I decided to make this a seperate thread so it wouldn't be lost in all the drf/lowdown related topics that are up right now. So here are all the interviews.
Interview with Crooked of the Darkroom Familia
This is what the title says, an interview with the Darkroom Familia member named Crooked. This interview took place over the weekend of June 23rd to June 25th:
Boomin' Words From Portsmouth: 1. Who are the core rappers of DRF?
Crooked: The first thing that I wanna let people know is that we have been doing this since 1988-over 12 years now. A lot of people think that we're new to the rap game or that our first CD was Penitentiary Chances. Well, Duke and Me put out our first tape in 1988. It was a black and white maxi-single that was shrinkwrapped with a hair dryer. We would go all over the Bay Area and sell our tapes out of a backpack at malls and wherever there were homeboys around. We're from Hayward, Ca and Oakland is only five minutes away. San Francisco is right over the bridge. So we would go to every independent record store that we knew of in the Bay Area. We'd go to T's Wauzi in Eastmont Mall and Durant Square in Oakland. We would go to Stop, Look & Listen in Fremont and stores like that. If you were a rapper in the Bay Area-those were some of the places you would go to sell your shit. Anyway, at the same time in Tracy, Ca, Sir Syno was pretty much doing the same thing with his group-G.U.N, in the Central Valley. We started performing at shows, car shows and shit. And that's how we met Dyno. That was in 90'. We hooked up and started the Darkroom in 93'. Me(Crooked), Duke, Sir Dyno-We started the Darkroom along with Dee-Roll. He's from the Acorn projects in West Oakland, Ca. If you have our older CDs, you'll remember his name. Unfortunately, Dee-Roll quit rapping and moved away. But Duke, Dyno and Me are still holding down the fort. Darkroom has always and will always be the founding members. Then there's a few rappers who've been with us since we started Darkroom. Oso is one of those rappers. DjMT is another. Other homeboys down with us are Dub, the newer, youger homeboys-J-Loc and Sapo, A.L.G-he's also in LowDown. And Despite what some people believe, LowDown is still with us. As a matter of fact, Never and Lil Wyno are on the new Darkroom album-HOMICIDE KINGS. On a track titled "STILL DARKROOM"-that's for the non-believers. Even though they stayed with that other label, they're still down with us.
BWFP: 2. How many cds has DRF released in total? (including solo cds)
Crooked: Honestly, I lost count. Over 44 guaranteed. We don't even have some of our older shit. I don't even have a copy of our first tape. This year alone we've released damn near 14 albums-solos and group albums combined.
BWFP: 3. How do you feel about DogDay records since the departure?
Crooked: I feel great. I wanna make this perfectly clear-WE left THEM. They BEGGED us not to leave. They offered us $40,000 for our latest movie BLOOD & TEARS, we told 'em to fuck off! And we kept our movie. DogGay ain't nothin to us. We've been putting out albums BEFORE and AFTER them. We kept their lights on. I put that on anything. NO other group that they've had has ever put out as many albums as we have in one year. Who else makes movies? Only a few. We made them-they didn't make us. Us leaving them hasn't hurt us one bit. We just cut out the middle man and now we make all the money ourselves.
DogGay is a bullshit label. The two crooks who run that label are fuckin phonies. They are nothin but a big front. They keep a PO BOX in Oakland, but they have their office in beautiful Emeryville. They try to look like this down ass label, but the truth is that they're these old white people who don't know dick about rap. One of them is an ex-punk rocker and the other one is an ex-mail clerk. The only rap knowledge they have is 'cause they used to work with this underground rap one-stop in Oakland. But they really don't know what's going on in this rap game. Damn near EVERY artist has left them. D-NUT, U.D.I., Closed Caption, Funk Daddy, Crooked Path, Million Dollar Dream, Shay Deffa, Andre (Dre Dog) Nickatina, Herm, Darkoom, U.N.L.V., and that's just off the top of my head-there's more.
BWFP: 4. Are you still down with Never and Lowdown, since they is signed to DogDay?
Crooked: Most definitely. LowDown is still down with Darkroom. I got nothin but love for LowDown and DjMT. We left, they chose to stay. If DogGay is treating them good, then that's all that matters. LowDown has been in this rap game for many years. They deserve much props for everything they've done. I can't be mad at that. Who am I to tell them what to do? We're all homies and that ain't gonna change.
