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[TRUE]

new topic, new flava..this time iz time for new action - interview! legendary Bazooka Joe for first strike..enjoy!



Born in BX, NY. Hip-Hop junkie and collector since 1982. Bazooka Joe started out with a Fearless Four record and a fisher price turntable before the invention of the glorious double cassette boom box, where he began crafting "pause" tapes, Joe became inspired by mixtape pioneers like Kid Capri, Action PAC, DJ S&S, Tony Touch, DJ Double R & G-Bo The Pro, as well as the Golden Era of Hip Hop radio (Mr. Magic, Red Alert, Chuck Chillout, Stretch & Bob).
He then did the "Hip Hop Theater" radio show at Villanova University from 93-96, before starting the 'Truck Jewls' line of underground mixtapes & CD's. I stumbled across a few tapes back in 99 and was blown away. This dude had collected some of the rarest remixes and unreleased tracks by artists like Lord Finesse , Nas & De La Soul and blended them into some of the best mixtapes you prob never heard. No annoying shout outs, just real Hip Hop from start to finish.You can also catch him as the occasional Black Sheep show holding down the decks for his man Dres. I hooked up with Joe a few weeks back to drop some old school knowledge for 1xtraLarge. Here's what he had to say.................

You grew up in NYC so what was it is like living in the birthplace of hiphop?

It was incredible, I was born & raised in the Bronx (Underhill & Watson) and really witnessed the birth of a culture. I was 10 years old in 1984, and have clear memories of the Zulu nation starting up, breakdancing, graf on the trains, all the “rap music fad” talk, even watching the video for Rockbox when it 1st aired on MTV…that was a big deal at the time. I take pride in remembering the days when Hip-Hop did not exist, I have an appreciation for the culture most can’t understand.

So how did You get in the mixtape game and when did you put out your first tape?

I started making the tapes for breakdancing purposes in the 80’s, just “pause” tapes on a double cassette box, taping Mr. Magic & Red Alert radio shows, then piecing together my own comps after that. Once I started buying albums & 12 inches, I would take the best 2 or 3 songs off them and make my own mixes to listen to. This carried on through high school then college, I was always the guy with the newest music and putting these mixes together for me & my friends to listen to without a DJ screaming over the songs. I started with a college radio show, then after that was over, I learned the ins & outs of the mixtape game by working at a Mom & Pop record store in philly, and decided to start the Truck Jewls thing to continue the legacy of my radio show…the 1st official one for sale was called “Something Different” and it came out around 1998.

When did You first get Your turntables?

I messed around with a friend’s setup in high school, this was early 90’s, but it wasn’t till I got to college and started doing radio that I really took DJing seriously, so I got my first real DJ setup around 94/95.

The Hidden treasures series contains a lot of classic unreleased tracks.
How did You get these records? Did you own all those joints on 12"? And where did You get em'?

I was always a record hound, even as a kid, and I’ve always had a nose for rare records, remixes, b-sides. I knew what to look for when it came to rare material, test pressings, cassette singles, CD imports, whatever had that extra track or mix that wasn’t on the artist’s album. I also had a lot of good label connects and used to raid their shelves for demos, album advances and things like that. When I made the Hidden Treasures series, I knew those records weren’t necessarily rare at that time, but they would be, and to this day, a few things have come out through reissues but the tapes definitely hold their own and have tons of valuable rarities on them.


Tell me about some of your favorite songs from thats series.


Ummm, so many, but a few I can think of…Greyson & Jaysun feat Slick Rick “Get Bizzy”…they were a group produced by Vance Wright, I still rock that album. Phaze & Rhythm “Swollen Pockets”…still a staple during my DJ sets. MC Lyte “Survival of the Fittest” (Original), this is one of my favorite songs period, Lyte killed it and the beat was crazy, it was on a First Priority comp, the same one with “I’m Not Having It”…definitely hard to find. BDP “Essays on BDPism” one of the last joints KRS did with Scott LaRock…I can go on for days, oh Cypress Hill “Scooby Doo” that shit still gets me… JVC Force “Big Trax”.


I bought some of your tapes from Bobbitos during a trip to NYC in maybe 99' or 2001? How widely were the tapes distributed and how many tapes did you press up ?


