Outsidaz Restored, Au Naturale

Here's a bit of good news for Outsidaz fans. In 2001, they put out an album called All Natural almost none of y'all have. I mean, you probably have mp3s you downloaded from one of a million shady sources, but you probably don't have a real copy of it. That's because you could only order it direct from the label Slang Doe Record's website, which was only up for short time (at least in that incarnation). And this was years ago before everybody Paypal accounts and bandcamp pages. You had to mail them a check or money order. I don't even have an original CD of it, and I've put in some effort.

But the good news is it's back. It's in print. I mean, it's actually been starting to pop up digitally here and there for a while now... You could buy the mp3s from Amazon if you're into that; and I think now it's on ITunes. But I just stumbled across new, official CDs out in the wild. These are legit, properly pressed (not CD-Rs) CDs direct from Slang Doe.

Now, All Natural is often billed as an Az Izz solo album. Even the old covers[pictured right] had his name and photo right on the front. And for good reason; he produced the whole thing. He's been both an MC (with some sick lines on here) and a producer for the Outz, doing some of their better known songs like "Rush Ya Clique" and "Do It Wit a Passion." And there were actually two singles off the album, under Az Izz's name, which are easier to find, since they were pressed on vinyl and managed to circulate around the vinyl community. But the full-length CDs are much more scarce. And whether you consider it a proper Outsidaz album, or an Az Izz producer's album that just so happens to be 100% of Outsidaz appearances, it's a hot little album that any Outz fan will want.

It's definitely got a more low budget sound to it, raw and unpolished, which is either a pro or a con depending on your tastes. Either way, it makes a cool alternative to the more official studio album, The Bricks. The song "So Low" sounds like you're right in the studio with the guys while they take turns kicking verses. Hence the title All Natural, I suppose. And there are songs you'll recognize, since all four songs (the A- and B-sides) from both those aforementioned Az Izz 12"s are one here, and so is "Do It Wit a Passion," which originally came out on vinyl in 1999, and was included on the pre-release version of The Bricks, but ultimately got left off the retail version.

And, except for the Detroit guys, every Outsida you know is on here: Young Zee, Pace Won, D.U., Axe, Yah Yah, Loon One, Nawshis, Denz One, S.A.S.S.... Yes, Slang Ton is on here; he's on four songs(!). Even Rah Digga comes through. There's one or two Az Izz solo songs (although even those have background vocals by other members), but it's definitely an Outsidaz family affair. Most songs are posse cuts with multiple members spitting bars. And there's also a couple outsider (see what I did there? That's why I make the big bucks) appearances by some guy with a bugged style from Newark named Nom, and Artifacts' OG Tame One.

A pleasant surprise, too: this new pressing features an all-new bonus track. Now, don't get too excited. It's not an unheard, vintage Outsidaz posse cut. It might be vintage, I guess; but it sounds new. And it's not a big Outsidaz posse cut. It's just a short freestyle by BSkills.

Wait, who's BSkills? I'm glad you asked. He's an Outsidaz affiliate from Brazil (hence the B in his name), who linked up with the crew when he was living in New Jersey. I used to think Az Izz ran Slang Doe Records, since all they put out back in the day was his stuff. In more recent years, they put out a couple other guys, but strictly online stuff, no CDs or vinyl. But, yeah, apparently it's actually Skills not Az Izz. And he's the one making the new CDs happen now... which explains why they're shipping from Brazil.

Whoops. Yeah. But if you're not in Brazil, you can get them normally priced on EBay. He's selling them direct on there, and thankfully you don't have to pay crazy overseas shipping that way. I think you can get it from some Brazillian stores if you're actually over there; but for most of us, that's the way to go. Just search for "All Natural Outsidaz" or "Slangdoe" and you'll find it. Maybe it's not quite as exciting as the big Musical Meltdown revival, but I was pretty happy when I found this.

Outsidaz, Come Rain Or Shine

This is the debut of the Outsidaz right here. I mean, granted, Young Zee had come out a few years earlier, and through his singles and (unreleased but leaked) album, we'd been introduced to his Ouz crew already. And they cameo'd on The Fugees' second album... But this is their first collective single as The Outsidaz, the penultimate in New Jersey hip-hop. "Rain Or Shine" on Proceed Entertainment/ Out House Productions, 1998.

