MITCHY SLICK (PART 2) (July 2007) | Interview By: Eddie Gurrola

       Dubcnn is back at you with the highly anticipated second part of our in-depth interview with Mitchy Slick. We cover plenty of topics in second half of this feature. Mitchy gives us his perspective on why the West Coast doesn’t get as much of a national spotlight as the East or the South. He also gives us some new details on his upcoming solo album “48 Hours On Gang Street,” and tells us about latest happenings with his Wrongkind Records crew. In addition to this, we discuss his collaborations with veteran artists such as WC and C-Bo, and find out who he might like to work with in the future. Read on to learn a lot about the hip-hop game in this informative interview.
 

As always we have both the transcript and the video for you to check and please feel free to send any feedback regarding the interview to: eddiegurolla@dubcnn.com
 

Read & Watch Part 1 of this Exclusive Interview with Mitch Slick

 

Interview was done in May 2007.

Questions Asked By : Eddie Gurrola

Full Interview In Video For Download : Here (Video: WMV)

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Watch The Video Interview (via the Dubcnn Brightcove Channel)
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Dubcnn: You collaborated with WC on your last CD. Are we going to see any more collaborations with him in the future?

That’s my big bro right there! I’ve got love for WC. WC just came and fucked with me. He’s a real nigga, [and] he just respected what I was doin’. Me and his brother Crazy Toones is real cool, and both of them dudes is like my brothers, you know what I’m sayin’?

It was just strictly on some music – they didn’t care what color I was from, or what side I was from. They just knew I was a real cat, and they liked my music, [so they] fucked with me. Crazy Toones produced a couple tracks for me that a lot of cats know on the underground. Crazy Toones produced “Ho Cake” for me. It was a hit in the town. From there, we just kept it goin’.


Dubcnn: Any more collaborations with Bay Area guys? I know you know a lot of them, you’ve got C-Bo on your last album…

Bo, that’s one of my favorite dudes too. That’s who I kind of patterned my career after, on some underground shit. Bo always seems to make ends meet, [but] he makes hard music and keeps it gangsta at the same time. [He’s] been on the radio, and on TV, [and he’s] still crackin’.


Dubcnn: Since you’ve got the group with Strong Arm Steady, and a solo career, do you ever find it difficult to balance the two situations?

Yeah, it’s tough sometimes. But, I’ve just got to let the homies in the group know that the only reason why I got a little bit of fame to add on to what we got crackin’ is because of the shit I did as a solo artist, and they always respect that. They don’t have no problems with it. They be supporting my shit.

We went on tour to New York before my album came out. Shit, you would have though it was a whole group album the way they was promoting the shit. Krondon and Phil are like bros.


Dubcnn: Any chance of you guys releasing unreleased tracks online?

We’ve been doing it! We’re about to release a song called “Klack Yo Ass.” It’s finna come out right now, it’s the street single. It’ll be out in 2 weeks.


Dubcnn: What’s you opinion of hyphy music? Would you ever want to be on that? I know it’s not really your style…

Hyphy? It’s a different style. Some of the beats are knockin’! You know, that’s not the kind of music that I primarily make, but I ain’t got no problem with the hyphy shit! I ain’t one of them cats to be all hella opinionated about other people’s business. I like the energy it brings out of the fan base. But I don’t make that kind of music.


Dubcnn: So, let’s move on to your new solo album. What’s it called again?

“48 Hours On Gang Street.”


Dubcnn: Where are you aiming to take this album? I know you said before that “Triggeration Station”, “Urban Survival Syndrome”, and this would be like a trilogy.

*Nods head* [It’s the] same shit, just a little bit more mature. “Triggeration Station” was just young [and] active. I’ve got a whole new perspective now, because shit changes in the hood man. They say it don’t change, but it change. It changes for the individual, depending on what state in his life that he’s at. If you’re 15, you ain’t doing the same shit that you’re doing when you’re 20, or even when you’re 30. Now I’m at another level, to where my brain is seeing some other shit right now. [It’s] about some motherfuckin’ money!


Dubcnn: How deep are you into the recording of the album?

