Whether you like them or not, there is no denying that The Cali Swag District have got people talking and dancing across the nation led by their break out single, “Teach Me How To Dougie.” The young four man rap group from Inglewood, CA located within Los Angeles took many by surprise this year as their single picked up radio and club steam and received endorsements from entertainers and sports figures such as Steve Nash, Big Baby Davis, Kim Kardashian and many others. The group has followed up on the success of “Dougie” with “Where You Are,” a song which samples the late great Michael Jackson.

With the new album The Kickback coming out this October 12, two members of the Cali Swag District decided to talk to AllHipHop.com and answer some questions about their group and even speak a little to their skeptics. With a difference in music and fashion styles it’s no secret that there is a gap between the older and younger hip-hop generations and maybe with some conversation we can help bridge that gap and understand each other a little better.

AllHipHop.com: Let’s talk about the song that started it all, “Teach Me How To Dougie.” You guys have stars and athletes videotaping themselves doing the dance because of your song.

Yung: Big Baby from The Boston Celtics did that recently and he knew how to do it too! He had the head movements right and all. He’s just kind of big so it looked funny.

AllHipHop.com: I’m sure I’m not the only older hip-hop fan out there that’s clueless about the Dougie dance, so give us the info on it.

Yung: The dance actually came from Doug E. Fresh’s head movement. The people in Dallas, TX turned it in to the D-Town Boogie. One of our friends went down to Texas on a break and came back and told us that the dance was hot down there but not really here in L.A. He came up with the concept and we did the song. We actually had the lyrics finished before the beat was done. We went in the booth and blazed it – and started a dance craze nationwide. The dance is from Dallas, TX. It’s not from us and we did not invent it.

Cali Swag District: “Teach Me How To Dougie”

AllHipHop.com: The Jerk dance craze was hot for a minute and that started with another West Coast group , The New Boyz. This wasn’t a response to that?

Smoove: Not at all. It has no ties to the Jerk movement. We weren’t trying to shut it down or none of that. It was just a song that we decided to do.

Yung: We wanted to do something different because everybody’s Jerk songs sounded the same.

AllHipHop.com: Give me a little insight in to your group. How did you guys come together?

Smoove: Big Wy (of the group The Relativez) put us together. We’ve been friends for a long time but we were doing our own thing musically. I was DJ’ing myself and the others had their own solo rap careers. Big Wy wanted to put together a group and thought that we all possessed that talent to be that group. He had the name together already and none of us liked it at first. It grew on us and now it means something to us. We are from California. Our Swag is all different – our characters and dress is different from each other. Our District is our city which is Inglewood.

AllHipHop.com: Why didn’t you like the name at first?

Yung: It was kind of corny to us at first. It was California Swag District at first but we shortened it to Cali. We all kind of looked at each other when they first told us the name.

Smoove: It just didn’t fit in with the names of what other crews in our area had or people our age. It grew on us though.

AllHipHop.com: So you can understand how some fans might not like the name when they first hear it?

Yung: Like who are these guys and what’s this? Yeah, we admit that but when they take the time to know us, they love it.

AllHipHop.com: The West Coast is known for it’s gangster rap, even your mentor Big Wy with his work with The Relativez. You guys are coming from a totally different field.

Smoove: Times have changed. The things that Snoop, Ice Cube and N.W.A. Used to rap about were things that they were dealing with and the way they came up. Some people know still go through that but that’s not what we are trying to express in our music. Us personally, we don’t face that lifestyle as hard as they did. Gangs are still there but it’s not as serious now to us. Our generation is all about having fun, meeting females and all of that crazy stuff. We don’t care about being hard – that’s outdated. We express ourselves through our music in a whole different way. We are just having fun with it.

AllHipHop.com: Do you get any negative feedback about that from people in the West Coast?

Yung: We get love from a lot of the old artists and gangster rappers. Our visionary is Big Wy. If he put us together and said thinks that it’s cool, then everybody else thinks so too. DJ Quik, Snoop Dogg and many of the older artists show us love.

AllHipHop.com: I wanted to ask you about the New West. A lot of them have been working hard for years and you guys show up quick on the scene and bypassed many of them. Do you get a lot of hard feelings from them?

Smoove: Not at all. We are cool with a lot of them – especially Nipsey Hussle and YG. We are all doing our thing and there is no hatred involved. We all show each other love.

AllHipHop.com: “Teach Me How To Dougie” really took off and some out there said that was going to be your only Hit song. What do you have to say to those who base your success off of what they deem as a gimmick?

Yung: To me it’s cool because I take it that they are looking for another hit. We like to prove people wrong. Our second single which features Michael Jackson is called Where You Are. We are going to hit a lot of people over the head with that one. We are going to prove people wrong.

Smoove: We already have because it was premiered on TMZ and played earlier today on L.A.’s Power 106 FM. We’ve already been getting feedback about the record. The new record is big and may be even bigger than “Teach Me How To Dougie.” Our manager brought the idea of that song to us and we loved it.

