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11/28/2005 How are you guys doing? Streetz: We're chilling man. We're grinding. We got a couple labels looking at us right now. We're just getting it in right now, working on some songs and finishing up our album. It doesn't seem like there's a lot of Hip Hop coming out of Milwaukee…what's the scene like out there? Young Deuces: It's kind of different. A lot of people in Milwaukee's version of Hip Hop is what they hear on the radio. It's all about the radio up here. Right now, the South is taking over. We have much love for the South, but Milwaukee has a lot of mimics. They're basically mimicking the south. The radio's changed the view of Hip Hop out here. We don't have any specific sound in Milwaukee right now. This Hip Hop scene is kind of out there. It's an open market in Milwaukee right now. Streetz: The radio controls everything out here. Whatever's on the radio is what's popping. We're trying to change that to let people know the Midwest isn't all about clubs. We're lyricists out here. How did you guys come together to form Streetz and Young Deuces? Streetz: We're blood cousins, so we've known each other all our lives. Young Deuces: As kids, we used to rap with each other every now and then. We used to just beat on the tables, but then we decided to take it seriously. How is a Streetz and Young Deuces song made? Young Deuces: This is why we really started working together, because we had that good vibe. A lot of times, Streetz and I aren't even in the same room and we'll write a joint and it'll come together right. Sometimes he rights a chorus, sometimes I do. As much as it's my track, it's his track as well, and vice versa. Whatever we decide is going to be the hottest idea, we go with it. Streetz: We're not into arguing and fighting. We both have a love for music. We don't really clash. We just do our thing on every song. What have you put out in the past that people may have seen? Streetz: We have our underground album called "The Future." We have a mixtape called "Welcome To The Furture Mixtape Vol. 1." We've also been on a lot of mixtapes. Young Deuces: Yeah. We've been killing the internet right now too. We have a lot of features out that we've been on. We were in the July Source with Jadakiss on the cover. We've been hooked up with a lot of Midwest DJ's, especially the Bum Squad DJ's, All-Out All Stars, and DJ's like Chuck Fresh and G-Spot, DJ J-Real…we've been on a lot of mixtapes too. We've also had interviews and reviews from other Hip Hop websites and magazines. Coming from Milwaukee, have you found that people have a certain sound from you? Streetz: Yeah, people usually expect Milwaukee artists to sound like Coo Coo Cal! I don't have nothing against him, but his style is his style. We have our own style. A lot of people think we're from New York or Philadelphia. You can't put us in a box. We study rap. A lot of artists our age can't go back and tell you about artists from the '80's. They can't do that, we can do that. That's why our style is so diverse. Young Deuces: Coo Coo Cal went the furthest from Milwaukee, so you can understand why people will expect us to sound like him because that's all they got to go by. People in other areas have so many others that made it. Milwaukee is an open market right now. There's not that many MC's coming out of here that did it big. We're not trying to be a gimmick, but being from Milwaukee and spitting like we do is a gimmick. We're not New York rappers, we're something different coming from Milwaukee. It is something different than what they heard in the past, so we stand out. Why are you guys rapping? Streetz: We're rapping because we have a love for it. First and foremost, we love music. We're also only 19 and we have our own label. We're looking at it like we want to help other people out too. We're looking at this from a business aspect as well. We all want to do something with our life and stay involved in music. Young Deuces: We got that love for music. A lot of people come into Hip Hop for the fame or the money. Yeah, we want to make a living off of it, but we like creating music that people can vibe to and relate to. We're the mouth of Milwaukee. We can talk about our lifestyle out here and we're making our own outlet to do that. What have your experiences dealing with labels been like so far? Young Deuces: They've been good. The DJ community has been showing us major love. We show love to all DJ's. If any DJ hits us up for an exclusive, we go out of our way to get that done for them. Any business is all about networking, and we don't want to burn any bridges or step on any toes. A lot of DJ's don't get the amount of love they should get. We also mess with a lot of MC's and producers for the mixtapes. Streetz: The grind has been real hard. It hasn't been easy. We just turned down a major deal, so we must be doing something right. Did The Source article help you guys out? Young Deuces: Yeah, that helped us a lot. It's the little things like that that count. A lot of people hit us up directly after that. It helps is in our rap sheet as well when we show it to others. We do our own business, but we're also under Trendsetta Management. A lot of people have heard our name and they start the finger-snappin' when we tell them our name because they've heard it before. It helps get us to where we need to be at. Streetz: Out here in Milwaukee, the local artists don't really get the love on the radio. There's a selected few. We just started getting the respect we deserve after seven years of working. We're letting the people in Milwaukee know that we're serious. How important has the internet been in your career? Young Deuces: The internet basically helped us break out. You tell people you're from Milwaukee, and they say "there's cows and farms out there." There's no A&R's or CEO's coming to Milwaukee looking for talent. The internet has helped us get play in Atlanta, Texas, satellite radio. We've never been to Philly or New York, but we've done songs with MC's from there. We haven't traveled nowhere yet either. The internet has helped us get our music out to places we can't go right now. What's next for you guys? Streetz: We have a lot of stuff popping. We just want to get the Streetz and Young Deuces deal done first. Getting a deal is the easy part, keeping people interested in you is the hard part. We've got to get our label popping. A lot of people are noticing us. Like Young Deuces said, the market is wide open for us right now. We just have to go out and abuse it. What do you want to say to everyone out there? Young Deuces: I'd like to tell everybody, thanks for the love. Shout out to HipHopGame. Thanks for the love from everybody. Check out the website, empentertainment.net, shout out to all the DJ's, producers, MC's, and all the magazines and websites that helped us out. Streetz: We appreciate all the help from the fans. EMP, all the Bum Squad DJ's, Trendsetta management, Jaywann, our producer, and all the other producers that work with us. It's the Midwest's turn! For further information, contact sayre@trendsetta.com

By Brian Kayser

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