Rhymefest: Train of Thought

“You don't know what death is, until your ass left breathless/I'm the bomb nigga catch this/I'm Saddam [ex]'cept I got weapons/Make like a frat get steppin’, [be]'fore your punk ass get stepped in…You can't do it like I do/I don't care if you Moes, Folks, Bloods, Crips or Piru/I'm a Pyro’, light it up and fire too/Off in a bag lady back ask Badu/Before Common or Andre or D.O.C./If they all fucked her then I want my piece/I'm a conscious rapper two fingers up bitch peace/Your revolution's so fake it's like I gotta release/See you dudes with grills is more real/I don't like what they say but at least they ain't living in bone field/Ducking and dodging, acting phony as hell/Coming home when you got a damn record to sell/You'se a bitch nigga/I'm a say it again, you'se a bitch and something in this bitch gotta give/I hope you fake niggas die so real niggas can live/Or God just forget about the fact that he can forgive and kill us all/'Cause all of us is killing the children/They sold Myspace for $500 million/Sold Youtube for $1.6 billion/You in the projects fightin' over a building/You'se a bitch nigga!” —Rhymefest, "Angry Black Man on an Elevator"


WHAT DOES THE TITLE OF THE SONG MEAN?

The whole thing is, the elevator represents the ghetto. So it's like the ghetto is a small, confined space. And it's like, when you trapped in a small, confined space, it brings out our anger and our frustration with the world.

WHAT DO YOU MEAN WHEN YOU SAY, "I'M SADDAM, 'CEPT I GOT WEAPONS"?

Our government is looking at people overseas in Iraq, talking about, do they got weapons of mass destruction, when there is a weapon of mass destruction growing in the ghettos of America that ain't no attention being paid to...Black people are not on the agenda. And what you do, when you leave us off the agenda, there's a weapon of mass destruction being built in our attitudes.

WHY DO YOU CALL ERYKAH BADU OUT LIKE THAT?

At the end of the day, this is hip-hop. I guess I said it in a real crass way, but I'm just saying I think she's fly and I want a chance, too. She's a desirable woman, and I don't wanna cause no offense to her, but, hey, she likes rappers.

WHAT'S A FAKE REVOLUTIONARY?

You got these guys out here rapping about something, but then you don't even come to the hood until it's time for you record to be released. Don't nobody see you until you're like, "Yeah, man, we gotta suppost each other, brother." Come on, man!

WHAT'S YOUR GRIPE WITH MYSPACE AND YOUTUBE?

This wasn't no 60-year-old man or Viacom that created MySpace—these are young, independant people that created these mediums and sold them to the bigger companies. Why, as Black and Latino people, are we not htinking on a way bigger level?... We are the ones that spawn the growth of these forums.

HOW IS THAT KILLING THE CHILDREN?

We're killing the children by giving them false illusions of what wealth, value and worth is... We've gotten into this thing where money is so important that we've made it our God. And we've taught children that money is God.



XXL Magazine/August 2007 No. 94

Hot Dollar: Show & Prove

Chances are, if you saw a gold-grilled, cornrowed rapper handing out autographed dollar bills to high-school kids in a New York City subway station in May, it was Jermaine Dupri's latest signee, Hot Dollar. As part of an ingenious new promotional campaign, the 27-year-old MC really went underground to promote himself.

Born Leon Gray in the rural city of Hattiesburg, Miss., Hot Dollar was raised in an environment where money was hard to come by. In 1989, his family relocated to Los Angeles in pursuit of a better life. "Ain't no real jobs or opportunities down in Mississippi, so we moved," says Dollar. Unfortunately, the coastal transition wasn't exactly positive, and before long, he was running the streets as a full-fledged Crip.

Not wanting to succumb to the pitfalls of gang life, at 14, Hot Dollar started to explore his talent for rapping. His earliest inspiration came from his older brother, Compton rapper Guerilla Black. Counting bars and crafting choruses gave the youngster hope and a much needed way out of his dangerous lifestyle. "I finally realized that gangbanging wasn't for me," says Dollar. "I just had a daughter named Sierra. She influenced me to rap."

In 2006, Dollar recorded a demo he dubbed Rags 2 Riches. He pressed up thousands of copies and passed them out in L.A. to anyone who'd listen. As his buzz grew, Hot Dollar's disc found its way into Jermaine Dupri's hands, through close friend and video director Pop Gates. The song "Streets on Lock" was already spinning on West Coast radio, and lucky for the rookie MC, JD couldn't get the sinister chopped-and-screwed track out of his head. Knowing he had found the next big thing, the newly anointed president of Island Records Urban Music signed Hot Dollar this past April.

"His style is a mixture of the South meets the West," says Jermaine. "He also has the ability to write songs, and that is hard for a lot of good rappers today." Executive produced by Mr. So So Def himself, Hot Dollar's debut, My Dream: Tha Day in Tha Life, will feature additional production from DJ Toomp and Shawty Red. Hopefully, he can turn a dollar into a dream.


XXL Magazine/August 2007 No. 94

Showtime Audio: Custom Car Shop

Pimps and brutal winters aside, Chi-Town is known for the Bulls' NBA reign. MJ's squad blazed through the nineties on the backs of a triangle offense and Zen master that dominated the competition. Fast forward ten years, replace rings with trophies, hoops with hydraulics and you'll find a Midwestern goliath that also scores major points in the world of custom cars. Widely known for their success at nationwide car show competitioins, Illinois powerhouse Showtime Audio Inc. owns a trophy case that'll make Jordan envious. "We would build show cars, go to the shows and do real well there and get referrals," says 32-year-old owner Jerry Villa. "Other people in the shows would see that we'd win a lot of trophies, and they would want us to build them a car."

Around the corner from downtown Chicago's manufacturing district is the shop's 10,000-square-foot base. "We do it all, basically, from day-to-day radio, speakers and iPod interfaces to high-end show cars," says Villa. "We always have at least one or two custom cars being worked on at a time."

Villa attributes his team's tireless intensity to a simple love of cars. As a Los Angeles native by way of Chicago, the 12-year vet has been customizing interiors for his friends since his days as the head of a lowrider crew he ran out of his parent's grage. A "perfectionist to a fault," Villa understands that subtle intricacies play an important role in progressive customization. "The smallest things make the biggest difference," says Villa. "That's where we try to set ourselves apart. We're always pushing the limits of what can and can't be done." This championed automotive squad knows no limits as they get set to defend the newest Chicago dynasty.

NAME — Showtime Audio Inc.
WEBSITE — Showtimeaudio.net
LOCATION — 1317 W. North Ave., Chicago, IL 60622
OWNER — Jerry Villa
YEARS IN BUSINESS — 5
SPECIALTIES — Custom Show Cars, Hummers
CELEB CLIENTELE — Twista [Rapper], Criss Angel "Mindfreak" [Magician]
STANDOUT CUSTOM JOB —2004 Blue Hummer H2, Best of Show winner at Dub Show '04, '05 and '06. The car was built in 30 days and has blue ostrich leather seats, blue suede roof, blue candy paint, matching chrome spinners with a blue background, lowered, custom exhaust and satellite TV
TURNAROUND TIME — Between one week and three months for small to large jobs


RIDES magazine July/August 2007