New Interview with Big Dho (Justus League Manager/DJ/Everything) - New Info

[On The Edge of Insanity]

Big Dho: Behind Tha Scenes With Little Brother & Justus League

ThaFormula.Com - You're a member of North Carolina's Justus League (JL), how'd you get down with them?

Big Dho - Basically me Phonte, (Big) Pooh, 9th (Wonder), Chaundon all went to school together at North Carolina Central University but we all met at different times. I was also a DJ at the college radio station at Duke (WXDU). 9th did beats, Phonte and them rhymed and I was getting into doing beats at the time, this was in like 1998. We all just met between school and radio functions.

ThaFormula.Com - Initially you were producing for JL before you started managing any of the artists…

Big Dho - Yep, I was DJ'ing at the radio station so I had a passion for playing and creating music and I was trying to make beats but at the time I didn't really have an outlet or any equipment. I'm from Connecticut and everything I was workin' with was there. So I was on a hiatus from making beats. Then I met 9th and he was fuckin' around with this computer shit and I was like "get the hell out of here!" Then he showed some shit on the computer and I was like "word?!" so I went out and bought me a computer and I've been computerized ever since as far as music is concerned.

ThaFormula.Com - So you were makin' your beats with other equipment before that?

Big Dho - Yeah, yeah. Actually it was a keyboard that you could sample into, I can't even remember the name of it. It was at this studio, we called it "The Bus Lady's." She used to drive the busses and had a studio on like the 3rd Floor of her crib that she sublet to my cousin that could rap. He used to mess around with…I don't know if you remember them, they were called The Whitehead Brothers…

ThaFormula.Com - Yeah, that had that song from the "Jason's Lyric" soundtrack that blew up for a minute…

Big Dho - Yeah, yeah. Their producer the guy named Dre, he's at Def Jam now…he was producing my cousin back then. I had made a beat one day just playing around and they liked it and my cousin had rapped over it and freestyled over it. That's kind of where my love for makin' beats came from. But like I said, not having any equipment of my own made me stagnant you know? I didn't really make no beats for years you know? I always wanted to but couldn't.

ThaFormula.Com - When did you decide that management was your thing?

Big Dho - I never really did, I was just kind of thrown into it. Little Brother had came back from being out in LA for like two weeks and I was kind of road managing them at the time. Basically I was the one that had money to like pay for trips and shit at the time. We was all crew so I would get the rentals and all that, and then get reimbursed after the show or whatever. Muthafuckas was broke man. I was the only nigga that had money 'cause I worked and always kept some money in my pocket so we just rode together. This was like right after the album ("The Listening") dropped man when they had went out to LA to do some shows. They were like, "yo we need you to be our manager." I was like "what?" So from that day which was like March 2003…

ThaFormula.Com - Yeah, I remember when they were out here for that…

Big Dho - Yeah, some shit happened and they didn't really like it. At that point, we would all sit down and talk about stuff, but Tay (Phonte) was kind of the front man for the group. I guess after a while he was like "fuck that," so they asked me and I was like "fuck it, these are my niggas." I never had any management history whatsoever. I had never managed a store, I don't even have good time management on some real shit (laughs) I can't even manage my own time!

ThaFormula.Com - When you were in college had you taken any business classes or anything?

Big Dho - Nah, nope, none of that shit, nope.

ThaFormula.Com - (laughs) Straight electives huh?

Big Dho - (laughs) I was going to school just to go to school and just to say I was in college because nobody I knew had ever went to school on some real shit.

ThaFormula.Com - But that's where all the women were though right?

Big Dho - Yeah, I found that out! Especially our college, our shit was 16 women to 1 so you know what time it was. It just so happened that I linked up with some right people and the shit came about and Justus League was formed in like 1998. 9th and Comanche kind of started that. Then I started the Hall of Justus Records and have bunch of muthafuckin' artists now. I went from never managing, to managing a bunch of niggas and then on top of that, to have the cats I actually manage be good?! Man, I was just tryin' to take it as it came and learn, and I didn't have any help. But it worked out, it could have went the other way. My motto is "I can't lose."

ThaFormula.Com - After you started managing Little Brother how did you come to manage all the other groups, was it just kind of dumped on you and who all are you managing now?

Big Dho - I manage The Away Team, Little Brother, Yahzarah, Foreign Exchange, Chaundon, and Joe Scudda. Then I manage everyone individually. I manage Phonte, Joe Scudda, 9th, Khrysis, Sean Boog, L.E.G.A.C.Y., Nicolay, and DJ Flash. Other people have come to me and asked me to manage them and I had to turn 'em down even though they were good. I just don't have the time on some real shit! I was runnin' it by myself but I just started getting a staff, so thank god I found some people I can trust.

