Beautiful but Deadly" video one weekend.
It was like eighteen hour days for both videos.
It was like being at a party for two days straight and then trying to drive home drunk
—that’s really what happened—and I didn’t make it.
What’s really funny about that particular video, "The Formula,"
was me being put together from pieces in some hospital and the next day they would be doing that shit for real.
That’s some crazy shit for real.
When you woke and found out that you weren’t able to speak, for a rapper that has to be devastating…
It started a ten year healing process that I wouldn’t understand for years to come.
Anything that a muthafucka tried to tell me or any help that a muthafucka tried to
give me or words of wisdom that a muthafuka was trying to give me, I probably wasn’t accepting it.
You’re right, I think that shit hurt me deeper than words can ever say.
What was the turning point that made you decide that you had to go on with your life?
Sylvia Rhone, she’s the big wig at Elektra, who I was signed to through Ruthless, was encouraging me,
as well as Jerry Heller and Eazy E, to keep going. You gotta make another record.
I felt that my confidence in myself had been diminished because the golden throat—I was the kid with golden voice,
I said it in my records. That was the crowning thing, my vocal tone. I could do things with my voice that you can’t even imagine.
And I hadn’t begun to show you anything yet. Man, I had more confidence than I had brains.
But after the accident Dre said to me one day that if it were up to him, he wouldn’t do it.
He said, "DOC them muthafuckas call you the greatest ever and I’d go out like that."
Hearing those words from Dre, who is the person I most respected in the music business period,
when he said that it made sense to me. I know when he said that shit, he’s not speaking from jealousy or envy.
He’s not speaking from a plastic place, he really cares about me.
He’s giving me the real shit, the shit that I really don’t want to hear. I heard him and I understood.
He said, " You got a really good thing going up here. You’re writing all these songs that are worth a lotta money.
Keep your ass up in here and keep working until you figure out what the fuck you want to do."
So that’s what I did.
Tell us about the transition from Ruthless to Death Row.
Me and Suge had been working together for a while.
Was Suge Knight your bodyguard?
He was more like a friend of mine.
They say he was a bodyguard, but I never paid the muthafucka no money for body guarding me.
He was just a friend really, a guy who hung around. We went places, we kicked it.
We had started trying to do business together right before the wreck.
As I remember it, DJ Quik was supposed to be coming in, some guys named Penthouse…
The Penthouse Player’s Click?
Yeah. I was trying to get these young guys and a female artist named Ms. Handling.
I was trying to hook up with the producer named Erotic D.
I talked Suge into getting him up there and we were going to start our own thing.
But, like I said, I had just had the wreck so my mind is gone now. I can’t think. I wasn’t real clear.
All I was trying to do was be drunk all the time, hang out and cause trouble.
Me and Suge were talking and we knew we needed Dre to make this thing work.
We had already went through my little contract, Suge and I and other lawyers and found out that I was not fairly being compensated. With that information, I went to Dre and I started having conversations with him about him and I doing our own thing.
If Eazy’s fucking me then he’s probably doing it to you too. He’s fucking Cube and dada dada da.
I just got those kinds of dialogue started. When we looked into Dre’s shit, sure enough, his shit was kinda flimsy too.
Now what Eazy should have did at that point, he should’ve said,
"OK Dre, fuck this shit.
What we need to do is get in this muthafucka and start it over and make it up so we’re all happy and we all breaking bread."
But no, what Eazy did was the classic nigga thing.
He said hey, this is my shit and I don’t give a fuck. It’s gone go like it’s gone go.
But what that did was separate Eazy E and Dre.
Now that’s really all that Suge and me needed to get Dre to come on in where we at because
Dre knew that a lot of that creative shit came outta me.
He knew that he’s not gonna be able to sit in the studio with Eric and come up with this shit.
So he comes over here and we get the idea that we gonna start our own label.
We’re gone split the shit 50/50. And Suge is gonna help us administrate and do business.
That’s where all of that shit started from.
Initially, you all moved into the Solaar building and started recording The Chronic?
Yep, that’s what happened. We started having meetings with this guy Dick Griffy, who was like an older Suge.
I’ve heard stories about Dick Griffy being the big bad wolf during his day.
verybody niggas like folks in the magazines would have you to believe, but the muthafuckas are sharks.
They on their Ps and Qs. They got good business sense.
They know how to deal with the powers that be, because the music business is a big, big, big game.
And trust me, they’ll never tell you the ins and outs, but there are a few niggas who know.
Well, Dick Griffy was one of them kinda niggas who knew and Suge was an up-and-comin nigga like that.
Recreate those days when you all were working on The Chronic?
When you make a classic record the majority of the time it’s just fun. That’s all it is.
Like the Straight Outta Compton record, the Eazy record, the Chronic record,
the 2001 record and now this record I’m doing right now, it all follows the same formula—
just having fun and don’t settle for shit that ain’t the shit.
I don’t give a fuck if you’re my greatest friend, while we in the studio all I wanna hear is dope shit.
If you ain’t bringing dope shit to the table then goddamn it you need to move over and let somebody else bring it.
We’re trying to make hits around this muthafucka. That was our saying back in the beginning, all hits and no bullshit.
That’s what we want.
I heard that you and Big Mike helped coached Snoop, is that true?
It’s kinda hard to coach somebody into greatness.
All I did was the same thing that I’m doing for my new artist 6’2,
it’s just a matter of making your concepts, your neighborhood stories, what’s going on in your life and making them Joe Q. Public. Understand it and be able to deal with it and be able to relate to some of the shit you’re saying,
even though some of the shit you’re saying may be wild as a muthafucka.
But you’re not creating the scenarios, these are scenarios that exists.
So it’s just a matter of me helping those guys, for lack of a better phrase,
make the White man understand what they were talking about.
What is your formula for writing a good lyric?
When you mess around with a DOC song then what you’re basically getting is a book that lasts about four minutes.
It’s a story. It has to have a beginning, a middle and an end. It has to all tie together.
It’s just like a movie whether it be a drama, a comedy or a comeback story like Rocky.
Everybody wants Rocky to win. Go Rocky.
He was beating the shit outta Mr. T and we didn’t give a fuck about Mr. T. And we Black!
We was suppose to been saying kick his ass, but we want Rocky to win, because that’s a part of the story.
Drama is a major part of the story for you?
They say all the time that sex and violence sells.
Speaking of sex and violence, rap music came under great fire during your hey day.
You were one of the major forces behind the music that was being vilified. How did you feel about that?
You’re talking about a nineteen year old kid caught up in a whirlwind of shit that was going on.
And everybody in the society, they’re gonna naturally take their position on any given subject.
And you know America loves to dance so if you give them something to
bite into then every politician and their mama is going to be outside on the street.
They didn’t like the word nigga. What the fuck!
That word’s been around for fifty-thousand years and now all of a sudden you
want to get out into the street and protest because I said it on a record!?
What the fuck is wrong with y’all? It’s muthafuckas starving outside right now! What are you all doing about that?
But you wanna jump your big head ass in front of any video camera that you can find and express your opinion about my music.
Well your opinion is a beautiful thing, that why it’s called America. We love it.
But don’t expect us to see the world through your eyes because as many people as it is on this planet,
there is as many opinions and as many assholes.
How many records did you work on with Death Row?
I left after Snoop’s first record. Doggystyle was the last thing that I ever fucked with…
What made you leave?
It was just time. It had gotten to the point to where I could hear the people talking.
Like I remember being at the "Murder Was The Case" video screening that they had for Snoop Dogg.
We were at big ass movie theatre. I was sitting on one side of a curtain and
two people were sitting on the other side and I knew they were talking about me.
And the shit that they were saying about me was not even cool.
And if those two people thought that way, imagine who the fuck else thought like that.
Who were these people? Were they important figures at Death Row?
Naw, they weren’t important figures at Death Row, but they were people close to the circle because of Dre.
Most of the people who came to that circle came because they wanted to be around Dre for what he could do.
They had nothing but negative shit to say. And it wasn’t about my performance, a lot of it was personal.
You know they thought I was a weak person because I never got no money from Death Row and
everybody else is riding around in Benzs and this and that.
From that moment on, I started thinking I’m not growing anymore here. I’m actually dying up here.
Are you saying that you wrote songs for The Chronic and Doggystyle and you didn’t get any compensation whatsoever?
None.
How were you surviving?
In those days I would simply go to Dr. Dre and say I need five grand, now go see your people.
I was living with Dre then and I had no need, no monetary need whatsoever.
I was eating the greatest meals everyday, living the life.
But I had no direction—didn’t know where was I going or why was I going.
I’d been writing this song for an album that he was thinking about doing called "Heltah Skeltah"…
I remember that it was supposed to be the Ice and Dr. Dre album but it never came out…
Yeah, one of the reasons why it never surfaced was because I stole the idea and shot it out there first.
That was your second solo album…
Right. The songs that I had written were on that album.
I had started writing it just from hearing Dre talking about it.
He and Cube were gonna do a record, it was gonna be called Heltah Skeltah,
this is what it’s going to be about, so I started putting together music.
And then Dre heard the song and I hadn’t told him that I had written the song for him,
but his first thing was "Hey, you need to let me get that song up out ya."
And the shit just hit me so cold I was like fuck that, man I’m not doing this shit no more.
Fuck that. If I’m gone write this shit, I’m gone rap this shit.
So I moved out to Atlanta and stayed with a friend just to clear my head.
Heltah Skeltah was some deep dark stuff.
Yep. It was all based on an idea that Dre and them was working on: anarchy…the end of the world kind of theory.
And my life was in a twist, my life was in the toilet bowl at that time,
so it was real easy for me to go and see the darkest, the most nasty.
It was easy for me to see the shit in the world at that time, because I was in a world of shit.
I was starting to do drugs real heavy then. I couldn’t get a grip on nothing man. I didn’t know what to do.
I don’t know if any of those people around me knew what the fuck I was doing.
I was basically dying up there man and I was too ashamed to come home.
What made you turn your life around?
It was a process. Shit, it’s like being an alcoholic. It was around the time I met 6’2 in 97.
I heard this nigga bust and I had just won this law suit so I had a lot of money. I met him through Erotic D.
I had been blessed to have been a student of one of the greatest producers ever, so when I heard him I knew it.
I had money in my pocket and I said I’m going to go get this guy and I did.
I did a couple of more songs on him with the money I had. And then I took it to LA and let Dre hear it and he said, this it.
Tell us about your new label and the album Deuce?
The new label is called Silverback Records and so far we’ve got five or six artist. All of them are solo artists.
And with the connections that I been able to accumulate and the knowledge that
I have acquired and the talent that I’ve assembled there ain’t nothing that we can’t do, not nothing.
A lotta of the songs on this new Duce record is on some old NWA shit. I did that on purpose.
Some of that shit that we did was because that was the mind frame that we were in at the time.
It may have been drugs, drinking, fucking hoes…you know whatever. I didn’t make that up.
That was going on before I got corrupted by it. But I’m a spiritual guy, always have been.
I was never no gangsta gangsta kinda nigga, though I am one of the most
important parts of that shit coming to light musically, that’s not in my nature. I’m a good guy. I love my mama.
Some of this stuff I could never say around my mama.
Some of this stuff I would never want my mama to hear, but these are records. This is my job.
I notice that you do some rapping on this album, what plans do you have for yourself as an artist?
I have plans. I have serious plans in the back of my mind to separate myself from any rapper in the history of rap music.
You’re saying there will be another DOC album?
Yes, there will be one and it will fuck you up because the idea is fucking me up.
Can you talk about it?
No, but you’re getting pieces of it on this record. You see it’s all been a confidence thing.
When people hear me rapping on this Deuce album they say I sound good.
That’s the trip part about it I’ve been going through ten years of opening my mouth and
people say damn, nigga you sound fucked up or you go to the grocery store and
the ladies say that’s okay baby you ain’t got to talk no more I see your hit is fucked up.
Psychologically, that’s draining.
But nowadays when people hear my voice there like, ooh your voice sounds so distinct, it so this, it’s so that.
So it’s not a real issue now.
www.murderdog.com/archives/doc/doc.html
and the interview with GQ Magazine ( the scans aren't mine; credit goes to Misterx from aftermathmusic.com):
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v392/twbrkzzk1/Dre.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v392/twbrkzzk1/Dre001.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v392/twbrkzzk1/Dre002.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v392/twbrkzzk1/Dre003.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v392/twbrkzzk1/Dre004.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v392/twbrkzzk1/Dre005.jpg)
The Source September 93 #48
The Source:
Since Dre's break-up with Eazy,there has been speculation about a reunion between he Ice Cube. Dre confirms the rumours. "We planned on doing this a long time ago,but we had to go through all the drama and shit." We got a chance to come together. Everybody's heads are on straight and the offer is,uhh...a nice amount of money." The album is tentatively titled Helter Skelter and will be realeased on Death Row Records. Dre plans to share production duties with Cube's camp. "You Don't Want To See Me" the project's first single,features a guest appearance by George Clinton.
Cube said this in Rap Pages 03.94
RP:What's up with the Helter Skelter project?
Cube:The Helter Skelter project had 2 be put on hold. Now it's about 2 get right back into effect. We had did one record called "You Don't Want To See Me",& we had 2 stop because Dre had to concentrate on Snoop's record.
RP:Is Ren a part of Helter Skelter?
Cube:I don't know,I talk 2 Ren too. That brother signed with the Nation Of Islam. I'm real happy with that brother because he's the last one who I thought would ever change. But I know he's gonna be a strong soldier
Dr.Dre interview in Hip Hop Connection June 1994.
….The much anticipated collaboration with Ice Cube, “Helter Skelter”. “It’s gonna be the biggest rap album of all time,” predicts a confident Dre.
When it became known that Dre and Cube were going to work together again, rumours started flying round of an N.W.A reunion. Dre is amused at the suggestion.
“There was never gonna be a N.W.A reunion. It was just me and Cube. We where in an interview clowning around, and that came out and the next thing you know it’s in every fucking newspaper. That the album was gonna be Niggaz Without Eazy. But there was never any reunion planned or nothing like that. We’re gonna try and get Ren on a couple of songs, but there was never any talk of a N.W.A reunion.”
So despite the exchange of disses back and forth between Dre and Cube over the last couple of years, this obviously hasn’t damaged their working relationship?
“Me and Cube have always been cool. We said something about him and he came back with his record; but there wasn’t no real beef. As matter of fact, we went out one time and he told me what he was gonna do. I was like ‘okay, whatever’.
The Source September 93 #48
The Source:
But RBX,who sets shit off on "High Powered" jumped ship just as Death Row began to move into their new offices. When The Source Matty C received a fax from Disney's Hollywood Basic announcing they'd signed RBX,he called Suge. According to Suge,he'd heard of no such thing.
I ask Dre about RBX..."Ehh...that's my boy,me and him are cool...I don't know." he pauses briefly. "He been having those mothafuckas running up in his ear. See it's like this,when RBX came down,that's Snoop's cousin you know..." He decides to end it there,remembering what words can do when exchanged in public. I ask if RBX's deal with Hollywood Basic is official. "Naw,legally he still with me. I'm just gonna wait to see what happens." He decides to continue.
"Soon as he blew up,soon as my record came out,you got a gang of mothafuckas talkin' about what they should be doing,where they should be,what they should have. Mothafuckas that didn't give a fuck about 'im before the record came out."
But isn't that what N.W.A went trough? "Naw,my shit was real. My business was fucked up. I'm not fucking over my people. Cuz I been on that side so I know what they expect and what they want. You keep the artist happy and there won't be no problems. Snoop is like my little brother yaknowwhatimsayin'? I'm just watching everybody's back. Everybody knows I've been in the industry a long time they know I know what I'm talkin about. So they listen to me. And I love them for that,because they trust my judgement."
thanks for the interview scans :)
never knew dre recorded 30-35 songs for the chronic (too bad we will never be able to listen to the leftovers).
anyway, about the D.O.C. interview from "Yo!"; the D.O.C. says that he still continues to write for N.W.A. so i guess the interview is originally from 91, but it was published later?
He's talking about working on Dre's first solo album though,
so i guess it was supposed to be released through Ruthless at first or am i wrong?
Dre obviously wanted his own label, but before he left Ruthless, his label was going to be distributed by Ruthless records
(that was the plan) if i remember correctly
Dre spoke on this and on some other spots they had playing on YO MTV Raps,Dre had a Death Row Records cap on him while he promoted NWA and the Niggaz4Life album with Yella.
He even say some of them is really good,but too uptempo to fit on the album.yeah probably, but even a few tracks on the chronic aren't slow jams ( though dre says that all tracks on that album are slow jams); apparently he still thought that they would fit on the album(which doesn't bother me; slow jams or not, as long as they're good g-funk tracks, it's all good).
Probably some NWA type of shit,Ren said in his interview with thaformula (the interview is posted here,so just search the forum)
that there was a gang og leftovers from Niggaz4Life too.
Yep,I think the original plan was to release it trough Ruthless or to be distributed by them.cool 8) sure take your time :D
In a interview with MTV news while theyīre filming the Appetite for destruction video,Dre spoke on this and on some other spots they had playing on YO MTV Raps,Dre had a Death Row Records cap on him while he promoted NWA and the Niggaz4Life album with Yella.
I got all this on video and will upload all this in due time,I canīt do it all at once. :D
Right now I will go trough my magazines,I have done about 1/4 of them so it will take some time before Iīm done.
thanks for the scans.
whatever happened to mike elizondo by the way?
he didn't blow up like scott storch did, but i'm not even sure if mike elizondo has become a solo producer.
he's not part of dre's production team anymore, well at least not for the "regular" aftermath projects.
Lately,Dre has been using more bass keyboards and less bass guitar on his beats.
Mark Batson and Dawaun Parker played on the majority of his recent tracks,and I know Mike Elizondo played guitar on Buck's single.
thanks for the interview scans :) never knew dre recorded 30-35 songs for the chronic (too bad we will never be able to listen to the leftovers).
anyway, about the D.O.C. interview from "Yo!"; the D.O.C. says that he still continues to write for N.W.A. so i guess the interview is originally from 91, but it was published later?
he's talking about working on dre's first solo album though, so i guess it was supposed to be released through ruthless at first or am i wrong?
dre obviously wanted his own label, but before he left ruthless, his label was going to be distributed by ruthless records(that was the plan) if i remember correctly
thanks for the interview scans :) never knew dre recorded 30-35 songs for the chronic (too bad we will never be able to listen to the leftovers).
anyway, about the D.O.C. interview from "Yo!"; the D.O.C. says that he still continues to write for N.W.A. so i guess the interview is originally from 91, but it was published later?
he's talking about working on dre's first solo album though,
so i guess it was supposed to be released through ruthless at first or am i wrong?
dre obviously wanted his own label, but before he left ruthless, his label was going to be distributed by ruthless records(that was the plan) if i remember correctly
if hoe hopper is any indication, we're good with the songs we got
then again the OG rat tat tat tat was dope
then again, if the og rat tat tat tat was any indication then we have heard alot of the chronic leftovers in one form or another since
-T
I don't like hoe hopper really but rat tat tat tat og is sick
-T
Trentman hooked this track up a couple of months ago,canīt find the OG thread.
Wonder whatīs the deal with this track since it got the same hook........
...and "Att Will" thanx Dre and Snoop in the booklet.
Trent scanned the booklet in the OG thread,whatīs the link Trent?
Att Will;
08 hoe hopper.wma
http://www.mediafire.com/?dn0n1yxhocv
The beat to the the Rat tat tat tat OG donīt fit the violent lyrics....
I don't like hoe hopper really but rat tat tat tat og is sick
-T
Trentman hooked this track up a couple of months ago,canīt find the OG thread.
Wonder whatīs the deal with this track since it got the same hook........
...and "Att Will" thanx Dre and Snoop in the booklet.
Trent scanned the booklet in the OG thread,whatīs the link Trent?
Att Will;
08 hoe hopper.wma
http://www.mediafire.com/?dn0n1yxhocv
The beat to the the Rat tat tat tat OG donīt fit the violent lyrics....
i felt that juxtaposition was what made that version brilliant
-T
the juxtaposition of that track illustrated how lightly the 'gangsta' takes life.
whereas the version on the album seems kind of melodramatic,though still very dope
-T
the juxtaposition of that track illustrated how lightly the 'gangsta' takes life.
whereas the version on the album seems kind of melodramatic,though still very dope
-T
I see what you mean,never really tought of it that way before you brought it up.
The album version got a "cinematic" sound that fit perect to the gangster fairytale lyrics.
the juxtaposition of that track illustrated how lightly the 'gangsta' takes life.
whereas the version on the album seems kind of melodramatic,though still very dope
-T
I see what you mean,never really tought of it that way before you brought it up.
The album version got a "cinematic" sound that fit perect to the gangster fairytale lyrics.
agreed
I wonder how many other beats on regulate were dre leftovers.
We know that runnin' wit no breaks and and ya don't stop were.
-T
MC Ren interview in Rap Pages August 1998
Rap Pages: After failing to cross paths with Cube for several years after the group’s dissolution, the two were reunited by producer Bobcat, who was working on tracks for each artist’s upcoming album. Ren and Cube discussed a reunion but where tripped up by a flat tire in the creative wheel.
“Dre, he ain’t fuckin’ with nobody out here,” Ren says with a obvious disappointment. “He only want to fuck with New York motherfuckers right now. We all got on the phone and we talked about it. Dre was like,’yeah,yeah, we’re going to do it. We’re going to go to the studio I be fucking with’. But then, when it was time, he didn’t want to fuck with it. We were supposed to do an N.W.A track for The Players Club. We where supposed to meet at Dre’s crib. The day came,and Dre flaked on us.
“Cube was kinda hot for a minute, like he was going to take it personal,” he continues. “We where talking like we should just do some shit ourselves. We ain’t finna beg no nigga to do no shit. I don’t know what that nigga’s trippin off of. He didn’t want to do that Players Club shit with niggas that put him out. Because if it wasn’t for niggas like us—me, Cube and niggas back in the day—he wouldn’t be where he at. Cube asked him a favor, and he couldn’t do it for that nigga, but he can turn around and do some shit with LL. It ain’t like LL made you Dr.Dre or helped get to be where you’re at. When he flaked like that, we where like, ’Fuck it, the reunion thing ain’t gonna happen.’”
Still, Ren says he hopes it could happen one day. Snoop, who appears on Ruthless For Life’s “So Watcha Want,” was slated to occupy Eazy-E’s place in the group, though unreleased Eazy material was to be included on a number of tracks.
Lady Of Rage interview in Hip Hop Connection 1994.
While Rage rightfullyclaims full credit her own eyecathing hairdo, it is actually Dre 100 per cent responsible for the equally clever title to her forthcoming debut album, ‘Eargasms’.
“When he first came up with that title I didn’t like it at all. I was like ‘Ugh, what does that mean?’,” she laughs. “But when it grew on me, after he explained how the concept fitted into the ‘Introducing The Eargasm’ and ‘Ride On The Eargasm’ tracks. It suddenly all became clear and generally the album will consist of what you’ve hears thus far – things that people can relate to. There’ll be a lotta sexual stuff because that’s a part of life I know about…. And I just look at like if more people made love while listening to music then everybody’d be a lit more relaxed. So `Eargasms` is really just a getaway. Something that’s good to the ear. When you hear it you’ll release your tensions and get it all outta your system.”
One of the tracks that reveals a different side to Rage’s talent and personality bears the unusual title of ‘Rollin’ On The River’.
It’s just a song I particularly like – a sexual song, but not explicit or nothing like that,” she enthuses. “It’s real discreet, real classy, and dealing with me seeing the guy from afar. I’m admiring him and thinking in my mind ‘Oh, what would I do with him?’. The ‘River’ actually signifies the bed. I think that’s a catchy title and something that people can relate to. I mean, it’s different from the Rage that everybody’s heard before. But then I am a lady and I do have the that side in me that desires a man. I’m not some rough, unaffectionate-type person.”
One of the album’s more controversial moments will defiantly prove to be *Late In The Midnight Hour’, a song dealing openly with the ‘hush-hush’ topic of mastrubation. Rage pauses to stifle an embarrassed giggle . “Well the fact is people do it! There’s nothing wrong with it – and I fell that if somebody brings it out to the light to the light then people might deal with it more! You know, it’s like the forbidden subject, even in Hip hop which has covered all kinds of other taboos. The first coupla verses are making fun of it and are discreet towards the guys. Then for the third verse – which isn’t even completed yet – I was gonna get into the girls and say, you know, ‘It’s alright if you do, it’s actually the safest thing right now’. So it’s like at first I’m making fun in order to break the ice, and then in the end just telling everyone, ‘If that’s what you do then that’s fine’.”
http://www.allhiphop.com/features/?ID=1161
Any man who has ever played the wall at a club can tell you there’s nothing more refreshing than an assertive woman. In the world of Rap, it’s an understatement to say it requires assertion to come of age around Suge Knight, Dr. Dre, Snoop, and Tha Dogg Pound. The Lady of Rage’s pounding lyricism on “Stranded on Death Row” only foreshadowed her praises on “Afro Puffs” two years later.
The Lady of Rage’s time came at last, in 1997, with Necessary Roughness. Though critics praised the album, the headless record company didn’t support the project – allowing the album to break a flawless label history of Gold and Platinum. In the year following, added to the murders in Rap, Rage retreated to her native, Virginia.
With acting roles in Next Friday plus other appearances, Rage stayed busy – but removed from her past. With a few guest verses, compilation work, and several AllHipHop Rumor updates, a return to Rap had been long projected. Last week, a mixtape, “VA to L.A.” was released, and AllHipHop.com quickly delivered Lady of Rage to our masses – touching on the past and the future.
AllHipHop.com: “Unfucwithable” on Doggystyle All-Stars was the last big piece of work I remember of yours. What have you been up to the last two or three years?
Lady of Rage: I’ve been up to: working on album; trying to get a deal. I’ve been working on myself – my spirit and my outlook on life.
AllHipHop.com: On your outro, you mention that industry people are not always returning your calls. How has the search for the deal been going?
Lady of Rage: With Boss Lady Entertainment [the company behind the mixtape], we really haven’t gone full steam ahead as far as actually pounding the pavement for a deal. [As far as the phone calls], I’d see certain artists or producers out and say, “Is there anything I can do for your?” and [we’d exchange numbers]. When I’d call or follow-up, it’s phony. I hate it. I hate it with a passion. I hate the runaround. After I call a person four or five times, I don’t call ‘em anymore. I hold grudges. I shouldn’t, but I take all of that stuff personally.
AllHipHop.com: Mixtapes mean different things for different artists. For you, what is the best case scenario as a result of this mixtape?
Lady of Rage: The best case scenario is that Jay-Z would hear it and want to sign me. The next best case scenario is that people will know that I’m still doin’ this, my skills haven’t dulled or anything, and I’m free agent. Whoever comes with the best offer to me will definitely not regret it.
AllHipHop.com: I think the average Hip-Hopper would see you wanting to get signed, and say “Why not Snoop? Why not Dre?” Why not?
Lady of Rage: As far as Snoop, yes – we were supposed to do business together, but things didn’t work that way. I think the distributor wasn’t sure if I was or wasn’t still signed to Death Row, and didn’t want the hassle. As far as Snoop, it’s not anything personal. As far as Dre, I would love to work with Dre – but I don’t have any contact to him. He’s a hard guy to get in touch with. I don’t think I have any burnt bridges at all. Even with Suge, I saw Suge a while ago when I was at Death Row [offices], and he knows I’m venturing on and stuff. Even if he offered me a deal, if it was right, I might go that route. I’m just trying to get the best thing. This is my second time around. My first time, I came out in the midst of turmoil as far as Suge going to jail, Dre leaving, ‘Pac getting killed – and in the midst of that, [Necessary Roughness] was released with no type of marketing or promotion.
AllHipHop.com: I’ve always been intrigued by your album. In 1997, Death Row released more albums in one year, than they have in the last seven or eight. I had heard specifically, that your project was salvaged by DJ Premier because it was old material on the cutting room floor…
Lady of Rage: That’s news to me. I didn’t know all that. I don’t know if Premier saved the project. But I know Premier, was definitely one of the artists I wanted to work with. I wasn’t allowed to work with many of the producers I wanted to. I had to work with what I had.
AllHipHop.com: How does Necessary Roughness sit with you today?
Lady of Rage: I wish it could have gotten more exposure. Those lyrics on there…I feel if that whole album was remixed, and put out right now, it’d [do well]. I feel that I’m still a dope lyricist, and as far as females are concerned, if I’m not in the Top Three, there’s something wrong, and as far as males, if I’m not in the Top Twenty, lyrically [something’s wrong]. That’s how much I believe in my music. I could be under false pretense, but I don’t think so. If everybody could’ve heard Necessary Roughness, then they’d know, “Wow, she really is a dope MC.”
AllHipHop.com: This was 1997. “Afro Puffs” was three years prior. Why was the “strike while the iron’s hot” motto not used?
Lady of Rage: When I first came to Death Row, they told me my album was going to be the next album put out after The Chronic. Then they said Snoop’s, but after Snoop’s mine. Then came Above The Rim. So, I kept getting pushed back. I don’t know if it was a male thing or not. “Afro Puffs” I believe, could’ve gone platinum as a single. Also, when I write, I don’t write like Snoop and Daz and everybody like that. I don’t feel like writing in the studio ‘cause I don’t like a lot of people around me. I like to be at home, in my room. I was slower than the rest. I really don’t know.
AllHipHop.com: The chemistry with you and Dre was so right, but so minimal. Is there unreleased material from those days?
Lady of Rage: Oh no! Like I said, when I write – I don’t do anything extra. I do what I have to do, that’s it. If I die tonight, you wouldn’t get another album from Rage.
AllHipHop.com: One of the little known moments was the b-side to “Dre Day,” called “Puffin’ on Blunts and Drankin’ Tanqueray.” This freestyle with you, Tha Dogg Pound, and Dre was classic. Tell me about that moment…
Lady of Rage: Those days were just…I don’t know if magic is the word. There was just a vibe. Dre used to make beats, and I would always walk in and say, “I don’t like that beat” – from the gate. I was always the one complainin’. But when I walked in that day, and I heard that track, I was like, “I like that!” Blunts and Tanqueray were circulating, and we just did it. I’m at a loss for words. I think I got [The Quotable] in The Source that month for that. I’ve gotten that twice. The other was, “Microphone Pon Cok.”
AllHipHop.com: A lot of artists do crazy things to get kicked off labels. It’s rumored that you did a number on Death Row’s lobby. Is there any merit to that?
Lady of Rage: [laughs] Well… I don’t know if I did a number on it. I went up there one day to pick something up. I’d been going up there all the time. Suge was locked up at the time, things were run differently. When I got to the lobby, the guy there told me I needed an appointment to go upstairs. I was like, “I need an appointment? For what?” All I got was, “Things are different now.” I was insulted by that. I’m one of the artists, one of the reasons this office is here, I feel. I didn’t sell millions of records, but I was on those things. This is mine’s like Dre’s, Snoop’s, Suge’s, whatever. I said, “Can you go get the package for me?” When he went upstairs, I picked up something and I broke some things up, and really give them a reason for not lettin’ me in here. I never went back again until I couple of months ago. I was just mad. I was pregnant, I was mad, that was slap in the face.
AllHipHop.com: What was it like on the recent visit? And why would you go back to Death Row?
Lady of Rage: I went back because my daughter’s father works up there. I didn’t go back there for business or anything. I went up there for that. Suge was in the parking lot at the time. I hadn’t seen him since he got released. We spoke to each other like, “You look nice,” and that was it. No, “What the Hell you doin’ here?” None of that. That [lobby] incident, I don’t believe Suge had anything to do with it. I told him about it. I wrote him a couple letters – told him how I was upset about different things, and I didn’t wanna be on Death Row anymore. That was it. He said that whatever I wanted to do, he was with me.
Be sure to check her;
www.myspace.com/officialladyofrage
Robin Yvette Allen, the Lady of Rage is a rapper best known for collaborations with several Death Row Records artists, including Snoop Doggy Dogg on the seminal album Doggystyle. Chubb Rock discovered Lady of Rage when she was working and living at Chung King Studios in New York. She subsequently had an uncredited appearance as Rockin' Robin on Chubb Rock's 1991 album The One. After she appeared on They Come in All Colors (The L.A. Posse, 1991, 1991 in music), Dr. Dre heard her on the album, and Suge Knight called her and convinced her to come to Los Angeles. She then appeared on several tracks from Dr. Dre's 1992 classic The Chronic album, and on Snoop Doggy Dogg's Doggystyle in 1993. In 1994, she had a hit single with "Afro Puffs" (from the soundtrack to Above the Rim). Her debut solo album, Necessary Roughness, was released in June of 1997 (see 1997 in music). She has been a hairdresser to members of Tha Dogg Pound. After the release of her album and a guest-appearance with Gang Starr alongside Kurupt ("You Know My Steez (Three Men and a Lady Remix)") in 1998, Rage left Death Row Records and the music industry generally to focus on acting, appearing in an episode of The Kenan & Kel Show. The Lady of Rage also went on to be featured in several television sitcoms. Most notably as Coretta Cox on the WB's "Steve Harvey Show" from 1996 to 2002. She also had a small part in Next Friday as Baby D, little big sister of Day Day's ex girlfriend. In 2000, she made another rapping appearance on Snoop Dogg's "Set It Off" on his album Tha Last Meal. In the coming years, Rage would once again disappear from the public eye. Her limited recording activity consisted of 2002 with a solo track "Unfucwitable" on Snoop Dogg Presents...Doggy Style Allstars Vol. 1 and the comical "Batman & Robin", which appeared on Snoop Dogg's Paid tha Cost to Be da Bo$$-album. Rage truly returned in 2005 when she started her own label, Boss Lady Entertainment, and creating a mixtape called From VA to L.A. She has also made appearances on Welcome to tha Chuuch - Da Album and Cali Iz Active.
Hip Hop Connection. September. 2000. Suge knight Cover;
HHC;
What happened to the Dre and Cube album?
Suge Knight;
“Basically egos, and when you get two guys who are not from the ghetto what can they actually talk about? Their house in the hills?
That’s why you won’t see the N.W.A album come out any time soon. Everyone’s talking about the N.W.A reunion album coming out, but I own the name N.W.A, so before they put that out I’d have to give clearance for it. They did ‘Chin Check’ on Cube’s album which didn’t help sell the album because the kids want somebody young. What really sold Dre’s album is Eminem, that’s what sold that record”
HHC;
How come you own N.W.A’s name?
Suge Knight;
“The N.W.A thing, that’s a Compton thing. With me really being from Compton and those other guys not really being from Compton, it was more rightfully mine to own than theirs. I wasn’t part of the group but I was part of the real ghetto which those guys weren’t.”
HHC;
Are you saying N.W.A where all fakers?
Suge Knight;
Eazy lived in Compton, that’s the only one, everybody else didn’t.
Dubcnn: Dubcnn has the fantastic opportunity to connect with a true legend of Hip-Hop, a man who helped create a lot of classic records, The D.O.C. himself. How you doing Doc?
Hey hey man! I'm cool, just kicking it, you know?
Dubcnn: It's great to hear from you man, you know that to a lot of West Coast fans, you're like the magic fairy who is needed to sprinkle its magic on to records for them to become classics. How do you feel about that?
*laughs* Haaa, aw shit, that's cool man! It's a blessing, absolutely. I tell them all the time, it's not a D.O.C. thang, it's a G.O.D. thang!
Dubcnn: You have discussed your past many many times, so before we get to that, let's start it off by talking about the present time. You told me you've been in the studio with Dr. Dre?
Yeah, Dre is in the other room right now, making some beats.
Dubcnn: So ya'll working on Detox?
Yes sir! I'm trying to get this muthafucka done by the summertime. I need it to be out in the summertime, I need that badly in my life.
Dubcnn: So what is "Detox" really?
I can't tell you that. That's classified. *laughs*
Dubcnn: People are expecting a mind-blowing record,do you think the pressure makes it hard to put out a record, fearing a flop?
Nah man, if you love the shit, you're gonna make great shit. And I love the shit. I love great sounding rap records. I love great rap songs. So that's what I try to make.
Dubcnn: How much has been recorded already?
Can't tell you!
Dubcnn: Ya'll ain't letting nothing out the bag, huh?
Nope!
Dubcnn: People were expecting it to drop this year, cause he waited seven years to drop 2001, but I guess not...
The key is 007! It's always a 7 in it. You got part of it! But it's about 007.
Dubcnn: Do you think it's going to be comparable to the first two Chronics, as far as having West Coast guests on it and everything?
I can't tell you!!! All I can tell you is that it ain't what you expect, so don't expect nothing. But, it's some crazy shit, and I love it.
Dubcnn: How is it working with Dre in the studio, compared to back in the day?
It really hasn't changed. As a matter of fact, right now it's more like it was in the beginning. He's really able to concentrate on making these drums work, and I sit in there and try to concentrate on making these words work.
Dubcnn: What do you think of Bishop Lamont? Have you worked with him yet?
I haven't had a chance to work with him, but Lamont is something else. He's bananas. He's one of the young gorillas around here.
Dubcnn: Do you think he has it in him, to become the new star of Dr. Dre, similar to Snoop and Game blowing up?
I think Dre could make you a star. If that's what he wanted to do. All that is Dr. Dre. It all starts with that cat. If you are half way alright, if he's touching you, you're going to be great. And if you're great, and he touches you, then you're supposed to be super-human. But that's only if you can listen. Cause the guy is something else.
Dubcnn: Dre has been criticized a lot, producers talking about he stole work from them, or put his name on stuff. You're right there in the studio with him, so maybe you can clear that up!
Yeah! It's just drama. That's all it is. I see what this guy does with those buttons. Anybody should be happy to be affiliated with this dude, because it's something really different about his ear and shit. The truth is... Uh nah I'm not even allowed to tell you that. It's something else though. The guy is crazy.
Dubcnn: Sounds like ya'll have been going in a piano direction, judging from the tracks on Jay-Z and Snoop's record.
He makes beats all day long, and whatever song comes up, came up. We just try to make great songs. When it comes to the people and stuff, ain't really no masterplan to it, just trying to fit them to good music.
Dubcnn: Snoop told me he worked with you for his Blue Carpet Treatment, on "That's That Shit". Tell us about that.
"That's That Shit", "Round Here", "Boss Life" and "Imagine". Those are my pieces on Snoopy's record.
Dubcnn: Tell us about working with Snoop on his new album.
It's just love! It's me, Snoop and Dre getting back in the studio having fun. I'm just trying to put some love on my nigga's record because that's the love that we had back in the day. It's easier for me to write for Snoop than it is for anybody else, because that was some shit that we developed
together when he was a kid! I know him in and out!
Dubcnn: We know you used to coach Snoop Dogg write songs back in the day, how is it sitting next to Snoop in 2006, compared to back then?
Come on man, Snoop! I love Snoop exactly the same as I did back then. He was a star then. Before anybody else knew it, I knew it. I love him the same way now, he's a star now. It's all love on mine when it comes to him. We are the same, me and him.
Dubcnn: What about you, how different is D.O.C. now?
Not a whole lot different. Maybe a whole lot wiser. Maybe a lot more humble and appreciative of the opportunities that a muthafucka gets to have. It's a cold game, and it's easy to get swallowed up in bullshit, shit you could never make it out of. But your boy made it through and I'm right back in the
same spot I was 20 years ago, but with a whole lot more sense, and my skill sense is still bananas! *laughs*
Dubcnn: How do you think the game has changed? It's hard to please everybody, you have all the old school fans, and at the same time you have to please the young crowd and the mainstream crowd. How hard is that?
Aw man, it's all good songs. None of that shit really matters. It takes a great song. You know a great song when you hear one, everybody does. So if that's what you thrive to make, then you really can't miss! I don't give a fuck if it's a 20 year old or a 40 year old! It's all the same shit to me anyway! I thrive to be the best, that way I can't loose. A lot of the shit is so ughhh, but it is, what it is. And if you're young and you're black, and this music is affording you the opportunity to make money, I say make your money! But not that I listen to a lot of the stuff out here man.
Dubcnn: The way you're saying it, it sounds like when you hear a good song, you hear a good song. But, I don't believe that skill is all that matters no more. You have all these artists that make good songs, good music, that can't get no radio play, no play whatsoever.
Yeah, well you know, that's a part of the game too, kid! It always has been! It didn't just show up. It has always been like that, that shit goes all the way back to fuckin' Gladys Knight and the Pits probably. It is what it is. You have to work with that in this system, and try to accomplish whatever goal it is, that you set for yourself. You can't expect to change this system from the outside, unless you are the coldest muthafucka that ever rapped. And I ain't heard him yet! I probably am him, and they took my voice so I couldn't talk shit! I understand exactly what you're saying, but I don't believe you can fight that war from outside. It's gonna have to be a cold ass rapper to say that shit and muthafuckas got to play it anyway. He doesn't exist anymore, cause they took my vocal chords, kid! But if they give it back, I got you!
Dubcnn: You still managed to make your mark in the game, even without your voice! You used your talent in another way.
Man, it's all God's gift. It's what he allowed me to do. If this is what I'm supposed to be doing right now, that's why that happened.
Dubcnn: Do you still sometimes think back, like "What if that didn't happen? Now I would be sitting right there next Snoop and Dre on TV doing all the shit?"
No, no. It's probably more likely that if I wouldn't have lost my voice, I
probably would be dead by now, kid!
Dubcnn: You were too wild?
Yeah yeah, it was too much. We was too young.
Dubcnn: Doing too much?
Tooooo much! I think we're going to do a movie about this shit in a minute. So you'll get to see it, it's gonna be bananas. We're talking about it.
Dubcnn: What's up with your artist, Six-Two? Is he still around? You were pushing him hard for a while.
Six-Two is in Texas. I had to take a break from Silverback for a minute to concentrate on my ties to the West Coast. I had to build my shit back up, so I can do what I do back at the crib. But I came through for Silverback. But right now, I gotta be in L.A. where it's kinda popping. But I can't be up
here with all them niggas! I ain't got it like that yet!
Dubcnn: What about Up-Tight?
Both of them guys are around man, and both of those guys are solid!
Dubcnn: Six-Two had some good story telling tracks on the Deuce album!
Come on man! He is the truth! He is the truth!
Dubcnn: Didn't he have a solo record out there?
Who, Sixty-Double? Just featured on a lot of other shit, he ain't have a solo record yet.
Dubcnn: I think there was an album out, something called "Mac-A-Roni & G'z?"
That's like a mixtape. "Mac-A-Roni & G'z". *laughs* Yep man!
Dubcnn: How do you feel about your album "Deuce", looking back to it a few years later?
You know what, that's the first record I ever did myself, without nobody. I was trying to prove a point so bad, that I went one way when I maybe should have went another way. Today I might do it a lot differently, but it is what it is. I appreciate the opportunity.
Dubcnn: Your debut "No One Can Do It Better" is still praised as one of the classics in Hip-Hop, when is the last time you listened to that record?
Aw man, it's been a minute.
Dubcnn: You should pop it back in!
*laughs* I'm trying to build this new shit. I don't wanna get stuck trying to get off into that old shit, cause at one point in the game, I tried to go back to some of those flows that I used before, and it just don't work with this voice. You gotta be able to push that shit out.
Dubcnn: Do you wish you would have gotten more credit for the work and helping you did in the early Death Row days?
You know what? Of course. A man wants to be acknowledged for the work he does. But I don't know if everybody is supposed to get it all the time. When it's my turn to get it, you can believe I'ma get it. But that always fucked me up back then, not so much now, but it did back then.
Dubcnn: Do you still maintain a relationship to Suge Knight?
Naw, naw. It ain't really no reason to. But I don't not acknowledge the cat. He's gotta make ends too, so god bless him and that's what that is, but I really can't deal with him.
Dubcnn: Have you ever thought about writing a book about your whole life?
That's where this movie thang came from.
Dubcnn: Cause I know there was this book by Ronin Ro called "Have Gun, Will Travel", but I heard a lot of the shit in there was false and everything, so..
Oh, oh! *laughs* There was some crazy shit going on, I remember all that shit! But I'ma get them, you can believe that. But I wanna do it right, none of this is ever about money, for me. It's always about the art. So when I tell this story, I'ma move mountains with this muthafucka. It's not just to
be doing something.
Dubcnn: Aftermath artist G.A.G.E. said in an interview, that you were working on a solo album called "Voice Threw Hot Vessels". Is that true?
*silence* Uhhh... yeah.
Dubcnn: You ain't trying to tell me?
You know what, I don't wanna get too deep off into it, because it's so early. Right now Dr. Dre's "Detox" is the most important on my mind. But there is an idea in the back, and that was the title so far.
Dubcnn: That's all we're getting right now, huh.
Yeah. But don't count me out, kid! He might have one more classic in him!
Dubcnn: Shit, why not? You already have one under your belt.
*laughs* Thank you, pimpin'.
Dubcnn: You have a strong ear for talent, who are D.O.C.'s favorite up and coming artists in the rap game right now? Who are you routing for?
Six-Two and Up-Tight. Who else... Pretty Black from Dallas, Cadillac Seville... You know, we don't listen to anybody new, when we're in the field. It's not good. My daughter loves them all though, my daughter loves Lil Wayne, and Bow Wow, she loves them all. But D.O.C., he don't know.
Dubcnn: So what's D.O.C. listening to? Just your own shit?
D.O.C. is listening to these beats that Dre is making in here, trying to build some Detox shit.
Dubcnn: You should sneak some of those beats out and let us hear them!
Can't do it!
Dubcnn: I heard that Dre got this machine in the studio, where he just be shredding all the CD's he don't like!
Absolutely, right there.
Dubcnn: Why do that, though? I'm sure he's got beats that he's not happy with that he could easily slang to up and coming artists who would appreciate them.
I know, dogg! I be thinking the same thing! Cause he just makes them all day, he spits them out! But it's his art, I can't tell him what to do with his shit. I don't even try, cause it won't work!
Dubcnn: Do you think that a problem with well known artists is that they're often surrounded by yes-men, and rarely get an honest opinion about their music?
That may be. But sometimes, a person can get so good, that they forget that they're not always good. They might be getting the right information, but not hear it. It's all kinds of shit, and it's all subjective. It's really all opinion. Nobody can say for certain, one way or the other. That's why I
say if you're black, and you're making some money, I'm glad you're doing it.
Dubcnn: In Hip-Hop, it seems like we got that first album curse, to where the first album is your best one, most of the time.
Yeah. Because it's hard to love it. It's easy to love the money, but it's hard to love the shit that we do, because sometimes it's thankless, and trust me when I tell you that. I do it because I love it, and muthafuckas ain't been thanking me the whole time. But I do it because this is what I do, nigga.
Dubcnn: So for 2007, D.O.C.'s plans are Detox and then after that we might get the solo?
Yeah, as soon as we get through "Detox", I'm gonna do it. Dr. Dre executive producing the album, D.O.C... Oh my god! He named it! Which is why the name is out! But it's all good, you can call the muthafucka whatever you want! I just wanna do one over your drums.
Dubcnn: Okay man, I think we've cornered pretty much all aspects, do you have any last words for the fans?
Nah man, I'm just here, and I ain't going no where. If you love the shit, love the shit. For real. And I love the fact that the Cowboys will be in Miami this year, kickin' the shit out of somebody from the AFC's ass in the Superbowl. I love that.
[Q & A W/ the D.O.C.: from ruthless to death row
feedback: info@thaformula.com
2004
ThaFormula.com - First off, I just wanna say that this is an honor, and that in my opinion if it weren't for your tragic accident, you would have been the greatest MC of all time...
D.O.C. - Now wait a minute, what's up with this would have been shit? Don't count me out like that!
ThaFormula.com - Nah man, I'm sayin' at this point in time I feel you would have been the best and I say that only because you and Dre were one of the greatest combinations of all time...
D.O.C. - Ok, well thank you brother, and you know what I think man? I think you are exactly right, and I don't mean any disrespect to nobody, but I think you are absolutely, exactly right, and when I say don't count me out yet, don't let it be because my voice is gone that that takes that marquee away from my name. We still working on me being the greatest of all time. It just may take a little while.
ThaFormula.com - I always thought that you wrote a lot of the material from the early Death Row days. Did you have a lot of input when it came to that?
D.O.C. - Well what I did was the same thing I do with these young guys now, which is that I don't persay write the shit, but I don't allow them to write bullshit. I listen with a loving ear, that means I want you to be the shit and everything less just ain't civilized.
ThaFormula.com - I always tell people that I felt the biggest tragedy in hip-hop, was the day you got in that accident and lost your voice. Hip-hop was robbed of what would have been one of, if not the greatest MC of all time?
D.O.C. - Well god works in his own time and he works in mysterious ways, so it must have been meant for me not to say nothing for these ten years, but for some reason I feel like talkin' now. So I'm ready to talk, and I can rap a little bit. It may not be what it once was but these words still sting pretty heavily. Although the vocal power ain't what it once was, it's still a lot of power in this raspy voice I got.
ThaFormula.com - I'd like to start from the beginning Doc, let's go back to the early years and let all those that don't know, exactly how it all started?
D.O.C. - Well N.W.A. hadn't really got together yet. At least the group that the world knows as N.W.A. hadn't really all come together yet. When I got there everybody started finding there places. Everybody had their own individual skills, but Cube belonged to another group called C.I.A. at the time. Eazy was doing his own records at that time. Dre was just a producer, Ren was around and Dre worked with Yella. There was another dude around called Arabian Prince. All those guys was working with each other. Everybody was doing they own shit, but they all worked together. By the time I got there, guys really started taking that shit serious and they stopped fucking with Arabian Prince. Cube came from C.I.A. and left his other group alone. That's when we started doing work all together, but N.W.A. hadn't even really started working on it's material. We all spent all our time trying to put Eazy's record together.
ThaFormula.com - What did you do for the Eazy-E album "Eazy Duz It?"
D.O.C.- I wrote about maybe 30 or 40 percent of that record. I wrote "Still Talkin Shit," I wrote "We Want Eazy," and more.
ThaFormula.com - You came from the South, how did you and Dre hook up?
D.O.C. - Well there was this dude named Dr. Rock who used to DJ with Dre at a club called the "Eve After Dark." Well, Dre came down to visit this dude Dr. Rock because Dr. Rock had moved from Compton and came down here and got a gig on the radio. Well, when this rap shit started happening, Rock tried to put him a group together. I was in the group Fila Fresh Crew. Dre came down and was visiting with this dude and ended up doing some beats at this dudes crib for us, and once me and Dre started coming together, dude was like "nigga you the shit," "If you come out to the West Coast, I guarantee you we will be rich." Well later on I found out this dude Rock was taking money, so I gave Dre a call. To me it was all about the music. I've never been a really a street kind of dude. I'm more of a thinker.
ThaFormula.com - And at that time it was all about the music and nobody was really thinkin' about being rich were they?
D.O.C. - Shit nah. I think what Dre saw was my ability to help him make great records. Making a hit song for Eazy-E wasn't the easiest thing in the world. Eazy didn't have any rhythm, so it was hard to cross and besides I think Dre wanted to cross over his music so he could get it played on the radio. At that time they wasn't playin that gangsta shit on the radio. They wasn't trying to hear that, but if I could write songs for Eric that were gangsta, but not "gangsta," uh , I could have Eazy talkin' about all the gangsta shit in the world, but use words that don't scare white people. That's really all it was.
ThaFormula.com - Looking back, you had a hell of a vocabulary for coming out of a gangsta rap camp like N.W.A.?
D.O.C. - Sure, but I was a reader. I was always a reader as a young kid. I was never outside in the streets sellin' this doing that. I used to read books, that's what I did. I actually read books so that I could trick my parents into thinkin' that I was going to school and shit. But once I got to the West Coast, it was just such a thrill to be in California. I had been to L.A. as a kid or young child, but as an adult I had never been to L.A., so my vibe was so great I was putting songs together in fuckin' 5 minutes back then. I can't remember one rap I wrote that Eazy didn't love, and muthafuckas in L.A. from Dre's relatives to Eazy's relatives to Cube's friends didn't love. Muthafuckas were like, "Doc you the shit!" Once they came in like that it was hard for me to come back to Texas because Texas never showed me that kind of love, but from the time I got off the plane in California, them muthafuckas was like, "nigga you the shit."
ThaFormula.com - What happened after that?
D.O.C. - Well I was just a part of the team at that time. See, to me there was no difference between Eazy-E, N.W.A. or D.O.C. There was just titles that you put on a record. Like in my heart of hearts, you can't have an N.W.A. record without me, but anytime you see anything about N.W.A. in magazines they will never mention my name, but I was a pivotal part of that scene.
ThaFormula.com - You had the dopest intro on the "Straight Outta Compton" LP, which was for the track "Parental Discretion is Advised." What type of input other than track that did you have on that album?
D.O.C. - Well whenever you heard Eazy rappin', that was me, and then I stuck my own shit in like when Dre was doing the court room shit before "Fuck the Police," I was in there at the end. But to me it was more about making Eazy sound like he the shit. That was my job, and I took that shit serious. After the N.W.A. record it was just my turn.
ThaFormula.com - Was there a problem with that? I always wondered if that wasn't one of the reasons that Cube left, other then money?
D.O.C. - Nah, Cube just had problems with Eazy and the money, and Jerry Heller was really Eazy's downfall in the business world.
ThaFormula.com - Was Jerry Heller really as bad as they made him out to be?
D.O.C. - Well I don't know if he was as bad as muthafuckas claim, but he was just a Jewish guy that was in a position of power as far as Eazy was concerned. Eazy still had to sign the paper. He still had to sign the check, but Jerry would convince this guy that this is the best move or that it is the best move, no matter what any of us said, Eazy was gonna do what the fuck Jerry said because he felt that the guy was right. He had taken him from just makin' money on the street doing what he was doing, to being a serious businessman and making great music. I mean he wasn't really controlling shit, but he was in Eazy's ear so tuff and Eazy had so much faith in him that I guess you could really say that to a certain extent, yeah he was. He had a lot of control over Ruthless, a lot more then any of us had. So when you think about when the money started coming and I'm sure it was more money and faster then Eazy had ever made working on the streets, but Eazy chose not to share it with those guys the way they wanted it to be shared. The way they wanted to be compensated for their hard work. So instead of this dude saying "well let me take a step back and try and fix this shit because this is my business," he took the street stance of, "nigga this is my shit, fuck you," "you can beat it if you want to." So that's what the fuck Cube did.
ThaFormula.com - Did this problem start before or after your album was gonna drop?
D.O.C. - Yeah, the problem happened before we even got off into my record.
ThaFormula.com - So when did the decision to do your record come?
D.O.C. - It was just a natural process. We'll do Eazy's then well do N.W.A.'s, then I'm next.
ThaFormula.com - Why wasn't Cube next, because it always seemed like he would be the next one with the solo album?
D.O.C. - Well, N.W.A. had music out. I don't think Cube was really trippin' on a solo album at that time. He wasn't sayin, "I want an Ice Cube record." He wasn't trippin' like that. He was happy in N.W.A. He just wasnt getting paid.
ThaFormula.com - Now I wanna speak on a rumor that has been going around for years. Is it true that you sold your publishing for a...
D.O.C. - for a watch and a gold chain?
ThaFormula.com - Yeah, was that true?
D.O.C. - Sure it was. I mean I didn't know what I was doing. I was a fucking 19-year-old kid. I didn't know shit about no fucking publishing and this and that.
ThaFormula.com - Did you sell it to Eazy or Jerry?
D.O.C. - I sold it to Eazy. He took advantage.
ThaFormula.com - Do you think that he did that, or do you think that Jerry Heller was behind that?
D.O.C. - Nah, I think Eazy did that. Eazy was always a money-hungry muthafucka. Eazy was a greedy one, and I was a perfect match for him because I'm a giving person. Money don't mean nothing to me because I make great music. Its in my heart and you can't keep that shit down forever. I kept saying to myself, one day it will be my turn.
ThaFormula.com - So now comes your album. What I want to know is how was it recording "No One Can Do It Better" because that was the only album that I can remember where Dre produced it all by himself, without the help of any other co-producer or whatever. It was just you and Dre. This is the album I always tell people to explain to me when they say Dre can't produce by himself or that he jacks everybody's beats. There was no one to jack for your album right?
D.O.C. - Well, let me explain something to you and you can print this so your people will understand. I went through this shit with Daz and now they're going through this shit with Mel-Man. Let me tell you something. What Dr. Dre gives those young men, they can't give you enough money for, what that guy gives these young producers that are trying to come up. The only reason Dre even has anybody else in there fucking with him is because he's lazy. That's the only reason. When Dre is in the studio, that shit is coming out of his mind and none of these other guys are responsible for it and I was there from day 1, 'till fuckin' '94 or '95 when I had to leave. Then I came back because doing records with Dre is like going to school, because if you sit and you watch, and you look and you learn, the guy is teaching you how to make great records. Now with this new record I made, I'm only doing what Dre would have did, and I used my own judgment. The one thing that Dr. Dre is missing now is D.O.C. and that's the same way that I would tell those young guys, hey that sucks! I would tell Dre's big ass the same shit. Hey, I love you, and your the greatest of all time, but that's bullshit!
ThaFormula.com - So at this point in time there is nobody in there to tell him, "Hey Dre, I don't know about that beat right there?"
D.O.C. - That's right. Number one, there is nobody there that I think, and this is just my own personal humble opinion, there's nobody there that I think knows the difference between a hit record, or not, and even if they knew, they're going to get paid so they're not gonna tell him. Me, I never gave a fuck. You muthafuckas ain't payin' me anyway, so I might as well tell you your shit stinks.
ThaFormula.com - Now let's get back to your first album Doc, what was it like recording that album?
D.O.C. - Just fun man. That's the only word I got for that. The shit was so much fun because at that time when I moved to California, I moved at Dr. Dre's urging. Once I got there I had to stay with this dudes brother by Centenial High School for like a month or 2, and then Dre got his own apartment. Him and Yella got an apartment, so I spent all day everyday with Dre for those first 3 or 4 years, I was with this guy all day everyday. We slept in the same house, we ate at the same time. We drove to work together in the same beat up little Toyota Corrolla. It was the closest thing that you could have to a brother because we fought and argued like family. That's the kind of person I am. I'm a real southern kind of person, so if I have love for you and if something's in my heart, then I'm gonna express myself. There ain't no gangsta shit. I don't wanna beat yo ass, I don't wanna shoot you in your ass, or none of that shit. I just want you to think about what I'm sayin' and try to do right. At the same time, show business was around us and everybody was just blowin' up in they're own way, and you know how show business can really get muthafuckas' heads fucked up.
ThaFormula.com - Did every song recorded for "No One Can Do It Better" make that album?
D.O.C. - Yep, every song, and the "No One Can Do It Better" album was just me being me, and Dre being Dre. We had no plans. We just had fun and did the shit, and when we felt like we had enough, we quit. "How many is that?," "17?," "Yeah that's enough, fuck it, let's move on." He was ready to get back into N.W.A. mode.
ThaFormula.com - What made you do the track, "Beautiful But Deadly" and go down that avenue?
D.O.C. - Oh, that was Dr. Dre's idea. Traditionally I'm a East Coast rapper, so he felt what Run and them was doing back then, uh, well we felt that I could do that kind of thing. Crossover into a Rock n' Roll kind of theme and not reaqlly skip a beat or lose any of my hardcore audience doing it. Because of the type of rapper that I was. But it really wasn't straight Rock n' Roll because that's a old parliament song, and Dre is a Parliament freak.
ThaFormula.com - What was your favorite song off that album?
D.O.C. - As a young man, my favorite song was "Doc and the Doctor," because I used to love to be able to holla and do my Run DMC imitation. My favorite song now is "Tha Formula."
ThaFormula.com - Likewise, which is why we named the site "thaformula.com," because what you were spittin' on that track was the truth, and pretty much summed up the formula to making real hip-hop?
D.O.C. - Now I will tell you how that song came about. It's a funny story. Dr. Dre and Michel'Le went somewhere and they didn't make it back home till about 1:30 or maybe 2 o'clock in the morning. Now me I'm straight outta Texas. I ain't got a pot to piss in, or a window to throw it out of, so when they go out I'm just at the house on the floor. Well I was sleepin' when he came back in, and he said, "nigga, I was on my way home and I got caught up in a day dream, it was me and you was bustin' a song called "Tha Formula" to a Marvin Gaye beat!" He went in there and he got a tape and he played me the Marvin Gaye song and he went in there and went to sleep. Well me, I stayed up from about 2 o'clock till about 5:30 maybe finishing that song and we did that song the next day. That's what I mean, me and Dre were really in sync. Like I go good with his ear. Not just his beats, I can hear the kind of shit that he hears, but still I'm able to hear my own shit in it.
ThaFormula.com - Well, I never heard anyone flow over a Dre beat the way you did on "Tha Formula" and I really don't think anyone ever will.
D.O.C. - Well I remember Mel-Man telling me one time that he asked Dre who was the best to rap on top of his beats and Mel-Man told me that Dre said it was me, and I can pretty much believe that because I am one of the few muthafckas' that loved, and I don't mean I like it as in when I hear it I wanna dance, but I loved Dr. Dre's production. So that means when it stinks we need to fix it, because I love it. Not in the terms where it's something that I like, but it's something that I want to be great and I wanted him to be great. I always wanted Dre to be Quincy Jones. At least in this hip-hop thing, I wanted him to be Russell Simmons. I didn't want him to just be satisfied with being Dr. Dre, hit maker or beat maker. The guy has the potential to be huge in this world. I mean he's a smart guy with a good heart, and I think he's got the best ears in the business today.
ThaFormula.com - How about "It's Funky Enough?" That was a different type track at that time. No one had really done anything like that in hip-hop at that time?
D.O.C. - Well that was me sittin' at the turntable listening to a song called "Misdemeanor" by The Silvers, and I loved it. It was a funky little thing. It was the shit, but Dr. Dre said there is nothing I can sample. I'm not fucking with it. A couple of days later I'm back in the studio and I pull that muthafucka back out and I'm listening to it, and I ask him again. He said, there is not enough space or some shit, and that he can't sample the record so he can't use it. I let it go again. Well we came back in there, and I think it was like a week later, and I got the record and I was playing with it, and I had to beg this guy to make the fuckin' beat. He says "okay fuck it, I'll make it." He put the shit down and I was gonna write another rap to it, but the way he was clowning me behind it I said, "fuck it, Ill just put this rap that I got on it, then we can work it out if it ain't right." I had been drinkin' some beer, and smokin' some weed with Laylaw on the other side of the studio. So that when I got back inside the studio I was feelin' kind of good and the beat sounded like some Jamaican shit to me after Dre finished fucking with it. That was the reason why I rapped it the way that I rapped it, because it wasn't designed to be like that. I did that muthafuckin' song one time through, thinkin' that we were gonna go back and do it over again, and Dre was like "fuck that, that was a one take willy."
ThaFormula.com - Why do you think that doesn't happen any more man?
D.O.C. - I don't know man, but I seen it with Snoop. Snoop's was a one take willy, but his shit was all freestyle. He hadn't written nothing down. He just came in and started busitin'.
ThaFormula.com - Wait a minute...what track are you talkin' about?
D.O.C. - The song was "The Shiznit".
ThaFormula.com - That was all freestyle?
D.O.C. - Yep. The guy came in and he started bustin' and then when we got to the break, Dre cut the machine off, did the chorus and told Snoop to come back in. He did that throughout the record. That's when Snoop was in the zone then.
ThaFormula.com - What happened to that Snoop?
D.O.C. - Show business man. Once you make it to the top, it's very hard unless you got people around you like me who are gonna tell you when you suck. That's the key. I don't want this to sound fucked up man, but nigga I'm the key. I am the key. I don't make beats and I don't really write raps for muthafuckas' no more, but I can tell you this. When it comes to making classic records, I was the key to that shit there.
ThaFormula.com - It was nice to see you, Dre, and Snoop together in the "Still Dre" video and at The Up In Smoke tour, because it just brought back a lot of memories?
D.O.C. - Well when you get this new album, "Deuce" there is a little piece by Snoop Dogg where he basically says the same thing you said. He says, if it wasn't for me, there wouldn't have been no Snoop. He said he got as good as he got because we wrote together and I criticized his shit and made him change this and change that. So really the shit that you feel, there is a lot of truth in it, and in a minute everybody is gonna know it, but my concern now is Six-Too, El Dorado, and Uptite. Those are my young soldiers down here, and Snoop Dogg is one of the great ones of all time. He used to hold the spot that Six-Too is coming for.
ThaFormula.com - No doubt, Six-Too has an incredible amount of talent. How do you look back at the Ruthless and Death Row days, because to a lot of people think those were the some of the greatest times in hip-hop?
D.O.C. - Those were seven of the most violent years of my life. I ain't lying to you either nigga. I seen and did cause I told you when I was a younger guy I was kind of church kid you know. I had never really been involved in that shit, and those, uh, man! I could remember one time in Hollywood at Snoop's apartment. Daz and Nate Dogg are downstairs about to get into it with some niggaz, and Daz yells upstairs for me to come down and to bring my shit. Because at that time I was packin' a gun, knowin' I'm not fittin' to shoot nobody, but I'm still packin' it because Suge gave it to me, we was close back then. So he told me to come downstairs with my girlfriend. I came down there and you have to picture this because it's the funniest shit you will ever wanna see. I'm downstairs with a gun in my waist trying to break up a fight? Whew! That was some backward shit man! But that's life and I wouldn't change none of that shit.
ThaFormula.com - Did you see everything coming as far as the break up of N.W.A. and everyone heading their separate ways after your album dropped?
D.O.C. - Hell nah! Back in those days, uh, see I was in L.A. because of Dre. Now they never reported this and nobody ever says this, but Dre didn't leave Ruthless because Suge went and found him and showed him some funny shit in his contract, he left Ruthless because I asked him to. He left Ruthless because I wanted us to go and make our own label. Mine and his because we were the ones putting in all the work.
ThaFormula.com - And at that time Suge was your bodyguard right?
D.O.C. - Well at that time Suge was a friend of mine and they said the guy was my bodyguard because I got a 300 pound plus muthafucka following me around. But I never paid this guy to fuckin' watch over me. He probably just smelled money like everybody else and was kickin' it.
ThaFormula.com - So you asked him to leave and you guys were supposed to start your own label right?
D.O.C. - That's what it was all about and Suge had a lot to do with it because I was trying to start a label with Suge Knight. I had an office in Beverly Hills, but I was going through issues after that car wreck. I was trying to find myself and we felt like we needed Dre in order to make that shit work.
ThaFormula.com - How bad did it get for you after that accident when you found out your voice was damaged like that?
D.O.C. - Well you know what's funny dog? I probably really couldn't answer that question because it took ten years for me to even be able to admit that that shit caused me pain. I wouldn't have admitted it to anybody. I was like "ahh we'll just keep it going. That's what I was saying in my mind, but my heart must have been going through some shit.
ThaFormula.com - I still remember the day I heard about your accident. I remember hoping it was just a rumor and then I remember sittin' at home and watching your new video for "Mind Blowin" and thinking to myself saying, "I know it's just a rumor." Because in that video you looked good and it didn't look like anything had happened to you. Plus the fact that you made that video after your accident and that it was a remix.
D.O.C.- But that was the tripped out part though, because in the "Mind Blowin" video I was trying to show muthafuckas that that's what happened. In that particular video I was supposed to have had a crash and they had me on a gurney, then my spirit came out and then it went back in and said, "Nah you can kick it." In laymen's terms to me, that's what happened. I was close to death and I made it. So after the accident Jerry Heller, Eazy and them all thought I should keep going. "Whatever you do, don't stop making records." They thought I should make another one. Well I asked Dre what he thought, and he said that if it was him, he wouldn't make another record. He said they think your the king right now and that's how I would go out. I had so much faith in Dre, that when Dre said that then that was it. There was no more rappin' for me. Now I'm gonna use my writing ability to help us be the shit because that's really what I always wanted. It wasn't about no money to me. I just wanted to be the greatest. I wasn't trying to get rich out there with these guys, even though I did. I mean I wanted the fame and the fortune and all that, but I wanted when muthafuckas said my name, I wanted it to be unequivocal that this guy D.O.C. is the greatest. Now I'm a lot more humble and ill be happy with "he may be the greatest of all time." (Laughs)
ThaFormula.com - Sometimes we sit around and think about what you and Dre would have come out with after "No One Can Do It Better" if it weren't for that damn accident...
D.O.C. - Ahh man, that would have been the shit! It would have been the shit, but I would have had to probably fight with Dre a lot because I don't think he was really interested in the direction that I wanted to go in. He was only interested in making party songs that muthafuckas wanna get drunk and dance to.
ThaFormula.com - What were you trying to get into?
D.O.C. - Well like I said, I used to be a church kid. Like when you get this record, you will feel it. It's god in my record and its a gang of nigga shit. It's a gang of old N.W.A. shit. When muthafuckas hear this record, their first comment is that they knew I was where all of the old N.W.A. shit came from. That's everybody's first word. So it's dirty in that sense, but there are bits and pieces where I'm rappin' myself for like little soliloquies and it's a trip. It will make you cry, it will make you laugh, it will make you mad, it will make you wanna drive fast and then it will make you wanna get drunk. This album is a trip.
ThaFormula.com - When you guys recorded the "Straight Outta Compton" LP, did you guys record any more tracks then what was laid down?
D.O.C. - Nah, there were other tracks of N.W.A. There was actually one more D.O.C. song called "Bridget" that i think came out a little later. There were more N.W.A. songs, but they sucked.
ThaFormula.com - Do you think those songs would still sound bad today?
D.O.C. - Sure they would. They sucked then, they would suck now. Either the song is good or it's not. There is really no two ways about it. I'll tell you the mistake that a lot of these people in the rap business make today. They think because they got Snoop, DJ Quik, Ice Cube, and Mack 10 on a song that that song is the shit. Well guess what. If one of those guys raps sounds like shit and the idea of the song sucks, then your gonna have a wack ass song. I wouldn't give a fuck who was on it. Now that was my job and I held my nuts and I stuck them to the plate because I knew that these muthafuckas had so much respect for me that when I said it they wouldn't say shit to me.
ThaFormula.com - Well if anybody could say it, it was you.
