NHWL[F - Ozone Magazine
Transcription
NHWL[F - Ozone Magazine
I}IE SOI'TTIERN VOICE OF HIP-HOP rNU$( lttE OZONEilIAG.Com TIIESrcNDANNI..IAL. TnsilSwEDmoN I rerc rT! feduring FrandrizeBr.vz C,randaddv Souf KadallackBorrz * DaBackWudz YungWun ',', .,,, t!i"::"":.:RifkRm i,:',,,,,, : Pa€IAIall :"i:'!' "'& ff**if,,,,,,. T*mG,,, &msrd, gry er4 nnr]vtaeic XamitXze ,% = +' {ft # "d s€ r.1 SteL srs :*# ,;w q *! '::: t: F_ i€ ; ** ::# :3' ffi B.G.K NHWL[F . ffiW tg* U tudho&p$ l0 16Brxsp$ PUBLISHERS: Jutia Beverty (JB) Chino EDITAR.IN.CHIEF: IB'sttsrlspg Jutia Beverty (JB) TTUSIC EDITOR: ADG CONTRIBUTORS: Bobby Novoa, Bogan, Brian O'Hare, Chris lmani, Cynthia Coutard, Dain Burroughs, Darnetta Dunham, Dave Goodson, Felisha Foxx, Fetita Knight, Hasan Brown, lisha Hitlmon, Jaro Vacek, Jarvis ll 0Z0HE Phe gdkim p$Al 3-l t, 2$fg fu Ytxg tlhntlDrruid Blnrw pg &r $eft 4{ trRedmspg6l{3 furcrslory: Tentnoru Cormier, Jeska Manrique, Jesse Jazz, Jessica Kostow, J Lash, Katerina Perez, Keith Kennedy, K.G. Mostey, Matik "Copafeet" Abdut, Maurice G. Gartand, Nada Taha, Natalia Gomez, Noe[ Malcolm, Rayfietd Warren, Rohit Loomba, Spiff, Swift, Wally Sparks pgrS&st :rii;::i:l: iiai;iari:.ul SAIES CONSUIIANT: Che' Johnson (Gotta Boogie Mgmt) ;{!ai;r ;!:i;,r.i:;.::j! LEGAL AFFAIRS: Kyte P. King, P.A. (King Law Firm) :'-: -:".:_: :' i.............{i!.:ilj:.l:t ACCOUNTING: *ait.t:;:1,; Nikki Kancey €hfs"I S:ra:ni:, CIRCULr'.TION: Mercedes (Strictly Streets) Buggah D. Govanah (On Point) Big Teach (Big I'Aouth) Efren Mauricio (Direct Promo) n,Mb N&ffii SIREET REPS I DISTRIBUTORS: B-Lord, Bitt Rickett, Btack, Butt, Chitt, Chitty C, Controtter, Dap, p$ 60 PAGE Dereck Washington, Derek Jurand, Dwayne Barnum, Dr. Doom, Ed the Wortd Famous, Episode, H-Vidat, Hottywood, Janky, Jason Brown, Judah, Kamikaze, Ktarc Shepard, Kydd Joe, Lex, Lump, Marco Matt, Matt Sonzala, Music & More, N'Ron, Nick@Nite, Pat Pat, P Boy Stone, PhattLipp, Pimp G, Quest, Red Dawn, Rob-Lo, Sharon, Statik, TJ's DJ's To subscribe, send a check or money order for 51 1 (1 year) to: Nlain office: 51 5 E. Cotoniat Dr. Suite 205 1 Ortando, FL 32803 Phone: 407 -447 -6063 Fax:. 407 -447-6064 Web: www.ozonemag.com liiami office: 555 NE 15th St. Suite 7731 Miami, FL 33132 Cover credits: Temmora and DirtBag photos by Julia Beverly; special thanks to J Lash. OZONE Magazine is pubtished eleven times annuatty by OZONE Magazine, lnc. 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Sonebdy like Co-urlney Dupri, WE rl'lagazine oclober frM) ' Jaimaine 711" OJ on itu ail ii"tog", *o : "r,r;;;t;;.-Coi.n"y @'€ @6 $ag5 l:){rsl i*l.ireii:j. Iit ffi%?** trA$ff:lrti{ {l$us$€ i::l lr :i:*'i/'fl r-r gr-r.,is i:i;-i:;i:'r :; Jlrrrr,'ii;i : i.ri-t. li=. i irr|ll'.r y*L:':+ :a:,ii'il,1r;: :rii: h** ati,:1 i-1ii't'j ;i'!iih rrtqarii';* h|ri :t ,.j.j+:.ii'.i llr, irii:{! i:: :sfr rr,.ii {.-!'rr}a f.i*i-fi ritquiitr *::ii'J,:::l+i-:ilii ;it[i:l:. i',,.,ir irl: l. 1 li,dliry,+i: L;,:#p,r' i Pdis't5[fl I *;'i::i rhi;. -',itllri}{ip Tl=E:j-:ii *L",i,i:i !:l= l;r:*::;lyil'Tlil ru:rt lfri1. +::i Fiip iiir.:c,xi*= ;ind 5$ {.iar ::*ulij: Lir;:i;: rijrky. ;iti]i'r tr-isl Ir*-:;=yr. thr'":;*y "r+]i. #h3," ;:re t.hjr::e riqqi*:; ir:pp:ii:' *L:,:i;i r.;hl't i"fl* Hirg.il i.i:ij: !,.:li.l'iiri' jrt nitil;l it*s ih*: iiHl:i ir-: f*'::! *+'-r:.ir= rhjl- olnrl l;:r'i *i":i: '.:l;",i+*;* hi*= :l': r:ali** '",:*r':i;ir;*rr,:." hifqg+: .r.?N,\i r'{i i::'* l*r: b{tsl i:+ iil*y su'ri i:i:+i., lh+ i-:{i'lt, i:';*:1,1;;ilv'r Ur}i th+if' +l\'i'r il,pi*:l+ flJr triiir{,r::r th* ,{i*1 i:{ ii:g !*:.:'rL. 1-::ic,r 54,.; F:: l-n i{in!j, :r*r'i!*:.iy i::*:rinr':+".. liifiiiit iirn:i':il\. aii'r* :1:i:fiJ lr# vffit{g*FHtF l+*F i-.lr:vi--l*i;:? 1]i=*;r;. i ,:=::'l i:*. r-ls,i: A':d iiria:l'*r i!,::.;r: yfll": i..*l:]1= *t? vflt"rj" f{jv*r, *flr:1-.cl i i;i11i4:.'1;;'1s liifl .{{*:r-r= l!: i,*rilt i;;- a li:niq i:r::+ pr;i::iil'in 'n'i:r-: ryr:r*. ir;:=if ,i',t*ii, ; jLtr! l+.tii ',rCtf i lake Norfrt, tust tttest and fuouffi; Pl /* rften /agelrter, t*Ft(s. tt/e ius/ t rW t' r;i;; y;i; !;;jiffi,tift!fiffi, > Dave Chappelle cei**r;ty-.i:={i.*-lei" i*i:-:g :*tir* i}*i, i i:it r:;: t+n*:-!*. *ijr, i jusi r*:i.i iir* qr*fisfl$Fl *i ir,*** 8!-:,- Prcves that he's the shit once again .ftftq iiake them stopl bflng i::e*i"vi*rve* *'i? p*ii** iN!+ *19::1 *:::i:*::*r**l'; rape* thi: gjr[. fifid 1'!.'{i'{*lte *E}': i}e:*fi. i* r::e** i:i:;:5*:.f .:*rii:.i r**l Silili'ii. ! :-i-:irrk if lhis trsilF{:ript r'.;:ei i:s*:: ,*' {.en:*ci l* ti:s uuhlie pri*r !fl ii:* *a:* b*i*3, di:n-:is:*d, :i iriighi h*v* *ia::qerj lhe pii*::i"'5 il*]"{spli+!l of the wh*le ii:rid*r:r.. i-i;ieir. i';l *i',t sa'!rir'l{j {.ahe is gli|ty" ! rn;a-cn'N tii*re, ** *l+ *m I l* ;udg*i;t"ii l'rc r;.1+1;:g i: th;:: l':-* *#ti;*€ r*&{i',,'tir*ei li s'r€.ifb+i:ii *#ffig *Js e{F*? t* {hiee6o treaiing ps.Jr f{ 14f;[L]t a;r'l ilcb* lirya*i i:i.:* ii*,!"r*:-* "iiittnlt. \il* 5 =*, e+d ?*mcfi mii tfuee *iitrh*er* F.{#s**, ;* F,#* €:=erde =:*=8"4,*Fd frEiftr*i ,r::r.-+rraf.e{l il. a+ii ail r4.".!,kJ*+: lt l{elly *:* *1+c*;:,r} rhF :Jfl =+.fi}i.,_\ p**p!= :iil1 i*FF+ri *ir::. *,:l in th*r K+;:* ;:4,E.*" i1+ **e re;ri["9 kt*.:;.. 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Tlu-:i': * c::-gci:-i:i";:i !r=:irr?i!.1ii:ltl i:i: fr*+.e" ***;:i;:* ;: ir;t *f tk:i: e*rJ f;:;rr*r-:l g;.ryl &fr*r ij${?ij i* t{"rtr-iil4 rri}aigy{'r lhey r113s;1 *i:ii iii*},'fc :;ir;rjghi-i.;ij *5$h{}iffi:1. Ssnlfflii-i}iirs, t!r*:* ;lr* ti:*: 1:1*:l *4ur*l:ti,rl," .:i:*5 fiql{:alilf th*'ir fe*l lii(ftr th{ltr. {1"*:*iy€ r,,;h*t*vi:"r :i}+ij''.+*ti, !i*i::r* rjicn {L;rk a qirl hujilri r}{,rf. r*?,i. ii*sfii{: h;:vi:rg ;L rsTt+ ;rilil kiei +l iu:ni*, *n h*'l rllilvii:u:i.'; itfil. t** iilr.lih +l + ,-,*irii.. f,iilt nn lh!:i it*:-*" rlii r.;*:-:ri: *:r{}"'r* i:**+ ;-:t.;hllri;* h*mjiiar** irj*:;- *{.: iii*li:nl 1"y !:h*:iI i:,::l*undr fr.r*!t"ifig:t:=5'i:llrhe:r nlr"*';",,s :h*+ r*+ r+i*.i: i=*i* *i ilt{} prsss afii}'f*iciias$l *f t,::+l,rr:, il'l Li:riili::iiq::*i*ii i:*1nE +.'ith:l f;rilt**t; fir.t'f i.:ril*nuttl y*t.i't* jil lel',ie iuiil: +5s* *t LicF€i i-*ee6 ilr .,!"q{"k5*rt hnnl Fry**i, at n ilt.t:l;i ?-iili;*r".1 pe:'iu::r"r l.iut" tff:*dtf y** !;iill h;;'r* t-+ iJ*;li rv:i:h h1-t;:r.:hlir. iJ';,tf11r o1'1ll!f!{.r ?;:-ia::i::!t i.{'.iq: {i{i1t"*c*it*" {-iiil!^tL1ii{.d;l*3ping h:+: #{:ru-ci lii* f*i* l: :1+ i:ltl:'l" i:{rlt'*r*nr*;rnrl **",tirig "f*i:i". r,,i:c;li'- J .?r.ri,l:il; \,';lne:;sa F*i r.lfS,exlh j1. f"*r lh* ri*g'ihr*l a:*:: :-'::*fil* if;i, *i|. *;,lrirn, is ih{}f{,r.rr'd ilir::* le i:i::r.ji{:i $ay l}1el r.::ii.r1f t,tal.j = r;;: i*r l:ir:i::*q ;",::-:r priikr pu{::ilc{y e*C V**r"h*;+ri p:-1v-;::t*tyl Ah. **:: 1*; r*e,.;l+;:. 1f r rlo.:, lr rer ifiV l'{:i:,X ii} 1.?}y i']i{"}*il:" t':f i*','r': *liit la {1}rnl}iitflt*d. i:ltsit!*ri, I r::iii:i L* > Flsrida hurricanes > The Fugees reuniting We're really happy to hear about this. But is it really necessary to include Pras? > Gungsfc Gritlz T.l. is kilting til' Flip on the beeftip so far, arcording to the streets, > Young Jeery > SwishaFlouse i$chael Watts, Mike Jones, PauMal[ & co. signed a "S15 mil" deal w/ Warner Bros" > Boo Rossini > 50 Cent & Game vs. Nas How mucfl longer before G-Unit runs out of rappers to diss? > ldase vs. Diplomats All,Access OYD > i{TV VlvlAs > Boooooooring......,,.except for P Diddy's fashion statements (molrawk, gold teeth) > Eminem's new video Showing fans a sHe&fi!_Hss BR*ffi0T$sru lf you need a photographer for headsnots, comp cards, promo shots, video shocrs, or album ccvers, hit me up l:y ernallir,g -jb@ozonernag.com cr ca[[ing .4*?-447-60&3" fler€'s s*me albums that carne oilt this ifianth that festured nry phstggraphy. Pltbult ill. l. A. rtl. l. back cover, album insert, & =-iii!18 .*,1't1,,ry*!J'. little rnare than they wanted to se€ t;:.i f{l:}l pf+b!.l]:':! !.,'i::* ifi+ ii***: lsr.i,*;rr .e:* :r !:hiit reei iri;:r.irrs i* sinrllai s!i:iriiii$i-i: ir r*r** ir. !:r:'t i-:+:'i: i{} tii ::r **l*bli,.1i;': i:i:Xterl l**+ ti:-a,itriit ,l*e-=*'l qive hlrrl=* tlr,i rfshi: io si* r+ii::{*v*r'h* !.$&rit:. 4.-':.'r=']j, i'it ?*f +{'{'i"!!'i s{lspll+s i:L:+i. N h*d:*t*i*'#ri|*.': *l+rk t*-c ii:*ntr' *14 } i:.i:i *r.rir{cirr't ri.ii::::.;*.r'.iil= fllr* tl"i'"lf itfl nh*iil. QL.t!i:.i. +,i}lt1*11*:i!J L!is! ri,"",,:iil i:1*nsel =i::rii'lixtfi !1rlLt h* :i!+i:,.= *:rr+ieJ :.;ilirit'fr:;,i p!:iri: +r'i 1::f",1=g icirv,*r'd. 'iilt!*r,rrLli, hllr:. i::Lti .11.l i-i:;tl=ri=!r',' 1=i*q: nufni:r*r ,rl pir. lillet c,i r*il i;: i:!t:3 is-q!"i*. f+r tlrE: a*i,:!',-, i teail:,' lii'.+ a::i.;-E pi.ii"ir€:;, ,ur,ii i *fili: i*k;: ii:$itr i+i:e:: *+s:*i:':riy *::* *5!.:,. Lai*iy, :.Lfii.*h, l!l* '+!*riJ e./.i.r=-=r* : *+ i::i: i Eill t':licll is th:tt: 1'r|l "gfitiilu *-*.'* #+*gi.* 1 ii3\r*rr'i. i* ru lvilji* Iher"e': ii,;*": "r*r-'i: :!r.'.=';: "#*wi :'+:r li:si 5s ri"fi.if,ir r";+i,$irf:" ar;r*eillr-. i'!r+ ru*rrt f!:e silni*:i:* li*fir*s far r€=::=3:=, :=";* ;elr5, :* J l**'! rr-{i! j:qirr* q+.31 +irtr *'.ii. | :fiiuht hav'+ i':-ti * ii'r.lLe !s*:*::i.. iilit =: i: ==. :i': :r,''j i:*':l**r: li \i*u "1!"f ;r.:iirig t,l i*5+ !.i$itht.. _iu5l d*ij'l:;l*e*. Y*u'ii li::'* your 5*=et:t*:i-:.j, :frjrit stf.=irj:. !ii, li:*:rrilv t+!j** ii:*ir *g*r+ i:,r lilat l'?*:*iv",*'o= j:**il fin+ *i:ii:l's ','+-: :=ijli ir-f ia,+,i*E i*:: l*ng i* li*ticr" ,1ird f*r l**if l,:i y*r: v,'hi: n.*eil fiskjnu ie* :;*lscnnl qi;esl1.:r::;. i'=; f+* i;p.,riri:::h*L nhlt" lt's ii{}ne rrf V*!ii bij::i:*is sn C+:-:r!r Sslh*E- *Fii:*f . iilrc* iar.: "i::*" r:*o, !x*uid iike t* r*ke this ilFL]fli-l!-l:::li i{i rn{:r!:1ilr th.:!l if '},*1j;1a\ie a {i*iirjr:* i:*+ r,rJ {:L*N{"xing il*r€ *i1*i *cul* i:ile i*r h* **fi:i*il=i irr *3iii'li- i*eqfrr;il{j. :;*.*i=g g+r;d id*il" Sh*uir; t{t t(k,fi, Si;:rF, lY}* {'t*{r:ii:l l'"1:r1..*i ii, 5s.i{-i4=*+ ii,:thinq. ==:-:ii ** * a:rrj :l*i,:r* ?*+:. U::reii :::* i!' 1;61 :--r+*,J r.-:v :i:*s ri "iJ+:ri, . . ..:lrr B+ *. "" ;i=.iC:. '- t:l-.-J tx Grandaddy Souf The 8p,otlee CD cover & dD f/ Chamillionaire & Play-N'Skillz "Hey Lady" Game f/ 50 Cent "Westside Story" fl YoungBloodu, Roy Jones "l Smoke, I Drank" Pitbull f/ Piccalo "N.A.R,C," Big Gern i{r. r\iagic Dr, Dre f / Jay-V & Game "Get Your i{oney Rite" Do or Die f/ Kanye West "Higher" Petey Pablo "l Swear" Akon "Show Out" Kamikaze "Loser" PBT f/ Gotti "Who Dat" Kanye West "Family Business" Ugly People "Complicated" Cornerstone' Mlxtape #65 DJ Prostyle, DJ Nasty, & Jlmmy Jamz , CD cover & album lnsert OZONE MAGAZINE Srprzuern 2004 11 ttf,q*FF #ts*&Rs. Tl,e ane energy yoq Pqt in PqtUng rie, Pqnchhg re1cts;in' at rae, tcrrin' r'e, fqch'n'vit\ r€ til X go nqtt Ue coqd be tqckin".hil ve bot\ btov nqtt X knov ve hake eac\ o+\er crazy, ve bot\ €Cked ap at )'an aicf, Jo ons frqr' B(d ve ;titt ca,ll e?c\ ot\ec'Baby' 1"r on a nirrion to be dirred for li{e tv,+ qP n'y latt blrlnt and cehinitc€ on t\e ni9\t )oq tig\t a good orr., bct give \ead better t\an;havty ced Uel J1t be ;n bed, bd ceady to take a ttO to \ead "'y And vrap ;t qp and hy n'y \ead h yoqr laP and ve taag\ aboqt Go oqt and ve at it again qP in t\e clqb v\en it': ccovded * i; o it - 1 Every it X ain? dovn of a 5on - vit\ rt vlren sla:le o7 t\ey hnd rane vay t\ey innocent knov hov it aled h do ni994 feeb. t\e bft t\e albanr'C\evy t'loney") cdd up in t\e tqckin'ca*et funeral, tinre to get olre acfion tvo-people party \o? qP in the coftin, nake it X ,t'qtt be frcked ap h t\e \ead, {qcR-n'a &ad body Everybody I Risarttoctir Bqt t\at t ir extoctin'a nell ain? on ny od t\at 1 can? dercrr'bc ar 1 aide 'ry Illbq'+ a nqt and 9et you pcegnant, hake ycq \ave ny baby lw *tupid slql ass bitc\, \ov you gon'try and phy ne3 Tl';; 1 tod yor orce bcfoee hoe don? you puA m aid rlick dynanite h yoqr Pqtty boy ilrragin bringin'Pain, 111 bbv your frtcktn'hainl oqt ar'n? no joker tie 11t T\at you qP rh't yq tay it foul, yoa finna Pay rov fivfr\, nan, X go'tta 9o do one rrroce enand gotta nail rr'y lettec ray'r'i 'Ua+c\ yoqr bacb l(aren!' Ioq krov Before X I * t\at Arabic Attasti\ bonet\qgrn\ar"'ony5@ya\oo.con f'n ?pproac\ing tle rlage veigung in at like 190 P|ql +ive t"nd it ctlzy at tirct, X keep a Potliile Uittng and vaiting +o btarf at \atecr T\oug\ lite X vear 5o it size eleven yoq rtep h t\at1l on bcoil. 4n'a T\qrnran on Carnival'; Ccqi:e I of t\e Hot 100 trora l|axin'... Tok n'e J. Lo you tlogin' +tll t\tnb'Nic" ar4' Jorie I'liran kepi it real to Sevent\ Heaven vit\ Jesciea$iel m3 )oq nevec ever vanna Trictr be tor nigerrte, lRe Dalrar Chrirtina and Oa;ry lqet+$... v\at3 Feel I Cokoqtr qP nry rleeve, JeX on tlre bea,c\, tvft len'on leave vit\ and Eve a c\effy I'd D;e lnat\er Oay jqtt +! be vit\ HaIe Beny. Iidei Carhtlov,'Penetration" (tron' t\e atbqrl'6ot Car\?') lnd - lw *erl'r,tired 1 irrl Lut of t\e \ard vork and everyday back, and ptt€t on oae ce* o+ all vanna cML rit Ait'r c\ert on nry and ttre* it'r tqckin'vit\ ny \ealt\ Ccazy t\oughtr 9o;n't\toug\ rr'y \ea{ gotta fiv'd vealth Solnc t^l rorcy von? hake yoq happy., bct it'll rqre change t'y lifertyle Tfed of vir\in'€oc f\;ngr., jcrt gtrnntr 5o cop 'eh Jick of t\e i'an, +ired of playin'by ur eute; 0vecvocked and andecpa;d nakin'rne vanna Stick niggar qPlB& h f"t' on :natc\ toie jevel, rore atlrer rut vanna be cic\ Fqck tivin'of+ c\qnp c\anger J Can? be 4andin'on t\e cornec PitcUn'rockr to t\e qack\eadr 1 va: bter*d vit\ a talent, bettec vayr to 9et bread 5ee tlre hqt\ b I drln't even vanna be rinnin' tma leaver a n;ggq no optionr Bct gcovin'qP \i\ere I'n L'rn tltesse$ rrran, t\at'r vhy X'n' tryin'to trrrd a better roqte get t\e rig\t arrrount. Bqt 1'll pqt a dqde to steep il - BertRappa0aol.corl, I 'Uqf'e 4r Probtenn?' dick inride rtarin'a't one dick t\at r\e ain? rcvec reen Nor4 v\en t\e body'r tli0l,it't \ard to 9o 9et in betveen And kacen ceps Gqes U\en T\at htc\ ir layin'+i++ ad one And vlren yoq heac otdrts F titted I'lark Diggla, 'Coanfin'gtackr' (tron t'loney lart ?lusI do our part to raire t\e yoqt\ t\e ri9\t vay tet entertainerr and actocr do att ya dictafing a €cxed ap ritqation Look at tlre rlate of oqr nationr and you can? bhne ny occapatim Oqn tqtqre dochc; and lavyeer ate being dertroyed Veh ualr'ng voidr for our girL and boyr J1t arre t\e Preach'n'tor tlre preac\er nan Bq+ 1"" a ProP\et in r'y ovn rig\t - a teac\ec nan ?tqs i+'s \aed to vin t\e gane fcoo t\e bleachect, nan 5o ptl re in, coac\, oqr tqtqte'r \qnging frar' a 'th'n coPe Foc t\e pa4 titteen year ve'!e *en \eartache and Pain ,{nd 1 can? btane it on Saddanr Hqr:ein illddu Earteretr are t\e rcv niggat cqltqre and vit\ be your balter in t\e Qer\, baby, hdier BU Cantcelt and Roracio Dav;on3 lveroae! gotta tok t\eir i'l'r gre4dent't daug\teer 1'll Jo don? Ue'ce in Tlrey feel v\en It'r yoq'c. dr;pping vit\ ,veat (yoq got ,"e tr;ppin1. lJgly ?eople, 'CortPlica{ed' ({eor', t\e alban'49f People') Ue oven gotta call \er over lnna koq$ikova? 9ot onetlv'n' to recve \er, rvenin'in t\e Rover tll gm,vy, baby, notUn'left to do bqt har\'en ,{nd I I rrrconv?,lk on Perelope Ccuz 5;pp;n'bourbon iq it'tit ,hd beat h \oo&atr Dilated pqpil, ctwded, yoa r0 ,exy vhen you r\outing \ipr, n;b11,'19 yoqr liPt v\ile yoq Poqtiig 9et \eated T\L a'n? t\e vay vanna be heated X vant i+ bqt X don? need;t T\e cycle get repeatedl rce it and vanna eat 3at vill teac\ yoq \ov to "'y see yo.t leaking orrt like oil tae and yot'll knov \ov tlre Hinataya, vartirZ00l9ya\oo.con' Fro,t, tocat Hand on yout GiSgling vlren yoq tee I T\at'r r;9\t, X like tv;r'r'in9 in all vatec: I Love 1 \ate v\en a goon talk 1 ain? Uic\aet Jackron bat nran Oirty gat nm ti,,re on Ur \andr hf+ all alorc, it's tfu,e to advarce Look like ya I've been Get bS tite Otev Cacey fp6 U\ore Lirc T\anb toc ctappin', y'att, yoa're too Und X'na take ny Facel0€t tRe Nic Cage Engage and in4lt ya - vocd to Jo\n Trarolta florl people got a \ead, bqt hii€'r a \drtec lly noat\ +t€ c\a'iber, ray lqny tlre revolvec No vondee J nroke and ain' to plea:e Battling is eAnll- jqrt ai", at'd tgeeze 5olabody call a ridevalb oqtlii\e c\alker Ioq coqtd viev it, too - vocd to Barbaca Va*ecr 70170 visiu vlren g* ny rPecr on X kin v\en 7 tfiit - vocd to Exxon. - Dirty Handed, Dirty\anded9\ot'rait.con f nake yorr {ace took like ratr\ed potatoer rc, aPProac\ vi+\ nanrcrt 0r X'na \ave yoqr +ac€ on t\e back o? rt'itk cartont prtecr, banrcrr Bqt it yoq don? vant pmbtetr rtay avay tror" ne |ly rhap vill ,laP ya bqc\ hake it look like )eq li'red drr,'ng rtalery Erna;l yocrc 16 bav to 58@i 0Z0N Et'lACr. C0l'1 ror c,",idemrion. * ','li =e : =r a.& 'E :,4. .:: a;E '-i S TS n€ i:3 :il il :4+ rAff$w ALBUfN ilI \\ ftoBoPy cAf{ Torr0{ ut WHEN IT CON\ES TO. PROTNOTION, Ei $, 'TREET ilr {8;n89ffini,lEF' s-cLtl! co OIIR NEW SNEAKER5; Tl.tg fOE SOY ft\*62 VOU RErwNpS ALgUfn SACKI-O'5 THAT ft\s::s o:r. ojT, .tu::? :': :, : i E-&A',',?OE gov cHAlN, THE ?oe Bov ,f#ffi' JAA<7*O'5 ALStlill POE LTTTLF ,##y,F{t{r, OCTOAER 26tu!!! stt** , ,P r, "l.r! ,. { 4 *; Boy @ l-20's "Break Bread" video shoot (Attanta, GA) 02 'Strictty Streets' Mercedes, Jen, and Nikki (Miami, Boo's Southern essentiats: OZONE and sizzurp (Atlanta, GA) 04 - Goodie Mob reppin' OZONE backstage @ the Atrium (Attanta, GA) 05 - Kardinal Offishat reppin' OZONE (Miami, FL) 06 - Brian Cox and Picasso @ Doppler Studios (Atlanta, cA) 07 - Mr. Magic and Choppa reading OZONE on the set of "Do it Big" (Pensacola, FL) 08 - Rick Ross @ Oxygen (Miami, FL) 09 - Labetmates Pitbutl andJacki-O@Pit'sreleaseparty(Miami,FL) 10-DonYutereppin'OZONE@Krave(Miami,FL) 11 -JazzePhaandPatPat @ the Vl'AAs (Miami, FL) 1 2 " DJ Bobby Black, DJ Drama, and Don Cannon @ Visions (Attanta, GA) 1 3 - Steve Gottlieb, Big Teach, and 01 " Lit' Fate and Tity FL) 03 - Gangsta BryanLeach@Opium(Miami,FL) 14'Benzinoandhiscrew@Crunkl JuiceVMAafterparty(Miami,FL) 15-GeorgeMichaetsreppin'OZONE (Chicago, lL) 16 - Mami Chula reppin'OZONE @ the Atrium (Attanta, GA) 17 - Baby D, Fabotous, and Oohwee @ Opium (Miami,FL) 18-NinaChantaleandanunusuattygiddyE-Class(Miami,FL) 19-GrandHustle'sXtacireppin'OZONE(Attanta,cA) 20 - Da Brat reppin' OZONE @ Opium (Miami, FL) 21 - DJ Khated and Elephant Man (Miami, FL\ 22 " Remy Martin and Pitbutt (NYC) , i,--".€* :i$ili:r*,n ".," 01 - DJ Prostyte, Jim Jones, and DJ Nasty @ Cteo's (Ortando, FL) 02 - E-Doubte, Pitbutl, D-Roc of the Ying Yang Twins, DJ Rob-N, and Cubo (Providence, Rl) 03 - Lit' Jon reppin' OZONE @ Krave (Miami, FL) 04 - DJ 007, Mercedes, and DJ Quest @ his birthday party (Ft. Myers, FL) 05 - Carmelo Anthony reppin' OZONE (Miami, FL) 06 - Gator, DJ USC, Big CeeJay, DJ Canibus, BtoodRaw, and C.Rena @ Bay Area Music Conf. (Tampa, FL) 07 - Fred reppin' the 305 (Miami, FL) 08 - Snoop and Pitbutt (Las Vegas, NV) 09 - Sptiff Starr reppin'OZONE(Miami,FL) 10-BigTeachandStickRick@Mansion(Miami,FL) 11-Pistol PeteandFatJoe'sbrotherAngel @Opium (Miami,FL) 12-DiscoRickshowsGreenEyeshowtogetagirt @Bermudas(Miami,FL) 13-BigAmp,J-Ho[[a,andC.Wakety@Bay FL) 14 - DJ Majick and KG Mostey reppin'OZONE (Tampa, FL) 15 - Vedo, Scrappy, DJ Pat Pat, Big O, DJ Laz,andPitbutt @WBTT(Ft.Myers,FL) 16-JTMoneyandthePoisonCtan@Bermudas(Miami,FL) 17-BigMookandcrew(Tampa, FL) 18" DJ lrie strikes a classic pose (Miami, FL) 19 - Game and Jim Jones @ Opium (Miami, FL) 20- DJ B-Lord and Micnificent on Rap City (NYC) 21 - Don Diva and OZONE cotlaboration (NYC) 22 - Joker and YoungBtood Sean Pau[ reppin' OZONE (Attanta, GA) Area Music Conf. (Tampa, Wlho evev said ftt&king rnusic *bvisurly w tilt w &s exy snsiv e? t.o the wvong"pl*cg... ffiffiffiffiff-%wffi $tate of the Art Facility Equipped With: Pro Tools TDM, 22' inch flat screen, Deluxe MlDl Cgnter, PC's, Call to schedule an appointment today: 14071 275-6338 and many more extra's. lPro-Torls TDM Systern Cantrol 24 "Power Maf"i 64, Kor$ Triton, Mo Phail, Boland 3080XV Expanded, eMV Proteus 3500, MPC 4000XL, MPC 2{l00XL, Midi Tirnspiecs, Alesis Adat, Densn MiniDisc Player, HR824 Markie Monitor$, tigi Design 88$ l/O, OiUi Dssign tOl2 aJO, N€il$an "€old Serie$" Micl Checkoutothermagazineson[ineatwww.MAGcoALITloN.com@ (916) Magazine Sacramento, CA ACE Magazine West Palm Beach, FL www.the916.com 772-332-7979 916-452-2482 www.acemagonline.com Da Streetz Magazine Block 2 Block Magazine New York, NY Grand Prairie, TX www. dastreetzonline.com 214-597-0883 21 2-589-1009 block2blockon li ne. com Magazine Grooveline Magazine The Grind Magazine F.E.D.S. 318-247-3921 New York, NY Miami, FL www. groovelinemag.com 305-804-4188 1369 Madison Ave NY, NY 10128 thegrindmagazine@yahoo.com #406 Murder Dog Magazine Los Angeles, CA www. murderdog. com 707-553-1 850 Streetz Magazine Virginia 800-770-1078 New Power Magazine Next Level Magazine New York, NY Columbus, MS 662-251-OO75 thenextlevelmagazine.com newpowermagazine.com Strip Joint Magazine Miami, FL 954-447-7246 stripjointmag.com Urban Living Magazine Nashville, TN 615-497-5036 urbanlivingmag. com Tha Hole Magazine Magazine NY 877-366-3482 Don Diva New York, Exposure Magazine Chicago, lL 847-366-8915 www.exposuremagazines. com Holla Magazine Atlanta, lceberg Magazine Jacksonville, FL Huntsville, AL 256-652-0804 www.thahole.com www. hollamag.com 770-438-O112 icebergmag.com 904-493-6075 OZONE Magazine Orlando, FL Rude Magazine New Orleans, LA Showcase Magazine 407-447-6063 www.ozonemag. com 504-246-1491 510-481-3080 Urban Pages Magazine Charleston, SC UrbLife Magazine Montgomery, AL urbanpagesmag@aol. com www.urblife.com Xplosive Magazine San Francisco, CA 925-367-5478 843-747-5131 888-683-0677 GA Los Angeles, CA SECOND ANNUAL We'd hate to say "told ya so," but after tast year's Patiently Waiting edition, a lot of the artists we featu.red got_signed or blew up. So maybe we actually do know what we're talking about. Here'i *n updaie: Septem&r 2(N3;'Pitbull's to the top you can already hear the haters Pitbutl signed with TVT so closs Records in October 2fl13 coming...he's rnore than prepared to reap both the b€nefits and consequences of his fast-approaching fame. " tdoy 2&H:'[Boo Rossini's] llife lLove Records quickly a gained a reputation throughorJt Jackson and the rest of the South. His current singte, the remix to 'Say it to lvly Face' featuring Swizz Beatz, is gathering stead radio spins in over sixty markets.' September 2a03; "With a debut singte bragging, 'Pussy pay: my billr,' it might be eary for some to dismiss packl-Ol as yet another Rorida femate destined to become a ane-hit wonder But criii{s who have heard tracks from her upcoming alburn respect her rap skills.' Sep&mbelr 2lN3: 'lt's ea$y to see why ISRC CEOI Steve Ritkind junped at the chance to sign thh unique artist after just, one listen to his demo...Wbiting for the impact of Lkon's lirst singte is like waiting for a bomb to drop." &tw 2&)3: "5o you're burnpin'a new mix C0?... Attitude's srnooth flow ard rhyme schemes will haye head: checkin' the inrert to find out who the new guy is. " CD September 2003.' "[Rich] is more intererted in getting a prcduction deat than an artitt deal, to make sure the math comes out right... He's got a thick drawt sliding over ban-pounding beats. He's bound to become a Southem favorite." Septembar 2(N3.. 'Tiillyille's sty{e, a fu:ion of Lil.' Jon and Three 6 fi{afia, is guaranteed to have any c{ub owner beefing up their secur'ity...Spearheaded by Lil'Jon's production and guidance, rn-llvilte witt surely be the face of the crunk movement in the coming yearu." Saptember 2U)3; "Lil' Scrapry ir ready io take on the wortd...a doubte eP \rritt be dropping on B[rlE, featuring Scrappy and his tabelmates Triltvitle...with a mentor like Lil'Jcn, bussin' heads throughout the whole album won't be a problem." TO BLOW EDITION and officialty btew off the strength of the Lit' Jon-assisted "Culor" the lead singte from his debut album rt.r.A.rA.l.. Boo Rossini's lLife lLove/ Royat Dottar Records rigned with J Records in September 20014. Jacki'0'r Poe Ltttle Rich Girl comes out October 26th,2W4, through TYT Records. After creating a buzz with "Sananza {Betly Dancer)," the remlx to Akon'r slngte "Locked Up," fealuring Stytes P, was a huge success, Attitude was featured sn oWarrant" from Bubba Spanmr' Oe{ryeronce. ln February 2004 he signed with . ' Timbaland's Eeat CtuL Records and is currently working on his upcoming soto project. Now known as RichBoy, this Alabama native signed to lnterscope in late 2003 and is April 2&11: "Slim Thug..put up impressive sales numbers throughout lexas and Louisiana and caught the attention of seyeral major labeb.' Octsber 2$)2: "LucDuc's solo album, ln iily Own Wortd, comes out this 0ctober." September 2A03.' 