UDC: Who are you? Background information?

BF: I'm Bennie Frank from the Southside of Chicago representing Central Division. We are in ATL right now and the biggest thing is the self-titled debut album, “Central Division”.

SN: Shamnite Imperial holding it down for the Central Division. I'm an uptown representative, Lawrence and Winthrop.

AD: Afta Def, I’m the lyrical assassin aka the black's man plight. Straight of the Southside of Chicago, 87th street. I 've been doing this a little more than half my life, for about fifteen or sixteen years.

BF: We have been putting down really hard for the last two years. The album is done and the single is out. We are doing a lot of grind work right now. Basically marketing and promoting our album. The main single right now is "Wind City” that is the breakdown of Chicago from the Northside to the Westside all the way to the Southside. Everybody needs to cop it. We have rotation in three or four states.

UDC: What does Central Division mean to you?

BF: Central is like a triangle, there are three of us and we are all kings. Central Division comes from everybody that we were dealing with at the time in Atlanta, from the Midwest. In most sports arenas like the Midwest is the central division that is usually the toughest division. We are some tough emcees because we have been on the grind as a group and solo acts.

SN: It fit so well because it was three distinctive styles coming together. The way we put it together, it was put together like an all-star team or a hip-hop dream team.

AF: We really didn't kick it hard or anything like that. I really met Bennie later on because we all had mutual friends. It was amazing because when we came to together we each had a high level of talent. We have exactly what you have been waiting for. I know there have been people in front of us, they did their own thing and much respect but we have everything that you have been anticipating.

UDC: What are your musical influences?

BF: We have a melting pot. The influences come from so many directions. We are able to soak it up like a sponge. I remember listening to WHBK- it is a radio station in Hyde Park in the south side area- like in “84 and hearing Ultra magnetic MC’s and a lot of cats that don’t get there due. A lot of hardcore underground hip-hop hit Chicago hard and we were right there with them, it’s like we were in the South Bronx.

SN: I think by being in the middle of the country we get a little bit of everything. You know we get the dirty south, we get stuff from overseas, west coast, east cost, mainstream and underground.

AF: In my opinion the biggest influence on Chicago music comes from back in the day. Cats like Herbie Hancock and Curtis Mayfield which transcended to our generation.

UDC: When did you decide to form Central Division?

SN: About three or four years ago, Bennie came to me and he said I got some cats that are hot.

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You rhyme and you are hot. We need to bring it all together and I was like it is whatever. He played the CD that he and P did so he was the cornerstone of bringing everybody together. We were already connected through mutual friends.

UDC: Is there a theme or a message to your music and if so what is it?

BF: Definitely being from Chicago we have a lot of street influences. Also being the home of the Nation of Islam, we have a knowledge and wisdom of influence. We self label our music street conscious and that is basically the message you’re going to get out of it. When you unwrap our album you will look at the album cover, you will look at the inside and listen to the CD. You will get a street conscious vibe from listening and looking at what the whole album has to offer. It’s something out there for everybody, something for God bodies, the wisdom heads, the street cats, the thug cats and the ladies.

SN: We put you on a tour of Chicago throughout the whole CD. You will feel like you were there.

AF: From the visual standpoint, the album cover itself. If you look at it you will see Soldier’s Field and when you open it up you will see a picture of a train. We are basically taking you on a train ride through the city, through our thoughts and our words.

UDC: Give us some insight in your latest release?

BF: We have different angles but we are coming from a street perspective as well as a conscious perspective. The first thing that people will probably say is these guys are straightforward, serious and they're hip-hop. Street, hard, bangin’ beats and we have sh*t you can roll in the whip and smoke an L to. We have all the good sh*t for the ladies. We have a song like “Blind”, there’s a conscious message to it.

SN: I did three tracks on the album. I produced “Blind” and “Flying to Close to the Sun”. The third one is pretty much like a prelude to “Blind” and we have Ms. Infinity putting it down on the spoken word tip. It is kind of like a live band feel. We have a wide array of producers some from Arizona, Chicago, New York and California.

UDC: What are three essential items when you are in the studio?

BF: We need weed, alcohol and a mic. We need some rest the night before.

UDC: How do you feel the internet has affected hip-hop and music industry?

CD: It has affected it tremendously when it started, because companies and corporations did not know how to deal with technology. It is the greatest media outlet. It is fifty-fifty because it has helped and it has hurt. As far as Undevco Magazine and other corporations are using it for the better wealth of not just hip-hop but music in general.

UDC: Do you have any words for your audience?

BF: Go cop the CD. You will get the single for free, “Wind City” and the flipside “Flying to Close to the Sun”. If you have never been to Chicago smoke you a blunt, take a couple of shots and play the CD from front to back.

SN: We definitely have what everybody needs. My mother, she is hard to please but she likes half the album, some of the album is too gutter. That alone let’s me know that we can deliver a message to the older crowd, younger generation and our peers as well.

AF: I want cats to know we are bringing the substance. We are about to start a modern-day renaissance. It is too many lame cats that are trying to get hot producers. It’s not what you talk about but how you talk about it. You can talk about getting doe and rims but be a lyricist when you do. That’s all I’m saying. That is what the Central is about to do.

CENTRAL DIVISION
HEAVY REIGN ENTERTAINMENT
ROLLIE GRAY, MANAGER
heavyreignllc@hotmail.com
678.464.2979
www.HeavyReign.net

Interviewed By Exodus@undevco.com
Photography By Ean Pegram