SMIF-N-WESSUN interview by Dirty Angel

SMIF-N-WESSUN TAKE IT UP A NOTCH WITH “THE ALBUM”  

By Khalid Strickland a.k.a. Dirty Angel

Still “Shinin'”…

     I’m from the borough of Brooklyn for real.  I didn’t move there once things got sweet like the yuppies and hipsters who claim it as their own now.  When I was huggin’ the block, people weren’t sitting in front coffee shops sipping lattes and eating cucumber sandwiches.  Back then dudes were holding down the corners puttin’ in work, and the drinks they sipped were in 40-ounce bottles and brown paper bags.

     So whenever I get a chance to interview some real Brooklyn folk, artists who have always repped Killa Kings County to the fullest, I feel good.  Hardcore rap duo Smif-N-Wessun (consisting of emcees Tek & Steele), and their brethren the almighty Boot Camp Clik, bleed Brooklyn.  In 1994 they released their first single, “Bucktown”, an ode to their beloved borough which became a smash hit.  That single, backed with the menacing joint “Lets Git It On”, paved the way for Smif-N-Wessun’s classic debut album, “Dah Shinin’”, in 1995.  Packed with memorable bangers like “Wontime” and the reggae-tinged hit “Sound Bwoy Bureill”, the album sold over 300,000 copies statewide and became an influential cornerstone in the New York hip-hop scene.  Smif-N-Wessun released two more albums; “The Rude Awakening” (1998) and “Reloaded” (2005).  Aside from their many cameo appearances and stint with Rawkus Records, Tek and Steele have been featured on all three Boot Camp Clik compilation albums (most recently “The Last Stand” in 2006).  Tek and Steele also collaborated with deceased hip-hop legend Tupac Shakur.     In October 2007, Smif-N-Wessun released their fourth and latest LP, simply titled, “The Album”.  Produced almost exclusively by Swedish producer Ken Ring, “The Album” adds a new level of growth to the group’s discography.  The LP contains the hard-as-pavement street verses Smif-N-Wessun fans know and love, but there are also some well-written bars filled with political and social relevance.  Ken Ring and his associates, Tommy Tee, Rune Rotter and Collen & Webb, brought the heat and provided Smif-N-Wessun with a variety of tight beats.  Whether blunted, laid-back joints, feel-good party songs or hardcore neck-snappers, “The Album” has it all covered.  As always, Tek and Steele’s lyrics are top-notch, their chemistry is as strong as ever and they compliment each other like only a seasoned, time-tested group can do.

     I recently chopped it up with Smif-N-Wessun to get the lowdown on “The Album”, amongst other things. 

Dirty Angel: You’ve got a long, solid list of hits.  What will “The Album” add to your legacy? 

Steele: It’s gonna increase… how do you say… it’s gonna raise the stakes a little bit.  Because when you came into this game you came into this game young and you remain in this game in the best shape in your life… looking young as ever, sounding as current as ever.  Still able to deliver useful music, still able to deliver some gems, some jewels.  Like we say in the single, “We’re your favorite rapper’s favorite rappers”.  And through being fans in this game, we’ve grown up on rappers, rappers have grown up on us and we continue to just do our part in hip-hop as a whole so… the fourth album, it’s only the beginning, baby. 

Angel: What was poppin’ off in Sweden? Why’d ya’all record the whole joint over there? 

Steele: Well, we had a relationship with the boy Ken Ring.  We had did some prior projects with him on the “Reloaded” album and he did some work on the “Last Stand” album.  The relationship was pretty tight so we was on tour out in Europe and we got a call from son.  He was like, “Let’s try to do some things together” so… we went out there, we chopped it up for a while.  We thought about the possibilities and we said, “Let’s give it a try.  But if we go in there and do this, we gotta go in there and do this for real for real.”  Like, whatever we come out with it’s got to be the s**t.  That’s the mentality that we had when we went to Sweden. 

Angel: Now, in a good way, this album sounds a little bit different from the others.  It’s almost like a step up in the maturity level.  You guys always grow, but this one sounds a bit different.  Was there anything in particular on your mind when you went in there with this one? 

Steele: Everything, man.  Everything was on our mind, man, na’mean? The first time we did it, that was on our mind.  And the fact that you’re not promised tomorrow so you’ve got to do it like it’s your last, you know what I mean? You’ve got to do it like it’s your last and you’ve got to do it like it’s your first, if that’s possible.  So, we was conscious of everything, na’mean? We both fathers, we got sons.  We got responsibilities to our people in our neighborhoods.  A lot of young’uns that look up to us; nephews, nieces and just kids in the neighborhood that’s doing they thing.  But they look up to us because we’re a success story to them.  We’re as close to reality TV that they’ll ever get.  So we owe it to them, we owe it to ourselves and we just keep pushing.