BWFP: 5. Though your new fans may or may not know, there have been earlier DRF projects such as "Players 4 Life" and "Guns" by The Deadly Game Clique. Who were the members and when were the cds released?
Crooked: PFL-MAJOR GAME is a compilation. There are many artists on that. Me, Duke, Dyno, Dee-Roll, Young Ant, Down-N-Dirty and a bunch of others. I think it came out in 95'. Deadly Game Clique-PROPOSITIONS is another compilation, My boy-DUB did that one. It's on his label-Federal Recordz, but it has DRF artists on it. I think it came out in 97' or 98'.
BWFP: 6. Are there any plans to re-release any really old stuff from the early days of Darkroom?
Crooked: Yes. We have released a CD called ENTER THE DARKROOM-89'-95'. It's a collection of songs from various DRF albums from 1989-1995. Also, we're planning on doing a volume 2 of that and we're also re-releasing Duke's first solo TO LIVE AND DIE IN THE BAY, re-mastered and featuring some new songs. That one comes out in July. Also, Dyno's other solo albums BROWN PERSUASION and LOCOTE. We'll probably combine the two albums together. Be on the lookout.
BWFP: 7. Are there any new DRF members who we haven't heard from yet and are there plans for them to release some cds?
Crooked: The newest members are J-Loc and Lil Sapo. J-Loc already released his first solo. It is called "The Criminal Element." He's working on his next one right now. It's almost done and so far, it's TIGHT. They were both featured on a few compilations that we did. The BROWN AREA and THE BROWN AREA-CALIFORNIA LATINS. They're the youngsters of Darkroom. They're gonna be dope over the years. They are both also featured on the new Darkroom album HOMICIDE KINGS.
BWFP: 8. Have any members ever been kicked out of DRF?
Crooked: Yes. The ones that aren't here are the ones that weren't putting any effort into this rap shit. Me, Duke and Dyno have put in work for over 12 years. We do EVERYTHING for our label-DARKROOM STUDIOS. We do ALL the footwork. We have our own studios, our own engineers, our own photographers, our own graphic designers, our own writers, directors, producers, rappers, filmmakers, We maintain our own website, etc,. Those guys are US. We do it all. These other guys think they're just gonna come in and make G's....and that's just not gonna happen. They don't understand that you have to PAY DUES....you have to EARN what you get. They just sat back and expected to get paid fat, but they didn't wanna put any of the footwork in. Ya know what I mean? A couple of them let the little fame that they got go to their heads and they thought they were the best MCs to ever touch a microphone. And that was their downfall. The ones who stayed and kept puttin in work and paying dues-now, they're getting paid fat. The ones that thought they were the shit and didn't wanna do shit-they're slangin' beef jerky at liquor stores or sitting on their asses and doing nothing. Like I said, since 88' and we're now finally making some money. This rap shit is a business, a very HARD business. You can't just jump in it and become a millionaire over-night. That's a 1 in a million chance that that's gonna happen. Ya know? For every Eminem, for every Snoop Dogg, there is a million rappers just like them who've put in work and continue to put in work, that don't have shit to show for it. This is all SHOW BUSINESS.
BWFP: 9. Is DRF still accepting new members?
Crooked: We always accept demos and shit. We're always makin those BROWN AREA compilations. So, if you're tight-send us a tape. PO BOX 56000 Hayward, Ca 94545.
BWFP: 10. Are there any plans to sign with a major recording company?
Crooked: Right now, we're making a living off of our music and movies and we'll continue to. If a major comes at us with a good contract then you never know what can happen.
BWFP: 11. What other rappers do you think are tight?
Crooked: Honestly, I don't really listen to too much rap nowadays. There's too many weak ass rappers out. The only shit I bump is the shit that I've always had like: Mac Dre, Too $hort, E-40, Above The Law, Tommy Wright III, shit like that. I can't fuckin stand all the radio bullshit.
BWFP: 12. What do you think of other norteño rappers, such as Woodie?
Crooked: Woodie is a cool ass homeboy. For real. I'm speaking personally here. He's a good guy. He was on our soundtrack for our movie BLOOD & TEARS. It's all Northern Love.
BWFP: 13. Do you plan on working with artists outside of DRF?
