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Stevie Williams: Renegade, Pt 1

By: Grouchy Greg Watkins (@GrouchyGreg)Category: Alternatives

You don’t have to just grind – you can skate out of the hood too. North Philadelphia’s skateboard dynamo Stevie Williams has been doing just that since turning pro as an adolescent. Fine tuning his trade in Philly’s infamous Love Park [where skating is now banned], Williams quickly ascended to be one of street skating’s premier athletes, regardless of his race. His career has seen him run the gamut from being homeless to amassing a long list of sponsors that enabled him to keep a crib in Los Angeles-and purchase one for his mother-where he now spends most of his time.

Stevie’s latest coup is becoming the first pro skater on Reebok’s roster, which includes Allen Iverson, Jay-Z and 50 Cent. The deal entails Reebok distributing Williams’ DGK line of kicks and clothing. Surely the haters will come out of the woodwork to throw salt in his game, but the laid back brother plans on steamrolling right over them. AllHipHop.com Alternatives brings you the exclusive on Stevie’s rise to the top of a game that few expected him to win.

AllHipHop.com Alternatives: What made you start skateboarding and not some other sport?

Stevie: Since I was young everybody loved running around, recess and all that. [I] played basketball, I ran track for school. I moved to West Philly [and] kept getting into fights cause I was from North or whatever, the projects. So instead of going down to play ball one day and rumbling, I went up the other way. I saw these three kids on a porch. Two of the kids were skaters [and] they were trying to teach the other dude to skate. As I’m walking past they’re like, “I bet you he can learn before you.”

AHHA: Are these white kids or Black kids?

Stevie: These are Black kids from my hood. I learned how to ollie right there. It wasn’t the biggest ollie but I got off the ground.

AHHA: How many tries before you got it?

Stevie: About four or five. That’s equivalent to somebody showing you how to shoot a three pointer, you like ten, wanting possibly to be a basketball player, you make it, you hooked on basketball. I learned how to ollie I was hooked on skateboarding. I’ve been skating ever since. I left basketball. I left running track. I left homework. I was just in it to skate. By 8th grade summer I was already sponsored.

AHHA: Damn, that was pretty quick wasn’t it?

Stevie: I didn’t know about sponsorship really. The kids that taught me how to ollie, they were always talking about they went downtown, this place called Love Park. So I skated down there one day by myself, from 40th Street all the way down to 15th Street. It was like 50 skaters; Black, white, Asian, Puerto Rican, Indian and it wasn’t even Black no more. Ya know, you from the hood it’s all Black, when I went down there it was different and everybody was just skating, drinking from the same cup and all crazy kind of stuff. I was like, “Yeah, this is where I wanna be at.”

AHHA: Who was your first sponsor and how did you get down with them?

Stevie: Element. Some skaters from New York came down to Philly, cause everybody heard of Love Park, and they saw me skating. Dude asked me who’s giving me stuff. I’m like, “Nobody.” He was like, “Well, let me get your address.” He gave me a board right there. I didn’t think nothing of it; you want to send me some free stuff, then hook it up. I remember like three days later I’m coming home, I go straight to the kitchen to go cook something to eat, I’m going back to the room and I just see this big UPS box on the couch. I open it up and it was just…five boards, ten shirts, everything. [So] I broke bread with all my peoples. If I had something free, we all pretty much got free stuff.

AHHA: You’re getting all this stuff because of your talent, but was it all good in the ‘hood skating?

Stevie: I got laughed at for skating. We all three got laughed at, called “White”, ya know, “Y’all corny”. To the point where I used to start hiding my board before I came back home. By 9th grade I was just over. I tried to wear some cool sh*t to skate in at school…man, I got laughed at 3rd period! It was crazy. So I dropped out, I ran away to California. I hitchhiked from Philly to California to turn pro and to be in a more skateboard environment. To be accepted and let people know that I got skills in this.

AHHA: Did your mom know about this plan?

Stevie: She found out when I got to Cali.

AHHA: Straight up, thumb up walking on the highway?

Stevie: Nah. [laughing] I got down to Washington, DC on Greyhound for Winter Break. Then me and my man was hitching rides, like asking dudes if they was going to California. Here comes one dude that just wanted to go. He was down to drive the whole way, and his name was John Wayne. We used his credit card and all that, I only had like 20 dollars. I only had one tape the whole way, Method Man’s Tical. I been coming back and forth ever since.

AHHA: Where were you staying out in Cali?

Stevie: I was homeless. I would stay on people’s couches, stayed up all night, slept in cars, hotel lobbies. It wasn’t “Alright I’m homeless and all day everyday asking for change and smelling like a wino.” It was [being] homeless with a goal. I’d go skate all day, but then I wasn’t the only dude that was homeless. Everybody pretty much kind of did that. It was just the whole skateboard community at that time, in San Francisco, was just large. But I had to fend for myself, no mom, no dad, no cheddar, just the street.

AHHA: Did the skateboarding help you survive?

Stevie: Yeah, ‘cause I could sell skateboards and product ’cause I was sponsored, but the checks wasn’t really coming in every month. It was endorsements and it was some money, but once I got out there that company got shook ‘cause my mom was going crazy and they let me go.

AHHA: This was Element?

Stevie: Yeah, Element, and I got another sponsor and they was like, “Look, we ain’t trying to go through what you put that other team through.” Like here go some money, we’ll pay for your ticket back home, to Philly. That’s when I came home. All the money that I hustled up on the street and that they gave me, I just went home and gave it to my mom. That was like four months after I ran way. I was on a team back and forth, California, Philly, California, Philly, California, Philly. I started developing who I really am.

AHHA: So at 16 years old you must be living plush with all this free stuff?

Stevie: I learned a lot that’s what it was. I learned how to travel. I learned about racism. I learned about a lot because it was at a point where I was Black but being called white when I came back to the hood. Then I’m Black and being called a ni**a with a skateboard. So I always found myself in the middle. I remember being on a plane like ‘Damn where do I fit?!” like really on some confusion.

AHHA: At one point you stopped skateboarding?

Stevie: I ain’t want to skate no more. I just had had a street rep. That’s the thing that held me back. Just wilding out, just not caring, being stupid, until it was nothing left. My sponsor went out of business. No other sponsor wanted to put me on. I was like “Yo, I give up I’m going back home to Philly.” I told my mom – she was in a basement living at somebody crib, roaches and rats. She’s like just come home and get a job. But I always skated at Love Park. I held it down, me and my peoples. My man Josh Kalis showed and was like “I’m trying to move to the city.” I’m like “Yeah, whatever.” Four months later he came back and he found me. I was in the subway with my man, drinking a forty. We were always cool [but] had a falling out ‘cause I just was young. I burnt a lot of bridges basically. But he came back to Philly [and] let all the stuff we went through go and was like, “Yo, I got an apartment and I want you to live with me, I’ll give your own room. All you gotta do is skate.” He gave me a key right there.

AHHA: What part of Philly was it?

Stevie: North Philly. 50th and Fairmont. He pretty much just moved up the block [from Love Park] but I was with him and I was his credibility up there in Love Park. Nobody would shoot through his pockets or none of that. “That’s Steve’s roommate.” Eventually I was back on my grind.

Stevie Williams: Renegade, Pt 2

By: Grouchy Greg Watkins (@GrouchyGreg)Category: Alternatives

AHHA: So how did you get back into the game?

