Tommy Wright
III Interview
By Black Dog Bone
From Murder Dog Vol. 7 #2
You've been putting out music in Memphis for a while, but you're very hard to get ahold of. What's been going on?
The personal problems took over more than the music. Conflict gettin locked up, conflict doin time, and tryin to hide out from the police, even the baby mama drama--all that kinda took me away from the Rap game. But we ain't gonna let that happen no more. We done paid too many lawyers, we paid too much money to have our freedom. We're ready to go ahead and take it all the way to the top.
What kind of problems were you having with the police?
Everybody know I had a whole lotta court cases. The police stay on me a lot down here in Memphis. They always wanna know where we at and what we doin, how much money we makin. They harass me a whole lot. They always come to check my pockets, throw us down on the ground, search us, search the car. They take things from us too. Right now I'm just sick and tired of it.
Why are they harassing you?
A lotta times I had a bad record from when I was young anyway. A lot of the police in Memphis, I can spot 'em because I know 'em so well, I've dealt with so many of them. They know my face, and I don't bite my tongue at all. Everybody know I hate police. I teach my kids not to like the police. I don't trust 'em at all. Right now I got a sheriff in my family who just went to jail for doing some illegal things. The police ain't perfect and neither are we.
They're always on you.
They are and they're gonna find something even if you don't got it. The way I look at it right now, I'm gonna talk about police on all my records, and I'm gonna talk about 'em bad.
You have a case right now?
We're goin through a trial right now, and I think it's gonna be my last one. I don't like bein caught up in all the drama, back and forth to court. I tried to get away from all that, but trouble just follow me. Now I'm right back in it. Right back payin the lawyers and all the things that hold a brother back. But I'm not gonna let it hold me back this time. We're bout to take this one and get this one thrown out.
This new Tommy Wright album was supposed to come out last year. What happened?
I had made a whole new album. We had a lotta the top Memphis artists on the album. What happened is some bustas tried to rob the studio. They didn't really get shit, but they took some important tapes and they took almost a whole album. That's why we had to come out with Genesis, which is still bumpin, but it's a greatest hits with all the songs that made people like me from the beginning. Now we're gettin ready to move on and give 'em some of that 2000 shit.
You had a whole different album that was ready to go?
A whole album that was ready to go. I had heard so many people goin through the same thing, but I always kept my gun and I always kept my dogs. I was always ready for any drama. They minute I turned by back they tried me. I had to show them that a playa can still bounce back and still make money. That's how I got fucked up, but we movin on now. We got some better shit for 'em.
What's going on with your independent label, Street Smart Records?
We call ourselves the Street Smart Sinisters. When we first started we went by the name Ten Wanted Men. A lot of my members got locked up, one or two got killed. It was kinda bad memories, so we wanted to move on with a new group, but the people still loved Ten Wanted Men. It's a lot of us on my label, and a lotta people been down since the beginnin, so I wanna make sure that we didn't do all this for nothing. They been waitin on me forever. My fans been waitin on me forever, and they always have stuck with me. It's a lotta people I can't disappoint. It's a lotta people that's behind me, a lotta people want to see me go to that next level. I can't let 'em down.
I know you have a lot of underground tapes out. How old were you when you started playing music?
I first started rappin just kickin it on the corner. As I went through school I played in the band in school playing instruments. One year the band director made me the leader. Music and playing instruments I been doin long before the rappin. As I was playing instruments, the rappin kinda fell right in place. On those early underground tapes I did all the music. I did all the recording, all the engineering. I let my homies come in and do what they wanted. That's how they came into it. We been doin it a long time, since the underground days. Back in the underground days we was sellin so many, we knew we could sell a lot of them across the country. With Select-O-Hits backin us up, I knew we couldn't lose.
What instrument were you playing in the band?
I played all low brass instruments. First I played the trombone. Then I played the baritone, then I played the tuba. I was real well rounded in band. I started loving music at an early age. And rappin was a way to keep the pressure and stress off my mind and let it be known what we're goin through out here in the streets and speak my mind.
What stress was on your mind? Did you have a lot of problems at home?
My family was fucked up since birth. It's about 5 or 6 of us been to the penitentiary and 4 of 'em still there. One of 'em got 55, the other got 25, his brother may have 15. 2 and 3 murder trials. No lawyer, public defender. My uncle killed my aunt. OUr family had so many problems. I never thought we would even make it to see this age. Right now I'm about the only one that's out here still tryin to make something for myself, the other ones gave up a long time ago.
What kept you going?
I think the only thing that kept me goin was my parents, my mother and father. A lotta people don't know that my parents can't hear. A lotta people don't know that I grew up using sign language instead of talkin. It's very possible that I could've been born deaf too and none of this would be happening.
