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Interview via Michael Bentley @MBentleyLive
Longevity isn’t something that just happens in the music industry. It has been said many times that any dumb, lucky sucker can have a hit record. Repeating that success is the difficult part. The (in)famous and very underrated rap group from Chicago, Do or Die, isn’t one of those “lucky sucker” type of acts. Do or Die didn’t just come out of Chicago and make a few records, they were Chicago. Before Kanye even knew what a hip hop sample was, Do or Die toured the country. Do or Die was not only putting on for the Chi-City and the entire Midwest, it was also capturing the South via a record deal with the Houston based label, Rap-A-Lot Records. Ask hip hop heads in their early 30s from Houston to Atlanta to Chicago about Do or Die, and you will always get an answer. And nine out of 10 times it’s a very positive one!
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MB- I read your statements concerning the Louisiana teacher playing your song, is that how you guys really feel?
Belo– I think that that was taken out of context. I feel it is music at the end of the day. It wasn’t like we made a record to say ok we are going to ‘degrade’ someone or to bring anybody any harm. We were just making music, and that was something that we loved to do. You know we grew up in an urban area, and so when we were young, we saw ‘pimps’ or ‘players’. You know it wasn’t the degrading of women, it was about the flashy cars, the hustling, and making money to survive. It wasn’t about degrading women or anything at all to us. Sure people have that perception, but on the political side, I feel like the real pimps are the politicians, the big corporations, Exxon, Haliburton, and you know people who take millions and millions of dollars from poor people. Who is pimping who here? To be concerned about a music lesson that was taught, to me was just like…..and I do understand as a parent, it warrants concern, I respectfully say that, but there is children walking into schools killing other children.
MB-That being said, Do you think schools should be playing songs like ‘Po’Pimp’ or do you think they should play music like a say Mozart or Bach or something of that nature? Music needs to be taught in schools, but should it be Do or Die’s music that is taught?
Belo-Well it wasn’t like we set out to deliver music to 4 year olds or 9 year olds, and if you look at the label on the CD on the music it says, Parental Advisory. What that says is
“Hey this is not for children,”
That within itself said that we were concerned. We never targeted children. We don’t make songs to crush people, sure one has to maybe use more conscious about what we say, but at the same time Do or Die didn’t make this record for young kids.
MB-This song came out in 1996, Does it make you feel good that it is still getting played, that it is a classic song and still getting played?
AK-Yeah, at the end of the day, that is what we made music for. We wanted it to last throughout generations. When we started making music back in 1995, we wanted to make music that would live on, and it has.
MB-Let’s talk about Chicago real quick, there is a ton of shootings going on in your shooting, that isn’t getting the coverage in the news, what do you think that is from?
Belo-In my opinion, and this is purely my opinion, what I think about the killings going on, when I think about the shootings, I think it is out of control. I think the powers that be need to step in and do more about it but when your making millions of dollars off of guns and the prison system and medicine and alcohol and all of those things, it cohesively goes together. To me, it isn’t about the bodies being piled up, it is more about the money being made. You know, if there is no violence, if there is no crime, the police are out of jobs, the penal system won’t turn a profit, but it is probably a whole different story. But I mean, who really wants to stop the killing in Chicago?
MB-Right, I understand, I mean there isn’t the media coverage that there should be, should Obama come back and address the issue?
Belo-I think not just Obama should come, but I think the lawmakers in general should be doing something and they aren’t. Let me put it this way, When you leave roads for idle minds then bad things can happen. When there is a lack of jobs in the city, a lack of education, I mean they have just closed a ton of schools, you know, right here in Chicago.
I mean when you are closing down schools and these kids aren’t getting the proper education and they are getting took out of their homes. These kids are in the projects for over 50 years, then you close all the projects down, then you intertwine these people who have been living in these projects for over 50 years into other neighborhoods, the violence will increase. Because if they use to hustle in the projects, and they didn’t have a job, now they are coming to the new niegherhood they have to eat, but they don’t have to compete with a person who has been there working a job for 20 years. That is then invasion of somebodies turf so the violence will obviously go up.
