F

irst Degree Detective Derrick Parker, even with all of his clearances, could not keep himself from earning a bad rap in the eyes of the Hip-Hop community. Attending events, Parker knew rappers not for their singles, but for their criminal records. Since retired, the release of Parker’s DVD, Black and Blue: Legends of the Hip-Hop Cop, sets out to clear his name and show the world a penetrating look into police investigation and Hip-Hop’s magnetism with mug-shots and thumb-prints. Meanwhile, his book, Notorious C.O.P., promises to have some answers in the unsolved murders of Tupac, Biggie, and Jam Master Jay.

For years, “Hip-Hop Cops” were perceived as myths. Derrick Parker candidly reveals otherwise, touching on the profiling, the record keeping, and the network that these officers used. Just as with the rap industry, Parker says that the cops themselves grew greedy in search of desired positions in a glamorous life. After years of Detective Parker watching Hip-Hop under a microscope, the culture stares right back in the eyes of the Hip-Hop cop.

AllHipHop.com: For those who don’t know, how did the Rap Intelligence Unit begin, was that the actual title?

Derrick Parker: Actually, there wasn’t a name for it; it started under the gang division, just myself and another detective investigating cases under the guise of the gang unit.

AllHipHop.com: So from there, how did it come about?

Derrick Parker: Well I got into Cold Case back in 1996 and the Deputy Commissioner and Chief of the Department knew that I knew a lot about the rap music industry, and there were a lot of acts of violence going on at the time. There were certain robberies with rappers, at the time there was a murder involving the R&B group, Guy and I explained to the Chief how to solve the case and he was very impressed. I became a one-man show and started going out to rap-related cases, robberies, home invasions, [and] kidnappings. I was working with the Las Vegas [Police Department] on the shooting of Tupac and it wasn’t until about 1998, after Notorious B.I.G. got killed, that’s when everything started to change. We started receiving a lot of death threats towards Biggie’s funeral. I called the department, and warned them of the repercussions that were coming back to New York as per the Biggie homicide in [Los Angeles]. They shrugged it off. It wasn’t until Biggie’s funeral where the death threats, bomb threats came in, threats on Puffy’s life…that’s when the Chief wanted answers.

AllHipHop.com: The threats were coming from L.A.?

Derrick Parker: [They were] coming from L.A., coming from all over, saying they were gonna blow up the funeral home…The East Coast/West Coast beef was really in effect. I gave a two-hour presentation on this East Coast/West Coast war to the department and around the world, Japan, Australia, all over, about violence emerging in Hip-Hop. We had to come up with a plan so there would be no violence in New York and this man can be laid to rest without any problems. Everything we did, all the precautions we took, probably saved lives and resulted in decreasing any kind of violence that may have happened.

So in 1999 the Chief of the Department put me in the gang unit but overseeing the rap music industry, gathering information. Intel units don’t make arrests, you just gather information to disseminate to other police departments. If there was any violence or murders, he wanted me to be the go-to guy. The Cold Case department was upset because they would lose me while I was solving rap cases, and I was their key clearance guy; I was solving a lot of cases for them. In the DVD, my boss is on there explaining how it was a slap in the face taking me out of his unit…

In 2001, after the HOT 97 shooting involving Lil’ Kim and Foxy Brown, the new Commissioner at the time wanted me to develop a binder, the only problem with that is I didn’t want it to go out to too many people, because cops are like regular people, they’ll go out and things get leaked, they show it to their friends. I wanted the information under lock and key like the Mafia Unit, but he felt rap was more prevalent and in the headlines. I made the book and had to clear it with legal, making sure everyone had arrest records to enter in to the binder.

AllHipHop.com: Was that the criteria for having a file in the binder, you had to have an arrest record?

Derrick Parker: Right, we couldn’t use people that weren’t arrested; you really couldn’t justify putting them in the binder. But, just as I feared, the binder got out, to other agencies in Miami, Atlanta, L.A., and when people started accusing them of racial profiling, they all pointed to New York for being the ones who created the binder.

AllHipHop.com: So fast forward to 2002 when you retired. What was the premise behind that, what lead you to resign?

Derrick Parker: I tried to stick with it, but there were a lot of overzealous cops who tried to force their way into the unit, problems with cops in the department, they get territorial. After a while, I felt it was time for me to go, I had my 20 years in and a lot of wannabe’s were trying to get in and there was a lot of backstabbing.

