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Discover the Bay Area legends shaping hip-hop history! Join Sway In The Morning for an exclusive interview with The Mekanix, the iconic producers behind countless hits from E-40, Scarface, Ice Cube, Snoop Dogg, and more. Dive deep into their decades-long legacy, their impact on Northern California's music scene, and the creation of their latest album, "Under the Hood 2." From collaborating with top-tier artists to mentoring future icons, The Mekanix embodies the essence of loyalty, evolution, and creativity. Don't miss this insightful conversation celebrating the culture and community of Bay Area hip-hop. Subscribe now for more exclusive interviews and stories from Sway’s Universe!
#hip-hopproductiontechniques #musicproductiontechniques #undergroundculture #collaborationinmusic #hip-hopevolution
CHAPTERS:
00:00 - Intro
02:13 - Money B and Shock G
05:42 - Love and Fear
08:32 - Kenny Tweed
17:20 - 5th Element of Hip-Hop
18:59 - Beatboxing Techniques
21:24 - Mekanix of Collaboration
23:31 - Personal Habits to Shed
24:55 - Mekanix Chain Origins
26:11 - Understanding Ev.biz
27:30 - Protecting Residuals in Music
32:38 - Publishing Split Strategies
35:01 - Best and Worst Collaborations
37:03 - Lord Rab Insights
38:28 - DSharp Discussion
Show More Show Less View Video Transcript
0:00
Those words aren't frivolous, Heather B. Those words are coming from
0:06
decades of experience, over two decades, three decades of experience from two
0:12
young men that um I believe have been the bloodline of Northern California hip
0:18
hop scene for many ways and even beyond that. uh these guys have produced for
0:23
folks from the south from the east whether it's Dave East or whether it's Scarface or whether it's Ice Cube Snoop
0:30
or whether it's E40 uh these guy whether it's the boy uh whether it's Beetleer whether it's Jay
0:36
Stalin Mazi u these guys have touched a lot of artists that you all know and
0:44
help them sustain and advance their careers just through not only what they do in the studios but the experience
0:51
they bring, you know, uh, I want to welcome them to the show. And these guys go way back to the times when me and
0:57
King Tech was on the road, right? Still performing, opening up for Digital Underground at the Omni in North
1:04
Oakland. And when we was all running around before we got on radio and then
1:09
you would see guys like the Souls of Mischief or, you know, um, the um, Safir, you know, and all these different
1:17
amazing groups that were coming out at that time. They were there too. And so I want to
1:23
welcome them to the show, man. They're probably the only people from the bay other than Filthy Rich who's um taking
1:29
me out to get a bite to eat. And of course Lord Rab, but he has to. He's the He's the baby cousin, so he had
1:36
to do it. Are you now basing your relationships on meals? Absolutely. Cuz you don't I don't need your money. So, you know, so I'm taking
1:43
meals. But I want to say congrat congratulations to them. They got the new album Under the Hood, too. is
1:48
available on even.biz. Even ev.biz.
1:54
Go get it. The money goes straight to them. Welcome the mechanics to the show, ladies.
2:07
And man, welcome to the show. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. When you I want people to know how deep
2:14
your history is. So sometimes we just see the end result and we don't understand what walk, what path people
2:20
had to go through to get to where they are. Rex, let's start with you. I know Money B is a brother of mine. Me and
2:27
Money B came up together, you know, we all trying to figure it out. DJ Fuse, Raw Fusion, uh we all were performing
2:34
together. We're from the same kind of class, right? Money B and and Sha G
2:41
in my opinion are like what what Quincy Jones has been to the music
2:47
business. Uh these are the people who in the Bay came and was connecting everybody under that DU umbrella. You
2:53
would have everybody from Sapphir to Tupac. People don't even know that Shock G approached King Tech and me at one
3:00
point too to be a part of Digital Underground. Can you talk about the importance of money be for rax? I'll
3:06
start with you in in your career and what you learned from digital underground. Uh Mun was oh wow it's hard
3:13
to even put words in in in perspective for money be he has been like the
3:19
nucleus to so much. Um he was my crash course into music literally once I was
3:27
like chose music. Mhm. Mun was the first person I was able to be in contact with who was like, "Come
3:34
to my studio and let's talk music." And he just embraced me and brought me
3:40
around the whole digital underground family. That's how I met Shock. That's how I met Pot. That's how I started
3:46
dancing for Sapphir. That's how I started DJing for Digital. That's how I started DJing for the Loonies.
