No Jumper - Kruk One on Graffiti to Rap, Becoming Ratchet, Living in a Garage & More

Episode Date: January 9, 2023

Kruk One talks about his rough early days, staying consistent, making money with merch, signing a distribution deal, and more! ----- 00:00 Intro 2:11 Kruk talks about living in a garage when times were rough and the support of his mother 3:28 Kruk on what made him decide to move out of his mom's house 5:34 Kruk talks about how his love for graffiti started  7:50 Transitioning from graffiti to hip-hop and the first song he's ever recorded in an official studio 11:45 Kruk on the first song he made that really blew up which was actually a love song 13:50 Kruk on really taking music serious around 2018 and regretting not being more consistent with his craft 16:30 Kruk speaks on working on being more outgoing and networking more 18:01 DoKnow talks hosting a birthday party for Kruk and getting into it with one of Kruk's homies 19:33 Whether or not he would consider himself a "backpack rapper" and his music "boom-bap"  24:50 Kruk on making more money on his merch than music  29:12 Signing a deal with Empire for one album, still remaining independent afterwards, and how it felt having a billboard for his album 33:02 DoKnow calls Kruk one of the few rappers that actually claims his girlfriend, the possibility of doing a couples YouTube channel 36:05 Doing a little more ratchet shit after signing with Empire like having bitches twerk in the back of his videos and if any of the video girls have tried it with him 38:30 Kruk talks what's next for him in 2023 and filming 8 music videos that he's not going to drop 40:01 Kruk on his $3,000 laptop crashing on him that still had a skit with him and DoKnow in it ----- 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

Yes, sir, we're back. No jumpers. Your boy doing all. And I got my guy. Crook one in the building. Come on, man. We out here. What's up?

I just did my tiny cup. You know what I mean? My T. Real voice. How you been, foo? I'm chilling, dog. I'm just grinding. Working.

Working. Doing the most, man. Hell yeah, man. I've known Crook about two, three years, maybe three? Yeah, for a minute, dog. For like, 2020's? Yeah, yeah. So I think I first met you just like on some, like, internet shit.

I went to Tuesday, we'll who, and then I met you again in person. Right, right, right. Where I think I put up to your crib and we just, we kicked it with a vibe. Yeah, we kicked the first second and we did that little skit. Yeah, we did a little skit for a little skit for a song this there. So that was definitely a good moment, man. But, man, for the people that don't know you, I know you have a lot of your fans on here showing love and supporting, but like, for the people that don't know who you are, let them know where you grew up, what city you grew up in, what high school did you went to all that. Yeah, man.

So I go by the name Crook, Crook One, from Los Angeles. Angeles, California. And, man, I grew up, like, in the southeast LA. I don't know if you're familiar with the area. Yeah, for the cellar, yeah. He knows, he knows. Y'all from that area, man. So, man, I was cool, though.

I was just raised up right there. Tagging like you and shit. Yeah, yeah. And, you know what I mean? It's the same. You know what I mean? But yeah, I'm from LA, man. And how was it growing up in the cellar?

And for people that don't know, that's kind of like the Picco Rivera area, like Whittier, like, Like Norwalk. Like Norwalk. Yeah, you know what I mean? Yeah, so any city that I'm missing from the Sela, show of the Sela, good, good, good area. I actually, I actually love the Sela.

Oh, yeah? It's a beautiful place, man. I love it. Obviously, yes, every part of L.A. got his ghetto. But yeah, man, shout out of Sala. Very beautiful spot. But how was it growing up in the Sela as a kid?

Man, it was cool, dog. You know, um, when a high school, one of like three different high schools. Oh, so you were bouncing around. I was bouncing around, man. I got kicked out my second time. Um, went a continuation high school. Yeah.

And I was thugging it out right there, you know, getting into just graffiti, get into trouble. Just chilling no regular, you know, regular All-A County kids. Yeah, yeah, regular in-l-ish-it. How was the relationship with your parents, with your mom or your pops? My mom and my pops, man, it was cool. I'm closer with my mom. My dad's been in jail for the most of my life. Like in and out of shit?

Basically just been in. He's been out a few times, but basically he's just been in. So, yeah. So he's been in jail for a minute, man. But my mom been holding it down and no, she raised me. yeah she you know I think I seen yeah man shout out of your mom

because I think I seen you there's a picture of you guys like in a garage where you guys were living What's on? I think you posted a picture like a throwback and you're like That's where I used to stay I could be wrong though

Or maybe that was just a kicker spot But it was like a I did live in the garage though I did okay so I did I was down bad Yeah so you posted a throwback Yeah yeah Where you're like you're like

I used to live right here in this garage Yeah I used in the garage I lived in a few garages Yeah but did he live there with moms Or by yourself? Nah with that my mom always She always did what she had to do to provide for us. So we always had a roof over our head.

When I was getting on my own, that's when I was living in the garage, trying to figure my life out, you know, trying to figure it out, like everybody else. So, but now my mom always told it down. She always put a roof over our head. She always, you know, kept food in our stomach. Hell yeah. She did what she had to do. So shout out to my mom's, man.

And for you say, else, like, you have siblings? Yeah, I got siblings. You have siblings? Okay. Yeah, yeah. I got two sisters. And how was the relationship with them? Closest.

Closest to this day, man. I love my sisters. Hell yeah. Yeah, yeah, we start, man, we solid. That's fire. So when you guys were living, when you were living in those garages, that was like after you decided to just live on your own, was there like a situation that happened between you and moms

or you're like, I don't know, maybe you got kicked out or you just decided like, man, if I can't follow her rules, I might as well do it on my own because I want to f*** off type of shit. You know what it was? It wasn't, um, she was doing her own thing. And, you know, she got a boy boyfriend. They end up getting it together. And I was already 18.

