Thug Life Army

Inglewood California natives and Westside Connection affiliates AllFrumTha I return with their third and best album to date entitled ''larger than life'' due April 19 on Free Agency Recordings.

Comprised of well-known west coast hip-hop rap artists Binky Mac and Squeak Ru, their new album and upcoming projects have caught the eyes and ears of everyone in the hip-hop community.

AllFrumTha I stands for ‘All From Inglewood’ and these are proud Inglewood California residents and strong west coast style rap artist.

In a rare exchange ThugLifeArmy.com had a chance to speak to both of the members of the group, in separate interviews

Squeak Ru is half of the hip-hop rap group AllFrumTha I. This is a good interview and a good update for those who know of AllFrumTha I. It also will introduce you to Squeak Ru if you are not aware of who he is.

AllFrumTha I have a great background and this interview may surprise you. The people that Squeak Ru has worked with and the thoughts he has on west coast music scene. He is going to drop a solo album this summer called ''Fat World Vol.1'' so watch for that.

You can find a tracklist and cover art for this album ''Larger Than Life'' due out April 19th  HERE .

Robert – Thanks for taking time for this.

Squeak Ru – Aw ain’t no problem man. Thank you for having me.

Robert – So we can get a feel for where you’re from and what kind of place Inglewood is; how would you best describe Inglewood to someone who has never been there?

Squeak Ru – It’s sorta like a suburban area on the outskirts of LA. We mainly go thru the same things that everybody in LA goes thru. Theres some good spots and some bad spots, ya know what I’m saying.

Robert - I know Mack 10 got ya’all started in the business but how did you hook up with him and that break come about?

Squeak Ru – Well actually we are all from the same neighborhood. Bink and Mack was in the same lil group. And when Mack got his deal he reached back and brought Bink in, and at that time me and Bink had established a group and that’s how it all kicked off.

Robert – Are you still in close contact with the Westside Connection crew?

Squeak Ru – Yeah, yeah, yeah ya know. We got our differences with Mack thru out the recent years but mainly everybody is just doing their thing. Ain’t nobody really shakin no salt on each other, We are just all doing our own thing and on our own terms now.

Robert – Do you still see him (Mack 10) around?

Squeak Ru – Actually I haven’t seen him in awhile ya know.

Robert – What about Dub C?

Squeak Ru – Yeah, I see Dub often. I really don’t see Cube that much, ya know Cube is off into the movie thing now and that takes up a lot of his time.

Robert – I have heard 2 tracks off your upcoming album. ‘Hero’ and ‘Runnin This’, are they a good sample of what we can expect from the rest of the new album?

Squeak Ru – Yeah, it’s real mature, it’s got the club bangers on there. It’s a step up from the recent records we have done. I’m really feeling good about it. It’s competitive with what’s going on as far as what’s at the top of the charts.

Robert - What kind of feedback are you getting so far?

Squeak Ru – Man the response has been real good. A lot of people, especially out here on the west coast, have been waiting for us to come back out ; so the feedback has been real good.

Robert – It seems west coast radio is slow to support and play many west coast artists. Is the record getting any air play out on the west coast?

Squeak Ru – We are just now getting our feet wet with that. We are in the beginning stages of that. But we really ain’t worried about the radio right now. We are just taking it to the streets, cause the streets are what’s going to decide.

Robert – But you have to have air play to sell units right?

Squeak Ru– You got to have it but if they are playing in the street they will play it on the radio. So we are trying to make them bounce off each other right now.

Robert – I think Binky said the first single off the album will be ‘Lil Momma’?

Squeak Ru – Yeah, it’s called ‘Lil Momma’.

Robert – Do you like that track?

Squeak Ru– I like that track man. It’s a lil club banger. Ya got to get to the females, the females are what sell records, ya know. The dudes, whatever the women are shaking their ass to that’s what they are going to be playing.

Robert – Do you have a favorite track off the album?

Squeak Ru – I like ‘Hero’, it’s one of my favorites, ‘Lil Momma’ is one of my favorites, ‘Runnin This’, I got a song on there called ‘Why They Wanna Keep Me Down’, I really like that. Those are probably my top favorites right there.

Robert – I hear you have a solo album dropping this year. Can you tell us a lil about that?

