Check out a summary of the article below:
Local love
As hip-hop’s stars hit South Florida, give a shout-out to some hometown heroes.
by Dan Sweeney

Any hip-hop head worth his chain is familiar with at least a few South Florida artists — certainly Trick Daddy, Pitbull and Uncle Luke. People who are deep in the scene likely picked up DJ Khaled’s 2006 CD, Listennn: The Album. But anyone who doesn’t follow the ebbs and flows of local hip-hop with the obsessive care of a hand-washing Howie Mandel may not know who’s hot and who’s not. So we’ve put together the following list of 10 South Florida artists who, we believe, are ready to pop. Get with them this Memorial Day weekend in Miami Beach and elsewhere, prove your love early and then, enjoy being a part of the entourage when they’re richer than God. We’ve put them in alphabetical order so as not to play favorites. That way, we can expect our invite to the champagne room from all 10.

Tha Union: Caliba and Ctraffik each put out solo albums a couple of years ago, Xperience and The BumRush respectively. The duo’s recent pairing, the single “On Yo Blocc,” has sold out online and created regional buzz. Visit Thaunion.com.

Check out the full review below:
CTRAFFIK
THE BUMRUSH

Dynamic and banging, CTRAFFIK creates music just right for his peeps in the MIA chico style. This totally self produced well developed album includes some tracks perfect for jamming to as well as comical skits that relate to the everyday realities of the Latino street life. Most impressive is the way he captures the distinct ways Latinos live in different parts of Miami in the song Chico Town. While most of the album is just plain fun to listen to, CTRAFFIK reserves some very serious deep thoughts for the end, discussing some of the harsh realities that urban communities in general need to confront in Stop 2 Think. CTRAFFIK displays amazing talent and initiative on this project and as one-third of Tha Union, it is expected that he’ll be capturing some serious attention in the near future. Check it out on-line at www.ctraffik.com.

He’s a rapper, producer, and co-founder of the West Palm Beach hip-hop promotion company Tha Union. But Ctraffik is also a sensitive guy. He took time to answer the question:

What song always makes you cry?

The entire Wu-Tang Clan Enter the 36 Chambers CD would probably get some tears jerking. The Wu fell off so bad, it’s a crying shame that they don’t bring back the old-school funk they were cooking up in 1993! Rap music has gone to the dogs! — Audra Schroeder

http://www.browardpalmbeach.com/2004-07-08/music/earache

Earache
Tha Union organizes against the fakers and haters of hip-hop
By Audra Schroeder
Published on July 08, 2004


Last Friday night at Ohm nightclub in West Palm Beach, I learned a few things: (1) Hardly anyone drinks beer at a hip-hop show. It’s all about Hypnotiq, Grey Goose, and good ol’ Hennessy with lime. (2) Hats are in. It doesn’t matter if it’s one of those annoying mesh trucker caps, a fedora, a fez, or a beret. As long as you have the appropriate amount of self-confidence, you can pull off just about anything. (3) A DJ’s flow is crucial if the dance party is to continue. At Ohm, DJ 2nen threw out a mixture of old and new jams and a remix of Black Sheep’s “The Choice Is Yours” that dropped so much bass, I ended up smacking my own ass on the dance floor. Ain’t no shame, ladies. (4) Substance in hip-hop may be watered down in the mainstream, but the flavor was full and robust that night in West Palm. Why was I bumping and grinding with a bunch of strangers and trying to down a glass of Hennessey with a straight face?


It was only fitting that Tha Union, an independent, South Florida-based hip-hop promotion and production company, was throwing a show for Independence Day. Twenty-two-year-old Julio Linares is the company’s co-founder and does the graphic design and studio engineering at his makeshift studio in Miami for all of the recordings and mix tapes under his No Espik Inglis imprint. Currently on the roster is Linares himself (who goes by the name Ctraffik and just dropped his debut The Bum Rush), Caliba (who just put out his latest LP, Xperience), and DJ 2nen, who has released various mix tapes. The three met in a recording studio in early 2003, and by the summer, Tha Union was formed.


“It’s a three-man operation with a street team of supporters to back us up in the streets from Key West to Tallahassee to Colombia all the way to California,” Linares explains. “I pitch in for all the expenses from my paycheck, as do Caliba and 2nen. And my car’s in the best shape, so I do most of the driving.”


Linares, who’s been influenced by Manu Chao, Redman, Ol’ Dirty Bastard, Black Moon, Gang Starr, and Dean Martin, also has some critical words for the current status of hip-hop.


“Hip-hop has gone to the dogs,” he says. “You have rappers like Chingy, J-Kwon, Young Gunz, and Cassidy touring and headlining shows. All rappers are sounding and looking the same these days. There is no innovation, no purpose other than to feed watered-down product to an already saturated market. The stylists tell them how to dress, the producers and label execs tell them how to sound, and there are no more artists. Mos Def, Talib Kweli, and Kanye West are bringing it back, but only time will tell if substance in hip-hop will return to the forefront.”