'At age fourteen, PaulWall was already shaking handr with the industry's top movers and shakers. Nonr 23, he look to...elevate the music scene in Texas.o t&y 2004: *With 9ptem'in 2044. Scrappy landed two hit singtes in 2il!4, signed with \liotator rlianagement, and is preparing to put on his crew, G's Up. lriike's tabel, SwidraHouse, signed a dis- tributlon deaL with Arytum/ Wbmer Bros. ln Sep. 2004. Paul's [abel, SwishaHouse, signed a dis- tributlon deal with Asytuml lilarner Bros" in Sep. 2fr!4. blazin'hot August 2004. Their singles, &ad t p planr to spend deb'ut, ?}e lc*e 0rrer, ir scheduled for release in *ptember 'Get fune 96's Teddy T, Sgad Up slgned wlth Sony in Tritlvitte Crunk ln Yo ctique he was a part of disbanded. He signed to Universat Reccrds in early 2004 with the hetp of his management, two the surnmer ctubgoen ta After Luc-&.rc dropped his first soto album, the lconz hwer Itay 2lX)4: "Allke Jonec' future is brighter than a Lil' Flip smile in the sunshine... in the meantime, he is pefiaps the most accessibte artist in the industry. Feel free to call him on h'is cett at 281-310-80(X.' anrrently working on hi: debut album" encouraged "Slim Thugga, muthafuckao is the hottest new cornrnodity at Star'li?kl lnterscope. His album, Alredy Platinum, is slated to drop in late 2@4. touring. " (rtti'c Spring 2005. 2A03: third LB Llfe, is his besl Yo effort by far. There's good things to come for this ilemphis rep" ilay ZA(M: "Putling up to a video shoot in a After releasing a successful solo album through independent hearyweight TW, Yo Gotti's group the 8l.ock Bumaz signed with Cash i,loney1 Universal. ln additbn lo his solo deal with Def black Senz and customized throwback.. . Young Jam, Jcezy's group, Bolz N 0a Jeezy is confident that his future in the rap gane is already secure." Hood, signed with Bad 8oy Souti in August 2q14. OZONE IIAGAZINE Srmruarn 2004 27 can deal with it. trrn.:,okay::With]ifd.iiVinj::ai.i.Fls for ., the rest of my.r1ifer,il.'rlt,,rqrvly9;l{Arniggli like me :r wil.[ be [ikel,::1.'.Nah;rrfijik,r!hat:'.{:lt,}n€hJ.l drive this' bus todayirbilt,:ilh,:.C04i1a:t:dolthitl::h6,.re and turn ai negative'situatiQn,rintoa'positive;,1,':.::ir','.:i"'': :': r,, rl r,'r::',', You've got such a thick Southern voice, lrorti do , plan to extend beyond this region? 'Cause of the words, the lyrics. I mean, the South is runnin' shit anyway, but this is real music and real situations that go down everywhere. Niggas in Cali are doin' the same shit that that l'm doing down here, there's niggas in NY doing the same shit. lt just snows up there and we always hot, but it's the same shit. I bump Jay'z, Fat Joe, 'cause real niggas are atl the same. You've got the flaw-ass niggas you ain't gonna get my shit, just Like you got the flaw-ass niggas that I ain't gonna get atong with. That's why I don't come in this industry tryin' to make friends 'cause I realize it's buttshit. Real DJs that pLay my shit and love my shit, I'm friends with them, but niggas on that other shit? Fuck them. Rea[ rappers that wanna do songs with me that's down with me, that's coot. But other rappers that's just tryin' to catch my l:qgion, fuck 'em. And I know that now. I ain't no , ffjendly,-asf,njgga no more. Chris Lighty was tike, 'i66ff.iq!fa$]r5!r [Cent and G-unit]." Nah, nigga, I'm strtighg,.ir:liqinr:!,tge'! to where [50] at yet. lf ,ygq,,,5.tqp,,r'tbrta,.ni.9$:,!efore you sell records you :tdok INTF-RYTEW & PHOTOS: halUaki.n' shit-eater. Once you done . less I done moved four or five quarters already. JULIABEYERLY So you've got five kids? How do you balance a family life with your career? Wel[, I ain't doing real good at it now, 'cause my ermany James, who previously released independent albums in the Southeast as King James and Jo-Vicious, finally settled on an appropriate stage name: Dirtbag. His major label debut, Eyes Above the Water, will be released in early 2005 on Cool & Dre's Epidemic/Jive Records. The album features Three 6 Mafia, Fat Joe, David Banner, Trick Daddy, Devin the Dude, Young Buck, and his clique the Gator Boys, among others, What's the meaning of your name, Dirtbag? Reatty, it came from 'ot girt. I used to dirty up my ctothes and come home and shit and she'd be tike, "Oh, you tit' Dirtbag." But the real meaning of Dirtbag is don't ever forget where you came from. I was doing real bad at one point in my [ife, I was a real shit-eater' Shit was not exceltent. One of my homeboys would let me rest my head at his house. I gotta keep that title over my head: you're a Dirtbag, nigga, ke,A, s'rrved,t$ee.:!t,:f6ur,.ptatinum records, then yaq::r,,::i sleitrrtbiilreiii,. lxg..: aiie ain't the same a! thg:r:.ii street game,'brit:'i'tuie':the same methods. I wont:,,', step to a nigga and ask him to throw me a hatf urri. and don't you ever forget it.'Cause once you forget, that's when you slip. I'm okay being the tucky loser. Why? Because I lost before. But I atso win. To somebody who's atways won and never [ost, they could never understand that. That's why it's my moniker, to remind me. Nigga, you have been a loser. Nigga, you have been a shit-eater. Nigga, you have been a Dirtbag, and it's okay 'cause you have the abitity to come back out of that shit. Some muthafuckers crack under the baby mama crazy and she ready to leave me. But deal for any luxury purchases? Shit, they ain't give me the whote two mil up- it's tike I always totd her, "l could be whatever front. lt's potitics and buttshit. Peop[e ask me you want me to be, but more than anything, I'm a that a[[ the time, though: "You ain't gone to the provider,ll,Thatis it. I might not be a father who's matl and bought nothing?" Nah, the onty things there att'tlie-::t-ii.-:&p,r I might not be a father that hugs 'em atl.lflEt{i;11g. I be smelling t!(q ,wqqd I bought is houses and cars, that's it. I got three houses that I grabbed up in Sitver Lakes pre- when I hug 'emt brpath stankin'. But'thry11l!1QW when they get up ahd go to school, when'they construction. I put tike 35k down, buitt a house. come home daddy's.there to greet 'em. There's Started off at 232k, it's at 265k now so hopefutty when it gets finished in February it'[l be up to a dollar lunch mgney, ice cream money, shoes, ctothes, no,mattdi 1vhAt, I'm a provider. And of 310k. l'tt rent that bitch out for three grand and pay my houses off,'fhat way I ain't got no bi[ts. coui"se my.gifl say, "Oh; those things count, but..." You gotta atways find a. way to eliminate your At the end of the day, that's what reatly counts bitts first. I don't really spend money on luxury: '.!hough. When my kids grow up, they can say, "My shit, not until I setl sQne.records. Sge, your ad... daddy providCd:,fl Hq:was a drunk crazy shit-eatin' vance money is your flip money. Betieve me. !:d 'i,muthafqqksl;:biit,tietrovided. He wasn't there all rather live broke and have these cribs. I went the time to tuck us in and read us a story, but he to go get me a Rotex, right? They shut down all provided, Lights never went off , betty was always the gates, security came o-ut;-and they showed fed, shoes never started tatkin'. You know what it to me and totd me to put it on. I said, "Bitch, talkin''rfhees is, don't ya? I had a couple pairsrof how much it is?" Forty grand. I said, fuck that, those mysetf. Sometimes I just put 'em on to remember (laughing). l'm buyin' me a house. Forty fuckin' grand?!? woulda got it for tike twenty, twenty-five, but forty fuckin' grand? Man, kiss my ass. That ain't Aside from your fdmily, what other things cause worth it. I'd rather go 'head and get md some you to lose focus on your career? cribs and pay the bitls. Once the CD drops and A tot of things get in the way, but it's like wood to I se[[ some records, that's when I cdn go get the fire. Att the shit that gets in the way helps me some chunks. But the advances and the pubtish- write, !q,ligotta take the good with the bad. Hating money, naw. That's flip money, 'cause you ers get in the way, there's niggas you gotta chin I neverknow. r'd rathertheshitpav,:::ryjl, ff :::!h.H:i;ffirffijiHi,1,x':?:,t\H,;l what sounds better. You know, that realty gets me pressure and fatl off, nah. I done been there. Why is it called Eyes Above tiir'Vrii.{iil:.:t:::,t, , Usua[[y, muthafuckers who win atl the time, lf you got your whole head ab-o.re lhg Wq--tg.!', hot, dawg. I hate to be tike that, you know, I ain't they lose once and fatt off. Shit, I been fuckin' you just tryin' to suryive. we ainlt try-inl$li-iii5t no argumentat type of nigga, but when we get on r:. up my whole [ife, so I'm used to this shit (lough- survive, we creepin' right now.:fu€,:lti:ii:art.i:Ei€1::,:,.: the phone and they tettin' me something that re... ,,r:''.r,'r,:' ing). But I atways found a way. That's where ass nigga. Strong niggas just suMveirb.$.j.:S.iiiesft:,:iA.tly gets me hot. We on the right page now, but a[lr':i':,1:1,,.,1,,1,: the Dirtbag comes from. l'm the lucky loser, the niggas creep and go through the heit'and iiialG:ttthat {rustration comes straight back to my musicr,::1'1,,r11,,. a positive situation out of a negatiV-€'That's the:it]tt:t!d:l!!rtle.a!ty hetps. I'm kinda gta{, tfg!, f.-u5:5el::,,!!p-i::ri:i:,r ' fuck-up that makes big bucks. difference. A strong nigga says, "Okat;rl knowrrtt Shilt(&rliapien, but that's jurt my:wiiy,o{:$i!inl,j!.1:,; '' 'r,rrhappefu,,,Eien.diamonds,gqt,,{sufiiJ..ih:'thdr'iii]iii::,rlr..:r:::: '." Speaking of big bucks, did you use your $2 mil this is what l'm doing for the rest o.f.:,'r,1.n.y. life.':l 28 OZONE MAGAZINE SrprEMern 2004 How were you able to put out an ipdependent album when you're stitl technically under con- tract with SRC/Universal? said they were ready , ,'.'..,11,;l5RCl provide me with assistance to gci:r,ahead iihtJ::::, to retease this un- we go with the same buushit:tAl!.i'Vef,:rqglit; qonna qo ahead and do this r like, fuck it;i{m it, I'm gon{t9'g6,q|sad:aryd,,,,q9:!hit,: d,jtrixtdp,e;:lll s beet},'ruitiois"that,l,lVe . jt':a .muthafuakii',,lhtrjat,,.btti a itot of conii don't understand the industry. They sat sry€ r€-release. .l' ready to 6 a compilation with my tonio Tarv€i: He's the boxer who knocked out Roy Jones s\ Jr., for those that don't know. did yeu b€eome part of Hypnotlzed. an extended member of the camp. ,rever at",:LoUd;I ing back Like I ama ta.lti an:43:faa:tr6,l *iiiiiiitrr;r tipetlatlly lng'about speqific DJs at 102 Jqm.z".l,:m ]:ttr,:wngn'1,] was lirdi6 I didn't give a fuck about Maybq rl::v,9:,,,,r,iabou! whoayesr.:jtuts :r:adio..r:at,a!! llye been signed with a major for 'table.,ifIf ':ioul&:'tetti*dl,mdi,,&t*e@4f::rii rndo.. I iiilL' it-itL "table. 'VOU1r.€:tettl i..] rrr:thiee:,ieAi;inow, and "spins" is att they know titii lllt* ..a:::r...,a,,:. a.:, trr'r,::,rtpi,th€re',in'New York. They don't know nothing ::':l:r.:,abctut"mutha{tiekin' down South music. Al[ they ,ta ror,hii-i:il*o get ikn6w,is.drqcumentation. They've got their MBAs I don't know. You tett me?'l'm gonna keep it rea[: aren't being more persis.tent and they're ietting or whatever, fuckin' degrees, b-ut I have titeratty begged some of the OLs atiOrtando me, "l dont know'what's up Mth Dj such-andl understand the streets. The oniy of keep it ifriig ih"t records flop like a muthafucka. They see spins, larv.e ,!tue enitrqgh. I 9n4, 'chirnilts::be mv and perform, I bring artists through from out they don't reat with me. lf-my shit ain't bangin', tight songs. Labels throw shit aqainst the watt no more. lf another market is witting to embrace feelings. Just don't lie to me. lf we ptayin' on ture has reatty fucked up the whote rap game. me, then I'm gonna put atl my energy and focus the same team, goddammit, and we wear each A tot of groupi come wiih one hot-ass song and :i^+^ tL-+ ll., h^', hI hi-+., f-^C^"+h i^--^.,l^-t. -L:r ^rL^-^-l -..:r up in my :that's,r,ii'The tabet just mat<es erioqgh mqn9y.lt,a,,, jerseys and shit, don't suit -^-L^+ t$y.,,!oy DJ Dirty from South others .ape with me and he's got my jersey and [ie to me. You'd be better off just to recoup and make a profit. They don't give a ,ihr,,5.otlth'r,:rr,tabt better in certain what'i'going on. I just "Crabs in a Bucket." I had 24 just last week. 102 Jamz has had :'.Ye,,gA!ito fans; though, and that's atl I give a fuck don't give a fuck about this corporate .dQ,i!',',,infiasliucture and that's why I did what I had to llaiart:r,darYOu can pick up the bootleg atbum at tocal f{!.fr,r1;r,$.9n.h pop stores or you can order it online at 'l got www.parramo,com . ,Jliql,in:you:i.:.,.:,to5ial ir,9e.,!!j!griliot,,,t,::.,iabdqt:,,l OZONE MAGAZINE Srpra eea 2004 minute. [Att the major tabets] were trying to get me, but I was kinda scared to sign'a rnaior deat so I decided to try something independent,'Honestty, my finances weren't the best at the time so I was just going to chitl for a nlnute but the streets kept calting me. I put out an atbum with Koch on my own, but it was an atbum of songs I had already previousty done. I just threw together a bunch of otd songs and put it out there to let peopte know l'm stitl here. When I reatty decided t0 come back, I recorded "l I i . Smoke, I Drink." The first version of the song was you, Li1' Boosie, and YoungBleed, and it was called "Do it Big." Why are there two versions of the same song? Originatty I did the song in Baton Rouge with me, Boosie, and YoungBteed. At the time, I had just signed to [Roy Jones Jr.'s tabet] Body ead, and I came here to be more than just an artist. I want to devetop other artists because I've been there. I came here to Body Head to structure an atbum that coutd generate revenue and a [major distributionl deal for us. I put the song out there, but Lit' Boosie catled me - and that's my dawg, we live in the same area together - and said, "Man, this song is hot, do you mind if I perform it?" I totd him I don't mind, because I can't perform it right now. I gotta put together the lBody Head Bangerzf atbum so I wasn't reatty abte to capitatize off the song as a solo artist. The radio in Baton Rouge burned the song and started playing it, and he went out and performed the song, so peopte automatica[[y thought it's a Lit' Boosie song. lt's atright though, it's ioot. Now that you took Lil' Boosie off the record and added the YoungBloodz and Roy Jones Jr., do you think it'll beiome a problem? Not for me. Once people hear, they'tl reatize. shot a video for the song that's on BET now, thanks to God. My video came on, it aired yesterday, so peopte gon' reatizei,Ti-u€:Sb€i.qftns witt know. Li!':.., t , : I The golf cart hesitates and the driver You were originally signed to No Limit, right? I slams down the accelerator, causing Yeah, I was with 'em for a coupte years. I the..,cart to lurch forward and throwing started out with C-Murder and we became the I me violently.trgainst the metal frame. We've best of friends. He was the CEO of his own label narrowly avoided getting stuck in a large mud but he got into a few probtems and I went to puddle. lt's unbearabty,,'humid, my elbow is No Limit with his otder brother [Master P]. I throbbing, and now I've got.fffcts of mud all never reatty fett comfortabte with P, but I was over my clothes. To my right, 'htif:mgre than doing what I had to do to put mysetf in a posi::i::i . t'ttlt'l:::,1:r-. three feet away, is a pig. Yes, a pig':'ilE{just tion where I could teave. Everybody understood "'r."'',,ita€ of them, but a whole bunch. To my liift 1f .., !l.t,et. I put out a couple successful atbums at No a fiiih{gd.-in area containing hundreds of odd 'ilimitr.,fhe first one sotd about 600,000, and the triangiilii::$qped huts. Each one contains a second gnesold about 900,000 copies. :''..:.::. . chicken. Soriidvih€,re.nearby, a rooster crows. I thought thev onrv did thai in the morningt . )lot'il'i"':l^;l.,ff"1;I]::tl:t J:i5.11* '' Boosie been puttirigl:qul'.a,jtot:'.,qf sgngs and l lov€.:r:: 'em, but "l smoke;:].iDfiffit'.,,':.,.!5:.i.completelydiffet:r.::rrr, ent styte. This sofg,,rnQSg:Af!:.1}mFressjon becaugg,, t,.',, of me on the hoo(:1f;h16,:i$.Ci-$twasldone two weeke,.,:il plenty of time to vent and even give me a feWil:l'tmjnute. " I had put up a brick watl around .::t,,:.:::. lravina rca II falt gospel mVsetf,:because he's mara more lilza like ra ancnal felt litra tike awanrhndrr everybody rrDc was boxing +iac tips. Tlrnc Turns arrf out hatc 'ni.ii.2it{..har' 1-. than an advocate for smokirig and gonni.bl6,',,tl&e,tMaster Pl. lt took me some '',':rdfttikilg. ".i"i Keep in mind while you're reading time to grovirirjp::and reatly start underthlf:,(Ad*:every sentence is punctuated with a standing the buiiiliiis,:side of the game. Loui sidriarflavpi.ll """" know? " decided to go with Koaht{:F,!::dsl for a .:;:1.llr:ptS. I : 30 OZONE MAGAZINE SrprilaER 2m4 'r::::i::::it . before Boosie and'rY'.Qtrn$B{ia6d,'€ven came ovei.. I rirr'i:: had the song sittingin*tt!?,'3.,,tgilio with my verse on'i.':"i: it. The first version had been doing great. but it just a regionatrgll$:,tTheie's a tot of peopte out there that don't know Litt Boosie and peopte that forgot about Yciiliiggtsdiliind being realistic, at the time I wasn't at my best as an artist. When teft No Limit, I tost a tot of the muscte that I had to make certain shit happ€iit;. I had to go on faith and just do it. When we got ready to go to the big radio was I This was not in the job d;itf!p,!io-n when I To be honest? as faiii iti,tgncerned, it was signed up to interview Mr. Magic, a m,ember the devil's favorite sin: vanity.''P..jicit-,,io.caught stations we had a probteriljgettl09:it ptayed. When of the Body Head Bangerz along with Choppa, up in himsetf that he never had time to pay you go to places like BEl!]:th€yiie:.like, "Nah, we Roy Jones Jr., and Trouble. Their single, *i':',,attention to his artists. lt's so important to., not fuckin' with that." lvtd,,bgiig::ln the industry, met a tot of peopte,:.i:&dii!r|:i:.tot of peopte Smoke, I Drink" is a certified hit record, so pay attention to your artists, because they're '1.ilone when I was invited to Roy Jones' ranch, I'd the peopt€Jhat's making it happen for you. that:have respect for me, caui6.6i6st of the artists pictured something large and glamorous - not Remember, he.,1ryq3 the CEO of No Limit. He seen me in:videls back wheri.::ih$y,'first wanted to ,t:,.,,., an actual ranch with real, live animals. But shoutd have never b€en the top artist, because rap. I was doing'it:,as a kid sojigiilF€d that respect '''1'11.1,11..... here I am - in rural Pensacola - sweating. Roy, he never had those capabitities. That's where in the streets, arid l,itive othet,raftists,!hat same '"tl.':.eh.eppa, and Magic are running [ate, filming he lost his structure. lt was c'o6l:.When he was type of respect. Because oft[a!,.,,[;r1vas abl6,to catt 'Dri,E:t9.,,€," a DVD to coincide with their up- the owner and he rapped too, 6u1:..u-&.9! he the Youn g B loodz and sayt]l:.:ltJgY;:,.man,i:,,1.,.got thi s coming:Biily-flead Bangerz album. decided to be the main artist he got himidtfttt hit song, but it's a regionat'soir$'.l1lgtt!j!6*;1fCiil|: r, rian,get on it, l'm gonna put Rily:Jon(sron it to gr"il6.:,:i. .. .. f"k"d'p' it more appeat." lt's a marketing strategy. This on." th"y"ii&rarrived, the brutalty ho, is busine3s..:Ysq,.qan't just throw shit out there, you have to haVelaFlar:r, Wett, it opened up doors through the interview, the .:,:-. : . "Mr. Madc came down and askefme to sive him an opporunity at fiody Head. oic'e t. gavdhim drg gpp?.tljrutv- he oroved that he deserved'it " Roy Jones, Jr. j .: I a major deal with Universal, and the Body Head Bangerz atbum is coming out on September 28th. That's three days after Roy Jones' fight. my day up." That's what I do. Your phone has been blowin' up since the video came out? the Body Head Bangerz a compilation CD? Aw, man! I ain't got my phone with me right It's not a compitation CD, I don't wanna get it now for a good reason. I teft it in the truck confused. lt's the Body Head Bangerz: me, Roy 'cause if I had it white we were doing this inJones, Choppa, and Troubte. lt's a group album, terview it woutd just keep ringing. Every time and we've got other artists on it, tike 8.G., Ju- hang up the phone, it's, "Hetto?" "Yo! I just saw venite, the YoungBloodz, Lit' Ftip, Bun B, Mike the fuckin' video!" ls I Jones, Petey Pabto, Lit' Boosie, YoungBleed, and Fiend. We reached out and got a lot of favors from people, so the atbum is comptetety packed with hits. There's ten, twelve bangers on there, and it ain't realty no tabet right now that coutd do what we doing. We've got the champ already, Roy Jones Jr. He weatthy, he atright, and he btessed us and put us in a position where we could "Do it Big" for reat. This is a CD that's gonna make history. Trust me. What made you decide to sign with Body Head? [CEO] Roy Jones is a good dude. That's my dawg. Outside of anything else, I fucks with him, for rea[. He's a young black entrepreneur, and so am l, so two heads are better than one. Sometimes you need more than just structure, sometimes it's about who you know in the business. Being with him opens a lot more doors. Okay, let me be a skeptic for a minute. You're talking about God and staying positive. But the hook to your single is, "l smoke, I drink, I'm supposed to stop but I can't." How does that uplift people? I'm an entertainer, that's what I do. I make music for the people. Ctearty, my message isn't, "Go out there and fuck yoursetves up." My message is, "Be aware of what you're doing." You know how they say that the first step is to admit it? Be aware of what you're doing. You know that you smoke and drink too much, so be carefut. lt's the people that are hiding it that are fucked up. Shoutd your mom and dad talk to you about sex, or not? I feel like you should talk to your daughter and son about sex, because if you don't, somebody etse wit[. That's just reality. "Seimetirnes God humbles us. This is a qame that God is plaving, aild I don't mean thaf in; cruel wav. I mean that life is strirctured bv him. Ffe's savi{rsYou'rd still mv child: ari'd you have a idt to db for J.J me.'" - Mr. M^S. feel good when they sing it, and that's what 'it's for. Not to hurt nobody, not to make people drink and drive. I'm just making a btunt statement. lf I'm wrong for doing that, then kiss my ass. I do everything for God, and only for God. I'm not living to ptease nobody etse, honestly. For reat, if you don't like me, you don't have to listen to me. You don't have to come to my concerts. We can have a long distance relationship (laughing). Obviously, "l Smoke, I Drink," is turning out the hook based on your life personally? Do to be a huge hit. But it's on the Body Head Has Roy's attitude changed at all since getting you feel like you smoke and drink too much? Bangerz album, not a Mr. Magic album. Do you knocked out by Antonio Tarver? ::1....,. l'f m n6t the type of artist that sits in a house and think it'll hurt your career as an individual Yeah, I think he changed a [ot. 5ometimei..G6d.,,::ir,rr:ites.about att my problems. I make music for artist? humbles us. lt's like mommy and daddy say] some; ".'thq,pebillt. Do you realize how peopte react off Nah, [isten. lt's alI about marketing and having times God smacks us on the ass. This is a gariie thii.songwhen they hear it? I wanna exptain this a formuta. See, so many artists just concentrate that God is playing, and I don't mean:,,that.:it1,A 'to peoplC, because l've been asked this a tot. on getting one hit and then they rush it. I make cruel way. I mean that life is structure.d.:by,hiffir,:..gel...into an arena, I open my mouth, and peopte each song a hit. I hate to sound cocky, but God so it's already written. He's saying, l1Ar,e':yq,u.r.ly!!!r:' lose their minds. They having a good time. No- is good to me. For some reason, I'm in great ing to accept what I have to offer you?;.You:,haVe'a: ..body:wanna hurt or kitt nobody, because they're favor right now. This is my gift from God. God job to do for me. Win, [ose, or draw;,:,you!,.re1,sLitl hqylng a great time with Magic. lf you can find blesses some peopte to sing, God blesses some :'sorne kind of flaw in that, that's fine. l,m out people to dance, some peopte can speak in front r ,::my Child and you have a job to do-rl .For.ririhaigvdr . ' redgbn,.God made i! happen, an!, lyhat mikeglnii: here to entertain. I don't get on the microphone of miltions. God blessed me to be abte to make : music that'l[ get the peopte in the club dancing. : . :,:ap,pl9{a,te Roy more as a humatl:bei!g::At1d,:ii.ia-, . and say, "Go get drunk and fuck yoursetves up. " ,:.:.:,t{fjend,,ris.that he went down and,,.gqti.batk rfp.ilnd:lr I say, "l smoke, t drink, l'm supposed to siop ln the whole No Limit camp, I was atways the ,].,.:',fi€ls're.ady tO.make.that up tothe'$rbildl Thatl5;.;but lcan't l.:::llr:n adog, llove women, l,m ad- type of person that people looked for. I have '":.'wiAti:mek€shimachamp. Lett,'no!..