3:51
Everything was Money B was the nucleus. Mhm. And for a lot of other members in Digital Underground also, Mun put he was
3:59
he was brilliant. He put a lot of his people around him to protect him. You know what I'm saying? To build him up. So
4:05
So your origin story in hip-hop is really through dance first. Yeah. Well, yeah. I once I heard the
4:11
message I the the you know, don't stop don't push me because I'm close to the
4:17
edge. Once I heard that, I said, "Hip-hop is something that I really want to be a part of and let me figure out
4:24
what it's going to take." So, and then I learned about the five elements of hip-hop and I dove in. I I
4:30
start drawing. Okay, we going to do the graffiti. Then I I start dancing. We going to do the break dancing. We going,
4:36
you know what I mean? Then I start beatboxing. Do the beatboxing. and on and on and on till I started writing and
4:42
producing and and that was like the way I got my lane into into the music. You
4:48
know what I'm saying? All in while being in Oakland. Yes, definitely. That's that's what I mean. That's the
4:54
same way. You know, you know, I grew up on 23rd. So, if you go to the tracks down by the railroad, you look on the
5:01
walls, what do you see? Graffiti. You see all of that amazing graffiti. Right. Come on. Right. Right. And and so
5:06
we used to go down to the tracks and just stare at it, dream and all the different graph artists that were there.
5:12
We were finding our own outlets to kind of emulate some of those things we were seeing and beat, you know, crush beach.
5:19
You had that same kind of toutelage, right? Yeah. Being with Shock G, man. Shock G, brilliant u genius philosopher. He was
5:27
our oracle. He was uh what RZ is to the Wuang clan. Shock G was to Bay Area Hip
5:33
Hop. Um, when you reflect back on that time, um, what what did you learn then
5:40
that has benefited you now? Shock taught me like love and fear, the
5:46
two of the biggest emotions that move the human, you know, race. So, a lot of
5:52
everything I do is based around just those two emotions. You know what I mean? Um, emotions always or often emotions
6:00
are like unstable in people. But if you harness love and you and control fear,
6:07
it's a lot you can do. You know what I mean? So that was something that shocked that that sticks sticks with me through
6:14
everything is love and fear, man. Digital underground one point was at the
6:20
top of the totem pole. There was no stage show like Digital Underground. Nothing better than that.
6:25
It was like a jamboree. It was almost like a circus on stage. Yeah. And I keep repeating Tech and I opened
6:31
up for Digital Underground. So I knew what it was like to sit and watch them go on after us with all the resources.
6:37
You know, at one point people was frowning on folks that dance, but Tupac had to dance.
6:42
Mhm. Safir had to dance for sure. Was Safir a dancer? Safir could get busy.
6:47
Yeah. Uhhuh. Yeah. Safir at one point. So me and my brother Wayne, shout out Wayne. We That
6:53
was our How can I use it? So Big Daddy came. Had school been scrapped? That's right.
6:58
Safir had me and Wayne. We was called Funky from Birth. So that's how we we was we was wig we
7:04
was gigging. And Reggie Sapphir Yeah. was was was ill, bro. He could he could get down.
7:09
He and I used to hang out a lot, you know, back in that day, man. Uh especially when the first album came
7:15
out, but prior to that, we'll find ourselves in the club, you know, um hunting for the same things.
7:24
That's funny. But I always I always thought he was ahead of his time, man. Is there something that you remember
7:30
about him you could share with us? Uh well, the transition into that new ill style that that he that everybody
7:37
knows him for. He didn't always have that. He didn't. Nah, he didn't. He didn't. And it's crazy. I was talking to uh to Cle, you
7:44
know, Cletus Mlet. I was talking to Cle yesterday and Cle sent me a record that I have never
7:49
heard. I'm like, I ain't never heard. Cuz he was like, "Yeah." So the the story is is
7:55
that he was he had songs that we all knew before he switched into the the
8:01
super um exotic style. That's the sound of the gap. Yeah.
8:07
Um when he came into contact with organized confusion shout out fair munch and Prince Paul.
8:13
Okay. They put a turned a light bulb on in his head and he has songs like Speak
8:20
Like a Freak records that nobody probably ever heard. But it wasn't that. But once he got in contact with with
8:26
them them brothers, oh, it switched and he he put his foot on the gas.
8:32
This is great, man. We got the mechanics from the Bay Area here. Give him a big round of applause. Uh
8:37
yeah, that's interesting that you say organized confusion helped influence Safir's style. Um, and it it goes to the
8:45
clip that we played earlier where you guys talk about the collaborative effort, being able to collaborate. Um,
8:51
and music is so important because, you know, you you offer other ideas to help
8:56
ro make a song more robust and make it more uh reachable to people and more relatable. Kenny Tweed is in the
9:03
building right now and and I'm I'm curious. I want to find out y'all origin story of how you guys finally connected.
9:09
But you come from a musical background, right? Yeah. Yeah. talk about that. My pops um he was a musician. He played
9:16
multiple instruments, saxophone, drums, trumpet.
9:21
Um he was in a few bands growing up and um he always kept music equipment in the
9:28
house, pianos, uh drum sets, and um it was just in me. And uh as a kid like
9:38
for Christmas, you know, kids would get toys and clothes. I wanted music
9:43
equipment, you know what I mean? But it was expensive. So,
9:49
you know, if if you want music equipment, you only getting a drum set and and that's it for Christmas. So, I
9:55
would pick music equipment and um yeah, it was just in me. The love was just in
10:00
me from um Pops. He instilled that in me. Who was the first artist that you
10:05
actually worked with and was I don't think were y'all together at that time? No. Okay. Who was the first artist?
