I want to say that the first time I heard of Poohman was in the early 90s. The album was Life of a Criminal and the song was Fuckin with Dank. After that, I would pick up several more of his albums. I also enjoyed hearing him with other Bay Area artists such as Too Short, Spice-1, Ant Banks, and the whole Dangerous Crew.
He was gone for a while, but recently returned from a stint and is back to making new music. His most recent release Kaos Theory dropped last year and he's working on some more new stuff as well.
After reaching out to him, he agreed to take some time to speak to me.
This was conducted 4/2015 over the phone.
DPG = Me
PM = Poohman
Enjoy!
DPG: Where exactly are you from?
PM: East Oakland 72nd & Rudsdale. Born in the 69 Village.
DPG: What kind of music did you grow up listening to?
PM: Soul music and everything. I listened to Ice cube & Scarface. I don’t really listen to rappers. That’s why I fuck with Scarface. I relate to him.
DPG: Do you remember when did you write your first rhyme?
PM: Yup, when I was in 6th grade. I wrote a poem titled Black Rose.
DPG: How would you describe your sound of music?
PM: I mean, I really don’t consider myself a rapper. I don’t like that term. My music is about something that I went through. It’s more Street Poetry!
DPG: Can you tell me how you hooked up with Too Short and the Dangerous crew?
PM: Well, me and my cousin Bruce were at a bowling alley on Alameda. We showed Too Short Life of a Criminal before it came out. That was around 1988. In 1990, my cousin Bruce got killed. Then Dwayne Upshaw came up to me and told me Short want to holler at me. From there, we hooked up.
DPG: How did you and Ant Banks meet?
PM: Me and Banks have know each other a long time. I met him when he was with MC Ant back in 1988. I wanted the best musically. Two days after we met, we were in the studio.
DPG: You were in the 1993 classic movie Menace to Society. How did you land a role in that movie?
PM: Hughes Bros (Allen and Albert). They came up here and said “We want you to play this part.”
DPG: Can you tell me when exactly you got locked up?
PM: 1995
DPG: Your album The State vs Poohman came out in 1997. Do you feel that this album suffered because you were in San Quentin?
PM: Yes, it did. Anytime you’re not there to promote it’s going to suffer. You have to go the radio stations. Back then we would make the rounds to the music stores from state to state. I couldn’t do any of that.
DPG: I really enjoyed this album. There are a lot of good songs on there. I wanted to talk about a few specific tracks on there. The first is the track Don’t Fuck with my Money. You had one of my favorite artists on that track which is Seagram. Can you tell me how that collaboration came about?
PM: Seagram and I are from the same hood. He’s actually my daughter’s Godfather. We went to the same schools. Our families are intertwined.
DPG: Do you have any stories you can share with me about him?
PM: Well shit, the first time I ever met Scarface was because of Seag. I was at a concert in New Orleans. Seagram called me on the phone. He called me and told me there is concert in Texas and they want you to perform. I did it. When I got out there, I met Face. It was a dream come true. I’m a Scarface fan. Seagram blessed me with that opportunity.
DPG: Another of my favorite tracks on the album is the song Baby with Michael le Blanc. What was the inspiration behind that song?
PM: The inspiration for that was my ex-wife. It was something I had never done before. I decided to try it on that album.
DPG: Some of my other favorites on there are Sentenced to Five with JT the Bigga Figga, Bad Dreams, and When I Come Home. Are you happy with how that album turned out?
DPG Is there anything surprising to you about the music that people are buying?
PM: Well, I have this song titled Eatin Pussy and people Down South, seem to be buying it a lot. Ha!
DPG: You then put out the album F**kin wit Dank 2001. Do you feel that the album lacked promotion?
PM: Yes, it did. At the time of that album, I was fighting a case. My homeboy released that on Killa Kali Records. I was headed back and he said let’s finish it. Then he put it out.
DPG: You’ve recently returned to the scene and put out a new album titled Kaos Theory. What motivated you to put out a new album after all these years?
PM: I got tired of listening to the music out there. Two weeks ago I really listened to radio. I didn’t like anything I heard. Nobody is saying anything. I would know if a person is from the street because they would say something that a street motherfucker would know.
DPG: You had Yukmouth on this album as well. Has he always been supportive of you through the years?
PM: Yuk, that’s my boy. He always hollered at me. Even when I was locked up. Before he re-made Fuckin with Dank, he contacted me first out of respect . When I got home, he contacted me right away.
DPG: Another heavy presence on the album is from Otis & Shug. They’ve been on the hook for many great songs and are two of my favorites. How did you re-connect with them?
PM: I consider them to be the Warren G of the Bay Area. I reconnected with them through Ant Banks. They deserve a lot credit.
DPG: Can you describe the music scene now and which artists you might be listening to?
PM: I listen to Berner, J. Stalin. Stevie Joe. Other dudes I won’t even listen to. They cant tell a story. They can’t speak on it. Most of the rappers from back then were in the GAME. Richie Rich - Baller. Seagram - a street motherfucker. Back then, you had real motherfuckers that were rapping. These dudes today aren’t doing this. When I got back, I was anxious to say a lot of shit. Banks guided me a lot on this album and told me to hold back. On this next album I won’t hold my tongue.
DPG: Have you spoken with Spice-1?
PM: Yes, Spice and I are cool. He just really hard to get a hold of. I was actually with Rappin 4 Tay this morning.
DPG: Are there any artists/producers that you would like to work with past or present?
PM: A producer I’d like to work with is Droop-E As far as artist, it would be TI. He had this one song about being locked up and I was really feeling that.
DPG: Have you done any features since you’ve been back.
PM: Yeah, I just did a song for Yukmouth’s new album. I did a verse for a Too Short song. Me and Richie Rich plan to do a single just for the hell of it. Really I’ve been focusing on my group Kaos Boyz and my female artist Tiffany Malone. That’s why it took me so long to put out Kaos Theory.
DPG: Is there anything else that you’d like to say or promote?
PM: I'm working on a new album. I will say this, I plan to have a newer version of Fuckin with Dank be the first song. It’s going to be called Cookies and Drank. It’s going to feature Berner, B-Legit, Richie Rich, Yukmouth, and Too Short. My hope if to have everyone together one day and then film the video for that song.
DPG: Well, I’d really like to thank you for taking the time to speak me. It’s been a pleasure for me. I look forward to anything else you may put out in the future.
PM: No problem!
Follow Poohman on Twitter @realpoohman
Go grab his newest Kaos Theory online
Go to Itunes to grab all of his past albums as well!!
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More Q & A sessions to come!
Thanks for reading!
dpgmarine
