Getting what she wants is pretty much every girl’s dream. It’s also one of the things that Pretty Ricky say they do best – not one, but all four of them. Pleasure P, Spectacular, Slick Em and Baby Blue are set out to do just that with their latest release from Bluestar Entertainment International/Atlantic records called Late Night Special. As they have successfully made a name for themselves, they are currently on a mission to please their fans, city to city. Minutes before their New York City appearance at Roseland Ballroom, Pretty Ricky paused their regular routine to discuss their fans, or “superstars” as the group prefers to call their admirers, and the tremendous success of their pants dropping performances. Luckily, three of the brothers were available while Baby Blue was making sure that their label mates, Butta Creame, were adequately prepared for the show. Unfortunately, they will have no time to enjoy the cities they visit, but one thing is certain – they are looking forward to making their tour a very special experience. AllHipHop.com Alternatives: Do you consider yourselves a rap group or an R&B group? Pleasure P: We [are] both composites of one another because I mean you got rappin’ flavor, you got the singin’ flavor mixed together. We one of the groups that…we just different. There’s three rappers and one singer so you know it makes it different off [the] top. Yeah, I would say we’re a bit of both. AHHA: What have you done differently from other groups that made your album debut at #1? Pleasure P: Just the fact that we bring slow music back to the club. I mean a lot of people on this crunk, dancy, dancy stuff. We bringing slow music back to the club. I mean we got a different whole vibe to us as far as, you know, the energy that we put into our performances; the energy that we put into our personalities. And we one of those groups that we just straight edgy. We don’t care what somebody may think about us, we just gonna be ourselves no matter what. And I think that’s what make Pretty Ricky so different than everybody else, cause you got a lot of groups they go through a lot of media training, a lot of grooming and stuff like that. When they go through that type of stuff, I mean it shows on TV. They roll in a straight line. Us, we just do whatever feels right. AHHA: What made you choose your group name to be Pretty Ricky? Pleasure P: Well actually, the name Pretty Ricky came from a sitcom, Martin…Martin Lawrence had a sitcom back in the day. The following day we went to school dressed alike and the girls teased us a little bit callin’ us Pretty Ricky. So I mean when we decided for our career we thought what would be a better name for a group of four, [than] Pretty Ricky. We wanted to make people think that Pretty Ricky is one individual, so when they do find out that it’s four individuals they become more drawn to the group, they become more focused on the individuals in the group and the group name. So far it worked real, real good because we’re one of the few groups where they know each and every last of our names. It’s been groups that been in the game for years and you don’t know every member in the group name. That’s the good thing about naming our group Pretty Ricky. AHHA: What is the significance with the color blue? Is it spawned from your father’s moniker Bluestar? Pleasure P: The “Blue” came from our father, our father’s name is Bluestar Smith. We dedicated our first album to him so that’s where all the blue stuff came, no gang stuff. AHHA: Is it difficult working with each other since you’re all brothers? Pleasure P: I think that’s the easiest thing possible workin’ with our brothers because I know how to push him, he knows how to push me and that’s just what it is. At the end of the day, alright, you gonna shoot me one, you feel me? We fight and get it over with [and] we back the best of friends the next day. That’s the good thing about working [with my brothers]; you might be aggravated sometimes whatever, whatever but that’s still family. AHHA: How is your relationship with Atlantic Records? Have they significantly helped to propel your career? Pleasure P: They made us stars. They do their thing, we got a good relationship with Atlantic. We love everybody at Atlantic. And it’s a team, we got our own label of course, Bluestar Entertainment International/Atlantic Records, so it’s like one big team. AHHA: In an industry where Hip Hop is constantly mixed with R&B, do you feel a group should be able to do both as a means for survival? Pleasure P: I mean it ain’t really no importance. I mean I just feel like if you make good music the people gonna flock to it. Whether it’s just R&B, it can be Country, but if you got a hit record that’s a Country song you can do anything. You can cross it over to any chart. AHHA: You gained a lot of your recognition from your touring and performances. How did you go about promoting yourself to your local circuit in Miami? Pleasure P: I mean, the same way we been goin’ about it, you gotta create your own situation. From the day that we started we was out there, whether it’s in a strip club, whether it’s in a regular club, we was gettin’ our music played, passin’ it out. We was up in the middle of the night puttin’ up our own posters. We was in the studio all night cuttin’ our own records, makin’ our own beats, just kinda creating our own situation for ourselves so that’s how we go about promoting ourselves. Nowadays, that we signed and stuff, we do whatever Atlantic tells us to do. I mean we grind real hard whether it’s an interview with you or with whoever we just gotta make it happen…whether it’s in the middle of the night, whatever. AHHA: Do you have a lot of groupies and crazy fans? Pleasure P: Groupies is a word that other girls use to hate on other girls. We don’t classify the word “groupie” as a word that you call females, cause it’s like degrading females. There’s nothin’ wrong with a female liking a handsome young man with potential and ambition you know what I’m sayin’, that got somethin’ goin’ for himself. There’s nothin’ wrong