Bobby Frazitta: Bring It Back 2006 (Part 1)

MVRemix: The last time we spoke was in 2004, when you released your compilation album Throwbacks. What have you and the Bring It Back crew been up to since then?

Bobby Frazitta: We’ve been patiently waiting for the right opportunities to come to us. That was two years ago when we last spoke, and it seems like it’s been longer. It seems like a lifetime has gone by since we released Throwbacks: The Mixtape, but we’ve never been in a major hurry with our careers. We know great things happen to great people with great talent. Good things happen if you’re a quality person and you work extremely hard. We’ve been working our asses off to enhance our catalog, and now we’re just moving on working with people who have approached us regarding our production. We’ve gotten involved in a lot of projects that haven’t panned out or seen the light of day since ’04, but we’ve stayed focused and we have some heaters lined up for 2006.

We have worked diligently on Sketch’s (www.myspace.com/sketchva) upcoming album, Yours Truly, which is nearly mixed and mastered. We started recording that after Throwbacks dropped in 2004, and we’ve been extremely patient in waiting until the right material is recorded and in getting high-profile features on the project. For this particular album, we went into the lab with Trife da God, who I’m sure everyone is familiar with at this point because of his recent mixtape, guest features and his affiliation with Ghostface. We also worked with Illa Ghee, who is most known for his appearance on Alchemist’s “Hold U Down” off of 1st Infantry.

The first single off of the album is the track Sketch did with Trife and our extended family member, Born Unique, who is also from VA. The track is called “Straight from the Grain”. It’s already gotten a great response from radio and DJs around the country. The Bash Brothers featured it on their show, Trife played it on Kay Slay’s Hot 97 show, and DJ Scene featured it on one of his latest mixtapes. Those are just a few examples of the type of love the song has gotten so far. Shout to DJ Rerok for making that all happen. "Straight from the Grain" is a high-energy heater. Danny produced that record. I think all three MCs destroyed that track lyrically, and we’re looking to get that out to more DJs in the next month or so. So that’s been a major part of our focus right now; getting that album finished up and then looking for solid distribution. The album will be preceded by a mixtape of exclusive Sketch material and will hopefully be hosted by a high-profile mixtape DJ. That’s all down the road in 2006.

I guarantee all the people out there that this will be one of the most diverse, well-rounded hip-hop albums to come out in a very long time from a production and lyrical standpoint. All of the production was handled by our production team, The 4 Brothers, and the style of songs ranges from your shit talking battle tracks to songs about relationships to introspective tracks about life. There is definitely something for everybody on this album. We’ve got straight lyrical burners, girl tracks, life tracks, club tracks. Sketch is a lyrical monster. He is a force to be reckoned with, and I think Sketch is one of the few artists I’ve ever known or heard who can balance the lyrically charged tracks with the honest, self-effacing songs most MCs are afraid to write. Hip-hop is such a testosterone driven culture. Very seldom will you see an artist talk about the types of things Sketch does on his album and be as self-critical and honest as he is, particularly when he’s discussing his relationships with his family, friends, girlfriend, and mistakes he’s made. He’s got star swagger and the talent to back it up. He’s truly learned how to be a well-rounded artist in the past couple of years, so we’re very excited about his album because it’s got a great mixture of material. The key, though, is that we keep it hip-hop. Hip-hop has dumbed itself down to the point where artists think they need say some senseless bullshit on a record for it to be a hit. We know how to keep a hook simple for people to follow along, but the lyrics stay on point throughout; they stay raw and they stay hip-hop, so we’re able to hit you with a big time hit record you can get down to, but we always give you true lyricism with it.

Another thing I really respect about Sketch is that he knows who he is as an artist and person, and he’s been great at choosing production that is perfect for his style overall, while also picking the right beats and songs to switch it up and step out of the box and do some next shit. A great example is a track on this album called “Drama”, which features J Boogie of the SupaNOVA crew. The track is on some next level shit. The beat and the flow are off-kilter. It’s murderous. Get the album when it drops and find out why.

