As the 5th and final chapter of Main Attrakionz’ Green Ova Records, Oakland’s Shady Blaze appears to be an afterthought — in reality he was there in the beginning, when Squadda B and Mondre first came up with their name. With a new project out November titled Green Ova’s Most Hated, and a slew of EPs with producer Spadez queued for the future, Shady Blaze prepares to drop his unique brand of conscious street rap at a relentless velocity. The rap game best catch up.

The Beginning

Having just gotten the word from his homie, a teenage Shady Blaze hops in his car in Hayward and points his wheels in the direction of Oakland. In the back seat the battery flap on his Yamaha keyboard makes a sound like rattling tic tacs. Slung over one’s shoulder, its belt of D batteries looks like ammunition.

Fifteen miles down the road, Blaze’s homie Peter directs him to pull the car over, to where two little kids stand.

“It’s them,” says Peter, nodding at the two boys.

“Come on, dude, this can’t be them,” says Blaze, watching as the kids stroll towards his car.

“It’s them,” says Peter.

Ah man. We’re about to bring these 12 year olds to the house. What we about to do?

That’s what Blaze’s thinking as he drives himself, his homie Peter and the two kids, who call themselves Squadda B and Mondre, to his mom’s crib.

But when they get there, and unload the Yamaha into the garage, Blaze reasons with himself. They’re there. They might as well try it out.

And is he ever glad they do.

“It was crazy,” says Blaze in a telephone interview. “I’d never heard a 12 year old rap like this.”

After playing a selection on the keyboard, inserting a blank tape into the cassette and writing, Blaze plays Squadda B and Mondre a beat they later perform at Oakland Idol, a local Bay Area talent show.

Short a studio, what would become the duo Main Attrakionz used the talent show platform to master their art, which ultimately led them to organize the Green Ova family and reconnect with Shady Blaze. But that part of the story comes later.

Coming up as a young homie in East Oakland

Shady Blaze grew up in East Oakland to the music and sounds his mom and grandma liked, a little rhythm and blues, jazz, Michael Jackson. In fact before rap he wanted to be a famous R&B artist.

“I wanted to do R&B until about 11, but I couldn’t think for shit though.”

Discouraged about his prospects of joining the next Jackson 5, Blaze turned his attention in school to instruments, and learned how to play the trombone, trumpet, drums and piano. The latter he taught himself.

When he was eleven the family moved to 89th Avenue in East Oakland, which is where Blaze first got introduced to rap. On the way to middle school he passed groups of neighbors chilling, playing football and freestyling.

“They started rapping, making songs on cassettes,” says Blaze. “I was the standout. I wasn’t doing it because I didn’t really get it.”

Reluctant to be the outsider, however, Blaze caved and one day stopped on the way to school to try his own freestyle. And that’s all it took. From that day forth, the only time his teachers and friends saw him was during music and P.E. class.

The rest of the time he spent rapping, or scouring the music store for the latest Ca$h Money, Bone Thugs-n-Harmony and Twista records. It was around that time too that he came up with his first rap name, inspired by Ludacris and how he combined his real name (Chris) with his rap name. That’s how the name Velocity was born.

Young homie stops going to school

Only 15 and spinning rhymes faster than a strongman spins a dreidel, Velocity waxed unstoppable to any force other than one — that of his mother.

“My mom would kick me out because I had to go to school and do something with my life,” says Blaze. “Instead I would just stay home all day and make music.”

Kicked to the curb repeatedly by his mother, Blaze remained stubborn on his quest, inviting the then-12-year-old Squadda B and Mondre over to his mom’s crib to make music. But when little came out of that, the mounting pressure from his family got to him.

For the rest of his teenage years, or at least until he was legal, Blaze put rap on the back burner. In the meantime he met his girlfriend, with whom he would later have a son.

Then one day, almost four years later, he got a phone call. Blaze’s homie hit him saying he met a cat in Oakland who knew him. His name was Squadda B.

Blaze immediately put down his hammer, and ceased work on his white picket fence.

At this point in their careers, Squadda and Mondre of Main Attrakionz were well-known and buzzing artists in The Bay. Soon they would attract national attention with 808s and Dark Grapes II, put out through Mishka and including that coveted A$AP Rocky feature (“Take 1/Leaf”) that also appears on Rocky’s Live.Love.ASAP debut.

To reconnect with those dudes must have seemed like a no-brainer for Blaze, who’d yet to experience any real reception for his music. So when Squadda B encouraged Blaze to stay patient, to keep dropping songs on SoundScan, he did.

