CONCRETE Magazine Memphis #3 by CONCRETE Magazine

8-10 ................................ T.I. 12-14 .............. Big Kuntry Kang 14 ....................... Indie Watch 18 ....................... CD Reviews 20 ..................... DVD Reviews 22 ...... 100 Tasks All Boys Should Learn 26 ...... What’s Your Issue w/ Big Sue 28-30 .................. DJ Boogaloo 32-36 ....................Whip Game 38-40 ................... Memphis 10 46 .......................... DJ Charts Thanks for checking us out again. We continue to build momentum around the “M”. Published by: Concrete Magazine Editor In Chief: “Corporate” Cory Sparks Sales Manager: Ricardo Hunter Ad Sales: Shabrea Hunter, Phil Jones, Andrea Jones Distribution Manager: Phil Jones Editorial Intern: Amariah Tyler Art Director: Audie Adams Publishing Consultant: Bryan Deese

CONCRETE Magazine - Memphis 8001 Centerview Pkwy, Suite 205 Cordova, TN 38018

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concretememphis@gmail.com © CONCRETE Magazine 2008

CONCRETE: So you’re home. You’re grinding. You got three records out in the street and from what I hear a video that will destroy Shawty Lo for good. Is life back in order for the King? T.I.: I ain’t into destroying nobody. That part of my life is already over with. After I speak my peace, I just leave it alone. If somebody gets destroyed in the process, that’s unintentional. CONCRETE: So there’s no beef between you? T.I.: We ain’t friends. I ain’t speaking negative over nobody. I really ain’t got nothing to say to him. CONCRETE: It looks like the Grand Hustle brand is shaping up. Did forcing you to “sit down” for a couple of months give you time to perfect the label? T.I.: I think they adapted to the situation and made the necessary steps to move forward and make Grand Hustle more than just T.I.’s label. Artists like Big Kuntry doing his thing in radio and the “Da Baddest” and Yung LA doing his thing with “Ain’t I”. You know I really think they stepped up and proved themselves to be assets. CONCRETE: Ok, so Wayne sold a million. Some artists don’t sell anything but they’re doing crazy numbers with digital. Where do you fit in this changing industry? T.I.: I guess we’ll find out September 30th. I respect him to the upmost. I mean, it’s not like I’m salty. I think he deserved it. I think he worked hard and I think he’s an outstanding artist. I think it was his time to do that. I definitely tip my hat to him. Anytime you got those kind of numbers that just shows that people still buying records. That beats that tired ass excuse about the economy, or the temperature, or people ain’t selling records. But what I do is not a reflection or rebuttal to his numbers. I’m gonna do my numbers regardless. CONCRETE: Since becoming the King of the South, Southern music looks like the king of all popular music. What do you think is on the horizon for the next wave of southern rappers? T.I.: The next wave of southern rappers? Well, I think Young Dro is up there. I think Plies is definitely a significant force to the new face of southern artists. continued on page 10

