Woodie\Apartment 3 interview

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caff

caff

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#1
May 10, 2002
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woodie\apartment 3 interview (part1)

@Woodie, how long ago was this interview??
@Peepz- incase you never got to read it..

For those of you that dont know him, Woodie is makin waves in this rap game, from the Bay to Nationwide. If you dont know him, he represents Northern California, Antioch to be exact 114% all the time, since way back in the streets to his first tape and eventual album Yoc Influenced, to his first compilation Northern Expozure, to where he is now with a major label deal with Koch Records out of New York.

I kept Woodie on the phone long enough to discuss his past, his present, and his humbly hopeful future, we discussed Yoc Life bangin and lots of other stuff so read on and step into the world of East Co Co Records.

How long you been rappin?

I first started rappin around the time of like Whodini and Run DMC, but as far as me writing my own lyrics, I started around 15 or 16.

What do you think of the rappers thats comin outta Antioch right now, or outta this area like Antioch & Pittsburg?....lets see whos comin out now like Sideways etc?

Outta Antioch, personally the only real muthafuckas that put it down to me is my folks. You know what Im sayin, if you from the Yoc, and youre really from the Yoc and you know what the Yocs about from back in like 9-fuckin-1 before shit really started crackin. Alot of these muthafuckas just jumped on it now. As far as Sideways, dont act like you got AKs in the trunk when you dont, and dont act like youre a hardcore muthafucka. Dont call your block 007 Block when you live on East 7th street, which is about 150 feet long and aint no dirt ever been done on that block. You know what Im sayin like its a major block, you know what Im sayin like my click were from West Twomp and West 11th and its some major work thats been put in there, fools is gone for it, and fools is runnin around like 007 Block, that aint shit, we from the town, we know. Just stick to what you do, look at Will Smith he dont rap about that gangsta shit, and hes a millionaire. So why the fuck you gon rap about gangster shit if you really aint. Just be real about it. Alot of these fools aint doin what they hollerin, or aint done what they hollerin. They never seen it or even felt it or what comes down, they aint got no dead homies behind it, no homies locked up behind it. You know, it just kills me, it kills me, these motherfuckers are hollerin the same town as me and how people gon compare me to them.

Ay man I can feel you totally though man, Im fuckin, Im 21 years old man, I been here all my life, I aint never called nowhere else home. Got all these muthafuckas that look at me crazy when I tell em I aint never lived nowhere else, so I totally feel you on that though.

You know what Im sayin Im from the Yoc, but I moved here from San Leandro when I was 10. Theres all these young muthafuckas, and Im like whatchu just get done watchin Boyz N The Hood or somethin, you know what Im sayin, they got shit all mixed up. Now theres hellaaa young Nortes, every town I go to theres hella young Northerners. Some of em... most of em aint even got no stripes behind it. When I was growin up we had to put in hella work to get our stripes cuz there was so many scraps. You could always catch me deep, flaired up, that aint shit. It got watered down almost, like everybody wanna be a Norteno, but they aint gotta earn the stripes to get there, its like they just automatically, you know what Im sayin, got their respect. Fuck that. Earn your stripes playa. I was just tellin muthafuckas they hate on me now cuz Im in the rap game.

Tell me about some of these projects you got comin up.

I got Nothern Expozure Vol. 2, its done and mastered. The covers almost fuckin...designed and everything. Were debatin whether too....

Now is that gonna be on the national lable or just....?

Its East Co Co fa sho, but its most likely gonna have a distribution deal with Koch Records, because Im all over it and Im signed to them as an independant artist. So umm....their probably gonna wanna get their hands in it so itll be nationwide. If not well do an exclusive like with BaySide, City Hall whatever cuz I aint fuckin with Music People no more. The only thing theyre good for, they are good for the cats that aint got no name, if you can get orders theyll fuckin take your ass and distribute you, but other than that dont rely on them for payin you on time or nothin.

But most likely Koch gonna have their hands on this one.

