8-10 .................. Tha City Paper

12 .............. Y.C. aka Yung Chris

14 .......................... Freddie B

16 ........................Whip Game

18 ................... Music Reviews

20 ............. Comedian: Sleezy D

22 ................... Producer: Nyse

24 ................ DJ Boog Da Great

26 ................ UMC Winner: T.Y.

28 ............ Graffi ti Profi le: Paser

30 ................. Nashville 10: Joi

Published by: CONCRETE MarketingAd Executives: Bryan Deese, CapoArt Director: Rex2Cover & Nash10 Photography: Tavell Brown

CONCRETE MagazinePO Box 239, Madison, TN 37116

concretebryan@gmail.com© CONCRETE Magazine 2011

Well the days are longer, the weather is fi nally to starting to stay warm and school is almost out. Summer is right around the corner! We love this time of year when you can hit the park or just go for a walk around the block. To cruise simply for fun in a car this year, though, may be reserved for the ballingest of ballers, since gas may reach $4 a gallon. Conversly this will cause a rise of scooters and mini-bikes in the ‘hood. Anyways ... enjoy the weather!

concrete615.com

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CONCRETE: You recently partnered up with Felonious Music Group (FMG). How did you link with FMG?Paper: You can thank E-Mac for that, my manager. We had been meeting up about doing some work and him helping me out. My biggest thing was, it was me by myself with Executive (Recordings) as far as the fi nancing. My man, who was down with me, had got locked up. So the fi nances were really pulling on me to be able remain Paper. So I said, “E-Mac fi nd a good situation for me.” And he came to me and was like, “Man I got a good situation, a good guy. Famo. Reese.” We met a few times and got acquainted. That’s basically, in a nut shell, how it went. With my move, and I respect what they’ve been doing. I’ve been seeing them a lot the past few years when I’ve been doing my thing. A lot of promotion, I’m a promotions guy. So I can tell when people are moving. Even with Star, we seen when G.L.U.W. came and others came, and we’d sit back and say ‘Somebody pushin.’ You can try to act like you don’t see people, but I seen a lot of promotion and a lot of things FMG was doing. I respect it. I even paid to get in some of the parties they done. Just coming and being like, “Damn. Somebody doing something.” I respected it and always

kept it in the back of my mind. So when E-Mac came to me with it I was like, “Yeah yeah, I respect that.” We met up, and I liked what Reese was talking about. So we joined up. I’ve got a big movement with Executive Recordings and they respected that. I was like if me

and Executive and FMG came together with the whole City Paper movement it could be really powerful. Cause Reese is real good at promoting for his artists, and I’m good at what

I do. We just came together like that.CONCRETE: Your fi rst project with FMG is the mixtape Dopamine. What can you tell us about that project?Paper: Basically the mixtape is the easiest thing you can do. It’s all about the number of units you press up, and a big nameDJ. Well not even a big name DJ, just someone that will make it sound good. continued on pg 8

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We all got together and came up with (DJ) Scream. The situation was we’re going to get in the studio. Famo has a good studio on Music Row. I had to record songs. That was the fi rst thing, I hadn’t recorded or had a consistent recording spot for a while. I just needed a space to get creative and make songs. We had a few songs I was making, the “What’s Up Bluff,” “Ball”, Who Are Ya”, “Quakin’”. We were in there with a new vibe with Grenade, Sleep, E-Mac. We had a lot of material. There was a lot of tracks that me and Broadway had done just a few weeks prior. We brought those over there. We had good material I thought, and everyone else thought, so we was ready to roll. Famo has some relationships with some DJs, reached out to them and helped me out. We had a few in mind, but we went with Scream. Scream helped me out on it. There it was. We pressed them up, and we’re just getting them in the streets. I believe in quantity, keep it going. Instead of begging for sales, just fl ood the market. The rest will come, I promise you. I do it all the time. I’ve done it with albums. That’s

what I believe in and (FMG) supplied me with that. We’re still pressing. I know everybody can’t have one, but that’s what I like to do.

