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Interview
For people that don't know who Grandaddy Souf is, tell us a little about yourself?
I am a label mate to Akon, David Banner, Terror Squad, Remy Martin, Jae Millz, and Young Cash. I’m also a member of Hypnotize Camp Posse, the camp that brought you Project Pat, Three 6 Mafia, Frayser Boy, Lil Wyte, Chrome, and Boogie Man, so I’m the latest addition to the camp.
When did you start rapping, and when did you start taking the rap game seriously?
Basically I started out doing this in high school playing around. I didn’t really get serious with it until 1998 when I came out with my first album in 2000 entitled Da Drought and sold over 30,000 units of that album. Loud/Sony Records picked me up and Steve Rifkind got wind of how the project was doing. Lil Flip and I were the last two to get signed over there before they folded. I stayed with Steve and came over to SRC as the first flagship artist signed. SRC stands for Street Records Corporation.
As a kid you faced extreme poverty, racial prejudice blatant police harassment. How does that infect your style?
My style is derived from everything I’ve gone through, you know. I’ve considered music to be the soundtrack of my life. So when I give you the street side, I’m giving you something that was infectious to me at one point at one time in my life. When I’m giving you the political side, so that people know that I’m aware of what’s going on in the world – I am up on current events. As far as the racial prejudice, when I address that, it’s not like I’m addressing something that goes unwarranted. There are artists that talk about it. I consider my music ‘southern fried gumbo funk’ so I give you a little of everything. I give you the crime, the politics, racial shit, police harassment, the party, so that’s the soundtrack of my life.
You turned to athletics and music as your ticket out the hood. What was the major factor of becoming a rapper?
I had a love for music at an early age, but I really didn’t pursue music like that until I got in high school. But at an early age I was doing Pop Warner football. I was into sports because that was something more tangible, something that I felt like I really had control of because the music scene wasn’t that big in Florida where I grew up in Orlando. My cousin Magic Mike was doing it, but I wasn’t really experienced enough to get serious with it. I took athletics more seriously because I felt like it was more tangible and later I used that as a stepping-stone to get back to something that was my first love, this music. But at the same time, when I first came into it, I took the initiative to try to start a management company, try to put some money behind cats but niggas didn’t want to come to studio sessions on time, didn’t want to show up, so I was like fuck it, if any money gonna get fucked up, I’ma fuck it up. Plus I was doing most of the ghost writing for them niggas anyway – so that’s what made me get back into this shit on the rap side.
What were some of your first memories of hip hop?
My first memories of hip hop, I think about the big boom boxes, the ghetto blasters and niggas banging the old JT Money, Poison Clan, NWA, jamming the Jam Pony Express Mix tapes, and of course you had the NY rappers (Big Daddy Kane and all them), matter of fact, my favorite old school rapper was Rakim and I loved Slick Rick music because I felt like he was ahead of his time. You listen to his lyrics today and it fits right into today’s time. That’s how I feel Biggie’s music gonna be another 10-15 years from now. I feel like in the early days there was a lot of Pioneering going on and now it’s a lot of bullshit going on. You got a lot of trend-sweaters and not to many trend-setters.
How would you say you have grown as an emcee over the years?
I feel like I’ve grown as a recording artist because I’m more familiar with the jargon that’s used in the studio now. Before, I didn’t know the language, now I do I know how to speak to them and that helps me communicate with them better, on the technical side. As an artist on the writing side, I think my writing skills are pretty much the same. I sit down and take my time to write shit, my camp Three 6 Mafia teases me saying I’m the slowest writer in the world. My man DJ Scorpio out of Atlanta says the same thing (“I’ma keep it real with you dog you write slower than a muthafucka”) but it’s an issue of perfection with me, since I first came out I been doing shit like that. I might write 8 bars over six or seven time before I’m content with it--I still have that perfectionist vibe about myself. On the vocal side, I’ve learned to use my vocals in so many different ways that I didn’t in the past. I’m a lot more experienced with my ad libs. On my first album, Da Drought, I just jumped in there and did my thang. So back then, I considered myself a rapper, now I consider myself a recording artist.
What were some of the some of those rules you felt you had to follow?
I don’t believe in following rules, I’ve always believed in going against the grain. But lately, I’ve been torn between the mixtape game because people who are calling themselves DJ’s aren’t passionate about the music anymore. Everybody wants a quick fix, like these artists coming out, getting on real quick with one quick record and then they’re out of there. They’re like a leaf on a tree; a leaf comes every season and then dies and falls off. You’ve got the same thing with all these muthafuckas popping up calling themselves DJ’s and they’re competing with each other on this mixtape thang and they’re not giving records an opportunity to shine. If somebody gives you their acapella, their instrumental, and their regular version of a record then that right there equals three mixtapes that that artist should be on.