{q.qgei,tt1d1',..dictedtornoney,cars,andclothes."That'sthe that type of appeat, that's my btessing. I don't ;:.'1!!ih!rnmQdAti, rvho's known,as'thegieatli,t o dr average perron thatls living today, and what chase a hit or a song or a check. Checks come ,r:.,-'1n,.lhe wortd, had seven or eilht toiiei,..Wiirnlng: .:do,'i! cater to ttre people. I try la,struqttre my to me. I do this att day [ong. People gon' reatize :::attl'the time ,doesnf t make:vsu::a:champ,1lWfiq!.' ,:music to cater to'a'certain type qf perlon Who that in a minute, 'cause that's how God wants niakes- you'a champ is to [ose, aird then,.W,in'and.,.','t"t ,nu, I've gotta change my.muticrto,ft what it. Ya heard? Is I I ov.€(coiire adversity. That's what:.mikes,your.thei r.,lsomebody etse thinks? Who gonl,piek',the music pe6pt€'s champ: 5o, for whatqv.el.lii4son;,l.it..liap; . foi- the people who don,r tisten.te. artists tike peRed; What I love about him ii thdt:6ds r€ady.,to Barry Manitow and Bruce springiteen? Whether make it up to the world, and this is what I expect or not peopte tike what I do or agree with what people to see in him and love about him. "l think I rap about, I don't reatty 63;'91 ...':,' ,.:.,]:r. he changed for the better. He's reatty a probtem now, because he understands what defeat tastes So in reality, what are your addict{ons? tike. He was never abte to accept that before. My addictions ur" ron"y, cars, and ctothes, but Now, he knows what it feets like to watk out I don't use those addictions in:a,:,irarmfut way. an arena and see everybody tookin' at him tike, Let me tett you something: when you humble -in "Damnnnn..." He's deati with that. That can't hurt yourself and put yourself iriiosition wtrere pride his no more. Now he reatizes that in order you're witting to do whatever God has for you to be the champ, he's reatty gotta show a[[ these to do, he brings things in your tife so yo, can r'. of people what he's capabte sf...That's why they enjoy them. I didn't do anything wrong for love him. I tove his energy rightrnciw, I love to be this money. I didn't rob or kitt anybody. fhe around him. His aggression fuets,:me. lt gives me reason I have things ,nu, ot6*r...peopte don't confidence. llmtheshitatwharldo, andhe'sthe is because I rety on God tsvoik his blessings . shit at what he does; so welre.the shit together. through me. Remember, lcantt tive my tife f6r It's coot, it's a blessing that l'm abte to inspire you or anybody else. We're God's chi[dren, so ::'.,:fij.lr.r.:lvjth ilus'ic.; I m-ake the'type of music, that whatever he puts in me, I attow it to btossom. I makds:rpe.op-1et mi{.9;.]jrf1:.ma!re1,Lrlm.,want lo.l,fuht. might make music and hear peopte say, ,,1 can,t His. energy jumps over the Richter scale when believe he said that." WetL, maybe that's my he hears my voice, and when he hears himsetf on job. Maybe God put me here to make this song our shit. lt makes me feel good to give it my att. io make peopte think. I don't what it's for, bui With Body Head it ain't a.financ'iat thing, it ain'l ,,l,t1",,,t*hat I do. lt fett good to do it, and peopte aboulmoney. lt's aboutfriendship and famity. lt's lovo jt. so, I reatty don't care what one person not just about the busine-ls, it's about rneaning saysi'caule they're not the one deciding if I get :. , Sornelhing. People geejng- and understanding and into the Kingdom of Heaven of not. This is how ,.:rl,.,feelin9,Pqopte cdtt:ine::now and iay, "l just saw tive my tife. You think I give a damn about what ' :,touf'rVidoA;.man. lt.'s cfunk, dawg, you just tifted peopte think? Peonle the song. Everybody I ..a::'U.' lwe Anything else you want to say before we finish? I want to say this to atl the peopte out there that's finding some type of reason to be negative towards me: God bless you. I would atso like to say this to each and every one of you: get a personal retationship with God. That isn't onty for the haters and the skeptics, that's for everybody. Every fan that's listening to me, any person that's ever believed in me and heard me: get a personal relationship with God. A personal relationship is very, very important. lf you don't u nderstand what that is, it's a direct connect. You don't have to go through no preacher, no church, nobody etse. You can go straight to him. I have a direct connect to God, me, mysetf, and I would advise everybody etse to do the same. I work personatty for Him. I might sound crazy or I might sound like a lunatic, and that's what makes me so good at what I do. Get a personal relationship with 6od, trust me. That's very important. Just keep doing what you do. lf you're a hater, be the best hater you could be. Don't just stop hatin'! The more you hate, the bigger I get. Tett the haters to start writing some artictes on me. Tatk about how horribte I am! I need y'a[[ to do that for me, 'cause atl that is gonna make me a superstar. Body Head for [ife. I appreciate y'atl. OZONE MAGAZINE Srpnrvrern 2004 31 Unsigned Hype in The Source in 1996. 5o actualty we had a littte Something going on, so white I was in Attanta working for the AP I was also hustting our demo around. The first people that actuatty showed an interest in Crooked Lettaz was lchiban. Me being the impatient cat that I am, I was gonna go and sign it cause I fett tike being signed was uttimatety what we wanted to do. Lucki[y, Banner talked me out of doing that, and it turns out that lchiban was probably a step below Tommy Boy. But, woiking at,'the AP just kinda gave me a feet for the every,day 9.tq-5 grind. I just didn't tike taking orders::':l didn't [ike working for somebody, man, that just wasn't my forte. And the rap bug had consumed rTr€'so:Inuch that I couldn't think about anything e[se. I was at work writing rhymes, I was at work catting 'A&Rs, I was using their,fax machine to send over press kits, I was using their FedEx number to send demos. I was basically just using that job to cotlect a check. :€ ''' i.$ {B .':::$ r: Since you used to be a journalist, what's your .rl opinion on hip-hop publications today? (laughing) Let's put it tike this: hip-hop pubtica- tions aren't supposed to be used as a propaganda tool or your own ptatform to personalty attack other artists. A hip-hop magazine isn't supposed to be a tool for you to ptace your own personat gripes or beefs in the open. And of course everybody has to make ends meet, but a hip-hop mggazine shouldn't be used as your.own personal caih cow. A[so, there's pubtications that call you and the first thing they ask is if you.::Wahtr::to buy 44.',:rt,,, JIj:r{, vertising. I understand .you've gottei make: money';:l:::r,i:::r, but damn, man! The!'re nott:eVdh,.,:jhterested in whether your irusic :i:i,,good 0i noL:.:rWhen I catt magazine5 tiyin' to geir::Some toVe on rth6:r:editoriat' I ,'. side, dori't j'uit instanlii.,shoot''the ad"ihit,'1q me right:off the bat! A maggitne sho0.ld:r::have th6::rirli.':' .t+yPq!Y tegrity to here would people know you from? On a national tip, I wds introduced to the game through the group Crooked Lettaz. [David Banner and l] signed to Tommy Boy in 1997 and reteased an atbum catted Grey Skies in 1999. We had a critically acclaimed atbum that was commercially stept'on because Tommy Boy sucked. They continued to suck and subsequently went under. That was my introduction to the game. The rap game isn't a[[ it's cracked up to be. Once we got signed and got a deat, I thought we was gon' be on easy street. learned the hard way that's not the case. recognize"fhat we were from Mississippi. So, we were prepared to take on the weight of the whole state on our backs cause we fett like we were underestimated and overtooked. Our demos was getting thrown in the garbage by A&Rs. They'd tett us that when they saw the postmark on the package they'd put it in the garbage or just woutdn't listen to it. The first time you went.,to New Yor.k,'what wastheexperiencelike? ', , . .: It was cutture shock in a sense. I didn't feeI any of the discrimination or animosity, that a to! of Southern cats say they fett from New York, but I kinda got the feeting that they liked the excluWere you a solo artist originallY? sive club they were in and didn't wanna let in I started out in the mid-90's withrra group catted The Network which was myself,',ii1ly brother B- any new members. And the tabets definitety had Dazzle, and this other cat by the'r,,nane q[,JC, no idea what to do with Southern music, at at[. I from Detroit. lt was kinda experimehtal:]:l'Ws were a[[ part of a clique catted the Stowaways, we a[[ met up at Jackson State University, and Banner was a part of that clique. We''d'get together and freestyte and do shows here and there, but we wasn't reatty taking it seriousty. We waS kinda tike a Southern Wu-Tang ctique. We had peopte from Nigeria, Chicago, Detroit, Attanta, and L.A. in the ctique;:Bahher actuatty produced the first solo,ieceirdr'that I did outside of The Netwolk; and that's who we decided to hook'up as argioup. Basicatty, he was digging me as an MC and I was digging him as an MC. There was nobody representing for Mississippi so we decided to do it. Wh€n you chose the name Crooked Lettaz, were you worried about the pressure of representing a whole state? No. I mean, we wanted the pressure. That's why we named oursetves that, because wherever we went they had to say our name and immediatety 32 ^ a rtistr,:ii :Eoa*:r''!:, be,.!1!!Ve,, I n what "., , golta make,rmongy;,,butl, l lie. :hadi::!e,Veitllqats,':eall:l:::r':,i me and befoie they wgii evenriworai€d::$butr:ihowr:rr:r,,r rfiy music sounded they were' shootinl 'me,r!h€y:::ad,,1 ,;: rates. ' That instantlv ,,rilakes .me,, net '6ven rWanna ' , fuck with ''ein.rlVhen Our,Glais is on' itr,] feet'l,'' want to g;t.back into'ihe publishing aipect of the game. i wanna put,out a.magazine, either !afget-, ing MissisSippi artists or maybe a magazine that encompasses the Southein tifestyte. f'm thinking of a Southern Jet or Ebony. How did you get in Unsignqd Hype? We had send in stuff before'and never got a response, so I was reatty disgruntted. I was tired of it, but Banner kept engouraging..me like, "Go lslde from*aPpJng, you were work-ing at the ahead and send it, send it." The first demo that we put,together in 1996, I was [ike, "Man, they Associated Press also? never gonna get this demo, we don't need to waste our time sending il in.'r He wai,like,, "Dude; ' just go ahead'and send i!. ".So I was a!'work gvery ' ,day and I' made'these, [ittte flyer:i,., press reteases, ' "' and I printed on them in big letters:'i'lDavid Bannef ' and Kamikaze gre coming!l''lld,sit there'a-nd fax .it tike forty times. As the days went by, after I sent the package out, I made a new flyer that said: "Attention Unsigned Hype editois:'' David Banner and ,Kamikaze shoutd'be on'your desk right now." l'd fai it like jsix, seveh.times in a row, wait an l ' ,, , , Press was reat btand, btah, btah, btah type stuff. So fresh out oJ,cotleg€; llm in Atlanta covering the Otympiis'{or the Associated Press working crazy hours. didn't know anybody, I was attaf:rtfrom home, away from my tittte girt. But, this was right after me and Banner !!al{got in I AGAZINE SrprrMern 2004 OZONE say,, :this he's doing, s6:',Ilm gonna do,'a::litgryp$'rlii;rii:,,5ome r'''" ' .magazines aaei:like, "l don't give''drfdtk::lvh:O::ryou"-' aie. Witl'yoir buy-a0 ad? I witt put you in my magazine no matter'tiow:Whack:,yoq,,arq, " I know peopte 'ill]::::t:]:]i:]t:u:,],. "Karnikaze is one of the best lvncists in the f,amq period. Not onlv can 6e rhvme. but he's been'grinding sd long he also hasthe buiiness sense and media saYw to back it up." - David Banner hour, and fax it again like six, seven times. I bet they were like, "lf this bastard faxes this shit one more time..." I did the same thing with Murder Dog and they sent a fax back saying, "Stop faxing us." Anyway, Banner was down at Southern in school and I was working at the AP Bureau in Jackson. He calted me [ike, "Dude, we in Unsigned Hype!" .l was [ike, "Dude, quit bulshittin'." He read it off to me. That was a good feeting. At that point thought we were finatly gonna get a deat, but it lurned out to be 1997 before we actuatly got anything poppin' off so th'at was a real long process. I So after you and Banner decided to go separate ways and do solo careers, what was your plan? Based on the ctimate of the game, my ptan was to put out the "U Ain't Hard" iecord ahd get a few hundred spins and then sit back and wait for these offers to come in. l've watched the game; studied the game. I knew I had a hit iecord when I recorded "U Ain't Hard," and my ptan was to sit back and finish the atbum, kinda foltow the same path that Banner fottowed. Unfortunatety, the massive industry shakeup happened at the end of 2003, so my timing was reat, real fucked up. Nobody was tryin' to sign shit. I got the record up to 1 50 spins and I was getting calls from labets every day, and I actuatty took a few meetings in New York but nobqdy was really offering anything I wanted to hear;'rlrve atready been fucked over as an artist, by both a record [abe[ and a manager, so I wasn't in the market for a deal that was gonna have me tose my independence. My tabet Our Gtass is something I've worked on for many years, and I didn't want it to fatl off into anonymity because of me fuckin' with a major labet. When my video comes on TV or my atbum comes out, I atways want the Our Glass.name.to be prominent. I reatly want to be a CEOrbeeaute l don't tike taking orders from peopte. I resorted to Ptan B, which was to put the atbum,out,indeiFendently; setl some units, keep getli4grso.me,tplnsr ali radjol and buitd uP a buzzt Wasn:,tith€re an ir:tiit that claimed Ain't Hard" from you stole "U' him? Oh my God, yeah. lt was this cat named Factor. don't realty know what the basis of the shit was. He had a song a few years ago with a hook saying something about "bustin' heads to the white meat." So when my song came out and started reatly hittin', of course he came out of the woodwork saying that I bit his song or whatever. That's just a common saying out here, tike, "Word?" I Have you ever really "beat somlonili',.hiil'iol the white meat?" Of course not. I've seen someone's head beat to the white meat, though. See, there's Kamikaze and then there's Sho-Nuff. Sho-Nuff is the [aidback character and Kamikaze is the aggressive one. At the end of the day, though, to be perfectty honest with you, l'm just trying to se[[ records. Uttimately I want to make some type of change in society and in the wortd, but in order to get my message across to the people that need to hear it, I have to get their attention first. lf "bustin' heads to the white meat" didn't get their attention, then I don't know what witt. Now l've got peopte's ears and a nice buzz going on in the South, thanks in part to OZONE Magazine and mixtape DJs dnd prior connections that I had ffom Crooked Let(az, you think your prior affiliation with Crooked Lettaz has helped or hurt you as a solo artist? A tittte bit of both., lt helped rne get some A&Ri to take rhyrcalls and notice rny project. But at the same time, you have a lot of people with an ignorant-ass mentatity. They're thinking, "Kamikaze and David Banner donlt work together anymore;l from what I can tett, he ain't fuckin' with him. Do Banner is successful and I haven't heard anything from this Kamikaze cat up until now, so maybe I don't realty need to fuck with him." I haven't run into that a whote tot, but it happens. Then there's some cats who woutdn't give if we were at each others' throats 'cause it's atl about money. lt's about business. a fuck Tell me about your new album, 2 Broke 2 Boll. Do you have any major features? Juicy J from Three 6 Mafia produced a track I did with Nappy Roots. That's my only major feature on the record. I didn't wanna have any features on the record, because I think in the South cats are setting records based on who's featured on their atbum. Selting my records, first thing a lot of cats ask is, "Who you got on there?" don't have nobody on this muthafucka. lt's just me. I don't need anybody on this record for it to set| I stand atone. I got Nappy Roots on the record 'cause they famity and the record kinda landed in my [ap. Other than that, though, it's just famity on the record: Tony B, Godson Royal, I Rett, att these cats are affiliated with Our Glass. Remember when Nas came out and had only one other voice on his record? Those days are long gone, but they need to return. MCs need to be able to stand their own ground. There needs to be a law that you have to be able to hotd down a whote album by yourself. There would be a lot of unemptoyed rappers. A lot of rappers are surviving in the game right now just because they're able to get guest appearances on their record. I ain't callin' nobody's name, but some niggas albums be looking [ike compitations. "'Too brr:ke t* ball'is my mentality. l'm not gonnla ftivolously spend riloney on twenty iars whcn I cair I t -' onty d"nve one at a hme" The welfare oF my kids is way rnore irnportlnt than tl"trr driving a big Fancy car to irnpress' ior.'' -- Kamikazc "Same Otd Clothes." lt's atready getting spins Mississippi. lt's actuatty been received a lot better than "U Ain't Hard," and couldn't have imagined that. lt's reatty catching on, though, and it's reatty a blessing to be able to fottow-up a big song with another song that coutd be bigger. "Same Otd Clothes" was a sleeper song that came up at the last minute. At first I wasn't even expecting it to be a single. The next step is to get a van, bus, truck, bicycte, skateboard, tractor, whatever we need to get on and hit every nook and cranny in M'ississippi, Atabama, Georgia, Ftorida, Texas, Tennessee, Louisiana, and Arkansas. We're gonna promote this record grassroots, through retail outtets and out the trunk. We'[[ go to ptaces in CentraI I where they don't even know what a record store is, and we gon' pop the trunk and we gon' setl records. What about production? You're "too broke to ball," but what happens Wet[, Banner did two tracks on the record, so if you make money? Does your image change? for the record, I am fuckin' with him, and he Too broke to batl isn't an image, it's a mentalis fuckin' with me; That's my dawg and I love ity. lt's a state of mind. You coutd have mittions him to death. of dottars and stillrpe too broke to batt. lt's atl about how you cafiy yoursetf. lt's about not p6:you feel. pres3iire,,to *ti'rbl!sh. yourself as a flaunting your wealth.. When you see peopte solo artist? I mean, people don't see you guys in the ctub buying',,Moet and Cristal and batin the videos together and such, so that's why [in', people basicatly do that shit to show other peopte what they've got. I don't have the time they might assume there's beef. lmean, I'm a man and lwanna make it on my or the energy or desire to show off for anybody. 'Oyn and stand on my own two feet. When have I don't have to prove anything. "Too broke to batt" is just a mentality. l'm not gonna frivoryOU:: ever, se€n. anybody associated with a sucrqeisfu! artist'come out and achieve the same lously spend money on twenty cars when I can sUiC€!s:::as the person that put them in the onty drive one at a time. I've got kids, and the gaiiielr,;|A€r::and Bann€i hive tatked about this. wetfare of my kids is way more important than He doRlrt;lhave to be in my videos, I don't have me driving a big faney,,carr.to impress you. lt doesn't matter how much money I have. lf I've r!srrrbe,,:i:n my videos. I was in one of his videos, actuatly. Scheduting conflicts prevented him from got twenty, thirty mittion dottars in the bank, being in my video. I don't have to be atl over I'm stitt gonna be the regular everyday cat. l'm his record, and he doesn't have to be atl over stit[ gonna appreciate and respect the everyday mine. l:rwant to be able to:itand atone. I don't working man. That's the whole basis of my a[want anybody out there to be able to say, "Ban- bum. lt's too much talk about rims and such in ner put that man in the game." I never asked rap now, and it reatty frustrates me 'cause it's peopte are flaunting their weatth in my face that man for anything, wen though I know that tike and in the faces of the peopte who work hard if the opportunity was there att I'd have to do every day. There's peopte I know that go out is dsk. lAiidl:the same:iOnttmy:tenditirtqut.,r.lrlveir.got a point to prove on my own, just for those people there and work their ass off 9'5 every day, and at the end of the month when they get their who are ignorant to think that I must have been check they stitt-barely making ends meet. Then g!'ourp::::Oiice I prove my they turn onr the TV and see a muthafucka talklhe wef:kl:,,linrkrrlrofil,lher po!,nt withr!hiE,'reeordt, they'tI see. Anyway, it's ing about, "l got'eight cars!" And he's pouring bdtter',rfo't',,,Misiissippi:'for cats to come out on Moet on the ground and shit. lf I saw that, I'd t,t ' thei own; be pissed off. l'd either want to rob the nigga or kitt him. That's extremety frustrating, so peopte Deating with New York labels, do you think need to look at the TV and see somebody thdy the attitude has changed towards the South can identify with. I think l'm somebody they can or Mississippi in particular? identify with, and they gonna get an atbum futl A littte bit, but we've gotta get at least two or of damn good music. I think this is some of my three artists gold or platinum artists out of this best work to date. I think it's a diverse album. state. lf we don't, they'tt took at it tike a fluke. I don't think it's a typical Southern record. I I've got to do at least as welt as Banner did, and tried to concentrate on the lyrics to this album. then they't[ start scooping peopte up. A[[ I can say is, go to the website or record store and buy the CD and judge for yoursetf: What's the next single? www.Kamikaze60l.com. OZONE IIAGAZINE Srprfl'Brn 2004 33 $$c rB& ':, 9r'6+' t4s* '; ;H t'ii*' t*d"€ s $b tu\; ffi,I DaBakWrr& H. LABHL r{Eq{ryFllq@ *u GOHtrtA fif sttT # stitGLE ffATIOHAL APPSAL LovE tuE, ffi' RANls ffRPLAY ffi" $rt *'i- i+$i$ ii::*" ..lkindahadthatfee[inpon.thetow,',admitsSho.Nuri..