September 30th, 2008
In conjunction with my article in the last issue of LA Weekly, here’s the full text of my interview with Pacific Division. Over the next few days, check for Q&A’s from Bishop Lamont, Knux and Blu.
Q: First off, I suppose the most obvious question is about your back-story. So at the risk of being redundant, why don’t you guys tell me how Pacific Division formed?
Mibbs: We met Be-Young in high school actually. But my brother tells the story better than me, I go off on all sorts of sub-stories.
Like: What’s the question? How’d we meet? We met in Palmdale, we’d just moved there and we weren’t really familiar with the community but we started playing basketball and that’s where we met Be Young. We got into a little hip-hop group at the time; we all had a passion for great hip-hop music, but we were always trying to be different from everyone in the West. We were more into being well-rounded. We liked everything and everyone surrounding us seemed to just be into one sound. It gave us an advantage.
At first there were other members in the group, 10 in all. It was intended to be a West Coast Wu-Tang. But differences occurred and we needed to advance. We downsized it to just the three of us and things have been rolling ever since, rocking shows, doing whatever. We used to pay to do shows, now we get paid to do shows. And now we’re here.
Q; Where did you guys grow up prior to moving to Palmdale?
Like: We grew up in North Hollywood, we lived in the Jungles in South Central, we lived in Inglewood, all our school’s were in Inglewood, then we did High School in Palmdale. We did a little bit of college at Northridge then we dropped out. Be was from the Valley originally and then he bounced to Palmdale when he was in Junior High. We spent a good portion of our lives in Palmdale. But most of it was spent in LA.
Q: What led to the move to Palmdale?
Mibbs: Our parents wanted a house and got to buy one out there for cheap.
Like: I didn’t know anything about it, we didn’t want to be out there at first, but it was a learning experience. It’s a slow-paced lifestyle out there. We learned that not everyone is the same.
Q: Was there a pretty severe culture shock?
Like: It was, but we adjusted.
Q: What high school did you go to?
Mibbs: We all went to Highland High School.
Q: How did you guys get started rapping?
Mibbs: We’ve been rapping since we couldn’t even speak words. All my life. Seriously. We’d do our little mixtapes trying to show people that we could rap. It wasn’t nothing we took seriously until things started picking up and people started liking the music. We were trying to find ourselves.
We used to have another group, there were four of us—Be wasn’t in it then. I don’t even remember how, but we got down with Sean Healy and he’d make you sell tickets to play a show. We were young and wanted to rock so we did it and sold all our tickets and packed the house with our friends. Then the situation broke off with the old group and our older cousins were out here in LA, rapping in a group called Blue Collar that had the scene popping for a minute. They had a monthly night at Little Temple and I invited my cousin to one of our old shows where we had to sell the tickets and he liked one song. Nothing but one song and he said I want you to do the one song at our show. So we got a good reaction and we kept on doing that one song at their shows and then finally, they asked us to do a whole set at Little Temple. Then we were playing shows there and doing well and then next thing people at Temple Bar saw us and wanted us to do shows. People would leave with our records. We started hustling. It’s a domino effect, people tell their friends, family, what have you and it takes off from there.
Q: Who were/are your biggest influences?
Mibbs: Common,
Be Young-Redman, Nas, Rass Kass,
Like: 2Pac, Az, Grand Puba
Q: How did you end up with the deal at Universal?
Mibbs: We just went into their offices with our catalogue. We had the “Fat Boys” video, which we did ourselves with our own money. It was a sacrifice that we made and it turned out well. We showed them all our stuff, we had a press kit and they’d done some research and knew that we had fans and potential.
Be Young: We just performed for them. We hopped on tables. We performed four or five songs in front of Sylvia Rhone. We were on the tables…just wilding out.
Mibbs: We had meetings with Warner Bros and Interscope too. We met Jimmy Iovine, apparently his young son is a fan of ours. We went to his office and it was weird, I kept on tripping, thinking, we’re in the office of a billionaire and we’re throwing money at him. I acted like I was weeded out….we put on a show.
