LETTER FROM PIMP C & APHILLIATES’ ALL-STARS MIX CD INSIDE!

TWISTA DSR ’s
$7 MIL DEAL
JUELZ SANTANA
SEAN PAUL THE LAST
PITBULL MR. BIGG
B.G. 334 M.O.B.B.
TRIPLE J
MIKE JONES vs.
MICHAEL WATTS

YEAR-END
AWARDS
& MORE
PUBLISHER/EDITOR:
jan06contents
Julia Beverly

OPERATIONS MANAGER:

COVER STORIES
Gary LaRochelle

ADVERTISING SALES:
Che’ Johnson (Gotta Boogie)
Twista pg 70-72
Sean Paul pg 74-76
LEGAL AFFAIRS:
Kyle P. King, P.A. (King Law Firm)

ASSOCIATE EDITOR:
Matt Sonzala

MUSIC EDITOR:
Maurice G. Garland

MARKETING & PROMOTIONS:

Malik “Highway” Abdul

CAFFEINE SUBSTITUTES:
Mercedes

CONTRIBUTORS: FEATURES
ADG, Amanda Diva, Bogan, E-
Feezy, Felita Knight, Iisha Hillmon,
BG pg 20
Jaro Vacek, Jessica Koslow, J Lash,
Jason Cordes, Jo Jo, Johnny Louis,
DSR pg 34
Kamikaze, Keadron Smith, Keith Triple J pg 50
Kennedy, K.G. Mosley, Killer Mike,
King Yella, Lisa Coleman, Marcus Pitbull pg 78-80
DeWayne, Mayson Drake, Natalia
Gomez, Noel Malcolm, Ray Tam-
Assassin pg 82-83
arra, Rico Da Crook, Robert Gabriel,
Rohit Loomba, Shannon McCollum,
334 M.O.B.B. pg 34
Spiff, Swift, Wally Sparks, Wendy Christmas Gifts pg 36
Day, Willie Fields
The Last Mr Bigg pg 52
STREET REPS:
Al-My-T, B-Lord, Big Teach (Big
Juelz Santana pg 54-56
Mouth), Bigg C, Bigg V, Black,
Buggah D. Govanah (On Point),
Year-End Awards pg 58-66
Bull, C Rola, Cedric Walker, Chill,
Chilly C, Chuck T, Controller, Dap,
Delight, Dolla Bill, Dwayne Barnum,
Dr. Doom, Ed the World Famous,
Episode, General, Haziq Ali, H-Vidal,
Hollywood, J Fresh, Jammin’ Jay, MONTHLY SECTIONS
Janky, Joe Anthony, Judah, Kami-
kaze, KC, Klarc Shepard, Kuzzo, Groupie Confessions pg 16
Kydd Joe, Lex, Lil D, Lump, Marco
Mall, Miguel, Mr. Lee, Mr. Murdoch,
Caffeine Substitutes pg 95
Music & More, Nick@Nite, Nikki
Kancey, Pat Pat, PhattLipp, Pimp G,
Patiently Waiting pg 38-48
Quest, Raj Smoove, Rippy, Rob-Lo, Entrepreneur Profile pg 30
RX, Stax, TJ’s DJ’s, Trina Edwards,
Vicious, Victor Walker, Voodoo, Wild Throwback Reviews pg 94
Billo, Young Harlem
Photo Galleries pg 17-37
DISTRIBUTION:
Curtis Circulation, LLC
Producer Profile pg 28
CD Reviews pg 90-91
To subscribe, send check or money
order for $11 to: Roland Powell pg 15
Ozone Magazine
1516 E. Colonial Dr. Suite 205
Prison Diaries pg 22
Orlando, FL 32803 Mathematics pg 18
Phone: 407-447-6063
Fax: 407-447-6064 DVD Reviews pg 92
Web: www.ozonemag.com
Chick Flix pg 88-89
Cover credits: Twista photo by Barry
Underhill; Sean Paul photo by Ray
Industry 101 pg 32
Tamarra; Johnny the Jeweler and Paul JB’s 2 Cents pg 15
Wall photos by Julia Beverly. OZONE
Magazine is published eleven times T-Pain Live pg 98
annually by OZONE Magazine, Inc.
OZONE does not take responsibility Feedback pg 14
for unsolicited materials, misinforma-
tion, typographical errors, or mis-
DJ Profile pg 26
prints. The views contained herein DJ Top 10 pg 91
do not necessarily reflect those
of the publisher or its advertisers. Flipside pg 24
Ads appearing in this magazine are
not an endorsement or validation
by OZONE Magazine for products
or services offered. All photos and
illustrations are copyrighted by their
respective artists. All other content is
copyright 2005 OZONE Magazine,
all rights reserved. No portion of this
magazine may be reproduced in any
way without the written consent of the
publisher. Printed in the USA.
feedback
Young Jeezy must have low self-esteem. He is whack as fuck. This
is exactly what I thought would happen when I first heard the Boyz
N Da Hood CD. No loyalty in this rap shit at all. Instead of calling the
lil’ dude [Jody Breeze] up and checking him in person, he had to let
the whole world know. He is this and he is that, but he can’t pay child
support? Corny. I just pawned his CD two days ago. I can’t believe I
gave it a chance. And to anyone reading this - especially women with
kids and your man ain’t shit - don’t support this loser. Young Jeezy,
your music is not that great. Only idiots support you, little boys that
sell drugs and think they can retire off it. Can we get some real content
in the magazine? PLEASE find an artist that has a positive message.
Interview them. Please.
- Larry Austin, handicripxx@yahoo.com
I just wanted to write in and say that OZONE is one of my favorite
magazines to read. It’s nice to see the South is doing it big!
- Fresh, fresh.crunkjuice@gmail.com
First off, congrats on the distribution. That’s great news. Is this for the
South region only, or is it nationwide? Either way you’re doing it. The
South is doing it. No more fuck boys from New York telling peoples
what’s COOL!!! We run the world. The South is holding and control-
ling. They can’t stop you, they can’t stop us. This is incredible news.
When you start the OZONE channel/network they ain’t gonna know
what to do. JB you straight whilin’! Duval gotcha back.
- Q904balla@aol.com (Jacksonville, FL)
JB, I read your editorial in the December issue. As long as you keep
writing real shit and saying “fuck” and “shit,” I will continue to sup-
port!
- DJ Supa C, supac@djsupac.com
Even though you already addressed this, I just had to say something!
I noticed in the last couple of issues, in the “feedback” section, some
people fail to realize what’s happening here. Some say you’re sell-
ing out because of the fact that OZONE (the TRUE Southern voice
of hip-hop music) has, is, and will continue to extend its horizon to
other regions (like up North/East coast). For one thing, right now, the
South is the hip-hop rap industry. Nothing, and I mean nothing, is go-
ing on in rap that isn’t in some way involved with the South. Either it’s
featuring, promoted by, produced by, or originating from someone in
the South. So, as we grow in the rap game, the voice of the South
(OZONE for you slow folks) has no choice but to reach out. Secondly,
anyone who does something and gets to a point and feels like that is
enough is crazy! Let me explain. Master P is worth hundreds of mil-
lions of dollars. Did he stop pursuing other avenues of the business
world because he was well-off? HELL NAW! HE is still grinding with a
new distribution company. So if OZONE ever gets to a point where JB
feels like it shouldn’t grow any more, she’s crazy. If she stops trying
to make each issue better than the last, then what’s the point of her
and her team putting it out? And three, when you have a chance to
get better, then do it. My man Bun B (all hail the Commander-in-Chief
14 OZONE
of the South) is one-half of the legendary duo UGK, which stands for
Underground Kingz. Famous for selling records with no radio play, no
video, just word-of-mouth-and some good-ass music that backs itself
up. But recently, he has stepped into the shining light of stardom and
even has a video out that gets major spins. It’s about time for the rest
of the world to recognize. No one would call Bun a sell-out for better-
ing himself and the name of UGK (free Pimp C!). That’s what you’re
supposed to do! GET BETTER! Now, don’t get me wrong. Everyone
has their opinion and the right to express it. But when you don’t know
what the hell you’re talkin’ about, SHUT UP! I love OZONE, literally.
And I can’t wait for the next issue. - BIG BRD, llerback@yahoo.com
(Hattiesburg, MS)
JB, I was glancing through this sex issue of your magazine. Good edi-
torial material. I dig this magazine. Keep up the good work! I’d say it’s
refreshing to look through a magazine that’s different from the norm
(i.e. XXL, Source). I had to email you cause I was feeling your playlist.
- kingzdome@yahoo.com
I love this month’s sex issue. Dem Franchize Boyz are something
funny. Trina looked a great mess on the Table of Contents page. Her
hair has been fried. Jeezy set his shit straight. I’m happy to read that
he takes care of his child. And “groupie confessions” are back! I love
reading that shit. I always thought 50 would be small as fuck just
because of how big he is. He looks like he’s on steroids. Yuck! Well,
I’m a big underground fan. Can you do something on All-Star a.k.a.
Cashville’s prince? I saw your article on Yo Gotti but I wanna know
what’s up with All-Star and his Cash Money deal. Are they pushing
him? Get a seal of approval from Baby or Slim, cause they never
speak on him in interviews. And please do something on that sexy-
ass young dude Trey Songz! That boy is the new, fresh R Kelly! I need
to be a part of your staff. I love OZONE mag! It shows more than just
50 Cent and Jay-Z. We get to read about shit that others might not
know about.
- Renae Hall, midwest_gurl@hotmail.com (Louisville, KY)
I’m on my hustle too. I see y’all doing the damn thing everywhere I
go. It’s a hot mag.
- Lisa Merilus, ceritified_dyme2000@yahoo.com
JB, I admire your work and the drive you have for achieving success
with your magazine. The first thing I always do whenever the new
OZONE comes out is to read your personal forum. I like the sincerity
that you speak with, and it inspires and motivates me to do better and
put more effort into all the different businesses I work with.
- Gregory “Red Lion” Trense, redlion@original-records.com
(Sarasota, FL)
Hate it? Love it? Send your comments to: feedback@ozonemag.
com
OZONE reserves the right to edit comments for clarity or length.

10 Things I’m Hatin’ On
By Roland “Lil Duval” Powell
Disclaimer: This is really what everybody else is say-
in’. I know I’m dead wrong, but I’m hating anyway.
1. Male Groupies
You already know the first one. First and
foremost, I’m hating on male groupies.
There’s no reason why a man should like
me more than a woman.
2. People Who Ask Me To Tell Jokes
If one more person comes up to me and
asks me to tell them a joke, I’m gonna
slap the shit outta them. That’s like me
coming up to you asking you to do your
job while you at the club.
3. Broke Females and Broke Dudes
I’m hating on females acting siditty in the
club, wearing expensive clothes and car-
rying expensive purses. Then they walk
outside to their raggedy-ass car. I’m also
hating on dudes that go to the club and
spend their whole paycheck on a bottle
of Moet, but they’re still walking around
with an empty glass of champagne.
4. Niggas With Fake Dreads
I’m hatin’ on any nigga that got fake
dreads in their hair.
5. The Homeless Guy
I’m hating on the black homeless man
who found a lotto ticket in the garbage
and won millions. I’m also hating on the
cracker who threw that ticket away and
asked for the shit back.
6. Halle Berry
I’m hating on Halle Berry for trying to find
a sperm donor. Shit, I’m right here. I do-
nate sperm to my damn sock every day.
7. Martha Stewart
I’m hating on Martha Stewart. How can
she go to jail and still be a damn million-
aire when she gets out? That shit won’t
happen for a nigga.
8. Punk’d
I’m hating on Punk’d because it was only
supposed to be on for two seasons. It’s
been seven or eight seasons now. Why
are niggas still falling for that shit?
9. Ray J and Superhead
I’m hating on Ray J for being the only
person happy to be mentioned in that
Confessions of a Video Vixen book, just
because she said he was good in bed.
He’s the only dude stupid enough to
make that hoe his girlfriend while she
was fuckin’ all the rest of these niggas.
And I’m hating on her for making mil-
lions. I guess being a hoe does pay off.
10. Terrell Owens
I’m hating on T.O., not because of what
he said, but because he isn’t being a
man and accepting what he said. Them
crackers told him they wanted their mon-
ey back, and now he’s coppin’ pleas.
Nigga, you my dawg, but suck it up. This
is a prime example of how we don’t run
shit. Run, monkey, run! No matter how
much money you got, in the white folks’
eyes, we still broke.
jb’s2cents
F
or those of you who don’t know, this magazine takes
its name from the city of Orlando, Florida. “Ozone”
was adopted on the underground circuit as a slang
term for the city by rappers tired of hearing corny radio an-
nouncers refer to it as “Jamlando” or “O-Town.”
Three and a half years ago, I was having lunch with Ruff,
the leader of the Warhedz (Orlando’s version of the Wu-
Tang Clan). At the time, we were planning to do a TV show
together, and Ruff suggested the name OZONE. The show
never materialized because our third “partner,” some use-
less fuck whose name I honestly can’t remember, held the
hours of footage I’d filmed for a $300 ransom. It was too high of
a price tag for me at the time, so I adopted the name for my new
magazine instead. Today, I think it’s safe to say OZONE has come
further than anyone, myself included, anticipated.
With that said… I feel like I’ve outgrown Orlando. It’s kind of sad.
It’s that feeling you get when you know a relationship is over but
you just can’t let go. You don’t wanna keep dragging yourself
through the same bullshit over and over again, but at the same
Lil Jon and I in Miami
time, your sentimental side isn’t ready to close the chapter.
I’m not saying that I’m moving. I’m not even sure what I’m saying.
The only thing I know is that I put my blinders on and focused and
worked my ass off, and I looked up one day and everything had
changed. I feel out of place here. To continually move forward
you have to continually surround yourself with like-minded peo-
ple. And although Orlando is not at all what most people perceive
it to be - Disney World - it is also not a fast-paced city with lots of
motivated entrepreneurs to watch and learn.
Me and Webbie in
Orlando
I tried moving to Miami. And honestly, Miami didn’t do it for me ei-
ther. I felt isolated. And once you’ve been on the road for a while,
it’s hard to stay in one place for any length of time without getting
bored. I’m naturally a nomad. So sometimes I wonder, why do
I always come back to Orlando? Of course, I already know the
answer. It’s my comfort zone. I don’t have to go out and meet
anyone, because everyone already knows me. There’s no chal-
lenge. There’s no excitement. It’s just so easy. I feel like there’s
nothing more I could accomplish here. And this isn’t a knock on
Orlando, it’s true of any situation. Being in your comfort zone is
E-Feezy, me, and DJ Paul not always a good thing because you have no reason to push
yourself. Sometimes you have to put yourself in a position where
you are forced to work, forced to meet new people, and forced to break new ground.
Next comes the paradox. Local love gradually turns into local hate. The bigger the maga-
zine gets, the more local artists grumble that we’re not reppin’ Orlando. But the standards
have to be higher now because we’re reaching a broader audience. We always rep for the
hometeam, but that doesn’t mean we have to feature whack artists just because they’re
from Orlando. That’s like me asking you to run an ad just because we’re from the same
city. Artists spend money with the magazine because they gain visibility from it. It’s not
for charity. This is a business. The truth is, many local artists don’t work hard enough to
deserve a feature in OZONE, or any other magazine, because they’re too comfortable.
You have to put in work, just like I put in work.
It’s often been said in Orlando that the city is a “training ground.” It certainly was for me,
and I suppose that’s true of any small/medium sized city. Another saying goes, “If you can
make it in New York, you can make it anywhere,” but fuck, last week lil’ ol’ “OZONE” got
shout outs on Hot 97, Rap City, and 106th & Park. You can make it from anywhere if you’re
driven enough, as long as you don’t get too comfortable along the way.
- Julia Beverly, jb@ozonemag.com
jb’splaylist
T-Pain f/ Tego Calderon “Como Esta”
Juelz Santana f/ Young Jeezy & Lil Wayne “Make It Work”
Spider Loc f/ 50 Cent & Lloyd Banks “Things Change”
Bun B f/ Trey Songz, Mike Jones, & Baby “Hold You Down”
Lyfe f/ Fantasia “Hypothetically (remix)” 50 Cent “Hustler’s Ambition”
Gwen Stefani f/ Slim Thug “Luxurious” Young Cash f/ T-Pain “Swang”
Rich Boy f/ Pitbull “Get To Poppin’ (remix)” Rasheeda “Georgia Peach”
Chamillionaire f/ Krayzie Bone “Ridin’” Ray J “One Wish”
OZONE 15
groupieconfessions
Disclaimer: These “groupie confessions” are anonymous, so we cannot verify if they are true or not. All details (cities, club names, hotel
names) have been removed. These stories do not necessarily represent the opinions of OZONE Magazine. These stories did not necessarily
occur recently, so if you are currently seeing one of these fine gentlemen, no need to curse him out.

If you have a celebrity confession, send an email to feedback@ozonemag.com or call 407-447-6063 to tell your story.

Freeway back to [the hotel] after that.

What’s Freeway like in bed? How was the sex?

He’s nice, a sweetheart, a really nice guy. He’ll
eat your front quick. He’s the type that likes to
please. But he wasn’t lyin’ when he said he’s
a Trojan guy. Not the Magnums, the regular
kind.
I’ll give him this – Elephant Man will have you all over the room. Carry-
ing you around to the sink, in the bathroom, all that. But it was all this
pumping with no action, you get what I’m saying? Like a jackhammer.
His dick is like, short and stump. Girl, I was in the bathroom, on the
damn sink! Are you serious? “Pon di river!”

How did you meet him?
At a concert at [a club]. We was on stage
with him, dancing. After he performed he was
pointing his hands over to me, and he was like, “I wanna meet you.”
We ended up talking just for two seconds. He asked for my number
and he called me right after the club. He told me to meet him at [the
hotel]. I went to the hotel. I mean, I had fun. He was really nice, I don’t
have nothing bad to say about him.
Did you go down on him, or did he go down on you?
No, none of that, just straight fucking.
What’s he like as a person?
He’s really nice. He goes to church and everything. He carries a Bible
with him. Don’t get it twisted, like, we didn’t just go and fuck. We’ll
conversate and talk. Most of them are nice and have stories to tell, but
when they get down to business, I’m like, What are you doing?

Did you keep in contact with him? Did you stay the night?
We were talking on the phone for a few weeks after that “Elephant Man Yeah, I stayed the night. I left the next morning. Hello,
and I was like, “What’s the point of talking to your ass on will have you all checkout time!
the phone if I can’t even see you?”
over the room. Did you keep in touch with him?
Have you slept with any other rappers? Carrying you Hell no. It was just a one-night thing. I’m not looking for
Oh, shit, I forgot his name. “Pon di river! Pon di bank!” around to the a meal ticket.
Elephant Man?
sink, in the bath- Do any of these rappers give you money?
Yeah! He was tryin’ to go all fast and shit. I don’t know room, all that. To go home, yeah. They’ll give me like $100 for cab fare
what the hell he was doing. But it was all this or whatever, cause I never drive when I go out.
pumping with
Elephant Man no action...like a Field Mob
jackhammer.” Any other rappers you’ve slept with?
Elephant Man says that he got his name because of
his huge dick. Shawn Jay, from Field Mob. We were seriously talking
Hell fuck no. No, no, no. Beyond no. He’s lacking somewhere. It’s for a few months. After that his whole career kinda died down and we
short and fat, matter of fact. kept in contact. [His Field Mob partner] Smoke is so sexy, he’s like a
freakazoid. Me and him were talking but he fell in love with some girl.
How did you meet Elephant Man? She didn’t believe him though because of his status, she felt that he
We were at [a club]. I was really, really drunk. He had just done a show wasn’t the type to like her. But Shawn Jay is really nice and he’s good,
with the Ying Yang Twins and Lil Jon. Girl, he was singing gay-ass MC great all the way around. I was fuckin’ Shawn but I liked Smoke. Both
Hammer. MC Hammer was there and he told his security guards he of them are really, really sweet. He’s great in bed, too. He’s big. He’s a
wanted to meet Elephant Man. You know the Hammer dance? He did keeper, trust me. He was a very sweet person, very giving with every-
that in front of everybody, that shit was so funny. Anyways, we went thing. He’s really nice.

16 OZONE
 01: Trife, Bubba
Sparxxx, and Ghostface
@ Vibe’s Yardfest (Tuske-
gee, AL)
02: Clay, Slick Pulla,
Young Jeezy, Coach K,
and Bigga Rankin @
FAMU’s homecoming con-
cert (Tallahassee, FL)
03: Freddy P, Tom G, and
H Vidal @ Mirage (Tampa,
FL)
04: TI and Short Dawg @
The Moon for TJ’s DJ’s
(Tallahassee, FL)
05: Pimp G and ladies @
Rain (Jacksonville, FL)
06: X-Trct and ladies @
Los Magnificos car show
(Houston, TX)
07: Tango Redd @ Vibe’s
Yardfest (Tuskegee, AL)
08: LaLa reppin’ OZONE
@ XBar for Sheek Louch’s
album release party (NYC)
09: DJ E-Feezy @ Power
99 (Memphis, TN)
10: The Babalu Bad Boys
with Jill Strada @ Calle
Orange (Orlando, FL)
11: Aztek reppin’ OZONE
@ Los Magnificos car
show (Houston, TX)
12: Disco and Jailbird @
Firestone (Orlando, FL)
13: Stay Fresh reading
OZONE @ Club Xtreme
(Albany, GA)
14: Dirty Dan and G-Lover
reppin’ OZONE @ The
Moon for TJ’s DJ’s (Tal-
lahassee, FL)
15: Malik Abdul, Stax,
and Kamikaze with the
OZONE/CRUNK!!! trucks
(Jackson, MS)
16: Mannie Fresh loves the
kids (Houston, TX)
17: Three 6 Mafia, Chamil-
lionaire, Grandaddy Souf,
and Zay @ Los Magnificos
car show (Houston, TX)
18: Wrekonize, J-Shin, Jim
Jonson, White Dawg, TJ
Chapman, and DJ Tech @
TJ’s DJ’s (Tallahassee, FL)
19: Roland Powell, Tampa
Tony, and Ed the World Fa-
mous @ The Moon for TJ’s
DJ’s (Tallahassee, FL)
20: Johnny the Jeweler
and Michael Watts @ Los
Magnificos car show
(Houston, TX)
21: Big Mook, Tampa Tony,
and Graph @ The Moon
for TJ’s DJ’s (Tallahassee,
FL)

Photos: Julia Beverly (01,02,

04,07,09,10,11,12,13,14,15,
17,18,19,20,21); Keadron
Smith (05,16); Majick (03);
Marion Reed (05); Rico Da
Crook (08)

