0Z0NE hA6 ll I

YOUR FAVORITE RAPPERS FAVORITE MAGAZINE

0
Z
0
N
E

h
A
6
A
Z
l
N
E









































































































l
I

S

A

I
h
0
U
S
A
N

Y
0
U

S

l
I

S

0
N
L
Y

0
N
E

0
l

h
E







































































































RAY J
MJG
MAINO
FAT
PIMP
DAMM D
DEVIN
THE DUDE
OJ DA JUICEMAN
BRISCO
C-MURDER
& more
3 // OZONE WEST
YOUR FAVORITE RAPPERS FAVORITE MAGAZINE
YOUR FAVORITE RAPPERS FAVORITE MAGAZINE
MJG
RAY J
MAINO
FAT
PIMP
C-MURDER
DEVIN
THE
DUDE
OJ DA
JUICEMAN
BRISCO
DAMM D
& more
Z ll 0Z0NE hA6
0Z0NE hA6 ll J
+ ll 0Z0NE hA6
0Z0NE hA6 ll S
6 ll 0Z0NE hA6
0Z0NE hA6 ll !
8 ll 0Z0NE hA6
I ll 0Z0NE hA6
0Z0NE hA6 ll II
IZ ll 0Z0NE hA6
PUBLlShERlElI0R-lN-ChlEl ll 1ulla Beverlv
hUSlC ElI0R ll Randv Roer
lEAIURES ElI0R ll Erlr N. Perrln
ASS0ClAIE ElI0R ll haurlre 6. 6arland
6RAPhlC ESl6NER ll avld KA
AVERIlSlN6 SALES ll Che 1ohnson
PR0h0Il0NS lRECI0R ll hallk Ahdul
SPEClAL ElIl0N ElI0R ll 1en hrKlnnon
hARKEIlN6 lRECI0R ll avld huhannad Sr.
LE6AL C0NSULIANI ll Kvle P. Klng, P.A.
SUBSCRlPIl0NS hANA6ER ll Adero awson
AhlNlSIRAIlVE ll Klsha Snlth
lNIERN ll Karl Bradlev
C0NIRlBUI0RS ll Alex Cannon, Bogan, Charla-
nagne the 6od, Churk I, Clerra hlddlehrooks,
estlne Ca|uste, Edward hall, lellta Knlght,
1arlnta howard, 1aro Varek, 1esslra Koslow,
1 Lash, 1ason Cordes, 1ohnnv Louls, Keadron
Snlth, Kelth Kennedv, K.6. hoslev, Klng Yella, Luls
Santana, Luxurv hlndz, harrus eWavne, hatt
Sonzala, haurlre 6. 6arland, herredes lStrlrtlv
Streets), Natalla 6onez, Rav Ianarra, Rlro a
Crook, Rohert 6ahrlel, Rohlt Loonha, Shannon
hrCollun, Slff, Stan 1ohnson, Swlft, Ihaddaeus
hrAdans, Wallv Sarks, Wendv av
SIREEI REPS ll Jrd Leg 6reg, Adan hurhv, Alex
harln, Al-hv-I, Benz, Blg Brd, B-Lord, Blg Ed,
Blg Iearh lBlg houth), Blgg V, Blark, Bogan, Bo
honev, Brandl 6arrla, Brandon Sllkk lrazler,
Brlan Eadv, Buggah . 6ovanah l0n Polnt), Bull, C
Rola, Cartel, Cedrlr Walker, Chad 1oseh, Charles
Brown, Chlll, Churk I, Chrlstlan llores, Cllfton
Slns, anlelle Srott, 1 a, ellght, errlrk
the lranrhlse, 1 lnelere, 1 Lvte, olla
Blll, orlan Welrh, wavne Barnun, r. oon,
vnastv, Ed the World lanous, 1 E-leezv, 1
ElN, Elsode, Erlr Crunkatlanta haves, Erlk
Iee, l+ Entertalnnent, 6 ash, 6-hark, 6eorge
Loez, 6orllla Prono, hazlq All, hezeleo, h-Vldal,
hotglrl haxlnun, 1ae Sllnn, 1annln 1av, 1anlro
hawklns, 1arvon Lee, 1av Noll, 1eron Alexander,
1LN Photograhv, 1oe Anthonv, 1ohnnv ang,
1udah, 1udv 1ones, Kenneth Clark, Klarr Sheard,
Kool Lald, Kurtls 6rahan, Kvdd 1oe, Lex, Lun,
Lutovua Ihonson, harro hall, harlo 6rler,
harlel har, 1 h.0.E., huslr 6 hore, Natalla
6onez, Nlkkl Kanrev, 0srar 6arrla, P Love, Pat
Pat, Phattll, Pln 6, uest, ulnton hateld, 1
Rage, Rald Rlr, Rohert Loez, Roh-Lo, Rohskl,
Rohlt Loonha, Srorlo, Senera, Shauntae hlll, Slr
Ihurl, Southaw, Sade Sot, Stax, Sweethark,
Ieddv I, I1s 1s, Iln Brown, Ionv Rudd, Ire
uhh, Irll Wll, Irlna Edwards, Irov Kvles, Vlrlous,
Vlrtor Walker, 1 Vlad, Voodoo, Wlld Blllo, Wlll
hustle, Wu Chang, Young harlen, Yung VS
SUBSCRlPIl0NS ll Io suhsrrlhe, send rherk or
nonev order for SZ to.
0zone hagazlne, lnr.
Attn. Suhsrrltlons et
6++ Antone St. Sulte 6
Atlanta, 6A JJI8
Phone. ++-JS-J88!
lax. ++-JS-Z+9!
Wehslte. www.ozonenag.ron
C0VER CRElIS ll Rav 1 hotos lrover and thls
age) hv Rav Ianarra, h16 hoto hv Angela
horrls, Brlsro hoto hv Klng Yella.
lSCLAlhER ll 0Z0NE hagazlne ls uhllshed II
tlnes er vear hv 0Z0NE hagazlne, lnr. 0Z0NE
does not take resonslhllltv for unsollrlted
naterlals, nlslnfornatlon, tvograhlral errors,
or nlsrlnts. Ihe vlews rontalned hereln do not
neressarllv refert those of the uhllsher or lts
advertlsers. Ads aearlng ln thls nagazlne are
not an endorsenent or valldatlon hv 0Z0NE
hagazlne for rodurts or servlres offered. All
hotos and lllustratlons are rovrlghted hv thelr
resertlve artlsts. All other rontent ls rovrlght
Z8 0Z0NE hagazlne, all rlghts reserved. No
ortlon of thls nagazlne nav he rerodured
ln anv wav wlthout the wrltten ronsent of the
uhllsher. Prlnted ln the USA.
monthly sections
15 JB
82 End ZonE
14 FEEdBack
18-21 RapquEst
34 tattEd up
26 chin chEck
78 cd REviEws
30 dollaR MEnu
22 MathEMatics
28 chain REaction
32 sidEkick hackin
25-47 photo gallERiEs
40-48 patiEntly waiting
81 caFFEinE suBstitutEs
36 dJ Booth: saM snEak
76 industRy 101: Ryan caMERon
74 pRoducER pRoFilE: BangladEsh
interviews
70-71 Maino
62-63 BRisco
64-65 scaRFacE
68-69 c-MuRdER
66-67 dEvin thE dudE
0Z0NE hA6 ll IJ
M
J
g
P
6
S-
SJ
R
a
y
J
P
6
S6-
S9
I+ ll 0Z0NE hA6
You are the shlt for that 6 Year Annlversarv Ihrowhark artlrlel l ahsolutelv
love lt. Ihose lrtures hrought lt hark and were verv entertalnlng. hv
favorlte was denltelv 6oodle hoh, hut l also loved Boosle, 0utkast, and Rlrk
Rosss lrtures. Kee lt ul
1 Prlnress Cut, rlnressrutatlgnall.ron
Ihe new lssue ls reallv doel Clnque droed off a few roles to ne. Ihats
nv dude rlght there. ln ln Arlzona now hut l was horn ln San hateo and ln
fron the Bav, fron Alaneda to hllltas to Redwood Cltv. l was holng vou
rould do sonethlng on Rlrhle Rlrhl l stlll have nv +IS tae. l had to ronvert
lt to an nJ herause l rouldnt nd the Cl Ihanks for reln the Bav tough,
l arerlate lt. Ihe Clnque feature was doe. he deserves lt. hes doe,
hunhle, and has star otentlal.
llo hontana, nvsare.ronlfodlrt lPhoenlx, AZ)
l loved the Sldeklrk harkln artlrle wlth Irev Songz and Shawtv Lo ln last
nonths 0Z0NE. lt was hllarlousl Kee u the good work, herause l was on
the ground laughlng at thatl
headarhe, nvsare.ronlhalesheaven lhlsslssll)
Ihank vou for all the love vou show to the West. l rst herane a fan of vour
nagazlne when l saw all the ros vou gave to the dlrtv South. lve llved
ln Atlanta half nv llfe and no one was showlng the South anv resert. ln
orlglnallv fron San lranrlsro so when vou droed 0Z0NE West l got the
hest of hoth nv worlds. Whatever haened to the 6roule Confesslons! l
know vall dldnt run outta hoes wlth hlg nouths, dld vou!
- Rlrh 1ohnson lAtlanta, 6A)
l reallv llke vour nagazlne. lts real rool. Ihe thlngs that nake lt unlque
ronared to other nagazlnes are the ln-deth lntervlews wlth u-and-
ronlng artlsts to nega-nllllon-dollar artlsts, and also the regular features.
l have a request to nake the lntervlews hetter. Your lntervlews are alreadv
hetter than other hl ho nagazlnes llke hl ho Weeklv hut there ls a
roule wavs thev ran he lnroved. Ihls ls not a dlss and not negatlve. When
voure lntervlewlng artlsts ran vou lease ask then nore ahout thelr llfe he-
fore nuslr. We see artlsts llke Puffv wlth thelr Vltanln Water deals, herredes,
Rolex that rant tell the tlne herause there are so nanv dlanonds ln lt, glrls
that are so heautlful lts llke thevre not even hunan, nllllon dollar rlothes,
|ewelrv that wavs a ton, and so on. lts hard to helleve that half these rats
started off llke us, fron the hood or traller ark or lower rlass. host of the
readers rant even sell |ewelrv, let alone own lt. Ihere ls a nagazlne ralled
hoo hagazlne that asks questlons llke What hood are vou fron! and
What was lt llke! Ihats klnda what we as the readers are lnterested ln,
lus all the other stuff vall rover. Even ask hlg nlggas llke Blg Bol or Lll
1on, not |ust lll nlggas llke Are hood. lts real lnortant to us to know that
thev dont forget us |ln the hood]. Sone nlggas glve ronstant shout outs,
hut sone dont. 0ther than that, vour nagazlne ls hella doe. lts one of the
hest nagazlnes out, lf not the hest. lts so unlque ln everv wav. lts |ust one
of a klnd, va dlg! Also, ran vall do an lssue on dereased enrees fron the
South! Last vear, we had a lot of rasualtles. You should do an lssue llke the
1 lssue or Sex lssue |ust to renenher those fallen soldlers, fron Pln C to
Blg hoe to lat Pat to Blg hello and evervone ln hetween. A erfert exanle
of the what hood are vou fron questlons ls a rerent lntervlew vall
dld wlth B.o.B. asklng sone of the hest questlons ahout eratur and the
struggles he had growlng u there. lt was fantastlr. Kee u the good work.
at Latlno Kldd El Anante BKA Nathanlel Purez, dat.latlno.klddgnall.
ron
ln looklng at the lssue wlth Ihree 6 haa and avld Banner on the rovers
and l |ust wanted to glve vou ros for featurlng Ierh N9ne. lve heen won-
derlng whv he doesnt get nurh nedla attentlon. lsnt he fron the hldwest
though! ln ronfused on whv hes on the 0Z0NE West rover. 1B sounds a
llttle vlolent ln her Z Cents and navhe a tad hlt arrogant too. Be rareful not
to start feellng vourself too nurh herause then vou lose forus on naklng
vour dreans grow. You ran alwavs he hlgger than what vou are todav. lts
|ust a thought, hut navhe thev dont glve vou the resert vet herause the
nagazlne has vet to rearh lts eak. l know lots of eole who have no ldea
what 0Z0NE hagazlne ls hut thev know ahout other hl ho nagazlnes llke
vour arrh rlvals XXL and Ihe Sourre. ont take that the wrong wav, l hlghlv
resert what vou have arronllshed and vou have a nurh hetter rodurt. l
|ust hoe to see vou exand so that not onlv the artlsts and lndustrv eole
know who vou are, hut also the ronnon folk. Kee u the hrllllant workl
Ladv Zane, ladvzane8Ivahoo.ron
1ulla, l feel vou on vour Z Cents. l feel llke 9!% of the entertalnnent ln-
dustrv are rohots and thev dont know how to he thenselves. l rone arross
a lot of eole who thlnk that |ust herause of thelr status, ln suosed
to klss thelr ass. lt seens llke evervone takes after what thev see on IV,
and thev have no ldea who thev were hefore thelr rurrent osltlon ln the
lndustrv. A lot of eole sav, Srholar, vou do not art llke a lot of the artlsts
l neet. hv resonse ls, Before l was Srholar, l was ne. l an a art of the
lndustrv, the lndustrv ls not a art of ne. l an |ust a down-to-earth rat
who loves nuslr. l aologlze lf lt seens llke ln hahhllng on and on. l |ust
wanted to ronnend vou on vour words, slster. l an all for genulne eole
vs. rohots.
hr Srholastlr, nvsare.ronlnrsrholastlr lPhoenlx, AZ)
Send vour ronnents to feedharkozonenag.ron
or hlt us u at www.nvsare.ronlozonenagazlne
0Z0NE hA6 ll IS
Send vour ronnents to feedharkozonenag.ron
or hlt us u at www.nvsare.ronlozonenagazlne
B
efore l started 0Z0NE l had a dav |oh ronlete wlth a hlgh-avlng
salarv lfor a I9 vear old), henets, and an exense arrount. l used
to slt ln nv ruhlrle on the to foor of a hulldlng overlooklng down-
town 0rlando and look down on all the surkers slttlng on l-+ ln trafr
anazed at the fart that no natter what l dld hetween 9 Ah and S Ph, l
would stlll get ald. Regardless lf l husted nv ass all dav long to get a
|oh done or ronletelv furked off lavlng Solltalre and lhlng nv frlends
or ostlng 1ungle lever ads on Blarklanet or rharglng slde rllents S+lhour
to deslgn thelr wehsltes whlle l was alreadv on the rlork, as long as l looked
llke l was worklng, nv avrherk would alwavs he the sane. l loved lt and hated
lt at the sane tlne. lt seened unfalr. l was hored, l wanted a rhallenge.
Now, as an entrereneur, nv llfe and rareer ls denltelv a rhallenge. Iheres no
guaranteed avrherks and nv surress or fallure rests solelv on nv shoulders.
And now that l own nv own nagazlne, a lot of eole who are ln the osltlon
l onre was ln are hlttlng ne u, whlrh nakes ne refert on nv own aroarh
hark ln the dav. Iruthfullv, there are onlv a few real hustlers out there. l thlnk
too nanv eole have gotten used to exertlng steadv avrherks for nothlng,
and the old savlng lf vou dont work, vou dont eat should stlll he true todav.
Evervhodv thlnks thevre owed sonethlng. Snart eole dont ask for nonev
ufront. Ihev do free shlt to hulld relatlonshls and then let lt develo. Irue
hustlers nd wavs to lntegrate thenselves lnto vour organlzatlon and rove
thelr value rst.
havhe ln hlased herause Rlrk Ross ls nv honehov and a fellow llorlda
reresentatlve, hut l ersonallv thlnk all the hlog rantlng ahout hln helng a
forner C.0. are qulte exaggerated lhloggers are haters hv nature, so lts to he
exerted). R Kellv ran lss on llttle glrls and vldeotae lt and eole stlll huv
hls nuslr. IheSnoklng6un.ron, who dug u Rosss old C.0. avrherks, also
dlsrovered that Akon harelv sent a dav ln |all lrenenher Lorked U!) and
nohodv even hllnked. Even though lnage and rredlhllltv nean so nurh, at the
end of the dav, as long as artlsts nake good nuslr thevll he allght.
lf vou dlg hard enough vou rould rohahlv rone u wlth sone lrtures of I!-
vear-old 1B worklng as a ortralt artlst at lsnev World lves, lve had a lot of
|ohs, thev sav ln 1analran). lsnev ls artuallv ln a town ralled Lake Buena Vls-
ta, +S nlnutes southwest of downtown 0rlando. Slnre l llved on the northeast
slde, lt was a solld hour and a half drlve to land fron) work everv dav, on a toll
road, SJ.S earh wav. 6as wasnt S+lgallon hark then hut lt stlll added u. hlles
and nlles of harkroads and nallv vou arrlve at thls glgantlr arklng lot, walk
a long dlstanre ln the heat, and get on the hus. 0nre voure nallv on roertv,
vou walk through underground tunnels and rhange lnto vour rostune la full-
length, heavv lnk dress). ld l nentlon that nv workstatlon was outslde! ln
llorlda! ln the sunner! heat and hunldltv! Yes, lrture 1B sufferlng. We got
ald arrordlng to how nanv ortralts we drew ln a dav, so when l dld the nath,
durlng slow weeks ltaklng lnto arrount tolls and gas) a full I6 hour dav would
often net around SZ-ZS ln nv orket, not exartlv a ronlslng rareer ath.
Also, l dldnt llke worklng at lsnev herause 9S% of thelr enlovees are gav.
Sorrv lf l offend anvone, l know thls ls the age of toleranre and were suosed
to he okav wlth seelng gav roules on afternoon televlslon on hIVs ate
hv hon, Next, Illa Iequlla and a dozen other dunh realltv shows, hut nv
ersonal olnlon ls that 6od nade dlrk and ussv go together for a reason and
anvthlng else ls unnatural. So lt was sonewhat traunatlzlng to see nv suervl-
sor arrlve at work everv hondav nornlng wlth shaved evehrows, showlng us
alhuns of lrtures fron hls drag queen shows over the weekend.
Wav off tolr, forglve ne. Polnt ls, weve alwavs got the ower to relnvent
ourselves. 1ust dont he ashaned of vour ast llves. Ihev all rane together to
nake vou who vou are todav.
- 1ulla Beverlv, |hozonenag.ron
RESplaylist
jbS 2cents
B.6. fl Lll Wavne, 1uvenlle 6 Irev Songz heard he
Slln fl Yung 1or 6 Shawtv Lo So llv lRenlx)
Nas fl Busta Rhvnes lrled Chlrken
I-Paln fl Lll Wavne Cant Belleve lt
1aznlne Sulllvan Need U Bad
6vn Class heroes fl Ihe rean Cookle 1ar
Charles hanllton Brooklvn 6lrl
Wale Ihe Artlstlr lntegrltv
randv.roerozonenag.ron
I.l. Whats U
R. Kellv Plavas 6et Lonelv
Asher Roth Roth Bovs
Lll Ru ee Stroker
Rlrk 6 Rorrett ghtlng over ne
ln allas
Evervhodv else ket trvlng to
get ne drunk for nv hlrthdav,
hut, helleve lt or not, thats
frult unrh...

-
R
A
Y

-
R
A
Y
he and Rav 1 ln L.A.
...and 1 B-Lord offered sone
hav 1ulre ln llorenre, SC
R
A
N

Y

R
0
P
E
R
he 6 Rlrk Ross gettln CRUNK
ln enver
10 THINGS IM HATIN ON
hv ronedlan Klana anrle
nvsare.ronlklanadanrle
I. Bl6 B0l VS. KlLLER hlKE RAhA
Wasnt that so vesterdav! Belng fron Atlanta
nvself l understand the hlg dlrk swagger,
hut rhlll outl Were ahout to have a hlark
resldent. Ihe last thlng we need ls two ra-
ers kllllng earh other over a Purle Rlhhon.
Ihls heef should go to the narket and dle.

Z. hAlR WEAVES
Ihls rhlr ln houston, who thev rall halr
o, a.k.a. Iasha ls the haddest halr weaver
ln the state of Iexasl Shes so had, that she
gave ne a art wlth nv sew ln and l stlll
rant gure out how she dld lt lnvsare.
ronlZZlnaglng)
J. NAWLlNS llSh AN ShRlhP IRUCK lN
h0USI0Nl
l never thought the dav would rone that l
would he standlng outslde ln +-lnrh heels
trvlng to get sone dann shrlnl Ihev are
rude wlth a lnrh of ghetto, hut hahv. the
shrln ls worth standlng on the rorner forl
+. N0SY PE0PLE
ln hatlng on eole that are alwavs asklng
how nurh sone shlt rostl llrst, lf vouve
gotta ask, vou rant afford ltl Serond, lts
rude, and thlrd, lts none of vour huslnessl
S. CRUSIY IEEIh
ln hatln on eole wlth thlrk, whlte,
rrunrhv laque on thelr teethl Look, vour
teeth are what eole use to ronrlude nanv
thlngs ahout vou. Even lf vou dont have
dental lnsuranre, foss onlv rosts a dollar.
6et sone nlnt foss and l ronlse voull feel
hetter ahout vourself and vour teeth. And
vou wonder whv vou rant get no suga!
6. Klh LEE AI EVERYB0YS NAlL SAL0Nl
No, l dont want nv evehrow waxedl No, l
dont want rhlnestones or llttle fowers on
nv nallsl 1ust ll nv dann nalls and alnt
nv toes llke l asked vou tol And when ln ln
vour rhalr SPEAKA EN6LlShll
!. lL0SSlN
ln hatlng on guvs that drlve the hottest
rars, hut dont have a housel Please tell us
whv voure drlvlng a hlg hodv Benz wlth Z
rlns hut have no garage to ark lt ln!
8. h0USE AIES
Exruse ne, hut when dld Cone over nv
house herone a date!
9. lAKE ASS ChAlNS
Evervone retends to he a suerstar, everv-
hodv ls halllngl But reallv, how nurh do vou
nake that vou ran afford to send SJk on
vour nerklarel!
I. WAL-hARIl
Whv do vou have S lanes ln vour store lf
voure onlv gonna kee S of then oen!
h
A
L
l
K