Stevie: I went back to Cali and filmed the best stuff I could possible think of, being as creative as I can. I apologized to a lot of people, started praying, started focusing and I took my tape down to LA. I went to the two best companies that I thought I’d fit at. One company, it was an urban company, I was trying to show him my tape, another Black skater. I was like, “Yo, I fit on this team, I got some hot footage…” and he just ignored me. So I took it over to the other team. I had to humble my self to be like “Yo, can I go grab some boards, instead of being like I want this I want that.” The dude was like “Yeah, go around and see what’s up, I’ma watch your tape.” I grabbed two [or] three boards, nothing big – something that wasn’t going to make it look like I was all greedy [laughs]. I come back, dude’s eyes is dumb big, mouth to the floor…I’m like “Yo, what’s good?” He’s like, “That’s all you grabbed? I think we got a spot on the team for you.”

I’m like man look, I ain’t trying to be on flow. They put you on flow, then they ask everybody else what you think of Stevie. But see my rep was like, “Nah man, that ni**a too wild.” I was real ignorant. I was punking everbody like “Gimme that”. Knocked a couple of people out. I had to drop all that. That was in my past and I let him know that ain’t me no more. He was like “We throwing you on the team right now”. I was like alright cool, “Call my mom.” Cause she was trying to talk me into getting a job. He called my mom like “Yeah, we going to take care of your son,” and right there I was on, Chocolate.

AHHA: What was next?

Stevie: I got on a shoe company called DC Shoes. I started building up my sponsors, gaining more knowledge of the game. Being in the streets and being aware and conscious of what’s going on, I automatically picked up on the business like board sales, and how the game is being ran while other skaters are just happy to be on the team and skate. I was like, “Yo how many boards did I sell in a month?”

AHHA: So you knew how much of an asset you were?

Stevie: By the time I knew how much of an asset I was I was already like top dude, so I quit and started my own company, that’s DGK; Dirty Ghetto Kids. I knew I needed somebody big to back what I was trying to do, and they [DC Shoes] wasn’t trying to do it, and now I’m at Reebok.

AHHA: Oh, so you have actually tried to get DC shoes to back you?

Stevie: I tried to tell them. “Yo, advertise me in The Source, gimme XXL.” Let the community I came from know what type of dude I am. Don’t try to portray me out here like one of these other dudes, that’s corny, tap dancing [and] cooning. Put me out there man. They was like, “Well, ya know Stevie…” But AI [Allen Iverson], Jay-Z, 50 Cent and these dudes paved the way for the kid. I seen it, I went after it, knocked it out and now I got everything that I ever wanted to come out, coming out by a brand that’s worth 3.8 billion dollars.

AHHA: What does it include?

Stevie: Sneakers, jeans, hoodies, du rags, sweatpants, sweatshirts, fitted’s, everything-no button ups. Just my culture on a silver platter, boom. You going to go in the skate shop and you going to see DGK on the wall, DGK on the shoes, DGK on the clothes, all around. It’s something that identifies who you are or who you want to be as a skater. You don’t have to resort to being Black, in the hood, going to skateshops and listening to punk rock and all that. Coming back home with spiked hair, crazy belts and all that.

AHHA: How did the DGK name originate?

Stevie: That’s my squad from Philly – from being laughed at everyday, being called ‘dirty ghetto kids’ by older people from the suburbs trying to claim Philly. When the photographers and the filmers came into town to check out Love Park, they’d be like, “Don’t skate with them, don’t take pictures, don’t film them, they just nothing but dirty ghetto kids”. And that’s what we came to be. Yeah we is dirty ghetto kids, that’s who we is. I made it into a culture and there is dirty ghetto kids cliques everywhere. Fairfield, PA to Houston, Texas, they’re all there. They need somebody to stand up for them like a leader, like a leading clique that everyone can follow. They got somebody to reference back to when people are laughing at them.

AHHA: Where there any Black skaters you looked to when you were coming up at all?

Stevie: Yeah, there been Black skaters for a long time, but they been coons. I ain’t knocking them, but there’s been a lot of skaters that fell off because they were just not feeling they were accepted anymore. It’s like if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em. But I was never really that type of dude. I wasn’t chillin’ with my white dudes and acting all white. I never lost my identity. I still felt like somebody before me or somebody before this person before me could have at least stood up. I feel like I’m the Martin Luther King of this sh*t. I’m here first, I’m taking these shots. I’m going to get assassinated if this don’t work.

AHHA: You mentioned banging Tical all the way to Cali, is it safe to say you’re a Hip-Hop head?

Stevie: I’m a Wu-Tang dude to the heart. I’m from Philly man-Schooly D, Cool C, Steady B, EST…

AHHA: Ahh, Three Times Dope.

Stevie: We was just with EST. That’s our peoples. Musiq Soulchild, State Property, Beanie Sigel, everybody yo. I’m from North Philly. Larry Lar, all that, let’s take it back. I never got into punk rock and all that. That’s not my twist. Everything I know, breath, is urban.

AHHA: Think people are going to call you a sell out since you aligned with Reebok?

Stevie: Yep. [laughing]. I’m a sell out in the stores. The shoe is gangsta. They’re just salty man. It ain’t really been no icon. I got hate from other Black skaters. Like, that should have been me and you stole my deal from me. I sit back and be like, “Are you serious?” That only lets me know that they want this deal. Even though you want it, can you deal with it? Plenty of times I felt like giving up. But like my man always say, “It gets greater later.” And that’s what we out here working for. I signed my whole squad, everybody from my skateboard team is on Reebok.

AHHA: And you own it?

Stevie: I own the name DGK 100%. And I licensed it to Reebok for clothing and shoes. I’m in the Tony Hawk game coming out too so I got all my gear in that. It’s going to be crazy.

AHHA: It seems like you’re showcasing another option beyond when The Notorious B.I.G. said, “Either you’re slingin crack rock or you got a wicked jumpshot.”

Stevie: I was explaining to someone the other day after watching Coach Carter, the system really is designed for failure. And me understanding contracts, there is always a loophole in the system. You just gotta know how to get it. You need the right person to get you to or through that loophole. I’m one of them loopholes in the system right about now.

Fat Joe, 50 Cent Beef, Other VMA Highlights

By: Grouchy Greg Watkins (@GrouchyGreg)Category: News

The 50 Cent, Fat Joe beef came to a head Sunday night after words were exchanged between the two rappers during MTV’s Diddy-hosted Video Music Awards.

While onstage announcing reggaeton artists Daddy Yankee, Don Omar, and Tego Calderon, Fat Joe took first aim at 50 Cent, stating, “I feel safe with all the police protection, courtesy of G-Unit.”

Several minutes later, 50 retaliated with bleeped-out obscenities for Fat Joe, during a set featuring Mobb Deep and Tony Yayo.

“Fat Joe’s a p**sy. F**k Joe. F**k Terror Squad.”

Sources stated that 50 actually jumped on stage off camera after Fat Joe made the quip about G-Unit.

In related news, during pre-show festivities 50 appeared with Mase and officially announced the former Bad Boy rapper’s signing to G-Unit.

Mid-show, Diddy conducted an orchestra while a montage of the late Notorious B.I.G.’s music videos played, including “Juicy” and “Warning.” Snoop Dogg spit a verse on the latter.

The Doggfather also won Diddy’s “Fashion Challenge,” which awarded $50,000 each to the charities of the best dressed male and female. Snoop was up against Usher and Kanye West.

With the theme of the night being “anything can happen,” Snoop’s pimp sidekick Bishop Magic Don Juan received a surprise makeover, courtesy of Diddy.

