Smif N Wessun: Hellucinations in Heaven

Fascinated by the Blackberry vocal recording function, Cocoa Brova number two aka General Steele of the legendary group Smif N Wessun marveled at the state of technology today when I sat down to talk to them at a posh hotel tucked into a swanky slice of King St. Tek aka Smoke had an iPhone, which is considerably advanced to the Blackberry Curve, with all the apps it has available, and we compared the differences (me knowing the iPhone is unquestionably superior in many ways) before we started comparing the differences between the 90′s and the new millennium. The new Smif N Wessun music is straight dope east coast boom-bap b-boy headbanger boogie music, especially that joint they dropped with Joell Ortiz.

But I admittedly wasn’t as focused on the music as I was focused on their wellbeing for this interview. Especially considering the death of Baatin (R.I.P.) of Slum Village, I was wondering how life in general is for Tek and Steele. They represent lovely for those mini-stars in hip hop that carry on tradition and hold it down to the fullest, regardless of their fame and fortune’s status, or whether the youngest generation of heads are Twittering and blogging about their newest ringtone rap song (thank God these guys haven’t gone that route).

I caught up with one of the best tag-team duos to ever bless the mic, and found out what audio combat missions they intend to execute in the near future, on top of discovering that Tek aka Smoke doesn’t even partake in his name sake anymore (smoking, that is. If he shot someone with a Tech-9, I ain’t snitchin’ on the brother, ha ha). Peace to Rockness Monster (may justice be served) and the rest of the Boot Camp Click.

What up, fam!

Steele – What up, its General Steele next to…

Tek – Smoky La Tek. We in there, let’s go.

In 2010, what do you want to do to hip hop?

Steele – Ooh! We want to smack hip hop with a fifth album in 2010 from Smif n Wessun. It’s gonna be a commemoration of greatness. We’re hooking up with the homie Pete Rock for production. He’s adding on to the legacy that we are a part of, as far as the Bucktown side of things, and we’re just trying to keep up that classic name, that classic, legendary music. 2010, expect some of that. Probably gonna see another Boot Camp album, cause we’re working on that as well. You’re probably gonna see some hella mixtapes from Steele and Tek, and a couple solo projects. You gotta stay tuned. Duck Down.com and also check my company BucktownUSA.com. We movin’, baby.

Tek – It’s coming. We’re just trying to put our hands in every aspect of that, behind the cameras, behind the boards, with the engineers, the design of the album covers and everything. We’re just taking it by storm.

I been around since the early 90′s, and I love to see it grow. Most importantly, I love to see that Duck Down still exists…

Steele – It feels good. It does feel good. We started with this family, and it’s still together. Love never lets love die, feel me? Like when we’re coming to T Dot. When we first came to T Dot we got mega love. Monumental love. It just continues to grow.

Tek – Straight open arms.

Steele – So we just do our part and make sure the love is reciprocated. But yeah, Duck Down is on my back, baby! I got the tat! We striped up right now.

I’m glad, cause its important, and it would be great to see another collab album. But what would make it different from any of the other ones?

Tek – Truthfully, I think… the fans. I can honestly say they stopped fuckin’ with us for a minute, and then we put some shit out… and we got them back. We went and grabbed our people that was in the fields wondering what direction we was gonna go. And we put that out that they wanted, along with Smif n Wessun, along with Sean P, along with Heltah Skeltah’s third album, and the new Black Moon and 9th Wonder, and they came back faithfully. We even gained a little bit more. That’s what’s gonna make a difference. They are with us now, and we are steadily gonna be picking them up as we’re going.

Steele – You know hip hop put us on, so we gotta be grateful. That’s it. That’s how we do our thing.

Word up. So, how do you approach your new beats now differently than before? You got 15 new Pete Rock beats just sitting there. What do you do now?

Tek – I go off the vibe thing. I have a natural high, I don’t smoke no more anyways. Once he blazes up, I’m easy still catching the contact high and it’s not hard for me to get into a zone, get into my lane and do what I do, feed off my PNC, feed off my dude, feed off Pete Rock. Each beat has its own words that need to go with it that are there to make the vocals stand out, and each track has its own feeling. And I think we’re still learning that as artists to see which joints, which lyrics sync up with which music, and I think that’s how artist learn and grow and make great timeless music.

