What made you move to Miami, Florida?
It’s the weather. It’s beautiful. People in Miami make you wanna work out. When you go outside you see a muthafucka in a tank top, and you see these beautiful women with these nice tans. It just makes your ass wanna be healthy and get your shit together. The weather is beautiful here.
The vibrations are positive there?
Yeah, it’s a positive look. Everybody from around the world comes to enjoy the sunshine, so I want to be a part of that. It reflects on my music too. When I’m out in Miami and I’m writing and creating it shows. Something in the air just makes you feel great.
A few years ago you jumped out of a window and messed up your legs. Was that when you were using cocaine?
Yeah, but cocaine wasn’t the reason why I jumped out the window. But hell yeah, I was on dope.
Are your legs all healed now? You’re physically all good?
Yeah. I’m physically inclined. Thank god! You can’t even tell that I broke both of my legs and that I went through what I went through. The doctor said I would never walk again, but you couldn’t even tell. I’m out there now doing the same shit that I was doing, as far as being active. I’m doin the damn thing. I don’t regret none of it. It gave me a whole different outlook on life, bein confined to that fuckin chair.
When you were using drugs were people around you telling you to clean up?
No. Nobody was telling me to clean up cause they were doing shit themselves. Wasn’t nobody saying clean up or none of that. I was what you call a functional muthafucka on dope, not a strung out muthafucka. I was functioning. I was havin money, I was in my European cars, I was having fun wearin my jewelry. I was a functional dope head nigga!
I met you so many times during that period and I never thought you were on drugs.
And my family used that to make me out like I was stupid. They did some fucked up shit. My homeboys did the same thing. At the end of the day nobody ever gave a fuck enough to sit me down and ask me what I was goin through. I kicked that shit myself—no program, none of that shit. I just went cold turkey and said, “Fuck that shit, I’m tired of the shit!” And I’ve been clean since.
You were saying earlier that you have problems with your neighborhood. What kind of problems do you have?
You know how when you become successful and you grow out of a lotta things, you have problems. A lotta people went through it. Lil Wayne went through it, J-Diggs went through it, 50 Cent went through it. I ain’t even on the platinum level, but I’m goin through it now. My dream from the beginning was to get outta the projects. Not sayin that I don’t have a love for my people, because I was the only nigga from my neighborhood that looked out for the neighborhood. I was there with bond money, lawyers. I walked through the projects and passed out ten thousand to the little kids. Shit like that. I made history over there. But you get that when you become successful, because you can’t help each and every person out individually. That’s what they’re lookin for, they’re lookin for you to give them what you worked so hard for. It ain’t nothing wrong with helping your people, but you can’t give a muthafucka your everything. Otherwise you ain’t got nothing. I just want to say I love my Fillmore neighborhood, man. I done did some remarkable things with my people and they can never take that back from me. When we feel like it’s time to fix this shit, we’ll fix it. For the record, I love my home. I wouldn’t change—Fillmore, California, I wouldn’t trade that in for a million dollars.
When you become successful people around you think you can pull them out, but you’re overloaded trying to deal with the system out there. They don’t understand what you’re going through to keep afloat.
Right, and they never will. Some people get it and some people don’t. It’s just about reaching back and helping the people that want help, and that’s what I did. I reached back, and people that was in fucked up situations, I stuck my hand out there and I helped them. I was some times that people helped me too, and I’ll never forget it. That’s instilled in my fuckin brain. One time you needed some help, somebody helped you. When somebody else needed help you helped them. I helped my people tremendously, but now it’s like everybody got a problem and I can’t help every fuckin body. At the end of the day, me being a man, if a muthafucka’s got a problem with me then fuck you! See you in traffic. Come here and talk to me about it in the traffic. We’ll get into it on that level. If a muthafucka’s got a problem with me transitioning and becoming the man that I am and makin the moves that I make, then you ain’t never had no love for me from the beginning. Fuck you, nigga; when you see me in the traffic, talk that shit.
With the internet outlets available like myspace and facebook and twitter, people think they’re everywhere. I see the internet world as an illusion. You feel like you have a lot going on, but you’re not making any money.
You know what it is?
Our minds are so set on thinking commonly. When the internet hit and all of the new technology hit, we were so stuck on thinking the common shit that nobody got up on it. What it is is you got to get with the times. If Lil Wayne can come out with an album and still sell 10 million or whatever the fuck he sold—the poverty shit is out there, but that’s bullshit. The download shit is out there, but that’s bullshit. All the technology that they say is fucking it up, that’s cause of your common way of thinking. You’ve got to get with the times. That’s what his company did and that’s what these other major labels are doing. What we gotta do on the independent level is we got to set up our myspace pages and our twitter account. I just got a twitter account. Up until now I was thinking commonly on that, that’s why I can say that. What we gotta do on the independent level is get our shit together and work it the best way we know how. It’s about staying with the times, but still keep it street also.
That’s the way the industry is moving, so you have to be up on that too.
Exactly, and that’s where these kids’ minds is at right now. They walk around with iPods and shit. They ain’t buyin no CD’s and shit. They’re like, fuck that I can get all this music for free right now. They’re checking around on the myspace or the twitter and then you go and download the shit. There’s a certain way you got to promote your shit. You create this buzz over the internet waves and on the streets as well. You can’t ignore what’s going right now. That’s what we do. We’re so used to dealin with the old school way of doing things.
It’s good to use the new tools like twitter, but at the same time you shouldn’t forget the old ways of hitting the streets.
It’s a new world order. You can do both. Some people just do the internet, some people just do the street shit. Have to know what you wanna do and what works for you and your company. Some people can’t come up with the dollars to do a marketing campaign on the streets no more just because of the cost of materials. Posters, billboards, and all that shit costs money. You can just send out an email blast on the internet and the same muthafuckas is getting the shit. You’re not visible on the streets, but you’re visible on the Web. Now the major labels can still do this shit. They can get the materials, do the street campaign and all that shit. Back in the day we used to be able to do that too cause there wasn’t as many rappers and the internet wasn’t as big. But now we’ve got to work with what we’ve got. We can’t do it how we used to.
How are you doing with all the changes in the economy?
You don’t work, you don’t eat. That’s what the recession is to me. It’s hard for some people. I’ve been doing this shit for over 15 years. It took me a long time to start getting steaks and shrimp and European cars and iced out mouth teeth and shit like that.
When you look back in your career do you feel happy with the way things have gone?