In place of his usual vibrant gear, the Don sported a normal suit with no gaudy accessories.

Diddy also brought the old school back when Luke and his raunchy dancers emerged during a dance medley, and MC Hammer performed his hit, “U Can’t Touch This.”

Other Hip-Hop performances included Ludacris, who won his first Moon Man for Best Rap Video with “Number One Spot,” Kanye West featuring Jamie Foxx, and Houston rappers Mike Jones, Paul Wall, and Slim Thug, who performed during pre-show.

Slim Thug: Duck Season

By: Grouchy Greg Watkins (@GrouchyGreg)Category: Features

The last time AllHipHop.com featured Slim Thug, Already Platinum seemed like a political campaign from a president – questionable. Already, Slim Thug has affirmed what Mike Jones showed early, and what Paul Wall is likely to punctuate – that Houston is beastly in the ’05 Rap Game.

It hasn’t been since Lil’ Flip’s commercial boom in 2002 that Houston turned so many heads. Lil’ Flip’s comments certainly don’t appear to be turning Slim Thug. Read AllHipHop.com’s post-album follow-up feature to discuss Already Platinum, the elbow-room quarrel in Houston, and how Dubya ain’t the only Texan with a gun rack. If you’re Slim Thug, the Rap game must look like Duck Hunt.

AllHipHop.com: One thing you have been credited for prior to working with a major label was your independence. Since the album has dropped, do you still feel positively about moving to a major label?

Slim Thug: Yeah, working with the majors is definitely the best way to be if you are trying to be in this Rap business and you got your numbers right, as far as your business, and what they are supposed to pay you. Now, the money s**t, if you want to be independent, you got to have that hustle, if you want to be a successful independent. As far as me, I am cool with my situation right now, I’m cool.

AllHipHop.com: Recently, there has been a burst of artists out of H-town, with any city, Atlanta, New York, Houston, etc; everyone is going for that shot to be the king of their respective city. Do you find that same thing about Houston? We certainly sensed such from “I Ain’t Heard of That”…

Slim Thug: It has been competitive with Houston, man. Like a lot of people in Houston don’t even stick together and get in to it over the same ole s**t. Motherf**kers trying to be the baddest motherf**ker in the city. It really does not matter to me as long as what I do is a factor, it don’t really matter to me. Rap is just a competitive thing, everybody is competitive and everybody wants to be number one, be the king, all that s**t, you know what I’m sayin’.

AllHipHop.com: As far as the friendly competition out there, do you have any guys that you compete with in a friendly manner?

Slim Thug: We don’t compete, I got my n***as I f**k with like: Mike Jones and Paul Wall. We don’t compete or no s**t like that.

AllHipHop.com: Is there any competition between yourself and Lil’ Flip?

Slim Thug: No there ain’t no competition, not on my end? Some n***as, they feel like

that to the point where they wanna be the king and all that there to the point where they be speaking on s**t, getting out of line with it. I said that about Flip on that song because on the [song] with Z-Ro, [he said]“n***as think they made it before they album dropped” or whatever; that s**t was big in the streets, everybody was like he talking about Slim, because the name of my album is Already Platinum. I felt like he shot that slug right there, but I was chillin’ though, I left that alone. His group, Squad Up, they got on a mix cd and shot some slugs, they said my name on the s**t. It wasn’t no guessing since they said my name, so, when I heard that record, I just responded, lettin’ n***as know, “N***a, I don’t give a f**k what you talking about, it’s whatever.” It ain’t no competition, I really ain’t in no competition with nobody.

AllHipHop.com: “The Interview,” is a perplexing record, can you comment on it more?

Slim Thug: That’s just what it is, this here is prior to all the “Still Tippin” s**t a lot of people did not listen to Houston Rap, they did not really respect the Screwed-up s**t. I always kept it like that and did that type of s**t. When I first got with the Neptunes, I was still doing my H-Town s**t on those types of records. Motherf**kers got to speaking that s**t, like it ain’t going to do nothing or whatever. It’s just a lot of n***as, everybody going to talk. I was talking to Houston right there: DJ’s, people in the streets who think they know every f**king thing, just trying to predict what people do and all that there. I just be like man, get off my d*ck.

AllHipHop.com: “This is My Life,” is another gem of Already Platinum…

Slim Thug: Pharrell made the track, and when he made the track I was just feeling it, it was some real gangsta s**t, Pharrell kind of got at me on that song right there, he was like man, I want you to do some s**t like that “Bout It.” The beat kind of like “Bout It,” how I am rappin on there, it’s kind of off beat, Pharrell told me to rap offbeat, to give it that type of feel. I hate it got on bootleg, I think it kind of took away some of the impact. If this album would of came out and ain’t s**t been heard, it would have been bigger than what it is.

AllHipHop.com: Just counting songs, seems like more that almost a fourth of the songs was out before the release date, how do you feel about that?

Slim Thug: I was so anxious to get Already Platinum, to get pass that. For one the bootleg was out, everybody think they had the album. Still motherf**kers ain’t bought the album because they think they got the album or whatever, they like I got them songs. My first week, I think if the bootlegs wasn’t out I would have did even bigger numbers. I was ready to get pass this album, so people would know it’s a whole new thing. I still don’t feel like I have seen my full potential, like what I would have really did, because the bootleg being out there, because the singles that I pushed was off the bootleg. I’m ready to get to the next one.

AllHipHop.com: Not trying to compare, but coming out of Houston and getting a major deal like Flip, you do feel like people may turn on you the way people kind of turned on Flip this year? Do you feel like you are about to experience a whole lot more animosity directed at you now that you have dropped Already Platinum, an album on a major record label.

Slim Thug: Hell yeah, you ain’t know? That’s what the whole Flip thing is about; it’s already in effect right now. There have been other dudes talking down, that’s just a n***er mentality, see someone else getting it; get mad and hate, instead of getting on they grind—hatin’. It’s not just rappin’ if you on the corner and you got the most money; you got the most licks, getting the most money, you going to get hated on. It just comes with the territory. When you successful you got to have a hard-heart man. Motherf**kers is always quick to say n***as that got something, changed. Most times it be the people that saying that a n***a changed is the ones that changed. Just ‘cause I got a Phantom, I can’t play with motherf**ker no more, I can’t joke about nobody care no more or they going be like this n***a on some more s**t. It’s really the people who you was around they expect you to change, you can’t play with them in certain ways no more, that is how I feel about it.

AllHipHop.com: Everybody is involved with the whole paper chase, the Rap game…what do you consider going to far the paper, as far as being a rapper, selling out for money?

Slim Thug: I can’t call that one, s**t. Me, personally, if it ain’t real to me I can’t do it. I don’t talk about s**t I don’t do, I ain’t fin to say I’m driving nothing if I ain’t driving it, I don’t have a big imagination. As far as other rappers who do make up a lot of s**t, I don’t know what they would call selling out.

AllHipHop.com: You talk a lot about different guns on your CD, are you an avid gun owner?

Slim Thug: Man, I own a gang of guns; this ain’t no little s**t I am saying to hype myself up. I like guns; I got a DVD that is going to show some of my guns.

AllHipHop.com: So, what’s your favorite out of your arsenal?

Slim Thug: I got an FN; it is a pistol that hold 21 shots, the bullet look like baby AK bullets, got the piercing. Man, they like 1200 [dollars], they trying to stop them from getting sold. It’s serious! I got AKs, pumps, Mac 10’s; I got this Raging Bull too. I don’t go to the range a lot. Only time I really shoot my s**t is in the backyard on some New Years s**t.