Yeah. So it was kind of like, I was kind of like, I had to figure it out. So she wanted to go do her own thing. She said I could roll with her and shit, but I wasn't trying to be no burden, you know what I'm saying? So I ended up doing my own thing. I try to figure it out myself, doing it the hard way,

you know, you know, up and figure it out. Yeah. But now, man, I basically just decided to do it on my own, bro, and just trying to figure out my life and got into hip-hop. I was already into hip-hop, but I shot out of going to go hard, man. I had to pay bills. I had to do a bunch of shit. So I had to go hard and doing this shit.

you know, it end up paying off in the long run, so I'll be doing my thing. And I know, like, as a man, like, when somebody's not, like, my mom's had, like, after, like, my dad, after a year, my mom had, like, a boyfriend. I was already in the dope pain, ran. But it was, like, like, I feel you. Like, I don't think I could ever live.

Like, if I was, like, at that age, like, maybe 17, 60, when my mom got her, her man and she, like, you could come live with me, I definitely would have felt weird, too. Yeah, no. It's a, if it's a pride thing. It is, bro. And you don't want to be no burden, you know? It's like, I ain't trying to move into no dude's house

and follow his rules. I'm trying to do my own thing. So, you know, like I said, I figured it out the hard way. I bent through some shit basically homeless out sometimes. Yeah, yeah. But, you know, I was down bad, but then, you know, slowly I figured it out. Hustling, I was doing tattoos.

I was tattooed my signature on fans. I'll be like, hey, yo, pull up to the shop. I tattoo my signature on you for like 30 bucks. I'll get like 10 people a day, bro. So, you know, that stacked up. And I did what I had to do with that money, flipped it. But I always figured a way out, bro. I was never like, I'm always going to figure it out.

You know what I'm saying? Like, I'm never going to be like left in the dust, man. I'm always going to see what you can do. And then before we get into the hip-hop shit, and you're doing the tattoos, how did your love for graffiti come about? Like, the whole running around. Man, I was in high school around like 2013, 2016. So I just, every kid in my school, they was busing graffiti.

They was doing like throwies. They was like right on their notebooks. They was going to yards, hitting up yards. They was, you know, they was mobbing it up. So it was kind of just like everybody was doing it. I like art already, so I always like writing all shit. So when it came to graffiti, it was just, you know, it was natural. So I always love graffiti since day one.

I always love hitting walls. I always love tagging all over the streets and all of them saying, doing shit. I wasn't supposed to. But it was fun, bro. I have a lot of memories doing it. And to this day, man, I still be catching spots. And like every once in a while? Yeah, shit, every once in a while.

Once in a while. Like, for around what age did you get serious of? about the graffiti shit because I remember when I... Now, you're into that shit deep, yeah, I'm into that shit deep. Hey, that pro club collapsed crazy. Appreciate you, my guy, you're saying, thank you.

That's hard, though. Yeah, appreciate you. That's hard, no, that's shit hard. Nah, that's hard. No, like, my love for graffiti just came, like, my city, like, where I grew up is... Echo, right? Yeah, like, Echo Park, the downtown area.

Mm-hmm. It's just a big mech of graffiti where we're definitely, like, one of the cities that... Graffiti's at a whole other level where a lot of the biggest, like, graffiti crews come about. Oh, they was crying. No, I used to live right there.

I just moved, I was in Hollywood, like, a couple months ago. I just moved back to. To the Sela? Yeah, to the area. Yeah, to the area. But I was just in East Hollywood. And I was right there in front of Echo Park and the middle of Hollywood. Yeah, like, not too far.

Oh, I'm in Hollywood, but I'm like right there by Silver Lake and shit. And I was there for like a year. But now, every time I'm going to freebie, bro, it was hell of bond. Like, new bombs all the time, new billboards getting smacked. Like, it was cool. Nah, yeah. It's crazy. The culture is crazy right there, the graffiti culture.

Yeah, the graffiti culture is definitely big. If you know, you know. Yeah, so definitely when I, when it's dope to you're like people from like South Central, like every city has its own culture. Can you remember like the first big graffiti writers that you've seen in the cell line? You were like, damn, I'm kind of want to write like damn. Man, it was kind of just the homies, man, because I'll be seeing the homies. Like back then I was Toy, right? Yeah, yeah.

And I was like, man, the homie got a crazy style, bro. How am I going to, how can I do some shit like that? So I'll just practice and practice. But it was off of the homies, just the regular homies, bro. Like hitting a blackwoods. I've seen them mobbing up on the windows and shit like that. I was like, bro, his style was hard. Like, my shit did not look like that.

I got to make my shit look like that. So we'll just practice trial and error. But, no, it was just the homies, though. Just regular homies. They got some stilos. It was cool. Hell yeah, man. And from hip-hop, I mean, from graffiti,

for your transition to hip-hop? Yeah. Because it's all part of the same element. It's all part of the same element. Hip-hop's a deep-rooted thing. No, I was part of, I was doing graffiti first, and I was like early freshman year, eighth grade.

So I was doing that first And I started recording music around like 2015 So a couple years later I started doing music And then I was tying together Like I would do songs about graffiti early on I don't think they're rapping anymore

But I would do songs about graffiti And then it slowly progress To who I am right now Damn and I was like a very important era At the moment Hip hop rap was Hip hop rap was definitely at his Like graffiti rap

And like the backpack rap was at a whole just. It was crazy. It was crazy. And then also I seen you, I seen a video of you, like, rapy. I think he had spiky hair. You're like rapping in a circle. What you're doing?

Oh, yeah. Now, I was in high school, bro. I was in continuation high school. But why were you guys rapping? Was it like, somebody was like, I gotta be. Let's rap out of some shit? I was at Continuation High School and we had, um, we had lunch and then we had, um, like fucking nutrition or some shit?

Yeah, nutrition, I was gonna say break. It's nutrition. Yeah, yeah. So we had nutrition and, um, we were just kicking and like, my does I would bring your speaker sometimes. I was like, hey, bro, y'all are you trying to flow or what? So they would throw a beat on YouTube, and we'll just start flowing right there. Like, it started getting into like a, you know, we just did it every other day.

So, yeah, we bring a speaker, motherfucklers a rap, and we just did that all the time. And it so happened, somebody called me on tape, doing, rapping and shit. I was like, that's cool, you know, that's cool to have someone, though. We sent it to me a couple years later. I was like, oh, what the fuck? Who recorded that shit, bro? And he sent it to me, I was like, damn. I didn't even know no one recording me, bro.