I’m like 20 songs deep. Killin’ em! Killin’ em! I’ve got songs from the homie J Hen. The homie Dow Jones be throwing me beats too.


Dubcnn: Is it coming out on Angeles Records?

This right here is gonna come out on my label.


Dubcnn: Wrongkind Records?

Yeah, [and] distributed through Siccness. That’s how I was doing it before. It’s a hood record. It’s quality shit, though.


Dubcnn: Why do you think it’s so hard for artists to break out in San Diego?

It ain’t just San Diego homie, it’s the whole West Coast. [It’s] because of a whole bunch of reasons. The main reason is, the music has always been competitive, but nowadays, there’s so many other things that make the record sell, such as TV, the magazines, [and] even the record companies. None of that shit is on the West Coast, homie! MTV, BET – that shit’s out that way *points away.*

I went out there [to New York,] and it tripped me out to see how it easy it was for them to access that level of shit. We ain’t got no access to that type of shit out here. If you’re in New York, and you get a song that’s crackin’ in the club, [then] there’s somebody in the club hearing that song that works at one of the major companies.

We don’t get to display our shit like that, because [there] ain’t that much of a hip-hop driven business mind state out here. Motherfuckers don’t think business when they think hip-hop. When they think hip-hop out here, it’s just rap. They don’t think [of] how much money could be made by being the number one rapper’s manager, or [working with] the clothing lines. None of that shit’s on the West Coast, man.

So, we’re sitting up here depending on strictly music, [and] ain’t nobody out here crackin’, man. Dr. Dre, he put his hands on Game, [and then The Game] sold more records than everybody. It just takes those other things, not just the music. It takes that helping hand, or even the black college network. Don’t nothin’ get shipped around better than on word of mouth. We don’t even got black colleges here on the West Coast. That’s a whole other avenue to market through, that out here on the West Coast we’re missing out on.

Even with the black record labels – we ain’t got no black independent labels! The only way a West Coast cat can get on out here is if somebody big that’s already crackin’ puts him on, and that don’t happen often, if at all, [maybe] every ten years or so. Or, [he can get on] if his BDS’s or his Soundscans reflect that he’s worth investing money into. How do you get BDS’s or Soundscans if you don’t have a major budget? So, basically, we’ve got to do all that to get discovered, whereas a cat that’s from Atlanta, or Texas, or Florida, or somewhere where they have these black labels, that can notice a star in the rough, [will sign you.]


Dubcnn: Yeah, like Rap-A-Lot in Texas…

Exactly. You ain’t got to have no Soundscans to get signed to Rap-A-Lot. All you’ve got to do is come in there, be hot, have your street cred right, and if you’re making good music, you can get on! Shit doesn’t happen [around here] this way. What label are you going to get on? What, are you gonna rap tight and go up to fuckin’ Interscope, and they go up and just sign you? Yeah fuckin’ right!

[There’s] obstacles in the way until we get a major company out here, or somebody out here to really open up a label and let some cats come out. You know [how] Lil Jon [did it with] Lil Webbie, [and] Crime Mob. This dude put on more motherfuckers in one or two years than the whole West Coast put on in damn near the history of the game. Who else [did he put on]? Trillville…


Dubcnn: Lil Scrappy, The Ying Yang Twins…

Yeah, and that’s that shit. That’s what we need out here on the West, but we don’t really do that [enough.] We’ve got a lot of this gang shit going on out here, and I don’t give a fuck about what nobody say, they can say what they want to say: motherfuckers is gangbangin’ damn near just as much now as they was in the 80’s. [At least] where I live they are, [and] that’s for goddamn sure. All that shit gets in the way. That cuts your fan base directly in half right there, just with that alone. If you’re a blood, and you ain’t on TV, and if you’re just trying to earn props from these [local] buyers and listeners, little crip motherfuckers ain’t gonna listen to your shit. They’re not.

Now [for] The Game, after a while, that star [character develops.] It’s fucked up how the hood do you. Once you become a star, motherfuckers don’t look at you like you’re even a real person no more, or like you’re an actual, real, gangbanger. They look at you like you’re a star – you’re on TV and shit! I mean, I even get that bullshit now. It’s fucked up, but [there’s] a lot of that bullshit going on out here. So, therefore, your fan base is going to get cut right in half.


