Phone Call (5)

This is a phone call between myself and SPM from 11/1/2015. As always, I apologize for any transcription errors.

Anonymous asked, "Los, Carolyn is also selling Dope House lighters and wood pendants, Spm shirts, Son of Norma cds with her autograph. Did you know about that? or is she stealing here too?"

Um, no, I didn’t know about the lighters. I specifically asked her what she was selling, and she said all that she was selling was locs. I said, “Weren’t you selling t-shirts also?” and she said, “I was, but no, I’m not anymore.” She told me nothing about lighters. I did tell her and I told a lot of people that I wanted to sell those; Dope House Records lighters, and all kinds of merchandise. But, I want to do original designs. I don’t want to just buy generic lighters and locs and have them stamp ‘Dope House Records’ on them.

If I’m going to make locs it’s going to be an original design. Even if it’s an expensive endeavor, I would rather sell $75 locs that are dope, that have our own original twist to them, than $15 generic locs. I know that I would rather buy $75 locs that are nicer, that are the best quality. So, you can expect some DHR merchandise in the near future. I’m not sure of Carolyn’s future with DHR, so I can’t neither condemn nor condone what she sells at this point. But thank you for letting me know that she’s selling lighters, because that was an idea that I’m sure she heard from me.

David R. said, “Hey Carlos Im glad your doing good. Ive been keeping you in my prayers Brother. You might not remember but I use to help your dad out with the Inventory, Flea Markets, Concerts and etc...back in 2000-2003. My Comment: I never liked him, always had a bad vibe around him. I could never figured out what yall saw in him. Sure he had a few good beats but if paid close attention. Almost all of them sounded the same. At the time I was around Dope House there was only One cat in particular who kept it real and stayed loyal and That Person is Block of Rock. He always seemed like the under dog but has great talent. Why not have him help out on your next upcoming projects. About the Carolyn thing its a real bitch move on her part too. Now that i think about it back in the days when Myspace was popular she had posted something about selling authentic spm beats. From 500 and Up. Cant recall if Verses was mentioned. Did you know about that?”

            No, I didn’t know about those Myspace posts. But we’re in business, and business isn’t always a pretty thing. Sometimes bad things happen; sometimes bad people do bad things, sometimes good people do bad things, sometimes bad people do good things. As far as the extent of what Carolyn has done, that is still being investigated. I can tell you for an absolute fact that I did not authorize all those SPM verses that she has. I wouldn’t give my verses to my grandma, much less a girl that I done so much for already just by making her famous to my fans.

But Jaime, he’s in the world of addiction and he’s been in this world for over 14 years. I’ve given him money to get the surgery that he needs so that he doesn’t have to live on pain pills, I’ve offered rehab, but he seems to want to live out his days in this fashion, and it’s very sad because his internal organs are already functioning at an unhealthy level. I can be more specific, but I’ll just say that you can’t keep popping pills for 14 or 15 years and not be profoundly affected by them. He’s selling my verses without any care for repercussions, only the knowledge of knowing that he’ll be able to get more “medication”. That’s what addiction does, it gives you tunnel vision, but you can’t just victimize a bunch of people who are thinking they’re buying something legitimate. You can’t just take people’s money like that, and to do it so blatantly, without a care in the world. It’s like he wants to be stopped. I think deep inside, he wants to be stopped. He knows he needs help and I think it would be ultimately a blessing for him to take a vacation in the county or state jail for all the theft and fraud that he’s committing.

My brother’s best friend, John Hernandez, is in a casket today because he was never caught drinking and driving over three times, where he would have to do a year in the county jail because he never, God forbid, ran into some car or hit some pedestrian, or did something that his alcoholism would have caused. So, now he’s dead. Sometimes a little jail time is an incredible blessing. And I’m not only putting this news out there to save my intellectual property, but also to save Jaime’s life and even further victims.

Ricardo R. Said, “Hope your doing good fam, been a big fan for many many years and still bump your music everywhere I go nonstop, shit I'm listening to it right now as I write this at work 4:11am listening to never change! Anyways your scheduled to be released like 2024 or some dumb shit like that and I heard you say something about jane doe saying her mom's made her lie? I remember reading the same shit online a few months shit maybe a few years back so if we are all hearing this why can't we use this against her to get our family (you) out??? It just doesn't make sense....”