AllHipHop.com: Which brings me to my next question, because you were so involved with the artists and it made you successful with the unit, did you yourself become a subject of investigation and did they begin to question your integrity?

Derrick Parker: Yeah, because I knew the people and these other cops couldn’t get close to these rappers, that was a problem for them. You have to remember I had to earn the respect of the rappers, not to go out there and treat them all like criminals; you can’t do that in the rap community. I earned their respect and that’s why they could come to me and I can go to the people that other cops couldn’t approach.

AllHipHop.com: What were your intentions in producing this documentary? Were you trying to show that this was a just cause or bring light to the injustices existing within the police structure?

Derrick Parker: It was to show two things; the justification of why the binder got created and what happened as the result. It also goes to show you what I had to go through in the department, working in an environment where you’re always being questioned. The worst thing that bothers me more than anything is if you question my integrity. There are certain cops that I may not like and I won’t talk to because I don’t think they’re looking at things the right way. But there are other cops that I’ll talk to because they get the bigger picture.

AllHipHop.com: So was there a question of integrity within the police departments, both L.A. and NYPD?

Derrick Parker: L.A.P.D. had their own problems with the corruption within their own department. There was no corruption within the N.Y.P.D. There were just a few overzealous cops that wanted to get into this unit, that would beg, borrow, cheat, steal, lie so they can get into this unit. Because it was flashy and you get to travel and deal with the rappers a lot of young cops wanted to get into the unit. My experience is double or triple [compared to] some new jack, especially doing homicides.

AllHipHop.com: With the high profile cases of Biggie, Tupac and Jam Master Jay, you claim being close to solving these cases…

Derrick Parker: Yes…

AllHipHop.com: Going back do you feel there was any police involvement in their deaths?

Derrick Parker: I can tell you this: to my knowledge, in the death of Tupac, there was no police involvement. In the case of Notorious B.I.G., there are questions of how far the police went, and where they went to be involved so there were a lot of problems. All those murders can be solved. The Jam Master Jay case, I already solved, that’s already done.

AllHipHop.com: So then why isn’t it a closed case?

Derrick Parker: The problem is, when you’re dealing with the [Defense Attorney’s Office] and the police department, they treat murders all the same. With the Hip-Hop community, you have to handle it a different way. The approach they took was the wrong way to go.

AllHipHop.com: So if we’re 99% into solving these cases, then what’s the missing link?

Derrick Parker: Police intervention. Police intervention was one of the biggest involvements and then being able to cultivate, getting witnesses, dealing with the Hip-Hop community as a whole and to find out what the underlying problems were.

AllHipHop.com: How far are we to solving these cases?

Derrick Parker: Well the DVD is out. The book comes out in July. I hope it sheds some light on these cases because they all can be solved. I can go on record right now and tell you I can solve all three of them.

AllHipHop.com: Is everything disclosed in the DVD and the book, or is there confidential information that was kept classified?

Derrick Parker: The DVD goes into explaining the culture and going through the cases that we solved, I go more into us watching the rap community and the crimes that came about. But with the book, I’m more detailed into things that are not in the DVD. I go into my involvement with the rap community, earning their respect and going into the actual murders of Biggie, Tupac, and Jam Master Jay. I tell you in full detail what went wrong with those murders.

AllHipHop.com: With the recent arrests involving BMF and Jacob the Jeweler, can we expect to see more entertainment figures arrested in connection with these cases?

Derrick Parker: Yeah, what you’re seeing now is just the preliminary stuff, there’s gonna be other things coming down the line on that. There are probably more arrests to be made in that case.

AllHipHop.com: How much influence do you feel the record labels and radio stations have in instigating a conflict between rappers, do you feel they’re partly to blame?

Derrick Parker: I think they’re becoming a lot smarter now because it’s coming into their backyard. HOT 97, after three or four shootings, are now being watched and I think they’ve learned from their mistakes. With the record labels, like Interscope and Def Jam, it’s only a matter of time before the problems lead upstairs to the chairman, and who knows what he’s doing, or what problems he has that he’s involved with. When you do things like that, it just opens doors for people to look and see what else is going on.

AllHipHop.com: How much attention is given to the lyrical content in rap music for your investigations, how do you determine what’s real and what’s not?

Derrick Parker: We look into lyrical content, but you have to take that for what it is. But if I saw something happening where it got a little more serious, then maybe I would take a bigger look at it. These guys get on record and try and be tougher than what they really are…

Allhiphop.com: Similar to the development of the covert government units during the Civil Rights movement, how concerned is the N.Y.P.D.

with the power and influence Hip-Hop has now in American culture?

