Published: Monday - May 2, 2005
Words by Mark Lelinwalla
Loon (Photo: Bad Boy)
With a name that when deciphered means Ladies Love Cool James, be clear that fans expect female-finessing rhymes. And LL for much of his career has delivered songs to truly live up to the name. However, this is the same man that can get aggressive at the drop of a dime. Dare we forget "4, 3, 2, 1," "The Ripper Strikes Back" and even "Mama Said Knock You Out." In addition, LL did employ the synthetic heavy "Headsprung" over the traditional kind of smooth track that he would normally choose for his LP's first single.
That balance was what LL struggled to achieve and what Loon is about to be faced with. After a brief hiatus from the game, the former Bad Boy is back and looking forward to dropping an album in the summer. This time around however, fans can expect to learn about more aspects of the Harlemite. With his impending project, don't expect a 180 persona turn though; just some elaboration.
Since Bad Boy's portrayal of him was too smooth, Loon has taken the challenge of roughing his content up a little more. And as fans are about to find out first-hand, that smooth operator ladies man image was never entirely Loon. Sure the guy possesses a lazy flow which did well when speaking about and to the ladies, but he has stories to tell. He has more substance to delve into.
Ballerstatus.com got Loon on the phone and to be quite honest the real talk we received was a bit surprising. It's sort of like that Chapelle episode in which Charlie Murphy overlooks Prince on the basketball court and then Prince busts his ass. Well, going into this interview, we knew Loon had a lot to say due to his mainstream hiatus, but we never knew the real talk he was about to give us. Not holding his tongue, focus in as Loon discusses his new company Boss Up, the whole Bad Boy situation, hip-hop in Harlem and his image and portrayal. As he says, "It's make it or break it" with this new album and the stakes are high. Loon, independent without Diddy by his side, is stepping up to the front line. Get ready; it's Time To Boss Up!
BallerStatus.com: Let's get into it man. Some fans out there don't know about your situation. Can you tell us about where you stand with Boss Up?
Loon: Boss Up is a new company that we just put together upon my departure from Bad Boy. It's a young company that allows me to get into entrepreneurship, and it leaves me in control of my own destiny from this point on.
BallerStatus.com: Delving into that a little bit further, Boss Up is obviously an avenue for continuing your recording career, but you mentioned entrepreneurship. Can you elaborate?
Loon: It's basically the umbrella that I'm trying to develop. I got a production team, writers, a model agency, record company and all that's what I'm trying to incorporate into Boss Up. That's what I'm pushing towards to try to make it a certain force in entertainment. I look at it like this: If you have a new artist that you're trying to develop and you're having problems, come to my company. I got producers, writers and a modeling agency. I'm trying to create their package.
BallerStatus.com: So with Boss Up are you ready to release music right now without the help of a label, or do you still need the backing of a label?
Loon: Not necessarily. I'm maintaining my independent status because I do intend on doing a major distribution deal. I just feel like right now I'm independent, and based on the fact that I'm an artist that's internationally known, I can put together all of my resources and try to utilize that to launch my company. Then at that point, I can look for a major distribution deal, if they offer. I'm not really bothering them right now. I go about my situation in a certain matter. I'm a worker. I work a lot. I'm a workaholic. I want to pave my own way. I'm Loon. Loon established a lot for himself, and contributed a lot to Bad Boy the past four years. I just want to be acknowledged through my work.
BallerStatus.com: A large consensus of fans believe that when Mase made his return to the game, Bad Boy put Loon on the back burner. How much of that feeling is accurate?
Loon: I don't think it's accurate at all. I just think what people obviously notice was yea, Mase came back after quitting the team for personal reasons and things of that nature. But I guess he being the businessman that he is jumped on the opportunity, instead of standing behind something was already established. As far as me, I just think that the company failed me as an artist. I can't say my experience at Bad Boy was a complete failure because I traveled all around the world, met some beautiful people, and I pretty much participated in everything Puff participated in. That was the blessing in it all, but when it came down to me as an artist, I just felt like with all the transitions Bad Boy was going through and Puff was busy with other artists at the time, while I had already established myself as an artist. That was kind of twisted, so it was a lot of things. The stars just weren't in line.
BallerStatus.com: What do you think about the current state of Bad Boy? They seem to be in a state of disarray.
