Illuminati 2G

Interview: We’re here with award winning Canadian mixtape DJ, Haze! how are you at this time?


Haze Ent: Had a bit of a rough night actually.


Interview: (laughs) Care to tell us about that?


Haze Ent: Had a party at my house until 6 in the morning. I got about three hours of sleep. I’m just kind of waking up now.


Interview: And you’re ready to speak to us! We hope your house isn’t in a mess.


Haze Ent: (laughs) I just cleaned it up so it’s not too bad.


Interview: Good stuff. First off, what’s it like DJ’ing in Canada?


Haze Ent: The thing is my name is Haze Ent. As “Game” already has a DJ named Haze, and I’m only a mixtape DJ. I don’t even DJ in the clubs; I have my DJ – DJ Blenz that does all that stuff. I just put the hits together kind of thing. I middle man everything. I take one artist from one state or country and put him on a track with my Canadian artist, Koncreto.


Interview: We’re definitely going to speak on Koncreto. Although you don’t DJ in the clubs, how and when did you become a mixtape DJ?


Haze Ent: I’d say late ’99 or 2000 when I was graduating high school. I just got into it through DJ Blenz. I always loved music though. Before that, I was making cassette mixtapes – rewinding it, pausing it and getting it all ready to go to record it.  Than I got into mixing using a program called MJ Studios, and from there the passion was born, and that’s pretty much it.


Interview: Do you think there is a solid market for a mixtape DJ in Canada?


Haze Ent: No definitely not, but nobody else is doing it in Canada from what I can see. When I thought of my idea of what I was going to do in the hip hop industry, and with nobody being a mixtape DJ out here I saw that as my chance, because no one wants to hear me rap (laughs). Originally, it was DJ Skee and now it’s DJ Ill Will, the people I looked up to as they white mixtape DJ’s in the hip hop industry.


Interview: We appreciate your honesty. Being that you don’t believe there is a market, do you think any of what you wish to achieve

can be accomplished in Canada?


Haze Ent: You can do anything you put your mind to. Nobody is doing it in Vancouver and I wanted to get into it; I figured this would be the best way to do it. Originally, I didn’t have any artists that I could make original songs with other than Dub M; so I was just hollering at people and asking if I could put their songs on my mixtape. That’s how back in the day I had songs from a whole bunch of people that helped me build my resume for when I started making original music with everybody. They were just giving me songs back in the day. About 2001, DJ Blenz and Koncreto who we all went too high school together started making original music.  We’ve been working together since then, making hit records.


Interview: Speaking of the market and what not, how does being a mixtape DJ in Canada specifically differ from being one in USA?


Haze Ent: Being one in the USA, there are so many of them. I do the DJ Khaled kind of thing where he puts and gathers as many big names as possible and puts them all on a track to make a hit. There is nobody doing that up here in Canada. I know there is so many in USA but nobody is doing that on the west coast for Canada. So I use that too promote my artists like Koncreto, Flawless Mac, Darkness and my 14 year artist Lil Dominican G who is Koncreto’s little brother.


Interview: What was it like winning the west coast Canadian mixtape DJ of the year at the 2009 west coast hip-hop awards in Portland Oregon?


Haze Ent: That was great. I actually went down there with the mindset of “I don’t know if this is going to really happen or how good is this event going to be?” and I got there and met Octavious the guy who runs the event, and it was a great event. I met C-Bo, Spice 1, Kokane and tons of different artists that I’ve worked with now that are on my CD since the awards. Everybody up in Canada was like “this guy’s crazy if he thinks he’s going to this award show and is gonna’ win.” I was kind of cocky at the time but that’s just how I am.


Interview: Let’s get into Koncreto. Tell us about him.


Haze Ent: He’s Dominican born. He lives in Vancouver but also has family in the Dominican Republic so he’s there quite often as well. He raps as well in English as he does in Spanish. He’s been on tracks with Crooked I, TQ, B. Legit, Dre’Sta, Spider Loc, Ya Boy, San Quinn, Shade Shiest, Bigg Fase 100, Cyssero and more. I was talking to C-Bo all night last night so C-Bo is up next for Kreto. We just started working on our second track with Glasses Malone track as well. We were the first in western Canada to work with Glasses Malone, years ago.


Interview: That takes care of my next question. I was going to mention him working with all of those cats. How does he have all of these west coast connections? Is through your work and stuff like you going to the west coast hip-hop awards?


Haze Ent: That’s pretty much it, I do all the networking for him. On the real, I don’t even know if Koncreto does much. He’s just the voice. Nobody wants to hear me rap (laughs). I’m the one that does everything. I get the studio time, find him what beats to rap on, decide what the song is going to be about, who to put on the song with him, I promote the hell out of him because he is Canada’s next big thing – I basically executive produce everything. I sit at the studio with him and my artists, drinking my miller bottles and making hits.


Interview: Has watching Kardinal Offishall & Drake blow up give Koncreto the hope to blow up and become a household name?


Haze Ent: That’s the thing. Koncreto is a crazy kind of guy. He’s from the Dominican. He has that reggaeton feel to him. I feel there is nobody bigger on the west coast here that has bigger names than we do. Nobody on the west coast even likes Drake (laughs). We all know he came from YTV and Degrassi. He’s not even a good rapper but he makes hit records. Kardinal Offishall is good. He had the chance of a lifetime and got his music in the hands of Akon and blew up. Drake is the same way but Drake did it the way I do – he collects big name features and makes a hit record. The difference with me is I get all my features from the west coast; I’m not a real fan of the east coast. I’m still stuck in the Death Row mid 90s days (laughs).