BREAKING NEWS: SUGE KNIGHT SHOT IN MIAMI

By: Grouchy Greg Watkins (@GrouchyGreg)Category: News

Marion "Suge"

Knight was shot inside of a Miami night Club during a Kanye West-sponsored party

for MTV’s Video Music Awards, according to people in attendance.

The Death Row founder was admitted to the hospital with a gunshot

wound to the leg and was in good condition at Mount Sinai Medical Center.

Knight will undergo surgery to remove the bullet from his leg

and treat a fractured leg resulting from the bullet.

Knight was attending the Shore Club in Miami where Kanye West,

Common and John Legend held a G.O.O.D. Music party.

Sources at the Shore Club told AllHipHop.com that one shot was

fired in the club’s Red Room and the shooter was apprehended at the scene. Other

sources said that police were still looking for the suspect and interviewing

witnesses.

Julia Beverly, publisher/editor of OZONE Magazine, was headed

inside the club when she said police rushed inside.

"I don’t think anybody knows exactly what happened. I was

walking in and a cop shoved me back and police are telling me Suge got shot,"

Beverly told AllHipHop.com. "They had about three or four blocks taped

off. Some people are talking out of their a** and there are rumors flying every

where."

Another eyewitness inside of the club when the shooting took

place spoke under the condition of anonymity.

"We heard shooting. Everybody got on the floor, but you

couldn’t see anything. I couldn’t see, but I believe Suge was hit in the leg.

I didn’t see it but that’s what people said," the witness said.

There were approximately 600 people inside of the Shore Club

people at the time of the shooting.

Police are searching

for a black male who was wearing a pink shirt.

Lil’ Jon Takes Home Top Honors At BMI Awards

By: Grouchy Greg Watkins (@GrouchyGreg)Category: News

Lil’ Jon and

R. Kelly took home top honors at the 2005 BMI Urban Awards, which took place last

night (August 26) at the Fontainebleau Resort in Miami, Florida.

Lil’ Jon and R. Kelly were named Songwriters of the Year

with four “most performed song” awards. The song “Yeah”

featuring Usher was named Song of the Year.

The Atlanta bred rapper/producer also won the first Urban Ringtone

Award for Petey Pablo’s#### song “Freek-A-Leek.”

Kanye West won the award for Producer of the Year.

Charlie Wilson and The Gap Band were named BMI Icons for their

"enduring influence on generations of music makers."

EMI Music Publishing snagged the BMI Urban Publisher of the

Year. Big Jon Platt, Executive Vice President, Urban Music, U.S. for EMI, accepted

on behalf of the publisher.

For a complete

list of 2005 BMI Urban Awards winners, please visit bmi.com/urban.

Alfonzo Hunter: Back For The First Time

By: Grouchy Greg Watkins (@GrouchyGreg)Category: Alternatives

Alfonzo Hunter is ready to give the masses another chance to head to the club, party and drink some Bacardi, but he is no new kid on the block when it comes to the music industry. Under the helm of Eric Sermon’s Def Squad Records, Hunter released his nearly gold 1996 debut Blacka Da Berry with the single “Just The Way (Players Play)”. After Def Squad and Alfonzo were bounced between several labels, the budding artist broke free and decided to do his own thing.

At 28-years-old, armed with a new label and the new single “Don’t Stop” featuring Fabolous, Alfonzo Hunter is looking to color the world of R&B with unique songs depicting Chicago life. He shares some insight on his new album with AllHipHop.com Alternatives, and breaks down his thoughts on Chi-Town love and drama.

AllHipHop.com Alternatives: Tell us about your new single and how you ended up at Romeo Entertainment?

Alfonzo: I was hired by Romeo to produce a single for one of their artists, and from that I met with people within the label. The relationship just grew from there. It was around last year, and I was about to be out of my Universal Records deal with Eric Sermon. His album didn’t reach the potential Universal expected, and it was rumored that he was about to be dropped. They gave me and a couple others the option to roll with Eric or branch out, and I branched out. I still got love for the Def Squad and Eric Sermon taking the time with me, but it was time for me to do my own thing. When I signed with Romeo, they were 100 percent behind me. They asked me for a wish list of collaborations – Fabolous came up, and they made it happen.

AHHA: Do you feel that R&B artists now have to do club songs to soften fans to their music?

Alfonzo: I don’t think as an R&B singer I have to do a club song, I have to have good music. It is important as an artist to do songs that expose who you are. “Don’t Stop” is a natural story for me to tell. Of course, the style is similar to the stuff that’s out now. Being current gives me a good look, but there are no certain themes that an artist should have. Alicia Keys has sold millions of albums, and she hasn’t had any club songs. I think it’s simple; you have to have good music.

AHHA: How did you hook up with Eric Sermon?

Alfonzo: I had been sending him stuff, so he flew me out to Atlanta; he was cool. By that time I had developed into a decent writer, I had a quick ear and could grab music right away. In the car from the airport, I started freestyling [singing] over the beats. He’s a rapper, and I grew up in the projects, so he liked that my lyrics were kind of grimy. From there, we clicked.

AHHA: You used to sing background for R. Kelly?

Alfonzo: Yeah, as a young’n [R. Kelly’s then music director] Keith Henderson told me that R. Kelly had auditions for background singers, and Keith was the one that hired me. He’s always looked out for me like that. That was my first opportunity to sing professionally in the music business.

AHHA: You two kind of sound alike. Do you ever get any comparisons?

Alfonzo: Yeah, because I started out with him we probably sound similar and have similar…what’s the word, can you help me out?

AHHA: An accent, slang, twang?

Alfonzo: Yeah, an accent. We sound similar, because my grooming as a performing singer was with him. I’ve done everything to try to change that. I’ve listened to Joe, Faith [Evans], and all other kinds of artists. So I have to be really careful of that.

AHHA: So how do you come out of Chicago and not be typecast as ‘another R. Kelly’?

Alfonzo: Well, it’s just that I’m not trying to sound like anybody. Some people say I have this East Coast thing about me, because I spent so much time out there. I don’t bite. I’m an artist and open to new things introduced to me. Lately, I’ve been learning all this Spanish. I’ve been hanging out with this Spanish girl, doing some songs with her, and now I’m kickin’ Spanish.

AHHA: So you’re like a sponge?

Alfonzo: Maybe it’s for me to be an actor. I’m being primed for my big role everyday, because when it comes to creating things, I’m inspired by so many different things. So maybe I am like a sponge.

AHHA: What is it about Chicago that [incites] songs about drama? Is it really that much more drama there?

Alfonzo: It’s such a rat race here, because we have been shut out of the industry so long. As soon as somebody gets something popping, that artist is blown away and forgets all about the city. We’re not groomed here for the industry. Here, we grind and grind and people say it’s Chicago b#######. To say that is terrible. There will always be New York and LA, now it’s Atlanta, St. Louis, even Texas. Chicago does well, but nobody sets up shop here. People complain that artists don’t support each other.

If artists stayed here and support each other, we’d have a place in the game. People come here, get talent and roll out. My manager told me that this single is going to be way bigger than my other situation, and he wants me to get out of here. Now I’m so comfortable, I’m too comfortable. In my neighborhood, there are five Hunter households, and it’s a comfort zone. But I know Twista had a concert here and some guys rushed the stage with guns because they wanted to do a song with him and he didn’t. I heard Kanye West has had the same problem.