Are you the only child?
I'm the only kid in the family, but I grew up with 11 cousins in a 2-bedroom apartment. Moms tried to make it better as I grew up, but my moms really made things worse.
Why do you say that?
Taking me from my dad and bringin a whole lotta strangers into my life. I ended up almost killer. A lotta times it turned me against her. But the older I got the more I learned and the less I had to do with my family. That's what I look back at. I almost had to turn my back on everybody just to be able to make it. My dad is behind me 100%. He loves me unconditionally. I just want something better for both of 'em. That's why I fight every day, that's why I hustle every day, that's why I grind every day. Up until now they was my only concern. Now that I have kids I got more problems. So I work real hard so to be able to make CD's and give 'em something to listen to and enjoy.
How many kids do you have?
I got three kids, and I also got a whole lot of females that wanna jump up now and scream, Tommy Wright is my baby's daddy. It's just another day in the life of a rapper if you ask me.
It's amazing that your parents can't hear and you became so musical.
It is strange. But everything about me is strange. Nothing surprises me anymore. I've seen it all, and at a very young age. Whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger, that's what it's done to me. All the things I've seen in the streets and all the things I've seen in the music business, all that just made me stronger. That's why I'm so motivated, because I never wanna go back to bein broke and poor again. That's my third motivation. It's a fire inside of me that don't wanna got back to the bullshit no more. Just wanna get away and please my people and make my money.
How old were you when you first started putting out your tapes?
We were 16 when we went and tried to get a studio. I always have thought like a CEO, I always have gone about this in a business way. The first thing I did was pulled a few moves to get some equipment. When I got the equipment we set it up in our Sinister Suite. Once I got the equipment it didn't take me no time to start makin the music and start learning. The Sinister Suite was located in Black Haven.
Is that where you grew up too?
Right. After we moved from South Memphis we spent the rest of my school days in Black Haven.
You were with your mom?
Right. But I still bounced around a lot and I still went to every school in Memphis. But I'm glad that I graduated, it was hard as hell. It was real hard. I went to like 6 schools in Memphis, and every school I went to I met different people who liked to rap. That's how I met a lot of my group members. And that's why I kept my real name, cause I been to so many places and that's what they knew me by. If I had changed my name, I probably wouldn't have been selling. So many people already knew me, and that's what made them buy the album. I never even tried to think of a Rap name, I had that name from day 1 and that's what I'm gonna stick with.
With your parents deaf, how was it for you growing up?
I was totally on my own. I did everything for myself. I cooked for myself, I clothed myself. For a long time I took care of them. They brought me in this world, so I never had a problem with that. A lot of times my dad would be behind me no matter what. He's number one in my life. That's why I carry his name on, and now my little son's name is Tommy Wright IV. Hopefully his album will be ready one day.
How old is he now?
He's one and he's got a long way to go.
It sounds like you were really independent at a young age.
I had to be. Nobody really taught me anything. I learned everything on my own. I came in when I wanted to, I left when I wanted to. I was driving at 13 and 14. I started liking money at a really young age. NOw that's all I live for. The times were so hard, it's something you never wanna go back to. No toilet paper. No doorknobs on the doors. Holes in the ceiling. Roaches everywhere. That's what I grew up in. That's what motivates me to get my paper every day, so I can make sure that little Tommy and Zayvian and Eureka don't have to see those things. I try real hard to let my fans know what I go through. I put all that in my songs. That's why a lotta my songs are emotional and a lot of 'em are sad and a lot of 'em are straight to the point. I can talk about a whole lotta stuff.
I think that's what makes you different from other rappers is the pain you put in there.
A lot of my songs deal with my pain. A lotta people can feel me across the world. A lotta times I make music depending on how I feel. Down here in Memphis we're known for gettin buck, but I like to mix it up too. It's a whole lot more goin on down here than just gettin buck. We die every day and we're the ones who end up on the streets or locked up. So it's a lot more to talk about. I choose to go into every state of the world, instead of just havin fun.
A lot of people don't want to talk about the other side, about feeling sad and the pain. I think that's missing in Rap right now.
I see that a lotta people feel me. When I get fan letters a lotta people write me and tell me their problems. Right now I carry everybody's problems on my back and put 'em in my music. All those people can feel me, cause when they write me they say they're listening to my songs to get by. They listen to my album just to relieve the stress. I'm talkin about what they're goin through and they know exactly what I'm talkin about and they know it ain't no bullshit. I think that's where a lotta my fanbase comes from. Every time I put out an album those same people are goin out to the stores and supportin me.
