TP Corleone

Introduce yourself to the people of Germany please…

Whassup doe? I’m TP Corleone from the south side of Chicago on 79th. Bringin to U some of this “Intergalactic Pimpatizm.” Thats what I call my music.

What were you doing before you started to rap?

I was playing guitar in a neighborhood band although I put down the guitar to rap in my band. And I’ve worked millions of 9 to 5’s and I used to manage female strippers and escorts.

You’ve been recording since 1994 with several groups from Chi-Town. What can you tell us about your older stuff?

Well the Black Hoods album was produced by a cat in Chicago named EMT. He’s a hot producer who got some gangsta/pimp shit coming out later this year. That album was very murderistic. I just did some skits an consulting on it. I did a cut with fire cut with the “Death Squadron” called “They Will Get Fucked Up” …the group was EMT, Zulaka Allyah, J Roll and myself. It sold a few thousand on cassette here in the CHI…and my last EP was “Dont Get Mad At A Playa” by Tee Pee ‘N’ Scanlus which was my first single I produced and it has gotten a lotta college play in Chitown.

Your first full-length-record came out in 2004. What’s the meaning behind the title “Da Triple P Principle”?

The Power, Paper and the Pussy… makes the world go ’round. I’ve sold a few on the streets and on CD Baby but I stop promoting it cuz I’m adding 2 new bout it ass cuts to the album and then I’ll re-issue it with the new hot shit on it. I’m adding a slow ass pimpish cut and a crunk azz banger.

At the end of the album you even used some house-like production. Why didn’t you stick with ‘pure’ rap-beats?

Well since I’ve started promoting locvally first I wanted to make sure I can sell some copies. The tracks that U call “house” are really what we call “Ghetto Trax” which is kinda different from what we call house. I did it cause its also hot in my city as well as the “pure” rap jams. Chicago is a funny city. It has many styles of music that originated here like Steppin, House, Ghetto or BootyTrax the twistin style i.e. Twista, Crucial Conflict Do or Die ect… But it all falls under the same umbrella when it comes to street music here so thats why I added the house trax but I’m gonna delete one of them and replace it with the 2 cuts I mentioned earlier for the re-issue.

Before you dropped “Da Triple P Principle” you had a single out: “Get Cha Club On” with Diamond T. Who’s that girl?

She’s a chick I met 5 years ago at a beauty contest. I kept running into her off and on for 2 years straight. She kept telling me she could rap but I didn’t believe her until I saw her at a showcase. She said she wished the beats she had sounded like mine and I said lets colllab and thats how we hooked up. She got a crunk azz single coming out this summer so get ready for it. She’s from the South Side like me.

What’s the message of your music?

Well I dont put any overt messages too much in my music except occasionally like on the album cut “I Wonder Why?” The sublinimal message of the album is is be about yo paper, get your power and respect in whatever game you choose and have a good ass time while you’re doin it. The theme of “Da Triple P Principle” is with money comes power and with power comes pussy. That should be the proper order of how U do thangs.

 

Don’t you think that there are already too much people in the game that do the same thing as you? What’s makes your music different from theirs?

To be honest there are and there always have been too many people doing the same thing is ALL forms of music especially rap. There are too many “soul” artists, “gangsta” artists, “thug” artists, rock bands and even jazz artists. They all come a dime a dozen. What make a person like myself stand out is that I ain’t scared to be myself and let the real me show thru my music, style and personality as opposed to bein a clone. AND my stuff is hot. I don’t fall in a “cookie cutter” category (sounding, looking and acting like million other cats in this game). Plus I got a bag of tricks that I haven’t even went into yet. Intergalact Pimpatizm baby!!

What are your personal role models in making music? What do you like about them?

On the production tip I dig cats who had their own style and introduced me to a whole new unvierse with their style like Quncy Jones, Bernard and Nile of Chic, George Clinton, Bootsy Collins, Dj Quick, Dr Dre, the Neptunes, Raphael Saadiq, Jazzy Pha and Kraftwerk. On the rhyme tip I dig cats with originality, consistancy, skills and edge like X-Clan, EPMD, Snopp Dogg, Bone Thugs’n’Harmony, Twista, Trina, Biggie, Pac, Ludacris, Too Short, Chyna White and T.I.

