The Breakfast Club - The Gangster Chronicles: The Adventures of Roc Marciano

Episode Date: September 22, 2024

The Black Effect Presents... The Gangster Chronicles! On this episode Steele and MC Eiht sit down with East Hempstead, NY MC  Roc Marciano. We discuss his career starting with Busta Rhymes Flipmode Squad and him moving around until blowing up as a indie Rapper and Producer. We then talk about his influence on such group's as Griselda as well as his dope a** collabo's. Smash that play button homie and relax!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Well, all right, y'all. All across the U.S.C., Compton, Watts, Bay to L.A., Pomona, California, from valley to valley, we represent that killer county. So if you're keeping it real on your side of your town, you tune in to Gangster Chronicles. Gangster Chronicles, we gonna tell you how it goes. If I lie, my nose will grow like Pinocchio.

We gon' tell you the truth and nothing but the truth. Gangsta Chronicles, this is not your average show. You're now tuned into the real MC8 Big Stance. This is strictly from the streets. Hello. We represent the G's. Welcome to the Gangsta Chronicles podcast, We represent the G-Shades. and comment. I'd like to welcome you to another episode of the Gangsta Chronicles Podcast. It's your boy Big Steel along with Jill. And today, man, we got one of, really, man, one of my favorites

in here, man, the homie Rock Marciano. What's crackin', man? Appreciate it, man. I'm chillin'. Man, what's happenin', man? Good. I just heard you say you just moved out to the coast? I've been livin' out here. Man. Is that right? About seven years now. Oh, yeah. That's a... And I lived out here before.

This is my second run living out here. I was living out here probably from, like, 2011 to, like, 2015, 2016. And then I came back, you know what I'm saying? I went back home for a little bit and then came back out here. Now, let me ask you this, man. Is it different living on the coast? Hell, yeah. Is it different living on the coast? Hell yes. The weather. I'd never do another winter again.

That's what it is, man. I'm originally from Ohio. I can't go back to the snow, man. The weather is like paradise out here, man. That weather back east gets very tricky and brutal. It's unpredictable, man. Shit. You be looking for them sunny days and shit like here in cali you know like nigga it's gonna be sunny for the next month exactly on the

east coast now you get the motherfucking thunderstorm come through tornado come coming up the coast all kind of shit man weather is very unpredictable yeah it's really unpredictable man so you got your start off correct me if i'm wrong you got your start from the game with buster and them right yeah i did flip more how you run across them cats um you know i'm from long island so me and buster's uh younger brother went to school together so um you know he knew i was nice so you know he told his older brother he's like, I got this nigga in my school. This nigga's nice, da-da-da. You know, boom, and he just ended up making a connection.

And it just happened like that. Busta, man, Busta got a whole bunch of hits in this catalog, don't he? Oh, definitely. Damn sure do. Now, let me ask you this, man, because when you with a dude like Busta, I know a lot of people say that you should never sign with another artist. Yeah. Buster has never really, he never really had an artist that took off from

his camp. Like, you know, he had Spliff. He had some dudes that put some records out, but he had a whole bunch of heat over there. Yeah. What you think went wrong with him? Man, I mean, I can't say some people did take off because, you know, you got Rod Digger. Yeah, Rod Digger did her thing. She wiggled a little bit, you know, you got Rod Digger. Yeah, Rod Digger did her thing. She wiggled a little bit.

You know what I'm saying? Rod Digger definitely, she definitely wiggled. Yeah, she wiggled. You know, but then later on he ended up signing OT Genesis. Yeah, OT Genesis

had records. You know, he got a few cats that popped, but as far as everybody else, like when I was there with Flip Mo, Busta was at the height of his career.

So it's hard for an artist to like walk you through the business when they're at the height and they got so much momentum. You got to wake up in the morning and handle the Busta Rhymes business. That's a big enough business. And I was just with him just soaking up game. I wasn't even really expecting, like, to become a big artist under him. I just knew this was like an internship. That's how I looked at it. You know what I'm saying I just knew this was like an internship. That's how I looked at it. You know what I'm saying?

I looked at it like an internship. You got to be careful when you sign into other artists. You know, not that they're not looking out for your interest, but it's hard to control that situation when you're still like, I'm coming off the bench. This nigga's still in the game playing. You get me? And I'm expecting to build up my playing time, you know, my minutes.

But it's hard to build up my minutes when the star of the team is still the star of the team. My niggas like they might put me on the floor every other night but my niggas still taking all the major shots.

And I gotta say at that time if you could have a basketball analogy Buster was definitely Kobe or LeBron at that time. Exactly. You know what I'm saying? Because he coming with some hit-and-breakers. And like I said, you the draft pick. That's what I'm saying.

So you coming off the bench, you get me. And the record label, you know, is the coach. And they like, we might give you five minutes tonight, or we might let you open up tonight, but the star is still, while you're still waiting to take your publicity pictures and go on that little run in the G League. Busta's competitive. Nigga, he's still playing.

He's competitive, so it's like even the artists under him, when you get on the track with Busta, he's still trying to bust your ass. He don't care if it's you or his artist. Busta getting on the song, he want to outshine your ass. But one thing I got to say about Busta, though, if anybody that's under him, he believe in him, and he will scream your name from the mountaintop. With his platform and who he is, and Busta love you and he behind you, he will scream your name from the mountaintop.

Man, he's definitely one of my favorite dudes. You know how they always say don't meet your heroes? Yeah. He's definitely one of the dudes that I met out in the road with my homie High C, shout out to Crawford. Just cool as hell. And I noticed that, you know, you go on tour and you see each other at dates, he might not be at the next one, but you're at the next one.

He would always, what's up, brother? You know what I mean? He always just recognizes a good cat, man. One of the things I was going to tell you, you know they got a sound now that's called the Griselda sound. And it's not to start no controversies. I love Griselda. But I think you was kind of like

the first one to kind of come with that. When everybody was doing the New York drill stuff, you kind of was one of the ones that kept it, like, true to what New York does. Yeah. Yeah, that's the truth. I mean, it is what it is.

You know, they know because they came to me to get the sauce early. You know what I'm saying? Like, their first video that popped off, they got, like, the first million was a feature with me. You know what I'm saying? So, you know, at the time, you know, they was coming up. You know what I'm saying? I'm the type of brother, I feel like if you nice, I'll fuck with you.

Exactly. I don't feel like competition doesn't intimidate me. I know who I am. So, you know, and I know what I bring to the table. So, as far as, like, you know, when I was first starting the whole grind, I didn't think it was going to pop. You know what I'm saying? Like, I didn't see like later on that this would, I would still be doing this.

When I put out my shit, it was like a last ditch effort because the game was so far away from what I do. Right. So it was just like, I'm going to just get my shit off real quick and I'm going to do it my way. Because I felt like even when I was with Busta, I felt like I tried the industry way already. So I was like, you know what? I'ma do it like niggas from Hempstead do it. I'ma bring my shit to the table. You know what I'm saying? I ain't gonna, I don't want beats from this nigga. I want beats from myself. I'ma do, I know how niggas from my hood sound and I wanted to bring that shit to the table. So that's, you know what I'm saying? It worked for you.

Yeah, it worked for me. You know, authenticity, that's what I tell artists, that shit to the table. So that's, you know what I'm saying? And it worked for you. Yeah, it worked for me. You know, authenticity, that's what I tell artists, being authentic to who you are. Yeah. Because this man already right here, this man already legendary, it's not going to work you trying to do him because his fans already messed with him. It's not going to work with you trying to be who Snoop is.

That's right. You got to do what you is doing. And what I equate your situation to, it's like, because I talk to a lot of the homies in New York, right? And they really love West Coast rap, but they don't want to hear a derivative of it. They really want to hear that bum-bum-bum-bum-bum, you know, and the funk. They want to hear, you feel what I'm saying? I think that's what you did for New York.

Yeah, I mean, even with that, like, you know what I'm saying? Like, I have my debates with some of my West Coast brothers. Like, when we talk about that, boom, boom, boom, boom. To me, that's where I'm from. That's EPMD. Exactly. Yeah, for real. That's EPMD.

