Jayo Felony
Interview By Allen S. Gordon
From Murder Dog Vol. 8# 5
What's going on with the new album? I hear you changed the title.
The name of the album is "Crip-Hop". That pretty much describes my whole feeling on things right now. The music, the industry, life, etc. It's just funny how fickle the industry is right now with what gets played, heavily marketed or signed to a label deal. Plus you have too many artists copying other people's styles of music and slang. So I'm just bringing my own brand of rap to the game. Really, it first originated on E-40's album "Element of Surprise", when I said "fuck Hip-Hop, this is Crip-Hop."
You might be more popular now just from the guest appearances on other folks albums. Eastsidaz, Yukmouth, Ja Rule, LL Cool J.
The streets know what's cracking. So I'm just taking my time handling my business and making the right decisions that will take me to the next level. I'm not rushing to put out nothing if the shit ain't right.
How long have you been working on this album? It seems like four or five years since your last album and you had a record Hotter Than Fish Grease that was supposed to be released on Def Jam.
After getting out of all that bullshit and turmoil with them [Def Jam], I just had to come back stronger and create some new shit. The album I was making on Def Jam can't even compare to the shit that I'm doing now as far as my skills and advancing with the times.
Did you get those recordings back from the label?
Yeah, I got the recordings back- but you know how they [record labels] like to play games and get you caught up in contractual bullshit after a release. Anything I put is gonna be hot and I'm not going to allow them to stall my shit, so I recorded all new banging shit that will kill that old album.
What exactly made you unhappy with a label with that much juice?
I saw that Def Jam didn't go for BDS scans for my single, "Hotter Than Fish Grease". That's standard for the other artists or soundtrack singles they want to break in certain markets. So when it came to the marketing and promotion of my album it was always half-assed. And I was patiently waiting my turn while they blew up every other artist or project on the label, and when they finally did get around to me they were doing a half-assed job. But you know, it's all good now.
So they just dropped the ball?
I feel like a lot of it was on me too. I didn't have a lot of my business straight to be able to check after all these details surrounding the recording and promotion of an album. I also didn't have the proper representation to go in there and handle my business. So shame on Def Jam and shame on me, you know. Regardless of that, anything I did do to create a buzz for myself, it seemed like I was fighting an uphill battle with Def Jam. Like when the Eastsidaz "Got Beef" record was hot, I should have been dropping an album right after.
That record probably did more to put you in the limelight commercially.
Yeah. In spite of the label problems I still managed to get work or offers to appear on people's albums to keep my name out there. The Eastsidaz, E-40, Caz, Yukmouth and other folks came through and now everybody is waiting for me to come out. Once I drop, the world is gonna see. I'm not trying to keep sales on the independent shit, I'm trying to be major homie. I'ma break these niggaz' backs.
I've seen artists charged $20,000 for a sample clearance when the actual price was $8,000 plus part publishing. The artist never knew they were being taken by the A&R or the label. It's shameful that some labels can be that evil and that artists don't know the business to keep tabs on these leeches.
That's real, I feel that. It's like this, I came from nothing and never had nothing. When I signed my contract I was 19 years-old on the run and I didn't give a fuck about lawyers and all that shit. I was a youngster and came in blind- didn't know nothing about the game. So I had to learn from experience. No studying or internships, I had to learn from getting fucked over and all that type of shit. And I started seeing real quick from the shit that went down with Jam Master Jay and his label JMJ, which I was originally signed to. I wanted to break away from that a year after I signed my deal in 1994. I was optimistic, though I was never going to be able to express myself and get the push that I deserve.
You were the last West Coast artist left? There was you, South Central Cartel, Warren G, Richie Rich, Montel Jordan and Domino.
I remember when Def Jam wouldn't even sign a West Coast act until certain muthafuckas got hot out here, then they jumped on the bandwagon and signed muthafuckas. When they dropped Richie Rich from the label, I was the only nigga from the Coast left over there. I was the only West Coast artist there and I didn't give a fuck, because I knew I could hold my own with any of the East Coast artists on the label. But the thing was when it came to my project, they didn't put their all into it.
