Silkk the Shocker’s rap career spans a long time with a lot of accolades.

The New Orleans rapper and No Limit Records representer dropped his debut album, The Shocker in 1996 and successfully released two consecutive platinum albums and a gold one. The 90s and 200s were his friend.

It Ain’t My Fault, Movin’ On, Ghetto Tears, Mama Always Told Me, Thug ‘n’ Me were all classics.

After moving so fast with No Limit Records, he got burned out. As a result, Silkk took a 10 year break to enjoy his life and make business moves.

But why?

“To me, it’s extremely important,” Silkk told me on a recent episode of Scoop B Radio. “I did it for a reason, I did it because you got to balance the two: when you do music in order to be successful, you can’t have much down time.”

Check Out Silkk The Shocker and Scoop B On Scoop B Radio

In the world of hip hop, to be on top, it takes a constant grind; something Silkk admires and respects. “If I take a Yo Gotti in the height of his career, he works hard,” said Silkk The Shocker.

“I heard he don’t sleep much. He works – he busts his tail, but he got away though. That’s with Drake and Meek Mill, you can’t afford to take time off unless you feel like you are really comfortable with yourself. Drake is constantly more music, more music, more music…he can take off because I’m sure he accumulated enough to where he can. I don’t think you can take a big significant amount like I took off, but at the same time, when you do it as long as I have – it’s almost like you do get a little frustrated and burnt-out because you’re like “okay, all my time is for everybody else. I’m always performing, I’m rehearsing.” Life is about living. You can get all the accolades, if you don’t enjoy them – you don’t have the hunger to do it anymore. You are going to get burnt-out. So, you aren’t supposed to take off as long as I took off, I feel comfortable being out-of-sight, out-of-mind. I don’t think that’s a good thing unless you are comfortable in your own skin; I was most comfortable because I knew I could fall back on actual business stuff. I like knowing business stuff that’s behind the scenes. So, to me, you do have to balance, I would say take time off to enjoy, to regroup, and refresh yourself and then come back out, But only certain people can do that though.”

So what exactly did he do during that time off?

“Whew! I literally took off … I didn’t want to do anything music based for 5 years. The next 2 – 3 years, I still did it but minimum. I would still do soundtracks, like WWE and stuff like that. Just stuff that I really didn’t have to do much in. I could just stay at my house, work, go to the office, work … yea, I would say 5-6 years I took off, I didn’t want to do nothing but, just enjoying and understanding and learning the business.”

Traveling all over the world, making money and being successful, Silkk believes that a light came on that told him to slow down! “When you are gone for 11 months out the year, and you come back, you’ll be like ‘oh hold up, I just brought a brand-new car – only got a hundred miles on it,” he said. “Oh, that’s crazy!”

“So, when I come back, everything looks different – That’s the part that got me. That’s the part that made me rethink – also you try to realize who really care about you as a person and more than as a brand. Like “why are my friends around me at the moment? Is it because I can buy them a couple of Rolexes, chains or whatever? Or why is this girl – does she really care about me or is it because I’m still for whatever?” To me, you want to take a step away from that, then you can see who really care. You just got to appreciate life. If you always in the moment, if you on stage and everybody’s screaming for you, that’s a good thing – but to me, I feel like I got to be able to enjoy it though.”

Suggested Articles:

The Next Big Showcase’s Cliff Po & DJ Tarzan Making Dreams Reality in NYC & NJ

Scoop B Radio: Turner Sports’ Steve Smith Talks Career & More

The post Silkk The Shocker: “In order to be successful, you can’t have much down time” appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

He’s got two consecutive platinum albums and a gold one. His catalogue boasts hits like: It Aint My Fault, Movin’ On, Ghetto Tears, Mama Always Told Me, Thug ‘n’ Me, which folks grew to learn and love in the 90s and the early 2000s.

But here’s the kicker: Silkk the Shocker has a very unorthodox rap flow! It is offbeat to some.