So I feel like we had a good, like, Long Island niggas, I feel like we had a good hand also in the gangster rap. You know what I'm saying? Oh, definitely. We talked about that on the show. I don't know if you saw that one, but we talked about it on the show. EPMD, definitely. It was my motherfucking heroes.

That's what I'm saying. Specifically Long Island, because I know Public Enemy, all that shit from my town. Right. You know what I'm saying? So when Cube left NWA, he recorded in 510 Studios, which is in Hempstead. Right. That's where the Bomb Squad and all them niggas sold. That's where I did my first demo at.

So I felt like, you know what I'm saying? Like, we always had a sound where I'm from. So that's why I was trying to... Y'all definitely had a hand in this. Yeah, you win with that, though, when you stick to your elements and don't worry about what other niggas is doing, you know. Especially when you come into the industry shit, you feel you got gotta bend a little bit

just to get in that door. Sometimes that shit don't work. You just gotta, you know, that's why I've never worried about the position my shit played. Because of course you could've jumped on another lane and tried to go, you know, where other niggas was going if you looked at it as, I just got to get paid, man, and make some money. But I always felt like originality was my key.

So regardless of if niggas was doing this type of shit or everybody was trying to, man, I'm going to just do shit that I know niggas in my hood or in the hood surrounding, you know, because Compton was a big hood. You feel me? So let me just stick to what I know niggas around the corner like and niggas down the street like

and maybe even the enemy like. You get me? And that'll always go work because that's what he did. That's what you did. That's right. You said, I'm going to go back here. And I noticed that people always wind up. I think everybody, because I'm a good,

I managed a rapper named Glasses Malone, too. And that's what he always talked about when he recorded his first album. He said, I didn't know what I was doing. I didn't know music. I just knew to go to tune. And this person, that person. But I always felt like it wasn't know music. I just knew to go to tune and this person, that person, but I always felt like it wasn't authentic to who I was. It was working and it was wiggling,

but it wasn't who I was. Yeah. I mean, that's important, man. I mean, when you're not, when it's not coming from, you know, your heart, I think people can see it. It's like when, it's like even when you're doing a show. People can see when you're not enjoying yourself, you know what I'm saying,

or you're not confident. I feel like it radiates off of you, you know what I'm saying? So when you just stick to your guns, I think that that just works just for those reasons right there. People can see the authenticity, you know what I'm saying? They can see that it's honest. Yep, and right now, man, what, you 10-plus years in, ain't you? 10-plus years?

I'm like 20 in this. Yeah, 20-plus. I'm like 20. I'm like 20 in this, yeah. Damn, time go fast, man. Time go fast as a motherfucker, dog. Yeah, I'm like 20 in this, yeah. And you said you never saw it going this long?

I didn't, man. Dead ass. When I made my first solo album and I put it out, you know, for a second, it was like quiet. Wasn't nothing happening. And next thing you know, it started to pick up like a year later and people was like, okay, cool, they might be fucking with this. So it was a slow burn.

You know, even up to now, like people still discovering me, you know what I'm saying? Right. I'm in it for the long haul. It's a passion. I think sometimes that's a good aspect though, you know, sometimes niggas come in and I always use the analogy of you know, sometimes it takes some of us a different road to get to that You know wherever we feel is acceptable to us. You get me? Some niggas put out a record

and tomorrow, nigga, shoot to the moon. But then two years later, niggas was like, what happened to that nigga? You see a lot of people like that that had big records, big massive records. Even I feel I'm in that motherfucking class of because you,

it's some niggas today, you can go, you know MC8, and they'll be like, nah, who was that? You feel me? And then you show them some shit,

and they be like, oh, that's that nigga? It's the slow climb, you get me? But it's what enables you to have that longevity. That's right.

You get me? Because motherfuckers is still, like you said, it's motherfuckers still checking for my nigga. You get me? Because motherfuckers is still, like you said, this motherfucker's still checking for my nigga. You get me? And they like, oh, goddamn, I never heard of this motherfucker. This shit hard as a motherfucker. And when you first came in, you came in with the physical era. I always like to ask an artist, man,

how do you feel about the whole streaming thing? I'm kind of on the fence about it because I just feel like they're not paying us fairly. I don't feel like the splits, they didn't figure that out. You know, but if you're making quality music and people, you know, are fucking with it, you got to look at it. I look at it like real estate you know i'm saying every project is like a piece of real estate my coolest album might not be one of the better ones but you know this makes me this much a month this one is this one was a killer this one makes this much a month you know what i saying? So I just look at them like real estate. So, you know, with the streaming, it's cool. But that's why I started to, like, when I first started to come back after my second win,

I started putting my shit up, digital downloads. I was doing, like, 44 digital downloads. So I kind of got that block hot. You know what I'm saying? And, you know, my fans was fucking with it because I just looked at it like, you know what? The money in streaming wasn't sustainable yet

because I didn't build up a big enough catalog for it to make me any money. So I was like, you know what? I'm going to put it up for like 40 a digital download. And my fans ate it up. You know what I'm saying? Because I felt like you can't tell me

that my album is not worth a bag of weed. Right. Exactly. 40 punk ass dollars. You spend $100 on your sneakers, $200 on your sneakers. I think that's the new model.

My album will love you forever. Oh, definitely. That's the model right there. Definitely the new model. You know, when you have them up as a digital download, $40, $50.

Mm-hmm. I told him, you know, for example, like, you know, shout out to Stizzy. They hooked, you know, ate up the box, right? I said, man, we need to do a program with them, man, where we put a CD up in that same box and have, you know, you go do in-stores. You know, it's better, you know, if you sell 2,000 of those at $200, $300 a pop. Exactly. It's better if you sell 2,000 of those at $200, $300 a pop than you putting your album on the streaming platforms. But I know me as a core fan, if I see my favorite gangster rappers, the MC8s of the world, the Scarfaces, the Qs. And I smoke weed, too.

That's the perfect combination. That's right. Fuck it. I was going to get the CD or download the shit or whatever, and I'm finna go get me some weed. So I'm going to spend that. No, they can smoke that shit in there, and they can muster that up. I'm going to spend that.

Something else, too, I'm going to say. We got to do with that. Needless pass, man. Needless pass. Something else we can do with that and really have it set off. That'll be hard, man, because I know this man that you go the non-traditional route, and that's just more lucrative because I'm starting to discover it's a community of people, man, that's really out here making their ends.

They're making their bag, and they're doing it their way. They don't have to compromise their stuff. How is their treat? You do a lot of stuff over in europe yeah i'm getting ready to go back at um next month i'm going back over there what's your favorite spot over there so far um damn it's been between portugal and um and spain okay spain is always like London, man. For some reason, man, like. Oh, yeah, I can't forget London. I don't been out to London. Sometimes I forget that.

London got a certain culture to it. You know, they got. I just left from over there, too. They got the East Indian. I tell people, don't go over there asking the fool. They with it over in London. Oh, yeah. Nah, hell no.

You can't play with them. You know, London don't play no games. A lot of them spots, man. Germany, London. Like, there's a Yeah, you can't play with them. A lot of them spots, man. Germany, London. Like, there's a lot of cats, man. Especially over, you know, I just left from over in Europe. I probably went to, what, about seven different countries while I was over there. Yeah.

Hardcore fans, they appreciate what a nigga do. That's the thing, man, over here in the States, I feel like it'd be a cat that's coming to a Rock Marciano show, right? He looking at you. He's a fan of you, but he rap himself. So he stand in the crowd like this. Yeah. Because he almost feel like, oh, I'm equal to you.

I can't like you because I do the same thing. Yeah. But over in Europe, they treat you like you Michael Jackson. Yeah, that's a fact. I mean, yeah. I don't know if I want to say. I don't know if you want to use the term they appreciate it more. It's just a difference, you get me?