D.O.C. - I was one of the muthafuckas that set the blueprint. That's what it was, and if you work with one of the muthafuckas that built the mouse trap then you can't come in there trying to build some shit tellin' me it's right when I'm tellin' you it's wrong.
ThaFormula.com - So did you know Snoop would be the next big thing after N.W.A. and you?
D.O.C. - Shit, it took me about 5 minutes. When Snoop came in, he was great. He had all the tools in him to be what he is right now, but he didn't have the desire and nobody was there to push him. That was my job. You have to be able to communicate with everybody, not just muthafuckas in Long Beach, and not just muthafuckas in L.A. So that means your subject matter may have to switch, your wordplay may have to change a little bit. You know just give us all something that we can love on.
ThaFormula.com - So how did it happen Doc, to where you had no involvement in Death Row business wise?
D.O.C. - Shortly after I had that accident, I started fucking with drugs. That's when I first started doing ecstasy. That was way back in '89. I started trying other things and it got to be a way for me to escape that pain. The white people at the top in the big offices, the ones with all the money, they were really only interested in Dre and Snoop. That shit got to be sort of painful even though they needed me to come and sign papers to get things done. It just started to feel like I was slippin', so I started getting more fucked up. I still seemed to make it to the muthafuckin' studio everyday and put my work in, but the more I fell, the more I slipped into that hole. These other guys, the more they started to rise up, nobody reached down to pick me up you know.
ThaFormula.com - The way you would have reached down and picked them up?
D.O.C. - Sure and it's funny because that's the way me and Six-Too ended up hookin' up. He was out there in the world fuckin' up. I'm not gonna speak on what the fuck he was doing, but I was fuckin' up and I saw in him the world. This guy could have the world if he wanted it.
ThaFormula.com - I feel you on that, I really wish he would of had a bigger part in the Chronic 2001 album?
D.O.C. - Well, and there in you will come up with another one of Hollywood's or the music businesses big downfall. They knew what you knew. What you know about this guy Six-Too, they knew it too. So to have him too much is to take the shine away from other muthafuckas who needed it. Which was any of the muthafuckas on that record god dammit! I wouldn't give a fuck who it was.
ThaFormula.com - Personally I would have loved to have heard more Six-Too. In fact, I think Six-Too and Devin are the most impressive MC's I have heard come out of the South in years.
D.O.C. - You god damn right and I'll tell you why. Because you're going through almost 13 years of what we been doing. That shit is old soup. You can't come tell me you gonna kill a muthafucka no more and shock me! Let me say that 99.9% of these guys even though they think the shit that they saying is coming from them personally and is different from anybody else, it's not true. It all sounds the same. It all sounds like I smoke a gang of weed, I fuck hoes, I'm the shit, and I'll bust you in yo ass. Now Six-Too man, it's hard to put a thumb on this dude man because he's unorthodox with his delivery. I guess if you had to put BB King and Snoop Dogg together and mash out a little kid, it would sound like Six-Too. Anyway, after we all came together and started this Death Row shit, I started sinkin' and they started rising. I started losing control, and they started going to meetings without me. I got to give these guys credit to say that they had enough respect for me to where they thought that I was in complete control and knew what I was doing. I fucked up a lot of Dr. Dre's parties and business meetings that I would go to fucked up and nobody still wouldn't say shit to me. They wouldn't say, "Hey Doc, you can't do this or take this muthafucka home. None of that shit. I'd be the only muthafucka in there drunk, "walkin' around with a sawed off shot gun and no shirt on." Threatening everybody and would nobody say shit to me man. So I'm just out there and I can understand to a certain extent why they would be like, "man we gotta handle our business." I ain't fittin' to let this muthafucka fuck mine off. But when I first started making this attempt to come back, none of those guys reached out to really help me and they had their own issues at the time, and I don't look for no nigga to help me because I could make it happen. But none of those guys really felt bad about none of my situations, except for Nate Dogg, let me take that lie back. Nate Dogg was the one person who continually through those seven years, always had great empathy for my situation and always told me that.
ThaFormula.com - Wasn't Nate Dogg in the military or something coming up?
D.O.C. - Shit, we were all in churches as kids. Hell Snoop used to sing in the church quire. And even to this point all of those guys are great guys, even Suge Knight. You know Suge didn't have to come to my hospital bed everyday. I wasn't paying him. He didn't know at that time we were gonna go make Death Row.
ThaFormula.com - Now what about that D.O.C.? I got to speak to Suge once before he went to jail. He seemed like a great guy and showed a lot of love. So I have always wondered, was he as bad as he was made out to be?
D.O.C. - Sure he was. He was a ding a long, that's for damn sure. Suge is the kind of dude to piss on your leg and laugh because he's 350 pounds and he knows you ain't really fittin' to do shit. He got sort of a kick out of that kind of shit. So the more power he got, the more outrageous he got. I believe that he's at a point now where he can't turn around and go back because he put himself out there as this huge Mafioso figure, which these dudes will do because they don't know how to express themselves any other way. But he's put himself out there as such a mafioso type figure that if he turns around then there will be somebody in his own camp waiting to do something to him. As far as I can see it that's the way that game works.
ThaFormula.com - So basically you feel that even if he wanted to turn back and make peace, there is just no turning back for him anymore?
D.O.C. - He really can't. Take into consideration Al Capone, he was at the height of "gangsterism." If he could have had a change of heart, they would have put a bullet in his ass so quick, you couldn't have smelt it and that's probably the same position old boy's in. He really can't play any other role but the one that he has created for himself.
ThaFormula.com - The stories told about Death Row with all the Gangstas in the studio, and how Ruthless it was, was it all true?
D.O.C. - Most of it. It could be kind of cheesy for me to say that my view is the right one, but the only reason that I stand up for mine is that I can stand up to you face to face and man to man and tell you I was Fucked up.
ThaFormula.com - Well you were one of the only ones that were never really caught up in any of the major beefs.
D.O.C. - For what? What they gonna fuck with me for. I'm not talkin bad about nobody.
ThaFormula.com - Well you were there since day one and I believe that if anyone was tellin' the truth, it would be the one that was there since day one and was never really caught up in any beefs.
D.O.C. - Well I got a movie thing happening right now and it's gonna bug muthafuckas out because number one, I don't fear none of these guys you know, so I'm not worried about it. When I get ready to do this movie thing and you can believe what I will tell you is a hundred percent truth. I mean all the shit that they did and all the shit that I did. Oh it's gonna be some shit dawg. It's gonna be some shit! I'm gonna tell you what the name is, but maybe if I'm lucky late 2003 or 2004 I'm gonna be puttin' this movie out and it's gonna be based around my experiences from when I met Dr. Dre in Dallas Ft. Worth Texas, until today. Were actually doing the end right now. It's a great movie because coming from Dallas, being sort of a church kid and getting caught up in a world of gang bangon and I dun saw shit that I knew nothin of.
ThaFormula.com - What are you looking at doing with the movie as far as distribution?
D.O.C. - Well actually, were talkin' to a couple of different people to see how viable it is to get it to a big screen, but I really just wanna get this monkey off my back. To get the truth off my chest.
ThaFormula.com - I always wondered how a real N.W.A. movie would have done?
D.O.C. - Oh, we gone see, and you know what's funny? I'm not gonna have any problems getting any of those guys to be involved in it. Any of them! That's the cool part about the position I'm in now. If I call Dr. Dre and ask him for some help, he's gonna say yes.
ThaFormula.com - Why is it that you get this respect from these guys that's very rare to get?
D.O.C. - Well, they know me. Those guys know me like nobody ever will ever know me. They knew me when I was in the front. We could have all took pictures and I would have been the nigga standing in the front, but I was comfortable standing in the back because in my mind, when they won, I won. Now Cube is one of the realest muthafuckas I'll ever meet, I already know that to be the truth because he told me when we were on this "Up In Smoke" shit. "When you need me, call me," so that's what I did and the nigga came right away. I mean he didn't take 5 minutes. He had to leave his movie shoot to come to the studio and give me 30 minutes and got back to work. Now you tell another muthafucka, "Oh 'I'ma call Cube and he'll be over here in 30 minutes, bust his lyrics and go back to work. He wil say, "Nigga what!!" That's Ice Cube man!
ThaFormula.com - That's love and loyalty man.
D.O.C. - That's what I'm talkin' about, and that's what it's really all about. See I never got a chance to finish the lessons. It's not really all about shoot em' bang bang, kill a muthafucka. We do need soldiers. Soldiers are very necessary, but we have to think. We can't be dumb. Sellin' see that's what got everybody geeked up. Eazy-E sold dope. That made everything lovely because that's all that really niggas could do, so they got off into making records about sellin' dope. Now everybody is a dope seller. Now what we never got a chance to tell these kids is that sellin' dope ain't cool. Sellin' dope ain't the shit, don't get it twisted. Just because niggas is rappin' about this shit and it may even sound great, but that's a record. It's like going to the movies and you see Arnold Shwartzenegger bustin' somebody in the ass may have looked pretty good, but that will get you put in jail. Nobody gave these kids that lesson. See when I lost my voice, that was my next lesson dawg. Well now after ten years, I finally got enough air back in my balls where I feel like talkin' and trust me when you hear this record, your gonna be like man! Matter of fact there is shit on this record that is so dirty, I know these muthafuckas are gonna be comin at me like, "Nigga how you gonna say some shit like that, hell naw get that off the shelf. You're ruining our kids. When they come at me with that conversation, watch how cool, calm, and collective as I sit back and converse with these folks. Oh, I got they ass. They fucked up( Laughs).
ThaFormula.com - Now let's get into the Chronic. You were in the "Nuthin' but a G Thang" video and everything seemed great at Death Row. Was it?
D.O.C. - Yeah, everything was great at that time. I still didn't have anything of my own but I was staying at Dre's house and I had no money of my own, but I could ask Dre for 5 grand at any time and get it. Matter of fact, I used to ask Dre for 5 grand every 3 or 4 days for about 2 years and would get it and then go spend it up on dope. I don't know if Dre knew, but how could you not know?
ThaFormula.com - So how was it recording the first Chronic during that time?
D.O.C. - Man, "The Chronic" was the most fun that I have ever had on a record. Snoop brought a vibe to the music that wasn't there before. If there was levels to the game, let's say NWA stayed intact and I never had the accident. The next level would be Snoop. That was the only way you could come and totally fuck everybody up because when you the youngest you always gonna fuck it up, and he was the young one at the time. Now let me get this point straight first. I would have forever been Marvin Gaye god dammit. When I opened up my mouth, it would have been nothing but jewelry, but when Snoop came, me being the type of person that I am I would have had so much love for him and put so much energy into his shit the same way I did that he would have had no choice but to be the shit. The same thing with this guy 6'-2". 6'-2" really has no choice but to be the shit because I'm right behind him and I'm not allowing anything else. Any song 6'-2" does, I'm producing it. All of the shit that you have heard. I went here and grabbed a beat from this person and that person, then I brought the beat back home and I got in the studio with this dude and we started punching out songs. 6'-2" is not allowed to be fucked up right now. I'll give him a good 5 or 6 years and then when he gets ready to make his own records. If he hasn't learned how to make great songs by then, then you will start hearing some shit where it ain't as good. Same thing with these other guys. I mean I'm not gonna say nobody's names and put them out there like that, but you know who I'm talkin' about and what I'm talkin' about. There is a difference between what you were doing at this time and what you doing at this time and it ain't just skill level. Your skill ain't went no where.
ThaFormula.com - Well as a fan, I do have to admit that I miss the old Dre and the old Snoop.
D.O.C. - That's right, I miss the old Snoop too, but in Snoop's defense, your music is a reflection of what's going on in your world. So if your congested and there is a lot of shit around you and it's hard for you to get together and really make that magic then it's gonna be hard to do, and Snoop when he made magic, he had me and Dre. So it's gonna be hard for Snoop to go and make that magic without me and Dre and it's really gonna be hard for Snoop to make that magic even if he had Dre without me there because there is always gonna be a piece missing.
ThaFormula.com - During the making of the first Chronic, who all was in the studio at that time?
D.O.C. - Oh, we all were man. We were there everyday and there is no better place to be than the studio. That's where all the weed at. That's where the drinks is at, and niggaz is doing they thang. Besides, I took it very personal that these guys wouldn't make bullshit around me. I remember when Dre first started making the beat to "Dre Day." He had a lot of shit missing and it was certain things that he was doing and I was like, "that sounds like a load of shit." He says "OK we'll wait till' tomorrow." By the time I got to the studio the next day that muthafucka was bangin.'
ThaFormula.com - Alright I got a good one for you. Explain the reasons behind the Jimmy Z album, and the Tairrie B album?
D.O.C. - Ahhaha!! That was Jerry Heller's great idea along with Eazy -E's futuristic sort of vision I guess. But really that was probably Jerry's attempt at getting Eazy to put his money behind crossover acts that could make him money. Knowing Jerry Heller, he probably had a piece of each of those acts.
ThaFormula.com - Did Dre want to do those projects?
D.O.C. - Hell Nah, man. Dr. Dre didn't wanna do any of that. Well, let me take Jimmy Z back. Dre is a musician so he may have wanted do get in there, but I couldn't see so I spent very little time around him when he was doing that stuff. Tairrie B? Nah! She was sorta a primadona in the rap world but Dre is not into working with muthafuckaz that ain't good. If you will notice, Dre has done 2 albums on very few people. I think he did 2 on Eminem, I think he did 2 Chronics and 2 NWA records. Everybody else only got one.
ThaFormula.com - Is that by choice?
D.O.C. - Sure it is, and this is Dre talkin' when I talk. He said to me the hardest thing to do in the world is to make a second album on a muthafucka because once you make a platinum album on somebody then they get full of they own oats. Then it's all about they wanna do this and they wanna do that. But like I said before, when you're in the studio with Dre, that shit that's on tape is what's in his mind, and that shit used to piss me off. I'm talking about ferociously when these guys would come and tell me Dre's stealing beats. As a matter of fact, I remember when I went to do this Shyne video in New York for "That's Gangsta." Puffy was having a meeting with all his people, which is something that Dre didn't do, which I thought was the shit on Puffy's part lending an ear to people around him and giving them a forum to speak to see what they thought. Anyway, it was they're understanding that Mel-Man was behind a lot of the shit going on over there.
ThaFormula.com - Yeah, that's what a lot of people seem to think.
D.O.C.- Well, me being me, and me having a couple of little drinks in me at the time Ha Ha! I felt it necessary for me to break up there little meeting and tell them no that's not the truth. If you wanna know what's popping, ask me I was there. Dr. Dre does that. Anything you hear over there is Dr. Dre. Even if Dr. Dre left the studio and allowed those guys to make their own records, part of that shit would still be Dr. Dre and believe me that's only the good part. These guys know nothing about making great beats and have very little idea about making a great song and wouldn't know a hit if you took "Thriller" before it came out and smacked them with it.
ThaFormula.com - So tell me what exactly did Yella do for NWA?
D.O.C. - Yella was sorta the technical kind of dude. He understood the machines that these guys worked on. He knew them backwards and forwards. He was great with the tape machines, drum machines, and boards. I'll put it to you like this. I considered myself to be another pair of ears in the studio when Dre was working. Well, if I was another pair of ears, then Yella was another pair of hands. It's hard to make a great record by yourself man. There will always be at least 5 great musicians together to make a classic record. That's what we had with NWA's records, that's what we had with the first Chronic record.
ThaFormula.com - Then what about the first D.O.C. album?
D.O.C. - Well, me and Dr. Dre, were an anomaly. Like Dre could have made a whole beat record with no guitars, no bass, and I could have made raps for all those beats and still would have made a great record. What Dre does is make shit that you could see in your head when it's playing. He knows how to bring drama. He knows how to take it away and leave it all up to the artist. He knows how to sometimes just make it quiet. I mean that dudes pretty god damn good.
ThaFormula.com - After the first Chronic dropped, did you see things starting to come to an end or not?
D.O.C. - Oh sure I did. See the shit that they were doing was unnecessary and sooner or later that shit is gonna catch up. The drug shit had started to get kind of old. In '94, I asked Dre what's up with me rappin'. I had written a song and he said you should let me put that on this next record and it really pissed me off because nobody was really givin' a fuck about me. I told him what about me muthafucka, I wanna rap to. I wanted to do something, but they had regulated me to comic relief. I'm a damn fool anyway. I'm a natural comedian so that's what I had been regulated to. I was the comic relief on the album.
ThaFormula.com - So Dre said no about you rappin then?
D.O.C. - He didn't think that you could make a good record with this voice. So that's when I left out of there. See me and Dre is like a big brother, little brother thing and when the big brother piss his little brother off, then his little brother is gonna number one, take his shit and run with it, which I did. "Heltah Skeltah" was really a Dr. Dre record that he was starting to plan on working on that I had actually already started writing lyrics for, and one of the songs that he was trying to takeaway from me was a song that he wanted to put on "Heltah Skeltah." So I was like "fuck this shit," went to Atlanta and recorded the album.
ThaFormula.com - When you look back at that album now, what are your thoughts on it?
D.O.C. - I think that the album was as far as hip-hop records are concerned not a great record. There is merit to the record because of who it is and because of the shit the dude done went through trying to get his shit done, but I didn't go buy it. I'll put it to you like that and if I wouldn't go buy it then it ain't really happening.
ThaFormula.com - Do you think it was a mistake when you look back at it now?
D.O.C. - Hell nah, I needed money. I had no money.
ThaFormula.com - So did the album end up doing alright?
D.O.C. - I think it ended up selling 290,000 copies. I had some real strong D.O.C. fans out there that I hated to bug and jack them out of their 16 dollars like that.
ThaFormula.com - You know what Doc, even if you were to do a show and you were lip synching, I would pay for that shit.
D.O.C. - Well I'll put it to you like this. I haven't tried it yet.
ThaFormula.com - Man I would pay just to see you on stage perform the songs I never got to see you do as a kid?
D.O.C. - No shit! You know what that really fucks me up, but I am gonna trip you out. You just gave me one of the dopest ideas I ever had. I gotta do it man. I know it would be the shit. That's great, thanks a lot man.
ThaFormula.com - Now back to the first Chronic LP. How do rate that album?
D.O.C. - The dopest hip-hop record of all time. "Straight Outta Compton" could have been the greatest, but it was so raw and hard that it didn't give you no time to fuckin' party and shit. With "The Chronic" that's all you did and you never knew what was coming next. With all the NWA records, after a while you kind of got an idea of what was gonna happen next.
ThaFormula.com - What was your involvement in the Niggaz4Life LP?
D.O.C. - The same as always. I wrote the songs that made those niggaz sing. That's what I did. Also Kokane had started coming around then. Above the Law was real deep into everything at that point and I started writing more for Dre and Ren, but I wrote everybody's shit by then.
ThaFormula.com - What album do you think was more enjoyable to record, "Straight Outta Compton" or "Niggaz4Life?"
D.O.C. – “Sraight Outta Compton.” “Niggaz4Life” wasn't as much fun because they was to busy trying to prove that they were just as good without Cube and that took a lot of the fun out of the shit and the money was all fucked up. Some people had money, some didn't. Once Cube left really the energy was gone.
ThaFormula.com - Do you remember a few years ago when you were on Eazy-E's radio show with the Dogg Pound?
D.O.C. - Yep, I remember that. They was on the radio talkin’ shit and Eazy said something that was a lie and I was sitting right there listening to the shit so they handed me the phone and I let him have it which is what I do, but it was just really fun to me. It was no big deal, I wasn't really trippin’ with the muthafucka, I was just jokin’ and laughin’.
ThaFormula.com - How serious was the beef between Death Row and Ruthless?
D.O.C. - Wasn't very serious to me. It was pretty funny if you ask me. But just like any other saga, these guys they started believin’ the hype. They wanna gangbang on records and all that old kind of dumb shit and at that time I couldn't really say nothin’ cause I was probably doing the same shit.
ThaFormula.com - How many songs did you guys record for the first “Chronic” that didn't make the album?
D.O.C. - Shit, maybe 2 or 3. Sometimes niggaz would record a whole bunch of songs and record the best ones. It used to be like that early in the days, but if you were gonna do 19 songs on a record and by the time we get to 21 we pretty much done figured it out.
ThaFormula.com - When exactly did the drama start to kick in?
D.O.C.- Well there was always drama around our house, but the bigger that people started to get the more the money started coming into the picture that's when shit started getting fucked up. None of those guys really knew what they were doing. They didn't know how to accept the money. They didn't know what to do with it when they got it. Suge's wife was Snoop's manager. She was probably taking the guys money and it was just all kinds of crazy shit going on. The bigger Snoop got and when muthafuckaz started losin’ control of Snoop, then you could see it wasn't gonna last that long. After so long Snoop would be like “man fuck this shit and I'm not havin’ this shit,” cause he's the star and he was tired of being told what to do, where to go and shit like that. It's hard to have a company run by a bunch of young cats who don't know shit about business. You will have a lot of muthafuckaz just trying to grab they balls. You can't have a great business if all of your business practices are gangbang oriented because there is no loyalty among street niggaz like that. I wouldn't give a damn what they told you.
ThaFormula.com - So during all this what were you and Dre doing?
D.O.C. - Well Dre was living good. Dre was the shit. He was bringing all the shit to the table so he's getting all the pussy, he's getting all the money and he's getting the 5 mics. Me, I'm with Dre. Wherever he was at, that's probably where I was at.
ThaFormula.com - Were you still fucked up on drugs at that time?
D.O.C. - Pretty much and that lasted from about 1990 to 1997…
ThaFormula.com - Wow! 7 years man?
D.O.C. - Yep, and I'm not your classic dope fiend muthafucka. It's like drinkin’ man. I don't have an off switch. Like some muthafuckas can drink and they get a buzz and they cool. Me, Im gonna drink until the bar is closed. There is no good way to put it. I’ma be in that muthafucka drinkin ’ till either I pass out, there's no more liquor or I ran out of money or some kind of goofy ass reason like that, and that went for anything else. It wasn't that I was addicted to it. It was just shit that I did to get away from feelin’ fucked up and I didn't have a stop switch. So it was off and on for about 7 years. Playin’ games here, playin’ games there, and I met 6’-2” in 97 and that's when I started making sort of a turnaround.
ThaFormula.com - When exactly did you leave to do “Heltah Skeltah?”
D.O.C. - I left L.A. at the end of ‘94 because I wanted to rap and Dre didn't see it.
ThaFormula.com - Do you agree with Dre now when you look back at how things turned out with that project?
D.O.C. - Well that's a yes and a no answer, because if you’re Dr. Dre you can take “twiddle dee” and make a hit record. You’re Dr. Dre god dammit! There’s nothing that you can't do in a studio, so if it was in your heart to make a hit record on me, you would have done it. You would have found some kind of way to do it. When you think of the old D.O.C., it's probably best to leave it like that, but you know when you think about D.O.C. the person, the man that's still breathin’ right now, still has music in his soul that he has to get up out of him, then you want him to get that shit out.
ThaFormula.com - So you made the move in ‘94 and went where?
D.O.C. - I went to Atlanta Georgia. I started staying in the house of my homeboy MC Breed and I started helping him work on a record. The record was called “The New Breed.”
ThaFormula.com - It's funny how that album turned out to be the best album he ever recorded and had a sound similar to the Chronic.
D.O.C. - Yep. I mean the formula goes where I go. You took 2 of the major components from the Chronic days with me and Colin Wolfe, and moved them over here and that's really what it was. Colin was a musician so Dre would say play, and Colin would play. Sooner or later he would come up on a couple of chords that we all liked so, uh, I'll give you a perfect example. “Deep Cover,” the guy was just playin’ the 4 notes and Dre said “wait a minute keep playin’ that.” That baseline was Colin Wolfe's shit. Dre added the drum the piano hit and that was it, that was the song.
ThaFormula.com - You know I remember that "Gotta Get Mine" video with 2pac. That was a classic Breed track right there?
D.O.C. - Yeah that was a good song. I was in that video too. That was at Andre Rison's house before it got burnt up. The dude had a good record man. Now MC Breed who was a good friend of mine, has the ability to make classic rap records, but chooses not to.
ThaFormula.com - Why is that?
D.O.C. - Breed is just one of those dudes man that no matter what you tell him, he is gonna do whatever the fuck he wants to do and it's hard to make a classic record when what's going on in your head is the only thing that's coming out on record. You have to be able to be flexible and know that the hardest thing for an artist to ever do is to listen to his own shit objectively because it's his shit and he's gonna love it no matter what. He's gonna want it to be good, no matter what, when in actuality it could sound like a load of shit. Breed is probably the closest thing I got outside of Dre to a brother with me, where me and this guy will argue and I mean argue even to the point where he thought Pac was the coldest and I thought Biggie was the coldest.
ThaFormula.com - How do you feel about the hip-hop being done by artists nowadays?
D.O.C. - Most of the hip-hop I hear now sounds like it's been dipped in shit. It used to be that there was some dope rappers, a good amount of cool rappers, and a little bit of garbage. Now all there is, is a bunch of cool rappers and a shit load of garbage.
ThaFormula.com - When do you feel this change came about?
D.O.C. - When Death Row exploded it was dead. When Dr. Dre left Death Row it died. It may have died even before that. It may have died shortly after Snoop Dogg's first record came out. In all fairness I have to say after the “Above the Rim” record, that was probably the last little bit of last “G-Funk” shit. When you got to the Dogg Pound record, it had started changing again. He started leaving the streets even more then.
ThaFormula.com - Did Dre have any input on the Dogg Pound album?
D.O.C. - Sure, you could hear it in the music. You have to make a record on them. There not gonna come to the table with songs that you could use, so you have to manufacture records with these guys, and Dre was probably tired of dealin’ with all them muthafuckas and tired of coming to work with 50,000 gang bangers in the studio. He was probably sick and tired of that shit, so you can tell the music stopped being hard and started being softer. He started having pretty singin’ in every piece of the shit. Even though niggaz was talkin’ about murderin’ muthafuckas, the music sort of made you wanna go to sleep.
ThaFormula.com - What are your thoughts on someone like Devin the Dude, ‘cause he reminds me a lot of 6’-2”?
D.O.C. - Devin is a 6’-2” guy, which means his talent is so genuine it would be hard for you not to like Devin. I cannot wait until I can get this “Deuce” project up & runnin’ so that I could get back to finishing 6’-2”'s album so I could put him and Devin on a song together. I can't wait for that shit, and I just wanna talk on that record shit! Like when Snoop was writing “G Thang,” I asked him “wh
Aftermathmusic.com:
We all know you as a former member, producer of the NWA. But please introduce yourself for the young fans and give them some short information about you.
DJ Yella:
Woow. Oh ok. Me and Dr. Dre produced all the NWA and Eazy E, all the Ruthless stuff back in the days. We sold 10 million records probably. I produced over 150 adult movies. I?m doin everything (laughs)
Aftermathmusic.com:
Why the name DJ Yella?
DJ Yella:
Actually it came from a record. They say Yella at the beginning of the song. A DJ friend of mine, gave me the name and I started with it.
Aftermathmusic.com:
Who are the biggest influences for you?
DJ Yella:
Really? There were no influences for us, because when we started back then, the rap was kinda new. So, we had nobody to look up. But maybe Run DMC. Run DMC was like the heavyweights there. So there was nobody. We had to learn everything on our own.
Aftermathmusic.com:
When did you start to notice a big chance in HipHop. And what made you try to live from music?
DJ Yella:
I guess, at the Eazy E.'s death I was kinda bored with it. Once he died, I was just like 'Ok, I?m just done, I?m, just finished.'
Aftermathmusic.com:
Tell us a little bit about the World Class Wreckin Cru, please!
DJ Yella:
Well, me and Dre was in it. Before that Dre and I were DJ's in a club. We were DJ's in a club for a year or 2 and then we called the Wreckin crew as a DJ crew. We started making records. We made 2 albums but we never got paided. Thats why we left the Wreckin crew. After that, we started NWA.
Aftermathmusic.com:
You are always seen as NWA's quietest member ...
DJ Yella:
Oh yes. I was the quietest person.
Aftermathmusic.com:
You said "I don't think NWA started West Coast" ... Who started the Westcoast for you?
DJ Yella:
Uuumm. I think the Wreckin crew started the Westcoast before NWA. But NWA actually ... uuum, we started the whole Gangsta Rap, when it was called back then. But actually the Wreckin crew started the Westcoast sound.
Aftermathmusic.com:
Looking back at the start of NWA ... Whats's your most important impressions from the start till the end of the NWA?
DJ Yella:
I guess, the most important thang was we made music how we like it, you know and not trying to make some for somebody else or tryin' to make a hit. We never tryin' to make a hit. We made music. So that's what it really was.
Aftermathmusic.com:
Everyone compares you to Dre and says, in NWA Dre was the musicial brains and you was just the extra pair of hands on the technical side. Is that true?
DJ Yella:
Yeah, I mean, you know ... oh yeah. I recorded everything. Me and Dre was all the time in the studio. More than other members.
Aftermathmusic.com:
If you look at the situation with the police in the states today. Would you like to record a song like "@#%$ the Police" again?
DJ Yella:
Naaw. I don't think I would make a song like that. (laughs). The society is totally changed. And when we made the song we wanted to start no controversy. It just the way we felt, growing up in th ghetto.
Aftermathmusic.com:
How much of NWA's early production was really you and how much did Dre do?
DJ Yella:
Dre definetely did most of it. But we both produced, like in the Wreckin crew. In the Wreckin Dre did half and I did the other half. In the NWA it was more Dre and a group thang, too.
Aftermathmusic.com:
Yeah, you know, a lot of fans said, it's a shame that all NWA's credit goes to Dr. Dre and Ice Cube and you ghost produced all NWA's @#%$ and did some dope @#%$ 4 Eazy on 187(Dr. Dre its on). What's your thoughts about those comments?
DJ Yella:
Really? .. Uuum you know, NWA was a group. It was no one man. Everybody was together. Everybody contribute. Dre did a lot and still. We was a team for almost 10 years.
Aftermathmusic.com:
Was you even asked to be in the new NWA, 'cause you haven't never been mentioned in all the NWA reunion hype.
DJ Yella:
Well, there wasn't no NWA reunion. There was a couple of songs they did on Cube's album. And Ren and Dre was invited to rap on the song, but the media builted up for look like NWA. That's all. If there is a reunion, I`d be in it.
Aftermathmusic.com:
How is your relationship with everybody from the group?
DJ Yella:
I don't talk to everybody as much, but everything is still ok.
Aftermathmusic.com:
You know, the fans wanna a NWA reunion, but with old Eazy verses and not with Snoop. Could this happened?
DJ Yella:
Uuum, if there's one, I have to talk to Dre. We have to sit down and do it. Snoop would NOT be a member, he would just be a guest rapper, you know.
Aftermathmusic.com:
What's the most often asked question N.W.A. gets hit with, that you hate to get hit with?
DJ Yella:
Uuuum, that's a good one (laughs). There were so many ... Uuum, 'How did the group started' is probably one, 'Where we get the name from' and I don't really know where the name came from. Was it from Eazy or Dre or Cube. I don't really know (laughs).
Aftermathmusic.com:
Long before Snoop Dogg released his Doggystyle movie, you was in the porn industry. Since your main focus in porn how did you get into that?
DJ Yella:
I have been shooting porn films for 8 years. I've directed over 250 movies. Snoop came out, when I put my name on it. I was doin porn when Eazy E was alive. A friend of mine, called Big Man, brought me the idea. He originally brought the idea to Eazy E, but he didn't really jump on it. But I jumped on it. I don't know why, but I did.
Aftermathmusic.com:
So, what made you decide to use the name DJ Yella in porn after so many years of not using it?
DJ Yella:
Uum, when we did the movies, I thought 'I can be gettin credit for this'. So I decided to use my name and my face on it. I just wanted to get credits for it. I shot so many without my name on it. That's all.
Aftermathmusic.com:
Your plans are releasing one video a month through Yella Entertainment www.djyella.net/ ? One video per month? Damn?
DJ Yella:
Actually I put out 1-2 movies per month. But the ones with the music I wanna get close to almost one every month. I actually have a soundtrack to it.
Aftermathmusic.com:
You mean the "Bangin? in LA" DVD?
DJ Yella:
Yes. On the CD is the song with me an Ren.
Aftermathmusic.com:
The song is great ...
DJ Yella:
(laughs) ... yeah it is.
Aftermathmusic.com:
Since I buy Yella's porn @#%$ I want to know who are your favorite girls to shoot and who you want to shoot?
DJ Yella:
The favourite girl is Obsession www.urbaneyecandy.net/mod...ot007.jpg. I also like this girl called Ice www.urbaneyecandy.net/mod...not010.jpg which is one the cover of the "Bangin" one. Obsession and Ice - I definetily like them.
Aftermathmusic.com:
What's up with the music productions for the DVD's? Did you all the production?
DJ Yella:
Oh yeah. I did everything.
Aftermathmusic.com:
1st of all, how did you hook up with Eazy E.?
DJ Yella:
Actually Dre knew Eazy, when me and Dre was in the Wreckin crew. Dre knew him from his neighbourhood. And Dre was bringin him around. Because originally, Eazy was no Ruthless. He hang around with 2 guys from New York. They recorded a song together, but they told him, the song wasn't good enough and they didn't wanna do more. So, Dre made Eazy doin. I met Dre I met Eazy during that time.
Aftermathmusic.com:
Please tell us about your friendship with Eazy?
DJ Yella:
Uuumm you know, we were like partners, great partners. That's why I never left him, because he never did anything bad to me. So I jumped on the ship (Ruthless). If the company is good to you, stay with it.
Aftermathmusic.com:
Eazy died on AIDS - what was your reaction when you heard about it?
DJ Yella:
I actually heard it before the world heard it. And I was like '@#%$ the life'. So I was done for music, really! I was really done with it.
Aftermathmusic.com:
Where all of you guys in the hospital?
DJ Yella:
I only got to see him one time. He was already like in a coma. Dre came in later ... I don't know if Cube or Ren came to see Eazy.
Aftermathmusic.com:
Was Eazy's death a reason to leave Ruthless?
DJ Yella:
I don't know. I didn't talk to him so much. I didn't know he was sick. It was like a month he was sick for a while. And I really didn't talk to him within a month. He was sick and he wasn't trying to tell me. But by the time I found out he was sick it was to late. He already was in a coma. So, I couldn't even talk to him.
Aftermathmusic.com:
Is it true that Dresta bought the last remaining (unheard) Eazy tracks off you?
DJ Yella:
No. I got the last Eazy track which is never coming out. I got the last. I made his last 2-3 songs. There's 1 or 2 that Ruthless has, that I don't think it's been out yet. But I got 1 track that nobody has. It was actually a diss.
Aftermathmusic.com:
A Diss?
DJ Yella:
Yeah. It was a diss to Cube. And I'll never release that. So that's a track which nobody will hear.
Aftermathmusic.com:
What happened to those Eazy-E tracks you did with DJ Quik?
DJ Yella:
There were no vocals on it. It was just a couple of tracks. So we did a lot of tracks that never even got the vocals.
Aftermathmusic.com:
Is there anything else you'd like to tell us about Eazy E.?
DJ Yella:
To me he was a good person. Not a good person, a great person. He started a lot of stuff, he helped a lot of charity, he loved his kids. He was one of the pioneers, NWA was the whole pioneers. But if you look at all the groups, they came from us. So that's what music is today. So we started it and other groups came out. Dre still producing groups. So there's a lot of music that came some way through Ruthless.
Aftermathmusic.com:
You haven't seen Dre in years. Is there nothing between you guys?
DJ Yella:
I talked to Dre last year. Everytime I see him, it's like the old times. There's no beef between us. Never real beef. When Eazy made the diss song I was not in the video and nothing. I had no reason to diss Dre.
Aftermathmusic.com:
Please tell something about the production process together with Dre back in the days, who came with the ideas and such.
DJ Yella:
He came out with most of the ideas. He listened to old records or he called me 'I got this in my mind' ... Bumm bumm and we went into the studio. He was in the studio more time than anybody. The other people came around and do there vocals. And Dre was there all the time.
Aftermathmusic.com:
There has been a long history of artists saying that Dre steals beats, from your experience how true is it?
DJ Yella:
What? Oh nawww. Dre don't steal beats. That's bullshit. He listened to a record, get's a idea from .. that's it.
Aftermathmusic.com:
Did you read the Source article about Aftermath and Dr. Dre? Some of Dr. Dre's closest associates, Big Chuck, Mel Man and Neff-U, have broken ties with Aftermath and are ready to expose some of the label?s secrets. They?re ready to get the credit they deserve. What's your thoughts on this the article, that Dre is taking all credits of the beats?
DJ Yella:
Not really. But the thang is, he has a staff around him that make him tracks. The bring him tracks. He can say: 'I like this, I like that.' Whether they keep their publishing and all that that was up to them. If they sold him the tracks, thats their mistakes. While Dre is taking the tracks? He's bringing the success and that's why they upset. Dre is doing business and I?m sure he's paid well for. They should handle the deals like I want publishing, I want this and I want that. Thats the deal. He doesn't steal beats. I know Dre since the early 80' and he's stealing nothing.
Aftermathmusic.com:
That's a very good statement. So, Ice Cube is working with Dr. Dre on his upcomin album? Can we expect some productions from you, too?
DJ Yella:
I doubt it. I haven't talk to Cube in a while. He's doin his own thing and stuff like that. I?m just staying with my music, but we do a reunion album, I?d jump on. Right now, I just wanna do soundtracks for the movies. And the matter of fact, the next movie I do is with Ren again. I wanna do that one more time.
Aftermathmusic.com:
The Aftermath n Shady artists - Your thoughts on Eminem and 50 Cent?
DJ Yella:
I think they are great. Both are heavyweights now. You know, but it all comes from Dre. Without Dre would they heavyweights? I don't know. Dre is one gifted producer. I?m not trying to say 'He's the greatest', but he's really gifted. And I see this since 20 years. And that's what made the Eminem, now 50 Cent ... That's all Dre. They're great rappers. But is a beat better than the rappers? So, is the music better? So it's all a combination. They're great rappers and then they got a great producer behind. Dre makes the heavyweights and they should be heavyweights for a while til the day they messed up himself. And that's stupid. They could be heavyweights for few albums. If you see Eminem, he got few albums out.
Aftermathmusic.com:
Any words to Dr. Dre and Ice Cube or do you have anything to say about them?
DJ Yella:
Dre ... give me a call (laughs loud). We haven't talked in a while. We usually sit there and talked for a while. And don't change your number so much, I can't catch you. And to Cube ... I have nothing against nobody. Matter of fact, I like the interview with Dre on one of my movies, so you should make sure, he gets that message (laughs).
Aftermathmusic.com:
I?m trying to call him or his management soon.
DJ Yella:
Ok thanks!
Aftermathmusic.com:
What can you tell us about Dirty Red aka Shaki?
DJ Yella:
When Eazy died, all that got cut off. He was a good rapper. I liked his style, his voice and everything. He was there on the wrong time.
Aftermathmusic.com:
Who do you think really has the potential to blow up on the Westcoast at the moment? Is it Game, Crooked I or Ren?
DJ Yella:
Ren definetely. But music is coming from everywhere now. It's not East or West. So it's kinda hard who can be dominate. There're so many rappers now. But only few is gonna be heavyweights. But these heavyweights are in all different parts of the country now.
Aftermathmusic.com:
What's your thoughts on DeathRow and Suge Knight right now?
DJ Yella:
I never said anything about it and I definetely not start today.
Aftermathmusic.com:
Is that true that you worked on the upcomin 213 album?
DJ Yella:
No that's not true.
Aftermathmusic.com:
What do you think of all the beefs in rap game right now?
DJ Yella:
It's all bullshit (laughs). Some people started beefs to sell their own records and stuff like that. But if there's a beef with a heavyweight people listen to that beef more.
Aftermathmusic.com:
What are you going to be doing after Rens album is finished?
DJ Yella:
Uuum I should be like hopefully the biggest black director in the porn industry. That's my goal. Cause I have soundtracks on the movies, and that's what I really focus on Hip Hop porn.
Aftermathmusic.com:
Since you last produced, there has been an army of new producers like Kanye West, Just Blaze, Neptunes, Mel Man... and old producers like Dre who be droppin hot @#%$. How are you gonna enter in to producing again and what sound will he be bringing?
DJ Yella:
Well, I?m not trying to bring the songs for the music side. I'm recording songs for the porn industry. So I?m not be in a competition with these other people, because in the porn side is nobody there. People under contracts can't really do soundtracks for the porn.
Aftermathmusic.com:
So if you are gonna bring that NWA sound back or if you are gonna try something new?
DJ Yella:
Uuuumm, I don't know. Music has changed my life. So I can't go back to the old sounds. The old was great, you know, but it's old now.
Aftermathmusic.com:
What todays new rappers would Yella like to create music with?
DJ Yella:
Ooohh ... that's a good question. There're so many good once with different styles. I can't pick it's hard. But definetely 50 Cent and Eminem. Of course Ren. But you know, it's hard, it's really hard to decide.
Aftermathmusic.com:
What's in the future for you? How do you see yourself in the next 5 years?
DJ Yella:
I?m gonna be the #1 black distributor in porn. In 5 years? Oh yeah. Definetely. I've been there in 8 - 9 years. I know this business. So my future is Hip Hop porn.
DJ YELLA Q & A (1 word)
NWA: Great
2Pac: Good
Your album "one mo nigga to go": Ohh ... Damn (Laughs) .. one word? Classic
Ruthless: History
Dr. Dre: Gifted
Westcoast Rap at the moment: Hot
Aftermathmusic.com:
Any last words and any shout outs to Aftermathmusic.com?
DJ Yella:
This is DJ Yella and Aftermathmusic.com is #1. Look out for DJ Yella, you know, the 'Bangin in LA' and hopefully Dre will call me after this interview and me and Timba hook up or something.
Aftermathmusic.com:
Thank you for your time and for the interview!
DJ Yella:
Yeah no problem. Keep in touch!
Q & A W/ MC Ren: a trip down memory lane
feedback: info@thaformula.com
2004
http://www.thaformula.com/mc_ren_memory_lane_thaformula_music.html
ThaFormula.com - Alright Ren, let's take it from the top. Did you go to the Roadium (a swapmeet in Gardena, California) a lot in the early days?
MC Ren - Yeah me and Eazy used to go up there. Steve Yano had his little booth up there and me and Eric used to go up to that muthafucka looking for some new shit, new records. 'Cause Dre he used to do the tapes for Steve and shit and every time Steve was sellin' the muthafuckas me and Eric would go up there every weekend, 'cause back then we was trying to be known anyway so we used to go up there just to get that little vibe. Back in the day I remember he had somebody up there airbrushing muthafuckin' T-Shirts, I remember I got me an airbrushed T-Shirt.
ThaFormula.com - What do you feel represents the L.A. Hip-Hop landmark?
MC Ren - For me the landmark of Hip-Hop L.A. was 1580 KDAY. They used to do all them shows. That's really where muthafuckas heard everything at first. KDAY was the link to all the shit. KDAY would bring all the Hip-Hop muthafuckas into town and do they little promo shows and shit with him. So it had to be KDAY 'cause you could get the East Coast shit. They played all the Uncle Jam's Army, had all the mixmasters on the weekends scratching like a muthafucka all night. Tony G, Julio G, remember that shit?
ThaFormula.com - Hell Yeah!
MC Ren - I remember they used to give shows at "The Casa" and all that shit way back in the day. I be askin' fools about "The Casa" and a lot of fools don't be remembering that shit. I saw Audio 2 at "The Casa" when they had "Top Billin'" out. Yeah, so it definitely had to be KDAY. I remember me and Eric had went up there for vinyl and shit like that, the Roadium was number one. That's where Dre used to get all his muthafuckin' records. 'Cause see when Dre used to do them tapes with Steve, what he would do was he would make Steve them tapes and Steve would pay Dre with records. That's where we got all the break records and all the break beats. When we did "Straight Outta Compton," all those records were from Steve. Dre do the tapes and he (Yano) would break Dre off with a gang of break beats.
ThaFormula.com - Do you consider yourself a lyricist or a MC?
MC Ren - Man I consider myself both really. I'm "MC" Ren and if you're a real MC you got lyrics. That's how you know niggaz been around a long time when they still got muthafuckin' "MC" on their shit. That shit is old you know what I'm saying. Niggaz today don't even be like that. How I was thinking back then coming up is different from a lot of these muthafuckas today. It's just how everybody was thinkin' back in them days is different from what muthafuckas is thinkin' today on what a MC is, what lyrics is and you could tell in how the music is. 'Cause back in the day muthafuckas had to be hard and you had to come with that mentality of "I'm an MC, I got lyrics." You can't just come in the game back in the day talkin' about anything. You had to come talkin' about some shit or muthafuckas would just call you what you are.
ThaFormula.com - Hip-Hop is very depressing right now man...
MC Ren - Man this shit is so wack right now man. It's like bitch shit now man and I hate when a muthafucka come out and it could be a wack ass muthafucka who comes out, sell some records, and then you got to hear all this niggaz wack homies! Back in the day it wasn't even like that.
ThaFormula.com - You know I'm really surprised that you're feelin' this way 'cause most artists are acting like nothing's wrong with Hip-Hop, talkin' about how dope some MC is cause they're gonna work with them now and make some dough, or just plain scared to speak on this shit...
MC Ren - I ain't scared of shit. I'll say anything. See muthafuckas be scared 'cause they be thinkin', "if I say something that might fuck me up being on T.V. or that might fuck me up being on the radio…," you know what I mean? All that bitch shit! Man you ain't on that muthafucka but so what. So what!! Fuck the Radio! 'Cause the radio, they are gonna give you some bubble gum shit anyway. Nigga if you are an artist speak your mind. That's like niggaz who be saying they are MC's but other muthafuckas write their rhymes. Nigga you ain't no MC if a muthafucka is writing your rhymes! Speak your mind and be a true MC. Back then muthafuckas didn't give a fuck. That's Hip-Hop! When you start listening to record company muthafuckas and them PR muthafuckas that just thinkin' about money saying don't say this don't do that, that's bitch shit! 'Cause I have had a gang of muthafuckas come at me with "don't say this," and "Ren we want you to do that." I'll be like "man I ain't fittin' to be doing that shit, I'm not fittin' to be puttin' my tail between my legs, scratchin' where I don't itch, doin' a little shuckin' and jivin'." Fuck all that! I'm just gonna say a lot of niggaz be scared in the game. They know niggaz be actin' like bitches, be scared to say shit about niggaz in the game cause they be like, "oh if I say this he ain't gonna do this for me or if I say this he ain't gonna rap on it." Fuck that! I remember back in the day niggaz didn't even give a fuck about having a gang of niggaz on they album. That's a MC. They would probably have about one or two muthafuckas if any on their shit, and they would just hold the whole muthafuckin' record down. Remember Run, LL, and Whodini where muthafuckas would put out a record once a year? When you had to wait a year or two just to get a new Run DMC or whatever? It's like muthafuckas today don't be thinkin' on that level.
ThaFormula.com - Hip-Hop was good when you could go to the Indoor Swap Meets and get the shit a couple of weeks before it dropped cause you knew it was gonna be dope and it was worth the extra money for the tape...
MC Ren - That was the Golden Era man. It's fucked up. I'ma tell you like this. The closest shit that muthafuckas was gonna get to that was Pac and Biggie. After they died it just went downhill really. Think about it man. Since them two niggaz died, this shit is like the wack era. There is nothin'!
ThaFormula.com - Also I notice a lot of these artists that come out after a while they got no soul left in them man. It's like they just lost it...
MC Ren - Niggaz be bitches now. They first come out, they be hard, mean muggin'. You can't squeeze a smile or nothin' out these niggaz. Now you see niggaz be on MTV smilin', being happier then a muthafucka. I'm like, what happened to this nigga? This nigga was just like this, now look at him. I hate when I see niggaz in TV like that. Nigga you was just hard as a muthafucka, now you just all happy. 'Cause muthafuckas get like that when them cameras get on them niggaz. Every time smilin' and doing stupid shit thinkin' they cute and shit. Man come on dog, that shit is ridiculous man.
ThaFormula.com - Now you were the one that never did many interviews back then. So I wanted to know from your mouth how you and Eazy got started in this?
MC Ren - That nigga Eric, he was like my brother's homeboy. He used to live right around the corner from a nigga. He used to be the little nigga in the neighborhood doin' his thang. He knew I could rhyme and shit so he was trying to leave that shit alone and get into music and Dre was down with the Wrecking Cru and Dre spit at him like, "yo you can start your own label, we can do this." So Cube came in and he was under Dre at the time 'cause he was in a group called C.I.A.
ThaFormula.com - Did you know Cube at that time?
MC Ren - Nah, I didn't meet Cube 'till I came in the group really. I used to do street tapes and he used to do street tapes and used to bump his street tapes before I met him. I was with that nigga one day and we was sittin' in the car waiting for Eric to come home on his mama's street and I was like "nigga check this tape out, this nigga is harder then a muthafucka." Him and Dre and them back in the day used to make tapes and they would take shit like "My Adidas" and make it "My Rubber" and make it funny. I remember I was in the car with that nigga in my bucket and I was like nigga listen to this shit. We were two little niggaz straight out of high school. I was like "nigga this muthafucka hard right here." He was like, "nigga that's me." I told him man I been listening to your shit for like a year. So me and that nigga clicked after that..
ThaFormula.com - So what were you doing at the time Ren?
MC Ren - I was doing my little hustle on the street and I was MC'ing at the time at little house parties battlin' niggaz and shit like that. I started MC'ing in '83 in the 9th grade. When I got to the 12th grade I was about to go to the Army cause I was like, "this shit ain't even gonna crack." Plus we was from the west coast and niggaz was like, "you all ain't doing nothin, all the rappers are from the east," and shit like that. So I was fittin' to go to the army with my homeboy. I had already went to take the written test, I just had to do the other shit. I remember Eric came by one day and that's when he had "Boyz-N-The Hood" but it was just local and shit at the time.
ThaFormula.com - So you weren't down with them yet when he first did "Boyz-N-The Hood?"
MC Ren - Nah, that's how old it was. He did that shit way before that but it was just local then in the streets. When he did that he knew I could rhyme so he would come around to my mommas house and would say "I wanna check you out." So we went around there, he used to have some turntables there and equipment and shit so I started freestylin' for that nigga. He put a record on and started scratchin' while I was rappin' to the muthafucka just freestylin' for like 10 minutes.
ThaFormula.com - Was your style the same even then or did it change by the time you got on?
MC Ren - Yeah I think I kinda changed a little bit. I was more about lyrics like Run DMC kind of, you know how niggaz used to rhyme used to rhyme back then? So that nigga Eric told me to come around there I went around there and I was rappin', freestylin' and shit. He was scratchin' and cuttin' the records and shit cause he knew how to DJ and shit 'cause him and Dre used to have this little crew. I was rappin' for like 10 minutes and shit and that nigga took the tape and he went and let Dre hear the tape and Dre loved his shit. Then Eric came to me like, "I wanna sign you to a solo thing." So I wasn't even gonna be in the group NWA. He wanted to do me as a solo thang cause at that time they had did "Dopeman" and "8 Ball" right after the "Boyz-N-The Hood" thing. So Cube had wrote "Dopeman" and "8 Ball" and he wrote "Boyz-N-The Hood." So I came in and I was just gonna be the nigga that come in and do something on the side, a little solo thang. But when Cube had left, he went to school cause I guess he was figuring this shit wasn't gonna work, so he went to Arizona for like a year. Some trade school or some shit. As soon as that nigga left Eric got a deal with Priority. We was working the other shit on the street level so hard that when cube left it got so big that he got a deal for that shit. So Cube was gone and there was nobody to write his shit. So they came to me like, "nigga we need you to do this and this." So I remember I did "Radio," Eazy-Duz-It" and "Ruthless Villain." They still wasn't gonna let me in. It was just like I did those songs for that nigga. But the song "Ruthless Villain" I wrote for Eric and it was just gonna be his shit, but he couldn't say the muthafucka and he had the studio timed and it took him too long to say the vocals how I would say the vocals so Dre was like "man, just let Ren say the rap!" (Laughs). You know how niggaz be frustrated like "man just let that nigga do it 'cause he's wasting time."
ThaFormula.com - Now I got to ask you man. Was Eazy that bad in the studio as far as trying to get on beat?
MC Ren - Man, that nigga used to be bad. I ain't even gonna lie, them niggaz know it. He sound good on records but that nigga used to be terrible.
ThaFormula.com - Was it that bad man?
MC Ren - Nigga it was terrible! That nigga would be in that muthafucka and Dre would literally nigga just get a piece of paper and start doing like marks. Every time he would fuck up Dre would put a mark. Nigga his shit used to be in the hundreds. When that nigga used to do his vocals muthafuckas used to be like, "let that nigga do his shit last." When that nigga do his vocals muthafuckas used to leave. If we didn't have to do shit, wed be like "alright nigga we gone." Dre would have to sit in that muthafucka with that nigga all day. But anyway nigga that's how I got on. When I did Ruthless Villain, Boom! They was like "damn!" I remember we was in Hollywood and Eric was getting a P.O. Box and shit. Me, Eric, Dre and I think Yella was in the car. Cube was still gone to school. Dre was like, "man since its gonna take along time for you to do your solo shit, you might as well get in NWA" and at that time Arabian Prince was still in the group and shit. It was all of us and then Cube came back and that's when we started working on the "Eazy-Duz-It" album and then we did the other shit.
ThaFormula.com - So now let's get into the "NWA and the Posse" record, what was the deal with that?
MC Ren - See this how that happened. Eric first had "Boyz-N-The Hood" on Macola Records. So one day before we got the deal with Priority, he was going through Macola. So all the muthafuckas on the NWA and the posse record, that was the first shit and remember I told you I wasn't there and they already had "Dopeman," "8 Ball" and all that. That's why if you look on the back, its just a picture of Eazy, Cube, Dre, and Arabian Prince and then on the front it's me, Train and everybody, 'cause Eric was like, we doing this record, everybody come on we gonna take this album picture. So at first that shit wasn't no NWA and the Posse. It was just NWA when it was on Macola right. But when that shit blew up and we got on Priority and that shit blew up, homie just re-released it like it's NWA and the Posse and he went and got everybody that was on that album cover that had records out and let them add to it and he put it out like shady muthafuckaz do. That shit was like some wack shit and that's why we never supported that record. Muthafuckas would come up to us like yeah that "NWA and the Posse" shit and we 'd be like "man that ain't our record." That's just like some Lonzo type shit like he put out some shit after Dre left Wreckin' Cru.
ThaFormula.com - So was D.O.C. down with you guys at that time?
MC Ren - When that record came out, he was down with us and that's why they put him on there and they went and dug up some old shit that Dre did with them niggaz.
ThaFormula.com - What was Arabian Princes' involvement in everything?
MC Ren - See when I came in the group he was already in the group and the reason that he was in the group was 'cause when Eric put the group together, he used to always say "man NWA is a all-star rap group," but it really wasn't no real all stars at the time, and he was just going around trying to get niggaz that he thought would do something in his group. Like Arabian was doing shit with Egyptian Lover and that type of shit Dre with the Wrecking Cru and Cube did with C.I.A. So that's how Arabian got in doing that fast Techno type music. 'Cause at first Eric wanted NWA to do that and have that involved in it. 'Cause that was that L.A. shit too, but as we started doing our shit and doing the record, that shit didn't fit in. It was like we in here making these songs and that shit don't fit in and its like the press we getting for the shit that we making and the kind of shit we doing that shit don't fit in. To us it was like that shit is old now and it don't fit in.
ThaFormula.com - Would you consider the "Eazy-Duz-It" LP a crew album, meaning did it take every member of the crew to make that album happen?
MC Ren - Yep. It took everybody. It was just like working on a NWA album but it's just like this is Eazy's album. Cause me D.O.C., Cube, and Dre did all the writing for that nigga. Back in them days he didn't ever do no writing. Eric didn't start writing on his shit till like he did the "5150" album and shit like that.
ThaFormula.com - Yeah that shit was terrible man...
MC Ren - Yeah, see when Dre was gone that's when he started writing his own shit.
ThaFormula.com - Now what about the production of "Eazy-Duz-It?" Was everyone involved in that album?
MC Ren - Nah, that was just straight Dre. Every album was just straight Dre. It had on there produced by Dre & Yella but Yella was just like his assistant and shit. Like, "do this for me, hand me that, push that." It was all Dre with the beats. Dre would just be in there like, "we 'gon rap to this one." He was controllin' all that and that's why it was so hard.
ThaFormula.com - So the "Eazy-Duz-It" album had just dropped and everything seemed good, how were you feelin'?
MC Ren - I was feelin good cause we was about to do our NWA album. I was just happy to be down. I was just happy to be able to write on that niggaz shit and to be on the cover and little shit like that.
ThaFormula.com - Even though I get depressed at times on how Hip-Hop has turned out, I still love the fact that at least I got to witness Hip-Hop at its prime which makes me also think about how you must feel to be considered part of that prime?
MC Ren - Yeah shit is crazy man, I was just thinkin' about that shit too. The shit is crazy 'cause back then when we was doing that shit, ain't no way niggaz would of knew how that shit was gonna be big like it was. Nigga, that's the crazy part about it, that's the crazy part about it.
ThaFormula.com - Another thing that I think about from back then is when you guys recorded this, you guys were still in the streets where nowadays muthafuckas are recording from Hollywood. I'm sure after Eazy's album and even "Straight Outta Compton" that it must have felt great to walk in the hood and see everybody giving you your props?
MC Ren - Hell yeah.
ThaFormula.com - Which just shows me how things have changed. So at that point in time were you thinking of a solo album yet or were you never really thinkin' about a solo album?
MC Ren - I didn't start thinking about no solo shit 'till I did it. When Dre left that's when I started thinking of solo shit. But the original plan was we all was gonna do solo shit originally. Everybody said yo Eazy is gonna do his first, and if Cube wouldn't have left, Cube was gonna do one, then I was gonna do one and then another NWA album. That's how the whole shit was gonna go, but then after Cube left and Dre left that's the only time I really was like "yo let me do my shit," because it was to much beef going on. It was like Eric was mad with Dre and Dre was mad and I was like, "you know I'm just gonna stay neutral and just do my own shit."
ThaFormula.com - So up next after the "Eazy-Duz-It" came "Straight Outta Compton," how was it recording that?
MC Ren - It was cool man. I remember everyday we was in the studio. Go at 12 o'clock and stay there all night.
ThaFormula.com - Did you guys know what your were about to do as far as the concepts for the album?
MC Ren - Yeah, if you listen to "Straight Out of Compton," and "Fuck tha Police," them probably the only two on there that's talkin' like serious shit, but as far as them two songs go, yeah. I remember we was at Dre's apartment and we was going over "Fuck tha Police." Me, Cube, Dre all of us was there. I remember us writing it on paper. "How we gonna do this, we gonna make Fuck tha Police, we gonna make a chorus and shit going on in the song." I remember writing all this shit down in the studio. Niggaz busting their lyrics and it was like friendly competition. Muthafuckas writing their shit and a nigga hear another niggaz shit and be like, "ah man I'll be back." I remember one time we did "Still Talkin' Shit" and Cube heard everybody's shit and he was like "damn!" Man that nigga went the next day, beat everybody to the studio early in the morning and changed the shit 'cause he was like "damn." That's how it was. Niggaz would go over there and change their shit. Ask "what you got?" "Ah fuck that I gotta go change my shit." But that made that shit hard cause it was like you was on there by yourself but your really on there with a group. So them days was off the hook man.
ThaFormula.com - It seems like you had a major influence from the East in your rhyme style, did you?
MC Ren - Yeah I did. RUN DMC. Muthafuckin' LL, Whodini, and just a lot of them. I used to just try to get my delivery like them. DMC was one of my favorites. That niggaz voice was just so muthafuckin' cold.
ThaFormula.com - Did everything that was recorded for the "Eazy-Duz-It" and "Niggaz4Life" albums make the albums?
MC Ren - Nah there was shit that didn't even make it. Tight shit too man. I remember I had some tight shit for the "Niggaz4Life" album. I remember we had a gang of shit for the "Niggaz4Life" album and most of that shit didn't make it. But basically the first shit like "Straight Outta Compton" it seems like everything we did made it on that muthafucka 'cause we just did what was gonna make it on there.
ThaFormula.com - So now when "Straight Outta Compton" came out that's when all the controversy began?
MC Ren - Yeah with the "Fuck tha Police" shit and we didn't even give a fuck. Our thing was like any publicity is good publicity. Muthafuckas would be like "that's bad publicity," but we didn't give a fuck and we would tell muthafuckas on the news we don't care if y'all are doing this shit, we like it.
ThaFormula.com - Were you guys prepared for this when you did the album?
MC Ren - Nah. Shit, we didn't know that we was gonna get a letter from the FBI and all that shit. Nah, I didn't know that. But we didn't give a fuck. You gotta think man, niggaz young and we didn't care. They helped our shit sell.
ThaFormula.com - Now how were those NWA tours man when you look back?
MC Ren - Man those muthafuckas was off the chain. They was big arenas. I remember every city we went to damn near, we had to go to press conferences and shit cause muthafuckas didn't want us there. Like the community leaders and muthafuckin' fake ass gherri curl wearin' preachers and shit. All them type of muthafuckas trying to get their little limelight and publicity when there was a gang of other shit they could have been talkin' about. But we still performed. But it used to be cool man, you know all of us rollin' on the bus and shit on tour having to share rooms and shit (Laughs). Stupid shit like that. We sold out every night. When we first went on the road nigga we used to drive in vans, we couldn't even fly cause we wasn't making all that money. So we used to have to drive in vans all around the muthafuckin' West Coast doing spot dates here and there like crazy. I remember our first tour we did was with UTFO, Salt-N-Pepa and Heavy D. We opened for them and they was looking at us like who the fuck is y'all. This was before "Straight Outta Compton." They would look and Cube and Eazy with they're gherri curls and be like "who the fuck is y'all niggaz?" (Laughs). I could feel that shit back then, like some of them New York niggaz was kind of arrogant. Like "y'all ain't no true Hip-Hop," or "y'all from the West." But then when "Straight Outta Compton" came out we had our own muthafuckin' tour and everything changed. Matter fact we played the Apollo before "Straight Outta Compton" came out when "Eazy-Duz-It" I think had just came out or something or probably right before we played the Apollo with all the New York niggaz. It was like some big ass Summer jam type shit, but it was at the Apollo. Nigga we got booed, they threw shit at us. We was the only ones man and then we had to walk back downstairs and all these New York niggaz looking at us cause they got they monitors down in them muthafuckas. They lookin' at us and I was like man, nigga you ever been somewhere where you just wanna disappear? (Laughs). Everybody lookin' at y'all like, "damn y'all got booed." But I remember after that when I had dropped "Kizz My Black Azz" and I went back to New York. I did like two shows at the Apollo and that shit was off the hook. And then I heard Cube went back when he did hid first album and muthafuckas went crazy. I remember somebody told me that that niggaz said when he was out there he was like, "yeah we came here and we booed the first time, but I'm about to rock this muthafcuka," and them muthafuckas went crazy. But it was a whole 180. Nigga I remember when we first went to New York which was when "Rebel without a Pause" came out when KDAY used to be bumpin' it. And when our shit, "Straight Outta Compton" came out, I remember we went to New York probably like a month later or some shit like that for some press shit. At that time the record was kind of getting big and shit nigga, and I remember Hank Shocklee of the Bomb Squad was up in the club and nigga knew all our names and shit. I was like "what the fuck?" and I was trippin' 'cause he was talkin' to Dre and shit 'cause you know how the two beat muthafuckas always find each other. I seen them two niggaz talkin' and Hank Shocklee was laughin' like "I can't believe y'all niggaz are here!" Dre was pointing at everybody I remember. He was like "this is so and so," and Hank was like "yeah I know, this is Ren, this is Eazy." Nigga he knew who I was and that tripped me out. I was like, "this nigga be fuckin' with PE and they got this hot ass shit, and this nigga know us?"
ThaFormula.com - Yeah and at that time the only producers who could fuck with Dre was the Bomb Squad…
MC Ren - Exactly and that's why Cube went to those muthafuckas.
ThaFormula.com - That's why I feel that was the only move Cube could have done and was the smartest…
MC Ren - Yeah. No other producer could have just came with no shit to just keep him like that. He went to the right muthafuckin' spot.
ThaFormula.com - So know at this point in time had you, Dre, Cube or Yella seen any money?
MC Ren - Nope. Hell Nah!!
ThaFormula.com - So you guys are having fun and all but when did the first problems start coming? 'Cause I know it's always about the money…
MC Ren - Yeah, I remember we was in muthafuckin' Arizona. Cube came to me and was says "Jerry Heller is coming up here and they want us to sign a new contract, you know he is taking advantage of muthafuckas cause we don't Know." How you just gonna pop up on a nigga with contracts and no lawyers or nothing? So that lets you know that that muthafucka was a snake. So anyway, Cube told me "I'm not signing that shit." He came to me and was like, "don't sign it." This the niggaz exact words. He said, "I could say I ain't gonna sign it and I'm just one person and the shit can still go down, but if you say it, me and you together then can't nothing happen if me and you both don't sign." I remember we were supposed to sign the shit and get 70 G'z. I ain't never seen 70 G'z know what I'm saying? So Cube was like, "I ain't signing it." So Cube didn't sign that shit and there was a little animosity. Everybody was like, "why didn't he sign it?" Nigga I had never seen no 70 G'z before in my life," and I was like, "Eric grew up right around the corner with me," I was like "this is my nigga, he brought me in and I'ma take this 70 G'z 'cause I ain't gonna get this shit nowhere else."
ThaFormula.com - So what was Dre thinking at this time?
MC Ren - Dre took it. He took the money. So Cube left. I signed, Dre signed, Yella signed.
ThaFormula.com - So did you tell Cube that you were gonna sign?
MC Ren - I think I told that nigga something like "man I ain't got no money, I ain't got no paper, I ain't got nothing." I was like "nigga I been rappin' for nothing this long and nigga fittin' to give me 70 G'z?" Shit and this was 1988, I was only 18.
ThaFormula.com - So that was basically the only reason Cube left right?
MC Ren - Yeah.
ThaFormula.com - 'Cause a lot of rumors got started about him leaving also because his solo album didn't come up next…
MC Ren - Nah, it wasn't no ego shit like that. It wasn't even like that. It was because he was like, "nigga we should get more money." He saw what I didn't see. I should have seen it. He was like, "nigga we need to get more money," because me and him used to always talk to Eric and say we wanted more money. 'Cause me and Cube used to get less 'cause we was the rappers and he would say, 'cause y'all not doing the beats." We would be like, "why they getting more then us?" "'Cause they doing the beats," he would say. Why Yella get more than us? 'Cause he doing this to help Dre. We was like, "but he ain't doing what we doing?"
ThaFormula.com - So you and Cube were making less then everybody else?
MC Ren - Everybody, and so that's the way it all happened. That nigga left.
ThaFormula.com - What were your thoughts when he left?
MC Ren - I was thinking young and stupid 'cause I was only like 18 or 19. I was Thinking that it's fucked up, that nigga shouldn't have left because we had a publicist at the time. She use to be like anytime interviews would pop up she would call Cube. She wouldn't call nobody else but Cube. So when he left the group she ended up being his manager so we felt that she had that shit planned all along. Cause Eric used to always complain to Priority like "why do she always call him for the interviews?" That bitch had probably another plan. Matter of fact, she started doing all his "Friday" movies with him and all of that. So there was animosity cause niggaz was thinkin' this shit was planned. So the beef just formed out of that shit. Matter of fact me and him never really had no beef. 'Cause even when he left the group, he went to New York and he would call me from New York when he was working with the Bomb Squad. Me and him was supposed to do a song for his album called "The Villain and the Gangsta." He was like, "man we gonna do this song," but we couldn't do the mutherfucka 'cause them niggaz got all mad and it was like all that animosity them niggaz had. It was like, "man that nigga this, and that" and then he stopped talkin' to me and we stopped talkin'.
ThaFormula.com - What did Dre think about this at the time?
MC Ren - Dre was mad that nigga left 'cause Dre brought him in so he was mad and that's why when Cube had his record he was on his homegirl Dee Barns show "Pump It Up" one night. I didn't have no beef with the nigga. It was all cool and everything but them niggaz was kind of hot and Cube said some shit on there like "I got all suckaz "100 miles and Runnin'" or some shit. He said that and we was like, "Ohh!!"
ThaFormula.com - So she set that show up with both of you (NWA and Ice Cube) on it without you even knowing right?
MC Ren - Yeah we didn't even know. She could have came to us and said "we want you all on the show," or "we want to do something," but she just did that shit for her ratings I guess, and that nigga outspoken like he was back then and said "I got all these suckaz 100 Miles and Runnin'" and we was like "what!" When he did that niggaz was hot and then he wanted to use on "Jackin' for Beats" when it comes on and says "Gimme that beat fool," he had our shit on there originally from the" Niggaz4Life" album. You know the "Prelude" beat, he had that on there first but since he was on Priority and our "Niggaz4Llife" album was fittin' to come out, we told Brian Turner 'cause he let us hear it first. We was in his office and he said, "I want you all to hear this song." He let us hear it and we was like "hell nah!" I remember Dre was like "fuck that, he can't use our beat" cause Dre made that beat. He was "like this man ain't gonna use our beat and be clowning us" you know what I'm saying? So Dre told him "if this nigga uses our beat, we ain't fuckin' with you," and Brian Turner told that nigga he couldn't use it 'cause he knew that the "Niggaz4Life" album was coming and he knew like "I can't let Cube use this muthafucka cause NWA is hot and they ain't gonna finish this muthafuckin' album if I let him do this."
ThaFormula.com - But in between all this you all did the "100 Miles and Runnin'" EP and you knew now that it was your time to step up. How did you feel about that?
MC Ren - When that nigga left, I knew I had to pick my shit up 'cause Dre wasn't really no rapper. He wasn't really no hell of a rapper back then and shit. He just would fill in. But when Cube left he started rapping more, but I always knew I had to pick it up. I was writing my shit, Eric's shit, Dre was helping write Eric shit, 'cause when Cube left we still had me, D.O.C. and Dre.
ThaFormula.com - So Dre actually wrote his shit?
