Guce & Matt Blaque Tough Love: Full Interview Audio (22:30)

Words: nando
Published: March 11, 2010

A combination of veteran and newcomer, with equal matching talent, Guce and Matt Blaque teamed to create a new sound. The Bully Wit a Fully and the R&B sensation discuss making a best of both worlds type project with a west coast twist, and their chemistry together. The duo also discuss thinking outside the box and carving your own mark in the industry with originality.

Baycentrik: We're here with not only Guce, but Matt Blaque the R&B sensation. You got this Gangster and Gentlemen album coming.

Matt Blaque: Yup, March 16 It's gonna be big, everybody need to cop this one.

Guce: Go get it man, it's the gangster and the ladies gon love it.

Matt Blaque: Straight up, I'm the gentleman...

Baycentrik: Matt I've heard of a few possible collaboration albums of this kind between you and other artists. What really motivated you to complete this "A Gangster and a Gentleman" album with Guce?

Matt Blaque: We been rocking for a minute now, Guce had a big collaboration album with Messy Marv. I was tied in with Messy Marv too at the time, me and Guce was always talking about we was gonna work together. We finally put it together and when we finally got in the lab everything was extra, the chemistry was perfect. We just rocked with it.

Baycentrik: And Guce why did you decide to do a project of this kind with Matt?

Guce: Mess that's bruh, and Matt was already tied in with him doing their thing. Matt was always cranking out beats and doing fat hooks for a while, and we been supposed to been bumpin heads here and there, 'let's do it, let's do it'. When I finally got with him, I had been wanting to do the project, but finally time just committed itself, everything was on time. The right place at the right time, and the chemistry was bananas. Eventually it turned out being me and him real project, I'm glad to have done it. It's gonna set the tone for 2010 for real. Me and Matt, it seemed like we should have been did this a long time ago. [laughs] It's hot though, it's put together real well, and the fans gonna appreciate it off top.

Baycentrik: So would you describe this project? Is it an entire record for the ladies?

Matt Blaque: Man it's some of everything on there. We got something for the niggas on the block, we definitely got shit for the ladies. We got real songs when we touch on real topics where your mama could feel. We really try to blend it all in.

Guce: Your grandmama could feel!

Matt Blaque: [laughs] Me and Guce some real niggas, there's a lot of niggas out here that do different type of things, but we kept it real on this mothafucka. That's all we really know how to do.

Guce: I would say, you know when that Jay-Z and R. Kelly came out, that Best of Both Worlds?

Baycentrik: Of course.

Guce: But this is more in our time, for our generation that's going on right now. For it to be a real representation of the west coast. On that note, it's real street, it's got knocking ass beats, the lyrics is up, the hooks is up. Me and Matt definitely complemented each other, and we went at each other close on that album. It was friendly competition and love. You can expect some real shit on this record, just put the album in and let it go.

Matt Blaque: Exactly.

Guce: On my mama!

Baycentrik: Who are some of the producers you enlisted for this album?

"A lot of niggas be comfortable ...like oh I'm hot I got a song on the radio and I got a lot of shows in the bay area... That's not good enough..." -Guce

Matt Blaque: Just one.

Guce: Just one producer, the whole way through.

Matt Blaque: Tron Treez did everything.

Guce: What we got is the one single, The Good Shit, homie from The Goonies, Tulsa, Oklahoma, they produced that track. Other than that, Tron Treez from Tony! Toni! Toné!, he produced the whole album. You remember Tony! Toni! Toné! right?

Baycentrik: Of course, yeah.

Guce: Yeah, he produced the whole album. It's hot!

Matt Blaque: He gave us a lot of different feels too. It don't sound like one man produced it but to tell you the truth, one man produced it.

Guce: We gonna leak out another single for yall real soon, probably next week, this weekend, let you hear something else.

Baycentrik: Did you two keep it limited to yourselves or are there features on the record?

Matt Blaque: We got features on the album.

