No Jumper - Eptos Uno On Performing For The Cartel, Helping Popularize Hip-Hop In Mexico, & More

Episode Date: November 29, 2022

Eptos Uno talks about coming to America, learning English with hip hop, Mexico, freestyle, battle rap and more! ------ 00:00 Intro 0:45 Eptos' introduction to hip-hop 2:38 Coming to America and adjusting to a new culture and language  6:04 Effects of the Sonora Cartel 7:45 Eptos getting booked by some gang members while performing 9:20 Big market in Mexico for music right now 11:00 Dizaster and Aczino, rap battling 12:40 Eptos on freestyling for the first time ever 13:42 Differences in graffiti in Mexico vs. America 14:26 The real hip-hop boom in Mexico  16:50 Can rappers really support themselves in Mexico?  19:20 Red Bull sponsoring the culture and rap battles 20:16 American battle rappers that Eptos likes 22:20 Music expanding into the Latin Community  27:12 Eptos' Chicano Rap Influences  28:12 South Park Mexican's impact in the Chicano and Mexico music scene 32:00 Mexico City's craziest Earthquakes  35:08 Mainstream mexican artists  43:19 Do rappers need to have a YouTube presence? 44:49 Freestyle vs. Battle Rappers 48:00 What's next for Eptos? 49:52 Eptos raps in Spanish ----- NO JUMPER PATREON http://www.patreon.com/nojumper CHECK OUT OUR NEW SPOTIFY PLAYLIST https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5te... FOLLOW US ON SNAPCHAT FOR THE LATEST NEWS & UPDATES https://www.snapchat.com/discover/No_... CHECK OUT OUR ONLINE STORE!!! http://www.nojumper.com/ SUBSCRIBE for new interviews (and more) weekly: http://bit.ly/nastymondayz  Follow us on SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/4ENxb4B... iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/n... Follow us on Social Media: https://www.snapchat.com/discover/No_... http://www.twitter.com/nojumper http://www.instagram.com/nojumper https://www.facebook.com/NOJUMPEROFFI... http://www.reddit.com/r/nojumper JOIN THE DISCORD: https://discord.gg/Q3XPfBm Follow Adam22: https://www.tiktok.com/@adam22 http://www.twitter.com/adam22 http://www.instagram.com/adam22 adam22hoe on Snapchat Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Live and direct with the 4-5 in the tech, your boy Lush. Is it how you start your interviews? I just did right now. Yeah, what's up, man? It's your boy, Duno, 16, Lush, my guy. It's Uno and Duno. Facts. And my dog, Eptos Uno, if you don't know, one of the most decorated emcees from south of the border.

You know what I'm saying? Not just in the world of music, but battle rap as well. And he's a really dope guy. I'm glad you hear, man. Oh, thanks for inviting me, man. I've seen you guys in the podcast before, and it feels great to be here. Oh, my God. I appreciate you.

So, I want to hear about your early life, where are you from, what brought you into the world of hip-hop, all that shit? Yeah, I'm from Sonora. That's the state under Arizona. I was born there, so when I was, like, my first approach to hip-hop, I was always, like, an artistic kind of kid. Like, I used to draw and everything, so I got into graffiti. I wasn't really writing when I was like 9, 10 or whatever, but I used to look at it.

I used to love it and shit. So at that time, we moved to Arizona. That was where I started like really doing graffiti and stuff and got into listening to hip-hop. So I had some cousins over there. They put me into the gangster West Coast shit, everything, like the classic shit. And one of my cousins put me into Nogh, Wu-Tang, and that shit kind of blew my mind a little more, you know, because I was like, oh, this is like the shit I want. do like some lyrical shit. So my graffiti homies, they used to, um, put me into music too. And that's how

I started like, um, loving this music, man, like, like getting the best from the commercial shit and the underground. So you was, um, it was hip hop when you were growing up. Was it mainly because you moved to Arizona or was hip hop popping in Mexico too? Um, they had some groups over there in my city. Yeah, it was kind of popping. Um, um, um, and I, um, I was, um, I was, I wasn't really into it until I got to Arizona and stuff. My boy Duno was crazy with the graph too. Yeah, yeah. Shout out those three writers over here.

Come on, man. Shout out one of the first elements of hip hop. That goes very underrated because a lot of people don't know, Fat Joe was a writer. Exactly. Crack. People don't know how, you know how he got his name, Joey Crack? Because when he would be catching spots, he wouldn't have a belt on and this is the baggy jeans era.

She would be hanging low on his ass and you could see his crack. That's where you people think it's from him. selling crack, that's really how he got the name Joey Crack. It was crazy. Crazy, right? And then moving to Arizona, how is it change with lifestyles and stuff like that, like adjusting new friends and a new language? Yeah, I had to adjust quick, you know.

That's how I learned English because I was going, I went to elementary school, like just sixth grade and I went to middle school. In middle school, like I got into a fight with the main food from the Mexicans and stuff. So I had to kick it with Chicano, all the people that spoke English. That's how I developed speaking English quicker, though. So it was pretty cool, man, like to adjust over there. I used to kick it with my cousins a lot and go riding. And I was really deep into graffiti, like, stealing paint, like, doing all kinds of crazy things.

Okay. Okay, okay. What was your graph name? Eptos. Oh, Epto was your graph name too? My name is Duno. Oh. Yeah, much.

You feel, me, much, yeah. Did you, what part of AZ was you in? Phoenix. Oh, you was in Phoenix. Yeah. Okay. Phoenix is a pretty wild city. People don't really know much about it.

Like, what was like, were you in the hood in Phoenix? Like, what side of town and all that? I was in La Finikera, man. In the West Side, man, but I used to move around the central area, too. I was over there in 19thab and Camelback around that area. I know that there's a Van Buren. That's where all they'd be selling dope and there's the prostitutes and all that. You know,

Where they're so dope in every state. Yeah, bro, don't ask me how. Don't ask me how. So, you know, it's crazy because we were just talking about when you hitting those border towns. Like there's, you know, a Chula Vista and you got T.J. on the other side. And then El Paso and you got Juarez on the other side. And, you know, when you're looking at El Paso, it's a pretty good city itself. It's not like a super nice town.

