E.C Illa Article in The Source April 2008 (Thanks For What)

No link or pick for source jus read this so its typed word for word In early 2005, the Jay-J "Im A Biter Not A Writer" mix that featured many of the lyrics Jigga had lifted from The Notorious B.I.G., Snoop Dogg and others started circulating. The staggeringly lengthy selection got plenty of burn on radio station and mixtapes, yet it didnt diminish the status of tha Roc-A-Fella Ruler. But it get s deeper. In early 2000, Washington DC based go-go band Rare Essence sued Jay for illeagaly appropriating its "Overnight Scenario" tune for Hovas 1999 single "Do It Again". There were also problems with "Never Change", which was originally produced by Kanye West for Chi-Town rhymer Payroll and lter emerged in a very similar form on 2001's The Blueprint. More recently Hovitas "Roc Boys"...has a number of striking similarties to "thank" a song from E.C. Illa AKA Whitefolks' independently releases Eponymous 2004 album Your song "Thanks" is set up like an awards show, has you giving your raps as speeches and has you thankin the street-level things for helping you along the way. What did you think when you first heard Jay-Z's "Roc Boys" which seems to be modeled directly off your first song? At first I thought it was crazy. I didnt want people to think that I was just an underground rapper saying that Jay bit my song. But then a guy I kno from chibangin.com reached out to me and asked me the same thing because some people were talking about it on a forum on their website. I guess alot of other people thought the same thing. Lets say he did bite your song. What does that mean to you? It's nice that people think that because Jay-Z is such a highly-regarded artist. He's considered one of the best of all time by alot of people. Given that he bit Biggie and me, he obviously has good taste. You and Payroll are both from Chicago and ended up with songs that Jay either bit the ideas for or seems to be definately inspired by. What do you think of that? It just goes to show that Chicago has alot of talent. Other than Twista, Common, and Kanye, we may not always get our shine but it seems some very powerful people are paying attention to what our underground artists are doing.