Pardon Me but all this Dres talk reminds of his first comeback in ’98. Why can’t we all just get alawnge? xxl interview; previously Interview with Mr. Long aka Mr. Lawnge (Black Sheep)
[audio:Dres_PardonMe.mp3]Excerpt:When you say Long wasn’t “on his feet” before, what do you mean?
He wasn’t financially stable. I gave him an MP and we started to put some things together. But just an MP doesn’t equate for a good album. In the beginning, I was hearing a good foundation. But you have to understand that it’s a different time. Just having a funky loop wasn’t going to cut it. The production game is way above what it was back in the day. I was bumping some of the young guys who produced and I wanted him [Long] to come and hear these guys. I wanted him to share production credit. I mean, these were young guys who had wanted to share that credit with him. My dude didn’t want to respond to none of that. He felt that it should be him and only him. I was paying for everything during production, even splitting the show money with him. I wasn’t trying to be on any ego-type tip.How did you react when you heard Long was working on his own solo album?
Eventually, the publicist hit me with an album. It was Long’s! He was spending money to do him and I was spending money to do us. It was then that he let me know that that’s how it was. I bit my tongue and let him go by saying, “God Bless.” I just think that he made a mistake by stepping out at this particular time. He was like the original Spinderella, or like the fourth member of Guy. He left at a pivotal moment in our career. The album is really good. But I can’t worry about that. I have to worry about the company and myself, because if I don’t do me…nobody else cares. No one reached out to help me. The same people who I helped—and I’m talking about kept the lights on and helping send their kids to school—didn’t even call to see if I was doing alright.