You know, it depends on who the fan is, you know, here. You know, niggas feel here, you know, you got a certain image to uphold, you know, as far as a nigga off the block. Motherfuck's just too cool out here, man. Exactly. Nigga, I'm not going on a motherfucking show like screaming and rapping to niggas,

raps and shit, nigga. I can go over there, nigga. Like me, I'm a nigga. If I'm at a rock hymn show, I'm rapping all his words. I'm up front rapping with him. Yeah, niggas love it. I ain't going to front over there. Like me, I'm the nigga. If I'm at a rock hymn show, I'm rapping all his words. I'm up front rapping with him. I ain't going to front my shows be like that. Nigga's looking at you like,

look at this big old weirdo up here just rapping. He in the front stage just rapping. Because the thing is, if you go to enjoy your show, you pay your ticket. You know, tickets be $200 sometimes. You pay your $200 for your ticket. Music is timeless and it's a time capsule. It'll take you back

to when you were a little kid like me. I'm a big daddy Kane, Rakim. Me too. That's my era right there. So whenever I hear that,

whenever I play that, I'm at home making a sandwich. I might be making a sandwich, man might be taking out the trash, but I'm vibing

because I'm 15 again. I'm 14 again. So I enjoy this stuff because music is real and it I'm 14 again. So I enjoy this stuff. Because music is real infectious and spiritual, bro. Oh, definitely. That's how I look at it. That's how I look at it. I don't play with it.

I don't play with it. You can't. I tell people, man, like you said, the fans know when shit is not authentic. Right. And they know. If it's somebody, if I'm rapping along, I don't give a damn about looking like a weirdo. I'm up there jamming, I'm reviving, I paid my money to come up here, I'm enjoying myself.

Most people is too cool, I'm telling you, they stand up there like this. Well that's the atmosphere because you know, that might be a nigga who feel like, like you said, niggas be feeling like, you know, my affiliation or my street presence doesn't allow me to enjoy some shit like that, you know what I'm saying? Because you'll notice niggas just hanging the wall, or like you said, arms crossed,

not wanting to even, then why you pay your money to come here, man, just to stand around and look mean and mad and mean mug and mad, you know what I'm saying? So I get it. It's just the presence, like you said. When I go overseas, man, they like, man, we don't get this shit over here. And then y'all from the States, you get me? And then they look at it as y'all coming from the place where, you know, hip-hop is original.

And, nigga, y'all got the motherfucking Tupacs and the Biggies. And y'all got all these motherfucking, you know, they just celebrate it more, man. That might be it right there, though, too, man. I think when you don't see something as often it's more endearing to you yeah like you know because you figure you a hempstead that's like a hip-hop hot bags you feel what i'm saying you got legendary stuff out there so i'm pretty sure when you was coming up you saw epmd you might see epmd bill you might see eric sermon dipping down the street absolutely because back then it wasn't a whole lot of money in hip-hop. I always laugh when I hear the one,

You Gots to Chill, when my boy Dose said, I get a thousand a show. And he said that with confidence. Like, I get a thousand a show. Yeah. Just many places. You know, deal with Duke Jacks

on a one-on-one basis. For real. And even when Biggie, he said, 5G's a show gate. You think Biggie was a huge-ass artist, man. He only getting 5,000 a show? You feel what I'm saying? I was in big money back5,000 a show. You feel what I'm saying? I was in big money back then, too.

Yeah, that's what I'm saying. Mind you, a fire car back then was a $40,000 car. Exactly. So them cats, you saw them cats. They was accessible because they wasn't making the millions of dollars yet to just be gone. They was still accessible. And I think when you see people that kind of take away, like, don't nobody really want to know fuck with Clark Kent. They want to see Superman.

That's right. Right. You feel what I'm saying? Because if a nigga see you in the grocery store, you kind of done lost your superpowers now. Like,

oh man, this nigga just like me, he sitting on there talking about all the bras he bagged and all the money he got and he shopping the same place. To some people,

that's disheartening on a subliminal level. I mean, I used to see, you know, I used to see these dudes, you know, moving around. I used to see Rakim spinning through in the Benz. I used to see Biz Markie all the time.

He used to be in the hood at the Blimpies at a sandwich spot. And Granddaddy IU, he from my neighborhood too. Granddaddy IU. So, yeah, so I used to see him over there all the time. So I could actually see these brothers, and it made me like, damn, I could do this shit because I see these people. So I would always see biz at the blimpy spot, bad bitches, big truck jewelry on and shit. That shit was like, wow, man, I could be that. Who would you say influenced your style more?

You got a lot of MCs coming out of here instead, man. Rakim. Rakim? Rakim. Yeah, I'm a Rakim baby. You know, I'm a Rakim baby first and foremost. But, you know, after that, you know, you got the G-Raps. You got the Slick.

You know, I told 8. 8 sent my style. That's in the pot. Like, you know what I'm saying? Like, even like I look at, you know, Com's Most Wanted, kind of like the path I took. Because then when you had everybody was running around, oh it's NWA, it's Cis Cubans. I was like, yo, this Compton's Most Wanted shit though, this my shit. I love the other shit, but I'm like, this my style.

Rob Markman, But you know why I fuck with them? Because I always was a huge hip hop head. I love hip hop. I like sampling. I like breaks. You know, that's why I love it now because they got the shit like track lead to where you can go get the samples

and they got the stems and all that in there. So you just like, man, all I gotta do, man, I ain't gotta try to filter this off no more. I'm taking these horns from here and I'm putting this right here, this bra singing. I can get Areva Franklin's vocals and have her back there. And I only got to pay $200. They putting everything out there right now.

I love that era of hip hop, the creating something from nothing. Oh, definitely. Imagine if we had that then. And that's what I'm saying. And that's Compton's most wanted because when I first heard Compton's most wanted, I heard a dude from Compton, but it wasn't the regular stuff. It wasn't, because I like the bim, bim, bim, bim, bim, bim, bim, too, but I didn't want to hear that all the time.

I didn't like that. It's not that I didn't like it. I thought it was typical, you get me? Because that's what made the EZs and the NWAs, and it basically is what cultured our style. The Zap, the Rogers, the George Clintons. That was used a lot on the West Coast. And I always tell niggas I wanted to be more cinematic with my shit.

I didn't want niggas, like, if you was finna ride around in my shit, nigga, you was finna do somebody. Like, I ain't want you riding around in my shit happy and like, yeah, nigga, yeah, no. He was definitely the Stephen King of this motherfucker. Yeah, I wanted you to ride around in my shit like the mobsters getting ready to go pull a hit on a nigga. Or, nigga, you in a motherfucking scene in a movie and it's finna

get fucking serious and crazy. That's what I always want. My shit was always cinematic because the era I grew up in, nigga, the shit was crazy as a motherfucker. And I always used to tell

niggas, ain't nothing fun over here. I don't see hot niggas riding around thinking life is fun and, you know, partying and shit like, nigga, fuck that shit. That shit ain't happening in real life. Niggas getting shot up every day.

Niggas going to jail. Niggas on the corners trying to motherfucking survive. That was the crack era, too. Nigga, we piecing up on boxes of chicken and 40 ounces and shit, you know, in the neighborhood. You know, the thousand niggas, man, trying to piece up on

a 12-piece and get a couple of 40s and shit. That was real life. Niggas was coming through with the lights off and dumping and shit like that. I couldn't write songs about these bitches

going down the street and we going to the party and shit like that. I'm like, niggas is finna shoot this motherfucking party up in my record. That's what's finna happen. Or nigga, the battle ram finna come through the front door. While niggas all in here dancing and partying and this shit.

About Miss Daisy. Yeah, niggas finna get shot up around this motherfucker. You coming from Hempstead in New York, y'all had some serious kingpins. Y'all had king, like LA had kingpins, New some serious kingpins. Y'all had kingpins. Like, L.A. had kingpins. New York had kingpins. Y'all had ballers. So you saw that whole crack thing.

I'm from a notorious block. My whole block is a project. My whole, every, the whole strip is projects. So my block, they done did documentaries about it. It's fucking, the raids from, remember Public Enemy shit? I forgot that song they did about crack. And they showing some of the raids from my actual block. So, you know, I'm from Terra Sav.

Okay. Terra Sav, you know, it's like a notorious, like, it's still, it's still lidded with drugs to this day. You know what I'm saying? Terris Ave is still a notorious block. So like 8 was saying, I wanted my music to feel like how we feel. I always wanted my music to be the background to how when we was out there hustling. I wanted my album to be...