It's easy to talk about shining and balling, but it takes a real strong person to talk about the other side.
We all have our personal problems. I choose to express those feeling in my music. I like to mix it up, because I know I got a lotta partners who likes the crunk Tommy, the buck wild Tommy Wright. Every now and then I have to think about them, but it's hard not to think about all the shit I been through. A lotta my artists go through the same thing. If people like our music on Street Smart, they're definitely gonna like all my partners coming out after my album.
Give me some of the names of your other artists?
The album I can't wait to release is my partner C-9. C-9 is down and ready and a lotta people are waitin on him to drop. We're makin his album really tight. And Princess Loco is our female rappers and she leads a group of females called the Sinister Sisters. Project Pimp and Lil' Ramsey, some of the old crew from Ten Wanted Men, those are the people that the fans can't wait to hear. I'm gonna make sure that we give them that in 2000, cause my fans been stickin with me from day 1.
Do you have a different studio you work in now?
We're movin the studio from Black Haven to another part of Memphis. We should be done real soon. It's all new and it's all improved. When they hear the albums from Street Smart, they're gonna really know that we mean business.
How was your old stuff recorded?
Our old stuff was underground so we didn't have much, but we made the best out of it. To this day the underground tapes are still hot and still sell over the Internet and still can make thousands. Now that we're nationwide the underground days are behind us, but we still know that was our foundation.
On your CD you show a bunch of tapes. How many are available?
We have an order form with over 30 underground tapes. A lotta people want them today. All over Indiana, Minnesota, Atlanta, people who didn't hear them back in the day are buying them now. Underground is still big money for us. Inside the CD we have all the information to order them. We fill their orders and get 'em back to them. They try to collect all of them now. OUr underground tapes are sold for $9 each plus $2 for shippin and handlin. It usually takes about 6 weeks for delivery. Now a lot of the underground tapes are being bootlegged over the Internet by some busters, that's takin our money. That's why I'm gonna go ahead and get a better grip on my shit, because I've seen people put our songs on CD, sell them to other people and make money off of us. That's one thing I don't play with, my money. I'm puttin a stop to it in 2000 definitely.
You also have two full length CD's out.
Right. On The Run was my first one. My second CD was Feel Me Before They Kill Me. Those are the ones that helped Street Smart get known worldwide. Now it's my other artists' turn, I'm gonna let them rip it up. My third CD is called Genesis. That's the one that's in stores this month. I'm tryin to keep my fans satisfied and at the same time get something even better ready for 'em.
I know in Memphis Pimpin music is real big. Has that music had a big influence on you?
A lot of the big time singers came from right here. Naturally we all love it. I plan on listening to it until I die. Rap pays the bills, but I don't listen to it 24-7. When you're listening to Pimpin it sounds like they know exactly what's wrong and they're right there talkin about a what you're going through.
What is it you like about Pimpin music?
I like the feel and I like the lyrics. The music is never left out. I guess I like about it. When I'm listening to Curtis Mayfield and Marvin Gaye, it's just something in me that they can touch. That's the music that we grew up on, and the Blues too.
Which Blues artists did you listen to?
Back in the day I used to listen to Marvin Sease all the time. Johny Taylor is a big favorite of mine and ZZ Hill. Those guys are straight down home, down south. There's a lot of other guys I love too, but I can't name 'em all. Lamont Dosier, Bobby Womack, David Ruffin, and I can't leave out Al Greene, the reverend. I got a whole collection of their music. They put so much emotion into their music. They can make you happy or sad. When you're listenin to their songs it makes you happy or sad. That's what I want my songs to be, songs that you can relate to and you can feel. I think they rubbed off on my when I was young. It probably had a big influence on my lyrics. But my beats were always street.
Which rappers have influenced you?
I think I feel 2Pac the most, because I was goin through a lotta the same shit he was goin through. I been shot at and I done had to shoot. I think I was locked up about the same time he was locked up. I was one of the niggaz who almost broke down when they said he was dead. A lotta people around me was cryin. I'm an emotional rapper and he's spittin out most of his emotions, I think that's what made me dig him so much. I think that's what the world will always want. The other stuff is cool, but it's a lot more people out there starvin and hurtin. It's a ghetto everywhere. I'm touchin somebody with my lyrics. And I'm real glad that a lotta the people in the Rap game feel me too, because they know that livin in Memphis is already crazy and they know it ain't no fakin goin on.
I've been to Memphis several times and there's a lot of shit going on there.
Yeah. I ain't never met you though.
I think you were locked up.
