Damizza details how he put Snoop & Dre back together

All right, job.

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Hello, Welcome to the gangst the Chronicles podcast, the production of iHeartRadio and Black Effect podcast Network. Make sure you download the iHeart app and subscribe to Against the Chronicles. For my Apple users, hit the Purple Michael on your front screen. Subscribed to Against the Chronicles, leave a start rating and comment Jill, you know what it is? Another episode a gangst the Chronicles. I'm with the homie big steal man. Hey, it's been a long time. You just

Yeah, man, it's all good. Man.

Tell people they treat us a little differently overseas, man. Seemed like you get a little more respect overseas, and and people really appreciate.

Where you come from.

You know, how long you've been putting in uh work, trying to represent whatever form of hip hop you may call your shit, you know, just to be able to go outside of the States and see that, at least what I've been able to do, uh is greatly appreciate it. When you got sold out shows in different countries and people can barely speak English but they know your motherfucking song's word for word. That's that's just appreciation, you feel me.

Yeah, it's appreciated for sure.

Man.

I noticed that too when I went over to Japan. Over in Japan you get Michael Jackson treatment, England you get Michael Jackson treatment. Germany you get Michael Jackson treatment, and over here it's kind of just like, oh, what's up, man, because everybody over here is a rapper, Everybody over here got a podcast, everybody over here actor, everybody got something going on. But it's all good though. Ate you a legend, man.

I think it's just different levels of you know, you know, it's it's a little difficult you know in some in some places, and all just depends on how people received you when it comes to over here. You know, we got a lot of different artists, a lot of different

You know.

Uh that's how it works today, which is you know, no disrespect. Because a lot of niggas died and UH got locked away for trying to be true to the to the the hood life. But uh, you know, it's a it's a give and take, you know what I'm saying, especially when you come from the from the streets and you are the artists. Uh you Like I said, I never got into it to glorify one side. I was just making music because niggas was struggling, you feel me.

It's almost like this, you know, which is a good segue and the introduce him to Night's guests. He's the program director from ninety five ninety seven, from nineteen ninety seven on up to two thousand and five. Two thousand and six, that one of the biggest. It was the number one radio station in the country at his time under his regime, and I think it was Power one oh six was number one and Hot ninety seven was number two.

Well, I mean both were number one in their respective markets, but I oversaw Power one o six and then I spent a lot of time at Hot ninety seven, and then I had thirty two stations in the metal.

That's right, you worrying charge of hot ninety seven four a minute. Tom Yep added.

Two of the little chem shooting they called me in the comments, and you know.

He shouldn't need an introduction, but this is Damian Young, and he's pretty much the one that's responsible for bringing Gangster rapped to the rhythmic format because you came right in during the time the whole death row thing jumped off, whole defferent thing jumped off. And that's why when I was asking eight if he had mixed, because I.

Just knew you knew him that we never met before. I just knew him all day because I just knew.

I said at that time, he was like, you know, as far as Gangster rep go, Eight was like, you know.

God out here, I definitely knew who was the records to us.

Yeah, that's that's maybe some of that disrespect you was talk about, I said, and I thought about it. I said, eight didn't have a lot of records on power.

I didn't have a lot of records on the radio period, you know, Not that I didn't see radio as valuable too, I just I just I never geared my music towards radio. And that goes back to when when I started rapping in the garage with the homie making tapes. You know, I always saw music as a struggle. Everybody did different shit, you get me. We had the niggas who would get you in the party and shake you up. We had the motherfuckers who you know, had the danceable.

Tunes and all of that. I was.

I always considered my music, uh, the score for the neighborhood. So you know, all those stories and all those ship that we saw, I wanted to put a sinister soundtrack to that shit.

That's why I don't know.

I never thought about making club friendly songs or uh songs that that that's that Epic could go, you know, pursue on the radio or whatever. I never thought of it. And then the crazy shit about it was the label never asked me to do that type of ship. They didn't have touch me for a radio friendly songs.

Did you know how valuable you were to the Epic system? Think about this, They was gonna get a gold or playing them album all you ever hear it didn't have to spend no money on radio.

I thought, honestly, I was probably a write off to Epic because I mean, should Epic had Michael Jackson at the time, they had Pearl Jam, they had shaw Day, you know they I just.

Thought about that. You never try to get a record with shut out. I mean Epic Records.

Many they were distributing Death Champan Sony Sony was distributed.

But like me at Epic, I mean, who could you do?

Like again, they had at the time when I signed to Epic Records, they had Michael Jackson who had just came off a thriller.

They had Pearl.

Jamm, who was one of the biggest motherfucking rock bands at the time, and they had shaw Day. So that's cole Ros was a write off. Nigga, shit hit. I wasn't those significant. I didn't get no I didn't get no significant. They Epic didn't know what to do with rap music back then. They had no idea what to do with it. Because, like I said, when you look at those three artists, nigga, they was selling the label,

They didn't know what the fuck to do it.

And you was different ten years right.

I was at Epic from.

I want to say, about ninety one ninety two till about ninety seven, see that.

And I came in at ninety seven.

Yeah, you came in ninety seven.

So yeah, I left Epic right at the like you said, at the height of death row and whatever. But I left Epic because everybody got fired. They brought in a game, the new motherfuckers. I think they had brought in Ron Sweeney and a couple of motherfuckers and they didn't know what they was doing beforehand. So I just decided to say fuck it and did my last record, and I was it.

Yeah, before we before we go into this conversation with my men and the music, because we got a lot to talk about, bro, I gotta, you know, we gotta dig in the trash can a little bit and talk about the news and goings on and the musics of what's going on the internet land right now. You know. When I was on my way up here, my phone was blowing up. The people was telling me, Man, did you see the stuff with Diddy? You know, did you

Yeah, I have no idea. What. Yeah, I know you don't do it try to. I believe that motherfucker is innocent, proven guilty, and and and and I'm with all of that ship too.

But I've learned right now to just stay the fuck off my phone when it comes to looking for you know, because man, when I was in when I was overseas, man, it's just.

They don't do all that over there do that.

Motherfuckers wasn't on their phone and worried about Instagram and and and social media and all that shit, and it just you know, I got time to not have to fuck with it because everybody knew I was overseas on tour. So it's just crazy how every time you can go

Gonna tell you the say it. That's part about it, man. Like the whole thing with Benzeno, you have people away.

