In the eight years since Coo Coo Cal's single "My Projects" ignited as one of the biggest, most inescapable rap songs of 2001, the Milwaukee rapper has weathered a succession of ups and downs.
"I had my run-in with drugs and alcohol, the whole nine," Cal explains. "I've been in jail; I've been in rehab, fighting my drug addiction; I've been back on the streets with the same players who've been with me since day one; I've been in Miami on boats, in the Bahamas, and raising two beautiful kids."
Cal's journey has proven more complicated than that of the usual one-hit wonder. At the peak of his success in 2001, he signed a golden five-album deal through Tommy Boy Records, unaware that the once-venerable rap label was on the brink of collapse. By 2002, Tommy Boy was in a shambles and Cal's contract was void, but unlike other acts on the Tommy Boy roster, Cal survived the initial fallout. He toured hard behind his newfound celebrity.
"By then the whole world knew who Coo Coo Cal was," he boasts. "I went out and got all the money I could get while I could get it."
While Cal lived it up on the road, though, things back home in Milwaukee were more tumultuous. Cal's partners, Paul Moore and Raphael Clayton, who had co-produced "My Projects," were arrested on federal charges for running a cocaine ring. A judge initially sentenced them to life in prison without parole, though an appeals court later relaxed those sentences.
Cal's own run-ins with the local police grew more frequent. He was charged several times for disorderly conduct or driving with a revoked license. In 2004, he missed a scheduled performance at Milwaukee's African World Festival while he spent the night in jail over an outstanding warrant. It was nothing compared to the four months in jail he served in 2006 for felony cocaine possession.
"I'm lucky I only got four months," Cal says. "I got off easy, but those four months showed me that jail ain't no place I'm trying to be."
Cal maintains he's only using his money for legitimate enterprises now.
"We've gone corporate," he says. "We follow the rules. We flip houses. We do real estate. You name it, we do it. You get a flat tire, we can handle that. A streetlight go out in your neighborhood, we've got somebody that can fix that … The law doesn't understand how we're doing so good, but it's documented. We're following the rules. But they think because I roll up to this house filled with roaches and rats, but there's two Bentleys in the garage and $700,000 inside, that I've gotta be a drug dealer. Nah! It's not about drugs. We're corporate, but we just like living in the hood."
Cal says that his jail time also redoubled his commitment to making music.
"God gave me the gift of gab," he says. "It's my niche. I ain't punching no more clocks, and I can't do no labor. My back is bad, and my knees are cracking, but with this mouth piece, I'm cold as hell."
So this July Cal will release his first new album in years, Cocaine Cowboys. It's a collaboration with Baby Drew, another Milwaukee rapper who tasted national radio play with his single "Disco Lady."
"There's a lot of rappers in Milwaukee, and I love and respect them all, but the only time any real noise is kicked up is when people are talking about me or Drew," Cal says. "The first record I ever made, Walking Dead, was like a classic to me, but this one with Drew is the new classic. I'm not trying to be bigheaded, I'm just saying this from having done this so long: I know it's going to be big."
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