10:11
Um, some of the first artists I work with that was kind of had some success um was
10:17
like Kee the Sneak. You know, Keith grew up. I'm from High Street. So Keith grew up on High Street. So I work with him.
10:25
Um T Looney from Cidle, he was from High Street. So we Hammer
10:30
from High Street. We never work with them. But uh yeah, I had a lot of musical
10:37
talented people surrounding me. So yeah, it being my you know, my grandparents um
10:43
my family on off of High Street, you know what it is. Um um Hammer was such a big Hammer showed us
10:51
what we didn't know we can do. Yeah. Right. You know, and his sound was his sound, right? Um, and I I dare say
10:59
people say there's a Bay Area sound, right? But I don't think that's one thing. Yeah.
11:04
You know, the Bay because you got a Hammer on one side and you might have Souls of Mischief on another side. You
11:09
got Short on another side. You gota Kesha Cole on another side. You got Forte, you got RBL, Digital Underground,
11:16
you know, Digital Underground, Sway and Tech, Sway and Tech, right? Conscious Daughters.
11:21
All these is so differently. Dale the Funky Homo Sapien. Uh
11:28
415 Spice One Spice One. It just goes on and on. Where was the loonies from?
11:34
Oakland. Oakland. What part though? Eastland. East. East Oakland. You had all of this this
11:39
hodgepodge of sounds coming out. How did you create your own identity through the
11:45
music so that whatever came from your studio wouldn't be confused what came from other studios? Um, you know, everybody
11:53
is influenced by, you know, what they listen to and people they they look up
11:58
to. So, just taking little bits and pieces from everybody and then, you
12:03
know, adding our own twist to it, just continuously doing that, you you end up
12:10
developing a sound and it has a little bit of Aunt Banks in
12:16
it. It has a little bit of this person in it, that person. and just just working hard and staying consistent,
12:23
doing your own thing and incorporating certain small things from the other people. That's that's how you develop
12:29
your sound. Now, y'all y'all met through you a you know, you were ANR at one point, right?
12:35
No, it wasn't that. I just um I was producing on my own, Tweed was producing
12:40
on his own and um we was just getting records together and a artist fell in my
12:48
lap who needed me to help him put a project together. Okay. And when that happened, um they they
12:53
threw me the bag like you delegate. So I was producing the record and I had the
12:59
money. So I was like this was I don't know. We ain't going to talk about that. Well, I'm trying to
13:05
find out how long you had the money. You said you only cared about the food, not the money.
13:11
Yeah, y'all better watch. All right. All right. Okay. But now, so uh so I had I had the money for the
13:18
project. It wasn't my money. I was I was uh given the money to to help assist the
13:23
artist putting the project out. So I had the money. I had the I already had beats. So, and I was just sitting
13:30
back and it was just something came to me was like, you know, if there's I told the artist, his name was IRS. Let's give
13:35
him give him his. So, I told him I was like, if there's any producers you want to work with
13:41
outside of me doing a project, bro, we can get him paid. You got some money here. So, he he called Tweed
13:47
and that's how that was our first our first encounter. Our first encounter. Twe came to the studio. He brought this
13:54
big old bulky computer. We didn't know how to hook it up. It was it was a whole little fiasco. Computers, NPCs
14:02
before uh go ahead. Before laptops and fruity loops and all that. So it was it was much more uh
14:08
complicated back then. But yeah, see I was more of an analog cat. I was on NPCs and keyboards and what Shock
14:15
had taught me. Okay. And what Mun had showed me and you know what I mean? And Fuse and uh but Tweed was the
14:22
computer Apple logic guy. You know what I mean? So yeah. Um so then some time we we made that
14:30
record, some time passed and uh we went our separate ways. We respected what each other, you know, was doing, loved
14:37
each other's sound, we went our own ways. And then about a year or two later, another group hit us
14:43
on the payroll. Um these are they're Numsko's group from the from the Looney. Yes. So like Yuckmouth has the regime,
14:51
Numsko had the hitters on the payroll and I produced a whole project on the hitters on the payroll. So these are you
14:58
know my my homeboy and after that project didn't do what it was supposed to do. I kind of stepped away from it
15:05
like uh and they went to start working again and like I said about two years later they
15:11
hit me like man we working on some stuff and we want you to come you know put your ear on it. I'm like all right come
15:17
I'll come listen to it. So I go to their studio to where they working. They a tweet house.
15:22
Oh my god. I like those kind of divine. Divine. Everything is about alignment.
15:27
He say he always say alignment. Yeah. Everything is about and it's crazy where the mechanics. So alignment goes
15:33
right along with that. Absolutely. But yeah, it's it's just when you got your antennas up and the
15:39
signals come in, you you can grab them out of you can grab things out of thin air. You know what I'm saying? So
15:44
So I I went to his house. I started listening to what they was doing. The hospitality was so great. His mom, his
15:52
pop. Rest in peace. Your cousin Lily Sway.
15:58
Yeah. Yeah. The hospitality was so amazing that I just never left, bro. And
16:04
I I said it yesterday in the interview, like he didn't mind me leaving. I got me some pajamas and
16:09
a sleeping bag and and pulled up. Man, you have a slumber party? We No.