I’m real happy about my career, man. However I started is how I’m gonna finish. I started workin real hard. I started with the quality and the quantity, and that’s how I’m gonna end—with quality and quantity. I’m gonna get you quality and every year I might get you four or five albums. I can do it cause I work hard, and I want to give something back to the people.
You have a huge catalog. I don’t think people realize how many CD’s you have released.
They say Lil Wayne did a hundred songs last year. I think I did about 150 last year. I’m right up there with the best. I’m considered to be one of the top five, even though I’m independent. I consider myself to be right there with the Lil Wayne’s, Ricky Ross’s, 50 Cent’s. I consider myself to be right there because I know I worked just as hard as these multi-platinum international artists.
The only difference is that they have the major backing behind them.
Right. As an independent artist you have to work even harder and your music has to be tighter.
When you do 150 songs in one year, does each song have different lyrics and different patterns?
How do you come up with all those songs? There must be something inspiring you to write so much poetry.
What inspires me to write so many songs and come different on every song is I go through different situations. I’ve been through different shit. When I wake up I might’ve spent $10,000 at the Gucci Store today. When I sit down in the studio I’m gonna talk about that. Every day I do something incredible, and that’s what inspires me to keep it brand new. I do brand new shit every day.
You also are a person that moves around from city to city. When you travel you probably experience different ways of living.
Exactly. You have to travel and think outside the box. I’ve been all over the United States of America, and it’s different everywhere you go. I done seen a lotta things and that inspires me too.
How old were you when you started travelling outside the Bay Area?
Like 17 or 18 I was flying down that Interstate. I went to Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit, Kansas City, Little Rock Arkansas, New York City. Just dealin with people that I had met, who I had personal relationships with, turning the world on to the Boy Boy.
You were always thinking of how to take your music out to the world, not just staying in the Bay Area.
You gotta think big to be big. When I was a youngster I always felt big. I always knew that I had to think outside the box and see new things.
One of the problems I see in Rap music now is that people don’t see outside the box, they keep doing the same thing that’s been done. People are scared to venture out or take a risk and try something new.
A lotta muthafuckas are scared to be different. Here it is, you have it. They stay in the same area, they use the same producers, they get the same features. Everybody’s doin the same shit so they’re talkin about the same shit. That’s what set me aside from the Bay Area. I’m everywhere, and my lyrics show that.
The Frisco Rap sound was always the fast drumbeats, and lyrically they were more on the Hip Hop side than Gangsta. Then Oakland had that pimp gangsta sound, Vallejo had that playa-pimp Funk sound. But Messy Marv has always been different. You never had that Fillmore sound or the Oakland sound or the Vallejo sound.
It comes from me bein so many places and observing so many things. I wanted that international sound from the beginning. I didn’t want to be secluded to just Fillmore or to just the Bay Area. I wanted to appeal to the Midwest and to the South and to the East Coast. It came from me being so many different places and it came out in my music. It’s the same today. When you listen to a Boy Boy Young Mess album or the earlier Messy Marv albums, you could relate to it if you’re from the Midwest or if you’re from the South, the East Coast or the West Coast. Cause I’ve seen so many things and been around so many people. From the beginning I wanted to have that international sound. That’s the problem I feel here in the Bay Area—we stuck on that same sound. Thinking that we need to sound like that in order for somebody to respect us, thinkin that’s keepin it real with our area. But you know, growth comes with everything. Some people are scared to grow and scared to take risks, so they stay right there. With me it’s a different story. I want to do the most outrageous stuff.
When an artist tries to please their core audience, they limit themselves and can never expand creatively. They’ll never reach new fans and eventually will lose their core audience too.
Right. That’s where I come in. I’m doing new things and settin new standards for the Bay Area. When you say the Bay Area you can’t just say the Hyphy movement or this typical Mobb sound that you expect to hear from the Bay. It’s just Messy Marv settin the standard right now. I’ve been in it for 15 years. I know exactly where I want it to be, and I know exactly what I have to do to get there. I always think outside the box. Now when you think of Bay Area music you know what appeals, thanks to The Kid, Boy Boy Young Mess. A lotta people don’t give me the recognition that’s due. But that just makes me grind harder and work harder. Everywhere I go, if I’m in another state or another city they recognize me.
You never got recognized in the mainstream the way you should have been. You never got your props, that’s what made you who you are, it made you creative. You kept pushing and making better music because of that. You still sound like a hungry young artist. When did your first album come out?
I recorded it in 1995. I think it hit the shelf in early ’96.
That was “Messy Situationz”?
Actually my first record was “Game To Be Sold”. That was 1995, but it was an EP, only on cassette. I started from the trunk too.
Is that CD still available?
“Game To Be Sold” is definitely not available. I still got that tape. When you listen to that it didn’t sound like the regular Bay Area sound that you expect. I was thinkin outside the box in ’95. I was on another level then.
Then you came out with “Messy Situationz” in ‘96. After that it took a while for you to come out with “Still Explosive”. What was going on between those two releases?
I made over a hundred appearances on compilations and different albums. From Master P to E-40, all of the Bay Area’s elite. I finally said it was time for me to drop a new album. That’s when “Still Explosive” came out.
Was there one album that really broke you through?
You know what album really did it for me after all the grinding, after all the shows, after all the travelling? The album that did it for me was “DisoBAYish”. That came out in 2004, the one where I’m standing next to a Mercedes Benz. That really did it for me. I had a single, “That’s What’s Up”, it hit the airwaves real big. That’s when I finally got my recognition as a staple in the Bay Area.
That single probably changed your life.
It didn’t exactly change my life because I was still in the conditions I was in as far as the hood and the surroundings that come with that. It changed my life as far as the hard work paid off, but it didn’t change the conditions I was living in. I finally got that single added to the radio stations and I was heard by the masses, but in my life was pretty much the same as far as the living conditions.
These albums came out on your label?
Yeah. Scalene.
What was it like for you growing up? Did you have both parents with you?
Naw, I definitely didn’t have both parents in my life. I’ve never seen my mother before. My father, he was never around due to whatever he was goin through.
You have never seen your mom? Did your ever try to find her?
It’s just something that I grew with and accepted. It just made me work harder and be the man that I am today.
It’s hard to imagine what it would be like for a kid to grow up without a mom.
No mom, really no dad either. He had to do whatever he had to do, so he wasn’t around. Pretty much the streets played their part.
Who did you grow up with?
My grandmother the majority of the time. My dad’s mom. She played a major role in my life.
