UG Rap Community

Keak da Sneak
Interview by Black Dog Bone

You’ve been performing in a lot of clubs around the Bay. How do you get these shows?

My shit is hot right now. I have been doing hella shows in San Francisco, Monterey, Sacramento, Oakland. I don’t have a manager right now, so everybody has been calling me. It’s just straight through me and I’m just on the go. I did two shows in San Jose in one night at the Beehive. In San Francisco at Club Spy. I’ve been to a lot of different clubs. I’ve been turnin’ it out.

Have you been getting paid good for doing the shows?

I get paid good. Big crowds, Packed. The house is packed every night I do a show. And everybody that comes through the Bay Area that’s major, I open up for them. And I make it hard for them, too. Like Big Gip came out here from the Goodie Mob. He came to Club Base in San Francisco. I did a show with him and Knocturn’l from LA. It was Keak da Sneak, Knocturn’l and Big Gip at Club Base. I topped it. But Big Gip turned it out too. He was good.

Of all the shows that you’ve been playing, which did you have the best time?

All of them. I did one at Space 5050 with Keak da Sneak, Lil’ Flip and Cellski. That was big. I’ve been doing so many shows that I’ve been given a chance to do a variety of my songs. I get a chance to perform a different show every night, a different roster of songs off the album. It’s been good. I’ve been giving my fans a chance to see me and actually doing their favorite songs. When I come off stage, somebody might be like, "why didn’t you do song number thirteen or why didn’t you do song number eight," so I do that on my next show. I could show you better than I can tell you.

When you do your show, do you do songs from your old albums or your new ones?

I go from Sneakacidle to my new album. I do all my hits. I always give that to them.

Are you planning to travel and perform in the South and the Midwest?

I’m ready right now. I’m open. Right now, that’s where I’m at. I need to venture off right now. I need to expand. I’m ready to hit the South and the Midwest hard right now. I’m originally from the South. All my family is in Alabama. Mobile and Brewton, Alabama.

Did both of your parents come from the South?

They’re both from the South. They’re both from Alabama. My dad’s name is Charles Calvin. My mom’s name is Shirley Jean Williams. They’re both from Mobile, Alabama and Brewton, a little city in Alabama. They were born and raised there.

Did they move to California after they got married?

No. I was thirteen when my mom and dad got married. My dad was married five times. I got eight brothers and three sisters. I’m the baby. I’m the last boy. My dad kidnapped me and brought me to California, and forced my mom to come out here. We’ve been out here ever since.

Were you thirteen years old when you came here?

No, I was six months. I was born in Alabama. Then my dad kidnapped me and my sister. My dad had been married five times. My mom is his last wife.

Your mother followed you out here?

Yep. We ended up in West Oakland.

Are all your sisters and brothers from your father’s marriages in the South still?

They’re in Oakland right now. My dad was already out here. He was already coming to California and going back to the South, coming to California and going back to the South. He already had family out here. He moved back to Alabama and he built a nightclub from scratch called "The Half Moon." That was like in 1975.

What made your dad move to Oakland?

That’s something I couldn’t speak on right now during an interview. When my dad met my mom, she was nineteen or twenty. I got an older sister, she’s twenty-eight. I’m twenty-six.

Was there a lot of music in your house when you were growing up?

Yeah. My mom was a deejay. Her and my Auntie Betty. They were called "The Noisemakers." They deejayed all the clubs in Oakland. They used to go out and leave me. I used to have babysitters and shit like that. My mom stayed partying all night. My dad stayed chasing her. There was a lot of, I could say love and excitement in my life. My family is beautiful. It’s real raw and uncut, and it’s love.

Was your mom deejaying during the rap time?

No. Earlier. It was in the eighties. It was a lot of murders going in Oakland. I remember a time I couldn’t walk to school by myself because it was real rough. Music stayed in my life. My dad and my mom played nothing but oldies all day. They got a collection of records everywhere. I fell in love with music when I was five, six, seven or eight years old, not knowing that I would be actually doing it. I learned from music. I was one of the guys who used to be able to memorize songs by heart after I heard them two or three times, off the radio. Freddie Jackson and Barry White. Old songs my mom used to play.