Q: Why did you pick Universal?
Mibbs: They seemed the most in tune with who we were. They didn’t skim through the music. They understood. As soon as we met with Sylvia, she started throwing out the right names of people to work with, Q-Tip in particular.
Like: You can’t trust nobody at labels but we figured it was a good time for us to be at a label to get their muscle. We’d been signed to Snoop’s manager’s label, Two-Tone Elephant. People always say indie is the way to go, y’know be rebels to the majors, but indies are labels, albeit with less money. If you want someone with money, they have that muscle. It’s about using it to your advantage. We still operate our own indie label.
Q: What’s the status of your debut album?
Mibbs: We’re finishing up our next mixtape: Church League Champions. We’re already got some songs recorded for the album and we’re going to do a lot more recording. We’re really looking forward to the process.
Q: Who’s the A&R
Mibbs: Dimitrius Spencer. Thus far, he’s given us the freedom to do what Pac Div does. He’s not like, ‘make this hook like that,’ he’s liked it everything we’ve given him. The industry’s gotten so lost, they look for anyone with a buzz.
Q: Does it feel like the major labels are actively seeking for good rappers now, whereas for much of the decade they’d been searching for artists who could sell ringtones or pander to the lowest common denominator, or both?
Like: I think they were searching for cleaner music for a while after the Michael Richards/Don Imus thing. Cleaner rap, which they thought meant backpack rap. But now they’re just looking for anyone making noise.
Mibbs: Something without baggage, they’re looking for artists that are more well-rounded.
Like: They don’t want to worry about dudes going to jail.
Q: How has it been working with the label in general?
Mibbs: We can’t tell you that much. We’re actually meeting the staff next week. We only signed the deal last month. We’re still new but we’ve got work to do. We got drafted now we’ve got to work. They’ll put you on the bench if your jump shot ain’t right.
Q: Do you worry about the fact that it’s increasingly hard to get albums released on major labels these days?
Mibbs: We’re just thinking about working hard and making good music.
Q: Is there a theme to Church League Champions?
Mibbs: Not really. We want to take over the world but you’ve got to start in the Church League.
Q: What’s the breakdown of the new tape? You guys going to rhyme over original beats, other people’s, both?
Mibbs: About 60 percent original sounds, 40 percent mixtape tracks. 100 percent Pac Div. We’re rocking over Stevie Wonder loops, Al Green’s “Still in Love with You,” Naughty by Nature, Madlib, and lot of original records from our producer Swift.
Q: How do the think the role of the Internet factored into your guys’ success?
Mibbs: The Internet has its advantages and disadvantages. The disadvantages are obviously that previously, people would buy albums. Before, I couldn’t directly speak to Common or have sway in someone’s career. If you bought a bad album, you bought it and you had to live with it. Now if you buy a bad album, you can comment about how terrible it is and make people not want to purchase it. The little people have a lot more to say. Once it catches on blogs and writers spread it, word travels fast..
Like: You don’t need radio in a sense but you’re going to eventually need radio to sell units.
Mibbs: Soulja Boy wouldn’t be what he is without the Internet.
Q: How did you go about getting buzz on the Internet?
Mibbs: We was on Myspace and adding people at first, no big deal. It wasn’t until we got a video to people when it all jumped off. We shot the video and people saw what they had already heard. They communicated with the energy and the visuals of the show. It just naturally caught on.
It’s about fan interaction. If the blogs like your music it’ll spread, I don’t know anybody at Nah Right but they know us, which means we’re doing something right.
Q: Were you guys listening to a lot of 80s music when you came up with the idea to play off the Fat Boys?
Mibbs: I was playing some old Audio Two shit at the time. We’d already called ourselves the Fat Boys since Be rapped over a old Fat Boys instrumental. He said that we should call ourselves the Fat Boys to pay homage to them.
Q: Who are your favorite rappers these days?