A
B

U
L
I6 ll 0Z0NE hA6
0Z0NE hA6 ll I!
I8 ll 0Z0NE hA6
AUSTIN, TX:
Sunner has gotten off to a good start ln the llve nuslr raltal of the world.
Slln Ihug, Blg Pokev, Roh 6, ES6, and Blg Iurk all rane through town to
erforn at varlous venues. Bavu Blakes ls u to week Z6 of hls weeklv free
8lssogreat.ron fows. onv, a new lndeendent retall hookstore, oened u
on the East Slde off of Caesar Chavez. Rald Rlr headed out to New York for a
show. hatt Sonzala rontlnues to hold lt down vla AustlnSurReal.ron.
- 0.6. of Luxurv hlndz lwww.luxurvnlndz.ron)
BALTIMORE, MD:
Ihls nonth we regretfullv reort the asslng of a loral Bnore hl ho heavv-
welght hr. Wllson. hr. Wllson has hlessed our rltv wlth loral hlts over the vears
and he wlll sorelv he nlssed. RlP hlg honle. hullvnan |ust released hls dehut
V Bnores Buffalo Soldler and hls new nlxtae Ihe Return.
- arkroon Produrtlons lIhearkRoonlnrvahoo.ron)
BIRMINGHAM, AL:
Plles hlt the haglr Cltv and enero Rvans of the houston Iexans rane hone
for the sunner and hosted an event at Cluh I!9. 1 C. Ross of IJ.Illreewlll
Rerords droed Showtvne Iake Z wlth features fron Bahv , 6urrl hane, 6et
Low Khao, Shawtv Lo, Yung Kllla, Plles, and nanv nore. 1 Stlkuhush had nu-
nerous arts on stage at Cluh Elevatlons. hasternlnd 6rou ls dolng thelr thlng
everv Ihursdav at Cluh I!9. All or Nothlng Pronotlons ls dolng thelr thlng on
lrldavs at Cluh 0nvx wlth Blg Ionv. B-honev of 9S.! 1anz hosted a great event
durlng +th of 1ulv weekend.
- K. Blhhs lAll0rNothlngPronohotnall.ron)
CHICAGO, IL:
Stretrh I Radlo has enhrared Chlrago nuslr wlth llve lntervlews wlth artlsts,
1s, and rodurers. Sho has a new slngle ln Showlng 0ff. Arrordlng to
statenents nade hv Luda durlng a rerent Chlrago vlslt, lt seens that Shawnna
nav he headlng hark to IP. IlnhurkZ, 1anal Snallz, and 1 Sean har were
rerentlv seen on BEIs Ra Cltv wlth 1 +S. Produrer Boogz has started a new
hlog ralled Urantfurkwltrhlrago that hlghllghts ast and resent hlstorv of
Chlrago hl ho. 0ther sltes surh as E hlz, gowherehlho, fakeshoredrlve,
and the hlog hv artlst Lungz are also hellng the novenent. hallk Shahazz
and 1 Averl hlnor are at lunkv Buddah Lounge everv other hondav. 1
Shotlne |ust droed hls new nlxtae Ioo hot for IV and 1 Shaun I and ILR
are hostlng a weeklv showrase.
- 1anal hooks l1hookstnall.ron)
LOUISVILLE, KY:
1 IhruaRoof hosted hls rst Sll-N-Sllde 1s nlxtae wlth Solo,
Kenturkv USAs Bahe Nelson, and others. hurra-Season has heen on the
road. Nav Roots are hark wlth 6reg Street. 1 Sklllz has rodurtlon on
lork. 6-hark got a hot one for the ladles. Ihe KYhP Kan took thelr
show on the road as well. A roule of new rluhs oened, Versatlle and
Cluh Prenlere.
- lvlne a lnstagata l0uttaaShoEnthotnall.ron)
CINCINNATI, OH:
1YS rodurtlon has nallv done lt Ihe Shoot ls an exrltlng new vldeo
nagazlne that rovers a wlde range of urhan entertalnnent, sorts, news
events, terhnologv, and dorunentarles of loral and natlonal artlsts
lwww.|vsrodurtlons.ron, SIJ-!J9-9ZSZ). Congratulatlons to Blaze and
harnonv for the release of thelr new alhun Ihe Colllslon and the vldeo
for the rst slngle 6lrlfrlend. Ihese whlte hovs have heen grlndlng for
a long tlne and thls shlt ls suer hot. Ihe Irl-State l0h, KY, lN) has seen
a huge derllne ln nuslr sales due to at least I-IS kev store rloslngs.
lts so hot outslde that 6-harks new slngle 6et Naked has the fenales
strlln not onlv ln the rluhs, hut on the streets.
- 1udv 1ones l1udv11onesent.ron)
CLEVELAND, OH:
Swlsha house has lt wlth Stlll Snokln and Evlrtlon Notlre. Both ran
he heard on anv hlork. ShC Rerordlng artlst Klller hlke nade a serlal
aearanre at thls vears Burkeve Connunltv lestlval rourtesv of Ron
Sauldlng llontana) and Nlkkls huslr. Ihe rltv reresented and forred a
serond Ierh N9nelPaul Wall show. Ihe Jrd Annual 0hlo hl ho awards
ls ronlng Setenher ZZ. Call hlles Snowhunnl vldeo shoot featured
dlnes galore. Pee her hvsare for a revlew.
- X Allah lXNuBludhanagenent.ron)
I8 ll 0Z0NE hA6
0Z0NE hA6 ll I9
HUNTSVILLE, AL:
6-Slde ls ahout to dro Starshlz and Rorketz. Blola are work-
lng thelr slngle. CP fron Laonne has heen rearlng hls dehut solo
alhun. Ihe heart Beat IV hegan thelr serond season. Slownotlon
Soundz ls relng for the Beast of the Streets Car Show. Plxel Pl
grahlrs has got the C rover gane on lork. 6 hane had the North
Alahana huslr Conferenre over ln the Shoals area. Blork Beataz have
the sound of North Alahana ln a rhoke hold. Natlonal arts that have
heen through town lnrlude Shawtv Lo, Rlrh Bov, 6urrl hane, Unk, and
Bun B. Ihe rluh hattle ls heatlng u hetween Ihe 6reen Roon and Cluh
lorus.
- Codle 6 lhuntsvlllegotstarzgnall.ron)
JACKSON, MS:
Lll Boosle ut on a hell of a show ln front of a wall-to-wall rrowd at
lreelons. Boo, a.k.a. Rosslnl, relehrated hls hlrthdav wlth an all-hlark
Affalr. hes had the streets on re wlth hls latest slngles head Llke
Kush and 6ood 6ane off hls latest Bov nlxtae. 1 Phlngarlnt
and Kanlkaze nade a trl to Afrlra. JSJS Entertalnnents 1 honev and
lesel have another hanger ralled What lt ls that has heen lnrreas-
lng ln alrlav. Roh 6old has the streets huzzlng ahout new nlxtae
wlth 1 Srrean. Word has lt Blorkwear ls launrhlng a ladles llne.
- Ianhra Cherle lIanhraCherleaol.ron) 6 Stax lhlorkweartno.
hlarkherrv.net)
JACKSONVILLE, FL:
Newest Nav Bov Young Cash nallv droed hls dehut alhun Srared
honev ont hake honev. lts runored that hls hve nan hldget har
ls gettlng hls own VhI show. 1arksonvllles rst lnternet talk show
hohlle Iraln IV wlll showrase uval Countvs hest, fron Nehew
and the hardheadz, to P.l.I. and lrt lggla. Young 1eezv and Are
hood stoed through the rltv thls nonth, and although S- has heen
raldlng our rluhs, the entertalnnent srene here ls stlll unln heavv.
Blgga Rankln, h. 6eezv and nore are rultlvatlng a hrldge fron 1-Vllle
to AIL, whlle Polnt Blank Ent. has heen naklng waves wlth foan and
llngerle artles.
- Lll Rudv lLllRudvRuvahoo.ron)
LAS VEGAS, NV:
Ihls ls the tlne of vear for II+ degree teneratures ln Vegas. Slnre
nanv eole dont want to he ln the hot ass rluh, an alternatlve
ls Rehah Pool at the hard Rork hotel 6 Caslno. lt goes down everv
Sundav fron II Ah ! Ph, and voull nost llkelv ratrh all vour
favorlte relehrltles artvlng and relaxlng. 1ulla Beverlv threw her
Vegas hlrthdav relehratlon at Poetrv Nlghtrluh wlth Ioo Short, hlstah
lAB, and Keak da Sneak. hav Blrthdav 1Bl Ihe Annual haglr lashlon
6 Irade Show wlll he here August ZSth Z!th. Exert evervone to
lnvade Sln Cltv.
- Portla 1arkson lPortla1srlnt.hlarkherrv.net)
LOS ANGELES, CA:
Young honevlCash honev snatrhed u another L.A. artlst and dehuted
Ivgas slngle Coronut 1ulre. Powerhouse Z8 was the talk of the
town as Lll Wavne and 6ane rled the honda Center wlth thelr raneo
lared erfornanres, and an announrenent ronrnlng a Blood Broth-
ers Iour. Ihe llneu ls sald to feature the two stars alongslde Nas, 1av
Rork, Blrdnan, 6lasses halone, Ivga and nore. Nlsev hussle droed
the Bullets Alnt 6ot No Nane nlxtae. Ihe tltle trark got a West Slde
asslst fron none other than 6ane. Ihe UB Car Show Iour ls hark at
the Conventlon Center.
- Ant Wrlght of Swag, lnr. lwww.hvsare.ronlantsandg)
KANSAS CITY, MO/KS:
hot IJ 1AhZ Sunner 1an was off the hook. Ihe event had artlsts on
the hlll fron KC to the Bav hark down to AIL. Ihe headllners were the
Klng of the South I.l. and Kansas Cltvs Klng Ierh N9ne. Blark Walt and
Blork Llfe Ent. also reresented KC at the Sunner 1an. Underground
heat ls stlll hreaklng nuslr ln KC. Rerentlv added to rotatlon at KPRS
are loral lndeendent artlsts Leglon the Legend, 1ae Caslno 6 Yung
llash, Chaln 6ang Parolees, and Blork Llfe. ls there heef rooklng
hetween SSP and VBE! Stav Iuned.
- Kennv lanondz lKennvlanondzgnall.ron)
KILLEEN/BELTON/TEMPLE/WACO, TX:
R hark and 6utta of harks on tha Rlse, hvLvfe Rerords, Sark awg,
and 6reen Cltv nade an aearanre and ledtvne Rerords erforned
at the rst annual Iexas Urhan huslr Sunnlt ln allas, IX. Ihe event
was held hv Aleshla Steele, Llnda Rohlns, and Ionva Ierelle. Lll C a
COLUMBUS, GA:
Lll Wavne and I.l.P. hoth stoed through and dld
the dann thlng. We were the rst to learn ahout
8Balls addltlon to 6rand hustle. laho was on the
sane show lf he wasnt geeked u, he nust have
heen ratrhlng the holv 6host for J stralght nlnutes.
Pro|ert Rehound hosted lts Znd Annual hl ho Sun-
nlt, whlrh had a talent showrase, rareer falr, and
anels. Ihe anels dlsrussed tolrs ranglng fron hl
ho, to other rareers ln nuslr, to fanllv lssues. loxle
ISs lanllv av ln the Park hrought hark the Nav
Roots, anong others.
- Sllrk Sevllle lSllrkSevlllegnall.ron)
DALLAS/FT. WORTH, TX:
1ulla Beverlv relehrated her h-dav hash wlth Wehhle
at Rhvthn Cltv. 1 ros nlxtae 1 ro + Presldent
ls foodlng the rltv. BC fron Southern lrled harket-
lng got thls relaxed heverage ralled RANK ln the
streets. Ihe Iexas Urhan huslr Sunnlt was a surress.
Rlrh hlnd Rerords herane hlg rono sonsors for
lW. Ihe North allas hovenent ls rolllng strong.
ann fron NlL slgned wlth Ra-A-Lot. he has the
ladles requestlng allas 6lrlz on the radlo statlons.
Cluh Next Level has Aggtown rrunk untll S Ah and Lll
Wllls alhun ollas, IX ls ln stores now. Pat Bush ls ln
the Yazoo led stav strong.
- Edward Pookle hall lurhansouthgnall.ron)
DAYTONA BEACH, FL:
Irlna, Blood Raw, 1 -+S, Wehhle, and Are hood
have hlt u the hone of Blark College Reunlon.
Bethune-Cooknan Unlversltv launrhed a new radlo
statlon. WRWS 99.I lh. Lorals have heen exosed to
a new hot sot on Saturdavs wlth Ionnle Ion Ent.
and 6-Ive Pronotlons at Cluh Xrluslve. Raer hr.
Wlllle havs ut out a nlxtae entltled oe hole. hls
teannate R6B slnger Iarvorla gets readv to release
her nlxtae Plllow Ialk wlth the 6orllla Iek-ro-
dured slngle 1ulrv, whlrh ls kllllng the rluh srene
ln avtona and the alrwaves at 99.I lh.
- 1 Nallz ld|nallzIgnall.ron)
DETROIT, MI:
Al Prot droed a nust-have dorunentarv Ihe
hurder Cltv lwww.thenurderrltv.ron) that takes a
look lnto etrolts underworld. Blark Lagoons slngle
lever has taken over hoth na|or radlo statlons. 1
Young hase ls now an Ahllllate 1. Ihe new rodur-
tlon rrew 0lvnlrks ronslsts of P.C., 1av lah, Knoxvllle,
B.P., and llawless. Chlef |ust shot a vldeo for hls new slngle
All hlne. Blg herk also shot a vldeo for hls new slngle. Rork
Botton Ent. has a new slngle Cannon Ball Run. I. ot of CUl
slgned a deal wlth lrv 6ottl and hurda lnr. Rerords. annv Browns
hot Sou ls hanglng. lf vou alnt u on dlrtvnltten.ron, then vou
arent lnto etrolt hl ho. Street 1ustlres 0ut + 1ust Us hosted hv W1LBs 1
I ls another hanger.
- A1 ltheJIJreortvahoo.ron) 6 Erlr tha Crunk lhvsare.ronlCrunkAtlantahuslr)
FORT MYERS/NAPLES, FL:
Wlrks alhun release artv for Cltv of Wlrks Volune Z went down earller thls
nonth. lrank Llnl rontlnues to nakes the streets huzz wlth hls lvrlral stvle, hes
denltelv Southwest llorldas nost unslgned hve. Rlskavs Who You Creeln
Wlth, rodured hv IS.Ss own 1 uest, rontlnues to rlse ln the rharts. Yes,
lts onlv the rst quarter of the vear and the IJth grow house ln Lee Countv has
alreadv heen husted. See all the rettv green!
- 1ae Rae l1aeRaeISSaol.ron)
GAINESVILLE, FL:
Wlth srhool at the Unlversltv of llorlda alnost hark ln sesslon, there ls an
exerted lnfux of ahout S, students. Ihe lnart ls nade aarent through
a vearlv event known as Blue and Whlte Weekend ln whlrh the rltv was shut
down hv Phl Beta Slgna lraternltv lnr. 0eratlon Resert Yourself, a |olnt effort
hetween haglr II.J and the Sherlffs deartnent set u for vouth ln the ron-
nunltv, was a great surress wlth hundreds ln attendanre. Rlrk Ross ls reorted to
he stolng through the Vllle for a serlal ronrert erfornanre. Cluhs are nallv
glvlng loral artlsts thelr oortunltv to shlne.
- 1ett 1arkson lgS|ettgnall.ron)
0Z0NE hA6 ll I9
Z ll 0Z0NE hA6
a new nlxtae hosted hv uhh wlth features hv Nlrrel Nutt, Challe Bov, R
hark and 6utta. Brusler tha Beast and Cool IY won the hl ho Under-
ground Showdown held hv J6 hood Ent., Alexander Stand Alone Ent., and
1 Redd at the huslr Vault ln harker helghts. Blg Pokev of S.U.C erforned
at Cluh Sedurtlon.
- Ire uhh lhvsare.ronlnarkontharlsererords)
MEMPHIS, TN:
Ihe henhls huslr loundatlon has |ust oened a non-rot nuslr
resourre renter to hel rovlde artlsts wlth lnfornatlon, hands-on learn-
lng, and rogran workshos. lts helng dlrerted hv Caneron hann, nore
oularlv know as Lord I fron the ronedv ra duo Lord I and Elolse. 1
lreddv hvdros artlst Iral has |ust released a new vldeo ralled 6utta
Chlrk. Kee a look out for thls fella, hes alreadv rreatlng a heavv huzz ln
the streets. run Squad teaned u ln henhls at Ihe Sllversoon for a hlg
relehratlon. Boogaloo, runna Bov, Ensavne Wavne, and Swlzzo were ln
the hulldlng to hel tear the rluh u.
- eanna Brown leanna.BrownhenhlsRa.ron)
MIAMI, FL:
ln Setenher, Z the lnrredlhle duo of Blg Ll Bandlt and Sua Clndv lnv-
self) rhanged the radlo gane. Iodav, our shows fornat has nolded South
llorlda radlo. A nale and fenale duo talklng ahout love, llfe and sex, gossl
reorts, and the energv and fun ls now helng lnltated herause of us. But on
1une I8th we were redl Ihe runors are retarded. no, our ratlngs werent
ln the tollet we were #I, no, we were not had enlovees we were tean
lavers. We dld nothlng wrong. Ihe statlon hlred a svndlrated show so we
nove on. l wanted to thank our fans and lndustrv heads that looked out for
us and stlll do. Ihls ls not a sad event, lts tlne to shlne.
- Sua Clndv lwww.hvsare.ronlSuadue)
MONTGOMERY, AL:
C-halls So hurh honev ls gettlng so nurh love thev had to shoot the
vldeo. Pronotlons was on thelr |ohs and evervone was there fron hlrhael
London, 6oodfellas Radlo, 1 Aarles, eakon Board, Burnen, hard headz,
6reedv honev, hJ, Chav, Plelhov, 1 Who, hlrhelle C l9!.9), haxxlnun
lI!.I), 1o1o hrIov lIS.!), Klng avld, South Bovee, and Naaln the
Bonh. Naalns UnCannv got artlsts on thelr toes whlle Bahv hana
rana got en avlng attentlon to wonen ln the gane. en Klng Bovz
and lron Klds held lt down for Klng I6 at Ihe hlnt.
- hot 6lrl haxxlnun lhaxxlnunnJgnall.ron)
NASHVILLE, TN:
Cashvllle ls servlng u roffee. Allstar and Young Burk released StarBurks.
Bun B relehrated the surress of hls new alhun at the llrn. lrenan and the
U.N.I. fanllv shut hadlev down wlth thelr vldeo shoot. Ihe Ist Annual Can-
rerlLeo B-av Bash hosted hv Serlous was off the rhaln wlth erfornanres
hv 1C, Stlx-lzza, and Eneka alongslde 1s Whltev, Chlef Rorka, lnfanous,
C-Lo, Slr Swlft, Rage, C-uh, Crlsls, 0utlaw and nore. Van hunt gave a great
show to a full house and Lovenolse Nashvllle reares to relehrate S vears
of glvlng nothlng hut good nuslr and entertalnnent to Nashvllle.
- 1anlro l1anlrosouthernentawards.ron)
NEW ORLEANS, LA:
CurrenSv leaves Young honev Rerords and Lll Wavne foruses on llv Sorl-
etv. Seaklng of Weezv, he rearhed hark to grah Nutt a Kld of Sqad U for
hrs. 0frer on Ihe Carter J. Ra| Snoove ls at I degrees ln the rluhs
rlght now. Blg Stan and here We 6o have the artv ronotlons on lork.
Young harlev ls one of the onlv artlsts who llves hls lvrlrs. he went to |all
for dlstrlhutlon of narrotlrs. 9th Ward ls on the na wlth So So ef.
- errlrk Iha lranrhlse lwww.hvsare.ronlerrlrkIhalranrhlse)
NORFOLK, VA:
Are hood stoed through town and showed love. IJ 1anz has the
alrwaves on lork, even though evervone ls llstenlng to thelr Carter J C. lf
vou dont get shot, Cluh hvstlque ls a good lare to hang on a Sundav. 1
L.E.S. alwavs holds lt down there. Ihev even have a SJ New 0rleans Shake
that Ihang rontest. When vou rone to VA, lease dont exert the strlers
to get naked, thev dont. Youll stlll have a good tlne wlth 1oe Pro at Llquld
Blue lf vou dont nlnd tlln a strler ln a hathlng sult. Ihe relehrltv
haskethall gane at Bethel hlgh was well-attended.
- Young lane lrontartvoungfanegnall.ron)
OCALA, FL:
0ralas own Certled ls slowlv taklng the streets hv storn wlth thelr new
slngle Iurn off the Llghts featurlng Pleasure P. Ihe Lll Bovs Pushlng Blg
Wheels ruston rar show got ralned out agaln unfortunatelv and wlll have
to walt untll next vear. 6rltsandeggs.ron and rertlednagandtv.ron are
the renler nedla outlets and alwavs kee the area lnforned of the latest
events. Certled Sundavs at Cluh Zanzahar has herone the loral hot sot
along wlth Cluhslde on Saturdav nlghts, whlrh surrlslnglv has gone off
wlthout lnrldent. Artlsts and grous to look out for are K.S.B., S.6., Swan
Bovz, and Certled.
- 1 Leezv l1LeezvJSZvahoo.ron)
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK:
lnfanous of hasternlnd Entertalnnent ls ushlng welght ln the 0klahona
Cltv netro. Look out for lnfanous headllnlng two shows wlth Blzzv Bone
ln August. Cherk hln out at www.nvsare.ronllnfanousok. leel ls hlazlng
the alrwaves wlth Shes Bad and 0ne Nlght. See for vourself at www.
nvsaree.ronlwll.
- harshlvnn lharshlvnn.Boldenusrellular.ron)
PHOENIX, AZ:
llorlda lnvaded Phoenlx thls nonth wlth Rlrk Ross and llo Rlda taklng over
the rltv for an ultlnate sunner showrase featurlng loral AZ talent at the
Celehrltv Iheatre. Ihe UB rar show hrought out nore than I, fans and
featured erfornanres hv Shawtv Lo and Ludarrls, who nade the rrowd
go rrazv. Ihe rltv ls rallvlng hehlnd our honetown favorltes Bonhav, Wlllv
Northole, Clnque, 1lggalo, C-Ihug, and Ia||l Shar all who have srhed-
uled releases ln the next few nonths. Shar ls a rotege and hest frlend
of Kanve West. hls alhun ls sure to he a dlfferent sound for the rltv of
Phoenlx.
- 1asnlne Crowe l|asnlnenvst|azz.ron)
PORTLAND, OR:
0rean Rerords, the long-tlne Iarona, WA hased rerordlng ronanv lre-
leased Crlnlnal Natlons Resurrertlon ln I998) and rerord store lserved the
6.l.s tons of down-south nlxtaes at lt. LewlslIllllrun, WA), has relorated
to Rednond, 0regon. lsolated rentral 0regon ls golng rrazv over hl ho.
6et that nonev, Steve 0. Ihe Blg SJ ls hostlng nanv shows. RZA and
Snoos West lest lWarren 6, Iha ogg Pound, Warzone and Western Unlon),
or nore atlv nlrknaned Crl lest, ls hlttlng the Parlr Northwest. ont
nlss Wlllanette Weeks nuslr festlval ln earlv Setenher. lve heard Cool
Klds, Blue Srholars, and nore nav he ln attendanre.
- Luvva 1 lhvsare.ronlluvva|)
RALEIGH/DURHAM, NC:
Wednesdav nlght ls sald to he strler heaven at the rlassv Cluh Equator.
lts sald that the +J Cluh went fron street rlassv to hood ashv wlth all
the ghts thevve heen havlng latelv. 1 lll lglts ls the newest nenher of
Radlo 0ne. he was on K9!.S wlth v-nastv and thev were rllng that shlt
on lrldav nlght. Ihe Iruth V released the new Carollna edltlon V. Now,
who the hell ut together that fake-ass Carollna huslr Award show! Ihev
were glvlng out rereal hox trohles. l heard lt was 0 Entertalnnent. Youre
naklng us look hadl K9!.S and Brlan awson held a great relehrltv hot rar
and hlke event.
- Y lnrnrIvahoo.ron)
REPUBLIC OF IRELAND:
1lgga rolled lnto town for two dates ahead of hls groundhreaklng 6laston-
hurv glg earller thls nonth. eslte the hve around hls tour, nelther show
sold out, wlth the uhlln ronrert harelv rearhlng S% raarltv. Whlle 1avs
orket nlght he arhlng, not so for Chrls Rork who sold out two uhlln
shows wlthln nlnutes. heanwhlle, Snoo announred he onlv wants the Ra
lreland rrew to suort hls ronrert ln Setenher. A new hl ho radlo show
ralled Ihe Blork klrked off thls nonth on SlnIJ8, though lts IZ Ah J
Ah slot ls not exartlv rlne tlne. Loral lrlsh raer Roh Kellv was featured
ln thls nonths XXL nagazlne, the rst tlne an lrlsh raer has grared an
Anerlran nuslr nagazlne.
- Kev Storrs lkevstorrsgnall.ron)
Z ll 0Z0NE hA6
SACRAMENTO, CA:
Ihe hottest song ln thls reglon ls no douht hard Knoxs Shes ln Love wlth
the 1. lts gettlng laved on all the urhan statlons ln Sarranento. Where
the hell ls the YouIuhe vldeo! I-Nuttv has a new alhun ronlng out. Bueno ls
worklng on a new alhun and oev Rork ls golng steadv. Also, hunld Rarks
ls lannlng a huge ronotlon all over Sarranento whlrh ls sure to he the
hlggest hl ho Event to hlt thls rltv ln a long tlne. lf voure feellng left out,
send ne a text or enall and let ne know whats golng on.
- Zav lzaenalgnall.ron)
SAN DIEGO, CA:
Power I6s Blg Bovs Nelghhorhood lls the nornlng vold at Z9 San lego,
and even knorks hlss 1ones of WhI New York lnto the unenlovnent llne as
thev take over her nornlng slot. Wlth thls nerger, Southern Call seens to he
nore unlted than ever hefore. lre Cuhe resurfares to the nuslr srene wlth hls
I+th lnstallnent entltled Raw lootage. hell he hrlnglng that rlasslr CUBEvl-
slon llve and dlrert wlth a hlghlv antlrlated ronrert at +th and Bs.
- Ant Wrlght of Swag, lnr. lhvsare.ronlantsandg)
SEA-TAC, WA:
Seattles +th Annual hl ho lestlval was a great surress on a 9-degree
weekend. All reserts to 1are and Blak of Ihe Sllent Lanhs Pro|ert. 1are
thought lt u ln ZJ and lt went off wlth the hest of the Parlr Northwest
reresented lnrludlng. Alha P, Butler Bol, 1 Connex, 6-Khan, Khlngz, Klttv
Wu, Luvva 1, 0h6l, 0rhltron, Sean hallk, Seasot, I-Love, Wo|ark, Ihe hlghtv
Zulu Natlon, and nost lnortantlv the rhlldren were there B-hovlnglglrllng
too. lts reallv 0PEl, as husalah would sav.
- Luvva 1 lhvsare.ronlluvva|)
SHREVEPORT, LA:
Rerentlv, another ln ronanv hroke ground on a future ln studlo lorated
ln the rltv. hurrlrane Chrls and Iefon are taklng the rltvs heartheat to the
nasses wlth thelr on-golng surressful ush of Ratrhet Cltv nuslr. Wehhle and
Slln Ihug tore down the hunlrlal Audltorlun and Lll Wavne hlew the roof
off of the hlrsrh henorlal Collseun wlth hurrlrane Chrls. S Entertalnnent ls
growlng raldlv wlth lts strong nuslral harkground rourtesv of Nava|o, one
of the hottest rodurers ln the huslness wlth rredlts ln ln and hroadrast.
- Cnar lrnarrunulus.ron)
ST. LOUIS, MO:
RlP to the Rose han who was hrutallv shot down whlle dolng hls |oh sread-
lng love at the rluhs wlth hls roses. Irllllon Bllllon ollar Beats are at lt
agaln, thls tlne wlth Snarknans Whlte Brlrks and 6angsta. 1 Irarkstar
droed Boogle Bang I+ and 1 Luv droed Blue haglr. SILs hot slngles
so far thls vear are errtvBol hontanas Alnt Wurrled Bout lt, Rav a Kldds
1un Stuld, Ehonv Evez ont Iourh, Phat Pheezvs Porkets llooded,
Unladvllkes Slt own, Es Ren hv Blork, huevs honev Iall, 1ung
0Z0NE hA6 ll ZI
Irus hr.hlvagl, 1 Kldds Exrluslve, Vlr anones Cherk hv Swag, and
6enas Look At her 6o.
- 1esse 1anes l1esse1anesJI+aol.ron)
TAMPA, FL:
Ihe USl Sun one housed the Sth Annual Iana huslr Conferenre hosted
hv Iango and sonsored hv Street Lared. Rawkus S artlst Laws an-
nounred lans to tour wlth hard Iarget and haro ln the Czerh Reuhllr
on WhNls Saturdav Nlght Shutdown. After releaslng hls dehut alhun
eath hefore lshonor, Z Plstols sruffed wlth olla ln the BEI Awards
radlo roon ln L.A., settlng off an lnternet gossl frenzv. Avrh relehrated
the Z vear annlversarv of a Cvher, the renler weeklv oen nlr event
at Enlre Nlghtrluh. 1 Slnatlk released nore Street Runnaz nlxtaes
lnrludlng rollahs wlth BloodRaw and Alfanega.
- Sllrk Worthlngton lSllrkWorthl8IJgnall.ron)
TALLAHASSEE, FL:
Iav lzn of I-Palns Nav Bov lgltal has a new slngle ralled Bean he
U featurlng I-Paln and Rlrk Ross. lts heavv ln the streets as Iav lzn
heglns hls new novenent to ronote the slngle. Loral hero and Ialla-
hassee reresenter h Beezv ls naklng lots of nolse wlth hls long-awalted
nlxtae Blark Star Power featurlng Blazln IZ.Js Sua Star 1 Kwlk. Ihrlll
da Plava hlt the road for hls Legends of Bass sunner tour wlth arts llke
Ihe 69 Bovz, 9S South, uad Cltv 1s, 1 Iaz, 6host Iown 1s, ls N at,
Slark Park, and of rourse Ihrlll da Plava and the hB lraternltv.
- 1 a l1a0nllnegnall.ron)
TULSA, OK
Artlst P..A., of lat Ll EntertalnnentlYeah Slan Rerords ls stlll on hls
southwest reglonal tour galnlng nore exosure for 0klahona. Be sure
to hlt u Iulsas suer-rodurers Ihe Beat haa, whlrh ls ronrlsed of
three nuslrlans. EnBeatz, Ihe Arsonlst, and Blg Cltv lhvsare.ronlgeta-
hlt). Starshl Rerords has all of the latest nlxtaes and vlnvl for everv 1
searrhlng for the next hlt to sln. Loral raer ledels new slngle Iell a
lrlend hlt nunher one on IS.J K1anz rount down.
- 1 Clvll Rlghtz lhvsare.ronl1ClvllRlghtz)
WASHINGTON, DC:
lorner Ror-A-lella V.P. Kennv Burns has heen husv on the nuslr front
ever slnre hls hlgh-end fashlon hrand Rvan Kennv zzled. Ihe self-ro-
rlalned Llfestvle Exert ls ushlng hls SRClUnlversal-harked lnrlnt
Studlo +J. After hurnlng hrldges wlth lntersroes newest slgnee Wale,
who was rst slgned as Studlo +Js renterlere, Burns went out to nd
another voung franrhlse artlst fron the .C. area. hes uttlng hls nonev
on harkv and holng that Shella, a hl ho renake of the 8s Prlnre
rlasslr, wlll rreate enough huzz to set u hls dehut alhun.
- Pharoh Iallh lPtallhgnall.ron)
ZZ ll 0Z0NE hA6
T
hls artlrle ls dedlrated to hannle lresh, who was klnd enough to glve one of
nv lndle rllents a hlt furklng rerord for a great rlrel hannle ls ln the roress
of uttlng out hls rst artlst, Ihe Show. l have rhosen to devote thls artlrle
to glvlng nv frlend sone free advlre, slnre he was klnd enough to glve ne the
annunltlon that l need to wln wlth nv grou. A snart reader would eavesdro and
alv lt to hls or her own sltuatlonl hannle ls a suer rodurer, and l have roven to
he skllled over the vears at uttlng out rerords lnot to nentlon negotlatlng deals),
so we all nlght learn sonethlng.
ear hannle,
Puttlng out an artlst, elther lndeendentlv or through a na|or lahel, ls a trenendous
anount of work. Even wlth vour relatlonshls and ronnertlons, knowlng who to trust
and who ran reallv henet vour release ls dlfrult. lnaglne lf vou dldnt have the
arress or nane rerognltlon that vou havel
l understand what vou nean when vou talk ahout the talent and asslon nlsslng
fron thls lndustrv todav. Whlle l do agree wlth vou ronletelv, |ust talent alone lsnt
enough to wln. hurh llke vou, l an a urlst. l helleve that the heats and rhvnes are
kev and the folks who are dolng thls solelv for the nonev are furklng lt u for ev-
ervone. Ihats reallv whv the sales are down. So nanv folks treat the nuslr lndustrv
llke lts the new llegal) drug gane. Ihose wlthout asslon, however, wont he ahle to
wlthstand the llrks that thls wlrked lndustrv doles out. Ihev wont stand the test of
tlne. You wlll, and havel
But ln addltlon to the drlvlng asslon, l also reallze the need for an artlst to sell Cs.
hv favorlte raer ls Ras Kass. hes lvrlral as hell, hut has he heen ahle to sell Cs!
Youve heard 1av-Z, Connon, and Iallh Kwell talk ahout dunhlng down the lvrlrs,
and weve all watrhed Bun B go fron doest Southern lvrlrlst to ra star ahle to sell
Cs lthank 6odl he deserves ltll). Iheres nothlng wrong wlth naklng a llvlng fron
ones artlstlr rraft. Ihat ls not selllng outl Ihose who helleve that lt ls, need to go
get real |ohs and nake Cs as a hohhv and ass then out for free.
l llke the Vlrtorv La nlx C that vou and 1 Wo nade for Ihe Show. lt hlghllghts
hls lvrlral ahllltles over sone lnrredlhle hannle lresh heats, and glves the fans Z!
exanles of whats to rone. But ln nv olnlon, the nlxed C larks slan-dunk-,
hlt slngles. You nost llkelv rhose not to ut then on a nlx C, savlng then for hls
release. ln todavs envlronnent, lt wlll he dlfrult to go to narket wlthout a hlt
radlo rerord or two. Ihls ls eserlallv true lf vou have a na|or lahel hehlnd vou, llke
ef 1an, herause thev survlve on that fornula of radlo rerords to drlve sales and
exosure. lts not that lt ls rlght or wrong, lts that lt |ust ls. lf thats what thev
have to do to hlow u an artlst, anv artlst, then so he lt. lts u to vou to glve then
the annunltlon that thev need.
hoefullv, that was art of vour thlnklng hefore dolng a deal wlth a na|or, and that
vou rhose one that needed what vou rould dellver lsone folks see all of the lahels
as lnterrhangeahle and onlv rare ahout gettlng a rherk, truth ls, the rherks are
snall and the oortunltles are shrlnklng evervdav). lf not, vou wlll nd that vou
have to hulld a rldlrulous huzz on the streets to get then lnterested ln worklng vour
release. Ihe realltv ls that lf vou want soneone who exrels at rhaslng radlo hlts to
get exrlted ahout vour ro|ert, and vou derlde not to dellver radlo hlts to then, vou
wlll need to show then how to work vour rerords, nake lt aear to he rhea and
easv, and then let then take I% of the rredlt when lt haens.
lts llke vou drlvlng that gorgeous new Bentlev. lf soneone was onlv used to hondas,
there nav he sone arehenslon and dlsronfort ln drlvlng surh an artful narhlne.
But onre one ls used to drlvlng erfertlon and sees how easv lt ls, lt herones easv.
We all herone ronfortahle wlth what we knowvou wlth good nuslr, a na|or lahel
wlth hlt radlo rerords. But, hlt radlo rerords do not alwavs equal sales. Ihere have
heen lentv of hlt rerords that the lahels ald to drlve u the rharts, hut the full-
length Cs tanked when thev rane out. hv guess ls that thev onlv had one or two
good rerords on the alhun. You are hannle lresh, so ln not worrled ahout that. You
nake great nuslr. And Ihe Show ls lvrlral and seens ahle to nake great songs.
The Basics | By Wendy day from rap Coalition (WWW.Wendyday.Com)
Slnre hes
hased ln New 0rleans, ld
hulld a huzz ln LA, IX, and
southern AL. ld attend
all of the events ln the
Sunner and lall where
large anounts of otentlal
fans gather lSunner
1ans, ark artles, rollege
honeronlngs, nuslr festl-
vals, etr). ld throw hln ln
a wraed van, and hlt a
dlfferent rltv everv dav. ld
nake sure we went through radlo, retall stores
lrhalns and lndeendents), rluhs at nlght lerfornlng lf osslhle), strl rluhs, and
hl ho gear shos. lf vou reallv want to grlnd lt out, ld also hlt the rhlrken wlng
sots, kev harher shos and nall salons, hlgh srhools and rolleges, and nake sure
vou send tlne ln the hoods. Your nane wlll oen a lot of doors for hln. ld he sure
to ass out fvers, hang osters wherever l rould, and slgn as nanv autograhs as
hunanlv osslhle. ld advertlse ahead of tlne the rltles we were hlttlng through hls
wehslte and hls hvSare age land vours).
Also, ld suggest exlalnlng to Ihe Show that artlsts dont reallv nake nonev fron
thelr rerord deals. lts lnortant that he knows hes grlndlng thls out for sonethlng
hlgger down the road, eserlallv herause of the wav vou, and other artlsts hefore
vou, got |erked out of nonev ln thls huslness. lts lnortant that he understand how
the avnents work and how the nonev rones fron shows, endorsenent deals, and
other oortunltles that fane hrlngs. hes verv hrlght so he rohahlv alreadv knows
thls, hut lts lnortant he understands lt fullv to allevlate rohlens down the road.
After hulldlng the huzz ln that J-state area, hls huzz wlll organlrallv grow. As
rollege students return hone for thelr hreaks and varatlons, thev wlll sread hls
nuslr. Peole wlll naturallv share great nuslr wlth frlends, and the lnternet seeds
u thls roress. lt sreads llke re. You ran also start worklng a slngle at radlo. Ihe
1s wlll alreadv he aware of Ihe Show, now lts tlne to sread that awareness to
rogran dlrertors around the reglon. lorus on the South.
Work the ro|ert for a nlnlnun of + nonths hefore vou dro the alhun. Slx nonths
ls referred and 9 nonths ls even hetter. lf vou arent ronlng through a na|or,
nake sure vou rhoose a dlstrlhutor wlth a strong trark rerord of avlng, and one
that has great relatlonshls wlth ra rerord huvers and stores. Ihls ls N0I the area
to take rlsks. lts vour nonevl
A hlt radlo rerord wlll nake the ronoters start ralllng to hook shows faster. A su-
er hot rerord wlll nake the show rlre lnrrease qulrklv. When Ihe Show ls naklng
good nonev, lt wlll he easler for hln to work even harder. ltll he nore hertlr, hut
hetter. lt wlll save vou nonev too. As he travels to dlfferent rltles on the ronoters
dlne, vou ran hlt radlo and retall ln those rltles.
Lastlv, nake sure Ihe Show ls the shlt at hone. Be rertaln to glve hark to the loral
ronnunltv, eserlallv New 0rleans herause lt needs the suort nore than anv
other lare. 0ffer lrnlrs ln the ark and Klds avs. Suort the hons and the
srhools that need hel. Seak to the klds and kee then fron golng down the
wrong ath. Ihats not nandatorv, hut lt ls the rlght thlng to do.
hannle, vou are the shltl Youve heen down a long, hard road. But vou survlved and
survlved well. No one ran take that fron vou. You have leglons of fans and soldlers,
|ust waltlng for vou to do sonethlng for vourself. Ihe Show ls ltl 6o get lt hahvl And
l an alwavs here when vou need ne. Alwavs. l love vou Chuhhv Bovl
Wlth Love and Resert,
Wendv
ZZ ll 0Z0NE hA6
0Z0NE hA6 ll ZJ
Z+ ll 0Z0NE hA6
0Z0NE hA6 ll ZS
I ll Bohagon reln Cltrus CRUNKlll Energv rlnk Studlo !Z lAtlanta, 6A) Z ll Parnan 6 Suga Nokla Iheatre for KI+ Sunner 1an lallas, IX) J ll 1 Sllkk 6 1 harlel har
Esso for AIL Rerord Pool lAtlanta, 6A) + ll Kellev, 6ahrlelle Unlon, Lorl, 6 Llndsev Zos Sunner 6roove lhlanl, lL) S ll Charles Young 6 lentz on the set of 1 Khaleds 0ut
here 6rlndln lBrooklvn, NY) 6 ll 1 rana, Il, 6et Cool, 6 avld Banner Rellant Arena for Partv 9J.Js rar show lhouston, IX) ! ll Rav 1 6 Slln Ihug on the set of the Boss hogg
0utlawz Kee lt Plava vldeo shoot lhouston, IX) 8 ll hlrhael Watts 6 avld Banner Rellant Arena for Partv 9J.Js rar show lhouston, IX) 9 ll Irlrk addv, Charles Young, 6 1
Khaled on the set of 1 Khaleds 0ut here 6rlndln lBrooklvn, NY) I ll I1 Chanan 6 BloodRaw Patrhwerk for BloodRaws llstenlng artv lAtlanta, 6A) II ll Wehhle, Nlrk the
Next 0ne, 1ulla Beverlv, 6 Corev Cleghorn Rhvthn Cltv for 1Bs hlrthdav hash lallas, IX) IZ ll Bahv Bov 6 Wehhle Ihe Venue lNew 0rleans, LA) IJ ll Sua Chlno 6 Young Cash
Cluh Chrlstohers for Young Cashs hlrthdav hash l1arksonvllle, lL) I+ ll Shawtv Lo 6 ladles on the set of Shawtv Los loollsh renlx vldeo shoot lhlanl, lL) IS ll Rorrett, Young
AC 6 rrew IUhS lallas, IX) I6 ll Llovd Banks 6 Lun 9J.J lhouston, IX) I! ll ee honev 6 Snlttv Belvedere lhouston, IX) I8 ll 1 Xavler 6 Blrdnan Arena Iheater for Lll
Wavnes ronrert lhouston, IX) I9 ll 1 Bonh Shell Boogle 6 Ra| Snoove lzzvs vldeo shoot lNew 0rleans, LA)
Photo Credlts. Ben Rose lI), Edward hall lII), 1 Lash l+,I+), 1ulla Beverlv lZ,S,6,8,9), Knowledge l!,I6,I!,I8), harrus eWavne lIZ,I9), hs Rlverrltv lJ,I), Ierrenre Ivson
lIJ), Ire uhh lIS)
lahove L-R). 1 Prlnre 1r 6 Lll Wlll Arena Iheater for Lll Wavnes ronrert ln houston, IX, Bootz, Buddha, 6 Burkeev 1W harrlott ln houston, IX lPhotos. Knowledge), Plles 6 Parnan
Nokla Iheatre for KI+ Sunner 1an ln allas, IX lPhoto. 1ulla Beverlv)
0Z0NE hA6 ll ZS
Z6 ll 0Z0NE hA6 Z6 ll
I REAS0NS 1ERhAlNE UPRl hUSI
BE A LEPREChAUN a.k.a.
IhE LUCKlESI LlIILE hAN lN hlP h0P

I) h0NEY AlNI A IhlN6 VlE0
Ihls vldeo was all the Lurk of the Lererhaun.
Uslng hls Lererhaun lurk, a hone hook, and
edal extenslons, he was lurkv enough to he ahle
to rearh the edals of those hot ass rars he was
drlvlng ln thls vldeo. Ihls vldeo dld a lot for the
Lererhauns lnage and had hln nentloned ln the
sane hreath as Sean Conhs, hut onlv when eole
sald, ann, 1 trvlng to he llke Puffv.

