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Whoever thought Obama would come to your hometown and speak? Well, it happened. He came to Costa Mesa, California where I have grown up my whole life, for a town hall meeting and also spoke. People were lining up two days before just to see him. I dont know how they got in. There were rumors that you had to buy tickets, and other rumors that the first 1,000 people would get in to see him. (They actually gave tickets just to the people who were camping out.) It’s unbelieveable the love people have for this guy. It makes you so inspired to see it.

He was speaking at 4 PM at the Orange County Fair Grounds in an enclosed building. I got there around 4:15 just to see the scene. I already knew I wasnt getting in. The surrounding streets were all closed off with cops patrolling like crazy. Anyone who tried to walk in was being stopped. There were some people leaving being stopped and told to get off the sidewalk. We stood on the other side of the street, with a crowd of supporters and haters, where 2 cops on motorcycles were making sure people could not enter. If you got past the cops, you were greeted by a big black Secret Service agent (haha). We thought about going over just to talk to the guy, but decided not to risk being beaten with sticks. There were like 20 buses barricading the side of the fairgrounds’ parking lot.

The crowd was filled with mostly Obama supporters. Everyone was happy just to be out there showing their love, but a small few (about 10) were protesting with their crappy homemade signs against Obama. But the love overruled the hate. Anytime they would yell, other people would come back with something more intelligent to counter act the stupid remarks made by the protestors. Pretty funny and entertaining to see. One old woman with a spanish accent, holding a “stop illegal immigration” sign, kept saying “you’re all going to eat shit.” Funny how a Spanish woman would be yelling that with an accent! The people really had nothing intelligent to say showing why Obama was not a good candidate for office. Typical.

I left around 5, got home and then I heard the helicopters. I looked out my window and saw a huge black and white helicopter followed by 2 army helicopters. It was amazing just to think he was so close and I could have seen him. No president has ever had the effect on the country as Obama.

Courtesy of the one and only

Current Events, Features

Legendary Cypress Hill member Sen Dog recently released his first solo album, “Diary of a Mad Dog” on Suburban Noize Records. I talked with him at length about a multitude of topics ranging from his role in Cypress Hill to a heart attack he suffered earlier this year.

You’re from Cuba and in America we have this perception that Cuba is impossible to get into and impossible to get out of. So that people don’t assume you came in on a raft tell us how you got into the country.

We came on an airplane, a 747 fucking jet. I don’t know how my Father was able to get us out of Cuba on an airplane, but I can remember a lot of other people that came on the airplane were quickly arrested by the FBI.

Why was that?

I guess they were people that the FBI knew about. This was the early 70’s and it was right after the 60’s and the Cuban Missle Crisis. They knew a lot of people were trying to flee Cuba and some of them were bad people so they were taking them in right off the airplane.

After hearing all this Rock and Roll what was the first rap record that left you awestruck and made you want to be a rapper?

I never heard Rock and Roll in Cuba at all. I was just a little kid. I remember the first time I saw “Rock Box” by RUN DMC. The video was a turning point for me right there. Those were the coolest bros I ever seen in my life and I wanted to be just like them. I had heard plenty of Rap before, but none that made me want to start rapping. But when I seen those guys with their gold chains and their hats and their leather coats and their Adidas, I was sold right there.

When did you start rocking fisherman hats?

I started rocking those around 1987-1988. I was a huge fan of EPMD. They probably still are in my top 5 Rap groups of all time. I just liked [the style] so much that I started rocking it but I put my own little look to it. It just went on from there. From that point on you’d rarely see me without my fisherman hat.

These days you don’t rock them so much.

I rock them in my own spare time. I don’t rock them on stage so much anymore because it’s a look from the past, but I do got one leather Cypress Hill fisherman that I do rock from time to time.

As a member of Cypress Hill you’ve been able to be a major factor in your group’s music without always rapping on each song. Sometimes you just say a few lines and despite that there’s no way you could be called a hypeman. How did this come to be creatively?

Well, I don’t know how it came about. We started doing our demos and I was on a lot more songs back then but I always had to work–I had jobs and I didn’t have the time to dedicate to the music that I wanted to. The guys would go make demos and leave a spot open for me so I could rap on it. As the group developed more and more, B-Real became a way better lyricist than I did. The group’s focal point was focusing on him to be the main rapper. B-Real always wanted me to share more mic time with him. That’s one of his pet peeves. He always wanted me on more songs and I was trying to be more mysterious, get in here-get in there and have this whole question mark about the character Sen Dog. It just kind of stuck. After a while we had a bunch of songs where I would rap second on it. We almost got stuck there forever but we started to change things around on the third and fourth record. But that’s how we came about it. B-Real was just an incredible lyricist that was going to be one of the top notch lyricists in the game and I saw his skill flourishing and I didn’t want to compete with that cause I’ve always loved my friends and I never wanted to be the solo guy, so I just worked with what was there. Somehow it worked out. It worked out for Cypress. I don’t know if any other band could work like that, but in our band me and B-Real don’t have any ego trips between each other.

