Start off by introducing yourself, tell us about yourself, your background and what it was like growing up and how it influenced you.
Albie: Come on man, me and you, don’t even ask me questions like that, come on man, Kick it with me man; we gone chop it up for real. Keep it real, talk to me cuz. You know me; I’m straight out of Roxberry. I went to college in Virginia, Norfolk State, graduated from there with a BS in Management; minor in entrepreneurship. The grind is there. The grind was there before college, I was grinding in elementary, I was hustling Now-an-Later at the playground. Getting money and chasing money is just in my blood.
Street Connfinement: How did you come up with the idea of the Cheddar DVD?
Albie: Originally it was suppose to be a magazine but I seen that a lot of young folks was interested in the DVD, so I switched it up and went to the DVD and after doing my business plan I seen that a DVD was about the same price as a magazine to press but it sold for a little bit more so I could make more money with the concept of a DVD vs. a magazine. It was always in my heart to do a magazine but now DVD’s are in so I’m gone rock with that. I got Cheddarlive.com, that is a new site I am putting up, I see the DVD actually being gone. Like records, CD’s don’t even sell like they use to, later, DVD’s wont sell like they use to so I am just trying to get a head start on that and come with this Cheddar live.
Street Connfinement: What do you have planned for that?
Albie: Right now what I find is I might have some footage of Fat Joe talking about Papoose, or Shorty Lo talking about T.I. whatever it is, say I get that footage today and a new DVD drops today. That means that footage is not gone come out for another four months so therefore, by the time it comes out to me it is old. Even though to people that are not online it may be fresh, it don’t matter because I want to be the number one hip-hop media person so I got to give you that content ASAP so it is going to be online in the morning maybe even the same day. So Cheddar Live is designed to give you the most current hip-hop news right when it drops in the visual format, not written, visual.
Street Connfinement: That is going to make you step up your game and push a lot harder, what is the difference between putting the DVD together?
Albie: Actually I have been blessed because through my journey I have met people in many states so with people all over the country now I am able to get footage and make sure I can get something that is hot. So somebody might call me up and be like, “Yo Cheddar, I got the new Rick Ross footage, yo Cheddar, I got this footage”. So I say, “quick time it to me”, we zap it up and I stick it right online. But now they may send me the package and we still have to wait until the DVD comes out. With Cheddar Live you don’t have to wait till the DVD comes out.
Street Connfinement: What other DVD’s inspired you to do this DVD?
Albie: What I seen with the DVD game is that there was no information. Cheddar DVD, I am trying to give you information on how to make some money. I am hip-hop all day, so it is hard to do something without incorporating hip-hop. Like we did something with Licshot about money, but we incorporated hip-hop, because people want to see something about money but they also want to incorporate hip-hop. To me hip-hop is my second love, my first love is money, in a business aspect, I mean obviously my first love is my family. I say that because I am more focused on the money then hip-hop cause I don’t rap.
Street Connfinement: What is your style on doing interviews?
Albie: Oh, I go in. I’m not like you, I go in. I ask questions that most interviewers are afraid to ask cause if I don’t do it who else is gone do it? People probably don’t like me because of it, but I feel like my job is to give the people what they want to hear. So if that is my job, I am not going into the interview to make a friend, I am going into the interview to get the information. That is why it is called interview, informative, get the interview, I’m really going in. Whenever I get the people in front of me I’m gone ask them that tough question, whatever it is that is hot in hip-hop at the moment I ask that, I ask what people want to know, and I get straight to it, I aint gone beat around the bush.
Street Connfinement: Have you ever been in an awkward situation when you go into an interview like that?
Albie: Of course, when I did Suge Knight it was kind of awkward. He was ice grilling me and trying to be a tough guy. At the end of the day I am not a tough guy. I am a reporter and I am gonna be true to it, so however tough you want to be I am still here to do my job so I’m not gonna be intimidated. Now if you pull out guns, well, ok, you win. But if he just talking then that comes with the job and if you’re not ready to fight for what you believe in then why do it.
Street Connfinement: What do you have coming up for your next DVD?
