concrete615.com 6-10 ............. Starlito & Don Trip 12-14 ...............Devin The Dude 16-17 .....Street Symphony & Lil Bre 18 ........................ Nashville 10 20 ................... Music Reviews 22 ............................ Red Dot 24 ................... Armored Sound 28 ...................... MINDFRAME Publisher: Capo Ad Executive: Capo Art Director: Rex2-tm Nash 10 Photography: Tavell Brown Editorial Photography: Tavell Brown Ad Photography: Visual Flavor Ad Graphics: C3GRAFX, Kyro Ink Publishing Consultant: Bryan Deese
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CONCRETE: How has your home town Nashville/ Memphis influenced your music? Starlito: Nashville influenced my music because at the time I started making music it was all I knew. My career didn’t take me out of Nashville until a few years after I started making music. I’m from here, born and raised. I’m East Nashville’s own. From my predecessors I help carry forward a legacy for Nashville rap. I always wanted to be a pilar and when you think of Nashville rap you mention me. That’s my strongest influence wanting to represent it well. Don Trip: Pretty much it’s the same for me. You have (8) Ball and (MJ)G, you have Three Six Mafia, you got Yo Gotti, and with those people being the people before me I felt like of all things I needed to be able to stand in that space. It was the same for me I never traveled until my music picked up, so all I knew was Memphis and my surroundings. That is what builds the content in my music. They say if you can make it in Memphis you can make it anywhere. CONCRETE: Who came up with the Step Brothers concept and how did it happen? Don Trip: It happened maybe the second time we ever recorded with each other. That’s Lito’s favorite movie for some reason. We started recording and one song turned into seven songs and it kept going so we sat down and were like this sh*t works. If it’s not broke then don’t fix it and from then on we’ve been the Step Brothers. Starlito: Forrest Gump is my favorite movie but conceptually I probably introduced the idea. It’s not a credit thing because it takes both our efforts to make it what it is. continued on next page
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I like that movie a lot and what inspired the idea was those guys in the movie don’t start off as friends. When they first meet it’s almost like they want to have a problem with each other and that’s how rappers are. I had the same epiphany when they decided to bury the hatchet because they had so much in common and then they say, “Did we just become best friends? Yup. Do you want to do karate in the garage? Yup!” CONCRETE: What is your writing process while working on the Step Brothers project? Starlito: Tell them the truth bro! I write all his verses and he writes all mine. Don Trip: We never really write together. I never hear what he has until we record it and vise versa. If you put a beat on and he catch something and draws from it then I’ll add to the picture that he came up with. We have no rules or guidelines. When we work on the Step Brothers project it’s a different type of dedication. We never send any emails. We link up where ever the other person is and make it happen. CONCRETE: Do you guys ever record a song and one of you likes it and the other doesn’t? Don Trip: Yeah it happens all the time. I think that’s one of the things that makes it work. I’m not his yes man and he isn’t my yes man. Just because one of us doesn’t feel the record it doesn’t mean it’s not a great record. When it comes to the Step Brothers projects we want to make sure every record is something we feel strong about. CONCRETE: What do you feel is the difference between the Step Brothers 3 project compared to the other two? Starlito: It’s polished. Over fifty songs in we have developed a cohesive sound together. It’s more soulful, part one was more raw. We threw out all the rules and were like let’s just rap. With part two, after the success of Step Brothers 1 we decided to make an album. Something that would stand and be commercially viable in the market place. I believe Step Brothers 3 is as good or better than one and two put together. continued on next page
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CONCRETE: What is your favorite song off Step Brothers 33? Don Trip: I’m going to say “If My Girl Find Out”, that’s my favorite right now. The reason it’s my favorite is because it was a fun song to do. It’s like when life imitates art. On the hook I was just joking, having fun and being honest at the same time. Starlito: My favorite song is “What I Gotta Do”. It’s produced by Chefry Kitchen. It’s a special record to me because the same way he felt about “If My Girl Find Out”. CONCRETE: How do you guys feel about TN hip-hop as a whole? Starlito: I feel Tennessee has some of the best rap in the world. I think the rap scene in Tennessee stands along side Louisiana and Georgia. Just take the last ten years you got Yo Gotti, Money Bag Yo, Young Dolph, Blac Youngsta and Isaiah Rashad. There is a lot of talent and it makes me proud to be from here. Don Trip: Don’t forget all the people under the radar. There is a lot of talent in Tennessee in general.