|ivr"renwerecorded'.,ffi {i irJ i lt'! i{.s r F:r" reetinl witrr ir," rtilt r,'"rr, ,ii',rn"jor way Entertainment', the "tt's a btessing n"* pi"pi" $t{iitlt!:."Ji;ff::;i:ii,"*y;#;lni^}j g^?itJl1i9il,9: tnuiong, the song,"" savs *yi Big ad;1r.. ,raiii iLe n"""'"riijii.* ii" ;'":ilt;,fl:".Hffr{.f*i*:ll'ifr;.,lHi::11ur^i:?:,nll"*x"""**::: Backwudz. rnmnri.o.r blH tW ,,r[ii;, *r,ut i!:'i!*iillTs::iiyrl'":J;J1,".:'."i;ffii'""#:iil1,:t-;l'i "?'n,i"i',l,",uu, Big Marc atl.t. i;:J;'.J-:,i;"t"T,iiilT:fiT si,i:!"#r:L"-fi,iljy;lllx,t*l d'r'-f;;;*#l;' express orrretu"i,;'iuu-r'ilig ,tnur.. .,we tike .rrnt m-rsr., ioui'rffi!",. eoiriu iadr, ;i,t.i ,j?ir?rways had a broad spectrum of s""i ;"iit=ij.orporating arr tnose anlies. They,ve got the cieativiiy or Ludacris, ;;; tt;:;;k i rl;ioi.;;ri..**i"iii,,,gre,s tr::ili,.i,lt"X]'lior iniecrious noo[, muny "r ffi] o*'t pi"n io,qffi;;h:l;:,:# .1i,'.'if:,Trr"t""1T1q.;i#ry.Fifi:;,.",Tlr;;inxli:-,:ir*r:t: €lt ::- i fiili iii,"" ffi --:,6fus;-- t'$,",**** :i r; beads' rhev gon' hate-,ie." wril" that caregory. "we've sot a tot of but we're not one-dime"nsionat. " fttuii music' and the Backwudz n.""," o*".u number one' of course' u"tvou r""!";',v i'"-,he gime. v"r;ri"lt*"vr'gotta thenextman.,'Thevhooe.ro.reteasetheird;buf;A,yr,iv,","awi1i,.o-VinJi,ri-"f "G man' " sho wani |]:T;:[E ffi:: #r;,J"#i:?ii',"##:n','#i:* ',tl"dl keep working harder than theyear.,,r,,it"in:n;vor, ro,. in" do,]ir, i.itilil"n,r ", *fr*auw- 0""";\ Apallo k&d ffinu$TRY FirTFllYlstr RAW TALHruT & PSTg}TTIAL @ =Fi ;ff*l 9S4t{ 1,":.+ t h.*i Bgdr i;il lrurl Ff re Ea. s:: =; igr =l ffir BttKttnW I-ABEL Sqfid$|cstfe csLfrB corLABoRAroR$ HOT PROT}UCTIOH &l sTR*cT euxu i E-.J E:z tsE *ii # tr in junior high schoot after his famity moved Born in Pittsburg, 23-year-otd Apotto Kreed found his catting he recatts' "l found mysetf battting to AtLanta. ,,A cat moved i" ry"t"lgnb"rhood with u drut"ta.hin"," was known for booty-shake music' south the time, the At tabte." rri.iinii".lt' u.ui everybody, rrying to and Nas. Then, outkast NWA,.Jay-7, Eazy.!, Kane, Daddy "u, Big tike artists uv but Apotto was heavity innu"n.lo first guys that made the was "l'outkasu exptoded on the Attanta t.*" *t-ri soutnernplayilitiiiilaiuorirttk. music, " says Apotto' He caught his. fi rst break nooty-sfrate riot South, p-6sp in ihe ni iust reat is there reatize me on six trackion his atbum Magic's Kingdom' He in 1999 through OJ Magic f*ikei*ho.om*lrSon"d hit to uirp"ut Apolto was sent back to the drawing tabet'comptications, due to but Mike, *itl-r moved down to orlando to *oik Lauryn Hitt's lvliseducation' work.on his for known Nobtes, board. He recentty tinked up with producer Vada artist. "VJ Records is a true indie," Vada first as'their lpotio signed ri".!rai, toi"vL A&R an as serving vada, With some industry vets working behind the scenes' exptains, "We've got some itructure, some Sackbohe to it. " ,,straight possibte major distributors' with his numerous several t with tutt in lna"p".O".i'-urt vJ Records is puts a tot.of-emphasis on tyrics"' His mixture of *ho rapper influences, Apotto describes'himsetf as "a southern a tot of things going on in the passion, energy, ana tyricaicont"ttt n"pi separate hiri?rom the masses' "There's peo,pte the news' But I love to party' too' potiticat, l.give "l'm Jouii';h"'tuyt. iuif,ing wortd that rappers "r"n't u o--rrr in_tr'u southeast, hetping to prepare fans Don,t get it twisted.,, ni, ri*iui", rni we.ign-in,.is.gerierating by Julia Beverly, jb@ozonemag'com & words hunger Paiis. Phot-o i*'triirp."|iine d"urt '!;i!"J ! s* "' "tnum, :+ ii F= t' i.= rgffi .En F=. F.=+ while the P$c's (Pimp squ3d ctiq.ug) T.l. reigns as the setf-proctaimed King of the south, it would be easy to catt Big Kuntry King "The Prince.;'.But.acc.orling to him,.he.a;;;t;..;;i";'atotarty different position in a separate hierarchy. "That's [T.1.'s] thing," sayiKuntry. "l'm a muthafuclini mobster.,,some dedicated pSC foltowers already know him as the hus[y brother featured on T.l.'s street anthem .,Heavy chevys,,,white others simpty know him as the voice behind underground hits tike "stitt runtiy;juno ,,Throwback.,,He isn,t an instantty recognizable figure, but, he says, "lt's nit about fame, lt's anoui ieiting the country hear my voice. I just try to keep it up and be consistent." consistency ana att-alounolrinJin!are quatities that are promoted to the max in the PSc clique and the offices of theii record labet, cLnJ H,]rii". Big Kuntry has retenttessty pounded the pavement with a wave of freestyles and.songs popping up on DJ Drama,s GangstaGri/lz, Attanta radio stations, and his own independent miitape ertort-ni irm io"Eol. it-a-o tnr"" songs a day,,,says the charteston, sC native. "l'm always in the studio." As for h-is first ornciai airL,m, Kuntry ptans to stick it out independentty so the dotlars witt make sense. "'stitt Kuntry'and 'rhro*nu.r;i'ive both been on the radio, so when I bring my tracksheet to lmajor] tabets, they're rea'dy to cash out. aut r m sticking with Grand Hustte, 'cause that's where the reat paper'i gonna be." Kuitry^prides himsetf on niiinaep"noence, hoping to avoid the identity crisis that artists tike the st. Lunatics and Df2 have suffered rrom aru'to their poputar H.N.l.c.,s. ,,1 did a mix cD by mysetf. when you stay under the shadow,-yo, .un;i tho* u'iJirou"," boasts the z5-year-otd. "When I come out, l'ma come out. I'm standing in front of-the cameral" r*"rll." G. Garland (photo: JB) *+ Ii It-::::.5 -:' i'i:.e".i.d ;a-e- lG:: n5};e* :,1't' -" B-r HIT $IIT€LE Dam Fran *hieo IfiAJOR LAFEL SACKIilS INAEPXNDSHT HU$?LE Boyz # tr ur rFHXTfflslTlox the it! Even those of you who hated onBovz ,,ln my white tees, in my-white tees"'" come on' admit Franchize uut rinir rylo^""t Tees" (an catchy summer banger "r.;lj0;;;ii;"rp numbir"t".g.'ir.,"'t""t oi"ilrponr" s6ngs, such as "Pinktheir riu*n"J'u tabet' popr,ui"ti ro on the map rn",ru.."ir?' wniiu'i""t" secured *t *". anonvmous camron airrl lni".,iil;k i;";." [+?lii*::**]ii;'nJ:;:i:lt;X;J":[:il::|ff ]""{: rishi2Der,adeatwith'1,.',Y,"i;1fwn"n the officer putl'ed him over ano reatr/eu '=-"ti, ii'x"i' '"1"" v;"tr ;;3li;"ffi;.:;:,Ji;; i;"'' used 'lo ##f;t"";ffi."Jjtl*X*:;,'rH;iff;?,*y'tiiffiH"iTii,Jil'di$11,i!i; ;l;?i#.;il;_ry:::lll#:,,11,s,*::ilLti-J,i:i*ilfi:l[1"ffi *t*'"!",iiTili go t or gang bangin" "No matter where You they_'re into r"ri#tn'rii. "r-.iun lop.pi.n' Jizzal Man' and Buddie' cotor, what creed, it a""r.,i.",a"7if tn"'torr-."tili'ei;"p-(Partae' thev att wear white,""r.i; ru"rliuiiy, j" ii says Partae' when it comes Pimoin')embracestn"i'soui't"in*'Joti"'oo*nsoutt-i'iiiuboitcrunkmusic'wetyricalbutat ,li.:ii=* u",iino* no* *" a" ii your game "!""tt'"' the same time we,re Franchize warns' "Get *""t, uiuin ro, p.rices *otAt bv Julia Beverly' to ctothing tines that .n"rg" ouii#ous iike cheap ti,iiirlf pi'"i" ir" E€fu right, ,cause Franchize jb@ozonemag.com ".=il" ;;;. W; " 1*AS5L 71{BPr'ql".d8* "na HO[rtsTOWN SUpPOaT $TRTET S$AA FIOT pROOUCTtOt'l "MY CLICK' ffi/ g' W ln.Tampa, an area mostty known for its bouncy bass and superficial ctub joints, the Eve'nin Ridahz ctique brings a street element to the music. i'We're known in the streets foiour struggte tyrics, ..lt's our.hood lyrjcs, our rhythm,".they emphasize. not att about violence, it;,1*t a oir%rent giri to the wortd." The four-member group, consisting of shime, r.rir", L-iru"l, ini orizzte (currently incarcerated), is signed to deepty-rooted Tampa labet 2-4-1 Records. The iour met white working together at a day job and eventuatty became roommates. "We had a basic hote-in-the-watt studio at the house," says shime. "We've got this vibe that's more than ;rri mrric-, it', u 111ou"r"nt. We're brothers." After flooding the streets of Ftorida with freestytJsina ,nOJrgrornd mixtapes, preparing for the retease of their first futt-tength arnum, aiighi Nt gh'ts !.[9 clgrp is and Dark Days. "That's got a real strong meaning to it," they explain. *fhe wortd'is di;i;t; what you see it to be. The sunshine can deceive you. At night, we reatty see tne ultyliii o?'ihe earth. That,s why it's Bright Nights." Combine the street success of their singte ,,lAi'c[i;f.;'*iif, tn" production and and backing of 2-4-1, and a hit singte doesn't seem far offior th6 gro;p. Airor the so-catted "Tqmpa curse" (the one-hit wond_er syndrome), the Eve,nin Ridahz saftnei;r" n"r" to break the mold' "we're gonna become.the foundation for everyth.ing that comei ori'or iurpu," the group says confidentty. "We know this music business takei harc work. We don't betieve - in the curse, we believe in us'" - Photo and words by Julia Beverry, ib@ozonema!,.or--- [ffi .*AB*L*hlRsgo!:d9.._ "GIITil'IE A BREAK' .- rHngpgHtlEl'lr HusTtH ffit PER$ISTEHSE *REATry.tTY tr ry' +: i= ..We,ve Biq Mook. ..1 just want peopte to know that there,s more to Tampa than,getting crunk,,' emphasizes glg tr,toot< got fris'siait in th-e gamle from watching otder famity members ft"r"f;; oo*n tyricists got some reat p".V Eipress, and recentty has worked with wettfreestvte. He beqan by working with Ftorida legends li* to Down Aecords' He's hoping to position himsetf uno-olrty Recordi, .ii?""iiix"-o""i" s, 2-4-1 some shine bring to tryin' the.grind kid.o,n a s."n". 'iim lust bring Tampa to the forefroitoiinl nip-frop *rsii elg, is stated.for.a N-ovember release' He promises to the Sunshine state," t"vi,trl"r-HiJdebut aLbum' ihlnk production.from Sonnv Crack and Kashem Feaiuring hi;-rt";. ;#";;;;i that the atbum witt e*pto/"'i'h" ptans to give tisteners a glimpse into his Mdk Bi; vu-'i.", ruur.ui Sadiq and a guest upp"uru'n*irotling"t fans' ne;i inspirea OVlii",'n" iromises.to satisiv a wide range of hip-hop personatity. For this tracks"' savs Mook' The "rtit;;l;';t; ;.t,ve got joints for ft," .rro,"i*'goi iome L"ritv-nui"i ionit, ind d"finit"ty-turical whereas the ieiond slngte t Totd You 5o fires first singte, Gimme a sr"o[j i"Lkr=io p1"ur" tniyri."ili"*-a,' sound tike the typicat iampa artist' he's sti[[ just because-Big,fi""f,4."i.'t back at some of Mook,s critics. But *ooai. ;i got tove for cats tii<e Knowtedge' the SK Squad' sot love for those Ooing Oi;t-hlngt in his neck ot tn" representins il;;r";i";;;';rruroor..irh"'" are arr cats that are rearrv and in'depth tyrics witty seekins when noriaa io usuaLtyiook Tampa tyricatty." White il;i;;;it;oesn't says Mook, "l just done," and said att it's "wh"n star.mJtluui"a. subiect matter, that,s what keeps this rising wno do-ubted me and say, 'l totd vou so!"' - DJ Majick ii;ilii;;. ffi;,;ffi il;;:;;'6,.iii ili"; ;; il;;;il;t"'t" :e+=tse;tryq-{ .:ff,"+ r #r iil I lia j=;,.- i: I ' iil'W rh.' i""t o".l-"fiiose a.' i.. $+ i;i il &f ta g i iltil t" ,, t $ + :l; E ''u.; FruT,=.H.e'r*"'::;'.:"t$" .[. FruT,=.H.e'r*"'::;'.:"r$1" trqt-[{ftr}.: '..*fi:;**u "'";''u.; gl-* gl-*efr#;*ffi'..* f:;*5t "r:.T1" l{}{",0 -i"{tl.*.-u*=:.'$' efr#;*ffi*"""; "it:li*_l'_T =,rn j, -ffi'J+ *-+rtg' Ht i€q+ il-,***-,,,*--..*. - s#ffi H ffi lH ffi Clnrrilliwlglba tnrx?rFrr:a?,"r* =*M: * :rn,l_:";; :i :: ffl{}{",0 1-ABHL {qlar Clungirq' Ctiqft ffi *ilIXTAFE rr'6n,r'* "uly'r^rrg iilE$SIAH, fAH' ffiffitrT., ru/ ffi- ffi REGIONAL NOTORlEry INDEPENDENT HUSTLE rNtFpriuidn;.#ui?* NAilru RAilroEiipirv AINPLAY u ar p #i. ffifu i$l fF$ and was nominated ror i"a"nilffi so,irie_iwi;d,'il;il;l;:Hi'Ji?,# lli,ff::1:Ifii"t_0.9,-o^o_1_:_"fig' atthetime,sowhenhellefteaioinirurfanij'irIni'iu.r,toswishahouse,r"*:-Y-"1'-"goinitnrouchEoliems;u " ffi i-9, chamirrionaire. "r was iuit tired i, *oir,iJ'r"Jr'rir"i"ov sortof controt'notiusis'1g,o991ters9"hr.ir"glii',ii,a".irionl.rrp".iiitviir'dont.omptetetytrustthem.,, ;r:i!-:, , Jf,::v.llr;x;j;H: "r "t*. niln" ".;; * trW&5'ffi *$*f*f****'a**fim*"m*mfiftffiffi ri { ff ;f has,il; ;iG; ;;.::iff;. nffi?ilr,;?iT,i:":.?:l,,lLrrr..6:;1i:::i[:i*:: .r#i"I;"t:[iiTll:1i[{:fiiqll:;'J.1'ffilii'Jlt,.,.",l,rdn.f,:lnl?:inx,ti::tr.::r,r: Jones. swishahouse . ."." $. $ F .,ft::fri fi iiti#tfl;ffi "r,'rT!!i#:Hii:?i',:r";,':;r,;q; i*ilit:'i:il,$"#iil*"l'*il{fffi ffi ffii fi*fif:ffi;g;t[t'$fl'JH ;; .6;;;r;ps .".orarl ;;,,ti;;r: be m 1t1ignt.w.rre1 4lai ir,f}i,',''ffi regardress. r,m irrsi =# ffiH i;;-l streets'-l've alwavs sotd sps+tY i{ifi i il'*:'.T,r'1.:;}n[T,'iffil,",?Hmur";}**rir,*:;*1fl rong"'.''ti.k.,'--:;ji"=;";:iilit6"l3ilil:TJ;'nort end or the stick/i h;;;;;;. ffi i*ff "^"11:^:1: "r'm just trying to g"t "ru $@ru-,a**r&@* €a.* if,ffi ,+s= {t g' Gaingsvll9' I *giy"..-E Bi,g # I Florida lroMETovllt{ $uPpsnT RAI'II TALEHT & POTSHTIAI Bud w ur .5k g* H Just ask Big Bud' I 4,000 atbums in the smatl. cottege community of Gainesvitte, FL is an accomptishment. i ,u,,,n* :=I,G"ISetting4,000a[bumsinthesmatl'co[[egecommunityofGainesvi}l"l!Lj'-:i1.^.^"ill'lT:.*:',.1*fIP:i":y* about a hu-nared I within ii6i"t ,,1 mom-ana-p"p just in and hano-to-hand I sotd ltn Bud We rrustl independently, e&1 *; I'. I F L"' i$i ililnt#:fg#n"':,*1i"J,'y#HTh':;?ll1ul"&i::T;if;?if;,:1ffi',''l$:l'""*,tU!15! t"*iifi'ii:{:ffi ryImI:ntj,fi*}jfi"i::l'':l.:iilry*:;::ujll^:''"ru;iU[t!*"dff{iqi:ii.*$i"T}n,i'i'ffi t*iiri*ir*T#t*itr$ffi i"ary[*gr1',8-il*ti,'ffi IF thl Luu.nii", Ufp, lV19rs, I way"mot" I F "l myilte," iftgtj I I L ldon't *ll*yi***ilFnl+,il1:,iffi u t l$l*l$x'ql. #fii"H{Htirirft i'of .ourr" ;'rii" "lt up.; ti i;ffiil.o6! ii, r*:i,"rii' versatiti:I w t"ne!, e,a tuv' I ;;; *j"*::lsll:j?J*'#iil"-',lr*l*:;s'#fi:I;Tti[:ltli".,'"lr*m:tm,i'l'.'llu;:il:5 tn" b";tti; Gde :I!."19:-fl:Li:T:,:J"l11::",^nt*iti I F '."r.i.e #l & Webbie, Bil and Li[ Boosie Blg Mystikat, T.1., Master e, Trina, Lit,Wayne, ,,1 feet tike there's he sighs. att done been a stays on the road and on the grind. Bud's atbum contains name, mightguess.from-his forthe-Uattas.;'-tr,"!ou rap so battas, struggtas than -ui weea s-nouto be tegatized!" he savs. from #IryI*s++ +iE €+ l #d *i{ l. fuf*r #n|;rl Frash catms the. sav- that his fr*ru'd*$$*ffitrfr!illiflutffinl#tq IF I-ABEL -fryfallFb(600nds SELEB coLLABoRAroR$ *SOttETHltlG FRE$H" g, IT.IDU$TRY K}IOWLGOGE PER$I$TgNCE aEH l{ s: 1I 'ffi1 FJ rhJ 14 el si 'i # ,W itr H &$ #di := as =:T ;l Brimming with youthfut exuberance, it's ctear that Fresh has a bright future. He started young, signed to ..we were o."rt. or u ero;p rike the "jioit ,p, olne -f,eri;;;';;;gr, sochird. onty one woutd show up for practice"'Due to a tieht coniract, rresn tanguiitrea"aut [n"iun5ii"r'i"""r"rl".rs without ever reteasing an atbum' when his contract-finauv ended, hu r. ,n! psc crique and met producer cyber sapp, who signed Fresh to his tabet tnrattible Recoias. "r',1on ine grind in since n",t nu"n the south for years, Fresh atready had songs recorded with artists tike Bonecrusher, voungstoodr, r.i-ij""la Trittvitte, Archie, and Kitter /vlike tong before they-acrrievej ..when ;cess. everybody started btowin' up, they were atrdv my horieboys,', tiyi i*rr,. "r ut.uuav hia'n*lr si* rong, with each of them, so I put out an atbum to get a reiponse." i6tt something rresn'vil.-t u nrg" success and sold out1n the Attanta area at stores tike FyE and Best Buy. Heatso recJiveO atbtim ontine fror., iu,. as Baghdad'.The lead singte, "Hev Fuck Boy,; was iota "rauiifoiti" to "*uV ani witt appear on Bonecrusher,s upcoming album' Fresh is currentty preparing'for the retease ot rett rr"rn vol. 2, whichfeatures Paulwalt, chingy, Akon, stim Thug, souila sti-m, xiiterl,tit<e, ciat.; doh;g"o;;d his ctique the Get Money Boys, among others' several maior tabets have expressed interest, but Fresh is more cautious this time around. ,,1,m tn"n i i,il'n"ppv'io-n","uting peopre, so I wasn,t realtv focused on the businEss. Now rim atr ui,out pupe;;;i ;;:"Jtli;';#Jd, sounds of Attanta/univerr$:.-"]-1r 1s9 ,1,3 Temptations, " he taughs. "one person_"!wo-rra ue .iii;-p;;i"r rtiiiJJor;;;;;;ith; iil;; ;";#r.''J ui ;i,';:i;or, ii, L"*"];;';6;i ii i[ifiiiirg :llll"X:*."lnl"^*^:F^r^:::::i_i:,!il;.;e;:k *ii fid;:H:ti":r:::"; # tr $hock ffir H*T LIVH PERFORIfiAI{CKS Ms' Mississippi) (better known soto artists Q and Gotditoxx 'as MS' the labet Future Shock Records consists of Jackson' ri-i.]i"""t"pt.Li"ntine una ."rpiir"O and a group catted Da o-r""r, "iZri ir*li'itti, irtotrt Mulik VoI' t ' Q is the most i"J,rti.gltt oDted to retease a .o,n'r,uf;o| "iil,il fiis rhyries on"tt""i-ilf. lvrical member ot tne group]fl.using gh wi th the and everyday struggtes' "ip"'iences Hot Bovz' she began :l{ }-Tg:J.::^YT :: "*:*:f i;:T:li:"t:,tl;"'i:'r? bv ihe inspirea tf B:,i,i::lT";::L"i SJil.i ,;;;;;s th" cu,r'-ruron"v "ii. rv(c w19 wfites her own [vrJ'ti,it-n,iJee9 in.i your freestvrins with friends "ra'ii,irii"ivi*"iop"a ,..turp,,, which encourag"t *oti"nit tne"ctub to atternatety "Make ics. shock,s first singte, in the region' white it # Da A-ream comes throu ', risht cheek jumpl Make vo'l''Ett u[ iitprav #;li i;;;];;"t u*t pi;ll"eiemates voiunteer to demonstrate u*ur"irJir'ii oa i-reim misht sound anatomicatty iirn.utt, the femate member of e;i;t""-, nrJ"t"i;; *"nu"u"r"ji #ri;iihJ;i1"*r. thi ass.shaking i;gut.*n.n"u". express. mysetf sexualty on to f need ,,1,m onty nin"a"?nllri-,u-iuugi,'i. the crew? more difficutt to promote an t;n..';;;;-i" do.'Suieiy,-it can beisn't a song, it,s not something iil, worried' "we've got good rut iuiure Shock urtirt, entire record labet as "pp#;',; iuri'on" t"""' ar-'"v J"* buying our CD and supporting music, and they way ,".ni'"'""*'0""r'ri."*i.;'lt Product' it's rrs'EvenHatrresDurs""'";i';;]niiioiatuvJuliaBeverty'jb@ozonemag'com Even Hattiesburs us. iTliliff:J""::H"t':tsood ""0 and worqs Dy Jurtd finna sett," says N-Sane' Photo illioJi' ini;;i'- Kadallack BaVz I*ABH; Cslli,S* B#fds lp-til *i:f Rscords "AHHHH*BOOM!" IOEHTIFICATION €t *HffiF *OLLAESKATONS s' g" HOT pAODUCTtCIht "Energetic" would be an understatement when describing a live performance by the six members of the Kadattack Bovz. sweating profusery in their *r,itl t"", ;;;;;;;i;] areaos swinging wildty, you can usualty catch them witdini out on stage as the crowd forms the hip-hop version of a mosh pit. st'itt, they resist the "crunk" laoet- ,,ltis a tot of cats jumping on stage saying they crunk' we ain't never called ourselves.crunk. we just get on the stlage'ani entlrtain," exptains the group's unofficiat spokesman, Tex James, "wetve jJst got that r"*i. we entertain in_ got into one srr6w. we m;kei;;pi"'*unt ".-"igv more, keep ;1""*:j ilp^, j.jlTg,l:,I^,^"I:f-,!jig,*:J" '1q1i;1 p^oqr" ui"*i"e',i""'i;,;il :i""J,:: ii::i"s-?;Ji:::l?Titgl: ":'r:J . e#;fi;:;5 il; #;;;; ilj il;: ii"i'il:r;. ;;,;f, Records, or smurr. inr;";-h :lX,::1';.':trX?11 yang Twins, the singre duces for the ying U"^:T..:..Touipark was inrusel wiir, L,iir" the opportunitv to work with otner nfher ceo?eia Gpn-roir rF^ k-i^^:^' LL- tt...-,! +f;6Y;: :li: T""; ,t',;;;"i';:"::,H".:i: aiti,i;h";;;;i;;;;: il: '.ri"t..^l^ .rames. in"i, i*ei"i"th;;:',il;i,';;;;;;,::; :",1:Tlly",:flIpllllJ^":ly:: l":"d:: rnom r'3"i11" w;;;i';c d;;;,iil;:'"#' F-lTll:"*1: li":'?:["i*?:i:?,"i,:11* ,,:_?:.i:": aon;ii""i!i"*J;ffi;: :S.:tp,T:::::I^t?..y:'f.ylll lX", ::.:Hg :Tt":,1o!,_"_!r;w" got *lii'""iii'a'';k*";r,=#;"ilUiffi'Jl time to beout n"r" o'"inrin;.'w";*'F;fi:fl li?:'_,'"?_'Ii1;,^II3l::Ti:b.-!ve ?in't d9{ i,;;"ri;:ii ;;J: iff lilj'il[l"",yl':,'::TJ: i:r ?.::E: ::.v, "g!;i:;!r keep it poppin'." - photo and woids byjulia'eevlify, ;ueozonemig.co; ;il;'Ti# iil: ;il: rrliiriilrii ii;i1"i{iilli.:iiiif lt'li*lliiiljllliriiillii{l.$i;:llt.,;r fr, il' Dallas, Texas v fj Pky-N-Skilla ISgHTIFICATIffH ds ".*-" g ." ITfiAJOR LAMtrL $ITPFORT ffi ili HsT slhlsLx f iil n*nlo fiRFLfitr cousin to the North: Dattas' The truth iii'i; white the industry is buzzing about Houston, it's easy to forget its big some of the best artists in the i+ out-on, you'ie missing your fix, Texas rot just ioutlon ui tooking is, if you,re has already produced a few ofier-.Datlas to ib'i'"ining r'ur iepubtic state. Every region in tnis'naiion-sized in the D for some time now' tegends Unlerground is Ptay-N-5kittz. stars (Erykah Badu and u.o.C.i,ino next up i'The t*intii hlve graiuated ttcertified Batter status with their as to reierred often brothers two these pabto, anJ eorie thugs N Harmony. But it's their solo atbum, ;;:'i production work on atnrms iiom t-ii, Ftif , e"t"y i' coming out straight throu.gh. Universal Records on October atbum's process, that,s gonna ;;;h tor. "Our The Ftip, Lit' ;l.' from got features proauctioni-strdio "We'ue in dattas. 26th,,,says ptay from hi, Si00;0clb trimetime ir n a lc" ra lb ff Adina Hoviard, and Pimpin' Ken,'we ''iii Lit, Jon & the East Side Boyz, Krayzie Bone, Layzie s".;,-6i;ittlonaire, with everybody on the atbum'",The iii' versei for some'beats so we-traded background, come from a producing with a simple DR-202 beat i;tr started.out They schoot. high in DJing days iilit duo has come a tong way ;i;?; was a real big step for :;':.:: ptatinum artists' "Ftip for proa-ucing no* machine, working with tocai artists. They're ,,fhat,s what reatty pJt ur bn. He came up to Dattas and was gonna do a coniinues, game,,,efay rap the us in ffi featurewithme.HewantedSt0,000,though,unol*usiiro!,;Ni*,younotgettin'that,pimp'lgotthesebeats;:ll He stayed in Dattas for three months, 'il tr D though, we can swap., r pr"vla-n*-i"*L o-"utt and tnl r"ri *ut hiitory. Now the atbum is ptatinum plus' and the whole banged out about sixty tt..Xtl."J thirteen made- his atbum. pushermatl@aol'com (Photo: Jonathan Mannion) sonziti' matt heai-Ptay-N-Skittz." to got chance a wortd rt l'$ It* 5t D :iir"il;;;t?rilili.i#liliri}::'::r :t LABEL sriflDirdy w nsRK FT!$C lf'lSnFS*,lUENT HU$TLE ffi' nAnts A|RpLAY ffil' " takes persistence and creativ" r;ri;i;"g;kiiir producer and rapper' he's been ffi f;; ilij!!-;ilifry;;TrJr.Tn',?ffi::lgi1rrixriliil:;1','"'J$:,j'g=,,'ir;;;;;#;i#:..d illf::iin'#ia"ffi'n'J.qT$-Tr;'fi"+l!'#Ti{rrf-*',:,":'ffil':H",:!$rt*ml",i iorji]rr,ir",,','i"v t#; gooa 1; ff.ll #ii ,,,r 205-333-d77g $: i+t sr ii $.,.' *unt $t.+ taoeroigei. o,iiJir xi""v +ilf iiriiS.il fig!.trj*tll';,,.*r"1,.'*.{TJ:T,?d??f at or 404-438-783ii:i;il" t"'n"rrv, jb@ozonemag..d, t", route-too."' ix"-';;; reached {+: i+, "irrt;u:;ff,."T:blg;t:j,':g:;''[u; ira"p".!"rt artists,,,he says. exunipie-r* | l* , F ffi;ffiil,,i""Jli;iiJ".i#Hil: pi.[J'riiri, *h";;;; i";; ril;#::l,t ilt y,itil:1,3t*kmru:,;;;j[1"*t:""rntl:ifiusic] ,hey aon,io"iiuu" ,," uttimiieg;;i;;'i" ill F.' in promoted 'cattGradv'bv riding arounJ Attantaln u'u"n. we had a rorarp"ur.liYn'rl""t:i"n:^i:y^tlta.1gt' rront or the crubs the srrtta clubr, tn" srfd""i irror, song. Radio DJs heard a6out it, una it tr,"r".;; *uar".,, a crub joint, (enny the independent grind. "My I I t"' quatities tt.t x"*vjh"ras has in abundance. As both a p"irl.inii'rrri.ll ai"uriii.i"'ri" i"rl il;i'""". He reteased two albums i!iTfi*::r# Kennv prans to rerease-anotrrer arbuniii"#iu ri, oe "q9i:"-l =flw :ii =.',.