But you see a notable difference between that and Juarez. And this is like, is that. is that when you when you were like growing up in in mexico did you was it what was like the biggest difference as far as like the way it looked like what you were doing coming up yeah definitely the way it looked and it's just a whole different culture you know because um there's more business over here and people investing in the city so that that makes the city like when you look in the border town over in sonora they got nogales it's they have nogales arizona and nogales sonora so that's a little border town, but you can, it's way different, man, because you see, like, it's

over here, everything's, like, brand new, and you see everything over here, like, falling down and shit. And in those areas close to the border, but other than that, it's pretty cool. People are great over there. You know, the food's amazing. I love it. Right. And you being from a border, like, you're kind of, like, from a border city and the Mexico

side, like, how'd you stay away from drugs? See, if you think about it, like, there's so much going on. Yeah. You feel me? Just like an apostle, just like inside of seed during, saying. Diego, just like in Arizona, like, everything's so close because of how much everything goes on right there. How, fuck, are you able to stay away from drugs and stuff like that?

Maybe he didn't. Yeah, I wasn't really doing drugs back then when I first started. There's probably some weed here and there. Oh, yeah. But yeah, there's a lot of drugs over there, man. There's a lot of kids that have to sling and have to do all kinds of crazy shit because just their environment pushes them to that. Now, and I don't want you to say anything that's going to put you in any type of situations,

but people out here are fascinated. Just like, you know, everyone wants to hear about the gangs and gangsters shit out here. What we know about down there is the cartels and all that. Like, did you see the effects of the cartels and like how that, what are like some ways that that affects day-to-day life where you're from? Well, it's really, where I'm from, especially right now, it's one of the, is the term most dangerous city in the world. Wow. Ciudra-a-on-ona, that's heated. We only have 400,000 of people living right there,

but there's like a gang war between like four different cartels and stuff. So it's just crazy over there, man. People are dying. Like, nobody want to invest in the business. I haven't been living over there for 10 years now. But you go visit? Yeah. I just, I did a show over there. So it's, it's a risk, you know, like, like people go over there, but you can't. If you, I know, I know, I lost a lot of homies that were good people, you know. But staying over there, you might get into some shit, like, I don't know. It's kind of like you're affiliated by association, huh? Yeah, definitely, like, maybe you meet some girl, or they caught you with some shit.

Like, I don't know, man. You can't really do shit over there. So they have the Army, enehercito. They have the Marines. They have, like, all these different task forces and shit's still crazy. I don't know, man. Hopefully someday comes down, because, right now is like one of the most heated.

What's the, that you can speak about? I know there's probably a lot you can't talk about. What the craziest shit that you've seen that, like, you can talk about? Oh, well. Down there. I got booked by some guys before, like, from, I didn't know what, while mafia they were from or whatever, but, you know, I went to an event. It was, it was over there in Chiwawa.

They took me to this after party, man, and it was wild over there, I guess. It was some crazy-ass foods. They were loving my music. stuff, so I got to interact with them, but they took me to this town and shit. Like, you have to take a dirt road to go and stuff after the event and shit. So they opened the, they even opened the gate with an AK and stuff. Some real-life movie shit.

Yeah. So I was with, me and my homies, they got booked for that show too, and they told us, like, you know, no girls, just dudes. Girls are not allowed and shit, no cell phones or whatever. So we got there, we got there, and they had all kinds of bottles, all kinds of crazy and shit, you know, so we just kicked it with them. Mounds of cocaine? Yeah, definitely they have fucking cocaine.

Like, people were snarring it with their hands and shit. It was wild. Damn, but no hose? No, there was a lot of bitches. You can't bring hos. There were already bitches there. Yeah, they were just a couple, but I knew it was a weird event, like something was going on because I was in the backstage, and there was like 20 girls right there, and

they were all looking great. I was like, you know what? I don't think this is normal. Like, to this underground-type shows. Yeah, yeah, there's too many bad bitches right here for freestylers. Right, right, right. Y'all get no holes in the rap game. That is a big misconception.

I'm just, look. Okay, let's talk about this, please. Yeah, absolutely. Let's just be honest. The underground rap battle freestyle bar shit. There's no holes in it. They're trying to say you don't get heinous, fool? What the fuck?

No, shit, I do. I got a hyna. Is there, is there groupies of that scene? Yeah, there is. Over there in Mexico, there's a lot of, there's a big-ass market right now. It's like, it's like the, it's like the era where the labels are starting to sign artists for the first time. It's like the 90s, basically. Yeah, basically. So shit is blowing up over there. Like people, people are really going in the movement a lot. You know, like there's people pulling crowds, 10,000 people, like shit like that. So it's pretty nice.

Like Azasino. Yeah, like, definitely. And speaking of Asasino, like, from what I understand, you guys have always kind of, to had a rivalry. I know there's respect there, but like, what's the, what's the story between you and us, Sassina? Oh, that's my homie. Like, we, we have a song we're about to put out, too. Okay. I battled him, but we battled before, like, in the freestyle scene, then we battle written.

But, you know, he got me that day because people weren't fucking with me. They were, like, they were, like, really biased and stuff. But I had an evil plan, bro. Like, I booked him. I was, my plan was to beat him, get all the money from the event, you know, it was too wild. Damn. It didn't happen how I planned it, but I still got the dough from the event. But, yeah, like, I had some cool material, but he just had all the people with him. I mean, I'm not from the city, though.

I'm not from Mexico City. Right. I'm like an outsider and stuff, you know. Piafee. That's where I was where my family's from. Yeah. They got a lot of love for me. I love them, too.

I have a lot of fans over there, but, you know, Assisinos, a fucking legend over there. Yeah, he's God. Doug? So, you saw when we did disaster versus Ossino? Yeah, disaster wasn't a shit compared to Ossino. I mean, shit.

I don't know. Fuck out, bro. I was talking about my best friend like that. Come on, bro. I'm just talking about. I saw a disaster. But we are in California. O'Scena has a lot of Mexican fans,

and most of the fans, we're there to see somebody they're not allowed to see every day. Yeah. Well, a lot of people traveled. Like, there's people from all over Cali, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Mexico.

There's hell of people that flew internationally for that. Even to make that event happen, we had to get a special visa for him. Like, it was high-powered, high-profile shit. I mean, what were your thoughts seeing? Like, you know, were you even familiar with Asasina before then? Yes, motherfucker. Because I've seen, like, the battle rap shit. I've seen, like, the battle rap shit.

