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7 Arrests Deep and I Never Snitched – Nobody wants to go to prison and deal with the consequences of their actions. For me, a lot of times I had money for attorneys. I was able to get my charges dropped. I’m still going through a lot right now. The police harass me in my neighborhood and are like, “We hear that you’re the man around here. We hear you sell drugs.” I’m like, “Y’all crazy as fuck.” I coulda been out here puttin’ niggas on with work. I coulda stayed out here if I was gonna do that. They swear that I’m the man on some big dawg shit. I’m From the West and I Made It Past 25 Years Old – If you’re from the Los Angeles area – Watts, Compton, South Central, Englewood – whether you’re Blood or Crip, you’re born into the conflict. Every day you’re a target, no matter if you gangbang or not. It’s all about affiliation, where you’re from. It’s a forever-going beef. Every day you’re ducking and dodging bullets, trying to stay out of the morgue. I Actually Used to Lowride on Crenshaw Blvd. – It’s only been 3 successful rappers on major labels that lowride on Crenshaw. Mack 10 was the biggest rapper ever that used to lowride on Crenshaw. No other rappers, I don’t care what they lie about in they raps, can say they ride. Mac 10 is the only rapper I remember seeing out there in ‘95-‘97 lowriding. With his career, he was still out there posted up lowriding. 9 times out of 10 they’d be out there shooting because it’s so many enemies out there. I do remember seeing Dub C. He wasn’t into lowriding at that time, but he was out there. No other rappers were out there during ‘95-‘99. You gotta remember I’m kinda young compared to other rappers. People remember me out there lowriding and still hit me up about it to this day. Million Dollar Deal Later and I Still Street Race – That’s in my blood. That’s what I do. I’ll never stop street racing. I don’t care if I make 20 million dollars. I don’t give a fuck what the police say. It’s illegal as hell but that’s what I do. That’s why I understand a lot of rappers. Everybody was on T.I. talking about he’s got millions of dollars, why’s he buying guns? He can buy guns; he’s a real street nigga. That’s what he do. A real nigga gon’ be a real nigga. It’s the same thing with me and street racing. I’ma be me no matter what. I’ve Performed in All 3 Projects in Watts – Nickerson Gardens, Jordan Downs, and Imperial Courts. I done got down in all of ‘em.
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Once I Left Sony, I Had a Deal Within 20 Minutes – At first I didn’t think I was gonna get released from Sony ‘cause of everything going on. But I talked to a dude named K.P. – shout out to him ‘cause he really did something special for my career – and he was able to get me released. I was in Mack 10’s office trying to get someone else a deal with Mack 10 when I got a call from K.P. telling me I was released. Mack 10 overheard me talking to K.P. and asked me how much money did I need. He called Bryan Turner in from Priority Records and we worked it out right there on the spot. I walked out with a deal. I’m Signed to the #1 Baller Out West and Down South [Blu Division/ Hoo Bangin’/Cash Money] – Mack 10 is the biggest baller out West, hands down. He shines harder than anybody. He got the coldest car game. His crib is colder than most of these niggas out here rappin’. And of course, Stunna Man in New Orleans. People know what his money looks like. I Push a Bentley Without Ever Releasing an Album – I’m a real street dude. I deal with ballers. They put me on how to get my whip. They threw me the keys to the Bentley, no questions. From then on, I can whip out a couple of old-schools, a new Silverado. It’s ignorant. I Had the #1 Record in L.A. Talkin’ Ignorant as Hell on the Song – If you heard “Certified,” I talked super shit on that song. I pulled my shit out in front of everybody like, “Look – I’m the man out here. Fuck what everybody else is on.” Enough niggas understood my record and was like, “He a real nigga. This is the coldest record on Power 106 even with this nigga talkin’ all this crazy, outlandish shit.” For the streets and radio to embrace it the way they did, I think that spoke a lot about my character. The Only Crip Who Can Do All Blood Shows – I believe it has something to do with my faith in God. God wanted me to be able to put that on. It’s not about street credibility. I don’t care what I did in my past; people don’t care about that. This is about God, and people possibly seeing past my rag and wanting to hear what I have to say. By the time I’m done, most of the time people are like, “This nigga is on some real life shit.” It also has to do with me not believing in what I was born into. I’m hood and I’m a Crip, but I don’t believe in that natural hate for Bloods. In Watts, it’s more about neighborhoods than Crips and Bloods. I don’t believe in the system of Crips and Bloods. Being able to see past that has helped me be able to make the type of records I make, maybe some life-changing shit.
Nominated for Patiently Waiting California As told to Ms Rivercity // Photo by D-Ray
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