I got another young cat by the name of Dolla who I produced a couple of records on. He has an outanding flow. He’s got a great swag about himself and a nice sound. I’m anxous to see what Akon and them do with him. I think he has tremendous potential. Rick Ross, I think he’s significant also. Yung LA bout to do his thang. I got another artist by the name of J.R. J.R. “Get Money”. I mean, he has outstanding range and ability – lyrical ability like melody capabilities and all kind of shit and I’m looking forward to see what he do as he presents his project to the world. But that’s just to name a few off the top of my head. CONCRETE: Who is on your personal radar? What unsigned hype that’s not on Grand Hustle has opened up your eyes? T.I.: Unsigned hype? Man, I can’t say. The one I just came in contact with we just signed. His name is Meek Millz. He was an unsigned artist on YouTube. Go to YouTube and search for Meek Millz and you’ll see him. I heard about him, my man Shawty Mac introduced us and he signed him and that’s the latest. That was about two weeks ago. CONCRETE: You haven’t been writing you lyrics for a couple albums. Papertrail revisited that classic style. What made you go back? T.I.: People say they missed me. People had been saying I got too lazy with my flow. I’m a man o f the people. I’m a fans man, ya dig? I’m gone try and do whatever I can to please the people. I’m trying to dig up new styles and new flows. I felt like picking the pen back up was the thing that would get me back to that I’m Serious artistic state of mind. CONCRETE: What other projects are you working on? Anymore acting? T.I.: We’re in pre-production on the next film we gone do and we start in September. It’s called Bone D starring myself, Idris Alba, Chris Brown and Matt Dillon. It’s about some cool ass bank robbers. Good looking, well dressed bank robbers and it’s actually my first film I’m producing. CONCRETE: You know the ladies love you T.I and often consider you a sex symbol. Do you see yourself as a sex symbol? T.I.: I don’t have a problem with being a sex symbol if women consider me a sex symbol but I don’t have the right to consider myself a sex symbol. If women consider me one that’s fine but I’m not gone say ‘Oh, yeah I’m a sex symbol’ but ain’t nobody saying I’m sexy know what I’m sayin’? I don’t think that’s my job to say if I’m a sex symbol. I think that’s up to the women. If that’s what they put me then I respectfully accept. CONCRETE: How would you describe your swag? T.I.: Easy. Comfortable.You know, just natural. I don’t go out my way to try to look like something. I don’t put a lot of effort into what I do. I just do what comes naturally to me.

CONCRETE: What is your position within the Grand Hustle team? Tip is the player/coach. Alfamega is the muscle. Young Dro seems like he’s the flashy member of the squad. What’s your role? BKK: I’m the Big Dog, ya dig? I play the back but now I’m in the front. I’ve been doing this a long time. I’m one of the founders of P$C. It just seems like I just came out since Tip took off first but we all started together. CONCRETE: The south been checking for you since the Cocaine mixtape you about 2 or 3 years ago. Where is Kuntry’s music going now? BKK: Most of my mixtapes are a Cocaine addition and what’s going on is I’m trying to build a brand and become a household name in music. You know I’m trying to make big songs but I want street songs to be big songs as well. I don’t want people to look at street songs as little anthem songs or “they just into club bangers.” We got to break through the barriers and find a way to make music apart of history for the younger generation. CONCRETE: The girls I’ve spoken to are feeling Big Kuntry. Are the ladies treating you well? BKK: Ladies always treat me well. (laughs) They always be like ‘Oh, you look like a teddy bear!’ or ‘Oh, you’re so cute!’ I be like, well thank you. Yeah they always treat me well. The only thing is when I cut them off they got a problem. They get mad at that. They don’t like to be cut off but you got to sometimes. continued on page 14

CONCRETE: You always seem like you smiling. But you a big dude so we can’t take that for weakness. Coming up in Bankhead, were you the wild nigga that ﬁnally calmed down or you always been like that? BKK: I always smile. That’s how I keep people from knowing what I’m thinking, you know what I’m saying? I’m humble. I came from all over the Westside. I lived everywhere from Bankhead to Cobb County. I’m all over the place. CONCRETE: Your album comes out the same day as T.I. Sell it….who’s on it, who’s producing and what do we need to be checking for? BKK: My album is called My Turn to Eat. T.I.’s album is called Papertrail and they both come out September 30th and we call this Grand Hustle Day. So, go to the store and get both of them. I got a real street album. I got a hit song on there with my boy Lloyd, Shawty Redd on the beat, Marvelous J on the beat. They’re a couple of upcoming producers that’s really on their grind right now. They’re working with Plies right now. I don’t know which ones they did with Rocko but I know they did some. I got J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League on the album. I got Young Dro, MacBoney, and Yung LA, a newcomer who got this song Ain’t I. I’m on the original Ain’t I record so y’all need to play that. That’s the jam. It’s showing up on Billboard. We got a lot of things going on with Grand Hustle. I got my own label, Breadbox. I got that running. We got a song Make it Rain. I’m still producing baby.