At it’s peak I was pressing up 500-1000 each time one dropped, it seems pretty small, but I did everything myself, so that was enough for me to handle. I had some help later from places like Landspeed & Sandbox. Bobbito & Fat Beats were some of the first in NY to show me love, and I liked to keep them in niche stores like those because I knew the true heads were shopping there. At one point, I had stores in Chicago, LA, Miami, Arizona, Canada & Philly. I also let them sell for a little while and by the time it was time for a store to re-up, I had a new one ready, so it kept them kind of limited and exclusive since I didn’t keep re-pressing the same ones.

Who influneced You to become A DJ and who is ur favorite mixtape DJ right now?


The Bronx mixtape game in the early 90’s really gave me my vision, cats like Action PAC, Kid Capri, Tony Touch and especially Double R & G Bo the Pro…those tapes were so ill, their blends and song choice were so creative, that’s back when DJ’s actually mixed on their tapes. The Stretch & Bobbito radio show was a big influence on me as well, the way they presented their music and broke new talent every week, those show tapes are so valuable right now. They had a perfect balance of dope mainstream hip-hop alongside the underground stuff. Nowadays, I don’t know…there are a few mixtape series I like, but more because of what’s on them, not like the DJ is impressing me, but I like what DJ Drama is doing and Mick Boogie & Joey Fingaz, also my man AC the Program Director, out in Long Beach…that’s the West Coast me right there, we’re getting ready to some big things together this year, shout to my Real DJ’s crew & Leaders of the Brand New Funk.


What equipment did you use back before digital and what do you use now?


Well obviously the double cassette boom box was my foundation, that’s where the blueprint was laid, but when I was doing radio, I would like to have everything, because some songs I had on vinyl, some on CD, some on cassette, and I hated limitations. When I first started doing the tapes, it was a combination of all these thing to make it work somehow, I used to make the 1st tapes live in one set, then started multi-tracking for sanity purposes, now with digital, I use a program called Traktor Dj Studio for mix CD’s and Serato for live sets because it allows me to treat my whole collection like I had it on vinyl, which is what I prefer to use, 2 1200’s & a mixer..i’m good.

How did the hook up as 'Black sheep's DJ come about?


I did an album release party last year for his 8WM/Novakane album, he ended up performing and needed a DJ, so I did it. It was the first time I had spun for any artist’s set. I also got his attention by rockin some of my rare joints, I was playing joints of his & Chi-Ali and he was like “I don’t even have this shit”, so I think I got his attention that way, we ended up doing a Truck Jewls style mix CD with a collection of his best, unreleased & rare material which did really well, in fact look out for “Love is Love Part 2” real soon. He called me to do another show about a month later, and then tour dates started popping up & he would call me, so he’s definitely blessing me with some valuable experience & opportunity. I have a lot of respect for him & his grind and it’s an honor being involved with an MC of his caliber.


Being a cat out of NYC you gotta agree it's a real shame stores like Beatstreet have shut down. What other spots do you hit up?


Yeah Beat Street on Fordham Rd, was my spot, I did go to the one in BK too. Back in the day it was LBM records in Parkchester, SOS in Castle Hill, then in Philly it was Armand’s. Bobbito’s Footwork & Fat Beats were always good for the indie shit, and occasional test press if you went in there on the right day, especially Footwork in Philly, I was getting record advice from DJ Rich Medina, who put me on to records and groups I still play today, and he knew his shit. That’s gonna really be missed, going to that record store and getting put on to shit you had no idea existed, that won’t happen with your computer. It is a shame, but I embrace technology, the fact that I don’t have to lug crates around is a bonus and an advantage any DJ from the 80’s or 90’s would have done if it were possible. In any business you can’t blame technology, it is what it is, you have to be ahead of the curve and foresee the industry and make the necessary adjustments. I still collect records, but I can digitize them and store them away now without beating them up, I feel bad for the stores, but not for the labels, they’ve been screwing artists for years, it’s about time the industry felt some heat. Now we don’t have to spend money on records that are only hot for a month. The downside will be DJ’s in the future claiming to be this & that and not know the feeling of shopping for records, and finding that crazy shit in a record bin.
What was your experience of 9/11 being that you live in NYC?