That’s the main reason why I asked you that because I can’t name any other band that has that dynamic.

Yeah I never considered myself a hypeman. I just always considered myself “an emcee with a lot of energy.”

I saw you live ten years ago in New Jersey on the Smoking Grooves Tour with Gangstarr, Wyclef and Public Enemy. There was a big statue of a fist holding a joint that you wheeled on stage. Whose idea was it to do that and who actually built that thing for you?

We played Woodstock in 1994. Muggs didn’t even have a DJ-riser. Neither did Bobo. They were just straight on the stage. And me and B-Real were prancing around on stage. And we did a good job. People liked it, but when we looked at the video [we saw that] the stage was so huge you could’ve landed a helicopter on that motherfucker. We were like “Damn, we need some more shit back there.” So we started talking to people [about it]. We started meeting people here and there and we had a giant Bhudda on stage once. That was done by a guy, I don’t remember his name, he has since passed away. When it comes to the giant fist holding the joint–those are all our ideas. Then we try to find an artist who can get our ideas done relatively fast or correctly. It’s all about giving a full performance with stage props and everything. It’s not just about getting up there and rapping with a bottle of Evian and a towel in my back pocket. It’s about putting on a fucking show where you feel like you’ve just seen a Hip Hop theater after seeing a Cypress show.

People like to call you a Rock band but I just know you to be a band in general. What I want to know is how did you go from just being a trio to having Bobo on stage and the whole percussion setup?

We got put on tour with the Beastie Boys and that’s when we first saw Bobo. I had heard of his Dad through my Dad. He had told me about the legend of Willie Bobo and all the stuff that he did and his records. So when I met Bobo I was like “Damn my old man put me on to your family history,” and we hit it off really good. It was almost like we’d known each other [for] a bunch of years. Back then we used to do a show at El Camino College, my little sister went there so we’d go there every year and raise some money for Latino Studies. So we asked Bobo to jam with us there. He came up and jammed. He loved it. We loved it. And then we asked him to play with us at Woodstock and he did and from then on he was with Cypress. He didn’t go back to the Beastie Boys, he kept rolling with us and we were like “fuck it.”

You were just getting into your twenties when you formed Cypress Hill. Do you feel like you’ve grown up right alongside Hip Hop and gone through the same kinds of ups and downs in your life as the music did?

Wow. No I don’t feel like I’ve grown up right along side Hip Hop. Actually I feel like…well actually I do because all these early records that came out by Kurtis Blow and Afrikaa Bambata came out when I was in Junior High. So yeah I definitely feel like I’ve grown up alongside Hip Hop–Hip Hop being part of my life and me maturing along with it. Life is full of ups and downs, you know that. Nobody’s had a perfect existence here on this planet, you know what I mean? I’ve seen Hip Hop and a lot of other genres too go from ultimate highs to ultimate lows. A couple of times it’s gone along with what’s going on in your life when things were better, and shit was sweet, and now it’s not the same trip. I could definitely agree with that kind of mentality.

When you first came out VH1 wasn’t airing your videos, but honored you, B-Real and Muggs this year at the VH1 Hip Hop Honors. Tell me what it was like when your very first video aired.

When we first came out there was only “Yo! MTV Raps” with Ed Lover and Dr. Dre. They were on thirty minutes a day on MTV and that was it. BET was on too and they showed videos over there too but not everybody had BET; you had to have a special kind of cable [service]. ["Yo!"] was a big deal because whatever video they showed was going to be bought by the kids. So to get on there was a big deal and I remember when they played our first video “Phunky Feel One.” And I remember Ed and Dre who I knew as fans of Cypress from [the feedback they gave us] when they heard the first record–they didn’t seem too excited about our video or our song. So I was like “I think we might’ve done the wrong thing.” Eventually we got it right and they were right there at the head of it. They’re the ones who flipped over the “Phunky Feel One” record and played the B-side which was “How I Could Just Kill a Man” and that went to number one in New York. From then on you couldn’t find a video show that didn’t have us on.

Tell us about your ongoing recovery from a heart attack. How many kinds of pills do you take a day? What kind of changes did you make to your diet and what exactly was the cause of your heart attack?