You could probably sing really good too.

Nah. Singers can rap, but rappers can’t sing.

I don’t believe that. I really think that rappers should sing their own hooks.

I think singing is an art just like rap.

If you can rap and you got music in you. Singing is so natural for us.

Right. but I never trained my voice for singing. My thing is talking. Rap is more like talking. It’s more expressive. Singing is more from the gut. It’s like crying out.

Don’t you start singing when your favorite song comes on the radio?

No. I might hum it. It might give me chills. I might get the real feel of it. I might play. It’s like funnin’.

What kind of music was going on in your house when you were growing up?

Freddie Jackson, Curtis Blow, Sugar Hill Gang, Parliament, Barry White, Anita Baker, Aretha Franklin, Temptations, Smokey Robinson. As a kid when rap came into play it was Too Short, Freaky Tales.

Was there a lot of rap going on in your house?

No rap. My cousin Bobo from Alabama, he was rapping back then. He was always rapping. He’s a lot older than me. My big cousin, on my mother’s side. He inspired me to rap.

What was Oakland like when you were growing up?

It was pretty hardcore. It was real hardcore. Oakland never changes. Oakland is a real hardcore city. If you could survive Oakland you could survive anywhere. I honestly believe that.

Were the Black Panthers in Oakland when you were growing up?

I was kind of young. I heard all about it but I was a little younger than that. I’m twenty-six now. That had already passed.

What school did you go to in Oakland and what was it like?

My elementary school was Allendale. As I can remember, I always was popular. Everybody knew me. Not even from rappin then. I just had a magnetic personality. I was like a magnet. Everybody was attracted to me. We had a thing called "tapping" back then, talking about people. I used to do that the best. The majority I used to get into was from tappin on niggaz. I used to have people crying from laughing. Comedy is definitely in my family.

Maybe that helped you in rapping too?

Right. I play sports too. My dad tried to hide the streets from me. But when I turned nine, ten and eleven, my friends was driving to school in elementary. They was driving cars in the fifth and sixth grade. I started getting infatuated by things. I wanted to learn how to drive. I pursued on learning how to drive. I used to steal my mom’s car. She started letting me drive.

What school did you go to next?

I went to Bret Hart Junior High.

Had you started rapping by that time?

Yeah. I had started rapping in elementary school. I always rapped. I always had a rap to say. At all my family functions or whatever, they used to say, "give Keak the mic, Keak has got something to say." I was young and my whole family used to motivate me. They used to clap. Even if it wasn’t good it was funny to them. That I actually had the gall to stand up in front of everybody and act like I thought I was a superstar back then. I was eight or nine. I got pictures of that too.

Had you made up your mind at an early age that this was what you were going to do when you grew up?

I was focusing in on sports. That was how we had fun. That’s how we got our laughs. We used to rap and talk about people. That was fun to us. I more or less loved to do it. Spontaneously, whenever.

What do you remember from childhood growing up in Oakland?

There’s nothing like Oakland. It’s hard. Oakland is my everything. My home, my style, how I dress, how I talk, how I act. Oakland is my whole world. I am Oakland. I can honestly say that. I’ve been there since I was six months. I grew up in West Oakland and I grew up in East Oakland. Oakland is my everything. It’s all I know. I know Oakland like the back of my hand. That’s all I can think about is Oakland. Oakland made Keak da Sneak. I can say that I am Oakland made. It’s in me. I’m the Oak spokesperson. E-40 is the ambassador and I am his nephew. E-40’s from Vallejo.

When did you start hearing a lot of Oakland rap going on?

I was about ten, eleven or twelve. I was listening to Freaky Tales. Too Short. That was everything. Too Short was Oakland, period. Dangerous Dame. They paved the way for somebody from Oakland to say, "Yeah, I’ll rap, too."

What other artists do you remember from that time?

