INTERVIEW: Omar Cruz "Pimpiando"

INTERVIEW WITH: DJ Z & OMAR CRUZ

DJ Booth: What’s goin’ on everybody? It’s your boy “Z,” doin’ it real big, and joining me inside the DJ Booth is an LA rapper who is currently hosting the brand new MTV Tr3s show Pimpeando, and expects to release his major-label debut next year. Please welcome my man, Omar Cruz – how you doin’?

Omar Cruz: I’m good, man, I’m good. How you doin’, Z? You good?

DJ Booth: I am. I’m a little mad at you, though, ‘cause the first thing you did when you called me was brag about how nice it was out in LA, and you know it’s sh*tty here in Chicago.

Omar Cruz: I don’t how it is anywhere else in the world right now, but LA, I’m very lucky to be an Angelino, born and raised right here in the beautiful city of Los Angeles. It’s about 80 degrees out here – what is it, November? It’s almost winter, right?

DJ Booth: It’s winter almost all year round here in Chicago, Omar.

Omar Cruz: I’m wearin’ shorts and a wifebeater right now, and some Jordan-brand sneakers, so I should tell you the weather out here.

DJ Booth: Well, I’m about to pull out my parka from my closet, with my winter hat and gloves. It gets bad here in about late October, and it doesn’t get nice till approximately late May, early June, so I have a lot of long, cold months ahead of me. But let’s get into what you’re all about, other than enjoying the nice weather – brand new show you’re hosting on MTV Tr3s, Pimpeando – am I pronouncing that correctly? I failed Spanish twice in high school.

Omar Cruz: Yeah, Pimpeando. “Pimpeando” is like “pimpin’” is Spanish. I bring you into the world of Latino car culture, basically. You could say it’s a spinoff of the Pimp My Ride thing, except I don’t go to your house and knock on your door and give you a hug and then put a fish tank in your Civic. It’s pretty much a lifestyle show; I pull up in something that’s me, and I immerse myself in the world of, depending on the episode, say, off-roading, drifting, lowriding. And the show allows me to connect with an audience that I might not have reached out to, so it’s workin’ out real well. I’m real proud of the show, and it’s doing very well right now. It’s every Monday at 4:00 and 9:00 PM on MTV Tr3s.

DJ Booth: What better way to get your name up in lights than by hosting a show on a major network? Tell me the truth, now: what is more important to you from this opportunity – the checks that MTV’s cuttin’ for you, or the great exposure that this show is giving you?

Omar Cruz: Of course the checks are going to be nice, man, but I’ll be completely honest with you: MTV Tr3s, to me, is one of the dopest stations ever. A lot of people don’t know, and I hope this interview will help expose MTV Tr3s as, like, the old MTV. Turn on MTV today, I dare you to find a video.

DJ Booth: You’re not going to.

Omar Cruz: You’re not going to! MTV Tr3s, you will see their TRL – and, by the way, my video, “To the Top,” featuring Frankie J, is number eight right now – they will show an Enrique Iglesias video, then they’ll show a T.I. video, then they’ll show a Beyoncé video, then they’ll show a Don Omar video, so what they’re doing is basically bridging this gap. I’m tellin’ you, man, I remember growing up, and I’m an ‘80s baby, seeing the old MTV, when people wanted their MTV.

DJ Booth: When it was actually a music video television station…

Omar Cruz: Right – when you had the old-school, man, I could mention names like Martha Quinn and Downtown Julie Brown, all that, that doesn’t exist anymore! The MTV Tr3s format that we’re seeing now, it has that attraction about it, ‘cause it’s new – I mean, sh*t, they took away Rap City about a week ago!

DJ Booth: Yeah. It’s gettin’ depressing when it comes to music video television. If you have the opportunity to jump inside of a board room with some executives over there, see if you can’t bring back Yo! MTV Raps.

Omar Cruz: You know what? I’m going to bring back Yo! MTV Raps, like “yo” in Spanish. As soon as I hang up, I’m gonna call one of the executives at MTV, and I’m gonna try to put something together. I might throw you in there, so you get a little percentage of that, get you a check.

DJ Booth: Absolutely – I will executive produce the show, and I will take the money. I appreciate that, Omar.

Omar Cruz: [laughs] That’s what’s up!

DJ Booth: I would be remiss if I didn’t ask you, since you’re on a show all about making over cars, what are you currently driving?

Omar Cruz: Right now, I am currently driving a black 2008 Tahoe, but I’m tryin’ to get rid of it, I’m tryin’ to get into something else, so if someone out there wants me to support their particular brand, if you’re a marketing executive, if you want me to pull up in a Benz, feel free to contact me; I’m not hard to find, you can just Google me, myspace.com/omarcruz. We can work out some endorsement deal or something, so let me know.

DJ Booth: You know what I’ve gained from the, say, 10 minutes so far of this interview? You are great at plugging everything you’re about.

Omar Cruz: Man, this is a business. I’m in the recording business. You’re only as successful as you make somebody else, that’s the way I look at it.

DJ Booth: Absolutely, and your rise to success is starting right now, with your new single, “To the Top,” which features Frankie J. Omar, as a newcomer, so to speak, in this industry, how do you plan on making it all the way to the top?

Omar Cruz: Unfortunately, in this industry, talent is only 10% of your success, and I didn’t realize that that’s how it was when I started out. I started to find out that it’s very political, a lot of nepotism. There’s people who definitely don’t deserve to be who they are, but, hey, they got there, so I’m not knockin’ them. I personally believe in hard work; success is 90% perspiration, 10% inspiration, man. I’m grindin’ every day. I just met with my manager, we’re thinkin’ about what’s gonna happen in January. I don’t know what date it is today, ‘cause every day to me is another day to f*ckin’ bust my ass, get in the studio, make great music, and make sure that I etch my name in the hip hop history books.