When faced with few to no responses online to his music, again, he listened to Squadda B. “It’s going to be your time, you just got to wait on it,” Squadda would say.

And in 2011, it happened. Blaze and Squadda B dropped their collaborative mixtape called The Shady Bambino Project, which earned Blaze his first local attention.

For a kid at the “Crossroad,” to quote Blaze’s favorite song, the mixtape was a reason to keep going. And it did just that, until later, when tragedy struck.

”

Soon after dropping The Shady Bambino Project Squadda B and Mondre decided to wean their crew down from 20 to five, and asked Blaze if he wanted to be Chapter 5 of Green Ova Records, the indie label they were about to start.

Blaze said yes, and along with Chapters 3 and 4, Dope G, and Lolo, respectively, performed shows and made music under the umbrella of Green Ova, popping up on more blogs and in more magazines nationwide. They also set a deadline for Blaze’s album, The 5th Chapter.

It was also around this time that Blaze’s girlfriend became pregnant with their son, which, despite being a blessing, presented a problem. Bay Area rappers, traditionally outside the mainstream, make only enough money to keep themselves going. They make a living show-to-show, and have little left over to support a family, let alone raise a child.

So, although he already had started recording, Blaze prepared to break the bad news to his fans. He would be hanging up the towel, again, on his rap career — to get a job, make a living and support his family.

It seemed to be the right move: leave rap to make a comfortable life for his son. But unfortunately that chess piece never left its square. On March 2 of this year, Blaze’s girlfriend gave birth to their son 23 days prematurely.

“There was a slim chance he was going to make it,” says Blaze of the birth, of his girlfriend’s Cesarean.

Twenty days later the child died. They held the funeral a week later, and right after Blaze returned to the studio where he would write a song about his son.

“At the time I had one song on there, ‘C5 Money Hype,’ and when he passed I just went back in the studio … after that the whole project came together in a month.”

Hardly recommended by the APA, recording became a form of grieving for Blaze. And on May 15, less than a month after his son’s death, he dropped his proper debut, The 5th Chapter, his official Green Ova release. It was met by rave reviews from critics.

The 5th Chapter

Drawing on sounds common to The Bay, in that their idiosyncrasy defies categorization, Blaze’s records blend The Jacka’s street aesthetic with a free-form, rapid-fire delivery.

Among the 18 songs that round out this socially-aware and stubbornly authentic mixtape, “Kids Meal” stands out.

“That song,” says Blaze, “while my girlfriend was pregnant I was just thinking about being a dad and thinking about all the kids, how everything starts at an early age. We always grow up and blame each other for so much shit that goes on in the world.”

The song’s chorus, “the truth lies in the youth eyes until we feed them the lies,” reflects Blaze’s feelings about the naivete of children, how fragile they are.

“We all talk about racism at an early age in school, before that you don’t even know about racism, and you’re in a class with a bunch of different races you don’t even think about it.”

Whether the Tree of Knowledge ought to be tapped for its fruit is one of several stimulating and important questions Blaze tackles on The 5th Chapter.

Whether Blaze is comfortable being the serpent is another one. And is something we’ll likely find out on his forthcoming project, the follow-up to The 5th Chapter, Green Ova’s Most Hated.

“I see somebody post on Twitter, I love Green Ova but I hate Shady Blaze,” says Blaze of the inspiration for the title.

As if awakening teens to the processes by which public institutions program them is a crime, such fans lamely complain about Blaze’s bluntness.

Unlike Main Attrakionz, whose vibe often overrides their message, Blaze delivers the rap equivalent of Thor’s hammer.

And he doesn’t seem destined to stop.

The post Shady Blaze is … Green Ova’s Most Hated appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

Rumor had it that Andre Nickatina would be Andre Nickatina‘s final album, that he would hang up the towel after dropping his 15th record — his self-titled LP that hit shelves this morning. But according to the San Francisco rapper himself, you shouldn’t believe everything you hear. He wouldn’t tell us exactly if he plans to put out more material in the future, but he did dismiss the question of retirement. He refuted the question altogether. Retirement is not predictable like the weather!

In the mid-90s Nickatina gained national attention with hits such as “Killa Whale”. Dodging in and out of the spotlight turned on by local cats E-40 and Too $hort, he dropped I Hate You with a Passion in April of 1995, kick-starting a career that’s spanned two decades.

With that much experience in the game, Nickatina demands RESPECT. When he does retire — because he will someday — he leaves fans with a full catalog of dope material: over 225 joints to ride to, 15 albums to roll with, plus dozens of features.

