by LD Williams

CRED: This is L.D. Williams Jr from CRED MAG and I am here with KOCH recording artist and D-BLOCK CEO Sheek Louch.

Sheek Louch: Yes Sir what’s poppin man?

CRED: First and foremost I definitely want to thank you for your time and coming out and talking to DC Music and Models, the first questions that I want to ask is who were some of your earliest musical influences like who were some of the people that you used to listen to that made you know you wanted to be a rapper?

Sheek Louch: That’s easy when I heard (singing) Perter piper pickle pepper……(quotes RUN DMC) when Run DMC hit that, when LL rocked the bells with Kool G Rap, with Big Daddy Kane, with EST, EPMD these people were rocking to me. You know what I am saying in that era those were the people Kane, Rakim.

CRED: What was the first tape that you were pressed to go to the store for?

Sheek Louch: It might have been "Rock Box" it might have been Kane, might have been RUN DMC, Rakin I don’t know one of them probably Kane I was a big Kane fan.

CRED: I’m still a Kane fan

Sheek Louch: I haven’t heard no new music on Kane. You know what I mean?

(both laugh)

CRED: I definitely feel it, you were definitely avid into hip hop. Is it true that you and Jadakiss were a group first and Styles came later?

Sheek Louch: Yeah, Kiss was always rapping before me. I used to come around like I can do that so I started to grab pen and a pad the black and white notebook paper like the legal thing. Anyway, at that young we’re thinking let’s put Styles on like you know what I’m saying let’s get our own artist. Diddy nipped that in the butt quick like straight up y’all not even the Warlox no more y’all the LOX and y’all a three man group. We were like what a three man group? You know what I mean?

CRED: So how did the whole situation come about, was that from a Jack the Rapper competition?

Sheek Louch: No but we did Jack the Rappers and all that. See man that is what I am talking about. See what I am saying man, I forgot about that when people say I’m on the grind I be grinding I be grinding I be grinding homie you probably sitting there grinding infront of your homeboys. You know what I mean there was Jack the Rappers, How Can I be Down? These conventions were you can go and hustle I know there still have things out there but it has been a minute.

CRED: How did the Diddy situation come about; did he pluck you from that?

Sheek Louch: Naw at the time when we was young we would make our little TDK mixtapes little tissue on top we would be dubbing on my mom stereo after that Mary J Blige she took one of the tapes you know we are all from Yonkers, New York she took one of the tapes over to Puff and Puff called us in immediately. I remember one time Mary called my house and she put Suge Knight on the phone; people was trying to get us hard. So Diddy seen us, had us come down and rapped to us and it was on from there. Probably a couple weeks later we are all in the studio all timid and we’re like look that’s BIG, there is Craig Mack, Total just ran by you know Black Rob was there it was like joining the Chicago Bulls man.

CRED: You did real songs with B.I.G. what was that like?

Sheek Louch: We did the "You’ll See" first then we did the free styles at Hot 97 with him on the radio,... you know what I wish I had done more with him, performed on stage with him. You know we were on his album I remember when he gave us the track I said word that’s big I mean we just getting here but he thought we was that talented.

CRED: What was it like working with Black Rob?

Sheek Louch: Now Black Rob been on the grind, I think when we got there he was signed like five years before us (we both laugh). Diddy had Black Rob for a minute; what’s up my G.... Diddy had him for a minute Black Rob all day. Black Rob was like I been here already for a long time so he was schooling us to what’s what. He’s dope, I love Black Rob he’s dope he is the same dude every time I see him.

CRED: What was it like doing the debut Money, Power, Respect with Bad Boys was it pressure?

Sheek Louch: Yeah he would have us there for so many hours at night going over stuff. I picked up a lot of good work habits from Diddy to keep it all the way funky. He would have us there late night, having us listen to other people’s projects. He’d say "like this is why Snoop nailed it on this", this is why whoever was current like this is why they did it check out the formula and different levels of music so we picked up all of that. I remember he used to tell us "Yo you have no where near as much money as me and you go home before me every night" he used to say that like "you going home before me and I am way richer than you". You know what I’m saying? Like we’re lazy coming in there and bouncing and not staying in there until we come up with a hit.