Tek & Steele

 Angel: One of the few rapper cameos that you have on this new joint is Joell Ortiz.  Why him? What was so special about Ortiz that you put him on there? 

Steele: Well, Joell… he’s been coming up a lot in the conversations.  We have a mutual friend in one of the producers that we worked with and um… I don’t know, man; we just respect his game and when his name came up in conversations we immediately was like, “Yeah, why not? We’ll f**k with homie, he gets busy.”  And besides, he reps Brooklyn to the death so why not?

Angel: A lot of groups done broke up and fell apart over the years.  Even Wu-Tang going through some s**t right now, I never thought I’d see that day.  

Steele: Sad day for hip-hop. 

Angel: Exactly.  So how do you two manage to keep it together? Ya’all two have been together for a long time and ya’all still producing great albums now.  

Tek: ‘Cause we P.N.C. (partners in crime)… we family first before this music s**t.  Before everything we got a relationship with each other and we got a respect for each other and that’s how we kept it all this time and that’s how we’re gonna continue to do it. 

Angel: On this new joint, you have some substance in your songs… a lot of different topics that you’re talking about.  Now, I know that rappers ain’t role models, I know rappers ain’t preachers and I don’t think they should be raising nobody’s kids.  But with all the nooses and s**t going up and all the cops killing n***as and stuff like that… do you think rappers have a responsibility to talk about this stuff in the hood? ‘Cause it seems like sometimes we get a one-sided point-of-view from a lot of dudes spittin’. 

Tek: I mean, as an artist… be it an R&B artist, a singer, a rapper… you talk about your surroundings period.  You talk about your experiences you’re going through as well as what you see, even if it’s not happening first-hand to you.  You’re like the ghetto reporter… not only the ghetto, the hood… you’re a world-wide reporter ‘cause you on that podium and you’ve got that stand.  You take that stand, and once you know, then yeah, it’s definitely your responsibility to talk it.

Angel: In your opinion, not to talk bad about anybody else, do you feel that side of the game is represented as far as other things that are poppin’ off in the hood? 

Tek: I mean, you know… n***as talk what they do.  You can’t knock the hustle, get it how you live it.  We talk what we do, where we from, where we go, where we’re gonna go… and that’s all we can really worry about is us and who our messages is reaching… our audience.  Everybody else, we ain’t got time to be worrying about what they do or say. 

Angel: True that.  So let me ask you a question on the political tip.  Which do you think
America will accept quicker: a female president or a Black president? 

Tek: Neither one (laughs). 

Steele: None of the above.  It’s good theatrics though, you’ve got to admit.  I mean, s**t, you throw Rudy Giuliani in the mix… you throw an old television star that we all love from watching “Law and Order” or wherever duke’s from… and you’ve got one big circus.  And like you said, man, meanwhile you got people that’s in the neighborhoods is getting pushed out the neighborhoods and kids is dying at a crazy rate, due to all kinds of crime.  It kinds of makes it look like, you know, we just need some help right now.  We’re kind of desperate ‘cause people just wanting anybody right now.  Like, you almost forgot about the war over there across the waters.  You almost forgot about what’s going on with our soldiers.  You almost forgot that they supposed to be coming home right now.  You watching fires and s**t in Cali, little kids getting shot by stray bullets at a rapid rate in Brooklyn, it’s bananas.  The thing with the Jena 6… like, it’s kind of weird, man.  You got to pay attention to your current events and definitely rappers like us… when you hear us talk about it… yes, we totally live it.  We ain’t gonna preach to you, but we gonna say, “Yo, be conscious of what’s goin’ on around you and f**k with your P.N.C.’s so you might be able to make your situation, or somebody that you care about situation, a little better. 
 

Angel: Nowadays hip-hop is under attack like never before.  Hip-hop’s getting blamed for everything from Mike Vick to global warming.  If all of the critics could sit down and just shut the f**k up for one moment and hear something you had to tell them, what would you say to all of them as a collective? 

Steele: (Laughs) I would have to pre-meditate that one. 

Tek: Word. 

Steele: You can’t put that in one sentence.  It’s so much that needs to be said right now.  Some people just need to get spanked, you know what I mean? You just got to handle them a certain way, they only respect violent methods.  But I’mma tell you right now, I’mma say… just be honest, man.  Be honest.  Tell the truth. Tell the youth the truth.

For more information on Smif-N-Wessun and “The Album” visit www.myspace.com/smifnwessun and www.duckdown.com.

For more stories and work by Dirty Angel visit www.myspace.com/blackpacino and www.supremearsenal.com.