We've had an opportunity to conduct a very long interview with E-Moe. Big props for it, mayn. Anyway it is very long and I encourage all of you to read it on BayUndaground.com. I'll post a few questions out here, but it won't be even a half haha.
[ BayUndaground.com ] : What's good E-Moe, I'm glad we can have this interview. Please tell us the basics of who you are.
[ E-Moe ] : Yeah fa sho, and thanks for having me. It's truly an honor. And as far as who I am? I go by the name of E-Moe aka $ir E-Moe aka E Major aka the Mob Marley of Rap... and I'm a rap artist and music producer here in Sacramento, California. I've been doin' music officially since '93, and I dropped my 1st solo in 2001-2002 on Brotha Lynch Hung's independent label, Siccmade Muzicc. A lot of people know me for my affiliation with Lynch, Big Hollis, CCH, Double O Smebb, D-Dubb and a few more cats out of Sacramento. Over the past years, I've been doing my best to add to my resume with a few more skills to offer the people around me such as studio engineering, graphic design, promotions, video editing and a few other things I've learned how to do over time.
[ BayUndaground.com ] : How did your rap thing start? I once heard that you were present in the business, but more in the background.
[ E-Moe ] : Yeah that was my thing from the start: to be in the background of things! So I'm glad u brought that up. I started out with a group of family members with a crew we called "The B.O.O.T. Squad" (The Brothas Outta Oak Town). We were all from the Bay Area, livin' in Sacramento at the time, so we started doing music on the side of selling drugs and doin' street stuff. I was the main DJ of the crew, because I had always wanted to be like Jam Master J, Joe Cooley, Jazzy Jeff, Eric B, Mix Master Ice and a few other old school DJs. Back in the day an MC wasn't an MC without a DJ and plan was to be that DJ. So they had some turntables they used to let me keep over the years back when we all lived in the Bay Area. And in due time I had developed the knack for DJing. I started DJing parties on a regular for friends and family and now figured I could be like one of my DJ idols mentioned before.
The main MC of the group, the homie Chris, then called Cool Scott, was the cleanest rapper I ever knew... And this dude was like my family member! I couldn't believe that I knew a rapper so good, so I started to motivate everyone to start a group. Which I would be the DJ of. So as time went on, we started recording a few songs here and there. One member of the group, Ron C., was in a relationship with Suga T, E-40's sister, so they already had the hook up on the studio from them. I was seeing what The Click was doing and figured we could do the same too. So after a few sessions watching their producer and engineer, Studio Tone, put together a beat with the samples we provided, I felt like I could do what he was doing. I knew that I wouldn't be great overnight, but being a DJ and knowing how to blend and mix, I knew I would figure it out in due time.
Before you know it, the group broke up from a lot of street/family issues going on, like when my younger cousin Tone was murdered, and people going to jail. So from there I started making beats from samples and stuff on my own time to get better at it. A few local artist liked what I was coming up with. So I just kept going until I made something happen. At this time I started to go out with my son's mom. It turns out that she was in a previous relationship with Triple 6 aka Sicx. At the time he was doing his thing with Brotha Lynch Hung, with a group called "Nigga Deep", and had just finished the X-Raided's project. These two releases where the biggest things Sac had going on at the time compared to the Bay. So I felt I was in a good place, at the beginning of something new.
Once we met one day, Sicx embraced me with open arms, even though I was the new man in his son's mother's life. With that being said, I was amazed and never really seen a dude react like that to the new guy. It's usually a bunch of drama between the two, which didn't happen at all! So I took it as a sign to follow my dream and this was my ticket. He started inviting me to his studio sessions to help him produce and mix his music for his new album he was workin' on, "Dead 4 Life". Then one day he introduced my to Lynch... I had known about his music and their names seemed to be the biggest thing goin' on the city at the time, so like I said, meeting them was a big part of why I decided to settle in Sac, while all of my other family members moved back to the Bay Area.
At 1st, I got all kinds of back lash for not moving back to the Bay, but my new girlfriend was pregnant and I wasn't about to leave my son out in Sac alone. Plus, I seen that I could be a part of something big if I stayed and showed up whenever they asked me to for FREE!
Soon after, I was introduced to a few artists from the area, including Big Hollis and D-Dubb. Hollis was the person who I took it to the next level with! When we met, it was like lost brothers being united and we hit it of fast the most. We started to produce as a team and I was helping him with his 1st album that he was putting together. For some reason, when I met Hollis, we couldn't stop making music. We were addicted to it and taught each other a lot of things while learning together.