Where were you staying then?
Oakland, California. My grandmother was based out of Oakland, California, and my father was based out of San Francisco, California. So on the weekends when he did show up I would spend my time in San Francisco in the Fillmore District. During the week I found myself back at my grandmother’s. My grandmother lived in West Oakland, East Oakland. I was going from West Oakland to East Oakland and San Francisco.
Were you the only kid or do you have brothers and sisters?
I have brothers and sisters from my mom.
Are you the first kid? Second kid? The youngest?
I don’t know.
When you used to see your dad, was he pretty young or an older person?
He was young.
Was it your grandmother who encouraged you to write lyrics?
Nobody made me write a thing. I chose to do it as a form of expression. Whenever I was goin through something, that was my way of releasing. I been writing since I was like 10.
When you look back, did you have a happy childhood?
My childhood? I didn’t really have too much of a childhood. I had to kinda grow up and do for self. Havin no mom and no dad. My grandmother could only do so much. I needed the new sneakers and the new pair of 501’s, so I found myself growin up real fast. I was pretty much stripped of my childhood, my earliest days. But I’m a kid at heart now, so it all balances out.
I see that in you. You have the feeling of a kid. That’s a good thing because you bring that innocence, that wonder.
You’re absolutely right. When I talk about gangsta stuff it’s because those are the things I seen or I went through. Those are the only things that I can talk about. Some people say it’s Gangsta, some people call it Reality Rap. You can call it what you want. All the real gangstas I know is dead or in the pen forever.
People who lived the regular life, went to school every day, got trained by the system, they don’t usually create anything interesting. You’re probably very different because you had an unusual childhood. You never went through the training system and got domesticated. You still have that authentic wilderness in you.
I don’t consider myself different because there are a lot of young Black men that went through the same thing I went through. I don’t consider myself different than a million other Black men that’s goin through the same thing or is goin through the same thing as I did. What I can say is I always let my situation fuel my drive. Bein that I grew up the way that I did, I always let that motivate me to do something. It’s a lotta people out there that’s very creative, very talented—future CEO’s, future rappers—that didn’t have the opportunity. I took all the things that I was going through to fuel me to move out of those conditions, so now people can have something to look to when they’re lookin for those positive figures. They can look back at my story and say, “That man was just like me and went through the same things I went through. Maybe if I use what I’m goin through drive me like Mess did then I can be something as well.”
A lot of people who have an easy life, who went through the school system, they are just walking dead. They’re boring, stripped of anything original. Do you see that?
Just because you in the hood and you’re in those fucked up conditions and you’re not where you need to be financially, that don’t mean you don’t gotta have a sense of humor and personality and ambition and things of that nature. I always kept a smile on my face. The majority of the time I was really crying on the inside, but that fueled my drive. You can come from those conditions and still be a good person.
People in the hood, a lot of young Black men, feel your music because a lot of us are crying inside too, but we try to act tough. We might put up a front but that’s not what it is.
Exactly. You know what? In those conditions I did have some real good times. Probably some of the best times in my life. Having nothing at all, I had some real good times. I had some real bad times too, man.
When you were growing up in Oakland or in Frisco were there some good friends that you really trusted?
I grew up in so many different areas because my family structure wasn’t stable. It’s a lotta people for me to name. I never went to school so classroom buddies, I never had them. The only people I remember were the people on the block, the people around the hood. My homey’s mamas, my homey’s uncles, and the people that was outside.
You never had a regular school life?
That’s why you’re so creative and intelligent. When you send a child through the school system they strip you of all their originality and creativity.
People who go to school, they stay in school for half their life fighting for a bachelors degree, fighting for a masters—this piece of paper they get to prove they stayed in school. Me, I never been to school and I‘m a very successful businessman, I’m a beautiful father, I’m a beautiful person. I don’t have that paper and I’m making a substantial amount of money. You can get a diploma, but that don’t mean you’re gonna get a job.
Even if you do get a job, it’s just enough to barely pay your bills and student loans off. Most of the people I like and respect hardly had any schooling.
So when you were growing up you probably never stayed in one place for long?
Never stayed in a place for a long period of time, but my father always stayed in San Francisco in the Fillmore. I’d come over there on the weekends ‘til he finally built up enough courage to come get me from my grandmother. That’s when I spent the rest of my time in San Francisco.
How old were you when you moved to Fillmore?
Twelve years old.
At that time were you thinking of being a rapper?
At that time I just wanted to be somebody. In those conditions, if you didn’t have shit you was a joke. If you went to school without the new sneakers and the jeans you was a joke. So basically in that time in my life I just wanted to be recognized. If it meant I was gonna have to get out there and grind for it, I was gonna do it. Rap wasn’t a reality for me; it was just a way for me to express my feelings. I just wanted to be something. Whatever I had to do, that’s what I did. I couldn’t ask my mama for it, couldn’t ask my daddy for it. In the hood without no money you’re a muthafuckin joke. I didn’t wanna play the clown. I couldn’t play the clown role. I had to get out there and make a statement. As far as music goes, I was still in those conditions so I couldn’t do it full time anyway or stay focused on it. Once I put out my first album and I was aware that I could sell some units and make some money off of this then I decided to focus on it some more. But then my early stages I went through puttin out albums and dealin with different people and different business ventures, they all robbed me. Just because I was young and didn’t know the business side of it, I went through all that and in those conditions still. So I found myself back on the block, dippin and dabbin in some other shit to eat and survive. But for some strange reason I kept at it. I kept my drive, I kept at it, and here I am.
You were real young when you started and didn’t have much experience. You probably didn’t make much money in the early days.
I didn’t make no money. In my early stages I didn’t make shit. I can remember me puttin out five albums and didn’t make shit. I was the face and the name and had the recognition, so I used that shit too. I’m Messy Marv. I might not have shit and I might’ve went through a fucked up business venture, but I got something to stand on so I’m gonna keep pushing. After I got fucked so many times in bad business deals I finally said, “Fuck it. I’ve been around so many professional people in the industry and I’ve established so many relationships, now I can run my own label and do things myself.”
So many successful people rely on their team. E-40 had his family. Cash Money, No Limit, Strange Music—they all have people to back them up. Who did you have to support you? It looks like you were doing it all on your own.