Nobody had a real plan when they tore all the projects down. I don’ think they had a real place, i mean the hoods here in Chicago, I mean if you walk around some of these neighborhoods it’s unbelievable, and we have one of the most powerful mayors in the world.
So who wants to come and say, well Chicago is bad or make Chicago look bad?
Ak-and to add on to what Belo is saying, it is all about population control too.
MB-Can you elaborate on that?
AK-Well when I say, population control, you know how many people you want in a city and how many you want out of a city.
There is always death’s and births. You gotta have people going out and people coming in so they have to have population control.
MB-Yes, but the gun control is out of control?
Ak-But Who is bringing the guns in?
(laughter)
MB-Exactly….great point…Let’s talk about some music! For the next Do or Die release is there going to be a major push behind it?
(Their manager makes a short announcement to say that they aren’t signed right now and are currently courting offers)
MB-Ok, that being said, what type of sound can the fans expect? The classic Do or Die sound?
Ak-Always the classic sound!
Belo-Classic Do or Die sound, and you can hear that sound in some fashion in the music being made by the young’ens today. You know the blend of music, R N B with the slower beat. A slower beat with a faster rap that came from Do or Die. I don’t think Do or Die has one particular sound, you know style, but if you hear music today you can hear Do or Die in it.
MB-Can you guys speak on your current relationship with Twista?
Belo-Yeah we still have love with the big homie, we have tracks individually and with the group on our solo stuff and on our upcoming album.
MB-How do you guys look at yourself? In the history of Rap or Hip Hop, where do you feel your name sits?
Ak-Our music stands for itself. When we go out to different cities, there is different generations from the mother to the son, the father to the grandmother so what we have done as a group is unbelievable. I mean look at the kids now, they are talking about 4th graders playing our song. It lets you know that our music is powerful and we made it to be powerful. That was our mission was to be powerful. We wanted it to go through generation and generation.
Belo-to add to that, I think that as Do or Die a group, based out of Chicago, as far as the entertainment world, i think we are one of the most underrated groups or artists in the world. It’s like we don’t get the real recognition to come in 96-95, when Pac and Big was in all time high, and we hit #1 on the charts. I mean a war was going on, I mean you couldn’t hear anything else, nobody else was getting played, it was an all-time low for music and we revived it. We revived it, we were the new kids who helped save hip hop and music, and NO RECOGNITION! I mean if they mention hip hop or Chicago, we don’t get mentioned on these blogs and we should! We are not to be found like we should, when we are hip hop history!
AK-You know the crazy part about it, the Midwest knew what was going on because we were selling units in the midwest, but the major artists in the South in Atlanta, they had Outkast and Goodie Mob, but we came into the south from Atlanta to Houston and taught a lot of people game. A lot of artists came after us, we were that voice, not just in the Midwest but the South.
MB-Ok well before we get into your upcoming release dates, I gotta go there, NBA talk, how do you guys feel about Derrick Rose sitting out and the upcoming Bulls season?
Belo-I can’t wait for D rose to come back! You know his brother went through the same thing that he went through so he has good counseling throughout that period. I mean at the end of the day, why would you go out there and blow your career over what people are saying to you? He just needs to continue to do what he is suppose to do, and that is what he did. He will show that when he comes back on the court this year!
AK- to add to that, D Rose did what he had to do, we support him 100%, and we say Championship!
CHAMPIONSHIP! CHAMPIONSHIP!
Both of them say it almost like it was planned…Legends of Rap Music whether you want to admit it or not, and DON’T THINK THEIR RUN IS OVER! New material is coming and here is the info…
Currently AK is putting the finishing touches on his upcoming solo releases, the mix tape Midnight Creepin and his solo album, HeadRush. Both are due out in November.
Belo’s mix tape, is titled, Plead the 5th, the lead single is currently out and you can peep it
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