It was real crazy, I had just lost my mother a few months before that, so I was kind of numb to it when it happened, but it was a chaotic scene out here. I was working for Universal at the time, driving into work, and had to turn back around and watched the 2nd tower fall at my cousins house in the Bronx, I will never forget that day.


How did it effect the rap game in NYC?

I don’t know, but it didn’t make the music better. NY still is not even close to where we were at that time, and the best music usually comes out of depression and tragedy, now everybody’s rich and the music does not have the same inspirational values it once did. The corporations really chewed it up and are starting to spit it out, I think now that Hip-Hop is losing sales to Pop music, we might see a change for the better out here, more pure artists and less one-hit wonders trying to make a buck.


Whats your opinion of the Dj Drama incident and what affect do you
think it will have on the game?


I think they just went after him to make an example, every couple of years they try and shake it up, I remember the raids in 2000, stores were shook, but in the long run, it won’t affect the game, DJ’s will always make mix CD’s, it’s how you get your name out there. I used to work for Ruff House records and remember getting the 12 inch for Lauryn Hill “Lost Ones”, we had about 1000 copies of the record, the demand was high as hell, and only gave out 4 at first, 2 to radio, and 2 to the hottest mixtape DJ’s at that time, so labels know the value of mixtapes, the RIAA just likes to flex it’s muscle every now and then, especially when someone is really seeing serious dough.

Tell me more about the HIpHop theatre radio show....

It was an underground hip-hop show on a real small campus station, WXVU at Villanova. Shouts to Mr. Firley & Smooth Z, my co-hosts. We made the best of it, had guests like Artifacts, KRS, OC, Organized, plus local talent like this group Dust II Dust and the Crooked Man, who I worked with and helped put out his first album, still one of my favorite MC’s on an unsigned level. It was a good experience, learned a lot and made some good contacts like Serch when he was doing Wild Pitch, I ended up taking one of his interns under my wing who was a freshman at the time, through that, I did some college promotion work for Serchlite during the summers & breaks. I think I am credited in some book @ Villanova for bringing a Hip Hop scene to the campus when it had none.

What were your experiences working with Wildpitch/Searchlite music?

Great, that was my first label experience and I met some cool people like DJ Eclipse, Sabac from Non Phixion, OC. It was short-lived because the label folded not too long after I started there, but I still stay in touch with Serch & Eclipse.



I noticed alot of classic albums as Your favorites. But also Young Jeezy . Are You a fan of the South and cats like Banner, Weezy & Joc?

Yeah I get that a lot, most people cannot believe how much southern shit I listen to especially based on the Truck Jewls catalog, but I was living in Philly and some cats I knew put me onto Three 6 Mafia and Master P “Ghetto D” to be specific, while I was putting them onto Company Flow & Kool Keith… as a DJ & fan I’ve always been open to different styles within the culture…to me Hip-Hop’s true spirit was in the 80’s where it wasn’t so defined, you had people of all colors & races expressing themselves through this culture, now it’s very black & white, and very much bullshit. I wanted to broaden my horizons to be a better DJ and have since grown to love the South, their movement and energy is 100% Hip-Hop to me. I like Jeezy, Wayne, T.I., UGK, 8Ball & MJG…not JOC or banner really, his production is dope though, Three 6 too, they’ve been chopping up samples for years, incredible producers, I like their new show too. The south has it’s own history and needs to be respected just like the NY or LA history, you can’t knock what their doing. Another thing was, I got to a point where I didn’t want to get pigeonholed as an “underground DJ” so I started playing all types of parties, ranging from electronic & house music, funk/soul, even the big clubs where they don’t dance to MF Doom…it makes me a better all around DJ and producer if I understand why people move to different beats.

Surely You don't like Laffy Taffy!!!!????


Hell No, but I do like “dance” songs and think they should come back out, we used to have the Bizmark dance, Pee Wee Herman, the Fila, the Wop…the Humpty Dance, those kinds of songs were fun. With every music and every genre you have commercial & underground to a certain level, even in the 80’s when Run-DMC came out it was all about Kurtis Blow being commercial with his “Basketball” tune, so that mentality goes back to the beginning, you just have to filter through the good & bad, because there are some horrible records that come out of New York too, even in the 90’s.