I’ve always been like that. I’ve always been a man to myself. A man. The people I had around me was the block. Every day I woke up and looked at my conditions and said, “I need to get the fuck outta here!” I didn’t have no money to do it, so I needed to come up with a plan. I’m blessed to have the talent to do this music and to have put out so many albums. That’s what got me out of that situation and those conditions to a certain status. That’s why I went back and reached out for my hood too. Funerals, bail money when people got in trouble, court fees. I walked through the hood and handed out ten thousand dollars to the kids. I never forgot where I came from, but the plan was for me to get out the conditions and show my people how to. I had a blueprint that they could follow.
Some people save up some money when they get a chance, but I don’t think you were like that. You just spent your money when you had it and moved on.
Am I right? When I got to a certain level of success I spent my money helping people, and I wasn’t really focused on helping myself. That’s the kind of heart I got. I wouldn’t say I wasted a lot of money, cause it was helping, but I gotta wonder if I had helped myself at that time where I’d be now. I just gotta charge that shit to the game. A lotta people looked out for me when I didn’t have shit. My whole thing was, when I finally do get something I’m gonna look out too. That’s exactly what I did.
What were you listening to back in those early days?
I was listening to Cougnut, San Francisco! I.M.P. I was listening to RBL Posse. I was listening to Huey MC. I was listening to Rappin 4-Tay. Them was the people I was listening to. Too Short, Tupac, all the Bay Area elite in the late eighties.
Was there one rapper who really impressed you, someone you wanted to be like?
I felt everybody’s story and I had a story of my own, so I always wanted to be like me. That’s what set me aside. I didn’t follow the trends, I set my own trends. I heard them and watched them do it and I knew I had a story to tell too.
You’ve done a lot of collaboration albums that were very successful. Some of the artists you worked with broke into the industry through working with you. You did albums with IROQ, Marvaless, Mitchy Slick, San Quinn, The Jacka, so many.
That’s another outlet that I gave my people when I reached the status that I reached. I was doing good, I was a household name on the West Coast, so I reached out to other artists who were trying to come up. I gave them an outlet and we merged. I used my business sense to make them aware to my fans.
Of all the albums you’ve released, which were the most successful for you?
When I started my own company, when I started Scalene, the first album I put out was “Turf Politics”. From then I’ve been selling in the 30’s and the 40’s and 50,000 units. Every independent album that I put out under my own label was successful. I went through the ups and downs with my other business ventures, and I learned from my mistakes. I figured out how to promote and market, how to put myself out there. Once I started my own label every album has been successful.
I’ve seen you collaborate with artists from all different areas, but I haven’t see you do anything with an East Coast rapper.
I did something with the most political Rap group from the East Coast, Dead Prez. I spent a lotta time on the East Coast and me and Dead Prez established a personal relationship. We rocked on a real positive message and we got it out there. I’ve networked with the East Coast, the Midwest and the South, as well as the West Coast. You can’t put me into one category. When it comes to networking and venturing out I always extend my arms out to the people that makes sense to me. Every album I try to extend my arms out to people I feel a connection with, no matter what Coast.
Why did you change your name from Messy Marv to Boy Boy Young Mess?
I changed my name because of the person that I’m transitioning into now. That earlier state, the Messy Marv stage, I was this wild ass dude. That’s still in me, but after the jail time and being in those conditions and dealing with what I was dealing with as far as my family structure—a baby was born, I had my son and I have to think about him too. When I got out this time I thought about every thing and thought, I just wanna leave that Messy Marv stamp where it is and come with a whole new name because it’s a whole new me. I’m transitioning into a whole new person.
What about the sound? Will that also be new?
A whole different sound too.
How old is your boy?
My son is 5 now.
You’re living in Miami now?
Actually, I’m back and forth from Los Angeles to Atlanta to Miami and New Jersey.
What is the project that you’re working on now?
I just dropped a series of mixtapes: “Hustla’s Motivation volume 1”, “Prices On My Head” volume 1 and 2, and just recently dropped “Highly Aggressive” volume 1. We hit Billboard with mixtapes. I’m about to drop “Highly Aggressive” volume 2. This is gonna warm up the new album. The album is called “Welcome to the Candy House”. It’s showing that next level of the Boy Boy Young Mess, on the street side of things. The first single is called “The D Boy”. This will be the first solo album I drop in maybe four years.
I hope you keep that wild childlike side alive. I hope you don’t become too mature and grow up too much.
Everybody is good in growth. You have to grow. I’m still the same Mess when it comes to the intriguing street slang and trendsetting, but it’s time to show the world maturity. That’s what I did with the “Welcome to the Candy House”. I’m on some 2110 shit. European cars. I’m playin with a little money now, so I gotta tell that story. But I still got my Styrofoam cup in my hand, so I’ma tell that story too.
If you watch your kid you’ll see how creative little kids are. But as they grow up and get trained they lose that creativity. That’s why I tell you to keep that kid in you alive. Things get so hard sometimes and everyone is so serious. We look to music for something fun.
Yeah man. I’m a kid at heart. That ain’t gonna never go nowhere. Because I was stripped of my childhood at an early age, so that comes out. In all the new material you still get the kid Mess. But it’s also good to hear the mature Mess and some growth. We’re gonna have some fun! Every album I put out I have fun. Whether it’s on some funny skit or some shit I say on a song that’s funny, I always have fun. This is an art and you gotta have fun.
You have so much material out, it looks like you’re in the studio all the time.
Last year I put out 150 songs. On top of that I’m the CEO of a fast growing company, Scalene LLC. I have a clothing line now, Scalene Clothing. I have a film division now, Scalene Films. I just worked on my reality show called “Ghetto Fabulous”. I just worked on my movie, it’s called “All Gas No Breaks”. And I’ve been keepin it lit with the mixtapes, just warming people up with the new name. I’m gonna drop this new album maybe summer of 2110. Also been working on my documentary, which is called “Gigantic”. It’s telling the whole story of Messy Marv. This is the story that nobody knows and nobody knew, people are definitely gonna wanna see this. I’ve been working real hard.
In the documentary will you have old clips of you, or just new footage?
We’re gonna go back in the day to the eighties with the old pictures. We’re gonna come into the nineties and talk about the untold story, what I was doing off of the stage, outta the studio. We’re gonna talk about that.
Do you have footage of you in the younger days performing?
I’ve got a lotta tapes, but in the earlier stages we weren’t worried about filming. We was just worried about gettin to the club, drinking and shit, maybe fuckin with a bitch or two, rappin, turnin the shit out, and getting the fuck up outta there, going back to the projects. That’s all we was worried about then. I didn’t get too much filming done in those days. I make sure I keep a camera around now.