CONCRETE: How long have you been in the music business? MM: I’ve been in it since like ‘99. I’ve been at it since like 1990 since making tapes in the basement. Founded my company in ‘99-2000. CONCRETE: What’s the name of your company? MM: Cuffboy Entertainment. Been doing business and platinumized work. First started in 1999 and became legit in 2000. CONCRETE: You by yourself? MM: Yeah and my partner Hollywood who passed in 2003. CONCRETE: What made you want to get in the game? MM: Basically, the love of it. Guys I looked up to like Too Short, Ice Cube and the Geto Boys. They gave me motivation to stay at it. CONCRETE: What was your ﬁrst project? MM: The ﬁrst project I put out was the Slab Ridaz Riding Heavy in ‘02. It was like a group of three. I put it out and those were my artist – Mic, Moe and Weasel. It sold like 4,000 or 5,000. We shot a little video. Joe Gotti in Memphis shot the video. It was featured in Alabama, Arkansas, and Mississippi. It kind of slowed down after Moe, my brother, got locked up. CONCRETE: When was this? MM: This was in ‘01 and ‘02. At the same time I was getting on with the Country Boys album which consisted of me and Hollywood. I was spinning with Lil Flip on “Pass the Drink”. I’m going to actually rerelease that this year along with my album. CONCRETE: And when is your album coming out? MM: This September. It’s my debut album, Mr. Mar: So Fly. SelectO-Hits is going to distribute it. I got a few features with 8-Ball & MJG, Skinny Pimp and Mr. Mic and South Circle. I have my own independent label, Platinumize Records. CONCRETE: Who are some Memphis producers you’ve worked with? MM: Did something with Montana, Thorough from South Circle, Skinny Pimp and DJ Squeeky who did three tracks for the Country Boys album. CONCRETE: What is your best known song in the streets of Memphis? MM: Well, the new one that I got is “Stackin’ Money” ft 8Ball & MJG that’s on the So Fly record. It was released about two or three months ago. It’s going to be on the So Fly album.

Nas - Nas

He proclaimed, Hip Hop Is Dead on his previous album but, Nas is back with his ninth album, Untitled, originally titled Nigger. It was obvious that because of corporate pressure the title was changed. Although the name changed, the content still made an impact. Nas makes his voice heard as always in songs such as, Sly Fox, where he takes shots at Fox News, “What’s a fox characteristic? Slick shit, censored, misinformation, pimp the station, over stimulation/ reception, deception, Comcast, digital Satan, the fox has a bushy tail, and Bush tells lies and fox trots, so I don’t know what’s real.” Nas seems focused from track to track. The lead single, Hero featuring the upcoming singer Keri Hilson and hit producer Polow Da Don help him gain the youth’s attention but still showcasing his “time for a change” attitude. Nas also brings Chris Brown and The Game on Make the World Go Round, and Busta Rhymes on the clever track, Fried Chicken, where he compares video vixens to food being no good for you. Producers like Cool and Dre, Polow Da Don and others help make the cipher complete. But the words of Nas makes one think but the answer is, “You’re the question and the answer.” ~N.I.G.G.E.R (The Slave and the Master)

Noel Gourdin - After My Time

Noel Gourdin, showcases the true essence of Rhythm and Blues on his ﬁrst single, The River; a nice laid back, smooth tune that even your Grandmother would enjoy. The debut album, After My Time examines the soulfulness of the newest R&B contender while he pours his feelings out on tracks like, Open, where he talks about his feelings for his lady and Better Man demanding he is the top of the crop. Noel Gourdin deﬁnetly gives the mature and sexy crowd what they want but still keeps liveliness in the music. Throughout the album heartfelt love, pain, joys and all of the ups and down of life make the album ring true to his audience.

