What’s your background? How did you get into film?
In high school I acted in plays. I was always interested in acting, but I never thought it would be reality, coming from Baton Rouge.
What were your career plans?
To go to college and get this money. I always had businesses in high school. I made t-shirts, prom shirts, played drums, washed cars, did logos. I did the blue and gold logo for Southern University when I was in high school.
Where did you go to college?
I started out at the world-famous Southern University, but I graduated from Northwestern State. I started off as an accounting major, but that shit didn’t work out. Then I changed it to business, but that also didn’t work out. I was getting frustrated because I wanted the money now. That was my thing: give me the money now. I switched around: marketing, journalism, theatre, everything. I kept hopping around, because I’d find out what I needed to know and get bored. I graduated with a degree in Graphic Communications. I was going to go to California to pursue acting, but instead I moved to New York because I got an internship with MTV’s news department.
How did you initially get the internship at MTV?
I was strategic about who I sent my resume to. I’m a strategic guy.
What did you do as an intern?
Slave, slave, slave. I did everything and anything to help. Interning is the best thing because you get to see the internal movements of the company and you’re not responsible for anything. You can’t really lose your job because you’re only there for a short time. You should take it serious, though. Overall, you know the whole inner-workings of the company. When I interned, I had the choice of working three or five days. I chose five days, and I was always the first one there and the last person to leave.
Was it a paid internship?
Nah. To get money while I was interning in New York, I was just hustlin’, tryin’ to survive. I interned with them for a semester, six months. In New York they have these community centers where you can pay a membership fee and become a part of the community workout. When I came to work out, that’s where I took showers. The community center was cool, that’s where I got to know the real people in New York. I was living out of my truck, so I had no rent. I did little shit. I’d rent a car on the weekends and pick people up from the airports. We’d pay $50 for the Astro van, but leave that bitch with like $350. So you just made $300 in a weekend. You can survive like that. That gave me the free time to do what I had to do during the day while I was interning. Besides the rental business, I had other hustles but – we gonna leave that story alone (laughing). But, man, I’ll hustle anything, as long as it’s legit business. I’m all about good business. It’s the standard of the future.
How did you make the transition from being in front of the camera to being behind the camera?
When I got to MTV there was a guy who actually ended up being a good friend – he was a news anchor but couldn’t really do his own stories. I saw this as a way to get in by being good enough to be in front of the camera, yet do the work behind too so I wouldn’t be a talking head on screen. In learning this process, I learned that I had a real different way of covering issues and people, so I ran with it. but no one was trying to hear me. They felt me, but that was because of me and not my work. So I had to create my own options. No one was letting me in the door. I know that I have talent, but everyone may not recognize your talent at that time. I know I have talent on both ends of the camera, so I do both. I make dreams happen for other people and look out for myself as well.
It’s kind of strange that you’re such an advocate for Southern culture, but you live in New York.
It’s all a misunderstanding, because there aren’t enough journalists covering the South. It’s not North vs. South or West vs. East, it’s just that some people aren’t letting us into some of the doors. That’s obvious. We have to take that Southernplayalistic attitude and create our own doors and stop letting people use our culture to embrace their brand without putting something back. Break bread or go home. A lot of avenues that were open to other people weren’t really open to the South on purpose, because we have a different way of doing things. A lot of people get caught up in the music, but that goes back to the street. That’s at every level of entertainment. There’s a book called, “Framing of the South.” The South has been framed since the days of the Beverly Hillbillies, that’s when people started making fun of country people. We have to change the infrastructure of how the South is seen on TV. The South has to create its own megastars. We don’t wanna pay $20k a month on publicity, but that is what makes this game go round sometimes. When I was growing up, I always wondered what made Scarface, Willie D, JT Money, Ball and G, or UGK any different from Biggie, Puff, LL, Snoop, Busta, and Dre. It’s just the media. These guys are all legends, but you never see them in any “greatest” hip-hop books or countdowns. Feel me? We’re never included. So, cool. We know what to do. If journalists aren’t from here and don’t know how much we love these cats, of course we’re never chosen. But it’s getting better, we just gotta keep pushing. We can turn our whole economy around in the hood if shit keep going like it’s going. No cryin’ no more, let’s hustle. And learn how to know when you’re being played as a fool, ‘cause some cats still do approach us with dumb shit. You got to know when a company or a cat is really just trying to get to your consumers. It happens all the time in business, so we can’t get mad. But this is our culture, and we can’t keep giving it away. BB King didn’t play the blues for that. Marvin didn’t sing for that. Michael did not grab his nuts for that. We’ve come too far to keep selling our media-based businesses. If you want old Luther footage or LL Cool J footage, look who you have to buy it from. How much of that do they get? Remember, our ancestors were out in the fields. It’s a reason they stuck together.