9) KRlS KR0SS
Ihls was one of the Lererhauns rst ots of
gold. he was lurkv enough to dlsrover two rhlld-
hood frlends, Chrls Kellv and Chrls Snlth, ln I99I
at an Atlanta sholng nall. url thought the
two looked llke a ra grou and roreeded to
gas these twelve-vear-olds to wear thelr rlothes
harkwards. Ihere dehut alhun Iotallv Krossed
0ut went +x latlnun ln the U.S., and to thls dav
nohodv knows whv. l also alwavs wondered lf he
enrouraged then to wear thelr hoxers harkwards!
lf he dld, wlth the hole ln the hark lnstead of the
front, thelr alhun should have heen ralled
Iotallv Assed 0ut.

8) Wh0EVER lNIR0UCE hlh I0 B0W W0W
ln I998 at the age of eleven, Bow Wow was
lntrodured to 1, who srlnkled a llttle Lererhaun
lurk on hls voung rareer. Now, l dont know who
lntrodured Bow Wow to the Lererhaun, hut half
of thls ot of gold should have gone to then. No-
hodv gave a dann ahout Slow Slow eath ln I998.
l nean, nohodv rares now, hut thev were dann
near dead then. lt was runored that Bow Wow was
a Lererhaun, hut nohodv would reallv knew untll
he got older. Ihose runors have heen shot down
now that hes older herause hes too tall to he a
Lererhaun and has estahllshed hlnself rettv
well ln the nuslr and ln lndustrv lwlthout the
Lererhauns asslstanre).

!) hlS BRAlS
1 was lurkv enough to wear rornrows vears
after golng hald. Ihls, ronhlned wlth hls natural
Lererhaun helght, ket u hls vouthful aear-
anre so he dldnt look llke Bow Wows vertlrallv
rhallenged father ln the vldeos.

6) A BRAI
Ihls ls when runors of 1 helng a lurkv llttle Le-
rerhaun reallv started. he swagger-|arked Snoo
and relnrarnated hls stvle ln the forn of a fenale
enree, and a Brat was horn. Even though nurh
nore talented enrees llke ueen Latlfah and hC
Lvte rane hefore her and had ronnerrlal and
rrltlral surress, none of then ever went latlnun.
a Brat was the rst fenale solo artlst to ever go
latlnun. Ihe Lererhaun strlkes agaln.

S) IhE SIREEI SlN6LE
Ihls ls what 6reg Street was talklng ahout when
he sald the Lererhaun was a BS A6R. he goes
and grahs ots of gold that are alreadv out
there and rlalns then as hls own. lor exanle.
Bonerrushers Neva Srared, 1-Kwons Ilsv,
the Younghloodz ann, en lranrhlze Bovz l
Ihlnk Ihev Llke he, and Rorkos Unna o he.
A deaf nan rould hear these were golng to he
hlts, hut 1 was lurkv enough to slgn these artlsts
at kev erlods ln Slow Slow eaths exlstenre.
Ihese rerords have served as llfe suort for a
lahel that should have heen dead vears ago.

+) hlChAEL hAULlN
hlrhael hauldln ls the
Lererhauns father and forner
Presldent of Colunhla Rerords.
What, vou thought 1 worked
hls wav lnto the gane! Nol he
was lurkv enough to get handed
hls osltlon ln the gane. Ihls
exlalns whv he doesnt reallv
have an ear for talent. host of
hls artlsts were lntrodured to
hln hv soneone else lsee #8),
had nore of a glnnlrk than
talent lsee Krls Kross, a Brat,
and Bow Wow), or thev alreadv
had a slngle huzzlng lsee #S)
and 1 |ust staned So So ef
on lt and ralled lt hls own. Who
needs an ear for talent when
vour father was a resldent
for a na|or rerord lahel! Lurkv
hastardl

J) IhE EhANClPAIl0N 0l hlhl
harlah Carevs ronehark rerord
went 6x latlnun, fueled hv the
slngles lts Llke Ihat, We Belong Iogether, and
Shake lt 0ff, all ro-rodured and ro-wrltten hv
1. Ihls had to he the lurk of the Lererhaun lsee
#Z).

Z) 1ANEI 1ACKS0N
Ihls ls the nonent when eole reallzed 1 was
not hunan, hut was an artual real llve Lererhaun
llvlng anong us. how dld he hag 1anet 1arkson!
Ihe Lurk of the Lererhaunl Ihls ls how we know
the Enanrlatlon of hlnl was ure Lererhaun
lurk. he had two rhanres to hrlng 1anet hark wlth
Z Y.0. and lsrlllne and rouldnt do lt. he used
all hls lnk hearts, vellow noons, orange stars,
and green rlovers to hag 1anet ln the rst lare.
he had no nore lurk left to nake ots of gold
aear at the end of the ralnhows of her last two
alhuns.

I) 1s PLAYlN6 SL0W SL0W EAIh REC0RS
lf lt wasnt for the 1, not one rerord 1 rodured
or wrote would have ever heen lavedl lf lt wasnt
for the 1, a Brat and Bow Wow would he nohod-
lesl lf lt wasnt for the 1, he would have never
estahllshed the So So ef 1s even though we
know he dld thls |ust to have a roalltlon of eole
to forre hls latest hatrh of hot garhage down the
worlds throatsl Now slnre hls the 1 ls dead
ronnents, the Lererhauns lurk has run out. Ihe
1 has no reason to suort a nedlorre talent,
wlth a nedlorre roster of artlst and a verv nedlo-
rre lahel. R.l.P. to the Lererhauns rareer. Sadlv, lt
was alreadv dvlng a Slow Slow eath.

CHIN CHECK
By Charlamagne tha god
0Z0NE hA6 ll Z!
I ll 1anlro hawklns 6 Young Burk hang Ilne lNashvllle, IN) Z ll Pleasure P 6 Slnnona +th of 1ulv artv l1arksonvllle, lL) J ll 1 Charlle Chan 6 Youvee Skvhox lSt Louls,
h0) + ll Young Sav 6 1ole handa hot I!.9s Blrthdav Bash lAtlanta, 6A) S ll Chrls Ward, Kllla Kvleon, 1anes Prlnre 1r, 6 I0E on the set of the Boss hogg 0utlawz Kee lt Plava
vldeo shoot lhouston, IX) 6 ll Redd Evezz 6 Ioro on the set of Shawtv Los loollsh renlx vldeo shoot lhlanl, lL) ! ll Lll Boosle 6 I on the set of 1 Khaleds 0ut here 6rlndln
lBrooklvn, NY) 8 ll Bav Bav 6 Plles Nokla Iheatre for KI+ Sunner 1an lallas, IX) 9 ll Boontown 6 ladles IUhS lallas, IX) I ll Blrdnan 6 ladles on the set of Shawtv
Los loollsh renlx vldeo shoot lhlanl, lL) II ll 1 -Strong, 1 lnfanous, 6 1 Nastv on the set of 1 Khaleds 0ut here 6rlndln lBrooklvn, NY) IZ ll Show, lzzv, 6 nodels
lzzvs vldeo shoot lNew 0rleans, LA) IJ ll 6 ash 6 Yung Redd Rellant Arena for the 9J.J rar show lhouston, IX) I+ ll Ron C, Blgg h, 6 Chlef Rorka lNashvllle, IN) IS ll hldget
har, Young Cash, 6 Vlr Cluh Chrlstohers for Young Cashs hlrthdav hash l1arksonvllle, lL) I6 ll Paul Wall 6 ho Bounre hot 9S.! lhouston, IX) I! ll I-Rov, 1 +S, 6 Suga
SeaBreeze for Ierrenre Ivsons hlrthdav hash l1arksonvllle, lL) I8 ll hallk Ahdul 6 Klsha Snlth Rhvthn Cltv for 1Bs hlrthdav hash lallas, IX) I9 ll Wlld Wavne 6 hlke Es 9J
lNew 0rleans, LA) Z ll ollar Blll 6 hva Arena Iheater for Lll Wavnes ronrert lhouston, IX)
Photo Credlts. Edward hall l9,I8), 1 Lash l6,I), 1anlro hawklns lI,I+), 1ulla Beverlv l+,!,8,II), Klng Yella lJ), Knowledge lS,IJ,I6,Z), harrus eWavne lIZ,I9), Ierrenre Ivson
lZ,IS,I!)
lahove L-R). Rlrk Ross 6 loxv Brown on the set of 1 Khaleds 0ut here 6rlndln ln Brooklvn, NY lPhoto. 1ulla Beverlv), Bun B wlth hls wlfe 6 klds ueen, Breneshla, 6 Young B the
6allerlas Louls Vultton store for Bun Bs rlvate alhun release artv ln houston, IX lPhoto. Knowledge), Rorko 6 honlra hot I!.9s Blrthdav Bash ln Atlanta, 6A lPhoto. 1ulla Beverlv)
0Z0NE hA6 ll Z!
Z8 ll 0Z0NE hA6

I
was horn ln llorlda and l felt that lf l wanted to rearh nv drean and
nv goal, l had to sread nv nane ln Call, Vegas, and varlous other
lares. l wanted to have nv nane he nv logo, so l thought taklng
the state |of llorlda] and naklng lt lnto an l at the sane tlne
would he erfert. lf l ut thls logo on a hat or a t-shlrt, ltll stand out.
l took lt a ste further and got Klng 1ohnnv fron Iexas to ut lt on a rhaln
for ne. llrst l went wlth |a rhaln] of nv nane, llo Rlda, whlrh evervone
saw ln the ln Ihe Aver vldeo. Ihen when the BEI Awards rane l wanted
to do lt real hlg wlth nv logo for nv hlg televlslon dehut. l knew evervhodv
was gonna he watrhlng so l wanted to reresent ne, Khaled, Ross, Are, and
evervhodv.
Ihe rhaln ls rettv heavv so l usuallv |ust hrlng lt out when ln erfornlng.
When l go through the alrort |serurltv] wlth lt, l have a lot of rohlens. l
have to take lt out and evervhodv wants to rone see lt, and lt rauses a lot of
onlookers. But ln not worrled ahout sonehodv trvlng to take lt, herause
l worked hard for lt and l alnt never rohhed nohodv so nv ronsrlenre ls
rlear. ln alwavs raln and lald hark and l alnt reallv worrled ahout lt. l have
lnsuranre so ln good.
When l go to |thlrd world rountrles] l rant seak thelr language hut l ran tell
thevre |ust anazed |hv the rhaln]. Ihev sav, lts so nanv dlanonds, or, We
rould feed our whole rountrv wlth that.
ln denltelv gonna kee thls lere for a whlle. he and Ross were talklng
ahout how rrazv lt ls that well get a new lere and love lt for two weeks,
and next thlng vou know, we want another lere. lts a slgn of surress. ln
looklng forward to gettlng another lere real soon. lve alreadv got a roule
leres on the wav. ll
As told to 1ulla Beverlv
Photo hv Luls Santana

S
h
E

L
l
K
E

h
Y

N
E
C
K
L
A
C
E

A
N

S
I
A
R
I
E

R
E
L
A
X
l
N

,

I
h
A
I

S

W
h
A
I

I
h
E

l
U
C
K

l

C
A
L
L

A

FLO RIDA
MADE BY: NICK THE JEWELER WITH KING
JOHNNYS CUSTOM JEWELRY IN HOUSTON, TX
CARATS: 200 CARATS
WEIGHT: 1000 GRAMS
SIZE: SIX INCHES WIDE
APPRAISAL VALUE (CHAIN & PIECE): $600,000
0Z0NE hA6 ll Z9
I ll 1 Buddha 6 Roh 6 Rellant Arena for Partv 9J.Js rar show lhouston, IX) Z ll av Z6 Nokla Iheatre for KI+ Sunner 1an lallas, IX) J ll hlke hark 6 ann on the
set of Bun Bs Youre Evervthlng lhouston, IX) + ll lreda 6 llo Rlda Ihe Venue lNew 0rleans, LA) S ll Boontown 6 guest on the set of Youre Evervthlng lhouston, IX) 6
ll Iun Iun reln rank IUhS lallas, IX) ! ll 1as Prlnre 6 guest Nokla Iheatre for KI+ Sunner 1an lallas, IX) 8 ll Plles 6 Cat addv Nokla Iheatre for KI+ Sunner
1an lallas, IX) 9 ll Chrls Ward, Kllla Kvleon, Bun B, 6 Slln Ihug on the set of Rldlng Wlth No Celllng lhouston, IX) I ll Steve Raze 6 Ionv Neal on the set of 1 Khaleds 0ut here
6rlndln lBrooklvn, NY) II ll Rlrhv Rlrh 6 Breneshla Rellant Arena for the 9J.J rar show lhouston, IX) IZ ll 1 Nastv, Ihe Runners, Young 1eezv, Ball, 6 1 -Strong on the set of
1 Khaleds 0ut here 6rlndln lBrooklvn, NY) IJ ll K1 1lnes 6 Rorrett IUhS lallas, IX) I+ ll Ben Baller, Bun B, 6 1 B-o on the set of the 6rlt Bovs Now Later Palnt vldeo shoot
lhouston, IX) IS ll Paul Wall 6 Pookle Bar Rlo for 1Bs hlrthdav hash lhouston, IX) I6 ll Xtarl hot I!.9s Blrthdav Bash lAtlanta, 6A) I! ll 6u 6 Collne Rellant Arena for the
9J.J rar show lhouston, IX) I8 ll 1 ro, Ionv Neal, 6 Ire uhh IUhS lallas, IX) I9 ll Slln of IIZ 6 Lurkv Venue lhouston, IX)
Photo Credlts. Edward hall lIS), 1ulla Beverlv lI,Z,S,6,!,8,I,IZ,IJ,I6), Knowledge lJ,9,II,I+,I!,I9), harrus eWavne l+), Ire uhh lI8)
lahove L-R). Lll Boosle 6 hls son on the set of 1 Khaleds 0ut here 6rlndln ln Brooklvn, NY, Ihe rean 6 hls daughter hot I!.9s Blrthdav Bash ln Atlanta, 6A, Young 1eezv 6 hls
son hot I!.9s Blrthdav Bash ln Atlanta, 6A lPhoto. 1ulla Beverlv)
0Z0NE hA6 ll Z9
J ll 0Z0NE hA6
Its been a long time, shouldnt have left you
For the last couple of months the Dollar Menu has been in a
recession, and for that, we apologize. Hopefully, the triple thick
and tasty Tink will make up for the absence of ass in the last few
issues. Hey, we love to see you smile.
This is the story of Tink (short for Tinker Bell), the female equiva-
lent of ten pennies who shakes her fairy tail nightly in a Never-
Neverland called Strokers. And while her name may sound innocent,
the 20-year-old Erie, Pennsylvania product is anything but.
In fact, the former ballet and classical jazz dancer recently
encountered an unwanted 15 minutes of shame when her sex life
was broadcast to millions of viewers on national television last
spring. Fans of the BET show College Hill may remember Tink as
the The Velvet Room Vixen who got caught by the cameras mak-
ing love after the club with College Hill: Atlanta cast member and
aspiring rapper Drew.
I wasnt even aware that I was going to be on the show, she
says. I was just in the club, and the camera spotted me dancing
with [Drew], and when we went back to the house that night, the
cameras caught us having sex. I was kinda upset about it, but it
didnt bring me down so Im not really trippin.
And while the Stone Mountain resident doesnt necessarily regret
getting caught, she does feel a bit of remorse about who she was
caught with. I would never have sex with [Drew] again. First of
all, it wasnt good, and second, a lot of people tell me hes gay,
so I would never have relations with him again, she strongly
asserts.
Though her BET debut was not exactly what she would have
planned, the 36-22-36 boasting Black and Italian blend would
love to reappear on the network one day under her own terms: as
a successful (and clothed) R&B artist and dancer.
A lot of people know that Im talented and that I can sing,
insists the delicious almost-old-enough-to-drink Gemini. But
most people dont know that music and dance are my passions;
thats what I want to do for a living.
Stripping is not my mentality, she continues. Its just some-
thing I do because Im good at it, and I need to pay my bills. Its
fun, but one day I plan to do a lot more in life. Hopefully one
day Tink can pull a Paris Hilton and transform from sex tape star
to celebrity singer.
Booking: www.myspace.com/strokersatl 770-270-0350
Website: www.strokersclub.com
Photographer: Sean Cokes 404-622-7733
Make-Up Artist: Mike Mike 678-732-5285
Hair Stylist: Baby Boy 404-396-2739

by Eric Perrin
J ll 0Z0NE hA6
0Z0NE hA6 ll JI
I ll hallk Ahdul 6 hs vnastv Cluh Chrlstohers for Young Cashs hlrthdav hash l1arksonvllle, lL) Z ll 6u, Klottl, 6 Paul Wall Bar Rlo for 1Bs hlrthdav hash lhouston, IX) J
ll hodel honlra C. 6 Currensv the NV Lounge lNew 0rleans, LA) + ll Lll 1osh, Blg Iearh, hurrlrane Chrls, 6 Ernest on the set of 1lgga 1ulre lBaton Rouge, LA) S ll 1 Bonh Shell
Boogle 6 1 Ro lzzvs vldeo shoot lNew 0rleans, LA) 6 ll Pov 6 Unlque of the 6rlt Bovs 6 Young B Rellant Arena for the 9J.J rar show lhouston, IX) ! ll 1 rana 6 Irae
Rellant Arena for the 9J.J rar show lhouston, IX) 8 ll 1as Prlnre, Slln, 1 Prlnre, Irae, 6 Bahv Arena Iheater for Lll Wavnes ronrert lhouston, IX) 9 ll Klsha Snlth 6 Wehhle
Rhvthn Cltv for 1Bs hlrthdav hash lallas, IX) I ll llo Rlda 6 1 Chrlstlon Cluh Skve lIana, lL) II ll BloodRaw, Lex, 1 Rhvner, 6 1 Cutternan 9+.J lhlanl, lL) IZ ll Slln
Ihug 6 P1 on the set of the Boss hogg 0utlawz Kee lt Plava vldeo shoot lhouston, IX) IJ ll Iank, 1 Iweezv, 6 lrtv on the set of 1lgga 1ulre lBaton Rouge, LA) I+ ll Snook da
Rokkstarr 6 Collard 6reens Cluh hvnotlk lllorenre, SC) IS ll Young B 6 Steve Chavez Rellant Arena for the 9J.J rar show lhouston, IX) I6 ll Chanllllonalre, K1, 6 lanous
the 6allerlas Louls Vultton store for Bun Bs rlvate alhun release artv lhouston, IX) I! ll 1 Wo, hannle lresh 6 6rand hussles Street Iean lNew 0rleans, LA) I8 ll 1 Prlnress
Cut 6 1 Ben IUhS lallas, IX) I9 ll Iodd hosrowltz 6 Lll Boosle on the set of 1 Khaleds 0ut here 6rlndln lBrooklvn, NY) Z ll 1 0akrllff 6 Aztek on the set of Bun Bs Youre
Evervthlng lhouston, IX)
Photo Credlts. Edward hall lI8), 1ulla Beverlv l9,I+,I9), Klng Yella l+,IJ), Knowledge lZ,6,!,8,IZ,IS,I6,Z), Lex lII), Luls Santana lI), harrus eWavne lJ,S,I!), Ierrenre Ivson
lI)
lahove L-R). Bahv Bash 6 Roh 6 Rellant Arena for the 9J.J rar show ln houston, IX lPhoto. Knowledge), Plav 6 Sklllz, Slln Ihug, 6 Iun Iun Plav N Sklllz All Star weekend ln al-
las, IX lPhoto. 6lna Iorres), hurrlrane Chrls 6 Bav Bav on the set of 1lgga 1ulre ln Baton Rouge, LA lPhoto. Klng Yella)
0Z0NE hA6 ll JI
JZ ll 0Z0NE hA6
Iextln ls no longer safe now that 0Z0NEs
dangerous nlnds have harked the svsten.
OZONE EXCLUSIVE
DAVID bANNER: ld U huv nv alhun vet, nlgga!
jESSE jACkSON: ann, nv nlggal Your alhun rane out! When dld lt dro!
DAVID bANNER: U know nv shlt rane out 1ulv ISth, Z8.
jESSE jACkSON: l thought that shlt rane out last vear!
DAVID bANNER: Nah, nuthafurka. hv shlt rane out 1ulv ISth, Z8.
jESSE jACkSON: l hoe vour alhun ls as good as Lll Wavnes shlt. Ihat shlt
was |annlnl
DAVID bANNER: hv shlt ls hetter than Iha Carter lll. lts the greatest storv
ever told, nlgga.
jESSE jACkSON: how nanv songs u got Lll Wavne on!
DAVID bANNER: hes on there twlre, hut hes on evervhodvs shlt twlre. But
nv shlt ls hetter than Iha Carter lll, hetter than Readv Io le, hetter than
lllnatlr, hetter than All Evez 0n he, hetter than Ihrlller, hetter than 1anes
Browns 6reatest hlts. Better than all those hltrh ass nlggas alhuns.
jESSE jACkSON: l nlght rherk lt out as long as that hltrh ass nlgga, Nas,
alnt on there. l dont furk wlt that nlgga.
DAVID bANNER: Whatl U dont llke Nas! Ihat nlgga ls alnost as good as ne.
jESSE jACkSON: Nah, lll rut that nlggas nuts off. how that nlgga gonna
rall hls alhun Nlgger!
DAVID bANNER: l dont know. But furk that nlggas alhun. Were talklng
ahout the 6reatest Storv Ever Iold.
jESSE jACkSON: how ls vour alhun selllng!
DAVID bANNER: lt rould he hetter. But these hltrh ass nlggas alnt suort-
lng real nuslr.
jESSE jACkSON: Well, U know l downloaded that shlt on the lnternet. But lll
go huv lt slnre Lll Wavnes on there. Kee hoe allve, nv nlgga.
DAVID bANNER & jESSE jACkSON
- lron the nlnds of Erlr Perrln and Randv Roer lPhotos hv 1ulla Beverlv 6 Chl
Sonodevllla)
JZ ll 0Z0NE hA6
0Z0NE hA6 ll JJ
I ll orlan lorhes, Shawtv Lo, Snark, 6 Shawtv on the set of Shawtv Los loollsh renlx vldeo shoot lhlanl, lL) Z ll Sean Klngston 6 guest on the set of 1 Khaleds 0ut here
6rlndln lBrooklvn, NY) J ll Aztek 6 guest Arena Iheater for Lll Wavnes ronrert lhouston, IX) + ll ueen, Ashlel, 6 Breneshla the 6allerlas Louls Vultton store for Bun Bs
rlvate alhun release artv lhouston, IX) S ll 1 hl-C 6 Lll Kelth Venue lhouston, IX) 6 ll Iun Iun, Plav 6 Sklllz, 6 Slln Ihug Purgatorv for Plav 6 Sklllz Sunner 1an after-
artv lallas, IX) ! ll Rlrk Ross 6 Red Cafe on the set of 1 Khaleds 0ut here 6rlndln lBrooklvn, NY) 8 ll Lll 1osh, 6lorla Velez, 6 Ernest on the set of 1lgga 1ulre lBaton Rouge,
LA) 9 ll 6uest 6 Parnan Nokla Iheatre for KI+ Sunner 1an lallas, IX) I ll Cll 6 Irouhlesun on the set of Nothln Io A Boss vldeo shoot lhouston, IX) II ll Slln Ihug, 1
Chlll, 6 Roh 6 on the set of Nothln Io A Boss vldeo shoot lhouston, IX) IZ ll Unk 6 1 en Phlllls Arena for hot I! Blrthdav Bash lAtlanta, 6A) IJ ll 1C, lreddv B, 6 Serlous
lNashvllle, IN) I+ ll 1 Chlll 6 1 Rvno Irae 6 Z-Ros llstenlng artv lhouston, IX) IS ll 1 Prlnress Cut 6 Blg Chlef Rhvthn Cltv for 1Bs hlrthdav hash lallas, IX) I6 ll Blgg h
6 1anlro hawklns lNashvllle, IN) I! ll 6ll 6reen 6 Kardlnal 0fshal Sunnerfest Z8 lhlanl, lL) I8 ll Plav 6 Lll Iwlst Plav N Sklllz All Star weekend lallas, IX) I9 ll Breezv 6
lvorv 0rr +th of 1ulv artv l1arksonvllle, lL)
Photo Credlts. Edward hall lIS), 6lna Iorres lI8), 1 Lash lI,I!), 1anlro hawklns lIJ,I6), 1ulla Beverlv lZ,6,!,9), Klng Yella l8), Knowledge lJ,+,S,I,II,I+), Ierrenre Ivson
lIZ,I9)
lahove L-R). Paul Wall 6 IV 1ohnnv Bar Rlo for 1Bs hlrthdav hash ln houston, IX, Akon, 1 Khaled, 6 lat 1oe on the set of 1 Khaleds 0ut here 6rlndln ln Brooklvn, NY, avld Ban-
ner 6 Bun B Rellant Arena for Partv 9J.Js rar show ln houston, IX lPhotos. 1ulla Beverlv)
0Z0NE hA6 ll JJ
J+ ll 0Z0NE hA6
t
a
t
t
e
d

