editor’s note
Publisher Julia Beverly Editor-In-Chief N. Ali Early Art Director Tene Gooden Music Editor Randy Roper ADVERTISING SALES Che Johnson Isiah Campbell Contributors Big Fase 100 D-Ray DJ BackSide DJ E-Z Cutt Eric Johnson Jessica Essien Joey Colombo Keita Jones Luvva J Regi Mentle Shemp Todd Davis Ty Watkins Wendy Day Street Reps Anthony Deavers, Bigg P-Wee, Dee1, Demolition Men, DJ Jam-X, DJ Juice, DJ KTone, DJ Quote, DJ Strong & DJ Warrior, John Costen, Juice, Kewan Lewis, Maroy, Rob J Official, Rob Reyes, Sherita Saulsberry, Sly Boogy, William Major COVER CREDITS The Pack photos courtesy of Jive Records
ozone west 6 8 10 12 21 22-23 24 25 26
rap q west WEST IS BACKSIDE: mistah fab $hort stories Jayo Felony b legit The Outlawz dj 2 dj: Dj Fresh SLAP END ZONE
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PATIENTLY WAITING: young doe PATIENTLY WAITING: taje PATIENTLY WAITING: bueno PATIENTLY WAITING: jay rock
GROWTH SPURT
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eems like it was only a couple issues ago when I vented about this cat who said he wanted to help us out on the West Coast side of things. He’d made it clear to me that he wasn’t into “selling ads,” but was more of a “brand builder.” And then I… well, I responded on this here page. The funny thing is, that’s exactly what we seem to be doing. Since my exclusive “release therapy,” we’ve grown as much as I figured we would.
Unsurprisingly, OZONE West has moved to attract the Coast’s brightest young talent (Kafani, Hot Dollar, Willy Northpole, Glasses Malone, Bishop Lamont, etc.) and kept it funky with the vets (E-40, San Quinn, Too $hort, AMG, Quik, etc.) all the while. We’ve bonded with some of the most effective street promoters in the country and established a network of photographers, deejays and downright hustlers that continues to expand by the day. (Shouts to all the contributors from KC to Denver, Las Vegas to the Bay, Alaska, the City of Angels and everywhere in between, who don’t rest until we make it happen – every issue.) Plain and simple, we couldn’t do it without you. So, if you’ve followed OZONE West since its inception, you know very well that we have no problem keeping it lit for those who deserve it and Fabby Davis Jr. (pg. 8, DJ Backside) just happens to be perhaps our most popular subject who’s never graced the cover (Wassup widit Fab?). But we just couldn’t help it this time. I must have been in the office all of an
hour before I started getting emails and texts about what he’d done the night before. That YouTube is a muthafucka!! FAB granted us an exclusive, where he details his mindset going in and intermittent thoughts therein the battle that destroyed one of Detroit’s most heralded emcees. Moving on, the Outlawz (pg. 22), honorary West Coast affiliates for obvious reasons, shared their latest work of art with us whereby they welcomed back longstanding member Fatal Hussein. And again, thanks to our very helpful team, we managed to find our way out of the Bay and LA, scooping the comeback story of the millennium in San Diego bred Jayo Felony (pg. 12). Young Doe, the newest signee to Bay Area imprint City Hall Records, makes a second consecutive appearance for the 5280 and Bueno spreads “Good Game” (pg. 16) live and direct from Sacramento. I’d be remiss not to mention our cover subjects, The Pack (“The Fantastic Four,” pg. 18), whose Jive debut Based Boys, promises to be one of the strangest, most likable albums this year – give a fuck where you from. So get into it. Go make a turkey sandwich, pour a big ass glass of Kool-Aid (red of course) and read all about it. Holla if ya hear me! N. Ali Early Editor Ali.early@ozonemag.com
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