That's the vibe I get from it. Yeah. be the background of how when we was out there hustling. I wanted my album to be there. So that was how I wanted my shit to sound like the pissy hallways. You know, I always wake up, you know, fiends had their couches in the hallway sleeping. You know what I mean? That type of shit, you know? So I always wanted that. And even when you said cinematic, I still say that to this day.

When people go, how you pick your beats? I pick my beats and I think of it like a movie. And I feel like when my beat play, I want it to feel like this is the part of the movie where I walk in. It's how I want it to sound. So, yeah, so the music and all of that, the drug era and all of that, that's what the whole, that's where it come from. Because I always wanted my shit to be the soundtrack to what we did on the block yeah man

because I know Cougy Rap I'm going to tell you who was nice from over there man he know nobody Granddaddy IU

was a bad motherfucker that's the big homie he was on our label he was on the label with me back in the days when I was signing the epic

back in the days Granddaddy IU was over there rest in peace to Granddaddy IU. That's the big bro, man. He took me under the wing early when I was trying to get on, and he put me on some records and stuff like that. I think that's necessary, man.

I think everybody should go back and do that once, because that means a lot, man. That means a lot, and I'm pretty sure you picked up some jewels from him. Yeah, man. I mean, just to have you welcome me into his home. Like, you know, I understand Big Daddy IU is a cold, chilling artist. Mm-hmm. You know, like, to be able to, like, you know, be able to make music with him and get game from him firsthand. All of that stuff like that gave me all the confidence in the world.

When somebody like you say, yo, Rock, you nice. You know what I'm saying? You going to be something. That stuff like that, it just, it fed my confidence. That make a big ass difference. Prodigy from my town, too, even though he repped Queensbridge. You know what I'm saying? But he also repped Hempstead as well.

Yeah, Residence Beach Project. Yeah, he grew up around the town, too. That's what I heard. You know what? Because I read his book and stuff. I'm an avid book reader, right? So I read his book, especially anything about hip-hop. I just make it my business to know about the culture, right?

So you were in New York City. How the hell did you get hooked up with Carson Daly? Oh, that's crazy. When Loud Records was still popping, I was getting ready to do a deal with Loud Records was still popping, like I was getting ready to do a deal with Loud Records. I had a crew call the UN. So you had Scott Free and Matty C. They was

like two of the biggest A&Rs under there. So they brought Wu-Tang and, you know, Pond and all these guys over there. You know what I'm saying? So they were bringing us over to Loud at the time, and Loud folded while we was doing our deal. So Steve Rifkin, who was the owner of Loud, he had a younger brother,

you know, John Rifkin, and he was clicked up with Carson Daly. So they decided they was going to do a little label. You know what I'm saying? So we was dudes that Free and Matty C was working with. So he just brought us over to them. Like, yo, these guys, it's nice. Yo, get them, you know what I'm saying? Get them a shot. So that's how that happened. That's crazy, man, because Carson Daly was you,

just a motherfucker at that time. That was MTV. I had to Carson, too. It was crazy because he's a real dude. Yeah, he's a hip-hop dude. You know what I'm saying? And at that time, I was MTV. Shout out to Carson, too. It was crazy. Is he a hip-hop dude? Yeah, he's a hip-hop dude. You know what I'm saying? And at that time, I was still knee-deep in the streets. So, you know, he would hit me up out the blue, yo, rock, whatever, you know what I'm saying?

Like, yo, go down to Western Union, go snatch up a couple thousand. I was like, oh, this dude is, yeah, he's official. Like, you know what I'm saying? So, shout out to, I don't forget shit like that. You know what I'm saying? Right. Shout out to Carson Daly, man. He's a good dude, man. Yeah, because it's. You know what I'm saying? So shout out to... I don't forget shit like that. You know what I'm saying? Right. Shout out to Carson Daly, man. He's a good dude, man.

It's enough horror stories, man. We definitely got to salute all the good cats. So do you think the whole label thing is obsolete right now? Label in what way you mean is the label obsolete? Like I'm talking about the traditional... Like signing to a major. Yeah, like signing to a major label. Yeah, definitely.

If you... Well, you know, if you want to be a superstar and you want to be in the limelight on a big scale, for the most part, you still kind of need to surf on that line a little bit. If that's your quest.

Yeah. If your quest is to be... You ain't going to be Chris Brown independent. be. You ain't going to be Chris Brown independent. No. You ain't going to be that. You ain't going to be that. Unless you, you know, you just one of them niggas who hit it off greatly. Yeah.

You, if, I tell niggas this. If you fantasize of being signed to a label, you know, because there are some cats who still have that, or I'm signed to Universal, I'm signed to Def Jam. There's some niggas who still long for that, you get me? And I don't know if it's, you know, economically a wise decision, but some dudes want that, that moniker. That's the worst line you can ever get.

Like, I want to put on that jacket that says Def Jam on the back and walk around. I want to put on that coat that says Sony Music, you know, because some dudes, I get it. i could be independent am i gonna be as big as uh uh if they did it you get me because nine times out of ten they're not gonna even put the money behind you to say no to be that you know i'm saying? They're not going to drop the money, you know, on you to feel significant for putting on that jacket. You get me? You on Def Jam, but nigga, you still living on the block and shit. But see, a dude like Drake, though, he kind of eating that major label system because he getting a big chunk of money. Yeah.

I'm pretty much, I don't know, he probably not never getting nothing else off them records. You know what I mean? There's only one Drake. You know what I'm saying? Everybody else is everybody else. Yeah, he getting a big chunk of money. So I think if you in a situation like that, it probably work for you. Well, it works for a lot of, say, newcomer artists in that era.

Like you said, there ain't, you know, there ain't gonna be another Drake come along. Just like 20 years ago, there was a Eminem who sold, you get me? It's always... Yeah, they're... Yeah, it's like a motherfucker making some gumbo.

It ain't just... You know what you're getting when you eat some greens. You know what you're getting when you eat some greens. You know what you getting when you eat some fried chicken. When a motherfucker make a pot of gumbo, everybody make they shit different, and it's all kind of shit in there. This the one thing I do say, because I look at some of these records, man, and I'm a conspiracy theorist by nature. Me too. I look at certain stuff in the record

just be out in five minutes and you might go on the internet and look at something and you come back to the record at three million views then five million. I think it's a big bot game being played right now. Even with the podcast, dog. It ain't no secret. Even when it's a big bot game and it's whoever got the little infrastructure

to play the game the right way because I'm gonna tell you something. The way stuff feels now, social currency is a real thing. Really though. If you see a video that got, if you go to a video that got, let's say 20,000 views, it might be the dopest shit ever. But you see this other video that got 20 million, it's gonna be a people that, it going to be a certain contingency of people that think the video that got the 20 million views is the better product. You damn right.

And that's how they turn their wheel. That made your money, though. But that's what you get when you go over to one of them big companies. They're like, don't worry. We're going to guarantee you're a success. It don't always work, but when they can put that kind of money behind you,

independent artists, you can't pump millions of money behind you, independent artists, you can't pump millions of dollars into your marketing and promotion, but they can. Man, let me tell you something. If you messed around and put a single out tomorrow and that motherfucker jumped up to about 70, 80 million spins by Friday, they would

be trying to flag your shit for something. Even if it was super legit, they would be, oh no, there's no way. Or they're going to pop up and try to offer you a bag. They're going to try to throw you under the wing. And I could tell you, man, around when that first happened, I could say it now because I ain't snitching on nobody. But I used to sell records, right, for different people.

I used to distribute Daz and them stuff overseas. I met a cat man that told me, hey, man, if you got an album, I can guarantee you top 10. And I just started building with him, I said, because he said, man, I'm dealing with a dude that's from Northern California, and I'm doing it for him. You send me 5,000 CDs and give me $6,000, I can guarantee you top 10. But if you want to stay top 10, the thing, you got to

keep paying. They would send, I guess, a certain amount of copies to all the sound scan stores and I'm not going to lie, but what happened is your shit hit billboard, you start selling more records. It was like a marketing thing at one point. Yeah, because people see you selling and they feel

like, oh shit, I got to get that. Look at it. Or what? Last week it was number 20. This week it's number 13. Oh, I got to go buy that motherfucker. It's a scheme. Master P was the master of that. It's a marketing scheme.

