ARSEN & MISTA CANE  (May 2004) | Interview By: Nima

       Dubcnn.com briefly caught up with two of the Bay's biggest upcoming talents. We talked to them about their upcoming group album, their future projects, how they met, the Bay Area and much more. Please feel free to send any feedback regarding the interview to : nima@dubcnn.com



Huge thanks to Mista Cane and Arsen for taking time out to answer the questions (Interview was done by phone on May 14th 2004)

Questions Asked By : Nima

Mista Cane Gave Dubcnn.com A Shoutout! Check That Here

 

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*NOTE: This is merely an introduction to Mista Cane and Arsen, we will bring you indepth interviews with them in the coming month, so be on the lookout!*

Part 1: M I S T A C A N E :

dubcnn.com: How did you hook up with Arsen at first, and how did the idea of doing a duo album come to life?

Well the first time I met Arsen was when we did the photo shoot for my second solo album "Who Am I?", and Arsen was finishin his solo around the same time, and he was there and that's basically how we hit it off! We recorded a duo song called "Do It" which went on Arsen's solo, and then we hooked up and did the 4 mixtapes, we flooded the streets, and got the name out there. We were feelin' the chemistry so we decided to record a whole album, and it came out hot!

dubcnn.com: Davey D Produced the majority of the album, tell us abit about Davey's role.

Yeah Davey produced most of the album. What it was was that I had my Annihilation Entertainment, Arsen had ServnU 151, and Davey had Pervelous P Ent, so we put all that together and created The Alliance. We couldn't have done it without Davey D, he oversaw it, he's also going to have a major part of both our up and coming solo projects, he's the one who makes it happen.


dubcnn.com: You have The Game featured on there, how did you hook up with Game?

Well you know, I was feeling Game way before I even knew he was on Aftermath, I always thought he was raw and liked how he spit. So I talked to Sean T about it, and that's all more than 7 months ago! I didn't even know he was signed with Dre so I talked to Sean like "Hey what's up I wanna get at Game" and he was like "You know he's signed to Aftermath!" and I was like whoa! But you know, back then he wasn't really out there yet and it was easy to get at him, he didn't charge much, so he came through the lab and that's how he got down on Savage C's solo, on Jonny T's album, and on mine, I got like 3 or 4 cuts with him for future solo projects. Ane he got down on the Arsen & Mista Cane album. He still keeps in touch, he's real down to earth, but it was lucky for me to meet him at that time, and he was feeling us, it worked out great!


dubcnn.com: Ok, what about the distribution for the Arsen & Cane project, how's that looking?

Right now, we're working on a distribution deal, it's nearly done, its 99% sure that it's a go but I don't wanna say who yet because there's nothing signed as of yet. But yeah if all goes well it will be in stores nationwide, definitely throughout Cali, and of course we're gonna push it in the streets, independent style, and hopefully this album will oen up for the rest. And for the online and overseas people, you order it online via paypal, at Rasputins, at friscostreetshow.com. Snippets of the album will be available soon, and the Alliance website is gonna be done within a week!


dubcnn.com: I see Rodzilla & Adon have a beat featured on the project too! Tell us about them..

Man Rodzilla & Adon really really stepped up, they got some real heat! We always wanted to use them, and now they ready. We had two beats we used on this album, and they got one on Jay Tee/40 Ounce Records new compilation which was just released, so yeah all of those are real hot, two are on this album.


dubcnn.com: And how was it working with Jacka, Sean T, Black C and them cats?

Man Jacka we have more stuff with him for future albums, he came through, Sean T man I talk to Sean every day, he's helped us out so much! He got 2 beats on the album, both banging. Black C showed us loved, we networked with Young Dru, Killa Keise, Cellski, man it's all about networking! Also we have JT The Bigga Figga on there, he's on the last song called I Miss You, and it sounds like a freestyle track where we basically talk about the people that we miss. What we tried to do is, we have all those Bay Area cats on there, and when you look at the tracklist you'll think "Oh ok they networked alot", but we wanted to do something different with it. We got these cats to do something people don't expect them to, like the JT track, you'd expect JT to be on some Frisco, Fillmoe shit, well when you hear this you gone see, it's on some different shit. Also we got Black C spitting over a East Coast sounding beat, etc, really we wanted to bring something different to the table, show them that these artists can do different type of shit, people just don't never ask them to!

dubcnn.com: That sounds off the hook man! And last but not least, tell everybody about your cut on Dubcnn's West Coast Unified CD, where you have the title song!

