As you saw, Bobby Ray brought his show to Chicago last week. This, of course means that my homie and fellow Outkast aficionado, Playboy Tre was in attendance. I was able to pull him to the side and talk about his new projects, the resurgence of “real” Hip-Hop and his own definition of the word “ham.” He also opened up about how important the Goodie Mob reunion was to himself and Atlanta as a whole and the reason one absence from the show left a sour taste in his mouth.

TSS Presents Smoking Sessions With Playboy Tre (Part 1) from The Smoking Section on Vimeo.

TSS Presents Smoking Sessions With Playboy Tre (Part 2) from The Smoking Section on Vimeo.

TSS Presents Smoking Sessions With Playboy Tre (Part 3) from The Smoking Section on Vimeo.

Bobby Ray stopped by the Chi last week and did two shows: one at the House of Blues and another at Columbia College. He tore the house down both nights, commading the stage with each show. I was able to attend both and speak to Mr. Ray about myriad of topics including some details on his album, his thoughts on the recent Goodie Mob reunion performance, his mishaps with Atlantic and a super-secret song featuring Coldplay and T.I. Read the rest of this entry »

Similar to the famed NASCAR event and his EP of the same name, The Kid Daytona has been setting goals for himself and crossing the victory laps with the ease of a checkered flag wave. Accomplishing what would take most newcomers an eternity to complete, the Bronx bomber has released two projects (including the 4 Cig certified Come Fly With Me) and a host of guest verses to pad his discography in just under a year.

But despite the posh parables of his music, The Kid Daytona’s mindstate takes it deeper than rap when it comes to life away from the microphone. TC caught TKD on the ground long enough to reminisce about his upbringing as an orphan, rookie rhyme mistakes and promising future. Get lifted with one of the leading candidates for ’09 Rookie of the Year.

TSS: So your style…it feels like you mastered the whole cashmere thoughts, Big Willie, rapping in the booth with mink slippers on angle. Is that something you worked hard to patent?

The Kid Daytona: (Laughs) I wouldn’t say it was something I tried to patent, it came natural more than anything. I guess just coming from Uptown, being in a borough — everybody got an ego, you gotta come across as the illest dude ever! (Laughs) You kinda get that coming up in the battle scene with dudes like Jae Millz…J.R. Writer…the list goes on. Basically some Uptown shit (Laughs).

TSS: So would you consider what you have going on swagger?

The Kid Daytona: I guess swagger is a word used to describe somebody that’s confident and not necessarily conceited and I definitely would say I’m a confident person and have utmost belief in myself. And I would just say my style is original because nobody else is Daytona. So the stories and style I across with just comes along with being Daytona. I don’t try to be anyone else.

TSS: So you got Daytona 500 and Come Fly With Me. What’s with the infatuation with aviation?

The Kid Daytona: (Laughs!!!) Well I’m not this mad scientist who just sits in a lab and comes up with all these ill ideas. It seems like that but it was like the stars lined up the right way. That was one of my favorite movies growing up: [Michael Jordan's] Come Fly With Me. I used to study the tape and try and mimic him and watch all his stories of being overlooked. Read the rest of this entry »

I was gonna post some Flip cam footage of them performing this a few weeks ago when they did a show with Wale, but thankfully I decided against it. Here’s a proper visual from Von Martin, Donny Davis, Jr. & Ol’ Brown Eyes aka The Rap Pack aka Tanya Morgan.

Make sure you get your ticket stamped. Purchase Brooklynati.

Previously Posted — TSS Presents Smoking Sessions With Tanya Morgan

The past seven days have been an exhaustive yet rewarding trip through the daily grind the World Wide Web brings to the table. But over at TSS it was business as usual like an EPMD joint. Here’s what the weekly itinerary consisted of. Read the rest of this entry »

You’ve gotten the opportunity to familarize yourself with them through their music (probably because it was bestowed as free gift,) but how well do you actually know about Yannick “Thurzday” Koffi and Yonas “Y-O” Michael, the efficacious duo that makes up U-N-I? For clarification purposes, TSS Crew’s TC caught up with them as well as Romel “Ro Blvd” Ventura, the sole producer behind the duo’s latest achievement A Love Supreme, and eradicated all stereotypes, offered thoughts on being web superstars and just exactly what was up with that Nelly diss.