Mibs: Blu and Diz Gibran. They’re the homies but we like their music too. We’re not into giving people free passes, we get inspired from listening to those cats. We’re cool with The Cool Kids too, everybody really.
Q: What non hip-hop do you all listen to?
Like: Coldplay. Chromeo.
Be Young: I listen to a bunch of artists no one’s probably ever heard of.
Q: What did you think of the hipster rap labels that some people threw at you?
Mibbs: We didn’t sign up for none of that. When people don’t understand shit, they want to put labels on it. When we saw them called us hipsters, we thought it was on some coked out shit—that they thought we were people doing weird things.
Like: When the Cool Kids come out to LA, they chill with us. They’re like, ‘fuck that,’we don’t want to go to some hipster party.
Mibbs: People get hipster mixed with new generation of hip-hop. N.E.R.D isn’t hipster. They‘ve been around for a while too and they don’t wear baggy clothes.
Q: What are your favorite spots to kick it in LA?
Like: The house, we go to work and we make music.
Q: What are your goals going forward:
Mibbs: We want to keep expanding. We’d love to play The Nokia Theater, sell out arenas, do the crazy visual shit that goes on in our mind. There’s no limit to how far we’ll go to create.
Like: We talk about interesting things. We want people to know that there’s more to us than sneakers and a “Fat Boys” video. We know that there’s a whole world of human beings and we’re excited to be in this position. I feel like we’re a high pick, now we have to show everyone what we’re made of. You know how good you can play, now you have to go play.
Mibbs: I wouldn’t call us the number one pick. We’re underdogs. We’re going to be like Chauncey Billups and surprise people with how good we can play. We’re gonna’ start in the church league and work our way up.
Videos:
Pacific Division-”Fat Boys 08″
Pacific Division-”Women Problems”
Pacific Division-”Paper ft. TiRon”
Download:
MP3: Pacific Division-”Fat Boys”
MP3: Pacific Division-”Wake Up”
ZIP: Pacific Division-Sealed for Freshness Blendtape (Left-Click)
Posted in Interviews | 5 Comments »
September 17th, 2008
Dear Senator Obama,
In the words of the Gods, “[McCain] wants to use all your lines ahead of time before you got the chance to shine on all your own shit…they hear you tryin’ to say one word then here they come tryin’ to flip it on bounce on some bullshit.”
You were the change candidate–now McCain’s trying to shark your message. Think what Ghost and Rae would do. They’d come up with some more fly shit and then look for some Butter Pecan Ricans. Michelle will probably not be having the last option, so instead continue to refine your message and keep drawing attention to the hypocrisy of McCain’s campaign’s contrived and copied narrative. And in the debates, go hard at your rival , tell him to get his own shit and be original and stop stealing album covers. Also, start rocking Wallabees in blue and cream.
As Sarah “Just Another Case of That Ol’ PTA” Palin’s rise has taught us, Americans love mean-spirited sarcasm. When McPalin start in with the condescending jeers, taunt right back. He wants to try to call you a famous celebrity like Paris Hilton? Fine. Don’t respond with pleasant niceties calling for a focus on the issues. Mock him dismissively. Ask if he’s jealous? Tell him you can get him Paris Hilton’s phone number. Who knows, maybe he’ll bite. God knows it wouldn’t be the first time he’s chased after a young, rich, pill-popping blonde.
En Vogue-”My Lovin’ (You’re Never Gonna’ Get It)”
Who does this remind you of?
“Had your chance [26 years] to make a change, never ever gonna’ get it.”
“Now you promise me the moon and stars, save your breath [probably sound medical advice] you won’t get very far.”
“Gave you many chances to make change, the only thing you changed was love to hate.”
Shit, this song could be an attack ad in and of itself. Plus, the beat’s based on a sample of James Brown’s “Payback.” You’ve been getting punked of late. Sure, you’ve proved you can do wheelin’ and you can do dealin’ but it’s time for scrapping (and rapping). So sayeth the Godfather of Soul.