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CONCRETE: Can you speak on your new project Acoustic Levitation? Devin The Dude: The new project just came out in March 2017 and there was a lot of work involved. I have Rob Quest from the Odd Squad, he did half the album production wise. I had a few tracks already but I was about to wrap it up. Me and Rob got together and I ended up having to get rid of a few tracks to add on some of his records. The whole squad was there and it felt like old days when we recorded our first album in ‘94 at Rob’s mom house. continued on next page
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QP photography, Marcus Quit Playin Jones & Cellivizion
CONCRETE: How was your Nashville tour stop? Devin The Dude: It’s been a while but I love Nashville and the feeling is mutual. The crowd was energetic and gave us the energy to give it right back. That’s the goal to step into a show where the party is already jumping. CONCRETE: What’s some pros and cons about touring for you? Devin The Dude: Pro’s you get to promote and see places and people you’ve never seen before and appreciate the appreciation from the people who listen to the music and come out to see you. That goes a long way because I remember seeing artist like Whodini and they didn’t even speak to me but I was hype that I was that close to them. If I get the chance to make anybody feel that way then that’s what’s up.
QP photography, Marcus Quit Playin Jones & Cellivizion
CONCRETE: What would you say is your favorite record on this album? Devin The Dude: That’s hard! It’s like having a bunch of kids and someone asking which is the prettiest one. You don’t want to call any of them ugly. I feel like I love them all the same. “We High Right Now “means a lot to me because it’s like a squad song that we recorded at the same house we did the first album and it’s like a new sound. It makes sense with what’s going on today. CONCRETE: What’s the meaning behind the album title? Devin The Dude: Acoustic Levitation means moving objects by using sound. It’s like we are moving bodies with music and it’s just get high music. CONCRETE: What do you think the next evolution of hiphop will be? Devin The Dude: Who knows? Who knew that hip-hop would sound the way it does today, who knew hip-hop would still be here today. I remember going back to the studio and I was talking to a producer and he said
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we have to make something happen because I’m not going to be out here thirty years old trying to rap and produce. Looking back at that it seems like it was crazy for us to think that hip-hop wouldn’t be lucrative or we wouldn’t have a chance to be heard after the age of thirty. CONCRETE: Can you tell the story about your first time smoking bud? Devin The Dude: I was thirteen and we were playing football and one of the guys we were playing with was smoking a little joint. I was like, “Man your not going to be able to play football, your going to be slow and not be able to run, I can’t mess with that stuff.” He was like, “Man what do you mean I can smoke all day and beat you running.” I was like, “let’s go,” he still had the joint in his hand and we took off. I was gone next thing you know I see this guy pass me with a trail of smoke behind his ass. We got to the finish line and I was like, “Man let me hit that.” His name was Boomer, him and his brother Tony were the original Coffee brothers, that’s where we got that from.
CONCRETE: Street Symphony, where are you originally from? Street Symphony: I was born in Memphis, Tennessee and raised in Nashville, Tennessee. I moved to Nashville when I was thirteen. CONCRETE: How did you get your start as a producer? Street Symphony: I didn’t really start producing until I was in College. I ended up running into one of my partners and he said he was in the recording program and told me about the studios they had. Also my roommate was DJ Spade and I would be in his room learning how to use the turntables and then started sequencing and making beats in the recording department. My first break in Nashville was the Serving The World Click. CONCRETE: You recently held an event called Street Symphony Weekend, can you tell us about that? Street Symphony: I was nominated for a couple of Grammys in 2009 with Keyshia Cole. In 2012 I won a Grammy for best gospel album category with an artist by the name of Lecrae then 2014 we came back and did it again. After that Nashville turned around and gave me a proclamation, my own day which is March the 7th. So I went back to my alma mater MTSU and I established a Street Symphoney scholarship. After that I wanted to do something bigger so I decided to do a whole weekend event. We had a real strong panel with real industry exects giving away game. CONCRETE: Tell us about your label Track or Die? Street Symphony: It’s my production company/ label. It’s producer ran and I’ve signed a couple of producers and artist. I have a producer by the name of 8x8, I have J Super, D.O. Speaks and we are about to sign a Nashville producer named Kangaroo. I have two artist signed, we have Lil Bre and GNRA. We also work very closely with Starlito.
