A. Hello, my name is Shug Jackson. I am a rapper/actor and an entrepreneur.
Q. What made you want to pursue a career as a Rapper?
A. I wanted to pursue a career as a rapper because I love to tell stories, touch people through words and give them a snapshot of what goes on in the hood.
Q. How would you describe the music that you create?
A. I would describe my music as storytelling, real life over beats and laidback. Music with substance and something that everyone, of any age can relate to.
Q. If you had one message to give to your fans, what would it be?
A. One message I want to give to my fans, that Shug Jackson is always going to give them great music, with great content and subject matters that they can relate to.
A. Hi this is Gregory “Sugar Bear” Elliott from the group E.U. famous for the record “Doing the Butt” that’s me “Oooooow!”
Q. Let us talk a little bit about your journey and how you got to where you are today?
A. It started in high school. Music was my heart; from talent shows, to award shows, performing and collaborating with other artists. I tried boxing and basketball, but my passion was music. I loved playing the bass guitar. My journey has been a blessing.
Q. How was it performing on the BET awards?
A. It was a dream come true! I did Soul Train and MTV on a lot of big platforms so when they called about the show, I was like Yessss! We had to cancel four shows for this, but the promoters understood. We received great love.
A. I would say that I’m a very passionate person. I’m very passionate about what I love and the people I love, family is everything to me. When people look at me on the outside, they may view me as intimidating, mean, having a rough day etcetera, but I actually have a real sensitive side like “A Big Teddy Bear”.
Q. Who or what inspired you to be a fitness trainer?
A. Well, I’ve always been an athlete growing up, but the inspiration of fitness training came when I met this one brother at the gym. When I first started my weight training journey, he taught me so much and inspired me each time we train together. He basically took me under his wing and started that solid foundation. He is someone I will never forget; Gee was his name.
Q. How do you stay fit and healthy?
A. I’m always on the go, so that helps (ha-ha). I would say just staying consistent all these years with training and more than anything eating healthy. My number one weapon believes it or not is good old water, a gallon a day for over 15 years.
Q. What is one of your greatest experiences?
A. I would have to say growing up playing football and basketball during my youth days. Especially football, which my dad introduced me to. I was always looking forward to driving to practices, especially on game day. Seeing my parents in the stands at every game, and taking those rides to practice with my dad, were the happiest days of my life. Football will always be my first love. I miss it every day, and those experiences will be with me forever.
Q. What has been the hardest experience in your life?
A. Well, without going into depth details, I had to grow up real fast at a young age. It was a rough patch in my life, but I think it taught me about facing our adversities that we may go through in life. You can overcome anything in life as long as you never give up and do the best that you can with the cards you’re dealt.
Q. Tell everyone who Toon is and how you got the name Toon?
A. Well Toon is a humble person who grew up on the southside of Atlanta who always loves sports and music. I love to rhyme….I got my name from my grandma. She passed a year after I was born so we just stuck with Toon because she gave me that name but she got it from my girl cousin whose name was Toon Toon…
Q. What made you want to be a Rapper?
A. I always like to rhyme words together and make a story like a poet. It was just in me from the jump.
Q. What is one of your best experiences or accomplishments?
A. Seeing my family happy about my success and having the best team ever with me period and that’s MMR x CLB 4Life in my best experience coming out of the helicopter for my mixtape release was like a movie straight up.
Q. What or who inspired you to be a Rapper?
A. My lifestyle, the struggle, the pain and my family.
A. LeRazia, is a driven woman. Outgoing, friendly, kind and caring vibe. A motivator. A goal getter, and most importantly a mother.
Q. What or who inspired you to do fashion and be an author?
A. When I was in high school, I was inspired by a lot of the new decade designs. Coming into the early 2000s there were a lot of new trends popping. There was always a hot book being passed around. I just wanted to be a part of Triple Crown Publications.
Q. Tell us about your company “Petite with Curves”?
A. Petite with Curves was inspired by myself and a few of my friends who desire a different taste in clothing. There is always an issue finding either small clothes or larger clothes that are stylish. So, I decided to hand make my own. Something that would continue to make me and the rest of the world unique.
Q. Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
A. A designer in DC and/or New York Fashion week!! And I will speak it into existence until I am there.
A. That may actually be the hardest question I’ve gotten thus far. Let’s see: Mind west born, Third Coast raised, the fat kid who was overlooked and ignored, all district football player, National Merit Scholar, etc., and so on. On the flip side an ‘in-house bastard’- my pops remarried and decided I wasn’t necessary- so by JR year I had an 18-man crew and was a ghost. Now at 47 after multiple indictments, over half a decade in suspended animation and having enjoyed the best and survived the worst life has to offer I would simply say I am a survivor.
