#367 - DJ Muggs

Yo one two was adding Yo this DJ Muggs Live from La Man. Make sure to check me out on Bootleg cav podcast.

Yo boutlet keV podcast Special guests in here. One of the greatest producers to ever live Ladies and Gentlemen does do a lot of interviews, so I feel very privileged to be sitting down with DJ Muggs.

What's adding brother, welcome man, feel thanks for having me man.

Yeah, sol Assassin's Three Death Valley is album.

Yeah man, And what a track listing. Wow, man, some motherfucker's on there.

Some motherfucker's on there for real.

Yeah, some of my favorite new rappers man, Like you know, Body James shout.

Outs to Bodie. You've got ghost Face on there.

Yeah oh yeah. Then we got some of the classics and ship yeah, ghost and Gun.

Shout out to TF man. I was gonna say, like, it's crazy because I remember the source advertisements for the very first Soul Assassins album, which was what ninety seven or ninety eight seven? Yeah, man, So like fast forward. I don't even want to talk about how many years that is because it'll age you and me a lot.

Man, yeah, part one was back then.

It was pre mixtapes, before mixtapes got really crazy, So doing a record like this was something unique, you know what I mean.

There was only a few motherfuckers doing.

That where I just a lot of people was asking me to do tracks for them for their albums, and I was like, man, I'm good man. I'd just rather just build my group and do my shit, but you all can come and be on my shit. Then once the mixtape Eric kicked off, everything was just mixtapes. So then it was just it wass nothing really special about making these records nor more because you can go get a fly as mixtape. So I was like, I don't think I'm gonna do another one, So I just I

Yeah the video I saw that. I only saw the trailer, but the trailer looked like a fucking full fledged cinematic yeah.

And I was like, I'm tired of videos, man, what can we do brocause I'm not putting this record on. I was like, let's let's build something that's like ten fifteen minutes long. He's like, man, that's a that's that's gonna be hard. And I was like, you know shit. And we started. We shot and pre prepped for like a month. I ended up shooting in Death Valley, Oakland, San Francisco, Vegas, LA and ended up being a thirty four minute movie.

Crazy.

Yeah. We shot videos.

We shot music videos, and they're in the movie on the TV like in the trap House, Mayhem's videos on the TV in the Trap House, Rock Mars he's.

Building a bomb.

That's crazy.

And you know his video. I'm watching his video in my house while he's building a bomb. In the video, I'm holding the bomb, so it's psychedelic. It's like, I don't know if you're familiar with Alejandro Jodoroski, So I've compared more like a Jada Roski meets Pink Floyd with hip hop.

Yeah, it's crazy because I feel like, not like you said back in the day, what you did was unique, and I feel like in today's climate, doing a thirty four minute like mini movie is unique as well. And we've seen like movies to go along with albums. I feel like people don't do that shit nomore because they're like so worried about like the microwaveable attention span of people instead of like, yo, let me do something dope, unique, creative.

Yeah.

I did it for me, man, I can give a fuck, you know what I mean. I did it all for me, Like how can I keep myself entertained? Yeah, and how can I do something that's just fund just to get up and do everything? I'm a little challenging something I ain't done before. So that was the driving forced it for me. Yeah, I done did everything I've set out to do years ago, So you know, just keep just keep tricking my brain and stretching myself and having a good time doing this shit.

Is that what keeps you going? It's like, I'm doing this for me.

Really, I do it for me.

But you know, at the same time, man, I love I love the kind of music we make, this underground hip hop shit that it's nothing different than I've always made.

Now, it's been dope to see, like your run just continue. And I just had to talk with al recently because I'm always trying to push rappers to do albums with Alchemists that you know, I just did this with Jada Kiss on the podcast. I was like, why have you done a whole album with Alchemists?

No? Shit crazy, that'd be crazy.

But I'd like to see you, like you know, you're like I always working with artists and like doing like for pledged like bodies of work, whether it's like Jay Worthy or may Him Loran, Like you're very much like you know, it feels like you're still in your peak and you're still like, like you said that the underground shit has changed over the years, the quot unquote underground hip hop shit has definitely changed from what like it might have been in like two thousand, two thousand and

Bro.

Yeah, man, you know, just having a good time, man, and you know, just be able to just hang out and kick it with the homies and talk some shit, you know what I mean.

What was the homage to Death Valley Why so So? Assassin's three Death Valley on.

This because that's the title of the movie.

Okay, that's the movie that comes with it.

It's is Death Valley.

You know, it's the hottest fucking place on Earth, it is you know what I'm saying. So and it's you know, and one of the things in the movie is I left La to get away from the heat, you know, go to Death Valley.

Ironic, right, It's very ironic for sure.

What was that for you? Because you know, there's always so many when you have so many moving parts on a body of work. When it comes to getting an artist to like sign off on stuff, you have to deal with that kind of stuff.

Yeah, every you know, a lot of everybody on this record, I have relationships with them in the past, you know. So it was pretty easy, man, It was pretty this this record was pretty easy. There was nothing, nothing crazy.