MC Ren - Yeah, he wrote some of his shit. He write some of his shit and some of his shit he don't write. You can tell shit he writes. D.O.C. would write a lot of Dre's shit too. You could tell when you hear a lot of Dre shit if DOC wrote it.
ThaFormula.com - So even through all this and when you dissed Cube on the "Real Niggaz" track, were you still cool with Cube?
MC Ren - Nah, nah hell nah. Nah, Nah, Nah, I wasn't cool with that nigga at that time. It's crazy 'cause I went out on the "Up In Smoke Tour" with that nigga and me and that nigga was talkin' about them disses we did and I said "yeah nigga, I didn't even get a chance to do a whole verse on your ass." I said "nigga I would have got you!" He looked at me like "yeah ok." I said "alright nigga, you got a verse and some shit on me, but I never got a verse or song."
ThaFormula.com - Now when that dropped and Cube dropped his shit a lot of people thought NWA was through. "Niggaz4Life" hadn't dropped yet and I remember a lot of people were ready to call you guys over, did you guys hear any of this?
MC Ren - A little bit 'cause nigga, that was motivating us 'cause we was like "niggaz think we ain't gonna do shit 'cause Cube left." That was the first thing we thought. But them muthafuckas had to eat all they words though cause "Niggaz4Life" was a classic muthafuckin' album man. But I do be wishing Cube could have been on it. Can you imagine if that nigga was on that album?
ThaFormula.com - I don't know. I never thought those beats were meant for Cube. I thought that it was as good as it could have been and that no one ever rode a Dre beat like you which "Alwayz Into Something" proved…
MC Ren - Yeah that's my cut right there.
ThaFormula.com - And I loved the "Prelude" track 'cause you always dissed wack rappers and sell outs who did wack love songs…
MC Ren - And I'ma keep dissin' their wack asses.
ThaFormula.com - So how were you guys feelin' after "Niggaz4Life" dropped?
MC Ren - We was feelin' cool. We was supposed to go on tour for that shit. We was planning out a "Niggaz4Life" tour. We were getting our props ready and had muthafuckas coming to build our stage, and that's when Dre left.
ThaFormula.com - Were you guys still kicking it at this time or was everybody doing their own thing?
MC Ren - We was cool. It's like one day Dre came to me and said, somebody I know wanna holla at us because we ain't getting paid right. So I remember going down there to Solar records. At that time Dre and Suge was kickin' it real tough and shit. Suge told Dre about this dude at Solar and I remember going down there and meeting with them, and that's when Dre left.
ThaFormula.com - What did you say when Dre took you down to Solar?
MC Ren - From what I saw, I just saw one nigga trying to get niggaz to come over with him. I mean I had seen alot more money by then. I still wasn't getting what I was supposed to be getting, but I wasn't going to go into another fucked up situation. My street smarts said, fuck this. This is a worse situation. That's why I didn't do it. Then when Dre left, Eric was saying we still gonna do NWA. I'm happy I didn't go along with the shit. He said were gonna do the NWA album and we gonna get some more producers. He was saying Yella, Hutch and some new people are gonna produce it. I told him an NWA album is not gonna work without Dre doing the beats. I wasn't about to play myself though. Cube left, Dre left. The beat mutherfuckers and one of the hardest lyricists in the group. We ain't got shit. I wasn't about to rap over any niggaz beat back then, because you know niggaz beats back then was wack. I mean how you gonna go from the top muthafucka to that. When I told Eazy I wasn't gonna do the NWA album, me and him didn't talk for like a year or two. Probably longer then that. When Dre was doing the first Chronic album, I was still talking to Dre. I would go to his house and be kicking it. That's why Snoop says in the Intro of the Chronic, "What up Ren." Cause I used to be there kicking it with niggaz. I told Erick and Dre that the problem was between them and that I didn't have nothing to do with that. I'm not about to be dissin' neither of you. That's why when Eazy was dissin' Dre, I wasn't in on that and Dre dissin' him, I wasn't in on that. I was just neutral.
thaFormula.com - So I'm sure you heard the Chronic before it dropped. How did you feel about it?
MC Ren - I thought the shit was tight. I remember when it first came out. Erick was in the studio going through the first Chronic album saying, this shit is wack. All the little groupies around him were saying yeah that shit is wack. I said, nigga this shit is hard.
thaFormula.com - So there was no way you could have been on the Chronic?
MC Ren - Yeah, because of all that shit that was going on.
thaFormula.com - So when did you decide to do your first EP, "Kiss My Black Azz"?
MC Ren - When I saw the group wasn't gonna do no more shit. So I went and got Bobcat. When we was on tour during the NWA days, he was on tour with LL and we used to always kick it back in them days. So we hooked up and did that shit.
thaFormula.com - It did pretty good for you right?
MC Ren - Yeah it went platinum and shit. I got that muthafuckin plaque.
thaFormula.com - What made you decide to do an EP and not an LP?
MC Ren - Cause I wanted to test the waters dog. I didn't wanna do an album and have muthafuckas not feelin' me. So I did the EP to see how muthafuckas react to it.
thaFormula.com - Did the death of DJ Train really fuck you up alot cause you guys used to always roll together?
MC Ren - Yep. Me and him went to high school together. When I told him I rapped, he told me that he was a DJ. So I went to his house and this muthafucka started doing shit on the turntable I had never seen. He was pickin' the muthafuckas up at like a 45 degree angle and the needle was even jumpin'. So when Erick signed JJ Fad they needed a DJ. They weren't hard or nothing, but Train was hard. I remember Train was in the 12th grade and their shit started jumpin' before our shit. He was on the Run's House tour flying in and out of town. That nigga was tight as a muthafucka man. That was my nigga all the way from high school.
thaFormula.com - What exactly did happen to Train man?
MC Ren - His house caught on fire. He thought his son was still in the house and his son had left. His son momma had came and got him. So he was thinking his son was still in that muthafucka. He went back in after he got everybody out thinking his son was still in there, but he wasn't. So he went in there and got all that smoke caught up in him. That was some wack ass shit.
thaFormula.com - Was he a big reason that you started changing up your style after the EP and going towards the more righteous path?
MC Ren - Yeah. He would give me tapes on Egypt and tell me we were gonna go there. So yeah my shit did start changing. I went into the Nation of Islam in 1993 and got out in 1995. Went to Egypt in 1995. Me and Train was supposed to go together and he couldn't make it, so I said fuck it, Imma go anyway.
thaFormula.com - How was going to Egypt?
MC Ren - It was the shit. I went out there for about two and half weeks.
thaFormula.com - Now your album was supposed to be called "Life Sentence." Was it because of that situation that you changed the title?
MC Ren - Yeah.
thaFormula.com - How did you feel about the "Shock of the Hour" album and how did that do for you?
MC Ren - Back then it sold like 480,000 copies when E was alive. It was cool. The first side of that muthafucka I recorded before I even got into the Nation. If you listen to it you can tell. The second half of that album is when I was in the nation.
thaFormula.com - I have to ask you this man before I forget. When Cube dropped "No Vaseline" what did you guys think about it?
MC Ren - Nigga I was ready to mash. Niggaz was mad. Like "oh, this nigga wanna do it like this." I was mad. That was the greatest sneak attack ever.
thaFormula.com - Would you say that he won that battle?
MC Ren - Nah he didn't win! How he gonna win and I ain't put my gloves on. That's like that movie Ali when he's in the car with Joe Frazier saying yeah, but you ain't the real champ. I didn't get my chance. I will never get my chance cause me and him are cool as a muthafucka. Even if we did, it probably wouldn't be like it would have been then.
thaFormula.com - Did you guys feel it on the streets as far as people fucking with you about it?
MC Ren - Yep, everything. I remember I went somewhere to this party at a hall and muthafuckas was playing it, and I remember trippin' on them telling them to take that shit off (laughs). I remember one time I was in Compton where my homeboy was doing a video show for this cable station, and this punk ass nigga was trying to play that in the background. You know them jealous ass niggaz and shit, but fuck them. We got the last laugh though cause all of us is cool now.
thaFormula.com - Is it true that Dre didn't produce that whole first Above The Law album?
MC Ren - Alot of that shit was done before Dre touched it. Hutch did alot of that shit before Dre even came and sat down. We was on tour and Laylaw brought them in. He had they shit and we used to listen to it when we was on the "Straight Outta Compton" tour. So alot of the songs on that first album were already done. Hutch did that shit along time ago.
thaFormula.com - So now you dropped your EP and your solo. At this point how are you feeling coming into your next album "Villain In Black"?
MC Ren - I was feelin' good dog. Happy that me and Hutch hooked up. Me and that nigga used to be in the studio damn near like everyday. To me though, it's harder now then back then. Now when I'm in the studio with niggaz, it's a different feelin' from back then.
thaFormula.com - So at this time were you and Eazy not speaking still?
MC Ren - Yeah. That's why he wasn't on none of my albums and why I wasn't really on his shit. He knew we didn't have shit to say to each other, but he knew he still could make money off my shit. The only thing was that after we had the fall out, when my records came out, they never pushed them like they should have pushed them. Cause my "Shock The Hour" went to number 1 on the Billboard Charts, but I didn't get no Gold or no Platinum Plaque. If you go number 1, come on. My shit was number 1 all around everywhere. They didn't promote it and I think it had alot to do with the shit I was sayin'. It scared alot of muthafuckas. It felt like a nigga got blacklisted or something. That's the vibe I got from niggaz. It just seems like nobody wanted to talk about that record. So what could I do.
thaFormula.com - What do you think Tupac would say if he saw all these Tupac clones runnin' around?
MC Ren - Come on dog. If Tupac was alive, he would be giving all these niggaz hell, 50 Cent included. INCLUDED! All of them niggaz would catch it.
thaFormula.com - So how did you feel about "Villain In Black"?
MC Ren - It was cool. The only thing is my budgets kept getting smaller, smaller, and smaller. They wouldn't give me the paper I needed. They was looking at it like if he don't want to talk to us and don't want to do this then fuck it. That's how it went. But if I would have helped them diss Dre, man I probably would have got all kinds of shit.
thaFormula.com – So that's why BG Knockout and Dresta kept getting promoted?
MC Ren - Yep. If you see, they got promoted more then I did and I was there for the longest. Fake ass company.
thaFormula.com - So after that came your last album "Ruthless For Life". It seemed like you were out of it on that album...
MC Ren - Yeah I was. I ain't even gonna lie, I was. Nigga was going through shit. All kind of problems. Nigga was out of it on that album. I'm more into it now then I was in that time.
thaFormula.com - So in between "Ruthless For Life" and now you just disappeared. What happened man?
MC Ren - Dog, I was just chillin' with my family, still working on music. I left Ruthless and I just didn't want to be in one of them situations again like that. So I just started making music. I did a little independent film. So just little shit like that trying to stay busy and get shit crackin' again. It wasn't my fault though. A nigga was going through shit making other transitions, then the game changed. So when I came back, the game had changed drastically. Muthafuckas was dead, muthafuckas ain't working here, gone. Shit wasn't the same. But I just realized that that's how life is and things are gonna always change.
thaFormula.com - So when you got out of Ruthless did you approach other labels?
MC Ren - Yeah. They was saying that they wasn't trying to fuck with me. The sound that I was giving them, they didn't want that shit. They wanted more radio friendly type shit. They don't wanna hear like a hard muthafucka with lyrics, they wanna hear some dancing shit. They wanna hear a beat come on that they can get on Power 106. They wanted that happy shit and I ain't got that shit. I couldn't make that if I tried. I would play myself. I love Run DMC. But they even went through that shit when they made that record "Pause." You never thought you would see them dancing like that. To go from the Adidas and derbies and all that dope shit to be with white hats and big medallions dancing. Come on man. But that's the game. Even legendary muthafuckas like them get confused. You just got to realize that we are legends in this shit. We can't be what we used to be, but we still here.
thaFormula.com - So it took many years but you finally got back to working with Dre on Chronic 2001. How did that come about?
MC Ren - My homeboy said that Dre wants you to come down, so I went down there and did it. I was rappin' on the muthafucka. I was on another song bustin', but he took me off of it and put this other nigga on it. There was a dude originally on there, but when I came, I got on there. Then niggaz told me that the reason they took me off was because the nigga that was on there was crying about it.
thaFormula.com - That's wack...
MC Ren - You know man. Little bitch shit. Nigga took me off and shit.
thaFormula.com - After you guys all recorded "Chin Check", what happened with the NWA project?
MC Ren - Ain't nothing really happened and shit. Cube was doing his movie and wanted us to do that shit. Then we did "Hello" for his album and we were supposed to work on the NWA project on the road, but it never went down.
thaFormula.com - I remember when you guys did Farm Club on TV. I remember Dre's expression when you said you wanted to tour and record the new album. I knew from seeing Dre's expression that that shit was never going to happen.
MC Ren - It was on Dre. We was ready. Me and Cube was ready, but we weren't gonna keep begging this dude to do no record. We had a studio out there to do it, but it didn't happen so fuck it. I don't give a fuck. I do but I don't cause it's over with now. I ain't fittin' to cry over that shit. "Chin Check" was alright, but "Hello" was better to me. It was better but it just wasn't like it used to be. Muthafuckas be having a gang of niggaz now in the studios. When we used to record back in the day nobody would really be there, only a few people.
dope ass thread.
The studio-obsessed producer has left his mark on Eminem and 50 Cent, to name-drop a few. And he's not about to rush his final solo CD.
By Robert Hilburn, Special to The Times
September 23, 2007
"We go until it happens," rap producer Dr. Dre says about all the time he spends in the recording studio searching for hits, once as long as 79 hours in a single stretch. "When the ideas are coming," says the man who is one of the half-dozen most influential producers of the modern pop era, "I don't stop until the ideas stop because that train doesn't come along all the time."
Some hip-hop fans, however, must be wondering if this particular train isn't off the track. Dre (real name: Andre Young) has been working on his third solo album, "Detox," for nearly eight years, a time frame that invites uncomfortable comparison with such earlier pop music train wrecks as Phil Spector, Brian Wilson and Axl Rose. All three were fabulously successful artists who found it so hard to live up to their own expectations that they each ran into creative paralysis.
But there are differences between Dre and the others, he and those close to him say. The 42-year-old Compton native hasn't just been working on his own album all these years.
As a producer and head of Aftermath Entertainment, Dre has also contributed to albums by Eminem, 50 Cent, the Game and others. Plus, he has "mixed" tracks -- fine-tuning the musical dynamics -- for more than a dozen other artists, including Gwen Stefani, Eve and Mary J. Blige.
Dre will now devote two months to working on Eminem's new album. "We'll be trying to get his thing done and work on a few things on my own project," Dre says.
It's an exhausting pace and it's possible only because of what Dre calls his obsession with the studio.
To achieve his level of success -- Dre has put his seductive hip-hop stamp on albums that have taken in more than $1 billion worldwide -- you obviously need musical talent.
"Dre is 'the Natural,' " says Interscope Records chief Jimmy Iovine. "Lots of producers have hits, but he does far more than that. He's a creator who has moved popular culture three times . . . with gangsta rap, G-funk and Eminem."
Yet the more you talk to Dre, the more you realize that another key element has been a mental toughness that enabled him to walk away from fast-lane excesses and a runaway ego.
Dre's greatest gift, in fact, may be the strong will that has helped him to recognize the most important things in his life -- the recording studio, his family and, most recently, weight training -- and strip away everything that doesn't serve those priorities.
In the early '90s, Dre was being hailed as the new king of hip-hop for defining gangsta rap with N.W.A and then expanding rap's mainstream appeal with the alluring G-funk style that combined melodic, old-school R&B and hard-core hip-hop sensibilities.
But amid the sudden fame, Dre appeared to be spending as much time partying and in court as he did in the studio. The turning point came after he served time in jail in 1995 for violating the probation he received after breaking another rap producer's jaw in 1992.
He jettisoned the bad behavior and, among other things, severed ties with trouble-plagued Death Row Records, signing a multimillion-dollar deal with Interscope Records and the Universal Music Group that resulted in Dre's Aftermath label.
The accompanying hoopla and dollar signs led to another hazardous period. After closing the deal, Dre went on a signing spree, convinced he could turn out hits with virtually anyone. He admits the move took a personal and professional toll.
"When we started Aftermath, we had something like 20 artists and it was driving me crazy," the 6-foot-1 producer said on the patio of his English-style country estate in the West San Fernando Valley. "I couldn't sit down and focus on any of it, plus it was doubly hard because you ended up crushing these people's dreams when you had to let them go."
On the strength of his name, "Dr. Dre Presents . . . The Aftermath," a 1996 album, was certified platinum (1 million sold), but it had little lasting effect. The humbling experience taught Dre that even with his talents he, as a producer, needs quality artists and a top support crew to make noteworthy records. Aftermath too went through a stripping back process. Its roster now includes fewer than a dozen artists.
"People are always coming up to me, thinking I've got some magic wand that can make them a star and I want to tell them that no one can do that," he says. "Making hit records is not that easy. But it took me time to realize that myself."
Now, Dre is planning another dramatic move, one designed in part to give him even more time in the studio. The long-awaited "Detox," he says, will be his final solo album.
Though claims of "final albums" have often proved to be as short-lived as farewell tours, you sense a burden lifting as Dre talks about saying good-bye to the solo career. He loves being in the studio, whether working on his songs or someone else's. But he doesn't enjoy the other duties that go along with a solo career, including interviews, live shows and other promotional activities. By eliminating all that, Dre is further sharpening his focus on his studio obsession.
"The actual making of a record is the most exciting part of this business," he says. "I don't make records so I can sit down afterward and listen to them. I make them so other people can sit down and listen to them."
Talk about hits
DRE appears as relaxed as can be on the grounds of his gated mansion on a weekday afternoon, refreshed from a couple of hours at the gym and looking forward to going into the studio later in the day. You'd never know from his easygoing manner that the rap kingpin dislikes interviews so much that this is his first one in three years.
He's a wonderful storyteller who delights in the surprising details behind some of his hits. At the moment, he's in the middle of a story about how he found Snoop Dogg, whose silky vocal style contributed greatly to the G-funk classic, "Nuthin but a 'G' Thang."
Dre was at a bachelor party in the early '90s when he heard Snoop's voice on an amateur tape. He liked the way Snoop rhymed over the beats and invited him into the studio.
"I was mainly interested in how he responded to directions," Dre continues. "That's always an important test with me. Talent gets you in the door, but there are other things I consider, like, 'Do I want to work with this guy? Can we click? Can we laugh and talk in the studio?' If not, I'd rather work with someone else."
Seriously? Would Dre really pass up a sure-fire hit if it was brought into the studio by an absolute jerk?
Dre pauses briefly at the question, then laughs. "Well," he says, finally. "I'd probably take the song and then have him sit out in the lobby while I worked on it."
It's the music that matters
DRE has been talking freely for nearly 90 minutes about the studio. The only pauses are to talk to Nicole, his wife of 11 years, about spending the weekend with their kids at their house in Malibu.
For Dre, spending as much time as possible in the studio is as important as keeping your ears open, a point that leads to the matter of interviews. Nothing personal, he says, they're just another distraction.
Dre was blessed with a gift for music, a mom who encouraged him to pursue that gift rather than gangs and an aunt who just happened to live down the street from another young hip-hop fan, O'Shea Jackson, who adopted the professional name Ice Cube.
"I always loved the way music made me feel," Dre says, sipping water from a bottle. "I did sports at school and all, but when I got home, it was just music. Everybody in my neighborhood loved music. I could jump the back fence and be in the park where there were ghetto blasters everywhere."
By the time Dre and Ice Cube hooked up in the mid-'80s, both had spent countless hours honing their skills. Dre, four years older, was a master of turntables, his confidence boosted by all the nights he played records for the dance crowd at the Eve After Dark nightclub in Compton. Cube's forte was lyrics.
After they joined N.W.A, Dre supplied the sonic explosiveness, while Cube wrote the key raps for "Straight Outta Compton," the alternately angry and witty late-'80s album that made gangsta rap a sensation. The success of N.W.A showed Dre the importance of following your instincts and not worrying about the latest trends.
"I mean, think about it," he says. "We couldn't have done anything more unlikely in music business terms. We were making a record that we knew no one would play on the radio because of the language and that no major label would even release."
Dre followed his instincts again with 1992's "The Chronic" by using live instruments when the vogue in rap was building tracks around turntable dynamics and "samples" from old recordings. "There is some sampling on my records and a lot of what I call replays, where I'd have musicians come in the studio and replay the sample from the original record," he says. "But mainly, we'd come up with our own music."
Dre's favorite moment during the making of "The Chronic" may have been the time Snoop Dogg phoned the studio from jail while Dre happened to be working on "Nuthin' but." "I can't even remember why he was in jail, but I thought his voice would be perfect for the song," Dre says, smiling. "So, I told him to stay on the line while I duct-taped the receiver of the phone to the microphone. That's how he did vocal for our demo for ' "G" Thang.' I wish I could find that demo now. You could hear all the jail sounds in the background. It was crazy."
Fifteen years after that recording session, Dre still seems to savor the moment -- as much as the success of the record itself, which was named single of the decade by Spin magazine.
For Dre, a hit record starts with a hit sound, which sounds simple. But the search is what requires those long hours in the studio. The producer normally heads into the studio around 3 p.m. weekdays, the weekends being reserved for the family and for his hobbies, which include sports and photography. Because the studio in Sherman Oaks is like a second home, Dre likes the atmosphere to be as comfortable and relaxed as possible.
"One of the most important things for a producer is to realize you don't know everything," says Dre, whose studio techniques are largely self-taught. "I love having people in the studio that I can feed off and who can feed off each other."
When putting together a track, lyrics and themes are important, he says, but you've first got to catch a listener's ear with a melody or a beat. To create that beat, he either starts from scratch or builds on something he heard on an old recording, which he did when he worked a few seconds of Leon Haywood's "I Want'a Do Something Freaky to You" into "Nuthin' but." He used a piano riff from Joe Cocker's "Woman to Woman" to jump-start "California Love," the spectacular 1996 single he made with the late Tupac Shakur.
On "California Love," Dre went into the studio in his former Chatsworth home and played a sample from the Cocker single over a drum beat. He then had some horn players come in to fill out the sound and finally stacked some strings on top.
While recording the track, Dre remembered a festive line -- "California knows how to party" -- from another song ("West Coast Poplock") and he brought in Roger Troutman, from the old Zapp band, to deliver the vocal line on the record.
As Dre recounts the process, you can imagine his head racing through ideas with the speed of a computer. Does this work? What else can I do? What's missing? Is that too much? Seeing him amid his arsenal of state-of-the-art equipment brings home the complexity of his approach.
But everything he does is rooted in the age-old search for a hook. In looking for musical ideas, Dre sometimes goes randomly through crates of old records to see if anything catches his ear, something as short as five to 10 seconds of music. Most of the time, however, he'll sit in the studio with a couple of other musicians and simply start playing, hoping one of them will come up with a key riff. Dre usually sits at a synthesizer or drum machine, joined by, say, a bassist and/or guitarist.
"It's great when everybody is working together and feels something is happening," he says about his time in the studio. "That's when it's all smiles in the studio. You don't want to see any clock or any daylight or hear any phone. You just cut yourself off from the rest of the world and make music.
"I don't necessarily even call it work. I call it fun. I even like the pressure, it makes me work all the harder if I know people out there are waiting for the record."
The quality Dre looks for in a recording artist is uniqueness -- a distinct voice that will stand out from the crowd. Sometimes the writing will catch Dre's ear, other times the rap delivery.
Dre's biggest star, Eminem, came from as far out in left field as Snoop Dogg. An intern at Interscope Records had heard Eminem on an L.A. radio show and passed a tape along to Interscope's Iovine, who in turn played it for Dre.
Dre was so excited that he got together with Eminem the next day. He was surprised to see that the young artist was white, which might have led some industry figures to think twice, given the bad name Vanilla Ice gave white rappers. But Dre swears -- holding his hand up playfully as if testifying -- he knew that Eminem had the goods.
"His writing is like no other," Dre says, "the way he puts together certain words and the way he makes certain words rhyme that to me most of the time don't even seem like they are supposed to rhyme. I also loved the fact that Eminem, I think, was setting out to be shocking. I love it as dark as it can get, and I thought the public would feel the same way."
In turn, Eminem has been lavish in his praise for the producer. "Dre showed me how to do things with my voice that I didn't know I could do," Eminem told me early in his career, such as "the way to deliver rhymes. . . . I'd do something I thought was pretty good, and he'd say, 'I think you can do it better.' "
It was Eminem who introduced Dre to 50 Cent, whose first three Aftermath albums have sold more than 20 million copies worldwide. "I loved his delivery more than anything," says Dre, who produced two tracks on 50 Cent's latest CD. "He had so much authority and strength in his voice."
When it came to the Game, the Compton rapper who has become another multimillion-album seller, Dre heard something in the rapper's raw voice that reminded him of the N.W.A days. The Game's Aftermath debut, "The Documentary," was produced by Dre and 50 Cent, and it has sold more than 2.5 millioncopies in the U.S., but the Game has moved onto Interscope's sister label Geffen after a nasty, public feud with 50 Cent. There has been much speculation in hip-hop that the Game was shifted to Geffen after Dre picked 50 Cent, the larger seller, but he denies it.
"I told them, 'I love working with both you guys. I don't have a problem with either of you,' " he says. "It was more like what is going to be the best move under the circumstances. I don't even remember who came up with the idea of putting Game on Geffen, but it was absolutely not me picking 50 over him."
A little heavy lifting
DRE made a rare public appearance this month when he announced the video of the year winner on the MTV Video Music Awards telecast in Las Vegas.
For fans, the appearance was notable for two things: Dre didn't give a release date for "Detox," renewing fears that the album may be lost in some twi- light zone, and his arms and chest were notably buff.
"That's another of my obsessions," he says a few days later of the new look. "I go in the gym two to 2 1/2 hours Monday through Friday. It makes me feel better and look better."
Before Dre started on the weights about four years ago, he often went out drinking and eating after leaving the studio at night, and his weight swelled to 270 pounds. It's back to 220, and he has cut his body fat from 29% to around 6%. Playfully pumping his arms, he says, "I feel like I can kick a brick wall down now."
And what about the album release date?
"I was really hoping to have it out this year, but it's going to have to be pushed back a while because of some other things I've got to work on," he continues, sitting in the lounge of the recording studio where he spends all those hours behind the buttons. He's still two or three tracks away from calling it finished, he says.
Any second thoughts about "Detox" being his final solo album? No, he says emphatically. "I think it's time to move on," he adds, calling rap performing "a young man's game."
More important, the move will free him to pursue his long-standing interest in films. He has signed a multiyear production pact with New Line Cinema. Dre, who will team with director Philip G. Atwell, is also interested in scoring films and eventually directing.
But he expects recording studios to continue to be the center of his world, and he's optimistic.
"When I think of the future, I think a lot of Quincy Jones and how he is an inspiration," Dre says. "Look at the quality of his work over so many years. He didn't even make his best record, 'Thriller,' until he was 50.
"That gives me something to look forward to. Nothing pulls you back into the studio more than the belief that your best record is still ahead."
now that you're posting all these interviews here, i might as well post the more recent interviews:QuoteThe studio-obsessed producer has left his mark on Eminem and 50 Cent, to name-drop a few. And he's not about to rush his final solo CD.
By Robert Hilburn, Special to The Times
September 23, 2007
"We go until it happens," rap producer Dr. Dre says about all the time he spends in the recording studio searching for hits, once as long as 79 hours in a single stretch. "When the ideas are coming," says the man who is one of the half-dozen most influential producers of the modern pop era, "I don't stop until the ideas stop because that train doesn't come along all the time."
Some hip-hop fans, however, must be wondering if this particular train isn't off the track. Dre (real name: Andre Young) has been working on his third solo album, "Detox," for nearly eight years, a time frame that invites uncomfortable comparison with such earlier pop music train wrecks as Phil Spector, Brian Wilson and Axl Rose. All three were fabulously successful artists who found it so hard to live up to their own expectations that they each ran into creative paralysis.
But there are differences between Dre and the others, he and those close to him say. The 42-year-old Compton native hasn't just been working on his own album all these years.
As a producer and head of Aftermath Entertainment, Dre has also contributed to albums by Eminem, 50 Cent, the Game and others. Plus, he has "mixed" tracks -- fine-tuning the musical dynamics -- for more than a dozen other artists, including Gwen Stefani, Eve and Mary J. Blige.
Dre will now devote two months to working on Eminem's new album. "We'll be trying to get his thing done and work on a few things on my own project," Dre says.
It's an exhausting pace and it's possible only because of what Dre calls his obsession with the studio.
To achieve his level of success -- Dre has put his seductive hip-hop stamp on albums that have taken in more than $1 billion worldwide -- you obviously need musical talent.
"Dre is 'the Natural,' " says Interscope Records chief Jimmy Iovine. "Lots of producers have hits, but he does far more than that. He's a creator who has moved popular culture three times . . . with gangsta rap, G-funk and Eminem."
Yet the more you talk to Dre, the more you realize that another key element has been a mental toughness that enabled him to walk away from fast-lane excesses and a runaway ego.
Dre's greatest gift, in fact, may be the strong will that has helped him to recognize the most important things in his life -- the recording studio, his family and, most recently, weight training -- and strip away everything that doesn't serve those priorities.
In the early '90s, Dre was being hailed as the new king of hip-hop for defining gangsta rap with N.W.A and then expanding rap's mainstream appeal with the alluring G-funk style that combined melodic, old-school R&B and hard-core hip-hop sensibilities.
But amid the sudden fame, Dre appeared to be spending as much time partying and in court as he did in the studio. The turning point came after he served time in jail in 1995 for violating the probation he received after breaking another rap producer's jaw in 1992.
He jettisoned the bad behavior and, among other things, severed ties with trouble-plagued Death Row Records, signing a multimillion-dollar deal with Interscope Records and the Universal Music Group that resulted in Dre's Aftermath label.
The accompanying hoopla and dollar signs led to another hazardous period. After closing the deal, Dre went on a signing spree, convinced he could turn out hits with virtually anyone. He admits the move took a personal and professional toll.
"When we started Aftermath, we had something like 20 artists and it was driving me crazy," the 6-foot-1 producer said on the patio of his English-style country estate in the West San Fernando Valley. "I couldn't sit down and focus on any of it, plus it was doubly hard because you ended up crushing these people's dreams when you had to let them go."
On the strength of his name, "Dr. Dre Presents . . . The Aftermath," a 1996 album, was certified platinum (1 million sold), but it had little lasting effect. The humbling experience taught Dre that even with his talents he, as a producer, needs quality artists and a top support crew to make noteworthy records. Aftermath too went through a stripping back process. Its roster now includes fewer than a dozen artists.
"People are always coming up to me, thinking I've got some magic wand that can make them a star and I want to tell them that no one can do that," he says. "Making hit records is not that easy. But it took me time to realize that myself."
Now, Dre is planning another dramatic move, one designed in part to give him even more time in the studio. The long-awaited "Detox," he says, will be his final solo album.
Though claims of "final albums" have often proved to be as short-lived as farewell tours, you sense a burden lifting as Dre talks about saying good-bye to the solo career. He loves being in the studio, whether working on his songs or someone else's. But he doesn't enjoy the other duties that go along with a solo career, including interviews, live shows and other promotional activities. By eliminating all that, Dre is further sharpening his focus on his studio obsession.
"The actual making of a record is the most exciting part of this business," he says. "I don't make records so I can sit down afterward and listen to them. I make them so other people can sit down and listen to them."
Talk about hits
DRE appears as relaxed as can be on the grounds of his gated mansion on a weekday afternoon, refreshed from a couple of hours at the gym and looking forward to going into the studio later in the day. You'd never know from his easygoing manner that the rap kingpin dislikes interviews so much that this is his first one in three years.
He's a wonderful storyteller who delights in the surprising details behind some of his hits. At the moment, he's in the middle of a story about how he found Snoop Dogg, whose silky vocal style contributed greatly to the G-funk classic, "Nuthin but a 'G' Thang."
Dre was at a bachelor party in the early '90s when he heard Snoop's voice on an amateur tape. He liked the way Snoop rhymed over the beats and invited him into the studio.
"I was mainly interested in how he responded to directions," Dre continues. "That's always an important test with me. Talent gets you in the door, but there are other things I consider, like, 'Do I want to work with this guy? Can we click? Can we laugh and talk in the studio?' If not, I'd rather work with someone else."
Seriously? Would Dre really pass up a sure-fire hit if it was brought into the studio by an absolute jerk?
Dre pauses briefly at the question, then laughs. "Well," he says, finally. "I'd probably take the song and then have him sit out in the lobby while I worked on it."
It's the music that matters
DRE has been talking freely for nearly 90 minutes about the studio. The only pauses are to talk to Nicole, his wife of 11 years, about spending the weekend with their kids at their house in Malibu.
For Dre, spending as much time as possible in the studio is as important as keeping your ears open, a point that leads to the matter of interviews. Nothing personal, he says, they're just another distraction.
Dre was blessed with a gift for music, a mom who encouraged him to pursue that gift rather than gangs and an aunt who just happened to live down the street from another young hip-hop fan, O'Shea Jackson, who adopted the professional name Ice Cube.
"I always loved the way music made me feel," Dre says, sipping water from a bottle. "I did sports at school and all, but when I got home, it was just music. Everybody in my neighborhood loved music. I could jump the back fence and be in the park where there were ghetto blasters everywhere."
By the time Dre and Ice Cube hooked up in the mid-'80s, both had spent countless hours honing their skills. Dre, four years older, was a master of turntables, his confidence boosted by all the nights he played records for the dance crowd at the Eve After Dark nightclub in Compton. Cube's forte was lyrics.
After they joined N.W.A, Dre supplied the sonic explosiveness, while Cube wrote the key raps for "Straight Outta Compton," the alternately angry and witty late-'80s album that made gangsta rap a sensation. The success of N.W.A showed Dre the importance of following your instincts and not worrying about the latest trends.
"I mean, think about it," he says. "We couldn't have done anything more unlikely in music business terms. We were making a record that we knew no one would play on the radio because of the language and that no major label would even release."
Dre followed his instincts again with 1992's "The Chronic" by using live instruments when the vogue in rap was building tracks around turntable dynamics and "samples" from old recordings. "There is some sampling on my records and a lot of what I call replays, where I'd have musicians come in the studio and replay the sample from the original record," he says. "But mainly, we'd come up with our own music."
Dre's favorite moment during the making of "The Chronic" may have been the time Snoop Dogg phoned the studio from jail while Dre happened to be working on "Nuthin' but." "I can't even remember why he was in jail, but I thought his voice would be perfect for the song," Dre says, smiling. "So, I told him to stay on the line while I duct-taped the receiver of the phone to the microphone. That's how he did vocal for our demo for ' "G" Thang.' I wish I could find that demo now. You could hear all the jail sounds in the background. It was crazy."
Fifteen years after that recording session, Dre still seems to savor the moment -- as much as the success of the record itself, which was named single of the decade by Spin magazine.
For Dre, a hit record starts with a hit sound, which sounds simple. But the search is what requires those long hours in the studio. The producer normally heads into the studio around 3 p.m. weekdays, the weekends being reserved for the family and for his hobbies, which include sports and photography. Because the studio in Sherman Oaks is like a second home, Dre likes the atmosphere to be as comfortable and relaxed as possible.
"One of the most important things for a producer is to realize you don't know everything," says Dre, whose studio techniques are largely self-taught. "I love having people in the studio that I can feed off and who can feed off each other."
When putting together a track, lyrics and themes are important, he says, but you've first got to catch a listener's ear with a melody or a beat. To create that beat, he either starts from scratch or builds on something he heard on an old recording, which he did when he worked a few seconds of Leon Haywood's "I Want'a Do Something Freaky to You" into "Nuthin' but." He used a piano riff from Joe Cocker's "Woman to Woman" to jump-start "California Love," the spectacular 1996 single he made with the late Tupac Shakur.
On "California Love," Dre went into the studio in his former Chatsworth home and played a sample from the Cocker single over a drum beat. He then had some horn players come in to fill out the sound and finally stacked some strings on top.
While recording the track, Dre remembered a festive line -- "California knows how to party" -- from another song ("West Coast Poplock") and he brought in Roger Troutman, from the old Zapp band, to deliver the vocal line on the record.
As Dre recounts the process, you can imagine his head racing through ideas with the speed of a computer. Does this work? What else can I do? What's missing? Is that too much? Seeing him amid his arsenal of state-of-the-art equipment brings home the complexity of his approach.
But everything he does is rooted in the age-old search for a hook. In looking for musical ideas, Dre sometimes goes randomly through crates of old records to see if anything catches his ear, something as short as five to 10 seconds of music. Most of the time, however, he'll sit in the studio with a couple of other musicians and simply start playing, hoping one of them will come up with a key riff. Dre usually sits at a synthesizer or drum machine, joined by, say, a bassist and/or guitarist.
"It's great when everybody is working together and feels something is happening," he says about his time in the studio. "That's when it's all smiles in the studio. You don't want to see any clock or any daylight or hear any phone. You just cut yourself off from the rest of the world and make music.
"I don't necessarily even call it work. I call it fun. I even like the pressure, it makes me work all the harder if I know people out there are waiting for the record."
The quality Dre looks for in a recording artist is uniqueness -- a distinct voice that will stand out from the crowd. Sometimes the writing will catch Dre's ear, other times the rap delivery.
Dre's biggest star, Eminem, came from as far out in left field as Snoop Dogg. An intern at Interscope Records had heard Eminem on an L.A. radio show and passed a tape along to Interscope's Iovine, who in turn played it for Dre.
Dre was so excited that he got together with Eminem the next day. He was surprised to see that the young artist was white, which might have led some industry figures to think twice, given the bad name Vanilla Ice gave white rappers. But Dre swears -- holding his hand up playfully as if testifying -- he knew that Eminem had the goods.
"His writing is like no other," Dre says, "the way he puts together certain words and the way he makes certain words rhyme that to me most of the time don't even seem like they are supposed to rhyme. I also loved the fact that Eminem, I think, was setting out to be shocking. I love it as dark as it can get, and I thought the public would feel the same way."
In turn, Eminem has been lavish in his praise for the producer. "Dre showed me how to do things with my voice that I didn't know I could do," Eminem told me early in his career, such as "the way to deliver rhymes. . . . I'd do something I thought was pretty good, and he'd say, 'I think you can do it better.' "
It was Eminem who introduced Dre to 50 Cent, whose first three Aftermath albums have sold more than 20 million copies worldwide. "I loved his delivery more than anything," says Dre, who produced two tracks on 50 Cent's latest CD. "He had so much authority and strength in his voice."
When it came to the Game, the Compton rapper who has become another multimillion-album seller, Dre heard something in the rapper's raw voice that reminded him of the N.W.A days. The Game's Aftermath debut, "The Documentary," was produced by Dre and 50 Cent, and it has sold more than 2.5 millioncopies in the U.S., but the Game has moved onto Interscope's sister label Geffen after a nasty, public feud with 50 Cent. There has been much speculation in hip-hop that the Game was shifted to Geffen after Dre picked 50 Cent, the larger seller, but he denies it.
"I told them, 'I love working with both you guys. I don't have a problem with either of you,' " he says. "It was more like what is going to be the best move under the circumstances. I don't even remember who came up with the idea of putting Game on Geffen, but it was absolutely not me picking 50 over him."
A little heavy lifting
DRE made a rare public appearance this month when he announced the video of the year winner on the MTV Video Music Awards telecast in Las Vegas.
For fans, the appearance was notable for two things: Dre didn't give a release date for "Detox," renewing fears that the album may be lost in some twi- light zone, and his arms and chest were notably buff.
"That's another of my obsessions," he says a few days later of the new look. "I go in the gym two to 2 1/2 hours Monday through Friday. It makes me feel better and look better."
Before Dre started on the weights about four years ago, he often went out drinking and eating after leaving the studio at night, and his weight swelled to 270 pounds. It's back to 220, and he has cut his body fat from 29% to around 6%. Playfully pumping his arms, he says, "I feel like I can kick a brick wall down now."
And what about the album release date?
"I was really hoping to have it out this year, but it's going to have to be pushed back a while because of some other things I've got to work on," he continues, sitting in the lounge of the recording studio where he spends all those hours behind the buttons. He's still two or three tracks away from calling it finished, he says.
Any second thoughts about "Detox" being his final solo album? No, he says emphatically. "I think it's time to move on," he adds, calling rap performing "a young man's game."
More important, the move will free him to pursue his long-standing interest in films. He has signed a multiyear production pact with New Line Cinema. Dre, who will team with director Philip G. Atwell, is also interested in scoring films and eventually directing.
But he expects recording studios to continue to be the center of his world, and he's optimistic.
"When I think of the future, I think a lot of Quincy Jones and how he is an inspiration," Dre says. "Look at the quality of his work over so many years. He didn't even make his best record, 'Thriller,' until he was 50.
"That gives me something to look forward to. Nothing pulls you back into the studio more than the belief that your best record is still ahead."
Damn!!!!!Quote"When I think of the future, I think a lot of Quincy Jones and how he is an inspiration," Dre says. "Look at the quality of his work over so many years. He didn't even make his best record, 'Thriller,' until he was 50.
"That gives me something to look forward to. Nothing pulls you back into the studio more than the belief that your best record is still ahead."
Then I came back because doing records with Dre is like going to school, because if you sit and you watch, and you look and you learn, the guy is teaching you how to make great records. Now with this new record I made, I'm only doing what Dre would have did, and I used my own judgment.
ThaFormula.com - Sometimes we sit around and think about what you and Dre would have come out with after "No One Can Do It Better" if it weren't for that damn accident...
D.O.C. - Ahh man, that would have been the shit! It would have been the shit, but I would have had to probably fight with Dre a lot because I don't think he was really interested in the direction that I wanted to go in. He was only interested in making party songs that muthafuckas wanna get drunk and dance to.
ThaFormula.com - What were you trying to get into?
D.O.C. - Well like I said, I used to be a church kid. Like when you get this record, you will feel it. It's god in my record and its a gang of nigga shit. It's a gang of old N.W.A. shit. When muthafuckas hear this record, their first comment is that they knew I was where all of the old N.W.A. shit came from. That's everybody's first word. So it's dirty in that sense, but there are bits and pieces where I'm rappin' myself for like little soliloquies and it's a trip. It will make you cry, it will make you laugh, it will make you mad, it will make you wanna drive fast and then it will make you wanna get drunk. This album is a trip.
ThaFormula.com - So how did it happen Doc, to where you had no involvement in Death Row business wise?
D.O.C. - Shortly after I had that accident, I started fucking with drugs. That's when I first started doing ecstasy. That was way back in '89. I started trying other things and it got to be a way for me to escape that pain. The white people at the top in the big offices, the ones with all the money, they were really only interested in Dre and Snoop. That shit got to be sort of painful even though they needed me to come and sign papers to get things done. It just started to feel like I was slippin', so I started getting more fucked up. I still seemed to make it to the muthafuckin' studio everyday and put my work in, but the more I fell, the more I slipped into that hole. These other guys, the more they started to rise up, nobody reached down to pick me up you know.
Anyway, after we all came together and started this Death Row shit, I started sinkin' and they started rising. I started losing control, and they started going to meetings without me. I got to give these guys credit to say that they had enough respect for me to where they thought that I was in complete control and knew what I was doing. I fucked up a lot of Dr. Dre's parties and business meetings that I would go to fucked up and nobody still wouldn't say shit to me. They wouldn't say, "Hey Doc, you can't do this or take this muthafucka home. None of that shit. I'd be the only muthafucka in there drunk, "walkin' around with a sawed off shot gun and no shirt on." Threatening everybody and would nobody say shit to me man. So I'm just out there and I can understand to a certain extent why they would be like, "man we gotta handle our business." I ain't fittin' to let this muthafucka fuck mine off. But when I first started making this attempt to come back, none of those guys reached out to really help me and they had their own issues at the time, and I don't look for no nigga to help me because I could make it happen. But none of those guys really felt bad about none of my situations, except for Nate Dogg, let me take that lie back. Nate Dogg was the one person who continually through those seven years, always had great empathy for my situation and always told me that.
Well now after ten years, I finally got enough air back in my balls where I feel like talkin' and trust me when you hear this record, your gonna be like man! Matter of fact there is shit on this record that is so dirty, I know these muthafuckas are gonna be comin at me like, "Nigga how you gonna say some shit like that, hell naw get that off the shelf. You're ruining our kids. When they come at me with that conversation, watch how cool, calm, and collective as I sit back and converse with these folks. Oh, I got they ass. They fucked up( Laughs).
ThaFormula.com - Now let's get into the Chronic. You were in the "Nuthin' but a G Thang" video and everything seemed great at Death Row. Was it?
D.O.C. - Yeah, everything was great at that time. I still didn't have anything of my own but I was staying at Dre's house and I had no money of my own, but I could ask Dre for 5 grand at any time and get it. Matter of fact, I used to ask Dre for 5 grand every 3 or 4 days for about 2 years and would get it and then go spend it up on dope. I don't know if Dre knew, but how could you not know?
ThaFormula.com - After the first Chronic dropped, did you see things starting to come to an end or not?
D.O.C. - Oh sure I did. See the shit that they were doing was unnecessary and sooner or later that shit is gonna catch up. The drug shit had started to get kind of old. In '94, I asked Dre what's up with me rappin'. I had written a song and he said you should let me put that on this next record and it really pissed me off because nobody was really givin' a fuck about me. I told him what about me muthafucka, I wanna rap to. I wanted to do something, but they had regulated me to comic relief. I'm a damn fool anyway. I'm a natural comedian so that's what I had been regulated to. I was the comic relief on the album.
ThaFormula.com - So Dre said no about you rappin then?
D.O.C. - He didn't think that you could make a good record with this voice. So that's when I left out of there. See me and Dre is like a big brother, little brother thing and when the big brother piss his little brother off, then his little brother is gonna number one, take his shit and run with it, which I did. "Heltah Skeltah" was really a Dr. Dre record that he was starting to plan on working on that I had actually already started writing lyrics for, and one of the songs that he was trying to takeaway from me was a song that he wanted to put on "Heltah Skeltah." So I was like "fuck this shit," went to Atlanta and recorded the album.
ThaFormula.com - When you look back at that album now, what are your thoughts on it?
D.O.C. - I think that the album was as far as hip-hop records are concerned not a great record. There is merit to the record because of who it is and because of the shit the dude done went through trying to get his shit done, but I didn't go buy it. I'll put it to you like that and if I wouldn't go buy it then it ain't really happening.
ThaFormula.com - Do you think it was a mistake when you look back at it now?
D.O.C. - Hell nah, I needed money. I had no money.
ThaFormula.com - When exactly did you leave to do Heltah Skeltah?
D.O.C. - I left L.A. at the end of 94 because I wanted to rap and Dre didn't see it.
ThaFormula.com - Do you agree with Dre now when you look back at how things turned out with that project?
D.O.C. - Well that's a yes and a no answer, because if youre Dr. Dre you can take twiddle dee and make a hit record. Youre Dr. Dre god dammit! Theres nothing that you can't do in a studio, so if it was in your heart to make a hit record on me, you would have done it. You would have found some kind of way to do it. When you think of the old D.O.C., it's probably best to leave it like that, but you know when you think about D.O.C. the person, the man that's still breathin right now, still has music in his soul that he has to get up out of him, then you want him to get that shit out.
Dubcnn: Why do that, though? I'm sure he's got beats that he's not happy with that he could easily slang to up and coming artists who would appreciate them.
I know, dogg! I be thinking the same thing! Cause he just makes them all day, he spits them out! But it's his art, I can't tell him what to do with his shit. I don't even try, cause it won't work!
The one thing that Dr. Dre is missing now is D.O.C. and that's the same way that I would tell those young guys, hey that sucks! I would tell Dre's big ass the same shit. Hey, I love you, and your the greatest of all time, but that's bullshit!lol, dre should just rank his own beats, put them in different categories and sell at a price that fits the quality according to him ;) i mean, just because he thinks it's not good enough, doesn't mean it's a bad track. he has probably thrown a few thousand beats away by now.
ThaFormula.com - So at this point in time there is nobody in there to tell him, "Hey Dre, I don't know about that beat right there?"
D.O.C. - That's right. Number one, there is nobody there that I think, and this is just my own personal humble opinion, there's nobody there that I think knows the difference between a hit record, or not, and even if they knew, they're going to get paid so they're not gonna tell him. Me, I never gave a fuck. You muthafuckas ain't payin' me anyway, so I might as well tell you your shit stinks.
ThaFormula.com - Now back to what you were tellin me about the 2001 album because it got me a little curious when you said it wasn't that fun recording that album...
D.O.C. - Nah, because I kept getting into it with Dre's people. His entourage, his group of people that worked at Aftermath and the people that he had around him in the studio are all a bunch of ball lickers, and if your gonna suck nuts and youre around me then be aware that I'm gonna tell you that your a dick sucka!(Laughs) Dre has surrounded himself with a lot of non-Dre's. See nobody is pushing Dre to make great records right now. No matter what anybody says hip-hop is always who's better then who, and if nobody is pushing Dre to be better, then what the fuck has he got to do? Everything he does is cool cause nobody is doing anything better. But you wait till this record comes out. He's fittin to have to pull something out of that god damn bag. He's talkin about workin on a record called Detox he told me. Well he's gonna have to bring something other then that same ol shit he's been doing if he think he's fittin to move the crowd now.
AllHipHop.com: You were introduced to the world via The Chronic, has there been any talk about you appearing on Detox?
RBX: Yes there has. I am in the dark about the record just like everyone else. I had a conversation with one of my folks and they said that Dre is not complete on who he is going to have on it; he is still digging through some of the songs he has, but maybe I will make it. I don’t know yet. We are going to have to wait and see. Dre is so picky that one week you might be on there and the next week you are not, so you just have to wait till it comes out to see.
great stuff Chad, 1990 was the year that I started to really get into hiphop so these reviews are great,
btw I don't think you want to know who my favorite artists were in '90 ;D
MC Hammer or Vanilla Ice? :laugh:
great stuff Chad, 1990 was the year that I started to really get into hiphop so these reviews are great,
btw I don't think you want to know who my favorite artists were in '90 ;D
MC Hammer or Vanilla Ice? :laugh:
LOL I started off with Hammer in early '90 and then when Vanilla came out I jumped on the bandwagon,
luckily the next year I go into NWA when their album came out I think it was in May of '91 but before that I was a pop rap fan ;D
NWA; Straight Outta Compton review Hip Hop Connection October 1989 NO.9Hiphop connection was really hating on NWA; the reviewer couldn't see through the controversy and figure out what NWA's message was behind each song.
thx 4 these.
can up the dre-interview from HQ as a big pciture?cuz i cant read it so.it would be dope as fuck.
? which one is that? is it one I have posted?
NWA; Straight Outta Compton review Hip Hop Connection October 1989 NO.9Hiphop connection was really hating on NWA; the reviewer couldn't see through the controversy and figure out what NWA's message was behind each song.
by way, chad, check your inbox please ;)
^^
very true classics indeed, I wonder what today's youth's introduction to rap is?
NWA; Straight Outta Compton review Hip Hop Connection October 1989 NO.9Hiphop connection was really hating on NWA; the reviewer couldn't see through the controversy and figure out what NWA's message was behind each song.
by way, chad, check your inbox please ;)
doesn't HHC have a history of unfavorable west coast reviews?
I may be wrong but that is the impression I get for some reason
^^
very true classics indeed, I wonder what today's youth's introduction to rap is?
Todayīs pop rap is a little different than back in 84 and 90.
Itīs probably cats that run the pop charts at the time....
Maybe you should do a thread about it? Thereīs alot of young cats here.... ;)
NWA; Straight Outta Compton review Hip Hop Connection October 1989 NO.9Hiphop connection was really hating on NWA; the reviewer couldn't see through the controversy and figure out what NWA's message was behind each song.
by way, chad, check your inbox please ;)
doesn't HHC have a history of unfavorable west coast reviews?
I may be wrong but that is the impression I get for some reason
They do,however before the gangster rap/west coast rap backlash around the end of 1990,they gave these records rave reviews.
If you remember our convo about "Niggaz4Life",youīll probably remember all the drama around gangster rap at the time.
They hated on Niggaz4Life,Gave Renīs Shock Of The Hour 1,yes I said 1,The Chronic got 3.
I will posts these reviews...... ;)
you take this amount of money, and it can fuck you up later down the roadyeah, as with the aftermath deal ;D
39 Doggystyle review Hip Hop Connection
(http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2381/2096136794_f203acdbbd_b.jpg)
about the contracts with interscope; Ruthless received money from Dre's death row work,
but do they also receive money from the aftermath era?
about that NWA interview; dre said that they would come with "shocking" material; just because you team up with some of the contributors of straight outta compton, doesn't mean you can create an album with similar controversy as straight outta compton.
I'm not saying that Not these niggaz again would have been a bad album
(i actually liked Chin Check and Hello a lot; i'm sure dre would have come up with the "hotter" beats (to quote him).
But dre's statement about the shocking material is not realistic
(it's like a mission impossible).
and i doubt that dre would handle the majority of the production; it seems more likely that dre would have mixed every track,
and produce half of the album(at most).
anyway, too bad it didn't work out; there was so much shit going on:
Eazy-E dead, the D.O.C. and Dre fallout, Dre's stupid deal with interscope and all three "NWA" members were on different labels
( although that shouldn't really be a problem, they could release an album on an independant label, and if needed, release the group album under a different name than NWA).
i'm not sure if i still want the three remaining NWA members to do a reunion album.
but i really want them to reunite at least one more time ( for example on 1 track for detox).
Ice Cube & Snoop
Even if both artists is dope,all the collabos the have done all came out pretty weak.
If I these two should work on a full album,the NWA album got to be it. (if that shit ever get done,thatīs another story).
Ice Cube should just move on with WSC with WC,maybe adding Ren. There has already been a thread about this,so dead story.
No need to bring all the Mack 10 and change the name issueīs again.
I got to ask the thread starter,why those options in your pool? Why donīt you add more?
Thereīs a lot of artists Too Short can do a duo album with like Scarface,Devin,MC Breed and Pimp C (thatīs hopefully in the works),
but Yukmouth? Yukmouth is dope,but a whole album with Short? Never the less I voted that option,because that was the best of the ones you have put up.
Of course the Snoop and Dre is obvious,but again I rather have a NWA album.
Then we can all our "favorites" teamed up at once. (this includes Snoop)
Yeah a few of their collabos have been a little weak.
This thread is just hypothetically speaking but a do think a album with the 2 of them would be dope.
I know weīre talking hypothetically,but based on their past work together itīs safe to say that they donīt have any chemistry.
Itīs sad to say that two west coast icons donīt sound good together,but what to do?
Damn,I wonder how that NWA album would sound,the way I picture it,it would be best if Ren and Cube had their tracks and Dre and Snoop would have theirs plus a couple of all of them together.
Dre seem to have chemistry with all of them,so heīs no problem but Ren and and Cube donīt have any chemistry with Snoop.
Actually Ren sound better with Snoop than Cube,sad to say when all of them is dope as a mofo!
36 Dre-Related Facts People May Not Know About, [just finished reading his book]
http://www.dubcnn.com/connect/index.php?topic=142954.0
30. N.W.A. was almost bout to get back together for a reunion (Eazy included) till the Murder was the Case soundtrack came out, Eazy having heard the song "What Would U Do?" by dogg pound where there dissing eazy decided fuck it and restarted the beef...he would retaliate by recording his own song with the same name.
That NWA album (Dre/Snoop/Cube/Ren) should of fukkin dropped, would be class
http://www.dubcnn.com/connect/index.php?topic=150653.0
Looking back I think itīs good that the reunion never happened because like many people said already, I wasnīt a fan of Snoop in NWA at all and secondly from todayīs point of view itīs better that they didnīt play with their legacy. Sure, there might have come out some classic tracks and a very good album from it but one of the reasons why NWA was so groundbreaking in the first place was the era they dropped. Imagine the album and people are still talking about that gangsta stuff. I think it would have been lame. Let others recycle the same shit over and over again. Not the worldīs most dangerous group, especially not without Eazy and Yella.
Man who better to give you that raw authentic gangsta shit than NWA?
I'm sure they would have put they own twist on it if they would have put a album out,Or they could have tackled other issues as well.
But yeah I am glad for legacy purposes it did not happen.
When I heard Murder these murders,I was like damn this shit got that 2007 NWA sound. Kam came hard on that,
he should ask Ren to hit the third verse and/or get Cube on it to.
The topics don't have be "gangster" to be hardcore,
if they ever get down to do the NWA record I'm sure Cube and Ren is creative enough to come up with other shit.
"NWA" interview in The Source April 2000 NO.127.
(http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2395/2123032316_9d04fdfc0b_b.jpg)
(http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2114/2123034906_0afbdaf9ce_b.jpg)
(http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2289/2123037020_e9d3d57f6b_b.jpg)
(http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2032/2123038802_999334906c_b.jpg)
(http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2109/2123040704_5ef3f52de2_b.jpg)
;)
crazy how much coverage the west coast received in the 90s (compared to today)
lol death row is such a mess ::) there are still lawsuits going on, 10 years later.
about the King T interview; well i'm sure he changed his mind about Interscope by now ;)
What i don't understand is that the D.O.C. keeps bringing up the story,
of how he gave his publishing rights away to Eazy in exchange for jewelry.
I'm not saying that he's lying, but neither Eazy nor Jerry talked about this ( while they had their mouth full about Ice Cube and Dre).
anyway,the D.O.C. was still broke when he left Death Row, so if his deal was right at Ruthless,how could this happen?
His album went platinum.
It's also quite interesting to see how the D.O.C. really changed his mind about Helter Skelter.
Back then he felt the album was ahead of it's time,now he feels like it wasn't that good.
While i agree that the result wasn't maximised,he made the best out of him with what he had at the time.
Clever concept and production that fit the new voice well.
THE D.O.C. (December 2006) | Interview By: Nima
http://www.dubcnn.com/interviews/thedoc/
Dubcnn: How do you feel about your album "Deuce", looking back to it a few years later?
You know what, that's the first record I ever did myself, without nobody.
I was trying to prove a point so bad, that I went one way when I maybe should have went another way.
Today I might do it a lot differently, but it is what it is. I appreciate the opportunity.
(why else would you call the 3rd album Deuce).
Q & A W/ the D.O.C.: from ruthless to death row
http://www.thaformula.com/doc_ruthless_to_death_row_thaformula_music.html
So instead of putting it all on 6’-2” to go out and have to deal with all this press and deal with these muthafuckas comin’ at him for the shit he's talkin’, I decided to just do sort of do a compilation record and call it “Deuce.”
Put my name on the top of it and
call it “Deuce” cause I really felt like it was my second record,
and showcase all of my young dudes,
but get all of my old school homeboys that I could use to make this album a classic and put it all together.
yeah i guess your theory is the closest thing to the truth, since he didn't go to that appointment.What i don't understand is that the D.O.C. keeps bringing up the story,
of how he gave his publishing rights away to Eazy in exchange for jewelry.
I'm not saying that he's lying, but neither Eazy nor Jerry talked about this ( while they had their mouth full about Ice Cube and Dre).
anyway,the D.O.C. was still broke when he left Death Row, so if his deal was right at Ruthless,how could this happen?
His album went platinum.
:laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
My theory is that;
(http://members.shaw.ca/jmoelaert/cocaine%20crosswalk.jpg)
(http://images.send.com/100183_big.jpg)
(http://blogs.venturacountystar.com/vcs/dennert/archives/money.jpg)
is serious mix that really fucks up shit.
Fuck dude didnīt even meet up to his doctor appointments that Jerry set up for him (source; The Jerry heller book).[/b]It's also quite interesting to see how the D.O.C. really changed his mind about Helter Skelter.
Back then he felt the album was ahead of it's time,now he feels like it wasn't that good.
While i agree that the result wasn't maximised,he made the best out of him with what he had at the time.
Clever concept and production that fit the new voice well.
oooh yeah,I love the album.
As you said the concept and production fit perfect.
But now that you have read a couple ;) :laugh: of interviews,
you have probably noticed how they rave about their album when theyīre promoting it.
But a couple of years later,when they got a new album to promote they the story is a little different :laugh:.
Look no further than the last D.O.C dubCNN interview;..... :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:QuoteTHE D.O.C. (December 2006) | Interview By: Nima
http://www.dubcnn.com/interviews/thedoc/
Dubcnn: How do you feel about your album "Deuce", looking back to it a few years later?
You know what, that's the first record I ever did myself, without nobody.
I was trying to prove a point so bad, that I went one way when I maybe should have went another way.
Today I might do it a lot differently, but it is what it is. I appreciate the opportunity.(why else would you call the 3rd album Deuce).
Deuce = 6-2QuoteQ & A W/ the D.O.C.: from ruthless to death row
http://www.thaformula.com/doc_ruthless_to_death_row_thaformula_music.html
So instead of putting it all on 6-2 to go out and have to deal with all this press and deal with these muthafuckas comin at him for the shit he's talkin, I decided to just do sort of do a compilation record and call it Deuce.
Put my name on the top of it and
call it Deuce cause I really felt like it was my second record,
and showcase all of my young dudes,
but get all of my old school homeboys that I could use to make this album a classic and put it all together.
Altough he says it felt like his 2nd album,
I remember reading that it was somewhat a 6-2 solo album and that was the reason for it,maybe it was a 6-2 interview?
hey chad, have u got any promotional stuff, any kind of promotion that was used, for Chronic 2001?
from what year is it( i assume it's from 1991)?
Who knows,this is a little complicated... if you mix in the info from the Jerry Heller book.
Letīs throw in a wild idea,could this all this be manufactured?
I didn't know Sam Sneed was working with Dre for aftermath.
by the way, chad, in this interview,
they're talking about the (possible?) Dogg pound diss track by RBX, which you told me about before ;)
[/b]
it's also interesting that dre wanted to do a movie about NWA, and make a soundtrack to it as well.
he could still do it, now that he got the film production deal.
what's up with ghetto metal? dre mentioned this in a more recent interview ( can't remember which one), but he hasn't made it happen yet.
would be cool if he could find a band for it; aftermath could use something different ;)
yeah probably :laugh:I didn't know Sam Sneed was working with Dre for aftermath.
I had forgot about that,but probably because of all that Death Row drama that shiy didnīt go down :P
yeah it could be the same project, but i'm not sure; it actually sounds more like a D.O.C. movie:[/b]
it's also interesting that dre wanted to do a movie about NWA, and make a soundtrack to it as well.
he could still do it, now that he got the film production deal.
Didnīt D.O.C talk about something similar in his interview with Nima?
Dubcnn: You still managed to make your mark in the game, even without your voice! You used your talent in another way.
Man, it's all God's gift. It's what he allowed me to do. If this is what I'm supposed to be doing right now, that's why that happened.
Dubcnn: Do you still sometimes think back, like "What if that didn't happen? Now I would be sitting right there next Snoop and Dre on TV doing all the shit?"
No, no. It's probably more likely that if I wouldn't have lost my voice, I
probably would be dead by now, kid!
Dubcnn: Do you still sometimes think back, like "What if that didn't happen? Now I would be sitting right there next Snoop and Dre on TV doing all the shit?"
No, no. It's probably more likely that if I wouldn't have lost my voice, I
probably would be dead by now, kid!
Dubcnn: You were too wild?
Yeah yeah, it was too much. We was too young.
Dubcnn: Doing too much?
Tooooo much! I think we're going to do a movie about this shit in a minute. So you'll get to see it, it's gonna be bananas. We're talking about it.
interesting :)what's up with ghetto metal? dre mentioned this in a more recent interview ( can't remember which one), but he hasn't made it happen yet.
would be cool if he could find a band for it; aftermath could use something different ;)
Yeah,he has been talking about that for a while.
I went to a Redman concert a couple of years ago and he had this band playing after his set,
some "black rock" shit,the band was awsome. Dre should check them out,their shit was banging.
-Did you notice that King T was originally on the "East Coast/West Coast Killa" joint?damn, must have overlooked it, i wonder why his verse was taken off.
Shit,that would be interesting to hear that version.
Damn,Dre shit release from his vault after the Detox sales has slowed down.
what are your thoughts about 2001 getting a 4.5 rating, chad?
If every rap album should be compared to The Chronic,well then there wouldnīt be any more classics :laugh: :laugh:
oh ok, thanks for clearing that up ;)what are your thoughts about 2001 getting a 4.5 rating, chad?
They upgraded the rating to 5 mics a little later. :) :) :) :) :) :)
Itīs a bonafied classic,no question about it and like Iīve said before in the;
Open letter to The Source Mag. about your reviews and ratings of West Coast* thread;
http://www.dubcnn.com/connect/index.php?topic=156779.msg1737093#msg1737093QuoteIf every rap album should be compared to The Chronic,well then there wouldnīt be any more classics :laugh: :laugh:
^^^^^Note the Doggs for life track that still has not leaked >:( ^^^yeah, too bad :-\
thanks for the scans Chad,I remember that "Doggs 4 Life" was actually in the Fat Tape section of the Source in early '99 featuring DMX and Snoop
"Whatīs going to keep NWA on the edge" says Dr.Dre while wearing a Death Row Records hat
http://www.youtube.com/v/VMu2aWRES8w&rel
He even say some of them is really good,but too uptempo to fit on the album.yeah probably, but even a few tracks on the chronic aren't slow jams ( though dre says that all tracks on that album are slow jams); apparently he still thought that they would fit on the album(which doesn't bother me; slow jams or not, as long as they're good g-funk tracks, it's all good).
Probably some NWA type of shit,Ren said in his interview with thaformula (the interview is posted here,so just search the forum)
that there was a gang og leftovers from Niggaz4Life too.
those uptempo songs would sound great. a person named "mellowman" said on this forum that, Mr.Officer was played in the background on a documentary called rebirth of a nation ( which was about the LA riots), so Mr.Officer might not be unreleased at all 8)
308 Dr.Dre; Aftermath Compilation review in Rap Pages February 1997
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^^^^
Ain't there a way to get a copy of the Rebirth of a nation documentary?
he got a woody in his boxers? :-X :-X:laugh: according to ronin ro's book, dre wasn't satisfied with the compilation later either, but the reviewer is obviously overreacting :laugh:
^^^^
Ain't there a way to get a copy of the Rebirth of a nation documentary?
don't know, it doesn't seem to be so well known.
he got a woody in his boxers? :-X :-X
:laugh: according to ronin ro's book, dre wasn't satisfied with the compilation later either,
but the reviewer is obviously overreacting :laugh:
it's not even a dre soloalbum, it was a compilation to introduce new talent on the label offcourse ;)
dre only produced 6 tracks on it i believe.
Dee Barnes
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dee_Barnes
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/07/DeeBarnes.JPG)
Denise "Dee" Barnes is an American rapper and former television personality, most famous for being slapped in the face by West-Coast rap producer and legend Dr. Dre. Barnes, whose stage name was D Zire, performed in the West Coast hip hop female duo Body & Soul, and hosted an influential radio show on KDAY prior to gaining wider fame as the host of FOX's hip hop show Pump It Up!.
Body & Soul's 1989 debut single "Dance To The Drummer's Beat", released on Los Angeles-based record label Delicious Vinyl, heavily sampled the Herman Kelly and Life song of the same name. It's b-side, "Hi-Powered", was produced by Def Jef. The same year another track produced by Def Jef would be released: "We Can Do This", on the label showcase This Is Delicious - Eat To The Beat. Body & Soul's greatest recording would apparently be their last - as part of the Dr. Dre-produced West Coast Rap All-Stars and their 1991 posse cut, "We're All in the Same Gang", which earned them a Grammy Award nomination.
In 1992, Barnes hosted the hip-hop special Sisters in the Name of Rap, taped at the Ritz in New York. [1]
Dr. Dre incident
After a 1990 interview with Ice Cube in which the rapper discusses his leaving N.W.A. at the height of their feud,[2], the group, feeling they had been negatively portrayed, sought retaliation. On January 27, 1991 Dr. Dre would encounter Barnes at a record release party in Hollywood. According to Rolling Stone reporter Alan Light:“ He picked her up and "began slamming her face and the right side of her body repeatedly against a wall near the stairway" as his bodyguard held off the crowd. After Dre tried to throw her down the stairs and failed, he began kicking her in the ribs and hands. She escaped and ran into the women's rest room. Dre followed her and "grabbed her from behind by the hair and proceeded to punch her in the back of the head." [3] ”
N.W.A.'s MC Ren later said "bitch deserved it", and Eazy-E "yeah, bitch had it coming." As Dr. Dre explained the incident, "People talk all this shit, but you know, somebody fuck with me, I'm gonna fuck with them. I just did it, you know. Ain't nothing you can do now by talking about it. Besides, it ain't no big thing-- I just threw her through a door." Barnes sued in February 1991, telling reporter Alan Light: "They've grown up with the mentality that it's okay to hit women, especially black women. Now there's a lot of kids listening and thinking it's okay to hit women who get out of line."[3] In February, Barnes would file assault charges bring a $22.75 million lawsuit against Dr. Dre, who pleaded no contest to the assault. He was fined $2500, placed on two years' probation, and ordered to perform 240 hours of community service and produce an anti-violence public service announcement.[4]
The assault was yet another reason Bronx rapper Tim Dog went after N.W.A. on his 1991 diss "Fuck Compton" - "Dre, beatin' on Dee from Pump It Up!?/Step to the Dog and get FUCKED UP!" - and Eazy-E would later refer to the incident on his various disses of Dr. Dre and Death Row Records, including "Real Muthaphuckkin G's," "It's On," and "What Would U Do." It was again notably referenced in the 1999 Eminem duet with Dr. Dre, "Guilty Conscience." The song is an interplay between Slim Shady and Dre as the two sides of peoples' consciences - Dre being the "good" side - but Slim Shady recognized the absurdity, questioning "you gonna take advice from somebody who slapped Dee Barnes?" The incident was also mentioned by T.I. in "Never Scared" when he says "I'll choke yo ass out like Dre did that bitch."