I was. Al Kapone left a message on my machine, "Black Dog is here. Come on, come on, come on!" And I didn't hear the message until I got out. When I got out it was too late. Al Kapone is my nigga for life. Al can ask me for anything. We're that cool. A lotta people like Al Kapone that live overseas and a lotta people like my shit that live overseas. People way out in like Germany and Poland and Italy. A lot of people in other countries is feelin us.
I wonder how you were able to get your music together growing up with so much stress. Most people wouldn't be able to survive.
I was one that the teachers and the preachers, they all wanted me to make it real bad. They always watched over me and helped me. And my teachers made sure I went to school. They made sure that I showed up for class. They said I had too much potential to fuck it up. My preacher from my childhood days, he worked real hard and he always gave advice. He told me, Tommy you can do it. Since I never had a lot of friends, those were the people that I listened to and those were the people that said they didn't wanna see me die at an early age, they don't wanna see me mess up my life. And they were serious. Every school I went to, every jail house I went to, it was always somebody that wanted to tell me to do good. It was almost like God was tellin them to keep me on the right path. Cause I was really goin down a very bad road. It's almost like all the people constantly preachin at me, supportin me, that's what kept me goin. They even put me over certain things in school. They put me over the band, they put me over student council, they put over things just to keep me into it, to keep me motivated. They knew that I had done so much wrong in the past that I could do it again. Those were the people I fell back on, the teacher and the preacher. There's a few of them now that I still owe, that I need to go back to today and say thanks.
What do your parents think abut what you're doing now?
My mom wasn't with it at first. It took a long time and she finally accepted it. My dad accepted it as long as I accepted it. He liked whatever I liked and he was behind me 100%. When nobody else was, he was always the one friend for me. I owe him in a big way. Me and my mom, we had a bad start, but time can change things. That's what it's doing. We don't see each other much but it's better than it used to be. It's a lot better than it was back then.
Getting back to Pimpin music, why do you think they call it Pimpin music?
That's funny because I think everybody that I grew up with wanted to be a pimp and they still do. I did a lot of everything. The Rap game is my legal hustle, but I did everything you could think of. Man! We did everything from flippin cars to....everything. When I go on the road (on a roll??) a lot of females is ready to be down, ready to pay their dues. I guess since pimpin was so big in Memphis that they had to call it that.
That was the music the pimps used to listen to?
The pimps usually listen to a lot of R & B. The pimps that were around on the East Coast when I lived in Pennsylvania for a while, they were into a lot of R & B, but Down South it's always been about pimpin. Everybody wants women and the fancy car. That shit don't really excite me, but I have had it all. I can say in 23 years I have lived a full life. I've seen it all and done it all. I think cause so many of us went down there on a roll, I guess that music was gonna be called that anyway. It was gonna be that music or nothing else. Cause down here in Memphis we got a station that plays nothing but that all day every day. 103.5. Nothing but Pimpin all day. Pimpin music from sun-up to sun-down.
Pimpin is something I only hear about in Memphis.
The big ones only blew up and the others stayed at home and stayed in their area. That's why in Memphis a lot of them that came from here kept it goin here. Only a few took it to the top. But I have heard some Pimpin on some soundtracks, so I know that they still were ---(mentioned), they wasn't mentioned. I know that they do.
I was talking to Snoop Dogg and he said he listens to Pimpin music.
Snoop know what we like down here. It must be more than a Memphis thing. It must be a worldwide ghetto thing.
A lot of people know those artists, a lot of people listen to Marvin Gaye or David Ruffin or Bobby Womack, but they don't call it Pimpin music. They call it Soul music or Motown or whatever.
I know what you're sayin, Soul music. I guess the name is something that we gave to it. We do have our own way of naming things, because we got so many different slangs in Memphis. The world wants to hear 'em now. Maybe we need to keep being creative and give the Rap game something to talk about.
Have you incorporated any of the Pimpin songs into your music?
I did the O'Jays before, "Stairway To Heaven". I did that underground. Since I went nationwide I haven't used a Pimpin song, but I am gonna use one soon.
After this greatest hits album comes out you'll be working on your new album?
Right. And the new album is probably gonna be ready July 4th. We're already workin on it and we're plannin it for the summer. Between now and the summer we're comin out with an underground video tape. We're comin out with two solo albums and my new group, The Manson Family. After the new Tommy Wright album we're gonna be on a roll. We're gonna roll with nothing but new music. No more underground.
Are you planning to go on the road promoting and doing shows?
Yeah, I just left Missouri. I have an in-store with Skinny Pimp in Atlanta this month. We leave Memphis all the time. We travel and we see new places, but we always go back to Memphis no matter how good the town is. Memphis is home.
