(2002) At the young age of 20 years old Savannah GA rapper Camoflauge has been through more drama than Denzel Washington, Halle Berry, Morgan Freeman and Samuel L. Jackson combined. In addition to surviving your standard ghetto drama of poverty, drug dealing and the like, he also faced and beat a murder rap that could’ve landed the then 18 year old a 20 to life bid in the Georgia State Pen. But wait it, get worst. Just prior to releasing his solo debut LP I Represents on Pure Pain Records he caught yet another case. This time it was drug related and, yeah, you guessed it, he beat that case too. Fresh outta jail Flage, as he is affectionately called by family and friends, hit the studio, dropped his LP, and in no time landed a deal with Universal Records. Just when it looked like the young rap titan was on his way, his major debut, Strictly for the Streets fail to live up to both parties expectations and the two parted ways....

Camoflauge was killed months after this interview.  R.I.P.

Rapper CAMOFLAUGE (corr) was shot and killed on Monday (19MAY03), as he walked with his toddler son in front of his label PURE PAIN RECORDS' offices in Savannah, Georgia.

The rapper's son wasn't hurt in the shooting which occurred at 4:30 pm. Camoflauge, real name JASON JOHNSON, was 21 years old. He was pronounced dead at Georgia's MEMORIAL HEALTH UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER.

Down-South: What’s up Camoflauge?

Camoflauge: Man, I’m just out here on the road promoting this new album called Keepin’ It Real. It just hit stores August 27th. If you ain’t got it, go get it. If you do got it, I appreciate you for your support.

Down-South: I hear ya. Now, let’s talk a little bit about yourself. You’re from?

Camoflauge: Savannah, Georgia.

Down-South: What neighborhood did you grow up in Savannah?

Camoflauge: East Village Projects.

Down-South: What was it like growing up there?

Camoflauge: It was rough. Poverty. It had a lotta drama, a lotta gunshots everyday, every night, a lotta beef [and] a lotta drugs. But, ya know what I’m saying, you still had the feeling that it was all love.

Down-South: Now I heard that you had a lotta trouble with the Savannah police, what’s the deal?

Camoflauge: Yeah man, I be having a lotta plex with them SPDs, ya know what I’m saying. There’s a lotta hatin’ going on. They be harassing me. I guess they don’t wanna see me come up. They wanna see me back out there on the block, ya heard. When I was out there I was real wild, ya know what I’m saying, just keepin’ it real. We were thuggin’ and hustlin’ daily. Thats what we were doing down there in the projects so I get a lotta plex from them. They had me locked up on a murder first. That’s before I dropped Strictly For The Streets. Then, after that, they had me on some drug charges. I just got through fighting that. So I’m back and doing my thug thizzle.

Down-South: What kinda music did you listen to coming up?

Camoflauge: I just used to listen to gangsta rap. Anything that was hard –from the Hard Boys on up to NWA, Scarface…everything. I used to listen to all kinda music, but we were really into that street music because that’s what we could really relate to.

Down-South: Now usually when people think of rap music from Georgia they think of the ATL, but there is rap music coming from all of the Georgia. What’s going on with Savannah?

Camoflauge:: Everybody look at Georgia and think that the only place the hot music is coming out of is Atlanta, but we trying to put our city on the map. Pure Pain, we the only major studio down here so we steady putting in work and we following the footsteps of all the ones who did it before us, but we doing our own thing now. We bringing pure pain to the rap game.

Down-South: How did you get started rapping?

Camoflauge: Man, I don’t know I’ve been rapping every since I can remember. But I really got into it deep when I was in them streets real bad. I had dropped outta high school and it was looking like it was really nowhere for me to go but to them streets.

And I didn’t wanna do that full time. I didn’t wanna run them streets full time. So I started hooking up with a couple of my dawgs, opening up concerts and shows that came through the city. And then my folks opened up Pure Pain back in 98 and they was like what’s up daddy? You gonna get down, you rollin’with us? I’m like, shit, ain’t nothing else to do. So they gave me some work. I help tear down the building where we built the studio at. And it’s been on every since then. I got in the studio and hooked up with the Twins and Moet and we dropped the first album back in 1999 called Crime Affiliates. Turned right back around and dropped my solo album called I Represent in the year 2000. In 2001 I dropped Strictly For Da Streets. And now it’s 2002 and I’m still Keepin’ It Real, ya know.

Down-South: How did you get the name Camoflauge?

Camoflauge: In my city I done went up against niggas who was supposed to be the hardest niggas in the rap out here and won. I be like man, the niggas out here can’t see me. They can’t see me. And I flip so many styles you don’t know how I’m coming. So I be camouflaging. I just blend in with the beat, wherever the music takes me that’s where I take my lyrics you know what I’m saying. So I’m like these nigas can’t se man.

Down-South: The Strictly 4 Da Streets LP was on Universal Records, how did that deal come about?

Camoflauge: I was locked up and when I came home I just went to dropping it. I dropped a whole album in like two weeks. After I did that we serviced the first single to the radio called “Cut Friends.” Everybody out there probably heard that song. We dropped “Cut Friends” and it just went to blazing up and down the whole East Coast. We getting spins and we’re just popping up on the BDS and everybody was trying to see who this is. We had all kinds of offers on the table. But Universal sent us a ticket to come to New York and we hooked up with them. They told us what they could do for us and we told them what we was gonna do. And from there we dropped the second album Strictly 4 Da Streets.

Down-South: Now, you’re no longer on Universal Records, what happened?

Camoflauge: They made a lotta promises that they didn’t stick up to. They marketing team –I guess that they were going through a thing. From what I heard they got rid of a few people that was over the project. They gave us a real small [marketing] budget. They just didn’t push us like they was supposed to. They never got our video played like they s’spose to. They never got us no radio play. They weren’t pushing us like they was pushing everybody else. So we were like man, we got enough money to do this like we s’posed to. We can do this ourselves independently. We ain’t got to wait on nobody.

Down-South: So now you’re back independent with the new joint, Keepin’ It Real, tell us about the new album?

Camoflauge:: Well the album is called Keepin’ It Real, and that what we’re doing keeppin’ it real. I just sat down and said well, I gonna come at them all real. I lettin’ ‘em know how we doing it down here in the SGA. I’ve been doing that on my other albums but this time I’m gonna give it to them real raw, pure pain. I gonna make an album that everybody can understand so I just dropped heat on this album. I dug a little deeper than just living in the project and thuggin’ in the jailhouse and hustlin’ everyday. I talked about the poverty, the situations that go on in the ghetto.

Down-South: Any final words?

Camoflauge: Man, thanks for everybody who went out there and supported me on the new album. If you ain’t got it, pick it up, It’s called Keepin’ It Real on Pure Pain records. I wanna give a holla out to my producer Uncut for keeping it real with then fire ass tracks. I wanna holla out to Luqman and P. Hicks for believing in me and pulling me out those streets and putting me on those beats. One love to C-Port, Savannah GA, the whole Down South and I’m out.