=n ffi it i LAsxL tJtfni;l "BOTTLf; ACTIOH'' ==m fl'rr. ft*A"'NN LABEL AAGKIF*S :,. ry $E EF style as "R&B/pop/hip-hop" and startBorn and raised in the ATL, Miss B (short for Miss B'Havin') describes.her ctub banger to get he.r big break' row-dy a crunk, it took s-titt, Ptoteee. ed her career singing in . l'HeaabLissa," t'liss B recorded the official 2004 anthem for feistv women, .ffi =ffi i*pir"J fV if," ,u1.6* 9;;6:;ti; ot iong! ite ,,Bottte Action,,,which is gaining airptay on mixtapes and radio stations throughout the country' "l don't fight' year's incident that she used as the basis don,t argue, I just hit tirat Uitiir-witfr u Lottt"," she raps, recatting last of mine worked the door so I didn't have a fr-iend and a.clun, at for her singte. "t was meetinf a coupte friends chicks was tike, 'Who the hetl does to pay to get in,,, |."r"ro"irilirr-Bl "l *"nt around theiong tine, and these peoptes and this.girt came up tike, 'oh, she think on riy waiting bar at the sitting t was Later, she is?, she think jList g'ranoea the fiist bottte I seen and hit her with she att that!, I ain,t say not6G untit she reached ou"r"*u. t said she started everything' By the time witn&ses-that had ground, but I it. She was bteedin, unA th" irit-if'" herway of tife' "This is just a stepping the potice came lwas gone!;'stitl, ttiis a emprrasizes that viotence isn't it worked, since "Bottle AcI am."Apparentty, who reatty isn't tuyt. "This aooi,;'in" get tn" in to me stone for on recording for the focused currentty she's Records. Def 50 Ptaymaker/so with deat a tion,,enabted her to ink current shortage of the with atbum. debut upcoming her wett as as So So Def Dirty Southarr-sioir compitaiion ptan to sex up her image for attenstand-out femate MCs, Miss B caters her music towards women, bui doesn't says' "But l'm more hip'hop punk' tion a ta Lit' Kim and Foxy Brown. "They do their tning, and I io mine," she Beverly, Julia by words ib@ozonemag'com and Photo time." same puhf the at sexy, but lt,s ft;i .,ffi ,ffi ,:::::i ,.-'.9 ffi i'.=€-. : --"'. ffi ffi :ffi ;w *==r.a ffi i=-==-= ffi =ffi I $"E # ;:. 9+- * Fr & ,. e{: *f; i-1: fi'" ffi$ 4 Hu gf Jfii si Ff #t #F. "ur' #n|;3*' ,Hiftr* :", PFffirq@I*S"q $"0:Pef., ki. ffi/ axt*' It lxTAp* $uppoRT ffi' $lr HIT SItrGLffi ffifu) : 'ffi ,-AggL Marac "VISRATH" SgLffiS CSMAM*RA?AR* HA-'SR LJ{BS'- *AEKNS p6stTtv* ffit ffi' suTt**K sr Rasheeda' better known as the Queen of.crunk, started her. m-usic career as a part of the femate rap trio Da Kaperz' They dropped an independent atbum in lgss which featured irJ".iii (,,before he was Ludacris,,), a,bum, however, the group iiJ#i'J."r?x?:1i.1"'1,11:#LTi?ln:""::,::\"j'- {,t-"lF,F;i;;;;!eti," fr;'l'l;$Hllfi*;f,.+ttlliill'':lffiffi*+'*,,i,',ffifl''l"il+!idrli;t,l*:i' ; ued( wtLil Jtve i',]ffi.........'ffi-".:#i'ff.f,iil"'.t,""i""!:iJJ3:|il"iin.":f?1..i*',:x}li!.{;i1.i''!;r;o""t*iir.li""il:;il,.. ,re Kecoros ff$$5;i{'"'i"i*"l!:xT,i:*:;'.::.ff;:6q,n:;1;,'At,?tJ:r'J"T;ry,lln:$;ffi r;;i;:"iliHil*1]i:i:?l?;?X'[1 - ",i[i. in"* il,:, :?""::::J'i:';^l*,f::::,,:i^iX?f_:ll"]ri;, of energy, it has nothing to do with oeini ivri- ", _-..ii- l'' lll 'l' 1 |t:"ry-'"c--=1;'''#..:....'....!li'.'!iil3l;'fl3#:#"T.i,;il-:':#IIJ;il q !!i:: ,.ryW'€'- [1,. '',',..' ri-Tt:ti,:, .. :, ::: a :1rrtil r .:;::1il:q-i:y::!;i:if i,:rrr :+rr":,iiuriii...:..,,", Ii, :::.:t;iiiiiltrint" 't'all,l',:iillj::rili.i::.=1;3!*'X:1jj+'.i:. lil1iillr =i:::.srilr/r,:i4iiirt i-:?,-:4:i_l;r6-ir::-i=Z# =::i11._ssi!i\rt::.t:r:i,,.ti! ,li;.ii.: ,, ,,,tiutl"i.1'd=+t-u .,.,.""".;'.- *..==r,'+s :=.==+,i.€is*+*:,:r l;.==u'''!;!. ,*., ,,r$r,r' 1'nffirIrj-:': -+1.;i iif=='+€ {:iG|::.::.€-!4+r{,,€.==1i===="i ..*-=;i{ft;i ry||.j;a, ;;r,'tii lllli ;r' :rr:i;-::1is$ts1i.; rt li_i_l-.:,:.:irrrrr ::: Ei':l-=-- a ;= ., Btood's releasing a mixtape to satisfy the streets. He ptans to keep "grindin' til the whole wortd knows who he is. " TREPLUS.COM MIAMI, FL grind, known for throwing out cash at their concerts. CASELY Fidel recently dropped the ATLANTA, GA Got Cash? mixtape/album, MtA ,ll, FL showcasing R&B singer Casety's cot- ski tts. laborations with smooth Miami rapper P.M. have generated a buzz in the area. CHILLY C MAKE A DOLLA RECORDS ALIUS MAFIA MONTGOMERY AL s. MrsslsslPPl his rhyme FIEND FE ENTERTAINMENT NEW ORLEANS, LA Fiend's newest album, Go Hard or Go Home, is cur- rently blazin' throughout JODY BREEZE GRIFFIN, GA FROZE ONY TEXAS UNIVERSAL RECORDS MONTGOMERY AL SHO'NUFF/WARNER KADILLACK LAKELAND, FL Rumor has it that Trick Daddy 'Sohagon is f've been trelns to work &zz_y. *ittitritn for but it's all dbont timing He has such a distinct voice and stvle and he savs sirch incredibfe shit"" - ill'Jot Years. COLLARD GREENS COLUMBIA, SC ",,1i-, -M*l GARCIA CRAZY HOOD MIAA,II, FL The titte of Garcia's atbum Anti-Sociat, r""n, A newcomer to the Central Florida scene, Bitty's singte is heating up in the clubs. erage Miami crunk atbum," norm." "This isn't your avsays Garcia. "Everybody's DANGER WEST PALM BEACH, FL BATON ROUGE, LA for bringing and rhyme the same'Benzes-Beemershoes' thing. I tatk about real topics, reat issues. "' This duo remains at the top major labet A&R searching for the next big artist out of MISSISSTPPT around the neighborhood off the success of his first Clearty the standout Humble Thugs, Boss Lady lives up to her name. HOLLA POINT SONY CLARKSDALE, MS BSU MIAMI, FL z DIZYONE ? TVT RECORDS o o z t What happens when you setl over 140,000 units indepen- DALLAS, TX o F o BUMPY J ATLANTIC BLOODRAW PANAMA CITY, FL everywhere to gain he cHtcAGo, lL fans performs, C.O. & MONEY MARK dentty with little radio ptay FIDEL CASHFLOW PURE CASH ORLANDO, FL Atong with Lady LIL CHAPPY MONTGOMERY, AL LIL WYTE HYPNOTIZED MINDS/ ASYLUM/WARNER BROS. MEMPHIS, TN DSR m I JADE FOXX ORLANDO, FL CHICAGO, IL f o Attanta airwaves, giving Kavious a nice look all across the art- DO-WRONG POE BOY RECORDS MIAMI, FL J J and Pastor Troy) is heating up the ist in the rap quartet the independent atbum. Continuing remix (featuring Bun B BOSS LADY atbum Still o Stdr, Birmingham J is stitl wetl-known o I bonafide hit record. Also, the MIAMI, FL Currently negotiating a major deal for his second z yetted out KOTTON MOUTH DALLAS, TX the South. BIRMINGHAM J KOTTAGE BOY BIRMINGHAM, AL "lt's a Kodak Moment, nigga, FREEZE!" lt's very tikety that if you're in any ctub around 1 AM in the state of Tennessee, you't[ hear this phrase being Southeast. - W5 DOUGH BELLY N. NUCLEAR RECORDS MEMPHIS, TN of the mouth of every singte person. Kavious' skit[ and talent collaboration with his homediversity and subject mat- town brethren Yo Gotti is a ter to the game. l'm not on thanking me BOOSIE & WEBBIE TRILL ENTERTAINMENT I L F "unyl thing different from the COWBOY BUCK WILD REC. NASHVILLE, TN was getting booked for shows off the strength of Kadittack's street record "Get Down Boogie." Dude sounds just [ike Trick, which has proved to be both his greatest btessing and greatest curse. KAVIOUS BILLY KANE ORLANDO, FL of the list for any BROS. Jazze Pha's protege. BOHAGON BME/WARNER BROS. ATLANTA, GA LOUISIANA SO SO DEF Lousiana and Mississippi. B.A.M.A. BIG RICH EYE 4 AN EYE RECORDS JARVIS Lyric, Central Ftorida's Bonnie & Ctyde combo is stitl on the JAH'RISTA cHtcAco, tL and no video? You have every major [abe[ exec ctamoring to figure out how they made such a colossal fuck-up and didn't sign you before Dre met Mar- OZONE MAGAZINE Srmr*srn 2004 41 "Paralyzed," is a certi fied banger in 'hood ctubi to meet Jimmy. That's the chair with the nice-ass view that sha[[ and took him Lit Wyte now occupies. H'is current single btazing radio airwaves does exactly what he says: "Get fotk beat down to the floor." lt atso got me a speeding ticket on the way back home from the Southern Heritage Ctas- This South Georgia duo is throughout CentraI F[orida. concentrating on perfecting their craft - Pau[ D performing poetry and spoken word, and OOHWEE Ken Jo on production. ATLANTA, GA sic. - WS PRETTY RICKIE & THE MAV- LUDDY DANGAZONE MIAMI, FL ERICKS MIAAAI, FL SMOKE D GFM MUSIC JACKSON, MS TOM G GIGANTIC ENTERTAINMENT TAA,TPA, FL P.M. MIAMI, FL We're stit[ waiting on P.M to get his big break. Formerty known as the nicest lyricist in the lconz camp, P.M. got frustrated with label potitics and left to pursue a better situation. b.i.G.f.a.c.e. representation of his skilts as an MC, however. STAT qUO As the first artist from David Banner's camp, Marcus. (with a period at the end) knows there'[[ be pres- ing the fine line between disgruntted MC and outspoken hero. After leaving sure to prove he's not on the buddy system. "l'm a perfectionist," he says. "l dawgs, Stat continues buitding his buzz through mixtapes and leaking singles to radio. Ya understand me? been speculation around Jackson, tike,'Who's this nigga Banner fuckin' with from Memphis?' But when has been throqgh so much, and he's wise wav bevond his 4gel Fle'can touclx the soirit of people hom tlre Denrteritrarv to dr'e church""'David Sanncr know. This ain't no buttshit or no free ride. I'm worth the weight. " 'olvfatcu$. has sudt an odginal soufld tlrat peoplewill have to comc to him to gnet it' His voice and the I diink that'if sit atrsir and liiten towhatdude is DeoDle reallv spittiri'.'- Davia flanner performances. '? Bov Stone they'I *'Tom G's work ethic is incredible, and he also has lwical deoth. savi{r'- he's real}v terms, Rick linked up with Poe Boy and continues to maintain his buzz in the streets with mixtapes and P BOY STONE GULFPORT, MS the Period.' There's way.he raps is so umque thathe can liecome like a Snooo or an Andre'3000.' * David Bsnncr Even though he's now rid- ing with the big Stip-N-Stide Records on bad just don't wanna half-step in no form or fashion. I've got a song catled 'Respect it, GMM/SHADY/AFTERMATH Rick has managed to piss off about hatf the hip-hop community in Miami, watk- MEMPHIS, TN they do hear in the CentraI Ftorida area. The ctub joint isn't a good RrcK ROSS MIAMI, FL MARCUS. a tittle Tom's lead singte, "City Boy," received heavy radio rotation RISKAY TAMPA, FL for lacing CentraI Ftorida remixes, this female Known MC has definite potentiat. SUAVE SMOOTH ROAA^ HEADQUARTER RECORDS WEST PALM BEACH, FL With his shri[[ voice and PURE PAIN RECORDS SAVANNAH, GA bass-heavy tracks, you ei- RX WEST PALM BEACH, FL Not only is this cat a regutar love him, with a wide array the grind. of tracks ("U Don't Know Me" and "Back the Fuck station last time out the state. I passed After a drama-fitted year that ther love him or hate him. involved surviving several Most Floridians choose to gunshots, Tripte J is back on on West Palm radio station WMBX's Top 10 for [oca[ artists, but he's atso a hustler. I bumped into him at a gas through and restocked my cotlection of bootleg CDs. TRIPLE J WEST PALM BEACH, FL Up," among others) getting ptay at strip clubs throughSUNNY VALENTINE ATLANTA, GA TWISTED BLACK DALLAS, TX TZAR PARADOX UNIT ORLANDO, FL SKY ATLANTA, GA PAPERVIEW NYC You've heard this PICCALO MIAMI, FL other Southern artists. Missis- sippi native's unique vocals alongside David Banner and Pitbutt's comrades appear SLY KAT several tracks with EPIDEMIC/JIVE their Chico partna, inctud- As Epidemic focuses their ing "Damn it Man" and efforts on promoting their "N.A.R.C." Their singte, headtine act DirtBag, the on OHB POLK COUNTY, FL Their 42 underground hit, "Get Loose," featuring Jacki-O, atso did we[[ in the South Florida area. OZONE i,iAGAZINE SrmMeEn 2004 tatented Sty Kat keeps himself busy by leaking tracks to Miami mixtape DJs. THER.I.P.Y. ALBANY GA URBAN MYSTIC SOBE ENTERTAINMENT MIAMI, FL $.|;t -P er {t! id {.t 6t *r _.rl {wei %rrcff treffi #€rumdg rwren ffiAr .geffi3* ME vtctous EYE 4AN EYE RECORDS ffiE LOUISIANA {a H Y{ qI c0 tl, rl {,o sst ffiWE $* # {b F} f lI1 f,Er; * Pmn*tlga+ r lllsltetH i mil*er$r$ r fiffid Flsndln$ r trrsds€ Fldfftfim* VIPER BIG EARL PRODUCTIONS ORLANDO, FL Reggae singer Viper recentty re- rSilafirtrd& ffituntlcH * llr*dr* urn* / corded with Smitez & Southstar for their upcoming project. . U*h$etery;m tndlHtrhru tttrh ll*St$ r$ru$hffinlFrtndw fiU CI E t; fi fr WES FIF ORLANDO, FL WHITE BOY CHICAGO, IL :S# '*, WHITE DAWG GAMERUNNERZ ORLANDO, FL & YUNG WUN FULL SURFACE/J RECORDS You can usualty find White Dawg hustting CDs "3 fo da 520" on the ATLANTA, GA picket signs that say "Fuck a Major." 100% independent and ern version of ODB. We think he's just crazy. Eitherway, Yung Wun's "Tear it Up" became a Southern mixtape stapte. side of the road, in the studio, on the radio, or possibty waving proud of it. KASHUS DENIRO LONGTERM RECORDS JACKSONVILLE, FL His [abe[ claims he's the South- 1, il QUESTION BRIMSTONE ENTERTAINMENT oRLANDO, FL of Arabic heritage, steps to prove that hip-hop exists in a[[ YOUNG CASH This former DJ, 904 CLTQUE forward JACKSONVILLE, FL cuttures. OZONEliAGAZlNESrpradern2004 43 MIKE JONES INTERVIEW: CHAMILLIONAIRE INTERVIEW: How did you meet Chamillionaire? He was just a dude I met through Paut- Your website lists artists tike Slim Thug, Lil' Flip, PaulWall, and Mike Jones, and makes it appear like you're all together, Why are you dissing Mike Jones and you've got him on your site? Watl. We became friends, I mean, I ' thought I was cool with him. I thought I was cool with a lot of peopte. We don't ': know each other personatty, though. L knew Pau[ before I knew him. Me and Paul was cool when I got signed to Swishahouse. :r Chamittion tells people I tried to give him my demo or something like that, but that's a [ie. I was hot by mysetf; I had a company called lce Age Entertainment. Chamiltionaire been with Pau[ since tike 1999, I got signed in 2002. I started btowin' uP seven months after I signed to Swishahouse. Chamitlionaire and PaulWat[ did took out for me on some When I first started the site I started Due to overwhelming requests, this months' controversy originates in Texas. Why do two of the states' hottest independent artists have beef? Chamillionaire caught everyone by surprise recently by dropping a 3-disc album with almost an entire disc dissing Mike Jones. But according to Mike, there is no "beef," just a publicity stunt. You be the judge. shows, but when I went solo, I looked out - lnterviews by Julia Beverly for them too. Back then, everybody was in groups. lt was Stim Thug and ESG, PautWat[ and Chamittionaire, and they'd tet me and Magno open up for them. Chamillionaire wasn't never hot by himself, but him and Pau[ was hot as a group. They tet me open up three shows and then me and "lr CgmlttttoNAtRE REMagno went our own ways. I got hotter and then they started ALLY HAD A PROBLEM WITH opening for me on three shows, so it was [ove. I didn't even Mtxr JoNes, HE sHouLDA TOOK IT UP WITH HIM think about stuff like that. Me and Magno featured [Cham] on our album, First Round Draft Pick. The first song "Day to Day FIRST INSTEAD OF PUTTING our A Dlss CD. Tulr's Grindin'," sounded good with him. I thought we was coo[. He jumped on the song, he got paid. [Swishahouse CEO Michaet] NOT HOW YOU HANDLE A Watts paid him for it, now he runnin' around tatkin' about, "l PROBLEM, ESPECIALLY WITH ONE OF YOUR FRIENDS. showed him [ove." He got paid for that. lt's business. I'vr NEVER HEARD MIKE JoNEs ulx DowN oN Were Chamillionaire and PaulWall signed to Swishahouse? Cnru*ttr-ror.r, oR ANYoNE They wasn't on contract and they left to pursue they dreams with Paid in Futt. That's when they blew up, they had a hit ELsE. FOR THAT MATTER. Cnrtttt-t-tox rs rRtPPtN'. song. But I guess PautWatt and Cham had their differences, I ruNx ur DrD THts FoR so Paul left and came back over to Swishahouse. I don't know what they got going on, but all of a sudden, Cham on his PUBLtctrY. " - PnulwAlllast teg and he pu[ts a publicity stunt. This is the one thing I want everybody to know: we dropped First Round Draft "CoNtRovrnsY sELLs, BUT THERE'S A LOT OF YOUNG Pick in 2003, right? Now it's 2004, so it's been damn near a year since he's reatty seen me. Except that I seen him two HUSTLERS IN THE RAP GAME THAT HAVE ACHIEVED SUCweeks before he dropped the CD and he didn't say anything Boftt to me. Shit, a three-disc CD with a[[ that hate on it? lt took cEss wrrHouT OF THEM ARE GONNA BE time to do that. So while I'm out on the road doing shows, he at home not getting booked, hating on me. Look, if l've got SUCCESSFUL IF THEY KEEP PUSHING FORWARD." beef with you, I'mma get straight to the point why I'm mad - Mlrr SoNzaLl, at you. lf you listen to that whote CD, he ain't talking about nothing. lt's a complete pubticity stunt, 'cause we from the Munoen Doc MlclztNr/ Damce CoNrnol Rnoto same city. Wett, he rea[ly from D.C., but you know, he stays here. Why he ain't say, "Hey, Jones?" He r. coutda called Watts, he coutda catled me, but he ain't never calted me. The last time I saw him, in my mind we was coo[. I was getting interviewed by Skip Cheatham in Dattas, and when I got through I was sayin' peace to everybody, shakin' hands. Chamillionaire seen me, we ain't say no words. Two weeks tater, the CD comes out. So that night, instead of him sayin, "Hey Jones, let me hotta at you about something," he didn't say anything. you planning to respond? Yeah, but people be [ike, "What's taking you so long?" What's taking so long is that I didn't even know there was no So are beef. I don't wanna play into the pubticity stunt, but I have to respond because everybody's hittin' me asking me about it. He reatty hatin', and out of respect for my fans, I gotta tet that be known. My atbum is catled King of the Streets. I'm spitting facts, though. lt ain't (continued on following page) 44 OZONE MAGAZINE Srprn'regn 2004 > no reatizing how powerful the internet was, cause I was tooking at my mailing list and seeing major tabets [ike sonymusic.com. From day one, l've atways been about everybody. I've atways pushed my whole team. The bigger picture is that Texas is sup- to rise. I wanna see Texas doing it like ATL is doing it, right? So I reatized that all these A&Rs don't have any idea what's going on in Texas. I sacrificed my own website posed - chamillionaire.com - and put everybody on there. Some people didn't understand it, but I was looking at the bigger picture. Even Mike Jones and Magno, I looked at them like a future PaulWatt and Chamillionaire so I was hetping them [by putting them on the site]. I had majors trying to pay for a spot on the website, but it's not about money for me. The whote screwed thing is hard to tap into, but my website has that whote thing on [ock. I'm feeding them information about every artist that's doing it. lt was never att about me. Even though I'm not cool with Mike Jones, whenever A&Rs asked me who's hot, I'd atways say Swishahouse even though I wasn't messing with them. I've never been a hater. The reason dissed Mike Jones] is because I caught him redhanded. lt's not even a he-say, she-say type thing. I finatty got tired of it. Some peopte look at it tike a pubticity stunt, but he knows what he did and I know what he did. I What was your relationship with Mike Jones before? Me and him had a tatk outside of a hotel a long time ago after a show. He was tetling me how he's chiltin' with his girt, he don't mess with groupies, he don't smoke. That's kinda like me, cause I don't smoke, I'm a[[ about my money. He was tetling me his ptans and ideas and that's when I looked at him in a different tight. His promotional ideas let me know he was trying to think bigger than just being an artist. He was tetling me how [Swishahouse CEO Michaet] Watts was payin' him on satary and he wasn't gettin' money. I was giving him advice on how to turn the situation around. That's one of the longest conversations I had with him. He reatly doesn't know me and I reatly don't know him tike that, but everybody would always talk bad about him being a gimmick and I woutd atways defend him. I never reatly thought he was the best rapper but from a personal standpoint I respected him and what he was trying to do. Even A&Rs were [ike, "He's whack." When people were getting tired of that "Who?" stuff it was a lot of backtash on him, a lot of people hatin'. So when did problems start? When Watts catted me to do "Day to Day Grindin'," at first they didn't even wanna pay me for it. I told 'em I was gonna do it for Magno and Mike Jones. At the time I was the hotter artist, so it was to hetp draw the fan base towards them. That was the first single off their album. Stowty, stuff just started getting weird. Peopte started acting funny. I can watk in a room and sense it, when everybody turns tike the devil just watked in and you don't know why. I atways sensed something was wrong. The first incident was in Cteveland a long time ago. A good friend of mine had just started getting cool with Mike Jones and he's tatkin to them about me like they're his buddy. The main thing is, when peoPte sPeak (continued on following page) > Ylrng lfftrn f/ David Banner oWeNk it, Talk *t' ^ (Atlanta, _qS) Full Surface /"J R6corde < (hllke Jones continued) bullshit-ass skits. But I ain't got time to do a whole CD about him. I'm about songs I did make about him, I made them on the road. I made four songs about him, that's it. The fans wanna hear my response and go back to hearing some jamming music. Nobody wanna hear to do another tour. The few 18, 19,20 songs hatin' on one man. That's a pubticity stunt, I don't care what nobody says. lt's trippin' me out that people be footed by this buttshit. lf he had a legitimate reason, he woutda catled me and we woulda got it squared away. Man, somebody even sent me an audio ctip of an interview he did where he says, "Man, basicatty I'm just hatin' on him 'cause he btew up quick." Everybody got a deal except him so he hatin'. Everybody tryin' to get Mike Jones right now. Before the CD came out Pau[ totd me, "l think Chamitlionaire gonna shoot a stug at me." lwas telting Pau[, "Don't even worry about it." [Chamittionaire] shot the slug at me instead. Can you think of anything you've said that might have sounded like a diss to him? I didn't hate on Chamillionaire. He just tryna make a tick. The most money Chamillion ever got for a show was 53500 and that's when he and Pau[ had a hot singte. He's never made a hot song by himself. lf he did, name one? I'm getting 55k, 57k solo. That's why he hatin'. He's thinking, "Everybody listening to Mike Jones, so that's how l'm gonna get my buzz back." When peopte try to book him for shows, he tries to charge whatever I'm charging. He tetls promoters, "Mike Jones, he a gimmick rapper." I've got another interview he did where he told them, "l did this to put a dent in Mike Jones' shows." I thought you did this 'cause I was hatin' on you? We ain't got no beef. He's just straight hating. Then he ran up to PautWa[[ a coupte days ago tryin' to get him not to hang out with me. Niggas just mad 'cause we the future. Everybody that's reading this: I got mad love for y'a[t, but never betieve what you hear. Basically, just put two and two together. lf you're a real hood nigga, a street dude, if you have beef why you dropping a CD behind my back when you seen me weeks before you dropped the buttshit? Anything else you want to say? Yeah, when you talk to Chamittionaire, I want you to make sure you ask him why he didn't come to me instead of dropping this buttshit, and why he didn't say why he was mad at me on the CD. My atbum comes out September 15th. Tet[ everybody to check out the website whomikejones.com for more info, and tetl 'em to catl me on my ce[[ phone if they got questions. They know the number: 281 -330-8004. < (Chamillionaire continued) on me and PautWatl, I believe in family business. There's personal stuff that went on between me and Paul. Mike is over there hearing Paut's side and spreading att this stuff [ike it's fact, not opinion. 