Derrick Parker: They probably do have concerns, Hip-Hop is everywhere, its global. So yeah they are concerned, they are watching, not so much here because they have other concerns like Al Qeada and giving that more attention.

AllHipHop.com: Rappers who are known not for their criminal involvement but for their political messages have also claimed to being under police observation by your unit. Is there any truth to this?

Derrick Parker: That, I can’t say, but I can say there has always been a unit for certain things like that, even before my unit. There have been units that have looked into the BLA: Black Liberation Army, the FALN [Fuerzas Armadas de Liberación Naciona], things are different now. Before, the police department used to be more reactive. Now, they take a proactive approach and sometimes overstep certain boundaries. They look into things deeper but with everything, not just Hip-Hop.

AllHipHop.com: Aside from putting out the DVD and the book what else are you involved in now?

Derrick Parker: Well I have my own [private investigation] and security firm; I do a lot of clubs and Hip-Hop parties. A lot of club owners feel at ease when I’m there, because they know the rappers will play it cool.

N

ew Orleans, Louisiana: a city hundreds of miles south of New York, has been referred to as the murder capitol of the nation. Yet, out of this violence emerged an influx of street entrepreneurs that made household names within No Limit and Cash Money Records. This culturally creative city, corrupted by Katrina’s chaos, has opened the gates for Sqad Up, former affiliates of Lil’ Wayne, to tell the story of their new “New Orleans Order.”

Embraced by Houston’s Lil’ Flip, and co-signed by former Hot Boys, B.G. and Mannie Fresh, the four corners of the Sqad, namely

Supa Blanco, Gudda, Nutt Da Kidd and Yung Yo, have taken the entrepreneurial spirit of the “N.O.” on the road with them as they embarked on a 32-city promotional tour and start back-to-school venture to support their release entitled We Here Now. Though the once platinum dreams have subsided to an independent route the self-proclaimed “local celebrities” explain why they harbor no ill will to Lil’ Wayne, and how they reacted in a time of desperate measures.

AllHipHop.com: First up, let’s clarify your label status: is Sqad Up signed to Lil’ Flip’s Clover G’z Records?

Supa: Money Yung’N Records is our label…a lot of people got it twisted because when we left our situation with Cash Money, we ran into Flip at The Source Awards, and he said he was a fan of our music. We ended up chopping it up and did like five mixtapes together. It would have his logo and our logo. It was a good look because dude embraced us when a lot of people wasn’t fooling with us. Lil’ Flip got his Clover G thang, and we got our Money Yung’N thang. We look out for each other.

AllHipHop.com: So what’s good with Sqad Up? Word on the street is that you are touching a lot of cities down South right now…

Supa: S**t, right now we on a 32 date promo tour, working the radio, and hitting the people letting them know we still working. We got a new mixtape with DJ Scream, so we pumping that out extra hard. We got three other mixtapes coming through the pipe. After we finish the tour, we’ll take a break and then do another 52 dates. We are just grinding to support our upcoming album, We Here Now.

AllHipHop.com: Not too many artists can put in that type of road work. We hear the good, bad, and the ugly. What is the experience like for Sqad Up?

Gudda: The hardest part is the hours you gotta put in you know? No sleep, just keeping it moving, doing the same routine everyday and at the same time keeping up with our recording schedule. It’s not all bad though, because while you’re on the road you can hit the different clubs, get the record played by the local DJs, and hook up with people that show us love in the different cities.

AllHipHop.com: Even up to this moment you still have people that associate Sqad Up with Lil’ Wayne and Cash Money, even though y’all broke away from that situation a while ago. Is there any lingering tension between Sqad Up and Lil’ Wayne/Cash Money?

Yung Yo: Ain’t no beef. They doing them and we doing us you know? We’re set up to be the next thang in the game to pop off, so that’s what it is.

AllHipHop.com: Is there any chance of Sqad Up doing any music with Lil’ Wayne in the future?

Yung Yo: You never know what the future may hold. It wasn’t no serious bad blood like that. We done clicked up with Juvenile and UTP, and we got some big thangs in store with Sqad Up and B.G. He was on our first DVD, and he’s on our next one coming out, so it’s all good.

AllHipHop.com: I had a chance to visit that Sqad Up page on Myspace, it got a lot of people talking. How did that come about?