The track is simple, but a killer, produced by Kobie Brown. Proceed Entertainment was his label, and I think he was also acting as a sort of co-manager for The Outz at that time. He's the same Kobie who speaks up once or twice in my 1998 Outsidaz interview. and had been down with the Outz at least since Young Zee's earliest Perspective singles, which he also worked produced and collaborated on. He seemed to drift more towards the R&B side of the industry after this, but "Rain Or Shine" shows he was certainly adept at producing hip-hop. It's basically all about one ill, pounding piano loop and a crisp, slow and hard drum track. It's immediately compelling, you could just listen and focus on that loop the whole five minutes. But it's also simple enough to play the background for the Outsidaz sick and varied flows.

The line-up for this record is spelled out on the label, albeit in the wrong order. In order of appearance, it goes: Pace Won, Axe, Yah Yah and Young Zee. There's also a short, fifth verse which is uncredited... I think that's Azizz, but I'm not certain. The hook is a catchy example of The Outz' interplay, with each MC taking turns saying different lines each time, sometimes in unison. Each MC really gets a chance to play to their strengths, with Pace Won dropping some playfully slick wordplay, "The lethalest, I'm evil as Kneival is; I drop the bomb and leave your city people-less." Axe kicks a lot of quick, short syllable rhymes, "Swift to smack a lady actin' shady, that's the way the Axe amaze thee. Blastin' crazy, get the cash, then Axe be Swayze." Zee kicks his entirely unique brand of drug slanging raps, "I used to make a grand a day out in Santa Fe. Cops came, I ran away; moved to Tampa Bay. Now they say my tape promotes drugs when I bust, like I be out sellin' dust in front of Kids 'R Us." But it's Yah Lover, Zee's younger brother who sometimes manages to be more Zee than Zee, who possibly manages to steal the show with some of the sickest, craziest rhymes:

"We sever the ligaments of army confederates
For leverage. I smoke a blunt and dump two sedatives.
Still flowin' looser than the bitches I seduce;
After a noose, crews get disposed like a douche
From the grittiest, shittiest, climax climidiest[?],
Whose affiliates be on some old Willy shit!
Keep an open eye, you think of scopin' Yah?
Ya better apply for life with Mutual of Omaha.
All you biters'll die from malnutrition,
Or Yah Yah'll stomp out your endocrine system!"

The b-side isn't by The Outz at all, but by R&B singer Tonya Von featuring A.L. (short for All Lyrics). I don't think being paired up with the Outsidaz wound up doing her any favors, because the song got completely overshadowed by all the buzz "Rain Or Shine" was getting. And the Proceed family must've felt the same way, because they later re-released "Tonite" as its own single, but it still didn't catch on. Tonya Von, though, was also an artist who Kobie was working with back in mid 90's, who was also signed to Perspective Records, and who also got dropped before dropping her album (she had a single called "Bounce"). Anyway, it's not a bad track... the beat (co-produced by Kobie and somebody named Ibo) is a smooth head-nodder, Tonya's a talented vocalist, and A.L.'s guest raps are decent, if unexceptional... he was one of those Lyricist Lounge-type 90's MCs who was heavy on the punchlines ("lyrics so deep I wrote 'em in submarines"). But he's got a nice, swift flow and multi-syllable that definitely keep things interesting.

"Tonite" comes in two versions (not counting the Instrumental), the Main Mix and the Queens Mix. The instrumental and everything is exactly the same in both cases, but the difference is that the Queens Mix has an extra verse from A.L. right at the beginning. So for hip-hop heads like us, the preferred version is obvious.

So, pictured above is the classic vinyl, but I have something else I think you'll enjoy for today's show and tell: pictured right is the promo-only cassette singles Proceed was giving out to labels and rap journalists like myself. It does away with the instrumentals, clean edits and stuff from the vinyl, and just features the main, vocal mix of each song. They've got some slightly different credits (and different spellings: "Pacewon appears courtesy of Roka Block"), and they've also got stickers on the back covering up a 212 number with a 973 phone number.

Unfortunately, Proceed closed its doors after this (and the other 12" pressing of "Tonite"). Kobie and The Outsidaz were a good pairing, and I would've liked to see them continue to do more work together. But, hey. Maybe it's not too late. The Outsidaz have been doing more and more collaberations lately, and Kobie doesn't seem to have been doing much in the public eye, lately. Surely he has the time to link up and provide those guys with some beats again. Everybody would win.

(Werner Necro'd) All Day Outsidaz: The Interview part 3

...continued from part 2.

So what's up with you guys and The Dirty Dozen? Is Em still down with them?

Pace Won: Oh, the Dirty Dozen? Well, I don't really know about The Dirty D... The last time I talked to them, they said they were havin' a little trouble. But they're probably still together. It's probably cool. They're just slow recordin' 'cause Em went out west, and they live in Detroit, so it's a little hard recordin'; so they had cooled it for a minute. But I think, as of now, it's back in service.

