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ease Mac is a favorite amongst many Las Vegas DJs, including Franzen and Rory Mack. Although he’s received much recognition in his hometown, Wease is set on being much more than a local artist. What part of Vegas are you from? I was born and raised on the Westside of Las Vegas, Nevada. It’s hood shit, but it’s a hood anywhere. I been doing music my whole life. I did my little thing out in the streets, but I always stayed focused on music. A lot of people fall victim to Vegas cause Vegas is real fast. It’s faster than any other city out there so if you don’t got something positive or something else to focus on besides the streets, the streets are gonna take you out. Did that happen to any of the people you grew up with? Yeah. I was in a gang. I’m gang affiliated. All of my homeboys that I grew up with were gang bangers. All the people that I knew that used to play football against us and go to different schools, everybody out here was in a gang banging stage when they were younger. It’s just like Cali, but it’s 24 hours. People fall victim all day and all night. It’s like all of Cali balled up into one little piece. You run into everybody everyday, no matter where you go. It’s intense. You can’t even stay in your own hood because even if you go to the corner store, you’re gonna run into three or four people from different neighborhoods. It’s that small. I’ve got more dead homies than I’ve got alive homies. I’ve got more homies in jail than I’ve got homies on the outside. Do you use those experiences when you make your music? Yeah, I mainly talk about the positive side that everybody wants to hear about. You know, the lights, camera, action type shit – partyin’ all day, hollerin’ at girls. If I’m not rapping about that I’m letting you know the other side. It’s really not a playground like everybody thinks it is. It’s a playground on Las Vegas Boulevard on the strip, but if you get off of there, you might be in trouble if you don’t know what you’re doing. How do you feel about the radio market in Vegas? Out here, Vegas radio is the worst radio I’ve ever heard. I’ve been city to city, state to state and Vegas is the only place that don’t show they
own no love. I go to Atlanta and everything on the radio is from Atlanta and if you not from Atlanta, you better be giving Atlanta props on your song. That’s how they roll; they stick together. Vegas is a band wagon city. They wait for ten “other states” to jump on it first and it goes to 106 & Park, then that’s when they play it on the radio. I’m not willing to walk up to the PD and give him thousands of dollars to play my shit and they still shafting people when they try to do the illegal shit. I wouldn’t do that for the simple fact that I possess the talent to get the love that I deserve. I’m just not in the right city. Like Ne-Yo – that’s my cousin. I grew up with him. He never would have made it if he didn’t leave. What have you been doing to showcase your talent? I do as many shows as I can. Anytime there’s anything going down out here, that is worth it and bringing the right crowd, I do it. I’m that dude out here so I can’t just go do any show because there’s haters that don’t like me now that’s going to be there and I can’t take it down that road. I’m focused on the music. But if it’s worth doing, like this All-Star Weekend, I’ve got to do it. I’m not a hundred percent sure on what I’m gonna fuck with, but if it’s worth fucking with, I’m the first person anyone gets in touch with if they need opening acts. Don’t nobody rock a show like me. I can guarantee that. Have you put out any projects recently? I’ve got the King of Vegas Mixtape Volumes 1 & 2 out there. They been out for about a year or more. I got Volume 3 coming by All-Star weekend. I’ve been working on my album for the last three years. It’s not that it takes me that long to make songs, I can write a song in ten minutes, I’m just not trying to put it out locally. I wasn’t trying to be that type of dude that just does music to say they rap. That’s not what I’m going for. That’s why I’m accepted everywhere, not just in the hood. I’ve got over a hundred songs; I just haven’t decided what’s going on my album. Until I get my deal officially, it’s not going to mean nothing here. Do you have a website where people can check out your music? You can hit your boy up on www.myspace.com/ itsdakamp. I’m working on there all day. Words by Ms. Rivercity OZONE
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