Sir Jinx Talks 2Pac Busting Guns, "Uncle Suge," And The Lost Kool G. Rap Album
by Paul W Arnold
posted October 19, 2010 at
11:54AM EDT | 0 comments
Exclusive: In part two of DX's
epic convo with the OG track-
master, Jinx details his
experience rioting with 'Pac,
his friendship with Suge, and
The D.O.C.'s documentary.
In part one of Sir Jinx’s
revealing conversation with
HipHopDX the veteran beatmaker
revealed that his 17-year
delayed reunion with Ice Cube
did not come to fruition as it
was originally intended for I
Am The West, (explaining why
the once musical partners no
longer speak to one another).
Dr. Dre’s cousin also revealed
his recent work with the good
doctor for Detox, (work that
included the assistance of
Jay-Z). Additionally, the
onetime Ruthless Records
“scrub” further revealed his
work in the late ‘80s with a
then-teenage Snoop Dogg, as
well as the work he put in a
little over 20 years ago
attempting to get the
Hieroglyphics crew signed to
Ruthless.
Now, in the conclusion to DX’s
discussion with Sir Jinx, the
man born Anthony Wheaton
shares one more story from his
historic past, this time
recalling his hilarious
experience rioting with 2Pac
in Los Angeles during the 1992
rebellion. Jinx also reveals
if he can ever release the
long lost original recordings
he made with fellow rioter
Kool G. Rap. The
producer/emcee additionally
explains why “Suge is my
friend,” why he is
rechristening himself “Tony
Villa,” and finally, what his
involvement is in the upcoming
documentary on the tragically
cut-short career of The D.O.C.
HipHopDX: I want to go back to
your Producer’s Corner feature
for one more bit of
information, something you
said that grabbed my eye.
You’ve got to be the only
person in this industry who’s
ever been quoted as saying,
“Suge is my man…” [Laughs]
Sir Jinx: I don’t know how you
grew up…but everybody got
either a uncle in they family
they don’t like, or a big
cousin, or a big brother – you
don’t like ‘em until the shit
go bad. At all the picnics
they fucking up…cursing people
out, but soon as that dude run
into your car in the
supermarket and five dudes
jump out, you not calling
Auntie Shay Shay, you calling
Suge [Knight].
DX: [Laughs] Uncle Suge.
Sir Jinx: Uncle Suge. And if
you don’t want it done right,
don’t call Suge. So, that’s
the cold thing when people say
that Suge whatever, whatever -
I mean, he did what he did. If
everybody was in his shoes,
then they could say what kind
of person he is. Everybody say
[Suge had something to do
with] the situation with
[2Pac] and all that, but
nobody don’t know. I know
Suge, and [the conspiracy
theory that Suge Knight had
2Pac killed] don’t add up to
me like that. And I ain’t in
it – don’t put [me in it] –
but I see the nigga eye-to-eye
and it’s hard [to see him in
that way]… I been knowing Suge
since he was a limousine
driver. And he never swung
[at] or hit me or jumped me.
[But] then, I never put myself
in that position anyway.
‘Cause I always had my other
shit going [on]. And he was
always happy for me because I
didn’t have to follow behind
[Dr.] Dre… He was like, “You
know I always respected you,
man. You went and did your own
thing, man. Most of these
niggas sideline Dre, kiss Dre
ass…” And I’d be like, “Yeah,
but he’s still my cousin.” I
feel like he can be the king
and I can be the prince. I
don’t want his world. I don’t
want them pressures that he
has to deal with…
DX: One more thing I learned
from your Producer’s Corner
feature is that you produced
Kool G. Rap & DJ Polo’s Live
and Let Die in its entirety
before it was remixed by the
Trackmasters and others [due
to sample clearance issues].
So would you ever consider
reaching out to G. Rap to
release those originals?
Sir Jinx: Um…they still got
sample infringements in [the
tracks]. Because see…we
finished that album, [but]
they [didn’t release it until]
a year later [in 1992]. The
Trackmasters…when they went
back in and took the samples
out, [after] I gave them the
masters…I don’t know. They
released a whole different
[album] than I gave Cold
Chillin’ [Records]… I gave
Cold Chillin’ something else,
and they went back in and
remixed a lot of them songs.