CONCRETE: What can you tell us about the track “Quakin”?Paper: Quakin’ Productions, that’s the production team. Another guy

Jeffery that I went to school with, they do they thing. I been hearing a lot of ‘quake, quake, quake’ (beat tag)on the young circuit, on a lot of young rappers stuff. So I was like, “Who is this dude?” I brought him in, and he had some heat. I just kind of played the “Quakin” off his name. His tag was going all through there, and they told me had a dance. They “quake.” It was just a good concept, a lot of young energy. I also did the “8 to 1 Beatdown” with him, that’s his beat. That’s real hot. But as soon as he played that “Quakin” beat, that’s what I was on. Just some new terminology. “Quakin” when we used to talk about it meant you was poppin’ shaking it and stuff. Back in the day when I was hustlin’ doing my thing, I was “quakin”, my phone “quakin”. That’s was an old word. They don’t know that now. But my older guys remember. I always try to do words like that or songs that can go different ways. CONCRETE: How did the song with Gucci and Juice Man happen?Paper: They actually sent me the verses. Famo had that relationship. Rio done the beat. They had the track, I picked it out. We reached out to (Gucci and Juiceman) and they messed with me on that. We helped chop up the hook from Gucci and got the verse from OJ, and I just did my thing. It was the fi rst song I made with FMG. We got our feet wet and see where we was at. That song did a lot. It’s in a lot of places.

There’s a lot of DJs that I don’t even know that picked up that song and still playing it. I get calls everyday, “We heard that song in Atlanta on the make it or break it,” on whatever station they do that on there. It was on there for about ten days. Alabama, Mississippi,

all over I get calls from college kids. I’m blessed to be in these places. That’s a real benefi t of this relationship with FMG. Cause I was always heavy down here, but thats what I was looking for.

READ THE FULL INTERVIEW ONLINE:concrete615.com

110

Summer 2011 is the “Summer of Racks” thanks to Decatur, Georgia, rapper Y.C. aka Yung Chris. His song “Racks” has exploded nationwide on

radio and is racing up the Billboard charts. With its catchy hook and feel-good beat, it’s no wonder this song has the clubs on smash and the ladies going crazy! So what is

a “Rack” you ask? “A rack is a thousand. You got you a thousand dollars, that’s a rack,” Y.C. explains. “Everybody wants some money. I don’t care what you do. If you get up and go to work, you do it for the money. – If you grindin’, you trappin’, you do it for the money. Regardless of what you do you want the ‘racks’. You want racks on racks on racks. You want money on money on money. It’s just ... get money.” Y.C. is about to drop more music for all his new fans. He teamed with veteran, Atlanta DJ Greg Street and will release a mixtape titled Got Racks. Greg Street shows confi dence when speaking on Y.C.’s talent stating, “You think he a one hit wonder? That’s why you don’t get paid for thinking!” On top of all that, Y.C. just inked a deal with Universal Music. Talk about a wild ride, concerts and promo dates fi ll his calendar. When a song hits big like this, an artist must take advantage, and days off do not exist. That’s why Y.C. is poised to make all of 2011 his year and earn plenty of Racks on Racks on Racks!

IT’S OFFICIAL:

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CONCRETE: Where are you from originally?Freddie B: I’m originally from College Park, Atlanta, Georgia.CONCRETE: How did you make your way to Nashville?Freddie B: I came up here in the middle of my 11th grade year. My mom is from here. She decided one day that Atlanta wasn’t what it needed to be, and her family is here. She was a single mother. She was broke, poor. She was like, ‘I need that family support.’ So we came back up here the middle of my 11th grade year. I was not happy, not happy.CONCRETE: So how did you become Freddie B?Freddie B: I used to work at Champs. I worked at Champs for six years. I worked at

Rivergate then I transferred to Hickory Hollow. I was one of their best salesman, so Hickory Hollow was the bigger store at the time. So they transferred me

there with my manager. When I transferred to Hickory Hollow he hired an assistant manager who kind of knew me from Atlanta. He was from Atlanta and he played basketball at the same gym I did called Burdett Gym. From Atlanta people started calling me Freddie Ba-by, cause I was always the youngest that rolled with the crew. I was 9, everyone else was 13 to 15, and I’m running with them. Doing all kinds of stuff. Trying out weed, messing with girls and throwing rocks, egging people. So when he got here, he just started calling me Freddie B in the store. I used to pass out fl yers for Word, Word on the Streets. I don’t know what he’s going by now. He used to come drop fl yers off, and one day (while he was there) the assistant manager yelled from the back, “Freddie B, come to the back and get some shoes.” He just ran with it. We were on campus handing out fl yers and

doing parties, and he introduced me to everybody on campus (TSU) as Freddie B. And it stuck in college.CONCRETE: How did it go from nick name to videos?Freddie B: I got into video in fall of ‘04. Me and Word were doing the teen parties with Chill Will, and I told them I was just doing it for the one semester. The next semester I was going to start a TV show on campus. Cause I thought I was funny, so I was going to do a TV show. The spring semester came ‘05, I started the show. I

told all the girls I had talked to. I had talked to two girls that fall semester (laughs) and I had a girlfriend that semester. They were on campus, and they told all their friends. That’s where it started.

