Dope Allhiphop interview with Kurupt and Tangled Thoughts

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Tangled Thoughts earned their right to rock mics the old fashioned way – rhyming on the avenue, which for them, was Philadelphia’s notorious South Street. The ciphers of South Philly paralleled the experience of the Philly-born Kurupt, who earned his keep battling Snoop Dogg on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles.

Kurupt and Tangled Thoughts had more in common than dues paid, and the two camps aligned for Philly 2 Cali, an album chronicling the Brotherly Love trio of De, Cas and Tek living in Hollywood and mixing the music of their locales. With Kurupt and brother Roscoe having attempted similar intentions before, will the results be pleasing, or are they too much about pleasing only the artists? As the quarter speaks, you can decide on what’s best.

AllHipHop.com: After the groundwork that you have all put into Philly Hip-Hop, what does Kurupt’s role in this project mean to you all?

De: Knowledge of the game, and having a veteran show us and guide us on what we need to be doing and what we don’t need to be doing in order to be successful in this rap game.

Kurupt: Yeah, n***a! [Laughs]

AllHipHop.com: Good Hands Records has a reputation for putting out more underground releases like Reef the Lost Cauze or Chief Kamachi. Do you think this release will be a challenge given the California and gangster aspect of it?

Cas: I really don’t think there’s a challenge, given the marketability and what they’ve got under their belt. It’s really not hard; it’s just getting the artists out. I just think [Tangled Thoughts] will help broaden what they’re working with. I feel like it might be a little easier even.

AllHipHop.com: As a Philly crew, do you anticipate fans that will be disappointed by the fact that this album goes so much towards the California sound and culture?

Tek: I don’t think so. The thing is, it’s not a Cali sound – it’s a Tangled Thoughts sound altogether. We always had a Philly to Cali sound before it was called Philly 2 Cali; we’re not doing anything differently than what we’ve already been doing. It just shows that we’re out here [California] now, but we’re from out there [Philadelphia] – it shows through the music. Our fans and the people that know Tangled Thoughts will know that we didn’t do anything less than what we’ve already been doing.

De: The name of the album is Philly 2 Cali. We’re representing – even down to Kurupt. His roots originate in Philadelphia. We got some Philly up and coming dudes and we’ve got some vets on there too, so I don’t think Philly is gonna be disappointed, they’re gonna be elated.

Tek: Plus we’ve got some of the biggest names in Philly on the album.

AllHipHop.com: Kurupt, you tried this a decade ago with Kuruption. That had an East Coast disc and a West Coast disc. That album is not remembered as one of your best. From what you learned in that experience, what could you offer the guys as they seem to try it again?

Kurupt: Dr. Dre told me that the only thing I did wrong with Kuruption was that I put out two discs. He said that if I would have taken the best from the West Coast disc and put it with the best from the East Coast disc I would have probably gotten a better response from it – even though the album went gold. Dr. Dre was right. That was the main thing right there – don’t over-pack the album with too much. Don’t try and please anybody, please yourself – that’s the key to this game here. I think that Tangled Thoughts are sayin’ a lot. They’ve got two people on the record who really don’t get along, showing a wide aspect of Philly – they’ve got Gillie [Da Kid] on there and Freeway. Those camps have been feuding for centuries. That’s a big deal. Instead of trying to please Philly, please the West Coast or please whoever, the boys went in there and made a good ass album that pleased themselves. I think that’s gonna be big too, ‘cause one thing about Philly, you can’t satisfy anybody in Philly. I had a ball makin’ this album. Tech has a Dr. Dre vibe, ‘cause you’ll hear the record today, and within a week, the record sounds totally different.

AllHipHop.com: How are Philly and Los Angeles alike?

Cas: The money grind for anywhere are always the same. You’ve got that aspect – the hustle. Cali’s got a laid back sense, and Philly’s got a hungry, don’t waste anytime, everybody’s busy sense. We’ve a song on the album called “Every Hood’s the Same” that really embodies that. Everywhere you go, it’s all really the same. It’s about where you see yourself, where you take yourself and gettin’ that top dollar. We just follow that.

AllHipHop.com: You said you can’t please anybody in Philly, or that it has haters. What have you done over the last 15 years to ensure that you’re well-received in the City of Brotherly Love?

Kurupt: Philly don’t have haters. Philly has just has their own world. [Sighs] If you ask any artist, Philly is the hardest to perform in front of. It ain’t about hate, it’s just about Philly havin’ its own style. The main thing is…we just keep pushin’, man. My [and Roscoe’s] roots come from Philly, man, it ain’t never gonna change. If the people don’t like it, the people don’t like it. We still shoot [CDs] out there anyway. We gonna keep pushing Philly and Cali together. Cali don’t have no problems with it, so s**t.

AllHipHop.com: Where was the album recorded?

De: Mostly it was recorded out West, but there was some records recorded in Philly. We did both.

AllHipHop.com: How would you describe the balance between lyrics and production on this album?

De: I don’t know. All I know, as far as music, that’s my vibe – I’m a big West Coast fan. As far as lyrics-wise, we just do what we do. We just…

Cas: --- do what we do.

AllHipHop.com: In the past, Good Hands worked with Eastern Conference Records and their distribution channels. Who is distributing this one?

Tek: Traffic [Entertainment] is distributing it?

AllHipHop.com: To settle the score, to keep it Philly… where is the best cheese steak?

Tek: At 7th and Federal, Crivetti’s – it’s under the radar, man. Don’t nobody know about that. Don’t believe the hype, it is not Geno’s and Pat’s.

Kurupt: I got to f**k with Fallone’s, man, it’s in the cut. That’s Southwest Philly, man. Me, I’ll just be at my mama’s house, posted up in Southwest Philly, and swoop over to Fellone’s. I get beer, I get pizza, I get chicken cheese steaks mayn, and go across the street to the 7-Eleven and get Newports, man. [Laughs]

AllHipHop.com: You love Philly, man. Is that why you wanted to get married at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in the city as opposed to Los Angeles or Las Vegas?

Kurupt: I got over 5,000 family members, man. Where else am I gonna get married at? I gotta give it up to my wife [Gail Gotti] though, ‘cause she really did a lot to make my dream come true with the situation. As you know, I’ve tried twice before to get to do this, and neither one was really successful. They were both good people, but we just had differences that couldn’t be twerked out. It’s very important for me to have my grandfather, my mama and all my family there. She really gave up a lot to have her family members come out here. Really, marriage is really about the uniting of two families, if you know what I mean. It’s about couples, but it’s about the meeting of two families. Family as one. I think it’s very important for her family to meet my family, and for her to meet my grandfather. He stays in Maryland, so when Gail comes to Philly with me, she never gets the opportunity. Philly has a certain type of class to itself anyway, so it’s the right place to be.