Would you say Def Jam didn't know how to handle a West Coast artist?
I wouldn't say that because they don't label muthafuckas East Coast artists when they pumpin that shit out here 24/7 on the radio and what not. You can push what you want to if you're willing to do the work. If they are not getting labeled as an East Coast artist, why should I be labeled as a West Coast artist? It ain't got nothing to do with being regional, talent is talent. Why couldn't I get radio play in New York when I was on a New York label? There is so much politics in this game, even just to get played on the radio up and down the coast. Certain West Coast artists get played all day with all the other Top 40 shit, but the majority of West Coast artist with hot shit don't see nothing, barely on the mix shows during their once or twice a week time slot. You go out to NY, you don't hear shit from out here unless you play that political game. You'll even hear some bullshit record that don't get play anywhere else in the country, just to fill time- and they won't play some hot shit coming from anywhere on the West Coast. I just don't like fake shit. Muthafuckas that smile in your face and then be on some Silent War shit in this game.
Silent War?
That's what's going on in this game, a Silent War of political bullshit against certain types of niggas. And ain't nobody speaking on it. And the muthafuckas that are on top in the West ain't no real threat on these streets. They don't want to bread up no real nigga with real skills on these streets out here in California. They want to bread up these punk ass niggaz that ain't even active on these streets, you feel me. Niggaz that probably ain't never been active in their life- perpetrating a role. So I'm like, fuck these fake ass niggas from the West and East Coasts. Niggaz ain't representing right. Muthafuckas get too comfortable with that money and that go they head and muthafuckas get egos and be on some gay shit. I ain't with that. I feel I'm one of the most thorough niggaz out here, and just because I didn't kiss another nigga's ass everybody think I'm on some other shit or that I'm hard to work with. But the fact remains, when I get on this mic, I'm shutting niggaz down and making them rewrite they shit. Niggaz is supposed to be the platinum niggaz and the big time Crips.
We'll get to that in a minute.
On the real. It's too much political/corporate/gay shit in the rap game.
What you're talking about really fits what the name J.A.Y.O. stands for. Do you think anyone remembers or do you have to keep reminding folk that this is what gangsta shit is about and why gangsta shit exist amongst Black people in America in the first place?
That's right, Justice Against Y'all Oppressors. And I feel like niggaz is trying to oppress my shit. It seems like I'm fighting the whole muthafuckin rap world at the same time that half the rap world is biting my shit. I hear niggaz talking about all this "one shot" shit, that's my fuckin name- One Shot Kill. Niggaz keep saying it out they mouth like they made it up. Niggaz is trying to make me out like I'm the bad apple of the rap game, but niggaz is so fuckin' fake and sorry. . . man I can't even explain it.
It's about the pursuit of money and artists are compromising their integrity for a moment in the sun.
You look at rap and look at everybody. Man I got into the rap game for the love of the music, I've been doing this since I was 8 years old. For the love, but I do understand that a nigga gotta eat and be compensated for his work, and that's what I'm in the game/industry for. I'm keeping it real with myself and being true, not running around on some fake shit which is what you see with a lot of these rappers. You come from the streets and you see these rappers doing their thing, when you finally get a chance to work with them. . . I don't want to have beef with none of these muthafuckas because I'm not on that page. I don't feel I have to diss anybody to get ahead, I have the talent to get to where I need to be. But you work with a nigga one day, and the next day they'll be on some fake shit and try to smut a nigga's name or try to bite a niggas shit and run with it. It's fucked up when people bite shit and try to run with it like they created it.
What kept you from joining one of these camps or being under the wing of Dr. Dre, Snoop, Death Row, Roc-a-Fella, Hoo Bangin' or any other big artist or label?
