high tolerance for liquor, smoking on a newport
May 13, 2008
rolling up a swisher.
two.
meet Danny Brown.
yup, from Detroit. Fucking with the likes of Nick Speed, Quelle and House Shoes.
but this track is over one of my favorite Dilla beats of all time.
*apparently, Danny will be controlling the mic tonight @ Northern Lights, so anyone from the greater Detroit area should invest their tuesday night on this.
15 tracks, 15 days.
May 12, 2008
McNast is the shit.
May 6, 2008
on this post, if no other one, i highly encourage discussion and comments.
which is why no tracks from the MCA album leak will be on this site.
i’m dissapointed.
it’s not about shit leaking and people having it, it’s about this leaking and being so widespread.
alot of people say ‘get over it,’
shit* really meant that much to me i guess. it’s something very disheartening to see the best artist of my generation(yes, singular) be treated this way when 2 years ago everyone was on this man’s nuts like no other and swearing up and down that their lives were changed. i guess i wasn’t too far off on my first few thoughts on this shit from back in the day.
* by shit i mean the proper release of Dilla’s last, unadulterated, original, unreleased record.
Guilty - II
May 5, 2008
Guilty: Guilty Simpson, Detroit MC. I’ve been rhyming seriously since ’95, so this is not an overnight thing. I worked with Dilla, RIP, my homie Mr. Porter who is also a heavy producer from Detroit, he’s in the group D12 known as Kon Artist. I brought you Ode To The Ghetto on March 25th, and people felt it. I’m a true MC, I represent that real shit.
Speaking of the album, how has the response been since that? I know you’ve been to Europe since then.
Guilty: It’s been great. People have responded well to it. I’ve gained fans and for the most part people are part of my fan base. That’s really all i could ask, at the same time I’m growing so hopefully this is the first of many great records coming from me.
One of the things that stuck out to me was how you opened the album with “American Dream.”
Guilty: I did that because this record is called Ode to the Ghetto and I wanted to plant the seed in your head, so to speak, of the situation people are presented with not necessarily just the end result of what’s going on. There’s reasoning behind it. I feel the way it’s been glorified, even back when we were younger, watching The Mack and Superfly, people like that, that fast life, that drug life, it planted in your head living that fast life. People then want to achieve what they see and what’s been glorified and then they’re crucified for it, in turn. I wanted you to hear the reasoning behind what you’re about to hear on Ode to the Ghetto, which is a lot of references to what goes on in the neighborhood of people selling drugs to make ends meet, but that has a lot to do with who I am because I know a lot of good people that happened to do it at the same time.
“Robbery,” can you talk about why you would include a track that many people, if they’re not up on their shit, might easily dismiss as just “another gangster rap song”?
Guilty: “Robbery” is just a thug song. Actually if you listen to it I say some ridiculous, crazy shit in the song. It’s also kind of humorous in a sense, if you listen open minded. I just go there because I’m from the streets, and I’m not necessarily saying that to be excused. Sometimes mentally when you jump off into these songs, you’re digging and digging into the concepts and really I’m just journeying off into the concept of a hungry man with nothing to lose and it happens everyday. That’s really what the song stems from and if people want to say that I’m a gangster rapper, I’m an honest rapper. It’s not like I make things up and tell people to do crazy shit. People rob everyday, that’s what that record is about and I kind of make fun of it. It is what it is.
And speaking of those kinds of realities, can you talk about “Pigs?”
Guilty: Yeah man. That’s basically the way it is, especially when you in a neighborhood that might fit the general description of what they might feel a gangster neighborhood is. It’s always been a love/hate relationship with them, with being pulled over for nothing, roughed up for nothing. I’ve had a lot of situations in general with police being excessive, with being totally unnecessary; sometimes it’s just for nothing. We might be driving in the car and they just shine the big ass light in our faces, just being totally disrespectful, like, I know I can’t pull you over but I’m watching you. We might be driving in the car and they’ll just flash the big ass light in our face, just totally disrespect us just on some, I know I can’t pull you over, but I’m watching you. It’s kind of like they feel like they don’t necessary have their finger on who’s up to no good so they deal in generalities. They treat us like shit, so in return, we give it back, that’s what “Pigs” stems from, the big line between the police and the people. There is a lot that is not being said and people are not being fairly treated.