It’s the weather. It’s beautiful. People in Miami make you wanna work out. When you go outside you see a muthafucka in a tank top, and you see these beautiful women with these nice tans. It just makes your ass wanna be healthy and get your shit together. The weather is beautiful here.
The vibrations are positive there?
Yeah, it’s a positive look. Everybody from around the world comes to enjoy the sunshine, so I want to be a part of that. It reflects on my music too. When I’m out in Miami and I’m writing and creating it shows. Something in the air just makes you feel great.
A few years ago you jumped out of a window and messed up your legs. Was that when you were using cocaine?
Yeah, but cocaine wasn’t the reason why I jumped out the window. But hell yeah, I was on dope.
Are your legs all healed now? You’re physically all good?
Yeah. I’m physically inclined. Thank god! You can’t even tell that I broke both of my legs and that I went through what I went through. The doctor said I would never walk again, but you couldn’t even tell. I’m out there now doing the same shit that I was doing, as far as being active. I’m doin the damn thing. I don’t regret none of it. It gave me a whole different outlook on life, bein confined to that fuckin chair.
When you were using drugs were people around you telling you to clean up?
No. Nobody was telling me to clean up cause they were doing shit themselves. Wasn’t nobody saying clean up or none of that. I was what you call a functional muthafucka on dope, not a strung out muthafucka. I was functioning. I was havin money, I was in my European cars, I was having fun wearin my jewelry. I was a functional dope head nigga!
I met you so many times during that period and I never thought you were on drugs.
And my family used that to make me out like I was stupid. They did some fucked up shit. My homeboys did the same thing. At the end of the day nobody ever gave a fuck enough to sit me down and ask me what I was goin through. I kicked that shit myself—no program, none of that shit. I just went cold turkey and said, “Fuck that shit, I’m tired of the shit!” And I’ve been clean since.
You were saying earlier that you have problems with your neighborhood. What kind of problems do you have?
You know how when you become successful and you grow out of a lotta things, you have problems. A lotta people went through it. Lil Wayne went through it, J-Diggs went through it, 50 Cent went through it. I ain’t even on the platinum level, but I’m goin through it now. My dream from the beginning was to get outta the projects. Not sayin that I don’t have a love for my people, because I was the only nigga from my neighborhood that looked out for the neighborhood. I was there with bond money, lawyers. I walked through the projects and passed out ten thousand to the little kids. Shit like that. I made history over there. But you get that when you become successful, because you can’t help each and every person out individually. That’s what they’re lookin for, they’re lookin for you to give them what you worked so hard for. It ain’t nothing wrong with helping your people, but you can’t give a muthafucka your everything. Otherwise you ain’t got nothing. I just want to say I love my Fillmore neighborhood, man. I done did some remarkable things with my people and they can never take that back from me. When we feel like it’s time to fix this shit, we’ll fix it. For the record, I love my home. I wouldn’t change—Fillmore, California, I wouldn’t trade that in for a million dollars.
When you become successful people around you think you can pull them out, but you’re overloaded trying to deal with the system out there. They don’t understand what you’re going through to keep afloat.
Right, and they never will. Some people get it and some people don’t. It’s just about reaching back and helping the people that want help, and that’s what I did. I reached back, and people that was in fucked up situations, I stuck my hand out there and I helped them. I was some times that people helped me too, and I’ll never forget it. That’s instilled in my fuckin brain. One time you needed some help, somebody helped you. When somebody else needed help you helped them. I helped my people tremendously, but now it’s like everybody got a problem and I can’t help every fuckin body. At the end of the day, me being a man, if a muthafucka’s got a problem with me then fuck you! See you in traffic. Come here and talk to me about it in the traffic. We’ll get into it on that level. If a muthafucka’s got a problem with me transitioning and becoming the man that I am and makin the moves that I make, then you ain’t never had no love for me from the beginning. Fuck you, nigga; when you see me in the traffic, talk that shit.
With the internet outlets available like myspace and facebook and twitter, people think they’re everywhere. I see the internet world as an illusion. You feel like you have a lot going on, but you’re not making any money.
You know what it is?
Our minds are so set on thinking commonly. When the internet hit and all of the new technology hit, we were so stuck on thinking the common shit that nobody got up on it. What it is is you got to get with the times. If Lil Wayne can come out with an album and still sell 10 million or whatever the fuck he sold—the poverty shit is out there, but that’s bullshit. The download shit is out there, but that’s bullshit. All the technology that they say is fucking it up, that’s cause of your common way of thinking. You’ve got to get with the times. That’s what his company did and that’s what these other major labels are doing. What we gotta do on the independent level is we got to set up our myspace pages and our twitter account. I just got a twitter account. Up until now I was thinking commonly on that, that’s why I can say that. What we gotta do on the independent level is get our shit together and work it the best way we know how. It’s about staying with the times, but still keep it street also.
That’s the way the industry is moving, so you have to be up on that too.
Exactly, and that’s where these kids’ minds is at right now. They walk around with iPods and shit. They ain’t buyin no CD’s and shit. They’re like, fuck that I can get all this music for free right now. They’re checking around on the myspace or the twitter and then you go and download the shit. There’s a certain way you got to promote your shit. You create this buzz over the internet waves and on the streets as well. You can’t ignore what’s going right now. That’s what we do. We’re so used to dealin with the old school way of doing things.
It’s good to use the new tools like twitter, but at the same time you shouldn’t forget the old ways of hitting the streets.
It’s a new world order. You can do both. Some people just do the internet, some people just do the street shit. Have to know what you wanna do and what works for you and your company. Some people can’t come up with the dollars to do a marketing campaign on the streets no more just because of the cost of materials. Posters, billboards, and all that shit costs money. You can just send out an email blast on the internet and the same muthafuckas is getting the shit. You’re not visible on the streets, but you’re visible on the Web. Now the major labels can still do this shit. They can get the materials, do the street campaign and all that shit. Back in the day we used to be able to do that too cause there wasn’t as many rappers and the internet wasn’t as big. But now we’ve got to work with what we’ve got. We can’t do it how we used to.
How are you doing with all the changes in the economy?
You don’t work, you don’t eat. That’s what the recession is to me. It’s hard for some people. I’ve been doing this shit for over 15 years. It took me a long time to start getting steaks and shrimp and European cars and iced out mouth teeth and shit like that.
When you look back in your career do you feel happy with the way things have gone?