Who do you think is gonna do solo projects after Em and the projects people know about now? Who've you got lined up next?

Pace Won: Uhmm... I'd say Slang Ton, Dee You gonna do his project, and Azzizz. And the No Brain Class. They're not solo, but that's a group in the Outz: Young Zee, Yah Lova, DJ Muhammed.

And now when's your first single coming out? What's your first single gonna be again?

Pace Won: "I Declare War", and the b-side "Step Up." It's coming in like a week, for the end of the month. A week, ten days... Do me, do me good. Do me right, know I mean? Don't make me come in here blazin' nothin'. I'll blaze this bitch, believe me. Don't play with me.

Well, before anybody sneaks outta here, is there anything anybody wants to say to people who maybe don't know y'all yet?

Slang Ton: Look for our subsidiary group, the Outslangaz.

Pace Won: Ahhh! (laughs) The Outslangaz, yes. I'd just like to say, I know it's been a long time. You've probably been hearin' about us for a while. I'd just like to say the politics is a bitch you know what I mean? But we're still comin', we still do our hip-hop every day, it's still true to us. We're not sellin' out. Let's keep it real. The politics still holdin' us back. Thank you.

Young Zee: Yeah, this is Young Zee. I wanna say, you know, we work out of our studio in Newark. It's called Outhouse Productions. You know, we got 22-tracks, whatever. Y'all can call, if you want to. Book a session. It's all g. It's Young Zee. I'm on Pace Won's project, The Pace Won Effect...

Pace Won:"Nobody" & "Keep On."

Young Zee: ...I'm on Krs-One's new album, so you can check that comin' out. I'm on Busta's new solo album, so you can check that out. Rah Digga, my wife, you know, I'm on her joint. It's all g.

And Digga was on that "Temple of Hip-Hop", right?

Young Zee: Yeah, most definitely. So, y'all can check for me. And all y'all ladies, who want a date or something, you know I'm saying? I can't do it. I got my girl. It's all g, though.

Pace Won: You know what I mean?

Young Zee: But Pace don't got no girl!

Pace Won: Don't say that, don't say that... I got a wonderful woman at home. (Laughs) Gave my girl a plug.

And how would y'all describe the Outsidaz to those who haven't heard y'all yet?

Young Zee: Playful. Jokey. Everybody joke too much. Everybody laugh. It's all a game to us. It's real, but, as a personality. We don't let nothin' stop us from having fun, you know what I'm sayin'? It's all g.

Pace Won: I'd just like to say that the clique is innovative, you know what I'm sayin'? Freestyle type rappers... Story-tellers, some of us.

Slang Ton: Battle rappers, punch lines...

Pace Won: Battle rappers... talkin' about versatile rappers, you know I'm sayin'?

Young Zee: We don't let nothin' hold us back! We don't really care, you know I'm saying?

Pace Won: Original hip-hop type shit. We just kept doin' it. A little tricky lyrics and hardcore beats.

Young Zee: I don't care if my album don't never drop, I'ma still be waxin' mc's asses.

Pace Won: Basically.

Young Zee: That's just how it goes.

Pace Won: That's just how we feel about it.

Dee You: Chris Tucker, mother fucker.

Young Zee: Chris Tucker, mother fucker!

(Everybody laughs.)

On the flip side, what kind of hip-hop... what's the worst thing you think is going on in hip-hop right now? What kinda styles...

Slang Ton: The worst thing right now is the remakin'. Because, to me, the audience in hip-hop, the fans... Whatever's popular is what they jump on to. It's not necessarily who's fresher no more. Like whatever's popular. If you hear a song a million times on Hot 97, you're gonna start liking that shit, and that's wrong. And it kinda makes the audience lean towards garbage.

Pace Won: And, also, the bad flip side to me is the politics. Behind the scenes, how much publishing these companies is trying to get you for. The little weak-ass advances they're trying to give people, you know I'm sayin'? This is our livin'! I expect to make at least minimum wage, God dammit. More than that! So alla that bad politics needs to stop. They need to stop that right there. I don't know who controls it, or whatever they're thinking up there, but they need to stop that. The contracts is too in-depth right now. I'll tell you, right now, I signed November 3rd 1997. I looked at my contract goin' "What the fuck is this?" A whole bunch of "forth"'s and "thou shalt"'s. I thought it was the bible out this motherfucker. They should be like, "You record. You make such and such. Ass blank. Sign it." Leave that shit out! It be too much motherfucking politics.

And you've got a video coming out for your new joint?