Five & Dime, Digital Underground, Tupac, Bad Influence. That’s a little later. Too Short, E-40, The Click, Mac Dre.

What about some of the Richmond rappers like Magic Mike and Calvin T?

I was too young for them. The first time I heard of Calvin T and them I was young. I know who they are now, but I can’t quote none of their raps. But I knew Too Short and E-40.

What happened to get your rap career going?

I started seeing it and I started realizing I can do this.

Were you rapping with people from the hood?

I was solo. I was just Keak da Sneak.

How did you get the name Keak?

A friend of mine who stayed next door to me when I grew up. I used to sneak out of my house every night because I wanted to be outside with the older kids. I used to have go in the house at seven or eight o’clock before the streetlights went on. When the streetlights went on I had to go in the house before it got dark. I used to jump out the window. My friend Tone called me Keak da Sneak. I used to get caught every time. They used to tear my ass up.

What would you be doing out in the streets?

I was just out there observing. Seeing what it was people was doing. My dad tried to hide the game from me. He didn’t want me to be in the streets. My dad wanted me to play sports. I was infatuated by it and I wanted to see it. We were staying in Section 8, low income apartments on High Street. I wanted to be outside. I never hung out with guys my age. All my friends were older than me.

Were your older brothers living at the house?

No. They were all scattered out in East Oakland. They were a lot older than me. My oldest brother is fifty right now. My dad is seventy-six.

He had you when he was older?

Yeah. He was in his late forties. My mom was nineteen when he met her.

Do you look like your mom or your dad?

I’m a reflection of both of them.

Is your dad a big guy?

In his day. I’ve seen a dramatic change in my dad all my life as I grew. He was always older. My dad always had gray hair. He used to die his hair black. I remember back then.

Is your mom still being a deejay?

My mom still deejays right now. My mom is my number one fan. She is a music fanatic. Music is in my family, period. I can’t say honestly say everybody was doing it. I am the first person who stepped up and actually tried to pursue a career out of it. There’s a lot of talented people in my family who never really gave it a shot. Music wasn’t paying their bills. I sacrificed everything for my music, because I love it, for no money. I still do it like that.

Is your family proud of you?

My family never took me serious. They wanted to see me but it was just entertainment. Right now they are proud of me. I was trying to prove to them all this time that I could do it because it was a joke. I stuck at it. My mentality was that I wasn’t ever going to quit it.

You are like a fresh new artist even though you have been doing it for so long. People sometimes don’t know about the old Keak.

I’ve been doing this for many moons.

When did you start the group Duo Committee?

That was like 1991. That was me and Agerman. That happened in Oakland at Bret Hart Junior High. Me and Agerman went to the same junior high together. Agerman was my whole motivation into the game. He was in the studio rapping before me. I was still in my room just rapping off other peoples’ beats and instrumentals. My mom was a deejay, so I had 1200’s. I had mixers and mikes in the house. He was actually in the studio on the eight track. Me and Agerman used to rap at school everyday.

Is he from Oakland too?

Agerman’s from Oakland. We finally decided to hook up because we ran the shit. We used to do assemblies at the school and perform live at talent shows. And we used to win every year. People would come to school that whole year just to hear us rap at the end of the school year. I was playing football too. I was serious about that too so it was hard for me to make that decision. But by the time I got into eleventh grade we had a major deal with Virgin Records for 3XKrazy.

How did all that come about?

Me and Agerman was doing a show on Channel 13. We was really calling up and getting in there, and we was winning. We hooked up with AWOL Records. It was just Keak da Sneak and Agerman, the Duo Committee.
How did you hook up with T of AWOL?

He recognized us at Hip Hop on the Green. It was in San Jose in 1993. C-Bo had just came out with Gas Chamber. Marvalous was finna come out. We ripped the whole concert. We didn’t even have a tape in the store. They didn’t know who we was. All they knew was we was the Duo Committee. We turned the whole concert out. Our rap style. That 3Xkrazy style. We was doing that same style, no cussing, back then.