I'm not too much of a fan of, like, I can't tell you everybody that's on it. I know, like, the main dude. You know a lot more than you let on. Yeah, yeah, facts, facts, facts. But he is known to be one of the greatest. And I think the only thing he ever lost, the only guy he ever lost to is a dude from Argentina, I think. Yeah, I think so.

Yeah, and then other than that, he, like, retires every, for every other battle, and then he comes back and stuff like that. But I was dope seeing him doing English whole freestyle versus disaster. With disaster being a legend in L.A. in particular, and having, basically feeling like an away game for Diz, even though it's in his city,

that just shows the power of Assasina. you know, in the international scene. But, you know, and Alessino also makes some fire music, but I feel like that's where you really shine. Like you're dope freestyle battler. You're dope with the rittins. But your music is off the chain. Definitely, bro.

Because I was always in, thank you, I appreciate it. I was always into music first. Like before the, I started making music and freestyling. Actually, I started like freestyle in English. Because my tagger homies, they were doing it. They were older than me, and I used to see him freestyle. And I was like, oh, shit. I want to do this, you know.

I got smoke once. Like, in school, I battled this guy, and fuck, I died. From then, I just kept doing it. But I had to move back to Mexico when I was, like, 15. So you had to go back where you kind of like, fuck. Did you want to, like, not want to leave A.C. and all that? Yeah, I was already, like, passionate about graffiti and music. So I had to leave, you know, some shit happened over there.

And I had to dip. And I met some food. that were tagging over there in Mexico when I came back and one of them told me no my homie records rap artists you should go over there so that's how I started making my first songs but it was always about making music for me but I started using the battles just you know to make a name and stuff fire how different is the graffiti scene in Mexico than it is in America yeah over there it's over there it's really they don't they don't really buff the graffiti so it's all tagged up so that's

pretty cool that's nice I painted out there into well and that's sonata but I painted in DJ before. Yeah, but because also it's a little more easier. Like, if the cops pull up, like, here it's 20 bucks, leave me the fuck along. You know, let me finish this big ass piece and shit. Yeah, you can even tell them, like, just stay care of me while I finish this piece and stuff. Like, people do this shit like that, bro.

Like, they just get me like... I went to Juby over that shit, you feel me? Like, it's all bizad. Did you, um... Like, so you're saying earlier that it's basically like the 90s, it's a whole... Do you feel like there's more, quote unquote, quote, unquote, real hip hop in Mexico than there is in America right now? When I say real hip hop, I mean traditional boom-bap, you know, sample-based.

They got, like, different. The styles, the genres inside of hip-hop, they're a little different. There's commercial ones, so they're, like, more basic with their lyrics, and there's more, like, underground shit, like, you know, more aggressive. There are some foods that are more, like, hardcore, let's say, like some onyx-type fools, you know, like, shit like that. They have, they, they're, they're barely branching out with the styles over there. That's how I see it.

And, uh, you know, I've seen like, I hella fuck with like narcos, cordials, you know what I'm saying? Like, all that type of shit is really dope to me. And I've seen like, at first I had only heard the music. And then recently, you know, in the past couple years, started watching the videos. And to me, a lot of those videos, like, these fools look like. Rappers. You know what I mean?

They got the designer head to toe. They got all kinds of gold. They got badass bitches. But, like, they'll be a little more blatant with the drugs because you can show more drugs in the videos. Like, you all see a bunch of fucking bricks and all that. Oh, yeah. Well, I think in the Mexico world, I think, like, doing Coke is normal.

Right. And we're talking to the country. I'm like, bro, like, I'm cooking all the time. And then I think in other communities it's like, oh, you're a Cokehead. And shit of that. Well, you've never done coke. I've never done it, but my friends do it. But including lunch.

Yeah, not anymore. Two years, ten months sober. But, like, last time I saw you, I was fucked up. We're going to talk about that. For getting, did you ever do, like, the plazas? Oh, like the battle-rap plazas? Oh, not really. I used to go to events and just sign up for the freestyle tournament.

Like, there was this big-ass one where I was a champion. Like, I was a champion, too, on 2007. Like, I won the Red Bull, the National. So I had to battle, like, honestly, a lot of foods, but 500 people signed up that day, bro. Damn. So I had to battle people from, like, 11 a.m. to, like, 10 p.m., like, all day. Like, they had cipher. So that's how I became a national champion.

And I used that moment to drop my first album, Benanza Los Traumas. That was my first one. So from there, I just started touring. I started doing my shit. And I just moved to Mexico City. and right there just kept doing music and in 2015 I got signed by Universal

fun amazing is it hard thank you for rappers to support y'allselves down there as far as financially yeah it's harder you know you have to

you gotta have a team sometimes sometimes that's like the thing that some people miss they don't have a team behind them to help them out and yeah it gets you have to you know you have to dig up

opportunities like I over there being a big city, they have a lot of brand headquarters, Nike, all kinds of brands, Rebock, like all the brands, so you can, you have to reach out to them, you know? You send your shit, send your info.

That's how I've been doing it all these years, but it's, it's good over there. They're, like, they're, they're starting to support hip-hop a lot. And, um, talk about the Red Bull Battaglia, because that's like, that's low-key, if you think about it, Bataya,

um, and it's fucked up because they gave me hell of and I mispronounce their shit. But they, that's low-key, the biggest battle platform in the entire world. But just because it's not in the English language, a lot of people out here might not be familiar with it, although that's starting to change a little bit. But, like, break that down for the people that don't know.

What's up with the Bataya? Bataya, Galli, that's a tournament that's been going on since, like, 2006, I think. So basically, they do, like, these small events, local in the biggest cities of every Spanish-speaking country, then they have a national, then they have the international battle where all the champions go and stuff. And it's pretty big, man.

It's gotten bigger with the years. Now it's filling up arenas. We're over... The last one that was in Mexico, like two years ago, the finals, we had like 15,000 people attending. A whole fucking arena.

Shit, but they're about to have it again, December 10th. I just actually went to the one in Miami. I went to one in Miami where I saw that guy, But yeah, and then I think also it's an underground game. Yeah. It's like a dog fight, food, because I didn't know.