Pace Won: Yup. My white label joint. I be shootin' it next month. I don't got the date for it, yet, but October. "I Declare War" and "Step Up". I'll probably do a conjunction video, you know? Two videos in one. That's what we gonna talk about. Just get the little effect ready! Dee You's album called, The Brown Hornet.

Dee You: The World is Flat!

Pace Won: The World is Flat. My bad. He updates it like every other day. Now the world is flat and shit. Nah, The World is Flat, know what I mean? Slang Ton?

Slang Ton: Pork.

(Everybody laughs)

Pace Won: Young Zee, what you doin'? NBC album, what's the name?

Young Zee: What's the name of it? No Brain Class.

Pace Won: ...Self-titled debut album. Mine'll be The Pace Won Effect.

Young Zee: Young Zee album: Paranoia! Coming soon...

Pace Won: I-ight. Zee comin' with a solo, AND a group AND another group! He just can't stop. It won't stop...

Slang Ton: The Big Slang Theory.

Pace Won: All the Slangs got together... BOW!!

Slang Ton: Made the Slang universe.

Pace Won: The Big Slang Theory instead of the big bang theory.

Yo, if you could work with somebody now, who you haven't worked with before...

Pace Won: Yo, my man asked me this yesterday. And, totell the truth, Nas. I'm not kiddin'. I would work with Nas... Either Nas, or... if I could pick somebody else... maybe Meth. Nas or Meth. I met 'em both, they're real cool brothers. I ain't never stepped to 'em on that tip, but if I could, I would. ...I did, like, three songs with Meth - excuse me - with Red, before, you know I'm sayin'? With the Outsidaz.

Is that gonna be on one of y'all's albums?

Pace Won: Not on his album, but on our album... He's got, like, two joints on there. ...Ok, let's bust it. (knockin' beat on table) Ok, ok... I can't rap and do it at the same time, sorry fellas.

Dee You: I hate niggas that can do that!

Young Zee: (Knockin'.) One for the money/ two for the time/ I know Slang Ton/ I know Busta Rhymes. Come on. That's the easiest thing in the world.

Slang Ton: (Knockin'.) Yo/ I kill you/

(Everybody laughs)

Slang Ton: Drill you/ spill through... I don't know.

How do you feel about off-the-head rhyming? Do you think you really gotta freestyle off the head to be a good MC?

Young Zee: Well, yeah. It'll help.

Pace Won: It'll help. 'Cause, like, from my personal experience, sometimes I'll be on stage, and I might mess up. And that's when freestylin' kicks in like, "Hit that, split that, get back before I kick raps!"

Dee You: Some of the rhymes we come up with, just freestylin'. You don't even know it.

Pace Won: And, plus, when you just got a hot beat, and then your crew comes together, and you start cypherin' a little freestyle, the hook, everything..

Dee You: The concept of the song.

Young Zee: All the time you talkin', Zee's still readin' about this drug shit goin' on, ya know?

Pace Won: I-ight. ...That drug life's got his interest, you see? He started readin' it.

Young Zee: Shit's crazy, yo.

Slang Ton: He love that drug game.

Dee You: If you write rhymes, you should be able to freestyle, yo. It should come natural.

Slang Ton: If they can think of it...

Pace Won: They don't, but they probably can, though. Even though... they might not be good at it.

Dee You: If they can't freestyle, don't do it!

Pace Won: Everybody can freestyle. I know people that don't rap that be freestylin'.

DeeYou: If you're not a good freestyler, don't freestyle then. I'd rather just hear your writtens.

Pace Won: Niggas just come out like, "Yo! Yo/ Joe/ Schmoe... Yo!"

Dee You: Yo, we 'bout to bounce, boy. We ain't got all day with these internet people.

Pace Won: For real, I do gotta run to the label. 'Cause "I Declare War" might be comin' back today. Gotta go check, boy! I feel giddy like a little kid 'cause I've been waitin' for a long time to just put out a song, you know? I've been rapping since I was like 12. I started rapping after I heard, "La Di Da Di." I always liked rap before that, but "La Di Da Di" got me like, "Yo, I can bust this... That shit he talkin' about right there, I can sing slicker! Slicker than the Ricker," know what I mean? So, I started busting rhymes. Me and Dee You was in our basement. "Yo, yo, yo, yo, yo!" You know how that goes. Just tappin' and recordin'. I always waited to drop this single.... Just a single, an album, you know, just see how the public responds to it. Yeah, I'm excited. And for my Outsidaz clique, too, 'cause now it's like contracts are on the table for us, so I'm real excited to see what could turn out of this event, this experience I've been going through.