Who was on the Hip Hop on the Green show with you back in 1993?

It was C-Bo, Marvelous, JT the Bigga Figga, E-40. It was a lot of people there that day. Master P was even there, before No Limit and all that. We turned the whole concert out.

What did T from AWOL say?

They got with us. We was already up on the Gas Chamber. They had sold damn close to a hundred thousand, eighty thousand and something. Back then, independently, AWOL Records was making noise. We hooked up with them. I was fourteen. Agerman was fifteen. We just wanted to get in the game. We didn’t know nothing. All we knew was that we wanted to have a tape out. That was our main thing. We didn’t know about money and getting rich yet. We just wanted our tape out and get heard. I had been trying to prove to myself and my family that I’m Keak da Sneak. I was tired of people laughing at me when I rap. I wanted them to enjoy this shit. We signed the contract. He gave us a contract and we signed it. We didn’t know what we were signing. We wanted our tape out. We were like, "When do we get in the studio?" T had a lot going on with C-Bo and he had a lot of different artists. We had two albums written already. All we needed was beats and studio time because we’ll rap for hours. We was young and we was trying to prove that we are the shit. Fullamatic 9 was the name of our style.

What did it mean?

Like a Fullamatic AK 9. Back then I was listening to Twista and Bone. The flow.

Were you influenced at that time by Twista and Bone?

I can’t say they influenced us, but we was loving their style because they rapped similar to the style that we had. We had a style that was different from theirs, but we was rapping fast, flowing. It wasn’t the Midwest. It was straight Oakland.

What happened with the AWOL deal?

They never had a chance to put us in the studio. We stayed on hold for so long. We started calling them and they stopped returning our phone calls. Me and Agerman jumped on the Hot Posse. That was the first thing to hit the stores with my voice on it. It sold a hundred thousand. "Stomping in My Steel Toes".

That was the first time you appeared on a record?

Yes. And it came out and sold a hundred thousand independent. I was hearing people riding by in cars playing my voice. Back then when I would tell people it was me, I would have to really rap it because they wouldn’t believe me. We hooked up with Bart. Bart and Agerman were partners. I met Bart through Agerman. He was also from Oakland. We didn’t do any recordings as Duo Committee when we were signed to AWOL. We put Bart in the group and we changed our name to 3XKrazy. And we proceeded doing what we was trying to do with AWOL but with Dollars & Spence, our new label.

Whose label was that?

Tone Capone and Lance Spencer. That was ’94. Now we are performing as 3XKrazy. We did Boss Ballin, the first compilation that D-Shot put out. That sold a hundred thousand. I remember because I was going to Fremont High School then. I was in the tenth grade. We did the "Hit the Gas." I had started stealing cars. I take real events out of my life and re-enact them in my songs. But not to incriminate nothing that I done that wasn’t safe. I was actually getting into high speeds. The first time I went to jail was for car theft.

Were you doing that for fun?

No. I knew all about cars. I used to sell car parts. That was my hustle then. I wasn’t selling dope yet. I was selling car parts. Rims. I remember because everybody used to drive Mustang 5.0’s. I used to have chrome ponies, hoods, doors, whatever you needed. If your front end was fucked up, I would sell you the whole car. Not to glorify that now, but that’s what I was into. I did that until I started going to jail. They started finding my fingerprints. I was fifteen, sixteen. I was going to juvenile hall. They had me on probation. My mom and them didn’t know what to do. They were going crazy. They called me the fuck up kid back then. I was the problem child of the family. I was going crazy. I had got wild and I was in the streets.

Were you interested in school at all?

I was. I gave a fuck about school. I made sure I went to school every day. I might not have went to all my classes, but I went to school everyday, the classes I liked.

What were your favorite classes?

Vocabulary, reading and comprehension. I used to write poetry. I’m a writer. I can honestly say I’m a writer. I’m working on writing a book on my life right now. I’m really a writer. And I’m an entertainer before just being a rapper. I really entertain. I been doing live gigs in front of my family when I was eight and nine with a microphone. Before they was clapping they was at least laughing because they couldn’t believe I got up there. I wasn’t afraid to get in front of people with the mic.