OZONE 17
mathematics by Wendy Day
Retail’s Changing Landscape
When I got into the music industry in 1992, it
was a very different business. The changes
have affected everything from talent to sales
to radio to distribution, but I think the biggest
changes have occurred at retail - the way we
get our music. There was a time when the inde-
pendent retail store was the mecca for new mu-
sic and true music fans. A trip to the local mom-and-pop store (most
hate to be called this) on Tuesdays meant new music, and the person
behind the counter was almost always knowledgeable about what was
hot and what was not. Some of my finest industry memories include
George’s Music Room in Chicago and Stickhorse in Houston for new
music. Those days are gone.
Today, indie retail music stores are faced with unbeatable competition
from stores that are in business to sell refrigerators, computers, and
Made-In-China goods for cheap. Saving a buck is the prime agenda.
These neighborhood retailers (many of which are black-owned in the
‘hood) can not compete with the slashed pricing from Best Buy, Wal-
Mart, and Target. For example, for the first two weeks of a release, the
price runs around $9.99 at Best Buy for the latest CD.
Music represents one percent of sales at Wal-Mart, Target, and Best
Buy, yet half of all the new releases are sold there. That means Wal-
Mart could care less about CDs, but since it’s such a big chunk of
any record label’s income, Wal-Mart can dictate and call the shots.
Therefore, if they happen to be in favor of the morale majority, and
want to demand clean CDs with no cursing on them, the record labels
will have to go to the expense of pressing up clean CDs - which they
do. Imagine what would happen if they demanded a certain price as
the minimum they were willing to pay - oh, they’ve already done that,
too. What if they said no more rap? Hmmmm…
The local indie retailer, who is forced to buy CDs from a middleman
called a “one-stop” instead of directly from the distributor, is paying a
wholesale price somewhere between $10.79 and $13.65. For those of
you who aren’t used to hustling backwards, you can see that the Best
Buy price to the consumer is lower than the one-stop price to the indie
retail stores. It is actually cheaper for the indie retailer to buy the CD
at Best Buy to resell in their store (and great for the artist too, because
if the store reports to SoundScan, the artist gets credit for two sales
instead of one - Best Buy and the indie store).
Like all good businesses, the record labels offer discount pricing for
volume sales. If one chain store is able to order 20,000 CDs, why
shouldn’t they get a price of $10 less discounts? And if that store is
willing to turn around and sell that CD for $11.99 to get a consumer
into the store so they can sell a new printer cartridge, car stereo, or
a washer-dryer, who can stop them from offering that CD as a loss
leader? No one.
Indie retailers can’t compete because their prices from the one-stops
start at almost $11. In order to pay rent and keep the lights on, they
need to have a mark-up of at least 30% to stay in business. That puts
the minimum price at $14 or $15. Will a consumer spend $15 at one
store when he can get it across town for $10? TJ Chapman used to
own a retail store in Tallahassee called Wild Style Music and More,
and it was a landmark in his community. He had to close it down last
year because it no longer made financial sense to keep it open. “I’m all
for supporting my people and having a black-owned store in a black
neighborhood, but not to lose money. We had to sell t-shirts, incense,
DVDs, and other stuff just to keep the lights on,” reminisces TJ. “I
learned the importance of being a SoundScan store so the major la-
bels would pay attention to us and spend money on retail promotions
to keep us in business.” (SoundScan is the tracking of CD sales that
tells major labels which releases are successful, and which are not, so
they know where to spend their promotions dollars).
George Daniels of George’s Music Room remembers the days when
it was about selling music. Now it’s about real estate. Back in 1996,
he told me his “store has become rental space for the major labels to
advertise new releases. A lightbox here, a poster on the ceiling, and
the outside wall for a mural to the highest bidder.” I also remember
18 OZONE
George telling me he sold more rap music than any other store in the
country. Today, I wonder if that’s true. I doubt it. When I asked George
why he never got SoundScan since he’s such an influential store, his
fear was the chains would somehow have access to his sales informa-
tion and one day a Sam Goody would pop up across or down the
street. Now he has to worry about them being across town since they
can buy wholesale CDs so much cheaper.
When I called a Big Oomp retail store location in Atlanta, which is one
of many in a chain of indie stores owned by Big Oomp, the person
agreed only to speak to me if I didn’t quote them. Apparently the suc-
cess of Big Oomp comes from diversification. He owns real estate
and a record label in addition to the seven stores. The retail business
is hard, but having more than one store allows for better prices from
the distributors and one-stops. Also, many of the local indie labels sell
direct to their stores, and that affords a better profit margin. As I called
around the country, I was surprised at how many small retail stores
also have record labels: Kottage Boy Entertainment, Birmingham J’s
label in Birmingham, AL is based in owner Aquil Abdur-Rasheed’s Mu-
sic and More. DJ DMD owned a retail store for many years in UGK’s
hometown of Port Arthur before signing his in-and-out deal with Elek-
tra Records in 1998. A wack white rapper from Chicago runs his fledg-
ling label out of his store’s South side location.
I was also surprised at how many indie stores were also selling DVDs
and mix CDs, which have a better profit margin than CDs. In Jack-
sonville, FL and Dallas, TX there are a bunch of stores offering boot-
leg CDs from behind the counter. When TJ’s store was still open, he
regularly had to “worry about bootleggers in front of his store selling
CDs just off the burners for $2-$5.” They were pretty brazen and would
target his customers on their way into his store. No one can compete
with a $2 CD that sounds just as good as one that costs $17.
So, is retail going the way of the dinosaurs anyway? Is the next gen-
eration of music lover going to be able to bypass the record label
and distributors and download music directly from an artist’s website?
Many artists think so. I pulled up David Banner’s SoundScan, and I
see that he sold more downloads of “Play” than he sold whole CDs.
At kazaa.com, a file swapping website, a search of his song “Play”
brought back over 18,000 hits (meaning that more than a lot of free
downloading of music is still going on).
So what can be done to help our independent retail stores stay in busi-
ness? Well, we could all shop there and pay $5 more for a CD, which is
unlikely. The labels could support them with more promotions, which
is also unlikely (as the head of one of the major distributors told me,
why would they want to encourage small retailers who tend to be a
high credit risk, take 120 days to pay their bills, and sometimes return
more CDs than they’ve ordered, when they could nurture accounts
with large chain and discount stores that pay within 15 or 30 days and
never have a return?). One retailer suggested a tighter policy to get
rid of bootleggers. But bootleggers on the street are faced with stiff
competition with free or 99 cent downloads - you don’t even need to
leave your house for that. Regardless of what the solution is, if we want
to keep our independent retailers alive - because they are a major
component of the neighborhood and a good source for underground
or independent CDs - we have to stop replacing loyalty with profits.
- Wendy Day of Rap Coalition (mathematics@rapcoalition.org)
 01: BG reppin’ OZONE
@ Magic City Classic
(Birmingham, AL)
02: The BackWudz and DJ
Fresh reppin’ OZONE @
Club Coconuts (Jackson-
ville, NC)
03: D Cooley and crew @
The Moon for TJ’s DJ’s
(Tallahassee, FL)
04: Master P’s manager
Greg and BG @ Magic City
classic (Birmingham, AL)
05: Mobie Mike and Stax
reppin’ OZONE @ The
Moon for TJ’s DJ’s (Tal-
lahassee, FL)
06: Gu and Trae @ Los
Magnificos car show
(Houston, TX)
07: Mike Fresh and Grill
reppin’ OZONE @ The
Moon for TJ’s DJ’s (Tal-
lahassee, FL)
08: KG Mosley and DJ
Royce @ Mirage for Tom
G’s release (Tampa, FL)
09: Ice Cube reppin’
OZONE @ The Box’s
Los Magnificos car show
(Houston, TX)
10: Mami Montana reppin’
OZONE (Atlanta, GA)
11: Matthew Verden and
Askia Fountain @ Vibe’s
Yardfest (Tuskegee, AL)
12: DJ Slice and Cynthia
reppin’ OZONE @ Los
Magnificos car show
(Houston, TX)
13: Storm reppin’ OZONE
@ The Moon TJ’s DJ’s
(Tallahassee, FL)
14: Chico and Anthony
Murray @ Birmingham
Fairgrounds for Magic City
Classic (Birmingham, AL)
15: Slim Thug and Young
Jeezy on the set of “Dia-
monds” (Houston, TX)
16: Hawk and ESG @ The
Box’s Los Magnificos car
show (Houston, TX)
17: Juelz Santana and DJ
Drama @ Vibe’s Yardfest
(Tuskegee, AL)
18: Dior, Storm, and Eye
Candy @ FAMU home-
coming (Tallahassee, FL)
19: Scorpio and 4-Ize @
Club Xtreme (Albany, GA)
20: P$C, TI, and Bigga
Rankin @ The Moon for
TJ’s DJ’s (Tallahassee, FL)
21: Mista Kingz, Miss
Nikki, and Wild Child rep-
pin’ OZONE @ TJ’s DJ’s
(Tallahassee, FL)

Photos: DJ Fresh (02); Julia

Beverly (01,03,04,06,07,11,12,
14,16,17,18,19,20,21); KC (10);
Keadron Smith (09,15); Majick
(08); Malik Abdul (05,13)

OZONE 19
triggerman B.G. pops shots at Lil Wayne

L
ast time we spoke, there was a possibility of the Hot Boys
getting back together. Now you put out a song called “Trig-
german” dissing Lil Wayne. What happened?
I don’t know what’s wrong with shorty, man. He really smelling himself
right now. I don’t know who he thinks he is. Every time we see each
other it’s love and hugs and kisses and this and that, and then they
came with the song “I Miss My Dawgs.” But it’s him saying one thing
to my face and another thing behind my back. When I saw that shit on
TV, I took it personal. I had just seen him a week before that in Detroit.
I went to the concert, went on stage with him, it was hugs and love and
this and that. I asked him to come to VIP and holla at me after he came
off the stage. After he finished, he shot straight out the door. He ain’t
even holla at me. So when I saw what he said on TV, I put two and two
together. He must’ve known that was gonna happen, that’s why he
didn’t wanna see me face to face. He did something he ain’t have no
business doing, and now I’m gonna speak my mind.

What did he say on TV?

[On 106th & Park] they asked him about the Hot Boys and he was like,
“Man, those lil’ boys, I saw them on the side of the road and I passed
them up,” or some shit like that. In other words, he said, Fuck the Hot
Boys. I’m a Hot Boy, so aight, fuck him. The same way I feel about
Baby, that’s the same way I feel about Wayne now. I’m gonna handle
it when I see him. I’m gonna ask him to repeat himself.
You were all scheduled for the same show in Birmingham during
Magic City Classic weekend. Why do you think he didn’t show?
I think he heard that it was me, Juve, and Buck on the same show. Me
and Juve cool, and me and Buck family. We cool as a muthafucker. So
he musta felt it, because I was feeling it, ya heard me? I wanted to see
him so bad. I was gonna see where his heart was at for real.
Do you think Wayne is going to respond?
Yeah, he might drop somethin’. I want him to. That’s what I want him
to do. But y’know, he spoke first. I ain’t start it, he started it. He had
a group about a year ago called Sqad Up, and they fell out. They
was dissing him and calling him all kinds of names. Pussy ass nig-
gas smacking up him and shit, so when they fell out I stepped in the
middle of that like, “Don’t y’all know I’m ‘bout that?” He ain’t ‘bout that.
I took on his beef cause I knew he ain’t built like that. How he gonna
turn around and make a statement about me? He came and had lunch
with me behind Baby’s back, and I told him how to go about this and
that and the other. I was trying to get him to see the light, but for some
strange reason, he happy getting fucked. The bottom line is, real nig-
gas do real things. I’m gonna leave it at that.
But either way it’s good publicity for you.
Nah, it ain’t no publicity stunt. He made a muthafuckin’ statement about
the Hot Boys, and I had to speak my mind. I raised him. I brought him
to Cash Money. He was my son before he was Baby’s son.
In “Triggerman” you also made a statement about Trina, implying
that she’d had sex with people you know. Is that a fact?
I mean, fuck. You know, I only go by what I hear (laughing). I wasn’t re-
ally dissing her or nothing like that. I just speak my mind. I ain’t gonna
say no names, but y’know, his daddy was fuckin’ her.
Baby was fucking Trina?
(laughing) Stop asking me about them. Ask me about me.
Did you lose your house during Hurricane Katrina?
My momma’s house was destroyed. She had like seven feet of water
in her house. I thank God I didn’t. I had just built a house just outside
of New Orleans, and I didn’t get no damage, no water or nothing. I
stay around white folks so they had our lights and shit back on in two
or three days. But it ain’t about me losing nothing. It feels like I lost
everything, because that’s all I know. I live on the streets. I’m on the
streets more than I’m at my house. So yeah, I lost something. I lost my
whole livelihood.
It kinda fucked with your head.
Yeah, man. Reality is sinking in. It ain’t gonna never be the same. I was
one of those people that took it lightly and didn’t wanna evacuate. I
didn’t think it was gonna be as harmful or damaging as it was. They’re
rebuilding it or whatever, but they ain’t rebuilding it for the people you
saw in the Superdome. You know what I’m trying to say. I’m in Detroit,
as of right now. That was already like my second home. I used to be
back and forth. I had a lil’ spot there in Detroit, but I got an office there
now. I’m working out of Detroit.
Do you have any sympathy for Baby losing his home and cars in
Katrina?
Naw. That’s good for him. But, I mean, I wouldn’t wish that on nobody.
I’m glad he ain’t lose his life, but materialistic stuff, that could be re-
placed. I feel like, fuck him and his house, ya heard me? He ain’t give
a fuck about me and mine, so fuck him.
I heard you’re thinking of signing with G-Unit.
It’s in the air, you know? I don’t wanna speak on it too much because I
got a lot of different situations on the table, but I don’t know. We’ll see.
I don’t wanna speak on it that much but we’ve been talking.
So you’re definitely planning on signing back with a major label?
That’s without a doubt, after this Heart Of Tha Streets Vol. 2.
Is that the last album you’re putting out through Koch?
My situation was already finished, but they gave me a one album deal
that I couldn’t refuse. They gave me like $900,000 for one album, so
I’m like, fuck, that’s free money. I gave them the album and they gave
me a release date. I turned the album in already, so I’m free. But I was
already shopping around. For an artist with my capability and my sta-
tus, they just ain’t got the machinery that I need to put up the numbers
I could be putting up. I do 200,000 or 300,000 with no marketing, no
promotions, no BET, none of that. Just straight out the streets. So I
could be selling 3 million [on a major].
Who’s featured on Heart Of Tha Streets Vol. 2?
I’m basically pushing my Choppa City Boyz, but Mannie Fresh pro-
duced the first single. I got Webbie on the album. With Mannie Fresh
on the single, you know that shit is real. Let it be known that something
is in the making. We ‘bout to make history again.
Are you and Juvenile planning on recording together?
Yeah, we gonna do it. We talked about it. He doing his UTP thing and
I’m doing my Choppa City thing. Me and him and Fresh, we talking. I
got this Life After Cash Money DVD coming out, and this mixtape I just
dropped called Live from Choppa City. I’m just hustling.
Are you in contact with Turk?
I talk to him like twice a week. He’s good, he’s a little soldier. I hate to
see him with the time, but he’ll be home in a minute.
Lil Wayne’s response: “Tell B.G. I love him, and God bless.”
- Photo and words by Julia Beverly

20 OZONE
 01: J-Nicks, DJ Sir
Thurl, DJ Impact, DJ
Quest, Paul Wall, Johnny
the Jeweler, and Tony Neal
on Rap City (NYC)
02: Attitude, The Replace-
mentz, and Short Dawg @
Vibe’s Yardfest (Tuskegee,
AL)
03: Malik Abdul, Greg G,
Tony C, and Slim Goodye
@ Calle Orange (Orlando,
FL)
04: Triple J and ladies @
TJ’s DJ’s (Tallahassee, FL)
05: Rasaq and OG Ron C
(Houston, TX)
06: VA, Lucky Luck, DJ Ka-
oss, and DJ Fresh @ Club
Dynasty (Greenville, NC)
07: DJ Drama and Jason
Geter @ The Moon for TJ’s
DJ’s (Tallahassee, FL)
08: Young Jeezy and
Kanye West (NYC)
09: G Mack and 13 @ The
Moon for TJ’s DJ’s (Tal-
lahassee, FL)
10: Chino and DJ Prostyle
@ Firestone for Chino’s
birthday party (Orlando,
FL)
11: Dana Dane and Slick
Rick @ (NYC)
12: General and Daddy O
reppin’ OZONE (NYC)
13: Shawn D and TJ @
FAMU homecoming (Tal-
lahassee, FL)
14: Nancy Byron and Cha-
millionaire reppin’ OZONE
@ Los Magnificos car
show (Houston, TX)
15: Brothers Mr. Collipark
and Derrick Crooms @
Visions (Atlanta, GA)
16: Jim Jonsin, TJ Chap-
man, T-Pain, Boy Wonder,
and Trillville backstage @
The Moon for TJ’s DJ’s
(Tallahassee, FL)
17: FLX, Zay, and Brandi
Garcia reppin’ OZONE @
Los Magnificos car show
(Houston, TX)
18: DJ Hollywood and
Juvenile reppin’ OZONE @
Birmingham Fairgrounds
(Birmingham, AL)
19: Bubba Sparxxx, At-
titude, and Dutty Ken @
Vibe’s Yardfest (Tuskegee,
AL)
20: The YoungBloodz
and crew @ Club Code
(Tampa, FL)
21: BSU @ FAMU home-
coming (Tallahassee, FL)

Photos: DJ Fresh (06); DJ

Quest (01); General (12); Julia
Beverly (02,03,04,07,09,10,
13,14,15,16,17,18,19,21); Ke-
adron Smith (05); Luis Santana
(20); Ronnie Wright (08,11)

OZONE 21
prisondiaries by Pimp C

daughter Christina
Pimp C with his 3½-year-old
 01: Sean Paul and
ladies reppin’ OZONE @
Club Vain (Dallas, TX)
02: Jim Jonsin, Jerry Bar-
row, and Jermaine reppin’
OZONE @ The Moon for
TJ’s DJ’s (Tallahassee, FL)
03: DJ Drama, DJ Demp,
and TI @ The Moon for
TJ’s DJ’s (Tallahassee, FL)
04: Plies and crew (Or-
lando, FL)
05: Zay, Rasaq, and Gran-
daddy Souf @ The Box’s
Los Magnificos car show
(Houston, TX)
06: Roland Powell, Lil C,
and P$C @ FAMU home-
coming (Tallahassee, FL)
07: GCB, DJ Dap, Marco
Mall and friends @ FAMU
homecoming (Tallahas-
see, FL)
08: Russell Simmons rep-
pin’ OZONE (Tampa, FL)
09: Chamillionaire and Lil
O @ Los Magnificos car
show (Houston, TX)
10: J-Shin showing off
his OZONE cover @ The
Moon for TJ’s DJ’s (Tal-
lahassee, FL)
11: E-40 on the set of his
new video (Atlanta, GA)
12: AZ and Kool Laid
(NYC)
13: Ghostface and Steph
Lova @ Vibe’s Yardfest
(Tuskegee, AL)
14: Ed the World Famous
and Ebony Eyez @ The
Moon for TJ’s DJ’s (Tal-
lahassee, FL)
15: DJ Nasty, Bianca Men-
dez, Yvette, and Felli Fel @
Firestone (Orlando, FL)
16: Piccalo and Jimmy
Chocolate @ The Moon for
TJ’s DJ’s (Tallahassee, FL)
17: Dem Franchize Boyz
reppin’ OZONE @ The
Box’s Los Magnificos car
show (Houston, TX)
18: Marceo Haywood,
Tango Redd, Don Cannon,
and Askia Fountain @
Yardfest (Tuskegee, AL)
19: Felix, Da Sick One, Cu-
ban Link, Stevie Jackson,
Big Earl, and friends @ JJ
Whispers (Orlando, FL)
20: Lil Keke and Trae @
The Box’s Los Magnificos
car show (Houston, TX)
21: Lil Wayne’s daughter
Nae Nae showing off
daddy’s chain (Tampa, FL)

Photos: Big Earl (19); Julia

Beverly (02,03,04,06,07,09,
13,14,15,16,17,18); Keadron
Smith (20); King Yella (01);
Kool Laid (12); Luis Santana
(08,21); Malik Abdul (10); Nikki
Kancey (05); Shannon Mc-
Collum (11)

OZONE 23
flipside Mike Jones vs Michael Watts

S
ee, it was all good just a few months ago! OZONE was chillin’
with Mike Jones and Michael Watts, the creative force behind
Swishahouse, earlier this year on the set of Frayser Boy’s “I Got
Dat Drank” (shown at left). But as the months passed and Mike Jones’
career took off, rumors began to spread of a rift between the two.

Even though Watts had a prominent cameo in Mike Jones’ lead single
“Still Tippin’,” recent videos have eliminated Watts’ image completely.
Mike fired his former Swishahouse manager T Farris and is now man-
aged by Rap-A-Lot. During Mike’s performances at the BET Awards
and the MTV VMAs, his Swishahouse camp and Rap-A-Lot entourage
vied for position on the stage. These days, Mike shouts out Rap-A-
Lot and his own label, Ice Age Entertainment, and rarely mentions
Swishahouse.

Thankfully, although it’s clear there are problems between the two,
they’ve handled it like grown folk, with no major altercations or public
beef. We asked both Mike Jones and Watts where things went sour:

Mike Jones: Michael Watts:

A lot of people have noticed that you aren’t reppin’ Swishahouse What’s going on with Michael Watts and Mike Jones?
any more, even though you’re signed to them. For me, ain’t nothin’ going on. For real, man. If it’s a problem when
That’s true. I don’t get along with them. you ask Mike Jones, I don’t know, but as far as I’m concerned, there
ain’t no problem.
It seems pretty clear that you’re not fuckin’ with Michael Watts.
I don’t. I’m not gonna lie to you. I don’t fuck with Watts. I’m under He says he doesn’t really fuck with you.
contract with Swishahouse, so I’ll still drop an album with them, but If he don’t fuck with me, hey, I can’t do nothing but accept that. Life
I’ve also got Ice Age Entertainment. I don’t talk about Swishahouse. goes on. We’re still doing everything Swishahouse style, baby. Believe
I don’t disrespect them or badmouth them. I ain’t tellin’ no magazine that.
shit about them, I ain’t talkin’ bad about them. We just don’t deal with
each other. We just don’t talk. But I still respect his business. He does If you helped put an artist out there, do you feel like they owe you
his thing. I ain’t speaking negative on nobody. It’s just common sense, in a sense?
man. Look, man. The way I make it in this world is the fact that I help people.
I always try to help people. Sometimes you might not get what you
Do you feel like you owe Watts anything for helping to put you feel you deserve in return, but I’m gonna get my blessings from God.
on? I don’t get my blessings from man. So I’m gonna always keep helping
Nah. I feel that we helped each other. It’s equal. When I first got there, people, because that’s what I do. I helped Mike Jones, I helped Slim
I mean, I’m appreciative of what happened. I got with Watts and I got Thug, I helped Paul Wall. I’ve helped a whole lot of people, and that’s
hot. He made money off me, I made money off them. We all made what I’m gonna continue to do. I’m gonna be me.
money off each other. It’s a business.
Where did things go wrong between you and Mike Jones? Just
So what’s the problem? Did you feel like money wasn’t being dis- business or something personal?
tributed fairly? I don’t know. We still got a business situation. We’re still doing busi-
It wasn’t even about the money. Like you just asked me, people want ness. No matter how anybody feels about me, we’re still doing busi-
to know if I feel like I owe him. It ain’t like I just blew up off Swisha- ness. That’s how it is. My heart is still open, my door is still open. Ain’t
house and they didn’t get paid from Mike Jones’ services. This is a nothing about me changed. Just because other people might change,
business. You sign an artist to make money, and he’s done that. I had that doesn’t mean I’m gonna change.
to get down with that for me to make money off them making money
off me. Sooner or later I could be my own CEO, and that’s what every- How many more albums does Mike Jones have to do for Swisha-
body is trying to be, right? Everybody wants to work for themselves. house until his contract expires?
Everybody who works under you eventually wants to have their own Quite a few.
business, right? So I don’t feel that I owe nobody nothing.
Now you’re concentrating on Paul Wall’s album The People’s
How many more albums do you owe Swishahouse? Champ.
I got a few more albums. Yep, I’m out here supporting Paul Wall, I’m about to go on stage and
DJ for him.
How exactly are you affiliated with Rap-A-Lot?
I been cool with J Prince What else do you have
and Rap-A-Lot before every- coming from the Swisha-
thing happened for me. Ev- house camp?
erybody’s just running with I’ll tell you who’s about to go
rumors right now. I been hard. Y’all look out for Ar-
kickin’ it with J [Prince] for chie Lee and Cooda Bang.
a long time, way before all We’ve also got a trick up
this kicked off. Now I got our sleeves. That boy [Lil’]
Red Boy for Rap-A-Lot and Keke, he’s with the ‘House
T Flowers from Ice Age now. It’s official, baby. So it’s
managing me, so we got going down, for real. Always
both sides. We’re affiliated show love so you’ll get love
real heavy. back.

