The video shows a 1998 interview with St. Louis rap group the St. Lunatics, taped when Webb, a.k.a. City Spud, was a member of the group in person, not just in spirit, back before there was any need for the remaining Lunatics -- Ali, Kyjuan, Murphy Lee and, of course, Nelly -- to title their debut full-length CD Free City in honor of their incarcerated brother. Back when his jumpsuit was flashy orange camouflage, not prison gray; back when he was making music and rhyming about making money, not paying the price for doing what others brag about in their raps.
Three years ago, the St. Lunatics were nobodies. They didn't have a platinum record. Nelly wasn't rap's It boy. There were no screaming teens, no gold Humvees, not even a record contract. They weren't making money -- at least not much. All they had was a regional hit, "Gimme What You Got." And City Spud was free.
In the video, all five group members are dressed in colorful fatigues, playing stars. Ali, Kyjuan and Murphy Lee sit on stools in the back; in front, Nelly and City Spud flank the interviewer. Spud, seated in the worst possible spot -- angled away from the interviewer, staring at the man's back --is left out of the conversation. He's a quiet guy in the first place, and despite the presence of his friends, Spud looks all alone on that stage. He attempts to jump in a few times, but without a mic his utterances are ignored. Boonville officials want to play the tape over the prison's closed-circuit television system; all the inmates at Boonville know who City Spud is, and they seem to like him. Prison officials want to showcase his achievements. They seem proud of him.
Ever unassuming and a bit uncomfortable with the attention he's getting in this room, Spud wavers, mumbles, unsure whether he wants his fellow inmates to see it. He doesn't really shine on the video; he just sits to the side. When the group performs one of its songs after the interview, he seems confident and assured. But it doesn't matter who he is here. He could be the king of England and it wouldn't change the reality: Spud's not leaving anytime soon.
He decides against airing the interview.
"Right now, I'm not Spud," he says later. "Coming here made me -- I had to go back to being Lavell. Spud's supposed to be out on tour with Destiny's Child right now. When I got here, I just had to put that away for the time being. Not away to the point where I'm not writing and I just don't want to do music. But I have to deal with this here. I do get emotional sometimes. Videos popping up, and I can just see myself on the video, but missing family and friends and just missing freedom, period."
Lavell Webb is in a messed-up situation; he's a founding member of the St. Lunatics, whose debut went platinum in July, but he's not up onstage with the group. He's not in Nelly's "Ride Wit Me" video, though he's on the recording -- that's him rhyming Now that I'm a fly guy, and I fly high/Niggaz wanna know why, why I fly by. He created the music for four songs on Nelly's multiplatinum Country Grammar album, along with one on Free City, and he is receiving producer's royalties for them. But those tracks were laid before he landed in the clink. He was sent here in November 1999; Nelly and the Lunatics hit the national charts six months later. City Spud tracks their progress in the Billboard magazines the mother of fellow Lunatic producer Jason (J.E.) Epperson sends him every week. Fan mail trickles in. His family visits him, though Nelly and the other St. Lunatics don't. Royalty checks are fattening his bank account, but he can't touch the money and, in jail, can't spend it anyway.
Showing 1-4 of 4
Spud is a very humble guy I hate that he to go thru this. I know this experience will make him an even better person. City is now free and will be back soon..its not over, its just begun! Love you City!
Spud is a very humble guy I hate that he to go thru this. I know this experience will make him an even better person. City is now free and will be back soon..its not over, its just begun! Love you City!
like
dislike