Loon: I just think with Bad Boy as a company -- it's the fact that and this is the thing that I'm trying to shy away with my company -- is chasing singles. It's like every artist that comes to Bad Boy has to carry the burden of saving Bad Boy. It was like when Loon came to Bad Boy, it was like "Can the pretty boy Loon save Bad Boy?," "Can Mario Winans save Bad Boy?," Can the bad boy himself save Bad Boy!?" It's not like you're an artist there expressing your talents. It's like every artist that goes there has to carry the burden to of saving the company because the whole burden of it is inflicted on that individual when it's time to market the project. So I think that the only thing that's stopping Bad Boy right now is the lack of multi-form pressure. Back in the day, you had a Total record out the same time you had a Biggie record out; a Biggie record out the same time a Craig Mack record was out; and Craig Mack out when a 112 record was out. It was mult-form pressure with the Bad Boys being shown. Now, it's just one at a time and "Please save us."
But if you got to have the song that's going to save the company. What about me, the artist? Each artist that comes along has to inherit the burden of the company. Each artist that goes there is going to suffer because of that. Even 8 Ball and MJG; they're great legends in the South and even them coming to Bad Boy, and it was like, "Can the Southern legends save Bad Boy?" But I want everyone to get it straight, Loon is not upset and has no ill feelings towards Puff or Bad Boy as a company. I still share a friendship with probably 85, 95 percent of staff members at the company, and I still share a brotherly relationship with Puff. This is just Loon venturing off and finally -- out of all my years in the business -- getting my opportunity to do Loon. So for anyone that's going to sit down and analyze Loon, this is where you pull out your score cards and you're grading papers. This is the time to start.
BallerStatus.com: So you're looking at your next album release as your judgment day?
Loon: Yea, make it or break it. I feel with this album, there's not really a lot of pressure. It's not like I'm sitting around waiting for the unknown rapper to diss me. I don't have those kinds of problems. Nah, people are just looking for a good record from Loon. I already established my own lane. When I come out and do my girl records, it's kind of like LL coming back out. It's like if you hear Lil Jon and everybody doing their rendition of female-driven records, it just sounds cool to me because I could come and do it without selling a girl material things or taking her all around the world in a rap. I do it from a more sophisticated standpoint. I'm trying to accomplish balance this time around. I want more people not to look at me as just a one-dimensional artist because that was something that was established through my efforts at Bad Boy, and a lot of my efforts trying to balance myself as an artist was rejected. I never had an opportunity to [balance myself] without a person over my shoulder telling me to chill or maybe I shouldn't say that word or to clean that up. No, I don't have to deal with any of that. I can say exactly what's on my mind. I just hope that everybody that admires me can appreciate the real me.
BallerStatus.com: You mentioned the real you. At Bad Boy you were portrayed as the next LL. How much of that image is you? Did it only tell half the story of Loon?
Loon: That's telling like 1/4 the story of Loon, not even half. What people don't understand about me -- and I know in some of my interviews, I have established my background in Harlem and how my mom and pops were legends in the streets -- that I never got established through my music.
BallerStatus.com: And are you resentful towards Bad Boy because you didn't get a chance to share that side of you?
Loon: Very resentful because everybody at Bad Boy knows me before Bad Boy or before my career as a rapper. It's like why wouldn't you get behind me, and help me establish the most vivid picture that could be painted because I witnessed that picture first-hand and everyday, I still do. I spend more time in Harlem than probably any Harlem artist, not to discredit anybody. I spend more time in Harlem than Puff, than anybody born in Harlem. Like, I'm in the street. What's so funny is I don't do all the mixtapes and street records, but you never hear stories about Loon getting robbed, in some state getting harassed, in some hotel scared to come out... you never hear stories like that about Loon. People don't put one and one together like, "Man, this is the dude who we have seen with over $300,000 worth of jewelry on and this dude don't be having no security. He shakes hands with 50, shake hands with Ja Rule, this dude shake hands with whomever is someone in the business." They all respect me and love me. So it's like I need to basically put it together now because the respect factor I have in the streets is not quite the respect I have through my music. I need to balance that out, and that's what my whole mission is to bring all my talents out. Whatever you may think I lacked before, I'm going to plug that gap. If you think I was hot before, I'm going to be hotter.
BallerStatus.com: Getting into your Harlem roots a little more -- despite the smooth operator portrayal of Loon -- at the end of the day, you're from Harlem, you're a big dude and you can probably put someone on their back for talking reckless. So how much does it bother you that people overlook that about you?
