In Part 1 of our exclusive interview with West Coast based producer Scoop Deville, we dove in to his beginnings and his life as the son of Kid Frost. Now in Part 2, we take you to the music that he’s created for the likes of Murs, Snoop Dogg, and Dr. Dre. Scoop also gives AllHipHop.com the scoop on whether he’ll be teaming up with his father for a possible father and son album! Read away!
AllHipHop.com: Let’s talk about some of your biggest songs. I want to start off with a song that you produced for Murs called “Can It Be.” You flipped Michael Jackson’s “I Wanna Be Where You Are” song for that one.
Scoop Deville: It was cool to be in the lab with Murs, because he was very supportive of me being an up-and-coming producer. He was picking some of my beats, and he chose another one, which ended up being “The Science”, which was a real different type of beat than “Can It Be.” Murs is known for being a rebel artist that breaks away from what everybody else does. I really wish that “Can It Be” song was pushed a little more, even from myself. I wasn’t as hip to the Internet game back then as I am now.
AllHipHop.com: You were very successful in translating the feeling from that Michael Jackson song over to your beat.
Scoop Deville: A lot of artists liked that beat. I played that one for so many cats, but I held onto it. I knew that when Murs got a hold of it, he would do something special with it. I am happy with how that record came out.
AllHipHop.com: Let’s talk about Snoop Dogg’s “I Wanna Rock” song.
Scoop Deville: Let’s go back before that song to when I first linked up with Snoop Dogg. I was in high school, and my pops woke me up ,and he said, “Hey, you might want to miss school today. I’m going to a Snoop Dogg video shoot, and Pharrell from The Neptunes is going to be there.” So I went to the shoot and brought about five or six of my beat CDs. I was in a trailer with B-Real and my pops. Snoop walked in and started to big up my pops.
My beats were playing in the background, and after a while, I saw Snoop bobbing his head. He had asked who the beats belonged to, and everybody in the room told him that they belonged to me. He came up to me and said, “That’s you?” I played him a few more beats, and he started freestyling. I have that on tape, too. This was all inside B-Real’s trailer at the “Vato” video shoot. Snoop’s management told me that they were going to holler at me. Sure enough, it turned into having eight records with Snoop. I also have a record with Pimp C and Snoop that hasn’t seen the light of day yet.
I was living in Las Vegas at the time, and I did “Life of the Party” and “Those Girls” for Snoop. I was around 18 when all of that started popping off. When DJ Quik mixed the album, he told me that I had some pretty dope stuff. He also told me that my songs were fun to play live with Snoop’s band, and he asked me how I did certain things.
AllHipHop.com: DJ Quik was taking notes from you?
Scoop Deville: He was definitely bigging me up and showing a lot of love. I was just thinking to myself, “I don’t even know how to read music and here is Snoop’s band giving me props on how the music was arranged.”
AllHipHop.com: I was there with DJ Quik and Terrace Martin in a studio out in Burbank, California, when he was mixing one of your songs for Snoop’s Ego Trippin’ album.
Scoop Deville: Ego Trippin’ was our first experience together, and after that, Snoop has always hit me up for beats.
AllHipHop.com: After your work with Snoop, other artists began to hit you up for music.
Scoop Deville: “I Wanna Rock” hit New York in such a crazy way. The clubs, the radio, and the streets took to the song, and everywhere you went, you would hear the beat knockin’ out of the systems. That was unreal for me to be in New York and hearing my song on the radio. Funkmaster Flex dropped bombs on it, and introduced it as the hottest record at the time.
AllHipHop.com: What I dug about that record is that you sampled another Hip-Hop song – a legendary one at that. “It Takes Two” by Rob Base & DJ EZ-Rock is an all-time classic.
Scoop Deville: Growing up, songs like that were so huge to me. Those are my classics.
AllHipHop.com: What were you thinking when you put that song together?
Scoop Deville: To be honest, I will have a bunch of songs that I’m rocking that month, and I will just click on them. If it does something to me, then I will flip it. That’s what happened with the Kendrick Lamar and Dr. Dre record. I heard something special, and I flipped it. I have so many records to choose from, that my sound bank is retarded.
AllHipHop.com: I’m sure by now the readers want us to get in to “The Recipe” song that you made for Kendrick and Dre, so let’s get in to it.
Scoop Deville: I was on my way to the airport to go to Atlanta, and I was listening to a station called KCRW. They played a song that just won me over the moment that I heard it. I didn’t know who the group was or who sung it. I remembered the lyrics, and I went on the Internet and found it through a search. I feel like if I connect with a certain song, no matter the time of day or where it’s at, then it’s for a reason. That song definitely came my way for a reason. The song by the way, is called “Meet The Frownies” by a group called Twin Sister.
AllHipHop.com: How did the beat get to Dr. Dre?
Scoop Deville: I was sitting on that track unsure of who I was going to give it to, but I did have Dr. Dre in mind. I told myself if I were to ever do a song with Dr. Dre, this would be it. One day, I got a hold of Stat Quo, and he came over to my house. I played him some beats and he was like, “I’m taking this to Dre.” Not long after, I received a personal phone call from Dr. Dre.