- Julia Beverly (Photo: Ke- - Julia Beverly (Photo: Ke-

adron Smith) adron Smith)

24 OZONE
 01: DJ Sense, DJ Dra-
ma, the Replacementz,
Attitude, and Don Cannon
form a lineup @ Vibe’s
Yardfest (Tuskegee, AL)
02: Slick Pulla, Young
Jeezy, and BloodRaw @
FAMU homecoming (Tal-
lahassee, FL)
03: Lil Jon demonstrates
proper stage dick-grab-
bing technique @ the Last
Damn Show (Tampa, FL)
04: The DME/Clientell fam
@ The Moon for TJ’s DJ’s
(Tallahassee, FL)
05: Lotto, Coach, and Tony
@ Firestone (Orlando, FL)
06: Trillville and DJ Demp
@ The Moon for TJ’s DJ’s
(Tallahassee, FL)
07: G Dash and Michael
Watts @ The Box’s Los
Magnificos car show
(Houston, TX)
08: Country Boi and Greg
Street @ Visions (Atlanta,
GA)
09: Keyshia Cole (Chi-
cago, IL)
10: Lump and Mike Frost
@ The Box’s Los Mag-
nificos car show (Houston,
TX)
11: Short Dawg and Bu
@ The Moon for TJ’s DJ’s
(Tallahassee, FL)
12: The Last Mr Biggs,
Wild Billo, and Roy Jones
Jr @ Big Daddy’s (Mobile,
AL)
13: Baby Stone and DJ
Dagwood @ The Moon for
TJ’s DJ’s (Tallahassee, FL)
14: Marsha Meadows and
E-Sleezy @ Club Xtreme
(Albany, GA)
15: Stone and BG reppin’
OZONE @ Magic City
Classic (Birmingham, AL)
16: Cipha Sounds, Killer
Mike, and Mister Cee @
Guest House (NYC)
17: Tom G and Tampa
Tony @ the Last Damn
Show (Tampa, FL)
18: Jim Jonsin, Ted Lucas,
and J-Shin @ The Moon
for TJ’s DJ’s (Tallahassee,
FL)
19: Zay signing auto-
graphs @ The Box’s Los
Magnificos car show
20: Kool Laid and Jason @
SRC (NYC)
21: Blauw, Adept, and Ant
@ Firestone (Orlando, FL)

Photos: Julia Beverly (01,02,

04,05,06,07,08,10,11,13,14,
15,18,21); Kool Laid (20); Luis
Santana (03,17); Matthew
Cherry (09); Nikki Kancey
(19); Rico Da Crook (16); Wild
Billo (12)

OZONE 25
djprofile
Supastar J-Kwik (Tallahassee, FL)
Are you from Tallahassee?
Nah, I’m born and raised in Philly. I came
down here to go to FAMU’s school of busi-
ness. Being straight out of Philly and coming
down South, it was a little culture shock. I had to actually go home and
get my mind right, but when I came back to Tallahassee I fell in love
with it. My mom wanted me to stay down here because she wanted me
to stay alive. I was getting into all kinds of trouble in Philly so I figured
it was for the best. She raised me by herself, so I figured if her knowl-
edge got me that far, her knowledge would take me a little further.
What kinds of trouble were you getting into?
My situation is unique because I was always pretty smart. I went to the
best school in the state of Pennsylvania. It was an all-white prep school
in an all-black neighborhood, so I had to live two lives. I would come
back to the hood at night, but during the day, it was a different world. It
wasn’t about the kind of clothes you wore, it was basically about who
your parents were and what you knew. It was weird going to school
with the movers and shakers of the world and then coming home to
the hood at night. It had me confused. I had a job in high school work-
ing with the Philadelphia Eagles, which allowed me to meet a lot of the
players. That’s where my drive and ambition came from; I was always
around a lot of people that succeeded and had a good work ethic. But
even though I went to the best school in the state, I was out there on
the streets robbing, stealing, selling dope, and just running with the
wrong crowd. This cat I was working for had killed a guy in the proj-
ects and he eventually did seven years of a 12 year bid for that murder
charge. I was getting involved with people like that.
What was the turning point?
Two days before I was about to move down to FAMU, these dudes
from the projects tried to rob me. I was going to a private school that
cost $10k a year for free, so I had the chance of the lifetime, but I was
fuckin’ it up by being out there in the streets. I was fighting six dudes
and I ended up getting hit by a taxicab in the middle of the street. I
got my ass kicked and they took some of my jewelry. I had the taxi
take me home and I got my mom’s gun and came back. My friend
that was there with me – I didn’t think he was my friend, because he
had left me by myself to fight six cats – actually saved my life because
he found a cop and told him what happened. I hopped out of the cab
and saw one of the dudes that tried to rob me. When he saw me, he
had that look of death on his face. I knew I was gonna shoot him.
As I’m reaching for the gun, the cop stopped
me. He said, “Don’t do that. Walk with me.”
I just started crying cause I was so mad. But
this dude actually saved my life, because if I
had pulled that trigger, who knows where I’d
be now. The cop told me, “Your friend says
you’re about to leave to go to school. Don’t
throw your life away.”
So snitching isn’t always a bad thing.
Yeah. The cop actually took me home and
gave my mom back her gun. He was like,
“You need to get out of here.” It was a bless-
ing in disguise.
When did you start DJing?
DJing was always in me, but I had kinda
suppressed it. While I was going to school, I
was still doing what I had to do. I was work-
ing for a guy selling beauty supplies until he
died of a heart attack. I tried to find another
job, but I was forced to go back into some
shit I really didn’t wanna do. I did it and I
did it well, but it comes a time when you’re
not just doing it to survive. You’re doing it
because you’re addicted to the money, and
that’s what I had become. I never did it for
the flash or the women, it was strictly for the
paper. If I can go out there and make in a
day what some people make in a month,
that’s good business. But with any kind of
26 OZONE
street business comes problems. I got locked up numerous times for
some unrelated shit. The last time I got locked up, in 2000, really gave
me a chance to think. I decided I wasn’t gonna spend absurd amounts
of money on Versace and getting fucked up anymore. When I got out,
I bought some turntables and a mixer and set it up in my mom’s living
room. I was garbage on the turntables. I had stopped DJing for almost
ten years. I was on my hands and knees praying to God, let me go out
here and do something I really love and make the kind of money I’m
making in the streets without having to carry a gun.
And now you make money doing what you love.
It really didn’t happen overnight. I told my man DJ Kool Amp from Chi-
cago, “Show me the party game, and I’ll show you the battle DJ thing.”
That was my thing, cutting and scratching. When I was getting started,
my man Joe took me to TJ’s DJ’s and TJ gave me 600 records. I was
in my house practicing 8-13 hours a day. I was still doing what I had to
do in the streets, but I had a goal to eventually cut loose that bad life-
style. During this time my best friend died of a drug overdose in Miami,
in front of his baby and baby momma, with coke in his nose and pills in
his hand. That was a real major wakeup call. Another one of my friends
fucked around and got caught selling three ounces to an undercover
cop, and he got 15 years. Around the same time, I got locked up on
numerous gun charges, reckless driving, violation of probation, so it
was like, when is enough gonna be enough? I decided it wasn’t gonna
be no more bullshitting. I’m gonna ride this DJ shit ‘til the wheels fall
off. That’s when I got super super serious. I was working seven days
a week, trying to secure exclusive interviews and exclusive music, just
setting the standard in my area. That’s the reason I work so hard,
because I know where I came from. I was just fucked up in a situation
where I didn’t have no money. I used to have to go to the plasma bank
and sell blood and plasma to eat and get money for a haircut. I know
what it is to not have anything.
How did you get your break on radio?
I got started on college radio at FAMU. I went up there every Saturday
for a year and a half just to get on the radio for 15 minutes. I eventually
got a show with my man DJ Halo. We got two awards for best college
radio station that year, and I’d like to think I had a part in that because
I was just doing it for the love. The Beat came and got me to after the
first year, so I was DJing on both stations.
Coming from Philly, how did you adjust to down South music?
During this time is when we saw the change from East coast to dirty
South music. I think women really carry the culture of music with
them more than men. You’ve gotta play what
the women like, because the club revolves
around women being happy. I can incorpo-
rate that into what I play. It was cool for me
to find out about UGK. I was the cat in my
area that broke Mike Jones and Slim Thug.
I was one of the first dudes on the radio in
this area to be choppin’ and screwin’. When
I started doing stuff outside the box, my au-
dience started to broaden more and more.
I genuinely believe that everybody has their
time, and the South is on fire right now. You
can’t deny that.
Well, you’ve got quite an interesting past.
What’s ahead for you in the future?
Well, I’m at The Moon every Wednesday
and Saturday, that’s the biggest club in the
area. I’m in the middle of a transition right
now from one radio station to another. I just
got off tour with Tela and Seagram’s Gin,
so I’ve got the tour mixtape about to drop. I
have a few more mixtapes coming out, like
Exclusives For Dummies.
Would you like to give any contact info?
I took a note from Mike Jones. You can call
me at 850-212-KWIK, which is also my web-
site address, www.850212KWIK.com.
- Words and photo by Julia Beverly
 01: Sidekick and T-Pain
@ the Last Damn Show
(Tampa, FL)
02: All-Star and Jo Jo rep-
pin’ OZONE @ Sweetwa-
ter (Murfreesboro, TN)
03: Mr Charlie, Stacks, Jid,
and Urban Mystic @ TJ’s
DJ’s (Tallahassee, FL)
04: Mala T, Shoeb Malik,
and SkyyHigh @ Icon
(Orlando, FL)
05: Pretty Todd and the
G.R.i.T. Boys reppin’
OZONE @ Los Magnificos
car show (Houston, TX)
06: Gilley, Greg Street, and
Stone reppin’ OZONE @
Visions (Atlanta, GA)
07: Jason Geter and Eye
Candy reppin’ OZONE @
TJ’s DJ’s (Tallahassee, FL)
08: Ron Artest and Big Earl
@ Whispers (Orlando, FL)
09: Hannah King and DJ
Fahrenheit reppin’ OZONE
@ FAMU homecoming
(Tallahassee, FL)
10: Trey Songz reppin’
OZONE @ Los Magnificos
car show (Houston, TX)
11: Xtaci and Young Dro
@ The Moon for TJ’s DJ’s
(Tallahassee, FL)
12: TJ Chapman and Shot
Out @ The Moon for TJ’s
DJ’s (Tallahassee, FL)
13: Steve Herndon and
Bobby Stamps @ Vibe’s
Yardfest (Tuskegee, AL)
14: Jokaman and J Fresh
@ Los Magnificos car
show (Houston, TX)
15: TI, DJ Drama,
and Young Jeezy @
FAMU homecoming
(Tallahassee,FL)
16: Webbie and Plies @
Firestone (Orlando, FL)
17: Stax, BG, and Kiotti @
Birmingham fairgrounds
(Birmingham, AL)
18: Lil Jon and Trillville’s
Don P @ E-40’s video
shoot (Atlanta, GA)
19: Southstar, KC, T-Pain,
Greg G, Slim Goodye, and
Smilez @ Calle Orange
(Orlando, FL)
20: DJ P-Money, Young
Jeezy, DJ Kaoss, and DJ
Fresh @ Club Dynasty
(Greenville, NC)
21: Get Cool and Cotton
Pickaz reppin’ OZONE @
Club Xtreme (Albany, GA)

Photos: Big Earl (08); DJ Fresh

(20); Jo Jo (02); Julia Beverly
(03,05,06,07,09,10,11,12,13,
14,15,16,17,21); Luis Santana
(01); Malik Abdul (19); Shan-
non McCollum (18); Shoeb
Malik (04)

OZONE 27
producerprofile
M-Geezy (Jacksonville, FL)
Are you from Jacksonville originally?
I’m from Lake City, but I’ve been in Jackson-
ville for almost ten years.
How did you get interested in producing?
I’ve been playing music since the age of five,
and I got interested in producing by looking
at producers like Organized Noize and Dr. Dre coming up. I realized
that’s what I wanted to do.
Why did you decide to go for production rather than the spotlight?
Do you prefer to stay behind the scenes?
I’ve always been a background type of producer but because of my
work people put me in the spotlight. I don’t rap and I can’t sing, so it’s
pretty much by default that I went into production. As I got more into
the business side of things, I think I made the best decision. I’ve seen
what artists go through and other people in the industry, and I don’t
wanna go through all that headache anyway.
Who have you produced for?
I’ve produced for a lot of local artists that are up and coming, like
Swordz. Pretty much everybody that’s doing something in Jackson-
ville, I probably got something to do with it. I did my first national
thing for the Big Ballas movie soundtrack back in 1998. Since then
I’ve mainly been doing tracks for MOE Entertainment. Through Young
Cash I’ve worked with Bun B, Mike Jones, Webbie, Paul Wall, and a
lot of other artists. I did Young Cash’s first single “Gimme A Bottle.”
We got so many singles about to hit right now you’ll be hearing about,
like the 904 Click’s “Datz Me” and other songs I’ve done with people
across Jacksonville and down in Miami. When you start hearing them,
people will be able to identify that with my sound.
Is it a challenge to create the entire sound of a label?
No, it’s just a vibe you create. Just vibin’ with different artists in the
clique, you create your own sound by getting to know each other and
hanging out. You can kinda establish a sound by the way a person’s
character is.
Technically speaking, how did you learn to produce and actually
use the equipment?
I just watched different producers and engineers. I sat up and worked
for different studios, and
by sitting up under that
engineer, I learned how to
engineer myself and how
to create my own sound
and develop it and polish
it. No one could capture
the sound exactly how I
wanted it, so I had to learn
how to establish my own
sound by learning from
different engineers and
producers.
As an in-house producer, do you have to play the role of engineer
also?
Oh, everything. I have knowledge of all the fields. Engineering, mixing,
producing, manufacturing. I make sure the end product is satisfactory
as far as the sound we’re trying to accomplish. If I didn’t have the
knowledge I wouldn’t be able to relate to the engineer and know how
the little sounds should be, and I think that’s very important.
You’ve kinda created a Jacksonville sound that people aren’t re-
ally used to hearing from Florida, because Florida is so known for
bass music.
Nah, it’s not bass. I have created a Jacksonville sound. It’s a certain
sound that Jacksonville has, and I feel like I’m on the forefront of creat-
ing that sound. I’ve been here long enough to kinda steer Jackson-
ville in the direction it’s going at this point. When I first came here,
everybody started stepping their game up on the production side and
everybody’s getting more lyrical as a whole.
You and Young Cash run with the same camp – do you think he’ll
be the one to break through and open doors for Jacksonville?
Definitely. Without a shadow of a doubt. Me and Cash have a lot of
prospects on the table right now we’re working on. Me and him work
real good hand-in-hand together, so our styles compliment each other.
Cash is definitely the one to blow and bring the spotlight to Jackson-
ville.
You produced a lot of the songs Cash did with artists like Paul
Wall, Webbie, and Mike Jones before they became household
names. As a producer, is it difficult to work with new artists?
Nah. I give all the artists a lot of credit because even though they didn’t
have a name and they wasn’t on the level they’re on now – except
for Bun B – we caught them right before they blew and they were
very attentive. They listened to what I had to say. They’re not hard to
work with at all. They accepted my direction on the different songs we
did. I’m currently working on more tracks for all of those artists as we
speak.
If somebody would like to check out your beats, how can they
reach you?
My production company is called Da Beat Squad. They can call me
at 904-382-7433.
- Words and photo by Julia Beverly

How important do you

think an in-house pro-
ducer is to an indie la-
bel?
It definitely does benefit
the label, because they
don’t have to spend all
the bread that they’d nor-
mally have to spend by
going out of the circle to
find production. So it’s
very important for the la-
bel, but for the individual
producer, I don’t think it’s
a big issue. It’s very im-
portant for an indie label
to have a good in-house
producer.

28 OZONE
 01: Killer Mike and
Sleepy Brown @ Guest
House (NYC)
02: Pretty Ricky reppin’
OZONE @ the Last Damn
Show (Tampa, FL)
03: J-Mac and Nnete rep-
pin’ OZONE @ The Box’s
Los Magnificos car show
(Houston, TX)
04: Black Jack, Shan-
non from Hip-Hop 411 TV
and Boy Wonder reppin’
OZONE @ the Last Damn
Show (Tampa, FL)
05: DJ Fresh, Kaoss, Jack
Spade, and VA @ Planet
Rock (Jacksonville, NC)
06: Mal-Jay and Grenade
Records reppin’ OZONE
@ The Moon for TJ’s DJ’s
(Tallahassee, FL)
07: Chino and Gary @
Firestone (Orlando, FL)
08: DJ GT and Cory Mo @
Los Magnificos car show
(Houston, TX)
09: Kunsistent-C and Cha-
millionaire (Orlando, FL)
10: Skip of UTP and Miss
Kat @ Birmingham fair-
grounds (Birmingham, AL)
11: Lotto and Plies reppin’
OZONE (Orlando, FL)
12: Slim Goodye and Jill
Strada @ Calle Orange
(Orlando, FL)
13: DJ H-Vidal and DJ Ekin
reppin’ OZONE @ Mirage
for Tom G’s release party
(Tampa, FL)
14: Al Gator reppin’
OZONE @ Welcome All
Park (Atlanta, GA)
15: DJ Khaled and Scott
Storch @ Opium Gardens
(Miami, FL)
16: Aztek and David
Banner @ The Box’s
Los Magnificos car show
(Houston, TX)
17: Greg G, Cuban Link,
and Big Earl @ Calle
Orange (Orlando, FL)
18: Bubba Sparxxx and
Juelz Santana @ Vibe’s
Yardfest (Tuskegee, AL)
19: P-Nut and Tampa Tony
with Da Splitter girls @ The
Moon for TJ’s DJ’s (Tal-
lahassee, FL)
20: Young Sav and Kool
Aid @ Def Jam (NYC)
21: Clay, Short Dawg, and
G-Boy @ The Moon for
TJ’s DJ’s (Tallahassee, FL)

Photos: DJ Fresh (05); KC (14);

Julia Beverly (03,06,07,08,10,
11,16,18,19,21); Luis Santana
(02,04); Majick (13); Malik
Abdul (12,17); Rico Da Crook
(01,15); Shoeb Malik (09)

OZONE 29
entrepreneurprofile
Johnny “the Jeweler” Dang (TV Jewelry)
Where are you from?
I moved here [to Houston] from Vietnam in 1996. My dad has been
living here since 1987. He used to have a jewelry shop in Houston, but
he closed it down in 1995. I opened it back up in 1997.
How did you meet Paul Wall?
I met him around 1998. I made his jewelry for him. He used to give
away flyers at the clubs, and he was DJing. He used to promote for
Swishahouse, passing out flyers at the club. I made his jewelry for
him, the grill and his necklace. He was a regular customer. Since he
was doing promotions for Swishahouse and he started rapping too,
it was good if we do business together. He started promoting for me
and after that I showed him how to do the grills. We worked it out real
good. He very cool. I showed him how to do grills, and we do the grills
together.
Paul would draw out what he wanted, and you’d put it together?
Right, he’d design it. Most of the designs he’d bring, we’d make the
mold, and we’d work together setting the diamonds. The very first grill
I did for an artist was for Lil Jon, then David Banner. That was a long
time ago. After that we did T.I. Paul had been working with Swisha-
house and traveling a lot. So, the same thing with T.I., David Banner,
and Lil Jon. Paul designed them and I worked on them.
How difficult is it to learn how to make a grill?
It takes time. If you want to do it well, it’ll take about four years to learn.
Actually, you have to practice to do it well. Not only learning, but you
have to sit down and practice. We’re not only making grills. We cus-
tomize pieces, like the cup I did for Paul Wall. Whatever a customer
wants, anything they like, we can do it. Like the one I did for T.I., T.I. got
a crown-shaped piece with a special setting. I did one for Nelly. Lil Jon
got a lot of different pieces.
How much do those cost?
T.I.’s crown piece cost about $30,000, and the same with Nelly. They
are almost the same price for each set, but Nelly paid for a lot of dif-
ferent sets so I charged Nelly $25,000 for each, the whole set, top and
bottom. He has different sets of grills, different colors. The one with
the most different colors I did for Bow Wow. The difference between us
and other jewelers is that we have our own factory. That’s why we’ve
got the quality and the good price. Besides the very expensive pieces
we’ve done for Nelly, Puffy Daddy, and Kanye West, we also have a lot
of regular pieces that people can buy for $100, $200, and $300. I don’t
want them to think whenever they go to my shop they have to spend
thousands of dollars. We custom make pieces, and I’ve got my watch
coming out too, TV Johnny Watches.
Do the artists come to your shop to get fitted for the grills?
Either they can get it done or Paul Wall gets it done for them. Paul Wall
is usually the person who makes the mold. Whenever they’ve got a
show together, Paul Wall can make a mold. It doesn’t take that long.
Some of them, like Nelly, he can go to his dentist and get the mold
done and send it to us and give us the designs.
The average person might think it’s strange that someone would
want to wear gold teeth. Why do you think they’re so popular?
My opinion, because it’s a show of jewelry, it’s the shining of the teeth.
The reason I say that is because I’m wearing gold teeth too. When I
go to the club, when I’m hanging out, nobody asks me how much I
paid for my grill, but they say, “Man, your grill is looking good.” They
don’t care how much we spent. In my opinion, it’s not showing off
the money they spent, it’s just that it looks nice. The colors and the
designs are jewelry, decoration.
What about health and hygiene? Do you encourage people with
gold grills to take them out and brush every night?
Right, that’s the best way. The main thing I really want to mention is
that we try to do decorative jobs, we don’t try to do dental work. When
people hear about gold teeth, they’re thinking we do some dental
work. But in here we don’t do anything dental. That’s why we don’t rec-
ommend people do permanent grills. They shouldn’t do permanent at
all, and they shouldn’t wear them at night. This is to wear during the
day. Like me, I wear them one or two times a week. I don’t wear them
30 OZONE
every day, and I take them out when I eat and go to sleep. At my shop,
whoever buys a grill from us, we give them a jewelry case and show
them how to keep it clean. The grill caps are just for decoration, not
for dental purposes.
There aren’t too many Asians in the hip-hop community. Have you
ever felt discriminated against?
To me, the color of the skin doesn’t make any difference because I’m
thinking that everybody should be the same being that I’m Vietnam-
ese. Paul Wall, he raps, but he’s a white guy. People love his CD not
because he’s a white guy but because he makes good music. That’s
why people like it. It’s the same thing as Eminem. He’s really famous,
and not just because he’s white. I mean, it’s not only black people.
Whoever has a good voice and can rap, they can make money be-
cause they’ve got people who love it.
Do you think there is more racism in America than in other coun-
tries like Vietnam?
Yes, because in my country there only are Asians. Everybody is the
same, one color. But in here, there’s a lot of different people – white
people, black people, Asians, so of course that happens. I don’t pay
attention much to that viewpoint because I concentrate all the time
on business. I build up my business by promotions, by learning new
equipment. Me and Paul Wall travel to the jewelry shows and buy
new equipment. I just bought three big machines for my factory. The
equipment makes the quality look real good. It’s expensive work. The
reason why we have good work and plus very cheap prices is be-
cause we have nice equipment and we make it ourselves. The reason
why honestly a lot of people ask Paul to do jewelry is because some
people in the jewelry business can’t make as many as I do. We have
retail production with factory prices. We have new designs and new
equipment every day to make the product look good.
A lot of New York rappers name-drop Jacob the Jeweler in their
songs. Are you aiming to be the Jacob the Jeweler of the South?
Me, myself, I try the best to do the top job. And of course there’s a lot
of competition nowadays, so yeah, of course people will compare us
to a couple other jewelers. My goal is not to take somebody out and
compare to be on their level, I just try to do the best. Whatever love I
get from customers is because of the product. I try to do the best.
How many stores do you have?
We have two shops at the flea market and two shops at Sharpstown
Mall, so we have four retail shops and one factory in Houston. But I
can’t count all the jewelry stores, because I do wholesale for all over
the United States. We have like 50 accounts from wholesale people.
They take the orders and send them to us. I got customers from L.A.
to Kansas City to St. Louis, different states everywhere.
If someone would like to order a custom piece, how can they con-
tact you?
Go to the website TVJohnny.net or call the shop at 713-774-6522.
- Julia Beverly
Partners Paul Wall and Johnny the Jeweler with some of their creations
 01: T-Pain and his fa-
ther @ The Moon for TJ’s
DJ’s (Tallahassee, FL)
02: Z-Ro and Lil Flip @
The Box’s Los Magnificos
car show (Houston, TX)
03: The Last Mr. Biggs
with Wild Billo and Real
Records @ Club Mango
(Mobile, AL)
04: Chamillionaire and
Kiotti @ The Box’s Los
Magnificos car show
(Houston, TX)
05: Pimp G and ladies @
Rain (Jacksonville, FL)
06: Fresh, Webbie, and
Derrick reading OZONE @
The Box’s Los Magnificos
car show (Houston, TX)
07: On the Grind @ TJ’s
DJ’s (Tallahassee, FL)
08: Southpaw and Twa
reppin’ OZONE @ The
Moon for TJ’s DJ’s (Tal-
lahassee, FL)
09: Tigger and Allen Iver-
son (NYC)
10: P$C @ FAMU home-
coming (Tallahassee, FL)
11: Short Dawg and Don
Cannon @ Vibe’s Yardfest
(Tuskegee, AL)
12: Dakari and Phil Becker
@ Calle Orange (Orlando,
FL)
13: Amanda Diva and
Damien Lemon @ Vibe’s
Yardfest (Tuskegee, AL)
14: Frank Luv and Mr
Charlie @ The Moon for
TJ’s DJ’s (Tallahassee, FL)
15: Bun B performing @
Los Magnificos car show
(Houston, TX)
16: The YoungBloodz @
Club Code (Tampa, FL)
17: Naughty by Nature
reppin’ OZONE @ the Last
Damn Show (Tampa, FL)
18: Bre, Haitian Fresh, Big
Amp, and Phingaz reppin’
OZONE @ The Moon for
TJ’s DJ’s (Tallahassee, FL)
19: Tom G, DJ Dagwood,
and Tango Redd @ The
Moon for TJ’s DJ’s (Tal-
lahassee, FL)
20: Video models on the
set of Mike Jones’ “Flos-
sin’” (Houston, TX)
21: Paul Wall reppin’
OZONE @ the Last Damn
Show (Tampa, FL)

Photos: Julia Beverly (01,06,

07,08,10,11,12,13,14,15,18,
19); Keadron Smith (02,04,20);
Luis Santana (16,17,21);
Marion Reed (05); Ronnie
Wright (09); Wild Billo (03)

OZONE 31
industry101
Coach K
(Young Jeezy’s manager)
Wendy Day wrote an article in OZONE recent-
ly talking about the fact that there’s not too
many good managers in the hip-hop game.
What do you think it takes to be a good man-
ager?
Hard work and dedication, and believing in your
client. Believing in your artist or whatever you
manage.
In her opinion, managing an artist is “glorified babysitting.” Do
you agree with that statement?
Nah, I don’t look at it as babysitting, cause me and [Young Jeezy] are
more like partners than anything else. I always want him to shine, so
whatever he needs, I’m gonna go do it. I don’t look at it as babysitting,
I look at it as looking out for him. I want him to always be on top of
his game.
Do you have a background in management, or how did you get
into your current career?
I really don’t have a background in management, but I’ve been doing
it for a long time. Managing is just like being an entrepreneur. If you’re
starting a business venture, it’s in your hands to make sure everything
is right. If you’ve got an artist that you believe in, it’s the same thing.
That’s your business, and you gotta make sure your business is right.
You gotta make sure your business is taken care of, well-groomed,
everything is right.
What were you doing before you started managing Young Jeezy?
I was actually working A&R for a couple indie labels before I met Jeezy.
I met him in the studio. We just had a mutual bond. He could see that
I was a hard worker and I really believed in him. Jeezy is probably one
of the easiest people to manage because he works so hard. We both
work hard, so we work hand-in-hand. I believed in him ever since day
one.
Was he just starting out at that point?
He was at the ground level. We’ve been together for five years. We
were doing shows on dirt roads, now we’re doing shows at colise-
ums.
Do you think there’s a lack of good managers in hip-hop because
too many artists hire their friends or relatives who aren’t quali-
fied?
I can’t really knock what anybody else does, but with managing you
really gotta be dedicated and believe in your artist. Some managers
might be friends with somebody that’s hot so they feel like they could
do it, but you gotta really believe in the artist. Like I said, me and Jeezy
been together for five years. He doesn’t really consider me his man-
ager. I’m more like his partner. We’re like brothers, for real. We gonna
make sure it’s right for him. I ain’t gonna never let him down. I want
him to be on top of his game.
A while back, when a certain artist put out a diss song towards
Jeezy, your name was mentioned also. Do you feel like they
crossed the line by putting a manager’s name in the middle of
rap beef?
Honestly, I laughed at that shit, man. I’m good. That shit didn’t move
me at all. We on top of our game and that was just some bullshit. They
was reaching. We smashed him. It’s done. We kept it moving.
There’s been some controversy lately over Jeezy’s snowman t-
shirts. Some schools are banning them because of the snow/co-
caine reference. What’s your opinion on that?
The industry is crazy, because once a person gets on top the me-
dia has to target something to build up their ratings. They pick up on
things like that. We just keep it moving, man. We’re not tripping on
that. This man is an icon in the hood, so how can you put down what
he does?
What does the snowman represent to you?
The snowman represents the struggle. Really, the snowman shows
that you can make it out of the hood.
What would be your advice to someone trying to get in the game
as a manager?
Honestly, man, like I tell everybody, there ain’t no books out there that
can prepare you for this. I’ve read books and went through all that,
but the main thing is that it’s all about experience. Get out there and
make moves. Find something you believe in and stay dedicated to it,
for real. Dedication is gonna win at the end of the day. The day you
give up might be the day it breaks through. We go hard over here.
Look out for the USDA album, Birds Fly South, and Jeezy’s next album
coming soon.