Yeah. And also, like a lot of guys are independent, right.

Or you know what I'm saying, and they run in the game a little bit different these days. Like you know, before, dealing with majors and dealing with labels and the sign offs and the clearances and the sample clearances. She was a headache you know a lot of times. Right now you can be under the radar with a lot of this ship.

Well, I always static Selected always told me. I was always like, hey, bro, like you guys clear it clearly samples. And he's like, man, he's like, look, bro, we just left you fly. And if we got to get it clear later, that means it's doing with something.

Basically, if it's under a certain number, they ain't even coming. They ain't wasting their time, you know, right, and and if it pops off later, then you know it's all good.

Well, you know what sucks, dude, is like I don't know if you've if you've experienced this from your perspective, but a lot of like major label artists or the labels will be very specific to make sure, like I'll play me something with no sample. They don't even want to clear samples any.

They don't want to deal with this shit because they get hit hard man, Like, like a major is gonna have to deal with that shit, you know what I mean. And they're gonna get hit because it's a major and they know they got bread, so they.

Go different if they don't want to do it. The lawyer from Universals reaching out as opposed to like.

It freezes up their whole project. You know, thank god, now they just got to pull a song or two off a digital streaming side instead of pulling all the records off the shelves.

That it was a lot easier. Yeah, imagine having to go to every zero record.

Five hundred thousand records out of Tower Records, and you know all that shit that happened. You've seen it happen with Biz, You've seen it happen with Truth Hurts, with Dre, with the rock Kim song that was a big Bollywood sample. Yeah, they put that shit out and that shit got took that shit off the shows.

That's a lot of.

Fucking money to eat you pull in a million pieces of vinyl off the shows.

I have a random question that I've always been curious about. On Obie Trice's album, his first album, there's the song We All Die One Day, Tony Yao starts off shouting out soul assassins and then, in my opinion my favorite eminem versus ever, he shouts out be real said dog, what was the Was there any sort of soul assassins connection with that song? Like? Why was like Tony Yeo shout y'all out?

Well, here's what it was man. So that song was for the next Sol Assassin album. Oh, so that's what that song was for. We had started it at that time and you know, and it was like I don't know if I want to do another one at the time, and then Obie was working on his record and Paul's I got can we use it for Obi when it's time to dors, we'll do another one And I was like absolutely, no problem was push it that way. But that's what that ship was for.

Crazy, So that was supposed to be on the next Sol Assassins. Wow when you heard Eminem's verse on that song, because I think, I truly think it's the best Eminem verse ever. And I also I think it's the most underrated song of like that whole era of like g Unit Shady records.

That song so crazy almost crazy. Yeah. We was managed by Paul for like six seven years.

Yeah, so at the time, you know, we was rolling thick, so everything was in the house back then.

So we just had a names up here shout I'm.

Gonna see him in New York next week. I love Neams.

He's great. He's just like kind of just vintage nineties, like disrespect.

Yeah, all day long.

Man, he told me a story. He was like, yeah, so you know his lyrics on his due, I mean,

Cheek like like that. That's the best.

That's that early two thousands nineties energy.

Yeah. Man, he came with it on this shit too. Boy. It was good to hear.

Yeah for sure.

Man.

What's your favorite song on the album?

Man? Oh shit, I like them all, man.

I think I went through periods or this one was my favorite that I recorded, this one, This was my favorite. This was my favorite. So right now, man, I'm just you know, out here just enjoying.

Yeah, dude, Like, let's just be clear. You have Scarface on this album with Freddie Gibbs. You got ev Demo, Genesis jay Worthy too. I mean, this is crazy method. Man is Slick Rick? How do you get Slick Rick on a record in twenty twenty three?

Just be patient, man, Just just be patient. I reached out to you know, it's like pretty much man, the homies all came through. I reached out and said, Rick, we're doing this. He's a fan, yeah, a fan of mine, and he should be and he does. He plays jump Around every night in the show, one of his favorite songs. Ever, So when I reached out and let him know what I was doing, He's like, yeah, I got you. Where's

Was been doing. I want to say one of the first singles was the record with be Real Ran and Cube, right, And I remember seeing that and being like, Yo, you don't see mc wren's name anywhere anymore. Nah, like that that's a big deal to get him in Cube together on a song in twenty twenty three. Yeah, yeah, yeah, especially with be Real. Like if you just think about like La hip hop, Like that's a crazy comedy.

That's what I was thinking, Like what do we do with this? Man? Like b ro was on like where do we go with this song? Right here?

And I was just like, Yo, let's get Cube and Ran and Drey and Snoop and Snoop is gonna do they just timing, just timing, you know what I mean. I just wanted to talk in the intros, He's like I got you at the time, and I was like, I got to turn this shit in now, but give me next time for you.

