A day away from her birthday, Lee Mazin is ordering breakfast at a restaurant inside a Downtown Los Angeles Doubletree Hotel. She’s with her manager eating wings and planning their attack for BET Weekend. The previous day, she was hobnobbing with celebrities at the HipHopDX Next Level event. Though known for her history under Meek Mill’s Dreamchaser label, Mazin struck out on her own for the independent grind. Last year, the Philly native caught a buzz through the release of her No Love Lost project. Of course, this led to some phone calls bleeding various opportunities – which also led to becoming the newest cast member of Oxygen’s ratings hit Sisterhood of Hip Hop. Premiering July 12, she already planned a mixtape to coincide with the season opener entitled VIBE. After spending time with Mazin, it’s clear she’s learned more than a few things from her former mentor Meek Mill.
Speaking with HipHopDX, Mazin answers why she took the reality television leap and details her time under Dreamchasers along with the moment she found out about Lil Snupe’s murder.
”Love & Hip Hop” Was Too Much Drama For Mazin
HipHopDX: You’re a newcomer to the Sisterhood of Hip Hop family. Where you a fan of the series before you hopped on?
AD LOADING...
Lee Mazin: The crazy thing is that I watched a few episodes when it first came out and I never watched it again.
DX: What was it like getting acclimated with the current cast?
Lee Mazin: It was dope because I’m all for the female movement. I thrive on people with ambition, even if they’re doing the same thing as me. Any girl that’s working and doing her thing, I support and salute. So just being around girls chasing the same dream as me. We all come from different places and have different sounds and vibes. It as dope just to be in the same studios as them and working with them. It was a dope experience.
DX: Who would you say you gravitated to the most during this season?
AD LOADING...
Lee Mazin: I clicked the most with Brianna Perry. I clicked with all the girls in different ways, but me and Brianna got close.
DX: There’s a stigma about reality television, especially those revolving around Hip Hop. Was it a difficult decision to make in regards to Sisterhood of Hip Hop?
Lee Mazin: The thing is, I got a random call one day. I actually thought I was getting pranked. They asked if I was interested in being on Sisterhood of Hip Hop and I got a phone call from Love & Hip Hop a couple of days prior. I told them I would take the meeting, but I wasn’t a reality television type of person. Sisterhood of Hip Hop is based on the music which would have put me in a better light. I took the meeting and here we are four months later.
DX: You picked Sisterhood of Hip Hop over Love & Hip Hop? That’s interesting.
AD LOADING...
Lee Mazin: I think both shows are important for the urban community, but I’m just not the drama type of girl and there’s a whole lot going on with Love & Hip Hop.
DX: Do you watch Love & Hip Hop?
Lee Mazin: Yeah, sometimes, but I’m not a TV type of girl.
I deserve the same respect as the guys out there. — Lee Mazin
AD LOADING...
DX: What’s the end goal for you in terms of what you hope Sisterhood of Hip Hop will do for your career?
Lee Mazin: I just want the world to know who Lee Mazin is and hopefully that’ll provide a platform for that. Now, I’m going to be in everyone’s face on television. That just helps and the show focuses on the music. It’s a way for people to see my sound and what I’m going through at the moment. It’s about how I worked to get where I am and how I’m working to get further in my career. The show displays the problems that I go through and the struggle and accomplishments. Y’all really get to tap into my life.
DX: I remember in an interview, Siya talked about the idea that there could be only one female MC.
Lee Mazin: I think that barrier is being broken. There are so many female artists that are shining in their own way. The thing is that it’s made to where females have to claw at each other or it has to be some type of tension. Cause when I’m in my own zone, I’m not worried about anybody else male or female. I don’t have to beef with anybody because no one is taking money out or putting it in. It doesn’t matter. A lot of females don’t think like that and most of the time, it be who they’re around. It’s corny, but how Hip Hop takes to female artists.
AD LOADING...
DX: How do you feel about the term female MC? Is there shame in it or do you embrace it?
Lee Mazin: I’m not ashamed of it and I embrace it. I don’t like the comparisons between female artists. I’m very confident in what I do and I feel like I can out rap a lot of these dudes, let alone females. The term female MC doesn’t bother me, but at the same time, I’m an artist at the end of the day. I deserve the same respect as the guys out there.
DX: Where you at musically at the moment?
Lee Mazin: Actually, I’m dropping a project the day before the new season of Sisterhood of Hip Hop premieres. July 11th, I’m dropping a project called Vibe. This is my first project in a little over a year I believe. I’m excited for the whole new sound that’s well put together. It’s about the vibe that I’m in now. It means “Vocally I Body Everything.” I’m excited about that. Then I got the show airing along with visuals coming up for the music. I got another project that’s going to be released during the fall or the winter. There’s some dope features and production on that. I’ve been doing some dope collaborations in L.A. I’m excited.
AD LOADING...
Mazin Says Meek Mill Will Come Out On Top Again
DX: You have a history with Dreamchasers.
Lee Mazin: Yeah, I was signed to Dreamchasers like three years ago. It was dope. I knew Meek before he started doing music because we grew up in the same neighborhood. Once I started doing music, I kept running into him. He was like ‘you doing your think what’s up.’ He brought me out for Powerhouse that year. He could me up one day talking about signing me. I went on my first tour with Meek, got to meet Lil Snoop and ended up working with him. It was a dope experience because I can most definitely say that Meek is one of the most hard working men I’ve been around in the industry. He is the definition of no sleep. Just to be around him motivated me and I appreciate being around him. I learned a lot from him. Till this day, he’s still my family though I’m on my independent artist thing.
AD LOADING...
DX: You speak very highly of Meek. Was it difficult watching him go through the beefs and even legal situations?
Lee Mazin: You gotta pray on it and hope he comes out on top. Everybody goes through stuff. Only the strong survive and I’ve seen him go through stuff prior to this so I know he’s going to come out on top.
DX: A few years back, there was the untimely death of Lil Snupe. What was your relationship with him? Must have been hard getting that phone call informing you about his murder.
Lee Mazin: It was crazy because I was on vacation when it happened. I was overseas so I wasn’t using my phone. I didn’t know until that morning when I was on my way back to the states. I started getting a bunch of text messages. So, I actually found out a little bit after everybody else. It was heartbreaking because he was my little brother. We went on our first tour together. We have music together. I did a lot with Snupe. He was so young, but he had an old soul. I come from freestyling and battling, but I’ve never seen someone spit off the dome like Snupe. He had a lot of good things coming to him. It was an unfortunate event that messed the world, Meek, the label and myself up. It’s something that still hurts till this day. I keep in contact with his moms and peoples. He got enough music to live on forever and we got music that we’ve done together that hasn’t been released yet. I’ll forever try to keep his name alive.
AD LOADING...
DX: Should we expect some of those Snupe vocals for the upcoming projects or are you holding on to them?
Lee Mazin: We’re holding on to them until the right time. I want everything to make sense not only for him, but for his family as well.
