No Jumper - Spanky Loco on His Come Up, 6ix9ine Beef, Slapping Knightowl, Getting Shot & More

Episode Date: April 30, 2024

Spanky Loco links with Adam to talk about his tattoo career, the Knightowl situation, street life, and more. ----- 0:00 Intro 0:05 They have been trying to plan this interview for six years now 3:44 Spanky Loco speaks about the importance of expanding his ballet and speaks about the new buildings being built in his hood 6:40 Spanky Loco talks about living next to Playboy Gangsta Crips 10:25 Spanky Loco talks about being hindered for being a gang member 16:50 Spanky Loco talks about being young during the LA riots and that the whole city was on fire 19:55 Spanky Loco says the body cameras were unheard of back then 25:50 Spanky Loco talks about speaking to the school councils and speaks about how as a kid he would skip school 28:44 Spanky Loco talks about how he felt more connected being with a gang and needing all the resources that everyone else is getting 31:20 Spanky Loco says that Mexicans are the biggest market for rap and they are seen as tokenized w*tbags 42:41 Spanky Loco speaks about asking his dad how he bought a house and what it was like joining a gang at a young age 46:45 Spanky Loco speaks about creating a non-profit and exposing the game to the little homies 49:51 Spanky Loco talks about how these used tattoos to identify what gang a person is in 56:25 Spanky Loco said his door got knocked down, says that the person who knocked down his door had a rag on his face and the guy sh*t Spanky Loco 1:02:50 Spanky Loco says that he was sitting for four hours in the hospital after getting sh*t in the stomach 1:08:48 Spanky Loco says that he left a couple of days on his own after getting the incident, says he never found out who did it 1:14:10 Spanky Loco says he started getting into music in 2004 and talks about being part of a Raza club. 1:18:00 Spanky Loco talks about listening to Cypress Hill and says the doors are slightly open for Chicano. 1:29:30 Spanky Loco talks about selling CDs out of the trunk at the swap meet 1:35:30 Spanky Loco says that tattooing has always been a hustle 1:39:15 Spanky Loco says his minimum is $1,000 and $500 an hour for a tattoo. 1:43:45 Spanky Loco says his go-to style of tattooing Chicano prison art and says that he doesn’t do letters 1:47:25 Spanky Loco talks about why caused the situation with Nightowl 1:51:10 Spanky Loco talks about how Nightowl was talking sh*t about him in interviews 1:54:35 Spanky Loco says that smacking up Nightowl ruined his career. 1:56:50 Spanky Loco says that he had interactions with 69 and Spanky Loco told 69 to go hard pushing his career at first 2:04:22 Spanky Loco speaks about having a common interest with Slim 400, Spanky Loco talks about getting hit up by Fox News and how he was blindsided by the questions they asked him. 2:07:15 Spanky Loco says that he doesn’t know about any cartel sh*t 2:11:20 Spanky Loco talks about how people don’t like celebrating when another person is winning 2:15:23 Spanky Loco talks about how he got connected with Gold Toes 2:24:22 Spanky Loco speaks about working with what he has but being careful what he puts out 2:27:45 Spanky Loco speaks about the new music he has coming out and says he has been working on clothing 2:30:10 Spanky Loco gifts Adam his merch and the Spanky Loco coloring book Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

No Jumper. Coolest podcast in the world. It is 233 on a Saturday afternoon, and I'm in here tapping in with a man who, realistically, we've been talking about doing an interview for probably six years. Is that what? I'm trying to think of like when we first. We first started communicating during the 6-9 era. Wow. And that was about six years ago. Time flies. It doesn't feel like six years, right? Okay. Damn. Six-year anniversary. Pull the mic out a little bit. Six-year anniversary. And we finally made it happen after all these years.

Yeah, because I told you you didn't love me. That's why. Ah, yeah. You did give me a little bit of a guilt trip a couple times there. Yeah, you don't love me, homie. Of course I can come to your show. No, I got to tap in, though. I got to tap in with Spanky Local, man.

I'm trying to get the full story. What story? Your story. Oh, okay. Because you're a legend, but I feel like, you know, as you reach legend status, sometimes people lose sight of where exactly you were coming from and how you got where you're at today.

