Philly native Peedi Crakk is a standing survivor of one of the biggest breakups in Hip-Hop history. After signing to Roc-a-Fella Records in 2001 by way of Freeway, Peedi hit the ground running building a name for himself with fan favorites like “One for Peedi Crakk,” and star making appearances on songs like Freeway’s “Flipside.” It seemed like the self proclaimed “Prince of SP” was well on his way to superstar status but the breakup of the partnership behind the Roc-a-Fella Records dynasty left he and all the artists in a state of limbo. Once on Def Jam, Peedi’s debut album kept getting delayed. With no sign of daylight at the end of the tunnel Peedi kept himself in the public eye by touring with the Roots throughout 2006 and 2007, which spawned rumors of him joining the legendary Roots crew. Now free from the confines of a major label, Peedi Crakk is preparing to remind you why you know what sound the Mack makes with his long awaited debut album on Amalgam Digital, A Night in the Life. Feel free to reacquaint yourself with Peedi Crakk.AllHipHop.com: You became a solo artist after the infamous Roc-A-Fella break up. There was also what seemed to be a State Property break up during that same time. Can you talk about what went on during that period?Peedi: Well honestly, the group, we never really went our separate ways. It was just the company as a whole started to fall apart. Well, not the company but the CEO’s started to break away. Certain members of the State Property group were in relationships with certain CEOs. So Hov was going this way and Dame was going that way and it left us in a weird space. S**t felt uncomfortable because you didn’t want to seem like you going over there and have to deal with the “who’s side are you on?” so that led to us kind of straying away. Some of us was still working with Jay and some of us were working with Dame so it would appear to people like we broke up but we didn’t really break up. We were just all trying to find a direction to go in that we felt comfortable with. Freeway f/ Peedi Crakk “Flipside” Video
“To be honest with you, and I’m just speaking for myself, looking back at it now Dame Dash wasn’t as bad as I thought. He was wonderful business wise. It was just personally, I didn’t agree with some of the things he’d be doing.”
AllHipHop.com: In an interview I did with Beanie Sigel last year, he said he felt like things may have turned out different if he’d not been locked up at the time. Do you wonder if there was anything more you could’ve done to help the situation?Peedi: I tried. I remember myself attempting to hold it down to the best of my ability but, at the same time, I was one of the newest artists there so I really wasn’t sure what to do. I was looking to the other members and to Beans for more guidance as far as what decisions to make. It was weird though because, now that you mention it, that’s exactly how it went down. When that happened Beans had got locked up and we really had to make some big decisions on our own. Beans was away in the FEDs so we had to make some serious decisions. The kind that might make a big change in your career. Maybe thing would’ve been different if he was there.Peedi Peedi “Fall Back” VideoAllHipHop.com: Beans ended up going to the Dame Dash Music Group and you and a couple others went with Jay and Roc-A-Fella. Was that a conscious decision or is that just the way things fell through?Peedi: That’s just the way s**t fell through. To be honest with you, and I’m just speaking for myself, looking back at it now Dame Dash wasn’t as bad as I thought. He was wonderful business wise. It was just personally, I didn’t agree with some of the things he’d be doing. And it’s nothing personal. This is a business that we’re in. It’s just at the time, I was taking things more personal. So at the time I had a decision to either f**k with Dame and continue to go through the s**t I thought I was going through, which looking back, really wasn’t that bad. But at the time Jay was just the better decision to make. From the outside looking in that looked like a great place to be. So I wasn’t sure so I just said I’ll go with Jay. I didn’t really have a lot of experience working with him at the time but I just figured I didn’t want to be with Dame.
“…The album was there. The single was there. I just don’t think Def Jam or Jay-Z was pushing an artist like myself. But I can’t even take it personally because they wasn’t pushing nobody’s s**t.”
