By Carlton Wade

Original member of the late DJ Screw’s illustrious Screwed Up Click, South side Houston, Texas game spitter E.S.G. has banged out more trunk-rattling hits and mixtape freestyles than your favorite rapper’s favorite rapper. With a career that dates way back to the days of Screw’s infamous grey tapes, the Everyday Street Gangsta played a major factor in the popularization of the Lone Star State’s signature “chopped and screwed” style.

Now after keeping his faithful fan base satisfied for season after season with a string of albums, mixtapes and features, E.S.G. returns with the highly anticipated summer release of his umpteenth forthcoming G.O.A.T. Entertainment/SFL Malaco Records-distributed album The Owner’s Manual. Relax and take notes; this is the sound of success.

Block2Block: Tell me a little about the upcoming album The Owner’s Manual.
E.S.G.: It’s a monster. It’s a classic ready to be heard. I got records with Slim Thug, Z-Ro, Bun-B, Paul Wall and a couple of people in my camp. It’s that Ocean of Funk mixed with Return of the Living Dead with a splash of City Under Seize and Swangin’ and Bangin’. This is an album where you can get anything you want. It’s for everybody whether you’re struggling to survive or if you’re living above the recession.

The lead single “Internet Thugs” featuring Z-Ro has been causing quite a buzz online. How did that come about?
I did that for all of the Internet thugs out there as a word of caution. I leaked out “Internet Thugs” to let people know that I had an album coming. I don’t have an official single right now.

What kind of response have you been getting for your new music?
Every time I do a show and let people hear it, they love it. You can see it in their eyes. People think that a hit record is a sound. But like my partner always said, a hit record is a feeling.

You have been in the game for quite some time now. How have you managed to stay relevant over the years?
What are you talking about? I’m still a young artist (laughs jokingly). But really, I’m still in my prime. I’m still five years younger than Jay-Z. I stay relevant cause I stay touring the whole South. People want a new E.S.G. album. They wanna see the Screwed Up Click surviving and dropping good music. They wanna see the whole Houston keep dropping good music. And I’m gone make sure the Screwed Up Click lives on.

Do you feel that you played a part in laying the groundwork for other Houston artists who signed major label deals?
I dropped my first album Swangin’ and Bangin’ straight out of high school. We was so young; we was ahead of our time. By the time the world got to hear the Paul Walls and the Chamillionaires and Slim Thugs, we was doing everything on the independent scale that the world never got to hear. The light has never been shed on h town in general like it should have been.

You are the only solo artist to collectively sell one million units. But still you’re not known in certain parts of the country. Do you feel like you’ve been slept on?
Man, of course. The whole Screwed Up Click has been slept on. I was one of the first ones to ever sell 100,000 units independent for three (or) four times in a row. We was never in a major system where we could benefit from that.

That sounds lovely.
It was so lovely down here by us doing this independent that we didn’t really care about no DefJam. I’ve flew to New York and met with a couple of labels but they don’t understand the vision that we have. They would love a dumb nigga, an artist who creates a buzz and just willing to sign. They’re willing to take the 360 deals. That’s cool for a young artist; I guess. But when I came up, we ate off record sales and touring. Now, they’re trying to make it where you just eat off you’re touring.

How else has the independent music scene changed around Houston over the years?
By DJ Screw being gone, there is not as much Screw influence as it used to be. In Houston, the music scene is like it is in the rest of the country. A lot of the smaller mom and pop music stores have moved on. So a lot of people buy their music off the Internet and out of Target. But Targets don’t carry all of the independent music like a lot of other people carry it. Then, there’s only one powerhouse station in every city now and either Clear Channel or Radio One controls that. Everything is political. Back in the day, we had people putting up posters everywhere. But nowadays you get fines and tickets for putting up posters.

Have you suffered at all from all of these changes in the music industry?
I’ve been living the same way for years like a lot of these artists you see on MTV. I’ve been in my neighborhood for 11 years. It’s very secluded. Most people can’t afford the taxes to live out here. The Lord has blessed me to where I never had to have a job and survive off my craft. There are a lot of artists who had a Grammy or number one video but don’t have the financial funds to survive.

Have you always been blessed with so many opportunities?
I lived a rough life. I came up straight out the ghetto. My momma dropped out of school in the eighth grade. I was an athlete in school, played sports. And since the seventh grade, I been able to make hits with words.

