Classic Interview-My First Interview With Mac Dre (RIP)
Interview by Doxx...
I did this interview over the phone with Mac Dre in June of 1995 while he was in Lompoc Federal Penitentiary and it originally appeared in the July 1995 issue of No Joke newsletter.
Mac Dre (one of the original game spittin' Vallejo rappers), after becoming a common name in the Bay Area scene, was on the verge of making a huge name for himself nationwide before he was incarcerated. Now, after being locked up for a few years, he's on another verge-he's going to be released within a year and will be right back at home in the Bay. In my interview over the phone from prison he speaks on how Young Black Brotha Records began, the funk between North and South Vallejo and what's comin' up once he gets out of the Feds and back to the V.
First of all, tell everybody who this is and where you're from.
Yeah, I'm Mac Dre. I come from Vallejo, California. The Crestside.
When did you start in the rap industry?
I started writin' raps when I was seventeen years old. I was in Fountain Springs Boys Ranch doin' like six months for joyridin', drivin' without a license, the type of stuff that young playas get into. I started writin' when I was up in there. (I) Came out and started makin' demo tapes with Studio Ton, $20 an hour downtown in Vallejo. I was just passin' the tapes out and my homeboy The Mac stayed in the Crest on Leonard Street where I'm from. He took my tape to Khayree and since then I been hooked up.
So that's how you got hooked up with Young Black Brotha?
Before it was Young Black Brotha it was Strictly Business.
Oh yeah...
I made this song, "Young Black Brotha." That's where the name come from. I made that song and that's where it started.
I remember a few years back there was tension between you and other people in Vallejo. You grew up in the Northside and there was tension between you and Southside people.
Southside AND Hillside.
Yeah. What was that all about?
Ever since I was little there was tension, right? I think it started off one of my homeboys cappin' on one of they homeboys outta The Click. Then it turned into a argument. Then it turned into a boxing match. One person from they side got in, then another person and it just escalated to high powered funk for real. Me, The Mac and my homeboy Coolio was representin' on the rap tip for the Crestside. E-40, The Click and Little Bruce and them was representin' lyrically for they side. It was deeper than lyrics though.
So what's up with that now? Is it all squashed?
I'm not lookin' to get into no funk. It's deep rooted funk so I guess the animosity is there, but I'm not holdin' no grudges. There is still that rivalry there.
What kind of lyrics do you have for when you get out?
All types of lyrics, man. I'll rap about anything. I rap basically to relate to most of the people I know, people in the hood and stuff. Then I got raps for the radio, for the kids, the youngstas. Just spittin' game, that Bay stuff. I just want them to know basically to keep ya eyes peeled 'cause I got a record label when I come out, Romper Room Records. I got a stable of rappers, so vicious. I'm just gonna be the start of things and it's gonne be a snowball effect. It's on like a vacation in Rome.
How do you feel about how big the Bay's gotten in rap?
I'm lovin' it. I'm sittin' in here listenin' to the radio. The Beat down in LA, that's the station we listenin' to and every time some Bay stuff comes on I'm juiced, pumped 'cause they my folks.
Everyone from the Bay in the last few years has been gettin' big.
Yeah, I'm just comin' back to pour some gas on the fire, blow it up with a different style, a new twist. A lot of people have been fakin' about that stuff that they been through, that gangsta stuff. I got my stripes. I done been there and I'm on my way back.
One of my favorite cuts off Young Black Brotha was "My Chevy"...
Man, that was just stuff that I could do over the phone. If I could get in the studio... Man, I got so many lyrics.
How do you feel about (Mac) Mall since he's not on YBB no more?
I hooked Mall up with Young Black Brotha Records. Right before I left I had Mall at my house, in my studio daily. I was gonna produce him. Then I got caught up in this bullshit so I just called Khayree and told him man, "Hook him on up." Khayree hooked him up, switched the record label to Young Black Brotha and Mall was his first artist. That's all my work, him and Ray Luv. I hooked Ray Luv up too. Ray Luv, he know my cousin that stay in Santa Rosa and he brought him out to Vallejo one day and I heard him rap so I took him to Khayree. Hooked both of 'em up. So basically, that whole Young Black Brotha Records thang evolved from me and my homeboy The Mac. I'ma keep it goin'. My homeboy restin' in peace right now.
Can you speak on your case? What led to you gettin' in there?
Well, I can't get into it...
Yeah, I know. Not too deep.
Basically, I went somewhere with my folks and got caught up being in the wrong place at the wrong time. I wasn't never no bank robber or nothin' like they portrayed me to be. I'm a rapper. I spit game for a livin'.
I remember seein' some of that shit up on the news.
I got a story to tell when I come home. Gotta make sure I get there first.
You got some raps about that?
Yeah, no question. On the record label I got people that's from the Bay Area, but then I'm in the Feds so you got people from all over. I met a few dudes that got like bomb lyrics that's gonne be on my label that's from the East coast, from down South. I got a bomb label comin' out.
How many artists do you think you're gonna have on there?
Right now I got five. Two from New York, two from LA and two from the Bay. That's six, I got six artists.
We also gotta let everyone know where you're at right now.
I'm in Lompoc. United States Federal Penitentiary in Lompoc.
Do you got a message for your fans that supported you before, while you been in there and are just waitin' for you?
Yeah, just tell 'em to kick back, wait about ten more months and I'm comin' back with that shit that they been missin'. Tell 'em it's a Bay thang with Mac Dre mayne.
I did this interview over the phone with Mac Dre in June of 1995 while he was in Lompoc Federal Penitentiary and it originally appeared in the July 1995 issue of No Joke newsletter.