By Black Dog Bone
From Murder Dog Vol. 7 #2
You've been putting out music in Memphis for a while, but you're very hard to get ahold of. What's been going on?
The personal problems took over more than the music. Conflict gettin locked up, conflict doin time, and tryin to hide out from the police, even the baby mama drama--all that kinda took me away from the Rap game. But we ain't gonna let that happen no more. We done paid too many lawyers, we paid too much money to have our freedom. We're ready to go ahead and take it all the way to the top.
What kind of problems were you having with the police?
Everybody know I had a whole lotta court cases. The police stay on me a lot down here in Memphis. They always wanna know where we at and what we doin, how much money we makin. They harass me a whole lot. They always come to check my pockets, throw us down on the ground, search us, search the car. They take things from us too. Right now I'm just sick and tired of it.
Why are they harassing you?
A lotta times I had a bad record from when I was young anyway. A lot of the police in Memphis, I can spot 'em because I know 'em so well, I've dealt with so many of them. They know my face, and I don't bite my tongue at all. Everybody know I hate police. I teach my kids not to like the police. I don't trust 'em at all. Right now I got a sheriff in my family who just went to jail for doing some illegal things. The police ain't perfect and neither are we.
They're always on you.
They are and they're gonna find something even if you don't got it. The way I look at it right now, I'm gonna talk about police on all my records, and I'm gonna talk about 'em bad.
You have a case right now?
We're goin through a trial right now, and I think it's gonna be my last one. I don't like bein caught up in all the drama, back and forth to court. I tried to get away from all that, but trouble just follow me. Now I'm right back in it. Right back payin the lawyers and all the things that hold a brother back. But I'm not gonna let it hold me back this time. We're bout to take this one and get this one thrown out.
This new Tommy Wright album was supposed to come out last year. What happened?
I had made a whole new album. We had a lotta the top Memphis artists on the album. What happened is some bustas tried to rob the studio. They didn't really get shit, but they took some important tapes and they took almost a whole album. That's why we had to come out with Genesis, which is still bumpin, but it's a greatest hits with all the songs that made people like me from the beginning. Now we're gettin ready to move on and give 'em some of that 2000 shit.
You had a whole different album that was ready to go?
A whole album that was ready to go. I had heard so many people goin through the same thing, but I always kept my gun and I always kept my dogs. I was always ready for any drama. They minute I turned by back they tried me. I had to show them that a playa can still bounce back and still make money. That's how I got fucked up, but we movin on now. We got some better shit for 'em.
What's going on with your independent label, Street Smart Records?
We call ourselves the Street Smart Sinisters. When we first started we went by the name Ten Wanted Men. A lot of my members got locked up, one or two got killed. It was kinda bad memories, so we wanted to move on with a new group, but the people still loved Ten Wanted Men. It's a lot of us on my label, and a lotta people been down since the beginnin, so I wanna make sure that we didn't do all this for nothing. They been waitin on me forever. My fans been waitin on me forever, and they always have stuck with me. It's a lotta people I can't disappoint. It's a lotta people that's behind me, a lotta people want to see me go to that next level. I can't let 'em down.
I know you have a lot of underground tapes out. How old were you when you started playing music?
I first started rappin just kickin it on the corner. As I went through school I played in the band in school playing instruments. One year the band director made me the leader. Music and playing instruments I been doin long before the rappin. As I was playing instruments, the rappin kinda fell right in place. On those early underground tapes I did all the music. I did all the recording, all the engineering. I let my homies come in and do what they wanted. That's how they came into it. We been doin it a long time, since the underground days. Back in the underground days we was sellin so many, we knew we could sell a lot of them across the country. With Select-O-Hits backin us up, I knew we couldn't lose.
What instrument were you playing in the band?
I played all low brass instruments. First I played the trombone. Then I played the baritone, then I played the tuba. I was real well rounded in band. I started loving music at an early age. And rappin was a way to keep the pressure and stress off my mind and let it be known what we're goin through out here in the streets and speak my mind.
What stress was on your mind? Did you have a lot of problems at home?
My family was fucked up since birth. It's about 5 or 6 of us been to the penitentiary and 4 of 'em still there. One of 'em got 55, the other got 25, his brother may have 15. 2 and 3 murder trials. No lawyer, public defender. My uncle killed my aunt. OUr family had so many problems. I never thought we would even make it to see this age. Right now I'm about the only one that's out here still tryin to make something for myself, the other ones gave up a long time ago.
What kept you going?
I think the only thing that kept me goin was my parents, my mother and father. A lotta people don't know that my parents can't hear. A lotta people don't know that I grew up using sign language instead of talkin. It's very possible that I could've been born deaf too and none of this would be happening.
