[RH Interview] Meyhem Lauren: More Pressure
Meyhem Lauren loves turkey. I know this because I just spent last night binge watching episodes of "F*ck That's Deicious", the VICELAND show in which Meyhem Lauren travels all over the world with Action Bronson, The Alchemist, and Big Body Bes. Meyhem serves somewhat as the straight-man on the show. If Bronson is the foodie extremist, displaying an appetite that possibly only he alone can maintain, Meyhem is the regular guy that shows everyone else, 'hey, maybe these brains aren't so bad to try after all.'
In his rap music, Meyhem exists in a similar manner. One of my favorite emcees when it comes to making straight-forward rap music. Wordplay, metaphors, grimey shit, beautiful shit, that's Meyhem's music, which most recently took the form of an album (Gems From The Equinox) and EP (Frozen Angels) with the legendary DJ and producer Muggs.
"Mey raps. Mey is a monster," Muggs tells me over the phone on an early morning in late June (the same morning Muggs released this with DOOM and Freddie Gibbs).
The story has been told before, the one about how Muggs and Meyhem met during a session at Alchemist's studio, Muggs threw him some beats, some time went by, he threw him more beats, and they decided to do a project together. That became the 2017 release, Gems From The Equinox. They had so many songs done that they came back with the Frozen Angels EP, which you may have missed amidst all the Drake/Pusha/Kanye hoopla. And if you did miss it, stop what you're doing and go listen.
The shits is tremendous. And it's just the start. While those releases were predominantly completed over email, the two have since been in the studio together regularly. They are now shaping music hand in hand, and both say it's their best work together yet.
"At first I was just throwing him tracks you know, and he would pick what he likes and then he rapped on them," Muggs says about the early material. "But now we are dialed into a sound. So even the stuff we're [now] doing doesn’t sound anything like either the Frozen Angels or the Gems. It’s just like, now we're in studio everyday, and just like, figuring it out. Now I'm really dialed into the new sound to make him shine even more."
The bond between Muggs and Meyhem was strengthened by their shared aesthetics, musical preference for Mobb Deep and CNN. And while Muggs is so closely associated with LA Hip Hop thanks to his work with Cypress Hill and the Soul Assassins, both he and Meyhem actually grew up Queens. Oh, and they both love food.
"When we first started working it was kind of like, he’s Muggs, I’m Mey," says Meyhem about their early relationship. "But now it’s like, you know, we're friends, we're fam, that’s my man. We rode around laughing and throwing lobster tails on the grill."
Read on more my full interview with Meyhem Lauren as he talks about working with Muggs, his style of Hip Hop, and how all the success of "Fuck That's Delicious" only makes him want to rap more.
https://youtu.be/l3RW2hVR5Uk
rubyhornet: I believe that Frozen Angels came out the same week or shortly before the Nas album and in the middle of all the G.O.O.D. Music releases, and the Pusha and Drake beef, and then you got the 6ix 9ine's trolling shit. Did you guys think at all about where this project would sit with what is happening in Hip Hop overall right now?
Meyhem Lauren: We don’t ever think about that. We just think about what we want to put out, what we wanna represent and drop it. That’s it, you know?
rubyhornet: Yeah, he was saying too that you guys have been able to work more in person on new music, and that’s helped just making him better in working with you and creating more music. From your standpoint how has the relationship gone specifically working with Muggs?
Meyhem Lauren: I mean it sounds better. When we first started working, it was kind of like he’s Muggs, I’m Mey. But now, it’s like, you know we're friends, we're fam, that’s my man. We rode around laughing and throwing lobster tails on the grill. And I get what you said, like he knows more what beats suit me. Like I’ll be listening if the beat is ill or not. But that might not always be for me, like the beat that’s ill could be for B-Real for GZA or for someone else, may not fit with what I got. But now he just knows right away like, 'Yo, this is a Mey style beat.' We gotta have that chemistry, and that was crazy. In the last couple of days we knocked out 5 songs from the next project that are so crazy, they literally blow away everything we ever done before. We are just moving in the right direction.
rubyhornet: That’s exactly what he was saying and he also mentioned you guys grilling all the time.
Meyhem Lauren: Yeah (*Laughs*)
rubyhornet: Also speaking of that, you do work with different producers and are constantly writing and making music. The way that he might have a specifically beat for you, do you save any kind of style or is there any kind of subject or rhyme style that you wanna save for Muggs? And think to yourself yeah this is what I’m going to use on the Muggs project vs. something you do solo or Harry Fraud stuff. Is there any 'Muggs' kind of rap?
Meyhem Lauren: Naw, not in particular. Not where I’ll like plan to save a subject for Muggs, but Muggs makes dark beats. So it kind of brings darker rhymes out of me. Does that makes sense?
rubyhornet: Yeah that definitely makes sense.