Switching gears a little bit to a less weighty topic, can you speak on “Run” the joint with Sean P and Black Milk?
Guilty: “Run” was an introduction to Random Axe, the group that me, Sean P and Black Milk have. I actually have another track that I was going to have with Sean P rhyme on for the record. So I’m just trying to build my library. Sounded like the perfect thing, it sounded like the first thing I wanted people to hear coming from us. Initially, the contact Sean P and I made was me wanting him to be on the record anyways. After we decided who was gonna make the record, it just sounded like the perfect introductory track. Black Milk killed the hook, he’s dope and that’s one of my favorite joints on there.
Now onto one of the more fun songs on the record, “Yikes.” Can you tell us a little bit about that track?
Guilty: I had been doing so much content stuff on the record, and this was towards the end of the record, I did that track purposefully. I wanted to take care of a lot of the content then at the end I wanted to be able to let loose and be that open mic Guilty. I heard that beat, it was crazy, I let Madlib know that I wanted it. I basically did my thing on it. Me as an MC, it’s easy to be selfish or self-indulged, I almost want to do a whole album where I’m just kind of rapping that style. But I don’t know if that music sticks to your ribs like that and I don’t know if it would be able to progress into sales in general. So I want more content in general on this one, but it felt real good to do a track like “Yikes.” I just love to have that freedom to do whatever on that track.
The fun comes through on that. Now I wanted to talk a little about a few choice tracks that didn’t make the album, like for starters the joint “For The D” with Eric Lau.
Guilty: Yeah, he’s a dude overseas. He made contact with me and wanted me to go through some beats and figure out what I wanted to use because he wanted to collab. He sent the track and when I heard it I was like damn, this shit is ill. I did the song as a feature; I mean it’s his song. I sent the joint back to him, and the more and more I let people hear it I ended up asking if it was cool if I started rocking it at shows, because I had made it. He was cool because it didn’t do anything but promote the song. I started doing it at shows and people started really, really liking it. I really wanted to use it for my record but I ended up not using it, we had a whole new batch of things. At the same time, I think it’s a great song and to this day I make sure I do it in my set.
Now onto one of my personal favorites, the joint with Haircut, “Chief Pat Pockets.”
Guilty: Yeah, that’s that shit right there. I did that with my homie Haircut who recently became my label mate at Stones Throw. That’s a crazy ass beat, he’s from Lab Techs, some cats from Ann Arbor. They always have crazy beats. He reached out to me when I was in LA, he wanted me to come through the crib, I eventually went through, I was tired, I think I had left another studio session. I went through and laid that, came back home and he sent it back and I sounded tired on that. so he sent it again and I recorded it back here at the studio I work out of. That shit was dope, I just leaked that out on MySpace and motherfuckers were going crazy over it. Even with the track we talked about previously, “Yikes,” tracks were I’m just running wild, it just comes natural. Especially being groomed in the open mics around Detroit and stuff like that, sometimes you didn’t have time to get off raps with concepts; they just want to hear that raw shit from the beginning. That’s what “Chief Pat Pockets” is.
Now onto another cut I’m pretty sure you did in LA as well, the joint with Snowman and Rhettmatic, “Late Night Drive.”
Guilty: Oh yeah, that’s my mans Snowman. He reached out to me, I met him through House Shoes. He reached out to me and wanted to work, he let me know that when I came to Cali he wanted to work on this joint. I few out west, ended up hooking up with him, went to the lab, got blunted, came out with a dope song. He’s a real dope producer. Him and Shoes got a spot together and I’d go through and basically got to know him too, real cool dude who’s also from the crib too. It’s always good to meet cool people everywhere, on top of that he’s super talented.
That’s it as far as the tracks I wanted to talk about. Now, you’re promoting the record and everything, but what do you have planned for the near future for Guilty?
