TANGLED THOUGHTS (Part 1) (December 2007) | Interview By: Eddie Gurrola

       Dubcnn recently connected with the Tangled Thoughts (Young De, Casanov, DJ ProMo, and Tekneek AKA Tek Nizzle) for an exclusive video interview. In the first part of this feature, we hear about how the group was formed, and their early recording days in Philidelphia. We also discuss the story behind their move to California, and their present alignment with mentors Kurupt and B-Real. If you've ever been curious to learn more about the Tangled Thoughts, this feature will allow you to get to know them and find out what they're all about.

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: eddie@dubcnn.com
 

Interview was done in December 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)
Press Play To Start Streaming Footage: Fast Connection Recommended

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Dubcnn: What’s up, we’re here with the Tangled Thoughts. Finally, the Dubcnn interview!

Casanov: Finally!

Tekneek aka Tek Nizzle: Dubcnn, what’s up?

Young De: You’re our number one supporters man. What’s crackin’, this is Young De!

Casanov: This is your boy Casanov.

Tekneek aka Tek Nizzle: This is your man Tekneek.

DJ ProMo: DJ ProMo!

Young De: Yeah man, we’re up in The Temple (B-Real’s studio) right now. Shouts out to B, shouts out to Kurupt – all the West Coast veterans that [have] supported us. [Let’s] start off by saying that. I know a lot of you readers out there be checking out our audio and are like, “Where the fuck did Tangled Thoughts come from?”

Casanov: Where did we come from? Out of nowhere?

Young De: To break it down man, it all started back in Philly. Tek can tell the story about meeting Kurupt the best…

Tekneek aka Tek Nizzle: Yeah you know, through family, I’m cool with [a member of] Gotti’s family. He called me up one day [and] said, “I’m bringing Roscoe through!” He brought Roscoe through [and] we vibed. A year later I got a call [saying,] “I’m with Kurupt and Roscoe. We’re coming through the studio!” So they came through our spot and we worked on some music together - worked on a bunch of records and just totally vibed. [Kurupt] said, “Yo man! You’ve got to get you and your squad, get out to California, and get out of Philly!” So it took us some time, but we eventually made the move. That’s what it’s all about.

Casanov: We came out here, and in Philly the grind had always been crazy, so we just brought that grind [to California.] [We also] met up with the right people: Gotti took us under his wing, B-Real took De, and everything just meshed together. It all just happened for us. Really, with the grind comes the payoff!

Young De: Exactly! We’ve got to shout out Roscoe real quick on that one…

Tekneek aka Tek Nizzle: Shout out Young ‘Scoe!

Young De: What’s so funny is when you think about Kurupt going in the studios and shit in Cali, you’re gonna be like, “[this is] nice shit!” Every studio we’ve ever been in out here is plush! When he came to our studio, it was in the back of a fiberglass company. [We were] inhaling fumes!

Tekneek aka Tek Nizzle: That’s what it was supposed to be. That’s where we got a lot of bangin’ material we worked on.

Young De: What was funny was as soon as we stepped off the plane, Roscoe was [like,] “Hey, we’re going over to Roscoe’s Chicken & Waffles to get something to eat. You’re in Cali now!” Then [it was] straight to the big boys. We were working in those studios since then. The transition [was] that these guys brought us literally – it wasn’t a basement at the time, it was a back of a fiberglass building, but you can say - “from the basement to the big boys!”

Tekneek aka Tek Nizzle: After the fiberglass studio I believe we went back in the basement…

Casanov: We went from there to the basement!

Young De: We called that Shawshank, because you was down there [and] there was no light! In Philly, houses are different. The basement looked like clay walls!

Tekneek aka Tek Nizzle: Y’all may not know Tangled Thoughts, but if you know anything about us, [and] you know “Jumpoff”… “Jumpoff” was recorded in Shawshank, in the basement Philly style!


Dubcnn: The sound quality was still good, so it worked out!

Casanov: That’s all that matters!

Young De: That’s shouts out to Tek man, because Tek is doing [technical] things [besides just] the production end. His ears…it wasn’t even Pro Tools!

Casanov: Yeah, we had “No Tools!”

Young De: For real, it was a Roland 1680, an ASR, and a Triton.

Casanov: He was cutting and pasting until his fingers were sore!

Tekneek aka Tek Nizzle: We made it work!

Young De: If you look at our layout, and just being able to work with these kind of people that we fuck with - that fuck with us - it’s all off the strength! We’re from 7th and Wharton, South Philly. Me, Cas, and ProMo were high school [friends.] That’s way back!


Dubcnn: Tell us a little bit about that. You three guys were originally together…

Casanov: I’m originally from Philly. Me and moms moved out to Washington to see what [was] out there on some better life shit. I went to high school out there and met De. If you wanted to talk about hip-hop in high school, it was me and De. Who was really into hip-hop [was] ProMo! He’s the one that really, at the end of the day, brought it back to me and De getting on our music grind shit. So we were really pushing that hard. One summer I went back to Philly and met up with Tek.

Tekneek aka Tek Nizzle: Shout out to Epic!

Casanov: Our boy Epic put us in the cipher and was like, “You guys need to meet each other.” Tek rapped just as good as he made beats. Me and De was always into the rhyme-spin shit [and] never had the beats. ProMo was always just spinning instrumentals and killing it. Tek was just like the missing link. He was the producer and he could spit, so it was just the missing piece. It all made sense, so me and De hopped on the Greyhound, went to Philly, and was like, “Yo, let’s do this shit hard!” Mind you, we was in the Art Institute, living good! We was living good, we could have been OK! But that music shit was really calling us. We was getting kicked out of apartments because the music was too loud. That was really our shit, so it made sense at the end of the day.

Tekneek aka Tek Nizzle: They hit the broomstick on us again the other night!

Casanov: That’s how it is. This is our life. We were, and are, born to do this shit, and that’s what we do.

 

Stay tuned for Part 2 of this exclusive feature