Turk
Interview By Black Dog Bone
From Murder Dog Vol. 10 #4
It’s been a couple of years since you’ve come up with an album, what happened?
I was locked up for two years. I was incarcerated. I had caught a possession of a firearm charge last year.
Did you leave Cash Money before or after you were locked up?
It was just a little personal problem. I wanted to do my own thing. It was after I came home I started doin’ my own thing. This interview is not about Cash Money. It’s about me. I rather not even talk about Cash Money. That was the past. I am the future.
I don’t know much about your future. All I can ask you is about your past.
I can tell you about my future. As far as Cash Money, I don’t want to talk about them. That was then. I’m doin’ my own thing now.
They say you are joining Cash Money again.
Not really. I mean, we talked about it but it’s not official right now. We talkin’. It’s in the air. We don’t have no date.
If you have the chance one more time would you go with Cash Money?
Yeah, but the business has got to be right. Everything got to be straight if I was to sign with them again.
It looks like Cash Money was not paying their artists.
Cash Money was run by money made by us. If I was to go with them again, everything would have to be straight. It can’t be no game.
How long was it that you were locked up?
Ten or eleven months.
Are you paroled or out for good?
I am out for good. I did my time.
Where did the incident happen?
In New Orleans. I was at the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong people. They didn’t tell me they had a gun in the car. I was ridin’ with them, just chillin’. The police stopped us in a hot area uptown. They brought us to the station. They come up with a gun and they put the charge on me.
They didn’t put the charge on the rest of them?
No, they just gave me the charge. You know how it is with a celebrity.
What happened when you came out?
I was like a free agent. I was mad at Baby and them for messing over me with my money. I wasn’t tryin’ to go back with them at that time. I signed with Koch Records. I might hook up with Cash Money, I might not. It all depends if the paper is right. It’s gotta be something that is gonna make me smile, something that’s gonna make my family happy.
You were young when you first signed with Cash Money.
I didn’t know any better, I was young and I just signed. I just saw the material stuff. I wasn’t even worrying about the bank, and how I would be in the future in the game. I just saw the material stuff in the beginning and I signed, without my mother’s permission.
How old were you when you signed with Cash Money?
I was sixteen or fifteen.
Were you rapping before Cash Money?
I was playing football. I was into sports. Rapping was something I wanted to after seeing Juvenile. He use to be in the projects rappin. It was just something I always wanted to do. I wanted that attention.
You were from Magnolia?
Magnolia, uptown. It was hard for me coming up in the projects. Mom was workin’ two jobs. My daddy wasn’t there for me. It was hard. I looked at the Rap thing as an escape. But at the same time, it didn’t turn out good for me. But I got a second chance right now. If everything works out with Koch, that’s cool, and if it don’t and Baby comes up with the right figures, I’m going back to Cash Money.
Was there a lot of Rap going on when you were growing up in Magnolia?
They had a lot of local rappers: Magnolia Slim, Juvenile, BG, UNLV. I wasn’t really into Rap, but I like that attention, all the fans, and I wanted a part of that. I was in the right place at right time and it happened.
How did you first get with Cash Money?
I met Magnolia Shorty, that was the artist they had back in the day. I was just in the right place at the right time and knew the right people. Then they put us solo artists together as the Hot Boys.
When you joined the Hot Boys were the other three already there?
It all happened at the same time. We all came together as solo artists, and formed the Hot Boys. I was already a solo artist on Cash Money.
Was there any Rap artist that inspired you?
I wouldn’t say inspired me, but Juvenile he really caught my attention. I wanted the attention he was gettin’, but I wasn’t inspired by no rapper just that they were rappin.
What inspired you to rap? Was it just the money?
No, it’s about the love for what I do. It ain’t just about the money, but at the same time who gonna work for free. It’s a job. It’s a business. I love to do it. But at the same time I gotta family to feed and I gotta eat. It’s a way to make money. I’m gonna want my money. It’s a regular job.
The reason I’m asking you the question, is because there a lot of rappers who aren’t really all that good or into the music, but see it as a way of making money.
I love to do it. I’d do it for free but at the same time I got a family to feed. It’s for the business and the love of it.
What are your good memories from working with Cash Money?