U
P

-
R
A
Y
L
U
l
S

S
A
N
I
A
N
A
I
E
R
R
E
N
C
E

I
Y
S
0
N

-
R
A
Y
I
E
R
R
E
N
C
E

I
Y
S
0
N
0Z0NE hA6 ll JS

-
R
A
Y
I ll on Cannon, 1 lnfanous, 6 1 holldav hot I!.9s Blrthdav Bash lAtlanta, 6A) Z ll Ihe rean 6 9Js P errlrk Corhet 9J lNew 0rleans, LA) J ll 1 lahrenhelt, 1
en, 6 Pastor Irov Phlllls Arena for hot I! Blrthdav Bash lAtlanta, 6A) + ll 1 Nastv, Plles, 6 Rlrkv P IZ 1anz l0rlando, lL) S ll Brandll 6 Ieka Whlsers for Pat Nlx
hlrthdav hash l0rlando, lL) 6 ll Plthull 6 IV 1ohnnv Bar Rlo for 1Bs hlrthdav hash lhouston, IX) ! ll Blg Bov, avld Banner, 6 guests Rellant Arena for the 9J.J rar show
lhouston, IX) 8 ll CRUNKlll CE0 Ion hahlke 6 Lll 1on Studlo !Z lAtlanta, 6A) 9 ll hannle lresh 6 hls slster Irlna lzzvs vldeo shoot lNew 0rleans, LA) I ll Rlro, hawatha
herd, 6 ann Iexas Urhan huslr Sunnlt lallas, IX) II ll Wendv av 6 Iral IUhS lallas, IX) IZ ll 1 Chlll, Chrls 1ohnson, I1 Chanan, 6 Bone on the set of Bun Bs Youre
Evervthlng lhouston, IX) IJ ll Young Selah SeaBreeze for Ierrenre Ivsons hlrthdav hash l1arksonvllle, lL) I+ ll Clav Evans 6 Blg 0on hot I!.9s Blrthdav Bash lAtlanta, 6A)
IS ll 1anes Prlnre 1r, I0E, 6 1 B-o Belvedere lhouston, IX) I6 ll 6 hark, harlel har, Khadl|ah, 6 1 rlzzle Esso for AIL Rerord Pool lAtlanta, 6A) I! ll Aztek 6 Bone on the set
of Youre Evervthlng lhouston, IX) I8 ll Slln Ihug 6 I1 Chanan IUhS lallas, IX) I9 ll hr Lee, Clndv hlll, 6 Charles Chavez on the set of the Boss hogg 0utlawz Kee lt Plava
vldeo shoot lhouston, IX)
Photo Credlts. Ben Rose l8), Lvte lII), Edward hall lI), 1ulla Beverlv lI,6,I+,I!,I8), Knowledge l!,IZ,IS,I9), harrus eWavne lZ,9), hs Rlverrltv lI6), Ierrenre Ivson
lJ,+,S,IJ)
lahove L-R). wavne Wade 6 hls nother Zos Sunner 6roove ln hlanl, lL lPhoto. 1 Lash), 1-ue, Rorko, 6 Irae Irae 6 Z-Ros llstenlng artv ln houston, IX lPhoto. Knowledge), 1
Khaled 6 Shawtv Lo on the set of Shawtv Los loollsh renlx vldeo shoot ln hlanl, lL lPhoto. 1 Lash)
0Z0NE hA6 ll JS
J6 ll 0Z0NE hA6
Rlrk Ross tour 1 tells us what lts llke to hustle, hustle, real hard
wlth the Boss and whv vlhe nuslr ls the new sound to llsten out for
fron the JS.
lve heen down wlth Ross for a nlnute, wav hefore hustlln even
|uned off. l alwavs seen hln out, llke, Whats u, how vou dolng,
and rherklng u on hln and stuff llke that. When hustlln rane out,
l was 1lng at lanonds and l hadnt seen hln ln a nlnute. l was
hlowlng the rerord u, lavlng lt llke elght tlnes a nlght. l ralled
hln one dav and he was llke, Whats u, nan. lve heen looklng for
vou. l need to get vou that rerord. l was llke, lve heen at lanonds
lavlng lt. he sald, 0h, thats vou! Ihevve heen telllng ne ahout
vou. lt was all love and we |ust ket ln rontart fron there. l would
alwavs nake sure he was good. Irlle Cs, Poe Bov, there was alwavs
that love.
Ihe average dav for ne, wlth |Ross]l go to the studlo, nake
sure 1s get thelr dros, naklng sure he hears heats, nake sure
freestvles are hunln, nake sure features are readv for hln. l used
to slee tll IZ, I ln the afternoon. l dont slee llke that anvnore.
l slee navhe four hours |a nlght]. lts dlfferent now. But l stlll go
to the hood. l stlll rherk out the hood rluhs. Ihev show nore love
than anvthlng. Ihev wanna see vou he surressful. Iheres haters
evervwhere vou go, hut theres also love where voure at too.
We |ust rane hark fron Euroe. lve heen to Ansterdan, Parls,
lranre, Norwav, 6ernanv, all dlfferent lares and thev love hln. l
dont thlnk vou understand. Ihev love Ross, thev love Khaled, thev
love Irlle Cs, Brlsro. Evervthlng we threw to then, thev love lt. lts
llke another world over there. lt oened nv eves.
ln the hlanl srene, lve rone arross a lot of loral artlsts llke Ihe
unk Rvders, Ballgreezv, Under Survelllanre, Blzzle, Brlsro, and Blllv
Blue. Iheres a lot of artlsts that lve had a tourh ln thelr ro|erts,
hellng then, ronotlng then and naklng then hlg. 1an Squad,
thats what we do. Weve ronoted a lot of lndeendent artlsts.
l dont know lf vou heard of what we got out here ralled vlhln
nuslr. Ballgreezv dld hls thlng on lt, Under Survelllanre, vou got
on that Blzzle, vou |ust he vlhln. Ihats that hlanl vlhe nuslr. Yall
gotta lookout for that. You know how Atlanta got thelr sna nuslr,
L.A. got thelr rrun nuslr! Well, we got the vlhe nuslr, where were
vlhln, shakln and rollln, he ln the rluh rhlllln, |ookln and all that
stuff. You ran go to anv rluh ln hlanl and l ran guarantee vou
thevll lav a vlhln song. Evervhodv got a vlhln song, where vou
ran |ust vlhe to lt.
Ihe hlanl novenent ls all the loral artlsts thats down wlth the
novenent and thats down wlth suortlng one another. What ln
worklng on ls |ust hellng loral artlsts get out. Ihats what ln all
ahout. l |ust want loral artlsts to get out there and nake thlngs
haen. 1ust nake sure hlanl |ust kees dolng what were dolng.
As told to Randv Roer
DJ SAM SNEAK
homeTown: north miami, fl
weBsiTe: WWW.myspaCe.Com/djsamsneak
Radio: streetfm.Com poe Boy radio
mixTape seRies: kiCks
dJ affiliaTe: jam squad
cluBs: take one lounge (miami, fl)
3 songs in cuRRenT RoTaTion: riCk ross
here i am, Ballgreezy f/ BrisCo im da
shit, Billy Blue Ball like a dog
J6 ll 0Z0NE hA6
0Z0NE hA6 ll J!
I ll Sho, 1 ro, 6 Nlrk the Next 0ne Rhvthn Cltv for 1Bs hlrthdav hash lallas, IX) Z ll hs Rlverrltv 6 6rand Prlx +th of 1ulv artv l1arksonvllle, lL) J ll harlrla hagana 6
Candv 6lrl Pashaa Ultar Lounge for harlrlas hlrthdav artv lhouston, IX) + ll 1 rana 6 6et Cool Bar Rlo for 1Bs hlrthdav hash lhouston, IX) S ll 1 Blark N hlld, Ionv Neal,
6 1uggle Cluh Anersand for the Ale Botton nodel searrh lNew 0rleans, LA) 6 ll Plav 6 Sklllz SlZ lhouston, IX) ! ll Kenvon hartln 6 Irlna Zos Sunner 6roove lhlanl,
lL) 8 ll 1 Strong, Shawtv Lo, 1 Khaled, Ihe Runners, 6 1 Nastv on the set of 1 Khaleds 0ut here 6rlndln lBrooklvn, NY) 9 ll Are hood, orlan lorhes, 6 Plthull on the set of
Shawtv Los loollsh renlx vldeo shoot lhlanl, lL) I ll 1anes hrhlllan 6 Blg Chlef Rhvthn Cltv for 1Bs hlrthdav hash lallas, IX) II ll Canar, Blzzle, 6 Shonle Cluh Elenent
lhlanl, lL) IZ ll Roh 6 6 lanous the 6allerlas Louls Vultton store for Bun Bs rlvate alhun release artv lhouston, IX) IJ ll Wlllle llsher 6 Svtonnla Whlsers for Pat Nlx hlrth-
dav hash l0rlando, lL) I+ ll Steve Nlre, Bav Bav, 6 Skl Cheathan Nokla Iheatre for KI+ Sunner 1an lallas, IX) IS ll Lll hen, Young Cash, 6 hldget har Cluh Chrlstohers for
Young Cashs hlrthdav hash l1arksonvllle, lL) I6 ll BloodRaw 6 Lex LPh6 ofres lhlanl, lL) I! ll Randv Roer 6 1 B-Lord Cluh hvnotlk lllorenre, SC) I8 ll Rlrk Ross 6 guest
on the set of Bun Bs Youre Evervthlng lhouston, IX) I9 ll lat 1oe 6 1 Nastv on the set of 1 Khaleds 0ut here 6rlndln lBrooklvn, NY)
Photo Credlts. Edward hall lI), 1 Lash l!,9), 1ulla Beverlv l+,8,I,I+,I!,I9), Knowledge lJ,6,IZ,I8), Lex lII,I6), harrus eWavne lS), Ierrenre Ivson lZ,IJ,IS)
lahove L-R). Irarv hr6radv, Irae, 6 1 Prlnre Arena Iheater for Lll Wavnes ronrert ln houston, IX lPhoto. Knowledge), hldget har 6 Lll Srrav 1W harrlott ln houston, IX lPhotos.
Knowledge), Il 6 avld Banner Rellant Arena for Partv 9J.Js rar show ln houston, IX lPhoto. 1ulla Beverlv)
0Z0NE hA6 ll J!
J8 ll 0Z0NE hA6
0Z0NE hA6 ll J9
I ll Kllla Kvleon 6 6oldenrhlld on the set of Rldlng Wlth No Celllng lhouston, IX) Z ll Iun Iun, Slln Ihug, 6 guest Purgatorv for Plav 6 Sklllz Sunner 1an afterartv lallas,
IX) J ll hezeleo 6 Boontown on the set of Bun Bs Youre Evervthlng lhouston, IX) + ll Lll 0, 9th Ward, 6 1 Snllev Rhvthn Cltv lallas, IX) S ll wavne Wade 6 orell Wrlght
Zos Sunner 6roove lhlanl, lL) 6 ll Blg u 6 8Ball 6 h16 hot I!.9s Blrthdav Bash lAtlanta, 6A) ! ll Bun B 6 1 rana Bar Rlo for 1Bs hlrthdav hash lhouston, IX) 8 ll
1 Chrlstlon 6 Plthull Cluh Skve lIana, lL) 9 ll 1ohn the Batlst reln 0Z0NE IUhS lallas, IX) I ll Bav Bav 6 6lorla Velez on the set of 1lgga 1ulre lBaton Rouge, LA) II
ll hlrhael Watts 6 6 ash Rellant Arena for Partv 9J.Js rar show lhouston, IX) IZ ll Rlrk Edwards, herredes, 6 Rorrett IUhS lallas, IX) IJ ll enltlon 1s IUhS lallas,
IX) I+ ll Ionv Yavo 6 Blaze 9J.J lhouston, IX) IS ll Young Cltv 6 Chrlstlna Clark Whlsers for Pat Nlx hlrthdav hash l0rlando, lL) I6 ll 1 lnfanous 6 San Sneak on the set of 1
Khaleds 0ut here 6rlndln lBrooklvn, NY) I! ll 06 Ron C, Slln Ihug, 6 6u Rellant Arena for Partv 9J.Js rar show lhouston, IX) I8 ll Ienlesha, llo Rlda, Bahv Bov, 6 hekele Ihe
Venue lNew 0rleans, LA) I9 ll Blzzle 6 1 uest +th of 1ulv artv l1arksonvllle, lL) Z ll 1 Ra| Snoove 6 Show lzzvs vldeo shoot lNew 0rleans, LA)
Photo Credlts. Edward hall l+,IZ), 1 Lash lS), 1ulla Beverlv lZ,6,!,9,II,I6,I!), Klng Yella lI), Knowledge lI,J,I+), Luls Santana l8), harrus eWavne lI8,Z), Ierrenre Ivson
lIS,I9), Ire uhh lIJ)
lahove L-R). 1 Khaled 6 Plles Brandsnart for Plles ln-store slgnlng ln hlanl, lL lPhoto. 1 Lash), Plav 6 Sklllz 6 hannle lresh Purgatorv for Plav N Sklllz All Star weekend ln al-
las, IX lPhoto. hark allas), Wehhle 6 llo Rlda Ihe Venue ln New 0rleans, LA lPhoto. harrus eWavne)
0Z0NE hA6 ll J9
+ ll 0Z0NE hA6
T
he oularltv of 1 Khaleds ln So hood ls a erfert exanle
of hood llfe glorlratlon ln todavs ra nuslr. But as nanv send
thelr llves ln searrh of a hood ass, those who dwell ln the ghettos
of urhan Anerlra are ronstantlv seeklng a wav out. hrClvndon
Ball Randolh thought he found an exlt. Ihe lort Plerre, lL, natlve enrolled
at lndlan Rlver Connunltv College and |olned the srhools haskethall tean.
After a vear and a half, hoo dreans and rollege werent worklng out and
Ball turned to the streets. Ihe tra roved to he |ust thata tra. Reallzlng
the dead-end road he was travellng, he derlded to take hls rhanres ln the ra
gane.
l had too nanv nlggas falllng out ln the street shlt, he rerollerts. l was
llke, ann, l gotta nd nv wav out. l furked around and staved ln the nuth-
afurkln studlo. Uslng the studlo as hls sanrtuarv ald off. After rerordlng
a few trarks ln ZZ, Balls nuslr ended u ln the hands of havne Zane lone
half of the 0rlando-hased rodurtlon tean Ihe Runners, who are resonslhle
for a slew of hlts llke Rlrk Rosss hreakthrough hustlln) and fron there
thlngs hegan taklng off for Ball.
he, havne and nv whole rllrk nade ahout Z, J songs, Ball savs. We shot
then out ln the streets and raught a huzz llke never hefore. So, thls nade ne
helleve that a nlgga rould nake lt.
Now, wlth Ihe Runners rodurlng for evervone fron I.l. and Rlrk Ross to
Chrls Brown and R. Kellv, and hellng rraft the new sound of llorldas rurrent
novenent, Ball ls ronfortahlv osltloned as the rst artlst on thelr Runners
huslr 6rou lnrlnt.
Balls dlfferent than nost of these artlsts, ru Brett, other half of the Run-
ners, roslgns. he doesnt talk ahout the sane thlngs over and over. Youre
gonna he ahle to see he has sonethlng hlgger than |ust ra nuslr. lts nore
olltlral, lts ahout sonethlng. lts nuslr that reresents sonethlng hlgger
than the sane old stuff evervhodv else ls talklng ahout.
Balls rurrentlv worklng on hls dehut LP, Rehelllon huslr, an alhun where he
looks to send a nessage ronarahle to late reggae legend Boh harlev. Boh
harlev |had an] alhun ralled Rehel huslr. So, we rane u wlth that ldea, hut
were golng to hrlng lt to these davs and tlnes. And |ln] golng to tell nv
storv, the struggle, the gutter, nv nlgga. And glve a good nessage to the
eole and trv to rhange sone llves of these voung nlggas.
Words hv Randv Roer
P
a
t
i
e
n
t
l
y
W
a
i
t
i
n
g
+ ll 0Z0NE hA6
0Z0NE hA6 ll +I
I ll Brlttanv, Irae tha Iruth, Blork Z Blork nodel, lat B, Punkln, 6 Blg Iurk Waro Car Show lWaro, IX) Z ll r Ieeth 6 Slln of IIZ Venue lhouston, IX) J ll 6uest, Prlnress,
6 P Brown Cluh Crurlal for AIL Rerord Pool lAtlanta, 6A) + ll heshah hawklns 6 edra avls IUhS lallas, IX) S ll C-Lo 6 olowlte hang Ilne lNashvllle, IN) 6 ll avld
Banner, Slln Ihug, 6 Plav 6 Sklllz Rellant Arena for Partv 9J.Js rar show lhouston, IX) ! ll Kevshla Cole 6 6rand hussle Ihe Crlrket Cluh lNew 0rleans, LA) 8 ll Yung 1or, 0ddz
N Endz, Candlre, 6 Shawtv Lo on the set of Sllns vldeo shoot lAtlanta, 6A) 9 ll 1 Chrlstlon 6 Cool 6 re Cluh Skve lIana, lL) I ll Snlttv 6 honev harr Belvedere lhouston,
IX) II ll 1eanlse Challn 6 hallk Ahdul Plunn for 1Bs hlrthdav hash lNew York, NY) IZ ll 6rlt Bovs 6 Iun Iun on the set of the 6rlt Bovs Now Later Palnt vldeo shoot lhouston,
IX) IJ ll Iezz 6 guest Nokla Iheatre for KI+ Sunner 1an lallas, IX) I+ ll Shaklr Stewart 6 Shawn Iuhhv holldav hot I!.9s Blrthdav Bash lAtlanta, 6A) IS ll 1 +S 6 hs
Rlverrltv Ienlo Lounge lhlanl, lL) I6 ll 06 Ron C, Kllla Kvleon, 6 1 hl-C on the set of the Boss hogg 0utlawz Kee lt Plava vldeo shoot lhouston, IX) I! ll Rorko 6 hanl Chula
hot I!.9s Blrthdav Bash lAtlanta, 6A) I8 ll I-Rov 6 hls Bust lt Bahles C Connertlon for Plles ln-store alhun slgnlng l1arksonvllle, lL) I9 ll ueen 6 Chanllllonalre the
6allerlas Louls Vultton store for Bun Bs rlvate alhun release artv lhouston, IX)
Photo Credlts. 1anlro hawklns lS), 1ulla Beverlv l+,6,II,IJ,I+,I!), Knowledge lZ,I,IZ,I6,I9), Kurtls 6rahan lI), Luls Santana l9), harrus eWavne l!), hs Rlverrltv lJ), Ier-
renre Ivson lIS,I8), Vlnnet Bradshaw l8)
lahove L-R). Irlrk addv 6 Young 1eezv on the set of 1 Khaleds 0ut here 6rlndln ln Brooklvn, NY, Plthull 6 Roh 6 Bar Rlo for 1Bs hlrthdav hash ln houston, IX, avld Banner 6
Irae Bar Rlo for 1Bs hlrthdav hash ln houston, IX lPhotos. 1ulla Beverlv)
0Z0NE hA6 ll +I
+Z ll 0Z0NE hA6
w
hen vou thlnk ahout Iexas ra, allas ls rohahlv not the rltv
that rones to nlnd. Wlth houstons nuslr srene as dee and
vast as the state ltself, allas ronstantlv gets left out of the
equatlon. l dont thlnk |eole have] heard the allas sound
hefore, raerlrodurer lat Pln adnlts. But nv solo ro|ert ls uttlng the
allas sound out to the world.

Calllng south allas 0ak Cllff hone, lat Pln lsnt exaggeratlng ahout the
long rearh hls nuslr has had so far. Although hls Ball hard Entertalnnentl
Warner Brothers solo dehut Swag Srhool ls hls rst solld outlng, radlo dldnt
hesltate to latrh on to the extroverted raers sound, eserlallv 6et honev
and the u-teno Rark Ihat.

hv sltuatlon ls dlfferent than nost, savs the self-rorlalned rlass rlown,
llstlng off 1s, ronoters and radlo statlons who have suorted hln. Ihose
songs |helng hroke] at the sane tlne ls what heled us seal the deal wlth
Warner Brothers. Ihats reallv unheard of for lndle artlsts.

So ls not even havlng a solo nlxtae. Although lat Pln has nade aear-
anres on other raers and lahels offerlngs, lnrludlng the legendarv Swlsha
house nlxtaes, hls solo dehut wlll he exartlv that. haklng what he ralls
feel good nuslr, lat Pln savs that ever slnre he got hls rst kevhoard ln
hlgh srhool hes rettv nurh heen known as a heatnaker. After gettlng hls
rst larenent ln Z+ on Blg Iurks nlxtae, he reallzed the gane was wlde
oen. Alongslde hls rodurtlon artner, hr. Lee, he dellvered all of the trarks
for Swag Srhool.

Produrlng to ne ls an advantage herause hefore l even rreate a heat, l trv
to hear how l would ra on the song, he savs. Even though he was naklng
trarks long hefore he started slttlng, he was alwavs qulrk to start a freestvle
sesslon anv and evervwhere. Soon, he found out that he had skllls hoth on
the nlr and hehlnd the hoards. A few vears ago, when B.6. erforned at ISU,
where lat Pln was na|orlng ln ronnunlratlons, he reallzed that ralng
was sonethlng he wanted to take serlouslv.

Swag Srhool, whlrh features Iexas vets Lll Keke, Bun B, and Paul Wall and Bav
Area raer hlstah lAB, anong others, ls a nlxture of the rlasslr houston
sound he grew u on, Loulslana hooks, and Atlanta 88s. lat Pln savs that
rreatlve nlxture ls artuallv what denes allas sound.

