Following a well-publicized Atlanta incident in which he was stabbed during a fight with his sister’s boyfriend (and subsequently arrested), LIL SCRAPPY vents on his “problem,” defending his younger sister, and getting released from his Warner Bros. contract.
I
smoke at least a pound of weed a day. That’s because I have a lot of muthafuckers around me. My niggas just smoke and smoke and smoke. But when my [daughter] is around, it’s a non-smoking zone. No tolerance. But I do smoke a pound a day. I have a problem. I can get a pound for $55, but that’s still like $20k a year [spent on weed]. I can’t live without it. But it’s some doctors and judges that can’t live without it. It’s some lawyers and some nurses that can’t live without it. We all have a problem. It’s a recession, ladies and gentlemen, but stay on your grustle! I basically raised my little sister. My mom was out in the streets [while we were growing up] and my dad was nowhere to be found. Before I had a baby, [my sister] was my baby. When I heard that [her boyfriend] had been beating her, that shit just struck a nerve. He had been doing it all week and she ain’t said nothing. That ain’t even in my family; my mama don’t breed babies like that. She was a little timid of him because she ain’t never been in an [abusive] relationship. I was on my way out of town and my baby mama called me and was like, “Nigga, I been calling you,” and I was like, “What you want?” She said, “Nigga, it ain’t me. You ain’t been answering this phone all day and this nigga been over here beating on your sister’s ass and dragging her, pulling her by her hair. He dragged her up the street.” She said he had been doing it all week. I was on Jonesboro Road and I made a U-turn. It took me thirty minutes to get [to my sister’s house]. The police had been there the whole time so I was thinking everything would be cool [by the time I got there]. But I got there and everything was still crazy. The police ain’t got no control over this bastard. He’s still walking up and down the stairs talking about what he’s gonna do to people. I saw the police when I got out of the car. I had my shirt off. I didn’t come to hurt nobody, I just wanted to see my sister. When I went in the house, I saw the police, and I’m lookin’ at all these people that don’t belong in there. I’m pointing in their faces like, “Who are these people?” My baby mama was like, “Oh, that’s his folk.” I said “Oh, yeah? Where’s my little sister?” The police were like, “Who are you?” Then I saw [my sister’s boyfriend] coming down the steps. We got into a real bad fight; no holds barred. I can’t really go into detail about what happened [for legal reasons] but I told the police, “Either you get him up off me or you might as well just take us both to jail right now.” I beat him down so bad that when I was on top of him he grabbed a knife and stabbed me in my right chest, right on my tattoo. The police let him go and locked me up. They were giving him lemonade and shit, letting him walk around. It was some groupie-type shit. The policemen were calling their other homies, like, “I got Lil Scrappy. He’s in some shit,” and it wasn’t even no racial shit, because [the police] were black. It’s always some black on black crime, even in the police station. I don’t know what’s going on now [with the crunk movement]. I kinda backed off of it when I saw [Lil] Jon backing off of it. If the leader ain’t standing on top of it, then I ain’t finna stand nowhere near it. I guess Jon is on some other shit; he’s trying to expand. He’s not trying to stay with the same sound forever, but that’s what they labeled him: “crunk.” He’s the King of Crunk. He kind of labeled himself. Jon is always trying to expand and I’m always trying to find ways to expand. I’m trying to keep Hip Hop alive and keep this shit going down here in the South. I’m trying to let everybody 38 // OZONE MAG
know that there’s always going to be something new; something fresh. I was just in a predicament where I couldn’t put my shit out. Now I can put my shit out and let people hear me and lead my own destiny. I finally got out of my solo deal with Warner, so I’m by myself now. G’s Up. My plan is to hit the streets hard once again with this new grustle movement. That means “grinding” and “hustling” put together, if you don’t know what that mean. It’s not 24/7, it’s 84/7. You never sleep. You’re always up grustling. Whether you’re a nine-to-five nigga or an on-the-block type nigga, or you’re a rappin’-ass nigga or an acting-ass nigga, whatever the hell you do, you’ve gotta be on your grustle. It’s a new movement. G’s Up. [My joint venture with BME/Warner and] the whole G-Unit thing was a one-time project, but we’re still family. Niggas still show me love, with a long spoon. Niggas call and see what’s up with me. Even Buck holla’d to see what’s up with a nigga. I’m staying out of the whole [Young Buck vs. 50 Cent] situation. Niggas ain’t paying me enough to get in the middle of their situation. My daughter’s got to eat, so I stay dolo. Ain’t nobody helping me right now, so I stay dolo. They don’t owe me shit and I don’t owe them nothing. Buck and 50, if it was me, I would have just played my position and got my money. That’s just me. I ain’t never had three or four million dollars. I ain’t never seen that much money, so if you offered me something like that, I’d take it. As long as you ain’t the police. [50 releasing the personal recorded calls with Buck] was like the Art of War. Niggas are at war right now, I guess. When niggas are at war they’ll do all kinds of shit. I see where Buck was coming from, he was like, “Damn, nigga, I wouldn’t even hit you that low.” But 50, on the other hand, he’s like, “Damn, nigga. I looked out for you.” Niggas are going off emotions right now. I don’t give a fuck, I’m just trying to get my money. Like I said, I ain’t getting into they shit. Much love to everybody. If you don’t like me, fuck you. I’m getting money anyway. They don’t pay my bills. Nobody pays my bills. I pay my own bills. Matter of fact, my lawyer needs about $20k right now. Can anybody help me? No, they can’t, so I got to get it. Crime Mob broke up because Princess and her brother and her dad all think they run shit. They think they made Crime Mob. They actually have a publishing company where their money goes. Everybody thinks that it comes to me, but I had nothing to do with their publishing. I’m the one that gave them their publishing back. What record label does that? What record label gives their artists their publishing back? All of it? Here, have it! They are signed to my label. I gave them their publishing back and they still bitch. I don’t know what Princess is doing now, but Diamond has a deal. We have papers and proof, so whoever wants to know, Diamond has a solo deal [with Warner]. We’re working on getting Psycho Black [from Crime Mob] a deal too. [The group] has a deal under Warner, but we’re talking about solo deals. I tried to be the best guy in it, but they tried to make me into the bad guy. What the fuck? I’m out making money, so I’m the bad guy. I’m tryin’ not to get into any more trouble. CEO status. I am a CEO; G’s Up Records. We’re doing it real big. Love to the A-Town all day; shout out to DJ Holiday. // As told to Julia Beverly