The old as fuck. Yeah, but I was in school and then I had another one in the alley right there. Yeah, yeah. I think, I think, maybe the one that I saw was the alley one, buddy.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. You were like rapping. I was like, this fuck got spiky hair. I was like that back of the day. Well, my hair's crazy around. Just that shit. Just that shit. Okay, so you start getting into rap

around the age of 15, 16? Yeah. Fucking, what's the first song you record or was the first time you recorded in the official studio? Man. Because I'm pretty sure at first you were doing like little bullshit, right?

Yeah, I had a mic. I had a mic, shit. I mean, the first time I ever recorded, bro, it was in my cousin's room. Dirty-ass room, bro, and right there on Balfour. Okay. We had a little sob, my homie. He produced. I bought a little $100 microphone.

It was like not even $100. It was like $80. Yeah. So I bought that mic, and we just set up shop, bro. A little USB plug-in. And we just went crazy. I wrote the lyrics. My homie was hard at the beats.

And then I don't know anything about YouTube channels and nothing like that. So the homie did it for me. He made my YouTube account. And he started doing like this. whole promotion, like, trying to reach out to fans. He was like, oh, yo, fuck with Kirk Juan. He's a new artist, blah, blah, blah. So he would try to help me do professional shit,

because back then I was posting on my Instagram, it was crazy. It was like memes and, like, shit, that doesn't even make no sense. Yeah. But, like, around 2016, YouTube. You were like, were you heavy on Facebook? A little bit early on high school, but I ended up, I was on Instagram for the most time. I've been rapping.

Okay. So he deleted all my memes, and he, and he's like, no, you got to start promoting your music. bro, this shit, they ain't going to go do nothing for you. It's just memes and shit like that. So we started promoting the music, doing music videos, recording, doing like street, like, we do a whole bunch of shit, bro. So, but yeah, we was in, but long story show, bro, yeah,

we started recording music in a, in a busted ass house, my aunt's house. And I love that house, though. No disrespect, yeah. But now, you know, we was getting in there, we was getting in there right there, and we just started going from there to studios and to, you know, it just progressed from. there bro so yeah we started from the bottom literally it's crazy it's crazy

what was the first sign that blew you up i know you had a couple but what was the first song that blew you up it was um it was a love song i did a love song it was uh but it wasn't like on some like soft shit it wasn't on like you know lovey-dovey type it was i did like a gangster beat so um the homie send me you sent me this shit i want to give people something they ain't expect before so you send it to me i wrote a whole love song some like tupac bonnie and clyte type of shit. I wrote it like that with that in mind. So I wrote it, we're filming the video to it. And then before you know, to start picking up hell of views, bro, like crazy views. I think it was my first million I ever hit. And it was just about me and my chick, you know,

just people just connected to it. They love like, people love relationships and shit like that. But when they see me come out, do a song like that, a lot of people, they didn't know what to feel about it. They're like, this ain't a love song, real love songs, so and so. You know, like, nah, that's not how I do things. I don't do things to expect the way I things like the unexpected way and people liked it and um and that song still going up right now to this day and it's crazy but um yeah me and mine it's called me and mine on youtube and people um they're like the start that took you to a whole other level you know what i don't know if it took me to a whole other level but what i'm saying in the sense to where like yeah like it went crazy

yeah like it went crazy because the graffiti music was cool but the bitches couldn't listen to it because it didn't make exactly yeah just the homies in the city they're like yeah that's cool but yeah but once i dropped the song you know what maybe it did blow me i didn't realize because I was dropping hell of music after that. But it probably did take, like, when I did shows and shit, people would definitely suggest that song. And after

that, that's when, like, the backpack rappers at the moment started tapping in, like, the four hours and shit like that? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I remember all that. Yeah, that was a wave. That was a wave, like, 2012. So, so you, would you consider yourself part of that wave? Because you came out a little more, like, 2014, 2015, but these artists were still

established. Like, the fours and the and vowers and stuff like that, they were already established artists where they're fucking touring and independent-wise, you know what I mean? I'm not too sure if they're signing or they're behind the scenes of like if they were signed or not,

but they were definitely big artists, especially in the Latino community doing their thing. No, I remember when that wave was cragging. Well, 2012, 2013 was crazy. It was craggy. I remember that I was in, I was a freshman and I remember all these rapists coming out like Chris G

and all these like old names. I don't even know if people know too much about them anymore. But now I would say I came up like around 2000 and like 2018, bro. I was making music a while back, but I remember starting to pick a views. Like all my videos started hitting millions around 2018, 19, 20. And it was going crazy after that. So I say I really busted out the gate like 2018-19, borderline.

And then yeah, I just dropped a hell of music and people was fucking with it. But the only thing I regret is not being so consistent. I would take a minute after I did a video, it'll blow up, I'll get comfortable. And I should have really been on anymore. I should have been like, oh, man, I got to go harder. I got to drop another video. I would kind of be like, oh, this video's crack right now. I'm chilling.

But now, thinking about it, I feel like I should have just went crazier. I should have went more consistent. More consistent. How did your relationship with Forra, girl? He reached out to me when I was, I was like renting a room out. I said, I was like, damn bad. How old were you? I was like 19.

Okay. I was like 19. I was running the room out. He just reached out to me. He said, what's up? Let's do a song. I'm like, fucking I ain't got nothing to lose. Like, let's crack.

Let's get the cracking. So he ubered me to the crib and we did the song. And that was that. You know what I mean? Shout out to the, shout out to the hummus. Yeah. How much did your fan-based girl from when that song came out to, like, from where you were doing at the moment?

Because he was, he's doing the shit, you know what I mean? He's fucking selling out shows. He was touring independently with love music and everything. Right. Like, out of your fan-based girl. It was cool, dog. We didn't do it. video or none it was just a song yeah so it I don't think it got the potential that it really

it could have got yeah but um no it was cool bro then they end up getting it ended it ended it end up getting taken down for um for the sample oh for the sample yeah the sample they didn't they didn't fuck with it so it had halleastreams and it got to take it down pretty early on so I didn't know I didn't know what it could have did to this day but not it was cool though bro but I really think I gained all the numbers and shit like just grinding myself I never really relied on the features Like, the features was cool. Like, shout out to everybody who reached out to me when I didn't really had shit going on.

