W

hen San Francisco and Oakland’s Hip-Hop communities went into hibernation, at least on the national scale, one producer had no problem bringing food home. Whether he was producing hits for Jay-Z, Xzibit, or Busta Rhymes, Rick Rock stayed on the charts with his various sounds. The Alabama and Bay representative keeps sounds on file that refuse to be labeled, and he says that’s why the labels kept calling.

After a disappointing deal with Virgin, Rick Rock brought his Federation group to Warner. Late this summer, the trio and Rock will attempt to get the charts to agree with what seemed to be the critical consensus in ’05. For now though, Rick Rock reflects on the breaks of his career, working with Tupac Shakur, and why the Planets are dig-able.<br<

AllHipHop.com: The Federation’s debut got a real good critical response over at Virgin. What was your decision to pull the group over to Warner?

Rick Rock: I hate to say it was bad blood with Virgin. It’s very early, but I’d like to say that Warner is that nice Bentley thang and Virgin, at the time, was like a [Ford] Pinto. They both drive, but one just has a little bit more to offer – a little faster. I think a lot of it had to do with timing, and this is the right time for us. That’s all I’m gonna say on that one.

AllHipHop.com: Did the major publicity and career revival E-40 received with My Ghetto Report Card influence this decision at all?

Rick Rock: Nah. It was actually after that. There was a month of a bidding-war going on at Universal, J Records, and Warner. I actually prayed on it, and decided to go with Warner. It was right here in California, and I liked what they did with the 40 thing. I felt it would be a nice shift.

AllHipHop.com: “Yay Area” was the jump-off intro for that record. Tell me about how you decided to freak Digable Planets over a Bay record…

Rick Rock: Really, nothin’. It was just a beat I had. I always try to think of somethin’ different, that people haven’t used. I really don’t samples, but I remembered that s**t like, “I gotta f**k with that!” I used another one too from that same album, that’s gonna come out soon. But [this one] is from Butterfly, the girl. It was just somethin’ I was on. 40 got it and was like, “I’m f**kin’ with that!”

AllHipHop.com: The scratches sound like they were done on a CDJ…

Rick Rock: The CDJ, yupp!

AllHipHop.com: With all the success that’s going on, how do you think that The Federation album would have been received differently had it dropped this year?

Rick Rock: I think very differently. You never know with this s**t, but I really feel like it should have at least went Gold. I think it’s a cool Gold, not all the way Platinum album. This [coming] album, I feel is a multi-Platinum album, but the thing is, you never know. I don’t know what the f**k is gonna happen. We was before our time though. It was Hyphy s**t. We had the song, “Go Dumb” and all that two years ago. Now somebody does it, it’s received, they get it. I couldn’t even get my own label to try and get it.

AllHipHop.com: Every artist from E-40, to Balance, to San Quinn, is talking about how it’s the end of the darkness in the Bay. As a producer, you never had any problems while Hip-Hop wasn’t checking for the Bay. How was that possible?

Rick Rock: I have no idea, man. I think it’s always the music, and maybe the situation I was in, being signed to EMI Publishing. The music just speaks for itself. Ultimately, I’m really a Southwest n***a. It’s like, I’m from the South and the West Coast. At the time, the Bay area had a sound – mob music. But my sound was developed from living in Alabama and trying to do East Coast music, and comin’ back to the West Coast. I’m just blessed. S**t.

AllHipHop.com: In every career, there’s always at least one thing that serves as a break to all future successes. In your career, could you find one such break?

Rick Rock: I’d really like to say RBL Posse, who was an underground group, they still around though two of the members passed. They gave me my shot. They gave me five records [on An Eye for an Eye]. They were on Atlantic Records at the time. It wasn’t a fast thing…oh, and Jay-Z. Those two times right there.

AllHipHop.com: Back with the RBL Posse, how did a producer “get put on” as compared to today?

Rick Rock: Back then, when I placed those songs, I was livin’ in a studio. They’d come through for another producer. But when the producer was takin’ his time, I just hustled onto the project, and just hurried up and did a few beats while they was waitin’. That’s how I got on RBL. The thing with that was, they had a major deal, and ended up shootin’ a video to one of my records. He paid me for all five songs. That was really the first time I had gotten a check. I had did two Tupac records before that, and I eventually got paid, but not until years down.

AllHipHop.com: The two records [“Tradin’ War Stories” and “Ain’t Hard to Find”] on All Eyez On Me?

Rick Rock: Yeah. I had done those before RBL. I eventually got paid. But [getting paid] was big to me, ‘cause I didn’t have nothin’. Just getting a check and being in a major label system, it was big for me just to feel like I’m around and doin’ some s**t.

AllHipHop.com: Those ‘Pac records were credited to you and Mike Mosely. Was that a production partner? I’ve noticed that while your early work was together, I haven’t seen his name around…

Rick Rock: That was an experience. He’s around, I seen him the other day in LA. That was a learning thing. He taught me a lot as far as being a producer, how to stack my sounds, work with the artists in the studio, all that, but he also taught me a lot about the business work in a bad way. I’d do the beats and he’d put his name on it type s**t. That’s a part of the game though, or at least it was for me. I’m cool with him though. I don’t know what he’s doing, but he’s doing his thing. Mike Mosely always gonna find a way.