Case in point Horse & Carriage Remix with Cam’ron and Charli Baltimore 

Now I ain’t the C-E-O, but I ain’t far from it
So if I ain’t far from C-E-O
That mean I ain’t far from havin’ C-E-O money
Can’t discuss what I’m worth, but I’m worth this much
Like Mantigo, fall back like snatchin’ purses for bust
So many styles – drop a beat, I’mma drop a hit
Rap game stop for the dope game – and cop a brick
No Limit Soldier baby, so watch the talk
Get lost like ohhhhhhh, It Ain’t My Fault!

 

How the heck did you fit all of that in one feature Silkk?

When asked about his flow in an interview with VLAD TV in 2015, Silkk actually agreed with that offbeat notion. 

“I think I was offbeat,” he said. “I think what’s funny is nowadays they want me to be offbeat again…I think I had my own style, which I don’t think was right or wrong…At the time I didn’t really care about it. I was just doing my thing.”

Most greats are different. Charles Barkley was a 6’5 power forward that could shoot three pointers and post his opponent up just short of the 3-point line. Rocky Balboa was a southpaw boxer that would get the tar kicked out of him before he started gathering momentum to knock out his opponent. Hey even a crafty Sally Struthers transitioned from starring as a skinny fox named Gloria, in All In The Family to becaming a hefty spokesperson for Save The Children’s infomericals.

Who ever thought that one up for Struthers was a genius, by the way. But I digress.

As Hip Hop Wired’s Trent Clark  wrote in an article back in November 2015: The point of the matter is this unorthodox style never caught on with newer listeners.

I picked up the phone and called Silkk The Shocker.  Silkk is your style offbeat? 

Remember Silkk The Shocker and Mya’s Movin’ On? 

“When I go back and listen to it, I say that was really good, ” Silkk the Shocker told me by phone from his Los Angeles area home. “And I don’t know, I give all the glory to the man up above. It’s like he made me who I was and I’m glad that I did the counterclockwise flow. ”

Silkk thinks that his influence is deeper than just a flow, however. “Whatever it was, ultimately, this is how I look at life: ‘I’m still living, right?’ Before it’s all over, piece by piece, I changed society, changed culture, changed certain peoples views on things. When I put my first album out I sold a half of million records. This was back in a time where, you wasn’t doing that. It wasn’t all for hype. It was like, people were really messin’ with whatever I was saying. And you can go back and listen to music and you gotta just take it for what it is. And so if you take it for what it is, you appreciate that I made songs like, Freeloaders and I Represent.”

Silk said that he appeared in one of his first records at 14 years old alongside his Brother, Master P in a track called The Ghetto’s Trying To Kill Me. He says he got love from his peers. That made him appreciative for his flow AND voice, literally! “I sounded like a little girl,” laughed Silkk.

“E-40 and everybody called me and said: ‘yo you killed this song and I need to get you on my album.’ Even Tupac he saluted me on it. I don’t know what it is, I just know that I was meant to do it. I was meant to sell the records I sold, I was meant to help No Limit Records get to the point I got it to and then I’m also meant to have been in 2016 and do a song with Dej Loaf. I get people like Migos shouting me out and Young Jeezy shouting me out.”

Check Out Dej Loaf and Silkk The Shocker

He’s been around a lot of big names, Tupac, E-40, Cam’ron, Wyclef and he’s transcended to the next era rocking out with folks like Migos and Dej Loaf. Silkk doesn’t seem to mind the criticism of his unorthodox flow.

He’s just about that action boss! “As long as I continue to just do me, then you gotta respect it,” he said.

“Because whatever I’m gonna do and wherever I’m gonna go, I’m just saying: I’m a trensetter and watch this here!”

