Jody Breeze on his new independence, putting Boyz N Da Hood on hold, irritating ringtone rappers and his desire to give back to the community.Jody Breeze has seen his share of the spotlight as a fixture in the Southern underground Hip-Hop scene and a member of the Atlanta based rap group Boyz N Da Hood. But being a piece of a puzzle is not in the big picture for the Griffin, Georgia native. After a relatively fruitless stint, Breeze has severed his business ties to Jazze Pha’s Sho Nuff Records and decided to take his destiny into his own hands. After noteworthy appearances with various artists including his Boyz N Da Hood fam and a proven talent for songwriting after contribting five songs to Diddy’s Press Play album, the opportunities seem limitless. In the state the music industry is today, strategic independence may be the best move, he, or any other artist can make. AllHipHop.com: The news recently broke that you left Jazze Pha’s Sho Nuff label. What was the reason for the split?Jody Breeze: Basically it was just time man. It’d been too much time passed with putting anything out. It’s time for something different. I’ve been on Sho’ Nuff since 2004. And a lot of time passed with nothing really being done and not enough help with me being put out by them. It’s still love, but this is a business situation. They’re still family. Always going to be family. But, business wise, it was time to move on. AllHipHop.com: You are a member of the group, Boyz N Da Hood, and you’ve written songs for Diddy. Is it safe to assume that Bad Boy South is a likely choice for your new solo deal?Jody Breeze: Not really. Well…they’re an option. It’s a new year and I’m ready to try new things. New group, new people…everything. Everybody is still family. This is a business thing. It’s time for me to start branding Jody Breeze instead of just being connected to this or connected to that. It’s more about me promoting me and just getting the ball rolling. AllHipHop.com: What are some moves you’re making to build your brand? Jody Breeze: Right now I have a watch line. I’ve been looking into movies, trying out for different roles. It’s a whole new year and I’m trying to touch every market. AllHipHop.com: You have a respectable following from your group projects and solo mixtapes. Will fans have to wait long for new music? Jody Breeze: They can get new music from me on MySpace. I got the mixtape, Best Kept Secret Vol. 3 on there right now. I’m just trying to stay busy and keep s**t in the streets. AllHipHop.com: With every situation the potential for legal disputes over ownership of songs and things like that is always there. Do anticipate any problems coming up with your separation?Jody Breeze: No disputes. We tried to take care of that from the get go when we did the deal so we tried to knock out all those problems before they came up. We worked things out. We made a deal. Wasn’t a good deal, wasn’t a bad deal. But it did what it was supposed to do which is free me up to make moves and do what I need to do for me. AllHipHop.com: What do you feel would be the ideal situation for an artist like you?Jody Breeze: The ideal situation would be for me to start my own company. I have my label, Young Gunna Records, I’m working on that. I also want to start working with kids. I don’t want to sign no grown people. It’s too much that goes on with all that. I want to work with the kids and just try to give back as much as I can. It’s a brand new year dog. I got to get it. AllHipHop.com: With you being focused on your solo career is there any animosity between you and your former label team or your group Boyz N Da Hood? Jody Breeze: No, I’m still working with the fam. But right now it’s about me and proving, well not really proving, but just executing my plan. Just trying to stay humble and make s**t happen. With any group separation happens. From the Hot Boys to N.W.A there comes a time when members drift apart. You can’t do that s**t forever. It was good while it lasted and they’re going to always be family. We did a lot of s**t together but every man has his time when he needs to do his own thing and take care of his own responsibilities. I got to do me. I can’t wait for a group of n****s to get their s**t together. I’m not saying that I’m through with them, that’s just not my priority. I’m doing me right now. AllHipHop.com: With all the gimmick and ringtone artists getting all the attention, and you being more of a “hardcore” artist, do you feel you can compete in the industry solo?Jody Breeze: I feel like that takes away from people like me. People that take this so seriously. That s**t irritates me. Certain types of music irritates me and not because I’m a hater it’s because I love this music. Everybody has their own reasons for being in this s**t and that’s why they make that type of music but it is what it is. I just try to stay down, stay true to it man. I was brought up like that. I can’t do it any other way. And people are either going to like it or keep it moving. My fans are truly loyal fans. They understand my music. They know where I come from with the type of music I make. That part of the population that only mess with the gimmick music do so because they don’t know what real music is. Like sometimes it seems like people are blind to the fact that certain things are not considered music. Anybody can rap. Anybody can put out a song. But they can’t make real music. Everybody can’t make a classic hit that will influence or change someone’s life. The whole s**t is crazy right now and all you can really do is stay down and stay true. Because with this gimmick s**t, we’re in trouble. We need to keep this real, street s**t alive. I don’t care what you do, where you’re from, and how much money you make you’ve got to have love in the streets. If you ain’t got that you’re not going to make it that long. And it’s not all about the streets but being real with people and staying true to where you come from.AllHipHop.com: With all the focus on rappers getting into legal problems, for the most part, unnecessarily, do you find yourself questioning the people you hang around or the situations you put yourself in?Jody Breeze: I questioned that a long time ago. Well actually I questioned it a little too late because I’m on probation right now. I got to report before I leave out of town. I’m just trying to keep my head above water but it’s hard out here. And the people who’s out here doing it for real know what I mean. You can rap about it. You can go in the studio and build you a little character and run around like you really lived everything you talk about but when you get out here, it’s a whole other ball game. Jody Breeze f/ Rick Ross “Work”AllHipHop.com: With a solo project on the way what is it about your story that will draw people in?Jody Breeze: I’m ready to let the world know what I’m really about and what I’ve done. Just staying around. Looking at the game and being around n****s that’s been doing this for so long. Every n***a I know has been doing this for ten years or longer. Just for me to be on my fifth year doing this s**t, I can’t complain. I’ve been through a lot and I learned a lot. I made mistakes and tried to learn from every one of them and use that to keep it moving. I’m not trying to be doing this ten years from now. Don’t get me wrong I love music, but I don’t love being a rapper. N****s f***ed up the rap name. You’re almost embarrassed to be a rapper now. Well, real n****s feel like that. AllHipHop.com: After you decide to put your mic down, what would you like to get into?Jody Breeze: I want to start a big charity. My momma worked with the Boys & Girls club for like six or seven years now. She runs her own section. I just want to give back because my moms means a lot to me and she gives all the time. I just want to do s**t like that so people will see that n****s that come from the hood ain’t how they try to make them out to be. Life is more than money, cars, and clothes.