CONCRETE Nashville 59 by CONCRETE Magazine

concrete615.com 6-8 .......................Big K.R.I.T. 10 ............. Producer: Band Play 12 ..............DJ Proﬁle: Dolewite 14 ................... Music Reviews 18 . Nashville 10: Ms. Cazketsharp 20 ........................ Shoe Game 24 ........................ Killa Pablo 28-30 ................ Originally Ent. Publisher: Capo Ad Executive: Capo Art Director: Rex2-tm Nash 10 Photography: Tavell Brown Nash MUA - Sherry “FancyFace” Waller Photography: Tavell Brown Photos provided by: Visual Flavour Publishing Consultant: Bryan Deese

CONCRETE Magazine twitter - @CONCRETE615 concretecapo@gmail.com © CONCRETE Magazine 2014

CONCRETE: You’re known for having content in your lyrics. Do you feel that is a hinderance or something needed today? BIG K.R.I.T.: I feel its 100% needed. I don’t think it was ever a hinderance. Just look at soul music, jazz and stuff like that, it was all made in order to move people. As far as my music is concerned I always wanted to have a message in it. Obviously you do the club records, but you also have to come to reality and do those songs like if you’re having a bad day you have to put that on record cause most of the time people relate to that more. For the most part I think it’s well needed and rappers should touch on it a little bit more. CONCRETE: You’re about to drop the Cadillactica album. Where did the title come from? BIG K.R.I.T.: Cadillactica was one of those ideas where I wanted to create a planet. I think of Cadillac and the whole prestige of that name and the car and the culture as far as being in the South. I wanted to create a spin of that title and come up with a whole planet. In my mind that planet is all the ﬂy things, all the conscious things, all the extra creative things that’s in my mind. I think people will be really shocked how I was able to create from that perspective. Everything is a little different on this planet Cadillactica. The vibe is a little different, the music, the way I’m singing and rapping. It’s all a little different from what people are use to hearing from me. CONCRETE: You produced the majority of your previous projects. This album you worked with some outside producers. How was that different for you? BIG K.R.I.T.: It was one of those things where I had to work with people that I knew would understand where I was coming from and didn’t necessarily sample all the time. It was just amazing to be able to work with DJ Dahi, Terrace Martin, Jim Johnson and Raphael Saadiq. They all were familiar with my music and they all had an idea of what I was missing. When we got in the studio they was like “I know what you do, I know what your capable of doing but lets try something like this”. I was like, “Hell Yea” cause I got the opportunity to just be an artist and collectively create something with these people that shows growth. When people hear it they are gonna be like, “oh sh*t he took it somewhere else.” continued on next page

CONCRETE: Your newest single “Pay Attention” ft. Rico Love, how did that record come about? BIG K.R.I.T: I went to Miami to work with Jim Johnson and his team. Rico Love has a musical relationship with Jim Johnson, he does a lot of writing over his records. It made perfect since, lets get Rico in here and see what kind of hook he can come up with for the record. We cut three records and Jim was like, “alright KRIT go head and go kick it, we are gonna create something that’s totally left ﬁeld compared to what people are used to hearing from you”. It still sounds cohesive cause I didn’t run away from my content or my subject matter, I think the fans will hear that and be like K.R.I.T. is starting to get older, he is starting to understand how to ﬂow over certain records. I think it was a perfect blend. CONCRETE: Speaking on your singles, another record you released was Mt. Olympus where you showed some frustration with today’s industry. How are you feeling about the current state of hip-hop? BIG K.R.I.T: I feel like the state of hip-hop is in a great place as far as young artist being independent and knowing how to market their selves. Sometimes hip-hop can be shifted by not the artist, but the amount of negativity that social media can bring about.

Growing up listening to Outkast and UGK their wasn’t a domain for me to hit them directly and tell them how I feel 100% about their music. Nowadays there is so many ways for fans to say f*ck you. A lot of artist put a lot of time in their music and the art form, I think we need to take a hold of this positivity. Not only are we able to create opportunity and jobs but now we actually have the opportunity to speak and be heard. Our culture has our own voice so we need to take that in to consideration before we tear it a part with negative comments. CONCRETE: Do you feel that nowadays you have to be up on your internet hustle to be a successful artist? BIG K.R.I.T: Oh yeah! Your internet hustle is going to cut down on how much you have to spend on marketing. If you know how to market yourself in the proper fashion, you know how to roll your music out where it doesn’t appear like everyone else’s but it competes on a creative level with the main stream, that can be very valuable to you. You can drop a song online and hit a million people but back in the day you would have to get in the whip and it was hand to hand combat. The majority of the people probably never encountered a million people. WATCH FULL VIDEO INTERVIEW AT CONCRETE615.COM

