Through trials, tribulations, unforeseeable circumstances and a whole lot of hard work and dope musical experimentation, TuffHouse records is closer than ever to releasing Wayz new Album “Ourberta”. An album which sends a strong message of pride and support for the province of Alberta & Candian Hip hop. Keep your Cowboy hats on if you must Alberta but there ain’t no rodeo clownin around for Wayz this time around. TuffUrban sat down with the CEO of TuffHouse and recording artist Wayz to discuss everything from the old school sounds of Nat King Cole to Politics, inside and outside of the recording studio and a lot more. “Ourberta” is planned to be released mid-May.
TuffUrban: When is the album being released?
Wayz: The full album will be released Mid-May.
TuffUrban: Tell us about the title of the album “Ourberta” what does it mean?
Wayz: Ourberta is basically the message of us all coming together as one. People always try to disrespect Alberta. A lot of Canadians are afraid to say that they’re from Alberta. I wanted to send that message that Alberta gives us everything that we have, she is the mother of this great nation. I mean that in the sense that Alberta feeds all of Canada. So respect us, we’re not living in Igloos. Not to say there’s anything wrong with that. Edmonton is a Capitol and if we don’t get our respect we’re going to take it one way or another. Lyrically we have some of the finest lyrical giants in this whole music industry. Again, in that area people try to overlook us in the areas where we have some of the best…and becoming even greater at what we do. What’s going to happen when we fully expand our width…who is going to run to the mountains and yell “The Red Coats are coming!” This time around we ain’t gonna lose because we’re gonna take everything. Ourberta brings that to life, all the small towns all the backwoods joints, all the cities all that one one map, Ourberta. The farmers, the strippers, the dope dealers, the musicians, the hockey players, the football players from out here. The mothers that are working hard, the fathers that are on the rigs. The television personel, the men driving their pick-up trucks, the ladies driving their big trucks paving them roads, they stand for all of us. When the album drops it’s going to be cool. It will give bigger perspective of what it is. We may be racist as F*%k, but it’s home, so you have to learn to live with it and if a fool touch you you gotta break em off a lil’ some’ some’, but that’s a different story.
TuffUrban: What are your influences for the album musically & personally?
Wayz: The album is very influenced by comedy in a sense. The intro & outro are more comedic. No one can make fun of us because we make fun of each other and laugh our tail off. We know what goes and what doesn’t go and that’s the Alberta way. In that way we stand on what we stand on and nobody can take that from us. We’re proud of our comedic mindset and at the same time are very serious.
TuffUrban: How many artists do you have on the album & are they all TuffHouse artists?
Wayz: Most of them are TuffHouse artists on this album I only have about two different artists…we’re shooting for maybe three.
TuffUrban: Will there be any upcoming shows to celebrate the release and where will they be held?
Wayz: There will be a whole lot of shows. Wherever we want to book it we’re hip hop we go everywhere.
TuffUrban: Could you briefly describe the music making process take us through a day in life of Tuffhouse Studios?
Wayz: Get up, get to work, get this madness done & make sure that it’s proper. Meaning that we handle our necessary business. To create this album, one has to basically hypnotize oneself with Alberta love and Alberta pride. We have come in and vibe to the beat. And from the beat to the writing process it’s all about how one eats and exercises one’s lungs because once you get in that booth it takes a moment. A lot of the time the way that I rhyme and create, it would have to make sense, metaphors would have to be put into play. If that’s not put into play than it’s a losing matter when I say put into play I mean we have to go into it and basically pull up the heart. I’ll let certain artists come in and mess around with the vibe but it has to make sense, the vibe needs to be right. Sometime one song will take me a week. Smoke, one of my artists who’s in Mexico, Smoke I’ll hit him with a one two to the studio down there and then he’ll hit me back with something new. We go back and forth, back and forth until we get that hit. Those are some of the typical things with us.
Tuffurban: What have been some of your biggest challenges and how did you overcome them?
Wayz: People stealing from me, right now as we have this interview we’re being stolen off of. Someone came in here while there was another fella in here and stole my Mac Computer. So that’s the biggest challenge with all the information and the details and things like that. You can’t stop it because when the creator gives you the right to create and make hits…it’s a different story.
TuffUrban: What have been some of your favorite moments while recording ?
Wayz: Just coming up with ill ass verses.
TuffUrban: What kind of feedback are you getting on the music so far?
Wayz: People enjoy the sound but I havn’t fully released it yet. After we release the singles, I think just working on the details, it’s going to be an excellent motion.
TuffUrban: What do you have planned within the next year at TuffHouse?
Wayz: I can’t tell you that, I can’t reveal the secrets of the madness. We’ve got quite a bit of Hip stuff that we plan, so just be prepared to come out a support the cause. It’s a never-ending struggle for people that give up easily. When your f*%king with us, we don’t who what when where and how just come to rock the party & make good hits.
TuffUrban: Who are some artists you’d like to collaborate with in the future?