Man, I feel like your production style is so unique, and it's like I feel like you there's producers these days, I feel like have kind of lost the sense of like style, at least the bigger ones. Like I feel like a lot of these guys's beats are kind of interchangeable, Like you could tell me that it was produced by

Like, well, first, you know, coming up, man, you had to be different and have your own style.

You was whack. You couldn't even use a sample somebody used. If you did, you was garbage.

And you had to find your own samples.

Like original samples, like if somebody yeah, if you ah those drums, they use those drums because there was something about that, you know what I'm saying. And even for cypressmen, the way we dressed the slang. We have our own slang, you know, dressed, have our own look, have our own musical style. So all that was important.

You was whack. You was a bidist. So for me, I was.

I grew up with a lot of classic rock around and and my mom was in the motown, so I had a lot of you know, psychedelic classic rock fucking influences Led Zeppelin, Jimmy Hendricks, but with hip hop, run DMC, COOJ, Public Enemy, and then everything Molly mal did, every single Molly mag that came out with back in those days, it seemed like he was reinventing the game with every fucking single.

You know what I'm saying.

When you heard the Bridge and then you heard Poison and then you heard Raw and you was like, what the fuck is this shit? You know what I'm saying, and then everything Larry Smith, did you know Ultra Magnetics, Booget Down Productions, like all that shit, right, there was like all that like mixed up in gumbo and then going through my filter and spit it back out.

I wasn't to say too like you were very like engaged with what was going on in New York too, for being a West Coast guy.

Yeah, I grew up in New York. I moved here when I was twelve, and then I would always go back. I would always stay out there. I had an apartment out there for like fifteen years. Yeah, I would always be in here.

You guys did the second.

Yeah, because you know, back then we start, you blow up, and then it's just too much shit going on, friends, shit, everybody hanging out.

I was like this over here, which is us locked in a room by ourselves.

Yeah, I'm sure you guys in LA after that first album, the studio sessions, Yeah, help would.

Be distracted and everybody was. You couldn't and then everybody was busy. You know, there's all these new people around and this and that and millions of dollars, you know, and we're twenty one years old. So it was like, let's go to New York and it's just us getting up, going to the studio, back to the crib, back to the studio.

That's all we did.

That shit's fire Man, and.

We knocked that shit out in a month. The record. We knocked that record out of the month.

The label was like, we need that shit now, so we went in and knocked it out right quick. I suppose the first record took like three four years. It was a whole life, you know, up to that point. The second one, I think we only did I think some of the songs even came out before. I think we only did eight songs new ones because we had hand on the glock had already came out. A t DK came out, a White Man Can't Jump soundtrack, Yep,

Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, I forgot. SoundScan wasn't around, Like.

It just came out like in between our first and second album.

No, it's crazy too, because I just think, like in terms of, like, you know, for whatever reason, I feel like somehow Cypress Hill gets like overlooked when we talk about like goat conversations like greatest groups of all time. I mean, I feel like if you grew up in LA or you grew up on the West Coast, you understand. But I feel like, for whatever reason, you guys are

Right right right? Yeah?

Man, I don't know shit. I can give a fuck, you know what I mean. What we set out to do, we're doing it, you know what I mean. So that's all I give a fuck about.

So how did you end up getting with House of Pain back in the day before? Cause I knew you guys had a little falling out for.

A sec, but it was an accident.

Man, Like I was dating this girl that actually was cousins of Everlast his DJ, and I would go over there and he'd be at the crib and I'd be like all right and the Cypress demo the Cypress we was signed already, but the album. I had the album on the red cassette and I gave it to her, but the album didn't come out for six months. So the next time I went over there a couple of times, Everlast was there. He was listening to the tape. He's like, yo, we got to get in the studio. I was like, nah,

One of the greatest party songs of all time.

Shop Shop the deal Man I know funk Master Flex wanted to sign us that priority records for like I think it was like fifty five sixty g's. He had special head over there. At the time.

I didn't even know fuck Flex worked at Priory. He's crazy.

And then it was weird because Monica Lynch show for a Tommy Boy wanted to sign us, and so I went and had a meeting with her, and she was like, she was irish, so she's like, this reminds me of my family. This is like my brothers would go to church, then they'd go to uh to the bar and get drunk and fight. So she got it and off the bat, you know what I mean. So she signed us. She got us like three hundred dollars back then, and then I hooked him up in our management. The guys who

So you kind of just say, here's our formula, run with it.

Run with it, and it worked and worked with it like a motherfucker.

Like a motherfucker yo, I always wondered. So there was like this era I'm really close with Dilated People's and Raka and Iris Science and Bamboo and obviously Shot I did the best. Hell yeah, I love those guys. They really opened my world taste in another whole other way to like digging into like different ship that I was

It was weird, man.

I think I think Everlast from what I remember correctly, you know, don't quote me here, but I think Everlast scene M on the elevator and M just didn't say nothing to him. But M's like he didn't look the same right and didn't realize that he was He didn't realize who he was made right, and and was a fucking Everlast fan, you know from what I hear, so Everlast just you know, I don't know what happened.