Nutt: A fan started that s**t! We didn’t even know about the site until it was about 40,000 hits deep. Somebody had to come and tell me about it, talking about “Yo, I hit y’all up on the Myspace,” and I was like, “Myspace?” So we decided to endorse it because it was something that was started by the fans. We appreciate all the support and if anyone wants to check it out the address is www.myspace.com/sqadshitbitch.

AllHipHop.com: When you talk about New Orleans most people envision Juvenile in front of Magnolia but y’all represent a different area correct?

Supa: We all from the East Side of the N.O., and you know when people think of New Orleans they only think about Magnolia or the Calio projects, Third Ward, but that’s Uptown. We feel its time to bring another side of the city to the map because our side is a whole different world from Uptown.

AllHipHop.com: What’s the difference?

Supa: You know, the Ninth Ward on the East Side is like Harlem, New York. We like to get fly, do our thug thang, and get our money on. Uptown is called “Chopper City” because they be spraying them thang,s know what I’m saying? But you know, in New Orleans, there’s gangstas everywhere.

AllHipHop.com: Who are some of the artists ya’ll respected coming up in the game?

Nutt: Rest in peace to Soulja Slim…cats like Pimp Daddy, UNLV, B.G. who is our age – all of the Hot Boys. Just gangsta music coming out of the N.O. from No Limit to Cash Money to Big Boy, artists like Partners-N-Crime and Mystikal. This is at a time when a lot of these artists were independent before they blew on a national level, ya dig?

AllHipHop.com: The world watched as the Katrina disaster unfolded before our eyes. How did it affect Sqad Up?

Supa: The hardest part for us was that Gudda was missing for three days…we had people calling us talking about ,“We saw Gudda on top of a roof on CNN…” I was telling everybody to calm down because I knew my boy wasn’t going to let no water kill him.

Gudda: I sent my kids off to Houston before the hurricane came through, but me, and three of my little goons stayed there thinking it wasn’t going to be nothing. We fell asleep in a two-story apartment and when we woke up the next morning, we was in eight feet of water. So we tried to figure out what our next move would be, and after the second day, I huddled my peoples up, said a prayer, and we hopped in that water and went for it. I don’t want to speak on what exactly we did but out of the negative came a positive because we stole food for people that were starving on the interstate, and got water for the elderly. When we finally got to dry land, they tried to send us to the Super Dome, but people were getting killed in there, so we wasn’t trying to go up in their especially ‘cause I’m a local celebrity, and I didn’t want to risk my career. So we ended up hot-wiring an 18 wheeler, and after three long ass days, we finally made it to Houston.

Once we all got up in Houston it was actually better for the group because we were together compared to when we was back home and everybody would be doing their own thang, and you end up having some n***as hustling, and getting locked up. With us in Houston, we got to focus on our music and our careers.

AllHipHop.com: With so many New Orleans natives spread out around the country, does it play to your advantage when you’re out on the road as far as support?

Gudda: Yeah, because everywhere we go there’s somebody from the N.O. that runs up on us, that’s just proud to see somebody from the city representing them. All we’re trying to do is continue the N.O. tradition of putting out great street music, ya dig? A lot of local artists were doing their thang but Katrina messed a lot of things up. We wish them all the best, and we’re definitely going to hold the city down in the meanwhile.

AllHipHop.com: What’s next for Sqad Up and Money Yung’N Records?

Supa: Right now we got our single cracking with Mannie Fresh called “Parking Lot.” We got Bizzy Bone and David Banner on the album, but it’s still that straight New Orleans s**t. The album is titled, We Here Now, and it drops August 8th, so thanks to everybody that supports the Sqad and free Big Lee.

P

rophets can come from the strangest of places. Perhaps the man asking you for spare change in front of the bodega has spoken unforgettable wisdom. Fiend is no panhandler, but his name and his image has been built upon being a man of the people, dirty and clean.

Of all the former No Limit artists, save for Snoop Dogg, Fiend’s career may be in the best place. The New Orleans native admits to have contributed lyrics and vocals to some of the hottest songs on Atlantic Records in the last year. But his own rap career resumes, with a reunion with The Medicine Men on The Addiction.

After striking a hit with “Take My Pain Away” eight years ago, Fiend now fights rejection from radio programmers, stores, and cynical fans. However, the artist insists that he does it for his remaining fanbase, and wants a reputation as a good father rather than a Platinum rapper. Like his dirty lyrics and bouncy beats, Fiend brings candor and energy in sharing about his time with Ruff Ryders, his new metaphor involving Oprah, and his reaction to Dancing With the Stars.