Well I take about nine different fucking pills a day. I want to tell you the names but they’re all like fifteen letters long and shit. Basically I exercise everyday and eat steak once a month or twice a month, maybe. Shellfish like lobster, I don’t eat that anymore. I just gotta stay on this routine and know that I have to take care of myself. I’m way more grateful and I appreciate all the things that I have and what I’m able to do like spending time with my children or riding my motorcycle or being on stage with Cypress. I’m extremely grateful for the second chance I’ve been given–to be able to walk away and not be in a wheelchair for the rest of my life, or worse. I’m very grateful. I thank god everyday that I’m here for my kids and my Mom and my friends. They would’ve all been fucked up in the head if I would’ve died. I kind of kid about it now but it was some serious shit and I just recommend to anybody out there who might be a few pounds overweight and haven’t worked out in a while, or haven’t had a regular check-up for your heart and cholesterol and all that–I suggest that people do that. My doctor said that he sees younger and younger people walking in with heart conditions. Ten years ago and fifteen years ago it wasn’t like that. It was all 55-plus people. Now it’s people in their mid-thirties and early forties that are going through that stuff. From his opinion our generation parties too hard and we’re way too stressed and we don’t even think about it. We just go through the motions everyday and don’t even realize that eating McDonald’s everyday is fucking you up. Cause I’m somebody who’s been through it, definitely pay the doctor a visit and get checked out because once that heart attack hits it’s going to be too late. And those motherfuckers hurt.

There’s a line I wanted you to break down for me. You said you “had it all and then you had nothing” and you got that across in a song called “Fumble.” How did you go from one extreme to the next?

Wow. It was a variation of things. It wasn’t just one thing. It was [a lot of things] in one–financial, personal, healthwise and relationship-wise that [happened] all of a sudden for some reason. Maybe it was some fucked up shit I did as a kid, but just everything was fucked up. Everything was wrong, you know? I think that was the last song I wrote before I had the heart attack and I found it ironic because in one of the lyrics I said something like “I just want to die” and that was from depression, but I felt like god was testing me for making a lyric like that. I was sitting in the hospital with all kinds of shit hooked into me and all of a sudden that lyric came to mind. And I was like “I’m sorry god, I don’t mean it. I just want to get through this.” That song “Fumble” is about that, having everything going right one year and the next year comes in and it just turns shit upside down. Nothing was going right for me. Nothing was going on with the band, we weren’t doing shit. We just finished our Sony run. We were changing management. We weren’t really doing shows and then we’re going through this lawsuit where some old-timers were trying to say we bit off their shit; anyways I wasn’t getting my fucking money. It was just a bunch of shit. I was watching an old, classic Football game and the announcer said something like “He had a touchdown. He must’ve fumbled. How did he get the ball back?” All of a sudden a song was there. I was having tunnel vision where all you see is what you’re doing until you get that done. I kind of felt like that. I wrote the song in my house in my living room and as soon as I was done I called Johnny at the studio and I was like “I think I got one.” He was like “Come down,” and I went and laid it down and that’s where that “Fumble” song came from. I’m glad I had the experience to write that song because I never really knew how good you could do when your personal shit is fucked up and you don’t feel right.

What song did you have the most fun making on this album if it wasn’t “Fumble?”

I’m going to say that one and the last one, “The Curtain Call.” We had all the homeboys down there. We had the studio full of smoke. Everybody was having a good time and shit watching the Lakers’ game. We were partying, man. It was the last song.

Your manager Kevin Zinger convinced you to do this solo album for the Suburban Noize record label. Is it possible that the next Cypress Hill album could also come out on Suburban Noize records as well?

No. As big a fan as I am of Kevin Zinger and what an incredible businessman he is and the vision that he has for music and fashion, Cypress needs a major label. The music that we’re making right now for Cypress needs a major label.

When do you see that album being done, or is it done already?

It’s 90% done. We’re basically going to start mixing songs. We did about 38 songs and everything that made the album, expect it all to be heaters up and down.

You’ve been pegged as a Marijuana activist ever since you came onto the scene. How did you feel when California passed prop 215?