Ihe |alhun tltle] ls what nv nuslr reresents, he savs. Ihat what we do ln
allas. Evervthlng we do, we gotta have swag wlth lt.
1arlnta howard
P
a
t
i
e
n
t
l
y
W
a
i
t
i
n
g
+Z ll 0Z0NE hA6
0Z0NE hA6 ll +J
P
a
t
i
e
n
t
l
y
W
a
i
t
i
n
g
I ll S Star Entertalnnent, Bulletroof, 6 1 Prlnre Arena Iheater for Lll Wavnes ronrert lhouston, IX) Z ll Bun B, Roh 6, 1 ue, 6 lntl Red the 6allerlas Louls Vultton store for
Bun Bs rlvate alhun release artv lhouston, IX) J ll 1 Blark N hlld 6 Bonose IV lzzvs vldeo shoot lNew 0rleans, LA) + ll Ra| Snoove 6 1 1lgga 1I the Prettv Nastv Nu-
es artv lNew 0rleans, LA) S ll 1 har 6 ueens Bunnles on the set of Bun Bs Youre Evervthlng lhouston, IX) 6 ll Blark 1ark 6 1 Srrean Esso for AIL Rerord Pool lAtlanta,
6A) ! ll Shawtv Lo 6 Shawtv on the set of Shawtv Los loollsh renlx vldeo shoot lhlanl, lL) 8 ll Ionv Neal 6 6ll 6reen on the set of 1 Khaleds 0ut here 6rlndln lBrooklvn,
NY) 9 ll 1 Srrean 6 on Cannon Phlllls Arena for hot I!.9s hlrthdav hash lAtlanta, 6A) I ll 1 rana 6 1 Khaled hot I!.9s Blrthdav Bash lAtlanta, 6A) II ll EZ, Roh 6,
6 hurrlrane Chrls on the set of Nothln Io A Boss vldeo shoot lhouston, IX) IZ ll I-Rov, Ierrenre Ivson, 6 1 +S SeaBreeze for Ierrenre Ivsons hlrthdav hash l1arksonvllle, lL)
IJ ll Blg Ran 6 Show lzzvs vldeo shoot lNew 0rleans, LA) I+ ll Blark 6 Wehhle Rhvthn Cltv for 1Bs hlrthdav hash lallas, IX) IS ll herredes Streets, hs Rlta, 6 Wendv av
IUhS lallas, IX) I6 ll Lll 1osh, guest, Bav Bav, lanond, guest, hurrlrane Chrls, 6 Ernest on the set of 1lgga 1ulre lBaton Rouge, LA) I! ll arlus hlles, Nellv, 6 1 ulnn Skvhox
lSt Louls, h0) I8 ll Lola Luv 6 1 en Phlllls Arena for hot I! Blrthdav Bash lAtlanta, 6A) I9 ll Beelow 6 BK on the set of 1lgga 1ulre lBaton Rouge, LA) Z ll Ashlev horton
6 Blgga Rankln +th of 1ulv artv l1arksonvllle, lL)
Photo Credlts. 1 Lash l!), 1ulla Beverlv l8,I,I+), Klng Yella lI6,I!,I9), Knowledge lI,Z,S,II), harrus eWavne lJ,+,IJ), hs Rlverrltv l6,9), Ierrenre Ivson lIZ,I8,Z), Ire uhh
lIS)
lahove L-R). Bahv 6 Lll Wavne Nokla Iheatre for KI+ Sunner 1an ln allas, IX lPhoto. 1ulla Beverlv), Lll 1on 6 Shawtv Putt Studlo !Z ln Atlanta, 6A lPhoto. Ben Rose), 1 B-o 6
hezeleo on the set of Youre Evervthlng ln houston, IX lPhoto. 1ulla Beverlv)
0Z0NE hA6 ll +J
++ ll 0Z0NE hA6
d
ont tell Shawtv Lo and Klller hlke, hut Atlanta lsnt the onlv rltv
that has two sldes. ln henhls, on one slde vou have ra vets
llke Sanlsh llv, Plava llv, Ion Skeenask and Sklnnv Pln. 0n
the other, there are new srhoolers llke Yo 6ottl and Kla Shlne.
Ra grou 1A6 ts sonewhere ln the nlddle.
We started out llstenlng to Ihree 6 |haa], Sanlsh llv, Plava llv, and Sklnnv
Pln that lald the ground for us dolng nuslr, savs one thlrd of the grou,
6ee. But now our sound ls lnfuenred hv Yo 6ottl and eole llke Pro|ert Pat.
We ronhlne hoth aserts.
Ihe theorv has worked well for the three-nan grou so far. 6rou nenhers
6ee and West handle rodurtlon dutles, whlle Wlz ras, though all three are
qulrk to rlarlfv that thev are nultl-talented. 6rowlng u ln south henhls,
thev dann near had to he.
henhls has a wav rlrher sound that goes hark to Stax |Rerords], 6ee savs.
We grew u llsten to a lot of the old lnln |nuslr] llke Al 6reen and avld
Rufn. l feel llke we have an advantage over eole that rone fron other
rltles herause so nanv eole rone fron henhls. Ihat old |soul] nuslr
heled us develo a strong harkground ln nuslr.
Ihelr rurrent slngle lurk hv Car takes the rlasslr U6K ronret a hlt further,
and has heen heavv ln the streets. Ihelr uronlng fall dehut huslr, Power
and Resert features 8Ball and rodurtlon work fron another henhls na-
tlve, suer rodurer Carlos Broadv. ue out on thelr own lahel, 1A6 Rerords
lnrororated, thev hoe to rearh all klnds of ra llsteners. We got the noh
feel to |the alhun], savs 6ee, referenrlng thelr trark wlth 8Ball, Young
Plnln and Ira Walk whlrh was rodured hv 1 hontav and features Unk.
lt has a lot of dlfferent stvles of nuslr. Were the next hlg ra grou to rone
out of the rltv. We do evervthlng. rodurlng, wrltlng, and arranglng.
ln fart, 1A6 savs that thelr alhun wlll he a resune of sorts for eole looklng
to huv trarks or songs fron then. But for now, thevre lntent on naklng sure
that thev are the next hlg grou to rone out of henhls. Wlth thelr alhun
due out thls fall, and thelr new nlxtae 1A6 hoh alreadv naklng rounds ln
the streets, 1A6 ls lnnltelv forused.
Evervhodv |ln the grou] wrltes, rodures and arranges, savs West. Everv-
hodv does thelr art to ronlete the uzzle. Were trvlng to he the next hlg art
to rone out of henhls, the nunher one lndle ra lahel. We do evervthlng.
Bv 1arlnta howard
P
a
t
i
e
n
t
l
y
W
a
i
t
i
n
g
++ ll 0Z0NE hA6
0Z0NE hA6 ll +S
I ll Rorko 6 Irae Ihe Beat rar show lallas, IX) Z ll Plthull Cluh Skve lIana, lL) J ll Paul Wall readlng 0Z0NE hot 9S.! lhouston, IX) + ll lnertla IUhS lallas, IX) S
ll 06 Ron C Bar Rlo for 1Bs hlrthdav hash lhouston, IX) 6 ll hr lrenrh 6 Chanllllonalre IUhS lallas, IX) ! ll 1ulla Beverlv 6 1 Prlnress Cut Rhvthn Cltv for 1Bs hlrthdav
hash lallas, IX) 8 ll Iral 6 1 Rage lNashvllle, IN) 9 ll Ionv Yavo 9J.J lhouston, IX) I ll Ihe rean 9J lNew 0rleans, LA) II ll 1 Blgg V 6 1 vnanlte Cluh hlllenlun
l6reenvllle, hS) IZ ll 1ason 6eter 6 hs Rlverrltv Phlllls Arena for hot I! Blrthdav Bash lAtlanta, 6A) IJ ll 1 hella Yella IUhS lallas, IX) I+ ll Lll Wlll Phlllls Arena for hot
I!.9s hlrthdav hash lAtlanta, 6A) IS ll 8Ball 6 h16 on the set of Bun Bs Youre Evervthlng lhouston, IX) I6 ll 6rand Prlx Esso for AIL Rerord Pool lAtlanta, 6A) I! ll llrst Ladv,
hlke hee of 6reen Cltv, 6 1 6rl IUhS lallas, IX) I8 ll loxx 6 1 Rage lNashvllle, IN) I9 ll 1 Chlll 6 6lo helrhlorre on the set of the Boss hogg 0utlawz Kee lt Plava vldeo
shoot lhouston, IX) Z ll helvln lolev 6 0Z0NE street tean nodels hekele 6 Ienlesha Ihe Venue lNew 0rleans, LA) ZI ll Snook da Rokkstarr Cluh hvnotlk lllorenre, SC) ZZ ll
1 1uhllee lzzvs vldeo shoot lNew 0rleans, LA) ZJ ll La Chat 6 Blgg V lhlsslssll) Z+ ll 1 B-o on the set of Bun Bs Youre Evervthlng lhouston, IX) ZS ll 1 Ro 6 Slnrere
Cluh Anersand for the Ale Botton nodel searrh lNew 0rleans, LA) Z6 ll 1 C Natze 6 1 Shlzn Studlo lnr for 0Z0NE nodel searrh lIana, lL) Z! ll 1 +S, 1 6, 6 1 Elenent
Sohe Llve lhlanl, lL) Z8 ll Shawtv Lo 6 Bahv on the set of loollsh renlx vldeo shoot lhlanl, lL) Z9 ll Blark Blll 6ates Phlllls Arena for hot I!.9s hlrthdav hash lAtlanta, 6A)
J ll Ben Baller on the set of the 6rlt Bovs Now Later Palnt vldeo shoot lhouston, IX) JI ll Corev Cleghorn 6 Cloud hodels IUhS lallas, IX) JZ ll Irev Prlnre 6 hlke hark Irae
6 Z-Ros llstenlng artv lhouston, IX) JJ ll Young Slff hIV 1ans AIL Week lnlng lAtlanta, 6A) J+ ll RawLI IUhS lallas, IX) JS ll Lll Ru Cluh hvnotlk lllorenre, SC)
Photo Credlts. Blgg V lZJ), Lvte l6,JI), Edward hall lI,+,S,!,II,J+), 1anlro hawklns l8,I8), 1ulla Beverlv lZI,JS), Knowledge lJ,9,IS,I9,Z+,J,JZ), Luls Santana lZ), hallk
Ahdul lZ!,Z8), harrus eWavne lI,Z,ZZ,ZS), hs Rlverrltv lI+,I6,Z9,JJ), Ierrenre Ivson lIZ,Z6), Ire uhh lIJ,I!)
lahove L-R). Shawtv Lo Phlllls Arena for hot I!.9s hlrthdav hash ln Atlanta, 6A lPhoto. hs Rlverrltv), avld Banner on the set of Bun Bs Youre Evervthlng ln houston, IX lPhoto.
Knowledge), Wehhle Ihe Venue ln New 0rleans, LA lPhoto. harrus eWavne)
0Z0NE hA6 ll +S
P
a
t
i
e
n
t
l
y
W
a
i
t
i
n
g
+6 ll 0Z0NE hA6
lts a relehratlon whenever a voung hl ho artlst rlses to nalnstrean
ronlnenre herause stereotvlrallv, thev hurn thelr fortune on gas-guzzllng
Esralades and overslzed 1esus leres that straln thelr nerks.
But lf Z-vear-old Leland Austln, otherwlse known as Yung LA, earns a heftv
avrherk, he lans to urrhase a rltv. l wanna save all the houses herause
rlght now, ln Atlanta, thevre tearlng down all the ro|erts, he savs. lf l had
onald Irun hurks, ld huv the hood and renovate lt.
Ihe aslrlng landlord hoes to nake nllllons through sllnglng rhvnes. ln
Z, Yung LA was lntrodured to the art forn when hls aunt wrote hln a
verse a verse he would rerlte to rlassnates through hls tenure ln nlddle
srhool. Eventuallv, the huddlng raer wrote hls own hars, and dlslaved hls
talent at rluh events and varlous nelghhorhoods ln Atlanta, 6eorgla.
Whlle the loral henonenon worked wlth a handful of snall lndeendent
lahels ln Z+, the artnershl was hrlef. l would get sold dreans, he
exlalns. Peole werent alwavs keelng lt real wlth ne. Ihev dldnt thlnk l
had what lt takes to take lt to the next level. So l went through a lot |ust to
get stahle.
Ihat lnrluded selllng narrotlrs for ve vears |ust to have sone sort of
l
ong hefore 0.1. a 1ulres ad-llhs nade hls slngle 6ettlng
honev, a reglonal rluh hanger, the raer horn 0tls Wllllans
1r. was alreadv llvlng u to the songs tltle.
l got a |oh ln the !th grade herause l derlded l wanted to start havlng
sone nonev ln nv orket, he reralls. At ahout IS |vears old] l qult
the |oh hut was stlll dolng nv thlng strong. Ihen l got lnto trouhle ln
srhool, so l had to start golng to alternatlve srhool. lron there l klnd
of droed out herause l thought lt wasnt reallv henettlng ne. At the
tlne l had to drlve at least +S nlnutes to go to srhool and l was rldlng
around wlth no llrense.
Ihough 0.1. dldnt have the drlve to stav ln srhool, nuslr steered hln
down a ath leadlng awav fron destrurtlon. ln ZS, he lntrodured
hlnself to the gane wlth hls rst nlxtae 0n Ihe Cone U wlth 1
Burn 0ne. hotlvated hv the llttle attentlon lt rerelved, 1ulre followed
wlth two nore nlxtaes, 0.1. a 1ulrenan. hood Classlrs hosted hv 1
uttv Laundrv and the 1 Are-asslsted 1ulre World.
ln the roress 0.1. has drafted an lnresslve rollahoratlon resune
over the last few vears worklng wlth artlsts llke Prlnress fron
Crlne hoh, laho, 6orllla Zoe, rodurer Shawtv Redd, and 6urrl
hane. however, 0.1. rlalns that he dldnt hlt avdav untll 6et-
tln honev found lts wav lnto rluhs.
Ihats the naln |song] l wanted to run wlth herause when
lt hlt the rluh, the resonse l get off that |was rrazv],
savs 0.1. ahout the hlt thats grew fron out of hls Boul-
derrrest nelghhorhood and lnto dlfferent arts of the
rountrv. l got eole hlttlng ne fron .C., Baltlnore,
Carollna, Iennessee, 0hlo, Wlsronsln. ln llke Wow,
that shlts golng rrazv.
Unfortunatelv, thlngs got even rrazler earller thls
vear for the huhhllng ra star. Ihls ast Arll reorts
surfared savlng that the 1ulrenan was shot elght
tlnes. Conarlng hls strength and ahllltv to heal
raldlv to X-hen ronlr rhararter Wolverlne, 0.1. left
the hosltal and was hark on the streets wlthln a nat-
ter of davs.
ln |ust glad that ln llvlng herause a lot of eole
arent so lurkv, nuses 0.1. who now suffers fron a
rhronlrallv alnful leg ln|urv. l got shot elght tlnes and
ln stlll llvlng.
Plrklng u where he left off, 0.1. has lans to dro a 6ang-
sta 6rlllz nlxtae wlth 1 rana whlle rontlnulng to hrand
hls own lahel, JZ Entertalnnent. ln slte of hls surress
taklng a shot at hln, 0.1. doesnt forsee a dav where hell
rhange who he ls.
ln not a out-of-world suerstar-tve artlst, he lnslsts.
ln ahout keelng lt real, keelng lt I. Ihats all l know,
thats all l was hrought u around. ln not turnlng no fares on
nohodv. l llke to lav nv art and thats ne.
hs Rlverrltv
P
a
t
i
e
n
t
l
y
W
a
i
t
i
n
g
+6 ll 0Z0NE hA6
0Z0NE hA6 ll +!
P
a
t
i
e
n
t
l
y
W
a
i
t
i
n
g
I ll llo Rlda Ihe Venue lNew 0rleans, LA) Z ll ruv 6 Young Chanre lNashvllle, IN) J ll 1 Ra| Snoove 6 lzzv lzzvs vldeo shoot lNew 0rleans, LA) + ll Nellv hot 9S.!
lhouston, IX) S ll Partners N Crlne lzzvs vldeo shoot lNew 0rleans, LA) 6 ll Pln 6 6 Wehhle Cluh honev lharon, 6A) ! ll 1 ue the 6allerlas Louls Vultton store for Bun
Bs rlvate alhun release artv lhouston, IX) 8 ll 1 Blg Cheese 6 1 E l Cuttln lzzvs vldeo shoot lNew 0rleans, LA) 9 ll Ionva Ierelle, Aleshla Steele, 6 hs Rlta IUhS lallas,
IX) I ll 1azze Pha Phlllls Arena for hot I! Blrthdav Bash lAtlanta, 6A) II ll 1 holldav Esso for AIL Rerord Pool lAtlanta, 6A) IZ ll 1 ulnn Skvhox lSt Louls, h0) IJ ll 1
1udgenental Patrhwerk for BloodRaws llstenlng artv lAtlanta, 6A) I+ ll hl-C 6 06 Ron C Irae 6 Z-Ros llstenlng artv lhouston, IX) IS ll lzzv 6 nodels lzzvs vldeo shoot
lNew 0rleans, LA) I6 ll 1 Boss 6 1 hl-C Irae 6 Z-Ros llstenlng artv lhouston, IX) I! ll 1 Chlll 6 hls son lhouston, IX) I8 ll 1oev ueens 6 huggsv lzzvs vldeo shoot lNew
0rleans, LA) I9 ll Bav Bav on the set of 1lgga 1ulre lBaton Rouge, LA) Z ll Sark awg 6 1 Anno Ihe Beat !IJ lhouston, IX) ZI ll 6oldenrhlld 6 Slln Ihug on the set of the
6rlt Bovs Now Later Palnt vldeo shoot lhouston, IX) ZZ ll Breneshla on the set of the 6rlt Bovs Now Later Palnt vldeo shoot lhouston, IX) ZJ ll Irlnl 6 Paro Ihe Beat rar show
lallas, IX) Z+ ll Ionv Neal 6 K1 hlnes IUhS lallas, IX) ZS ll Blg Chlef Nokla Iheatre for KI+ Sunner 1an lallas, IX) Z6 ll S Cent 9J.J lhouston, IX) Z! ll Slxx hann 6
Young B Cluh lCP lhouston, IX) Z8 ll Randv Roer, Ierrenre Ivson, 6 Yanrev Rlrhardson Phlllls Arena for hot I!.9s hlrthdav hash lAtlanta, 6A) Z9 ll honlka 0llnew, 6 hlrha
Porat Sohe Llve lhlanl, lL) J ll Young B on the set of Bun Bs Youre Evervthlng lhouston, IX) JI ll Krazv Yogl Cluh Vovage for Plles hvsare Serret Show l0rlando, lL) JZ ll
havor Rav Nagln the Essenre lestlval lNew 0rleans, LA) JJ ll Lll Iwlst IUhS lallas, IX) J+ ll Lex +th of 1ulv artv l1arksonvllle, lL) JS ll Roh 6, Crlstal Buhhlln, 6 Crlsro Kldd
the 6allerlas Louls Vultton store for Bun Bs rlvate alhun release artv lhouston, IX)
Photo Credlts. Edward hall lZJ,JJ), 1anlro hawklns lZ), 1ulla Beverlv lZS), Klng Yella lIZ,I9), Knowledge l+,!,I+,I6,Z,ZI,ZZ,Z6,Z!,J,JS), hallk Ahdul lI!,Z9,JZ), harrus eWavne
lI,J,S,8,IS,I8), hs Rlverrltv lII,IJ,Z8), Pln 6 l6), Ierrenre Ivson lI,JI,J+), Ire uhh l9,Z+)
lahove L-R). Ihree 6 haa Sohe Llve ln hlanl, lL lPhoto. hallk Ahdul), Plles readlng 0Z0NE IZ 1anz ln 0rlando, lL, Ihe 6ane Phlllls Arena for hot I! Blrthdav Bash ln
Atlanta, 6A lPhotos. Ierrenre Ivson)
0Z0NE hA6 ll +!
+8 ll 0Z0NE hA6
f
resh off the set of hls new lahel nate Bun Bs vldeo shoot for hls
soon to he Southern anthen Youre Evervthlng, Ra-A-Lots fresh-
est fare ann ls soaklng lt all ln. 0nlv slgned to the legendarv
lahel for |ust one nonth, ls alreadv standlng alongslde stars llke
avld Banner, h16 and Rlrk Ross. Sav what vou wlll, hut there are eole who
have heen ralng thelr entlre llves and rant sav thevve net one of then.
ann ls ahout to he on IV wlth then after |ust ralng four vears.
lt was nv rst tlne helng ln front of a ranera and seelng |how] evervthlng
got he organlzed, savs the shvlv, as lf he |ust reallzed what haened all
over agaln. lt was a real good exerlenre.
Slnre hls song Love he lnarted on allas radlo earller thls sunner, ann
s star ower ls rlvallng that of the one that slts ln the nlddle of Cowhovs
stadlun. Sanllng a Pln C llne fron hls raneo on 6urrl hanes l Know Whv
and alrlng lt wlth rhvne radenre slnllar to Slln Ihug and ES6s Ihrow Ya
hands U, ann has rrafted a song keelng hls rltvs rurrent wln streak ln
the hlt rolunn allve.
Reresentlng the 0ak Cllff sertlon of allas, doesnt renenher growlng u
wlth nanv role nodels. All he ran rerall are otlons llnlted to worklng a |oh,
golng to srhool or selllng drugs. huslr dldnt take a front seat ln hls llfe untll
he derlded that nelther one of those three avenues reallv lnterested hln.
Anvhodv ran ra, all vouve got to do ls ra ahout whats golng on ln vour
llfe, savs , lnslstlng that hls nuslr wlll he strlrtlv for the hood rather than
trvlng to rove hes the ultlnate enree. l alnt trvlng to he real lvrlral and
all that, ln |ust ronlng stralght fron the streets, stralght fron the hood.
l dont want to he ronared to nohodv. l |ust want |then] to sav, ann
nakes good nuslr.
got hls start naklng nuslr as a nenher of the NlL lan arronvn for Never
lorget the LordlLove or Nlggas lor Llfe), a rllque ronrlsed of hln and hls
frlends. lrustrated wlth how thlngs were golng as a grou, thev derlded that
rerordlng solo songs would hrlng the results thev wanted. Ihe lan worked
to erfertlon for ann as Love he raught on lnstantlv.
holng to follow ln the footstes of hls rhart-tolng lnfuenres Young 1eezv
and Lll Wavne, lans on ushlng out + to 6 nore slngles hefore he dros a
nlxtae or alhun.
l want eole to know ne as a erson hefore l start dolng nlxtaes and
Cs, he savs. ln down for the eole, ln dolng lt for eole, and ln dolng
lt all for allas.
hs Rlverrltv
P
a
t
i
e
n
t
l
y
W
a
i
t
i
n
g
+8 ll 0Z0NE hA6
0Z0NE hA6 ll +9
P
a
t
i
e
n
t
l
y
W
a
i
t
i
n
g
S ll 0Z0NE hA6
Its been 11 years sInce MJG came out wIth
a solo album. a lot has changed sInce
thenbut has he?
Im mJG, the nIGGa wIth the versatIle style // CheCk your Calendar realIze that I been here for awhIle
// when I was younG I took the soul up out of rhythm and blues // when hIp hop orIGInated slowly
paId my dues // and take my shoes, and try to walk a mIle In my past // wIthout them salt shaker sheIs-
ters tryIn to Get In that ass // Its been too lonG, you muthafuCkers fIttIn to feel the south // shut
your mouth, no, shut your do you lIttle freak ass hoe // Im bout tIred of all thIs damn east and west
Coast shIt // espeCIally when other nIGGas tryIn to work In thIs bItCh // I paId my dues to the fullest,
worked too God damn hard // for you to kIll the Industry and leave me out of a Job // you nIGGas
traIn yourself, to maIntaIn yourself // and now you playIn wIth enouGh rope to aCtually hanG your-
self // but you dont Care, hell, you Constantly fallIn deep In the plot // mesmerIzed from all the
bItChes and the money you Got // you must of forGot they saId that rap would never last ten years //
and If youre selfIsh to the faCt, Im tryIn to have a Career // now lIsten here, what do we have, we Got
probable Cause // to keep the pen on the paper and the GloCk In your drawers, nIGGa
---mJG, reason for rhyme, from the reason for rhyme soundtraCk, 1997
W
hlle a generatlon ga has heen revalent ln
sorletv at large for the last derade, nowhere
does lt nake ltself nore known than ln hl ho
nuslr. Sure, NBA All-Star Chrls Paul nav he slngle-handedlv
redenlng what lt ls t he a olnt guard, hut vou ran het
vour hotton dollar that hell glve ros to lslah Ihonas and
0srar Rohlnson when glven the rhanre. When 1anle loxx
won an 0srar, he nade sure to nentlon how Sldnev Portler
oened doors for hln to walk through. But sonetlnes, ln
hl ho, we dont offer the sane rourtesv.
Raers who aved the wav for others often wlnd u get-
tlng looked at as old hv the new srhool. Ihese are the
sane artlsts who fought for our rhanre to esrae rensor-
shl, land novle roles, get sonsorshls and rontlnue to
nd new wavs to generate lnrone and lnrrease hl hos
value. Ihe dlsresert has herone evldent, wlth new artlsts
hunhllng well-known lvrlrs at trlhute shows and other ra-
ers naklng YouIuhe vldeos rldlrullng those who aved the
wav for then.
ln all falrness, nanv of the veterans are gulltv of look-
lng down at thelr vounger rounterarts as well. When thev
arent dlsrredltlng thelr rlght of artlstlr exresslon or thelr
dlrert ronnertlon to thelr ahllltv, thev sroff at thelr ahllltv to
raltallze on hl ho helng a na|or outlet for hlark nales
to nake legal nonev and rovlde for thelr fanllles.
lortunatelv, there are stlll artlsts llke h16 around.
Slnre rrawllng onto the ra radar as a nenher of the lronlr
Southern hl ho duo 8Ball 6 h16 ln the earlv I99s, h16
has herone of the nost reserted artlsts of hls tlne. hls
tradenark fows and dlstlnrt volre ls one that wlll nake
vou slt through an entlre song fron an artlst vou nav not
even llke, |ust to get to hls raneo aearanre.
After startlng off lavlng serond ddle to 8Balls donl-
natlng voral and hvslral resenre, h16 energed ln the
nld-to-late 9s as one of the errest enrees on the nlr.
hls I99! solo effort No hore 6lorv roved that he rould
hold down an entlre alhun hv hlnself. Iwo vears later, ads
for a follow-u oed u ln varlous nagazlnes and got
nentloned ln a roule lntervlews, hut wlth Ball 6 6s status
on thelr forner lahel hone Suave house rerords falllng,
the roosed ro|ert never saw llght of dav.
Now, after lt stos wlth 1C0R and Bad Bov rerords, h16 ls
hark on the solo trall ronotlng hls new solo effort Ihls
hlght Be the av. Iodav, the trall starts ln fanlllar sur-
roundlngs
0Z0NE hA6 ll SI
SZ ll 0Z0NE hA6
Where are vou rlght now! Are vou on the road
worklng!
ln ln henhls. lve heen hark and forth hetween
here and Atlanta. ln worklng a lot ln the studlo,
worklng on future u-and-ronlng ro|erts and
stuff llke that.
6o ahead and tell us a llttle ahout thls new solo
ro|ert that voure ahout to rone out wlth.
lts ralled Ihls hlght Be Ihe av. ln reallv sav-
lng that thls nlght he the dav ln ahout to dro
sonethlng fresh, new and hot ln hl ho. lve al-
wavs heen known fron 8Ball 6 h16. lts not noth-
lng hrand new ln that sense hut lts |ust sonethlng
new fron h16. lve heen dolng a lot features wlth
8Ball 6 h16 stuff, so, thls nlght he the dav rlght
here. Ihats how the tltle rane. lts a |olnt venture
wlth h16 huslr, 6rown lolk huslr and ++ huslr.
l llke the dlrertlon hl ho ls golng ln rlght now
and evervhodvs exresslng thenselves ln a whole
hunrh of dlfferent wavs. l feel llke thls ls a good
tlne for ne to glve then a llttle nore h16.
What do vou llke ahout the dlrertlon that hl ho
ls golng rlght now! lts rare to hear an 06 ln the
gane sav that herause a lot of rats are alwavs
ronlalnlng ahout how voung rats are nesslng
lt u.
l llke that lt ls oen now for dlfferent tves of
stvles and how eole ran exress thenselves. l
rant exert for a voung nan now to do the sane
thlng that l dld when l was hls age. l had to do
what nade sense to ne. lt would he real hlased of
ne to sav that l dont llke |sone of the new klds].
hv gane lan nlght not neressarllv work for
the next nan and vlre versa. how ran vou knork
surress! l rant knork surress. l rant he nad at
thls nan lf hes feedlng hls fanllv, lf hes eatlng, lf
hes dolng thlngs that he ran nake an lnvestnent
wlth, dolng thlngs and go lares that hes never
heen hefore, vou know! Ihats real llfe. how ran
vou sto that! how ran vou knork the hustle!
Youve heen ahle to see raers go fron |ust havlng
rerord deals to now naklng nllllons and tourlng the
world and dolng novles and all that stuff. how nurh
of a role do vou thlnk vou laved ln oenlng u
those doors for eole!
lve laved a hell of a role. l helleve ln thls hl
ho englne, ln llke the hatterv. ln llke the no-
tor, vou rant run wlthout lt. l thlnk l lav a hlg
role herause at the tlne |8Ball 6 h16] rane along
the South wasnt hot llke lt ls now. Ihe sotllght
wasnt on the South llke lt ls now. Evervhodv
was talklng ahout the South hut wasnt nohodv
talklng ahout henhls as far as ra. We |ust ket
grlndlng and dolng our thlng. lt wasnt no hatred
on another roast or another area or nothlng llke
that, we |ust dld us. Ihats whv lf the sound was
on the East roast or West roast, lt dldnt natter.
lts a genulne love for what vou do. You shouldnt
let none of that rloud lt herause we rane lnto the
gane when eves werent on the South llke that. We
denltelv laved a na|or art ln naklng hl ho
and ra nuslr nore aeallng to the nasses.
lts lronlr that vou sald the nasses herause a lot
of vour fans have heen down slnre dav one when
llke vou sald, no one was reallv rherklng for the
South. As hoth a raer and a fan, dld vou en|ov
helng a art of thls Southern novenent nore
hefore lt herane a henonenon, or have vou
en|oved lt nore slnre lt herane the oular thlng!
l guess vouve got to have a llttle hlt of hoth to
nake lt all work. l llke lt hoth wavs. l llked when
lt was a serret herause l knew we had heat here
all the tlne, so of rourse ln golng to feel that
wav herause l was horn and ralsed ln the South.
Nowadavs the sotllght ls on the South, whlrh ls
rool too. But at the sane tlne, now all eves are
on vou and vouve got to outdo what vou thought
vou rould do. Evervhodvs watrhlng now. When
lt was a serret vou rould navhe get awav wlth a
stunhle or a trl, hut now vou know that wlth all
eves on vou, vouve got to alnost he erfert.
how have vou welroned that rhallenge!
We |ust ket dolng us. We |ust felt llke lf vou ran
aeal to a rertaln fan hase then vou should he
ahle to work rettv nurh anvwhere. We |ust dld lt,
nan. l know lt sounds klnd of slnle, hut lt reallv
was |ust hard work, nan. lt was |ust how lt was
and when lt got rough, lnstead of harklng out and
runnlng awav fron the rhallenge, we |ust dug ln
deeer. Ihats how we fared the rhallenge. We
were |ust worrled ahout dolng us. We werent get-
tlng off lnto the negatlve stuff. No nane-ralllng
and talklng shlt.
lor the longest, and even now, we hear harkhand-
ed ronlenents savlng that h16 ls the doestln
the South. 0r h16 ls doefor a Southern ra-
er. how do vou feel when vou hear that! o vou
take lt as a ronllnent!
A lot of lt ls egos. Ihe ronllnents are true hut
the lntentlons are for another reason. A lot of
tlnes eole glve vou ronllnents to nake
thenselves look good or to he olltlral Sonetlnes
thev feel lts the rlght tlne or the rlght lare to
glve vou a ronllnent. 0ne of the naln reasons
ln dolng thls alhun now ls herause l feel llke ln
rettv nurh the roldest ln the gane rlght now.
No dlsresert to anvhodv hut l dont thlnk no one
ran hold ne rlght now, voung or old. l dont thlnk
thelr rreatlvltv level ls there. lts good hut l thlnk
nlne ls hetter.
how do vou feel ahout the rurrent rreatlvltv level
ln hl ho rlght now! As a fan, lt |ust seens that
evervhodv ls raught u ln who uts out the nost
lnstead of the hest.
l llke the hov I-Paln, lts llke evervthlng he
tourhes turns gold. Youve got to renenher at the
sane tlne, whlle thevre uslng the nan llke that,
lts not then who naklng those hlts. Youve got to
resert I-Paln herause that nan ls naklng those
hlts and wlthout hln on a lot of these songs those
songs wouldnt have heen hlts. Bovs dont llke to
glve rredlt llke that where rredlt ls due. l know lf
I-Paln got on one of nv songs lts gonna nake
lt +% nore than what lt rouldve heen wlthout
hln. hes hot rlght now. hes alwavs heen hot
llke that hut folks |ust gured lt out. You have to
glve rredlt where rredlt ls due. Ihls gane ls reallv
|ust llke the NBA or hasehall or anvthlng. Youve
got a whole hunrh of lavers, and evervhodvs
good, hut theres onlv a few that lav and ln one
of those. lts onlv a few who ran sell a nllllon
rerords. You ran rone out wlth all the all the hllng
and have a hlt for a sunner or two hut that does
not nake vou one of the greatest. ln not trvlng
to he rorkv or arrogant, hut thats true, lts onlv
a few greats. When hlrhael 1ordan was lavlng lt
wasnt ten hlrhael 1ordans ln the league at the
sane tlne and a lot of these rats, vou know thev
rone out, thev sell a lot of rerords, thev nake a
lot of qulrk nonev and that dont nake vou the
greatest though.
what does It take to be ConsIdered the
Greatest? Is It ComInG out wIth seven
Group albums In a Career that spans
over 15 years? Is It havInG an entIre
GeneratIon of people able to reCIte more
than 10 of your rhymes on the spot
when asked? Is It havInG random people
Come up to you In the Club sayInG your
musIC defIned a part of theIr lIfe? or Is
It beInG able to Capture a poInt In tIme
wIth every word you Jot down, or every
thouGht you express?
baCk In 1993 I went natIonwIde, Im Get-
tIn tIred // of playInG the underdoG
whIle most of the other artIsts rIde for
freeeee // stuff I have seen In a Industry
that fInIsh other people but It aInt Gone
fInIsh me // you Got them one hItter
quItters, flowIn wIth the maIn straIn //
your next hItter quItter, soundInG lIke
the same thanG // a plaIn shame, I be
droppInG them hIts when you least ex-
peCt It // and all the Group stuCk In the
trends they Get eJeCted // wIth the quICk-
ness, thIs has happened to many Ive been
a wItness // at one tIme It bumped, but
now you wonder what Is It? // Its that
breakbeat, the one that he use the one
that they use // the one that she use, one
of them thInGs thats been abused // by
a few mo you feel me, you know? // or
else you too slow, up here lIke you all
that or somethIn // lIke maaan forGet a
new flow, now you know // Im mJG I tell
the other sIde of the story // for those
who dont hear me no more Glory
-mJG, no more Glory, from 1997s no
more Glory