He was the master of the marketing scheme. Master P would put records that probably wouldn't go, never come out in the line of notes. And people would actually be checking for that stuff. Damn right. They'd be checking for that stuff. Damn right. They'd be checking for it. It built your anticipation. He had a lot of hustle. Let me ask you this, man.

Was you around... What was the vibe in New York? Because I almost know the answer when the whole East Coast, West Coast shenanigans shit was going down. What was the vibe over there? Nobody gave a fuck about it, did they? That's what's crazy. In the streets, I felt like the industry, they took control of the narrative. Because in the streets, we loved the West Coast music.

I remember we got our hands on West Coast music and how raw niggas was with it and how they was talking. Man, we was playing that shit. To me, that represents a time when we were first jumping off the porch. Even though we loved our lyrical artists, but to just hear motherfuckers talking about N.W.A., they kidnapping hoes on the records, shooting bitches in the car.

Like, it was just like some shit we ain't never heard. So we really was fucking with West Coast music real hard. And I felt like the industry took control of the narrative, kind of tried to make it, you know, they put a lot of smut on the game and made it seem like it was some type of hate or animosity on the East Coast. But it wasn't like that in the streets. And it wasn't like that in the streets out here. That's the funny thing. That's why I asked.

Because the funny thing is, when that whole thing was going down, I used to wonder, who the hell got beef? Because I'm still going to listen to whoever the fuck I want to listen to. I wasn't singing this shit out of Biggie. It wasn't. I don't even think it was. Like, everybody, like, you have to see that it was really, like you said, the media and people of outside who really wanted to spin that narrative because it sold magazines. It kept reports going of East Coast, West Coast.

But it was two motherfucking, it's just like it was two hoods beefing with each other. It wasn't a whole city beefing, you get me? It was two hoods beefing with each other. And it just happened to be it was a hood on the East Coast and it was a hood on, and I'm saying that in representation to the record labels. You get me?

It wasn't like. They made a bag of money off all that shit. They damn sure did. It wasn't like every motherfucking, you know, nigga in the hood over here was like, nigga, we just going to jump on the plane and go to New York. Nigga, I was still doing shit With niggas from New York

Mm-hmm Nigga I never had an issue Ever And I was I've been going over there Since I first started rapping It ain't real It wasn't real

I never had an issue Going to New York Nigga going to record stores And clubs And everything Love right I never had an issue Going love I never That's issue. Showing love.

I never. That's what I'm saying. That'll be my second biggest market. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. You know, my shit, I don't, we make music like New York make music. And it's like my second biggest market. So I get a lot of love out here. So people, like, you know, to me, I felt like it's not reflecting what the streets and the people are saying it was all industry shit but no well i'm gonna tell you right now it's a lot of narratives

that gets spun and even with the way the internet is right now man it's a lot of foolishness so you gotta kind of dig through it and again social currency is the biggest thing is let me tell you this you can ask a kid right now if you ask a a 15-year-old kid, I got $10,000 in this bag for you right now. Or I got a fully automated Instagram page with your name on it already. It got a million followers already. You know what he going to pick? He going to say, man, give me the Instagram page. I want that page.

Yeah. That Instagram page. I'm popping already. That's a million people looking at me. Even if the million people are fake, too. Yeah, they don't give a fuck. If the million people are genuinely fuck with you, then there is some money there.

There's business there if it's really a million people that fuck with you. But if they just like, I'm going to give you a million followers with the blue check, these people really don't know who the fuck you are. Nah, that ain't it. But you can make money off of your,

like anybody, if you have a following, you have a big following, you can make money off of your, you know, like anybody, you know, if you have a following, you have a big following, you can make money. So I think a lot of people that with the social currency thing, they get it twisted because they think just because they making a fool of themselves that people really fuck with them. They more laughing at you than they are like, you know. Well, that's what I'm saying, man, because there's a lot of dudes crashing out right now.

There's a lot of dudes crashing out right now because they want to be I don't even know if it's so much for the money, bro. I think they just want to be noticed. They just want to be noticed. And that's the main focus. The main focus is to get people watching. It's like sometimes, you know,

like you said, this game ain't what everybody think it is. It takes a lot to make a decent dollar. But I don't even think it's about the money. A lot of niggas just want to be seen and just heard. Like, that's what makes popularity now. If I'm just seen and niggas is coming to my page, and, you know, it don't matter what the fuck I'm talking about.

I'm going to be talking about some of the craziest, outlandish, wild shit. But I want motherfuckers to come and watch me. So, hey, that's why I said the other day, there's no code anymore. You see niggas who you thought was the hardest of hardest gangsters and shit. Nigga on the microphones right now spitting like a motherfucking brand new MC. It's certain groups that when you first hear them, like when I first heard Wu-Tang Clan, I knew they was going to be out of here. Like when I first heard Cash Rules Everything Around around me, Cream, get the money. I said, man, this is the coldest shit I've heard.

And I think because they was from Long Island. No, they from Staten Island. Staten Island. My bad, from Staten Island. Meth moved to Staten Island. Meth from my block too. Meth from, he from Terrace Ave. Is that right?

Yeah, Meth from my projects. Is that right? So I'm not real knowledgeable about the boroughs, so directly Hempstead is kinda like Brooklyn, right? Hempstead is Long Island. Long Island, yeah. But Long Island, Brooklyn, Queens. All connected.

That's all kinda connected, right? Yeah, it's all, yeah. For me to drive into Queens from Hempstead, a 20 minute drive, 10, 20 minute drive, just like how LA is. And everything like a 20 minute drive, you could 20-minute drive, just like how L.A. is. And everything like a 20-minute drive. You could just dip over here. You know what I'm saying? Yeah, for real.

Yeah. Unless you living way out, like, you know, the I.E. Long Island big, though. If you, like, out far, like, out east of Long Island, then, yeah, you might have to drive an hour or so. But, you know, I'm from Nassau County, so that's more closer to Queens. So the Woo was kind of like, they was like outsiders almost, right? Yeah, Staten Island, because you got to get on a boat to go to Staten Island. You know what I'm saying?

For the most part. You got to jump on a ferry. So they was like, you know, Staten Island was a little out the way. So when they came in, it was just like, damn, these niggas from Staten Island is like. So Staten Island would be like the IE niggas then. They would be like the IE, cause you know we got the Empire right there. You got a lot of cats out there that get real busy.

Oh definitely. But they in they own look, you know, you got the shout out to Dirty Birdy, Doggy Style Lee and all of them. You know they out there doing they thing, you know? Definitely. They out there doing they thing. Definitely, and the Wu, Staten Island,

that was the first time they kinda like, that was like our first whiff of the Wu, Staten Island, that was the first time they kind of like, that was like our first whiff of some brothers from Staten Island. Long Island been shaking since the 80s. You know what I'm saying? Niggas from the island been shaking since the 80s. Right. EPMD and all.

Yeah. Rakamp, E, all of that. So, you know, De La Soul, all of that, MF Doom. So we done had cats since the 80s. So when they came, it was like, oh, shit, we ain't never here. What, Staten Island had to bring to the table? Was Mainland, like, New York really fucking with them when they first came up? What, Woo?

Yeah. Yeah, Woo took over. It wasn't no, it wasn't, I don't remember there being no resistance. There couldn't be no resistance. When Techie Neck came out, I was like, oh, this is some shit we never heard or saw before. It's like when, you know, it's like when music changes. You know, we all go through the transition of changes with hip hop. You know, hip hop started for us on the, really on the electronic tip, funk type shit. Then it went to, you know, the Tone Lokes and the Young MCs

and the shit like that and the Wrecking Crews and the motherfucking that type of shit. And it transitioned over into the streets with Tila and Ice-T. So people had their transitions. Even New York, you know. New York went through the, you know, we had the Rock Hems, you know, the first LLs, the Run DMCs, and then we started switching over, and then you had that era where,

you know, everybody wanted to make the clubby, let's drink Chris style and money shit. Wu-Tang was that fresh breath of air. Yeah. You get me? It was antithesis to all that shiny suit shit. Right. It's just some regular niggas from the block.

