Shabooty Interview Series: TAME ONE

TAME ONE: Legendary underground rapper from New Jersey, and once member of The Artifacts. Since then he has moved on to be the Notty-Headed Terror and has made several underground classics with underground hip-hop’s finest like Cage, Del The Funky Homosapian, Sean Price as a member of the supergroup The Weathermen.

You know how some bodyguards have ironic names like TINY? Well, Tame One’s name is just that, irony. Because he’s MOC: Mad Outta Control, or at least he was around the time he was thinking of a rap name (the ‘Tame One’). I spoke with the rapper and graffiti artist today about the Weathermen gang, hip-hop, graffiti and Cage.

$

Shabooty: Hey Tame, are you still in the WeatherMen?
Tame One: Yes, blood in, blood out.

How did the Leak Brothers collaboration with Cage come about?
At the time, we were both on Eastern Conference Records, and we were both natural fans of each others work. We were kickin’ it, thinking of concepts and wanted to do something together. We wanted to do a collaboration and we wanted it to mean something. No just do a collabo where we try to out rap each other or see who had the hottest 16 [bars]. We wanted to come up with a concept of what we had in common. And we both had [issues with] uncontrolled/dangerous substances and the repercussions behind that, and we decided to get it out of our system that way, to document our trials and tribulations with it.

Who are you tightest with in Weathermen?
Everyone…

Was Cage the first guy in Weathermen you met?
Basically.

What producers do you like working with?
Xing and Fox, T-Ray, DJ Mighty Mi, Buck Wild… Anybody who lets me put my input in, as opposed to being the slave driver [where I am told] it has to go this way or go that way. People who accept my creative input.

Talk about Acid Tab Vocab the newest album.
It’s def not cookie cutter. It’s different because we approached it differently, as opposed to hook, verse, hook, verse, it’s more freestyle, more loose… almost conceptual, it’s loosely constructed.

Leak Bros (Cage & Tame One) – Leak Smoke

What you think of this latest Vast Aire / Cage beef?
I don’t. … I think it’s real disrespectful to the memory of Camu Tao.

Who are your inspirations in graffiti?
TC5, FC (First Class) and my own crew, LTD: Local Transit Destroyers.

Are you into the artists Alex Pardee or E-Wok?
Somewhat – I like their stuff, to each his own, I ain’t so to say “fans of their work,” I appreciate what they do. As far as impressed, it is what it is.

You ever been arrested for doing graffiti?
Oh yeah, New York, New Jersey, Philly.

You know of other rappers that do graffiti?
They might not admit it, but plenty of them. I remember getting an autograph from Large Professor, and I can tell by the way he did his E’s, that he did graffiti.

Have you heard Cage’s Depart From Me yet, what you think of it?
It’s creative. He’s def. going outside the guiding lines, coloring outside the lines. I already think he’s an evil genius. It’s impressive body of work from what I’ve heard so far.

What emcees do you hope to work with that you haven’t worked with yet?
Boot Camp Clik, Outkast and Raheem DeVaughn and [beleive it or not], R Kelly.

Is Slow Suicide Stimulus coming out with anything new?
I think so, I believe so.

What part of New Jersey do you represent?
I represent the entire Garden State, Brick City [Newark, NJ].

You ever run into Redman?
Red yeah, but he don’t even live out here no more.

Are you a fan of Artie Lange or the Howard Stern Show?
I used to be… its been a couple years. Yeah, I like Artie Lange, he’s a crazy mo’ fo’. I’m into the shock comedy shit, you can say that.

What does the name Tame One come from and what does it mean?
When I first started, I needed a name that I couldn’t be instantly identified by… I used to be a real wild fool, acting up constantly. I didn’t think no one this wild would call themselves “a tame one.”

I know Cage is clean, you still f- with drugs?
My lifestyle has nothing to do with Cage’s lifestyle. I still get my buzz on…

What’s your “go to” [drug of choice]?
The gateway drug is still my fav.

Is the Boom Skwad your clique?
Yeah, my alternative surrogate family.

When’s the next tour you’re going on?
I dunno, I’m trying to find an agent.

What are your favorite cities/countries to tour in?
Amsterdam and Japan.

How’s your current label Amalgam digital different from Eastern Conference?
This one [features] digital release of products, which is new to me, as opposed to the regular standard releases that EC [put out]. It’s an entirely new situation for me, I’m still learning about it.

What’s next for Tame One?
Just completed an album with Del tha Funkee Homosapien, just finished with this unsigned emcee from Staten Island named Dro Pesci. Just finished upcoming songs for a Boom Swad project. I don’t know which is going to drop first, I just finished ‘em all three. Four albums of Tame shit.

Including the WeatherMen album?
That just officially started.

Thanks, TAME UNO!

Check out Tame One at [Myspace | Label Page]

Permalink Posted in: alex pardee, artie lange, cage, ccwm, celebs, defjux, hip-hop, howard stern, interview, music, shabooty, shabooty exclusive Comments(14) June 2, 2009