Are you the only child?
I'm the only kid in the family, but I grew up with 11 cousins in a 2-bedroom apartment. Moms tried to make it better as I grew up, but my moms really made things worse.
Why do you say that?
Taking me from my dad and bringin a whole lotta strangers into my life. I ended up almost killer. A lotta times it turned me against her. But the older I got the more I learned and the less I had to do with my family. That's what I look back at. I almost had to turn my back on everybody just to be able to make it. My dad is behind me 100%. He loves me unconditionally. I just want something better for both of 'em. That's why I fight every day, that's why I hustle every day, that's why I grind every day. Up until now they was my only concern. Now that I have kids I got more problems. So I work real hard so to be able to make CD's and give 'em something to listen to and enjoy.
How many kids do you have?
I got three kids, and I also got a whole lot of females that wanna jump up now and scream, Tommy Wright is my baby's daddy. It's just another day in the life of a rapper if you ask me.
It's amazing that your parents can't hear and you became so musical.
It is strange. But everything about me is strange. Nothing surprises me anymore. I've seen it all, and at a very young age. Whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger, that's what it's done to me. All the things I've seen in the streets and all the things I've seen in the music business, all that just made me stronger. That's why I'm so motivated, because I never wanna go back to bein broke and poor again. That's my third motivation. It's a fire inside of me that don't wanna got back to the bullshit no more. Just wanna get away and please my people and make my money.
How old were you when you first started putting out your tapes?
We were 16 when we went and tried to get a studio. I always have thought like a CEO, I always have gone about this in a business way. The first thing I did was pulled a few moves to get some equipment. When I got the equipment we set it up in our Sinister Suite. Once I got the equipment it didn't take me no time to start makin the music and start learning. The Sinister Suite was located in Black Haven.
Is that where you grew up too?
Right. After we moved from South Memphis we spent the rest of my school days in Black Haven.
You were with your mom?
Right. But I still bounced around a lot and I still went to every school in Memphis. But I'm glad that I graduated, it was hard as hell. It was real hard. I went to like 6 schools in Memphis, and every school I went to I met different people who liked to rap. That's how I met a lot of my group members. And that's why I kept my real name, cause I been to so many places and that's what they knew me by. If I had changed my name, I probably wouldn't have been selling. So many people already knew me, and that's what made them buy the album. I never even tried to think of a Rap name, I had that name from day 1 and that's what I'm gonna stick with.
With your parents deaf, how was it for you growing up?
I was totally on my own. I did everything for myself. I cooked for myself, I clothed myself. For a long time I took care of them. They brought me in this world, so I never had a problem with that. A lot of times my dad would be behind me no matter what. He's number one in my life. That's why I carry his name on, and now my little son's name is Tommy Wright IV. Hopefully his album will be ready one day.
How old is he now?
He's one and he's got a long way to go.
It sounds like you were really independent at a young age.
I had to be. Nobody really taught me anything. I learned everything on my own. I came in when I wanted to, I left when I wanted to. I was driving at 13 and 14. I started liking money at a really young age. NOw that's all I live for. The times were so hard, it's something you never wanna go back to. No toilet paper. No doorknobs on the doors. Holes in the ceiling. Roaches everywhere. That's what I grew up in. That's what motivates me to get my paper every day, so I can make sure that little Tommy and Zayvian and Eureka don't have to see those things. I try real hard to let my fans know what I go through. I put all that in my songs. That's why a lotta my songs are emotional and a lot of 'em are sad and a lot of 'em are straight to the point. I can talk about a whole lotta stuff.
I think that's what makes you different from other rappers is the pain you put in there.
A lot of my songs deal with my pain. A lotta people can feel me across the world. A lotta times I make music depending on how I feel. Down here in Memphis we're known for gettin buck, but I like to mix it up too. It's a whole lot more goin on down here than just gettin buck. We die every day and we're the ones who end up on the streets or locked up. So it's a lot more to talk about. I choose to go into every state of the world, instead of just havin fun.
A lot of people don't want to talk about the other side, about feeling sad and the pain. I think that's missing in Rap right now.
I see that a lotta people feel me. When I get fan letters a lotta people write me and tell me their problems. Right now I carry everybody's problems on my back and put 'em in my music. All those people can feel me, cause when they write me they say they're listening to my songs to get by. They listen to my album just to relieve the stress. I'm talkin about what they're goin through and they know exactly what I'm talkin about and they know it ain't no bullshit. I think that's where a lotta my fanbase comes from. Every time I put out an album those same people are goin out to the stores and supportin me.