Meyhem Lauren: Me and Muggs recently have been doing some up tempo beats. And I didn’t still try to strictly stay dark on that, cause that wouldn’t make sense. So it’s based on the beat, the beat brings the rhymes out.
rubyhornet: Yeah, obviously you’ve heard about Cypress Hill before you met Muggs. And I’ve read and seen interviews with you talking about just listening Cypress Hill’s music as a kid and a being big fan of Hip Hop. I’m curious if you had any just preconceptions of what it might be like to work with Muggs or even as a kid or aspiring rapper in your teens? The same way of someone who wants to be a baseball player might think about visualizing hitting a home run off Randy Johnson, had you visualized what a recording session with Muggs might be like?
Meyhem Lauren: No, the whole relationship started organically. I met Muggs at a recording session, I was at Alchemist's house. Working on completely different music, he came through, had some beats. He’s Muggs, so he knows about raps man. He was playing beats, and I had the opportunity to jump on a Muggs beat, like why wouldn’t I? And we just moved from there on. That was day one, day one was the session. We just got right to the work.
rubyhornet: Got you, Got you. I think I read a bio of yours that starts with….
Meyhem Lauren: Yo, I hate all these bios floating around (*Laughs*). I don’t even know who is writing these things? The only one good thing I can say is there’s a bio floating around where they shave like 5 years off my age. I’m not sure why, but I’ll leave that alone. But I don’t know what’s going on yo, I don’t even know what you’re going to say right now... But there’s a bunch of unauthorized bios all over the internet, I don’t even know how to fix that.
rubyhornet: Got you, I did see one that said you were born in 1989. And I was like I don’t know…
Meyhem Lauren: Yea exactly, I’ll take that (*Laughs*). I’ll keep it 100, I’m ‘83, but if you wanna say ‘89 hey.. Who am I to point that out. Everything else is wrong.
rubyhornet: Exactly, I read that and then I saw you talking about listening to Cypress Hill in like middle school or high school, like, 'Damn this motherfucker must’ve skipped like 5 grades. For Cypress Hill to come out while he was in high school'... But I read something where it described you, but I don’t know who wrote it, but it described you as a Queens based rapper that represents a genre of Hip Hop that is near extinction. And I thought that was interesting if you started your bio like that, maybe someone else wrote it. Do you feel that way?
Meyhem Lauren: Naw, you know what’s crazy? It’s actually a piece of a very old bio that I think that I wrote or someone else wrote. But it’s like someone just took all these bios and put them in the blender, and added things and put things that were never said. But yeah, I’m cool with that, and that does makes sense to be honest.
rubyhornet: So what does that mean to you? Why do you feel like it’s going through extinction? Why do you represent this genre so much?
Meyhem Lauren: I’m just playing my part. I’m just actually doing what I like. And I don’t think it’s necessarily going through extinction, maybe in the mainstream of the public eye it is. But it’s actually stronger… from what I feel. And I’m not talking about myself, because a lot of dope stuff that fits the category of that genre that has been on the rise lately. Like I said, it’s not like a niche thing or something like, 'Oh, I’m trying to be cool.' I'm really making what I like, I’m making what I’m listening to. Obviously it’s an updated version because of whatever year it is. But I’m just doing what I’m supposed to do, you know?
rubyhornet: Yeah, does having the success with the TV and cooking take any pressure, in your eyes, off making music? Does it go into this attitude of letting you making what you like?
Meyhem Lauren: Naw, my thing is 'more pressure.' Cause it’s like, I gotta remind dudes that I still rap. Matter of fact not just that I rap, but I rap first and foremost... I’m Meyhem Lauren, so it actually gives me more pressure to stay on top of my music.
rubyhornet: That’s interesting man. That’s an interesting concept, and I think that’s probably part of why you’re such a good rapper and artist. Is that you kept that mentality, where it might be easy for someone to be like 'I’m on TV, I have these other things. I’ll let that ride.' But you're attitude, now listening back to the music, it makes a lot of sense. So I think that’s dope.
Meyhem Lauren: You know something crazy? Beyond TV, I don’t know if you know, but I’m the voice of the World Cup. All week I have been doing voice ovesr for the World Cup. I’m at Fox everyday, updating games, and screaming and yeah doing crazy things. I just threw that in there cause I really wanna do voice overs now, I wanna cook food, but... I still wanna rap.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKJsEXVsftE
rubyhornet: Yeah, I saw that on your twitter like people were asking is this Meyhem Lauren on the World Cup Games? Are you a soccer fan or did they pick you for your voice?