How did it go with Dollars and Spence?

We signed another contract that we didn’t know what it said. We did four songs and they told us we can’t finish the album until we sign the contract. So we signed the contract. Next thing you know we had done two albums, Sick-O and Stackin Chips. They still have songs right now; they could do a 3XKrazy album up right now. Because back then that was our main thing. Even when I started rappin, I had to have at least seven songs of me back to back to back to hear. That way I knew I wasn’t rapping the same and I wasn’t saying the same thing. I wanted to do a whole LP. Most cats have problems writing one song. I can really honestly say that I do albums. I got to do ten songs or more and hear for myself back to back in song order. Even back then I had to take a picture of me, fold it up and make it seem like it was an album cover.

How did it work out with all three of you rapping together?

It was a good experience. I was always a solo artist though. I always was Keak da Sneak. It was all a stepping stone to get to where I am now. Now, I am at thirty thousand plus independently on my third solo album. I’m getting two hundred spins plus from KMEL a week. I paved the way to be where I am right now. I always knew that I wanted to run my own business. I never felt like I got gaffled. All I knew was that I needed to be heard first. Once they hear me then I’m going to take control of the whole situation.

It’s a good thing you got this chance with KMEL that they started playing you.

Their support was like the piece to my puzzle. I’ve been working to get them the material they need to play my shit because I always knew that I had singles. I never have to cuss to get my point across in my songs. I don’t have to say one cuss word to get my point across.

Did 3Xkrazy get signed to Virgin?

Yep. A hundred eighty thousand. Ton Capone got signed to Virgin. The Luniz got a deal with "I Got Five On It."

Were the Luniz in your camp?

Yeah. I met those guys. Being an Oakland rapper, when you hot, you hot. The word of mouth is everything on the independent level. The word was out there. We had been doing compilation tapes up the ass. We was on every compilation tape that you could think of, from Cell Block to Lock-N-Load.

Did those compilations help?

They helped because they got our name out there. The majority of the time we had the tightest song on the whole tape.

What other people were happening at that time?

Dru Down, Dangerous Dame, Souls of Mischief, Casual. We had a lot of competition. Bad Influence, Cydal. We had a lot of people to compete with. We was the second generation of Oakland Rap.

How was the sound different from what Too Short was doing?

With Cydal and 3XKrazy, there was more of a gangsta in it and Too Short was more about playa and pimpin’. We was still on the street. We was still on the block grindin’, selling dope. And then going to the studio with dope on us. After we recorded the songs we would have to go back to the block.

Did 3XKrazy record a lot of music for Dollars & Spence?

Dollars & Spence is the home of 3XKrazy. That’s who put us out there. Dollars and Spence was a whole new label. 3XKrazy was a whole new group. We didn’t have nobody. We didn’t have no push start. We kicked the door in. We had Tone Capone as our producer. He had did "I Got Five On It." That went platinum.

Virgin Records was signing up some Bay Area artists at that time. What happened with the 3X deal with Virgin?

We had a lot of people in our ear. We was young. We had signed contracts and we didn’t know what they fuck they said. I was seventeen and we were on a major label.

Did you have a lawyer look at your contract?

We was just doing it. We was young. All we knew was we wanted to be rich. We didn’t have no business sense at all. We just wanted to be rich. That’s all I was thinking.

Didn’t people around you tell you to get a lawyer before you sign the contract?

We was hard headed. We wouldn’t listen.

No matter what, it opened up more and more doors.

That’s all it really done. And we was young. We had time. We still was growing. I’m still growing now, but I’m business now. Everything happens for a reason. That’s how I take it now. I respect it now. I appreciate it more. Hard work and dedication.

How many albums did 3XKrazy have?

Four full length albums. Two of them was with Dollars & Spence. The other two were on two different labels. Let’s just say that. We sold them. We actually started doing albums and just selling them. Then we would split the money and it’s a done deal. Back then I was building my studio. I was getting the money and I was buying equipment.