Guce: We got a couple features, but it's really my little homies, my little bruh bruhs that I been dealing with. I'm trying to bring that new to the table. Based on me and the little homie, J. Stalin already pushing that "Giants and Elephants" thing, I got him on there, I got Philthy Rich on there, my artist Killa Keise on there, Stevie Joe, Shady Nate, The Goonies, a lot of artists from Sac. I'm trying to unify the whole Sacramento, so I got a lot of artists from every area from Sacramento on this one song called The Grand Finale. Some Killa Squad cats on there, it's got a few features but it's more the newer generation, but mainly it's what people really want. Too many features make shit be like a compilation. 'Oh them niggas just threw that together'. A lot of niggas just throwing they face on a cover and it be some put together shit, this is a real album!

Matt Blaque: A record.

Guce: We took time to do this shit and make these songs. Sometimes I come in the studio and Matt be like, just go ahead and write to this. I go home, write, come back and blaze that shit! This a real record, this ain't no we just went in there and did this album just for a lick to try and get some money, niggas ain't starving out here! We really sat down and worked this shit out, so this shit hot.

Baycentrik: That sounds huge, that Grand Finale track.

Matt Blaque: Yeah The Grand Finale that's hot track. It's big, it got everybody on there.

Guce: Everybody, on one song, the last song on the album.

Baycentrik: How long did it take for you two to complete this album?

Matt Blaque: Man! Whooo. Well we started in August.

Guce: [laughs]

Matt Blaque: We started the record in August, I'm gonna let Guce tell you how long it took us.

Guce: I mean shit, the album was supposed to come out last year. But like I said it's a real record, so it took us about maybe a good month and a half to really line that thing up. Little knicks and knacks here and there, but finally we went all the way hard and kind of sat in the studio. I would say we worked on the project for a good 2-3 months. We laid everything in like a good month and we started ironing everything out.

Matt Blaque: Putting the pieces together.

Guce: Yeah putting the pieces of the puzzle together. We had to transfer from one studio to the next cause the mothafucka we was fuckin with, he damn near erased the whole album. Plus I was injured, I had a fucked up achilles. So Matt and them was carrying me in the studio and shit.

Matt Blaque: [laughs]

Guce: I was trying to get to the mic and scream on that bitch you feel me!

Baycentrik: That's a true gentleman right there, he carried you!

Guce & Matt Blaque: [laughing]

Guce: Straight up. You crazy!

Baycentrik: In this digital age, you see a lot of collaborations now, and it's common that somebody just emails their verses back and forth. Did you guys really go in and collaborate?

Matt Blaque: None of that. Every song we was in there, we started with the beat, we talked about what we was gonna talk about. I did my thing and Guce did his thing, or vice versa, he did his thing and I came after him. Or we would just sit there and chop it up like what do we really wanna say. What do we really want the people to hear. That's what I think is so special about this record. Every song there's a reason why it's on there, it's not just thrown on there for album filler. We got singles on there and album cuts but every one of them is put there intentionally.

Guce: That's real talk, I definitely agree with what lil bruh is saying. We really sat down and picked songs and titles, and strategically arranged the album the way that we felt was

"Niggas gotta recognize what's going on besides what's just going on here. I think niggas out here got they game too much in a box. We trying to open that box." -Matt Blaque

best to let it ride. Keep it real smooth. A lot of dudes out now, a lot of females out now, everybody really trying to be real fly but keep it real hood and gangster, sophisticated hood raps.

Matt Blaque: [laughs]

Guce: But in the same token be about some money. We all about some money right now, this is what this project is about. This ain't about no other shit, none of that funny shit. This is about some real shit, some get up in the morning put it in the shower, get dressed typed shit. Mothafuckas slap it so hard, throw it in the car type shit. This some ol' buy the album, burn the CD and leave the original copy in the house, so nobody steal it.

Baycentrik: That's exactly what I do, I got all my originals in a container in the attic and just do what I want with the mp3s. So this is a real collector's item huh?

Matt Blaque: Exactly. This one special man, I'll go ahead and say there ain't been a record like this out the bay in a lot of years, I feel. Cause I listen to a lot of music so I pretty much know what's going on.