AHHA: So are there any Chicago artists that you have tried to work with?

Alfonzo: Basically, we tried to get Twista for the single – and basically we got the run around and got shot down. As soon as we got Fabolous on the record, Twista called. I was sitting there when my people told them we already got Fabolous. I would love the opportunity to make music with Chicago artists and make this a music mecca. But I’ve tried, maybe one day I’ll be the one to get that off.

AHHA: Tell us about your album.

Alfonzo: The album drops at the end of this year or early next year, but the timing has to be right. We have some really big concepts. I like to tell real stories. I still want to tell good stories, but come from a different perspective lyrically. I sing R&B, but some concepts on the CD are a little controversial for an R&B artist. There’s a song about ‘is that your real kid or not’. Of course, the love songs are on there, but there’s one about a younger man and older woman.

AHHA: You said an older woman and younger man?

Alfonzo: Yeah, there’s a lot of good stuff. I wrote the majority of the songs. Out of 15 songs, I produced 10. So I’m going with the flow. It’s hard to sell records nowadays and I want to give people their money’s worth.

Eminem Sued By Michigan Couple

By: Grouchy Greg Watkins (@GrouchyGreg)Category: News

A Michigan husband and wife have slapped Eminem with his second lawsuit in two weeks.

On Thursday, Breck and Tina Wyngarden have filed suit against the rapper, a bus driver, and Entertainment Coaches of America over a collision that involved the rapper’s Anger Management tour bus.

On July 13, Eminem’s Anger Management tour bus was headed to Denver from Chicago.

According to published reports, the tour bus was traveling when the bus driver swerved to avoid a pair of trucks, but ended up striking another vehicle. That vehicle was The Wyngardens tractor-trailer, the couple’s lawyer told CBS Arts.

The pair is seeking unspecified damages from the 32-year-old rapper.

Eminem was not on the tour, but Shady Records’ artists like producer The Alchemist and rapper Stat Quo were. The Alchemist was treated for broken ribs and a collapsed lung, while Stat Quo suffered broken ribs. About 11 other people were injured as well. Tina Wyngarden was reportedly hospitalized, but her injuries weren’t detailed at press time.

Last week, Eminem was sued by a pair of relatives that said he reneged on a deal to give him a home if they relocated closer to his Detroit home. Eminem was recently admitted to the hospital for exhaustion and a dependency on sleeping medication.

AHH Stray News: Lil Kim Parties, Kanye West, KDAY, Snoop Dogg, The Fugees

By: Grouchy Greg Watkins (@GrouchyGreg)Category: News

Lil’ Kim

will host one last major party before entering prison on September 19. Kim,

who was sentenced to 366 days in prison for lying about her knowledge of a 2001

broad daylight shootout in New York City, will host an official VMA after party

on August 28 at Cro-Bar in Miami, Florida along with rapper Jadakiss. The event

is being produced by Wide World Entertainment. For more information click

here. Lil’ Kim is preparing an album, Naked Truth which hits

stores on September 13.

Kanye West

will host an exclusive in-store autograph signing at Tower Records’ New

York City Lincoln Center on Tuesday, August 30th, the same day his sophomore

CD Late Registration hits stores. The autograph signing starts at 9

a.m. and fans must show proof of purchase in order to qualify. In related news,

West will be featured in a Spike Lee produced commercial for Pepsi titled “Timeline.”

The commercial features “Heard ‘Em Say” featuring Adam Levine

of Maroon 5. The commercial is set to debut during MTV’s Video Music Awards

on Sunday, August 28.

Warren G., MC Lyte,

and Chaka Khan have teamed with radio station KDAY 93.5 to present the First

Annual Celebrity Softball game. The game takes place August 27th, 2005 at the

University of Southern California. The softball game is scheduled to take place

from 1p.m. to 4 p.m. at USC’s Dedeaux Field, located at 1021 Childs Way,

Los Angeles, California. CYFC operates nine Centers for Academic Achievement

and Enrichment, located across Los Angeles.

Snoop

Dogg was nominated for two awards for this year’s UK Music of Black Origin

(MOBO) awards. English soul singer Lemar led all artists with 5 nominations

for his album Time To Grow. John Legend landed three nominations and rappers

Roll Deep, Lethal B. and Sway are all competing for Best UK Newcomers. This

year’s awards show will be the 10th anniversary of the awards show, which

will introduce a new category this year, Best African Act. This year’s

show will take place at London’s Royal Albert Hall on September 22.

The Fugees will

release their first single in nine years in the next three weeks, according

to group member Wyclef. The group is planning the single “Take It Easy.”

Wyclef is working on the follow up to his album The Carnival as well as The

Fugee’s new album. The Fugees will also tour to support their new album.

Rev Run: Distortion To Static

By: Grouchy Greg Watkins (@GrouchyGreg)Category: Features

Reverend Run needs no name on the program. The man who has long proclaimed anywhere to be his house, can certainly make a bid to say so about Hip-Hop. But any doubts gained from the Crown Royal project, are said to be made up for on the forthcoming, Distortion.

Besides blessing fans with a new album, the Reverend is also giving us a glimpse of what it’s like everyday in the Joseph Simmons household with his new reality show on MTV, Run’s House scheduled to hit the air this fall. AllHipHop.com spoke to the Rev about his new album Distortion, his show, his spiritual journey and his mission for the masses. The King of Rock is proving that although he has changed his old habits, one thing will always remain and that’s to bring destruction to the powers that be in the industry. Get ready to be blessed with words of wisdom from a true pioneer.

AllHipHop.com: How is your reality show coming along?

Rev Run: It’s coming along great; we are almost finished with it. I feel that it’s definitely going to give fans a view inside of what it’s like to be in my house. I know that the show will reach a lot of people, because I know that I am here to inspire. People come up to me all the time and tell me how I have inspired them at some point in their life, so I really want this show to not only be an inspiration, but also teach lessons.

AllHipHop.com: ABC Family taped you first to do the reality show, with so many reality shows on TV what made you choose to do a reality show about your family?

Rev Run: I chose to do the show, because I wanted to show a rapper in a positive light. Like the LL Cool J commercial where he is braiding his daughter’s hair on the stoop, I wanted to show that rappers have a life and that we do have families that we care for. Every morning I wake up, pray, read the bible and do my “Words of Wisdom” segment that goes out to radio shows all over the country, on top of taking care of and praying with my family and the audience will get to see that because each show has a message. So to sum it up I wanted to show another side of Rap and I know that this show is it, I know it will be very positive, inspirational and motivational to everyone watching.

AllHipHop.com: It sounds like something that kids of our culture and in general need to see today with all of the negativity on TV.

Rev Run: Exactly, but I like the Bobby Brown Show. It’s hilarious because it shows another side of Bobby that people don’t get to see, it shows them going on barbeques and camping and it also shows that they have a lot of love inside their marriage. A lot of people ridiculed their marriage, but their marriage has lasted a lot longer than other celebrities that people knew would last. But I say that about their show because that is how my show is. It’s really fun but it also let’s people know that the guy who made [the song]“Tricky” and “Walk This Way” is a now a Reverend. It really shines a light on my family life and who I am. Not that all lights aren’t good, but this will be a different one.

AllHipHop.com: When is the first episode going to air?

Rev Run: September 14th

AllHipHop.com: There are rumors that Distortion is going to be an all Rock sounding album, is that true and if so what made you go that route?

