N ine out of ten doctors would agree, that chicken noodle soup with soda on the side isn’t a balanced meal. However, “Chicken Noodle Soup” made for one hell of a dance craze this summer. Previous unknowns, DJ Webstar and Young B made a teenage impression on the game, with a little help from some of New York’s most respected DJs. The Harlem mainstay expanded throughout the five boroughs, then took on the suburbs with it’s snazzy beat and catchy vocals.
Not for nothing. Already, personalities including DJ Whoo Kid and Joe Budden have poked fun at the record. Hip-Hop purists and gangsta rap lovers alike have said that the song, now distributed by Universal, needs to stay on Nick Jr. The labels, the DJs, and the clubs think otherwise. So do Bow Wow, Chris Brown, and Ludacris, who just hopped on the song’s remix. But before the record goes any further, see how Uptown’s own creators answer the critics, speak about endorsements, and celebrate good times like Kool & The Gang.
AllHipHop.com: As New Yorkers, how important do you feel that it is that New York has a dance record again, after so long without?
DJ Webstar: It’s very important to us. We’re not really trying to bring New York back, we’re just trying to bring the fun back. We like to have fun, dance, and party – that’s what we like to do.
AllHipHop.com: But even down to that – “have fun and party.” Being from Harlem, a lot of people witnessed that in the Diddy era. But lately, Uptown seems to be about bustin’ guns and selling coke on the block through the Diplomat movement. Representing the city, how does that feel to give alternative?
Young B: Well, we can only make music that we know about. So like, we couldn’t really go the way that Dipset was goin’ – I’m not saying we don’t like to listen to them, but we couldn’t make music about the stuff they was makin’ it about.
DJ Webstar: We don’t know about that stuff. We only know about bein’ kids – partying and havin’ fun, bein’ fresh, havin’ money.
AllHipHop.com: At AllHipHop’s concert in August, Remy Ma worked the “Chicken Noodle Soup” record into her stage show. A lot of others have too. What’s the best you’ve seen or heard about?
DJ Webstar: Chris Brown, he do it all his shows. He added it into the routine. He got his dancers choreographed and everything – every single show he do. He been showin’ some love, and that’s the most unique artist thing I’ve seen.
AllHipHop.com: Like you said, you guys are kids. This is a harmless record. How have you reacted to some of the criticism from the artists, the DJs, and especially the fans about this record being garbage, and bad for Hip-Hop?
Young B: [Giggles] There’s always gonna be good criticism and bad criticism, but we just listen to everybody’s opinions to know what people are thinkin’ about it.
DJ Webstar: At the end of the day, it don’t matter what people think ‘cause the kids say what’s in. We make music for the kids, we don’t care what no other rapper is sayin’. We just care about havin’ fun by ourselves.
Young B: As long as the kids is havin’ fun, that’s all that matters. We’re not tryin’ to attract the grown-up crowd that’s talkin’ about guns and stuff.
AllHipHop.com: On the industry side, once “Chicken Noodle Soup” hit, there were so many sound-alikes trying to get press. Some have even said that Cadillac Don and J-Money’s rap record, “Peanut Butter & Jelly” rode the coattails. How do you feel about that?
DJ Webstar: Well, I mean…I guess we just inspiring people to make creative music. But we can’t force the music to be good. People say what’s in, we don’t say what’s in.
Young B: We didn’t even know that this record was gonna get this big. The people that chose this record made it this big. [I think it was made big by] the kids that was dancin’ at the Rucker when [DJ] Enuff saw it, that’s how it got big. We didn’t force the record on people, like from the labels.
DJ Webstar: It happened naturally. Nobody knows what’s gonna be the next hit record.
AllHipHop.com: Who were some of the DJs that took that risk, and shopped it from a Rucker thing to something that Universal was interested in?
DJ Webstar: It started from my parties. Then, there was a DJ named DJ Danny D…
Young B: DJ Enuff, DJ Cipha Sounds…
DJ Webstar: The whole HOT97 staff, DJ Jazzy Joyce, DJ Ronny Ron, Kay Slay, DJ S&S, DJ Will, DJ Self they really was pushin’ it ‘cause I think they really wanted to see this record win. But it’s always easier to push a record when people want to hear it anyway. They was just playin’ what people wanted to hear.
AllHipHop.com: How much of the album goes along with this? Also, do you honestly believe that people can love a dance single enough to go out and buy an album?
DJ Webstar: You remember how you said about the old days when Puff and Mase was around here? That’s how our album is – just like that, partying, dancin’, havin’ fun. I know Harlem loves the record. Harlem is trendsetters, we real creative. When Harlem starts with something, the rest of the world picks up on it – whether it’s being creative, or gangsta music. Look at all the rappers that came outta Harlem, they were all major trendsetters. Mase and Puff changed the game, then Dipset changed the game. Most of the stuff that comes outta Harlem, people pick up on. The tradition continues with us.
AllHipHop.com: What’s the reaction you’ve gotten from the suburbs or predominately White audiences?
DJ Webstar: You gotta go to YouTube.com. Every kind of person in the world is doin’ the dance.
Young B: Old men, little kids, White people, Chinese people, it’s crazy.
AllHipHop.com: Has Campbell’s Soup or Canada Dry or anybody come forward for a commercial endorsement deal?
DJ Webstar: Yeah, we workin’ on somethin’ right now. There’s a few things on the table that our lawyers and people are lookin’ over. But yeah, we gonna have some real sponsorship in maybe the next two weeks.
AllHipHop.com: You can’t tell me with who?
Young B: Nah, confidential.
AllHipHop.com: Going out, soda is really what you’re drinking with that soup?
Young B: It just sounds better. People was like, “You can’t eat that, you gonna have people’s stomachs messed up.” I said, “You can eat chicken noodle soup with a ginger ale.”
AllHipHop.com: How are you gonna take a summertime record into the fall? Walk me through the future…
DJ Webstar: In the immediate future, we’ve got a remix with Chris Brown, Bow Wow, and Ludacris. We just workin’ on pushin’ the album, doin’ a lot of shows. We recordin’ a Young B album right now, her solo, which is gonna drop next year. We got our own label here, so we just put out music and do whatever we want.