CRED: How long did it take to knock that project out?

Sheek: It took a few months about maybe five months it’s faster when you are working in threes. You know but with Diddy you could record and he’ll throw the whole track away not literally but he will be like we have to do this over again like we have to switch it I don’t like this song no more. We didn’t have as much input as these young boys you know what I mean?

CRED: What is the REAL story what happened that made you decide that you wanted to leave Bad Boy and make a different move?

Sheek: You know what once BIG passed away everything changed like hip hop is going to be going in a 360 from conscious to hardcore. Anyway BIG was holding down a lot of stuff at the time. He would be like naw Diddy they got to wear this or naw that beat is to soft for them; he was holding it at the time and the direction Diddy wanted us to go in with the shiny suits and the (singing) Bad Bad Bad Bad Boys,….

CRED: You all did look out of place doing that stuff

Sheek: I was way out of place, what was crazy with it was we would have all of that stuff on with those types of tracks and he would have us with Mariah and all of that but our lyrics was so different from what he was trying to make. Then the obvious once we figured out we are supposed to get paid for writing these songs it was like yo we got to go. No matter how long its been like to this day you hear "Benjamins" and its still rocking. All About the Benjamins will come on bing bing bing bing (mimicking the "Benjamins" instrumental) people will be like Oh Oh Oh.

CRED: That song is 11 years old

Sheek Louch: Exactly man so once we found out like yo how you get that car? Ah man I wrote this joint for blah blah blah. So it’s like we are supposed to be getting paid for writing these songs? We are supposed to be paid for writing Benjamins, Victory and all these songs?

CRED: (in disbelief) What?!

Sheek Louch: Hey man that is what happened and that is why we really had to go; but Diddy thank you for giving us our publishing back and I love you for that.

CRED: Is it true that you were enrolled in a community college?

Sheek Louch: Yes all of us; Me, Kiss and Styles. People will be like how do you stay together for so long? Because we’re brothers our parents are close,

we went to the same high schools and colleges. We went to Westchester Community College all of us. I was jerking my mom’s money fucking it up until one last time like I was cutting class and paying for school like it didn’t add up like what am I doing cutting? I told my mom I’m going to give it one more shot with this music and then I’ll figure out something I’ll get a job,... you know what I mean? Then here comes Mary J Blige to Diddy with the tape; I’m like yes!

CRED: Is it true Jimmy Iovine had to pay to get you guys off?

Sheek Louch: Yeah they paid a million dollars to Puff in cash and they kept the publishing and all of that stuff over there but Jimmy Iovine wanted us bad at the time. Especially, our managers at the time was Dee and Wakim and they started their own label called Ruff Ryders. At the time their artist was DMX, we put him on our song with Lil Kim and he blew up. I did a hook for him "yall  niggas want to be killaz get at me dog",... all that took off so they started Ruff Ryders. They had the movement with the bikes and the pitbulls and all that so they was offering some nice money so we was over there plus they was from Yonkers all of them; it is what it is.

CRED: That just looked like a way better look when Ruff Ryders volume 1 you looked like you were way more into your element.

Sheek Louch: Way more comfortable plus these were dudes we ran with before .

CRED: You actually did a real song with Big Pun what was it like working with Mr. Rios?

Sheek Louch: Oh yeah Pun was the illest, Rest In Peace to my homie Pun. I remember we are waiting there and we are waiting for him to come; a freight elevator comes, he comes down in a freight elevator fam and he walks up so slow "Sheek what up". It was crazy, Pun was always cracking jokes. I didn’t grow up with Pun or BIG but these are dudes that word up I did songs with Pun and all that.

CRED: Yea a lot of people do the digital thing I’m not knocking their hustle but do what you have to do.

Sheek Louch: Mine is for real for real.

CRED: How was it different, knocking out We Are The Streets versus doing your debut?

Sheek Louch: We Are the Streets we didn’t have with Dee and Waah they was like do what y’all got to do Im’ going to bring you these beats from all of these top name producers and y’all do y’all. So you were hearing more genuine lyrics even though a lot of it was geared toward Puff every song we were saying something about him.

