YOUTNG CI Y
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etween Hurricane Katrina, departing Bad Boy, and being arrested on armed robbery charges, it’s been a rough year for former Da Band member Young City a.k.a. Chopper. Still, at only 21 years old, he’s learned plenty of lessons and is applying them towards the future. Last I heard, you were on house arrest. Yeah, I’m out on bond. I gotta face this armed robbery charge from five years ago, something they said I did when I was 16. It’s an old charge, it was the old me. I just hope the judge sees it like that. I’m gonna do the best I can do, pray to God, and hope that things will work out. Do you care to talk about that situation you’re being charged with? What actually happened? I was a young guy. I went upstate for the summertime to visit my family and I was hanging around some guys that was always getting into trouble. They had a BB gun and was playin’ around with some people that they thought was for real. When they locked me up, I came home on $10,000 bond. I was 16 years old but they charged me as an adult. I never received court papers. I went back home to New Orleans and my way of life, and ended up becoming whatever I became and doing whatever I do. So I got pulled over in Atlanta driving recently, and [the officer] was already hassling me. He told me I had a warrant from five years ago. That’s so old, and I been doing so many things I forgot all about it. So basically it was a skeleton in the closet, and sometimes you gotta get rid of them the right way instead of brushing it off. Hopefully we can get probation or just let me ride, but I don’t feel no jail time.
Are you still signed to Bad Boy? That situation with Puffy, a lot of people ask me about that. Honestly speaking, man, Puff is Puff. I am who I am. He gave me a great headstart with the Making the Band situation, but at the end of the day, it’s very bittersweet. It gets you fame, but you gotta embrace the moment for what it is. We sold platinum, but Puff seen it as a business move. I didn’t feel like being there was genuine. His whole motive was to get however much he could get out of us, and I really didn’t appreciate that as a man, first and foremost. How I was raised, we don’t play like that. I thought it was better to do my own thing. I’ve been doing this album myself, the Fast Life. At Bad Boy, it was a lot of burdens on me that I really wasn’t trying to face no more. I did it all during the Making the Band thing and it really wasn’t prosperous. I’ve gotta elevate, not evaporate. I got a family. I’m 21 and I feel like I’m 41. Puff wanted me to stay. We shot two videos in one day and they came at me with a situation and wanted me to sign the contract. We had a remix [to “Lil Daddy”] with Lil Wayne and Jody Breeze. We had already shot the video. I’ve got the rights to it but I never put it out. I’m gonna just put [that situation] behind me. I want to prove to Puff that I’m a force to be reckoned with, and he messed up for not understanding my hustle. It’s gonna be your loss, pimp. I respect the fact that he’s gonna always make money, but the rest of them over there [at Bad Boy] are puppets. I can’t be a puppet, I’m a grown-ass man. Are you still in touch with the other members of Da Band? Somewhat. I talk to Babs once in a blue moon. I talk to Dylan and Fred once in a while. I’ve talked to Sara. I don’t really rock with Ness like that. Since you built your name through Making the Band do you think people are less likely to take you seriously as a solo artist? That’s why I say it’s bittersweet, because I’ve got to prove to people that I’m a serious artist. I want y’all to take me seriously. Most do, cause real recognize real. I’m really a street nigga. I’m really from the projects. The sweet part is that it made me famous and popular. I can go anywhere in the world for free and I don’t have to worry about certain things. That’s one thing I liked about [Making the Band]. What’s your opinion on the so-called Bad Boy curse, that everyone who used to be on the label is stuck or had something bad happen to them? One thing about Diddy – he don’t give a fuck about you. He don’t give a fuck about your family. He don’t give a fuck about your situation. All he gives a fuck about is what you could do for him. A lot of artists over there on Bad Boy get shelved cause he don’t know what to do with them. He’s got an ear, but it’s for that old shit. Only reason that Yung Joc single blew up is cause it was hot already. I don’t know why that nigga’s tryin’ to cling onto the South shit now. You’re an East coast dude. No disrespect to Puff, but bring New York back. I love East coast music. Bring that back. That’s all I’m sayin’. Not to talk bad on him cause he did give me a chance and an opportunity. Fuck the haters if they wanna comment on me. If 32
you don’t like how I feel, fuck you. Are you looking to get another record deal at this point? I got a lot of things on the table right now. I’m just finishing this album and trying to be a CEO, not an artist. I don’t wanna get signed as an artist cause I’m not gonna get nothing but paper scratch. That can’t feed my daughter. I’m tryin’ to be a CEO, I’ve got an album already prepped up, I have production from some of the best producers. I already know the top dawgs. I’m not in a situation where I’ve gotta start over again. I just gotta get over this hump and that’s what I’m gonna do. Do you have any mixtapes or product in the streets right now? I got a lot of mixtapes out right now. I mainly sell out of the country. I’ve got a lot of white foreign fans. I got a couple of mixtapes out. The first mixtape I did was with DJ Chuck T. I don’t rock with Chuck T like that. I put my all into it, and the quality [of the mix CD] was like basement music. I didn’t respect that, coming from a DJ that’s from South Carolina and is supposed to be holding the South down. A lot of people was like, “It sounds like y’all did that in the basement. Chop, you a millionaire, how you gonna be recording in a basement?” I really don’t respect Chuck T for what he did, that’s why I brushed it off. He’s a bitch nigga. Didn’t you shoot up his car or something? Chuck T is a bitch to me. While I was in South Carolina I was playin’ with his gun in the backseat. I said, “Is this shit on safety?” and he said, “Yeah.” So I squeezed the trigger and shot his car. He’s doing all this talking and shit calling me and asking me for money. I paid for [the damage] cause it was nothing. But for him to get out here and start mentioning my name, boy, I will slap the shit outta you. I know niggas that know your situation, Chuck T. You’s a fuck boy. Niggas is out to get you. Be easy. Keep doing what you doing. Don’t come on this real shit. You aren’t cut from this type of cloth. Real recognize real, and you look very unfamiliar. Okay – any other mixtapes that you were happy with? Shout out to my dawg DJ Smallz for holding me down and having faith in me. All Eyez On Me, I sold 230,000 mixtapes. I sold 104,000 in the United States, especially out there in Oakland. Shout out to all my retailers out there in Oakland. And lastly, The Re-Up with DJ DNA. We sold so many of those it was crazy. They bootlegged the mix CD, but I still respect it, cause my music got out there. So shouts out to all my bootleggers. I got another mixtape coming out called I Declare War, and get ready for my Fast Life album coming soon. My single is called “Shut It Down.” Check out my website www.chopperwebsite.com or www.myspace.com/officialyoungcity to hear the official “Lil Daddy” remix to show people that I’m not over here fugazin’. I’m real talking. People don’t understand your movement until you show them. I’m 21 in the game and these old-ass rappers are still trying to make it. Retire your fuckin’ jerseys and let the young boys come in. I’m gonna shock the world. Do you plan on going back to New Orleans post-Katrina? I’m in Atlanta right now. I got a couple spots here. I’m getting real estate money. I have to go back to New Orleans, though, cause I’m the prince of the South and New Orleans is where I’m from. It’s the New New Orleans. I’m running the New New Orleans, besides my big dawg Weezy. - Julia Beverly (Photo: Shannon McCollum)