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hat are some of the business ventures you’re working on now? We’ve got the clothing stores, Blow Out Promotions, the printing company, the record labels, the film companies, the liquor endorsements, and of course the Converse shoe endorsements. We’re doing five shows a week, not to mention, more yayo, more yayo, and more yayo. Believe that.
How do you choose what type of business ventures you pursue? It’s simple: One plus two equals three. As long as that’s the formula, that’s what it boils down to. I’m surrounded by niggas that hustle and know how to get money, so whenever we want to make an investment and go do something, it’s nothin’. If we want to buy a property that costs two or three million, it’s nothing for us to get together and make that happen. It’s easy. We’re all getting homes. You’ve seen my Atlanta home. I have five Miami homes, my L.A. home, and my New York loft. I’m comfortable everywhere. In this rap game, you hear a lot of different hustler’s stories. They all start out the same way and they end up either in jail, dead, or a rapper. Why do you think you survived and others didn’t? It ain’t even about that, man. I believe everybody’s got their own destiny. If you’re a nigga in the streets and you know you’re doing wrong every day, you’ve gotta take that into consideration and watch how you move. Most definitely get money, but you’ve gotta do it in a way where you’re still here. I’m still here. All the times I was up and all the times I was down as a hustler, that’s what you go through. Life is a roller coaster ride. I don’t care if you’re making a million a month, life is like that when you’re in the streets. It’s a roller coaster and when you do that, you learn. Every time you go up and every time you come down, you learn something from that. I’m glad I went through those trials and tribulations hustling, so when I got legitimate and Jay said, “Here goes a three million dollar check,” and, “Here goes a million dollar check,” I knew how to invest it, or just let the money sit. A lot of times I just like to let the money sit and have money pile on top of the money. I like to put money on top of money on top of money. Sevens on top of nines on top of fours. Sixes on top of fives and let ‘em sit. That’s what you learn. If you’ve never been through that, you don’t know what the fuck I’m talking about. What was your lowest point as a hustler? The lowest point as a hustler is being in debt, owing your connect. Can’t answer the phone, gotta cut your phone off, gotta go out of town for two weeks. I remember it clear as yesterday. I will never forget it. Owing niggas in the street, like, damn, I’m in this situation so I’m gonna get this from buddy, take the cash into this other shit and holla at him next week. I did that every day. When you’re at a low point as a hustler, that’s the rules. That’s what you’re supposed to do. You don’t just lay down cause you’re fucked up. If you’re broke, you wake up and you go make something happen. That’s what it’s called. You’re gonna break some little kid’s heart. That’s the name of the game, that’s how it goes. You stay focused. You straighten everybody you owe once you accomplish everything you’re trying to accomplish, and everybody wins. Everybody’s good. I’ll run off with your work quick. That’s what it’s about. That’s like me being an artist and you having a magazine, I might be like, “Hey, do me a favor. Give me five ads on consignment and once I get my deal, I got you.” You know what I mean? That’s the street mentality – not having nothing, but putting yourself in a position to get something. Is it true that you used to be a correctional officer? Of course not. I heard that rumor two or three times. But the shit I represent, real niggas die by this. Real niggas kill by this. I couldn’t represent the shit I represent if that was the case. That’s entertainment. But niggas gotta bring it better than that to really test the boss. This is how I affiliate. This is how I ride. This is how I rock. What about the rumors that there’s tension between you and Trick Daddy? I’ma tell you something: The reason why a lot of niggas sell records is because it’s the entertainment business and it’s going to be a lot of speculation and rumors. That’s what they are. But you see niggas in the street every day. You just saw me in the club with Trick the other day. It’s always gonna be speculation, and I’m comfortable with that. Trick is my nigga. He’s on my new album Trilla, so make sure y’all go get that. Real niggas only, believe that.
