ThaFormula.com - What was it like being on Tommy Boy. How did you end up there?

Defari - Through Chris Atlas. He liked my music so he signed me. He was an A&R there at the time.

ThaFormula.com - Did you sign a multiple album deal?

Defari - Most record labels will sign you to a multiple album deal.

ThaFormula.com - Was it a good or bad deal?

Defari - It wasn't a good deal and it wasn't a bad deal. It was like signing for the league minimum.

ThaFormula.com - I remember when ATL (Above the Law) was on the label, they said they tried to change them and their style. Did that happen to you?

Defari - Not really man. At the time when I signed, a gang of people was signed. They signed like 20 acts or something with sort of a crap shoot theory. Whoever hits, we will roll with them. Even though they had promised me some development, they really weren't committed to that. Even though those were the exact words that came out of Tom Silverman's mouth, he wasn't committed to that. So they cut their losses after the first phase of the album.

ThaFormula.com - What do you mean they cut there losses?

Defari - Meaning that the album came out, it had one video and they just weren't committed to doing a second phase or video for the record. They just cut it and sat on the record for a year. They breached the contract for the next record and then I divorced them. I mean the promotion was fabulous locally, but it was a case where the label was promoting the shit out of me in my hometown. I didn't need it here in my hometown.

ThaFormula.com - Did it sell what you expected or hoped it would?

Defari - Not at all. Sales wise it was a first album. But I thank all the 50 to 60,000 people that did buy my album for supporting.

ThaFormula.com - So what did you do after you left Tommy Boy?

Defari - Well, from there I continued to bubble on the independent scene and I never stopped that. The last year I had been on tour with Xzibit.

ThaFormula.com - How was that?

Defari - That was awesome. We had gone all over the world. Did all the summer jams and all that good stuff. Then he was developing a label Open Bar and I was supposed to come out in the summer. First I was on Tommy Boy and then now I'm a label with a cat I had invested my trust into, but it still wasn't the right system. So I got out of that.

ThaFormula.com - Yeah, I assumed you were dropping on Open Bar...

Defari - Yeah, but just because your friend is the coach, don't mean that the team is right for you to play on. You understand. I mean there are no hard feelings, but that was the wrong system. They were trying to keep me on hold too long over there man. Plus, I don't think they have the same musical interests as I have. So I had to get out of there.

ThaFormula.com - So you left Open Bar and did what after that?

Defari - What I done is some more guest appearances. I'm on the Dilated, The Liks, High & Mighty, Sir Jinx's mix tapes, and I got a new independent single that I just dropped. "Bionic 2" is just basically a record to give my true fans some more food, because that's the people who I really care about. I have been buzzing real hard in the street man. A lot of people always hit me up all the time. So the "Bionic 2" and "Behold My Life" ft. Dilated is something for all the true heads out there. It's for the people who really follow all the shit that I've ever done and what I wanted to do was go back and give them the original combination, which set this whole shit off in the first place. A lot of times artists do sequels and the sequels don't even come near to the original, but "Bionic 2" is right their if not better then the original in my opinion.

ThaFormula.com - Now you and Evidence go way back right?

Defari - Yeah, we go back to the Next Chapter.

ThaFormula.com - That was that old Immortal compilation that dropped in '95. What was that like?

Defari - That was like a one-shot bullshit contract for a song on a compilation buy out.

ThaFormula.com - There was a lot of names on the compilation that came up?

Defari - Yeah, there was a lot of people on it that have really gone and done some things. Myself, Phil Da Agony, Dilated Peoples, Mykill Myers, Davina, and some other people were on that record. But that was my first record that was ever put out. It was called "Bigger" and that's how E-Swift and me got together, through a mutual friend, and I been down with Likwit ever since. So I have been down with Likwit going on seven years now.

ThaFormula.com - How did you hook up with Evidence?

Defari - Well Evidence is from Venice and my peoples are from Venice, so we kind of hooked up on the music tip and we clicked right off the top. Before you knew it we were doing records. So we did "Bionic", "Peoples Choice", "Say It Twice", and all that stuff. I owe a lot to him for shooting me the beats and I would guess he would say, he owes a lot to me for serving the beats. But it's a sound that we had created and it's interesting because those early independent singles is what got me a deal. Because of the songs, Evidence has since received a lot of work from other artists like Rasco, Planet Asia, Encore, LMNO, and all these artists that really wanted to get the sound that he and I created. Me and Ev to this very day keep elevating the sound that we created. So on my next album you will hear different sides to Evidence, but the thing is, it's like you can take all the singles like "Bionic", etc., all have the Evidence touch on it. They have all done really well. Dilated Peoples and Defari are like L.A. vinyl kings. We're like vinyl kings. For people to sell 10,000 pieces of vinyl on a single nowadays is unheard of. We have done that plus some over and over again. I got to mention Beni B of course because Beni was the vehicle. He's basically like my big brother. He and I started ABB records and he's the founder and CEO of ABB records. As his main artists graduated from the label, he kept on keep producing records and I still produce records through him and I always have. Without Beni B, there really is no Defari or Dilated.

