DX: I interviewed 50 Cent in May [click to read]. He told me that “Hip Hop Hooray’s” chorus came from a party routine from a spot called Gray Door in Jamaica, Queens. I don’t think he was trying to discredit you in the least, but have to ask. Is there truth to that on your side?
Treach: Not that I know of. I mean, I’ve been going to Queens and Brooklyn and the boroughs ever since even before Naughty By Nature even came out. Like, as far as the “hey, ho,” whole thing came, we had the song, we performed it…the way we wrote the song, after “Hip Hop horray,” I needed something to rhyme with “’ray,” but not like [simple]. Me, I’m a hook analyst. So “Ho,” that’s since the first Hip Hop party. At the end of that rhyme, when it came to “’ray,” I said “Hey, ho.” It rolled with the beat.

I didn’t hear it at a certain party and put it in the like. But heyyyy, if somebody said they heard it, I might’ve been in the area…if that’s the case, I wasn’t in the area for every hit we done had. [Laughs] Like you said, but 50 [Cent] is my man. I just finished his movie with him, everything. Like you said, it wasn’t a discredit or anything; somebody might’ve said something to him or whateva, but I definitely didn’t go to no party. I don’t be going to parties to try to find hooks. [Laughs]

DX: My favorite album, strange as it may be, is Nature’s Fury. That album, or iiconz, have the same qualities as the other three or four. Again, how did you achieve the consistency of whether you were in your early twenties, early thirties or today?
Vin Rock: It was a blessing that when we started, we made music from our hearts. With records like “O.P.P.,” it broke across all barriers, and it became a mainstream record, and it had a [Jackson 5] jingle – all of that was organic for us. So if we did a “Jamboree,” a “Feel Me Flow” [click to read], any of those kind of records, it’s organic to us, ‘cause that’s our style. That’s how we interpreted Hip Hop, being from [New] Jersey. Once you have your own style…certain artists can’t do [those songs] because they pigeon-holed themselves. We were blessed that we came out the box with a record like “O.P.P.,” which was universal. It kind of formed our profile. Us doing these records, it’s not like we’re reaching.

DX: You did a hot record in “Radio.” You guys were on Tommy Boy Records for a bulk of your career. As you’re doing it yet again, given the climate that Hip Hop is in today, do you think it’s possible for groups coming up today, to have the success you three did without having major label backing?
Vin Rock: Yeah. You know why? Because the music is more accessible now. Lines are blurred. Kay Gee and I were just reviewing the [MTV] VMAs the other day. White kids have been enjoying Hip Hop for so long, and Hip Hop has been around for so long, and I guess the urban kids are aware of the white kids liking it, the cultures kind of clash and merge. Maybe more urban kids are up on white music, and vice-versa. Now there’s no rules. You can do basically anything. Look at what Kanye [West] attempted that night [in “Love Lockdown”]. I guess it’s not the most well-received record he’s done, but there’s no boundaries now. Look at what Jay-Z [click to read] did, coming out to [Glastonbury] with his guitar. I just saw Lil Wayne [click to read] perform on Saturday Night Live this weekend, and he came out with a guitar on his back, and even played a little. I think it’s easier now, ‘cause music is more universally-accepted.

DX: “Radio” was a Vin record. “Dirt All By My Lonely” is a Treach record. After 10 years, what made you come like that?
Treach: It was a [line] that I said in “Uptown Anthem” first. Going back to 50, how strong that was…out of everybody he robbed in “How To Rob" [click to read], the only one that he ain’t diss that he mentioned was [me]. “I do my dirt all by my lonely like Treach.” A lot of people after that made that a slogan for they selves. You know we live in a snitch-free, supposedly, ghetto and it’s supposed to be against the rules. With me, I used to say I’d do [dirt] by myself because I don’t trust half these mothafuckas out here. I’m not gonna tell on myself, so I do my dirt all by lonely.

Derived from that, it was Kay and Vin who said, “We need to do a ‘dirt all by my lonely’ record.” It was like a “Guard your grill.” It was a saying people said after that, so it’d only make sense to make a record after that. And Kay just had a track that was just so gully and hard, his track helped me write the rhymes. Continued on page 3 »