Did the two of you come to an agreement to keep things civilized for the sake of the greater Miami movement? It wasn’t even about having an agreement. It’s about me getting my money and him getting his money. It’s gonna always be that way. That’s still my nigga. Trick’s my nigga. I’m a real nigga. Trick could get mad with me, and I could get mad with Trick. Trick might be mad at Ross this week, but as soon as we see each other in the Rollexx, I’ma buy him a bottle or he gon’ send me four bottles and we gon’ smoke out. I’m gonna send him two bitches over there and he gon’ send me three. That’s how we do, man. Me and Trick, we share Miami. It’s our city. We ride in the dunks and toys all the way around and do what we do. Those are our strips. Those are our restaurants. Those are our cars. That’s our skyline. Those are our hoes. That’s our beach. That’s our ocean. We own it. It’s ours. That’s our South Beach. They built those things for us. Their name is on the papers, but we own it. It’s a difference. Pitbull says everything in Miami is named after cocaine – Brickell Ave., Key Biscayne, the list goes on and on. Yeah, I loved that when I read that Pit said that. It made a lot of sense. As soon as a Democrat gets back in office, we finna get more yayo back. Believe that. So Bush, get your ass out of the chair. You know you’re too short. When a Democrat gets back in office, you know, you’re gonna get more independent label ads. Business is better for everyone. Tell ‘em to open up the ports. God loves us. So the name of the new album is Trilla. That means “realer than fuck niggas.” September 25th but it’s tentative to change due to the timing of my records getting mixed. I’m making sure the album is prepared. It’s an incredible album. It’s going to be the album of the year. I already know I’m gonna win all the OZONE Awards because I’m the best. I look the best and the OZONE likes me. What’s your prediction for the biggest record on the Trilla album? You already know, “Maybach Music.” Shout out to my big homie Jay-Z. I just got some big shit. Me and Pharrell just did some shit that may get the Grammy. It won’t be bad to be smoked out at the Grammys. They’ll say my name for no reason and I’ll go up there just to show off my jeans. How are you doing on your OZONE New Years resolution to smoke only $1,500 worth of weed every day instead of $3,000? I’m doing bad. I just spent $1,400 on these two ounces right here, so I’m failing on that. Bad. When you’re an artist introduced to the world with a huge record like “Hustlin’” is it hard to top that this time around? Nah. You just do your music, keep doing what you’re doing and making big records. I’m pretty sure when Dr. Dre goes in the studio he just wants to create timeless shit. It’s hard to say he’s gonna top “California Love” or “In Da Club.” “In Da Club” was an incredible record the same way “Hustlin’” was, but you just wanna keep making that great music that the people in the streets love. Do you think the South is gonna continue being on top of the rap game for years to come or is it just a phase in rap music? We’re making great music. It ain’t about a phase. The South has got the best producers and now the best rappers, and that’s what it’s all about. The East coast has got great rappers, and the West coast too. It’s just all about representing that shit, keeping that gumbo rolling. That’s why I’m up in Atlanta. I love this shit. I love the way the producers roll, all the niggas roll, all the artists roll together. I love the way that shit works, and that’s what I’m cultivating in Miami. I could come up to Atlanta for a week and see twenty producers versus going to another city, so it makes sense to come to Atlanta. What’s the vibe in New York and the East coast in general to you? Do you feel like there’s more respect now for Southern artists than before? I’m just getting in the game so I’m only seeing it from this side of the gate, but real niggas get respect everywhere they go. Music-wise, the South is just more commercially successful now. Scarface, the Geto Boys, Willie D, all them niggas got that street respect and artist respect before, but now niggas like T.I. and Rick Ross and Jeezy are selling millions of records so now we’re getting commercial respect too. Record labels are all claiming that digital downloads are hurting record sales. Do you feel like it’s a legitimate concern? I believe it’s legitimate, but if you can’t do nothing about it, you’ve gotta keep hustling. Every day a fuck nigga dies, a real nigga is born. So whenever they start bootlegging, you start getting money with ringtones. When they start downloading your music, you’ve gotta do other things to get money. If y’all niggas bootleg my album, cool. The shows are going up to $50,000. We’ll make that shit work some kinda way. // OZONE MAG // 35