You see what I'm saying. It's just shit, man, It's just it's just a g shit.

Say was this right? The stuff with Bzino, This grown man is on their crime and people think this is a joke. I'm like, man, a lot of these dudes got mental stuff going on. Man, They need some help. Like my boy, my man Benzino shut off to Benzino. He a friend of the show. He's been on here before. You know, you had Benzeno, you had the stuff with Kodak.

Talked to Benzino not even like maybe a month ago, like you know so that I mean, not like whatever, but it's just like it's just a gang of shit man, And I don't know like the end game is it for is it for money? Is it for popularity? Is it to is it the bush your status?

You know what I think? Though, bro, me and you, now we coming here and we do this show faithfully every week. You've always shown up unless it's just like an act of God. That's the one way we ain't here right right. We just had us some time off because we always take time off from the last season. This season, people you know, hit me up online when the show coming back. It's like, damn, I'm not a machine. I need I'm an actual human being. Me and eight are human beings. We need a break sometimes.

Oh yeah, you know said I was gonna come in last week. I was fresh off the plane. Man, I was gonna come in. But you know you gotta take a little time, yeah, you.

Know, cause I was like I was on my death bed last week though. I was as sick as a dog.

You know.

So it's like you look at this and this is what I want to go back to segway into this today in today's market, like we were talking about the beginning of the show. Prior to the show starting, everybody has a podcast. Nowadays it's everything. Yeah, everybody was starting to wrap around ninety seven. Rapping to me felt like a thing that was special. Everybody didn't try to do it back in the day. You know, it wasn't a

Yeah, we took pride and creating stories, you know, from youth life or or just from what the shit we seen as kids, because shit was valued differently when I grew up, you know, five six seven years old.

Times were different. Was it gang banging and shit?

Yeah?

Was it niggas selling dope and going to jail and shit? Yeah?

But man, man, did these cameras and these phones and these social media stages made and have get like like you said, like it used to be like nigga. I know, I knew I wasn't finna be no basketball player. You get me, But now you can't. You can't do that. You feel me. Now, today you got a thousand motherfuckers finna sign their kids up for basketball knowing damn well, Nigga shouldn't be playing back.

They're doing it for the wrong reasons. You get me, Fuck it.

All you gotta do is put in the motherfucking laptop, a couple of little speakers in the microphone in the corner in your kitchen.

Everybody's a rapper, now, you get me. Fuck it.

I'm gonna find a beat program on fucking Internet and start doing some one two one two beats. Everybody a producer now, Like I knew what position to play, I knew I could MC, but Nigga ain't finna get up there and try to DJ just because we got speakers here and I mean turntables and ship and I'm nigga fucked that. I'm DJ eight now, Nigga, I couldn't motherfucking scratch a record or transform and do none of that ship and I'm not gonna fake the funk to do.

You get me.

I'm gonna play my position today. Motherfuckers don't know that. Like I tell you, every time we get on here, some people have people today have a problem with being just normal, problem with that. I fucked that. I can't be nigga. I'm finna be the next this, next that or next that. When you could just be your motherfucker itself.

And this man when he came in, he pretty much because you gotta remember, prior to miser remember we was clowning. We was paving fun with the lines. I'll talk about the then and then then then then everything sounded like a planet of rock beat.

Everything was techno for everything.

Was techno, and this man came in and it started getting a little gangster. So we gonna go. We're gonna go from the We're gonna go from the beginning is but I got a Tolka's part was such a big part of your life? Right when did you come in and decided it was time to shake shit up?

Second I walked in the door, what did you see?

Because La had you know, eight had his own theory about La real. He said, man, it was what.

Well, I mean, it was wide open, like I would you know. I was always somebody who just loved music. So I loved rap music, so I loved Doctor Dre the chronic. I loved uh you know, Snoop Dog. I loved all the easye I loved I drive up and listen to Julio G and kDa, you know, and Tony G and the Mixed Masters and you know, all battle Cat and all of those guys. And you know, when I got there, that was my goal was to emulate kDa, but bring it back on that level and make hip

And that was a like record to me, you know, even though they subject matter, you know, Ain't no Fun if the homies can't have nothing, Yeah, but that was a fun record. That's not like a record that should have been on the regular to me.

Well, but the thing was is it was it wasn't really sensorable, you know what I mean. Like even when you muted the stuff, you knew what they was saying. Definitely, you know what I mean. So, I mean I had some barriers to overcome, but I proved them each time. And like, for instance, I put Dray and Snoop together for two thousand and one. It wasn't for two thousand and one. It was because I wanted to see the show.

This is dope, man, you know. So you just pretty much got the have your own party like so you said, I'm gonna do this, so you just like you power.

Was my personality. Sorry, it's all good.

So you just like like you programming your own playlist on the iPhone right now. You said, I want to see this and this, let's put this together.

If you let the ultimate rap fan into a building and said you have a transmitter, that's what it was.

That's what it was. So so tell me. So when you first came in, you said you started right off the rip, like we go shake some stuff up. Oh yeah, And then you had this monster of a record label which was deaf ro. Did you hear about the ass whoopers and everything that was going on? Hell?

Yeah, I was friends with Johnny J. Johnny J was my first mentor in production. Yeah, resk in peace Johnny J. Yeah, rec Johnny J. And Ronnie King. Shout out to Ronnie King, and you know, those were like the first people that I met when I came to LA. So you know, it was right as you know all that was going on, and Johnny actually gave me unconditional love by Tupac and it was exclusive content for us, but it made death

Now, your first interaction with Shug, how was that? Because I'm pretty sure you the radio dudes, so I'm pretty sure he was freaking you nice. And just for the record, Shug wasn't out here whooping on everybody. Now like some of that stuff was kind of blew up. He was whooping some asss, but everybody wouldn't get in the ass whooped them.

Well, he he had just gotten out of jail, and the Anaheim Police Department came to me. We had a powerhouse and they came to me and they said, we're gonna shut your powerhouse down. We hear Sugar Knights coming. Because I had Snoop, I had Corrupt, I had Nate, I had you know what I mean, I had everybody that used to be on his label. So they said, you know we're gonna shut it down. I said, well, why isn't somebody just call him and invite him. Then

That's what it is. Sometimes that's all it take, because I'm gonna tell you something.