The Outsidaz have of course since broken up, but most of them are still doing music, sometimes even other. Hopefully maybe they can reform some day soon. Here're the links to their myspaces: Young Zee, Pace Won, Rah Digga, Az Izz, Eminem, Muhammad, Yah Yah, Bizarre and D.U.

Tags: Outsidaz, Pace Won, Young Zee, Eminem, Rah Digga, Slang Ton, Dee You, Azzizz, DJ Muhammad

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(Werner Necro'd) All Day Outsidaz: The Interview part 2

...continued from part 1.

So what's up with Musical Meltdown now? Is that never coming out?

Young Zee: It's, like, you know. Out with the old, in with the new.

Pace Won: BUT, we might put out the bootleg version.

Slang Ton: Word up.

'Cause I know a lot of people were waitin' for that album... It got reviewed and all that, then it never came out.

Young Zee: We do so much joints, it don't really matter. I did my album in like, what? Two months?

Pace Won: Word up.

Young Zee: Pace did his album in like, what? Two months?

Pace Won: Three months.

Young Zee: It's too easy. There's a million of us. There's like competition in between us. This what we do everyday.

Pace Won: This our 9 to 5; this is what we do. We rap. That's is our career. We take it seriously.

Young Zee: I don't wanna give no other magazine props, but you heard about the battle, like...?

Blaze. Yeah.

Young Zee: We do that everyday.

Pace Won: Schoolin' MC's.

Young Zee: See, you gotta understand, we got a studio in Newark. So that means that everybody in Newark, or around Irvington, East Orange, whatever... All the MC's from Red all the way down come through our studio. And they always tryin' to show they ass. See if they can be fresher than us or whatever. But... It don't never happen. But it always prepare us for when somebody else come. It be like friendly battles in Newark. If you ain't from Newark, it ain't really a friendly battle. But it's all g. ...We got Rah Digga, take all the females. All the Outz is like warriors, when we trying to go out for battle, we out for blood.

Dee You: Plus, the freshest white boy on the planet.

Pace Won: What?

Gino: have you heard of him?

Yeah, I heard the Slim Shady EP & Infinite...

Gino: You liked it?

Yeah, it was ill. Definitely.

Pace Won: The EP's HOT.

Gino: You heard the Bizarre EP?

Nah, I haven't heard that.

Gino: Bizarre's got an EP, too.

Dee You: Somebody stole my Bizarre EP!

Pace Won: Yo, we on it. A song called, "Get the Dick." Bizarre's our solo artist from Detroit.

What'd he put that out on? His own label, or?

Pace Won: Yeah, Web Entertainment. They tryin' to make it hot. The same people that put out the Slim Shady EP.

And are y'all gonna be on Eminem's album, too, on Aftermath? 'Cause that's a prety big deal right there.

Dee You: Yes, sir. Well, I recorded a couple joints for him. Whether Dr. Dre pick 'em or not is something different. But, yeah, we have songs with Emzy. We have mad songs. He's on our first real single. It's called, "Mama, I Said." He on there. Me, Slang, Eminem, and Zee.

And when's that comin' out? What's up with that?

Dee You: Well, that's comin' out after we get our deal. But our first single is "Brick City"/ "Murderah" or something along those lines.

So how did Rah Digga hook up with Flipmode?

Pace Won: Well, Zee, once again... He was on Perspective. He did a remix for one of his singles, "Get High" with Q-Tip. And Tip met Digga and liked her, ya know I'm sayin'. But you Tip was doin' some other stuff with some other rapper... What's his name? Consequence. So he was goin' through all that. So, Busta was getting' ready to do his album, and he was like, "Yo, let me get Diggy," and she went over and did it. She got with them.

Young Zee: So, what's the flava? ...What's up with The Source? When y'all comin' out with the compilation album?

What do you mean? The Source puts out collective hits like, Source album, Source Pioneers... You mean like new material?

Pace Won: That was supposed to have BEEN come out, The Unsigned Hype album, right?

Slang Ton: They used to write it, like, way back. When you win this, they gonna put you in the compilation... They were always talkin' about ten months, and that shit never came out.

Pace Won: Source be frontin'... Source be frontin'.

Dee You: Write us as Unsigned Hype.

Pace Won: Why not? Here go our demo, I mean, here go our bio. There's our demo. Un...signed... Hype...for the month... of... Oc...tober.

But, you're about to be signed.

Pace Won: Sign us before we get the deal, ok? Sign us before we get the deal. Unsigned Hype.

Young Zee: Who hyper than us right now?

Slang Ton: Tell 'em Fugees, "Cowboys." People were lovin' it.