The incident was #37 on Spin magazine's "100 Sleaziest Moments in Rock".[5]
"Whatīs going to keep NWA on the edge" says Dr.Dre while wearing a Death Row Records hat
http://www.youtube.com/v/VMu2aWRES8w&rel
http://www.youtube.com/v/Otylp9TfUPo&rel
and here is the;
audio file of that interview + the DJ Yella interview
http://www.zshare.net/audio/75868020fcbb7a/
it's sounds a bit better and louder now chad
there was a topic about King T's aftermath situation not so long ago chad.
and Ronin ro says in his book that Interscope would drop aftermath if it continued to have such disappointing sales for it's releases.
so that means it wasn't just that Dre feared another disappointment,he also had the label in his neck;
according to the book, dre wanted to record a new hit single for Thy kingdom come to please interscope,
but King T refused so with dre's help thy kingdom come was released independantly.
cmon man, remember Truth Hurts. lol
they put alot into that project, what did they get in return, bitch be gone and a fat ass bollywood lawsuite.
its true, the aftermath machine is a monster but me personally
I dont see Stat Quo ever releasing SHIT
and i might catch heat for this, but i dont care.
I have a feeling bishop lamont album is going to fall through the cracks for some reason.
Maybe its just taking too damn long.
And we have seen what happens to other artists that claim that same shit, im workin with dre,
my cds gonna be the bomb, detox, its all the same shit.
stat quo was sayin that stuff not too long ago and that boys not makin no noises right now.
But has long has bishop gettin this dubbcc love with interviews in all, he'll be safe.
i just think with a shitty record industry right now, they might not want to put it out,
especially before detox. and who knows when that shits gona come out?
i remember hearing dre say he was gona have everyone he ever worked with on detox.
anyone know on the status of Mr Lorenzo Patterson and Mr Oshea Jackson and there roles in Detox.
ill be pissed if cube gets snubbed on another dre record.
I have been talking with Dre-Day about this alot,(canīt remember in which thread,Dre-Day; help ;))
anyway,I suspect that they wont be featured at all.... It seems Dre is trying to get away from the gangster shit (again) :-\ :P
thats what i think. the ultimate would be, if someone some way,
dre can get a unreleased eazy e verse (i heard he bought all the old reels but who knows) on this album. that would be real big. thats like everything coming full circle.
but like you said, i feel that he is gonna stay away from that real gangsta shit and
kinda try to please to many of the younger eminem/50 fans and all that. but then again you never know with the good doctor.
MC Ren interview in Rap Pages August 1998
Rap Pages: After failing to cross paths with Cube for several years after the group’s dissolution, the two were reunited by producer Bobcat, who was working on tracks for each artist’s upcoming album. Ren and Cube discussed a reunion but where tripped up by a flat tire in the creative wheel.
“Dre, he ain’t fuckin’ with nobody out here,” Ren says with a obvious disappointment. “He only want to fuck with New York motherfuckers right now. We all got on the phone and we talked about it. Dre was like,’yeah,yeah, we’re going to do it. We’re going to go to the studio I be fucking with’. But then, when it was time, he didn’t want to fuck with it. We were supposed to do an N.W.A track for The Players Club. We where supposed to meet at Dre’s crib. The day came,and Dre flaked on us.
“Cube was kinda hot for a minute, like he was going to take it personal,” he continues. “We where talking like we should just do some shit ourselves. We ain’t finna beg no nigga to do no shit. I don’t know what that nigga’s trippin off of. He didn’t want to do that Players Club shit with niggas that put him out. Because if it wasn’t for niggas like us—me, Cube and niggas back in the day—he wouldn’t be where he at. Cube asked him a favor, and he couldn’t do it for that nigga, but he can turn around and do some shit with LL. It ain’t like LL made you Dr.Dre or helped get to be where you’re at. When he flaked like that, we where like, ’Fuck it, the reunion thing ain’t gonna happen.’”
Still, Ren says he hopes it could happen one day. Snoop, who appears on Ruthless For Life’s “So Watcha Want,” was slated to occupy Eazy-E’s place in the group, though unreleased Eazy material was to be included on a number of tracks.
Q & A W/ MC Ren: a trip down memory lane
feedback: info@thaformula.com
2004
http://www.thaformula.com/mc_ren_memory_lane_thaformula_music.html
ThaFormula.com - Alright Ren, let's take it from the top. Did you go to the Roadium (a swapmeet in Gardena, California) a lot in the early days?
MC Ren - Yeah me and Eazy used to go up there. Steve Yano had his little booth up there and me and Eric used to go up to that muthafucka looking for some new shit, new records. 'Cause Dre he used to do the tapes for Steve and shit and every time Steve was sellin' the muthafuckas me and Eric would go up there every weekend, 'cause back then we was trying to be known anyway so we used to go up there just to get that little vibe. Back in the day I remember he had somebody up there airbrushing muthafuckin' T-Shirts, I remember I got me an airbrushed T-Shirt.
ThaFormula.com - What do you feel represents the L.A. Hip-Hop landmark?
MC Ren - For me the landmark of Hip-Hop L.A. was 1580 KDAY. They used to do all them shows. That's really where muthafuckas heard everything at first. KDAY was the link to all the shit. KDAY would bring all the Hip-Hop muthafuckas into town and do they little promo shows and shit with him. So it had to be KDAY 'cause you could get the East Coast shit. They played all the Uncle Jam's Army, had all the mixmasters on the weekends scratching like a muthafucka all night. Tony G, Julio G, remember that shit?
ThaFormula.com - Hell Yeah!
MC Ren - I remember they used to give shows at "The Casa" and all that shit way back in the day. I be askin' fools about "The Casa" and a lot of fools don't be remembering that shit. I saw Audio 2 at "The Casa" when they had "Top Billin'" out. Yeah, so it definitely had to be KDAY. I remember me and Eric had went up there for vinyl and shit like that, the Roadium was number one. That's where Dre used to get all his muthafuckin' records. 'Cause see when Dre used to do them tapes with Steve, what he would do was he would make Steve them tapes and Steve would pay Dre with records. That's where we got all the break records and all the break beats. When we did "Straight Outta Compton," all those records were from Steve. Dre do the tapes and he (Yano) would break Dre off with a gang of break beats.
ThaFormula.com - Do you consider yourself a lyricist or a MC?
MC Ren - Man I consider myself both really. I'm "MC" Ren and if you're a real MC you got lyrics. That's how you know niggaz been around a long time when they still got muthafuckin' "MC" on their shit. That shit is old you know what I'm saying. Niggaz today don't even be like that. How I was thinking back then coming up is different from a lot of these muthafuckas today. It's just how everybody was thinkin' back in them days is different from what muthafuckas is thinkin' today on what a MC is, what lyrics is and you could tell in how the music is. 'Cause back in the day muthafuckas had to be hard and you had to come with that mentality of "I'm an MC, I got lyrics." You can't just come in the game back in the day talkin' about anything. You had to come talkin' about some shit or muthafuckas would just call you what you are.
ThaFormula.com - Hip-Hop is very depressing right now man...
MC Ren - Man this shit is so wack right now man. It's like bitch shit now man and I hate when a muthafucka come out and it could be a wack ass muthafucka who comes out, sell some records, and then you got to hear all this niggaz wack homies! Back in the day it wasn't even like that.
ThaFormula.com - You know I'm really surprised that you're feelin' this way 'cause most artists are acting like nothing's wrong with Hip-Hop, talkin' about how dope some MC is cause they're gonna work with them now and make some dough, or just plain scared to speak on this shit...
MC Ren - I ain't scared of shit. I'll say anything. See muthafuckas be scared 'cause they be thinkin', "if I say something that might fuck me up being on T.V. or that might fuck me up being on the radio…," you know what I mean? All that bitch shit! Man you ain't on that muthafucka but so what. So what!! Fuck the Radio! 'Cause the radio, they are gonna give you some bubble gum shit anyway. Nigga if you are an artist speak your mind. That's like niggaz who be saying they are MC's but other muthafuckas write their rhymes. Nigga you ain't no MC if a muthafucka is writing your rhymes! Speak your mind and be a true MC. Back then muthafuckas didn't give a fuck. That's Hip-Hop! When you start listening to record company muthafuckas and them PR muthafuckas that just thinkin' about money saying don't say this don't do that, that's bitch shit! 'Cause I have had a gang of muthafuckas come at me with "don't say this," and "Ren we want you to do that." I'll be like "man I ain't fittin' to be doing that shit, I'm not fittin' to be puttin' my tail between my legs, scratchin' where I don't itch, doin' a little shuckin' and jivin'." Fuck all that! I'm just gonna say a lot of niggaz be scared in the game. They know niggaz be actin' like bitches, be scared to say shit about niggaz in the game cause they be like, "oh if I say this he ain't gonna do this for me or if I say this he ain't gonna rap on it." Fuck that! I remember back in the day niggaz didn't even give a fuck about having a gang of niggaz on they album. That's a MC. They would probably have about one or two muthafuckas if any on their shit, and they would just hold the whole muthafuckin' record down. Remember Run, LL, and Whodini where muthafuckas would put out a record once a year? When you had to wait a year or two just to get a new Run DMC or whatever? It's like muthafuckas today don't be thinkin' on that level.
ThaFormula.com - Hip-Hop was good when you could go to the Indoor Swap Meets and get the shit a couple of weeks before it dropped cause you knew it was gonna be dope and it was worth the extra money for the tape...
MC Ren - That was the Golden Era man. It's fucked up. I'ma tell you like this. The closest shit that muthafuckas was gonna get to that was Pac and Biggie. After they died it just went downhill really. Think about it man. Since them two niggaz died, this shit is like the wack era. There is nothin'!
ThaFormula.com - Also I notice a lot of these artists that come out after a while they got no soul left in them man. It's like they just lost it...
MC Ren - Niggaz be bitches now. They first come out, they be hard, mean muggin'. You can't squeeze a smile or nothin' out these niggaz. Now you see niggaz be on MTV smilin', being happier then a muthafucka. I'm like, what happened to this nigga? This nigga was just like this, now look at him. I hate when I see niggaz in TV like that. Nigga you was just hard as a muthafucka, now you just all happy. 'Cause muthafuckas get like that when them cameras get on them niggaz. Every time smilin' and doing stupid shit thinkin' they cute and shit. Man come on dog, that shit is ridiculous man.
ThaFormula.com - Now you were the one that never did many interviews back then. So I wanted to know from your mouth how you and Eazy got started in this?
MC Ren - That nigga Eric, he was like my brother's homeboy. He used to live right around the corner from a nigga. He used to be the little nigga in the neighborhood doin' his thang. He knew I could rhyme and shit so he was trying to leave that shit alone and get into music and Dre was down with the Wrecking Cru and Dre spit at him like, "yo you can start your own label, we can do this." So Cube came in and he was under Dre at the time 'cause he was in a group called C.I.A.
ThaFormula.com - Did you know Cube at that time?
MC Ren - Nah, I didn't meet Cube 'till I came in the group really. I used to do street tapes and he used to do street tapes and used to bump his street tapes before I met him. I was with that nigga one day and we was sittin' in the car waiting for Eric to come home on his mama's street and I was like "nigga check this tape out, this nigga is harder then a muthafucka." Him and Dre and them back in the day used to make tapes and they would take shit like "My Adidas" and make it "My Rubber" and make it funny. I remember I was in the car with that nigga in my bucket and I was like nigga listen to this shit. We were two little niggaz straight out of high school. I was like "nigga this muthafucka hard right here." He was like, "nigga that's me." I told him man I been listening to your shit for like a year. So me and that nigga clicked after that..
ThaFormula.com - So what were you doing at the time Ren?
MC Ren - I was doing my little hustle on the street and I was MC'ing at the time at little house parties battlin' niggaz and shit like that. I started MC'ing in '83 in the 9th grade. When I got to the 12th grade I was about to go to the Army cause I was like, "this shit ain't even gonna crack." Plus we was from the west coast and niggaz was like, "you all ain't doing nothin, all the rappers are from the east," and shit like that. So I was fittin' to go to the army with my homeboy. I had already went to take the written test, I just had to do the other shit. I remember Eric came by one day and that's when he had "Boyz-N-The Hood" but it was just local and shit at the time.
ThaFormula.com - So you weren't down with them yet when he first did "Boyz-N-The Hood?"
MC Ren - Nah, that's how old it was. He did that shit way before that but it was just local then in the streets. When he did that he knew I could rhyme so he would come around to my mommas house and would say "I wanna check you out." So we went around there, he used to have some turntables there and equipment and shit so I started freestylin' for that nigga. He put a record on and started scratchin' while I was rappin' to the muthafucka just freestylin' for like 10 minutes.
ThaFormula.com - Was your style the same even then or did it change by the time you got on?
MC Ren - Yeah I think I kinda changed a little bit. I was more about lyrics like Run DMC kind of, you know how niggaz used to rhyme used to rhyme back then? So that nigga Eric told me to come around there I went around there and I was rappin', freestylin' and shit. He was scratchin' and cuttin' the records and shit cause he knew how to DJ and shit 'cause him and Dre used to have this little crew. I was rappin' for like 10 minutes and shit and that nigga took the tape and he went and let Dre hear the tape and Dre loved his shit. Then Eric came to me like, "I wanna sign you to a solo thing." So I wasn't even gonna be in the group NWA. He wanted to do me as a solo thang cause at that time they had did "Dopeman" and "8 Ball" right after the "Boyz-N-The Hood" thing. So Cube had wrote "Dopeman" and "8 Ball" and he wrote "Boyz-N-The Hood." So I came in and I was just gonna be the nigga that come in and do something on the side, a little solo thang. But when Cube had left, he went to school cause I guess he was figuring this shit wasn't gonna work, so he went to Arizona for like a year. Some trade school or some shit. As soon as that nigga left Eric got a deal with Priority. We was working the other shit on the street level so hard that when cube left it got so big that he got a deal for that shit. So Cube was gone and there was nobody to write his shit. So they came to me like, "nigga we need you to do this and this." So I remember I did "Radio," Eazy-Duz-It" and "Ruthless Villain." They still wasn't gonna let me in. It was just like I did those songs for that nigga. But the song "Ruthless Villain" I wrote for Eric and it was just gonna be his shit, but he couldn't say the muthafucka and he had the studio timed and it took him too long to say the vocals how I would say the vocals so Dre was like "man, just let Ren say the rap!" (Laughs). You know how niggaz be frustrated like "man just let that nigga do it 'cause he's wasting time."
ThaFormula.com - Now I got to ask you man. Was Eazy that bad in the studio as far as trying to get on beat?
MC Ren - Man, that nigga used to be bad. I ain't even gonna lie, them niggaz know it. He sound good on records but that nigga used to be terrible.
ThaFormula.com - Was it that bad man?
MC Ren - Nigga it was terrible! That nigga would be in that muthafucka and Dre would literally nigga just get a piece of paper and start doing like marks. Every time he would fuck up Dre would put a mark. Nigga his shit used to be in the hundreds. When that nigga used to do his vocals muthafuckas used to be like, "let that nigga do his shit last." When that nigga do his vocals muthafuckas used to leave. If we didn't have to do shit, wed be like "alright nigga we gone." Dre would have to sit in that muthafucka with that nigga all day. But anyway nigga that's how I got on. When I did Ruthless Villain, Boom! They was like "damn!" I remember we was in Hollywood and Eric was getting a P.O. Box and shit. Me, Eric, Dre and I think Yella was in the car. Cube was still gone to school. Dre was like, "man since its gonna take along time for you to do your solo shit, you might as well get in NWA" and at that time Arabian Prince was still in the group and shit. It was all of us and then Cube came back and that's when we started working on the "Eazy-Duz-It" album and then we did the other shit.
ThaFormula.com - So now let's get into the "NWA and the Posse" record, what was the deal with that?
MC Ren - See this how that happened. Eric first had "Boyz-N-The Hood" on Macola Records. So one day before we got the deal with Priority, he was going through Macola. So all the muthafuckas on the NWA and the posse record, that was the first shit and remember I told you I wasn't there and they already had "Dopeman," "8 Ball" and all that. That's why if you look on the back, its just a picture of Eazy, Cube, Dre, and Arabian Prince and then on the front it's me, Train and everybody, 'cause Eric was like, we doing this record, everybody come on we gonna take this album picture. So at first that shit wasn't no NWA and the Posse. It was just NWA when it was on Macola right. But when that shit blew up and we got on Priority and that shit blew up, homie just re-released it like it's NWA and the Posse and he went and got everybody that was on that album cover that had records out and let them add to it and he put it out like shady muthafuckaz do. That shit was like some wack shit and that's why we never supported that record. Muthafuckas would come up to us like yeah that "NWA and the Posse" shit and we 'd be like "man that ain't our record." That's just like some Lonzo type shit like he put out some shit after Dre left Wreckin' Cru.
ThaFormula.com - So was D.O.C. down with you guys at that time?
MC Ren - When that record came out, he was down with us and that's why they put him on there and they went and dug up some old shit that Dre did with them niggaz.
ThaFormula.com - What was Arabian Princes' involvement in everything?
MC Ren - See when I came in the group he was already in the group and the reason that he was in the group was 'cause when Eric put the group together, he used to always say "man NWA is a all-star rap group," but it really wasn't no real all stars at the time, and he was just going around trying to get niggaz that he thought would do something in his group. Like Arabian was doing shit with Egyptian Lover and that type of shit Dre with the Wrecking Cru and Cube did with C.I.A. So that's how Arabian got in doing that fast Techno type music. 'Cause at first Eric wanted NWA to do that and have that involved in it. 'Cause that was that L.A. shit too, but as we started doing our shit and doing the record, that shit didn't fit in. It was like we in here making these songs and that shit don't fit in and its like the press we getting for the shit that we making and the kind of shit we doing that shit don't fit in. To us it was like that shit is old now and it don't fit in.
ThaFormula.com - Would you consider the "Eazy-Duz-It" LP a crew album, meaning did it take every member of the crew to make that album happen?
MC Ren - Yep. It took everybody. It was just like working on a NWA album but it's just like this is Eazy's album. Cause me D.O.C., Cube, and Dre did all the writing for that nigga. Back in them days he didn't ever do no writing. Eric didn't start writing on his shit till like he did the "5150" album and shit like that.
ThaFormula.com - Yeah that shit was terrible man...
MC Ren - Yeah, see when Dre was gone that's when he started writing his own shit.
ThaFormula.com - Now what about the production of "Eazy-Duz-It?" Was everyone involved in that album?
MC Ren - Nah, that was just straight Dre. Every album was just straight Dre. It had on there produced by Dre & Yella but Yella was just like his assistant and shit. Like, "do this for me, hand me that, push that." It was all Dre with the beats. Dre would just be in there like, "we 'gon rap to this one." He was controllin' all that and that's why it was so hard.
ThaFormula.com - So the "Eazy-Duz-It" album had just dropped and everything seemed good, how were you feelin'?
MC Ren - I was feelin good cause we was about to do our NWA album. I was just happy to be down. I was just happy to be able to write on that niggaz shit and to be on the cover and little shit like that.
ThaFormula.com - Even though I get depressed at times on how Hip-Hop has turned out, I still love the fact that at least I got to witness Hip-Hop at its prime which makes me also think about how you must feel to be considered part of that prime?
MC Ren - Yeah shit is crazy man, I was just thinkin' about that shit too. The shit is crazy 'cause back then when we was doing that shit, ain't no way niggaz would of knew how that shit was gonna be big like it was. Nigga, that's the crazy part about it, that's the crazy part about it.
ThaFormula.com - Another thing that I think about from back then is when you guys recorded this, you guys were still in the streets where nowadays muthafuckas are recording from Hollywood. I'm sure after Eazy's album and even "Straight Outta Compton" that it must have felt great to walk in the hood and see everybody giving you your props?
MC Ren - Hell yeah.
ThaFormula.com - Which just shows me how things have changed. So at that point in time were you thinking of a solo album yet or were you never really thinkin' about a solo album?
MC Ren - I didn't start thinking about no solo shit 'till I did it. When Dre left that's when I started thinking of solo shit. But the original plan was we all was gonna do solo shit originally. Everybody said yo Eazy is gonna do his first, and if Cube wouldn't have left, Cube was gonna do one, then I was gonna do one and then another NWA album. That's how the whole shit was gonna go, but then after Cube left and Dre left that's the only time I really was like "yo let me do my shit," because it was to much beef going on. It was like Eric was mad with Dre and Dre was mad and I was like, "you know I'm just gonna stay neutral and just do my own shit."
ThaFormula.com - So up next after the "Eazy-Duz-It" came "Straight Outta Compton," how was it recording that?
MC Ren - It was cool man. I remember everyday we was in the studio. Go at 12 o'clock and stay there all night.
ThaFormula.com - Did you guys know what your were about to do as far as the concepts for the album?
MC Ren - Yeah, if you listen to "Straight Out of Compton," and "Fuck tha Police," them probably the only two on there that's talkin' like serious shit, but as far as them two songs go, yeah. I remember we was at Dre's apartment and we was going over "Fuck tha Police." Me, Cube, Dre all of us was there. I remember us writing it on paper. "How we gonna do this, we gonna make Fuck tha Police, we gonna make a chorus and shit going on in the song." I remember writing all this shit down in the studio. Niggaz busting their lyrics and it was like friendly competition. Muthafuckas writing their shit and a nigga hear another niggaz shit and be like, "ah man I'll be back." I remember one time we did "Still Talkin' Shit" and Cube heard everybody's shit and he was like "damn!" Man that nigga went the next day, beat everybody to the studio early in the morning and changed the shit 'cause he was like "damn." That's how it was. Niggaz would go over there and change their shit. Ask "what you got?" "Ah fuck that I gotta go change my shit." But that made that shit hard cause it was like you was on there by yourself but your really on there with a group. So them days was off the hook man.
ThaFormula.com - It seems like you had a major influence from the East in your rhyme style, did you?
MC Ren - Yeah I did. RUN DMC. Muthafuckin' LL, Whodini, and just a lot of them. I used to just try to get my delivery like them. DMC was one of my favorites. That niggaz voice was just so muthafuckin' cold.
ThaFormula.com - Did everything that was recorded for the "Eazy-Duz-It" and "Niggaz4Life" albums make the albums?
MC Ren - Nah there was shit that didn't even make it. Tight shit too man. I remember I had some tight shit for the "Niggaz4Life" album. I remember we had a gang of shit for the "Niggaz4Life" album and most of that shit didn't make it. But basically the first shit like "Straight Outta Compton" it seems like everything we did made it on that muthafucka 'cause we just did what was gonna make it on there.
ThaFormula.com - So now when "Straight Outta Compton" came out that's when all the controversy began?
MC Ren - Yeah with the "Fuck tha Police" shit and we didn't even give a fuck. Our thing was like any publicity is good publicity. Muthafuckas would be like "that's bad publicity," but we didn't give a fuck and we would tell muthafuckas on the news we don't care if y'all are doing this shit, we like it.
ThaFormula.com - Were you guys prepared for this when you did the album?
MC Ren - Nah. Shit, we didn't know that we was gonna get a letter from the FBI and all that shit. Nah, I didn't know that. But we didn't give a fuck. You gotta think man, niggaz young and we didn't care. They helped our shit sell.
ThaFormula.com - Now how were those NWA tours man when you look back?
MC Ren - Man those muthafuckas was off the chain. They was big arenas. I remember every city we went to damn near, we had to go to press conferences and shit cause muthafuckas didn't want us there. Like the community leaders and muthafuckin' fake ass gherri curl wearin' preachers and shit. All them type of muthafuckas trying to get their little limelight and publicity when there was a gang of other shit they could have been talkin' about. But we still performed. But it used to be cool man, you know all of us rollin' on the bus and shit on tour having to share rooms and shit (Laughs). Stupid shit like that. We sold out every night. When we first went on the road nigga we used to drive in vans, we couldn't even fly cause we wasn't making all that money. So we used to have to drive in vans all around the muthafuckin' West Coast doing spot dates here and there like crazy. I remember our first tour we did was with UTFO, Salt-N-Pepa and Heavy D. We opened for them and they was looking at us like who the fuck is y'all. This was before "Straight Outta Compton." They would look and Cube and Eazy with they're gherri curls and be like "who the fuck is y'all niggaz?" (Laughs). I could feel that shit back then, like some of them New York niggaz was kind of arrogant. Like "y'all ain't no true Hip-Hop," or "y'all from the West." But then when "Straight Outta Compton" came out we had our own muthafuckin' tour and everything changed. Matter fact we played the Apollo before "Straight Outta Compton" came out when "Eazy-Duz-It" I think had just came out or something or probably right before we played the Apollo with all the New York niggaz. It was like some big ass Summer jam type shit, but it was at the Apollo. Nigga we got booed, they threw shit at us. We was the only ones man and then we had to walk back downstairs and all these New York niggaz looking at us cause they got they monitors down in them muthafuckas. They lookin' at us and I was like man, nigga you ever been somewhere where you just wanna disappear? (Laughs). Everybody lookin' at y'all like, "damn y'all got booed." But I remember after that when I had dropped "Kizz My Black Azz" and I went back to New York. I did like two shows at the Apollo and that shit was off the hook. And then I heard Cube went back when he did hid first album and muthafuckas went crazy. I remember somebody told me that that niggaz said when he was out there he was like, "yeah we came here and we booed the first time, but I'm about to rock this muthafcuka," and them muthafuckas went crazy. But it was a whole 180. Nigga I remember when we first went to New York which was when "Rebel without a Pause" came out when KDAY used to be bumpin' it. And when our shit, "Straight Outta Compton" came out, I remember we went to New York probably like a month later or some shit like that for some press shit. At that time the record was kind of getting big and shit nigga, and I remember Hank Shocklee of the Bomb Squad was up in the club and nigga knew all our names and shit. I was like "what the fuck?" and I was trippin' 'cause he was talkin' to Dre and shit 'cause you know how the two beat muthafuckas always find each other. I seen them two niggaz talkin' and Hank Shocklee was laughin' like "I can't believe y'all niggaz are here!" Dre was pointing at everybody I remember. He was like "this is so and so," and Hank was like "yeah I know, this is Ren, this is Eazy." Nigga he knew who I was and that tripped me out. I was like, "this nigga be fuckin' with PE and they got this hot ass shit, and this nigga know us?"
ThaFormula.com - Yeah and at that time the only producers who could fuck with Dre was the Bomb Squad…
MC Ren - Exactly and that's why Cube went to those muthafuckas.
ThaFormula.com - That's why I feel that was the only move Cube could have done and was the smartest…
MC Ren - Yeah. No other producer could have just came with no shit to just keep him like that. He went to the right muthafuckin' spot.
ThaFormula.com - So know at this point in time had you, Dre, Cube or Yella seen any money?
MC Ren - Nope. Hell Nah!!
ThaFormula.com - So you guys are having fun and all but when did the first problems start coming? 'Cause I know it's always about the money…
MC Ren - Yeah, I remember we was in muthafuckin' Arizona. Cube came to me and was says "Jerry Heller is coming up here and they want us to sign a new contract, you know he is taking advantage of muthafuckas cause we don't Know." How you just gonna pop up on a nigga with contracts and no lawyers or nothing? So that lets you know that that muthafucka was a snake. So anyway, Cube told me "I'm not signing that shit." He came to me and was like, "don't sign it." This the niggaz exact words. He said, "I could say I ain't gonna sign it and I'm just one person and the shit can still go down, but if you say it, me and you together then can't nothing happen if me and you both don't sign." I remember we were supposed to sign the shit and get 70 G'z. I ain't never seen 70 G'z know what I'm saying? So Cube was like, "I ain't signing it." So Cube didn't sign that shit and there was a little animosity. Everybody was like, "why didn't he sign it?" Nigga I had never seen no 70 G'z before in my life," and I was like, "Eric grew up right around the corner with me," I was like "this is my nigga, he brought me in and I'ma take this 70 G'z 'cause I ain't gonna get this shit nowhere else."
ThaFormula.com - So what was Dre thinking at this time?
MC Ren - Dre took it. He took the money. So Cube left. I signed, Dre signed, Yella signed.
ThaFormula.com - So did you tell Cube that you were gonna sign?
MC Ren - I think I told that nigga something like "man I ain't got no money, I ain't got no paper, I ain't got nothing." I was like "nigga I been rappin' for nothing this long and nigga fittin' to give me 70 G'z?" Shit and this was 1988, I was only 18.
ThaFormula.com - So that was basically the only reason Cube left right?
MC Ren - Yeah.
ThaFormula.com - 'Cause a lot of rumors got started about him leaving also because his solo album didn't come up next…
MC Ren - Nah, it wasn't no ego shit like that. It wasn't even like that. It was because he was like, "nigga we should get more money." He saw what I didn't see. I should have seen it. He was like, "nigga we need to get more money," because me and him used to always talk to Eric and say we wanted more money. 'Cause me and Cube used to get less 'cause we was the rappers and he would say, 'cause y'all not doing the beats." We would be like, "why they getting more then us?" "'Cause they doing the beats," he would say. Why Yella get more than us? 'Cause he doing this to help Dre. We was like, "but he ain't doing what we doing?"
ThaFormula.com - So you and Cube were making less then everybody else?
MC Ren - Everybody, and so that's the way it all happened. That nigga left.
ThaFormula.com - What were your thoughts when he left?
MC Ren - I was thinking young and stupid 'cause I was only like 18 or 19. I was Thinking that it's fucked up, that nigga shouldn't have left because we had a publicist at the time. She use to be like anytime interviews would pop up she would call Cube. She wouldn't call nobody else but Cube. So when he left the group she ended up being his manager so we felt that she had that shit planned all along. Cause Eric used to always complain to Priority like "why do she always call him for the interviews?" That bitch had probably another plan. Matter of fact, she started doing all his "Friday" movies with him and all of that. So there was animosity cause niggaz was thinkin' this shit was planned. So the beef just formed out of that shit. Matter of fact me and him never really had no beef. 'Cause even when he left the group, he went to New York and he would call me from New York when he was working with the Bomb Squad. Me and him was supposed to do a song for his album called "The Villain and the Gangsta." He was like, "man we gonna do this song," but we couldn't do the mutherfucka 'cause them niggaz got all mad and it was like all that animosity them niggaz had. It was like, "man that nigga this, and that" and then he stopped talkin' to me and we stopped talkin'.
ThaFormula.com - What did Dre think about this at the time?
MC Ren - Dre was mad that nigga left 'cause Dre brought him in so he was mad and that's why when Cube had his record he was on his homegirl Dee Barns show "Pump It Up" one night. I didn't have no beef with the nigga. It was all cool and everything but them niggaz was kind of hot and Cube said some shit on there like "I got all suckaz "100 miles and Runnin'" or some shit. He said that and we was like, "Ohh!!"
ThaFormula.com - So she set that show up with both of you (NWA and Ice Cube) on it without you even knowing right?
MC Ren - Yeah we didn't even know. She could have came to us and said "we want you all on the show," or "we want to do something," but she just did that shit for her ratings I guess, and that nigga outspoken like he was back then and said "I got all these suckaz 100 Miles and Runnin'" and we was like "what!" When he did that niggaz was hot and then he wanted to use on "Jackin' for Beats" when it comes on and says "Gimme that beat fool," he had our shit on there originally from the" Niggaz4Life" album. You know the "Prelude" beat, he had that on there first but since he was on Priority and our "Niggaz4Llife" album was fittin' to come out, we told Brian Turner 'cause he let us hear it first. We was in his office and he said, "I want you all to hear this song." He let us hear it and we was like "hell nah!" I remember Dre was like "fuck that, he can't use our beat" cause Dre made that beat. He was "like this man ain't gonna use our beat and be clowning us" you know what I'm saying? So Dre told him "if this nigga uses our beat, we ain't fuckin' with you," and Brian Turner told that nigga he couldn't use it 'cause he knew that the "Niggaz4Life" album was coming and he knew like "I can't let Cube use this muthafucka cause NWA is hot and they ain't gonna finish this muthafuckin' album if I let him do this."
ThaFormula.com - But in between all this you all did the "100 Miles and Runnin'" EP and you knew now that it was your time to step up. How did you feel about that?
MC Ren - When that nigga left, I knew I had to pick my shit up 'cause Dre wasn't really no rapper. He wasn't really no hell of a rapper back then and shit. He just would fill in. But when Cube left he started rapping more, but I always knew I had to pick it up. I was writing my shit, Eric's shit, Dre was helping write Eric shit, 'cause when Cube left we still had me, D.O.C. and Dre.
ThaFormula.com - So Dre actually wrote his shit?
MC Ren - Yeah, he wrote some of his shit. He write some of his shit and some of his shit he don't write. You can tell shit he writes. D.O.C. would write a lot of Dre's shit too. You could tell when you hear a lot of Dre shit if DOC wrote it.
ThaFormula.com - So even through all this and when you dissed Cube on the "Real Niggaz" track, were you still cool with Cube?
MC Ren - Nah, nah hell nah. Nah, Nah, Nah, I wasn't cool with that nigga at that time. It's crazy 'cause I went out on the "Up In Smoke Tour" with that nigga and me and that nigga was talkin' about them disses we did and I said "yeah nigga, I didn't even get a chance to do a whole verse on your ass." I said "nigga I would have got you!" He looked at me like "yeah ok." I said "alright nigga, you got a verse and some shit on me, but I never got a verse or song."
ThaFormula.com - Now when that dropped and Cube dropped his shit a lot of people thought NWA was through. "Niggaz4Life" hadn't dropped yet and I remember a lot of people were ready to call you guys over, did you guys hear any of this?
MC Ren - A little bit 'cause nigga, that was motivating us 'cause we was like "niggaz think we ain't gonna do shit 'cause Cube left." That was the first thing we thought. But them muthafuckas had to eat all they words though cause "Niggaz4Life" was a classic muthafuckin' album man. But I do be wishing Cube could have been on it. Can you imagine if that nigga was on that album?
ThaFormula.com - I don't know. I never thought those beats were meant for Cube. I thought that it was as good as it could have been and that no one ever rode a Dre beat like you which "Alwayz Into Something" proved…
MC Ren - Yeah that's my cut right there.
ThaFormula.com - And I loved the "Prelude" track 'cause you always dissed wack rappers and sell outs who did wack love songs…
MC Ren - And I'ma keep dissin' their wack asses.
ThaFormula.com - So how were you guys feelin' after "Niggaz4Life" dropped?
MC Ren - We was feelin' cool. We was supposed to go on tour for that shit. We was planning out a "Niggaz4Life" tour. We were getting our props ready and had muthafuckas coming to build our stage, and that's when Dre left.
ThaFormula.com - Were you guys still kicking it at this time or was everybody doing their own thing?
MC Ren - We was cool. It's like one day Dre came to me and said, somebody I know wanna holla at us because we ain't getting paid right. So I remember going down there to Solar records. At that time Dre and Suge was kickin' it real tough and shit. Suge told Dre about this dude at Solar and I remember going down there and meeting with them, and that's when Dre left.
ThaFormula.com - What did you say when Dre took you down to Solar?
MC Ren - From what I saw, I just saw one nigga trying to get niggaz to come over with him. I mean I had seen alot more money by then. I still wasn't getting what I was supposed to be getting, but I wasn't going to go into another fucked up situation. My street smarts said, fuck this. This is a worse situation. That's why I didn't do it. Then when Dre left, Eric was saying we still gonna do NWA. I'm happy I didn't go along with the shit. He said were gonna do the NWA album and we gonna get some more producers. He was saying Yella, Hutch and some new people are gonna produce it. I told him an NWA album is not gonna work without Dre doing the beats. I wasn't about to play myself though. Cube left, Dre left. The beat mutherfuckers and one of the hardest lyricists in the group. We ain't got shit. I wasn't about to rap over any niggaz beat back then, because you know niggaz beats back then was wack. I mean how you gonna go from the top muthafucka to that. When I told Eazy I wasn't gonna do the NWA album, me and him didn't talk for like a year or two. Probably longer then that. When Dre was doing the first Chronic album, I was still talking to Dre. I would go to his house and be kicking it. That's why Snoop says in the Intro of the Chronic, "What up Ren." Cause I used to be there kicking it with niggaz. I told Erick and Dre that the problem was between them and that I didn't have nothing to do with that. I'm not about to be dissin' neither of you. That's why when Eazy was dissin' Dre, I wasn't in on that and Dre dissin' him, I wasn't in on that. I was just neutral.
thaFormula.com - So I'm sure you heard the Chronic before it dropped. How did you feel about it?
MC Ren - I thought the shit was tight. I remember when it first came out. Erick was in the studio going through the first Chronic album saying, this shit is wack. All the little groupies around him were saying yeah that shit is wack. I said, nigga this shit is hard.
thaFormula.com - So there was no way you could have been on the Chronic?
MC Ren - Yeah, because of all that shit that was going on.
thaFormula.com - So when did you decide to do your first EP, "Kiss My Black Azz"?
MC Ren - When I saw the group wasn't gonna do no more shit. So I went and got Bobcat. When we was on tour during the NWA days, he was on tour with LL and we used to always kick it back in them days. So we hooked up and did that shit.
thaFormula.com - It did pretty good for you right?
MC Ren - Yeah it went platinum and shit. I got that muthafuckin plaque.
thaFormula.com - What made you decide to do an EP and not an LP?
MC Ren - Cause I wanted to test the waters dog. I didn't wanna do an album and have muthafuckas not feelin' me. So I did the EP to see how muthafuckas react to it.
thaFormula.com - Did the death of DJ Train really fuck you up alot cause you guys used to always roll together?
MC Ren - Yep. Me and him went to high school together. When I told him I rapped, he told me that he was a DJ. So I went to his house and this muthafucka started doing shit on the turntable I had never seen. He was pickin' the muthafuckas up at like a 45 degree angle and the needle was even jumpin'. So when Erick signed JJ Fad they needed a DJ. They weren't hard or nothing, but Train was hard. I remember Train was in the 12th grade and their shit started jumpin' before our shit. He was on the Run's House tour flying in and out of town. That nigga was tight as a muthafucka man. That was my nigga all the way from high school.
thaFormula.com - What exactly did happen to Train man?
MC Ren - His house caught on fire. He thought his son was still in the house and his son had left. His son momma had came and got him. So he was thinking his son was still in that muthafucka. He went back in after he got everybody out thinking his son was still in there, but he wasn't. So he went in there and got all that smoke caught up in him. That was some wack ass shit.
thaFormula.com - Was he a big reason that you started changing up your style after the EP and going towards the more righteous path?
MC Ren - Yeah. He would give me tapes on Egypt and tell me we were gonna go there. So yeah my shit did start changing. I went into the Nation of Islam in 1993 and got out in 1995. Went to Egypt in 1995. Me and Train was supposed to go together and he couldn't make it, so I said fuck it, Imma go anyway.
thaFormula.com - How was going to Egypt?
MC Ren - It was the shit. I went out there for about two and half weeks.
thaFormula.com - Now your album was supposed to be called "Life Sentence." Was it because of that situation that you changed the title?
MC Ren - Yeah.
thaFormula.com - How did you feel about the "Shock of the Hour" album and how did that do for you?
MC Ren - Back then it sold like 480,000 copies when E was alive. It was cool. The first side of that muthafucka I recorded before I even got into the Nation. If you listen to it you can tell. The second half of that album is when I was in the nation.
thaFormula.com - I have to ask you this man before I forget. When Cube dropped "No Vaseline" what did you guys think about it?
MC Ren - Nigga I was ready to mash. Niggaz was mad. Like "oh, this nigga wanna do it like this." I was mad. That was the greatest sneak attack ever.
thaFormula.com - Would you say that he won that battle?
MC Ren - Nah he didn't win! How he gonna win and I ain't put my gloves on. That's like that movie Ali when he's in the car with Joe Frazier saying yeah, but you ain't the real champ. I didn't get my chance. I will never get my chance cause me and him are cool as a muthafucka. Even if we did, it probably wouldn't be like it would have been then.
thaFormula.com - Did you guys feel it on the streets as far as people fucking with you about it?
MC Ren - Yep, everything. I remember I went somewhere to this party at a hall and muthafuckas was playing it, and I remember trippin' on them telling them to take that shit off (laughs). I remember one time I was in Compton where my homeboy was doing a video show for this cable station, and this punk ass nigga was trying to play that in the background. You know them jealous ass niggaz and shit, but fuck them. We got the last laugh though cause all of us is cool now.
thaFormula.com - Is it true that Dre didn't produce that whole first Above The Law album?
MC Ren - Alot of that shit was done before Dre touched it. Hutch did alot of that shit before Dre even came and sat down. We was on tour and Laylaw brought them in. He had they shit and we used to listen to it when we was on the "Straight Outta Compton" tour. So alot of the songs on that first album were already done. Hutch did that shit along time ago.
thaFormula.com - So now you dropped your EP and your solo. At this point how are you feeling coming into your next album "Villain In Black"?
MC Ren - I was feelin' good dog. Happy that me and Hutch hooked up. Me and that nigga used to be in the studio damn near like everyday. To me though, it's harder now then back then. Now when I'm in the studio with niggaz, it's a different feelin' from back then.
thaFormula.com - So at this time were you and Eazy not speaking still?
MC Ren - Yeah. That's why he wasn't on none of my albums and why I wasn't really on his shit. He knew we didn't have shit to say to each other, but he knew he still could make money off my shit. The only thing was that after we had the fall out, when my records came out, they never pushed them like they should have pushed them. Cause my "Shock The Hour" went to number 1 on the Billboard Charts, but I didn't get no Gold or no Platinum Plaque. If you go number 1, come on. My shit was number 1 all around everywhere. They didn't promote it and I think it had alot to do with the shit I was sayin'. It scared alot of muthafuckas. It felt like a nigga got blacklisted or something. That's the vibe I got from niggaz. It just seems like nobody wanted to talk about that record. So what could I do.
thaFormula.com - What do you think Tupac would say if he saw all these Tupac clones runnin' around?
MC Ren - Come on dog. If Tupac was alive, he would be giving all these niggaz hell, 50 Cent included. INCLUDED! All of them niggaz would catch it.
thaFormula.com - So how did you feel about "Villain In Black"?
MC Ren - It was cool. The only thing is my budgets kept getting smaller, smaller, and smaller. They wouldn't give me the paper I needed. They was looking at it like if he don't want to talk to us and don't want to do this then fuck it. That's how it went. But if I would have helped them diss Dre, man I probably would have got all kinds of shit.
thaFormula.com – So that's why BG Knockout and Dresta kept getting promoted?
MC Ren - Yep. If you see, they got promoted more then I did and I was there for the longest. Fake ass company.
thaFormula.com - So after that came your last album "Ruthless For Life". It seemed like you were out of it on that album...
MC Ren - Yeah I was. I ain't even gonna lie, I was. Nigga was going through shit. All kind of problems. Nigga was out of it on that album. I'm more into it now then I was in that time.
thaFormula.com - So in between "Ruthless For Life" and now you just disappeared. What happened man?
MC Ren - Dog, I was just chillin' with my family, still working on music. I left Ruthless and I just didn't want to be in one of them situations again like that. So I just started making music. I did a little independent film. So just little shit like that trying to stay busy and get shit crackin' again. It wasn't my fault though. A nigga was going through shit making other transitions, then the game changed. So when I came back, the game had changed drastically. Muthafuckas was dead, muthafuckas ain't working here, gone. Shit wasn't the same. But I just realized that that's how life is and things are gonna always change.
thaFormula.com - So when you got out of Ruthless did you approach other labels?
MC Ren - Yeah. They was saying that they wasn't trying to fuck with me. The sound that I was giving them, they didn't want that shit. They wanted more radio friendly type shit. They don't wanna hear like a hard muthafucka with lyrics, they wanna hear some dancing shit. They wanna hear a beat come on that they can get on Power 106. They wanted that happy shit and I ain't got that shit. I couldn't make that if I tried. I would play myself. I love Run DMC. But they even went through that shit when they made that record "Pause." You never thought you would see them dancing like that. To go from the Adidas and derbies and all that dope shit to be with white hats and big medallions dancing. Come on man. But that's the game. Even legendary muthafuckas like them get confused. You just got to realize that we are legends in this shit. We can't be what we used to be, but we still here.
thaFormula.com - So it took many years but you finally got back to working with Dre on Chronic 2001. How did that come about?
MC Ren - My homeboy said that Dre wants you to come down, so I went down there and did it. I was rappin' on the muthafucka. I was on another song bustin', but he took me off of it and put this other nigga on it. There was a dude originally on there, but when I came, I got on there. Then niggaz told me that the reason they took me off was because the nigga that was on there was crying about it.
thaFormula.com - That's wack...
MC Ren - You know man. Little bitch shit. Nigga took me off and shit.
thaFormula.com - After you guys all recorded "Chin Check", what happened with the NWA project?
MC Ren - Ain't nothing really happened and shit. Cube was doing his movie and wanted us to do that shit. Then we did "Hello" for his album and we were supposed to work on the NWA project on the road, but it never went down.
thaFormula.com - I remember when you guys did Farm Club on TV. I remember Dre's expression when you said you wanted to tour and record the new album. I knew from seeing Dre's expression that that shit was never going to happen.
MC Ren - It was on Dre. We was ready. Me and Cube was ready, but we weren't gonna keep begging this dude to do no record. We had a studio out there to do it, but it didn't happen so fuck it. I don't give a fuck. I do but I don't cause it's over with now. I ain't fittin' to cry over that shit. "Chin Check" was alright, but "Hello" was better to me. It was better but it just wasn't like it used to be. Muthafuckas be having a gang of niggaz now in the studios. When we used to record back in the day nobody would really be there, only a few people.
(http://www.worldwideconnected.com/themes/rbwg/images/black.jpg)
Interview with MC Ren
http://www.worldwideconnected.com/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=213
WorldWideConnected.com: Where did you grow up and what was it like?
Well I grew up in Compton. It was basically like any other hood. Drugs, hoes, all that shit… You know…
WorldWideConnected.com: How’d you hook up with the rest of the members to form the group NWA?
Well I grew up right around the quorner from Eazy-E. He was my older brother. He was my older brother, my homeboy. And he knew I could rhyme and shit… I started rhyming in 83. So when he put out “Boyz in the hood” he put that out independent. It was just like a local lil hit or whatever… At that time, that was probably about 86-87, I hooked up with em, he knew I could rhyme and I used to go around to his mothers house where he lived at n shit… I’d go over there and stay in the garage. He had a turntable and a mic and a gang of records. And I went over there one day and he told me to freestyle. So I freestyled probably like 15 minutes on the take. While he scratched and DJ’d in the back. He took the tape and went to Dre, and they wanted to do a lil solo project on me. You know what I mean?
Yeah
So from that point on, I was just gonna do my MC Ren, I was gonna be a solo artist. Cuz they already had the nucleus of the group. Back then, it wasn’t shaped or anything but it was like they had the nucleus of it. It wasn’t polished and shit yet. It was Eazy, Dre, Arabian Prince, Cube… who else… a couple more cats who was just helping out and everything. So I really didn’t get into the group steadily like… Cube left and went off to school and shit in like 87. He went off to school cuz he didn’t think that… See this is how it went down. Cube wrote “Boyz in the hood”, “Dope man” and “8 Ball”. So when Cube left in 87, he went off to school. He took the train to Arizona. He didn’t feel that it was gonna pop or whatever. When he left they had nobody to write Erics shit, so they knew I could write and all of that from being around them and since they were gonna give me a lil solo shot. And so I wrote “Eazy duz it”, “Radio” and “Ruthless villan”. And when I did that, it was like “c’mon in”.
WorldWideConnected.com: How about Dj Yella? You didn’t mention him.
Yeah… He was in the group… Yeah he was in it, you can say that. See the group at first was like Eazy, Dre, Cube and Arabian Prince. When I came in the group like when the group really got formed and we knew what we were gonna do and all the other fools got put out and we kept the people that we knew we was gonna do it with – that’s when Yella really came into the picture. Ya know what I mean?
Yeah
Cuz like he was in the Wrecking Cru with Dre and they wanted to leave Alonzo and so when Dre got over with Eric he came with em, and it was like boom and that’s how he got in. We started doing shows and shit and everybody just clicked like that.
WorldWideConnected.com: Howcome some of those original members you talked about didn’t stay with NWA?
See when it first started out, Eazy was trying to put together a lil west coast group and he got Cube, Arabian Prince cuz he was doing that techno shit. And he got Dre, you know. But not all them mothafuckas in the beginning had it so like once we got together and said “this is the kind of shit we’re gonna do”. It was like certain people couldn’t keep up, ya know what I mean? It was like a basketball team and cuts being made. We wasn’t looking for that. That’s not gonna get us where
http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1584508/20080401/story.jhtml
Ice Cube Welcomes MTV To His Home In South Central L.A. -- In 1989 -- In The Loder FilesViews 3,690
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A vintage visit amid the firestorm of controversy that surrounded N.W.A's 'F--- Tha Police.'
When you've been interviewing people for, oh, a hundred years or so, you build up quite a backlog of banter and chat. A lot of this stuff is inevitably ephemeral — the day will surely never come when anyone cares what Vanilla Ice ever had to say about anything. On the other hand, it is kind of interesting to look back on the vintage natterings of people who are still on the scene and still entertaining us, either with their work or with their dotty behavior.
We've been exhuming a ton of this stuff over the last several months — interviews from the vaults going back not only to the early '90s, but even beyond. Most of these ancient tapes are fun in one way or another; some are scary, which is even more fun. We're going to be posting these old interactions every Tuesday from now on, and if some of what you see seems a little silly at times, well, the past is filled with silly things. Much like the present.
N.W.A may not have been the first gangsta-rap act (ask Schoolly D), but they were the most sensational at the time, and probably the most lastingly influential.
Their classic 1989 album, Straight Outta Compton, with seminal beats by Dr. Dre and his partner, DJ Yella, and furious-young-man lyrics by Ice Cube, MC Ren and Eazy-E, was packed with brutal street-gang fantasies, a chillingly ambivalent portrait of a ghetto crack dealer, and bursts of unfortunately prophetic misogyny. The album also contained a broadside against the race-based harassment of black kids by the L.A. police force — a track called "F--- Tha Police" — that was so incendiary ("gonna be a bloodbath of cops dyin' in L.A.") that it drew an angry letter from the FBI, complaining that the lyrics encouraged "violence against and disrespect for the law enforcement officer," and warning N.W.A's record company to "be aware of the FBI's position relative to this song and its message."
Naturally, the album got zero mainstream radio airplay. And the group's live appearances were targeted by a national police faxing campaign, which sometimes resulted in either a refusal by local departments to provide security for N.W.A concerts, or a determination to break the shows up. Despite all this, though, after Straight Outta Compton was released in 1989, it went on to sell a couple of million copies strictly on buzz.
MTV News set up an interview with Ice Cube in September of that year, at his parents' house in Compton, where the 20-year-old rapper was still living. By that time, this L.A. suburb was nationally perceived (thanks in part to N.W.A) as a pretty nasty place. (It's still rated as one of the most dangerous towns in America.) Ice Cube and his folks, however, lived on a deceptively sunny street of tidy houses and neatly mowed lawns. The gangs and guns, Cube said, came out at night. In fact, just recently there'd been a drive-by attack on this very house, which had sent even his father running to grab a weapon. Cube didn't seem particularly worried by this incident, but clearly the self-fueling proliferation of guns hereabouts made daily life a tense business. "I gotta ride around with my stuff now," he said, "just in case they pull up on the side of me."
DJ Yella stopped by to sit in on the interview, and afterwards Cube took us out in his van for a tour of the 'hood. We only saw one gangbanger on the street — a guy perhaps unwisely wearing too much red. Apart from that, however, things seemed quiet. At least nobody pulled up alongside us with a Mack-10 blazing. We never saw the gangs that came out after dark. As veteran white guys, we were gone by then.
Shortly after this interview, Ice Cube left N.W.A in a dispute over money. In 1990, he released the first of three powerful solo albums — records showered with both acclaim (for their music and for Cube's rhyming skills) and condemnation (for their racial and sexual hostility). He's still putting out albums, of course, and in 1991, he launched an acting career with a key role in John Singleton's classic drug-gang movie, "Boyz N the Hood." He's gone on to write, produce or act in a number of hit films, among them "Three Kings," "Barbershop," and a trio of pictures with "Friday" in the title (not to mention his recent turn toward family flicks with "Are We There Yet?" and "Are We Done Yet?").
DJ Yella moved on into movies, too, in a way. Over the years since N.W.A fell apart in 1991, he's been a very busy director of porn films.
Yo props on ALL of them interviews/articles...
it's like the N.W.A library ;D
Im gonna get some refreshments and have a nice chilled out read
Legendary mega dope thread.
N.W.A library
O.k., I count REN, EAZY, DRE, CUBE, ARABIAN PRINCE, CANDYMAN....
Who are the other 6 dudes. Acts/Friends ?
Anyone know ?
(http://img209.imageshack.us/img209/7172/nwathepossetm8.jpg) (http://imageshack.us)
DJ Train,Ren's DJ also the brother of Tootie from the torcha chamber under the A, Chip Ren's ryhme partner standing next to Ren.
Sir Jinx is sitting up there... also the Mexican dude next to Candyman is Crazy D. Crazy D is also the dude that says, "Yo Mister Dope man, you think you're slick" on the Dopeman song.
i see rappinstine
http://www.discogs.com/artist/Rappinstine
one of tha members was Sean Barney Thomas, it means hes down since the NWA days, didnt know this!dope!
krazy d was about to release a dvd about "the truth behind NWA and why he didnt stay wit da group".
who else is on the cover?
NWA, jinx,candyman (is it the "knockin da boots" candyman?who johnny "j" produced for?),mc chip,arabian prince
who else?
so Fresh K, Dr Rock, and Doc T arent on there?? Someone write the names next to everyone and post the pic again. i always thought the guy in the front squatting was DOC all these years... I have the vinyl and i figured rappenstine was the guy who was no longer covered by the list of names on the cd cover
which guy is sir jinx?
the dude sitting at the top with the big clock....
^^ wasnt ron de vu a group?
whose face is "A" coverin?
whos it witht he green cap?
whos it sittin before mc ren?
whos behind dre?
previous posts in this thread have revealed all of them.... except for the guy behind Dre. That might be someone from C.I.A. ... but if I get the chance to talk to Sir Jinx, I will ask him.
Hip Hop Connection. September. 2000. Suge knight Cover;
HHC;
What happened to the Dre and Cube album?
Suge Knight;
“Basically egos, and when you get two guys who are not from the ghetto what can they actually talk about? Their house in the hills?
That’s why you won’t see the N.W.A album come out any time soon. Everyone’s talking about the N.W.A reunion album coming out, but I own the name N.W.A, so before they put that out I’d have to give clearance for it. They did ‘Chin Check’ on Cube’s album which didn’t help sell the album because the kids want somebody young. What really sold Dre’s album is Eminem, that’s what sold that record”
HHC;
How come you own N.W.A’s name?
Suge Knight;
“The N.W.A thing, that’s a Compton thing. With me really being from Compton and those other guys not really being from Compton, it was more rightfully mine to own than theirs. I wasn’t part of the group but I was part of the real ghetto which those guys weren’t.”
HHC;
Are you saying N.W.A where all fakers?
Suge Knight;
Eazy lived in Compton, that’s the only one, everybody else didn’t.
The Source September 93 #48
The Source:
Since Dre's break-up with Eazy,there has been speculation about a reunion between he Ice Cube. Dre confirms the rumours. "We planned on doing this a long time ago,but we had to go through all the drama and shit." We got a chance to come together. Everybody's heads are on straight and the offer is,uhh...a nice amount of money." The album is tentatively titled Helter Skelter and will be realeased on Death Row Records. Dre plans to share production duties with Cube's camp. "You Don't Want To See Me" the project's first single,features a guest appearance by George Clinton.
Cube said this in Rap Pages 03.94
RP:What's up with the Helter Skelter project?
Cube:The Helter Skelter project had 2 be put on hold. Now it's about 2 get right back into effect. We had did one record called "You Don't Want To See Me",& we had 2 stop because Dre had to concentrate on Snoop's record.
RP:Is Ren a part of Helter Skelter?
Cube:I don't know,I talk 2 Ren too. That brother signed with the Nation Of Islam. I'm real happy with that brother because he's the last one who I thought would ever change. But I know he's gonna be a strong soldier
Dr.Dre interview in Hip Hop Connection June 1994.
….The much anticipated collaboration with Ice Cube, “Helter Skelter”. “It’s gonna be the biggest rap album of all time,” predicts a confident Dre.
When it became known that Dre and Cube were going to work together again, rumours started flying round of an N.W.A reunion. Dre is amused at the suggestion.
“There was never gonna be a N.W.A reunion. It was just me and Cube. We where in an interview clowning around, and that came out and the next thing you know it’s in every fucking newspaper. That the album was gonna be Niggaz Without Eazy. But there was never any reunion planned or nothing like that. We’re gonna try and get Ren on a couple of songs, but there was never any talk of a N.W.A reunion.”
So despite the exchange of disses back and forth between Dre and Cube over the last couple of years, this obviously hasn’t damaged their working relationship?
“Me and Cube have always been cool. We said something about him and he came back with his record; but there wasn’t no real beef. As matter of fact, we went out one time and he told me what he was gonna do. I was like ‘okay, whatever’.
hehe thanks for the interviews. lol Ren was obviously pretty emotional, when he said that. cause in more recent interviews he didn't sound so frustrated ;)
but i think he has a point, whether or not a reunion would be smart, dre's partly to blaim for the reunion not working out. offcourse busy schedules was also a problem ( label politics obviously not, cause, like Yella said, it could have been released independently like the 213 album).
i mean, the d.o.c. managed to get almost every NWA member on one track for the album "Deuce". it's hard to say if they all had enough time to make a full album, but i'm sure there was enough time to do a few more songs ( i wouldn't mind :laugh: Chin Check was pretty good, and Hello was even better).
thanks for the interviews :)
Ren talks about a "new" single which also featured Ice Cube, so Ice Cube must have left NWA shortly after this interview( offcourse there is a gap between the moment that the interview takes place and the publishing date of the interview)
i wonder which song he was talking about; was it reused later for the 100 miles and runnin' EP, or is it still unreleased?
where did you see that? I remember Ren or Cube mentioned a track called overnight blackman in one of their interviews.maybe that is the track i was talking about; anyway, i was referring to the hiphop connection interview with ren--->he mentions "the" song in the description of "if it ain't ruff".
about the Ice cube interview with hiphop connection in 1990; we've already talked about this chad, and you can see that Cube's talking shit.
he was obviously still mad about the money ( even though he wasn't ripped off :-\), but he said that at Ruthless they wouldn't allow him to go into a different direction(when it comes to lyrics).
sure, you can see that Ice Cube's first two soloalbums go a step further than straight outta compton, but his statement is false, because i'm quite sure that he would be allowed to take a similar direction with a soloalbum on Ruthless; sure there maybe at least one track with the other NWA members, but that's it--->just check the D.O.C. album.
he can say what he want about Ruthless records, but the label gave you a lot of artistic freedom.
besides, Cube indirectly admitted that his statement was false; in an other interview( can't remember which one) he said that he would still be with ruthless if they offered a better deal.
about the Ice cube interview with hiphop connection in 1990; we've already talked about this chad, and you can see that Cube's talking shit.
he was obviously still mad about the money ( even though he wasn't ripped off :-\),
but he said that at Ruthless they wouldn't allow him to go into a different direction (when it comes to lyrics).
sure, you can see that Ice Cube's first two soloalbums go a step further than straight outta compton,but his statement is false,
because I'm quite sure that he would be allowed to take a similar direction with a soloalbum on Ruthless;
sure there maybe at least one track with the other NWA members, but that's it--->just check the D.O.C. album.
he can say what he want about Ruthless records, but the label gave you a lot of artistic freedom.
besides, Cube indirectly admitted that his statement was false; in an other interview( can't remember which one) he said that he would still be with ruthless if they offered a better deal.
If any label gave their artists artistic freedom it was Ruthless,damn go NO further than Shock Of The Hour.
Renīs career could go in another direction if Eazy went in and said;
Yo Ren that shit right there is way too hard,I canīt sell that shit,and made Ren go with some more radio friendly beats and lyrics.
But as you said,we have already discussed the Cube issue.
When the ego gets too big and homeboys "whispering" bullshit in your ear,well then shit gets fucked up.
As Iīm reading the Jerry Heller book,the picture of Suge as a fuckings good manipulator is becoming clearer and clearer....
"whispering" all that bullshit in D.O.Cīs ears that D.O.C "whispered" to Dre and rest of them cats. >:( >:(
I assume it was easy to manipulate D.O.C after the accident that lead to his drinking and heavy drug use.... :-\ :-\
Damn.....
about that last Eazy-E interview, you can see that the beef with Dre highly influenced his answers, cause that claim about production credit is just bullshit. for example, with Approach to Danger, it was really Dre & Yella handling the production ( check out the video that was on the greatest hits bonus dvd); Eazy-E gave some tips--> so it was right that he was credited only as an executive producer for the niggaz4life album.
lol at the death row comments in that NWA reunion article from rap pages :D
and thanks for that ruthless 10th year anniversary article.
Tomica must be doing something wrong; she mainly blamed the various lawsuits for the slow progress, but 10 years later, Ruthless records has pretty much disappeared (while the last lawsuit was settled 9 years ago ) ; sad, but true.If any label gave their artists artistic freedom it was Ruthless,damn go NO further than Shock Of The Hour.must overlooked your comment, cause i haven't read this before :laugh:
Renīs career could go in another direction if Eazy went in and said;
Yo Ren that shit right there is way too hard,I canīt sell that shit,and made Ren go with some more radio friendly beats and lyrics.
But as you said,we have already discussed the Cube issue.
When the ego gets too big and homeboys "whispering" bullshit in your ear,well then shit gets fucked up.
As Iīm reading the Jerry Heller book,the picture of Suge as a fuckings good manipulator is becoming clearer and clearer....
"whispering" all that bullshit in D.O.Cīs ears that D.O.C "whispered" to Dre and rest of them cats. >:( >:(
I assume it was easy to manipulate D.O.C after the accident that lead to his drinking and heavy drug use.... :-\ :-\
Damn.....
the rap industry really misses a label with a structure like ruthless right now.
yeah, that story about Suge is awful; it's crazy how much influence he had.
by the way, have you read that part about the D.O.C's voice recovery yet? it gave a whole different view about the situation. i always thought that there was never a possibility that D.O.C. would almost completely get his "old" voice back. but Jerry's story seems to suggest the opposite ( well in theory offcourse); with some sort of therapy it could have happened( but he said that the D.O.C. didn't show up when he had an appointment).
if that's true, i'm not blaming the D.O.C. for that, since he was in some deep shit back then, and lived a dangerous lifestyle( thank god he's still alive; like he said himself, it could have gone worse.
lol at the death row comments in that NWA reunion article from rap pages :D
What did it say? I need to re-read that shit (later)Tomica must be doing something wrong; she mainly blamed the various lawsuits for the slow progress, but 10 years later, Ruthless records has pretty much disappeared (while the last lawsuit was settled 9 years ago ) ; sad, but true.
Some shady shit must have went down hhhhmmmm :-\
Fuck,Above The Law or Yella sholuld be the ones to carry on the legacy.
Shit is history now,Ruthless is dead. Tomica should just let the former artists buy their old masters,so they can release all the unreleased shit thatīs in the vaults. Like all the leftover tracks from the niggaz4Life sessions...by the way, have you read that part about the D.O.C's voice recovery yet? it gave a whole different view about the situation.
I always thought that there was never a possibility that D.O.C. would almost completely get his "old" voice back.
but Jerry's story seems to suggest the opposite ( well in theory offcourse);
with some sort of therapy it could have happened( but he said that the D.O.C. didn't show up when he had an appointment).
if that's true, i'm not blaming the D.O.C. for that, since he was in some deep shit back then, and lived a dangerous lifestyle
(thank god he's still alive; like he said himself, it could have gone worse.
Yep,I have read it....
Iīm pissed,like Eazy said in one of his comments about Jerry;
Them dum fucks was caught up with "The Jews is always robbing the black man" bullshit.. :P :-X :-\
Ok,they was young,but how ignorant can you be?
Dangerous lifestyle? Heavy drinking and coke? or hanging with dum fucks like Suge? :laugh: :laugh: ;) ;)
What did it say? I need to re-read that shit (later)
lol not much, but the magazine was comparing some death row artists/inmates, how their career was with dre, and without dre. with michelle for example, “with dre”, the comment was: godfather of hiphop soul; career without dre: now resides in a rest home called death row records.
Death Row Records( referring to Suge Knight I guess?)--> career with dre: over 100 millions served. Career without dre--> serving 5 to 9 years :laugh:Some shady shit must have went down hhhhmmmm :-\yeah, sounds like a good idea. it's such a mess with the masters; ruthless had so many distribution deals in the past.
Fuck,Above The Law or Yella sholuld be the ones to carry on the legacy.
Shit is history now,Ruthless is dead. Tomica should just let the former artists buy their old masters,so they can release all the unreleased shit thatīs in the vaults. Like all the leftover tracks from the niggaz4Life sessions...Yep,I have read it....Yeah i don’t get it either :laugh:
Iīm pissed,like Eazy said in one of his comments about Jerry;
Them dum fucks was caught up with "The Jews is always robbing the black man" bullshit.. :P :-X :-\
Ok,they was young,but how ignorant can you be?
Dangerous lifestyle? Heavy drinking and coke? or hanging with dum fucks like Suge? :laugh: :laugh: ;) ;)He really was mad cause Dre left, i heard they used to be like best friends and shit.
yeah i think they eventually would have worked it out if it weren't for Eazy's death.
and if anybody could bring the NWA members together for a reunion, it would be him.
What did it say? I need to re-read that shit (later)lol not much, but the magazine was comparing some death row artists/inmates, how their career was with dre, and without dre. with michelle for example, “with dre”, the comment was: godfather of hiphop soul; career without dre: now resides in a rest home called death row records.
Death Row Records( referring to Suge Knight I guess?)--> career with dre: over 100 millions served.
Career without dre--> serving 5 to 9 years :laugh:
Ohhh that part :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
I would like one with producers;
Yella; MIA
Cold 187; MIA
Daz; ::)
Colin Wolfe; MIA
Mel-Man; MIA
You get the picture ;) ;) :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:Some shady shit must have went down hhhhmmmm :-\
Fuck,Above The Law or Yella sholuld be the ones to carry on the legacy.
Shit is history now,Ruthless is dead. Tomica should just let the former artists buy their old masters,so they can release all the unreleased shit thatīs in the vaults. Like all the leftover tracks from the niggaz4Life sessions...yeah, sounds like a good idea. it's such a mess with the masters; ruthless had so many distribution deals in the past.
Priority,Epic,Atlantic,Giant,Relativity?
Thatīs it right? I guess youīre right....
Cold 187,KMG and/or Ren should get into it,they need some $ right?
or maybe theyīre happy with their job at the local supermarked? :laugh: :laugh:Ohhh that part :laugh: :laugh: :laugh::D they're are all locked in the basement :laugh:
I would like one with producers;
Yella; MIA
Cold 187; MIA
Daz; ::)
Colin Wolfe; MIA
Mel-Man; MIA
You get the picture ;) ;) :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:Priority,Epic,Atlantic,Giant,Relativity?yeah i guess that are pretty much all the labels ( and the even more fucked up thing is, that some of those labels are owned by bigger labels ::) )
Thatīs it right? I guess youīre right....
Cold 187,KMG and/or Ren should get into it,they need some $ right?
or maybe theyīre happy with their job at the local supermarked? :laugh: :laugh:
i don't know if they can make it happen, but maybe if they got good lawyers? they could at least try it. shouldn't be too hard with all the money they earn from their jobs at the local supermarket :Di was thinking, why didn't ruthless push Fuck tha police as a single?
i know that there are some similarities with straight outta compton, but the company could have pushed it as a 4th single and shoot a video for it?
financially it wouldn't be a problem, because the total costs for the album were very low anyway.
i'm sure Jerry Heller thought about it. i wonder what made him decide not to push it as a single.
i mean there was so much buzz around that song; Chad i'm sure you've read the stories about the issues that popped up during the NWA tours ;)
with the FBI letter NWA got a lot of extra promotion, so wouldn't that be a perfect moment to release a video for fuck tha police?
even though i know that the 100 miles and runnin' single was about to be released after the FBI incident.
i mean, Straight outta compton and Fuck tha police are the main songs of the straight outta compton album, so i agree with RenQuoteThaFormula.com - Did you guys know what your were about to do as far as the concepts for the album?
MC Ren - Yeah, if you listen to "Straight Out of Compton," and "Fuck tha Police," them probably the only two on there that's talkin' like serious shit,
NWA even did a part 2 of the song on the 100 miles and runnin' EPmain reason was it was too hard to be a single
even on the edited version of the cd, they redid all the other songs lyrics, but this one song they just had them scratched out.
it would have made a dope video, but back then in rap, you werent going to put money in a video that no one was going to play and that was a video NO ONE would play
if that shit came out today, drop that motherfucker on youtube and watch it create a riot
but 1989 on mtv, hell no.
but that's not the case, because there was a video of the track straight outta compton which was was banned from MTV, and the album went platinum without radioplay.
just check out Jerry's book, where he talks about the promotion and the distribution of the album.
edit: lol at the video, chad :laugh:^^^^^
Some info to note is;
-Ren working on Kizz my black azz while Dre was still around
so if they made some tracks together, i take it that those got scrapped just like the dre produced ones for Eazy-E's EP(first named as Temporary insanity, later renamed)?^^^^^
Some info to note is;
-Ren working on Kizz my black azz while Dre was still around
so if they made some tracks together, i take it that those got scrapped just like the dre produced ones for Eazy-E's EP
(first named as Temporary insanity, later renamed)?
Who knows,this is a little complicated... if you mix in the info from the Jerry Heller book.
Dre is still there,Ren dropping in a "couple" of months...
Deep Cover dropped around the same time as Kizz My Black azz (a couple months before it).
Letīs throw in a wild idea,could this all this be manufactured?i see what the writer is saying, but i disagree.
while (some) of the beats are slower than the examples he used in his article, i think it would go too far to state that slower beats for the villain in black are a major flaw; it's not really an issue for me, since i think Ren's delivery is still strong. just listen to the great elephant, mad scientist, i don't give a damn, still the same nigga, , keep it real, bitch made nigga killa, bring it on, live from compton saturday night ( almost the entire album, 8 out 10 tracks---> not counting muhammed speaks; to call this a major flaw is clearly an exaggeration).
on niggaz4life Ren was also rapping on some "slower" beats, and his flow was still good.
if the source is already making a big deal out of this, i wonder what they have to say about the D.O.C.'s voice in their review of helter skelter :-Xfrom what year is it( i assume it's from 1991)?