16:16
We still here though. We still You know what I'm saying? So n and this that was the beginning of it
16:22
then. Man, we got the mechanics. Listen, it ain't enough time in the day to cover all of this.
16:27
Rex, what your family worked in um the worked on car? Who whose family?
16:32
Oh, so my father, my grandfather, my uncle um all were mechanics like auto
16:39
mechanics. Really? Auto mechanics. And I I I mean I probably would have been an auto mechanic, but I ain't like
16:45
Do you know what it takes to get that oil out your skin and out your finger? It's called lava soap. You ever heard of
16:51
lava soap? Yes, I have. Yeah. So I was like, no, I I can't do this. I can't do this. And uh
16:57
you know they say you want to hear God laugh, tell him your plans. You know what I mean? So I years later,
17:04
here I am a mechanic. You know what I'm saying? Still working to your letter.
17:09
Yeah. Well, I'm glad that we're having this conversation and welcome you guys. Really, it's so good to see y'all see
17:17
y'all here. Thanks for the hug earlier. But Rex, you said something that I had never thought about before. I was about
17:23
to correct you and then I was like, he's right. You was like the five elements of hip-hop and we always focus on the four
17:30
core that we know about. And I never thought about beatboxing um until you mentioned it. Well,
17:35
somebody mentioned that to me and I I actually thought that made it the sixth one. So, you know what? Can we talk
17:41
about what? What are I would love to talk about. Let's talk about it real quick. You got the DJ DJ's one.
17:46
The B boy. The break dancing. Wait, break dancing. Break my mind. Break dancing.
17:52
I was going to say that's culture, right? Boy, break dancing. Break dancing. So, DJing, break dancing.
17:57
MCN, MCN, graph, right? Graffiti, graffiti. Yeah, beatboxing. Beat boxing. M
18:03
and I was going to ask you initially, both of you guys, why do you think we don't talk about that enough? Because I
18:09
thought it was brilliant that you mentioned the fifth element of hiphop. I was like, wow, we don't focus on B never. I never
18:16
even thought about that, but we obviously, rest in peace, Biz, Douggee, um, my god, Razelle, you know, like
18:24
there's so many be and that's that's hip-hop. When you when somebody come with that, it's nothing but hip-hop. You
18:30
can't confuse that with anything else. Right. How come you think it's overlooked? I think cuz it's it's not being done
18:36
anymore. So, you know what I mean? It's not really too much conversation to have about it unless it's, you know, the
18:44
history of it, but it's nothing currently current right now to to talk about.
18:49
Yeah. And what we going to say? I think if uh so when when Douggee Fresh and Slick Rigg did Lahi Daddy
18:56
that made it like a staple like um DMX Just Ice did um what was the one he
19:02
had? I can't remember. Latoya. So yeah, when people was doing records
19:08
with it, it made it Biz obviously. Biz for sure. Um Fat Boys, the human beat box, you know what I mean? and and
19:14
and but but graffiti is not being done as much as well, but it somehow that that pillar is there. It's just
19:20
Well, it's still in everybody's face. It's just not it's just Yeah, it's it's still it's still underground like hip-hop started. So, in
19:28
every city, even overseas, like graffiti, you see No, I mean, you see it, but it's obvious nothing is more celebrated than
19:36
the turntables and the mic, you know what I mean? Nothing is more celebrated than that. But I I thank you for for
19:41
mentioning beatboxing cuz now that's going to allow me to go back and and take a deeper dive into that cuz we
19:46
don't talk about K Rock Ski. We don't talk about Biz enough. We don't talk about Rozelle enough. We don't talk
19:52
about Douggee enough in terms of what that added element to to to this history and to the
19:58
crazy the crazy part is too like you know with producing now they have these kits these loop kits sample kits. So,
20:06
it's still being done in that like you could you could check out some of these loop kits and they have
20:12
beatboxing beatboxing in there. So, yeah, it's still some we could make a whole beat out of somebody beatboxing at this point on the
20:18
keyboard. Mhm. You know what I mean? What's your when you talk about those kids? King T and I just had this
20:25
conversation last night. Yeah. before I called y'all when y'all were on the road and we were talking
20:30
about how anybody can make a beat now because of these because of these loop kits and they
20:36
don't have to have like any history in music. I know a young lady that um sent
20:41
me a song last night. I said, "Well, how did you make it?" She said, "Well, you know," and I got through the loop kit.
20:46
Exactly. I said, "Do you play an instrument?" "No." "Do you know the scale?" "No, but they you know this."
