Tuesday, June 20, 2006

Field Mob's Smoke Says "I'mma tell you who killed hip-hop... D4L and Dem Franchize Boyz"

After a four-year break, Field Mob is readying its Disturbing Tha Peace debut, Light Poles and Pine Trees. In this exclusive, group member Smoke pays respect to New York and blames D4L and Dem Franchize Boyz for hip-hop's demise.
Two albums [2000's 613:Ashy to Classy and 2002's From tha Roota to tha Toota] into their contract with the now defunct MCA Records, Field Mob landed on Geffen. Just when the group's relevance appeared to shrink,
Ludacris signed them to DTP last August.
"I went free with my creativity [at DTP]...I was over at MCA aka rape you records. Ludacris let me say what I wanna say. If I wanna say, 'shit, god damnit, motherfucka,' he cool with it, cause he trust my creativity," Smoke said. "I never knew our CEO at MCA Records. I never got to talk to him. But Luda, I smoke buda with Luda. I sip cris with Chris. We're friends more than business partners I'd like to say."
Back in April,
reports began spreading that Field Mob had dissed New York on a video leaked to the internet. The duo later denied the claims. While the clip did feature FM poking fun at NY slang, Smoke stresses that it wasn't a diss.
"They [NY] do us like that all the time, but nobody says nothing about it," the Albany, GA rapper pointed out regarding being clowned by northerners. "My bossman is from the heart of Harlem. His name is [DTP CEO] Chaka Zulu. His brother [DTP executive] Jeff [Dixon] is from the heart of Harlem. We [we're] basically mimicking them. The dude that edited it and made it seem like we was getting at New York...if you saw the real
DVD, you would have saw that it's just a joke. We joke like that, we have fun."
"DTP fired him from being a cameraman, so what he did was take his footage home and try to slander us with the footage," Smoke continued. "And he chopped it up and edited it like... we were cracking on New York. My bossman says son, b, word up, all that. They don't give a fuck about it, so why should another motherfucka give a fuck about it? I feel like if the south wasn't on top the way it is right now, it wouldn't have been as big of an issue in my opinion. I would never do that in New York, shoot myself in the foot like that. That's the mecca of hip-hop. If it wasn't from New York, I wouldn't be here today, rapping."
While hip-hop is being declared dead by rappers, critics and fans alike, the south has never been so prosperous. Interestingly, Smoke, a proud south representative, agrees that hip-hop is deceased.
"Hell yeah. Hip-hop is dead. I'mma tell you who killed hip-hop... D4L and Dem Franchize Boyz. Those are the murderers of hip-hop, in my opinion. It was already dying. They just came over and killed it," Smoke revealed. "Nobody doing hip-hop is selling records. Lil' Wayne is the only motherfucka doing hip-hop that's selling, him and [Young] Jeezy. Hip-Hop is not what it used to be."
"I love D4L and Franchize Boyz. I love 'Laffy Taffy' and all that shit, so don't get it fucked up. I ain't dissing them niggas at all. They from GA, Georgia. I'm a Georgia nigga," Smoke added. "Me and Shawn we still make
hip-hop music, but people don't wanna accept it because it got a southern twang. Hip-hop is wordplay, saying something, metaphors. I love hip-hop. I fell in love with Mobb Deep, Nas. These are the people that influenced me. People like Bun B. He's a hip-hop artist. MJG, Eightball, those are hip-hop southern artists. The old south is hip-hop. The new south...naaahh!"
Field Mob's Light Poles and Pine Trees featuring guest spots by Ludacris, Bobby Valentino and
Ciara with production by Jazze Pha is in stores today.