It was about fucking time, dog. People in Europe have been doing it the right way for the longest. There are so many jails filled with people for Marijuana. There’s so many child molesters and murderers, to have someone sitting in jail for an eighth of weed is just sorry. At the most it should be a citation. Of course somebody pushing 25 pounds on the street, that’s a different matter. We’re talking about it being done the right way, being represented by the government and ever since that’s gone down I’m like “Man it’s about time the United States caught up to the rest of the world as far as ways of thinking of what’s [actually] harmful and what can be monitored and making sure that people of legal age can get it in these places–it’s about time.” I hope to see more of it in the future. I only speak on behalf of those who like it and enjoy smoking marijuana as relaxation, but I’m talking about people who need it for medicine. This is something that can be used to fight everything from Glaucoma to Cancer. The amount of products that you can make with it is also incredible. My point of view is pro-Marijuana. There’s just too much good that the world can do with it and it’s not being done. In today’s day and age where everybody wants to “Go Green” and is giving a shit about the Earth all of a sudden, we can use this plant to make paper. It’s an argument that keeps coming up and slowly, and gradually people are paying attention to what’s going on and hopefully they’ll see all the envinronmentalists who see Cannabis as the alternative for fuel and paper and clothing. I can sit here and talk for hours about this shit.

You’re of Cuban descent. What kind of music was playing in your household growing up?

They were playing a lot of Celia Cruz and Tito Puente. My Dad was always playing something around the house. He’d buy a different instrument each year. By the end of that year he’d have that instrument mastered. One year he’s playing the flute, then it’s the saxophone. The next year he’s playing the bass guitar. He’d teach himself how to play these instruments by ear. So the first time I paid attention to music, I was watching my Dad actually doing it. When we moved to America my Dad liked Frank Sinatra and Nat King Cole. And of course, Elvis. He liked Elvis when he was in Cuba. Elvis was the shit over there. He liked the band leader Benny Goodman and he liked musicals. Around that time I was getting into Jimi Hendrix. When I first saw Hendrix I was mystified. I was into the Beatles, Black Sabbath and Kiss. But there was also real good Funk shit like Parliament Funkadelic and Cameo and James Brown. I had an older sister too who was listening to a lot of RnB stuff. There was a lot of shit to listen to. Everything that came out on American Bandstand or Soul Train, she had that record. I’m talking about the Bee Gees, Olivia Newton John and Prince. When Prince first appeared on American Bandstand he was about 18 or 19 years old and my sister had the house packed with all of her friends because they came over to watch because they were all Prince fans. Our family was somehow centered around music.

Did you ever take your Dad’s or your sister’s records and bring them over to Muggs?

No not really. We used to go record hunting every Saturday and Sunday. Before people knew what the fuck Melrose was in Hollywood, we’d be out there buying records. This was back when Melrose was the dating place for Gay dudes. That whole shit was full of Gay dudes. They had the killer record shops up there so we used to go up there and buy records.

Tell us about SX-10?

SX was me and some bros I went to High School with. We’d jam in the 1990’s and we recorded a new album that’s coming out next year on Suburban Noize. I like that group a lot and I don’t want to brag but the new SX record is the best record I’ve done professionally as far as Sen Dog goes. I can’t wait for people to hear it. It comes out first quarter of next year.

Tell us about the Reyes Bros.

That record I did with Mellow Man Ace. For people that don’t know, we’re actual brothers and we had always talked about doing an album together. He’s always been doing his thing and I’ve always been part of Cypress, but at one point we always discussed doing an album together. The opportunity and the time came for us so we rocked that album and put it out but I don’t know if you’ll see another one.

Is that a Blue Pit on your album cover? His head is huge. Do you own any dogs?

Yeah it is a Blue Pit. That wasn’t my dog. I haven’t had a dog in a while. I love Pit Bulls, but after my last dog ran away I never found him anyways. You gotta have a lot of time to give to those dogs because they’re definitely an affectionate animal and they need a lot of attention. I haven’t been able to have the time that I want, for myself, so I can imagine for a dog I don’t have any time. Right now I don’t have any pets but hopefully in the future.

Features, Music

Rapper Bleu Davinci of Carson, California was recently indicted by the Federal Government on charges of Cocaine Distribution in the government’s attempt to squash a Cocaine cartel known as BMF. Bleu was the flagship artist on a record label with the same name. Live from jail, Bleu clears the air on this entire situation.

When did you first get word of federal authorities conducting an investigation on you?

From my understanding I believe I first started hearing rumors around 2003. I was doing a show with this kid from Atlanta, Baby D. We did a show at a strip club and when I was leaving the show the local police had set up a roadblock. So we figured it was a sobriety check or a driver’s license check, but they only pulled over people in our convoy.

What was your reaction to that news?

I rap, I entertain. I make music for a living so I really wasn’t stunting. As long as I’m on my job and doing what I’m supposed to be doing–I really wasn’t tripping over it. It was just another thing to me. At the time I wasn’t sweating it.

So you weren’t looking over you shoulder?

I mean I live in the rearview. I’m always looking over my shoulder whether it be for people trying to do some bodily harm to me or the police cause I’d always be riding and smoking. So I’m always on the lookout. I’m always alert. I aint never sleeping when I’m out.