ThaFormula.Com - That's the hard part! Shit, probably harder than managing the artists…

Big Dho - Hell yeah! And then you gotta pay 'em and shit? (laughs) I got a good team though, Amaya Jackson and Damien Ruffin. That's basically my team. I fuck with these cats outta New York a little bit too called Kevlar. They've helped me out with some Little Brother shit, but it just gets too confusing and shit. Everyone wants to help manage Little Brother obviously because them niggas are the shit. That's an easy sale, they're jumpin' off now. It's like "thanks muthafucka!" (laughs)

ThaFormula.Com - I'm sure this answer is completely different day to day, but what are some of your responsibilities day to day as manager of all these artists?

Big Dho - Oh wow! I got a nickname now man, "Do it all." I do everything from art direction with album covers and posters, I wrote video treatments for a couple people, whatever it is I'm doing it. Advertising, I'm doing clothes, everything. I'm doing….yeah everything (laughs) Phonte got this thing "you'll never find a dime that ain't mine" So I'm just doing it. It's because people just respect my opinion. So I end up getting myself in other people's stuff without even trying. I book shows when I need to, I'm on the road all the time, getting deals, everything. Whether it's being a manager or a label head or a friend, I'm there to talk even. I be counseling niggas about these broads, whatever it is. There's nights when my phone rings at 3:00 or 4:00 in the morning like "yo, I need to talk to you, it don't have nothing to do with music or none of that shit." We're a family for real. I hear a lot of people say that, but we're a family for real. We've done lived together and shit like that. It's not a game.

ThaFormula.Com - Do you consider it easier or harder to manage people you're so close with?

Big Dho - It's like a double edged sword man. The good thing is I already know the direction we want to go in. As a manager your job is to guide someone where they want to go. Sometimes when we get in arguments and stuff we've got to know that this is business we're arguing about, it isn't personal. The more we're together we're learning that about each other, to make sure it doesn't spill over into our personal lives. Other than that it's easy because they know me. My business is an open book, they can look at shit, papers, anything. I notice a lot of dirty niggas out there, but that ain't me. Some people will book a show and tell 'em it was for 5 G's, and that motherfucker was really for like 15 G's! Some shit like that or taxin' niggas in places they shouldn't. I don't knock nobody's hustle, I just know that I have a bigger responsibility man, because these kids, I'm like their uncle. Like to Tay's kids, 9th's kids whatever man. See, I'm lookin' at them like I've got to provide for them. So when I see 9th driving a whip, or Tay shoppin' or niggas buyin' equipment and shit like that, I'm like "word up, we doin' it." We're getting it done, all of us so it's nice to see that my work doesn't go unnoticed and shit.

ThaFormula.Com - What's the most rewarding thing you've gotten out of managing everyone so far?

Big Dho - Let's see, wow damn it's hard to narrow it down. Well, none of us is workin' regular jobs, we all are doing what the fuck we wanna do everyday. Make music or whatever. I guess the fact that I am able to help people live their dream and have a part in it is a beautiful thing. I'd like to make beats, because I have some hot shit, but at the end of the day I have a greater responsibility, I've got to make shit happen.

ThaFormula.Com - So you'd like to produce more?

Big Dho - I really don't ever have time and being the new cat at that I'm not really organized like that. I end up working from 9:00 in the morning to like 3, 4 5:00 in the morning reading over contracts and learnin' whatever I can learn, I'm doing it all on my own and shit. It's crazy. When I do get a chance I like to though, but I have to get my ear back for sampling. Because I like to sample, if I was doing that keyboard shit, it would be a no brainer (laughs). I'd just go in there and be like "errr, errr, errr" throw in a couple hi-hats or some shit and we'd have a muthafuckin' hit! But I don't roll like that. But I've got some shit on Pooh's new solo album, I did something on the "NC State of Mind Vol. 1," and "Hall of Justus Singles Files." I did something on the L.E.G.A.C.Y. and Chaundon album, that's actually one of my projects. I put the two cats together and I'm gonna have a few joints on there, like maybe 4 or 5. I got something on the Joe Scudda album but that's about it. Some cats reach out to me, these cats from Florida got me to do a couple tracks. I've been on every Comanche album and I'll have 2 or 3 joints on his new album, so I'm getting work. My beats don't really go with Little Brother, but individually I've done stuff with Tay. I'm gonna put out a little project called "The Resume" that will have all the stuff I did. I'll put it out but not even to like get a lot of paper or something, I just want to put it out to say "I put an album out," but I do my thing. I'm a well rounded nigga! I've done sung a couple hooks, I wrote some raps for niggas, I'm dead ass real. I done rapped a few times, you might catch me anywhere.