Nobody’s breaking records. I mean you take the acapella and put it over somebody’s beat that’s known – that’s one mixtape, then you come back and take the instrumental and put someone else’s acapella over that-that’s mixtape #2 – then you come back with the regular version of the song. You should be able to get 3 mixtapes out of one song. But you give a muthafucka a record then they’re calling you 2 weeks later, saying “hey man I need something else”, then 1 week later, “hey man I need something else”. They’re not breaking records, I want them to make their money, but they done got lazy they’re not working, so I’m finding myself having to do a whole lot of extra work, but it’s a lot of unnecessary bullshit. I’ve been doing like 2 – 3 mixtapes a month for my own shit, and I been hosting a lot for other people mixtapes, I don’t mind that. But the mixtape game is sort of a distraction, there’s a whole bunch of other shit that I could be doing, but you know. I have been bending my own rules to cater to muthafuckas.
How important is staying true to what you stand for?
It’s very important that I stay true to what I stand for; I represent the “have nots” and “ain’t gots”. I mean cut and dry it’s like I don’t have time for the overly flashy lifestyle. I like nice things and I have nice things but I didn’t come from no silver spoon in my mouth so for that reason if I’m going to give you that side of me, you’ve got to see the progression, you’ve got to see me develop into that person because I didn’t just wake up one day ballin’. There were steps that were taken and you know either you got a point of view or you got a point to prove.
I feel like a muthafucka with a point to prove, that’s the muthafucka lying about all the bricks he’s moved, that’s the one lying about all the hoes he done fucked, lying bout all the cars he got and he ain’t even got a bicycle.
That’s a muthafucka who like hmmm that nigga rapping, I can say the same thing he say and just exaggerate. They’re trying to prove that they can sound just like that muthafucka but maybe better. I’m a person with a point of view. When you have a point of view you have to stand for something. It’s like I ain’t with the bullshit, I’m going to give you the soundtrack of my life.
Rap music is one of the only music that we hold to a certain standard and we expect you to cater to that standard. Like Jeezy said “you can’t assassinate my character cause I ain’t acting”. What you see is what you get, when you meet me today I’m the same nigga later, I’m very outspoken and everybody knows that, I speak my mind because your mind is guided by thoughts.
Where does your lyrical motivation come from? Is it based on life experiences?
My lyrical motivation comes from a lot of thangs. I start from life experiences first. I sit down and start vibing with the track. I let the beat talk to me, I let the beat tell me, boy you need to talk about this or that). I usually pick an instrument in the track and that’s why you’ll notice in my music, my delivery changes on every song because I don’t have a set delivery, it changes with the instrument based on what the track tell me to say. At least 99% of the time that’s how I start off by picking an instrument in the track. I believe that your voice has to be an extension of the track, so that’s how I write now.
Your independent debut album “Da Drought” created a major sensation through out the South and the Midwest. When can we expect a new album?
The name of the new album will be Street Value; hopefully it’ll be dropping right around July/August 2006. But in February I plan to drop an album called Big Boy Shit, I’m releasing that independently. Street Value will be through SRC/Universal.
What other projects you have your hands dipped in right now?
Right about now I really don’t have myself involved in a lot of projects I’m trying to have tunnel vision to make sure that I give ya’ll the best album I can possibly deliver. So, getting this Big Boy Shit project out is my primary focus right now and getting my promotional DVD out. Besides that, I got some other projects in the making but I don’t really wanna get into deep conversations about that. First and foremost is the Big Boy Shit project and then the Street Value after that.
I read you are a member of Hypnotized Camp Posse (Three 6 Mafia, Hypnotized Minds). Tell us something about the Posse?The Camp consists of Three 6 Mafia, which is DJ Paul, Juicy J, Crunchy Black, Lord Infamous (he locked up right now), Frayser Boy, Project Pat, Chrome, Lil Wyte, and Boogie Man and me. It’s all love. I’m the latest addition to the camp. I’m the only one from Florida, everybody else is from Memphis. Then you got DJ Black out of Indianpolis, he one of the DJ’s, he’s the Hypnotized Camp DJ. I currently live in Memphis now; they run this muthafucka like the Governor. They got more power than the Grizzelys now – so it’s all good they welcomed me in. I’ve been fuckin’ with them for years now. So I’m now a resident of Memphis.
