Post by Dark 7 Invader on Jan 24, 2006 4:27:40 GMT -5
Not sure how recent this is..
Artist: JoJo Pellegrino
Interviewer: da MetroGnome
Meet JoJo Pellegrino. This fierce, New York lyricist has created some buzz since steppin’ foot in the Stapleton projects as a youngster, and has been featured as an up-and-comer for a cool minute, but still gets slept on. SoundSlam took the opportunity to speak with JoJo about his adventures with his music career and the industry, his plans to make moves as an independent, and how he achieved his rite of passage with the “ghetto pass.”
SoundSlam: Yeah, so let’s get started off right.
JoJo: Yeah, yeah, yeah, this is JoJo Pellegrino, rockin’ from the Scram Jones video shoot on the original BX.
SoundSlam: So, what shoot is this you’re workin’ on?
JoJo: Scram Jones is shootin’ a video for one of his joints on his album, so we up here with Nature and Scram Jones and a bunch of dudes, nawmeen, doin’ this video up on the roof in Bronx…Scram’s tryin’ to get his visual done so I’m out here supportin’ cuz he’s my man.
SoundSlam: That’s dope. Anyways, so, tell everybody a little bit about yourself, the background nuts, so people know what’s up.
JoJo: Well, I come from Staten Island, name is JoJo Pellegrino, and I’m from the South Shore of Staten Island. And basically, I came up, up until I was about twelve or thirteen years old, goin’ back and forth from Brooklyn over to South Shore, but at about fourteen I started sneakin’ over to the other side and started messin’ with these other dudes, at a place called Stapleton and Park Hill and that’s where these Wu Tang dudes are from. So, I was fortunate enough to be out there and takin’ a risk and all that, but I had certain people out there holdin’ me down, but just bein’ out there and just livin’ and absorbing all that energy, and the hip hop energy out there especially. So, I got to be a major part of that, and I was out there battlin’ and spittin’ and doin’ my thing and just makin’ my presence known so that’s how it really started.
SoundSlam: Now, up in those areas, Park Hill and Stapleton, and all that, did people ever front on you a little bit?
JoJo: Naw, well, it’s kinda strange, but one of the best moments of my life, my first contest I ever went to was in Stapleton. But this is before I knew anybody from Stapleton and I just went out there and showed up, just the dude from the other side. And I went through there and I was battlin’ these dudes on stage, and I don’t wanna give no names because these are my peoples, it turns out, and we were battlin’ and when it was time to get the response on the stage, they had the dreads in the back, they had the African joints wrapped around their heads and all that other stuff, but dudes had they fists up and they L’s up and pickin’ me up, so right then and there I kinda knew I had it, man. And the simple fact that I showed up everyday just to chill, drink, burn L’s, it meant a lot to these dudes. It was all real love so it was no real problems or frontin’ out there. I’ve had more people from my own neighborhood front than the people from the projects.
SoundSlam: Yeah, that’s crazy.
JoJo: Yeah, well, nawmeen, that’s the whole hip hop white boy thing. You know, white boys front on other white boys in hip hop, it seems, kinda out of jealousy sometimes. So, I kinda had the ghetto pass and some of ‘em was mad jealous about that. But, it’s all love, because I still rest my head on South Shore.
SoundSlam: So, what type of setbacks have you had because I know it’s been a long time comin’ for you?
JoJo: Well, it seems like one big setback for me, but you know, I don’t let that bother me because even the negative things that happen, like JoJo signin’ to Violator records, and ultimately bein’ shelved and not really getting to drop my record and all that, yeah, that look negative and looks like a major setback, but I’m really glad all those things happened because it’s really makin’ me into the man I am now and the business man I’m about to show everybody that I am. I’m about to make these moves and get it right. So, I don’t know if you wanna call it a setback, but yeah, I went through some turmoil, like every other artist at some point.
SoundSlam: What type of plans do you have, then, now that you mention makin’ big moves.
