Today is the official release of Nobody Famous’ Order Up! Volume 3: Chicken and Waffles, which you can cop via iTunes or Amazon, but you can also listen to a stream of the album below as well. In the meanwhile you can check out his (2)Dope Questions with us under the cut.

How has the transition from the South the the West Xoast aided [or hindered] your career?

It has definitely helped me more than anything. Back in Georgia it seems harder to break ground because everyone in my town knew me, so they just looked at me as just another dude they went to high school with who raps or makes beats. When I first came out here, I only knew a few people so it was like I had a clean slate and they could only judge me on my music and hustle. On top of that, LA and NYC is where the industry is and I have been fortunate enough to have some great opportunities thrown at me that I would not have otherwise had in GA.

The South vs The West: who has the better chicken & waffles & why?

Hmm…that’s a tough one, Roscoe’s has them fire waffles, but fried chicken is a southern food and in the south is where you are going to get chicken the way it should be made…So I guess its a tie.

Next up on the (2)Dope hot seat is one of Inglewood’s up & comers, Shawn Chrystopher. We talk about individuality and conformity, the city of champions and why the Staples Center > Great Western Forum [1]. Check it out.

[1] It’s the Forum all day, eh day for me though.

In a world of conformity, what do you think takes to stand out as an individual?

Every person on Earth is different, that’s a given, but for some reason, in music, artists tend to try their best to fit a mold and play things safe.  There is a very thin line between major success and major failure, and some people are just too scared to fail to try anything different.

I tell my friends all the time that there are many similarities between basketball and music; more specifically the Lakers.  If there is 1 second left on the clock, and the team is down by 1, there’s no doubt in anyone’s mind that Kobe is going to be the one to shoot the shot.  If Kobe makes the shot at the buzzer, the entire city is on his side; everyone loves him.  However if Kobe misses it, everyone’s mad at him and wondering why he didn’t shoot a better looking shot.  Then there is Luke Walton. Whether Kobe makes or misses the shot at the buzzer, everyone still feels the exact same way about Luke.  Well many musicians want to play it safe and rather be Luke Walton and maintain the little notoriety that they’ve gained than to put themselves out there and be Kobe.

So, in order to be an individual you have to not be afraid to fail, do something different, and be confident that when that buzzer sounds, your shot is going in the basket.

Inglewood is becoming the new melting pot for a diverse range of artists from the West. What makes this particular city stand out from the rest?

I think Inglewood is so much different than many cities around the country just because of its actual position geographically.  Growing up in Inglewood, I’m 5 minutes away from Los Angeles, 10 minutes from Hollywood, 10 minutes from Beverly Hills, and 10 minutes from the beach.  With that being said, the music that is coming out of the city reflects that heavily; it’s not one-sided.  The artists in Inglewood have experienced the highest of highs by traveling to Hollywood to party every weekend, as well as the lowest of lows in just struggling to keep our heads above water Monday thru Friday.

People really see that and feel it through our music, and relate to many of the topics in our songs; we’ve just been getting the respect we deserve as of late.

BONUS: Great Western Forum or Staples Center, and why?

This is hard. Even though people reading this will probably be mad at me, I’m going with the Staples Center.

There is so much history in the Great Western Forum, but everyone has that “what have you done for me lately” mentality and the the Staples Center is where we won our last 3 Championships, where Kobe went baseline on Yao Ming, and where Kobe dropped 81.

Airtight Grizzly is the next person on the (2)Dope hot seat, and we touched on a variety of topics, from music’s presence in the digital world to cartoons. Read what he had to say under the cut.

You’re a London-born Nigerian who was raised in New York. tell us about the facets of growing up exposed to a variety of cultures.

It feels great to know I’ve had exposure to so many cultures, and formed relationships with people from all walks of life. When I was younger I lived very much like a nomad (I still do kinda) It’s like i’ve been touring all my life! I remember weekends and holidays in London with the family (all the cousins that weren’t really my cousins lol) Older folk got together cooked, played dope music and danced. Then weekdays I went to an elementary school where I was the only black child. Dad had a thorough record collection, all genres and he was an early hip hop head so he had me and my brother listening to cats like Rakim, LL and Slick Rick at the age of 5! My family in the US (Maryland/VA stand up) kept me connected to things out here, so when I finally moved to Brooklyn (like I had been plottting since the 4th grade ha) it felt like i’d been here before. Music is the universal language.

Even in this digital age it’s still difficult for an artist to release his music. There was even a time where you considered not releasing your own album. What, if any, difficulties do you face?