Why is it that the authorities are so adamant about your involvement in this extensive cocaine distribution ring?

Because there were a lot of people telling them that. There were a lot of people cooperating with their investigation telling them different things. That’s why they were so adamant.

What do you say to the claim that BMF Entertainment is nothing more than a business front for money laundering?

It’s definitely not true. BMF Entertainment is a legitimate company. Even the authorities made that clear throughout the whole case. There’s nothing illegal about BMF Entertainment. We had a full roster of artists and producers. We had a promotion division, a club promotion division and a production division. We produced a lot of DVD’s. We had a slew of mixtapes. I also put out a BMF Entertainment/Koch Records compilation album in 2006. So from day one there was nothing illegal about BMF Entertainment.

So there’s no legal documents showing millions of dollars going in and out of BMF ENT bank accounts?

Not at all.

How do you explain the fancy cars and homes belonging to you and your associates?

To each his own. I know a lot of people with nice cars and things, but that doesn’t mean that BMF Entertainment provided that. That doesn’t mean that BMF Entertainment did something illegal to provide those I’m associated with, their car or their home. It would’ve been different if they pulled up some real estate papers saying “Bleu Davinci has three homes worth three million apiece.” That’s a different story. I don’t feed into it. It is what it is. I know who I know. I know a lot of people who have nice things. I know a lot of people who are living in apartments in projects. It’s just not me to speak on individuals. I can only speak for myself.

When were you first charged and what were you charged with?

I had a sealed indictment. So I never knew that I had an indictment until I was in US Marshall custody. That was December 15th 2007. This is ten days before Christmas. They try to hit you when it hurts the most. I was with my two little boys at the time when the police picked me up, so that was kind of hard for me. They charged me with conspiracy to distribute at least 5 kilos of cocaine.

And because of that charge that’s why you’ve been in jail since they picked you up?

Right. Since December 15th. I never contested my bond hearing meeting and I never went to try to get a bond so that my bond could be denied or not denied. I just stayed on in and said “If I gotta do some time, at the end of the day I already have some time served.”

There’s rumors saying that you got a light sentence because you cooperated. What led to your being sentenced to 64 months?

I done heard so many rumors it’s crazy. Now I understand what all the big celebs go through when they’re going through their situations and hearing all the rumors. That’s why I choose to never be part of the rumor society. To be truthful, no I did not cooperate at all. I do not have a light sentence. I was sentenced to five years and four months which is 64 months–and then five years of supervised release. So that’s basically ten years. After the five years and four months I have to report to an officer everyday, call a number everyday, no smoking weed or using drugs, and no being around felons. I can’t go out of state without permission. They’re basically staying in my life for the next ten years. It aint nothing though. I’m blessed to actually be in the situation that I’m in because I didn’t have a criminal history before this as far as my adult life is concerned. I had some little stuff going on as a minor. They go a little easier on people who are first time offenders. First offenders are usually eligible for something they call “Safety Valve.” What Safety Valve does is enables the judge to depart from the guideline sentencing minimum. So my minimum would’ve been ten years of imprisonment, but what happens is there’s a couple things that are required–and I have to start making this clear because people disagree on what Safety Valve is and what it takes to obtain Safety Valve. From my understanding most of the people disagreeing on what Safety Valve is have never even been in a situation to have Safety Valve. What’s required is that you have to admit your guilt. You have to plea out. You can’t be fighting the government. You can’t be convicted of a firearm in the offense. You can’t have a leadership role in the offense and so on and so forth. So I ended up qualifying for the Safety Valve and that enabled the judge to depart from the minimum mandatory sentence on the guidelines.

This whole thing goes by a grid. When you get caught up in the Feds you go by sentencing guidelines to get your time. I was able to get five years and four months because of a point system on the grid that allowed me to take time off–not through cooperation or no shit like that. What ended up happening was that they didn’t give me a leadership role in the situation. The government said that I was a minor participant in what they charged me with so from there I got a 4-point reduction from my original point total. I dropped from a 38–my original point level, to a 34. When you accept responsibility and basically plea out they give you another 3-point reduction. So I went from a 34 to a 31. With Safety Valve that put me at a 27. You get a two-point reduction after you qualify and after you’re granted Safety Valve. So that brought me down to a 27. In court they tried to enhance me for a firearm and the firearm charge would’ve made me ineligible for the Safety Valve. At sentencing my attorneys had to argue on my behalf that I didn’t get caught with a firearm. The prosecution was trying to say that there were people caught with firearms that I knew, or something like that. So they tried to stick the firearm charge on me, but it didn’t happen and the judge didn’t find in the government’s favor as far as the firearm was concerned. What I was actually looking at was 70 to 87 months on the guideline range. It started off as 260 months. When I signed my plea agreement I signed to the lower third of the guideline which was 70 months, but the judge took into account that I had a lot of people writing letters on my behalf–executives, my family, my kids, baby mommas, and friends. I had a slew of letters of what they call “character letters of recommendation,” to the judge. So the judge had a chance to look at that and look at my history–as far as having no criminal record and the work I’ve done in entertainment and the movies. So she took 6 months of my sentence. She gave me the 64 months so that’s how it got to be 64 months. No matter what anybody says, niggas could look at the paperwork and go online and pull up my original plea agreement and they can pull up sentencing guideline tables and see for themselves and figure out how I got the time that I got. But I had heard that “I cooperated and I told on all my homeboys.” The streets get to going crazy when they really don’t know what’s going on. People just be saying anything. The internet starts saying anything and that’s why I’m here talking to you to clear up the rhetoric.

