this shit solid. I keep the people feeling like I’m one of them, because I am. That’s why I’ve been so successful. I’m one of the people they recognize and they’re like, “I’m just like that nigga.” That’s why my core fanbase won’t let me die. I ain’t did a show in three years, but I’m able to maintain my sales and my presence through the internet, the publications, and the media. That’s just a blessing. The fans won’t let me die. What project are you working on now? I just dropped Highly Aggressive Volume 2 yesterday. I’ve got a documentary and a soundtrack coming out called Gigantic, which is the untold Messy Marv story behind the rapper, the entertainer, the father, the gangster. There’s a lot of educational Bay Area history in there too. I shot and directed my reality show Mr. Ghetto Celebrity. I’ve got my clothing line coming soon. Right now I’m working on a new LP called The Cooking Channel. I’m working every day. You also seem to change your phone number every other day. It doesn’t seem like that’d be good for business. I got a 1-800 number that I keep steady for business. That’s on 24 hours so I don’t ever miss the networking and business call. But when you’re dealing with a personal line, you’ve got to keep the line clean and avoid the bullshit. Somebody’s negative energy can suck up all the positive energy out of you. I’ve got muthafuckers calling asking for Sprint bill money and telling me their bitch done ran off. I don’t wanna hear none of that shit, man. My business associates and my homies keep my line. But everybody else, once they wanna suck the positive energy out of a nigga with that bullshit, I change my number.
sound the same. Do you think it’s lack of ambition or just being too comfortable? I guess everybody’s comfortable with it, and I ain’t knockin’ it. But I’ma tell the world a different story as far as the Bay Area. But I ain’t mad. Everybody’s playing a part. Everybody’s representing, and that’s what it is. Have you officially changed your name to The Boy Boy Mess or is that basically just an alias of Messy Marv? I officially changed my name to The Boy Boy Young Mess ‘cause I officially changed as a person, as a whole. I’m always gon’ be Messy Marv, but it’s the new Mess. It’s the Mess that got up out of that jail. It’s the Mess that moved out of those conditions. It’s the Mess that outgrew a lot of people in a lot of situations. It’s the Mess that couldn’t get rich in the Bay Area and had to move up out of that muthafucker to get his pennies. The new Mess. You’ve been pretty open in the past about your struggles with drug abuse. Have you moved past that? Yeah, I’ve been clean for two years now, no drugs. I didn’t go to rehab. Rehab is for weak people. I did mine based on discipline. I smoked the fuck out of some weed, though, and had a drink or two, but as far as the party drugs, I don’t fuck around... The rest of this interview is featured in Ozone Magazine #84:
When you go out on tour, who else from the Bay do you plan on performing with? What’s your take on the current Bay Area movement? I feel like everybody’s representing. Everybody’s got a part they play, whether it’s the old Bay or the new Bay. I just feel like we’re at a standstill because everybody feels like they can’t leave the Bay Area. So everybody ends up with the same production and the same graphic designer doing their cover. That means everybody looks and sounds the same. Then you get everybody putting each other on the album, so you’ve got the same features. Everybody’s fuckin’ with the same jeweler. Niggas are buying the same outfits from the same clothing store. Nobody knows who is who. It’s 400 muthafuckin’ rappers and they all look and OZONE MAG // 55