Steele – We LIKE to do this shit. When we get that beat, what does it tell us? We definitely do not want to overshadow none of the tracks. We want to make the marriage proper. We are actually in the streets so we got a lot of stories to tell. Yeah, we either gonna give you something you can meditate on or we are gonna give you a tale about what happened around the corner the other day.

Yeah, there’s this real interesting song that Havoc put out a couple days ago called ‘You Always Got A Choice’. I don’t know if you heard it, but it’s Havoc from Mobb Deep, and he came with some real straight meditative contemplative music…

Tek – Honest music.

Yeah! For real, for all you motherfuckers who go through this shit, you gotta know some other levels, you gotta make increasingly smarter choices to survive in the streets, in the suburbs even, and in life in general. Even Scarface died, no one is bulletproof.

Steele – Yeah, and Michael Jackson…

We’ll get to that in a minute, because everyone that loves music had to feel that one. But yeah, what kind of wisdom have you gained over the years from the streets of New York, and y’all still being here, versus those who are not here anymore?

Steele – That speaks volumes right there. We’re still here, while a lot of people aren’t, be it fallen in the streets, jail, drugs, strung out. We all have choices, but we all need our PNCs, our fam, to get thru a lotta them choices that you really can’t make on your own. And a lot of people are not fortunate enough to have that strong background family structure like PNC, Smif n Wessun, Boot Camp, came into the game with before we started doing music.

Word to that right there. That’s what separates you from others. This ain’t about money. This is your life.

Steele – We came in as rappers, little homies, fresh off this town called Brooklyn and we just now… hip hop has taken us across the world, like hip hop is doing that for us. Big up to Afrika Bambaataa, Kool Herc, the Zulu Nation… like, we have to do our part. Big up to the fans of T Dot and the whole Canada. We’re a fan of this thing right here.

You said it right there. You done some overseas stuff, you’ve traveled… what is it like when you get out there?

Tek – *singing* IT FEELS GOOD! YEEAAH!

Steele – Our last album, number four, we recorded the whole album in Sweden. That’s just more energy, more fuel to the flame. When you see these people, you ain’t never meet these people before. Some of these cats are like “Yo! I love you guys!” I’m like “Worrrrd. That’s wassup.” That’s a great feeling. Cause I know some people go to Paris and get punched in they face. Hit in the face with bottles. I ain’t gonna say no names [then Steel says it under his breath, ha ha] but Smif N Wessun be good in the hood, man. And that’s a really good feeling. We don’t gotta be all extra tough or hardcore. We know what’s going on. We respectful individuals. We carry ourselves like M.O.RE – Men Of Respect.

Cool. Yo, I’ve seen you guys a bunch of times, though this is our first interview. I’ve seen Buckshot a bunch of times, and I’ve interviewed him before. But I am really and truly approaching this on a life level right now. That’s what I care about right now, how you guys are living from the day to day…

Steele – Word up, I can tell by the questions.

Yeah, I try not to take anything for granted with anyone. I appreciate everyone in hip hop culture, doing what they feel is right to keep it alive. Hey, let’s get into the Michael Jackson thing. Cause I still get fucked up over that shit and come to tears…

Steele – Yeah, that really hit home to a lot of people in and out of music. It really touched home. When you first heard it, I know when I first heard it I was like “What type of shit is this? Niggas playing games now”. Then you hear it more, clicking back to every channel, and hear he’s in a coma… and you’re like “Damn, that nigga’s only 50 years old”. Some cats I hang out in the hood with is like 50, or 40 something, real close to. So you’re like “damn, that’s my neighbor there.” And we came in the game and grew up off Mike. We all came in the game and grew up off his music. My son is a big Michael Jackson fan and he’s growing up off his music. And he’s rocking “ABC” and “Ben” and wanting to see the “Thriller” video. I remember when I first saw the “Thriller” video I was like “damn, this shit is bugged out!” And he’s enjoying it! He’s loving it. He wanna practice the leg kick and the Moonwalk. It really fucked me up when it happened that I didn’t get to see Chris Brown perform or do the tribute to Mike, and I know that fucked him up too. It’s sickening. You gotta take two grains of salt and give back some sand with that shit.

