Interesting Interview With Bears' WR Brandon Lloyd

[bigted]

http://streetcred.com/?page=features/entry&id=481

Rappin' Receiver: B. Lloyd AKA Brandon Lloyd

Posted: 09/25/2008 :: Author: Derek Phifer

The NFL season is underway and it’s the most wonderful time of the year for the majority of America. While most of us were counting down the days to kickoff, Chicago Bears receiver Brandon Lloyd was putting the finishing touches on his upcoming album Master of Ceremonies. Trying to evade the stigma of being a baller-rapper like a middle linebacker on a crossing route, B. Lloyd is out to prove that he’s not an athlete trying to rap, he’s just a rapper.

Brandon Lloyd sits down to talk with StreetCred.com about his rap career as B.Lloyd, the new NFL season, why he isn't feelin 50 and much more.

B.Lloyd on why he's rappin':

"I just feel like I’m a better MC. I’m a better rapper than the guys who do it for a living. It should be no excuse why your music is bad. I’m a better MC than the guys who say they rap for a living and prior athletes."

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Derek: So how do you think you guys are going to do this season? You have a lot of questions at quarterback.

B. Lloyd: We should be alright. I think the defense will be good. As long as we keep guys healthy we’ll be alright. The year they went to the Super Bowl the offense didn’t have to put up that many points. So, if we protect the quarterback I think we’ll be good.

D: What do you think went wrong over in D.C. with the Washington Redskins? Before you got there you were making all sorts of crazy catches. You were coming on as one of the better receivers in the league.

B: When I got traded there they said they were gonna throw the ball. We started running Al Saunders’ offense and it wasn’t clicking right away, so Gibbs was like we going back to running the ball. So when I got there I ended up being one of the receivers to free up Santana on the other side and get the double coverage off of him and they went back to running the ball and they just threw the ball to Santana and Chris Cooley and ran the ball a bunch of times. We’d go into games and we’d only throw the ball 13 times in the game. There’s no way I’mma get 70 or 80 catches and I’m only getting 50 balls thrown at me for the year.

D: That was crazy. I felt that they overloaded on receivers that year. They brought in a lot.

B: Yeah, they brought in Randle El, and actually they delivered him the ball they just kinda forgot about me.

D: So how long have you been rapping?

B: Man I been rapping, for real, since ’99. It was like my last year in high school I really started perfecting my craft and trying to figure out the direction I was going in. When I first got interested in Hip-Hop it was Master P’s True To the Game double disc. For me, that’s when I was like alright I think I can do this, so I got a karaoke machine and started rapping over instrumentals. Then I got to college and was doing the same thing and guys started liking it, guys on the team. So I started making CDs for guys on the team. I got a little beat making program, Magic Studio 6, from Best Buy and I started making beats and making my own raps and I really kinda got started when I figured out people were liking it.

D: On a scale of 1-10 how would you rate your lyrics right now?

B: I rate my lyrics at a firm 7. Yeah, I got a lot of improving to do and it’s definitely what I’m committed to. I don’t feel right now that I’m the best, but anything I put my heart into I want it to be the best, so I’m gonna continue to work for it.

D: Can you freestyle, or are you primarily a writer?

B: I’m a writer. I’m definitely a writer.

D: No cypha sessions or anything like that?

B: Maybe if it was a real talented artist or something I’d jump in on that, but I don’t walk around the locker room rapping all day or anything cheesy like that.

D: How has it been trying to get respect as a rapper knowing that you’re an athlete and that a bunch of others tried to do it before you, but didn’t really do anything?

B: Well, I think it’s tough. Man, I look at it and I’m a million times better than any rapper who would come and try to play sports. Being an athlete going into rap I look at it like it’s not my fault and it’s not my responsibility to carry the weight of athletes who failed before me. The way I’m presenting my music I’m presenting it to them in a professional manner. I’m not skipping any levels. I’m doing the proper thing as far as coming up as a grass roots artist. I’m not jumping in the game and saying I’m at the top, or jumping in the game and throwing money at everybody to make things happen for me. I’m doing it the proper way and I get more fulfillment out of it this way.

D: I first heard that you were trying to rap on the morning show on ESPN a couple years back.

B: Exactly, yeah, it was like ’04.

D: Yeah, you were going to perform, but I had to go to class. I didn’t stick around for it but…

B: You can see it on my website, I got it up there.

D: The first thing I thought was, another one of these dudes trying to rap? Then I listened to your Myspace page and heard She All Mine and was like damn, this is kind of hot. You don’t sound like an athlete trying to be a rapper, you just sound like a rapper.