how has lt heen worklng solo agaln! And lf vou
ran ronare to how lt was when vou were work-
lng on No hore 6lorv, lease do.
Worklng solo to ne ls llke, reallv fun. ln alwavs
dolng stuff, ln alwavs ln the studlo. You know l
rodure and wrlte, so l stav ln the studlo a lot. So
ne worklng solo ls klnd of llke a nornal thlng to
ne and lts reallv the sane roress l use when ln
dolng the 8hall 6 h16 stuff. But as far as ronar-
lng lt to No hore 6lorv l would sav lts reallv no
ronarlson herause thevre reallv hoth on thelr
own, hut l stlll trv to nake sure that the rontent
ls sonethlng vou ran understand. ln |ust trvlng
to stlrk to what nakes sense and shlt llke that. l
guess ln that sense thev would he the sane hut
thevre reallv two totallv dlfferent ro|erts.
how dld the derlslons rone ahout to do solo
alhuns!
We were |ust trvlng to stav fresh. We alreadv had
done a few grou alhuns so we were |ust trvlng to
hreak off and do a llttle solo thlng, a alhun and
nake a llttle extra rhange. lt reallv wasnt a long
drawn out lan. We |ust rane to a olnt where we
derlded to do solo ro|erts.
What was vour nlndstate when vou nade the alhun
0Z0NE hA6 ll SJ
where the rover art ls a hurnlng Confederate fag!
You soke ahout a few thlngs that were olltlral
hut the rest was |ust stralght u real llfe shlt. What
were vou golng through at that tlne that resulted
ln that klnd of nuslr!
At the tlne, lt was rettv nurh the sane ol voung
nlgga shlt. l wasnt reallv olltlral or nothlng llke
that. We were havlng a dehate ahout the fags ln
6eorgla. l rohahlv was looklng at lt ln the news,
vou know ln a news head, l stav u on the head-
llne News and CNN. lt was a lot of olltlrs on that
stuff. lt was |ust one of those thlngs that rrossed
nv nlnd, lt reallv wasnt nothlng.
Ihat sald, do vou thlnk that nuslr should he ex-
erted to refert whats golng on rlght now, ese-
rlallv ln tlnes llke these! l know a lot of eole sav
that nuslr ls suosed to he entertalnlng and thev
dont have to talk ahout whats golng on, hut...
l thlnk that lt alwavs wlll. Berause lts so nanv
eole dolng nuslr, l dont thlnk lt should he
anvhodvs ohllgatlon to nake sure that thelr nuslr
referts |olltlrs]. l dont thlnk nost nuslrlans
lrk u an lnstrunent to rhange whats golng on
ln the world. l |ust dont helleve lt. lt nlght |he-
rone] that, hut lts not generallv the reason that
vou would start lavlng nuslr. Evervhodv nakes
a rollertlve effort to at least do sonethlng llke
that. Sonetlnes thats enough, hut l dont thlnk
anv artlst or nuslrlan should even he ressured or
feel llke that herause thats not thelr sklll, thats
not thelr |oh. Ihats not what nuslr ls for. huslr
ls a art of llfe. You got nuslr at funerals, nuslr
at weddlngs, nuslr when vou ght, nuslr when
vou rrv, there ls nuslr for all thlngs. l dont thlnk
l should ressure anv other artlst or look down
on anv other artlst herause thevre |ust dolng
nuslr for nuslr and lf that nuslr haens to have
a nessage ln lt, rool. l thlnk that hv the nunher
of eole dolng nuslr, overall, nuslr wlll alwavs
refert the tlnes herause vou have those tve of
eole that wlll alwavs nake those tve of songs.
But l dont thlnk lt should a ohllgatlon herause lts
|ust not falr. Ihere are eole that have rareers
and |ohs where that reallv ls thelr ohllgatlon. Ihev
get ald to do stuff llke that. Let a rerordlng artlst
he a rerordlng artlst.
Can vou tell us sone detalls ahout vour alhun,
llke sone of the rodurers vou worked wlth, and
sone of the rontent!
0ur rodurtlon was done hv ne and nv rodur-
tlon tean, Eh Beats. Were golng to he dolng a lot
of stuff on nv u and ronlng ro|erts, the 8Ball
6 h16 ro|ert, and hoefullv worklng wlth a lot
of other artlsts ln the near future. lve got one
song ralled You Cant 6et Rld of he. You ran
trv all vou want, hut vou rant rount ne out. You
ran sav l alnt good enough or vou ran sav, hes
heen here too long, hut vou rant get rld of ne. l
got a |olnt wlth 8Ball ralled What Would You o
thats haslrallv talklng ahout what would haen
lf vou husted ln and vour glrl was wlth another
dude. lve got another one ralled 6angster,
6angster thats real hot. lts on sone gangster,
gangster shlt. l got one wlth Slln fron IIZ, nan,
lts hot. lts llke one of those sunner |olnts that
evervhodvs gonna he rolllng to. Llke l sald, l ran
go on and on, nan. l got vou fron the sunner
|olnts to the gangster, gangster to the shlt ahout
the hltrhes. lts all on there, nan. ln not savlng
ln the greatest, ln |ust savlng ln one of then.
ln the last lntervlew vou had wlth us, we asked
vou ahout the Bad Bov sltuatlon and lf vou were
satlsed wlth the nuslr ronlng out. You sald vou
stlll had rreatlve rontrol hut vou |ust had to work
wlth dlfferent rodurers and what not and l no-
tlred voure worklng wlth dlfferent eole on thls
one as well. oes lt ever hother vou when vour
fans stlll exert evervthlng to he llke a I-hlx heat
fron the Suave davs!
lron a fans ersertlve, l would llke all nv
favorlte grous to stlll he together and use the
sane heats. But ln realltv and eserlallv fron
the lndustrv slde, vou know that doesnt haen
herause dlfferent eole rhoose dlfferent aths
at dlfferent tlnes. Ihls rodurer or thls artlst
go dlfferent wavs or trv sonethlng dlfferent or
navhe thev feel thev ran nake nore nonev. lts
|ust lnosslhle. Yeah, vou get those rare grous
sonetlnes thats all the wav down through tlne,
even hark ln the Ientatlons davs. You get those
rare grous sonetlnes who were lurkv enough
to work wlth the sane rodurer for thelr whole
rareer, hut lts dlfferent reasons for that tve of
stuff. You understand that eole hond llke that.
he and 8Ball have heen together for so long
herause were frlends. Were real genulne frlends,
we was frlends rst. A lot of these rats |ln grous]
were horn and ralsed dlfferent lares. Ihev llved
dlfferent tve of llves, thev got dlfferent tves
of ersonalltles and thev dont know earh other
untll thev get wlth earh other |as a ra grou].
You rant exert for that to work forever. Sone
nlght work and thats |ust the realltv of lt. You
dont have honds llke Run hC and 1an haster 1av
herause vou know lt alnt llke that no nore. You
have to have thls hond and sonethlng genulne to
reallv nake lt and stlrk together.
As an artlst, how was lt ad|ustlng to worklng wlth
new rodurers even datlng hark to the Sare Age
lorever alhun!
lor nost of our rareer, overall we stlll have heen
ln rontrol of our rodurtlon. 0ur rst two or three
ro|erts l rettv nurh rodured all of that nvself
and then fron that olnt we worked wlth another
rodurer, lt was onlv through ne. So stlll, lt was
|ust onlv ne and hln ronlng u wlth heats and
ronrets and stuff and after that olnt, after
Suave, we dld the lndeendent thlng and l ro-
dured half of the Sare Age lorever alhun. When
we went to Bad Bov, l dldnt reallv get no rodur-
tlon on that. l got on nv wrltlng rraft herause
the nore l rodured, l nade hlts. But ln known
as a wrlter and raer so l rant get lnto a ool
of rodurers and start ghtlng wlth then. l had
to forus on nv wrltlng herause l know ln the end
l stlll have rreatlve rontrol. Iheres no use ln ne
hurklng the svsten llke, Naw, l ran rodure too,
nan, and throwlng nv ego around. lt was alreadv
unteen rodurers trvlng to get thelr work ln. We
went that route hut lt was rool herause we were
haslrallv klrklng and ulllng what we wanted and
stlll ronlng u wlth our own ronrets. 0n thls new
solo |olnt, l trled to go hark hands-on wlth the
rodurtlon as far as ne and nv tean and |ust do
lt llke that, herause overall nost of our alhuns
are rodured ln-house.
ln naklng thls solo C, dld vou ever lnaglne
vourself not onlv helng around for thls long hut
also helng a solo artlst!
Yeah, l rould klnd of lnaglne. Reallv, thats all
a nlgga rould do hark then. llaughs) Ihat was a
art of a nlgga naklng lt thls far. A nlgga rould
lnaglne lt, a nlgga rould see lt, a nlgga was trvlng
to hrlng that shlt to llfe. Ihe tve of energv we
were uttlng lnto thls thlng ls what got us here.
Berause we rould see thls dav then and we dldnt
let nothlng ln hetween deter us.
When do vou thlnk vou started to energe nore
as a solo lvrlrlst! Berause earlv on, when a 8Ball
6 h16 ro|ert would dro, eole would |ust sav,
Ihat new 8Ball ls tlght. lt seens llke eole
dldnt start savlng the whole grous nane untll
0n Io 0f the World rane out.
l sav around Z. Even lf lt nlght have heen
hefore then, ln |ust savlng thats how l felt.
Reallv! What was golng on ln Z that nakes vou
reallv thlnk vou started ronlng lnto nore of vour
own!
l reallv sunned u evervthlng l dld through the
9s. l reallv ralrulated evervthlng that l had done
through rodurtlon, to wrltlng, to how l rerord
and evervthlng. l trled to take what l had learned
and ollsh lt to nake lt even hetter. You know l
had to go hark and reevaluate who l had herone
and how l rould take thls lnage and sound and
the wav l seak and fow to another level. Ihat
was evaluatlon tlne. l looked hark on the stuff
that l nade and trled to analvze then. 0n earh
one, l had to he llke, What dld l do on thls one!
how dld l lnrove on thls one! What dld l learn
hv dolng thls! l trled to add lt all u. Slnre then
untll now lts heen a whole new nlsslon, stralght
ahead, Sare Age. l know theres stlll nore nls-
takes to he nade hut l feel llke the ones as far as
nv ralng and nv rreatlvltv that l alreadv nade,
l helleve that l learned fron those and heled ne
rreate nv shlt hetter.
host of vour fans onlv know vou through vou nu-
slr slnre vou rane out at a tlne when fans werent
all u ln thelr favorlte raers huslness. ln a tlne
when artlst vlrtuallv sell thelr llves, real or fake,
do vou arerlate the fart that not a lot of eole
know anvthlng ahout vour ersonal llfe!
l arerlate that shlt and at the sane tlne lts
ahout how vou deal wlth lt when eole trv to get
ln vour huslness. Peole love vou, hut thev have
resert vou too. A lot fans dont understand, hut
lt nlght he a tlne or a erlod or whatever that l
|ust want to llve nv regular llfe. l nlght not want
to he a suerstar llke that. Sonetlnes, how the
suerstar rones off to eole deternlnes how
thev wlll treat hln hark. Sone eole want to he
the suerstar thats ln the sotllght all the tlne,
or vou ran he the suerstar thats not ln the sot-
llght all the tlne. lts reallv u to the suerstar on
whlrh llfe he wants to lrk or when he rhooses to
walk that road. l helleve the raneras are aro-
rlate for sone thlngs hut not vour whole llfe.
As a grown nan ln thls huslness do vou sonetlnes
slt hark and elther laugh or |ust nod vour head
when vou see artlsts, voung and old, ghtlng for
fare tlne! Puttlng nore forus on helng known for
what thev do and not helng good at what thev do!
Yeah, herause lts llke, what do vou want to do!
o vou want to he an artor or a nuslrlan! o vou
want the nuslr to ut vou ln a osltlon to he ahle
to art sonetlnes herause vouve got these skllls,
or do vou want to he a nuslrlan who started out
to he a nuslrlan and the artlng avs so good that
now vou onlv art! he, l want to he a nuslrlan
whos known for helng a nuslrlan, or an artlst
or raer or whatever vou want to rall lt. lf l do
a novle or two or three or four, l |ust want to he
known for helng the nuslrlan whos dolng the
novle, not the artor who used to he a nuslrlan
whos dolng a novle. lf ln artlng or lavlng
hall or dolng whatever, ln stlll a nuslrlan and a
wrlter. Ihats what got ne ln a osltlon to he ahle
to do anv of that other stuff and thats what lts
stlll all ahout. ln not trvlng to take over another
nans rofesslon. 0ther rats out there are glfted
ln thelr eld |ust llke ln glfted at what l do. ll
0Z0NE hA6 ll SJ
0Z0NE hA6 ll SS
I ll Rlrk Ross on the set of 1 Khaleds 0ut here 6rlndln lBrooklvn, NY) Z ll Irae Rellant Arena for 9J.J rar show lhouston, IX) J ll Wendv av IUhS lallas, IX) + ll
Raheen the Prettv Nastv Nues artv lNew 0rleans, LA) S ll 1 Slln Ihe Edge for 0Z0NE artv lIallahassee, lL) 6 ll 6 hark Cluh Crurlal for AIL Rerord Pool lAtlanta, 6A)
! ll 6uest, Kevln Weekes, 6 Yanrev Rlrhardson Phlllls Arena for hot I! Blrthdav Bash lAtlanta, 6A) 8 ll Sklllz 6 Slln Ihug IUhS lallas, IX) 9 ll Seventeen, I0E, 6 1 B-o
on the set of Bun Bs Ihats 6angsta lPort Arthur, IX) I ll 1 Nastv 6 Rlrkv P IZ 1anz l0rlando, lL) II ll Llndv Vllla lontana for 6-harks artv wlth Bun B lLoulsvllle, KY)
IZ ll hs Rlrh 6 lanous SW 6eorgla Radlo 6 huslr Conferenre lAlhanv, 6A) IJ ll Lll Shlne 6 Rorrett IUhS lallas, IX) I+ ll llva IUhS lallas, IX) IS ll K1 hlnes 6 1awar
SW 6eorgla Radlo 6 huslr Conferenre lAlhanv, 6A) I6 ll Ionv reln YV KYhP Awards lLoulsvllle, KY) I! ll 1 ElX 6rldlron lhouston, IX) I8 ll hurhv Lee Skvhox lSt Louls,
h0) I9 ll 1 1lgga 1I the Prettv Nastv Nues artv lNew 0rleans, LA) Z ll 1 Ben, Ist Ladv, Sark awg, Prlnress Cut, 6 guest Rhvthn Cltv for 1Bs hlrthdav hash lallas, IX)
ZI ll Krls Letlow SW 6eorgla Radlo 6 huslr Conferenre lAlhanv, 6A) ZZ ll 1 Caone Cluh Irolx lhlranar, lL) ZJ ll Blark 6loss 6lrls 0nvx lhouston, IX) Z+ ll Blg Blnk, Veda
Lora, 6 Llovd Ihe Beat lallas, IX) ZS ll Bahv Bash Rellant Arena for Partv 9J.Js rar show lhouston, IX) Z6 ll Solo SW 6eorgla Radlo 6 huslr Conferenre lAlhanv, 6A) Z! ll
Crlstal Buhhlln wlth her artlrle the 6allerlas Louls Vultton store for Bun Bs rlvate alhun release artv lhouston, IX) Z8 ll P Brown, 1 1udgehental, 6 Chlq lva Shonuff Studlos
lAtlanta, 6A) Z9 ll hlrhelle hunter 6 Klsha Snlth Rellant Arena for the 9J.J rar show lhouston, IX) J ll 1 1udgenental SW 6eorgla Radlo 6 huslr Conferenre lAlhanv, 6A) JI ll
Seed Knot hohstaz 6 1esse 1anes lSt. Louls, h0) JZ ll Klnfolk Ihugz Ra-A-Lot Rerords lhouston, IX) JJ ll Lavlsh nodels Yunnv 6 Barhle lhouston, IX) J+ ll Pln 6 6 I-Palns
nother lharon, 6A) JS ll 1 Radlo hldwest 1 6 huslr Conferenre lClnrlnnatl, 0h)
Photo Credlts. Lvte lIJ,Z+), Edward hall lJ,IZ,IS,Z,ZI,Z6,J), 1ohnnv Louls lZZ), 1ulla Beverlv lI,8,ZS), Klng Yella lI8), Knowledge lZ,9,I!,Z!,Z9,JZ), Kurtls 6rahan lZJ), hallk
Ahdul lJJ), harrus eWavne l+,I9), hs Rlverrltv l6,Z8,JS), Pln 6 lJ+), Iannle Whlte lJI), Ierrenre Ivson lS,!,II), Ire uhh lI+)
lahove L-R). 9th Ward Rhvthn Cltv ln allas, IX lPhoto. Edward hall), B0B Phlllls Arena for hot I! Blrthdav Bash ln Atlanta, 6A lPhoto. Ierrenre Ivson), Lll Boosle 6 Yo 6ottl ln
henhls, IN lPhoto. Klng Yella)
0Z0NE hA6 ll SS
S6 ll 0Z0NE hA6
W0RS 1ULlA BEVERLY
Ph0I0S RAY IAhARRA
Ihanks to a honeade hlt slngle,
Rav 1 has gone full rlrrle. fron
R6B star to orn star hark to R6B
star. But lt lsnt all fun, ganes,
and lrunored) anltv Kane three-
sones. Brandls lll hrother ls serl-
ous ahout hls huslness. Who else ls
selllng a nllllon rlngtones on an
lndle lahel!
S6 ll 0Z0NE hA6
0Z0NE hA6 ll S! 0Z0NE hA6 ll S!
S8 ll 0Z0NE hA6
l see vouve heen gettlng a lot of love arross the rountrv wlth vour new alhun.
Crazvl lts a hundred tlnes nore than last tlne. l would sav were elevatlng and
were on a good roll.
Whats vour ultlnate goal ln terns of where vou want to he! Are vou golng ln a lot
of dlfferent dlrertlons, or |ust foruslng on the nuslr rlght now!
l want to |ust kee nv entrereneur gane on to, nake sure ln forused on nuslr, the
artlng, the new realltv show, and nake sure ln ahle to ut nv tean and artlsts on.
Whats the realltv show ahout! ls lt |ust raneras followlng vou around ln vour evervdav
llfe or ls there a thene to lt, llke a llavor llav-stvle ronetltlon!
l rant reallv talk ahout the thene of the IV show untll l lnk the deal, hut shout out to hIV
and VhI. lts a rrazv ronret. lts sone haller shlt. lts |ust heavv nonev and na|or rontro-
versv.
Wlth the nuslr lndustrv helng ln a slun llke lt ls now, do vou thlnk artlsts are forred to go dlffer-
ent routes to get nonev outslde of |ust selllng rerords!
lts stlll nonev ln selllng rerords. ln naklng nonev hut ln lndeendent. Ihats whv ln seelng the
nonev ln seelng. l would sav for artlsts thats on na|or lahels, veah, vouve gotta nake sure vou
have a few dlfferent hustles on the slde to kee vour hank arrount lnrreaslng.
You have a |olnt venture deal wlth Shaqs lahel, rlght!
Yeah, ln slgned to nv lahel Knork 0ut. l artnered u wlth Shaq. hls ronanv ls ralled e|a J+ and we
got a dlstrlhutlon deal through Korh.
o vou thlnk helng wlth an lndeendent ls a hetter sltuatlon for vou than helng wlth a na|or lahel where
voull get a lot of ronotlon hut not as nurh nonev!
Yeah, slnre l was ahle to rone out wlth 0ne Wlsh and glve nvself that nurh exosure and that nurh hve, l
felt llke l rould do lt agaln. l |ust needed a hungrler lndeendent ronanv and sonehodv that was alreadv ln
the gane as oosed to a new dlstrlhutlon ronanv thats never done lt hefore. Ihats what l was deallng wlth
last tlne and we stlll hroke the lre. Ihls tlne around wlth Korh, we toed the rharts heavv. We sold a nllllon
rlngtones |of Sexv Can l] and two nllllon dlgltal slngles alreadv. Were rllnhlng.
You and Berg seen lnsearahle now. how dld vall llnk u!
Ihats the honle. We hung out rst. We net earh other through a nutual frlend. We |ust got real rool and herane
frlends, then we started dolng rerords. he a good dude. We had a good tlne thls vear. We had a good run.
Ihe alhun ls ln stores, rlght!
Yeah, the alhun ls out All l leel.
Youve heen gettlng a lot of features, rlght, llke the new Boss hogg rerord!
Yeah, shout out to Boss hogg, Slln Ihug. l dld a feature wlth then, Buhha Sarxx, 1 Khaled, and that Z Plstols
rerord too.
Youve rettv oular on the hlogs latelv. Lots of Rav 1 runors. Ihev sald vou got klrked out of a hotel ln .C.
herause thev found vou wlth drugs.
Ihat shlt at the hvatt hotel was sone hullshlt. Ihev thought thev rould ruln nv rareer hv uttlng out all that
false shlt ln the aers. lf we were raught wlth drugs ln .C., the .C. ollre would not have let us walk out |of
the hotel]. We wouldve gotten arrested and taken to |all and then we wouldve had to deal wlth the rohlen.
We left the hotel. We were loud. We asked then to glve us a warnlng, thev sald, No. 6et out. So l got
loud and started trlln. llftv ollre rane and esrorted us out. Ihat was lt. Ihe next dav thev |rlalned]
we had drugs and all that. Ihev onlv dld that rause thev dldnt know what artlons l was gonna take
agalnst the hotel and what klnd of ress l was gonna ut on the hotel, so thev trled to resond
qulrklv wlth sone false hullshlt. lt ls what lt ls. lts the huslness. We |ust gotta learn how to deal
wlth lt and nove forward and stav osltlve.
Whats u wlth vou and Whltnev houston!
Ihats the honle. Ihats nv eoles. We |ust went to that ght. l sang the Natlonal Anthen at
the Bernard hoklns ght. She rane through and suorted, gave ne sone tls on how to
do the Natlonal Anthen. lt was all love. Ihats all lt ls. lt alnt nothlng hut love. As far as
us helng together, lts lnosslhle rause ln worklng, shes worklng, and we dont have
tlne to ronnert llke that. Ihe work ls overshadowlng evervthlng.
You seen llke an odd roule |ust herause of the age dlfferenre.
lts a gang of +J, +S, +! vear old sexv wonen out there, and a gang of J vears
and older wonen. Belleve that. l love en. Even though ln stlll ln nv Zs, l ran
see heautv fron S nlles awav. lts Rav 1, a.k.a Klng Plnl
You have to get ald to he a ln terhnlrallv, rlght! o vou get ald!
Nah, vou |ust gotta he on to of vour gane wlth a ersonal lnterest ln
neetlng eole.
Whats golng on ln vour love llfe rlght now!
honev. Everv dav we wake u, lts |ust nore nonev to get. Ihls lnde-
endent run ls lntense, lts fun. lf vou reallv wanna stark rhls vou
gotta get u earlv and rettv nurh dont go to slee ratrh those
flghts, do those features, nd those rherks, nake sure vour uhllsh-
S8 ll 0Z0NE hA6
0Z0NE hA6 ll S9
lng ls lntart, nake sure Korh ls sendlng those rherks ASAP everv nonth. lts a
real deal out here. We gotta get lt.
Your non ls vour nanager. o vou thlnk lts easler to trust soneone ln vour
fanllv, llke vour non, wlth vour huslness as oosed to hlrlng an outslder as
vour nanager!
Yeah, l dont trust nohodv ln thls huslness. Ihls huslness ls shadv as hell. l
never reallv rollahorated wlth a lot of eole ln the lndustrv or a lot of nuslr
exers. lve alwavs heen on nv own nlsslon wlth nv own tean. hv non and
then have alwavs heen ln the lrture and l trust en. Even though ln out
here ln the eld dolng nost of the huslness and hrlnglng nv non the work,
naklng sure the rontrarts are lntart, and stuff llke that thats all l reallv
need. l want her to en|ov llfe. l want to nake sure l ut nonev ln her orket
so she ran have fun and en|ov her davs too. ln reallv the one on the grlnd ln
the forefront and nv eole around ne suort ne ln anvthlng l need.
ld vour entrereneur slrlt rone fron vour uhrlnglng! oes lt run ln the
fanllv!
l dont slt hark and walt for sonehodv to do sonethlng for ne. l dont hlane
the eole around ne, or nv rodurer, or nv agent, or nv nanager. l dont
ask then whv ln not dolng thls. l |ust do lt and hrlng then hark what ln
dolng, as oosed to sone artlsts that walt on sonehodv to hook en u wlth
sonethlng. l go out and hook nvself u.
Ihats a good attltude.
Ihats the onlv wav to go.
Another good runor was the one ahout vou havlng a threesone wlth two of
the glrls fron anltv Kane.
0h nanl lf lt alnt one thlng, lts another. l was shorked when l seen that on
the lnternet. l dont renenher us gettlng lt rrarkln and l denltelv dont re-
nenher talng lt. All that shlt was not true. l rleared that u on nv hvsare
age, and the hvatt lnrldent too, rause those were two thlngs that eole
were reallv startlng to helleve. l felt llke l needed to klll the hve on all that.
All the runors rant he had for huslness though, rlght!
When thevre talklng ahout vou, lts a good thlng. But sone thlngs thev talk
ahout, even the erson thev talklng ahout |ran] get deterred hv lt when lts
had or lts sonethlng l dont helleve ln.
Whats vour thoughts on thls whole Yung BerglBrlsro nlnl-heef! l know vou
trled to ste ln the nlddle to snooth thlngs over.
Bergs nv honle. Brlsro and then was rool as hell. l |ust hollered at hln on
the hone when l went to hlanl. Rlrk Ross, Khaled, then nv dudes. he and
Rlrk Ross got a song ralled 6o hard thats ronlng out real soon. l hlt hln
on the hone llke, l need thls fron vou, hlg honle, and he sent lt rlght hark
to ne. l got love for all of then. l was trvlng to hrlng evervhodv together and
squash the shlt so we rould all kee ushlng. Ihats |ust the tve of erson
l an. lf ln rool wlth hoth sldes, lna trv to hrlng hoth sldes together and
nake lt rlght. But lt alnt nv ght so lna |ust kee ushlng, kee dolng nv
thlng. l got love for all of en. Shout out to Berg, Brlsro, Rlrk Ross, evervhodv.
o vou thlnk that ln hl ho todav theres too nurh ressure for artlsts to
have surh a hardrore lnage that lts lnosslhle to he real and hellevahle!
l thlnk ln nuslr vou want to he hellevahle. You want eole to llsten to vour
shlt and helleve lt. Ihats the nost lnortant thlng so sonetlnes that gets
raught u lnto other sltuatlons. lts welrd sonetlnes. But nuslr ls nuslr. Ihat
should he lt, hut at the end of the dav lts ra, lts hardrore. lts the streets.
You gotta take lt how lt ls.
ld vou ever have a dav |oh hefore vou got lnto the lndustrv! l guess vou
never reallv had to rause vou were klnda horn lnto an entertalnnent fanllv.
l alnt never even went to srhool. l went through !th grade and that was lt.
You stoed golng to srhool after !th grade! You had tutors or sonethlng!
l would |ust rhlll and nv tutor would rone through. She was llke I9. She
would rone through everv dav and lt was rurtalns fron there. llaughs)
Your tutor turned vou out, huh!
She was fron Atlanta. her nane was 1ovre.
So vou had fun ln srhool!
0h veah. l learned a lot. Belleve that. llaughs) Klng Plnl lf l had sone
exloslon sounds l would hlt lt rlght there, llke |lunknaster] llex.
Are vou gettlng lnto the rodurtlon slde of thlngs too!
Nah. lve alwavs heen lnto rodurlng, hut lve heen lettlng a lot of talented
rodurers do the heats and l go ln and wrlte the songs. l feel llke lts easler
to do that. ln |ust on a rreatlve run rlght now. l need to hear the sane
ronslstent heats that l hear ln nv head and l know a few dudes that ran do
that for ne.
o vou thlnk theres a artlrular art of the rountrv that vou get nore love
ln! A lot of eole dont know that voure artuallv fron hlsslssll hut vou
seen llke a West Coast artlst. lt seens R6B slngers have a llttle nore freedon
than raers, who lt seens llke alwavs get lgeonholed lnto a artlrular
rategorv or reglon.
ln West Coast all dav hut nv nuslr ls ln everv narket. lts rettv nurh on
everv radlo statlon fron Urhan to Rhvthnlr to Io +. ln rettv nurh all
around unlversal. l would love to raltallze nore on the West roast and trv to
take R6B nuslr, even on the West, to a whole other level. ln worklng on that
rlght now. hot 9!, hlanl, down South, Atlanta, evervhodv ls reallv hangln lt.
o vou feel the West has heen ln a llttle hlt of a slun ever slnre Iuar! And
what do vou thlnk lts gonna take for the West to he hark on to llke lt was
ten vears ago!
A lot nore West roast artlsts ronlng together and hulldlng a novenent, |ust
rreatlng that entertalnnent that the whole world wants to see agaln. l thlnk
thats all were nlsslng. We had a hlg run though. Ihe East roast also had
a rrazv run as well. lts seens llke the South ls reallv on to rlght now. Ihe
South ls hot. Ihevre ronlng wlth the heats, the fows, and the ldeas. Everv-
hodv |ust needs to rollahorate and hulld together. As far as the West, thev
need to throw that unltv ln there a llttle nore.
Who do vou see ln L.A., or the West ln general, ronlng u on the ra slde! Who
are sone eole voure worklng wlth out there!
lts a lot of new artlsts out here. Ihe honle Lunrh ls tlght. 6lasses halone ls
tlght. Ihe 6ane ls rlght at the forefront of the West. When vou thlnk of West
Coast ra rlght now, vou thlnk of Snoo ogg and Ihe 6ane. Ihe 6ane ls stlll
voung and fresh. Snoos stlll ln the hulldlng. l know thev got a lot of new
artlsts thev worklng on too so well see what haens.
You got vour own artlsts too, rlght, llke Shortv hark!
Yeah, Shortv hark the Pur han. Let ne tell vou, thls dude ls ahout to have a
snash wlth thls song ralled Ralnlng Wonen. Ihats ronlng out ln llke two
nonths. We |ust lnked a deal wlth Knork 0utlKorh. Shout out to the Pur han.
Shortv hark ls ronlng. Anvhodv out there who llkes to hlow ur and ls down
wlth that urle novenent, lf vou know what l nean, then vall are gonna
dlg thls Shortv hark the Pur han alhun and the new slngle.
Anvhodv else ronlng that we should look out for!
We got a few nore artlsts hut rlght now were foruslng on Rav 1 and Shortv
hark the Pur han. Ihen well get lnto sone other stuff. And nv slsters ron-
lng hark out too. Crazv.
What ahout the hook vou were worklng on! ls that stlll ronlng out!
l ut lt on hold. l alnt wanna tell nv storv vet. l turned down the deal. lt was
a lot of nonev hut l alnt feel llke l need lt. ln gettlng nonev so l wanted to
walt to tell nv storv later.
You had a rhange of heart or vou wanted to kee lt a llttle hlt rlvate!
Ihev were trvlng to glve ne llke a nllllon hurks to do lt and l was tented. l
was llke, lna rone hark, and when l rone hark, vall gotta glve ne ten nll-
llon. Ihe storv ls gonna he even nore lntense.
how do vou feel ahout seelng vour ex-glrlfrlend Kln Kardashlan on a ron-
stant rono run wlth Reggle Bush!
lts all good. l want Reggle Bush and the New 0rleans Salnts to rone hark
thls vear and nake sone nolse. All nv eole are fron hlsslssll and New
0rleans. l |ust want hln to get hls work done and rone hark and shlne llke
he started ln the heglnnlng, and not get rlouded wlth all of the ress and
all of the hve. As far as her, l rongratulate her on all her surress. We had a
good run and now were hoth |ust taklng lt to another level. hurh surress and
nurh ros to her.
Ihats a good olltlral answer. Youre llke a olltlrlan.
Yeah, hut lve ran nv nouth, lve talked shlt. l trled to exlaln and exress
nvself, sone of nv enotlons, and l dont thlnk that was rofesslonal. A lot
of eole read thls and tune lnto what l sav so l |ust wanna nake sure ln on
olnt and not let nv enotlons rloud nv rofesslonallsn.
You nade Suerheads rst two hooks, rlght!
l dld.
ls there gonna he a Rav 1 rhater ln hooks three, four, and ve!
Shes got nore hooks ronlng!