Immortal Techinque ?
I actually used to see him at local open mics in NYC and knew he was gonna go far, that kid is real talented, I’m glad to see him getting his shine. I would walk out of those open mics remembering his name over everyone else involved, dude is nice.

Is Weezy the Greatest rapper alive?

I am a fan, can’t front, been a Cash Money fan for a while, and Wayne is definitely on his way, he’s one of the few who I think is trying to find different rhyme styles & wordplay patterns, that’s what I used to love about KRS. At this point of my life, nothing a rapper says surprises me, they all think they’re the greatest and if that’s how he wants to market himself, fine with me and as for the ghostwriting stuff, I don’t pay attention to that, it happens a lot more than people want to know.

Top Five dead or alive?

Man, I hate that question because it’s so limiting. But for the sake of trying to figure it out without naming the obvious who are always mentioned here, I will go with some personal favorites, because I believe Hip-Hop is where you find it, so there is never a right answer when it comes to opinion, but for me, lyrically I would have to say KRS, Slick Rick, Nas, Rakim, Raekwon.…but then you have groups too like EPMD, Run DMC, Wu-Tang, M.O.P., Gang Starr, The Roots & De La….there are so many ways to break this question down, but I’ll leave it at that.


Peace, thanks for taking the time Joe, It's been a pleasure. Just one last question, Any upcoming projects?

No problem ,thank you. Keep an ear out for Truck Jewls radio coming in June through www.hiphopphilosophy.com I have a double mix CD done called Boombox Diaries, similar to the Hidden Treasures series but with all pre-90’s Hip-Hop, also a Truck Jewls 10th Anniversary mix CD which will be all mash-ups and remixes, kind of a specialty project like the Jay-Z/RJD2 thing I did, but on a whole other level, that’ll be out later this year. Producing a reggae project with my artist I’Jah Olson, still spinning around NYC, check me out @ www.myspace.com/truckjewls for details on upcoming gigs and Mix CD’s. I am also doing the soundtrack & score for an independent documentary called “Zoned In” which will be out later in the year, so I’m staying busy for sure.

i hope you like my shit..........

[LMO]

nice idea for the topic TRUE

[TRUE]

I just had the pleasure of talking with Gauge, who was good enough to take the time out, talk to me, and set me straight on a lot of questions I had about his long and varied career, from his rare indie rap 12"s in the early 90's to his upcoming (Christian rap) album he's working on now.

basicly info - Growing up in the same neighborhood as Hip-Hop mainstays like Special Ed, Busta Rhymes, and The Cella Dwellas, Gauge learned his trade from legendary schoolyard battles. In 1990, Gauge, alongside fellow Brooklynite, Lord Have Mercy (now in Flipmode Squad), released the now-rare single “Order In The Court” from their group B.A.S.S. (Brothers About Sight and Sound). Gauge dropped the single “Cranium” b/w “Breathless” on Maestro Records which was extremely successful. In early 2000, Gauge stepped out with his third single, “Insane” b/w “Bring It To Me” feat. Special Ed and Phantasm from The Cella Dwellas. In 2001, he was working on his untitled album, which never saw the light of day. That EP featured production from Ge-ology, DJ Spinna, Nick Wiz, Ayatollah and SELF.

one of his best and most rated track




Ok, let's start with something I've only ever read about online… Is it true you used to be in a group with Lord Have Mercy called B.A.S.S.?

Yes. The name of B.A.S.S. means Brothers About Sight and Sound, and it came about because Lord Have Mercy and I both shared a DJ, named D-Mix. And he was just DJing for both of us and asked could we do things together? It wasn't really a full-fledged group, so much as a spin-off where you have two artists with their own identity that come together to do one thing.

And this was before the Maestro stuff?

Yeah, this was even before that. This was like when I first started rappin' period. Both of us lived in the same neighborhood: he's from Flatbush and so am I. And we knew each other from school. And when D-Mix and his brother Carl were doing beats for him, they were doing beats for me, we were just doing a lot of shows amongst each other. So it was just like, yo, why don't we try to do some things together? So how it worked out, is we did a single, where I had a song, he had a song and then we did one together. So it wasn't really like a group group.

And that came out on 12"?

Yeah, but that was years and years ago; and I'll tell you: if you're able to find that then you're really good.

Well, I've been looking! What was the label for that record?