Albie: On the next DVD we got the Shorty Lo and T.I. situation. T.I. court trial and what happened at his court case with the ATF and his attorney, the district attorney. Got the story with Rick Ross, Mass Pike Miles just linked up with Rick Ross. We got Lil Wayne on there, Birdman, Akon on there talking about being an executive, doing what my hommie Licshot is doing, instead of just getting the artist, now he is being an executive doing it and really trying to get people up under his movement. He is on there talking about BG and Lil Wayne, how they getting back together. It is a good DVD, I got the Porn Awards, all the fellas who want to see some of that clap, the awards was out in Vegas. Also a chic named Juicy out of New Orleans, she pretty nice.
Street Connfinement: When you have so much footage, how do you decide who makes the cut?
Albie: Experience, the more you do it you know what works and what don’t work. The only way you gone find that out is to continue to do what you do. Then you just gone get better at it, there is really no secret, so you just have to continue to do it and listen to what people say.
Street Connfinement: With the RIA going in on CD sales does that affect you as far as DVD sales and what you put on there?
Albie: Anything with the police gets me concerned, but it doesn’t really concern me, I don’t do mix CD’s I do DVD’s. People sign off and give us rights to record, we use original music, so I am running a legitimate business. It more concerns me for the stake of hip-hop cause at the end of the day this is the industry that I am in so from that point, I’m like, “man this is jacked up”, and how can we fix this situation because mix tapes is a part of hip-hop and we really don’t want to lose it. That is the streets, the DVD kinda substitutes it but not 100% because at the end of the day you still need music. You need TV which is the visual, but you also need the audio. Also a lot of people make money off of that, it will affect how a lot of people eat. Now folks got to do different things that they normally wouldn’t do, which may be more negative then selling music that they can get online free anyway, so what is the big bother? Especially when, labels is sending that stuff to them, I check my email, I get like easily 60 new songs a day from Snoop to Akon to Lil Wayne and I am not even a DJ, so imagine what a DJ gets, and he not suppose to put it out? They don’t know what they want to do, they just want to arrest folks.
Street Connfinement: In this industry the labels are turning their backs on DJ’s and you got artist like Lil Wayne saying f$ck the DJ, do you feel like, you’re in this industry but how much longer till they turn they back on me?
Albie: I think the biggest problem with the industry and why record sales are bad, I don’t think it has anything to do with bootleggin, I don’t think it had anything to do with mixtapes or downloading, I think it was just bad music. Personally tell me the last classic album before Kanye West. It was a Jay-Z album, so we just getting bad music, one hit wonders, or a ring tone album. They not giving us a full fledge album. So after buying a couple of those, after the consumer spends the money what is going to make them inclined to continue spending their money when every CD that I hear there is one hot song, so I’m not gone buy that. The industry forgot about the art and now they just say, “ok, this music makes money” if the song is hot they just want to make a million dollars off of that song. Sooner or later the consumer said they not buying those CD’s no more. So now you see itself correcting, this year alone, we go Kanye West, Jay-Z, Rick Ross, we got Lil Wayne. We got like 4 or 5 great albums, I can’t remember the last time we had 4 or 5 great albums. So now the labels are saying, lets just put out good music now, so it is just self correcting.
Street Connfinement: How do you feel about an artist like Lil Wayne selling millions and Nas is selling a couple hundred thousand?
Albie: Well who buys music?
Street Connfinement: Kids
Albie: Then why do you think Lil Wayne sold 2 million, cause more kids buy music. A 30 plus person running out buying albums, Lil Wayne age bracket will buy his music. Kids 18 plus don’t even really know who Nas is. It is not Nas fault, that is just how the industry works. If you young you have more potential.
Street Connfinement: How does the industry view you and what you do to get the information?
Albie: It is funny cause they love me but they hate me cause the Cheddar. I just had somebody from Bad Boy call me saying they want to do an interview. Alright I’m coming but it was an industry person, I know how the industry work, I give them a discounted price and they still don’t want to cut a check. So I’m like it an artist out here is grinding with no major label will cut a check for this promotion, you definitely need to cut a check. And you know sometimes it is about relationships so you gone give a reduced price cause it is about that relationship, cause a Bad Boy person might be able to get you in touch with Puff which is a cover story. There has to be some type of bargain involved. I am promoting your artist, what about travel, what about tapes, what about time, what about editing? So some of them just want free promotion, soon they gone try to mixtape me, they just trying to get as much as they can get for free to some degree, this is a business so if you aint gone respect it then keep it moving.