CONCRETE: Can you tell us about your release I Am BandPlay BandPlay? BandPlay: Well I got Young Buck, Rich Boy, Curren$y, Trinidad James, Juicy J, Kevin Gates, Chevy Woods, Jackie Chain, Nipsey Hussle on it and a lot of Cashville artist like Starlito, Johnny Frank. You know just a little bit of everybody that I mess with on the strength of the music. CONCRETE: How did you get all those features? BandPlay: Pretty much it came from grinding out here. I had my ﬁrst placement with the French Montana situation. I made sure I didn’t just fall on the back burner like everybody else does and I kept pushing. More and more of my tracks got out and stuff just started popping up how it’s supposed too. CONCRETE: You’ve been working with Young Buck a lot. What’s some stuff that you’ve done with him recently? BandPlay: We got the single out called “Runnin That Check Up” then the two records that dropped on I Am BandPlay which is “For The Low” and “This What I Know”. Pretty much anything new that you hear coming out of Young Buck as a solo artist will be produced by BandPlay. CONCRETE: We are at your studio and Rich Boy is here recording, what do you guys got cooking? BandPlay: Me and Rich Boy just started working on a six song EP that we plan on dropping this year and just kind of building his brand as well as my brand under BandPlay. CONCRETE: You posted a IG video in the studio with Boosie what was that about? BandPlay: Yeah man. Everybody knows that Lil Boosie just came home recently and I had a track that he had hopped on with Young Buck. I got some big plans coming for that record and there’s a special guest invited on it also, so be on the look out for it. CONCRETE: What can we expect from you next? BandPlay: Right now you can expect plenty of me being a producer strictly coming from Tennessee and I would say Cashville because that’s where I’m based at. I really want to be responsible for being that source that will help build more of Nashville’s artist. I want to be the plug that can bring them from here to there. If I can be responsible for doing that I feel like I’ve done my job. Everybody’s in it for the money and the fame but I’m not saying the money is my main thing. I want to be remembered as somebody that did this and put a stamp on it. CONCRETE: You have been grinding hard for a while and it’s paying off. What’s your key to success? BandPlay: Nights in the studio, actually living here, staying on it. Making sure you’re keeping in contact with these people you’ve done work with. And just being a genuine person being yourself and consistent. You’re going to get what you want at the end of the day.

CONCRETE: Everyone was effected in some way by the passing of Scoob but few like you. What was that like? Dolewite: I’m not a person that’s gonna dwell on stuff. I loved him to death, my thing was to get back to work as soon as possible. I took two weeks off, I knew it was gonna be an adjustment period when I came back to work and it took a lot of getting use to. I still sometimes power up two mics cause that’s what I did for eleven years. Of course I still feel the loss, I use to think about him and get emotional but now I think about him and laugh about the times we had. A lot of people don’t get to experience that level of friendship their entire life. CONCRETE: You had a partner on air for a long time how did you adjust to coming back solo? Dolewite: With the exception of Scoob’s vacation and sick days, my entire radio career dating back to college. I had never been a one man show before. It was different, I got to incorporate Zach Boog in the show at ﬁrst and he did a great job plus it was good to talk to somebody on air. I felt like the ﬁrst six months to a year I struggled with it not just because I was dealing with the loss of Scoob but because I really didn’t know how to be by myself. I still enjoy having someone to bounce off of, right now I have my intern Erika. I’m just not a one man show. CONCRETE: There has been a complete make over at 101.1 The Beat. Is it your position to make these changes now? Dolewite: Yes and No. I can come up with an idea and sale it. We all have bosses so I still have to run it by somebody but he is cool if its gonna help the station, he is like do it. I grew up in Atlanta and one thing they always did was mix weekends. So, when I got the opportunity to bring it here I knew holiday weekends were gonna be mix weekends from now on. That’s also why we do the mix Friday’s from 5pm to midnight every friday cause the energy of the city is there and we have to match that. One of my main things when I took over was showing love to the clubs and highlighting all that’s really going on in Nashville. On Thanksgiving we will be doing turkey giveaways and trying to bless as many families as we can. The goal is to work closer with the community on all levels. CONCRETE: We have been hearing some local artist on air recently. How do artist go about getting air play? Dolewite: The main thing for indie artist is do they have a following without radio. If they do then I’m all for playing them cause they have gone and put in the work and understand the game and have people that will listen to the radio station just to hear their record. That’s what I’m looking for. A couple of spins in the mix show won’t really help you if you don’t already have fans, if you can’t pack out a club, or don’t have 10k Twitter or Instagram followers. So lay that ground work and we can come in and make the brand bigger.

