Sheek Louch! Solo effort. Sick. September 2003. All Lox slash D-Block fans
salute!
What’s really good with D-Block and their empire
in the making? Please bookmark the history of the hood’s phenomenon.
From the slick streets of Yonkers to Bad Boy
on to Double R, The Lox/D-Block remained loyal as a group and to the hungry
streets. Scratch through any exclusive DJ Clue mix-tape back in the late 90’s…surely
they dominated block and corner music. But now it’s later, and D-Block is determined
to control the rap game without attachments.
Sheek’s singular effort proves that alone amidst the masses he stands thorough
and able to walk. But not in the shadows of his closet comrades Pinero, the
Ghost, Styles P. and the raspy voice, hook-master J-a-d-a Kiss, but simply alone.
Sheek Louch is set to prove to non-believers
and his loyalist fan-base that he walks without a crutch. Allhiphop.com caught
up with him and J-Hood at a music session at Hot97 in Boston with DJ Chubby
Chub while promoting his album, Walk With Me. They were energetic, focused,
and ready to discuss the state of affairs regarding D-Block.
AllHipHop.com: Sheek you gotta tell me before we get into the whole D-Block
situation…we gotta go back to The Lox. How long have you been in this game?
It’s been a minute.
SHEEK LOUCH: Yo! I feel like a young old man in this game man. Like I’ve seen
them come and go and longevity is the key in this man…but yo…we’ve been doing
this since like…it’s been years.
AllHipHop.com: Before Show Me The Money Part 2 (DJ Clue). Well, Well, Well…
SHEEK LOUCH: Well, Well, Well wow! I gotta give you a pound on that! Yeah! It’s
been a minute though man! You now what I’m saying? I mean from Puff, before
Puff to just hitting the streets up heavy. And then Puff, and then Ruff Ryders,
and then our own thing…D-Block-Universal and now my album.
AllHipHop.com: So how does the transition go from ya’ll being just street to
making it to Bad Boy? How does the foundation feel to have D-Block and know
that’s your creation?
SHEEK LOUCH: Yo…man it feels beautiful. I can tell you like when Styles and
Kiss was doing their solo projects and all that…that’s all I had in mind. Like
yo…we were all like…we gotta get a label…we gotta get a label. Boom! And I tell
everybody like I wasn’t even trying to do no solo project until like…until like
I started hitting the mix-tape circuit myself…and everybody was asking like
yo…when is your album coming out? So that’s when I finally did that. But my
whole key was like yo…I’m not doing nothing on nobody else’s label.
Like for my project…it gotta be on our own thing to get some of that other money.
I want to sit at that big desk and politic about J-Hood’s album coming out,
and politic about this and that. So we went to Universal and they was talking
the right language and the right money…and not so much as the money…but really
our vision on what The Lox wanted to bring to this game, and what we wanted
to do, and don’t get in our way. You know what I mean? And they were like yo
dawg…ya’ll doing it anyways without no label, without no money behind ya’ll…ya’ll
doing it…so here and we gonna step back. So to answer your question it feels
BEAUTIFUL!
AllHipHop.com: It feels beautiful to build your own creation. Now, with three
of ya’ll in the group, I mean the focus depending on who you like the most…well
with some people they just like the group overall. How does it feel having different
weights in the group? How do you feel about having to balance the group out?
Is the solo project a lot of weight on you?
SHEEK LOUCH: It’s a lot of weight on me as far as the label D-Block. It’s not
a lot of weight as far as me trying to outsell Kiss, outsell Styles or none
of that…Naw! We all spit it. Nobody’s weak in this game. We all spit it. And
we all make hit music. Naw! Like we all bring different things to the table.
AllHipHop.com: I saw what ya’ll went through from being on majors to coming
back off and doing the street thing. So how do you explain the loyalty amongst
you three now including Hood and others in your team?
SHEEK LOUCH: A lot of these other groups are put together. Or a manager found
this person and put him with that person. That’s not it with us. I mean, when
we ain’t doing music…Kiss is with me…I’m with Kiss…Styles is with me. We in
the hood like drinking, smoking, doing whatever we do…like just thuggin’ it
out…like a lot of these cats…after the videos…after they roll cameras…they go
their own separate ways and they don’t see each other until then. Or when they
get into the studios…they come to record that song and they all come with their
verses written already. There’s no chemistry going on with them. Me, Kiss, and
Styles grew up our whole lives around each other. Our families are close and
everything. J-Hood, we met him in Yonkers since he was young. He’s nineteen
now. This was like when he was fifteen years old just telling us he raps and
letting us hear him. We got another group too, but I ain’t gonna speak on them
and they’re sickening. When we get people, we ain’t just trying to get cake.
