Having to make a living off of everything
from selling cocaine to working a 9 to 5 for years, he
decided to walk in to Dopehouse Records for a chance.
After sitting in the corner watching numerous artists
including the label’s franchise player “SPM”
for months, he took a shot. “The experience was
a humbling one” he says after his first attempt
at recording lyrics for a song he had written. “It
was the ugliest feeling in the world, to want something
that bad and I sounded like shit.” A year later
he was one half of the duo Twin Beredaz. Their self titled
debut album is widely respected and has earned them a
loyal fanbase, which has TBZ 2: Coast & Quota as one
of the most anticipated albums of 2006, it will definitely
be a favorite for hip hop fans. He is currently working
on a series of mixtapes,“Key 2 the City” Which
is now available. “I’ll prolly call the 2nd
one; Throw away th key.” “I’m gone open
up the door,then I’ll lock it down” he promises.
“It’s either this music, or I’m gone
get killed, they gone lock me up for twenty or thirty
years this time, that aint going down!” It was all
a dream, it seems to him
it already came true.
The year is 1990. Ruben Reyes is 8
years old and in the 3rd grade at Mendel Elementary, a
small school in a northeast Houston neighborhood named
Epsom Downs. The class was assigned to read a book titled
'Super Fudge'. Once finished with the book, the students
were instructed to gather in groups of three to write
a song about the story. "I can still remember to
this day the niggas in my group. It was me, my boy Jason,
and my boy Jesus. I had never written a song before so
I didn't really know about bars, hooks, bridges or any
kind of sequence. Needless 2 say, the shit was trash...but
at least it all rhymed" (laughs). Ruben continued
writing raps on his own time. "Man I remeber being
in recess hangin' out with my classmates. We was talkin'
about what we wanted to be when we grew up. I heard a
police officer, a fireman, a vetenarian, a teacher...
I said I wanted to be a rapper. One of my homeboys told
me 'Man by the time you're old enough to do that, nobodys
gonna even be listening to rap anymore.'" Ruben stayed
practicing throughout junior high and high school. "I
bought myself a karaoke machine when I was in the 9th
grade. I hooked it up ghetto style to my cd player and
recorded myself in my room. I would put like 10 songs
together on some instrumentals and dubbed them on a shit
load of tapes. I started slangin' them in the MacArthur
High parking lot. I was the only one doing that type of
hustlin'. After a while, I got niggas helpin' me hustle
at school. My boy David had a cousin who was try'na start
his own label, Richie Rich Records. They offered me a
chance to record in a real studio just so long as I provided
the label with beats that I made on a drum machine that
I had recently bought." By this time, Ruben had already
aquired the name "Coast" because of a necklace
that he wore that said '3rd COAST'. "My first time
in the studio, I felt like I had already blew up. I felt
at home. I was 17 years old feelin' like I was already
a veteran." A three song demo was recorded under
the Richie Rich imprint. "Richie Rich Records was
very short-lived but I'm happy that I got that pportunity
to be there. Richie Rich Records is where I first met
my boy Nelson. He and I were the only two rappers at the
label that weren't related to the ceo. We had no choice
but to stick together. Nelson had known a few guys from
Dope House Records and invited me to meet them at their
studio." By this time, Coast had just graduated high
school and was ready to begin a career in music. Jaime
"Pain" Ortiz was engineering at the D.H.R. studio
that night. "Me and Nelson walked in and Pains got
a beat playin'. I asked who was gonna be rappin' on it
and he told us that whoever wanted to get on it could.
I pulled out my notebook and started writing. I guess
I impressed Pain cause he invited me back after it was
all over. I started jumpin' on more and more songs and
eventually, SPM heard my shit. After a couple of years
of proving my loyalty to the company, I was offered a
deal." Coast had done some recording with Quotakey,
another artist who was trying to get recognition from
the company. Coast and Quota became inseperable inside
and outside of the studio. "Quota and I shared a
common goal. We saw each other eye to eye. So when I was
offered my deal, I requested that Quota be signed along
with me. Dope House accepted my request and Twin Beredaz
became the newest group under SPM's wing...and we still
here. I've spent my entire life training myself to rap.
Rappin' is all I know how to do. I'm lost without this
shit. When I was a kid, they told me that no one would
still listen to rap by the time I grew up. I thank God
that they were wrong and I thank my 3rd grade teacher
for creating a monster." (laughs)