Fluid Outrage - Fluid Outrage Radio

Flu is back with another addition to his mixtape catalog. On this one he links up with 101 The Beat’s radio personality Jones. Fluid Outrage Radio gives you a late night raw and uncut radio show feel. Flu spits over some popular industry instrumentals like “Hot Ni**a” and Jeezy’s “Seen It All” beat. He shows his versatility by jumping on tracks like the Beastie Boy’s “Paul Revere”. This isn’t a hour full of jacked beats and freestyles, there is a bunch of classic original material sprinkled throughout the entire project. It’s a great blend of the trap, club and Flu’s vivid story telling. Overall Fluid Outrage did his thing and provides the fans with another dope project that deserves a listen.

BandPlay - I Am Bandplay

Your probably already familiar with the tag “Let The Band Play”, from hearing it on the beginning of some of your favorite artist’s records. Bandplay compiles some of his biggest songs and some of his fan favorites for this project. Nashville’s own Young Buck and Starlito contribute their fair share of records. The project is full of industry heavy hitters from Juicy J, Yo Gotti, Currensy, Chevy Woods and Rich Boy. Even the West Coast makes an appearance with songs like “Drop Coupes” by Nipsey Hussle and Cashville’s newest crooner Johny Phrank’s record “B*tchez From Compton” featuring Problem. This is a dope ass project that has something for everybody and really spotlights the versatility of Bandplay’s production. Get you a copy!

Heat Boy Kie-Lo - Key 2 The Streets Vol.3

The title of this album says it all. This is a true street record, giving the people an inside look at everyday life in the game. The album is full of good production and some dope features as well. The song “My Bizness” has a guest appearance from Young Buck, and both artists go in on people who don’t know how to keep their mouth shut or nose out of other peoples ‘Bizness’. Starlito jumps on the record “Dreams” which is about making something out of nothing. Some other Cashville artists lend their voices, but some of our favorite songs were just Heat Boy Kie-Lo going in solo, like on “Michelangelo”, “Motivation” and “Congratulate Me”. So congratulations to Heat Boy Kie-lo for creating a quality project that is deﬁnitely worth your time.

BigTreeTron - Growing Up

The first song is the title track and starts out with a cool laid back feel, smooth bass line and some funky ass horns. Ashley Allen lends her soulful voice for a catchy hook that will have you singing along. The mood changes immediately after track two begins to play. The song is titled “Nashville Rappers” and seems to be taking shots at rappers talking about a life they don’t live. The hi hat filled beat will keep your head bobbing and the lyrics are actually filled with some dope content. The mixtape has more of an album feel but is very well rounded. This isn’t just a Nashville compilation there are artist from D.C, Kentucky, Tennessee, ATL, Minnesota and Alabama to help create that perfect blend of styles and sounds. If you’re a fan of the underground and like to stay up on what might be next then this project is for you. Give it a listen and see for yourself.

HomeTown: Memphis, TN Measurements: 36c-27-36 CONCRETE: What’s your biggest Turn On/Turn Off? Mz. Casketsharp: Turn on A sexy smile. Turn off is a person with no goals. CONCRETE: Who is your favorite Designer? Mz. Casketsharp: Jeffrey Campbell, MK, ZIGI Girl CONCRETE: Three artists we would ﬁnd in your iPod? Mz. Casketsharp: FDG-Fresh Dinero Gang, Rich Homie Quan, Yolanda Adams

Staple is proud to announce that they have teamed up with the iconic British heritage footwear brand Clarks to create a limitededition collection of footwear reinterpreting the idea of The Past, Present, and Future. The silhouettes used to tell this story for the past is my favorite one of them all the Clarks Originals Wallabee. The collaboration was designed to pay homage to Clarks’ deeply-rooted history, while breaking new ground with innovative elements. The Wallabee, To represent The Past, they created the Clarks Originals Wallabee silhouette in the signature Pigeon colorway, using a smooth grey leather upper and a red outsole on the Wallabeeís traditional crepe bottom.#ﬂockwithus Jeff Staple and the Staple team perfectly executed another ﬁne shoe. The Clarks Originals Wallabee only 30 Pair made Worldwide.