JoJo: Well, right now, I’m really lookin’ at the whole independent situation. And I realize that a lot of rappers look at it like a graveyard, but I’m not lookin’ at it like that, I’m lookin’ at it like, because it’s obvious that JoJo Pellegrino, he’s different, it’s something that a lot of labels are lookin’ at like ‘what should we do?’, it’s obvious there’s a lot of scared money, so I’m gonna have to show them real quick that it can work. So, if I move 50 to 100,000, even 20,000, it’s not about money to me, but it’s enough to rock the little SoundScan and get peoples attention, and then ultimately be more than just a rapper, look to get my own distribution deal and all that. Like, right now, I got the money on my own to do this album, make the product, come through with the video, and all that, like I’m doin’ my own videos and that’s one thing, I’ve never done a video. It’s like, people need to see it to believe it, and I didn’t shoot none of these videos and back then I was thinkin’ ‘I need MTV’ but now I don’t care about none of that. That stuff will come. Right now, I just wanna make this independent move, and make a nice buzz out there for JoJo, and put some bread in my pocket.
SoundSlam: Yeah, nuts don’t usually happen overnight.
JoJo: Sure, look at these dudes, DMX, all these dudes, look how long they was at it before they got a deal, then they had a deal, then they lost the deal, and all that. Everybody gets they turn, no matter how bad it might be. A lot of people be tellin’ me, ‘yeah, Jo, you getting black-balled’ and all that, but look at 50, man, people didn’t even want to look at his name. But, one person took a chance on him and put up that money up, see what happens. You can’t really stop what’s meant.
SoundSlam: Yeah, right. So, you have a record that you’re currently workin’ on to be completed sometime soon?
JoJo: Yeah, I got a ton of music, man, and I have since day one, but I didn’t release. See, I have all these tracks that never got released and then they end up bein’ two years old and some concepts got used up by other rappers in the meantime and that’s what I’m dealin’ with right now. Things get out-dated. That’s what I’m dealin’ with right now, and that’s what I’m tryin’ to do, so I don’t just want to put out mixtape after mixtape after mixtape; to me, that doesn’t look that large….and I’m not a dj, nawmeen? So, we did that “Hitman for Hire” joint and it did real well, and we got it to the different corners of the world, and moved a lot of copies, and even though it wasn’t the biggest thing in the world, we got ‘Mixtape of the Month’ on MTV and XXL gave us a “XL” and the Source gave it a great review and all that and the love was there. But, before I put out another mixtape, I gotta get my situation set up and then I’ll hit ‘em with another mixtape as a jab and then an independent album as a product.
SoundSlam: Do you have a timeline for that?
JoJo: Timeline, honestly, is just however long it takes to get done right, and it needs to get done right before November-December, and when I say that, I mean the business, the records getting out there in the streets buzzin’ whether it’s freestyles or leak-outs, whatever. But, for the album, without a doubt, end of the first quarter, beginning of the second quarter of next year. And I know that, and tell you that, because I got the money to do it and I’m gonna put it out then, no matter who I have to go through for the distribution and all that.
SoundSlam: Yeah, yeah. Word. So, for you, what is an ideal record for you to make, you know, what type of stuff would you have on it, conceptually, production-wise, maybe guests, all that?
JoJo: Well, what do you mean, for a first single?
SoundSlam: Naw, naw, for a well-rounded LP.