Squeak Ru – Yeah man it’s called ‘Fat World Vol.1’. I just turned it in 2 nights ago. I got Treach from Naughty by Nature on there. We got a single called ‘Gottz Ta Get Down’, he’s on my first single. The Road Dawgs are on there, and a lil cat I’m getting ready to put out called Roulette. So yeah the record is real hot.

Robert – When can we expect it?

Squeak Ru– Probably as we get into the summer, June or July something like that.

Robert – Out of all the work you both do in the industry, which do you like the best – rapping or producing or acting?

Squeak Ru – I like writing. I just like writing songs.That is where I have full control of creativity ya know. I like just putting my thoughts on paper.

Robert – When you start putting an album together like this. Do the lyrics come first and the beats are made for them or do the beats come first?

Squeak Ru – It’s got to be the beats. But then sometimes you just might have something in your head and you just put it down. Like there has been times I had certain raps in my head for awhile and I hadn’t found that right beat for them yet. So really they kinda work off each other.

Robert – Well do you take a beat and then free style to it or are the lyrics already wrote down

Squeak Ru – The beat brings the lyrics out of you. You get in your zone and if that beat is knocking the lyrics are gonna be knocking.

Robert – On an album like the one you and Binky have coming up who makes the finial decision on what goes onto an album?

Squeak Ru – We do that together. When we start creating a song, like Bink will come up with a beat; He’ll give me a cd of beats. And I pick off the beats and then I write to them. What I do is I put a song together, and then he’ll come after I’m done and he’ll enhance it ya know. Most of the time we are on the same page. We do everything together as a whole. There is nobody over ruling nobody. If it comes to a debate we sneak it on people, We’ll go to the clubs and slip it to people on the dance floor and see what they do. If they are noddin’ their heads to it, we know we got something. Sometimes I might be wrong, sometimes he might be wrong. The way Hip-Hop is nowadays man, sometimes you don’t know where the hit is.

Robert – How long does it take to complete a project like this one – from start to finish?

Squeak Ru – It depends on how hungry you are and how dedicated you are to getting it done. I know it took us a good 3 or 4 months and we got a good record.

Robert – What other projects have you been involved with lately or are you working on lately besides your album and the one with Bink?

Squeak Ru – 2003 I had put out a DVD called ‘Road Kings’, a low rider DVD. There was a lot of concert footage on there. I had DMX on there, Naughty By Nature, Westside Connection was on there, a lot of actors, Rob Schneider from Duce Bigalow and a lot of low rider footage, concert footage and girls shakin their ass ya know. And A CD came with it. DMX, Tupac, Naughty By Nature, Westside Connection, and some R&B cats that are up and coming. It was real kool. I sold about 50 Thousand of those.

Robert - Are you now currently on tour with Yo Yo and Boo Kapone or is that coming up soon?

Squeak Ru – Yeah, right now currently on tour with Yo Yo and Whodini. It’s like an old school tour. We just came back from doing All Star Break. In may we are on our way to New Zealand

Robert – Where can we find a list of stops the tour will make and dates?

Squeak Ru – I’ll get that to ya.

Robert – Is touring something you enjoy? And does it have its drawbacks?

Squeak Ru – I love it. It does have it’s draw backs. Like if your on the road for a certain amount of time, we me I have kids, and you want to get back to your family. Then sometimes the wear and tear, the partying every night, sometimes you can’t do it, ya know what I mean.

Robert – Were you involved in The ‘Black Republicans’ album?

Squeak Ru – Yeah, Yeah.

Robert – I had already asked Binky about it, but would like to see an album like that come out?

Squeak Ru– Yeah man, as a mattr of fact we talked about that last night, we was talking about the record. Bink is undecided on how he wants to do it and everything. I just told him he needs to get that ‘Dre’ edge to it, ya know. There is so much talent out here, and right now out here on the west coast we need some new faces. So we need to find some talent out here and put that record together. And lets get out there and put it in the street.

Robert – Big Syke is from the Inglewood , how is your relationship with him and do you ever see him around?

Squeak Ru – Yeah but I haven’t seen him in a while though.

Robert – Have you ever dropped anything with him?

Squeak Ru– Naw we never got a chance to get down.

Robert – The Relatives (Big Wy, and Suga Buga ) are from the Inglewood too. Not long ago they put out a diss track on Mack 10. What kind of relationship do you have with them?

Squeak Ru – Them’s my homies right there. They are my real homies right there.

Robert – Do you think the west coast is experiencing a second wave of talent and that people are starting to take notice again on a national level?

