Black Ice: Ice cold

"Touch what I never touched before, seen what I've never seen..." Black Ice bears witness as his career blossoms on stage with Mary J. Blige. The Def Poet has had his hand on the pulse of society before HBO specials and Broadway plays. Prior to nationwide tours and debut albums, Black Ice was on point at the local cafe and corner fade spot. You see, this isn't that leather sandal, beret rocking, finger snapping poetry cat reveling in Bohemia. Nah, Philly don't raise no chumps. This lone soldier has snatched the veil off of the unconscious to reveal the "Ugly Show." Pay close attention as Black Ice righteously uses the world as his stage and America as his open mic through The Death of Willie Lynch. Don't bother calling maintanence, truth is in the building.

AllHipHop.com: What’s it been like going on a nationwide tour with Mary J. Blige, the Queen of Hip-Hop and R&B?

Black Ice: Crazy. It's been fun. The crew out on tour is really cool and down to earth. It's a great experience and I couldn't imagine anything better.

AllHipHop.com: How have you been received by her audience?

Black Ice: The word is what it is. People were pretty receptive and once it started coming out everyone was taking it in, digesting and appreciating it. The feedback's been good. What I have to say is relevant.

AllHipHop.com: What's the hardest part about touring?

Black Ice: Being away from kids and family. Everything else I'm built for; the hustle and bustle, being in and out of hotels, I'm in love with that relationship of it. I just miss my kids and the regularity of everyday life. That's the hardest part. But when you get off the road, it's a beautiful thing. Like any job, at certain points you get tired. But I really can't complain. It's been a blast. It keeps you on swivel; you're switching up [surroundings] daily, so it's a physical reminder to stay present.

AllHipHop.com: You’ve come a very long way. At one point you were a barber in Philly...

Black Ice: In Germantown, yeah.

AllHipHop.com: What does the city of Philadelphia mean to you?

Black Ice: Everything. For the learning it put me through and the growth it gave me… The more I'm away, the more I appreciate it. I realize that when I go and meet other cats out of state, like my man Malik Yusef from Chicago, who reps his city so eloquently. Philly is a very dynamic city; socially and politically. It really shaped and molded a lot of my philosophical views. Talent-wise, it's a zero tolerance city. You can't get up on stage and be half-assed. So it's molded me into being an above average artist. It's trying because I feel my city as a whole embraces me. The artist-world of my city is a little stand-offish. I would love to do more work with my artistic community. I'm actually in love with every artist in my city. It's a beautiful thing.

AllHipHop.com: What does Black Ice represent?

Black Ice: That surprise factor. Never let them see you coming. Because you look a certain way doesn't mean you have to think a certain way. Let's look frozen and bust 'em in they heads when they pull up! That was the description of Black Ice when I first started. You never have to be what they say you are because of the way you look. In some ways we can be better. You've just got to deny the ignorant s**t that they try to attach with it.

AllHipHop.com: From HBO to Broadway and a nationwide album release, did you ever imagine any of this?

Black Ice: I remember when I was doing poetry at the local cafes I always had the dream of being the first spoken word artist with a label deal. I felt the art form could be taken to another level where it would be marketable and still hold onto its integrity while being accepted by a mainstream audience. I put a lot of work into maintaining my passion for the art itself. It was a dream executed. When I got the Hip-Hop quotable for The Source a few years back, that was a dream. It was a dream to perform with Public Enemy. Working with DJ Jazzy Jeff now is a dream because I remember seeing him introduce the transformer [scratch] to the world back when I was 13 years old. I'm still a big fan. This is where I'm supposed to be. I've put in the work that God needs for me to put in and this is just the fruition.

AllHipHop.com: Well, congratulations! How do you feel about your debut album being out?

Black Ice: The Death of Willie Lynch. It's a lot. I feel gratified, satisfied, vindicated, hungry... It's like that perfect balance of peace and anxiety. I'm relieved. This is the end of the incubation period and the birthing of something new. I went to Best Buy and was looking at it and that was crazy. The most meaningful congratulation I received was from my children. They called me up and congratulated me on it.

AllHipHop.com: How did The Death of Willie Lynch come about?