TSS: Before we get down to the nitty gritty, we had to play What’s In A Name?

Thurzday: The name U-N-I is basically derived from [The Roots'] Illadelph Halflife; the “UNIverse At War” song with Common and I figured it fit us perfect being in the L.A. scene. Coming out of the city, you’re going to face a lot of opposition, so it’s “U” then Y-O and I then “I,” myself Vs. any opposition trying to prevent us from accomplishing our dreams. When I told Y-O and Chris, our manager the idea, they loved it and it’s been working ever since.

As for Thurzday, my last name is Koffi and in West Africa, it’s a nickname for “boy born on Friday.” And everybody called me by my last name and the meaning didn’t really apply so I told everybody “Just call me Thurz.” And it stuck!

Y-O: Mine is simple. It’s just a childhood name that I grew up with. My mom still calls me Yo and it’s short for my real name which is Yonas. It’s an African name given to me by my grandmother from Eritrea. It means soldier. It’s a name that everybody can relate me to or knows me as so I kept it simple.

Ro Blvd: Well my government name is Romel and I always said if I made it, I would want my stage name to have a part of my actual name. I always went by Ro but when I started making music towards the end of high school my mom gave me a stack of records, not even knowing that people sample. And one of them was a soundtrack to a movie called Boulevard Nights which truthfully, is in my top 5 movies of all-time because it’s been an inspirational influence in my life. And I was out ripping and running in the streets like everybody else but I chose to use Boulevard because the term “street” is often stereotyped into something negative. So to me, boulevard is thinking like Saturday Night Fever; John Travolta on the strip having fun so that’s the image I wanted to portray.

TSS: Interesting you say that because when people refer to L.A. music they typically think “gangsta rap.” Did you all go particularly out of your way to avoid that stigma? Read the rest of this entry »

When the great Hip-Hop pairings of our time get brought up, how often are Method Man & Redman mentioned? Since 1995′s bong-blazin’ anthem “How High” to their seminal classic album Blackout!, the Shaolin and Brick City representers have ignited Notable Quotable verses as well as the end of their blunts on a regular basis. Still going strong on the heels of releasing the noteworthy follow-up Blackout 2!, Red & Meth crash TSS to break down old school vs. new school rappers, future endeavors and their favorite THC byproducts.

This is a Smoking Session. What did you expect?

TSS: It’s been a good 10 years since the original Blackout! Do the planets have to align, lunar eclipses, Apocalypse Now-type shit to get y’all in the studio?

Method Man: Nah we been in the studio, y’all know that the work was still there. Red has his solo project, Def Squad, Gilla House and numerous mix CDs he was working on. I had my solo project and the Wu-Tang joint. So we was staying in the loop but the label didn’t come around to the table because they were going through their staff changes at the time — but it’s here now though.

TSS: What was the creation process of Blackout 2! ? Was it a totally different experience or more of the usual routine.

Method Man: It was a casual approach. We went in with our heads clear. We didn’t have any pressure from the label and we went in comfortable. No pressure to do radio songs or none of that. And I actually, honestly LISTENED to the music to and conceptualized from that point on. Read the rest of this entry »

If A Tribe Called Quest and De La Soul were on a world tour, then Tanya Morgan is in a whole ‘nother galaxy. Convening at their lyrical Chamber of Commerce, the trio from two parts Cincinnati and one part Brooklyn take competition to school (geography class to be exact) with their third album Brooklynati. Read along as TSS Crew’s TC unfolds the mysteries of this rapper’s realm which includes Donwill, Ilyas and Von Pea’s day jobs, why Hip-Hop will always live in the heart of Brooklynati and what you will never see there.

TSS: Could you give the readers some background on your names and your occupations in Brooklynati?

Von Pea: My name came out about when I was like 14 years old. I used to call myself Von Phenom and I had shortened it to “P” cuz I would always would say “Von Pea or Von P. for short.” And when I was trying to come out with my demos, nobody was commenting on the music, just asking “What does this P. stand for?” So I spelled it out so they can stop asking. And now it just represents the underdog; something pea-sized is small and you may not be thinking about it but it’s still there. Read the rest of this entry »

If you ask any celebrity, they’d probably tell you that media day is nothing short of a royal pain. Dozens of interviewers calling to ask questions about an upcoming project, droning off repetitive inquiries. Bun B, one of the most down to earth rappers you’ll ever come across, seems unfazed even though he is answering questions about the death of his best friend.

