Yukmouth
Interview by Black Dog Bone
Frm Murder Dog vol 6 #2
A lot of people have been saying that Luniz broke up. Is that true?
It was more a break up from the label--a break up from C-Note and a break up from Noo Trybe. I had to get bought out my contract to do my solo album. But me and Num, we together forever. We about to drop another Luniz album bout the end of the summer. He's workin on his solo album now. After he finish his album and doin promotional, we gonna get right in the studio, do the new Luniz shit. Luniz is the bread and butter, don't never get it confused. It's just rumors. Anybody start a solo career, people gonna say they broke up. But no, Num's doin a solo career also, and we're doin the Luniz. We're just branchin off, tryin to get more money basically.
You're signed to Rap-A-Lot? You're not with C-Note anymore?
Not with C-Note. I'm straight Little J. I'm still with Virgin--Rap-A-Lot/Virgin, but not C-Note/Virgin. I had to pay C-Note all kinds of money, hundreds of grand, but Num didn't have to do that. That made me wonder why I had to pay so much money to start a solo career, but Num didn't have to. So it was a lotta hate goin down at the time.
Num is still with C-Note Records?
Naw, Num's on a Rock & Roll label called K-Tell outta New York. He's the first Rap artist that they're puttin out and they're puttin a lotta money into him. It's gonna be good.
Luniz are still with Noo Trybe/Virgin?
Yeah, officially. But we tryin to get off that contract. I think Noo Trybe about to close down as a label, cause of them bein so fucked up. We'll probably have to move pretty soon anyway. But either way, we're still puttin the Luniz album out by the summer.
How did you hook up with Rap-A-Lot?
Tone Capone and Mike Dean. And then I was rappin on the Seagram album. You know Seagram was signed to Rap-A-Lot, and me and him is from the same turf--The Village. I rapped on his album back in '96, and then J recognized me from back then. And when we was workin on the last Luniz album, Lunatik Muzik, Scarface was workin in the same studios, Enterprise Studios in LA. We was workin right across the hall from them, so Tone Capone and Mike Dean were bringin Little J into our sessions to listen to our shit. I had a couple songs on there like "Sad Millionaire" and "Revelations" that was all solo. Little J was like, you should come over here and do the solo shit. And then he knew my name was Smoke-A-Lot. He was like, Smoke-A-Lot belongs at Rap-A-Lot. It was the whole shit. Basically Tone Capone and Mike Dean brought me to Rap-A-Lot, the producers.
It's cool down there for you?
Man, I love it at Rap-A-Lot. They respect you, they give you love, there's no playa hatin. Everybody got money. It ain't like they tryin to fuck you out money, cause they got millions already. They don't need to fuck with your little change. They all tryin to grow and develop. J gives me more room, creative control. I did my whole shit how I wanted to do it, and turned it in and he liked it. We put everything out--it's a double CD for the price of one. It's an album and compilation, that's why I called it "The Albulation".
I thought it was coming out last year. Why did it get delayed?
Cause of C-Note and Noo Trybe. I was startin to go to Rap-A-Lot back in summer of '97. But it was hard trackin C-Note down. They dodged us for like a year, 2 years. Just now in December we got in contact with 'em, now all the litigations is done. That's another reason I got a double album, all the time I was waitin for them to do the litigations, I was still recording. I kept recording and J liked all the shit, so we put it out.
How is your solo music different from Luniz?
My shit is way different from the Luniz. I'm tryin to keep it separate. I wanna keep the Luniz shit commercial/the funny side of Gangsta Hip Hop. My shit's all thugged out, straight for the streets. Just pure Gangsta shit--no radio singles, no commercial shit, just all street shit--street anthems, street stories. Just keep them two types of music separated so I can hit the underground with my shit and then I can hit the mainstream with the Luniz shit. Plus I got a new style now. I done used my voice, capitalizing on my grungy voice. And I capitalize on my life, my stories. Then the Luniz shit I'm gonna keep doin my metaphors, my flowin, and my funny shit. My album, Thugged Out, is all thug shit, personal life shit. It's very different from Luniz.
You enjoyed working as a solo artist?
It was live. It's was the best thing I did, feelin comfortable. I'm a versatile MC and I chose to come this way, chose to come plain, simple and chose to come grimy. And it was fun. I'm callin all the shots, and if anything go wrong it's on me. I can't blame the beat maker, I can't blame the executive producer--it was all on me. It was fun. I miss Num, I miss bein in a group. It's way easier just writin one verse of a song or one and a half verses of a song, now I gotta write three verses of a song. Other than that it was cool.
Sometimes when an artist from a group does their solo project they can't hold the weight, but you really pulled it through. It's an excellent album. and lyrically you can't be touched.
Thank you. I appreciate that. Some people tell me I should come more like Luniz, more funny, more humorous. But that's not Yuk, Yuk is the thug and the Luniz is the humorous shit. I can't come like the Luniz on my solo shit. They can go buy a Luniz album. My album is very personal, very serious. It's all about my life, and there's nothing funny about it. It's for a certain crowd of people, it's for the thugs. That's why I called it Thugged Out. It's for the streets. It's not for the average mainstream listener who likes commercial jiggy shit. I'm not jiggy. I'm not bourgeois. No slippery gators, no Visacce shit--straight street. I feel I can keep the Luniz shit commercial, and then me, I'm hard. I am hard. I'm from the projects. I'm from 65th Village, East Oakland, been there all my life. I just now got out when "5 On It" came. Just now moved out the projects. So fuck it. I'm street, that's all I know.