Black Ice: I always had that in the back of my head as the title of my album. For awhile, I had been reading that the Willie Lynch theory was a fact. A couple of college professors put me on to research to find out how questionable the thesis was. The majority of English language used, quoted as verbatim in the text, was inaccurate for that period in time. So it symbolizes the death of that myth. So it's like "Hey, we're not what this bulls**t says we are. We're not genetically inferior; we're not psycho-sociopaths." That was just a myth, now let's see our shine. We don't have to be ignorant, street n***as or deadbeat dads. We don't have to concede to that lower self. We can be way bigger than that. So the album represents the death of all those beliefs.

AllHipHop.com: Looking at the songs on the album, explain the "Ugly Show”…

Black Ice: It's premised around the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina. It's really a song about the fleecing of America's core by America. This government has f**ked over its own poor and this is a divine order. It's almost like you have the drug dealer around the way that can't be killed. He's too smart for the n***as and too fast for the police but God is always gonna put that Karma on you so he might go out getting hooked on his own s**t or dying in a car crash. That's the same thing with America; we're the thug of the world, no one can stop us, so God steps in and smacks us in the face for all to see. The “Ugly Show" is basically telling us not to forget.

AllHipHop.com: You're providing the insight and inspiration. It's a powerful track.

Black Ice: There is a Hollywood mindset in place because they commercialize the biggest tragedy and now it's forgotten about. A year later, Spike Lee comes out with a documentary, When the Levees Broke, in order for us to keep it in our heads. The song is the same reminder that all is not forgotten and we still are very concerned about the state of being for people in this country. There is a miracle in every truth. And last year was a very ugly truth. But the miracle is that the world sees that we're not divine, we got our own bullsh*t. The government keeps in place a certain percentage of people in America that are not meant to succeed, dream or prosper. You need that underclass in order to keep this capitalist society from water. We are that underclass, we want better and we've had enough.

DJ Whoo Kid: Follow the Leader

It reads like a rags-to-riches adventure loaded with hilarious rap beef, custom Lamborghinis, and international “pizzle.” G-Unit is all about the global and financial elevation of Hip-Hop culture. And DJ Whoo kid knows the key to success.

The Queens-bred entrepreneur with Haitian roots has traveled the world with one of the most successful rap crews in history, in the streets and in the private jets. Oh yes! Mr. Sadapop is an original stalwart of the Guerrilla dynasty. With a nonchalant demeanor and personality parallel to Dave Chappelle, Whoo Kid dishes on Hollywood, the early days of G-Unit and his relationship with The Game. Follow the leader, as he takes you back and shows you how to move from a disc-jockey to the gettin’ celebrities on your jock.

AllHipHop.com: Where was Whoo Kid before G-Unit?

Whoo Kid: I was in the streets doing my thing. I always had hot CDs out because I was getting music very early. A lot of rappers hated me. So I had to get out of that. We were DJs on the come up. I found ways of getting to the labels, A&Rs, and magazines. Any writer can get an album in advance, so we would go pay them to get the albums early. We were great at maneuvering. I'd pay one industry cat like $1,000 a month and he would rob the whole industry. Dude is in the studio with rappers, recording everything. That's why I'd have a lot of songs that never came out.

AllHipHop.com: Everyone knows you as a successful mixtape DJ. How'd you link up with 50 Cent?

Whoo Kid: During the early stages, I never knew that my cousin, Sha Money XL [president of G-Unit], was managing 50 at the time until I met them in the studio. I was playing 50 before I met him and he had heard of me. That was when he was Boo Boo. When I met him it was cool. Even after he got shot, I still promoted him. That time was the lowest of the low. He got cock-blocked and a lot of s**t was going on. The thing that's crazy is after he got shot, he came back with another diss record. I never saw anything like that before, so I just made the decision to create my own circle like, "If the whole industry hates one person, then this person must be a problem."

We all stick together. That's why if you see us; there are usually just six of us always together, nobody else. If it's anybody else, it's probably a childhood friend. Me, Fif', Banks, Yayo; we were all together in that one basement doing the first G-Unit CD [Beg For Mercy]. We did like 400 baby clubs, shoot outs, beat downs, arrests, 100 n***as on one tour bus, 50 people on the floor, we did it all. I learned from Fif' how to hustle. Working hard don't mean nothing. All I need is five hours of sleep. He told me, "Keep working hard everyday, keep promoting yourself, keep hustling and you can't go wrong." Right now I got over six, seven situations making me money. I always think about plan A, B, C and D. You can't be on top forever. I just wanna keep flowing.