But I really think the shit that really moved my rap shit to another level was me to drop a shit on myself. I never really dependent on features in the first place to this day. Like, if we do it, it's all, like, me and the homies just vibe and it shit. But I don't really rely on features. I'm really, like, get it from the ground, myself, type of person. Now, most, and I've seen that because you're very, like,

you're not antisocial, but you're very, like, to yourself type of person. I'm learning, bro. I'm learning trying to reach out. I put over, you see me pull over Yellow Hill. Yeah, with Yellow Hill. He's like, bro, you gotta step up out your cell, bro. Everybody, I don't like, I was like, yeah, you're right, bro.

Because he was dealing with the same shit. He's like, man, I'm trying to be out more. I'm trying to show my face, shake more hands, trying not to be in the house too much. And I was like, yeah, you're right, bro. Let me roll with you to that event, bro. And he said, pull up, and then I saw me and you, we met up again, and we booked this little interview and shit,

and it was cool, bro. He said off, just shaking hands like that, bro, because I don't think we've seen each other, to be right now. Yeah, that's it. It's just about building relations, but that's definitely like, I remember there was a time

where we were just kicking to me, you and Yellowho, we were just, remember I took you out to that Chinese spot? Oh, yeah, one of the Chinese foot and we were just tagging on your iPad. Oh, yeah, bro. We were just kicking out your pad.

And if I remember early on. And I remember telling Yellowho, like, you two motherfuckers need to step out. Y'all make music, fool. Like, I'm consistent. I'm dropping interviews. So people got to see my face more often than they see your guys face.

But I'm like, bro, y'all got to drop music or just. Hop out to the club, everyone. You don't got to go every week. Yellow. You hear this shit. Yeah, he knows now. Yeah, yellow, yeah.

You're on his neck, huh? I'd be like, you hear, he'd be like, yeah, bro. But, you know, he's a little more like, like, I'm a fact of crap. You know, he's just, he's doing his shit. But that's definitely something I remember we would have conversations. Just because we were all, like, because we all kind of blew up on, like,

you already had like a year or two ahead of us, but your grind was just growing and growing. And at the moment, you had the show with Yellowho. You were working with different artists. Yeah, we was going crazy. I think there was a time where I think hosted um my birthday party your what was oh i hosted your birthday party you hosted my birthday party bro and i think you got into somebody i got into somebody yeah your boys was so far i didn't get along

with and then the sir and then the certain food yeah ended up um something ended up happening it and then and then it got to all of us and then your homies were like getting at the other food for bringing them they're like we didn't even know who that was what you don't know and then i know my i remember seeing you was hot bro you was red i'm like Yeah, I was on his head. What the fuck is wrong with you. I was kind of confused, but I did host your birthday party, but we also, I remember that I think you and Yellow Hill performed a couple artists and then I hosted. Yeah, you hosted.

Yeah, I fucking out of the black skin. It could have been out of the black skis too. No, we did it. That was separate. That was separate. But your birthday? That was my birthday, that was craggy. Yeah, yeah, definitely you and Yellow Hill performed.

It was not a grimy-ass spot, though, so we should have known. But it was cool. Nah, you know what it was. Shout out to the homie memo, man. But he took me to one spot. The first spot he took his two because he was booking the locations. He took me to the first spot and bro, that shit was

fucking smaller than his room, bro. And I was like, man, well, how the fuck am I supposed to host a birthday party here, bro? We can't even fit in this motherfucker and he was like, fool.

So we get him letting on that spot and it was way bigger. I was like, fuck it, let's just do it. Yeah, no, no. And we packed that bitch out. We had a line around the whole fucking in the whole building.

I don't know if you've seen it. Yeah, no. I definitely seen it. It was growing up. It was viral. It was a good time. Other than the little incident, it was definitely a good time.

Yeah, it was viral, man. but yeah fuck would you consider yourself a backpack rapper I think it's just perspective I mean I don't personally but maybe someone else does maybe some other people do

but honestly I just I don't know I just see myself as a fucking rapper dog yeah I mean I'm just doing my shit what do you what's your definition of a backpack rapper I don't know maybe your guys

maybe your guys beats the election a little different like the boo bab was a little bit oh you're talking about like on the ground Yeah, I think undergrounds are better. When I think of backpack, I just think of the era that was going crazy at the moment. I give it to me.

I give you me. Because a lot of your influences, like, the way you rap. You know what? It's definitely a big influence on my sound. Maybe I am because I was getting into hip-hop at that time. I was doing graffiti. I was doing the Boomab Beach and shit like that. So it was hell of hip-hop.

Yeah, for sure, early on, for sure. But I think now talking nowadays, I kind of like adjusted to the times. I was like, you know what? I don't think people always want to listen to Boombap. There's always going to be a big group about it. it, but I think I'm gonna switch my style more to like a modern LA type of style. Because people say I got like, I'll be picking the LA beats, but then people be telling me I got like a New York flow.

So I think that's what I mean. That's what I mean. It's a crazy combo. Yeah, because it's a crazy combination. Like the boom bap and the very hard, like certain raps. And I think it's also like your demeanor, like when you, when you're like rapping the bag of clothes and all that shit. But not even the clothes, I just think is like the beats, yeah, the beat, but also like,

you know, you're kind of. It's kind of like, if it kind of looks like your battle rapping. You know what I mean? So it's just, I think that, that line of that, the music, it comes from a, like, just some real rap shit. Like, really lyricism. It's really rapy, bro. Yeah, yeah.

I'm really influenced by, like, like, Mop D Bigel. Okay, so that's what I'm saying. Fucking Nas mixed with, like, the fucking, you know, the Dr. Dre and the DJ Quick. It's like, it's a crazy combination, but I really think that's what separates me, especially back then. You could hear it back then, but it's a really, like, it really. New York influence. Yeah.

