Interview - Tha Cartel

I got a chance to talk to one of New Orleans "NOLA Nominated" duos and they had quite a bit to say about themselves. I do believe you need to remember their name because they just might be playing on a station in your vicinity soon. Check out what Tha Cartel had to say:

Tae:

Who is Tha Cartel and how do you stand out from being another run of the duo?

Lefty: 

We’re original, we’re fresh, we young, we livin, from the music we do to the way we carry ourselves! We do what we feel needs to be done or said, we aint cutting no corners. We put a lot of passion and work into our craft, we dedicated.

Snakeyez: 

I feel like we’re bringing it back to the days when the music was authentic. Yeah,we brag in our songs and make catchy music too, but its not a gimmick and the people can tell. We put a lot into what we do and pay close attention to details which is what I feel a lot of people lack nowadays.



Tae:

What inspired y'all to become rappers?

Snakeyez: 

I used to write poetry in middle school and actually, I still do from time to time. But the love of music just being around my family- my cousin-in-law was in St.Aug band. My other cousin was in the band at Sarah T. Reed. They kept me exposed to different kinds of music and I fell in love with it. Plus, growing up around C-Murder and the No Limit empire at its peak exposed me to a lot and really made me wanna do this.

Lefty: 

Money, hoes, cars, and clothes (laughs)! Nah, but one of my cousins was doing his thing and I really looked up to him. I had written raps before but they were on some bogus type stuff, rapping bout stuff I never knew of. But as I hung around him more I started writing on my own but I didn’t tell nobody. He had a track that I liked and I wanted to get on, so I told him I’d write a verse. That was my first recorded song ever, from there it was history!

Tae:

How did you link up together and what gives you the chemistry to be able to work together?

Tha Cartel:

We met in the middle school. We both were solo artist, the summer after we graduated high school we did a mixtape together and the chemistry we had was so strong so we decided to go ahead and just keep making music together. We’re really best friends and that makes working together easy.

Tae:

Who would you say influenced you the most musically?
Lefty: 

My cousin Shankaa, he’s the reason I even picked up a pen. I always was a music person though, I grew up listening to all types of hip hop, from Tupac to NWA to Souls of Mischief. I always had a lotta love for local music like Lokee, UNLV, Mystikal, Mac, etc. I just loved the message they portrayed. As I got older and exposed to different genres of music the love I had grew exponentially.

Snakeyez:

I grew up around No Limit and Big Boy, and naturally Cash Money was big too. Back then, a lot of No Limit and Big Boy records music was very heavily West-Coast influenced, so I was into all that too. A lot of Warren G, Dogg Pound, especially Kurupt and Snoop Dogg. Nas is actually my favorite rapper though, but Im mostly influenced by southern artists and Midwest artists that actually push the limits of what hip hop really is. People like Outkast, Kanye West, and Goodie Mob was so hard, yet different than anything out. But I still try to keep the element of the old school pure New Orleans hip hop and that “bounce” in our music.

Tae:

What can people expect from you in 5 years?

Snakeyez: 

Hopefully a couple of major label albums, a couple of tours, and a lot of money!! (laughs) For real though, I just want to be respected on the home front, and where ever we go. Whether its major or independent, I want people to be like “Yeah, Tha Cartel, I fucks with them!” Respect means a lot in my book.

Tae:

What upcoming projects are you working on?

Snakeyez: 

We put out an EP/Pre-Album called “Young N Reckless” that you can download free on www.theroof-top.com. Its 8 tracks of some real good music. We are also working on the album called “Cartel Diem : Lifestyles Of The Young N Reckless” which will include the songs from Young N Reckless as well as more unreleased material. That’s gonna be a retail and out-the-trunk release! So be looking for that, it should be out by the top of the year 2011.

Tae:

How can people get in touch with you?

Lefty: 

For booking or any kind of business, you can e-mail us at thacartelmusic@gmail.com. Anybody that wants to hear any of our music can go to www.theroof-top.com. If you rocking with us, you can follow us on twitter at @ThaCartel504 and our personal facebook pages facebook.com/cartellefty and facebook.com/superstarsnake

Tae:

Thank you for taking your time to speak with us, is there anything you would like to add?

Tha Cartel: 

Yeah, thanks to you for the opportunity to do this interview. We love everybody that reaches out to us, it definitely doesn’t go unnoticed. So, shout out to The Sweet Lyfe Blog, most def. Shoutout to everybody that downloaded our EP and bought our first underground album “Strictly Business”. Just keep our name embedded in your brain cause we aint goin nowhere! We gonna keep trying to hit yall with enjoyable music album after album! New Orleans own, Tha Cartel is here!!!