l would assune so. ln |ust talklng hvothetlrallv.
0Z0NE hA6 ll S9
6 ll 0Z0NE hA6
ann, shes got a trllogv! l nean, l dont thlnk so. l dont know what she got
rooklng u. Shes rreatlve. She alwavs rones u wlth sonethlng entertalnlng.
Iheres a lot of u-and-ronlng glrls who nlght he aslrlng to he the new Suer-
head. Who do vou have vour eve on as far as sexv new vldeo nodels!
Sahla ls hot. She nodels too. Shes out of hlanl. She dld nv Sexv Can l vldeo.
lts rrazv. her hodv ls out of rontrol. She got a hot fare. l see her naklng sone
nolse as a new vldeo nodel. Youve alreadv got the Vlda 6uerras and Suerheads
and so on. We need sonethlng new and fresh. l would sav Sahla or olllrla. Shes
hot too. She was on the rover of a nagazlne rerentlv. Ihats two rhlrks on the
grlnd thats on thev wav to another level. l dont know lf a lot of eole reallv
know what ln talklng ahout hut thev ran denltelv log on and see.
Who else ls on the alhun hesldes Yung Berg!
Ihe 6ane, Stvles P, and Shortv hark. l got Rodnev 1erklns on the rodurtlon,
Irarknasters. etalls dld 6lfts and Sexv Can l. We got a new renlx for 6lfts
wlth Lll Wavne, Ihe 6ane, Shortv hark, and etalls thats out rlght now.
Sexv Can l sounds llke a nlre frlendlv R6B song wlth a nlre hook, hut at the sane
tlne, the lvrlrs rould rone arross as helng a llttle hlt dlsresertful. lts llke, after
l have fun wlth vou voull never hear fron ne agaln. o vou feel that attltude ls
degradlng to wonen or how would vou exlaln lt!
lts |ust raw and edgv hut lt has a feel-good, osltlve sound to lt. lt has a
great, osltlve sound. lts sexv, hut at the sane tlne lts edgv. l reallv
was lnslred hv the strl rluh. When ne and nv hov Shanel out
of Brooklvn rane u wlth the song we were ln a strl rluh
nlndstate. lt was sexv wlth a feel-good, srlngtlne feel to
lt. Sone eole llke golng to the strl rluh, sone eole
dont.
havhe vou ran glve sone advlre to sone of vour
vounger fenale fans. how ran thev nd that hal-
anre of helng ahle to have sone fun hut stlll
he reserted as a wonan!
lt |ust deends on how old vou are. lf voure
voung and |ust readv to wll out, then ln
gotta resert that vou |ust wanna have a
good tlne and en|ov llfe. Anvthlng goes at
that tlne. Ihen, hoefullv, voull grow out
of that. You ran llsten to a song llke Sexv
Can l and not reallv av attentlon to what
ln savlng herause vou |ust hear sexv and
the feel-good nuslr. Ihats what we wanna
rreate for the llsteners that dont reallv hear
the words. 1ust tune the words out and tune
lnto the nelodv and the vlhe. Ihats how
hlt rerords hlt vou. Ihe nelodv and rhorus
are solld. lor evervhodv that ran relate to
lt, lts out of rontrol.
ls there anvthlng else vou want to talk
ahout!
We |ust want to nake sure that our entrere-
neurlal forus ls ln the na|or forefront rause
thats all were dolng. Were hreaklng harrlers
ln R6B and nuslr ln general. Evervhodv wants
to ho on thls lndeendent trall, hut lts harder
than eole thlnk. Evervhodv thats lndeendent
goes through na|or struggles as far as gettlng
on the radlo, gettlng vour ronnerrlals on, get-
tlng eole to take vou serlouslv, as oosed
to havlng a na|or lahel ush lt. l want eole to
understand that were worklng real hard to he on
to of our gane. havlng the #I rerord ln the rountrv
on all fornats ls sonethlng we feel roud ahout.
havlng the hlggest rerord ln Korh hlstorv ln Z8 savs
a lot ahout us and R6B nuslr. l want eole to know
that we reallv rare ahout what we do. Rav 1 ls out on
the grlnd evervdav. Nohodvs handlng thls shlt to us.
Were not gettlng thls shlt on a sllver latter. We want
that resert as hosses, as artlsts, as voung, lndeendent,
hlark nen naklng nllllons. Ihats what we wanna he
looked at for, as oosed to artlsts that |ust want to do
ronrerts and go to the rluh at nlght. Ihls ls a huslness.
Were on tlne and verv rofesslonal. We want to he here +
or S vears fron now. Knork 0ut Klng Plnl ll
6 ll 0Z0NE hA6
0Z0NE hA6 ll 6I
6Z ll 0Z0NE hA6 6Z ll 0Z0NE hA6
0Z0NE hA6 ll 6J
lor eole who arent fanlllar wlth Brlsro, hreak
lt down for en. Where are vou fron and what do
vou reresent!
lve heen dolng thls for llke twelve vears. Ihe rst
rat that ever ut ne on a rerord and let ne go ln
the studlo was Rlrk Ross. l was slgned to a lahel
ralled Sllrk Salt hut that alnt work out, so l got
wlth Poe Bov. hv heart was alreadv here wlth nv
fanllv. lve nade ahout ve alhuns. l had |fea-
tures on] hoth of Khaleds alhuns, hoth of Rlrk
Rosss alhuns, Blrdnans alhun, and Lll Wavnes
Carter J alhun. host of those alhuns went gold
or latlnun.
You sald vouve heen dolng thls for IZ vears. Were
vou alwavs serlouslv ronslderlng lt as a rareer, or
when dld lt herone serlous!
l was alwavs serlous ahout oetrv, thats whv l
rllng to Iuar a llttle hlt. When lt rones to oetrv
or nv ras l alwavs |look at] Iuar Shakur. lve
alwavs heen notlvated to ra. l alwavs knew what
l wanted to do.
Belng around eole llke Wavne and Ross, do vou
thlnk lts a rhallenge for vou to he ahle to hreak
out and estahllsh vourself as an artlst and not |ust
a sldeklrk!
Ihe rhallenge for ne ls |ust waltlng nv turn. ln
|ust groonlng nvself untll l get shar, and thats
where l feel llke ln at now. ln at a olnt where
ln sharer than the rest, and that hels ne a lot.
Are vou slgned to Young honev!
Nah lts Poe BovlCash honev, hut slnre Weezv ls
the Presldent of Cash honev lts all reallv the
sane thlng.
What have vou learned fron helng on the road
wlth Wavne or ln the studlo wlth Ross!
ont go to slee. 1ust kee worklng, ut 6od rst,
and erfert the rraft. Be one of a klnd, he vour
own nan.
What art of hlanl are vou fron!
0a-Lorka, Choalorka. lts ln the nlddle of ev-
ervthlng, ln the nlddle of Carol Cltv, ln the nlddle
of Llhertv Cltv.
1arkl-0 dld a radlo lntervlew savlng that vou rant
rone hark to 0a-Lorka anvnore. ls that true!
ln here |ln 0a-Lorka] now.
Whats the real storv hehlnd the L.A. lnrldent
hetween vou and 1arkl-0! l heard vou had a llttle
alterratlon on the set of the Lll WavnelI-Paln vldeo.
She rouldnt get lnto the vldeo shoot herause lt
was rlosed off. l told serurltv to let her ln onlv
herause she was |onre] slgned to Poe Bov. When
she got ln she was sort of outlng so l went u to
her and extended nv hand, llke, how vou dolng,
hahv, whats u wlth vou! She alnt even glve ne
hark da so l was llke, Shlt, furk vou, hltrhl She
should alreadv know that slnre were ln Callfornla
and we alreadv had rohlens and ln trvlng to
squash lt or nake anends, she shouldnt art llke
that herause she knows what tve of nlgga l an.
She knows l dont glve a furk. She started talklng
shlt so l slaed that hoe. And add thls. l do have
nad resert for her, feel ne, hut ln not Lll Brlsro
no nore. ln grown u. ln not the sane llttle
hov l was when she rst net ne. ln a grown nan
wlth a ve vear old son, so voure gonna glve ne
resert. And veah, shes a glrl, hut l wlll sla the
furk out of her. l heat the furk out of her. She
knows the deal. 0ther glrls nlght not know, hut
she knows a nlgga dont lav that shlt. All that
extra talklng around these out-of-town nlggas
and shlt wlll translre.
You felt llke she was trvlng to enharrass vou ln
front of outslders!
Yeah, and hv ne gettlng her lnto the vldeo shoot
and extendlng nv hand to her, l thlnk that |her
reartlon] was totallv dlsresertful. hv resert for
her went out the wlndow, so l started goonlng. lf l
see her agaln lll do the sane thlng.
o vou thlnk lt slows the hlanl novenent to have
that klnd of lnternal anlnosltv!
No, shes through. She had her rhanre. She never
unlted wlth the hood. She never unlted wlth Irlna
or the other glrls that rouldve heled her. Shes
out of tlne. Shes dann near fortv vears old.
She rlalns that Poe Bov tells 1s not to lav her
rerords.
Ihats totallv untrue. Peole know 1arkl-0s
attltude. lf vouve ever rane lnto rontart wlth
her, vou know her attltude. lf she doesnt get her
wav shes trlln. lf lts a hlt rerord, no one ran
tell |a 1] not to lav the rerord. She rant nake
hlt rerords now herause shes not wlth the sane
nlggas. She alnt got that Brlsro stroke of the en
now, feel ne!
You used to wrlte for her!
l heled her wrlte rerords. 0ne thlng ahout Poe
Bov Entertalnnent ls that we all work together.
When vou hear a Rlrk Ross rerord llke here l An
or a llo Rlda rerord llke ln Ihe Alr, lts all of us
ronlng ln the studlo worklng together. Were self-
rontalned, thats whv we love earh other so nurh.
o vou have a release date vet for vour solo dehut!
You know how Bahv and E-Class are. Ihevre on
the hone all dav and thats how thev work, lts
on sone real nlgga shlt. Unllke other CE0s and
other hosses, l ran go holla at nv nlgga. l ran go
stralght to thelr houses and he llke, E-Class, thls
ls the rohlen, or Bahv, thls ls the rohlen, or
Slln, thls ls the rohlen, or, l need a roule
dollars for thls. lts a llttle hetter worklng wlth
then rats. Rlght now ln |ust grlndlng waltlng for
the streets. We got the streets rlght now wlth ln
he and 1ust Know Ihat.
Who are vou lannlng on havlng featured on vour
alhun !
Wavne, Rlrk Ross, 1eezv, Ludarrls, I-Paln, the usual
novenent. We the hestl
lor out-of-towners, whats sone rant-nlss sots
when thev rone to hlanl!
ln on nv wav to Whlte lanonds rlght now.
Youve got to hlt the Rollexx u. lts ln 0a-Lorka.
Youve got to hlt all the strl rluhs ln the sane
nlght herause lts ahout seven of then. You nlght
have to go hv hanslon, Crohar, 0lun, the usual.
ls there anvhodv else ln the Young honev or Poe
Bov ran we need to he looklng out for!
Blllv Blue and nv llttle rousln Brlanna. She was
slgned to hlssv at one olnt. You need to get u on
her now. lf vou hear her stuff voull herone a fan.
We furk wlth 6un Plav and Iorrh hard, shout out to
the whole Irlle Clhavharh huslr novenent.
o vou thlnk vou overrearted to Yung Bergs
YouIuhe ronnent that hls alhun got ushed hark
llke llo Rldas halrllne!
Noe. ln stlll gon heat hls ass. ln stlll gonna
unrh hln ln hls nuthafurkln nouth when l
see hln. l had hln standlng u the whole |BEI]
Awards show. And l knew hln hefore he sald that,
l had |ust done a song wlth hln two weeks hefore
he sald that.
he aologlzed, though. Ihat wasnt good enough!
Ihats |ust a wav outl ont he talklng ahout nv
hrother. Watrh what vou sav to eole ln hlanl.
We dont lav llke that.
he sald hes heen to hlanl a roule tlnes slnre
vou threatened hln and nothlng haened.
he knows. l talked to Rav 1 for ahout an hour on
the Cash honev hus. he knows |Yung Berg] has to
av ne.
how nurh does he have to av vou!
l told hln SIS,.
SISk to he left alone when he rones to hlanl!
You know hes lndeendent, rlght! he nlght not
have that klnd of nonev.
hes golng to av lt. l guarantee lt.
Well, we dont want to he resonslhle for anv
vlolenre here at 0Z0NE hagazlne.
Shout out to 0Z0NE hagazlne, thev had noth-
lng to do wlth thls, hut when l ratrh hln ln stlll
golng to knork hls ussv ass out. So do not dro
llo Rldas nane ln anv rhvnes. ont dro llo
Rldas nane, dont dro Rlrk Rosss nane, dont
trv E-Class, dont trv ne, and dont even trv that
stank-ass hoe 1arkl-0.
So voud stlll defend 1arkl-0 lf sonehodv dlssed her!
Ihats rlght. lts stlll fanllv. Ihls ls llke the noh.
When voure ln the noh vouve got to get kllled to
get out. You rant |ust walk out.
So lf vou saw Khla wearlng a lurk 1arkl-0 t-shlrt,
vou would heat her ass!
No, l would glve that hoe da herause she knows
sonethlng. ll
B
R
I
S
C
O
0Z0NE hA6 ll 6J
Words. 1ulla Beverlv Photo. Klng Yella
6+ ll 0Z0NE hA6
S
lnre he entered the ra gane as a nenher of Ihe 0dd Squad ln I99+,
evln the ude has traveled at hls own seed, whlle nost of hls eers
have oted to drlve ln the fast lane trvlng to kee u wlth everv trend
and fad. Now, after leavlng hls longtlne rerordlng hone Ra-A-Lot Rerords,
evln ls trulv dolng what the furk he wants to do as he returns to the streets
vla the lndeendent route and learns nore ahout hlnself along the wav.
You were slgned to Ra-A-Lot Rerords for over IS vears. After all that tlne,
what nade vou want to leave and go lndeendent!
l guess lt was |ust that tlne. hv rontrart was u wlth Ra-A-Lot. lve heen
wlth then for IS vears and l |ust felt llke lf lt was anv tlne to nake lt lnde-
endentlv l guess thls was golng to he the tlne.
ld vou en|ov vour tlne at Ra-A-Lot! Was a ronslstent deal! ld vou exerl-
enre a lot of huns and hrulses that nade vou want to nallv leave!
lt was sone huns here and there hut thats a rohahlv how lt was wlth anv-
hodv. lts llke havlng a fanllv, theres alwavs golng to he rohlens. lt wasnt
anvthlng drastlr that haened that nade ne |want to leave]. After vou get
a rertaln nunher of vears under vour helt, lts tlne to elther rontlnue to do
what voure dolng or hroaden vourself. So l rhose to |ust go to lndeendent.
l have an lndeendent ronanv, nv own ronanv of hrothers dolng the
nuslr thlng, eole thats heen worklng wlth ne that heled ne throughout
the vears. Now l ran glve then a rhanre to rone out lndeendent too.
Ra-A-Lot rettv nurh oerates llke an lndle anvwav. So does lt reallv feel
dlfferent! And wlll we see hetter ronotlon for vour alhuns now!
Yeah, that was one of the thlngs. lts |ust a natter of ronotlng and narketlng
other than lettlng lt llnger so long after the alhun ls out. Were trvlng to ro-
note the slngle a nonth and a half hefore and nonth after lts out, |ust trvlng
to ush, trvlng to nake sone noves to get thlngs arronllshed wlth that.
Iell us a llttle hlt ahout the new alhun.
Ihe alhun ls ralled Landlng 6ear.
What ls that suosed to nean!
When l land ln dlfferent lares to work or do show, eole alwavs trv trv to
hook ne u wlth sone good roughee. Ihev ask, o vou need anvthlng!
and l sav, No, not vet, l got a llttle landlng gear. Peole would trl llke lve
never hear lt sald llke that hefore. Ihev sald that should he the tltle, so for
the rover l got hotos wlth ararhutes on and shlt. We slgned wlth Razor and
Ile for a one |alhun] deal. Were gettlng the rono together rlght now.
how dlfferent ls lt headlng vour own lahel, Coughee Brothers huslr, and
lavlng the CE0 role ln addltlon to the artlst role!
lts a totallv dlfferent feellng. You klnda |ust gotta |un out there and fa. l
learned a lot fron the guvs u there at Ra-A-Lot. lf vou ut sonethlng out
vourself, there ls no one else left to hlane hut vou lf lt dont go rlght.
What do vou arerlate ahout vour status ln the gane so far! You nav not
sell nllllons of rerords, hut vou have eole who genulnelv love vou.
lts rool. lts a wonderful feellng neetlng fans and eole who llsten and
arerlate the nuslr. Ihats a hlesslng. lt feels good to |ust walk around,
walk to the store or walk to nall and do anvthlng |ust hv vourself. l guess
lf l was huge negastar lt rohahlv wouldnt he osslhle l wouldnt get a
rhanre to aroarh eole or have eole aroarh ne ln a rertaln wav to
talk ahout the nuslr and other thlngs llke that. l llke the rlvarv |l have], lts
llke havlng the hest of hoth worlds. Peole rone u to vou that arerlate
vou, hut |l] also have rlvarv when eole rone u llke, hev, vou look llke
sonehodvl
What klnd of stuff do eole tell vou when thev aroarh vou!
0ne of the hlggest ronllnents thev glve ne ls, han, l got all vour alhunsl
1ust to have sonehodv sav that to ne ls llke, 0h, shltl lts |ust a rettv rool
feellng. Ihev tell ne, Youre so down to earth ln vour nuslr and vou dont
he talklng ahout thls or that, vou |ust talk ahout what l he golng through at
tlnes. Ihat klnda nakes lt feel rool too, hut l llke assorlatlng nvself wlth
whats artuallv golng on and not sonethlng far-fetrhed!
Whv have vou alwavs rhosen to kee a level head and stav ln that nlddle
ground wlth vour nuslr! lts easv for artlsts to sll lnto fantasv land wlth
thelr lvrlrs.
l nade a art to nvself when l rhose to do a solo alhun. l derlded to |ust
rall nvself evln and thats what ln golng to ra ahout. ln golng to |ust do
ne and talk ahout what l go through. lt nlght sound dull or horlng to sone
eole, hut lt nlght sound funnv and rrazv to other eole. When l rst rane
out wlth nv rst solo alhun l rerorded under the nane evln and the alhun
was ralled Ihe ude. After that when eole rerognlzed ne thev would sav,
You evln! ln llke, Yeah, and thevd sav, evln the ude! llaughs) So lt
klnd of sturk wlth ne, hut other than that, l |ust wanted to he nvself. l dldnt
want to retend to he sonehodv else or retend to have thls or retend not
to have that. Whatever l go through or what surrounds ne and nv frlends and
fanllv, l klnd of ut lt all together and hrlng lt out |ln nv nuslr].
When vou were a nenher of larenoh, vou stood out herause lare, h6 and
then would he on sone gangster shlt, hut vou klnda rane fron the, hev, l
saw what haened angle. What was lt llke worklng on a alhun llke that and
havlng to nd vour t lnto a sltuatlon llke that!
Yeah, ld ra llke, l dont know what then nlggas dolng over there, thev trl-
ln. llaughs) Artuallv lt was an easv roress ln ltself too. When lare started
hls ronanv thev were all solo artlsts. h6 was an artlst he was ahout to
hrlng out, JS was ahout to rone out wlth an alhun, Chl-Rav, evervhodv was
|ust solo artlst hut we was vlhlng lndlvlduallv together ln the studlo. lare
thought of an ldea to |ust rone u wlth thls grou ro|ert hefore our alhuns
started ronlng out one at a tlne and l thought lt was a rool ldea. lare was
llke, You dont have to get out of rhararter. 1ust do vou. So that was rettv
easv ln ltself, herause we all alreadv had a rettv rool relatlonshl.
A lot of eole seen to thlnk vou 0NLY ra ahout P.W.A. o at all feel dlsa-
olnted when eole onlv av attentlon to the ussv, weed, and alrohol
lvrlrs and overlook the songs where vou do have a nessage or slnlv ra
ahout real-llfe sltuatlons!
l tend to |he dlsaolnted] sonetlnes. l lan on golng out wlth a nessage
though. l do have a few nore songs to do wlth nessages ln then and how
l feel ahout sltuatlons and l hoe eole ran relate. l llke trllng out and
havlng fun, and a lot of tlnes weed, alrohol and wonen are around. But for the
not-so-sunnv tlnes of vour llfe vouve got to have songs for that too. ln not
savlng ln gonna ut down the P.W.A. all the tlne, hut l wont hold lt u all the
tlne elther.
As raunrhv as vour rhvnes ran get, dld vou know that vou had a lot of fenale
fans! o vou nd that at all odd!
llaughs) l |ust llke to have fun. l dont thlnk l dlsresert wonen ln nv nuslr. l
used to feel funnv naklng sone of the nuslr l do, eserlallv when l was havlng
a daughter. l was thlnklng ahout rhanglng lt u. l renenher a glrl aroarhed
ne onre llke, evln the ude! You do that song lurk lares, dont vou! l was
thlnklng, Aww, shlt, here lt rones. But she sald, Ihats nv |anl ll
Words hv haurlre 6. 6arland
6+ ll 0Z0NE hA6
0Z0NE hA6 ll 6S 0Z0NE hA6 ll 6S
66 ll 0Z0NE hA6
0Z0NE hA6 ll 6!
I
ts heen a long S vears slnre C-hurder
released a full length alhun. But after
vears of legal woes and negatlve news
headllnes, C ls hark to rove that he ls
stlll IRU to the gane.
Srreanln + Vengeanre ls the rst studlo alhun
vouve released ln a whlle that vouve heen ahle
to ronote. Conlng out of the No Llnlt sltuatlon
where gold and latlnun rerords were the stan-
dard, what goals have vou set for vourself ln thls
rurrent nuslr lndustrv rllnate!
hv goal was to get sone fresh C-hurder nuslr
out there, herause l was gone for a nlnute and
thev alnt know how l was rorklng. Ihls alhun
was to let en know how lve steed nv lvrlral
gane u.
Belng lvrlral lsnt sonethlng nost fans would
exert fron vou. What nade vou want to trv that!
ln |ust keelng u wlth the tlnes. 0n everv
alhun, vou have to hetter vourself. 0f rourse
the nurleus of nv nuslr ls the sane, hut l had
to rhange lt u a llttle hlt. lt wasnt nothlng that
l had to reallv work on elther. Ihats |ust what
haens when l get a re trark.
ln keelng u wlth the tlnes, what ronvlnred vou
that there was stlll a thlrst for C-hurder nuslr!
l got sone rore fans that know what to exert
fron ne. lve heen through a lot of thlngs, hut
thev know nv nuslr wlll never rhange. lts
alwavs golng to he gutter, gangsta, talklng ahout
real thlngs that go on ln the streets. Even when
l rhanged nv nane to C-hlller and rhanged lt
hark. C-hurder ls ne, we rhange for sltuatlons.
l wlll alwavs he C-hurder. Ihats how l rane lnto
the gane.
how dld vou deal wlth the negatlve ronnotatlons
that rane wlth that nane!
Peole trv to |udge a hook hv lts rover, hut thev
dont know ne. lve heen ortraved as helng a
rertaln wav ln the nedla so l reallv rant trl on
that. All l ran do ls do thlngs to hetter nvself, nv
hood and nv lahel.
What are sone of those thlngs!
l started nv uhllshlng ronanv and ut out nv
own hook, eath Around the Corner. lt got great
revlews ln the aer, Anazon.ron, all of that.
ln wrltlng sone rhlldrens hooks too. ln uslng
these hooks to get lnto a lot of the srhools,
rolleges and uhllr llhrarles, hut vou never hear
ahout stuff llke that. When ln at these srhools,
l trv to tell klds how lnortant eduratlon ls.
l nvself was an honor roll student. But at the
sane tlne, l get to tell these klds ahout nv trlals
and trlhulatlons so that lf thev rone to a olnt
ln thelr llfe where thev have to nake a derlslon,
hoefullv what l told then wlll nake then
nake the rlght one. l started hel he hel You,
a non-rot organlzatlon to hel sone of these
klds too. Were verv nurh ahout the ronnunltv
around here, hut thevre not gonna ut that ln
the nedla.
As nurh as sone nedla outlets nav not uhllrlze
those tves of efforts, whv dont raers dolng
those tves of thlngs uhllrlze lt as nurh as thelr
nuslr or huslness endeavors!
l dont know. lor ne, the thlngs l do are sur of
the nonent. urlng srhool tlne l glve sulles
to the grou hones, durlng Chrlstnas tlne l
send resents. l dont reallv have tlne to rall the
uhllrlst to ut lt out there herause lt haens
so qulrk and lt rones fron the heart. havhe the
other raers go through the sane thlng, l dont
know.
As far as vour nuslr ls ronrerned, glven vour
sltuatlons wlth the trlals and the |all tlne and
vour reutatlon, dld vou nd vourself helng rau-
tlous ahout the rontent voure uttlng out now!
Yeah, l had to tone lt down a tad hlt, sllghtlv. l
rouldnt go all the wav out there, l had to he real
wlth nvself ln naklng the nuslr and resert-
lng nv sltuatlon. Ihere ls a tlne and lare for
evervthlng.
Ihere are stlll sone thlngs loonlng over vou
legallv. ld vou or do vou fear vour rhvnes helng
used agalnst vou!
lts alwavs a osslhllltv for that to haen, hut
heres how l look at lt. huslr ls entertalnnent
too, |ust llke novles. Ihats how ln rorklng wlth
lt.
Well, wlth nost raers stresslng how real thev
are, the llnes tend to get hlurred. how do vou
feel when raers that nav not have llved that
llfestvle glorlfv lt ln thelr nuslr!
l |ust hrush lt off. l slt ln the ga and watrh
and |ust do nv nuslr. What the next nan does
doesnt worrv ne. l |ust slt hark and nake sure l
ut out qualltv nuslr. All l rare ahout ls uttlng
out good nuslr for nv fans. l |ust gotta feel llke
ln ronnerted to nv rore fans.
Who ls a tvlral C-hurder fan!
lt wlll surrlse vou. lve got fans overseas that
are verv loval. Blark, Whlte, hexlran. l hullt qual-
ltv relatlonshls wlth eole over the vears. When
l got letters when l was lorked u, that showed
ne that l have ronnertlons wlth eole ln real
llfe. udes, fenales, nons, os, and grandar-
ents sav whats u to ne all the tlne.
What ls vour rurrent status rlght now! Are vou
allowed to leave the house at all!
Nah, not rlght now hut ln looklng to hlt the road
sonetlne ln Novenher or erenher to start do-
lng shows. Peole should exert a real ronlete
show. lve heen thlnklng ahout lt a lot.
ln vour No Llnlt davs, vou got to work under
vour hrother, haster P. What are sone rhallenges
vouve enrountered helng ln a role that he onre
held!
l wear a lot of hats and have to nake a lot of
derlslons. l |ust nd nvself helng nore husv, do-
lng a lot of ronferenre ralls. l have to he ln the
studlo wlth nv artlsts and kee then on the rlght
trark. l take one-on-one tlne wlth then to show
then the rlght ath and tearhlng then ahout
havlng the rlght attltude. A lot of then are real
exrlted |ust llke l was hark then. So ln showlng
then thev alnt gotta art a rertaln wav, |ust raln
down and en|ov the rlde.
ld vou en|ov vour rlde durlng the No Llnlt era!
lt seens llke vou guvs dld so nurh work ln the
studlo that vou dldnt have tlne for nurh else.
l reallv en|oved nv tlne. We traveled a lot and
went overseas. We dldnt hlt the road as nurh as
other artlsts, hut we dld enough. A lot of doors
oened u herause of that sltuatlon. lt was fun
for ne, l dont know ahout the next nan, hut lt
was |fun] for ne.
0ut of all the artlsst on the lahel, vou were rettv
nurh the rst to hreak off and do vour own thlng
when vou started IRU Rerords and released the
Bossallnle alhun. What hrought ahout that derl-
slon! ld lt rause anv rohlens!
lor ne lt was a dallv routlne. l was alwavs
around a lot of huslness eole durlng that
tlne. What l took awav fron that era was a good
huslness sense ahout evervthlng and hulldlng
relatlonshls. Ihe whole tlne l was worklng, l
was hulldlng relatlonshls, whlrh has nade lt
easler for ne to do what ln dolng now. l alwavs
had the huslness nlnd and l was denltelv loval
to the gane nore than anvone else on the lahel.
l ran the ldea through the rhaln of ronnand to
get the okav |to do nv own ro|ert]. l wouldnt
have done lt anv other wav.
Slnre vou are stlll resldlng ln New 0rleans, ran
vou glve us an udate on what voure seelng
down there, ost-Katrlna!
lts a lot of eole stlll golng through a lot rlght
now, thev havent heen ahle to get hark lnto
thelr hones. We have an 8% lnrrease ln hone-
lessness, eole stlll llvlng under hrldges. You
ran see all of then when vou drlve hv. lt alnt use
to he llke that. Ihe urhan areas are stlll nessed
u. Ihev havent rehullt those areas, hut the
suhurhs are stralght. Ihe oor are gettlng oorer
and the rlrh are gettlng rlrher and the oor dont
have no wav to get hark on thelr feet. But l ran
sav that lts a llttle hetter than lt was, though.
l was lorked down when the levees hroke, so l
wasnt wlth nv fanllv. But three weeks later l
found out thev were okav so that took a lot of
stress off ne.
o vou feel a rertaln wav when eole sav that
raers fron New 0rleans arent savlng enough
ahout how lt reallv ls down there! lts alnost
as lf thev exert vou all to nake nothlng hut
rerords ahout Katrlna.
lf thevre genulne ahout lt, vou ran entertaln
then for a llttle whlle, hut lf thevre |ust trvlng to
rone u off a had sltuatlon, l have to shut then
down. l ran tell lf thevre honv ahout lt.
Before we wra thls u, would vou llke to talk
nore ahout vour hooks!
Evervhodv needs to rherk out nv new hook
thats ahout to dro under IRU Puhllshlng, Ihug
Polltlrs. lts ahout a navor whose rouslns were
drug dealers. Ihe three of then saw an o-
ortunltv to own the rltv. Ihe lan was to nake
sure the streets nade hln wln the navoral rare
so thev rould get nonev, hut along the wav thev
run lnto sone sltuatlons.
Ihat sounds a llttle fanlllar. We rerentlv ran a
storv ahout 1arkson, hS navor lrank helton.
Peole have arrused hln of slnllar artlvltles. Was
vour hook looselv hased off that!
As soon as the hook was ronleted, we heard
ahout the navor ln etrolt |Kwane Kllatrlrk]
and the navor |ln 1arkson]. 0ur hook was
alreadv nlshed though. So thats a lus for us,
herause lt wlll nake readers wonder and thlnk lf
we were talklng ahout then. But no, the ldea for
the hook was all ours.
o vou have anv words of advlre or enrourage-
nent for eole or even other raers thlnklng
ahout delvlng lnto the rtlon novel world! how
long does lt usuallv take to ronlete a hook!
lt deends on how dedlrated vou are. l get dls-
trarted easllv and l nlght slt a hook ln wrltlng
on the shelf for a few nonths. But lf ln forused,
l ran knork lt out ln J nonths. lor ne wrltlng
a hook was a ersonal goal l set for nvself.
You feel good ahout vourself when vou set and
arronllsh goals. But, to wrlte hooks, the talent
has to he there. You have to he true to vourself.
lf the talent alnt there vou nlght want to trv
sonethlng else. But lf vou reallv want to do hut
voure not qulte good at lt vet, vou |ust have to
kee at lt lf voure serlous ahout lt. ll
haurlre 6. 6arland
0Z0NE hA6 ll 6!
68 ll 0Z0NE hA6
h
e
m
a
d
e
it th
r
o
u
g
h
th
e
s
tr
e
e
ts
o
f B
r
o
o
k
ly
n
a
n
d