It's easy to talk about shining and balling, but it takes a real strong person to talk about the other side.
We all have our personal problems. I choose to express those feeling in my music. I like to mix it up, because I know I got a lotta partners who likes the crunk Tommy, the buck wild Tommy Wright. Every now and then I have to think about them, but it's hard not to think about all the shit I been through. A lotta my artists go through the same thing. If people like our music on Street Smart, they're definitely gonna like all my partners coming out after my album.
Give me some of the names of your other artists?
The album I can't wait to release is my partner C-9. C-9 is down and ready and a lotta people are waitin on him to drop. We're makin his album really tight. And Princess Loco is our female rappers and she leads a group of females called the Sinister Sisters. Project Pimp and Lil' Ramsey, some of the old crew from Ten Wanted Men, those are the people that the fans can't wait to hear. I'm gonna make sure that we give them that in 2000, cause my fans been stickin with me from day 1.
Do you have a different studio you work in now?
We're movin the studio from Black Haven to another part of Memphis. We should be done real soon. It's all new and it's all improved. When they hear the albums from Street Smart, they're gonna really know that we mean business.
How was your old stuff recorded?
Our old stuff was underground so we didn't have much, but we made the best out of it. To this day the underground tapes are still hot and still sell over the Internet and still can make thousands. Now that we're nationwide the underground days are behind us, but we still know that was our foundation.
On your CD you show a bunch of tapes. How many are available?
We have an order form with over 30 underground tapes. A lotta people want them today. All over Indiana, Minnesota, Atlanta, people who didn't hear them back in the day are buying them now. Underground is still big money for us. Inside the CD we have all the information to order them. We fill their orders and get 'em back to them. They try to collect all of them now. OUr underground tapes are sold for $9 each plus $2 for shippin and handlin. It usually takes about 6 weeks for delivery. Now a lot of the underground tapes are being bootlegged over the Internet by some busters, that's takin our money. That's why I'm gonna go ahead and get a better grip on my shit, because I've seen people put our songs on CD, sell them to other people and make money off of us. That's one thing I don't play with, my money. I'm puttin a stop to it in 2000 definitely.
You also have two full length CD's out.
Right. On The Run was my first one. My second CD was Feel Me Before They Kill Me. Those are the ones that helped Street Smart get known worldwide. Now it's my other artists' turn, I'm gonna let them rip it up. My third CD is called Genesis. That's the one that's in stores this month. I'm tryin to keep my fans satisfied and at the same time get something even better ready for 'em.
I know in Memphis Pimpin music is real big. Has that music had a big influence on you?
A lot of the big time singers came from right here. Naturally we all love it. I plan on listening to it until I die. Rap pays the bills, but I don't listen to it 24-7. When you're listening to Pimpin it sounds like they know exactly what's wrong and they're right there talkin about a what you're going through.
What is it you like about Pimpin music?
I like the feel and I like the lyrics. The music is never left out. I guess I like about it. When I'm listening to Curtis Mayfield and Marvin Gaye, it's just something in me that they can touch. That's the music that we grew up on, and the Blues too.
Which Blues artists did you listen to?
Back in the day I used to listen to Marvin Sease all the time. Johny Taylor is a big favorite of mine and ZZ Hill. Those guys are straight down home, down south. There's a lot of other guys I love too, but I can't name 'em all. Lamont Dosier, Bobby Womack, David Ruffin, and I can't leave out Al Greene, the reverend. I got a whole collection of their music. They put so much emotion into their music. They can make you happy or sad. When you're listenin to their songs it makes you happy or sad. That's what I want my songs to be, songs that you can relate to and you can feel. I think they rubbed off on my when I was young. It probably had a big influence on my lyrics. But my beats were always street.
Which rappers have influenced you?
I think I feel 2Pac the most, because I was goin through a lotta the same shit he was goin through. I been shot at and I done had to shoot. I think I was locked up about the same time he was locked up. I was one of the niggaz who almost broke down when they said he was dead. A lotta people around me was cryin. I'm an emotional rapper and he's spittin out most of his emotions, I think that's what made me dig him so much. I think that's what the world will always want. The other stuff is cool, but it's a lot more people out there starvin and hurtin. It's a ghetto everywhere. I'm touchin somebody with my lyrics. And I'm real glad that a lotta the people in the Rap game feel me too, because they know that livin in Memphis is already crazy and they know it ain't no fakin goin on.
I've been to Memphis several times and there's a lot of shit going on there.
Yeah. I ain't never met you though.
I think you were locked up.