The three girls I was involved with told all their friends to come in that room and watch my show. And it turned out to be funny. It grew from that. Tuesday nights 9:00 you knew where to be. That was Freddie B Radio then Freddie B Radio then Freddie B Radio Freddie B TV. It grew and grew, and then Freddie B TV. It grew and grew, and then Freddie B TV

I did Alpha Week. That solidifi ed it. Then the Alphas were beefi ng with the Kappas, and I came back with that (show). The rest is history,

everybody knew about Freddie B TV.Freddie B TV.Freddie B TV WAY MORE TO READ MORE AT: concrete615.com

14

From the: 2011 Hunter’s

Auto Expo,March 12-13

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Dee Goodz - Floetic Justic, Vol. 2: The Booth or the HearseThe Nashville native who ain’t scared to be lyrical, smart and himself is back with another crazy mixtape. It’s a mix of original production (mostly sample driven) with a few industry beats. He kills the Tyler the Creator “Yonkers” beat, giving it a complete subject-matter makeover, ‘No 6-6-6 sh*t, just that sick sh*t.’ His “Lisa Lopes” (Ghostface “Might Healthy”) joint has been blowing up for a minute. The whole thing has the feel of some classic hip-hop ish, probably because that’s exactly what this is. Dee Goodz has been Nashville’s breath of fresh of air for a couple summers now, but now he’s at the forefront of Nashville’s rap community. He raps about graduating college, taking care of his daughter and staying fl y. Nashville’s new role model keeps crushing ‘em!

Counts - Young, Wild & FamousThe extra-raw Counts drops jaws and panties on his Young Wild and Famous mixtape. He has unique takes and reworks some top industry beats. With Y,W&F he’s basically telling you he’s super duty fl y, y’all are crumbs and he’s sh*tting on everyone ... swag! He pulls no punches. “On My Level” “Twisted” and “Who But I” are braggadocios songs celebrating all that is Counts. He puts it best with the line, ‘I’m like a pillow full of nails, I refuse to be slept on.’

Quan and T-Weezy - De Ja Vu, Vol. 2This is the second chapter of the De Ja Vu series from a couple of young cats out of Antioch. Quan and T-Weezy show real growth on this project. They’ve stepped it up with more original production, more confi dence on the mic and T-Weezy sings his ass off! On “Hold Me Down” the duo comes with a combination of smooth R&B and player rap fl ows. It’s an intoxicating song! “I’m Gone Grind” is a hustler’s anthem, and proves these fellas have serious ambitions for money. While “Drop Them Draws” is straight R&B, some sexy lyrics for the bedroom. The full mix should be a real banger. Be watching for these guys!

Sonny the UndadogSonny the Undadog - - For the FansFor the FansMid-Westerner via Antioch Sonny The Undadog has helped form Phoenix Room Music Group and entered the arena with his new mixtape For the Fans. He’s a throw back to the 90s and great with story telling raps. Sonny paints vivid, biographical pictures on “Round My Hometown,” “Getin’ It” and “Blowin’ My Smoke.” The ultra-positive “Be The Best You,” is so inspiring it could be a commencement speech. Really it’s a mix full of bangers. This project is sort of a crew project from the Phoenix Room. Look for more good music coming from this rhyme syndicate.

Star Murphy - I Am Star&BThe Nashville girl making serious moves, like winning the 2011 SEA Female R&B Artist of the Year (congrats!), shines on her newest mixtape. The mix contains her regional hit records “O Let’s Do It,” and “Swagg On” featuring Waka Flocka Flame and produced by Broadway. Many of the tracks are by Rio and have a clean, pop vibe. Her soft voice works well when contrasted against some of the most ratchet of rappers. Comparisons are tough, but Star is like a young Mary J. Blige. She’s a female voice that’s compassionate towards and has real love for the thugs. This mix a great accomplishment, and should be added to your rotation. It’s some real music for real people in real relationships.

