VERY interesting read
http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/inter...-history-with-bad-boy-and-roc-a-fella-records
Shawn Pen Speaks About The Quad Studios Attack On Tupac, His History With Bad Boy And Roc-A-Fella Records
by Paul W Arnold
posted December 09, 2011 at 10:17AM EST | 71 comments
Shawn Pen Speaks About The Quad Studios Attack On Tupac, His History With Bad Boy And Roc-A-Fella Records
Exclusive: The artist formerly known as Little Shawn shares for the first time his knowledge of the '94 attack on Tupac, and explains his ties to Jimmy Henchman and Haitian Jack.
Its a well-worn cliché, but when attempting to summarize the life and times of Little Shawn the saying never judge a book by its cover immediately leaps to mind.
As a then teenager, Shawn formerly began his career in 1987 with his Howie Tee produced reinterpretation of The Jacksons Heartbreak Hotel for then Hip Hop haven, (and home to Howies star spitter, Chubb Rock), Select Records. The young Brooklynite continued cranking out mostly carefree fare for the females on his sole full-length release in 1992, the Howie Tee helmed The Voice In The Mirror. With major-label backing courtesy of Capitol Records, the albums salacious lead single, Hickeys On Your Chest, became a staple of early 90s Rap video shows. Shawns streak of successful singles lasted into the mid-90s with his first, and last, release for Uptown Records, Dom Perignon. But a careful inspection of the lyrics to that seemingly innocent party starter revealed that one of the 90s most fun artists was actually living a much different life out of the booth than the good-time vibes of his songs would suggest.
Little Shawns other life began being exposed to the Hip Hop masses in the early morning hours of November 30, 1994, after Shawns manager, Jimmy Henchman Rosemond (also known then as Booker), arranged to have Tupac Shakur come to the Quad Studios in midtown Manhattan to record a song with his client. Before Tupac could make his way up the buildings elevator to that session he was robbed at gunpoint and reportedly shot multiple times. 17 years later, both Jimmy Henchman and Little Shawns names have remained synonymous with what many believe was a setup orchestrated by another one of Shawns affiliates, Jacques Haitian Jack Agnant, as punishment for Tupacs talking to the media about Agnant prior to the trial of the two for sexual assault.
That infamous incident, followed by a five-year federal incarceration of Shawn for drug trafficking from 1998 to 2003, forever altered the image of a fun-loving, girl-chasing rapper into that of a shadowy figure.
Little Shawn, now known as Shawn Pen [@ShawnPen1], recently decided to do something he rarely does, and come out of the shadows to tell his jaw-dropping story to the public. Speaking exclusively with HipHopDX, the street-certified scribe that 50 Cent has acknowledged looking up to candidly discussed everything from ghostwriting for one of the preeminent emcees of the New Jack Swing era, to the role he played in Diddys decision to sign The Notorious B.I.G. (and how Biggie paid Shawn back for that helping hand via his debut single), to the role he played in Jay-Z being able to take his career beyond the courtyard of Marcy Projects (and how Hov had to be cursed into a career). Before concluding his conversation with DX by recalling his brotherly bond with a recently lost legend, the man who can claim that Im the one that brought Jimmy Henchman in the game revealed for the first time what he knows of the circumstances surrounding the nearly two-decade old incident thats still dominating Hip Hop headlines in 2011.
HipHopDX: Im old enough to remember when Little Shawns Hickeys On Your Chest video was all over Rap City, but I never knew about the uncensored version of that video until today. Where were you planning to have that titties-out version shown back before the Internet?
