Jus Bleezy, Vic Damone and Hakeem Tha Dream banged boxes this year with respectable joints. Now, they’re all on the re-up tip to keep the airwaves blazing – hopefully all the way to a good record deal.
Cool, laid-back, but vocally hyped Jus Bleezy broke with “Like Me,” professing that folks (especially women) ain’t never met a cat like him on his Go Hard or Go Home mixtape, which featured the smooth R&B vocals of Tre Songz.
This go-round, Bleezy’s rolling Bosses of the mixtape, featuring Yo Gotti and Gorilla Zoe. This one doesn’t mix R&B, one of music’s best recipes. Instead the three go hard – explaining their floss-boss status punctuated by hook after catchy hook.
“It’s a song for the rich and fortunate in spirit and finance,” Bleezy said Tuesday from the ATL, where he Gotti, Zoe and Block are laying down some promotional shots and whatnots.
“Some songs are far from people’s reality, but this records shows how three major ‘nigs’ from the streets made and make money,” Bleezy said.
On the money tip, Bleezy said he isn’t giving away anymore mixtapes or CDs. He went with a major to track his sales.
“Selling on the streets gets old, and you want power,” he said. “Plus I’ve proven I can do that, but when your sales are charted you can’t lie.”
Bleezy said he got a 70/30 split out of a Universal Music Group deal where the label will stack his mixtape exclusively at Best Buys and FYE stores in the STL.
The deal allows Bleezy to give back to the community by way of a $1,000 sweepstakes in which he said he will do a give-away every 20 days. That way, he said, he will effectively be bringing retailing back to the music-pushing game and virtually guarantee that his goal of selling 30,000 copies to “STLiens” is hit.
The sweepstakes winner will be included in radio commercials every 20 days. People automatically enter when they purchase the CD, which hits stores September 9.
This fresh strategizing and creativity in marketing and artistry highlights a fourth wind for Bleezy who came on the scene in the ‘90s and has reinvented himself on a regular basis ever since.
“I thought it was too late five years ago – that’s why I hid behind the All Stars, but I started dropping nationally and they felt it,” Bleezy said.
He warns that indie artists and labels should get legit. By that, he means set up an LLC and pay taxes.
“They just got T-shirts and saying they the best,” said Bleezy.
Bleezy will be out of the Lou for a while. After some dates in the ATL, he’s heading to Memphis then Vegas.
He’s expecting close friend and former biz partner Guccio in the ATL by press time. He pointed out that he and Guccio are still the best of friends, though rumors have said otherwise.
“If you’re thinking we’re not friends – forget about it,” Bleezy said.
He also went off on a tangent about Rick Ross, whom he also calls a friend.
“I don’t care if he was a C.O. (correctional officer) or not, he’s my friend, we rolled together, I broke bread at his home and stayed in his guest house,” Bleezy, said responding to news reports that the “Big Boss” rapper used to be a C.O., which he denied.
“He has 60 show dates coming and people still supporting him,” Bleezy said blaming yellow journalism for the fallout.
Rick Ross has one of the hottest songs in the country, a collabo with Nelly.
Bleezy’s mixtape includes a DVD with up close and personal footage with “The Boss,” and Fat Joe and Murphy Lee, who also spit on the mixtape.
Bleezy’s friend Vic Damone couldn’t be reached for comment by press time. But his new song “Check My Swag,” featuring hot rapper Lil Boosie, has easy access as it heats up the airwaves.
Rapper Hakeem Tha Dream and producer Ronnie Notch are back hard at the airwaves with a “Lush” joint. The song was supposed to be a promo song for the struggling Lush nightclub where Hakem and Notch used to do Wednesday nights.
“It happened the same way “Thick Wit It” did – we were working on something else and decided to go with it,” said Ronnie Notch, who is also working with Oops, a couple of national artists and has a deal or two on the table.
Hakeem said to those who doubted him and may have penned him as a one-hit wonder, “We keeping it cracking and hot for the streets and reaffirming the movement.”
“Lush” is a catchy club song and that talks about spirits and kicking it. It hit radio for the first time Sunday on Hot 104.1 FM.