AllHipHop.com: Of all the No Limit artists of the late ‘90s, you were always the one that consistently made deeper, darker records. To many fans, myself included, that always separated you from the pack…

Fiend: I’m glad fans can find the music like that. I’m glad that they can hear this new one too [The Addiction] There’s been so many trials and tribulations trying to put it out, but it’s finally out. I hope that the people that knew anything about me can appreciate it, and almost accept it as an apology from me for being gone so long.

AllHipHop.com: You said that it was hard to put it out. But you put out several records in the last few years. What made this one so hard?

Fiend: Just suppression. People are trying to hold a foot on your neck and keep you down, man. Without being on No Limit Records no more, there are people that don’t wanna support you because you’re not with that company anymore. You’ve got people that feel like it’s not [worth hearing] which is a total misconception. The music is still great. A lot of the stores aren’t getting it where it needs to be. The radio stations can’t hear where I’m at – scared to play the record. They damn near tryin’ to be A&Rs, instead of just being program directors. They tryin’ to put too much of your career in their hands and they gonna make you blow one of them mothaf**kin’ radio stations up with a n***a like that. They think it’s a f**kin’ game, man! All we doin’ is putting ourselves back a thousand years with this pile of tricks, man. I been got shot more times than 50 Cent or 2-f**kin’-Pac. Before mothaf**kas will play my CD, I’ll be dead, bro. Everybody wanted to support Souljah Slim after he got f**kin’ murdered – f**k that stupid ass s**t! You wanna buy a CD now that he got his f**kin’ s**t split? His mom lost him, and people [now] wanna support him. It’s too f**kin’ late! Listen to these n***as, and appreciate these people while they hear. Don’t put me on a T-shirt after I’m gone, put me on a T-shirt while I’m here.

Then you got people like f**kin’ Lauryn Hill waiting 30 f**kin’ years to come back out, egotistically or whatever the f**k her case is – she f**kin’ trippin’. You make a big contribution to music. I’m not tryin’ to you I’m like Robin Hood sittin’ in the hood, I got bills that need to be paid. But I put the CD out for the fans. I ain’t promised a mothaf**kin’ dollar behind it. Ice Cube did the same thing, Dogg Pound too. I feel like the people who are really in tune with their fans, I wish they got some of the exposure.

AllHipHop.com: With No Limit, you had bigger distribution. Stores had no choice but to carry it. The radio noticed. Today, without that channel, how much interaction do you get with your fans outside of New Orleans?

Fiend: Man, that Myspace.com/FiendEntertainment is a mothaf**ka. Don’t get me wrong. I have national recording deal with Atlantic Records under a whole other name. I ghostwrite, I’ve been blessed to produce, I don’t ever have to put out another rap album again. Where I’m at right now – if you got the money to do it, do it yourself. If not, be prepared for a mothaf**kin’ rollercoaster ride that you don’t even know who the driver is.

AllHipHop.com: Let’s talk about the new record a minute. You’ve got this track “Survival” that goes right along with what you’re saying…

Fiend: That “Survival” is being suppressed. Man, that record is anybody who has, is, or ever will go through somethin’ trying to keep the lights on, keep a smile on your face, and do it legally – but knowin’ that you have to do what you have to do. I ain’t sayin’ I’m too good for a regular job, I just don’t have the regular probs, man. Music is supposed to soothe the beast. But the beast is growing more than the music. That’s “Survival.”

AllHipHop.com: Then you’ve got “Oprah (The Color Purple).” I’ll let you explain that one…

Fiend: [Laughs] I think that [the term for marijuana] “Oprah” was well overdo. “Mary Jane” has been used [too much]. I think that the nowadays, the average person is strictly on purple weed. It’s so fine, so rich, that you can only compare it to that b*tch. I’m smokin’ that Oprah – the finest of the fine, and it’s that color purple. It’s an ode to Oprah totally out of respect. I hope she takes it that way. She is the modern day role model, the finest the world could offer and she happens to be an African American. It was something of our own to give Hip-Hop to have. “I’m smokin’ Oprah.” That’s flattery. I felt like I was in Woodstock when I [wrote] that song. [raps the first verse]

AllHipHop.com: On your second album, you and U.G.K. had this record, “Slangin’.” To me, that seems to be a precursor to a lot of the lyrical style we’re seeing from T.I., Young Jeezy, and Rick Ross. How do you think you influenced Hip-Hop, whether ten years ago or today?