Shawn Pen: Let me tell you [about that video]. There was a old, horny dude working for Capitol Records at the time, and he was the video coordinator. So, we did the video, and afterwards he was like, Yo, man, I wanna clear the set. So I was like, For what? And he was like, I got some German strippers, man, and we gonna shoot a X-rated version. And, you know, I wasnt really into strippers and stuff like that Im really still not so Im looking at him like [hes crazy]. And then I had a bunch of gangsters there, Jamaicans, and they aint really wit that either. And these dudes, like right now they doing like life up to four life terms right now. So I was looking at this dude [crazy]. And he was from [Los Angeles], and we was out here in Manhattan shooting the video. And I was like, Man, this dude is wild, man. You know? And, we went through it.
Back then they had The Playboy Channel, and at nighttime The Playboy Channel had a X-rated video show called Hot Rocks... So, thats where well that was the only place I seen it. And then, in my neighborhood the precinct like, all the cops knew me. So they used to park outside the studio, and when Id come outside theyd be like, Yo, what up Little Shawn. Yo, I saw your video. And they were talking about the X-rated version.
So, thats where that came from. I dont know how you found that today.
DX: Oh, its on YouTube. [Laughs]
Shawn Pen: Thats crazy! Did you know that Jossie [Harris] from The Fly Girls [on In Living Color], Laurie Ann Gibson, Big Lez, all of those girls got they start that was their first video? They came and auditioned [and] I put them in the video.
Shawn Pen Recalls Meeting And Working With Biggie Smalls
DX: Hickeys On Your Chest was referenced by [The Notorious B.I.G.] on his debut 12, Party And Bullshyt, and then you sampled that line for your second big single, Dom Perignon. As we approach the 15th anniversary of Bigs passing, is there a particular memory of your time with Big that leaps to mind that you could share with the DX readers?
Shawn Pen: I mean, you know [The Notorious B.I.G.] was such a good dude, man. But, Ill give you the reason why he did that Party And Bullshyt quote.
You know, me and [Diddy] was cool. And Puff is the first person that got me ghostwriting for artists in the game. So when he first got hired [by Uptown Records], Howie Tee brought me to meet him and Andre Harrell. Howie actually came to the block to get me, because I was cutting school, hustlin, and just going to Howies crib to record. So he was like, Yo, these dudes wanna meet you, this guy named Puffy [that] Andre just hired. So I was like, Alright. So we went up there, and they was like, Yo, would you be interested in writing for a artist we got? Now, back then Hip Hop was different, so every rapper wrote they rhymes. So, I didnt understand what they meant by that. So I was like, Is it any money in it? And he was like, Yeah. So I looked at Howie, [and] Howie was like, Yeah. So fast forward that, I was writing for Father MC. And, the first check that came in the mail was crazy. So I was like, Alright, Im sold onto this music thing.
That developed a relationship with Puff. And from that he introduced me to Mary [J. Blige], and I messed wit Mary for a while, which is the reason I left the message on [the intro to] her first album, [Whats the 411?]. And then, when he had Biggie, he brought him to one of my shows. Back then I used to run wit upwards to like a hundred dudes at a time, through clubs in Manhattan. And he came, and he was like, Yo, man, I want you to meet this dude Im thinking about signing. And I wanna know if you mind if he freestyles before you go on stage? And I was like, Dude, I dont even wanna be here. Of course he can go on stage. So, he was like, Yo, hes from Brooklyn too. I said, Aww, man, even better. And that was Big. And Big freestyled to Biz Markies [T.S.R. (Toilet Stool Rap)]. [Laughs] And after that, then he did the Party And Bullshyt record and gave me the quote.
So that was the reason for that. And after that, we just became real, real good friends, man. Behind the scenes, that was my dude. I knew [Lance] Un [Rivera] and all of them dudes from the neighborhood, before they even started pushing Big. Cause they used to sell hot cars, and I bought one from em. [Laughs] A lot of history, man, that you dont really know about behind the scenes in Brooklyn rich, rich history. You understand?
DX: Yeah, I understand that you really were more than just friends with Biggie. I heard that I Will Never Run (A Letter To B.I.G.s Killer) joint you put out late last year. I would love to know who shot you, so I could go shoot them / Find his family and black suit them. I was surprised to hear somebody who knew Big still sounding so heated about what happened all these years later. Everybody else who was around him seems to have moved past that anger stage of grieving.