Quan &T-WeezyDe Ja VuVolume 2

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CONCRETE: You’re in Houston now. Why? And, How is it going? Sleezy Dee: Well I had been in Tenn. for so long that I wanted to go out and do something different. So I had two of my college homegirls who lived out here. They bought me a “one-way” plane ticket and told me if I don’t get on the plane they ain’t foolin’ with me no more. So hell, I packed my bags, and I was gone.The day I landed I had a gig at The Horn Night Club. I killed the stage so hard that people just started booking me and giving me work. I met the Billy Sorrells cat just by doing his night at Bar Retro for free. You got to do somethin’ for nothins sometimes. But overall, it’s been going well. I got some stuff thats ‘bout to pop off real big in a few down here. I can’t really speak on it. Let’s just say it’s a sitcom. (laughs) That’s for all my haters.CONCRETE: We just saw your Man Code video on Man Code video on Man CodeWorldStar Hip-Hop. Can you tell us about that video (making it, reaction to it, plans for more)?Sleezy Dee: Aw man, the Man Codes thing was Man Codes thing was Man Codessomething that I kind of thought of with Billy, but I never really said hey lets fi lm it.

But dude be havin’ visions bigger than what I see. So we sat around fi lmed it and edited it ourself and it turned out to be a hit. Personally I aint think it would get that much attention. It f*cked me up when I seen it on WorldStar. Somebody on facebook told me it was on WorldStar. I was like ‘quit playing.’ True enough, there it was. But we recorded bout an hour worth of Man Code. We just have to edit them and put them up. Trust me we have plenty more of them and some other silly stuff for y’all viewing and listening pleasure.CONCRETE: You go really hard on twitter, saying crazy shit. Does your mother read your tweets? What does she say about them?Sleezy Dee: Naw she don’t have a twitter, but she blocked me on facebook! (laughs) The funny thing is she will come to all my shows I do when I am in Memphis, but she can’t read the shit on facebook. Ain’t that backwards as hell?! Shout out to Mama Gloria. When I make it bigtime she living with me like Tasha Mac and Malik on The Game. F*ck y’all, can’t nobody cook like my mama.CONCRETE: How did you fi rst get into comedy? Sleezy Dee: To be honest my friend Timothy Lyons, who no longer does comedy, made me get on the stage. He use to always tell me, “Dude you too funny to be just actin’ a fool for free.” I said ‘It’s easy to make y’all laugh. I dont think i can get on a stage and make a crowd laugh.’ So he was putting this show together at the Bellcourt Theater in Nashville, so I said I’m going to do it. He was like, “Good I’m Giving you fi ve minutes up top.” When I walked in that building it was damn near a sold out crowd, two hundred some odd folks in there. Keep in mind I ain’t never done comedy in my life. I got so drunk to calm my nerves and killed it for them fi ve minutes. I got the dvd to prove it. And ever since then I been full steam ahead. And another reason I am stickin with comedy is cause I was always getting fi red from jobs. So that pretty much was a sign from white Jesus that I should take this comedy thing serious.

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CONCRETE: How did you get into production?Nyse: Both my mother and father were musicians

before I was born and still are today, pursuing their music careers in japan. So of course that’s where my talent and inspiration came

from. I started out playing drums when I was just two years old and moved on to making beats on drum machines and keyboards when I was eleven. I’ve been doing it ever since.CONCRETE: What’s some of your bigger production credits?Nyse: I actually got my fi rst placement with a christian contemporary rap group called the Grits out of Tennessee. I had a single on the album and was also nominated for two Dove Awards, which was a shock and pretty exciting for me. I also got a chance to produce a song for a pop group in Japan called HY. That was pretty big for me as well. Then on to having tracks on mixtapes from Young Buck, All Star, and Yo Gotti kept me buzzing in the streets. So yeah, I’m defi nitely still working. I have plans to do many more.CONCRETE: What artists are you currently working with?Nyse: Right now I’ve been working with B Howard quite a bit on his new album which should be coming out shortly. I just did a couple of bangers for RIP Cashville Ace recently. Also shout out to CUB the Cook Up Boss. I’ve been doing some rock music with him. Keep your ears open for that. And also myself, working on a project with my production team NBH, Grand Epic, Teezy T, Nitty, D-Jizza and Loose Cannon along with Musicvizion. Shout out to Chanz ‘Transforma’. I’m just working.CONCRETE: What equipment do you use to make beats?Nyse: All I’m using right now is my Fantom X6. And I record on Pro Tools.CONCRETE: What’s the your process when you sit down to make a beat?Nyse: Most of the time I already have the idea of the track I’m going to make in my head.I usually start out with just going through different sounds on my board until I fi nd that one that matches my idea whether its a synth sound or a drum sound. I love to create my own sounds too with just going in and changing parameters and envelopes of the sounds already made and even layering sounds with other sounds to create new ones. It’s good to know your equipment inside and out because you’d be suprised at what these things can do. For me it’s making sure I use the right sounds with each other. That snare might not have the right marriage with that kick or these horns might not sound good with this synth. I try to make sure the instruments in my track compliment eachother to make a clean sound.