Dirty niggas. Speaking about the block and dirty life. You get me? They ain't have new clothes on. Like my nigga was saying. They speaking on the pissy hallways type of shit. Like the shit that brought us into the game. And we ain't seen that shit for a while because everybody running around this motherfucking shiny suits with Cristal bottles and shit.

And a hundred niggas together. There was another thing about the Wu. They was deep. They came in the game like everywhere they went, it was like a hundred of them niggas. And mind you too, I can't just give Staten Island... The Woo is Staten Island and Brooklyn

because JZA, Dirty, you know, them niggas from Brooklyn. Master Killer, they from Brooklyn. So they was definitely a mixture. Old Dirty Bastard. I remember I saw that fool in New Orleans walking around with his shirt off. That was my people.

And didn't even know it was him, dog. We in New Orleans bailing, and this nigga got his shirt off. He just running down the street, y'all, y'all, y'all. That was my people. Singing, like really singing some soulful. Like Al Green, run down the street,

just singing Al Green with his shirt off. And I'm like, is that him? My nigga Dirty was in Compton and everything. My nigga was, that was my nigga. He, I did a song with Dirty, used to hang out when I went to motherfucking, when I went to Staten Island and was in the Can It All Be So Simple video.

Niggas was just regular niggas. Yeah, niggas was just regular niggas. You was in the motherfucking Wu-Tang movie, too. I told you. The series. Yeah, you told me that shit. That shit fucked me up. Because, you know, I'm sitting up there watching.

I always go back and revisit shit I watch, right? Because you always see something new. They had the new music seminar. And they got this nigga, nigga playing MC8. It was like, man, I saw you in minutes, man. That shit was hard. You was like, yeah, yeah. You got to come to Compton to fuck with a nigga.

Oh, yeah. Them was my niggas. New York fuck with. Oh, yeah,ace, man. That shit was hard. He was like, yeah, you got to come to Compton to fuck with a nigga. Oh, yeah. Them was my niggas. New York fuck with. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. I used to be in my spot, man. I had gang of niggas, man, I used to fuck with in New York. Still do. Man, he got a big-ass bass out there.

So you actually got to fuck with Da Woo on some shit, didn't you? Yeah, I did some joints with Brothers in the Woo. Early on, I actually busted on one of his albums, I'm on a joint with him, Go St. Ray, on his Anarchy album. I need my plaque, too, for that Busta. Send me my gold record. It might be platinum by now. Yeah, you know what I'm saying?

I worked with quite a few Brothers in the Woo. I done worked with JZA. You know what I'm saying? I'm on his album. I in the world. I worked with JZA. You know what I'm saying? I'm on his album. Like, you know, I love the Woo. Let me ask you this, man, and keep it all the way a bean, man. Keep it all the way a thousand, dog.

We all fans of this shit, right? We all fans of hip-hop. Right. Did you ever have a feature with somebody and it kind of fucked you up? Like, I can't believe I'm making a song with this nigga. I mean, moments like those.

Like, you know, Ghosts N' Ray. Yeah, because you with Ghosts N' Ray and that's prime Ghosts N' Ray. You know what I'm saying? So, yeah,

moments like that was like, oh shit, like you saying, we talking about the bench and me being pulled up off the bench for that. Like out of everybody Busta had, like, yo, I'm going to pull Rock up off of the bench for this one. So that one, you know, even when I first got in the studio and working with, like, you know, Pete Rock. You know what I'm saying? You were signed to Pete Rock for a minute, you know, Pete Rock, you know what I'm saying? Or I'm from the-

You were signed to Pete Rock for a minute, wasn't you? Nah, we was just making music together. That was one of my favorites too. Yeah. Man, you a lucky motherfucker, dog. Can you imagine the nigga got Pete Rock beats at his disposal? Yeah, it was definitely-

I talked to Pete. Pete is one of them dudes, man. I got a song with Pete Rock. Pete got some, Pete got some, Pete Rock's- Soul Survivor, yeah. Soul Survivor. Soul Survivor, yeah. Yeah.

Fire. Yeah, so, you know, to work with, because I grew up, like, you know, big fans of these brothers, so to work with Large Professor. Man, another fan. Large Professor, the large motherfucker. Yeah, Large Professor.

Main source was the shit, man. You know what I'm saying? Like, you know, so working with Tip, that was also, like, also like, to me, this stuff like this was like a dream come true. I'm telling all my favorites now, man, because I'm going to tell you that music for me is time capsules. Breaking Adams? Yeah, because when I hear looking at the front door, bro, that boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. I think about me and my wife. We married now, I've been married for 30 something years.

That was my girlfriend right there in that song. She used to remind of us, cause I be breaking up with her and shit. We like, you know what, I'm done with your ass. Next thing you know, we back together again. You know what I mean? That cuts on that album. I'm looking at the front.

Friendly Game of Baseball. Breaking Adams was a classic. Just hanging. Y'all flipped it, Friendly Game of Baseball. Yeah, Breaking Adams was a classic. Y'all flipped it, Friendly Game of Baseball. Just hanging out, yeah. I used, yeah, we used that for Drive by Miss Daisy. It was Friendly Game of Baseball. Piano, like, how'd y'all do that piano shit, though? That was live.

That was my nigga Willie Z. That's crazy. That was my nigga Willie Z. That's what I used to do. We had Willie Willie Z and then we had excerpts from Scarface. Remember when the bit when the nigga? The woman crying, Gina. Yeah, Gina was crying. That was her on there.

That's my shit. You know what's crazy, dog? That's what I had to ask this nigga when I first started fucking with him. Who the hell was playing that piano? Because he had the one song. Willie Z, nigga. He had the one shit with the, can't just make the world go round.

You be vibing, just mobbing. I had some 808s in my, I had some, I had some rock, I had some Fallsgates in my trunk back then, and my Maxima. At the end, it switch up. And it just switch up. And he get the paint, and yeah. It just push up, now you be just.

You miss them elements of music. Now y'all had a pianist come in and just take it away. I used to play all my shit live. I never sampled anything. I would listen to shit, and what I would really do is how I would create music is, the niggas will tell you, I used to ride around on tour with a mini tape recorder, and I would get ideas in my head, and I would just hum them into mini tape recorder, and I would get ideas in my head, and I would just hum them into the tape recorder,

and then I'd come back home and get with Willie Z and play him the tape. And all that shit I would hum, he'd just start. And bingo, that's how we created beat. He was a bad motherfucker, because I'm gonna tell you, when gangsters make the world come around, you mobbing and it's just real

cinematic and then it gets break down. And it's just like, man, that's hard right there. That's why I always said my music I always wanted that element, that cinematic like, oh man,

these niggas just killed up or the whole shit just blew up or that part where you, these niggas just killed up, you know, or the whole shit just blew up, or that part where you know the niggas is finna come kill and they sneaking in and that music is, and you like, oh, somebody about to get fucked up. Yeah, it sound real ominous. That's my shit. And then the piano come in and this nigga come on

and she got Compton's in the house. And it's like, that's what this shit's so hard, man. I wanted my shit, you know, like I said, I didn't want niggas riding around, not to say it, but I didn't want niggas riding around happy to my shit. Right. Like, nigga, I don't, nigga, no. This is not for you.

This is, this music is not for you. And I used to tell my fuckers. I wonder how many niggas got fucked off listening to some MC8 shit back in the day. This music is not for you. And I used to tell my motherfuckers. I wonder how many niggas got fucked off listening to some MC8 shit back in the day. A lot of niggas. A lot of niggas. When I go to towns, and niggas are still, you know them towns, the Clevelands, the Detroits, the Chicago's. The motherfuckers be like, nigga, you just do not know what the fuck. Y'all was gangsta but experimental. That's what I love about it. You niggas do, that nigga, nigga, you just do not know what the fuck. Y'all was gangsta but experimental.

That's what I love about it. You niggas do, that nigga, nigga, you used to, man, we went on. But niggas tell me all the time, we did plenty of dirt off your motherfucking tape. We did plenty of dirt, nigga, off of your tape. Nigga, your tape got me, nigga, man, you just do not know what we used to do off that music to drive by hell yeah and then when your name got mc in it because i know i come today if you've got that mc in your name that mean you a rapping motherfucker well that's because you know we prided ourselves back then on that um the dj and the mc uh you know, my era was that. The DJ to MC. MC this.