Suggested Reading:

The Next Big Showcase’s Cliff Po & DJ Tarzan Making Dreams Reality in NYC & NJ

Scoop B Radio: Turner Sports’ Steve Smith Talks Career & More

The post Silkk The Shocker On His Offbeat Rap Flow: “Respect It” appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

With name change in and a new deal with Cinematic Music Group under his built, Chicago-native rapper G Herbo (formally known as Lil Herb) returns with the official video for “No Limit”, in which he pays homage to the New Orleans legendary group run by Master P. Watch the new Antoinne Bryant-directed video below:

The post New Video: G Herbo – “No Limit” appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

RESPECT.: Alright, before we get into the latest things about you, let’s talk a little bit about your past. You used to be a teacher?

Dee-1: Yeah, yeah.

What made you decide to leave that behind and focus on your music? Or was that the plan all along?

Yeah. The plan all along was to be able to be an artist full-time, but when I graduated from college, I wasn’t making any money from being an artist. So, I got the job as a teacher to help just supplement my income and really fund my dream and pay for my habit, pretty much. My habit of being an artist. So, that’s how that worked. Then, finally it got to the point where I couldn’t really balance both of them anymore because it was taking too much of a toll on me. I realized that if I wanted my music to pop off real big, I had to pursue it full-time and give myself a chance to really compete.

It seems like it’s worked out so far. 

I feel like I made the right choice.

Definitely. I listened to your Psalms of David I project and one of the quotes that caught my attention was “Be real. Be righteous. Be relevant.” You’re really open about your faith. Has your music always had a positive message?

For the most part, it’s always been like that. When I first, first, first started rapping…I would say the first six months of me rapping, it didn’t really have a message in it. It didn’t really have any direction to it. Soon after that, probably around the time when I put my first solo project out, I was rapping with a bunch of homeboys at first in this big clique with like fifteen dudes. We were all kinda talking about a bunch of nothing, but when  I started to do my solo stuff I was like “Man, I want my stuff to really have a purpose, to really talk about something.” That’s more or less the type of person I am, what you hear in my music.

I think that’s what a lot of people tend to appreciate. You have a message to your music, but it’s not very preachy. Like you said, it’s just being real. Has everyone always been receptive to that? Has anyone ever told you to just do what everyone else is doing?

You’ve got these industry “experts,” and people who think they know it all, who definitely at certain times would say “Oh, you need more club songs and you need more stuff that people wanna hear” and I’m just like, no offense to them, but I feel like I know more than them. I’m a fan of music as well and I know that music fans really appreciate artists who tell the truth in their music. So, regardless of what you’re talking about, if we feel like you’re tellin’ the truth…we really appreciate that about you. That’s why I stick to my guns and it’s working.

Absolutely. Speaking of which, congratulations on your deal with RCA. Have you already started working on your next project or are you letting it all sink in?

Thank you. As soon as I got signed, I finished up Psalms of David II and I started working on my next project. I haven’t put a name on it yet. Shortly after that, I got a call and was given an opportunity to go on tour with Lupe Fiasco. So that kind of put a pause on me working on new music. I’m currently on tour with Lupe and I’ll be on tour with him until December 15th.

You’ve been on other tours before, and now you’re out on the road with Lupe. How has that experience been compared to other tours you’ve been a part of?

With this one, the type of music that me and Lupe make is very similar as far as having a message. So, it’s really been cool. It’s been a very smooth and easy transition to just rocking out and rocking those crowds. Every city we go to, it’s people in the crowd that are diehard Dee-1 fans too. That feels good, everywhere we go, there’s people who are coming because they know I’m going to be on the show too. I’ve been doing my thing and me and Lupe have a real dope relationship. He’s like a big brother. I say that and I don’t just throw that term around. He literally gives me feedback on my set and makes suggestions on what song I can do here and what song I can do there. He comes out and watches my show and all of that stuff. I’m really gaining a lot of insight from him by being on this tour.

He seems really supportive.

Yeah, it’s a cool relationship. We clown around all day. It’s fun. It don’t feel like no industry stuff.