Basically the story behind that song was that, we were trying to record one for you for a while, and one day we were in the studio with Sean T, that was the same day we recorded the cut for the Arsen & Cane project, and we did both those songs. Davey had that beat right there, but there just something missing to it, in the hook, and Sean was there so they collabed on that a bit, tweaked it, he wrote the verses right there on the spot, we layed the verses, it's a hot song, it came out real good! That's another one we would have used on the album but it's good that we got it on the compilation!

dubcnn.com: Thanks for your time Cane!

Oh man, it's nothing! Thanks for the support!


 

Part 2: A R S E N :

dubcnn.com: What up Arsen, let's go ahead and go right into the Arsen & Cane project. What's your personal opinion on it?

Man we took a whole different approach on this album man. We touch on so many different topics on the album, we go so many songs on there with subjects that's gonna blow people away. They're not even gonna understand it, it's crazy! We hooked up with alot of different Bay Area artists and networked on there, The Game came through, and it's just crazy it came out! Also the production is off the hook, Davey D really killed it production wise.

dubcnn.com: OK, well I really can't wait to hear it. You have your own company ServnU151 Music, tell us abit about that, what's your plan with that?

Man, me (ServnU151), Cane (Annihilation-Ent) and Davey D (Pervelous P Ent) are trying to establish a grounding for all of our labels, so we can go ahead and start it off big. And that's what The Alliance is all about! We're trying to open the door and help the youngsters like TTH, Rodzilla, Adon to come up. We're always open for anybody wanting to contact us to network.
As far as ServnU 151 goes, I'm trying to make that happen, but I'ma take it one step at a time, and then hit them. We got so many different projects dropping, Jonny T is dropping is solo, the TTH (Trench Town Hustlaz) got a group album coming out, Mista Cane and me are both working on our new solos, we got another Nocturnal Hustlaz album coming, Davey is thinking of doing another City On The Hush project, so there's really alot lined up, and the Arsen & Cane project is the first to come.


dubcnn.com: Sounds like you have alot ahead of you. Now what kind of commercial success are you expecting, or trying to achieve?

Right now we got alot of support overseas aswell as in Cali, and I just hooked up with a company in Japan and I'm gonna send some units out there, hopefully that will help to create a buzz in Japan too. I mean people have ears and eyes, and hopefully they're gonna pick up on us. Because this Arsen & Cane album man, production wise, the beats are banging, it's Bay mixed with Major production. We were really picky as far as the beats go, which samples are used, if there was something we didn't like we scratched the whole thing and start off again, Davey came with it! And you know my style and Cane's style is really like night and day, but it sounds great together, I think we got the sound and we gone push it. And with our strive and our hustle, it's gonna be hot!


dubcnn.com: What about the internet as a form of promotion?

The internet man, it's so universal. It's like a cellphone without talking, you just hit up everybody, send a link, send a email, hit up everybones website. Someone jump online you send them a link, it's so much easier to reach places like Europe or Australia too, cause there man, they really fiend for this type of music, and without the internet it's hard for them to get hold of it. For instance to order a CD they just go through PayPal, man I've sold so many units via PayPal it's ridicolous. They go to friscostreetshow, siccness.net, dubcnn.com, it's so easy! It's a huge network, i love it!


dubcnn.com: Yeah man. Now if everything was to go your way, where would you like to see yourself in let's say 5 to 10 years?

I just wanna see myself healthy man, continue doing my music, push my projects, work with Cane. To me man, I'd rather put out the best album possible than sell the most units possible. Cause I want people to be able to go back to the album in 10 years and put it on and vibe to it, I want them to remember it, like it's some classic shit. Cause classic shit is still classic 10 years later!


dubcnn.com: Is there anything else you would like to tell the people out there?

Yeah man! Just go for what you believe in, don't let nobody tell you any different, go for it! You only live once, go out and keep on doing what you do.

dubcnn.com: Right on Arsen, thanks for your time!

Fo sho cuzzin, it's appreciated!