Camp Lo

The duo of Sunny Cheeba and Geechi Suede have teamed back up with legendary producer Ski Beatz to release their new 7-track EP Ski Beatz presents Camp Lo ...Another Heist in August 2007.

Camp Lo, the smooth-talking trend-setting Bronx duo, are returning to bring their innovative brand of hip hop back to the airwaves.

Camp Lo is prepping for their first large release since 2002’s Let’s Do It Again. The first single from the EP, “Ticket 4 Two”, demonstrates Sunny and Geechi continuing to lay down mischievous but appealing lyrics and flawlessly delivered verses while Ski brings back the melodic-soul element evident in the production on their debut album Uptown Saturday Night. "The cats who never heard Camp Lo's music are gonna be surprised to hear something this new and refreshing, and the longtime fans will definitely not be disappointed,” Ski explains. “I'm not in the business of making wack music or compromising my sound to fit into any categories, so check us out." The album will be released through a joint venture between Ski’s label Redefinition Records and High Water Music.

In 1997, Camp Lo teamed up with Ski Beatz, the producer behind “Dead Presidents” and “Feelin’ It” amongst other tracks on Jay-Z’s Reasonable Doubt, to release the highly acclaimed album Uptown Saturday Night. With songs like the chart topping single “Luchini AKA This is it,” Camp Lo was able to introduce a unique style of blaxploitation, street slang over funk-soul production, which garnered the group crossover success.

High Water Music was founded by Sucio Smash, DJ and host of Squeeze Radio 89.9 FM WKCR in NY. The first release on the label will be rapper and producer Howard Lloyd’s The Quickie EP. Other slated releases on the label are albums from Sputnik Brown, a collaborative project between Breeze Brewin’ and Oh No, and Sucio Smash’s own compilation album. - NewswireToday - /newswire/ - Jersey City, NJ, United States, 04/30/2007

I don’t believe Camp Lo. The official explanation for their extended hiatus from the rap world was label problems and a desire to “travel.” But that’s just too easy. I know the truth. Listening to Fort Apache (The Mixtape Album), it becomes all too clear that after fleeing the bank heist depicted in their epic “Luchini” video, Camp Lo hopped into a waiting stretch limousine doubling as the getaway car. Tearing off their Jimmy Carter and Richard Nixon stick-up masks, Geechie Suede and Sonny Chiba sank into the plush leather seats with canary-gobbling smiles, pouring themselves celebratory Cristal toasts to the new life that awaited them in Antigua. Diamond running and stick-ups had certainly paid off, they thought to themselves, as they lit up fat Cohibas stuffed with chronic. Stepping out of the limo red-eyed to catch the red eye, the two crooks laughed goodbye to the urban jungle of NYC, boarded the private jet waiting for them at Teterboro, and headed off to Cayman bank accounts, white-sand beaches, ice-cold tropical drinks, and bikini-clad beauties.

Then again, you can always believe the tragic “real” story. The story of how the duo dropped a classic first single, “Cooley High,” in 1996 on the Wu-Tang heavy Great White Hype soundtrack. The story of the two rookies that held their own with the heavy-hitters, coming off like distant cousins of Ghost and Rae. The story of a couple of friends slinging slang soaked lyrics that sketched colorful portraits of a Blaxploitation underworld.

The hit single was followed by the masterpiece: 1997’s Ski-produced Uptown Saturday Night. Spitting over the same soul-drenched beats that Jay-Z wanted for Reasonable Doubt, the duo’s portraits grew more vivid—spitting seamless flows about performing diamond heists and living with Charlie’s Angels hornets during “silky days and satin nights.” These weren’t the ice-cold Scarface reinterpretations of their brethren in the Wu, Suede and Chiba were more interested in the fur, guns, and jewels lexicon of Superfly and The Mack.

The rest is, as they say, cliché: with the modest success of Uptown, the majors came knocking. The label, Priority, told the majors they weren’t for sale—unless the entire imprint was included in the deal. As soon as Arista signed on the dotted line, Lo was asked to bring in R&B singers for the hooks. Predictably, Lo asked out and went AWOL for the next several years, until 2002’s self-released Let’s Do It Again, a severely underrated and often brilliant record that few people know actually exist. And then? One guest appearance on Aesop Rock’s Bazooka Tooth in 2003, and…nothing.

Perhaps it’s this hiatus that makes Lo’s Fort Apache: The Mixtape Album seem even more impressive than it already is. The record is the sound of the artists shaking off cobwebs with swagger intact, verbiage Technicolor bright, and flows vicious and Richard Roundtree-smooth. While most of NYC wasted the last decade squandering their goodwill with half-baked skit-laden albums, Camp Lo’s time off has only made them hungrier to stake their claim and to build upon their legacy.

