Down South player Tela has released his third album The World Ain’t Enough (Rap-A-Lot) today, September 19 and you should hear what he has to say about it.
hiphop.thirsty.com: It’s pretty obvious how big the south has become these past few years. You’ve been putting it down out there for awhile, so do you feel like the climate is ready for you now, for Tela to blow up?
Tela: Well, I hope so man, you know it would be nice, I’m gonna give em’ all I got, ya’ know and I guess we’ll see what happens. It’s a good time a great time to be a part of hip-hop just because the south be doin’ our thing ya know and that’s a blessing. I’m so happy for that but just as a whole how many records we’re selling now and how artists are being accepted now, it’s just a great time to be involved in it.
Is that what has pretty much been motivating you to kind of keep it moving, you see other cats blowin’ up?
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Oh yeah, ya’ know but I can’t stop until I hit some plaques anyway, I’ll be in it till I get one.
Okay, let’s take it back to Suave House. Describe your relationship with 8-ball and MJG, what exactly went down, you guys were on the label together you went to Suave, it didn’t really work out with you there, was it hard for you to leave that situation behind you and kind of move forward or has it been cool with them? What’s the status with that?
You said what’s the relationship that we have now?
Yeah, you can talk about the relationship you have now.
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Well, now I mean the relationship with us never changed, ya’ know I’m sayin’, basically the same. We was friends and things like that, but ya’ know shit it was like we always ya’ know what’s best for them was what’s best for me.
So, basically everything’s still cool?
Yeah, yeah, oh yeah we still ya’ know they doin’ there thang and shit I’ma continue to do mine and it was hard to move from the label ya’ know only Ball and G they were cool wit me, but I met a lot mo’ friends over there also, ya’ know good people, ya’ know so it was difficult, but I had to do what was best for my family and me.
Okay, so it seems like it kind of came to a crossroads in your life, not only with the label changes, but early on it seemed like a lot of rappers kind of flaunt the life of crime they once led or they still claim that they still live it, what was the guiding force in your decision to kind of go straight, keep up with the music or kind of hussle here and get like these other guys get it?
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Uh, definitely man it was ya’ know god in my life, got to a point that uh, that uh, shit I just wasn’t down with that ya’ know I got to a point that I was like regardless of whatever it takes, I’m gonna do mines the rightest way to me ya’ know and what uh, but that’s my conscience and my sleep at night and so it just got to that point ya know I was like ya know definitely, umm ask for the strength to make it happen, ya know and to just walk a straighter line than da crooked and like you said it was one day I just came to that point in that uh I really haven’t went back since.
Right, okay so was that around the time before you got signed to Rap-A-Lot, before you got that call when…
Naw, this was matta fact this was before Suave. Yeah, is about three years before I got signed to Suave.
Okay, so basically you already knew which way you wanted to go.
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Right, right.
But when things weren’t working out at Suave, you were kind of down and shit, what was it like to get that call from Little J at Rap-A-Lot?
Uh, man…
Did you feel like that was a blessing from god, like he came down?
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Yeah,like like the dawg was callin’, uh top dawg definitely and I was glad that ya’ know it was people there for the understandin’ and for ya know the aid ya know to be like man you seem to be like a good cat, man so ya know shit sorry about this situation but ya know I’m here to make it better ya know, ya wanna ride, whuz up, the offerin’ the extendin’ of the hand was uh definitely like you said a blessing, I was thankful for that, a couple of cats reached out man.
Like who?
Uh, Green reached out to me, ya know Green he was dere, even [Master] P man, I remember talkin’ to Master P ya know so it was like a couple of cats that understood and was like well hopefully you have success and hopefully thangs work out for ya.
Right, so showin’ you love, you kind of made a name for yourself out there, so they knew what was up, they recognized your situation, you went to Rap-A-Lot, so let’s talk about your first release, “Now or Never”, it didn’t really make as much noise as your first album, but it’s a still a good album, like it didn’t really get as much recognition as maybe it should have, so do you feel like you have more to prove now on your third effort, like you have to put it down even harder and let people know what’s up, like this is what time it is.
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Oh yeah, like you said I felt like “Now or Never” was a good album, ah I felt like it kind of feel through the cracks a little bit, couda been a lot mo push behind it, get that extra out of it, and uhh definitely it’s more singles off the album that could have been released, ya know and uhhh working a project is just as good as havin a good project, umm I think that hurt that record a lot and then I went back, ya know I listened to the comments from that record, I found out what people liked and what they didn’t like, ya know and what made them like my first album so much, so I tried to collaborate all that on tha third one uhhbasically what it was just to go in and have fun wit it and do sumthin I enjoy.uhhh don’t put no guidelines on it, da second album’s more guidelines so I was like stricter, okay this is for radio, dis fo dis coast, did fo dis club and uhh. I got away from dat.
So, this new album, “The World Ain’t Enough” that’s like straight from the heart, just you, like what you want to do, and it seems like.I don’t know like there’s a lot of different styles on the album, you got like soul, little bit of rock, little bit of bluesthere’s a little bit of somethin for everybody, it’s like a clean album.
Oh yeah and that’s how I feel about music it should be given like dat, it’s a diet ya know a diet fo ya listenin and so uhh yeah I have a little bit of everything.
Trying to get all the music peeps represented, right? So what did you grow up listening to, what made you so open minded to like the different types of music that your album kind of puts out?
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Ya know definitely I was brought up on soulya know a lot of Al Green, ya know [Curtis] Mayfield, Sam Cook, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder all of dat manya know Stack sound Motown sound and went off into Confunction, Cameo and I even got off into a little ya know I listen to everything manI went through one period that I shit I listened to a lot of The Beatles’ shit.
Oh the Beatles rock, you know you can’t front on that and that only makes you stronger as an artist if you kinda explore other kinds of music.
Yeah, and like Queen.I got deep off of Queen, you’d be surprised any kind of damn music.
Right, the best of whatever style is out there is good.
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Exactly, ya know shit even when I’m not a country fan or nuthin like dat, but even when Kenny Rodgers was doin’ his thang, ya know The Oakridge Boys I remember that.
And see you should have gone up on that, man Wyclef doin’ a song with Kenny Rodgers, you coulda been the first to put it down.
Yeah, I know but see I can’t. uhhh Wyclef and all dat, yeah me and Kenny I just got to give him his card on yeah I did get work, but far as like me bringin’ somethin’ to the table I can’t front.