Do you own those songs?

I own anything that my voice is on, I feel because I wrote it. That’s how I feel. I always can revamp the song. I’ll do a remix to it. I’ll do the beat and rewrap that same song, and whatever I got to do. I own everything that my voice is on. That’s how I feel about shit.

It doesn’t matter if someone has the original. You can redo it because you

are the master who did it.

Exactly.

Good. I’m glad you think like that.

I wrote the shit. Nobody can re-enact. I can always perform it and get my money.

What happened with 3XKrazy? The group broke up?

We grew up. Everybody went their separate ways.

Did Agerman go solo?

Yep. Bart went solo too. I love those guys to death like brothers, but I got focus in on Keak da Sneak right now because I got kids.

Do you think one day you might do another 3XKrazy album?

I’m gonna be the guy that brings that back together.

Did you become a solo artist after 3XKrazy broke up?

Yep.

What year was that?

That was 1998.

Then what happened?

I hooked up with my boy Kobe and we started Moe Doe Records. Kobe was fresh from college. He’s my business partner. It’s me and him. He’s my Damon Dash.

How did you meet?

We met through a friend of his and mine. Rest in peace, his name was Jay Sanderford. He died in a car accident out of town. Him and Kobe were best friends, and me and him were good folks. We grew up on High Street. Kobe was managing them back then. They was doing music too. They was called The Funks. That’s how I met Kobe, through The Funks. Kobe is business. He’s straight business.

But he understands the music too?

Period. He’s my number one fan. He was one of my fans before we got together. He’s one of the reasons why Keak da Sneak elevated his game. He’s the founder of Keak da Sneak. He’s everything right now with what I’m doing. There’s a lot of things I wasn’t looking at. He made me see things in a different way. He made me value shit in a different way. That’s my guy right there. That’s how I got this shit working right now.

On what label did your first solo record come out?

Moe Doe.

Even from the beginning of your solo career you had the Moe Doe Records?

We been doing it at Moe Doe since ’98.

How did that name come about?

Moe Doe is me and Kobe. We both got a business. We both got a talent and a gift. He’s more business and I’m the music person. That’s Moe Doe.

A lot of artists who were real big a while back, we don’t hear about anymore. A lot of artists just gave up, but you kept on doing it.

I’m more or less the guy that wants to tell those guys that if you don’t use it, you’ll lose it. And don’t ever stop doing what you started until you finish your project, and then you go to the next thing. I’m a firm believer in that.

Were you ever venturing out and going to the South?

I do all the time. They love me in the South. With 3XKrazy we had a full house all night. With Keak da Sneak, I had to start all over from scratch. But I had done that three times already. Me and Agerman doing Duo Committee. Then we had to start all the way over form scratch for 3XKrazy. I did that one more time. As Keak da Sneak, I had to start all the way over from scratch. I can’t base Keak da Sneak on 3XKrazy. Keak da Sneak is Keak da Sneak.

Did you think things would change for you also?

Faith. I keep the faith. Faith has been taking me a long way. I had a million percent faith that this was what was going to happen right now with me. If I kept doing what I was doing and I kept doing good music because I do that regardless. I do good music.

All of a sudden last year, in October or November, you started getting heavy rotation on KMEL. How did that happen?

They was bootlegging my album.

Who was?

Oakland. I’m a hot commodity out in Oakland. They got to have it. I can’t knock them for that. If you handling nothing, ain’t nobody gonna bootleg your music, if you ain’t the shit. We leaked a CD out and it was all over everywhere. KMEL got a dose of it. I was the hottest thing on the street before the album dropped. My album was bootlegged on the street for two months before it dropped. KMEL called me and asking what was that song "White T-Shirt, Blue Jeans & Nikes". I had been waiting for so long. That’s all I’ve been trying to do was do something hot that the radio was going to jump on. That’s all I needed was KMEL’s support.

"White T-Shirt, Blue Jeans & Nikes", that became the anthem of the Bay, and it still is.