JoJo: Man, well it’s crazy, because times change, you see how the fans change, with what they listen to, what they accept, and all that, and when I was comin’ up it was Nas, it was Wu Tang, it was Mobb Deep, it was a million other dudes, rockin’ from the Old School era right into my era, and it was so many legends, Biggie, Jay Z, all them came along and that’s what I got to absorb. You now look at what a lot of these dudes get to absorb and a lot of these artists don’t really have substance. But that’s really what I want to bring back and try to feed to these 15, 16 year old kids. Really bring some substance back with some ill concepts and some ill wordplay and skill, a dope album title and an incredible album cover, and put thought into all the nuts, like, the way these dudes do nuts on they albums now, they talk about the same thing on every track, and it all sounds the same, and it’s like Vol. 1, Vol. 17, part 2, part 3, all that. Whatever happen to puttin’ yourself into every aspect of the whole entire project, nahmsayin? I mean, look at all of Nas’ albums next to each other, and look at these dudes droppin’ nowadays. I’m lookin’ to bring some real ill concepts and some real fire into the game right now. Something definitely different.
SoundSlam: Now, you’re Italian, right?
JoJo: I’m Italian and Irish. Some people get the whole Italian thing twisted, they be like ‘JoJo Pellegrino’s Jewish, he’s an albino, he’s this, he’s that” but JoJo is half Italian and half Irish.
SoundSlam: Okay, well, how has that helped or hurt your career in your opinion?
JoJo: Well, I’ll tell you one thing, I always look at it like it helps me. And first off, before that, you can’t help who you are. And, if anything, and if anybody thinks that it helps me because all the other white people in the industry want to show love to me, it doesn’t help me like that. It does help me like, off top, it makes me original. It’s like, even at day one when I went to the projects, as soon as I opened my mouth, they was like ‘what the f**k does he have to say’, nawmeen. But, it was my responsibility to take it from there. But, if anything, it helps me by makin’ me more original.
SoundSlam: I’m glad to hear you say that rather than usin’ it as a crutch for why it may have been an obstacle for you.
JoJo: Naw, don’t look at it that way because there is a lot of good people out there, and it doesn’t seem like a racial thing, and I wouldn’t like to think of it like that, even if at the end of the day it may be. I mean, that’s how some of the labels treat me, like “Oh no no, we don’t wanna sign no white boy” but I’m sayin’, listen, they ain’t lookin’ at no ordinary white boy. nuts’s deeper than the skin. I’m sayin’, you look at a lot of these white rappers, they are disasters, they try to be like “YO SON” but I spent a lot of time at the projects about every day of my life for about 11 years and I don’t talk like that. I be locked up with these cats and I don’t talk or act like that. The reason JoJo gets love is because he just does his own thing and talk about it. And, that’s my advice, by the way, to a lot of other white artist’s that are up-and-comin’: do your own thing, be original. You don’t need to worry about the hood market because the hood market is covered, especially if that’s not your real thing, nawmeen.
SoundSlam: Right, right. I second that. So, are you tryin’ to make any connections with any other independent artists for this upcoming joint you got in the works or what’s up?
JoJo: Yeah, yeah, I definitely am. And as far as the debut for the first album, I don’t know exactly who I want on there, but I know one thing, it has to make incredible sense. But, basically, a lot of these New York rappers, and a lot of these dudes that are part of the struggle, I keep bumpin’ into ‘em, and I’m cool with all of ‘em. Like, right now, I’m sittin’ next to my guy, Nature, he’s a cool brother, and I want to do songs with all of these dudes. I want to get songs out there to the people and rock with all these dudes, but as far as the debut for the album, I don’t know who might end up on it. But, it’ll make a lot of sense. But, I’d like to have a Billy Joel on the album, I know, it sounds crazy, right? I’d love to have a Jill Scott on the album, I’d like to have some real live hip hop, soulful, incredible, conceptual music with some substance.
SoundSlam: Okay, okay. Well, I want to know who has influenced your style, outside of how you shaped it in your own way. I know you mentioned the Golden Era of ’93 and ’94, but anyone specifically?