Let’s talk a little bit about your new project, Psalms of David II. What should we expect and what do you hope to achieve with this release? Is it along the same lines as the last installment or are you going in a different direction?

This one is in the same direction as far as the content. I call it Psalms of David because the Psalms in the Bible were psalms that David wrote and since I write raps to express my life and express what I’m going through, I just call it Psalms of David. This is really just a continuation of the first one…but, the first one got me my record deal. So, when I went into the second one, I already had the bar set real high. The first time I put one of these out, it got me signed after eight years of working hard. This time, I’ve just got so much hunger to rap about. I’ve got being signed after eight years. I’ve got issues when it comes to my team that I work with, that I’m rapping about on there. I’ve got issues when it comes to my personal life and relationships that I’m rapping about on there. Just rapping about how it feels to know that you’re the underdog. I really feel like David in David & Goliath. I really feel like that, so, feeling like you’re the underdog but you’re winning and you’re seeing success. That hunger right there and that adrenaline rush that you get from knowing you’re the underdog but knowing you’re still winning and defying the odds…that’s what this CD is about.

Anybody who appreciates a hungry rapper—that’s what this is. I’m not the person who people would probably bet their money on to make it this far, because I don’t have a big cosign like a lot of artists. If you think about it, like if you really do the math, a lot of artists who have a lot of content in their music…they’re dope artists, but they’ve also go these big cosigns that really helped them out. You’ve got Jay Z cosigning J. Cole. You’ve got Dr. Dre cosigning Kendrick. You’ve got Rick Ross cosigning Wale or Stalley or something like that. I don’t have that. I’m not signed under a big artist like that. I’ve just got authentic cosigns [from] people like Mannie Fresh, people like Lupe, people like Master P, that just rock with me and they’ve got my back. But yeah, I just rap about that hunger and knowing that I’m doing something you can’t really compare to what anybody else is doing.

I noticed on one song, you ended your verse early because it was something that was a bit too personal for you. I can tell that you’re really putting your all into the music. I think it’s always good to see an artist being vulnerable like that while still staying true to themselves.

It’s funny you say that, there were some people on Twitter last night that were talking about the new mixtape dropping and they were like “I wonder if he’s gonna finish that verse that he started rapping on the first Psalms of David and then he stopped it. I wonder if he’s gonna talk about whatever he was going to talk about.” It’s people that really paid attention to that and are kind of curious about it.

We’ll have to check it out and see.

Mmhmm.

Do you have any other endeavors lined up outside of rapping?

I’m just focused on music right now. I’d rather be great at something than just be a jack of all trades and a master of none. They say that phrase a lot and I don’t want to be like that. I filmed a movie that’s coming out in April, I’m one of the lead characters in the movie but I don’t want to get too distracted by doing a whole bunch of things like that right now. I did want to do that just to get it out of the way.

I know how the theme is “Shut Up And Grind,” though, so are there any artists that you haven’t worked with yet that you’d like to work with?

Artists I’d like to work with…I’d love to work with Nas and I’d love to work with Lupe. Me and Lupe, we still haven’t done any music together yet, as crazy as that is. I think it’ll get to that point soon, but we still haven’t done anything together musically. Those two would be cool. Outside of that, I’d like to work with Jadakiss. These are just people I grew up on. For me, working with people is not really as fun if it’s a business move. You know how it’s like “Oh, let me do a song with Chris Brown because he’d be dope to have on a hook.” I’d be all for that. It’d be cool. It’d be a smart business move. But deep down, you’d get a kick outta working with some people because it’s like “Man, this one really means a lot, this is special, because I grew up on this person. Those are the special ones like Nas, Lupe and Jadakiss. I already worked with Mannie Fresh and Juvenile. Those were two big ones for me, coming from New Orleans. And Master P. They were all big.

Those all sound like they would be good collaborations, especially with Jada.

