DJ ENVY & RED CAFE JOIN FORCES FOR “THE CO-OP”.
By Khalid Strickland a.k.a. Dirty Angel
It pays to be connected.
Rapper/deejay tandems were a staple of rap music’s beloved “golden age”. Eric B. & Rakim, Kool G. Rap & Polo, DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince… these legendary duos, along with many others, released celebrated albums. With the rapper eventually moving to the forefront and soaking up the media’s shine, the classic deejay/rapper combo is now like the white tiger: it’s damn near extinct.
But on September 25th, 2007 Koch Records will release “The Co-Op”, a collaborative album by DJ Envy and esteemed lyricist Red Café. Envy is one of hip-hop’s most famous deejays, currently hosting popular shows on both Hot-97 FM and Sirius satellite radio. Envy is also a two-time recipient of the coveted Just-O mix tape award, an honor he earned by creating straight-to-the-street compilations featuring Jay-Z, Cam’Ron and The LOX. Production is also one of Envy’s talents and he’s created tracks for DMX, Foxy Brown and Ja Rule to name a few. Red Café is an acclaimed rapper who has hustled like a madman on the underground mix tape circuit, making cameos on songs with the likes of 50 Cent and LL Cool J. Now managed by the platinum-dipped singer/songwriter Akon, Red Café has also ghostwritten lyrics for some of the music industry’s hottest artists. Nina Sky, Styles P, Sheek Louch, Paul Wall and Remy Ma all show up for guest appearances on “The Co-Op”. On the album’s first single, “Dolla Bill”, Fabolous and Jermaine Dupri contribute verses.
I spoke to the heavily iced-out duo at the office of Koch Records in NYC. Envy was a little late getting there, so I sat down with Red Café and set it off.
Dirty Angel: What brought you and Envy together to do this joint?
Red Café: Well, I’ve been doing mix tapes with deejays; you know, you usually get a deejay to host your mix tape or whatever and you put it out on the street. (Envy and I) just felt like we wanted to make it a little more special than just a mix tape in the street. Like, we’ve been working together for a little while. I saw his grind, all the different things that he does. You know, he has a bunch of different jobs. His hustle game is crazy and he saw my similarities. So it made sense for us to do it together. And we wanted to do something that hasn’t been done in a long time like Eric B. & Rakim (or) Pete Rock & CL Smooth.
Angel: What do you hope to accomplish with “The Co-Op”?
Red: Of course, we just want to be recognized as trend-setters; like it can probably start (to) bring something back. It’s been twenty years since you’ve seen anything like that, so hopefully it starts to make people respect the deejay as much as they respect the artist. And you get to see some creativity with us going back and forth; (Envy) ripping the wheels while I’m rocking and s**t like that.
Angel: Now what were some of the things you did to get your name to ring bells in this rap game?
Red: Mainly just keep hustling, staying consistent. Try to figure out different ways to get your music out there to the people… like before the whole internet craze, just figuring out ways to get your music to the masses. And I did that mainly through mix tapes. And people took a liking to me and I started being able to do features with bigger artists and stuff like that. So that’s it, just being a star.
(DJ Envy strolls into the interview room and takes a seat at the table)
DJ Envy (to Red): Son, you ain’t leave me no food?
Red Café: Nah, man…
DJ Envy: See that’s how Eric B & Rakim broke up.
(Room breaks out in laughter) Angel: Your name, Red Cafe… what are the origins behind that? It’s a unique name.
Red: Well Red was the name that I grew up with. My Pop’s name was Red. And Café is just being a one-stop shop, you know… in the street. Now (that) I’m making a transition over to music, same thing; I’m the one-stop shop, whatever you need (I’ll) cook it up and serve it.
Angel: I know you did a lot of ghostwriting. When you were ghostwriting for n***s, was there ever a time you said, “F**k this, I’mma keep this for myself).
Red: Absolutely (laughs). Definitely. Certain lines you can’t give away. But still, I don’t compromise the music. I want them to have some hot s**t too, especially if my pen is behind it.
Angel: A lot of cats are throwing their hats into the ring now. What are you bringing to the game?
Red: I feel like I’m the last of the real hip-hop in this city, man. You know what I mean? So, I feel like just me coming out now is gonna change music again and the way the younger kids listen to hip-hop music. ‘Cause I’m not caught up in what’s really going on now… ‘cause you know, the last few years when artists came out… whoever came out in the last few years, they changed music. And a lot of the kids got lost, that’s why you haven’t had a New York artist in the last five years. So I feel like I’m going to be able to set that tone so we can get back to doing good east coast music.
DJ Envy
Angel: Now, Envy, let me ask you a question ‘cause you’ve worked with a lot of different emcees. What was it about Red Café that made you want do this entire project with him?
DJ Envy: It was the hustle. The hustle and he can spit. I mean, you don’t have many too many artists who can spit now so… when you’ve got an artist that can really spit and is not a lazy artist; (he’s) in the clubs, in the streets… making sure the mix tapes and the freestyles are done. I mean, you can’t deny him. So it’s like, you can put those together. And then my hustle game is out of this world; like, I try to touch everything. I understand you’re only going to be young for so long… you’re only going to be hot for so long. So while you are young and hot, you know, you try to get everything. And that’s what we want… we want everything.