What do you think of the Bad Boy collaboration with 8Ball & MJG?
8Ball & MJG are smart. They’ve been around the block several times, so we have to trust them. I bought five copies of the album because I believe in supporting legends. I’ll always buy what they put out. But with Bad Boy South, you can’t just slap a label “South” on your company and think you have a Southern company. There’s a lifestyle of humbleness and many other characteristics that come along with being Southern. So we’ll just have to watch, wait, and see. It’s funny to me, because now everybody’s gonna start doing it. It’s all branding. Dude got a machine – it ain’t just him. Any fool knows that, so let’s just enjoy the show until something happens against our unspoken creed. You know, the public down South will let you know repeatedly if you getting too bigheaded. You be at the shows, and that shit is funny when the crowd turns on an artist for some shit they didn’t that ain’t music-related. People, voice your opinions. That word “South” is bigger than people know. You’ve got to start at the bottom to get to the top. Don’t let our legends fall. By the way, free Pimp C, C-Murder, Mac, and anybody else that’s slipping my mind at 5am.
After interning with MTV, did you have the opportunity to work for them? What’s your position there now?
I’ve been hosting a lot of off-channel stuff for them, like Sucka Free Sundays on MTV2, Campus Invasion, and Homecoming Tour. Year after year, they’ve used me to host hip-hop events, but this year I hosted an event for straight rock & roll: Hoobastank, Lost Profets, Ima Robot. I got to do tours in Purdue, Indiana, Cali, with like, ten thousand white people outside gettin’ crunk. They be crunk at rock & roll concerts, for real. They be on some other shit. I got to fuck with that energy for a while. I can’t be touched when it comes to dealing with them large crowds. I got to be my own publicist for now. I’ll make them come to me, because I know what people want to see. It’s just a matter of time. They want to see themselves, for real. They tired of seeing that script that you wrote last night, that you thought they might enjoy. I try to stay close to [MTV] but yet far away. They’re a company, and their bottom line is money. The importance of the culture that we’re trying to present on TV gets tossed around. It’s a battle between making the next dollar, and giving a damn about what’s really going on out here. It’s really hard for a big company to make these decisions, especially when they don’t have people who come from these places that can express the pain or joy in the hood.
How did the idea for the Dirty States of America DVD come about?
This was an idea I had when I first moved to New York and started realizing they had a beautiful culture, and that’s what hip-hop meant to them. And in the South, we didn’t realize that the music and lifestyle was our culture. Mojo out of Atlanta told me that when he was warming up for Run-DMC at the fresh fest, they’d be jammin’, but people who were with or in Run-DMC would say, “Naw, that’s not hip-hop,” ‘cause it didn’t come from New York. But that’s not their fault, because they were a product of their time. This led me to see the room the South had for growth within the music business. This is a vehicle to wake people up, and have fun in the process. You can’t let America determine what it means to live fly. As black people, we have our own way of living fly, especially Southerners, and I’m proud of that. But [corporate America] doesn’t want to see it, cause at the end of the day it encourages you to be yourself.
How did you start filming for the DVD?
I filmed it in three months. I went from hood to hood, asking people who their favorite rapper was. That’s how I found out about Sammy Sam. I didn’t know about Sammy Sam, but when I went to Atlanta, that’s who people said was their favorite underground rapper. I don’t pay attention to radio, or TV, or hook-ups like, “My man right here is hot, interview him.” No hook-ups. You have to earn the people’s respect first. Think of how much shit you hear on TV and radio, and even though the shit is garbage it’s at #4 every week. That shit be funny to me. It shows you that this is a business, buddy, and don’t you forget it. When I put the film together, it didn’t matter if you were Scarface or some unknown rapper. Everything that’s said in the documentary, word for word, is important regardless of who said it. Go back and check, it’s like the Southern Matrix. I got people callin’ me sayin’, I watched it for the fifth time and I just learned such-and-such. It’s a classic, man, for real.