Shawn Pen: Well, if you think about it, I left in 98 and I came back [from federal prison] in 2003. So when everybody was doing all those tribute records and then they did that [Resurrection] movie about Tupac [Shakur], I wasnt here. And then, when you think about all these guys too in Rap, they werent street guys. So its like, how mad are you really gonna get? And then your angers kinda different from a dude thatll actually go cut out some work. Its different.
Like [Jay-Z] - me and Jay were like the best of friends. I am actually the person that brought Jay-Z to Hot 97, and got him his first record played on the radio. So if you go to look at Streets is Watching, the end of the film, when they start showing the videos that they shot outta they pocket, you just look and youll see, they got a video that they shot in the courtyard of Marcy [Projects for I Cant Get Wit That], youll see me and [DJ] Clark Kent sitting on one of my cars [with a bottle of champagne in my hand].
So, you know, you start putting those things together. Im the one that brought Jimmy Henchman in the game. I brought Haitian Jack in the game. Like, anything in Brooklyn that dudes deemed to be on the left side, those were all my friends.
DX: This is interesting because and especially you mentioning that you ghostwrote for Father MC, cause Hickeys On Your Chest was like a Father MC joint its just interesting that you had all this street history but in your songs it was on some party shyt.
Shawn Pen: You know whats crazy, when I came home [from prison in 2003] 50 Cent had offered me a deal [with G-Unit Records]. But, you know, my heart really wasnt into the game. Because, you come home and you kinda like a little spooked to see how the world changed. And then it was the Internet, so I was kinda taken aback. And 50 was like, he had told me that he used to look up to me. And I was like, How could you be so successful and look up to me? And he was like, Because I know about you in the street. And he was like, And then I listened to your records and there was nothing related to that in your songs. I said, Well, you see I was really trying to hide a lot of the stuff that I ended up going away for.
But now, everybodys like, thats the in thing: talk about things you not doing.
DX: Yeah, I just did an interview with Dres from Black Sheep for the 20th anniversary of A Wolf in Sheeps Clothing, [and] right before he started recording that album he was in Rikers Island.
Shawn Pen: Oh, no, no, no, Dres has a story that hasnt been told, and he probably wont tell it. And, he and I Ive never been as approachable as I am now to the industry. Cause I came in the game with my own friends. Heavy D was a real good friend of mine, behind the scenes. But I didnt really like a lot of rappers. So me and Dres really just started talking a couple months ago, because his family was connected to a dude that Im cool with. And when I heard [about Dres past] I always knew, I heard wind of it years ago, but, you know, it was on another level. When he tells his story, blow your mind.
DX: Lets go back here, you mentioned Jay-Z. You referenced him on the Respect Me joint that you just dropped the video to. Used to fukk wit Dame, Puff and Jay-Z / Cali did a nikka Big crossed / So now we cop cars and bulletproof the doors. I knew about your connections to Puff and Biggie, but when and how did you start fukkin with Dame and Jay-Z.
Shawn Pen: Well, kinda like almost at the same time. I was real cool with Jay. And I wanna say I met him through Jaz-O, because Jaz had been in the game so long. I came in the game early, so I had always known Jaz. And I wanna say I met Jay through Jaz, but then Clark Kent is one of my closest friends to this day, and he was best friends with Dame [Dash]. So Clark used to be uptown with Dame. And then, we had like a lot of hot sneaker spots uptown, so Clark started taking me Uptown to get sneakers on Lexington Avenue And then, he introduced me to Dame. So me and Dame was cool before he actually met Jay.
