http://www.hhnlive.com/features/more/355
Still Listen To Gangsta Music: B-Legit
Posted: 10/21/2007 by: Mir Alikhan
B-legit is undoubtedly a Bay-Area hip-hop legend. Since his debut, Tryin' To Get Buck in 1993, he revolutionized the independent label game and is next to only E-40 and the late Mac Dre in the progression of the Bay Area movement. As one of the first artists to represent his hometown Vallejo, California, B-Legit continues his hustle as he prepares for the release of his new album in November entitled Throwblock Muzik.
HHNLive.com writer Mir Alikhan talks to Bay Area Hip-Hop legend B-Legit about his new album, the Hyphy movement, the state of Hip-Hop, his favorite rappers and much more.
B-Legit on the Hyphy movement: "Hyphy has already reached its peak, as far as I'm concerned..."
--
Mir Alikhan: Hey man, what's good?
B-Legit: Chillin' man, let's get it started.
M: Aight, what's up with the first single? How does it represent your album as a whole?
B: Well, the first single I got off my album is called "Hands On Your Knees." The strip club scene is real big in the Midwest and Down South and now even on the West Coast so I kinda made a song for the strip clubs which is called "Hands On Your Knees" for when the girls do their dancing and doing their thing. I like doing somethin' for the women and I always give 'em something to ride with 'cause once you got the women on your team, you know you got the fellas on your team. So that's the name of it, it's called "Hands On Your Knees."
M: Where do you look for inspiration after all these years?
B: Well, really my inspiration comes from people like Too Short, and people like LL cool J and Jay-Z. You know, the O.G.s who are still in the game and are still pushing. They're still makin' it happen. It makes me think, "If you could still do it, I could still do it too." You try to have a collection of stuff that you listen to that's puttin' a message in the music nowadays. Without all the Lambos, the cars, the women, and jewellery. We dig music like Notorious B.I.G., who told stories and is one of the original forms of hip-hop and these guys nowadays sometimes get away from that element. That's where I come in at: I try to make my music old school but with a new school twist on it.
M: You've mentioned before that you used some unreleased material on your new album because it fit in with the theme, how does your new album differ from your older material?
B: What happened was that when I was makin' those classic albums like Hemp Museum and Hard 2 B-Legit, some of those joints didn't make the cut on the album. Then between those times, I was doin' mixtapes to songs like that. Also, of course, the song with the late Mac Dre in 2001. So what I did was take a mixture of those songs and remixed a couple of 'em, put 'em all together, and added some new songs to it. So that's why I called it Throwblock Muzik because I used songs with the element of that time and brought it back. These are the songs I was doing in that era with a new twist to it or maybe a remix to it. But it has the same feel.
M: It seems that every artist has a comment on the state of the game right now. To you, what does it need?
B: Man, (laughs), wow, uuh the game is definitely crazy right now. But when I started in the music, we had 12-inches and cassettes, there wasn't even CDs. It was like everybody was producing and mixing in your own backyard and we were supportin' those who were tryin' to make it out. Now it's like everybody got a CD so nobody wants to support each other, you know what I'm sayin'? We need to go back to the support groups and everybody needs to support one another. You got artists that used to sell millions and millions of records now they have trouble goin' platinum, ya know? The Curtis album wasn't even platinum last week and it's like, "Wow, this guy sold 11 million albums in one week or whatever, (laughs)." It just shows you how finicky the fans are like that. If you are mainstream they'll be with you one year and they won't be with you the next year. I cater my music to the streets, and to the people in the streets. One thing is that when I started rappin', I used to be a D-Boy, so I was making records for the D-Boys. They were my biggest fans, they were the ones who were buyin' it. But nowadays what's happenin' is that the suburban kids are usin' they're computers to download and most of [the music] might go over they're head because they're not on the blocks, they're not trappin' for the community. My music was for the trappers and bein' a trapper, they might understand where I'm comin' from. So that's why you'll hear a few tracks on my album with that Down South feel even though we've been ridin' with the South from day one. We were the first ones to put out the South West Ryders Compilation. Actually the South were the first people to bump our music before even the West Coast took to it. Their music was more inspired from Louisiana or Texas than it was from California. So I've been with 'em from day one, we still with them, and they're still with me. I make music for the D-Boys out there trappin' in the rain.
M: It seems that you always catered to more of a local sound, would you consider yourself someone who is doing it strictly for the West Coast?
