didn't even get shit, so what was the point? That's how shit is in JackonvitLe. Niggas be watchin' to see what you've got. Did your brother Vic survive the shooting?
He's paralyzed from the waist down, and he can never walk aqain. BitLy shut the whoLe ctub down that night. That was the first time in eleven years he'd ever shut the ctub down early. They att came over to the hospjtal. That was some real-ass shit, that's why l'lt atways respect Bitty. His brother had got shot back in the day, so he was somebody I coutd retate to and tatk to. He came and said some good words, and it made me feel a littte better, Why do you think Jacksonville is so rough? I don't know. There's just a lot of hate, Nobody wants to see somebody etse doing better than them, I don't know if it's tike that everywhere, but that's definitety how it is here. I get a lot of respect now because niggas seen my brother get shot, and I stjtt push him in a wheetchair wherever we go. PeopLe ask me why I carry so many
guns, welt, that's
the
reason.
That shit couLd happen at any time. lt coutda been me. I was
said that shit or not, but that's what lwas totd. And a lot of radio jocks be hatin'too. Like, G Wiz - I don't give a fuck, l'tl put his name out there - he wa5 like, "904 CLick need to go back to setlin' crack." lf you black and you from the hood, everybody been in the game. I don't gjve a fuck who you are. Everybody got a story to tetl, Just tike SBatt say, "Everybody know everybody done sotd a tit'dope." That ain't shit, Just cause you sett dope, that don't make you a real nigga. Real niggas do reat things. You judge a nigga by how he handte certain situations. Look at Ja Rule. Them niggas are mittionaires, and But you're a solo artist now: Young Cash? the Feds stitL tryjn'to get them boys. You've Yep, that's me. I stitt rep 904 Ctick cause l'm the gotta take that money and put it into someonty originat 904 Ctick member, I just went solo. thing positive. Most of the niggas in the game are faker so they've got a nigga on they team What other artists have you worked with? doing dirt to make them look reat. That's how I fuck with 5th Ward Boyz, some oLder cats from niggas get caught up. Rea[ niggas know how to Houston. I've done tracks with Mike Jones, Web- put their money into some [ega[ shit and make it bie, and Bun B, and as a group we did a song with pop, But in Duvat lcounty], some niggas, that's Lit Boosie. Mannie Fresh dropped a track for me. att they tive for - just to selt dope. I don't understand that. lf you ain't got no muthafuckin'pLan and you just setLin' dope for no reason, what js your purpose? You'tt die doing that shjt, cause that's the onty way out. Dying or going to jail, one of the two.
..[MY BROTHERI IS PARALYZED FROM .THE WAIST DOWN...THAT'S THE REASON I CARRY SO MANY GUNS. IT COULDA BEEN ME." . YOUNG CASH
in the hospitat every day with my brother. He wasn't even coherent at first, [ike, "Yo, where my motorcycle at?" Tatking crazy shit; that went on for at least a month. I couLdn't deaL with it. He had a traech in his throat, he'd be Leaving ten minute messages askin' me to come up there. I hate hospitats. After he got coherent, he was real depressed. He wasn't going to rehab, none of that shit. My stepdad let us move into his house, so there I am, an 18-year-otd nigga having to take care of a grown man. You know how nurses have to wipe peopte's asses and att that? I had to do att that shit for my brother. My momma and my aunt helped out, but most of the time, it was just me and him.
What happened with your rap career? He got shot on October 1'lth, 2000, so for two years after that we was chiltin'. We did put the atbum out, though, Ihe Ldst Doys. Everybody toved that aLbum. We had the 5th Ward Boyz on there. I think we sotd around 1,000 copies. just in this Littte area. We ain't reatty push it nowhere etse. We started getting shit crackin' back in 2002 when we did the remix to our singte "Love to Bat[" wjth lThritt da PLaya of the 69 Boyzl. Ever since then, a nigga been tryin' to get back on the grind. We got a coupLe new members, like a white cat named SJ. That's my dawg, he grew up with me. Everybody used to be tetting me to go solo back in the day, but at the time I ain't reatty feet I was ready. I was young. I been soaking up the game, l've been on the grind making my own connects and l've learned a lot. Rapping is just easy to me, I ain't realLy have no probtems with other group members hating, cause they knew this is me and my brother's dream from the beginning.
