What are you guys working on right now? Norc of Do or Die: Wett, right now, we're concentrating on our aLbum which is coming out February 1st. Kanye West produced our first singte, "Higher," that's what we're focusing on
DO ORDIE
now for radio.
Tell us about the album - guest appearances, production, and io forth. Kanye atso did another joint on the atbum. DJ quik did something for the West coast, we've got my man Scott Storch who did the "Lean Back" beat, the Legendary Traxter, and we've got Sasha and Bounty Kitter on the album. lt's off the chain. Right now we're ctosing it off with Twista, so you know there's gonna be some heat on the atbum. We're taking it to another tevet, with experience we're taking it to new heights. lt's more commerciat but we know we've got the streets covered. We can't teave the streets behind because that's where Do or Die came from. How did you hook up with Kanye West for your 5ingle, "Higher"? Kanye used to Uve out on the South side, where I tive. We did some work with hjm previously, but it was never out in the pubtic, We flew out
to L.A. and watked in the studio and
Kanye was
tike, "Yo, I got the perfect singte for y'atl! Let's make this happen!" We took it and ran with it. Good success. ls there a video out
for "Higher"?
Ihe video is out on BET and MTV2, so catt BET and request it. The concept behind the video is just showing the people that
it to another
Do
or Die can take
[eve[.
Do or Die has never really gotten the recognition you deserve - how do you plan to make up for that now? It's tike they say: the cream soon rises to the
top. You can't hide the cream cause it starts at the bottom, but at the end it rises to the top. How many albums has Do or Die put out? We had five with Rap-A-Lot, and then we put out a greatest hits atbum, so this witl be our seventh-
First things first, Do or Die are pioneers. They recognize that atL over the wortd. Jay-Z and att them give us big ups and say we're pioneers. 50 us as pioneers, we teLt our peoptes to stay ahead and keep their business right. Don't never quit, cause Do or Die never quit. You've got to get your music and your business together for something to reaLty happen for you.
87th at one of the ctubs and we decided to make
How do you continue
to stay fresh and
sionate about music after putting out
pas5even
it
worklng out for you with Legion Records? We came in on a 50/50 deat. We've got fifteen years of experience in the music game, so we can potitic with anyone. We came in hatf and haLf with Rudy, he's the CEO of Legion Records. Rudy was doing real estate but he wanted to get into the music business. He met me up on How is
it
happen, This is our dream.
you plan to sign other artists? with a new labeL so we want everyone to keep their ears ctose to the radio stations. We'l[ soon be looking for Do
albums?
Yeah. Do or Die is coming
Loving the game. We atso keep God first, but we have to keep the love for the music and stay aggressive with it. We hear other peopte
new artists in Chicago.
doing what we were doing, doing our styte, and we don't want to let them get away with that. That's why we're coming back. We appreciate them keeping the music game warm for us, but we're back.
What do you thihk of Kanye and Twista's success in such a short period of time compared to you? Do you feel like you were left behind? We weren't reatty teft behind, we were just in the tab whiLe they were doing their own thing. We respect Twista and Kanye for dojng what they're doing because they're keeping the attention on Chicago. We've never had attention on Chicago tike that, especiatLy in the rap game. We're trying to cting on
with Kanye and Twista to keep Chicago out there.
Lots
of
aspiring artists idolize you,-
especially in Chicago. What words ot wisdom do you have for them?
What'! keeping Chicago in the limelight right Wett, you're
tookin'at 'em right now, you know
what I'm sayin'? (ioughing) What's keeping us in the timeLight is that we're putting out attthe hot music. The Kanyes and Twistas are keeping us out there, and of course R Ketty, he's the main man. R Ketty said he wants to start working with Do or Die and other artists in Chicago. That's gonna start a trend and hetp keep Chicago artists in the timetight. How do you think hip-hop has changed since you first got into the gdme? The hip-hop game has changed cause now it's more about beats and hook than tyrics. The South has reatty taken their sound to a new tevet. This is the Southern wortd now Kanye and Twista have taken their sound to a new levet and created the Chicago wortd. lt's kind of up and down right now with the South and the Midwest-
Do you plan
to have any Southern rongr on this album? You've got to know that the South was Do or Die's biggest settjng area. We went gotd in the South atone without the Mjdwest. That's kind of crazy, since we shoutd have gone qold in the Midwest without the South. Right now we've got a lot of songs catering to the South, the West, the Midwest, and the East coast, so the atbum's off the chain. Do you look back on tracks like "Po Pimp" and feel more pressure on yourselves to match the
claslics you've already put out? Naw, not at atl, cause what we try to do is be creative. We know we can master that "Po Pimp" track, but what we try to do is get a littte more creative and not stick to just one sound. Going down the line, we might come back with something simitar. Like, we came back with Back to the Game with that same Do or Die formuta. But, this atbum here is on a whole new tevel.
Are there any particular DJ5 that have helped push this single?
Man, att the DJs - South, East, West, and North, Everyone's heLped us push this song to over 1,500 spins, lt's one of our biggest songs right now. What we're doing right now is working on the R Ketty song and the Twista song so we can keep the fire going. Have you select€d a second single? We're not sure yet which song jt's gojng to be, but I guarantee everyone's gonna love it. Who were your musical influences? I used to be in tove with the New York cats tike Rakim and Koot G Rap. Later it was Scarface and my main man Dr. Dre. Lots of cats influenced me. Tupac and Biggie, of course. They hetped give the music game new trends.
Anything elre you'd like to say to your fans? Do or Die loves you. Keep us in your mind and we'lt hetp uptift the entire Chicago area. - Rohit Loomba, poombster@yahoo.com OZONE A,TAGAZINE DEC/JAN
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