Loon: People don't look at it that way, but that's the real power that's lacking from hip-hop; it's professionalism. I envy movie actors because we can take them any kind of way because they play so many roles. But when you see them on Jay Leno or David Letterman, you see the real dude; a calm, laid-back dude; such a professional sharp clean-cut dude! Yet, he just played a movie where he killed 20 dudes. He was heartless, cold in the movie, but he didn't take that scene to Jay Leno [laughing]. That's why we have problems as rappers, and we look crazy all the time. One minute we're tough, having the whole entourage on stage. The next minute you do a cross-over record and you're smooth, having the whole entourage on stage wearing suits. Ya'll look crazy! We look crazy! It's like why can't we see this smooth dude in a hardcore phase? You'll just blend in, but you'll never stop being smooth. That's the one thing I kind of admire about Puff because he could blend in a video like "Whoa" and then turn around a do a video with Lenny Kravitz. Then turn around and do this, that and do a dermatologist video. He does it all, and maintains a certain persona that just says Puff at all times. That's the thing I could say is beautiful about the guy. His business savvy is excellent, but overall his chameleon tactics are just the greatest.
BallerStatus.com: Not to beat a dead horse, but due to the fact that the portrayal of you was that smooth operator at Bad Boy, have you ever had people come at you sideways thinking you're weak because of your lady-loving rhymes?
Loon: I've straightened a lot of n----s out in my time. It's just never got televised, or a big thing because I know how to handle my business. I'm not a performer when it comes down to real things. Entertainment is when you're on stage performing, in the studio, on the video shoot, but it's not entertainment when there's beef. I've handled a lot of my situations, not to be bragging or toot my own horn. But at the end of the day, I've torn a lot of cats up because of that same misrepresentation that came from songs I had done, the way Puff made and sold me to the world or the way people perceived anybody under him. Those situations, I've straightened a lot of dudes out like a hot comb. My smooth sound traveled by word of mouth, and that's what created my smooth sail through the game, but right now I feel like man. I got to make it rough because that was too smooth.
BallerStatus.com: Some hip-hop fans -- especially in New York -- know about your Harlem roots, but how are you going to change mainstream America's view of Loon from "ladies man" to that Harlem cat?
Loon: I put Game on his first record. It was the "How You Want That" remix. People don't remember that. That's my boy. I know dude personally, before he was Game, before I even knew he was rapping. I'd be in LA, and I moved to LA in '89. Everybody took the Beverly Hills high school story and ran with it, like I was some Beverly Hills kid. Naw, not me. I didn't run to NY and try to get everyone to be a Crip. I look at other artists in Harlem all of a sudden obsessed with Bloods. Man, whatever. In '89, I was 13 and ain't no one was thinking about being a Blood or a Crip. I used to come back home to Harlem with khakis on and people used to look at me like I was a farmer, a construction worker like, "Loon, what you do, you have a maintenance job in LA?" Nobody understood it. I was early with a lot of sh--. I was early with canary-yellow diamonds and platinum, rose-gold, pink diamonds...I just don't stick out my arm out in the camera and video like that. That's just Harlem sh--. We fly by nature. N----s ain't trying to over extend their self like, "Hey look at me, I'm from Harlem and I'm fly." That ain't what Harlem n----s do. We fly, and you see us. We ain't gotta tell you. We don't have to make no noise. I want to bring that up because it's about how we get perceived as people when we try to establish our talent as entertainers. Like Nelly right now has a song with country dude. That might affect some of his credibility in the streets, but to me, I think it's like, wow! That kid took hip-hop some place it don't even belong. People will always hate what they don't understand until it happens. When it happens they're like, "That's my sh--!" The album, Harlem World, they didn't understand it. Look at Mase, he was in Children of the Corn and he went solo. He absorbed or regurgitated and extracted a lot of elements of artists he ran with and those around him, and made a classic album. Then people said Mase can sell by himself.
BallerStatus.com: What is your relationship with Mase?
Loon: I got a record with him now. He's trying to come back, and really be on some Mase Murda.
BallerStatus.com: Can you tell us about that a little more?
Loon: Aww, it's nothing. Me and Mase have always been cool. Even though people always try to say we have similarities or I sound like him, whatever the case may be, but there's similarities in sound between all artists. Even artists that try to sound like Jay-Z, they don't have the same dialogue. They haven't been to the places he's been or traveled the places he's traveled, touched the money he's touched. They just have the lyrical format down-pat, but not the dialogue. I wish Mase the best. That's my boy. I seen him not too long ago. He seen me, he hollered. We worked together, but at the end of the day, he got his thing and I got my thing.
BallerStatus.com: What's your view on the whole Dipset movement and following in Harlem?