B: Well, I feel I am a rapper. I’m in the industry, I give 100 percent. This is not a hobby for me. I’m really serious. I use my off-season to record my music and I don’t look at it like people are gonna accept me because I’m an athlete. Actually, it’s been a double-edged sword, because I been 100 percent committed to making my music and people are like, ‘Alright, your cool. I like you on the field’, but they don’t really give it the time of day. I just felt like I had to look at it like aight, I just gotta go back into the lab and create music to which they cannot doubt it. I kind of created that She All Mine joint last off-season. When we recorded that song it was like there was no doubt that this song should be played. Yeah, I’m real excited about that song and the response has been incredible.

D: So you’ve been getting a lot of burn on the radio with that one?

B: Yeah, I’ve been getting upwards of 300 spins a week on that record. It’s been a long road and we still got a long way to go, because as of before the holiday weekend I was number 54 in America. I couldn’t even believe that. The number 54 song in America…by me. I mean, it was cool, but I looked at the chart and it’s like alright, I want to be top 10. I want to be top 40, and then I want to be top 10. I want to be a legitimate artist in this industry.

D: What’s going to separate you from the other athletes that tried to go this route?

B: My theory on music in general is that people love the entertainment aspect of the music. Being an athlete my lifestyle is not only legal, but it’s a way more glamorous lifestyle than these rappers paint as being drug dealers. And I really play football, you know. The problem was the athletes before me weren’t able to put it as elegantly as I put it. My music isn’t about oh yo, I’m a baller, I make a grip, I play ball, football cleat analogies.

D: Yeah that’s what I thought I was going to listen to.

B: Yeah, it’s not that, it’s real music. My music is competitive and I’m passionate about it.

D: Well what about the everyday rappers? What separates you from them? What do you have to offer that the everyday rapper isn’t putting out there?

B: I just feel like I’m a better MC. I’m a better rapper than the guys who do it for a living. It should be no excuse why your music is bad. I’m a better MC than the guys who say they rap for a living and prior athletes. I put it in a way more acceptable way. I paint the picture of me being an artist in a way more acceptable way than the previous athletes before me.

D: As far as your influences, I know you said Master P earlier. Let’s also throw out Biggie and Pac, because everybody says that…

B: Exactly. I wouldn’t even go there. I think they’re the greatest to do it, but my actual influences…I actually fell in love with Hip-Hop when I heard Nightmare on My Street by DJ Jazzy Jeff and Fresh Prince. That’s when I fell in love with Hip-Hop. I fell in love with Rap with the True To the Game double disc. I see Rap and Hip-Hop as different. I feel like Rap is more about a lifestyle and Hip-Hop is kind of about life, so that’s how I put my music together. That’s how I put this whole album together. That’s why I named it Master of Ceremonies, because I kind of went everywhere with it. I did Hip-Hop, I hit em’ with life tracks, and I can hit em’ with radio joints, I can hit em’ with the street joints.

D: I really never heard anyone break it down like that between Rap and Hip-Hop before.

B: Appreciate it. That’s how I kind of look at it.

D: So what has to happen for you to consider you rap career a success?

B: I just gotta…be accepted. I gotta be accepted in a manner in which I have credibility in the industry, I’m established in the industry, my label, you know, I’m able to get my self off as an artist, and sell records and have a fan base. You know, all that stuff factors in. There’s not an exact number. It’s not like if I sell 30,000 records I feel like I’m a success, because I feel like being successful is an insatiable appetite. Once you get success you want more, so I just want to get myself off as an artist, get my company off, and kind of take it from there.

D: So you said you have an album you’re working on. What’s it called again?

B: The Master of Ceremonies. It’s complete, it’s finished. I’m distributing it in January through Universal. The She All Mine single will be on the cell phone, on the internet, on AOL and on itunes.

D: So besides Bobby Valentino, who else is on the album?

B: It’s actually me. I just threw Bobby Valentino on there. We had the song finished and I reached out to him because I thought his voice would sound great. I actually first reached out to Trey Songz, but his manager wouldn’t let him do it. He wanted to do it, but his manager wouldn’t let him do it, because I wasn’t established and probably because I’m an athlete. He probably put that in there. But Bobby reached back and he did the joint. I got 1 more joint and I’ll probably reach that out to Game. We’ve already kind of got the wheels rolling on that. You know, get Game on a record. I got a California joint that’s crazy. I got Gigolo, he produced track 2 on the Buck the World album. He’s down in Arizona. That’s where I train in the off-season. I met him out there and then we basically did the whole album together. I did a rock song with a local Scottsdale rock band called Heavy. They’re called The Funk Junkies.

D: You’ve got a lot on there. That’s pretty versatile with the rock band, Game…

B: I make the kind of music that I love to listen to in my car.

D: That’s good; you’re not going to do that formula mess that everyone’s trying to do right now.

B: You know, that’s cool and everything, I like it, but if I can pull it off I’d do it. I don’t think I can, I haven’t tried it, so I don’t know if I can.

D: Are you going to have one of those voice synthesizer tracks on your joint?

B: Nah, I didn’t. I didn’t put any on there and I don’t know if I’ll go there.

