In the newest issue of Xplosive we did a City 2 City feature on Pittsburg CALI, but those interviews are always short, so here's the Mob Figaz ones I did, raw and uncut, I didn't interview Rydah, so you get to read Jacka, Hus, AP, and Fed-X.... and on a side note, the views expressed by the artists aint necessarrily mine, so if somethin pisses u off, and it's in " " QUOTES, that came from the artist........
JACKA
Pittsburg... No not Pittsburgh... Pittsburg, California. If you’ve never heard of it, or even if you have, read on because you’ve got a lot to learn. In an area that most of the residing artists refer to as straight gutter and grimy, there are a few bright lights and unpolished gems starting to shine through the darkness and the dirt. Musically, Pittsburg is one of the hottest areas in Northern California currently, and seemingly leading the charge is The Jacka of the group Mob Figaz.
With the huge independent success of the C-Bo’s Mob Figaz group album with members Husalah, AP.9, Rydah J. Klyde, and Fed-X, and one solo album under his belt, Jacka appears to be taking the reigns and leading the pack for Pittsburg. On the verge of releasing his new album “The Jack Artist,” he currently has two singles in rotation on 106.1 KMEL radio, “Get On Out There,” and “All The Girls Say.” His appearance on the new Cormega album “Legal Hustle” will also definitely help spread the Jacka and Mob Figaz sound to a new East Coast fan base.
Jacka’s name should not be taken lightly as he told me he got his start recording around age 12 when he “hit a lick on a house one day and got some studio equipment up out of it.” He says that Fed-X and Pittsburg producer extraordinaire Rob Lo were already boys, and Rob had some studio equipment, so they combined equipment and that’s how it all began. They started to take music serious around high school, when they had tapes of songs flooded everywhere, especially around the Pittsburg area. They felt as though people believed in them. When asked if it’s a possibility of any of those old songs ever coming out, Jacka said “all that material, whoever got it, cherish it. Hold on to it.”
Tell me about coming together as the Mob Figaz and getting the deal with C-Bo. “We was all solo artists. Me and Feddy was a group. Boob James (Husalah), Klyde, AP, and Freak-O had a group called 100% Tha Kind. Freak ended up getting locked up somehow, but he was supposed to be in the Mob Figaz too. That was a spur of the moment thing. Bo was fresh out of jail, picked us up. The way that happened was fast paced, straight to the lab. They kidnapped us. Recorded hella songs, next thing you know we got an album done. We went everywhere Bo went and promoted, and they showed us that same love.” The self titled C-Bo’s Mob Figaz album sold over 100,000 units independently without any radio or video play and secured the Mob Figaz as factors and artists to be reckoned with in the Bay Area.
When asked why we don’t see the Mob Figaz working with C-Bo too much anymore, Jacka says Bo is busy with his label and artists in L.A., but they are still in contact and see each other whenever they are in that area. I asked him about this, because there was rumors that the Figaz might not be cool with C-Bo because of money issues, but Jacka put that to rest. “We always was getting paid, before the album came out, getting fat checks. Never living at home, we was on the road for a year. New clothes everyday, socks and shoes, that sh*t costs money. When you get that kind of money, like $20,000 a piece, you gotta save it. We had to f**k money off to figure that out. We thought we were millionaires.”
When it was time to go solo, Jacka and his team started out by seriously promoting his product before it was even close to hitting the streets. They also got a new studio so they could record anytime they wanted to. “We made about a hundred songs and picked the ones we thought the streets would like the most.” You had a lot of big features on there. “Yeah I had $hort on there, Cormega, 3XKrazy, Yukmouth.” Jacka says they were surprised how well the album did because it came out right after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and nothing was expected to sell. “It’s at about 12,000 on soundscan now, but I know we sold over 20,000 on our own.” The song “Hey Girl” from that album finally started to get a little airplay a little while back. “They don’t know, they don’t understand, the people that work there, they’re not in the streets. They just go to the club all the time, the club is for the working class people, that ain’t for the street people. Them radio dudes don’t know wassup, I don’t care about the radio personally. We never needed it, ‘cause we had the streets already.” Jacka also shot a video for “Hey Girl,” which he says might be released in the near future on a DVD, and to the local video channels after his new album comes out.
Big Von from KMEL was telling me that you guys don’t even like the two singles that you have playing on the radio right now. “We like ‘em.... they tight songs, I know the people like ‘em, those type of songs let you know a little bit about me. I just want you to see the Bay. I want people to understand that we’re different from everybody else.”
Tell me about the new album “The Jack Artist.” “Got Rob Lo and Maki on the beats. Tone Capone did the remix to ‘Hey Girl.’ We don’t have any big outlandish features ‘cause I’m trying to get my boys to shine ‘cause they so raw right now, after this album comes out, they gone be the big feature producers. I work with Rob, I work with Maki. A lot of people get beats from them, but they don’t work with them. We got a chemistry. We sit there and make the beat together.” Any features on there? “Nope. Got the Mob Figaz, Dubb 20 on there. It’s features on there, but it ain’t no big features, I want my boys to shine.” Jacka says what makes this album different from the first one is that it is appealing to the masses. The first one was just strictly for the streets only. “This album I made it for the streets too, but this time I didn’t leave the ladies out. It ain’t nothin’ soft, it’s just somethin’ to let ‘em know what’s up. Some real sh*t.” The album is done and mixed down, and I’m told that we can expect in sometime in early summer.