I don’t see how you could’ve cooperated when the majority of the people that they were trying to round up got rounded up way before you, anyways.

The way they did it, it was broken down in several indictments. My indictment was a sixteen-man indictment. Some of the people cooperated and some of the people just talked. And that’s cooperation too cause they talked about everybody else like “I did this for him” or “I did this with him.” Most of those people I didn’t even know. I might’ve heard of them before but I didn’t really know them. I only knew a couple people on my indictment. They put some people on my indictment, which I believe to be the last indictment of the entire BMF case–they just threw it together, that’s what it seemed like to me because I had no idea who [these people] were. Some niggas did cooperate and talk and I got all the paperwork on the niggas that did. Everybody doesn’t have all the paperwork because some of the guys were already sentenced or they already had some of the paperwork before some of the people in my indictment got rounded up. I actually sent some of the paperwork to the streets so they could publish it online and people could search the websites and see who was saying what.

Was Jacob the Jeweler named in your indictment?

You know what’s funny? I did another interview and somebody asked me that. Yeah he was named in my indictment but it’s to my understanding that he didn’t say anything. I had read through all the paperwork and it had been a minute since I read the paperwork that was talking about him. At that time I was worried about myself. He didn’t speak on me and my name wasn’t highlighted in the papers on him. I never really read the whole thing about him. Now that I went back and read my pre-sentencing report and went back over it and looked at a few pages and [it turns out] he did talk. I don’t know exactly what he said but he did talk and got a reduced sentence from what he was charged with, to get the charges that he got. It’s crazy but he did talk about what he knew but I don’t know what that is.

Right, cause you had no involvement with him like that.

Exactly. As far as the papers he talked about he definitely let the authorities know and it showed up in my pre-sentencing report.

Crazy. Is there anything else you want to clear the air about?

Just for all the people that are getting mixed information–I kept it one hundred with my people. When you get in certain situations like this, man it ain’t no telling who’s talking to you or why they’re talking to you and what ways they’re trying to benefit from it. I know a couple people with a couple publications that have been dealing with some of my people and trying to get some paperwork for them and stuff like that–and a few of those people are putting certain things in my people’s ears. But without the paperwork in front of my people’s faces they don’t know what to believe. They can’t tell if these people are lying or that they’re not lying. You know what I’m saying? I just want to tell everybody before you get to talking and coming up with a pre-conceived opinion about things you need to do your homework and figure out what’s going on, so people can have a clear understanding of what’s going on. And as far as the entertainment business I’ve heard that a couple of people have been saying some real good things about me so hopefully by the time I get ready to come home–I’ll be doing some real big things as far as entertainment is concerned.

What’s the prison where you’re at right now?

I’m in a federal holding facility getting ready to go to whatever prison they’re going to send me to. I’m in Georgia. Jessup, Georgia is one of the places I wanted to go to. Also Maxwell Airforce Base in Montgomery, Alabama is one of the facilities I requested. Whichever place has some room or something like that. I’ll see in a few weeks where I’ll be going.

And because it’s a federal case you’re going to a federal institution?

I should be going to a federal institution not a state institution.

Anything else you want to say to your fans or supporters?

I’ll be home in about 20 months. I got 5 years and 4 months. I got a year time-served already. The judge, for my marijuana habit, she awarded me the drug program. What the drug program does in the federal system is gives you a year off your sentence and 6 months in a halfway house. So that’s two and half years off the 5 years and 4 months with the year I’ve been down. From my understanding it’s up to a year off the sentence but people in jail always wanna say the full year. Also in the federal system as far as right now, though now that Barack [won the election] he might change up some rules and we might get more good time off per year now I’ve been hearing, but until then in the Federal system you get 54 days off per year goodtime. So out of the five years it comes out to be ten months and I also get that off of my time. So I should be in a halfway house anytime between 20 and 24 months.