And he was cool as shit. He partied in the thing and had a blast. And I'll tell you the funny thing, though, is the next morning I didn't realize that he had all those Compton police officers with him, you know what I mean, like during that era. So the next morning, Sunday morning, was a knock at my door and I walked downstairs. I opened the door and there's a basket there with a bottle of champagne and all this kind of shit, and it said my with compliments,

Mean exactly, But he obviously, see what should you never know? It could be too fold. Yeah, he was just showing you he appreciated you. But in the same tone, he'd let you know I could find your ass his need be so you better keep this nice guy and stuff going on.

But but he always was, you know what, He never gave me an excuse. I was always honest with him, you know what I mean, if there was a record he wanted to play that, he'd say, come up. You know. One time I remember he wanted to come up and play the Crooked Eye single and uh and I said, well, if I tell the mixes that you're coming, they're not going to show up. So we surprised the mixers and when he walked in, they all hit the back wall, like, they all got up, and I'm like.

He's not going to kill you. Like see, that's kind of like you know yea.

And Jimmy Steele, the program director by the way, when he was smoking his cigard and there, I said, sure, you can't smoke in here, and he put you put the thing out. He's like, I'm sorry, mis and my program director literally shit himself, Like I mean, it was just like, dude, what are you into? How are you?

That's the thing though, man, And this is what I'm gonna say about that. You can't you can't do your business, make black culture your business, but be scared to deal with the people.

Well that's because you know the image that you know that was put off by past you know, past situations or you know.

What you hear a word of mouth that scared some motherfuckers.

You know, you hear a motherfucker and hung a nigga off a balcony, or you hear a motherfucker and had motherfucker's asses whooped in a private room in the red room, or niggas hear stories so and especially at the executive level, that's scared of shit out of motherfuckers. When niggas got to the point to where they start walking in labels and offices with baseball bats and ready to beat motherfucker's ass over records and songs played, that changed a lot of error for motherfuckers.

Yeah, but you know what the thing is though, Miser made it cool for everybody to come to the station, though, because you just didn't extend that treatment to Shug. Yeah, I guarantee you eight, because you was on priority around that time, ninety seven, right ninety eight, ninety eight, I guarantee you. If somebody could have connected y'all too, just took the time, just did their job and just say, hey,

Yeah, we kind of switched it up a little bit when I got the Priority through Mac ten through Who Banging?

So was that the Mark Benisher? I think Mark was.

There's a few dudes there. It was a few dudes there at probably already at the time when Mac t and that Who Banging?

Master P was the same thing. I mean, he had that or whatever of you know, don't fuck with him, you know what I mean? Like, but you know, the thing was is like what because Mark Benniss was a was a big influence on me, and he taught me just kind of how to deal with people, you know what I mean, It's like you're gonna experience this. And he actually put me in a room with P and Boz to see if they could intimidate me and kind of thing, you know what I mean. And I was just like it is what it is.

That's the one thing I could say about you was this. You definitely was fucking with everybody. That's why when they told me he had mixed, I was like shop that. Let me know. The Priority just dropped the ball like a motherfucker, you know what I mean.

Yeah, And then like I said, I was I've never been a.

Nigga who quest for you know that type of shit, you know, And there's people out there, you know, like or we need to get with the we need to get with the program director, and we need to do this, and when you know, managers and all that shit. I never had that be getting.

You can see that ain't necessarily your job.

But on who banging, I mean, i had such a great relationship with mac Tenna.

I'm just surprised that, yeah, because I didn't. Again I was. I've always been sort of lone wolf type of motherfucking artists. When when the work is done at the studio, nigga, I'm out of here and I'm going on the other side of the motherfucking planet, and you probably ain't gonna see me until it's time to do something. I wasn't a nigga who just hung out like a lot of people, you know, were active in the community. We're gonna go to concerts, We're gonna go. I never did that ship. Yeah,

That's why we never met. You know, he wouldn't going to hang out type of guy. I just do the clubs.

I didn't do the radio station functions, the powers and the big cons.

I didn't do that shit.

Well, I told you. When we first came in and men was sitting here talking and we was talking about you, and I said, Man, to be honest with you, I love doing the show with eight because Eight is really no nonsense, Like you always gonna know what it deals with him, but it ain't no ulterior motives, it ain't no bullshit. He gonna tell you what he thinks on

Yeah, it's enough niggas for that. It's enough niggas to play that position.

I don't. I don't.

I'm not gonna play that position. So you just have to know what it is.

Man.

I'm a simple motherfucker. But like you said, I don't like the bullshit around because there's a lot of When you've been in this radio music shit, man, you.

See a lot of fucking bullshit.

Ye, And you see a lot of motherfuckers that you think are one way.

Motherfuckers really ain't authentic. Man.

You know, some niggas is cutthroat, some niggas don't give a fuck about shit, and so that make you really you know, you gotta stand with your back against the wall and just watch motherfuckers coming and feel.

With him saying that niss you was in a real pivotal time. Man, it was dangerous. It's still dangerous on the West Coast, but it was dangerous as the motherfucker bet Yeah, especially if you had something that somebody wanted and as soon as somebody see you, they just see Man, this dude can change my life. He could play my record. Knowing how the industry work, he can play my records

And the average.

Motherfucker that listening to radio only listen to it for fifteen minutes at a time, Am I correct? Is the fifteen minutes y? They only listen to it for fifteen minutes at a time. So what they're trying to do when people wonder why they're hearing the same damn record all the time, is because that record shows test good and call out and they trying to catch it. So when eight getting his car driving back to BFE, they can hear the records that hit, records that they like

Yeah. In fifteen minutes, you want to have like the hottest record in the world, the one classic that makes you go oh wow, and one that's like either coming down or coming up kind of thing. So I mean you want to keep people's attention as long as possible. You're fighting for quarter hours is really what it is the fifteen minutes, and the more fifteen minutes you get, the higher the ratings go. So every fifteen minutes a million people would tune in. But how did you how

And that's dope and it actually worked. Now did you ever have those moments? Is like say, it was a real dangerous ear? Fuck?

Yes? Did you?

Some NIX you can talk about what's the most tripped where artists really just just trip you up? What artists aren't anybody manager whoever?