I was. Al Kapone left a message on my machine, "Black Dog is here. Come on, come on, come on!" And I didn't hear the message until I got out. When I got out it was too late. Al Kapone is my nigga for life. Al can ask me for anything. We're that cool. A lotta people like Al Kapone that live overseas and a lotta people like my shit that live overseas. People way out in like Germany and Poland and Italy. A lot of people in other countries is feelin us.
I wonder how you were able to get your music together growing up with so much stress. Most people wouldn't be able to survive.
I was one that the teachers and the preachers, they all wanted me to make it real bad. They always watched over me and helped me. And my teachers made sure I went to school. They made sure that I showed up for class. They said I had too much potential to fuck it up. My preacher from my childhood days, he worked real hard and he always gave advice. He told me, Tommy you can do it. Since I never had a lot of friends, those were the people that I listened to and those were the people that said they didn't wanna see me die at an early age, they don't wanna see me mess up my life. And they were serious. Every school I went to, every jail house I went to, it was always somebody that wanted to tell me to do good. It was almost like God was tellin them to keep me on the right path. Cause I was really goin down a very bad road. It's almost like all the people constantly preachin at me, supportin me, that's what kept me goin. They even put me over certain things in school. They put me over the band, they put me over student council, they put over things just to keep me into it, to keep me motivated. They knew that I had done so much wrong in the past that I could do it again. Those were the people I fell back on, the teacher and the preacher. There's a few of them now that I still owe, that I need to go back to today and say thanks.
What do your parents think abut what you're doing now?
My mom wasn't with it at first. It took a long time and she finally accepted it. My dad accepted it as long as I accepted it. He liked whatever I liked and he was behind me 100%. When nobody else was, he was always the one friend for me. I owe him in a big way. Me and my mom, we had a bad start, but time can change things. That's what it's doing. We don't see each other much but it's better than it used to be. It's a lot better than it was back then.
Getting back to Pimpin music, why do you think they call it Pimpin music?
That's funny because I think everybody that I grew up with wanted to be a pimp and they still do. I did a lot of everything. The Rap game is my legal hustle, but I did everything you could think of. Man! We did everything from flippin cars to....everything. When I go on the road (on a roll??) a lot of females is ready to be down, ready to pay their dues. I guess since pimpin was so big in Memphis that they had to call it that.
That was the music the pimps used to listen to?
The pimps usually listen to a lot of R & B. The pimps that were around on the East Coast when I lived in Pennsylvania for a while, they were into a lot of R & B, but Down South it's always been about pimpin. Everybody wants women and the fancy car. That shit don't really excite me, but I have had it all. I can say in 23 years I have lived a full life. I've seen it all and done it all. I think cause so many of us went down there on a roll, I guess that music was gonna be called that anyway. It was gonna be that music or nothing else. Cause down here in Memphis we got a station that plays nothing but that all day every day. 103.5. Nothing but Pimpin all day. Pimpin music from sun-up to sun-down.
Pimpin is something I only hear about in Memphis.
The big ones only blew up and the others stayed at home and stayed in their area. That's why in Memphis a lot of them that came from here kept it goin here. Only a few took it to the top. But I have heard some Pimpin on some soundtracks, so I know that they still were ---(mentioned), they wasn't mentioned. I know that they do.
I was talking to Snoop Dogg and he said he listens to Pimpin music.
Snoop know what we like down here. It must be more than a Memphis thing. It must be a worldwide ghetto thing.
A lot of people know those artists, a lot of people listen to Marvin Gaye or David Ruffin or Bobby Womack, but they don't call it Pimpin music. They call it Soul music or Motown or whatever.
I know what you're sayin, Soul music. I guess the name is something that we gave to it. We do have our own way of naming things, because we got so many different slangs in Memphis. The world wants to hear 'em now. Maybe we need to keep being creative and give the Rap game something to talk about.
Have you incorporated any of the Pimpin songs into your music?
I did the O'Jays before, "Stairway To Heaven". I did that underground. Since I went nationwide I haven't used a Pimpin song, but I am gonna use one soon.
After this greatest hits album comes out you'll be working on your new album?
Right. And the new album is probably gonna be ready July 4th. We're already workin on it and we're plannin it for the summer. Between now and the summer we're comin out with an underground video tape. We're comin out with two solo albums and my new group, The Manson Family. After the new Tommy Wright album we're gonna be on a roll. We're gonna roll with nothing but new music. No more underground.
Are you planning to go on the road promoting and doing shows?
Yeah, I just left Missouri. I have an in-store with Skinny Pimp in Atlanta this month. We leave Memphis all the time. We travel and we see new places, but we always go back to Memphis no matter how good the town is. Memphis is home.
