March 23, 2005 @ 4:01 am

Online Exclusive: Blahzay - Talking to Blah

Aleatrice Y. Dixson

Ten years after his single "Danger" was released in 1995, Brooklyn-bred MC Blahzay returns with a sexual revolution, beef with Guerilla Black, and new views on the hip hop industry. "Danger"'s catchy lyrics like "When the East is in the house / Oh My God," had the crowds partying on the east and west coast back then, and Blah, as he likes to be called now, dominated the ai

Ten years after his single "Danger" was released in 1995, Brooklyn-bred MC Blahzay returns with a sexual revolution, beef with Guerilla Black, and new views on the hip hop industry. "Danger"'s catchy lyrics like "When the East is in the house / Oh My God," had the crowds partying on the east and west coast back then, and Blah, as he likes to be called now, dominated the airwaves with the #1 single. Some of Blah's more recent work includes recorded a single with his late cousin Ol' Dirty Bastard entitled "Go Go Go." The single features Blah samples from "Danger" and was included on Osirus, the official mix tape from Ol' Dirty Bastard. Blah chatted with VIBE.com to talk about his new music and the current state of the music industry. Blah you've been low key for a minute, what's been going on? I've been touring overseas and working with producers Kut Killah, Gangis Khan and Klef Dollars on my new project. I've been doing independent work and currently own a lounge/club in Brooklyn. I also own a production company called XXV/VIII Entertainment along with my producers. This music game continues to be a copy cat business. I didn't feel comfortable when I was out before because I felt my music was before my time. Now I feel I'm not coming back to the game, the game is coming back to me. What can the streets anticipate from you this time around? Right now we have a street single out. It's called "Guerilla Warfare" and it's receiving rotation on Hot 97 on DJ Kay Slay's Drama Hour. It's getting at Guerilla Black, the artist out of Compton, for disrespecting Biggie Smalls. He's a fraud. He claims his style came from other influences and yet he resembles Biggie, he sounds like Biggie and not one time has he given props to Biggie. He's disrespectful. Represent and just be original. Another single called "Models & Bottles" represents a sexual revolution and how hip hop has changed the way people view sex. Tell us what you want people to know about Blah? You are going to get motivational hip hop, cutting edge and a phenomenal lyricist. Several old-school artists are trying to bring it back to the way it was in the nineties but so [are] the new artists. I am the missing piece to the puzzle. I'm most definitely not saying that I'm bringing the hip hop game back in full effect, I'm simply the missing link needed to continue in this music industry. Several record companies now want you to be developed and want to cheat on developing an artist. If the labels spent more time and money to develop artists, the hip hop direction would be crazy. What are your thoughts on the record industry today? I feel the record industry is coming back to life. Real street-oriented hip hop. Street influenced hip hop. It's getting away from some of the pop. What I dislike is that everybody wants to do the same exact thing. Creativity is key in the music industry. Everybody sounds similar and we are missing some of the originality. Most record labels to me represent what I call the machine. They are able to spin things off like a factory and they have control over the media, press, and radio stations. A long story short... 1) Where is Brooklyn at... Brooklyn is everywhere. One thing about Brooklyn is we migrate. We are on the west coast, east coast, down south and mid west. 2) When the East is in the house... It's a party and lots of women. 3) Ol' Dirty Bastard... Would have wanted everyone to be original no matter how hard the fight. 4) My most motivational speech... When I speak to the new artist about getting into the game. I advise an artist to invest in themselves. Do for yourself so others can take you seriously. If you need a demo invest in it and be creative.

Article tags: Online, Exclusive, Blahzay, Talking, Blah 

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