Dubcnn: So, you’ve got your own label, Wrongkind Records. Where are you trying to go with that? Do you have any other artists signed besides distributing your own music?

I’ve got five artists, but they just keep going to jail, homie. All the homies keep going to jail. I’ve got a homie, I an’t gonna say his name, but my number one nigga, my little bro, [that] I love to fuck out of, he was just on “America’s Most Wanted” a couple months ago. Yeah man, but there’s so many homies in the hood everyday. I’ve got my nigga Lil Fat Bat, Young Reef, Tiny Doo, Little Mitch. I’ve got a whole squad, homie! I had the homie Greeny Green and Ric Nutt, they’re in jail right now, but we’ve got a mean little squad. I’m trying to keep it alive, man, but it ain’t gonna stop. That ain’t the problem. There’s hot acts all over the place. All I need is a vehicle to get the shit [out there.] All the Master P and Cash Money “blow up from nothing” days, that shit’s over. They done locked all these labels together, and it’s damn near impossible to get in.


Dubcnn: How do you feel about other artists that might have picked up on your style, and maybe taken your swagger a little bit…

I ain’t really heard no cats rappin’ like me, to tell you the truth. When I started out, homie, I didn’t have a particular style. Therefore, it’s kind of hard to imitate me, [because] I don’t just stay one way. I never even got enough into the raps to learn a style. I still learn this shit as I’m recording every day. Motherfuckers might use some of my words, and say some of my shit, but that just means I’m doin’ somethin’ right.


Dubcnn: Are you going to be releasing new music videos…

I’ve got two new videos right now. I’ve got a video to “Ain’t My Fault” featuring Tiny Doo, and then I’ve got a video to “Bass Chasers” that’ll be out in just a second. [That track is] produced by DJ Khalil - [it’s] sick shit homie. It’ll be out in like a week.


Dubcnn: Are you gonna be putting it up on Youtube or something like that?

Yeah, everywhere! I’ve got a little budget going towards trying to get the [videos] on MTV, BET, and shit.


Dubcnn: Nice! Sometimes on MTV and BET they refuse to play certain videos because they say it depicts gang life. What’s your take on that? Sometimes it’s really not even that apparent to the average watcher…

I understand it, and I don’t even judge on that level of the game. I just get in where I fit in.


Dubcnn: Have you ever thought about collaborating with someone like Lil Rob, since you’re both from San Diego?

Lil Rob [is] tight. I be liking his shit. Hell yeah man, I respect all the Daygo shit that’s crackin’. If you’ve got a motherfuckin’ market and you can sell some motherfuckin’ records, [then] that’s a hustler. Somebody that actually pays bills doing this shit? A lot of motherfuckers can’t pay their bills doing this rap shit. Damn near everybody in San Diego [can’t, and] he’s one of the few that’s selling his records to where he’s able to support some shit that’s good.

I don’t wish anything bad on anybody that’s from here and is a real motherfucker. I mean, I ain’t been around Lil Rob to know all that, but I just know [that] he’s been pushing out music for a long time. If he didn’t have something in line, he wouldn’t be in the game still. Motherfuckers know about him down in Texas and shit. The eses out there love him. He’s from Daygo, so I’m like, fuck it, that’s Daygo! You know what I mean?


Dubcnn: Who would you want to work with that you haven’t collaborated with yet?

I want to work with Dr. Dre and Snoop. There’s other cats that I like, [but] that doesn’t necessarily mean I think we should make songs together. But I want to work on that level. Like R. Kelly. I like Kells, he fucks with my homeboy Janky. I’d like to fuck with cats I know. Like, me and Snoop [have] got a little history – a small history, but I’ve been around Snoop a few times. He fucks with my dude DJ Jam. I ain’t saying just anybody. I think Snoop makes hot shit. And Dre? Come on. Who don’t want to fuck with Dre?

Read & Watch Part 1 of this Exclusive Interview with Mitch Slick