Po Politickin

We first heard Shawty Lo on the infectious hit “Laffy Taffy” rhyming alongside his D4L brethren, Shawty Lo racked up millions or records and ringtone sales the summer of 2005. But soon after that, group comic relief Fabo separated himself from the group, going solo.


With the team that he assembled in disarray, Shawty Lo went back to being the hustler that he was before he picked up the mic. Putting his money on himself, he went into the booth and came up with the street anthem “I’m The Man” he would follow that up with another smash single in “Foolish” and a hit debut solo disc.


Now firmly in place as a star in the south, Shawty Lo gets ready his sophomore set. Before we get the Lp, he links up with Dj Scream to drop “Bowen Homes Carlos” a 16 track mixtape aimed his target audience.


Shawty Lo sat down with popolitickin.com a few days after the BET Hip-Hop Awards in Atlanta Georgia to talk about Bowen Homes, his new mixtape and what happened to D4L


Popolotickin.com: What made you pick up the mic?


Shawty Lo: I kinda felt like I had to at the time. I was part of the group D4L, then one of our members left the group, Fabo. Everybody felt like Fabo was the group. I thought that it was up to me to prove that wasn’t true. So I went into the booth and made “I’m The Man”


Popolitickin.com: Is there a chance that we will ever see you and the group D4L again?


Shawty Lo: I started D4L back in 2003, where before the music. You know how people run around hollering Crips and Bloods, D4L is what we yelled in my neighborhood. It stands for Down 4 Life. We had a vision for the group, but Fabo left and that kinda messed up the vision.


Popolitickin.com: So everything’s cool with you and Fabo?


Shawty Lo: Everything is cool. Fabo is in Japan right now.


Popolitickin.com: Talk about “I’m The Man”


Shawty Lo: It was crazy record. I was really kinda shocked when it first broke.


Popolitickin.com: Did you see the song becoming a success like it did?


Shawty Lo: I felt like I was maybe onto something when I went to the Poole Palace out here in Bankhead. I would be out there and I would hear the crowd saying word for word every word in the song. It was crazy to watch that. It was then that I knew we had something.


Popolitickin.com: Why did you name your mixtape “Bowen Homes Carlos” Why is that important to you?


Shawty Lo: That’s my project! They’re torn down now, but that’s where I’m from. That’s all I know, that’s my heart. That’s where all my music comes from. Bowne Homes is like a world of its own.


Popolitickin.com Talk about the mixtape “Bowen Homes Carlos” what can fans expect from it?


Shawty Lo: Man, you can put it in 1-16 and let it play. It’s a classic. I got the title song “Bowen Homes Carlos” is a banger.





Popolitickin.com: Did you work with any new producers or artists?


Shawty Lo: I got a new producer I’m working with named Alex, he has about 7 tracks on the tape. Everybody likes the music. I’ve been hearing from the fans “this is what we wanted to hear right here”


Popolitickin.com: When you first came out, people criticized your emcee skills. How did that make you feel at the time?


Shawty Lo: It motivates you. Without negative you can’t have positive. You can’t have one without another. You gotta have both around. That motivates you. I said it in my song “big up to all my haters” that motivates a player you know.


Popolitickin.com: When can we expect a new album from you?


Shawty Lo: I’m working on my album right now. You’re the first person who’s going to hear this. I got out my contract with Asylum so now I’m a free agent now.


Popolitickin.com: Congratulations! What caused the split with you and Asylum?


Shawty Lo: Nothing was wrong. There aint no bad blood. Just sometimes it’s time to separate, that’s all. There aint no problems or nothing like that.


Popolitickin.com: Any word on who you’re going to sign with next?


Shawty Lo: I’m gonna be looking at signing with another major label, I just don’t know with who yet. I’m a free agent right now. Call me Lebron James (laughs)


Check out Shawty Lo’s “Bowen Homes Carlos” mixtape at livemixtapes.com and follow him at twitter.com/thatsshawtylo

Interview by Mehka http://twitter.com/mehkavelli

Juelz Santana has lived a charm life by hip-hop terms. He came up under the tutelage of Cam’ron and Jim Jones, signed his first album deal with Def Jam records and has sold almost 2 million albums in total.

But all isn’t perfect in the wide world of Juelz Santana. Over the last year and half he’s gone through enough drama to make a lesser emcee fold it up and head home. Internet rumors of turmoil in his crew, Cam’ron claiming to have sold his contract and shake-ups at his label are some of the drama that has followed Juelz like twitter.

But Juelz isn’t your average the artists. A businessman in his own right, he’s taking all the rumors and side talk in stride. He’s currently preparing his third album “Born to Loose, Bred to Win” Juelz talks about his new album, his realtionship with his former crew and having Chris Brown on his new single


Tell me about the new album “Born to Loose, Bread to Win”

Juelz Santana: I’m gearing up. I’m getting warmed up right now. “Born to Loose, Bred to Win” will be the album. We‘re about to shoot the video for “Back to the Crib” I got another record called, “Mixing up the Medicine”. I got an amazing record with Lil Wayne.

