The Season of Goodwill is over; the remnants of Christmas trees are out on the side walks and the twinkling lights and menorahs are packed away for another year. But yet the Hip-hop community is still in giving mode. Cool and Dre are known for their production first and foremost. With tracks like New York and Hate It Or Love It under their belt the duo who hooked up in high school are now putting their name to a whole new project, BattleRap.Com.
BattleRap.Com is an interactive video game that allows you to ‘battle’ for the chance to secure a $100,000 record deal with Miami based Pure Records and all this without having to face an A&R or step foot into an office. The reason for their involvement in this project is that it allows them to help artists who may not have had such an opportunity to discover and nurture their talent. Cool and Dre want to give back to the fans and by being involved in a venture such as this, it allows them to do just that.
Having established themselves as a driving force in the beats department for the Hip-hop and R and B worlds, Cool and Dre know what hard work is all about as they put in a lot to get where they are today and it doesn’t just stop when you get a couple of platinum plaques to adorn your walls. Here they talk about the people who they admire and respect, their own projects and just how important BattleRap.com is to the continuous growth of Hip-hop.
You have started this BattleRap.com and I am curious to know what encouraged you to start this competition?
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One of the developers of the game came to us with the idea and we thought it was just a great idea for kids to be able to purchase something like this, you know and battle people all over the world and really who wouldn’t want to be a part of that?
You were approached and it was down to you to being everyone else on board?
Well the idea was presented to us and we thought it was great and we wanted to be a part of it. You know it is a game that I would buy if I was 16/17/18 and if I was that age and there was an opportunity to win a $100,000 and all I had to do was battle a group of dudes , I would want to be part of it.
Did you endorse this to other people as I know you have DJ Khaled amongst others involved in this project?
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Me and Cool endorsed it as well. What it is, is me and Cool never forget where we come from and the people that make you who you are, the people who are on the streets, the fans and this is a game for the fans. So we haven’t gotten so bigheaded to think we are above all that. We appreciate the things that keep us grounded and this allows the kids who do look up to Cool and Dre to become signed artists and professionally work in a studio with us. There is an opportunity to rhyme on a Cool and Dre beat which allows us to give back at the same time.
When does it actually launch?
At the top of the year.
Obviously there has been a good response to this idea and what better way to promote the game than through the internet.
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Well the internet is huge right now, so we have to be involved in that as well and it also spreads the culture out as well and if we can keep what we do going it is a great thing. We watch other genres of music fade out but we don’t want hip-hop to fade out and if there is anything we can do to lengthen the life of Hip-hop then we want to be part of it as well as making it fun and making it dope.
You are also giving people a chance that may not have had such an opportunity.
Yeah we may find the next Jay-Z. You know now they can be heard and if they win not only were they heard but they also have the chance of securing a $100,000 record deal.
Now the deal you are offering, is that coming from your label?
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No it is actually from Pure Records, which is distributed through Sony Red.
Lately battle rappers aren’t really getting a good response due to not being able to put out quality albums, but they can however hold it down in Fight Klub and on 106 and Park. Do you think battle rappers need to step their game up?
Basically when an artist comes into battle people automatically assume that all they can do is that, but it takes something like this, BattleRap.Com to find a certain type of artist. Look at Eminem, he started out battle rapping and has gone on to make some great albums, there are only a few, its like finding a needle in a haystack and this gives these kids an opportunity for that ‘needle’ to break through and have an opportunity to be heard. I think they definitely have to step their game up otherwise we are wasting a lot of money on BattleRap.Com.
As one of the hottest producer duos in the game right now, how do you feel about the state of the production game, is it oversaturated with mediocre producers?
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Music is music, you know there is just a lot of different styles.
There are only a couple of producers in the game where you really can appreciate their music as it is, and they are Dr. Dre and Timbaland and I would put Just Blaze out there too.
You wouldn’t put yourselves out there? I mean you signed your names to some seriously hot tracks lately.
Yeah but then that is wack. I am talking about people who we have listened to continuously and learned from for years. Timbaland and Dr. Dre, you would buy instrumental albums from those guys. Right now if Timbaland put out an instrumental album and all you had to do was listen to the beats, it would sell like hotcakes. See that’s what we are trying to create with BattleRap.com, just get some beats out there that will have everyone going crazy.
So talking about Timbaland, he has found himself a new partner in Danjahandz, what do you think about him?
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Oh man, Danja, that’s our boy. Danja is a problem. The track that he did for the Duets album with Biggie and Jay-Z, man its crazy.
So Tim and Dre are people that you really respect?
You know Tim and Dre are like idols to us and Tim is also our friend, he did a record on my album which will be coming out soon. You know to get a Timbaland beat is crazy. It’s like forget about Cool and Dre beats (laughing) I got a Timbaland beat.
When is your album coming out?
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That is dropping in April, but the dope thing about all this is we are going to use my album to promote the BattleRap.com.
What is this album coming out on?
It’s coming out on our imprint on Jive Records.
On Epidemic?
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Yeah and the video is also being showed on BET and MTV 2 and its crazy.
Talk to me about Epidemic, Tony Sunshine isn’t with you anymore right?
No actually Tony is with Fat Joe as the situation at Jive didn’t really work out with Tony. But right now we have Dirt Bag and we have ourselves and then the next album after Dirt Bag will be Joe Hound. Right now we are just focusing on Joe Hound, Dirt Bag and ourselves. Both those guys are from Miami.
Now in terms of your own projects, how did you feel when you heard what Mary J Blige did to Hate it or Love it?
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We had been in LA as we had three tracks for her album but she was working on that when we had left LA and we were in Atlanta working with Young Jeezy when she sent us what she had done over the internet and we were totally blown away, she said it was the best record she had ever heard in her life.
Has that track been one of the highest points in your career producer wise so far?
Without the Ja RuleNew York record it wouldn’t have been as big for Cool and Dre. It was big but along side the fact that it came after New York that is what made it.
Well that was without a doubt a hot beat.
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Thanks, we really appreciate it.
Do you feel it was a long time coming?
Yeah man. There has been a lot of hard work.
You have a restaurant as well don’t you, on South Beach, was this something you always wanted to do?
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Yeah we wanted to diversify all of out talents and put our hands in as many things as we can, who knows whether it be a restaurant, a clothing line, the music, a label or even a video game like what we are promoting. We just want to be a part of whatever is hot and that is how we got involved in Battlerap.com.
So back to the game, how is it going to be marketed? You have video games selling millions of units in a day.
You know basically promote it in all the magazines that cater to hip-hop, the toy stores. We plan on doing everything we have to do. Talk to people like yourself, the music we are trying to do will also promote it.
You see these video games move sometimes a million units on the day they drop, it is amazing how much money they generate.
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That’s how it works, people went crazy for Madden. At $49 a pop it is big business. We are hoping to see good results.
Is there anyone out there you are feeling will bring us something new in 2006?
Besides our own artists we also executively produced Christina Milian’s album, we did her whole album and that is going to be crazy. She has a single with Young Jeezy, it’s going to tear the streets down. There is also a kid called Rick Ross from Miami that is going to be big. We are just doing what we do to stay relevant and stay hot, make good music.
