Published: Friday - September 21, 2007
Words by Arnold T. Pants
Hell Rell (Photo: Diplomat Records)
Hungriest Out. Hardest Out. Home Owner. Hell Rell is all of these things. He is also set to release a new album on September 25, For the Hell of It, and later... A book!?!? After years, of building a rep on the mixtape circuit, Rell's ready to step up into the spotlight.
The album has guest slots from Cam, Jimmy and Juelz, as well as features from Styles P and Young Dro. It leads with the single "Showoff." Ballerstatus caught up with Rugger to chat about the album and some forthcoming projects.
Ballerstatus.com: What can we expect from the album?
Hell Rell: It's a breath of fresh air. I know everybody likes "Leaning wit it and rocking with it," "Ay Bay Bay" and all that. But, this is just a breath of fresh air. We took it back to the essence.
Ballerstatus.com: I've heard you don't write your songs down. Do you freestyle all your tracks? What's the recording process like for you?
Hell Rell: Nah, I don't freestyle. I basically just sit there and put the words together in my head, then get in the booth and spit.
Ballerstatus.com: Who's producing on the record?
Hell Rell: I got some up and coming producers that are doing some dope sh--. Some real talented young cats that were looking for a break, so I brought them in.
Ballerstatus.com: That seems pretty consistent with the Dipset movement, having young producers and all.
Hell Rell: Yeah, yeah, no doubt. We like to keep it fresh. Kinda like how Dipset built of a signature sound created by the Heatmakers, I wanted people to get used to a Hell Rell sound, as opposed to a Diplomats sound. I am not trying to single myself out the group, but I want people to get used to my sound. People have been hearing me for the longest on Dip records, Juelz records and all that.
Ballerstatus.com: This is obviously your debut, but you've been flooding the streets with mad mixtapes over the years, and I wonder if that adds any pressure for the project?
Hell Rell: No, not at all, I see it like, at the end of the day, I pretty much have a fan base. I am not really scared about if the album is going to do well or not.
Ballerstatus.com: I was thinking, less in terms of the numbers and more about how now people expect a certain quality from you.
Hell Rell: I love the anticipation, I just love it. I love the competition. I just love that sense of anticipation.
Ballerstatus.com: You were in "Killa Season.' Got any more movie work in the near future?
Hell Rell: I got a DVD coming. I also got a book coming out. It's capturing the pain, all the sh-- that I'm supposed to record. The names of the chapter's are going to be the names of the songs.
Ballerstatus.com: That's cool. You got a production company too right?
Hell Rell: Yeah, that's my film company, Hell's Vision. I also got a group, the Top Gunners. I'm Mr. Rugger Rugger, the head gunner in charge.
Ballerstatus.com: What kind of stuff do you have set up for Hell's Vision?
Hell Rell: We got some projects that are going to come out independent. It's pretty much DVD stuff, straight to DVD releases. I'm showing the making of Hell's Vision, showing my neighborhood. It shows how I'm like a survivor of a hurricane that came through; it happened like a war, the whole neighborhood was wiped out. It's like I'm the last one standing, showing the reality of it.
Ballerstatus.com: Can you talk about how your group will play into the Diplomat movement?
Hell Rell: It's basically under the Diplomat umbrella. You know, like Jim has Byrd Gang. It's a subsidiary. It's branching off, basically becoming entrepreneurs. Showing Cam some push back, everyone wants to be surrounded by entrepreneurs. You don't want to be working for someone the rest of your life. This is basically a subsidiary. Cam has first dibs on whatever. We're basically going to get in there, feed the streets with the music and see what response we get back. And, if the labels start hollering at us, Cam is definitely at the forefront to that.
Ballerstatus.com: The first single off the album is "Show Off?"
Hell Rell: Yeah, I pretty much wanted to come with that because I like showing off.
Ballerstatus.com: Any sense of what the video is going to look like?
Hell Rell: Nothing big, just shopping and showing off, basically just get people familiar with me. Ain't nothing too extravagant. Show off my circumstance, my swagger.
Ballerstatus.com: The cover is crazy, with the bullets for teeth, what was the inspiration behind it?
Hell Rell: You know the whole trend for gold teeth that started in New York, in the late 80s. Being as the trend resurfaced, I'm like I don't want to be like the other cats, so with the bullets, it was a hot idea that went with the movement, so I pretty much ran with it.
Ballerstatus.com: You got Styles P on the record, and with Dipset and D-Block being like two of the biggest crews on the mixtape crews, I wanted to know what it was like for you to work with him.
Hell Rell: Man, you know it was an honor. I had put out the first joint, "One Blood," and pretty much said I'm the hardest out, whether you like it or not, same as Styles P. I'm glad he didn't take it as a diss, and that's what made me reach out to him for this disk. I'm that dude, you that dude; let's do what them dudes do.
Ballerstatus.com: How did the collabo with Young Dro pop off? The rest of the album is pretty New York centric.
Hell Rell: Pretty much I hooked up with Young Dro, because people told me he was the down Ssouth version of me. Plus, he was in the Jim Jones video. I found out he was listening to my music, and so I reached out to the manager of Grand Hustle and he made it happen.
Ballerstatus.com: Any collaboration you want for the future?
Hell Rell: Yeah, a few, but I don't want to name names. Just trying to perfect my craft right now.
Ballerstatus.com: You touring with the record?
Hell Rell: Yeah, we are just going to hit I-95 and hit every city, see what kind of response we get.
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