Interview: Koncreto does English and Spanish rap. How do you think that helps him broaden his audience?


Haze Ent: I don’t know anybody that can rap better in both languages. That’s what it pretty much comes down to. He can rap on any kind of beat in English or Spanish. In Spanish, there is a pretty good Spanish market in Canada; I don’t know if people realize it and I don’t know if there is in USA. In Canada, there is a good Spanish market and lots of good Spanish artists that Koncreto works with. He’ll continue to do it in Spanish but he loves the English too. He would probably rather do Spanish but all of his English tracks are through me and they’re all hits. Being Spanish definitely helps him as he brings a hole other side of him. He has done it real big already in Dominican where he has a full Spanish album set too be released, and worked with all the best from DR.


Interview: There is definitely a huge Spanish market in USA. It’s their second language and in California, you have a lot of Spanish descent.


 Haze Ent: Yeah. There are a lot of Spanish in town here in Vancouver. There are probably only five good Spanish artists here out of hundreds. All of them already work with Koncreto. The non-Spanish market side of Vancouver is crazy out here. There is not any love out here. It’s like hater city. I think of it like a crab bucket. Everybody is stepping over everybody trying to get out of the bucket. There all making the same crap sounding music trying to be big in Vancouver, but the sound Vancouver is putting out is all garbage. Everyone making theses underground style songs, and trying too be known in Vancouver by doing there little shows each week where 11 people show up. Years ago, I saw the way the Vancouver market was going and decided to put my city of Coquitlam on the map and began working with artists from California. I did it straight California based. I had a chance to hook up with big name west coast features and that’s pretty much what I do. Also, at the same time I get all these big name features and then I try to use that to show we’re actually doing something. All these Canadian artists are like “woah, how did you get that guy?” and then they want to buy a feature. That’s where I help these west coast artists sell verses too the Canadian market that’s why most of these verses I get are for free from these California artists.


Interview: In terms of the crab bucket analogy, does that sum up what your thoughts on the Vancouver hip-hop scene is like?


Haze Ent: Yeah, pretty much. I don’t even like to go to any events in town here or do events in town as I can see these people doing there little events each week and they still aren’t known outside of Vancouver. I focus all my stuff on out of town. I saw what the Vancouver market has and there are a handful of good artists, and there pretty much the ones I work with. Everyone else all trying to be big in Vancouver; I’m not trying to be big in Vancouver. I could give a shit about Vancouver. Vancouver artists are gonna’ be mad at that statement, but my only mission is too have Koncreto blow up in the states, nothing else. So if I hurt your feelings, suck it up. I want the California and American market. That’s all I want because the contracts and deals are bigger in the states, plus that’s where all the big labels are and Koncreto the best unsigned artist in Canada, I can’t have him only based in Canada. That’s why my CD is called “California Dreamin.” We don’t have the much music television channel down the road like theses east coast Toronto artists. So in Vancouver it’s hard too catch a break, as the only music video channel in Canada is all on the dicks of Toronto. 


Interview: That’s a major statement. I know you don’t DJ in clubs but you said you have a DJ who does. Does either you or your club DJ to start spinning Drake or Kardinal Offishall records?


Haze Ent: Oh they play Kardinal and Drake. Everybody is still playing it. I play Drake in my car. Drake is not that good of a rapper, but he makes hit records and he just has the right people behind him. That’s all we need if Koncreto had the right people behind him. Koncreto can be a star. All it takes is some A&R anywhere in USA to notice Koncreto. That’s all we need; for Koncreto to be noticed and for someone to take him. Someone will take him because he’s Canada’s next big thing.


Interview: What are the upcoming goals for Haze Entertainment?


Haze Ent: I have January release for the “California Dreamin” CD hosted by DJ Ill Will. That’s big to me; getting one of my favorite DJ’s to host it. In my eyes, this might be my last chance to really do anything; I’m getting old here (laughs). If I want to make the music industry, this is my last chance. We have Ill Will hosting the tape, which I figure is big because he’s been doing it big. After that CD comes out, I also have the Koncreto mixtape and album coming up that I’m trying to put out. I don’t have a name for that but he’s 12 tracks deep into the mixtape but he also has an album coming as well. We haven’t started the album yet but the mixtape is 12 tracks in already. The first single off that mixtape is the one with Glasses Malone which we’re getting back today from Glasses. That’s going to be the first track. It’s gonna’ have some Spanish on it. All my friends want Koncreto to just rock the English stuff, but Koncreto loves his Spanish music. We are also working on the album for our new group “Dem Trez” which is Koncreto, Flawless Mac and Lil Dominican G. But personally I’m looking forward to the next west coast hip-hop awards on July 17^th. It’s either gonna ‘be held in San Francisco, San Diego, Portland, Or Seattle. Check it out at www.westcoasthiphopawards.com tell them Haze Ent sent you.


Interview: Next up for Haze Entertainment is your “California Dreamin” CD coming out in January hosted by DJ Ill Will?


Haze Ent: “California Dreamin” is my CD. Koncreto is on every single song with all those big named features I listed before. As mentioned it’s hosted by DJ Ill Will, and has only the best from Vancouver and the states on it.


Interview: We really appreciate your time Haze. We wish yourself and Koncreto the best of luck and are looking forward to the “California Dreamin” CD. We see a lot of big things going on right now. Do you have any last words before I let you go?


Haze Ent: I’d like to thank you for giving me the chance to do this. Thanks too Octavious of the west coast hip hop awards. Thanks too Koncreto, Flawless Mac, Lil DG, and Darkness for remaining on my team. I hope everybody checks out this interview and leaves me feedback on myspace.com/hazeent. Thank you very much.