But I'm from LA, so it automatically makes me an LA person. But it's like a crazy combo, bro. So I think that's what makes my sound a little more unique than everybody else's. Hell yeah. You feel what I'm saying? But nah, it's cool. I mean, I still do all the hip-hop shit. Like, when I'm not on the mic, when I'm not on Instagram, I'll be like freestyle into the boom-bab shit still.

I be tagging on walls and shit, and I keep it true to my roots. Hell yeah. But when it comes to Instagram, people don't know that. They just see what they see on Instagram. But I still be doing. doing that shit, like in the cut, you know what I mean? It's just, it's just a hobby. It's like, like, everyone's on all.

Like, I always have a streak with me just in case. But I'm not, but I'm not trying to like risk, like, me going to jail. Because we got careers, we got to do. I know. I'm not out here just, like, busing on, like, bombing on the freeway. I'm just like, you know all it? I'm in the bathroom or I'm in just walking with the homie down the alley. Just let me just hit this spot real quick.

It ain't that deep, you know what I mean? No, I'm on the same vibe you are, though. Yeah, it's definitely nothing too crazy, but it's just like. It's cool. I like your style, bro. You got a clean hand style, bro. You got to do no style. Yeah, I can't bomb too crazy, but I can definitely like...

I have a pretty good steeler when it comes to just... With just catching tag. I mean, you feel me, the flick of the wrist is... I was gonna buy your t-shirt, bro. I was on... You should have told me, I would just send it to you. Nah, but it is... Appreciate you.

No, because... It's cool. It's cool. Nah, I was gonna buy my size. I wear two X, but on the site it said it was sold out. Bro, that shit sold out fast. We sold out really quick. And shout out you for being so consistent with your merch.

Yeah, wall you see it come on yeah yeah like people fuck with it bro people fuck with the marries bro i been that's a big thing about me too my my clothing line bro yeah people love the clothing line that's like it's own entity like i'm a rapper a lot of people don't even know i own the clothing line yeah it's mine 100% um i don't got no no fucking type of partner i've been it's really mine like i do everything from the shipping to the designing to the shit we was there with you promotion you i think you promoted some of my shit yeah no but i i i put up on you one time and drop some shit off yeah you definitely did that but no remember um i think we're with

yellow and you were like hey bro i'm gonna stop buying pick up my merch real quick i gotta ship it out oh oh you got back no no if i was there with you i was driving with you oh for real yeah and then you were like you're like if i got to pick up my merch real quick and you want to go pick up like two three boxes really we're like oh shit because you were putting us on you're like hey this is how you ship yeah i remember you would text me once in a while trying like yeah yeah yeah like like little help yeah little tip shout out yeah man yeah like he did like bro you go to bro's house he got rags he got shit already divided out like yeah it's where i want this the medium goes here I'm like, damn, motherfucker.

I love it, bro. I'm like, you're so consistent with this shit, and it always shows up. Most of the time. Most of the time. If it does a salon instantly, it takes a few days. But it always ends up going pretty quick, bro, I'm really, particularly with my designs

and how my shit looks, and everything from the photography to the models and to the designs and to the actual garment. I'm really like, I'm really like picky with that shit. So I got to make sure it's on point. People fuck with it. They really see, this last brajab,

bro, I did a Rhinestone Mary hoodie. Yeah. Fucking crazy. It sold out twice. And, like, each time sold out, like, in 10 minutes, 15 minutes. Damn. It's crazy, bro. So I really, like, I really been working out this clothing line for a minute since 2018.

Nah, he's, definitely. You're one of the few that is, like, and I'm not trying to be in your pockets, but what's made you more money, your merch or music? Oh, the fucking merch. Okay. Definitely, bro. I think you talk to anybody. Their merch is going to make them a lot of money. Think about it, you sell a fucking.

$50 hoodie for like, you sell it, you sell a $50 hoodie a hundred times. Bro, that's crazy. And that's like, you could make that money like in a day. If your shit got hella hype around it, if your shit got hella, like, people really like it. And they've been waiting on that drop, you can make a lot of money in one fucking day. More than a fucking song could fucking make you like, it's crazy, bro. It's crazy. It's crazy.

It's crazy. Yeah. But it's not all the time like that. Sometimes shit flops. Sometimes shit doesn't go as you plan. Sometimes you like a design. It doesn't sell out. It doesn't sell too much.

And you're like, fuck, fuck it. You're going to move on. So you got to go back to it. Yeah, it's like trial in there, bro. So it's cool. The homie memo, he just hit me up talking about, Hey, Crook, I want you to have me run the night of the blacks against March. Because everybody know I'd be doing my shit.

Yeah. You even know fucking yellow. I even have yellow with his shit. I even have yellow with his shit. And I even have fucking Coojo the Savage with his shit. Yeah, yeah. When I was in my room, bro, he was like telling me, hey, Crook, how you make the designs, bro?

How you make the website? I said everything up for him, bro. Yeah, now, shout out you. I put you on the path. It's just, it's easy. Just buy the merch, sell it. I run out, I'll help you whatever you need. I always help the homies, bro.

Like, why the fuck would I keep all this knowledge to myself, bro? I'm like, let me reach out to the homies and help them make some money, you know what I'm saying? So it's all out of love too. I really like doing it. So it's cool, bro. Like, it's straight to see the homies doing their shit, bro. And especially with merch, people don't understand, like, even at shows, you have shows, like, meeting greets at the most, like, meeting, greets out the most. like meeting greets how you make your money

but merchandise is one of the top tier things that a lot of rappers don't have All the rappers get on your march game bro Get on your march you're sleeping on money And if you don't do it Then fuck it, more money for me But free game right here Get on your merch shit

It's gonna make you a lot of money It's not the hard to build the fucking website I mean it's kind of hard It's not hard to build a website But it's hard to make a good looking website Because people make websites I'm like I don't know if they're gonna shit my I don't even know what they're going to shit my order

I don't think is like sketchy But there's something that look professional everything looks right. You know, they have terms and policies. They have shipping information. It's like little details like that that grabs a customer in. You know what I'm saying?