When he sat down and talked to The Crew’s David D., Bun B was the same cool guy one would expect as he discussed promoting the new UGK album without Pimp C at his side, dropping guest verses and what’s the perfect song to honor the Underground Kingz.

TSS: Hey Bun B, what’s up man? How’s it going?

Bun B: I’m good, man.

TSS: Before I get to this UGK album you guys have coming out, I’ve wanted to ask you this for years if I ever had the pleasure of talking to you. Every time you’re on someone else’s track and you have a 16, you kill it. So how do you prepare for that?

Bun B: I don’t really, to be honest. I’m a weird studio creature. I just go to the studio, tell them to cut on a beat and I write. And then I go in. The process is usually complete in about 20-30 minutes. I don’t make it a long, dragged out type of situation. It’s really just a matter of organizing thoughts. And because of the fact I’ve been doing this so long continuously, it’s not a problem to organize thoughts at all. As far as information, I have more information than I have an outlet to release. Every time I do a song, I’m still 30-40 verses behind as far as information I want to get out. I know my way around a record. And I know exactly how to hit the points that maybe other people in the song haven’t hit. If they send me a beat and there aren’t any vocals on it, then I just try to hit points that I know people are going to reach for.

TSS: Is that the same way you prepare for your own albums too?

Bun B: No, it’s totally different because in terms of UGK albums, a lot of that stuff originated from ideas that Pimp and I might have. And I don’t have to come in until it’s fully visualized. Until the beat is all laid out and everything, then I let my verses drop. For a solo album, I have more control of the process. My solo album is just about getting the right music. Any verse you’ve ever heard Bun B say was probably written in about 15 minutes. That’s not just me talking. You can ask anyone. That’s why I’m on so many records, because of the turnaround.

People send me the record on Thursday and the it’s gotta be done by Friday, because they know I’m gonna get it, go in, do what I gotta do send it in go home and go to sleep. I’m not a studio rat that likes to sit in the studio for six hours, invite every fucking body I know, buy pizza, smoke weed, drink, hang out and then try to find a fucking club and don’t even go to the club because you’re too high and drunk from the studio. I don’t make a day out of it. I’m an old head. I’m 35 years old, I got a wife and kids. I got a granddaughter now. If I’m in the studio by 2, I’m trying to be out by 7. I can still get five or so songs done.

TSS: So you must have a huge catalog sitting around, right?

Bun B: Actually, I don’t. Everything I record is usually for something. As of right now I have no songs stowed away. A lot of people assume that because I’m always on everything. People literally call me- I have my beats and do like five features. Then I go to the studio and knock out all five and go home.

TSS: That way you were on everybody’s song was kind of like ahead of its time because now everybody — Lil’ Wayne or anybody that’s got an album coming out — they’re always doing a lot of guest spots. Was that a conscious effort for marketing or were you just trying to get on records?

Bun B: It’s a little bit of both. It’s definitely a way of making yourself available to several different markets at one time. Also, it gives you the chance as an artist to bounce yourself around the game with like minded talents to see where you stand. It’s important for artists to know where they stand. And for me, being an older artists where you have some younger fans who are like 17-18 years old who may not know my entire legacy or my full repertoire. It’s important for me to stand next to the people they look up to today and let them see that I’m as good or better than anything they’re listening to right now.

TSS: As far as the marketing goes, now, how has it been promoting this album by yourself?

Bun B: Weird. I try to think of some deep way. It’s just weird. It’s different. It’s not necessarily difficult because I’m doing interviews and phonies and shit like that. But it’s very weird to constantly talk about him being dead. I’m gonna be honest. Nobody says “dead.” I have to say it every now and then because nobody says “Pimp C is dead.” They say “he’s passed” or “now that he’s gone.” Nobody ever says “dead.” Sometimes I have to say that word for the reality to set in. That’s just for me personally, so I can get it out.

TSS: Has it at all been therapeutic at least? Read the rest of this entry »

Words by Khalid Strickland

The way rappers blatantly swagger-jack each other and recycle beats like tin cans, its hard to believe that “biting” was once unacceptable in Hip-Hop. Whether duping another artist’s graffiti or swiping someone’s slang, it was never a good look to be labeled a “biter.”