Were there any people you interviewed for the documentary that really stood out?
A guy named Mello T in Mississippi. We talked about how society was changing. He was rapping back when it wasn’t cool. In Mississippi they hold deep values, and I love them for that. They’re deeper than the average cats. When I interviewed Mello T, he knew times were changing because he has a music store near the site where Klan marches used to take place. He said times are changing because of the mic. When he says in the documentary, “It’s all about that mic,” that was the greatest hip-hop moment for me besides the ESG freestyle. I want people to hear his story, because a lot of times, people lose sight. When you achieve success, you have to understand how to capitalize from it. if you don’t do something with it, you’re just another musician. Another big moment was interviewing Charlie Braxton. He’s a hidden treasure. He was one of the first writers to push for articles on Southern artists like Master P, Cash Money, and Rap-A-Lot. He helped a lot of people and deserves a lot of credit.
In what way is MTV involved with your DVD?
Right now, they’re negotiating with Image Entertainment to put it on TV. The things I learned at MTV, I used in the documentary. So what you have is a raw, uncut documentary on the streets.
When will the DVD be available?
It’ll be out by the time they read this. The trip I’m on now is to promote the DVD to mom & pop stores, promoters, and producers. I’m just trying to find out who really runs these cities. Like OZONE. OZONE’s the shit because y’all cover the artists that need to be covered. People can talk all the shit they want, but y’all out there grindin’. Y’all are hustlin’ at all the shows, interviewing the big artists. All the big artists need to fuck with you. If you’re a big artist and you’re not fuckin’ with OZONE, it’s a shame. When the South ain’t hot no more, these other magazines ain’t gonna cover us. The Source, XXL, VIBE, they weren’t really covering us. We’re a novelty, that’s really what we are to these companies. That’s because they have dedicated people from certain areas that can put money into their media outlets and dictate what is covered. And that’s cool and we can appreciate that. So what we have to do is be on OZONE’s ass to do the same thing for the South. Yes, I’m going to be on your ass. The artists should respect it, too. I don’t care if you’re selling 10 million records, you need to do an interview with these magazines like OZONE and video shows like Phat Phat in New Orleans or Big Oomp in ATL. That way, if you don’t sell 10 million records next year, you’ve still got a magazine in your corner and it’s not just something your publicist has to fight for. And don’t forget Murder Dog - they’ve always been down. They’ve always covered music in a way that’s uncut and unfiltered.
Where can people pick up the DVD?
Dirty States of America is available at Best Buy, any major music store, and mom & pop stores. For more information you can log onto www.dirtystates.tv. I got big plans. I got two more documentaries lined up. One is for the women. It’s called Hot Damn, and it documents the struggle the women go through in hip-hop and in American culture. It’s an interesting story, and I want to share it with people, hopefully show them a thing or two. I’m almost finish with two movie scripts, I’m loaded at this point. Watch what I pull off in this biz.
Who’s on the soundtrack for the DVD?
Well, I went with vets, cats that I believe in, and cats that were coming up with a good buzz. The first single is Banner, Bun, and Killer Mike, and it’s like nothing you’ve ever heard from them. For the second single, I went back home to that boot with B.G., Fiend, and Soulja Slim (God bless the dead). The list goes deep. Willie D, Partners N Crime, ESG, Choppa, Slim Thug, Al Kapone, DJ Jubilee, Ole-E, Collard Greens, Attic Crew, Tampa Tony, Reese & Bigalow, Tim Smooth, Devin Da Dude, and Big Swift are also on the soundtrack. I took it home with Lil’ Boosie from Baton Rouge. You’ll see him in the future, bet on it. It’s the best CD in terms of having all the Southern styles on one CD.
What other projects have you been working on?
I’m still going back and forth with MTV, and that could take off any day. That would really open some doors, ‘cause I feel that I can change the game of television for real. I also produced all the video and show packages that you saw during The Source Awards, and I’m currently working on David Banner’s DVD. We got a good relationship. He’s a smart guy, I’m a smart guy, so it makes sense. He’s willing to do different shit.
Any final words?
Might getcha jaw broke! Nah, I’m just kidding. (laughing) No, I’m not kidding. Andre 3000 got up at an awards show and said, “The South got something to say.” That inspired me and kept me rolling. The South still got something to say, and nothing is gonna stop us from getting our message out there. Nothing.
- Julia Beverly, jb@ozonemag.com
