SunN.Y. knows the history of the rappers that have gone before him only to achieve marginal success on the commercial plane. But, when Jermaine Dupri scooped him off the stage of BET’s 106&Park, he and Sun knew that they would approach the game in a more direct fashion than previous Freestyle Friday Hall of Famers. The attack would be direct and they would play up to the fan base created through the show. As the first Urban Artist set to drop on the new Virgin Records, SunN.Y. has a lot on his shoulders. Still waters run deep and, quite often, they are quite cold. Think you know SunN.Y.? You’ve probably just waded in the shallow end.
AllHipHop.com: What were you doing before rapping?
SunNY: I’ve always been able to keep like a part time job or something. Because when it was fast, there was always was the right way, and always sometime I would bare left.
AllHipHop.com: Because your lyrics were forced to be clean based on television, is that something you’ll continue with?
SunNY: I’m just tiring to make more records, even with my language. JD done talked to me, and told me to talk to a couple of people that’s in the boat with me. We about to start rolling, and he told me image is everything. You don’t want no body to look at you, I don’t everybody to look at me and be like that boy momma ain’t teach him no better.
I’m trying to say away from the typical things. I mean the average Black male story is: Grew up in the hood messed up, peddled drugs, did six months or whatever they did. It’s sad to say. I can say that same story but I’m trying to go away from that. I’m going to incorporate some things positive to my story.
AllHipHop.com: What separates you from the other rappers signed based on shows like 106 & Park?
SunNY: For one I got some hot songs, I don’t know what Poster did. God bless Poster, I heard the boy sick right now so I hope he get better. I’m a fan of Poster. Then I saw Jin. But with my situation, I really didn’t have much of a demo, I just had my exposure which quite belt up a buzz in the street. I had a good industry buzz gong on in Atlanta, and you know all them dudes talk. JD got that buzz and I got to sit with him, it was more of a business plan then a demo, and what separates me from them is one – I know I’m an artist for two I got a good business sense. I got a good business, when I write a song, I write a song to a video invasion, a crowd rocking to it.
AllHipHop.com: What’s your album gonna sound like?
SunNY: My album gonna sound like ‘87 to ’98, as far as production. I got new age producers, with new age sounds and all that. But lyrically and the content of it, I was raised from back then. To me, Hip-Hop started getting started once the Hard Knock Life Tour was over with, and DMX did his two albums, and Jay-Z did his like five mill. I can say as a fan, I sat back and watched Irv [Gotti]. I saw Irv, Jay, and all of them in the B.I.G. video together, and the “Ain’t No N***a” video and all that, and I saw their grind and their rise, and they got to their climax.
AllHipHop.com: Being under JD wing for a period of time, what have you learned or soaked up?
SunNY: Being under JD’s wing, I learned that JD is that dude, I’m use to being around somebody like JD. The dude that got their own; they really don’t need outside help but people contribute to to what he doing, like one hand wash the other. People have a perception that I’m going to get signed with JD, so like imam be on that j-Kwon , club twist all day. And you know, one thing that JD tells me is that the only way to sell yourself is to be you. You know what I’m saying. JD be him. JD is the money and the pop a bottle, and all that but at the same time, he is a Hip-Hop dude, he use to dance with Whodini in the videos. He’s definitely a Hip-Hop dude.
AllHipHop.com: has he rejected any of your songs, like, “That’s not working,” or anything like that?
SunNY: Me and him rejected songs together. Like, I got this one track that me and him liked the hook together, and all of that. And once the song was done, I wasn’t really feeling it. I didn’t want that out there then he felt the same. Then I did a song that I liked that he didn’t like it, you know what Im saying – which is cool. You can listen to some people’s album and [can tell that] they are surrounding by “yes men.” I’m glad that J is the type of dude. He’s not giving me so much freedom, but he letting me put out what I want. Im glad there is freedom when it comes to creativity but when it comes time to him doing his job he going to lay it down, [I’ll bend].
AllHipHop.com: Is there any pressures being the first Rap artist under Virgin?
SunNY: It wasn’t pressure, but it is something that I think about every time I go into the studio, or everytime I do an interview or whatever. It did put weight on me as far as watching how I carry myself, and watch how I do my songs. It’s not really any pressure, it just feels good.
AllHipHop.com: Have your friends or family changed towards you at all?
SunNY: Yeah.
AllHipHop.com: How do they treat you?
SunNY: Ny family treats me good. Friends, you know how they say money change you, people change. I’m not going to lie, the money has changed me. The only reason way money changes me, because it made me more responsible about my life and my well-being and my longevity. It ain’t change me as far as my swagger or how I act. Anybody that really knows me now, knows that I have been the same whether I was broke or have bread. As long as I look fly, my attitude never changes. I call it the pretty broke look. Pretty and broke. So just as long as I have that in my life, I’ve been good.
AllHipHop.com: We watched Guru trip over Young Guru in the name game. Being from New York, do you feel people will get confused your name with the DJ on HOT 97?
SunNY: I had thought about it, that’s why I spelled my name different. That’s how I got the “Son of New York” as a title of myself overall. At the end of it, it’s a DJ named Sunnny, shout outs to her, she at the top of my list. Moms name is Sunny so it’s a big name; it’s a real popular name, when you comes to it. I believe my grandfather name is Sunny, so that’s why I switched it up, just to separate myself from everybody else.
AllHipHop.com: And the last thing I was thought you might wanna kick up a free style or a rhyme or something?
SunNY: Some bars? You can get that, what’s this AllHipHop.com?
AllHipHop.com: Yeah.
SunNY: Now that I got this deal/the deal is trying to throw me in the new whip/
The G 500, that will knock me quick, I’m good with a bucket/ Still seeing poppy flips, going out like the Cuban at the and of the script/ You running your lips, my finger tips will run in my hips /Goodie Mob say go, now we running through clips/ My life is on a steep slope, how I shoot through bricks/ bars with a clip on the doors with for licks, appeal anything before I see the bars you sit/ Now its so-so, and Im still blowing so much cocoa /I got a whole crowd of girls gone local, I got my dogs up the block going for po-po/ no body of not they ain’t finding no mo glow/ top of that my guns and shell cases that belong to the four four / my name is son ill show you the slow flow./ I’mma teach all y’all dudes how to blow/ freestyle in the mean but ,while I got hot songs , that’s where other battle rappers got there career wrong.”
AllHipHop.com: Who’s carrying this torch with you?
SunNY: Papoose, Maino, I believe that a lot of rappers coming up strong lyrically now because, just like me , that’s what we strive on . We don’t thrive on just making basic songs, basic hooks, even though we know we gotta do it once we get into the Rap business. Like I could make a 1,000 batty-shack songs and blow them in Atlantic City that will help me go platinum, but I would be stepping outside of character. I just won’t feel good if my music.