So Jay used to come in and out of town with Ty-Ty and go to Clarks crib and record and then get back on the highway and go out of town. And, we developed a relationship from there. Clark introduced Dame to Jay, [and] we all came together.
http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/inter...-history-with-bad-boy-and-roc-a-fella-records
Shawn Pen Speaks About The Quad Studios Attack On Tupac, His History With Bad Boy And Roc-A-Fella Records
by Paul W Arnold
posted December 09, 2011 at 10:17AM EST | 71 comments
Shawn Pen Speaks About The Quad Studios Attack On Tupac, His History With Bad Boy And Roc-A-Fella Records
Exclusive: The artist formerly known as Little Shawn shares for the first time his knowledge of the '94 attack on Tupac, and explains his ties to Jimmy Henchman and Haitian Jack.
Its a well-worn cliché, but when attempting to summarize the life and times of Little Shawn the saying never judge a book by its cover immediately leaps to mind.
As a then teenager, Shawn formerly began his career in 1987 with his Howie Tee produced reinterpretation of The Jacksons Heartbreak Hotel for then Hip Hop haven, (and home to Howies star spitter, Chubb Rock), Select Records. The young Brooklynite continued cranking out mostly carefree fare for the females on his sole full-length release in 1992, the Howie Tee helmed The Voice In The Mirror. With major-label backing courtesy of Capitol Records, the albums salacious lead single, Hickeys On Your Chest, became a staple of early 90s Rap video shows. Shawns streak of successful singles lasted into the mid-90s with his first, and last, release for Uptown Records, Dom Perignon. But a careful inspection of the lyrics to that seemingly innocent party starter revealed that one of the 90s most fun artists was actually living a much different life out of the booth than the good-time vibes of his songs would suggest.
Little Shawns other life began being exposed to the Hip Hop masses in the early morning hours of November 30, 1994, after Shawns manager, Jimmy Henchman Rosemond (also known then as Booker), arranged to have Tupac Shakur come to the Quad Studios in midtown Manhattan to record a song with his client. Before Tupac could make his way up the buildings elevator to that session he was robbed at gunpoint and reportedly shot multiple times. 17 years later, both Jimmy Henchman and Little Shawns names have remained synonymous with what many believe was a setup orchestrated by another one of Shawns affiliates, Jacques Haitian Jack Agnant, as punishment for Tupacs talking to the media about Agnant prior to the trial of the two for sexual assault.
That infamous incident, followed by a five-year federal incarceration of Shawn for drug trafficking from 1998 to 2003, forever altered the image of a fun-loving, girl-chasing rapper into that of a shadowy figure.
Little Shawn, now known as Shawn Pen [@ShawnPen1], recently decided to do something he rarely does, and come out of the shadows to tell his jaw-dropping story to the public. Speaking exclusively with HipHopDX, the street-certified scribe that 50 Cent has acknowledged looking up to candidly discussed everything from ghostwriting for one of the preeminent emcees of the New Jack Swing era, to the role he played in Diddys decision to sign The Notorious B.I.G. (and how Biggie paid Shawn back for that helping hand via his debut single), to the role he played in Jay-Z being able to take his career beyond the courtyard of Marcy Projects (and how Hov had to be cursed into a career). Before concluding his conversation with DX by recalling his brotherly bond with a recently lost legend, the man who can claim that Im the one that brought Jimmy Henchman in the game revealed for the first time what he knows of the circumstances surrounding the nearly two-decade old incident thats still dominating Hip Hop headlines in 2011.
HipHopDX: Im old enough to remember when Little Shawns Hickeys On Your Chest video was all over Rap City, but I never knew about the uncensored version of that video until today. Where were you planning to have that titties-out version shown back before the Internet?