So I went to the Miami one where they had the regional for the United States. My boy Speak was there, too. Yeah, I always speaks. And there's a guy that won in MacArthur Park. That's where they had the Los Angeles one. His name was Honor or winner, owner, whatever. And he won, and then I had gone to Mexico City to go compete against the guys that went from Chile, from Argentina, Mexico. I'm like, and this is about to be a fucking...

But yeah, that scene is gay. Shout out Red Bull for supporting this battle rap scene that's underground. Yeah, shouts to Red Bull for being a corporation that actually is giving back to the culture. And on top of that, like, you have a rabbit, like when you say there's no bitches there, that's crazy to me, because there's like, you feel me, like 15,000 people, his not all dudes.

And these are diehard fans that actually follow these people. That's kind of crazy. Like, we don't have it to the... As big as battle rap is out here, it's not the same. But you always paid attention to American battle rap as well. Yeah, definitely.

You know what's crazy? I want to add this up. It's like freestyle over there. It's growing for itself. Like people would just love freestyle, maybe not know any hip-hop songs or whatever. Like, let's say a taxi driver. And that's who will be into fucking freestyle.

That's how big is getting. Just fucking out of control. Yeah. What are some of the freestallers or battle rappers from the United States that you were a big fan of? Um, definitely a disaster, you know. With a lot of them, my favorite right now, my favorite, um, probably is hollow, Charlie Clips.

Those are like my own. Fire. Yeah, some of the guys I like to see battle. Rom Nadi, also Gitchie. I like what he does. Um, Martin Muck. You know, I want to use this as an opportunity to, break down or just let people know.

And I don't want to say the specifics of it, but we have a new battle format that we're going to be unveiling with GTX. And Eptos is one of the first dudes that's going to be a part of it. So we ain't going to say too much, but you know what I'm saying? Okay, so you're getting back into it, Liz?

No, I'm not battling him. No, no, but you're going to be part of the movement. Well, yeah, no, you know, GTX, we ain't never going to stop. You feel me? That goes back. Oh, grind time. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, Lutz.

Yeah, come back, you old fart. Come on, fool. I'm going to go so far. Can I be one of the judges? You could be posted up right next to me, darling. You said it way. Yeah, from my mouth to God's ears. Yeah, shout out to grind time, man, GTX.

That's shit you guys are doing. It's fucking amazing. That's love, I mean. That's love. I've been loving the battles. And there's, go ahead. Were you about this one? No, that's how I got into battles to English battles.

I started watching the scribble ones, bro. Like way back. Wow. I used to watch those battles. battle, the freestyle battles. Back when Duno was in diapers. Yeah, the script was down. So like two years ago.

Yeah. I used to see the sorrows, justice, Iron Solomon, all those fools. And I got to see you too on the World Rap Championships. Come on, fool. I used to like, when I first was using the internet, I was looking at those battles because I had a homie that used to like him too. That's dope.

So I used to watch Grind Time, then Smack, then that's KOTD, all that. That shit. Amazing. It's crazy how music translates like that, huh? Straight up. Like that's, it's so international and shit like that. And then seeing it grow in the Latino community is probably one of the most funny things I've ever seen in a long time, bro.

Well, like, the biggest artist in the world right now is Bad Bunny, right? Yeah, but he's not freestanding about fools. No, but I'm just saying, just like, okay. I get what you're saying. I get what you're saying. It's right now, yes. It's cool to be Latino. It's a wave.

Right now, to be Latino, it's a movement. And to anybody watching any kid that bottom wants to battle rap right now, it's your chance. Lush will hire you. Come on. Go, yeah, like it's a movement. Like, how hard was it, bro? Let's be honest. How hard was it for you guys?

You guys, you motherfuckers crawled for years. Yeah, definitely. It was really hard, you know, how to knock out, knock down a lot of doors. Exactly. And there's like, there's a few different leagues down there, right? Like, what are the different, like, the main battle rap leagues? rap leagues oh yeah i um i have my own battle league that was the first one that was founded over there in mexico sped emex since 2012 spit mex yeah and they have linia de ccés that's one of

the big that's a different format but it's one of the biggest ones and barros de sangre it's more like a closed closed room type event so they have they have they have a few leagues bro they're growing they're growing up over there and they have they have bell orio that's from over here that's where Yep. Shout out of my boy Dentor going crazy in the building. And you've been making music with a lot of big emcees that are from out here too. You know, like you got shit with Vinnie Paz, right? You got shit with sick jacking.

Ooh. Yeah. I did one with Vinnie Paz. My homie put me on that track. My homie VHS from Arizona. He's a producer. So he produced that track for Vini. and they asked them for me to jump in,

so that's how that feature came. I had one with Capadona, too, from the Wooten. Fire. From the Wooten? Yeah. Fire. Yeah. With my homie six syllables from Arizona,

another dope MC, that fool, he gets down, so he knows a lot of these guys because over there, we have a homie that makes us for a lot of artists, too, so that's a...

How important was for you guys like upcoming, loving hip-hop and rap, and fucking bars and lyricism. How influential was Cycle Round for you guys? Oh, it was definitely influential. It was one of the first groups I heard, like with Cypress Hill along with Psycho Realm, like the first.

I see, it was one of the first ones to do it in Spanish. Yeah, Jacking. Los Carnalas, no song Ganga is left from here. Shout out big bro, sick Jack. Yeah, shout to Jack. Shout out of the fucking downtown LA area, you feel me? Dan Fu-Dari, you know what's crazy, dog? I went to, I hosted a show in Pomona,

and Osango for Cycmoio, and Secaano opened for him. And seeing Secaano every fucking bar, he knew every song, dog. And I'm like, fool, you don't speak English. Right. He knew every bar, and Sick Jack and kept, they'll go back and forth. But Secahn, like, as a fan, I'm like, bro, this Secahn's traveled the world. Rapping. Imagine how Influenza fucking Sakorama is all over the world.

Sick Jack and one of my favorite MCs. And, like, back in the day, Duke was going crazy. You feel me? And the sick jacking in L.A. is like a religion under himself to the point where me and my homies, rest in peace, Cadillac Ron, we used to have a word for the diehard fans

of Psycho Realm. We used to call them jackpackers. You feel me like backpacker, but sick jacking and shit because they were like... It's like a religion, fool. And then imagine how influential they were to you. To us growing up,

the first step to everybody got was the mask. Because I'm from downtown LA. So from the same room. He's from Bickle Union. I grew up more towards the Lago Parkside. But just as Dasmeabies, bro, was a fucking, like, dog. Yeah, I always admire them. And, you know, they're the homies, you know.

