Taken from an interview from a former group member, Susie of the group Sugah (second girl group under DeVante):
regarding DeVante vs Timbaland Production -
Do you think that sound which we have seen with Timbaland, Missy etc. was born from the days with Da Bassment & DeVante?
"The music that Timbaland started doing himself was what we saw in Da Bassment. I think, that's the reason a conflict arose between DeVante & Timbaland, because DeVante really didn't want him to do anything that was similar to what was that was going on in Da Bassment. But that's what Timbaland ended up doing. I'm not saying that Timbaland never had his own style and sound that was different to DeVante or that he stole that from DeVante- he did have his own sound and he came to the camp with that natural ability. It's just that a lot of it was developed from the knowledge gained during Da Bassment era and being around DeVante. I'm talking about Timbaland's style and sound when he first came out and was doing tracks with Aaliyah. That was the kind of thing he was doing back in Da Bassment."
How about DeVante & Timbaland's styles of producing? There's always been talk of their long-standing feud since the Da Bassment days because of Timbaland's claims that his style was all his own and had nothing to do with DeVante etc.?
"Well here's the thing, with DeVante's music and everyone knows this, it was just one of a kind. You couldn't replicate that. DeVante was always signature, and with time after leaving Da Bassment, Timbaland created his signature sound. They were always different from the beginning BUT Timbaland's sound really was created and developed to be what it was in 1997-1998 time, AFTER being in Da Bassment. DeVante did groom Timbaland's natural skills and Timbaland must have learned from him, in the same way we all did.
I don't know if he hadn't have met DeVante and been in Da Bassment, whether that sound he created would be what it was for so long. I just think Da Bassment wouldn't have been the same without Timbaland's sounds, but Timbaland's sounds wouldn't have been what they were in Da Bassment and after Da Bassment, without DeVante's capabilities. One without the other and the result wouldn't have been the same. I think the same with Missy. They were all naturally talented people and it's the same for all the artists that fell under the group. It's just that DeVante helped us all unleash it creatively. He gave us the opportunity and the means to develop our skills and he really coached us.
I think it's a lot closer to the truth than not that we ALL took a piece of DeVante when we left. We all definitely took a piece of that man. I think coming from Da Bassment we all have that work ethic DeVante instilled in us, and we sing with feeling like DeVante had taught us, and we arrange our vocals the way DeVante did, and we create a musical style that really stems from Da Bassment, which again comes from DeVante too."
Regarding DeVante's change in behavior during the Suge Knight days (rumors of incident of Jersey)
"The person who he became is not who DeVante really was. He was such a beautiful person with such a good heart that turned into someone we just couldn't relate to- he did things that he never did before like lashing out on us and he just seemed increasingly unhappy with us in general. We never knew why or what was going on- it could have been something personal he was going through that he didn't want to discuss - I really don't know. All I know was that he went from being this warm and caring person to someone who was unapproachable and aggressive."
"The other side of the story was that at the same time, we were really torn because as much as we loved him and respected everything he stood for and that he did for us, there were other things that we couldn't stay for anymore. We just didn't know how long we could keep on waiting for nothing to happen. We had a choice to stick it out knowing time was just passing, knowing we had nothing to show for it and hoping something would happen, or try and find a way to do it elsewhere. I know it sounds weird but that really was what happened. Something happened to him, and then when things got worse when people left, that really weighed him down a lot and then everything kinda slowed down to a halt."
"I wanna say though, whatever went down in Da Bassment and whatever the media says (and there's a lot of dirt that has been stirred up by them which is untrue), I can sincerely say that almost everyone had a deep love towards that man and still admire him today for the person that he was and probably is today. We never stopped caring about him. It really did hurt me seeing him go through that and I'm sure I'm not the only one who felt like that. Even those people who were watching and hearing things from afar - those same people felt the same way, even if some of them won't want to admit it. I'm sure now looking back most of us think "we should have done things differently," or "that could have somehow made the situation better." We knew something had changed him and it wasn't the same DeVante we had grown up with. But I also think the disloyalty that was going on at the time really made things even messier."
"There were a lot of things that went wrong and I wanna stress the fact that the blame doesn't lie solely on DeVante, no matter what you've seen and heard. There were a whole lot of deep issues that involved a lot of people - all amounting to the same thing- that when the family did break it wasn't good to any of us."
Something traumatic definitely went down. Although she didn't want to admit what it was, she basically confirmed the rumors on some read between the lines shyt.
at kci and jojo hugging it up with Suge on the beach, while their homeboy got ran through by the same goons