Actually I believe itīs 92 around the time Deep Cover dropped or later....
I can try to pin point this with the videoīs that was featured before and after it.
(Remind me if I forget,thereīs some more shit on the same video tape I got up,so will check it again)Quote from: Dre-Day - Sniper of the Kill Jimmy Iovine Movement link=topic=150824.msg1726477#msg1726477
it's very interesting indeed.
Jerry talked about Dre hanging with Suge, before the Eazy-E set up (from his book).
So i guess Dre was still with ruthless,while he was secretly working on death row?
but if he wanted to keep it low key he wouldn't have worn that hat. so he might have done that on purpose?
NWA interviews,reviews etc.
http://www.dubcnn.com/connect/index.php?topic=131032.50Who knows,this is a little complicated... if you mix in the info from the Jerry Heller book.
Letīs throw in a wild idea,could this all this be manufactured?
and to add a little more fire,Yella was there....
heīs also appearing in that interview,he doesnīt really say shit. (some uninteresting shit about pop rappers :D :laugh:)
yes, please post the other videos as well :laugh:
so it's from 1992; dre already left ruthless, although Eazy-E didn't have beef with dre yet. dre was always cool with Ren and Yella, though Yella's appearance on the video is a bit confusing :laugh:lol...... ::)i see what the writer is saying, but i disagree.
while (some) of the beats are slower than the examples he used in his article, i think it would go too far to state that slower beats for the villain in black are a major flaw; it's not really an issue for me, since i think Ren's delivery is still strong. just listen to the great elephant, mad scientist, i don't give a damn, still the same nigga, , keep it real, bitch made nigga killa, bring it on, live from compton saturday night ( almost the entire album, 8 out 10 tracks---> not counting muhammed speaks; to call this a major flaw is clearly an exaggeration).
on niggaz4life Ren was also rapping on some "slower" beats, and his flow was still good.
if the source is already making a big deal out of this, i wonder what they have to say about the D.O.C.'s voice in their review of helter skelter :-X
Hereīs Rap Pages review of The Villian in Black,they gave it 5 out of 10 :P >:(
How is that possible? ....sure we all miss Renīs "old" flow,but that doesnīt mean that his new flow is wak.
263 MC Ren; The Villian in Black review in Rap Pages April 1996
sometimes i wonder if they've actually heard the same album as we did.lol...... ::)i see what the writer is saying, but i disagree.
while (some) of the beats are slower than the examples he used in his article, i think it would go too far to state that slower beats for the villain in black are a major flaw; it's not really an issue for me, since i think Ren's delivery is still strong. just listen to the great elephant, mad scientist, i don't give a damn, still the same nigga, , keep it real, bitch made nigga killa, bring it on, live from compton saturday night ( almost the entire album, 8 out 10 tracks---> not counting muhammed speaks; to call this a major flaw is clearly an exaggeration).
on niggaz4life Ren was also rapping on some "slower" beats, and his flow was still good.
if the source is already making a big deal out of this, i wonder what they have to say about the D.O.C.'s voice in their review of helter skelter :-X
Hereīs Rap Pages review of The Villian in Black,they gave it 5 out of 10 :P >:(
How is that possible? ....sure we all miss Renīs "old" flow,but that doesnīt mean that his new flow is wak.
263 MC Ren; The Villian in Black review in Rap Pages April 1996
sometimes i wonder if they've actually heard the same album as we did.
Yeah,
my objective overall rating would be 4/5
my subjective personal rating would be 4.5/5
Thereīs a couple of tracks that got to go,but damn that album is tight.lol...... ::)i see what the writer is saying, but i disagree.
while (some) of the beats are slower than the examples he used in his article, i think it would go too far to state that slower beats for the villain in black are a major flaw; it's not really an issue for me, since i think Ren's delivery is still strong. just listen to the great elephant, mad scientist, i don't give a damn, still the same nigga, , keep it real, bitch made nigga killa, bring it on, live from compton saturday night ( almost the entire album, 8 out 10 tracks---> not counting muhammed speaks; to call this a major flaw is clearly an exaggeration).
on niggaz4life Ren was also rapping on some "slower" beats, and his flow was still good.
if the source is already making a big deal out of this, i wonder what they have to say about the D.O.C.'s voice in their review of helter skelter :-X
Hereīs Rap Pages review of The Villian in Black,they gave it 5 out of 10 :P >:(
How is that possible? ....sure we all miss Renīs "old" flow,but that doesnīt mean that his new flow is wak.
263 MC Ren; The Villian in Black review in Rap Pages April 1996
sometimes i wonder if they've actually heard the same album as we did.
Yeah,
my objective overall rating would be 4/5
my subjective personal rating would be 4.5/5
Thereīs a couple of tracks that got to go,but damn that album is tight.
not sure how high i would rate the album, but it wouldn't be much different from yours.
it's like that and mind blowin' aren't really typical Ren tracks though, if you know what i mean :laugh:Quotenot sure how high i would rate the album, but it wouldn't be much different from yours.
it's like that and mind blowin' aren't really typical Ren tracks though, if you know what i mean
^^^^^
Exactly,those two should go.
Theyīre not wak,but they donīt really fit Renīs style and drags down the "flow" of the album.props on this chad
wescoast history right here
thats fucked up how cube dogged yella on the one moe nigga to go album
that shit was not about record sales or nothin, just a tribute. it still came out tight. dirty reds westside story and aint no love, bg knoccouts song, it was a dope album, a lil short thou.
imagine if cube was spittin on str8 off tha streetz of compton. its fucked up how everyone turned on the lil big man after he passed. but shit always comes back again.
after readin yellas comments on cube, he has said before that he has in his possesion one eazy e song that is just str8 up diss records towards cube, but he will never release it. i hope one day one of em porn bitches just leak that shit, its been far too damn long.thats fucked up how cube dogged yella on the one moe nigga to go album
that shit was not about record sales or nothin, just a tribute.
it still came out tight. dirty reds westside story and aint no love, bg knoccouts song, it was a dope album, a lil short thou.
I also love Yellaīs album,I miss all off Eazyīs friends on Yellaīs album.
Only the "underdogs" showed love >:(....
Whereīs ATL and Ren? >:(
Itīs not like Yellaīs a bad producer by himself,the Yomo and Maulkie album proved that.Foe tha love of money, classic westcoast beat. yella is mad under rated
i have always wondered that myself, where was ATL and Ren. they were all down at that time.Foe tha love of money, classic westcoast beat. yella is mad under rated
Sure,so classic that he/ruthless used for both Yomo & Maulkie and Bone. ;) :laugh:
Yomo & Maulkie ''Mockingbird''*Director Marty Thomas produced by DJ Yella
http://www.youtube.com/v/jl9O8-6vrzE&rel
from the Yella produced album;
Yomo & Maulkie; Are U Xperienced?
(http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/ciu/6c/5c/643db340dca01b9278784010._AA240_.L.jpg)
16 used & new available from $5.33
http://www.amazon.com/Are-U-Xperienced-Yomo-Maulkie/dp/B000008MJO/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1202992018&sr=8-1
^^^^dope album^^^^^I was thinking, why didn't ruthless push Fuck tha police as a single?
I know that there are some similarities with straight outta compton,
but the company could have pushed it as a 4th single and shoot a video for it?
financially it wouldn't be a problem,because the total costs for the album were very low anyway.
What I observed is that singles is released if they think it can push more units of the album. (Ruthless and DR)
The album buzz is normally over after the 2nd single,the 3rd is somehow released to see if they can squezze some more out of it.
Ruthless and Death Row seemed to go by the same formula.
Check it;
Straight Outta Compton;
-Straight Outta Compton
-Gangster Gangster
-Express Yourself..... then they follow up with a new release; 100 Miles and runninī
The Chronic;
-G Thang
-Dre-Day
-Let Me Ride then they followed up with Doggystyle
It seems like they liked to keep the hype up for their next release and let the third single kinda sleep itīs way onto the next release.
They also followed the same formula with Doggystyle to DoggFood.I'm sure Jerry Heller thought about it. I wonder what made him decide not to push it as a single.
I mean there was so much buzz around that song;
Chad i'm sure you've read the stories about the issues that popped up during the NWA tours ;)
Maybe they figured they didnīt need to put out as a single and that "Fuck The Police"
might be one reason so many people bought the ALBUM,you know.I mean,Straight outta compton and Fuck tha police are the main songs of the straight outta compton album,
so i agree with Ren;[/color]QuoteThaFormula.com - Did you guys know what your were about to do as far as the concepts for the album?
MC Ren - Yeah, if you listen to "Straight Out of Compton," and "Fuck tha Police,"
them probably the only two on there that's talkin' like serious shit,
^^^^
But remember there was 5 cats in NWA;
Cube,Ren and Eazy was probably behind the "gangster concepts"
while Dre,Yella (and The D.O.C) was more into the "Hip Hop" joints you know,thatīs at least how I assume it was.I was thinking, why didn't ruthless push Fuck tha police as a single?
I know that there are some similarities with straight outta compton,
but the company could have pushed it as a 4th single and shoot a video for it?
financially it wouldn't be a problem,because the total costs for the album were very low anyway.
What I observed is that singles is released if they think it can push more units of the album. (Ruthless and DR)
The album buzz is normally over after the 2nd single,the 3rd is somehow released to see if they can squezze some more out of it.
Ruthless and Death Row seemed to go by the same formula.
Check it;
Straight Outta Compton;
-Straight Outta Compton
-Gangster Gangster
-Express Yourself..... then they follow up with a new release; 100 Miles and runninī
The Chronic;
-G Thang
-Dre-Day
-Let Me Ride then they followed up with Doggystyle
It seems like they liked to keep the hype up for their next release and let the third single kinda sleep itīs way onto the next release.
They also followed the same formula with Doggystyle to DoggFood.I'm sure Jerry Heller thought about it. I wonder what made him decide not to push it as a single.
I mean there was so much buzz around that song;
Chad i'm sure you've read the stories about the issues that popped up during the NWA tours ;)
Maybe they figured they didnīt need to put out as a single and that "Fuck The Police"
might be one reason so many people bought the ALBUM,you know.
ronin ro talks about the NWA tour incident ( the NWA members screamed fuck the police during the concert, and soon got arrested).
after reading that + reading your post it made me rethink; NWA already got a lot of media attention because of that incident, and the FBI letter so i guess releasing fuck the police wasn't necessary anymore.
as you pointed out, after the 3rd single, the 100 miles and runnin' ep was being released.yeah i know, i do disagree with ren that the rest are fillers.I mean,Straight outta compton and Fuck tha police are the main songs of the straight outta compton album,
so i agree with Ren;[/color]QuoteThaFormula.com - Did you guys know what your were about to do as far as the concepts for the album?
MC Ren - Yeah, if you listen to "Straight Out of Compton," and "Fuck tha Police,"
them probably the only two on there that's talkin' like serious shit,
^^^^
But remember there was 5 cats in NWA;
Cube,Ren and Eazy was probably behind the "gangster concepts"
while Dre,Yella (and The D.O.C) was more into the "Hip Hop" joints you know,thatīs at least how I assume it was.
although something 2 dance 2 does not belong on an NWA album imo.
according to ronin ro's book, Dre, Ren, Cube, and Yella didn't want the track on the album but Eazy felt sorry for Arabian Prince, so that's why he did put the track on straight outta compton.yeah i know, i do disagree with Ren that the rest are fillers.
although something 2 dance 2 does not belong on an NWA album imo.
according to ronin ro's book, Dre, Ren, Cube, and Yella didn't want the track on the album but Eazy felt sorry for Arabian Prince,
so that's why he did put the track on straight outta compton.
hmmm,Straight Outta Compton ainīt perfect.
This is one album that could have problems getting the classic status if we where only speaking musically you know.
It got the classic status because it broke new ground and set new standards,but as a musical masterpiece no. (my opinion ;))
Personally I like Eazy Duz It more as an overall record,sure Straight Outta Compton has the strongest tracks,
but overall Eazy Duz It sounds better in my ears.
But remember Renīs frame of mind had changed since he did that record.
I donīt think he would do those "Run DMC" type of records anymore,sure Run DMC is still one of his idols he modeled his style after.
But as time went by the records had more influence from PE and BDP than Run DMCīs "rock the party" joints.
So that might be the reason he said the rest was fillers I guess ;)personally i actually like the production of straight outta compton more than those of eazy duz it, but i see your point about the production; on straight outta compton dre was sort of emulating the sound of public enemy's 2nd album, while on niggaz4life he was more developing a different sound.yeah i know, i do disagree with Ren that the rest are fillers.
although something 2 dance 2 does not belong on an NWA album imo.
according to ronin ro's book, Dre, Ren, Cube, and Yella didn't want the track on the album but Eazy felt sorry for Arabian Prince,
so that's why he did put the track on straight outta compton.
hmmm,Straight Outta Compton ainīt perfect.
This is one album that could have problems getting the classic status if we where only speaking musically you know.
It got the classic status because it broke new ground and set new standards,but as a musical masterpiece no. (my opinion ;))
Personally I like Eazy Duz It more as an overall record,sure Straight Outta Compton has the strongest tracks,
but overall Eazy Duz It sounds better in my ears.
But remember Renīs frame of mind had changed since he did that record.
I donīt think he would do those "Run DMC" type of records anymore,sure Run DMC is still one of his idols he modeled his style after.
But as time went by the records had more influence from PE and BDP than Run DMCīs "rock the party" joints.
So that might be the reason he said teh rest was fillers (I assume) ;)
come to think of it, i might put niggaz4life to the test for the source reviews topic againyeah i know, i do disagree with Ren that the rest are fillers.
although something 2 dance 2 does not belong on an NWA album imo.
according to ronin ro's book, Dre, Ren, Cube, and Yella didn't want the track on the album
but Eazy felt sorry for Arabian Prince,so that's why he did put the track on straight outta compton.hmmm,Straight Outta Compton ainīt perfect.
This is one album that could have problems getting the classic status if we where only speaking musically you know.
It got the classic status because it broke new ground and set new standards,but as a musical masterpiece no. (my opinion ;))
Personally I like Eazy Duz It more as an overall record,sure Straight Outta Compton has the strongest tracks,
but overall Eazy Duz It sounds better in my ears.
But remember Renīs frame of mind had changed since he did that record.
I donīt think he would do those "Run DMC" type of records anymore,sure Run DMC is still one of his idols he modeled his style after.
But as time went by the records had more influence from PE and BDP than Run DMCīs "rock the party" joints.
So that might be the reason he said the rest was fillers I guess ;)personally i actually like the production of straight outta compton more than those of eazy duz it,
but i see your point about the production;
on straight outta compton dre was sort of emulating the sound of public enemy's 2nd album,
while on niggaz4life he was more developing a different sound.
Come to think of it,I might put niggaz4life to the test for the source reviews topic again
I was thinking about Ren lyrically ;),he was going from Run DMC "rock the party" Hip Hop rhymes to a more militant style.
Sure he has always been hardcore but you know shit changed,,,,, ;)
As for production I would say that Eazy Duz It had many G-Funk elements in it,funk samples and what not.
But somehow that album get overlooked when cats review Dreīs production work. :-\
I think Dre devolved the "100 Miles/Jimmy Z/Niggaz4Life" while vibeing with Colin Wolfe and Mike Sims.Come to think of it,I might put niggaz4life to the test for the source reviews topic again
^^^^^^
Do that,should be interesting.
I also got to reply to HighEyeCueīs Kurupt review ;).Thats the best NWA Post break up interview and my favourite Eazy interview
He gives up the real,no bullshit like he said, greed,big heads and egos tore that house down,and people puttin bullshit in niggas ears
Dre never gave a response like this, he just brought up the "shady dealings"
but everyone knows now, that dre was living good, bumped in the bitch in red named suge,
got fucked outta deathrow and the rest is history.
Dre left a good situation for somethin that looked good in his eyes, almost everyone elses has well, but was too fucked up to be true.
I think Dre regret this,Iīve been talking with Dre-Day about this a lot trough PM.
D.O.C all strung out on the white girl while hanging with Suge.
...and as you said puttin bullshit in their ears. (according to Jerry Hellerīs book,and I actually believe Jerry).Yeah, like ive heard old friends of Eazy talk about that situation, alot of people will not forgive Dre for that.
Dre and Eazy back in the day was tight like brothers, enter Suge, the rest is history
DOC was preety messed up, eric and jerry tried to help him get his vioce back, but he could not get off the bottle and that other thang. E tried to help him alot, and he just went AWOL. imagine if he had his voice back and could drop records with a decent voice. shit be bananas.Yeah, like ive heard old friends of Eazy talk about that situation,alot of people will not forgive Dre for that.
Dre and Eazy back in the day was tight like brothers, enter Suge, the rest is history
Dre-Day brought up the other day that the loss of Dreīs brother might have something to do with it.
I mean D.O.C all strung out on the white girl after the accident and Dre a little fucked after the loss of his brother.
Shit like that might affect you to re-think your life and do some stupid decisions like going with Suge. ;)DOC was preety messed up, eric and jerry tried to help him get his vioce back,
but he could not get off the bottle and that other thang. E tried to help him alot, and he just went AWOL.
When I read how that shit went down I got really dissapointed,D.O.C can only blame himself if this is true. :-\ :Pimagine if he had his voice back and could drop records with a decent voice.
shit be bananas.
:banana: :banana_rock: :banana: :banana_rock: :banana: :banana_rock: :banana: :banana_rock: :banana: :banana_rock:The DOC had one of the greatest VOICES in hip hop history, its a damn shame what happened and now that I'm listening to "Helter Skelter" if only he had his old voice to go with those beats on that album because Erotic D did some good productionWhen I read how that shit went down I got really dissapointed,D.O.C can only blame himself if this is true. :-\ :P:laugh:imagine if he had his voice back and could drop records with a decent voice.:banana: :banana_rock: :banana: :banana_rock: :banana: :banana_rock: :banana: :banana_rock: :banana: :banana_rock:
shit be bananas.Dre-Day brought up the other day that the loss of Dreīs brother might have something to do with it.yeah suge couldn't have had a better timing >:(
I mean D.O.C all strung out on the white girl after the accident and Dre a little fucked after the loss of his brother.
Shit like that might affect you to re-think your life and do some stupid decisions like going with Suge. ;)The DOC had one of the greatest VOICES in hip hop history, its a damn shame what happened and now that I'm listening to
"Helter Skelter" if only he had his old voice to go with those beats on that album because Erotic D did some good production
Chadīs PERSONAL breakdown of The D.O.C Helter Skelter album;
http://www.dubcnn.com/connect/index.php?topic=144128.msg1738137#msg1738137
nice review Chad, I'm also gonna do one, hopefully it will be up by the end of the week and I'll post it in that threaddope
has much has i love reading, some of em, like this last Dj Yella one got me preety depressed. its sad hearing about e's last days and all the shady behind the scenes shit that was going on for all his loot. i always think he just gave up, he did not want to live in this world and be associated with aids. his last wish was to drop the top and cruise one last time.
Imagine if NWA went on tour right after Niggaz4life. It would have been a monster tour, bigger then any i can even remember. After selling a million in the first week no radio play, damn they really knew how to make that shit look Eazy.i always think he just gave up, he did not want to live in this world and be associated with aids. his last wish was to drop the top and cruise one last time.
what makes you think that?
based on what the the people close to Eazy say, i don't get that impression at all about Eazy :-\think about it from a human aspect, fuck the rapper/fan shit
its some real fucked up shit to deal with, your on top of the world, young, rich, living the good life, good business, and then bam you get aids. your never looked at the same again. (especially if your in hip hop, can you imagine someone put out a diss record, soulja boy would ether a dude with hiv if shit was like that) realistically it killed him but shit even if he could live, do you think he would.
about takin a cruise with the top down,
Charms Henry, Eazy's former personal assistant and longtime friend:
Eazy was diagnosed with AIDS March 1. "He told me it wasn't fair, " says Henry, her voice tense with emotion. "That he didn't want to die. He said he wouldn't care if he didn't have a dime; he said he wouldn't care what anybody said, if he could just drop the top on his car and ride up the coast one more time."
"She told you, right?" is how Eazy-E told Big Man and Jacob T. that he was dying of AIDS. The "she" was his soon-to-be wife, Tomica, who had been keeping a bedside vigil since Eazy was hospitalized. Eazy was scheduled for surgery the next day, March 15, so that excess fluid could be drained from his lungs. Amid concern that he might not survive the surgery, he married Tomica Woods. Woods and her daughter subsequently tested negative for HIV, though they may not be out of danger, as the virus sometimes takes months to show up in tests.
Ice Cube - Death Certificate and AMW Source reviews Ŧ on: May 18, 2003, 08:24:01 PM ŧ
http://www.dubcnn.com/connect/index.php?topic=34074.msg385454#msg385454
Death Certificate
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41ZW7QX6XVL._SL500_AA240_.jpg)
4 1/2 mics
Ice Cube has unleashed his second solo album and it ain't no gangsta's fairytale.
Death Certificate begins with "The Death Side a mirrored image of where we are today"
and continues with "The Life Side, a vision of where we need to go."
The catalyst in this version is the Nation of Islam (Cube is now a member).
Cube's lyrics draw on the Nation's messages of knowledge of self, economic self sufficiency,
and self-determination.
The "Death Side" begins with "The Wrong Nigga to Fuck With," an all out attack similar to
"The Nigga You Love to Hate." "My Summer Vacation" tells the tale of gang-banging
LA drug dealers who start scramblin' in East St. Louis over a funky "Atomic Dog" loop.
"Givin Up the Nappy Dug Out" exposes a father's supposedly immaculate
Catholic school daughter as the tramp of the neighborhood over a fat "Hip Hugger" loop.
"A Bird in the Hand" is the story of a young Black male who must sell drugs to support his family.
The track uses the slamming loop from the recent Cube/EPMD St. Ide's commercial.
"Alive on Arrival" is an incredible account of being shot and going to
"the county hospital jack/where niggas die over a little scratch."
On the "Life Side" Cube assaults white supremacy on "I Wanna Kill Sam" and "Horny Lil Devil",
while "Black Korea" takes aim at Korean merchants with businesses in Black communities
who Cube sees as being insensitive to Black people. "Be True to the Game" loops
the Gap Band's "Outstanding" while Cube blasts the "sellouts",
for forgetting their roots after making some money. "Us,"
is Cube's call for the Black community to stop destroying itself and unite in order to become self-sufficient.
Using the old "Dazz" sample, Cube saves the final deathblow for a blistering rebuttal to
NWA entitled "No Vaseline." After Boyz N The Hood,
people may have been expecting to hear a "politically correct" Ice Cube record.
The sometimes harsh rhetoric is part of his mission help the
Black community and that may be hard for some to swallow.
Death Certificate's production is good and will keep your ear,
but it doesn't really break any new ground like Amerikkka's Most Wanted.
Many of the samples are recognizable and the overall sound has a funk vibe.
Sir Jinx's tracks are denser and busier while the Boogie Men keep things sparser and more beat oriented,
but the record is overall Cube. Ice Cube's lyrical styles and concepts
carry the album and make it something hip hop fans must have.
review by Reef
Amerikkka's Most Wanted
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41QWG98PGJL._SL500_AA240_.jpg)
5 mics
It's Amerikkka's favorite "Gangsta Gangsta" shootin' straight from the lip.
So all sellouts, black radio, police, rednecks, suckers and record stores better beware of the Lench Mob.
This record is summed up best by Cube himself when he says
"I'm solo, you ask how I'm livin/still drop more shit than a pigeon."
Each song interlocks with the next puzzle, while each piece keeps its distinctive shape.
So much of this album is excellent; the Bomb Squad has really outdone itself on this effort,
blending their metallic bum-rush style of beats with funky pimp type grooves to create noise with a serious gangsta limp.
(Makes you wonder what they were - or weren't - doing on P.E.'s album).
It's the perfect backdrop for Ice Cube to get everything off his chest--and then some.
Ice Cube says "Fuck Top 40" but this album may well end up on it.
Lethal Injection
3 1/2 mics
Before Dre and Snoop became household names on both coasts, Ice Cube had already started tearing down the wall seperating the East and West Coasts of the hip-hop nation. As a boundary-less lyrical master with movie joints to boot, Cube was quite the man. Now with his fourth solo effort in less than four years, Ice Cube is still big-time but this shot in the arm is considerably less potent than his original nigga-you-loved-to-hate material.
My first impression of the album was one of unimpressed ambivalence. After the so-so Predator album, I was open for a big comeback. I wanted more of the ill gangster-isms of "Once Upon a Time in the Projects" or "Steady Mobbin'," and les sof "Wicked"'s trendy mark-isms. This album is somewhere in between the two and it grows on you.
Production-wise, the album displays both the G-Funk trend and the Oakland sound. The results of QDIII, Jinx, Laylaw and lesser knowns Brian G, Madness 4 Real and 88X Unit are bumpin' but Cube seems to be searching for that tight fit he used to have. A perfect example of that paradox is "Down 4 Whatever," produced by Madness 4 Real. This is creepin' music straight up and down. You got the evil synth whine up top with sonic bass tremors down low, plus ultra-slow, molasses-flow lyrics like "Here comes the big headed nigga that's dippin'/Sippin on Courvosier/God-damn, I must have the floss today/Now pimpin ain't easy but it's necessary/So I'm chasin' bitches like Tom chases Jerry." Dope as hell except for the fact that it sounds nothing like Cube. More like Too Short, with a li'l pinch of Snoop. Change and development is Kool and the Gang but you miss Cube's ill humor, manipulating verbals into narratives. His flow is more disjointed now, forming clever phrases rather than paragraphs.
Aside from the criticisms, Cube scores on tracks like "Really Doe," "You Know How We Do It" and "Lil Ass Gee." The bass-heavy beats are on point as Cube expounds on the hoo-bang lifestyle. And there's some anti-white, anti-Christian preaching as well. A message to white women, "Cave Bitch" is as musically dope but also as lyrically vicious as Death Certificate's "Horny Lil Devil," with disconcerting rhymes like, "I'm true to the game/Y'all all look the same/Standin by my backstage door, hopin I will switch/Spread out ya little cave bitch!" For the most part though, the other cuts sound regular; nothing pure bunk, but no classic material either. If you're a true Ice Cube fan and you have all of his previous work, by all means get Lethal Injection for the good shit. But for all y'all others, if you don't already own Amerikkka's Most Wanted and/or Death Certificate, take care of your business. Don't buy the rims 'til you've got the '64.
review by Shortie.
The Source September 93 #48
The Source:
But RBX,who sets shit off on "High Powered" jumped ship just as Death Row began to move into their new offices. When The Source Matty C received a fax from Disney's Hollywood Basic announcing they'd signed RBX,he called Suge. According to Suge,he'd heard of no such thing.
I ask Dre about RBX..."Ehh...that's my boy,me and him are cool...I don't know." he pauses briefly. "He been having those mothafuckas running up in his ear. See it's like this,when RBX came down,that's Snoop's cousin you know..." He decides to end it there,remembering what words can do when exchanged in public. I ask if RBX's deal with Hollywood Basic is official. "Naw,legally he still with me. I'm just gonna wait to see what happens." He decides to continue.
"Soon as he blew up,soon as my record came out,you got a gang of mothafuckas talkin' about what they should be doing,where they should be,what they should have. Mothafuckas that didn't give a fuck about 'im before the record came out."
But isn't that what N.W.A went trough? "Naw,my shit was real. My business was fucked up. I'm not fucking over my people. Cuz I been on that side so I know what they expect and what they want. You keep the artist happy and there won't be no problems. Snoop is like my little brother yaknowwhatimsayin'? I'm just watching everybody's back. Everybody knows I've been in the industry a long time they know I know what I'm talkin about. So they listen to me. And I love them for that,because they trust my judgement."
In 1992, Dr. Dre’s The Chronic blazed in a new era of Hip-Hop. More than being the catalyst for the G-Funk era, it was the foundation upon which Death Row Records was built. It possessed an intensity, boldness and swagger that seemed to be in direct defiance of the Native Tongue movement taking place out in the East. The spokespeople for this new sound were a stable of hungry artists wanting to claim the spotlight left vacant by N.W.A. A smooth rhyming Calvin Broadus Jr. (Snoop Doggy Dogg at that time) and the booming, unorthodox style of Eric Collins (RBX) were the most talked about of these new artists.
Through the rise and eventual fall of Death Row, Snoop and RBX were selected as “Most likely to blow up” by industry insiders. 15 years after their introduction, RBX and Snoop have had careers that have gone in very different directions. Despite both winning awards and being a part of platinum selling projects, RBX has remained underground while Snoop basks in the limelight. With the release of his latest project, Broken Silence, RBX looks to silence critics by demonstrating that he can still drop bombs like Hiroshima.
AllHipHop.com: The intro to Broken Silence features a reporter asking you about where you have been since ’94. Do you think that the common perception is that this is your first album since The Chronic?
RBX: Well actually he was being sarcastic. I don’t know if it came across like that, but some people may not know me. For those that don’t, they may think that this is my first album, but if they dig into the crates, so to speak, they will find out that it is not.
AllHipHop.com: You were introduced to the world via The Chronic, has there been any talk about you appearing on Detox?
RBX: Yes there has. I am in the dark about the record just like everyone else. I had a conversation with one of my folks and they said that Dre is not complete on who he is going to have on it; he is still digging through some of the songs he has, but maybe I will make it. I don’t know yet. We are going to have to wait and see. Dre is so picky that one week you might be on there and the next week you are not, so you just have to wait till it comes out to see.
AllHipHop.com: You have experienced everything there is to experience in this industry, but what would you say is the most frustrating aspect of being involved in Hip-Hop right now?
RBX: A lot of these industry cats don’t know the history of Hip-Hop. No one looks out for the next man.
AllHipHop.com: You appear on various projects by the Visionaries and Ld and Ariano’s A Thin line, but how did you guys first connect?
RBX: Ariano has a kid by one of my brother’s cousins. Ariano tried to get at my homie Quaz who was working at this studio. We met and ended up always working around each other. Since he was working with the Visionaries, one day I hollered at Key Kool and 2mex and the whole crew, and now it’s all family. Working on this project with the Visionaries was strictly Hip-Hop. Everyone would come in like it was the Terrordome. All the MCs stepped their game up.
AllHipHop.com: A year ago at the Visionaries album release party, you came out and kicked a freestyle. What was that like to perform in front of your home crowd surrounded by your family?
RBX: Aww man you remember that. That show was crazy. It was really good. I work really hard to get the audience tuned in. To see loved ones from Long Beach show appreciation is a good feeling. It gives me my mojo back and reminds me I have some time left and some things to do.
AllHipHop.com: You state on “Echoes of My Mind” that you were disenchanted after the Death Row situation and the passing of Biggie and Pac, but then you were back on. What was it that got you back on to Hip-Hop?
RBX: I still had a love for it. I would hear beats, and my mind would start wandering. I would write hooks, so I knew I still had the itch. I was just depressed and frustrated because things didn’t turn out exactly like I thought they would, but I had to just grow up and stop being a big baby, get my mojo back, and start to doing what I am supposed to be doing.
AllHipHop.com: Do you think those experiences have made you a stronger artist?
RBX: Oh my God, yes! At the time I was going through them, no I did not think that. I thought it’s a rap, I am through with this bullshit. As they say, “what doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger.” I now actually see what I was doing wrong back then, and I have corrected my errors. I act the way I do now because of the things I have gone through. I no longer drink or party. I ain’t got time for that bullsh*t. This is what I have come to.
AllHipHop.com: Snoop produces “Overdue”. What is your impression of Snoop as a producer?
RBX: He is my cousin and is serious about everything he does. At first I didn’t know he was serious about production, but he sent me this track, and it was all good.
AllHipHop.com: How did it come about that he would produce a track for this album but not rhyme on it?
RBX: He could have rhymed on it but at the pace we were working at, he wasn’t free at the time because Snoop’s plate is full as hell. I didn’t consider it because I know his schedule, but it’s not a big deal.
AllHipHop.com: What is your opinion of the state of West Coast Hip-Hop?
RBX: 9-1-1.
AllHipHop.com: Why do you say that?
RBX: You have all of the hoods in Long Beach and you have all of the hoods in Compton, Inglewood, Watts, all of those cities, and everybody is hating on everybody. There is so much hatred that nobody can grow. If we don’t have the West accepting the West, how do we expect others to accept that the West is hard when we are disrespecting our own people? We close the door on local cats, but if someone comes from Atlanta then the door is wide open, and we can’t understand that. The difference between cats in Oakland and out here is out there they are all together. Out there they may not like each other, but they are professional and will work together to get money and after they are done in the studio they can tell each other to get the f*ck on. Out here, they just want to cut and shoot and act like they are super-duper hard. No one is trying to be professional; everyone is trying to be a thug and a gangster. The industry mutherf*ckers get mad because they are intimidated because they didn’t grow up in that sh*t. I am talking about these rich kids whose fathers own billion dollar companies. They ain’t trying to get no AK shot through their Maybach These labels water down their material by going out to the Midwest to get all their artists rather than working with artists from the West Coast.
AllHipHop.com: What can we expect from the upcoming Concrete Criminals project with Ren and will producer LD be involved in the production?
RBX: In a week or two that sh*t is going to be done. I am about to make fireworks pop. I am going to slow my pace because the response I am getting from Broken Silence is overwhelming. I don’t think LD will be involved. Anything that I control, LD will be a part of, but when I am not in control, I don’t want to squeeze him into a situation that he wouldn’t be comfortable with. This is going to be a bang-out, bang bang album. This album will show that I have every piece of skill that I ever had. I am still rough and grimy. We are going to say some old N.W.A type sh*t on this album that will make people go, “What the F*ck?!” Stay Tuned.
MC Ren Returns With RBX As Concrete Criminals
http://www.dubcnn.com/connect/index.php?topic=158889.0
Known most for his gravelly voiced appearances on classics such as The Chronic and The Mashall Mathers LP, RBX has been moving, and in some cases frightening, crowds for over fifteen years. A Grammy award winning artist, RBX recently released a full length album titled Broken Silence and plans on following it up in 2008 with Unanimous. Even with all that solo work listeners can still expect to hear him continuing to guest on other people's work, as well. He notes "I need to holler at Em. You need to shoot that shout out. That's my dog." This week the man who describes himself as "a dormant volcano" sat down with RapReviews to discuss his storied career, how his work now differs from his work in the past, and why he's happy rappers have taken a step back from the idea of "keeping it real."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Adam Bernard: Before we even get started with the real questions I heard you just had some work done to your car.
RBX: Actually I got a new radiator put in because I saw coolant leaking and I don't like coolant leaking out the car, that's not a good thing, so I have them doing some work on it. It's a big ass BMW and it can't leak. If it starts leaking that means it's gonna lead to a bigger leak and I might be out somewhere one day and that shit bust on me. It's pretty much a maintenance issue.
AB: So this isn't a Pimp My Ride situation.
RBX: Aw naw, it's a nice BM but no it's not getting flashed out, it's pretty much a maintenance thing and that's it. You pull up, you're leaking coolant, that's not cool. Girls lookin at you like damn, his car's leaking fluids and shit. Yeah, that's not a good look. If you can rectify it you might wanna just go ahead and get that cleaned
AB: Yeah, I don't think the ladies are going to wait around after the show while you get your car fixed.
RBX: You dig! That's exactly what I'm saying. "Hold on baby, let me see if I can get a jump start."
AB: Moving to the subject of your music. Broken Silence is the new album. Tell me a little bit about what silence you're breaking.
RBX: The silence of me not really actually having a record that I control and that I was the driving force behind without censorship from major labels or VPs who don't want you doing this, don't want you doing that, can't say this, can't say that. This is me saying what the fuck I want to say.
AB: What's the average person going to learn about you from this album that they don't know already?
RBX: That I'm nice. Everybody thinks I'm just a voice. (growls) But he ain't rapping, he ain't got nothing to say. That's kind of how I was in some situations when I was with some of my other cats. (growls) and then I'm gone. Motherfuckers be like "what was that?" You didn't get to really hear me rhyme, you'd just get to hear me do a little somethin something. They basically heard the voice, but now they're hearing me rap.
AB: Are you saying that your being viewed as "just a voice" was almost justified back in the day?
RBX: Yeah, cuz back in the day everybody had their part to play. Dre with the beat, Snoop was the young MC who got all the girls, Daz with the bang bang, Warren G had his role; Dre knew what the fuck he was doing, he incorporated all of this and I was the monster. RAWR! I was that. Listen to The Chronic and you'll see what I'm talking about.
AB: How did the folks you had worked with in the past react to this really lyrical side of who you are?
RBX: You know what, honestly, I have not heard one bad thing. I figured there were going to be some haters and some naysayers, but not one. My niggas was like, "we ain't surprised. We know you. We were just waiting for you to shit." I'm thinking I'm gonna get some "YEA RBX," but I've been getting "you did what we thought you was going to do." I don't get no pat on the back or nuttin. I kind of wanted to hear "you have room for improvement," but nah, "that's hot," that's all I get.
AB: Taking that situation you went through, should we be looking at some of the younger MCs of today and thinking more of what they might be ten years down the line, in effect saying let's give them a few years?
RBX: It's not a lesson. I ain't no rap guru godfather. If they're really into it there is an automatic progression that takes place. A lot of MCs out there can do their thing but there's not one that can knock me out the box. Right now there are some MCs out there that are hot, they're nice, but they can get knocked out. I'm one of those you can't knock out. As soon as I hear what it is I'ma fire a missile back. I can't be beat and I'm confident with that.
AB: You've worked with a lot of legendary artists. With Broken Silence you have your own voice. What makes you better now than you were back in your Chronic days?
RBX: I didn't know nothing then. Now I can see things a little better and clearer. Clarity is the key. Sometimes you try to help folks and I don't know what's wrong with society today, but if I had gone about all this Hollywood and gotten all the known bigwigs to do the record the first thing cats would have been saying is "oh he don't come down and work with the underground cats." When I go try to work with the underground cats the first thing they try to do is take me out to box like on some battle shit. I'm thinking in my head "what an idiot. I'm down here trying to help you, we've put this together and that's just an attempt to divide right there." There are big conflicts that I have but I get past them because I'm from the street and nobody can say nothing because I rap good and I'll smash they ass. So basically me going down into the pits was just a way to rejuvenate my whole thing and keep everything sharp and precise
AB: Over the past fifteen years what have been some of your favorite memories from all your performances and studio sessions?
RBX: There was one time, I think it was Rock the Bells, I was just going on stage to watch KRS-One get down. I was NOT in performance mode, I was NOT supposed to get down, I was just up there to support my brother and somehow... Kris didn't even know I was out there, he was just doing his thing, but he did a move where he spun around and saw me. He said "what!?! Is this RBX on the stage!?!" And it was a wrap. I think there was Nas, Talib Kweli, Freestyle Fellowship and we just shit! We just shit on 16,000 motherfuckers and Kris was like "Fuck that! Turn the music off! A capella!" I jumped up on a speaker and just shit. I remember that, that was fun. I just really love what I do.
AB: What do you feel has been your greatest accomplishment?
RBX: Aw man, just being alive. You don't even realize that is a job. Everything, all that extra shit, it's nothing. Houses and all that shit come and go and people stressing and worrying themselves behind some material ass shit when they can just live, that's enough. Everything else can come and go, don't trip. Everyone wants the finer things but if you had a nice ass house and a BMW and all that shit but you didn't have no oxygen...
AB: Good point. Finally, what do you like about what's going on in Hip-Hop today?
RBX: You know what, actually, I like the fact that niggas is getting back to headbanging. It was never meant to be a physical altercation, or go get your gun and kill a nigga. You can talk about it, but c'mon now, when all that bullshit is blurted out, "we gonna keep it super real," that's when they start killing. On "Fly MC" Special Ed was talking about he was flying on his jet and kicked the bitch through the cargo hatch. Everybody knows he wasn't in a jet kicking the Queen of France through a fucking hatch, but they didn't send nobody out to fuck with Special Ed about that. It was hot, but then you couldn't do shit like that, people were like that shit ain't real and everybody's talking really really real like I'm going to come to your studio with my AK and kill you. No! Slow down, buddy. That's kind of where the problem came in. Right now rap is realizing I'ma get at you, but I ain't really trying to come and kill you and your family, homey, I'ma try and bust your head open with these verbs and that's what it was meant to be. At the end of the day I'll see you, we can smoke a blunt and have a burger together, dawg, but when I'm doing my thing in the studio I'm a monster and I'ma try to slice your whole jugular out, but it's words. There's a difference between some rap shit and some not rap shit.
AB: I've noticed quite a few rappers who never had rap sheet, or who only had small ones, have been getting into a lot of trouble for starting to believe their own rhymes.
RBX: Idiots. And that's what happens. I ain't gotta prove shit. Matter of fact I'm trying to live some shit down. I'm soft skinned. I ain't trying to act hard. Everybody else trying to act hard, in all honesty it's on some reverse osmosis and that's what you gotta remember. Cats that be acting like they all hard be the softest motherfuckers in the whole building. It was always the case in the streets that the cats who don't say one motherfuckin word be the most vicious motherfucker in the whole spot. All that rah rah, that's all for hype and record sales. That's bullshit
http://www.rapreviews.com/
http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/features/id.953
RBX will be remembered for his lyrics alongside his manhood in Hip Hop history. A cousin of Snoop Dogg, X was the first - and one of the only artists to ever leave Death Row Records. He did so after working on The Chronic and Doggystyle and found underground success on several independent labels with pet releases before returning beside Dr. Dre at Aftermath Records in the late '90s.
Though he's always been underground and always taken lengthy hiatuses, few expected RBX to reappear working alongside DJ Rhettmatic and LMNO as well as other veteran artists of the nouveau Los Angeles underground Hip Hop community. With an album Broken Silence commemorating the new side of The Narrator, RBX breaks the silence with HipHopDX about the past and future.
HipHopDX: My favorite song on your album Broken Silence, beside the fact that it’s produced by Snoop, is “Overdue.” What inspired it?
RBX: As an artist, I came into this Rap thing as just a kid with a dream. I never was trying to be a star. I just wanted to do what I do, and it blew up. Everything is large now. My whole world has changed. I was in the Death Row situation. Everybody thinks, “Okay, it’s beautiful and lovely, the success. You’re gonna get the nice car and the nice house.” Yeah, I have the nice car and I had the big house, but imagine the mafia being after you, ya dig? It was a blessing and a curse at the same time. Then I went underground.
“Overdue” is to let all my cats out there that’s doing things or just doing their music, and for whatever reason they didn’t blow up…“Overdue” is all my perseverance over the negative. It’s to stand up on my own two. In this rap industry. It’s not written, but this rap industry is like sororities, ya dig? I wouldn’t say fraternities, ‘cause that would be men. These people don’t act like men. They come off so hard with their personas, but on the interior, they act like women and girls. I’m not a part of any fraternity or sorority. I’m just one on an island. “Overdue” is my testimonial that if you stick to what you firmly believe in, and stay true to yourself, you can do it. I should have said this a while ago, but I was unable to ‘cause Suge [Knight] wouldn’t let me, and then there were other individuals that was blockin’, and now it’s overdue.
DX: You waited for turn, in ’92 with Death Row and again in ’96 with Aftermath. When you see all these artists in bigger artists’ entourages today, waiting for their turn, would you discourage them?
RBX: It worries me for them. They have probably been sprinkled with pixie dust and cinnamon spice, and that’s just not what it is. I think if somebody would have told me when I first started The Chronic what I would have gone through, I probably would not have gone down that road. But I’m so far down the road now, it’s too late to turn back. I feel sorry for them.
DX: This album really impressed me because you’re working with people like LMNO and DJ Rhettmatic – underground veterans. When you were placed in this ideal situation in ’91, ’92, albeit pixie dust, what kind of awareness did you have of the Los Angeles underground?
RBX: That’s all I know. I didn’t have any idea of the mainstream. That’s what threw me for a loop. I came up with The Good Life Café. That is Medusa, Myka 9, Aceyalone, Ganja K, P.E.A.C.E. All of those cats I just mentioned, any emcee that’s rapping today, they would split them. These are my peers at the time. That’s I knew was underground. So for me to work [LMNO], it’s only a throwback to where I started – my roots.
DX: You’re four or five albums deep. Why now are we seeing this?
RBX: I just think I’ve grown as a person and evolving as an artist. I grew up in the streets. I’m not a gang-banger. A gangster, maybe. Thuggish, yeah. But a gang-banger is something I’m not, and I’m not gonna put that face on like I’m out there smackin’ fools upside they head for havin’ on the wrong color. I’m not gonna perpetrate that fraud. That’s not me. But if you’re gonna run up on me and disrespect me in any kind of way, that’s when you’ve lost. That’s the hard edge of it. The main thing is, I wanted to come with a whole new sound and a whole new dynamic, if you will. These guys helped get me back in the studio and helped me get my mojo back. To help my out, I said I’m gonna have [these guys] on my record to give them a boost.
DX: These guys have carved their niches, which might differ from yours, outside of L.A. or The Good Life. Have you already felt new ears hearing your music as a result of this?
RBX: Yes. I am. I was at The Magic Show. This cat was a booth selling leather coats for a company called Iron Lions. I gave him a CD, just doing my thing. The brother called me back a week later, saying, “Brother, I had no idea. I knew you had a powerful voice, but I had no idea you had lyrics.” I was boxed in as a monster who comes in to clean up everything after everybody on the track. I’m the finisher. That’s still my role, but we have to go past that.
DX: Speaking of lyrics, you say, “I’m cousin of a Steeler, brother of a Raider.” Cool line on the surface, what’s it mean?
RBX: In Long Beach, there’s two gangs. There’s the Rolling 20 Crips, which wear Pittsburgh Steelers [merchandise] and there’s the Insane Crips, which wear Raiders [merchandise]. My brother is from Rolling 20s, but all my cousins are from the rival gang [The Insane Crips]. It’s a contradiction for me. I’m staying down with my brother ‘cause I am my brother’s keeper, but it puts me at odds with my cousins. It’s a daily struggle. I don’t get shot at. I don’t get tripped on, ‘cause I’m well-respected in my neighborhood, but there’s a tension there. These are rival gangs. That’s what I mean.
DX: What you just told me is something I didn’t know. But on top of it, those NFL teams are both homonyms. Steelers steal and Raiders raid, as in street action. Even Cam’ron, on his first album said, “I know a bunch of stealers, and they not from Pittsburgh.”
RBX: Yeah! It’s a way crazy twist. Sometimes I do things and God be in control. We think we in control, but God is still in control. Sometimes I do things, sit back and listen and say, “Wow. Whoa!” It’s one of things. A Steeler and a Raider are the same thing.
DX: Looking at a record like “Sunshine” or “Mama’s Crying,” your music has always been tinged with West Indian influence. Where does that come from?
RBX: I have bunch of cousins, and my sister as well, who have married cats from The West Indies. My nephew’s pops is from the Bahamas; I’m always around him. Trinidad & Tobago, Jamaica, this is my family. They all have accents. They got a lot of respect for me and vice-versa. It’s just been a natural progression, because that’s what I listen to. One of my aces back in the days, Bigga B, rest in peace – he was responsible for starting Loud Records and signing Xzibit and The Alkaholiks – that’s all he played: Dancehall, Ragamuffin, Roots. That’s become part of me. I’m not fakin’ nothin’.
DX: I remember buying No Mercy, No Remorse back in 1999 or 2000. It was two EPs. What was the thinking behind that?
RBX: I don’t even really remember. At that time, to be quite honest with you, I was in jail. One of my partners called me and said, “Listen man, you’ve got a bunch of music out here. You don’t need to sit.” I was being stubborn in jail too. I was fighting. Sometimes I just need to calm down. I be fighting too damn much, whether fisticuffs or demons. The guy said, “I’ll pay your fines off, we’ll get you out of there and get you to your classes.” I fought that for two weeks and then I said, “Go ‘head man, make it happen. I’m tired of eating sandwiches and cookies.” He made something happen; that was something he did. After that record came out, I went into real deep hiatus, just tryin’ to get it together. Then I started slowly emerging out of the darkness, and becoming myself again. It was a depressing time. I didn’t wanna keep bumping heads with Suge. I’m just one man. I don’t have the resources or the money to keep fighting these people, but for some strange reason, I just keep fighting.
DX: You were one of the first artists Dr. Dre signed to Aftermath. How do you think the label would have been different had he released you or King Tee before Eminem? How close was it?
RBX: It was a curse and it was a blessing. I don’t know why I get in situations like that. It was good ‘cause Dr. Dre was my partner, and I never had a problem with Dre at Death Row. As a matter of fact, Suge used to come in trippin’, and I used to look at Dre and he’d look at me like, “Here this motherfucker go.” When we got to Aftermath, I knew it was good ‘cause there was no more of that B.S. But new stress came in ‘cause now Dre had to prove himself and reinvent himself as Dr. Dre the entity [outside of] Death Row. He didn’t want to go down the same road he just came down; that’s why he came out with “Been There, Done That.”
I got into the twist ‘cause I was still getting up to do the music we did at Death Row. That’s where my mindstate was. Dre didn’t really want that. He wanted to step away for a minute, if not forever. At the time, I wasn’t able to go anywhere else but bang bang. I’m just telling you the truth. That’s when me and Dre became at odds. I was still going out in Compton or wherever, and I would see Suge. And we would bang. I was in the paint with him. We used to bang, bang. I didn’t know it at the time, but every time I’d get into it with Suge, he would make trouble for Dre. He couldn’t get at me, so he’d go and mess with Dre. He’d be calling Dre, or just making things miserable. Dre wasn’t telling me this. I needed to go calm down on deep hiatus and get my things together and stop fighting so much.
DX: You’re famous for spitting the same verse twice on two different songs. A.G. has been called out on this two. What’s your reasoning behind it?
RBX: A lot of people do weird shit on their records that you don’t know about. A lot of guys have “666” in a design that you can’t tell. One of my weird things is…if the verse is hot, I wanna rewind it selektah and bring it back! [in Jamaican accent]. It’s a remixed, re-edited version. On this album…I’m gonna be quite honest with you, the same lyrics are just an oversight. We just said, “Fuck it.” We gotta give the critics something to talk about. We’re just feeding the haters. I’m gonna do it again just to let you know that you ain’t said shit.
DX: I feel like “Stranded on Death Row” was the west coast answer to Marley Marl’s “The Symphony.” Tell me about that record, and was it really a battle of scrapping it out for top spot on Death Row?
RBX: To be quite honest with you, at that time, it was the terror dome. We was all pitbulls. [The Lady of Rage], I’m not gonna call her no bitch, but she was the lady pitbull. She would’ve chopped your ass the fuck up! She was so tight. You had to have a certain level of skill to even get Rage took at you. The first time she met me, she was looking at me like, “Dre done signed you? Can you spit?” I was looking like a dweeb, man. I was broke, I had just got off work, my glasses was broken with tape on them. When she heard me get down, all that respect came. Then she talked to me. Before then, I couldn’t even get Rage to say hi to me. It was the terror dome. You had to be writing, or cats was on your head instantly.
DX: Do you perform much?
RBX: Man, I would love to. When I fell out of the loop, I feel out of the loop with everything. I really don’t know no promoters. I don’t know too many cats. I’m hard to get to meet now – not that I’m scarred or wounded. Just most times, people are on that bullshit or got a certain angle they workin’. I don’t really be talkin’ to people. to answer your question, yes, I would love to.
To learn more visit: Myspace.com/RBXBrokenSilence
Prop LOUDsilence for the interview^^^^^^^ ;)
http://www.ballerstatus.com/article/features/2008/06/4839/
Go check that interview out....
I wish Ruthless or whoever owns the footage and recordings drop a mega DVD collection of everything NWA
http://www.youtube.com/v/oZ9ozr3DGxQ&rel
http://youtube.com/watch?v=oZ9ozr3DGxQ
Dr. Dre in the Studio
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51jbGhZQDrL._SL500_AA240_.jpg)
22 used & new available from $7.25
http://www.amazon.com/Dr-Dre-Studio-Aftermath-Notorious/dp/0976773554/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1214912624&sr=1-5
Detox,2006 and beyond...
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CPO interview by www. FACTORHOUSERECORDS1.COM video link (http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=38436940)
CPO July 2008 interview
CPO interview by www. FACTORHOUSERECORDS1.COM video link (http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=38436940)
^^^Direct Video link^^^
CPO interview Slammin Video Mag Vol.2 1990
http://www.youtube.com/v/O2aHcxjCLVE&rel
Download link;
http://www.mediafire.com/?8wy9tgz1ndt
CPO interview in Hip Hop Connection October 1990. #21 LL Cool J cover.
Tales from the dark side
AT SIX FOOT TWO INCES AND 25 STONE,
Rapper Lil’ Nation is appropriately named.
“Almost as large as many small countries,” he’s as intimidating as his rhymes, as big as CPO’s beats.
Another native of the city of Compton, Lil’ Nation gave up a six year life of crime at the age of 18,
and – like his long time friend MC Ren – decided to go into music.
CPO’s debut on Capitol, ‘To Hell And Black’, is another braze embodiment of West Coast gangster lifestyle,
and with tracks titled ‘Homicide’, ‘Gangsta Melody’, and ‘Ballad of a Menace’,
you’re left in no doubts of the content before the needle’s hit the deck.
Produced by Ren, it’s a grinding, 10-track soundtrack to street violence
– nothing new, but another chapter in the annals of realism rap that contrasts so starkly with East Coast consciousness.
How did the name CPO – Capitol Punishment Organization – come about?
“We where sitting around talking about how we where not down with oppression, not down white supremacy,” he explains.
“Oppression was the main thing – the biggest wrong that we could think of,
we needed the biggest pain we could think of – capitol punishment of that wrong.
So the Capitol Punishment Organization was born.”
Lil’ Nation kept telling Ren he could Rap, but the NWA emcee refused to believe him.
Until one day, Ren accidently heard one of Lil’ Nation’s tracks – “Ren started producing me that day!” he exclaims.
On the whole, ‘To Hell And Black’ is a measured but funky affair, with only a couple of tracks matching the aggression of the lyrics.
To the churning backbeats, Lil’ Nation fires his incendiary raps in uncompromising terms.
“I consider it fun to smoke a nigger with a gun” and “With no hesitation I put a gun to your head and blast it” (’Gangsta Melody’)
That song in particular is a musical incarnation of life here in Compton,” he says.
“You won’t have a problem shooting me, I won’t have a problem shooting you – it’s that simple.
Compton is not nice place to live, it’s not even a nice place to visit at some times.
I think that people are starting to believe that Compton is a tourist spot!
But every night somebody gets killed. It’s a real hard life.”
Lil’ Nation acknowledges that CPO’s graphic portrayal of street life is at odds with the positivity of likes of KRS-One, but says;
“People from the East Coast – like KRS-One – are speaking knowledge, speaking politics, which are things we don’t know, but things should know. What we’re doing on this side is speaking about what we do know, which is living in a violent environment.
There are conflicts, but there’s truth in what we do.”
The track ‘CPOsis’ is, he explains, “the musical incarnation of CPO”, relating an implacable theory about dealing with white supremacy.
“If the Aryan Nation comes up against CPO, they’ll be coming up dead,” he says.
“I think we’re starting to confront white supremacy on a head to head basis.
The only way we’re going to get rid of oppression in any shape, form or fashion is to deal with it
– abolish it – by some type of confrontation, a violent confrontation.
Hopefully, it won’t have to be a physical confrontation, and hopefully we can just do it with words.”
But do you really believe your lyrics are a good way towards verbal reconciliation?
“I think so. To me, you got to get people to listen.
Once you can talk to them about whatever you want to talk to them about.
I think this is the first step towards some kind of movement.”
So are you saying your records are positive?
“I think something controversial is going to come out of my records, I don’t think anything positive will happen.
I’m trying to stir the public up to the point where they have to confront me, and ask what’s going on, so I can let them know.”
Violence and revolution aren’t curious bedfellows, but Lil’ Nation must be an eternal optimist to believe the established order will view his efforts as progressive. He’ll get the attention, sure, but as for anything else…?
Would he like to remain part of the growing Ruthless family?
“Oh definitely! Capitol are just distributing it, but it’s out on Ren Records.
I like where Ruthless started out, I like how it started out, and where it’s going.”
As well as his right hand man, DJ Train, Lil’ Nation also worked with the group FOE on ‘To Hell And Black’.
Look out for their own release soon, again on Ren Records.
CPO; To Hell and Black review Hip Hop Connection October 1990,issue 21. LL Cool J cover
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Rare stuff from CPO’s debut you should check out:
-Ballad Of A Menace (Homicidal Theme Remix) Super dope!
Produced by MC Ren, Co-Produced by Young Dee
http://www.zshare.net/audio/28818341f9568b/
-This beat is funky (Mo better Funky Remix) also super dope!
http://www.zshare.net/audio/28818255c30db6/
Produced by MC Ren
-The Movement (Remix)
http://www.zshare.net/audio/2881816b498f16/
Produced by MC Ren
These songs appears on promo singles from the album.
BONUS;
EA-Ski featuring MC Ren and CPO; The Format From EA-Skiīs Past and Present
http://www.mediafire.com/?1x0cd2gnly2
Gangsta Funk (ft. E-40, B-Legit, CPO Boss Hogg & Mike Marshall) (Past & Present)
http://www.mediafire.com/?7j04jz0jby5
EA-Ski featuring MC Ren and CPO; The Format From EA-Skiīs Past and Present
http://www.mediafire.com/?1x0cd2gnly2
Prime - Pray Ave. (ft. Big Wy, CPO Boss Hogg, and Bokey) [Produced by Dae One]
http://www.dubcnm.com/audio/2007/december/prime_ft._big_wy_cpo_boss_hogg_and_bokey-pray_ave-(dubcnn).mp3
E-A-Ski (ft. CPO Boss Hogg) - Bag Of Chips
http://download.yousendit.com/152CB2556AA16CC5
Sip of the Duce
(http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/ciu/b8/1e/422f124128a05d95ea661010._AA240_.L.jpg)
http://www.amazon.com/Sip-Duce/dp/B000003BYG/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1198449117&sr=1-1
10 used & new available from $2.98
11 Prodigy Of A Nigga.mp3 featuring CPO produced by Torture Chamber (He donīt rap on it,just some talking in the end.)
http://www.mediafire.com/?gnws6mvryyt
The Video for 'Ballad Of A Mencace' featuring MC Ren
http://www.youtube.com/v/UxmHIRvxR9c
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UxmHIRvxR9c
CPO’s resume:
www.discogs.com/artist/C.P.O.?anv=CPO
www.discogs.com/artist/DJ+Train
www.discogs.com/artist/MC+Ren
Discogs.com ain’t a complete data base, but it is a start.
Be sure to also check the Vault on this site.
http://www.dubcnn.com/connect/index.php?topic=94395.0
INTERVIEW FROM THA SHACK WITH TOMICA WRIGHT:
http://www.eazy-ecpt.com/compton/index.php?topic=10718.0
Tomica Wright: I cannot confirm 50 –60 unreleased tracks by Eazy. Completed or started. But it is possible there were that many tracks submitted. Some songs were completed; some songs with scratch vocals and some just concepts.
Tha Shack: Are the remaining tracks in Ruthless’s possession? If so, how many? If not, who has them?
Tomica Wright: Some tracks are in Ruthless’s possession, the master copies of at least 8 songs are missing. Majority of the unreleased material was used for the last two Eazy –E projects. We are not certain who has our property.
Tha Shack: In an article published by GQ magazine in 1995, it mentions, “Shortly after Eazy’s death, police locked the doors to Ruthless Records to protect tapes and videos, which were beginning to disappear.” Is this true? If so, does this include Eazy-E unreleased material, and what was recovered if any?
Tomica Wright: It is true that shortly after Eric passed Ruthless Records doors were on lockdown, no one was allowed to enter the premises. The missing tracks have not been recovered.
Tha Shack: Did Ruthless keep a record log of masters owned prior to Eazy’s death?
Tomica Wright: Yes, of completed work.
Tha Shack: I’ll just mention a few unreleased items. Please tell me anything that comes to mind, any updates, etc.:
Tha Shack: Eazy has mentioned in interviews that he did a song with Guns N’ Roses.
Tomica Wright: Yes, we only have a rough copy of the song, which was not completed. Good track!
Tha Shack: Eazy has mentioned doing a song called “Yellow Brick Road to Compton”. A positive song for Compton that was agreed upon with the mayor of Compton in order for Eazy to shoot the “Real Compton City Gs” video. Any update on this one?
Tomica Wright: I am aware of the working title, rough ideas and some scratch vocals were laid, but song was not completed.
Tha Shack: “Everything I Luv” Snippet was supposedly posted on Eazy’s 1-900 hotline.
Tomica Wright: We only have a cassette copy of the song. Not completed
Tha Shack: There were rumors that the SleepWalkers track on Bone’s Collection vol. 2 originally had a longer Eazy verse dissing Dre and Snoop. Will we ever get to hear the original?
Tomica Wright: The original version of the song did include Eazy’s vocals, which were erased in a session with Bone. Not sure if the verse dissed Dre or Snoop.
Tha Shack: What was the name of the Eazy-E track that was to be on the “Dark Blue” Soundtrack?
Tomica Wright: It was supposed to be one of the songs, which was used for the “Impact of a Legend” project. “Dark Blue” was supposed to come out before the “Impact of a Legend” project. Unfortunately, the project kept getting pushed back, so we just licensed music for the movie. The movie didn’t pull enough demand as a theatrical release to warrant a soundtrack. It had a better response DVD.
ha Shack: Was the album “Str8 Off Tha Streetz of Muthaphukkin Compton vol. 2” ever completed? If not, how come we have seen release dates for it?
Tomica Wright: Originally, this was the working title for a double album. Eric wanted to release. (”Str8 Off “Tha Streetz of Muthaphukkin Compton” Vol 1 and 2). Since he was taking so long to release another project after “Dre187 It’s On”. He had a good amount of songs, concepts and ideas laid out and started, but not everything was completed. Not sure why volume 2 release dates appeared.
Tha Shack: Does/Did Ruthless own any unreleased N.W.A. tracks?
Tomica Wright: To my knowledge no. Masters old masters would be property of EMI, but if you are referring to just the music (tracks) None that I am aware of.
MY SOURCE:
http://www.eazy-ecpt.com/compton/index.php?topic=10718.0
to work on some verses for Detox. This occurred within the last 2 weeks or so. :-* :)
N.W.A recording Approach To Danger
http://www.youtube.com/v/VJ9-V_pPWY0&hl=en
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJ9-V_pPWY0&feature=related
Day of the Dre One nation under a G thang Jonathan GoldPosted Sep 30, 1993 12:00 AM
http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/drdre/articles/story/5937496/cover_story_day_of_the_dre
(http://i.rollingstone.com/assets/rs/9/2545/images/00322717.jpg)
Leimert Park is the intellectual center of African American life in Los Angeles -- jazz clubs, coffeehouses, bookstores, art galleries, a theater in a fine old movie palace, the restaurants that draw people from all over town. Neatly suited Muslims stand on the street corners, offering newsletters and bean pies for sale. Reggae blasts on the record shops. Hip-hop blasts from the cars. Here, in an Ozzie and Harriet-like Leimert Park neighborhood just a few blocks from the swank black-owned mansions of Windsor Hills, rap star Dr. Dre, wearing a black Ben Davis shirt, baggy pants and a marijuana-leaf baseball cap that advertises his best-selling album The Chronic, shrugs himself into the driver's seat of a black '64 Chevrolet Impala convertible and reaches under the dash. Suddenly, the parked car leans sharply to one side, the right body panel striking the asphalt with a violent thunk. Just as abruptly, it rights itself, and the front end of the car begins to hop up and down just as you've seen it do a thousand times on MTV. Dre glances back at his entourage with the classic "Look, no hands" smirk of a guy who has always been Mom's favorite, and the Impala rears like a spooked stallion.
A tall man wearing a black Dodgers cap snorts and shakes his head "Damn," he says. "Nigga can't get enough of that shit."
Dr. Dre -- the ex-N.W.A member whose Chronic LP, eight months in the Billboard Top 10, is already the most popular hardcore rap album in history (2 million and counting), with a huge crossover audience -- is directing, producing and starring in his third video for The Chronic, which will see him through his extensive fall tour. He also produced, performed and co-wrote the song "Let Me Ride," on which this video is based. However you look at it, Dre is carrying a lot of hyphens today.
A full-on film crew, the kind you'd expect to see doing second-unit work on Terminator III or something, follows his every move with a giant camera crane and a phalanx of big lights. Dre finishes the take, springs out of the car and wanders over to the truck for a video playback of the scene. He peers in the direction of Interscope Records co-head Jimmy Iovine, who smiles and waves. Dre is apparently in control and Iovine is pleased.
"There aren't three people like him in the music business," Iovine says, stabbing the air with his forefinger. "He can rap, he can produce ... and he can direct a video with humor. Do you know how hard that is? Famous movie directors can't do that."
Dre, who signs his checks Andre Young and who is the chief architect of what is known as West Coast gangsta rap, is an enigma: Though he created one of the most profitable genres in rock & roll, he is better known for his out-of-control episodes than for his absolute control in the studio, better known for his criminal record than for his many platinum records. Mentions of Dre in the Los Angeles Times, his hometown paper, tend to include the phrase "surrendered to police," and he is perhaps the first recording artist since Sly Stone whose name shows up almost as often on the police-report page as it does in the entertainment section. Plenty of newsprint has been devoted to his thuggishness, relatively less to his artistry --which may be on a par with Phil Spector's or Quincy Jones'.
Gangsta rap tends to be a producer's medium: The talent on Dre's million-selling albums has included a pal of his cousin's, his girlfriend and a former buddy, Eazy-E, who intended to finance Dre's records instead of rap on them. Record-industry buzz has it a sure bet that the upcoming record he's producing for his kid brother's best friend, Snoop Doggy Dogg, will be the first debut album to premiere at the top of the charts. From Snoop's cameos on The Chronic and from his rap on the theme song for last year's Larry Fishburne vehicle Deep Cover, Snoop's lazy, vicious drawl has become one of the most familiar voices in rap. Dre's records make you bounce even as they scare you with their intensity.
The Dre sound is clean but edgy, deeply funky, featuring slow, big-bottomed, slightly dirty beats and powered by guitar and bass work that is not sampled but recreated in the studio, so that -- unlike East Coast rap productions -- the fidelity of the final product is not inflected by the fidelity of scratchy R&B records that have been played too many times. It is Dre's production work -- on Eazy-E, on N.W.A, on rap legend D.O.C., on Pomona group Above the Law, on Snoop Doggy Dogg, on himself -- that made gangsta rap among the most vital pop genres to come along in the last few years ... and, not incidentally, set hundreds of thousands of 12-year-old white kids to talking about niggaz, bitches and hos, 12-year-olds who may not even know what a G thang is.
Check out the junior high school around the corner, where the video shoot continues -- lights, screens, music, people and dozens of hopping lowrider cars, chugging, smoke-spewing old relics burnished to a high shine, bounding and rebounding higher and higher, tossing their passengers about like so many extremely urban cowboys. If you peek into the trunk of any these cars, you will see 14 car batteries hooked up in series and a row of hydraulic motors mounted where you'd expect to see the spare tire, but you'd better get out of the way when it starts to jump. One of these cars bounds so high that its owners operate it from the outside with a stalk-mounted remote control device as if it were a Revell model -- instant whiplash --and the crowd scatters when the car lurches sideways after a particularly wicked bounce.
Pounding P-Funk-derived hip-hop beats boil out from the bank of speakers a few yards away, and a camera-equipped helicopter circles closely overhead. Dre stands on the front seat of his convertible, glorying in the noise, surveying his flock as if he were the grand marshal of a parade, and he crosses his arms in smug satisfaction.
An assistant director hands him a megaphone. Apparently Dre is now obliged to direct. "I don't know," Dre the auteur says. "I guess everybody should do their own thing and shit."
The beat starts up, Dre mimes rapping along with the tape, cars jiggle, Snoop Doggy Dogg sleepily bobs his head, and all around are men and women, Mexicans and blacks and even a few white guys, dancing, holding car-club insignia aloft, throwing gang signs both real and pretend, passing around piss yellow bottles of malt liquor that seem to bob like zeppelins above the crowd. Over to one side, a craps game is going on; make-out couples writhe here and there.
It's kind of groovy out here under the golden late-afternoon sun, free barbeque, dancing to the ambling music, feeling like just another boy in the hood. This is the sort of idyllic, Arcadian vision of inner-city Los Angeles that everybody wants desperately to exist, were crooked C's and flashed eight-treys are less signifier than signified, where ancient convertibles bounce around the playground like fleas on a hot griddle. Abruptly, the music grinds to a halt.
"Hey, hey," an assistant director barks through a megaphone. "I've just been told that nothing we shot is usable, because y'all were throwing gang signs. MTV won't play anything with gang signs. And if y'all want to throw them, you'll have to go home."
Everything is silent for a moment, and you can feel the tension in the crowd, the good times threatening to implode. Then the music starts up again even louder than before, a couple of people start to dance, and the anger dissolves into relief. No more gang signs, no more today.
Iovine nervously checks his watch. "See that kid over there?" he asks nobody in particular, gesturing toward a boy scampering on the basketball court. "That's my 12-year-old nephew from Staten Island. You couldn't get more white and suburban than him. But Dre's record is all the kid listens to. When you sell this many albums, they are not all going to the South Bronx."
"It's my business to know these things," Interscope's promotion director Marc Benesch says later, "and there's no difference between the people that are going out and buying the Dre album and people that are buying Guns n' Roses."
To get to Dr. Dre's house, you speed west from Hollywood, past the miniature golf courses, past the replica of a French chateau that hovers over the freeway like a mirage, out over the hills at the west end of the San Fernando Valley into a dusty Western scrub-land where the old Tom Mix films used to be shot. Dre's oversize French colonial is located deep in this landscape of greasewood and brand-new condominium complexes, behind the well-guarded gate of an exclusive residential community. Dre lives among doctors and attorneys and prosperous Valley businessmen on a street of million-dollar homes.