5o I tet that stide a couple times, and then somebody on the other side of the map tetts me something else Mike Jones said. He's saying more stuff that's personal. lt's real bad, cause he's messing up my relationships. lt's not just Mike Jones, I just made an exampte out of Mike. I just seen Pau[ at the ma[[ like three days ago. We got in an argument but we left on good terms. The Pau[ I used to know is a different guy now. He doesn't really know the whole story. At[ he sees is the CD coming out. Me and my brother are the onty ones who knew the CD was coming out, besides Watts. I ran into Watts and I told him, "lt's gonna be bad, man, and I mean everything I said." I don't really know what Pau[ thinks, but as long as me and him don't have a probtem, it's coot. I feet tike that's the worst thing that could happen. Peopte wanna see me versus Paut. Controversy setts. lf I was just doing atl this stuff to buitd up my album woulda been screaming my atbum release date atl over the [diss CD]. I Mike Jones says he saw you two weeks before the CD came out and you could have approached him then. 100% tie. I don't hotd back my feelings. [Mike Jones] is a liar. He didn't see me nowhere. The last time I seen him was a long time ago outside a show in Dattas. I guess he's trying to make it seem like I'm scared. I don't care even if he does come back and diss me, because it'tt onty make me bigger. This guy is a proven liar. I love your magazine, but [in your articte about Mike Jones, you said he's sotdl 250,000 independent? He has his own song with Usher? That dude's life is a [ie. I'm not finna let him get away with it. It makes me so mad cause I thought the dude was rea[. Why you didn't say why you're mad at him on the CD? Man, he knows. He knows what he did. He's tryin' to act like he didn't do nothing and he's stitl wondering how I know. I could get real personal with it and te[ you specifics, but then l'd be snitchin' on somebody etse. could understand one diss track, but a whole CD? lsn't that overkill? Nah. You drop one track, he's stitl alive. But you can't measure respect by sates. There's a tot of peopte that's respected that don't se[[ records. lt took that respect away, so everywhere he goes peopte are gonna be checkin' to see if he's reat. lt just sounds bad cause of how raw we went at him. I OZONE i AGAZINE Srmr lern 2004 45 I A fe always knew Jim Jones would drop a solo joint. lt was just lllf u matter of time. First he appeared on Cam'ron's CDs and in Y Y his videos, followed by some real shine time on the Diplomats true to their intense Diplomat work ethic, he's been grindin' on mixtapes and radio shows, all the while gearing up to drop his dolo debut, On The Way To The Church. Sitting inside his new label, Koch Records, in lower Manhattan, New York's Rider Man waxes poetic about holding an umbrella in the rain, the #1 reason for the Diplomats'success and the real reason he believes that Mase returned to rap, CD. And always, staying ultimate fame. lf it comes, it comes. But we gonna do it the way we want to do it. We not gonna fail because the way someone else wanted us to do it. Nah, if we fail and it's on our own terms, we gonna be content with that because it's a[[ about us. I heard you are called New York's Rider Man because your songs are perfect for cruising. Your songs come out like anthems. Do you look for those types of beats? I don't really th'ink I'm gifted because it's not as easy for me as it comes for other peopte, Every word I put in there is so dear to my heart. I'm not tatking no butlshit. l'm not btowing no smoke up your ass. Everything I spit about is something that I lived through or the people that l'm with Why did you choose Koch Records to distribute your debut? I tried to get some deats with some majors, Roc-A-Felta and Def Jam and on a daity basis lived through so it's dear to my heart and I feel tike I tived shit, and I had a price in my mind that I was worth, I thought I deserved. through it. lt's tife and it makes peopte just retate to that. And that's atl Because I've been in this game so long and this craft that l've acquired know how to do. As far as my ear for the beat, I don't care if you was a bum in this game atong with me knowing how to do music. They wasn't feeling on the street and you gave me a beat CD and I listen to it and l'm feeling it, that. With that, I had to sit back and turn to the same blueprint we used I'm [ike, I need that. Loop it up. My album has about eight 2 tracks. Cause to get our [abe[. I started going hard in the streets with myself, mixtapes, I coutdn't find the producers. Wett, we got it down to two now. "Certified freestyles, DJs everywhere, taking trips around the country by mysetf. Gangstas" is a 2-track. lt's looped up. My man had the beat on his CD. Cam was [ike, "Man, we need to go get some of that money like Lit' Jon don't have a gift for that. lt's crazy because I didn't know how to rap. and them be doing. Let's go get some of that paper." He said you got to Mase showed me how to rap. I used to buttshit and freestyle in high school look at it [ike, first week you sotd 100,000 records on Diptomats. You good watking through the hattway, but Mase sat down and showed me how to do for at least 50,000 records at the minimum. Now [ook, I'm over 100,000 it one day. I knew I had a lot of things in my heart that I wanted to say over good at the minimum first week. l'm cool with that, because with the living so hard but I didn't know how to put it out there. Then when I did, I money l'm getting if lsetl a gotd atbum, a nigga on a major gotta setl five wasn't doin' it right. Then Cam was [ike, "Man, Jim, you live so hard and million atbums to even talk to me about some paper. lt's a[[ about paper the shit you do, if you can just spit it the way you [ive, people are going to at the end of the day. That's one thing about the game, they'[[ make you falt in love with you because you just that type of person and everything famous before they make you rich. ln the hood, they say, "They'tt get you you do people can relate to." I started to get the hang of what he was high before they'tt feed you." You smetl me? talking about. Getting deeper in the game it becomes more emotional and personal with you because it's not just a business anymore as far as us, it's But Koch isn't known for pushing their artists to platinum status. a way of ['ife. lt's mixed with everything. Sorry to say but the drug game Koch is an independent, and me coming from a major and having a tabel and the rap game are now one. lt's street [ife. lt's hard tike that. on a major, I have that mindset so it all works out. They were very open=minded here. They do need What do you look for in new artists that you sign to get a better btueprint. I'm one of the first new to your label? artists and this is my first atbum, with a buzz. For I look for the hunger in the person. And the talent you just can't deny it. There's a hato over their them it's totally different. And that's why l'm here and I bring a strong team with me. At the same head. Un Casa, I remember him freestyting for me time, they can learn from us and we can learn from and Cam when we used to go up to 145th Street them. lt works hand in hand. A lot of things they do to buy sneakers years ago. Cam was [ike, "That here we have no knowtedge of, since we're used kid got a problem." We said, when we get our shit to deating with the majors. We might feel that it's together, we gonna come back for him. Juetz found tedious, but now we here so we have to put that Bezel. That kid is a fuckin' monster. I don't think legwork in. At the same time, the shit that we do anyone want to do the one-on-one with him. Juetz, from a major point of view that they can't grasp or that's self-exptanatory. When the talent comes to they don't know how to do, I've got a team that's us, we know we need it. gonna show them how to do that. lt can onty make them stronger as a Iabet. How is your new alcoholic beverage Sizzurp doing in the South? Everybody's taking to it. lt's doing way better than I ever thought, period. Liquor is a funny thing. You gotta get it legalized in every state, one by Who are you trying to reach with this album? I ain't no preacher. The onty message at the end of the day that I want to one. Now we got about 30 states under our be[t. The demand got so much portray is that I'm sti[[ on my way to church. Everybody that I know, we we coutdn't meet the suppty. We had to get a whole new distillery so from the hood, they still on theirway to church, too. You smetl me? At the we could start pumping out twice as much. The word Sizzurp, I coined end of the day, we a[[ want to be at a safe and sanctified ptace, whether it from the South. Pretty much Houston is where lgot the word from. you're a retigious person and you believe in God, or you betieve in anything was presented with the opportunity and I was [ike, I want to sip on some else, you want to get to the highest ptace of living or you want your soul to Sizzurp. The Three 6 Mafia song came in my head. be there. Besides that, I'm from the hood. Everything I talk about surrounds that. lt's atl about the hustte and the struggte. We say we hopetess because What's next for Jim Jones? there's pretty much nothing left for us to do. Most of us have been locked I inked a ctothing deal just today. lt's gonna blow the socks off niggas, up before. Most of 'em hard-headed, probabty dropped out of school to get you smetl me? Myself, the music is a tovely thing. I woutd like to continue a job, makes it that much harder. They not opting to give us no jobs. Some doing it for like two more years. But I'm not really into being in my 30s of us that do choose to go to schoot, it stitl don't work out for us. So at the and still rapping. Rap is like a fraternity. You can be stuck in it for life end of the day we sti[[ hopeless. Like man, we stuck under a btack ctoud. but I can't be doing this music for [ife. lt's tike high schoot or something. God granted me his [ove, he gave me an umbrelta under this black cloud so My four years are up. With this recent venture of Sizzurp and clothes, it's not raining on me. I'm not directty in the rain, but I'm stitl in the rain. reatized this music is my liaison to do pretty much whatever the fuck You understand? Like my shoes is getting wet from that water sptashing on want to do. There's a whote lot of other shit l'd love to be doing. There's the floor. For the couple of people that I can save that can get up under a big world out there and I'm not trying to be stuck in one phase. I would the umbrelta with me, I'm going to do that. I ain't trippin'. I don't need love to do movies and get potiticat, and see as much watks of life as I can to be under this umbretla by mysetf. That's what it's atl about at the end in this world. Travel hetla hard with my famity, my son. I ain't trying to be of the day for me. I don't want nobody to be scared or nervous but that's stuck in this paradox. I have a 10-year plan. After ten years I'm cool. Ya what's up. My niggas ain't got nothing left to do. And for them, I just tetl dig? For rea[. them just be careful what you doing cause they're trying to bury us. Put us in jai[. Where we live and us being so dormant and so ambitious, we killing You mentioned Mase before. Why do you think he's back to rap? each other to make a dollar. Some of us trying to pay the rent, some of us I don't know why Mase came back for. Probably came back to just piss me off. I ain't got nothing to say about the young man. Let him do him. trying to floss. But shit, why can't some of us make some money? I I 'l dontknowvztrv A{ase calne back Probablv iunt to me 6ff This gmeis ahustle." Diss I I I What's the Diplomats' secret to success? The #1 thing that made us so successful or kept us in this game is that we didn't compromise ourselves in nothing we did in any term or deal we took. We didn't se[[ our souts, not for the bullshit, not for a chance at This game is a hustte. You smetl me? But I thought he was just preaching. I thought he was just a reverend. Sme[[ me? So he must have back s[id. Something must have happened in his tife. But I don't know what to say about that young man. That's not one of the peopte I want to talk about right now. OZONEMAGAZINESrprn*ern2004 49 "{ 'ad; L.r t X1 {,f{ hffi i(r I i \ ,t . . ""'=* B Go ahead and introduce yourselves to our readers. My name is 8.G., better known as B-Gizz[e, the number one original Hot Boy. came from my heart. But if I had to pick a favorite, it woutd be track five: "Don't Talk to Me." When you bump into the rest of the Tell us a little about your new release with Cash Money members one-on-one, your own label, Chopper City Records, through Koch, Life After Cash lvloney. It's my eighth soto project, and it's my second atbum under Chopper City Records. lt's me at my best. lt reatty is Life after Cash lAoney. l'm just tetting my story, my tife with Cash Money leading to my new tife with Chopper City. what's that like? I mean I rea[ty haven't had any oneon-one's unless you count Juvy. He left before I [eft. I saw Turk in jai[, though. The other day I had a concert in Memphis and I went to see him. Baby never been to see him, no one been to see him, but I tatk to him 'cause before then he'd atways catl and check on me. I'm real like that. Me and [Lit'] Wayne had met up somewhere and went oLlt, we snuck out How has life after Cash Money been different than life with Cash Money was? Life after Cash Money equals Chopper City Records for me. ln life after Cash Money, there ain't no more stuntin' goin' on. Shit's reat. You know it's rea[, 'cause if it ain't real then it ain't me. When I was with Cash Money there was a lot of artificial [ove. lt wasn't reatly what I thought it was. I thought it was gonna be Cash Money for [ife, but I was misled. to get something to eat. I'm suing Baby right now. I've got a case pending that's in civil court. I hired some high-profite What was the atmosphere like at the beginning of Cash Money up until the point where you left? I was there from the beginning. Cash Money was practicatty buitt on the back of B.G. before the ma- jor deal came around, before Juvenite came around. Before anybody started coming around, B.G. was the one putting up the independent numbers. I was the reason Universal gave us our deal. I was Cash Money, at one time. At first it was me, Baby, Mannie Fresh, and Stim. '1'm suinq Baby "ght now. I'vEgot a case pendinqin"civil courl ' I hired some hishtrrofile accountiitts 'from los Anseles. Thev alreadv fiiund 9 million dollirs lBabv] stole from n\e." " 5o why weren't you more involved in things from a business standpoint? Baby and Stim founded Cash Money, and I was young. It was like eighty percent [ove, twenty percent business. Baby and Stim practicatly raised me. They took me from my mom when I was twelve years old. I put my whole tife in their hands and I never questioned what they did ,cause thought they were reatty my family. Baby was [ike a father figure to me. When the millions of dottars got invotved, that's when he changed on me. I How did he change? He'd always te[[ me, "Look, I got your money. l'm hotding it for you, I don't want you to blow it. As long as I got it you won't want for nothing.,' I never thought for one second that he'd do me like he did. He'd give me this, give me that, buy me this, buy me that. He always gave me just enough to where he'd know that I would have to come back and ask for more. He never gave me what I was supposed to have or what I shoutd have gotten tegatty. He knew that if he gave me what I earned and deserved than I woutd do what want whenever I want, buy what I want whenever I want it. he kinda birdfed me, but I thought it was coot. I was [ike, "Fuck, he my b.ig brother." I What's the significance of your album cover showing a cemetery? I was thugged out, you know? I felt like I was born with Cash Money, but I died and was reincarnated. That's why it's Life After Cash lAoney. What's your favorite track on the new album? Reatty, I tike the whote atbum, 'cause the whole album is based on a true story. lt ain't just fantasizing, I'm rapping for a reason. The whote album he's the last Mohican. accountants from Los Angeles. They already found nine mitlion dollars that they stote from me. I tatked to Wayne and told him that he's been there for a while and he ain't getting what he supposed to be getting. I told him it might look good with a car here and a car there, but he not getting what he's supposed to make, Look at us back in the game. We had a deal with Reebok before 50 Cent or JayZ. We had the Hot Boyz tennis shoes. Now look at Baby, he got a deal again and look at how he's onty promoting himsetf. He don't want anybody bigger than him, he's setfish. I'm [ike, fuck, I can help Wayne, so I just totd him that I'm here for him with open arms and the fans witl respect us more for standing on our own two feet and standing up to a nigga. As long as we're up under his wing we ain't getting nowhere. Att he had to do was hetp us and put us in a position. lf anything, it would have made sense for him to hetp us build under his umbretta but instead he trying to hotd us back. He can't lose Wayne right now 'cause lf you had the opportunity and the money was right, would you back to Cash Money? go I wouldn't go back as a soto artist, but I'd do a Hot Boyz atbum. He gotta clear up his otd bitt first, though, then we coutd talk. lf he gave me my money we could tatk about a Hot Boy project. Do you think you could have a good working relationship with Baby even after the lawsuit? I'm strictty business. I got my own [abe[, I'm doing pretty wett. I just want what he owes me. What was your relationship with Soulja Slim? It was [ove. Me and Stim been knowing each other since elementary school. We used to get detention and we kinda grew up together. As we got otder he was fuckin' up, going back and forth from jait. When he got home I blew up and went ptatinum and shit. He went with No Limit. We had always wanted to do something together but Cash Money and No Limit wasn't seeing eye to eye so our CEOs woutdn,t have approved it at the time. But when I left my situation and he teft his situation, we hustted together. OZONE IMGAZINE Semlaarn 2004 51 Would you sell your ghetto pass for a million dollars? I n the mid-80s. renesade celebritv photosrapher J Lash I trcftl was offeied a frittion dotlars-bv the National Enquir- lbtr'f cir a "comDromising" photo of Maeic Johnson, pre-A|DS revelation (the tape rec6rder died whe'-n I asked the details of this ohoi,o. which he dectares is "probabtv God's witt"). He turned it'down because he feared he'd [ose credibitiiy if he aired out his ctients' dirtv laundrv. His refusal to se[[ onlv heloed to further his career. helpiris him eain trust and res6ect.'J was born and raised in'Catiforn-ia andwas active in the ctub scene durine the Death Row era, but for the past six vears he's been a stalote in the Miami niehttife. He's passionite about photograpl'iy not onty for the 5rt form, but'atso for the adrendtine r[sh'that comes from chasing artists and dodgins bodveuards. When it comes to maior concerts and events, he"prefeis to sneak in the side door-rather than go through the' tiresome DaDerwork Drocess of requestinq credentials and deatinq with'oubticisti. Because of that, hd braqs, "l've been kicke"d out of the greatest parties in thb wortd." . How did you make the transition from shooting to me, "You aren't getting ready to do what think you're gonna do, are you?" 5o I just flash, flash, flash. Michael sees me, and att his security runs towards me [ike I just shot the president. They circled around me, and the big guy is tike, "Give me your fi[m," reaching for my camera. I had atready taken the fitm out and stuck it in my drawers and put another rott in. Bitty D was just sittin' there crackin' up, [ike, "l totd you don't do it!" Mike Tyson saw the situation and ran over with his neck flinchin' and stuff, tike, (imifates I'Aike Tyson voice) "Hey! That's my photographer! You can't mess with him, that's my manl You're not gonna disrespect me! I used to have bitches like you ironing my drawers!" Now, this guy is tike 7'1", and mike is tike 5'11". Mike looked like he was gonna take him though. Then Don [King] comes up tike, (imifates Don King voice) "Naw, naw, naw, naw, that's my man right there. Hey, Mike, what's up baby!" Then they did their tittte hug and shit and Don says, "Take this picture!" says models into shooting concerts and parties? I used to just shoot girls on the beach, then I Over the years, J's lens has focused on scenery started hanging out in the clubs. I took a coupte models, rappers, singers, and athletes, and cool pictures and sent 'em to the magazines. I you've probably seen his work many places and used to sneak in Don King's fights, and I got the didn't even realize it. Some of his most recog- first picture of Mike Tyson that was published in nizable shots include a Tupac photo which ap- Sports lltustrated. Then Don gave me a job and I peared on the cover of Rolling Stone and a pho- worked for him for about ten years. to of Biggie at the Soul lrain Awards the night he was murdered. J also captured the infamous Since you always like to sneak into events, shot of Mike Tyson biting off Evander Holyfield's have you ever been arrested or had your film ear, and the bullet-riddled car after Tupac was taken? shot. Throughout the years, his work has ap' I've had my fitm taken ptenty of times. I've peared in magazines like Rolling Stone, Sports been chased by every top security guard in the lllustrated, VIBE, The Source, Jet, NOW, and country. l've been chased by R Ketty's security, of course, OZONE. J is a hustler - for example they couldn't catch me. Prince's security guards - he'll often shoot several rolls of pictures at an couldn't catch me. R Ketly was performing at artist's concert or video shoot. Then, the next the Miami Arena, and I just snuck in the back time they come to town, he presents them with door and got into the crowd and took some a complete photo album available for purchase. pictures of him, and his security guards started During the weekend of the MTV VlMs in Miami, chasing me from the other side of the arena. he captured shots of police arresting Styles P They got me cornered in the middte so I just outside South Beach hotspot Opium Gardens. started jumping over chairs with peopte sitHe also is available to shoot model comp cards, ting in 'em. The other security guards from the and if you can't reach him at 954-733-361 3 you Miami Arena started chasing me, and I had to can find him at any video shoot, concert, party, run out the back door. The onty security guards who ever caught me was actually R Ketty's or strip club in South Florida. security, but it was in Ca[i at the House of Btues. I think they remembered me from How did you originally get into photography? It was a hobby at first. I used to hang out and the Miami incident. You ever seen the 7shoot on the beach, watching the waves hit the Up commercial where the crowd is so thick rocks on Venice Beach with the sunset hitting they just pass the guy from one end of the the water. White I was taking pictures of the crowd to the other? That's what they did, waves, this girt came up that looked better than they passed me from one bodyguard to the rocks and the waves. I thought it was one of another 'tit they got me in the back. They those tricks, tike Candid Camera. I thought it was took my fitm, and they tried to take my my homeboys playing tricks on me so l'm wait- camera and threatened to beat me up, the ing for somebody to jump out and laugh at me or whote nine. something. She took off some sweatpants and a big hat and a long t-shirt and handed me a roll of Why is it such a big deal if you take a film. She totd me to take pictures of her because picture of R Kelly? she woutd look better than the rocks. So, she ba- I don't know. I don't see why it's such a big sicatty showed me how to take pictures through deat. I've been chased by Michael Jacktrial and error. lt