Shawn Pen: Let me tell you [about that video]. There was a old, horny dude working for Capitol Records at the time, and he was the video coordinator. So, we did the video, and afterwards he was like, Yo, man, I wanna clear the set. So I was like, For what? And he was like, I got some German strippers, man, and we gonna shoot a X-rated version. And, you know, I wasnt really into strippers and stuff like that Im really still not so Im looking at him like [hes crazy]. And then I had a bunch of gangsters there, Jamaicans, and they aint really wit that either. And these dudes, like right now they doing like life up to four life terms right now. So I was looking at this dude [crazy]. And he was from [Los Angeles], and we was out here in Manhattan shooting the video. And I was like, Man, this dude is wild, man. You know? And, we went through it.
Back then they had The Playboy Channel, and at nighttime The Playboy Channel had a X-rated video show called Hot Rocks... So, thats where well that was the only place I seen it. And then, in my neighborhood the precinct like, all the cops knew me. So they used to park outside the studio, and when Id come outside theyd be like, Yo, what up Little Shawn. Yo, I saw your video. And they were talking about the X-rated version.
So, thats where that came from. I dont know how you found that today.
DX: Oh, its on YouTube. [Laughs]
Shawn Pen: Thats crazy! Did you know that Jossie [Harris] from The Fly Girls [on In Living Color], Laurie Ann Gibson, Big Lez, all of those girls got they start that was their first video? They came and auditioned [and] I put them in the video.
Shawn Pen Recalls Meeting And Working With Biggie Smalls
DX: Hickeys On Your Chest was referenced by [The Notorious B.I.G.] on his debut 12, Party And Bullshyt, and then you sampled that line for your second big single, Dom Perignon. As we approach the 15th anniversary of Bigs passing, is there a particular memory of your time with Big that leaps to mind that you could share with the DX readers?
Shawn Pen: I mean, you know [The Notorious B.I.G.] was such a good dude, man. But, Ill give you the reason why he did that Party And Bullshyt quote.
You know, me and [Diddy] was cool. And Puff is the first person that got me ghostwriting for artists in the game. So when he first got hired [by Uptown Records], Howie Tee brought me to meet him and Andre Harrell. Howie actually came to the block to get me, because I was cutting school, hustlin, and just going to Howies crib to record. So he was like, Yo, these dudes wanna meet you, this guy named Puffy [that] Andre just hired. So I was like, Alright. So we went up there, and they was like, Yo, would you be interested in writing for a artist we got? Now, back then Hip Hop was different, so every rapper wrote they rhymes. So, I didnt understand what they meant by that. So I was like, Is it any money in it? And he was like, Yeah. So I looked at Howie, [and] Howie was like, Yeah. So fast forward that, I was writing for Father MC. And, the first check that came in the mail was crazy. So I was like, Alright, Im sold onto this music thing.
That developed a relationship with Puff. And from that he introduced me to Mary [J. Blige], and I messed wit Mary for a while, which is the reason I left the message on [the intro to] her first album, [Whats the 411?]. And then, when he had Biggie, he brought him to one of my shows. Back then I used to run wit upwards to like a hundred dudes at a time, through clubs in Manhattan. And he came, and he was like, Yo, man, I want you to meet this dude Im thinking about signing. And I wanna know if you mind if he freestyles before you go on stage? And I was like, Dude, I dont even wanna be here. Of course he can go on stage. So, he was like, Yo, hes from Brooklyn too. I said, Aww, man, even better. And that was Big. And Big freestyled to Biz Markies [T.S.R. (Toilet Stool Rap)]. [Laughs] And after that, then he did the Party And Bullshyt record and gave me the quote.
So that was the reason for that. And after that, we just became real, real good friends, man. Behind the scenes, that was my dude. I knew [Lance] Un [Rivera] and all of them dudes from the neighborhood, before they even started pushing Big. Cause they used to sell hot cars, and I bought one from em. [Laughs] A lot of history, man, that you dont really know about behind the scenes in Brooklyn rich, rich history. You understand?
DX: Yeah, I understand that you really were more than just friends with Biggie. I heard that I Will Never Run (A Letter To B.I.G.s Killer) joint you put out late last year. I would love to know who shot you, so I could go shoot them / Find his family and black suit them. I was surprised to hear somebody who knew Big still sounding so heated about what happened all these years later. Everybody else who was around him seems to have moved past that anger stage of grieving.