Street Connfinement: What are the differences you picked up traveling from east coast, west coast and down south?
Albie: The south is united, I love that about the south. But they united where they may not all hang together but they all support each other. I think that is what the northeast is missing, they don’t support each other. Their support system is all messed up. Just because there are different music, like Dip Set, Roca Fella, and G-Unit…they don’t have to hang together but they should still support each other instead of dissing them. Dissing is like the worst thing in the world because it makes everyone else look at you like “he’s fake, cause he said he’s fake, and vice versa”, instead know that they are good artist and support them. Everyone from New York, Connecticut, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, all these places, the more they support each other the better it will be for the music in this region of the country. That is the biggest problem, it is like crabs in a barrel, but in the south they support one another. I wouldn’t say the music is better in either place, but with a support system, you can’t lose right.
Street Connfinement: Are there any restrictions or guidelines on your DVD?
Albie: Naw, it aint no guidelines. I don’t know about that one, I mean if something is rated R, I am gone put parental advisory. That is the guideline, my product is not designed for kids, it is for 18 plus so that’s my guidelines anything else I am unaware. I didn’t know a gun was against the law. I guess whatever you do, you have to expect some type of consequence for the person actually in the DVD.
Street Connfinement: Tell us about your grind and how you distribute the DVD?
Albie: I do send them out in the mail and I do drive around to get them out. I got an office down south and they ship there. It is kind of hard to get on the road as much as I use to but I love getting on the road. That is the most enjoyable part of my job. The mingle and chatting with folks to see what is going on in other parts of the country. Going into new shops, meeting the owners, make a couple dollars and keep moving, I love that part. That is also probably what helps us grow so fast cause from day one I always got on the road. This was never a local product, this is always been a national product. From production to sales it has always been we gone get an interview from this side of the country, we gone sell a DVD on the other side of the country. It has always been national. Now we got a new situation out in the UK so it is global. I can’t drive there, but I will get over there sooner or later.
Street Connfinement: Out of all the artists you met, who are some of the up-in-coming artist to watch out for?
Albie: I really like Mass Pike Miles. His music is good and he works hard. I hear good music all the time, I hear industry artist with good music, I hear industry artist with bad music, I hear independent artist with good music and with bad music. But good music and hard work, that dude work hard man. And I got to see him at work, so that right there makes me think, if you work this hard, you deserve it. So that is what really gets me. So watch out for Mass Pike Miles, watch out for Jay Young the million dollar kid he has done a lot of work with me, he is out of Atlanta, he works hard, he performs 2 or 3 times a week, working hard. Mass Pike just signed a deal with Rick Ross. But up until 3 months ago neither of them were signed but they been working extremely hard. All their money still comes from the industry yet they just getting signed. They still doing shows, they doing music for commercials, whatever they do, they still working the industry and I love it.
Street Connfinement: Anything else you want to address the fans with?
Albie: CheddarLive.com log on man.
Street Connfinement: How do people get in touch with you?
Albie: CheddarDVD.com, CheddarLive.com everything is right there.
street connfinement ;- But I want to thank yall for your timing and coming out here to New Haven to chop it up.
I see how Street Connfinement do, thank you for your time and keep doing what yall do. Just like what I do is important, what yall do is important.
Fast Facts:
Street Connfinement: What’s the livest interview you did?
Albie: Suge Knight
Street Connfinement: What is your favorite Cheddar DVD that you put out?
Albie: I haven’t seen it yet. It is the next one to come, my favorite is always my next.
Street Connfinement: What is the farthest you traveled for an interview?
Albie: Cali
Street Connfinement: What is the best part of the grind?
Albie: When you see the finished product.
Street Connfinement: What is the hardest part of the grind?
Albie: Dividing your time.
Street Connfinement: What is the first camera you started with?
Albie: A Cannon XL1, Right now I am using a Panasonic DVX 200 HD
Street Connfinement: Who is an artist you look forward to interviewing?
Albie: I would love to interview Jay-Z, and even though it aint gone happen, BIG and Tupac
Street Connfinement: Favorite quote, or personal saying?
Albie: “More money, more problems”
