Corey Fowler (Smoove), Cahron Childs (Jayare), Chanti Glee (Yung) and MontaeTalbert (M Bone), are Cali Swag District (CSD). Each member is 19 years old and they make up the hottest and latest group to come out of the west coast. The group has been together a little over a year now, but already they have been making major moves. From performing at the BET Awards 2010 pre-show to having a number 1 video these four young men have great energy and passion for their music combined with seriousness for the business. In our interview they spoke about the desire to be in films and also create a film about their lives, among several other dreams. Check out more of what the guys had to say in our full interview...
Parlé Magazine: How did the group get started?
Cali Swag District: The group was actually formed by our visionary Big Wy. We were all actually doing our own things in music, but once we came into the eye of Big Wy he realized that we could be this group he was already trying to put together. And we made it work.
Parlé: How long have you guys been together as a group?
Cali Swag: Almost a year, since last August (August 2009).
Parlé: You've made a lot of progress in such a short time. Album is already on the way for the fall, what’s the name of it?
Cali Swag: The Kickback!
Parlé: What types of things can fans expect to hear on the record?
Cali Swag: They’re really gonna hear the real CSD, we really do this music thing and we take it seriously. We just don’t make songs about dancing we make a lot of different types of songs. We’re a really diverse group, the fans will be surprised once they hear this album.
Parlé: What producers and artists did you guys work with on the album?
Cali Swag: We worked with a lot of local producers on the album, Disco, Smoove actually produced a track on the album… On the remix (Teach How to Dougie Remix) we worked with JD, Bow Wow, B.o.B., Red Café, that’s about it.
Parlé: What was the hardest part of making an album?
Cali Swag: None of it really, because our album was mostly done before we even signed a label deal.
Parlé: What do all feel are your individual strengths within the group?
Cali Swag: Smoove brings leadership and confidence, Yung is the wild and crazy one, Bone brings the energy and is the life of the party, Smoove knows how to do business when it’s time to get stuff done. Jayare is the laid back one he’s Mr. Too cool.
Parlé: What’s one thing that people are going to get from you guys that they wouldn’t expect?
Cali Swag: Bars! I’m just playing, but seriously we tell stories in our verses. Most of the things we write about really did happen or came true after we wrote about it. But after they listen to the album they’ll really know who CSD is, all our personalities and experiences. "Teach Me How To Dougie" is just one song that we based off a dance. It’s just one topic, but our album is gonna show that we can do anything. That we really do this, that music is our lives and we take it seriously, we go hard, and music makes our heart beat. (laughs)
Parlé: What’s the next single?
Cali Swag: "Where You Are" featuring Michael Jackson. It uses a sample of the song "Where You Are" By the Jackson 5. It’s a song for the ladies and it’s gonna be really big.
Parlé: Who did you guys have the most fun with while making the album?
Cali Swag: Each other! And everyone that happened to be in the studio at the time we were recording. Our album is called The Kickback because while we were recording we were constantly having kickbacks in the studio. For those that don’t know a kickback is kind of like a house party, but by invitation only…. Not as many people come but eventually it turns into what a house party is. And our album is something you can "Kickback" to or get turned up to and at kickbacks you can "kickback" or get turned up, so that’s why we gave it that name.
Parlé: What are some of your favorite tracks on the album?
Cali Swag: We have a song called "Kickback" we got a song called "Rocker Republic" that song is really gonna blow people away because it shows that we’re super diverse. We have a song called "Run That" and that’s the most turned up song on the album.
Parlé: I got a few random questions for the rest of the interview. Answer as best as you can... I can imagine that the women are all over you guys these days, what kinds of girls do you guys like?
Cali Swag: Red bones that would have to be our favorite type. (Smoove): I like a girls with nice teeth and lips. (M-Bone): I like a girl with a personality. (Jayare): We pretty much like all types of girls. (Smooth): And fair skin, nothing against dark skin girls, she doesn’t even have to be "light" just fair.
Parlé: How would you guys describe your style?
Cali Swag: We would describe our style as off the top! And what I mean by that is, it comes up as we go, we do us, we don’t do them. We don’t let anybody influence us on how we should dress or rap. We just take everything that we learned and put it into one. It’s something different and it’s something we created on the spot. Our styles are different we all dress different, we all rap different you can hear it in our music, our flows are different.
Parlé: Looking at you, you have a lot of tattoos, how many do you all actually have?
Cali Swag: Between the four of us it’s really more than 20, we’re not too sure. Ask us again in 3 days and there be like 5 more tats between us.
Parlé: What your favorite phone app
Cali Swag: Twitter! follow us @Caliswagdstrct
Parlé: Lastly give us some reasons why people should buy the album?
Cali Swag: If you like to dance you should buy the album, if you like good music you should buy the album. If you like CSD YOU SHOULD BUY THE ALBUM! If you doubt where we stand in this music game or if you don’t think we’re real artists you should buy the album!
Images by Christian Ortiz for Parlé Magazine
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