State Property’s Oschino and Sparks
By Lance Mannion

Jay-Z has been shouting out your name as well as Sparks’ since Roc Oschino: La Familia and you have made appearances on other albums. Is this your time? Time for the new Philly movement?

It’s always been our time since Beanie came out, State Property I, and Freeway’s solo album. I mean, me and Sparks, Young Gunz and Peedi Crack, we’re all new, but we are not new. All of us had our careers in the underground before we signed. We all had CDs and mix tapes on the streets. Remember, we did State Property I, so what you are hearing now is tuned up level of us.

Beanie in one interview likened the making of the new album to The Chronic. A Chronic for Philadelphia.

That’s the way I look at it. What Dr. Dre and his people put together launched careers for Snoop, Kurupt, Daz, Rage, Warren G, RBX and they whole crew. It even worked out so cats [rappers and producers] that wasn’t from their crew was getting love because they was from L.A. On this album we have the best of North Philly and West Philly representing together, plus we go some hot young producers from Philly that got serious heat. So State Property is a showcase of talent like the Chronic was.

What drew Jay Z to sign you and Sparks before becoming members of the seven man group State Property?

Before we signed to Roc-A-Fella, me and Sparks was in a group called ICH- Inner City Hustlers. There were 11 of us in the group. I was one of the top rappers before Sparks joined. At first I didn’t like him because he was a lot of trouble. But we was the best two rappers. So when we went to the Roc, Jay picked us to sign and didn’t know we were already in a group together. We met Beanie after we signed to the Roc.

Had Beanie Siegal heard of you before you signed?

Yeah, ICH had about five CDs out in Philly. Philly is no different than any other place on that independent hustle. We were hungry and serious about this rap game. We made the Philly connection once we met Beans.

You were rapping and making CDs since you were 16?

No. When I first started rapping I was in jail, so I was just doing it to make time pass. The dude that was in the cell next to me used to always rap, so I would say a rhyme back to entertain myself. He told me I sounded alright so then I started writing more and more.

What was it that you heard or experienced that made you understand your skills needed to be fine tuned? What made you not quit?

I was trying to fit too many words into a bar. It’s one thing to rap by beating on the wall, it’s another trying to make a record that will hold somebody’s attention. I was all over the place and had to find rhythm in the flow, and structure in how I write. I started listening to albums differently to pick up structure, that’s when I got more serious and learned to be better. Because so many people are rapping you have to be better just to stand out. The game is so crowded.

What was your game plan, or the State Property plan, to make this album stand out in such a crowded space? How do you see it being different than this SP1.

State Property I was a bunch of songs that were put together for the movie which was coming out at the time. This album, we recorded specifically for this project so there is a concept and focus. We also have solo songs and combination tracks with Sparks and Freeway, or Peedi Crack and the Young Gunz. We just hit this thing from different positions. It’s on.

You have to do what it takes to stay, people have short term memory with music nowadays.

We also have a documentary coming soon. These people have been shooting this thing for almost two years. People will really be able to see what State P is all about. They filmed us on the road, in the studio, with our kids, in jail, with our parents, in the neighborhood. You get a little slice of life from everybody: Beans, Freeway, Young Gunz, Peddi Crakk, and me and Sparks. This ain’t no punk video like some you seen, this is real in-depth stuff. The people who did Backstage for the Hard Knock Life Tour filmed this. I think people will love us for this one. I’m not sure when it will come out.

With Jay Z and Damon Dash involving themselves in real business, has that rubbed off on the members of State Property?

When we were filming the State Property movie, I never thought it was going to come out. It didn’t seem real to me. I thought it may be straight to video, but I wasn’t real serious about it. But seeing it in the theater with other people bugged me out. Since then, being around Beans, Jay and the Roc- I see the different aspects of the game and how to really make this rap thing work in your favor. Rap is the market to sell everything from DJ equipment to soda, you just have to find the right thing and be good at it.

Were all the members of State Property able to record together, like all hands on deck, even if you were not on a particular song?

Not really. That happened a few times, but the State Property crew that is on each song was with each other most of the time. We had one great moment recording BB Gun in the basement at Ro’s. All of us were there and Bean’s was cooking chicken in the next room while we were cutting the song in the basement. That’s a real Hip Hop moment for you. That took us back. We recorded some songs there, then we’d break out and go to the movies. We recorded 26 songs like that, but I can’t remember which ones we didn’t use. Plus, some us did shows with Freeway or Beans.

What station in Philly reps for the local scene real hard?

We have a little joint called the Come Up Show on Power 99. If you are hot, they will play your song. They know us, they played our songs before we got signed- that’s when Cosmic Kev was the host. The last time you visited Philly, there were not a lot of venues six years ago. Now, we have a lot of places to perform and do radio. We have a whole market right here, but New York is where you have to make it happen once you get your city behind you. You have to lock down your city before you start looking for label deals and media in NYC.

Your solo song. "Been Down Too Long" is a good piece of song writing. Did you have that concept to begin? How did that song manifest?