D: Yeah, because everybody’s doing it and I’m getting a little tired of hearing it myself.

B: I think it’s creative…

D: It is until everybody starts doing it.

B: You right.

D: That’s what bothers me. I just don’t like when people don’t have a mind of their own. To me that’s T-Pain’s golden child and now everybody’s trying to pick it up and run with it.

B: So do you feel like T-Pain’s the innovator for that kind of music then?

D: Nah, I know that somebody from the west coast was coming up with that sound before him in that whole G-FUNK era I think.

B: Exactly. What was that, George Clinton? He was using that real big…and the P-Funk Allstars.

D: Yeah, I know that people came before T-Pain, but he brought it back. It was gone for a minute.

B: It was gone for a real good minute. Yea, they picking it up. Not everyone can pull it off though. Wayne been pulling it off pretty good. And now 50 tyrin’ to do it and it sounds horrible. He just needs to stick to the singing, I think.

D: 50’s doing it too?

B: What, you haven’t heard the record? He did it on the remix to T-Pain’s joint. He did a version with T-Pain and he was doing the voice thing.

D: So you say 50 needs to go back to the singing?

B: I think when he does the singing it sounds good, but now he’s throwing the voice thing in there and it’s like ehh…I’m not really feeling that vocal thing with him.

D: So what do you think about his whole situation? I kind of feel like G-Unit is falling apart.

B: I don’t know. From the outside looking in, you know, it’s crazy. I think that 50 just lost his credibility with the success of his albums. It don’t got nothing to do with the Vitamin Water thing, or any of that. It’s just that with the success of his albums now his lifestyle is different, so it’s hard to believe him when he’s talking about the guns, shooting people. It’s like dog, you sold over 20 million records…there’s no way…

D: Yeah, I generally feel that when a guy first comes out, that’s when they’re going to put in their best work, because their still hungry. He’s a mega millionaire. He can flop on every album and he still won’t be hurting.

B: But it’s still a pride thing though. That’s where he making his money. It’s a huge pride thing, but at the same time he just gotta come more creative. Maybe he gotta start coming off like Kanye West about how fresh and fly he is instead of trying to make these kill up everybody songs.

D: Yeah, on his old mixtapes he was coming off hot, and you could definitely hear it. Now it’s more like a lyrical bank statement.

B: Exactly, but you know some artists can pull that off. You just gotta be more creative.

D: I remember when he first came out and if he got on a song then I had to hear it. Now if he’s on a song I don’t really want to listen to it.

B: Before he came out, like in ’01-’02, he was just killin’ them mixtapes. Right before Wanksta had came out. He was punkin everybody. He kind of had it the way Wayne has it right now. If you put out a single, Wayne gonna kill you on the song. He gonna get his hands on that and do it better. That’s the way you used to feel 50 back then. He put out a single, he came out with one flipping it on the girls. Girls, like Destinys Child, came out with a song and he flipped it on them.

D: You know that Nas was coming with the “Hip-Hop Is Dead” movement a little while back. Do you feel like it’s good now?

B: I don’t feel like Hip-Hop ever left. I just feel like a new genre was formed and it’s called Down South Rap, or Dirty South rap. Whatever you want to call it, it was formed and what happened was that became more popular than the classic Hip-Hop. That’s it, that’s all that happened. Guys just gotta get more creative. Maybe it’s the economy. The economy don’t seem to be affecting Garth Brooks. He sold like 8 million on his last album. Guys just got to come more creative, just got to be more appealing to the audiences, be more creative. The classic Hip-Hop just isn’t working on the audience anymore.

D: Going off of that, what type of rapper would you classify yourself as?

B: Like I said, I make the music that I want to listen to, so it’s some heavy south beats, West Coast tracks, party songs that are reminiscent of old school Nelly stuff – I kind of classify that as the Midwest swing kind of music, and then I got the Hip-Hop tracks. I was drafted to the San Francisco 49ers, being out in California, spending 3 years of my life out there, and I just love submerging myself in those Hip-Hop cultures and love submerging myself in that music and that’s how I put my records together.

D: Is there anything else that you want to get out there?

B: The only thing that I want to get out there is that this is not a hobby for me. This is something that I’m passionate about and I’ve loved music my entire life and this is definitely music that I put my heart and soul into. It’s something I take pride in, because this is my life that I put on these records and putting out there to sell to people. It’s music that you’ll get from an athlete that you’ll never expect to hear.

Edited September 26, 2008 by bigted

[DevilsJim89]

Outstanding read Ted! Ill def check out some of his stuff.

[Turntable]

Its decent.. his single with Bobby V. Probaboly the best sports dude till now that tried to rap.

[bigted]

Check out his single "She's All Mine" with Bobby Valentino, it's pretty good:

http://allhiphop.com/stories/multimedia__m...3/20471009.aspx