When you first met Jeezy, did you really picture it getting to this - Words and photo by Julia Beverly
level? Hanging out with Jay-Z and touring the world?
Yeah. I knew he was a star from the first day I met him. I knew he was
gonna make it to that level.

What’s the most challenging part of your job?

Just the everyday struggle. You don’t really get to come home too
much, you always moving. Right now Jeezy’s at the top of his game
so we just stay busy.

What’s a typical day like for you?

Every day is a little different. Right now we’re on the road on tour, so
every day we’re in a different city doing shows. If we’re not doing a
show, we’re doing something with press, magazines or whatever. Ev-
ery day is something different.

What exactly is your job?

To make sure everything runs smoothly overall on a day-to-day basis.
I pretty much manage his day-to-day movements.

What about financially? Does managing an artist pay well?

It’s what you make of it. You only make what your artist makes. Manag-
ers get paid when your artist gets paid. It’s a hustle for you. If you’re
out there making it for him, you gonna make it. If you sitting there wait-
ing on it to come to you, you ain’t gonna make it.

Why is it more enjoyable for you than having a regular 9-5 day
job?
Aw, man. Having control of my destiny. With a day job, I never gotta
answer to somebody. Although I work for Jeezy, at the end of the day
I don’t have to go clock in and answer to nobody. Coach K (right) plays the background for Young Jeezy

32 OZONE
 01: Juvenile and
BG reppin’ OZONE @
Birmingham fairgrounds
during Magic City Classic
(Birmingham, AL)
02: Gordy and DJ Chris-
tion reppin’ OZONE @ the
Last Damn Show (Tampa,
FL)
03: FUP Mob reppin’
OZONE @ The Moon for
TJ’s DJ’s (Tallahassee, FL)
04: P-Love reppin’ OZONE
@ The Moon for TJ’s DJ’s
(Tallahassee, FL)
05: TOK @ Calle Orange
(Orlando, FL)
06: P$C, TI, and Xtaci @
FAMU homecoming (Tal-
lahassee, FL)
07: T-Pain reading OZONE
@ the Last Damn Show
(Tampa, FL)
08: Lil Boosie (Charleston,
SC)
09: Young Jeezy reading
OZONE @ the Last Damn
Show (Tampa, FL)
10: The YoungBloodz @
The Box’s Los Magnificos
car show (Houston, TX)
11: Sizzla and DJ Clark
Kent (NYC)
12: Bow Boa reppin’
OZONE @ Club Dynasty
(Greenville, NC)
13: DJ Fresh and Bubba
Sparxxx @ Planet Rock
(Jacksonville, NC)
14: Black Mike and
Chubby Relle @ Firestone
(Orlando, FL)
15: Sqad Up reppin’
OZONE @ The Box’s
Los Magnificos car show
(Houston, TX)
16: The Replacementz @
Vibe’s Yardfest (Tuskegee,
AL)
17: Papa Duck, J-Baby,
and Bigga Rankin @ The
Moon for TJ’s DJ’s (Tal-
lahassee, FL)
18: MC Qua, Z-Ro and
Kiotti reppin’ OZONE @
The Box’s Los Magnificos
car show (Houston, TX)
19: Lil Jon and 50 Cent @
50’s mansion (Farmington,
CT)
20: OG Ron C and Slim
Thug @ Los Magnificos
car show (Houston, TX)
21: DJ Prostyle and Julia
Beverly @ Firestone for
Chino’s birthday party
(Orlando, FL)

Photos: DJ Fresh (12,13); Ja-

son Cordes (08); Julia Beverly
(01,03,04,06,14,15,16,17,
18,20,21); Keadron Smith (10);
Luis Santana (02,07,09); Malik
Abdul (05); Ronnie Wright
(11,19)

OZONE 33
dottedline
Dallas-based T-Town Records (DSR) signs
$7 mil label deal with Universal Records
A
s the industry turns its focus towards the screwed-and-chopped
city of Houston, its often overlooked brother three hours north,
Dallas, is preparing for a takeover of its own. T-Town Music, home
to Dallas powerhouse DSR, recently signed a label deal with Universal
Records comparable to Cash Money’s multi-album situation.
Imran Majib, one of the youngest A&Rs at Universal Records, sought
out T-Town after extensive research as his first signing. “They were
probably the only [unsigned] powerhouse in the indie market from
Texas,” Majib says. “They reminded us a lot of the stuff people like
Swishahouse and Chamillionaire were doing on their own. The follow-
ing they had independently really attracted us.”
Although many labels had already approached T-Town co-CEO
George Lopez (his partners are Trinidad Delgado and Allen Powell),
Universal came with the right numbers. “We’d talked to a lot of other
labels, but nobody had the budget that we wanted for each of our
projects. We wanted to be the next No Limit and drop 14 projects in
one year. I wanted to start with four albums, and I wanted $2 mil per
album. Universal came to the table and said they’d do it as a joint
venture.” says Lopez. After signing the $7 million dollar deal, Lopez
laughs, “Oh, yeah, we all splurged. Everybody bought some cars and
jewelry. Three of us invested our money.”
In 2006, T-Town/Universal expects to drop three solo albums from
members of the DSR camp: Big Tuck (March 28th), Tum Tum (July),
and Fat Bastard (November). If all goes well, DSR’s group album will
be dropping in 2007. “We definitely have high expectations for this
camp,” says Majib. “Nothing less than what Cash Money accom-
plished.”
“We’re definitely trying to get the spotlight on Dallas,” says Lopez.
“Dallas has always supported what Houston’s done, and now we’re
looking for our own thing, our own sound. We’re basically talking
about the same things, but the delivery is different even though we’re
all from Texas. It’s two different styles, but it’s all Texas.” With the Uni-
versal machinery behind them, expect the spotlight to be on DSR in
2006.
- Julia Beverly
34 OZONE
Alabama’s 334 Mobb signs with Def Jam
W
ith the exception of Dirty, now signed to Rap-A-Lot, and Dirty’s
artist Lil’ Burn One, not many rappers represent the small
town of Montgomery, AL. Brothers Big Ken (also known as
Supa Star) and Sawed Off set out to put their city on the map, even
adopting the area code (334) as their moniker.
334 M.O.B.B. set out to create a name for themselves through mixtape
appearances, internet hype, and collaborations with artists like Bone-
crusher and David Banner. Versatile and well-rounded, they were able
to stretch their money by producing their own songs. “We don’t want
to be pigeonholed as rappers,” says Supa Star. “We can do it all, from
emceeing, production, and performing.”
As their indie buzz started to grow, 334 M.O.B.B. still came across
many obstacles. “You can get good money being indie,” explains
Supa Star. “But there’s a lot of cons. A lot of DJs and reporters won’t
holla at you. It’s hard being independent, man. There’s a lot more hard
times than good times.” “A lot of industry cats don’t want to listen to
you,” adds Sawed Off. “Only a few DJs - Chuck T and Wally Sparks
- looked out for us when we were indie.”
Ray Romulus, an A&R at Def Jam, sought out 334 M.O.B.B. as his
second signing. He’d heard about the group while meeting with a pro-
ducer who’d worked with them. “I just saw they were a little different,
especially coming out of Alabama,” says Romulus. “There hasn’t been
anything coming from Alabama, and also the fact that they produced.
They were real talented, and I liked the fact that they’re brothers.” The
clincher was their newest single, “Take A Picture.” “When I first heard
it,” Ray recalls, “I was like, ‘This is outta here.’ It’s a hit. I heard the rest
of their records and I knew they were talented.” CEO L.A. Reid agreed,
and after meeting with the group, wouldn’t let them leave the building
- literally - until they signed a deal.
As Def Jam prepares to put the major label muscle behind “Take A
Picture,” 334 M.O.B.B. hasn’t lost sight of what brought them this far.
“The music industry is a big hustle,” says Sawed Off. “You gotta have
the hustle in your system to make it. You gotta have the mind to go
out and get it.” The major label deal hasn’t caused them to lose a firm
grasp on reality. “No one cares about you in this industry,” says Supa
Star. “You’re just a paycheck to these muthafuckers. There’s a lot of
snakes, man. It’s all about prayer. I prayed to God and said, ‘This is all
I have. This is all I know. This is not a want, this is a need,’ and that’s
when things started happening.”
- Julia Beverly & Rohit Loomba (photo: Julia Beverly)
 01: Roland Powell, TI,
Lil C, and Big Kuntry @
TJ’s DJ’s (Tallahassee, FL)
02: K-Foxx and DJ Khaled
@ Opium (Miami, FL)
03: Acafool and Kid Money
KG reppin’ OZONE @ Last
Damn Show (Tampa, FL)
04: Trick Daddy, Young
Jeezy, Slick Pulla, and
BloodRaw @ FAMU home-
coming (Tallahassee, FL)
05: Amanda Diva, DJ
Sense, and Don Cannon
@ Yardfest (Tuskegee, AL)
06: TJ Chapman, T-Pain
and Jim Jonsin @ TJ’s
DJ’s (Tallahassee, FL)
07: Young Pappy, Slim
Goodie, and B Brown @
The Moon (Tallahassee,
FL)
08: As he steps on stage,
Marques Houston can’t
shake the feeling that he
forgot something (Hous-
ton, TX)
09: Brandi Garcia and
Trae @ Los Magnificos car
show (Houston, TX)
10: DJ Kaoss, Bubba
Sparxxx, Lick’em Low, and
VA at Planet Rock (Jack-
sonville, NC)
11: Lyfe and Wayne Boi @
Hot 104 (New Orleans, LA)
12: Fidel Cashflow stops
for a pic with Greg G on
the way to find a new styl-
ist (Orlando, FL)
13: DJ Blaster and DJ Ag-
gravated (Houston, TX)
14: Young Jeezy and Akon
@ 106th & Park (NYC)
15: Letoya Luckett and BG
@ 7303 for her listening
party (Houston, TX)
16: Ray Cash and Mannie
Fresh on the set of Slim
Thug’s “Diamonds” (Hous-
ton, TX)
17: Big Mike, Tee, Russell
Simmons, DuDu, Olivia
Fox and Suge Avery @
95.7 (Tampa, FL)
18: Mr. Collipark and D-
Roc of the Ying Yang Twins
@ Visions (Atlanta, GA)
19: Big Boi and DJ Shay
@ Guest House (NYC)
20: Brannon Scales, Malik,
and Keith Kennedy @ TJ’s
DJ’s (Tallahassee, FL)
21: Orlando McGhee, Miss
Nikki, Eric Johnston, Bran-
non Scales, and Shoeb
Malik (Tallahassee, FL)

Photos: DJ Fresh (10); Julia

Beverly (01,04,05,06,07,08,
09,13,18,20,21); Keadron
Smith (15,16); Lamosa Rowell
(17); Luis Santana (03); Malik
Abdul (12); Marcus DeWayne
(11); Rico Da Crook (02,19);
Ronnie Wright (14)

OZONE 35
merrychristmas
Shop For Your Favorite Rapper
Whether you’re a stalker, entourage member, groupie, or just a fan, we know how difficult it can be to find the perfect gift for that special rapper in
your life. To make things a little easier this holiday season, we’ve put together a simple list of inexpensive gifts. See if you can match up the artists
below with the Christmas gifts they need most.

1) Webbie 12) Paul Wall a) “Stop Snitching” t-shirt m) Humility: True Greatness

7) The LOX g) Holy Bible

2) Kanye West 13) Bizzy Bone b) soap-on-a-rope n) Get Out of Jail Free card

8) Slim Thug h) pretty butterfly

3) Pimp C 14) TI c) shaver p) Slim-Fast (chocolate)

9) Gucci Mane i) gold grill

4) Lil Cease 15) Camron d) bulletproof vest q) novelty drivers license

10) Nivea j) Hooked on Phonics

5) Trick Daddy 16) Fantasia e) Music Publishing 101 r) an exorcism

11) The Game k) tweezers

6) Pitbull 17) Mase f) Creatine s) Gucci baby carrier

Answers: 1-k, 2-m, 3-n, 4-a, 5-c, 6-i, 7-e, 8-q, 9-b, 10-s, 11-h, 12-p, 13-r, 14-f, 15-d, 16-j, 17-g

36 OZONE
 01: The Clientell Cartel:
White Dawg, Wes Fif, and
Mighty Mike @ The Moon
for TJ’s DJ’s (Tallahassee,
FL)
02: Wild Billo, Teairra Mari,
and Nick @ Nite reppin’
OZONE @ WBLX (Mobile,
AL)
03: Trillville @ Vibe’s Yard-
fest (Tuskegee, AL)
04: TR, Letoya Luckett,
and Lump @ Studio 7303
for her listening party
(Houston, TX)
05: Partners-N-Crime
(Birmingham, AL)
06: Teach, DJ Demp, and
TJ Chapman @ The Moon
for TJ’s DJ’s (Tallahassee,
FL)
07: Kid Money KG, Matt
Daniels, and Justin reppin’
OZONE @ The Moon for
TJ’s DJ’s (Tallahassee, FL)
08: Chad Brown and T-
Pain @ TJ’s DJ’s (Tallahas-
see, FL)
09: Young Jeezy gets
some love from a fan
@ the Last Damn Show
(Tampa, FL)
10: Kamm McKellar and
Cory Mo @ The Box’s
Los Magnificos car show
(Houston, TX)
11: Scrooge McBucks and
Trey Prince @ Los Mag-
nificos car show (Houston,
TX)
12: Lil Jon and Freeway @
50 Cent’s mansion (Farm-
ington, CT)
13: Shaq reppin’ OZONE
@ Opium (Miami, FL)
14: Big Cee Jay and J-
Holla reppin’ OZONE @
TJ’s DJ’s (Tallahassee, FL)
15: Marques Houston @
Los Magnificos car show
(Houston, TX)
16: J-Kwik, Lady T, and
Baby Stone @ TJ’s DJ’s
(Tallahassee, FL)
17: Trick Daddy and TI @
FAMU homecoming (Tal-
lahassee, FL)
18: Tonto and Big Red @
Los Magnificos car show
(Houston, TX)
19: Plies and Grill (Or-
lando, FL)
20: Quentin Richardson
and Carmelo Anthony
(NYC)
21: DJ Reymos and DJ
Prostyle @ Firestone
(Orlando, FL)

Photos: Julia Beverly (01,03,

05,06,07,08,10,11,14,16,17,18,
19,21); Keadron Smith (04,15);
Luis Santana (09); Rico Da
Crook (13); Ronnie Wright
(12,20); Wild Billo (02)

OZONE 37
patientlywaiting
Clientell Cartel
Orlando, FL
STATUS Indie (signed to Dawgman Entertainment)
MEMBERS Mighty Mike, Chubby Relle, and Wes Fif
SINGLE “Beat His Ass To The Flo’.”
CONTACT “We ain’t hard to find. Holla at us in the streets.”
THREE IN ONE
Mighty Mike: “I’m from Panama City, the Bangin’ Bay. Mighty Mike the
legend, a real gutta nigga, street nigga. I seen Wes Fif, a young nigga
tryin’ to grind. All y’all little niggas talk about being raw, but I seen this
nigga do so much with no money, no nothing. He was really living off
his lyrics. So I seen this lil nigga doin’ it, and I said, I gotta fuck with
this nigga. I hollered at him. Real niggas recognize real. And me and
Chubby Relle, we go way back. That’s the ambassador of Orlando. I
stepped to him about the group shit and he was like, ‘Let’s do it.’”
SOLO EGOS
Wes Fif: “Oh, it’s hard right now, but if we can’t agree on something we
might call Dawgman and let somebody else decide. We’ll call the chief
and see what he says, because sometimes we can’t agree on nothing.
38 OZONE
Clientell and Dawgman, we got everything going on in Orlando. We
got a serious street team, and we get out there. You gonna see our
flyers and posters everywhere. You know if Dawgman’s backing it, it’s
a wrap, cause we already was bubbling.”
Mighty Mike: “I’m an entrepreneur, I’m like an all-star hustler. I got
clothing stores, I do grills like Paul Wall’s in Bay County. Anything that
comes through Panama City comes through me. I’m the mayor of that
shit. I’m a legend in the streets, and then I get on my corporate suit
too. I learned that by listened to them old cats while I was doing time.
I flipped it. I get money. I’m out here into some of everything. If I don’t
make it out there, I can just sit back and do some paperwork and get
some money.”
MUSICAL STYLE
Wes Fif: “We all sound different, so it’s like gumbo. Different spices
mixed together. Really, it’s better that way.”
COMPETITION
Wes Fif: “We don’t see them niggas. We’re like a powerhouse, we ain’t
just a group. We’ll fuck with you, but if you don’t fuck with us, fuck you.
We don’t have to fuck with any of y’all niggas, and they might feel the
same way.”
- Julia Beverly
patientlywaiting

Mr. Pookie & Mr. Lucci

Dallas, TX
STATUS Signed to Crawl 2 Ball/Boss
Ent./Fontana/Universal
PRODUCTION Miyaqi, Mookie, Low
Down, Aliens, Grifter, Bear, Certified
ALBUM Mr Pookie - Return of the Rip-
pla, Mr Lucci - The Golden Child
SINGLE “Don’t Test Us”
CONTACT www.crawl2ballrecords.com

HISTORY
Pookie: “I met Lucci in 1998. We did
Crooks for Life together and have been
together ever since. We each did solos
before that though.”

INFLUENCES
“Bone Thugs, E-40 and 8Ball & MJG,
who never got their credit. UGK too.”

FEATURES
“We just work with people in our camp
that we’re bringing out on our label right
now. We had the opportunity to work
with some big cats but we really couldn’t
get around to it, so we just working with
cats on our label. They go hard too. Mr.
Montis, Lil Yo, Nick Nitty, Hot Rod and
Doughski.”

ANGLES
“Mr. Pookie & Mr. Lucci gonna hit all
angles of the game, all life situations.
Playa shit, shit you see at the club. We
talk about some shit that you gonna see
in the street and some shit you gonna
see at home with your girl or whatever.
Shit, every type of situation out there,
you gonna hear it on our albums.”

DALLAS GOT NEXT?

“Dallas is off the chain right now, man.
Everybody’s doing they thang and gear-
ing up for this next year. Next year it’s
gonna bubble. We gonna break out in
’06. For one we gonna do our thing even
bigger, then you got cats like DSR who
just signed a deal so they gonna come
out and do they thang. After that they
gonna come looking for more cats out
here. Kottonmouth and Rally Boys gon-
na do they thang. We gonna try and get
recognized, man. There’s a lot of good
music finna come up out of here right
now.”

THE PLAN
“Really, man, we just kept it like we did
the first time. We kept it real. We gonna
be in the streets like we did the first time
so everybody can see us and see how
real we is.”

DALLAS vs. HOUSTON?

“Yeah, it’s a lot of competition being that
every city think they doing it better. So
yeah, there’s competition, but once we
get in there, they gonna see the differ-
ence. Really, it’s all a Texas thang.”

- Words and photo by Matt Sonzala

40 OZONE
patientlywaiting

Big Neil
Cincinnati, OH
STATUS Indie (Signed to Locdown Records)
COLLABORATORS Czar Nok
PRODUCTION Young & Rich
INTERESTING FACT Cincinnati is ranked the 20th most dangerous
city in the nation
CONTACT www.locdown.net
ON LOCDOWN
“I got locked up for a minute. I had the money to bail out and wiggle
a little. Gotta be able to wiggle, you know, or you’ll sit in there for a
while. Anyway I got bailed out, spent a lot of money, and ended up
rapping with my man from Czar Nok. It was time to get more serious.
The streets ain’t never left me, though. You can’t really get out of the
streets, to tell you the truth.”
NEGOTIATIONS
“I’m just rolling with Locdown Records, so it’s whatever my boss Los
Vegas wants to do. He’s got me shopping deals from a lot of different
places, like Sony and Asylum. [My labelmates] Czar Nok are signed to
Capitol, but they aren’t really a street label. I don’t want the same thing
to happen to me, when you sign to a big label and they don’t stay be-
hind you. I’m gonna keep doing it like I been doing it and blast later.”
CONTENT
“I mainly rap about things I really lived or seen. I might rap about what
I wanna see. I might rap about cars. I always keep cars fully loaded,
but besides that, I might wanna rap about living bigger than most of
the rappers out in the streets. I been living a lot of hard times. I make
music for the Cincinnati streets.”
PUTTING CINCINNATI ON THE MAP
“It’s a lot of local artists from the neighborhoods and projects, but
Czar Nok are the first to sign a major deal out of Cincinnati. I’m all over
their album. They worked with Hi-Tek too. He’s more like a hip-hop
dude, though. I’m not really on the hip-hop tip, I’m more of a street
gangster. It’s hard for our city to come up cause it hasn’t really been
too much action out of Cincinnati. We haven’t seen somebody fully
blow up. Hi-Tek doesn’t really count because he’s mostly a beatmaker.
There’s nobody on the rapper tip – we had OTR making a lot of noise
in our city – but nothing worldwide yet. That’s why I’m hoping to make
the big noise. There ain’t too many people that can stop me anyway.”
- Words and photo by Julia Beverly

42 OZONE
patientlywaiting
Rob Jackson
Lexington, KY
STATUS Indie (signed to Blackout Entertainment)
INTERESTING FACT Played tailback for the University of Miami (Ohio)
alongside Slip-N-Slide recording artist Plies
PRODUCTION Mannie Fresh, Drum Squad, Drummer Boy
INFLUENCES E40, Nas and Jay-Z, Outkast, UGK
HOW DOES HE SOUND?
“If you look at the map, Kentucky is right smack dead in the middle.
Right on top of Tennessee, right under Ohio. We at the top of the
South, but its kinda Midwest, then you got the East coast influence
from Pennsylvania. So it’s a new sound because it’s a mix of every-
thing. You got cats that can spit with a twang but the beats are com-
bination of all the different genres. And that’s kinda how my album
sounds, so it gonna be real interesting to see what happen when a
real Kentucky cat hits.”
VOTE OR DIE
“My album is called Rob Jackson for President. We are campaigning
to upgrade to a new regime in the game that’s focused on quality mu-
44 OZONE
sic. Right now everybody is saying, “I’m not a rapper, I’m a hustler.”
That’s cool and I understand that, but for me this is not a hustle, it’s a
craft. I’m not trying to hustle you, I’m trying to sell you something real
good. Making music is not a hustle, selling music is a hustle. Being in
love with rap and not hearing the type of albums that I want to hear has
inspired me to make the type of albums I want to hear.”
A SECOND CHANCE
“Years ago my demo landed in the hands of Kay Gee [formerly of
Naughty By Nature] who had a production deal with Arista. He gave it
to L.A. Reid and he liked what I was doing. Him being from Cincinnati,
he felt what I was trying to do, so he blessed me with a deal. After they
got rid of L.A., I was a victim of the politics. It’s not about the music.
You’ve got to have your business game tight. Now I’m a student of the
game. I study the trends to make sure my business is tight.”
LEADER OF THE PACK
“I’m watching the Kentucky scene develop. Because nobody is mess-
ing with us, we can’t do anything but get better and keep perfecting
ourselves. But Kentucky is a monster right now. We got a lot of artists
and I’m clicked up with a lot of them. We got a movement coming and
hopefully I can be the spearhead of it.”
- Maurice Garland (photo: Earl Randolph)
patientlywaiting

Al Gator
Atlanta, GA
REPRESENTING College Park
STATUS Indie (signed to Black Ice Music)
COSIGNER Kool G Rap
COLLABORATORS Too $hort, The Game, Young Jeezy
PRODUCTION The Alchemist, Focus (Aftermath Ent.), Anthony Dent,
Midi Mafia, Mr. DJ from Organized Noise, Kanye West, Nitti, Justus
League, Rick Rock
ROLLING WITH THE RIGHT CIRCLES
“My brother owned the label and started the crew Playaz Circle (I-20,
Lil’ Fate, Tity Boy, and Dolla Boy) back before they started rolling with
Ludacris and became DTP. I was just doing production and one day
I started freestyling in the studio and everybody said I was dope and
should rap. So I left the beats alone. I’ve only been rapping for two
years.”
GETTING THE HOOK-UP
“All these producers have been giving me beats for my mixtapes. I’m
getting a lot of free shit, that’s all that is in a nutshell. But my album is
gonna be nuts, because I got every heavy-hitting producer in the game
wanting to be a part of what I’m doing. It’s a head start but at the same
time it could work against me because people expect you to do good
when you got them type of muthafuckas around you. It kinda evens
out.”
MIXING IT UP
“I have a [DJ Drama] Gangsta Grillz mixtape coming out in December
and I got a [DJ Smallz] Southern Smoke coming after that. I’m working
on a West Coast mixtape, and I got one in Texas I’m about to drop. I’m
about to drop 5 mixtapes. It’s to the point where every region has been
jumping on it. Everybody done heard what’s going on and everybody
wants to hear me. And it’s not just because I’m from the South, I have
to credit it to my individuality too.”
THE INTERNATIONAL GRIND
“I’m recording every night. I don’t want to sound too arrogant, but I’m
doing at least four or five songs every day. I have more of a buzz in the
United Kingdom and Australia. The overseas crowd grabs you more,
they grab on to new things faster over there. Over here [in the United
States] there is a lot of competition, so it just depends on what niggas
want to hear.”
- Maurice Garland (photo: Katching Casez)

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patientlywaiting

Trick Trick
Detroit, MI
STATUS Signed to Universal Records
PRODUCTION Trick Trick, Eminem,
Jazze Pha
SINGLE “Welcome To Detroit”
COLLABORATORS Eminem, D12, Obie
Trice

THE OTHER SIDE OF 8 MILE

“There’s a whole ‘nother side of the
tracks I’m gonna bring. The street side,
the hustlers. Our dudes and our women
get money around here.”

