I don’t know about anyone else, but I think it has been one hell of a year for hip-hop! At the start of the year, Cook & Uno released their album, C&U Factory which has been bumping in the system every since I got it! Hailing from L.A, these two have been making moves, hitting the radio station, doing shows, and keeping their fans updated. With new material in the works, I had to get at Cook, and get the scoop!
Enjoy!!!
-L Shameless
LS: C&U has been doing things for a minute, for those that don’t know, can you tell us how you two got started?
CB: We were kids growing up in L.A what I like to call, “hood skaters”,
a bunch of blacks & Latinos who skated in the neighborhood we grew up
in. One of my friends was a dj in jr high, so we would go skate all
day, then go to his house & listen to records. I met UNO during this
time, & we clicked as friends. I always did music my whole life, & hip
hop was a natural musical outlet for me. So me & him decided we’d
start a group. We freestyled a lot, & my mom let us set up the garage
as a little “studio”. We saved, put our money together, & got some
cheap equipment, & started doing it. My parent’s house quickly became
the place to hang out for the local emcees, & out of that was birthed
Cook & UNO, & L.A. Symphony as well.
LS: When it comes to the music, were there any artist that influenced your work?
CB: Early on, as far as rapping goes, it was Guru (R.I.P.), native
tongues, freestyle fellowship, project blowed, heiro, & Pete rock & CL
Smooth. When I started making beats, it was Pete rock, preemo, dilla,
to name a few. Nowadays, I’m still inspired by a lot of artists…your
favorite, Kanye(LOL), jay, nas, all the greats.
LS: Earlier this year, two released an album titled C&U Factory, thus releasing a video for the hit single, “When You Rock, and Roll, featuring Evidence of Dilated
Peoples,” what was it like working with everyone?
CB: Evidence has been the homey for like 5 years now, so, when we asked
him to get on the track, he was like “without a doubt!” we looked for
the right track for his feature, then JJ Brown gave us a beat cd with
that track, and we were like “Boom, there it is,”
The video was fun to make. We had to get up mad early to start
shooting at 7am, and everyone was cool about it. Styliztik Jones had
us all laughing with all his dances and antics for his part, & the
whole crew was really cool, so it made a long day a very pleasant one!
Big ups to Ev for showing us love on that track!
LS: Are there any new projects in the works that fans should look forward to? Word around Twitter is that there is a new mix tape in the works.
CB: I’m really excited about my new mixtape entitled “Original Recipies”.
DJ Rhetmattic is mixin it for me, and I have a lot of really great
guest spots on it, including nocando, sunspot jonz, Boac, Ivan Ives, &
open mike eagle to name a few. I’m hoping to have it out by late
January, early February.
LS: What has this year been like for C&U so far? Recently you two performed in Hawaii with Living Legends. How was the show?
CB: The Hawaii show was truly the best show of the year, second only to
our album release party last January. Really, that’s what it’s been
about this year…shows, shows, shows!!! The fans have been great and
supportive. I went on tour a few months ago, and the response was
overwhelmingly positive.
LS: Speaking of tours, are there any major shows, or events coming up?
CB: Right now, we have shows booked all through December & January, & I’ll
be planning some tours for spring on to support the new release. Other
than that we’ll be recording lots of new material!
LS: With the social network craze, it is very easy for artist to communicate with fans, as well as promote their album. How
would you say Twitter, or Facebook has played a part?
CB: They’re huge! They have become an essential part of how we as artists
build our fan base. If it wasn’t for social networking, I don’t think
our fans could’ve helped us the way they did earlier this year, to win
the MTVu freshman contest by one of the largest margins they’d ever
seen! 78%!!!!
LS: That was a sure enough victory! I remember voting every day as many times as I could.
LS: Is there anything you would like your fans to know?
CB: Please keep supporting us! Tell your local venues, promoters, clubs,
etc about us! Help CookBook get to your town! If you book me, I will
come……….
Hey everyone, be sure to check out “When You Rock & Roll” on Youtube, Don’t forget to subscribe to CookandUNOTv! And if you haven’t already, be sure to subscribe to Plug Label’s channel to!
Cookbook, and Uno Mas – “When You Rock & Roll featuring Evidence: ”
Favorite Jawn Of The Week: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fY39XNcXFKM
-LS.