Well, actually we were on a label called Chase Records at that time. We had this guy that we knew through D-Mix named Jason. He was a young entrepreneur trying to do his thing; and that was way before any of us decided to try our own labels. So, when I think back, I got respect for him, because since then he was really trying to do something with his own label.

Yeah, that was kinda before the 90's boom of independent 12"'s.

Right. When independents started to kick in later in the 90's, everybody was doing it. But back then when he was doing it, pretty much nobody was. So back then, when they told me to meet the head of the label and he was a young guy just like us, and he was black, I was just like "whoa! You sure that's who you are?" It really blew my mind like - this is crazy!

So, how did you go from there to being signed with Maestro? That was the time when he came to New York, right?

Yeah, he moved to New York. What happened was I lived on a street called Brooklyn Avenue, and he wound up moving around the corner from me. And there was a few times walking down the street that I would see him and be like, hey, what's up? And I didn't know who he was. It was just like, how you doing? But then I used to do a lot of shows at CBGB's - I know you know CBGB's - and when I was performing one night, he came out and saw me. And after I came off the stage, he came over and talked to me and was like, yo, I was really impressed with your show and my name is Maestro. And I said, yeah, I remember you as the guy from around the way. And he said, why don't you come over to my apartment one day and let's hang out and I'll let you hear some of my stuff. I'm a pretty known artist up in Canada and this and that.

So, of course, you know, I'm just like ok whatever. Ok, you're a known artist in Canada, and you're livin' in Brooklyn, and I never heard of you a day in my life! And I've been in this business for a minute. But of course, I wasn't into the different, international artists. I did wind up going to his house and he showed me his Juno awards and a lot of videos and I'm like, wait a minute - this guy is official! And what really brought it in for me was when he's like, why don't you come so some shows with me, and I'll let you do one song of your own and you'll be my hype man.

So we worked on a couple of his songs and we got on a Greyhound - 'cause he had a tour to do; and we drove up to Canada. And that's when I really saw who he is! Believe me! At that point, that guy was like the LL of Canada. People knew exactly who he was, and I saw all the people who knew him and all the TV shows that spoke about him. And we got off the Greyhound and into VIP status once we got into Canada. We started getting on planes, and that's when the limos came out…And at that time he said to me, you know, I really consider you a good artist; so why don't we put out this record together? And that's when he funded for me to do "Cranium."

And, actually, he had you on his remix, too, right? Before that, "Pray To da East?"

Actually, right. You're pretty on point with that. We did "Pray To da East" first, which was on LMR Records. And they were located in New York, which was the crazy thing; he's so big in Canada! But he came to New York to do his album, which of course was Naaah, Dis Kid Can't Be From Canada?!! And he got a lot of flack in Canada 'cause people took the name wrong. They looked at it like he was trying to diss Canada, but he was just trying to say Canada's not on the map at that time! And that's what people here really said, 'cause they never heard about artists from Canada.

And that's really what set up me going on tour with him. 'Cause I was already on that song, and I knew a lot of the album. And at that time I was pretty popular on the underground, with Stretch, Bobbito and a lot of those guys. Plus, I lived in the same neighborhood as The Dwellas. And the crazy thing is The Dwellas met through me. UG used to dance for me, and Phan was my hype man. And that's how they met. UG could really dance back then; but I didn't realize he could rhyme as good as he could dance. One day, I was on the phone with him, and I heard him spitting a rhyme as he was walking off. I was like, "who's rhyme is that?" And he's like, no that's mine! And I realized how hot he was, and I always knew Phan was ill. So they hooked up, got the deal with LOUD, and it's history from there.

And is that how Lord met, too? Because I know he was briefly down with the Dwellas, too.

Right. That's how that came about. 'Cause Lord was cool with me and Phan was cool with me; and we were all from the same circle. And what happened is I kinda strayed off, and then they all started working together. Then Busta stepped in and took Lord! We all knew Busta from high school, because he went to school with us. He's originally from Flatbush.

Oh? I didn't know that.

Yeah, he does represent LI; but he went to Walt Whitman high school with all us in Flatbush. So did Special Ed; he was really tight with Busta. And me and Special Ed used to battle all the time on the block. We all got history. Same thing with Chip Fu and all the people from Flatbush. We all know each other here; and there's a lot of talent from Flatbush. We just weren't pushed the proper way and things didn't go exactly where I would've expected them to. But of course, you know, Busta did his thing.