Yeah, that would be sick. It’s crazy how everybody I just named, most of them are east coast-based. If it wasn’t No Limit or Cash Money, like that New Orleans stuff…the other stuff I listened to growing up was mostly east coast stuff. Some Midwest, but mostly east coast cats. I just really respect their mind. But I rock with Jada super tough.

Last question. As you mentioned, you have a significant fan following, is there anything that you’d like to say to them or more importantly, say to someone who hasn’t heard any Dee-1 music before?

If they haven’t heard my music before, those are the people that matter most out of everybody to me. If they haven’t heard my music before, that’s the only reason I’m doing this interview. The ones that rock with me, they don’t need to read a Dee-1 interview, they’re already hooked. They’re already rocking with me, I’ve got their support. I just want the fans who haven’t heard it to know, the reason I’m doing this now is to spread what I do to them. I really feel like once they try it, they’re going to be hooked. Straight up. They’re just going to respect it. I want them to listen to Psalms of David II, and the reason why. It’s almost like you have to give people a reason why they should listen to you nowadays and it’s either usually because everybody else is talking about it or because you just got signed by this big artist. So the reason why they should listen to me is because I come from a place where we have no music industry infrastructure, New Orleans. I’m the first rapper to really get big and get a deal from out of New Orleans with really talking about something real, some real content.

Jay Electronica does as well, but Jay Electronica was based in New York and kinda moved away. I still live in New Orleans, right now to this very day. I’m the first of my kind from the N.O. and I done made it this far. I didn’t take no shortcuts. It’s almost like you gotta respect it…and if you respect somebody’s grind, then you can give their music a spin and give their music a listen. I didn’t start rapping until I went to college. I didn’t take any shortcuts. I didn’t have any investor behind me. I don’t have a big time manager. I literally got a record deal on my own without all that stuff. Just a small team of supporters around me, back at the crib but nothing super big. There was nobody really pushing this ship forward. I think that’s reason enough for somebody to say “I respect dude’s grind.” I turned down record deals in the past because they didn’t want to respect the content that I like to rap about. I waited and found the right situation, the right label and now I’m doing my thing. I think that’s reason to listen.

Follow Dee-1 on Twitter at @Dee1music | Visit him online at http://www.dee1music.com

The post Interview: Dee-1 Talks Psalms, Touring With Lupe Fiasco, Dream Collaborations and His New Deal With RCA appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

Aside from those daytime commercials for online college courses and a recently released mixtape, Master P has largely remained out of the spotlight. Over the weekend, the hip-hop legend made an appearance at this year’s SXSW festival and ended up performing one of his biggest hits in “Make Em Say Ugh” to an amped up crowd that rhymed line for line with him. Check out the short clip below from FlyTimesDaily and refresh your memory on just why he deserves our RESPECT.

The post Video: Master P Performs “Make Em Say Ugh” at SXSW appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

After dropping a freestyle over Drake’s latest “Started From The Bottom”, Washington D.C’s favorite Slutty Boy drops the cover for his upcoming mixtape aptly titled SDMG via Instagram. While we wait for the impending mixtape,  listen to the best freestyle we’ve heard over Drizzy’s joint thus far below.

The post Fat Trel Drops SDMG Cover Via Instagram, Covers Drake’s “Started From The Bottom” appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

If you’ve been keeping up with your hip hop news you’d know that both Fat Trel and Alley Boy recently became affiliated with Master P’s illustrious No Limit Records. Earlier this week, a visual was released of the three co-signing the movement, dubbing themselves Louie V Mobb. We’re guessing they like Louis Vuitton or it could be an ode to “LOUIS”-iana? While fans speculate, Fat Trel and P have been cooking up something hot in the studio. The preview for this latest track, “Dope Case” sounds like a hit, as Fat Trel scribes in his notepad while a blaring verse from P lets off in the background. Check the video below.

The post New Video: Master P & Fat Trel Record “Dope Case” appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.