Tek – It’s so beautiful to be a part of the times with so much happening. We may have lost him, physically lost a person a family member, but we gained so much. We have children, like my son is 9 years old, and for his birthday I bought him an iPod Nano, and all I put in there for him was Boot Camp and Michael Jackson.

Word!

Tek – That was it. And he was good. I bought him a couple Michael Jackson videos and he was good to go. Just recently this year, he came asking for some Wu-Tang. Like, I’m not pushing no music on him. The kids go to what they go to. And it’s interesting to learn from them. ‘Cause it reminds you of how you got it. Staying up late night, listening to the radio with the blinky red eye…

Steele – With your older sister or brother listening to it… that’s how we became fans of things. Before we came here, I was just talking to some kids in a junior high school. And they don’t know who Smif N Wessun is, but fans of ours got Smif N Wessun posters on the wall and they were like “I Googled you, my uncles was telling me about you, he wanted to come meet you…” but that’s just crazy. That’s making it like, I’m blushing in front of kids, I don’t know what direction to take the conversation, I’m like “Worrrd?” It’s good being fans of this and being able to do it and give back to the fans, it’s a beautiful thing.

That’s me right there all day. It’s a beautiful journey.

Tek – You gotta respect it. Cause you look at like some of these disrespectful DJs, and disrespectful writers and artists and shit who are like “all you old rappers gotta chill!” Most of the rappers that are dope are all over 30!

All the ones who set the standards that these fools can’t live up to are all older!

Tek – And why is that only in rap?

Anyone disrespect the Rolling Stones? Fuck you, you’re not a rocker. You don’t gotta like their music, but you HAVE TO RESPECT THEM.

Tek – Look at Madonna. Still going.

Steele – And looking good, too.

Tek – Aretha Franklin. Still going. Chaka Khan. Still going. That’s what I’m saying. A couple weeks ago, we were having a little blog discussion about why is only rap being criticized for ghost writing? When R&B and rock and roll, cats get ghostwriters every day, that’s the thing to do! Hire a writer, bring them in, pay them to sing, and go about your business.

Madonna sings, but she barely writes anything. If anything.

Tek – Word. Michael Jackson had songwriters as well. You ain’t know what Rod Temperton look like. But hip hop is so fucked up cause “Oh, he ain’t write it…”

In the beginning, we didn’t know these things. In 1991, nobody could get on stage with Nas’s beats and try to make it happen. But we’re growing, expanding. This is real true art, we know this, it’s a way of life, and existing in the world. It’s religion now. I was talking to KRS-One and he was saying the same thing. Hip hop is official religion now.

Steele – You create your own wealth from this. You could be your worst enemy or you could be the greatest help to your family. You can get your family off and moving, if you dedicate yourself. And you don’t have to rhyme. You don’t have to rap. And you don’t even gotta be a producer either. But hip hop has created a bevy of jobs, so it’s beautiful.

So I have to ask: Steele smokes, but Tek doesn’t'?

Tek – Nah, I haven’t smoked in 8 years. Natural high.

Steele – He smoked more, prior to that.

Tek – I’m just a connoisseur of it now. I collect it like pictures, like art. Ha ha!

Steele – I’m like a weed taste tester. I’m looking to get that job.

So let’s talk about that. I study that, especially considering MJ. I hear he was an insomniac, and needed injections to make him sleep and stay awake, and drugs is drugs, it’s all the same. Weed, coke, caffeine, red meat… damn near everyone’s addicted to something or other. So, I wonder if cats can balance it or not, but how are you guys doing with the lifestyle? You look healthy…

Steele – Thanks, man. I’m about to get on stage with my partners, we’re about to perform. We’re not lip synching. We don’t got TV tracks. We know all the words, and perform all them too…

So, what have you seen over the years? I say that to say I come from the Phillie Blunt era, Redman and Cypress Hill all day. Blunts for breakfast type shit.