I’m not going to do the drop the single and come out in 2 months thing. That’s what the label has to understand. I just ready to go. I just did a record for Banks album. I’m going to be on peoples ass. I just did a record for Mariah. I’m about to be on every single. Watch. I’m on niggas ass right now.

When you first broke on the scene you did it through mixtapes. Are you going to hit the underground again with another mixtape?

I got “The Reagan Era” which is the mixtape. I feel like my mixtape is going to be like an album. I’m probably going to drop 2 mixtapes before I drop the official album. I’m all about the feeling. I feel like as long as I aint out the loop and I aint gone to the point where you’re not hearing nothing from me, then I’m good. I’m going drop the album when its right. I just did a record with Lloyd Banks that’s for his album. I just did some stuff for Mariah Carey. You’re about to hear me on everything in a minute.

Cam’ron was talking about selling your contract and how the Dipset is over. What’s good with you and Cam?

Juelz Santana: I have no problem with Cam. Cam gave me the chance of a lifetime. He brought me into the game and I’ll never take that away from him. But as much as he’s did for me, I’ve over-paid my dues. I know it was love when it was genuine. I wish Cam the best and deep down I know he wishes me the best. I don’t have a sour taste in my mouth about it. We’re still Dipset for life.

Talk about your new single with Chris Brown?

Juelz Santana: Chris is my dude. He’s always been my man despite whatever he’s gone through. I had got a beat from Polow (the Don) and it had a reference of a hook on it. And soon as I heard it I heard Chris on it. And like I said before, despite whatever he’s been through before hand, it never effected my decision. This is my dude and I was gonna reach out to my dude. We shot out to Orlando the next day and we just put it down

That was actually my next question. Was it hard getting the feature passed through Def Jam?

Juelz Santana: I aint going front there were a couple of different people who had opinions. But at the end of the day, I’m my own boss. I’m a partner with Def Jam. LA Reid respects me. My project has nothing to do with anybody else’s project so at the end of the day I’m going do what has to be done. What happened or didn’t happened, it didn’t matter. I informed people in the building that I was going make the move. And I don’t mean it in now certain way when I say, ‘it is what it is” If another artists that’s up there wanted to make a move, but they couldn’t say nothing. I know Rhianna is a Def Jam artists. At the end of the day, this is how I feed my family. It cant be about holding grudges. If so, no one would work with anyone in the industry. There’s always going to be somebody who’s not going to like someone. Someone has to be that person who bridges the gap.

Follow Juelz Santana at twitter.com/realjuelzsantana and look out for the album “Born to Loose, Bred to Win” coming soon on Def Jam records

Mehka Editor and Chief, http://www.lastwordonline.com "Sit back, relax and think...lastwordonline.com Street Work Ent "Stay out tha STREETS" Invisible Man Mgmt "The background playaz"

Things have changed. The music industry has moved more towards new media as traditional methods seem to be fading away. Bloggers have become as influential as Dj’s and A&R’s and fans, artists and label execs alike are starting to stand up and pay attention to the power of the internet.

Very few know how to really navigate the information super high-way like founder of Invisible Man Media, Mehka. The music editor of wordonthestreetsmag.com, Mehka has been a presence on the internet since 2003.

“In 03 I started my own website called lastwordonline.com. Back then, there we’re a lot of websites popping up but only a few of them were actually good. I hope lastwordonline.com was one of the few that were good,” jokes Mehka

Initially starting lastwordonline as a way to get his work known to the hip-hop world, it turned into something different as time went on. “At first, I used it like a monthly resume. My goal was to get into XXL and the Source, but I didn’t know how to get their attention. So I started to go get my own stories, interview artists and post them online. Before you knew it, I started getting attention from labels and artists, as well as magazines.”

Featuring hip-hop heavyweights like The Lox, Trina, Jim Jones, B.G., and more, Mehka began to build a reliable network of industry contacts. Before he knew it, he was one of the go to journalists in hip-hop. He would go on to pen stories for XXL, Slam, The Connex List, Rolling Out newspaper and has worked on projects for The Dirty Awards and Hip-Hop Film Festival.

But like everything else in hip-hop, evolving with the culture was necessary. “Now, everyone is online so its harder to get your work seen as a writer. Its like everyone has a blog. I realized that I had to do something else if I really wanted to stay in the industry.

In comes Invisible Man Media. Using his expertise in the new media he decided to build a publicity and marketing company that could assist labels major and indie labels build their buzz and brand their names and products using the internet.

“I realized that most labels and artists don’t really know how to use the internet. Everything is geared towards the internet right now so to not know how to use it or manipulate it for your benefit can slow down your growth.”

Press Releases, bio’s, story placements, interview preparation, EPK’s, and marketing plans. Mehka and his Invisible Man Media team go hard to make sure their clients reach their full potential.

“Our overall goal to make your name bigger without having to have a major label budget.”

Contact Mehka and Invisible Man Media at invisiblemanmgmt@gmail.com for any questions or inquiries and follow them at twitter.com/invisible media