Pace Won: Debuted number 7, BET's Rap City. Thank you.

And, yeah, you also had a single out with Lauryn Hill, right?

Young Zee: Yeah.

Kobie: That was on the album. That was never a single.

Who would y'all say are your favorite rappers?

Pace Won: LL! ...Biggie, Jay-Z, & Nas! (laughs)

Young Zee: Right now, who's tearin' it down? Big Pun. I like Big Pun.

Slang Ton: It depends on my mind state... 'Cause when I feel like tearin' somebody's skull off, I like some DMX.

Pace Won: It's gotta be like, some... maybe Busta, you know what I'm sayin'? KRS, Red, Nas, Biggie, and Meth...

Young Zee: I'm talkin' about who's lyrically killin' it right now.

Pace Won: The niggas I just named!

Slang Ton: I said DMX.

And have y'all got any shows comin' up?

Dee You: Yeah, we're gonna be at the Coliseum on the 15th, then we'll be at the Paramount on the 23rd...

Slang Ton: The Meadowlands!

Pace Won: We're at Union Square on the 18th...

(Everybody laughs)

Pace Won: Nah, right now, we've just been talkin'.

Kobie: Just negotiations. That's stressful.

So Zee, have you got any plans to do another solo project, or are you holdin' off on that right now?

Young Zee: I'm negotiatin' that now... Right now, they've got a contingent upon the Outsida project. So, you know, just tryin' to smooth out all the edges. Then we gonna sign that damn thing, get this money, do this album. You know what I'm sayin'? We're gonna go away to do the album.

DJ Muhammed: Who's your favorite rap performer?

Performer?

Muhammed: Yeah.

(Everybody laughs.)

Dee You: Fuck you think this is? MTV?

DJ Muhammed: Come on. Y'all keep laughin', he's not gonna answer the question.

I don't know... Just before you came, I was watching a video of The X-Men...

DJ Muhammed: The X-Men?

Yeah, the DJ's...

Young Zee: Ay-ight.

DJ Muhammed: The Outz is one of the top performers. A lot of rappers can make songs, but they can't perform. But the Outz got stage presence.

Y'all do a lot of live DJ'ing and shit? 'Cause lately...

Young Zee: That's our live DJ!

Slang Ton: We got like 4 DJ's... DJ Muhammed, 3rd Rail...

And what's this Kid Capri you're coming out on?

Pace Won: I did a song with John Forte, Nature, and Rock from So-So Def, it's called, "Columbians."

That's gonna be on The Soundtrack to the Streets album?

Pace Won: That's gonna be on the b-side to the single.

To be continued immediately...

Tags: Outsidaz, Pace Won, Young Zee, Eminem, Rah Digga, Slang Ton, Dee You, Azzizz, DJ Muhammad

(Werner Necro'd) All Day Outsidaz: The Interview part 1

I just got Pace Won's new CD in the mail today (more on that next post), so in honor of that, I'm necro'ing my Outsidaz interview from the late 90's. Around this time, Eminem's Slim Shady EP exploded and word had just got out that he was signing with Dr. Dre, Pace Won was coming out on Roc-A-Blok Records, Rah Digga had become a member of Busta Rhymes' Flipmode Squad; and they were all setting to come with their debut family album.

What's up with the Outsidaz right now? What've you got coming out? The last I heard was "Rain or Shine"...

Pace Won: Yup. Our next white label, we've been discussing it.... So far it looks like it's either gonna be "Brick City" or a song called "Murderah," y'know I'm sayin'? Keepin' it hot. Pace Won, Young Zee, Slang Ton, Dee You, Gino from Family Affair Management, Kobie from Proceed Entertainment, and we all in here just... doin' nothin'.

Young Zee: Outsidaz is just, right now we underground, you know. We always been underground. We tryin' to take it over the level, though. We just gotta wait 'till it's our time. Pace Won comin', Zee's comin', Digga's comin', Eminem's comin'. We all comin'. But right now it's just Pace, Digga, & Eminem with their name on the line. We got a couple offers on the line, but you know...

Slang Ton: We still negotiatin'.

Young Zee: We don't like to talk to much until it's happened, though, really. Once we come, then we can start runnin' our mouth.

Pace Won: Our last white label was called, "Rain or Shine." It's on Outhouse/ Proceed. That's the white label we got. Featuring Yah Lova, Axe, Pace Won, and Young Zee.

So, is "Outhouse" your label?

Pace Won: Yup. So far, it's our production company, tryin' to make it become a label, you know what I mean?

Where are y'all producing out of?