We’re trying to build a family…like loyalty. There’s a lack of loyalty out there.
AllHipHop.com: Now Hood, how does it feel coming into like a legendary camp
like this? Although to some they might not be legendary because you know it’s
not the big glam and things. They are legends from my perspective. How does
it feel walking with them?
J-HOOD: It feels good. It makes me feel like I’m gonna leave my imprint on whatever
I do. Because they already got a name, so people are checking for them. I’m
just contributing what I could contribute to D-Block.
AllHipHop.com: Now define your style because that s### is sick? Especially for
a cat just coming in like that. How did you get that pitch? How did you become
Hood?
J-HOOD: I try to take in a little from the three guys like…you got different
personalities. You got Sheek, Kiss, and SP…I’m like the young one all in one.
I’ve studied their styles for mad years.
AllHipHop.com: How are ya’ll about to kill the streets? How are you gonna handle
that? It seems like there’s a lot coming with D-Block.
SHEEK LOUCH: There is a lot…so timing is crucial. Mine is September 16, you
got J-Hood coming…we don’t got the date on his yet, but he’s done recording
and all that. I’m saying…you got Jada dropping. You got another Lox album coming.
You got Styles. We got a compilation that’s gonna be sick. If ya’ll love all
our mix-tape stuff…ya’ll love all the street stuff…ya’ll love everything ya’ll
been getting…imagine the compilation.
We’re real creative. And we ain’t trying to confuse the consumer to get people’s
album: like…damn that ain’t what I used to like, damn that ain’t what I’ve been
hearing from them… We’re gonna give you that and more, and take it to a whole
other level.
AllHipHop.com: Now how do deal with attacks coming from other rap groups or
whichever coming at ya’ll? Are ya’ll really focusing on that? Or are ya’ll trying
to see past the rap crap?
SHEEK LOUCH: The focus is strictly on D-Block. I mean you know we gotta be the
bigger man on a lot of things. But I mean, if it gets too carried away, you
can get PUNCHED IN YOUR MOTHERF***ING MOUTH! Really right now D-Block got beef
with NOBODY. What up Bad Boy? What up Dip Set? What up G-Unit? What up Terror
Squad? What up…you name it…that’s all fam.
I tell you, you’re either a killer, or your getting money. It’s hard to both.
So that’s what we’re doing. We’re getting money. I mean…we deal with it accordingly.
You know when it’s just somebody trying to get on. Just yelling out s### trying
to get on. You know just wanting you to respond. I mean how do you deal with
it Hood? I tell him all that is yours…
AllHipHop.com: Yeah, how do you deal with it?
J-HOOD: I don’t know…I got cats coming at me now, but just on the streets, so
I really don’t pay it no attention. It ain’t really get no bigger than that.
AllHipHop.com: Sheek, since you been in the game a little bit longer, you’ve
seen the transition. How different do you think the game is now verses then?
Then the s### was raw in 95, 96
SHEEK LOUCH: I seen it go from Big…with it being so raw and rugged and the Pac
beef and everybody was straight gangster. Man…ya’ll know my history…but I’m
gonna let ya’ll know it anyways. I seen it go to the glitz and glam after Big
passed to shiny with Puff and Mase and flossing…going back to the block with
50 Cent…getting it gangster again on the streets. So I don’t know… I think it’s
gonna keep going like that…it’s gonna keep revolving. I think this whole thing
is a 360. You gonna see fashion come and go. You gonna see this music thing
come back around to the glitz and glamour, back to the gangster, to that…to
that…to the Common Sense and them type era…to the Dirty South stages. I think
you gotta just fit in and change with the times, but also be yourself.
AllHipHop.com: As we exit, just tell me a little bit about the album and what
to expect?
SHEEK LOUCH: Sheek Louch. September 03. It’s called Walk With Me. You
got a lot of sick joints on there. I think what I bring to the table besides
Kiss and Styles, I bring a little more energy, you know what I’m saying? They’re
a little more laid back. I’m more of the up and in your face and to the chest.
I think I touched on a little more topics then my other two brothers. It’s sick…like
eighteen joints…it’s crazy…go support that!