Then he wrote some shit about.

Him, Yeah, and then I remember there was like the Dilated Ship and then Evidence had a song called Searching for Bobby Fisher. So I was just wondering because you were kind of like, it's felt like Switzerland. You might have you know, I don't know if you try to put a call in.

Nah nah, I just figured all that y'all fucked up. You're fucking with them. Got good luck with that ship man, like even why But I don't even think I heard the Dilated song ever.

Yeah, there was an evidence song called searching for Bobby Fisher.

That was that.

I heard that one now, but I had a napster hit. Yeah, so yeah, I brought Paul. I remember when I met Paul. I flew him out to LA to meet with me and I had a barbecue to manage Cyprus and he came out here. And that's how I met Paul because the Theo Theo was my lawyer and I was like, yeah, I need a new manager, bro, And he's like, well you resist before before Rock Superstar album, so like two thousand ninety nine, and he's like, yo, I got this

What was was? It labeled like why did you guys do a rap superstar and a rock superstar? Difference?

Because check this out. So we was up at Columbia and you know, now we're going into the fifth album, so we'd go to the Urban Department.

That was after the after Doctor Green number before after after That's right.

It was like, yeah, that was four. There was a fifth album now. So we would go up to the label and was like, all right, this scoose is marketing plan. I go to the Urban Department. There was like, no, no, you guys are you guys are alternative?

Like no, we ain't.

So we go up to the We go up to the next floor and they was like no, you guys are the Urban Department. And they didn't work together, and everybody's passing the buck. Nobody wanted to do their fucking job, and I was like, fucking pieces of shit.

Check this out.

I'm gonna give you all a rock song and a rap song. So now what's your fucking excuse?

You can work?

You got one? You got one? So I did.

We had a song called Can't Get the Best of Me and Rap Superstar, and then I walked into the meeting with Donnieina and he was like, no, this is the single. We're not doing rock song, but this is the single. I'm putting all the money behind this one. I was like, Fuck, this ain't gonna work. So I went in the studio a couple of days later and did the remix for Rock Superstar.

Wow. Okay, got to stop the interview real quick to tell you about our good folks had blue Chew Baby. That's right, shout out to blue Chew man. Listen, everyone's he always asking me does blue choe work? Of course it works because it has the same active ingredient as viagra and sialis. It is dick season out here, Bruh. You know what I'm saying. You gotta make sure that

Do with it because you know it's like hip hop andspa. But it's like we grew bigger than hip hop. We just became our own thing. You know, for sure, we got so big and you know, just harnessing that rock and roll energy, like I said, Public Enemy, ll run DMC, Beastie boys, you know what I mean, and just coming from that DNA from that side. And so that's why I was like, all right, here's something from both of y'all.

What year was that, ninety nine?

That was very much that was very much the the era of that happening.

So then I was on the and the other layer to that shit was me like, oh yeah, well, oh yeah, I could do this shit too. Yes, we do some rock shit and let me let me bang on y'all motherfuckers with this ship. And then at the same time I produced them some shit for Pearl Jam and Sonic Youth Crazy. I mean, it's some different rock bands just to like let me see what I can do and just.

Don't you know you did to a tumble pro Jam that's amazing. Shout out to Pro Jam, Yo. You guys were a part of like some of the crazy, you know. I always tell people like there was festivals, and like people think of festivals these days, I feel like festivals in like the late nineties early two thousands were like extremely like different.

Everything was different.

The drugs were really out there.

The nineties was the shit, man.

It was like it was one of the best times period and I'm blessed to be able to be in that time. And then also this new time with all this new technology, for sure be able to be in an analog world in this digital.

NB relevant in both. But I was gonna ask you, what is like the craziest crowd where you you guys were performing and you just looked out and you were like, what the fuck is going on?

A couple of times, one of them was was the Wedding Festival. We were the first rap group to ever headline reading, you know, one hundred and fifty thousand crazy looking at that, and then you know, motherfuckers with the soccer chants and everybody with the flags, you know what I mean?

It just looked like some revolution shit.

And then it was probably the ninety three Woodstock ninety three Woodstock five one hundred and fifty thousand people. They had to fly us into a helicopter because the traffic was fucking five hour traffic jams.

Yet I just watched the ninety nine Woodstock documentary, which was looked insane. Yeah, ninety three had to be crazy. Half a million people, half a million people. Who do you remember who was on the bill with you?

I think Santana was after us. And because we were in and out, there wasn't even dressrooms.

It was we don't want y'all hanging out in and out.

Yeah, yeah, that's the only one I remember.

That's fucking crazy, man.

But a lot of palooz was popping off back then, smoking groove tours, you know, we did every smoking grooves pretty much, like five of them.

In a row. Yo.

Has there ever been like somebody who's for whatever reason escaped you in terms of someone you want to work with, because I feel like you've worked with so many people.