[But] with [Kool] G. Rap,
that’s my nig right there. I
would love to work with G. Rap
[again], but he gotta wanna do
it.
DX: Speaking of G. Rap, when I
spoke with him back in ’08 for
his DX feature he recounted
for me the story of you, he
and Tupac “…riding around,
poppin’ they burner off out
the window” during the ’92
L.A. riots. [Laughs] Just to
keep it a hunnid though, was
‘Pac really riding around,
shooting out the car window?
Sir Jinx: Put it like this, we
saw a dude in a security guard
outfit and ‘Pac pointed the
gun at him and laughed. That’s
the intensity of the street
[on] that day. It was a dude
standing at the bus [stop] –
‘Cause we driving down
Wilshire [Boulevard], I’m
driving my car [and] he
letting it loose through the
sunroof: boom, boom. I mean,
it’s shells in my car. I
actually took ‘Pac to my
neighborhood over there off of
Western [Avenue] & 106th
[Street] and that’s where he
got more bullets from – ‘cause
he emptied his gun in my car.
[Laughs] And for some reason
it wasn’t wrong. [Laughs] …
That was the day I was
supposed to work with 2Pac.
That was the only day, because
after that he got into some
shit and then we never went
back into the studio… The day
before [the Rodney King trial
verdict came down] he was
working with some other guys
in the same studio. [And] so
the next day he was off from
them, and I was off from
working on G. Rap’s shit.
[But] that’s why G. Rap was
there [in the studio too]. You
know how you work with artists
[and they’ll] be like, “Let me
take a day off [from
recording] to write.” So he
took a day off, and that day
on [for me in the studio] was
supposed to be [me working]
with 2Pac, but as soon as we
[started] going through the
beats my homeboys come through
the door with like five hats
on they head like the Mad
Hatter, with arms full of
liquor, talking about “L.A. is
on fire.” And I’m like, “What
are you talking about?” I
don’t know nothing. We in the
studio…[but] I don’t watch
T.V. in the studio. So I
turned the T.V. on, [and]
L.A.’s on fire. We said,
“Okay, we’re gonna come back
tomorrow.” [Laughs] So we went
down to L.A. to see what the
fuck was going on. And then
while we was going down there,
while we riding down Wilshire,
boom, boom, boom, boom, he
dumping out the sunroof. So
then we go all the way down,
we hit L.A., we hit Crenshaw,
we in the middle of Crenshaw.
I parked my car in the middle
of the street, because
everybody has just parked
sideways like the world coming
to an end. We go into Tempo
Records – Tempo Records is on
fire! In the back, we get in,
[and] Tupac [starts] signing
autographs…signing his
records. I’m like, “C’mon!
Let’s go! Let’s go!” …[Then]
it’s like…some muthafuckin’ A
-Team shit, we jump back in
the car, [and then] we go to
the bottoms. We go some place
that I ain’t never been –
‘cause I grew up on like the
Crip side, so I ain’t have no
reason to be over there.
[Laughs] And they would spot
me out by just being from
where I lived. So we go over
there, the swap meet is up to
your shin in water because the
sprinkler system came on,
because some part of the
building is on fire. So we
slushing through the water,
getting stuff, doing stuff –
this nigga [‘Pac is] outside
taking pictures. [So finally]
we jump in the car and then
that was our day of [rioting].
That was my nigga. ‘Pac was my
friend…just like Suge is my
friend. [Laughs] I know some
of the craftiest people on the
planet, but…it’s better to
have ‘em on your team than
against you… [Some people
don’t understand] what it
takes to do business with
people like Suge. And some
people didn’t like 2Pac
[either]. But at the end of
the day, when something go
wrong, who you gon’ call?
DX: I appreciate this walk
down memory lane, it’s been
enjoyable, [Laughs], but I
need to go ahead and wrap
things up. But before I let
you go, I wanna get a rundown
of any new projects you got in
the works?
