Haastattelussa South Central Cartel -räppiryhmästä tuttu Los Angeles -räppäri Prodeje.
- What’s up, Prodeje? How are you today?
What’s good with it, G? I’m as good as I can be under the present circumstances. This COVID-19 lockdown is lingering, and I need to get out and handle some things.
- How did you come up with your rap name?
My rap name was given to me by a producer named Chris (Jam-o-Rama) Johnson, whom I used to work with. I was kind of a natural when it came to coming up with dope beat ideas and song concepts. I could get on almost any beat-making device and learn it in minutes. So Chris started saying I was a prodigy, etc. It stuck, obviously. I just changed the spelling to try to be a little creative and different.
- What is your first musical memory?
One of many is that as a kid, I would sit in the living room and play my stepdad’s vinyls all day. He had all the dope stuff from back in the day. I would literally spend my weekends playing album after album— all of the dopest funk and soul music.
- Who were the first influences on your music and style?
Most definitely, a lot of those same records I used to listen to left an impression. Like many others, the early hip-hop groups inspired me to want to rap. Mainly The Sugarhill Gang early on, and LL Cool J, Rakim, EPMD. On the West Coast, Ice Cube, The D.O.C., King T, N.W.A., etc. As far as style, I’d say my life in general, the things I experienced in the hood shaped and molded this gangsta conversation.
- Which ingredient do you think is most essential in making your sound and style the way it is?
Authenticity, honesty, straight-up realness, hard-edged.
- When you start writing, do you start with words or music?
Sometimes I’ll write the lyrics before I have a track. Other times I’ll make a beat, or someone will send me something dope, and I write to that.
- How does your creative process differ when you are creating beats versus vocals?
My process when I’m producing is finding some kind of motivation to get me started. That could be an old-school song or a dope sample or sound that I may come across online. That usually gets me headed in the right direction. As far as writing lyrics, it’s usually the mood of the beat that dictates where I go with it.
- How did you guys come together and start South Central Cartel?
The short answer is that growing up, I did music with several different people at different times. I met others while doing stuff in the street, hustling, etc. When I met Havoc, we started trying to get a record deal. At some point, I decided that I wanted to do it with all the guys I knew who wanted to be in the music business as badly as I did. So I grabbed all of those guys, which became the SCC members, and I started the group. One of the original SCC members, Luva Gee, actually came up with the name South Central Cartel.
- When was the first time you met Ice-T? You guys collaborated on the song “Gangsta Team”; how did that come about?
There were a few of my homies, Tomie and Sha’kell, as well as DJ Ace, who were instrumental in my career early on. They were good friends with Ice-T. Even before we started doing songs with him, I felt like we were already fam. I was modulating around Ice’s situation in the late ’80s into the early ’90s. He was always super humble and gave us hella game anytime he was around. Havoc reached out to him when we decided to do “Gangsta Team,” and he showed us love and laced that joint. He always embraced the SCC because he’s a real one.
- What’s exciting you right now about the music business?
The most exciting thing to me is the fact that you can control your own situation. If you’re willing to grind hard, you can make stuff happen with or without a record label. That’s the real deal right there.
- What’s a song you have stuck in your head these days?
It’s actually a song by my little brother Cali Pitts and the homie Money Max. It’s called “Pour Out Some Liquor.” It’s almost like a part two of the Pac joint.
- What would you say is the biggest misconception about you?
People think I’m a mean or angry dude. But I’m actually cool as hell unless you get on my bad side. Like anybody else, if you’re a goofy type of person, keep it moving, and all is well.
- What’s your absolute favorite piece of clothing?
A bomb-ass hat.
- What do you always keep in your pocket?
Money.
- Where do you see yourself in the next five years?
In a record label executive situation, sitting behind a desk or in the studio making things happen.
- Lastly, can you tell folks what you’ve got going on?
Right now, we’re building up the Hood Good Music roster and team. You can expect the Prodeje project next month, then two or three projects a month for the rest of the year.
Prodeje:
https://www.instagram.com/bigprodeje/
Haastattelu: J-P / Fileerausveitsi