CONCRETE: You mentioned signing Lil Bre how did you guys link? Lil Bre: I was in a hard situation in my career with crazy management and dreams being sold. Street told me the real, he told me I could do better. We were texting back and forth and I was sending him material. I ended up going down to Atlanta to meet with this DJ and he ended up standing me up. I was on my way home and Street hit me while I was leaving and said let’s meet. We linked up and he asked me a bunch of questions. I caught a good vibe. I knew he was going to push me and help get me where I need to go. CONCRETE: What made you want to sign Lil Bre? Street Symphony: Of course I could of grabbed someone in Atlanta but my heart is still in my city. There is a lot of talent in Nashville, it just had to be the right person. With Bre it was more so his charisma. CONCRETE: So what can the fans be expecting from the Lit God project you guys have been working on? Lil Bre: Honestly this is the best work out of all of my projects. I’m saying this is my first project, I don’t care what anyone says. I can hear the difference and this is really just the beginning. I feel like Lit God is matching the industry standard. CONCRETE: You seemed to have grown as an artist, do you feel like you found your sound? Lil Bre: I know I found myself as an artist. Lit God project gave me the beginning of what I need to do to keep me comfortable in the studio. I learned how to record, I learned that just because you wrote it you still have to feel it when you record. I can’t just go in the booth and sound like I’m reading my lyrics. It’s all about catching the vibe.
HomeTown: Nashville, TN Measurements: 36, 30, 44 CONCRETE: Favorite Designer? Jai Love: I don’t really have one. I wear it all. CONCRETE: Three artist we would find in your playlist? Jai Love: MoneyBagg Yo, 6lack and Jacques.
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Lil Bre - Lit God
LIl Bre teams up with super producer Street Symphony to help orchestrate the Lit God EP EP. Although Street Symphony didn’t produce any of the tracks there is plenty of quality production, all provided by Nashville producers. Kangaroo, BandPlay and Greedy Money provide the canvas and Bre paints the pictures. “LITro” sets the tone of the project and Bre lets it be known he is next up. On “Sauce Talk” Bre drips sauce all over a dark piano loop and heavy bass line. The EP is only six songs but all six songs have single potential.
C4 - L4W 1.5
C4 is back with another in the Lie 4 What series. This time he hits the listeners with some industry bangers and proves he can hang with the heavy hitters. C4 invites Icey D’ Queen to set off the project on the intro and boy does she deliver. This project is seventeen songs strong and it’s just an alley-oop for the next project L4W 2 which is on the way. BMG seems to be building a dope ass roster full of spitters ready to go in. If your a fan of the raw mixtape circuit then this is a must have.
Apollo Veritas - The Disaster Of
Let’s start this off by giving Apollo props on his production choices. This project is full of soulful beats and Apollo spills his heart out over each one. Don’t listen to this project looking for a bunch of trap talk, instead your going to get a ear full of the everyday struggle. Apollo isn’t afraid to let his listeners in on his darker side which makes the music feel more personal. “Lost Ambitionz II”, “Ashamed” and “Closer” are the songs that stuck out the most but you take a listen and choose for yourself.
MINDFRAME - State Of Mind
MINDFRAME opens his door and invites his listeners in the crib for this project. It’s a five song EP full of soulful samples, hi hats and deep trunk pounding bass. Even though the vibe is cool as a fan, MINDFRAME spits real messages in a very smooth manner. He takes you on a trip through Memphis, expressing his love for his city as well as the disappointment in the struggles it’s facing. “State Of Mind”, “Gotta Be Me” and “Homegoing Celebration” are the must listens for this project.
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CONCRETE: Where are you originally from? Red Dot: South Nashville, Edge Hill , UC/JC. CONCRETE: What made you want to pursue music? Red Dot: I had met these young dudes when I went to MTSU and they were from Memphis. I was in the streets at the time so I needed a place to put my bread. I was rocking with them, putting them in the studio and stuff like that. Me and Star been cool forever. My youngsters ended up getting me lit one night at the studio and told me to write something. So I did and I let Star hear it. He checked it out and was like who is that? I was like it’s me. He was like pull up at the studio I need you to do a hook. That’s how it all started really. CONCRETE: You mentioned being in the streets and catching a case. How long were you locked up? Red Dot: Five and a half years. I got a twenty-five year sentence at thirty percent. I ended up getting good time and making parole, so I am on parole for the next fourteen years. CONCRETE: Were you able to write while you were locked up? Red Dot: It was hard for me to write without beats. I found a way to get beats and that helped me open my mind up and start writing. I haven’t been doing this very long. I started rapping in like 2009. CONCRETE: Was any of your Cell Blocks and Green Dots project written while incarcerated? Red Dot: Yes sir, almost half of it was written while I was in prison. I still have songs that I wrote that I haven’t recorded yet. On my album I wasn’t trying to be just straight talking about prison, I was trying to keep my mind on what was relevant in the streets. CONCRETE: What can people expect to hear when they listen to it? Red Dot: Well I got some really good producers on there. I’m talking about my life and everything I have been through, the ups and the downs. I have some club records on there and I just dropped a video for the song “That Type” which features Starlito and Marty from Trash Bag gang. I also have Don Trip who is like my brother he was rocking with me while I was locked up and then I have Landlord from Vegas, Wes Hustle and Cel Sizzle on there to.
