How did your Slip-N-Slide situation originally come about? To be honest, you know, most people barely get to the root of it. But this is the OZONE. Slip-N-Slide came into play after I was signed to Suave House. My first record deal was with Suave House – shout out to Tony Draper and Block Entertainment. That was my homie; me and Block were dawgs from the streets. That’s how we met. We connected and kept it real gangsta and he was real cool with Draper. My first deal was with Draper, and Slip-N-Slide bought me out of the contract in 2000 or 2001. How did you get Slip-N-Slide’s attention. I was doing my thing on the streets of Miami, so they had heard about me. After the Draper situation, one of the homies out in Atlanta reached out to [Slip-N-Slide CEO] Ted [Lucas]. Ted let him know that he was most definitely interested. They liked the fact that I was coming in a whole other lane from Trick [Daddy]. Trick always represents for the thugs, and he’s the best at that. But I was kinda comin’ on some fly Miami shit. Trick Daddy would be talking about Dickies and I would be talking about Prada. A few years ago, you were frustrated with Slip-N-Slide because they hadn’t put your album out. At that time, I felt like I was ready. I may have been wrong, but I honestly felt like I was ready. I was just being mishandled, and we all know that the pen is mightier than the sword so I just vented. Me and Ted sat down like G’s and we handled that. We worked out our differences. What do you think ultimately changed your situation? The “Hustlin’” record? Yeah, but even before the “Hustlin’” record came along we had started back communicating. We were just tryin’ to decide how we were finna move. Either I was gonna buy myself out of the contract or renegotiate and see how the numbers looked. But it wasn’t no pressure. I was surprised on how he was handling it, and I let [Ted] know straight up. When I brought him the “Hustlin’” record I told him we got to do it big. We got to make a whole new move, I didn’t want to just do that Atlantic shit. I wanted to do some shit that people were really gonna talk about. So let’s just fuck with the biggest of the biggest. Jay-Z don’t get no bigger. There was quite a bidding war for your project. What was the actual deal with Def Jam? It was in the millions. It was a real, real big situation. With Slip-N-Slide being involved, it was a bigger deal. The average artist can get half a million dollars with no pressure, with just a cold set-up or a good buzz. But when you’re predicted as being the biggest new dude in rap, the label knows what they’ve got to bring to the table. I let them know off the jump: I know what I need, and I don’t care about none of the small talk. That’s how we handled it. So from the beginning you knew that you wanted to go with Def Jam? No, I just knew that I wanted it to be one of the top three. We all know that there’s really only two or three real labels and everything else falls under the same systems. I know the kind of people I want to be affiliated with, something different and something big. Everything worked out good – I just wanted to put that little twist on it and be able to rep the South alongside the great names over there at Def Jam. And JayZ, you know, that’s big for the hood period. They love that. You’ve claimed to be one of the greatest ghostwriters in the South. Who are some other artists you’ve written for? (laughs) I love keeping my clients happy. You’ve definitely heard a lot of Rick Ross tunes. Lyrically, do you think you’re on the level of a “East Coast” artist? How do you feel about people who say the South doesn’t have lyrics. I don’t know. Who would say that? New York says that. I’d like to find somebody to tell me that the South doesn’t have lyrics. If somebody says that, it’s obvious they haven’t heard of Rick Ross. It’s obvious they haven’t heard of Lil Wayne. It’s obvious they haven’t heard of T.I. It’s obvious they haven’t heard of Ludacris. The list goes on and on. There’s not too many artists that you can put in front of those names I just named that’s gonna get past them. If you feel different, God bless your heart. What exactly is your situation with Poe Boy? 80
OZONE
Poe Boy Records is owned by E-Class – he’s my manager and he’s always been my business partner. We did a lot of business with his label Poe Boy Entertainment. I was a silent partner in every project they were involved in. E-Class is my roll dawg from the old school, that’s my brother and he’s a real street nigga. That’s why when you see Rick Ross from Def Jam and Slip-N-Slide, Poe Boy is there too, cause that’s my way of showin’ love. Now that Jacki-O got out of her contract with Poe Boy, she claims E-Class is blackballing her new single. Since you were close to both sides, what’s your opinion on the problems between Poe Boy and Jacki-O? I don’t even know why there is a problem, because during the time she was at Poe Boy, she was successful. She had a successful career. She’s talented; she just needs to refocus and get someone else to put out her album. In my personal opinion, I know what E-Class did for her. My dawg wanted the best for her. She had a good support system. I don’t really know what happened with them personally, because I ain’t never really asked the details. I wish her the best. Do you think you’ll be able to capture the female audience as well as the hustlers? What? Have you been to my shows? They be pullin’ on me, girl. All those girls love Rick Ross. I’m loved. I’m so lovable, colorful, and fuckable. I’m all that. This Ross. This is what I do. I’m wearing these $800 jeans for you, baby. I’m wearing this cologne for you, baby. Most definitely. I got a record with me and Ne-Yo that’s strictly for the ladies. It’s gonna make the ladies just want to cry in the rain. And I got a big record with my homie Rodney from Poe Boy that’s definitely for the ladies. What was the significance of shooting your video at the Carolmart? It’s the heart of Carol City. It’s real hood. That’s where all the trap stars and the hustlas go, and that’s where all the young females go to get their gold weaves and their red weaves. That’s where I saw the Big Daddy Kane video when I was young. I’ve been going there my whole life. I bought my first vinyl their – Run-DMC. I was up there today. You’re known to rock a lot of jewelry; why do you think there’s so much emphasis on that in hip-hop today? Because, man, we grew up with nothing. My mama was from Mississippi and then my dad left. You’ve got to understand, when you grow up without nothin’ and when you ain’t got nothing – when you eatin’ cornflakes at 5:00 in the afternoon and then oatmeal at night – once you get it, you wanna overdo it. Since I was small, I used to take my neighbor’s lawn mower out their garage and cut yards all day just to be able to buy a Big Mac, I swear to God. We was kids and we called it “hustlin’.” We used to sit outside the grocery store and wait for families to come out pushin’ they buggies and just ask to push the buggies for a quarter. We were doing that in elementary school, pushin’ buggies for six or seven hours a day to make $10. I used to wash cars, too. That was one of my best jobs. The video was cool because you showed all different types of hustlin’. Most people assume the song is about selling drugs. Yeah, it ain’t just about that. It ain’t just talkin’ about yayo. This is the MI-Yayo, but there’s hustles going on everywhere. There’s fake Jordans for sale. Not only are the shoes fake, but they make the fake boxes to go with them and all that. But even in South Beach, there’s a lot of big time hustlers over there on Star Island. It’s a lot of yay on both sides of the bridge. A lot of yay got a lot of people over there on South Beach. It’s the movie stars and the big timers who fuck their money up quicker than anybody and would do anything to stay out of the red. It’s the American way. That’s why the bookies are so rich in Miami, muthafuckers, man. But on the other side of the bridge, that’s where the hard hustlin’ is at. If you had to work a 9-5 would you consider that a hustle? Hell yeah, I swear to God. That’s what motivated me to really do the music, cause I can’t do a 9-5. I wouldn’t be happy with life. I wasn’t happy watching my mama and my neighbors. Every day, this is what y’all do? Get up and go to work and make $30,000 a year? Are you fuckin’ serious? How much? To make the kind of money you want to make, you would have to be a fuckin’ rocket scientist. I’d have to go to college, and I had a problem with multiplication. I can’t go past 5’s. What’s six times six? 36.