Rev Run: It’s not a completely Rock sounding album, it’s a Run sounding album, it’s a Hip-Hop album. If you look back at Run-DMC, our sound has always been different, so Distortion is not an R&B album, let’s put it that way. It’s not Rock but it has a couple of Rock rifts like “King of Rock”, “Rock Box” and “Walk This Way”, so it’s a loud sounding album. The music is loud, I’m screaming loud and so it’s not like your Jay-Z suave or the 50 Cent cool sounding album, but has me screaming the vocals the way I did on the vocals for Tougher Than Leather, so basically I’m back sounding like Run.

AllHipHop.com: Is there a reason that you chose to work with White Boy [of Joe Budden fame] exclusively to handle the production?

Rev Run: It was a strategy that I used to keep the album sounding like Run. I didn’t want to run out and get the hottest producer and end up being influenced by another sound, so I just stuck with one producer so I could maintain control and do it my way.

AllHipHop.com: Do you think that the decision to let others influence or change their sound is the downfall of a lot of vets who come back to Hip-Hop?

Rev Run: I think that it is. Because fans who know you love you for who you are and as a vet we should be happy with that. When you come back trying to sound like the new school fans can see right through that and they lose love for you.

AllHipHop.com: Being a well respected pioneer in Hip-Hop but also being a Reverend, do you think that being “saved” in an “unsaved” industry will work; because we all remember Mase’s comeback?

Rev Run: No disrespect to Mase because he is a great guy, but I am older than Mase. I have been doing this for a long time and people respect me for just being Run. So I’m not worried about what people will say about me, I have more stability in who I am and I am not trying to make or chase the younger audience to see me. I’m just making an album that is filled with Run sounding stuff and people will like it or they won’t, but you won’t see me jumping around in videos or throwing champagne up in the air. It will be more of a grown man effort; [Distortion] wasn’t done to see what people would say about me, it was done just to do what I do.

AllHipHop.com: As a pioneer in the game, where do you see a lot of artists making mistakes?

Rev Run: I feel the biggest mistakes are made when artists feel like they have something to prove. Not to sound arrogant, but I know that people already respect me and that’s because I don’t chase the audience and never have. It’s something about when you do you that gravitates people towards you more than when you try to conform. And that applies to any area in life, but a lot of artists don’t know that.

AllHipHop.com: Let’s touch on your sneaker line, you have Run Athletics, are you planning on following the steps of your brother and creating a full fledge clothing line?

Rev Run: No, that was never my intention. With Run Athletics, I wanted it to be a sneaker line only; we may do some t-shirts that match the shoes kind of like Nike but no full line because my focus is on footwear.

AllHipHop.com: What are you most looking forward to with your solo debut?

Rev Run: I am looking forward to fans listening to the old Run-DMC stuff and listening to the new record and saying, “Wow, this sounds like Run,” and being happy with that. I’m not looking to compete in radio with the Chingys and I don’t expect to impress the youth culture, if they grab it, then I am happy but my mission is all about putting out an album that people can listen to and have a good time.

AllHipHop.com: Do you think that you would ever link back up with DMC to create an album in the future?

Rev Run: No. I retired the group because Jam Master Jay was so influential in our group and so my thing is you can’t just replace him like a drummer. I really just want fans to look back on the legacy that we created and find something that they love, but to do something new [with DMC] is not a good for me now.

AllHipHop.com: Lat but not least what do you want to say to your fans?

Rev Run: Get ready, because we are about to have fun and you will love what I am about to offer.

Cam’ron Lensing Shootout Scene For “Killa Season”

By: Grouchy Greg Watkins (@GrouchyGreg)Category: News

Harlem rapper Cam’ron and his DipSet crew are shooting a massive shoot-out scene today in Brooklyn as part of his upcoming gangsta musical “Killa Season.”

Cam, Jim Jones, Juelz Santana, Hell Rell and J.R. Writer will all be present for the six minute scene, which includes 2 gutted cars, dropped windows and of course, firearms.

The film will incorporate 4 songs from Cam’s upcoming album.

“Killa Season” is the first venture through Cam’s Killa Entertainment Company and will be released on DVD in conjunction with his forthcoming album also titled Killa Season due out this November.

The scene will be shot today at 3pm at Cinema World Studios in Brooklyn.

J.R. Writer is also readying his debut for November which will be released on Koch.

Jim Jones album Harlem: Diary of a Summer is out now.

Diddy Launches Bad Boy Latino With Emilio Estefan

By: Grouchy Greg Watkins (@GrouchyGreg)Category: News

Sean Combs AKA Diddy, CEO of Bad Boy Entertainment and 14-time Grammy winner Emilio Estefan will bridge the gap with Bad Boy Latino.

Bad Boy Latino will be the two moguls new musical joint venture.

“The Latino market in the US is such a beautiful, diverse, and powerful market,” Combs said. “I’m blessed to have a partner like Emilio.”

Emilio Estenfan is known for his Jennifer Lopez, Shakira, Ricky Martin and others and is also the husband of singer Gloria Estefan.

“As minorities, it is always our dream to merge our cultures and showcase to the world the talent that comes from both Latin music and Hip-Hop,” Emilio Estefan said. “I hope that together,we can create a new cultural movement that unites these audiences.”

Damon Dash’s Car Smashed In Accident

By: Grouchy Greg Watkins (@GrouchyGreg)Category: News

Damon Dash’s Mercedes-Benz was inadvertently involved in a serious car accident on Tuesday that injured six people in mid-town Manhattan.

According to the New York Daily News, police officers approached a pair of men that were arguing on Broadway near West 40th Street in Manhattan. After requesting ID from one of the men, a powdery white substance fell out of an envelope that was in the vehicle. Hugo Palomino, the driver of the SUV, immediately drove away from the scene with a police officer hanging from the window.

Palomino’s SUV hit an armored car and then smashed into Dash’s car. The mogul wasn’t in the car, but according to the New York Daily News he reportedly darted outside shirtless to check the damage.

Palomino allegedly injured six bystanders as his car careened out of control. Upon his arrested, Palomino was charged with drug possession, assault and leaving the scene of an accident.

Snoop Dogg Launching Skate Board Company

By: Grouchy Greg Watkins (@GrouchyGreg)Category: News

Calvin “Snoop

Dogg” Broadus, superstar rapper, is now venturing into the world of skateboarding

with the launch of the Snoop Dogg Board Company (SDBC).

The company will launch

with a complete line of long and short skateboards, accessories and backpacks.

SDBC is being distributed

by Pentagon Distribution, the distributor for Kampus Wakeskates and shoes, Academy

Snowboards and CD Wakeboard Bindings.

"Bing Worthington,

Jr., Snoop Dogg’s brother, came to us with a vision of bridging these two industries

together because there is already so much crossover between skateboarding and

the rap/hip-hop market,” said Duane Pacha, President of Pentagon Distribution.

The decks will be competitively

priced and in addition to the skate accessories, SDBC will launch a complete

line of high-end Snoop Dogg luggage and travel bags, which will hit stores in

January 2006.

"We are excited to

work with the Pentagon group,” Worthington said. “These guys are

definite hustlers in this business. With our music industry connections and

concerts, we know this project is going to get big. We are down with skateboarding

and want to get more music fans into skateboarding," commented Worthington.

SDBC is currently

looking for qualified international distributors to represent Snoop Dogg Board

Co. For more information visit www.snoopdoggboardco.com.