I’ve been “releasing” music online since 2003 but its been FREE music. Any buzz i’ve started generating now is because of those listeners i’ve gained thru the years riding for and with me. But the digital age is just like real life in the fact that it takes 10 years to truly become a success, so I would hope that no true artist is detered from not becoming a millionare after posting 1 or 2 mixtapes online. The first song I recorded in a real (basement) studio with an orginal beat n’all was 1999.

Part of the reason why I called the album Everything’s Good Ugly is because for most of us in life to achieve the “good” you have to go thru some “ugly.” So I’d post a song, some people in the Internet world just hear a beat and some rhymes, but they don’t see the scrapping of pennies to get on the subway for a wack temp job that you can barely survive with, long weekends traveling out of state to a studio only to have the material ignored by the “so called” label you’re dealing with, among other issues that you will sometimes hear me refer to in my music. Life is difficult, it’s not supposed to be easy and i’m an indie artist so I have to work harder, but with that said I still “release” music whenever I want lol.

*BONUS* If a cartoon character was created based on you, what cartoon would it appear in and why?

I’d be Coach Airtight on Class of 3000 His character would be the school football coach who really wants to be a rapper and knows EVERYTHING bout hip hop so he tries to substitute for Sonny a lot to rap for the kids. Somebody makes this happen!!!! My daughter and I love Andre 3000’s cartoon network show, and I used UFO Ninja from the soundtrack for the B@W mixtape.

DOWNLOAD: 2dopeboyz Presents Che Grand – Breakfast @ Wimbledon (ZFTP 7)

The young gunner of the Language Artz click sits down with us to wax poetics about being a young man in an old man’s sport, West Coast unity and why he lives through Tony Hawk. And here’s a bonus cut off his upcoming Menace 3 Society mixtape, dropping soon.

BONUS: Thr33zy McFly – I’m Krazy f. AT | Mediafire

Being a young, new artist, what do you think you should do to garner the same respect as and from your older peers, rather than being labeled as simply a “young rapper?”

I gotta prove to y’all my grind is official. No disrespect to nobody but a lot of young artists feel that since we’re young we gotta make a single that requires a dance step or something  like that. That’s cool, get your money and, eat but that shit ain’t gonna get u respect. This Menace 3 Society project is actually my 2nd mixtape. My 1st mixtape, Mood Swings, was released 8 months on my MySpace page, and that shit had material on it from when I was 16. I can’t expect everyone to know me, and I won’t pretend to know or understand everyone, but I’ma tell y’all one thing: my grind and the growth in my music speaks 4 itself. I’ma always keep it 100 with all of the listeners. I gotta explain my story and paint a real vivid picture so y’all will understand the maturity in my music. I feel I relate to the both crowds (older and young) due to situations I’ve been in through in my life. I go to clubs and party but at the same time I got a son, so I can’t just be playing around; it’s business at the end of the day.

West Coast unity: tell me what that means to you.

West coast unity to me means my whole coast coming together as one and taking over this whole shit like we once did back in the 90s. Aside from Snoop and The Game, the West has been real quiet on the mainstream level. That’s why I got so much respect for dudes like Nippsey Hussle and U-N-I because of the movements we’ve all got going. In no time we’ll be able to continue the west coast legacy as established artists. It’s easier said than done though, cuz ni**as is out here is murkin’ each other for wearin’ the wrong colors.

BONUS: What’s your favorite video game of all time and why?

The Tony Hawk series. I fuck with it so tough because I always wanted 2 be a sick ass skateboarder in real life, but I never got the hang of that shit: I was bustin’ my ass fuckin’ with it. When I began playing T.H. back in like 01′ I became real good at it. So all the moves I wanted to do in real life I was doing them shits on the game. So I gave my skateboards to the homies and just lived my dream through the video game [Laughs]. The rest is history.

Dope Bueller took the time to sit down with us to wax poetics about fashion, individuality and the difference between Brooklyn and Hollywood. Check it out.

1) Today’s musical scene finds artists that are once again placing an emphasis on personal style. As an upcoming artist, what determines your own individual style?

I’m just me. I can’t even put a title or description on it, i’m just Curt@!n$. You can’t really box me in with a tag or description. I don’t really fit into groups, scenes, none of that. I’m kinda in my own little world. Whatever I see fit to get into thats what im on, nothing really to it.

2) Since you’re from Brooklyn and you’ve moved to the West Coast, you’ve seen both coasts’ respective hip-hop scenes. In what ways are they alike and what ways are they different?

New York hip-hop is really aggressive, “I’m better than you” type rapping. LA is way more laid back “I’ma tell you bout what’s goin’ on in my neighborhood” type raps. LA hip hop really got a story going to it, whereas New York is really just lyrical “I’ma smash you with this next punchline” type raps.