Going on tour. Just hanging out, just chillin’, going to parties. Being in the studio, a lot of good things. I still talk to them. We still have good times together. Good conversation on the phone. It’s still love. It’s just that I signed anything. I was down there, and they was down there. We done talked it over. Everybody done admitted to their mistakes and their faults and everything.
Are you still in touch with Juvenile and BG?
Yeah, I still talk to them. They number locked in my phone right now.
Maybe one day there might be another Hot Boys album?
There might. I’m not saying we not. I’m cool with it. I’m not tripping on it.
Basically, you thought that you would do a solo project after you got out?
I knew it wasn’t over for me. I had wrote six albums when I was in jail. I wrote six albums while I was in jail. I got fifteen songs on my new album Raw & Uncut, that’s comin out on Koch Records.
Are you handling all your own business now?
Yeah, I’m the boss. I’m controlling everything. I say if I want to do this or that. That’s the part I like. I don’t have nobody tellin’ me to do this and do that. They ask me. They can’t control me and tell me I got to do this.
If you return to Cash Money, you are a whole different person.
I’m a whole different person. I’m a man now. I’m growed up. I’m business minded. I’m not no little boy no more. You aren’t going to tell me just anything and expect me to do it. I know how the game is run. Everything happens for a reason. I learn from my mistakes. That’s a part of growing up. Things gotta happen for you to learn.
All of you had been depending a lot on Mannie Fresh’s production.
Yeah, but I was surprised about the production I got on this new album. Most of it was like Mannie Fresh, but it wasn’t Mannie Fresh. The only thing different was they wasn’t working as fast as Mannie Fresh used to work. You know how Mannie Fresh would make the beat and it would be done. This time they had beats already made and I picked what I wanted. It wasn’t them making beats on the spot. That’s the only thing different. But everything else was no big deal.
Before, Mannie Fresh would make the beat right then and you would work on it.
That’s the only difference. The production I have now, they would already have the beat made and I just had to go there and pick which one I wanted. But the beats sound the same. I want the world to know I could handle my own. My first single is “Amped Up,” it’s a club type single. It’s gonna work for me, with the right promotion and the right people behind me, it’s gonna do good.
Did you put out a solo album with Cash Money?
I put out Young & Thuggin’ I just didn’t do no promotion because I was locked up. But I did good. I sold about 450,000 copies without no promotion. I did good. This is my second solo album. My fifth album, but my second solo because we got three Hot Boy albums.
How different is your new album musically and lyrically from your previous albums?
This album I have matured. I am talking about a lot of reality stuff. It’s not fantasy. It’s real. It’s my life and things that I’ve seen and things I’ve been through. It’s real. That’s why I call it Raw & Uncut. It ain’t fake.
Growing up did your parents encourage you to do music?
I used to be a straight A student, and my mom thought I’d be something else. But as I got to the age of seventeen, where I’m from you’re like a man. My mom just let me do what I wanted to do as long as I was happy. It wasn’t about my mom. It was about me. She supported me in what I wanted to do. I didn’t have a problem with that. But I wish I had listened to my mom as far as the business part, as far signing contracts and all that. I didn’t think she knew what she was talking about but I wish I had listened to her. But like I said, I learned from my mistakes.
Did you basically grow up without your dad?
My dad was there but he wasn’t there. He didn’t stay with us. I use to go see my dad but there wasn’t no close relationship. I use to try and make it a close relationship but it wasn’t. I just love my daddy because he’s my daddy but he wasn’t there for me.
What’s he doin’ now?
He livin’ his life. I still see him. He’s my daddy. I can’t change that.
Is he proud of you doing music?
I don’t really know. He’s probably listened to my music. But my dad is an old cat, he ain’t really into all that.
Do you have brothers and sisters?
I got 2 little brothers. One of my little brothers is into Rap. I’m thinking of putting him out on my label. I’m thinking of coming out with my own label, Young & Thuggin’ Records.
How old is your little brother?
He’s fifteen. He remind me of when I was young. I’m going to give him the scoops, the ins and outs of the game, so he doesn’t go through what I went through. He call himself Itty Bitty Soldier.
Does your other little brother do music?
No, he’s a working guy. He’s a manager at Kentucky Fried Chicken. He’s on a different route. I’m the oldest. My other brother used to play sports in High School, basketball and football, but he didn’t go to college.
What music were you listening to when you were growing up?
