VIBE Vault: The Lobby Boyz Are Reppin’ For NYC With Self-Titled Debut

[Editor’s Note: This interview was conducted in 2022]

Reputation is the cornerstone of power, and in Hip-Hop, few figures’ names ring bells like rappers Maino and Jim Jones. Successful and infamous, the two New Yorkers—Jones hailing from Harlem and Maino repping Brooklyn—have both created hits, fought and survived wars, weathered storms and stood the test of time.

So when the previous foes joined forces as The Lobby Boyz to turn their collaborative chemistry into a full-blown album, the pairing was welcomed and embraced; fans were eager to see Capo and Maino pick up where they left off on previous records like “Father Forgive Us,” “Tryna Win,” “Three Cuts,” and “My Era.” And the Lobby Boyz have yet to disappoint, rolling out their debut single “Lobby Boyz Anthem” earlier this year and following up with the Fivio Foreign-assisted “Slide,” and “No Bobby V” featuring Fabolous.

Releasing their self-titled album in May 2022, which has received favorable reviews and is being hailed as one of the stronger projects out of the five boroughs of the year thus far, the Lobby Boyz have continued to make their presence felt, tagging themselves as a super-group and reiterating that their partnership is one that has only begun. With features from Benny the Butcher, Styles P, Young M.A., Yung Bleu, Capella Grey and more, the 14-track effort is the culmination of years of camaraderie and embodiment of the road traveled.

Longevity in the rap game is often a byproduct of sticking to your guns and Jim Jones and Maino have done just that, literally and figuratively. Staying true to their core base of followers while continuously evolving with the times and vibes, the former outlaws have also evolved in other facets, such as keeping up with legislation pertaining to firearms in New York City. During the pair’s conversation with VIBE, Jones touched on new information regarding one’s ability to legally carry a firearm within the five boroughs, which requires the applicant to have no felonies on their criminal record.

“The law is passed already,” Jim told Maino. “They’re sending me the link right now. You gotta be over 17 [years-old] and have no felonies and [then] you can get ready to start carrying a gun outside in New York.” As Maino asks for clarification on whether his partner-in-rhyme means that citizens could potentially be licensed to carry in NYC, Jones assures that his intel is accurate, adding that the process is one that can be completed online and shouldn’t be an issue, given the fact that he’s now a “law abiding citizen.”  “I don’t think I gotta go anywhere, I think I just gotta to do it online,” Jones says. “It’s not like before, it’s different. This sh*t is just automated. Ni**a, you got a felony or not, get busy. It’s like Texas right now. No background check, it’s no felonies. This ain’t no felonies. I have no F’s on my report card, I told you this a numerous amount of times. I’m a law abiding citizen, you heard?”

While Capo pokes fun at Maino’s prospects of attaining a license given his criminal history, joking that the Brooklyn hardrock would have “90 police officers” at his door upon applying, it’s clear that the young brash upstarts have grown into elder statesmen, with the knowledge and credibility to serve as mentors and leaders for the new generation, as well as the cocksure swagger and exuberance that translates on and off record. These traits are a necessity in remaining in the hearts and on the minds of the public in this social media age, however, Jim and Maino continue to keep things grassroots while never forgetting the principals learned in tenements and vestibules from which they came from.

VIBE spoke with Lobby Boyz about their self-titled debut, putting on for New York City, creating triumph out of struggle through the Lobby Boyz movement, crossing over into multimedia, and more.

VIBE: Your new album, Lobby Boyz, recently dropped, how would you describe the feedback and the reception to the album?

Jim Jones: Oh, the feedback and the reception is incredible. The shit’s wild.

Maino: It’s incredible, man. It’s dope.

Jim Jones: Every day is something new, too, so the word of mouth is spreading and that’s the best way for a project. I haven’t felt this type of organic excitement from my project dropping in the industry in a long time and I’m glad that we are the ones responsible for doing so right now.

Maino: Yeah, I’m super excited the same way, man. And for me, it just feels good to rock with my brother and to put out… you see, it’s  different. People come together a lot in the industry. We see joint albums all the time, but the quality of music that I feel like that we deliver…

Jim Jones: But that’s what it is. It’s a joint album, we’re a super group.

Maino: Right, that’s a fact. Definitely, we’re a super group. Like, dudes come together, but they don’t come together like this. And the fact that we’re both from New York, from separate sections in New York, it’s one for the city. So it’s like we did it for the city. We did it for the culture. It feels good, people love it and we’re having fun at the same time.