‘Style Wars’ Coming To DVD

By: Grouchy Greg Watkins (@GrouchyGreg)Category: News

“Style Wars,”

the legendary movie detailing New York’s graffiti culture and the birth of Hip-Hop,

will be re-released on August 23rd as a DVD 2-disc set distributed through Music

Video Distribution (MVD).

The DVD includes

over 3 hours of special features with artist galleries and interviews, outtake

footage, a remastered soundtrack, commentary from director Tony Silver and producer

Henry Chalfont and over 200 full trains and burners.

“Style Wars

documents one of the great American popular culture movements known as Hip Hop,”

Henry Chalfont told AllHipHop.com. “At its original release in 1984, the

irrepressible vitality of the kids in the film inspired young people around

the world.”

Chalfont said that

movie was filmed before Hip-Hop culture turned into a multi-billion dollar a

year industry.

“Style Wars

was filmed in neighborhoods where the broadest spectrum of

New Yorkers live, many of them suffering from the effects of years of flawed

government policies and catastrophic economic changes,” Chalfont said.

“But the film tells the story about the grass roots response to this neglect.

“One of the

essential elements of hip hop culture was always that it was about artists taking

control of their creative lives. Hip-Hop was a huge revolution carried out against

a

background of neglect in a bankrupt city with neighborhoods burning down to

rubble, schools slashing art and music from the curriculum, after school programs

closing their doors.”

Disc 1: The Film

and the Filmmaker, features the movie, 23 minutes of outtakes, interviews with

filmmakers Tony Silver and Henry Chalfont, interviews with Style Wars editors

Victor Kanefsky and Sam Pollard and classic tracks from the likes of The Treacherous

Three, Trouble Funk, Grandmaster Flash and many more.

Disc 2: Hall of

Fame, includes 32 artist galleries, new interviews with famed graffiti artists

such as Blade, Cap, Cey, Crash, Dez, Dondi, Seen TC5, Revolt and Zephyr, etc.,

plus guest interviews with Fab Five Freddy, Goldie, Guru, Kool DJ Red Alert

and a tribute to Dondi and Shy147. Disc 2 also shows a 30 minute continuous

loop of over 200 cars and burners with music from Def Jux artists El-P, RJD2

an Aesop Rock.

The movie is selling

retail $27.95 and includes a deluxe fold-out booklet with liner notes by renowned

Hip-Hop writer/editor Sacha Jenkins.

50 Cent Announces New Concert Dates In Europe

By: Grouchy Greg Watkins (@GrouchyGreg)Category: News

Rapper 50 Cent has

announced several new concert dates abroad, a declaration which comes in the aftermath

of Eminem’s cancellation of the Anger Management European tour.

50’s new dates start in the United Kingdom on Sept. 11

and wrap in Dublin, Ireland on Sept. 18. A representative for 50 Cent couldn’t

immediately confirm if more dates would be added, but insiders expect additional

shows abroad.

50 Cent and his G-Unit entourage were forced to adjust their

dates once Eminem revealed that he has a dependency on sleep medication. The

Detroit-based rapper was admitted to the hospital for the ailment and other

unspecified medical needs.

Sept. 11 Glasgow SECC

Sept. 13 Nottingham Arena

Sept. 15 Manchester MEN Arena

Sept. 17 Dublin’s Point Theatre

Sept. 18 Dublin’s Point Theatre

Slim Thug Included In Madden 2006

By: Grouchy Greg Watkins (@GrouchyGreg)Category: News

Houston rapper Slim Thug is

featured on the soundtrack for the newly released 2006 version of EA Sports highly

popular Madden NFL.

Slim lent his previously unreleased joint "Get it Started" to the franchise,

and hopes the exposure help further his already strong buzz.

"This is a great way for me to get my music out to a larger audience,"

said Slim. "I’ve been playing Madden since way back and I’ve always been

bangin’ the joints they had on there. So I know for a fact that everybody is gonna

hear what I got because I know everyone loves Madden."

Madden features numerous notable up and coming and established artists on their

soundtrack this year, including Chamillionaire, Memphis Bleek, Rev Run, Sam Scarfo,

Bump J, Spider Loc, Stat Quo, Tech N9ne and Papoose.

One of the best-selling and most respected franchises in the gaming industry,

Madden 2006 is available now at your local game spot.

Slim Thug’s debut Already Platinum is out now. And for those that haven’t

copped Madden yet, you can hear "Get it Started" on the EA Sports website.

Former Aftermath Exec Mike Lynn Lands Deal With Sony

By: Grouchy Greg Watkins (@GrouchyGreg)Category: News

Sony Urban Music and

Columbia Records Group have announced a partnership with A&R Exec Mike Lynn.

Lynn will be in charge of signing and developing artists released

on Sony Urban/Columbia, as well as his Big Ego Entertainment imprint.

"I’m happy to bring to Sony the best new and top-level

Hip-Hop talent that everybody there can be excited about," said Mr. Lynn.

"I believed this partnership will be stronger that any other out there

in urban music."

Lynn started out as a Los Angeles DJ and in 1996 was asked to

join Dr. Dre’s Aftermath Entertainment, where he was influential in the careers

of such artists as 50 Cent, Eve, Game, Busta Rhymes and others.

"During his years with Dre at Aftermath, Mike played a

key role in the development of some of the most important artists working today,

while at the same time building up strong relationships through the business,"

commented Columbia Records President Steve Greenberg.

Lisa Ellis, General Manager of Sony Urban Music, also expressed

her excitement in the new venture.

"It’s a true pleasure to announce this groundbreaking deal.

The entire Sony Urban Music team looks forward to working closely with Mike

as we develop and produce the next wave of important artists."

Sony BMG is 50

percent owned by Bertelsmann A.G. and 50 percent owned by Sony Corporation of

America.

Sheek Louch: Back Taxes

By: Grouchy Greg Watkins (@GrouchyGreg)Category: Features

Yonkers’ own Sean Jacobs, better known as Sheek Louch, has always prided himself as being one of the “streetest” MC’s in the game. Though he and his partners from the Lox have yet to sell millions and millions of records, the streets still stand at attention whenever they speak. To some, Platinum in the streets can mean as much as a plaque. But after being in the Rap game for so many years, Sheek’s focus on the business end of it is clearer. He knows that certain moves need to be made in order to ensure further longevity in a rapper’s career.

Things always have a tendency to change after taxes are taken. Checks get smaller, things are more expensive, you might feel like you aren’t making that pocket change that you think you should be making for yourself. Sheek has a new album coming out in September, After Taxes, and he promises that we get a closer look inside the mind of one of D-Block’s head businessmen.

AllHipHop.com breaks the quietest Warlock away from his brothers, to get a stronger sense of his identity. Everything from rhyme-patterns, labels, and fashion codes are discussed. We like to get the beef in the backseat, but for you carnivorous cats…Sheek states whether his issues with 50 will affect his relationship with Havoc.

AllHipHop.com: You are definitely the most low-key member of the Lox… are we going to get more insight into you on this album?

Sheek Louch: Yeah, this time I’m telling you where I’ve been, what I’ve been doing. I think on this album I stepped it up, lyrically. I thought I was on my A-game last album, but on this one I’m killin’ s**t. There are certain things in my life I speak on. I just had a baby boy.

AllHipHop.com: Congratulations…

Sheek Louch: Thank you. There’s a bunch of stuff I reflect on in this album. With these collabos, I really feel like we compliment each other. But I’ve really been behind the scenes with a lot of the business side of it and all. But right now I’m really just tryin to mash ‘em with this new album.