Not completely, but a distribution deal. And then uh..Take My Soul, my next album called Take My Soul I got 9 songs completed right now, and then Im goin to Nashville to record a song...to record a couple with Haystak. At first I just knew he was signed to the same label as me, but then I listened to his song on the Blood & Tears Compilation. I got a song on there, and I didnt even know, I guess he got a song on there too, and I listened to that song and just peeped his lyrics n shit. I was feelin him, it was from a whole different side n shit, but it was cool, so I was like fa sho Ill go to Nashville and record with him. So then so umm...were gonna go out there and probably get about 3 tracks done by this cat named Sonny that produced Haystaks album. Well probably do 1 or 2 songs with Haystak, well see. Im bringin my boy B-Dogg under my label out there, maybe Lil Los.

Whos some of the artists thats on Northern Expozure 2?

For Northern Expozure 2 we got, ok we got Lil Los, Shadow, we got Young A.Z. again, and uh High Yella Black with Still Mob Livin, which is Mob Livin Part II. We got Jacka from the Mob Figaz

Yeah I heard about that....

Yeah that songs hella cool. XO, Young Droop, Hollow Tip, Young Ridah. We got this new cat out here, this dudes only like 17. Hes a youngster and he raps like Bone, hes only a 17 year old cat, his name is Ammunition. We got a cat named Avalon thats featured on it, then we got a couple new singers thats doin hooks, then we got this one cat from New Orleans thats movin back named Rylo. Then we got this one female thats been down for hella long, we was in the studio one night, she got on the mic and it came out cool, and it made it. We got this girl Morgan too, shit we got more rappers too, shit I dont know....

Yeah I hear you, whos handlin the production?

I did production tracks 1 through 14 are produced by me. Track 15 is produced by a cat named Drama, I did all the production minus the 2 bonus tracks.

Well give me some info on your Take My Soul album.

Its gonna be cool bro. When they listen to mine its gonna be more on that just straight Yoc Influenced feel. The majority is some deep ass emotions, I be goin through it writin lyrics.

Yeah people are waitin for you to come back man...

Yeah its still gonna be some of them deep ass lyrics, you know what Im sayin, you know when youre on the latenight just sittin there and your boys aint around, you talk to yourself or whatever it is the fuck you talk to, thinkin about whats gonna happen when I fuckin die type shit. Some of that you know. Its 12 tracks, its got Shadow on it, Lil Los on it, its got B-Dogg on it, I think thats about it for right now, oh yeah XO. Umm, Lil Los....Lou E Lou...uhh... We did a song with B-Legit but that didnt work out.

Yeah I heard about that, some stuff with Studio Ton?

Yeah they was tryin to charge too much, it was nothin personal between me and him, it just had to do with record label type shit you know. It was cool he gave us a shot, it just didnt work out bro, I think were on seperate wavelengths, mine be just a little bit different. So its cool everything worked out, I still got the copies but Im not gonna release it....

Yeah I saw when people first found out you were gonna do a track with B-Legit, people was like uhh....they didnt really know what to think you know, when they found out you were gonna work with Studio Ton, they were kinda like I dont know, Ill just have to wait and hear it cuz everybodys so used to your sound.

Yeah yeah, so I wanted to leave it like that, I got the copies n shit, Ill probably let a couple people hear em.

Ok, so youre handlin all the production on your album?

Yeah.....oh no no no, Im gonna do 9 songs, and then therell be the one by

the guy in Nashville, so 80% of the production is done by me.

So whats some other projects we can look forward to from East Co Co comin up?

Well tell the fans first of all, my apologies for the inside of the first, of Northern Expozure saying Young A.Z. and Lou E Lou, Lil Los albums was coming soon. At first thats what we intended on, at first we intended that, but with Lou E Lou back in and outta fuckin jail or ... and Young A.Z. out in Frisco. Shit got hectic with the police, I had to move again, so now the studios hella far away. So most likely its whoever is hungriest. The next project after Woodie Take My Soul, its up in the air bro, it could be any one of my artists, it could be me, it could be Northern Expozure Vol. 4, cuz we skippin 3.

It seemed like the ones you were workin with the most were Lil Los and Shadow so everybody was waitin on theres.

