Belo of Do Or Die Interview
by Scott Bejda
From Murder Dog Volume 14 #1
After all of the Do Or Die albums, why did you decide to do a solo album?
It has been a long time coming and everyone has been telling me that they want to hear one from me. A lot of the rappin’ that I did with Do Or Die I really couldn’t express myself just doing 16 bars. I decided to do a solo album so I can express myself more and give the fans more of me and what I feel.
When you started recording your solo album, was it hard to adjust without the other guys or did it come natural to you?
I’m an artist and I always wanted to vent out on my own and make my own album and expand. I got a lot of room to express myself and say what I want to say and say how I feel on my own solo album. It does kind of get lonely. It’s like growing up with your own brothers in the same house and then you have to get out on your own and venture off and you ain’t around your brothers and sisters no more. The loneliness in that respect might effect how you work at first, but at the same time it’s something that I wanted to do on my own for a long time. When you’re in a group you have more thoughts and ideas coming from more people and you work together to come up with concepts, but being on my own gives me more of a chance to express myself and how I feel. It’s been great for me and I never had a problem. It was a good experience just venturing out, that’s when you can really do your own thing and experiment. For production I worked with Traxster, Kayex, and Sound Master-T, so everything came out beautiful.
To me the only other group that has as many consistent albums other than Do Or Die was Run DMC. You guys released like 7 or 8 albums straight! What kept you together so long when most groups split up after maybe two or three projects?
Family and loyalty! AK and Nard are brothers and I’m a brother from another mother. We grew up in the same hood and had the same childhood, so really it’s self-explanatory.
What’s behind the title of your solo album, “The Truth”?
It’s about a lot of real shit that I went through in my life. This is all the trials and tribulations that I have been through in my life and I wanted a chance to express myself. I got street joints on there to where it’s how I come up from the hood, and my relationships as far as the women I had in my life, the hustle game, being a young entrepreneur, and I got a song on there called “God’s Wraith” that is more touching on my spiritual side.
Did you do a video for the album?
I just shot a video to one of my singles called “Exclusive”. Johnny P is on the hook and Traxster produced the beat.
What was it like to do your own video?
It was a good experience doing my first video but a nigga was all ready to do that because this is what I do anyway. The shoot was off the chain and it was all shot in the Windy City of course. A lot of people came through like a lot of the cats on the label—Ric Jilla, Cap-One, Turtle Banx, Pay Roll, Raw Deal, and just family.
Can you pick out a few songs from the album and give me a run down on them?
The first one is “Exclusive” and that is a hot ass joint that I did produced by Traxster. Over the years the ladies are just so used to me coming at them aggressive, laid back spitting game to them or being on that pimp type shit. This particular joint is talking about more the essence of the lady—your character, your expression side, your body—so really I appreciate the lady more on this one. Then I got another joint with one of my artists named Mr. Grind who is locked down right now called “If They Ain’t With Us They Against Us”. That is hood code from growing up from childhood and having that street law, that street value, and that brotherly love. It is talking about if you ain’t with us you are against us.
Tell me more about “God’s Wraith?”
This one is a real serious song. It was produced by Sound Master-T, and it is really me touching on worldly things meaning the revelations that is happening now like the Tsunami, Hurricane Katrina, the war in Iraq, and the politicians that destructed our earth. God is laying his hands down us. People will feel that song. It’s really talking about how revelation is fulfilling itself and how God is laying his laws down upon his people because we are out of line. We are doing things that are uncharacteristic like the killings, drug epidemic, disease and all of that. It’s a deep awareness for the people and I’m getting it out there. Sometimes I spit Gangsta shit, sometimes I spit laid back shit, but if I can’t put a message out there to the people that could better enhance us, then I’m not doing my job.
Do you think talking about these things will scare people or do you hope it will open up a few eyes and make some change?
I think it will do both. The unknowing is scary; the awareness is positive. At least you will gain focus on what is going on now. Whether you take heed to that or not it is on you, but if I give you awareness and I put the game out there, then soak it up. What you do with it is on you. This shit is going a lot deeper than just Rap, even though I still do my thing all laid back Po’ Pimpin style.
It sounds like a very well rounded album? Why do you think a lot of rappers only stick to one or two subjects instead of branching out?