B: Naw, I wouldn't consider myself only West Coast. I've done stuff... well being from the West Coast, I've did some West Coast joints but music is international. I have a song called "So International" on Hard 2 B-Legit and I played with the marching band when I was younger. So I did classical music and I did all types of music. One type of music is something that I'm not. I'm far from local. I was just doin' what I was doin: me. The music I do is called "Mob-Music" but at the same time, I can write other music and that's what I'm showin' on these recent albums where I'm rappin' over different stuff.
M: Being that you have endorsed the independent label path your whole career, do you think that you still enjoy the control or notice any downsides?
B: The downside to it is that you're not as famous as other artists. You don't get to be on MTV slots and all that stuff. But you do get the control of what you wanna put out and you get to estimate money off record sales. I would sell 20,000 albums on an independent label versus sellin' a million on a major and recoup. So it's just to each its own. When I came in the game, I didn't really have a choice because we would try to get deals and labels weren't really for it so we were forced to make our own path. I've just been using that since day one. I was never really signed to a label as an artist.
M: What is your goal with your new label Block Movement?
B: Block Movement is just a B-Legit imprint. I'm gonna use that as a label to bring up up-and-coming artists. It'll be done from an independent perspective 'cause I got a label deal with SMC. When me and E-40 did Sick Wid It Records, that was a joint venture. But the Block Movement, that'll be a solely B-Legit thing that I would give my own hand to.
M: Will the artists on the Block Movement be more hyphy or more or that straight gangsta shit?
B: They'll definitely be more gangsta. I got nothin' against the hyphy movement or nothin' like that, I'm a fan. That's their movement that they did out here, but I come from a whole different era. With mob-music I was for them, I was supportin' them. But what I'm lookin forward to with the artists is more widespread. We've been gettin' East Coast tracks, West Coast tracks. I'm not lookin' for a local act, I'm lookin' for more of an act that'll reach everybody from a gangsta's perspective.
M: Who are some of the artists we should look out for on Block Movement?
B: Taj-He-Spitz, that's my main artist, he's 18. He's tearin' 'em up on the YouTube. If you ever type in his name he's got freestyle mixtapes and all that type of stuff. And then there's Duna who's my lil' cousin. He's already got a lil' buzz and a lil' followin'. We'll start with those two and we gon' add on to the roster. But I don't wanna bite off too much more than I could chew. I wanna be able to give my undivided attention to their project and be able to do my projects, from the independent thing.
M: Where do you see the hyphy movement going now that it's been officially put on the map on a nationwide basis?
B: Technically, I don't know, on this end of the ballpark, movements come and go. Hyphy has already reached its peak, as far as I'm concerned being that the Bay Area is not one-dimensional. If you check out The Federation's new single that they did, they were the ones who made they song "Hyphy." They got the song with Snoop on the radio right now. What we don't wanna get into is "Bay Area = Hyphy." I mean, anytime you think of the Bay you think Hyphy but we're way more diverse than that, we're not one-dimensional. Hyphy is there but when hip hop first opened its gates and the majors came, they signed Too Short and Spice 1, many different acts. And they were all different styles of music, it wasn't focused on Hyphy or the labels. It was very diverse. We need to get back to being diverse. If a ship goes down, your whole team goes down.
M: What will it take to bring the Bay to the forefront of hip-hop?
B: For one, we have to support each other. We have to stop with the haterism, which is goin' on in your backyard. It makes them not wanna be apart of it. Together we stand, divided we fall. When we were on and making our mark, we were all connected. Tupac, Spice 1, Too Short. Being that we are a big market, we buy a lot of records. So support our own.
M: Who's at fault for the state that Bay Area hip-hop is in, meaning why hasn't it blown up as big as could've yet?
B: The majors because what the majors do is they play a game of divide and conquer. If you look at any group: the Temptations, the Commodores. The Temptations went to David Ruffin and said, "Hey man you should go solo." And then David Ruffin said, "Forget about the Temptations," and went solo. It goes on and on. Lionel Ritchie and the Commodores. We could even go recent and say Destiny's Child and Beyonce. They come and became the crown of the group, then when the other members are divided up and have nothin', that's when they start hatin'. It happened with New Edition, it happened with all the groups. People who've been puttin' in work since day one don't understand. It's like when the Bay Area was first poppin', they wanted us to do solo acts and we did that to liven people up. But that's not the way to do it, you've gotta bring people together with the support.