My mom played some of the old music, like Patty Labelle. But I branched out. I started listening to NWA Gangsta Rap cuz I was livin’ that life. I listened to Spice 1, NWA, E-40, Tupac, Biggie, Too Short, all of them.
After you became a Hot Boy with Cash Money, did you meet some of the people you had looked up to?
I met a lot of people. The only one I didn’t meet was Michael Jackson. That’s the only person I’m dying to meet. But I met everybody in the industry. I’ve been to the Source Awards, the Billboard Awards. If I didn’t meet them, I seen them. It wasn’t no big thing like I think it would be if I met Michael Jackson. Michael Jackson is probably someone I would like an autograph from.
How was it growing up in the Magnolia
Growing up in the Magnolia without my daddy, a poor Black person, with just my momma, and two brothers. It was hard. I didn’t have to hustle because my mother supplied everything. I have a good mother. She taught me how to be a hustla, how to never give up on what you put your mind to. That’s what I learned from my mom, anything you put your mind to you can accomplish.
Do you have bad or good memories of growing up?
I have good memories of growing up. The only thing was bad for me was that I couldn’t always get the things that I wanted. But I got the things that I needed. But I have no bad memories. I have good memories.
What is your date of birth?
My birth date is February 8th, ’81. I’m an Aquarius. I’m 22 years old. I have a two year old son. I want to make it easier for my son when he gets older. I’m doing every thing for him right now. He’ll be three in November. He’s my only child.
Are you married?
No, I’m single. I’m not married. I’m married to the Rap game. I have girl that I love. I’m with my baby’s mama. We stay together and everything.
When you were in prison were you inspired write a lot of lyrics?
I use write everyday, all day. That’s all you can do. You have all that time on your hands. You gotta do something to kill that time till you come home. I chose to write. Otherwise I would have stayed in trouble. I would see all these videos on TV, and they got anybody in the Rap game now. I wanted to go out there and get my spot. I feel like I got to gain the respect that I want. I’m a part of history. The Hot Boys made history. I want to let the world know that I was apart of that and that I can hold my own ground without the Hot Boys. I want to let the world know that I can do it by myself.
Interview By Black Dog Bone
From Murder Dog Vol. 10 #4
It’s been a couple of years since you’ve come up with an album, what happened?
I was locked up for two years. I was incarcerated. I had caught a possession of a firearm charge last year.
Did you leave Cash Money before or after you were locked up?
It was just a little personal problem. I wanted to do my own thing. It was after I came home I started doin’ my own thing. This interview is not about Cash Money. It’s about me. I rather not even talk about Cash Money. That was the past. I am the future.
I don’t know much about your future. All I can ask you is about your past.
I can tell you about my future. As far as Cash Money, I don’t want to talk about them. That was then. I’m doin’ my own thing now.
They say you are joining Cash Money again.
Not really. I mean, we talked about it but it’s not official right now. We talkin’. It’s in the air. We don’t have no date.
If you have the chance one more time would you go with Cash Money?
Yeah, but the business has got to be right. Everything got to be straight if I was to sign with them again.
It looks like Cash Money was not paying their artists.
Cash Money was run by money made by us. If I was to go with them again, everything would have to be straight. It can’t be no game.
How long was it that you were locked up?
Ten or eleven months.
Are you paroled or out for good?
I am out for good. I did my time.
Where did the incident happen?
In New Orleans. I was at the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong people. They didn’t tell me they had a gun in the car. I was ridin’ with them, just chillin’. The police stopped us in a hot area uptown. They brought us to the station. They come up with a gun and they put the charge on me.
They didn’t put the charge on the rest of them?
No, they just gave me the charge. You know how it is with a celebrity.
What happened when you came out?
I was like a free agent. I was mad at Baby and them for messing over me with my money. I wasn’t tryin’ to go back with them at that time. I signed with Koch Records. I might hook up with Cash Money, I might not. It all depends if the paper is right. It’s gotta be something that is gonna make me smile, something that’s gonna make my family happy.
You were young when you first signed with Cash Money.
I didn’t know any better, I was young and I just signed. I just saw the material stuff. I wasn’t even worrying about the bank, and how I would be in the future in the game. I just saw the material stuff in the beginning and I signed, without my mother’s permission.