HISTORY
“I started out doing production in 1991.
The first song I produced was called ‘Life
Of A Gangster,’ and it was a real big re-
cord. I knew what I wanted to hear on the
track, so I wrote a verse to it. I was in a
group called GBK, it was me and a guy
named Mark V. We had to split up when
Mark went to jail. He got sentenced to
15-20 years for shooting at the police.
Next I formed the Goon Squad and went
upstate. I was in the penitentiary for a
year on an unrelated charge, possession
with intent. So that was a big transition. I
decided I’m gonna get serious about this
music. This is what I gotta do. I can’t do
both, I have to make sacrifices.”

SHAKE DAT ASS

“In 1995 my first big record was a gold
single called ‘Booty Bounce.’ When I got
out the joint, dance music was poppin’.
Everything was Luke and 2 Live Crew.
The gangsta shit wasn’t flyin’ well with
the public because the radio was playin’
dance music. I had to get in where I fit in.
That’s the difference between being an
artist and being just a rapper.”

WHAT’S IN A NAME?
“I got the name Trick when I was younger
because I was a nasty ass little boy. They
kinda handed it to me.”

NEGOTIATIONS
“I had my run-ins with the majors here
and there, but at the time, I didn’t want a
major deal. I really didn’t. This year, Uni-
versal made me an offer I couldn’t refuse.
Wendy Day negotiated the deal. When
she negotiates, she brings something to
the table that’s definitely worth it.”

TRICK TRICK vs. TRICK DADDY

“Originally, it wasn’t directed at Trick
Daddy. It was a situation where his boys
were acting stupid and they tried to rob
me. When they came to Detroit, I beat
those muthafuckers’ asses. Me and half
the city of Detroit. But I’m done with that
shit, and to be honest with you, I really
hate talking about it. It’s some old shit
that happened. I’m a street nigga, so
my beef stays in the streets where it be-
longs.”

- Julia Beverly (Photo: John Richard)

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bulletwounds
Triple J (West Palm Beach, FL)
Why do you call yourself Triple J?
Those are my initials: Johnathan Jerel Johnson.

You were originally signed to Def Jam South, right? How did you
hook that up?
Yeah, Scarface actually walked me in. I met ‘Face through Tone Ca-
pone, in Oakland, CA. He was the producer for the Luniz’ “I Got Five
On It” and he did a lot of tracks for Scarface’s album. Me and Tone
were working on an album together, so I came across ‘Face. Since we
shared producers, he got interested me and we just cliqued up. This
was back in ’96.

Are you from Florida?

Yeah, I was living in California for about a year recording, but I’m origi-
nally from Riviera Beach, Florida, in Palm Beach County.

So when ‘Face left Def Jam, you left too?

Yeah, when ‘Face left, the deal just fell apart. I knew he was leaving
way before he actually left. I was with him before he got the deal at Def
Jam. They didn’t wanna release me though. They were trying to put
me on the shelf. I was stuck at Def Jam for two years. I had to fight my
way out of it.

Are you bitter because of the Def Jam situation?

Oh, I’m definitely bitter. My career was at a standstill, and that forced
me to get back in the streets. In the process, I almost lost my life. I
wouldn’t have been out there doing what I was doing if Def Jam was
doing what they were supposed to be doing. I got plenty of animosity.
I don’t care who’s running their shit. Fuck ‘em all.
How did you almost lose your life?
I got shot about a year and a half ago. I got shot in my main artery,
the one that goes through your right thigh. I lost 50% of the blood in
my body.
Was it rap beef or street beef?
It was street beef, but that nigga’s dead now. We gonna leave that
where it’s at.
You got into an argument and things just got out of control?
Naw, it wasn’t an argument. It was a drive-by.
What was going through your mind when you got shot?
Shit, man. When I first got hit, I didn’t feel the pain. My body was in
shock. It was three of us that got hit, me and two of my homeboys. We
was checking each other to make sure everybody was okay. It didn’t
seem serious at first. It was just a leg wound. We were actually laugh-
ing at the shit for a minute. These pussy niggas gonna come through
and shoot at us? A real nigga is gonna handle his. A drive-by is girl
shit, bullshit. Then I noticed I was starting to get weaker. I didn’t know
he had hit that artery. I was losing a lot of blood, and my vision started
getting blurry. I couldn’t walk or talk, and I fainted. My voice wouldn’t
even come out. I was fucked up. I kept blacking out. I told my home-
boy, “Damn, I’m ‘bout to die, man.” My homeboy Johnny Dixon saved
my life. I love that nigga. He kept slapping me and shit. He was like, “I
ain’t gonna let you go, nigga.” Him and my homeboy Short Dog got
me to the hospital. No police, no ambulance, nothing.
How long were you in the hospital?
When I got to the hospital, I was in there for like two months.
Was it a wake-up call?
It definitely was a wake-up call. Things didn’t get easier after that,
though. My life was in so much chaos. The deeper you dig yourself a
hole, the harder it is to get back out. I’m still trying to get back out of
that hole, me and Big Scale Entertainment. Big Scale is me and two
homeboys I grew up with, Pupp and Tech. We all co-own the company
together. We’ve got it split three ways.
Are you gonna put out the album indie or try to get a distribution
deal?
It don’t matter how we do it as long as we get that paper. Of course
we’d like to get a big distribution deal. Who wouldn’t want that? But we
know how to live without it.
Your new single is “Boy Shorts,” produced by Jim Jonsin?
Yeah, that’s what the radio wants to hear. That ain’t my type of shit, but
we gonna play ball. It’s kind of a novelty song. I like street shit. To me,
that’s my reality. But this is for the radio. I don’t even go to the strip
clubs. I can’t even tell you the last time I been to a strip club. It just
ain’t my cup of tea.
I’ve heard people compare you lyrically to Eminem. Do you think
that’s accurate?
I don’t think that’s accurate, but I’ll take that as a compliment. To me,
Eminem is a lyrical genius, but I don’t compare myself to him. I think
we’re coming from two different angles. We can’t relate to each other’s
lives. I do like to put humor into my raps, though. I like to put humor
in serious situations. No matter how serious something is, you should
always be able to find humor in it.
Did you find humor in getting shot?
Yeah. Me and my homeboys laugh all the time about who had the
most bitch in ‘em. We laugh about who was hollerin’ the loudest.
When is your album coming out?
My mixtape Street Science is coming soon. The album, MLK Boule-
vard, is coming in early 2006. Look out for that single “What the Lick
Read.” That’s basically like saying, “What’s happenin’.” Like I said, I
like to put a lot of humor in my shit. The first cut I got on the mixtape
is a song where I’m mimicking a lot of rappers’ styles. People tell me
I sound just like them. That’s just something I do, but don’t confuse
me with a comedian. I just did that to show that I could take nigga’s
voices. I mimicked 50 Cent, Jay-Z, Young Jeezy, Pimp C, and a few
other cats. Don’t get me wrong, though. I admire all them cats. I like
street shit. I respect all gangsta rappers, but most of them just don’t
rap as good as me.
Anything else you’d like to say?
Shout out to Bigga Rankin, I love that nigga to death. That’s the real-
est DJ doing this shit. Shout out to Big Shife and Papa Duck, two of
the hottest producers in Florida, 21 Reese, Frank Luv, and Dawgman
Entertainment. If there’s anybody I forgot to mention, they must not be
doing the right thing. Also, check out my website www.triplejmusic.
com. Log on it, doggone it! For booking call Pupp at 561-718-9682.
- Words and photo by Julia Beverly

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bulletwounds
The Last Mr. Bigg a.k.a. Diamond Eye
(Mobile, AL)
Where would people know you from?
My biggest single was “Trial Time” - true story. I thought I was on my
way back to jail again, so I had to hurry up and put out some music.
Why were you in jail?
I did four years in Alabama for second degree assault and robbery.
That’s what made me realize that this is not something I wanna do for
the rest of my life. People in there had kids and wives, but they were
still coming back and forth to prison - getting out and coming right
back in two weeks. I knew I couldn’t do that.
When did you get out of prison?
They released me in February 1998, on Valentine’s Day. A few months
later, in August, an informant working for the Feds came to my house
to buy a CD. He was wearing a wire. When he left, he told the cops that
I had a large quantity of cocaine and a bunch of money laying around
the house. They got a warrant and came back to the house and never
found anything. They were trying to set me up. They put a charge on
me for that. While I was waiting to go to trial, that’s when I recorded
“Trial Time.” The song took off fast, and I was still going back and forth
to court. I didn’t know how to deal with it. I was still learning; I didn’t
know the music game. I was just trying to get my point across – how
easy it is for somebody to snitch, to make up something. I had four
lawyers, and I beat the case.
Now that we’ve got a little background on you, tell us how you got
shot. A lot of people heard that you had died.
Well, that situation happened at a time when I was making a lot of
moves; good moves. A guy asked me to listen to his CD. I sat in his car
with him and we rode around listening to his music. I felt like I’d made
a good decision by giving him a shot, because he seemed to be an
alright fella. I didn’t know what he had going on other than his music,
because I didn’t know him like that. We rode around and I took him to
the club with me to try to get his music played. We just hung out that
night. When we left the club, we went by his mom’s house. He said he
had to meet some guy that stayed down the street from him. I ended
up getting shot twice in the face just because I was there. When every-
thing first happened, I thought it was a set up. But when I came out of
the coma, I still had all my jewelry and my money and my mink coat.
If it wasn’t a robbery attempt, what was it?
He was shooting at the guy I was with. The guy ran up and shot him
in the face first, and as he ran towards the house, he shot him in the
back. As soon as I heard the shots go off, I called my house. As the
shooter ran around the car chasing the guy towards the house, the
driver side door was open and he saw me in there slumped over talk-
ing on the cell phone. He got in the car behind me and closed the
door. I threw my hands up, trying to speak to him, and that’s when he
shot me. He stuck the gun to the center of my head and shot once.
The second shot hit my left ear.
Do you know who shot you?
I knew who he was after I got out of the hospital and talked to the
driver. If he’d died, I never would’ve known what happened. It was
revenge; it was some beef those two had got into earlier, before I had
met the guy. I was really in the wrong place at the wrong time.
How did you survive two shots to the head?
God. Nobody but God. I lost my right eye. The shot that came through
the back of my head to the front blew my eye out.
What went through your mind when the shot went off?
My kids. The first shot popped my eardrum. I’ve been shot like six
other times, but it had never came to the point where it could be fatal.
When he popped the first two shots, the first thing I did was grab the
phone and call my family, to tell my girl to take care of my kids cause I
wasn’t gonna make it. She didn’t answer the phone, so I was saying all
this on the answering machine. I’ve got it all recorded for my next CD.
Did you lose consciousness when you got shot?
No. I know it sounds crazy now, but I remember telling the ambulance
52 OZONE
driver, “Please let me take my coat off.” They were cutting off my mink
coat. I was like, “Please don’t cut it.” They were saying, “We’ve got to
cut it,” and slipping it over my face. That’s the last thing I remember.
How long were you in the hospital?
I was in the hospital for eleven days. I was in a coma for a week. When
I got out of the coma, I didn’t know seven days had gone by. Dur-
ing the first couple days, word had got out that I was dead or wasn’t
gonna make it. They said I’d be a vegetable; my personality would be
all fucked up and I wouldn’t remember anything. The doctor said I got
shot in the part of the brain that controls your personality and memory.
The first two days, they thought I was gonna die. On the third day, they
told my mom, “He’s gonna live, but we have to take his right eye or it’ll
destroy the other eye.” It was hard for my momma to make that deci-
sion. She’s got a glass eye too so it just destroyed her. But everything
connecting to my eye was destroyed, so she had no choice.
Has your personality changed since the incident?
Yeah, a lot. That’s the mental part I have to deal with by myself.
You’re going to put the voicemail recording from that night on your
album? Is the shooting going to be the main theme of the album?
Yeah, I’m gonna put the recording on there, and maybe one or two
songs. I’m not going to make a whole album talking about being shot.
I did one song strictly about that to let people know that I was in the
wrong place in the wrong time. I wasn’t involved in nothing fucked up.
I been got away from that lifestyle. The rumor was that I was involved
in a drug deal gone bad, and that’s not true. The purpose of doing that
song wasn’t to make money or get a deal or get people to feel sorry
for me for being shot. I don’t get down like that. I just had to let my kids
know that daddy was not still involved in the same ol’ bullshit that he
used to be involved in ten or fifteen years ago. I don’t have to use the
fact that I got shot, because I’ve got talent and good music.
Do you have a release date?
Not yet, but I just finished my mixtape Diamond Eye. It’ll be in the
streets in a minute. I’ve also got three songs on Three 6 Mafia’s new
album, and I’m in the next video for “Poppin’ My Collar.”
Why do you think you survived? What’s your purpose in life?
It wasn’t my time. God still had something for me to do. He knew I
was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Everything happens for a
reason, so I’m blessed to be alive. I’ve been waiting a long time for
the world to really see who I am. A lot of people have heard about me,
but I’m a big mystery. They never really got a chance to hear me on a
major level. After all that, I’m starting all the way from scratch, indie.
Anything else you’d like to say?
The Last Mr. Bigg is not dead. Once again, I am not dead. I am alive.
Be on the lookout for my new album coming soon on PCP Records.
- Words and photo by Julia Beverly
 RIDING SHOTGUN WITH
THE DIPLOMATS’
JUELZ
SANTANA
PHOTO & WORDS:
JULIA BEVERLY

54 OZONE
The Diplomats are all spread out
right now on different labels. How is
it structured?
I’m on Def Jam, Cam is on Asylum,
and Jim Jones is on Koch. Jim also
has an executive position over at At-
lantic. We definitely got a lot going
on. I feel like it’s better like that. We’re
all powerful artists individually, so we
kinda needed that. When you’ve got
all of us on one label, it’s like, who’s
the star? Who’s the main focus? We’re
all stars. We’re not really just a group,
we’re a group of stars. With Def Jam
focusing on me and Asylum focusing
on Cam and Koch focusing on Jim, we
can get together and make all three of
these labels get together. They got to,
cause we together and we ain’t break-
ing up.

We’ve seen a lot of groups come

and go and breakup because of
egos. What’s the key to sticking to-
gether in a rap group?
Communication, man. You’ve gotta
communicate. But even if there’s
ten people, there has to be a leader.
I don’t care what nobody says. Like,
you could be your own boss, but there
has to be a leader. I’m my own boss.
Cam allows me to do whatever I want
to do, but Cam is the boss when it
comes to the structure and the way our
situation is run. People get caught up
in the “oh-he’s-bigger-than-me” thing,
but it’s never that with us. I feel like
communication is definitely one part
of that. People tend to let situations
get out of hand. I got my own career
and Cam got his own career, but even
when me and Cam get on the road, we
never really get away from each other
too much. Some crews get away from
each other too much and you got this
nigga talkin’ in your ear. If you don’t
see each other for a minute, you don’t
want to believe what you’re hearing,
but that shit becomes what it is. You
may not even have said nothing, but
the shit just escalates. Seriously, a lot
of beef starts from real dumb shit like
that. I be watching. I’ve seen it. so we
try not to let shit like that come in be-
tween our crew. We try to keep a tight
circle and always communicate. If it’s
ever a situation where he don’t agree
or I don’t agree, we’re all gonna come
to a decision. Everybody wasn’t with
me going to Def Jam, but Cam made
his own decision and that’s just a de-
cision I had to make. Like I said, Cam
is the leader, so if he had said, “We all
leaving Def Jam,” that’s what it woul-
da been. We all our own bosses. Even
though Cam is the leader, he gives us
our own options.

So when the Rocafella situation

happened, you basically had the
option to stick with Dame or go with
Jay?
Nah, it’s not really a Dame vs. Jay
thing. I never even knew Jay was gon-
na end up at Def Jam, so it’s so funny
that it happened like that. I just wanted
to get that machine behind me. Then,
Jay happened to become President.
So I was like, damn, it’s gonna look

OZONE 55
 like I’m tryin’ to stay with Jay. Jay sat me down one time, like, “I defi-
nitely think you’re a star, so anything you need me to help you with
your career, I got you.” But that’s pretty much it. He deals with the
Roc-A-Fella side, so I deal more with L.A. Reid and all those other
dudes at Def Jam. I know Jay is there for my project, but it’s not like
he’s actually hands-on with me. It was never really a thing between
Jay or Dame. I got a lot of respect for Dame. He’s a great nigga, and
he did so much for my career. At the time, I felt like Dame had a lot of
stuff going on besides the music that he was focused on. Right now
I’m so focused on my career that I just wanted somebody around me
that was just focused on that. I was on that up-and-coming grind. You
got some dudes that feel like, if my thing don’t go well, it’s off to the
next thing. But if they feel like this is all they got, hey, they’re gonna do
everything in their power to make my situation work.
There was rumored to be some friction between Jay and Cam. Did
that ever affect you?
Nah, nah. And once again, it was never really a problem. I would
definitely say that was an ego situation. Jay is his own man, Cam is
his own man. Nobody caters to each other in that situation. When it
comes to them, if you see Jay or Cam in the office, they’d give each
other a pound and that’s gonna be it. Nobody’s gonna stoop to that
level and be like, “Yo, I fucks with you,” even though they both fucks
with each other. I seen that. I’m a real nigga and I know what it is. They
both respect each other, bottom line. That’s just how I feel. But it gets
to that point where, you know, Cam is like, “I’m that nigga,” and Jay is
like, “I’m that nigga.” It comes to a point where they can’t come to an
agreement. So from the outside looking in, it looks like a separation.
To me, it was never really a separation. They were just doing they own
thing. They not colliding, but they not cool like Dame and Cam was or
Jay and Dame was. It was a different type of relationship, that’s all.
Tell me about some of the new artists coming out of the Diplomats
camp.
Oh, we got a hell of a new roster. You know, Hell Rell was incarcerated.
I really like Hell Rell. I really wanna sit down and be really involved with
his album. That’s one thing I always wanted to do, be involved with
artist development. Not to say that Hell Rell needs artist development,
but he’s just a dude where I like his music and I want to say I had
something to do with his project. To be honest, I really enjoy his music.
That’s my dude. Then we’ve got JR Writer who’s been doing his thing
for a minute. Jha Jha is new too. I really feel like she brings something
different to the table. She’s from Dade County, Miami, so when people
hear her come out they expect her to be raunchy and raw to the core.
But when we hear Jha Jha, we hear songs. She didn’t come to us like
a regular bitch on the street trying to spit. She came with music; well
put-together music. People never really got to hear that from Jha Jha
yet cause we never really had the time to put her out. When you hear
her on a radio station, it’s like, damn. She’s not really a spitter like
that. We come from Harlem, so this is what we do, but her music is
so well put-together. I think when Jha Jha comes out, it’s gonna be a
turning point in the game. She’s not really your average sexy rapper.
She does make some dirty South songs, like the song she just did
for Jim’s album called “What U Been Drinkin’ On.” Jim picked that for
his single. He’s got Paul Wall and Puffy on there. They shot the video
in Miami. She had a song on the last album called “Get From Round
Here.” That song was so big. We never did a video, but in the clubs in
the South people loved it. I really think she’s on a different type of shit.
When people hear her music, man, they’ll know. People are followers.
Once she gets that one little push and a bunch people saying it’s hot,
you know what it is.
So you’ve got a new album coming out.
Man, I have everything going on at once. My album is done. It’s called
What The Game’s Been Missing. I still kept it funky and worked with all
the up-and-coming producers, the heatmakers. It’s definitely a differ-
ent sound from the last time. It’s the same me, but a different side of
me. The last album was more personal. I dealt with a lot of personal
issues, like the jealousy song. It was a real personal album. This album
is more like, I went in the studio and knew what I wanted to do. It’s
more fun. People get to see a different side of me. My last album was
dwelling on my whole life. Since it was my first album, I talked about
everything that led up to that.
Who’s featured on the album?
For those who don’t know, Game is on the title track. I got Lil Wayne,
Young Jeezy, Cam, and Sizzla on my album. I just shot a video for my
first single, “There It Go,” a.k.a. the whistle song. It’s got a loud whistle
throughout the whole song.
56 OZONE
What about musically? How does this album differ from the last?
The last album was slower. It had more of a gangsta feel to it. I got a
couple of storytelling songs on this new album. I got a song called
“Little Boy Fresh.” I was sitting there watching this movie called Fresh,
and it reminded me of a lot of shit I see in my hood. A lot of these
young niggas coming up good with drugs and other situations. I actu-
ally wrote out the whole movie and kicked it different. It’s gonna be a
big song for my album. I got another song called “Gone Like Another.”
I told two different stories. The first story is about an old-timer who just
came home and he wants to block the young niggas. I see that a lot.
That’s what’s going on in my hood right now. Young niggas got the
block right now, but old niggas coming home want the block back. I
just did a scenario of something I’ve seen. Then the chorus talks about
how you don’t appreciate life until you’re gone. The second story is
about another situation, a bitch in my hood fuckin’ with the average
drug dealer. She’s kinda blind to the situation, she doesn’t really know
what he does. She’s running around with a brand new Benz and new
friends, so she ain’t worried about it. She winds up getting kidnapped
and they call the dude for ransom money, and he’s like, “I don’t give a
fuck about her. I got a wife and kids somewhere else anyway.” It was
a different type of song for me, just to prove some things. This album
touches a lot of different bases. I got my own studio, and I’ve recorded
over 160 songs. It’s a lot of different types of music that I wasn’t even
doing last time around when I had to worry about my recording bud-
get. My songs were kinda limited then. This time around, I just got to
do so much music and I was really into it. I knew what I wanted to do
and what I wanted to get across.
You’ve got a home studio now?
No, I got a nice studio, a separate studio. I spent over $250,000 on that
studio. Cam is in the process of building his own studio right now too.
Cam wants us all to be entrepreneurs and have our own. I feel like the
more we do for ourselves, the more he appreciates it and the more he
makes it happen, just to be able to see me go out on my own and do
shit like that.
Do you and Cam have kind of a younger brother/older brother
type relationship?
Yeah, he’s like an older brother/mentor. Cam does a lot for me. I just
appreciate the situation he’s put me in. A lot of people don’t be willing
to push situations. With my first album, it wasn’t even like I sold mad
records or nothing like that. But I’m still A-List with the Diplomats. He’s
not putting nobody in front of me. Even though, in my situation, I try to
make it to where nobody can get in front of me, because I’m always
gonna remain hot. Whether my album sells a mil or doesn’t, I’m gonna
stay out there in the streets and let niggas know. I’m like a brand new
artist. For me, that’s a big thing right now, I’m pretty much gonna kill
the streets. I got my mixtape and the joint with Jeezy coming out. This
time around, I really feel like it needs to be big because I put in so
much hard work.
Were you disappointed with the response to your first album?
Nah, I wasn’t disappointed. Numbers-wise, maybe, but that’s just how
the game goes. That shit is not always what you expect it to be. It
just makes me want to work harder. Honestly, some people take that
shit and step back, but that shit really made me want to work harder.
I be looking for these niggas, and there’s no future for their next al-
bum. I seen that shit, but for me, it wasn’t like I crossed over or did
no dumb shit for my first album. My street shit was still solidified. I still
had shows. My show list was longer than niggas who went platinum.
So I’m still that nigga. With certain niggas, if you cross over tryin’ to
do something, it doesn’t work. I’m performing in clubs where people
don’t wanna hear that bullshit. I’m not performing for 40,000 people
every night where I’ve gotta go out and do a bunch of commercial
music. I’m going to clubs where 1,600 niggas are drunk and high as
fuck, so if you go up in there with some bullshit you might get a bottle
thrown at you. It just enabled me to come bigger the next time around,
because niggas know it ain’t gonna be no bullshit. He still keeping it
real, he still on that shit. So I’m gradually grabbing everybody. As long
as I keep moving forwards and not backwards, I feel like I’m doing the
right thing. I feel like this time around will definitely be bigger than last
time around. Every album is gonna be bigger as long as I could get a
bigger presence. Every album makes me bigger in the long run. When
I leave here, people will really understand what I did. I can guarantee
that longevity.
Any last words?
Get used to the future, cause I am that. I don’t claim to be the king, I
just do my thing. Niggas know what it is.
year-endawards
Attention Whore of the Year: The Bishop of Crunk
Oh, you say you don’t know who The Bishop of Crunk is? Trust me, you’ve seen him
before. Remember your last trip to Atlanta? Remember that guy jumping shirtless like a
crazed psychopath through VIP, dripping sweat on innocent bystanders, begging OZONE
to take his picture? No? Well, okay. Just turn on the TV. He’s in that video they’re playing on
BET. It doesn’t matter which video: Lil Jon, the Ying Yang Twins, Ludacris, Ciara, Jazze Pha, David
Banner, T-Pain, anyone. Any video shoot within driving distance of Atlanta, he’s there. See that guy
JULIA BEVERLY

with the Mohawk in the background, waving cans of CRUNK!!!, hugging every semi-celebrity in
sight, just DYING to be seen? Yep, that’s him. No one knows exactly what he is, or what he does.
Is he a rapper? A producer? A comedian? A
one-man street team? A hype man? A rav-
ing lunatic? Or does he have a plan?

