What’s up?
Tek: We’re doing real good!
The album Philly 2 Cali is now out in stores. How does that feel?
Tek: Aw, man, it’s a blessing.
De: Yeah. We’re up at the radio station doing our thing. We just got off the air promoting it. It’s great.
Cas: I’m just feeling real good. I really feel like a lot of the hard work we’ve been doing is getting its light. Overall, it’s a huge lift off our shoulders for this album to finally be coming out. This album was seven years in the making and we’re just glad that it’s finally here.
Did Philly 2 Cali come out how you wanted it to?
Tek: Yeah. We’re real happy with the overall product. Kurupt put his stamp on it and he’s helped us get some light and make sure that everything is cracking.
Coming from Philly but moving to Cali is a big change, especially when it comes to the music. What sound did you want Philly 2 Cali to have?
Tek: Really, our vibe is naturally from Philly. We have the Philly swagger and delivery. I wanted to keep the production on the West Coast on the beat side but on the delivery and rap side, I wanted to keep it Philly.
De: Even though we’re from Philly, I can speak for all three of us when I say that one of our favorite albums is The Chronic 2001. When we got an opportunity to make a project with someone from that album, we went in there with the mindstate that we wanted to make classic West Coast bangers mixed with our East Coast flavor. We’re all individuals, but as an entity, we bring what we bring to the table, which is a fantastic vibe. That’s how we get down. This is family. I’m anticipating every rhyme from Tek and Cas and every rhyme they write amazes me. It’s good that we were able to get down and make this happen.
There are a lot of big names, from Sen Dog to Freeway, on the album. How did you pull that off?
Tek: Off of love! We have a lot of family out here and back in Philly. Really, it was love that got everyone on the album.
De: And people believe in our vision and our hard work.
How did Kurupt help you guys put together From Philly 2 Cali?
Cas: Kurupt definitely brought a lot of his veteran knowledge to the table. We saw how he did stuff. He helped put us in our position.
Tek: He really brought his veteran guidance and leadership to the table. He was able to help us and keep it positive. It worked out well.
Did your single “Jumpoff” do as well as you wanted it to?
De: I think it exceeded all of our expectations. I think when we did it and we looked at it, we said, “This is a dope video.” It’s crazy how it took a life of its own. What it did for us, it just proves that you don’t know where everything is going to come from. People just gravitated towards that record. It really just cracked off for us. “Jumpoff” was definitely one of the highlights of this project.
How was it shooting the video for “Jumpoff”?
Tek: It was a lot of fun. It was a blast, man. We had Stevie Williams, the skateboarder, in our video. It was really fun how it all came together.
De: “Hennessey bottle on my lap, that’s the jumpoff.” There was a lot of Hennessey and that OG kush. The director really saw our vision and we really appreciate everybody who came out. And Cas got to design all the clothing and put his artistic spin on it.
“Puttin’ In Work” features Sen Dog and Mellow Man Ace. What was it like working with them?
Tek: It was great. Sen Dog is a great guy. Mellow’s the same way. I was proud to be able to put both of them on the Tangled Thoughts album.
Cas: It was definitely an honor getting them in the studio. We’re blessed to have gotten these opportunities.
What inspired “Every Hood’s the Same”?
Tek: Coming from Philly to Cali, the hoods are obviously very different. They’re totally different, but it’s exactly the same. It’s the same shit. Every ‘hood and every aspect of it is really the same.
Cas: What’s crazy about us is that we’re three different individuals from three different walks of life. We came together in Philly and we do a lot of different stuff. From the ‘hood to the suburbs, the grind is there. People are struggling and trying to make it.
De: Ice Cube has said that too, so shout out to Ice Cube. That’s what really inspired the hook. And from all the places we’ve been, we’ve been able to see all the different walks of life.
Where would Tangled Thoughts be today if you guys had never left Philadelphia?
Tek: We’d be in Philly! (laughs) We’d probably be getting ready to do a show. We did a lot of shows, but we weren’t getting our music out to a bigger audience. We’d be chilling with our Philly homies on the block. Getting out of Philly and moving out to Cali and smoking that savage-ass weed gave us a whole new outlook.
What are your goals for Philly 2 Cali?
Tek: We’re trying to take it and push it to the limit.
De: We just want to be heard. We feel like we’re going to get that chance for people to hear us get it cracking. We dropped the HipHopGame Mixtape and all the other mixtapes just trying to get heard. We’re trying to get music out there so people can understand our perspective and fuck with what we fuck with. We know there’s 10 or 12 million other motherfuckers who feel the same way.
Cas: And this is just our intro. This is just Kurupt introducing us. There’s a million different ways for us to hit you.
Tek: Our name is our game.
What are your plans for the summer?
Tek: We’re trying to tour with this record. We’re also going to work on the next album. We have a bunch of other projects we’re working on. We have a lot on our plate and we have a lot to do.
What do you want to say to everybody?
Tek: Cop that album, man, and look out for us. Shout out to Kurupt. If you don’t have the new DPG album, feel free to go out and cop that as well because that is a classic.
De: And you might see the name and it might be new to you, but we’re not going anywhere. It took seven years for us to knock down the door. Now that we’re here, you better believe that we’re running through it.
Cas: And stay tuned.
http://myspace.com/philly2calialbum
http://myspace.com/goodhandsrecords
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