Before the record even came out that was the anthem. That was the dress code.

Have other radio stations been giving you support?

Sacramento, Fresno, Santa Rosa, Monterey, Reno, Nevada. LA is starting to pick up. I’m on a spread right now. It is spreading out lovely right now.

Who was the person at KMEL who really gave you support?

Everybody. The whole staff at KMEL has been supporting me, especially when they heard the album. I want to tell them thanks a million.

It’s good for the Bay that KMEL has started playing some Bay Area Rap. Things are changing again in the Bay. We can hear Keak, Messy Marv, San Quinn on the radio now. You’re bringing the Bay back.

We were intentionally trying to do that.

How have you been doing with the album?

I’m at thirty thousand plus right now. I’m still selling fifteen hundred a week. I’m getting close to two hundred spins a week from the stations.

Do you feel like the door has been opened for you?

I feel like I kicked it in. I feel like I just kicked the door in.

What are your plans for taking it to the other level?

If you think you heard something, you ain’t heard nothing yet. If you like this, I got a lot in store for you all. I got something for the world right now.

Who makes most of your beats?

Actually, I make the beats. When I write songs I make the actual beat. Then I go and get a hot producer to make a beat into a track that I already got ready, off a beat I did.

You just get the technical side done, but you create the beat?

Yeah. The original beat comes from me. I like working with Rick Rock, Ton Capone, E-A-Ski, CMT, Fireworks, some young producers out of Sac. They are on the rise right now like Pete Bumble, The Mechanics. I got a lot of producers I work with.

People in the East Coast, South and the Midwest are just getting to know your record.

Yeah. It’s all up and coming right now. I can show you better than I can tell you. My expectations and inspirations are real big right now. I’m ready right now. It ain’t nothing I can’t do.

When you were making this album did you think that this song would be such a big hit? Why do you think this was the song?

It wasn’t about thinking. It was a done deal. I didn’t have to think about this. It was like, damn! This shit just grabbed me. Every time it comes on it grabs me. You know how long I had that song done before it came out? That song is damn near a year old now. I just now got it in the store. I’m like, this shit should have been out! I’ve been feeling like this for this song way before you all got it. I knew all my songs was going to do it.

The whole album is tight. You could put every song on the radio. Every song on the album is a single. I tailor made the whole album. The whole album is a single. All my songs I did for radio and video. That’s what I was thinking.

This is your third solo album. All your solo albums were on Moe Doe?

Sneakacidal was Moe Doe. Keak da Sneak is Moe Doe from the beginning. That album did sixty thousand with no video or radio play. And I still had singles. I had two singles on that album.

Was that just from the streets that it sold so much? Because the radio wasn’t doing much with those.

They couldn’t. It was something going on that I don’t really know too much about. My second album did close to thirty-eight thousand and I didn’t go nowhere. I didn’t even leave Oakland at all. I just stayed here because by the time we finished the album we didn’t have no money to promote.

Didn’t you have another last year called Farm Boys?

That was a compilation tape.

When I saw you at the photo shoot, I felt like Keak had gone to another level. You had said that you were living on a farm with your family. I could see it in you.

I’m real grounded right now. I family oriented. I’m surrounded by family and love. I don’t got no outsiders around me. I can really get peace of mind right now and do what I like to do. It make it hard for me to craft my art. When I’m going through shit is when the best music comes out of me. Everything ain’t fine and dandy, and everything ain’t real sweet right now. I’m still working. I still got to get up every day and work. I don’t feel like I got it made, or this album is the one I’m gonna blow up. I feel like I got a lot more work to do. That’s my main thing.

Are you staying on a farm with your family?

Yeah. My father’s side of the family stays in Sacramento. North Sacramento in El Paso Height. We got cows, goats, dogs. We got a real farm. I could show you better than I could tell you. We got a real farm. I want you to come see it for yourself.

wo bekomme ich eigentlich diese scheibe her? ich kann die wirklich NIRGENDS finden, weiss einer von euch zufällig rat?