Send your comments to feedback@ozonemag.com or hit us up at www.myspace.com/ozonemagazine away with saying “nigga.” I understand blacks, Chicanos and certain Middle Easterners especially from areas near the head of Africa like Egypt and Palestine and Saudi Arabia can say it, but DJ Drama? Also, what’s good with my boy Pitbull? He looks white. I’m not one to hate – I love all ethnicities – but in Africa, we are very defensive with the “n” word, ya dig? Pitbull has blue eyes in all the pics I’ve seen, so what’s good with the Cuban homeboy? I’m a huge fan and love everything you’re doing. Keep up the good work! - Nathaniel Ramsey, pigeon_toe@hotmail.com (Australia)
Editor Responds: DJ Drama is half black and Pitbull has addressed this question.
You’re doin’ the damn thang with OZONE Magazine. I buy that shit monthly. It’s informative and straight up real, unlike XXL or The Source. - Myspace.com/southsidevet (Central FL) The OZONE Magazine with The Runners on the front cover is one of the best I’ve ever read. It gave me a lot of information and insight about what I’m doing with my career. – Kavid Mathis, blankdiskription@gmail.com The Patiently Waiting: Mississippi OZONE Award nominees listed in your August issue was somewhat accurate, but not as accurate as you think. If you ask any of the names on the list about Rah Fontaine, I guarantee you they’ll mention his name! I think you guys and gals over there at OZONE should mention it also. – Maurice Rounsaville, reesere@gmail.com (Jackson, MS) Ms. Beverly, I honestly do look up to you. On some real shit, you are my motivation. I’m a 19-year-old female, mother of one, and a full-time college student on the grind when it comes down to this music stuff. I am the only female member of an independent record label called Mo Midi Music and I do all the behind-the-scenes shit. I know before you had your own mag, niggas might have talked down on you. Look at you now, though. Bottom line, reading your mag lets me know that anything is possible. – Mo Midi Music (San Diego, CA) OZONE is a killer mag. I’ve been into Hip Hop for years and the journalism was never up-to-par. You guys are really pushing the bar out there now. I just discovered this mag about 3-4 issues back, so you’re still breaking new ground with your hustle. Keep up the good work. Damn! Now the best rapper is white and the best mag is run by a white chick. Even if I was black and a hater I’d find that funny, but I’m an internet person – I have no color and am not that amused. You should have a few reader contests and maybe some polls as well, and get a webpage going. XXL had an awesome online contest. – Rory McLaughlin, rory_28@hotmail.com I love OZONE. I’m a jock at a radio station in Shreveport, and music is my life! I couldn’t believe Kisha hated on Hurricane’s “A Bay Bay” in “10 Things I’m Hatin’ On.” If Rick Ross, who raps about all the cocaine he sold/uses, why can’t a rapper with a catchy song get some love? I’d be lying if I said “A Bay Bay” was my favorite song, but Hurricane is the first rapper from Shreveport to make it this far and I support my city. Can everyone else do the same? – Lil D, tessababy2004@aim.com (Shreveport, LA) I live in Australia via Africa. I’m a fan of your magazine but we don’t get it over here so it’s a website thing to read ‘em. As a longtime fan, I would appreciate some answers to my questions. I was wondering how DJ Drama gets 14 // OZONE MAG
JB, I just picked up the new issue of OZONE and you did it again. I feel that it’s becoming the best magazine covering the music culture. I’m from the East Coast, but I can tell that you and your staff is really putting in the work. It shows. In the Pimp C article, he sure expressed himself – and also followed it up on a radio station in Atlanta. That little article in your magazine made headlines throughout the industry and sure made an impact. It had people checking for OZONE even if they weren’t before. I know it wasn’t a publicity stunt or for sales, which was even more intriguing. I just wish more artists would express themselves like Pimp C – not for controversy purposes but just because I’m sure there are a lot of artists who feel like him but are just scared to express themselves in that manner because of the press or the confrontation. Pimp C said that there was a Part 2 coming, so if it’s anything like the first one, oh boy! With the Benzino article, you proved that you are a woman and in this crazy industry you also have class. Much respect for giving a man that disrespected you a voice in your pages and showing that you are the better person. To be honest, when I saw the article I was surprised, but it also put a smile on my face because it shows that with you it’s business not personal. Tell Delta or any airline you travel to not give you a hard time, because you’re on a mission. - Rinarys “Sincere” Matos, matosr2@corning.com I just finished reading the June 2007 issue and I loved JB’s 2 Cents. You’re right – why is it that ladies always have to lower themselves for men, dress inappropriately, and get called all sorts of trashy names, and they still respond? They follow men like they’re on a leash. Your write-up has opened up a can of worms, but the worms have been around before you and I have. I’m like you – we should dress however makes us comfortable. I’m with you, Julia. Keep doing what you and the team at OZONE do. I’m loving the magazine and the South is awake! – Coconut Fob, myspace.com/coconutfob (Sydney, Australia) You were wrong in JB’s 2 Cents. Although I can understand the reason you feel like it’s a hopeless situation with these idiots in the industry, it’s not hopeless. Those girls you are referring to have never had a voice of their own. You’re now in a position to do something about it. – Sonya Blankinship, sonyaeb@yahoo.com I saw that article you did on Yukmouth in the last issue online. That shit was pretty tight. Y’all cover a lot of Bay Area artists in OZONE West but you can’t find the magazine anywhere in the Bay. What’s up with that? – Keita Jones, frozen2golden@yahoo.com (California)
Editor Responds: Check 7-11! Eric Perrin’s joke about Virginia Tech wasn’t cool. Hate all you want, but it’s just not cool to say that these people could still be with us if girls had put out. That’s pretty low. For all we know, that Asian kid could have been gay. Everything else was funny, but this joke came a little too soon. – Shanette Little, shanetta.little@coxradio.com (Orlando, FL) God bless you! I really smell myself to fill with enthusiasm as soon as I find the OZONE Mag. I live in Haiti and I adore the OZONE Mag because I would like to know all about the artists such as Akon, he is an artist I like so much. – Josue Wandlyne, wandeeby07@yahoo.fr (Haiti)
Correction: Fred Taylor, featured in photo #15 on page 27 of the August issue, was incorrectly labeled as Ray Lewis.