Wayz: They have to want to collaborate with me. They have to have the Kahunas, if they don’t got the kahunas then I can’t f*%k with them like that.
TuffUrban: What are some of your Pet Peeves?
Wayz: People Lying, People Stealing, People getting dumb drunk, Motherf%&kers not making the time to record.
TuffUrban: You told us a fair amount about what you love about Alberta anything else you’d like to mention?
Wayz: I just want to regulate the world for what the world is. The way that I look at it is you have all these fake mofos doin what they doin’, I mean I’m cool with it but at the end of the day, keep that fake ass shit to the side. Keep that fake ass to the mother-effing side. We’re in the time of the fake right now, a lot of cats try to claim something that they are not. That goes from being a dad, being a mom, being down, being a homie, being a friend. It’s a mindset man either you’re going to go get it or you’re not going to go get it. You’re either going to be creative and work for something that you can truly achieve or you’re going to bring down your circle. The way I look at it is, I sit on the throne meaning as the CEO of this mother-F%$ker, it goes as I go. If I bitch and moan over the simplest thing even when Fu$%ers are stickin’ me, I still gotta keep it going because I know eventually I will get my savage revenge and nothing is better than savage revenge.
TuffUrban: What do you love most about Canada?
Wayz: Alberta. I love my kid that’s my flesh of my flesh and my blood of my blood.
TuffUrban: What influences and Instruments are on the album?
Wayz: Most of the production itself is live so the guys just play the music live through. I honestly only fu$k with savage producers that love music just as much as I love music and want to bring something fresh to the table. I don’t usually mess with cats that want to bite into the production piece. Don’t get me wrong the samples are cool, it’s just how it’s influenced. You have to respect the original work. I like to go back to the Nat King Cole days, the old school vibe. Nina Simone, Ray Charles just good old music. Get that touch, example the queen of rock Aretha Franklin, when her vocals hit that raw sound, nothing beats that. You go from that to the early Jimmy Cliff and the mid Jimmy Cliff with the Peter Tosh and the Bob Marley and my queen Celia bringing that goodness. That’s the fusion of all things latin, coming forward and I mean latin as in Afro-latinos. Our black music in a sense. You get some of that raw bounce forward with a touch of Dixie Chicks. Which is odd but Dixie chicks speak their mind and that’s why I like them. Eric Clapton too, these are artists that stood up for what they stand for and speak while they create. Sinead O’Connor is also one of those artists, when she spoke in the 90’s they mashed her shit up. NWA Those guys stood on what they stood on and now it’s passed on down to us which is coming through the righteous side of things. So when I see people trying to bamboozle what it is, it kind of ticks me off, because they’re trying to censor the artist and you can’t do that because you’re mad at something. Being an 80’s baby and growing up in the 90’s, you look at the whole touch of it. The 80’s were like…every movie was new to the mind, 90’s, 99.9% of the movies, the creative side were new to the mind also. 2000’s you start seeing some changes, they’re pushing the boundaries. Once 2010 came, things shifted. Everything is now going backwards and being repeated, because of the lack of people speaking their thoughts. Lack of people creating things, people are afraid to offend people. If you’re living in this world where you’re scared to offend people then you’re lost. Personally I don’t give a f%ck if a mother%cker offends me so long as they don’t put their hands on me. That’s my personal space you can say anything you want to say to me, cool I don’t care, but once you out your hands on me I’m going to hurt you. So that’s how I live my life as an artist, you’re not going to censor me I’m going to say what I need to say and keep it rolling.
TuffUrban: What’s your biggest piece of advice for up and coming artist right now?
Wayz: A lot of artists want to get paid overnight. My biggest advice is take a moment and learn the game, meaning work with people. Understand that you’re going to work for free, the biggest names in the entertainment industry worked for free for years, you collect information and that’s the goal that you win on. The thoughts, the information and take it from there. That’s how you win the race. People aren’t getting that they aren’t understanding that. People are going to enjoy you because you’re going to know how to move around people how to do certain things.
TuffUrban: What makes this Album Unique in comparison to your previous albums?
Wayz: This Album is unique because, again they tried to stop it, they tried all kinds of things to upset the flow of things but I think this album, the unique value of it is our point of view. People always think Canada is just this fu&%ing jolly place and it pisses me off. It’s like “You guys are in Canada you should not have to worry about anything in this world”. And it’s like really? So we’re in Pleasantview ? It comes down to how we approach these things, how we build these factors. So that would be the Unique value. The artwork is also ill…it’s me and my Alberta flag just the two of us. The song selections, this is the mixtape album before the albums come out and we’ve got quite a few albums coming. So right now we’ve slowed down but we’re going to bounce forward quickly. So watch the movement and see how it goes.
TuffUrban: Any final thoughts?
Wayz:Fuck the Government! Those assholes be trying to play mother&%ckers like we’re fucking fools. Whether they’re the Canadian Government, whether they’re the American government. It’s all shit so F@ck em’.
