husa
dope, guns, l ah & religion Words and p hotos by D-R ay
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usalah was born into the life of his name, straight out of the El Pueblo Housing projects in Pittsburg, CA. He is a legend in his community; it’s always a huge party when Husalah is out. If you’ve never heard his music, you should take the time to gig for a minute, straight Hus style. Here, OZONE brings light to one of the Bay’s biggest talents, whose record “Cuttin’ It Up” is a regional favorite. Hus’ is also 1/4 of the popular group the Mob Figaz. Currently serving a five year sentence for possession of cocaine with intent to distribute in San Pedro, CA, Husalah has spent his time in prison strengthening his faith. How old were you when you recorded your first song? I was about 11 or 12, me and my producer RobLo, back in about 6th or 7th grade. We had a group called Undaje. We were dope. Rob use to steal raps from his older brother Jaquin, so I had to come tight. I never knew he was stealing raps from a grown man until I got older, so I was rapping in a group with a grown man when I was only 11. I guess that’s another reason why I’m so dope. That’s crazy you asked that question; it brought back memories. Kris Kross wore their clothes inside out, but we wore ours backwards. (laughs) We were real young ninjas, you know, his beats were as dope then as they are now. Rob is actually amazing and super dope. How did you hook up with The Jacka, Rydah J. Klyde, Fed X and AP9? We are all from the East Bay, and grew up in Pittsburg as kids - Jacka, Fed X and Klyde. Klyde is my blood cousin; same projects, same family. Then AP9 came out here and got on with the illest ninjas doing it. How did you become one of the Mob Figaz? The homie C-Bo got out of prison in ‘96 or ‘97. He heard about a pack of young ninjas who had heat, and he came to a record shop to listen. I was playing [basketball] in the local gym, dunking and shitting on people, and AP9 came in the gym and said, “Aye, bro, C-Bo is out here.” I said, “I don’t give a shit. Fuck rap! That shit is for fake-ass dudes who front. I’m rich and selling dope is my occupation. You can sing and dance all you want, but I’m cool.” But AP was persistent and he persuaded me to go outside. Young C-Bo pulled up in a sporty SL Benz AMG thang, stupid clean, and I said, “Fuck it, let’s do it.” Money was my life at that time. We went to the lab and recorded “Ride Til We Die.” It was an instant dumb-ass stupid slap, and C-Bo said we were a group and going on tour. I was really young so I had to ask my mom to sign me off with consent [forms]. All I can remember about that day was how the headlights on that Benz looked like they were blue; that new Euro shit. I was dedicated [to rap] from that day on. I 16 16 //// OZONE OZONE WEST WEST
wanted to be like C-Bo, young and rich. What is one of your most memorable moments with the Mob? When C-Bo dropped “Til My Casket Drop,” I was still a young dirtbag choppin’ O’s and you couldn’t tell me I wasn’t going to be the illest ninja ever in life. When I first heard somebody slide through stuntin’, he pulled to the stop sign and the driver looked over at the crowd, rolled down his window, and punched his gas. His shit was stupid running, and he slid across the intersection, and let his top drop while he was still burning rubber, figure eight-ing and everything. When he turned his slap up I heard my voice; it was our song, “Ride Till We Die,” the first song to ever be on a real record, blaring out of about six twelve [inch speakers] in a drop 1970 Cutlass, ridiculously clean, on five-time Zeniths. It made me feel like, this is everything I am to be, Mob for life. Youngstas love shit like that. That’s why I fuck with young ninjas who never had a record. I try to put them all on, I love the young ninjas. Do you normally write your verses or freestyle them in the studio? A lot of my music is off the [top of my] head. I feel it and I go. I focus on the music first, and when the music is slapping, I feel like I’m thirteen again and I’m in the car parked in the middle of my hood, blowing trees, and we four deep, making beats pounding on the console of the car - hitting the roof for bass while another person beat boxes. And it’s on me to spit dope to that perfect slap. That’s how I feel when I’m on. I love this shit. I do it for young ninjas who live like that, to let them know that the raggedy Cutlass you rap in can turn into a million-dollar studio, or a stage with ten thousand fans. You often speak of Islam and occasionally rhyme in Arabic. Can you explain your faith, and how is your current incarceration testing it? I first realized that I was something other than what I saw on the wall at church as a young youth. I was raised in a religious family and my mother is very open to truth. I saw a lot of other kids getting baptized and I asked, “Why am I not baptized? Everybody is happy for them. Can I do that too so everybody can be happy for me at church?” My mother said, “When you understand what it means to [be baptized], then it is your choice. It’s between you and Allah.” By the time I was around ten years old, I heard KRS-One rapping about knowledge. That’ was the second album I ever owned after [Too $hort’s] Born to Mack: [KRS-One’s Boogie Down Productions’] Criminal Minded. The cover was a likeness of Malcolm X. “Love’s Gonna Get You” was my favorite joint. As a kid,