te
n
y
e
a
r
s
lo
c
k
e
d
b
e
h
in
d
b
a
r
s
. s
o
, fo
r
a
tla
n
tic

r
e
c
o
r
d
in
g
a
r
tis
t m
a
in
o
, th
is
m
u
s
ic
in
d
u
s
tr
y
s
h
it
is
n
o
th
in
g
. a
n
d
fo
r
a
n
y
n
o
n
b
e
lie
v
e
r
s
a
n
d
d
o
u
b
t-
e
r
s
, h
e
o
n
ly
h
a
s
o
n
e
th
in
g
to
s
a
y
: h
i h
a
te
r
s
!
W
o
r
d
s
b
y
r
a
n
d
y
r
o
p
e
r
p
h
o
to
b
y
t
o
n
y
C
u
ta
ja
r
68 ll 0Z0NE hA6
0Z0NE hA6 ll 69
h
e
m
a
d
e
it th
r
o
u
g
h
th
e
s
tr
e
e
ts
o
f B
r
o
o
k
ly
n
a
n
d

te
n
y
e
a
r
s
lo
c
k
e
d
b
e
h
in
d
b
a
r
s
. s
o
, fo
r
a
tla
n
tic

r
e
c
o
r
d
in
g
a
r
tis
t m
a
in
o
, th
is
m
u
s
ic
in
d
u
s
tr
y
s
h
it
is
n
o
th
in
g
. a
n
d
fo
r
a
n
y
n
o
n
b
e
lie
v
e
r
s
a
n
d
d
o
u
b
t-
e
r
s
, h
e
o
n
ly
h
a
s
o
n
e
th
in
g
to
s
a
y
: h
i h
a
te
r
s
!
W
o
r
d
s
b
y
r
a
n
d
y
r
o
p
e
r
p
h
o
to
b
y
t
o
n
y
C
u
ta
ja
r
0Z0NE hA6 ll 69
Youre fron Brooklvn rlght! Can vou start hv tell-
lng ne vour harkground!
l grew u llke evervhodv else dld that rones fron
anv tve of ghetto or dvsfunrtlonal sltuatlon. ln
fron Bed-Stuv Brooklvn. l rone fron the streets,
nan. hv household wasnt anv dlfferent fron anv
other household ln the late 8s, earlv 9s when
rrark was reallv oln off. You know, lt was a
lot of thlngs ln nv household that ushed ne lnto
the street and nv llfes heen rrazv ever slnre.
When dld vou turn to ra nuslr!
l dldnt turn to ra untll l was ln rlson. When l
was there thats when l started ralng.
You dld ten vears ln rlson, rlght! So dld ralng
hel vou get through those ten vears!
l dldnt even start ralng when l rst went to
|all. lt was after a roule vears when l was ln |all,
l was gettlng ln trouhle. l was suosed to he u
for arole ln ve vears hut l was gettlng lnto a
lot of hullshlt, so thev would kee ne lorked ne
ln the hox for ZJ hours a dav. l was ln the hox for
ZJ hours a dav for a roule vears stralght and l
started ralng. l started ralng herause l was
hored. Alnt too nurh vou ran do when voure
lorked ln one rell for ZJ hours a dav. l would
wake u and wrlte a rhvne, everv roule of davs,
|ust for nvself, for nv own en|ovnent.
how dld vour rareer develo after vou got out of
rlson!
After l started ralng, l started to thlnk of a wav
to take lt serlous. Ihls was the tlne when B.l.6.
was dolng hls thlng, llke when Blg was all the
wav out the there, and l lnstantlv related to that
herause he rane fron the hood. l felt llke, theres
a dude that rones fron the hood, seaklng a
language l understand. hes savlng thlngs l ran
relate to. So, lt was denltelv an lnslratlon to see
hln rone u. l was llke, lf ln trulv a hustler and
trulv a real nlgga, navhe l ran use thls ralng
thlng as a stelng stone. havhe l ran go hone
and glve thls a trv. Ihats what l dld. l trled to
learn as nurh as l rould ahout the huslness. l
trled to lnvest ln readlng hooks. l |ust trled to
reare nvself to rone hone and get lnto ra.
Even hefore l rane hone ne and nv eole rane
u wlth the nane hustle hard. When l got hone,
we |uned rlght lnto lt.
You were seen a lot wlth Lll Kln ln the heglnnlng
of vour rareet. Whats vour relatlonshl wlth Kln!
Were fron the sane hood. lt was a tlne that we
dld a lot of work together. A lot of eole assorl-
ate ne wlth her herause when eole dldnt reallv
know ne l was |ust ronlng on the nlxtae srene
and eole would see ne out wlth her or hear ne
on rerords, l was on her last alhun Naked Iruth.
Were rool.
Naked Iruth rane out three vears ago. how vou
heen ahle to renaln atlent!
lf l ran glve these rrarkers ten vears of nv llfe, l
ran do anvthlng ln the world. lts nothlng ln the
world l rant do. l had to slt u there and walt to
go hone, walt to he fed, walt to he rlothed. l had
to walt for letters, l had to walt for evervthlng.
Now that ln free, lts nothlng ln the world l
rant do. What l dld, l took everv oortunltv as
lt resented ltself. l staved husv, l staved on nlx
taes, l staved on Vs. ln a YouIuhe gangsta. l
staved dolng whatever l rould to kee nv nane
ln the street, herause at the end of the dav, thats
all l had.
lve seen vou ln a lot of vldeos. l was watrhlng a
vldeo rerentlv where vou were talklng ahout a lot
of raers ln the gane not helng real. how do vou
thlnk nost raers llves ronare to vour llfe!
l dont thlnk l had the nost rrazv llfe. l dont
thlnk nv llfe wlns the award for the nost furked
u or the nost rrazv, hut evervhodv has sone
trlals and trlhulatlons thev went through. l rone
fron a household where nv fanllv used drugs and
shlt llke that hut lts lentv of other eole whos
had fathers who was on rrark and nothers on
rrark. Ihe thlng ahout ne, what l had develoed
lnto hefore l herane a nan ls denltelv a true
storv. l reallv laved a art ln the street. l reallv,
reallv laved a art ln the street and what l nean
hv that ls, that vou have sone raers that thev
thlnk |ust herause vou rone fron the hood that
dont nean vou was lnvolved ln the hood. 1ust
herause vou rone fron the hood doesnt nake
vou a art of whats golng on ln the underworld
of the hood. 1ust herause vou sold a roule drugs
dont nean vou was reallv runnlng lt. 1ust herause
a erson rane fron a rertaln ro|ert doesnt
nean hes got street rred wlth ne.
Runors klnda klrked off vour street huzz.
At the tlne l was trvlng to nake nv wav onto
the nlxtaes and l started to notlre l was |ust
an average nlgga on the nlxtae. So, l needed
sonethlng to searate ne fron these other nlg-
gas herause ln nothlng llke nohodv else. l dldnt
wanna he assorlated |wlth average nlggas], l
dldnt wanna he looked uon as the sane klnd of
average nlgga. Ihat was nv wav of naklng nv
nark at the tlne, and lt worked. lt shone sone
llght on ne. Peole ln the lndustrv, |ust as well
ln the street, started to notlre ne. lts two klnds
of huzzes. street huzzes and lndustrv huzzes. l
needed hoth. l needed then to know who halno
was, and thats what Runors dld for ne
What haened to vour deal wlth Unlversal!
Runors ls what lead to nv deal wlth Unlversal.
Ihat was a learnlng exerlenre hut l dont thlnk l
was even readv or reared the wav l an todav.
I.l. was lnstrunental wlth vou gettlng slgned,
rlght! how dld vou neet hln and hook u!
l was alreadv slgned. l had known I.l. for a whlle.
lts a real frlendshl, real hrotherhood. lt alnt
even so nurh ahout huslness wlth hln. l reallv
got love for dude. 6rand hustle, thats all fanllv.
hes a real dude.
how dld vou end u wlth Atlantlr!
l had relatlonshls at Atlantlr. hv nan 1ean
Nelson was lnstrunental ln nv whole rareer, fron
nv Unlversal davs. he had herone the Exerutlve
A6R at Atlantlr. l was stlll slgned to Unlversal hut
l had hetter relatlonshls at Atlantlr. So, when l
was gettlng out of nv deal at Unlversal, lt was
onlv rlght that l wanted to he wlth nv eole. l
felt llke lf l had a rhanre ln thls gane, ld rather
take a rhanre wlth eole that reallv rared ahout
ne. So, thats what voure hearlng rlght now, the
affert of deallng wlth eole who reallv glve a
furk ahout halno.
Lets talk ahout the hl haters slngle.
l was |ust rldlng around vlhlng to the heat and
thats where the heat lead ne. l guess lt was |ust
neant to he. l dont even wrlte nv rhvnes, l thlnk
then. l went to the studlo and thats what rane
out. Ihls ls the tve of rerord that evervone ran
relate to.
ld vou ever thlnk hl hater would he the one to
ut halno on the na!
l knew l was onto sonethlng when nv eole
rane to the studlo and were llke, Yo, thls rerord
ls rrazv. So, l started to feel llke l was on to
sonethlng.
So that slngle ut the nonentun hehlnd vour
alhun. Can vou talk to ne ahout vour alhun!
0f rourse, lts settlng off the novenent herause
eole know ne fron the Vs, nlxtaes and
helng afllated wlth Lll Kln at one olnt, hut now
onre vou have all that, vou have to ut a rerord
out that wlll glve vou attentlon natlonallv. Ihls ls
the rerord, and voure ahout to wltness a nove-
nent llke vou alnt never seen ronlng out of New
York. Ihats a guaranteed fart.
Whv do vou thlnk New York hasnt heen olng
latelv llke lt was ln the ast!
l dont know, nan. l dont know the rohlen wlth
a lot of nlggas, nan. l nean, l |ust feel llke we
need to get to the nuslr. A lot of these nlggas got
gav qualltles. l reallv rant exlaln lt. All l ran do
ls do what works for ne. A lot of the older dudes
wanna kee ronetlng. l dont know, lts no one
answer for that. l |ust gure that the onlv wav to
roel New York hark lnto the rare ls to rone wlth
sonethlng new and fresh. l dont thlnk a raer
that was out I, IS vears ago ls golng to relnvent
hlnself to hrlng New York to how lt was hefore.
We |ust need to nove forward wlth thls new shlt.
What klnd of new shlt are vou hrlnglng on vour
alhun!
lts |ust real talk, fron a real dude. lts nv llfe,
nv nlgga. lt detalls a ortlon of nv llfe after l
rane fron rlson and wanted to he an artlst. lt
detalls that whole transltlon. After l rane fron
rlson l was on arole, so l was stlll dahhllng ln
the street. l had |ust had a hahv and l was trvlng
to he a raer. l had to deal wlth a lot |ust trvlng
to he a raer, so lt was hard for ne to even trv
to nake that transltlon. l thlnk trvlng to nake
that transltlon fron the nlgga that l an at heart
to heronlng a raer was harder than ne dolng
rlson herause l was enterlng sonethlng l had
no ldea ahout. l was so used to nv lgnorant llfe,
l thought rlson was an extenslon of nv llfe. You
grow u ln the street, vou selllng drugs, hustln
vour gun, shootlng u shlt, gettlng shot, shootlng
hark, gettlng nonev, loslng nonev. When vou llve
llke that, vou know rlson ls gonna rone. lt was
a tlne ln nv llfe when l rouldnt walt to go to |all.
l swear to 6od l grew u thlnklng that |all was a
art of sonethlng we had to do. 6olng fron that
|nentalltv] to trv to he an artlst was a harder |oh
for ne.
So what do vou sav to eole that sav halno ls
|ust a street nlgga, hes |ust known for knorklng
out Lll Cease and he alnt reallv a raer!
Well, the roof ls ln the uddlng, nv nlgga. Look
at how nv rerord ls sreadlng llke a dlsease. ln
|ust gonna let the nuslr seak for ltself. lor anv
hater, ln |ust gonna denonstrate. ln not gonna
talk hark, ln not gonna arknowledge hullshlt,
ln not gone sav nothlng at all. Real rerognlze
real, l dont glve a furk lf ln fron Bed-Stuv and
0Z0NE ls a Southern-hased nagazlne. Real nlggas
rerognlze real. We all have the sane struggles
fron all over. Who l an and nv nuslr ls gonna
seak for ltself. l wlll have the last laugh. Llke l
sald, voure hout to wltness sonethlng hlg ronlng
out of New York. ll
! ll 0Z0NE hA6
0Z0NE hA6 ll !I
!Z ll 0Z0NE hA6
pRoducTion cRediTs: lil wayne a milli, Tay dizm f/ T-
pain & Rick Ross Beam me up, dem franchize Boyz Talkin
out The side of Ya neck, Kelis Bossy
l |ust zone out to nake heats. lts reallv no nethod. l rollert sounds and
rreate. l wasnt naklng |A hllll] for Wavne, l was |ust naklng lt. lt |ust
ended u helng for Wavne after l nade lt. l got to hln through a frlend
naned Shanell, thls fenale l rodured for. he worked wlth her and she |ust
laved lt for hln.
Io he honest, fron a rodurer standolnt, |ust ne knowlng the otentlal of
the nuslr, l dldnt thlnk he strurtured lt rlght |and] sequenred lt roerlv.
Ihats |ust a natter of olnlon. l feel llke hes a suerstar, so |l rant] rldlrule
hln wlth anvthlng. l alwavs llked the fart that he freestvled that shlt. l thlnk
the rst ten hars are |ust nonster to ne. |he rould have] ut a hook on lt.
Wheres the hook! 0r ahout the suh|ert of whats the heat talklng ahout. 1ust
real slnle shlt. A nllll, A nllll l guess whatever nakes vou feel rlrh and
wealthv. lt alnt neressarllv got to he ahout nonev lf vou want to talk ahout
nonev. l thought he should talk ahout that.
|havlng a oular heat] feels good, thats what l do lt for. Not reallv for the
arrolades or to have the hest heat of the vear, hut |ust to he rerognlzed and
eserlallv herause ln trvlng to do sone na|or shlt. When voure dolng shlt
thats sonetlnes ahead of the nasses lt gets frustratlng. l renenher one
tlne |Kanve] sald sonethlng llke, he rant get hls ldeas out herause thats
how l he feellng. lve heen naklng hot shlt for a long tlne and lts |ust now
avlng off to the olnt where nore nuthafurkers are ronlng to furk wlth ne.
l thlnk wlth the |A hllll] heat lts nallv avlng off. lve heen dolng thls
shlt for a long tlne and l kee trvlng to relnvent nvself. Peole nlght not
even hear a stvle. l done noved on to a whole nother stvle that eole alnt
even heard. l rouldnt get the ldeas out, herause eole dont want to trv to
get on the heat. You |ust got to rove too nurh to eole and now thevre
arretlng lt nore. l go lnto a sesslon and thevre nlxlng lt thats all lve heen
talklng ahout, gettlng to that olnt and lts ronlng full rlrrle. lt feels good,
nan.
Prohahlv one of the hardest heats lve done was RPh wlth Shawnna and
Iwlsta and Ludarrls on lt. lt was sone underground shlt, lt was llke eoles
favorlte shlt. l dld Vlhrate wlth Rasheeda and Petev Pahlo. l thlnk that heat
was real hard. l dld Whats Your lantasv for Ludarrls. l dld half of hls rst
and serond alhuns. And l dld 8Ball 6 h16s You ont Want rana, ont
hake, and lorever, whlrh had Llovd on lt. l dld Kells Bossv, two other
songs on her alhun ralled Aww Shlt and handful. lve worked wlth hlssv,
Clara, hotllne, ogg Pound, Paul Wall, Busta Rhvnes, Chlngv, and 1lhhs. l |ust
dld sonethlng for I-Palns artlst Iav lzn. hls song Bean he U features
I-Paln and Rlrk Ross, so l thlnk thats golng to he hlg. 1ust look out, av at-
tentlon to Bangladesh. lts alwavs golng to he sonethlng sertarular.
!Z ll 0Z0NE hA6
0Z0NE hA6 ll !J
!+ ll 0Z0NE hA6
INDUSTRY 101
ryan Cameron
lor the last I! vears, Atlantans have artled,
woke u, worked and drove hone to the tune of
Rvan Canerons volre. Ihe fagshl ersonalltv on
Atlantas V-IJ rohahlv has a hlgger resenre
than the navor and ollre rhlef ronhlned. Peole
have grew u llstenlng to hln for vears, denlng
evervdav of thelr llfe fron thelr rst dav of srhool
to thelr rst rhlld. 0Z0NE raught u wlth the
Rvan Klng to have hln talk ahout hls heglnnlngs
and trlals ln radlo as well as hls extenslve ron-
nunltv outrearh.
Where are vou fron and how dld vou wlnd u ln
hroadrastlng!
ln fron Atlanta. ln fron Bankhead. Bark when
l was a kld, l had a seerh lnedlnent and l had
to go to Clark Atlanta Unlversltv, where thev had
a rlass whlrh haslrallv was hooked on Phonlrs ls
now. Ihev laved the results on the radlo on Clark
radlo statlon and when we heard that on the radlo
l was slttlng ln nv grandaddvs llvlng roon wlth
the headhones on. lron that dav forward l knew
l wanted to he on the radlo
You got started as an lntern, rlght!
Yeah, l dld rollege radlo at West 6eorgla College
and then got an lnternshl at V-IJ ln I99. l was
at the statlon everv dav and eole ket gettlng
red. l was alwavs readv to ste ln, art tlne or
whatever and then nallv ln 9I l got nv shot
dolng nlghts. l left and went to WKYS ln .C. for
ahout a vear, and then l rane hark |to Atlanta]
ln 96 worklng at what was hot 9!.S whlrh turned
ln to I!.9. l worked there for 9 vears dolng the
nornlng show, left and rane hark to V-IJ ln S.
how was vour rst stlnt at V-IJ!
Bark then vou rould onlv lav ra nuslr after 6
Ph, and slnre we were on fron I to nldnlght ev-
erv lrldav, we had the lndustrv on lork. l had a +
share at nlght, whlrh was llke hevond hellef, we
had all the whlte klds and hlark klds llstenlng to
V herause that was the onlv tlne thev rould hear
ra nuslr. When l left 6reg Street rane ln and
herane surh a world wlde henonenon known for
hreaklng nuslr thev had to oen u the lavllst..
Whv dld vou leave VIJ for .C.! lt seened ahrut.
lt was an oortunltv to do nore than drlve tlne
for ne. Bark then all the real, real hlg nonev was
|dolng nornlng shows] llke the onnv Slnsons
and the Ion 1ovners. C at the tlne was narket
nunher + or S. So lf voure golng to go sonewhere
then vou nlght as well trv out C. When Radlo 0ne
derlded thev wanted to trv to hrlng ne hark to
Atlanta, who wouldnt want to rone hone!
0n vour show vou do nore than |ust lav nuslr.
You talk ahout ronnunltv lssues as well. Whv!
We rall lt edutalnnent. l ronare nvself to
what l watrh on the loral news, then l watrh the
Entertalnnent Ionlghts and the IhZs. l trv to have
one of those elenents ln nv show everv dav. lf
theres sonethlng golng on ln the rltv, llke when
the older wonan got kllled hv the ollre, we ran
talk ahout that. Ihen on a natlonal level we ran
talk ahout thlngs llke Sean Bell or the 1ena 6. You
trv to do sonethlng thats entertalnlng hut at
the sane tlne vou want eole to thlnklng ahout
what voure savlng, or gettlng nad and ralllng ln
|to the statlon] wlth thelr own olnlon.
how do vou feel ahout free seerh on the radlo!
You have one extrene llke howard Stern, and then
vou have another llke on lnus.
l llsten to Xh Radlo hut the onlv thlng thev ran
do ls rurse. lt alnt llke lts anvnore freeer |than
tradltlonal radlo]. lf vou ran walk the llne and
not rross lt, vou ran stlll sav whatever. lve got
a hrush, ln alntlng the lrtures, and lts u to
vou what rolor vou see. l |ust sav what l thlnk.
lts all ahout the eoles olnlons, ln |ust trvlng
to nake eole thlnk, and understand that were
here for the long run.
What affert do vou thlnk satelllte radlo has had on
terrestrlal radlo! A lot of eole thought lt would
dle out.
Evervhodvs alwavs afrald. Ihats what thev
thought ahout weh streanlng, Ihats what thev
thought ahout Cs. But eole dont want to av
for sonethlng that thev ran get for free. Satelllte
ls great hut who wants to av for sonethlng that
vou ran get for free! lf vou llsten to Xh Radlo and
a tornado ls ronlng down Pearhtree, vou alnt
golng to know ahout lt.
Iell us ahout the ronnunltv outrearh vouve heen
dolng through vour Rvan Caneron loundatlon.
l was dolng rharltahle fundralsers hefore l was on
the alr full tlne. We started off dolng the Celehrltv
Bowllng event, guaranteelng eole SS, a
vear |would he glven to rharltv] no natter how
nurh nonev we nade. ln ZI there was a hlg
srandal wlth a na|or rharltahle organlzatlon and
eole ket savlng, how do we know that the
nonev ls golng where we want lt to go! Ihe
easlest wav to do lt ls to have a foundatlon. Now,
evervhodvs got a foundatlon. 0ur foundatlon ls
uhllrlv funded so l rant use vour donatlon to
hel sonehodv that needs a wheelrhalr. l ran hel
other foundatlons. We have klds on srholarshls
that are na|orlng ln hroadrastlng or entertaln-
nent. We glve out S to I grants a vear to other
SICJ organlzatlons. ln the sunner nv leadershl
aradenv hrlngs ln klds fron artnershl hlgh
srhools and when thev graduate thev get a lato
and S+,. Io get that rherk everv fall, thev have
to rone hark and work ln the sunnertlne. lt alnt
|ust llke vou get the nonev and run. We trv to
nake eole rontlnue to glve hark. Were dolng a
artnershl wlth AEINA, a dlahetes lnltlatlve were
were golng out wlth overwelght klds, talklng
ahout how great lt ls to have a healthv llfestvle.
Were seelng a lot of |uvenlle dlahetes rases so we
got a whole health lnltlatlve were golng to klrk
off ln the fall. Peole are startlng to rerognlze ne
nore for nv ronnunltv stuff then nv radlo thlng.
how does lt nake vou feel!
Ihats erfert, herause after the radlo ls gone l
want to stlll he ahle to do nv ronnunltv stuff
hased on nv hrand. When vou got Nlke ralllng
vou fron hlanl savlng, We heard voure dolng
hlg thlngs. Lets get together, thats hlg. Bark ln
the dav we rouldnt do that klnd of stuff herause
eole wanted to go antl-ra. Now, rororate
sonsorshls are na|or ln uttlng these events
on. Even when l do the lather-aughter danre l
dldnt want to start off ln the Enhassv Sultes. We
started off at the Rltz Carlton. l want hlark eole,
whlte eole, whoever to feel llke lts a ron
for the fathers and thelr daughters. Ihev hulld a
relatlonshl so the daughters ran see how a nan
ls suosed to treat then. ll
Words hv haurlre 6. 6arland
0Z0NE hA6 ll !S
ryan Cameron
!6 ll 0Z0NE hA6
0Z0NE hA6 ll !!
!8 ll 0Z0NE hA6
C-MURDER/SCREAMIN 4
VENGEANCE/TRU/ASyLUM
Wlth hls No Llnlt glorv davs far
hehlnd hln, C-hurders latest
effort Srreanln + Vengeanre
roves he ls stlll raahle of uttlng together an en-
tertalnlng alhun. Barked hv ruston-nade heats fron
hls eadlv Soundz rodurtlon tean, C dlslavs hls lnroved song-wrltlng
and radenre, and even stes outslde the rrlnlnal-nlnded naterlal hes
known for. 0n Stav lresh he hohs-and-weaves over srattered svnths
and druns whlle Posted 0n the Blork has hln lnresslvelv keelng
u wlth fast-ared guest sots fron Kravzle Bone, hla X and Paoose.
Unfortunatelv, those sane ruston-nade heats also eventuallv allow C
to sll too far lnto hls ronfort zone, turnlng ln a hevv of lazv soundlng
songs that rohahlv wont nake vou want to hlt the reeat hutton. Ihe
hulk of Srreanln + Vengeanre leaves a lot to he deslred. haurlre 6.
6arland
Wlth Young Burk out srurrvlng on hls own,
Banks, Burk, and S are hark on thelr own hunt.
Wlth none of the trlo helng safe fron rrltlrlsn,
6-Unlt sets out to ronvlnre evervone that thev
havent gone soft. Iernlnate 0n Slght ls a no-
love-song alhun that ls drenrhed ln a lvrlral
servlng of a verv resound dont furk wlth ne
attltude, whlrh ls shared hv earh nenher of
Curtls gang. Whlle the three rraft ronnendahle
dellverles and an overall en|ovahle alhun, the
lvrlrs fall short and Yavos talent has vet to he
found. Rohlt Loonha
Bs nest ls hark wlth an untltled alhun wlth
enough lvrlral rontent to nake u for the seen-
lnglv endless sulv of I6s ahout dlanonds,
rlns and ass. Nas ls ln ne forn on trarks surh
as Slv lox on whlrh he targets lox News and
questlons whv hes alwavs arrused of ronotlng
vlolenre whlle hollvwood lsnt. Ihls alhun goes
ahove and hevond todavs alhuns, forrlng fans
to thlnk and go hevond the nuslr on trarks surh
as Iestlfv. Iheres nallv a true hl ho alhun
agaln, and lts no surrlse that Nas ls the one
who dellvered lt. Rohlt Loonha
6earlng u for hls sohonore alhun, lS0UL1AB0Y,
the orlglnal Crank at suerstar releases Ihe Ieen
0f Ihe South nlxtae, hosted hv 1 Srrean. Ihe
lntro rreates a dlsrusslon for hls osltlon ln hIVZs
Io enrees. he attents to rove hls longevltv hv
enhanrlng hls wordlav and ugradlng hls rodur-
tlon. Irarks llke l Know You hate he and 6urrl
Bandanna dlslav hls lvrlral deth, however, 6o
hard shows hls glft for lnstrunentals. lan or not,
vouve gotta love Soul|a Bovs lavful llnes and
resert hln as an artlst that glves the eole what
thev want. lsahelle Ahanotu
lf thev tell vou, han,
vou rant rone u
vou hetter go agalnst
evervthlng thev sav.
Klller hlke suns u hls
storv slnlv on Can
You hear he, one of
a handful of strong
trarks on l Pledge
Alleglanre Io Ihe 6rlnd
ll, a solld alhun wlth
few faults. hlkes lvrl-
ral ahllltles are at the
level of the hest sto-
rvtelllng enrees and
he kees on the gas,
raturlng hls lntensltv
to the fullest on alnost
everv trark. lndeen-
dent hut stlll golng
strong, Klller hlke lsnt
showlng slgns of hark-
lng u anvtlne soon.
Rohlt Loonha
Brlsro has heen naklng
nore news latelv for heeng
wlth Yung Berg than for hls
nuslr. But on thls nlxtae,
the 0a-Larka goon roves
hls nane helongs ln the llst
of llorlda enrees next to
hlow. Ihe nlxtaes lntro,
along wlth trarks llke l 6et
honev and ln Bark are
notahle, hut Brlsros llnlted
suh|ert natter grows tlrlng
throughout the I! trarks.
Stlll, wlth rana dolng what
he does and Brls slttlng
that goon nuslr, Under-
world Rlse ls a 6angsta 6rlllz
nlxtae worth rherklng out.
Randv Roer
G-UNIT/ T.O.S.: TERMINATE ON
SIGHT/G-UNIT RECORDS
NAS/UNTITLED/DEf jAM
Dj SCREAM & SOULjA bOy/
THE TEEN Of THE SOUTH
kILLER MIkE/I PLEDGE
ALLEGIANCE TO THE GRIND
II/GRIND TIME OffICIAL/SMC
Dj DRAMA, bRISCO & E-
CLASS/UNDERwORLD RISE
DAVID bANNER/THE GREATEST
STORy EVER TOLD/SRC
After three revlous efforts
Banner has nallv nade the
denltlve alhun of hls rareer, raturlng the hest of
hls talents as a rodurer, raer and artlvlst. 0n the
oenlng trark So Long Banner seaks on ln|ustlres,
urglng street soldlers to ght eole other than thenselves. lron there
he takes a reallstlr |ournev, tourhlng on hoth the olltlral lB.A.N.) and
rlnltlve lA 6lrl) sldes of hls llfe. ln hetween, the hlsslssll enree
rovldes lnterludes and nuslr heds that lav u to hls growth as nusl-
rlan, naklng the alhun a ronlete exerlenre. Whlle adnlttlng to nuslral
nlstakes on ast releases he does have a roule nlsstes llurk You
hoes, K.0.) hut soulful trarks llke l 6et Bv, hold 0n and the self-
exlanatorv lalth nake vou forget ahout then. lt nav he u for dehate
whether avld Banners latest alhun ls artuallv Ihe 6reatest Storv Ever
Iold, however, lt ls the greatest storv hes ever told. haurlre 6. 6arland
THREE SIX MAfIA/LAST 2 wALk
HyPNOTIZED MINDZ/SONy
After wlnnlng a 6rannv and
llterallv golng hollvwood, Ihree
6 haa nakes a derent attent
to return to thelr roots wlth thelr latest alhun Last Z
Walk. Whlle the rodurtlon stlll has thelr tradenarked
fuslon of soul sanles over heat narhlne drun klrks and hl-hats, lt larks
that feellng that vou used to get fron llstenlng to thelr nuslr. lt rould he
unhellevahle drug esraades llke Ira Boonln or overt sexraades llke
ld Rather, hut sonethlng ls nlsslng. however, there ls enough naturltv
ln songs llke hv 0wn Wav featurlng 6ood Charlotte and hood Star
featurlng Lvfe 1ennlngs to nake vou look forward to what dlrertlon thelr
nuslr wlll take ln the future. haurlre 6. 6arland
RICH bOy/bIGGER THAN THE
MAyOR
Alahanas favorlte son, Rlrh Bov,
returns wlth another 88 shakln
rlde through hls world of rash, hoes and rlothes
on hls new nlxtae, Blgger Ihan Ihe havor. halnlv
stlrklng to telllng tales of the haller llfe, Rlrh Bov
dellvers ln hls slgnature drawl, I6-trarks of trurk-shaklng nuslr sure to
satlsfv untll hls sohonore set dros. Iltles llke Wrlst 0ut Ihe Wlndow
and Chevvs A honsta let vou know thls ls erfert sunner stuntln nuslr
to rlde out to. Wlth aearanres fron Yo 6ottl, 6urrl hane, Shawtv Lo, and
Irae, the onlv thlng nlsslng ls a lark of rontent seen ln last vears ronls-
lng Lets 6et Ihls Paer. Anthonv Burgos
0Z0NE hA6 ll !9
8 ll 0Z0NE hA6
0Z0NE hA6 ll 8I
1. DJ Chuck T Down South Slangin 50 www.djchuckt.com
2. DJ Teknikz If You Buyin We Sellin 18 www.myspace.com/djteknikz
3. DJ Scream & MLK Hoodrich Radio 9 http://www.myspace.com/4045405000 www.myspace.com/mlkng
4. The DBoy Movement & Young Money Records Life On Weezy Street Volume 2 djkillak@tmail.com
5. DJ Smallz The Usual Suspects 2 www.djsmallz.com
6. DJ Bobby Black Crack Addiction: The Game & Bun B www.myspace.com/theoffcialdjbobbyblack
7. DJ 31 Degreez Georgia Bulldogs Pt. 10
9. DJ Scream, MLK & DJ Spinz Hoodrich Radio 11 http://www.myspace.com/4045405000 www.myspace.com/mlkng
10. Evil Empire Interstate Traffcking Volume 6 www.myspace.com/evilempire
11. DJ Spinz Rhythm Swag www.myspace.com/dj_spinz
12. DJ Spinatik Street Runnaz 16 www.djspinatik.com
13. DNA, DJ Scream and DJ Rob Get On My Level 7 Hosted by Shawty Lo www.myspace.com/wildchilddna www.myspace.com/targetsquad
14. DJ Delz D187 Hood Radio Volume 23 www.djdelzonline.com djdelz@tmail.com
16. Gamespitta Entertainment Legends In The Making Vol. 1 Hosted by JiJi Sweet www.myspace.com/gamespittaent
15. DJ Chief Rocka Throwin Bows Volume 5 www.myspace.com/djchiefrocka2
17. DJ Scope Street Certifed 27 www.myspace.com/infareddjscope
18. Chilly C. The Paperchaser Never A Drought Volume 1 www.myspace.com/chillycthepaperchaser
19. DNA & DJ Drama Motion Picture Shit Volume 3 www.myspace.com/wildchilddna www.myspace.com/djdrama
8. DJ Black Bill Gates King Shit Radio V.3 www.myspace.com/
DCHARLAMAGNE THA GOD & Dj
fROSTy.COM
HEAVy METAL HOOD SHIT
WWW.hYSPACE.C0hlCIhA60
WWW.hYSPACE.C0hl1lR0SIY0IC0h
When arguahlv the hlggest ra star on the
lanet lKanve West) and one of the ganes to
rodurers lSwlzz Beatz) host vour nlxtae, that
alone ls enough rause for hlx of the honth
honors. ln addltlon to thelr negastar hosts,
Charlanagne Iha 6od and 1 lrostv ronlle a
nlxtae loaded wlth sone of the newest street
hangers llke avld Banner featurlng Lll Wavne
Shawtv Sav, Rlrk Ross Ihls ls Ihe Llfe lre-
nlx) and exrluslves fron lndeendents Natlon
Bov ln Pald and hlsta Iavlor hlrror anre.
heavv hetal hood Shlt ls a Caffelne Suhstltute
thatll kee vour head noddlng all the wav to
houston for the 0Z0NE Awards.
1s, send vour nlx Cs lwlth a rover) for
ronslderatlon to.
0zone hagazlne
6++ Antone St. Sulte 6
Atlanta, 6A JJI8
0Z0NE hA6 ll 8I
20. DJ Bobby Black Crack Addiction: Jay-Z & Barack Obama www.myspace.com/theoffcialdjbobbyblack
When arguahlv the hlggest ra star on the
lanet lKanve West) and one of the ganes to
rodurers lSwlzz Beatz) host vour nlxtae, that
alone ls enough rause for hlx of the honth
honors. ln addltlon to thelr negastar hosts,
Charlanagne Iha 6od and 1 lrostv ronlle a
nlxtae loaded wlth sone of the newest street
hangers llke avld Banner featurlng Lll Wavne
Shawtv Sav, Rlrk Ross Ihls ls Ihe Llfe lre-
nlx) and exrluslves fron lndeendents Natlon
Bov ln Pald and hlsta Iavlor hlrror anre.
heavv hetal hood Shlt ls a Caffelne Suhstltute
thatll kee vour head noddlng all the wav to
houston for the 0Z0NE Awards.
1s, send vour nlx Cs lwlth a rover) for
ronslderatlon to.
0zone hagazlne
6++ Antone St. Sulte 6
Atlanta, 6A JJI8
8Z ll 0Z0NE hA6
Plles
Venue. Cluh Vovage
Event. hvsare serret show
Cltv. 0rlando, lL
ate. 1une !th, Z8
Photo. Ierrenre Ivson
end zone