ThaFormula.com - Did you ever think Dilated would be in the position they are now?

Defari - Yeah, because when I first met them, they had an album completely done and they had a record deal on a major label. So I knew they would do it, plus some. While they were going through their years of troubles and woes, they got to sit back and watch what I went through. See it's like 2 phases of Los Angeles underground renaissance. You have The Alkaholiks and Pharcyde days, and then you have our day, which is around 95 to 98 or so. I was the first one to come out of that and sign to a major label. I can't thank enough people like Sway & Tech, Mike Nardonne, Truly Odd and the Heavyweight record pool, Beat Junkies, Julio G, and all these DJ's and people. I can't thank all these cats enough because there was a time and day when L.A. had the underground radio shows, videos, and our stuff was able to get to the masses. It was like I was the first cat to sort of show the way. That's kind of what I did for Dilated, Jurassic 5, Chase, Krondon, and different types of people. So people watched my situation go down and watched how the shit was done and they knew what they didn't want to happen to them and stuff like that. But the whole time I wouldn't have been able to stick around if it wasn't for my family man. The fact that I am Likwit crew is a big thing. Because E - swift and the Alkaholiks, King Tee, they have always had my back. So if I go through hard times, I could always resort back to my family man. Always! Because hip-hop is the only music that has ever been created known to man, that thrives off of crews. It thrives off of what crew your with. It's also the only music ever known to man that's competitive. Where the artists are competitive against one another. Rock artists don't give a fuck about the next artist. They're just doing their thing. Country artists like Garth Brooks is not dissin' Shania Twain or whatever..

ThaFormula.com - Do you think that all this dissin' stuff is a good thing?

Defari - Well, I think that's the streets in the music. Sometimes I think it's a bad thing, but that's the origin of the music, so you'll never get away from it. Hip-hop is the only music like that. The reason why I think that it's a bad thing is because Hip-hop is dominated by black men, and the black man needs to show more unity with one another instead of this unity and hatred towards one another in the music. But fuck it, because that's the streets. The black man definitely needs knowledge of self on the streets. We need to come together in these streets instead of killing one another. It's like what happens in the streets just permeates right through the music. It's a mere reflection of it. Hip-hop is the only music where cats have to dignify that they the best. No other music was ever like that. Stevie Wonder never gave a fuck if he was better then Earth, Wind, and fire or not. Teddy Pendergrass wasn't dissing Marvin Gaye.

ThaFormula.com - What happens if your not associated with anybody or not in a crew?

Defari - Then you done jumped in the river man, with a bunch of piranhas. You're in the ocean with a school of sharks and shit, and they all rollin' together. The only way to get over it, is if you're a whale. Like Krs-1 or something. But he even he had a crew cause Boogie Down is his crew. If they wanna get into this thang by themselves and think that they are gonna last, then they better be the next muthafuckin' Eminem.

ThaFormula.com - Now you said there was 2 waves. What do you think of this 3rd wave that's coming with all this outer space rap type shit?

Defari - That's what I'm saying man. I ain't really seen nobody come to the light to make me think there is a third wave.

ThaFormula.com - What's your opinion on what's happening in the L.A. underground now?

Defari - Right now, I see Phil Da Agony taking it over. I mean the only ones I'm in tune with, it's cats that been doing it for years. I take it to the level of LMNO. I've known that dude for years. So I'm in tune with that, but nothing has really come to the surface to make me really recognize it. I know there's shit out there, but what people don't understand is, there comes a time in people's lives or a space and time that can't be duplicated. Jordan will never be the same Jordan.

ThaFormula.com - Yeah it's kind of sad watchin' him.

Defari - Not really, he had 32 last night against my homeboy Paul Pierce.

ThaFormula.com - Yeah, but the way he got blocked at the end was kinda...

Defari - I seen him get blocked, but he still had 32 and 9 rebounds, but it was a space and time when it was the Jordan we remember. There was a space and time when The Liks came out that's never been duplicated. It was a space and time for Defari and Dilated. So yeah, there will be a space and time for somebody else. I assume, but I have yet to see it. Those are like golden years and I'm not hatin' on nobody. Prove me wrong in fact. What people fail to realize is that those people that came out of that era, these guys are honed professionals. I mean cats with live performances who always thrived on live performances. I'm from a crew where we all thrive on live performances. Dilated live performers. Likwit live performers. Everybody knows the Alkaholik crew. They don't even know us as Likwit, but as The Alkaholiks crew, and we can go from the ghetto to the muthafuckin' Beverly Hills High School and they will all have fun at the show. I see a lot of these young artists coming out. One, they don't make good songs. They spittin', but where is the song at? And the live performances be lacking. They don't have no projection, they don't go to call and rehearse. We rehearse and take this shit serious as hell.