Yeah, yeah. Just look professional. Do your best. Do good photo shoots. And don't have your shit looking so generic. Everybody should be looking generic as fuck. Generic as fuck. I'm like, bro, no one's going to buy your shit

and you got your fucking name on it. It's cool. Like, if you're the homie, I'll support suit. But in reality, a stranger coming across a shit, why the fuck would they wear some shit with your name on it? Do a design, make it look dope. do like a fucking pit bull like that or something, bro. Yeah, that shit was crazy.

Yeah, that's just hard as far. I seen that shit when I was with yellow. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, just when you're like that, you know, you gotta just, you gotta talk to the, you gotta feed it what the people want, you know what I mean? Free game. And, and you've succeeded in, like, like I said,

the merch I've seen you be, you're probably one of the few homies that I know, like, or just friends in the industry that your merch is hella consistent. And I think you drop wood like every, like, four or five months, like a new design or, or it could be less. It's, shit, I try to drop every month. Every month. Sometimes I don't.

Sometimes I miss a month or two. But my goal is to drop at least once a month. So far, I've been dropping twice a month. But, you know, it's crazy. I won't drop if the design ain't hard. Like, if it ain't hard, I'd be like, nah, I'm not going to waste my time, bro. Like, let's just keep working on it. Actually, me and Pro Club, we talked about doing the collab,

so I'll have a meet up with them pretty soon. a couple of weeks and we're gonna talk about doing a collab together man so I have a vision I have a vision on my head so I want to execute it with them I think they're the perfect people

you just did some shit with them yeah I did some shit with them and shout out my girl Brian he definitely believed in the vision he definitely let me kind of let me steer the boat drive the boat and you know what I mean

he backed it up with a couple things but we did that and shit good money good business good friendship we built and we build the legacy where he's bringing back kind of like the street where

for a pro club and she was a beautiful thing. He let me design the whole shit. I designed the whole shit on my own. I know. I just thought about a gang and shit and it was a perfect concept. It described you 100% of graffiti, the style, and on a pro club. I was like, bro, that's just hard, bro. Appreciate it.

Yeah, it was a perfect concept and we just decided to put a gang of shit together, man, and they came through a side of pro club. I'm not pro club, man. You're with Empire now. I got a little deal with them. You got a little deal with them. How did that come about? Because I would have never thought you, you've been doing this so independent.

I would have never thought that. that you would have like maybe done something like a partnership or like a distribution thing type of thing. Yeah, you know, it ain't even at that deep. Honestly, it was like they reached out to me. They seen what I was doing. I think Yellow Hill might have even put the word in from you. I am a mistake.

Shout out to my bro Yellow Hill, man. But yeah, they hit me up like, hey, bro, we want to do an album with you. We're going to give you a budget. You know what I mean? We're going to give you some money. Let's do our album. Easy. Knock the album out.

It went crazy. I did a billboard. selling CDs, doing merch, it went the way it was supposed to go. And after the album, back on my own shit, after, you know, after, after they make their money back, I got to be on my own shit again. So I'm on my own again. I ended up doing another album deal with them a couple months ago. But that album's doing pretty good, too.

So pretty soon after the album reaches his payback and we're back on it. It's really just a, you know, just a little bags sharing there like that, you know what I'm saying? I'm still independent as fuck I do everything myself right nobody do nothing from me I can't stress it enough nobody does nothing from me bro

people help me out shout out to everybody that helps me out but for the most part it's all on me bro you know what I mean yeah and how different was that like you being so used

to being on your own to like even the little one album like being with them for a couple like three to six months how different was that having somebody like an A and R or PR

coming to play it was cool because it wasn't something I was used to bro it was like it was like yeah we're gonna get

with Billboard. And I know Billboard probably isn't that hard to do, but I wasn't even trying to figure out how to do all that shit. Yeah. I was like, hey, fuck it. Y'all, y'all figure it out for me. So they did that for me. And they lined a couple of features up for me.

They have put the word in. So I got like R.Z on that album. I got Stevie Young. I got a couple more people on that shit, too. But it was cool. You know, I just wanted to try something different because I was already doing music for so long by myself. Let me see what opportunity they bring to me.

Maybe I could do some crazy shit. And they definitely did some shit I couldn't have done as fast as they could have did it. But it was cool, though, bro. Like, I enjoyed the experience. The Billboard was crazy. I think I'm the first rapper in my city to ever get a Billboard. You got a Billboard, too. Shout out to you, boy.

Yeah, man. Yeah. You shout out of the Noble. Good show, Don't know-a-so. The Nova. You're going crazy, bro. It's crazy to see your progression over the time. Pretty sad to my guy, yes, sir.

And, yeah, a billboard, it's definitely a good, it feels good. Good, fool. It just feels good. It's honestly just a big-ass piece of paper, if we're being honest, but it feels good. But it's like, if no one in my city did that yet, I'm being the first to ever do it. It's kind of a special feeling, especially when it's just my face. I had a ski mask on this shit. I wish it was my, I wish it was on my face. Oh, you did have a ski mask on for that album.

So I was like, fuck, I said a, I thought of shit out. I was like, damn, they couldn't see my face, but they didn't even know who it is. But now we did, we did like a little event right there, a little album pop up. and I got a hell of people pulled up so love. I posted a recap because it was like, it's been two years since I dropped it. And yeah, you can see a line around the building. I got carspoint.

It was the homie shop. It was craggy. That shit was right down, Woody Boulevard. On Woody's Boulevard, man. Hell yeah, man. Shout out Willie Boulevard, man. Yes, sir, man.

Beautiful place. Go ahead. You drink your henny. He likes that. He has some shit. Nah, I'm cool. I'm cool. You busy, though.

Yeah, man. I got a long day. I drink that handy. My car, my bitch. You good. Nah, but you definitely very... You're good. Man, you definitely put in hell of work, man.

Man, I'm trying out here, bro. You do a lot of the groundwork. You're one of the few rappers I've seen just do their groundwork. Yeah, bro. You're also one of the few rappers that claims their girlfriend. Because a lot of you...

A lot of you motherfuckers don't claim your girl. Tell me I'm a rare breed, bro. You and Yellowfield. I don't know anybody that claimed a chick. Yellowhill, he had... He'd been having this girl for a while. Yeah, but he probably started claiming her. You barely started claiming her.