CRED: Like Fuck you…

Sheek Louch: You know what I’m mean it was to that extent but we overcame that and stepped it up.

CRED: Is it accurate that you had no plans to be a solo artist?

Sheek Louch: 100 percent correct. I wasn’t even thinking twice about any of that type of stuff I was thinking we got to get some other type of money. Before I even started to think about money I was just content doing the LOX. Diddy was setting Kiss up to do a solo project, Styles got pulled into doing a solo project because he got on certain songs with Kiss and people was asking when are you coming with yours? Me I’m laying back chillin like eh then I started to think in the mind frame of let’s start a label let’s put some people out. Then I started to think in the mind frame of  other things like with the whole studio thing why go somewhere else let’s get an engineer in here and we’re rocking we can get our budget, keep the budget keep the recording budget keep the advance let’s keep this money. After a while my homeboys was asking me to spit this spit that and I went to Flex at the time killing it. They started calling this and that.

CRED: What was it like to do a solo album with no LOX members?

Sheek Louch: Your boy is a monster; swagger is all the way up it is just retarded with this whole Silverback Gorilla thing. At the time it was like how do I go about this? I really didn’t have nobody giving me no insight you see how I only put Jada, Styles and Kiss on the whole album I wasn’t thinking the world or the bigger picture of everything. It was dope man you get your money, you are calling the shots like with a group you got to agree on one thing and have mutual respect for his opinion. It was a little different with my solo project I call the shots with the tracks, the hooks, the beats the whoever you know what I mean?

CRED: Where did the whole D-Block idea come from?

Sheek Louch: The whole business standpoint and other stand point was we used to run around I’ll D-Block this anything gritty and gully was D-Block to us. Styles used to throw that name out all the time of course its some jail shit but you its not hard you ain’t D-Block, me I’m going to shop it to some labels to see if it sticks. If anything I can see if we can get us an imprint deal somewhere. Me and Supa Mario at the time was meeting with everybody I done met with TVT you name it Universal was offering the best money I met with Charles Sue and I came with the idea back to them they was like let’s do it and then they came into the play shortly after that Styles got locked up so me and Supa Mario was running around Kiss was playing his part. I said I might as well drop my album on our label.

CRED: You were one of the first major artists to move your whole thing over to Koch.

Sheek Louch: In New York. Daz and Krupt they been doing it been getting that gwap you think they not doing well man they got paper fam they 100,000 total and they doing better than you homie and you got a three million dollar budget that you got to pay back to them; he don’t. You getting 15 cent off of every record he is getting seven dollars off of every ten dollars it’s a whole nother world trust me. But yeah, I was definitely one of the first to do the damn thing.

CRED: So what….

Sheek Louch: I didn’t want to get caught up in that system again man. As far as waiting to come out, waiting to do this and that, in the majors they have a lot of other priorities. They have a lot of other priorities you may be in the mix somehow and since they signed you they have to put you out but you can get caught in the system and forgot about.

CRED: So your split with Universal was amicable?

Sheek Louch: It was easy and I love my man Kadal he was leaving at the time he was like you can stay and I hold it down the way it is because they want another album from you Sheek Hood they want an album from you or you can leave and I’ll hold you down because I am bouncing and Sylvia Rome is about to come in and take over my position. I said so we can leave right now and we don’t owe a nickel no matter how much money you gave us. So we don’t owe anything he said I’ll hook it up like that and he did it. I said we out you can’t be serious that is when I took meetings with other people that’s when we was like how much you make off indy and if we did need money y’all would be willing to put up whatever and whatever and we can breakdown this.

CRED: They wanted an album from Hood?

Sheek Louch: Actually we gave him the option. We said you can stay here with Universal because they definitely like you or you can come over here you will still be Universal but slash D Block we can work it that way but you can stay major. He said I’m coming over there.

CRED: So that was a decision he made?

Sheek Louch: Yeah we couldn’t force him to do anything because he was already signed there. So you could stay over there at Universal or you can come over here and leave and not get caught up.

CRED: You guys made viable attempts to put him out there.