How old were you when you signed with Cash Money?
I was sixteen or fifteen.
Were you rapping before Cash Money?
I was playing football. I was into sports. Rapping was something I wanted to after seeing Juvenile. He use to be in the projects rappin. It was just something I always wanted to do. I wanted that attention.
You were from Magnolia?
Magnolia, uptown. It was hard for me coming up in the projects. Mom was workin’ two jobs. My daddy wasn’t there for me. It was hard. I looked at the Rap thing as an escape. But at the same time, it didn’t turn out good for me. But I got a second chance right now. If everything works out with Koch, that’s cool, and if it don’t and Baby comes up with the right figures, I’m going back to Cash Money.
Was there a lot of Rap going on when you were growing up in Magnolia?
They had a lot of local rappers: Magnolia Slim, Juvenile, BG, UNLV. I wasn’t really into Rap, but I like that attention, all the fans, and I wanted a part of that. I was in the right place at right time and it happened.
How did you first get with Cash Money?
I met Magnolia Shorty, that was the artist they had back in the day. I was just in the right place at the right time and knew the right people. Then they put us solo artists together as the Hot Boys.
When you joined the Hot Boys were the other three already there?
It all happened at the same time. We all came together as solo artists, and formed the Hot Boys. I was already a solo artist on Cash Money.
Was there any Rap artist that inspired you?
I wouldn’t say inspired me, but Juvenile he really caught my attention. I wanted the attention he was gettin’, but I wasn’t inspired by no rapper just that they were rappin.
What inspired you to rap? Was it just the money?
No, it’s about the love for what I do. It ain’t just about the money, but at the same time who gonna work for free. It’s a job. It’s a business. I love to do it. But at the same time I gotta family to feed and I gotta eat. It’s a way to make money. I’m gonna want my money. It’s a regular job.
The reason I’m asking you the question, is because there a lot of rappers who aren’t really all that good or into the music, but see it as a way of making money.
I love to do it. I’d do it for free but at the same time I got a family to feed. It’s for the business and the love of it.
What are your good memories from working with Cash Money?
Going on tour. Just hanging out, just chillin’, going to parties. Being in the studio, a lot of good things. I still talk to them. We still have good times together. Good conversation on the phone. It’s still love. It’s just that I signed anything. I was down there, and they was down there. We done talked it over. Everybody done admitted to their mistakes and their faults and everything.
Are you still in touch with Juvenile and BG?
Yeah, I still talk to them. They number locked in my phone right now.
Maybe one day there might be another Hot Boys album?
There might. I’m not saying we not. I’m cool with it. I’m not tripping on it.
Basically, you thought that you would do a solo project after you got out?
I knew it wasn’t over for me. I had wrote six albums when I was in jail. I wrote six albums while I was in jail. I got fifteen songs on my new album Raw & Uncut, that’s comin out on Koch Records.
Are you handling all your own business now?
Yeah, I’m the boss. I’m controlling everything. I say if I want to do this or that. That’s the part I like. I don’t have nobody tellin’ me to do this and do that. They ask me. They can’t control me and tell me I got to do this.
If you return to Cash Money, you are a whole different person.
I’m a whole different person. I’m a man now. I’m growed up. I’m business minded. I’m not no little boy no more. You aren’t going to tell me just anything and expect me to do it. I know how the game is run. Everything happens for a reason. I learn from my mistakes. That’s a part of growing up. Things gotta happen for you to learn.
All of you had been depending a lot on Mannie Fresh’s production.
Yeah, but I was surprised about the production I got on this new album. Most of it was like Mannie Fresh, but it wasn’t Mannie Fresh. The only thing different was they wasn’t working as fast as Mannie Fresh used to work. You know how Mannie Fresh would make the beat and it would be done. This time they had beats already made and I picked what I wanted. It wasn’t them making beats on the spot. That’s the only thing different. But everything else was no big deal.
Before, Mannie Fresh would make the beat right then and you would work on it.
That’s the only difference. The production I have now, they would already have the beat made and I just had to go there and pick which one I wanted. But the beats sound the same. I want the world to know I could handle my own. My first single is “Amped Up,” it’s a club type single. It’s gonna work for me, with the right promotion and the right people behind me, it’s gonna do good.
Did you put out a solo album with Cash Money?