In interviews, the duo have described the mixtape as 80s themed—with a touch of 70s Hollywood. It’s made clear on the first track, the fierce stick-up minded “82 Afro’s.” From there, the duo take the listener underground into their paisley colored hideouts packed to the gills with ebony-skinned girls in tight jeans and afros, towering mountains of vacuum-sealed drugs, and gargantuan speakers hemorrhaging funk. “Suga Willie’s Revenge” finds Lo riding hard 80s style drums with a sinuous and infectious flute sample. Over the thudding bass, Lo put their elegantly tangled vernacular on display: (“It’s that blue funk personified / I’m the Congo in the vibe / I’m the voodoo come alive / I’m the fly frantic / Live across the transatlantic / With the panama slanted / On this true enchantment.”)

“52” finds the pair ruminating over the number 52 (“They said when I’m 52 I’d have 52 brides / In a B-52 bomber pouring out 152”), while “Gimmie Dat” features Lo spitting over a lean beat and a sample from Gangstarr’s “Just to Get a Rep,” and taking on the personas of a stick-up kid and his victim in the Bronx. And “Suga Lo’s Lov”? Possibly the finest infidelity gone-wrong tale since Ghostface’s “It’s Over.” The album’s excellence doesn’t become clear until it’s over—after Lo has dropped six straight certified bangers, each the equal of anything on Uptown Saturday Night. Shit, they even turn the reggae-themed “Ganja Lounge” into a slow burning stoner anthem.

So nearly five years after their last album and a decade since “Cooley High” heralded their arrival, Camp Lo have returned to planet Earth to drop the year’s best mixtape. Meanwhile, somewhere in the Caribbean, a treasure chest is buried deep in the sand, filled with glistening diamonds, fur coats, and Panama hats, patiently awaiting the return of their rightful owners. The ones who’ve returned home to finish w - Stylus Magazine 12-01-06

Break out the tims & chukkas! Camp Lo is black– er, I mean, ‘back’! You know Sonny Cheeba & Geechie Suede be sippin’ amaretto but did you know they are also slated to release a new album on July 24th?! This news had me buggin’ as their 1997 album Uptown Saturday Night changed my vocabulary & also my life. - missingtoof June 26, 2007

Camp Lo was ahead of their time. In 1997, the duo of Suede and Cheeba dazzled Hip Hop heads with their remarkable flows and creative wordplay on their debut album 'Uptown Saturday Night'. With their hit single "Luchini" and standout production from Ski - of Reasonable Doubt fame - the album quickly became a cult classic and to this day, is hailed by many as one of the most slept on LP's in Hip Hop history. However, as is the case in the Hip Hop game, Camp Lo fell victim to the infamous industry rule number 4080 shortly after. With Arista buying out Profile Records, Suede and Cheeba sat in limbo for over two years. Eventually, they were able to shake off the chains and released their long awaited follow up album 'Let's Do It Again'in 2002. Unfortunately, the album failed to rekindle the essence of 'Uptown Saturday Night' and was hit with mixed reviews. Now back on their feet once again, Camp Lo is looking to make up for 'Let's Do It Again' with their upcoming mixtape 'Fort Apache' (Editors note: the album has been indefinitely delayed due to to unknown reasons) and their third LP 'A Piece Of The Action'. NobodySmiling tracked down the hard to find duo for an interview to let you know that Camp Lo is back and better than ever.

NobodySmiling.com : The both of you grew up in the Bronx, so what was that experience like for you?

camp lo quote Suede : It was awesome man! That is where I discovered everything about myself. I discovered music, dance and graffiti. Everything was here - all of those art forms and they were just in the beginning too. So it was a very very wonderful experience growing up in the Bronx. It gave me my blueprint for what was going to happen in my life later on.

Cheeba : I don't know, it feels like a living room or something, very comfortable. It was a little bit wild, but it was comfortable, regardless. That was back in the days when pop lockin' was on the come up - that is what I remember. We were just chillin' and all that.

NobodySmiling.com : What is your first memory of Hip Hop?

Suede : When my mother let my brother throw his birthday party in the crib. That was my first time being around the older crowd and seeing the whop and all the kids coming together to jam. It was a real fly thing. Of course, at the end of the night the party got shot up in my house, but there is still a whole lot of classic memories about that party.

Cheeba : I remember going to school and seeing cats beat boxing and battling in front of the school.

NobodySmiling.com : What was the one album you always listened to growing up?

Suede : I know the first album I ever purchased was Pete Rock & CL Smooth's The Mecca And The Soul Brother. That was pretty much the first album I was really in love with.

