Interview with The Click

By Allen Gordon

What took so damn long for this Click album? It’s been almost five years.

E-40: What took so long? I’m tell ya. Everybody wanted to go out there and do their own thing. Solo bolos, ya know.

B Legit: It wasn’t really our choice to go out and do solo things. We were all under Jive as solo artists’ and as a group, and when certain things don’t go right with the label it disrupts the family atmosphere. Not necessarily with the group, but with the label. It’s business.

Suga T: Jive was hot and Jive was not. In our situation, we didn’t feel we were getting the push we deserved and didn’t put as much into us as we would have liked. So we all did solo independent projects, but we always worked with 40 no matter what. We did Click shows, and supported his albums. At the time his situation was the coolest for him and he kept us in the loop when his stuff was working and ours wasn’t. That brought us to this point, so from now on we will be dropping a Click project every year.

What were you all doing in the meantime? You all put out independent projects for a minute.

B-Legit: With my situation, I was in the middle of doing my album Hempin Ain’t Easy while I was still on Jive and turned it in. At the time, Jive was just getting into their N’Sync and Backstreet Boys thing, so it was really kinda hard to get call backs and feedback from the label. They were real busy, so while I’m sitting at home I get a call from one of Jive's former employees and says a guy named Allen Grumblatt over at Koch has been looking for me. I wasn’t looking for no record deal or label deal, I was chilling. They got at me and told me they were interested and had lawyers that were cool with Jive and that they could work this out some kind of way. I wasn’t doing anything at the time, so I was like, if they could get me up out my contract, make it happen. So they basically made a deal with Jive and took the album I had turned in and now I’m rolling with Koch.

Suga T: Growing up in my brother’s record label came in handy. They just told me what I needed to do and I’d handle it. But in my situation I really didn’t have a choice. I was blessed that I had a sponsor, Hansen’s Energy Drink, put up some money for an endorsement and producers were giving me music so I didn’t have to spend a whole lot of money. So I put out a project called Suga T and Friends, which I put out there just to keep my catalog up to date and keep my name out there.

How did you all manage to bring everyone together with all the things you had going on?

B Legit: This album we did it over a spread out period of time. We did a lot of songs that you may never hear because of the amount of songs we recorded. They were more like tune up songs just to stay sharp as a group, until we got serious about the new album But as the music started changing we kept ourselves the same but would change up the music and get more creative. Being in tune with the industry we didn’t have the chance to lose it, we just swung with the pendulum.

Suga T: Once you’re creative you’re always creative. We don’t just sit in the Bay and watch videos. We’ve been out there and seen people doing their thang, and we’ve continued doing ours. So we keep up with what is going on that keeps us sharp.

During the last five years the music scene has changed drastically, from Master P, to Cash Money, Jay Z, Nelly, Neptunes, etc. Did you all make musical adjustments each time the game switched? How do you plan to get major play when the industry is focused on the South, Midwest and one dude from NY.

B Legit: We understand, because when we got our deal the industry came to the Bay Area and a lot of people got deals. A lot of people got put on, and a lot of people don’t have those deals anymore. We’re still blessed to have ours. It was only right that the pendulum swing to certain areas in the South and now the Midwest. But it will make its way back to the Bay. But even while it was going on, our lingo, our slang and our game was heavily emphasized in the industry. "Off the heezy," "Fo Sheezy," "Fo Shizzle my nizzle," "Do the damn thing," "Doing my thug thizzle," "Pop ya collar," "Pleezbelevit," "So Fast, So Quick," "Oh Boy." The list goes on. I think cats take they hats off to the Bay because that kinda kept everything moving. It shows you the kind of power the Bay has got, so when the vibe swings back this way it should be gravy train.

So there are no plans for a crossover track from the hottest producer just to get extra radio love?

B Legit: No. Our motto is the slow nickel. A lot of cats is looking for that fast quarter, going platinum in two weeks and then nobody will hear about you for the next three years because of circumstances beyond an artist's control. It’s all about that slow nickel, and we’ve been around for many moons. We’re still here and we ain’t going nowhere. It’s a blessing.

E-40: We hold it down for the Bay. That’s real talk. That’s Big Spit.

B Legit: When you come to the Bay and come to the residents door of the rappers that are still doing it, that’s us. We right here. This is where we are posted at, we got the flag right here.

How have your personal lives impacted your schedules for recording?