Shadow got hella shit goin on in his life, in the meantime you know, rappers that aint been paid like rappers you know like big time rappers, they gotta make their ends meet, and they gotta keep food on their tables first. So thats why Shadows always rapped, Lil Los got shit to handle to make his ends meet you know what Im sayin? Its just like that until I get it to the point where I can get the spot thats back down here closer to more artists where they can come through everyday and record shit. Dont plan on shit bro, we plan on droppin Northern Expozure Vol. 2 and then my solo.

continue part 2 thread..
 
caff

caff

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May 10, 2002
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#2
woodie\apartment 3 interview (part2)

As long as you can kick back and drink a 40, as long as we got a roof over our heads, we chillin, we aint rushin back out there and cheatin the people like OK lets give em 4 good songs and well make a bunch of crappy songs just to put somethin out. You know what Im sayin, I listen to every song, me personally, I make sure every song, we personally sell it. I might not personally sell it, but if we can personally feel it, fuck it the whole album we know well the next cat could feel at least half of it, so Ill leave it at that.

Yeah I remember when you first dropped that shit (Yoc Influenced) and it was just on tape....

YEAH! (laughing)

...And everybody was like who the fuck is this cat, this white dude from Antioch? and now its like you got cats nationwide thats like wassup with Woodie, when he droppin somethin else?

Yeah yeah I know (laughing) that shit be funny. Fools gettin up on it in other states, that shit be silly. I knew it, I aint conceded or nothin, but I knew when I put this out my first from Yoc Influenced, if I could stick with this and keep my ass out of jail and keep doin this, its gonna crack, because I swear to God, this shit that I got right here is, its better than 50% of the shit out there. I fuckin took it back to like 95s rap game, Bay Area Rap. When RBL first came out, you know, all them cats, when they first ...came... out.., you know what Im sayin, and its just got so commercial too. Since like 96 on its got hella commercial, it aint, you know, the Bays been gone, everybodys talkin about playa/balla. Fuck all that you know what Im sayin, we aint into that, people buyin the music cant relate to that shit.

If youre really from the Bay, then you know what were about.

Yeah exactly, so I just wanted to, I just keep it on that level. I remember back then Id have that Cold World and bump the whole muthafucka through. I love them muffuckas, theyre dope. You know what Im sayin, like Mac Dres first 3 albums, dope as fuck, I dont really like his new shit. I liked his young shit, he just had that voice to him, you know just hella energetic, then he went to the pen and got out and really got harder, but I wasnt used to that type of Mac Dre I was used to Mac Dre (imitating.) Totally Insane, their tight as fuck too, from East Palo Alto.

Whats some of the artists that you respect thats out right now, or who do you look up to?

Shit of the ones that are out right now? Not too many that are out right now personally, I dont umm... I dont buy rap no more. I dont buy Rap, I still listen to like, the fuckin Gap Band, and the muthafuckin old school soul shit like that, or like I said some old 90 to 96 rap shit. You know what Im sayin but from Brotha Lynch 24 Deep to Cold World Hustlers Cold Streets to muthafuckin 415 you know what Im sayin with Richie Rich. I know, I used to bump all that shit.

Well youre talkin about all this old music, whats some of the artists that you used to look up to, that really made you want to get in this game?

Umm well it started not specifically with rap, I listened to rap since I was 6 years old. I listened to Run DMC, I listened to Whodini, you know all them old school groups. Whodini was the shit, I like Whodini more than I like Run DMC, they had too many guitars n shit. I mean I remember MC Shy-D, you know what Im sayin all those motherfuckers, I grew up on rap. Then when it got to the point of people puttin it out from where Im from, livin the same kinda life, like Mac Dre came out with Too Hard For The Fuckin Radio. I remember Cold World, Cold Streets, uhh...aww man The Govenor, The Gov. I remember a guy named...shh....bro there was so many different artists comin out.

See thats what the outsiders dont know, they dont know what weve done here in the Bay. Yeah like when you had RBL came out, Too $hort was already out there, he was already nationwide. I listened to Too $hort the same time I listened to Eric B. & Rakim, Eric B. & Rakim was out Paid In Full. Too $hort had an album out nationwide, I remember I found Too $hort in fucking K-Mart, back in 198-fucking uh-7. Born To Mack, the first one that went nationwide after Players and Dont Stop Rappin. So its like...you know..my rap history, I know all the rap, I remember all that shit, I might not remember it off the top of my head but I was there for it.