turned out that she managed a son's security, too, that's a good story. I photo store right there on the beach, so she took was at the Sammy Davis Jr. Tribute, and her photos and hung them up on the watl and told was in the back just hangin' out. I see the a[[ her friends. Next thing you know, I'm shooting gates come down, Sammy comes through, so atl her friends. By the end of the summer I had a eased into the situation. Next thing you know, [ot of new ctients so I opened up my own photog- Etizabeth Taylor comes out. Michael Jackson comes out with this big security guard. Bitty D raphy studio. I Mike jumps in the middte, the security guard steps back, Michael steps over, I flash. Don and Mike laugh about it and Mike tetls the security guard, "Peace, no probtem man, everything's good." So I snap another shot where they're laughing (below). I put the shot in a couple I I 52 OZONEMAGAZINESEPTEMBER2004 magazines, but they're [ike, "You gotta stop doing this shit, you can't just be taking pictures of Michaet Jackson!" I was [ike, shit, "Michael Jackson, you've been flashed by J Lash!" just go tirough the proper methods of requesting credentials? Ifhy.no! That'sthebeautiful thingaboutmeetingyou (laughiig). Noi, lknowthe-rightthingtodo. I didn't have avenues, I didn't know who to calt. t stitt don't know t-he pR plopte. just show up. I Being a photographer, you end up spending a lot of time with celebs. who,s the most interesting character you've come acloss? The most fun I've had was with Mike Tyson, I guess because I went around the wortd with him. I was with him when we took the concourse from New york to paris. lt was me, him, and Don King, we were the onty btacks on the ptane. The flight was ten gr.and one-way. lt only took us two and a hatf hours to get there. My woist moment with Mike Tyson was.opening night of ctub ZNo's tast y6ar. Him and Don King were going through some shit, and he knew me through Don. so p Man sam catted m-e over to take a picture of him and Benzino, and as soon as I took the picture, Mike saw just me. and he flipped. He was screaming, "you're the enemy! you're the enemy!" He's swinging on me and l'm ducking, and finatty security came over and putted him _ -knock away from me. I guess they were wondering why he hadn't just me the heti out. Mike grabbed my camera, smashed it to..t-heground, jumped on i[. the whote time he's stomping on my camera screaming, '.you're the enemyl" What about artists? Who have you spent a lot of time with? I've been around a lot of shit with [uncte] Luke. There's sides to Luke. There,s Luke the Freak Nasty man, Luke the businessman, and then Luke the famity man when he's at home with his kids. Luke and Don [King] possess a lot of the same traits; they're both shrewd businessmen. one thing lGirned from Don King is that you never get what you deserve, you onty get what you can negotiate. sarie thing with Luke. If Luke catches you not knowing what time it is, it;s not his fautt thit you decided to sign the contract and you're gonna starve to death off that contract. That was on you. Shoutda waited. I remember Don King tetting me that he had a [arge amount of.money on the table with HBo, but it-wasn't-enough. so he teft several mi[ion dollars on the tabte and went to ABc and made a nEw deat for a cheaper amount, but it had better growth potentiat. of course, ABC wide wortd of sports became a big hit. The lesson is tha[ when somebody ofiers you money, you might be hungry ry it might sound tike a great price, but you shoula thint< iwice. Prime. exampte is TLc. It probabty sounded tike a great deit at the time, but they went bankrupt and they had ptatinum hits. I thinkihe same thing is true with B2K. It might have been a good situation for the one guy in the groupiwhich is why he's going solo, but apparentty his situation was better than the rest of them. so you took the infamous photo of rupac's car riddled with bullets when he was killed? Describe that situation. The fight had just ended and the press conference was over with, so I was supposed to fotlow this girl to a ctub where Foxy Brown was performing with Kurupt. lnyway, i took the shortcut and they went the tong way. They went down Lis Vegas Boulevaid and made a rright d rgrL uil on ndr Harmon, ilruil, near fne the Tront front oT of tne the notet, hote[. and I had went orrf hote[, out rhe the hark back werr girt way. Tha The oirr The called me and told me to come back, she was [ike, "something is poppin'.,'so we circted ,'pac'from police back and cars were atready there, they had atready movid the scene and it was just the car left there and the crime icene tape. it was crazy. police everywhere, butlet holes in the car. I took a couple shots of the scene. On.a business tip, how do you make money as a photographer? W.et[,_l have a lot of corporate-sponsorshipi, tike'Nike,-Nabisco, stuff tike that. working with Don King and Showtime/HBO hetped a tot. The corporations witt hire me to shoot conventions, but everybody thinks I'm just in the ctubs. I don't wanna be just shooting potaroid pictures of the girls for 510. when it comes to hip-hop, ,,Rap is what ybu do, hip-hop is how you [ive." Hip-hop is how I [ive. From a financial perspective, if somebody wanted to come up in the game as a hip-hop photographer, what route would you recommend? shoot, I don't know. They don't wanna go the route I went. I'm stitt going the wrong direction (laughing). l'm sti[[ having probtems with magazines, gettinghy'money. yo-u've gotta invoice 'em a[[ the time, fax 'em att this paperwork. I know that doesn't sound very encouraging. I see a lot of new photographers in the game taking pictures and sending.'em to the magazines, but I don't know if they're {etting paidrbr it. I don,t wanna drop any dimes on any magazines that don't piy ph-otogriptrers _ We know who they are (laughing). Yeah. wet[, see, if you deal directty with the tabet you can get the big check, but try to just deal with the artist directty and hustle wiratever lcan hustG. I Are there any artists that haven't paid you? (laughing) Wet[, yes there is. But ldon'Lwanna call 'em out'cause I'm stitt trying to get my moneyl ls there anyone who pays exceptionally well? No (laughing). wett I'm sure there are, but r can't think of any right now. rt's been a while since I had an artist who paid exceptionaly wett. I mianl they pay, it just takes a long time and you have to hear, ,.Don,t worry, I got you,,'constirittf.'t nia a couple photo agencies I worked with, tike clpA press - shouti to sue, she gof me a tot (continued on following page) > OZONE MAC'AZINE Sepra,reen 2004 53 < (continued from previous page) of major magazine covers. l've had a lot of covers of boxing magazines and stuff like that, and the Tupac shot was on the cover of Rotting Stone. lt was sma[[, it wasn't the main picture on the cover, but a cover is a cover. What parties have you been kicked out of? Recentty, or a long time ago? | haven't been kicked out of too many parties latety. Probabty the last party I got kicked out of was [Atonzo Mourning's] Summer Groove. There was a big dinner, and they had atl the press standing outside but I snuck in and sat down at a table. I didn't know you were supposed to pay some elaborate price - or maybe I did and just didn't care - but anyway, I was thinking that they weren't gonna notice if one ptate of food was missing. ln any event, I was wrong and apologize. I sat down and ate, and that's when security came and grabbed me and asked if I wanted to make, [ike, a fifteenhundred doltar donation for the plate of food. I was [ike, "Man, there wasn't even steakl" (laughing) Fifteen hundred dottars I and no steak? What methods do you use to sneak into all these events? Man, people have to pay for this type of information! Welt, for one, I think I get away with a tot of stuff because l'm tike oxygen: I'm everywhere. People know that if they don't have J Lash at their party, they don't reatty have a party. lf people are at a party and they don't see me, they start wondering, "Am I at the right party?" They'tt catl me [ike, "Man, I've been looking out for you, where you at?" Then when I te[[ 'em which ctub I'm at they're [ike, "Aw, I KNEW I shoutda gone over there!" (laughing) I need to have like, a J Lash hottine. For ninety-nine cents you can diat and find out where the hot shit is. just have the right relationships with security? Security and promoters. The biggest security guards? You better make 'em your friend. Don't ever get smart with security. lt's better to be friends with security than the artist, because if you're cool with security you can get to the artist. The artists are secondary. So you So how did you get cool with security? Most of the time I think they just got tired of chasing me from back in the day. For example, some of Michael Jackson's security was working for Jermaine Dupri for a minute. I saw some security that used to work for Prince that started working for Jay-Z for a minute. Now, Jay'Z has police that are seven feet ta[[ that'tt tett you, "l witl shoot you if you take a picture of him." And they be lookin' serious, too. I was at an event where Jay-Z was with Timbatand and I was getting ready to take a picture and this guy - he was bigger than Shaq, l'm sure - says, "Look here, son, I'm onty gonna te[[ you this one time: do not take that picture. I am a secret service officer and I have the right to do whatever I want to you. Do not do anything with that camera." I was [ike, "Atright, big boss." Only'cause I didn't have a digitat camera. Now that l've got digitat, there's no flash going off, so I could get away with it. I stepped my game up. Besides that, are there any photo ops you regret that you weren't able to get? Puffy and Jennifer Lopez at Opium Gardens. I coutda got it, but I woutda got my boy in trouble. I was close enough and had the camera, but it woutd have flashed. lf I had taken the picture, he might have lost his job. He was Puffy's right-hand man at the time. Puff and Jennifer were just doin' their little dance. Puff is a very interesting person. I took the pictures of him and Biggie back in the day and l've given him posters and stuff like that. I don't know if they've made it onto the watl at his house or anything like that, but who knows. I tried to take a shot of him with lrv Gotti from Murder lnc and he woutdn't do it. Later, lrv totd me, "Everybody can't take a picture with America's most wanted," so I understood. lrv is stitl a cool brother. I respect street peopte. Everybody who's in this game isn't in it for money. I'm not into photography for the money. The money hetps, but I'm in it for the passion and the love 'cause it's what I do. I don't take the pictures necessarily for the cash atl the time. I have to pay for my equipment, but the pictures to me are more for the memory. When you get flashed by J Lash, it's not just a picture or a photograph. lt's a memory. You can atways go back and look at that I photo and remember. Julia Beverly, jb@ozonemag,com (All photos provided by J Lash) - 54 OZONE l,tAGAZlNE SEmEMBER 2004 Where are you from originally? How did you become interested in music? Temmora: I'm originatty from Memphis, born and raised I started singing when I was five in the church choir doing tatent shows statewide. Later was in the school choir. I guess you could say that music has always been in my bloodlines; several people in my famity are in the music industry. I Who were some of your musical influences? Temmora: Janet Jackson. I tike Phyttis Hyman, I learned about her a coupte years back. Aretha Franklin, Tony Braxton, Anita Baker. I tove Erykah Badu and Ji[[ Scott. There's not too many artists that I don't tike. I think they're a[[ incredible in their own right. How would you describe your music? Temmora: Mainstream. lt's hard to ctassify. Arthur Lezl (Temmora's manager and CEO of her Iabel, LEG Records): lt's a little jazz, betieve or not a littte country, firmly rooted on an R&B/hiphop foundation. Peopte from a[[ walks of tife tike her music. lt's a mixture of a lot of things. She's very in-your-face, very emotional with her music. When she sings you can tetl that she's singing from the heat. That's one of the things that really impressed me when we first met. When you started singing was it just a hobby or ***d S:***re *d was it a career plan? Temmora: Actualty, it's been a lifetong dream. lt started with me and my mom. We used to watch the Grammys when I was little, and we used to dream, "Oh, that's what you're gonna wear at the Grammys!" and "What are you gonna say when you win?" So it actuatty started when I was little, I always wanted to be a singer. The tatent shows started grooming me. Winning some, losing some, floppin' on my face, learning from each and every show and event that I got into helped devetop me into a better artist. You've got to know that you can't win 'em att, but you can put your best food forward. And you must always practice, no matter how good you are. When I saw you perform at the Billboard Awards, you had a whole crew of backup dancers. Do your shows usually involve choreographed rou- ''i * t tines? Temmora: Well, yeah, it's not so much that it's choreographed, but I do train with my dancers and my vocal coach and my physical trainer to be abte to hotd the stage. There's a lot of work that goes into it, getting my shows together. Arthur:She usuatly travels with dancers, or sometimes when she's performing slow baltads she'll hotd the stage down soto. After doing talent shows, did you start getting paid shows and opening up for other artists? Temmoro: l've opened for quite a few people, or sometimes they'tt catt me in to do a break. l've actuatly headlined some shows, which was interesting. l've done a lot of industry conferences, behind-the-scenes type things, to let the industry know that l'm here. You opened your show with an Usher song. Do you normally do that to get the audience's attention with something that's familiar to them? Temmora: lf it's a conference I usualty do original materiat, but when I'm doing a show for the general pubtic I'tt do a cover or two to get them famitiar with my voice. write most of your original material? Temmora: I write a lot of the material, and my manager writes as we[[. Sometimes we have other writers come in and collaborate. Do you Did you release your first album independently? What was the main single off that album? Temmora: "Tryin' to P[ay a Ptayer" was the single off the first album, Iolk to l4e. Arthur: We reteased it through Southwest Distribution, but they went under and the rest, as they say, is history. So the remainder of the time, we sotd albums out of the trunk of our vehicte. This time, with this next atbum, we're working on locking in a national distributor. One of the labets we're looking at is Thump/Universat, they're really strong because there's such a resurgence of otd-school R&B. White everybody etse is out chasing the rap, R&B is stowly bubbting under the surface. That's evident with the success of Prince and Teena Marie and even most recently Anita Baker. We're also looking at some of the larger national independents, as opposed to a major. That way she can get the attention she deserves. We need somebody who's gonna aggressivety work on the retail side as aggressively as Temmora works on the consumer side. How would you describe your new album? Temmora: "There's No Me Without You," with Howard Hewett, is the first single. Arthur: The best way to combat downtoading is to make sure the atbum has more than just that one song, so we've spent a lot of time making sure that we give people their money's worth. There's a few uptempo tracks in particular that are particutarty strong, and we'd [ike to add verses from a rapper who's already on the verge. What type of challenges have you dealt with? Do you think it's more difficult to break into the industry as a singer than as a rapper? Temmora: I believe if it's your destiny it's gonna happen regardtess. There have been a lot of obstactes, peopte not wanting to give me respect. They say you have to deserve and earn it, which understand, but at some point you're just pounding and pounding and something's gotta let up. It's a struggte, and you've got to let these people know that you're not backing down. I don't think I it's any harder or easier whether you're talking about R&B or rap. With R&B it's a littte harder streetwise, 'cause you can't get the street notoriety that you can get with rap. Are most of your shows in the A,lemphis area? Temmora: Actua[[y, we've done shows just about everywhere. Wherever the opportunities pop up. Arthur: The #1 urban mainstream station in La- fayette, LA, requested that Temmora come perform the first week in October. So she'I be there, then the Carolinas, then Birmingham, and then Arkansas. She has a strong fan base in Arkansas, believe it or not. We go wherever the opportunities arise: matts, schoots, wherever. We have to be more creative because the competition is greater than ever and [major [abe[] budgets are shrinking. lt's becoming more and more difficult to attain or maintain the consumer's attention. We try to be creative with our marketing, as far as partnering with other companies who are trying to reach the same fan base as Temmora. For a lot of females, it's difficult to break into the industry without being sexual or explicit. Do you think that'11 be a problem for you? Temmora: I ptan on just letting my music speak for itself. I betieve I do have sex appeat, but I don't believe I have to be naked to se[[ an album, no. I think that just because everybody else is doing it, l'tt stand out more because l'm not doing it. I can be sexy without being naked. Temmoro: Mostly relationships, but there's no mate-bashing. Can't beat up on the guys forever (laughing). lt's just tetting it from my heart, my perspective, things I go through on a daily basis. l'm not married, but the first song happens to be a wedding song. I didn't write that one, but it was so beautiful I coutdn't pass it up. The album is catted "Any Other Girl," cause I'm no different from any other gir[. One of the songs, "She Takes the Long Way Home," is basicalty about a person who is in a stressfu[ retationship. Her house isn't far from work, but instead of driving straight to the house she takes the long road home to get her head together. lt's about that I thought they woutdn't tike. They listened to it and were [ike, "No, that's the hit!" That feeling trapped in a retationship. Arthur: lt'[[ be released next spring. radio airplay? surprised me. Temmora says "mainstream" because she doesn't like to be pigeonhoted. lt's in- teresting because now with the internet peopte have access to so many different types of music and cultures than ever before. You can't deny the impact that urban cutture has had on today's music, though. Even if you're talking about pop stations, you'tl see the urban influence in their playtists. But this a[[ goes back to the definition of "urban. " Being independent, has it been difficult getting Temmora: Sometimes, but I have to give big ups to some of the program directors who do show Aside from relationships, what other topics do you discuss? Temmora: Wet[, my mother is deceased, and this is one of the main reasons why I do this. It was our dream together. There's a song on the atbum catted "Missing You," it's just letting my mom know that I miss her dearly. Anybody who's missing someone can retate to that song. We wrote the song, but the idea came from a Grammy-nominated writer. I also have a contemporary Christian song calted "Mary Did You Know?" tatking about Jesus, which is the ctosing of the album. I also sing in Spanish, so one of the songs, "Victim of Summer Love," is on the atbum in both English and Spanish. I have a strong Latino fan base. Arthur: She wanted to identify with the fan base so much that she began taking lessons to learn how to sing in Spanish. People atready think she's Spanish with the name "Temmora," but she does have sort of a Spanish look to her atso. That's a common perception, so she began taking lessons to sing in Spanish. That's another way that Temmora shows how dedicated she is to her fans. Do you ever get to the point where it feels like "work" and you don't wanna do it anymore? Temmora: I think that with anything you get to that point. So yeah, I am human, and sometimes I wanna quit. Sometimes I feel [ike it's too much. But when I watk out on stage and see faces and fans and peopte that be[ieve in me and what I'm doing, atl that just goes straight out the window and I get that energy boost. I get tired sometimes, but at the end of the day it's my passion. I love it. you're "mainstream." Are you worried about being labeled as a "pop" singer? Arthur: No, she's definitety urban. That's who she is and she sings from the heart. When you You said hear her sing it's definitety urban, but there's a strong amount of crossover appeat. Temmora: lt's interesting how people in charge can predict what's "urban" and "not urban." When peopte on the street hear it, they can make their own decision. Arthur: lt's always interesting how peopte try to teil us what we like to listen to. For example, there's a song on the first atbum that was a jazz tune she remade calted "Peet Me a Grape." Most people said, "Oh, that's too adutt." But she would go into junior high schools and etementary schoots and they att tiked the song. Uttimately, it's atI about good songwriting. People categorize what's "urban" and what's "not urban. " Last week we were in a Littte Rock with a group of producers who wanted to hear some of the album. When one track came on said, "Skip that one, you probably wouldn't be interested." lt's sort of a country/bluesy song mad love for independents. I had twenty BDS stations that jumped on the first singte, "Tryin' to Ptay a Ptayer." lt's harder, yes, than being on a major labet. But it's a fight in anything you do. Are you interested in doing hooks and features for other up-and-coming rappers? Arthur: She's had many artists approach her for hooks, but a lot of people don't foltow through. We have no problems with that, if it's the right materiat. I can be reached at 870-550-4100. How did you end up meeting your manager Arthur, and signing to LEG Records? Temmora: lt was at a talent contest I heard about on the radio shortly after my mom passed. I checked it out just to see what was going on in Memphis. It was a tri-state talent competition, and Arthur knew the guy who was hotding the competition. Arthur: I was in a group at the time, and the guy who produced for us invited me to come over and watch the talent competition. lt's funny, because I've seen her grown and devetop so much since that point. I'm proud of what she's done. I don't think people reatize how much time this takes. Weight training an hour a day, vocal [essons twice a week, choreography several hours a day muttipte days a week, not to mention traveting at the same time and trying to comptete the atbum? That's a futl-time job. I think it's a common misconception peopte have, whether you're tatking about R&8, rap, or pop: This person was so talented they sang one song and sotd a mittion units and it happened overnight. People don't reatize the years they've spent. Anyway, I had missed her performance, but I saw her doing the hook to a rap song. Even through that, with her head down, I coutd hear the pureness of her tone. I tapped my friend on his shoutder and told him, "Dude, that's your next superstar. He said, "Yeah, I'm gonna use her for some hooks." I just questioned that statement, because she was someone good enough to go soto. [Temmora and ll exchanged