I've been, you late to the party, I've been doing my, he just got older though. I'm gonna fucking with you. But, no, I've been, me and my chick been riding together for a minute, dog. Cool minute. And I incorporated here in my music. And people just, they have a relationship of our relationship.

They like, we like them. We love them together. We love seeing them together. Every time I pose a flick with her, it goes crazy. I can only imagine what's going to happen when we have a baby. Oh, it's all right. You got to start a YouTube family channel, dog. Oh, we didn't even fin to do all that.

Nah. You gotta do a YouTube. What is going up? Hey, we got to do it, though. Maybe a couple of laws to see how it goes. But now, now, they love my chick. Shout out to Sam, man. Shout out to, come on, I see you.

Now, you've been saying it with me up for a minute. This food's with her everywhere. I'll be like, fool, leave her at home. They get through my boys. Yeah, yeah. She's really trustworthy. Yeah, she's got my back, you know. And my fucking one-up on me.

Shout to not. Shout on that, though, because it's definitely a rare thing. It is, though. You know, everybody want to be playing a fucking player pimps trying to. Which is cool, right? It's cool. for sure it's cool. Yeah.

But it's like, it's really rare to see somebody claiming their chick for so long. You feel what I'm saying? I think what you're trying to say, like,

for it's cool to be in love. It's cool to be in love. Yeah. It's cool to be in love. But it's rare because you definitely, I've seen her like model for you, model for the merge. I've seen her fucking in,

and fucking the music videos and shit like that. So it's definitely a rare thing. But I always talk to yellow like me. Like yellow, I think one of the biggest things is incorporating the fact. that he's like has his girl and I'm like, damn,

crooks me doing, but there's only a couple, like, there's a couple people that did that. And like, at least from like, just, just equateases that I know

and it was like you, yellow, I don't know for her, but I know for her did that for a long time. There's a couple rapper homies that definitely, like the homie Tiro, he's not a rapper, but him and his girl

definitely have like a real big open relationship, you know what I can never be you, fool. Oh, yeah, I give it to you. You know what I'm, you know what it is? I just found the right one.

Yeah. You know, We don't been through shit, bro. We don't been through shit, believe me. It's not just been fucking lovey-dovey, no issues. It's been through shit to get to this point. But honestly, it's like when you find a one, you kind of know. You know what I'm saying?

A lot of people don't find them one so early on. They got to go through a gang of motherfucking people. They got to go through like 200 and a lot of bitches to do that. But lucky for me, it's just happening. It's having. You know what I'm saying? And a lot of people might say, you pussy with you pussy. But honestly, so what?

Why now? I'm happy. chilling. I'm cool. I ain't outside. I'm inside most of the time. I go outside when I have to go outside. I'm chilling. You know, I got my girl, got my dog, got my family. I got money in my pocket. It's all I can really... I'm chilling. Yeah. How did it, when you send this shit with Empire, I know you started doing a little more ratchet shit. There was like, big my videos. There was like, bitch is shaking ass more. I know I, I know I, if I know me and you talked about it like behind the scenes when you're like, shoot those are slapping ass with me.

But like, did ever get to a point where she's like, babe, she's a little too close or, babe, you're a little too close? She's cool because I don't really let that happen. You know, she's right there. I'm not gonna be all fucking, you know what I mean? I'm just like, hey, bro. She's, I'm gonna come over here and slap your ass with that. Yeah, she knows, yeah, now she knows, hey, nah, but we just,

do we have them in the video, they're doing their thing, and it's pretty much it. We, Pam, get the fuck out of here, nigg, you know, we didn't hear, You know, just here to do your job. And it's pretty much, it's all business. Yeah, but has anybody ever, like, has a girl ever, not cross the line, but, like, just tried it while your girl was there? Not really.

Not really? Because there was a music video when you guys are in the kitchen. And I was like, damn, this is pretty late night. I'm like, I wonder if his girls were there right there. And I think I hit you. I think I told you all, like, oh, look at Krug. He out of shell right now. And he was like, oh, he's going to beat his ass.

Nah, she cool. She's right there. She knows what's going on. It ain't nothing. You know what I say? She knows like, I ain't fin to do no dumb shit. But at first you had to explain that, right? When you guys got, because when you guys got first together,

you were already rapping and kind of had like a little buzz? Yeah, she definitely noticed the females off the back. Because she noticed I was ready to get in the buzz when she got some. And there was a lot of females on my Instagram and the fucking Twitter, all that shit, all that shit, bro. So off the bat, she knew, you know what I mean? But over time, she got used to. You know what I'm saying?

I used to it. It's cool. It ain't nothing no more. Yeah. But definitely in the beginning, it took a lot of time to get used to. Like, imagine you got with a cracking-ass female, bro. No, yeah, bro. Yeah, I got a cracker.

Yeah, I got a, man, I get with like a glorella or something. Hey, you feel me? That bitch ain't outside. She's staying inside. Come on, you get it. You get it. I definitely get it. I just, it's crazy.

Like, because even though people do know you're in a relationship, they'll still try shit. Like, it's just a, it's just a nature that comes with art business and our career. Yeah, but, you know, we just, I'm out here just to get some money. I ain't worried about nothing else. I really just been in the bag for a minute. Yeah.

So I don't really chip on nothing. Hell yeah. Man, what's next for Kirk? I know you've, you've been working, um, you've been doing your thing, but what's next for you? Like, what do you have planned for 2020, man? Man, dog, I'm trying to be more consistent. Yeah.

I got a hell of music. My dumb ass just don't drop. Last year, I filmed, like, eight videos. I didn't even drop because I wasn't feeling them after all. Like, I would see them. I would like the song at the time. I would look at it. I'm like, nah, I don't think I don't think that's it.

Like, I'd rather not drop it, then drop a flop or drop something I'm not a hundred with. But now we're in this year, I'm trying to be more consistent. I'm trying to drop better merch, trying to ship orders out quicker. Yeah. That sure hurts our backs, y'all. That sure heard. Yeah, it's trying to be more consistent.