That's why you see a lot of niggas from my era with MC in there. MC Shan. MC Ren. You know, Young MC. You know what I'm saying? MC 8. We prided ourselves on that MC because that meant you knew how to move the crowd. That meant you was the microphone, the master of ceremony. That's that mic. You feel me?

Your hood had to sanction you to just rap. Everybody back in them days couldn't rap. You would have people that would rap niggas and tell you, nah, chill, that ain't for you. Back in them times, like the hood, I felt like we

selected certain artists. Like, some cats weren't gonna rhyme. So you had niggas trying to come out the apartment trying to rhyme

and y'all shut them down? I think back in our, I think back in our days, niggas looked at that like, oh no, nigga, I didn't, because it was, like nigga, you right here in the hood with me.

You go through the same experiences, but niggas just, like, nigga, that's a gift. Oh, yeah, we would tell motherfuckers. We would for sure tell motherfuckers there was boo-boos, like, man, that shit trash. Right, like, niggas who knew they shouldn't be rapping, like, you had your certain motherfuckers who thought they could pick up the mic, but then niggas who, you had regular niggas who was like, man, I don't know how y'all do that shit. I couldn't do that shit for nothing. Yeah, like, the whole emceeing thing today

is so different. Like, and I don't, this old now, but the Drake and Kendrick battle, right? Yeah. That shit got almost to the point to where it was overkill after a while. I was like as doubt as my man, I love K-Dot, but I was like, man, I don't wanna hear no more records.

Cause it's like they was just coming back and forth so quick, man, you never even got a chance to breathe on them. Yeah, that was the first, I never seen a battle keep rolling over like that, that was crazy. Yeah, and you fucked with that on some shit, didn't you? That was crazy. Yeah, actually, yeah, we did. We did a joint for the homie Consequence

put us on a record back in the days. You know what I'm saying? This was when Dot was first getting started, yeah. That's crazy. You reminded me, yeah. Me and Dot all on a song together. Yeah, man, I be having to do my research. I think, man, and then back in our era, man,

it seemed like dissing was more fun because you anticipated a fun, nice record. You get me? I think with Drake and Kendrick battle, man, it got to the point to where niggas was like, damn, my brain hurt. Like, I'm tired of motherfucking. Like, you go in the class for motherfucking

regular math and the nigga threw some motherfucking calculus in front of you. And niggas opened the book and was like... I enjoyed it, though. I ain't gonna front. I think it was the illest battle ever. You know what I enjoyed? I was a lot. I was a motherfucker, dog. And what really tripped me out for, you know how you get to see a dude

kind of fulfill his dream? I knew Doc, man. I'm going to tell you a story about K-Dot, and you can't dispute this, Doc. You remember how we used to wear the Dolce and Gabbana shades, like back in the 2003s? I'm real cool with Punch and Top. You know, they over at this spot

in Carson. I left my sunglasses over there, and I paid like $1,200 for them glasses. So I'm like, fuck, I left my glasses because you know if you leave your glasses in the studio some nigga gonna wind up wearing them motherfuckers. Wind up? Them motherfuckers are stolen. Yeah, so I see

K-Dot, he in the studio maybe like they went somewhere, I think they went on the road with Game or something. He come back, I come back, I see him with my glasses, Them motherfuckers is all scratched up and everything. And I'm like, man, what you do to my glasses, bro?

Oh, my bad. And then I remember, I just remember funny stuff with Dot. Like, Dot wouldn't have no belt and he'd be using his shoestring. And I say, man, now that motherfucker go buy any Gucci belt, every Gucci melt in the motherfucking mall he want. He don't give a fuck. He just rock that, shoot strength.

But I always knew that nigga was nice. Yeah. Nah, he's super nice. I always knew he was nice, though. Yeah, he's super nice. I mean, shit. I mean, you know, that's what this shit is all about, man. I mean, sparring was how we came up. Like I was saying earlier,

like, back in the days, there'd only be somebody from the hood. Like, was saying earlier, like, back in the days, there'd only be somebody from the hood. Like, the hood maybe had one, two people back in the days that somebody pull up

talking about they gonna rhyme. I was definitely one of them people. Like, oh, word, y'all think y'all got

somebody nice? Oh, yo, go get rocked. Yo, get rocked. Oh, so your people

will put you up against other people? Yeah, or we go to other hoods and shit like that. Like, yo, y'all think y'all got niggas that get busy?

All right, cool. We go over there and clean them niggas up. That's what X said the Death Row niggas was doing. That's how you make your name back in them days. That's what I used to do in high school. You used to go to other schools and battle niggas. That's how me and Snoop battled each other at the park one day in high school. Wow.

Yeah. We used to just go around battling niggas. Snoop had freestyle. Who won that battle? Who won that one? I couldn't say. We both got down. Nice.

And Chill was my beatbox. So, yeah, we used to go around just battling niggas. And Snoop was just out there. Snoop had freestyles like a motherfucker. Definitely. Snoop used to walk around Pauolly High School with a ghetto blaster. You know them big boom boxes? The big boom boxes like Radio Raheem?

Yeah, I had me one too, nigga. A little sonic, nigga. A little sonic. Bangin'. With the lights and shit on them? Lights. They EQ lights on that motherfucker too, nigga. I had a little sonic, man.

I went through all them little phases, man, where I would get the, because they wasn't playing a lot of hip-hop on the radio. But they started getting little specialty shows on Friday night and Saturday night. That's when you would tape. That's how I used to make my tapes. I used to listen to the end of the radio station, the college radio stations, and make tapes. And that's how I ended up hanging out with a lot of the older brothers. And she used to bring me on missions going out to Harlem and shit like that.

So I saw a lot young because I would make them tapes. It's like, damn, we got to bring rock. Rock then stayed up and made them damn tapes. So you want to ride around and hear the new shit, I had the tapes. Man, so since you a real lyricist, man, who was the illest MC ever to come out of Hempstead? Hempstead? Whew. Out of Hempstead?

I got to say Prodigy, man. Prodigy was underrated, man. I got to say P. He was hard, man. It was at one time, at one time, man, motherfuckers was talking about him like he was the best rapper in the game. No, there was an era when P was top dog. I try to tell people that there was an era where he got rhymes, man.

Yeah, he had an era where he was top dog. Mobb Deep was no joke. Mobb Deep was hard. You know what, dog? I'm going to tell you, that's where your antithesis is. CMW and Mobb Deep. Because both of y'all was dark as hell.

A CMW Mobb album would have been hard. That would have been so motherfucking hard. That song would have it. You do? Yeah. I met them during my first demo at 510 Studios. I met them when I was in junior high school. I was in junior high school and one of the Bomb high school, and one of the Bomb Squad underlinked members, he used to make beats.

He still makes beats. Shout out to Sleek, Kerwin Young. But he used to let us come to the studio and make music. So one day after school, we went to 510 Studios, and our session ended up getting interrupted by Marv Deep. I think they was Poetical Prophets at the time. Yeah, that's when they was, yeah, Poetical Prophets at the time. Yeah, that's when they was, yeah,

Poetical Prophets. They had a deal. I remember me and my boy, we in fucking junior high school, we like, how these niggas got a record deal?

We had no idea how to get a record deal. But they had a record deal. I remember they had New Jordans on and you know what I'm saying? They was chilling. You could tell.

Who did you want to be signed? Did you want to be signed to Def Jam? Hell yeah. I mean, back in them days? Hell yeah. I think everybody wanted to be signed to Def Jam? Hell yeah. I mean, back in them days? Hell yeah. I think everybody wanted to be signed to Def Jam.

Everybody wanted that Def Jam. That or Cold Chillin'. Cold Chillin', yeah. I was going to say Cold Chillin'. Yeah, that or Cold Chillin'. That would have been beautiful. That was, nigga, I don't give a fuck where you was, nigga. If you was an MC back in them times,

your dream was to be signed to Def. Come on, man. Hell yeah. Niggas had Public Enemy, LL. MC back in them times, your dream was to be signed to Def. Come on, man. Hell yeah. Niggas had Public Enemy, LL. Did you ever have an opportunity to sign to Def Jam? Nah. I never had. I signed to Sony, and once I was with Sony, that was it.

