So you’re appearing on the new Tupac album – what is this, the 10th posthumous Tupac album? I don’t know, I just know it’s the first Tupac album that I’ma be on, and I always wanted to be on a Tupac album. I already did two songs for it and now I’m finna do another one that Sha Money produced. After that they say they’ve got one more album and that’s it; they’re closing the whole storage and just let him be.
Naw, this is a slow day for Lil Scrappy. Shit is just now finna pick up, and the days have been faster up until now. Today and yesterday have been kinda slow out here in L.A., I guess I’m ready to get out of here and go do my thing. It’s like the day before Christmas – when you wake up the next morning you’re ready to go. I’ve been out here for three months now. I’ve been out here since May, recording and getting all my stuff ready for my album.
Why have you always wanted to be on a Tupac album? Cause that’s the realest, hardest nigga that ever lived. One of ‘em.
Do you feel like you have a lot of input on your project? They’re letting me handle some of my shit. They asking me for some of my opinions. Everybody don’t get to have an opinion or choice to what they want to do, but I do. My music, my marketing, and how I want to look. They let me do my thing because they can see that I’ve been doing my own shit. They’ve seen the mixtapes and stuff like that I put out with my own money. They’re like, “Oh shit, this nigga knows how to do some things.” I can’t do it all, but I can do some of it.
Do you think it’s fair that they pair him with other rappers on records after his death? They’ve got a song with Tupac and Nas together, but he had dissed Nas. I think that if he could’ve made money without the beef, he would’ve fucked with every last one of ‘em. Mother knows best, you know what I’m sayin’? She knew her son, for real. Like my mama, she’s not an idiot. She knows who I like and who I don’t like. Your mom’s a gangsta. Yeah, she’s hardcore. She ain’t playin’. Mama gonna always be mama, and mama gonna always do her thing and act crazy. What role does she play in your career? She’s the advisor. I don’t ask for her opinion, she just gives it to me. I could just be sittin’ chillin’ and she’ll hear about some shit I ain’t tell her and she’ll be like, “This is what I think, I think you need to….” Then I’ll be like, “Mama, can you stay out of my business?” She tells me, “I’m gonna always be in your business.” Now that you’re down with G-Unit and all that, is everybody tryin’ to work with you? Even the people that didn’t wanna work with you before? Yep. Everybody wanna be working with me now. There’s only some that did records with me when I wasn’t poppin’. I know Bun B came through for me. 8Ball & MJG always told me that if I needed their help they were down. I ain’t really call on them cause they’re O.G.s. I can call Jon and say, “I want 8Ball & MJG on my album,” and they gon’ come on the strength of Jon and cause they like my music. So I know they gon’ come. But I’m talking about the new niggas, all the young folk. Young Jeezy fucked with a nigga when a nigga wasn’t poppin’. But there’s a lot of other niggas that really wouldn’t fuck with a young boy. There’s certain ones that did and certain ones that didn’t, and you know, the ones that didn’t, I can’t help them now. If I see ‘em fallin’ off, I’m just gonna be like, “Well damn, I’ll pray for ya.” If I show that it’s all good just cause I’m a fan of theirs or just cause I want to make it happen, I’ll be suckapunchin’ myself in the face, like I’m not standing up for my morals. I don’t like that shit. So I just help my artists and keep myself where I can make all my money. Who are your artists, G’s Up? Yeah, Lil Chris, Pooh Baby, Crime Mob. Crime Mob is actually signed to your label Crunk Inc., right? Yeah, it’s Crunk Inc., but I’m switching it over to G’s Up because I just don’t feel like dealing with ol’ dude [Serious]. He wants to sue everybody, but he stole all the money. We could be suing his broke ass but he ain’t got nothin’ to sue for. That was your business partner? Yeah, that was my partner altogether, you know. Do you regret being in a partnership with him? Naw, cause that dude was smart when he had it all. I don’t know what he’s doing now, but I just know that he’s not insane like he tries to make everyone believe. I know him, and I’m just lookin’ at this nigga laughin’ like, oh my God. This nigga is for real. I could tell he was like that in the beginning just by how he’d act towards people. He’ll act crazy. I’d tell him, “Sit yo’ ass down, cause I’m not even with all that shit. If I fight you, nigga, you know I’ma shoot yo’ ass.” He’s a big nigga, you know, so I’m not even fuckin’ with it. But nah, that dude taught me some shit and I just thought he was the realest in the world and I looked at him like a big brother. Shit, anything that nigga told me, I believed it, and I put my trust in him. Certain shit happened and I had to let him go to keep my career moving. I could’ve still been cool with him but I kept looking at the money situation, like, damn, you actually let money just fuck up all this shit. That ain’t real and I can’t deal with nobody that ain’t real. Is today a typical day in the life of Lil Scrappy?
