 Tity Boi and Dolla of Playaz Circle have been patiently waiting for their time to shine in Ludacris’ Disturbing tha Peace camp. That time has arrived. Riding the wave of attention from their Lil Wayne-featured single, “Duffle Bag Boy”, the College Park duo recently released their album Supply and Demand on October 30th. Read Down-South.com's interview with Playaz Circle now.
Down-South.com: Could you introduce yourselves?
Dolla: Hey, what up? This ya boy Dolla, one half of
Playaz Circle.
Tity Boi: And this ya boy Tit, you know, Playaz
Circle, duffle bag boys, all day.
Where are you guys from?
TB: We from the southside of Atlanta, College Park,
that is. ATL representa, man.
And how long you both been knowin each other?
D: For the longest. Seems like too long. I guess
since like the early 90’s, know what I’m sayin. Like late 80’s/early 90’s.
Tity, you been around the Disturbing tha Peace camp
since the Golden Grain album, before that, so people might know you as a
solo artist, but actually you guys were together before you were solo, correct?
D: Yeah that’s correct. We put out a compilation
called United We Stand, United We Fall. It was, in fact, the first Playaz
Circle album. And it had a lotta artists on there such as Lil Fate, I-20,
myself, know what I’m sayin. Like everybody was on there doin they thing. The
DTP situation jumped off. I myself, Dolla, got locked up. So Tit went to the
Disturbin tha Peace camp and did his thing, and they always said when the time
was right, whenever I got out, they was gonna look out for me. You know they
always said that they had me, so shout out to them boys for doin that.
Dolla, can you tell me what it was like goin to jail
when you did: you already put an album out. So tell me what that did for your
motivation or determination?
D: Yeah it was kinda crazy, cuz the album was just
like just startin to crack. We was getting a lotta publicity from in our area
and the whole southeastern market. The situation, it happened. I had a few
cases, caught up with me. I had to go do the time, so you know, sittin in jail,
you know I’m watchin BET Rap City, and I see Ludacris “What’s Your Fantasy”
video. And I was like, ‘hey, them my niggas right there.’ I seen Tity Boi, I
seen Fate, I seen everybody in there. I’m like, ‘them my niggas, and when I get
out, it’s gonna be on.’ They didn’t believe me, they like, ‘whatever, you don’t
know them niggas.’ You don’t know them niggas. I’m like ‘yeah them my niggas.’
So, I had got out and those boys welcomed me with open arms. And it’s just been
on ever since.
It’s been a long wait to get this album out. How have
things changed for you in terms of the rap community?
TB: Where we at right now far as the rap community?
Back when I was doin my thing.. back then Ja Rule was hot and a lotta other
people was hot. Right now, I mean, it’s our climate, I mean it’s just.. God has
plans for people, and man, you know, he don’t make mistakes. So it’s about right
now. I’m glad people been following the history of us for years and everything.
All I keep hearin is about time, about time. Y’all finna hear what about time is, Jack. This is not a accident. This is supposed
to happen.
Tell me a little bit about the upcoming album. What’s
the name of it?
TB: Supply and Demand. We got Polow da Don on that thing, we got Lil Weezy, Luda,
Drum Squad. I mean, its goin digital.
And tell me how you ended up linkin up with Wayne for
“Duffle Bag Boys”.
TB: I mean that wasn’t hard at all, man. Like Wayne
is like a friend of the family, man, for real. It was like, he’s already heard a
lot of our music, mixtapes, even the album. So he felt like we shoulda been in
the game a long time ago. So, when I came to him with the track, bein that we’ve
already recorded over ten songs together, I mean, you know. I just told him
don’t rap. That was the only thing, just tryin to get him not to rap on the
beat. As long as he did the hook, we was good. He did the hook, me and Dolla our
part, far as the verses, hold up our end of the bargain. And we here.
What about mixtapes? You guys got mixtapes comin out?
D: Yeah we got a mixtape out right now. Playaz
Circle, Duffle Bag Boys mixape: The Saga Begins.. So, ya know what I’m sayin,
it’s been out doin its thing. Of course we got the Tity Boi mixtape, Me Against
the World. It’s out in circulation right now. It’s doin its thing, and I’m gonna
be droppin that 62 Hard probably after the album drop, you know what I’m sayin,
probably somewhere in November. So we stay consistent on our mixtape grind. I
think that’s how we got this far in the rap game, cuz the whole mixtape game,
you can really use it to your advantage by connectin with fans when you’re not
on a major basis, know what I’m sayin. Sorta like givin them just a little snack
til the meal come out.
