"I'm ready to come back outside and play, man. So sorry to all of the fans that lived on YouTube just to search Reed Dollaz and was wondering what was going on with me. That's what was going on. I was in an independent situation and I had to get out of that. It's a live and learn process and now I'm out of that and I'm ready to play....I'm a Floyd type of guy, you know what I mean. 'Money' Mayweather, you know what I mean? I know a lot of dudes hate on Mayweather, but at the end of the day, he never touched the canvas and he never took an L....I represent the late great Joe Frazier," stated rapper Reed Dollaz, as he talked to about his return to the hip hop scene, his future plans, and much more. Check it out!
PC: I see you back on your grind with this music thing. How has everything been going?
RD: Everything has been going great, man. We just going back to the foundation and rebuilding, so that's all we doing right now. The fan base is there and the following is there. I'm just going out in 2012 and capturing everything that I didn't capture in the last couple of years, so that's a very big situation. So this year, we are just going to go mainstream crazy and just eat up the internet until it's just undeniable.
PC: I look at you like the Kimbo Slice of the rap game because you really got your buzz from your YouTube battles. How were you able to build your brand from YouTube while you were only like 16 years old?
RD: I mean, to be honest with you bruh, it was just crazy because everything was just moving so fast. All we were doing was just regular hood nigga shit, you know what I mean? It was just niggaz from the hood with talent. We would go outside and we would rap and niggaz would put their cell phones up and the camera phones up, and the next thing you know, later on that night, it's getting leaked on YouTube and it's being passed around the whole neighborhood and through high schools. Before you know it man, those videos was getting like 2 million and 3 million hits, and one of the videos got like 4 million hits by itself. And this was just freestyle shit, man. It's just a blessing because it started from the corner. Nobody put no money into us. It was just niggaz putting their talent on camera and the world took to that.
PC: You are definitely a cat that benefitted from technology because, like you said, a lot of the battles were just captured on a phone and posted...
RD: (Cutting in) I don't know why a lot of these artists don't abuse it; it's free. They don't make us pay for YouTube. We're almost in 2012 and I'm still stuck on YouTube. I am not caught up in the wave of WorldStarHipHop or nothing like that. If they put my stuff up on WorldStarHipHop, okay, cool; that's a little plus, but I'm the YouTube King. Everything that I do still gets uploaded to YouTube because when you look for Reed Dollaz, then that's where you gotta go.
PC: You disappeared for a while and it appeared it was when you were at your hottest. Was that because you were involved in a deal gone wrong or what?
RD: Yeah, I took an independent situation. I was young, like 19. I was really young, coming from the ghetto, and I ain't never seen no money and I got caught up in an independent situation with this label called Beyond Bars Records. They gave me a nice cash advancement; they made sure my living arrangements was condos and cars and things like that. They had me for 4 years and they had very good intentions, they just didn't have the knowledge, so I was just held up in a contract for 4 years and have just been waiting to break free. So I finally got out of that and I'm ready to come back outside and play, man. So sorry to all of the fans that lived on YouTube just to search Reed Dollaz and was wondering what was going on with me. That's what was going on. I was in an independent situation and I had to get out of that. It's a live and learn process and now I'm out of that and I'm ready to play.
PC: I like your music because you proved not to be just a battle rapper. I know you got "Reedadelphia" on the way soon, but you also got a mixtape. Tell us about it my man.
RD: They can go download "Rambo Reed", which is a mixtape I just dropped on my birthday in early November. That's on www.datpiff.com now and you could also look for the "Reedadelphia" project in December 2011. That joint is crazy. So if everybody wanna hear a track, I only leaked one track called, "You ain't built like that", and you can go on YouTube and type in Reed Dollaz-Built like that. Crazy!
PC: How did going all over battling people prepare you for the studio? You seemed to never run out of rhymes. Is that something that just carried over into the studio?
RD: It's a good thing, man. I feel good man, and I feel self-made. I don't feel as though I owe anybody nothing. Ain't nobody make me. Can't none of these labels say, "we made that kid." When I came to a label, all eyes was already on me, so it's going to be a story behind Reed Dollaz. It's going to be a real big story. When my shit finally take off, it's going to be a real, real big story because there are dudes that watched me, such as yourself, from age 16. I'm 25 right now. Jay-Z was in a similar situation because he started young and his first album, "Reasonable Doubt", didn't come out until he was 27, you know what I'm saying?
PC: For sure.
RD: I'm 25 right now, so when people are like, "Reed, what's up with you, man? Where you at? When you gonna drop?" I let them know that you can't rush greatness, you know what I'm saying?
PC: No, I feel you on that. You mentioned Jay-Z. Who are some of your musical influences and who do you listen to right now?
RD: Me personally, I think what makes me so raw is I don't listen to none of these new cats. I'm stuck on that early 90's hip hop, like Rakim, Nas, AZ, DMX, and Jay-Z of course. I was really into the old school cats. I'm still into the old school cats. Some of the cats that was spitting when B.I.G. was around and the LOX, I still mess with them. I like really hot dudes. I don't really fuck with a lot of these new...jerk...new boys music and all of this bullshit that's going on right now. I'm more stuck in that 90's era of music and I think that's why I'm so raw and I deliver it so raw because that's what I was raised on right there.
PC: You from Philly, which is a hard spot to come up in. I'm sure that influences your music too man.
RD: Yeah, Philly influences me a lot because Philly don't embrace nothing and they don't believe nothing until it's ready to go, until its official, you know what I mean? Philly don't want to get behind you until it's there for you. So right now, all the hate and everything is just all motivation for me to just work harder and do what everybody say I can't do. That's gotta be the biggest motivation when somebody say you can't. I just use that as motivation to show these niggaz.
PC: Are you doing any features, and how can people get at you for a feature?
RD: Yeah, the features are crazy right now. Just reaching out to dudes all over my Twitter. They can follow me at @realreeddollaz. A lot of people hit me on that joint from across the world, dudes that can't get to Philly or I can't get out to them, and they been wanting to work with me for a while, so we just do it like that via email.
PC: Not only is Philly known for its rappers, but it's also a great fight city. I can't let you go without getting a fight question in. Who do you like watching in the fight game my man?
RD: I'm gonna be real with you, man. I'm a Floyd type of guy, you know what I mean. "Money" Mayweather, you know what I mean? I know a lot of dudes hate on Mayweather, but at the end of the day, he never touched the canvas and he never took an L. I be fucking with Floyd and Bernard home team. I represent the late great Joe Frazier. I fuck with a couple of dudes. I don't really get into it like that, but I do love Mayweather.
PC: I been on your stuff for a while, man. I wish you the best and it's good to see you back. Let me know if you need anything my man. Is there anything you want to say before I let you go?
RD: Yeah, I just want to let all of the Reed Dollaz fans know that in 2012, this shit is ours; nothing more and nothing less, man, that's it. Reed Dollaz, AKA Rappers Worst Fucking Nightmare. Next year, we going in on these niggaz. They know what I do and I'm not gonna let the fans down. everybody that believed in me and passed around my lil videos or whatever, "Check this kid out. Check this kid out." 2012, I will not let you down. we will succeed and that's pretty much it bruh.
[ Follow Percy Crawford on Twitter @MrLouis1ana ]