AllHipHop.com: Supposedly, DJ Jazzy Jeff is a huge inspiration for you…

Whoo Kid: Hell yeah! As far as skills and the way he'd perform in front of a crowd… I actually had the opportunity to DJ with him in front of 25,000 people — MTV Spain; me, Shaggy, DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Black Eyed Peas. I rocked it from the center like it was a club. Jazzy Jeff gave me mad love, that's one of my highlights. I used to be cool with Jam Master Jay. Our last show before he was murdered was in Ohio with Run-DMC. I DJ’d on stage with him. Those are the dudes that I looked up to.

As far as mixtapes, Clue of course was the influence for me. He always had the ill cars from just talking s**t on a mic. I told myself that I could do the same s**t. But I didn't want to be the same, so back in the day, I had Hype Williams host my CDs, I would go for important political cats in the industry. Busta hosted my first CD. I'm so fortunate for these relationships that I don't need a drop machine. We’re in the studio, I go to their crib, hang with their kids — I get unlimited records.

AllHipHop.com: Your success is an inspiration.

Whoo Kid: To me, it's more than Hip-Hop. I get training from Russell Simmons, I know Donald Trump. I ask questions. When you meet someone, you’re either a fan or a customer. I want to learn, so I try to get as much information as possible. With 50 Cent, we’re touring all over the world. I didn't just chase hoes and take it back to the hotel; I would meet DJs in every country. Now I have a worldwide coalition of the best international DJs: Shadyville DJs. This has been going on for the last four or five years. I have a network to where I send out any exclusive material or original records that I get, as a favor, everyone gets paid and now they're up-to-date quicker. You can rock a club with a freestyle in Germany, it's a wrap! I've done more than the average rapper. I've hung out with Michael Jackson, DJ’d for mad Arabian Kings, the Prince of Monaco, I'm in Hong Kong chilling with Jackie Chan's son copping Red Monkey jeans. This is my everyday life. It's crazy.

AllHipHop.com: You're supposed to be the star... The DJ is like the drummer in a Rock band.

Whoo Kid: Not really, a lot of DJs are not famous when it comes to the artist. I'm an all around famous dude; I'm on TV, people know my CDs, I'm a comedian, and in magazines. It took me awhile to get here. Every time 50 had press, I would piggy back off of the Interscope press. "You gotta interview Whoo Kid, that's my DJ." It's cool, ‘cause when I do the concerts, I structure it like the mixtapes, so watching a G-Unit show is like listening to the CD. The day that I was most happy was when we had Ma$e, Mobb Deep, MOP, Banks, Buck, Olivia... It was back to back hits with the gunshots, skits and intermissions, and I'm all the way on top controlling everything, looking at 30,000 people and I can press one button and the whole s**t can stop.

AllHipHop.com: Was your show on HOT97 something you aspired to do?

Whoo Kid: It just happened. We're acting normal. I don't like hearing regular radio where people have radio voices. I'm on some real s**t. If I don't like the record, the station is not going to make me say it's hot. I hate [DJ Webstar and Young B’s] “Chicken Noodle Soup,” but my kids like it. That's how I would say it, I'm a f***ing adult.

AllHipHop.com: Let's break down some of your most recent projects. What's behind the Young Buck mixtape “Chronic 2006”?

Whoo Kid: It's like an album, B. Buck has original cuts and the freestyles are crazy. I promise you will not be disappointed. Young Buck O.D’d on this one. He MP3'd me like 20-30 joints and I just put it together. I know he smokes incredible weed, so I called it “The Chronic 2006.” I know he had a good time at the VIBE Awards with Dr. Dre, so we connected that with the skits. He's improved a lot lyrically and he's starting to do beats as well. Buck did a lot of joints off this album. He freestyles about the reality of where he comes from and what n***as are going through. Violence, drugs, and how society is dealing with it. It's not like he's teaching n***as... He's just telling the reality. It's a story from beginning to end.

The CD with Samuel L. Jackson, “Mixtapes on a Plane” is a parody of the Snakes on a Plane movie. He did skits for me. Sam was really involved in the creative process. He's also a fan of mixtapes and gets them from his manager, who's a fan, and would blast it from his hotel room. One day he happened to walk by and heard his manager blasting one of the Snoop Dogg CDs and just went crazy. A lot of the older actors, their kids all have my CDs. So they don't only come on my show to holler at Fif', it makes them look cool to their kids. Dan Aykroyd came on my show with his whole family.

AllHipHop.com: On a side note, I'm aware that you're involved in every aspect of your projects. Are you responsible for morphing Game's head onto a male stripper's body for the “Hate it or Love it” mixtape?