Sheek Louch: You name it I mean if it wasn’t for us y’all wouldn’t have known J Hood. What so ever you wouldn’t know of him you wouldn’t know anything. He wasn’t an established artist. He used to like draw and sit there and color us and make pictures of us.

CRED: (laughs loudly)

Sheek Louch: He would be in the parking lot like I drew you I drew you Sheek! He was young he was a little dude drawing. I remember little homie; he had finger waves he had contacts when we grabbed him up it was a whole mold. When we grabbed him up his name was J Love. Styles said ‘What’s your real name little homie?’ and he said Joshua Hood you know what your J-Hood that is what Styles said your J Hood. He made accusations that somebody stole his money, somebody hit him and we took the chain and this and that and so on.

CRED: His gun goes off…..

SHeek Louch: Yeah he is still doing that in his videos

CRED: Why?

Sheek Louch: He is talking crazy. Right now he is not doing anything he is making a DVD about me probably about me or making a diss record or a song about me you know what because I always say this….

CRED: Why did that even happen because you went through the whole ‘Let the LOX Go’ thing because you had to. Wouldn’t you have been willing to let him off if he asked you and you talked about it?

Sheek Louch: Yo fam he has never contacted our lawyers to this day he has not contacted our lawyers.

CRED: So he is still signed to you.

Sheek Louch: He is still signed to us no one is called for him to get a deal. And then he started talking so tough. We never had beef; nobody was ever beefing even though we weren’t homeboys no more but never any tough talk. At the time, I felt funny like I am not talking about hurting you man. Like I love you… But I don’t anymore. J Hood was like my little brother. When he jumped out of the window it was weird to us to fam. I would never take nobody’s publishing ever or hold him up from what he needs to do.

He loves the whole controversy.

He is not being smart. He’s not using his energy… either way it’s good or bad energy. Its energy you supposed to be using why you ain’t making any hit records right now? Why you not putting out good music that people will love? If I was you and all this attention was on me over this I’d be putting out so much good music and hot stuff besides diss records and you could make them all day I don’t care but what he does not realize is and this is advice little homie in a minute you ain’t going to care about asking that so what’s up with J-Hood and the whole beef you aren’t even going to ask that. It is going to die down you better get cracking you better do something because I am everybody else we are doing the damn thing.  I still think he is talented I still think he can go on to do big things if he gets his mind together I wish all of the luck to him I just can’t fuck with him.

A lot of people can’t because you ruined your credibility of being loyal and of knowing the grind. You ain’t on the grind you went straight to major interviews at stations to where ‘what’s up Hood?’ you were welcome duke you are talking about I been grinding I been grinding you got with these three boys called the LOX man you missed the grind that another man may go through. 

CRED: Does it change how you are going to work with people?

Sheek Louch: No but it is hard to take judgment on certain people.  I’m usually a good judge of that but after a while you see certain people just bug out definitely I’m suspect to mess with certain people because I don’t know where their head is at. We got a D-Block comp coming in a minute No Security.

CRED: When is that?

Sheek Louch: July for that definitely

CRED: The LOX it is called Live, Suffer, Celebrate?

Sheek Louch: Yes

CRED: Is it coming in 08?

Sheek Louch: It is definitely coming in 08 I know we are always promising but we are sorry for the delay for real for real I know y’all have been waiting for a long time it is definitely coming on Interscope. CRED: There was a lot of talk about you guys going to Def Jam.

Sheek Louch: Jay Z tried to get us he tried to get all of us but Jada was able to go and get his solo project over there Jimmy Iovine at the time for those who don’t know he is the one that runs Interscope he wouldn’t let that happen. He said that the LOX album has to stay here.

CRED: So it is definitely coming out in 08?

Sheek Louch: Definitely 100 percent  we giving it to y’all hear me saying this we putting that out we got T-Pain on a hook we got producers everybody and their mother is trying to put tracks on this.

CRED: How many people have you worked with? How many songs deep are you on this?

Sheek Louch: I don’t want to give up people yet just in case they don’t make the album whatever whatever but we got 30 songs done.

CRED: About how many songs before you wrap recording sessions?