AllHipHop.com: What was it about Dame that bothered you so much?Peedi: It was just dealing with him on a personal level. But even now, looking back at it, Dame would’ve been the better business move to make. He was more of a risk taker, which I can’t say is a great thing, but it’s a good thing when you’re an artist who needs someone in a position of power who’s willing to take a chance. Jay’s not a risk taker. He’s more strategic. He watches what he does as far as when it comes to his credibility. At the time it was like, “nobody knows what to do, but the grass looks greener on the other side so I’m going to slide over there.”DJ Jazzy Jeff f/ Peedi Peedi “Brand New Funk 2K7” VideoAllHipHop.com: By the time you got to Def Jam you had already proven yourself to be a marketable artist. You even went so far as to change your name to Peedi Peedi to make yourself more mainstream friendly. Why did they still sit on the album?Peedi: That was crazy. I did everything I was supposed to do. I never was on their business schedule. I was on my own clock. Then I started to tighten up and get adjusted more to meeting the deadlines and all that. But the album was there. The single was there. I just don’t think Def Jam or Jay-Z was pushing an artist like myself. But I can’t even take it personally because they wasn’t pushing nobody’s s**t. I just feel like I didn’t get a fair shot. I didn’t get a fair run or at least the shot everybody thought P. Crakk deserved. I’m not the type to cry over spilled milk. S**t like that just made me stronger. I never believed in giving up or letting anybody else make me or break me. Me being in this position that I’m in now is going to make me the artist that I’m destined to be. I can’t reach my best with multi-million dollar people holding me down. When I say holding me down I mean having them as my backbone. I need to grow [on] my own. I just took it all as a blessing man.AllHipHop.com: Given your prior relationship with Jay-Z, did you expect more from them than what you were given? Peedi: Yeah, I did; instead of them handling me like a new artist that was just signed that an A&R had brought to the table. I was there for a while already. With him knowing what type of person I am already, knowing the type of artist I am already, at least looking at it business wise, he would’ve gave me a fair shot. I can’t really answer the question as to why he did that or why he made the decisions he made. I can give you a whole bunch of ‘ifs” and “maybes” but I really have no idea. I just know what didn’t happen and I know what I did. I played my part. I did what I had to do. The Roots f/ Peedi Crakk & Dice Raw “Get Busy” VideoAllHipHop.com: During the time you were going through the problems at Def Jam you were doing mixtapes and touring with The Roots. There was even talk of you joining them. How’d that come about?Peedi: That was never solid. Nobody ever spoke about it. That was all some Internet stuff about me becoming a member. I was on two albums in a row so I guess it became a pattern. People was like “P. Crakk is one of The Roots.” But to get back to how that all happened, Black Thought, and this s**t amazes me, is a fan of mines. He would call me to the studio and just ask me to get on joints. His people would just call and be like, “Yo, Black wants you to come down to the studio.” It’s an honor to get a call like that. I’d just go down there and knock the joints out and they turned up on the album two times in a row. As far as being an honorary member, there was no paperwork or nothing. They just love me and I love them back. It’s something that went unsaid. We never spoke about it but they know I’m a part of their family. There’s no need for no paper work and all that. They just always welcome me. AllHipHop.com: There was also a lot of buzz on the Internet that your album was going to be called Camel Face Hunting Season. What made you change it?Peedi: It was never entitled Camel Face Hunting Season. Honestly, some big site started that s**t. My young boy J-Rock, the one who runs my website, he posted that picture on my page just playing around. The website, Media Takeout I think, had taken it and posted it up saying “This is Peedi Crakk’s new album cover.” Like why would I call my album Camel Face Hunting Season? I wouldn’t do that. That’s not the type of music I do on a album. You know what my album’s going to consist of; more uptempo, feel-good, party joints…a couple joints for the chicks and all that type of s**t. But to be honest, I was still a little in my frustration mode and I found the idea amusing so I started to entertain it but it never was the official title. The title is A Night in the Life. It never really was that but that’s what the Internet made it into.MORE TOWELS – Peedi CrakkAllHipHop.com: With your prior history you probably could’ve gone to a major with the album. What made you choose Amalgam Digital?Peedi: Just to be independent. Now that I got the claws of Def Jam out of my back I’m able to do whatever I want. I never got dropped from Def Jam or Roc-A-Fella. They were trying to keep me there for the length of my contract and make me fulfill the s**t. I owed them like $800,000. My lawyer ended up politicking and getting me out of the deal. Amalgam came along and offered me a nice, one album deal which was good because I wasn’t trying to do nothing more than a one album deal. They had a nice advance and I had full creative control over my whole s**t. The most important thing was it was a one shot deal so I wasn’t locked in with no company and everything else was there so I took it.AllHipHop.com: What can fans expect when they finally get to hear this album?Peedi: The fans that love me will love this. This album is 100 percent Peedi Crakk. It’s 100 percent P. Crakk so if you been waiting for the album it’s definitely going to be worth the time you waited. Peedi Crakk f/ Freeway, Young Chris & Beanie Sigel “One For Peedi Crakk” Video