Angel: I asked Red this already, but personally what do you hope to accomplish with “The Co-Op”?
Envy: I think it’s going to be a movement, where it’s going to be bigger than just a deejay and an artist. We’re kind of going to be the new, young Bad Boy; the new, young Roc-A-Fella; where we create other business opportunities for other young artists and for other people trying to make it. Red’s has a couple of deals so he knows the industry. I’m on the inside and outside of the industry so it’s hard to get us. You can’t get us… we know what our worth is. We kind of don’t need a machine, we’re our own machine. Where some people need that money and that machine to get out there, we do everything ourselves. We invest in ourselves which most artists don’t do. We’re going to create opportunities for a lot of people.
Angel: I know you’re an expert on this subject. As far as what happened with DJ Drama and DJ Cannon (being arrested by the F.B.I. for “music piracy” with their mix CDs) let me ask you this. Number one: How does that change the game? And number two: What do you think that record labels and deejays can do to still put out mix CDs and keep both parties happy so that there’s no friction?
Envy: It’s really nothing nobody can do to stop mix tapes; mix tapes will always be out there. But it’s not the A&R’s and it’s not the artists. It’s not those individuals that are targeting the mix tapes. It’s the people that own those record labels that you never really hear their name. And I’m not talking about the presidents. I’m talking about the owners of the labels. People that you don’t even know that own Virgin Records that just… looks at the salary report and sees how come their not making any money. Those are the individuals that are stopping (mix tapes) because they aren’t making money anymore. It’s not (like it’s) ’94, ’95 (or) ’99 (when) record labels were making a lot of money. Now they’re not, so they’re looking at every little thing they can get (money) back on these individual (artists). These artists are owned by these record labels and they want to know why they’re not getting a P.C. or (getting) paid. And to an extent you feel them, but I don’t even think they know about a mix tape. They don’t know the difference between a mix tape and a bootleg record. Until they’re aware of it, until they really understand the business of mix tapes and how it can help an artist and help get an artist out there… I mean, (they’ve worked) for Red Café, (they’ve worked) for 50 Cent, Jadakiss, Fabolous… without mix tapes none of these artists would’ve been broke; even Jay-Z.
Red Cafe
Angel: Let me ask the both of ya’all this question, from the emcee’s perspective and the deejay’s perspective. It’s obvious rap is under attack from a lot of different parties right now. The most vocal critics are calling for a ban on certain words; namely, the words “n***a”, “b***h” and “h*e”. What do you guys think about having a ban on those three words in particular?
Red: I feel they’re digging too deep into it. Because… what about movies? What about film, you know what I mean? As an artist you’re an entertainer. When we get up there on that stage we’re just entertaining the people. You dress up just like you dress up for a movie. You dress, you play the role for that day. We’re just under scrutiny because it’s urban music. Any time it looks like we’re about to be in power, they just want to be on n***a neck. But, I think they’re digging too deep in it.
Envy: I agree. I mean, the thing about it… people say they come to America because they get freedom. As an artist, as Red Café is an artist and all these other rappers and individuals, they should be able to say whatever the f**k they want to say. Now it’s the labels, it’s the radio stations and the outlets; they can say what their want on the air and what they don’t want on their air. But you can’t tell an artist or a man what he can say and what he cannot say. If that’s his art performance, if that’s how he feels… It’s like anything else. When Picasso (or) a painter paints something you can’t tell him, ‘You can paint everything but don’t use the blue paint’. No, he uses whatever paint he wants to use. Now if there’s a place that doesn’t like the blue, they don’t have to buy that particular picture. But Red Café can say whatever the f**k he wants to say. It’s up to the radio stations and the T.V. places to say, Well, we aren’t allowing those words. Like anything else, they have a dirty version and a clean version. And if you don’t want to hear those words, buy the clean one, in stores September 25th.
Angel: Who handled the production duties on this LP?
Envy: Everybody. It wasn’t one of things where I’m greedy and I say, “I want everything”. I just wanted to put together a great album, so… we got production from Rockwilder, Trackmasters and a couple of producers that are up-and-coming. But, everybody came together and it was one of those things where it was like… I do produce, but if my beat wasn’t hot enough, it wasn’t hot enough. You know? It’s whatever songs made it. And if my (record) didn’t make it, it didn’t make it. If it made it, it was what it was. But we got it form everybody. If you’re a producer and you’re (good) we didn’t care if you was an A-list, B-list, C-list… we were just looking for hard beats.
Angel: Do you plan on working together again after this? Is this the beginning of a series?
Envy: I ain’t f****n’ with this n***a again (laughter). Absolutely we’re working together. Absolutely.
Red: This is the platform, man. It’s just the foundation we’re just building here. It’s just like, we’re gonna be rolling them albums out. We got other groups we’re working with already. We’re just trying to strategize and roll it out properly.
For more information on Red Cafe and “The Co-Op”, visit www.myspace.com/redcafe.
For more information on DJ Envy and “The Co-Op”, visit www.myspace.com/djenvy.
For more stories and work by Dirty Angel visit www.supremearsenal.com and www.myspace.com/blackpacino.