I’m originally from Orlando, Florida. I love Orlando, so don’t get it fucked up, a lot of people act like cause I hauled ass, I turned my back on the crib, but sometimes you gotta go to where the opportunity is at. Everybody derives from different personalities; DJ Paul and Juicy J like to clown around, Lil Wyte stay fucked up, my boy Frayser Boy – that’s Mr. Smoke-a-lot, me I’m laid back, Boogie Man is laid back and chill. That’s how we are; cool lil fam.
Can we expect any collabos with them in the future?As far as collaborations, I’ve got one called My Gameroom featuring DJ Paul and Juicy J. I got one with Chrome on it. Frayser Boy on one. I’ll probably do one with Project Pat called Jail Talk. It’s a posse, more than likely we’ll probably have a posse song on my album.
Sum up your opinion about the state of hip hop today.
I feel like hip-hop on some bullshit right now, just being real. You got a whole bunch of clown ass niggas coming out with these sound-alike records. The originality is really gone. I’m looking for trendsetters like muthafuckas to make their own paths. It’s like a lot of people is on some quick fix shit.
It’s giving us an opportunity to make some bread legally, a lot of niggas in this game claim to be dope boys, ex dope boys whatever the case may be and the lifestyle is very similar (the clubbing, the girls, the liquor, the clothing, the smoking, the traveling, the shopping) – the only thing is this is legal and we’ve been given the opportunity to get away from that shit but a lot of muthafucka’s want to keep that same bullshit going right in this shit here.
You don’t see the Rock muthafuckas going thru that shit, you don’t see the R&B muthafucka’s going through that shit. It’s like our lifestyle is always under the scope and that shit agitates me right there. But at the same time, some of our dumb asses bring that shit and give them muthafucka’s reason to have extra surveillance on our ass so you know pipe that shit down my nigga and if you know your past dirty and a lot of ya’ll aint’ all the way out, don’t be stirring up no extra shit. Some of you niggas trying to break in jail, I mean let that shit go and get this money.
It’s a million niggas that will see a nigga in a position making bread getting $15,000-$20,000 a show and they will give their left arm to be in that spot. And the niggas who are in the spot is disrespecting it. So until that shit straighten up right there and until they go back to doing some original shit, I think the game is gonna be fucked up.
Have you found the industry to be more about politics than talent?
I believe that talent is only 10% of this business and the other 90% is a political thang mixed in with the business and the business affects the politics and vice versa. Talent can keep you holding on but the political side, if you play your cards right you can go to the top in this business. That’s why some artists don’t blow as far as I feel they should have.
One being Scarface (which is my favorite artist) I feel like his career could be so much more bigger but you know Face is a stand up nigga and on some G-Code shit, he probably ain’t willing to play that political ass game. I’m the same way, I’ma have my fans, I got my fans, I might not have mainstream appeal because I’m very outspoken, you know I ain’t no coon ass nigga, so for that reason I don’t play that political game, I let my talent speak for itself. And a lot of niggas in positions to help niggas careers go further, they feel like a grown ass man can’t speak they’re heart.
They want to call me the Mad Rapper because I speak my heart. I’m a grown ass man, I should be able to speak my heart without one of you old slave mentality ass mind niggas, like I’m supposed to be inferior to one of these muthafuckas.
In general back in the 90´s the “beef” pretty much stayed on wax. Do you think in today's society, it is really necessary or could it be down to marketing?In the 90’s and shit the beef was on wax, you see a nigga at a block party in NY or on an old video tape, they going at it rapping against each other and then the whole crowd, “whoaaaa” and then they be like this nigga won and he be like fa sho fa sho, pound a nigga up.
Now-a-days some people think that shit be hype but it be because of something it be an issue, but I feel like some of these rappers today is sensitive as fuck, some real hospital cotton ass niggas, soft as warm butter and its like um, I don’t even really wanna talk about that shit to much to be honest. It’s green as fuck to me; I ain’t got time to be taking no time out of my day cutting no record about nan nigga. If it’s real beef, see me when you see me nigga, like I said on the Posse song, nigga “hit me in my mouth nigga”.
But me, I’m a cordial nigga I try to approach every situation with an open mind, (1) I’m bout what you bout and (2) I’m willing to listen simple as that, so if you wanna get it down nigga I’m bout that, if you wanna talk, then I’m willing to listen.
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