AllHipHop.com: One day, you’re placing a record for independent dudes like C-Bo. They next, you’re doing “Change the Game” for Jay-Z. Also, you’ve got mixtape joints like “My Apology” for Ras Kass. How do you know what to charge various people?

Rick Rock: It just be a relationship thing and a politic thing. I know some stupid ass producers that charge theyself out the game. They charge more than what it’s worth. I’m a get-down type n***a, I’m gonna always want somethin’. I get down with this cat ‘cause I know he raw. Talent gotta be there. Sometimes we just swap out. I might swap out a verse and here’s a beat. Ras Kass had just out the pen. He’s one of the world renowned MCs, I gotta f**k wit’ ‘cha. We just put it down like that. I know when to charge, and I know when not to. You just gotta know how to gauge it.

AllHipHop.com: “Change the Game” was such a hit. Did you submit tracks for The Black Album?

Rick Rock: Umm, nah, not really. Actually… I did submit one. He f**ked with it for a minute, but then he had f**ked with it. He just be in different zones. If he’s on this page, then he’s on that page. The producers that were around were the ones he was workin’ with. He just works so fast that you just damn near miss out if you not around. I wanted to be on the s**t, fo’ sho’, but it wasn’t meant to be.

AllHipHop.com: If the rumors are true, maybe you’ll get another chance…

Rick Rock: Yeah, hopefully not. I want to be part of that history, and he’s gettin’ ready to sit down and do that last record he do.

A

s more and more rappers claim they’re in it to “get money,” how many really understand the origins of Hip-Hop? While Eldorado Red isn’t bashful in his pursuits to prosperity, this Harlem street dude began his career around Jazzy Jay and Afrika Bambaataa. Equally unique, the Uptown spitter is backed by a producer widely revered for his work on the West, Rick Rock. The producer cosigned Red in saying, “He’s versatile, he can do a lot of things. Eldorado Red is a star.”

Though his star-status may be a work in progress, Eldorado Red’s EP East Side Ryda Volume 1 is catching on with some. Still, the man who’s name derives from a Donald Goines novel currently searches for a bigger deal than his current Liquor Barrel/SMC/Fontana backer. As his Rock-produced single, “Da Champ is Here” spreads, Eldorado’s sense of market worth is increasing every minute. The lyrical commodity matures as Red compares the rap game to his street past, and gives convincing defense to the claims that New Yorkers can’t bang. Another rapper from Harlem is reppin’ that “new money,” but Eldorado Red may have old soul.

AllHipHop.com: Eldorado Red, comes from a Donald Goines novel. Is that something you’re pulling from, or what?

Eldorado Red: Yeah, that’s what I’m pullin’ from. Somebody slipped me the book when I was in jail. I never really knew who Donald Goines was or none of that, but when somebody slipped the book, I just liked the name. My nickname already was “Red” on the streets. That’s why my man slipped me the book on some, “Yo, you should check this out.” The title just hit me off the top. After I read that book, I read Black Gangster and a couple more of [Goines’] books. I’m originally from Harlem. All we know is the black gangsters. That’s where they come from – Nicki Barnes, Bumpy Johnson, etc. etc. Instead of taking of an Italian mob name like a lot of rap dudes did in the past, I wanted to go with a black gangster name.

AllHipHop.com: Are there other things in the book that you identified with or seemed to parallel?

Eldorado Red: Yeah, of course. The fact that in a book, his son wanted to come up and be a boss, I didn’t agree with that. I didn’t like the way his son got down. As far as me bein’ the young gun on the roster, tryin’ to come, I definitely related. That’s been my whole s**t. I always been the youngest in my crew, goin’ the hardest, with the most ambition. I liked the dude Eldorado Red ‘cause he was a boss and he real wise, and he handled his s**t in a certain way. That’s how I’m tryin’ to do my same s**t – street s**t and music s**t. There’s a time for and a place for everything.

AllHipHop.com: Do you call New York or Alabama home?

Eldorado Red: New York. Throughout my trials in life… like, I met Rick Rock through a mutual friend. I came home from jail, and I’m nothing. I didn’t even have nothin’ – no hope for the rap s**t. I went out there with Rick. He had just finished doing “Change the Game” for Jay-Z. So just me knowin’ him personally, and watchin’ him go higher and higher, it gave me motivation while I was in jail. Next thing you know, I was out in Cali, grindin’. He had his situation with Virgin, and he put me on. I’m on “What is it” on The Federation album. From there, I got my first industry check. I seen that I could lay off the street s**t for a while and get some of this rap money. I just been beastin’ up.

