Although Ruff Ryders and The Lox have appeared to grow apart from each other, Joaquin “Waah” Dean, co-CEO of Ruff Ryders, said that the two camps don’t have any ill feelings between them even though all parties are expanding.
“There’s no beef. Beef is when a body drops,” Dean told AllHipHop.com. “The devil is always trying to devise some divide-and-conquer situation. When artists want to expand, most CEOs want to handcuff them.”
“Me and my brother [Darrin “Dee” Dean] are believers in the true entrepreneurial spirit. Its always going to be those minds out there that want to divide you up because you want to do positive things in your environment.”
The Lox officially launched their D-Block Records in 2003 with the release of group member Sheek Louch’s Walk Witt Me in September. The group now has a number of releases slated to drop in 2004 including a compilation, an album from J-Hood and other projects.
As The Lox, the group will release their third album, Live, Suffer and Celebrate, under the Ruff Ryders/Interscope banner.
The Double-R CEO stressed that Ruff Ryders was the point of origin for artists like DMX, Swizz Beatz and others looking to go into business.
“Its like parents,” he explained. “At the same time, they still got our last name. We the mothers and fathers of this – D-Block, Bloodline, Full Surface.”
D-Block president Supa Mario made a similar, but slightly different comparion to the Lox’s D-Block Records, which is distributed through Universal.“Its like we’re the little brothers and we want to show our big brothers that we can ball now.”
Dean admitted that he has seen The Lox grow from forming as a group in high school to 10-year staples in the rap game.
“I’ve seen growth from kids to men. They handle situations better. They got kids and family of their own. You know they are going to learn a lot. You are going to get Puff’s side, the whole crazy marketing strategy, and you gonna get the other side with Ruff Ryders. They inherited a lot,” Dean stated.
“I think as long as they can stay together as a unit and nobody can divide them up, they’ll be alright,” he concluded.
At press time, there was no release date for Live, Suffer and Celebrate. Presently, Ruff Ryders readies album releases for Drag On and Jin.