I guess the only thing missing is a platinum plaque.
I got a platinum plaque from writing Lil Troy’s “Wanna Be A Baller.” I wrote the hook when I was just 22 years old at the time. I got a platinum plaque for being on Chamillionaire’s first album Sound of Revenge. And I’m still due a platinum plaque from Master P for being on Down South Hustlers. It went gold back then when he was on Priority but it hit the platinum mark. If you know him, tell him to send it to me. (laughs)

MR. POOKIE & MR. LUCCI “Crook 4Life” INTERVIEW 01.11
by Aaron Cortez

The crooks are back! Representin’ the north side of Dallas, Bryan Jones aka Mr. Pookie and Jeron Gibson aka Mr. Lucci are legends in the DFW music scene. Pookie’s 1999 “Tha Rippla” and Lucci’s 2001 “Diabolical” remain among the top selling independent projects out of Texas. As teenagers the pair signed to Kevin A.’s Iconic Recordings and quickly found fame. But disputes and secrets divided the label. Here’s the untold story of the crooks…..

How did you get into music?
Lucci: I got into rapping thru my cousins. I seen it was possible so I wanted to do it. When I was 14, I was in a barbershop rapping and the guy ended up knowing Kevin A. We met up and we went to the studio and that’s where I met Pookie.
Pookie: I wrote a poem (in elementary) and won first place. Until then, I just kept going. I wasn’t even trying to do rap music. It was because of two cats in my hood, K-Roc and C-Pone. They had hooked up with Kevin A. He had liked me so we started doing “Tha Rippla”. I was just trying to rap with my homies. I was 20 years old. I didn’t know he was going to put it on the radio. He did it.

Where did the name “Stoney Crook” come from?
Pookie: Stoney Brook was the name of our apartments. We had Crips over there and they would “X” the letter B out and put the letter C. I wasn’t banging Crips but my partners were. So me and K-Roc came up with C.R.O.O.K.S. “Constantly Reminded Of Our Krooked Streets”.

Tell me the making of your biggest song “Crook 4 Life”.
Pookie: I heard the beat and knew it was gonna be the hood anthem. I had already named it “Crook 4 Life” before I heard the beat. Me and Kevin A. came up with the hook together. It was originally supposed to me, K-Roc and C-Pone but they left and brought my partner in, Montis. And K-Roc had discovered Lucci.

How did you get the name Mr. Lucci?
Lucci: I got my name from K-Roc. I had been going by Lil J and J-Roc. One day, K-Roc called me and said “who are you, these n*ggas said you can rap, let me hear it”. I said my name was J-Roc and spit two verses. He said “your name is Lucci”. And at that time I hadn’t even met in person yet.

Back then, after your album and Lucci’s album came out, people thought you were going to blow up nationally. Did you have the same feeling?
Lucci: Hell yeah. I was 15 and doing things majors were doing. I was in high school. I knew it was a wrap, that’s why I didn’t graduate. We were doing $5000 shows, staying on the road, shot a video, “Diabolical” just hit and we signed a deal with Time-Warner. We were gone!
Pookie: Pretty much we were on our way. Kevin A. had set everything up. He had his plan mapped out and we were following it until things started coming up. We knew we were there. Every show we would do was packed. Fire marshals would shut them down.

Where did it start going wrong?
Pookie: Well we had the streets telling us “yall are supposed to be there”. We defended Kevin A. while they were talking. They were saying he was f**king us. But we would tell them we knew what’s up. Yall don’t know what were doing. It wasn’t until stuff he was saying wasn’t adding up. And it got internal with him trying to get me, Montis and Lucci in to it. He would say stuff about each of us to each other. Kevin said something to my baby momma and it wasn’t right. Lucci found something out. We really should have settled it but we just branched off and left.

So you guys left with nothing?
Pookie: Nothing. Not a dime. We hadn’t got paid in two years. We knew the albums were selling. We were wondering what’s up. It came out that he was getting sued by Mr. Blues, a record store owner in South Dallas. I went his record store trying to sell him my new album. Come to find out he put up money for my album. He said he gave Kevin A. $40,000 to keep my project going. He was supposed to get his money back and interest in we signed a record deal. After we signed to Time-Warner, Kevin said he didn’t get any money upfront from the deal. Kevin’s books got audited and couldn’t pay us. He didn’t tell us. If he would have told us we probably would have still stayed.

How hard was it after you left to stand on your own?
Lucci: You wouldn’t think it would be hard because we were so hot but it was hard. He had black balled us and did our names so dirty. There were all types of deals he wasn’t coming thru on. He was burning bridges. We didn’t have any where to go but hit the road. We went and got all the contacts. We didn’t know the business. We made some mistakes.
Pookie: The fans and the people who called us for shows kept us going enough to do the “My Life” album. Everywhere we went people looked at us funny because of things he said. We had to go and clean our names up. But people understood because of the kind of cat he was.