I hear you bro thats good, that shows that you got the background...

You gotta know where that shit comes from.

....That you aint no fly by night muffucka tryin to get in the game just to get some money real quick...

Oh no, no no. I used to break dance. In San Leandro at a place called East Bay Breakers. Yeah bro I was little, I was 8 years old, they used to lift me up over their heads and make me do back flips and all kinds of shit.

Then I moved out here and I used to wear courdoroys, and Nike Cortez and all that you know fuckin when I was like 10 years old, they didnt know what that shit was in Antioch. I used to break dance out in the school yard, next thing you know I had the whole fuckin school tryin to break dance, it was off the hook, I used to bring my boombox on talent show days. I might not be in the talent show but Id be out there breakin. Then as you get older and you start gettin into that gangster shit, and youre not no innocent no more once you hit 12 or 13.

So whos some of the artists that you would wanna work with that you havent got to yet?

Im satisfied with all the artists I got in my camp right now. Yeah, theres other artists out there, but my main concern is to take care of those that are closest to me right now. I really, Im not disrespecting anyone, but I could give a shit about working with anyone else, except the artists in my camp.

So theres not really like a big name artist that you would wanna work with, that you look up to, or somebody that you have always wanted to work with?

Na, cuz most of the artists that I do like you know the most, never made it to be a big name. Theyd be independant, and you know what Im sayin the major industry didnt pick em up. So there aint no major motherfuckers out there that I really can give a shit about to work with.

So what can we hear you on thats coming up, or thats out right now?

Minority Malitia 2 got a verse with me on it. Northern Expozure 2, Blood & Tears I said that one...Oh, the Race Riot Compilation, I did a song for them. Its kinda off the hook but Im puttin down for Nothern Cal., I aint even got a copy of that cd, I dont know whos on it. I havent heard it or anything. I know Im on it, they paid me for it. I dont know, I dont jump on too many albums, but then Im also always down like when like Darkroom, fuckin Ghetto Line, or Black N Brown or Lowdown, if they call me and wanna get something crackin, its on the strength, Ill just slide through and put a verse down for em cuz they fellow Northerners you know what Im sayin and theyre tryin to do the same thing. And if I call them, I hope, that they return the favor, everybody be deep like that. Its deeper than this rap game, if you a Northerner, you know, I aint down with shootin another Northerner. A lot of Northerners wanna ride on each other, but we so outnumbered cuz of them others, so Im always down to put it down for them and just to show up, do a verse n shit. Other than that, I dont give a shit about gettin on no ones album, I really dont. As long as theres a roof over my head, my mom is eatin, know what Im sayin, and my homies are doing half way decent, fuck it Im gonna do my rap thing.

Thats real cool, thats deep, thats real cool, you seem like you got your head on straight. Most muffuckas are in the game for the wrong reasons...

Yeah you know...

Well uhh...shit, can you give up any details on your deal? On your deal with Koch?

On my Koch deal? I did a 1 album, 3 option album deal, which means if they like what they see on the first album, if I deliver, they can keep me for 3 more albums. Im allowed to be a featured artist at any time courtesy of East Co Co Records, but I cant just go and fuckin drop 7 complete solo songs. And they broke me off...lets just say they broke me off 5 figures for a recording advancement on the first album. You know what Im sayin it could be 5 figures in the middle or 5 figures on the higher price range, but then 5 figures dont go too far when youre handin it to a muffucker that really aint seen no money in his life. You got a lot of bills to catch up on, youre handlin 5 figures, it dont go too far. You know Im OK, I got food in my mouth, but I got a lot more way to make before I can, before I get my homies where I want them to settle at. You know, its nice to see that much money at once. (laughing)

But whats your ultimate goals in this game?