I mean, I've had you know, people pull out guns, I've had people offer money. I've had rappers that I did favors for it, and they didn't understand why I did it, or offered me guns, bring me backpacks and hear them clank, and it's like, you know, I was like, that's not what I'm doing this for. If it was right for my radio station, I fucking did it. So I mean, how long did I spend with you still? I mean explaining everything?

Man, he broke it down. I mean, you know, I was ourtist. I was young at one time. Everybody you know, and so I'm artist, and so I'm like everybody else. I'm kind of ignorant at that time, because you know how you in that young mode, you think everybody hate you know you're right. So I came up there with the intention of not liking this motherfucker. You stopped me

Well, and it only took a couple of those type of meetings before everybody kind of got it. You know what I'm saying. The dude's not an asshole. He'll either play your record if it's right for the radio station, or he'll tell you why he can't. Eventually got a record that was playing. I got.

I had a couple of records that was played.

I got a good story for you.

The tribe in Hawaii, Okay, what.

Happened with so I should send the Buya tribe to Hawaii to uh disrupt the uh the reunion with Drey and Snoop, and Snoop came out and he's like, the Buja tribes downstairs. You know we're gonna go down in this. I said, hold on, I'll take care of it. All the white bore. You're gonna handle this. I said, don't worry about it. I got it. So I went down there and first thing I said was back up before

Guys and the boot Yo. That could have went bad, it's real bad.

But you know, at the time, I really, you know, I was in. I just didn't give a fuck. I was the happiest night of my life. I got the concert done, you know, this kind of stuff. I was gonna let.

Somebody, you know, so you knew though, you knew in the history that should hand with him, because when Drey left Death Rope, there was some you know, oh yeah, it was some shit behind it.

It wasn't no easy shit, you know well, And he dropped the Aftermath album and then he dropped the Firm album. So when I went on the air with the promotion, I got a call from Jimmy Iaven saying, what are you doing? Why do I have a two hundred and fifty thousand dollars bill on my desk for a producer who does and produce out Who's label? I'm just about to try to sell like he was ready to sell

And so you you was responsible for putting me in and go do their record. Well.

I put them together for the show, and then when they licked, when they clicked up, then the conversation started. You know. DJ Jam was really a big instrumental person in that as well. Like we I invited them both to Powerhouse first and Snoop was performing, and I somehow talked Dre into coming and I handed him a mic and I had Jam ready and I you know, when he when he first showed up, I switched the names on the door so that he'd walk into snoops dressing

Started that they wound up bumping each other man, And I know that you changed the whole dynamic of how the West Coast was getting down. I'm talking about not just not just in LA radio, but what they was doing up in the Bay because power was so big at that time. And I remember going to one of the That was the one good thing about that era, right, just the concerts they used to have, right, And I remember I got to go up there, man, because I

Or nothing but hooks.

It was the craziest it was. It was the craziest shit ever. So what do you think the hardest aspect of that job was, man, as far as you dealing with so many personalities in LA. Was the gang shit a big because you because you was pushing gangs the rep.

Oh yeah it was. I mean, you know, you can't deal and to wrap without dealing with gangs. And there was some pressure and things like that at times. But I mean, everybody, you know, if you're just cool, just explain it out people. You know, when you said like, there ain't no normal motherfuckers around, right, like, we was just normal motherfuckers. So if you came up and you kicked it, you realize that we're just real. It's just now radio has got this funny shit, you know, and

You know what that is to me? Man?

Is that bad mentorship?

Yeah? Bad mentorship? And nobody is actually being produced today. Yeah, Because what happened is you get a dude to buy a beat online and that beat may already have a hook on it. They just think the hook soundfly. They not gonna try to write around a hook or nothing like that. They just go throw a verse. They gonna email it and get they homie on there. They gonna bug the shout of eight. See if they can get

I asked the new artists. And this will blow you away. I asked the new artists the other day, has anyone ever vocal produced you? And he said, what's vocal production? M you know what I mean?

Like it don't sound you know what it is? Man? Today it's like this. See hey, you know how you talk about nobody want to be the normal motherfucker. And this is the biggest thing I saw, man, Cause you know, I went after I stopped, you know, doing music, which I never really did. I went, I gotta putublishing deal and so I was working as a A and R. They wound up behind me as A and R for the publishing company. And the biggest thing I learned is that

Dog.

It don't make you popular, but I wouldn't go waste no more of my time. I'd tell him, man, this ain't it, this ain't it. And it would be times to where I did get some I would be mining for gold and find some stuff. That's how I found a kid from Dallas to did ice cream paint job, you know, And that wound up he and my first platinum record, you know, because it was like I had a dude that sends demos into some beats, right, and he had this one kick. I forget that, I forget

It's some selfish motherfuckers. Now, I'm just saying that. I mean, people just don't give people shots like that.

Well, you know what, I didn't know no better back then that shit giving people's shots eventually want to have cast.

Me My damn job, I did that ship all day.

You feel what I'm saying?

So music, I know you hold yeah that, but the times was different, you get me. Uh, giving a giving a motherfucker's shot back in on time was a motherfucker who was really you know, going to a studio and getting and getting molded and crafted and being able to follow niggas like eight or Snoop or Dre or or the forefathers before him.

You said the keyword craft.

I mean, today motherfuckers are just trendy. They want to do whatever is trendy or whatever think whatever they feel is gonna get them a lot of clicks or a lot of streams. And you know, I can't go buy me a hundred thousand dollars chain, and you know a lot of niggas. You know, the subject matters became one sided.

Nigga.

I'm talking about hustling some money, popping some pills, and fucking some bitches. And the younger generation got a hold of that and it was like, Oh, we're finna run with this shit. Fuck it good nigga money, my bentley, my nigga, we pour or whatever we drinking, and your bitch or your nigga, you get me. That's what rap became. Like you said, there was no there's no substance.

You get me.

Motherfuckers might hate on a run DMC or or a slick rick and shit, but you get songs. And that's the difference today. I said, motherfuckers don't Yeah, you can rap, motherfucker, but can you make a song?

Well, you know, the biggest thing you said, though, eight, is that you stayed in your own lane. That was one of the things I respected about certain I got, like a I got a certain group of artists that I hold up there like it's the kind of like the Pantheon. It's scarface, Yeah, it's MC eight, it's cool g rap and it's kind of like a toss up between the mother two. I got like probably like two or three more? Is the dude from the roots? What's

You feel what I mean?

