Rookie TV CAMEL TOE by Rookie TV
How long have you known your counterparts, C-Dub & Big Dave, and when/how was Rookie TV created?
Well to be honest, I met the fellas at the age of 15 in high school. C Dub and Big DAVE where attending De La Salle an all boys catholic School on the southside, while I was attending Morgan Park a public school with girls. Long story short, my freshman year I messed up pretty bad scholastically and my mom transfered me to De La Salle before my grades dropped too much. I met C Dub in art class and oftentimes we would compete on projects against one another. He was the better artist if you ask me. Big DAVE was a guy I saw all the time from class to the hallways to even lunch because most things where arranged by alphabetical order and he and I had the last names of Watson and White. He and I were like the classic cartoon due of the big bulldog that always walked forward with no emotion and the little bitty dog that barked all the time jumping over the back of the big dog http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ov-1S8Xxd94. I know I got on Big DAVES nerves, but I just couldn't understand how a school could exist without girls in it LOL. The starts of Rookie TV came about when my cousin Big DAVE and I would grab my father's Camcorder and lipsink A Tribe Called Quest in several locations with the idea of turning it into a music video. I never got around to it, but it opened the door to filming skits together and putting other ideas we had into motion, like a hip hop show we filmed called "Jackin' For Beats" where the premise was these 2 hood cats that couldn't or refused to get interviews in the conventional way so they would kidnap the stars and force them to give an interview. Our first time we used my cousin, he was an Usher look alike at the time so it went well with our family when we showed it to them. Our family was often our test audience. We were no more than 16 or 17 at the time. Years later I had messed around with shooting skits during college (usually when I was supposed to be studying for finals) and when we graduated, I met up with a familiar dude one day while sub teaching back in Chicago. The dude turned out to be C-Dub. We hang out for a while and talked alot about how boring tv was and comedy in general and next thing you know he and I developed branding and a logo for Rookie TV and we began to write and shot skits. We officially started in 2006 with nothing more than a website and a splash page. But in the months and years to come we would put my new camera (a gift from my dad as long as I stayed in the field of production) to work.
I see y'all having so much fun in your videos, it's raw hip-hop & comedy but always with a message. What is that message that y'all wanna get out to the masses?
That fun on set we look like we are having is real and comes from years and years of chemistry gained though bullshitting together on projects and hosting shows. Honestly how we look on the skits is how we look everywhere from the club to the public train. The message we want to give or spread is that you can be black and enjoy/produce intelligent comedy. Slapstick/deadpan comedy is ok, but we felt that we could create something our people could watch, laugh, and be proud of as well. Realistically speaking, when this is all over, our company most likely morph into that of an ad agency. With our writings mostly appealing to those with a little wit we find it rather easy to write and produce 30 second commercials/spots.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnaVk-2Inj0
What's your favorite thing about the Chicago Hiphop scene right now?
My favorite thing about Chicago Hip Hip right now is how wide open it is. Now don't get me wrong, with the greedy Big Whigs making tons of equipment more affordable to the average man, everyone now a days wants to proclaim themselves a rapper or film maker (this is why we started the Wackest Mixtape EVER in the 1st place) but without even looking far you can find such a wealth of the true hip hop that people on the cusp of middle-agedom grew up on. These cats are really talented and really hungry with some really great acts and there is a wealth of it here. Where alot of rappers that are getting on are gimmick heavy now, these guys that we are fans of in Chicago just can perform their asses off and are so unique from all others. We believe Chicago stands alone in this aspect.
Y'all are making jokes about alot b.s we see on tv everyday, what's your opinion of the state of hip-hop today?
To me the state of hip hop is growing as any other music has in the past. Now even though the Wacka Flockas and the Soljah Boy's of the world are getting significant shine now, and it's ultimately very scary to my clique and I, we don't see hip hop going anywhere anytime soon. It's just going through necessary growing pains. We feel with the rotation of music more specifically from labels like G.O.O.D. music, they are bringing back the "thought" into hip hop. Thinking out storylines, marketing plans, and music video treatments concurrently along with creating the music in itself. This is what sells the music. This is what we grew up on. Thought rap.
Where do you see Rookie TV in this game in 5 years from now?
Five years from now the fellas and I would like to see the Rookie Films brand expanding on the production market, producing commercials and shooting music videos for clients and maybe even a motion picture or two along with designing websites (www.RookieTV.com/www.GrafficAudio.com/ and www.RookieTV.com/wackwere all designed from scratch videos and all by us). Our writing capabilities are solid, and with our talents put together there is nothing within the market I feel we cant at least make a dent in and or make our mark respectfully. The only thing to make this even more fun would be if we are still producing our comedy skits within the market in a way it is lucrative for multiple parties.
What's your latest project and what's next on the agenda fam?
Our latest project is basically The Wackest Mixtape Vol 2. While recording vol 1 we literally recorded too many songs so we took the extra songs and we applied them to this new album which will be by my observation 2 times more goofy than the 1st. This one will have people in stitches even more than vol 1 no doubt. Other than that we are still scheduling video shoots for both vol 1 and vol 2 as we go along. Here is a song from the 2nd vol called "Camel Toe" http://soundcloud.com/rookie-1-1/rookie-tv-camel-toe Other than this, we are just developing our live show and getting used to performing on stage LIVE. It's one hell of a release.
Where can they your screaming fan get their hands on your music and where can they see you live in person next?
LOL @ "Screaming Fans" man, if you se any of those screaming fans, let us know, we are ALL still single, fam LOL! The best bet would be for them to hit the mixtape website at:
http://www.rookietv.com/wack/ this will always be the place where we hit with new music and or music videos. As always our drop the "wack" and you can reach our mother website: http://www.rookietv.com/ this is where all our comedy skits, full shows, and even our taped radio shows and bois there. Also we are very active on Twitter and Facebook: Rookie = @rookietv1 , C-Dub = @rookietv , Rookie TV's Facebook = http://www.facebook.com/pages/Rookie-TV/109735069091805?ref=ts Furthermore, We have solidified a place where we host shows and tons of hip hop acts once a month at Cafe Lura, 3184 N Milwaukee Ave Chicago, IL Doors at 9pm. Free b4 10, $10 after. Our Next show is April 8th but afterwards we do shows there at least once a month. We get other shows around the city as well, but our Facebook page is the best way to stay on top of recent shows, interviews, radio/tv appearances.
iight fam, anything you really wanna let da chi know?!
All I have to add is that we have been doing this for many years so they can find so much with a google search. From our self produced music and music videos we are becoming our own entity. As long as it has the Rookie Films Logo on it, it is definitely something we produced. Lastly, if they love hip hop to check out our website www.GrafficAudio.com where we interview much of the underground hip hop using our signature comical approach and light-hearted way of interviewing. Thanks again man, and we look forward to seeing what you put together so we can share it with our fans and spread the word.
YOU GONE GET BEATS ANYWAY, MIGHT AS WELL GET EM FROM UR NIGGA RIGHT? CHI-BANGERZ.COM:
1 Comments
Thanks for the post man.
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