So I definitely want to tell the whole story from day one. Day one. If you don't mind. West Alley, I'm from West Alley. Right. Right down in the wayway. Mm-hmm. So Venice La Senegal area.

Okay. Yeah. Born in the area. What year? 75. Okay. Your boy's an old head, you know what I'm saying? You got about eight years on me.

Yeah. Peter Pan. I'm Peter Pan, I'm Peter Pan, on me? Yeah, Peter Pan. Peter Pan, as in, you're just young forever? You know what I'm saying? A little kid with a grown man's body. How do you keep that youthful exuberance?

I've been working on not putting my feelings into things. You know what I'm saying? Like not being so critical about, you know, our imperfections, you know, except, you know, my peers and situations as they come and taking it one day at a time without overwhelming myself and getting upset over things that don't work out my way. Well, that is a good point. I think that when it comes to like getting old,

but still keeping a little bit of youthful energy, you have to resist that urge to feel like you know everything, you've seen everything, you've done everything. Yes. The music that I fucked with when I was in high school was the best shit ever and all this new shit sucks. And like, as soon as you start to take on that attitude, you're getting closer and closer to the old head category

and you're getting closer and closer to the point where younger people won't give a shit about your opinion. There you go. So, you know, I try to keep an open mind, you know. mind you know especially with you know the same music art you know the whole the whole big you feel me there's stuff I don't you know teach their own you know there's some stuff I don't I gravitate to the stuff I don't but it don't mean I'm going say you know it's like trash or nah like let's get it keep going congratulations it'll get

better with time, you feel me? Because the thing that you can't forget is that if there's, you know, 50,000 or 100,000 or half a million kids or just people in general that love a song so much or love an artist so much that they're like obsessed with that person, they're not wrong. You just might not understand why they're obsessed. But as you learn more about it, you can uncover it. And it doesn't mean that you need to like pretend to be as impressed as, you know, you would be maybe if you were 18, but like you could still zero in on what it is about this that resonates with people. And to me, that's how I like, I think of it. I try to care about the fact that other people care, even if I don't personally care. I want to like uncover what

the reason is. Right, right. And then I feel like also expanding your, your palate is important. Being cultured is important, you know what I'm saying? It's like trying different things is amazing. So I think that's where I meant. Right. So I'm not quick to shoot shit down or like, I'll fuck that or fuck them or their side or this side or I don't know. But you know what the thing is, is that the story of history is like the story of shit getting watered down. Of course. The version of, let's just say the streets that you grew up around.

Right. It's not the same. It's like as time goes by, it gets more watered down. Yeah, I was talking to a little homie on the way. and, you know, we're going through West LA and you see all the, you know, buildings and, you know, all the new residences and shit. And I go, look, man, look at that big, badass building

in the hood right there on, you know, going through Washington and before the tent. And it's like, look where all the out-of-towners, you know what I'm saying, are residing, you know? And it's not like it used to be, you feel me? It's like so condensed with people that are not really connected to the area. Your area is super gentified now?

Yeah, yeah. It's getting there, yeah, for sure. Does that, what feeling does that give you? Because it's got to be like part of you feels like the local charm is leaving. But then on the other hand, if it gets safer, if people who have lived there for a long time are able to profit from the houses getting more valuable.

Correct. I mean, the name of the game is to win and to, you know, lift your kids, lift your family, lift your community. I think that's, but I'm on some other shit, homie. You know what I mean? I'm on some other shit. I'm on some other shit. You know, working with youngsters, going into institutions. So when it comes down to that,

to the economy, to the community, to how we're raising our kids, you know, like, yeah, we came from that environment, but, you know, I don't want to, I don't want to, like, although this is the tool that we use, to kind of heal that trauma, right? Make money, talk about our story, all these interesting things.

I felt like you still wanna push your kids in another direction, you still wanna do the best, even though, you know, our situation was a little questionable and a little different. But that's something you instill right away, at least in my home's like, you know, hey, do better, homie, like, because they're looking at us. We're brown, we don't get the opportunities

that other people get, you feel me? We don't get them, homie. So you gotta do hard, you gotta work harder than everybody else, boy. And that's the message, you feel me? And that message is for everyone. You know what I mean? So being born in 1975,

your upbringing in L.A., was it solely a Hispanic community that you were living in, or was it more mixed? Or, like, tell us what the dynamic was like. I lived, I lived, it was kind of diverse. There was PBGs, PBGs was right there.