What is between Pookie and Lucci that made you guys stick together. You didn’t come in the game together.
Pookie: It’s crazy because we came out as solo artists. He was actually from my opposing hood that we would get into it with. But it was just that chemistry. After “Crook 4 Life” people couldn’t say my name without Lucci and his name without Pookie. After we left, I asked Lucci what he wanted to do. We really just started to be friends during the “My Life” album. After that we were together every day. We stayed together. I went to his family reunion and he went to mine. We got to know each other and he became my lil bro, my little brother. Period.
Lucci: It’s like a bond. He’s a family member. Keep in mind we’ve seen each other everyday for 12 years. We’ve seen each other’s ups and downs, first child’s, jail, hospital, robbed, friendships, marriage, so it’s not even music related anymore. It’s a brother bond.

What’s the future for Pookie and Lucci?
Lucci: We’re focused now. F**k that old sh*t. We’re passed that. “VVS” , “Ventation Of A Crook” and “Crookology” are all coming. My new album has Twista, Bo Hagen, and you haven’t heard us like this. We grew up, life is different. Anything you think could happen, did happen. It’s a new swag and we’re still on that crook sh*t. It’s lifestyle music.
Pookie: We got our own record label, Stoney Crook Records. We’re gonna mash these albums out. We got the “10th Anniversary” out now, we got my album “Ventation Of A Crook” coming, Lucci’s “VVS” coming and the “Crookology” coming. The only time I ever thought about quitting was after my “Return Of Tha Rippla” album. We got messed over again. After that, a partner of mine of 15-16 years told me to holla at me. He was rappin’ and he just fired my ass back up. Lucci came back in and we started mashing again. It’s gonna be me and Lucci until the wheels fall off.

CHECK OUT MR. POOKIE’s “Ventation Of A Crook” & MR. LUCCI’s “VVS” Available March 1, 2011
www.STONEYCROOK.com

Dorrough “Get Big” Interview 11.10
by Aaron Cortez

First off, the new album “Get Big” is in stores now and online. Tell the fans about the album and what to expect on it.
From the beginning to the end it jams all the way through, so many singles to choose from. I give the consumer a full album and not just 10 tracks. I really stepped my artistry level up times 3 with this joint and it’s been getting nothing but positive feedback from the fans thus far. Go Get It!

Last year, you achieved a huge success by bringing home a platinum and a gold plaque for your song “Ice Cream Paint Job”. What was that like?
It actually started off as just a mixtape song. I put it on my Myspace page and a DJ from the Bay Area went to my page and downloaded off of it and blew it up out there. It took off from there, shoutout to DJ Amen.

The new single is “Get Big”. What’s the meaning behind that?
It was basically for people who go to clubs or people who stunt like they got this and that but really ain’t got what they say. I didn’t make it to stunt on nobody or talk down, only to motivate people to “Get Big” and get their paper up. It’s more inspirational than cocky. This record took off from my “Gangsta Grillz #23″ mixtape I did with DJ Drama. My mixtape game is strong!

The video to the remix of “Get Big” is crazy. How did you pull that off?
I contacted everybody on there myself, not the record label, including Diddy. I developed close relationships with them throughout my journey as being an industry artist and with the song being a Top 20 song in the country it was actually easy to pull it off.

To address some rumors, there’s always talk about your physical record sales. You even addressed it yourself on WorldStar HipHop. But no one brings up all your touring or all the single downloads. You’ve already achieved so much. Does that talking bother you at all?
Nothing anyones says ever bothers me. It actually motivates me to know that people wanna see me fail cause at the end of the day they have to watch me from the outside. That means I’m always winning, especially the against the “mad rappers”. I’ve sold over a million records and have became a platinum recording artist. I do for the city!

When you first came on the scene, the Dallas music was getting hot and getting national attention and air play. What do you think happened?
Artists became unoriginal and repetitive. People started doing the same things and everything started to sound alike but I do salute and respect the ones who made something pop from their situation and contributed to the Dallas Movement.

What’s your relationship with NGenius, Prime Time Click and Born Starz?
I am the president of NGenius Ent. and Phillip Ward (DJ Merk) is Co-CEO along with Cash Capone. I am the CEO of the Prime Time Click along with Q. Smith. Born Starz is a company that does booking for me.

What’s in the works? I know you got a new single. What’s in the future for Dorrough Music?
Man!! My “Gangsta Grillz: Code Red” with DJ Drama is dropping Super Bowl Weekend. This mix-album is gonna be crazy and the music will speak for itself. “Club on Fire” is one of the club singles off the tape and it will be on fire real soon! Until then stay tuned!

