release, the duo that had taken the Seventh Ward to Hollywood was essentially no more. “He wanted commercial success,” Mannie said of Gregory D. “I get it: every artist would. But it was what was going on over on the West Coast. On the album cover, we look like L.A. dudes—and I get what he was going for because that’s what rap looked like, but that’s not what we were like. It was just creative differences.” Mannie didn’t view the demise of his partnership with Gregory D as a setback. With evolving skills and growing confidence, he returned to New Orleans with a plan to take over the city, one mix at a time.“I guess, every time, I go there to find my sound again,” he said of his hometown. At one of his standing DJ gigs, at Club Rumors, Mannie would blend “Brown Beats” by San Francisco-based DJ Cameron Paul with the Showboys’ 1986 single, “Drag Rap.” Using the breakdowns and snare drum counts as a guide, he would isolate when the Showboys called out the phrase “Triggerman!” on the track. It’s this combination of sounds that would become the foundation of New Orleans bounce music.
wants me to help. But, at the time, I didn’t know how much money these people were getting paid for this.” As a Southern fish out of water, Mannie took everything in L.A. as an opportunity to learn. He recalled being gifted an SP-1200 from the late Johnny J, who would go on to produce 2Pac classics like “How Do U Want It” and “All Eyez on Me.” He met Ice-T, who advised him to ditch his Girbauds and white tee if he planned to attend celebrity parties. “I learned studio etiquette,” Mannie said of his time in L.A. “Be on time, be punctual, and make sure you do a good job.” He also learned the value of his own time.“It was this dude who had me doing beats,” Mannie recalled, speaking on an early realization of his worth.“He came there in a wagon and, in about two weeks, he had a [Chevrolet] Blazer, right before my eyes. He had a brand-new car because that’s how much work I was doing, and I didn’t realize that I had bought that Blazer.” Following the release of D Rules the Nation , Mannie and Gregory had begun to see conflicting visions of what they wanted as artists. Although Mannie is credited as co-producer and pictured on the cover of Gregory’s 1992 album, The Real Deal , by the time of its
WaxPoetics 53
( top ) Stills from Gregory D and Mannie Fresh’s “Call Somebody Else” video (1990).
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