You know, everything takes money, too. You know, I like quality videos, so it takes a little bit of money. It takes a little bit of effort. I ain't really the type of rap but just to call the video guy and just go out and shoot right there on the spot I kind of like pre-planning the head I like doing, I like booking shit

I like it and everything planned out so everything goes smooth so it looks like a little effort is made into the video so I'm trying to be quicker on that man I'm just trying to be more consistent overall basically everything on Instagram on social media

I've been posting on TikTok my TikTok going crazy right now my TikTok going crazy right now but it's working hard bro trying to work harder and harder and harder and harder. Hell yeah, man. You know what I mean?

Any features we couldn't be expecting this year that maybe you've had in the vote for a little while and finally felt like you want you want. About that. Look, that skit we did. I wanted to drop that fucking skit. I want to tell you right now in front of your face, bro, I wanted to drop that skit. So I had you, I had a little weirdo. I had a gang of features on that bitch, bro.

On my laptop, bro. It was cracking. I had a gang of features, and they was good songs, too, and they was good skits. Yeah. So one day I'm chilling. Your shit crashed. No. I'm chilling.

And then I was using my computer the previous day. It was fine. Everything was cool. I closed it. The next day, I wake up. I come back to use it. My shit wouldn't turn on. And I'm like, oh, that shit dead?

Let me go get the charger. So I get the charger. It didn't turn back on. And I was like, fuck, don't tell me this shit. So I took it an apple. They're like, hey, your shit crashed. I was like, get the fuck out. You're lying, dog.

You're fucking lying. You're lying. I was so butt hurt, though. I had Paiso shit on there. I had a gang of people with shit on there, bro. I was like, oh, what the fuck? Everyone started on me, hey, you didn't back your shit up?

I'm like, nah, I spent three bands on this computer. It was brand new. I didn't think it was gonna fucking crash. But you didn't have it on a hard drive? Bro, I just bought the computer. Oh, seriously? I spent three bands on a Mac, bro. A 16 inch, it was brand new with fucking touchscreen.

Bro, I didn't expect that shit to crash. Wow. So it deleted your skit. I was like, nah, me and that fool did a crazy skit. I remember we did do a crazy skit, but I do remember you were in the studio with Paiso and with, um, and with fucking, and we're fucking, and fucking weirdo. So you just put it to the crib. We did the song right there.

And then, um, but I always wanted like, hey, I wonder if the homies are ever mad that I didn't drop their shit. No, I just, I just, you hit me and you were like, it's too good if I drop it and I text to you. Like, yeah. Oh, yeah. And that's before I dropped it and that was before I lost it. I was like, but I always wanted like, damn, if the homies feel some type of way,

I didn't drop our songs because they busts of the mission out here, but I never got the chance to explain the fact that my shit crashed for me, bro. It's good, it's good. We got to redo another skit-thoff. We definitely got to redo it. Let me know. I've been hella busy, but if we get to figure some shit out of closer to LA, that's perfect because you live a little far, it's a little far, a little drive.

I'll pull up, bro. Yeah, hell, yeah. Just a little minute skit, bro. That's what's funny. Yeah, yeah. So this year, you just, consistency is key this year. Yeah, bro, consistency is key. Trying to get it cracking.

trying to just, trying to be better. You know, every year we try to elevate, bro. We try to, we try to grow. We try to just do better things. So it's the beginning. 20, 23, barely started. So we got a fresh start. So I'm motivated right now, bro.

I'm trying to do it. I'm trying to do everything I cut. I'll do more shows. Trying to pack the shows out. It's like, yeah. You'll finish. You're finishing in the headlines, bro, I'm going to do my shit,

but I'm going to get up. I'm excited for you, because I know 22, like 2022, you were a little more low-key. I was lucky. You're more now. I was going through a lot of shit, but I was trying my best to maintain the socials in the videos and all that shit.

Man, congratulations to you. Well, man, I'm excited for 2023. I hope I get to be part of the journey, man. We definitely got to redo that, because that is fun. He texted me, like, bro, we got to do it. Because I think that was going to be your album that where you collabed with all your homies.

I was pissed, bro. And then I ended up finding the Paiso song like a year and a half later. Like, oh, I sent it to the homie. I have it. I found a copy. But I found that shit way long. man I had a plan

I was gonna get you on a skit I was gonna be tight bro but you know what I'm gonna happen yeah it happens definitely yeah yeah we gotta go crazy one man Crook I appreciate you for coming by my boy you feel me

Crook one and it's not CRO okay Nah it's KR you K RUK And then one You can find them on all social media How you where they can get the merch Top League crew Topleyclothing dot com

Cloth I don't know why I said crew No you good Top League like top league Like major league baseball Yeah, just top-lead clothing. Go fuck with us. Go on the website, man.

I think everything sold out right now. So if you go, you might not see everything. But at the moment, you might see the shit. Yeah, go fuck with the site, man. Shout out to no jumper. Shout out to my boy doing them. Man, I appreciate you. Yeah, sir.

Shout out, Kirkwood. I've been doing this shit for a while, man. I'm excited for 20-23 because I know you back, because I know we talked just like briefly. We both been busy doing the own thing, but I know. But I know, like, through yellow. He was like, yeah, man, he chilled a little bit this year, but I'm pretty sure he coming back 2023.

Yeah, bro. So I knew I had to get an interview in. So, you know, start the year off right. Because we're only on the, this might not come out to like the beginning of February, maybe the first week. But we're only on January 4th, y'all. So we already doing interviews. He's driving far.

We connected where he, I'm pretty sure he got merch and features and albums and tapes all locked in. All locked in. So by the time this comes out, just go to his page and whatever is new, make sure you stream it. What's up in? Apple, Spotify, SoundCloud, YouTube, you feel me, Crook, 1, CR, UK. Yeah, there's no way you can.

can't find me, bro. Yeah. And I'm finally, I'm glad we got a chance to talk. I know sometimes between shit out of us, I'm a little bumpy, but I overall, why I fuck with you. Yeah, yeah. Man, shout out of Krug. Yes, sir.

Man, you know, it's love. We out here. Make sure y'all tap in, and we out this motherfucker. There's no jumper, you feel me? And your boy doing on Crook Juan. Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, yeah, yeah. Yeah, sir.