As a longtime member of Compton’s Most Wanted, Tha Chill is a respected west coast veteran producer and emcee. He’s worked with Snoop Dogg, MC Ren, and of course his longtime band-mate, MC Eiht. With his latest group, Wanted Gang, Chill has just released a new mixtape of material, aptly-titledBig Homie Muzic.
Chill reached out to HipHopDX to make the mixtape an exclusive DX premier, and spoke to us about the mixtape’s set-up for his upcoming Chillafornia album.
FREE DOWNLOAD:Big Homie Muzic by Tha Chill & Wanted Gang
“At first it was an album project that I was working on with my homies and we accumulated so much bomb shit that I just felt like it was time to let my fans get a bit of it to see what I been up too, as far as what I was setting up,” explained Chill on if the veteran had any reservations about giving new music away for free. “I wanted the fans to see that I still had rap skills, aside from my production and expose niggas to [veteran Wanted Gang members like] Kill Att Will and new voices like my lil’ cousin Jabo and the homies Buda, A-Bo and Smooth O.N.E. As far as free music, I basically view free music as free publicity and part of us building a brand, which is Wanted Gang.”
With Comptons Most Wanted have several periods of turmoil in the group’s nearly 25 years of existence, Chill was also asked if there were any concerns from Eiht on naming Chill’s new pupils Wanted Gang. “Kill Att Will is one of my and MC Eiht’s homies from junior high all the way through high school and in these Compton streets,” began Chill. “Jabo, that’s my baby cousin. Buda, A-bo and O.N.E. is local talent that I’ve been dealing with through all the years and decided they would fit perfect for what I’m doing with this project. So, Wanted Gang is definitely an extension of Compton’s Most Wanted from Chill’s wing. Eiht got homies that he fuck with [that are in] Wanted Gang, as well as [longtime Eiht proteges] Boom Bam, so it’s all part of building up the brand and taking the next step in our career.”
For Chill, having produced for three decades, he was asked if his sound had changed at all to tailor this new project. “It’s just growth in our sound and our music. We grow with the times, but at the same time I gotsta keep it gangsta for my fan base and stay in my lane like I know how,” explained the man who worked with MC Ren, 213 and more recently, Kokane‘s Gimme All Mine album.
With Wanted Gang coming at a time where west coast veterans such as Ice Cube and MC Eiht have voiced disapproval of some of the new artists’ respect for their forefathers, Chill was asked to weigh in on the present old vs. new debate. “I ain’t got no problem with none of the new cats, I just got a problem with the movement they trying to push, claiming that it’s a ‘new west’ like we ain’t good enough to just be west coast,” explained the emcee/producer. “If I wasn’t making records, I wouldn’t give a fuck but I’m still pushing my line and good at it. The only thing I know is west coast, I don’t know nothing about no ‘new west’ or ‘old west,’ it’s just one west to me. Period.”
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