Artist: Cool & Dre
Interviewer: Henry Adaso

Imagine that BET’s “Freestyle Friday,” or even “Fight Klub,” was brought directly to you at the comfort of your home; complete with a chance to win a cool $100,000 grand prize without leaving your seat. Well, Cool and Dre, the Miami-based producers behind some of 2005’s biggest hits have made that virtual world a reality for aspiring MC’s everywhere (it doesn’t matter if you live in Tijuana). The beat-makers that gave you Ja Rule’s “New, York, New York” and Game’s Grammy-nominated, “Hate It or Love It,” explain the concept behind Battlerap.com http://battlerap.com, what separates Dre from the other Dre’s in the game, and how they managed to avoid the conflict that would have stemmed from working with disagreeing clients.

Soundslam: Battlerap.com is the first of its kind. What was the inspiration behind the battlerap website?

Cool: My manager hooked us up with the idea. And, soon as they shot up the idea, I was like, “Yo this thing is crazy.” As soon as they broke it down, we definitely wanted to be involved in it. It’s the future man. Battlerap.com is the future …the new way of finding new talent. Not just in the States, it’s gonna be global….

Soundslam: Is the website fully functional? After I signed up, all I got was a “thank you” page.

Cool: It’s supposed to be first quarter launching. Right now, it’s looking real good as far as the 1st quarter launching.

Soundslam: Besides Battle Rap, what other projects do you have coming up?

Cool: Besides Battlerap, man we got a lot of s**t. We just co-produced Christina Milian’s new album. We gave her a whole new sound. The first single is her featuring Young Jeezy. And, we got Dre’s album coming out. We got a single out now called “Naomi” and the video on BET right now. Just practically working on everything man, a bunch of new artists. The Game’s project [The Doctor’s Advocate]

Soundslam: Dre, when you drop your solo project, do you think fans might get you mixed up with all the other Dre’s in the game right now? You think that could be a problem?

Dre: Nah, because what I’m doing is so removed from what the original Dre, the only Dre that’s Dr. Dre has done, or OutKast’s Andre has done. You know I call myself not the doctor but still D.R.E.

Soundslam: Are you going by just “DRE” or is there any acronym before that?

Dre: Nah, it’s just Dre. You know the music is what’s gonna separate me from the rest.

Cool: His A.K.A. is “The Tall Guy” [Laughter] Nah I’m just kidding.

Soundslam: How did you get your names by the way?

Cool: I used to be a DJ back in the day in high school. And I used to be called DJ-Kool-One. Then me and Dre, we got a Radio Show. And Dre used to be on the mike, his name was Dirty Dre. So we just took out the “Dirty” and the “One” and it’s just “Cool & Dre” We couldn’t go as “DJ-Kool-One and Dirty Dre.”

Soundslam: Right. That could’ve been a mouthful. I can imagine a fan at the record store trying to figure out: who? Has any artist tried to solicit one of you for a beat or hook, instead of approaching you as a crew?

Cool: Nah, it’s always been, ‘I need a Cool & Dre beat. It’s never been, ‘Oh I need a Cool beat.’ ‘Or, “I need a Dre beat.’ You know, “Cool & Dre” is one thing; we do the beat together. You know what I mean? Soundslam: Yeah. No doubt. How do you guys manage to stay together and not get too big for your shoes?

Cool: Nah, man I think the thing with me and Dre is we’ve been friends for so long. You know we’ve been through the high school thing. We’ve been through a lot – we did the whole R&B group thing together. We’ve lived together in the same house for like 6 months; you know what I’m saying? It’s more than just the business thing – it’s like family.

Dre: Cool’s wife is like a sister to me. I’ve known his wife longer than he does.

Soundslam: Oh word?

Dre: Yeah. We’re like family because you know his wife is like a sister to me, and his daughter is my god-daughter. So, we never trip. But Cool knows it’s all about me.

Cool: Yeah it’s all about Dre [Laughs].The Tall Guy. The Tallest Producer in the game.

Soundslam: What kind of conflict did you guys encounter from working with Ja Rule, being affiliated with Terror Squad, and doing a record with 50 Cent and Game on The Documentary?

Dre: No conflict.

Cool: None at all.

Dre: It’s just good music. Now if we had made a diss record for 50 Cent against Fat Joe, there probably would be some conflict. Fat Joe is our friend, you know what I mean?

Soundslam: Right.

Dre: We made the #1 Hip Hop classic that’s going down in History as one of the biggest Hip-hop songs. We’re known for making good music. I mean everyone’s still trying to find out how Joe and 50 got beef. How did that come about? Cool and I make music and all that other bulls**t on the side, we don’t get involved in that.

Soundslam: I know “Hate It or Love It” got nominated for a Grammy. Have people been calling you up congratulating you?

Dre: Yeah. We got two songs with Game already on his new album. You know we won a couple of awards for that record - together. He gave us an opportunity to win. Game is our boy.

Soundslam: Cool, what are your favorite Cool & Dre productions?

Cool: Of course “New York” would definitely have to be there. “Hate It or Love It”, “So Much More” and the “Destiny” song we did on that Ja Rule’s…what’s the name of that album?

Soundslam: The Last Temptation?

Cool: Yeah, The Last Temptation. I really liked that record, and the “Girl I’m a Bad Boy” for Bad Boys II soundtrack. I liked that record as well.

Soundslam: Any artist that you guys would like to work with that you haven’t worked with yet?

Cool: Last time we got asked this question, it was Mary J. [Blige]. [Laughter]

Soundslam: And it happened, right?

Cool: It happened. We’d say Snoop. But, from what I’m hearing Snoop is using one of our records, so we might be working with Snoop soon. We trying to get into the Rock game a little bit, you know.

Soundslam: Switch it up?

Cool: Yeah, switch it up a little bit. Later on, get into the film business. You know that’s where the future of Cool & Dre would be.

Soundslam: Finally, any word of advice for upcoming producers in the game?

Cool: Be original. Stay dedicated. Get your sounds up. Don’t have a plan B, man. If you have a plan B, you’ve already failed the first plan.

Dre: Get ready for the takeover in ’06. Everybody go get the album. And, my five favorite beats happen to be on those Battlerap game stages 1 through 5. We put the hottest beat ever made on that video game on purpose.