It’s called trend setting, bro! Everybody wants to be a part of something. If I grab a hundred niggaz and we are all shining with jewelry in our Benz with the baddest chick, that’s a dream that everybody wants to be a part of. The youngsters today never saw what we saw, because the hustle game was so different. They want to be so fabricated in that world that if I talk about having a hundred million dollars they feel they are a part of that, even though they don’t have a hundred million dollars. They are going to help someone who has a hundred million get three hundred million, and nine times out of ten this muthafucka don’t do nothing for the hood. When you are a hood based nigga and I get a hundred million then why can’t I dump thirty million in the hood and make you real proud of what I’m on? When I spit some real shit they don’t want to hear that, because my songs haven’t been advertised enough. The success and the un-success of Do Or Die is due to the marketing and promotions from the labels. Either way, all along I’m giving you a classic.
It’s a shame that people can’t see through the media smoke screen and recognize the real!
At the end of the day they got to, because real recognize real. Sooner or later everything rotates 360 degrees radius because it starts from one point of that circle and ends up right back at that point.
The press is always talking about “The greatest Southern albums”, but if they ever do a greatest Midwest thing I know Do Or Die will be in there a few times!
I appreciate that man!
Do you think a lot of people just don’t have respect for the Midwest?
I think the Midwest don’t have respect for their fuckin’ self. I got mad respect for Nelly and him doing his thing and Bone doing their thing, and everybody that came out of the Midwest. There’s a lot of cats that came out of the Midwest, even though Twista is shady with me right now. We don’t respect ourselves. Look at Down South right now, their shit is so tight you can’t break it with a sledge hammer. Then you have Kanye get on and don’t pull anybody else on that has been out, and instead pulling a billion new muthafuckaz on. That’s why are not as strong as the West or South or the East Coast.
It’s going to take everyone coming together!
It’s going to take a real nigga, a real muthafucka like me that done bled the blood on the blocks and grinding in these streets and still has real respect for each individual. You take a muthafucka that don’t have any values or love, he could be rich like a muthafucka and be like Oprah with a billion dollars, but you don’t give a fuck about your people.
How was it for you, growing up in Chicago?
We got the grimiest, craziest muthafuckaz here in the city. We got more projects and more gangs than any other muthafucka in the country. I’m talking about real hardcore gangsters. I know Al Capone was from Sicily, but he set up his foundation here. We got some of the greatest underworld leaders of all time here! We got the slummiest of the slum ghettos here! Chicago is a poverty heaven and it is fucked up. I can’t explain the shit and every time I talk about I just get mad.
They way you’re talking, if you got out there and made a few million, things would improve in the Chicago streets. You really want to make a difference.
This is from my heart! Niggaz don’t put their trust in a nigga like me. You have pretty much interviewed every muthafucka, but after this interview it’s over with, just like a nigga on the street. All alone I’m that nigga in the haystack! I’m always stashed up. By the same token I’m that blessing that niggaz need to grasp onto, because I know my heart. I know what I’m going to do. If I had a hundred million you think I won’t take thirty million and I put this on my life and put this towards AIDS, poverty, hunger, and cancer? Our people are suffering! I don’t mean just Blacks I mean people of poverty. There is too much money in this world for us not to be paying attention to what the hell is going on. If I got Bill Gates’ money, you don’t think I will pay twenty million! I will build this shit brick by brick with you.
What’s crazy is in the midst of all this poverty the American public is throwing 500,000 pounds or more of food a day in the garbage!
If we feed the hungry with the food that we throw away, how can the rich stay richer? If the sick don’t stay sick, how can they support a hundred trillion dollar industry of medicine a year? If you don’t have no disease and you are healthy then I can’t make money off of medicine, so why would I make you healthy? I’m going to feed you some bullshit and make you keep coming down to see me. I might tell you that beef, poultry, and pork is good for you and keep pumping that shit up just so you have to come back and see me every other month with a medical condition. Medicine is a big business, penitentiary is a big business, and politics is a big business. They have to keep you fucked up so they can eat.
They talk about survival of the fittest. More like survival of the meanest!
For us it is just survival, because at the end of the day you know where you are going and that is to the morgue or to the county jail or to the penitentiary. Or your credit is so fucked up you are a hobo hanging around the liquor store. Or you are on heroine or cocaine. There ain’t no fittest for us, just survival! Even if you are rich and you think you have a million dollars guess what, your money ain’t shit. A politician’s daughter has more money than you! You are a small fry!
It makes you want to pack up and move to a different country or some shit!
It makes a muthafucka want to be militant and go to war!
How close do you think we are from that happening?
