A lot of the cats that were carved from the same clay I was carved from are doing hard time now. They’re solid; like Lil D, Black, and Beasley. All of those cats are locked up, and they were some real cats. If some of them were out in the streets the whole Bay would be in a way better position. A lot of times, some of these youngsters are rattlesnakes, and they ain’t got no OGs to tell ‘em [different]. The young rattlesnakes are the most dangerous, because they can’t control the amount of venom they shoot. It’s a drought right now because there’s no cats to guide these younger cats, man. A lot of people are dying over shit they don’t need to be dying over. That’s what I’m talking about; the death toll. Back in the days, when a muthafucker was going to get it, they know what it was about. Nowadays they’re just getting [killed] for small shit that ain’t worth throwing your life away for. “Aw man, that nigga stepped on my shoes.” And even though he said, “I’m sorry,” and bought you a drink, you’re still gonna kill him when he walks out of the club because he stepped on your shoe. See, I don’t like that. That ain’t cool. It’s a whole new ballgame. Tell me about your first Jive deal. I was on there for 10 years. How you feel about being on a major label with so much time in the game and such a big fanbase? What do you think about a guy like Ice Cube who’s doing well independently? No disrespect to Ice Cube or anybody else that’s independent, but when I was doing independent, my shit was a one stop - Music People and City Hall - they were the main hubs. Those were the two little distributors in the Bay Area. My uncle St. Charles would send out one-sheets to all the mom and pop stores and chain stores with a copy of my CD in the package and say, “This is the new project that’s coming out. If you like it and want to order, call this number,” which went to City Hall Records and Music People. That’s how we were doing it. Now, all these cats that are “independent” have real distribution. Their distribution is the same as a major label’s distribution. When we were doing it “independent,” it was a one-stop with a small distributor. That’s the reason I signed with Jive Records, because I was only [reaching] 40% of the nation, as opposed to 100%. When I signed with the major, Jive, they had distribution that [helped me reach] 100% of the nation. I think independent is good too. But it depends on how you want to do it. You’ve gotta understand that the way I was doing it, you gotta put your own dollars in it. Your whole whoo-whop. You gotta put it all in the hands of God, really. You can benefit from being on a major label because of the exposure. You can really get the perks and amenities from this thang. Being independent, you can still be underground and have just as much money as a muthafucker on a major, but that depends on if your shit sells and if you’ve got the outlet. Sometimes you can have a great album in stores but nobody knows nothing about it. It’s a dice roll, daddy. You just gotta put that thang in the hands of God. While you were making this album, were you concerned with keeping hold of any fans you picked up with your last album? Me, personally, I criticize myself a lot. I go hard on myself. But I’m comfortable with this album. I feel like this album is well-rounded. You know,
just like In A Major Way, that album from 1995, you can’t duplicate that same album. I don’t plan on trying to duplicate My Ghetto Report Card. But you never know if it’s going to be better or mediocre, or just there, until you put it out. But personally, I feel like I’m gassing on that muthafucker. I feel like the muthafucker’s a winner. It’s back-to-back slaps on there. It’s not dull shit. Sounds like you have a few that won’t have a problem making it onto radio. Does it bother you to make those obvious radio-ready hits? I’m not gonna lie, when I first started off, I was stubborn. But nowadays, I’m a mature dude. I’m older now, and I’m making grown folks music, and I’m making music for everybody. I’ve got music for them youngsters, and I’ve got music for people that are over 25.
came to his mind. There’s a dance that goes with it, so in the video, y’all will see it displayed. You had a lot of famous guests, like Game and Snoop, on your album. Me and Game are cool. We talk from time to time. I always wanted to do a song with him, but I wanted to make sure it was the right song. Since me, Snoop, and Game are real West Coast fixtures, it’s only right for us to do a song together.