Meyhem Lauren: I’m a soccer fan now. I love soccer. It saved my life.
rubyhornet: I also saw on your twitter that someone said something about you being a famous rapper and you replied, 'I appreciate that, but I’m just a regular guy from Queens.' And I feel like that sums up a lot. And is part of the reason that Muggs wanted to fuck with you. He said first and foremost you’re just a cool dude. Is that at the heart of how you see yourself or your identity?
Meyhem Lauren: Yeah, basically. Regular guy from Queens, it’s not like necessarily like average Joe regular, but regular meaning, I’m a certain type of person from Queens and there’s a bunch of people like me. That are in whatever. I’m just a regular guy from Queens, bro. I have been a rapper and done a bunch of things and I'm grateful for that. But that’s not who I am necessarily only.
rubyhornet: When we first worked with Bronson and brought him out here for our party and Closed Session, he said the exact same thing, and when we were just talking he was like 'I’m just a regular guy, I make music, but i’m just a regular dude from Queens.' That seems like that's a key part of your bond. And I know that you guys are real friends from like 12 years old.
Meyhem Lauren: Yea that’s my man forever.
rubyhornet: Outside of the Muggs, you said that you guys have another album that you’re working on now. Is there any other music or things that you want people aware of?
Meyhem Lauren: In between Gems from the Equinox and Frozen Angels I put out an album with Fraud.
rubyhornet: Yep Glass right?
Meyhem Lauren: Glass, yep and I loved that. It was a bunch of issues on the back end like it took while to get out so we kind of just threw it out there. But the feedback’s been incredible. Dropped a video with me and Conway. And I’m still gon’ drop one or two videos from that project.
Watch The New Video For The DJ Muggs x MF DOOM Collab - "Death Wish" f/Freddie Gibbs
"All is fair in love, and lust, and lyrics."
Last week I had the chance to interview DJ Muggs and Meyhem Lauren about their recent EP, Frozen Angels. During the call, Muggs let me know about his 2-song drop with MF DOOM, as well as the forthcoming LP, Soul Assassination, a compilation in the vein of Soul Assassins Vol 1 and 2.
The brooding track is given a fitting video, entirely illustrated and featuring Muggs, Doom, and Gibbs as racist hunting vigilantes. It is exactly as good as it sounds. Peep it below. And look for the next song from the Muggs and Doom project (which features Kool G Rap) to drop later this week.
https://youtu.be/gK3Aw7a_EyA
Meyhem Lauren and DJ Muggs Continue Their Streak with "Northern Blvd" Video
"I told'em, 'that's old shit', they busy staring at my neck, looking at gold shit."
In 2017, DJ Muggs and Meyhem Lauren connected for the LP, Gems From The Equinox. I remember reading interviews with Muggs at the time, and he called Meyhem one of his favorite rappers and collaborators. That's tough talk from a legend like DJ Muggs, who has worked with some heavy hitters and produced 2 classic LP's in Cypress Hill's first and second albums (yes, those are classics and Muggs invented a new sound on those joints). Putting his money and time where his mouth is, Muggs connected with Meyhem again for a re-up, Frozen Angels, an EP that released last week. Today they gifted us the video for "Northern Blvd", which put visuals to a tale of riding dirty and getting pulled over. The song is psychological, displaying the mental stresses and requirements after getting pulled over. Meyhem is joined on the record and in the video by Hologram, who ends his verse with "I'm trying to tell the shorties that crime don't pay."
Lots of quotables here in only two minutes. Peep the video, then go check out the EP.
https://youtu.be/l3RW2hVR5Uk
DJ Muggs: "Wikid" (Craze Remix) (feat. Chuck D)
Fresh off the release of his Bass For Your Face album, DJ Muggs' "Wikid" record gets the remix treatment by four talented producers in a brand new EP which you can cop here. A highlight from the project is this remix done by Craze which you can stream below. Enjoy.
[Interview] DJ Muggs: Like Water
When DJ Muggs released his EP, Sound Clash Business, in mid October, I sent him a text saying how much I enjoyed it. I never really expect a response from any artist that I text, and definitely not someone of Muggs' legendary status. It also happened to be 10 AM Chicago time when I sent this text, making it 8 AM for DJ Muggs. Those aren't exactly office hours, and definitely not in the entertainment business, when some are punching out in the wee hours of the morning. "Thank you, brother," read Muggs' response, sent just a few minutes later.
After thinking about it, I shouldn't have been surprised at all. For one, Muggs is one of the most genuine and good dudes I've been able to meet over the years. Second, while I think of Muggs as Hip Hop royalty, and may have my own expectations for how he should act, those are my expectations only and not shared by the man immortalized in House of Pain's "Jump Around" as the person to "let the funk flow."