RESPECT. caught up with Nickatina to coincide with the release of his self-titled album.

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RESPECT. Congratulations on the new album. I’ve heard rumors it might be your last. Is that true?

Andre Nickatina: Let me hear where you heard the rumors from first, then I’ll tell you if it’s true or not.

I don’t know if I want to leak those sources.

I’m not answering that question if you can’t tell me.

Nima [Nickatina’s PR agent] suggested that it might be.

Ah, I don’t know what Nima talkin’ about.

So you might put out new music after all?

You know, I’m getting up there when it comes to the numbers, but I wouldn’t necessarily say this is my last.

Why drop this self-titled album now? Why is it important for you?

It isn’t important. I don’t think a self-titled album makes you sell more albums. It ain’t about that.

What’s it about?

It ain’t really about nothing. Just raps.

What kind of topics do you touch on?

Ain’t really no topics. Just getting in there with a bunch of raps. Just rapping over the beat. It ain’t necessarily about topics or general aspect or how I was trying to go. Nothing like that.

Okay, well what stage are you at in your music? When I normally ask those questions artists are like, this topic, this topic and this topic, but you seem to have a different perspective. Why is that?

That’s just the way it is. I’m not trying to be different or anything like that. I know a lot of people have topics but shit, I don’t. I don’t look at it like that. I just go in and rap. I don’t really touch on any subjects, or I got to tell you about my life, or tell you about this. I keep it all in perspective. The message is just trying to keep the situation cool, try to be cool.

You often talk about religion in your rhymes. Are you a spiritual guy?

When you hear me say it, what did you think about?

Religion?

Yeah, what religious aspect do I touch on when I say it?

Religion through rap in a sense. You channel your situation in rap through a religious-

My religion is money. My religion is rap. My religion is whatever goes with rap. So even if it’s in bad terms, I’m still with it. It’s just that type of metaphorical religion of trying to get this paper.

That’s cool. I hear that metaphor going as far back as Bullets, Blunts, N Ah Big Bank Roll. When did you start to roll with that metaphor?

That’s what goes on. I’m not trying to work it in there. That’s what goes on in the core of what I’m trying to do. If I’m working hard trying to get it that’s going to come across in there. I don’t necessarily work it in there.

Has the way you make money in the game changed over the years?

It’s changed a lot. You a writer or a journalist?

Both.

Let’s just say, the writing, giving it to Rolling Stone, it’s worth $5000, but before you get it to Rolling Stone everybody gets to read it on Youtube. When you get it to Rolling Stone now it’s only worth $500. That changes your mind state of what the fuck you’re doing. Take the Rolling Stone example. You’re going to be mad as muthafucka if people read your writing before it gets there. But if you’re a real writer you’ll be up in the game and stick to the rules of what you’re doing, and do what you got to do to avoid that aspect.

Do you try to shelter your work?

You can only do so much. For instance, me giving it to Nima and Nima letting you hear it. You know, me personally, I would have been like, nah, don’t let him hear it. But if it has a point to it, to what we’re talking about now, you need to hear to get this interview to go right, I want you to hear it, I want you to hear it so you can have a better sense of the interview, what you’re going to ask. Somebody who’s not supposed to hear it, then fuck no, I don’t want you to hear it. In the aspect of business, I want a business person to hear it right now.

As an artist, how much of this do you need to be consciously aware of, or can you pass off the responsibility to somebody else?

It depends on what kind of label you’re dealing with. If you’re dealing with a major label, of course you’re not the one sending your discs over to the manufacturer. It goes through so many hands, it could be the engineer, the producer that you deal with, so many aspects of how it could get out there. I guess you got to trust. You got to put more trust now in the people touching your music who can hear your music. There’s just so many ways for it to get out. It’s like an octopus with many tentacles.

Are you comfortable with the way the industry is now?

Am I comfortable? I have to be muthafucka. I ain’t going nowhere. I got to put a pillow down somewhere and sit. No matter what goes wrong with it I’ve got to figure it out. No problem.

Over the 20 years you’ve made music in the Bay, or it’s probably longer. Well, how many years would you say it’s been, in total?

23.

Okay, what’s a common thread in the Bay Area hip-hop scene over those years?

Just the consistency of people getting their music out for the masses to hear it, I guess. You get a person like E-40, he puts an album out and people in 50 states know about it. He does a new album with Too $hort, that makes it even better. Too $hort comes with Blow the Whistle. That’s blows up everywhere. People like Keak da Sneak, everyone in the underground too. You got The Jacka who stays underground. Yukmouth, he’s still running around doing his thing.