I’m real happy about my career, man. However I started is how I’m gonna finish. I started workin real hard. I started with the quality and the quantity, and that’s how I’m gonna end—with quality and quantity. I’m gonna get you quality and every year I might get you four or five albums. I can do it cause I work hard, and I want to give something back to the people.
You have a huge catalog. I don’t think people realize how many CD’s you have released.
They say Lil Wayne did a hundred songs last year. I think I did about 150 last year. I’m right up there with the best. I’m considered to be one of the top five, even though I’m independent. I consider myself to be right there with the Lil Wayne’s, Ricky Ross’s, 50 Cent’s. I consider myself to be right there because I know I worked just as hard as these multi-platinum international artists.
The only difference is that they have the major backing behind them.
Right. As an independent artist you have to work even harder and your music has to be tighter.
When you do 150 songs in one year, does each song have different lyrics and different patterns?
How do you come up with all those songs? There must be something inspiring you to write so much poetry.
What inspires me to write so many songs and come different on every song is I go through different situations. I’ve been through different shit. When I wake up I might’ve spent $10,000 at the Gucci Store today. When I sit down in the studio I’m gonna talk about that. Every day I do something incredible, and that’s what inspires me to keep it brand new. I do brand new shit every day.
You also are a person that moves around from city to city. When you travel you probably experience different ways of living.
Exactly. You have to travel and think outside the box. I’ve been all over the United States of America, and it’s different everywhere you go. I done seen a lotta things and that inspires me too.
How old were you when you started travelling outside the Bay Area?
Like 17 or 18 I was flying down that Interstate. I went to Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit, Kansas City, Little Rock Arkansas, New York City. Just dealin with people that I had met, who I had personal relationships with, turning the world on to the Boy Boy.
You were always thinking of how to take your music out to the world, not just staying in the Bay Area.
You gotta think big to be big. When I was a youngster I always felt big. I always knew that I had to think outside the box and see new things.
One of the problems I see in Rap music now is that people don’t see outside the box, they keep doing the same thing that’s been done. People are scared to venture out or take a risk and try something new.
A lotta muthafuckas are scared to be different. Here it is, you have it. They stay in the same area, they use the same producers, they get the same features. Everybody’s doin the same shit so they’re talkin about the same shit. That’s what set me aside from the Bay Area. I’m everywhere, and my lyrics show that.
The Frisco Rap sound was always the fast drumbeats, and lyrically they were more on the Hip Hop side than Gangsta. Then Oakland had that pimp gangsta sound, Vallejo had that playa-pimp Funk sound. But Messy Marv has always been different. You never had that Fillmore sound or the Oakland sound or the Vallejo sound.
It comes from me bein so many places and observing so many things. I wanted that international sound from the beginning. I didn’t want to be secluded to just Fillmore or to just the Bay Area. I wanted to appeal to the Midwest and to the South and to the East Coast. It came from me being so many different places and it came out in my music. It’s the same today. When you listen to a Boy Boy Young Mess album or the earlier Messy Marv albums, you could relate to it if you’re from the Midwest or if you’re from the South, the East Coast or the West Coast. Cause I’ve seen so many things and been around so many people. From the beginning I wanted to have that international sound. That’s the problem I feel here in the Bay Area—we stuck on that same sound. Thinking that we need to sound like that in order for somebody to respect us, thinkin that’s keepin it real with our area. But you know, growth comes with everything. Some people are scared to grow and scared to take risks, so they stay right there. With me it’s a different story. I want to do the most outrageous stuff.
When an artist tries to please their core audience, they limit themselves and can never expand creatively. They’ll never reach new fans and eventually will lose their core audience too.
Right. That’s where I come in. I’m doing new things and settin new standards for the Bay Area. When you say the Bay Area you can’t just say the Hyphy movement or this typical Mobb sound that you expect to hear from the Bay. It’s just Messy Marv settin the standard right now. I’ve been in it for 15 years. I know exactly where I want it to be, and I know exactly what I have to do to get there. I always think outside the box. Now when you think of Bay Area music you know what appeals, thanks to The Kid, Boy Boy Young Mess. A lotta people don’t give me the recognition that’s due. But that just makes me grind harder and work harder. Everywhere I go, if I’m in another state or another city they recognize me.
You never got recognized in the mainstream the way you should have been. You never got your props, that’s what made you who you are, it made you creative. You kept pushing and making better music because of that. You still sound like a hungry young artist. When did your first album come out?
I recorded it in 1995. I think it hit the shelf in early ’96.
That was “Messy Situationz”?
Actually my first record was “Game To Be Sold”. That was 1995, but it was an EP, only on cassette. I started from the trunk too.
Is that CD still available?
“Game To Be Sold” is definitely not available. I still got that tape. When you listen to that it didn’t sound like the regular Bay Area sound that you expect. I was thinkin outside the box in ’95. I was on another level then.
Then you came out with “Messy Situationz” in ‘96. After that it took a while for you to come out with “Still Explosive”. What was going on between those two releases?
I made over a hundred appearances on compilations and different albums. From Master P to E-40, all of the Bay Area’s elite. I finally said it was time for me to drop a new album. That’s when “Still Explosive” came out.
Was there one album that really broke you through?
You know what album really did it for me after all the grinding, after all the shows, after all the travelling? The album that did it for me was “DisoBAYish”. That came out in 2004, the one where I’m standing next to a Mercedes Benz. That really did it for me. I had a single, “That’s What’s Up”, it hit the airwaves real big. That’s when I finally got my recognition as a staple in the Bay Area.
That single probably changed your life.
It didn’t exactly change my life because I was still in the conditions I was in as far as the hood and the surroundings that come with that. It changed my life as far as the hard work paid off, but it didn’t change the conditions I was living in. I finally got that single added to the radio stations and I was heard by the masses, but in my life was pretty much the same as far as the living conditions.
These albums came out on your label?
Yeah. Scalene.
What was it like for you growing up? Did you have both parents with you?
Naw, I definitely didn’t have both parents in my life. I’ve never seen my mother before. My father, he was never around due to whatever he was goin through.
You have never seen your mom? Did your ever try to find her?
It’s just something that I grew with and accepted. It just made me work harder and be the man that I am today.
It’s hard to imagine what it would be like for a kid to grow up without a mom.
No mom, really no dad either. He had to do whatever he had to do, so he wasn’t around. Pretty much the streets played their part.
Who did you grow up with?
My grandmother the majority of the time. My dad’s mom. She played a major role in my life.
Where were you staying then?