AllHipHop.com: Speaking of collaborations, what’s your favorite in your career?

Sheek Louch: I liked the one with DMX, “N****s Done Started Something.” I like a lot of the mixtape s**t like “Lox Chest to Chest” on DJ Clue back then; stuff like that is more my favorite stuff…more then the album.

AllHipHop.com: Is there anyone out there—living or not—that you haven’t gotten a chance to work with that you would have or would really like to work with?

Sheek Louch: I’ve worked with Big before but I wish I had had the chance to go on stage with him. We’d done a lot of stuff but we’ve never rocked an arena. I definitely wish I’d had the chance to do that, definitely. Who else am I feelin’ right now… it’s no gangsta s**t, but I like John Legend right now, I think he’s original.

AllHipHop.com: There were rumors of a return to Bad Boy, then Roc-A-Fella, what is the state of The Lox?

Sheek Louch: Right now, we’re in negotiations. Right now, Jay-Z’s trying to buy the Lox from Interscope. He’s trying to get the Styles Project, ‘Kiss project, the Lox as a group. My stuff is over at D-Block besides the Lox, so he’s trying to get that. So I think that’s almost in closing, we’re gonna make that happen. So the lineup is my album in September, a D-Block compilation coming for Christmas, J-Hood is coming in February. Once everything is said and done with the Lox deal, that’s when we’ll hit the streets with it. It’s called Live, Suffer, Celebrate, the new Lox album.

AllHipHop.com: What is the glue that holds the three of y’all together?

Sheek Louch: I think out respect for each other. Like when I hear his s**t—how we go about it is like, I could be on a song with Kiss, but I’m tryin’ to finish him. Styles is tryin’ to finish Kiss, he’s tryin’ to finish me. But not in the beef term… we’re all against everybody else. So that’s how we stay on point as far as our lyrics. I pretty much know what they’re writing about without them being there, and somehow, with our different styles, we compliment each other and it works.

AllHipHop.com: So you would call it a friendly competition?

Sheek Louch: Hell yeah.

AllHipHop.com: You say you guys like to finish each other’s lines… I know Jada and Styles like to finish each others’ sentences, they like alternating bars; how did that come about and why don’t you get down on that?

Sheek Louch: They did that back then, that’s some old s**t that just sounded so good I don’t need to get involved with that. Why stretch it out with three people?

AllHipHop.com: I’m saying like once in a while you and Jada, you and Styles…

Sheek Louch: Switch it up you mean?

AllHipHop.com: Yeah…

Sheek Louch: I got some of that goin’ on, I got some surprises on the album. But that in and out s**t’s some s**t they had and it sounds good to me. I’m in support of it.

AllHipHop.com: Okay, now one of my favorite lines from you is on “Breathe Easy”… “He clappin at you/ you duckin’/makin you dance/ you shoulda spent it on some guns instead of Iceberg pants” I feel like that kind of clarifies your opinion on things; not the guns and the jeans specifically, but about the whole flashy side of Hip-hop. I feel that explains how you feel about it…

Sheek Louch: That’s what I’m saying! On After Taxes… all that look good, but that ain’t the real deal, you know what I mean? We white tee’d out man, white tee, long johns under, jeans, boots… that’s us. Regardless of it we have millions or multimillions or not, that’s our s**t. We ain’t really mink n****s and all that. I think the same person you’re speaking to right now, you meet me later on down the line whether or not I sold 30 milllion records, I’ma be that same dude.

AllHipHop.com: What’s in your tape deck right now?

Sheek Louch: I got the first Redman album [Whut? Thee Album,] I’m a Redman fan. I got some of my new album in there. Listening to it so I can critique it.

AllHipHop.com: The more you listen to it the more you like it?

Sheek Louch: Yeah, the more I listen the more I like it, the more ideas I get and I want to go back and change this and that.

AllHipHop.com: How do you feel about yourself as far as the work you’ve done as a businessman, as a third of such a talented trio, and as a sole artist?

Sheek Louch: I think we’re doin our thing… I’m definitely business-minded. The first thing I did was buy a studio for us to record in, got these meeting to see how things were going at other labels because I really didn’t like the money situation and certain things. Now where I’m at now, we went to the independent thing, which is Koch. And I’m happy getting eight dollars a record now as opposed to 35 cents before like most artists.

AllHipHop.com: I feel like you guys deserve everything you get. Is there anything you’d like to leave me with?

Sheek Louch: Not to sound corny but it sounds like you’ve really been supporting us, thanks for that… go get that After Taxes album, tell the people it’s hot, a lot of energy, I stepped it up lyrically, creatively and G-Unit got nothing on us, you know what I’m saying?

AllHipHop.com: Since you brought it up, let me ask you something, you say you have Havoc on the album; was that all before they signed to G-Unit?

Sheek Louch: Yeah, he did production on it before the G-Unit s**t, but I’m not stupid… as soon as I heard that they were signing and after he signed the deal I called him immediately to make sure that everything was still a go, and he said, “Hell yeah, that has nothing to do with me.” His production is his production, if I had his rapping on my album and I didn’t have him signed and sealed already it would probably have been a problem, but as far as his beats go, that has nothing to do with it. Even Alchemist—I have an Alchemist track on it—and that’s Eminem’s DJ now. Same s**t…

AllHipHop.com: You know how sometimes people try to act like even if it’s really not their beef…

Sheek Louch: They try to get in and act like they’re mad at us now, outta nowhere. That’s some little b*tch s**t man.

AllHipHop.com: So what’s good with a Lox/Nas vs. G-Unit type of battle? I mean, if it’s gonna happen then let’s make it really happen…

Sheek Louch: Yeah, G-Unit got nothin’ on us. Everybody knows they’ve got more money then us and all that, but you know that’s about it. Besides that, the streets know we shuttin’ em down, we killin’ em. They haven’t really responded back. They know that can’t f**k around. If it was somebody else, you know they would have tried to air them out and finish them… The Lox is waiting, go ahead and do it. Everything we put out, we mashed them. The s**t that they be putting out, n****s be like “That was wack, what was that?” People want a little show, give them a show. It probably was good back then if you were gonna use it on him [Ja Rule]. But before, when he was getting’ on Ja, Ja was this industry dude, out there doin’ movies, and 50 was the street n****a. WE them street n****s, 50, you lookin real sensitive and b*tch-like right now… You’re heated at ‘Kiss and Fat Joe cause they did a song biggin’ up New York? They didn’t nothing about you but you’re mad because somebody did something with Ja… get the f**k outta here.

Funkmaster Flex Embarking On Car Show Tour

By: Grouchy Greg Watkins (@GrouchyGreg)Category: News

Funk Master Flex, will kick off a 10-city celebrity car tour September 3, 2005 at the Miami Arena in Miami, Florida.

Flex founded Team Baurtwell, a high profile custom-car club with elite members such as Shaquille O’Neil, Busta Rhymes, and others.

Jay-Z, 50 Cent, Missy Elliot, Mariah Carey, Ashanti and more will present their customized vehicles to the traveling car show.

The car show will also feature several exhibits and the best of the show will compete and the winner will take $2,000 cash prize.

The event will also feature live performances from Mike Jones,Trina, Pitbull, T.I., Young Jeezy, Webbie and Paul Wall.

The live event will be hosted by Fat Joe and Trick Daddy.

For more information log on to: http://www.funkmasterflex.com