Fiend: I think that a lot of today’s artists are totally influenced by what I influenced to music, but by No Limit Records, Cash Money Records, Death Row Records, and a gang of other people. My contribution is, I spit from my heart. I hear a few artists out here: Lil’ Jon, T.I., Jeezy, I love all these artists, but I know I was somewhere in they CD deck when they came up as a kid. I’m happy to see that it sprouted to be as big as it is today. That leaves an opportunity for me to come back and provide for my family, but to also make my contribution to music.

AllHipHop.com: You’re back with the Medicine Men, or Beats By The Pound on this album. How important is KLC and Craig B to your sound?

Fiend: I’m overwhelmed, because I learned how to produce from these guys. We on there together. It just feels good to know that it’s goin’ down. The Medicine Men, these guys are up to date, and ahead of themselves as they were eight years ago. I’m happy that the fans can see that egos and finance won’t keep great people from working to make great music. We just jam, and then we take care of it how we take care of it.

AllHipHop.com: Are you gonna be on KLC’s album?

Fiend: I’m on about six songs of that album. You know where my head’s at already. I ain’t lettin’ us come out here half-assed ever, ever again.

AllHipHop.com: After No Limit, the Ruff Ryders had listed you on their roster for some time, and you made feature appearances. Why no album? Why are you no longer affiliated?

Fiend: Ruff Ryder…the fans just didn’t think I could anywhere but No Limit. [Ruff Ryders] was the only guys that was just raw, street orientated, as far as the label-base and the music, that could support my career. But when I got there, it was more of a spiritual somethin’. I wasn’t supposed to be there to drop my album. I was there to do other things. That’s just how it happened. I went out there, things happened, and I went to jail. They got me out. Dee [Dean] had got into a real, real bad [motorcycle] accident. We just ended up being there for each other as men, through some raw tribulations. It was bigger than what me droppin’ a CD could’ve done. I grew as a man out there. Each label gives you somethin’. Master P, C-Murder, Silkk, those guys, in their own ways, are great individuals. They taught me a few things, but they [were too removed] from their fans. Ruff Ryders, these n***as park Ferraris and walk in Harlem. I ain’t never too big to get with my fans. I love them Ruff Ryder boys, they just real.

AllHipHop.com: “Take My Pain” was powerful for you and the Miller brothers. You had all lost a brother. That was your biggest record too. Why did you open the album on such a serious note?

Fiend: That ended up being the last song recorded for the album. First of all, that record was a remake of one of my favorite records in the word. That was “I Call Your Name” by Switch. That was my s**t. I got a chance to do the record with Sons of Funk. Master P got involved, and he was really impressed with the record. Originally, Pimp C was supposed to be on the record. But Silkk [the Shocker] really liked the record and he got kinda jealous and was like, “F**k that, I’m gettin’ on that record.” Then, the format with Master P was that the single would be the first song on your album. That way, the consumer recognizes the song in the store right away. That was the thinking then.

AllHipHop.com: In your verse, you said “Hate made my city.” What did that mean?

Fiend: We are the city that gets forgotten. Recently, with the so-called natural disaster, hate made my city. We got plenty smiles, but it is what it is. This city could be wiped away and the world would turn they head. We are the little city of Babylon. We have the most crooked judicial system in the United States. Hate made my city. We have the crab in the barrel syndrome – it’s in you just to hate. If you make it, they hate. If you didn’t, you hate. It’s designed so that you will never make nothing of yourself if you stay there.

AllHipHop.com: Looking at that record, and others – do you think, artistically, that the Master P on “Take My Pain” is the same Master P on Dancing With the Stars?

Fiend: [Hesitates] You know, I think it is the same dude. When I saw him on Dancing With the Stars, I think he was just tryin’ to eat. I don’t know his case. I can pat him on the back for doin’ that. It shouldn’t be that grown African American men can’t have fun and stuff. I think we just haven’t accepted it. The guy that spit on that record…I would call P in tears listenin’ to that record. He’s a human being too. I think he’s just a little uncomfortable about the world seeing that he can make mistakes. I think that’s like when you’re [caught] with your pants down, being human. But it’s about being human.

I

t’s hard to find someone who thinks Shaq Diesel is the greatest rap album of all time. Even though the album went Platinum and Shaq is one of the NBA’s most popular players, his respect on the ball court never transferred over to the heart of most rap fans. NFL MVP Shaun Alexander is well aware of these bloopers and he hopes to avoid having one of his own by doing something Shaq and Kobe never did—keep his mouth shut. He’s decided to leave the rapping to his boy, Draze, and is the brains behind his latest venture, mixtapemovies.com.