Crooked: We have and we probably will. But we only work with artists that we like, that we can feel. You know what I mean?
Interview with Crooked of the Darkroom Familia
This is what the title says, an interview with the Darkroom Familia member named Crooked. This interview took place over the weekend of June 23rd to June 25th:
Boomin' Words From Portsmouth: 1. Who are the core rappers of DRF?
Crooked: The first thing that I wanna let people know is that we have been doing this since 1988-over 12 years now. A lot of people think that we're new to the rap game or that our first CD was Penitentiary Chances. Well, Duke and Me put out our first tape in 1988. It was a black and white maxi-single that was shrinkwrapped with a hair dryer. We would go all over the Bay Area and sell our tapes out of a backpack at malls and wherever there were homeboys around. We're from Hayward, Ca and Oakland is only five minutes away. San Francisco is right over the bridge. So we would go to every independent record store that we knew of in the Bay Area. We'd go to T's Wauzi in Eastmont Mall and Durant Square in Oakland. We would go to Stop, Look & Listen in Fremont and stores like that. If you were a rapper in the Bay Area-those were some of the places you would go to sell your shit. Anyway, at the same time in Tracy, Ca, Sir Syno was pretty much doing the same thing with his group-G.U.N, in the Central Valley. We started performing at shows, car shows and shit. And that's how we met Dyno. That was in 90'. We hooked up and started the Darkroom in 93'. Me(Crooked), Duke, Sir Dyno-We started the Darkroom along with Dee-Roll. He's from the Acorn projects in West Oakland, Ca. If you have our older CDs, you'll remember his name. Unfortunately, Dee-Roll quit rapping and moved away. But Duke, Dyno and Me are still holding down the fort. Darkroom has always and will always be the founding members. Then there's a few rappers who've been with us since we started Darkroom. Oso is one of those rappers. DjMT is another. Other homeboys down with us are Dub, the newer, youger homeboys-J-Loc and Sapo, A.L.G-he's also in LowDown. And Despite what some people believe, LowDown is still with us. As a matter of fact, Never and Lil Wyno are on the new Darkroom album-HOMICIDE KINGS. On a track titled "STILL DARKROOM"-that's for the non-believers. Even though they stayed with that other label, they're still down with us.
BWFP: 2. How many cds has DRF released in total? (including solo cds)
Crooked: Honestly, I lost count. Over 44 guaranteed. We don't even have some of our older shit. I don't even have a copy of our first tape. This year alone we've released damn near 14 albums-solos and group albums combined.
BWFP: 3. How do you feel about DogDay records since the departure?
Crooked: I feel great. I wanna make this perfectly clear-WE left THEM. They BEGGED us not to leave. They offered us $40,000 for our latest movie BLOOD & TEARS, we told 'em to fuck off! And we kept our movie. DogGay ain't nothin to us. We've been putting out albums BEFORE and AFTER them. We kept their lights on. I put that on anything. NO other group that they've had has ever put out as many albums as we have in one year. Who else makes movies? Only a few. We made them-they didn't make us. Us leaving them hasn't hurt us one bit. We just cut out the middle man and now we make all the money ourselves.
DogGay is a bullshit label. The two crooks who run that label are fuckin phonies. They are nothin but a big front. They keep a PO BOX in Oakland, but they have their office in beautiful Emeryville. They try to look like this down ass label, but the truth is that they're these old white people who don't know dick about rap. One of them is an ex-punk rocker and the other one is an ex-mail clerk. The only rap knowledge they have is 'cause they used to work with this underground rap one-stop in Oakland. But they really don't know what's going on in this rap game. Damn near EVERY artist has left them. D-NUT, U.D.I., Closed Caption, Funk Daddy, Crooked Path, Million Dollar Dream, Shay Deffa, Andre (Dre Dog) Nickatina, Herm, Darkoom, U.N.L.V., and that's just off the top of my head-there's more.
BWFP: 4. Are you still down with Never and Lowdown, since they is signed to DogDay?
Crooked: Most definitely. LowDown is still down with Darkroom. I got nothin but love for LowDown and DjMT. We left, they chose to stay. If DogGay is treating them good, then that's all that matters. LowDown has been in this rap game for many years. They deserve much props for everything they've done. I can't be mad at that. Who am I to tell them what to do? We're all homies and that ain't gonna change.