Common-”I Used To Love H.E.R.”
This bullet is to be saved for the debates. Wait for the ideal moment and then unleash a diatribe about how much you used to respect John McCain for his bi-partisanship, integrity and virtue and how much credibility he lost in your eyes when he sold out and starting hangin’ with ho’s from the West. Tell him when he got money he did it like a dummy. Or, you can always just play him “The Bitch in You.”
Dr. Dre-”Deez Nuts”
Sometimes, it’s just fun to tell someone to get “Deez Nuts.” Should be prefaced by first asking McCain if “what’s his name and them tried to get at you?”
Jay-Z : “Dirt Off Your Shoulder”
Don’t let the negativity and bullshit cloud your outlook, nor stop you from continuing to hammer in your core message . I don’t need to explain, you know what to do.
Bob Dylan-”Idiot Wind”
This is what they reportedly call the wind in Wasilla, Alaska.
Big L-”Fed Up With the Bullshit”
One of the central reasons for your campaign’s success has been its ability to tap into the nation’s disenchantment with the status quo. One of the most powerful moments of the Democratic Convention came when you forcefully declared “enough,” with the skullduggery and incompetency of the last eight years. However, winning won’t come down to whether you offer change, it’ll be about whether people believe you can deliver it. Unfortunately, it’s doubtful that more than a handful of still-undecided voters will take the time to read complicated public policy proposals. To be victorious, you’ll need to boil down your solutions into bite-sized 30 second commercial sound-bites and witty one-liners. Is this inane? Of course, but so was the “pitbull with lipstick line” and look how much traction that got.
Organized Konfusion-”Bring It On”
Keep on continuing to press the theme that John McCain represents four more years of George “Bring It On” Bush. Particularly, with the economy in tatters and the financial system in the midst of collapse. Who better than the mad preacher Pharoahe Monch to summon a sermon indirectly inveighing against the warped foundation of this decade. On second thought, maybe you’ve had enough mad preachers for one election.
2Pac-”Hit ‘Em Up”
This is your break-glass-in-case-of-energy, nuclear option. But if the mud-slinging and outright lies continue to increase, you are faced with no choice but to pull out the most sharp-fanged attacks your 527’s can conceive. Cindy McCain wears $300,000 dresses and used to be a drug addict. It’s all about Versace, McCain copied your style and plus, he’s old, he might have sickle cell or something. You can even say you fucked Todd Palin’s wife. Anything is fair game.
Bonus:
Snoop Dogg ft. Nate Dogg & Kurupt-”Ain’t No Fun (If the Homies Can’t Have None”)
To show the Party of “Hoosiers for the Hottie,” the true meaning of sexism, because apparently they aren’t exactly sure what it means. In Snoop’ s defense, at least his definition of misogyny sounded good at a party.
Posted in Are You From the Lester Bangs School of Thought? | 6 Comments »
September 17th, 2008
Sure, I could trace all this maudlin 90s nostalgia to my forthcoming LA Weekly article that addresses the history and future of Los Angeles hip-hop, but that’s just making excuses. The truth is this year’s been woefully short of really good new rap records and accordingly, I’ve spent a significant chunk of time revisiting material from the early-mid 90s that I hadn’t heard in over a decade. A treatise on Apache’s “Gangsta Bitch,” Sarah Palin and Sexism coming soon.
Another group I’ve excavated from tape deck memories and Junior High school dance flashbacks has been LA’s Funkdoobiest. In particular, the Soul Assassins affiliates’ debut, Which Doobie U B? has been on recent repeat due to its classic DJ Muggs production and Son Doobie’s B-Real-lite party raps about weed, sex and liquor. There might have been nothing particularly ground-breaking about Funkdoobiest, but between their raunchy goofiness and Muggs’ production, Son Doobie and partner Tomahawk Funk made it work.