artist, do you feel pressure to succeed on behalf of your brothers? I wouldn't say pressure, but at first I was a littte scared. lt's hard to be doing this shit by yoursetf. There's pressure when you're doing a whote atbum by yoursetf. When you're in a group, it's way easier. OriginaLty it was me and my brothers and my cousin Rico. After my brothers got shot and Rico just faded away, we had another cat who came in, but it stitt ain't feet tike the ot' 904 Ctick. I wasn't reatty vibin' with the new cats too welt. As a solo
to call it 904 Click, were you worried about being limited to Jacksonville? We wasn't even thinkin' about jt getting that big at the time, we just wanted to take over our littte area and represent Jacksonvitte. Niggas don't rep JacksonvjtLe except [Thritt]. Onty probtem we had was around the time my brother got shot, some niggas came out with 904 Records. Their group ac, tuatly had a different name, but 904 Records was the name of their label so it caused conflicts when promoters were trying to book us. But l'm coot with some of them niggas, so it's att good. When you decided
Do you agree with the theory that the rap game is the dope game? Florida that's up on underground rapper5. I guess being robbed and shot in the dope game ln Jacksonville, we super thug. Anything that's is equivaLent to being in the rap game and gethard and underground, that's what the niggas here ting jerked with a bad record deat, so it's kinda are feetin'. Like, B.G. could come to Jacksonvitle the same thing. They do it with a gun in the and have a show bigger than Juvenite cause he's dope game and with a pen in the rap game. superr super street, and njggas here tove that shjt, (Upstart Record Pool owner Dereck Woshington Have you been talking to any labels? intetjects, "PIus, our rddio stotion here is so for I ain't reatty tryin' to put no names out there, behind in their programming that the mojority of but they been holLerin'. They know that we had the time, people here listen to CDs,") shit poppin' untit my brother got shot. They hear my shit and they think it's tight. I'm stilL Wasn't there an incident a few years ago be- ftickin'with Tye Dash, that's my nigga even if tween 904 Click and C{ear Channel? I ain't rappin'. I don't even wanna fuck with Ctear Channet, man, they be trippin'. They ptay Universat cause they're Like a Vetcro tabet. They the same thing over and over and over. They act just throw you out there to see if you stick, and like they wanna show the locals some tove, but if your shit fatl off you'tt get dropped. UnLess they don't show tove. Ihere was some major shit you NetLy. (loughtng.) that went down when we got into it with them. [Ctear Channet's annuat] Come Together Day was 5o what's your plan right now? right when we dropped our single, "Man." This To do it independentLy and get some numbers so was in 2003, There was a new station that had just they'll come hotlerin'. And even if they don't, cranked up, 105.7, and they were bumpin' our shit we'L[ stitl make this money. We re getting spins tike six, seven, eight times a day. lctear Channet right now on WJBT'S mixshow for "Gimme a station WJBTI wasn't even ptayin' our shit. 5o we Bottte," the new singte. were performing, and one of my homeboys said, "We wanna thank 105.7 for ptayjn' our shit." They Do you wanna give any shoutouts? cut our mics off and blackbatted us Like a mutha- To my family, my brother Vic, Matt a,k.a, LiL fucker after that. [TJ's DJ's Record Poot owner] Man, everybody in the 904 Ctick, Dereck WashTJ [Chapman] caLted us right after we teft tike, ington at Upstart Entertainment and Record "Man, y'alt fucked up." And the nigga that said it Pool, Bigga Rankins and the Coot Runnings Crew was one of the new members of the group, so he Bigga Rankins been showin' me tove ever since didn't reatly know att the potitics, He didn't reatty I first met hjm on FLorida Ave. when t was eighunderstand that it was a Ctear ChanneL event, but teen Levi Jordan a.k.a. The Boss, my nigga jt tooked tike we did the shit on purpose so we Tye Dash in NY, my homegirt Renee in ATL with had to stand by what was said. But, they wasn't lnfinity Productions, my nigga Karim in ATL, alt showin' a nigga no Love anyway, so what did we the DJs that fuck with me in Duvat, and the Hithave to lose? Anyway, now that l'm doing the soto tmenn DJs. My Texas famity; my niggas T Farris, shit, l'm tryin'to leave that behind. Mike Jones, and Pautwatl, and the teqend Bun B. TJ's DJ's, my tattoo artist Eric, my street team Doc Wynter, who's responsible for controlling in Duvat (Swote Dogg, Mike Mike, MarioAndretti, nationwlde urban playlists for Clear Channel, is Smattwood, and K Btack), my hype man Midget based right here in Jacksonville. Mac, and atL the real niggas in the struggte in ldon't know what to say about that cat. They Jacksonvitle. And I can't forget my girt JB who needed another artist for [Come Together Day be on the grind more than atl you niggas ctaim2004] and our name came up. From what I was ing y'att grindin'! R.l.P. to att the niggas who totd, [Doc Wynter] said, "ls that them cats that didn't make it to 2005. And I been peepjn'game said something about that other radio station last from my njgga Mjke Jones: if y'atL wanna hotta year? Fuck them niggas." I don't know if he reatty at me, catt me at 904-622-6229.
Jacksonville alway5 seems to be the first city in
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