JoJo: Honestly, I can say it easily like, anybody who was nice on the mic has influenced me. I just love talent, man. Like, when I’m gettin’ off the train and I see some dude playin’ on some bucket with some drumsticks or a cat with a guitar, I will sit there and watch him and maybe miss my train. Like yesterday, I was watchin’ this dude, I can’t remember his name, it was some crazy name, but it was like, umm Eastwood, he was just some dirty, scraggly, white guy playin’ the guitar, and he was amazing!! I sat there and watched him for hours. He influenced me because I went home and wrote some nuts about that experience and he probably never ever even thought of a hip hop song. But, anybody who has talent and mad skills can or has influenced me in some way. In a direct way, it is like that ‘93-’94 era and the list is mad long and I don’t wanna leave anybody out, but yeah, that was what I was really workin’ with growin’ up.
SoundSlam: Okay, I was just wonderin’ because I know you did that track “Fiend” for Violator which was based off of Eric B. and Rakim’s “Microphone Fiend”, so that was where that question was comin’ from.
JoJo: Well, yeah, you wanna know somethin’, and I’ll be honest with you, I was very young with Rakim was rockin’ it and no disrespect to him in any way because I know who he is and what he’s accomplished, but more or less, that record right there, Chris ___ had asked me for the Violator situation, “yo, I need you to do this record” but I’m gonna say straight out, I didn’t want to do that record. I was gonna do it over a Jay Z record and “From Where I Come From,” that made incredible sense, and I would go back and do that a million times over if I had the chance, but as far as doin’ another record, I didn’t want to do it. I didn’t want to do a Rakim record mainly because I felt like the world still hadn’t had a chance to hear me do what I do. So, forget about it was a dope record or whatever, and then “From Where I Come From” and okay, it’s like, this kid can spit. He’s doin his thing, so what’s next. But naw, that “Microphone Fiend,” I don’t think it should’ve been next. That’s Rakim’s nuts, and it should’ve been left alone. You know, I freaked it the way I freaked it, and afterwards, we played it for Rakim and got a response and he was like ‘yo, it’s good to go’ and people around me were gassin’ me up talkin’ about how it was gonna be money in the bank. And the record was on the album, but even if I didn’t want it to be on the album, it would’ve been there. That’s the way this industry works sometimes. That’s why I want to be my own boss, make my own decisions for the records, the concepts, all that. And, I must’ve had at least about 40 ill JoJo joints at the time that I was tryin’ to submit, but they wouldn’t hear it and wanted “Microphone Fiend.”
SoundSlam: So, I guess MTV made some joint about white rappers, like, “Where Are All the White Rappers At?” and you were featured in it. What was your response to that?
JoJo: Oh, yeah, yeah. “Where Are All the White Rappers At?” I was featured in that, but people know where I am, so I don’t know why they think, “where are all the white rappers?” They should have, instead of where are all the white rappers, they should have, ‘Why isn’t JoJo on top?” But, I can tell you, I might bump heads with all these white rappers, but this is why I rock with Scram: we got something in common in that this isn’t nothing. All these others white rappers look like they’re straining themselves and it’s a little disastrous to me. It’s gotta be natural, it’s gotta be real. If it ain’t natural, it is what it is.
SoundSlam: Well, is there anything else you wanna throw in, anything else we didn’t cover, that you want to say?
JoJo: I just want to tell everybody: www.jojopellegrino.com, the website is up and running and I’m gonna start puttin’ things on the website for the fans and the curious peoples out there, like numerous freestyles and original joints, and all that stuff until it’s time to get my thing right. But, not to be callin’ other people’s lines, but you do truly only get one shot, nahmsayin? If you’re gonna do it, you gotta do it right. I’m lookin’ to do it right, and just keep feedin’ the streets some joints, and if anybody wants a t-shirt or anything, they can cop it at the site. I don’t care about money that much, I just always cared about getting my music out there, but apparently everybody else cares about money so I gotta start getting into the swing of things so I can put my own independent record out. I just am not in a position to put it out next, I’m sorry, but I’m workin’ on it. Oh, lastly, me, Scram Jones, and Nature are gonna have a little leak out, in New York, sometime soon, to get a buzz goin’ for what’s poppin’ off with us. And big ups to both Scram Jones and Nature.
props: Soundslam
Artist: JoJo Pellegrino
Interviewer: da MetroGnome
Meet JoJo Pellegrino. This fierce, New York lyricist has created some buzz since steppin’ foot in the Stapleton projects as a youngster, and has been featured as an up-and-comer for a cool minute, but still gets slept on. SoundSlam took the opportunity to speak with JoJo about his adventures with his music career and the industry, his plans to make moves as an independent, and how he achieved his rite of passage with the “ghetto pass.”