Do you think that in this era it seems like guys like they can kind of flourish. Do you think it's actually a need for radio nowadays?

I think radio is all fucked up. I think it hasn't evolved, you know what I mean? Like so, I mean, as it stands right now, it's the only media that has not made the jump to the phone. There's no app it's not you know, iHeart needs to be completely I mean, the redundant costs in iHeart is what's killing iHeart. I mean they spend what eight billion to make to you know, some weird stuff like that. I mean, there's there's ways to evolve it and it just hasn't been done yet.

Yeah, you give me an eight just fucked off. Sorry, no, it's all good man, But that's what we do.

We talk.

We don't do no sensorship. Sorry, no, tell the true We don't sensor nothing, man, because but I just I've.

Always thought differently, you know what I mean. So I'm not saying it's right or wrong, but you know, I mean, I made gangster rap the pop, do you know what I mean? I know what works and what doesn't.

Because because being from LA, right, me and Glass has had this conversation all the time, Glasses, you know, on the West Coast, gang banging is a part of the coach.

It's just what it is, you know.

You know, when I first came out here, I found out I had certain friends who's like uncles, mama, everybody from the same neighborhood. They were always from the same you know. They It's like a family tradition almost right. And you would never know as you look at this dude's mom like nights older lady, and she used to be you know, she from the hood though, from the neighborhood.

Well, rap is a street based artist expression, thang. I mean it's it's it comes from that. So if it's not organic from that and people don't co sign it and say what he's saying is real and accurate, then it doesn't grow. And that's what where radio is fucked up right now is all these programmers and everybody, they don't have any connection to the street. They don't have little homies, they don't have all of these things around them to where where they can hear what's coming up.

Even what they're doing with the Chicano Brothers now right, with the Mexican on it. Right, they want to have a representation up there, but it's none of it is authentic. Everything is so plastic and phony to where they almost go get the Sacarin version of this. I'm gonna go get the Sacraine version of that, and I think it's a travesty dog outside a Big Boy, there are no other black people in radio.

Now, ned Lae. Unless I'm missing something, well, I mean that hadn't I questioned that a lot too, to be.

A place where the and like I said, not to be discriminating against the Essays or the Asians or whoever participates in this thing we call hip hop. But it was a foundational it was it was a black foundation for hip hop when it started here.

With KD.

Greg Like you said, Uncle Jam's Army. Uh, that was the foundation of West Coat music. And it's it's crazy that out of all these decades of great black hip hop artists that we don't have but big Boy on the radio representing, especially for a place like Kday.

And you know what's funny about it, big Boy, big Boy is the face, right, he's the face. He don't really break no records, as crazy as that sound of my correct.

Well, but the head of the iHeart out here is doc and Docor is black.

Yeah I know that, but a lot of people don't know that. What I'm told about, it's people that you can actually see.

Oh okay, people, I don't know if you when the artists have access to doctor now.

You know, people that you can actually see, you know, the average person out here that ain't in the business. I don't even know who the fuck doctor is. Shut out to doc, you know what I mean exactly, but they probably don't know who he is what I'm talking about, man. And even for the because I can't speak for the Mexican people, right, but even for them, there's so many dope ass Mexican artists that don't get played because they're

To have classifications and ship like that just put music out there. I think.

I think once you start getting once you start classifying ship as something, that's when you open up the room for bullshit. How come? Because I'm pretty sure because I got a lot of essay partner rappers like you do too, eight right, I guarantee you if you hit mister kriminald Lefty gun Play that they want to be identified as just a rapper.

Let me just be a rapper. Why they gotta be a Mexican rapper and get you can't get me started on a whole man, let's get stuff when I got you set sunk? Am I being honest, my man?

But I think that I don't like I said, I they you know, sometimes they want to be identified as you know, like I don't know if just just saying I'm a rapper, because just saying I'm a rapper like that puts you in the category of all the other sorry motherfuckers who ain't rapping good. That to me puts you in a you know, like we representing or you get.

Me, and that's dope.

Ain't nothing wrong with See, I'm not talking about the cultural representation, right, I'm talking about just the whole thing. Right, we just only go play y'all in this time slot or doing this thing. I think it's dope. I remember when Little Rob came with Summer Nights. Look, that was a smash record across every motherfucking thing it is. I didn't give a fuck who you was. You couldn't hate on that record I brought.

I broke that.

Yeah, that's what I mean. But but you feel what I'm saying. It's like let's just have it somehow, because to me, I'm not talking about the cultural I think you supposed to represent your culture with Ladousa, you know, with all that shit.

But I eight hit it on the head. It was when we started this thing or back then, it was for the love of the music, and it was the craft, and it was it wasn't the biggest thing in the world. So all of these white executives and Wall Street and all that kind of stuff, we're't in our mix. Now. All these publicly traded companies own all the radio stations, own all the record companies, the liquor company, Seagrams. When they bought Universal was the beginning of the end of music.

And that's what I mean right there. But you just said it right there. You know, it's time. I don't got nothing against Jimmy Steele hit, but it's time for them to go. After a while. Man, change is always necessary. Missing change is always necessary.

But does it happen though? What happened?

You have when you have somebody in that position, just just like with everything you get me. Of course, change should happen, and there should be more black NFL football coaches, and there should be.

But at the end of the day, does it really and it don't happen? Ates it ain't gonna be Jimmy Steele.

And I'm gonna tell you the talent and I'm gonna tell you this right here, right I don't give a fuck if a motherfucker's black, green or whatever, as long as they from the culture, bro, as long as the motherfucker is at least from the culture that have enough common sense to say, Okay, I'm gonna play this little rod record, Okay, I'm gonna invite shug up to the you know, just shit this common sense, because when.

You're not from culture, you're not from the coach. You not go exercise and com center like shit.

When back in my days when Kid Frost came out, I didn't go or nigga that's a Mexican rapper.

I just went that nigga hard, That's what I'm saying.

Cyprus, he came out exactly, I said, Man, that ship is hard, you get so to me at all, it's to me, it's all about the music you put out, whether you black, whether you whatever. Shit you can be white. I mean shit, if you just put out some good, hard, decent ship, we don't categorize it as oh, that's a white motherfucker or that's a black motherfucker.