           

I’m not sure why the girl said what she said; I honestly don’t know if her mother put her up to it, or if she really dreamt it, like she spoke about that being a possibility in her testimony. Possibly she experienced something like that, and somehow it translated into me being the perpetrator in some twisted way in her brain, which was ill in ways that doctors described as phonophobia, photophobia, anxiety, possible hallucinations… but I’ve heard the same things that you’ve heard, that she said her mother put her up to it. I don’t know if that’s true; I’m in prison, I’ve never visited her chat rooms or wherever it was that she supposedly posted this. I think that if we approach the situation the right way, we may be able to have her recant the story.

We have an investigator working on my case in general, and that wasn’t part of the immediate strategy. But now even that investigator is inactive since my brother went to prison, and he supposedly can only answer to my brother because my brother was the one that paid him. He can’t answer any of my questions, as crazy as that is. I think that if we can get a new story from her or some kind of admittance of anything false she said in trial, then I think we can utilize that for some kind of an appeal.

But even when people have recanted their stories, I don’t know if this is true, but I’ve heard that they’re accused of being influenced by something or someone to recant them and the courts choose to believe what they first said and not what they’re trying to say now. Even if she said, “Everything was a lie”, it’s still not a guarantee that it’s going to work out for me. It’s tough, man. Once you go to prison…It’s easy, it’s easy as hell to slip into a prison, but it’s hard to get out.

Robert D. said, "I know prison is full of talent. Have you met anyone in prison that you would consider doing music with or featuring them on your album in the free world once you're released? 

Stay up Los, "

            I’m not so sure prison is full of talent. I’ve met much more talent in the free world. There’s a lot of guys in here that believe that they’re going to get out and become stars, but, I guess some people don’t really know what dope is and what dope’s not. They really believe that they have it, but in my opinion there’s a million other rappers that are just as good and only point .001 percent of all rappers actually become successful, and you have to know if you’re in that .001 percent. If you mistakenly think you are, then it’s clear that you don’t understand what dope is.

I hear guys telling me all the time, “I know I’m better than the stuff I hear on the radio.” I shake my head and say, “Look man, you can’t compare yourself to the sorriest stuff you hear on the radio and think that’s why you’re going to make it.” Some people get lucky, they come up with a catchy hook that society seems to cling to; they come up with a catchy tune that resonates with society, and they win the lottery. But you can’t depend on luck. You have to build your skills up to a level that’s undeniable, and I’ve heard nobody undeniable in prison.

Robert D. said, “Carolyn and Pain double crossed Dope House. I never would have saw that coming. Keep your head up Los.”

            All I can say is I’m thankful for your love, and thankful for your support. I’m kind of speechless as far as what to say. Carolyn: still investigating. Pain: in a world of addiction. I’ve seen men steal their own mother’s television because of addiction, so who am I to be spared? It happens, and I’ve got to handle it in the most appropriate way I can.

Angela N. said, “I could have told you that. She's always needed SPM to market and sell her shit. Not surprised at all....never liked the broad. I mean...what's the name of the website she uses to sell her product? Mmmmhmm....and what does she make money off of? SPM named products. Been saying this all along. All these people making money off his name while he seing none of it. I don't know.....Dope House isn't following through on the business end. You can only blame so much of it on Pain and CR....who's watching out for LOS?

            That’s a very good point, and I have to say that there’s some kind of coward gene that runs in my family. My brother has found countless people selling bootleg versions of SPM, on the internet and in brick-and-mortar locations, and has never brought any of them to justice. We’ve been so submissive when it comes to people using our name, selling our music, that it’s like a free-for-all.

But what Jaime has done, and may be still doing, is selling unauthorized, unreleased intellectual property. Most of it’s not even fit for Dope House fans because of quality and lyrics that just aren’t crack, which has made me look mediocre and THAT deeply bothers me. So, now, I need your help, my family, who I also call fans, to help me find every single person who has this unauthorized material to come forward and tell their story. To tell how much money they spent on this scam, and to start making examples out of people; starting with the person who betrayed me the most, and that would be Jaime Armando Ortiz, aka Pain. 

