by pugna team
-What motivated you when you guys came up with the idea to start the band?
mutual competitive respect, we figured we was the best doin this, the total package...beats, rhymes, mind state, work ethic, street level, we a-alikes in that sense...so we all came together for one common cause, there's allies all over the world...we are infinite...me(Estee) and purp just decide who speaks for them, and codenine is our hitman...he's like the mo'fucka with the claw from ninja scroll that just pops up out the shadows and shit...he's our silent assassin...
-What are your projects up until now?
Tragic Allies "The Mixtape", Grey Skies Mixtape w/ 4th disciple and Purpose's Soul Purpose Mixtape w/ Priest
-Is there anything new that you're preparing?
there's always new things we prepare, we're always in the studio, if we drop a record, especially nowadays since we got the grey skies...We've made sure we don't have to depend on nobody else's studio for lab time, we've got albums worth of material, but the shit is like tetris, tracks keep on droppin like them blocks from tetris and once enough blocks form the necessary complete formation where they come out and the others are left behind until they are completed...that's how our music works, we just make tracks...ALBUMS worth of material...however until we have a cohesive piece and a game plan, we won't release...but aside from that we're finishing up our first official studio album, all tracks recorded at the "Grey Skies" studio...we still haven't decided on the concrete album title yet, but we have a cohesive piece and are very confident in what we're bringing to the table, more info will be available at www. myspace. com/tragicallies
-Who have you collaborated with?
we don't really like throwin names about cuz for us the allie collaboration is the strongest, but most notably, we've worked with 4th disciple, Killah Priest, Darkim B Allah, Bronze Nazareth, & Kevlaar 7 most recently...purpose actually just had a joint on Big Shug's latest album, and the Almighty album that dropped last year...
-Do you think HipHop can orient people towards specific ideals?
of course....
-If yes, can you describe some?
Hip Hop definitely fed me alot motivation as a young kid to be a street nigga...as a child that came of age in the 90's i was on that biggie & pac, that mobb deep, that wu tang, that nas & snoop, so it's of no surprise to me that i was out there in the streets runnin wit lil grimy crews smokin weed, drinkin, saggin our pants and sellin whatever we could get our hands on, beatin kats down and what not, disrespecting our women, we wasn't thinking about college or tomorrow, we was thinkin about what we could do become them big willie niggas we saw in the street that were our local manifestation of the rappers on TV, street niggas...i thought i'd be in the streets forever...
-Do you think our culture can be a social movement?
It depends, i'm somewhat of a cynic myself, i think purpose shares a similar sentiment on this one as well, it all lies in the hands of the people, it's the natural duty of the civilized person to civilize the savage, if one doesn't perform his duty he shall face a severe punishment, if each civilized person performed their duty as a civilized person we wouldn't be dealing with as much global hardship and a chance at creating some sort of social movement would greatly increase, as hiphop is worldwide, we'd be able to create our own sovereign nation, fuck around...but unfortunately i don't see it happening as long as hiphop continues to promote ignorance...
-What do you think about the urban way of living?
this is a pretty broad question, but i'll answer it to the best of my abilities...fast life, lack of time and patience, currency leaves our hands just as fast as it comes into them...cultures clash and spawn new cultures and belief systems...people are exploited for corporate capital gain, the urban setting is like the ultimate farm for sheep...followers
-The music industry, nowadays is full of rubbish "artists". What is the cause for this in your opinion?
corporate capital gain, same way the corporations exploited blues, jazz & rock & roll, they've done hiphop...it's in the nature of the wicked to benefit off of the works of others...once they noticed how powerful this hiphop shit is, they planned their strategy and ceded our hiphop nation, against our will, to their global conglomerate, which promotes wickedness and repels righteousness...they invest in those companies who invest in artists that promote the sex and materialism, which promotes pricey products which benefit the same people who invested in the music...after years of these type of artists being dominant in the music world, those artists suffering economic hardships are persuaded to follow suit in hopes that they too can get somewhere with their music...so it's kind of a tricky situation...
-The last period the whole world were watching the election in the USA, waiting for the new president to change the current situation.
Do you think Obama will stop the war? Explain why do you think that?
i doubt it, fact is, i strongly believe the president is simply a face...they've done a GREAT job in instilling false hope into the masses...hence the whole obama campaign propagating the word "hope"....ever seen Manchurian Candidate?...EXACTLY what's goin on...the concept of our government is highly deceptive, wars aren't controlled by presidents...wars are generated for capital gain...if i get together with 300 of my brothers and decide we are being treated unfairly and see that the government is a threat to our well being, and attacked a military compound, we'd be labeled terrorists, however our government can bomb cities, towns, kill more innocent civilians than soldiers and write it off as "protecting freedom and promoting democracy", when in reality, if a country has abundant resources, these parasites first make attempts to corrupt the leaders of the country, in hopes that they would instill policies that would benefit them, while usually being to the detriment of the working people of the land, if the president is uncorruptable they'll send in the CIA or one of the many unknown but often utilized, privatized intelligence agencies to launch a coup, and place someone who WILL follow orders in power...if that doesn't work, they'll generate a stimuli that justifies sending in the military (to keep our citizens blind and at bay)...terrorism is the new "communism", and "fascism"....from world war I to now, the people who run america and their allies have been able to bring their armies into countless nations on the base that whatever "feared" party (fascist, communist, and now, "terrorist") either had interest in ceding the nation or were launching operations in the nation...so if obama does bring the troops home, or better yet, lemme rephrase, if the troops are able to come home during obama's administration, my guarantee is that they'll be invading another country not too long thereafter, whether publicly or secretly...no matter WHO's the president...obama is no different....