20:51
So, I'm I'm curious to how y'all feel about AI right now. technology is
20:57
technology is when it comes to producing I think you should learn it definitely uh you know incorporate it but don't
21:04
abuse it you know what I mean you still have to have like you said some type of skills of
21:10
your own cuz what if you don't have them loops what you going to do if you on the spot
21:15
and you got to produce something and you don't have them loops like so it's good to to use it but don't
21:22
abuse it that's that's how I feel about it you You know what I really one of the qualities I like about the two of you
21:28
and I joke around a lot as you know but you know I we really sat down and ate and um
21:34
it it it it's something to be said about loyalty. Yeah. Yeah. You know when you form an organization
21:40
or a team or a brotherhood you know you have ups and downs but that doesn't define what the bond is about right. My
21:47
partner Tech and I we've been since high school man. Since the 80s him and I have been doing it still doing it going
21:53
strong. I want to reverse this narrative though when it comes to Bay Area um the
21:58
hip-hop scene because you guys are the antithesis to this narrative that we can't work together,
22:06
right? That we we can't be galvanized. I don't believe that. Right. And I know
22:12
we got our whatever [ __ ] that goes on in the Bay. I'm too old for that. Everybody does.
22:18
Everybody got that. Yeah. But your career is the antithesis of
22:23
that theory. Yeah. Everybody you've worked with, right? Yes, sir. Everybody you collaborated with, right?
22:30
Big or some not not as big. Right. What's been the key to your bond?
22:36
What keeps y'all together? Respect. Love and respect. And um
22:41
no ego. Yeah. No ego. I know people say that a lot, but I mean for real, no ego. Like I don't I'm fine
22:50
being me. He's fine being him. And we don't if we disagree. So
22:56
yeah. Like so what? And we going to move right past it just as fast as we disagreed. We we'll find
23:03
we'll find the next thing to talk about or the next thing to figure out or the next solution. You know what I mean? We
23:09
don't we don't sit around and just be like, "Oh, I don't like how he man." You know what I'm saying? And man, he wore
23:16
all his gold today. I only wore my gold, man. I like days off.
23:24
Yeah, people ain't human no more. You know what I mean? We got to get back to just being human, man.
23:32
But humans, humans who want um longevity, if you if you don't mind me interjecting and it's
23:37
so good to see you, Forax Tweed, really really happy to have you guys. Congrats on all of the success in this latest
23:43
project. Um, longevity often requires evolution. And so for you guys, what are
23:50
maybe like personal habits that you had to shed or is there a version of who you
23:57
once were um that you had to outgrow in order to be where you are right now on
24:03
January 9th, 2026 with this new project under the hood, too? Well, like you said, evolution. It we
24:10
have to evolve or we going to turn into a dinosaur. You know what I'm saying? And we know what happened to the
24:15
dinosaurs, right? We looking at the fossils. They they're they're not here. But we we steel sharpens steel.
24:23
Yeah. So I need him to tell me when I'm wrong. I need him to tell me straighten up or fix
24:29
your fix your coat, fix your collar. I need and he needs that from me. And as long as we continue to keep
24:36
giving to each other, we'll be able to make each other better people. You know what I'm saying? And it's about the team
24:42
winning at the end of the day. It ain't about individual statistics like a sport. Long as the
24:48
team win, it don't matter who who scored a basket. You know what I mean? It's a W.
24:54
So So who who got the mechanics chain first? He did. Okay. And you didn't feel a way about
25:00
that? No, I loved it. I said, "That's what we doing? Okay, let's go. That's what we're
25:05
doing. That's what we doing." His was his was on the way instantly. Yeah. Let's go. Who designed your logo?
25:10
I love your logo. Um, this brother named Hometown. Shout out Shout out Tyranny at Marketing
25:17
Kings, which is a brother we do a lot of movement moving around with. Um, a dope alignment. He found them for us. We had
25:24
we had a a logo that we was kind of dealing with. We was just never really Yeah. wasn't content. We was looking for
25:31
somebody to find it and then we we hooked up with Hometown and he just knocked it out the park. One
25:37
one take. Y'all cover all bases. I I watch y'all movement like from the merch to the music to the release to even, you
25:44
know, even what you doing um on your personal physical and mental, you know, fortitude. Y'all cover all bases and I
25:51
think that's a old to all that experience over the years. That's why I wanted to talk about some of the
25:56
beginnings. I want to come back, man. Uh I want to play the song with uh Mr. Fab
26:01
and Spice One. Yeah. Welcome back to the ghetto and let's talk some bay. All right, the mechanics
26:08
are here. 8887423345 under the hood too. Citizens, this is a
26:15
project I want to send all of you to this platform
26:20
even.biz that's ev.biz. How does it work? They go to even.biz.
26:26
Yes, sir. Yeah, they got this is a direct to consumer platform.
26:32
It is super important. Um, it's changing the narrative about how we consume and
26:39
how we think about um, getting behind artists. You know what
26:45
I'm saying? And supporting them. Truly supporting them. Yeah. We get so much music for what we consider free now.
26:53
That's a whole encyclopedia to talk about. You know what I mean? It's like
26:58
we didn't come I mean the art is supposed to be that exactly what it is. art and
27:06
it's being monetized in a way where we have no control. I mean, it's the narratives is out there. Every all this,
27:11
it's all out there. This ain't nothing new. Yeah. But even is evening the playing field.
27:17
There you go. Finally. You know what I'm saying? This is one of the platforms where you can show up for us. It's like
27:24
for your your your true supporters. How did y'all protect? You know, you guys
27:30
got over nearly a billion streams now if you accumulate, if you aggregate all the work you've done. Yeah.