The Playboy Gang of Chris was right next door. I went to Shenandoah, went to Shenandoah Elementary. So it was, you know, predominantly African-American and Mexican, you know. So that was, that was, that was, you know, my, it wasn't uncommon, you know, it was like people of color. You know what I'm at now? Where I'm at now, I'm, you know, back and forth, Pacific Northwest, and I come back and forth. And when I went out there, I thought, man, we're going to go to a place where it's peaceful, loving. they're going to brace us and all that,

but it's not like that. Yeah, I was surprised to hear you say that because I always think of it as a very woke, sort of, like, inclusive place when I think about Seattle. Really? Super white, like high percentage. Super white Republican,

really? You know what I'm saying? Trump flags everywhere. Yeah. Interesting. Yeah, and the more you go out of the metropolitan area, I'm not in the city.

If I was going to be in the city, I'll stay here, you feel me? I'm in, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, uh, surrounded by water. You gotta take a ferry where I'm at. I don't mind if, you know, you drive out a little bit to be in a poshast spot, you feel me? Mm-hmm. My place is humble, nice, but the area.

That's the dream right there. Excuse me? That's what I always think about. It's like one day just getting a nice crib off in the woods and just barely being having to interact with people at all. Like, that sounds so alluring compared to just being out here in the city and being around so much shit. So it's different, homie.

Yeah. Like, you got to actually. to that shit because the first, you know, the first, even the first day, I landed on March 10th and of, two years ago, and March 10th was like freezing to me. I was like, oh hell now,

we're not gonna last year, you see me? And they packed the shit up, let's go, you know? Yeah. But you acclimate and, just like everything, you acclimate to the environment and it's been all right. You know, navigating that shit, really opened my eyes and said, and I said, Like, like here, I don't stand a chance. How many, like here, what I did everywhere else

don't mean nothing in white land. You feel me? It don't mean nothing when you're in an area that wants to oppress you, that once you, you know, take your legendary status, think that what you do is a joke, you feel me? It ain't a contribution, you feel me? It ain't a contribution to the culture, you feel me?

And when you're battling that, you know what I'm saying then you start thinking about okay what can I do in my community at least for me for me you know what I'm saying and then it opens up other things like now you know

serving my community going into juvenile detention centers to work with youngsters you know to talk about culture make them feel wanted make them feel loved give them what they're not getting in that area

you know what I'm saying because when you're not around people like you, what do you think is the feeling, right? Like, you don't want to be that. You don't want to be what everybody is, right? Do you think that you deal with way harsher discrimination because of the fact that you got your whole face tattooed so that, like, a huge percentage of people, even if they don't know anything about gangbanging,

look at you, and they're like, oh, gangbanger, high alert. MS. Mm-hmm. So, I mean, I understand. this is my business suit, you feel me? This is my business suit. You know, I tattoo all over the world. I do art.

I sell art. I sell paintings. I do canvases and tattoos and things. So this is my business. And when you're around tattooers, it's like, yeah, let me collect from this or me. Let me collect from that moment. So to me, it's not getting blasted. It's collected.

I'm a collector. I'm an art collector. I always kind of assumed that your face tattoos and everything was a bunch of street shit. But then when I was actually like watching an interview with you and I was looking at it, I'm like, oh, like, it's actually a bunch of art stuff. Like you got it like a little bit later in your life, right? No. I got a bunch of street shit on me. Right.

But not in your face so much, right? I mean, I got the hood on me. Definitely. You know? But it went from. It's more artistic than what you see a lot of people with. It went from incorporating the street stuff. Right.

What I had, you know, to collect him from homies and say, hey, man, you know, put that Chicano stuff on me and going from. lettering and blasting the hood to, hey, I want to collect some art there. Hey, I love what you do with, you know. And then, you know, there's still times you want to, you know, I got some letters. I need to fill us the hood. Let me, let me, you know, and, but it's not like,

man, I need to get off, you know, like, let's, that's, we, we have fun with that. And you don't have to represent like that when you, when you, when you, when you, when you, when you're fresh, right, you got to represent, you feel me? So you got to let, let it be known, you feel me? and I love collecting. Last night I was thinking about