But before then, it was supposed to be us 4, Sicx, Lynch, Hollis and myself, together as one production team. So I came up with the name "Sick Bay Productions" for us to claim as one. "Sick" because Sacramento was known for the siccness, and the "Bay" represented me and where I was from. We were all producing and mixing together, so I thought we should have a lil crew to call our unit. The name went on for a while with the work of Hollis and I, and it appeared on a few releases before everyone started to do their own thing. And when I got a shout out on the outro of Lynch's biggest album to date, "Season Of The Siccnes", that put me on the map 1st! Which really is still the biggest thing my name has been heard till this day! So that's a brief story about how I got started!
[ BayUndaground.com ] : What about your first vocal appearances? When I have a look at my discography the earliest ones are Double O Smebb's solo and the "Now Eat" movie soundtrack.
[ E-Moe ] : Well before that, I was on Big Hollis' album and a few songs from the artists I was producing for at the time, which led to those appearances. Like I said before, I never really wanted to be a rapper, my thing was wanting to be the guy in the background. But since I did know how to do it, I started doing lil things here and there to build my name as a rapper. And really I don't call myself a rapper. I consider myself more of an entertainer. I couldn't really find a place for me to be accepted as a whole which made me start my mission on the side. Which led to me rappin'. I would make a beat that I ended up liking so I would do a song to see how I would sound. And at 1st, I didn't like my voice when I heard it back, so doin' my own songs was something I had to get used to.
My plan was to be a part of something bigger than me, because I never had big money to take my ideas to the next level. And I've always thought that a team is much better than one man doin' it all. So one day, Sicx hit me and said he needed a song for the movie soundtrack they had going. Of course I sent him the best song I had at the time, which was "I'm Doin Bad". It was my 1st solo song that I've recorded and felt good about. I had done many songs before that, but that song was really me to the fullest. When he put it on the soundtrack, I knew then that I had some potential to rap on my own from then. After that, I started recording music more often with hopes of following that song up with an album as soon as I could. I knew at the least, Lynch's fans would hear me, and if even one of them liked it, I was good. So it turns out that a lot of people heard the song and wanted to know who E-Moe was. So from then on, I had to let them know who I was.
And as far as the Double O Smebb feature, that came about from our history of work too. He was a member of the Group CCH (Capitol City Hustlas) that I was producing for. After a few failed group album releases, he started to work on a solo, which I mainly produced, and I just ended up on that song. And that was another record that put me out there like that. I'm proud of any material of mines that has reached a big audience with distribution and promotion. All of those projects have helped my career a lot.
[ BayUndaground.com ] : What makes you different from 100s other northern Cali artists on the mic?
[ E-Moe ] : I think I'm different from all other artists, because I try not to do what everyone else is doin'. I've never been rich, so I can't talk about that. I've never been a gangsta, so I don't talk about that and so on. But I've learned from all kinds of music, so I try to create a vision of who I am as a person. I'm not a battle rapper and I don't claim to have the best lyrics, but I do know that I can do better than most, because of the things I've been blessed to know. If I'm broke, I say that, if I'm sad, I'll make a song about it. Most hide who they really are and I say it's enough of that already in the game. So I choose to come with something different to create my own thing.
Like my 1st CD "Ghetto Gospel", that title means a lot to me. From that title only I decided to change my life a lot! I had stopped selling drugs, settled down with my family and I was always a very spiritual dude throughout my life. With my real name being "Emmanuel" which was one of Jesus Christ's many names, I felt the urge to speak about something that meant something if I was going to rap. Which meant I would always preach the Ghetto Gospel. And that means, I would do and say things that meant something to people from the ghetto or to the people who would like to know a different side it.
I think the so-called hood, or black people if you will, need other option to look up. You see images of drug dealers, pimps, hustlers, hoes, bitches, gangs and stuff like that and you start to believe that's all you have. So I try my best to show other options. So I guess that's what makes me different. And I also pride myself on the notion of everyone coming together to make things better. And most rappers don't do that. The world has taught people to be selfish when you get it, because it might not last. But I see things different, so I make sure my music gives you that feel. Even when I appear on someone else's music, I keep it E-Moe. And that's why I only do certain things with certain people and my name is only so far. Image is everything and I wouldn't want to be known as something I'm not when we have kids lookin' at that image, thinking that's what they should be. Which creates more crime, because none of those things you long for come easy!