So, Lord got down with Flipmode, the Dwellas did their album, and I did "Cranium," which sold over 9000 records. Now, you know, on the underground, on vinyl, that's a lot! It really shocked me when I started to tour out of the country, going to Germany, Switzerland and England and DJs were going into their crates and grabbing my record!

And after we did "Cranium," Fat Beats stepped in and actually gave me an advance to do distribute the next record. Ever hear of an underground record getting an advance? They said, we'll give you money up front if you bring this record here. 'Cause we were doing the remix with the Dwellas, so they wanted that bad. And we used the same beat for the remix. But what I didn't realize, when your biggest selling place is Japan, who don't really understand too much English, all they really are vibing to is the beat. So, I didn't think of that, but when I gave them the same beat, I really almost gave them the same record!

But the remix still did well, and The Dwellas had their following and we just kinda pushed from there. Actually, I was talking to Phantasm last night, and he was talking about new stuff that he's working on. So he's still doing his thing.

Nice; I haven't heard too much from him lately. Oh, well, I guess he was on the Blaq Poet was the last thing I heard.

Yeah, he's working on a mix CD and then gonna do an album afterward. He's just getting his beats together and getting ready to come out. We've become really good friend and we talk all the time. UG I don't see as much, but we still got love for one another.

Let me ask you this… on that first Maestro appearance, you're actually credited as being "Gauge, of the Rough Neck Bastards." Who were the others, and what was that about?

Right, that was another thing. The Rough Neck Bastards was a group, and in that group was me, Phantasm and my boy Greg, who lived on my block… I think BodyRock was his rap name. So we did, like, four songs together, and we were on Bobbito pushin' it. And Phan told me, I got a decision to make. I could roll with the Rough Neck Bastards or go with UG. I told him, go with what you think is the best. Now, at that point they didn't have their deal yet, but things were in the making. And they also had that edge where they were doing that mystic stuff, so they had something that was different.

So, UG came with us to Bobbito, which shows you how we were fam. This was before they were Dwellas. And we were just ripping it back and forth for like an hour. And what happened was, Phan told me he had to go with UG, and I would be foolish to tell him to turn down LOUD. LOUD was definitely a leading supreme team label at that time. So there was no way for me to even be their friend and tell them to not take that.

There was never a Rough Neck Bastards record, though, was there?

No. But we were in the studio. We used to be managed by Joeski Love. And he was helping us to get in the studio, and we recorded like 3, 4 records. But we never had a record out. We did demos; not records.

Ok, that actually goes into another question I had for you. I don't know if you know, but there's a Gauge demo album floating around the 'net now…

Oh yeah?

It's like 5 or 6 songs, and a couple of them are from your Unsigned Hype review, so I guess it's from around that time. But there's another song in that write-up called "Down To Earth" that's missing.

The Unsigned Hype thing was crazy, too. I was sitting on Church Ave. with Phantasm in the car, and we were listening to some new music of mine. And we were sitting in the car, and this guy walks down the block and notices Phan. He says, "aren't you Phan from the Dwellas?" He's like yeah. "I happen to be the new editor of The Source." We look at him like what? You're kidding me! Young black guy, walking down Church Ave giving us this line? He said he was the new editor for The Source and he wanted to do an interview with The Dwellas, and they exchange numbers. Phan says, by the way, this is my boy Gauge, listen to some of his material. So he sat and listened to it with us, and I said, I would like to see if I could get on that Unsigned Hype column. He said, "you know what? You got it for next month." I was in The Source three times actually, and I was also in Rap Pages as well, one of the unsigned hypes in there as well.

But. I don't know about that demo. There's definitely a lot of things floating around, because the internet is a crazy tool. But, yeah, I did a lot of demos! It came to the point where some demos were getting played. Like Stretch was playing the "Cranium" record, which was a demo first. I would credit the success of that record a lot to him. He played that record for 13 straight weeks! He literally said to me, "I'm gonna blow this record." And it did do a lot better than I actually thought. And even 20 years later, people are still calling me about that record. The remix as well. I like the remix a lot better.

Do you still have all those demos and tracks like that?