Guce: Yeah we really know what's going on. This album is hot. Real niggas gonna like it, I ain't really trippin off a nigga that's hating, haters is listening anyway. I'm really trippin off the ladies. We love you ladies, cause yall support. Me and Matt Blaque is really putting it down, and we grown and sexy. On some fly gangster shit with money. What woman don't wanna fuck with it like that, you wanna listen to some real shit at the end of the day! We gonna show up and show out every time. It's real.

Baycentrik: The bay is known for making that mobb stuff. Guce you've done a lot of gangsta rap, mobb type stuff with the Bullys Wit Fullys, and this is something very different for you. Do you think the bay should be making different music besides the expected mobb, gritty style we are used to?

Guce: Yeah. If they tired of looking of niggas on BET and trying to figure out why they ain't on there. We gotta switch our game up so we can get out the box. They got us in this box. I don't wanna be. Me and Matt did this album so we don't be labeled regional rapper. 'Aw this nigga is a regional rapper he only sell in his region'. A lot of niggas be comfortable with that. Like 'oh I'm hot I got a song on the radio and I got a lot of shows in the bay area', and you comfortable. That's not good enough, we gotta start doing shit to get out of the box. At the end of the day niggas already know what it is with me as far as this mobb shit and this gangsta shit go. I can do a little bit of this and a little bit of that and they can accept it, cause at the end of the day I'm putting my all into this shit. I'm keeping it mobb, but I'm making it to where your grandma could listen to it, your grandmama's mama could listen to it and be like oh that boy spittin that shit right there!

Matt Blaque: [laughs]

Guce: I want the little kids to be like Guce and Matt Blaque mama play that song! We don't wanna just be like put this song on and it's only for this person and this person will spin off, oh cussing too much, that nigga killing the whole world. Nah man, they gotta start switching it up so we can be on the BET and not get New Joint of the Day, we need to be in the countdown! We need to be on more radio stations than just KMEL, we can't be on the radio in Sac no more cause they done took that shit away from us. What do we really got? I wanna be able to jump out in Atlanta and a nigga gonna feel me like they feel Jeezy, or Gucci, or Wacka Flocka or any of that shit! We gotta put ourselves on the same level as them niggas if we wanna be able to get a 200 Million dollar contract with LiveNation like Jay-Z. Nigga you gotta be marketable. You can't be running around with hella tattoos all over your body and shit. Just trying to do hella shit. You gotta be marketable like some TI, like some Jay-Z, like some 50, be able to put on some clothes and make the next mothafucka in the world be like you! I wanna be like Guce and Matt Blaque, I wanna wear them clothes like them. I wanna do like this, I wanna do like that. We can't be like anybody else, we gotta be like us.

Baycentrik: Matt what's your take on it...

Matt Blaque: I feel what he's saying 100%. Not to get it twisted, the album is still mobbin, the album is still gangsta. It's just a time and a place for everything, that's what I feel like. I'm an R&B singer so everybody looking at me like oh this nigga soft. I went on my formspring the other day, nigga said you soft. I'm like nigga you soft! But I really just feel like when I first was coming up song writing in the game a man once told me I would get better when I went out and seen what other people was doing. Travel and see what other areas was doing and gain from them experiences and put that in my music. I feel like that for everybody out here. Niggas gotta recognize what's going on besides what's just going on here. I think niggas out here got they game too much in a box. We trying to open that box.

Guce: And it's too much hating going on too.

Matt Blaque: Period.

Guce: They gotta stop all that hating in order to present yourself right, and move how you wanna move and just do you. Stay in your own lane and do your own music. Nigga gotta be like some Master P, like how Cash Money was. Get in your lane, feed your music to the streets, flood the market and you gonna blow up. But your image gotta be what it's gonna be… you can't be regional and sounding like this nigga or sounding like that nigga. You gotta just do you!  And the album is mobb, so don't get it wrong. Matt Blaque on there singing some gangsta hooks.