That’s funny. I actually wrote to song once I heard the music. I find that is the case with a lot of people. I heard the melody and the music told me what to write. I have been through a lot in my life and that music captured a mood and this is what I wrote to it. I don’t really like writing a song without the music, because you may never find music that fits it. Like you could write a song about your best friend getting killed, and the music you get may never capture the power or mood of what you wrote. I don’t like writing that way, I prefer writing to music. Sometimes the beat or the hook tells you what to rap.

Did you have any doubts being that Philly wasn’t on the radar for some time?

Sparks: The scene was bubbling. We had that downtime for a while, but you had cats doing their thing, then Segal got signed and Philly was open. Freeway was connected to Beanie. Out here things are sectioned off into North Philly, West Philly and South Philly. They were already connected and we met him once we got signed and it’s been on ever since.

Did you never link up prior to Roc-A-Fella because of being from different parts of Philly? Is Philly like L.A. in that respect?

Naw, not me. I ain’t on the geographical stuff. I don’t care where you are from, if we are gonna make some paper that’s what I’m about. With me you are either alright or you are a buster. I know good people from all over Philly, but I don’t limit myself. Even if the person was a joker, if I can get money with him then it’s all good, but he’ll know where I stand with him. No fake shit, business is business. It’s just like in a work area, you may not like your boss or your manager but that don’t stop you from coming to work on time to make your paper. You gotta deal with people, but stand your ground and do you. As far as Beanie and Freeway, everybody was doing their own thing, that’s how diverse the scene was. Everyone has their crew or goals and that is what landed us, Beans and Free at the Roc, Eve at Ruff Ryders, Cassidy at Swizz’s label and Jill Scott with her deal.

What did you want to see different with State Property 2?

I wanted better production, we got that. I wanted to show maturity, we show that. Versatility, we do that. We covered every area where we felt we could be stronger than we showed on the first album. Personally, I covered every issue of life that I wanted to address. I’m a street cat and I’ve learned some things being in this position and dealing with life.

Oschino mentioned that he likes to write to music as opposed to writing songs just to write songs. How do you approach it?

No doubt. That’s how I wrote, "If I Could Do It All Again". When you hear the hook you hear that I wrote to the music and the hook was the last part that came. But the music inspired me to write that topic and in that flow. I make songs and I want to have concept and a visual image when you hear it. The way I see things happen is the way I want people to listen to it, so that’s how I write. I just focus on making a song concept driven instead of spitting a mean 16 [bars], because then you become just a rapper and not a songwriter. The story aspect is what makes music timeless. Listen to Scarface, Jay Z or NWA. What they spit is timeless because of how they write. I don’t want to do trendy music that has no substance because nobody will remember it. This way I can keep it moving and outlast the trends.

What is it that will separate State Property from every other act pushing a record?

We don’t get caught up. We are the underdogs so we don’t have certain favors due. We could probably get a Neptunes track but we would have to go through Hov and red tape. They ain’t messing with us, so we are taking our position. Compare the first State Property album with this one, you know we ain’t playing. We have seven cats that are real serious about what we do. We don’t have one joker among us and we are deep with talent.

I think it’s interesting that this album says Philadelphia without the bells and whistles trying to over do it. You don’t need a neon sign to say, "We rep Philly."

Yeah, because you hear the Philly in us. We love where we’re from, but you should hear it in us and see it through us as people instead of always repping with a t-shirt or yelling it out every verse. If you are doing an anthem song it’s different, but when you hear us you know it’s Philly. Like when you hear Snoop and his crew you know that Los Angeles/Compton/Long Beach area is hitting your ears. Plus, the production is raw Philly, and these are cats that nobody wanted to work with because they are looking all over the country for sounds from other areas. These cats are grinding with us and we are all going to come up together. Black Key, Boola, Chad and Ryan they grinding with us.

That sound reminds me of that raw production and feeling from 1988 to 1990.

That’s when Hip Hop was Hip Hop. You gotta take it back there. The music changes, but you can’t forget who opened up the doors. You have to bring that back to the table.

What’s up with Beanie Segal? How is his case going?

Mack is cool. He’s doing fine, you know Beanie, he’ll be fine. I can’t speak on the case, I don’t have that information to give to the media.

Can’t talk about it or won’t talk about it?

Won’t talk about it. But you have to look at it like this, Mack put this album together and prepared all of us for the music thing. We’re gonna hold him down regardless. C’mon, we came in the game under two of the best, Beanie and Jay Z, how are we not gonna hold it down?

BG
solid crew
wolf town recordings
narcocorrido
x-ecutioners
spice
swizz beatz
paris
c-bo
nelly
the grind family
dead prez
brotha lynch hung
dayton family
wc
NAS
mike mosley
kottonmouth kings
fat joe
lil jon & the east side boyz
david banner
insane clown posse
too $hort
dirty
DJ screw
DLT
E-40
eastsidaz
eightball
fredo
ghetto mafia
jt money
st lunataics
mac mall
pastor troy
petey pablo
project pat
rass kass
sammysam
the shinin
shocklee
tech n9ne
the click
xzibit
bg
a-damn-shame
doc
fifty cent
jt the bigga figga
proof
zion
bone crusher
fiend
freeway
technine
bravehearts
Chingo Bling
Diplomats
Killer Mike
State Property
Willie-D