like why I never got my whole face tattooed and I was thinking how like it feels like getting your whole face tattoo is such a way for you to make yourself more known, more notable because it's like if you have anything going on you include the face tattoo thing, it's like impossible

for people to forget you. They just see you and they remember you because it stands out to them so much. But then I started picturing myself like going into 7-Eleven and i was thinking to myself like i feel like i would have to like make sure i dressed nice and like presented myself nice because a lot of people when they see the fucking full face of tattoos they're just going to go immediately into a bunch of assumptions right great great and you know we ask for that i know i know what i'm doing like i know what i'm walking into

right but it's my job to break that stigma it's my job to tell you man i'm a i'm a professional i employ people You know what I'm saying? I take care of my kids. I take care of my business. You know what I'm saying? I spread the love. You feel me? We get money.

We spread it with the homies. Hey, hey, come through me this video. Hey, produce this track. Hey, take these pictures here, you know? That's important, homie. So generating the economy and focusing on what's crucial. That's everything. You know, and if you've got to work hard,

I'm already working, you know, as being hindered by being Chicano, being hindered by being brown. being hindered by being an ex-felon, being hindered by being a gang member, being hindered by all these things. I mean, you know, I still got to break that stigma and let you know, like, where I'm coming from, if you don't like, you know, without the touch, anyway, you're still going to make your assumption.

You say, oh, Chicago, it looks like a homie, you know. But that's, that's, that's, that's okay, that's my, this is my business. You put me over, hey, that too. No, I'm a pastor And yeah, give my number a quick, you know Yeah, call me up, let me blast you up So it works out for me, you know? I sell tattoos, I go all over the world selling tattoos

Do conventions and do my things So, you know, selling art is it You know, as far as being hindered And, you know, we ask for that But at the same time, we're breaking that stigma But I'm working harder at breaking that stigma, homie. you know what I mean? Like I gotta sit there and tell you

what's what if you feel that compelled to know my story you know and you know for the majority of the time when I do have these interactions and I break these barriers man I make friends out of the most interesting people you feel me?

The most interesting people. You feel like people are drawn to you because of the face flow tattoos that like I've noticed that with people in my life who had full face tattoos that just felt like a lot of people just talk to them for no reason And they would just end up in a lot of weird little interactions with people because random person on the street just wants to talk to you.

Yeah. Yeah, for sure. Definitely. And that's, you know, that's amazing. You know, good energy, though. I'm projecting good energy. So I want good people to come up to me. Right.

You know, I used to be I'd have different people come to me. Right. You know what I'm saying? But it was also, like, I asked for that. I wanted that. I wanted that. So I definitely want to get into more of the tattoo stuff. and everything.

But so how crazy was it growing up in L.A. during the era that you grew up compared to, like, how you see it today? You feel like it was totally lawless back then in comparison to now? It's like a little bit more buttoned up now. I mean, you know, you got a bunch of snitches now. Like with the phone, it's like everything is documented. Everything is documented. So, like, what can you really do?

You know what I mean? What can you really do? It used to be you just do your dirt and you sucked it up. You know? It wasn't going to be like, let's document this. Or let's take a picture of this. Like, man, you didn't do that, you know. You didn't do that stuff.

So it was, you could, you know, besides the landscape changing and all these new buildings coming and, you know, out of towners and all, you know, the city developing the way it is and things growing and things evolving, evolution. You know what I'm saying? Definitely it's, I feel like it's different. The homies that used to be, they don't make them like that. you know and if you and if you a youngster that's blessed to be around homies that that live that lifestyle kind of guide you and tell you the rights from wrongs that's that's everything you got to know

how to navigate around that stuff you feel me yeah because i mean you live through a lot of the craziest eras of los angeles i was telling the homie we're coming down uh we're coming down la sienega and we're passing the target right you know what i'm saying right there by the jungles and and i tell them And that used to be the Fedko. They used to be the Fedko. I remember when the LA rides kicked off, he was he was hella young, little kids. I remember me and this youngster and me and one of the homies and one of the little home girls who went out there in her Nissan Central.

I didn't, I was, we were in school. Jumped in her Nissan Central and went straight to the Fedko. And, you know, going there and it was a fucking mess. It was shit. Like, the whole city was on fire, homie. It was already fully looted and shit. Yeah, I remember why. walking in to the department.