I'm just on some other shit. I know my best weapon is this music and can't none of these fools see me on this mic. All people have been doing is stalling me from being the muthafucka I'm destined to be. Even if I gotta work a 9 to 5, I'm still Jayo Felony and will shut any of these niggas down. And it's just the beginning for me. I'm young out here having fun and I'm mashing on niggas out here trying to bite my shit.
Would you refuse an offer from a major label if they offered a big handout?
Right now I just want distribution. I got all kind of offers to sign with labels from the biggest to the smallest, but I don't want to be on anyone's roster or be anyone's property in the game. Niggaz ain't gonna Chuck Berry me to death. I learned from my own experiences and from other folks. I want to be a nigga that own his own masters, determine when albums come out and what happens to them, set tour dates and all that shit. I want to have my own empire. And when it's said and done I want my family to eat off this shit. Not no record label or some muthafucka that is managing me. I want to control what I'm creating.
Since being off Def Jam what area of business did you have to bone up on to make your independent label work?
The distribution and retail aspect of the game. How distribution breaks down in the US and overseas has been a big education for a nigga.
So you're not clicked up with any crew now, you're trooping solo? I got ties with a lot of niggaz that are on some real shit, but a lot of are just faking in the game, cuz. I'm just backing away from these fake niggaz and trying to make my mark in the game. I don't need to ride the coattails of a platinum nigga to make it where I need to be. I'm not kissing nobody's ass to get where I want to be. Niggaz gonna love Jayo Felony for Jayo Felony.
I talked to E-40 about signing you a while back. That would seem like the ideal situation and he's definitely a Jayo supporter.
That's my partner. That's my big brother right there, but E-40 knows I'm trying to do my own thing. I'm not trying to be under nobody- I'm Jayo Felony and I'm trying to have my own shit. When it comes to keeping it real, E-40 is one of the truest cats. E-40, D-Shot, Suga T, B-legit all of them- that's my family. They have always embraced me with love and it will never change. I like to surround myself with real people. Another nigga is Ja Rule, he stay real with it. I got real family from East, West and the South. I just ain't on no funny shit, I don't care if a nigga sell a billion records- if a nigga is on some fake shit I ain't fuckin' with you. Quoted from my nigga CJ Mac.
I'm hearing that you and Tray Dee from the Eastsidaz came to blows over you saying you were the best rapper on the West Coast. Is that true?
Oh hell naw? How you sounding with that shit? That's propaganda. Tray Dee know I'll serve that nigga with one verse. Keep it real man. I ain't never had that conversation with Tray Dee once. Tray Dee cool with me, I ain't tripping off dude. People twist stories up so much. That's some crazy shit though: Who's the hardest rapper in the world and niggas start fighting over that? That's some childish shit, niggas is too grown for that. Now, me and Tray Dee have tussled before, but it was over something else.
That's tight. Do you think that most of the artists in Cali have gotten away from the MCing aspect that made gangsta rap the shit, and cats only rap for the sake of saying some nonsense?
Yeah man, but you can only be an MC if you've been an MC. You know what I mean. If you ain't no MC then you just gonna be another muthafucka talking about your hood or a fast rapping muthafucka with a big vocabulary who ain't saying shit. Rappers like that always be on some bullshit which is why their shit always sound watered down and just don't sound right. Radio play or not, you know a tight artist when you hear 'em. Like back in the day before all the videos, politics and the media. If you ain't no MC you just can't become one if you've never been one. I've been doing this shit since I was eight years old writing shit. So I've studied and constantly perfected my shit as the music evolved. From Sugar Hill Gang to RUN DMC to the Fat Boys to LL Cool J to NWA and on. I got in the game on some MC shit, because of the love. Now niggas come in the game unprepared and mimicking what the industry supports. They don't see no MCs so they imitate what they see, all this fake corporate rap bullshit. I can go to the East Coast or anywhere and hold mine as an MC with anybody, and I can make good records. Put me in a circle with anybody and watch them get fucked off. I've done it plenty of times.
That's the way it should be to keep the competition level high and make good records. But cats have gotten lazy and even the best artists don't get much radio play in their home state.
