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“I called the mixtape ‘Can I have the club back please?’ because ya’ll not doing nothing with it,” says Michael “Mr. Collipark” Crooms, the artist once known as DJ Smurf and mastermind behind groups like the Ying Yang Twins and solo stars like Soulja Boy.

After taking a two-year hiatus from the music scene he is plotting his reentry with a mixtape of veteran and younger artists called “Can I Have The Club Back Please?” dropping March 2nd.

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“I feel there is no music out there were people can get off work on Friday to relieve stress. There are no records out that rep the club scene like they should and I feel like since ya’ll not doing nothing with it can I get that back.”

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Given that he took some time off TheUrbanDaily.com felt is was only right to play catch up with the platinum producer and have him elaborate on 5 Things We Didn’t Know…

1. He used to rap

A few weeks ago @RealCollipark Tweeted his song “Flaw” to his followers. “I had to give ‘em a lil history. I could actually rap. I use to listen to a lot of hip-hop artists. My whole thing was I use to trying putting hip-hop lyrics over bass music. Everybody that know about DJ Smurf know about the DJ side but I did four albums as a DJ artist. I use to rap.

2. Working With New artists Lil Chuckee and Translee

“Chuckee and I have the same lawyer and I’ve watched him grow since he was nine,” he says of the young N.O. native that has drawn comparisons to Lil Wayne. “Just to see him now I thought it would be good to get him on the mixtape to show some range for myself and him. For the “Did Your Mama” track on the mixtape, the original beat I sent was done for a guy name Cupid who did “Cupid Shuffle.” He’s from Louisiana also. I had a beat that he put a hook on called “I Bet Your Mama.” I sent it to him and Chuckee had the beat for a week or two and Plies reached out to me looking for a smash and I sent him the “I Bet Your Mama.” Plies wanted the record when Chuckee sent the lyrics and I reworked the song around his two verses. That gave me the opportunity to produce him like he’s in the studio. So that’s why you’ve got the horns and the ragtime feel. That’s how the hook came about.

Translee…

“I had snuck into a Ying Yang twins reunion concert and his partner stepped to me wanting to intern and Translee was standing there with him. He’s been doing open mic for two years and he asked me to get on this video for Youtube and when I saw the rap part I said “you nice.” It’s not even that I wanna sign him, I just want to be there to oversee what he’s doing more like a manager. That’s what I’m feeling musically. The people are going to connect with him because he puts himself on the table from the delivery and how he says his words. You now he’s being him. He’s vulnerable.”

3. Reuniting with Ying Yang Twins

“After we made the reconnection last year we wanted to come together to do something big but it didn’t work out,” he says. “When I started the mixtape “The Boomerang” track was he first track I did and I sent it to a few artist and they didn’t get it. My brother, who use to manage them, said they was the only one that could do it. sSo I sent it to em and they sent it back and it was like never skipping a beat. The type of music I do it’ s kinda hard to find a artist to bring the energy.

4.Getting Free to cut loose on the “Whisper Song” remix…

“No one knew she said she was gone say what she said,” he confesses. “Initially we said we were gonna do something when we went up to BET. Between myself and Brian Leech we got her to agree to get on the song. I think she knew she was not going to renew her contract [with 106 and Park] so I’m sure that has a lot to do with how she came off on that record. We talked a couple times after that but she moved out to the West Coast. The last time I ran into her we were with Bubba Sparxxx when “Ms New Booty” came out. We said we wanted to do some more work together but we never got it done.”

5. Relationship with Soulja Boy

“We in the process of trying to get back together creatively,” says Collipark. “We have not been in the same space creatively in a while. The only record he did in that style that I did that he produced was ‘Bunk.’ He calls my music booty shake. I’m like Luke to him. But outside of that I never tried to force that on him. He might not be on this mixtape because this one is about where I come from.”

What do you think of the low first week sales numbers of his last album?

Well that is when you get a lot of people around who don’t know who he is. Regardless of how he acts himself he is a 19, 20 year old kid with a bunch a money. You have people coming into the picture after the heavy lifting has been done, they think they know what it is. You have to always stay true to where you come from. You have to always stay true to who brought you here. When you lose that you playing in a dangerous area. I let him do it his way on that last album. All the new people that felt they could do it better couldn’t appreciate a vision of a Collipark. He is still signed to me. But sometimes you have to let people do it their way, bump their head a little bit and come back. You have to respect him wanting to do it his way because for the most part it has worked for him. But when you start having certain levels of success the stakes start getting higher and you can’t do what you did before you sold 2 or 3 million records. The people who cut the checks expect you to keep paying bills. I think he is going through a growing phase and hopefully we’ll reconnect on the next project creatively.

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