M: Who else are you feeling right now?
B: You mean who's doin' it for me right now?
M: Yeah.
B: Well, you know the boy Lil Weezy is hurtin' 'em right now bad. It's crazy 'cause I've watched him grow from when he was a Hot Boy to where he is now. He just stepped his game up 110%. I gotta a couple others. I like Playaz Circle. I like them boys. They gettin' ready to come out and do they thing. They even got a single with Weezy. Other than that man, uuuuhh... Oh yeah, that boy Plies is alright. I'm diggin' Plies. But they bubblegum rap with all the, "Duh, duh, duh, duh, look at my chain," it's not teachin' me nothin'. We used to teach people. We were tellin' people if you're out there on the block, this is how you do it. These rappers these days have gotten away from the teachin' and passin' on the knowledge. It's somethin' I call "street knowledge." That was the name of the label back in the day. It was about educating people on how these streets is ran. Right now everybody's talking about, "I got this, I got that, a Lambo." They're gettin' away from the raw element of it.
M: Will you appear on E-40's new album?
B: Yeah, of course I'm gonna be on that. He's got a record he's workin out right now, I got a record I'm workin' on right now called Block Business that's due in March. Throwblock Muzik is like an album before the album. It's more than a mixtape but some of the songs I recorded a while back but no one got to hear it. I set this up at first so that the fans that were like, "What happened to the mob-music, we wanna hear it again," will get that. So I'm gonna give 'em that and then I'm gonna give 'em the Block Business album in March of '08. E-40'll be on that too.
M: And lastly, what do you want to say to your fans out there?
B: I haven't been no where, ya know what I'm sayin'? I don't wanna be one of those guys where people say, "Oh, he's hoggin' up the game," or whatever. That's not what I'm tryin' to do, ya know? As they try to make their stance and position in hip hop, I'll support them but at the same time, when the coast is clear, here I come again. We workin' together, I love workin' with young artists. Clyde Carson is one of the guys to look out for. I believe he's comin' out on Virgin. He's on my Cellblock album. Just look out for the Block Movement 'cause we're tryin' to do it with the music, with the clothing, so look out for it.
Still Listen To Gangsta Music: B-Legit
Posted: 10/21/2007 by: Mir Alikhan
B-legit is undoubtedly a Bay-Area hip-hop legend. Since his debut, Tryin' To Get Buck in 1993, he revolutionized the independent label game and is next to only E-40 and the late Mac Dre in the progression of the Bay Area movement. As one of the first artists to represent his hometown Vallejo, California, B-Legit continues his hustle as he prepares for the release of his new album in November entitled Throwblock Muzik.
HHNLive.com writer Mir Alikhan talks to Bay Area Hip-Hop legend B-Legit about his new album, the Hyphy movement, the state of Hip-Hop, his favorite rappers and much more.
B-Legit on the Hyphy movement: "Hyphy has already reached its peak, as far as I'm concerned..."
--
Mir Alikhan: Hey man, what's good?
B-Legit: Chillin' man, let's get it started.
M: Aight, what's up with the first single? How does it represent your album as a whole?
B: Well, the first single I got off my album is called "Hands On Your Knees." The strip club scene is real big in the Midwest and Down South and now even on the West Coast so I kinda made a song for the strip clubs which is called "Hands On Your Knees" for when the girls do their dancing and doing their thing. I like doing somethin' for the women and I always give 'em something to ride with 'cause once you got the women on your team, you know you got the fellas on your team. So that's the name of it, it's called "Hands On Your Knees."
M: Where do you look for inspiration after all these years?
B: Well, really my inspiration comes from people like Too Short, and people like LL cool J and Jay-Z. You know, the O.G.s who are still in the game and are still pushing. They're still makin' it happen. It makes me think, "If you could still do it, I could still do it too." You try to have a collection of stuff that you listen to that's puttin' a message in the music nowadays. Without all the Lambos, the cars, the women, and jewellery. We dig music like Notorious B.I.G., who told stories and is one of the original forms of hip-hop and these guys nowadays sometimes get away from that element. That's where I come in at: I try to make my music old school but with a new school twist on it.
M: You've mentioned before that you used some unreleased material on your new album because it fit in with the theme, how does your new album differ from your older material?