It's like a department store, and there was blood everywhere. Blood all over the floor, homie. All over. All over the floor from people running in, right? They had a bust in through the gates, through the front doors, the gates and the glass and everything. And then all the counters were in the front. So they was busting in to get that stuff, right?

So there was blood everywhere. So people were coming in, slipping, falling, cutting themselves, and that's where all the blood was from. When I go in there and I look over, yeah, this lady runs in and immediately slips and falls and probably cut herself up. Did it feel like you were just taking advantage of the moment, or did it feel like this was an uprising because of police brutality? Nah, hell, I don't give a fuck about none of that. I just want to go have fun, don't mean? I didn't give a fuck about none of that.

None of that. Did you even know about the, what was his name, Rodney King, the Rodney King tape? That shit was everywhere. Yeah. Yeah, you followed that shit. It was everywhere. That was like the biggest news story of that area. And the night before, the little homies were like, hey, if you see what's happening, it's going down tomorrow.

We ain't going to school. Right. Because when you think about all the people looting in 2020, it was all over the news. There were legitimate reasons to be upset, a lot of shit going on in the news, politically, whatever. Right. Probably 80% of the people there weren't thinking about that. They just wanted some shoes or whatever. That's all I needed.

I feel it. Yeah. I mean, that's... They beat the homie like that, you know. Facts. And that was an era where there's almost no opportunity for normal people to find out about what the experience of being a black dude getting pulled over by the cops in L.A.

was like at that time. You know, law was lawless, you feel me? Like, you'd have crash unit hop out, you know, and be quick to assault you. At least in my, and, you know, where I was at Venice, you know, west of, West of La Senna, you know, crash would pull up on a particular day. We already knew the day the crash was coming.

You feel me? Crash night. And then they roll up and for sure. It wasn't like, hey guys, you got to come and go back in your house. Please, it's after hours. We don't need you. Nah, they roll up, you know, and quick to assault you. They was quick to assault you.

Right. You know what I'm saying? That was, you know, the intensity of how things worked in that era. I hear that the body cameras and shit actually have like massively decreased police brutality because they just don't have the ability to get away with shit like they used to. That shit was unheard of, you know? Yeah. If there was cameras, I mean, I'm pretty sure a lot of women would have been unscathed by a good ass whooping or a good batonning or, you know, they do all kind of interesting things, you know, pull you back from your hands, bend you all the way back, put the flashlight in your back, and have you standing there for a good five minutes, you feel me?

Or, you know, have you on your knees on the concrete, you feel me? 20, 30, 40, 50 minutes. Right. Put you on the hot-ass car. Hot-ass car. Put your hands on the car. The fucking car is boiling. You feel me?

And doesn't that now, if that was captured on body camera, that just sounds like the most viral fucking Twitter clip of the week. Of like, oh, that cop's getting dragged in front of his supervisor. He's going to get, he's going to lose his job, et cetera. And so all these cops now, ideal situation, I'm not sure, always like this, but all of them kind of like live under that fear of like getting dragged in there. Getting told on. Yeah.

Tables have turned. The error of the snitches. The iPhone was a good step, but then the body cameras is like the best step. But then you hear about them not having it on and that kind of shit. I don't know how they police that exactly. Yeah. So, yeah, it was, you know, it was a little different. Things are different.

But you know, you get, you know, you embrace the little homies, you embrace. change and and like you said if you don't embrace change and do an old head that ain't catching up with the times and moving with progress you know whether you like it or not that's just the way it is you know definitely yeah so you're you were raised by your mom or was your dad around yeah god bless my my mom and my dad hardworking hardworking immigrants that came from came from halisco my so you were the first general generation born there so my dad would be like what does this letter say and I be like I don't I don't fucking know what that electric bill means or you know what I'm

saying the traumas of being first generation like so you're kind of having to help your parents with their experience because you're sort of more familiar with a lot of it as a young kid and who was gonna help me when the institution didn't believe in me when they didn't love me when the teachers didn't want to bring us to the table I went to continuation at a young age because I felt like I was stupid. You feel me? I feel like I was stupid. And a lot of my homies thought they were stupid too, because the teachers were not embrace us and love us and show us. There was a table with all the white kids, you know, and you were comfortable being with your table. But you know, on occasion

