Duece Poppi: Chuckin’ the Deuce

Duece Poppi isn’t your average newcomer to the realms of rap music. In fact, he isn’t new at all. Cutting his teeth on high school chum, Trick Daddy’s 2001 release, Book of Thugs: AK Verses 47, and more notably, the single, “Shut Up”, the Atlanta-born rapper went on to work with South Florida rap elites Cool & Dre and write numerous tracks for Trina albums, 2000’s Da Baddest B***h and 2002’s Diamond Princess.

With a grocery list of credits to his name, why Duece Poppi hasn’t released any personal material in the past comes into question. While learning that knowledge of the music business was essential, now toughly educated; the confident Duece Poppi claims that his soon to be released, God, Guns and P***y, is the soundtrack to the streets; getting club goers loose on the dance floor with its euphoric “psychedelic gangsta” sound. Whether or not you chose to drop tabs, keep Deuce Poppi on your radar for early ’07.

AllHipHop.com: You’ve written for a lot of people: Trick Daddy, Cool and Dre, Kanye West, and multiple tracks for Trina. Why did it take so long for you to finally come out with material of your own?

Duece Poppi: I was growing, learning the buisness. I’m glad that I didn’t come out right when I started. I didn’t have too much to offer back then. I had great time writing. Writing is not a bad thing, it’s very profitable. I feel like when I first started being known for making music and getting on records… If you don’t grow or get better, you stay the same, or get worse. An artists needs to get better and better. I always had the talent, but now I know more about the business. I’ve been performing all over the country and the world. I’ve been doing a lot. A lot of people don’t know because I don’t really toot my own horn. But I’ve been working with Trick for years. Now I’m ready. His first album [Book of Thugs: Chapter AK Verse 47] was my first true album. I’m glad that it took a while. I’ve been doing this for five years. It takes longer for most people. My first song was, “Shut Up.” That was my first official song in 2000, when I first got signed. I’m ready now.

AllHipHop.com: You’ve stated that Marvin Gaye was a large influence on you musically…

Duece Poppi: He’s just one of those people that I look up to, amongst a lot of people. He was right on with what was happening at his time. He kept it gutter. He could go a lot of ways. He had the fame and everything that you could want. Regardless, he kept pushing it, trying to take it to another level. I feel that I’m an artist like that. I can rap, but rap for me is real cookie cutter. As people are going to do Southern rap or what ever you want to call it, it should have a theme just like my man Marvin Gaye did. If the theme for this album don’t work out, I’m not going to stay with it. I’m gonna do another theme. I’m gonna trust the fans. Marvin was classy and ghetto at the same time. I remember when I was a little boy and he died. My mother came home from work crying. I was a little shorty. That’s when I really started listening to all of his music. He was real and aware of what was going on during his time. That’s how I want to be because I want to push the envelope like Marvin did.

AllHipHop.com: Quoting from Ghostface, would call yourself a Soul baby?

Duece Poppi: Most definitely. Love to Sly and the Family Stone, and all the pimp culture. I love everything gutter, so it’s like my musical taste is with the pimp underground, ‘70s and ‘80s. If I were to have come out a while ago, you wouldn’t have heard me. I wouldn’t have been able to put my “28” on it. See right now, you’re gonna’ hear me. The label, Capitol Records, really gave me a chance to express the gutter side and what’s really going on. I appreciate all the labels giving me a chance. When the album comes out, you’re gonna really be able to feel the soul. You see, we’re from the South. We’re supposed to control the soul, but right now, we control the clubs. I wan to put some soul into it.

AllHipHop.com: So if you’re trying to evolve Southern music, what’s going on in it right now?

Duece Poppi: Here’s what’s going on with Southern music, you have cats doing the same thing, or keeping it crunk. I’m trying to evolve that. I’m not trying to get away from mySsouthern roots, but I think that with my aura and the way that it’s gonna be marketed to the actual music, I feel like it’s gonna all be self-explanatory.

AllHipHop.com: What can people expect from this, “psychedelic-gangster” style?

Duece Poppi: Just from my album’s title, God, Guns, and P***y, it encapsulates what a real n***a on the street really knows. I’m gonna show me, but every producer is encouraged to take it there. We want musical s**t. We want club and all kinds of s**t. “Did I Do That,” is my first single because it was my emergence. I came in this b***h a worm, and now I’m coming out a caterpillar. That’s me producing and all. I made that beat, the gangster hood. The aura and all that is one thing, but when you get into records like Cool & Dre’s “Money in Bags”, where me and Rick Ross recorded the hook, everybody can get on that psychedelic-gangster s**t. When I say, psychedelic, I mean drug induced. Right now, the world is in a state of shock. The world is trying to put itself in a coma because of all of the s**t going on. Americans, we’re out here selling work and getting f**ked up. We’re trying to forget about the things impending in the future. We’re getting f**ked up and keeping it gangster. My future is what ever people like in an impaired state. People are gonna feel it. I mean everyone can enjoy it. That’s why I call it, psychedelic-gangster s**t.

AllHipHop.com: So you’re a rapper that isn’t big, but has a lot of fans. You obviously have a lot of loyalty. What about rappers that get big and forget about their fans?

Duece Poppi: Hey man, that’s just the kind of n***as they was. That’s the thing, money makes you be yourself. There’s a lot of different reasons why they act like that. A lot of cats just want to be good for the money. A lot want to be good for the fame. And a lot just do it for the b***hes. There’s some n***as that sell bricks to get money and take care of the generations under them. A lot of n***as just do it to rhyme good and f**k b***hes, but don’t learn. See you can be good at something, but what are you doing it for? Some weren’t really doing it at all. They ain’t the kinds of cats that love their people. It shows when you get money because they’re the types to not really be around anybody. They’re the kind of n***as that you say, “Oh, they don’t f**k with nobody!” That’s them.

AllHipHop.com: How will listeners from the North respond to your music versus those of the South, or even worldwide?

Duece Poppi: I think that it’s gonna do better in other places because down here, there’s a lot of cats that know and love me. When I walk around, they’re like, “Duece Poppi, what up?” But up there, they haven’t had the opportunity and chance to sit down and kick their feet up. They ain’t had Duece in their lives like that. The purpose of the deal that I just took was to go national. I feel like the South…it’s not really big, just America cut up into little pieces. What we do here, is incredible, this music. I think that the way that people are feeling the South; they’re ready for that next level. They’re ready for some more. What I do is colorful. It ain’t even regionable, it’s global. If ya f**k with the club, then I f**k with ya. I love to go places. I got music that the West Coast is gonna love. I go straight to the club to study my sociology. Everywhere I go with Trina and Trick, we’ve been on the road our whole careers. I’m talking about music. I’m a growthful artist. It’s just a beautiful thing right now to be me because I’m gonna win. The music that I do is for your life. It’s supposed to make you feel better.