AllHipHop.com: It’s interesting that you mention “Change the Game.” Your EP has a record that almost feels like a remix to that track…

Eldorado Red: Yeah, my first single, “El Dog.” That’s what I wanted; that’s what it does. I wanted the world to say, “Here’s a dude with a universal sound and a universal producer.” I got a joint on there too called “Cold Hand Tailz” where I took Too Short’s “Freaky Tales” and did it over, and did it my way. I’m just tryin’ to make that universal sound out. Right now, in Hip-Hop, we at time where every city’s comin’ up. It ain’t just ‘bout New York no more. You gotta move with the masses. You gotta sell to the masses.

AllHipHop.com: You make it sound like you could be just out for checks. But correct me if I’m wrong, you recorded work in Jazzy Jay’s studio in the early ‘90s. That’s true Hip-Hop, right there…

Eldorado Red: Yeah, big shout out to Jazzy Jay. He’s a real good dude. I was gonna continue to work with him too, but one of his studios in the Bronx like bumped up. I come from this culture, man. I’m not no random dude. I watched my uncles as break-dancers, then turn to DJs – I got two twin uncles that’s legendary in Harlem. They in Wild Style; they battled Rocksteady. Through them, I met Afrika Bambaataa and Jazzy Jay and other people. I’m from this culture. I been a part of this s**t for a while.

AllHipHop.com: On “The Champ is Here” you said, “I’m tired of writing in this notebook, ‘cause I ain’t making a dime / Robbin’ cats outside of the check-cashing line.” Is that a written-verse from different times?

Eldorado Red: Nah. That was a state of mind after I got out. This s**t is such a grind, such a hustle. When you from the streets, you’re used to gettin’ money one way. But in your mind, you wanna straighten up. You know you got talent, but you seein’ other n***as with talent gettin’ money, you wanna pursue it. You can’t do it. You can’t go real hard in the streets and go real hard in the music, ‘cause it won’t work. When I wrote “The Champ is Here,” The Federation had just gotten they deal with Virgin. Everybody in the group had money. I had a little money from doin’ features and s**t, but I was frustrated. I knew I was gonna big once I got my shot, but I was still po’. I’m runnin’ around to these studios, just being poor. Everything you hear in the track is real. That’s why it’s so passionate.

AllHipHop.com: I gotta play devil’s advocate then. If it’s real, you were at The Source Awards givin’ it to cats?

Eldorado Red: Nah, nah, nah. In The Source Awards, I was lettin’ n***as know, when I was out there, that’s how I was feelin’. We wasn’t out there, wylin’, smackin’ n***as up. In the song, I said, “All at The Source Awards, ready to smack n***as.” That’s how we was walkin’ through. I went down there with about 50 dudes, 50 goons – everybody had on Eldorado Red shirts. That’s just how I was feelin’ at the time. “I don’t give a f**k if you five times Platinum, I’m that new hungry n***a, I’m that new fresh money.” That’s how I was feelin’, so I put it in the rhyme.

AllHipHop.com: Harlem has a lot of collaborative unity. It’s not always peace, but you see a lot of support on projects. What would you say is your role in the Harlem rap community? What’s your interactions like with the people listeners probably follow?

Eldorado Red: I f**k with everybody! I f**k with Jim Jones; I f**k with Purple City. I f**k with upcoming dudes, and dudes that that’s already on. At the end of the day, you got street n***as that’s tryin’ to be artists. That’s what I am. My ties is already well known.

AllHipHop.com: You spent a lot time in California. A lot of artists out there are critical of New York rappers repping gangs on albums, covers, etc. As somebody who rhymes about the color of your rag, how do you react to that?

Eldorado Red: N***as know what it is with me. I don’t wanna say too much, because I’m already under investigation. But if you wanna know if a Eldorado Red is a real n***a as far as this Blood s**t go, check out my video on Bloods that I shot in Compton, with real G’s. I’m not one of these rap n***as that’s runnin’ around on TV with a red flag on or a red bandana…I really f**k with n***as, for real! Fifty percent of the n***as in New York that’s claimin’ a West Coast set, and you don’t know nobody on the West, or they ain’t put you on, n***as ain’t gettin’ the right clearance. Me, I’m good. When I chill in Cali like I chill in New York. At the end of the day, it’s about being a real n***a.

AllHipHop.com: The EP’s been out a second. What’s your reaction so far?

Eldorado Red: The album’s a bangin’ ass album. Rick Rock produced it from front to back, so you know the quality is good. I got Rob “Reef” Teflow, who produced “What Up Gangsta?” for 50 Cent, he got the street single which is “Soldier to the End” and Rick Rock got the second single which is called “Hustler’s Life.” The album is crazy, but the promotion ain’t there. That’s what happens when you f**kin’ with the small, independent labels. I could see if I turned in a wack album, that promotion would be wack. But the album is bangin’. Everybody that got it already feels that it’s a street classic. We movin’, we pushin’. The only reason I did that album was because the streets wanted somethin’ from me so bad from doin’ mixtapes.

AllHipHop.com: So you’re trying to get the majors to holler?

Eldorado Red: Oh, yeah. Of course. We got three or four labels. I just left a label meeting, right now. I’m not gonna put it on the table. I’m not gonna say no names til’ it’s solid. I’m trying to get this bidding war poppin’. I’m tryin’ to get what I want. I’m tryin’ to get the cake, man.