Hell yeah, there's lot more. Click HERE to read the rest.
[ BayUndaground.com ] : What's good E-Moe, I'm glad we can have this interview. Please tell us the basics of who you are.
[ E-Moe ] : Yeah fa sho, and thanks for having me. It's truly an honor. And as far as who I am? I go by the name of E-Moe aka $ir E-Moe aka E Major aka the Mob Marley of Rap... and I'm a rap artist and music producer here in Sacramento, California. I've been doin' music officially since '93, and I dropped my 1st solo in 2001-2002 on Brotha Lynch Hung's independent label, Siccmade Muzicc. A lot of people know me for my affiliation with Lynch, Big Hollis, CCH, Double O Smebb, D-Dubb and a few more cats out of Sacramento. Over the past years, I've been doing my best to add to my resume with a few more skills to offer the people around me such as studio engineering, graphic design, promotions, video editing and a few other things I've learned how to do over time.
[ BayUndaground.com ] : How did your rap thing start? I once heard that you were present in the business, but more in the background.
[ E-Moe ] : Yeah that was my thing from the start: to be in the background of things! So I'm glad u brought that up. I started out with a group of family members with a crew we called "The B.O.O.T. Squad" (The Brothas Outta Oak Town). We were all from the Bay Area, livin' in Sacramento at the time, so we started doing music on the side of selling drugs and doin' street stuff. I was the main DJ of the crew, because I had always wanted to be like Jam Master J, Joe Cooley, Jazzy Jeff, Eric B, Mix Master Ice and a few other old school DJs. Back in the day an MC wasn't an MC without a DJ and plan was to be that DJ. So they had some turntables they used to let me keep over the years back when we all lived in the Bay Area. And in due time I had developed the knack for DJing. I started DJing parties on a regular for friends and family and now figured I could be like one of my DJ idols mentioned before.
The main MC of the group, the homie Chris, then called Cool Scott, was the cleanest rapper I ever knew... And this dude was like my family member! I couldn't believe that I knew a rapper so good, so I started to motivate everyone to start a group. Which I would be the DJ of. So as time went on, we started recording a few songs here and there. One member of the group, Ron C., was in a relationship with Suga T, E-40's sister, so they already had the hook up on the studio from them. I was seeing what The Click was doing and figured we could do the same too. So after a few sessions watching their producer and engineer, Studio Tone, put together a beat with the samples we provided, I felt like I could do what he was doing. I knew that I wouldn't be great overnight, but being a DJ and knowing how to blend and mix, I knew I would figure it out in due time.
Before you know it, the group broke up from a lot of street/family issues going on, like when my younger cousin Tone was murdered, and people going to jail. So from there I started making beats from samples and stuff on my own time to get better at it. A few local artist liked what I was coming up with. So I just kept going until I made something happen. At this time I started to go out with my son's mom. It turns out that she was in a previous relationship with Triple 6 aka Sicx. At the time he was doing his thing with Brotha Lynch Hung, with a group called "Nigga Deep", and had just finished the X-Raided's project. These two releases where the biggest things Sac had going on at the time compared to the Bay. So I felt I was in a good place, at the beginning of something new.
Once we met one day, Sicx embraced me with open arms, even though I was the new man in his son's mother's life. With that being said, I was amazed and never really seen a dude react like that to the new guy. It's usually a bunch of drama between the two, which didn't happen at all! So I took it as a sign to follow my dream and this was my ticket. He started inviting me to his studio sessions to help him produce and mix his music for his new album he was workin' on, "Dead 4 Life". Then one day he introduced my to Lynch... I had known about his music and their names seemed to be the biggest thing goin' on the city at the time, so like I said, meeting them was a big part of why I decided to settle in Sac, while all of my other family members moved back to the Bay Area.
At 1st, I got all kinds of back lash for not moving back to the Bay, but my new girlfriend was pregnant and I wasn't about to leave my son out in Sac alone. Plus, I seen that I could be a part of something big if I stayed and showed up whenever they asked me to for FREE!
Soon after, I was introduced to a few artists from the area, including Big Hollis and D-Dubb. Hollis was the person who I took it to the next level with! When we met, it was like lost brothers being united and we hit it of fast the most. We started to produce as a team and I was helping him with his 1st album that he was putting together. For some reason, when I met Hollis, we couldn't stop making music. We were addicted to it and taught each other a lot of things while learning together.