It was during this creatively-fertile era that Raekwon The Chef, a respected street disciple and founding member of the storied Wu-Tang Clan, dropped Only Built 4 Cuban Linx… a trend-setting album regarded as one of the best in rap history. With phenomenal beats by the RZA and his trusty wingman Ghostface Killah in tow, Raekwon gave gangsta rap a new language and illustrated the fast life like no other emcee before him. Although Rae has dropped two other solo albums, countless mixtapes and appeared on a slew of records since then, fans have faithfully waited for Cuban Linx 2, the sequel to The Chef’s masterpiece. Other than Dr. Dre’s oft-delayed Detox, there may not be another album as coveted or highly-anticipated. In his exclusive interview with The Smoking Section, Raekwon insisted that Cuban Linx 2 will soon see the light of day.

Meanwhile, a straight-to-DVD documentary titled Wu: The Story of The Wu-Tang Clan will be released by BET and Paramount Home Entertainment on November 18th. The film is an authorized account of the pioneering collective’s rise to power, boasting never-seen-before archival footage and unearthed interviews. Loud Records/Legacy Recordings will drop the film’s soundtrack album, a compilation of the Wu’s most memorable group and solo joints, also on November 18th. In light of the nostalgia, The Chef recalled his past, but also touched on his present and near-future.

TSS: Talk a little about the Story of the Wu DVD. What can fans expect?

Raekwon: The DVD is a cinematic documentary of brothers’ trial and error through the music game. It just an opus of all the things that we’ve been through and you know… just the good times, the bad times and the ugly times. The tragedies as far as my brother Ol’ Dirty Bastard passing and how that affected some of the guys in the crew. This is being told from the standpoint of a fellow that actually lived in our neighborhood that did the documentary. He was somebody that was pretty much familiar with our whole career from day one and he created an opus of the Wu-Tang Clan, as far as everything we’ve been involved with through the years.

TSS: You’re a bonafide legend in the game with timeless albums. When you first began, did you ever think that you’d be where you are now?

Raekwon: Nah, I didn’t think it was going to be that big. You know, our thing from the door was basically just to be able to let the world know that there’s talent in Staten Island and we just wanted to represent. We were a bunch of kids at the time that were basically Hip-Hop fanatics. We had a situation similar to the Hit Squad back in the early 90’s, with Erick Sermon. He had his little crew; Redman and all these cats. We kind of felt that the way Erick and them built their situation was the same way that we had built our situation on Staten Island. So we just put our minds together. Brothers was still fresh off the block, some brothers were just coming home. It was a good situation at a time when we needed it, you know what I mean? We just basically pursued our dreams of being heard… we didn’t know we’d affect the world the way we did. All praises due, though. We’re here.

TSS: On 36 Chambers you had some classic verses, like “Can It Be So Simple” and “C.R.E.A.M.” As dope as you were on that first album, you took things to a whole new level on Cuban Linx. Your lyrical skill elevated greatly in between the two albums. What happened in that period that made your skill level rise so high?

Raekwon: First of all, Kha, I want to say I appreciate that. I’m honored for you to even tell me that. I was just a street cat, man… that’s all. I had a lot of trial and error growing up and all the things I was subjected to, so I basically just came in with what I know. Like I’ll tell anybody, I’m just a cloth of Big Daddy Kane, Rakim, Slick Rick, Biz… you know what I mean? Just that era; I’m just a marble cake of that. Growing up in Hip-Hop and still dealing with my own trials and tribulations, I applied everything that I knew from the influences that I had around me as well as being involved with the music. I just felt like, “Yo, Rae, you’re a writer. This is what you love to do.” You know, I’m very cinematic when it comes to my vision sometimes and I think it was just energy, man. It was just something that I really had the passion for and I just pursued it. I jumped on it like how a real dude is supposed to jump on it. If you love something, you go for it and that’s all I did. Just surround myself with the best energy and the things that I respected about Hip-Hop and the people I liked and I used that as a platform to get where I have to go right now.

I’m a real street cat, so anything I talk about is definitely going to be in relevance of my lifestyle and the things I was going through. As far as the Cuban Linx album is concerned, that was something that I always wanted to express to the world. Like, “Yo, we move like the Mafia,” na’mean? Not based on their principles, but based on the real principles of morals and how important family is. So I just constructed that into my movement and we came with the names. Me and RZA was working on a lot of stuff ahead of time, before Cuban Linx was actually even made. So I had a lot of shit in the cabinets already; I had stored food already. So I just came in with my heart, B. Just really took it serious and did my thing, you know? All praises.