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Californian Warren G is a Hip Hop icon. Aside from being a Platinum artist, he’s been around some of the best acts to come out of the West. Dr. Dre is his step-brother. Warren produced the demo tape that got Snoop signed by Dr. Dre to Death Row Records in the early 90’s. Needless to say Warren G’s production skills are heralded. He’s got an album coming out on the 28th of October and you need to get it. This interview focused on his early days as an artist and then what’s been going on with him this year.

What kind of music was playing in your household when you were growing up?

I had a lot of 70’s Disco and music like the Ohio Players and the Isley Bros playing in my house. As I got older in the 80’s I’d start hearing stuff like Tina Turner and Michael McDonald and Luther Vandross. A lot of that stuff used to play in the house. That right there from the records that my parents used to play that’s what gave me that soulfulness and feeling in what I do with my music.

What’s the first Rap record that had an impact on you?

The first records that had an impact on me were ones by The Fat Boys, Run DMC, this kid named Count Coolout, the Beastie Boys, Stetasonic, NWA, LA Dream Team, Dimple D, Marley Marl and the Juice Crew. It’s a lot. It all just hit me at one time. One of the records I’d hear a lot was by Count Coolout. Dre used to play that a lot. Dre is a DJ also and he used to [play that in a lot of his mixes.] I was hearing that all the time and I’d be like “Who is that?” and Dre would be like “That’s Count Coolout.” And I really liked him. That style he used is kind of like “Warren G.” You heard of Count Coolout?

I haven’t heard his music but I was gonna ask you about your sound. How would describe G-Funk?

G-Funk is that music you can dance to. Music you can ride to. Music you can two-step to. It’s just “feel-good” music, man. It’s music that relieves your stress. That’s what it’s about and that’s what we need in these days and times. That’s what it is and it’s here to stay. It aint gonna change. I’ll probably beef it up a little bit, cause nowadays they’re using the 808 alot. I put a little twist to that every now and then but I still keep it G-Funk with live instrumentation–guitars and bass and rhodes.

When you first started producing what were you using?

When I first started producing all I had was an MPC 60, a Numark mixer, a turntable and records. That’s all I started with. That’s basically how everybody was producing. Dre had a twist on what he was doing as far as using musicians and he taught me about that. Everything else I picked up on my own. Dre showed me how to sample. That’s all I had. I did “Indo Smoke” off a turntable and a mixer and a drum machine. I did “Regulate” the same way. I’m probably going to have to adopt that formula again.

What was it like from your perspective when Dr. Dre was in these groups like World Class Wrecking Cru and NWA?

I was so used to him being in groups and stuff like that cause he was in a DJ crew before that, the Stereo Crew. I was loving what they were doing back then DJ-ing. So I was kind of used to it already. So I’ve been used to it all those years. I was never really like “Wow!” cause I was around it all the time.

What was your life like around the time you put out “Regulate?”

I was stressed out. I wanted to do more than just be a DJ and at that time that’s all I was looked at as was a DJ. So I started producing and Dre showed me a few things. I wanted people to hear Warren G. I said to myself, “If Dre can do it and Quik can do it, why not I do it,” instead of sitting up here and being a DJ. I was already rapping with Snoop. So I was already an emcee/DJ/producer. So I was stressed out cause I wasn’t doing too much with Snoop cause him and Dre were doing a whole bunch of stuff and I felt like I was kind of left out, but I just went ahead and did my thing. I said “I gotta do this on my own. I gotta make a living for myself and try to let people know what it is I do, and I did it.”

Were there ever any legal disputes with Michael McDonald?

Never. Michael McDonald was cool all the way down from top. He been cool the whole time. He never gave me no problems. And he still gets checks from that too, cause I do. So I know he’s getting one. I’m happy I made that reccord. Even though I did it bigger than they did, but I was very honored to do that. I’m happy about that. Hopefully one of these days me and him can sit down at the coffee table once again and maybe come up with something new. Try to rock the world again, if we can do it.

Have you two ever performed that live?

No, we never performed it live. I’m thinking I should’ve damn sure did it at the Billboard Awards, the Soul Train Awards, and the VMA’s. I should’ve done that. Had Michael Mcdonald come out with Nate Dogg and have them sing “I keep forgetting” in the hook. I wasn’t thinking and nobody around me was thinking, but it’s all good.

Yeah it is. You mentioned you felt left out when Dre signed Snoop and that put your group with Snoop and Nate Dogg on hold, but looking back aren’t you glad you weren’t signed to Death Row Records?