GUCCI MANE “Brick Squad”
Interview by Ernest Mason

What’s your secret to making a hit song?
You gotta have a strategic method with it. Mine is like bringing a party to the studio. I have a big crowd there. So I get a lot of input and just make sure we all having fun in the studio.

Well, we know you like to party. But for all the ladies, let ‘em know what other qualities you like in a lady.
I look for a lady that’s well spoken, educated. She ain’t gotta be prissy. But I want a girl who carries herself like a lady. That’s what I mainly care about.

So with all the beef and all the negative things said about you in the media, how do you manage to stay focused?
Man, don’t even worry about it. Just stay in the studio making hits. As long as my fans buy my music and appreciate my craft with me taking so much time to put out this music.

Now there are a lot of young people who get caught up in the beef & resort to violence. So what would you say to a young person considering violence?
I would definitely tell them that violence is not the key. It’s not the answer to every situation. Only use violence if you have to defend yourself. But other than that, I would just say, walk away.

BUN B “TRILL OG”
INTERVIEW
by Aaron Cortez 8.25.10

What’s up Bun? Let everyone know about this new “Trill OG” album if they haven’t picked it up and heard it.
The new album “Trill OG” is in stores right now. Production by Steve Below, DJ B-Do, Boi1Da, Big E. Appearances by Pimp C, Drake, 2Pac, Twista, Young Jeezy, Yo Gotti. I think it’s an incredible album.

What’s on your mind when going into the studio? Do you go in with a certain topic or is it about what you are feeling that day?
It’s about what you are feeling, looking out at the world and seeing what’s going on, what you like or even talk about what you don’t like.

I usually don’t mention other magazines, but you recently received “5 Mics” for your new album from The Source. What does that mean to you?
It means a lot to me. It’s an incredible accomplishment. It’s something that I’ve strive for. It stands for a symbol of excellence. It makes me want to work harder.

When UGK came out, you guys laid groundwork and foundation for the southern scene. Did you know at that time, what you were doing or were you just young having fun?
Initially, we just wanted to represent Port Arthur, TX and represent our city like everyone else was reppin’ theirs. It eventually blew up into a movement that was bigger than what we were doing. It took a while for us to understand it but when we did, we embraced it. We just tried to lead people into a real direction.

So did you know what you were accomplishing?
No, we were just keeping it real with people. We were just saying what we felt. We didn’t know that many people felt the same as us.

You are one of the very few minds that always defend the youth and their music. People say ‘They’re killing rap’, ‘they’re not talking about anything’, ‘they’re dancing’, but why do you defend it?
All that stuff has always been an element of Hip-Hop. We’ve always had dancing. Even Big Daddy Kane, who was a lyrical giant and one of the greatest MC’s of our time, has always incorporated dancing into his shows. It’s the same with MC’s singing on their songs. I feel that no one has the right to tell somebody what they should or shouldn’t be doing. If people like it ‘cool’ if not so be it. We shouldn’t set a parameter and make people rap about certain things or rap a certain way. Then, the game wouldn’t get the chance to evolve.

With the new technology around, it seems like the public wants every moment of an artists’ life from the Twitter updates, Facebook to all the YouTube footage. How do you embrace it while keeping your privacy?
You embrace the posititivity and ignore the negativity. People have the opportunity to talk to anyone all over the world about whatever they choose but they choose to talk about how much they hate somebody. Once you block people like that out, you get a chance to hear that people support you and you get a chance to show that you appreciate that. I love it. I got nothing to hide. It’s all good.

But this is same technology that allows users to share music with a click of a button.
There’s nothing, at this point, that we can do anything about it. The reality is that some people are going to download music at one point. Some people download all their music. Give people so much music that their only option isn’t to download your album. With mixtapes and features, you almost have to give them an album to be able to sell them an album. I like making music so it doesn’t bother me. Artists have to learn to capitalize off themselves than just selling albums.

Do you mind the use of the word “Trill” by others?
I mean, I can’t copyright the sh*t. I didn’t make it up. I just helped make the word popular. I can’t sit around and say who can and who can’t use it. I say words I didn’t make up all the time. Just don’t misrepresent it. That’s what I say. “Trill” is more than a word. It’s a state of mind and a way of life.

You’ve stayed down with Rap-A-Lot for years. Why the allegiance?
Just keeping it real. I’ve left labels before. You work that situation until it doesn’t work anymore. We’re happy right now.

What can fans look forward to the new Pimp C album?
It’s an incredible album. But there’s a misconception that I’m the one putting the album together. The estate of Pimp C is actually putting it together.

What’s the future hold for Bun B?
Working on another album and developing other artists. Just trying to stay focused and contribute to music as long as I can. And when it’s not my time, bow out gracefully.