There was also a second Mob Figaz group album that came out under Warlock. There was very little promotion, and the album almost fell under the radar to a lot of fans of the group. Jacka says that album was experimental for Warlock, and was primarily release and promoted on the East Coast and Midwest. He says the album still sold 25,000 copies.
What’s really going on with the Mob Figaz right now, is everybody still cool, we haven’t seen much material in a while? “We always been cool, ain’t nobody ever had any problems with each other. We fight, you know, we brothers. Other than that, we cool. We independent, we not major, sometimes you really gotta think about that. We just n**gaz off the streets. If you ain’t talkin’ about no real money, you ain’t gonna hear nothin’ from the Fig’s. We gonna continue doin’ what we do to get this loot.” So is there a new Mob Figaz album coming? “Master P just hooked up with one of our boys out here from Sacramento, he gave him a couple million. He’s tryin’ to do somethin’ with us. They askin’ us what we need right now. I’m just gonna leave that a surprise right now. When it goes down and you find out who that is, it’s gone be huge.” So will it be like the first album, with everybody on the songs? “Yeah, every song we got done has everybody on it. The only time somebody might not be on a song is if they’re in jail or something, not ‘cause they didn’t come to the lab... Bo gone be involved, everybody. The way we live man, if the people that’s trying to do it ain’t talkin’ about no money, we can just do it ourselves.”
Do you want to say anything about Freak-O? “Yeah that was my boy you know. Everybody loved Freak, he was older than us. He was a fly cat, one of the flyest dudes from Pittsburg. Real cool, sharp, wise, intelligent, spiritual dude.”
Jacka tells me the reason Pittsburg is so popular is because of the neighborhoods, not because of the rappers. “We never really said nothing about Pittsburg on the Mob Figaz, people just knew we was from there. Pittsburg is straight for the hood, it’s the hood.”
I also asked Jacka what about his style appeals so much to the people? “I guess I know what people like. I’m a good people person. I get around people and I listen, soak it all up. I’ll do something so raw that it goes past the hood. The beats that I pick, and the flow that I develop, the type of things that I say, it really hits home. Whether you rich or poor, you know what I’m talking about.”
With his widely internationally appealing sound, most listeners can tell that The Jacka is destined for a very successful future. As he continues to musically deliver the streets of Pittsburg to the masses, he will also help to continue to shine light on the good points of the P. Recognize the talent. Go support “The Jack Artist.”
JACKA
Pittsburg... No not Pittsburgh... Pittsburg, California. If you’ve never heard of it, or even if you have, read on because you’ve got a lot to learn. In an area that most of the residing artists refer to as straight gutter and grimy, there are a few bright lights and unpolished gems starting to shine through the darkness and the dirt. Musically, Pittsburg is one of the hottest areas in Northern California currently, and seemingly leading the charge is The Jacka of the group Mob Figaz.
With the huge independent success of the C-Bo’s Mob Figaz group album with members Husalah, AP.9, Rydah J. Klyde, and Fed-X, and one solo album under his belt, Jacka appears to be taking the reigns and leading the pack for Pittsburg. On the verge of releasing his new album “The Jack Artist,” he currently has two singles in rotation on 106.1 KMEL radio, “Get On Out There,” and “All The Girls Say.” His appearance on the new Cormega album “Legal Hustle” will also definitely help spread the Jacka and Mob Figaz sound to a new East Coast fan base.
Jacka’s name should not be taken lightly as he told me he got his start recording around age 12 when he “hit a lick on a house one day and got some studio equipment up out of it.” He says that Fed-X and Pittsburg producer extraordinaire Rob Lo were already boys, and Rob had some studio equipment, so they combined equipment and that’s how it all began. They started to take music serious around high school, when they had tapes of songs flooded everywhere, especially around the Pittsburg area. They felt as though people believed in them. When asked if it’s a possibility of any of those old songs ever coming out, Jacka said “all that material, whoever got it, cherish it. Hold on to it.”
Tell me about coming together as the Mob Figaz and getting the deal with C-Bo. “We was all solo artists. Me and Feddy was a group. Boob James (Husalah), Klyde, AP, and Freak-O had a group called 100% Tha Kind. Freak ended up getting locked up somehow, but he was supposed to be in the Mob Figaz too. That was a spur of the moment thing. Bo was fresh out of jail, picked us up. The way that happened was fast paced, straight to the lab. They kidnapped us. Recorded hella songs, next thing you know we got an album done. We went everywhere Bo went and promoted, and they showed us that same love.” The self titled C-Bo’s Mob Figaz album sold over 100,000 units independently without any radio or video play and secured the Mob Figaz as factors and artists to be reckoned with in the Bay Area.