Granted, there are attention whores in every city, so the list of runner-ups for this award
could be long. But with his extreme lack of common sense and disregard for societal re-
straints, The Bishop of Crunk wins by a long shot. You male groupies will just have to suck

JULIA BEVERLY
rappers’ dicks a little harder next year to try to take his crown!

As an extra bonus feature, check out this shot of The Bishop unexpectedly diving headfirst
into a carefully prepared CRUNK!!! photo shoot for Lil Jon and the Eastside Boyz.

Stop Snitching Award: Superhead

We all love to read scandalous stories about celebri-
ties’ sex lives. But Karrine “Superhead” Steffans took
things a step too far, releasing a much-hyped tell-all
book that detailed her (alleged) trysts with every single
rapper, actor, athlete, and music mogul who was hot four years
ago. Although some of the details of their sexual romps were
entertaining, Superhead tried to spin the book as some kind of
I’ve-found-God-look-at-how-much-I’ve-changed revelation. Just
be honest, ‘head! We all know why you did it: for the money!

But now that they’ve been outed in print, do you think the rap
community will stop fucking groupies? Hmmm...probably not.
Some things will never change.
Worst Luck: Gucci Mane
Runner-up: Lil Kim
Things aren’t “So Icy” over at Big Cat Re-
cords these days. Regardless of who start-
ed the animosity between Young Jeezy and
Gucci Mane, who once collaborated on a song to-
IISHA HILLMON
Political Statement
of the Year:
Kanye West
During NBC’s live Hurricane Katrina
broadcast pictured above, Kanye West stut-
tered nervously about racism in America for
a few minutes before finally gathering his
thoughts to blurt out the shot heard ‘round
the world: “George Bush doesn’t care about

gether, their back-and-forth diss records apparently black people.” The only thing more priceless
triggered a snowball of events which led to Gucci than the instant cutaway to a stunned Chris
Mane’s back-to-back arrests. Denied bail, Gucci Tucker was the expression on Mike Myers’
Mane is currently awaiting trial on charges of murder face.

Mad Rapper Award: Chamillionaire

Runner-up: Pastor Troy

Now, Chamillion is actually a pretty cool guy. And look, he’s

even smiling (or is that a smirk?) in this picture! But he’s
earned the title of mad rapper. Cham is the type of person
who always speaks his mind. “Some people might say that makes
me an asshole,” he admitted to OZONE back in August. “But it makes
me feel better. It makes me feel like a real nigga.” Whether it’s a three-
disc album aimed at his enemy “Dyke Jones,” rumored beef (now
squashed) with his former partner Paul Wall, or his debut album en-
Worst Song: tirely focused on Revenge, Cham is Houston’s mad rapper.
JULIA BEVERLY

“Laffy Taffy” Over in Atlanta, we heard Pastor Troy is mad that he doesn’t get rec-
ognition for “starting crunk music.” He also put out the single “Murda
Sorry, D4L, but it’s true. Man,” dissing Lil Jon for not including him on his newest album.

58 OZONE
year-endawards

The Biting The Hand Gangsta Of

That Feeds You The Year:
Award: Chingy George W.
Runner-up: Mike Jones
Bush
After Chingy accused Chaka Zulu of
mismanagement, left Ludacris’ DTP This dude gets paid to go
camp where he’d just dropped a multi- on vacation. How gangsta
platinum debut, and started charging is that? And we’re paying
DJs to host their mixtapes, it was only a him! Imagine that! If some-
matter of time. thing goes wrong, he can
just fire someone else. It’s
Since then, the only thing we’ve heard good to be king!
JULIA BEVERLY

about Chingy is a press release from

his group the Git It Boyz, claiming he
never paid them. Chingy is learning the
hard way. Lounging In
Cuba With
Pac, Counting
Most Graceful My
Departure: Money Award:
Mannie Fresh DJ Ran
When Mannie Fresh departed Cash
Money, it was rumored to be for fi- Ever since the Tech.Nitions DJ
nancial reasons. But there was no crew disbanded due to inter-
mud-slinging, name-calling, public nal strife, cofounder DJ Ran
JULIA BEVERLY

beef, or WWF stunts. Mannie sim- has been M.I.A. Wherever he

ply relocated to Houston and kept is, we’re pretty sure he’s rich.
making those bangin’ beats we all In the meantime, many new
know and love. Can’t hate on that. DJ crews have arrived to carry
JULIA BEVERLY

on the Tech.Nition traditions of

breaking new music, attend-
ing conferences, bickering on
Biggest Cockblock: message boards, and bitching
about generally insignificant
Steve Gottlieb topics. We love DJs. :)

Notice how TVT Records’ flagship

artist Lil Jon went from being all over BET What The
and MTV to virtually absent? Rumor has it
that Lil Jon is owed something to the tune
Fuck? Award:
of $8 million dollars (in an August interview, R Kelly’s
Jon said he wasn’t “getting shit” from the la-
bel, but declined to comment on the specific VMA
amount). During the ongoing battle between
Jon and TVT’s CEO Steve Gottlieb, clear- performance
JULIA BEVERLY

ance issues have prevented Jon from ap-

MTV.COM

pearing on several records (David Banner There’s a thin line between

and Jadakiss’ unreleased “Treat Me Like”) musical genius and just
and in some videos (Youngbloodz’ “Presi- plain psycho.
dential”).

Most Arrogant
Video Model:
Buffie The Bod
JULIA BEVERLY

Runner-up: Esther Baxter

You’d think it would be difficult for

a stripper/video model to piss off
an entire DJ crew in one night,
right? Well, Buffie the Bod pulled
it off with her stank attitude at a Baby Mama Most Creative
Core DJs retreat, earning her the Drama Award: Marketing: Tampa
new nickname “Buffie The Bitch.”
Diddy Tony’s Da Splitter
Runner-up: Jeezy Runner-up: Mike Jones

60 OZONE
year-endawards

The I Thought He’d Be Biggest Nuts:

Taller In Person Award: Lil Troy
Bobby Valentino Rapper and label
Runner-up: Omarion owner Lil Troy distrib-
uted a DVD and flyers featur-
Bobby thinks that we here at OZONE have ing a photocopied affidavit at
something against him, because he ap- a Houston car show, which
RONNIE WRIGHT

peared in the “groupie confessions” column accused his former artist -

JULIA BEVERLY
a few months back. But really, nothing could Scarface - of being a “snitch.”
be further from the truth. We love you, Bob- The surprising part is that he’s
by. Especially after hearing “Slow Down” lived long enough to continue
twenty-four million times. But...you are short. talking about it.

Most Repetitive Artist:

Dem Franchize Boyz

JONATHAN MANNION
Runner-up: Mike Jones

Mike “Back Then” Jones had this award

locked up until DFB came through with three
identical back-to-back singles (“White Tee,” “I
Think They Like Me,” “Lean Wit It, Rock Wit It”).

O.J. Simpson Award:

Michael Jackson
RICO DA CROOK Of course Michael did it.

The All Good Things Must

Come To An End Award:
BMF Bitch of The Year:
BMF (CEO Meech, above center) had it all - exotic Katrina
cars, ridiculous jewelry, even BMF billboards near
downtown Atlanta. They lived the good life - throw- Runner-up: Rita, Wilma
ing extravagant parties, poppin’ bottles, hanging
out with rap affiliates Young Jeezy and Fabolous
(above left), filming videos for their artist Bleu Da-
vinci (above right), and blowing enough money to
make it rain, sleet, hail, and snow at the strip clubs.
JULIA BEVERLY

But the party came to an end in October 2005, when

the DEA posted this press release on their website:

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) dealt a

knock-out blow to the self-named Black Mafia Family
Most Suspect (BMF) arresting 30 individuals and seizing $3 million
in currency and assets, 2 1/2 kilograms of cocaine and numerous
Artist: weapons. The BMF was a large-scale cocaine trafficking and money
laundering organization... using sophisticated “traps” (hidden com-
John Legend partments) in stretch limousines (shown at right) to conceal and
Runner-up: Usher transport drugs and money.

This jacket says it all. Who knew? They all seemed like such nice young men.

62 OZONE
year-endawards

Most
Successful
Extortionist:
Benzino
No one except Dave
Mays (left) and Benzino
(right) is quite sure how
exactly Benzino became
co-owner of The Source
Magazine, but somehow,
JULIA BEVERLY

‘Zino’s friendship with

co-founder Mays has al-

JULIA BEVERLY
lowed him to live lavishly
and shamelessly pro-
mote his albums through
The Source for many
years. But with The Source’s advertising sales, newsstand sales, profits, and credibility all plum-
meting over the past two years, Benzino might want to think about finding someone else’s
budget to drain. Realest Nigga Award:
Although the magazine has a mountain of lawsuits pending (one from a lending company which
Paul Wall
advanced them $18 million, a sexual harassment suit from a former editor-in-chief, and tax eva- Calm down. It’s a joke.
sion charges against Benzino, for example), their real problems began when they got into the
monthly habit of running laughably biased and derogatory articles (sometimes entire issues)
about artists (Eminem, 50 Cent), DJs (Funkmaster Flex), former staffers, and basically anyone
they don’t like (XXL, etc, etc) without revealing their hidden motives. See, there’s nothing wrong
with writing an article slamming an individual who’s done you wrong. Shit, we do it here at
OZONE all the time. But you’ve gotta divulge your real reasons. Tell ‘em why you mad, son!

So, just to make sure we’re not guilty of the same crime, I’m gonna be honest. Why are we
(okay, me, JB, the editor) slamming The Source? There’s several reasons. One - when I used

JOHNNY NUNEZ/NUBUZZ PHOTO

to do freelance work for them, they bounced a check on me on Christmas Eve a few years ago
which really fucked up my holidays, cause I was broke. Two, they still owe me $1,575 for articles
I wrote a year and a half ago. Three - how the fuck did you get a loan for $18 million dollars and
still end up bankrupt?? If somebody loaned me just 1% of that (that’s $180,000 for you slow
folks) I’d be straight. What a waste.

But on the grander scale of things - Dave & ‘Zino were in control of the most recognized brand
and platform in hip-hop and they squandered it on a bunch of bullshit instead of tackling the
real issues and giving aspiring journalists and photographers a chance to show off their skills.
But it’s all good. More room for OZONE! Fuck The Source. And it’s not the money, it’s the prin-
ciple.
Time To Go See Paul
Don’t Leave Rap Alone, The Wall Award:
Game Needs You Award: Petey Pablo
Runner-up: Heather Hunter, Lil
Andre 3000 & Lauryn Hill Scrappy
JULIA BEVERLY

Time To Retire Award:

Master P
RONNIE WRIGHT

JULIA BEVERLY

“I Need Dubs”? No, no, no. We

love what you did for the game, but
you’ve got to know when your time is up.

64 OZONE
OZONE 65
year-endawards
Best Diss:
Young Jeezy’s “Stay Strapped”
Runner-up: Slim Thug’s Sqad Up diss
JULIA BEVERLY

JULIA BEVERLY
Worst Diss:
Don P’s Lil Scrappy diss

Best Dressed:
Common
Runner-up: T.I.

RONNIE WRIGHT
JULIA BEVERLY

Worst Dressed:
Pretty Ricky
Runner-up: Webbie

Best Couple:
Jay-Z & Beyonce

Worst Couple:
MTV.COM

MTV.COM
Bow Wow & Ciara
Runner-up: Nick Cannon & Christina Milian

Sexiest Male Rapper:

T.I.

JASON CORDES
ERIC JOHNSON

Sexiest Female Rapper:

Trina

Best Ad-Lib:
Young Jeezy’s “Yeaaaaaahhhh”
JULIA BEVERLY
JULIA BEVERLY

Worst Ad-Lib:
Ying Yang Twins’ “HANH!”
66 OZONE
68 OZONE
 TWISTA
THE FASTEST RAPPER
ALIVE TAKES AIM
PHOTOS:
BARRY UNDERHILL
WORDS:
ROHIT LOOMBA & MIKE LI

70 OZONE
How has life been for you on tour?
Life on the road has been lovely. It’s cool because I got a chance to
be out here before I even got to this level, so I kind of have the whole
road lifestyle down pat. Just being out here working, everything rolling
the way it’s rolling, it feels real good to me. I can’t complain about life
on the road.
Being on the road for weeks on end, does it ever get hectic or
frustrating?
Oh, yeah. You’re around the same people day after day, so you’re
bound to get frustrated sometimes. There’s bound to be little argu-
ments on the road. You gotta do little things to off set it; have a little
fun in between the work because it definitely gets crazy on the road.
If you can’t control yourself, you’ll get out here and get yourself into
some real trouble.
What kind of trouble?
Man, getting arrested for different things, messing with the wrong fe-
male, messing with the wrong niggas, getting caught with a little sack
of something to smoke on in your pocket. You just try to live a little or
do a little thing, but it’s so many ways. Sometimes you can just be out
there with ill intentions and get in trouble, or sometimes you acciden-
tally get into trouble. So the best thing to do is stay with your tight-knit
circle, your crew, take care of your business, or take your ass home.
What about you personally, what keeps you in check? How do you
make sure you don’t get into trouble on the road?
My road manager, just watching me, knowing my tendencies and my
ways, and definitely my buddies. If they see me acting too wild, they’ll
calm me down a little. So if we get to feeling good and I know I don’t
have a show the next day or a lot of stuff to do, I might sit down and
have a drink and get a little wild. Not too wild. I police myself a lot.
You seem to be the most calm and relaxed out of you and the Mob-
staz. Do you think that’s accurate?
Yeah, definitely. It depends on the situation. In certain situations they’re
the livest, and in certain situations I’m the livest.
I noticed that a lot of people – like at your album release party – act
like y’all go way back. How do you deal with people like that?
I’ll listen for a while and try to figure out for a second, but if it gets too
crazy I got to keep it real and let them know, man, I can’t really remem-
ber. I meet a lot of people, know a lot of people, but it’s all love. Usually
they get offended, but if they do, I gotta throw my hands up in the air.
What can I say? I don’t remember.
Your new album The Day After hasn’t been selling as well as Kami-
kaze did. What factors do you think are influencing the Soundscan
numbers for The Day After compared to Kamikaze?
Just the timing of when the album came out. It came out fourth quar-
ter, around the time of a lot of other artists. This time you got that one
week’s check and you only got time for that one CD. I think the big
numbers aren’t going to come on that one day, but the slow effect is
going to take place because I make good music and I’ve got a lot of
true fans. Once they realize that my album is out there, everyone is
going to go and buy it.
In the review we ran in OZONE Magazine, the music editor felt that
you were just at a lyrical level too high for most of your audience.
What would be your response?
That’s a compliment to me. I would rather have fans figuring out later
and build themselves up rather than deliver a verse that was so easy
to figure out or had no substance to it. In a way, that can hurt you, but
that’s how it is being a true artist. You’ve gotta make sacrifices and
take chances. So that’s a compliment to me.
What’s your favorite track on The Day After?
There’s a few, but I think one of my favorites was the song “Lavish,”
with Pharrell. We was down in Florida, chillin’ in Miami. The studio was
down there so the suite I was stayin’ in was real nice. I’m looking over
the balcony, and it was the weekend, so a lot of beautiful ladies were
walking up and down the strip. I was working on “Lavish” and every-
thing was flowing together for me. I had a ball working on that song.
I heard you and Scott Storch had a really good creative vibe in
the studio.
Man, you just reminded me of the Scott Storch stuff. Me and Scott,
we just work together good. We click together. So I just like going
down there with him because you never know what he’ll come out
with messing with those machines and boards and stuff. It comes out
crazy. So I definitely like working with him. He likes to get his kickin’
it on too, so that’s pretty cool working with him. Pharrell was off the
hook, and my guys, in-house producers Toxic, did like half the album.
I always have a ball in the studio working with them. Some of the
producers I didn’t get a chance to meet, like Rodney Jerkins. I didn’t
get a chance to meet him, but we clicked and everything. Pitbull, that
was a crazy track. I’m not gonna get into it unless I can tell it’s going
to be a positive or creative vibe in the studio. I won’t even bother to
get that close.
What helps you relax and focus while you’re on the road?
Good ass kush. Good, good kush. That’s what gets me motivated.
That’s what keeps me calm. That’s my medicine.
What separates good weed from bad weed?
Sometimes it can be good if it was grown underwater or grown in the
ground.
Which do you prefer?
It’s hard to say, but weed that’s grown underwater will always be the
shit. People don’t understand, you can never really see it. Some might
say it looks like it has crystals on it or it look like it’s white. The one with
the highest level of THC will always be the best one.
What was your mindset going into the studio working on this al-
bum as compared to some of your other albums?
One of the reasons I titled this The Day After was the whole vibe after
the success of Kamikaze. I was fighting for that for so long that once I
got it, the whole confidence, the swagger level went up. So when I was
in the studio, I was working on songs without even touching a paper
at times. I had never done that in my whole career. I didn’t even know
I had the ability to do that. But once I realized these fans are nuts out
here, ain’t nothing wring with the way I’m spittin’ it. They love the way
the Twista style is. I just got that swagger about myself. I go in the
studio and spit it the way I want to spit it. And like you said, the before
and after. Before the pockets were this level, the confidence was this
level. After, I’m driving to the studio a little slicker, spittin’ rhymes a little
slicker, and it’s a whole better vibe. And another thing with this album
– I worked on three albums worth of songs for this album and nar-
rowed it down to one album. I had never did that before. Every other
album, the amount of songs I recorded ended up being the number
of songs on the album.
You used to record in the city at places like United Techniques, but
I hear that for this album you got a new studio. How did that affect
your recording sessions?
The studio is in Chicago, and it’s always good to have your own stu-
dio. To me, I record my best music there cause it’s like home to me. So
you get comfortable with the engineer, the way everything looks, the
sound and everything. So it is always an advantage to be able to move
around a bit and record at home. Sometimes it can be a disadvan-
tage if you don’t know how to keep still and let other things draw you
outside of the studio. If you like being at home and feel comfortable
in that environment, then it’s the bomb to have your own thing. You
can have it looking the way you want it, smelling the way you wanna
have it smelling.
Let’s talk about Crucial Conflict and Psychodrama, some of Chi-
cago’s mainstays that haven’t really had their major break yet.
What do you think the future holds for them?
Positivity, if we can all walk through the door that’s been cracked open
and figure out how to move at a faster level in the game. We still try-
ing to figure the game out, but a lot of us have slow movement in the
game. We all have things we’re trying to put together and we move on
them a little too slow. At first it used to just be about the talent. If you
were talented, you got a record deal and sold records. Now, your tal-
ent is in a rat race. Now you not only have to be talented, but you have
to be quick enough or someone else will beat you out. Had I been put-
ting out my album on time I would’ve put this song called “It’s Only For
One Night” on there, but Bow Wow ended up using the same sample
so I didn’t use the song. Like I said, it’s a rat race, man. You can’t
spend a whole lot of time pondering what’s next for your career. You
gotta move on things real quick. I think the artists in Chicago just need
to figure out a faster way at getting production out of the industry. It’s
not a dream. You can’t be dreaming, you gotta make it happen.
How was it working with Kanye on “Slow Jamz” and “Overnight
Celebrity,” and why was he not featured on this album?
OZONE 71
 We just couldn’t get together. You got two artists with
two big years. His train was runnin’ and runnin’ and
runnin’. He was busy, I was busy, so we couldn’t get
together. All I missed was just not having his style
involved on the album, knowing we both work well
together and everyone feels like we should have
worked together. The positive side is that I get to
show everybody that I still have the confidence and
creativity to go out there and do it without feeling like
I need somebody else. I could have chased him and
chased him and chased him, but I ain’t that type of
artist. I was here before he was here making records
and eating, so I didn’t feel a need to chase him down
again. If he was a little too busy for me then hey, I
gotta put my shit together and get it out. I’m on my
own. No funny feelings towards [Kanye] or nothing
like that. I don’t really care. I’m just doing my thing.
He’s my guy, so if he needs me I got his back.

On some of your older albums, a lot of your pro-

duction had a West coast feel to it. Do you think
you have drawn from the West coast a lot?
Yeah, cause I like music. The East coast has a lot of
music and the way they make stuff sound, but it was
certain ways the West coast made music that stayed
with me better. I’m a rhythmical type of person. When
I heard that real music with the instruments being
played loud, and the strings and shit like that, I’m like,
yeah, this some real music. Then to hear niggas rap
over that too, that meant so much more to me than
a simple one-two drum loop. The West Coast took it
there and made real music then rapped on it, and I’m
really vibing to that.

What other ventures do you have planned for the

future?
We got a lot of projects coming up. We got the
Speedknot Mobstaz coming out early next year and
Ty Nitty coming out in the middle of the year. We got
artists we really trying to get out there. Like I said, the
doors for Chicago and the Midwest are wide open, so
we need to run through there as fast as we can. My
whole thing is about getting that grimy sound out of
Chicago the way it should be out there, cause I feel
like it’s not out like it should be. You got other artists
that put other artists on and try to show Chicago in
their light, but I wanna see the grimy niggas get on. I
seen Crucial Conflict come out and Do or Die, and a
lot of artists following different styles, but I just haven’t
seen regular real grimy niggas coming out of the city.
That’s what I wanna see. I wanna help the process of
the real grimy street niggas in Chicago. Some of the
artists that come out of Chicago represent East coast
rap, guys in Chicago represent the thugs and gangs-
tas and hustlas. I represent the West coast version of
Chicago rap, where I wanna see N.W.A get on.

Do you have any non-music ventures in the

works?
Well, I’ve got a book coming. (laughing) But why am
I telling you that? Definitely. We got a movie I’m in-
volved in, a quick cameo. I got video game stuff I’m
working on, like LA Rush with Midway Games. I’m
about to work on something new with them. I’m hus-
tling hard and it’s all coming together.

Anything else you’d like to say?

I just want everybody to look forward to seeing what
Twista is doing next. I got new videos coming out.
I want to keep the train running for a while. A lot of
people say I’m a music man, so I like being involved
in a lot of other stuff, things I see the 50 Cents and
other artists get into. But I’m more of a music man.
I like to be at the crib, work in the studio, be out on
the road doing shows for the fans. Not to make it so
simple, but that’s me. On a tour bus going city to city,
getting up close and personal with the fans, letting
them see how a Chicago nigga get by. So I’m back
and forth: studio, road, studio, road.

72 OZONE
 SEAN
PAUL
AMERICA’S FAVORITE
DANCEHALL ARTIST
HOPES TO DUPLICATE
THE MULTI-PLATINUM
SUCCESS OF
DUTTY ROCK

PHOTOS:
RAY TAMARRA
WORDS:
NOEL MALCOLM

74 OZONE
What’s the past year been like for you, since winning a Grammy
and becoming a household name?
I have to give thanks to God. I’ve done almost six million records now –
five singles deep. I had to promote for two years in different territories,
including the entire Europe, to make those numbers. In the last year
my management and I decided that I was too much in the public eye.
I had seven songs out, including music videos with Blu Cantrell and
Busta Rhymes and mixtape songs with 50 Cent and the Clipse. I just
wanted to get out of the public eye to work on the album. I took a tour
throughout the whole world. I went to Japan, Indonesia, Madagascar,
Italy, Zimbabwe, and a whole bunch of other places around the world.
Some places they don’t even know about dancehall music. I learned
a lot from being in these different places. In the last 7 months I kind of
sat down to do the album.

You finished the album that quickly?

