Words by Kay Newell // Photo by D-Ray
singles back to back to back. You can’t really refuse us on the next round. How did the song “Video Vixen” come about? BA: We did “Video Vixen” ‘cause we knew it was for the Too $hort compilation, and Too $hort’s favorite word is “bitch.” We wanted to give ‘em somethin’ that was evolved around that subject. Not necessarily that word, but somethin’ around it. We feel like every dude-even if they don’t right now-at one point they looked at a video girl and was like, “I wanna do that,” whether they admit it or not. I know a lot of girls that feel the same way, and even if she don’t wanna be a video vixen she lookin’ at herself in the mirror and sayin’, “I coulda been one of them.” Everybody’s gonna be able to relate to it a little bit. That was the first single for the I Love The Bay compilation.
Since releasing the album in ‘06 have things gone as planned? Band Aid: We were hopin’ for a deal. A few of them came our way. We wasn’t in it for the money ‘cause what they was offering we already got. [They were offering] a few hundred thousand, and people get happy with that few hundred thousand but don’t realize there’s a recording budget, marketing budget, and videos [included]. All of that and they in the hole. We ain’t playin’ that game. How did you guys come together? Scoot: I was doing my solo thang. Me and Band-Aide was in a crew with these niggas called Totally Insane which was my older homies. They let me get on they album in ’98, but I was doing some solo shit when Band-Aide came home from the pen. Before we was rappin’ we was on the block together, feel me? So there never was no beef between y’all? Weren’t you in Totally Insane and Band in a group called Neva Legal? Scoot: I was fuckin’ with them niggas too, but I was always a solo act. We was all just still one crew though. It ain’t like it was Totally Insane ova here, Neva Legal ova there. We was always one crew. You guys are good for doin’ mixtapes. BA: We got this new mixtape called the Cheech and Chong mixtape. We ain’t gave ‘em nothin’ since the last album. They can go to our website or our myspace and listen to it. We plan on droppin’ [the new album] in February, and we gotta couple of meetings with some ole big wigs, so it’s a real good look. Like I said, the money they was offering we already got, so it’s really business with us. Its pretty competitive in the Bay. Do you feel like underdogs? BA: We’re the dudes that’s always been reaching out with everybody in the Bay. When we did our song “Grown Man On” and did the remix, we reached out to everybody from the Bay. We been on some “let’s get our shit together” but you got a couple helium heads that felt like they gotta do it on they own and that’s good, too. But at the same time it’s lonely at the top and it’s hard to get there. Despite your last album droppin’ in ‘06 you guys are still actually promoting the album and releasing singles like it just came out. BA: We got this new video, the “Uggh” remix. We were gonna shoot a video for “Video Vixen,” and still might. That’s up in the air. We got two more videos that we gon’ shoot, and we just gon’ prepare to hit ‘em like the majors. Three
For those outside the Bay, explain a lil’ bit about East Palo Alto? BA: It’s two and a half square miles. We were the murder capital back in ‘92. That’s nothin’ to glorify, but that’s where a lot of people came up [that’s in this rap game]. It’s really a small city filled with Latinos, blacks and a few whites, Asians, pacific islanders, and we all in like one little area. It’s like in a hole, a cage. It’s the smallest city in the Bay Area and there’s a whole lotta tragedy out here. No doubt East Palo Alto is hard, and yet your Lawless record label has a longstanding history for giving back to the community. BA: We been raised around this shit so we tryin’ to show ‘em different-the young ones growin’ up under us. Not tryin’ to come off as no type of role model because I wouldn’t consider myself one, although I wouldn’t lead nobody down a one-way street. I wouldn’t have nobody runnin’ down no path of destruction. We try to lead them in a different way so they see there’s somethin’ else other than the street. We’ve gotten keys to our city and that didn’t mean shit ‘round here cause the police ran up in my grandma’s yard, searched me, stripped me down and took $6,000 out my pocket. I was on my way to a show, I had that money advanced [as a show deposit]. It didn’t really mean shit, but at the same time we were presented with that because of the hard work. We done threw free barbeques, free turkey giveaways, free backpacks for the kids, stop the violence concerts, all that shit out here. It really ain’t no gimmick. We give back to our hood, we been givin’ back to our hood. Would you classify yourselves as part of the hyphy movement? BA: They think the whole Bay is on the hyphy sound, but don’t get it twisted the whole Bay will get hyphy. Tupac was hyphy, E-40, Mac Dre-they been down since hyphy started so it’s just like your energy, and that’s all it is. In Northern California we carry a lotta energy about our stuff. It ain’t necessarily just the music, ‘cause we don’t have hyphy music. Not knockin’ nothin’ on hyphy, but people might think our sound is this way [when] you got muthafuckas from all over this whole Bay with all different sounds, and niggas be on some gutta shit. It’s like Atlanta; how Atlanta got a lot of different sounds. Speakin’ of being different, you guys did a commercial for the CW network? BA: We done been on the CW for the [sitcom] “Kings of Queens.” Our song has been played on TV for [MTV’s] “Rob and Big.” We’ve performed in penitentiaries. There’s hella shit about Dem Hoodstarz that people really need to know about. Like what? BA: Our song, “Grown Man” got more spins than any song in Bay Area history. It surpassed “I Got 5 On It” which had the most spins. //
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