My goals? My goal, my first and utmost goal is to raise and get enough money to through this music industry to get my homeboy Snoop out of prison. Hes falsely accused. They built the new police station, and the local citizens were mad because they couldnt solve a crime, they didnt know why they couldnt solve a murder with all this new high technology. Them motherfuckers just did that to make it look like they solved the crime. Then my second goal is just to make sure my family and my homies are always eating well and got a roof over their heads and uhh...my homies out of West Twomp stay well forever out of Black Bird, in the name of Black Bird, and that someday people will recognize the truth behind that, it aint what the police said, it goes a lot deeper with when the F.B.I. came and SWAT team and all that shit, it was, it was off the hook. Shit wasnt right. Thats about it. Fuck that, I want my muthafuckin set, I want a roof over my head, and I want Snoop out of jail. Im just parlayin. All this fuckin shit we been through and all this other shit, just to have a good 5 to 10 years of just solid kick back no worries in our lives for once.

continue part 3 thread..
 
caff

caff

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May 10, 2002
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woodie\apartment 3 interview (part3)..

So youre not really trippin off of what a lot of other fools are trippin on in this game like goin Platinum and all that.

Awww....shiiit....whatever...you know what Im sayin? Keep me comfortable, make sure my homies are alright, everything should be cool. I could give a fuck about all that....diamonds up on the album cover, gold plated mack 11s, thats rediculous. As long as I know the real muthafuckas are buyin my shit and not whatever the fuck cats buy, this Master P shit, fuckin Cash Money shit, followers get into that shit and think thats the way to go, but theres no loyalty. Im down for loyalty, loyalty above all laws, thats my slogan.

What advice would you give to some youngsters that are trying to get in this game?

Its hard as fuck...and uhh...if you gon get anywhere, you gotta put 114% into it, you know what Im sayin, seriously you do. I remember when I was on probation I had a part time job, I quit that part time job and put everything I had into this. And dont come with no bullshit, you ever have somebody tell you your music sucks......you aint gon make it bud. Know what Im sayin I mean you gotta really have talent, really a knack for this shit first of all, and you never know cuz Master Ps shit sucks and he made it. It just depends, theres different ways of making it. You just gotta figure out is this really > what you wanna do, are you really gonna put 114% into this?, and if you are, you got a 50/50 shot.

I guess thats about it, what do you have to say to your fans and to your listeners?

Umm, much love for all the support n shit. Dont worry were gonna be taking this further you know, on a nationwide level. We know that shits hard to get in different stores, but recognize the independant labels. Were out there puttin it down everyday dealin with normal shit that motherfuckers deal with in the streets and at the same time tryin to run a fuckin legit record label. So thats why at this point we arent ran like a professional Jive Records or something like that. Just hang in there with us, were gonna keep doin what we do and as long as yall keep buyin our shit, were gonna keep puttin out good music. Keep the fans happy. Much love to all my fellow Northerners, and quit killing each other, quit killing each other homies, were already out numbered.

I now have a new insight on this cat that they call Woodie, he is cool as fuck and just real about his. Hes not shy about speaking on any subjects, and he is surprisingly humble when it comes to what he is aspiring to achieve. So for those of you that know him, this should have been enjoyable to read, and for those that dont, now you do. Good luck to Woodie in all of his future projects, and to the fans, support his upcoming projects. All I can say to him personally is keep puttin it down for the YOC, dont ever forget us.
 
N

NorthSiderKRON

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Feb 20, 2006
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lol i saw this on that gay "woodie fan site" a while back.... haha the lyrics were all wrong on the website, and they had a pic of d-small for lou-e-lou..


"That wild C L-I-F-E got my gang livin violently" lol what a joke
 
THE ACIDRAPTOR

THE ACIDRAPTOR

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Dec 25, 2003
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Man, what I like about Woodie was that he had a great musical vision... He's perhaps was one of the last artists on the planet who kept it reel while everyone else are still followin trends & fads... smh......
 
Rusto

Rusto

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Nov 2, 2002
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THE ACIDRAPTOR said:
Man, what I like about Woodie was that he had a great musical vision... He's perhaps was one of the last artists on the planet who kept it reel while everyone else are still followin trends & fads... smh......
Click to expand...
yea, and i think he said one time that he rarely listened to any new rap coming out....just made music he thought sounded good. No outside influences
 
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