Nah, man, I'm all about building, man. Like even with Cyprus, I was like, I never wanted to be a producer, where like my me coming up was depending on somebody else's success, right, So I was like, we was always about building our own shit. No guest appearances, our own shit, do our own shit, you know what I mean. And even even now, I like newer artists, like working with with a tf like young in Rome Streets.

When I first met Rome crazy.

You know, all Rome's fucking boom, you know, pre Gazelda days and just finding these youngsters, I get more. I got more excitement out of that ship, you know, But no, I think it probably shod day, you know what I mean. I'd want to work with shod Day. But there's nobody that that. Everybody anybody else I really tripping.

Did you ever get close to doing anything with Hove?

Nah? I never. I don't even think I met him.

Crazy, that's crazy, you would think for you, because you've been doing a lot of full collab albums. I think back to like one of the first producer MC albums to me that I kind of just heralded, like very high in my life was the first album you did with the JIT album, the Masterminds Grand Master's Grand Masters. Yeah, crazy body of work. But you've still done, like you've done such a good job of like doing these like fully,

It wasn't on it like that.

It wasn't on it the first guy I really kind of did that.

You had to do in Versus Records.

Yeah, just Asia ill Bill we did back in like what two three, I think it was something like that, oh four. Yeah, Me and Jiz are always clicked, man. From the first day we got into lab, we always clicked, man, And it was just everything was smooth and easy, and you know, We just kept communicating all through the times, you know, and kept in touch and then we then

Was like this three or four year period. We was like, what the fuck's going on?

Brow, how do we monetize it?

Nobody knew what was going on. It was a weird ass time, you know what I mean. So alls I know is you just stay consistent to keep going. That's the one thing about my crew man from me Al Cartoon is Stevan Cyprus. We just never stopped. Yeah, just never stopped through it all.

I was gonna ask you, what is something that you've because you're obviously, like you said, there was that point in time where you've been a part of every for the most part, era of hip hop in terms of like the way the business is right, Like you guys first came home with SoundScan, hit now with faster.

Eighties like eighties. My first group, you gotta remember, with seven A three. I didn't know in nineteen eighty eight. Like my first gold record was Colors seven A three mad Man World in the movie Colors. So I signed with seven A three in eighty eight and we was, we signed a rush management shot and we're doing stadium tours, opening up for Salt and Pepper, opening up for Hammer, opening up for Tony Tony tone Em Hammer. Yeah, we was on the tour with Hammer, Tony, Tony Tony and today.

What's the mc hammer tour?

Like back then, stadiums crazy as fuck.

Like I don't think people understand like he was like a fucking like pop star for real. Super I have an mc hammer Barbie.

I'm talking, I'm talking.

You see mc hammer Barbie sitting now, yeah.

Talking, you know, twenty five thousand people a night and it's doing stadiums Man's you know, and then Salt and Pepper, Kwame was on the tour. Wow, so you know, just being young, and then i'd come back to Cypress, you know, and like I'm eighteen nineteen and I was like, yo, figuring this music shit out fellas, you know what I mean.

That's how I learned. There was no scratch Academy and no shit.

Right, none of that. You just had to really just learn on the job.

Just watch, watch and try to remember and figure it out.

Was I always heard mc Everyone always says Hammers like a real ass dude, for real, for real, like he's certified. Like but but you also hear like he always had like a big entourage with him.

Oh he had a big assentsraage.

Yeah, like you you'd come on the stage, you know, your little hype man and maybe one little dancer, and he'd come out with like sixteen dancers, crazy, you know what I mean, and a hype man that was like Little John back then, like screaming and shit talking shit.

So yeah, that was crazy man.

It was a good experience to have those tours, you know, and then with cypress you like I already knew. I already knew what's going to happen. I was like, the success is waiting for us in the future. We just got to get to it.

Fellas I was gonna say for you, though, what are the things that you could give advice to somebody who's an independent artist, maybe has like a modest following. How can they really monetize music now? Because I feel like it's not what it used to be. Streaming doesn't pay the greatest.

Well, you got to build a career, man, So I think you got a tour. You got to go through shows, man, even if you're not getting paid. You go playing for the nine people, always doing the place. The next time you're playing from the twenty, next time you're playing front the thirty five. You know, in two years and be

Bro, You you got to build the fan base.

You gotta go build it.

I always tell people like, just because you have a big song doesn't mean you have a big following. There's people who have platinum records that can't sell a fucking concert ticket period, Like.

And that's going to tell you where you're what fans you really have? Man?

Is it like are you actually getting streams because you have features? Or are you getting streams because you have fans that really love you? And then that's going to translate to those people will come out and don't support you shirt.

So a lot of that ships.

It's a little pumped up, you know what I mean when you got a lot of features on your records, because you'll see all you don't you can't sell a hard ticket outside of you can't even sell a hard ticket in your city.

You can only get on shows with motherfuckers.

I was gonna ask you, you tell me the story on how you and Alchemist met and how he became a part of the sol.

I met al when he was like thirteen.