Suga T: You have to understand, we’re still young and we all have families. And we all want to be in our children’s lives, so that’s another reason we ain’t just posted everywhere. Speaking as a woman, I have daughters- pre-teen daughters. And this is the crucial stage in their development so I really need to be there for them. So I prefer the domestic lifestyle and raising them instead of posing and flashing in front of cameras and all that. Right now, is the time to move with The Click and get to work, and then I’ll go back to my children.

B Legit: When we first got in the game, it was more or less for fun. When we started having kids and growing older, the game becomes a job and you have responsibilities and bills to pay. Now this is a way of life. We have houses, cars, children, taxes and all that so now we have to get out and hustle. You don’t rap, you don’t eat. So you have to start treating this game like a career job. You have to really be on point.

Suga T: My situation is hard and I’m blessed that I have my mother to help. BecausE-40, D Shot and B are men, it’s different. That don’t have to be there like I do being a mother. They’re supportive, take them to school, get them from school, be there to nurture them mentally, emotionally and physically, etc. If you are not there, a guilt will come over you. I don’t ever want a situation where my kids rebel against me because I wasn’t there for them. You know, "You ain’t raise me, my grandmama raised me!" I’m blessed to have a supportive family who understands my life and work situation.

B Legit: That’s one thing about being a close family oriented group, when I have a problem with E-40 or anyone else, I just say "I’m gonna tell Granddaddy," and everyone will get some get-right about themselves. So when all the bullshit is over, we come back home and keep it family. We know a lot of people in this business who have gone from label to label, broke up groups and families, because of money or that divide-n-conquer tactic that the industry will play on you. When we get mad, it ain’t gonna be all that killin’ and threatenin’ shit, we are a family. We just settle it and move on. The cold thing about it, an outsider talking shit or trying to break up this family might get dropped on their head.

Suga T: People on the outside can be really messy and try to break us up. "Why 40 got all this?" "B Legit is the tightest" and all that is crazy to me. We all have our own situations and it’s our business.

E-40: I’m the oldest and I’ve tried to rear everybody to not pay attention to outsiders because a lot of people say devilish things to make us turn against one another. Some people say shit for they own selfish reasons and don’t know it’s harmful.

B Legit: It’s like what the police and FBI did with Cointelpro and the Panthers. But we see that coming.

How has the independent game changed since you came in, and would you ever go back because the bread is more lucrative?

E-40: The independent game ain’t the same since we touched turf with it.

D Shot: I considered myself one of the best in this independent game. My first compilation Boss Ballin’ Volume 1 sold 200,000, and number two sold 75,000 along with other projects. But I’ve noticed the change. A lot of the independent distributors are now out of business, going bankrupt or are bought out by majors. It’s real political and becoming monopolized, so us independent cats really don’t stand a chance when the companies want to exercise their power. Really though, that artist deal might not look too bad as long as the terms are agreeable. Then if you do get the artist deal you really have to exercise the benefits of being with a major, instead of going in talking about I want a distribution deal. A lot of people talk about they want all their publishing and a P & D deal, but ain’t sold one unit on the streets. You have to sell units to get a distribution deal, and even then there is no guarantee that you’ll get the market dollars to follow up the project.

E-40: A lot of chain and retail stores won’t let you even buy into a program. Even if you do get the distribution deal, you have to come with the financial backing to promote the album and artist. You got to have bread just to back it.

D Shot: Everybody and their mom who think they can rap are fighting for shelf space. How do you stand out? The whole market is over-saturated.

E-40: If you want pricing and positioning in the fourth quarter it’s gonna cost you triple the bread. Triple the times it would cost you if you would have come out in March or April.

B Legit: It’s tiered off into categories now, like if you are selling a certain amount of high units independently, the majors want you. If you sell 300,000 on down companies like Koch, JCOR or D3 want you. Me, I go "ghetto gold" all the time, 100,000 sold or better. That’s my category as far as they're concerned. I don’t have a problem with it. I don’t have that big R&B budget, so I don’t have to pay back that R&B money. I’m not spending $500,000 on a video and having it taken out of my royalties. I’d never recoup.

D Shot: If you did spend that much and have a platinum album, you still may not recoup, but you’ll be getting those concerts for $30 or $40,000. So if you stay on the road six months straight, you’ll be getting the same check anyway.