Guilty: Keep killing them with music. I got my crew of course the Almighty Dreadnaughtz I’m working with, got something with my cousin called Champion Bloodline, every time we collab it’s Champion Bloodline. He was on some tracks on Stray Bullets. I’m working with Goon Squad, the homie Trick Trick from the crib. I got something with Madlib, we’ll probably call that OJ Simpson, just me spazzing out over all Madlib produced records. I’m trying to get this work in with Pete Rock, I recorded a couple songs off that. Basically I’m just really staying busy and building my library, that’s really all it’s about. Get more, more raw, come up with new styles, new ways to rhyme on beats, just set trends with this rap shit, really that’s what I’m about. I don’t think motherfuckers do that no more, they just so cool, all up in their image that their not doing anything to add to these beats, they’re just doing something just to get by on them. I’m just trying to bring that back and stay creative.
Are there any new cats that you’re checking for now that people might not be up on?
Guilty: Homies from the crib, Marv Won, Fat Killaz, King Gordy, Fatt Father. I’m working with Trick Trick, that’s really on that gangster shit, that might be a little too harsh for some people, but I came up on that too. Skyzoo, Torae, Jay Electronica, I think all those dudes are ridiculous. My man Ta’Raach, I think Blu’s nice with it. My man’s Elzhi, he’s definitely bananas, Royce. Those are all dudes from the camp, we’re basically working outta the same studio right now, so that’s like a part of the team. There’s a lot of talent out there like Shawn Jackson, I like him. There’s cats out there doing their thing, but the main thing is I’m trying to stay strong and be the best MC that I can be. I can appreciate rappers when I hear them, but really, I’m self-indulged trying to be the best Guilty, but those are a few MC’s that if I see them or hear something with them on it, I’ll take time to listen to it.
Once again, thank you for taking the time out. You’ve always been helpful. Good lookin.
Guilty: No doubt, and one more thing…all y’all people that are preoccupied with hating on the crew. It doesn’t matter. At the end of the day we’re doing this music, we’re making strides; we’re doing whatever we want to do. We’re doing what you wish you could do. At the same time, it’s cool to say music ain’t for you or whatever, but I really think that if you go out of your way to do that, it stems from the jealousy because you wish you were doing your thing. At the same time, hate all you want but it’s not gonna stop Guilty Simpson and it’s not gonna stop what my fam is doing and it’s not stop the movement that’s going.
right.
Guilty: So eat a dick.
CashUsKing
April 30, 2008
Cashusking: Co$$ aka CashUsKing, representing my town, Leimert Park.
How did the name CashUsKing come about?
Cashusking: It started off in High School, I was actually Holocaust. I was what you call a Tech-C, an internet MC.
Oh yeah?
Cashusking: Yeah, I’d post rhymes on the internet and I was Holocaust, like I burn MC’s. Didn’t really have anything to do with Jews, I have all the respect in the world for Jewish people. I dropped the ‘Holo,’ but Co$$ really represents something, it represents change and constant evolution. It really doesn’t have anything to do with money, so the dollar signs [in the name], I don’t want people to get that impression. It’s really about change and evolving, everyday life is a little different. Blu actually gave me the CashUsKing alias, that’s like my heart. That’s my name, but they have a Cashis on Shady Records and I don’t like the confusion so that’s why I run with Co$$. Even my mom, everyone calls me Co$$.
When did you first interested in hip hop?
Cashusking: 8th grade. I always loved hip hop and I was always into writing poetry and had a natural knack for rhyming. I had a friend named Treyvon in 8th grade who had been rapping since like 5th grade and he suggested that we start a rap group. So we started out just freestyling, my first few rhymes I didn’t even write them I just freestyled them. We would freestyle in his garage into his tape recorder and that’s when I decided that I wanted to be a rapper.
What happened next?
Cashusking: I didn’t really have Internet access till 9th grade, till freshman year. I keep bringing up the Internet because that’s really what got me into hip hop heavily. In 9th grade I started getting on the internet and that’s when I got my holocaust alias. I started posting verses, with no concept of flow, delivery, and rhyme schemes. I didn’t know anything, it was more like lyrical poems, ghetto poems or something like that. I was calling myself a rapper at that point. It just kind of evolved from there; the audio battle section of message boards is what helped me form myself as an actual spitter. This progressed through high school and then I met Blu about a year out of High School actually at the weed store. Well, not the weed store, the weed spot, I met Blu’s rhyming partner at the time named Black, they had a crew called Black & Blu and they were the Bruise Brothers. He introduced me to Blu so that’s how our relationship began.