Whoo Kid: Nah, that was already online. Game's a funny guy. They tried to play us on that Village People s**t. They had all of us dressed up. I think I had leather on with a shag. Everybody knows I blew Game up, I'm the reason he got signed to G-Unit. I brought him into the mixtape circuit on the East Coast. They didn't know who he was on the West Coast. He was more known here.

AllHipHop.com: How did you find him?

Whoo Kid: Dr. Dre's assistant had me come to the studio to hear three artists. I didn't like any of them. I happened to go into the next room where Game was and nobody's working with him. He's already signed and his album's on the wall collecting dust. He hollered at me, said he was a fan. I heard him spit and was like "Yo, let me work with you." In those days, N.W.A. was the s**t that everyone wanted to come back. Snoop was doing the pimp thing. There really wasn't a hardcore rapper that could be respected. It was easy for me because he had the Dr. Dre background, he sounded hardcore like he was an East Coast cat. I started playing him as a hidden artist on G-Unit CDs. Pretty soon, everyone started wondering who he was. Then I started spazzing and did the Game and Eazy-E record. He said he was down and I had a verse no one had ever heard before. I put it together, put it out and it was huge. I combined him with everyone; Snoop, Prodigy, Fif', Banks and made it easier for him to fast-forward into the mixtape market.

The problem came up where he thought he was too big. In the beginning, I understood, because we aren't all the same, he didn't grow up with us. We came up as a family and lived together for the past five years. We lived outta hotels, on the road, shopped with each other, ate and made music; Game was never there. He never understood or would want to come with us anywhere. We would do tours and he'd always have an excuse not to come which 50 never understood; "Oh, my passport's f**ked up." But he'd make sure he was at an MTV show or Summer Jam. He didn't even have a record out, he was just a hype n***a running around. He wouldn't grind, but would make sure to be at a big star-studded event. 50 started seeing that Game wouldn't do the hard work. Who wouldn't want to tour 40 cities? So when he actually first started touring, he'd perform horribly because he didn't have the proper training. He had no experience. And in the beginning, everybody saw that. Even then I understood he wanted to do his own thing. He's a West Coast n***a and he didn't always want to be there… but come on, there's gotta be some form of loyalty. 50 gave him five joints for his album that helped him sell five million records, so where's the loyalty? Even if you hate this n***a, you have to have some form of loyalty because without him, you wouldn't be here. That's the only thing I couldn't understand. He wanted his own sneaker, telephone s**t [Boost Mobile], modeling... It's like, 50 blew you up, but you're not telling him what you're doing? You open a magazine and he's modeling for Sean John. The problems escalated so bad, especially with the HOT97 s**t, to now it's like no turning back because Fif' really hates that kid.

AllHipHop.com: There has to be some form of respect to this game.

Whoo Kid: Just like how he has respect for Dr. Dre, it's 50 that really blew him up, not Dre. Dr. Dre didn't do anything for Game. Maybe a couple of beats, but without our energy and movement, he wouldn't be who he is today. Those joints were supposed to be on The Massacre and he gave those joints to Game. "This is How We Do" was three verses. That was a hit record, off the bat. Even I was bugging out. But 50 respected him so much and wanted him to succeed. That's crazy, that's like one of those ill stories that you read in the Bible. You got an ill n***a that comes in your camp and ends up betraying you, trying to do his own sh*t. Fifty was really pissed off; it was foul. And the f***ed up thing off that was Interscope was still trying to push it. The money aint worth it. It's not like dude is dissing other artists... something has to happen. I mean, we sold like 30 million records with all of G-Unit, and this dude's main goal in his campaign is dissing G-Unit in order to put his album out. You can only imagine how furious 50 was.

AllHipHop.com: How has beef on wax hurt or helped G-Unit?

Whoo Kid: It helps G-Unit keep in tone. Banks loves that s**t. He's the punch line king, he'd love to cremate Nas. Fifty will drop one line and cremate someone's career. Hip-Hop needs beef on wax, not shooting beef. It always proves who's the illest and keeps everyone on their toes, shows who's the best. Back in the day it was corny raps. Now you see how it's developing, and we need that. Where's it going? As long as n***as ain’t getting killed, ‘cause that's just stupid. Someone getting killed means that there's a pussy n***a on the other side, he can't rap, and a gun is the only way he can get any kind of respect.