No. You know what's so funny. I used to be managed by a guy named DL; they used to do a lot of mix-tapes back then…

Like Eddie Ill and DL?

Yeah. DL managed me for a while. And I'll be honest with you: he was one of the best managers I ever had, 'cause he was the guy who had me all over Europe without even a record deal. I was touring all over the place just off the "Cranium" record, with a lot of different artists. I was doing records on their tapes that was considered records, and I was doing songs on Groove Attack.

But, anyway, what happened was I got a call recently about this underground record that was gonna come out called The Best Of the Underground. And they wanted "Cranium." They wanted the original, not the record, but the DAT. So I had to call Self who did the beat. And he's like, "I think it's in my garage…" And it never manifested because he never found the DAT. I said they could take it off the record, but that wasn't good enough; they wanted the DAT. It goes to show you, that one man's junk is another man's treasure. You wouldn't believe the amount of people that would love to have that DAT!

Now, you did a record with a group called Etcetera. Tell me about that, because I have that record, but I still don't know a lot about them.

Yeah, I read that blog you put up about that. Etcetera is a group that consists of a rapper and a producer. And the producer's name is Self, and he's the guy that did the beat for "Cranium."

Oh, I didn't realize that!

And the rapper is a guy named Shawn, and we go way back. We used to go to the studio together in Crown Heights, and Kweli used to go to that same studio. Queen Pen as well. I met Etcetera at the studio and we became good friends from there. And he used to hype man with me, so we created a bond. So he told me "we're creating a record, and we would like you and UG to guest star." So I was like ok, that's no doubt!

And it's funny, when I read your blog, that's kinda how I felt about it, too. I was like, ok… I wonder how this record's gonna come out. But it came out pretty good! Me and UG were sittin' in the studio going, yo, we're going hard on this record! We actually performed it a few times, and I think there was a video out.

Ok, well, now it's obviously been a long time since your 90's material and your latest album…let's get into what went on during that time.

Well, I think you know by now my whole life changed for me; I'm actually born again. I'm a Christian now and my life was given over to Christ. What happened was, in '99, I went through a major break-up, and I was shocked. I was out there, touring with Maestro, out there wildin' out; let's put it that way. Living the life of an artist. And when the relationship broke up, it really broke me up. And in that time I really had to do some soul searching and find myself; and it was honestly the best thing that ever happened to me.

Now, when you come to God, most people figure that He's not gonna want me to rap anymore. But, actually that's not what it was. He's actually now changed my context… and if you know my history, I never was that shoot 'em up, killer artist.

Right; you were never like a Geto Boy.

Exactly. So anybody that does know me… that's the good thing about my transition. It wasn't like a Hammer transition - not to diss him - but to go from a dancer to a hardcore thug look is not gonna work. And it didn't work, which is why you notice that he's coming back to the old way. And that's the good thing for me, because when I did go from the underground to the gospel, it didn't really show too much of a change.

And I've listened to your new music, and it's not like you changed your style or your voice or anything. It still sounds like Gauge.

Right. And I still get that kinda love. Because people contact me from all over the world telling me, "yo, I bought your new album because of "Cranium" or "Off-Key." And at first it was kind of concerning to me, because I try to let people know… One thing, I'm not trying to rob you! (Laughs) So I was hitting people back like, "understand that I'm a different person!"

Before the internet was so huge, we didn't know who loved us. We didn't know the type of fanbase we had. Because if we had a guy in Australia that just bought your record on vinyl, you weren't able to know that because he wasn't able to tell you. But nowadays, with the internet, it's such a huge, weird thing to see the tons of love that I get. Because I never felt as an artist, because I never had that major deal… so I never felt that until these things came about and I hear people say, "man, I've been following your career since day 1!" It's real humbling.

So my whole life had changed over. I started my own label and I got my own clothing line and I got my own things going. Things have changed for entrepreneurs, too. Everybody has more opportunities now. I was telling Phan the other day, all he has to do is put out a record and make it available on itunes. You know, he had over 200,000 fans. So if he got over 200,000 downloads, he could be a wealthy guy! It's that simple now. You don't even have to put out vinyl anymore, though I know guys like you who love the vinyl.