B: What happened was that when I was makin' those classic albums like Hemp Museum and Hard 2 B-Legit, some of those joints didn't make the cut on the album. Then between those times, I was doin' mixtapes to songs like that. Also, of course, the song with the late Mac Dre in 2001. So what I did was take a mixture of those songs and remixed a couple of 'em, put 'em all together, and added some new songs to it. So that's why I called it Throwblock Muzik because I used songs with the element of that time and brought it back. These are the songs I was doing in that era with a new twist to it or maybe a remix to it. But it has the same feel.
M: It seems that every artist has a comment on the state of the game right now. To you, what does it need?
B: Man, (laughs), wow, uuh the game is definitely crazy right now. But when I started in the music, we had 12-inches and cassettes, there wasn't even CDs. It was like everybody was producing and mixing in your own backyard and we were supportin' those who were tryin' to make it out. Now it's like everybody got a CD so nobody wants to support each other, you know what I'm sayin'? We need to go back to the support groups and everybody needs to support one another. You got artists that used to sell millions and millions of records now they have trouble goin' platinum, ya know? The Curtis album wasn't even platinum last week and it's like, "Wow, this guy sold 11 million albums in one week or whatever, (laughs)." It just shows you how finicky the fans are like that. If you are mainstream they'll be with you one year and they won't be with you the next year. I cater my music to the streets, and to the people in the streets. One thing is that when I started rappin', I used to be a D-Boy, so I was making records for the D-Boys. They were my biggest fans, they were the ones who were buyin' it. But nowadays what's happenin' is that the suburban kids are usin' they're computers to download and most of [the music] might go over they're head because they're not on the blocks, they're not trappin' for the community. My music was for the trappers and bein' a trapper, they might understand where I'm comin' from. So that's why you'll hear a few tracks on my album with that Down South feel even though we've been ridin' with the South from day one. We were the first ones to put out the South West Ryders Compilation. Actually the South were the first people to bump our music before even the West Coast took to it. Their music was more inspired from Louisiana or Texas than it was from California. So I've been with 'em from day one, we still with them, and they're still with me. I make music for the D-Boys out there trappin' in the rain.
M: It seems that you always catered to more of a local sound, would you consider yourself someone who is doing it strictly for the West Coast?
B: Naw, I wouldn't consider myself only West Coast. I've done stuff... well being from the West Coast, I've did some West Coast joints but music is international. I have a song called "So International" on Hard 2 B-Legit and I played with the marching band when I was younger. So I did classical music and I did all types of music. One type of music is something that I'm not. I'm far from local. I was just doin' what I was doin: me. The music I do is called "Mob-Music" but at the same time, I can write other music and that's what I'm showin' on these recent albums where I'm rappin' over different stuff.
M: Being that you have endorsed the independent label path your whole career, do you think that you still enjoy the control or notice any downsides?
B: The downside to it is that you're not as famous as other artists. You don't get to be on MTV slots and all that stuff. But you do get the control of what you wanna put out and you get to estimate money off record sales. I would sell 20,000 albums on an independent label versus sellin' a million on a major and recoup. So it's just to each its own. When I came in the game, I didn't really have a choice because we would try to get deals and labels weren't really for it so we were forced to make our own path. I've just been using that since day one. I was never really signed to a label as an artist.
M: What is your goal with your new label Block Movement?
B: Block Movement is just a B-Legit imprint. I'm gonna use that as a label to bring up up-and-coming artists. It'll be done from an independent perspective 'cause I got a label deal with SMC. When me and E-40 did Sick Wid It Records, that was a joint venture. But the Block Movement, that'll be a solely B-Legit thing that I would give my own hand to.
M: Will the artists on the Block Movement be more hyphy or more or that straight gangsta shit?
B: They'll definitely be more gangsta. I got nothin' against the hyphy movement or nothin' like that, I'm a fan. That's their movement that they did out here, but I come from a whole different era. With mob-music I was for them, I was supportin' them. But what I'm lookin forward to with the artists is more widespread. We've been gettin' East Coast tracks, West Coast tracks. I'm not lookin' for a local act, I'm lookin' for more of an act that'll reach everybody from a gangsta's perspective.
M: Who are some of the artists we should look out for on Block Movement?
