Recently, we sat down in separate interviews with Sabastian Cayne and Attitude to discuss their careers. We also touched on their views and thoughts about the local, regional and national hip-hop scene. Read on to see what they each had to say about the hip-hop industry - both at home and outside the state of Alabama.
ALABAMA HIP-HOP
"We gotta respect each other to the point where we willing to
come out to each other's venues and functions and
really show up for each other... We gotta have the unity."
What do you think about Alabama's current hip-hop industry?
"I think it sucks," Sabastian Cayne declares bluntly. He cites a number of reasons for his feelings. "[There's] no support." Unless you have a song on the radio, "people don't come to your show," he says. "If they don't know you - again, people won't buy your material." And the radio stations? They'd rather jump on what's hot to everybody than give somebody a chance."
And what about the artists themselves? Do they respect each other? Is there enough support amongst Alabama's rappers?
"I think they respect each other just enough." says Attitude. That ain't gon' do it though. We gotta respect each other to the point where we willing to come out to each other's venues and functions and really show up for each other." He continues: "Saying, 'I know him' [or] 'I heard of him' - that ain't respect. You gotta start really showing up for each other before we can ever be like an Atlanta or a New York or a LA. We gotta have the unity.
Does Alabama get the respect it deserves from those outside of Alabama?
"I don't think we get the respect we deserve," says Sabastian Cayne. "I think [Alabama's talent] is still undiscovered...people don't recognize it."
According to Attitude, "They respect us on a street level, 'cause they know them boys down there actin' a fool. But musically, everybody else still think they run it. They still think we're slow." For instance, he tells me, in DC, the word "Bama" is used as a derogatory term. "Where we're from, if you're lame, we say, 'You a lame.' If you lame up there [in DC], or you corny up there, they say 'You a Bama.'" In addition, says Attitude, when people find out he's from Alabama, he gets lots of "compliments" that are kind of when people find out he's from Alabama, he gets lots of "compliments" that are kind of difficult to be happy about. "They usually tell me that I don't sound like I'm from Alabama." His reaction: "What's Alabama sound like?" He continues, "Or they'll say, 'You tight, to be from Alabama, and I'm like, 'What you mean?!' It's like they're trying to be nice, but they don't know."
What is the future of Alabama's hip-hop scene? Has Alabama hip-hop already run its course, or will we continue to make waves on the mainstream hip-hop scene?
Sabastian Cayne is positive about his home state's possibility of making it big in hip-hop. "I think Rich Boy did a lot," Sabastian Cayne says. "Them Dirty Boyz started it [and] Rich Boy, he kicked the door open. So, it's really a good opportunity for us right now." He goes further by saying, "I think everybody gets their time to shine...It'll be Alabama's time in a minute. It'll just take the right person to really just kick the door down and show 'em what Alabama's got to offer. Then we won't be able to get'em off of us."
SOUTHERN HIP-HOP
"Pens is like a-holes, and everybody got one... People gon' stereotype the South...
They been doin' it for years."
What do you think about people from outside of the south who feel that southern artists are one-dimensional and talent-less and that their music has no content? Is the South only about good beats and catchy hooks?
Sabastian Cayne is quite blunt with his answer: "Pens is like a-holes, and everybody got one." he declares. "People gon' stereotype the South. They been doin' it for years. As far as people saying 'when you think of South music, you think of crunk music and dance music'...Come on man. Look at TI. Look at the whole Houston. David Banner. Come on, man...Intellectuals...David Banner got a degree. People always gon' have something to say."
Attitude also answers matter-of-factly: "It's people up North that don't impress me too," he says, not sounding very concerned about it all. "It's people on the West coast that don't impress me." But at the end of the day, "both of those places [have] people that do impress me." Basically, he feels that everyone else just needs to wait and keep their ears open. "I think they haven't heard everything the South has to offer. They've just heard what the South has [given] the game so far." His words of advice for all the haters and non-believers in the hip-hop world? "I'd just tell 'em watch and see."
HIP-HOP IN GENERAL
"Hip-hop is what it is...
Hip-hop is everything."
How do you feel about the state of hip-hop as a whole?
Sabastian Cayne echoes one of the biggest complaints of artists from all musical genres: "The bootleggers are crazy right now. People ain't selling nearly what they [used to sell] today." Other than that, he seems pretty confident about where hip-hop is going right now. "As far as the state of hip-hop? Hip-hop is what it is. Hip-hop is everything. Everybody is eatin' off of it."
Is hip-hop dead?
"Not at all." Sabastian Cayne replies. "I think hip-hop will be here as long as people are on earth. I feel like people saying that has exhausted the possibility."
