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2Face: Tyrese AKA Black Ty
Posted: 10/10/2006 by: Eric Robinson Jr.

In recent years fans have watched the decline of R&B while hip-hop has reached higher and higher levels. Ironically it's been these same years we've witnessed the rise of Tyrese Gibson. Check the pedigree. Gibson's evolution can be tracked from his start as a teenager in a Coke commercial to model, singer, MTV VJ, and actor. After over a decade of shine, Tyrese is ready to share the spotlight. Well not really. This December Tyrese will release Alter-Ego, a double-disc record where fans can reacquaint themselves with Tyrese the singer, and meet his rapping alter-ego Black-Ty.

On the eve of the release of Alter-Ego, Black-Ty has taken center stage and Tyrese is nowhere to be found. Stakes is high, this is hip-hop. Today Black-Ty sounds like a new jack with nothing but an empty stomach and a mixtape to his name. He knows this is his one shot and he can't miss.

ER: You have a successful R&B career. As an R&B artist you've gained the respect of both men and women on a level that can be hard for a rapper to -

BT: Rappers don't get respect from both men and women?

ER: Well the attention an R&B artist gets from male and female fans is on different level than a rapper who-

BT: I disagree. I've been to R&B shows and hip-hop shows and with R&B most of the time it takes more than one style of music to sell out a show. Hip-hop is a movement. I've seen it. The hip-hop shows I go to are sold-out, people going crazy. The energy from men and women is much bigger than I've been exposed to at an R&B concert.

I'm a creative person. I was rhyming before I started rapping. It's been a direct transition for me. Right now is the perfect time for me to come out. The point that rap is at right now, you seeing rappers in the videos with the button-up shirts, it's looking R&B to me. They've cleaned they're act up. I take this serious- this is not a gimmick. I don't need the money, I don't need the fame, I'm doing this out of passion.

ER: How has the response been from the people around you?

BT: I had to fire a few managers and lawyers. I can't have no negativity around me. The spirit of opinion will kill you. It's not like I just want people around me who just say "yes," but don't talk me out of my passion! That's like telling a radio personality, that's the only format he can do, stick to that. If I don't do this I feel like Jesus might come and just snatch my throat out or something. That's how serious I am.

ER: What did it feel like to step in the studio and rap for the first time?

BT: It's not my first time. I used to rap in a group called Triple Impact. Nobody can get me out of the booth. Right now I'm loving hip-hop more than the R&B. Have you heard any of it yet?

ER: Yeah I heard the Ghetto Royalty mixtape.

BT: Have you heard the song with Pac and Jay-Z?

ER: Yeah, that was bold-

BT: (plays 1-900- Black-Ty featuring 2pac and Jay-z) Shit is crazy!

ER: How was it putting the mixtape together?

BT: It was cool everybody came through.

ER: Is there any difference in your creative process when you're rapping?

BT: The process of R&B is strenuous. With rap I can do 4 records in a day. R&B is expensive, hip-hop is cheap as a motherfucker. With a rap song, bars fly out of me. Nobody can stop me. And with rap I can get away with way more than I can with R&B. It just has to come out.

ER: How has the response been from other rappers?

BT: Have you been online? Method Man, Snoop- did you hear what Snoop had to say? Hold on (plays a clip of Snoop being asked what he thinks of the album: "Its one of the dopest records out," Snoop says). That makes it all worth it.

Once you hear it, you get it. You understand he's not fucking around. I got rappers looking at me as their peers, rappers who are relevant. I'm grinding like I'm new to the game. I'm at the award shows passing out CDs. Black-Ty is broke and un-established.

ER: You've gone from a coke commercial to modeling, acting, VJing, singing, and now you're rapping. Has it all just been a natural evolution?

BT: I'm an octopus- just trying to win everyday.

ER: Will this be the only time we hear from Black TY?

BT: I question whether I can go back to a record with 14 or15 songs. After doing something like this, how do you just say I'm going to make one R&B record or one rap record? I might do a series of double albums.

ER: What can we expect from the album, any features?

BT: I got Scott Torch on the first single it's called "Get it in" featuring Method Man. I'm trying to change the game man. I got Mannie Fresh, my in home producers The Frontline Boys, Game, Kurupt, Lil Scrappy, and I got R. Kelly and Lil Jon on the Tyrese side.

ER: Anything you want to share with the fans?

BT: Albums out December 5th. Go to the website, www.headquarterentertainment.com, and download the mixtape. It's only available for a limited time. We're doing something new with it. We're putting up a version without DJ S&S. Starting next week DJs' will be able to download the album and mix their own versions.