Is it fair to say that your labelmate Bohagon is a better rapper – There’s a difference between a rapper and a lyricist. I can rap all day but Bohagon’s a better lyricist. What I was getting at is this: do you think it’s your music that “sells” you, or your image? You’ve got the have the whole package. You’ve got to have the brain too. And Bohagon, he has everything too. He does his shit. Bohagon works every fuckin’ day, and he’s a creative-ass muthafucker, and he’s been keeping himself to where the young ladies will like him. He doesn’t have a real problem with sellin’ anything. But when other people can’t see that, it’s kinda hard for you. If you’re going around the whole United States and everybody can see that except the people that put you out. It’s like they’re just now getting it. Now they’re like, “Okay, Bohagon, he is the truth. The nigga is gonna do it.” So now they’re behind him. But you’ve got to put pressure on them, and Bohagon did that. He did it out of his own will and his own thought. Sometimes it takes the whole package. Certain people don’t have to go through that because they’ve already got the package. They’re already set. They’ve already seen other people go through those types of problems, so they’re like, “Look, I need my paperwork straight. I ain’t signing shit. I don’t give a fuck how broke I am. I need to see them papers, and I got my lawyer right here so don’t try to half-ass.” And they got the lyrics and everything. Everybody knows there’s something wrong with everybody. They might not be the hardest, they might not be the realest. They might be somebody who just got a good flow. Those are the ones that halfway win, the ones that got an ounce of will in their body, straight from the suburbs. They’ve always had it, and they’re just getting out of the house and they’re struggling now. So now they’re the hard nigga, the real nigga, and they just want to rap. What’s the best advice 50 Cent has given you? The best advice 50’s given me is, “Fuck that shit, do your shit.” That nigga told me, “You know why I won’t stop, even though I’m wealthy as fuck? It’s because it’s nobody out there that’s doin’ it like that, to where I can just feel good about leaving the game.” It’s entertainment. It’s nobody out there that’s makin’ it look good. He just makes it look good. Like he told me, “At the end of the day, I want you to be you, and go as far as you can cause you’ve got that in you.” When it comes to the music, have you used the 50 connection to work with people like Eminem and Dr. Dre? Yeah, I got a track with Eminem called “Lord Have Mercy” that me and 50 wrote. 50 came up with the chorus and I came up with the verses, unlike some other people that 50 has helped. On that note, do you think you’ll ever be put in a position where you might have to beef with somebody on 50’s behalf? I’ll put it like this: I done seen everybody in the world that 50 has beef with and nobody’s tried me or said nothin’ out of the way. And that’s because I’ve seen them before the situation and it’s always been, “Whassup,” give ‘em dap and keep it moving. I ain’t tryin’ to butt into their shit and they ain’t tryin’ to butt into my shit. 50 told me, “Don’t even try to get into the beef shit, because niggas like you.” Niggas fuck with me, and I fuck with niggas. Don’t just talk about somebody and then take pictures with them the next day or do a song with them the next week. I’m not gon’ do that shit. I’m gonna keep it real. I don’t wanna beef with nobody. I’m not gonna do that shit cause I got a lil’ girl at home and I’m tryin’ to take care of her. I’d rather be real about the shit. I grew up listening to half these niggas, you know what I’m sayin’? What’s the movie you have coming out? 43