Arnold and Daisy T asked, “Spm made Carolyn Rodriguez biting from the hand the feed you smh and yez selling shade shot glasses t shirts etc with the free spm if it was to say Carolyn Rodriguez won't sell nuthing and she knows it sorry but the truth spm has family give them a percentage or something”

I’m not worried about making a percentage from peanuts, ‘cause all she’s making is peanuts. I don’t really trip because she was a part of the Dope House family and I know that people are just trying to survive, but I absolutely agree with you. I allowed her to sing the choruses that I wrote for her to sing, that I told her how I wanted her singing them; and she sung them. Is she a Whitney Houston? Is she a Beyonce? Is she a Mariah Carey? Of course not, and far from it. But she could sing on tune, and she was close to Pain and Pain was close to me, so I chose her to be my vocalist. And again, I agree with you, nobody would know who Carolyn Rodriguez was; she wouldn’t be touring like she’s touring, she wouldn’t be making a decent living like she is in this music industry if it wasn’t for the doors I opened up to her, and for her. I introduced her to all of you, to all of my fans.

Even when y’all were tired of hearing her, even when y’all were begging me not to put her on all these songs, I still did it because I’m very loyal to the Dope House family. That’s why I’m so upset about all these things that I’m hearing. I already forgave both her and Pain for using a verse that I didn’t authorize. Then, she asked if she could use a part of the song called ‘I Remember’, and I told her no. I specifically told her no because I had other plans for that song and for that hook. Just now I’m learning that she did use that song, and just now I’m learning that she has all these SPM verses that she’s trying to say I told her she could have; I wouldn’t give those verses to my own grandmother. That’s all the material that I have, I only have so much material. I want it perfected, and I want it done right, and delivered to you in the best quality. I wouldn’t just give it away. So, if she’s trying to say that what she’s being accused of has no basis at all, and that it’s totally false, then she’s lying. She’s lying because she knows that all her fans are SPM fans, and if she betrayed SPM, then she betrayed his fans as well.

But what can I do? I don’t hate her; I’m not mad at her, in fact I love her, but what she has done is dead wrong, and I’m going to find out the extent of just how dead wrong she was. The reason she has used at least some of that unauthorized material is because she saw Jaime doing it over and over and over and getting away with it. Of course she followed suite, because obviously the more SPM she has on her projects, the more money she can make.

Mark S said, “Ask if he really burned his neighbors house when he was 10”

Yes. That story is in my book, my first book, which I promise you is coming soon because it’s already done, I just have to rewrite it; but I was a felon. I was actually charged with a felony, and was a felon at the age of 10 years old. I was not given time nor probation because of my age, only given a felony on my criminal record.

Anonymous asked, “Is it in your plans or have you thought about making a song about single fathers?”

Sure, why the hell not! Single fathers I find just as heartwarming and beautiful as single mothers. I think that it’s extremely commendable to take responsibility for your kids.

Ivan M. said, “Would you die a G , or build a dynasty ? I think both , but can you explain how you came up with this song or the story behind it , definitely top 5 of your songs ,stay safe & some prayers for you”

I think if I have built a dynasty, it’s not quite as grand as I’d like it to be. I feel that I’m just beginning, I feel like my story has just begun. I don’t even feel like I’ve given you guys anything close to 100%. I think that the screenplays that we’re working on, the documentaries, the books, all the projects and the leadership that God has given me is just still in the womb. Sure we’ve built somewhat of a dynasty, but we’re just getting started. I plan on doing much, much more with what God gave me. Don’t forget, a ‘G’ stands for Graduate of 2Gblank.

Incandesio: Wait, what?

            2…capital G…B-L-A-N-K. So fill it in.

Incandesio: I don’t understand.

            It’s on that song, ‘Addicted to Storms’. I say,

“I hope you tell me something good like the UGK

because the ‘G’ stands for graduate of 2Gblank”

Incandesio: I’ve heard the song, but that makes literally no sense to me.

            In other words, I’m telling ‘em the ‘G’ doesn’t stand for gangster, it stands for Graduate of 2Gblank, like 20__.

Incandesio: I don’t get it.

I’m telling them to graduate, then fill that in with whatever year you graduated in.

Incandesio: Oh…

            (laughing)

Incandesio: That’s an extremely esoteric reference, stop laughing at me.

            (still laughing) Am I laughing at you? I hope not. You know what, I’m not sure if other people would have got that either, maybe you should ask that question.