CONCRETE: Where are you originally from? Killa Pablo: Originally I’m from Memphis, Tennessee. I was born there. I’ve been coming back and forth from Memphis to Nashville since I was four years old. I went to both elementary and high school in both Nashville and Memphis. That’s why the name of my project Tale of 2 Cities means so much to me. CONCRETE: How did you get your start as an artist? Killa Pablo: Like a lot of cats, from doing time. When I was locked up that was one of the things I did was write. I had the time to hone my skills. I’m not saying it works out for everybody but I came out pretty good. A lot of my friends heard it and they was willing to push it and be the support that I needed. CONCRETE: Some artists say it’s hard to get motivated to write in prison. How did you do it? Killa Pablo: It’s different if you were a rapper before you get locked up. Of course its going to be a depression box verses you learning how to rap while in there. Then it becomes a release for you. It’s a way to escape when you’re in there and you don’t have access to the world. You create this fantasy in your mind which becomes that outlet. CONCRETE: Can you tell us about the Tale of 2 Cities project? Killa Pablo: Well as far as features I don’t have very many rappers, and I did that on purpose. I got Ego and the rest are singers Lacey Mason, Camrin W and Paris. I really wanted to just introduce myself with this project. I didn’t want to ﬂood it with a bunch of rappers. As far as producers I worked with Broadway, OGTHA3, Syksense, Jay-o Luciano one half of Gotham City and SmoKing productions out of Canada. I try to get different sounds from different regions so that I don’t sound like what everybody else is doing. This project is called a mixtape but I built it like an album. It’s really dark and I’m proud of that cause its something that’s real. I didn’t go in the studio and say let me put something out that people want to hear. I gave the people what I felt they needed to hear. CONCRETE: TTale ale of 2 cities refers to Nashville and Memphis. What’s the difference between the two music scenes? Killa Pablo: Nashville is also called Cashville its about the hustle, trapping, catching plays stuff like that. Memphis is more dark, coming up there it was normal to rob it wasn’t out of the ordinary to plan a lic and go pull it off. In Nashville if you get on your hustle or if you can trap you can make it, but down in Memphis there isn’t that much money, the city is poor and it reﬂects in the music. CONCRETE: Any Shout Outs? Killa Pablo: Yea free my homies, anybody who locked up or going through something, I love you. The only way you grow is through adversity, so embrace it and let it mold you in to a King or a Queen.

CONCRETE: What’s Originally Ent. got coming up next? Brixx: We got Miss Tara our publicist and Michael Otis consulting us so basically as of right now we shopped five singles with them and they picked up on two. “Ugly” is Behoward’s lead single and that’s probably going to lead the Orginally Entertainment movement because that’s what the people picked up on. It’s already playing in Atlanta and New Orleans. 101 The Beat should be getting it real soon after we get all our BDS reports. We’re going to drop an Orginally Ent mixtape around Christmas. We’re currently on tour right now with The Red Cup Party Tour that’s going across country to all these colleges. We are booked for 16 dates. BlackCatfish dropped “The Foo-Fung-Shway” video. Behoward’s “Ugly” video will be released on 106 & Park and that’s going to be a real good look for us and Behoward. Broady Blox got a single he’s using called “Freak” that we’re trying to get Pleasure P on. Then November 10th well be opening up for Jeezy at Lime Light. We got a lot of stuff working. CONCRETE: What’s your motivation to put your time and money into pushing artists? Brixx: Honestly it’s like what else am I going to do. I love doing this. I actually have fun doing it. When you met me I was a rapper. I’m still an artist at heart but it’s always been a dream of mine to run my own music label. I make the sacrifices necessary and I’m blessed that my family said, “hey go live your dream.” I just love to do it, and I’m no stranger to hard work by any means. CONCRETE: What label would you say your designing your label after or inspired you start your own? Brixx: My influences has always been Baby and Sugar Slim. I look at these cats and I know a little bit of there back drops. I wouldn’t say that I would model my label after them, but they were definitely somebody that I look at. These guys came right were I came from and they just kept pushing and pushing and doing the same things that I’m trying to do. I would also say Rick Ross is another cat that comes to mind with Maybach Music Group. Just remember be on the look out for everything that’s Originally Ent.

CONCRETE: BlackCatﬁsh has always been known as a group, you guys have started taking on other artist and pushing as a label, explain that? Brixx: Originally Ent is basically a company that we’re trying to brand ourselves through. We weren’t trying to take on a whole bunch of acts but we took a few that believed in my vision and I also believed in them. Artist on the label are BlackCatﬁsh, BeHoward and Broady Blox. CONCRETE: There’s a lot of labels out here, what sets you guys apart? Brixx: Honestly, I think what sets us apart is that we make the kind of music people don’t like to make, music that’s not just rap. We don’t just get on a microphone and rap. I think another thing that sets us apart is our grind. You go back to the UMC it was tons of rappers that were “with their labels” and when it didn’t go their way they gave up. We are still pushing, we are still grinding and it’s starting to pay off. I think that’s what separates us just willing to open up and work with everybody. CONCRETE: What made you want to back the artists on your label? Brixx: With Behoward it was kind of a no-brainer. I think he’s one of the most talented people that I’ve seen locally, regionally and nationally for that matter. I came to him because I just felt like he’s got what it takes and I’m willing to do what it takes to get him in a better situation. I never promised these guys fame or anything like that. I promised them that I would do what it takes to get them seen and get them heard as long as they do their part. Broady Blox has been with us for a long time. He’s out of Mississippi and moved here to chase his dreams with us. I think it was more of his grind because he does a lot of stuff on his own. He’s next up waiting his turn and being humble about it. continued on next page