Politics. How in the fuck are we going to get radio play when we don't own one radio station in the whole damn state? We need another KDAY. Rappers need to start stepping up their shit, especially on this aspect of the game. Money running through niggas hands and we ain't got shit to show for it outside of a nice crib, some jewels and a car or two. Meanwhile we make more money for more people than we see at these labels and stations. The sad part is we ain't having conversations with the muthafuckas on how to manage money and shit. How to make that shit grow or how to find out FCC filings to create radio stations in certain markets. Like I said homie, there is a Silent War happening and niggaz is losing. Most of the radio stations that play Black music are owned by the same companies, one being Radio One, and their priorities are to the labels Top 40. The labels decide what they are going push as Top 40, so you see how the politics is played. How can we ever win? Either you kiss some ass to get a record play, or you ride against the industry.
But until that time. . .
Niggas still have to use certain outlets to make their bread, but I still say fuck the industry. There is no reason to bend over and switch up because we need certain aspects of this game to make some bread until we can do our own thing. Good business is good business, but the industry has turned this Hip Hop corporate. Hip Hop is from the streets, but this shit is so commercial and corporate now that you have muthafuckas Crip walking in McDonald's commercials. Muthafuckas are wearing rhinestone rags on some gay ass shit. Nigga, you ever seen anybody from you hood sporting a rhinestone rag? Hell naw! You got niggas in lowriders in their videos, but they can't have lowriders where they live at. You get fined for having a lowrider out there. Niggas is taking our lifestyle and using it for a fad and that shit ain't real.
So you speak on that throughout your album?
I'm just bringing it home and about to have fun with it. I got my own shit and I'm the king of S.D. and we finna make it happen for this city and the whole community. A million people listen to me serve Jay Z every morning on the radio. I got a radio drop dissing him and Memphis Bleek: "Hanging you over the Coronado Bridge and y'all with both be deceased before the police can find me y'all better start screaming Bullet Loc we love Z90." That's the ending, it starts off, "Tell Jay Z I'll catch him in the morning, Loco Records shipping platinum Roc-A-Fella is gone/And calling my hood in if it's on it's on then, Y'all been perpetrating G's and y'all the wrong men/They skip to this and hop, the flip to this and drop and pop they collars/Homies in Impalas if she look like a dime or a hot model she always bring smoke and her own bottle/I fear nothing and keep coming with heat when I hit the street enemy foes come at me foul I bust in they bowels." As far as the Jay Z shit, on the real, I don't want to see no bodily harm come to nobody. This is just on some MC shit and the fact the nigga is running with our culture out here on some fake shit. I don't wish nothing bad on nobody, but I have to keep it real. That's what this thing is about. I ain't trying to start no fucking wars or East/West shit, but let's be real about what's going on in the game.
Is Cricet still representing San Diego's rap scene?
Right now he's making beats for the homies and people in his camp. He stepped away from the rapping for a minute to concentrate on making music. He's got his own heat and we'll be linking up in the future. Right now San Diego ain't thinking about nothing but my camp. San Diego has never really had a chance to put it down so it's almost like I'm brand new. Only somebody heavy off into buying this music would know about me, Cricet or DJ Rectangle being from San Diego. But now it's SD's turn to be exposed to the world and we got the talent.
Who is working on the album?
I got Rockwilder, Soopafly Brooks, Caviar Fort Knox and one from Ric Roc with me and Spice 1 that is off the chain. Me and E-40 got a song called "Pleeze Believe It". I got the Dulo Gang, Ja Rule. . . I don't want to spoil it, there is a lot of good shit on this album.
So will Hotter Than Fish Grease ever be released?
Yeah, we just going to get the business straight with Def Jam and release that as like the missing files. Then I got another album after "Crip Hop" and I feel that will set niggas straight- exposing these funny ass niggas in the game. We comin' hard in the paint. If you funny you gonna be mad at this album. I can't tell you what the name of the album is, because niggas is running with my shit already, but when it's time to you'll definitely be the first to hear it.
