Ghetto E
Interview by Brad Sadler aka Count Fetty
From Murder Dog Vol. 8# 1
How did you hook up with Overture?
Through my manager. My manager and Scott (Jade) is real cool and was just talking and back and forth talking talking and we just put it down you know. I think Esham might've played a part in it too.
Dayton family had shit out back in '91 right?
That was Dope Dayton Ave. That was just a little EP with 5 songs on it. That was the one with "Fantasies" on it.
Back then it was Dayton Family in Flint and Esham in Detroit. How much of what you were talking about back then was true?
The majority of it was true as far as like Dope Dayton Ave. shit that was going down on the Ave. Niggas selling that yola, so on and so forth. "Fantasies" was just some player shit. It was just some laid back player shit.
You didn't rap on any of those earlier albums?
No, not the first EP. That was when Backstabber was out, when he was free. He’s still in prison now. He gets out next month
How did that happen? Can you talk about that?
Dope Dayton Ave, the name speaks for itself. That'll tell you how niggas was getting locked up. That was all real.
What happened between the time that you released the Dope Dayton Ave EP and you released What’s On My Mind?
That first EP with "Fantasies" on it got picked up by Atlantic. And then something happened with the producers and the artists and they fucked the deal up somehow. It took a while on the legal end to get free, to record with other people. And then after we got free, it took years to record with other people.
Was Steve Pitts doing your beats back then?
Yeah, he was doing them. He did damn near all our beats. He did the whole little EP. He did the whole What’s on my Mind and he did the whole FBI album.
That was the first album you were on. How did that come about? Did your brother (Ira Dorsey AKA Bootleg) ask you to rap on it?
Yeah on the first EP I wasn’t even thinking about no rapping or no shit like that. On the “What’s on my Mind” album, they needed me to get on the cover of it cuz Matt had got locked up. The album was already done and I got on the cover. I started doing shows with them, and then my brother got locked up. It was just me and String, we had to do all the touring and all the shows and shit. I started takin a liking to the shit.
I noticed that the major label made you change some of the lyrics when “What’s On My Mind” came out. Did they make you tone it down?
Some songs they sent back. They said were a little too outrageous, a little too hardcore. Don’t nobody like being told what to do on their shit…They know what they want to hear. You be pissed off but you gotta bend though.
What happened after FBI?
Bootleg was incarcerated. Shoestring started on the solo. They talked about doing a Dayton Family album when Boot got out. When Boot was in prison he wrote his own solo shit. He just had has mind made up when he got out that he was gonna drop a solo before he did another Dayton Family album.
Bootleg's solo came out on Relativity and Shoestring was on Tommy Boy? I remember when Bootleg dropped his album they were saying "formerly of the Dayton Family."
He had to do that because I was gonna do the Dayton Family album with String on Tommy Boy. But my brother still had half the rights to the Dayton Family. So he was gonna sign the rights over to me so I could do the Dayton Family album with String. But it never went through. We told them to drop the Dayton family album first, but they dropped the solo. They backed up off of it.
Are there going to be any Dayton Family albums in the future?
Yeah, we working on one right now.
With your album you had a lot of guest spots. Was this the first time you worked with Breed?
Yeah, Breed put it down. He put it down for Flint.
It was cool to see him on your album!
Yeah, no doubt. I’m gonna keep it real. I’m gonna try to keep it with my people.
What about Jake the Flake you still kick it with him?
Yeah, I didn’t get a chance to get him on this. A lot of people, I didn’t really get a chance to get on this first album but you know, I’ll get em all on the 2nd one. I got some cats from Flint though. I was really trying to fuck with some of them cats that ain’t really put nothing out there. A lot of the underdogs, I wanted on my album.
Everybody gets along pretty good in Flint?
Basically yeah. It done calmed down a lot from the way it used to be.
Was there a lot of hating going on?
Yeah, that’s all day long. That’s still going on. That’s everywhere. That ain’t never gonna stop right there.
Let's talk about some of the songs on your album. What about "Family Tree" is that a true story about your cousin getting killed?
No doubt. That’s straight from the heart. That’s my favorite song too.
I totally feel that song. I think what’s missing in rap is good story telling.
…Exactly now people steering away from that. They talking about cars and all that other shit. Hey, that was my nigga that was my heart.
It seems like there is a lot of personal shit on your album. If you could pick one song on the album that sums up Ghetto E what would it be?
"The World And Everything In It". That’s what I’m trying to do. I’m trying to get down. I’m trying to conquer a couple things out there. You have a lot of different styles on your album--the personal shit, the party shit, and the skits….
As far as my skits and my different voices that I can do…That’s why I named the album Ghetto Theater, cuz I do some Joe Pescie, some Scarface. It’s a lot of different people I can do in the industry as far as like rappers and actors. I can make myself sound just like them.
What was it like in Flint when you were growing up?
It was alright. A lot of shit changed like in the early 90’s with that gangbanging and all that shit, all that gang shit and the drive by shootings. Otherwise growing up it was pretty cool. A lot of people weren’t getting killed like now. But now with that hatin and all that shit, everybody jealous of everybody and everybody wanna be somebody. That’s what fucked the game up, everybody wanna be somebody.
When you started rapping, is that when it got bad?
The hatin came in, cuz niggas’ bitches coming to the show they might be screaming and shit, and a nigga wasn’t feeling that shit you know. We still get a lotta support in Flint, no doubt.
Now that you are on Overture have a lot Esham fans accepted you?
I would think so cuz we have about the same fan base. People that was digging him was digging us.
Esham did some amazing shit on your album. Some of the strongest tracks were the ones with you, Bootleg and Esham. Is there any talk of forming a super group?
I wouldn’t have no problem with that. I wouldn’t have no problem with that.
Another song I like on your album is "Street Life". It seemed to be from the heart. What were you feeling when you wrote that song?
I was going off the title "Street Life" and the shit that’s going on out there--poverty and the way mothafuckas got to get. You just got to get out there and get it. It doesn’t matter how you get it. A lot of people just resort to streetlife. A lot of people resort to that as a source of income. I don’t knock what you do. Just get it. I don’t care how you get it.
Esham was talking about doing a movie. Are you gonna be part of that? Are your careers separate or are you trying to merge them?
I would like to try and merge them. I would like to be a part of anything, anything like that. Anything that the cat’s doing. I'm a big fan of Esham. I'm gonna be on Esham's new album, Tongues. I’m gonna guest appear on one and try to get Bootleg to come on that one too, the same song.
What would you tell fans of the Dayton Family about your album?
I would say if you miss that feel and you looking for that feel, I’m bringing that and I’m bringing that Dayton Family. Along with the way I’m feeling about a lot of shit. This is like a Dayton Family/Ghetto E album
How does your family feel about you doing music?
They real supportive cuz they understand. They live where we live and they done seen some of the same shit we done seen.
Is it a lot of fun working with your brother?
No Doubt. That’s how we hang. That’s the only person who I really hang with. That’s the only person I really trust too.
You say that your brother is the only one that you trust, but are you opening up more with Natas?
I ain’t really had a chance to kick it with them yet. I really just come down really to record and that type of stuff. I ain’t went out with them yet or nothing. I ain’t really got to kick it with them like at a tittie bar or something.
What’s the best tittie bar in Flint?
Flint got some wack ass tittie bars. Go to the Club Fantasy, fuck it... Detroit's got better one. I like 007. I like Allstars. There’s a couple of em here. They got some good shit here.