Oakland, California. My grandmother was based out of Oakland, California, and my father was based out of San Francisco, California. So on the weekends when he did show up I would spend my time in San Francisco in the Fillmore District. During the week I found myself back at my grandmother’s. My grandmother lived in West Oakland, East Oakland. I was going from West Oakland to East Oakland and San Francisco.
Were you the only kid or do you have brothers and sisters?
I have brothers and sisters from my mom.
Are you the first kid? Second kid? The youngest?
I don’t know.
When you used to see your dad, was he pretty young or an older person?
He was young.
Was it your grandmother who encouraged you to write lyrics?
Nobody made me write a thing. I chose to do it as a form of expression. Whenever I was goin through something, that was my way of releasing. I been writing since I was like 10.
When you look back, did you have a happy childhood?
My childhood? I didn’t really have too much of a childhood. I had to kinda grow up and do for self. Havin no mom and no dad. My grandmother could only do so much. I needed the new sneakers and the new pair of 501’s, so I found myself growin up real fast. I was pretty much stripped of my childhood, my earliest days. But I’m a kid at heart now, so it all balances out.
I see that in you. You have the feeling of a kid. That’s a good thing because you bring that innocence, that wonder.
You’re absolutely right. When I talk about gangsta stuff it’s because those are the things I seen or I went through. Those are the only things that I can talk about. Some people say it’s Gangsta, some people call it Reality Rap. You can call it what you want. All the real gangstas I know is dead or in the pen forever.
People who lived the regular life, went to school every day, got trained by the system, they don’t usually create anything interesting. You’re probably very different because you had an unusual childhood. You never went through the training system and got domesticated. You still have that authentic wilderness in you.
I don’t consider myself different because there are a lot of young Black men that went through the same thing I went through. I don’t consider myself different than a million other Black men that’s goin through the same thing or is goin through the same thing as I did. What I can say is I always let my situation fuel my drive. Bein that I grew up the way that I did, I always let that motivate me to do something. It’s a lotta people out there that’s very creative, very talented—future CEO’s, future rappers—that didn’t have the opportunity. I took all the things that I was going through to fuel me to move out of those conditions, so now people can have something to look to when they’re lookin for those positive figures. They can look back at my story and say, “That man was just like me and went through the same things I went through. Maybe if I use what I’m goin through drive me like Mess did then I can be something as well.”
A lot of people who have an easy life, who went through the school system, they are just walking dead. They’re boring, stripped of anything original. Do you see that?
Just because you in the hood and you’re in those fucked up conditions and you’re not where you need to be financially, that don’t mean you don’t gotta have a sense of humor and personality and ambition and things of that nature. I always kept a smile on my face. The majority of the time I was really crying on the inside, but that fueled my drive. You can come from those conditions and still be a good person.
People in the hood, a lot of young Black men, feel your music because a lot of us are crying inside too, but we try to act tough. We might put up a front but that’s not what it is.
Exactly. You know what? In those conditions I did have some real good times. Probably some of the best times in my life. Having nothing at all, I had some real good times. I had some real bad times too, man.
When you were growing up in Oakland or in Frisco were there some good friends that you really trusted?
I grew up in so many different areas because my family structure wasn’t stable. It’s a lotta people for me to name. I never went to school so classroom buddies, I never had them. The only people I remember were the people on the block, the people around the hood. My homey’s mamas, my homey’s uncles, and the people that was outside.
You never had a regular school life?
That’s why you’re so creative and intelligent. When you send a child through the school system they strip you of all their originality and creativity.
People who go to school, they stay in school for half their life fighting for a bachelors degree, fighting for a masters—this piece of paper they get to prove they stayed in school. Me, I never been to school and I‘m a very successful businessman, I’m a beautiful father, I’m a beautiful person. I don’t have that paper and I’m making a substantial amount of money. You can get a diploma, but that don’t mean you’re gonna get a job.
Even if you do get a job, it’s just enough to barely pay your bills and student loans off. Most of the people I like and respect hardly had any schooling.
So when you were growing up you probably never stayed in one place for long?
Never stayed in a place for a long period of time, but my father always stayed in San Francisco in the Fillmore. I’d come over there on the weekends ‘til he finally built up enough courage to come get me from my grandmother. That’s when I spent the rest of my time in San Francisco.
How old were you when you moved to Fillmore?
Twelve years old.
At that time were you thinking of being a rapper?
At that time I just wanted to be somebody. In those conditions, if you didn’t have shit you was a joke. If you went to school without the new sneakers and the jeans you was a joke. So basically in that time in my life I just wanted to be recognized. If it meant I was gonna have to get out there and grind for it, I was gonna do it. Rap wasn’t a reality for me; it was just a way for me to express my feelings. I just wanted to be something. Whatever I had to do, that’s what I did. I couldn’t ask my mama for it, couldn’t ask my daddy for it. In the hood without no money you’re a muthafuckin joke. I didn’t wanna play the clown. I couldn’t play the clown role. I had to get out there and make a statement. As far as music goes, I was still in those conditions so I couldn’t do it full time anyway or stay focused on it. Once I put out my first album and I was aware that I could sell some units and make some money off of this then I decided to focus on it some more. But then my early stages I went through puttin out albums and dealin with different people and different business ventures, they all robbed me. Just because I was young and didn’t know the business side of it, I went through all that and in those conditions still. So I found myself back on the block, dippin and dabbin in some other shit to eat and survive. But for some strange reason I kept at it. I kept my drive, I kept at it, and here I am.
You were real young when you started and didn’t have much experience. You probably didn’t make much money in the early days.
I didn’t make no money. In my early stages I didn’t make shit. I can remember me puttin out five albums and didn’t make shit. I was the face and the name and had the recognition, so I used that shit too. I’m Messy Marv. I might not have shit and I might’ve went through a fucked up business venture, but I got something to stand on so I’m gonna keep pushing. After I got fucked so many times in bad business deals I finally said, “Fuck it. I’ve been around so many professional people in the industry and I’ve established so many relationships, now I can run my own label and do things myself.”
So many successful people rely on their team. E-40 had his family. Cash Money, No Limit, Strange Music—they all have people to back them up. Who did you have to support you? It looks like you were doing it all on your own.