The sex obsession wasn’t contrived either, as the group owned a local X-Rated club and a 1-900 Sex Hotline (do these even exist anymore?). And in 1997, Son Doobie debuted as a porn star in the creatively titled, Porn King, a film which later became infamous when Eminem name-dropped it on “Guilty Conscience.” According to their Myspace, the group has re-united (Tomahawk left them after their second album, Brothas Doobie) and are in the midst of a European tour, with a new album due out sometime later this year. I might just have to track them down and interview them to find out what they’ve been up to for the last decade. So long as I don’t shake their hands.
Video: Funkdoobiest-”Whopbabulubop” ft. B-Real
Download:
MP3: Funkdoobiest-”The Funkiest”
MP3: Funkdoobiest-”Bow Wow Wow”
MP3: Funkdoobiest ft. B-Real-”Whopbabulubop”
Posted in Are You From the Lester Bangs School of Thought? | 7 Comments »
September 16th, 2008
The less I know about Brightblack Morning Light the better. I once read an Arthur Magazine profile that painted them as the 21st Century equivalent of those zonked out, commune hippies in Easy Rider, who planted crops in the middle of a desert and entertained themselves with acid and horrific mime programming. After all, Brightblack Morning Light is really just Rachel Hughes and Nathaniel Shineywater (of the East Egg Shineywater’s) two freak folk types who nicknamed themselves Rabob and Nabob after presumably picking the names at random from Tobin’s spirit guide.
The music is a different story. Pristine atmosphere–trembling guitars, swamp gospel moans and muddy, molasses organs. The goal is to be submerged, as though you were going under, with blacked-out, brittle pins of light pressed against your eyes. The album as slow drift…pure planetarium nods to sketch out wishful mythologies in the constellations.
For music so narcotic, there’s little paranoia. It helps. Granted, I can’t decipher the lyrics to Brightblack’s hazy chants and I don’t want to. Because Motion to Rejoin, like their eponymous debut, is pure, dim bliss, stuff to seek out when you want your mind to go blank. Or when you need to drown out the blubbering gibberish of Cable News, propaganda clips and the rest of the crude and expensive noise. Well played, hippies. Well played.
Pre-Order Motion to Rejoin
MP3: Brightblack Morninglight- “Hologram Buffalo”
MP3: Brightblack Morninglight-”Oppressions Beach”
Video-Brightblack Morning Light-”Hologram Buffalo”
Posted in Are You From the Lester Bangs School of Thought? | 2 Comments »
September 15th, 2008
This is not good at all. Here’s hoping to a swift recovery, but any way you parse it, two strokes by the age of 40 usually means you aren’t long for this world.
I’ve never really articulated how great I think Nate Dogg is, but for my money’s worth (all $6.54), he’s my favorite R&B singer of the ’90s. Currently, R Kelly is winning this decade, mainly by default.
I once wrote an essay (humor me) tying the foulness of this decade to the lack of classic Nate Dogg singles. Needless to say, this development does not bode well for the future of this nation.
In the meantime’s, let’s have a look back at the old master.
Warren G & Nate Dogg-”Regulate”
Nate Dogg ft. Warren G-”Nobody Does It Better”
Nate Dogg-”I Got Love”
Ludacris ft. Nate Dogg-”Area Codes”
Mos Def, Pharoahe Monch & Nate Dogg-”Oh No”
Nate Dogg & Snoop Dogg-”Never Leave Me Alone”
E-40 ft. Nate Dogg-”Nah, Nah, Nah…”
2Pac, Nate Dogg, Outlawz and Suge’s fake Snoop, Top Dogg
Warren G, Snoop, Xzibit & Nate Dogg-”Game Don’t Wait”
Mista Grimm, Warren G & Nate Dogg-”Indo Smoke” (Video Embedded Not Available, But You Can Follow the URL)
Kurupt ft. Nate Dogg-”Behind the Walls”
Kurupt ft. Roscoe & Nate Dogg-”Girls All Pause”
Posted in Are You From the Lester Bangs School of Thought? | 6 Comments »