Them niggas is niggas go nigga. That record hard is a motherfucker. That's what I go. Now, shit is mediocre. It's just mediocre, Yeah it is. You can't do shit about that. But there is a double standard though, definitely there is a double standard. Trust me speak it well.

Recently, Power was just let go, let Philly fail, go right Philly. Phil has been around almost since the beginning. Yeah, did you bring Philly in? No, Jimmy brought him in. But I'm the one that hooked him, you know what I mean.

He was coming from Texas and he had some second thoughts and Jimmy had me call him and.

Philly, you know, and you look at stuff like that. Philly was a dude that was at their radio station for twenty years and the way they fired him was fucked up. Twenty years man, and you know, Philly.

Didn't even let him finish the sh grab a box and we're gonna walk you out. Shit.

You know. The thing with Phailly I Philly had a love you know, Philly helped people, kissed people off too. You ain't gonna be able to make everybody have you but for the most day, yeah, But for the most part, Philly was a good dude. And if you brought him a record that he liked, he was gonna try to break it. He was gonna break it. Phay help break

They're like, that's it, the ride is over.

You gotta treat motherfuckers better than that, though, Dog.

You expect for motherfuckers to treat people better than that. But in this shrewd world of money and business and there's somebody above you, I mean, some motherfuckers just ain't gonna give you the motherfucking dignity tea you deserve. You get me, and this is Hollywood. Yeah, you know what I mean for that shit all day. Nigga's been doing shit for twenty thirty years and we still trying to

Because see, I'm not mad about the thing about him getting fired. That's just business.

Right.

But to me, especially if motherfucker, like if it's a dude that's been up there for six months, you don't know if he gonna cuts everybody out on an air or whatever like that. Somebody like Philly give him a chance to say bye.

And he's a good guy. You know, he's not gonna do some bullshit. But you pull him off the air before the end of his shift and start. I mean, dude, it's obvious that Morello, god bless him, is being fooled by these people, you know what I mean, the consultants and all this kind of stuff, because how do you tank all of these stations still have a job.

They're trying to keep thy check going, That's what I'm saying.

They're trying to.

Keep thy check going, you know. And I don't want to stay on color all night, man, because it's not important.

Numbers don't like people do.

Everything should be based off analytics. If you're holding your shit down, you keep your job, everybody happy. If you're not holding it down, you gotta go. It ain't nothing personal, it's just what it is, right, It's.

Just what it is. So and you go down for twenty years and everybody is really I mean, they don't have a program director. Everybody has has refused the job. Why because they don't want to work for those with those three motherfuckers that are in charge. You know what I mean, like to you have somebody over there, I mean the owner of the station, but they, I mean obviously haven't got the picture that there's something rotten and you know, your trash can and starting to smell.

Yeah, you know, you had a lot of motherfuckers hating on YouTube all they still doing. You had a whole bunch of and you came out. Yeah you know what I remember, I didn't know you did to save Seiche record at first, and that.

Was which record got fucked up about. That is shade Schist was signed to MS Broadcasting and the first million dollar check was not to fifty cent. It was too MS Broadcasting for Shade Shist.

Oh so Shade was actually signed to the radio.

Stat was signed to the radio station. It was my job to do it.

Oh wow, you see you open up. We're breaking news on here. Now you remember that record eight?

Yeah, I remember that, but it was EMIS's artist.

Okay.

So so when it all hell broke loose, they threw it on me. They were supposed to play the records, but I went through FCC. That's why I never got busted, because I went through FCC attorneys and knew corporate was gonna fuck me at some point.

Let me ask you this, how do a motherfucker get signed to the radio sh ain't it?

Well?

What happened?

Well, it's kind of a long story, but I mean, Shade was a friend of mine and I played a demo of it. They said, because of the ratings and all this kind of stuff, and they saw me producing records from Riot Carey and all these other people. They said, we want some of that money, so produce some records for us and we'll play the records. We'll give you a salary. I got a million dollar deal out of the gate for them, and they didn't play the record.

So you had to go down there and tell them because that was a big ass record.

They sent me to Hot ninety seven to fix Hot ninety seven when Little Kim shot it up. And then they had the game thing. They had jay Z going to Power one on five and the Breakfast Club and all this kind of stuff. Who you think they sent to New York.

You had to go out there and hold it down.

I had to go pull jay Z off the competition. I had to go clean up the Atlantic Low Kim mess, you know, and do all of that. I mean, because people didn't look it's the same thing now that it was then. They didn't know the people to have the conversation to squash the ship.

Yeah, you got a relationship with everybody. And how did you start producing from Ariah here?

She came into the station one night and we just hit it off, and she she just asked, what else I do? I said, oh, I've been making beats. She said, let me hear something. And then she heard that Willie Wonker ship and said, oh, that can be the remix for I still believe. And that's how that started.

That's how that started. And you had actually pretty good friendship with her too.

Yeah, we were cool, said we were cool. It was cool.

Give me that smile, was cool. Miss You smiled like you hit that or something. My friend, you smiled like you tapped that as.

She was. She was a wonderful person.

He's a wonderful person, though she's a bad motherfucker. Nick Cannon, never get any people you over. I have nothing against neck Next. I'm glad they had a good run. They had a good man. You produced on some big ass records, man, and you was fucking with everybody at that time many, I mean everybody. So with the shade shy ship, man, that's a trip. You never found out the truth about shipped later on was every boy and their mama swarping down that that was you, the de of that deal.

You know what what's fucked up is I get blamed for a lot of shit and people take the credit for a lot of shit that I did. You know, what I mean, I just never felt like, you know, I just stay quiet, you know, like like with you, you never addressed beef. No, you know what I'm saying, Like throughout your career you have been a gentleman about that shit, like you just try to stay out the fray, I.

Mean, because motherfucker's gonna have their opinions. And you know, my my beef thing went as far as it did over really just neighborhood gang shit.

And then once I was able to you know, I ain't like on that page.

No, you know, I ain't riding around in the hood with the strap, you know, with the rag down my pocket. You know, I'm fucking out and went from that to a different level. So once that happened, like I'm beef with niggas.

Beef for what like, Yeah, it shouldn't be especially assually in some rap shit, beef with no rap nigga.

You hit me.

Especially at this time, And you know what, mss, It's almost like you was just born to do radio. You've been working in the radio since I was twelve years old. Yeah, how to fuck do a twelve year old kid get a job?

He carefully?