B: Taj-He-Spitz, that's my main artist, he's 18. He's tearin' 'em up on the YouTube. If you ever type in his name he's got freestyle mixtapes and all that type of stuff. And then there's Duna who's my lil' cousin. He's already got a lil' buzz and a lil' followin'. We'll start with those two and we gon' add on to the roster. But I don't wanna bite off too much more than I could chew. I wanna be able to give my undivided attention to their project and be able to do my projects, from the independent thing.
M: Where do you see the hyphy movement going now that it's been officially put on the map on a nationwide basis?
B: Technically, I don't know, on this end of the ballpark, movements come and go. Hyphy has already reached its peak, as far as I'm concerned being that the Bay Area is not one-dimensional. If you check out The Federation's new single that they did, they were the ones who made they song "Hyphy." They got the song with Snoop on the radio right now. What we don't wanna get into is "Bay Area = Hyphy." I mean, anytime you think of the Bay you think Hyphy but we're way more diverse than that, we're not one-dimensional. Hyphy is there but when hip hop first opened its gates and the majors came, they signed Too Short and Spice 1, many different acts. And they were all different styles of music, it wasn't focused on Hyphy or the labels. It was very diverse. We need to get back to being diverse. If a ship goes down, your whole team goes down.
M: What will it take to bring the Bay to the forefront of hip-hop?
B: For one, we have to support each other. We have to stop with the haterism, which is goin' on in your backyard. It makes them not wanna be apart of it. Together we stand, divided we fall. When we were on and making our mark, we were all connected. Tupac, Spice 1, Too Short. Being that we are a big market, we buy a lot of records. So support our own.
M: Who's at fault for the state that Bay Area hip-hop is in, meaning why hasn't it blown up as big as could've yet?
B: The majors because what the majors do is they play a game of divide and conquer. If you look at any group: the Temptations, the Commodores. The Temptations went to David Ruffin and said, "Hey man you should go solo." And then David Ruffin said, "Forget about the Temptations," and went solo. It goes on and on. Lionel Ritchie and the Commodores. We could even go recent and say Destiny's Child and Beyonce. They come and became the crown of the group, then when the other members are divided up and have nothin', that's when they start hatin'. It happened with New Edition, it happened with all the groups. People who've been puttin' in work since day one don't understand. It's like when the Bay Area was first poppin', they wanted us to do solo acts and we did that to liven people up. But that's not the way to do it, you've gotta bring people together with the support.
M: Who else are you feeling right now?
B: You mean who's doin' it for me right now?
M: Yeah.
B: Well, you know the boy Lil Weezy is hurtin' 'em right now bad. It's crazy 'cause I've watched him grow from when he was a Hot Boy to where he is now. He just stepped his game up 110%. I gotta a couple others. I like Playaz Circle. I like them boys. They gettin' ready to come out and do they thing. They even got a single with Weezy. Other than that man, uuuuhh... Oh yeah, that boy Plies is alright. I'm diggin' Plies. But they bubblegum rap with all the, "Duh, duh, duh, duh, look at my chain," it's not teachin' me nothin'. We used to teach people. We were tellin' people if you're out there on the block, this is how you do it. These rappers these days have gotten away from the teachin' and passin' on the knowledge. It's somethin' I call "street knowledge." That was the name of the label back in the day. It was about educating people on how these streets is ran. Right now everybody's talking about, "I got this, I got that, a Lambo." They're gettin' away from the raw element of it.
M: Will you appear on E-40's new album?
B: Yeah, of course I'm gonna be on that. He's got a record he's workin out right now, I got a record I'm workin' on right now called Block Business that's due in March. Throwblock Muzik is like an album before the album. It's more than a mixtape but some of the songs I recorded a while back but no one got to hear it. I set this up at first so that the fans that were like, "What happened to the mob-music, we wanna hear it again," will get that. So I'm gonna give 'em that and then I'm gonna give 'em the Block Business album in March of '08. E-40'll be on that too.
M: And lastly, what do you want to say to your fans out there?
B: I haven't been no where, ya know what I'm sayin'? I don't wanna be one of those guys where people say, "Oh, he's hoggin' up the game," or whatever. That's not what I'm tryin' to do, ya know? As they try to make their stance and position in hip hop, I'll support them but at the same time, when the coast is clear, here I come again. We workin' together, I love workin' with young artists. Clyde Carson is one of the guys to look out for. I believe he's comin' out on Virgin. He's on my Cellblock album. Just look out for the Block Movement 'cause we're tryin' to do it with the music, with the clothing, so look out for it.