Like any West Valley homeowner, when Dre gets home, he parks his car in the garage, hangs up his jacket and settles back with a glass of nicely chilled white zinfandel, listening to the twilight crickets and lounging in a patio chair by the pool. Dre has been playing hooky today, installing an aquarium in his house and tooling around nearby mountain roads in his Ferrari while his mastering guy was wondering where he was and, across town, the musicians were watching Cosby reruns in the recording-studio lounge. The video for "Let Me Ride" is far from finished, and Interscope is whining for the half-finished album by Snoop Dogg, and there's a lot to be done for the once-postponed Chronic tour with Onyx and Run-D.M.C., which is now less than a month away from starting.
"I can remember when I was just like about 4 years old in Compton," Dre says, gazing out at the moon, "and my mother would have me stack 45s, stack about 10 of them, and when one would finish, the next record would drop. Do you remember those old record players that played 45s? It was like I was DJ'ing for the house, picking out certain songs and stacking them so this song would go after that song. I would go to sleep with headphones on, listening to music. My mom and my pop -- they would have music so loud, loud enough to shake the walls.
"I've got a son, Marcel," Dre continues, "not even 3 years old, but he gets in one of those roller chairs at the studio and pulls himself to the board and starts fucking with the knobs, rocking his head and shit. He don't even know what he's doing, he's just been watching me, but he has crazy rhythm for a 2-year-old.
"The music is just in me now, you know. That's the only thing I can say. People ask me how I come up with these hits, and I can only say that I know what I like, and I'm quick to tell a motherfucker what I don't like and know what people like to play in their cars."
Dre takes a pull at the wine and puts his glass down on the table.
"When I was older," Dre says, "and I DJ'ed at [the Los Angeles dance club] Eve After Dark, I would put together this mix shelf, lots of oldies, Martha and the Vandellas and stuff like that, and where normally you go to a club and the DJs play all the hit records back to back, I used to put on a serious show. People would come from everywhere just to see Dr. Dre on the wheels of steel.
"A little later, I used to take Ice Cube up to Skateland in Compton -- he was in a group with my cousin at the time -- and I would tell him that with this crowd you'd better get up and rock, because if you didn't, they'd throw these full cups at your ass. I would have Cube and my cousin change the words to certain songs -- like 'My Adidas' became 'My Penis' -- and the crowd would get going, and I'd be mixing. That was the dope."
Inside the house, someone has turned on the stereo, and out in the yard, it is loud, deafening like sitting in the front row at a Megadeth concert, enough to make the fillings rattle inside your teeth before Dre has it turned down.
"Do your neighbors ever complain?" I ask.
Dre thinks for a moment. "They try to," he says, "but I slam the door in their face. I paid a mil-plus for this house, so I figure I can do whatever the fuck I want to do in it."
He gestures to either side, where the leviathan luxury homes crowd in like so many Levittown tract houses. "As far as I'm concerned," he says, "this house right here is the only house on the block."
What's important in hip-hop is to capture the pop moment, to cop the right attitudes from your peers and the right records from your mom's record collection, then put them together with the right beats. Nothing else really matters, not verbal virtuosity or deftness on the turntables, neither 48-track studios nor high-tech production skills.
Dre, tall, round cheeked and in his late 20s, a founding member of N.W.A, was until last year the house producer for Eazy-E's Ruthless Records, and seven out of the eight albums he produced for the label between the end of 1983 and the middle of 1981 went platinum. Ruthless used to be called hoodlum Motown: Gangsta rap, the funky, breathtakingly vulgar street sound inspired by the gang-infested Los Angeles suburb Compton, is the most successful California export since the Stealth bomber, and N.W.A are acknowledged as the Sex Pistols of rap. Dre pretty much singlehandedly steered Ruthless from the first gangsta single, Eazy-E's "Boyz-n-the-Hood," J.J. Fad's simple-minded novelty hit "Supersonic" and N.W.A's "Fuck the Police" to a hip-hop diva album for a girlfriend, Michel'le, and the ghetto Gotterdammerung of N.W.A's Niggaz4life, which shocked America when it topped the pop charts. Dre caught the moment pretty well.
Many observers thought gangsta rap had reached its pinnacle with the brilliant though unlistenable Niggaz4life, where side one includes a song in which a common vulgar epithet for African American is repeated nearly 100 times in the course of three minutes and where the misogynist tenor of the second side may be summed up by the titles of the first two tracks: "To Kill a Hooker" and "One Less Bitch." Inspired by N.W.A, Ice-T, 2Pac and various other California rappers wrote so many songs about killing policemen that the subject threatened to become a subgenre as pervasive in hip-hop as the she-done-him-wrong ballad is in Nashville pop.
After breaking with Ruthless over what he perceived as severe underpayment for seven platinum albums, Dre was seen by many outsiders as living out the violence that previously he had only rapped about. Rap TV-show host Dee Barnes filed a yet-unresolved multimillion-dollar assault suit against Dre after he allegedly slammed her against the wall of a Hollywood nightclub a couple of years ago. "I was in the wrong," he angrily told me not long after the incident, "but it's not like I broke the bitch's arm."
Comments like these propelled Dre to No. 1 on hip-hop feminists' hit list as well the Billboard ones, and the merry gangsta banter on The Chronic, which refers to a potent strain of marijuana, is not precisely redemptive. Even the most politically correct of hip-hop fans may occasionally, to their horror, find themselves humming such undeniable Dre hooks as "Bitches ain't shit but hos and trix," giggling when the women in his videos get sprayed with malt liquor by a couple of G's, even if they recoil at the constant gunplay and the reflexive homophobia. On Dre tracks from "Boyz-n-the-Hood" to "Let Me Ride," life is truly nothing but a G thang, a constant B-boy house party where male bonding is the rule, women are attractive nuisances, and enemies are something to wave guns at from a safe distance. Dre dismisses concerns about sexism and ultraviolence as so much media paranoia.
Last year part of his house burned down in a conflagration that injured two firefighters. Later he was arrested by mounted police in a New Orleans hotel lobby after a fracas that allegedly resulted in the battery of an officer. His former colleague Eazy-E sued him under federal racketeering laws -- the suit was recently dismissed for the third time by a U.S. district court judge. Then Dre was convicted (misdemeanor assault) of breaking the jaw of an aspiring record producer, shackled with a tracking device and sentenced to house arrest.
Dre has perfectly rational explanations for most of these incidents, and he seems believable when he tells you that his part in each of them was minor at best, but it is clear that for Dre, 1992 was a lost year of John Lennon-like proportions.
"I needed a record to come out," Dre says. "I was broke. I didn't receive one fuckin' quarter in the year of '92, because Ruthless spent the year trying to figure out ways not to pay me so that I'd come back on my hands and knees. If I had to go back home living with my mom, that wasn't going to happen."
When called for a response, Jerry Heller, the general manager of Ruthless and the white man satirized in the 'Dre Day' video, rustled some papers and pulled out Dre's 1099 tax form for the year. In 1992, Heller claims, Dre received $85,603.81 from Ruthless. Still, when Dre thinks about Ruthless, his face contorts with rage.
"I went to a lot of record companies, tried even to get a little production work to pay for rent and shoes," Dre says, "but nobody wanted to take a chance on me because of all that legal shit, all the cease-and-desist letters -- Ruthless did anything and everything they could to fuck me up, and I have hate for everybody there. Then at Interscope, I talked to Jimmy Iovine a lot, and he is like the smartest motherfucker in the business; I came to him with the album, the artwork, the concepts for the videos, everything and Jimmy made it happen."
Dre got the label, Death Row, he'd always wanted, the money to run it and carte blanche to make all the albums he wanted.
"I did record The Chronic in 1992," Dre says. "The year was not a total loss." Like this and like that and like this and a ...
It is a truth universally acknowledged that a rapper in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a posse.
There are Hugg and Nate Dogg and Kurupt around Dre, and a rapper who calls himself That Nigga Daz, also preteen Lil' Malik, a peculiarly coifed woman named Rage and Dre's younger brother Warren G, who just signed a solo deal with DefJam. Over there on the couch, playing Nintendo, that's D Ruff: David Ruffin Jr., the Detroit-born son of the late Temptations singer, who's come to California to make himself a star. D Ruff's friend Tony Green is Dre's bass player, a world-class R&B pro.
Suge Knight, it is known, is a first among equals, the soft-spoken CEO of Death Row, a former professional football player who looks every bit the part. Suge partially subsidized the Chronic album with monies he received from his ownership of certain publishing rights to the 14-million-selling Vanilla Ice LP, which would mark that artist's sole contribution to the art of hardcore rap.
The guy in the hat is Ricky Rouse, a guitarist with a quick temper and some of the dandyish flair of Jimi Hendrix; Malik is the compact, heavily muscled bodyguard who speaks in carefully measured tones; the D.O.C. is a large, graceful man who was once among the world's best rappers -- he played the English language the way Itzhak Perlman plays a Strad -- until his career was cut short by a freak automobile accident that crushed his throat and left him unable to rap.
The most famous member of the Death Row entourage is Snoop Doggy Dogg, a tall, slender young man with milk-chocolate skin and cornrows as thick as cobs, who is Robin to Dre's Batman, Boswell to his Johnson, Gilligan to Dre's Skipper. Impossible to take your eyes off of, Snoop is as endearingly awkward in front of a camera as a 10-year-old forced to model his new Sunday-school suit in front of all the aunties. Where Dre is aloof and unapproachable in public, children swarm around Snoop as if he were driving an ice-cream truck. Snoop wrote the rhymes for --and rapped on -- about 60 percent of The Chronic.
How eagerly anticipated is Snoop's album Doggystyle? Two weeks before the album is scheduled to hit the streets, Dre refuses to let even Iovine listen to more than two songs outside of the studio, and the tenacious Compton bootleggers have been stymied in their quest to pry loose more than a few rhymes, but every hip-hop fan you talk to already knows the names of the album tracks by heart: "Who Am I," "Gin and Juice," "Death After Visualizing Eternity," "G's Up, Hos Down."
The answer to the musical question "Who Am I," the first single from Doggystyle, turns out to be "the nigga with the biggest nuts," which may be a little closer to Beavis and Butt-Head than to the defiant acts of African American self-assertion postulated by hip-hop theorists. Snoop is this year's version of the teenage B-boy Everyman, not a suave fellow insinuating his prowess with the ladies, but a G just like you.
And as he perches on a stool inside a darkened studio utility room, taking in a whispered drawl and inhaling chicken wings from a bucket like a man who hasn't eaten for a week, Snoop does indeed seem more like the cutup in the back of your algebra class than the gangsta feared by millions.
"Everybody wants to know something about Snoop," Snoop says. "What is it about Snoop? What makes Snoop click? It's cool being a mystery."
Snoop peels back the flesh from a wing: "I wasn't no gangster-ass type of nigga to be starting no shit, but there's just all kinds of little ghetto stuff that's easy for a young black man to get into. The hard-ass gangbanger life ain't the bomb at all, period. The other day I was looking at an old picture from back when I used to play Pop Warner football, and like of 28 homies on the team, 12 are dead, seven are in the penitentiary, three of them are smoked out, and only me and Warren G are successful. I love my homies, but damn, I don't want to stay down there with y'all."
When he was only a couple of weeks out of high school in Long Beach, Snoop was sent up after a drug bust, and he spent three years in and out of jail. He came to the realization that rapping might be a more profitable endeavor than crime. His first single with Dre, from the Deep Cover soundtrack, included the chorus "187 [murder] on an undercover cop," rapped with perhaps a bit more gusto than one might expect, and the single spent several months on the rap charts.
"Now I do all right," Snoop says. "I feel like I'm one of the power speakers, like a Malcolm X figure now. But you know, a lot of times little white kids come up to me, and it makes me feel damn good and even better because it's the feeling of a straight ghetto man finally proving his stuff to the whole society. Sometimes I ask them if they really listen to the tape, and they know every word. I'm not prejudiced in my rap, I just kick the rhymes."
One of the places from which Dre's posse has been ejected in the course of recording the Snoop album is a large, comfortable studio complex in the deep San Fernando Valley, the kind of place where the mixing boards stretch into the middle distance, where the couches are real leather, where platinum albums from Thriller dot the walls. A freaky drum track pumps from the giant studio speakers, and Dre, headphones on, hunches over his turntables as intently as a neurosurgeon, surrounded by hundreds of records: Three Times Dope, early Funkadelic, Prince's Dirty Mind, even a tattered Jim Croce LP.
Listening to a Dre beat take shape in the studio is like watching a snowball roll downhill in a Bugs Bunny cartoon, taking on mass as it goes. Dre may find something he likes from an old drum break, loop it and gradually replace each part with a better tom-tom sound, a kick-drum sound he adores, until the beat bears the same relationship to the original that the Incredible Hulk does to Bill Bixby.
A bass player wanders in, unpacks his instrument and pops a funky two-note bass line over the beat, then leaves to watch CNN, though his two notes keep looping into infinity. A smiling guy in a striped jersey plays a nasty one-fingered melody on an old Mini-Moog synthesizer that's been obsolete since 1982, and Dre scratches in a sort of surfadelic munching noise, and then from his well-stocked Akai MPC60 sample comes a shriek, a spare piano chord, an ejaculation from the first Beastie's record -- "Let me clear my throat" -- and the many-layered groove is happening, bumping, breathing, almost loud enough to see.
Snoop floats into the room. He closes his eyes as if in a dream and extends both hands toward Dre, palms downward. Dre holds out his hands, and Snoop grazes his fingertips with a butterfly flourish, caught up in the ecstasy of the beat. Somebody hands Snoop a yellow legal pad. The rapper wanders over to the main mixing console, fishes a skinny joint out of his pocket and tenderly fires it up. He inhales deeply. He picks up a pencil and scribbles a couple of words before he decides to draw instead, and he fills the sheet in front of him with thick, black lines. He looks around the room for something more interesting to do than draw, and his sly canine leer settles on a visitor to the studio.
"You like this beat?" Snoop asks. "Think it's going to work? I think I'm going to call this one 'Eat a Dick,' about all the punk-ass niggaz who ain't down with the Row."
Daz and Snoop, who have heard this before, convulse into laughter.
Daz and Snoop and Kurupt slouch over their legal pads, peeking over each others' shoulders like the kids cheating on an exam. Daz gets to practice his new rap in a back corner away from the others; Kurupt wheels his chair over toward Snoop and says, "I've got the shit, man. I've got the crazy shit." Snoop listens to his friend rap for a bit, shrugs and goes back to his own rhyme. Kurupt is crushed. Dre comes in from the lounge, twists a few knobs on the Moog and comes up with the synthesizer sound so familiar from The Chronic, almost on pitch but not quite, sliding a bit between notes.
The people in the crowded control room bob their heads to the beat in unison, the way baby pelicans do in nature films just before their parents regurgitate a fish. It's too funky in here. Dre puts his feet up on the console.
"Everybody who walks has something he or she can do in the studio," Dre says. "Every person walking has some kind of talent that they can get on tape. I can take anybody who reads this magazine and make a hit record on him. You don't have to rap. You can do anything. You can go into the studio and talk. I can take a fuckin' 3-year-old and make a hit record on him. God has blessed me with this gift.
"Sometimes it feels good for me to be able to mold an artist and get him a hit record and to show him something that was inside of him that he didn't know about. It feels good to me. Everybody in the business has called me to try and do some tracks, but I can't see myself doing anything for somebody who already has money, you know. I get more joy out of getting somebody like Snoop. And it excites the shit out of me to see the reaction on a new artist's face when he gets asked for his first autograph. I tell Snoop all the time: He is going to be the biggest shit, Snoop is going to be the biggest thing to black people since the straightening comb."
Tomorrow, Dre will throw away this Doggy Dogg beat and start on another.
"Did you see," Dre asks, "all those reels that are in the studio?"
They are unavoidable, piled up as thickly as an adobe wall.
"There's 35 or 36 reels of Snoop in there," Dre says. "Each reel holds three songs. So far, I have five that I like. That's just a small example of how ... how deep I'm going into this album. I feel that the tracks that I'm doing for him right now are the future of the funk.
"I've never heard the perfect hip-hop album, but I'd like to make one. The Chronic is about the closest. Public Enemy's Nation of Millions was dope as hell. Eric B and Rakim, their first album, I really liked a lot, and Boogie Down Productions, Criminal Minded was def."
It is suggested N.W.A's Straight Outta Compton is a pretty good album, too.
"To this day," Dre says, "I can't stand that album. I threw that thing together in six weeks so we could have something to sell out of the trunk."
Still, Straight Outta Compton codified the myth of the urban black gangsta and sold that myth to America.
"People are always telling me my records are violent," Dre says, "that they say bad things about women, but those are the topics they bring up themselves. This is the stuff they want to write about. They don't want to talk about the good shit because that doesn't interest them, and it's not going to interest their readers. A lot of the motherfuckers in the media are big hypocrites, you know what I'm saying? If I'm promoting violence, they're promoting it just as much as I am by focusing on it in the article. That really bugs me out -- you know, if it weren't going on, I couldn't talk about it. I mean, you will never hear me rapping about Martians coming down and killing motherfuckers, because it's not happening. And who came up with that term gangsta rap anyway?"
"Dre," I say. "You did."
"Oh, maybe so." Dre says. "Never mind, then."
[From Issue 666 — September 30, 1993]
Producer is an inadequate label for Andre “Dr. Dre” Young. In addition to personally changing hip-hop’s sound at least three time, first with N.W.A, then with his solo debut, The Chronic (Deathrow/Interscope, 1992), and then again with [Chronic 2001] (Aftermath/Interscope, 1999), he’s also shepherded three of rap’s biggest stars, ever- Snoop Dogg, Eminem, and 50 Cent- to pop superstardom. While Dr. Dre, 43, is a cultural force and a kingmaker, in his heart, he’s still a producer; from the fury of N.W.A’s 1988 “—- tha Police,” to the serpentine funk of his 1992 “Nuthin’ But a ‘G’ Thang,” to the tongue-in-cheek charm of Eminem’s 1999 “My Name Is” and the irresistible bump of 50 Cent’s 2003 “In da Club,” his music defines at least one, if not two generations. In July, Dre check in from– where else?– the studio, where he’s currently “three-fourths the way done” with his long, long-awaited Detox.
What were you doing in 1993?
Dr. Dre: Working on Snoop’s introduction album, Doggystyle.
You’ve had many hits, but you’ve also made stars of other artists. Luck, or labor?
The luck comes in by just meeting these people. These guys are talented as shit. They make me look good, you know what I mean? Once the luck passes, the labor comes in– and it’s definitely a lot of work.
Producing music, developing talent– do you draw on the same skill set?
It’s different. The music doesn’t talk back [laughs].
What’s the key to your track record?
I don’t take any shorts. I don’t say, “Okay, it’s good enough.” I try to get exactly what I’m hearing in my head to the tape, and I won’t let it move until then. In my opinion, some of the hip-hop records that come out, people are willing to compromise. I’m not.
Nineteen ninety-three was also the year after The Chronic. Did you anticipate the overwhelming response?
To be perfectly honest, I wasn’t sure. Before I got with Interscope, I recorded the entire album, artwork and everything and went into almost every label, and everybody was slamming doors on my, talking about, “This isn’t hip-hop; you’re using live instruments.” It had me second-guessing myself. I remember being on my balcony with Nate Dogg, listening to my record like, Is this shit good or not? I had no idea it would do what it did.
Do you see that as your defining effort?
I don’t feel like I’ve made my best record yet. The Marshall Mathers LP got the closest, but I don’t feel like I’ve hit that thing just 100 percent perfect, from the first note to the last note. I always use Quincy Jones as an example– he didn’t make his biggest record until he was 50 and he started when he was 14. So I feel like I have a lot of room to get that thing done.
Is “100 percent” achievable?
I’m not sure. But it’s definitely going to be a fun ride trying.
http://www.xxlmag.com/online/?p=23851
Also, the interviewer made a post on another web site and said that Dre said the Grow up song was a mistake and shouldn't have leaked.
"I interviewed him - briefly - today for this Vibe piece and in ending with the standard "so what are you up to now?" he mentioned he was 3/4ths the way through Detox (hey - his words, not mine) and I brought up the Bishop Lamont song and he told me, "yeah, that wasn't supposed to leak" and called it a "mistake" which I thought meant "the song just wasn't where it needed to be." So if people think it's weak, it sounds like D.R.E. would agree."
http://www.soulstrut.com/ubbthreads/printthread.php?Cat=0&Board=crates&main=1141893&type=thread
“I’ma put my money where my mouth is,” says rapper Ice Cube of his decision to make his own Lench Mob Record his only recording home. While other rappers take the idea of independence only as far as some lip service or a stray mixtape, Ice Cube went all out. After years as a major label artist, Cube dropped his 2006 album Laugh Now, Cry Later, which went on to become the highest selling indie rap album of the year.
Not a bad look for O’Shea Jackson. But it shouldn’t be surprising considering his success in Hollywood’s shark infested waters and, of course, his run with those N bombs wit’ attitude. Cube is set to hit the screen again on August 22nd with the feel good football flick The Longshots, but not before dropping his eighth solo album, Raw Footage on August 19th. With rugged beats, gangsta bravado all held together with candid barbs of social commentary, the album is vintage Cube. But then again, Cube has never been one too stray too far from his gangsta rap pedigree. Read and watch for yourself.
AllHipHop.com: You’re always working working working, can you give us an idea of what you’ve been up to the last six months?
Ice Cube: We can go back even further. The start of the year we did a movie called The Longshots that will be out August 22. I was working on the album before we started the movie; like December [2007] a little over eight months, I started working on the album. Then I did the movie, after the movie I had to come back and finish the album. Then after I finished the album we did another movie with Mike Epps called Janky Promoters.
Soon as I finished that we went through Europe for 18 days. Played all through Europe then came back here for six days and jumped on the road again. Here I am, we tour til September 21st, keep it moving.
AllHipHop.com: How’s the reception been in Europe?
Ice Cube: Man they love it. They been waiting for me for a long time over there. The response was big, everything was selling out, people want me back so hopefully we’ll be back soon.
AllHipHop.com: You’re a Hip-Hop icon and a certified movie star, when do you find time to relax?
Ice Cube: Ya know, I get time, to relax. I usually take off three, four weeks at a time and just kick it and spend it with the fam. It look like I’m doing a hundred things but I make sure that I carve in my family time and all that, so it’s really not an issue.
AllHipHop.com: Was there a spark or incident that made you say, Ok, I’m going to start Raw Footage now?
Ice Cube: I knew I was going to do Raw Footage after Laugh Now, Cry Later. Laugh Now, Cry Later was more of an introduction back into the game, making sure people was aware that I could still do it. So it’s more of a record just to introduce me back into the Hip-Hop game and get people comfortable. Now since people are really open, it’s time to do a record like this, Raw Footage, to really get people back to where we were when I first started.
AllHipHop.com: In hindsight it was a great move because you did it independently, but running up to that point was there any hesitation?
Ice Cube: When I decided to go that route man I just went full speed. I just felt like win, lose or draw, I’ma put my money where my mouth is. I’ma promote my record how I feel in my heart and whatever is the outcome is the outcome. With help from people like Tony Draper, Robert Red, Michael Pauly over at the Firm, Jeff Quinance, Tracy at 5WPR, that’s the team basically. Lench Mob Records really, that’s how we do.
We all sit down, we decide what we need to do and we push it. And I love it that way. Records sales really not concerned to me as much as doing it my way. And doing the kind of records I want to do. Without some A&R dude trying to tell me to go find T-Pain and get you a voice box. Ya know, all this stupid stuff that they do that mess up a lot of records, mess up a lot of artists. People think artists fall off but sometime their record company is responsible for a lot of that because they keep pushing them, more and more pop, pushing them, more and more pop.
AllHipHop.com: Did you get a lot of that too, despite your track record?
Ice Cube: Oh yeah, whenever you give a record to the radio team, here they come with something to say about the record instead of pushing the record. They start whispering to the A&R guys, the A&R guys start whispering to the president of the label, the president of the label, you know, want me to get T-Pain [laughing], that’s just how it go down. They always want somebody else hit. Try to do something like somebody else hit. I got sick of it, I was burnt out on it. And now I’m rejuvenated because I ain’t go to go through that anymore.
AllHipHop.com: Raw Footage is definitely you with the social commentary and the gangsta s**t, why drop this record now?
Ice Cube: I just think people been looking for social and political commentary in music for a longtime. Especially the real heads. Especially the ones in my bracket; around my age or even younger or older a little bit. We don’t want…dance raps is not going to do it for us. We need raps that’s real, raps that not talking about just the rapper but talking about that community and what’s going on. I just felt like people hungered for it.
In ‘93 this kind of rap was pushed to the back for more of the escapism, hanging in the club, drank, get your smoke on, cars, women. And now people know you can’t escape from your problems. People want to hear some solutions, or even damn just some suggestions. Anything to help them sidestep some of the pitfalls that’s out here.
AllHipHop.com: Can you talk about the creation of one of the album most powerful songs, “Why Me?”?
Ice Cube: I got the music first from Hallway Productions. I liked the music but I didn’t know what I was going to put on top of it. It’s a little more musical that I’m used to. My stuff is more beat heavy. I was sitting with it for a long time and then a homie I know got killed named Snag and it triggered something in me to write about it man; to write about all this violence, from the point of view of a victim. What if a victim could come back and talk to his shooter, what would he say? What would he say if he could talk to the man that killed you. Especially when it’s random.
It is one of the most powerful records that I’ve done in my whole career. I put it up there with “Dead Homiez” which I did back on the Kill at Will EP back in the 90’s. I put it up there with that, one of the best records I’ve ever done.
AllHipHop.com: You got The Game on “Get Used To It” and there have been rumors that he’s going to join Westside Connection, is there any truth to that?
Ice Cube: Maybe [smiles]. Maybe.
AllHipHop.com: What’s the current situation with Westside Connection and Mack 10?
Ice Cube: Well me and Mack 10 we fell out, man, about five years ago. We just went our separate way. It ain’t no beef, it ain’t no animosity, it ain’t nothing like that. We just decided, Yo we can’t work together. I’m cool with that. I’m pretty sure he cool with that. That is what it is?
AllHipHop.com: As far as the fact that you have your rap image but you always having the ability to do your family friendly images, has that ever formed a conflict like, Should Cube be in this film?
Ice Cube: I don’t know. If those conversations happen, they don’t happen in my presence. I’m not really concerned about that. The people who have to wrap they minds around the fact that I do all kind of movies, just that these movies but, the people that have to wrap they heads around it is the people that have been fans from day one of the music. But everybody else can accept.
I look at it like this man, Hip-Hop is real life to me. Acting is just pretend. Movies is fake, it’s a character, it’s no way to me that you marry the two. Cause if I do a serial killer movie that don’t mean I’m a serial killer now. If I do a family friendly movie that don’t mean I done calmed down to the point I don’t know how to do hardcore Hip-Hop. To me it’s just a job, it’s fun to work on them kind of movies. I know a lot of people go to the movies to escape and that’s exactly what those movies are for, it’s an escape [from] reality.
AllHipHop.com: What’s your take on the Rick Ross situation?
Ice Cube: I ain’t got no take on it. It is what it is. Whether it’s him or not, he can rhyme. Anybody that’s from neighborhoods where we come from, got a story to tell. So everybody, “Keep it hood, I’m more ghetto than this one, I’m more blacker that one,” it’s bullshit. Anybody that come from the areas we come from got a story to tell. His credibility to me is intact.
AllHipHop.com: Your Ice Cube and anytime there is a top five list of greatest rappers, your name inevitable comes up. What does that mean to you?
Ice Cube: It’s like being put in the Hall of Fame. It’s something that you dream of, to be in that echelon, but you don’t know if you ever going to get there. You just keep working hard, you keep rhyming. If they put me there then I’ll feel like I’ve achieved everything I wanted to achieve in Hip-Hop; being considered one of the best. Ya know, I can kinda relax and keep it moving. I’ma keep doing what I’m doing.
http://www.youtube.com/v/4w0uLR2TAy4
http://www.youtube.com/v/yiU0a9wMDVY
Dr. Dre & Eazy-E's Pool Party taken from the Niggaz4Life Home video (http://www.amazon.com/EFIL4ZAGGIN-Only-Home-Video-N-W/dp/B00006JU6P/ref=cm_lmf_tit_11_rsrsrs0). Censored Version
http://www.worldstarhiphop.com/videos/e/16711680/wshhf1r3BRQ3N6Xnrb0k
http://www.worldstarhiphop.com/videos/video.php?v=wshhf1r3BRQ3N6Xnrb0k
If video loads slow, press the pause button and wait 1 -2 minutes for it to fully load and press the play button again
(http://content.answers.com/main/content/img/amg/videos/drv700/v794/v79449ssumn.jpg)Niggaz4Life Home video (http://www.amazon.com/EFIL4ZAGGIN-Only-Home-Video-N-W/dp/B00006JU6P/ref=cm_lmf_tit_11_rsrsrs0)
(http://mashad09.googlepages.com/download-putar.gif) (http://secured.in/download-17098-2542ecda.html)
http://www.answers.com/topic/n-w-a-efil4zaggin-the-only-home-video
Genre: Nature
Movie Type: Biography, Vocal Music
Themes: Musician's Life
Director: Mark Gerard
Release Year: 1992
Country: US
Run Time: 60 minutes
Plot
One would be hard pressed to name a rap group who courted controversy more openly (and with greater success) than N.W.A.
From the open challenge of their name to their confrontational lyrics and the incendiary impact of their best-known song,
"F--- the Police," N.W.A. pulled no punches and made no apologies.
N.W.A.: The Only Home Video is an hour-long look at life with N.W.A.,
originally released right after their final album, Efil4zaggin, which features uncensored versions of three of the group's music videos,
"Appetite for Destruction," "Alwayz Into Somethin'," and "Approach to Danger." In addition,
this video features exclusive interviews with the members of the group,
footage of N.W.A. performing live on-stage, and an uncensored look at the
definitive gangsta rappers enjoying themselves at uninhibited pajama parties and pool parties. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Cast
N.W.A
Credit
Mark Gerard - Director; Eric "Easy-E" Wright - Executive Producer
BOX remembering Eazy-E;
http://www.youtube.com/v/t-hq9IHe6_w&hl=en&fs=1
Longtime fans of Hip Hop embraced Fergie's "Fergalicious" not because of Stacy's rhyming abilities, but because the 2006 hit was an almost textbook recreation of Ruthless Records' first hit single, J.J. Fad's "Supersonic."
The man who concocted that track, and benefited greatly from Fergie royalties, is Arabian Prince. A pioneer of the Los Angeles that would go on to yield Ice-T, Toddy Tee and a group that Prince helped found - N.W.A. Having appeared on the first group album with Dre, Cube and Eazy alone, Arabian Prince's Electro-Funk endured in the party culture that happened against the backdrop of street politics. Releasing records since 1984, this Compton-born, Inglewood-raised legend hasn't stopped since.
Stones Throw Records and Peanut Butter Wolf recognized this. A year after recognizing New York's Percee P for a lifetime of quiet accomplishment, the L.A. label now celebrates Arabian Prince with Innovative Life: The Anthology (1984-1989), releasing this August 19th. The remastered album shows listeners old and young where it came from, and why Electro-Funk truly never left.
Just returned from Germany with longtime friend and name-sake Egyptian Lover, Arabian Prince walks HipHopDX as he readies his Gorillaz-comparable next project Funky Anime while steadily collecting checks off of ghostwriting and production. When he ends his deejay sets with the trademark Haddaway "What Is Love," you might not realize it, but the Prince hasn't lost his Raiders cap or his props.
HipHopDX: Firstly, why Stones Throw?
Arabian Prince: Oh man, it’s crazy. I’m an idiot when it comes to music, believe it or not. Like, there’s cats out there that are like music historians. Don’t get me wrong, I’m one of the baddest deejays on the planet, when it comes to vinyl, the collection and all of that, but I’m not the guy who’s really up on every little nook and cranny of Hip Hop and all the underground stuff. I’m just really into my own music. I figure the more I stay into myself, the better I have a chance of my music staying pure rather than picking up sounds from somewhere else.
So I had bumped into Peanut Butter Wolf, and man, I’d never heard that cat! I didn’t know who he was to save my life. What the hell is a Peanut Butter Wolf? He’s like, “Man, I really want to do something with you, maybe get some of your old stuff, and put out a greatest hits.” I’m like, “Who is this cat?” I did a little research and said, “Oh, that’s who that is!” So we became like best friends, and now we’re kind of inseparable in music and a lot of stuff we’re doing. So it was kind of a blessing to meet him, as somebody who really appreciates the music first. It kinda brought me back into the scene in the sense where I’m like, “You know what? I’m still in this thing.” Stones Throw has revitalized all that.
DX: This is all released material that is now re-catalogged, repackaged, correct?
AP: Right, right. And there’s two unreleased instrumentals on there as well.
DX: How do you think of the 1984-1989 era?
AP: It reminds me of the old days when there were no gangs in the clubs. [Laughs] We used to wake up, and all we was thinkin’ about was partying and deejaying and chasing women – every single day. That’s what it was, back in the ‘80s, man, in the clubs – especially in L.A. It was all about partying. You had the factions. You had your New Wave people, you had your Punk Rockers, you had your Prince people, you had your Michael Jackson fiends – everybody had their little niche. Show me some dude that thought he was hardcore gangster back in the ‘80s, and I’ll show you the dude wearin’ some spikes and a Michael Jackson jacket, you know what I’m sayin’? That’s what it was. Everything was cool back then.
DX: We all watched Colors. In 1984, when you started making regional and national noise, were the people buying your records part of the gang community?
AP: I’d say yes. The hood is the hood. I had uncles and stuff in gangs, growing up. The music was from the streets; I don’t care what kind of music it was, it originated on the streets. Electro-Funk on the west coast was a product of the streets, from hardcore to softcore people on the streets, everybody just partied to the same beat.
DX: How much of the sound of Electro-Funk was dictated by the equipment you guys were using, and how much was your own creativity?
AP: You know how it all started? When we deejayed back in the day, and even to my deejay sets to this day, I kind of read the crowd, but I’m gonna play what I’m gonna play, I don’t play the Top 40 hits. That’s how it was back in the ‘80s. Top 40 radio was everything – Parliament Funkadelic, Cameo, Bootsy [Collins], there was also Cyndi Lauper, ABC, Depeche Mode, it was also Prince, Michael Jackson, this big gumbo pot of music. When we started doing music, it reflected all of that. We were really into Kraftwerk, we were really into Prince, we were really into Funk. So if you listen to Electro-Funk, it pulls the heavy basslines of old P-Funk and Zapp & Roger stuff - Funk, it pulls the sexy side – Prince and pulls the electronic side from Kraftwerk. It was just a blend of all of that. With the equipment, yeah. The first thing we fell in love with was the 808 drum machine. After we heard that, it just fell right into place.
DX: I gotta ask. Not just with you, but in general – were drugs at play?
AP: You know what’s funny? On the west coast, no! It was a crazy thing! I’ve never done drugs. I don’t drink or smoke or nothin’ like that, which is a surprise comin’ from N.W.A. [Laughs] Back then, I drank a lot, but not no more. But even back then, dude, nobody was really on that scene on the west coast. It was just this crazy party town. People smoked weed, and maybe drank, but nah, it was the furthest thing from the ‘80s scene. You would think I would say, “Yeah, drugs were heavy.” I don’t think I’ve ever seen anybody heavy on drugs back in the ‘80s.
DX: You mentioned N.W.A. Sources say different things. Do you, or did you consider yourself a founding member or simply an affiliate of the group?
AP: You know what’s funny, man? I am a founding member. I was there for two albums – N.W.A. & The Posse and Straight Outta Compton. The people who don’t think I was there or in the group are the people that are younger or they’re the people who get the misinformation from around. If you look at the first album, and a lot of people think that N.W.A. & The Posse is the album, that wasn’t the album; that was a bootleg that Macola [Records] put out.
DX: Really?
AP: Yeah. The actual, first ever N.W.A. album was just called N.W.A. There was no posse. There were just four or five songs, so you’d probably consider it an EP as opposed to an album. It had the same cover, with everybody in an alley. On the back, it was just two pictures of the four of us – me, Dr. Dre, Ice Cube and Eazy-E.
DX: No Yella or Ren?
AP: No. No Yella, no Ren at that point. In one we’re sitting on Eazy’s Jeep. In another, we’re standing on like a crate or something. That was it! It was very simple. Then we did the Straight Outta Compton album, and I left halfway between the release of that and when we were on tour ‘cause we weren’t getting paid, but yeah, I was definitely in the group. I was more…I won’t say behind the scenes, but more in the studio with Dre, making beats and playing music and stuff as opposed to rappin’ on the cuts. I was definitely there.
DX: Were you out there in terms of selling cassettes out of Eazy’s trunk?
AP: Oh yeah. It was all done at Macola Records. When we pressed that stuff up, our weekly or daily routine was – this was our bread and butter, this was how we made money, this was how we put gas in the car, this was how we paid our bills. Go down to Macola, pick up a box or two, hit the swap meets or hit the stores. When we toured, we’d take them around, nobody had heard of us, and we’d go into a store, “Boom. Can we give you a couple of these? If they sell, here’s a phone number, call us.” That’s what it was. We had the old school cell-phones back in the day – the briefcases with the antenna on it. [Laughs] We were definitely going to be contacted. It just blew up because of word of mouth of gettin’ it around.
DX: You got a major production credit in J.J. Fad’s “Supersonic.” That being said, what did you think of Fergie’s “Fergalicious.” Quiet as kept, I bought my girl at the time the album and saw no sample listings in there…
AP: Right. [Will.i.am] did the right thing and the good thing by actually saying, “Okay, yeah, I got this from ‘Supersonic,’ we’re gonna go ahead and get the publishing on this and pay royalties to me, whoever else and the girls.” So that was a good thing. Also, it actually helped to bring the sound back, because if you listen to Missy Elliott’s “Lose Control,” which is [a remake] of Cybotron’s “Clear,” or now you hear Flo Rida’s new joint [“In The Ayer”] with Will.i.am, which is straight Electro Funk. That sounds like they stole it out my garage when I wasn’t lookin’, back in ’87. [Laughs] It’s come full circle; it’s back! Me and Egyptian Lover were in Germany last week, and we were on the airplane talkin’ like, “Man, it’s time. We need to go and do this thing one more time before the gray hairs start showing.” [Laughs]
DX: Looking at those three records you mentioned, are you in a position or does it interest you to produce again, for artists seeking this sound?
AP: Oh yeah, definitely, man! Quiet as kept, I ghostwrite for a lot of people, so I got hits on the radio right now. I’ve done it that way over the years, because when all the animosity has gone on in Hip Hop and the violence and stuff that’s gone on, I have no beef with no one. No beef with anybody in N.W.A., I’m still cool with everybody, still kick it with everybody, so I didn’t want to get that whole guilty by association thing. So when people ask me to produce stuff for ‘em, man, unless it’s something that’s real mild, like a Stones Throw remix or something, I’m like, “Dude, whatever you want. Just put your name on it, and pay me. Give me the contract, make sure I get my royalties and my writers, and I’m cool. I don’t care what you do with it.” Yeah, most definitely. But recently, I’ve really been thinking about getting back into it 100%. I think I will be doing that this year. I just found a new girl – I really admire M.I.A. She just retired from what I hear [click to read], that’s crazy! So I just ran across some random girl, 20 years old, that does beats in her bedroom by herself, creative as I don’t know what, and has got that same sound. I’m about to produce her.
DX: If I walk into your studio right now, will I see that old equipment; do you still use it?
AP: It’s gonna hurt all the old school, analog geeks out there, but none. In my storage bin, I have 15 to 20 keyboards, eight or nine drum machines; I still have all my gear. But with technology these days dude, you can’t beat it. I travel so much that I had to go software because I’m always makin’ music in hotel room and airplanes. But what I did do, I spent a whole year with my gear, samplin’ all my analog stuff. I predominately use Reason right now and Ableton Live. You can’t tell the difference between a digital and analogy synth. I defy somebody to tell me. The last two releases I’ve done, you can’t tell. It sounds the same in the club, you’ve just got to know how to flip it.
DX: Did you remaster the anthology on Stones Throw?
AP: Oh yeah. It’s all remastered. It sounds good, man! I’m listening to some of that stuff like, “I wish it sounded this good back in the day.” But we didn’t have the technology.
DX: I’ve interviewed Rodney O & Joe Cooley too. They too, started in Funk and adapted to gangsta rap by the early ‘90s. With yourself, how do you look at the “after ‘89” and the turn your career and the art took?
AP: I did the same thing as [Rodney O & Joe Cooley] in a sense. After N.W.A., I put an album on EMI/Orpheus, the Brother Arab album, which had “She’s Got A Big Posse,” and stuff like that. It was more party music – still uptempo, more club uptempo, not Electro uptempo. Then, after that, I did another album for EMI, called The Underworld, which was more dark. My sound has always been a dark sound anyway. They were kinda scared of it. It got four or five stars, but they never released it, ‘cause they were scared. It’s still sitting on DATs. One day I’m gonna drop that out. After that, I did Where’s My Bytches? which was all sexist stuff. I had been in this relationship, man, and this girl pissed me off right in the middle of my album. I was like, “Aw man, you gonna piss me off? Here, let me dedicate this to you!” [Laughs] but it was still good music though. I’ve got through the gambit of music, but a creative style, I don’t have one; I just do whatever. My first love was always the Electro-Funk, that’s why I’ve gone back to it.
(http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m72/opazo/MYsPACE.png)
http://www.myspace.com/mcrenofficialmyspace
yeah he recently added a couple of pictures, including this one:
(http://a12.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/56/l_a1738866300cbc274f68f01d8c170ffb.jpg)
QuoteJJ Fad is back
http://ruthlessfamily.wordpress.com/2008/08/29/jj-fad-is-in-the-house/
(http://img300.imageshack.us/img300/6029/supersonicar5.jpg)
Group formed in: 1988 (disbanded in 1992) / Members: M.C.J.B. (Juana Burns) Baby-D (Dania Birks) Sassy C (Michelle Franklin).
A reminder of how fleeting hip-hop glory can be, female L.A. rappers M.C.J.B. , Baby-D and Sassy C formed Just Jammin Fresh and Def (J.J. Fad) in 1988.
They were a part of the Ruthless Posse headed by Eazy E and produced by Dr. Dre. The first hip-hop girl trio to go platinum.
The trio featured a youthful, heavily pop-oriented brand of rap that was non-threatening.
Supersonic, produced by The Arabian Prince & Dr. Dre, was 1 on the pop charts and a top 10 R&B hit, and the album went platinum, peaking at 1.
Soon after it dropped off the charts, they were a memory. Now theyre back and ready to rock the mic again, celebrating theyre 20th anniversary of Supersonic. They just received an ASCAP music award for co-writing on Fergies hit song Fergalicious and are planning to do a 2oth anniversary re-mix of Supersonic.
Stay tuned the Fad is Back!!
-Source: JJ Fad Official Myspace
Visit their Official Myspace: myspace.com/jjfadmusiq
HE LEFT THE BOMB SQUAD BEHIND AND HIS JHERI CURL ON THE BARBERSHOP FLOOR, BUT WITH HIS SECOND SOLO LP ICE CUBE DELIVERED A DEAD CERT CLASSIC...
''Your 1990 solo debut, AmeriKKKas Most Wanted, was deemed a classic. What were your goals with the follow-up?
Doing AmeriKKKas Most Wanted with Chuck D changed my life. I had just left a major group to do a solo album and nobody knew if it was going to work. Nobody even knew if the world wanted me solo.
"In New York, Chuck D kinda turned me on to some his influences Malcolm X, the Minister Louis Farrakhan, the Honourable Elijah Muhammad, Dr Khallid Muhammad so when it was time to do Death Certificate, I had learned so much about our past in America that I was chomping at the bit. When you learn what happens to your ancestors and its not pretty and its not good, it makes you mad.
Your engineer was a guy called Mr Stoker (The Chicken Choker). Dare we ask how he earned that handle?
[Laughs] We was just fuckin with him. I believe that dude was from the UK or somewhere in that region. He was a cool motherfucker who made sure our shit was bangin, so we was like, Man, we gotta give you a nickname, you cant just use your regular name. So he was like, Okay, alright, call me the Chicken Choker. I was like, Ah-ite, cool. Thats a good one.
Meanwhile, in addition to rapping on Color Blind, your protégé Kam was also on hairdressing duties...
Yeah, well, see, when I started the album I still had my jheri curl from my NWA and AmeriKKKas Most Wanted days and I was like, Man, with this album I gotta have a new look. I cant just come out with this curl again, so he was like, Lets chop it off.
"He already knew how to cut cos in the neighbourhood everybody dont wanna go to the barber all the time, you wanna know how to cut yourself. He knew how to cut so he hooked me up.
With lyrics like "Fuck R&B and the running man" and "It aint no pop, cos that sucks/And you can New Jack Swing on my nuts", you were clearly irritated by hip-hops commercial leanings...
I was fighting against it because when I started doing hip-hop we werent even accepted as music. I hold those chips on my shoulder to this day. At the time, it was becoming popular to combine hip-hop and R&B and I was protesting against that marriage. I wanted it to always be two separate things.
"I was seeing all these videos with the dancing guys and high top fades, and I felt like we were losing the voice of guys like the Poor Righteous Teachers and KRS-One to this new type of popcorn record.
You caught a lot of flak for Black Korea. Did you feel that the mainstream media overlooked the fact that the song was penned in response to the fatal shooting of black teenager Latasha Harlins by a Korean storeowner?
The Latasha case was kinda like the last straw. I myself, back in the day, had been into Korean stores and been treated less than how a customer should, so it was not only coming from that story but thousands and thousands of stories you heard from your people going into those stores. You get to the point where its an issue. You are in our neighbourhoods making a whole lot of money off of our community − you have to treat the people better. I dont care if a few of them are robbin or stealin, you have to treat everybody the same until they show you differently.
"That song may have been misunderstood by the media, but it wasnt misunderstood by the people going through it in the community, so I was always satisfied with the response to the song because it was the truth. Then when the riots went on and you saw some of these businesses being burnt down, it wasnt just because of one incident - it was a thousand incidents and enough was enough.....
www.RuthlessVillain.tk got a MC Ren interview coming.
But you got to register to submit questions :-\ :-[ :-X (and probably to read the interview.) What is that about?
The DubCC mods deleted AOD187īs submit questions thread here.... so I guess we got to wait till NonCentz get around to do a interview for DubCNN.
Lonzo Williams releases DVD documentary ‘Once Upon A Time In Compton’
http://www.aftermathmusic.com/blog/?p=91
Much has been rumored, whispered and speculated on when it comes to the true origins of the west coast rap scene and the roots of gangsta’ rap.
A hotbed of activity, spawning the likes of NWA, Eazy E, Dr. Dre, Ice Cube and most recently the Game,
the chart topping contributions from the west once dominated the hip hop scene. The west once ruled.
There is a story behind every story, however, and Lonzo Williams, long recognized as the Godfather of West Coast Rap is now, for the first time revealing his.
As the creator of the World Class Wreckin’ Crew, the group that directly preceded the birth of N.W.A.,
and gave us such eternal hits as “Turn Off The Lights,” “Cabbage Patch” and “Dr. Dre to Surgery,”
Lonzo unveils his storehouse of flyers, photos, and original VHS footage, in the Dub-Kris Media DVD release, “Once Upon A Time In Compton.”
“Once Upon A Time In Compton” proves to be the ultimate rapper’s delight, chock full of historical anecdotes’, unforgettable vintage footage and throwback rap classics as Lonzo recaps his own version of the ‘wild, wild, west.’ In true Godfather fashion, he spins an often humorous tale that holds the audience spellbound. Forget what you heard or read, he admonishes, as he takes us back, way back, to the very beginning of it all, when he first got his start as a DJ in high school. Parlaying that experience into promoting, Lonzo eventually created the group that launched the careers of hip hop’s most famous emcees,
Eazy E, Dr. Dre and Ice Cube.
Hip hip heads and trivia buffs will revel in the highlights that include:
-never before scene footage of a young Dr. Dre, draped in purple satin, when he first rocked the turntables, magically mixing “Planet Rock” with “Mr. Postman.”
Lonzo acknowledges, “I don’t know how he got on the turntables, but we all knew then, he had something special.”
-a live performance of the Wreckin’ Cru covering Morris Day and the Time’s hit single, “The Bird.”
-a young Dr. Dre on lead vocals as the group performs their club hit, “Housecalls”
Reminiscing down hip hop memory lane, Lonzo drops gems detailing what the pioneers of
hip hop had to endure and how the foundation was really laid for a genre that now sets trends around the globe.
“Hip hop is an urban musical tree that has spawned branches from grafiti to gangsta rap and is still growing,”
Lonzo asserts, “and it is not only important, but also relevant, that its beginnings be truthfully documented.
When I realized what I had in my vaults, I knew I had to share it.”
“Once Upon a Time in Compton” is Lonzo’s autobiographical account of himself as a determined
young man overcoming the odds to succeed in the predator-laden music business.
It is also the story of the personalities, the players, the haters and the beat that emerged from the threadbare streets of Compton to explode across the globe.
From his nightclub, the Eve After Dark, that became the nexus of this burgeoning hip hop scene where seminal rap figures
Dr. Dre (Andre Young), Eazy E (Eric Wright), and Ice Cube (Oshay Jackson), would congregate to putting together the World Class Wreckin’ Cru,
Lonzo weaves a story that is compelling and captivating.
He shares how Eazy E used profits from his drug sales to do his first rap tapes in the studio that Lonzo built and how he and others,
not recognized in hip hop’s history, were there when Dre, Eazy and Cube began N.W.A.,
the group that was a prairie fire introducing the hardcore, blistering sound and lyrics now known as gansta’ rap.
Lonzo shocks the house in this unflinching portrait of his life and times and continuing presence and influence in the hip hop game.
A genuine survivor and Godfather of the game, Lonzo Williams’ “Once Upon A Time in Compton”
will become a true underground classic of the west coast story that was never told.
“Once Upon A Time in Compton” can be purchased at www.Amazon.com.
^^I got that sample from their site, looks like they were heavily basing the interview around on Cube's 'Dead Cert' classic.
This is the best topic on this board so far!
Thanks for posting all that stuff, so interesting and amazing, I'm gonna spend a lot of time of reading and watching this and that. Thanks.
chad, do you know what's up with krazy d?
he was about to release a dvd exposing that whole NWA-hype shit.
did he record any songs?
Time Bomb Interview!
Read the full interview here: (http://raptalk.net/website/content/view/860/54/)
and
Discuss here; (http://www.dubcnn.com/connect/index.php?topic=195311.msg1986783#msg1986783)
-Q: How did you end up getting on the “Chronic 2001” album? Was it Knoc-turn’al that introduced you to Dre?
Nah, it was over there that I met Knoc-turn’al.
-Q: Oh, OK.
I was fucking with a cat by the name of Mark Gordon. I did a three song demo. This was when I first got in the game. I was just fucking around in the studio and did a three song demo and that three song demo went all the way to New York to Puffy (Diddy) and shit. Puffy sent for me and shit and I went out there to New York fucking with them. I then flew to Atlanta and I was fucking with every body in the game. This was around 1999. I was still bad as fuck, going to jail every other day.
I end up meeting (Dr.) Dre in a studio and he bought a song off me from my three song demo. He paid me $4500 for it to go on the Chronic 2001; it didn’t make the cut, but he paid me for it. I was just freestyling in my head and shit. Dre was like “ey, what’s that shit you got going on there?” Dre put on the beat to “Some L.A. Niggaz” and I put my freestyle over it when I walked in. That’s where that pause came in every time the beat stop; every body followed me with that shit and made the hook. The one song I did for the Chronic 2001 made the album. Dre had like eighty tracks to pick from. I am very grateful it made the album.
-Q: Was it that freestyle that made him want you on the album?
Nah, he already wanted me on the album. Dre tried to sign me but I was already signed to Puff’s road manager with Finish Line. I was already signed there so I couldn’t sign to Dre; he still wanted me to do some shit with him.
-Q: Take us back to those recording sessions for “Chronic 2001.” Do you have any particular memories that stand out in your mind?
We were all meeting for the first time; me, Xzibit, King Tee, Hittman and so on. It was basically competition. Everybody was just sitting around waiting for their turn to rap over one of Dre’s hot beats. Any time he put any beat on; we put the pens to the pad. He’d put on a beat for five minutes, we all had a song written for it; he’d take that beat off and put on another, we’d do the same thing for that next beat. We hung around and wasn’t really tripping. We all ended up hopping on some hot shit. We were battling each other at first on “L.A. Niggaz” and then decided to make a song for it.
-Q: A lot of people describe those recording sessions as one big family.
Dre never made us feel like our shit wasn’t hot. He always complimented your shit. Even if something was wrong, he never made you nervous in the studio, every thing was always perfectly comfortable; I’m saying us as MC’s would battle each other when we first met, but we was giving each other love over the battle. We all knew we were hot MC’s. It was the best time I ever had recording; it was the most comfortable I’ve ever felt.
-Q: Have you had any recent contact with Dr. Dre or Knoc-turn’al?
Not since I’ve been out of jail. I’ve been hearing that some cats are looking for me. I’m not doing all that extra shit like going out of town;
I have to spend time with my kids. If I do see them though, it’s all love, no love lost; they the homies right there.
You can listen a Recent MC REN Interview by Real Richard Radio (http://ruthlessfamily.wordpress.com/2008/09/21/mcrens-new-singlethe-return-of-the-villain/) Click on that link to listen @ his myspace.
http://ruthlessfamily.wordpress.com/2008/09/21/mcrens-new-singlethe-return-of-the-villain/
The worlds most dangerous thread.:-X
The worlds most dangerous thread.:-X
VH1 Premieres the Rock Doc ‘NWA: The World’s Most Dangerous Group’ October 3 at 11pm
http://ruthlessfamily.wordpress.com/2008/09/26/vh1-premieres-the-rock-doc-nwa-the-worlds-most-dangerous-group-october-3-at-11pm/
(http://www.netweed.com/prohiphop/graf/straightouttacomptonsmall.jpg)
NEW YORK, Sept 23, 2008 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ — The 90-Minute Rock Doc Includes New Interviews With Original NWA Members - Ice Cube and DJ Yella
N.W.A’s Influence Explored on New Capitol/Priority Release, ‘N.W.A And Their Family Tree,’ to be Released September 30
The Year was 1988, the album was “Straight Outta Compton,” the group was NWA and the outcome was history making. VH1’s Emmy Award-winning franchise takes a look back at the album and the group that changed the face of hip hop 20 years after its release in the new VH1 Rock Doc, NWA: The World’s Most Dangerous Group.” The doc will premiere on VH1, October 3 at 11pm*.
When NWA released their “Straight Outta Compton” album in late 1988 it changed the face of hip hop forever by ushering in a new genre of music called “gangsta rap.” Television and radio were afraid to touch it because the lyrics were so perverse and forbidden, the politicians were quick to attack and condemn it and the FBI wanted it banned - it made history even before it became a multi-platinum selling album.
VH1’s Rock Doc “NWA: The World’s Most Dangerous Group” tells the story of a group of childhood friends from Compton who channeled the rage of the streets through the prism of rap music and pop culture. Eazy-E, Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, MC Ren and DJ Yella gave a powerful voice to the late-80’s Compton ghetto that was on the verge of exploding, and in the process scared much of White America. Often misunderstood, NWA’s raging raps about police violence, gang-land terror and drug-fueled shooting sprees gave the ultimate voice to the voiceless.
The doc features new interviews with Ice Cube, DJ Yella, Eazy-E’s widow Tomica Woods-Wright, former manager Jerry Heller, Ice-T, journalist Cheo Coker, and director John Singleton. Supplemented by rarely-seen footage and interviews from the group’s early days, photos, and music, the documentary will show how gangsta rap was born in late 80s Los Angeles, a city torn by drugs and violence…and how a nation grew to fear the music that emerged.
“NWA: The World’s Most Dangerous Group” was written and directed by Mark Ford. Executive produced by Mark Ford and Kevin Lopez and produced by Wesley Jones for Creature Films. Brad Abramson, Shelly Tatro and Jeff Olde are executive producers for VH1. Mark Anstendig is supervising producer for VH1.
To commemorate the historic and ongoing musical and cultural influence of N.W.A, Capitol/Priority will release N.W.A And Their Family Tree on September 30. The new CD and digital collection features a cross-section of 18 genre-defining tracks by the pioneering gangsta rap group and its founders, plus Mack 10, Westside Connection, Snoop Dogg, and other N.W.A-inspired artists.
“NWA: The World’s Most Dangerous Group” is the newest film in the Emmy Award winning VH1 Rock Doc franchise. VH1 Rock Docs are television’s premier collection of music documentaries. Each high-end feature-length documentary reveals an untold story in the history of rock and hip-hop music, combining never-before-seen footage with a unique and unconventional narrative approach. The documentaries tell some of the most unique stories of artists and music from a wide range of genres, styles, and musical perspectives.
VH1 connects viewers to the music, artists and pop culture that matter to them most with TV series, specials, live events, exclusive online content and public affairs initiatives. VH1 is available in 95 million households in the U.S. VH1 also has an array of digital channels and services including VH1Classic, VH1 Soul, VH1 Mobile, VH1Games and extensive broadband video on VH1.com. Connect with VH1 at VH1.com.
*All Times ET/PT
NEW Naughty By Nature interview (50 cent,Suge,Eazy and other things..)
DX: I’m glad you mentioned that. You guys did one of my favorite Eazy-E records in “Only If You Want It.”
Besides Ice Cube working with The Bomb Squad, bi-coastal collaborations were rare in those days. How did that happen?
Vin Rock: Right! We hooked up with Eazy…
I guess “O.P.P.” had come out, and Eazy was just goin’ through that stuff with [Dr.] Dre and them, so he kinda reached out to us to work with him.
We got the tail-end of what was going on.
We knew there was a transition. Eazy told us about Suge [Knight] and the Death Row situation.
He was like, “They came and kinda tried to strong-arm me, but I know the core and the basis of where this guy is comin’ from, and in the end, it won’t pan out.”
I remember Eazy to this day, ‘cause he came to my house. We were both into properties.
He showed me his properties in L.A.; we showed him our properties out here in Jersey.
Even, right now, I still live in the same house that Eazy came to visit. When I think back about Eazy,
I’m like, “God, this guy was right here in this house!”
He definitely was a marketing genius. Even I picked his brain about merchandising.
At N.W.A. they had all that merchandising and the pull-out sleeves.
“Eazy, how are you doing that?” Basically, he was using a licensing company. I took it a step further.
Shit, we were already printing stuff and we’re selling it off the block.
We have the inventory and don’t need those guys, we just got Tommy Boy [Records] to let us put the inserts in the album cover.
Eazy definitely put us up on game.
Arabian Prince: The actual, first ever N.W.A. album was just called N.W.A. There was no posse. There were just four or five songs, so youd probably consider it an EP as opposed to an album. It had the same cover, with everybody in an alley. On the back, it was just two pictures of the four of us me, Dr. Dre, Ice Cube and Eazy-E.
Dr. Dre & Eazy-E's Pool Party taken from the Niggaz4Life Home video (http://www.amazon.com/EFIL4ZAGGIN-Only-Home-Video-N-W/dp/B00006JU6P/ref=cm_lmf_tit_11_rsrsrs0). Censored Version
http://www.worldstarhiphop.com/videos/e/16711680/wshhf1r3BRQ3N6Xnrb0k
http://www.worldstarhiphop.com/videos/video.php?v=wshhf1r3BRQ3N6Xnrb0k
If video loads slow, press the pause button and wait 1 -2 minutes for it to fully load and press the play button again(http://content.answers.com/main/content/img/amg/videos/drv700/v794/v79449ssumn.jpg)Niggaz4Life Home video (http://www.amazon.com/EFIL4ZAGGIN-Only-Home-Video-N-W/dp/B00006JU6P/ref=cm_lmf_tit_11_rsrsrs0)
(http://mashad09.googlepages.com/download-putar.gif) (http://secured.in/download-17098-2542ecda.html)Quotehttp://www.answers.com/topic/n-w-a-efil4zaggin-the-only-home-videogreat
Genre: Nature
Movie Type: Biography, Vocal Music
Themes: Musician's Life
Director: Mark Gerard
Release Year: 1992
Country: US
Run Time: 60 minutes
Plot
One would be hard pressed to name a rap group who courted controversy more openly (and with greater success) than N.W.A.
From the open challenge of their name to their confrontational lyrics and the incendiary impact of their best-known song,
"F--- the Police," N.W.A. pulled no punches and made no apologies.
N.W.A.: The Only Home Video is an hour-long look at life with N.W.A.,
originally released right after their final album, Efil4zaggin, which features uncensored versions of three of the group's music videos,
"Appetite for Destruction," "Alwayz Into Somethin'," and "Approach to Danger." In addition,
this video features exclusive interviews with the members of the group,
footage of N.W.A. performing live on-stage, and an uncensored look at the
definitive gangsta rappers enjoying themselves at uninhibited pajama parties and pool parties. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Cast
N.W.A
Credit
Mark Gerard - Director; Eric "Easy-E" Wright - Executive Producer
Here is another new MC Ren interview for y'all to check out!
http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/features/id.1253
MC Ren: RenIncarnated October 26th, 2008 | Author: Omar Burgess
http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/features/id.1253
As much as they are deservedly praised for their roles in creating a completely different genre of Hip Hop, the members of N.W.A. have by and large stayed in the spotlight by reinventing themselves. After his death in 1995, Eazy-E posthumously looms larger than he ever did while alive. Ice Cube [click to read] can still spit classic verses, but he’s also remade himself as an A-list actor, producer and director. After releasing two classic albums, Dr. Dre sits atop the Aftermath Empire with Eminem and 50 Cent [click to read] as his multi-platinum pupils. Hell, even DJ Yella pads his bank account by directing and producing porn. So what ever happened to MC Ren? Aside from a few stellar but sporadic guest appearances, “The Villain in Black” has maintained a relatively low profile over the last decade.
A conversation with Ren yields talk of picking his kids up from school, visiting the pyramids at Giza and fond memories of his N.W.A. days. Is this the end? Hardly. Before “The Doctor” and the “Don Mega” left N.W.A. to pursue solo success, it was Ren who cornered the market on reinvention. He received his own platinum plaques for Kizz My Black Azz and Shock of the Hour. The latter saw him trade his N.W.A. persona for an equally fiery and introspective one after converting to Islam.
Now, removed from the spotlight, Ren is up to his old tricks. He’s got his own movie plans, and he continues to embrace the contemporary artists who catch his ear. Furthermore, Ren now operates on both sides of the mic as an emcee and a producer. Not that any of this should come as a surprise. After all, Ren already did the reinvention thing back in the '90s. This is RenIncarnation.
HipHopDX: Everyone’s got their own N.W.A. stories. When I was in elementary school, my mom busted in on me listening to “Dopeman” and gave me the worst beatdown ever. Do you get a lot of those stories?
MC Ren: Yeah, man. I get a lot of the same type of shit. It’s just like how when I was little, we used to sneak and go listen to Richard Pryor. We used to get in some serious trouble for that shit [laughs].
DX: Good to know we were carrying on the tradition.
MC Ren: Yeah, man. Those tapes kept us coming back.
DX: You weren’t too far removed from those times when you started rhyming, and there were a lot of other groups from Compton putting out music when N.W.A. formed. Did you ever do anything with Mixmaster Spade, Toddy Tee, or Rodney O and Joe Cooley?
MC Ren: Nah, it was N.W.A. from the start. Before everything tripped off, [Eazy]-E signed me as a solo artist. This was around the time he first put out “Boyz N the Hood” [click to read] independently. From that point on, he just snatched me up and put me in the group. Every since the beginning, it was N.W.A.—not knowing that shit was going to get as big as it did. Like you said, there were a lot of people out. So the chances of us just blowing up the way we did…that shit was unbelievable, even to this day.
DX: Given that, how far did you think it would go when you guys were signed to Macola and selling tapes out of the trunk?
MC Ren: When E put out “Boyz N the Hood,” Macola was who we took it to first. Even though we ended up dealing with bigger companies later on down the line, that shit was big to me. It was like walking into Def Jam or any other major label. We used to go up there every damn day. So I’m seeing these people in the music business that I think are really big. I was pumped up, and I really thought we were on our way. But looking back at it, it wasn’t until we got with Priority Records that things really got big. That’s where I was like, “Okay, this is it right here.”
DX: I read an old interview, where DJ Yella said Eazy-E was notorious for forgetting the lyrics to some of his songs. As the author of “Eazy Duz It,” [click to read] “Radio” [click to read] and “Ruthless Villain” [click to read], is that true?
MC Ren: Nah. Most of the time he had the words right in front of him, so he’d never go in the booth and try to do the songs from memory. He’d just go in there with his paper and bust the lyrics. If somebody wrote him a rhyme, we’d just give him the paper. He’d go in there, and we’d coach him on how to say that shit.
DX: After N.W.A. became a household name, the FBI stepped to you guys with a letter regarding “Fuck the Police.” You guys got them back on “100 Miles and Runnin’,” [click to read] but what was your initial response to seeing the letter?
MC Ren: Shit, we was happy! It was free publicity for us, and we weren’t even trippin’ off that letter. It was the record company and the [executives] who were scared. A letter? That was nothing.
I was watching [N.W.A.: The World’s Most Dangerous Group], and Cube was talking about that letter. He was like, “Man, we’ve dealt with all kinds of shit, and y’all tripping off a letter? It’s not like the letter has a mouth. The letter can’t jump up and just shoot up everybody in the room.” He said it just right, because that’s exactly how we all felt.
DX: True. Since we’re talking “100 Miles and Runnin’,”what made you sample The Warriors. You know the breakdown where the chick starts talking, and then she goes into Martha & The Vandellas just like in the movie?
MC Ren: Yeah, Dre put that in there. He used to do all the fill-ins. Actually they had somebody come in there and say that part. It sounds like the clip from the movie, but they had somebody come in.
DX: So, just out of curiosity, are you a fan of the movie?
MC Ren: Hell yeah, I love The Warriors. I remember being little and watching it back in the day when that shit first came out. That shit is hard. I’ve got the DVD somewhere around here. Everybody likes that movie. It’s classic, and that shit is comedy.
DX: Niggaz4Life would be the last N.W.A. album, and afterward we heard a lot from Dre and Ice Cube about Jerry Heller skimming money off the top. As someone who stayed with Ruthless, did you experience that too?
MC Ren: Everybody there had experiences with that shit. A lot of people had problems with it, and a lot of people had problems with Jerry. When it was just us from the group together out on the road or something, we’d voice our opinion. We’d ask, “Why is he getting paid this amount and we’re not?” That’s where a lot of that tension and all that other shit came in. It all started over that.
We felt he didn’t deserve what he was getting. We deserved that shit. We were the ones making the records, traveling in vans and driving all around the place. You do all those fucking shows trying to get known, and then you come home to a fucking apartment. Then you go to his house, and this motherfucker lives in a mansion. There’s gold leaf trimmings all in the bathroom and all kinds of other shit. You’re thinking, “Man, fuck that.”
Everybody knows what happened. A lot of times you see Jerry talking about that shit, and he’s acting like George Bush or [John] McCain—like nothing wrong happened. He’ll say some shit like, “Everything was alright. They got what they deserved.” And I’m like, “Man, c’mon.” We were supposed to get super paid off of the first album, as big as it was and as many copies as it sold. But we didn’t really know the ins and outs of the business side, and certain people did. Those were the ones who took advantage of everybody.
DX: Cube and Dre were both on bad terms with Eazy before he was diagnosed with AIDS. Did you and he get to talk before he passed?
MC Ren: Yeah, we did. It was a time when we weren’t even talking. Everybody was doing their own thing. I remember he called me, and he was telling me about this and that. Then he started talking about getting N.W.A. back together. I was like, “Yeah.” Then he asked me to get on his album, and that was the last one he did, Str8 Off the Streets of Muthaphuckin’ Compton. I agreed, and we hooked up at his house. Me, him and Yella did [“Tha Muthafuckin Real”] [click to read]. We were all talking, and he was talking about everybody hooking up to do the N.W.A. thing. Right after we did that song, that was the last time I saw him. I heard he was in the hospital about a week or two later, and then that was it.
DX: Considering all the drama that went down, why stay with Ruthless after that?
MC Ren: It was a lot of shit going on, but after he passed, I had a lot of meetings with everyone who was about to take over. At the time, that’s where I wanted to stay. I had been there so long, and I didn’t want to go somewhere else and have the label put me in the mix with their other artists. They told me I could still do whatever I wanted to do. At that time, a lot of labels weren’t doing that. They’d bring people in to try to change your image and all that. Ruthless was like, “Shit, just do you.” So I just kept putting my shit out.
DX: There was a lot of young talent on the label then. You had Bone Thugs-N-Harmony [click to read], Black Eyed Peas, Kokane and Baby S. Were they all looking up to you as the OG?
MC Ren: When Bone was recording, I wasn’t really around for a lot of the studio sessions. I would be off doing some other shit. A little after that, I was on tour with Bone. We kicked it, and I got a chance to meet a lot of them dudes. It was cool, and it’s nothing but love to this day.
DX: Did you ever see the potential in any of those acts to become as big as they eventually did?
MC Ren: I really saw it in Bone. When Eric was still alive, he had other artists. But he was putting his everything into Bone, and they were really tight. He was so pumped up over Bone. They did exactly what he thought they were gonna do, but he didn’t get to see it. They really blew up, man. So, yeah, back then I definitely saw the potential in Bone.
DX: I want to get into your solo work for a minute. Around 1993, you dropped Shock of the Hour, which was different from anything you had done as a soloist or a member of NWA. What was your frame of mind going into that album?
MC Ren: Man, Shock of the Hour was just me coming into Islam. I had a lot of new ideas, and I had a big perspective on life. I looked at everything different. When you listen to that album, I recorded the first half right when I was thinking about falling into the Nation of Islam. Then the whole second half is songs I made after I fell in. I was like, “Okay, let me go.”
But I didn’t want to make the whole album like that, so I said, “Shit, I’m keeping everything I did.” I let everybody hear what I did on the first part, and then the second part allows you vibe to what I was doing at the time.
