SMACKOLA
of the Dirty Wormz
Within 5 minutes of stepping into the home of Thomas "Smackola" Chapman, I immediately felt at home. He so graciously let me kick my heels off and as I rounded the corner into his kitchen, there was an entire feast waiting for me to forget about any diet that I thought I was on.
This of course is not the perception that I had about Smackola...a cook and a great host? No way. My pre-conceived notion was that he would be scary, animated and have a commanding voice that would have me eagerly anticipating the end of the interview. But no, Smackola was not who I encountered, instead Thomas Chapman was my host for the evening; a soft spoken gentleman with table manners. Where was Smackola? Well we will get to him later.
As I pulled out my notes, tape recorder, pencils and pads - all the tools for the interview that I had truly prepared for; Thomas said "Ask me whatever you want, I don't want people to ask me questions in which they can find the answers to on the internet." There went my long nights of doing my homework on Smackola. But no worries, this was the type of interview that I knew the fans would appreciate.
Whatever I was not able to capture in this issue of the magazine, will be posted in an audio version on YouTube.
Smackola's World Producer, Rapper, Rocker, Director and Actor.
BLAQUELINE: When did you first get into music?
SMACKOLA: My mother sang R&B and I heard all kinds of music. I learnd by watching her. But in 1988 I came out with my first demo tape and I was also doing a lot of recording. This was around the time that Too Short came out.
"When I got down to my last $1,000 I used it for the studio and my boy let me sleep on his floor"
BLAQUELINE: I do not think I can live the lifestyle of a struggling artist. Did you live that life?
SMACKOLA: Yes, because that is how determined I was. I went from the floor to the couch (laughing).
BLAQUELINE: Do you think that is a true sacrifice for artists?
SMACKOLA: Yes. The way I approached my homeboy about it was - I don't have a home or a job, but I believe in this so much. He believed in me or he would not have let me do it. I did not want to do it, but I knew it was a sacrfice.
BLAQUELINE: When you made up your mind and you went out in the streets to promote your music, did you really know what you wanted and did you sacrifice women or a relationship for the dream?
SMACKOLA: Yes, even today. When I talk to young cats today that have girlfriends, I am like "So are you willing to let go of her, because she is going to get tired of you not being able to take her out to eat or doing nice things for her."
"But when I look back, I am not sure if I can do it (the same way) again. I hate that I had to get to a certain point to realize it was all bullshit"
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