Bonus: being a Brooklyn transplant, who do you feel has more style: Hollywood of your hometown?

HA! Thats ridiculous. Brooklyn is supreme with styles. Whether it be fashion or music. We had Jay-Z, B.I.G, and Big Daddy Kane, 3 of the most stylish and not to mention best rappers ever. And on the fashion scene we had the Lo Life’s who started all that “hood couture” shit that kind of revolutionized hip hop fashion. Oh and did you know Michael Jordan was from Brooklyn? ‘Nuff said. *DoPE!*

What up dopeboyz and dopegirlz. I wanted to introduce ya’ll to a new series we’re gonna be running sporadically on 2DB. The title says it all. We’re gonna ask emcees, producers, etc two questions. Yep, just two. Let’s face it… any full interviews will be done at the fulltime. These aren’t just “what’s new” or “how old are you” questions though! After speaking with my man ESSO (whose dropping a dope new mixtape this week) I figured I’d start with him. I ask him his thoughts and reactions to the Sean Bell verdict and for an added bonus, gangster ass Laterian Milton gets thrown in the mix. Hit the jump and let us know what you think…

Listening to License to Kill [Sean Bell Tribute] it seems like you feel really connected to Bell. What went through your mind when the verdict came through and what are your thoughts on the Justice System in America?
Damn thats a heavy question. Honestly I didnt even know what to think when I heard that the cops were acquitted. As crazy as this might sound I been tellin people that it’s a good thing that they decided the case when it did because the weather in NYC has been so up and down. If this was June and that would have happened, the streets of NY would have been banannas. There have been a lot of smaller incidents since then that you won’t hear about but it’s been almost eerily quiet for the most part.

I remember I was going out that saturday night and I met my cousin on 125th and 3 out of the 4 corners on 125th & Lenox had 2 man patrols holding the corners down. And I was thinking to myself “so what they think I’m gonna riot so they can shoot me and get away with that too? That’s where the inspiration for the song came from. It was really just my honest reaction to everything that I was seeing. And I kept thinking to myself “what can I do?” The one vehicle that I do have right now to reach people is music. And as I started actually learining more about Sean Bell I realized that he was like me in a lot of ways. I think I even read somewhere that he was 11-0 as a pitcher in his Senior HS season as a pitcher. that struck a nerve with me because it made me imagine that he could have been any one of my teammates from over the years.

As far as the Justice system in America is concerned, politics play a major role in the justice system at the highest levels. On the lower levels look at things like the Rockefeller Drug Laws and the minimum mandatory sentences for Crack vs. Coke. Who buys Crack? Who buys Coke? It’s really not that hard to figure out. I dont want to get too political before I have to go and record Anti-Backpack II, but I will say that I’m glad Obama is bringing new voters into the equation. I dont remember the last election for anything other than Most Likely to Succeed that had so many people my age interested.

Now that the trial is over, what can we [the people] do about it? Sharpton, the two other victims, Nicole Paultre-Bell (Bell’s widow) and 200+ people were arrested in a public protest. Is that all that can be done?
Nah you know what, the public organized responses are cool, but it can’t be forced. Something like that needs to grow gradually. It makes a nice statement for them to go out and sacrifice themselves in that way, but how long will it be remembered? How many people right now probably confuse Abner Louima and Amadou Diallou? How many even remember them? At this point, Sean Bell isn’t even the most recent Police related death in New York anymore. How many people are shouting out about Khiel Coppin?

The most honest answer that I can give you is that I dont even know what can be done about it. I’m not a Politician, so I dont know what sort of bills may be in the drafting process, I’m not a community organizer, so I cant really tell you if there are gonna be any more protests. I choose to make my voice heard through my music, and I think it comes down to people making their voices heard the best way they know how. If someone listens to “License to Kill” and when it’s over they say to themself “damn that could have been me too” then that keeps the dialogue going and I’ve made my contribution. I didn’t do it for attention or to be seen as righteous or anything like that. I did it because thats how I felt at the time, and I thought at that particular time it needed to be expressed.

BONUS: How gutter is Laterian Milton?
Ahhh man, that kid is 1000% Young & Ignorant Certified. I’m surprised no one’s taken his quotes and used them in a song yet. I bet somebody’s gonna do it before the year’s out.

Thanks again ESSO! Those interested in checking out more from ESSO can hit his MySpace. And like I said above, his new mixtape E3: E-Day is dropping Thursday (May22) along with a video to his Anti-Backpack joint (which is just so Young & Ignorant haha). If you’re in the NY area be sure to check out the release party (flyer below).

DOWNLOAD: ESSO – Anti-Backpack (prod. Talksik)