The duo takes Hip-Hop storylines and splices them within scenes of films like Scarface and Trading Places. Their idea premiered at the 40/40 Club, so it was only fitting that the NFL’s 62 million Dollar Man confronted the possibility that this is a greedy effort to make money at the club’s Hall of Fame Lounge. The Seahawks Running Back had a stellar 2005, but before he can outdo himself on the field in 2006, he wants to see mixtapemovies.com and Draze evolve into something big—on their own. Time will tell if he can get what he wants.

AllHipHop.com: How do you and Draze know each other?

Shaun Alexander: We’re actually friends. From the first day I landed in Seattle, I knew his people. We’ve always been tight. One of my other boys was playing some music for me one day and it was tight. I was like, “Who is that?” It was Draze. I then went to Draze like, “You could rap?” The rest is history. Artists are different from us. We just ball and see things in terms of playing football. But he sees rapping as a craft. I want to help him perfect his craft. That’s how mixtapemovies.com jumped off.

Draze: Honestly, with the content of the mixtape movie being based around Jay-Z, to have it debut at the 40/40 Club was off the hook. It truly was a real honor.

AllHipHop.com: We really don’t see many Seattle rappers in the game. Draze, do you know that you will have to be a pioneer to get people to accept you in cities like New York?

Shaun Alexander: He already is a pioneer. He doesn’t want to say it, but he is. He’s the baddest thing I’ve ever seen, Seattle or otherwise. When it comes to battling, he destroys people. Competition don’t even show up to face him anymore. He’s that good.

Draze: To be honest with you, I’m not afraid of New York at all. No offense, I’m not impressed. Just because you’re from New York, I gotta fear you? What’s New York doing? Nothing. Who’s hot right now? Name it.

AllHipHop.com: Some would say Papoose. He’s on the rise and could be the hottest thing in New York right now. What do you think about his talents as a rapper?

Draze: He’s nice. Game recognize game. If I see somebody who’s nice, I don’t disrespect you because you’re from New York, but what am I supposed to do? I don’t got beef with dudes, because beef is played out.

AllHipHop.com: Speaking of beef, T.O. [Terrell Owens] came out with a rap song dissing the Philadelphia Eagles, his former team. What was your reaction to the track when you first heard it?

Shaun Alexander: T.O. is funny, man. He likes to make raps about people. I wish he was on Seattle with me. He gets in the field and he puts in work. I love talent. At the same time though, he felt that Philadelphia left him out to dry and never let him say what he had to say. He’s a ballplayer and he should just wait until he gets to the playing field to get them back that way. He shouldn’t be rapping though. [laughs] Don’t send a dentist to do heart surgery.

AllHipHop.com: By the same token, however, you’re a football player yourself. Should you be a record label executive?

Shaun Alexander: For me, it’s business. I find talent and get the right people around them. Then I step out the way. I know where I’m supposed to be. I don’t try and step on people’s shoes. After a while, I’ll just fade to the back. I’m a connecter to people who are going to help themselves [succeed]. I’m just a front man. I believe that if I give money or time to help build something, I don’t have to get it back right then and there. I’m kingdom-minded. If I bless this part of [Draze’s] kingdom now, it will come back to me in a time where I need it, my kids need it, or my kid’s kids need it. I’m like that with everybody. That’s how I feel with this mixtape movies thing.

Draze: He’s being modest. He gave me two things. Number one was his [business] relationships. Number two was money. It was taken in, and it was all love. [Shaun’s] concept of my success is not based on whether I blow up in the world’s eyes. If God tells him to do something, he’s going to do it. If I never blow, his obedience is [solely] being judged between him and God. There’s no pressure for me to do anything. I’m not making him give me the money.

AllHipHop.com: But, now that you have this opportunity, do you feel you need to show and prove?

Draze: For sure, but not just for [Shaun]; I gotta show and prove for my daughter. It’s not just about this being an investment.

Shaun Alexander: I don’t know any champion that don’t feel pressure that they have to be the best. Draze probably feels the same pressure that Tiger Woods feels when he’s on the golf course. You have to be the best. That’s the same way I feel when I step onto the football field. I’m not going in there trying to have a good game. I’m trying to score three or four touchdowns, and do stuff that folks can’t even match. But does [Draze] feel like he owes somebody? If I don’t score three or four touchdowns, I’m not feeling like I did somebody wrong. I am feeling, though, that I am the best and I will push forward.