ThaFormula.Com - I know you probably get all kinds of calls from heads wanting all different kind of shit, what's the craziest thing you ever had someone call and ask you?

Big Dho - Probably when we were on the road for Jay-Z's shit with 9th, or not too long ago we got the call from Columbia to go out to LA and work with Destiny's Child with 9th and he got 3 tracks on their new album.

ThaFormula.Com - What about stupid shit?

Big Dho - Ahh hell yeah. Crazy muthafuckas wantin' beats from 9th, even after the Jay-Z shit, wanting beats for like $300 or $400, like "I need to get him on my project, it's really gonna blow up." I try to be cool, and ask 'em like "What's your budget? How's your album coming out? You putting it out yourself? Label?" I have this thing I do when they call I say the same thing to everyone. The people that want beats from him have a regular job, don't have no paper, live in they moms attic or some shit. They're just at the home on the Internet and want some beats from 9th for their project. Shit, I wouldn't even give 'em one of my beats for that! I just bug out to all the shit. It's all love though, I understand niggas hustle, you hear something hot and you want to fuck with it. I know I would have tried. Someone might slip up and give me a beat CD sometime…

ThaFormula.Com - Aside from producing every now and then, and managing everyone you also started The Hall of Justus Records, tell me about that…

Big Dho - Hall of Justus is like a production company/label. I wasn't even gonna do it, but for me it was just to show muthafuckas how to do it. I mean, see a lot of cats that have labels and shit, but there's moves they can make to make their artists better as far as sales and appearances and marketing. And I don't have no paper, I'm doing this off of no paper. I got the shit with 6-Hole (Records) for Pooh's solo album, The Away Team's album and 9ths production album. That shit will start to come out first quarter of next year. Pooh's will probably come out the end of January then Away Team and Legacy will be like the Redman shit and drop the same day probably or maybe a week or two apart but definitely in the same month though. Then 9th's shit will come out in the Spring. Even with those cats man, I'm gonna use my own money and show them how to work it independently. Independent doesn't have to mean underground or fuckin' spacey and crazy and shit. It can just be "yo maybe I don't have the same budget as Atlantic or Warner but I'm gonna show y'all I could run with y'all."

ThaFormula.Com - So do you have distribution with Hall of Justus other than 6-Hole?

Big Dho - It's gonna be through Caroline and I've also got distribution for some other shit so I'm spread out everywhere. Traffic is probably gonna be doing "The Chitlin' Circuit Mixtape," they're gonna do Chaundon's solo joint…

ThaFormula.Com - You're gonna re-issue the Chitlin' mixtape?

Big Dho - Yeah, we're gonna put a few more joints on there, make it a little hotter for the people that already picked up the other one, it's gonna be everywhere at retail stores and all that fly shit. Shit, it's gonna have better distribution than "The Listening"…

ThaFormula.Com - (laughs) A lot of shit had better distribution than "The Listening!"

Big Dho - You know, I'm gonna go ahead and say this about Beni B right now…he didn't know, he didn't know what he was up against with this project. I tip my hat off to him for someone that never put out any real CD's just vinyl though.

ThaFormula.Com - That's what I was worried about when I first heard they had signed with ABB for the album, because ABB had no track record period with discs…

Big Dho - Yeah, they were a 12" label.

ThaFormula.Com - So you helped put together "The Foreign Exchange Tour" too right? What's going down with that, because there's a lot of confusion about the tour dates originally there was like 50 cities…

Big Dho - Yeah man, all those original 50 dates was just premature man, I don't even know who put them out. Until I see something on my desk I'm not putting out no dates. Somebody must have thought they were a genius and wanted to get everybody involved, so yeah some of them dates ain't going down. Basically I'll be putting up the new dates on our site (www.thehallofjustus.com) and it will have all the real deal info.

ThaFormula.Com - Wow, so all this shit is out the window?

Big Dho - It's been like three different listings that's been put out on the Internet. What it is is, the first leg is supposed to start September 29th in Charlotte, then Baltimore, DC, Philly, New York, Connecticut, two dates in North Hampton, Boston, Canada and then Ohio. Then we stop for a week or two and we go back out and do the other side of the mid-west and west coast. The tour is going down, there is going to be a tour we're still making sure the contracts are signed and deposits are in and shit like that. We're gonna make it pop though, don't get it twisted. We as the Hall of Justus team/Little Brother crew, every step of our career we've never had the easy route. Some cats will look at it like "nah, these cats get love everywhere" and that's cool, yeah we get love a lot of places but to get that love we have to go through some bullshit so this is just gonna be some more bullshit we have to go thorough but we're prepared for it, we're gonna rock the show wherever we go. Everyone that's ever came out to a Justus League or Little Brother show know what time it is already, muthafuckas rock the crowd. That's what we do, no games, we're gonna rock the crowd so be there and get your tickets!