ThaFormula.com - Will a Likwit crew album ever happen?

Defari - Man, I hope so man. I really hope so. It's just a matter of it happening and it being right. That's what I was trying to tell you in the dressing room. The situation has got to be right in terms of equality. It hasn't happened yet.

ThaFormula.com - Do you guys ever talk about it at all?

Defari - This was the problem right. The Likwit album is a thing that we want to be on a major scale. We didn't want it to necessarily be just an independent thing. But that was then. With the strides that have been made from the likes of Xzibit, Alkaholiks, King Tee, myself, and Phil Da Agony. We can drop something now independently and it would do really well I think. I just think it hasn't been necessarily the right time for it yet. But now is the time and I don't think E - Swift or any of them cats would disagree with me.

ThaFormula.com - What's currently happening with your album?

Defari - Well the name of the album is "Odds & Evens". Evidence and I just started on it this past week in fact, and what that means is, we're starting on it with a free spirit. Right now I'm getting all of my conceptual songs out the way, so when it comes time to do all my party cuts and my club cuts, that's nothing. But right now with "Odds & Evens", what it's going to do is invite people into getting to know me a lot more then "Focused Daily". "Focused Daily" was a freestyle exhibition with a few conceptual songs, like "These Dreams", "Never Lose Touch", "Yes Indeed", and shit like that. But still a lot of that stuff was like freestyling party down kind of. Or a skill oriented album. This album, Odds and Evens is a heightened skill level album because of the song content. And I'm going to really invite people into getting to know my biography and getting to know my life. I'm going to invite people into getting to know a whole lot more about me.

ThaFormula.com - Are you completely starting from scratch or do you have some songs lying around that you plan on using?

Defari - Well the thing is I'm sitting on like 15 cuts man, but I'm not loving none of them. What that means is that that's just something where we just said, they are hot songs, but we are just not holding on to them. I'm always game to do something new. Whatever are the hottest 15 or 16 cuts. That's the ones that's gonna be on the album. That's not just gonna be from my opinion either. That's gonna be from the opinions of E - Swift, Evidence, and the people involved in the album.

ThaFormula.com - So what producers are you trying to work with this time?

Defari - Man, I would like to work with E - Swift, Evidence, Fred Wreck, Battle Cat. I wouldn't mind working with the likes of Alchemist of course. Somebody like E-Z Lpee I'll fuck with. I like his beats and always have.

ThaFormula.com - When you are working by yourself like this and you don't have a label, how tough is it money wise to record your album?

Defari - See, that's another thing. I'm blessed man. My whole network got studios, mics, and DAT's, so it's nothing. You are talkin' to a dude that's paid several dues. Insurmountable amount of dues, and a dude who surrounds himself with the same caliber of men, who paid an immense amount of dues in this game. So they will do me the favor of recording songs for me. Evidence will do me the favor of engineering, mixing a song, and giving me the beat all out of his crib. But that's my folks man. I came up with dude. E - Swift will do the same damn thing for me man.

ThaFormula.com - What about guys like EZ or Alchemist?

Defari - If they wanna work now, they gotta do some spec work for me and 'Al would. 'Al would do that for me. 'Al would shoot me a beat and let me record it, but somebody I don't know, I wouldn't expect them to do that for me. But the people I named, I know them. Like Battlecat, I know 'Cat or Quik, Quik might even do spec work for me if I hollered at him right, because I know him. My soul objective other then to let people into my world is to show them a light of L.A. that they ain't ever heard before man. They are gonna hear from Defari a brand new nigga dude. They ain't never heard no L.A. dude like me. You can pop "Focused Daily" in right now and see they still ain't never heard no dude like me. The reason why I say that man is because I respect the game. Snoopy and them, they got the gangsta shit locked. Kurupt, he's got his whole niche locked. Cypress they got their niche locked. The Liks got their party rhyme niche locked. Dilated, that whole skateboard, urban, other scene. They are slowly but surely lockin' that shit down. So I respect the game. I'm gonna come my way. It's been a long road for me man. It's been a long road. Like the homie Xzibit, I gotta thank him for just inviting me to the studio that one day, when Dre was recording "L.A. Niggaz". Cause X didn't get me on the song, but he got me in the studio and then I got on the song myself.

ThaFormula.com - So how exactly did that come about?

Defari - Xzibit called me like, "Come up to the studio right now nigga". I was like, "alright for sho". I come up to the studio. There is a gallon of Henessey up in there. The beat is playing. There is already 2 Likwit niggaz on the song. X and King Tee, so I'm hearing the song and I'm like, "Oh, I see what you all doing". Everybody is starting they're rhyme off with a old L.A. verse. So I used 6 in the morning from Ice - T. Dre heard it and he was like, "Say that again". I was like "5 in the morning burglars at my door". So he was like, "You wanna go up in the booth". I was like, "shit nigga". That's like asking Jordan if he wants the muthafuckin' ball.