AllHipHop.com: Speaking of being the best, you set the record in 2005 for most touchdowns scored in a single season. With that under your belt, how do you feel about the upcoming season?

Shaun Alexander: I’m gonna go have to break the record again. 2005 Shaun was good. 2006 Shaun is going to have to be better, and that’s real good. It’s a lot of pressure, but that’s how I want it. That’s how it is. If you don’t live, going on the field like that, then it’s time to retire.

AllHipHop.com: How did you get into Hip-Hop? Being from Kentucky, was Hip-Hop a big part of your environment?

Shaun Alexander: I’m from right on the border of Cincinnati and most of my family is from there. When I was a kid, they had music festivals where one night would be Jazz, the next night would be [Soul] and the last night would be Hip-Hop. You would start seeing the hottest [rappers] in the world coming to Downtown Cincinnati to perform. From then on, I was hooked.

AllHipHop.com: Do you think athletes have the credibility to get into Hip-Hop? You mentioned how T.O. shouldn’t be rapping before…

Shaun Alexander: I think it all depends on what you’re trying to do. If T.O. and I tried to come out with a Hip-Hop record, as rappers, we have no credibility. But if everybody says, “Hey, this guy over here has talent” and Shaun gets involved with him, then Shaun has credibility. How far I take it is going to depend on how much on what I want to do. But, do I have the credibility to find talent? Yeah, I do. Am I gonna work as an A & R for somebody? No [laughs].

AllHipHop.com: What I want to do now is bug out and play a little game for all of my football/Hip-Hop fans. I’m going to name you two rappers and I want you to tell me their NFL equivalent. For example, I would say, Biggie is most like Lawrence Taylor.

Shaun Alexander: [Laughs] Okay.

AllHipHop.com: 50 Cent.

Shaun Alexander. LeVar Arrington. [laughs].

AllHipHop.com: Flava Flav.

Shaun Alexander: Wow. Who’s the little dude on the Kansas City Chiefs…Dante Hall? This is because Flava Flav is so wild but he’s a part of something that’s great; that’s Public Enemy. Dante Hall is someone that you don’t think of as being the front man of the Chiefs. That would be Priest Holmes, or Larry Johnson, or [Coach] Vermeil, who be crying all the time [Laughs]. But he’s that little dude who’s making it special. That’s Dante Hall. That’s what Flava Flav does. He’s not the whole show, but he makes it special.

AllHipHop.com: You just signed the largest contract in NFL history for a running back worth $62 million, with a signing bonus reported to be at least $15 million. I know you’re involved with charities and non-profits, but is mixtape movies a for-profit venture?

Shaun Alexander: It definitely is something to make money.

AllHipHop.com: Since it is for-profit, some would say you’re being greedy, given the size of the contract you signed. How would you respond to that?

Shaun Alexander: That’s like somebody saying, “You should have asked for $50 million instead of $63 million.” It’s a business. If they see a value and there’s a cost to this value, then there’s a choice. Yes or No. The music industry is a business. People hear something and a value is placed on it. If they want it, they’ll buy it. It’s another yes or no.

AllHipHop.com: So, if it’s a business and it’s not profitable, would you have to cut artists?

Shaun Alexander: Definitely. It’s just a part of it. I don’t see how you can keep someone who doesn’t make any good music.

AllHipHop.com: Draze, how do you feel about that?

Draze: I was rapping before I met him. My job is to eat, with or without him, off of this music. I told him that once. But it’s a lot easier to eat with him. Nobody wants to be cut. But, at the same time, I have to persevere. I’m a man. If I got cut off, I would be p#####. But I would understand because it’s just a business.

Shaun Alexander: I wouldn’t want somebody who thought that the only way they could make it is if I teamed up with them. I wouldn’t even want you on my team if you were like that. It reminds me of the talk that came up when I was [negotiating] my contract with The Seahawks. People [would speculate] that, without me, the team would lose. I’d knock you out for saying that [if you were my teammate]. You better think that you are the reason that we’re gonna win. Now, of course, it might be me [who is responsible for our success]. But I want you to have that attitude that it’s you who’s going to turn the tables. Because with that, we have a whole bunch of hungry dudes ready to go do something. We have a whole bunch of winners. That’s how you become champions. That’s how you get to the top of the game.