I look over and I'd be like, man, I want to sit at that table. I want to learn. But that wasn't, you know. It was that divided even in the mid-80s. It wasn't, I can't say it was, you know, we live in a melting. pot. L.A.'s a melting pot. But if you know you're a white man teaching a bunch of unruly brown kids and you see a group full of white kids, you know, two, three, four of them, you're like, come here, guys. Let's sit down and learn this shit. You're not going to be like, hey, hey, guys,

what, did you have breakfast this morning? Is there food at your house? Do you have your mom and dad at home that could help you. Why are you sleeping in the class? Are you tired? Did you get rest last night? Nah, oh, you fucking fuck up. What the fuck out of my class. You're disturbing my class. It's like embrace us, love us, homie. That's your job. You can't pay for that shit. You feel me? I leave my kids and I'm just like, at school, you know? God bless you. Because they're not in my care. There ain't somebody else's care. So when you get a call, oh, hey, your son was tripping on the bus.

Your son was acting on. Let me see. I want to see the footage. Or who saw him tripping? Or where you see that at? How? So you're immediately kind of skeptical when you hear that sort of thing? I don't believe none of that shit.

Not like I'm like, oh, my baby boy. Because I know what I got. You feel me? I got a teenager, homie. So it's like you got to pick and choose your battles, right? That's super interesting to me because I remember I had to have. a friend growing up and I forget what it was. We're in elementary school or some shit. We're in like fifth grade. He got in a lot of trouble for something that again, I can't remember.

And I remember his mom coming into the fucking school and raising hell and defending his ass, even though I, whatever the scenario was, I remember him being guilty as fuck. It was so obvious to me that he did this shit. But his mom was going so hard trying to get him cleared by the school and shit. And I'm thinking every single time in my entire life I got in trouble, my parents were on school side. They were like 100% believe in every single thing the teacher said. You believe the institution. Yeah. My parents, they were on board. You walk into that big old building. You see all these professionals and you're like, wow, of course they're not lying to us. But fuck that, homie. Fuck that. But my parents also knew what a fucking gaslighter I was and that I was

fucking spinning the truth to be whatever. You know, it's like, baby. Right, right. So, you know, And it's the same. You know what you got at home. You got to, you know, you can't let the school raise your kids, on me? You got to step up and be like, hey, what's going on? Or, you know, hey, let me see. Oh, I did my homework. Let me see.

Not, I did my homework. All right. Because that's what they say happened during COVID is that a lot of parents got exposed to what their kids were actually being taught in school. And a lot of them were kind of horrified by some of the weird-ass, woke stuff that they were being taught in schools. and then that sort of led a lot of those parents to be showing up at the student council meetings

or whatever the fuck it was. And you got to do that. You got to do that. And I know because I've done it. I've gone in front of the school board. I've gone to my mayors. I've gone to my city councilmen. I've gone to, you know what I'm saying?

Sit in front of the economic development, you know, commission. You feel me? Like things that I didn't fucking understand on me. Prior to knowing that we're displaced, we're marginalized, we don't get the resource that everybody does. So I'm like, shit, let me go see what the problem is, why we can't get ours. Let me go see.

So if there's a positive music for one year or a positive art, it's because I'm deciphering that. And all my last year has been, I told you, I'm on some other shit. I'm just on some, I'm on some other shit. But so when you were young, were you getting in trouble a lot? Or were you, like, what kind of, you were fully in the streets and shit through high school? Because, again, you're not, you're not part of the group.

Now you're like, well, fuck, let's go fuck around. Fuck school. Fuck school. So now I'm at Palms, Shenandoah, and then go to Shenandoah, and then go to Palms, Castle Heights, too, for a little bit when I was, baby and then palms and then palms you know the same all the little homies was there from 18 all the little homies from 18 was in you know so it's like now you're getting you're getting exposed to to that stuff you feel me now you're getting exposed to that lifestyle my parents

were from mexico so our you know i didn't even speak english till i was like in shenandoah homie till i to like to like you know i was doing ESL in shenandoah because i Our home was all Spanish, predominantly Spanish speaking. My headfire would make it a business like, okay, in the house, only Spanish, because you're going to learn that outside. Right. In the house, only Spanish. But I mean, it was a fucking experience, you know?