These are all guys who started out with you when you were younger.

Yeah, that’s what it is. People just staying relevant.

Are there any young guys you’re into?

Um, I don’t really know the young cats. I wish them the best of luck in what they’re doing. I don’t really know a lot of young rap cats. I don’t really know a lot of old rap cats! For real. But they out there doing their thing. More power to them.

You mentioned being in traffic earlier. What are you driving? Are you a car guy?

I’m in the passenger seat right now.

What do you drive?

I’m not fucking telling you so you can tell the world muthafucka.

Isn’t that the point of the interview?

No, we talk about music, not my personal life. I don’t look at the car I’m driving to tell if the music’s dope.

Okay. Can we go back to 2004 and Bullets, Blunts, N Ah Big Bank Roll. Can you expound on some specific lyrics?

Let me hear what you’ve got to say.

One is, “watching fights of Muhammad Ali dodging death with every step.” That’s from “Blood N My Hair”.

I would think back then it was just a Muhammad Ali reference, watching the fights. Every step he took would be a blow of death, so that’s what that was. It doesn’t sound like a situation I would be in. It’s just a lyric of Muhammad Ali at the time.

The other one is “my philosophy is the boss of me,” also from “Blood N My Hair.”

The way you get down is the boss of you. How you wake up and put your left foot in front of right is the boss of you. The philosophy of your life is you. A lot of people can get caught up in a persona of who they really are, getting out there spending more money than they’re actually worth.

What do think your contribution to the culture in the Bay Area has been?

I don’t know. Someone else has to answer that question.

What’s your friend in the car say? You said you’re in the passenger seat.

They would never answer that question. To that person I’m just a regular person. They probably think, “he ain’t shit, this nigga ain’t shit.” [laughs]

What do you hope your contribution is?

Just being known as a rap cat, who woke up, ate and slept rap. I’m don’t want to compare myself to anyone. If we were at the basketball court, I would want to be somebody who gets picked to play. That’s it. If I was on the court I would just want to be picked to play. I don’t care if I get picked first or fifth, it’s alright with me.

Talking to you, you come across as down-to-Earth, or concerned about giving the impression that you’re down-to-Earth? Have you always been like that, say when you were younger?

I wasn’t practicing to be me. I was just being me. I’m just being me now. I’m not trying to be down-to-Earth. I think we’re just talking as civilized men. These are civilized questions so I’m trying to give civilized answers.

Maybe I’m used to talking to younger, trending rappers. Could be different.

I can feel you, man. Even when I was younger I don’t think I would have tried to come off as the best, or trying to be the best, or like, “I’m going to give you an album that’s going to change the game,” shit like that. It’s just conversation, just conversation.

Going way back, why’d you switch from Dre Dog to Andre Nickatina?

It just made more sense for business. When it comes to the rhyme game, there were small phases of the Ski’s and emcee’s boom boom boom and the dog names. It was a business decision to go back and say hey, Andre is Andre, go with me.

It’s more timeless.

It’s a better business term.

What is Nickatina?

It’s always been there.

When I go on iTunes and look at the I Hate You with a Passion cover, it’s of a whale, which wasn’t the original cover. Who made that whale cover? It’s very interesting.

A person I had working for me at the time made it. There was a different cover at first, but the song “Killa Whale” got so popular I changed the cover. It was better for that.

Why change it though?

The first cover was owned by another record company. The album cover got turned over to me after a couple of years, so I changed it to that.

What about the new album, with the red and the silhouette on the cover?

It just looked like a good silhouette. That’s it.

Is that you now, or an old picture?

It’s an old picture, but it’s still me now.

[laughs] I’m a fan of album covers, that’s why I asked.

I can dig that.

Do you have any favorites?

Music to Driveby by Compton’s Most Wanted, MC Eiht, Sign o the Times by Prince. I like that Al Green I’m Still in Love with You album where he’s in all white but has black socks on. [laughs] The whole album’s white, his outfit’s white, but he’s got black socks on. [laughs]

Anything to add about your new album?

Naw.

The post Interview: Andre Nickatina Dismisses Retirement appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

Hip-hop and Major League Baseball don’t cross paths often, but when they do dope shit happens. Last night the San Francisco Giants swept the Detroit Tigers to become World Series Championships. Peep 40 Water posing with Giants hurler Sergio Romo above. Shouts to the bay, and 40, again, for the IG flick.

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