Squeak Ru – I believe so, with the situation with Game. I feel good about it. It’s like a plus to us that people know this west coast talent is still out here, and all they have to do is give it a chance. I’m real happy for Game, cause to me it is like he is getting a lot of doors open again. People are just not thinking that the west coast is that same old Roger Troutman ya know that class, that we can have some different styles of music and that is what we are trying to do out here; especially as far as AllFrumTha I.

Robert – Along with the new artists that are coming out of the west, it seems that a lot of the heavy hitters are releasing albums lately. MC Eiht, Celly Cell, JT The Bigga Figga all dropped, DJ Quik has one coming and Dub C as well and the list goes on. Is there a reason for all these heavy hitters dropping so close?

Squeak Ru – Ya know I don’t know but it’s good. What we need to do as the west coast, we got to start getting out and throwing it together, that’s how we fall off. The guys out here, now we inter act in the street with each other but as far as it comes to putting these shows together and things like that, that’s where we have the problem at. And what we have to do is we got to get out of LA with it. We got to hit these towns, we got to start doing stuff ourselves. Like me and Bink was talking, we got to be the whole company again. We got to get out there and stop waiting on these promoters to come get at us. We got to take it to the people ourselves, and that’s what the west coast has to do.

You don’t see no all west coast tours no more. A lot of these heavy hitters they try to jump on the band wagon with other cats that’s already out from other places. They don’t bring it back to home and say ya know what we need a DJ Quik, Snoop Dogg, Westside Connection tour ya know. So you need all that, you need the  MC Eiht, AllFrumTha I, Gorilla Black, a Game; we need to get out here and put it on these people. If not we are going to keep running in place like we have been in the past recent years.

Robert – What are your thoughts on some of the new west coast artist and some of the new talent coming out of the Bay area?

Squeak Ru – I’m loving it man, I’m loving it. We really got a chance to get up there. Me and Yo Yo was in Sac about 2 or 3 months ago, we were in Sacramento, San Francisco ; we did about 4 shows up there. We did a show with the Ying Yang Twins, Delinquents, Keek Da Sneek we all did a couple of shows out there, I was loving it.

I love the way The Bay moves on the independent level. They all get down and get out there together, I love that.

Robert – Besides your self and Binky, who do you see as the hot artists now on the west coast?

Squeak Ru – It’s got to be Game. Game and Gorilla Black to me. I am loving what Game is doing. I have always said for it to come back around this way there had to be a new face. And that’s what I love, that there is a new face out there. It ain’t the same ol’ faces.

Robert – It seems that you have worked with almost everyone on the west coast. Is there any new west coast artist that you haven’t had a chance to work with yet that you would like to hook up with?

Squeak Ru – The same person. Gorilla Black, I think he is on tour right now. We holla’d about a month ago, but when he gets  back we are going to put something together, put it in the mix and try to get out there and put something down.

Robert – As long as you have been in the game, did you ever or was there a reason you never got to hook up with Tupac?

Squeak Ru – Well when we first came in that was when all the controversy was going on. And then right after that the unfortunate accident happened. But we met and talked a couple of times, chatted at some clubs and stuff like that. Pac was a good dude. You can see that from all the love he is still getting now.

Robert – Dub C has a new album coming out this summer. Can we look for you to be on that?

Squeak Ru – Naw, I haven’t seen Dub in about a month. Ya know what, I’ll say this if that record ain’t complete; yeah you count on me being on it. There was a couple of times he was suppose to come get on our record, and we were in and out running out of town and everything so it never got a chance to jump off. We turned this solo record in, we going to finish Boo Kapone’s record up and then we are going right into the AllFrumTha I record called ‘ The Odd Couple’. So you can probably look for Dub C on that.

Robert – When you guys were starting out we lost Tupac, Biggie, and now more recently we have lost Mac Dre, Jam Master Jay and a host of others to senseless violence in the rap game, and we have others who are locked down – Do these things that seem to happen as part of the rap game ever make you reconsider your being part of it?

Squeak Ru – Soulja Slim, yeah. Ya know with my life, if I had it to do over; I wouldn’t change a thing, because it has made me who I am. We all got our certain paths in life that God has laid out for us. So I look at the things that I have been thru in life as there’s a reason that I’ve have been thru this. So now any of the negative things, I can tell my kids from experience that ‘naw I don’t want you to go this route’ and I can lead them in another path. I wouldn’t change a thing about my life. All the things that have happened have happened for a reason.

