Clyde Carson - West Coast Advocate
Posted: 6/17/2008 11:11:20 AM by Jon Michael
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When people think of Bay Area hip-hop they usually think of E-40 or Too Short, which is understandable since they are the forefathers. The fact is there is so much going on in the Bay. From their trendsetting ways, to their original slag, to their independent scene, and of course the Hyphy movement the Bay has a lot to offer.
Instead of lying dormant because they aren’t one of the major markets or hip-hop demographic areas, the Bay created possibly the strongest independent hip-hop scene ever.
Besides having a very supportive fan base from Bay area residents, the artists have a sort of unity,which undoubtedly helps the movement. With artists like The Jacka, Balance, The Grouch and Mistah Fab, The Bay area is producing some of the genre’s best hip-hop music.
One of the newest names to be tossed into the hat is Oakland lyricist Clyde Carson. While a true Oakland MC at heart , you can hear the diversity in Clyde’s sound, which is probably why Capitol Records came calling after Clyde released a highly successful indie project and built up his buzz. It was at Capitol where Los Angeles heavyweight The Game saw the potential and signed Clyde as the newest member of Black Wall Street.
With his talent for being able to make any type of song and his lyrical abilities it’s obvious Clyde is up next. Sixshot.com caught up with Clyde Carson to discuss signing with The Game, living in New York, and what we can expect to see from him in the future.
Aight Clyde, I know you were doing your thing on a large scale independently. How did you manage to get so much accomplished?
I took a trip to New York in 2001. I met some people backstage, before the hyphy movement and I was kind of doing what 50 Cent was doing by using the underground. At that point he wasn’t signed to Em or Dre yet. Before people were doing it I was making mixtapes but I wasn’t using beats that were on the radio. I took beats that were album cuts and songs hat people hadn’t heard before. I had my ProTools before people were really using it. The only dude I had seen do it was 50 so when I came back to Oakland I used his same format but instead of doing a mixtape I created an album with it.
We pushed that album in the streets and it had Nate Dogg and Nas but it was songs that people hadn’t heard like hidden tracks and stuff. We sold like 24,000 of the motherfuckers out the trunk and hand to hand or walking through the mall. The buzz started and people knew we were Oakland niggas but they thought we kinda sounded like we were from New York. That gave us the leverage we needed when we presented our stuff to the radio stations because people knew who we were.
That’s how I got my buzz started. We dropped numerous singles on the radio. I always wanted a universal sound so that was our main goal and I think we accomplished that. People just thought we had a different sound. That’s what separated me and my group from other artists.
Do people still confuse you for a New York artist?
Nah I wouldn’t say they think I’m a New York artist. When I came back from New York I had a strong accent. I was pretty young and I was out there alone so I was like a sponge. I wasn’t trying to sound like that but I picked it up. Artists sometimes pick up accents just because it’s popular but I was a sponge so it was just coming to me. I would be like, “word” or “yo”, you know? It would just come naturally. I haven’t lived out there since then and I talk like a nigga from Oakland, that’s what I sound like now. I try to make it a bigger sound. Lil’ Wayne probably still has his accent from Louisiana but when he gets in that booth he just projects something bigger.
So how did you get up with the Game and Black Wall Street?
When E-40 put out “Tell Me When To Go” it pretty much opened the doors for labels to come to the Bay and give out deals. Capitol was interested in me and Black Wall Street has a deal at Capitol. They had just signed a kid from out of New York and Capitol presented me to go through Game and I was with it. To me Game resurrected the youth in the West Coast. Snoop, Dre, 40 and Short have always done their thing but Game did it for the youth. He represented a fresh start and I try to do that as well I just try and do it from an Oakland perspective. I thought it would be a perfect combination. He told me he was feeling what I was doing and he wanted to take it to the next level.
You have Hyphy Juice and are involved in other businesses as well. Did you come into the game with intentions of being a businessman as well or did the opportunities just kind of present themselves to you?
I mean from Puffy to Jay-Z I think it’s just an evolution of hip-hop. I think the younger generation just wants to follow in the footsteps of their heroes. For me Jay, Puff, Russell, and all the guys that paved the way are like my heroes. I didn’t think I would own the things I own or be involved with the thing I’m involved in but I just took what was put in front of me.
With Hyphy Juice, it was just perfect timing because I was in the streets when the Hyphy movement was just starting. I was a part of it. We were there when it was going on. I knew it was gonna be something that could go national. I saw Pimp Juice and I saw Crunk Juice and the truth is we see our peers who are doing the biggest things and we think how we can put something out on the market that can compete. You can look up to somebody but if you wanna rub shoulders with them then you gotta be on their level. We wanted something that would taste real good and appeal to the masses. It’s been doing real good.
Let me ask you man, why is it that the Bay area sound is so different from the Los Angeles sound?
