| Tweedy Bird Loc | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Rodney Johnson |
| Also known as | Tweedy Bird Gangsta Tweed |
| Origin | Compton, California, United States |
| Genres | West Coast hip hop , gangsta rap , G funk |
| Occupations | Rapper |
| Years active | 1992–Present |
| Labels | Dangerous Records |
| Associated acts | Bloods & Crips, Young Soldierz, Att Will |
Rodney Johnson (Born February 14, 1968) better known by his stage name Tweedy Bird Loc, is an American rapper from Compton, California. Tweedy and producer Ronnie Phillips organized hip hop project Bloods & Crips, collaboration between Bloods and Crips gang members.[1] He is a Crip himself in the same gang as gangsta rapper pioneer Eazy-E[2] associated with the Kelly Park Compton Crip set.[3] Tweedy had beef with Eazy E because Eazy wouldn't sign him to Ruthless Records. Tweedy Bird Loc is currently working with Eazy's son, Lil Eazy E. In 1995 Shortly before Eazy's death, Tweedy Bird Loc made peace with him.
Contents |
Tweedy Bird Loc and Eazy E were friends who grew up in the same neighborhood and knew each other very well. When Eazy E became a famous gangsta rap pioneer with N.W.A and Ruthless Records, Tweedy Bird Loc, had started working a project called "Bangin, On Wax". Eazy E was excited for Tweedy Bird Loc. Eazy at the time was more famous and had more commercial success, Tweedy Bird also wanted to make it big in the rap game and sent some demos to Eazy E and asked if he could be signed to Ruthless Records. Eazy said it was too difficult to make this decision. Angered, Tweedy Bird Loc formed Dangerous Records with producer Ronnie Phillips. Many other rappers befriended him, such as Att Will, Notorious Joe, Big D Mark and female MC Nini X AKA "Bloody Mary."
Tweedy Bird Loc, with the help of Ronnie Phillips, began recording his solo debut album 187 Ride By in 1992. He was still beefing with Eazy E at the time, Tweedy Bird Loc overheard Eazy on an interview saying that he won't sign Tweedy Bird to Ruthless, Tweedy Bird Loc felt very disrespected and wrote a vicious diss track aimed at Eazy and his manager Jerry Heller, and his protegee Kokane titled "Hoe is a Bitch" in which he attacks and criticizes Eazy of selling out ,being too misogynistic towards women, and from Tweed's point of view, brown nosing off of his manager Jerry Heller for fame. "Hoe is a Bitch" would eventually be recorded on 187 Ride By. Eazy E never responded to the track.
Tweed was also having a feud with Bronx MC Tim Dog for dissing Tweedy's city and the West Coast hip hop scene in general on his "Fuck Compton" track, Tweedy would eventually respond to this with his single "Fuck the South Bronx"(also a diss aimed at other East Coast rappers such as KRS One, and another Tim Dog diss: "What's Really Goin, On", These are well known events in the East Coast- West Coast Hip Hop rivalry. Tweedy Bird Loc also had a single from 187 Ride By called "Comin, Out the Cage". 187 Ride By was released officially on September 14, 1992.
Besides being a solo rapper, Tweedy is also a producer, He and Phillips organized the project Bloods and Crips: A collaboration of gangsta rappers who are members of the gangs, Bloods and Crips. Tweedy produced Bloods and Crips debut release, Bangin, On Wax in 1993.
Tweedy Bird also helped produce Nini X and her debut album She's Dangerous.
Many other rappers joined Dangerous Records such as Fo, Clips (who's Just Be Thankful album was produced by Tweed), Big WY, Dogg and Lil Stretch. Who formed the group Young Soldierz.
Tweedy Bird Loc started working on his second and last solo album so far, No Holds Barred in 1994, The album spawned his new single "Walk That Walk", This album had more commercial success than his previous 187 Ride By album. TBL also had a television interview live from Compton.
Tweedy released another diss targeted at Ruthless Records and Eazy E from No Holds Barred entitled "Y'all Can't Fucc With Us", He also disses MC Ren on the track. Eazy responded with a diss aimed at Tweedy and many other of his rivals called "Ole School Shit" where he claims that he always had more success in the hip hop industry than Tweedy ever had. MC Ren responded with a diss called "One False Move" from his solo debut Shock of Tha Hour.
Tweedy also dissed Miami rapper and 2 Live Crew member Luther .R Campbell or simply known as "Luke" on this album in response to his West Coast diss song "Cowards In Compton". Tweed responded with his own song "Fucc Miami". The main reason Tweed dissed Luke was because Luke dissed his city. Although Cowards In Compton was not actually aimed at Dangerous Records or Tweedy. Luke targeted the song at Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg as revenge for being dissed by the duo on Dre's song Dre Day from his 1992 solo debut The Chronic. Dangerous enjoyed becoming more open to the public, even though they are still considered underground to this day. In early 1995 before Eazy E's death from AIDS, Tweedy and Eazy decided to end their feud and be homies again and they were.
Ronnie Phillips and Tweedy Bird Loc are currently working with Eazy's 19 year old son, Lil Eazy E. It is unknown whether Tweedy Bird Loc will release another studio album.
| Year | Title | Album |
|---|---|---|
| 1992 | "Fu'k the South Bronx" | 187 Ride By |
| "Comin' Out the Cage" | ||
| 1994 | "Walk That Walk" | No Holds Barred |