Long Beach lyricist Crooked I has incurred the wrath of the right-wing with the first single from his forthcoming album, Million Dollar $tory, thanks to sly shots aimed at political pundit Glenn Beck (while simultaneously anointing his “hottie” daughter “Princess Slaughter”) as well as additional prominent conservatives Sarah Palin and Rush Limbaugh.
“I just wanted to ruffle some people’s feathers,” Crook told HipHopDX in late June about his “Everyday”
barbs. “And I did, ‘cause people was hittin’ my Twitter from the Tea Party with the angry rants. [Laughs] It struck a nerve.”
While conservatives may have just recently become aware of “Everyday” thanks to last month’s video accompaniment to the thumping track, the song was actually released formerly back in March alongside the stellar self-examination “Villain” and rugged hater brush-off “OKBye” on Million Dollar Story (The EP). And Crooked is well aware that his pre-Tea Party listeners have been patiently waiting for the Million Dollar LP that he estimated to DX will finally hit store shelves in August.
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“Sometimes the fans, they get upset with me, and they say, ‘Yo, we been waiting,’ and I understand,” the Circle Of Bosses CEO conceded. “But with the independent thing, I gotta make sure that I dot my i’s and cross my t’s. … It’s all coming out of my own pocket. It’s coming out from my company. I got a few partners in my company, and we’re just trying to make sure that we spend our money wisely in marketing and in the promo. We’re not Def Jam [Records] obviously, so we can’t just throw projects against the wall and see what stick. We gotta really be careful with the way we spend our cheese.”
Cheese was surely well spent on the sound for his $tory, which Crook revealed was supplied by StreetRunner, DJ Khalil, Mr. Porter, Rick Rock and an assemblage of fresh, new beatmakers.
The other three-fourths of Slaughterhouse, Twista, Jay Rock, Glasses Malone, Mistah F.A.B. and his C.O.B. familia comprise the guest list for the first official full-length of the former Virgin and Death Row Records’ artist’s 15-year career.
“My whole thing is that I been through a lot of ups and downs in this industry,” he reminded, “and [so] I’m definitely happy that I can put this project out independently because that means that I can oversee everything. I can do whatever the fuck I want.”
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Even with his long-delayed LP receiving an independent release, Crooked will still be making his major-label debut later this year as he and his Slaughterhouse crew look to stuff stockings with a holiday season release for their first Shady/Interscope Records offering.
Royce Da 5’9 recently divulged to DX that heavy hitters Just Blaze, Swizz Beatz and Boi-1da have already supplied some serious heat to the foursome for their upcoming album, but Crook is certain that will not be the full and final production lineup for the project.
“There’s gon’ be some other names,” he explained, “because I mean, Em ain’t even really walked in there and just blessed us yet. And you know he’s gonna produce some joints on there, and that’s just gon’ be ridiculous – retardulous, whatever you wanna call it.”
Another producer Crooked is hoping to still receive some retardulous tracks from for the Slaughterhouse album is the man he nearly signed to 12 years ago before sentencing himself to Death Row.
“I know the scheduling and timing and all that blahda ladda, but man, Slaughterhouse need to be in there with [Dr.] Dre,” he noted. “If they was to ask me what my wish list was, or who I wanna get on this fuckin’ album, it’s gonna be Dr. Dre. … I ain’t go through hell and a hand-basket to get to where I’m at to not fuck with the good doctor. [Laughs] Shit. I’m in the fuckin’ building; I’m in Interscope. Dre, where you at, baby? We need them goddamn tracks. [Laughs]”
After proceeding to declare Dre his personal choice for greatest producer in Hip Hop history, Crooked addressed some of his history with the doctor, including the now five-year-old “Say Dr. Dre” and whether or not that track was solicited or unsolicited for one of the original incarnations of Detox.
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“I knew he was taking submissions,” explained Crook, “and some people had hit me up about writing some stuff. So that was just what it was. And it leaked, which was horrible for me, ‘cause once the shit leaked it’s over. Ain’t nobody using that shit. But, I worked on a few things …. He had some bangers in there when I did that. When I went in there, he already had a classic album just laying around in them hard drives.”
“I don’t know, but it’s like, sometimes it feels like the album is never coming out,” he added about Dr. Dre’s now seemingly mythical finale. “But he got crazy shit over there.”
While Crooked continues to wait along with the rest of the Hip Hop nation for Dre to finally share with the world the classic album he has lying around, Mr. Pigface is keeping busy with his own musical output, having just released his crew compilation, Planet C.O.B. Vol. 2, featuring Coniyac (formerly of Doggy’s Angels), Horseshoe G.A.N.G., and the whole Circle of Bosses camp.
On one of the compilation’s two solo songs from Crook, the left coast vet predicts he will one day be joining the legendary ranks of “Pac & Biggie”.
“Basically I’m saying I wanna have an impact like them when I’m gone,” he explained. “Because to me, they had the greatest impact on the game. And I don’t never want people to forget that as … we get into this new generation. If you a young 14, 15-year-old kid, you an Odd Future fan, I want you to know that ‘Pac and Biggie are somebody that you should always know about if you a fan of Hip Hop, period.”
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Purchase Planet C.O.B. Vol. 2 exclusively available at PlanetCOB.com.