They're really cool to me. Super humble people. Yeah, super humble. I even got to play my shit for Duke. Yeah. That's fine. Duke is cool. A couple years ago, through our producer, I went to go check out his beats.

And we went to Duke's house. And he told me, like, play. playing me some shit so I got to play in my music and it was like it was a very very special moment for me because I you know I admired them a lot amazing and like um the as far as as downtown LA goes other than Boulevard MC there is nobody that came out before Psycho Realm they were like the voice of that region so it's like a it's a real big deal and um as far as like you know speaking of Chicano hip-hop You know, like, was that, was Chicano rap an influence on you growing up?

Yeah. When I say like that, I mean like the specific genre. I'm talking about like Diablo and you know what I mean, Mr. Lil one and all those. Like, did you guys used to listen to that? Yeah, Diablo, that's a homie too, but like I have a track with him. Mr. Shadow and all that. Yeah. You know what?

I wasn't really deep into it, but I had like one or two songs from- From like each artist. Yeah, from each artist. Because I was more like into the underground tagging shit. So we were listening more to, you know, I was like, you know, I was like, I'm just atmosphere dilated, crazy shit like that, you know? That's crazy. So my homies used to listen to Chicano rap.

So I picked up some songs from there for Night Out, Mr. Shadow, like Little Rob. Like I had one or two songs that I liked because of the beat, the vibe and everything. They had some pretty dope shit. People don't remember before Little Rob started making them poppy songs. He was going hard with the gangster rap, Fool. Like, fools don't even know. I know it's a controversial topic, but since you... you know, both of y'all are part of the Latino community,

Chicano and Maycon communities. SPM, there's been a lot of controversy, a lot of talk around SPM. I personally used to really, really fuck with his music heavy. Like, SPM got some bangers, but, you know, there's been a lot of controversy due to the charges that he's got, and there seems to be a back and forth going on. I want to hear both y'all thoughts on the SPM situation.

My fucking is his interview. I want to hear you a thought you know. I know you don't want to speak on it, but, you know. No, no, no, no, no. Charges are crazy. Those charges are crazy, you know, that you, that's crazy, like. Indefensible. Yeah, dog, those charges, like, I feel it, I feel it, I feel it, like, I don't know, those charges are crazy, dog.

Like, you have those charges, I mean, at least, like, from my homies, like, like, Like, you can't even have, like, in a, like, yeah, it all says, I don't know. I don't think you're able to, like, because that's forever in your record, bro. What? You can't go nowhere. You can't go, yeah, yeah. I don't know. That's just crazy.

They got, um. I might not even comment on this. No thoughts? Nah, I wasn't really into his music. Like, I used to have a homie that used to listen to it. Yeah. I was like, all right, but I wasn't really, those beats didn't really connect with me in that era. But yeah, I don't know much about his case, but what I heard is some crazy shit.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I don't know. I can't tell you, the only song I know is the main song. Like, though, that's the only one I really know the- He had a cool voice, I remember that. Whatever, that was the main-phone. The only just dissed the fuck out of him. I mean, but, like, see, like, everybody's gonna, I understand, like, as, I'm not apparent, but I totally understand why people that are, you know, it's just-

That you know of. Yeah, bro, that's, that I'm a parent. Yeah, but now, I don't know. Those are very, those are very, very, very, very, very touching, very crazy and very, that's a, that's, bro. Anybody knows, bro, you have those charges. You're not going to make it anywhere. And, you know, like, they'd be trying to say, like, A, the strip club didn't have, didn't ID them properly and whooped you. I don't know, bro.

But it's a shame because that he is part of that Texas movement that was really, really, really fundamental in bringing independent rap to the world. These dudes are moving 80, 90, 100,000 units out the trunk, which is super, super impressive. Do you feel like you had to overcome, because you were killing it in Spanish, but you've recently made the transition to rapping in English and well. Like, what's that been like?

Oh, I always wanted to do it, but I wanted to be, like, ready to spit some more mature shit, you know, like some, when I had it more on lock, so I felt like I wanted to do it this year. And I just have like two lyrics, honestly, like my first two 16s in English and stuff. But I think... But no, they're dope. Like, you're not... It's kind of like when Alcissino did it, too.

You have multi-syllable rhyme schemes. You got punches. You're not, like, I felt like you were able to express exactly what you wanted to say. Is that accurate? Yeah, it is, bro. So I was just waiting for me to feel ready to do it. And I honestly want to do like a whole project, like an EP or something. Come on.

I already have a song with my homie Dente and Razzcast. Razzcast, my dog. And this guy's San Dubey from Funkdubi. What? Yeah. Legends. Yeah. Legends.

And the homie I'm in from the Mexican. So I have that one where I spit a little bit. Wow, wow, wow. Yippe yo, yippie. Yeah. That's crazy. Yeah. Yeah.

But yeah, going crazy, fool. The tapes are coming together, English and English. Spanish. And are you living out here in America right now or in Mexico? I live over there in Mexico City, but my family lives here in the valley. Okay, okay. That's why I always come over here and know people from over here. And Mexico City's fire right now, huh? Yeah.

It's getting gentrified like a motherfucker. Yeah, you know, it's crazy, though. There are earthquakes over there. Man. It's like, it's bad? Yeah. They'd be hitting like 7.something every other day. We just have.

Every other day? Not every other day, but like it's way more recent than it is out here. But some shit just happened. The 19th? Like, that was, we had an earthquake the same day on three different years. Three different years. The different years. Same time, same date.

The fuck. It's crazy. We had one in, it was one in 86, I think. I wasn't even more yet, but there was one, 85, my bad. And there was one in 2007. I was there. That shit was fucking, it was hard, bro. And we had one this year.

The same day on the 19, around 1 p.m. So people do the drill, the earthquake drill. Right. We used to do that. If you're at work, everybody's doing it. And right after the drill's over, that shit just fucking... It really happens. Yeah, it really happens.