Shit, I was a I was a fourteen, fifteen year old kid hanging around. You know, got introduced to a nigga who was a beat maker and the DJ at clubs, and.

He took me and Chill under his wing.

Nigga, and we was we was young niggas going to club I mean we wasn't we was starting on a rap career.

I was mentorship.

But exactly, Nigga. We go to the clubs, nigga, and we was too young to get in. But shit, nigga, we still be hiding out behind the DJs because we get there early, unload the trucks with the crates and all the records, and so by time the club get to going, nigga, we already in.

That. That was the same you know, check this out though, but the same producer that you took you under his wing as a little here you use.

The remainder of your career pretty much. Oh yeah, Slip did.

Slipp did ninety percent of my my production throughout my mc ACMDUB career.

That's yeah, that's just that's just like intorship, loyalty, keep going. Slip. Slip was Slip was a nigga who was he was you yit me? He was there.

He was known La Sound Control Mob. He knew Lonzo Unknown. His pops had a business where they supplied all the speakers for all the concerts at World on wheels or the Convention Center and shit. So when I got introduced to Slip, he was already in the world of hip hop.

You know. He was a producer.

He had done a lot of techno records, so, and he was a DJ, and he was looking at JO clubs like Water to Bush, Paradise, all that type of ship. I got to hang out a ship like that as a young kid, and.

They got coached the fuck up. That's what they signed was.

Published trying to you, trying to trans trying to transition from because nigga I was still in the hood, you know.

That.

That is what made me go, oh, instead of catching the bus to the hood today, I catch the bus over here to Guardena and go chill with the niggas. They had a fox track in the studio and nothing but a gang of speakers and DJ equipment.

To me, I was fascinated by that ship. It didn't it didn't mean ship.

When we was up at three o'clock in the morning wrapping up cords and ship and then we stop at Tommy Berger's Downtown LA and slipped by everybody Burgers and ship to the nigga. That shit was everything. And I was a young kid, didn't want to go to school, none of that shit. Same shit, miss it. You know some of this business be talking. That's a movie I want to do dog sure, I want to do that. I want to do the Cem dub story. And I really, I'm really on my one of my missions for twenty

I was so bad. I had to you know, shoot a text start and say, man, like I can't. I can't do it. You know, I'm in the hospital. But it made me realize we need to take control of our own stories, man, and we need to tell our own stories so people not written out of history, because a story should be written from a factual standpoint, like when they wrote like if somebody ever writes a story about the gangst the chronicles, I want every part of it too, the good, the bad, you know, like everything.

Well part of part of the reason. Or how I was I've I've just can't come back on social media, and you know, over the last couple of weeks, you know, I've hit about a million people. And how I did it was I was watching the what's that Doctor Dre movie with Jimmy Iveen, the whatever I forgot the name of it, but whatever it is, and they were telling the story, Oh yeah, the Defiant One, the Defiant Ones,

People have a tendency to rewrite history.

And rewriting the narrative. And what keeps us, what keeps rap legendary, has always been the narrative. You know what I'm saying, It's a story, you know what I mean, what you're saying about the beginning, middle and in well, they what they do is cut out everybody else and say we did this ourselves so that they can keep the narrative on themselves. They're not gonna tell you that Jimmy called me and said, hey, you know what I mean.

Don't do this.

You know what I mean? But what would have happened to Dre's career if I would have taken that call? Is that? Where would Dre and Snoopy right now? Ain't how much made so much money off of that? How many jobs did that create?

Exactly? Now? You think about doctor Dre right, how many artists he don't work with? That he just don't work with no more? And they wherever they yet, I don't know their personal relationships or whatever like that, but they could have stayed not talking to each other.

And that was the thing he said when I first went to him and said, would you work with Snoop again? Well, I just haven't talked to him in a long time, but I put that motherfucker back on him. And then Snoop said the exact same thing about Dre. So I just put him in the room together. Because it always comes down to some ego shit, this Hollywood bullshit of oh I love you, I love you, but I won't return your call because I don't want to have it.

A lot of that, A lot of that goes back to again, Uh, the egos of the walks of life that you walk came from you know, niggas feeling like, you know, I got to represent a certain a certain gangsterism or hardness too as something that's simple with Yeah, tell a nigga to call.

Me, you get me. It's a lot of how he's doing let me get Really, it'd be just the ego of.

Really our downfall was really because of something else outside of it was nothing really personal. So well, you know, we all make mistakes, we all say stupid shit, we all do dumb things sometimes, but you know, it is what it is.

Get over it, you know what I mean? Like, I know I have ship.

Yeah, let me ask you this. I have a question. Man from the audience. You and Nocturnal, y'all had an affair. You was taking care of Nocturnal.

Nocturnal is a good friend of mine to this day.

That's scared. At the beginning of the West Side Connection, that was a joke, wasn't it.

Yes, I was the fucking producer. I could have muted it. You can't smoke none of my weed, drink dumb on on my hand fucked him, is it? I was a producer. I could have mute. I thought it was funny. He said take it out. We were actually testing the mic. That was a first take, and I just kept it.

Yeah, you know what I forgot about that record means you got some production critics like a motherfucker, And.

I'm gonna tell you all, no, definitely.

Them placements didn't have nothing to do with him his position up at Paul either, because I think at that point she was going already with you.

Well, I mean it was around, there was, it was before, during and after. You know, I was always doing that. But you know, but when I when I was doing radio that, you know, they said I couldn't do production, you know what I mean. I even put out cruising and I wrapped on it. You know what I mean, Like, God, they hated that one, you know what I mean, But it's like, who gives a fuck? This is hip hop?

Yeah you should happen.

Why was the masses upset that you were producing records because they were getting played play your position Like I don't I don't understand that, just like okay, I'm I'm the program director or whatever, but.

That's not fair. You have to produce. I produced, Like I don't understand.

Yeah anything, that's just like you know, that's just like, you know, we got the show, and then I turned around and go, shit, I'm gonna go do me a show. And the next thing you know, I started getting calls from from you know, other motherfucker like, oh, you can't do your own show?

Like what do you mean?

Shit? I would love who's the one to be telling you that you need to be doing the show.

Yeah you know what I'm saying, Like when you stop doing for them and you do for yourself, then they say, wait a minute, that's my spot. Okay.

So they wanted the records or they wanted those they wanted those records.