Cheeba : 'The Great Adventures of Slick Rick' and the Jungle Brothers first album.

NobodySmiling.com : How did you guys hook up to form Camp Lo?

Suede : I was pretty much a solo artist at first and I was working with Ski on my project. So Cheeba used to pretty much critique my stuff. He was like a mentor around that time and would help me find myself as an artist. Eventually, it got to a point where I didn't want to do it anymore, but we made such an awesome team that I had to pull him in and we started Camp Lo. This was never really his dream, this was my dream that he pretty much hel...(continued below)

ped me live out. He was going to do something else in life and I'm glad he chose to partner up with me along this journey. I wouldn't want it to be anybody else.

Cheeba : Well, I used to lend Suede records all the time and he was rhyming by himself. And one day he was like, "You rhyme fam?" And I was like, 'Na, I don't rhyme but I'll try.' Then one thing lead to another and we ended up getting with Ski and did a couple songs. Then we left, came back and did a couple more. He ended up digging them and that was pretty much it.

NobodySmiling.com : How did you originally know Ski?

Suede : I knew Ski for a very very long time. I was introduced to Ski through a mutual friend, who is also an emcee. I was living in Virginia at the time, because there was a point when I moved to VA. But my brother called me one day and was like, "Have you ever seen this group called Original Flavor?" So I finally saw the video and he was like, "Yeah, they live across the street from me." So even though I was living in Virginia at the time, I would come up to the Bronx for the summers. And when I came up, they introduced me to him and that was pretty much it.

NobodySmiling.com : What did you think when he blew up on Jay's Reasonable Doubt? Were you cool with him during that time?

Suede : Yeah, we were working on 'Uptown Saturday Night' around that time. We used to literally record in the same crib. Me and Cheeba used to sit on the corner waiting for Jay to finish up his demo, and then we would go next. It was that tight knit at that time. And they wanted "Luchini" so bad. There was beats that Ski - http://www.nobodysmiling.com/hiphop/interview/85805.php

Camp Lo has a classic album under its belt but a lot of the younger kids may not be familiar, so please introduce yourselves.

Sonny Cheeba: Yo, this is Cheeba from Camp Lo!

Ski: Geechi Suede and Ski the producer, but Suede's not with us right now.
How did you guys meet?

Ski: Well I met Suede first. I used to live on his block. He used to come by my crib and rhyme, you know, make songs with me. So I introduced him to Cheeba.

Camp Lo has one of the only truly unique styles in Hip Hop, how have you managed to always stay fresh and what were your major influences?

Cheeba: I guess the fact that cats stay unique. The influences were like Marvin, Stevie, Earth Wind & Fire, you know what I'm saying? The fact that cats basically dug old school R&B and stuff like that and really wasn't following what anybody else was doing. I guess that's why it is what it is. We take pride in keeping it Lo.

A nostalgic 70's vibe has always been part of your style, do you think modern Hip Hop could use a little more influence from people who have done it right in the past to get it out of this down slide?

Cheeba: I mean we only know one way to do it and that's how we do it. We definitely been influenced by all those cats and the cats that I've mentioned that have done it their own way. So that's how we choose to do it as far as the music is concerned. People have to fly that thing.

Ski: You know what I think? I think we were really born in the 70's.[laughs] Transported in time, you know? That's all we listen to is old 70's records, all we watch is old 70's movies. I mean it's crazy and it's hard to explain. It's like some old cats in a young body.

Tell us about your new project Black Hollywood. Is it a mixtape or an album?

Ski: Black Hollywood. That's the mixtape. It's on Good Hands Records with my man DJ Truth. It's a bunch of hot songs that we put together man. That old Camp Lo vibe. That feeling that the game is missing right now. It has that authentic Hip Hop feel. It makes me take you places.

Cheeba: Being that it's all original, it's the album feel ya dig. There was a lot of joints that we were holding for a future project. You're getting all types that we were holding for something else but we felt that people need to hear right now.

So you got something bubbling after this album?
Ski: That's what I wanted to touch on. I don't want the readers to get confused. The mixtape is called Black Hollywood. That's coming out in July. Later after the mixtape, maybe late September we have an album. It's called Another Heist. That's coming out on Redefinition Records.

Do you think Ski will always be the best fit for the Camp Lo sound?

Ski: I'm like a band member. I'm like the member they don't talk about. I'm the producer but I'm also a member. Like a distant cousin or something.

Sonny Cheeba: He's the Lo-ah delegate.

Will there be any guests and are you still down with De La Soul?

Sonny Cheeba: We haven't rapped to Dove and Pos yet. We really want to get the bulk of the album done before we do all the additives and preservatives and all the other seasonings ya dig? Once we get where we are confident then we're going to add the other parts that's missing. Those are the joints we are going to put cats on.