So there's some mystery because the experts say there's like 0.0.0.7 chances of that shit happening. My mom... My mom was there for the 86th one. And she said everything got fucked up in their houses and she lived in Casas de Carbone. She said it was crazy. But yeah, that's crazy as fuck. Five, you connected with Speaks? Oh, yeah.

That's my dog. I follow him on IG, we spoke like through there. Man, we got to connect you. You got to be on your tape. And then he also lives in Mexico City. Yeah, he's dope. I heard him on the L.A. leakers. That's been a homie of mine for like 20 years.

That's a good dude. He's a Pops Rino's with Red Bull dog. You might not want to kick with him all night, but maybe in the studio, but not on on Salle, Papa Rino. Hey, bro. He's a bad man. He's a bad, bad man. He's a bad, bad man.

But, and as far as fucking rhinos and Red Bull. I'm like, hmm, is that a relapse if I do that? Not like, it's dope to see you make that transition. But also, there's a lot of different styles of, like, I remember the last time I've seen you, you was out working with the homie, baby Franco formerly known as Bobby Butcher, and we was in the studio. And you was, like, rapping over some trap beats. Is that like a whole other style that's popping off out there, too?

Yeah, it is. They have a lot of trap, trap shit over there, but, you know, I always like to spit on all kinds of rhythms, because I find it, I find it, like, boring just to stay on the boom-bap shit. So sometimes I do, like, jassic beats. Sometimes I would do a fucking trap beat, like some, you know, explore all kinds of fucking beats. So that's what I like to do. So, yeah, but there's a lot of trap over there, man, that sounds very popular than those type of beats. What's your take on the rappers coming up in the mainstream?

in Mexico, like Santa Fe and Aleman and fucking, what's his name, Tuerno? Quirno? I think he's saying to Santa Fe as well. Like, what's your take on those rappers and artists like that? They're blowing up right now. Santa Fe, man. He's fucking, that's the homie. You know what's crazy? Like, I've been knowing that guy for years.

Like, he used to open up for me over there. So, seeing him blow up like that. He's seeing the Wakanda picture soundtrack, too. Yeah, he didn't know what. Bro, he did a arena. Fuck, a bro. He's next to Paquito del Vario, dog. Yeah.

He's fucking, he's packing venues over here in the States, bro. He has a cool sound. I'm very proud of that cat. Well, yeah, there's a lot of artists over there, man. It's really growing up, but right now it's a crazy time because the labels are barely, like, signing artists. But you know, since right now, people want to be independent, they can do their own shit, so they have to invest a lot of money.

So that shit's making it grow. What's the biggest? challenge for you as far as being an independent artist. Well, you're signed, so you're not even really independent in this point. What would you say to upcoming artists from where you come from? Like, what's your advice that you got a kick to him? And I know, like, some of them are going to hear this that don't usually, because you haven't done too many interviews in English, so, you know. Well, I always suggest if you have the dough to invest in your own product, just to stay independent, you know. But if you don't, just try to, if you can work some shit out,

just take the chances and be with a label. They've been supporting me real cool over there, because they've been letting me do my own thing. I barely brought my crew in. I have a crew over there. It's called Never Die. It's a lot of dope emcees. So we've been rapping since like 2009 together.

It's like nine of us. But we never had a project like all together as a group. So I saw this project to Virgin, it's barely going to come back. Mario Wu-Chang? Yeah. It's like a, it's like a special thing. Spanish woo thing, but we also do like all other type of beats, you know, like some trap shit, some rap shit.

But you said like eight fools, you're speeding Spanish with different styles of stuff. That's hard. Yeah. Like I said, bro, it's such a, like what he said earlier was the perfect example on why it's such a big thing right now. Like I can only imagine, right, your sign. The label was probably kind of questioned you at some point, right? Like, hey, what's hard we're moving?

And now they're seeing this whole scene come back up and now they're like, episode. Like, come on, what do you want to do? Here's the money. You got the budget. Yeah. Yeah. They're really interested. Artists are starting to come out in magazines and everything.

It's just like that. I see it as a beginning, you know? Hell yeah. And then it's dope because you already went to the child and tribulations of everything. So now it's time for you just to enjoy it. And I'm excited to see you do that, bro. Because that's fun, bro, because I'm pretty sure it was hard for a couple years. Yeah, definitely.

Definitely. When I started, when I first moved over there, bro, I was fucking, I don't know, man. I was making like $50, $100 a show and stuff. But, you know, like, over the years, I've been charging more and more and more and just growing and stuff. But it's been, it's been quite a fucking, quite a journey. Back home, are you, like, low-key, a local hero at this point? Yeah, definitely.

When I go back, people are proud of me, and it's dope to see them over there supporting me. And there's a lot of, even in my city where I'm from, like, the movement in the hip-hop, People over there are influenced by the shit I do, so they're more lyrical, and they have more crazy. That's fire. You basically have defined the sound of your entire region when it comes to hip-hop then, Loki.

Define the sound of son son-a- That's fucking fired. There's groups before me that help define the whole sound and everything, but yeah, the new freestyle bar era that's one of the pioneers over there, the influence. That's crazy how to think that you're like part of the whole movement. into a whole fucking state and city in Mexico? Yeah, even the Spanish Hakeppella rap. I was me and my homie Grave, rest in peace. He lost him last year.

He was one of the dopest MCs, man. He was from Mexico, but he was also from Chicago. So he was one of the main guys that always was into the battle since way back, since grind time. One of his favorites, I think, was, what was this guy in name? They found some shit on them too. Oh, man. Oh, man.

Tech 9? Oh, yeah. Used to fucking take 9. Yeah, yeah. Some SPM type things going on. Oh, I was a rapper? Yeah, yeah. He used to kick it with him?

No. Bill Klan. I tried to get him. I tried to get it. Oh, Tick 9, was he black or Mexican? He was black. Oh, and they found some shit on him? Yeah.

He was from Philly. He was a legendary battler, but, you know, he had some crazy-ass charges coming up, and he was literally, like, the day before his, He had to appear in court. He wound up killing himself. Yeah. But people didn't know about that when he killed himself. So everybody was just devastated when they heard about his loss.

The whole batter rap community came together. We were all posting his pictures, saying a bunch of nice stuff about him. But then the... Oh, so nobody knew he was fighting this case. Nobody knew he was fighting this case. We just knew that he killed himself. You know what I mean? Like, because it was all on the under.