How does a typical day in the life of TP Corleone look like?

I’m still puchin a clock until I score so I punch the clock at 7am. At work I’m always on the phone, on the ‘puter or in the hallway corleonin (handlin’ my business), after work I’m either deejayin, party promotin, listening to new niggaz rap who wanna get down, in the studio or on the keyboard. At the end of the week I get rrrreeeeeally fucked up to let my hair down and release the stress.

Most rap fans over here know the 5 boroughs of New York, not too many may be informed about the situation in Chicago. Put the hoods of your hometown on the map.

We got all kinda gangs out here but I aint gonna name ‘em all in case I forget one and somebody get mad and bust a cap at a playa. Its real heavy but If U know your hoods then U cool. I’m representin south east 79th,87th and the westside where I did most of my little dirt that I did… Madison, Leclaire, Belwood, Maywood. On the music scene we got sssssssssooooo many different scenes and genres like the button up scene (Kanye West), the pimp scene (Do Or Die, Archbishop Don Magic Juan), the underground back-pack scene (Rubber Room, WHPK, WCRX) the old school house scene (Farley JackMaster Funk, ANdre Hatchett) the steppin scene (Sam Chapman) the Juke (ghetto house scene, Dj Chip, Gantman, DJ Funk, Waxmaster, Clent ), Lyrical street cats like Bumpy J, White Boy ect.. The club scene is cool for blacks and urban music but better for non-blacks and techno and hispanic music. The rap parties jump from club to club because they get shut down a lot. The hottest clubs are The Buzz, Door 21, The Prop House, The Lick, and Secrets. The women are delicious azz hell so U can go to the club and know U gonna walk out with some pussy.

The rap-scene of Chi-Town has grown bigger and bigger with the years, but only few artists could gain international attention. What goin’ wrong – is there a lack of promotion for the midwest region?

There still is a lack of promotion although its getting a little better. A person still gotta leave the city to get some major noteriety or get signed. But I gotta give props to Kanye cuz since he blew up he’s reached out and help alotta local cats who has a hard time getting on the radio but when he does a track for them it make the radio. The city don’t have a lot big industry here like the east coast, west coast and the south has and sometimes the gang bangin keep cats form working together but like I said earlier I do see a gradual change for the better happening but it slow coming.

 

Your’re music is mainly club-orientated. What can you tell us about the nightlife in Chi-Town?

Well I touched on it briefly already. But I dig the nightlife…thats probably why my album sounds the way it does. I didnt notice it that much until U said it. The album is like a Chi-town party. U get crunk, step a little bit, pimp it down a little bit while U go buy some drinks, then with the liquour in yo system U get more than crunk. U start Jukin with some chick who is grindin her big ol ass all over your Johnson. All to the theme of Da Triple P Principle. As dj I have been able to monitor the different moods of a party and that what my album reflects while I spit some raw ass pimp shit.

What comes in your mind when you think of…

Money Oprah, P-Diddy let me in baby. Can I get next?

A Playa A cat who just dont play women but who know how to play life itself and I think more women are better at it than men.

Rapmusic The way to the future, a drug I’m addicted to, Rapmusic industry is what bootlegging and prohibition was to Al Capone and them in the 20’s.

Street Life Fun dangerous, deadly, tempting, cadillacs, music, drank, smoke and a good ass time with a car fulla hoez

What’s happening next? Tell us about your further steps in the music biz.

Well I got a few songs I’m producing for other cats this summer and I’m puttin a group together also. the first priority is to get this album out NOW and get some paper from this game and spread the Intergalactic Pimpatizm amongst the world.

Where can people buy your music?

Right now U can buy it on cdbaby.com: www.cdbaby.com/tpcorleone. Its gonna be a collectors item because the re-issue I put out ain’t gonna have 2 of the songs on them.

Any shoutouts?

To B-Love, Pain, Diamond T, Kev G, LA Gee, C Funk, Terry T, Dre Gunz.