Atlanta’s been the center of the hip hop industry for a
few years now. Tell me what it’s been like bein in the hottest city since Luda
dropped way back in 2000, up to now, 2007.
D: They say like the A-Town is the new Motown of the
South. So I mean it’s a lotta artists down here. You hear a lotta good music.
You got a lotta hungry artists down here. So you know, we basically just wanna
keep our end of the bargain, you know reppin the A town, makin sure hip hop
stays here for a long time, man. And you know, just constantly keep comin up
with good music, and workin on what we do best.
Some people might think that Disturbing tha Peace
artists might get overshadowed by Ludacris. But you’ve all actually been workin
with him since the early days… He actually opened a show for you at one point,
right?
TB: With us and Luda, you know.. he was blessed to
just happen a little earlier. I mean he’s always had tremendous talent, we’ve
always had tremendous talent, and when it jumped off with him, we took full
advantage of it. He became relevant in the game, and it’s just about our time to
do the same thing. That’s all I got to say. It’s about timin, man. And maybe God
didn’t feel like it was the right time. But it is now. We don’t feel like we’re
overshadowed by Ludacris. Luda basically gives us all creative control workin on
our album. He just come in at the end and a thumbs up of approval. So, I mean,
it ain’t like what people think, you know what I mean. It’s really not.
And can you tell me what the name Playaz Circle means?
D: That means Preparin Legal Assets for Years from
A-Z, meaning beginning to end. And Circle is like 360 degrees, like all around.
That’s how we wanna be in life. Just like play the game of life in like the
all-around aspect, not just one dimension, man. We wanna uplift our community,
know what I’m sayin, further our community, help our people. Put them in a
position where they can help others. That’s what we here for.
Who did you look up to when you were first thinking
about rappin and comin into the game?
D: I mean I had a lotta idols, like 2Pac, Biggie,
you know. Russell Simmons, Wu Tang, Master P.
TB: Wu Tang, Mobb Deep. Every group affected us, I
ain’t gon lie. We just did a birthday party for 8Ball last night, shout out to
8Ball & MJG, UGK, Outkast, Goodie Mob, Dogg Pound, Mobb Deep, feel me?
How would you guys describe your style?
D: We some steet cats, know what I’m sayin. Some
real lyrical street cats.
TB: We from Atlanta but we love rappin. I know
people when they hear Atlanta music they think it’s maybe a dance, maybe have
that dance feel, or maybe the artists there are more into the beat and just
hooks. We.. We like rappin first, and then we put the beat in. You know, we got
it now. Our original thing was just tryin to spit, outspit the competition out
there. So, comin from the A, that’s a whole different thing. I think that’s when
people get this album they gonna just really start pickin up they pen and really
thinking before they say that next word.
What do you think you bring to the game today?
TB: We the Duffle Bag Boys, and it don’t get no
better than this, Jack. Can’t leave rap alone the game needs me.
Rap sales have been fallin and it’s kind of a rough time
in the industry. Do you think this is a hard time to drop?
TB: Naw I think it’s just partially due to the major
labels too. They just really promote one song. Luckily for me and Dolla, we got
an album full of anthems. For right now labels they get one song and they rush
the artist to put an album together. Our thing is we had the album. We just
rushin the one song. So there’s a difference between us and everybody else,
Jack.
Are you touring now?
TB: You know we got these spot dates goin on. Like
go to our myspace/playazcircle. You can see our schedule, the upcoming events. I
mean we ain’t been home in about 30 days, to tell you the truth. We out here. We
promotin this.
Anything else you wanna add in general?
We the best! Suppy and Demand in stores now.
TB: Make sure you tell a friend, who tell a friend
to go get that.
D: You go get it. We just out here promotin. So tell
the world the album is out now!
TB: We did our part as far as putting together a
album for ya’ll to listen to, now we gotta do our part to make ya’ll aware to go
get it.
Interview by: B-Down
 |