When did you realize this rap shit is what you wanted to dedicate yourself to?
Cashusking: Straight out of high school, coming out and realizing the whole college thing wasn’t working out for me, my grades weren’t where I wanted them to be. I always had a passion for hip hop and I just realized this was something I wanted to pursue. But when I really, really realized I wanted to do this is when I met Black and he introduced me to Blu and I saw how serious they were. I realized that with a crew like this it’s really possible, especially with the people I’m around. That’s when I realized, I don’t’ want to go to college I don’t wanna do none of that, I just want to MC. Everything you’re parents told you not to do, basically.
What kind of rapper where you at first? How would you describe yourself back then?
Cashusking: When I first met Blu I was more into the street, like 2pac, being the greatest, latest commercial rapper. But I also went to private school and had morals and ethics instilled in me and I wasn’t really feeling what I was saying on records, all the gangster shit. So now I’m in between street and conscious. I’m socially street, that’s what I say. There’s a maturity to it that wasn’t present in the past.
Do you ever question what you say or do you not ever censor yourself?
Cashusking: I remember watching the Resurrection documentary where 2pac said he used to write rhymes and would scratch out some stuff and be like, nah I can’t say that, but then he got to a point where you realize you just gotta go with it. If your pen drives something onto the paper, you can’t fight it, especially if it’s natural. I pretty much say what comes, but if I feel like I’m forcing it or if I’m trying to say something for the sake of saying it, then that’s when I take it out of a rhyme. I definitely don’t take something out because I feel it’s too controversial or too raw. This is my motto, if you’re a gangsta, if you’re a thug, then that’s what you should be rapping about. The balance should come from who you are, if that’s who you are and that’s how you live then that is your balance, selling dope and busting guns. But me, I come from the hood but I’m not a gangster. I just try to keep it balanced and give a whole representation of Co$$, I feel like some rappers, their aliases are like super-versions of them.
Yeah, yeah. Like an alter ego, Bruce Banner and the Hulk and all them.
Cashusking: Co$$ is me, Co$$ is Troy Johnston. Co$$ is not an animated or exaggerated version of myself. It is me, that’s what I try to do on the mic, give people myself 100%.
How would you describe yourself then? Because that’s how you would describe your music by your definition.
Cashusking: Definitely conflicted. Like if you think about a lot of MC’s it’ll be like, on this joint he’s talking about peace and another joint he’s talking about war. It’s not necessarily a contradiction as much it’s being conflicted. That’s a part of life. As much as I love my people at times I’m like ‘fuck these niggas.’ I’m a very volatile person but at the same time I love my people. I’m very socially concerned about what’s going on in my community, but …fuck these niggas at the same time. I’m a complex individual…laugh. I got love for the west coast; I got love for LA, love for the bay, love for California in general. Love for hip hop in general, everywhere; new York, the south, the Midwest. I’m a very reclusive person; I like to stick to myself. Besides shows and things that concern music I’m not in the public eye like that. I’m very to myself.
Tell us about your album, Church of the Tainted Saint.
Cashusking: It’s called Church of the Tainted Saint, my first solo debut. It’s actually a concept I have and I’m also gonna working on an album with Exile called Church of the Good Thief. So Tainted Saint, Good Thief, they’re all in the same vein. I feel like none of us are naturally evil. A lot of times environment and circumstances dictate who you become, so I feel like a lot of us are tainted. Just from growing up in the hood, what we experience, what we see, from being involved with gangs, to prostitutes to pimps to hustlers, those are the tainted saints. Those are the ones that are considered outcasts of society. Everybody, the whole word is tainted, nobody’s pure, and that’s the whole Tainted Saint concept.
Are any of the Myspace songs from that?