David Banner - Greatest Story Ever Told

From single to Like a Pimp to becoming one of Hip Hop’s helping hands in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, David Banner returns with his newest project, Greatest Story Ever Told. Lead single, Get Like Me featuring Chris Brown and Yung Joc is only the tip of the iceberg for what the album has in store for listeners. He starts of with G.S.E.T intro where he introduces all that will be on the album; from being broke and homeless to the good times. T.I proclaims that’s his partner, speaking of ﬁrst meeting David Banner and Rubberband Man helping getting his records sold. Banner shows off his producing skills just in case you forgot, with non-traditional interludes like, Syrup Sippin’, where he states, [They think we] country ass dumb niggas and we not, we so much more than that over a beat that will surely get used on your local rappers mixtape. Banner brings a camp of features like, Snoop Dogg, Akon, Lil’ Wayne, UGK, even Jim Jones. Carl Thomas appears on; I Get By where Banner reminisces on his times in Mississippi and dealing with life with the help of his friends. David Banner delivers his, Greatest Story Ever Told with Mississippi on his back…literally.

Cocaine Cowboys 2 - Hustlin’ With The Godmother

The guys who brought you the Miami, cocaine trafficking documentary couldn’t stop with just one. They pick up right where the first one left off. They follow Griselda Blanco (The Godmother of Cocaine) to California where she fled from the heat in Miami. Not long into her California stay she was arrested and jailed. But this did not slow down her billion dollar organization. It was in jail that she met a young man from Oakland named Charles Cosby. Cosby quickly became the lover of and the main dealer for Blanco who was over 20 years his elder. The film is edited different than the first, using sketches and simple animations to move the story forward. Most of the film is narrated by Charles Cosby himself. He is soft spoken and charismatic. He tells a whirlwind story of money and drugs that ends with him backing away from The Godmother after she tries to persuade Cosby to help kidnap John F. Kennedy Jr. She planned on using JFK Jr. as ransom to secure her release from Federal Prison. At the end of the documentary they show a photo of the Godmother from 2007 in Columbia. She is still alive! These film makers put it down every time and go deep into their subject to give the viewer a real understanding. Go get this one quick!

Belly 2 - Millionaire Boyz Club

This one really isn’t a sequel to Belly. It’s a whole new story with a new cast of characters. This time their out West in Los Angeles, Compton to be specific. The film is directed by Ivan Frank and stars The Game, Shari Headley, Michael K. Williams (Omar from The Wire), and Ed O’Ross. The movie starts as “G” (The Game) is being released from prison after eight long years. From there he heads straight to his boy Tone’s house (Michael K. Williams), and tells his friend about the plan to go straight. But, it’s not easy for him to find work, and his P.O. is hassling him. So, G turns to what he knows. He digs up a box from his backyard and it’s full of guns. He promptly gets with Tone and they go jack drug dealer. The dealer’s boss, a jerry-curl sportin’ character, is the man who snitched on G. Of course, this starts a war in the streets. Somewhere in there Game even takes a little shot at G-Unit. Things get complicated when a lady DEA agent is planted next to G, but she unexpectedly develops feelings for him. Ultimately there is a giant showdown with the Mexican Mafia. The acting is OK, but the whole thing is a bit far fetched, and falls way short of the original Belly by Hype Williams.

110 Tasks: Every Young Man Should Know How To Do Before the Ninth Grade www.110tasks.org | by: Anthony Nichelson published by: Urbana Marketing

PART 3 of 4

Set a table for a sit-down family dinner Clean His Room Prepare His Own Breakfast Mix Concrete in Small Amounts Pack A Car Trunk for a Family Trip Check the Oil & Tires on the Family Car Change a Central Air/Heat Filter at Home Properly Dust Furniture Take An Accurate Phone Message Landscape & Maintain a Small Garden Clean a Carpet/Mop a Floor Hang Curtains Paint an Entire Room at Home Repair, Plaster and Re-Paint Wall Cracks Understand How to Pay Utility Bills Use a Vacuum Cleaner

Connect a Stereo Baby-Sit Younger Siblings for a Day/Night Avoid Arrest and Criminal Activity Check on a Senior Citizen Neighbor Wash a Car Correctly Sand and Shellac a Wooden Finish Tell the Truth Repair a Flat Bicycle Tire Recite the “Golden Rule” Use a Socket Wrench Set Read a Map Read a Bus Schedule Complete a Job Application Schedule an Appointment Read the Classiﬁed Ads Open Doors for Ladies as a Rule