Sketch is also a great artist because he’s open for insight. He listens to us as producers when we are in the studio, he trusts us all the way. He’s an extremely interesting person, a white, middle-class kid who has such an intense, raw fire burning inside of him for hip-hop. You have to respect that he’s never tried to be anyone or anything other than who he truly is, and that is very rare in today’s industry. Everyone is copying each other, it’s wack. Hip-hop lacks originality right now. Dude has just become an excellent songwriter, and we’re all very proud of where he is at right now as an artist. Anyhow, Sketch has a lot to bring to the table as an artist, and the American public and industry executives should keep their eyes peeled for this album because it’s going to be one of the best true hip-hop albums to drop in years.

The second album we’re working on is an album with Saj Supreme from Cleveland (www.myspace.com/pandemikrecords). Dude is one of the most slept on MCs in the game, but after his mixtape and this album drop, that’ll change. Saj is an accomplished artist who has released his own stellar music along with being featured on various high-profile mixtapes along with a feature in XXL among other publications. Much like Sketch, I feel this is a huge year for Saj. The guy is just an absolute beast on the mic. Dude just has what it takes- the personality and talent to be star. We worked with him on “Throwbacks”, and ever since we’ve stayed in touch with him. We did two tracks for his “Art of Word” mixtape awhile back. I recently sent him a rack of beats, and he was blown away by our new production. He pitched me the idea of doing an album exclusively with our production and it was a no-brainer. This album, like everything we do, is going to be lights out ridiculous. Saj has the energy to absolutely murder a track on some skills shit, but he can take a record and make it commercially viable. Aside from all that talent, he’s a good dude. He’s great to work with. We can’t wait to get this album done.

This project literally just got started, so it is yet to be titled, but you can expect right now for it to be, by today’s standards, a short, but sweet album. We’re shooting for 10 tracks, and we’ve already got 3 ready to go. Every track will be a banger. Expect some major heat on this album. Like every project we work on, we are working to be as diverse with the styles on this album as possible. Once again, this will have classic hip-hop, some crunk shit and probably some next level music. Once we get material recorded I can give you more of a feel for the vibe of it, but we expect this album to be insane. We’re hoping to have it out this summer as well. There’s no question the albums we’re dropping this summer are going to put the artists and us as producers on the map in a major way.

The third project we’re working on is Soulstice’s Wade Waters album. We’ve already got one track done, and I’m hoping to get a couple more done before it drops. Once again, if you don’t know who Soulstice is, hit up www.wandersoul.com. He’s on top of his game right now. He’s one of the most talented artists we’ve had the pleasure of working with. He is the definition of a Chi-town artist. He’s an incredibly lyricist, he’s got soul, he represents hip-hop through and through, and he’s incredibly focused and motivated. He’s such a talented guy, and above all things, he’s a great businessman. He just got his label, Wandering Soul, a huge distribution deal with Raptivism Records. He’s been featured in XXL, Scratch, Urb, Allhiphop.com. He is an artist everyone needs to get familiar with because he is doing big things. He’s got a positive message, and he’s one of the most talented all-around artists I’ve ever been around.

We got up with him for “Throwbacks”, and he ended up putting the track he did for that, “Blazin”, on the re-release of his debut album North by Northwest: Solid Ground, which has gotten rave reviews. We also did another track on that album called “Can’t Front”, which is the first track we ever did with him. Wade Waters consists of Soulstice and Haysoos. They’ve already got joints done with AZ and Cuban Link, and the track I did for them is incredible. They took the vibe of the beat, which is some classic soul, and turned it into an instant classic. I have to give those guys credit. The track is amazing. It’s called “Back in Time”, and it’s an homage not just to hip-hop we all grew up listening to, but it goes through both of their experiences in hip-hop growing up. Everyone out there will just have to get out and buy this album when it drops in the fall of ’06. I’m not entirely sure if it’s been titled yet, but like our other projects, it’s a must have when it drops.