I get asked this question a lot - "How did you come up with the name Apt.3? or How did you guys start Apt.3/DNA" so heres the fuckin story.
Apt.3 began as a comic book called "Something Is Wrong In Apt.3". Not many people know that Im a 4 year animation/illustration major. It was also named Apt.3 because that was the fuckin apartment I was living in at the time. Around the time of doing the comic, I did some drawings/work for Dre Dog and that started getting me more work with some Bay rap artists. I would always throw shit in the background of the drawings in the book like IMP posters, references to Bay rap, etc. Since I was such a huge Cougnut and C-Fresh ( IMP ) fan, Dre connected me with Cougnut and I shot him a copy of the comic. He got a kick out of it and we hung out a couple of times and eventually came up with the idea to do a magazine and record label with a compilation being our first release. The first issue of Apt.3 magazine had interviews with Cougnut, San Quinn, JT the Bigga Figga ( it was going to be a much longer interview but somebody stole the tape I had recorded it on at a party I threw in Apt.3 lol ), C-Fresh and 2-Illeven. In doing so, I was introduced to C-Fresh and Big Drawz of 2-Illeven, who would both end up being crucial parts of Apt.3/DNA. DJ Mark 7 ( who I had been friends with for years and had dj'ed for Ray Luv, Link Crew, Young D Boyz, etc ) gave me a cd with about 10 beats on it ( back in his mobb / slump days, courtesy of his ASR-10 ) and Cougnut and his boy Twan Goddi of Groundhogz wrote and freestyled to these beats for hours ( I have about 4 hours of video footage somewhere of them doing this, Twan is an awesome freestyler and watching Coug write and rap over diff beats was priceless ),
One of the first studio sessions we had to get the compilation going was with Twan Goddi ( whos song ended up being "Sheisty Individuals" ) and Millenium Thugs ( "Fuck Em All" ). A little known fact about Millenium Thugs is that the first verse is by a very young Killa Keise, who surprised the hell out of us all at the studio for getting in the booth and taking care of his verse on his first take. We knew he was gonna be super special since he was so young and was already a true professional in the studio. The compilation was also his first song on a recorded and released album and we were proud to have him on it. Baldhead Rick came next with "Soldiers of Fortune" and recorded his song "The Game" which ended up not being released until "Theme Music to Drug Dealinz and Killinz". Deco-D came down and did a really nice track next that ended up being ERASED on accident. This was back in the days of Reel to Reel, we didnt have the luxury of Pro Tools at the time. Mr. Doctor and Odysea came to the studio and did an interview for the magazine which never got into the final cut of the book and were also slated to do a track for the album but again, thanks to problems with the Adat machine, ended up having to leave to get to another studio and that track never ended up happening as well.
Around this time I met up with ADR of Triple 6. He and I hit it off well since we were both sick fucks. He recorded the first version of "Kill Em" that was produced by Mark 7, but it ended up not coming out on the album. ADR and I ended up working together a lot and eventually he and I became co-owners of the label.
Ill do part two later if anyone gives a shit.
Apt.3 began as a comic book called "Something Is Wrong In Apt.3". Not many people know that Im a 4 year animation/illustration major. It was also named Apt.3 because that was the fuckin apartment I was living in at the time. Around the time of doing the comic, I did some drawings/work for Dre Dog and that started getting me more work with some Bay rap artists. I would always throw shit in the background of the drawings in the book like IMP posters, references to Bay rap, etc. Since I was such a huge Cougnut and C-Fresh ( IMP ) fan, Dre connected me with Cougnut and I shot him a copy of the comic. He got a kick out of it and we hung out a couple of times and eventually came up with the idea to do a magazine and record label with a compilation being our first release. The first issue of Apt.3 magazine had interviews with Cougnut, San Quinn, JT the Bigga Figga ( it was going to be a much longer interview but somebody stole the tape I had recorded it on at a party I threw in Apt.3 lol ), C-Fresh and 2-Illeven. In doing so, I was introduced to C-Fresh and Big Drawz of 2-Illeven, who would both end up being crucial parts of Apt.3/DNA. DJ Mark 7 ( who I had been friends with for years and had dj'ed for Ray Luv, Link Crew, Young D Boyz, etc ) gave me a cd with about 10 beats on it ( back in his mobb / slump days, courtesy of his ASR-10 ) and Cougnut and his boy Twan Goddi of Groundhogz wrote and freestyled to these beats for hours ( I have about 4 hours of video footage somewhere of them doing this, Twan is an awesome freestyler and watching Coug write and rap over diff beats was priceless ),
One of the first studio sessions we had to get the compilation going was with Twan Goddi ( whos song ended up being "Sheisty Individuals" ) and Millenium Thugs ( "Fuck Em All" ). A little known fact about Millenium Thugs is that the first verse is by a very young Killa Keise, who surprised the hell out of us all at the studio for getting in the booth and taking care of his verse on his first take. We knew he was gonna be super special since he was so young and was already a true professional in the studio. The compilation was also his first song on a recorded and released album and we were proud to have him on it. Baldhead Rick came next with "Soldiers of Fortune" and recorded his song "The Game" which ended up not being released until "Theme Music to Drug Dealinz and Killinz". Deco-D came down and did a really nice track next that ended up being ERASED on accident. This was back in the days of Reel to Reel, we didnt have the luxury of Pro Tools at the time. Mr. Doctor and Odysea came to the studio and did an interview for the magazine which never got into the final cut of the book and were also slated to do a track for the album but again, thanks to problems with the Adat machine, ended up having to leave to get to another studio and that track never ended up happening as well.
Around this time I met up with ADR of Triple 6. He and I hit it off well since we were both sick fucks. He recorded the first version of "Kill Em" that was produced by Mark 7, but it ended up not coming out on the album. ADR and I ended up working together a lot and eventually he and I became co-owners of the label.
Ill do part two later if anyone gives a shit.