Steele – My first blunt was a Phillie.

Tek – It’s really to each his own. Pick your own poison. Everything is addictive in one way. I’m addicted to tattoos. I’m about to leave red meat alone. There’s so much shit out there. It all matters what rocks your boat and enables you to do what you love. Be it music, drawing painting, whatever you love. But there’s some shit out there, drug wise that you really gotta be careful. You could hit that shit one time and be FUCKED UP. I never wanted to even try to see how ‘e’ would make me feel. Start doing research that’s just rollin’ on it, so we call it, and you hear that the shit eats away at your spinal fluid and shit.

Steele – Just live your life baby! Do you and perform. The world is your stage. Cause I’ll tell you, we hung out with some cocaine cowboys, word life. But we ain’t dabble. We know what’s our borders. We know what lines we can cross and what we don’t need to cross. So when you talk about peer pressure and all that, nobody ever pressured me to smoke marijuana. And I been around people who snort cocaine and I ain’t never snort cocaine. So it’s like, you gotta have a strong heart.

Tek – Never even did them whoolie blunts. Might have smoked on a little hashish. Might have ate a couple of mushrooms, but like you said, you gotta have a balance. You gotta know the world is watching. And you gotta know the police will lock your ass up!! My man Gucci Mane just got locked up, he went to the court, and was high of them e-z’s or whatever but like the homie said, to each his own. You can’t really judge nobody. You never know what circumstances people are living under. You talk about Michael Jackson, I also heard that he was in a lot of pain, cause he had vitiligo. And he got his skin grafted. It was painful. He had to take medications and all that. And when you see him, you just see him giving you love for what you love him for. And that takes amazing dedication for someone to get up there in their pain and go out there and perform. I just wish and hope, all praise due to the most high, that we have that kind of energy when we are 50. You know like; we’re 50 and we’re about to go on a 50 city tour. Who else can say they’ve been performing for 45 years?

I’m so happy to be a part of that generation cause James Brown and all these cats setting the standards, I’m like fuck y’all hip hoppers talking about “cats are too old to rap”, what the fuck are you talking about? Fuck, we are telling our own stories, creating our own universe!

Tek – Word.

Steele – Now just imagine, if all the older rappers just said “You know what? You right, we out.” Ha ha.

And they left it to the new cats?

Tek – Shit would be REALLY screwed.

I’ma leave it on this question: from some veterans, older gods. What do you have to say to the new generation of MCs? ‘Cause I really think there are some unspoken understandings that we all had in the early 90′s and the 80′s that you didn’t have to say, but the year 2000 came and happened, and the jewels didn’t get passed on, and shit went crazy…

Steele – Nepotism and all that.

Yeah. So to the new school cats, what do y’all got to say to them, from Smif n Wessun?

Tek – I’m not even gonna say some shit like that to them like “respect your elders or you’ll get your face smacked” on some “nigga this is my block. Dee-bo nigga!” But, do know your circumference. Do know what’s around you. Know your camp, your click, your posse, your squad, whatever you want to call them. Know your entities around you, and know what’s your purpose and what theirs is.

Steele – And if you don’t know your purpose, have patience enough to find a purpose. Cause when we came into the game, we didn’t necessarily come into be like “Yo, we gonna change the game, when they hear our music, it’s gonna be like ‘Oh shit! Smif N Wessun’”! We got a song called ‘Let’s Get It On’, where we say: “Not to go out like the rest/ and be the best/ just to get ruckus off my chest/ nothing less… let’s get it on.” And that’s been our mentality since day one. And when you get that love, you gotta give some of it back, you gotta give something back, man. 360 degrees back home. When you go back home, what have you left here? So, think about your life, and take yourself a little bit more seriously. Don’t be a clown. Don’t believe all them rap cats out there, ‘cause a lot of them be steering you wrong. Do your history, do your research. If you look up Smif N Wessun, you gonna find out that most of the shit we say is true. So: eat up nuh bredren! Sistren! I-dren! Eat up now! Smif n Wessun pon di bordaline! Yah yeh!

Ha ha, f’real. Love every time, family.