were outside of the studio at the time. I was getting into my car and heard the sirens and the undercover Tahoe pulled up on the curb. First thing I saw, from that first Tahoe about five police [officers] jumped out. Cobra unit outfits on, M16s drawn, and they were headed directly for us. What was your initial reaction? My initial reaction was really just to be as cool, calm, and collected as I could in the situation, because there were guns. I didn’t know what was going on. I thought it was some big, big mistake, basically. I was put on the ground and when I told them my name, “Tyree Simmons,” they said, “We got one of the perps.” When they said that, my whole “cool, calm, and collected” thing went right out the window. By that point, he had put handcuffs on me and pulled me up. Then they rushed into the office. I was still outside. Were you duplicating CDs in that office? Nah, we don’t do duplication and all that. It’s our office plus recording studio, where we had been working on my album and Willie [the Kid]’s album. The officer told me that I had been charged with bootlegging and racketeering under the RICO law, which is the law they created for criminal organizations. Just for the record, we haven’t been indicted or been to court, so there are no official charges. That was what I was told originally. I was put into the cop car after that and taken to Wright Street, and I noticed that [Don] Cannon was being arrested at the same time. And there were other people in the office at the time? We had employees there, but they also were bringing other people from the area to our studio that weren’t employees of ours. So when they said they detained 17 people, that wasn’t 17 people that worked for The Affiliates. They also said that they confiscated 81,000 CDs. I don’t know the exact number of CDs but if I had to estimate, I’d say it was about 25,000 CDs that we had in our office. They went in [the office] and asked our employees, “Tell us where the guns and the drugs are. It’ll be easier on you if you tell us now.” I heard that there were rumors earlier in the day that police were coming. Nah. It wasn’t really no tip off. It was very random. After reading the affidavit later it was quite interesting to me to see how the whole thing unfolded. How long were you detained? Did they question you? Naw, they didn’t do none of that. I went to jail, me and Cannon. In jail, they knew who I was. People were telling me, “We saw you on the BET Awards. You was shinin’.” I had a lot of Hip Hop conversations in jail. The guards were let-
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I spent 24 hours in jail, and it was a long 24 hours... but it showed the amount of support we have. I got out and saw ‘Free Drama and Cannon’ campaigns... I wasn’t even in jail for a night and a movement had started. I realized that it was bigger than me. It was bigger than Cannon. What happened to us represented a bigger struggle.
ting me know, “They talkin’ about you on the radio right now,” and, “You’re on TV.” I tried to just stay focused. I spent 24 hours in jail, and it was a long 24 hours. I’d never wanna see the inside of that jail again, but it showed the amount of support we have. For me to get out and see “Free Drama and Cannon” campaigns and everything, that was more important than any of the supposed side comments anyone was making. I wasn’t even in jail for a night and a movement had started. I realized that in a lot of ways it was bigger than me. It was bigger than Cannon. What happened to us represented a bigger struggle. I got a lot of love. After that it was the time when the All Star and Super Bowl events were coming up so I was real heavy out and about. People from all over knew what had happened and showed love. Everybody was like, “Drama, keep your head up. Do your thing.”
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What’s the difference between what you do and what a “bootlegger” does? Everything. What I consider a bootleg is like, if I was duplicating and selling a Beyonce CD or a Jay-Z CD or a Young Jeezy Thug Motivation. “Bootlegging” would be me making a copy of a major label release and putting it out on the streets or duplicating other people’s works. Obviously, all of the mixtapes that I do are pretty much 100% artist supported and label supported. It’s not me making a copy of Young Jeezy’s Thug Motivation. It’s Young Jeezy and DJ Drama Present: Gangsta Grillz I Am The Street Dream. It’s like you going to the store and buying a frozen chicken. People bring that chicken to DJ Drama because he has the best stove, he knows the best spices to use, and he knows the exact degree to cook it at to make that chicken the best possible meal it could’ve been. The chicken was frozen when it got to me, but I cooked it and used my kitchen and put the spices on it and presented it to the world. The people that ate it said, “Man, that’s the best chicken I ever had.” If you gave that frozen chicken to somebody who didn’t know what they were doing, it would’ve tasted like shit. Just because the ingredients are there doesn’t mean that everybody knows how to make it. I consider myself an artist. I consider my mixtapes and street albums works of art; they’re projects in their own right. That’s something totally separate from a bootleg CD. When you do a mixtape with someone like T.I. or Young Jeezy, do they get a percentage of the money made from sales of the mixtape? Yeah. Anytime I’ve done a mixtape with somebody, from jump street everybody is all the way involved. There’s a clear understanding of what I do. Obviously, with a lot of the main artists I’ve worked with, we’ve done [projects] on many occasions. There’s never been a situation where I did a mixtape that wasn’t supported on any level, on my end or their end. Everyone is clear on what our purposes are for the mixtape, and we go from there. Not too many artists spoke out on your behalf after your arrest. There was a comment by Lil Wayne – maybe taken out of context – that came across as negative. From everyone I’ve come in contact with since the situation, I’ve gotten nothing but support. A lot of people have talked about the Lil Wayne comments. Again, those comments were made in a media forum. I’ve seen Lil Wayne since then, we’ve talked, and it’s been all love. Lil Wayne came through for me when I needed him for my album. We made history together. Jeezy has been right there for me, Tip, amongst others. I could name a whole host of people that have shown me support. I’ve had conversations with everybody from Chamillionaire to Busta [Rhymes] to Pharrell to Jermaine [Dupri], so I’ve gotten nothing but support. I can’t really go off the media hoopla or what people think other people are saying behind closed doors. All I can go off of is when I talk to somebody directly. For real, after the raid, I had lost a lot of my album because they took my hard drive. So I was on the phone constantly with all these artists trying to get everything done, and everybody came through for me when I really needed them.
(above) Tyree Simmons a.k.a. DJ Drama’s arrest warrant 56 // OZONE MAG
What are the chances you’ll recover the items that were confiscated? I’m hopeful and positive, but at the same time, I feel very blessed with my