I had this manager and they was like, hey, you want to make a lot of money, and I was like, well when you talk about six. So we got this little rap group, two little white kids from Beverly Hills, and I was like, get that bullshit the fuck out here.

Yeah it was James Conson.

Yeah. I didn't meet him. I didn't see him.

I was just like the concept of that shit was like, were you trying to do like a criss cross?

Yeah, but white Chris Raby House of Pain.

And I was like, so I think they ended up bringing him to be real and be real work with him. But then I met al and I was like, Oh, this is kid's cool as fuck. He reminds me of me, like just like just tenacious, fucking worker, like worker and just the love and the fucking and smart and just work and work and work and.

Just on point.

I was like, Okay, I'm gonna give this kid access and let him be around and then like I'm gonna just cut all this shit you have to go through and just put you right here.

You were the biggest group in the world.

Now in the studio, going on tour, hanging out, you know what I mean, and just like give him access because I knew all he needed to do is be around it. He's such a fucking smart kid and such a sponge. You'll figure it out, you know what I mean. Just give him access to the ship.

Was it was he always wanting to step away from rapping and just focus on producing.

When I met him, he didn't make beatsh it okay, And then when he did that first time, they was they wasn't there. He was learning learning, he was really he was a real premier fan and and it was just like you know, some sea level premiere like kids ship, and he was just I'll be like, nah, that's not it, bro. But you knew, like I always knew, Il has that that that's it, that it thing, that special fucking thing.

Yeah. Crazy, and then eventually you know, now he's he's alchemist Grabby Navina.

He's the illess in the game right now.

Man, I agree, Man, I was just saying, like his like last couple of year run has been like it's so crazy, Like think about the stuff he's done with Boldie, with Freddy, Like he's just been just relentless.

He hasn't done nothing different. He's been working this hard all these years. It's just you know, it's just timing. It's just it's the perfect storm.

You know.

It's like the way the music is and the way the the what we like, the culture's growing, and then just the right artists at the right times with all the momentum he's built up over the years.

You know what I'm saying.

I was gonna ask you your production process, how much has it changed over the years, because back in the day, everybody we have their go to equipment. Nowadays, like I'll like know guys who I never ever thought would touch like a digital platform, like who will only be on able to They'll only be on pro tools, like what is your y?

It was the same for me, man, I was using the SP twelve. I moved over to the MPC and then it just I wanted to do some electronic shit for fun, and I was like, how do you do this shit? And oh, I can't do it on this shit. I got to learn this fucking computer. And I was like I was the last motherfucker bro to fuck with the computer.

Like you were hanging on to this.

I was hanging on a two inch everything, and I was just like fuck it. So I just took a year and just worked on some electronic music and just took a year and just dialed, just worked on the machine until I figured out, like, oh I can get my sound out of this thing. Because it turned into a lot more sound designing and you know, getting into the fucking the effects.

Yet there's plugins for everything.

Yeah, and then having having not having to have a big studio and learn everything and fucking plugging everything in and just having it right there my fingertips. I was like, actually it started getting fun again for me, super fun again, you know. And then and then my daughter got to a certain age where I was like, oh, I don't got to fucking be there all time.

So you know, it's like six years ago. That's when I was like, oh, it's about me again. Now it's my time. Kids are raised. Shit's all good, all right, y'all. I love everybody, but it's my time. I'm gonna be greedy now. It's the most freeze.

I've ever goneve dive right back in.

So I think we've done like, you know, thirty four to thirty five projects in the last six years.

All right, we got to stop the interview real quick. Tell you about our folks at my Bookie, our partners at my Bookie. Man. Listen, football season is approaching. It is preseason right now. I can feel it. Just have my first fantasy draft. It's time to get this fucking money. NFL is here. Go to my bookie dot ag right now. Sign up for a new account. Use the promo code bootleg right now. When you sign up. They're gonna give

Man, it's a lot of them. I just enjoy what I enjoy, man, is just working with people. You know, you got to be a cool motherfucker because sitting a fucking studio with you for.

Two months, you know what I mean? Yeah, we gotta like you rather go walk my dog, you know what I'm saying.

So, you know Mayhem. Every time I work with Mayhem AND's some fucking blessing. It's great, you know what I mean? I love working with may Man, TF Rome Worthy, you know, fucking all these motherfuckers is as cool as fuck.

Man, Who's who's at all the mcs you've ever worked with? Who's the fastest when it comes to just the writing process.

It used to be, It used to be MC eight and then now I went in with them. I went in with Cassius one time, and me and Cassius did four songs in like a few hours, and then Crime Apple came in and did like six songs and four hours. I think when I first met him, damn. And And what was cool about Crime is he was supposed to go back to New York and then it was like he came to my radio show and I was like, yo, if you want to come jump in the lab them all.

That's amazing for you. What is what has changed about because being on the road, you've seen kind of all fascet of that as well. Is it still fun for you to go out and do shows and see the fans in person?