BWFP: 5. Though your new fans may or may not know, there have been earlier DRF projects such as "Players 4 Life" and "Guns" by The Deadly Game Clique. Who were the members and when were the cds released?
Crooked: PFL-MAJOR GAME is a compilation. There are many artists on that. Me, Duke, Dyno, Dee-Roll, Young Ant, Down-N-Dirty and a bunch of others. I think it came out in 95'. Deadly Game Clique-PROPOSITIONS is another compilation, My boy-DUB did that one. It's on his label-Federal Recordz, but it has DRF artists on it. I think it came out in 97' or 98'.
BWFP: 6. Are there any plans to re-release any really old stuff from the early days of Darkroom?
Crooked: Yes. We have released a CD called ENTER THE DARKROOM-89'-95'. It's a collection of songs from various DRF albums from 1989-1995. Also, we're planning on doing a volume 2 of that and we're also re-releasing Duke's first solo TO LIVE AND DIE IN THE BAY, re-mastered and featuring some new songs. That one comes out in July. Also, Dyno's other solo albums BROWN PERSUASION and LOCOTE. We'll probably combine the two albums together. Be on the lookout.
BWFP: 7. Are there any new DRF members who we haven't heard from yet and are there plans for them to release some cds?
Crooked: The newest members are J-Loc and Lil Sapo. J-Loc already released his first solo. It is called "The Criminal Element." He's working on his next one right now. It's almost done and so far, it's TIGHT. They were both featured on a few compilations that we did. The BROWN AREA and THE BROWN AREA-CALIFORNIA LATINS. They're the youngsters of Darkroom. They're gonna be dope over the years. They are both also featured on the new Darkroom album HOMICIDE KINGS.
BWFP: 8. Have any members ever been kicked out of DRF?
Crooked: Yes. The ones that aren't here are the ones that weren't putting any effort into this rap shit. Me, Duke and Dyno have put in work for over 12 years. We do EVERYTHING for our label-DARKROOM STUDIOS. We do ALL the footwork. We have our own studios, our own engineers, our own photographers, our own graphic designers, our own writers, directors, producers, rappers, filmmakers, We maintain our own website, etc,. Those guys are US. We do it all. These other guys think they're just gonna come in and make G's....and that's just not gonna happen. They don't understand that you have to PAY DUES....you have to EARN what you get. They just sat back and expected to get paid fat, but they didn't wanna put any of the footwork in. Ya know what I mean? A couple of them let the little fame that they got go to their heads and they thought they were the best MCs to ever touch a microphone. And that was their downfall. The ones who stayed and kept puttin in work and paying dues-now, they're getting paid fat. The ones that thought they were the shit and didn't wanna do shit-they're slangin' beef jerky at liquor stores or sitting on their asses and doing nothing. Like I said, since 88' and we're now finally making some money. This rap shit is a business, a very HARD business. You can't just jump in it and become a millionaire over-night. That's a 1 in a million chance that that's gonna happen. Ya know? For every Eminem, for every Snoop Dogg, there is a million rappers just like them who've put in work and continue to put in work, that don't have shit to show for it. This is all SHOW BUSINESS.
BWFP: 9. Is DRF still accepting new members?
Crooked: We always accept demos and shit. We're always makin those BROWN AREA compilations. So, if you're tight-send us a tape. PO BOX 56000 Hayward, Ca 94545.
BWFP: 10. Are there any plans to sign with a major recording company?
Crooked: Right now, we're making a living off of our music and movies and we'll continue to. If a major comes at us with a good contract then you never know what can happen.
BWFP: 11. What other rappers do you think are tight?
Crooked: Honestly, I don't really listen to too much rap nowadays. There's too many weak ass rappers out. The only shit I bump is the shit that I've always had like: Mac Dre, Too $hort, E-40, Above The Law, Tommy Wright III, shit like that. I can't fuckin stand all the radio bullshit.
BWFP: 12. What do you think of other norteño rappers, such as Woodie?
Crooked: Woodie is a cool ass homeboy. For real. I'm speaking personally here. He's a good guy. He was on our soundtrack for our movie BLOOD & TEARS. It's all Northern Love.
BWFP: 13. Do you plan on working with artists outside of DRF?
Crooked: We have and we probably will. But we only work with artists that we like, that we can feel. You know what I mean?