Mac Dre (one of the original game spittin' Vallejo rappers), after becoming a common name in the Bay Area scene, was on the verge of making a huge name for himself nationwide before he was incarcerated. Now, after being locked up for a few years, he's on another verge-he's going to be released within a year and will be right back at home in the Bay. In my interview over the phone from prison he speaks on how Young Black Brotha Records began, the funk between North and South Vallejo and what's comin' up once he gets out of the Feds and back to the V.
First of all, tell everybody who this is and where you're from.
Yeah, I'm Mac Dre. I come from Vallejo, California. The Crestside.
When did you start in the rap industry?
I started writin' raps when I was seventeen years old. I was in Fountain Springs Boys Ranch doin' like six months for joyridin', drivin' without a license, the type of stuff that young playas get into. I started writin' when I was up in there. (I) Came out and started makin' demo tapes with Studio Ton, $20 an hour downtown in Vallejo. I was just passin' the tapes out and my homeboy The Mac stayed in the Crest on Leonard Street where I'm from. He took my tape to Khayree and since then I been hooked up.
So that's how you got hooked up with Young Black Brotha?
Before it was Young Black Brotha it was Strictly Business.
Oh yeah...
I made this song, "Young Black Brotha." That's where the name come from. I made that song and that's where it started.
I remember a few years back there was tension between you and other people in Vallejo. You grew up in the Northside and there was tension between you and Southside people.
Southside AND Hillside.
Yeah. What was that all about?
Ever since I was little there was tension, right? I think it started off one of my homeboys cappin' on one of they homeboys outta The Click. Then it turned into a argument. Then it turned into a boxing match. One person from they side got in, then another person and it just escalated to high powered funk for real. Me, The Mac and my homeboy Coolio was representin' on the rap tip for the Crestside. E-40, The Click and Little Bruce and them was representin' lyrically for they side. It was deeper than lyrics though.
So what's up with that now? Is it all squashed?
I'm not lookin' to get into no funk. It's deep rooted funk so I guess the animosity is there, but I'm not holdin' no grudges. There is still that rivalry there.
What kind of lyrics do you have for when you get out?
All types of lyrics, man. I'll rap about anything. I rap basically to relate to most of the people I know, people in the hood and stuff. Then I got raps for the radio, for the kids, the youngstas. Just spittin' game, that Bay stuff. I just want them to know basically to keep ya eyes peeled 'cause I got a record label when I come out, Romper Room Records. I got a stable of rappers, so vicious. I'm just gonna be the start of things and it's gonne be a snowball effect. It's on like a vacation in Rome.
How do you feel about how big the Bay's gotten in rap?
I'm lovin' it. I'm sittin' in here listenin' to the radio. The Beat down in LA, that's the station we listenin' to and every time some Bay stuff comes on I'm juiced, pumped 'cause they my folks.
Everyone from the Bay in the last few years has been gettin' big.
Yeah, I'm just comin' back to pour some gas on the fire, blow it up with a different style, a new twist. A lot of people have been fakin' about that stuff that they been through, that gangsta stuff. I got my stripes. I done been there and I'm on my way back.
One of my favorite cuts off Young Black Brotha was "My Chevy"...
Man, that was just stuff that I could do over the phone. If I could get in the studio... Man, I got so many lyrics.
How do you feel about (Mac) Mall since he's not on YBB no more?
I hooked Mall up with Young Black Brotha Records. Right before I left I had Mall at my house, in my studio daily. I was gonna produce him. Then I got caught up in this bullshit so I just called Khayree and told him man, "Hook him on up." Khayree hooked him up, switched the record label to Young Black Brotha and Mall was his first artist. That's all my work, him and Ray Luv. I hooked Ray Luv up too. Ray Luv, he know my cousin that stay in Santa Rosa and he brought him out to Vallejo one day and I heard him rap so I took him to Khayree. Hooked both of 'em up. So basically, that whole Young Black Brotha Records thang evolved from me and my homeboy The Mac. I'ma keep it goin'. My homeboy restin' in peace right now.
Can you speak on your case? What led to you gettin' in there?
Well, I can't get into it...
Yeah, I know. Not too deep.
Basically, I went somewhere with my folks and got caught up being in the wrong place at the wrong time. I wasn't never no bank robber or nothin' like they portrayed me to be. I'm a rapper. I spit game for a livin'.
I remember seein' some of that shit up on the news.
I got a story to tell when I come home. Gotta make sure I get there first.
You got some raps about that?
Yeah, no question. On the record label I got people that's from the Bay Area, but then I'm in the Feds so you got people from all over. I met a few dudes that got like bomb lyrics that's gonne be on my label that's from the East coast, from down South. I got a bomb label comin' out.
How many artists do you think you're gonna have on there?
Right now I got five. Two from New York, two from LA and two from the Bay. That's six, I got six artists.
We also gotta let everyone know where you're at right now.
I'm in Lompoc. United States Federal Penitentiary in Lompoc.
Do you got a message for your fans that supported you before, while you been in there and are just waitin' for you?
Yeah, just tell 'em to kick back, wait about ten more months and I'm comin' back with that shit that they been missin'. Tell 'em it's a Bay thang with Mac Dre mayne.
posted by Doxx at 2:59 PM
3 Comments:
classic. i wonder what khayree is up to nowadays? i think he released an album earlier this year, but i never heard anything about it. check out my site too, im all about the bay. hyphie.blogspot.com peace
Checked your site and I'm diggin' it. I added you to my list list. Keep checkin' back here folks. Bay supporters need to stick together and support each other.
I've been in touch with Khayree recently because I'm sending him a copy of the old Strivin' magazine I did with Mac Dre on the cover as well as prints of all the pictures I used. He said he might use them in some DVD he's doing. I'll ask him what else he's working on and post it on the blog.
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