Pace Won: We got a little studio, it's called the Outhouse. It's off 20th Street & Springfield Avenue in Irvington. Our management group's down there, too. It's called Family Affairs; one floor below our studio.

Cool; yeah... so if y'all just wanna go down the line with... like, I know Young Zee had that album out on Perspective... Rah Digga...

Young Zee: Actually, I ain't have no album on Perspective. It was only, uh... they put a couple singles out, but they ain't do it the right way, anyway.

Pace Won: He was supposed to have a LP...

Music Meltdown, right?

Young Zee: I recorded it, but they ain't never release it.

Pace Won: Ok, Outsidaz: Young Zee, Pace Won, Yah Lova, Rah Digga, Denzy, Azzizz, Dee You, Loon One, Slang Ton, you know I mean? That's our members. In the Outsidaz we got the No Brain Class. That's Young Zee, his brother Yah Lova, and his DJ, Mudd. I'm a soloist, Pace Won. Rah Digga a soloist. We got another group called The Doepliss: Loon One and Slang Ton, Azzizz - he's a soloist, Slim Shady - he's a soloist on Aftermath: Dr. Dre's label; you know that's hot, We got Dee You, Denzy - Denzy's the youngest, you know, he's upcoming. And we got another group of Outsidaz in Detroit, you know I'm sayin'? Big up Proof, Bizarre, you know I'm sayin'? And Denyne.

So are they recording separately from you guys? Like, out there in Detroit, they have their own studio? That kinda thing?

Pace Won: Yup, yup. But we stay in touch.

Dee You: We send vocals on dats to 'em.

Young Zee: We go out there and record in their studio, too, and then they come over in the Outhouse studio, so it's all g.

Pace Won: And we use mail, and phone... alla that. Keep it tight. (Holds up a photo) This is Rah Digga, she's in Flipmode. She's representing the Outsidaz and Flipmode. And she's on Elektra... On Flipmode/ Elektra, that's Busta's label.

And that album's coming out in September, right?

Pace Won: Yup, yup. We all do something on it. She's currently on the Smokin' Grooves Tour, ya know I mean? She's out there making it HOT for us, hot...

Young Zee: Pace Won album about to come, you know... his white label about to come. Everybody pay attention for that. It's called, "Step Up," and the other joint's called, uhm... What's the joint called?

Pace Won: "I Declare War."

Young Zee: Yeah, "I Declare War." They be changing the white label all the time, you know, but that's the one that's comin' so be prepared.

Pace Won: It's comin' at the end of the month.

Young Zee: Yeah.

Pace Won: Late September...

And that's with Roc-A-Blok, right?

Young Zee: Right.

Pace Won: Uh-huh, yup.

Young Zee: Check me and Pace out when we do shows... we be whylin'. And me an' Digga... And all the Outsidaz, you know I'm sayin'? It's all g. Newark!

So how'd everybody here hook up with the Outsidaz? How'd y'all get together, all that?

Pace Won: Well, at first it was just me and Dee You. We used to rap together, you know I'm sayin'... We wasn't called the Outsidaz yet. We was called PNS - that's Prepared, Never Scared, you know I mean? Then we got Slang and Loon...

Young Zee: No y'all didn't!

Pace Won: In PNS we did.

Young Zee: Ohh...

Pace Won: And then we went out...

Young Zee: There wasn't no Outsidaz before me!

Pace Won: And then, when we went out, we met Zee. And we formed the Outsidaz. After that, Zee brought in Rah Digga. I went out to Detroit and got with Eminem, you know I'm sayin'? We made it tight. We just became a family. Azzizz got down from... He Yah Lova's friend. He was around us, he was real fresh on the rap tip.

Young Zee: Basically, when I came along, you know I'm sayin'... (Laughs)

Slang Ton: (holds up magazine) Yo, there goes Digga right here; she in The Source.

Young Zee: Yeah, Digga up in there... she up in there with the, uhm... Flipmode Tour, and the, uhm, Smokin' Grooves Tour, too.

Pace Won: That's the new one?

Slang Ton: Yeah.

They've got a review of the album in the back, too.

Pace Won: The Flipmode? Their album is hot, though.

Slang Ton: Yeah, word up.

Dee You: That'll be good when the album's out...

Pace Won: My labelmates, The Sporty Thievez just got 3 1/2 in the last Source, you know... They're out there, makin' it hot right now. Roc-A-Blok, ya know I mean? All my peoples is hot. Big up Redman, Roz Noble, The Govna... He was reviewed in Independants Day last month.

Right. Y'all were just on that...