For the complete list go to myspace.com/concretemagmemphis

Yo Big Sue, I was in a relationship for 9 months and things were going good until about 2 months ago. I became a really insecure and jealous girlfriend. My boyfriend and I began to argue over petty things all the time, and I was always upset. It got to the point where he told me that he was fed up and couldn’t deal with my attitude or personality. I want him back. How can I fix this? Sue: You can’t, you blew it. I give you credit for taking responsibility, but you need to fix yourself first. Jealousy and insecurity can creep into a relationship when trust is absent. Or maybe, after that 7 month mark you tried to question his habits when you should have been observing them from the jump. There is no quick fix, give it time maybe he’ll call. But by all means don’t wait by the phone, focus on the things you love about yourself to relieve your insecurities...or find someone to love who’s just as psycho as yourself. Sue! Do you believe in love at first sight? Well, I met my current boyfriend two days ago, and from the moment we saw each other, I knew he was the one. He proposed to me on our first date, and I accepted. My family thinks I’m crazy, but I know he’s my soul mate. What do you think? Sue: To quote Eddie Murphy in Coming to America, “you must be out of your *** damn mind!” All that love at first sight/soulmate foolishness sounds like two desperate spirits running away from more serious problems. When you hear old couples say, ‘I knew from the moment we met that we’d marry’ nobody was poppin the question in the first 48. Your family is right, you should be committed before you end up in a cult on a ranch in Utah some damn where. Big Sue, What do u do when your in a relationship and u really like someone else even though u don’t see her a lot or talk..Think that person may like u back?.....Gettin to the point I’m Brian & u r that person! Sue: Wow, I know about 13 Brians in the greater Memphis area, but I’m still flattered. You should totally screw over your girlfriend, holla at me, then return the favor by ditching me for a chick on the news or something. (Please notice my sarcasm-still flattered by the way)

CONCRETE: You’ve been at Hot 107 for over 10 years. You’ve been on the scene for over 15 years. Did you always see yourself being this successful? DJB: Good question. I did not because I went to school to be into politics and to be a lawyer or something. I mean school is not for everybody, like college. But I did learn how to deejay in college. I never imagined those turntables would be paying for my car note, house note, everything, you know what I mean? So actually I didn’t. CONCRETE: You came up around the time when Memphis rap was starting to be a viable factor in Southern Rap. 8 Ball and MJG, Tela, 3-6 Mafia, and can’t forget the underground legends Playa Fly and Skinny Pimp. But now there’s a new era. How does the old school stack up against the new guys such as Yo Gotti, Kia Shine and a host of others on the bubble? DJB: Well, I think it’s a whole different era. I don’t think you can compare the two because when 3-6 Mafia, DJ Paul, DJ Squeaky, Spanish fly…that was a whole different era. That was an unpredictable music era. I guess a lot of people weren’t doing what 3-6 Mafia was doing back then and 8 Ball, and Tela and everybody. A lot for people weren’t doing that style. That was our own little style. But now, today, of course you know everybody is doing that style. It’s not as rich as it was back then, but the talent today is unbelievable. We got a lot of talent not just with Yo Gotti. We got a lot of underground talent. We got young cats coming up and real hard. A young guy gave me a CD the other day about 17 banging out the frame. Sound just like the big dogs Jeezy and all of them. You can’t compare the two. Both of them are great. CONCRETE: What moment or accomplishment are you most proud of? DJB: I suppose being ranked #4 programmer in the United States when I was programming at Hot 107.1. The only people ahead of me were in New York, Philadelphia, and some other city. Being honored in Billboard magazine, which said that I was #4 in being able to pick the records that that leads the whole country on certain records. I thought that was a great accomplishment.