Robert – Well when you were younger were you a gang member?

Squeak Ru – Heavily involved in the gangs. Even right now I just recently, in Inglewood; I joined a panel of the mayor, the chief of police, and we got a Stop The Violence situation going on. So we signed a document about 2 months ago. Out here in LA there is a lot of racial and gang things, it is a Black and Mexican thing right now, and it has really been getting heavy. So I joined that just to try to keep the peace. It’s not going to stop overnight so my thing is that I can teach my lil homies coming up something different. I can try to show them something different in life than what’s going on, instead of spreading something negative to them; I would rather give them something positive. A lot of these cats now are coming up in single parent homes and like one time my homie asked me ‘ what do we all have in common’? And it is that out of my homies we all came from single parent homes, and we just ran around trying to learn how to be men. So it’s my duty to teach my lil homies how to be a man.

Robert – Well can ya tell me if you’re a Crip or a Blood?

Squeak Ru – I’m a Blood. Out here Squeak Ru ‘s name in the streets is good. I’m good with the Crips and the Bloods because that is one thing I can say, growing up a lot of my main enemies now that we are older now they are my best homies. And we are looking out for each other now, it’s a mature thing. I go everywhere in LA I want to go. Even when I’m in a certain neighborhood where I didn’t use to go, I still go with respect and I get that respect back. It’s all good out here. I know damn near somebody from evry gang out here in LA.

Robert – How would you compare today’s rap to the rap of back when you first came out? Has it progressed or is it stagnant?

Squeak Ru – It’s progressed to me. What I like about today’s rap is it’s hard to call something wack. I like that everybody is on their own page doing their own. Kike I just came back from Memphis and I had some females with me and we were in the club, and they were from here and had not really been no where. So they couldn’t understand the mood of the club, the down south sound, ya know what I’m saying? And they were stuck for a minute. They were calling it ‘wack’ at first, but I told them this shit ain’t wack it’s hard. You got to understand that everybody is on the same page, but we all are doing the same shit though, it’s just that we are all doing it at our own level.

Robert – Like a Bone Crusher or a Ludacris them guys are tight.

Squeak Ru – Yeah I love them. Now that is somebody I want to work with is Luda. Right now Luda is one of the hottest cats in the game to me. I love what he do. I love that he keeps coming different with things. I love that he ain’t afraid to throw it out there. That was something Jay-Z wasn’t afraid to do to. I love that about hip-hop. I love when they throw a curve in there and try to do something different, I love that.

Robert – What do you see missing in the rap game today?

Squeak Ru – We got to keep trying to own our own shit. We got ta quit trying to let these corporate people take over, they decide what’s going ta be; that’s what I don’t like. And that’s on thing about radio, I don’t like how they take a form of one thing and this is what we are going to play and not give nobody else a chance.

Robert – What can we look forward to from Squeak Ru in the near future?

Squeak Ru –  Man I am just gonna try to keep cranking out these hits, try to keep the sound coming out. Keep trying to mature with the music.

Robert – If you weren’t blessed to be a rap artist or you weren’t given the ability to write what do you see yourself doing today instead?

Squeak Ru – I can’t tell ya. Honestly I probably would just have me a 9 to 5 everyday, just getting back to my kids everyday that’s it. That’s what I do now. I don’t hang out as much as I use to. My thing now is when I’m in the street; I’m going back and forth to the studio, I’m at the park with my kids, or I’m at home. I do a club here and there, we got to get out and promote these records. Or me and my gurl go out and have a nice time, that’s what I’m about. I ain’t really out trying to stick my nose where it ain’t suppose to be ya know.

Robert – Is there anything we missed or failed to mention?

Squeak Ru – Just the AllFrumTha I record April 19^th.

Robert – Any shout outs or things that need to be said?

Squeak Ru – Everybody on the planet, much love to everybody. Stay doing what your doing.

Robert – Well we wish you much success with the album and the tour. Looking forward to hearing more from you-------Thanks again---Peace.

Squeak Ru – Man we are trying to do it right now, just trying to crank these records out right now, And that’s much love man and I appreciate that.

Robert – And we are going to be looking for that solo album here this summer.

Squeak Ru – Yeah man ‘Fat World Vol.1’

Robert – I appreciate your time, Peace

Squeak Ru – Alright thanks.