Loon: I grew up and knew everybody. I knew Cam when (pauses) he was Cam. He was playing ball, [and he] always used to be fresh. His mom used to spoil him. I didn't meet Jim Jones until later on in high school. He actually went to my high school. He was a freshman when I was there. He was quiet. I never really knew him like that. Santana, I never knew, but he's a cool dude. I never knew him at all. At the end of the day, whatever they have established for themselves, I'm proud of them. Whatever they have established positive for Harlem, I'm proud of them. As far as the whole culture and background image of Harlem, I don't agree with them. N----s in Harlem don't wear pink. That's Cam's thing. That's what he does and does it well, but n----s in Harlem don't wear pink. Jim Jones, that's my man, but n----s in Harlem don't run around Harlem looking like Eazy-E. I guess it's just different strokes for different folks. That's basically it. He missed the wave or era that he wanted to be a part of, and now he's doing it, so do it. You can't knock him.
Like, I get mad listening at them go at Mase because for me as an artist, I've been down with Mase, worked with him, and Cam and him had a personal relationship also. I just feel like when Mase left, Jim Jones and Cam had nothing to do with it. Cam had about eight record deals between him and that dispute with Mase, so he was fine. It was just a situation. To me it was nothing. You didn't hear Loon or anyone else talking bad about him on the radio. The brother did what he had to do. That's the life of a grown man. We're not leading the lives of that two-hand--ouch sh-- anymore. N----s are grown men. If I got to make a move, you can only criticize me for not informing you. If I gotta do what I gotta do, then I gotta do what I gotta do. I can't explain to nobody except for my kids and the people I provide for. Everyone got egos and it's getting corny because it's not matching up to record sales or songs. Everyone is ego-driven, and forgetting about why we're here.
BallerStatus.com: I distinctly remember Busta Rhymes once saying on television that a lot of people don't know about Loon and all the things he does behind the scenes at Bad Boy.
Loon: I definitely commend and appreciate Busta for making that comment because it's very true. I wrote some of the biggest records in Bad Boy History. "I Need A Girl Pt. 2" was bigger than all the hot records coming out of that camp. I wrote a song for New Edition called "I Don't Wanna Know," "I Need A Girl Pt 1," the joint Diddy did with Lenny Kravitz, the remix he did with Mary J.
BallerStatus.com: You wrote "I Don't Wanna Know?"
Loon: Yea, Puff's part. Actually, it was me and Mario; we did that joint together originally. I went to Brazil and came back, and Puff was on that. I thought he would have let the original fly, and leave it alone because the way I laid it down on the verse was hot [laughs]. When I laid the joint down it was two years ago, so being that he never referenced the joint, I thought that he might have liked it the way it was. But I was under the wrong impression. I ain't tripping though. I own the publishing and all my publishing. That's what a lot of artists don't own. That's another thing, people don't think I own my ass. I own my ass dog. I do Lot 29 or whatever type of ads. That's me, myself or my management team.
BallerStatus.com: Best case scenario, when does your album drop and what will the public's opinion be when it drops?
Loon: Well, the summer time. I got to pick a climate that says Loon. October wasn't me. I will never drop another album, for as long as I live in October. When "I Need A Girl Pt. 2" came out, we had everyone's ears and it's safe to say that was the time to drop Loon's album, not in October.
BallerStatus.com: When you drop your album in the summer, how much of it is going to be about getting full respect?
Loon: I'm not tripping off the respect. I go where ever I want to go. Nobody need bring harm. I know where all the dudes that want to disturb my sh-- are. I know them. I live with a certain state of peace, where I'm not in the state of mind where I need to be aggressive to get respect. I'm due for the respect I'm looking for without fighting for it. I ain't never done anything senseless to nobody. Anything I ever did to a n----s, he deserved it. That's me, I'm a man. I live up to what I do. I'm not going to sh-- on a n---- in a magazine and then say I'm sorry. If I feel disrespected with you, I'm not f---ing with you in the pages, for real, for real. I'm not going to make no statement, no record. I'm going to try to keep it off the radar as far as possible because when I see you, I'm really going to do something to you. It's not about trying to sell controversy. Naw son, I'm going to f--- you up. You're still going to have your life, rock out like your Superman when the camera is on, but me and you both know, when I push you in that corner, the n---- that you thought needed a girl, wired your whole sh--.
BallerStatus.com: Man, you giving me some real talk, huh?
Loon: Like I said, I could do me. Before when I did interviews, I had to be cautious because some of the things I said reflected on Puff. But I'm glad I could say whatever the f--- I want right now. God forbid, if I get into a little jam though, I hope they don't charge a $1,000,000 bail, I'm not with Puff no more [laughs]. I have that normal law-abiding citizen rate. But I'm here.
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