Cashusking: Yeah, yeah, I got a joint named Cheesin that’s actually gonna be on the Tainted release. That’s kinda like my street single, people will see me performing that at shows. I’m working heavily with a producer named Alphabet (aka World), who’s closely connected to Exile, he’s pretty much handling the body and he did that one. It’s a real rough, kinda spacey type of beat and I just kicked two raw, free verse sixteen. Just on some chill, you know, spittin…
Who made this beat? (One Day is playing in the background)
Cashusking: This is actually Blu. Right now I’m working on a ten song project, Co$$ sings the Blu’s. I know a lot of people value Blu for being an MC but this nigga’s getting kinda beastly with the beats. He’s getting a little beastly with the beats. Blu always said he wanted to produce and now that he’s saying he’s gonna make movies, you already know when Blu says he’s gonna do something.
He’s gonna make movies?
Cashusking: He says he wants to make a movie out of the project he’s working on now, I don’t wanna give out too much info. Yeah, that dude is just incredible not just musically, Blu is creatively inclined. But anyways, Co$$ sings the Blu’s, it’s a project I’m working on with Blu. The material that I get the best response from comes from Blu so that shows the chemistry that we have just from rhyming together for years.
Yeah, that World Gone Blind is crazy.
Cashusking: Yeah, yeah, I don’t get props on anything more than World Gone Blind, that’s like my treasure. I really appreciate that track from Blu. The feature version is gonna be a three part version with me and Blu and we’re working on getting Sumash. It’s gonna be a journey when it’s done, it’s gonna be a classic, but fucking with Blu anything is.
Yeah, Blu is doing his thing right now but even he says one of his main lyrical inspirations is you.
Cashusking: It’s mutual. I think it’s kinda like a synergy with the crew, Ta’raach, Blu and all of us. Pac Division, shouts to Pac. Sene, shouts to Sene. We all build off of each other, we all consider each other equals no matter who has the exposure first. Actually, we all kinda look up to Ta’Raach…laughs.
Well Ta’Raach is historically the veteran out of everyone.
Cashusking: Especially being in the presence of the greats. We don’t even have to mention who that is, J Dilla, rest in peace. i feel like my maturity lyrically has come from being around people like Blu and Jack Spade, people who really helped me grow and taught me a lot. I learned so much from Blu, not just in music but business in general, it keeps me grounded definitely.
Would you say there is a community between y’all?
Cashusking: Yeah, yeah. We’re developing our own…almost like genre. We’re not underground we don’t’ fall in with like the Murs and we definitely don’t’ fall in with the surface level music. No disrespect to anyone because I love what everyone’s doing on the west coast, but we’re our own little thing here. I call it like almost like an underground-commercial type of flavor, you know. We got that presentation and that whole vibe to the music where it’s almost like what you would expect from a major, especially production wise. It’s like we just make beats, we don’t worry about whether it’s gonna be, whether on MTV or the smallest, grimiest hip hop club. It’s definitely a community with Ta’Raach from Detroit, Pac Division from LA, Blu, Me, Tiron, a solo artists affiliated with Pac Division, Sumash. I’m forgetting people, it’s too many to name, there’s so many people in the entourage that deserve respect.
Yeah, but what you were saying underground commercial I think part of the appeal is that its fun music, its music you can have fun to.
Cashusking: Yeah, artists are too concerned with image. A big part of hip-hop started in the park, it started with people just having fun and gathering, it was a social event. Not just dope and coke and ho’s and guns, you know. That’s what the underground brings, cats that’s not necessarily grabbing for that image. It’s kind of like being in the in crowd and then doing you and sometimes doing you is a lot more fun that trying to fit in you know.
What are you listening to?
Cashusking: Jay Electronica. I’m a big Midwest head, of course Elzhi, Dilla, Slum, always gonna be bumpin that. I love everything but I kinda go through phases, right now I’m in my Muddy Waters phase. I keep telling Blu, I’m bumpin nothing but Muddy Waters, last month it was Me Against the World. Like I said I’m big into Jay Electronica, a newer artist who dropped that Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind that just blew my mind. I like a lot of the up and coming cats from New York, I like Stimuli, I like Saigon. I’m a big Radiohead addict, Coldplay of course. Blu puts me onto something every week.
Dope shit. Anything else you wanna say before we cut this?