Suga T: Don’t forget, the endorsements, merchandising. . . basically when the opportunities are presented to you, artists should be taking advantage of everything around them. You have to use your celebrity as a business brand. And a lot of people don’t understand that you have a market value when people are paying attention to what you do.

B Legit: It’s like Michael Jordan, he made most of his money outside the sport of basketball, even though he was the best player in the game.

D Shot: That’s why I said it may be good to get that artist deal the first time, so that you can move on those opportunities surrounding that type of press. Otherwise I feel sorry for you. Don’t take the whole plate, take the hip.

My man Charlie Braxton says there are a lot of Click fans in Mississippi, and you guys have never performed there. Are you gonna do a tour with this album?

E-40: Right now we are going to map out all the spots where are dedicated fans are at, and then do spot dates, and touch down on the soil. Get on the bus and do the whole weekend. Hit Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

Hieroglyphics are a prime example of what I’m talking about when it comes to utilizing resources and staying out there.

B Legit: They thing is running tight. I was just in Texas and they were out there, somebody told me Casual was out here. He was like, man we are out here every other week doing shows. I like all them, Casual, Del… they got their thing moving.

Besides making good music, what are the goals behind this album? What is it that you want to achieve that has eluded you thus far?

D Shot: I think we would like to receive a platinum album. We’ve been gold before, but I would like to see the platinum.

Everybody: That Platinum. Game Related went gold, but we’re closing in on the platinum.

Can that happen if DFX or Rap City isn’t playing the video, or if you don’t have a lot of media coverage from certain mags?

E-40: Nowadays, there is so much access to things that weren’t available to us when we came out. So now you can sell a lot of records by having your video on BET, not just Rap City, but the other shows they have all throughout the day. The coverage of this music is so big now. The Internet.

B Legit: Basically, it comes down to the relationships you’ve established in this game. Relationships with the people at your label, who also have relationships with magazines, DJs, publicists BET, MTV, Nickelodeon or whatever. Then the relationships the artist has formed over the years with some of the same people or their assistants or interns who are now in charge five and six years later. At the end of the day, it’s all in your prayers. It’s up to God.

I thought it was cool of Tyrese to put E-40 in his new video, or Backbone to give the Click a shout out on Goodie Mob’s "Get Rich To This". It’s good that real folks are giving it up. The Bay slang is everywhere on the mouths of rappers, sports talk shows, Jesse Jackson, TV, movies.

B Legit: I think people look at us like a treasure box. They like the things we do, how we carry ourselves, how we innovate. Basically, the Bay is where the game originated and we are the ambassadors. Some people show love, and others don’t, but we don’t trip. We say, "if it's in the air, it’s fair." When you recognize something slick, you know there was game involved. Something was said and understood without saying it or having to spell it out. It's in the air, it’s fair- there is nothing new under the sun. It’s just recognize where it come from. People used to say they told me this or they told me that, game is passed on like that. I would feel kinda of funny trying to say something from someone else’s camp knowing that we don’t get down like that. We’re trendsetters not followers.

What has been the lasting strength of the Click as a group and individuals?

B Legit: "We is better than I," as opposed to, "I is better than we." Everybody can’t make it on their own. You need a good team around you if not for business or art, for inspiration. I think that’s what went wrong in the Bay as for losing it’s position in the spotlight of this rap game. "United we stand, divided we fall," or "Strength is in numbers" doesn’t really take precedence out here and this is the Bay Area’s lesson to be learned in life. Our blessing was, it’s We and not I. The most least important person is a part of the puzzle. You feel me? The person who mails out the envelopes is important. If the person stamped a 1,000 envelopes a minute- he’s hard and made his part of the operation efficient and valuable.

D Shot: One thing about the Bay, people have got motivation and a lot of self esteem. To have this many people doing their thing — there is no place like this in the world. But there is also a lot of talent out here that cat’s ain’t picking up on because then when you are doing it all by yourself, it’s hard to hit all bases. Your focus becomes narrow because you got too many other things going on that you have to worry about.

E-40: Basically we are addressing everything we have been talking about, plus some, on the new album, Money and Muscle. We keep our eyes peeled and ear to the street so we know what game needs to be put out there and I know people are gonna feel this. This might be the best album we have done, because of the circumstances that have changed in the last five years with our personal lives, the industry, this country and Black folks in general. We are keeping the Bay up and will always continue to do so.

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