27:35
Um and even before streaming was a thing, you know, you got a billion, right? So, how did you learn to protect
27:41
your residuals? How did you learn to protect the equity, the proprietorship
27:46
in your music? Did did you always have were you always on point with that, collecting your publishing, your
27:52
licensing, the whole nine? How did you Yeah. Well, we was forced I'll jump out, tweet, you finish. We was fortunately we
27:59
come up in Oakland in the Bay where this is the home of independence way before
28:04
anybody was even thinking about I guess the independent narrative. We was forced
28:09
to be that way forced to be that way. Nobody wasn't paying attention. So um the independent
28:15
route is how we started and that's how we started. You have to learn all the ups and downs
28:20
and ins and outs about ownership. Yeah. Yeah. It it was a learning process. We
28:25
didn't have all our stuff 100% in order from the beginning, but we learned
28:32
early. We learned early and um we got on top of it and and and we still on top of
28:38
it right now. It's a lot of moving parts with publishing and royalties that people don't know about. They think it's
28:45
just ASCAP and BMI, but it's it's is layers to it. It's it's layers and it's
28:51
a lot of work. Yeah. It's a lot of information that slips through the cracks. So,
28:57
a lot of artists are not getting what they should get because they don't have the information. Give me an example of something you you
29:03
find slips through the cracks all the time. Um, publishing like splits like uh
29:10
if you want to get a sync placement in a movie or a commercial or something like that and the company contact you and the
29:17
splits is not in, they ain't going to mess with you. N you know what I mean? So you missing out on the opportunity
29:23
right there. And then on top of that, like it's a thing called the black hole
29:28
to where if you don't, the black box, if you don't collect your royalties from ASCAP within like
29:35
three years, two, three years, it goes to a black box and you don't get it. But the top
29:40
writers get that portion. The Drakes and the whoever is at the top, they get all
29:47
the artists. And you look and you'll be surprised. You'd be surprised how many people are in this space that don't have
29:54
their their stuff in order because I tell people every day like man like you wouldn't think that that you
30:00
would think that they would have it together but they don't. Like we cuz when we put out albums we hear people
30:05
like yo we we need your publishing and they either won't send it over or
30:11
they'll have or they might have part of it. Yeah. They'll have the writers or and not the
30:16
publishers and we'll tell them like yeah you need to do this and that. So yeah, it's it's a lot of artists who ain't
30:22
My best friend is a master at publishing and and and the biggest thing too, it's like people just do so much homeboy
30:29
business and people just so happy to be in a studio like you just not even pay I just want to be on a song. I just want
30:35
and you're not paying attention. And a lot of times the people who you think should know, the person in charge, they
30:40
don't know. So they're now leading you down a road of misinformation. You got to you got to stay on top of it.
30:46
Yeah. I mean, it's just with any other art or sport or whatever. You got to do the work.
30:52
Find learn what you doing at least while you when you start doing
30:58
it. Just start to try to learn what you doing. Give me example. We just play welcome back. Welcome
31:03
back to Back to the Ghetto with Mr. FAB. You guys produced on the Spice One
31:08
produced. That we produced the original. Oh, that's from the original. Okay. We
31:13
just Yeah, we reworked. So, how does that work on splits?
31:19
How did y'all do the splits for that song? Uh, I mean, well, it's our record, so it's we actually own the record.
31:25
Okay. So, but the producer automatically gets half of the record. So,
31:31
since it's two of us, we split that half. And then 25. Yeah. And then based on how many artists
31:37
it is, if it's So, it's just Spice and Fab on that song. So, they split the
31:42
other half. You know what I mean? % if you uh you know if you have a sample
31:48
or something like that clearance and getting that cleared is a totally that's a whole another story right there.
31:54
Yeah. You got to lose all your rights off off of one sample. It depends though. You could you could you could they could just take the whole
32:00
record and say be like I want all the publishing and either you give it to them or don't put it out.
32:06
And that's that's why early on we learn to to replay the records. So it give us some type of leverage. You
32:12
don't pay that master's fee for taking it off of that look um off that photograph. Uh um
32:20
we got the mechanics are here from the Bay Area. The new project is under the hood, too. As you can hear, these guys
32:25
are just a treasure trove of information and experience and legacy and currency.
32:32
You know, even.biz is where you find the platform. I'm going to go to the phone lines right now. We got um let me see.
32:39
We got uh Rob out of Oakland on the line. What up, Rob? How you doing? Yeah, Rob.
32:44
Rob. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. What's up, man? Rob, what's up with it?
32:50
Hey, man. What's good, Rob? Hey, Tweed. I've been knowing you a long time, man. Uh uh I knew your grandma for
32:56
her newspapers back in the day, Oakland Tribute. And I knew your dad, God rest.
33:02
Yeah, Big Mama was man. But your whole family, man. I'm so proud of you, bro. But I got one I got two
33:10
questions and they're all in one. Who was the best artist you guys work
33:15
with and the worst? Oh, wow. Oh, that's cool. The worst,
33:21
man. We We work with so many artists. We got a lot of favorites. We got a lot of
33:26
favorites. It's not We can't pick just one, man. We'll be lying if we was to pick just one. and the worst. I'm gonna
33:33
let Rex answer that. No, I mean I I think I think since it's
33:40
two of us, it's a two-part question, right? Right. So, uh No, I I don't know if I could pick a worse.