So last Friday night, I trucked on up to Ohm to see whether there was any substance to Tha Union’s Hip-Hop Xplosion. The show was scheduled to feature Miami rapper Rick Ross, Caliba, Ctraffik, and SoFla Kingz and was in honor of DJ 2nen and Rick Ross’ new mix-tape release, The Future of the South. Tha Union’s reliance on word of mouth certainly paid off, because by midnight, the club was bumpin’ like something out of House Party, despite the city’s recent under-21 ban. DJ 2nen was spinning a funktabulous mix of breaks and crunk to an audience doing the freak nasty (girls were dancing half-naked in cages and on the bar as a sign of their, uh, independence from clothes). In a small, white room (with fluffy white fur walls and white couches) to the side of the main dance floor, several men and women with meticulously coifed hair mixed carafes of cranberry and orange juice with chilled bottles of some sort of liquor, the name of which I couldn’t see. When asked what everyone was drinking, a short, gold-toothed fella by the name of Li’l Dirty replied, “That over there is the party.” I took that to mean it is the shit. Dirty winked and concurred. My Heineken looked pathetic in comparison.


It was about 2 in the morning before anyone took the stage. And by that time, I was stuck in the white fur room, straining to see the small stage over a sea of hands in the air, people wavin’ like they just didn’t care. The distant strains of Caliba’s infectious jam “Walk It Off” bounced off the kitty-pelt walls as girls did body shots for wide-eyed guys. Feeling claustrophobia set in, I declared my own independence and made a beeline for the club’s side door. Outside, Linares was grinning. “The owner’s happy,” he said. “He’s never seen this many people here on a Friday.”


As long as Tha Union doesn’t try to market its own energy drink, reppin’ South Florida hip-hop may be its game.

http://www.thegrindmagonline.com/html/calibaandtheunion.html

Who is actually over The Union?
The Union is our company, Caliba and C Traffik.

What’s the relationship like?
We are brothers period.

The Union is and has been known for flooding the streets. Who are some of the people you have accounts with?
First and foremost, G-Unit. We are officially fucking with them cause them my niggas! We brought Lloyd Banks down, Young Hot Rod, Buck, Shy Money, Adam, Warner Brothers, which is the newest account and Yes-I beer. Normally we don’t do beer ads but he has a good slogan and 30% of the profit is going to the adopted kids in Africa. So I said I will officially fuck with him because he got something going with that.

What’s the experience like having the G-Unit account?
(Laughing) Yeah, we had beef and niggas have tried us sideways, but it help build DJ Epps. He’s doing Shade 45 now. He’s an official Shadyville DJ. Shout out to my partner 210 Jack and Nightbreeders and them niggas helping pay my bills!

What does The Union have going on next?
Block Politics Mixtape and Block Unity. We also got the State of the Union DVD Mixtape coming out next for the video and compilation album.

As far as The Union goes, do you plan on pushing any artists out under Caliba or C Traffik?
Yeah, we got artist like Versatile. He’s my brother, so of course I’m going to push him. I have another brother, his production company is called “Official Productions” and he did the editing for our commercial The State of the Union on My Space. So everybody can check that out on www.myspace.com/caliba.

What are some of your marketing strategies when it comes to your latest project?
I would rather keep that a secret. I don’t want to put nothing out there that a nigga can copy. Every time I do something niggas try to copy it. I can show you better than I can tell you. We do have a good strategy going though!

Are you originally from Miami?
No.

What made you move to South Beach?
My mom and my family is from down here. Like Goulds, Perrine, and the South Miami area. Miami is a fucking oasis. It’s some real shit down here. If you really know how to get it out here in Miami, you can be the richest mutherfucka in the world. And that is why everybody come to Miami.

What role are you playing in the movement?
I could care less about the movement! It don’t have shit to do with me. Loyalty and respect is the street sense of survival. I don’t give a fuck about the movement. That’s just a cool way of saying “trend” and I’m a trend setter, not a trend follower. A lot of niggas claiming to be born and raised in Dade and are not even from here. No need to say names, they know who they are. I’m a respectable nigga that respect the streets and the streets respect me.

Is it hard to get your songs played on the radio?
I’m not stressing the radio. I love the internet and I love the underground. The radio can kiss my ass, eventually they gonna have to play us.

You got a lot of emotion about that, huh?
Yeah because these niggas trying to act like they the first ones that did it and they acting like they the originators and it’s a movement. Man it’s a trend. Niggas are from New York acting like it’s a Miami thing. All that MGM shit, flashy niggas, “B-stands for Bronco, Benz, BMW, bass, bangles and a pair of bronze”, that there come from Miami. Them niggas don’t know nothing about that. They playing a role because it’s cool now to claim “the city”.

What is Caliba like outside of the music industry, at home or with his kids?
You struck a nerve right there. I’m not Caliba. At home, I’m daddy or Lamar. I’m a grown ass man working to make a living. I’m that promise that God gave to Solomon as a father. My children are going to be successful and their children are also going to be successful. That’s why I’m doing what I’m doing.

What do you like best about Caliba?
I am not a fuck nigga.