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ake notice. B.O.B./QP Records and the All-Stars are about to change the way that you look at St. Louis rap music. Technically, they’ve been an entity since the early 90s, but 2006 is shaping up to be the year that they finally get the recognition that they feel they deserve. Their Aphilliates’ produced Hustle & Flows mixtape is out now, and they are also putting the finishing touches on their nationwide debut project. We recently caught up with the label CEOs Guccio and Just Black as well as the All Stars themselves (Top Dollar, Trust, Vic Damone and D-Mac) to talk about the group’s history and why major labels should be itching at the chance to do business with them. We could sit here a talk you to death about why they’re poised to do some big things over the next year or so, but it sounds a lot better coming from them. What kind of feedback have you been getting from the mixtape you did with DJ Drama? Guccio: We’re getting some astronomical feedback from the Drama mixtape we did. Some people think we came from out of nowhere, but we’ve been grinding for years. This goes back to 1990. Just Black had a hit record and I had a hit with another group. We two niggas from different sides of town who have come together and locked this shit down. Whoever said kings couldn’t come to a table and make moves together is damn liar. Just Black: I was the CEO of my own label, Black on Black. Guccio had Good As Gold. We both had hit records out there and we merged companies in around ’97. So now it’s called Black On Black/Quit Playing. What was the St. Louis rap scene like in 1990? A lot of people are unaware. Guccio: In the 90s, St. Louis was on the harmonizing rap like Bone. Just Black: The streets at that time were influenced by West Coast music. They embraced the East too, but it was really West Coast influenced. Top Dollar: At the time we had just got an artist who got national recognition, Silky Smooth and JCD. They had just got a deal and our Black was the first dude doing gangsta music. A lot of underground artists was doing their thing but no one was working together. Vic Damone: Back in the day. It was a lot of cats trying to get on, but I don’t even remember a lot of studios being open. It was only a few really doing it. I know speaking for myself, I had about 8 notebooks of rhymes but nowhere to record. Just Black: We were the inventors of gangsta music in our city. We got records in rotation back in 1990. We didn’t know that we would be coming full circle over ten years later. Cities like Houston and Memphis are known for their independence. Talk about St. Louis’ independent scene. Just Black: We got all our own shit. Manufacturing, printing, all of that. But there ain’t enough niggas keeping it real. Niggas in the industry are handcuffing. Of course niggas got to promote themselves, but you should also promote people around you. If you help niggas from your city, that doesn’t hurt you, that’s just gonna help add to your value. Niggas in the city don’t do it like they do in Atlanta. Midwest niggas are too afraid to do that. I’ll tell you what Nelly, Chingy and J-Kwon mean to the city. And I’ll tell you what we mean too. I’m gonna tell you what’s hot and what’s not. I’ll take you on a tour of the city and show you. That’s what makes us different from other independent labels. Our foundation is based on unity and hard work. Vic Damone: I think we changed the game. Guccio and Black was doing it big independent in ’95 and then you got All Stars dropping on the radio. No disrespect, I think we made a lot of cats step their game
up because were came hard. Guccio and Black was doing shows out of town because no one was popping in the Lou. Everybody that was doing their thing was just keeping it to themselves. Trust: We a big part of the change in St. Louis. The same way as Nelly and them brought it to the map, we did the same thing around ’99. Everybody started getting seriously on the grind and getting money after seeing what we was doing. What is your situation right now? Guccio: We not really tied through a major. We got a situation with Universal, but we might use that for video distribution. But really, it’s time for us to start sitting down with the chess players like Kevin Liles, Lyor Cohen and Jimmy Iovine. Just Black: But shout out to Jim Jones too, he’s opening up doors for the independents. Pac and Big wont die in vain as long as we keep this independent street shit alive. Guccio: Some people just wanna get involved with businessmen, like us. The majors are looking for people like us. We got the buzz, we got the BDS spins, we got Soundscan numbers. Just Black: We got credibility as being businessmen for over a decade. And we got credibility in the streets as the trillest and the realest. Those the type of niggas that can sit down with an A man and a B man to create a C plan. When you think of the artists and music that’s been coming from St. Louis, you think of partying and pop music. How do you feel about the current representation of your city? Guccio: We hear that a lot, but this is a business. If you crossover to pop get that money, do what you do. But when it comes to lifestyles and what it is, you gonna know who the streets belong to when you get there. But yeah we’re aware of that pop music stigma, but the feedback we’re getting tells us that people are ready for the other side. Just Black: It’s been repped cool to a certain point. St. Louis has given the world a lot of feel-good music, but they’ve yet to hear the street music. And they hearing it here through us. This is what people want. When you talk the streets, that’s the real deal. Its not a hit record out right now that don’t have poverty in it. Whether it’s country, rap, pop, folk, I don’t give a fuck what it is. There’s some poverty in them strings or something that’s attracting your soul to that street ghetto living that’s selling that record. We can gloss it up and turn it into something that we can dance to at the club But that shit that’s intimate involves situations in our lives. That’s street music, man! Top Dollar: I think its past time for the streets. Everybody is waiting for something from the streets of St. Louis. Everybody loves the Lou but they never see the streets, they just hear about it. Vic Damone: As far as the industry, they ready for groups like us out the ‘Lou. We ahead of our time. We’ve been dropping hot shit consistently. We’ve had straight bangers on the radio. What are you going to let the world know about the ‘Lou? Vic Damone: I rep the ‘Lou, but I’m from East St. Louis which is another state. I been a lot of places, especially in the Midwest, but St. Louis definitely got their own state of mind. It’s a small city full of big city niggas. Top: We putting out realness. In the Lou if a nigga don’t like you, he just don’t like you. We talking about real shit, that’s what you’ll know about St. Louis. You know you running into some realness. Trust: It’s a small city, but it’s a grinding city. We done had somebody like Nelly sell ten million records so that brought a lot of notoriety to a small city. Everybody can kick the shit at that level. We just needed to take the lid off the city. Since you’re making street music and reality music, are we going OZONE
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