Jim Jones: Yes, we are.

The two of you have worked on songs together several occasions prior to becoming a duo, but what spurred the two of you to lock in for a full project?

Maino: We always wanted to do that, I think. And it’s funny that you say that about about the songs that we were because we always work together throughout these years, right. We’ve got lot of songs together, but I think one song for me in particular, that to me, I think when we did this song and then we shot the video, people was really like, ‘Oh sh*t. ‘Like they really got it. That was “My Era.”

Jim Jones: “My Era” was dope.

Maino: “My Era,” that’s one that changed the climate. That changed it right there.  What you think, Capo?

Jim Jones: I think “My Era was definitely the changing point for us, musically. It was like when we put it sonically together, like people were looking forward and expecting more music from us at that point. And that kind of made it real easy to roll into where we’re at now, but this is something that we’ve been working on for probably like the past 10 years. Lobby Boyz already been out, we’ve been calling ourselves Lobby Boyz since then, it just was natural. We just got the chance last summer, Maino hit me like, ‘Yeah, we ready. I’m ready,’ and sh*t, it went from ‘I’m ready,’ to now we got the album out. And people are going  crazy for the album and I’m really excited about that.

Maino: Facts.

What would you say is the definition of a Lobby Boy for those who are uninitiated?

Maino: Uninitiated, I like that word. But listen, we come from similar pain, we come from that bottom. We come from those tenement buildings, we come from behind the courtyards standing and playing around and congregating on those benches in front of the corner store. The lobby is any place that we got together and we had our dreams and we wanted to be something. We lost our friends, we lost our family members, you know, but the thing about it is that we made it out the lobby. This is what this album is about, this is why we’re saying that we’re Lobby Boyz, because we come from that and we celebrate the fact that we was able to make it out of that. We scuffed, we got our bruises, you know. We had our hiccups, but we made it out.

Jim Jones: We’re a prime example what it is to go up against the same struggles everybody else had. And the fact that we all made it out shows people that you can make it out. The same trials and tribulations all these kids are going through now, we come up in the same type of ghetto. It don’t matter what hood you’re from, we all go through the same thing. Start from the mud and clean yourself up, you heard? Stay down until you come up, stay prayed up, you dig? It’s all of that when it comes to the Lobby Boyz.

We’re not sitting in front the lobby like we used to, this is about inspiration. This is about two kids that came from nothing and are really here and really leading by example. Really showing you about being vulnerable. Showing you our falls and showing you our upgrade. So that’s where we’re at with it with this Lobby Boyz [movement] and we encourage everybody to put that out there if you’re a Lobby Boy, you dig? Because that mean you’re a great person, you look forward to doing great things and you know that your life aint over, no matter where you starting from.

There’s usually a yin and yang to every group. Like one may be the wild one, and another may be the more mild mannered one. So how would you describe the the dynamic between the two of you?

Jim Jones: Maino’s the wild one. I’m way, way more mild-mannered than him.

Maino: Woah!

Jim Jones: Maino’s definitely wild.

Maino: Listen, you’re really gonna go with this?!

Jim Jones: If he’s the yin, then I’m the yang, but if he’s the yang, then I’m the yin. But whatever I am, I’m very mild-mannered, you heard? I’m a law abiding citizen, we already established that. Everybody knows that I’m a law-abiding citizen

Maino: Are you the same person that I have to talk to off the ledge. ‘We’re not gonna do that, this is what we’re gonna do. Chill out.’

Jim Jones: You talk me off the ledge?! I don’t think people would believe this, that you talk me off the ledge?

Maino: This is crazy. This is crazy.

Jim Jones: Maino talks Jim Jones off the ledge?

Maino: Many times!

Jim Jones: You think this is believable?

So the public couldn’t call it either, because you both have your history and reputation. So we’ll just leave that to the door.

Maino & Jim Jones: [Laughs]

This album, like you said earlier, you did it for the city. And for somebody looking at the tracklist, it’s like all New York artists for the most part. Was that a conscious effort and decision?