Cashusking: Look out for that Tainted Saint, look out for Co$$ Sings the Blu’s, and definitely, in late ’08, look out for that Exile and Co$$, that’s been a long time coming. That was actually supposed to be my first solo debut. We’re really working hard on that one, Exile’s really gonna put his hands in and produce, kinda like a Dre type thing. I’m excited about that project.
now, I don’t normally do this…
April 27, 2008
…but if this Pharcyde reunion comes through as everyone’s hyping it to …
(though realistically, it probably won’t)
game over.
Labcabincalifornia is on CDR’s top 10 albums of all time
CRAC (blu)
April 27, 2008
Blu: What do you need me to say?
What’s up?
Blu: Nothing much, what’s going on with you Andres?
Nothing much
Blu: You out there in San Diego? How’s the weather there?
It’s aight, it’s sunny and it’s cool. How is LA?
Blu: Los Angeles is very beautiful at this time of year.
You and this guy named Ta’Raach have made music together right?
Blu: Definitely, me and Raach City always make music together.
How did you guys initially start making music?
Blu: First of all we knew a mutual friend named Aloe Blacc. He called me over for a song and he told me to come through to record this song with this producer named Ta’Raach. I said, I’m down. Came through did the song in one take, Ta’Raach said, no, you gotta do it again. Second take, boom, took it in the second take. He said, that’s marvelous, we should work together sometime. So a few months later we hooked up there. We hooked up for a week and actually, in one week we did the entire first version of the CRAC record there,
Oh really?
Blu: … then we were evicted and I went the Europe and I came back and we became great friends after which we began to be lunatics together, and that’s about all I can say.
What made you want to work with each other?
Blu: I guess Ta’Raach thought I was a pretty cool artist here. He was coming out to California working with many different artists at the time and I linked up with him thought ht song with Aloe Blacc. I admired his work a lot, hey was my favorite song at the time. I was like, wow, this is very awesome here. I used to express it to him all the time, make jokes about the lines in the song. Like when he said he took a part time throwing the moon across the night, that was very, very interesting there that he would think like that as a person. I wanted to know who he was therefore he said, come over for a week we should do a lock out. I said I’m defiantly down to do a lock out, I’ve never done that before. Did a lock out for seven days, and it was pretty crazy there.
So you guys made that first version, what’s the deal with the Piece Talks?
Blu: The piece talks, the one that’s coming out in April, is a more updated version of the same record. Like how Radiohead gave out the download version of the record then they put it back out a little different, newer songs and I believe better quality also. We’re doing the same thing it’s just a three year gap.
How would you describe the music you guys make as CRAC compared to the music you guys make individually?
Blu: Much more fun, much more focused on the energy than getting a particular message across. I would say we both focus more on our lyricism separately and when we’re together we focus more on the chemistry and having fun and creating great songs that amuse ourselves I would say.
Did Raach handle all the production on the record?
Blu: Ta’Raach did do all the production on the record, from A-Z.
Raach has some beats.
Blu: Oh yes, Raach has very, very good beats, you should hear what he is working on now. His solo should be a blast, it should destroy the whole industry.
Can you expand on what CRAC is? I know CRAC is an acronym
Blu: Yes, it stands for Collect Respect Anna Check, but it’s also a mind state and an attitude with which we approach this industry here. They try to give us that fat dick everywhere we go and we say fuck that. That’s basically how we approach the music. we do everything we want to do just like they try to do anything they want to do to us. Some people think we have a very crass approach about it and I guess that’s what it means. The acronym is what we really stand for, respect first and then a check also.
What would you want people to take from the CRAC LP?
Blu: I personally would like motherfuckers to have a lot more fun and loosen the fuck up with their music. they’re either too serious, shooting the fuck outta somebody, doing drugs, selling drugs or selling their bodies or something very lunatic on their records. Just get in the studio and have fun; it’s not that serious. Have a good time and make music, if you’re talented it’ll show, don’t’ stress yourself out, breaking your neck about it. Just do it.
Now is this CRAC thing planned to be just a one-time thing or ongoing?
Blu: We plan on working together forever in many different ways. Ta’Raach is going to be definitely executive producing another record of mine, my next solo album. We always create songs together and I believe at some point, I’m sure we’ll get together and do another CRAC record, we’ve always planned on it. Before, we plan on CRAC expanding with different members and giving them to have an outlet and to be the majority of the focus on the records.