Yeah, I do it more limited, you know, like I still have a good time though, Yeah, I still love a good time, like because I don't have to do it, but like I like to do it, and so when I want to do it, I was like, okay, there's three weeks I'm gonna go do shows, and you know, a couple of times a year, I'd grab a month as to go do some shows.

Yo, when you guys were doing like the early cybersoship, are you guys like on any psychedelics back of the day shrooms shrooming? Would you say? Like, cause, I don't know if you've noticed, but shrooms are kind of becoming like the.

Thing right now. So they see that. No, it was on that ship in the eighties.

Man, it's crazy to see it. It's like it's like normalized. Like it's like people like are like micro dos to go to work, Like every wrapper wants shrooms.

Like, yeah, I never seen that coming ever. They were always scared of that shit, you know what I mean.

Yeah, it was.

It was funny because even back in the days, there was no pills in the hood.

The pills were the rock and rollers was fucking with pills. They've never seen pills in the hood ever, you know what I mean. Now everybody's popping.

Pills, and I mean stay away fedanel.

No, there wasn't none of that shit was around. We was kids, like nobody. We didn't even see pills. Man, it was just weed and shrooms.

What have you ever had a really bad trip on shrooms?

No, never had a bad trip.

That's good.

Never had a bad trip.

That's a good thing because you hear them bad trips is what scares everybody off.

Yeah, they do too much.

Man, You got to ease into that ship, you know what I mean, Just seeze into it a little bit, figure out and get you get your footing and figure out what works for you, and do a little bit more. And do a little bit more if you want to go there otherwise, you know, even my first time, like I ate an eighth.

That's what the on we told you to do. Eat an eighth and you fucking.

It's a pretty serious amount that sh It's.

The fucking walls of melting, you know. But I wouldn't recommend anybody to start eighth. Nah, I wouldn't do that.

I watched a couple of years ago when the mister cartoon Estevan documentary came out. I think it was called Ellie Originals. Right, it's on Netflix. Everybody should go watch it because I think it's really dope, like for people to kind of see like like just both of their come ups and like how integral and like hip hop both of them are. I just remember the mister Cartoon

Check it out? Man?

Like for me, man, seeing my team win is the dopest shit for me to see where they come because all my motherfuckers is killers.

You know.

Look to see how you know, from being fourteen years old to what he's doing is like amazing for me to see cartoon to step on.

Like Steve On was working at the.

Door of a club, but I knew him and he didn't get high. He was always on point, and I was like, hey man, I was like, yo, I got to I need a road manager for this new group. He goes, what is a role manager? I go, it's easy, I'll teach you. I got this new group called House of Pain. You want to be the road manager? He was like, fuck it. So he started being the road manager.

You know.

When he was on the road, his dad was like a son, here's a camera document your time on the road. And then we'd have photographers taking pictures that would charge just thirty fucking thousand dollars for some trash.

Cheese, and I was like thirty thousand.

Yeah, the budgets were crazy, and I was like a man, fuck these dudes. You know what, you take the pictures, homie, let the homie get the check. And that's how he started shooting us.

Wow.

And that's what the whole soul assess and shit was is to build our own economy and just hire each other. Anytime we hired these other motherfuckers and put them in a position to win, they would never come back and return the favor, you know what I mean.

And those were the error that was like the air were where like labels were just like getting like they were. They were like, like you said, a thirty thousand dollars budget for a photographers insane, right, So you would be like you would always hear these stories about like labels, like you'd get your invoice or your oh.

Yeah, there's your money. They're spending your money.

So they don't spending your money that you have to recoup and they you know.

So they know they're going to recoup it because you're selling four million records.

So crazy. So, like you said, you like a lot of the shit you would see on some of these like spreadsheets, you'd be like, wait, we paid this much for this.

Like a lot of artists don't even look.

I got a homie that could do it, you know what I'm saying.

Yeah, And a lot of artists they let the managers and everything and there everybody else is just as long as they get they cut and they're just skimming. They're getting paid off top anyways. A lot of times they don't give a fuck. But yeah, it was a lot of that ship man. So and then you know, so that started happening with a step On and then Cartoon came along up a little bit later, and then you know, we first started letting Cartoon do shit for us around

I went to I went to that tour, yeah, as I was a child, and I went back. I got backstage and I saw I met Sophia. Sophia I think was on the road with Exhibit at the time.

I think so, yeah, yeah, I think there was funning around back in the day.

Yeah. And I was like because at the time, my best friend's brothers Rocker, right, so like we had the Liquid crew he you know, Roco with he linked us with Exhibit, so we would always be like, oh, it's Rock's little brother.

Ki.

I remember we snuck our ass backstage at the Phoenix tour date of that of that Anger Management tour. That was a crazy So.

We bring cartoon because you know, you're sitting backstage for fucking five sex.

If you want to get blasted, yeah, just set.

Him up backstage. And he got everybody in that whole tour.

I think he did what he was supposed to do, took opportunity and did what he was supposed to do. A lot of motherfuckers get those opportunities.