Like maybe the people, maybe the people, close to him might have known something, but they out there in Philly. Like, we didn't know anything in the majority of the... And maybe they didn't know either. Maybe he just kept it away from battle rap, like his whole harass, the whole subsequent trial and all this shit, right?

It was all on the under. This fool winds up killing himself. We're like, you know, motherfuckers raised something like $60,000 like GoFundee and all this stuff to... The whole battle scene came together. We're all putting his picture as profile picks and all that. You know what

I mean, then he winds up, he winds, and it's good that we raise that money because that money went to his family, and his family had nothing to do with that. You know what I mean? Like, there's not their fault, like his lady that he left behind or whoever. It's not their fault that he did this horrible thing,

but it was about to be his court day the next day, and he killed himself, and when that came out, it became like, we don't say his name anymore. You feel me? Oh, that's like Voldemore and the fucking, in the battle rap scene? We do not. He who we shall not speak of. Do you ever say bars about him to disrespect him?

Oh, yeah. There is a crazy bar about him. So there's a battle between... It's respect to Fadham. I feel it, though. Chargis. I'm telling you, they're charges. There's a battle between T-Top and Rum Nitty.

And T-T-T-T-T-T. And Rumnitty, like they said that he used to work at Walmart. So T-T-T-T had a bar about, you don't, working at Walmart, doing self-checkout. He's like self-checkout, like Tech-9, because he killed himself self-checkout. You feel me? Like, yeah. And it was one of, like, the hardest bars ever.

I love that bar. You feel me? Like, that shit's fire. Like, fuck that fool. He's a j-k. I mean, you know, I don't want to speak on the dead. That's skinless. So not fuck that fool, but.

But his case is crazy. But fuck what he. I feel bad bringing him up, bro. No, hey. Nah. We open the wound for the army, though. Yeah, not. Yeah, no.

But the, the homie put me on into that battle DNA versus Tech 9. Yeah, yeah. And he put me on to those type of MC, series Jones. Like, I was more into the grind times kind of shit, you know? Right. I knew Arsenal. I knew Hollow, but I didn't know those, like, smack rappers. Right.

The homie Grave, he put me into that. And then he was rapping in Spanish since way back. So we were part of this. He was part of our crew, never die. Right. And we started the league. Me and him had the idea of someday having the Spanish League for battle acopela and stuff. So, yeah.

we founded that shit in 2012, man. And it just been growing. We have battles with over 30 million views right now. Yeah. And you have battles with millions of views. You on YouTube is crazy because you have ciphers with millions of views, battles with millions of views, songs. Like, how important is it for rappers nowadays down there to get their YouTube presence up?

Yeah, it's definitely, man. The whole game has changed, you know. It's very important right now to have numbers and stuff. But still, if your music is good, sometimes it pops, you know, because I have one. My biggest song is called Momento. And right now, the video has like 9 million, but in Spotify, it's already reaching 11 million. Just because people are liking the song every time they hear it, they're just fucking adding in and stuff.

Fire. What do you feel about the misconception that battle rappers can make real music? Is that a thing down there too? Yeah, it is. Because look, it's a thing up here. Oh, it's definitely a thing up here. Oh, yeah. A lot of you guys are...

Not everything has to be aggressive, dog. You know what I mean? And that's just one of the biggest things in battle rap. Because I think, look, I was at the Battagia. And Red, but let me tell you that's this, why I want to pay the attention to it. Because obviously, I know about it up here, right? Like, I've heard it's like,

except I've heard some of Suezurf music. It's good, but it's... He makes good music. It's good, but it's not. Free my dog surf. Yeah, free him. I've heard some of, Hey, man, holla shit. It's, it's just not, it's, it's, it's not music to me.

It's just, it's just not as good. Rapping, bars, all that, by all means, you get, but also, if I was with a guy that's a big fan of, of, of, of, of the battle scene in Mexico and in Spanish, and he said, he wasn't a fan of Ossesino's music. And I was like, but you're a fucking fan of his bars. And, like, he knew everything about every battle. He's like, but I don't like his music.

And I'm like, that's crazy, right? Like, that's crazy to think that. It's like that for a lot of battle rappers, but like, how do you feel about all that? Well, I feel like sometimes it could be a stereotype that's already there. Like, people already, like, program. But sometimes, yeah, they don't have the experience in the studio. At the end of the day, it's the training you do. So people that spend a lot of times recording songs, writing songs,

that's the people that make dope music, even if they're freestlers or not. That's why a lot of foods, like, they don't really, they're not really good because they just, they barely, they have. have like seven years freestyling and they just jump in the boot one day and then people just get that idea that they're wack and shit. But they just don't have enough experience, I think. But see, shout out you, as I'm saying. You crawled a lot. Some motherfuckers could walk your run because you expanded and tried everything. English, Spanish, battle rap by Capella, beats, studio bars, the backyard. Pioneer. Watching lush, ugly-ass rap. Like, you experienced it all,

you know what I mean. That's what a lot of people need to do. You need to expand their platter, dog period period i mean at the end of the day basically what you're saying is it's a whole different skill set making music and i think that's where a lot of battle rappers fall short is because they think that because they rap so good or they can put together punch lines and all that that they're just good at rapping under all circumstances but making music is about creating a mood creating a vibe giving people the feeling and if you don't do that like for me like i was making music first Like, that's how I started. I just happened to be good at freestyling,

so paddling popped off and all that. And to me, one of the most important skills is to know how to choose a dope-ass beat. Right. From right there, and that's where a lot of artists fuck up. They're like, they choose. They have no ear. No ear for a dope-ass beat.

So I try to look for a beat that's already a vibe, already a hit. Then work on that, because that's definitely, like, over 50% of the song. I know you do a lot of Boombass shit, but have you ever tried a West Coast beat? Like super metal, kind of more, a little more swaggy. Yeah, yeah, like a little...

Some G-funk type. Yeah, like some G-funk, yeah. So you have tried some shit like that? Yeah, I tried some shit like that. I also make beats. Oh, you... Mof-you-you-do it all, my fucking. God damn.