I’ve been doing work since the first album, but never finished up any-
thing ‘til I really sat down and focused on it. This album The Trinity is
my third album. It’s three years in the making, and basically it repre-
sents the young energy and synergy of talent from Jamaica, or what
I call the “Young Third World.” We’re trying to prove that in the little
places people forgot about like Jamaica, we make some of the most
influential music. Our music has been recognized by other artists. Wil-
lie Nelson and Jessica Simpson are doing “These Boots Were Made
For Walking” in a dancehall style. Christina Milian did “Dip It Low” in
a dancehall style, not to mention Busta Rhymes and Beyonce. You
have the whole reggaetone movement also. I’m glad to see dancehall
expanding. I’m proud of that. But we’re starting to realize that none
of these people are coming to Jamaica to produce their work. We
have to support the kids. They inspire me because they remind me of
when I started in the business. I went back home to give these kids
some shine. They’ve been churning out hits in Jamaica for the past
four years, I’m just proud to exhibit them. Nobody is really coming to
Jamaica to produce dancehall music. Don’t get me wrong, people like
Sinead O’Conner and No Doubt came to Jamaica to produce reggae
music and we’re happy for that, but the hip-hop crowd needs to come
and support our music by using our people. If the don’t, our business
will suffer.

Since you’re one of the people who has the power to bring the rest
of Jamaica to the forefront, do you feel a lot of weight and respon-
sibility on your shoulders?
I don’t feel any pressure. When I’m in Miami going to the airport and I
see Capleton flying to Atlanta and I’m heading to California, I feel that
we’re reggae soldiers because each one of us is doing our part. If it
wasn’t for the Capletons, the Bounty Killers, and the Beenie Mans,
where would I be right now? Each one teach one. So when Junior
Gong, Elephant Man, and Wayne Wonder debuted in America, I felt
good! Jamaica is all about natural vibes and competition.
Speaking of which, the competitiveness in the dancehall world
has gotten to the point where producers are putting out new rid-
dims every week and artists are doing new songs every other day.
You don’t get into that “race” too often. Do you try to stay away
from that?
There’s certain riddims that I hear and immediately hear myself on.
Then there are other riddims that I like, but I just don’t hear my voice
and my style on it. To deviate from my style at this point and try to
sound like the riddim doesn’t make much sense. My songs usually
match perfectly with the track, like “Gimme Da Light” and “Like Glue.”
On this album I have a song called “Straight Up, Right Up” that I mend
into perfectly. There’s some that I like but don’t think it’s for me, and
then again there’s some that I just outright miss, like the Drop Leaf rid-
dim. I got that riddim a long time ago and had it on my computer and
then next thing I hear was that it was out. I was upset that I missed it
but then I got the Seasons riddim and that worked. So it goes different
ways. Sometimes you can’t be on everything all the time.
Who are the people you refer to as the Young Third World?
Production-wise, Don Corleone is on my album. He’s been producing
hits for Sizzla and Vybz Kartel. He’s a hard-working person. He’s one
of the few people I can call up at 2:30 in the morning and he’ll be like,
“Yeah, the studio’s up, come hear what we have.” He checks me every
day with a new riddim. He just has that natural energy for producing.
We also have Leftside, from Leftside and Esco. He has been a drum-
mer for his father touring Brazil and other places. He also used to be
my DJ at a time when I never had a band. He produced the first song
on my first album, “She Wants It.” He did songs like “The Bombing”
for Elephant Man. He’s the funniest person in the camp. His whole
“I’M GLAD TO SEE DANCE-
HALL EXPANDING, BUT
WE’RE STARTING TO
REALIZE THAT NONE OF
THESE [HIP-HOP ARTISTS]
ARE COMING TO JAMAICA
TO PRODUCE THEIR WORK.
THE HIP-HOP CROWD
NEEDS TO COME AND
SUPPORT OUR MUSIC BY
USING OUR PEOPLE.”
thing is comedy – he’s the first one to brighten up the mood. Another
man I worked with was Snow Cone. A funny story – back in 2000 when
my songs were doing well, “Deport Them” was a hit, I was in a music
store and this big fat guy came in the store singing about food. He
was singing, “Yesterday….all my rice and peas just throw away. I don’t
really know what to say, oh yesterday, rice and peas thrown away….”
He had everybody laughing. He’s a big fat youth. Then I found out
he wrote music and went back to Jamaica telling me that he wanted
to do his food album (laughing). A little after that he produced the
popular riddim Rice and Peas. Snow Cone also wrote Bounty Killer’s
“Mystery Is The Mystery.” So I realized this guy really had a lot of talent
and knew how to pick hits. I also worked with the Renaissance Crew,
Doctor Dre, Delano, and Jazzy T. Everybody knows they are the big-
gest DJs in Jamaica. Now they’ve started producing, and put out the
Thunder Clap riddim. I like the vibe they have. They have a guy in their
crew named Factor, and he and I got together and produced “We Be
Burnin’.” They also produced the title track, “Trinity.” Another person
on the crew is my brother – a stubborn guy. He’s the kind of person

OZONE 75
 that’s good at gadgets, the kind of person that would finish a video
game three times while you’d still be on the first stage. He also had
Coppershot Sound since he was 13 and he’s been pushing through for
years. He produced two tracks on my first album. He also produced a
riddim called Titanium 2000, which featured songs by Elephant Man,
Lexus, Hawkeye, and others. Since then, my career took off, and he
was busy buying equipment for our studio so he never had much time
to work in the studio. Another producer on the album is Lenky, the
man who gave me my first number one hit on the Billboard charts for
the song “Get Busy.” This is the guy that showed me how to set up the
melody and sing the song the right way to get the most out of it. On this
album he produced a song for me called “Ever Blazing” and another
called “Sen’ it On.” He’s been in the business for many years, but just
producing for about five years. We also have Blax. He did one song
with me on his Egyptian riddim but it never made it to the album. He’s a
guy who used to hang with the Dutty Cup crew back in the day. He got
in a car accident and since then he’s been in a wheelchair producing.
I’m proud of him, because to me the Egyptian riddim started the whole
sped-up deejaying thing sweeping Jamaica. So I just have to say big-
up to the crippled youth who keeps people dancing.
Who did you work with on the album as far as other artists?
I worked with Wayne Marshall, a person without ego. He’s a good per-
son, a talented artist, and I always wanted to do something with him.
I did a song with Tami Chin, a young sexy diva who’s signed to Uni-
versal Records. She’s been blowing up Jamaica for the past two years
with production by the Renaissance Crew. Her mother had one of the
first female bands in Jamaica in the 60’s, so she’s musical in every way.
Dutty Cup crew is my original crew featured on the album, and has
been with me from the early 90s. Of course that includes Luga Man,
the most lyrical of the crew. His father, Richie Daley of the Third World
Band, plays bass, and he’s always coming up with some great hooks.
We also have Kid Kurupt, who is a youth who’s in between circles.
He’s cool with the uptown and downtown sides of Kingston, and as
the name goes, he’s the one who gets in the most trouble. These are
the people that have been inspiring with me from day one. I had an
opportunity to work with Nina Sky, and in January I worked with the
Neptunes again. I also went to work with Scott Storch in the studio and
76 OZONE
even did some demos with Ashanti. All those things are on the shelf.
I didn’t want to give people the same Dutty Rock album. I wanted to
give them something different. I also did another song with the Clipse
which is going to be coming out on their album.
Musically, does it have the same vibe as your past albums?
The Trinity is split into three moods. One, the party vibe, which y’all
know me for. Two, the critical vibe, where I talk to the critics and let
them know that I’ll still be the same person that’s been doing this mu-
sic since 1995. I chose to ignore the critics up til now, but I had to
address the questions like, “Can he do it again?” and so forth. If I only
sold 75,000 albums with my first album, then worked with a multi-mil-
lion album seller like Beyonce, and then worked with the greatest rap-
per alive, Jay-Z, and never felt pressure to work with icons like Busta
Rhymes, then why would I feel pressure now when there is less to
conquer? The third mood is a darker mood. It’s a mood where I had
to deal with personal loss as well as the country feeling loss with all
the excessive violence. It was just a different place for me. My friend
Doddigan started the Dutty Cup crew with me in 1995. He was the big
deejay at the time over at 2 Hard Studios, and now I’ve become more
popular than him. He’s a rasta, and was recently featured on Junior
Gong’s album. I wanted to get him to work with me on this album
and it was unfortunate that didn’t happen. We lost Jamaica’s greatest
dancer Bogle, and shortly after we lost Doddigan. To lose Bogle as an
artist was a hard loss, and then to lose my friend as well as my aunt
– who died in a car crash in the same year – it all brought me to a very
dark place. I wrote a sad song called “Never Gonna Be The Same.” I
feel I have to keep their flame burning, because these people would’ve
done the same if they had lost me.
Sounds like there’s a lot of content on this new album.
Yeah, I did a lot of traveling, a lot of learning, and had a lot of loss. If
you buy the album at Target I have a bonus song which I wrote called
“Time Rolls On.” It’s probably my deepest song. It’s a political song
that I wrote to a guitar that I learned to play four strings on. It talks to
the leaders of government, gangs, and religion. It’s a very powerful
song. So if you’re going to buy the album, get it at Target. At least you
get the full hundred.
PITBULL
MONEY IS (STILL) A
MAJOR ISSUE FOR
MR. 305
PHOTO & WORDS: JULIA BEVERLY
W
hy did you decide
to put out an al-
bum of remixes
with a DVD?
The whole idea is just to
keep us afloat in the mar-
ket so we don’t dim out, so
there’s no gap in what we’re
trying to do. We shot the
video for “Everybody Get
Up” today with Pretty Ricky.
It’s an album full of remixes,
and it’s got about three
or four new records with a
DVD attached. The remix al-
bum is called Money Is Still
A Major Issue.

You felt like you needed

something to keep the
momentum going?
It’s not about keeping the
momentum or things slow-
ing down. With me person-
ally, it’s just so I can always
stay in their minds. I’m all
over the Spanish records,
English records, whatever.
I just want everybody to
know that Pitbull’s a hard
worker. As long as there’s
an opportunity, I’m gonna
take advantage of it. This
remix album has already
shipped 250,000. That’s ri-
diculous.

When will your next regu-

lar album be released?
My second album, El Mari-
el, will be coming out in
March or April. It’ll be an all-
English, all-Spanish album
with a DVD attached. “El
Mariel” was when Castro
opened the gates of Cuba
to and America opened the
doors to Cuban immigrants.
That’s the boat lift you see
in the beginning of the
movie Scarface. I feel like
the game is opening itself
up to me, and I’ve opened
myself up to the game. I rap
in Spanish, I rap in English,
I appeal to all different types
of audiences. When people
ask me if I do “reggaetone”
or “crunk,” I tell them, “I do
music.” I just bring every-
body together.

We had an exclusive in-

terview with Lil Jon a few
months ago talking about
his issues with TVT Re-
cords. Being that you and
Jon are close, and you are
also signed to TVT, have
those issues affected your
career?
I’ll tell you like this: If Jon
doesn’t get his money,
it’s like I don’t get money.
Jon’s my brother. I told TVT,
if you do Jon wrong, you
do me wrong. Therefore,
we’ve been having continu-
ous conversations – or, you

OZONE 79
 could call them arguments – with TVT to make sure they get Lil Jon’s
situation right, because he more than deserves it.
Do you get the impression that it’s just business as usual, or is it
something personal between Lil Jon and TVT owner Steve Got-
tlieb?
It’s just a matter of not cutting checks. They need to cut the mutha-
fuckin’ check. People like myself and Lil Jon, we don’t sleep. We work,
work, work. People like Jon earn what the fuck they get paid for. So
as far as Lil Jon – I call him Lil’ Jizzle – he deserves anything that they
owe him. Right now, I’d say Jon is keeping the lights on at TVT. You’ve
got the Ying Yang Twins selling records – God bless ‘em, they’ve giv-
en me opportunities too – but Jon really keeps the lights on at TVT.
There’s positives and negatives with TVT, though. It’s ironic because
with Jon’s situation, I’ve actually become more of a priority at TVT, be-
cause they’ve still gotta get money. In this game, you’re either gonna
have TVT bad dreams or you’re gonna have major label nightmares.
As long as I’ve got Bryan Leach in my corner, I’d rather have TVT
bad dreams than major label nightmares. Just give my muthafuckin’
brother Jon his money.
What did you gain from being on the Anger Management tour with
Lil Jon?
The Anger Management tour wasn’t my first tour, but it was definitely
the most influential. You’ve got two of hip-hop’s biggest acts, Eminem
and 50 Cent, and you’re picking up their audience. But it also shows
you what success does to people. Eminem’s a good guy and 50’s
a good guy, but they looked awfully lonely on tour. They really don’t
interact with their fans the way they should’ve.
Do you think you’ll ever get to that point?
I know I’m gonna get to that level, but the way I’ve been raised, the
city I’m from, it’s taught me how to deal with people in a different type
of manner.
Aside from interacting with the fans, what about interacting with
other artists? Did you get the chance to politic with Eminem and
50?
Eminem was a lot more secured. He didn’t really come out and fuck
with us like that. But 50, he fucked with us a lil bit, especially Jon. At
the end of the day, I think Jon is a visionary, even more than what
the music industry is expecting from him. He comes from a different
background. When you mix rock & roll and alternative music and bass
together, you come up with Lil Jon. That’s pretty fuckin’ innovative.
With this situation between Lil Jon and TVT, do you think it’s hurt-
ing his recognition with fans? Do you think the situation will keep
him out of the spotlight to the point where he’ll become irrele-
vant?
Nah. I think Jon is a very smart person, intelligent, and he’ll strategize
and figure out what he needs to do. Me and Jon are always on the
phone about what he needs to do. As far as TVT – I wanna give people
a vision of TVT. See, TVT is an indie label that runs like a major. If Jon
sold 2 ½ million records at TVT, he would’ve sold 6 million with Inter-
scope. I’m gold at TVT – I’m up to 600,000 copies sold. So I would’ve
sold 2 million with a major label. So as far as a Lil Jon or a Pitbull or a
Ying Yang Twins, we take everything we’ve learned and go to the next
level. The doors have been closed to us, so we maximize everything
we’ve got. We capitalize on every opportunity. If you’re thinking that
Jon’s era or movement or momentum is fading out, you’re absolutely
wrong. Because he’s probably got the biggest banger ever coming
in about six months to a year. I mean, he’s in a video with Korn. This
shit is serious.
On another topic – I’m sure you’ve got an opinion on Hurricane
Katrina.
Katrina was a very, very catastrophic situation. It basically wiped out
the whole city of New Orleans. But the only thing it gave us as a bless-
ing in disguise is that it showed us what a piece of shit President we
have. It’s like that quote, “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know.”
At the end of the day, that’s the American way. There’s a lot of people
in certain positions that don’t need to be there. That came to light in a
very big manner, and at the end of the day, I think that’s the only thing
Katrina did right.
It’s the same way in the music business. It’s not what you know,
it’s who you know.
It definitely is the same way in the music business. That quote applies
to everything in life. Wall Street, politics, whatever.
80 OZONE
What’s going on with the Bad Boy Latino situation?
I really believe in Diddy as a businessman, and I’ve watched every-
thing he’s done in the game. He capitalizes on all opportunities. I’ve
tried to steer him in the right direction with everything we’re doing as
far as Bad Boy Latino. Right now we’re speaking about me being a
consultant for the label.
Weren’t you going to be President of Bad Boy Latino?
Originally I was gonna be President, but…Latinos are very loyal to
their brands. You know, they’ll all buy Goya, stuff they’ve grown up
with. That’s the shit you’ve gotta give them in music also. You can’t just
come through and say it’s a Latin label. It doesn’t happen like that. So
as far what Diddy’s trying to do, I’m involved to a certain extent, but
it’s a very cutthroat business. If you ain’t ready to take advantage of
every opportunity, it’s not gonna happen. I’m not saying he wouldn’t
take advantage of every opportunity, but he’s a very busy man. He has
his hands in a lot of things right now, so some things may slip through
the cracks.
Did you feel like you didn’t want to attach your name to a brand
that you don’t have control over or ownership of?
In a way, yeah, exactly. But at the end of the day, Diddy’s worked hard
to have that position he’s in. He’s worked hard to have his say-so. But
this is the new wave, the new era. I may see things like Diddy saw
them ten years ago. For me, all I wanna do is learn, to be honest. I just
love to be around Diddy and just watch him talk on the phone and run
around his house. I learn from that type of thing. What Diddy’s doing
now is what I wanna be doing ten years from now, with God’s help. So
for me, it’s just a blessing and an honor to be around someone like
him. This game is so full of shit, and they call it the music industry but
half of these muthafuckers don’t know nothing about music. So to me,
it was a blessing to be able to learn from him. He’s dipping into the
Latin market, and I may know a little bit more about Latinos than he
does, but I may not know how to market the music as well as he does.
I may know how to throw ideas out here and there, but he can take it
and make it a monster. So the whole Bad Boy Latino thing, whether
it’s successful or not, it’s always going to be a success as far as I’m
concerned because I got to learn from Diddy. I got to build a relation-
ship with somebody that I really look up to and idolize.
When we did your album cover photo shoot last year, you were
riding around in a little blue Maxima. Have you upgraded since
then?
Yeah, I remember the little jump out on Rickenbacker Causeway. Yeah,
we’ve upgraded to an ’84 Pinto hatchback with peanut butter guts.
(laughing) Yup, we upgraded, thank God.
Who else from your crew is getting ready to drop?
I got everybody working on their albums. I wanna make sure they get
it right before I throw them out there. Right now I’m working with Cubo,
Piccalo, Chingo Bling, and a cat named Sinful out of L.A.
Do you think you’re still top dog in Miami?
I’ll never be top dog in Miami. Luke is the king of Miami, Trick is the
mayor, and me, I’m Mr. 305. I just sit back. I don’t care. I’ll be a piece
of shit all my life, just let me make my music and grind. I don’t give a
fuck about titles or none of that shit. As a matter of fact, fuck rap. If I
own a couple buildings in Miami, I’m straight.
Speaking of owning property, did you have any damage from Hur-
ricane Wilma?
All my properties were good and my family was good, thank God.
Those are the best things in the world. The only bad thing was that we
didn’t have power for about two weeks.
After the last two crazy hurricane seasons, do you think people
in Miami and the rest of the South are thinking about moving to
safer ground?
Miami’s used to hurricanes, so when we see them, we’re like, what-
ever. But places like New Orleans and Houston, they got hit hard this
year. God bless them. Goddamn, they got hit hard this year. But like
I said, it was a blessing in disguise. As far as Miami and the rest of
Florida, we’re used to it. Bush might wanna start thinking about some
of those global warming prevention tactics. The Gulf of Mexico and
the Caribbean Sea are really starting to heat up, so every hurricane
that touches that shit starts to ignite. The irony is that I’m talking to
OZONE magazine, and the ozone layer has a hole in it, which is the
reason we got this whole fuckin’ global warming problem in the first
place (laughing).
ASSASSIN
INFILTRATES THE INDUSTRY
WORDS: RUDEGAL
A
ssassin has quickly made his mark, transitioning almost in-
stantly from a budding songwriter to a top ranking upcoming
dancehall deejay. It was his song “Shotta Dem” by Spragga
Benz on the Street Sweeper riddim that inspired Assassin to pur-
sue his lifelong dream of becoming a performing artist in Jamaica.
Now, a few short years later, Assassin has dominated the charts in
Jamaica with hit after hit, a slew of quality recordings, and a solid
jam-packed debut album on VP Records, Infiltration.
If you had to identify the major thing – what made you decide to
become an artist?
It started from early out; you have to have the passion and the love for
the music. It’s like the seed that was planted as music has been an
important part of my life for a long time. The first real fruit was hearing
a song I wrote – hearing Spragga Benz performing it; when I heard the
song on the radio on a Saturday and the radio DJ was excited saying,
“That was wicked!” So it wasn’t just hearing a song that I wrote but
also a radio DJ really giving the stamp of approval. Plus, Spragga
spelled it out for me. He said writing is not going to be anything to re-
ally look forward to or have too much to live by. He said if you can do
it yourself best you do, and I felt I could so I did.
Who has been your biggest inspiration?
Just the music itself. From I was really young, I was overwhelmed by
how people were able to put songs together. I was in awe that you
could compose music, write music, and fabricate a story that gener-
ates a response from people who listen. That sort of thing, to be able
to entertain, I was always amazed at that and always hoping that I
could do that some day. Entertainment is stimulating someone’s mind
with whatever it is; if it’s something serious you get them thinking or
a little light or fun. It’s like the movies. Watching a horror movie is not
going to make you laugh but you’re still being entertained.
You’re more grounded than a lot of artists. Do you reflect and see
a period of time where maybe things got a little to your head?
Honestly, no – from even earlier you always hear or see people who
are getting a little recognition and they get overwhelmed with it and
start behaving in a manner that isn’t becoming of anything decent.
If I’m the way I am before I start doing music and if I’m doing music,
it’s not supposed to change me. It’s a job and a career; it’s what I do,
not who I am. At the same time, the people I have around me even if I
wasn’t in route, I have them to steer me back on course. They would
say something like, “Yo, your moving a likkle way.” They would never
allow it to get that far.
Early in your career, Spragga Benz took you to Donovan Germain.
Explain the role he’s had in your career.
Well, from day one [Germain] has been in a management role on all
levels. He’s like a father to me. It’s not just business, it’s overall interac-
tion. It’s been positive. It’s not just a manager trying to stir an artist; it’s
a positive figure trying to guide someone younger. Same situation with
Spragga, he’s my bredren and everything but he’s like a big brother to
me as well. It’s a situation where you can see that the person wants the
best for you, they’ve already taken a certain path and can help you not
to fall in the ditches they did or not experience certain hardships they
experienced telling you to turn left not right. An example of Spragga’s
advice: Don’t try to record a million songs. For Germain: Try to be a
professional at what you do. That’s the one thing he’s always tried to
establish.
Being that you work with Donovan Germain, there’s been some
parallels made between you and Buju Banton. Is there anything
you’ve learned from Buju?
Yeah, I’ve been on the road with him a couple of times. He’s told me I
have to condition myself to get the work done. You have to be able to
deliver [your songs live] in a manner that is becoming of a good artist.
You can’t just have the songs but not be in the physical condition to
deliver them.
What do you do specifically to promote your material in Jamaica?
One thing is there are always shows, not shows you’re billed for but
events that you can just sort of pass through and exhibit your craft.
The music video market is expanding in Jamaica because of cable
TV and all of that. The cable stations are something you can use for
your videos like in the States. Radio too. What is different in Jamaica
than the States is that there is always some stage show somewhere
or some dance in some little corner that you can make an appearance
and promote your stuff. You’re very accessible in Jamaica, but at the
same time, you have to manage how you do make those appearances;
being moderate – that’s it. You don’t want to be in the same region in
any too quick of succession. There are some shows that are premiere
shows in the industry, so it says a lot if you’re on those shows. There’s
SUMFEST, which says a lot. There’s Rebel Salute – a very big festival
and there’s STING. There’s also Spectrum and Champions in Action,
and Teen Splash is a good show to be at.
“Wandering Minds” is a compelling song. How did you arrive to
the lyrical content?
The material comes from just existing in today’s world. You might see
some of the stuff on TV, you might hear stuff on the road in conversa-
tion, on radio or you read stuff. Your source of information is very wide;
there are multiple sources as opposed to one. I guess when you’re
doing music, you have think about stuff a little bit different so you can
put it forward in a manner that people will find it interesting.
Why Infiltration for the album title?
To “infiltrate” means to gain access to an establishment or place. You
can infiltrate the whole system. You can gain access without notice,
and I think that describes my ascent in the industry; slowly infiltrating.
What’s your favorite track from your new album?
“Respect Due,” because it’s a very honest effort on the project. It’s
kinda like taking me back to very early in my life, 5 or 6 years old, just
loving the music and having this great admiration for the people out
there putting out this music for me to love.
Why should someone listen to your album – someone not into
dancehall reggae music?
Well, the album represents dancehall music well. They can take the
time to listen and check it out. Myself being a newcomer they can get
an up-to-date sound on the next generation, a new kind of vibe.
What about collaborations with other artists?
I believe these things have to happen naturally. You don’t force it or
they don’t come off good. I’m weird at these things; maybe like some-
one like Stevie Wonder – that’s on a way out level. R Kelly is a ge-
nius when it comes to the music as well. I would like to have Dr. Dre
produce something for me. That would be wicked. On a local vibe, I
would like to record a song with Buju.
Any new recordings?
In dancehall you’re always recording as the riddim run things. I try
to be selective in what I record; you don’t want to have too much out
there. Since the album I’ve had a lot going on but I’ve tried to work to
keep the brain muscles going. I recorded a song for Buju Banton, he
was producing something for his Garagmel label. I recorded a song
for Red Rat, Dave Kelly and Birch.
For a lot of artists, to record for Dave Kelly means you “made it.”
I would say it’s a monumental moment. Dave is one of the elite, so to
record for him means you’re obviously moving in the right direction.
It adds credibility to your production and means you’re doing some
work. I’ve also worked with Tony Kelly. He did a couple tracks on the
album like “Hot” and “I’m a Hustler.”
Where do you see yourself five years from now?
I honestly don’t look that far. I appreciate the passage of time, I don’t
budget it out. I take refuge in the looking and the journey so far and
realize you couldn’t map the present location; you just have to know
you are working towards something and working towards being the
best that you can be. Every day you do that, you try to do something
to make you a little better. You don’t know where that will take you in
two years, five years or ten years. You just hope that you’re moving
forward.
What do you do to step away from the business and relax?
Just regular stuff, see a movie every now and again, hang out with my
friends, just chill.
While this next comment wasn’t said during the course of this
interview, something that Assassin said profoundly summarizes
his work ethic and the general way he approaches life: “Disci-
pline and self-control are essential. It’s what separates us from
animals.” Assassin is not just another breakthrough deejay, but
an intelligent man who’s on his course with sturdy values instilled.
His album Infiltration is a well-crafted composition, serving as a
great introduction or asset to your growing exposure to dancehall
music.
OZONE 83
OZONE 85
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cdreviews
T-PAIN
RAPPER TERNT SANGA
Konvict/Jive
T-Pain seems destined for a
pretty good run in the industry.
He’s already managed to garner
that love-me-or-hate-on-me
relationship with listeners. His
infectious single “I’m Sprung”
was the first song in a long time
to make people either turn it up
or turn it off. Whether you like
his music or not, there is no
disputing that this man can write
the hell out of a song.
While his sound is slightly
reminiscent of R Kelly’s twisted
genius and Dave Hollister’s
ghetto quips, T-Pain adds his
own flavor that puts the “hug”
in thug. He reveals his secret
feelings for an exotic dancer on
the easy-to-relate-to “I’m In Love
(With A Stripper)” that is already
getting major play in shake junts
throughout the Southeast.
The seduction continues on
“Let’s Get It On Tonight,” a
damn near flawless song that
teeters along the fine line of
making love and straight fuck-
ing without sacrificing the long
lost art of being subtle. He also
shows his affinity for clever-
ness with “In The Studio,” a
song about doing the grown
folk, naming different instru-
ments to get his point across.
Next, he flips the script and
gets introspective on songs like
“Going Thru A Lot,” featuring
Bonecrusher, and the harmoni-
ous “Fly Away,” a well-penned
song about escapism.
There isn’t much to complain
about other than a few ques-
tions about the real strength of
T-Pain’s voice, being that every
track has faint traces of studio
altering. The production is
solid, albeit not complex, which
actually works well with T-Pain’s
distinctive tone. Overall, this
album is easily the surprise of
the year.
- Maurice G. Garland
90 OZONE
MACEO
STRAIGHT OUT DA POT
Quick Flip/Big Cat Records
This album gives you the feel of the Atlanta
independent scene. Maceo puts forth the
effort and definitely has potential. The first
single “Hoe Sit Down” had clubs through-
out the South on lock for a minute, and the
follow-up street joint “Nextel Chirp” was an
interesting concept executed nicely. Unlike
the typical crunk or ass-shaking single,
Maceo and his producer Fats take the time
out on this track to explain the dangers of
PITBULL handling certain types of business on cell
M.I. STILL A.M.I.: MONEY IS phones. Another stand out track is “On My Way,” a slow grinding
STILL A MAJOR ISSUE song with a nice hook which allows Maceo to show his versatility
TVT Records on the mic.
Here, Pitbull aims to propel his Unfortunately, some of the tracks can become redundant. The
name among some of the big- concept of “I Want,” with Bubba Sparxxx, has been done and over-
gest names in the industry by done. Some of the tracks are wannabe “Thug Holiday”s, where
taking two risks. First, releasing Maceo reflects on everyday life in the hood over some smooth
an album in an unusually weak shit. Nice idea, but there’s too many of those tracks on here. And
fourth quarter. And second, re- when the concept isn’t working, producers Fats, G-Fresh, and
leasing a record full of remixes. Willy Will’s beats aren’t helping either. At times they sound like
really bad rip-offs of established Southern producers, looping the
Money Is Still A Major Issue pretty same simplistic drum patterns over and over again.
much picks up on the energy that
his previous release M.I.A.M.I. left During the bright spots on this album, Maceo shows flashes of
behind, with new-found excite- greatness. But overall, he’s overshadowed by a lot of clichéd song
ment on all three of the singles. concepts, uninspired production, and sometimes, simple rhyme
The “Culo” remix adds reggaeton patterns.
femme fatale Ivy Queen, who
goes toe-to-toe with Pit in Span- - Willie Fields
ish and briefly in English.
The “Dammit Man” remix features
Lil’ Flip, who surprisingly sounds
comfortable on the high-hat
heavy production. DJ Buddha
takes “Toma” to the international
level by adding Mr. Vegas, Wayne
Marshall, Red Rat, T.O.K. and
Kardinal Offishall.
The album completely capitalizes
on Pit’s popularity by featuring
remixed songs from other artists.
He sounds damn near perfect
alongside Nina Sky on their
revamped “Turning Me On” and
displays his flawless flujo del
español (Spanish flow) on the
Ying Yang Twins’ “Shake” remix
with Elephant Man.
Pit leaves the dance floor and hits
the streets on Rich Boy’s “Get To
Poppin’” remix and Brisco’s certi-
fied heater “Might Be The Police.”
He also gives listeners some
unreleased music on the Miami-
connected “Everybody Get Up,”
with Pretty Ricky. But the show
stealer of the album is “Oh No He
Didn’t,” featuring Cubo.
While the CD is definitely a must-
have for devout Pitbull fans, it
probably won’t generate any new
interest for the gold-selling chico
from “tha crib.”
- Maurice G. Garland