It’s just a different environment. In Los Angeles you have that West Coast appeal like the low riders and the khakis and all that. It’s what we see in the videos. Oakland is more country. It’s more like a down South city. There’s a lot of niggas with gold teeth. I was wearing gold teeth in the ninth grade before grills and all that. It’s not a love or hate thing because you’ll see a L.A nigga out here or vice versa and it’s West Coast love. There’s just an understanding that we’re different. Where Game would shoot a video in a low rider I might shoot it in a Cutlass or a muscle car. He might wear Chuck Taylor’s and I prefer Nike.
It’s just two different regions and the Bay has always done their own thing. That goes with the music as well. The mob music like the old school E-40 and Too Short music. It’s good because it’s given us an independence. We’re known for being independent and being go-getters. 40 and Too Short have been putting out good music forever but you don’t see them on the awards shows and that’s the downside to it. It’s like New York and Baltimore, they’re both East Coast but completely different with the slang and everything and that’s how it is with Los Angeles and the Bay.
With so many artists coming out and who are out already what do you think it is that made you be able to have all the success that you’ve had?
When I was coming up I always thought that we didn’t make songs for the radio and we didn’t have a variety of music. When I say we, I mean Bay area artists. I grew up on independent music as well as whatever was playing on MTV and BET but it would be the same shit like murder, death, kill, homicide. I’m not knocking that because that’s the music I grew up on. When I started rapping I wanted to make some music for the girls, something for the radio, music for the club, talk to the women, you know? I just wanted to make a variety of music. I didn’t want to only make music about shooting niggas.
I love that music and I can recite those lyrics but I just wanted to make that in addition to other types of music. In the streets it was real taboo shit to make a song about the bitches unless you were on some real doggin’ a bitch out type shit. On our album we had a lot of different music. I tried to touch all the markets and that’s what got me to where I am. I’ll fuck with any genre of hip-hop music and I think that’s what separates me.
Aight Clyde so tell us what you got coming up that we can check for.
We got my album California State of Mind which is in the finishing stages right now. We’re bouncing around with the title though. It might be called Theater Music. I got independent shit coming out again and I been touring with Game. That’s my biggest thing. I haven’t really been seen with Game that much because I didn’t have much to promote so I waited until I had it. That’s the main thing.
You got a lot of fans Clyde. What do you wanna tell them?
Keep listening and you don’t gotta be too patient because I’m finna drop something. Thank for all the support. Hit me up on Myspace, anywhere you could hit me up and I’ll hit you back. I appreciate all the love and I’m gonna continue to do me.
Source:http://www.sixshot.com/interviews/11505/
Posted: 6/17/2008 11:11:20 AM by Jon Michael
Image
When people think of Bay Area hip-hop they usually think of E-40 or Too Short, which is understandable since they are the forefathers. The fact is there is so much going on in the Bay. From their trendsetting ways, to their original slag, to their independent scene, and of course the Hyphy movement the Bay has a lot to offer.
Instead of lying dormant because they aren’t one of the major markets or hip-hop demographic areas, the Bay created possibly the strongest independent hip-hop scene ever.
Besides having a very supportive fan base from Bay area residents, the artists have a sort of unity,which undoubtedly helps the movement. With artists like The Jacka, Balance, The Grouch and Mistah Fab, The Bay area is producing some of the genre’s best hip-hop music.
One of the newest names to be tossed into the hat is Oakland lyricist Clyde Carson. While a true Oakland MC at heart , you can hear the diversity in Clyde’s sound, which is probably why Capitol Records came calling after Clyde released a highly successful indie project and built up his buzz. It was at Capitol where Los Angeles heavyweight The Game saw the potential and signed Clyde as the newest member of Black Wall Street.
With his talent for being able to make any type of song and his lyrical abilities it’s obvious Clyde is up next. Sixshot.com caught up with Clyde Carson to discuss signing with The Game, living in New York, and what we can expect to see from him in the future.
Aight Clyde, I know you were doing your thing on a large scale independently. How did you manage to get so much accomplished?
I took a trip to New York in 2001. I met some people backstage, before the hyphy movement and I was kind of doing what 50 Cent was doing by using the underground. At that point he wasn’t signed to Em or Dre yet. Before people were doing it I was making mixtapes but I wasn’t using beats that were on the radio. I took beats that were album cuts and songs hat people hadn’t heard before. I had my ProTools before people were really using it. The only dude I had seen do it was 50 so when I came back to Oakland I used his same format but instead of doing a mixtape I created an album with it.
We pushed that album in the streets and it had Nate Dogg and Nas but it was songs that people hadn’t heard like hidden tracks and stuff. We sold like 24,000 of the motherfuckers out the trunk and hand to hand or walking through the mall. The buzz started and people knew we were Oakland niggas but they thought we kinda sounded like we were from New York. That gave us the leverage we needed when we presented our stuff to the radio stations because people knew who we were.
That’s how I got my buzz started. We dropped numerous singles on the radio. I always wanted a universal sound so that was our main goal and I think we accomplished that. People just thought we had a different sound. That’s what separated me and my group from other artists.