DX: Yeah, you definitely get the sense of growth and the impact of your conversion as the album progresses. A few years later, you converted to Orthodox Islam right?
MC Ren: Right.
DX: This is a little off topic, but a few weeks ago, we asked a few emcees to speak on the passing of Imam W.D. Muhammad. What was your initial reaction?
MC Ren: Man, I was shocked. I didn’t even know, but my wife saw it on the Internet. I was just like, “Damn. I ain’t seen nothing on the news or anywhere else.”
DX: Exactly.
MC Ren: They didn’t show him one time. You feel what I’m saying? Nobody talked about it, and it didn’t even make the news. They show so much bullshit on the news, and you’d think his passing would’ve at least been on there. We’re talking about Elijah Muhammad’s son Wallace. Come on, this is Warith Deen. But that’s how the media is. Everyone acts like they’re scared.
DX: I just had to sneak that in there. We couldn’t get anybody to weigh in on it that week.
MC Ren: Well you’ve got me.
DX: No doubt. Getting back to the music, the next album, Ruthless for Life, featured 8Ball & MJG [click to read] on “Who in the Fuck." How did you guys make that happen?
MC Ren: They had this song I heard back in the day called “Space Age Pimpin’” [click to read]. I was out of town when I heard it, and I remember thinking, “Damn, this shit is hard. These niggas is tight.” I listened to that song all day over and over and over. I remember seeing their video when they first came out, but I can’t remember the name of the song. After I heard that “Space Age Pimpin,’” I was like, “Man, I gotta work with these fools.”
So I got on the phone, and I told Ruthless to get in contact with Suave House [Records] so I could fuck with ‘Ball & G. They hooked it up, and I went down to Houston, ‘cause that’s where Suave House was at the time. We hooked up with the homie T-Mixx, who did the track for “Space Age Pimpin’.” We all just got together and knocked that shit out, and it came out cool as fuck.
DX: It’s interesting that you guys got together, because a lot of artists in your position think they’re too big to do those types of records.
MC Ren: Yeah, some people trip like that, but I don’t. If like you, I’m gonna try to work together. I don’t usually work with a lot of motherfuckers. But if I like you, I’m gonna work with you.
DX: After almost disappearing for a while, you resurfaced in 2001 with “Hello,” “Chin Check” and cameos on both Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre’s albums. During that time did you entertain thoughts of a major come back.
MC Ren: Yeah, I did. At that time I got a few offers for an album. Motherfuckers were coming out getting all this money. People were coming out with a little buzz, but they’d still walk into the label and get a million bucks for their advance. I was like, “I was signed to motherfuckers for so long. And if I’m gonna fuck with your label, you’re gonna have to break me off, cuzz.”
Back in the day, it was kind of cool. You could get the lower advance and end up keeping more money on the back end. But if you take less and they don’t push your album correctly, you just walk away from that motherfucker with less. And you end up in the red on top of that. Next thing you know they’re telling you, “Oh we had to buy this, this and that. Your album flopped.”
So around 2000, maybe 2001, I decided a motherfucker would have to break me off at least a million up front. That way, just in case they fucked my shit up, I still would get $1 million out of it. The game has changed to the point where if a major label isn’t willing to break me off, then I can just do the shit myself.
DX: These days, Dre is promoting a line of headphones and different types of liquor, and we all know Ice Cube is doing films on the side. Yella is directing pornos. What is MC Ren up to outside the realm of Hip Hop?
MC Ren: Outside of music, I have a radio show that’s starting on the 29th of this month. It’ll be on 92.5 KYHY, and people can catch that at www.925burbank.com. I’m doing radio, and I’ve got some other shit in the works. The company I’m working with told me don’t speak on it right now, so I gotta keep my mouth shut. As soon as it happens though, I’ll let you know, dog. It’s gonna be big.
DX: I also read somewhere that you were into Ancient Egypt and Kimetic culture.
MC Ren: Yeah, man. I went out there in 1995 on a study group with Ashwa Kwesi. That shit just blew my mind, so I’m all into that. They were making shit perfectly thousands of years ago, and they can’t even recreate some of it today. That is straight up mind-boggling.
DX: Absolutely. You guys were doing something very similar in terms of Hip Hop and you ended up being associated with the terms “gangster” and “gangster rap.” Since the definition has gotten twisted over the years, what do you define as gangster?
MC Ren: Well, we never called it gangster rap. They just threw that shit on us. We used to just say our shit was hardcore or underground. Today, it’s so garbage. Gangster rap—that shit don’t even sound right. It sounds like some made up, garbage shit. And you’ve got a lot of niggas running around talking about they’re gangster rappers. It just sounds crazy to me, because I’m not a gangster rapper. Motherfuckers might label me that, but if they ask me, I tell them, “Man, I ain’t no gangster rapper.”
DX: Correct me if I’m wrong, but “Gangsta Gangsta” was about the only time you guys actually used the word in reference to yourselves. How did that label get associated with N.W.A.?
MC Ren: Man, it was this interview we did with this motherfucker. I think he was from the Los Angeles Times. This white dude comes to Eric’s house, and he was scared. Actually we were in Compton at Eric’s mom’s house. So he did a little interview and took some pictures of us and shit. He was so scared, man. He had nothing to be afraid of, but you could physically see him shaking. After we saw how nervous he was, Eric went in the house and got a gang of guns. Dude backed up and then tried to sit back down. But he was shaking so hard that he must’ve moved, because this fool missed the chair and fell on the grass.
When he left we were laughing like a motherfucker. Everybody was just going, “What the fuck is he scared of?” You could just see the expression on his face like, “Oh damn, I’m about to die.” I guess he got back to his office like, “These are some gangster rappers!” So he put that shit in the article, and ever since then that’s what it was.
DX: Compton has a ridiculous history, in terms of Hip Hop. After your generation there was Quik, MC Eiht, The Game [click to read] and others. What is it about Compton that produces all this good music?
MC Ren: Back then, I just believe the west was rising at that time. New York was dominating everything, and everybody I knew in Compton was just grinding. It was just great competition. Everybody out here wanted to be the best and compete with New York. I think that had a lot to do with the music. We used to be in the studio saying we wanted to outdo this person or that person. That motivated us to a point where we said, “We gotta make our shit the hardest out.” Then you’ve got them saying, “Man, we gotta outdo N.W.A.” We were getting a lot of the shine on the west coast, so they were thinking, “Man, we gotta outdo them niggas.” But, you know, it is what it is.
Ultimate Visonary(http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2159/1820678399_0b8ce3fd41_b.jpg)
by Allen S. Gordon Murder Dog. Vol.9 NO.1
who is that guy?
on fuck tha police 2 he was like "you're gonna suck me and my partner's dicks or you're going to be on dead nigger bitch"
and on "just don't bite it" he was the guy advertising 'the art of sucking dick'
he has a ton of other little talking appearances on Ruthless stuff, but those are the two that come to mind. i was listening to ATL's LLH the other day and heard him again and decided I finally need to know.
-T
Mike "Crazy Neck" Sims
Not only does is this studio rat's fretwork appear on several Ruthless productions,but his voice can be readily indenfied portraying crooked police officers and stiff,Caucasian radio announcers on NWA's 100 Miles And Runnin' EP and Above The Law's Livin' Like Hustlers.
Check this video out!!
It's from the brand new MC Ren Radio Show!
and yeah also he mentions me! (Opazo)
http://www.youtube.com/v/ebhwevJcz7I&hl=en&fs=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebhwevJcz7I
http://www.allhiphop.com/stories/features/archive/2008/11/10/20677191.aspx
Lorenzo Patterson, better known as MC Ren, turned the rap world upside down as a member of the gangster-rap pioneering group known as N.W.A. While fellow members Eazy-E, Ice Cube and Dr. Dre had a more visible presence, the group would not have been the same without Ren’s razor sharp and rapid hard-hitting lyrics, which served as a proper one-two punch with Ice Cube’s loud yet charismatic flow on the classic Straight Outta Compton.
The group was left to fill a huge void as Ice Cube departed for a solo career and that meant a much larger load for MC Ren to carry on N.W.A’s Efil4Zaggin. With Ren as the only true lyricist left in the group the album was forced to rely heavily on music production to make up for the lack of the one-two punch that they previously had. We all know what happened next as Dr. Dre was the next to leave over monetary concerns which gave MC Ren the opportunity to release his solo works, Kizz My Black Azz, Shock Of The Hour, The Villain In Black and Ruthless For Life.
The solo material never lived up to the commercial success of his former group-mates; however, Ren was able to attain a very loyal fan base that still exists to this very day. After a long hiatus from the rap game, The Villain is once again ready to strike with a brand new album currently in the works. In this exclusive interview MC Ren takes us to the beginning where it all started, all of the way to his current status where he discusses his new album and his new online radio show.
AllHipHop.com: When were you first christened with the name MC Ren?
MC Ren: That was like in 1984. I started rhyming in ‘83 and back then I was calling myself Master Ren, like Grandmaster Flash and Grandmaster Melle Mel. That was like when I was first starting off but the next year I became MC Ren. I dropped the Master because it didn’t sound right. That’s how that all came about.
N.W.A "Straight Outta Compton" Video
AllHipHop.com: How good were your skills back in those early days?
MC Ren: I was good. I was the best in my neighborhood. I could tear your ass up freestyling off the top of the head. It was just me and this other cat in my neighborhood - and a few others that were trying to rhyme back then. I was the best to me.
AllHipHop.com: Did you have the rapid style that you are known for, back then?
MC Ren: I didn’t have that yet. That didn’t come until later down the line. At that time I was mimicking Run-DMC. It wasn’t until high school that I tried to really get it going and change it up. Then when I got with the group [N.W.A.] I developed my own little style.
AllHipHop.com: How did you go about getting in the group in the first place?
MC Ren: I was going to do a solo thing first. Eazy had the “Boyz N Tha Hood” song but it was only local at the time. I knew him and he stayed right around the corner from me. I was just amazed that someone from around my way put a record out. I went and hollered at him, he heard me rhyme and signed me to a solo deal with his label. This was before he blew up. Then it got to a point where I was writing for him and he was like, “You might as well just come on in to the group.” I just said, “Ok,” and that’s how it all came about.
“There really was no time to stop and reflect. It was all building up like – do the record, the record comes out, do the video, get banned, the F.B.I. letter – all of that bulls**t added up and you really didn’t have the time to think about it. It went so fast! Now looking back... ‘Who would have thought?’”
AllHipHop.com: I bet you had no idea what you were getting yourself in to when you first signed up to be a part of N.W.A.
MC Ren: Naw man, really I just wanted to be known locally. I had no idea that s**t was going to do what it did. It was a shock but once we started doing it everything just happened so fast. There really was no time to stop and reflect. It was all building up like – do the record, the record comes out, do the video, get banned, the F.B.I. letter – all of that bulls**t added up and you really didn’t have the time to think about it. It went so fast! Now looking back on all of that, it’s crazy to me – It’s like, “Who would have thought?”
N.W.A "100 Miles & Runnin'" Video
AllHipHop.com: Cube didn’t have a contract when he left to go solo. Did you not have one at the time too?
MC Ren: Nobody had a contract at that time. Nobody in the group really signed anything. It was easy for Cube to leave because of that reason. He was smart and boned out. I could have held out too but we just looked at s**t differently – and it turned out how it did.
AllHipHop.com: Do you think that you could have left and had the same solo impact that Ice Cube did?
MC Ren: I don’t know. He’s had so much success – he’s really doing it. I don’t know what kind of success I would have had. I don’t know how big my records would have been – but I would have still done me no matter what.
AllHipHop.com: Did you really have a personal beef with Ice Cube? Or was it manufactured for marketing purposes?
MC Ren: It was real but it was no big ass beef or anything—like people think that it was. We were mad at him and he was mad at us but it was just verbal. No violence occurred. Whatever was said, it was just on records. After that all of us just cooled down. We are all always going to be connected; we are damn near like brothers for life even if we don’t see each other or whatever. Back then, it was just verbal beef. We were mad because he left the group and he was mad back at us. I see a lot of specials and documentaries that talk about it. They say that we dissed him on 100 Miles and Runnin’ – but there wasn’t any kind of big diss on it. We were young and people were telling us that he was saying this about us and then people were telling him the same about us. We were young and s**t happened. We can’t go back and change it but we are older now and we are men now, we know that s**t was just petty. We are all cool.
MC Ren "Final Frontier" Video
AllHipHop.com: Did you have any type of communication with Ice Cube during this whole verbal beef?
MC Ren: No but when he first left the group we were still talking. He would call me because we were supposed to do a song on his Amerikkka’s Most Wanted album. We were supposed to do a song but s**t got so bad that it didn’t happen.
AllHipHop.com: Do you think that Ruthless Records would have actually let you appear on his album?
MC Ren: [Pauses] I don’t know man. Now that I look back at it, I doubt it. It was before we started going back and forth with all of that little bulls**t but looking back now from a record companies perspective, I don’t think Ruthless would have let that happen.
AllHipHop.com: At this point were you now officially under contract?
MC Ren: Yes, when he left everybody signed. They rushed to make that happen. The company didn’t want that s**t to happen again.
AllHipHop.com: Did you have any of Ice Cube’s same concerns about money?
MC Ren: Yes we all did but when Cube left, we thought that we could still negotiate this s**t and get what we want. It wasn’t like the rest of us were just going to walk away.
AllHipHop.com: Dr. Dre also left over money issues. Did you ever want to follow him out the door?
MC Ren: When he first left, I went with him and he took me somewhere – to some record company to hear someone talk about their plans for us. It just didn’t seem right to me, so I was cool on it. I was like, “I’m straight where I am at.” I didn’t want to leave one situation that I thought wasn’t cool and go in to a similar situation. At that point I was just tired of motherf**kers trying to tug and pull on me.
“When [Dr. Dre] told me about it, it wasn’t like, ‘Leave with [me] and come make Death Row.’ He was just like, Leave. It wasn’t about me not wanting to go to Death Row because it wasn’t even formed yet – it was just me not wanting to go through all of the bulls**t again.”
AllHipHop.com: So you had reservations about the whole Death Row Records thing?
MC Ren: When [Dr. Dre] told me about it, it wasn’t like, “Leave with [me] and come make Death Row.” He was just like, Leave. Death Row wasn’t really formed then. It wasn’t about me not wanting to go to Death Row because it wasn’t even formed yet – it was just me not wanting to go through all of the bulls**t again.
MC Ren "Mayday on the Frontline" Video
AllHipHop.com: Having no Dr. Dre beats at Ruthless must have made you concerned about the quality of music you were going to make in the future.
MC Ren: Well, I knew that when Dre left there wasn’t going to be an N.W.A anymore. Right after he left, I did my Kiss My Black Azz EP and started doing all of my solo s**t. I knew that N.W.A wasn’t going to be anymore when we left and me and Eazy E used to get into it a lot. I would tell him, “Man. The music isn’t going to be the same without Dre doing it.” Eazy wanted to bring in a lot of newer producers and I told him that s**t wasn’t going to be the same. It was bad enough that Cube was gone and now Dre was gone. Nothing was going to be the same – just a Ren and Eazy record.
AllHipHop.com: So Eazy was still pushing the idea of keeping N.W.A. alive?
MC Ren: He wanted to. But I could tell deep down when me and him used to talk about certain things that he knew it wasn’t going to be the same. He knew that.
AllHipHop.com: Did Eazy ever try to pressure you to diss Dr. Dre when they started beefing?
MC Ren: Yes, I was. Eazy used to want me to do that. At the time I would tell him, “Both of y’all are cool with me.” It was like having two brothers in the house fighting with each other and the other wanting to stay neutral because he didn’t want to get involved. I told E that I don’t want to get on one of his records and talk about Dre, the same way I wouldn’t want to get on a Dre record and talk about him. When I told him that, he said, “Yeah. You are right.”
For him to say that I was right was something else. Today’s rap stars would be like, “You aren’t riding for me?” Eazy respected me and was like, “Ok. This is between me and him then.” He came to the realization that I didn’t have anything to do with this. But they worked their s**t out. Dre went over there and made peace with him at the hospital and before Eazy passed he was telling me how he wanted to get N.W.A back together to do something.
AllHipHop.com: Do you think you guys could have convinced Cube? Or would it have just been you, Eazy, Dre and Yella?
MC Ren: I think Cube would have done it. I think he would have done it if everybody was involved.
AllHipHop.com: Before Eazy died were you and Ice Cube on good terms again?
MC Ren: Yeah. I saw Cube at that time – I can’t recall where – but I hollered at him for a quick second.
AllHipHop.com: What was that conversation like?
MC Ren: I don’t even remember to tell you the truth. But the situation wasn’t ever like, “Let’s squash this s**t.” After we got older, it was just squashed without us even talking about it. Just like when I was on the Up In Smoke Tour with Cube – we were rollin’ on the bus together state to state and we never even talked about all of that old stuff. We probably joked about it once but that was it.
MC Ren "Same Old S**t" Video
AllHipHop.com: That’s pretty cool especially since rappers tend to hold grudges after embarrassing stuff is said about them on records.
MC Ren: All of the fools that used to battle on records back in the day – are all cool with each other today. It’s only a problem when motherf**kers start threatening each other with guns and talk about their family and what they will do to their kids and all of that stupid stuff. Motherf**kers get killed talking all of that type of s**t.
AllHipHop.com: You released your solo works but they never lived up to the success that Ice Cube and Dr. Dre had with their solo works. Are you disappointed by that?
MC Ren: As long as the people that love me bought them, that’s all that I care about. There are motherf**kers out there today that will still play those albums. As long as they are playing them, that’s cool with me.
AllHipHop.com: I was so happy to see you, Cube and Dre come together for a song or two but I really wanted to see a full-scale reunion. Why couldn’t you guys pull it off?
MC Ren: I don’t know. That is a really good question. I couldn’t even tell you. We were supposed to do something when we went on tour in 2000 or 2001. We were supposed to record out on the road but it was so hectic and motherf**kers get tired so it never just materialized.
AllHipHop.com: There weren’t any disagreements that prevented anything?
MC Ren: Naw, it wasn’t like that. Everybody was cool, but it just never happened.
AllHipHop.com: So after that failed to happen, what happened to you? Fans haven’t heard much from you in a long while.
MC Ren: After that, I was on a few people’s albums doing a 16 here or a 16 there. Then I just laid back. I just fell back and started living my family life.
“I’ve been doing this since 1983. All of the record company bulls**t – I was just tired of it. After you do something for so long, you just want a break. I didn’t want to do s**t with music... Recently I just got that bug again and started writing.”
AllHipHop.com: You lost your interest in rap?
MC Ren: Yeah man. I’ve been doing this since 1983. All of the record company bulls**t – I was just tired of it. After you do something for so long, you just want a break. That’s what I did. I broke and took a break. I didn’t want to do s**t with music. I’m cool with the family and all of that. It was chill. I did some reading, chilled with the family – just regular s**t. Recently I just got that bug again and started writing.
MC Ren "Ruthless for Life" Video
AllHipHop.com: You didn’t participate in VH1’s Rock Doc of N.W.A. Why is that?
MC Ren: They called me at the last minute to drive way the f**k out there to do it and I was like, “S**t! You can’t call me at the last minute to do it.” So I didn’t do it.
AllHipHop.com: How are you today with Dr. Dre? You have plans to be on Detox?
MC Ren: Not right now. I haven’t talked to him in a long a** time. I’m sure that sh*t is going to be tight but people ask me if I am going to be on it and I tell them no.
AllHipHop.com: Do you ever see yourself doing anything again with your former bandmates?
MC Ren: [pauses] I don’t know man. It’s whatever. Right now I just don’t know. If something comes up, I’m sure that they will get at me.
AllHipHop.com: When did the writing bug bite you again?
MC Ren: A few months ago. I just wanted to get back in it for my fans that love me and love the s**t that I do. What I do is for them so I’m putting this album together called RenIncarnated. I’m going to put it out on the Internet for them.
AllHipHop.com: You aren’t going to release this through a label?
MC Ren: No. F**k them! F**k those labels. The only way I’ll deal with a label is if they break me hella off and I have the space to do what I do. But all of that politicking and ass kissing? Naw, I ain’t f**king with them or that.
AllHipHop.com: You must really have some really bad past experiences with the record companies.
MC Ren: I have so many of them. I could write a book about all of my experiences.
AllHipHop.com: Have you ever thought about starting your own company so you won’t have to deal with them anymore?
MC Ren: I could do that but with the Internet I don’t need a label to do any of that stuff. With the Internet it’s so easy to just put that *h*t out. F**k labels – that’s why everybody is doing their stuff on the Internet – it’s big! Why f**k with these bulls**t labels when you can do it yourself and cut all of them out? Those labels just want to take and take and take. F**k that!
AllHipHop.com: It’s often said today to rappers who have been around since the 80’s or 90’s that they don’t have their skills anymore. How do you feel about that in regards to yourself?
MC Ren: I feel like this man, anybody that comes out and I don’t give a f**k who it is. You come out and put out slammin’ ass albums like Public Enemy did with It Takes A Nations of Millions – which was their best album ever but after that one the albums are cool but you can’t top that s**t. It’s like The Beatles. They came out big in the 60’s but their solo work in the 70’s could never match it. It was big but it wasn’t on the Beatle-mania type of s**t. People can’t expect that you are just going to stay like that your whole career. Michael Jordan can probably still get out there and ball but he isn’t going to be dunkin’ on motherf**kers anymore. He did all of that. It is what it is – people are going to love you or they are not. But I’ve still got my skills – I know I’ve still got my skills. My skills are harder than most of these n****s in the game! A lot of people don’t really have skills – only a few. I still can put some s**t together.
Ice Cube f/ Dr. Dre & MC Ren "Hello" Video
AllHipHop.com: Do you keep up with today’s rap music?
MC Ren: Yeah, I check it out. And you know Cube still has skills! He might not be the young Cube but he’s the older Cube and he’s still got skills. There’s a lot in today’s game that can’t f**k with him even now!
AllHipHop.com: When is the RenIncarnated album coming out?
MC Ren: Next year. It’s going to be the sh*t. I’ve got two songs on my MySpace – go check them out. There are two cuts leaked until the album comes out. I’m just focused on this sh*t right now.
AllHipHop.com: Is it all Ren? Or will there be guests?
MC Ren: All me. I’m doing the music too – me and my homeboy Apocalypse. It’s mainly me doing the music though.
AllHipHop.com: When did MC Ren become a producer?
MC Ren: Man, I’ve been doing beats for a long time – people don’t know! Back when I put CPO the Boss Hogg’s album that was produced by me. I did all of that music. I’ve been doing beats since back then but I wasn’t trying to be out there shopping beats. I just focused on writing. But yeah – I’ve been doing that s**t man. When we first started N.W.A I got some equipment and I would ask Dr. Dre about this and that and he showed me how to work the SP-1200, 808, and all of that s**t we used to have back in the day. I’ve been doing it off and on. I’m back into it heavy right now just putting my album together.
AllHipHop.com: What’s next for you after the RenIncarnated album? Do you have any other plans?
MC Ren: Musically I will probably do some other stuff but right now I am just focused on that album. I also have a new radio show on 92.5 Burbank – the MC Ren Radio Show [www.925thewhy.com]. It’s going to be a tight show every Wednesday night at 7 PM Pacific Time. I’m going to play classic Old School Hip-Hop – the kind of music that I grew up to. I’ll play some new stuff but I won’t play a lot of s**t that you hear on mainstream FM radio. If I play some new s**t it will be some underground stuff that you aren’t hearing or just some tight s**t. It won’t be anything like what you hear on mainstream radio. You will be hearing a lot of classics from Run-DMC, our N.W.A stuff, MC Shan and so on.
AllHipHop.com: Since you bring up the classics. Who is MC Ren’s all time favorite?
MC Ren: All time? That’s hard. But my tops are Run-DMC, Melle Mel, Ice-T, Chuck D, KRS-One and Ice Cube.
AllHipHop.com: Which influenced you the most growing up?
MC Ren: When I was young I used to listen to Run-DMC a lot. I used to like DMC’s voice. Growing up I thought that his voice was hard as hell – he had the hardest motherf**king voice ever.
AllHipHop.com: What do you miss about Hip-Hop that you don’t think you see much of today?
MC Ren: Originality. Growing up rappers had their own look, their own style, and you couldn’t bite anybody. If you did then you were wack and got dissed. Nowadays, everybody looks the same and sounds the same. Biting is allowed now. I miss originality. Back in our day, you had us and our sound. Then you had Slick Rick with the patch and gold chains. You also had Big Daddy Kane and Public Enemy – everybody was different even Hammer. Everybody is the same now and they talk about the same things.
AllHipHop.com: Ren is there anything you want to leave the readers of AllHipHop.com with?
MC Ren: I just want to say for you all to look out for the RenIncarnated album. Check out my MySpace which is www.myspace.com/mcrenofficialmyspace. Check out my radio show every Wednesday night.
Mc Ren - The Shock Of the Hour
(Ruthless Records 1993)
1.11:55 The intro is ripped out of the cult classic 'The warriors' flick the scene where big gang boss 'Sirus' is addressing the crowd chanting 'can you dig iiiiiiiiiiiiit?' Dubbed over by Laywiys monstrous vocals and a furnacing beat by Tootie. 10/10
2. Same Old Shit - Sllick Ricks 'borrowed' vocals get a gangsta dopeness remake, a dope dropping beat and dope flowing from Mc 'muthafuckin' Ren with some other dope sounds layered on to give it an extra sharp cut throat edge. 10/10
3. Fuck What Ya Heard The theme of this album is very dark musically and lyricaly. A kinda Dark G-Funk vibe haunts the album. Ren sounds moody and pissed off here. 8/10
4. All Bullshit Aside - Fucking bad ass track. Got the darkest vibe of the efil4zaggin lp, Dr Jam and madness4real produce a a up-tempo hardcore gem, Ren anihilates the track with out lord giving mercy. Bad ass. 10/10
Grab another bitch twist the panties off the top
Open up my mouth and let the old english drop
Buzz for a minute - could'nt walk a straight line
But that shit don't stop Ren from writin' a rhyme
5. One False Move - The dark shadow keeps on creepin. Don Jagwarr (cube's wicked) supplies the ragga fueled chorus. Dollar Bill and Da Konvicted felon both come with thier own dope styles of flowing with the Villian on laser red dot point. Ren has some of his own performances on efil4zaggin jacked n pasted here. 10/10
6. You Wanna Fuck Her - Ren puts nasty slutty sleaze bag hos on blast in a real horrible way. The picture he paints of these scum bags isnt pretty like say a nice bitch like vida with pretty lipstick lips n dope curves. Instead he describes Crab infested spunk buckets. Nasty diseased hos. Well you wanna Fuck her? you wanna Fuck her?...Dark G-Funk. 8/10
7.Mayday On The Frontline - Theres two mixes to this song one is the single/video release one on the cb4 soundtrack. Both are dope but the album one is the G-Funk version yep a dark G-Funk version. Black balaclava Nigga with Attitude in full attack mode slaying racist cross burning white sheet wearing Crackers in his path. I like the way that cool whiteboy whos down with the mexican gang from American Me has one of his lines from the movie used through out the track. 10/10
8. Attack On Babylon - A prophetic Ren calls for the destruction of babylon and asks doomsday to bring it to niggaz. Rhythm D is on the drum,drum,drum... on a very eerie sounding production 8/10
9. Do You Believe - You can feel the direct NOI influence as Louis Farrakhan lines from a speech are used for the chorus and the basis of the song. Ren brings the shock lyrics directly to the front lines. He devours the slave master style crackers and the slave mentality coon niggaz. The hate can be felt from the speakers. Tootie laces a chilled but menacing beat. 10/10
10 Mr Fuck up - (feat Juvenile'rens brother' and the Whole Click) Straight up west coast flowing. Nice rhymes, nice beat with sampling James Browns 'pay back' and lifts Ice Cubes Gangsta gangsta lines. 10/10
11.Shock Of the Hour - (feat Kam/Laywiy) Laywiw returns with that authorative monstor voice of his with a prophetic rage, Another westcoast Rebel aka Kam drops in kickin it hard. A Solid slamming groovy beat with deafning screams blended in to the background giving it that spooky feel. 10/10
In the twinklin' of an eye, motherfuckers gonna die
Watchin' baby bomber planes rip across the sky
Fallin' on your Jesus, comin' for the pork chop
Wake ya out your sleep, shit is deep, about to wreck shop
Bombs goin' down a mile deep, pushin' up a mile high
Nigga ain't allowed to cry while they disbelieve his God
Fakin' with your Malcolm X picture on the wall
Motherfuckers shoulda listened when you got your final call
Think your doin' the brothers a favor by buyin' a paper
Shoulda read your paper, it tells ya the devil raped ya
Stripped ya of the scripture, blood ya then he crypt ya
Gave you a corner, some bitches, and called you that nigga
And then he pimped ya
You're mind is a waste, so now you got a taste
The chastise bitch ya shoulda took heed of what the wise said
Now you're bent outta shape with no power
Fuck up and waited for the shock of the hour MC Ren
Overall 9.5/10
To me this is Rens best joint. Dark, brutal, unforgiving with classic production from a classic era of west coast history. With all the sunny pop bubble gum radio rap of today im glad Ren laced us an album for the night. I see this and Snoops doggystyle together back in the day and picked them both up but most peeps only picked up Doggystyle well it was thier loss. The 200,000 or was it 400,000? of those that purchased this album were either loving it or hating it and the haters were proably in shock.
(http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B000003C3D.01._SCMZZZZZZZ_.jpg)
My 'Shock Of The Hour' review from a couple of years ago made it on here, ha!
All that bad grammar and shit induced by whiskey and weed, should of remixed those old reviews.
Let the old one stand, it's more fun reading it like that now. Wipes the floor with the wack HHC review, lol.
I think i wrote a review on 'The Chronic' (ahem) under the same weed and whiskey circumstances ;D ,
might dig that up and give it a mix.
Do that,HHC gave The Chronic 3.5/5 by the way :P :-X :-\ :-[
Let the old one stand, it's more fun reading it like that now. Wipes the floor with the wack HHC review, lol.
I think i wrote a review on 'The Chronic' (ahem) under the same weed and whiskey circumstances ;D ,
might dig that up and give it a mix.
Do that,HHC gave The Chronic 3.5/5 by the way :P :-X :-\ :-[
lol :loco:
Murder Dog gave Chronic 2001 3/5 :P :-[ :-X :-\ :laugh:
I believe I posted scans of the reviews (in this thread)
Yash:
What happened to that track you and Cube did with Bobcat it was suppose to be on his war album?
MC Ren:
He didn't use it he had told me last time I talked to him he was gonna put that shit on somethin change the beat make it more updated put the vocals and shit on it.
I'm sure it gone come out one day if it don't come out now somebody gone put that muthafucka out in ten years from now.
Read rest of the interview here;
http://www.dubcnn.com/connect/index.php?topic=44467.msg500532#msg500532
Tairrie B on Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tairrie_B)
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/c/cb/Ruinruin.jpg/220px-Ruinruin.jpg)Code: [Select]Birth name Teresa Beth
Born January 18, 1965 (age 43)
California
Genre(s) Alternative metal
Heavy metal
Hip-Hop
Nu metal
Associated acts Tura Satana
My Ruin
the LVRS (Spoken Word Side Project)
Tairrie B (born Teresa Beth on January 18, 1965[citation needed] in Anaheim, California) is an American singer.
She was originally a rapper, but later became an alternative metal singer.
In the start of her career, she was on Ruthless Records under the tutelage of Eazy-E from N.W.A.
After being released from her contract by Eazy-E literally a couple of weeks before he died,
she then formed Manhole (later renamed Tura Satana), My Ruin and the LVRS (Spoken Word Side Project).
In the late 1990s she was romantically involved with Fear Factory vocalist Burton C. Bell.
Discography
[edit]
Solo artist
Power of a Woman (1990) (Comptown/MCA)
Single White Female (2005) (Self Released Via www.myruin.com)
[edit]
Manhole
All Is Not Well (1996) (Noise Records)
The Early Years 1993-1996 (2005) (Self Released Via www.myruin.com)
[edit]
Tura Satana
All Is Not Well (reissue of 1996 original with bonus live tracks) (1998) (Noise Records)
Relief Through Release (1998) (Noise Records)
[edit]
My Ruin
Speak And Destroy (1999, UK release; 2000, US release) (Spitfire)
A Prayer Under Pressure Of Violent Anguish (2000, UK release; 2001 US release) (Spitfire)
To Britain With Love... And Bruises (2001 UK release; 2005 US release)(Live-Studio) (Snapper Classics UK)
The Shape Of Things To Come (2003) (EP) (Century Media)
The Horror Of Beauty (2003) (Century Media)
Ruined And Recalled (2003) (Recall)
Blasphemous Girl (2004) (Recall)
The Brutal Language (2005) (Rovena Recordings/Undergroove)
Throat Full Of Heart (2008) (Rovena Recordings/Cargo Records UK)
Alive On The Other Side (2008) (Rovena Recordings/Cargo Records UK}
[edit]
LVRS (Spoken Word Side Project)
The Murder Of Miss Hollywood (2003) (Self Released Via www.myruin.com)
The Secret Life Of Lola Burns (2004) (Self Released Via www.myruin.com)
Death Has Become Her (2006) (Undergroove uk)
Track Listing:
01 Intro (Feat. Quincy D III)
02 Swingin' Wit' T
03 Anything You Want (Feat. Eazy-E)
04 Vinnie Tha' Moocha' (Feat. Everlast)
05 Step 2 This
06 Murder She Wrote
07 Packin' A Punch (Feat. Quincy D III)
08 Let The Beat Rock
09 Player (Feat. Dr. Dre; Eazy-E; The D.O.C.)
10 Schooll's In (Feat. Schoolly D)
11 Ruthless Bitch
Ice Cube; Death Certificate review in The Source
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3115/3116910232_46f18a3ba7_b.jpg)
Dr.Dre; The Chronic review in The Source
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3118/3116917332_22a938801f_b.jpg)
Watch this be quoted a million times by Chad Vader, haha
The Street Talk, He Says, Is a Bum Rap By JON PARELES Published: November 14, 1999
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9805E6DF103AF937A25752C1A96F958260
DR. DRE, who has sold more than 20 million albums as a rapper and producer, feels like an underdog again. ''For the last couple of years, there's been a lot of talk out on the streets about whether or not I can still hold my own, whether or not I'm still good at producing,'' he said. ''That was the ultimate motivation for me. Magazines, word of mouth and rap tabloids were saying I didn't have it any more. What more do I need to do? How many platinum records have I made? O.K., here's the album -- now what do you have to say?''
Dr. Dre, 34, was talking about his second solo album, ''Dr. Dre 2001,'' in the lounge of a midtown Manhattan hotel on the afternoon before his Oct. 23 appearance on ''Saturday Night Live.'' Wearing an oversized Fubu jersey and fielding handshakes from his Avirex-branded entourage as he talked, he was rousing himself after waking up late. The reason, he said, was that his wife had made him play the album five times the night before. ''She's big on it,'' he said.
On many of the album's songs, Dr. Dre raps like a hard-partying character surrounded by eager, trampy women. His wife, Nicole, whom he married in 1996, doesn't mind. ''For awhile, right when I got married, I was kind of turned off from using the type of language I was using and the type of records that I was doing,'' Dr. Dre said. ''It was, like, O.K., I'm married now, so maybe I need to tone it down. And my records stopped coming out as good as they should. So she got with me: 'What's up? I want to hear the hardcore stuff.' She was a big reason for me getting back on track.''
Hardcore means a return to the staples of gangsta rap: boasts, threats, shootouts, marijuana and sex. On ''2001,'' Dr. Dre said: ''Everything you hear is planned. It's a movie, with different varieties of situations. So you've got buildups, touching moments, aggressive moments. You've even got a 'Pause for Porno.' It's got everything that a movie needs.''
The album started out with a different approach, Dr. Dre said. It was originally going to be like a mix tape, the quasi-bootleg collections of songs that disc jockeys make, with songs connected by interludes of fancy turntable effects. But during the year and a half that Dr. Dre worked on ''2001,'' other rap albums appeared with the mix-tape format, so he moved in the opposite direction: clean, spartan production with a minimum of turntable scratching. ''I don't make my records for the clubs, the radio or nothing like that,'' he said. ''I make my records basically for people to play in their cars or just play in their houses when they're cleaning up. I believe that's where people listen to the most music: in the car.''
His albums, he said, are simply entertainment, not an advertisement for the lifestyle of the gangsters and players in his raps. ''I'm not trying to send out any messages or anything with this record,'' he said. ''I just basically do hard-core hip-hop and try to add a touch of dark comedy here and there. A lot of times the media just takes this and tries to make it into something else when it's all entertainment first. Any person that listens to these records and wants to imitate them is an idiot, unless they just want to imitate the fact that it's a good record. You should't take it too seriously. It's not like you're going to go see a play or a movie or something and want to come out to be Rambo.''
Dr. Dre is already planning his next projects. One is a possible tour with Snoop Dogg that would present a full-fledged hip-hop musical, with actors portraying the stories from the songs. ''For instance, an undercover cop gets killed on stage, and then me and Snoop would come out and do 'Deep Cover.' It could work,'' he said.
He is looking for a singer to make an album of hip-hop soul songs that he has stockpiled. He's producing Eminem's next album. He is also contemplating a revival of N.W.A. to include two other original members of the group -- Ice Cube and Ren -- plus Snoop Dogg. ''We'll have to see how the business goes on that,'' he said. The album is tentatively planned for the Christmas 2000 buying season.
''I'm a winner, man, I'm a leader,'' Dr. Dre said, an underdog no more. ''I've got to do this, I've got to keep doing it. I want to do another 10 years and set a record -- the longest person to be in this business successfully. And I want to keep shocking people like, 'Man, what is he going to next?
What's craccin y'all?
Check out the new article on MC Ren in the February 2009 edition of The Source Magazine (The one with Jermaine Dupri & Bow Wow on the cover).
Peace,
Nate Geezy
Producer
MC Ren Radio Show
www.925burbank.com
Yomo and Maulkie; Glory review in The Source Magazine september 1991 #24
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3368/3276435639_abf67b7f9f_o.jpg)
Dee Barnes VS Dr.Dre
The ultimate N.W.A family interview thread *magazine scans,reviews etc.*
http://www.dubcnn.com/connect/index.php?topic=150824.msg1749434#msg1749434
The ultimate beef thread; NWA,WSC,DPG,Tim Dog and more *Diss Tracks inside*
http://www.dubcnn.com/connect/index.php?topic=152524.msg1581929#msg1581929
(Rare) MC Ren has a little something to say about that Dee Barnes incident...
http://www.dubcnn.com/connect/index.php?topic=139073.msg1446436#msg1446436
Dre's Criminal Record
http://www.dubcnn.com/connect/index.php?topic=17576.msg218955#msg218955
Ricky Harris aka. DJ Eazy Dick...whats his story??
http://www.dubcnn.com/connect/index.php?topic=93154.msg970866#msg970866
Rare "Stop The Violence commercial with (and produced By) Dr. Dre
http://www.dubcnn.com/connect/index.php?topic=138977.0
Dirty Red Interview From 3/22/09
http://b95forlife.com/pages/ruthlessradio.html
If you missed the Eazy-E tribute show on Sunday, March 22nd, you missed the OG Dirty Red calling in. He talked about what he's been working on and a lot about his memories of Eazy.
I'm gonna post up the interview on my podcast page pretty soon, but in the meantime, you can click the links below to hear the entire thing right now.
Shots out to everyone who listened to the show, Dirty Red, and the whole crew at Eazy-Ecpt.com for spreading the word.
Dirty Red Interview Part 1 Click Here (http://javascript:%20openMediaPlayer("generic.php","http://a1135.g.akamai.net/f/1135/30296/1h/cchannel.download.akamai.com/30296/756/richmedia/DirtyRedPart1.mp3?CCOMRRMID=26535936&CPROG=RICHMEDIA&MARKET=FRESNO-CA&NG_FORMAT=chrrhythmic&NG_ID=kbos94fm&OR_NEWSFORMAT=&OWNER=756&SERVER_NAME=www.b95forlife.com&SITE_ID=756&STATION_ID=KBOS-FM&TRACK=Dirty_Red_3.22.09_Part_1");)
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Dirty Red Interview Part 2 Click Here (http://javascript:%20openMediaPlayer("generic.php","http://a1135.g.akamai.net/f/1135/30296/1h/cchannel.download.akamai.com/30296/756/richmedia/DirtyRedPart2.mp3?CCOMRRMID=26536036&CPROG=RICHMEDIA&MARKET=FRESNO-CA&NG_FORMAT=chrrhythmic&NG_ID=kbos94fm&OR_NEWSFORMAT=&OWNER=756&SERVER_NAME=www.b95forlife.com&SITE_ID=756&STATION_ID=KBOS-FM&TRACK=Dirty_Red_3.22.09_Part_2");)
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Dirty Red Interview Part 3 Click Here (http://javascript:%20openMediaPlayer("generic.php","http://a1135.g.akamai.net/f/1135/30296/1h/cchannel.download.akamai.com/30296/756/richmedia/DirtyRedPart3.mp3?CCOMRRMID=26536080&CPROG=RICHMEDIA&MARKET=FRESNO-CA&NG_FORMAT=chrrhythmic&NG_ID=kbos94fm&OR_NEWSFORMAT=&OWNER=756&SERVER_NAME=www.b95forlife.com&SITE_ID=756&STATION_ID=KBOS-FM&TRACK=Dirty_Red_3.22.09_Part_3");)
(http://www.b95forlife.com/cc-common/mlib/756/03/756_1237782898.jpg)
Download interview;
http://www.zshare.net/download/57510669b528e764/
It seems like these days, virtually any time the west coast is mentioned in Hip Hop circles, it’s mentioned alongside the words “comeback,” “dead,” or “back in the day.” Sir Jinx was there before such words were uttered, during (and before) the west coast’s high points, and he’s still there now. After having his hands in a classic album out the gate by producing on Ice Cube’s seminal Amerikkka’s Most Wanted solo debut, he would go on to do other work with Cube, Xzibit, and Suge Knight’s Death Row Records.
These days, he’s staying busy working with his new group The Cleaners—which consists of him, Battlecat, Rhythm D, and Tha Chill —and building a business relationship with cousin Dr. Dre and his Aftermath label. In an interview with HipHopDX’s Producer’s Corner, Sir Jinx reminisces on the past, and shows why his future should be just as bright.
Sir Jinx: Rap is going through a transition right now. It’s going through the management chain, so we’re trying to be in the right position so that we can see the new level of Hip Hop coming out of the west coast [by] developing new artists, and being a part of that movement.
DX: So who all have you been working with?
Sir Jinx: We’ve got a few things in the can. Just recently, I hooked up with one of my cousins that does music, Dr. Dre. [We] finally got in the studio and knocked some stuff out that’s in the works. I’ve also got a production group that I put together—well not really that I put together, it’s a bunch of us that have been around each other forever, and we’re taking a stab at a collaborative effort to make a record. It’s myself, Battlecat, Rhythm D, and Chill from Compton's Most Wanted . We’ve got a group, called The Cleaners. That’s my main focus right now, [as well as] working with Aftermath and establishing that relationship.
DX: The stuff you’re doing for Aftermath, is that for your own projects? Or for Aftermath projects?
Sir Jinx: Those are for Aftermath, the relationship I’m developing with the company as far as doing more music with Dr. Dre. I’m not sure where I’ll be placed or anything like that. Right now, it’s just that first initial meeting has happened. That’s pretty much all I know about the Aftermath situation.
DX: No doubt. Let’s go back a little bit: talk about what the game was like when you and Ice Cube came into music early on.
Sir Jinx: It was more or less people wanting to find out a way to make music and be heard. We looked at George Clinton and a lot of different other artists who had their music out, and they chose to do it in a certain kind of way. We had the same passion to get our music heard in a certain kind of way. Some cats wanted to put music out and still sound like another person’s sound, but we definitely wanted our sound to be a signature sound that we made up. Every time we would go up to bat, we wanted all the records to have our own kind of signature sound to it. We took making records a lot more serious than people thought. People thought we were getting drunk and having all the girls and stuff, and it really wasn’t like that. Cube took being in the studio very seriously. We were really passionate about it.
DX: Amerikkka’s Most Wanted is such a cohesive piece of work. How was that conceptualized?
Sir Jinx: Cube had wrote all of the record, and he had different ways that he wanted the record to evolve. We added more product to it. When we first started out, a lot of the songs were designated to go to Eazy E’s album - dome of the songs. When they didn’t come to an agreement that they were going to work together, Cube took the songs and put them on Amerikkka’s Most Wanted. So it wasn’t a real big thought process on how we put the record together, it’s that Cube had a bunch of songs, pre-written, already. We pretty much made that record in two months, from dry scratch.
DX: For you guys to put it together in that short of a timespan, what was it like once you saw the impact it was having? Like, “Wow, we did this in two months. Imagine what we could do with a year’s time?”
Sir Jinx: Back in the day, we didn’t think like that. I still can’t believe it, sometimes. I look at what I contribute to Hip Hop as a caterer, or a helper. When my job is done, I go home, I’m happy. I don’t feel like I’m changing Hip Hop or nothing like that; I just feel like a good day’s work, and I come home alive. That’s how I feel about that.
DX: That’s an interesting way to put it. Because more often than not, you have artists who are saying that they either want to take Hip Hop back to its essence, or…put it this way: a lot of people want to change Hip Hop in one way or another, compared to where it is today. You said that you weren’t thinking that way before, but do you think that way now?
Sir Jinx: Nah. Once again, I don’t look at the score. I just figure out if I’m winning or not. I don’t sit there with my hand on my hips, looking up like, “Damn, we’re down!” If we win, we’re good. You don’t look back like, “Oooh, that game was great, I’m the shit!” Because that game is over. It’s almost like you didn’t do it, and I appreciate it like someone else did it. I don’t feel like that. I feel like you’re blessed to have a talent: you don’t have to show off. So once you do your job, you go home. … It’s like The Professional, the movie with Leon. He comes in, does his job, and he leaves. He don’t stick around and want billboards of him being there. He gets out of there, that’s it. Mission accomplished. What’s terrible is when you make a suck ass album, and you hang around. I get out of there: no problems, no police, no nothing, I’m out.
This song, this music is for the people that want to hear it. I want to inspire the people to know that they have a voice as well. When we were doing Amerikkka’s Most Wanted, it wasn’t really our voice like how you look at Jay-Z and new artists. They talk from their perspective, but when we were doing it, we were talking from the perspective of a coast, rather from the perspective of one man. Ice Cube wasn’t like, “I’m a Crip, I’m a killer.” He was moreso like, “This is what can happen in Los Angeles. These are the type of people that exist out here. When you think it’s palm trees and sunny skies, it’s really black people being oppressed.” It wasn’t just somebody jumping out, “I have the most bitches and expensive cars.” That wasn’t even invented then.
DX: What was that like, though? With others talking as individuals and you guys representing a coast?
Sir Jinx: Well actually, back then, a lot of other rappers weren’t doing that. … What changed that was Biggie Smalls and Jay-Z. When Jay-Z came out, Jay-Z didn’t have a background. He never had a crew of niggas, so he changed the perspective of rap from “We gon’ make it happen” to “I’m gon’ make it happen.” And when he changed the whole Rap game to “I’ma rap,” everybody now was a single person that’s supposed to hit. It’s supposed to be the principle. Right after Jay-Z came, bam, Tupac [Shakur] gets shot. Then all these m'fuckas get stabbed, and everything has to happen to the person. Until the Rap game comes back to [its roots], we must save it, it’s going to continue to go downhill. That’s why Ice-T said ["Soulja Boy, eat a dick."] , because Soulja Boy [click to read] did it on his own. He didn’t have a crew, he didn’t have a coast, he didn’t have nothing behind him. He just did it. Some people don’t know, and some people do know, but now, the rap game is “I’ma.”
Look at Ludacris’ music. And he’s a beautiful artist, and he’s dope as a mothafucka. But if you noticed, in the beginning, when he made “What’s Your Fantasy” and stuff like that, his music was based on a crowd. Then some of his raps started changing, to “I got a dope rhyme, I’ve got a 500 Benz,” and you kind of take the focus off of why you’re there. Because now, you’re telling us your perspective of having money, when you were really our spokesman of having fun. How did it change from you being the critic of having fun, to saying, “Fuck them, now look at my sofa, look at my TV.” You were supposed to be like, “Atlanta is the place where we have fun.” Now, Ludacris makes raps about himself. The ones that sell are the ones not about him, [but the ones] about situations.When we were making Amerikkka’s Most, we weren’t doing it for self-gratification. It was a pamphlet for the streets. So when you come from Mississippi, or Memphis, or anywhere else in the world, you could know that you could get jacked in a drive-thru. Nobody knew that. [Hip Hop] completely forgot about that.
DX: One thing I’ve noticed from this interview, is that you really look at music as your job, more than a lot of other people I’ve spoken to.
Sir Jinx: It’s actually a hobby turned into a job. I wouldn’t even call it a job; I’d call it a profession. You can do it all your life and not get paid for it. I’ve been one of the chosen few that was able to turn around a royalty check, and it’s a beautiful feeling. That’s why when you do your job, you ain’t so gray when your record ain’t selling no more. So you can’t always look up in the sky at those old records, and be like, “They’re shining.” Nah, them mothafuckas fizzle out. And you better act like they’re fizzling out when they’re really ripe. So you don’t hit the ground and be crushed when people give constructive criticism. You can’t live in the stars. I don’t; I stay kind of grounded. When I kick it with my people and say we “keep it real,” I don’t mean that we keep it real ignorant. I say we keep it real intelligent, or real sincere. We try to better ourselves. We’ve got this group right here, The Cleaners. We’re definitely trying to better ourselves at being a producer. We have to spearhead this music game just like Herbie Hancock did, or Paul Hardcastle, different producers. The records have to stand at some point. This is what brought the crew together, because we all agree: at some point, [Malcolm McLaren's] “Buffalo Gals,” Art Of Noise, Kraftwerk, it has to happen again. The music is already there with Kanye [West], now all we have to do is drop the vocals. [starts singing Kanye’s “Stronger”] That was a song that was out already, a couple years ago. The world is too stuck on those “I’ma” raps, which you get tired of. The down south has taken the “I’ma raps” to a whole ‘nother level, so at this point, they’re gon’ turn the mic off on rappers in a minute. They’re just going to want to hear the beat without the rappers. It’s less offensive, and you still can jam to it. This is what we foresee.
We’ve been doing this music for a long time, and at some point…we’re in the studio right now, Battlecat and all them are upstairs. Even if we make complete garbage, it’s going to still be interesting to hear. I listen to Art Of Noise’s music, I swear to God, I can’t go through four songs before saying, “What the fuck were they on? These mothafuckas were on some real, pure coke.” I wouldn’t know how to stroke a cat that way. But just like people are intrigued with Battlecat and his success, and Rhythm D and his success, we get together like techies and nerds and just take apart the old Oberheim [synthesizer]…if Hip Hop is going to last, it has to stand on its own legs. And that’s taking the foundation apart, and putting it back together with the old and the new. Then people will be able to understand it without “Bitch, ho, kiss my ass, throw my money in the air.”
We all came real close with that show Timbaland did at the American Music Awards. That’s damn near close. So if Timbaland is Smokey Robinson, then we’re going to be The Four Tops. "The Four Droptops."
DX: So where are you guys going with this new Cleaners record?
Sir Jinx: We’re going to produce an instrumental record, and an introduction record of what we do. So that’s when everyone is going to donate a track and a rapper. … You’re going to be able to hear King Tee again. We’re going to bring them cats back who a lot of people won’t fuck with them, because they think they won’t pull no units. What about if you don’t care if you move units, but you just want the world to hear a new collaboration? Just like Sergio Mendes, when damn near 40 years later, they produce the same fucking music. That’s beautiful, but now it’s rap’s turn. Rap might be on its way out, like Dixie. But the reason Dixie didn’t last so long is because it couldn’t stand on itself; you can only reduplicate so many of those songs before they sound the same. Rap is taking on a whole new light. … You see 50 Cent with the Vitamin Water, and making the music sound like big band. It’s everywhere. …
Rap never stops, it employs the entire planet. There is nothing on TV that doesn’t depict urban Hip Hop. Sometimes, rappers have to clean up their act to be able to accept the award for doing that. If you’ve got cats that are drugged up, and lean’d up, nobody’s going to believe you that the Chinese, Japanese, Australians, and people in all these different places got this shit from Los Angeles. Nobody’s going to be able to get the trophy unless we clean it up. So right now, Hip Hop is going through a cleaning up stage. It has to. How are we going to clean it up? We’re going to give you music that’s so clean, it won’t even need no parental advisory. Why? There won’t be no voices on it!
DX: Do you think the C.I.A. material with Cube will ever see the light of day? All types of older stuff is just popping up nowadays.
Sir Jinx: No. Hell no. First, Macola [Records is] not around anymore. For two, it was signed to Epic Records. Number three, Crew Cut Records ain’t around no more. And number four, Ice Cube would never authorize those contracts when we were under 18. So they’re pretty much a wash. [Laughs] It was funny, I was just in Chicago at the Savior’s Day, and I was standing by Snoop [Dogg] . And one of the brothers wanted to introduce me to Snoop. Snoop’s like, “I know Jinx! He did my demo!” I used to work with Snoop when he was 15, I was like 16. It’s been a long line, believe you me. I’m like, “What was the name of the song?” He’s like, “I’m A Poet.” He was like, “You better not put that shit out.” He gave me the disclaimer real quick. … I had to talk back like I was in court and shit, “I don’t have it Snoop. I’ve been lost that.” So if anyone does come out with that, I’m not involved. Rappers don’t want to hear their old shit. It’s embarrassing, because most of the time, the mixes are horrible.
DX: Nowadays, deejays and producers are thrown into beefs even if they aren’t the ones vocally dissing the other artist. When Cube made “No Vaseline,” was there any reaction from Dre?
Sir Jinx: We had “No Vaseline” at the same time as Amerikkka’s Most Wanted. So “No Vaseline” stood the test of time through Amerikkka’s Most Wanted, Kill At Will, and made it at the end of Death Certificate. So it was sort of numb to us at the fact, because there were so many other things going on at the time, that song didn’t really make a big impact on peoples’ friendships, because it was just the truth. That’s why “No Vaseline” did what it did, because it was the truth. Cube actually said the rap, so it wasn’t that damaging.
But this is Hip Hop—at some point, people want to know why wasn’t I on Ruthless, or [early] Death Row, or any of the record labels that Dre had. I had to do my own thing; Dre had to do his own thing, and as you can see, nobody is really standing by Dre that was around at that time. So I had to do what I had to do to stay with the brigade, but not stay with ‘em. Stay alongside, duck and hide, and keep it pushing. Sell some records when I can, pop up, and then duck back down. Because anyone who tries to stand up to Dr. Dre’s situation fails, terribly. And then you get embarrassed, so not only did you fail, but you embarrassed yourself. And then some cats get bitter, and assume that the bitterness is going to grow them a tree. But it just grows them a brick wall after that. Dre ain’t going to fuck with you, period, if he finds out you said something in the wrong air about him. And that’s all pretty much he want to hear, is the negative shit. … He’ll remember that shit for a long time. “Oh yeah?” That’s how he’ll respond. You don’t ever want to be on that end of the conversation. “Oh yeah?” Not me! I remember some cats tried to get me to do Punk’d, the TV show. My buddy’s a video guy, he was on the staff with them since the beginning. He would see me every other month. “Jinx, let’s get Dre! You don’t have to be involved!” Uh uh. You ain’t getting me with that one. I don’t think Dr. Dre thinks it’s funny, and you’d lose your entire Frequent Flyer Mile pass. He’s like, “Damn, nobody wants to do it!” Nobody wants to cause trouble. What I’ma do, make a beat CD for E-40 ? There are probably a million niggas trying to give E-40 music. He has to build the environment so we’ll be able to sell records again, and that’s what we’re going to do.
DX: What was your time at Death Row like?
Sir Jinx: With the Death Row situation, I had got some bad news about how my finances were happening. There weren’t some sample clearances, how they put a lot of shit in my boat, they were making me pay for a whole bunch of samples that I didn’t do. I saw Suge [Knight], and I had known Suge for years, [since] he was a bodyguard driving a limousine. So Suge looked at me like he was buzzed, he looked at me like, “Are you alright?” I’m like, “Hell naw! I ain’t good!” He’s like, “Call me tomorrow.” I call him the next day, and he shot me $20,000 to do one song, [on] the Dysfunctional Family Soundtrack. So right after that, I’m like, “I’ll give you any beat you want.” … He threw me in immediately. No contracts, no “Holler at me,” no meeting at saddle ranch, none of that. He came to pick me up, we’d ride around the pacific coast and just talk about doing big shit. I told him he should make a cigar company and a crocodile boot company and call it a day. Suge is my man, and I don’t know what he’s going through, but we’ve all got to go through something so we can go forward. … There’s always two sides of a story, and when you’re painted as the bad guy, you never hear that side of the story.
DX: What do you think could’ve been done differently with Kurupt’s album, Against The Grain?
Sir Jinx: I don’t know the political side to it, so I just tried to do the best I could to help my old friend Kurupt [click to read]. When Kurupt came to L.A., I knew him before he signed to Death Row. He was with one of my buddies Eldgerrin. Eldgerrin was one of the guys who made Tha Dogg Pound [click to read] paw. He was the one who made up a lot of Tha Dogg Pound and Snoop Dogg clothing before the Snoop Dogg merchandise came into effect. He would bring Kurupt over, and just being a friend and seeing all the things that Hip Hop put his life through, I was just like, “Let me help you out, do as much as I can, so we can at least get a boat to row in.” At that point, Snoop Dogg had kicked him out. I was just a dude that worked on music, I worked with music all day. We just tried to get it out. There was no environment for it to come out, I don’t think. I don’t know the political side of it, but when I dealt with Suge and his environment, I knew nothing about the political side, or how the music was going to come out. I just assumed it would come out.
DX: Considering the work you did with Kool G Rap, was it ever disappointing that more east coast rappers didn’t recognize you as someone that could make New York records?
Sir Jinx: I never was looked at in a crazy light. I felt like I got a whole lot of respect for New York. When I was in New York, I got nothing but respect, because they deal with me on my craft. When I got to New York and was in Long Island, with Eric Sadler and some other cats, I had to box with these dudes that were 18 and 19 years old. I had to put my sound out there, and bounce with the big boys.
When I went to New York to work on the Xzibit’s 40 Dayz & 40 Nightz album, he was on Loud [Records]. So Big Pun was right there, Fat Joe was [working closely with Loud]. And Big Pun, rest in peace. Aside from being a big dude, real big spirit. You’d hear him breathing, and he’d go like, [impersonates Pun’s voice], “Jinx, Jinx.” And he’ll recite a whole first verse of [Kool G Rap's] “Operation C.B.” When I hear Jay-Z saying, “I’m like G Rap with better transportation,” at this point I’m like a breath that kept G Rap alive with them. When The Trackmasters came in and did “Ill Street Blues,” and co-piloted the record and brought it home, The Trackmasters brought it home because they kept it on the shelf for a year, because Biz Markie [click to read] got sued by Warner Brothers. So they held Kool G Rap’s record for a whole year. … So I was more disappointed than they could’ve been, because we had go in with fine tooth and comb, and go through each record and find out what each sample was, because they were scared they were going to get sued. So half the record was reproduced and mixed by other people, because they didn’t believe us. And back in the day, you had to appeal for the masses to get a certain type of bread.
… They mixed the whole album [with a lot of bass]. So three songs on it were clear, but the whole album was real bass-y and bottom-y. But on the flip side, for all my real Kool G Rap and Live and Let Die fans, I have an uncut version of Live and Let Die, with original samples, with original inserts, with original “Two to the Head,” with original “Number One With a Bullet.” All those songs were remixed, and it wasn’t as I expected them to be.
Snoop and Dre live in NYC "Deep Cover"
http://www.youtube.com/v/Jv982WMu8jA&hl=en&fs=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jv982WMu8jA
From the public access show STREETFUNKTV. Snoop and Dre's first and only time they performed at The legendary Tunnel in New York (1999).
QuoteConspiracy Worldwide Radio Live Guest MC Ren
http://www.freestylemadness.com/blog/?p=19081
(http://assets2.podomatic.com/mymedia/thumb/1216769/460%3E_1990382.jpg?1247329974)
MC Ren is with us to talk NWA, the new Ice Cube directed movie of the NWA legacy, his new album and more.
Listen to a true veteran and revel in the exclusive content of this interview;
DOWNLOAD OR LISTEN HERE;
Part 1 (http://conspiracyworldwide.podomatic.com/entry/eg/2009-07-11T08_14_19-07_00) interview starts at 1.20
^Ren interview -
New album called Renincarnated
10 Songs :P
Maybe two features (will probably his homeboys)
He didn't mention no producers (judging by his recent songs will probably be him and his homiez on some computer beats, lets pray not)
NWA film -
Cube driving force behind the script (better not be a comedy)
Soundtrack will probably be old songs, nothing discussed about if or how they going to do new songs yet
(Niggaz cant even re-unite for new N.W.A songs for the movie)
http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/news/id.9491/title.mc-ren-to-release-first-album-in-11-years-details
July 18th, 2009 | Author: Jake Paine
It has been 11 long years since MC Ren [click to read] has released an album. After a lengthy group and solo career at Ruthless Records, the gangsta rap pioneer told HipHopDX this week, that 2009 will indeed be his point of return.
"The album is like 70% [completed]," revealed the N.W.A. member. "Shit is bangin'! It's heat. I'm excited about it. I ain't did no album in like 11 years, so man, I'm excited with how everything is coming. I cannot wait to get this shit out."
Asked how many different albums had been started and scrapped since 1998's Ruthless For Life, Ren explained, "I started off and on, just doin' it. Really, this like the first time, to tell you the truth, [that I have] constructed an album. Any other time I went into the studio or did something, it was just, 'I'm goin' in just to record something.' I wasn't doin' it to put an album out." In that interim, MC Ren appeared alongside his N.W.A. partners (and Snoop Dogg) on two reunion tracks, as well as appearances on Public Enemy's Rebirth of A Nation [click to read], Dr. Dre's 2001, Ice Cube's War & Peace Volume 2 and Snoop Dogg's The Last Meal [click to read] albums, as well as a few other limited appearances. Ren said, "Now, it's different. My whole mindstate is different. I want to get this shit did, get this shit out, so mothafuckas can hear it. Everything else, I've never felt like in the in-between times."
With a laugh, Ren explained the process that motivated him to make his first album since leaving the legendary Ruthless label. "I was with my homeboy Paulie one day, and he was like, 'Yo, you should do your shit.' Everybody always says that, but he [meant it]. I wasn't really trippin' on it, [still] wasn't really trippin' on it. Time went by, and people [kept asking me about an album], so I wasn't even trippin' on it."
Paying the encouragement little mind, Ren told DX that watching his peers was the next step. "I remember then, one day, I saw something on TV. It might've been some old concert footage of somebody - [Jay-Z] or Dre or something like that, and I just got pumped, man. I said, 'We need to get some beats.' We got some tracks and I started writin' to the mothafuckas and how I was comin' with the shit [impressed me]. Then I knew, I gotta do an album. Fuck it."
Like his onetime partner, Dr. Dre, Ren also admitted that he takes pride and care in making fans await a release for over a decade. "Everybody else been puttin' out shit so much, people don't even pay attention to they ass no more. Shit, I feel like I've got to step up, 'cause I ain't really put out shit."
As for the details of the album, Ren remained largely evasive, admitting that he fears releasing too much information. As for guests, the 23-year veteran emcee said, "On this record, it's just me." Realizing that many fans are skeptical of such statements, he continued, "Now, you can't even get a solo album from nobody; there's like 100 features. It [becomes] a compilation." As he opened up further, the Compton icon did reveal, "If I do have any features, it's just gonna be one or two - and I ain't gonna say who the people is. I know who the people will be, if it'll happen, but that'll be it." The statement, though unconfirmed, could hint at possible reunion collaborations with former partners in rhyme Ice Cube and Dr. Dre. MC Ren would not expound.
For the production, the artist who has previously worked with such respected names as EA-Ski, Ant Banks, Cold187um [click to read] and Dr. Dre, would only state, "You turn on the Hip Hop [radio] station, all of the Hip Hop artists' beats is like some kind of House-mixed-with R&B-type-shit. That's where the game is? Nahmean. All I can say is, they're my motivation to be totally different."
In terms of content, Ren stated, "Without giving away too much, I'll say this: it's gonna be tight. I'm talking about everything - from the wack fools out now, to social injustice to somebody gettin' they dick sucked. All kinds of shit." Revered widely for his social, religious and racial commentary in the past on albums like Shock Of The Hour and The Villain In Black, MC Ren added that he still is an avid news junkie. The emcee says the world affairs he's most interested in are the banking fallout and relations with the Middle East.
Reincarnated is promised to be a fourth quarter release in 2009.
HipHopDX was also able to ask MC Ren of the proudest verse of his career to date. The Villain answered, "That's a good one. I have to say 'Fuck The Police.' That record was so big for us. That's what mothafuckas really remember. I would say 'Straight Outta Compton,' but to me, that song was tighter than 'Fuck The Police,' but 'Fuck The Police' was saying a lot more on the song."
Lastly, as some Rap critics have compared the non-traditional success of Drake to N.W.A.'s success without a major label, MC Ren is one artist who doesn't really draw parallels. Ren told DX, "For one, the homie Drake, ain't he signed to Lil Wayne's [Young Money Records]? That's how he got that buzz going: through Lil Wayne. Lil Wayne's shit is off the hook, and he got a new artist. If Wayne got an artist, he gonna make him hot too. [N.W.A.'s] situation, we didn't really have nobody. We didn't have nobody to ride on."
As N.W.A.'s success began through hand-to-hand sales and word of mouth, Ren also countered, "Right now, Lil Wayne could find another artist, make a tight song, be in the video with him - an ['Every Girl'] type of song, and this nigga might blow up too. That's how it is - mothafuckas piggyback off of people. But we didn't have nobody to ride on; we was just riding off of words - own own shit."
As he finishes up Reincarnated, the emcee personally urged fans to purchase his EP Kizz My Black Azz (1992), The Villain In Black (1996), Ruthless For Life (1998) and the chart-topping 1993 debut full-length Shock Of The Hour on iTunes. Like much of the Ruthless catalog, these releases were out-of-print until earlier this year.
Ren's Twitter : http://twitter.com/MCRENCPT
^Ren interview -
New album called Renincarnated
10 Songs :P
Maybe two features (will probably his homeboys)
He didn't mention no producers (judging by his recent songs will probably be him and his homiez on some computer beats, lets pray not)
NWA film -
Cube driving force behind the script (better not be a comedy)
Soundtrack will probably be old songs, nothing discussed about if or how they going to do new songs yet (Niggaz cant even re-unite for new N.W.A songs for the movie)
Detox-
Ren not involved :-\
Michelīle Interview
(http://www.deathrowforum.com/michelle1.jpg)
(http://www.deathrowforum.com/michelle2.jpg)
(http://www.deathrowforum.com/michelle3.jpg)
(http://www.deathrowforum.com/michelle4.jpg)
Shout Out 2 Inmate @ DeathRowForum
QDIII perfectly describes why Dr.Dre is such a great producer
from The Chronic Re-lit booklet:
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3420/3902341805_cee1bc8078_o.jpg)
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3419/3902342217_55a43a6b8e_o.jpg)
Interview: 50 Cent Talks Dr. Dre
(http://ne.edgecastcdn.net/000BF9/cdn/complex.com/images3.0/complex.com-logo.png)
http://www.complex.com/blogs/2009/10/21/interview-50-cent-talks-dr-dre-jay-z-before-i-self-destruct/
Complex:
You told people not to hold their breath about a collaboration with The Game. Are there still real issues with him?
50 Cent:
I really don’t know Game. I worked with the kid for six days. I have bigger issues with the actual system, the company, people who work in it. Initially, people would be like, “Yo, we know you wrote the fucking records! You think we give a fuck about that?” Game built this thing on the West Coast, they desperately needed him to come out—they didn’t have anybody since Snoop. That’s what made it a good business opportunity to begin with. But I had to make sacrifices in order to have Dre put the record out, the same way they waited eight years for Dre to put his album out.
Complex:
Is there tension between you and Dre?
50 Cent:
There’s no tension. There will never be a beef between 50 Cent and Dre. And it’s not based on 50 and Dre’s relationship, it’s based on Eminem and Dre’s relationship. My relationship with Em is what Em’s relationship is to Dre. If I was to say something disrespectful to Dre, it would effect Em and I value that relationship too much. So I won’t say anything, I’ll never say anything negative about Dre.
Complex:
Does it bother you that it can take Dre so long to mix your records?
50 Cent:
Oh no, that’s just him as a producer. He takes his time. He loses interest in shit. I don’t care how great you are. He’s great, but he loses interest in himself at points. So the making of the record at this point is motivation. He’ll tell you himself that that’s what he feels.
Complex:
How do you feel about him working with Game?
50:
I don’t care. It’s better that you shut up sometimes than for you to actually express your judgments when you’re close to home.
Read rest of the interview here;
http://www.complex.com/blogs/2009/10/21/interview-50-cent-talks-dr-dre-jay-z-before-i-self-destruct/
MC REN Interview (Swiped From Baller Status.net)
http://www.ballerstatus.com/2009/10/02/nwas-mc-ren-is-ready-to-be-renincarnated/
N.W.A.’s MC Ren Is Ready To Be Renincarnated
10/02/2009 · By Michael Cooper
It's hard not to be nostalgic about the N.W.A. era of hip-hop. In those days, MCs were powerful and their words thunderous proclamations blasting out of the speakers in the inner-cities and also for the first time in the suburbs.
Remembered for the three words that scared a nation, N.W.A. brought gangsta rap to the masses and forever changed the course and culture of hip-hop. N.W.A. member MC Ren, an outspoken lyricist, is an icon of that illustrious and unforgettable era.
