by Alex Shtaerman
To say that Smif ‘n’ Wessun’s third album has been highly anticipated would be a gross understatement to say the least. To say that fans have been hungry for this release would also be inaccurate. We were hungry back in 2000 and 2001, it’s now 2005 and we’re starving, we’ve been begging in the streets and we need to eat. It’s been seven long years since The Rude Awakening and after all this time the wait is finally over. On September 13th Brooklyn’s dynamic duo will touch down with their long awaited third LP Smif ‘n’ Wessun Reloaded. Following on the heels of two critically acclaimed releases from the Boot Camp, Smith ‘n’ Wessun’s Reloaded is the third and final installment of Triple Treat; a summer campaign from Duck Down records which began with Sean P’s solo debut Monkey Barz and continued with Chemistry, a well-received collaboration between Black Moon’s Buckshot and Little Brother’s 9th Wonder. Reloaded is the proverbial icing on the cake. If you support real Hip-Hop go cop it. As a matter of fact, if you still don’t own Dah Shinin’ or The Rude Awakening go cop those too. It’s 2005; reload your black Smif ‘n’ Wessun and head for Brooklyn. It’s about that time.
RIOTSOUND.COM: Your last LP The Rude Awakening dropped in 1998; after all the trials and tribulations, how does it feel to finally be dropping a new album again? The fans have been waiting for this for a long time.
STEELE: It feels beautiful, it’s almost like childbirth again, going through that pain and labor and excitement and seeing what your baby’s gonna be, not knowing and not getting a sonogram to see. It’s a beautiful feeling.
RIOTSOUND.COM: What can fans expect from Smif ‘n’ Wessun Reloaded; how similar or different is it going to be when compared to the type of blueprint you’ve established on Dah Shinin’ and The Rude Awakening?
STEELE: We got that bass heavy thing, that’s always been our trademark, that dirty street music. We just sticking to our roots and our blueprint of just making good music for people to vibe to, for people to listen to and do what they do, make babies to it. With a lot of our music we got a lot of people who tell us “look man, your music helped me get through my bid in jail”, so we got inspirational music. We just want to keep the movement of being inspirational and making things good for people and help them get through their day and everyday life trials and tribulations.
RIOTSOUND.COM: Over the years you’ve always incorporated the reggae flavor into your rhymes, very few MCs do that nowadays; I recently read somewhere that KRS One is credited as the first MC to introduce that style into rap.
STEELE: I wouldn’t say he’s – I mean, I give the Blastmaster all credit in the world but you know there’s only a few that been doing it like KRS, Smif ‘n’ Wessun, Biggie, then you got Foxy Brown who also does it; and the few that does it is geniuses at it. That [style] just comes from family ties, being associated around that and being in the hood around it. You grow up around it plus your family comes from the islands, so you gotta incorporate that. It’s just like if your mom was a preacher you got gospel in your blood, it’s in you. Don’t run away from it, embrace it and share with the peoples.
RIOTSOUND.COM: Going back to the beginnings of Smif ‘n’ Wessun and Boot Camp, how did all of you start making music together?
STEELE: That all happened from going to school with each other, being around each other and growing up together and knowing each other’s families. We was together before we were together on the music scene. We was running around together as little kids going to free lunch with each other. Its families that’s related and we’ve known each other’s families for years. So when the opportunity presented itself to do music together it was a beautiful thing and we just took advantage of it.
RIOTSOUND.COM: You’ve been through various situations in the music industry, what can you say about the business side of it; do you feel like a lot of times the business side winds up dominating the actual music? It seems like that with a lot of artists today.
STEELE: That’s just what it is, a business, and that’s what a lot of artists forget that it’s the music business. At the end of the day the business is going to run the music but that don’t mean the artists have to belittle theyselves and make music that’s not of their nature or do certain things that they feel is selling out. You still gotta make music from the heart; you still gotta make your type of music that your crowd is going to listen to. So at the end of the day it all boils down to going into the office and the executive saying – well, we want you to be like this one or that one. Don’t ever compromise yourself, just continue to do you and it’s going to shine through.
RIOTSOUND.COM: Over the years you’ve had to battle the Smith & Wesson gun company as they’ve tried to stop you from using the Smif ‘n’ Wessun name, where does that legal battle stand at the moment?
STEELE: It’s still tit for tat today. But like I said, even if we change our name to Heel ‘n’ Boot, we’re gonna be Smif ‘n’ Wessun till the day we die. It’s always gonna be Smif ‘n’ Wessun and Tek and Steele. So we still going through it with them right now but that’s what it is, that’s what Smif ‘n’ Wessun is about, trials and tribulations, taking care of our business. Reloaded is going to answer a lot of the questions.
RIOTSOUND.COM: You had the opportunity to work and record with Tupac Shakur, unfortunately a lot of the material was pirated or still remains unreleased, what was it like recording with Pac?
STEELE: That was a beautiful thing and that was an experience that we still apply to working in our studio sessions [today]. It was a learning experience, he was a great dude and he’s definitely missed.
RIOTSOUND.COM: Smif ‘n’ Wessun gets tremendous love from fans all over the world, you’ve been doing a lot of shows lately, what has the fan reaction been like in anticipation of the new album?
STEELE: It’s been great man, we’ve been performing the new material at the shows and the fans accept it, they love it, they ask for encores. So it’s like we never left the music scene but at times – as the saying go – out of sight out of mind. So we working in the studio and doing them shows, we just been constantly putting that music out there and the reception from the fans has been heartfelt, warm and beautiful.
RIOTSOUND.COM: If you could say one thing to anyone that has never owned a Smif ‘n’ Wessun album, perhaps a young fan of Hip-Hop music, what would you want to tell them about your music and what you represent?
STEELE: We represent the youth so you gotta go pick up the library of Smif ‘n’ Wessun music. Not only Smif ‘n’ Wessun music, you gotta go pick up the Boot Camp library. In this time and age you could go right on the computer. Everybody is computer savvy, if you’re not you getting left behind so you better step up on it. Go to the archives and get every album that was ever put out by any artist that’s in the Boot Camp and then you could choose for yourself and walk your own direction, put your own boots on and come to the park with us and work out.
RIOTSOUND.COM: If you had to recommend one place in Brooklyn that everyone should visit, what would it be?
STEELE: Bedford Stuyvesant the livest one. You know, Bed Stuy baby, come on down, we’ll accept you with open arms.
For all info on Smif ‘n’ Wessun and the rest of the Boot Camp Click, stay tuned to www.DuckDown.com
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