33:45
Well, why don't you instead of the art make putting on an artist, put it on the experience cuz you can be work with a
33:52
great artist but have a not such a great experience. Oh my god.
33:57
That way. Give them one. Give them one. Huh? Uh just we've had an artist like really just try and run off
34:03
of one of our records that wasn't his you know what I'm saying? It was just like yeah things happen in this business and
34:10
you just got to you know take the come with the territory. Come with the territory.
34:16
Take the punch on the chin and keep going. But I do want to say this though. Um I love Tweed's answer saying that you
34:23
know we we got a lot of favorites. We do. But I think this is a great moment to mention Stalin. Yes, sir. J Stylin is
34:31
he's the only artist that we've actually really had that was our artist. You get what I'm saying?
34:37
Like we we we signed Stalin to us as a artist.
34:43
And then he grew to become so big that it was he wasn't an artist no more.
34:50
He was an entity in his own right. But that Yeah. I mean, we've we've done
34:55
probably to date the most records with him. Yeah. Stalin. Great question, coach. All right, Rob, you're a super citizen, man.
35:03
All right. All right. We got Dsharp on the line. Y'all know Dar. He DJs for the Warriors. Sharp.
35:10
I know who Dar is. He DJs for the Warriors. All right. Dar, what up, baby?
35:15
What's good, family? How y'all doing? Sharp. Sharp. What's happening, family? How you doing?
35:21
Hey, man. I heard I heard my two partners on on my favorite morning show, and I just had to call in, man. you
35:26
know. So, salute, bro. Salute. Hey, hey, Sharp. I want to take take
35:33
this moment. You a producer, DJ. You do it all. What is it about the mechanics, you know,
35:40
that makes them stand out and makes them special, not only to the Bay, and I
35:46
don't want to just pigeon hole any of us to just one corner of the country, but to music in general. What is it you
35:53
think they bring, man? mechanics. They they got a sound first off. You know how like you listen
36:00
to for real, you know, like you you you can you can hear a Neptune beat know that it was for real. You can hear Dr.
36:07
Dre beat know was you know what I'm saying? Like they have established a sound and that's one of the things I'm
36:13
still trying to do. But yeah, I think that's the first thing that come to mind like and and they and they uh tag they
36:20
got one of the best tags in the game like
36:27
it's one of the best tags. So yeah, you you know um yeah I I would say they
36:34
sound man and and and and really to be honest like they've been the soundtrack for for Northern Cal for eons. You know
36:41
what I'm saying? and and it and it just is dope to see. Okay, that's what's up. Dar, put on the
36:48
linear. While while you here, I got the uh the the most respected podcast out of
36:54
Northern California, No Vultures. We got the one and only Lord Rab on the line with us right now. L
37:05
Happy New Year's R. Happy New Year, man. Blessed, bro. Highly favorite. Yeah. Rapha, what holiday did we just
37:11
spend together? Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving. Yeah. And Heather making
37:19
with this device Heather B gave you I gave you a riser and they've been coming out better, right?
37:25
What? Smooth as butter. I told you. I used to come home. I used to cuz I was
37:32
living with my grandmother. Uh I won't give the exact block, you know, in what you're talking about,
37:38
right? And and I'll come around the corner, I think it was you, Tweed, right? Who you hand me CDs right then
37:44
and right then and there. I'll throw them in the car and go, "Damn, these dudes are right across the street."
37:49
Yep. Right there. And we kept a healthy, friendly um space. Y you never knocked on the door.
37:55
Mhm. Got to respect respect respect your
38:00
privacy. Oh man, I now you know me. You could have knocked on the door. Okay.
38:06
That's the great thing about them. You ask Heather how they stay together and get along so good. If you know them two
38:12
guys, they ying and yang. Total opposite. Tweed so smooth. I couldn't see Tweed knocking on the door. If you
38:18
told him it was a million in there for him, he's still going to call you and ask you to be cool. You know what I'm saying? Tweet.
38:24
I'm in there for him. Yo, man. I I loved it. Dsharp on the
38:30
line, too. Lord Rab, we got the mechanics. The new um album is Under the Hood, too. This is perfect. You can find
38:37
it at even ev.biz. This is the perfect way to start off 2026. Yes, sir.
38:43
Right. And uh you're our first music guest of the year. Yeah. Okay. Of this new year, of this new era,
38:51
ain't it? And I and I wanted to let this be a um a beacon of light for Bay for
38:58
the Bay Area, right? We have what Virginia has, what the Neptunes. Um
39:06
we have um what Atlanta have um what um
39:12
um organized organized noise. Organized noise, you know, Beats by the
39:18
Pound, what Louisiana have. We have that here. Yeah. Yeah. In Northern California. Yeah.