Oh, I gotta like for the motherfuckers who won. I got a list of fools who just sat around smoking weed and drinking and then complaining and complaining, complaining, complaining that they didn't.

I was like, bro, put you in this in a situation. I'm not going to force you.

I put you in the game. Come on, run the ball for that.

What do you do outside of music these days? For fun? For recreation?

Like what is your workout? Workout?

Man, movie, tie, hit the bags, go hiking, fucking business yeah, like five six different businesses, you know, and just fucking holidays with the family, you know what I mean, go shooting. Just a bunch of different ship with the homies.

I just got I want to say, last year, I got I got a bunch of cyper shit center me in the mail because didn't you.

Get you guys put out It was the thirtieth Yeah, the anniversary first album.

Yeah, I got like I think, I got a rolling tray, I got like a can't, I got disposable camera. I got a bunch of cool ship. You guys obviously have been more active recently as a group than than in past times. What is the current situation, uh, in terms of like any new music coming out or is that something that you guys.

Me and b were recorded.

I think about four songs last year, but just nothing no, No, talks about nothing really right now, you know, I mean just a lot of road ship we're putting together. We're putting together something called the Cypress Experience where you'll come in there'll be all like future tech three D and and you know the those big as domes.

Yeah, yeah, they got one downtown in l a wonder.

Yeah, I went to I think that Punk went downtown. Yeah, that Punk had a sick one.

Yeah.

So we're putting something like an immersive of Cypress experience that'll be fire. I want to take what they're doing a step further and you know, have it, have have a three D and then have it take you to little little metaverse.

Is it crazy like to see your guys, Because I was thinking about this the other day because I'm like, you guys have so many like crazy stories and like wrinkles to your guys's careers as a group and also just solo wise, would you guys ever do like a Netflix or straight out of Compton type of movie but surrounding Cypress. So the thing maybe a series or something.

What we're talking about is a sol as sessions because then I could tell in that I could tell a full Cypress story and I could tell a full mug story and to be real and an alchemist and a cartoon step on and you know everything else. So I think that would be something. I think that can even go further.

Yeah, that'd be crazy.

But yeah, we're in the process right now working with Sony on an animated series.

Oh shit, that'd be crazy. That's dope, man, it's been dope to just see you. You just turning up be reals turning up doing dope content too, Like it's just been dope to see man. So the new album is out, Soul Assassin's Three Death Valley. The movie is the movie on YouTube?

Yeah.

No, the movie drops on the thirteenth, Okay, yeah, yeah, September thirteenth. I'm probably on Amazon where we're doing screenings all month, New York, San Francisco, Chicago. I just did I just did them Tokyo. They're going to screen it in Europe. So just screening the whole the movie all month.

You guys got a big fan base in Japan, right, crazy, it's crazy crazy, It's something crazy, Like I just watched this YouTube video, Like there's something about like parts of Japan where they're just like extremely infatuated with La culture, oh.

One thousand percent. When when they you wouldn't look like they look like the homies, low riders and everything, you wouldn't even know. They think it's the homie from East La. Right, So you talk to them, you know what I mean? But yeah, and when they do something, bro, they refine it, They refine it, They refine it to its simplest form, and they master the shit out of it and ended up doing it better than you.

That's great.

It's their appreciation for everything they do. Man, they just sit back and watch and rEFInd the fun out of it, even the fashion, even their cat and even there there everything the fuck they do.

Yeah.

So September thirteenth movie, Well, hey, what what's verse on this album that you have to wait?

The longest war slick Rick slick Rick about a year.

I had a guess slick record Scarface would be my guess.

Face was knocked it out in a week, really bomb shout out to Scarface, shot to Brad jordans Man. I was like, damn, quick as fuck, hit me on the phone and mugs, what do you want? What are we going for on this? And I told him it was like, okay, I got you and the Boom send him like two days later.

That's fire Man. Anything coming out or anything that's in the can. In terms of clap albums, I'm sure you got a few that that already finished.

Or Yeah, we got like about sixteen projects in the works right now, but we're going to drop first of the year.

It was gonna be Mayhem Record and the TF Record. Those are going to probably be the first projects coming out fire like February March, February March.

Okay, being a lookout for those go get the album. The album is the who's who have just hip hop? My goodness.

Yeah, they all murdered that shit too. Man.

You know you got a crazy lineup of Man, the track list thing is unbelievable in twenty twenty three.

Yeah, so you delivered, man, Thank you brother, sure, thanks for having me the LEGI.

Yes, fire brother Man. I appreciate you brother too. Hey, what up man, you just watched another episode of the Blue leg Cap podcast brought to you by Hard Dean. Baby shout out to the family at Hard Dean. Don't forget. Make sure if you're in Las Vegas you get into that taxi as soon as you land to get into that uber say take me to hard Dean, all right, they gonna take get you. Taken care of the most craziest premium selection of cannabis you'll ever find. Under one roof.