SoundSlam: Yeah, so let’s get started off right.
JoJo: Yeah, yeah, yeah, this is JoJo Pellegrino, rockin’ from the Scram Jones video shoot on the original BX.
SoundSlam: So, what shoot is this you’re workin’ on?
JoJo: Scram Jones is shootin’ a video for one of his joints on his album, so we up here with Nature and Scram Jones and a bunch of dudes, nawmeen, doin’ this video up on the roof in Bronx…Scram’s tryin’ to get his visual done so I’m out here supportin’ cuz he’s my man.
SoundSlam: That’s dope. Anyways, so, tell everybody a little bit about yourself, the background nuts, so people know what’s up.
JoJo: Well, I come from Staten Island, name is JoJo Pellegrino, and I’m from the South Shore of Staten Island. And basically, I came up, up until I was about twelve or thirteen years old, goin’ back and forth from Brooklyn over to South Shore, but at about fourteen I started sneakin’ over to the other side and started messin’ with these other dudes, at a place called Stapleton and Park Hill and that’s where these Wu Tang dudes are from. So, I was fortunate enough to be out there and takin’ a risk and all that, but I had certain people out there holdin’ me down, but just bein’ out there and just livin’ and absorbing all that energy, and the hip hop energy out there especially. So, I got to be a major part of that, and I was out there battlin’ and spittin’ and doin’ my thing and just makin’ my presence known so that’s how it really started.
SoundSlam: Now, up in those areas, Park Hill and Stapleton, and all that, did people ever front on you a little bit?
JoJo: Naw, well, it’s kinda strange, but one of the best moments of my life, my first contest I ever went to was in Stapleton. But this is before I knew anybody from Stapleton and I just went out there and showed up, just the dude from the other side. And I went through there and I was battlin’ these dudes on stage, and I don’t wanna give no names because these are my peoples, it turns out, and we were battlin’ and when it was time to get the response on the stage, they had the dreads in the back, they had the African joints wrapped around their heads and all that other stuff, but dudes had they fists up and they L’s up and pickin’ me up, so right then and there I kinda knew I had it, man. And the simple fact that I showed up everyday just to chill, drink, burn L’s, it meant a lot to these dudes. It was all real love so it was no real problems or frontin’ out there. I’ve had more people from my own neighborhood front than the people from the projects.
SoundSlam: Yeah, that’s crazy.
JoJo: Yeah, well, nawmeen, that’s the whole hip hop white boy thing. You know, white boys front on other white boys in hip hop, it seems, kinda out of jealousy sometimes. So, I kinda had the ghetto pass and some of ‘em was mad jealous about that. But, it’s all love, because I still rest my head on South Shore.
SoundSlam: So, what type of setbacks have you had because I know it’s been a long time comin’ for you?
JoJo: Well, it seems like one big setback for me, but you know, I don’t let that bother me because even the negative things that happen, like JoJo signin’ to Violator records, and ultimately bein’ shelved and not really getting to drop my record and all that, yeah, that look negative and looks like a major setback, but I’m really glad all those things happened because it’s really makin’ me into the man I am now and the business man I’m about to show everybody that I am. I’m about to make these moves and get it right. So, I don’t know if you wanna call it a setback, but yeah, I went through some turmoil, like every other artist at some point.
SoundSlam: What type of plans do you have, then, now that you mention makin’ big moves.