ThaFormula.com - How was it recording with Dre like that?

Defari - Quick, fast, and in a hurry. Laid it down. I actually had 4 more bars, but they weren't written yet. But Dre was like, "I think that's cool though". I'm like, "alright Doc, you know". Let me tell you the god's honest truth man. Me personally, I been through so much shit in this game. I for sure knew Dre wasn't keeping that song. I though that song wasn't gonna make the album. Low and behold it was on there. Thanks to Dr. Dre, and thanks to Julio G, the ghetto got introduced to Defari. Because the ghetto was not fucking with "Focused Daily".

ThaFormula.com - So now that Julio, The Wake-Up Show, and everything else has disappeared what does an artist do now to get that exposure?

Defari - What happens now is the artists have to go back to slangin' they're shit to all these labels, which is a sad thing. Or the artist has to be such a street phenomenon, in terms of live performance. That he's packing in The Whiskey and he's packing in all these clubs, that a A&R or a record executive will go see him and be like, this muthafucka is tight. Because I can't see nobody selling 10,000 pieces of vinyl no more. That's just my opinion and plus we in a depression right now. Shit is tough man. Michael Jackson did 350,000 the first week. You talkin' about a dude that sold 40 million records man on one album.

ThaFormula.com - How does an artist like yourself live when you are in between labels like this?

Defari - You gotta be a hustler man. If you ain't got no hustle. If you ain't no dude who can get the fuck out your bed and hustle, you can't do what I do man. Because I've had a job with the best benefits in the state. I was a teacher and I had a full contract and all that. But I never liked the gig. I loved the kids, but I never liked the gig. So quote me on that man. "I love the kids, but I never liked the gig", and I never liked the bureaucracy around the gig either. Meaning you put in a whole lot and get little in return. You putting a lot of mental energy man and what people don't understand is a physical job is easy compared to teaching, because teaching is extremely mentally draining. Teaching can cause you to drink and shit like that. Because you're dealing with over 250 individuals. I taught high school. I taught in the churches and on the front line at Inglewood High. When you're dealing with like 250 individuals and there problems all day, everyday, for 40 minutes a day per 30 group of individuals, it gets draining man. When you clock out and then you go and you coach and you're the Athletic Director. Cause that's the type of shit I did. And you're rewarded so little. Some little bullshit money that I can make in one night performing. Double it or triple it actually. That's when you start realizing this world is fucked up man. That the priorities of the state and the priorities of the country are fucked up. You can't change it as an individual, so what I did was when god blessed me with the opportunity to follow something that I loved since I was 14 or 15 years old, so I jumped on it. Because I'm not the type of dude to go to the grave with regrets. My momma didn't teach me like that. Neither did my daddy. I don't regret nothing in my life man, and I'm not the type of dude to go back when I'm old and gray and say man if I would have only took that Tommy Boy deal that time. You give me an opportunity, shit I'll make the best of it. I'm an opportunist man, which is why I was in the road with Xzibit. Because it was an opportunity. I've been rhymin' since I heard "Eric B is President". That's what made me want to write rhymes. I used to tape KDAY all the time. I'm a real L.A. nigga, you know what I mean. A lot of dudes can't even holla at you about the different phases of this city because they don't know. They are migrants. All I wanted to do Med, was a simple thing in this business brother. I told my self that by the time I'm 25, I just want to have my stamp in the game. What that means is, I just want to have a record out. I accomplished that 5 times over man. I've been blessed man. All I ever wanted to do was put out a record. Money shouldn't be a reason man because it's an art what we do. If you can't weather the hard times of the art, then you can't be in the game man. I mean your the shit when it's all good, but what about ruff times homeboy, like I'm going through now. When every dollar counts because my daughter needs diapers, my daughter needs her medical paid and her momma need money, etc.

ThaFormula.com - Do you ever think of going back to teaching man?

Defari - No because I didn't like the gig. I wouldn't go back into the classroom, but I would go back to education. Yeah, but I would do something else. I would do something behind the scenes.

ThaFormula.com - So now that Julio G, The Wake-Up Show and all these people that helped ain't around no more, how do you plan to push this new album?

Defari - Well, that's what I got a manager for. That's why we got to bang our heads together and the company that were looking to sign to being the right company. They gotta come on with it and do they're part. Then I'll get my ass back on the road again and do all the hard work. The stuff I been through Med, I done seen the top of the game. I done stood on stage in front of 30, 000 people. Then I have been in front of fuckin' nobody. In front of 10 people, which was all ten people that I brought with me because the promoter was a piece of shit and nobody was there!

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