39:23
That's y'all. Yeah. Right. You guys are in the DNA of decades of music. And if we could kill
39:30
this narrative that exists out there, I don't think it's as abundant as it once was, that we don't get along, that we
39:37
can't collaborate. Imagine how much more greatness could come out of Northern California. We're responsible for
39:43
ourselves. They come, so what? They come in, they take our [ __ ] they blow up. Then we
39:48
should learn from that. Absolutely. And blow up, too. Absolutely right. We responsible for ourselves.
39:54
They're right here, man. Open your minds. Open your doors. open your studios, you know, as they have and you could
40:01
have a longevity uh in your journey like the mechanics have. Man, what do you guys want to say about this album? Under
40:08
the hood one came out in um 2016. I'm glad you seged it like that because
40:13
this is actually the 10 year anniversary. There it is. Okay, man. 2016.
40:19
2026. Yeah. Under the hood, too. 10 year anniversary. Um, it's just it's
40:24
just us doing what we doing, acting up and and uh, you know, just just uh, you
40:30
know, we uh, we take pride in in everything. We take pride in the quality. We take pride in the
40:36
collaborations. So, it's really it's really well thought out
40:42
like these collaborations with these artists. We try to put together combinations that haven't been done
40:48
before from different areas, different coast and uh Yeah. Yeah. That's what Under the Hood
40:54
Too is. Yeah. It it it be it be sometime we bite off more than we could chew cuz like even with the Slid on record to put
41:00
Scarface, Benny the Butcher, and Mazy on the record. That's not easy to pull off.
41:06
That's not easy to pull off. And that's those are the type of collabs we try to put on these records. We try to make it
41:12
special, man. like we wear Oakland on our on our sleeve on our shoulders. Like so every time we step outside, we trying
41:19
to make sure that they they smile and they proud about what we doing. You know what I
41:24
mean? And nobody's in the space um like me and Tweed are as a as
41:30
producers putting out records. I ain't going to say nobody, but we have kind of led the way when it comes to being
41:36
producers putting out records like artists. You know what I'm saying? our own projects like you know salute DJ Khaled
41:43
for what he does but we've been doing that since ' 05 talk better we've been doing what been doing you
41:48
know he got the cheat code he got the Chris Brown let me put Chris Brown with with uh whoever and grab Jay-Z on
41:56
yeah so we just been doing it with the bait cuz we love the bait like we love what doing we love what Keith doing what
42:04
Jack was doing rest in peace styling the filthies the fabs we we surrounded by a
42:10
allstar conglomerate and we don't sound like nobody else. So, it's like
42:16
we trying to really really bust their head open with with these collaborations. Y doing it, man. And I love that y'all
42:23
support the local artists, the artists that are from where we from. Bea and J Sty
42:30
Bea. Come on. They don't know Bea like they need to know. Come on. But go do your research. Beat
42:36
is amazing. Amazing artist. Yeah. Go do your history. I want to thank you u like sincerely man. I want
42:42
to thank you man as somebody who's come up in this for decades. Thank you so much. My partner King Tech and I have been a
42:48
champion of the culture, champion of the Bay Area. We done our thing on a whole different level, you know, but we all
42:54
you always hear me yelling what? Yeah. Town business. Okay.
43:00
And we so excited that you back on the West Coast now. Yeah, man. Look at me. You see the glow heaven. Oh boy. It's too much, y'all.
43:09
It's too much, y'all. Come on. Yeah. Uh uh but if if if I may, before
43:16
we go, um we did a documentary that we're we're about to start you're going to start seeing us move around. Um it's
43:23
called Meet the Producer. Meet the Producer. And it's all it's based on the peers
43:28
from our demographic, producers. So, it's you're getting inside the mind of us. You're getting inside the mind. Can
43:35
I give a couple name drops? You're getting inside Rick Rock, you're getting inside of uh CMT, Mike Mosley,
43:43
you know, and CMT some our producer friends. You get EA ski on it, too. Ski ski. We couldn't get ski based on
43:49
scheduling. Timing was off, but it's going to be a three-part series. I don't want to give too much light to how where we going
43:56
with it, but it's done. It's done being edited. We're scoring it now. So, we're
44:02
looking for landing platforms. M uh if anybody's interested, this is your time to align with us. Align, right?
44:10
Align with us. Yeah. Meet the producer. So, uh that's that's the next venue.
44:15
I love it, man. You guys, thank you. I I just really want to thank you uh for
44:20
your contributions to the culture, to the community. Yeah. You know, you help people create livelihoods for themselves where they
44:26
could do the right thing and and make money in the in the right way. Yeah. You know what I mean? And live out their dreams. you know, some of these artists
44:33
never had to go through that hamster wheel and, you know, have that kind of job. They've been able to pursue their
44:38
dreams because of the success they've had by um collaborating with you all. I think you're tremendously talented and
44:45
even beyond the studio. I I love the people that you are, uh the men that you
44:50
are, you know, and I consider you friends and even if you didn't consider me one, I'm still riding on you.
44:55
Yeah, you are. We rocking. We rocking. Hey, man. Give it up for Kenny Tweed. Give it up for four racks, man. Give it
45:02
up for Dot. You know the mechanics are here, man.