Matt Blaque: [laughs]

Guce: It's some gangster shit but it's put in a way, all bullshit aside, I don't wanna offend nobody, but it's put in a way where a real mothafucka with some common sense, even if you high as fuck and you got common sense, you gonna be able to understand where I'm coming from, how I'm putting it to you, and you gonna be able to visualize this story. It's the truth nigga, and a lot of niggas know that I come from that shit. I'm cut from that cloth, I've been with this. Ain't too many niggas in the bay that come how I come. A lot of niggas is hyphy, a lot of niggas is this and that, we got the young up and coming. Some of them that's fresh off the porch and they trying to spit this mob shit, but I been spitting this mob shit. I know what it is, I live it. And Matt Blaque together, we put this world together and we put it on the album, and they gonna love it! They gonna love this shit.

Baycentrik: I still wanna hear Matt rap, I got some unreleased stuff with him rapping on it!

Matt Blaque: [laughs] You already know, you got some unreleased shit you already know what it is.

Guce: I tried to do the role reversal on the album, niggas said I was sounding like Eddie Kane from The Five Heartbeats!

"Niggas don't even wanna listen to something, you go to the store looking for some old shit back in the 90s cause you so tired of this bullshit coming out." -Guce

Matt Blaque: Guce was gonna sing one for us.

Guce: I was gonna get on there and ooooooh! [Guce singing]

Matt Blaque: Aww shit!

Guce & Matt Blaque: [laughing]

Guce: I need some autotune or something!

Baycentrik: There you go! That's exactly what the autotune was invented for!

Guce & Matt Blaque: [laughing]

Guce: Be on there making a face looking like Weezy on the mic.

Baycentrik: Anything else we didn't talk about you would like to address? Feel free to get anything off your chest to end the interview off with.

Guce: Just spread the world, go cop the album it's definitely gonna be worth it, that little few dollars you got in your pocket, we need it. Support the movement. Be looking for us to do some shows.

Matt Blaque: We coming to your city, we coming to your town, stay close to your computer and internet, stay online cause we definitely online. We both  on twitter, I'm @mattblaque he's @GuceyGuceDoeBoy. Holla at us on the twitter. If you want some good music in your life you need this record.

Guce: You need this record for real. If you tired of listening to all that bullshit. You know how mothafuckas be putting CDs in and they just so irritated. Niggas don't even wanna listen to something, you go to the store looking for some old shit back in the 90s cause you so tired of this bullshit coming out. This is that shit you been looking for. Mothafuckas know I do great collabos, from the Guce and Killa Tay, to the Guce and Messy Marv, to Guce and J.Stalin, now Guce and Matt Blaque. We giving it to you raw and uncut, it's hot. Spread the word, let em know, support the movement. Support your own! That's it at the end of the day, peace and love to everybody. Guce and Matt Blaque, A Gangster And A Gentleman. In stores March 16th, this Tuesday coming up. We got the record release tomorrow.

Matt Blaque: Record release tomorrow in Sac, Club Blush.

Guce: Ladies come out, get fly, I wanna see them heels. Fellas come out, if you ain't got more than 100 dollars in your pocket don't even come. Stay home, we gonna do the simulcast.

Guce & Matt Blaque: [laughing]

Guce: This nigga Freaky D pulling out thousands and shit! Like bruh I'mma be there. Just come out and have a good time. Sac that's my second home niggas already know what it is, I been fuckin with Sac. Shout out to Prominent House, who was strategic...

Matt Blaque: ..in bringing the whole project, yeah.

Guce: That's about it. Rest In Peace to my homeboy T Woodz. Live Forever. Shout out to everybody on twitter that's promoting, supporting and following us.

Matt Blaque: Shout out to Baycentrik for supporting us. Yall held us down for the first leak. Everybody was feeling that World is Mine which all put out first, so shout all out for that too.

Guce: Shout out to everybody that's with the Bullys world movement. Everybody that's with us, I ain't trying to say everybody's name but shout out to the Vice President, he already know what it is. Everybody else with this movement, Baycentrik much love. It's Gucey Guce Doe Boy. I'm finna hit this blunt and sip on this drank.

Matt Blaque: Man, that's what I'm doing over here right now. So you see this chemistry still going and we ain't even in the same room.

Guce: [laughs] You see great minds think alike. That's what it is though, straight up.