I put out Young & Thuggin’ I just didn’t do no promotion because I was locked up. But I did good. I sold about 450,000 copies without no promotion. I did good. This is my second solo album. My fifth album, but my second solo because we got three Hot Boy albums.
How different is your new album musically and lyrically from your previous albums?
This album I have matured. I am talking about a lot of reality stuff. It’s not fantasy. It’s real. It’s my life and things that I’ve seen and things I’ve been through. It’s real. That’s why I call it Raw & Uncut. It ain’t fake.
Growing up did your parents encourage you to do music?
I used to be a straight A student, and my mom thought I’d be something else. But as I got to the age of seventeen, where I’m from you’re like a man. My mom just let me do what I wanted to do as long as I was happy. It wasn’t about my mom. It was about me. She supported me in what I wanted to do. I didn’t have a problem with that. But I wish I had listened to my mom as far as the business part, as far signing contracts and all that. I didn’t think she knew what she was talking about but I wish I had listened to her. But like I said, I learned from my mistakes.
Did you basically grow up without your dad?
My dad was there but he wasn’t there. He didn’t stay with us. I use to go see my dad but there wasn’t no close relationship. I use to try and make it a close relationship but it wasn’t. I just love my daddy because he’s my daddy but he wasn’t there for me.
What’s he doin’ now?
He livin’ his life. I still see him. He’s my daddy. I can’t change that.
Is he proud of you doing music?
I don’t really know. He’s probably listened to my music. But my dad is an old cat, he ain’t really into all that.
Do you have brothers and sisters?
I got 2 little brothers. One of my little brothers is into Rap. I’m thinking of putting him out on my label. I’m thinking of coming out with my own label, Young & Thuggin’ Records.
How old is your little brother?
He’s fifteen. He remind me of when I was young. I’m going to give him the scoops, the ins and outs of the game, so he doesn’t go through what I went through. He call himself Itty Bitty Soldier.
Does your other little brother do music?
No, he’s a working guy. He’s a manager at Kentucky Fried Chicken. He’s on a different route. I’m the oldest. My other brother used to play sports in High School, basketball and football, but he didn’t go to college.
What music were you listening to when you were growing up?
My mom played some of the old music, like Patty Labelle. But I branched out. I started listening to NWA Gangsta Rap cuz I was livin’ that life. I listened to Spice 1, NWA, E-40, Tupac, Biggie, Too Short, all of them.
After you became a Hot Boy with Cash Money, did you meet some of the people you had looked up to?
I met a lot of people. The only one I didn’t meet was Michael Jackson. That’s the only person I’m dying to meet. But I met everybody in the industry. I’ve been to the Source Awards, the Billboard Awards. If I didn’t meet them, I seen them. It wasn’t no big thing like I think it would be if I met Michael Jackson. Michael Jackson is probably someone I would like an autograph from.
How was it growing up in the Magnolia
Growing up in the Magnolia without my daddy, a poor Black person, with just my momma, and two brothers. It was hard. I didn’t have to hustle because my mother supplied everything. I have a good mother. She taught me how to be a hustla, how to never give up on what you put your mind to. That’s what I learned from my mom, anything you put your mind to you can accomplish.
Do you have bad or good memories of growing up?
I have good memories of growing up. The only thing was bad for me was that I couldn’t always get the things that I wanted. But I got the things that I needed. But I have no bad memories. I have good memories.
What is your date of birth?
My birth date is February 8th, ’81. I’m an Aquarius. I’m 22 years old. I have a two year old son. I want to make it easier for my son when he gets older. I’m doing every thing for him right now. He’ll be three in November. He’s my only child.
Are you married?
No, I’m single. I’m not married. I’m married to the Rap game. I have girl that I love. I’m with my baby’s mama. We stay together and everything.
When you were in prison were you inspired write a lot of lyrics?
I use write everyday, all day. That’s all you can do. You have all that time on your hands. You gotta do something to kill that time till you come home. I chose to write. Otherwise I would have stayed in trouble. I would see all these videos on TV, and they got anybody in the Rap game now. I wanted to go out there and get my spot. I feel like I got to gain the respect that I want. I’m a part of history. The Hot Boys made history. I want to let the world know that I was apart of that and that I can hold my own ground without the Hot Boys. I want to let the world know that I can do it by myself.
