apy
Release Ther
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The year was 2003 and The Federation had next. With arguably the best producer (Rick Rock) in the Bay behind them, a powerful label in Virgin Records and a song – “Hyphy” – that ultimately launched an impending movement of the same handle, it was only a matter of time. The album that followed was supposed to put them over the top and into the mainstream as the true innovators they were. Instead, they were shelved and never got the opportunity to truly represent. After leaving Virgin, a bidding war ensued and The Federation decided to go with to Warner Brothers, who plan on releasing their heavily anticipated album It’s Whatever this fall. Goldie, the most hyphy of the three man cog relives the whole damn thing with some choice words for his Yay Area peers, the industry and Tom?
still. He was a gangsta. Don’t get me wrong. He was a gangsta, mack, and a rapper, but he made it cool for niggas to have fun. Ever since Mac Dre passed niggas is not havin’ fun out here no more. That’s real shit. I mean, we celebrate, but it’s like, “Damn, we missin’ somethin’.” We missin’ a presence out here and it got everybody fucked up. Me and Mac Dre from the same part of Vallejo, North Vallejo, so it hit me hard.
The reason why I feel the movement went wrong is that muthafuckas jumped on the bandwagon and didn’t have enough talent and know how to represent us right. By Myspace being the biggest thing in the world right now, a mu’fucka could do a song, jack a Rick Rock beat, try and steal the mojo and the sound that the Federation created, without acknowledging us, create a myspace page and call it the hyphy movement. But you ain’t put no work in as far as being a real artist.
The Sideshow
To each his own, but we complainin’ why the Bay is fucked up and why this so called hyphy movement is dead? I wouldn’t say it’s dead. I support it 100%, but at the same time it’s hurtin’ us. There’s no unity out here. They see this man over here. He got a chance to shine in the spotlight. Encourage him. Don’t bring him down and wanna do diss records on a nigga. Push that man. You see all the Southern states are lining up. They sharin’ cars, sharin’ money, sharin’ chains and sharin’ homes. Real shit. Come get in my video and get in my song. I may not even like you, but it’s money involved. Look at Houston. Look at Miami. Look at Atlanta. They dominate the top ten countdown. If we learn from our South cousins, we might get somewhere. Unify. You ain’t gotta kick it wit’ me and be my friend. But we need to push each other. It can be saved, but the proper people got to acknowledge the proper mu’fuckas that’s in power. I’m not about to mention anyone in particular, ‘cause we’re all wrong. I’ll put the blame on me. We created this fuckin’ monster. We didn’t create the word “hyphy,” but the sound sonically, we created this monster. We created this so-called movement. So we’re all to blame. It’s no one person to blame in particular and that’s being unselfish and being a real nigga. I’ma blame myself before I blame the next mu’fucka, ‘cause I’m not a hater. I just tell the truth. The truth ain’t hatin’. San Quinn shoulda been put in the spotlight. Laroo shoulda been put in the spotlight. Dirty Mackin’ definitely shoulda been put in the spotlight. We can take it back to 2003, what was KMEL playin’? If it was Bay music, which they were rarely playin’, San Quinn was holdin’ it down. He was doin’ drops, everything. But our music sonically was mobbed out Bay shit, get a bitch to sing the hook, talkin’ bout some pimpin’ and hoein’… but mob shit and gangsta shit too tho. So we was like fuck it, let’s go to the drawing board. E-40 came to us and was like, “Let’s create a sound for us.” It was mu’fuckas that was holdin’ us down. Keak Da Sneak was holdin’ us down. He stayed doin’ his thing. It’s just a lot of people. C-Bo shoulda been acknowledged. He from Sac, but it’s still Northern California. The Team shoulda been acknowledged and Mac Dre goes without a spoken word. He was the one who made the Bay wanna party. When we were doin’ bad, when ‘Pac died and we were in a slump, Dre, sonically and the role he played in the hyphy movement, he made us have fun
// OZONE WEST
It’s a lot of artists that shoulda been recognized. When we did our hyphy shit back then it was some shit called “The New Bay.” Everybody wanted to jump on that, which was cool! But, we prevailed with our own sound sonically – handcrafted and resurrected the Bay. That’s what we did.
They need to turn it into a sport, cause you can’t control it. Go to Oakland Coliseum, rope off a big ass section of the parkin’ lot so it’s safe, fun and confined. It was like some player shit back in the day. You had Money Makin’ Mitch and them and they had the stage back then. The sideshow was some shit to where you throw on some fine linens, go up there and a bitch got at you. The dopegame was good, so the money was better. Now sideshows done turned into a mu’fucka hit they car they stomp it out, they shoot a nigga. Niggas hittin’ bitches with they cars, killin’ em and shit. The Industry
It’s really not their fault, but they blew it up. It’s like one day you the champion and the next day you washed up. The powers that be tried to sneak and have artists come in and do hyphy shit. They get at artists that ain’t from the Bay, ain’t got no ties to the Bay and ain’t paid no homage to the Bay and tell them to do a hyphy track. I know, cause I been in the studio workin’ wit em. They’re trying to push us back away like the industry’s been doing from the beginning. That’s what the industry does. The industry is a cold muthafucka. “Oh Boy!”, “Fa Sheezy,” “My Nizzle,” “H to the Izzo…” All that came from the Bay! If the Bay comes up with something, the industry is like, “Ok, that’s hot but, let’s have this region say it. Let’s pay for the spins and put them in the bright lights and all this shit.” The industry is a cold muthafucka. They be at them desk jobs ridin’ off they power and whatnot and really don’t do shit. How you gon’ break ground if you scared to work? How you gon’ make a platinum artist and get that plaque if you scared to work? It don’t work like that. ‘Cause us, The Federation, we bust our ass like we got those desk jobs on top of havin’ to rap, on top of doin’ all the technical shit that goes along with it. I be feelin’ like, fuck it, give us the corporate card. We from the Bay, our corporate cards is bitches and our muthafuckin’ mouthpiece. The Revival
It ain’t even really went nowhere. It’s just not makin’ noise to their standards, but come out here to Northern California. Go to LA. Go to Vegas. Come to the West Coast and really do your own footwork. Don’t go by what an A&R is telling you that brought an artist to you through our market on a promo run. Go see what’s goin’ on for yo’ mu’fuckin’ self. We haven’t even got started, and I’m speaking sonically for The Federation, because we are the forefront – not even of the movement, but of this Northern California takeover. Matter of fact, the whole muthafuckin’ West Coast takeover. We’re here. //