When asked why we don’t see the Mob Figaz working with C-Bo too much anymore, Jacka says Bo is busy with his label and artists in L.A., but they are still in contact and see each other whenever they are in that area. I asked him about this, because there was rumors that the Figaz might not be cool with C-Bo because of money issues, but Jacka put that to rest. “We always was getting paid, before the album came out, getting fat checks. Never living at home, we was on the road for a year. New clothes everyday, socks and shoes, that sh*t costs money. When you get that kind of money, like $20,000 a piece, you gotta save it. We had to f**k money off to figure that out. We thought we were millionaires.”
When it was time to go solo, Jacka and his team started out by seriously promoting his product before it was even close to hitting the streets. They also got a new studio so they could record anytime they wanted to. “We made about a hundred songs and picked the ones we thought the streets would like the most.” You had a lot of big features on there. “Yeah I had $hort on there, Cormega, 3XKrazy, Yukmouth.” Jacka says they were surprised how well the album did because it came out right after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and nothing was expected to sell. “It’s at about 12,000 on soundscan now, but I know we sold over 20,000 on our own.” The song “Hey Girl” from that album finally started to get a little airplay a little while back. “They don’t know, they don’t understand, the people that work there, they’re not in the streets. They just go to the club all the time, the club is for the working class people, that ain’t for the street people. Them radio dudes don’t know wassup, I don’t care about the radio personally. We never needed it, ‘cause we had the streets already.” Jacka also shot a video for “Hey Girl,” which he says might be released in the near future on a DVD, and to the local video channels after his new album comes out.
Big Von from KMEL was telling me that you guys don’t even like the two singles that you have playing on the radio right now. “We like ‘em.... they tight songs, I know the people like ‘em, those type of songs let you know a little bit about me. I just want you to see the Bay. I want people to understand that we’re different from everybody else.”
Tell me about the new album “The Jack Artist.” “Got Rob Lo and Maki on the beats. Tone Capone did the remix to ‘Hey Girl.’ We don’t have any big outlandish features ‘cause I’m trying to get my boys to shine ‘cause they so raw right now, after this album comes out, they gone be the big feature producers. I work with Rob, I work with Maki. A lot of people get beats from them, but they don’t work with them. We got a chemistry. We sit there and make the beat together.” Any features on there? “Nope. Got the Mob Figaz, Dubb 20 on there. It’s features on there, but it ain’t no big features, I want my boys to shine.” Jacka says what makes this album different from the first one is that it is appealing to the masses. The first one was just strictly for the streets only. “This album I made it for the streets too, but this time I didn’t leave the ladies out. It ain’t nothin’ soft, it’s just somethin’ to let ‘em know what’s up. Some real sh*t.” The album is done and mixed down, and I’m told that we can expect in sometime in early summer.
There was also a second Mob Figaz group album that came out under Warlock. There was very little promotion, and the album almost fell under the radar to a lot of fans of the group. Jacka says that album was experimental for Warlock, and was primarily release and promoted on the East Coast and Midwest. He says the album still sold 25,000 copies.
What’s really going on with the Mob Figaz right now, is everybody still cool, we haven’t seen much material in a while? “We always been cool, ain’t nobody ever had any problems with each other. We fight, you know, we brothers. Other than that, we cool. We independent, we not major, sometimes you really gotta think about that. We just n**gaz off the streets. If you ain’t talkin’ about no real money, you ain’t gonna hear nothin’ from the Fig’s. We gonna continue doin’ what we do to get this loot.” So is there a new Mob Figaz album coming? “Master P just hooked up with one of our boys out here from Sacramento, he gave him a couple million. He’s tryin’ to do somethin’ with us. They askin’ us what we need right now. I’m just gonna leave that a surprise right now. When it goes down and you find out who that is, it’s gone be huge.” So will it be like the first album, with everybody on the songs? “Yeah, every song we got done has everybody on it. The only time somebody might not be on a song is if they’re in jail or something, not ‘cause they didn’t come to the lab... Bo gone be involved, everybody. The way we live man, if the people that’s trying to do it ain’t talkin’ about no money, we can just do it ourselves.”
Do you want to say anything about Freak-O? “Yeah that was my boy you know. Everybody loved Freak, he was older than us. He was a fly cat, one of the flyest dudes from Pittsburg. Real cool, sharp, wise, intelligent, spiritual dude.”
Jacka tells me the reason Pittsburg is so popular is because of the neighborhoods, not because of the rappers. “We never really said nothing about Pittsburg on the Mob Figaz, people just knew we was from there. Pittsburg is straight for the hood, it’s the hood.”
I also asked Jacka what about his style appeals so much to the people? “I guess I know what people like. I’m a good people person. I get around people and I listen, soak it all up. I’ll do something so raw that it goes past the hood. The beats that I pick, and the flow that I develop, the type of things that I say, it really hits home. Whether you rich or poor, you know what I’m talking about.”
With his widely internationally appealing sound, most listeners can tell that The Jacka is destined for a very successful future. As he continues to musically deliver the streets of Pittsburg to the masses, he will also help to continue to shine light on the good points of the P. Recognize the talent. Go support “The Jack Artist.”