I’ve always been like that. I’ve always been a man to myself. A man. The people I had around me was the block. Every day I woke up and looked at my conditions and said, “I need to get the fuck outta here!” I didn’t have no money to do it, so I needed to come up with a plan. I’m blessed to have the talent to do this music and to have put out so many albums. That’s what got me out of that situation and those conditions to a certain status. That’s why I went back and reached out for my hood too. Funerals, bail money when people got in trouble, court fees. I walked through the hood and handed out ten thousand dollars to the kids. I never forgot where I came from, but the plan was for me to get out the conditions and show my people how to. I had a blueprint that they could follow.
Some people save up some money when they get a chance, but I don’t think you were like that. You just spent your money when you had it and moved on.
Am I right? When I got to a certain level of success I spent my money helping people, and I wasn’t really focused on helping myself. That’s the kind of heart I got. I wouldn’t say I wasted a lot of money, cause it was helping, but I gotta wonder if I had helped myself at that time where I’d be now. I just gotta charge that shit to the game. A lotta people looked out for me when I didn’t have shit. My whole thing was, when I finally do get something I’m gonna look out too. That’s exactly what I did.
What were you listening to back in those early days?
I was listening to Cougnut, San Francisco! I.M.P. I was listening to RBL Posse. I was listening to Huey MC. I was listening to Rappin 4-Tay. Them was the people I was listening to. Too Short, Tupac, all the Bay Area elite in the late eighties.
Was there one rapper who really impressed you, someone you wanted to be like?
I felt everybody’s story and I had a story of my own, so I always wanted to be like me. That’s what set me aside. I didn’t follow the trends, I set my own trends. I heard them and watched them do it and I knew I had a story to tell too.
You’ve done a lot of collaboration albums that were very successful. Some of the artists you worked with broke into the industry through working with you. You did albums with IROQ, Marvaless, Mitchy Slick, San Quinn, The Jacka, so many.
That’s another outlet that I gave my people when I reached the status that I reached. I was doing good, I was a household name on the West Coast, so I reached out to other artists who were trying to come up. I gave them an outlet and we merged. I used my business sense to make them aware to my fans.
Of all the albums you’ve released, which were the most successful for you?
When I started my own company, when I started Scalene, the first album I put out was “Turf Politics”. From then I’ve been selling in the 30’s and the 40’s and 50,000 units. Every independent album that I put out under my own label was successful. I went through the ups and downs with my other business ventures, and I learned from my mistakes. I figured out how to promote and market, how to put myself out there. Once I started my own label every album has been successful.
I’ve seen you collaborate with artists from all different areas, but I haven’t see you do anything with an East Coast rapper.
I did something with the most political Rap group from the East Coast, Dead Prez. I spent a lotta time on the East Coast and me and Dead Prez established a personal relationship. We rocked on a real positive message and we got it out there. I’ve networked with the East Coast, the Midwest and the South, as well as the West Coast. You can’t put me into one category. When it comes to networking and venturing out I always extend my arms out to the people that makes sense to me. Every album I try to extend my arms out to people I feel a connection with, no matter what Coast.
Why did you change your name from Messy Marv to Boy Boy Young Mess?
I changed my name because of the person that I’m transitioning into now. That earlier state, the Messy Marv stage, I was this wild ass dude. That’s still in me, but after the jail time and being in those conditions and dealing with what I was dealing with as far as my family structure—a baby was born, I had my son and I have to think about him too. When I got out this time I thought about every thing and thought, I just wanna leave that Messy Marv stamp where it is and come with a whole new name because it’s a whole new me. I’m transitioning into a whole new person.
What about the sound? Will that also be new?
A whole different sound too.
How old is your boy?
My son is 5 now.
You’re living in Miami now?
Actually, I’m back and forth from Los Angeles to Atlanta to Miami and New Jersey.
What is the project that you’re working on now?
I just dropped a series of mixtapes: “Hustla’s Motivation volume 1”, “Prices On My Head” volume 1 and 2, and just recently dropped “Highly Aggressive” volume 1. We hit Billboard with mixtapes. I’m about to drop “Highly Aggressive” volume 2. This is gonna warm up the new album. The album is called “Welcome to the Candy House”. It’s showing that next level of the Boy Boy Young Mess, on the street side of things. The first single is called “The D Boy”. This will be the first solo album I drop in maybe four years.
I hope you keep that wild childlike side alive. I hope you don’t become too mature and grow up too much.
Everybody is good in growth. You have to grow. I’m still the same Mess when it comes to the intriguing street slang and trendsetting, but it’s time to show the world maturity. That’s what I did with the “Welcome to the Candy House”. I’m on some 2110 shit. European cars. I’m playin with a little money now, so I gotta tell that story. But I still got my Styrofoam cup in my hand, so I’ma tell that story too.
If you watch your kid you’ll see how creative little kids are. But as they grow up and get trained they lose that creativity. That’s why I tell you to keep that kid in you alive. Things get so hard sometimes and everyone is so serious. We look to music for something fun.
Yeah man. I’m a kid at heart. That ain’t gonna never go nowhere. Because I was stripped of my childhood at an early age, so that comes out. In all the new material you still get the kid Mess. But it’s also good to hear the mature Mess and some growth. We’re gonna have some fun! Every album I put out I have fun. Whether it’s on some funny skit or some shit I say on a song that’s funny, I always have fun. This is an art and you gotta have fun.
You have so much material out, it looks like you’re in the studio all the time.
Last year I put out 150 songs. On top of that I’m the CEO of a fast growing company, Scalene LLC. I have a clothing line now, Scalene Clothing. I have a film division now, Scalene Films. I just worked on my reality show called “Ghetto Fabulous”. I just worked on my movie, it’s called “All Gas No Breaks”. And I’ve been keepin it lit with the mixtapes, just warming people up with the new name. I’m gonna drop this new album maybe summer of 2110. Also been working on my documentary, which is called “Gigantic”. It’s telling the whole story of Messy Marv. This is the story that nobody knows and nobody knew, people are definitely gonna wanna see this. I’ve been working real hard.
In the documentary will you have old clips of you, or just new footage?
We’re gonna go back in the day to the eighties with the old pictures. We’re gonna come into the nineties and talk about the untold story, what I was doing off of the stage, outta the studio. We’re gonna talk about that.
Do you have footage of you in the younger days performing?
I’ve got a lotta tapes, but in the earlier stages we weren’t worried about filming. We was just worried about gettin to the club, drinking and shit, maybe fuckin with a bitch or two, rappin, turnin the shit out, and getting the fuck up outta there, going back to the projects. That’s all we was worried about then. I didn’t get too much filming done in those days. I make sure I keep a camera around now.