I felt like shit. Who can get bigger than Michael Jackson? Who can get bigger than Michael Jackson? Hell yeah. And I'm on the label with Michael, Sade, and Pearl Jam. Nigga, I feel, nigga, we got bread over here. So I feel like,

nigga, but they never experienced with hip-hop. They didn't know what the fuck to do with Compton's most wanted. You was profitable for them, because y'all had three straight gold albums? No, we well, probably. I don't know.

I know our first album, that was with Capitol, though. And we, like you said, we got caught up in that label folding shit. So our first album, It's a Compton Thing, was one of those situations where the record came out right when they was like, basically, while they was closing the doors, the boxes was going out the back door. You feel me? And so there was nobody left to promote the record. And it's still like, nigga, I think my first record, our first record is Compton's most wanted sold about two hundred and something thousand copies so that made

That made epic go shit these niggas can do 250. That's a lot of money We didn't have nothing I had I had one video one time guy for them up That was a big record out here though. Out here it definitely was. That's my shit. With that, Epic was like shit. But they didn't know

what to do with hip hop. They was trying, but you still got a bunch of motherfuckers who ain't experienced in hip-hop trying to run a hip-hop label. Hell yeah. Well, right now, you the boss of your own shit, right?

Yeah. No major distribution in the background or nothing? I mean, I got distribution now. You know what I'm saying? Now I'm rocking with Equity. Okay. You know what I'm saying? So, yeah, I did a situation with Equity, so they doing my distribution.

That's good. That's J and all them, right? It's J and them. Oh, shit, yeah. Yeah. That's some good shit, but you get to run your own plays now. Yeah, I'm still my own label. You know what I'm saying?

We call all the shots, and, you know, it's still the same thing. We just have more help now. Right. Yeah, we got a little help now. But still, everything, how I want to spend budgets and how I want to market and promote, that's all on me. I call all of the shots. That's what we looking to do now with this next eight album,

looking for the right situation to where you can have, because you need, to me, when you're an artist of your caliber especially, you need somebody on the inside of the label that's going to do a little work. Not necessarily run the whole play because that's why you got brothers like me and Doughboy and stuff like that to go run little other plays, but you need somebody up in there to make sure. Let's make sure he get this playlist. Let's make sure he get this as the song of the day on Apple.

Get you in them algorithms. You feel what I'm saying? Get you up in the algorithms. You right. And, you know, get on certain things or you not go in. That's what I'm saying? Get you up on the algorithms. You right. And, you know, get on certain things or you not go in. That's what I tell people. I was talking to one of my homies. He was like, well, I'm just going to put the next album

out through his tune core. I said, don't do that. You're going to fuck that man's career up. I said, because there's no label services over there. All they're going to do is take your $99 and you need some. Because nowadays with this streaming shit, Ape might really go in the studio and do a song with Kendrick, but the way this shitty or Spotify might not put the shit up

and you coming out with your whole campaign and they ain't got the shit on the platform because they not sure if it's clear. Everybody's so litigious nowadays and worried about somebody suing them. You need somebody that can call and say, hey, that's legit, let me send you this paper off here. You know? And you got, it's different now, man.

Yeah, it is. I mean, you still can't run it up if you go through one of those other sites, but you still gotta have some type of marketing money on your own. Or have some kind of platform to make sure that it's noticed. Because they can't,

you know, if you just going through like a TuneCore, a DistroKid or whatever, they not gonna make sure your shit is at the top when they say new hip hop albums and things of that nature. You ain't gonna get none of them services. Because I'm gonna tell you this, TuneCore and them other people only interested in one thing and that's that $39.99 or that $99.99

or whatever you play. Oh, you got distribution out there, everybody. You got distribution.99 or that $99.99 or whatever you play, oh you got distribution out there everybody. You got distribution. Your shit gonna be everywhere. But when you with an empire of equity, even the shit they got, the vidya and all them other people, you gonna have a chance to win.

It's a difference. It's like, that's the major label now. I used to do, I used to upload my shit myself and all of that, so I do notice the difference, you know what I'm saying? Even though I was making some money, you know what I'm saying? But I also had a brand, a quality brand that people could trust. So it wasn't like I was just coming in there off the street. You're not a brand new artist, you know what I'm saying?

I wasn't coming in off the street like that. But I was noticing when people do a situation with Equity or whatever, you know what I'm saying? These places now you can make sure you can muscle your way a little bit more up in the algorithm of your video play. Like, take for instance if 8 Video Play. It ain't no coincidence that Kendrick shit come on after your shit just automatically. They make sure that you get them spots so when you just forget you playing something and then something just plays on afterward somebody pulled the play to make sure that that's what's playing next and got them in that algorithm so that's what's

important to make sure you don't forget man what's next on the horizon, bro? What's the big move? My next, I'm working on another project. I'm about to tour next month. You know, I'm just doing a lot. I'm about to do a project with a producer joint for my man Knowledge the Pirate. He's next. I got another artist, Great God. He's coming next after that. I'm producing a joint for TF.

Yeah, and I'm pretty sure you're going to get one on the 8th album, right? We're going to get that Rock Marcy on the 8th? I'm looking forward to that. Definitely, definitely. That's a fact. So, yeah, so we're doing that. I got a few albums that I'm also working on with other producers. But, yeah, I'm going to do another one with Worthy.

Because a lot of people don't know my producing hand because a lot of like with the sound that i i that i helped bring back and pioneer you know so a lot of people think it's just like me on the mic now i did a lot of the product the production let's do it so i'm really ready to start getting my my production hand out there let me ask you this would you say as a producer that it's a lot easier nowadays um i would say it's definitely a lot easier for an unknown producer because now you can you could just hit somebody on social media what i mean is like um as far as like the technical stuff because i come from the area where you had sp 1200 you might only have three seconds of sampling time.

Oh, yeah, yeah. And now you can go, like I said, to a website and get the whole stems to love happiness right now. You can't compare it. And you got everything, all the Al Green, so that organ is in there. Can't compare it. You can go snatch that if you want to. Yeah, you can't compare the times. The stems just took it to a whole other level.

But, you know, I started off with an MPC. I still use an MPC 2500. I use MPC too, but I use the one that's in the computer. And I got the external file. The live or something like that? Yeah, the MPC live, yep. I like that, man, because you get the same feel. And they got them filters in there now.

They got an SB1200 filter that's crazy. So if you want to run like the thing is, you get the Al Green thing. You might still want that warm sound on there, that warm analog sound on there. Yeah, I still, I'm old-fashioned with it. Yeah, man. I'm still using MP. Even though the computers do everything and all that shit, I still use the MP. I love the sound.

For sure. Since I know you on the coast, man, now, you definitely going to have to stop by this motherfucker again. We really enjoy that. You on, man. Yes, indeed. I'm going to back up on y'all for sure. And on the coast, man. Now, you definitely go ahead and stop by this motherfucker again. We really enjoy having you on, man. Yes, indeed. I'm back up on y'all for sure. And we enjoy it, man. I got my new shit. Yes, indeed. Get in there and cut the fuck up. Yeah, definitely. That's a must.

Where can the people text you on the show, the rat? Oh, man. You want to hit me up, just hit me up on rockmarsy.com, rockmarsy on Instagram, YouTube, all of that. Just tap in. You know what I'm saying?

And there we use. That's another episode. We holla at y'all next week. Yeah. Well, that concludes another episode of the Gangster Chronicles Podcast. Be sure to download the iHeart app and subscribe to the Gangster Chronicles Podcast. For Apple users, find the purple mic on the front of your screen subscribe to the show leave a comment and rating executive producers for the gangster chronicles podcast norman steel aaron mca tyler our visual media director is brown wyatt and our audio editor is taylor hayes the gangster chronicles is a production of i heart

media network and the black effect podcast network for more podcasts from i heart radio visit the i heart radio app apple podcast wherever you listen to your podcast