TSS: Regarding conflicts you may or may not have had with certain rappers back in the day, Method Man was once quoted as saying, “Rae and Ghost don’t like nobody.” Was that true then and if so, is it also true now? Read the rest of this entry »

Words By DJ Sorce-1

Graphics By P.

Girl Talk, real name Gregg Gillis, is one of the more refreshing grass roots stories to happen in the modern music industry. Originally a noise musician who toured around the country to play in dingy basements for 20 people, he has since turned into a sample based superstar with his critically applauded Night Ripper album. In the years following its release, he has shared the stage with the likes of Kayne West amongst many others.

The road to success has not been easy as many might assume, but has instead been a labor of love. An endless tour schedule, constant experimentation with different music, and a focus on sharing his music instead of paying attention to sales have helped make Girl Talk a household name. We at TSS were able to catch up with the Pittsburgh native to reflect on his recent summer release, Feed the Animals, as well as future projects with Trey Told ‘Em. Read on as Girl Talk talks the talk about DJ’s, album sales, Pimp C, and a whole mess of other topics.

Photo Credit – Andrew Strasser

TSS: Did you start your new album with a Pimp C verse as a dedication to him after his recent passing?

Girl Talk: To some degree. I was using that verse before he passed away, right around the time “International Players Anthem” hit. It just seemed right. It had become a staple with my live set and it started the album off with the intensity I was looking for. I knew that I wanted to begin and end the album on the same tempo and make the whole album circular. It jumped out at me that I could start the album with Pimp C’s verse and then finish it with the Andre 3000 verse. It made perfect sense and made the album whole by beginning and ending in the same place.

TSS: When I last interviewed you, you said that Night Ripper was essentially bits and pieces of your live show condensed into album form. Does your new album Feed the Animals have more of an intentional structure than Night Ripper?

Girl Talk: A lot of the elements and cooler ideas for Feed the Animals were brought in from the live show. When I was making Night Ripper I was doing one show a month at most. After Night Ripper I started playing pretty much every weekend. In order to play that often I had to generate more material to keep it fresh for me and the audience. Going into Feed the Animals I had more stuff to choose from and I had performed the material a lot more than on Night Ripper. I think I had a better understanding of where I wanted to go with the new album.

TSS: Was this a more artistically satisfying album to make?

Girl Talk: Yeah. I’m very proud of Night Ripper, but in the two years since it I feel like I’ve fine tuned my process. This one feels more accomplished to me. I wanted to make it more dynamic, denser, increase the production value, and make the source material more diverse. I wanted to take everything to the extreme on this one.

TSS: Your first album, Secret Diary, is nothing like Night Ripper and Feed the Animals. Your second album, Unstoppable, is sort of like a cross between Secret Diary and Night Ripper. When did you start making music in the style of Night Ripper and Feed the Animals?

Girl Talk: The initial idea for Secret Diary was to juxtapose noise and pop music. I wanted to make experimental music out of pop. The general idea has stayed the same. I want to make new and interesting music out of pop music in a way that isn’t ironic. I want to stay sincere to the source material but at the same time manipulate it and take it to a new world.

When I was playing shows around Secret Diary I was always pushing a fun party feel, even though the music was experimental. I would get in peoples faces and try to get them to loosen up and party a little bit. Around 2002 and 2003 I started playing more house parties. While the Secret Diary material was fun and interesting, it wasn’t really stuff you could dance to. I started to move into more beat oriented material around the time Unstoppable came out. I was doing a lot of experimenting with different ways of handling percussion and samples. I’d occasionally drop the obvious, blatant sample. Whenever I did that, it seemed to be the highlight of the show.

By the time Unstoppable came out in 2004 I was already doing sets that were a lot more like Night Ripper and were made up mostly of blatant samples. That’s when I started to do a lot more house parties. It kind of made sense for what I wanted to do with the live show. Since then it’s been a slow evolution of refining that style.

TSS: Based on “Touch 2 Feel” video and the Unstoppable album artwork, it looks like in the early days you were doing house parties with 20 people. How did you make the transition from house parties to sold out arenas? Read the rest of this entry »