Interview by Black Dog Bone
Frm Murder Dog vol 6 #2
A lot of people have been saying that Luniz broke up. Is that true?
It was more a break up from the label--a break up from C-Note and a break up from Noo Trybe. I had to get bought out my contract to do my solo album. But me and Num, we together forever. We about to drop another Luniz album bout the end of the summer. He's workin on his solo album now. After he finish his album and doin promotional, we gonna get right in the studio, do the new Luniz shit. Luniz is the bread and butter, don't never get it confused. It's just rumors. Anybody start a solo career, people gonna say they broke up. But no, Num's doin a solo career also, and we're doin the Luniz. We're just branchin off, tryin to get more money basically.
You're signed to Rap-A-Lot? You're not with C-Note anymore?
Not with C-Note. I'm straight Little J. I'm still with Virgin--Rap-A-Lot/Virgin, but not C-Note/Virgin. I had to pay C-Note all kinds of money, hundreds of grand, but Num didn't have to do that. That made me wonder why I had to pay so much money to start a solo career, but Num didn't have to. So it was a lotta hate goin down at the time.
Num is still with C-Note Records?
Naw, Num's on a Rock & Roll label called K-Tell outta New York. He's the first Rap artist that they're puttin out and they're puttin a lotta money into him. It's gonna be good.
Luniz are still with Noo Trybe/Virgin?
Yeah, officially. But we tryin to get off that contract. I think Noo Trybe about to close down as a label, cause of them bein so fucked up. We'll probably have to move pretty soon anyway. But either way, we're still puttin the Luniz album out by the summer.
How did you hook up with Rap-A-Lot?
Tone Capone and Mike Dean. And then I was rappin on the Seagram album. You know Seagram was signed to Rap-A-Lot, and me and him is from the same turf--The Village. I rapped on his album back in '96, and then J recognized me from back then. And when we was workin on the last Luniz album, Lunatik Muzik, Scarface was workin in the same studios, Enterprise Studios in LA. We was workin right across the hall from them, so Tone Capone and Mike Dean were bringin Little J into our sessions to listen to our shit. I had a couple songs on there like "Sad Millionaire" and "Revelations" that was all solo. Little J was like, you should come over here and do the solo shit. And then he knew my name was Smoke-A-Lot. He was like, Smoke-A-Lot belongs at Rap-A-Lot. It was the whole shit. Basically Tone Capone and Mike Dean brought me to Rap-A-Lot, the producers.
It's cool down there for you?
Man, I love it at Rap-A-Lot. They respect you, they give you love, there's no playa hatin. Everybody got money. It ain't like they tryin to fuck you out money, cause they got millions already. They don't need to fuck with your little change. They all tryin to grow and develop. J gives me more room, creative control. I did my whole shit how I wanted to do it, and turned it in and he liked it. We put everything out--it's a double CD for the price of one. It's an album and compilation, that's why I called it "The Albulation".
I thought it was coming out last year. Why did it get delayed?
Cause of C-Note and Noo Trybe. I was startin to go to Rap-A-Lot back in summer of '97. But it was hard trackin C-Note down. They dodged us for like a year, 2 years. Just now in December we got in contact with 'em, now all the litigations is done. That's another reason I got a double album, all the time I was waitin for them to do the litigations, I was still recording. I kept recording and J liked all the shit, so we put it out.
How is your solo music different from Luniz?
My shit is way different from the Luniz. I'm tryin to keep it separate. I wanna keep the Luniz shit commercial/the funny side of Gangsta Hip Hop. My shit's all thugged out, straight for the streets. Just pure Gangsta shit--no radio singles, no commercial shit, just all street shit--street anthems, street stories. Just keep them two types of music separated so I can hit the underground with my shit and then I can hit the mainstream with the Luniz shit. Plus I got a new style now. I done used my voice, capitalizing on my grungy voice. And I capitalize on my life, my stories. Then the Luniz shit I'm gonna keep doin my metaphors, my flowin, and my funny shit. My album, Thugged Out, is all thug shit, personal life shit. It's very different from Luniz.
You enjoyed working as a solo artist?
It was live. It's was the best thing I did, feelin comfortable. I'm a versatile MC and I chose to come this way, chose to come plain, simple and chose to come grimy. And it was fun. I'm callin all the shots, and if anything go wrong it's on me. I can't blame the beat maker, I can't blame the executive producer--it was all on me. It was fun. I miss Num, I miss bein in a group. It's way easier just writin one verse of a song or one and a half verses of a song, now I gotta write three verses of a song. Other than that it was cool.
Sometimes when an artist from a group does their solo project they can't hold the weight, but you really pulled it through. It's an excellent album. and lyrically you can't be touched.
Thank you. I appreciate that. Some people tell me I should come more like Luniz, more funny, more humorous. But that's not Yuk, Yuk is the thug and the Luniz is the humorous shit. I can't come like the Luniz on my solo shit. They can go buy a Luniz album. My album is very personal, very serious. It's all about my life, and there's nothing funny about it. It's for a certain crowd of people, it's for the thugs. That's why I called it Thugged Out. It's for the streets. It's not for the average mainstream listener who likes commercial jiggy shit. I'm not jiggy. I'm not bourgeois. No slippery gators, no Visacce shit--straight street. I feel I can keep the Luniz shit commercial, and then me, I'm hard. I am hard. I'm from the projects. I'm from 65th Village, East Oakland, been there all my life. I just now got out when "5 On It" came. Just now moved out the projects. So fuck it. I'm street, that's all I know.