JoJo: Well, right now, I’m really lookin’ at the whole independent situation. And I realize that a lot of rappers look at it like a graveyard, but I’m not lookin’ at it like that, I’m lookin’ at it like, because it’s obvious that JoJo Pellegrino, he’s different, it’s something that a lot of labels are lookin’ at like ‘what should we do?’, it’s obvious there’s a lot of scared money, so I’m gonna have to show them real quick that it can work. So, if I move 50 to 100,000, even 20,000, it’s not about money to me, but it’s enough to rock the little SoundScan and get peoples attention, and then ultimately be more than just a rapper, look to get my own distribution deal and all that. Like, right now, I got the money on my own to do this album, make the product, come through with the video, and all that, like I’m doin’ my own videos and that’s one thing, I’ve never done a video. It’s like, people need to see it to believe it, and I didn’t shoot none of these videos and back then I was thinkin’ ‘I need MTV’ but now I don’t care about none of that. That stuff will come. Right now, I just wanna make this independent move, and make a nice buzz out there for JoJo, and put some bread in my pocket.
SoundSlam: Yeah, nuts don’t usually happen overnight.
JoJo: Sure, look at these dudes, DMX, all these dudes, look how long they was at it before they got a deal, then they had a deal, then they lost the deal, and all that. Everybody gets they turn, no matter how bad it might be. A lot of people be tellin’ me, ‘yeah, Jo, you getting black-balled’ and all that, but look at 50, man, people didn’t even want to look at his name. But, one person took a chance on him and put up that money up, see what happens. You can’t really stop what’s meant.
SoundSlam: Yeah, right. So, you have a record that you’re currently workin’ on to be completed sometime soon?
JoJo: Yeah, I got a ton of music, man, and I have since day one, but I didn’t release. See, I have all these tracks that never got released and then they end up bein’ two years old and some concepts got used up by other rappers in the meantime and that’s what I’m dealin’ with right now. Things get out-dated. That’s what I’m dealin’ with right now, and that’s what I’m tryin’ to do, so I don’t just want to put out mixtape after mixtape after mixtape; to me, that doesn’t look that large….and I’m not a dj, nawmeen? So, we did that “Hitman for Hire” joint and it did real well, and we got it to the different corners of the world, and moved a lot of copies, and even though it wasn’t the biggest thing in the world, we got ‘Mixtape of the Month’ on MTV and XXL gave us a “XL” and the Source gave it a great review and all that and the love was there. But, before I put out another mixtape, I gotta get my situation set up and then I’ll hit ‘em with another mixtape as a jab and then an independent album as a product.
SoundSlam: Do you have a timeline for that?
JoJo: Timeline, honestly, is just however long it takes to get done right, and it needs to get done right before November-December, and when I say that, I mean the business, the records getting out there in the streets buzzin’ whether it’s freestyles or leak-outs, whatever. But, for the album, without a doubt, end of the first quarter, beginning of the second quarter of next year. And I know that, and tell you that, because I got the money to do it and I’m gonna put it out then, no matter who I have to go through for the distribution and all that.
SoundSlam: Yeah, yeah. Word. So, for you, what is an ideal record for you to make, you know, what type of stuff would you have on it, conceptually, production-wise, maybe guests, all that?
JoJo: Well, what do you mean, for a first single?
SoundSlam: Naw, naw, for a well-rounded LP.
JoJo: Man, well it’s crazy, because times change, you see how the fans change, with what they listen to, what they accept, and all that, and when I was comin’ up it was Nas, it was Wu Tang, it was Mobb Deep, it was a million other dudes, rockin’ from the Old School era right into my era, and it was so many legends, Biggie, Jay Z, all them came along and that’s what I got to absorb. You now look at what a lot of these dudes get to absorb and a lot of these artists don’t really have substance. But that’s really what I want to bring back and try to feed to these 15, 16 year old kids. Really bring some substance back with some ill concepts and some ill wordplay and skill, a dope album title and an incredible album cover, and put thought into all the nuts, like, the way these dudes do nuts on they albums now, they talk about the same thing on every track, and it all sounds the same, and it’s like Vol. 1, Vol. 17, part 2, part 3, all that. Whatever happen to puttin’ yourself into every aspect of the whole entire project, nahmsayin? I mean, look at all of Nas’ albums next to each other, and look at these dudes droppin’ nowadays. I’m lookin’ to bring some real ill concepts and some real fire into the game right now. Something definitely different.