ThaFormula.Com - During the Hiero tour when 9th was out working with Jay-Z, you filled in on the tables for him, what was it like being on a tour that big?

Big Dho - It was cool, like I said, wherever I need to be I'm there. My first show I ever DJ'd with Little Brother was in Denmark, we had did this festival and there was like 5000 screaming muthafuckas and that place was about to bust open at the sides! I walked out and everyone is screaming and I'm like "yo! This is my first DJ gig other than radio and I'm out there on trial by fire thrown into the flames!" But we rocked the fuck outta that show. I think me Tay and Pooh after that show…it's hard to say but we kind of gelled at the hips, it was incredible. It's cool because 9th goes out and does his thing with the production shit and reps the crew doing that and if we have to do a show while he's doing that then we're spread out and you still get Hall of Justus everywhere. But yeah, doing that Hiero shit was fucking crazy. It's nothing like it, them Hiero niggas, I got nothing but love for them they showed me love on the road man, for real. We're gonna do it again, I'm gonna try and do that like every other year or something it was that real out there with them.

ThaFormula.Com - You guys did a ton of dates too…

Big Dho - Hell yeah! And we didn't have no breaks! The only real break was when the RV broke down! Maybe one day in Baltimore. I loved that shit though, that was one of the best experiences I've ever had.

ThaFormula.Com - Run down everything that's on deck for the league, Hall of Justus, everything, what's on the horizon about to drop?

Big Dho - We got "The Connected Tour" jumpin' off, boom. Then we got Little Brother's new album "The Minstrel Show," we're working on that right now and it's crazy…

ThaFormula.Com - How far along is that album?

Big Dho - We've got like 11 or12 tracks done and we have like 2 or 3 more to go. We've got a track with Elzhi (of Slum Village) and the shit's bannnas, these motherfuckers are not ready. We've got "The Chitlin' Circuit" re-issue, the "Triple Play EP" with Pooh, Leg and The Away Team, they're each gonna do like 4 joints a piece and we'll put it all on one joint and Traffic's putting that shit out. We've got "Sleeper's" Big Pooh's joint which is getting mastered right now, we had to switch up a couple things. We got The Away Team's "National Anthem" debut album, L.E.G.A.C.Y., "Legacy of a Rock Star: Project Mayhem," dropping in 2005, 9th's "Mr Dream Merchant Vol. 2" droppin' in 2005. What else do we got? We got Chaundon "No Excuses" dropping in 2005, and Joe Scudda "Open for Business" in 2005. Then we got Cesar Comanche working on his new album and I can't remember the name of that shit, but its coming together dope! We've got the R&B cat Darrien Brockington who's the truth, you can put that down. Darrien is gonna be the new nigga bro, no one is gonna be seeing this cat. This project is fucking bananas. If I get me some more money, I'm gonna put it out, fuck anybody else. They're shopping it around to a few different people and I'm sitting over here like "yo, should I just try and do it?" I think that shit will be big, and that's no lie. Them hoes are gonna go crazy when they hear that shit, oh my god! He got something for the niggas and the chicks, it's well rounded. It's a nice relationship album, break up, make up, have sex all that fly shit. We're fittin' to do some shit with the Bootcamp Clique. They came down to NC for like a weekend…

ThaFormula.Com - So that shit's going down for sure?

Big Dho - Yeah, that shit's going down. The 9th and Buck album is going down. You might even hear a 9th and Elzhi album, you never now. People come down here and albums get done. We work HARD. No one is fucking with our work ethic. Ask Murs, Murs came down here finished an album in a week. Jean Grae came down here finished an album in like 3 or 4 days. It's not a game man. Then we got the mixtapes with DJ Flash, we got Future Flavas On-Line, we're getting crazy numbers on that, almost 30,000 listeners every Saturday. Shit is crazy man, muthafuckas is opening up they wallets, shit is pretty good right now. We got cars and shit, we ain't all jumping in one whip now, we got cribs and shit. The independent niggas whose level I'm trying to reach now is the Rhyme Sayers niggas, and the Def Jux niggas. Once I get where they at then I'll move on pass that. Word the fuck up bro, it's gonna go down. I got talent for days, niggas around me is just talented!

[Leggy Hendrix]

saw this on the lawn, dope interview...im getting hyped about all the different JL projects they got lined up...