So CRAC isn’t just the two of you?
Blu: Well, we’re expanding on it more now. We want to get it down pat before we say that.
Moving on a little bit, just to update people on your own situation right now. I’ve heard that you’re working on like, thirty-seven different projects right now…
Blu: Me here? Me?
Yeah
Blu: Oh no, definitely not. Not thirty-seven.
Well, maybe not thirty-seven exactly, but a pretty sizeable amount of projects.
Blu: Well we’ve got a handful for 2008. After that it’s a little more relaxed there. I’m working on a major record, a soundtrack, I’m producing two EP’s, I have the CRAC record coming out and the Johnson & Jonson record coming out. Hopefully all those will be out by fall.
So the Johnson and Johnson is the joint with you and Mainframe. That joint’s been getting a little notoriety due to its availability.
Blu: Laughs
Can you talk a little bit more about the other projects you were talking about, the EP’s…
Blu: I’m producing a EP for this fellow from Brooklyn named Sene. To me it’s like Tribe Called Quest again or something along those sort of lines. Feel-good fun music you know, Sene is from a different coast so he brings a different perspective. I’m just on the production end so I’m focusing on trying to make his lyrics stand out, something a little different than what the public is used to hearing and what he is used to rapping on. That is called a Day Late and a Dollar Short, we’ll have that EP out very soon. I should have some production on his solo record also. I’m also putting out a digital release of CashUsKing very soon, maybe in a month or so. That’s just to get things going on his behalf. He has a lot, a lot of very dope music he’s going to put out. He did some music with me about a year back so we want to just put that out, see what people think of it. I’m also doing a soundtrack with those artists featured and other artists like Mike Holden and other LA artists. I want to keep it California based. I also got some singers I’m working with as well.
Now you said you were working on a soundtrack. For what film?
Blu: It’s a film there called God is Good. That’s all I can really say about it right now.
Ok. Can I ask if you’re involved with the film as well?
Blu: Yes, I am. I’m the co-writer.
Oh, crazy.
Blu: Don’t tell anyone that.
Ok. Allright.
Blu: That’s a joke, I know whatever I tell you gets out.
Everything? Not everything.
Blu: I’m just playing.
Allright. Yo, when did you start producing?
Blu: In the middle of 2006 I would say. I started out on my own; I’m always learning little techniques from Exile. I was looping a lot with Johnson & Jonson, then I began to layer loops, some call that producing but I just think I’m a beat maker. I’m also producing projects but I’m not a producer per se, you know what I mean.
What inspired you to start? Did you always want to go into producing?
Blu: No, actually Exile always used to tell me I should produce. I used to say no, I would never produce, I remember clearly saying that to him more than one time. It was funny because when I started to work with John I got into ProTools and started to learn ProTools a lot, even recording myself for Below The Heavens I started learning ProTools a lot. With Johnson & Jonson we began to just loop up records to rap on them, mixtape style. I learned how to loop and sequence and everything, chopping and things of the sort. So I started being creative and just playing around with the chops just to freak something in the loop. I made a couple beats one night being bored, high and intoxicated and all those good things that make you want to be creative. I said fuck it, I’m just gonna make some beats, started rapping over a few and played them for a few friends, they liked them, I said do whatever the fuck you wanna do with them, I don’t mind, it’s just a little break a little beat there.
What’s your favorite beat so far?
Blu: My favorite beat that I’ve made so far? I don’t’ really have one there. I like my beats, how they feel, but I don’t think they’re the greatest beats or anything. I like the songs that are created from the beats moreso. They bring out a different style and attitude and approach in a person.
How do you find time for everything you do?
Blu: I do have my hand in a lot of things, that’s how I like to stay but everything doesn’t work out how you plan on it working out. You just have to do it. I try to focus on what I want to do in life moreso than anything, and I try to do those things, even if someone is there to back it or put it out or support it or buy it or listen to it or whatever. I don’t give a fuck. I did a rock album a few years ago that will probably never come out, called Bob Smiles, if somebody finds that, that’ll be pretty funny.
Laughs
Blu: It’s just different things. You gotta do what you wanna do, it’s your life.
Most definitely