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CONCRETE: Can you guys introduce your selves? Armored Sound: Spradley coming out of Tampa Florida, Tokyo Chan Knoxville TN and Omega Prime Ann Arbor MI. CONCRETE: How did you guys come together to form Armored Sound? Spradley: It started off with me and Chan. We had a friend of ours that said we would make a really good team and introduced us. Then after that we met Prime and it was the same connection. Its been on ever since. CONCRETE: As a collective, what is your style of production? Tokyo Chan: Diverse! We all bring something different to the table. Omega on the MPC sampling and he brings that east coast knock, I have more of an engineering back ground so Im all in to sequencing and sound quality but I also produce lush big sounds and Spradley does it all. CONCRETE: Who were some of the producers who influenced your style of production? Omega: I grew up in the 90s so for me it was DJ Premier, Pete Rock, Havoc from Mobb Deep and Alchemist. Tokyo Chan: I like Just Blaze, Drumma Boy, Justice League and a lot of the newer producers like Sonny Digital and Metro Boomin.
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Spradley: I grew up a musician so I was already reading and writing music but I wasn’t doing anything with that. I started off as a rapper but the guys told me to start making beats cause I already had the knowledge. I think Just Blaze was my first inspiration. I’m self taught in piano, I play the drums and trombone. CONCRETE: You mentioned that you rap how did you get your start in that? Spradley: I use to cover songs. I would hear a song on the radio I liked and I would record it on my tape player, play it back and learn the song word for word then change all the lyrics up to my own. I did that a lot and people were like why don’t you write your own lyrics so I did and that’s how I started. CONCRETE: Can you tell us about the Twenty 16’s project? Tokyo Chan: Twenty 16’s is basically a lot of the material we recorded last year. The play on words is like twenty sixteen bars and the year twenty sixteen. We have Project Pat on there, Lito, Bezzeled Gang and Alley Boi on there.It’s a twelve song project and it’s a big deal to us cause there is a lot of star power on there. Plus we have our artist Spradley and another one of our artist named Chill on there. The entire project is produced by Armored Sound except one song.
CONCRETE: Where are you originally from? MINDFRAME: I’m originally from the great city of Memphis. CONCRETE: For the people who haven’t heard your music how would you describe your sound? MINDFRAME: I would say my sound is a mixture of hip-hop with a blues melody and a whole soulful aspect. At the same time I’m very versatile. One song may sound like I’m from Memphis and then another song lyrically you’ll be like he can’t be from Memphis. CONCRETE: When was the moment you said I want to be an artist? MINDFRAME: 5th grade talent show and I won it. We remixed Three 6 Mafia “This B**tch That Hoe” and we remade it to “This School, That School”. We performed on the intercom for a week straight. So at that moment right there I knew that’s what I wanted to do. CONCRETE: What brings you to Nashville? MINDFRAME: I went to TSU so I’m an alumni. After then I just got a job up here. I’m also in the military so my unit is closer to Nashville. It just made since. CONCRETE: What’s the meaning behind the title of your project State of Mind? MINDFRAME: Well of course my name is MINDFRAME and to be in the correct mind frame you have to have the right state of mind. I have different states of mind. I have different opinions and different feelings about different stuff that’s why I make different music. Each song that is on the EP is just a piece of me and a piece of my mind. CONCRETE: So what can the people be expecting from this project? MINDFRAME: The project is real soulful, you can expect dope lyrics on there. You have to really pay attention and listen. The beats on there are phenomenal. I had two producers that I really mess with and their like my brothers my guy Jay Shotti from Memphis and DJ Don Genius from Detroit. CONCRETE: What would you say your favorite record is off of the project and why? MINDFRAME: It would have to be “Home Goin Celebration” that’s like my ode to Memphis. It’s really inspired by the city and for the city.
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