Sir Jinx: Well right now I got
a couple of things that’s
coming out. I done changed my
[performing] name… So I got
some music that I got coming
out [under that name]. And the
name is Tony Villa. And that’s
just like my alter-ego… I got
a bunch of cats that I work
with, and now I’m just gon’
come out with some good music
[featuring them]. Now you got
the Internet, [so] I don’t
have to slave myself to a
record company… So a lot of
the music that I’m working on
with the Tony Villa project is
just basically using the [new
technology of] the time. Like,
I would use the [technology of
the] time in ’89 [and] use the
SP1200 or…the Oberheim to make
my world come alive. Now I got
Reason…Pro Tools. So it’s just
a breath of fresh air. It’s
just like my album [back in
the mid-‘90s], Chastisement,
when I put that record out
[with features from] Gerald
Levert and Isaac Hayes, I
didn’t make music to compete
with people. I make music to
listen to [and enjoy]. So I
got the new project, the Tony
Villa project… [The] album
[is] called RSVP. That’s gonna
be coming out [soon]. It got a
lot of cats on it. It got
Kurupt on it, Jayo Felony, it
got Ya Boy on it, it got
Medusa on it, it got…King Tee
is on it, Domino’s on it… I’m
trying to take that little
hand that I got, that [Dr.]
Dre gave me, and put together
some good hot shit with the
artists that might not get no
deal. But you still wanna hear
Rodney O, you still wanna hear
what’s going on with Paperboy,
you still wanna hear what’s
going on with these other
emcees – Candyman – that’s
still hot. These dudes is
lyricists but maybe the time
has changed. But if they get
up to date with what’s going
on, then they gon’ be on some
records.
DX: [And] you’re gonna be
rappin’ on this…?
Sir Jinx: Yes, [as] a
performer, Tony Villa. And I
been holding it back so long
because the west coast will
make you feel stagnated
[creatively], until you go out
to Atlanta, until you got out
to Detroit, until you go out
to places and see what [the]
west coast did for the [whole]
United States. Then that’s
when I [started] figuring out,
“Okay, well then there is
another world for Sir Jinx.”
…Just reinventing yourself is
another idea in Hip Hop that
you get to do. Now if you
wanna ride that [old west]
wave of “What’s happenin’
homie?” then that’s good [for
you], but I like to deal with
the new shit… When the
technology caught up [to where
it is now], then I was able to
be able to produce myself as
well as do music closer to the
concept that I believe… The
song that I gave to [Ice]
Cube, [“Life In California”],
was a song that was on my
album [originally]. I just
took my vocals off and gave
him the instrumental… So I
shot him the [beat] with the
hook, and with Jayo Felony
[already] on it. And that’s
how he got the song. [But]
what he did to it after that,
that was on him. So that’s why
I [explained that] I never
talked to him – it was just
through the engineer or
through Brother Ron.
DX: We all have our personal
relationships that aren’t
where we want ‘em to be, [but]
it’s just kinda disappointing
to hear that you guys aren’t
like [back] in one room
[working] together.
Sir Jinx: I don’t even know
how to put it. I guess with…
the new people that he have
[working with him], he might
get a better vibe, a more
comfortable vibe. But we
actually scheduled time for us
to be in one room together,
and he didn’t make it. But I
don’t want it to [sound] bad.
It’s just how life goes… You
know [the Atlanta Falcons] got
rid of Mike Vick, [but] I’m
sure they feel it now.
[Conversation goes off the
record before resuming] That’s
with me and [The] D.O.C. I
been dealing with D.O.C., and
D.O.C.’s recreating that day –
that day when he came to
California [from Texas].
DX: He’s recreating – Like,
he’s making a movie or
something?
Sir Jinx: He’s making a
documentary on him. So he’s
getting all the cats together
[that were around him in the
late ‘80s]. And I’m the only
person – See let me tell you
something, if Cube never left
[Ruthless Records], I probably
woulda been D.O.C.’s deejay.
Because if you look at the
old, funny N.W.A. tapes with
them making fun of Cube, I’m
actually the deejay. We all in
it. It wasn’t meant to be a
disrespect. It was [just] that
everybody had a video camera
and they was making tapes
about each other.
Purchase Music by Sir Jinx
http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/news/id.1 ... -rap-album
