W
e had a show in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The people who owned the club, the original place where [the promoters] were going to do the show, found out they were doing a rap show and told them they couldn’t do it there. So they found another spot like 12 miles away from Fayetteville, in another little county. It was one of the spots where they have rodeos and shit. A week before that, we were supposed to be in Fayetteville performing at a frat party, but Project Pat performed instead of us. That shit went on with no problems, but when it came to our show, they had roadblocks set up and shit. This was only a week later, twelve miles from where the fraternity house was. The police had roadblocks set up everywhere and they were checking driver’s licenses, trying to deter people from coming. Our people went over there to do soundcheck and the police were just following them all through the city, just ridiculous shit. The number of police they had was just ridiculous. I know you need extra security and extra police for rap shows, but shit, they were actually deterring people from coming to the place. The show got cancelled and we really just got on a plane the next morning and left. That was basically it. What happened was hella unnecessary, but we’re used to that shit because we live in Memphis. Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, Kentucky, they’re all kind of one and the same in those small towns and how the white folks are. We only had one thing happen similar to that before. We were in Tupelo, Mississippi and they did the same shit. We were [performing at] a civic center or something. We did perform in Tupelo, but they had the police following us. They had a bunch of roadblocks set up. Every second car that pulled out of the lot was being followed and pulled over. They were checking people for drunk driving and suspended licenses and warrants on the night of the concert. They know they’re deterring people [from coming to the show] with that shit. I think it’s just the way these small towns are. These are places that are assbackwards with the way the world is going. They don’t give a fuck what the world thinks about black people and Hip Hop music. Those muthafuckers are thinking, “I ain’t gon’ have this shit in my town.” They have that mentality where they don’t want that kind of shit in their town. It’s a lot of that. Those two events I mentioned were the only things that ever happened like that recently, but Memphis is one of those types of places too. It’s a lot of
46 // OZONE MAG
“EVERY CONCERT IS A POTENTIAL HAZARD, NOT JUST WITH RAP. WHEN YOU HAVE A LOT OF PEOPLE IN ONE PLACE, EVERY EVENT LIKE THAT IS A RISK. I KNOW THEY [HAVE EXTRA POLICE] BECAUSE THEY THINK SOMETHING’S GON’ HAPPEN AT EVERY RAP CONCERT, BUT THAT’S JUST NOT THE CASE. SOME PEOPLE COME OUT TO ACTUALLY ENJOY THEMSELVES AND SEE THEIR FAVORITE GROUP DO THEIR FAVORITE SONG.” equality here with the young people, but a lot of the older white people who run shit are still racist. At the end of the day, they don’t understand that it’s just music. But still, any real hustler knows that it’s bread in those little towns, so we’re just gonna take those chances. I don’t think nothing will ever deter us from coming to any one of those small towns to perform. That’s just the way it is. I grew up in Memphis and I’m kinda used to racist and prejudiced white people. I kinda just look the other way with them. As long as they ain’t touching me physically, I’m cool. Every concert is a potential hazard, not just with rap. When you have a lot of people in one place, every event like that is a risk. I know they [have extra police] because they think something’s gon’ happen at every rap concert, but that’s just not the case. Some people come out to actually enjoy themselves and see their favorite group do their favorite song. But, nothing’s going to deter us. We’re about to perform in Ohio right now. The album Ridin’ High is doing real good, and it’s in stores right now. If you don’t have it you need to go get it, and 8Ways Entertainment, that Light Up The Bomb is in stores right now. This year I’ve got The Vet And The Rookie dropping the end of August, which is me and my artist Devius. His solo album will be dropping too, probably sometime in October. Life is good. The Fayetteville incident is really miniscule compared to the other things going on in our lives. It’s tiny. It’s like a hair on my nutsack. // - As told to Julia Beverly