Shawn Pen: Well, if you think about it, I left in 98 and I came back [from federal prison] in 2003. So when everybody was doing all those tribute records and then they did that [Resurrection] movie about Tupac [Shakur], I wasnt here. And then, when you think about all these guys too in Rap, they werent street guys. So its like, how mad are you really gonna get? And then your angers kinda different from a dude thatll actually go cut out some work. Its different.
Like [Jay-Z] - me and Jay were like the best of friends. I am actually the person that brought Jay-Z to Hot 97, and got him his first record played on the radio. So if you go to look at Streets is Watching, the end of the film, when they start showing the videos that they shot outta they pocket, you just look and youll see, they got a video that they shot in the courtyard of Marcy [Projects for I Cant Get Wit That], youll see me and [DJ] Clark Kent sitting on one of my cars [with a bottle of champagne in my hand].
So, you know, you start putting those things together. Im the one that brought Jimmy Henchman in the game. I brought Haitian Jack in the game. Like, anything in Brooklyn that dudes deemed to be on the left side, those were all my friends.
DX: This is interesting because and especially you mentioning that you ghostwrote for Father MC, cause Hickeys On Your Chest was like a Father MC joint its just interesting that you had all this street history but in your songs it was on some party shyt.
Shawn Pen: You know whats crazy, when I came home [from prison in 2003] 50 Cent had offered me a deal [with G-Unit Records]. But, you know, my heart really wasnt into the game. Because, you come home and you kinda like a little spooked to see how the world changed. And then it was the Internet, so I was kinda taken aback. And 50 was like, he had told me that he used to look up to me. And I was like, How could you be so successful and look up to me? And he was like, Because I know about you in the street. And he was like, And then I listened to your records and there was nothing related to that in your songs. I said, Well, you see I was really trying to hide a lot of the stuff that I ended up going away for.
But now, everybodys like, thats the in thing: talk about things you not doing.
DX: Yeah, I just did an interview with Dres from Black Sheep for the 20th anniversary of A Wolf in Sheeps Clothing, [and] right before he started recording that album he was in Rikers Island.
Shawn Pen: Oh, no, no, no, Dres has a story that hasnt been told, and he probably wont tell it. And, he and I Ive never been as approachable as I am now to the industry. Cause I came in the game with my own friends. Heavy D was a real good friend of mine, behind the scenes. But I didnt really like a lot of rappers. So me and Dres really just started talking a couple months ago, because his family was connected to a dude that Im cool with. And when I heard [about Dres past] I always knew, I heard wind of it years ago, but, you know, it was on another level. When he tells his story, blow your mind.
DX: Lets go back here, you mentioned Jay-Z. You referenced him on the Respect Me joint that you just dropped the video to. Used to fukk wit Dame, Puff and Jay-Z / Cali did a nikka Big crossed / So now we cop cars and bulletproof the doors. I knew about your connections to Puff and Biggie, but when and how did you start fukkin with Dame and Jay-Z.
Shawn Pen: Well, kinda like almost at the same time. I was real cool with Jay. And I wanna say I met him through Jaz-O, because Jaz had been in the game so long. I came in the game early, so I had always known Jaz. And I wanna say I met Jay through Jaz, but then Clark Kent is one of my closest friends to this day, and he was best friends with Dame [Dash]. So Clark used to be uptown with Dame. And then, we had like a lot of hot sneaker spots uptown, so Clark started taking me Uptown to get sneakers on Lexington Avenue And then, he introduced me to Dame. So me and Dame was cool before he actually met Jay.
So Jay used to come in and out of town with Ty-Ty and go to Clarks crib and record and then get back on the highway and go out of town. And, we developed a relationship from there. Clark introduced Dame to Jay, [and] we all came together.