Why do you think Let's Do It Again wasn't as well-received as Uptown Saturday Night?

Sonny Cheeba: I don't think it was on enough ears. We did try other things cause we really don't do singing too heavy on our albums. We'd rather just go straight up with the beat or whatever. But we tried that, ya know, we tried some different things. I think basically it wasn't on enough ears.
Ski: I think all artists go through that. Like Jay. He did Reasonable Doubt, but he did other types of music that wasn't received as well as Reasonable Doubt. But ya know, he kinda came back to the original formula and became Jay again. We had to step out and try new things. That's what it's about.

There were rumors you guys were working with Def Jux for a while which is a strange fit. I know you were on Aesop Rock's album but was it just rumors?

Sonny Cheeba: Umm that's one rumor that I haven't even heard. I ain't hear that one. Yeah we did the Aesop Rock joint and I guess we had all the unique sounds, collaborated and did what we did on that joint. Yeah but I ain't hear about that rumor.

What made you guys decide to release Black Hollywood on Good Hands Records?

Sonny Cheeba: We had gotten a call and cats were interested in some new Lo-ah. Basically like what do you guys have in the archives? What we had in the archives was what we where holding back for the album. So what we did was we hit them with all that. And that's why you got that Black Hollywood coming.

Is Good Hands your label or just for this project?

Ski: We aren't on a label officially. We are trying our hand at the independent thing and see how the independent world is going to take it. We got a crazy independent fan bas - Artofrhyme.com

TBA - Insomniac Magazine #4

If these were the 70's, there would be nuthin' special about Geechie Suede and Sonny Cheeba, the latest Hip-Hop bomb from New York. In fact, they would be so regular (in the way they talk, dress, and act) that some TV executive could pick them up to portray Lionel's "old hood" friends on "The Jeffersons" or somethin'. I can see it-

Sonny Cheeba: Yo Lionel, don't be jivin' me for shit, I'm on a quest for a sexy seniorida, or a foxy bonita, to connect for relaxation via tri state with some vigga and my man Geechie gracious....
Lionel: Nah man, my pops won't allow me to hang wit' you guys... Geechie Suede: Fuck dat dude, join the Black Connection, we gots the aura in dis joint, we gots some bubbley, so lets cool out superfly in Cleopatra's Casino...
Lionel: Sorry fellas...
and on and on.

Seems corny as hell, but the fact is, that I haven't heard anything in nowadays Hip-Hop as refreshing as Camp Lo's jive talkin' style. They show that you can jock the 70's, and still get something fresh out of it. How do you define Camp Lo? They're too street to be mafiaso dudes, too nasty to be Native Tongues, too nice to be gangstas... Ironically, I think that's their best definition. They are so original that they don't fall into none of these categories.

Throughout their debut album, Sonny and Geechie speak about everthing- from a heist to a party, from braggin' about skillz to hot sex on a platter, they jive it through, on top of some hella bumpin' beats supplied by Ski, and one by Trugoy of De La.

Camp Lo are so charismatic that they even made Trugoy holler "gotta make money money" on "B-Side To Hollywood", and that's something. The album's best track is "Black Nostaljack", a funky yet simple loop with some tight lyrics- Sonny freaks it "Yes yes y'all, to the beat y'all, scored like 10 on my IQ test".

"Sparkle" is also a acid-jazzy track, with some of that OG Camp Lo hooks "Got the bubbley, pourin' through me, sparklin', bubbley...". The album includes a remix for this track where the vocals are boosted up so you can check out Lo's emceeing technique to the fullest.

"Rockin' It aka Spanish Harlem" is a dope track with super old school feel- "To the fellas in the left keep on, rockin it... to the divas in the right keep on, rockin' it". Sounds great in a car, 4 sure.

Camp Lo still represent with some crime style tracks, like "Killin'Em Softly" and "Negro League". They freak it aggressively over some heavy bass an trumpets on "Krystal Karrington" and gives us an old school ride on "Park Joint".

All this without mentioning the hit singles: "Coolie High" and "Luchini", two almost groundbreaking tracks.

The rapper's distinctive flows complement each other greatly. After hearing Sonny's heavy accented pimped out drawl, Geechie's mellow flow comes in contrast which creates a cool effect (kinda like when Eazy E would bust it after Ice Cube... just kinda!!).

Bottom line... 57 minutes of pleasure... old school style with a new school approach. Hip-Hop that haves you ROCKIN' IT, all the way to the Sugar Shack with Foxy Brown (the original), Superfly, Jack Pat and all of those "cats". - Rap Reviews April 18th, 1997