I see you brought T-Pain on board. We were on his tour bus and he was making these beats from the ground up. We did about 5 of them. He’ll do a beat and then start humming to himself for like 10 minutes. He didn’t write anything down, just went into the vocal booth on the bus and did his thing. A Captain Save A Ho is a muthafucker that tricks off his money taking You got trap songs on there, too. care of a broad that ain’t even his broad. That’s I got trap songs on there all day. a Captain Save A Ho, a muthafucker that just What made you work with Shawty Lo? comes to the rescue. That’s not the same thing as First of all, I remember Shawty Lo from D4L. What having a main squeeze. See, without my wife, I know I wouldn’t be where I’m at, because she’s really a solid broad. And “A Captain Save A Ho tricks off his when I say “broad” that’s just my soil money taking care of a broad that spit. I’m not calling her a “broad” ain’t even his broad. that’s not the [disrespectfully]. I encourage muthafuckers: if you’ve got a good same as a main squeeze. without my [female], you need to keep her. And wife, I know I wouldn’t be where I’m vice versa, for females, if you’ve got at, because she’s really solid. recoga good man, hold onto him. They’re to come by. Recognize a blessnize a blessing when it’s in your face.” hard ing when it’s in your face. made me really recognize dude was that game recognize game, like when he said, “Like 40, don’t save her.” A lot of cats in the industry are phony to me, but Shawty Lo wasn’t. That man said my name and shouted me out real tough, and I love that. A lot of cats know I gas; they know I got straight spittems, I got bars. They grew up on my music and they know I’m still relevant. A lot of cats, when I see ‘em personally, they’ll say, “Man, I grew up on your music, I got love for you.” But when I reach out to fuck with ‘em and get ‘em on my album or something, they act funny. They either send an invoice or they’ll be like, “My label ain’t letting me do any more features. Maybe on the next one.” And I know they took a page outta E-40’s book. I ain’t talking about my dictionary, just life in general. But Shawty Lo kept it all the way organic with me, and we got down with the “Break Ya Ankles” song. I know how to separate the real from the fake. Did you have an opinion about the Shawty Lo vs. T.I. beef? I don’t give a fuck about that. I’m in my own lane. People do songs with muthafuckers that’s in rap beef all damn day. If that’s the case, I could be made at a lot of muthafuckers. You smell me? What about the “Recipe”? Oh yeah, yeah, that’s me, Gucci Mane, and Bun B. See, those are real niggas that I fuck wit’. They’re genuine cats. They’re my friends. The “Recipe” is really just talking about the [drug] game, but at the same time, it’s explaining the consequences and repercussions. If you decide to elect yourself into the game of dope, just know that it is cutthroat. You can’t be crackin’ under pressure when you’re backed into the corner. You’ve gotta be built for this shit. What’s going to be the next single? “Break Ya Ankles.” I could see that song coming on ESPN. Shawty Lo came up with the concept. When we did the beat, that’s the first thing that
I never looked for somebody to put me on. I didn’t have an executive producer. Me, D-Shot, B-Legit, and Suga-Tee didn’t have executive producers. We never did a 16 bars with a major dude just to get on. We built our shit from the ground up. Nobody helped us. I always looked up to Too $hort, but he didn’t have anything to do with the beginning of my career. We put our own selves on, through word of mouth, our business minds, and family support. I try to encourage cats not to rely on the record label. You’ve got to get out there and grind for yours even harder now. It’s a brutal world out there and it’s an oversaturated market, so you can’t just rely on the record label. You’ve gotta get out there and network. You ain’t even got to be the best rapper in the world; as long as you’re making the right business moves and networking and muthafuckers are feeling your swag, you can do it. A lot of these d-boys don’t even know. It’s like Rappin 4-Tay said years ago: “Man, a lot of these players’ll make some real good rhymesayers.” He’s talking about the average street nigga; they can rap if they want to, and they’ll probably rap better than the muthafuckers they’re putting out. When you’re from that [lifestyle] and you know it, it’s easier to put out music [about it]. You were also on the “One Blood” remix. I don’t think a lot of people know that there’s a difference between Southern California gang culture and Northern Cali’s street culture. It’s not about colors or where you’re from. Muthafuckers have turf wars, but it’s not about colors [in Northern California]. When muthafuckers funk, they funk over individual situations. Then that trickles down and a whole hood gets involved. But it ain’t not color thing out in the Bay like that. Back in the late 80s and early 90s there were turf wars, but it was never about colors; just certain hoods, certain soils, and certain cities. But don’t let the niggas with the dreadlocks that be dancing and shit fool you. Muthafuckers been hyphy. // OZONE MAG // 49