Yes, like you see y'all so well I can look at this. I could see there.

I could see their sabotaging ways with you know, we got a program director who's going out here producing all these records for Shade, Schie and Mariah.

And so and so, and they're not are records, and you didn't clear them through us. Why would I have to control I'm the one to put them on I'm not I'm I'm a program director here. I'm not signed to you as an artist or producer. So but I could see the workings of that.

You give me jealous motherfuckers and haters are gonna hate because, Okay, this nigga working for us as a radio programmer, but he's got hit records out here on the other late and to them, they feeling like, well, we want to get into that game, So why aren't you bringing those records here?

And you can still bring them a million dollar check? And they're still gonna hate on.

You and trust and believing what I know about artists, ain't no artists out there. I don't give a fuck who you is. Ain't no artists, not no major artists. Ain't nobody go fuck up their reputation. They project their career, always just saying well, I'm gonna get a radio dude a beat and you know, get a beat for the radio due to Hopeully play it because theyn't believe me. Mariah Carey, you need Joel for lifting at that time, No, and you don't bet.

That's what was so great about Power one on six and all of the power that we have was we were kind of an r in the records too, Like I put jay Z and Mariah Carey together, which helped jay Z get into uh, you know, the Philippines and other markets. And I introduced him to eminem and I gave him The Watcher part two. I think I pretty much introduced him to Dre like you know what I mean at the powerhouses, you know what I mean, Like I.

Don't know you for a long time, Malcolm. You never told me no this shit. You just humble motherfucker.

A lot of people. It's my job. I never looked at it. It's anything fucking special.

And then I don't want my helpens to think that I'm trying to use that as a as a status or stepping stone. A lot of shit just be kept quiet because people look at shit differently. You know, I gotta gotta keep shit quiet sometimes because like you said once, motherfuckers find out, some motherfuckers turned envious.

And you motherfucker miss it. Let me ask, because you never a motherfucker.

You're all motherfucker gonna call you a liar, Yeah right, nigga, yeah right, yeah right, you did.

Sure you did, Sure you introduced so and so or whatever.

You know, by you being a single man, man and you being around all of these fine as artists, man, these females. Man, how much pussy did you get? How much superstar pussy did you get back? How much I still get? You know, when doctor Dre said I'm not done spending n w a money, apply it man, it's just ain't it ain't too much. It ain't too much that can excite you.

Then, you know, when you've seen it all and done it all, it's just kind of like you kind of just and you know the amount of bullshit that I had to deal with and I still deal with it's like you know, like you know, yeah, keep it.

Is.

They're always after something. There's nobody that's just your you know what I mean, people that say, oh, I'm your friend, I love you. Da da da da dah. Yeah, motherfucker, you ain't call me in you know, what I mean, like where my grammar died. It was like, yeah, you know, we'll post all this stuff on Instagram, but I won't call you, you know what I mean, Like the real ones picked up the phone and callon. This is a This is a treacherous game. And if you if you have been able to withstand.

A lot of the potholes in the road on your journey, once you get to a part of the road where for you it's smooth, I'm I'm cool. I don't want to pick up no hit hikers. I don't want to stop and look at now, no new cars. I don't want to Oh man, I could do this, so no, my ship running fine, it's smooth selling and I don't want no detours.

You get me. I don't need to try to take the high road to get there faster. You give me.

At this point, I'm the on crew controlling. I can just sit back because Nigga dons seen so much bullshit and had to dodge so many curves and obstacles, and then you know, motherfuckers say they gonna you know what I'm saying, And the next thing you know, you stop at a Nigga gas station for some repairs and nigga, don took your rims off, you pull off your ship and just making a noise right now and backfiring and shit.

Well. You know, the biggest thing I do on Experienced eight is you could be everybody's best friend. I'm gonna tell you a powerful word the first time you say as long as you saying oh, yeah, I could do it, no matter how much it is hurting you, no matter if people don't give a fuck about this, the rest it may be putting you under.

As long as you keep saying yeah to him.

The moment you say no, you ain't shit, that's when you find out how you I didn't really feel about you, you.

Know what I mean? Your question and still you saw it. How many people did I make rich? Made a whole bunch of motherfuckers very wealthy. I haven't heard from nobody since I left Power one six. Not one person nobody let me except for except for joh Rule and Nerve Gotty. That the people from my own coast don't even give me the credit, but IRV Goody and jo Rule every time I drink Champs anything like that, they mentioned me thank you for doing what you did.

That's crazy, man, that nutty. That's real crazy.

That's what you're saying is there'll be your friend when you can do something. They're not your friend when they do whatever.

And then to be motherfucker's writing your own backyard who it's always the closest.

Let me ask you this. Let me ask you this. Miss you got into the radio game. You were twelve years old, right as a twelve year old kid from Oxen Art. Did you ever a Santa Barbara as a twelve year old five as a twelve year old kid from Santa Barbara, did you ever a imagine that you would have the career that you do, all the stuff that you've done.

I don't know, dude. When I saw that I was number four and the Source Power thirty, I shipped myself like I was like, there's no way this is me, Like this is Source magazine, Like there's no way. When I read the review of Nate Dogg's music in Me, the title track, I was just like there's no way, Like there's just who are you? Right? Now and you did. You're living in your dream.

You know it's you did it, So you look go back.

That trip me off.

So you and eat Man don't talk all the time, No, with all, just with.

All trying to talk about the number one hater on the planet is the man Man for those who don't know, you've been saying ship for years, but God bless him.

Yeah, Man is the it was he the associopedi. He's the director of power. Yeah.

Whatever, do you ever think we will see you back on power or radio? Not with the people that are running.

And now what would it take for you to come back?

Either buy that motherfucker got it? If I tell you this, I'll make that motherfucker number one faster than you could shake a stick at it.

Oh for sure. With us, you know, were about to shut this down, but may gouts some other stuff to talk to you about.

Man.

We appreciate you guys tuning in with us this evening. Well, that concludes another episode of the Gainst the Chronicles podcast. Be sure to download the iHeart app and subscribe to the Gangst the Chronicles podcast For Apple users. Find a purple mica on the front of your screen. Subscribe to the show, leave a comment and rating. Executive producers for The Gangster Chronicles podcasts of Norman Steel Aaron m c a Tyler. Our visual media director is Brian Wyatt, and