SoundSlam: Now, you’re Italian, right?
JoJo: I’m Italian and Irish. Some people get the whole Italian thing twisted, they be like ‘JoJo Pellegrino’s Jewish, he’s an albino, he’s this, he’s that” but JoJo is half Italian and half Irish.
SoundSlam: Okay, well, how has that helped or hurt your career in your opinion?
JoJo: Well, I’ll tell you one thing, I always look at it like it helps me. And first off, before that, you can’t help who you are. And, if anything, and if anybody thinks that it helps me because all the other white people in the industry want to show love to me, it doesn’t help me like that. It does help me like, off top, it makes me original. It’s like, even at day one when I went to the projects, as soon as I opened my mouth, they was like ‘what the f**k does he have to say’, nawmeen. But, it was my responsibility to take it from there. But, if anything, it helps me by makin’ me more original.
SoundSlam: I’m glad to hear you say that rather than usin’ it as a crutch for why it may have been an obstacle for you.
JoJo: Naw, don’t look at it that way because there is a lot of good people out there, and it doesn’t seem like a racial thing, and I wouldn’t like to think of it like that, even if at the end of the day it may be. I mean, that’s how some of the labels treat me, like “Oh no no, we don’t wanna sign no white boy” but I’m sayin’, listen, they ain’t lookin’ at no ordinary white boy. nuts’s deeper than the skin. I’m sayin’, you look at a lot of these white rappers, they are disasters, they try to be like “YO SON” but I spent a lot of time at the projects about every day of my life for about 11 years and I don’t talk like that. I be locked up with these cats and I don’t talk or act like that. The reason JoJo gets love is because he just does his own thing and talk about it. And, that’s my advice, by the way, to a lot of other white artist’s that are up-and-comin’: do your own thing, be original. You don’t need to worry about the hood market because the hood market is covered, especially if that’s not your real thing, nawmeen.
SoundSlam: Right, right. I second that. So, are you tryin’ to make any connections with any other independent artists for this upcoming joint you got in the works or what’s up?
JoJo: Yeah, yeah, I definitely am. And as far as the debut for the first album, I don’t know exactly who I want on there, but I know one thing, it has to make incredible sense. But, basically, a lot of these New York rappers, and a lot of these dudes that are part of the struggle, I keep bumpin’ into ‘em, and I’m cool with all of ‘em. Like, right now, I’m sittin’ next to my guy, Nature, he’s a cool brother, and I want to do songs with all of these dudes. I want to get songs out there to the people and rock with all these dudes, but as far as the debut for the album, I don’t know who might end up on it. But, it’ll make a lot of sense. But, I’d like to have a Billy Joel on the album, I know, it sounds crazy, right? I’d love to have a Jill Scott on the album, I’d like to have some real live hip hop, soulful, incredible, conceptual music with some substance.
SoundSlam: Okay, okay. Well, I want to know who has influenced your style, outside of how you shaped it in your own way. I know you mentioned the Golden Era of ’93 and ’94, but anyone specifically?
