ENLIV: When was Sluggerz Entertainment established?
SWORZ: This is like the second or third name.
GILFIGGA: First it was Mo Mo Records and then it went to Mo Mo Entertainment. Now it’s official and it’s going to stay Sluggerz Entertainment.
DON JUAN: You can sort of think of Mo Mo Records and Mo Mo Entertainment as the same two companies. They were really the same. Sluggerz is a totally different company and a totally different corporation.
S: And a new goal, too, because the goal with the Mo Mo companies was really to get a product to the major labels in hopes that the major labels would take it and go. But with Sluggerz, we want to get straight to the public and cut the middleman out.
G: We don’t want to play their game anymore. We don’t want to play by their rules. That’s why I chose the name Sluggerz, because if you’re a slugger, you’re hittin’ hard. We just want to hit the whole industry hard. We want to come fierce. We’re hungry right now.

E: So what made you decide to start your own recording label?
G: Back in ’96, the three of us hooked and decided to get into the industry. We wanted to come up with an album and sell it to a label. We finished the product and took it down to the record label and they didn’t even give us the time of day. It was a horrible experience. After that, I always had a vision of building our own entertainment label, our own enterprise. Plus, being independent, we didn’t have enough funds to keep going to other people’s studios to record.

E: Who takes care of the sound mixing and producing?
G: That’s what Don Juan is here for. He’s very versed in that area. He’s produced a track for Don’t Be A Menace To South Central While Drinking Your Juice In The Hood, so he’s got his feet wet in the industry and a gold record to show for it. He’s a valuable asset to us.

E: We’ve seen the West Coast and the East Coast sound reign predominantly. Then the dirty South. Now a lot of reggae-style hip-hop is at the forefront. How do you describe your sound?
S: I think we got a little bit of everything. We got some party songs, then we got some deep stuff, meditative stuff.
D: We don’t have that Baltimore underground sound to us. After people start taking notice, they’re going to be like, “Where are they from? They don’t have an East Coast or a West Coast sound or a Dirty South sound.”
G: Don’t get it twisted. We got mad love for Baltimore, but we’re not just trying to touch Baltimore. We’re not just trying to represent here. We’re representin’ Sluggerz. Our sound is us. However we feel like putting it down, that’s how we do it.
S: I honestly think we’re going to come out with a new sound. I think we’re going to come out with a brand new type of following that, at the time they hear a beat, they’ll go, “That’s those Sluggerz dudes,” or, “Sluggerz must’ve remixed that song.” Not to compare myself, but I kind of like how A Tribe Called Quest was. They could go anywhere and they were loved. And that’s how I think our sound will develop.

E: How will you infiltrate the record industry and compete with the already established recording companies?
G: First we’re working on getting a few tracks and a few artists’ contracts straightened out. And once that’s straightened out, lay down a couple of solid songs to go along with what we have to start promoting underground, as far as hitting the DJs with wax records. Our current objective is first to release an album, the first of the label, in the early part of next year. We’re more knowledgeable in the industry now. One of the best things about having our own studio and our own company is we make the decisions. We are directly in control of our fate.

E: How important is it that you succeed in this industry?
S: I love music. That’s it for me. I don’t care too much about the money. It sounds like something people always say, “I don’t care about the money.” But it’s true for me. Right now I work for Comcast doing customer service probably making $38,000 a year. If I could make $38,000 doing rap music, I’d be satisfied because I’d be doing what I want to do. This is the only thing in my whole life that really makes me happy – music. Hit or miss, this is it for me. If this doesn’t happen, I’ll probably be a bum on the street. (laugh)
G: We stay working. We haven’t put anything out there yet. And right now, we just want to cover our bases. We don’t want to come up with just one song and think it’s a hit. That’s not what we’re about. We want to sustain in this industry.

E: If you could put each of your visions in one sentence….
G: To not be famous, but leave an impression on some people and be in a position financially to help as many people as I can and still be comfortable.

E: And what about the bling bling?
G: That doesn’t faze me. I’m an average guy. Not to say you won’t see us wearing jewels if we can afford it. We don’t hate it, but that’s not all it’s about. We’re not into spending and flaunting what we got.
S: I have a saying that I say to keep me going: The present is going to be the past in the future. So right now we’re trying to do as many things as possible so when we get to the future we can look back and say we stretched that as far as we could and we don’t really have any regrets.
D: What about the slogan?
G: Yeah. “It’ll only get better.” That’s our slogan.

For more information about Gilbert “Gilfigga” Agyapong, CEO of Sluggerz Entertainment, and the Sluggerz Entertainment crew, visit their website at www.sluggerz.net.

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