We have been real close for a long time. Within a month’s time, you could research it to see how many muthafuckaz have been killed by the police alone. You are at war and it’s not like we are out here surviving. The laws out here right now are against us. Niggaz better wise up and invest their money because condos are being built every day and we can’t afford that shit. Most muthafuckaz are on section 8 and now they are building $400,000 condos. You can’t afford that shit. They are tearing down all of the projects, so where are you going to go?
You said earlier a lot of prophecies are coming true. Do you think people realize or even think about all of this?
The majority don’t believe it, man. They see it and watch it on the news, but they just don’t think the muthafucka next door will come in your house and shoot the shit out of you or throw a bomb in your crib. A lot of people believe that they can’t be touched, but this shit is so serious man. When you have two big ass airplanes come hit the world trade center and they detect every other plane but not those planes. Are we really at war, or are we really at war? What I mean by that is, are we at war with other countries or are we at war with our muthafuckin own? I believe we are at war with our own!
On to a lighter subject, your album is coming out on Legion Records?
It’s coming out under Legion/Asylum and with my label Po’ House Records.
Do you have any talent signed to your label too?
I got some of the hottest talent in the world, which is my guy Mr. Grind who is locked up right now, but he will touch down real soon. He is the next 50 Cent in the essence that he has his own era. Also I got Raw Deal, Homicide, Wild Child, and I got a lot more than I can think of.
How long have you had the label going?
I have had a few labels that I have fucked with, but I’m just now launching the Po’ House label. At the time I have been dealing with other situations. Right now I got a case that I’m fighting. It’s a major one, but once I’m done with that I will launch this shit off along with a movie production company that I have called Heartfelt Films. I got about nine to ten scripts that I wrote, typed up and are ready to go.
What kinds of films, comedy, drama, action?
All of the above! Everything I’m doing is real and I have either lived it, done it, seen it, or heard about it.
Will you direct them too?
I’m definitely going to direct them and star in a few of them. My passion in the writing! I have a deep passion for writing and I wrote a lot of scripts. That will be something that I will be doing more of in the future too.
Are you going through a trial right now?
Right now as we speak! I’m going through trial right now so really I’m just trying to keep my head up. It’s rough right now, but I am hoping things will go well.
What is it about?
It’s a murder trial.
What happened?
I really don’t want to get into no details right now because I am in the middle of the trial. I will talk about after the trial is over.
That has to be rough. How do you get the energy to even promote the album during these rough times?
It is family and spirit! About a month before the case my baby mama got killed in the club. I lost my Auntie, my younger brother went to the penitentiary. I was already fighting a case and just got off of probation a month before. It is more agony that I have to deal with, but I’m a good cat and don’t try to be out here doing anything wild. Tragedy comes in situations and you just have to weave around certain people.
Does the music help you deal with all of this?
The music and the writing helps me. Like I say, I have been through it, done it, or know someone who has been through it. Sometimes you make music and see what the next man does and you could go that way and follow a trend, but sometimes it is reality. The music is definitely a way of expression for me and it helps me vent everything.
What I’ve heard of the album is incredible. I can tell you put a lot into it.
I know people are going to feel it. I poured my heart into it. I tried to give the people, not what they wanted but what I wanted for them to respect.
What was it like doing the song “Outlaw” with The Outlawz?
We went down there and kicked it a few times. When Pac had passed his family had requested us to perform at his re-pass. We went there and performed. This ain’t the first time we worked with The Outlawz, because we did other songs on previous albums. They are just family to me! It’s like doing a song with my brother.
Earlier we were talking about the hard times in Chicago. What are some of the good aspects?
The good side of Windy City for me is the passion of showing people that mutual love. What I mean by that is we might hate the guy next door, but when someone comes into town it’s like, “Hey man let me take you to the club or go here and there and this and that!” A lot of people in Chicago go out of town and wherever we go we have a good time, so when other people come into town we show them a good time. We got to kick it with each other like that and then learn to kick it with the outside world like that. Another thing about Chicago is the fuckin’ food is great! It is greasier than a muthafucka but it is good!
Where do you like to eat at?
I do the ghetto thing!
How are the other Do Or Die members, AK and Nard, doing?
They are cool and they are working on their solo albums too. They are definitely working on their stuff right now.
Who will be the next to do a solo?
Really I couldn’t say but they are in that mode both working on their solo albums right now so they will be coming out. We are still doing it and still kicking. We got two more Do Or Die albums done and four more Belo albums done. I really don’t care for the mixtape stuff, but fuck it I will do one too.