AllHipHop.com: I was actually happy to see that you guys sampled a classic. You don’t see many of today’s younger artists taking it back to the classics like the older Hip-Hop generations did.

Smoove: We knew that the idea was going to work. You can’t find someone who isn’t a Michael Jackson fan. Our studio is actually where Michael Jackson’s clothes used to be made – his boutique. We randomly found that out one day. It was like he was haunting us or something because not only was our studio his former boutique but our first tour bus was used by The Jackson 5.

Cali Swag District: “Where You Are”

AllHipHop.com: Did you feel any pressure to come up with another hit after “Teach Me How To Dougie?” It’s common for a new group to have one hit record and then fall out of people’s memories down the line.

Smoove: Not at all. We are confident in what we can do. We sat back and allowed the right record to come to us and it happened. I can honestly say that there was no pressure in trying to top “Teach Me How To Dougie.”

AllHipHop.com: What do you have to say about Hip-Hop fans that are into rap “skills” who dismiss your music?

Smoove: We have songs that we’ve recorded where we get lyrical. It’s just that the one’s that are out now are not as lyrical. We are real diverse and we have range with our skills. Time will tell if you guys agree. The album is crazy and has lyrics on it.

Yung: Right now our generation likes the band chants and to have fun. Our generation is really not in to lyrics for some reason. You’ve got Drake and everybody likes him but our generation likes to have fun so we’ve got to represent that. Our album is titled The Kickback which is like partying. We are definitely going to try and show our lyrical side on the album and letting people know that we really can rap.

 

“Decepticons Divebomb and Lord Vital

Exclusive Q&A”

One thing is for sure. The Decepticons history and legacy as the most infamous Gang of New York is shrouded in mystery and suspense. As one can imagine, there are a ton of perspectives on this over 20-year-old story, and hard facts about the social and criminal activities of the gang are hard to come by. After the story ran, the floodgates of even more stories were opened. AllHipHop.com managed to capture somel of the stories, memories, and notoriety surrounding the Deceptz, but certainly not all. Click here for Part 1 and Part 2 of Decepticons: Gangs of New York.

Believe it or not, there are still members

from the late 1980s and early 1990s claiming Decepticons, and that is

a tale within itself. To that end, AllHipHop.com presents Part

3 of the Decepticons series, to allow Deceptz Lord Vital and Divebomb

to share some thoughts on their existence and legacy as one of the most

vicious street crews in American history. 

Decept

Lord Vital

AllHipHop.com: Give me a brief background about your Decepticon affiliation. 

Lord Vital: HAIL MEG DFL. I am

Lord Vital Constructicon Leader, Head of the 3rd Generation and an active

member of the Decepticons. 

 

AllHipHop.com: How long have you been involved with the Deceptz? 

Lord Vital: I became Decept in

1990, five years after my older brothers started it, so I can’t take credit.

[laughter] The name was already known before I came along. But one thing

I want the people to know is that Decepticons was a family that shared

a brotherly bond, but by the time the second generation started…we

were a gang. This was because there was a huge gap of information that

was missing between the two generations. Most of us didn’t know about

the history of our family – mainly because we were young and too focused

on ourselves and gettin’ our names known to want to learn. Our egos

are what plagued this thing of ours. 

 

AllHipHop.com: What inspired you to get involved with Decept? 

Lord Vital: Since a freshman in

J.H.S 117, I was wylin’ out. I was known for fighting, so it was only

natural that I would end up with those similar to me. We had a little

clique that would go off on our own missions, doing whatever came to

mind, going up to various other junior high schools.  

Now at this time, my older sister was

dating a Decepticon. He was a Horrorcon (a legion I later became second

in command of). He heard about a brawl me and my dudes had with some

Face Heads on the G-train one day, and he came to me to recruit, or

as we say “bring me into the matrix.” This was funny because I agreed

to get tested (initiated), and that same day my boy Ghost got tested,

too.  

“SUBTRACTICONS FORM CYPHA!!”

Next thing I know, 50 n*ggas came out of nowhere and surrounded me and

my twin. (I got down with a close friend). Now as I look around not

knowing what to expect, I see the same friends from school. I had no

idea they were already down, so this was another school day to me. 

AllHipHop.com: I’d like to know a little more detail about Decept life back then.  What did they do? 

 

Lord Vital: Like my big brother Cyclonus would say, we were like the

Warriors. We rode the trains, terrorizing passengers, and fought with

rival gangs, the Lo-Lives, A-Team, and Raiders, just to name a few.

We robbed jewelry stores, clothing stores, everything Meg put his mind

to. They lived for 

each other, and one stole to feed the rest. That’s how the family

moved.

This was the Decepticons of the 80’s,

but by the 90’s, Decepts were running around like crazy… there is

a difference between the two. 

 

AllHipHop.com: How was the gang structured? 

Lord

Vital: We were structured like any other organization that you can

think of, with all the head members of each chapter connected at the

top. Then you had the leaders of each legion who reported in and received

their orders or missions of the day. Then there were us Decepts, the

ones who didn’t ask no questions. We just lived for the rush and carried

out any necessary issues that needed to be dealt with. All we knew is

that it came from the top and that was it. 