CHAMILLIONAIRE
THE SOUND OF REVENGE
Universal Records
When mainstream media decided
to finally recognize Texas’ talent and
dub their discovery as the “Texas
Takeover,” it seemed like the only
priority were the artists featured on
“Still Tippin’.”
Now, with all of the Texas summer re-
leases coming down from their highs,
Chammilionare, the city’s outsider,
gets a chance to shine exclusively
with his major debut offering The
Sound of Revenge.
This album is a far cry from the Hous-
ton music the rest of the country is
digesting right now, which could be a
catch-22 for Cham.
From listening to his songs you can
tell that he genuinely wants people
to pay attention to the words com-
ing out of his mouth rather than be
blinded by the grill that’s in it. This
is especially shown on “Southern
Takeover,” when he hops across
state lines to hook up with Georgia
boys Killer Mike and Pastor Troy. He
showcases more verbal wit on “In
The Trunk,” where he spits some
chest-pounding lyrics that will either
convince you that he is the best his
city has to offer, or just another brag-
gart that you can’t stand.
He does make a valid effort towards
wearing the crown for his town by
giving a formidable performance
on “Rain” alongside Billy Cook and
Scarface. ‘Face usually overshad-
ows people on cameos, but not
here. Koopa shines again on the Sol
Messiah-produced “Picture Perfect,”
featuring Bun B.
Although it is refreshing to hear well-
crafted lyrics in a time where the bare
minimum seems to be accepted, this
album lacks consistent production
which subtracts from its effective-
ness. And at times the album can
get boring due to Cham’s insistence
on singing all of his own hooks.
However, this is still an album worth
giving a shot.
- Maurice G. Garland
LIL WAYNE
THA CARTER 2
Cash Money/Universal
Lil Wayne received a lot of pats on the back
when he revealed that he was attending the
University of Houston to study Psychology.
With this being his fifth solo studio album, it’s
safe to say that Weezy has already gradu-
ated in a sense. With four albums under his
belt, he’s earned his Bachelor’s degree in the
school of MCing. His latest offering showcases
him working towards his Master’s degree.
Tha Carter 2 picks up where the first install-
ment left off, and the burn gets even hotter.
He has the audacity to open the album with
“Tha Mobb,” a five-minute and twenty-second
freestyle that mixtape DJs would kill for if they
could get away with it. Quips like: “When the
jungle was open, I rolled in with the riders,
stole food from the bears, and brought it back
to the lions, holding court with the apes, I’m a
gorilla but lighter, got the eye of the tiger, heart
of a fighter” give you a taste of the cleverness
found throughout this release.
He immediately addresses the claims that Tha
Carter is the most that he is capable of as well
as his feelings towards his former Cash Money
affiliates on “Fly In” with jabs like: “I’m so 504
you gotta kill me here, if you ever looking for
me bitch I will be here / Cash Money is an
army, Navy Seal me here / A lot of niggas ran
from it, but I still be here.”
Aside from the usual lyrical gems, this album
truly shows that Weezy F. Baby is capable of
shining past the Cash Money bling. Com-
pletely void of the trademark Mannie Fresh
production, Wayne flows over reggae-tinged
tunes (“Mo Fire”) as well as rock guitar-influ-
enced beats (“Best Rapper Alive”).
As witty as Weezy is, he does little to dispel the
notion that he is all cadence and no content.
Outside of the obvious “for the ladies” track
“Grown Man” and the soulful relationship song
“Receipt,” most of the album is just Wayne
fiddling with Webster’s dictionary.
But damn, though. Wayne is spitting hot fire
like Dave Chappelle playing Dylan. With a vast
variety of production, this album is damn near
coastless and sounds nothing like anything
coming from the CMR catalog or the prototypi-
cal-South, period. Oh yeah, be sure to peep
the Jay-Z-ish album cover. Wayne is taking this
“Best Rapper Alive” thing seriously.
- Maurice G. Garland
djtop10
DJ E-Feezy (Memphis, TN)
1. Three 6 Mafia “Poppin’ Collars”
This has been my theme song since I started
radio at a young age. The Mr. Bigg sample on
the hook is hot.
2. Yo Gotti “Gangsta Party”
Gotti is the premiere voice of the Memphis
scene. He’s got next. Plus, the track is crazy!
3. D4L “Laffy Taffy”
The more I drink, the better it sounds.
4. Dem Franchize Boyz
“Lean Wit’ It, Rock Wit’ It”
This song sounds exactly like “White Tee”
and “I Think They Like Me.” But I still like them
‘cause they make it easy for me to rock in the
club even though I don’t and can’t dance.
5. Bun B “Get Throwed”
He got Young Jeezy, Jay-Z, Z-Ro, and Pimp C
all on one track. What else can I say?
6. Purple Ribbon All-Stars “Kryptonite”
Cause you can find E-Feezy, Kaspa, Infa-
mous, and Greg Street in the A! A! A!
7. Juelz Santana “Murda”
They didn’t give “Welcome to Jamrock” room
to breathe, but it’s still a banger.
8. Jody Breeze f/ Young Jeezy “Gangsta”
Jody and Jeezy on one track is FIRE! Jody’s
a young nigga waiting for his time to shine.
9. Notorious B.I.G.
“Spit Yo Game, Talk Yo Shit”
I’m originally from Cleveland, and I say Krayzie
Bone, Swizz, and Twista laced that track.
10. Ne-Yo f/ Peedi Peedi “Stay”
This is grown and sexy. And who wouldn’t
want to want to wake up next to all that ass in
the video? If you find her, let a nigga know.
OZONE 91
dvdreviews by Malik Abdul
HUSTLE UP DVD MAGAZINE
www.HustleUpDVD.com
Hip-hop has many clichés for
hustling, like “get ya hustle
on” and “hustle or die.”
Hustling, a.k.a. grinding, is
the only way to make a living
in any field.
Hustle Up focuses on giving
unsigned artists a forum to
feature their videos or free-
styles. This DVD magazine is
a must-have tool for industry
execs and A&Rs. Not only
does Hustle Up give aspiring
artists a platform to shine,
but it also shows that these
young artists have found
a way to hustle their talent
without waiting on major TV
networks like BET and MTV.
In addition to upcoming
artists, Hustle Up features
major artists as well. David
Banner explains how he has
become a major force in the
industry without relying on
record sales to make a living.
As a producer/beatmaker,
he can make a healthy living
by selling his tracks. This
also means that he can
manufacture his own beats,
allowing more of his budget
to be used on marketing and
promotions.
Next up, Mike Jones gives
you a little concert foot-
age, but more important,
knowledge of hustling. His
Swishahouse labelmate Paul
Wall gets his grind on by tell-
ing you how you can improve
your image: purchase a grill
from him. Hustle Up takes
you to Compton with The
Game, who takes shots at
the whole G-Unit with his “G-
Unot” campaign. Remy Ma,
Wendy Williams, and Juelz
Santana are a few of the
other features on this album
worth checking out.
92 OZONE
DJ FOLK
TRAP TV
www.DJFolk.com
This DVD, the aptly named Trap TV,
is hosted by DJ Folk. The name Trap
TV means that it’s not suited to be
watched by regular folks or people
who have a 9-5. This is exclusively for
the amusement of certified trappers.
It features hot Southern music videos,
some of which are so uncut you won’t
even see them on late night televi-
THE GAME IS TO GAME: CHRONICLES OF sion.
BE SOLD & TOLD THE STREET
www.DubCityEnter- www.shoot2films.com Being a real trap DVD, it starts off
tainment.com right with Young Jeezy and Bun B.
This is one of the first DVD This video appeared on TV for a small
This documen- documentaries that deals period of time but never quite made it
tary really takes you with real people who’ve into rotation. There’s also videos from
inside the music lived the life of a hustler, underground artists like Renegade
game. Dubcity sold drugs, did time in the Foxxx, whose video “Scream” fea-
Records gives a penitentiary, and moved past tures Trina in the bedroom of a yacht.
very in-depth view it to live successful lives.
from the perspec- Trina isn’t the only sexy female on this
tive of the trappers Shot on location in East DVD, though. After the thugged-out
selling that product, St. Louis, Houston, Baton segment, the next sequence features
the ballers spending Rouge, and Atlanta, this DVD some of the hottest uncut videos with
that money, and stars hustlers, ballers, and some very beautiful women. Okay,
the pussy poppers gangsters, along with spe- I’m assuming that they’re beautiful,
getting that money. cial guests like Pimpin’ Ken because all you get to see are asses
Bun B hits the stage and Big Silk Game. There’s shaking and jiggalating.
performing one of real talk on the drug-deal-
his classic bangers ing game, and the conse- First up is my favorite uncut video,
and drops some quences of dealing drugs. featuring the best looking ass in
knowledge. This Real dealers, like Nino from Southern music: Jacki-O featuring the
DVD also features Baton Rouge, give you some Ying Yang Twins, “Fine.” What makes
some of the hottest game: how to change your the video stand out? Two words:
artists on the Gulf codes, and the realities of painted titties. If that’s not enough,
Coast, like Kami- life as a baller. He reminisces how ‘bout Jacki-O’s round ass? She’s
kaze, Shadowyze, on his life, telling stories in ripped jeans and pink panties, and
Young Pappy, and of doing concerts with the the director included a lot of crotch
Chilly C, along with Notorious B.I.G., promoting shots. Then, there’s three sexy mod-
Dallas’ DSR. Chilly artists, jetsetting all over the els on the bed kissing on each other.
C and Young Pappy country, doing time, and Crazy hot video.
show how young coming back to society as
artists hustle and the owner of a legitimate This DVD also features my second
grind, from talent business. favorite video: “Tip Drill” uncut!
showcases to an There’s nothing more to say. If you’ve
interview on Mobile, The reality of being a whore seen the TV version, you must see
AL radio station strung out on drugs is an the uncut version. 50 Cent’s “Disco
WBLX. all-too real chapter, starring Inferno” uncut video is hot too, but
Adrian. Adrian has been the only problem is that it’s filmed in
This is the ultimate strung out on every type of black and white.
hustler’s DVD, drugs imaginable and in jail
simply because it for attempted murder. She’s To soften things up a bit, Boyz N Da
shows how artists lived a hard life. She was Hood member Jody Breeze comes
who really want that raped by sixteen men at a through with “Stay Fresh,” featur-
elusive record deal young age, raped again by ing Jazze Pha. Jody rides the beat
how to get on their twelve Samoans a few years perfectly while Jazze sings the hook.
grind. All the way later, and forced to prostitute It’s a Sho’nuff hit, and you can’t go
from Pensacola, herself by her parents. wrong with a Ciara cameo.
FL to Mobile, AL to
Jackson, MS, Dubc- Anyone who’s ever hustled There’s so many videos on this DVD,
ity captures these or even thought about you’ve got to get it for your trap or
aspiring artists on hustling should check out your car. You’ll be astonished at the
stage and in the stu- this DVD. It will definitely transformation of Lil Jon and the
dio grinding. If you give you some insight into Eastside Boyz in their uncut video
need inspiration, the lifestyle and the possible for “What U Gon’ Do,” featuring Too
pick up this DVD. consequences of it. Short.
throwbackreviews by Killer Mike

A Southern Classic:
Outkast’s
Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik
When this album dropped, it was a new day
in Atlanta. The intro was the original “Welcome
to Atlanta,” just putting people on in our little
neighborhoods like Decatur, College Park, and
East Point. They used the whole airplane concept on the intro, with the
pilot letting you know what city you were coming into. It showed that
they were poised to break into Atlanta and take Atlanta to the world.
I could tell that music wasn’t gonna be the same after this album. At-
lanta was known as Miami Part 2 for a while, with sped-up rhythms,
808s, just an extension of bass music. Outkast really brought the soul
and the face of the dirty South. This album kinda picked up where the
Stax movement left off. It was an extension of soul music.
“Myintrotoletuknow”
This just established the fact right off the rip that they were both dope
ass rhymers, Big and Dre. Up until this point, we just had local acts
and a lot of kiddie groups or girl groups out of Atlanta like TLC and
Kris Kross. Outkast was really speaking to us, the 15-25 year olds who
were really born and bred in the “A.”
“Ain’t No Thang”
This was the beginning of some of the most fantastic Southern hooks.
The Dungeon Family is responsible for classic hooks like “Elevator”
and “Sky High.” They just created hit after hit from everyday Southern
stuff. They made it kinda esoteric. They made it something strange
and mysterious, something people wanted to keep listening to.
“Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik”
This was major. At the time, L.A. had been doing they thing with funk
music and Cadillacs and gangsta shit. New York had been doing what
they were doing over horns and jazz, but the drums were never beefed
up. The 808’s weren’t humming. Outkast married the soul of Curtis
Mayfield and Isaac Hayes with hip-hop drum beats and dirty 808s
through those subwoofers in the background. The harmony was that
Southern playa shit. The voices were so lush and layered.
“Call Of Da Wild”
This was the first introduction to two of the Goodie Mob members,
Khujo and T-Mo. At that time, in the early 90’s, Clinton had just came
into office and it wasn’t a lot of prosperity. You was in the wild, drinkin’
40s, stealing cars, just doing whatever excited you at the time. That
song kinda represented what it felt to be young and black at the time,
with constant temptations.
when that record came out and you felt like, fuck it, I’m giving up, this
song made you stay. I’ve personally seen a lot of people walk up to Big
and Dre and say, “That song made me strive to become what I am to-
day.” And we’re talking about young black executives, entrepreneurs,
and athletes. That’s one of those songs that just inspired you to reach
beyond what you thought your goals were and what people told you
you’d be able to do. Cee-Lo’s verse on this song made him instantly
one of the top 5 MCs in the world, to me. That shit was like cornbread,
just the straight black experience. To this day, if you listen to that shit,
it’ll motivate you.
“Crumblin’ Erb”
Back then, everybody wasn’t smoking weed. Everybody was not on
crippy and dro sacks. This is right after Cypress Hill came out. Their
shit was real kinetic, that West coast flavor. Redman was on that funked
out Northern flavor. “Crumblin’ Erb” told you how niggas did it down
South. We crumbling slow, smoking slow. But the song talked about
deeper social issues, like niggas killing niggas. With all this violence
going on around us, sometimes the only thing that keeps us calm is
rolling up that medicine that God gave us. Even if you’re seeing two
niggas running through the hood smoking, those are just young kids
who happen to be trapped in those situations. Outkast talked about
that a lot on this album. They really have goals, they think very deeply
about things. A lot of times, people like Tribe Called Quest and De La
Soul are celebrated for that. Outkast really thought outside the box,
but they stayed grounded to the demographic of young urban South-
ern men and women. This record really brought a whole generation
into adulthood.
“Hootie Hoo”
That was the anthem. That’s what got everybody hooked on big
blunts, White Owls, and Swishers. In The Dungeon, it goes on and on.
“Hootie Hoo” is a classic Southern hip-hop record. That’s why Master
P had to jack the hook and bring it back. He knew that shit didn’t get
fully exploited the way it should have. When you’re standing on the
corner and you hear that “Hootie Hoo,” you already know. You gonna
smoke good that night.
“D.E.E.P.”
This was the perfect segway to [Outkast’s second album] ATLiens.
After all the ridin’ and smokin’ and fuckin’ with hoochies, there’s in-
tellectual prowess. They’re taking you a little farther just to expose
your mind to new shit and motivate you to get up and get out and get
something. This hook took you far beyond that Cadillac. The Cadillac
went through a wormhole with “D.E.E.P.” and popped out on the other
side with ATLiens, which I’ll review next month.

“Player’s Ball”
This was exactly what was happening in the streets of Atlanta. Young
dudes, teenagers, we all admired the players and pimps. You aspired
to be them. We had that potential. It was in the fabric of our makeup.
Clubs like Charles, the old Silver Fox, and Club 731, those were real
player’s balls. Dudes were coming in fur coats and gators. Even though
they wrote this song initially as a Christmas song, I really looked at it as
a soundtrack to what was happening on the street with true players,
hustlers, gamblers, the whole nine. That’s all you heard coming out of
Cadillacs in ATL for two years.

“Funky Ride”
Atlanta is known as the black mecca of the world. It really is the place
where the black American dreams come true. There’s the black mid-
dle class, the political circles. There’s a lot of young and black wealth
and power in Atlanta. And one place to party has always been black
strip clubs. Atlanta strip clubs, in particular, are world famous. Luke
and 2 Live Crew made a song about Magic City years ago. “Funky
Ride” introduced you to that scene, where you could just zone out and
let that big booty-ass girl love you down. It also introduced the world to
Sleepy Brown and Organized Noize. They were bringing that real soul,
that Stax soul to records. Even though there wasn’t nobody rapping
on it, it got a lot of replay in the Cadillacs.

“Git Up, Git Out”

This is probably my favorite song off that album. If you were in school

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 DJ Folk & Digital Product
01: DJ Dagwood “Operation Paper Chasin’” 404-914-8900 www.DJD “The Cartel”
agwood.com Atlanta, GA
Gr8sthit1@yahoo.com
02: DJ GQ (hosted by Akon) “Pt. Sixteen” DJGQ@tmail.com 866-411-DJGQ Miami, FL
216-798-2480
03: DJ Geedamme “Peace Up A Town Down Pt. 3” DJGeedamme@ao
l.com 919-949-8249
04: DJ Scipio “Get Crunk 2005” 803-516-9073 Hot tracks:
05: DJ EFX & Wiz Hoffa “Crack Music Vol. 1” EFXGotBeats@aol.com www.DJEFX #07 - “Stay Fly” b/w “Lookin’ Good”
.net Miami, FL #11 - “Diamonds” b/w “Gangsta Shit”
06: DJ Chuck T “Sexxxplicit Vol. 16” www.DJChuckT.com Charleston, SC #16 - “Presidential” b/w “Trap Star”
07: DJ Houston (hosted by Big Boi) “Ride Out Pt. 2” DJHouston20@yah
oo.com Memphis, TN #17 - “Badd” b/w “Holla Atcha Homeboy”
#20 - Paul Wall f/ Bubba Sparxxx “Hey I’m
08: DJ Tantrum (hosted by Pitbull) “What They Talkin’ ‘Bout Vol. 3” www.DJTantrum.com Houston, TX Sittin’ Sidewayz” (DP ‘White Boyz’ blend)
09: DJ DNA & Don Brody “Bitches n Gunz” DNA@PCutta.com Baltimore
, MD
10: DJ Snake Eyes “Best Of The Dirty South Vol. 3” www.DaCrossBreed.com NC
11: DJ Barry Bee “Dirty South Crackpot Vol. 3” 252-758-1122 www.DJB
arryBee.com NC
12: Voice Of Da Streetz “From Bedstuy 2 Queensbridge” VOS101@tmail.com Orlando, FL
13: DJ Quote & DJ K-Tone (served by Slim Thug) “Street Crack Vol.
1” www.DJQuoteTheBeatmaker.net Denver, CO
DJs, send mixtapes for consideration to:
14: DJ Hot Sauce “No. 1 Hustla” DJHotSauce@RPS-Fam.com 1516 E Colonial Dr. Suite 205
15: DJ Buddha (hosted by Sean Paul) “Caribbean Connection Vol. Orlando, FL 32803
4” TheDJBuddha.com Boston, MA
16: DJ Shawty Slim & Agapecean “Hate It Or Love It” ShawtySlim@gmail.com Fort Valley, GA
Or contact Mercedes:
17: DJ Dutty Laundry “R&B Hood Edition” Brutus@tmail.com TN StreetSmasher@tmail.com
18: DJ Teknikz “If You Buyin’ We Sellin’” 678-523-9236 Atlanta, GA
19: DJ Cool Breeze (hosted by Don Yute) “WGM Reggae Vol. 1”
DJCoolBreezeLive@aol.com Philadelphia, PA
20: DJ Scream & MLK “Heavy In The Streets Pt. 2” DJScream@tmail.com Atlanta, GA
OZONE 95
t-painlive
Event: TJ’s DJ’s Record Pool Quarterly
Tastemakers meeting / Florida A&M University
homecoming weekend
Date: October 20th, 2005
Venue: The Moon
Location: Tallahassee, FL
Photos: Julia Beverly

98 OZONE
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