Yeah. I’m real glad. Even though that’s who I started with before all the bullshit. It was live. It was fun. I had a lot of fun. Everybody was cool. Russ (Simmons) and them gave me a chance to show the world who I am and I took advantage of it. [Death Row] was still my guys no matter what. Snoop, Dre, Nate, Daz, Kurupt–all of them were still my people and we had a great relationship even though I was over there with Russ and them. I felt kind of lonely, but hey it gets like that. It panned out though. Russ and them showed me a great time, man. Him and Lyor (Cohen), Chris Lighty, I had a ball. It’s something I’ll always cherish and never forget.

How were you affected by Tupac’s death?

I was affected because he was just starting to reach his plateau as an actor and he was completely incredible as an emcee. To lose a person that talented was heartbreaking. How could all that great talent be wasted over some stupid ass bullshit that could’ve been prevented. You got people around you that could’ve prevented that as far as the record company people, they could’ve kept the whole thing all business. Man. I don’t know, but I’m gonna miss him.

What was it like reuniting with Snoop and Nate Dogg to put out the 213 album?

That was one of the greatest times of my life. We had a great time, man. It just felt so good to be working with my homeboys, instead of calling them to come to my set, or me having to go to their set, we were all doing this as one. It felt great. We got to laugh together we got to talk and have a good time. We just gelled. The hits come automatically. We could just be sitting there and the hits would just come.

That’s gonna conclude my questions about the past and now I’m going to ask you about this year in particular. We just heard about Nate Dogg suffering his second stroke. Have you heard anything about his condition?

As far as his condition he’s doing well. We’re just praying and leaving it in god’s hands, and he’ll be alright. Nate’s a strong dude so I know he’ll pull through. For the people that really know him, this is hard. He wouldn’t want me up here weeping and whining, even though I’ve been busting tears like a motherfucker. He wouldn’t want us whining and acting like a skirt. He’d be like “Just keep handling your business, and I’ll get through.” That’s how he is. He’s gonna pull through, man. Everybody’s praying for him. Prayer is the best thing in the world.

You got pulled over in California this past June, arrested for Marijuana possession and it seemed like the whole situation was bullshit because the charges were quickly dropped. What happened there?

The whole incident was BS. I didn’t have no weed. I was the passenger. The driver had a little bitty blunt that he just smoked, so there wasn’t nothing in the car. They were just harassing. They were getting ready to let us go, but then they found out who I was and they had to stick something on me, and they know who my people is, so they were like “We’re gonna put something on him.” I don’t get caught up in all the trouble and drama like that. It was just how you and everybody else saw it–an hour after I walked up out of there, it was dropped. That’s how that was did. You need good lawyers.

What’s the concept behind G-Files?

It’s like it sounds. What it is is I’m digging in the file cabinet and I’m gonna pull out the file “Crush” featuring Ray-J. That’s the song that’s going to tell you what “Crush” is about. I may dig in the file cabinet again and pull out “The West is Back” and that’s another song I got and it’s going to break down how the West is back. Great song too. I got “Hold On” which is telling you to hold on and keep your head up, stay tight cause everything is going to be alright. I got a song called “Masquerade” that talks about what goes on in the industry. Most of all the record is a great record, the production is solid and it’s one of those records you can dance to. It’s that G-Funk. You can smoke to it. You could do whatever. It’s not music that’s going to stress you out. The album is incredible. Snoop’s going to be a part of it. I’m in talks with Cee Lo. Twista said he wants to get involved. All the people I deal with, everybody’s down for the cause and working with your man Warren G. It’s all good man, I’m loving it. I’m happy about it. Right now the record “Crush” is blowing up. It’s a good thing.

How do you like the Oakland Raiders this year?

I love the Raiders. Them my boys. I’m a die-hard Raider. They’re looking good. Ok, we lost the first game, but we were rusty, but now we got our swagger back. You seen what we did to Kansas City. That was vicious. The only thing we gotta work on is getting Jamarcus Russell’s timing right. Once he gets his timing right it’s a wrap.

McFadden looks good too.

Incredible. And now he’s going to get a lot more playing time because Vargas is out.

CLICK ON THE PHOTOS TO HEAR THE SONGS.

“Crush” featuring Ray J

“She Got Her Own Ringtone”

Features

Mr. Marcus is an Adult Film Star. Here he lists 5 things we don’t know about Porn.

1. The Porn Industry is an industry full of people who have a desperate need for attention.

2. The Porn Industry reset the bar for Viagra consumption.

3. Everything you see is the result of great editing.

4. We really don’t fuck as hard as you think.

5. Everybody fucks!

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