Pace Won: Right. Redman, Roz, Runt Dog, Tame One from the Artifacts, ya know I mean? tryin' to make it hot.

Young Zee: Most definitely... So, you know, Outsidaz comin' with they album, and then we got a spin-off of a whole bunch of solo artists, you know I'm sayin'? Such as myself, we got Slang Ton, Dee You, Azzizz... We got the artists that's out there, now, and then we got some new ones coming. So just be prepared that when we got our feet all the way in, we ain't never stopping. It's coming.

So that collective Outsidaz album; is that gonna be like a white label, or are y'all waitin' to get signed?

Young Zee: Nah. We gonna do that on the label. We not gonna do...

Slang Ton: With a budget.

Pace Won: Big budget. Big, big, big budget.

Young Zee: We're negotiating some joints now, but you know... If anything else come along, we're gonna entertain that, too.

So what've you got... Like, I know I heard a song called "Hard Act to Follow"...

Young Zee: Yeah. That's with me, Slang, Yah, Digga, Eminem, and Azzizz... So, that's hot. Eminem's got his joint comin' out called, "Hi, My Name Is."

Kobie: Eminem's single is "Brain Damage" and "Just Don't Give a Fuck." His lawyer called and said that's the one that Interscope is servin'.

Young Zee: I got a tape for you, too. You know what I mean? Some hot Outsidaz stuff... Joints you can listen to, check it out. There's a joint on there called "Brick City," you might wanna throw that on the internet.

Pace Won: That's probably our next white label... that slash "Murderah!" If I ain't already plug it, let me plug it, again.

Do you have a date on for The Pace Won Effect?

Pace Won: Uhmm... early 9-9. January 9-9. 'Cause I got two singles comin' right now. That's "I Declare War"/ "Step Up" then I'll be doing something else... I did a song with Wyclef; that's gonna be next.

You've already worked with the Fugees before, right?

Pace Won: Me, Young Zee, and Rah. Called "Cowboys."

Young Zee: We did a song with Kurupt off Pace album, too.

Pace Won: And John Forte. ...And my group the Outsidaz.

Young Zee: Nowadays, MC's think, in order to win, they gotta have a whole bunch of famous MC's that's already on, on their album. It's not about expressing yourself no more. We got close personal friends in the industry like Busta, Keith... a couple people... Red. If we have a couple people like that on the album... You know, it's gonna be crazy. 'Cause madd people got a million people on the album. And we really wanna just do us and let a couple of our friends come rap.

Pace Won: The lyrical ones, ya know I'm sayin'?

Young Zee: Don't look for a million MC's that's already out to be on our joint.

It's like that with the Outsidaz, anyway, 'cause people already know half your members...

Young Zee: Yeah, you know I'm sayin'... And all our solo joints, too. You're gonna hear a lot of solos.

Dee You: A lot of solo mc's. You know how they do compilation albums, they wanna make sure they sell records now. It becomes like routine.

Pace Won: I got with 'Clef and Kurupt and, uhm, John Forte 'cause I like them. I'm a fan of theirs. So, of course, hookin' up with them was like natural.

Young Zee: We're gonna come with mad shit. You gonna see. Everybody's gonna see. On their solo joints, niggas gonna excel. And then the Outsidaz joint's just gonna take it above the rim.

What's the science behind the title: The Pace Won Effect?

Pace Won: Pace Won, my name, is like the cause. Pace Won represents hip-hop. When you hear my name, i want you to think, like, good hip-hop. And every cause got an effect, so it's The Pace Won Effect. My life, what I witnessed, how I rap, how it is in my hood. Just basic stuff, ya know I mean? With some creamy beats! Like Ski, Govna, Wyclef, Eyewitness, Young Zee, the Outhouse. And I'm gonna try to take it over. Thank you.

Young Zee: Pace Won's joint opened up a lot of doors for everybody. Everybody got a chance.

Pace Won: So did Young Zee's album. I met Ski through Zee, when he was Perspective. You know, Ski did "Problems," "you don't want no problems." After that, Ski was like, "I'm messin' with y'all."

Young Zee: Our only problem is, with signing, with the labels we're negotiating with, is we need to make sure our label can keep up with us, you know I'm saying?

Pace Won: Make sure the label's tryin' to win, you know I'm sayin'? Some labels just be throwing acts out, see what they can do. My label's Columbia. They're winners. So I got complete confidence in them. And we're trying to get the Outsidaz on a label like that. That's really trying to win.

To be continued immediately...

Tags: Outsidaz, Pace Won, Young Zee, Eminem, Rah Digga, Slang Ton, Dee You, Azzizz, DJ Muhammad