Q. Tell us about your book “Hostile”?
A. Hostile is a non-biased look at my last 7 years in the game it is neither a glorification nor a knock, but rather an intelligent look-a window if you will-into the complex world that comprises the darker side of society. HOSTILE provides an uncut, raw look at my decisions, my mental motivations, and the consequences and repercussions of said decisions.
Q. What advice can you give to other authors?
A. Believe in yourself and your vision and dedicate the time and energy into making your dreams a reality. As your project grows, know that support will come and go but success is solely in your hands.
Q. Where can we get your book?
A. The hardcopy and EBook are available on Amazon. Com under Hostile: An Urban Tragedy. For an autographed copy and more visit my website www.hostilebook.com
Hey hey this is day 8 of me and @imodelbooth 30 day challenge. We are highlighting one person and their business. Today we wanted to highlight @victoryornothingapparel @marcuswbrewster and to wish him a happy birthday
Q. How do you feel about where the music is right now?
A. We like it. It’s always growing as we get older. Music means something different to us. Music means to us differently than the kids we think. It’s time for Hip-Hop to give some harmony to the older generations. Even on Netflix, you got shows like “The Evolution” that are really breaking down what Hip-Hop is. If you like something different, you can go to SoundCloud, we think this is a good time.
The time is good with Hip-Hop, we like to look at how it used to be called the golden era. When I was appreciative of what was going on, and now it’s the new era. Some people complain about how things change. It evolves, and the evolution of Hip-Hop is a dope thing to see and experience while we are living within it.
Q. What have you all been up to these days?
A. Working on life, and we still make music. We been making beer and getting into the craft beer to a place we all get. We can appreciate it and the diversity. The industry and different beers are changing the world.
Q. How did you get started with beer?
A. It started with liking beer and trying different flavors that turned into a business opportunity. We drank it, tried different brewers, went to different places, and it was all about us trying different beers that led to starting Atlantucky. That is our beer brewing company. We had 2 beers that we did with Monday Night Brewing. We tour 100 to 150 days out of the year. It started as going around the country. Before the shows we would go find a brewery. We visited about a hundred or more breweries over 5 or more years. We learned more by trying new flavors and brewing in the country. We went to cool places people would never go to. We got an opportunity with Monday Night Brewing to do our first beer called “Front Porch Parallel”. It sold out everywhere.
We found another revenue stream. Beer is something that will be around forever, even if we stop rapping, beer will still be around. If we can make that, we can still be creative as an artist. We saw it as a business opportunity and a passion project. Beer is sold everywhere. The beer industry is booming. It’s a $40 billion dollar industry a year. A lot of people are bringing the urban side to it. Nappy Roots are more than just a name on a can. We know how to make it.
Watermelon Chicken & Gritz is in about 4 states. Georgia, Kentucky, Indiana, and New York. The goal is to do a collaboration as well as travel, so we can do more meet and greets. We are also doing a T.V. show about it called “40 Akerz and a Brew”. Craft beer is about creativity and there’s a science to it.
Q. What is “Nappy Roots” doing differently?
A. Being “Nappy Roots” and doing beer is different. They need more diversity in Atlanta.
A. I started singing at around 3 and a half, but officially at age 4. I sang on stage with my sister and dad at one of his concerts.
Q. How did you get into the industry?
A. For the most part, I took an in depth look at the industry by reading books on it, watching artists that inspired me, and attending workshops. I applied the knowledge I received so that at some point I would make the necessary global impact.
Q. Who inspired you?
A. It’s a long list, but I’d say firstly, my dad-Tony Gonzales, Also, Kirk Franklin, Ron Kenoly, John Legend, Ray Charles, Deitrick Haddon, Johnny Cash, and Maxwell inspired me as well.
Q. Tell me about your single?
A. In wanting to have no limitation placed on my sound, and being known for my Contemporary releases; the first release for 2019 showcases the worshiper in me that many have seen and experienced in my life performances over the years.
The single is entitled “I Choose to Live” and it speaks to the heart of every person that wants greater in all aspects of life and is a reminder that through it all they must speak “Life” into their own lives even when the odds look stacked against them.
The new offering was written/produced/ arranged by Lesroy ‘AP’ Byers and co- arranged by Sade Sealey of Audio Predators (out of Antigua), with mixing/ vocal production done by Sherwin Gardner of Flow Master Records and mastered by La Masseria Estudios.
Q. What advice can you give others in this industry?
A. To answer that question I’d say this: I watched the Netflix Quincy Jones documentary the other day, and in watching his story, I am reminded of some things that some people might say are cliché. Things such as “Keep going! Keep growing! Continue to educate yourself within the field. Never give up if you’re serious about making this all that you do. Even when you start to collect the nice checks and gain more power, never lose the drive necessary to continue to cause change and be great”!
Q. What projects have you been doing in the community?
A. Annually I try to host at least two outreach events in different communities, as well as a lot of food drives and free outdoor music events.
