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FIELD MOB INTERVIEW - 2002 |
The word field has a
special meaning to people in the Deep South. Historically it has been the prefix to
several terms (e.g. field slave, field hand, field hollers, etc) that relate to the
Antebellum South, but to Boondox and Kollage the word takes on a whole new meaning, one
geographical, the other personal.
And field living was/is no where near easy. According to the Southern twosome even though
they didn’t live in the projects life for them was no crystal stair. It was a hard
row to hoe, given the fact they had to fight to get what little they did have and struggle
to keep their heads just above water.
After paying major dues struggling to make it as rapper in the small town of Albany, the
Mob landed a deal with a small independent record label and recorded their first single
and hit the road in a small van to promote it. Eventually the record made enough noise to
catch the attention of MCA’s Benny Pugh who brought it to the attention of MCA’s
A & R director. Within days MCA had made the Field Mob the first rap act ever be
released on the New York based label.
One listen to the Field Mob’s explosive debut entitled 613: Ashy to Classy and
you’ll soon understand why the Field Mob holds this spot in MCA’s history. If
you haven’t copped that album yet, run, don’t walk, to the nearest record
sto’ and get it. The album is banging.
We caught up with the duo a while back, they were making a
promotional run in Jackson Mississippi. |
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 First off your name Field Mob is a very unique. How
did you come up with that and what’s the concept behind it?
Kalage: After paying major dues struggling to make it as rapper in the
small town of Albany, the Mob landed a deal with a small independent record label and
recorded their first single and hit the road in a small van to promote it. Eventually the
record made enough noise to catch the attention of MCA’s Benny Pugh who brought it to
the attention of MCA’s A & R director. Within days MCA had made the Field Mob the
first rap act ever be released on the New York based label.
One listen to the Field Mob’s explosive debut entitled 613: Ashy to Classy and
you’ll soon understand why the Field Mob holds this spot in MCA’s history. The
album is banging.
We chose the name Field Mob because we’re representing everything in the South. The
field is the whole South, not just Albany but everywhere in the South. The mob is us.
We’re two people but together we make an army. We’re making a strong statement
with two people. We’re a two man army.”
How did the two of you first meet?
Boondox Blax is from a street named Jones. Me, I’m from a
neighborhood a couple of blocks away, but I used to be down there all the time. We went to
the same school and we just crossed path.
I had left Albany for a minute. When I came back I went to a school called Monroe. Sean
and them used to have freestyle sessions at Monroe in the courtyard. I heard Sean
freestyling and just destroying everybody, and I was like I can do that. I sound just as
good as he does. So I tried it. I battled him and I was victorious. And the next day he
was victorious and the next day I was and it went on back and forth like that for a while.
It had gotten so popular that folks would come to school just to see us battle.
Then one day Sean called me up –I don’t know how he got my number –and was
like, man it would be better if we weren’t apart let’s form a group together and
viola.
What year was that?
Boondox: Oh about 95...96.
What was it like growing up in
Albany?
Kalage: Where I grew up at, it’s like we weren’t never staying
in the projects or nothin’ like that, but we still had to struggle to keep what we
had. Everybody thought that we had it better than they did because we didn’t live in
the projects, but, you know if you got something you gotta work hard to keep it.
Boondox: It’s a place in Albany called the Field. That’s where
I was raised at, it where I got my game; it’s where I’m from. The Field is a
place in Albany where there ain’t no projects. It’s just a little country part
[of town], but it’s rough. That’s how we were living….the field life. I
moved from there and moved over to [the Jones Street area], which is supposed to be a
little middle class neighborhood. But when I moved over here I found out it was the same
way. So we just named the way we were living Field living.
The one thing that I love about you guys album is that it’s so lyrical.
Boondox: Yeah, they always say the South is so simple or that people from
the South ain’t lyrical. I’m tired of people saying that.
Kalage: Our whole focus is lyrics. We want people to know that we got a
lot to say.
Okay how did you guys get your deal with MCA?
 Kalage:
We had a single called “Project Dreams” and another song called “The
Dirty” on there. We push the cut as hard as we could. Right now the South is blowing
up. MCA was looking for a Southern group and saw our sound scan and listen to the record
and offered us a deal. Benny Pugh heard the record and loved it
Another thing that I really love about you guys is that you both are some
down-to-earth cats. What I hear on your record 619: Ashy to Classy is really who you all
are in real life.
Kalage: People nowadays scared to be who they really is. They want to be
what they think they supposed to be. If you country, you just country. When a person that
talks proper say somebody from New Jersey come down here, how you think we look at them?
We look at them like man they talk different. But I’m gone show you how the country
folks love ya. We don’t look at that as a bad thang, we look at that like man I like
how he talk. It’s kinda cool. But when we go somewhere they be laughing saying look
how he talk. I ain’t gone change at all.
Boondox: I feel you 100% that’s why we had to break the mold. We had
to break it. A lotta folks in the South ain’t as lyrical but we love ‘em for
that –they still doing they job.
Right now the South is blowing up in the hip hop market. How does that make you
all feel?
Kalage: I love everybody in the South. I feel that everybody in the South
has help paved the way for us. I love Master P. If it wouldn’t for P, we
wouldn’t be having this conversation. We wouldn’t be having this conversation at
all. |
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by:
Charlie Braxton © Down-South.com |
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