phone numbers after the show, and I taught her what I know about the business. Stowly, over time the retationship developed. It's been almost five years now. I was in a group catted Esquire at the time. I don't wanna say it was modeled after Boyz ll Men, but it was around that same time. lt was supposed to be a group of articulate, fairty attractive, wet[-groomed gentlemen. Unfortunatety, it didn't work out because the guys in the group didn't understand the amount of time and energy and effort it takes to create something tike that. The group disbanded, but I stitt had the love for music so [managing Temmora] is something that's a hobby for me. But it's not something that's a hobby for Temmora. This is what she does. I What subjects do you talk about on your album? Julia Beverly, jb@ozonemag.com (Photo: J Lash) - OZONE ITIAGAZ|NE Seprn',Brn 2004 57 nx Brooklyn-born DJ Quest r€tocated to Southwest Florida as a teenager and moved to Orlando for a few years aft*r-high school where h* Joined ifoe idur* oi Steele-D-, clique. lle's cuirently one of the largett club DJs in Ft. Ai{yers, FL, and spins 5+ nighti a week on Clear Chahnet's WBTT. l"infortunafety for Quest, Ft. Myers has not been the best phcb to tive this past month. Oid your station do any type of fundraisers after the hurricane? Suave Smooth and Smitez & Southstar came down to do fundraisers. Ciear Channet actually created a prograrn called StormAid to benefit the hurricane *ctims. lt's an ontine charity auction (www.5tormAid.com) where you can bid sn autographed posters, stuff tike that. 4profie production on the low-tow, but i'm not real[y satisfied with my beats yet' What other DJ cliqu,es do you represent? Tech.Nitions, CO-REjJ1' and Bum Squad DJs. A tot of people think Tech.Nitions is finished, but I talk to Ran on a regu[ar basis and he's just sittlng back watching muthafuckers aad seeing How did you originally get started DJing? | ptayed footbali and wrestled in high schoot, who'sactuattydownforthe.teamandwho'snot. Man, it kitLed us. lt pretty much looked like a bonrb so wlrenever I'd go to the game or practice I Tech.Nitions isn't just a website. We've sti[[ got weni off in this bitch. A"tot. of peopte aren't here, started making mixtapes for mysetf and the our week{y calts, we're still networking. so they reatty don't see how severe it is. When you cats on the footbalt team to listen to. I never actuatiy drivb through the city, place! thatxsed to realty took it seriously,untj! I rnovqf to Orlando Can you explain_what the. Tech.Nitions are be theie are gone. The first'two weeks after the and hooked upwith a DJ ctique catted House of and what The CORE is? It's a little slrange hurricane, yoi'd u.trutty get lost because lancl- Steel.e. lt was me, Phantom, Remington Steete, for you to belong to both organizations since marks that you're use<l io are just gone" A tot of G Dep, Marksman, and 007. We had a couple $*y'tt somewhat at odds. * Tech.Nitions was. started by DJ Ran and Scrap small mom b pop businesses aie gane, lf you had ctub nights. Dirty, and the whole idea was to unite the DJ a traiter horne, it's gone. The firsi one, Hurricane community. A lot of new DJs don't know how to Charley, *as ihu w6rst. lt wasn't even supposed Were you atso putting out mixtapes? to corne here. lt was supposed to hit Tarnpa, not lt seerns tike a lot af peopte are puttjng out getrnusicorhowtodealwiththecommon probport Charl,otte, but about a hatf hour before it hit mixtapes just to get their narne out there. lf I lems that you run into with radio stations and tand that muthafucker just took a sharp turn right don't havi a lot of good music to put out, l'm PDs. lf l've got a prob.tem_at the station. I can towards us. Our powefwas sut for two weeks. I not gonna put out a mixtape. I hate tistening caltanold-schooicattikeCharlesDixon,Ran,or coutdn't do shit. A tree fett on my house, but it to a-mixtape with whack songs, They're very Showtlme, and they'lt tell rne how to handle it. didn't do too much darnage, lt actuatty protected watered down. Back in the days you could find The CORE DJs is basicatly the same thecry. lt's the house f rorn atl the otlier ftying debris. lt dan:- a hot Tony Touch or Kid Capri mixtape and have just that a few people had probtems with Rail agec! the roof, but it wasn't rnajor. We've got teaks that shit for years and it'tt still be hot, These and decided to branch off{rom Tech.Nitions and irithe roof, garage" I've got records that were days you {isten to a mixtape fcr a week and do_theirownthing"TonyNeat,whostartedThe danraged by tlie witer. Thiiis the worst storm sea- thiow it out and get ready to buy a new one. CORE DJs, that's my man and .l support him. l'm put out the "southern Fried Gumbo pretty much down with everybody. son I ian recatt since I've t'ived here. ln New York I recently -mixtape, and now everybody's like, I went through Hurricane Gtoria, but that shit was Vo[. 1" "Where's volume two?" I'm not gonna put Anything else you wanna say_? nothing eornfared to this. that aut unt'i[ !'ve got hot shit. I'm also doing Checkoutmywebsite, www.DeeJayQuest.com Hsw has the recent string of lrurricanes yourarea? ru, mrnkd kl*' ryrm***l rc ffi FAWnflrqE ff ff ffi trc m m ffi ffi ffi ffre ffi ffi ff affected KAMIKAZE "2 BROKE 2 BALL" OUR GLASS ENT. Kamikaze begins by introducing his alter ego Mr. Sho-Nuff on the intro, then wastes no time hitting listeners with the ctub banger that's been causing riots in Mississippi clubs for the past year or so. Even so, the surprise hit off this atbum might turn out to be the next track, "Same Otd Clothes," a catchy ode to the day-to-day grind produced by and featuring fettow Jackson rapper Godson Royat. White Kamikaze reps the 'Sip proudty, he doesn't possess the typical thick drawl that the industry has come to expect from Southern rappers. Lyricatty, he can easity compete with NY rappers, and even jokes, "l'tt catch a red-eye to the N-Y, set up shop in BedStuy / lt's mad real in the city, son, I've come to get these heads high." Even though the tracks have a Southern vibe, they've got the potentiat for a wider appeal than just one region. The upbeat "Round Here" conjures visions of outdoor barbeques and a live-ass party out in the country. My personal favorite, "Loser," is a setf-depreciating but amusing laid-back joint where Kamikaze sings at a mock open-mic night. His Crooked Lettaz partner, David Banner, produced the bouncy "Bonified Pros" and the introspective "l Apotogize," effectively squashing any rumors of beef between the two. "Husttin"'and the titte track, "2 Broke 2 Batt" with Tony B, express Kamikaze's overall mindstate: this isn't an album about money, cars, ctothes, and hoes. This is an atbum for anybody who's struggling to make it day to day, whether it's hustting on the street or suffering through a 9-to-5. Kamikaze speaks from the heart on "Change," touching on potiticaI and spiritual issues with lyrics [ike "Most y'atl rappers are [ike false prophets / Ptuggin' your albums, te[[in' us we need to cop it and thankin' God? You need to stop it." He proceeds to spit a fast-paced btur of profound thoughts that't[ have you hitting the reptay button a few times. "l Apotogize" provides more insight into Kamikaze's mindset as a man, as he reflects on a past retationship. Of course, along with the positive there's a few negatives. The onty major features ("Get 'em Back" featuring the Nappy Roots and "Bonified Pros" featuring Bonecrusher) aren't impressive. "Hee Haw," featuring Rell, sounds like it's trying too hard to be a club record, and the hook gets irritating. The skits are a [ittte longer than neces- sary. White Kamikaze's sound is ctearty diverse, the album feets a littte unba[anced. lt starts off with the strongest tracks and loses steam to- wards the end with tracks like "So Coo[," which sounds a littte out of ptace. But, by the end of the album, just in case you haven't reatized that Kamikaze is a grade-A lyricist, the acapetta introduction to "Shine" should convince you. Overall, it's clear that this is a well-organized project. While many major artists are forced to rush an atbum of mediocre songs to back up one singte, Kamikaze has presented us with a comptete quatity atbum on a limited budget, with no samptes, mostty unknown producers, and onty a few guest appearances. Stitl, there's something intangibte that's lacking. Like it or not, Kamikaze's work wi[[ atways be compared to his former rhyme partner, and the project doesn't exude the intensity or energy of Banner's l4ississippi. Stitt, what Kamikaze lacks in flair, he makes up for with profound and witty lyrics that effectivety capture the mentality of the everyday working man. With this retease, Kamikaze proves that he's more than capabte of holding down a solo project. - Julia Beverly, jb@ozonemag.com music. Some artists, like Twista and Lit' Ftip for example, seem to be ptagued by some ailment causes them to perform better on other people's songs then on their own. Sometimes this seems to be the case with Grandaddy. lf this was his official atbum, I would be a littte disappointed, but it seems that he's teft off a few of his best tracks for the upcoming major retease. The re-release of "Savage Journey (Fuck da Law)" is still a classic. - Julia Beverly, jb@ozonemag.com that TRIPLE SEIS TIME'LL TELL Years after leaving Terror Squad due to the untimety death of rap released GMNDADDY SOUF THE BOOTLEG PARM MO a major with his record "Savage Journey (Fuck da Law)" Grandaddy Since creating buzz Souf has been languishing at SRC, frustrated by labet potitics and stowty watching his buzz die out, searching for that etusive hit singte to break him into the mainstream. To cure his creative btues, he's released the "unauthorized" bootteg album. We begin with the reggae-infused "Streets of Parramore," a tribute to the Ortando 'hood where he was born and raised. Feltow Parra Mo artists Joe Grind and Jango Fresh atso appear on this song. "My Gameroom," featuring BloodRaw, is Grandaddy's plea to the haters. "lt ain't your business who I fuck," he growts. The popular club DJ anthem, "Everybody lay it down, come on and represent your town," is turned into a hook on "Where You From," where Grandaddy is joined by Petey Pabto affitiate JD Hawg. "Crabs in a Bucket" seems to be Grandaddy's motto, condeming those who try to hotd back other people from being successfut. Throughout the album it's clear that Grandaddy has grown as an artist, but sometimes it seems that he's trying too hard to make a commerical record instead of just tetting loose and making good legend Big Pun, Triple Seis has finatty his debut soto album. The years of exposure to Pun are undeniably present from the get-go. Time'[[ Tett opens with "Harsh Reality," featuring Pun himself. Over a beat reminiscent of RZA, Pun and Seis come with lyrics that ctearly serye as a translation of Seis' real [ife experiences into music. The posthumous verses by Pun aren't simply verses that Seis haphazardly found; they're arguably some of the most emotional and heartfelt verses Pun ever recorded. Seis can't match his mentor's vigor on this track but brings his own share of insight with tracks [ike, "Remember me, that same cat that you let steep in his crib / The same cat that keep you deep in his rib / Put it atl together and see what I did / Made it famity first, let me show you what my famity's worth." As is the case with the butk of the production on the atbum, the lead singte "Krazy" lacks solid production and Seis doesn't sound comptetely comfortable. His lyrics drop in terms of content and depth, but Veronica adds a hook that's the hightight of the song. The onty break from the monotonous production comes from Les of the Beatnuts on "Drinks Up." He uses an lndian sitar sampte which makes for a hot track, but it seems to throw off Seis' flow. The hook is simple and the track doesn't share Seis'wisdom. Another solid production effort comes from Cochese on "Love Put Me." On this track, a piano metody and vocal sampte offer Seis the canvas on which to examine his career, the sacrifices he's made, and the mistakes he's made. Other MC appearances include Cu- ban Link on "Be About lt." Seis delivers but it's a decent verse Link who shines on this track. lce-T shows face on "Coast 2 Coast," bringing one of the strongest verses on the album. This album is notable for the truth Seis shares on many of the tracks, but with mediocre production, the album fa[[s short of a must- have. The "Skutty Remix," produced by Just Blaze, is reatty the only commendabte production effort and it comes way too late in the album to save it. There are several tracks on this album which are skippabte. Seems like onty Time'll Tell if this talented MC's luck his favor. witl ever turn - Rohit in Loomba, poombster@yahoo.com OZONE i AGAZINE Srprzuern 2004 61 with no remorse. PT Cruiser drops a good verse and Mista Dunn is "trying to turn maydays into paydays." sucks you in TJ's DJ's 3rd QUARTER TASTEMAKERS ONLY XCLUSIVES PSYCHO & KASH f. LIL BOOSIE / SINCE I'MA HUSTLA- LONG TERM SOUTH Contact: L Kash - 904.708.1575 Psycho & Kash team with Lit Boosie to create a track high- KEY / GET BUCKED - FIEND TL'6 @. ENT. Contact: Fiend - 504.243.1 422 Fiend has returned with a master ptan to get this money and maintain the love he receives from his fans from the N.O. to Ohio. lf you don't rep those areas, don't worry, Fiend wants you to know that "for the fotks in the middte feeting me a tot or a littte, so what as long as you get bucked now." But, what is getting bucked? lt is making your ends the best way you know how and cetebrating with your people. THE THOM JAMEZ BOYZ f. KADILLAK BOYZ I PUSH & SHOVE - STREETWIZE Contact: BigT - 404.522.4577 The Thom Jamez Boyz tinked with the Kadittak Bofz to form a congregation of pain against att of their enemies. With "Push & Shove" they combine forces to announce to the wortd that a new order is being served. lf you push, they're going to shove and stomp your ass out. SUAVE SMOOTH / BACK UP (REMIX) - HEADQUARTER Contact: Jermaine - 561.389.5525 This reincarnation of the original breathes new tife into the project. The main differences are new versions of the verses, more inctusive regional shout outs, as we[[ as a more direct hook. The production for "Back Up (Remix)" stitt provides for a feeling of bucking the system through a sound system and simpty energizes your emotions. EVE'NIN RIDAHZ I MY CLICK- Z-4-1 Contact: Ski - 813.294.1160 2-4-1 Records reemerges after riding a successfu[ wave with Rated R's "ln Here Tonight." This time around they have the Eve'nin Ridahz ctaiming Tampa as their own. With a ctick that is never quick to back down, few will chattenge their turf. This tune announces "l pack pistots tike a renegade/Attack tike a hurricane/Representin' Tampa Bay.../Fuck with me, you't[ be running like a track meet." Get the point? LIL UNFUFU / YOU AIN'T REALLY READY - BANG 'EM Contact: Fufu King - 904.866.01 59 Jacksonvitte's Lit Unfufu is testing his foes and chaltenges them to get ready. When somebody presses Fufu, be prepared because he's ready to knock their ass out! More specificatty, "tett me what woutd you do if a hater pressed your crew? I don't know about you, but I'd ctap that foo[. I'd have his neighbors saying, 'what happened to that boy?' Round here, niggas don't ptay with toys." lf you're not ready, you'd better get ready cuz Fufu is headed your way. f. CRUCIAL, SKINO, C DAWG / KNOCK 'EM DOWN . BIG CAT Contact: Mel Man - 404.603.8229 Young Snead and his gangsta nation from the A are on the scene to deliver a message. You had better move out of the way or get knocked down! The production paints a picture of these guys on the block handting business. lf there was a definition of a gangster, compared with these guys most would fail because they wouldn't be tough enough. T. MOSES & JR. / READY TO DIE . GOODFELLAZ Contact: T. Moses - 561.856.4350 The industry is fitted with artists who cavalierty throw phrases about how not afraid of death they are, but when faced with it woutd probabty cave tike a spot in Afghanistan. But, what woutd you do if facing someone who has nothing to tose? T. Moses poses this question to those looking to take his "scritta. " MISTA DUNN f. PASTOR TROY / HIT DA FLOE - BLACK ICE Contact: Eric Brown - 404.246.6842 Mista Dunn and Pastor Troy combine to lay down some A-T-L funk. "Hit Da Floe" sounds eerity like a classic UGK track. So, off the rip, the production 62 I'L'6 PooL CD OZONE IvIAGAZINE Srprr,Ben 2004 f. BIG BUB & CARLA BOSTON / BLOWED ICE EE.DE TIFFANI f. TIGAH / LOVE ON MY MIND - RUFF WORLD Contact: Mickey Rallens - 786.586.4653 Tiffani's voice melds well with this unique beat to make a song that is both catchy and thoughtfut. When she betts her metodies you can feet the joy she has for finding that special someone to tove. Tigah and Tiffani ptay well off of each other and do very we[[ to express their feetings without the clich6s. / LET'S GET IT LOW (THE KRUNK LOVE SONG) - NME Contact: Renee Wilson - 404.885.5754 Ee-De is one of the rare breed that is abte to putt off having a smooth voice white maintaining his appeat. With "Let's Get lt Low," the mood of the track is ptayfut, but stitt allows Ee-De to disptay his vocal range. STEPHEN HALL / I WANNA KNOW - DA LUV CIRCUIT Contact: Junell - 954.993.5220 It is not often where the man exposes his feelings for a woman. But, Stephen Hatt puts everything on the line and needs to know if the object of his desires is reciprocating the love he's trying to give. Stephen Hatt putts it off with grace and a style reminiscent of the mid 80s R&B explosion. LIL STICKS / PIMP SUIT - TEFLON Contact: Tarvoria Russ - 386.527.9627 ln Sticks' neighborhood, even while doing dirt, you gotta stay clean in your pimp suit. To be fashionabty btand is a painful state of affairs. lt says that you have nothing of value. But, if you come clean as Sticks does, you woh't be overhyping the deepness of your pockets or lyricat ability. HEAI DINO, & FLEM BLAK / YA GITT SKEETED ON - DARK HEART Contact: Slim Black - 813.784.5956 "Ya Gitt Skeeted On" is one of the rare tracks that is setf-exptanatory. Heat, Dino, and Flem Btak got together to make a song that lists atl of the people they have issues with that woutd provoke them to skeet. For instance, if a gir[ thinks she's too cute, "ya gitt skeeted on." The heavy use of horns in the production is Stip-N-Stide-esque and creates a South Ftorida fee[. HUMBLE THUGS / HOLLA - IJ Contact: Jeff Johnson - 305.620.0001 The Humbte Thugs hail from the mighty M-l-A. They have dropped another set that has the quintessential Miami sound. ln fact, you'd be abte to City Boy stide to this jam as you "hotla" at your favorite shorty. Look for the group's lead mistress Boss Lady to tight up stages in the near future. KIMTLLTON YOUNG SNEAD LIFE Contact: Eric Brown - 404.246.6842 This song is strictty for the smokers who've got the dough, dro, or reefer. Key ll Life grabs some good tatent in Big Bub and Carta Boston to sprinkle their skitts over a mid-tempo track. The combination rotted tightty together makes a song that should get some good burn. tighting both the bright and dark sides of being a "h-u-s-tt-e-r." Lit Boosie states, "l gotta provide/So I'mma hit this nigga with the 4-5...Somebody's gotta get it cuz, my f*ckin' chitdren' hungry." Psycho ft Kash do a good job painting a picture of the gritty street [ife, showing Jacksonvitte is more than Jaguars and Super Bowts. FIEND II - BLACK / NAILS DID (REMTX) - RUFF WORLD Contact: Mickey Rallens - 786.586.4653 Kimiltion opens with the otd jigato cadence (you know the one, "l've got my hands up high, my feet down [ow, that's the way we jigato") to get your head bobbing to the understated musical tones. Then she throws you for a loop with the reggae break down. This song witt keep your attention with the sudden changes and familiarity working we[[ together. THE XTREMISTS / T.H.U.G. - HARSH REALITY Contact: Mass - 561.541.9131 Much like Pubtic Enemy, The Xtremists attempt to raise the conscious [eve[ of the populace with each creation. As long as there is racial injustice in this country, expect to see The Xtremists in the midst of the battte. 904 CLICK f, MIKE JONES / THE STREETS IS REAL - M.O.E. Contact: Vic - 904.545.0385 The 904 Click recruited the hottest mix CD vet in the game, Mike Jones, to show how they tive in the streets of Jacksonvitle. 904 Ctick knows that when you "[ook at my face, l'm an African-American. White fotks see me and they think I'm stangin' heroin." Some things never change. - Keith "1st Prophet" Kennedy, keith@tjsdjs.com playlists $*p*. tr*ffiw {**:r:re'rci*! r*dio Top t$ {l'r*tt**wid*.} 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 - Terror Squad "Lean Back" - Ciara Petey Pabto "Goodies" - Lif Ftip Lea "Sunshine" f/ f/ - Netty fl Jaheim "i,ly Flace" - LL cool J "Headsprung" - Akon fl Sty{es P "Locked Up" - Christina tditian "Dip it Low" ' Usher f/ Alicia Keys "lAy 8oo" - Juvenite f/ Soulja Stim "Stow Motion" 10 - Kevin Lyttle "Turn lde 0n" 1$A{SX Ls*atr Le;v {W*st Fal:n, FL} 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 - Jermaine "Tell lie" - BSU f/ Lil'Jon "Sak Passe" - Oanger fl Davinchi "Feels 5o Good" 09 ' l0 Jalrlia*** Re*€Fld ***l {*r{*:'ld*, fL} 01 - Lif Jon & the East Side Soyzfl Lil'Scrappy "What U 6on'Do" fl 0? - Tony Sunshine DirtBag, P Diddy "Oh ltly God" 03 - Mobb Deep "Real Gangstas" Q4 - 213 "6roupie Luv" 05 - Guerilla Etack f/ Beenie Man "Compton" 06 - Sitkk Da Shocker "We Like Dem Giris" 07 - Twirta R Kelly "5o Sexy' 08 - i{iss-Teeq "Scandalous (rernix}" Ludacris & T.l. "stomp" 09 - Young Buck 10 - Brandy "Who is She to You" fl fl T-i's $J'* {?ei[ah*s*s*, Fi-] T*p 01 0? 03 - **in*rc "No Pmbtem" Squad "Lean Back (remix)" Lil'krappy 'Terror fl fl fl fl - Gold Rush "Damn Right" r-# - J-Red "Dis Ain't How" 1gUfi - Cotosus "Let's o*-*ff Rotl" - Funkadelic [nt" "Funkadetic" - RX fl "6et Babeblu Productions Right" it Sehife Cartel "Oo a Thang" - ,Avatanche "561" *$4 Rec*rd F**t {?*r'':p;*, Fl-} T*p lne*iw"s 01 - Strizzo "Low Low {remix)" 02 - Mr. Magic fl YoungB{oodz & Roy Jones Jr, "l Smoke, I Drank {remix}" 03 - Eve'nin Ridahz "iAy Click" 04 - Kaddiltak "Get Down Boogie" 05 - Piccalo "Get Loose {remix}" 06 'The Eeam "Ah Damn" 07 - Do Wrong "Ahh &tan" Vi*le* trtlx iMi*mi, FL) f1**vy r*t#tisn 01 - SBall & flJG fl Shannon Joner "Straight Cadillac Pimpin"' 02 - Capleton "ln Her Heart" 03 - Ciara f/ Petey Pabls "Goodies" 04 - KR5-One "lttegal Business" €ffi 3i. il j,,1il3ei"::,'J.",'"53 07 - lvlase "Breathe, Stretch, Shake" 08 - Petey Pabto fl Rasheeda "Vibrate" 09 - Tanya Stephens "lt's a Pity" 10 - Terror Squad "Lean Back" 1'l - Various "Ching Chong Riddim iledley" '17 - 213 "Groupie Luv" D.i Vlad (hosted by Shaquille O'Neal) www.OJVlad.com r.S/ *ry !r*{:.rd*s itary l;nrss:'i irii& t{rynin' &d#'%,'1*13 {&;fe*er rernrxl " #f* - #sfisr "l#{ i{ S#rE f$#***l rss:ix,}* #33 " i*gri* "i $sf fii/s $$ if #trrr:wfur:*.&l* #34 - 5t*q '13:': Fir* i5*iJ{a$issJ" #35 " #o a,r llie f/ ?iqisf* "llc Y#ri" T.ta lr.t6 Petey Pabto "6oodies" 04 - LL Cool J "Headsprung' 05 - Pitbull f/ Piccals "Damn lt f'"lan" 06 - Idista R KeUy "Ss Sexy' 07 - Akon "Locked Up" 08 - Houston f/ Chingy "l Like That" 09 - Guerilla Black f/ Seenie l{an "Campton" 10 - Beenie trtan "King of the Dancehall" 'ltick Daddy f/ Lil Jon & Taista "Letl Go" 1 1 't2 - Jadakiss f/ Anthony Hamitton "\{hy'' 13 - Lit'Jon & the East Side Bo,yz Lil 5crappy "What U Gon Do" 14 - Lil Ftip Lea'Sunshine" 15 - lifobb Deep f/ Lil'Jon "Real, Gang$tas" - Ciara DJs, send your mix CDs (include a cover) to: 1516 E. 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