You can't ever fully do away with the vinyl. Like Evil Dee? That's one guy I give credit to: he stayed with that. Anywhere I go and see him, he'd be like "I'm not giving it up!" He's still lugging the records, and I'm like, one day your back's gonna be killing you! You're better off to go with the little CDs! But he'd rather lug the records.

But it's just been a roller coaster. Maestro's still doing a lot, and me and him are still great friends. He's an actor now, doing a lot of movies now. And we still keep in contact and he's proud of me and what I'm doing with this new album and still supports me 100%, and that's it.

You know what's so crazy about it is, if I didn't just come out and say I'm a Christian now, people wouldn't know it. If you listen to my music, I still bring the real, straight street information, and that's how I'm even labeled amongst the Christians. Within Christianity, we're considered all one body, but different parts. And there's some rappers that are more bible orientated; and they're more designed for the church. So people who already know it go in there and just get fed what they already know. Now, when it comes down to the street, to just grab people off the street and teach them truth, they always look to me. Like, if there's an outdoor thing that's not in the church and we're dealing with a bunch of 15, 16 year-old Bloods and Crips that's walking around and don't want to hear anything, I'm the one they call. Like, Gauge, get in there; they understand you. When I do my record "May Day" live, they go nuts offa that, because it definitely shows the skills, still, of the street.

Now the producers that produce on my album as well… I've got the Producers Coalition, which is Shamello, who did "Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Can See" for Busta, I got Spiderman on my album. I've been blessed. I'm about to do my new album and I've been talking to a lot of different people. Rockwilder called me; he wants some cuts on the new album.

What really happened to me is that…. When you're a new artist, a mainstream artist? You are one person amongst ten million. When you come to Christianity now, and look at Christian rappers, you're one in ten thousand. Even on your ratings like on myspace, if I took off Christian rapper than I probably wouldn't even be seen. But since I am, and when you put in New York and Christian rap, I'm like number 4. And I'll be honest with you, since I have changed over, I haven't stopped working! My schedule has been bananas; I perform pretty much every week. And when I do shows now, we got CDs, and people BUY the CDs.

And when you look at it, the churches are getting bigger, and the crack houses are getting smaller. So it's growing, the artists are getting better… Back in the days, when you said "Christian rap," people assumed they were garbage!

Well, it was probably because a few came out early on that were pretty wack that painted a bad picture.

And just to be real honest, that is the truth. But as artists, we had to learn. And the artists are getting better. So, it's a huge market out there for us now. As far as spirituality, I'm in a much better place than I've ever been. And then, on top of that, as far as financially, I'm in a much better place than I've ever been! I got it better both ways; so that's why I try to keep it down to Earth and let people know this is the way to go. It's better off to stand out than to fit in.

And now you're also part of a group called Shamellion Rebellion?

Yeah. Ok, now that's another group. Shamello and Spider put that group together of rappers that they produced. I happen to be the Christian rapper of that group. We got NJN, we got Intelligence, we got SI… it's like a mixture of a whole bunch of different rappers that come together to make one group. So whenever we are performing, what happens is we do it separately as well, like I did with Lord Have Mercy in the beginning. We each did a song by ourselves. Then, the song off my album, "Rebelution," was the first record we did together.

So, tell us about this new album you're working on and how it connects with your last one.

Well, December Thirty-First Nineteen Ninety-Nine was the last album, which was pretty much a testimony that talks about when I first started when I first came to God in '99 onto the point where I'm at right now. So it pretty much summed up seven years of my life. Now, the new album is called January First Two Thousand, which is the next day! So that pretty much speaks from when there until now. So people ask me, when are you gonna come out with the new album, and my answer is "I'm living it right now." That's the difference between what I was doing then and now. When you're just making up stories, it's easy to write ten albums. But when you're telling the truth, you've got to live it! One thing I can say is that everything on that last album is true. Even that "Sunshine" record, that's about me and my fiancé that I'm with right now. And everything you hear down through the whole album is true.

With this new album, I just did my first record for it, and I'm real happy with it. I'm working with some new producers, and I'm getting beats from people all across the world. So I'm real blessed right now. So I just want to thank everyone out there who's keeping my career going, all my friends and everybody that supported me. God bless.


i hope you enta the centa.......

Edited by TRUE, 07 May 2011 - 08:07 AM.

[TRUE]

toxic from this board ?