But before then, it was supposed to be us 4, Sicx, Lynch, Hollis and myself, together as one production team. So I came up with the name "Sick Bay Productions" for us to claim as one. "Sick" because Sacramento was known for the siccness, and the "Bay" represented me and where I was from. We were all producing and mixing together, so I thought we should have a lil crew to call our unit. The name went on for a while with the work of Hollis and I, and it appeared on a few releases before everyone started to do their own thing. And when I got a shout out on the outro of Lynch's biggest album to date, "Season Of The Siccnes", that put me on the map 1st! Which really is still the biggest thing my name has been heard till this day! So that's a brief story about how I got started!
[ BayUndaground.com ] : What about your first vocal appearances? When I have a look at my discography the earliest ones are Double O Smebb's solo and the "Now Eat" movie soundtrack.
[ E-Moe ] : Well before that, I was on Big Hollis' album and a few songs from the artists I was producing for at the time, which led to those appearances. Like I said before, I never really wanted to be a rapper, my thing was wanting to be the guy in the background. But since I did know how to do it, I started doing lil things here and there to build my name as a rapper. And really I don't call myself a rapper. I consider myself more of an entertainer. I couldn't really find a place for me to be accepted as a whole which made me start my mission on the side. Which led to me rappin'. I would make a beat that I ended up liking so I would do a song to see how I would sound. And at 1st, I didn't like my voice when I heard it back, so doin' my own songs was something I had to get used to.
My plan was to be a part of something bigger than me, because I never had big money to take my ideas to the next level. And I've always thought that a team is much better than one man doin' it all. So one day, Sicx hit me and said he needed a song for the movie soundtrack they had going. Of course I sent him the best song I had at the time, which was "I'm Doin Bad". It was my 1st solo song that I've recorded and felt good about. I had done many songs before that, but that song was really me to the fullest. When he put it on the soundtrack, I knew then that I had some potential to rap on my own from then. After that, I started recording music more often with hopes of following that song up with an album as soon as I could. I knew at the least, Lynch's fans would hear me, and if even one of them liked it, I was good. So it turns out that a lot of people heard the song and wanted to know who E-Moe was. So from then on, I had to let them know who I was.
And as far as the Double O Smebb feature, that came about from our history of work too. He was a member of the Group CCH (Capitol City Hustlas) that I was producing for. After a few failed group album releases, he started to work on a solo, which I mainly produced, and I just ended up on that song. And that was another record that put me out there like that. I'm proud of any material of mines that has reached a big audience with distribution and promotion. All of those projects have helped my career a lot.
[ BayUndaground.com ] : What makes you different from 100s other northern Cali artists on the mic?
[ E-Moe ] : I think I'm different from all other artists, because I try not to do what everyone else is doin'. I've never been rich, so I can't talk about that. I've never been a gangsta, so I don't talk about that and so on. But I've learned from all kinds of music, so I try to create a vision of who I am as a person. I'm not a battle rapper and I don't claim to have the best lyrics, but I do know that I can do better than most, because of the things I've been blessed to know. If I'm broke, I say that, if I'm sad, I'll make a song about it. Most hide who they really are and I say it's enough of that already in the game. So I choose to come with something different to create my own thing.
Like my 1st CD "Ghetto Gospel", that title means a lot to me. From that title only I decided to change my life a lot! I had stopped selling drugs, settled down with my family and I was always a very spiritual dude throughout my life. With my real name being "Emmanuel" which was one of Jesus Christ's many names, I felt the urge to speak about something that meant something if I was going to rap. Which meant I would always preach the Ghetto Gospel. And that means, I would do and say things that meant something to people from the ghetto or to the people who would like to know a different side it.
I think the so-called hood, or black people if you will, need other option to look up. You see images of drug dealers, pimps, hustlers, hoes, bitches, gangs and stuff like that and you start to believe that's all you have. So I try my best to show other options. So I guess that's what makes me different. And I also pride myself on the notion of everyone coming together to make things better. And most rappers don't do that. The world has taught people to be selfish when you get it, because it might not last. But I see things different, so I make sure my music gives you that feel. Even when I appear on someone else's music, I keep it E-Moe. And that's why I only do certain things with certain people and my name is only so far. Image is everything and I wouldn't want to be known as something I'm not when we have kids lookin' at that image, thinking that's what they should be. Which creates more crime, because none of those things you long for come easy!
Hell yeah, there's lot more. Click HERE to read the rest.