Maino: I don’t think it was conscious, I think it just flowed that way. Everybody that was on the album came to the studio. You know, we got Yung Bleu on the album, he’s not from New York. He’s from the South, but he came to the studio and rocked out with us. Shout out to the producers, man. [Hector] Stats [Marin], Jovohn, Sage [Micheal], Sonaro Productions because we sat there every night and we worked on the sound. And I don’t know if it was a conscious decision, but everybody that was in the city or was coming through the city, we was like, ‘Yo, we’re gonna be in The Lobby tonight, pull up’. So it’s just flowed that way. Sometimes, you’ve just got allow things to just flow sometimes and happen organically, because that’s sometimes the best way that it happens. We knew what we wanted to do, but we just allowed the atmosphere and the environment to kind of take its course.

Jim, you’ve got the viral weather/style report, Drip Report. And Maino, who’s made a presence in the podcast the world. How has it been to balance both and still be active in the game and respected as MC, but still cross over?

Jim Jones: We’re in a different time right now, it’s all work. This is what we started music for, so we can take this music and use it as a platform to get into so many other things. And right now, the way the media is running and the way everything is so digital, it’s a natural progression to get into as much other things you could do as far as entertainment.

So not only do Maino have a podcast and I have the weather show, we’re also working on a reality show. We’re also working on a fitness show, we’re in the midst of trying to do as many things as possible. Like you can’t limit yourself out here, right now. Even before, the average million, they say has at least seven to ten hustles and things like that and that has nothing to do with media or anything, that’s just the natural hustle in you. And if you’re trying to make a dollar, you need to have a lot of that in. Pause. Ayo, not like that, you heard?

Being that you’re from Harlem and Maino is from Brooklyn, which the areas have always had a rivalry with one another…describe the competitive aspect between the two and who’s the flyest etc?

Jim Jones: Who’s the flyest? Harlem, of course, is the flyest.

Maino: Brooklyn. You know, shouts to Bed Stuy.

Jim Jones: Maino already knows this, this already been done a long time ago. Maino knows that we’re the flyest people to walk the face of this earth.

Maino: I don’t know nothing.

Jim Jones: Bed Stuy is the Harlem of Brooklyn, as they say.

Maino: You’ve gotta stop saying that! You can fit Harlem in Bed Stuy.

Jim Jones: Yes, but that’s cool. But what I’m trying to tell you is the representation in Brooklyn of what Bed Stuy is to Brooklyn, it’s the Harlem of Brooklyn and that speaks volumes.

Maino: No, you’re from Manhattan, bro.

Jim Jones: [laughs] Don’t do this bro, don’t do this. I’d rather be from Manhattan than Long Island, you heard?

Maino: I’m not from Long Island. I’m from Kings County. Bedford Stuyvesant.

Jim Jones: No you’re from the Hamptons, bro, you’re from the Hamptons [laughs].

Maino: [laughs] No, listen I’m trying to get us up there.

Jim Jones: To The Hamptons?

That’d be a good spot though. That’ll be a good landing spot.

Maino: Yeah, I’m definitely with that.

If each of you could choose three tracks you feel embodies the essence of the album, what would they be?

Maino: “Praying.” “Project Baby.” And “Life of a Lobby Boy.”

How about you, Capo?

Jim Jones: I like the intro. Definitely would be “Praying.” And yeah, probably “Life of a Lobby Boy.”

Maino: Those embody the story of black males. That’s the struggle. That’s the up and downs of life.

Jim Jones: That’s pretty much in the mood of what this whole thing is about, from the beginning, the intro. [The] body, [the] ending. Yeah, that’s it. That’s the full essay right there?

Can fans expect the two of you to lock in in the future?

Maino: We’re a super-group, bro. This not a one-off.

Jim Jones: We’re not letting y’all off that easy, we’ve got records. We’re working right now. We’re trying to kind of figure out if we’re gonna do a new album or give you a deluxe to this last album. We’ve got more John Blaze shit, we’re ready.

Maino: And we’re wearing all black leather.

Jim Jones: Don’t forget the leather. And this ain’t vegan leather, either, it’s the real thing. Butter soft, old school Pelle [Pelle] type shit.

Maino: Not that faux.

In addition to The Lobby Boyz, you each have your own successful careers and endeavors of your own. What would you say the public can expect from the each of you moving forward?

Maino: I think Jim said it, man. Weather Report, the Fit Lit, everything, man. We’re just working, it’s a great time. You know, it’s just so many components that we could just be a part of. Kitchen Talk, you know.

Jim Jones: We’re about to go on tour, The Burning Gas tour. So it’s a lot. We’re working out here.