After shocking the world with the group in the 90s, and making his own mark with a platinum-selling solo career, MC Ren's presence quietly faded away in an industry where buffoonery got rewarded and lyrical sincerity was discouraged. It's now been 11 long years since Ren released his last album, Ruthless for Life.
Perhaps now though, hip-hop has never more been in need of the "Ruthless" one. With unbearable Auto-Tune remixes, petty braggadocio and flamboyant androgyny dominating the scene, MC Ren's jagged wordplay and dependable demeanor is a missing piece for a puzzle that hardly makes sense any more.
The good news is the wait is over, and the missing piece found. MC Ren is set to drop his long anticipated comeback album, Renincarnated, on October 31st. A release certain to frighten the children.
BallerStatus recently caught up with MC Ren to chat about the return album, his religion, family, and the current state of hip-hop and the recording industry. Quite a bit has changed since 1998. MC Ren has not.
BallerStatus.com: You excited to be back?
MC Ren: Yeah man, I feel good. I can't wait for the album to drop, so everybody can hear that sh**. So I'm pumped up right now. I ain't been pumped in a while, but it's on now.
BallerStatus.com: Word is that this is a true solo album with no guest appearances?
MC Ren: Right. Right. Now-a-days everybody's records be so wack, they be having like 50 million people on the sh**. I just want to do me. Just all me.
BallerStatus.com: That's what you know best. How long has this comeback album been in the works? What incited you to get back in the studio and record after all these years?
MC Ren: I'd say roughly about eight or nine months. Something like that, between eight or nine months. Man. it was just seeing little things on TV. It's been getting me pumped up. Some of the homies been hollering at me. Then going on the internet and seeing all them real MC Ren fans speculating and wondering if I'd come back and do an album after so many years. They were still waiting for me. I ain't done an album in 11 years. So it was like, "Let's do this sh**, and do it for the Ren fans out there." A lot of motherf***ers out there, when it come out, they going to hate on it, but this sh** ain't for them. This is for all the Ren fans. So everybody, that got all my old sh**, they can expect Reincarnated to be hard like the old sh**.
BallerStatus.com: Releasing an album after 11 years, from your perspective how has the game changed?
MC Ren: Man, the game has changed all the way around. Everything done changed, from the way records are promoted to the sound of the music. Back in the day record companies used to be real involved with this and that. But with the internet, a lot of these record companies getting to be obsolete. Everybody pushing they sh** online now, dropping they albums digital, so all that changed ... plus the sound. From when I last put an album out, to now, the sound just got ... how should I say it ... watered down. There's a lot more bullsh** in the industry now. A lot of motherf***ers, young kids, like that bullsh**. They like to bullsh** on their albums cause they young or wasn't around to know what that real sh** sounded like. So my album is definitely an alternative to the bullsh** out there.
BallerStatus.com: The beats on Reincarnated are billed to be very reminiscent of old school MC Ren. That certainly will be an alternative to current mainstream hip-hop, if that's the case?
MC Ren: Nah. All the beats now are like house music, or standard R&B. I don't know what to call that sh**, this Lady Gaga type sh**. Motherf***ers rhyming over Lady Gaga beats. To me that's just crazy. So no, Ren's not bringing that. I ain't doing none of that Auto-Tune. None of that sh**. The whole sound right now is just f***in' up. A lot of folks will think I'm hating, but that's just my opinion. I don't say motherf***ers shouldn't like that sound. It's a personal choice, I choose not to. And if I don't like it, I'm certainly not going to be doing it that way. It's all just too f***in' ... commercial.
BallerStatus.com: You've earned a right to voice that opinion. With Renincarnated set to release in the fourth quarter of 2009, from your respected vantage point, how has this year been for hip-hop? Are there particular breakout artists or new tracks that you like? Are there ones you're especially disappointed by? How will Renincarnated stand up as it comes out near the end of the year?
MC Ren: Man I think Renincarnated going to stand ... like I said it's for all the Ren fans, young and old. They're going to go out and cop it. No doubt about that. As far as 2009? I don't really listen to the new sh**. I listen to the classics. Like last night I was listening to Public Enemy. The new sh** I can't really get into. There are cats out there doing they're thing, but I'm not trying to compete with the contemporary motherf***ers. I do what I do for the Ren fans. That's why I came back. They will be the judge of the new album. Not how it stands against what's popular on the radio today. That's the only way my sh** probably wouldn't compare. I'm an underground motherf***in'. I've got a following. That's where the album will stand up.
BallerStatus.com: After a decade where promoters, corporate radio and labels controlled what got heard and what was considered good, do you think this new internet marketplace will level the playing field and push true talent to the forefront? And can the freedom of the internet put emphasis back on artists creating music as an art rather than taking the easy route for money?
MC Ren: Man you got to be good, because there are so many motherf***ers putting out songs now days. To build up a following you've got to grind online, but you got to be good. The internet can't force sh** down your throat like a label or radio can. The way it's starting to get, anyone can rise to the top if they've got the talent. The industry can't prevent you from building your own following. So you have to step your game up.
BallerStatus.com: Is the theme behind Renincarnated purely about your musical reemergence? Or is there something more personal about it too?
MC Ren: This album Renincarnated is me coming back. After 11 years away, I'm back on the scene letting my face be seen. It's the same Ren as before, just in another body. I feel like I got tighter too over the years through maturity. Everybody will have to wait and see, and check it out on the 31st of October. Go get it. Put it in, and listen to it from beginning to end.
BallerStatus.com: What was the song writing process for Renincarnated?
MC Ren: Man I get the tracks from my homies, from Chill, from Apocalypse, and I just shoot with them motherf***ers. I didn't try to rush it, so it's a similar writing style. I might sit down with a track and write two lines for the night. If them two lines is hot? That's it. Then tomorrow put the beat back on, vibe to it, and might write four lines. I take my time cause there ain't no reason to rush. Make it count.
MC RenBallerStatus.com: Were there some individuals who were pushing or inspiring you to come back? Or had a big help in you getting it together and recorded?
MC Ren: Obviously I thank my homie Chill. My homie Apocalypse. Sh** ... me. I was my biggest motivation. Without me it couldn't happen. I looked at myself in the mirror and knew I was ready to get off my ass and make it happen.
BallerStatus.com: How did you first get involved with DJ Chill?
MC Ren: I've been knowing Chill since like '87. Met Chill in Compton and that was before Compton's Most Wanted blew up. Me and him had a cool relationship ever since. He did some work with me on Ruthless for Life. We just click and I feel real comfortable working with him.
BallerStatus.com: What's been going on with you besides the music? In what stage of life does this comeback album find you? What's it like doing an album now, with kids at home and life so much different?
MC Ren: Chilling and taking care of my family the best a man can. Kicking back, and that's about it. Back in the day, in the early NWA days, I'd didn't have the kids. Now I've got kids in school, so this MC is also busy being a daddy. If they got a parent's back to school night, I'm there. That's been my priorities, making sure they get the best education and doing my album. One of my family is in middle school and he went to school the other day with a NWA shirt on, my picture on there. That's feels good to know that the kids still think we're cool.
BallerStatus.com: Speaking of that, what kinds of opportunities do your kids have now because of your success that you didn't have coming up in the 1980s?
MC Ren: Man, I always tell my kids they got it way better than I did. They got cable and all this technology. When I was coming up, we only had one TV with thirteen channels. My kids have access to everything. And they're so spoiled they don't even realize how good they got it in this world.
BallerStatus.com: Going back a little bit what was the turning point, or that moment in life you can point to, that led to your conversion to Islam?
MC Ren: Being around and keeping aware of things and what they meant. One day I got a book -- it had to be in like '92 -- called Message to the Black Man in America by Elijah Muhammad. I got it and read it and to me it was basically like a rap. I took that book everywhere I went. I had never liked to read, ever before that book. So when I got that book, I couldn't put it down, read through it like 23 times. That book changed it for me.
BallerStatus.com: These are strange times in America for Muslims. Their country is fighting two wars in the Middle East. Their president is being falsely portrayed as a Muslim by right-wing lunatics, as if that were a bad thing. What are your thoughts on this sad state of affairs?
MC Ren: There shouldn't be anything wrong with being a Muslim, in any country. It ain't true, but they do say this is a free country. Religion should have nothing to do with it. There are Christian terrorists too. There are fanatics out there who are Christians. For people to say, "Oh he a Muslim," that lets you know right there they have a problem with Islam. Some people in this country want to be at war with Islam, they don't want Muslims to come here, and they didn't want Obama to be president because they think he's a Muslim. So the line's been drawn. Obama's not a Muslim, but their point has been made that they don't want Muslims to have any power. So you have to be a Christian to become president. That's not freedom of religion, that's not what America is about. They say that Islam is forced on people in other countries, well they don't have room to talk. We're all worshiping the same God anyway when you really look at it.
BallerStatus.com: N.W.A.'s first couple albums came out it in a different culture than the one we live in now. What kind of impact on society do you feel N.W.A. had? And what did it lead to?
MC Ren: N.W.A. had a big impact. But more importantly I think the sh** we did sparked others to do even more. N.W.A. broke some barriers and made it easier for others when you look at Biggie or Pac, and all that sh**. Without N.W.A., a lot of them could never have come out and talked about that sh**. I'm not talking about the motherf***ers who were talking about some whack ass sh**. I'm talking about Snoop and all those who had something to say, yet still made they sh** tight. Without us wouldn't be none of that. By us coming out saying "F***k tha Police," that let others know they could say sh** on records too. Groups today don't have impacts like we did back then.
MC RenBallerStatus.com: Those three words from N.W.A., for better or worse, sparked a mentality in the inner-city during the early 1990s. Turning the microphone into the most powerful weapon a young minority can use in this country, and a lot of rappers waste it.
MC Ren: Exactly! It's like your speaking to a whole lot of motherf***ers from a podium, you might as well say something they can take and remember.
BallerStatus.com: You about have to go online to hear old school hip-hop. The radio seems to have forgotten it. There are plenty of radio stations that play classic rock or alternative music from the past couple decades. But you have to find a small public or college radio station, or go online to hear classic hip-hop.
MC Ren: You can't depend on radio stations to play the past. A lot of these motherf***ers radio stations are going to be obsolete. They play twenty minutes worth of commercials and then come on with somebody rapping with Lady Gaga. The radio is dying like the newspaper. Next will be CDs, they'll be the new cassette tapes. Everything will go through the internet. Go ahead and check out one of the singles from Renincarnated on iTunes, it's already on there. And be sure to get the album on October 31st.
For more information about his upcoming album, or to stay connected with MC, visit him on MySpace at MySpace.com/MCRenOfficialMyspace.
http://www.dubcnn.com/interviews/truthhurts09 (http://DUBCNN EXCLUSIVE: Truth Hurts Interview (Dr. Dre/DJ Quik/Aftermath))
(http://www.dubcnn.com/interviews/truthhurts09/profile.jpg)
Dubcnn: Well, let me take you back to the Aftermath days. How did you get involved with Dr. Dre initially?
I started off as a songwriter. I worked my way into the Aftermath camp after one of Dre's right-hand men, Mike Lynn, brought me out to write for some of the groups. When I got there they had a person that they had kicked out of a group and they said "oh, she looks good, too. Let’s have her audition". So, I did the audition and the lead girl in the group at the time did not want me in the group, so I didn’t make the group. But, I stayed on as a songwriter and kept doing my thing. Then Dre was like, ‘you always sound better on these songs than these other people, so let’s see what we can do with you’. I would write the songs kind of for my style and would pass them on. He had Dawn from En Vogue, and Eve. I actually wrote the “Love Is Blind” hook for Eve. Writing was how we initially met, but then it developed into the artistry part of it.
Dubcnn: I'd like to talk to you about the lead single from your Aftermath solo project "Addictive". Can you just run back a little bit and tell me how that song came together with you working with Rakim and DJ Quik.
I go way back with Quik. He used to cook for my family back in the day. This is when I used to live in the Bay area. I don't know how much you know about his cooking skills, but he is a chef at heart, he is serious with it. I knew him from back then and he knew I was working with Dre. I got him and Dre in a room together and then the ideas started flowing. Dre was like, ‘you need to do some stuff with this’. Then on my birthday Quik hit me up and was like, ‘sis, I got something for you’. It was the track to Addictive. He was working at Encore over there in Burbank and I went to see him and he was like, ‘I can hear you on this’. I was stunned when I first heard it! I was like man I got to get this to Dre as soon as possible! When I did, he flipped his lid. He was like, ‘Yo, call Quik right now!’ I did, but Dre was in the hospital with his wife having a baby. He was in there with her, but tripping off the song at the same time. So we got Static, may he rest in peace, to come in and write it. Static is one of my favorite writers. He laced it and that was that.
.........
Dubcnn: How much work did Dre do for your Aftermath album? I had heard he produced more than what showed up on the album.
He put his all into that album. Yes, there were songs that he did that were sickening, they still get play with all of my family. We listen to them, but no one else. That is the problem with doing so many songs for an album though, is that you can’t put them all on there. Dre is such a perfectionist, that's what he does!
Dubcnn: Looking back, were you satisfied with the results of that album, as far as how and when it came out?
A lot of when it came out determined where I'm at now. There were so many things that didn't come to fruition because Dre is the type that he wants to keep all of his cookies in the studio. He doesn't want anyone to hear it until it’s done. Just for the information aspect of it, but that's not how Dre operates. I believe that everything happens for a reason and that's what it was. Nothing I could do about it.
......
Dubcnn: Well, let’s journey on a little past that. With your album "Ready Now", tell me a little bit about that album and Raphael Saadiq.
I met up with him from some people we both knew back in the bay. Dre was also interested in signing Raphael, so we had a knowledge of each other. He is ridiculous! I've always been a fan of his. I’ve wanted to work with him for a while. At the time that we got a meeting with him he was only doing independent work and I was on my anti-label kick, too, so we got together. The album was an independent project.
.......
Dubcnn: When you say you have never worked with Jay-Z, when you did the vocals for The Watcher 2, how did that go down?
It wasn't Jay-Z's song, it was Dre's song and he came in and was listening to some tracks and came across that one and said, ‘I want to do something with this, keep the vocals and remix it’. It was an honor, when Dre told me that I was stunned.
Dubcnn: Tell me about working with Eminem’s group D12 on the song "Nasty Mind".
That was one of those days when I dropped by the studio and Dre was working with them. He was like, ‘get in there and lay this down for me really quick’. There were a lot of projects that I went in there and dropped my part or whatever and was like alright I’ll see you all later.
Dubcnn: Did you work with Eminem on any projects?
Yes, I did. We did a couple things that did not actually end up on the album. Once again, that is how it works with Dre. I was flown out to work with Em at his house, which was another great experience. I can’t remember the song, but he may have been trying to do "The Watcher". I just remember that he didn't use what we did. I know that we worked on it a whole night. I went in and slammed the vocals and he said, ‘yo, you work fast!’. I’ve wanted to get on something that went out with him, but haven't yet. He told me himself that he doesn't do a lot of stuff with R & B on it that's just not his style, but I told him when he did to call me.
Dubcnn: Have you talked to any of them or heard anything about the "Detox" album?
I have not. I think I'm going to reach out to Dre. He has been talking about that album since before I left the label and I’d like to get down with him on that, it would be a nice reunion.
Read rest of the interview here;
http://www.dubcnn.com/interviews/truthhurts09/ (http://DUBCNN EXCLUSIVE: Truth Hurts Interview (Dr. Dre/DJ Quik/Aftermath))
NWA starring in this old school EPMD video jam :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOdkx79Vwqk
When it comes to mainstream West Coast hip-hop in the last 5 or soyears, Game is the number one representative for the West Coast.
As part of Dubcnn I was privileged to sit in on a studio session with Game and Pharrell as they worked on Game's "RED Album",
scheduled to drop in February of 2010. Game also talked to us about his changed outlook, The Black Wall Street and label boss Jimmy Iovine.
Dubcnn Interview: Game (Video/Text) (http://dubcnn.com/interviews/game09/)
Dubcnn:
The track are definitely hot.
Speaking of Dre.
When everyone saw that picture of you him and Snoop in the studio everyone got pretty excited.
How did you get hooked up back with Dre?
Game:
Dre called me, he had Brandon from Aftermath call me and was like,
“Yo Dre want you in the studio.”
And I always told Dre, “Whenever you need me holla and I’ll be there 30 minutes or less like Dominoes pizza.”
Brandon told me Dre wanted me to come down and help him write some songs for Detox.
I shot down there and we started gettin’ it in.
When I got there Snoop was there we chilled, we smoked a couple of blunts, and Dre was like,
“Yo, y’all wanna take a picture?”
Me and Snoop was like lookin’ at each other like, “We wit’ it.”
Took a picture, blasted it off my twitter page and that was that.
Dubcnn:
I think that picture’s gonna be classic when people look back on it.
It’s definitely a definition of the West Coast, especially now.
Speaking of West Coast projects, you were talking about doing a Diary of Compton, a DOC album.
Have you talked to the other guys about doing that?
Game:
I haven’t been privy to meet MC Ren, met King T, cool with him, Ice Cube is the big homie, Dr. Dre is a father figure or a big brother to me in hip-hop, me and Snoop ride or die for each other in music and in the street, that’s like my big brother and he hold me down.
To put it together it ain’t nothing, but it’s gonna take everyone, The Dogg Pound, Daz, Kurupt.
Everybody to come together and really help me perfect that album, I’m not gonna do it halfway.
I gotta have 100% of the definition of what Compton is to the artists involved and myself and what people see from the outside looking in.
I want to depict Compton is a way that’s so real that you’re from Compton if you’re not.
You feel like you’ve seen and you’ve been through what I’ve been through in my life.
That’s on hold and hopefully it can be my fifth album, which’ll be my last album on Interscope/Geffen.
Read the rest here;
Dubcnn Interview: Game (Video/Text) (http://dubcnn.com/interviews/game09/)
When it comes to mainstream West Coast hip-hop in the last 5 or soyears, Game is the number one representative for the West Coast.
As part of Dubcnn I was privileged to sit in on a studio session with Game and Pharrell as they worked on Game's "RED Album",
scheduled to drop in February of 2010. Game also talked to us about his changed outlook, The Black Wall Street and label boss Jimmy Iovine.
Dubcnn Interview: Game (Video/Text) (http://dubcnn.com/interviews/game09/)
Dubcnn:
The track are definitely hot.
Speaking of Dre.
When everyone saw that picture of you him and Snoop in the studio everyone got pretty excited.
How did you get hooked up back with Dre?
Game:
Dre called me, he had Brandon from Aftermath call me and was like,
Yo Dre want you in the studio.
And I always told Dre, Whenever you need me holla and Ill be there 30 minutes or less like Dominoes pizza.
Brandon told me Dre wanted me to come down and help him write some songs for Detox.
I shot down there and we started gettin it in.
When I got there Snoop was there we chilled, we smoked a couple of blunts, and Dre was like,
Yo, yall wanna take a picture?
Me and Snoop was like lookin at each other like, We wit it.
Took a picture, blasted it off my twitter page and that was that.
Dubcnn:
I think that pictures gonna be classic when people look back on it.
Its definitely a definition of the West Coast, especially now.
Speaking of West Coast projects, you were talking about doing a Diary of Compton, a DOC album.
Have you talked to the other guys about doing that?
Game:
I havent been privy to meet MC Ren, met King T, cool with him, Ice Cube is the big homie, Dr. Dre is a father figure or a big brother to me in hip-hop, me and Snoop ride or die for each other in music and in the street, thats like my big brother and he hold me down.
To put it together it aint nothing, but its gonna take everyone, The Dogg Pound, Daz, Kurupt.
Everybody to come together and really help me perfect that album, Im not gonna do it halfway.
I gotta have 100% of the definition of what Compton is to the artists involved and myself and what people see from the outside looking in.
I want to depict Compton is a way thats so real that youre from Compton if youre not.
You feel like youve seen and youve been through what Ive been through in my life.
Thats on hold and hopefully it can be my fifth album, whichll be my last album on Interscope/Geffen.
Read the rest here;
Dubcnn Interview: Game (Video/Text) (http://dubcnn.com/interviews/game09/)
JJ FAD Returns After 20 Yrs Gets Nod From Dr Dre
http://hiphopspy.com/jj-fad-returns-after-20-yrs-gets-nod-from-dr-dre/
After a twenty year hiatus, the girls of JJ Fad return to the mic, this time with Uncle Louie Music Group (ULMG).
With Ruthless Records in their rearview mirror,
their studio session at Command Recording in Valencia California marks a historic moment for hip-hop and the trio whose accomplishments in the hip-hop arena have been momentous.
JJ Fad, the first female rap group to go platinum and the first female rap group to be nominated for a Grammy,
had their first studio session since the Reagan Administration; the session took place this afternoon,
and under the guidance of producer J-Love and with Songwiter and Recording Artist Booker Moon,
both key players on the Uncle Louie Music Group roster.
At the studio, Dr. Dre told reporters: “I’m glad the girls are back to doing what they do best and I wish them the best.
We’re looking forward to working with J-Love on this project.
Eminem and 50 are going to bring some new school fire for these old school ladies.”
While video rolled and photographers snapped away, MC JB, Sassy C, and Baby D rehearsed their world famous Supersonic jam to the applause of in studio visitors and press.
Their Supersonic re-release is slated for February 17th 2009; their studio session was for a dual purpose:
Tuning up for their upcoming old school revival tour with the Fat Boys and recording their new album.
The album is tentatively set for release in Spring 2009 and will be released through the Uncle Louie Music Group Label .
The JJ Fad girls also recorded a series of Supersonic Ringtones and Callback Tunes set to be released this month through a ULMG brokered deal coordinated by San Francisco based Abe Batshon, with distribution through AT&T Wireless, Verizon and various other mobile carriers. MC JB told the press:
“We sat down with Source Magazine this week and had a great time.
We discussed our hiatory with Ruthless Records and talked about how we hooked up with Dr. Dre and Eazy-E and our future with Uncle Louie Music Group.
Overall we just love making music and we’re really excited to be back in LA making music again.
J-Love is a true professional an working with Booker Moon was a pleasure.
Come this Spring you will be nodding your head to JJ Fad again, we haven’t missed a beat!”
(http://hiphopspy.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/jjfadtodayql2.jpg)
^ U Got A Download For That?
New Cold187um interview on AllHiphop.com
Above The Law's Cold 187um: From Ruthless to Redemption
http://www.allhiphop.com/stories/features/archive/2009/12/19/22071574.aspx
By Jay Williams of BeatDynasty.com
In the late 80s and early 90s, Ruthless Records was a premier label for Hip-Hop, especially on the West Coast. With the emergence of Eazy-E, and N.W.A., the label produced the rawest form of Hip-Hop ever presented at that time.
Instrumental in that movement was Above The Law, on of the groups on the iconic label. Consisting of Cold 187um, K.M.G., Go Mack, and Total K-Oss, the group was a self-contained unit of lyrics, production, and DJ'ing. Cold 187um was one lyricist as well as the main producer behind the group's funk-laced sound. Even though Dr. Dre received most of the production credit for their first LP, Livin' Like Hustlers, 187 says the group laid the foundation to what has become a string of Platinum, and Gold status albums.
Although Cold 187um reached a level in the industry that most of us only dream about, he was convicted in 2004 of conspiring to traffic 100 pounds of marijuana and served 105 weeks in a federal institution.
The time spent in prison did not sour 187's view on the world of music he flourished in. He does however have a story to tell from his perspective. Now, the South Central don has a fresh start on life, and new insight on the trends in music. Cold 187um took time out to discuss his views on the current state of Hip-Hop as well as his views on the legendary Dr. Dre.
AllHipHop.com: Do you feel like the that artistry has disappeared from rap while you were in jail?
Cold 187um: One thing that's missing in Hip-Hop is people putting themselves out there. Everybody bases it on the statistics or the masses, or the latest instead of saying, "This is how I feel about it." I think as an artist, I can paint the picture and still entertain. Everybody can't do that. It's because of what I've been through in my life, being a hustler, and getting into the music industry, falling, and getting back up that I have something to say. Also being a veteran as well. I have a lot to say from my point of view because I saw a lot.
AllHipHop.com: Where do you think that disconnect came with old and new school?
Cold 187um: What happens with a lot of G-cats is that they'll say, "Young people don't have nothing to say." They do, but they just don't know how to do it because they're young. Instead of them looking at us and embracing us, we have to start talking to each other in order to be a bigger and better industry. For me, I try to talk to people instead of at people. I'm not a teacher, I'm not a preacher, I'm a hustler, and I've been through some stuff from a real side of life. I want to tell people something that will help them. I think it's very important to put yourself on the record, as yourself, if you've been through something. If you're a fake mother f***er that's looking outside the s**t, you shouldn't talk about it.
AllHipHop.com: So what in your opinion is the major problem in Hip-Hop?
Cold 187um: Some of it to me is surface level. A lot of it is about the tennis shoes, the chain, the car, the b***h with the big booty. A lot of it has a little substance, but it started becoming just about that. It didn't have a balance. Hip-Hop has always been about bling, girls, and shining. It's just that in the beginning, you had diversity. You had people talking about bling, other people talking about political s**t, certain people talking gangster s**t, and a certain amount talking the abstract s**t. The beautiful part of Hip-Hop is that we're the only form of music that can have one form and have all these types of styles in it. It doesn't turn into something else. That was the beautiful part about the industry that was built. When I looked at what cats were doing, I found the problem. It's not it's bad, it's just that only one aspect. It's not like in the 80s you could go from De La Soul to N.W.A.
AllHipHop.com: Livin' Like Hustlers was easily one of the best, well put together, albums on Ruthless Records. That album took you through a journey.
Cold 187um: We were one of the first groups that got banned talking from a real perspective. We were the ones who got banned for saying some real s**t to youngsters.
AllHipHop.com: Switching gears to the production, many don't know that you were instrumental in the production of that album. Even though Dr. Dre is listed as the producer, what was your contribution?
Cold 187um: I brought Livin' Like Hustlers to Ruthless Records done. The whole blueprint to Livin' Like Hustlers was done. I had 75 percent of that record done. All me and Dre did was reproduced it because it was done on eight and sixteen track on the demo. We went and took every sample that I used, every groove that I used, and re-cut everything. To me, Dre was more of an engineer on that aspect of the album. Now there were songs that we produced together were like "Freedom of Speech," "The Last Song," "Kickin' Lyrics," and I think "Another Execution." Everything else was done. I learned a lot about making Hip-Hop records from Dre. The thing about it was people don't know that because I allowed myself to learn at that level. The theory, the production, the creation; I was just as much a part of it as Dre was. Dre didn't hold my hand. Above The Law's concept and the things we rapped about was already done.
AllHipHop.com: Do you think that hurt you in hindsight to allow Dre to take the credit for it?
Cold 187um: Definitely. It's a bittersweet thing. It's just like saying if you become and understudy or and intern for somebody and it blows up. Then that person wins from it, but you're in the game now. So yeah it hurt me, but it helped me a lot. It enabled me to have the great knowledge that I have now about making records. It was free, I didn't have to go to college for it. I'm Dr. Dre's understudy, but I don't get the credit. People don't know that when It comes to doing all [the production] I'm sharp as he is. I was taught by him, how to make records.
AllHipHop.com: You coined yourself "The originator of the G-Funk style" and you guys were doing that type of production right after Dre left Ruthless.
Cold 187um: You gotta realize that Black Mafia Life was cut before The Chronic. Black Mafia Life was cut when N***az For Life (Efil4zaggin)was cut. There's no conception of The Chronic during this era. The thing that happened was we were in a transition leaving Sony to go to Warner Brothers. The Chronic came out [in stores] before Black Mafia Life. But it was done, when N***az for Life was wrapped. When you run them next to each other, The Chronic is more of Hip-Hop funky album. Black Mafia Life is a funk album. It's a straight gooney, ill, dark, grim, parliament meets Isaac Hayes meets Willie Hutch meets the Isley Brothers meets Above The Law.
AllHipHop.com: So what does that say about Dre and his claim on the G-Funk style?
Cold 187um: Dre did take, and was influenced by the things that I was doing at Ruthless Records. I don't care what nobody says. Even he would tell you. That's why he took me under his wing. It was taken from me, used, and it was ran with. I benefited none from it. I ended up being the guy in the middle of the room trying to convince everybody that I'm the guy that put it into place.
AllHipHop.com: A lot of producers were saying that Dre does take talented producer's ideas at times.
Cold 187um: The whole thing about it is that I'm a real musician. To me it is about giving. I didn't have a problem with him trying things that I did or any of that. Here's my problem. When you don't get on TV and say " I was influenced by this person or that person." I don't like when you don't pay homage to the guys that you get it from. That's what I don't like. I love Dre. I don't have no problems with Dre. He's talented, he's not wack, he's not a sucker or any of that s**t. My whole point is give me mines homey. I respect what you do, and what you did for me. Dre helped me dog. I don't like what he does as far as West Coast Hip-Hop is concerned. I don't like how he turned his cheek and went the other way. But, I can't say nothing about him as a producer and what he's able to do.
AllHipHop.com: So, you feel Dre turned his back on the West?
Cold 187um: I know where we all come from so I can say that. You're not [helping people out] so to me you're not doing enough. That doesn't make you wack or nothing, that's just the decision and the position that you want to play in the game you're in. Cool! It makes you more so look like you're a person that will leave the ghetto but when the ghetto needs help, you won't go build a community center for the kids. It's not the time for us to be like that.
AllHipHop.com: What's your impression of West Coast Hip-Hop now?
Cold 187um: I think the West Coast Hip-Hop is suffering because we don't have a support system. The saddest thing I realized when I got home was the "West Side Wednesday" on a West Side radio station. When I was down South they played Southern music all day, and then had like a West Coast hour. I respect that. I come home and I should hear West Coast all day. That's how it should be. I think because of that, a lot of us aren't inspired to do us anymore. A lot of us end up wondering and second guessing ourselves. We end up acting like something that we're not. Game is great and Snoop is phenomenal. I hear people disrespect artists where we come from for no reason.
AllHipHop.com: Yeah, when I was coming up, we loved West Coast Hip-Hop. We would learn about L.A. life without actually having to go there.
Cold 187um: That's the beauty of Hip-Hop. How you gonna tell me to switch it up when all the other places are being like themselves? Hip-Hop is about moving people in other places but how you do it where you're from. It's about being relevant everywhere else, but you're doing it how you do it. It's no fun if you come to L.A. and hang out with me and hear the same thing you've been hearing in New York.
AllHipHop.com: How influential was Eazy-E's death to the decline of the West Coast?
Cold 187um: You gotta realize, Eazy had a real love for the music. But he wasn't a music person, he was a business man. You can tell a person like Dre loves the money, because he'll jump on whatever is happening. Eazy found groups like Above The Law, Bone Thugs N Harmony, a few of the Black Eyed Peas. He signed a lot of people based on how he felt about what they were doing. When you lose that, hell yeah, it was a nose dive. Death Row was at it's point going down. When Dre moved on and did Aftermath, he really didn't have any concern. There's a reason why East Coast rap still has an industry. When Russell Simmons was at that breaking point, Puffy emerged, then Rocafella came, then Murder Inc. A lot of those guys cared about East Coast music. [The West Coast] had two conglomerates. One dismantled [Ruthless Records] and one got taken over by somebody's wife [Eazy-E's wife] and it was never seen again.
AllHipHop.com: Yeah but that was when they had ownership over the music right?
Cold 187um: The thing when you talk about the West Coast is that we don't have that pride no more. I do, but us as an industry don't. When Rap-A-Lot was at it's height, a lot of other labels came out of the South through the emergence of them. Nobody out here on the West Coast protected the legacy of a Eazy-E, Ice-T, N.W.A. There's a few of us who try to preserve it. I'm not going to sugar coat it for the West. It's like when anything gets bad everybody goes for themselves. You can't give your record to a DJ out here and him just support it because you're from the West. You got to have Akon, T-Pain, or these type artists on it in order for them to say it means something. But guess what, they ain't from Compton, Long Beach, or Los Angeles.
AllHipHop.com: Do you think the West coast music is coming back around though?
Cold 187um: Life is full circle. Other people will come back and bring that real along. There has to be a cause and effect. It has to be put out there with truth in it. Some people have to get real about what they stand for.
AllHipHop.com: When you say truth in it, do you think that's lost in the music?
Cold 187um: As Hip-Hop artists are we just allowing people to believe our bulls**t? I'm a ex-con. I'm not proud of it. Those were the worst times of my f***ing life. I don't get up there and brag about being a tough guy, when all I did was hurt everyday and miss my family. I was a angry motherf***er everyday. That's not fly. But understand one thing; if your Mom is on crack, the block is one solution, it's not the solution.
People get on TV and advertise about the block and how tough they are and ain't never did a day in the streets. Stop lyin' and tell then your raps are just like Scarface the movie. Tell em' you're talking about somebody else's life. Drug dealing ain't fly. I've been in fights, shoot outs, and been indicted. Shining was good. I liked throwing five or ten stacks on the table for some nice hot jewels. But, sitting in that box for it, I hated it. That's a part of it. So if you're looking to get into it because the rapper is doing it, you're doing it for the wrong reasons. We need to always be real. But we also have a duty to stand up and tell why conditions are like that.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mm2SQWPuUZc
Chris "The Glove" Taylor was one of the DJ pioneers on the West Coast[1].
Ice T first appearances on wax were on his records "Reckless" (from "Breakin'") and "Tibetan Jam" both in 1983[2]
He was later signed to Electrobeat Records.
During this period, he was also in a crew called the The Radio Crew before he became a solo artist.
The Radio Crew consisted of Ice T, Super AJ, and The Egyptian Lover. They put out one EP for the documentary "Breaking And Entering".
His most famous record is "The Itchiban Scratch" in 1985 which is an instrumental that samples young children singing
"The Grand of Duke Of York" around a Japanese style theme.
He also made a records with Victor Flores who currently is chief engineer at ATM Studios,
called "Breakmixer 1 + 2" and appeared on the famous Motown hip hop record "Scratch Break" by the Motor City crew.
More recent credits are on
Dr Dre's albums The Chronic and Dr. Dre Presents the Aftermath on which he received mixing credits and on The Firm's album as a producer.
Chris 'The Glove' Taylor - Itchiban Scratch
http://www.youtube.com/v/yiZ_98PbSM0&hl=en_US&fs=1
Chris The Glove Taylor & Dave Storrs- Tibetan Jam (Instrumental)
http://www.youtube.com/v/mm2SQWPuUZc&hl=en_US&fs=1
Raptalk Exclusive: DJ Silk & Chocolate: Detox & More
http://www.dubcnn.com/connect/index.php?topic=241335.msg2434958#msg2434958
Raptalk.Net: We have Chocolate and DJ Silk right here, two legendary producers. They are collectively known as The Ginuwin Draftz. Tell us about the “Ginuwin Draftz” name the two of you have come up with.
DJ Silk: The Ginuwin Draftz stands for actually being original. We’re back at it. That’s how I look at it.
Raptalk.Net: Ok. Let’s start off with you Chocolate; let’s read off the resume in case there sleeping. You’ve produced for Snoop Dogg, Vanilla Ice, Spice 1, Big Mike, 3-2, Jayo Felony, RBX, Knoc-turn’al, 40 Glocc, Kurupt, Kokane and so many more. Do you have a favorite track that you’ve produced in your career?
Chocolate: My history is pretty far but I’ve never had a favorite track that I liked more than others. There are a couple of tunes that have hit me in the heart but really hard to pick just one; I can’t even say. Everything has been kind of pleasant to me. I can’t really say that. I can say that everything has been cool. I’ve had joints that went unreleased that I really liked. It’s kind of hard to say. I haven’t really thought about that. I’ve had groups that I produced that had hot records that had deals and their records never came out that were great records.
Raptalk.Net: Tell us about some of those then.
Chocolate: I had a group that Sway who is on MTV now, had a record out called “This or That” with DJ Revolution. I had a group named Dirty Unit and he actually discovered them. Somebody brought them to me and I liked them and got them a deal. We did an album that was great and being young artists, I kind of got removed out of the deal after the deal got done. They were no longer with my company and had to go to the majors in order for the deal to go. With them dudes being in a position that they needed bread and some of their girls were pregnant, you know how that goes. I had to let them do what they do and move out the way. When I moved out of the way, all there business went bad and the record never came out. But that was a great record with Dirty Unit and they were out of Pasadena. I had another group called Level 6 that I had signed to Jive Records. They had a single called “Who be the Dopest” that started taking off and that was a great record. The album was called “Universally Yours” and it was Peter Parker and Sweets. We did a great record and that record never came out. There have been a lot of records that I’ve done that never came out that I thought were great records.
Raptalk.Net: Silk, you’ve produced for E-40, Jayo Felony and so many more. Do you have a favorite track that you’ve produced in your career?
DJ Silk: It’s kind of hard. I would say “Hotter than Fish Grease” for Jayo Felony. That’s probably my favorite. It was about the time that I did it. I was just happy to have a second hit after the first one. To do it again felt great. I was happy to be all over America and hear something else other than the first one. It showed me it wasn’t a fluke because I thought it was a fluke at first.
Raptalk.Net: How do you look back on the work you did on “What’Cha Gonna Do” for Jayo Felony?
DJ Silk: I look back at it now like it was the past but that’s why I’m here and what I’m doing right now. It was the right stepping stone that I had to take. I respect Def Jam for doing what they did to put me in those ears, and helping me out a lot with publicizing the record because that’s not the first record I ever did. I did records way before that. “What’Cha Gonna Do” was my first hit though.
Raptalk.Net: Speaking of you doing records way before that, do you think “Flamboastin” for E-40 could have done more?
DJ Silk: It could have probably been a second single or something. The first single was “Behind the Gates” with Ice Cube but at that time Baby from Cash Money was very popular; I think they should have gone with that. That should have put more motion into actually making that a second single. I think it would have helped the record out a whole lot. I was happy enough to do a song with them at that time.
Raptalk.Net: How did you get your start in producing?
Chocolate: Oh man. I had influences. Being around The D.O.C., he actually influenced me to really move on it. He told me I could eat from this. He was only 15 years old when he showed me the right equipment to get. He had already been around the scene. I was kind of fresh still. I would always buy the stuff that people who didn’t know about music would tell me to get. I would buy wrong equipment. D.O.C. would tell me nah, you need this, the P-12, not this P-12 but you need this other P-12. Now this is way before the sp12000 came out. He showed me the right equipment to get and all that stuff back in the day. From there, it went from me being mainly in the rapping until I got bored with it. That’s when I jumped into making music because at that time it was kind of hard to get beats from people. I had to go over records and put instrumentals over a cassette player and rap over that. It just went from that to making music. I was like damn; I’ll make my own beats. I started by doing it like that.
DJ Silk: That’s a long story. I’ve been producing since about 1986, literally. I started when I was in the 8th grade. I was also a DJ at that time. When I got my first 1200, I was in the 7th or 8th grade and it only had one turn table and I had wait until my birthday or Christmas to get another one (laughs). And I was the DJ at parties all of the time. I worked at a night club in high school. Unlike the kids that that do what they have to do today, my parents trusted me enough to go to night clubs at 10:30pm and coming back at 3:00am on school nights. I’m a product of that.
Raptalk.Net: So would you attest your success to the fact that your parents trusted you and allowed you to do that?
DJ Silk: Oh yeah, a lot. I learned stuff in those early years from being able to be around people that I wasn’t probably supposed to be around in my age group. Chocolate used to have me in the 21 and over clubs around super stars. I heard “Nuthin’ but a G Thang” when I was about 18 or 19 and when they got done doing “Nuthin’ but a G Thang”, they gave a copy to Chocolate and I heard it before it even hit. I saw The D.O.C. with the first Death Row jacket. I was blessed to see a lot of artists at that time in their prime. I got the advice from them. I saw CPO Boss Hogg from the “All Eyez On Me” album, B-O-X, D.O.C., Chocolate, Above the Law, Kokane – all of them, I listened to them when I was younger and got to see most of the Ruthless and early Death Row camp – those are the people I got to see. And then I did Lil’ Half-Dead’s first album and that was my breakthrough as far as doing a record on a major. That helped me a lot. Just being exposed to a lot of stuff I wasn’t supposed to be helped. Plus Chocolate showed me cheques to what you can make in this game. I didn’t know what you could make as far as money in this game. I had a better idea of what they had because for them to actually do that and earn that, to be able to show me that, I saw them making a lot of money and living a good life style out of what you actually like doing. I got lucky.
Raptalk.Net: Chocolate, what made you want to stop rapping and stick to the beats?
Chocolate: My influences. It’s kind of hard because I go back to when my favorite producers; I used to read the labels in the back of albums, all the credits. Rap records back then was like, DJ Howie T was one of my favorites that I would always look on the back of hot records when it would be a hot record; I would always look for his signature to see if he did the particular joint. There were a couple of guys who influenced me to get where I wanted to go. It got to the point where the rap part just faded with me. I got bored with the rap part. I think I was good at it, but I wasn’t great at it. It makes a difference where you have to draw the line and divide the two. I went with my music side which I think I’m better at.
Raptalk.Net: Silk, how did you meet Chocolate and was there instant chemistry on the production side?
DJ Silk: Oh yeah. I met Chocolate when I was about 15. He introduced me to a lot of the stuff in the game. He gave me my first equipment which was a sp1200 that came from Dr. Dre at that time. That’s what [Dr.] Dre did the first few NWA albums on. It was kind of a hand me down product. It blew and I couldn’t afford to get it fixed in those years. Fixing a sampler of a sp1200 at that time was like $2,700 to actually repair it. I was about 17 years old and didn’t have that kind of money to spend at the shop. It helped me get the records that I did do in those years; I wish I still had it.
Raptalk.Net: Is it tough to share production with Chocolate? Did you ever argue about the direction of the beat or music?
DJ Silk: Nah, because me and Chocolate think the same. We don’t really argue about anything. Argue about production? Nah. If he feels a beat should go a certain way, then he will do it that way; and then I’ll go with it the way I see it. Will then listen to both of them and see which one is the right one.
Raptalk.Net: Chocolate, with you bringing up The D.O.C., it’s clear you guys came up together and influenced each other. Do yourself and The D.O.C. ever just kick back and reminisce on the life you’ve created for yourselves, and the opportunities that became available?
Chocolate: Oh yeah. We laugh at it. Actually, when he was with Eazy [E} back in the day, I was actually living with The D.O.C. when he had his house on the gore. I was around but I was quiet. I would just sit at the pad and make music then. I don’t know how to put it, but we were together every day. Every day that you saw The D.O.C., you saw me. Now when we see each other it’s kind of funny because we’ve gone so far from where we started at. We never thought it would get this far, you know what I mean?
Raptalk.Net: Of course.
Chocolate: We’re twenty-something years in now together. My hit song, my first hit song which I did, I was still living with The D.O.C. and he was taking care of me when my hit song hit, which was “Ice Ice Baby.” The change just happened over night. I don’t know, it’s like God put wings over the both of us and his career took off and not even a good year and I was right behind him with a hit song that I had did for Vanilla Ice. We just got blessed around the same time. I was around from the beginning of everything that he had started from when his name was The Channel 21 Kid all the way up until he became The D.O.C. now. I was one of the first ones to see what his first album cover looked like. I was standing with him when his FedEx came into Texas and he opened it up, we both looked at the cover together. He didn’t even know what the cover looked like before me. We go that far back. It’s crazy that we sit back now and look at it.
It’s like that with Slim [Tha Mobster]. With Slim being my nephew, Slim has known The D.O.C. since he was like seven years old. It’s crazy to him now to see that that’s the little kid that used to sit up under us when we used to try and write songs back in the early to mid 80s. We look at Slim -I don’t know, have you ever heard Slim?
Raptalk.Net: Yeah I have.
Chocolate: Ok so, that says a lot. D.O.C. was a huge influence to him. We look at it now and its years later but God has just been good to us. There is no other way to look at that. We’ve been truly blessed to be doing what we’ve been doing. We reminisce now to where we laugh at it and we’re like wow, this shit is crazy. Twenty years into the game is a long time. And to continue making records in the position we’re in now, you can’t think of anybody else to work with better than a Dr. Dre (laughs). It’s crazy. The excitement of all of it is surreal. But it is what it is. We’re here now at the studio working. We gotta’ do what we gotta’ do to try and make things a lot better for us all.
Raptalk.Net: You just touched on a few of my talking points that we’re certainly going to get into a bit later. First off, being so close to the D.O.C. with growing up with him and everything, what was initial reaction like when you had received word of the accident?
Chocolate: A buddy of mine who is Rodney G. called me and he was like man, you’re not even gonna’ believe this. I was like what happened? And he said D.O.C. was in a car accident. At that time, it almost took every breathe out of me because he was at the top of his game. He was about to be the biggest rapper in the world at that time. When it hit me, it hit me hard. It wasn’t like it took a few seconds or anything; it really hit me hard then. I was living out of state and he was in California. I came back here after the accident to come and see him. My brother who was in Northern California was here, when he got the news he drove immediately down. It was crazy because it didn’t seem like it had happened. It was like I started dreaming this on my way to California like there was no way this could happen to this man, that he would have a car accident. With him losing his voice was what the weirdest thing was really. I’ve seen him go through a lot of therapy to get him together and he worked hard to try to get himself right. I was living with him that whole entire time that he was really trying to get himself together. If anybody could give his voice back and restore it, that brother deserves it. Wow, that’s crazy. When MTV did “Tragedy of a Lyricist”, they did a whole hour segment that was just me and him that whole hour with Fab Five Freddy. Trust me, that’s like my brother.
DJ Silk: I was hurt. I was a little kid running around so I wasn’t there literally. I was hurt when it came to it. I was DJ’ing at a party in the I.E. area; I think it was a Cal State-San Bernardino party. I was the DJ there and I was one of the first ones to play The D.O.C.’s record out here. I introduced that record to a lot of people that didn’t know out here. That’s when DJ’s could actually control what was going on, which is something DJ’s don’t do anymore. It hurt us as far as the whole culture. It hurt just like the day I found out Scott La Rock died; put it that way. He died when I was in the 8th grade. It hurt that bad to have a west coast artist…you know he’s from Texas, but to have a west coast representative artist lose his voice? That was like losing a [Los Angeles] Lakers championship game, losing a true champ. And not really losing it because D.O.C. has written a lot of good stuff; we just lost the presence of his voice.
Raptalk.Net: What do you think of the process he’s going through now to try and regain his original voice back twenty years later?
Chocolate: (Laughs) you know that’s crazy, my mom had told me he went over and had dinner with her about a month ago. He was telling her that he was about to go and have surgery. I’m hoping that could happen. If that could happen, I think the west coast would really change. D.O.C. right to this day is one of the best lyricists in my book.
Raptalk.Net: Hell yeah.
Chocolate: That’s my opinion. If you listen to “No One Can Do It Better” right now, that came out in 1989 and that record sounds like he just recorded it in 2009. That’s how ahead of his time he was. Listen to that record. Take time one day and listen to that record.
Raptalk.Net: Oh I do.
Chocolate: Find me one flaw in it. Does he sound ahead of his time?
Raptalk.Net: Yeah. It’s a classic, no doubt.
Chocolate: (Laughs) you know what I mean? It’s an undated record. That record is crazy.
Raptalk.Net: That’s when you know an album is a classic – when you can play it twenty years later and it’s still just as good as it was when it came out. I wasn’t even born when it came out.
Chocolate: Really? How old are you man?
Raptalk.Net: I’m 19.
Chocolate: Ok, that’s a blessing. You really get into your hip-hop thing then.
Raptalk.Net: Oh yeah.
Chocolate: Ok, that’s good. I see that you do pretty good research.
Raptalk.Net: I appreciate that.
Chocolate: That’s part of it what you do. When you do an interview, it’s good for you to ask questions and investigate.
Raptalk.Net: I always do.
Chocolate: You know what I mean? You’re on point. I’m just letting you know that is cool. Sometimes people ask questions that have been addressed too many times. People don’t go research and investigate, check it out. They still stick with the old stuff. I’m with that. Let’s do it, what you talking about?
Raptalk.Net: Let’s get into “Ice Ice Baby.” I know this is one of those situations that you’ve been asked about and you’ve cleared it up, but there still seems to be some wrong information floating around. It claims that you had come out at the time and claimed you wrote it without getting credit. Tell us about that.
Chocolate: It wasn’t that I didn’t get credit for it. See, that’s what I said people didn’t really do research to find out what happened. What happened with that was I did “Ice Ice Baby” and that song surfaced 2 ― years after it was done. I made a phone call to Suge [Knight] because he was my manager at the time. He makes a phone to call to his attorneys and the attorneys make a call to Vanilla Ice’s people and we get the paperwork straight. We had no argument over “Ice Ice Baby” and that’s what people didn’t know. The whole argument came when it came time for me to do the “To the Extreme” album. What happened was that I got paid to do four songs for that record. I went up and flew from L.A. to Dallas and worked on four songs but ended up doing nine for him. But I was only under contract to do four. When the record got released, he put those other five songs on the album and didn’t credit me. So I went and sued for “Dancin”, “Go Ill”, “It’s a Party”, “Life’s a Fantasy”, all those songs. I sued for them. That’s what the whole argument was about. People thought the argument was about “Ice Ice Baby” and that was never the case. I got all my credits for that. I never had an argument for “Ice Ice Baby.” It was about the other songs I did for the record that he put on the record and put written and produced by Vanilla Ice. We never had a problem over “Ice Ice Baby.” That’s why I said a lot of people don’t do research. That’s straight out the horse’s mouth partner.
Raptalk.Net: I feel you. You lived with The D.O.C. and everything, so what were the days like around Jerry Heller?
Chocolate: I didn’t spend time around Jerry [Heller] until after I had moved out with D.O.C. and got my own place. This is after “Ice Ice Baby” blew up and I finally got paid and got money and I ended up getting me a home and moved out of the D.O.C.’s place. I didn’t deal with Jerry [Heller] until I was producing for Eazy-E over at Ruthless. That’s when I had to deal with Jerry. It was all strictly business and I never ever dealt with Jerry on any personal shit. It was all about the artists I was working with over at Ruthless. That was that. I never had a problem with Jerry. He never did…well; I can’t say he never did some shit. He only did one thing to me that I thought was pretty shitty. He booked me into the studio with two different artists. He had told me to lie to the other group on some bullshit. He wanted me to be prepared for a lie that I couldn’t tell to the artists I was dealing with. He tried to book me into the sessions and didn’t pay for one and had one of the groups sitting there waiting on me and they think I’m supposed to be there. I’m over at another studio doing work that I’m being paid for. And they end up getting mad at me thinking I left them hanging, but in actuality, Jerry never paid for that studio time. So, he put me in one bad position only. That’s the truth. Other than that, I never dealt with Jerry. I dealt with Eazy [E] during that whole time.
Raptalk.Net: And what was it like dealing with Eazy?
Chocolate: Cool. I never had a problem with him. He paid me on time. People used to say crazy shit. I was like wow, that’s crazy because he always sent me straight to the attorney’s office and I picked up my cheque then and there. Right away I would walk over into Century City, go cash my cheque and go about my business. I never ever had a problem with him. We used to hang out but not really on a regular basis because I hung out with MC Ren back then more than any of them. I and [MC] Ren hung out a lot. We were cool.
Raptalk.Net: Do you still speak to Ren?
Chocolate: I haven’t talked to Ren in years. Ren had an artist which was CPO. CPO and I are very tight. CPO is my son’s Godfather. Me and the Boss Hogg stay in contact and still hang out to this very day. I haven’t talked to Ren in probably ten years.
Raptalk.Net: Wow.
Chocolate: I haven’t seen him either. I’m out and around.
Raptalk.Net: He came out with a new record.
Chocolate: That’s good and I would love to talk to Ren. That’s my boy. I would love to speak with him. That would be cool because that’s my boy.
Raptalk.Net: You said Suge was your manager. Was he really as bad as everyone portrays him as? There is no denying the Death Row dynasty but I think people try and look at the alleged negative things he did and they try to make that overlook what he built with Death Row. What was it like overall?
Chocolate: To me, the best way I could put it is that somebody could point the finger at a man and say “don’t trust that dude because that dude is fucked up, fuck him, don’t trust him because he’ll do this and that.” But if your relationship is entirely different with that person, then you can’t speak on it. If that person has never done any wrong to you, then you have nothing bad to say about that person. My situation isn’t to stand up and say he was fucked up or that he was cool. I just know that the business that I needed handled and getting my money, any situation that I had as far as being a producer or artist, he took care of my business and I never had a problem with him. He got his money and I got my money. When I wanted my release, I got my release without an argument and I continued my life. I never had a problem with him. I never had any threats, slaps or none of that shit. Never ever. It was business and I kept it moving. I started my own company back then and we had respect for what I wanted to go out there and do. He never gave me a problem. He did what he did but he never did that shit around me. You know what I’m saying? You can’t speak on shit you never witnessed.
Raptalk.Net: Being around the entire situation while making “The Chronic”, for you yourself personally, did you realize it was going to be such a classic record?
Chocolate: Oh yeah. He had the whole all-star squad. Everybody was young and hungry. You had the best producer and the best writer in the world. Come on now. From “Deep Cover”, I knew it was history. I remember back when Snoop [Dogg] used to kick his feet up against the wall and used to free style for hours in the backyard of Dre’s house. We would sit there and listen to him. I used to tell him “boy if you ever get heard the world is gonna’ love you” and there he is now. Time goes by and we reminisce about it now and go wow, this is crazy. You look at in reality how everybody is actually a tree branch of a person that’s done something. It’s what it is.
Raptalk.Net: Did you see the fall of Death Row coming or did you think they’d continue to dominate?
Chocolate: Through all of the media, you know how that goes. A party is never gonna’ last forever. I knew one day that the party would be over if you know what I’m saying. In other words, it’s all about the people who stay there with you and help you clean up the party. If you throw a big party and everyone is there to help you plan it, once it’s over with, only your true ones are gonna’ stay and help you clean up. Everyone that had helped you plan done left and got a bitch and walked out the front door and said they’d see you later. This is the dude who brings all the liqor and makes calls to bring the girls here; all of that shit. Once the party is over with, you have cigarette buts on your floor, drinks spilled and cups everywhere. Everyone went out the door and only your true ones stay to help you clean up. That’s how it goes. You also gotta’ treat your friends and party guests right. If you don’t, shit don’t go right.
Raptalk.Net: And Ronin Ro wrote an interesting book about Death Row. Have you read it?
Chocolate: Yeah, you’re talking about “Have Gun Will Travel?”
Raptalk.Net: Exactly.
Chocolate: Yeah, I’m in that book.
Raptalk.Net: That’s why I’m bringing it up. What I want to ask you is that, in your opinion was it well written and accurate? Do you feel it provided good insight for the fans?
Chocolate: I mean a lot of those situations I wasn’t around for so I couldn’t really say. A lot of those situations I was around though as well, and from what I’ve read, a lot of it was accurate and a lot of it was over-exaggerated. That’s the best way I could put it.
Raptalk.Net: You were always around and when Dr. Dre wanted to break away from Death Row and start his own thing with Aftermath, did you like the idea of that at the time?
Chocolate: I mean the only reason why I would say yeah was because me and Dre would always watch the fights together and hang out at the fight parties. It was never the music side on the time we would spend. Right now is the first time I’ve ever worked with or for Dre, out of all of these years. Yeah, when I branched off and did what I did as far as me producing for these other artists and being a producer and strictly sticking to my music, I got away from the whole scene of it, period. I was doing my own thing getting artists, making records, getting record deals and making money. I got a house and wasn’t trying to be the cat that got that first money and the next thing you know, I’m sitting on the streets trying to go hustle. I wanted to get out there and continue grinding and making my name to get a little something. I don’t know. Every man has to stand on his own feet. That was his [Dre] decision and I was there when he did the “Been There, Done That”, the first album. Shit, I was there listening to it and was proud of him. He left something that was big to go make something big. You can’t be mad at a man that wants to go create his own and stand on his own. I would say yeah, not that I was happy but I thought it was a good and smart move for him.
Raptalk.Net: Tell us about your nephew Slim Tha Mobster.
Chocolate: Beyond gifted. He’s humble, very humble. He’s also gangsta, no way around that. But he’s a humble cat and doesn’t start any shit. He’s definitely probably one of the best MC’s that you will hear in a very long time from these probably past ten years as far as new artists. He’s something to deal with.
DJ Silk: I’ve known Slim since he was about 13 years old. Everything I went through at a young age, he has seen. He was there hands on. He was good then. His path is pretty much the same as mine other than me being a producer and him being a rapper. He got to learn from the best and he has seen the best. He is groomed. He’s a born super star for real. I’ve worked with a lot of cats from Method Man, Redman, WC, Jayo Felony, E-40 and everybody else. I knew them when they grew up but I don’t know if they grew up like Slim. Slim is one of a kind. He’s kind of like the 20th century version of Jay-Z again, the re-birth. Jay-Z said “make another Hov?” Yeah, we made another Hov. This dude raps from the brain and doesn’t free style. He doesn’t free style. He writes in his head. To see the stuff he comes up with is amazing. It’s been a long time since we sat down with him when we did music, and we approved or did not approve some of the things he was doing.
After a while, he just took it. We’re right behind him. We’re behind him. He’s the leader. He’s the Kobe Bryant right now. He‘s the cat that knows exactly what he’s doing and he was trained for it. He’s like [Floyd] Mayweather when he was little. He’s really that dude, from any coast. You have to love and respect him because of what he’s able to actually do. His swag is totally different from any other artist out there. I say it like that. His swagger is totally different. His word play is ridiculous. And it’s not like a Rakim word play like we had back in the days; he’s saying something. A lot of these guys don’t say anything too much and I won’t mention any names. They don’t really say anything; they just do a lot of flossing. Slim is not a gangster rapper even though he’s a gangster. He just speaks real. He doesn’t only talk about shooting people and selling dope. He has topics and he knows how to bring up your kids, he knows what to say to women and so on. He does those songs that will get the streets to like him and the women. There are not that many rappers out there like that.
Raptalk.Net: How have yourself, Dr. Dre and The D.O.C. groomed him?
Chocolate: He’s been around the game…
Raptalk.Net: He grew up around it.
Chocolate: That’s it. The only thing he actually really knows is nothing but music. He’s so groomed at this. Slim doesn’t write; he doesn’t pick up paper and pen.
Raptalk.Net: He goes in the booth and writes the songs in his head?
Chocolate: Right there, he writes his songs while standing over the board. He’ll stand over the board or find a corner and get in his little mood and he’ll write. He’ll go right to the booth and do a song. That’s how he gets down. He’s probably…it’s hard to explain, you’d have to see this cat work. I give him the top MC right now and ain’t nobody fucking with Slim Tha Mobster right now. That’s just point period.
Raptalk.Net: Is it true that he recently finalized some paperwork that has him signed to G-Unit/Shady/Aftermath/Interscope?
Chocolate: Paperwork has been done. It’s 100%, he’s signed. I’m not gonna’ speak on the deal though. I just rather not comment on the deal. It’s something for him to speak on and your gonna’ do an interview with him. I’m gonna’ hook that up and I’ll get that taken care of for you.
Raptalk.Net: Hell yeah. This is the big question right here. Do you think “Detox” will set up Slim just as “The Chronic” set up Snoop Dogg and “2001” set up Eminem?
DJ Silk: I think so. I think that’s the best thing that could happen to him. He’s had other things going on before that. He’s a go hard in the paint type of person. It’s good because he’s running with the music to be able to express what he’s feeling. He’s writing hell of songs. He is what the game is missing and I’m glad that he’s with us.
Chocolate: Yes. I think that Slim is groomed. Snoop [Dogg] was ready but you know if you’re cooking something and it’s almost perfect but it might need a little more seasoning? That’s how Snoop was. Snoop just needed a little seasoning and it wasn’t a lot. I’m looking at the difference in-between how that was with Dre then and its how it is with Slim now. Slim is just ready. He’s groomed and polished. He doesn’t need any training. He doesn’t have to do songs with Dre standing over his shoulder. He’s gonna’ do 2-3 songs in one night. If he works for 12 hours here with us, he’s gonna’ have 3-4 songs done. His work ethic is beyond incredible; beyond (laughs). And I don’t say it because he’s my nephew. What’s funny about it is, when he was locked up in prison, I was telling him then that when he comes home, I’m gonna’ get him in the studio and we’re gonna’ work because he was already dope. If he just put his mind to this, it’s gonna’ happen for him and he put his mind to it. All the people I was telling that thought I was just saying it because he’s my blood, my family. But no, I‘m telling you because he’s good at what he does.
Actually, it’s not just him, I have another nephew who is XV; I don’t know if you’ve ever heard of XV out of Wichita, Kansas?
Raptalk.Net: I haven’t
Chocolate: He’s blowing up right now. He’s doing the Hip-Hop Honor awards and he’s doing the Warren G segment. He’s on the show doing the Hip-Hop Honor awards and he’s doing “Regulate” and a couple of other joints that Warren G had. You know there doing Hip-Hop Honor awards for Def Jam. My nephew XV, when you see him that is my other brother’s son. He’s going through a transition right now. The last I knew, his deal was looking pretty good. It’s just ironic that he’s super close to where Slim is it from my understanding. And I don’t mean that by being with Aftermath or anything like that, but he’s dealing with…the last I knew, Jimmy Iovine was super heavily looking into him. I’m not gonna’ quote that he’s signed there already but he’s doing Hip-Hop Honor awards so he must have done something right (laughs). That’s XV and then I have another nephew Mike Phenom, he’s about to take off and another nephew named Ses Batta. All four of them are dope but Slim is the reigning king. All of them are dope but it’s just they haven’t been around and groomed like Slim (laughs). That’s all it is. They are all talented but they haven’t been groomed like Slim.
Raptalk.Net: And what’s your involvement in “Detox” right now and what do you believe is the status of that record?
DJ Silk: Of course I’m Slim’s DJ as well as one of his producers, Chocolate’s partner. Our involvement is to do what we can actually. So far, we have one solid track on “Detox” which is ridiculous. I’m blessed and proud to actually have the talent to make it on “Detox.” There are a lot of guys that did a lot of work and didn’t make it on “Detox.” It was good work but Dre is a perfectionist. If it’s not ultimately dope shit, it’s not gonna’ go there. Whoever is doing records right now, when “Detox” drops, get in research mode because this dude is doing musical movies. It’s beyond a song now. He’s the Steven Spielberg of music. I truly and honestly believe, and I know that now. Dre plays all kinds of instruments. He doesn’t even need our help; put it that way. I’m blessed to at least have a few joints on there.
Chocolate: It’ll be hard for me to say how many joints Dre got done. Me and DJ Silk, we’re working right now trying to come up with more joints for the “Detox” album. We have, we know we made the record. We have a joint on “Detox” that is a hot joint and Dre did his thing on it. I think that the status of it, I couldn’t tell you. The man is a perfectionist. I do know that it is coming out though (laughs).
Raptalk.Net: Where are you sonically taking the production on the one track that you know made it for sure?
DJ Silk: On that particular joint, I would tell you the title but there are a lot of funny things with leaks and hackers going on right now. It’s a good record, we know we have at least one solid joint on the “Detox” album. If I hear anything new from Dre confirming we have more records, will link up and do another interview or update. You guys will hear it soon. For me, Dre lets us do what we do best. I don’t know for sure, but Dre doesn’t like people trying to be like him. You have those producers who try to produce tracks of something he may possibly conjure up. They don’t even know what level he is on right now. Anything they can come up with is something they heard way back in the day. Dre loves us for what we do now; for what we’re groomed to do. He likes us to be ourselves. The whole record is live. It’s actually played. You won’t hear too many real samples on the record. That’s why I said he’s making musical movies. It’s like an orchestra playing. It’s like having Mozart in there with ?uestlove.
Raptalk.Net: Silk & Chocolate have a record on “Detox.” Chocolate, you read my D.O.C. interview “Detox & Surgery” and even left us a nice comment on the page. D.O.C. said in that interview that he thinks the album would have been done in November.
Chocolate: I mean, Dre has been working hard on this record. His mind is so genius. I’ve watched him work and I’m like wow, this dude will play anything you put in front of him. He doesn’t…how could I put it? Dre is like a real maestro. He leads you to the right notes and to the right placements and shit. When you hear certain shit and don’t know where to place it, Dre knows where to place it at. He’s just a perfectionist so you can’t really say where he’s at on his record and I couldn’t tell you. I know that we’re still working. He’s done us good. Since we’ve been working on this record, we’ve been out of town to get a change of environment and worked in other states and cities. He’s done us right just to get a different feel and vibe in order to make that music that you wouldn’t have thought about just by sitting in that same place all the time. You need a different view sometimes. Dre is probably, I couldn’t tell you how many songs he has done.
Raptalk.Net: We probably can’t even count that high.
Chocolate: He has so much hot shit. That’s why I say it’s crazy. You can’t place anything with what the man does. It has to be perfect. When they hear this mans record, the world is going to see why they waited so long for this record (laughs). That’s what I can truly tell you. When the world hears this record, they’re gonna’ be like ok, it was worth the fucking wait.
Raptalk.Net: When people talk about the “2001” team, people come up with the names Hittman, Scott Storch, Xzibit, Eminem, Knoc-turn’al, Mel-Man and people like that. If you had to name a few names in your mind that make up the “Detox” team, which names would you drop?
Chocolate: From me being around, I’ve seen a lot of them come in and do hot shit. But I don’t know what’s actually been cited to make the record. I don’t want to speak on names and they don’t make the record. I don’t know. A lot of records have leaked and Dre has put a real hold, he’s tightened down on everything. What he plays is what we hear. I’ve heard a lot of hot joints and seen a lot of different artists come in and do songs with him but I don’t know if they made the record. That is why I don’t want to say this joint with such and such. I’ve seen some big names come in.
Raptalk.Net: I respect that you can’t drop names so without dropping names, how do you think the “Detox” team or the people you’ve seen come in…
Chocolate: Heavy. They came in and did their thing very heavy. Dre is never gonna’ look away from his people. You know he’ll always keep Snoop [Dogg] somewhere in there. I know he has a joint with Snoop. He still keeps some of those around. Really with that, it’s hard to say. I don’t even know if that made the record. That is why I don’t want to be saying stuff. From what I’m looking at, the best way I could put it is everybody is still getting their chance to come and do what they’ve done before for him. He hasn’t turned his back on anyone. That’s the best way I could put it.
Raptalk.Net: What about “Relapse 2?” Have you done any work on that?
DJ Silk: We’re working right now to try and get a record on there. First things first is to actually making the record, and then will take care of everything else. Paperwork and all that isn’t hard to get done. We just want to create some music for Eminem that he loves and raps over it for the album. We know he would wreck one of our beats.
Raptalk.Net: Wow, there y’all have it – Chocolate & DJ Silk is on “Detox” & is working to get on “Relapse 2.” There are some rumors going around that Xzibit has been back in the camp really heavy and that Dre is doing his entire album. Have you gotten any word on that?
Chocolate: No. I know Xzibit came in and did a hook for Slim Tha Mobster. I don’t know the status of that though. I haven’t seen Xzibit in the studio. Actually, when we’re working with Slim, Dre is in another studio not far from us but we’re not in his sessions. We’re in a whole different studio doing our thing and Dre is doing his thing. We’ve always basically worked like that unless we’re in the same building with Dre. Most of the time we’re at a different building that is close. So I’m not in on all the sessions to see who has come in and out all the time. I come in on certain days and see certain people come in. it’s always short and brief and I’m back to doing what I’m doing at another studio working.
Raptalk.Net: Is it safe to say that Slim won’t drop until after “Detox?”
Chocolate: Slim has tons of songs (laughs). That’s kind of hard to say but I think it would be safe to say that it’ll be after “Detox.”
Raptalk.Net: It would make sense from a strategic standpoint.
Chocolate: He’s definitely the front man for the tour, the opening act. That’s the first act. I would say it’ll be safe to say he’ll be out after “Detox” and not before.
Raptalk.Net: Have you worked with Bishop Lamont and Stat Quo at all?
Chocolate: Never. I’ve known Bishop [Lamont] for years but we never got around to working together. I’ve been on Bishop since he was young, about 17 or 18 rapping at that time. I’ve known him for years, knew his brothers over there. I’ve never worked with him though.
Raptalk.Net: There are more rumors claiming that he was dropped. I know sometimes you’re not even in the same building, but have you seen him at all recently?
Chocolate: Nope. I haven’t seen him at all (laughs).
Raptalk.Net: What’s next up for The Genuine Drafts?
DJ Silk: Just hard work. We’re apart of Slim’s camp which is Gang Module/Aftermath. We could hold down the next 5 years. That’s all I hope for as long as I’ve been in the game. I’ve been in the game 17 years now and I hope we can control a couple of years with our music. We have to get it out there. I want to see Slim blow up because this is his first time. We hope we can hold on and get our music out there. We hope everyone will like it and do what we do best. I hope people enjoy it.
Raptalk.Net: Y’all got the official word on www.raptalk.net on the status of “Detox” as well “Relapse 2”, plus we touched on a whole bunch of the old and classical material. We have Chocolate and DJ Silk, two legendary producers in the house, and we’re also talking Slim Tha Mobster because he is up next, not forgetting XV and the rest of Chocolate’s nephews because this is one talented family y’all. I appreciate your time Chocolate and DJ Silk. Do you have any last words for www.raptalk.net before I let you go?
Chocolate: I’m good man. I appreciate you. And keep up with the learning the history and keep asking the right shit just like you did. Know your shit, research because a lot of times people ask questions and don’t know what they’re talking about. I appreciate you. Hit me back soon so we can keep getting it in together.
DJ Silk: Shouts out to www.raptalk.net and everybody out there that is keeping it pushing. Do good music; that’s my thing. Every producer and artist out there that is doing music, listen to the older guys even though some of the older guys, a lot of the new rappers don’t respect because it’s a new world. That’s what being skilled comes from. There are no boxers that didn’t watch Muhammad Ali. And Dr. Dre is Muhammad Ali; Jermaine Dupri and the rest of the guys that has been here that long; there here for a reason. Those are the words I want to leave you guys with. Do your research and do your history. Know what you’re doing and do it well.
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idk if its been posted before.
Jesus. I could spend 6 weeks reading this entire thread.
Does anybody have the scans of the interview where Dre and/or Cube talk about Endonesia and Gimmie 50 Feet? Thanks!