JoJo: Honestly, I can say it easily like, anybody who was nice on the mic has influenced me. I just love talent, man. Like, when I’m gettin’ off the train and I see some dude playin’ on some bucket with some drumsticks or a cat with a guitar, I will sit there and watch him and maybe miss my train. Like yesterday, I was watchin’ this dude, I can’t remember his name, it was some crazy name, but it was like, umm Eastwood, he was just some dirty, scraggly, white guy playin’ the guitar, and he was amazing!! I sat there and watched him for hours. He influenced me because I went home and wrote some nuts about that experience and he probably never ever even thought of a hip hop song. But, anybody who has talent and mad skills can or has influenced me in some way. In a direct way, it is like that ‘93-’94 era and the list is mad long and I don’t wanna leave anybody out, but yeah, that was what I was really workin’ with growin’ up.
SoundSlam: Okay, I was just wonderin’ because I know you did that track “Fiend” for Violator which was based off of Eric B. and Rakim’s “Microphone Fiend”, so that was where that question was comin’ from.
JoJo: Well, yeah, you wanna know somethin’, and I’ll be honest with you, I was very young with Rakim was rockin’ it and no disrespect to him in any way because I know who he is and what he’s accomplished, but more or less, that record right there, Chris ___ had asked me for the Violator situation, “yo, I need you to do this record” but I’m gonna say straight out, I didn’t want to do that record. I was gonna do it over a Jay Z record and “From Where I Come From,” that made incredible sense, and I would go back and do that a million times over if I had the chance, but as far as doin’ another record, I didn’t want to do it. I didn’t want to do a Rakim record mainly because I felt like the world still hadn’t had a chance to hear me do what I do. So, forget about it was a dope record or whatever, and then “From Where I Come From” and okay, it’s like, this kid can spit. He’s doin his thing, so what’s next. But naw, that “Microphone Fiend,” I don’t think it should’ve been next. That’s Rakim’s nuts, and it should’ve been left alone. You know, I freaked it the way I freaked it, and afterwards, we played it for Rakim and got a response and he was like ‘yo, it’s good to go’ and people around me were gassin’ me up talkin’ about how it was gonna be money in the bank. And the record was on the album, but even if I didn’t want it to be on the album, it would’ve been there. That’s the way this industry works sometimes. That’s why I want to be my own boss, make my own decisions for the records, the concepts, all that. And, I must’ve had at least about 40 ill JoJo joints at the time that I was tryin’ to submit, but they wouldn’t hear it and wanted “Microphone Fiend.”
SoundSlam: So, I guess MTV made some joint about white rappers, like, “Where Are All the White Rappers At?” and you were featured in it. What was your response to that?
JoJo: Oh, yeah, yeah. “Where Are All the White Rappers At?” I was featured in that, but people know where I am, so I don’t know why they think, “where are all the white rappers?” They should have, instead of where are all the white rappers, they should have, ‘Why isn’t JoJo on top?” But, I can tell you, I might bump heads with all these white rappers, but this is why I rock with Scram: we got something in common in that this isn’t nothing. All these others white rappers look like they’re straining themselves and it’s a little disastrous to me. It’s gotta be natural, it’s gotta be real. If it ain’t natural, it is what it is.
SoundSlam: Well, is there anything else you wanna throw in, anything else we didn’t cover, that you want to say?
JoJo: I just want to tell everybody: www.jojopellegrino.com, the website is up and running and I’m gonna start puttin’ things on the website for the fans and the curious peoples out there, like numerous freestyles and original joints, and all that stuff until it’s time to get my thing right. But, not to be callin’ other people’s lines, but you do truly only get one shot, nahmsayin? If you’re gonna do it, you gotta do it right. I’m lookin’ to do it right, and just keep feedin’ the streets some joints, and if anybody wants a t-shirt or anything, they can cop it at the site. I don’t care about money that much, I just always cared about getting my music out there, but apparently everybody else cares about money so I gotta start getting into the swing of things so I can put my own independent record out. I just am not in a position to put it out next, I’m sorry, but I’m workin’ on it. Oh, lastly, me, Scram Jones, and Nature are gonna have a little leak out, in New York, sometime soon, to get a buzz goin’ for what’s poppin’ off with us. And big ups to both Scram Jones and Nature.
props: Soundslam