with that. Slick Em: Lemme elaborate on that. Let me tell ya like this hea’. This ya boy Slick-A- Delafonte. I’ma say it like this: [Slick Em begins a chant and the other two ad lib on his emphasized words] See if you got no vision/You ain’t got no patience/And if you ain’t got no patience/You ain’t got no faith/And if you ain’t got no faith/The people will perish/ Yes Lord, they will perish/So you gotta have a vision/You gotta make people believewho you are/What you try to be and what you proclaim to beSee Pretty Ricky we a lifestyle/See Pretty Ricky is that/That late night special, cause we the appetizer, main course and dessert. You feel what I’m sayin’? Check out our Pretty Ricky clothing line, I’m talkin’ ‘bout Pretty Clothing, it’s coming to a hood near you. And also we don’t make big girl sizes, we don’t make plus sizes, we don’t make none of them sizes. For all my juicy girls out there what sizes may they expect? [all together] “Super Sexy Sizes”, you see what I’m sayin’, for all my sexy young ladies out there cause Pretty Ricky love you. Girl, walk like you sexy, talk like you sexy, girl you is sexy. Hit us up at prettyricky.com and I’ma pass it back to Pleasure P. AHHA: Do your fans ever go over the edge when you drop your pants during your shows and do you ever mind? Pleasure P: We call ’em superstars. Slick Em and Spectacular: We the groupies. Pleasure P: Yeah, we the groupies, that’s why they the superstars. Droppin’ our pants in a set of a show, of course we got tights and boxers and stuff under that so it wouldn’t be nothin’ wrong with droppin’ yo’ pants. It’s just entertaining the ladies and we give 110 percent at each and every last performance, so we give the ladies what they want. They do go crazy because they love Pretty Ricky, so to all the ladies out there that go crazy, we love ya’ll. To all the ladies who wait outside for hours just to see us we still love ya’ll. I’ma pass it to Spec. Spectacular: Yeah make sure to check our tour, we on tour right now. Pretty Ricky – Late Night Special Tour. I’m out of breath right now cause I been doin’ some push-ups. [takes a breath] 1,000 demands will have Pretty Ricky in your city, so go to our MySpace page. 1,000 demands to have us in your city like Diddy. AHHA: Do you feel like you have male fans as well Pleasure P: We got all kinds of fans because we the voice for the fellas. I mean whatever they can’t say to the ladies they can just put that Pretty Ricky CD in and we’ll say it for them. It’s another thing about our group, we just like that. AHHA: I know you had a contest for the title of your latest release. Pleasure P: Right, actually one of our superstars picked the title to our album Late Night Special. AHHA: Why did that win? Did you already have the content in place or did the title help shape your album? Pleasure P: Nah, it just went with what we were going for, the look we were going for, the image we were going for and what we’ve done in the past. I’m just gonna say it like, everything that we do our superstars are involved in it. They’re the ones that go buy the CD, they the ones that come to our concerts. So they’re a part of this too. They are actually with us and are watchin’ us grow, so they get to name the album. We do a lot of stuff with our superstars. AHHA: Are you usually the one speaking for the group? Pleasure P: I’m not a spokesperson. It’s just right now we about to go do a show so everybody doin’ somethin’. You got Baby Blue, he over there with Butta Creame makin’ sure their show is tight. Spectatular, he gotta get his push-ups on so he can show the six-pack to the ladies tonight. Slick-A- Delic, got to get Meat and Bones ready. So I’m just right here. Usually, I be warming up my voice drinkin’ my tea and stuff, right now and stuff, but you know. We all here, I’ma say what he gonna say. We been doin’ interviews for the longest so it’s the same thing. AHHA: I read somewhere that three out of four of you like to drink Red Bull, I don’t know if that’s true. Is that you? Pleasure P: Umm… Slick Em: We got paid for that. Pleasure P: Yeah, we got paid for that. AHHA: So that answers that question. What is your favorite city to perform in so far? Pleasure P: We just like everywhere. I mean it’s different cultures within our states. Like, New Orleans, they talk different. Houston, they vibe different. ATL, Miami, Cali, New York, I mean it’s just good to see all the cities man. AHHA: How’s the tour going so far? Pleasure P: The tour is going very well as you can see. Now we giving these ladies a piece of our mind. AHHA: Are you nervous to go on tonight? Pleasure P: We never nervous. We always ready to do this thing 110 percent. AHHA: For this next question, be honest, where do you like the women better in Miami or in NYC? Pleasure P: We like ’em everywhere. Slick ‘Em: Beautiful women everywhere. AHHA: There’s three of you in the room now, I was going to ask all four but maybe you can answer for Baby Blue. What is one thing that each of you want to be remembered by? Pleasure P: I want to be remembered as someone that’s humble, down to earth and that just…he can sing and he is an individual that’ll change the game. He always has style and swagger. Spectacular: I just want to be known as the sexiest sex symbol on earth. It’s goin’ down, Spectac, yah! Slick Em: This ya boy Slick Em, how? I get their body wet and I lick ‘em down. Well to tell you the truth I just want to be one of them artists, or one of the “#1” groups who can still do their thing and the girls like love us cause we been down since day one. For example, like everybody dress up like Elvis, you feel what I’m sayin’? I want everybody to enjoy Pretty Ricky forever, for longevity, 30, 50, 130 years… me, you know just real. This is me all day, if I wanna break dance or go to sleep or tootsie roll, all that, straight up and down hea’. Yah feel me? AHHA: What about Baby Blue? Slick ‘Em: Baby Blue just wanna be the biggest business man ever. Go ahead and be on the level of Donald Trump and reach the heights that Puff Daddy done reached and Russell Simmons.