AllHipHop.com: When was this?
Scoop Deville: I would say in 2011. I had been sitting on the beat since the end of 2010.
AllHipHop.com: What did Dr. Dre say when he called you?
Scoop Deville: He asked if I would be interested in working with him on some records, and I told him absolutely. I sent him some files and told him that I would love to be a part of anything he had going on. That’s a phone call that you definitely want to have when you are in this business. I accomplished something that day.
AllHipHop.com: You were at your house when he called?
Scoop Deville: It was on my cell phone, but yes, I was at the house. Stat Quo was the one who actually called me, and he put Dre on the phone. It all started about what he needed for Detox. I believe that he sacrificed the beats that I gave him for Kendrick’s project. I’ve been in the studio with other Aftermath artists like Slim the Mobster. The record before “The Recipe” was the one with 50 Cent called “Wait Until Tonight.”
AllHipHop.com: Jay-Z even rapped over your “I Wanna Rock” beat for the remix!
Scoop Deville: That was a surprise. There was a rumor going around about it, but I didn’t believe it – and sure enough it happened. I heard DJ Felli Fel from Power 106 play i,t and I was like, “Oh sh*t.” It still hasn’t even sunk in yet. All of this has been surreal so far. Busta Rhymes called to congratulate me on everything that’s going on right now. He told me that I was destroying everything in the streets. I have that message at the house.
AllHipHop.com: That’s a message that you definitely want to save.
Scoop Deville: As soon as I heard it, I saved it. I mic’ed it up and recorded it. That’s the kind of sh*t that really let’s you know that people are checking for you.
AllHipHop.com: Where does it all go from here? Have you even thought about that yet?
Scoop Deville: I have been thinking about it. Now is the time to let the world know who Scoop Deville is and what I’m capable of doing. I want to shock people and this is a shock to people.
AllHipHop.com: It shouldn’t be though. “The Recipe” isn’t your first huge song.
Scoop Deville: Well it’s a shock to me [laughter]. Dre is one of my idols. I’m from the West Coast and I’ve seen every movement that he’s been involved in. To even be a part of this movement is unreal for me.
AllHipHop.com: I hope this isn’t taken the wrong way because I’m one of the biggest Dre fans, but some of the more recent songs that he’s put out have not received the love that he’s used to. This song, “The Recipe,” has got a lot of fans excited. The beat is hot, Dre’s flow is fresh, and it’s all over a Scoop Deville track.
Scoop Deville: He’s not just rapping over anybody’s sh*t too. This is Dr. Dre. He has every kind of musical source available to him. I’m glad that he chose this as the single because it is a different kind of track.
AllHipHop.com: It’s definitely not the typical radio song. It goes left from all of the rap songs on the radio right now. I think it’s real easy for an artist to just go with the flow and sound like whatever is being played at the moment.
Scoop Deville: I think that’s what caught Dre’s attention as well. It has such a cool and melodic feel. It does something to you when you hear it, just as the original record did to me when I first heard it. It reminds me of the song that Eminem used for “Stan.” It had everybody searching for the original. I told the Twin Sister band that I flipped their joint and sent it to Dr. Dre and they got all excited. They ended up sending me every type of file on their song. The group has other good songs too and that’s the point of all of this – you need to take notice of good music.
AllHipHop.com: Are you and your father going to make more music together?
Scoop Deville: Yes. My father can still write and create songs. I would never put an age limit on Hip-Hop. He can still do this. There are still talented artists, who are older, that we still need in this business.
AllHipHop.com: You and your father did the Welcome to Frost Angeles album together, but that’s a Kid Frost album. What about a Kid Frost and Scoop Deville album?
Scoop Deville: Sure. I want to do album with my pops. That’s something that I will have forever. That would be a part of history and something special for my life.
AllHipHop.com: A father and son Hip-Hop album would be amazing. I’m trying to rack my brain and I can’t think of one.
Scoop Deville: That would be different but that’s what it’s all about – doing it for the love of music. That’s my pops and I would do anything for him.
AllHipHop.com: He’s never tried to take one of your hot tracks to keep for himself?
Scoop Deville: [Laughter] Sometimes he’ll be like, “I need that.” Sometimes I say, “Dad, this is special and I want to give it to someone.” We’ll work it out and I’ll give him some heat. It’s dope to see my dad still do his thing. He still makes a living off of this.
AllHipHop.com: I have been concerned about his recent health problems.
Scoop Deville: Me too. I was there, and I went through those situations with him. It’s hard when reality hits you. It’s fun to be out on the scene, but it definitely takes its toll on a lot of artists. We’ve lost a few artists recently, and it’s important to take care of your health.
AllHipHop.com: The Hip-Hop lifestyle isn’t known for being healthy.
Scoop Deville: Yeah, you don’t hear of anybody rapping about salads, but I have seen some on Instagram post pictures of their healthy meals. It is hard being out there, because partying and networking is the scene. However, it’s a new time, and we have to stay positive and healthy. I used to be very overweight, and I had to start taking care of my health. My father and I have had talks about this. The reality is that we have to take care of ourselves.