Do people still confuse you for a New York artist?
Nah I wouldn’t say they think I’m a New York artist. When I came back from New York I had a strong accent. I was pretty young and I was out there alone so I was like a sponge. I wasn’t trying to sound like that but I picked it up. Artists sometimes pick up accents just because it’s popular but I was a sponge so it was just coming to me. I would be like, “word” or “yo”, you know? It would just come naturally. I haven’t lived out there since then and I talk like a nigga from Oakland, that’s what I sound like now. I try to make it a bigger sound. Lil’ Wayne probably still has his accent from Louisiana but when he gets in that booth he just projects something bigger.
So how did you get up with the Game and Black Wall Street?
When E-40 put out “Tell Me When To Go” it pretty much opened the doors for labels to come to the Bay and give out deals. Capitol was interested in me and Black Wall Street has a deal at Capitol. They had just signed a kid from out of New York and Capitol presented me to go through Game and I was with it. To me Game resurrected the youth in the West Coast. Snoop, Dre, 40 and Short have always done their thing but Game did it for the youth. He represented a fresh start and I try to do that as well I just try and do it from an Oakland perspective. I thought it would be a perfect combination. He told me he was feeling what I was doing and he wanted to take it to the next level.
You have Hyphy Juice and are involved in other businesses as well. Did you come into the game with intentions of being a businessman as well or did the opportunities just kind of present themselves to you?
I mean from Puffy to Jay-Z I think it’s just an evolution of hip-hop. I think the younger generation just wants to follow in the footsteps of their heroes. For me Jay, Puff, Russell, and all the guys that paved the way are like my heroes. I didn’t think I would own the things I own or be involved with the thing I’m involved in but I just took what was put in front of me.
With Hyphy Juice, it was just perfect timing because I was in the streets when the Hyphy movement was just starting. I was a part of it. We were there when it was going on. I knew it was gonna be something that could go national. I saw Pimp Juice and I saw Crunk Juice and the truth is we see our peers who are doing the biggest things and we think how we can put something out on the market that can compete. You can look up to somebody but if you wanna rub shoulders with them then you gotta be on their level. We wanted something that would taste real good and appeal to the masses. It’s been doing real good.
Let me ask you man, why is it that the Bay area sound is so different from the Los Angeles sound?
It’s just a different environment. In Los Angeles you have that West Coast appeal like the low riders and the khakis and all that. It’s what we see in the videos. Oakland is more country. It’s more like a down South city. There’s a lot of niggas with gold teeth. I was wearing gold teeth in the ninth grade before grills and all that. It’s not a love or hate thing because you’ll see a L.A nigga out here or vice versa and it’s West Coast love. There’s just an understanding that we’re different. Where Game would shoot a video in a low rider I might shoot it in a Cutlass or a muscle car. He might wear Chuck Taylor’s and I prefer Nike.
It’s just two different regions and the Bay has always done their own thing. That goes with the music as well. The mob music like the old school E-40 and Too Short music. It’s good because it’s given us an independence. We’re known for being independent and being go-getters. 40 and Too Short have been putting out good music forever but you don’t see them on the awards shows and that’s the downside to it. It’s like New York and Baltimore, they’re both East Coast but completely different with the slang and everything and that’s how it is with Los Angeles and the Bay.
With so many artists coming out and who are out already what do you think it is that made you be able to have all the success that you’ve had?
When I was coming up I always thought that we didn’t make songs for the radio and we didn’t have a variety of music. When I say we, I mean Bay area artists. I grew up on independent music as well as whatever was playing on MTV and BET but it would be the same shit like murder, death, kill, homicide. I’m not knocking that because that’s the music I grew up on. When I started rapping I wanted to make some music for the girls, something for the radio, music for the club, talk to the women, you know? I just wanted to make a variety of music. I didn’t want to only make music about shooting niggas.
I love that music and I can recite those lyrics but I just wanted to make that in addition to other types of music. In the streets it was real taboo shit to make a song about the bitches unless you were on some real doggin’ a bitch out type shit. On our album we had a lot of different music. I tried to touch all the markets and that’s what got me to where I am. I’ll fuck with any genre of hip-hop music and I think that’s what separates me.
Aight Clyde so tell us what you got coming up that we can check for.
We got my album California State of Mind which is in the finishing stages right now. We’re bouncing around with the title though. It might be called Theater Music. I got independent shit coming out again and I been touring with Game. That’s my biggest thing. I haven’t really been seen with Game that much because I didn’t have much to promote so I waited until I had it. That’s the main thing.
You got a lot of fans Clyde. What do you wanna tell them?
Keep listening and you don’t gotta be too patient because I’m finna drop something. Thank for all the support. Hit me up on Myspace, anywhere you could hit me up and I’ll hit you back. I appreciate all the love and I’m gonna continue to do me.
Source:http://www.sixshot.com/interviews/11505/