 

AllHipHop.com: How did your individual names come about? 

Lord Vital: All the originals

chose their names directly from the cartoon, but Rumble is responsible

for choosing the name Decepticons for the fam. 

AllHipHop.com:

What light can you shed on your most memorable moments with the Decepticons? 

Lord Vital: Certain things are

not meant for others to know about. 

AllHipHop.com:

Do you have any regrets? 

Lord Vital: I would say the attacks

on the innocent. They were never prepared for  what we did to them.

But for the ones who shared this lifestyle, f*ck’ em. They knew what

it was. So I don’t regret no bottle to they face, no hammer to they

head, or boot to they chin. 

 

AllHipHop.com: What impact has Decept had on your life? 

Lord Vital: Me being Decept has

made me not underestimate anybody, and made me more alert at the same

time. I’ve watched the smallest man out da group bring down the biggest…lol.

But the most important thing that I’ve learned is that deception is

your best weapon when used correctly. 

 

AllHipHop.com: What do you think about the Deceptz being back in the news? 

Lord Vital: I love it…because

I’m in the middle of it all. I made it cool to rock that symbol in all

fashions. At every show, on every album cover, on damn near everything

– “Decepticlothes” is what I called it.  

Then by releasing the  “PURPLE REIGN

MIXTAPE Vol. 1 – I.C.O.N.”, it has brought my family back together

and reunited cons that haven’t seen each other in 20 years. We recieved

a write up in The Source, featured in F.E.D.S., and have

a 6-page spread in MASS APPEAL magazine.  

This gave New York a breath of fresh

air and took us back to that era, even if only for a minute. And this

also helped bridged the gap between the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd

generations. For us to finally meet each other…to the point where

if you wanted to learn your history, I could bring you straight to its

founding members. It feels good to say I was a major part of that happening. 

 

AllHipHop.com: What do you want the world to know about Decept? 

Lord Vital: I want the people

to know that as long as I live, Decept lives. You can see it in me,

hear it through my music. And you can call me Prince, ’cause I’m about

to change my name to the symbol.  

Decept is a part of me like my name.  

My life story is a fraction of my life experieces edited through the

minds of the reader. We are a part of New York’s history…we exist…

I’m still active with six legions under  me ready to move on call.

The family still grows – CONSTRUCT, LLC – build from the bottom

up.  

Also I want the world to know we had

structure and a chain of command that we still follow ’til this day,

and the lack of information is how we will continue to keep it. But

know all legions were connected in some way, no matter what borough

they were in.  

Decept Divebomb 

AllHipHop.com:

Give me a brief background of yourself. 

Divebomb: My name is Divebomb

of the Predacons, under Decept. I am an Artist, Filmmaker, Educator,

and Entrepreneur. I reside on the planet Brooklyn via Cybertron. 

AllHipHop.com:

How long have you been involved with the Decepticons? 

Divebomb: I’ve been a part of

Deceptz since the Fall of 1986. 

AllHipHop.com: What inspired you to get involved with the Deceptz? 

Divebomb: I wasn’t inspired, I

was recruited. At the time, Decepts was not the popular group everyone

today knows it to be. If you were drafted, it’s because you brought

something to the table. You were expected to be part in bringing this

little Decept thing to the empire that is known for today. 

AllHipHop.com: What are the most memorable events in your experience as a Decept? 

Divebomb: My most memorable events

are when I’ve witnessed how thousands of minds can move as one – one

movement, one agenda, one family. 

AllHipHop.com: Any regrets about any of your experiences as a Decept? 

Divebomb: None. 

AllHipHop.com:

How has being a Decept enhanced your life? 

Divebomb: Decepts has enhanced

the world. 

AllHipHop.com: How is that, and what are your feelings on the attention Deceptz gets now? 

Divebomb: It is well deserved.

Decepts are original New York I.C.O.N.S. You can’t speak of anything

original from NY without mentioning Deceptz. Deceptz are pop culture.  

AllHipHop.com: What’s one thing you want the world to know about the Decepticons? 

Divebomb: What I would like the

world to know about Decept, I will show them. 

AllHipHop.com: What are you doing with the Deceptz now? 

Divebomb: I’m wrapping up the

making of the Deceptz documentary, as told by those who lived it –

not those who witnessed from a distance or through close relation. The

film, produced by me, is coming soon to premiere film festivals. People

can visit www.divebombonline.com to learn about our mixtape albums. The documentary

soundtrack will include songs from the Original Deceptz’ such as “Purple

Reign” and Lord Vital’s “It Can Go Down Anywhere.” 

We have many individuals involved in

their own private endeavors, from music, producing, brand apparel, construction,

engineering, medicine, design, automotive, film/video, and marketing/productions,

just to name a few areas.

AllHipHop.com: What do you see as the Decept legacy?  

Divebomb:

The range of talented people within the Decepticons is phenomenal. The

sky’s no limit. 

Team Beastmode contributed to this

report.