He runs a league, raps in Spanish, English. Yeah, and I try to make beats different styles. I just made a beat like the other day and I was like, you know what, they want to make some nipsy hustle type shit. Nice. But I give it my vibe, you know, like trying to do. I'm making more undergone, but, yeah, like, I've done G-Funk. It's not really, it's not what I like to rap on, but I did a couple of songs before.

Fire, that's dope to it. I love to listen to it, though, that, like, the West Coast G-Funk era. Yeah. I love that shit, that the whole Dr. Dre production and everything, like. Let me find out you get breakdance, too. I know what I'm saying? You're missing one element, dog. That's the only thing I never did, though.

Yeah, you know, I was always fucking chubby, you know, fat, so I fucking said, I just kept to the wall. To the wall graffiti. Come on, we bombing the walls. What's coming up next, bro? What we got to look forward to? Yeah, I have this album. It's my second album, Universal, about to drop.

Shout to my homie Marco, my engineer. He just pulled up right now. It's from here, so I'm working on my production over here with this guy. So, yeah, the album's crazy. It's 12 tracks, and I had no features on it. I just try to do it all myself. And not to be, like, selfish or nothing.

It was just like some personal shit that I was. I was like, in this era, I just want to make a sick-ass album with no features. Then the next album, I'm going to drop with all features. And are you breaking, is it like a more, like what you're talking about, the topics or more personal to your life, is that why? Yeah, definitely. Autobiographical. Yeah, I did a different subjects on it, but different topics, but it was pretty, pretty diverse.

Like I have a song that's about just, you know, I have some rap shit, I have some storytelling. I have a song like something more trappy, like some flashy, bouncy shit. But I have all kinds of things on it, but under my style, you know. Because you're always going to keep that consistent style. Facts. What's something about yourself as an artist, as a person, whatever you want, that you feel like nobody knows that you want the world to see? Something about myself that I want the world to know. Oh

Just to To know that I put my heart You know in my music And I try to do Try to keep a real on my shit And I do this shit Because I like it And that's the first reason

For me to make music Then after that everything Everything comes next You know It's a real humble dude Man can we get a freestyle Yeah Should I do a freestyle

Or just already Either one But I want in Spanish Yeah in Spanish Go crazy I'm gonna one. It's the 20, 20, 21, homie. Ablas, but you don't know me.

No, know, me. No, connoce our story. Parloteas, and it's contradictory. My style is notorious. You love is in grand, like Biggis Moss. Another episode that's allude. And I'm gonna'clock. That's facts.

Me, I'm gonna'all right. I'm gonna'all. When I'm gonna'lora, no, it's plucks. I'm gonna'am. I'm gonna'am. This don't go mal. Stilos, my lacras in cada.

In cada, every freestyle. All rhythm abacken in any any whatever style. Raperos encharkin and I, like the marse, I'm very vast and fluid, but in a disquido, you can't hogar. Me Gano, the pan, I don't like to rogare. A my brother, my clan, only I just to rollar. Ha, Flash, homie, no me grab

with the puttecule. Today, no evidence. I'm going in the micro, an eminence, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, silencered. With the timbrel, it revienta, puberty, busk, you're just to offer. Puts, are legitimates, my letters, because you're you, that the dendas me respectan.

That's Latin, baby. I wish you understood what he said, motherfucker. Because he said, put your phone away, he's stupid. He dissed you. That was my song.

That was how it's on the way. Yeah, that's perfect timing, right? That's perfect timing, right now. You're going to be a battle coming soon? I don't want no type of smoke,

home boy. But you're old, you're too old, Luz. Let me find out, Duno, you feel me, you're going to get this work, all right?

I'll battle up. You'll get this, I got you. I got you. You'll get my whole battle wrap shit, I got to wrap him. You see about it?

No. That'd be a dope skit. I'll write the rounds for both of us. That'd be a dope skit. That'd be a dope skit. So, before we sky out, the Assasino versus disaster battle,

what did that mean for the scene, you know, for Latin American hip-hop period? Legendary, yeah, was one of the guys watching the bootleg over there in Mexico. Fuck you, bro. Nah, it was lame, bro.

That's all good. He was for me, motherfucking. He was watching the bootleg. He was for show watching the bootleg. They wrote, it was like 10 people, like, just 10 rappers on that, on that shit.

So I got to see one part, then they just cut it off. Oh, for real? Then I saw it, like, when you guys uploaded it, the whole battle. He said, fuck, you, mother-fussed. Yeah, it was legendary. It cost us a lot of money. It was too expensive, you feel me. You should have lowered the price.

I'm sorry, May I go. I meant a lot to the battle community over there. Like, people were fucking proud of Acisino. I was one of them, you know. And it was legendary to see him both go out of it. And that's, I got to respect them more. I already had respect for Acesino. But once he did that, I was like,

man, this guy's the true lyrics. It's like, you know, he was before that, but that was legendary to go against disaster and just to come home, learn his English shit. And it was crazy. I loved it. And disaster, he had a lot of dope shit, too. Assasino, we need an interview, dog.

Yeah, we're going to bring him on for show. Mao, come on. What are you, um, what are your thoughts on Dizzy Spanish and Asasino's English? Oh, I think Ocicino, well, his accent, you know, he's new to it, bro. He just started learning English. like two years ago, three years ago.

So I think he did well for what he knows, and it was dope. And disaster, he surprised me to him. I wasn't expecting. He's the Habibi. He's the Habibi and spoke full in Spanish. Yeah. His accent was on point, too, right? Like, I thought he did pretty good.

It was cool. Relatively. It was, yeah, for somebody that... Well, it's crazy. Like, I can't picture myself doing that, like, learning French and just battling a full, like, in three, two years, like, you know what bad. Like, I don't think I can do it. you know what so i gotta give him frauds for that that's crazy and he has he has battle in all

kinds of languages right yeah yeah dizz is battled in um arabic german um spanish yeah well this is a legend he's something else he's something else but we gonna see heptos out here in the motherfucking on the gt x stage sooner than y'all think so yeah i'll be there fucking around fighting motherfuckers any any final folks i'm gonna three all fools because i'm trying to fucking grow over here and try to fucking oh yeah like he's trying to fuck food up over there at that at the Right time shit. Come on, come on. Fucking, who would you want to see in battle first?

I'm not going to say. Oh, fucking. I'm not going to say because we already got something in the works. With that being said, Duno, Uno, and Uno. We about this be aage. Wow.