DJ Booth: Obviously, what you want to be able to do is use your success off of this single. You’re signed to Geffen/Interscope as well as your own label, BYI. Has your label, the major, given you any indication of when the debut is going to be ready to be out in stores and available to the public?

Omar Cruz: We were looking at releasing it this year, but when the show came about, MTV hit up Interscope and they were interested in me hosting. Obviously I accepted, and now it’s more of a timing thing. I think we’re gonna let the show take its course, soak new potential fans, I have a Cruz Nation out there that’s incredible, and I really appreciate everyone supporting my career. We’re waiting to see, maybe at the beginning of the year to drop it. We don’t have an exact date, but I am putting my finishing touches on it and I’m potentially gonna drop another little single in the next month or so. I’ve got this crazy song that I’m workin’ on, that I think people are gonna really enjoy.

DJ Booth: The title of the album, as you mentioned, is Sign of the Cruz, so who is going to be joining you on this sign? What producers, what featured artists?

Omar Cruz: Producers, Cool & Dre, Hi-Tek, J.R. Rotem, Julian Bunetta, who is this amazing producer that produced “To the Top.” I’m excited about these new producers that I’m working with like Rome, who’s part of the BY label; he’s also done about, I’d say, a good five records on the album. As far as artists, I got my man The Game on the album, Frankie J, of course, who’s on the record “To the Top,” which is out right now – make sure you vote for it on TRL, we’re trying to get to number one, we’re number eight right now, get out there, promote it. One of my favorite songs features the Grammy award-winning Los Lonely Boys, and they are from Texas – hello Texas – and these dudes ran the song, it’s called “Just When I Thought I Was Out.” It’s a very spiritual song. They’d never worked with a hip hop artist before, and I don’t think they ever wanted to, and I don’t blame them. They wanted to read the lyrics before they even heard the music, before they even considered it, and once they saw the lyrics, what it was about, they flew me out to Austin, we recorded for a few days out there in a hole in the wall off this dirt road, I guess it’s one of Willie Nelson’s. It was just an amazing experience, and I’ll never forget it. It is really one of those records where, back in the golden era of hip hop, when you bought a Tupac record, or a Biggie record, or an Ice Cube record, you understood what was goin’ on at that moment in time, you understood more about that man who wrote it and who’s rapping. Today, everyone’s pushing a f*cking ring tone, you know what I’m saying? My music isn’t made for f*cking cell phones. I’m not trying to reach you that way; I’m trying to touch your heart and touch your soul, and also inspire you. I’m putting an album together that, from beginning to end, you’re going to know who I am, what I’ve been through, what I’m about, and where I’m goin’.

DJ Booth: I know people are looking forward to a lot of stuff in 2009, one of which, hopefully, is your debut album. The other is Barack Obama becoming the next President of the United States of America.

Omar Cruz: Man, what a perfect f*cking year to drop my record, huh? I think that’s why I waited: I wanted to wait for Barack to get in the Oval Office so I could drop my album. I’ll tell you what: I won’t drop my album till he’s inaugurated, I promise you that.

DJ Booth: All right, so January 20th he’s going to be inaugurated. Sometime after that, we’re gonna get an Omar Cruz album?

Omar Cruz: Yessir!

DJ Booth: Sounds good to me. This leads me perfectly into my next question. Since Barack became the President-Elect, I’ve had many guests join me inside the Booth for an interview, all of whom were African-American. They all shared their feelings and emotions about the historic moment. So, Omar, from the perspective of someone within the Latino community, what are your thoughts on his victory and his entrance into the White House.

Omar Cruz: Z, in as little words as possible, I feel very proud of my community – first of all, Latinos arrived in the political arena in 2008, in this election. We officially became relevant, not only to the Democratic Party but also to the GOP, so it’s not just a one-sided thing. We were almost a tipping point; we helped him get that W. That is gonna launch us into the political scene to a point where I hope Obama recognizes, and puts Latinos somewhere on the Congressional level, so we can make change for our community as well.

DJ Booth: You know, never before did people think that a black man, or a woman for that matter, could be inside the White House. One of those two things happened, the other came close, so naturally, Omar, what are your thoughts on a member of the Latino community entering Washington in an upper level?

Omar Cruz: It’s going to take a lot of hard work, it’s gonna take a lot of serious action. I think now have an opportunity to be taken seriously, but we need individually to do our parts. As a hip hop artist who happens to be Latino, I think it’s very important for us to take responsibility within our own communities to make things better and to be leaders.

DJ Booth: Well, you’re already talking about it, and I think that is definitely the first step in that direction. Omar, I appreciate your time greatly. Give everybody a website or a MySpace page, something so they can find out more.

Omar Cruz: Myspace.com/omarcruz.

DJ Booth: Omar, thank you again for joinin’ me inside the DJ Booth. I wish you nothing but the best of luck, my friend.

Omar Cruz: Z, I appreciate it. I’m gonna come see you soon in person and we’ll chop it up, man.

DJ Booth: If you wanna chop it up, I’d much rather visit you out in LA than have you come out to cold Chicago.

Omar Cruz: [laughs] It’s all good, man – I love Chi-Town. We might have to take a trip to Washington DC, though, to go see the inauguration, so who knows? I might have to stop by Chicago, and then we’ll take a quick little jet-set down to DC, man.

DJ Booth: Or, you know what? If you have the finished product, we could just take a road trip, and we can listen to your CD on repeat all the way there – how does that sound?

Omar Cruz: That sounds real good, dawg. Thank you so much; I appreciate it, homie. This is one of my [most] favorite interviews I’ve done all year.