Sheek Louch: About another 30 but we work that way because with a solo project it would take longer because I got to do all three verses and come up with the hook and come up with this but with this we all in there bugging out I just got to add a 16 bars or a 12 bars and he got to do one verse and he got to do one verse so it is a little better.

CRED: How do you stay fresh relevant, motivated, branded, hot and the chemistry is still…..

Sheek Louch: Relevant might I add all this time still selling out concerts you know what I think it is with me and us I pay attention to what’s out there we feed the streets with mixtapes mixtapes and albums. I’m on my third album, Styles is on his third album, Kiss is about to be on his third album you know this and that. I listen, I know what is going on I see the Soulja Boys I see the Uncle Murders but I don’t become them because I got to hear what’s popping then I just blend my whole style up into it and switch it up and stay relevant with what’s going on.

CRED: On Silverback Gorilla you came with Good Love for a single I didn’t expect that?

Sheek Louch: I felt like I had to switch it up I remember when Red Spyda gave me the track he said ‘Louch you out of here you bang this out’ it is a classic. Betty Wright sample it is retarded but you know what I am going to try this time I didn’t have nothing to prove as far as my gun talk my drug talk I already done that everybody was like the girls like you out of the three of y’all the chicks is on you why don’t you give them something you never do.

CRED: They like your joint man

Sheek Louch: Good Love is poppin and it is damn near crossover it is about to be on these other stations. It is rocking it had a good feeling to them.

CRED: My favorite song is Don’t Be Them

Sheek Louch: That is my favorite song on the album too fam it is schooling the youngin’s or whoever letting them know how we get down.

CRED: I also like Mic Check….

Sheek Louch: (raps an excerpt from the song) I’m paying attention we will be the next Babadda’s in a minute a long minute.

CRED: Talk about why you went in so many directions.

Sheek Louch: I had to my last album was probably a year and a half ago.

CRED: What made you go in that space?

Sheek Louch: Me just raising my son, me seeing different things paying attention to what is going on out there being a man like you know what Sheek you got to take it another level you just can’t give them the same thing. I remember Fatman Scoop told me, he said Sheek I expected a ‘ Kiss Your Ass Goodbye’. When you did that Carl Thomas record that ‘One Name’ you ain’t giving me the same record no more. Let me cover more ground let me get the West Coast on there, Game is my homie, DJ Unk from Atlanta I like that boy, Fat Joe you hot. Bun B what up. I said let me target a wider audience to see if they take to my music on a wider level.

CRED: So where are you going to grow into on the LOX album because the evolution is crazy.

Sheek Louch: But I think that on the Lox album we got to take it that way to. I hope they not expecting the same as the last. I hope they expecting just the quality of music to be strong like that. I want to give them like on the Lox album I want to have a big big single. I want to have this type of record over here, I want Jada and Styles to go in and out with what they do like that. I want to give them something crazy. I just don’t want to shoot shoot kill kill.

CRED: What are your goals for Silverback Gorilla for it to be successful?

Sheek Louch: It ain’t sales these days for nobody. I don’t think anybody is checking what so ever. What I want to get across on this album basically to show growth at a time where all they care about is one ringtone. I want to give you a lot of songs to where you can work out to, you can pop in your whip and like Wow I like 10 or 12 songs I like a bunch of these songs I’m going to take it somewhere else the next one man.  

CRED: Does the music industry going digital effect how you move?

Sheek Louch: It has to effect how I move especially with retail down. Right now is not a time to be spending all this money you are going to see a lot of people going over to Koch trying to make it over to the independent thing, because these labels are realizing we can’t spend all this money on marketing man we can’t do this no more we are taking hits the computer is crushing us right now.

CRED: What advice do you have for artists and CEOS?

Sheek Louch: My main main main advice is don’t be a rush to sign them papers. I’m 32 and I just got my publishing back from Puff and I was in a hurry to go over there and sign that because I seen BIG. Look at everybody else that is my main goal. I could say keep it real and good things will come; screw that read that. Take it to your lawyer and read it and hire a lawyer to watch that lawyer. As a business owner dealing with artists stay on them. Be careful.

CRED: Sheek I want to say thank you for your time this was a good interview.

Sheek Louch: Good interview. Good Questions. Good Everything I can tell you really know your shit.