"When I look at myself, I'm still a beginner, I'm still learning, and I got a long ways to go," Muggs would tell me about a week later in our candid interview, done at a similar early hour. "I don't sit back and smile with a fucking pompous attitude and my feet up. I sold 40 million records, I've made millions of dollars, I traveled the world. So what? That was cool. That's what you did. What are you going to do?"
Muggs is going to release a new album soon, one that expands on his Sound Clash Business EP. It is will be released on January 15th via Ultra Records under the title Bass For Face and presents new dub-step with a Hip Hop aesthetic. After that, he'll be dropping a number of Hip Hop albums and other projects that he says are absolutely on some other shit. "The last two years I've really made 200 songs and created all these projects. Now everything's almost done, so you're going to see a lot coming out from me next year, you're going to be like, 'what the fuck?'
Truth is, Muggs, a man that's sold over 40 million records, is still putting in work like he hasn't done shit. Read this interview to see how that's fueled his success, exactly what he has planned for 2013, and why he's a huge fan of Chief Keef.
[Interview Snippet] DJ Muggs: "My Style Is Like Water"
"Muggs lets the funk flow."
Since the late 80's, DJ Muggs has been shaping and then re-shaping sounds, first and foremost his own, and secondly, Hip Hop as a whole. The veteran producer who rose to fame by producing Cypress Hill's classic self-titled debut and their follow-up Black Sunday, shows no signs of slowing down. He's still putting in 12-plus hours days, and is ready to release multiple projects in 2013. A couple weeks ago Muggs dropped SoundClash Business, a free EP merging drum and bass with trap heavy production. While Muggs may be best known for gritty and grimy Hip Hop, the more electronic sound has been a part of his arsenal since the the late 90's and early 2000's when he lived in London and worked with artists such as Tricky and producer Nellee Hooper.
"I do things like this just to challenge myself and try to learn new production techniques. When I go back to Hip Hop, it's fun again," Muggs told me during a phone interview that lasted nearly 40 minutes.
"When you do this for 25 years, shit gets boring. You got to invent ways to stimulate yourself, and stimulate the creativity. When I go over to the side, leave Hip Hop alone for a couple months and do another project, when I'm done, I can't wait to get back to Hip Hop. I got like 3 rap albums I'm working on right now. They're all half done," he continued, before describing his upcoming work and some of his inspiration.
"A couple of them are more drum machine based, trap style. Some of them are gritty, SP-12, samples from 1993 still. I can tap into all those styles, man. My style's like water. I'm a scientist of sound. I like to reach out and just do different shit. That's the fun of this shit for me. I'm not going to do the same shit over every fucking day. It's like going to the same job, eating the same shit, fucking the same bitch every night. I can't do that, dog. But you know sometimes people can't see it cause they can't see it in themselves. They just want the same thing. It's just conditioned. It's the mental conditioned way people are and the way the nervous system works. I look at a famous artist that I study like Salvador Daali or Picasso, Picasso changed his style every so-many years and went to a whole other style because he's inspired by different things. I got some of the dirtiest, grimest Hip Hop I've ever made coming out. I got a new project called the Cypress Experience. I found all these unmarked discs in my storage, about 300 discs, all samples that I thought I lost from '89-'92. When I found those, 'I'm like, I'm doing a project.' It's going to be the Cypress Experience. It's going to be basically the energy that we all love from the first three records, with a twist."
Check back next week for the full interview with DJ Muggs in which he speaks on his new projects, staying relevant for 25 plus years, and the hungry days of Cypress Hill.
B-Real: More Than High Hopes
"I’ve done the platinum records, I’ve done the gold records, it would be great for it to achieve that. Am I expecting that? No," B-Real says about his expectations for his solo album, Smoke N' Mirrors, coming soon on Duck Down Records. It's hard to believe that after nearly 20 years as a Hip Hop artist, it is only now that B-Real is readying a solo record. While some may have expected B-Real to lean on DJ Muggs, the producer who ushered in a new sound along with B's nasally voice, B-Real purposefully decided to do the full LP sans any beats from one of Hip Hop's best producers.
"I needed to set the tone of my solo record and put it on my back. With that I had to stay away from any sound that would have been compared to Cypress Hill at all," B-Real said. "I had to take the challenge and do it without him. His tracks are hot. He’s one of the greatest producers in Hip Hop, and one of the most underrated at that, but I had to take the challenge by producing some of the stuff myself, by going to other producers who would give me a sound that’s not at all in anyway like the Cypress Hill sound."
Cypress Hill's sound is one that not only stood out for it's uniqueness, but also it's ability to reach a wide audience. The labels that came with it, and claims that Cypress Hill sold out are all topics of discussion in this exclusive interview with B-Real. Read on as he also speaks on the hidden keys to his success, and the nasally voiced super group that never was.
Read more