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Boog: First of all I’d like to thank God for giving me strength to wake up, the moment to do this. It’s hard out there in the streets when you’re constantly grinding. Everyday you got to cherish, because tomorrow is never promised. Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery. So we’re fi xing to get in the

interview right now.CONCRETE: You’re known for your constant

mixtape grind. Can you tell us the different mixtape series you do?Boog: My main thing that I’m focusing on is The Streets Made Me Famous. Everything I got comes from the streets. That’s the name of my mixtape series that I push the hardest. The Streets Made Me Famous consists of all the hot new Me Famous consists of all the hot new Me Famoussingles, artists coming up, just of variety

of different tracks mixing the artists. That way (artists coming up) can be heard. If

you mix them together, local artists with main stream artists, that’s how you break artists. You’ve got songs (people) want to hear, and you might throw a local artist in there to help break them. Cause it’s all on the same CD, (a person) is going to ride through it if it’s a banger. Like “Tha City Paper” song, you mix that in because everybody wants that song. They don’t even care about the other stuff, but it’s exclusive stuff. After riding to it for a while, they like the new stuff too. I’ve also got an R&B series called Grind With Me. I’m doing great on that. They really sell the most. Another thing I do is I spend more time in the streets doing the mixtapes, because I feel I can touch more people than DJing in the club. You know everybody don’t go to Club Such-and-Such. It may be to ‘hood for them. But if I stand in this one spot where I made my name at, constantly dishing off CDs, it’s touching more people. People are going to burn it, tell their friends. I’m touching more people than just DJing at a club somewhere. People ask me why I don’t DJ in the club and that’s why. Plus I make more money.

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CONCRETE: You won the fi rst U.M.C. of Season 3. How was it?T.Y.: It was a wonderful experience. There was defi nitely a lot of talent that hit the stage, and the competition was fi erce. This was actually my 3rd appearance in the U.M.C., and it feels good to fi nally come out on top. Being a part of the U.M.C has defi nitely helped and bettered me as an artist. On top of gaining the title “Champion of the U.M.C 3.1”, the prize package is outstanding, it caters to every essential need of an artist, from photo shoots, to press, to CD duplication and so much more. It’s just an incredible experience “win or lose”, and it helps kick-start up-and-coming artist in

the right direction. The promotion alone, prior to the competition is great for the artist. It expands each artists name across the city and

creates a buzz, which is great exposure and eventually leads to a broader fan base. The U.M.C was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made as an artist and I defi nitely recommend each and every artist that is serious about their career to get involved. I’m looking forward to seeing the other 3 champions in the U.M.C fi nale at the end of the year. Also want to give a shout out to all of the contestants that participated in this past U.M.C.: Em Jay, 3rd Regiment, JD, Pryme Tyme, Cadillac JR, B.I.H, and J Bone. Nashville stand up! It’s our time.CONCRETE: What’s next for you?T.Y.: For the foreseeable future, I’m focusing on bettering myself as an R&B artist. Fine tuning and sculpting my craft is my main goal for this year, as well as through out my career. I’m always looking and fi nding ways to better myself, because there is always room for improvement. But aside from that, you can also be expecting my album to drop during the summer 2011, entitled HELLO. Until then I’ll be dropping singles here and there. I’m also

focusing on performing a lot more this year, in and out of state. So you’ll be seeing a lot of me everywhere. Next step is success! At

least that’s what I’m striving so hard for, and I won’t stop until I get it. It’s grind time. Let’s Go!

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CONCRETE: What got you into graffi ti?Paser: Man, as cliche as it sounds, hip-hop played a huge roll in how I got introduced to graffi ti. Listening to old KRS-One and Hobo Junction mixtapes when they were rapping about

bombing subways and climbing billboards was an impact at the time. Thought it was real raw.CONCRETE: Why do you do it?

Paser:Paser: Its a battle within, to see how far I can push myself as a human in what I love and am passionate for, Its a battle within, to see how far I can push myself as a human in what I love and am passionate for, which is graffi ti. There’s no boundaries and no rules, its the rawest form of self expression ever. My crews and the great people I have met in the years keep me gunning for more and more.The memories I have formed are priceless. You only live once. Im going all in, or nothing.

COME SEE PASERPAINT THE COURTYARD!LIVE - SUNDAY, APRIL 17

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