Dade County born Bone has been asking the world to listen to him for years, AND NOW he’s done asking. It’s time to kick down the door and take what’S HIS. Why is the Florida Classic important to your music? The Florida Classic represents a very big market and it only happens once a year. I think every artist that’s trying to get their music out needs to attend that and do a lot of promo. People are coming from all over just to attend the FAMU-Bethune Cookman classic and being that it’s in the middle of Florida, it’s easier for people from all parts of the state to attend. Do think Florida artists are finally getting the national recognition they deserve? Florida has been slept on for a long time. It’s not like we just started it, we were just slept on for a long time. Now, we ‘refinally getting recognized, but what we just gotta do is use what we got to actually get further, because really, we still ain’t getting the respect the state deserves. We just gotta really get our respect off the muscle; that’s why we named the mixtape Florida Muscle. Talk about the bats and the all-black you guys are wearing. You don’t think that’s a little intimidating for the Florida Classic? Well, black has always been perceived as a negative color, unfortunately. But that’s not always the case. Everybody wearing black could also signify unity. We could’ve all worn something different on the cover, but that wouldn’t catch your eye. If a bunch of people walk in with all black on, it’s like, “Damn.” It makes you wanna know what’s going on. It’s a statement that we’re trying to make, a strong statement—we’re here, it’s Florida Muscle. Okay, so when people see the black and wonder what’s going on with you specifically, what do you want them to know? I just want everybody to know that everything I say is real. I’m not just all about being in the club, or all about being the block, but I done been on the block, and I done been in the club, so you gon’ hear some of those songs. I also had a lot of pain. I had a lot of joy and a lot of happiness, so you gon’ hear all that in my music. I don’t want people to just assume that I’m this or that, because really you gotta listen
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to it for what it is. I don’t want people to automatically label me negative, because I’m not negative like that. I done did a lot of negative things, but who didn’t? I want people to look at me for what I’m doing now, and how far I done came from that. How’d you get involved in the Florida Muscle movement? I’m from Dade County and all of us are from different places and we’re doing our own individual thing, cause we’re all bosses. We were all making noise individually, and we all knew of each other and had respect for each other. It ended up that we would always be in the same place together doing shows, so eventually we started talking about forming a powerhouse group, and that’s what we’re doing right now. Believe me, if you ain’t got the mix CD Streets Most Wanted, make sure you get that because it’s serious. It’s killin’ ‘em. How has Dade County sculpted your music? That’s where I’m from and I love it. It’s rough, but it’s also fun. A lot of people think you can’t go down there because it’s so bad, because they see The First 48, and whatnot, but if you go down there to party and have fun, you’re gonna have fun. If you go down there to be in a different realm though, yeah, you gon’ get caught up. As far as Miami relating to my aura in terms of the music, I don’t want to be too tied in to nothing. I’m not trying to be labeled as somebody who tries to follow the trend. I don’t want to do the same music as everybody else. I’m not trying to get caught in a box, I believe it’s all about being yourself, and that’s what I’m doing. Finally, tell us in your words exactly what Florida Muscle is. Florida Muscle is this: When you get tired of asking for so long, and not being answered, then you get to the point where you just gotta go ahead and get it yourself. It ain’t no asking. We done been asking, we done been trying, now we kicking the door in. We was trying to tell y’all we was hear, and y’all wasn’t listening, so now we ain’t asking for it no more. We taking it.