continued on page 30

CONCRETE: That’s wonderful. What year was this? DJB: 2001. CONCRETE: Ok. Nowadays, there are a lot of entertainers and virtually no fans. Records also aren’t selling like they used to. Being that you have witnessed the shift, what suggestion do you have for the newcomers trying to make a name for themselves? DJB: That’s a good question. It’s hard to sell records these days no matter who you are. Even if you’re a big artist like Nas, Jay-Z, 50 Cent, G-Unit…all those guys are having hard times selling records but a lot of them got fans. The selling records part …we really have to think it’s possible to make it happen. For it to be a success record companies and online sales can make that happen but for fans, I think people just got to stay real and be themselves and if they be themselves and do original music you always gone have fans. The online sales are deﬁnitely possible. I think the only thing we can do really is sell our music online or sale independently. I think that’s how it’s gone end up – everybody selling their music individually. Sell albums for a dollar or albums for ten dollars. CONCRETE: I’ve noticed that artists are now stepping their game up. You used to get an album with only about two songs that sound good, maybe one that’s ok, and the rest garbage and that would be twenty dollars wasted. DJB: Right. I think that’s the only way we can really make money, but we got to work out some way where we can gage sales. Something’s got to be online where if you buy this person’s record, it has to count as a sale. You know, towards the national Billboard sales. Other than that…that’s that on that.

DJ Cherry - myspace.com/djcherry 1 Young Jeezy - Put On (rmx) 2 Gucci Mane - Shirt Off 3 Yung Berg - The Business 4 OJ Da Juiceman - Im Getting Money 5 Yo Gotti f/ Gucci mane - She Likes Me 6 T.I. - Whatever You Like 7 Alfamega - $500 Bottles 8 Novakane - Shawty Said 9 Soulja Boy - Donk 10 Plies - Excuse My Hands

Jason (K97 Memphis) - myspace.com/jasonfrmk97 1 Pleasure P - No Panties On 2 Three-6-Maﬁa f/ Akon 3 Yo Gotti f/ Gucci Mane - Bricks 4 Jim Jones - Good Sh*t 5 Nakia Shine - Kush 6 Lil Wayne - Ms.Ofﬁcer 7 Plies - Please Excuse My Hands 8 Yo Gotti f/ Gucci Mane - Lots Of Cash 9 Young Jeezy - Put On (rmx) 10 Yung Berg - The Business (rmx)

DJ Stretch 1 Novakane - Shawty Said 2 Lil Wayne - Lillipop 3 Lil Boosie - Bad Chick 4 Webbie - Independent 5 Young Jeezy - Put On 6 FOXX - Not Myself 7 Keysha Cole - Let You Go 8 Mary J Blidge - Just Fine 9 Tha Bank - Money Walk 10 Lil Will - My Dougie

DJ Kutta - myspace.com/kuttaboy 1 Tre V - Simply Beautiful 2 Yo Gotti f/ Gucci Mane - Bricks 3 Slim - So Fly 4 Jazmine Sullivan - Need U Bad 5 T.I. - Whatever You Like 6 T.I. - What’s Happening 7 Plies - I’m Da Man 8 Trai’D - Gutta Man 9 Gucci Mane - Shirt Off 10 Lil Wayne - Ms.Ofﬁcer

Lil Larry - myspace.com/dainfamouslillarry 1 Young Jeezy - Put On (rmx) 2 Yo Gotti f/ Gucci Mane - Bricks 3 Young LA - Ain’t I 4 Lil Wayne - Got Money 5 T.I. - Whatever You Like 6 Robin Thicke - Magic 7 Pleasure P - No Panties On 8 Yo Gotti f/ Gucci mane - She Likes Me 9 Bow Wow f/ Soulja Boy - Marco Polo 10 Young Jeezy - Vacation

Special Guest: Amariah Tyler “Executive VP of Interns” Concrete Magazine Memphis 1 Young Jeezy - Put On 2 Novakane - Shawty Said 3 Jazmine Sullivan - Need U Bad 4 Avant - When It Hurts 5 Lil Wayne f/Baby Face - Comfortable 6 Graﬁti Boyz - Kiss My Ass 7 Rick Ross f/ Nelly & Avery Storm - Here I Am 8 Eric Benet - You’re The One 9 Slim f/ Yung Joc - So Fly 10 T.I. - Whatever You Like