It's a challenge, you know? And when you don't got that love, by all means, you're not motivated no more. Right. You need to be lifted, motivated, pushed. So you were a kid. So you were a kid. You felt more support from the street. side of things and you felt more like positive affirmation

from what you had going on outside rather than what you were getting from school or anything? Man, now you got a crowd of kids that look like you and feel like you and inspire the same things like you and, you know, move like you and entertain themselves like you and understand each other. And now we, you know, we feel like we got love. We feel like we got something there.

You know what I'm saying? A facade, right? A facade. Yeah, maybe we connect. but because we are on the same trauma we're all suffering the same trauma you know but really what we need is uh opportunities support push all the resources that everybody else is give you know all the resources everybody else gets definitely yeah i think so oh man no for sure i mean yeah like every kid who joins a gang at a young age and gets convinced to you know be on some crazy shit is just a

kid who if they had the right resources or if they felt the right you know well as I say that I don't know if I believe it because I feel like a lot of young people are just drawn to a different lifestyle and that sometimes you'll see somebody who has the really strict parents and the the parents who are very very supportive and they turn away from that shit to the extreme degree yes I hung out with a kid one time or it's like a grown man but his dad's a billionaire right and this kid becomes a fucking heroin addict but that's why it's our responsibility, homie. That's why you and me are sitting here today talking about unorthodox things instead of talking about drama and talking about rappers and fuck this nigga and fuck

that nigga and I didn't like how he looked and I don't like how he acts and I don't like how he sings and I don't like where he lives and we're talking about shit that in my opinion is is valid, right? For for for the kids that are that are soaking this up, honey. Because they see, you know, They see the behavior, right? Bring some guests on here, and they want to vent. They want to, you know what I'm saying? And now my youngsters think, hell yeah, let's go do some domestic violence. Fuck it, I don't respect you or love you.

Fuck it. Let's start fighting. So I feel like what we're putting out, you got to be ready to take that medicine, you know, because we're giving it to our youngsters. My opinion. So I'm, you know, Trying to sway differently towards showing brown love, pushing brown people, pushing brown dollars,

pushing this culture of ours. This is our culture, homie. Low riding, rap, graffiti, you know what I'm saying? All this shit is ours. You feel me? All this shit is ours. When we were looked down at for fucking getting blasted, and we would look down on for rolling in a low car,

I want to look down on for having our, you know, our artwork, representing us and our culture. You know, now it's like, here, let me take you, let me take you, let me take you. So are you saying you feel like Mexicans in general, like, don't always get the credit they deserve for their cultural contribution? Come on, homie, we're the biggest market for rap, and how many of us are actually invited into the rap game to say, hey, you're our peer.

We looked in that, we looked at some fucking tokenized webbacks. me, tell me I'm wrong. We get looked at it like, okay, that's that demographic rap. That's that. But the homies are kicking it off. You feel me? The homies are kicking it. They don't have to hide

that they're Chicano's. I think I heard somebody say, like, oh, I don't want to be Chicano rap. And I get it, homie. I get it. Hey, I fucking understand. You know? But we're, you know, Organized Mexicans.

Because that's the same way that, like, the young gang banging ass L.A. black rappers don't want to be seen as old school West Coast g-funk type rappers. Wow. They want to... I didn't know that. Well, I can't say all of them because you do have a doggie style. You do have, you know, a variety of rappers that appreciate the oldest style. But you also have a lot of them.

When you look at some of the hottest young black rappers out of L.A., you have somebody like a Drake or the ruler who really kind of like takes a lot of the old school West Coast stuff and pushes it to the side and kind of really has like a different flow that to me was like one of the most influential even if you go up north a little bit to Stockton you got the EBKJ bows of the world and like I feel like

you know there's always going to be a desire for the younger people to separate themselves from the prior generation. Yeah you got you know you got some instances that maybe you're not embracing it you feel me and to each their own to each their own everybody knows

their nature they say oh fuck it this works out me, God bless you. Keep going, you know. But don't, don't, um, homie, we made you. The West side made you. Don't never forget that. Don't forget that. Remember your roots, right? Remember what, what motivated you. Even if you're now influenced by Japan and Florida and New York and Atlanta and Miami. Remember, homie, you're still from the land. I've been to Japan. I seen them pulling the low riders out. Come on. I seen them doing their L.A. representation shit and just been standing there like you see the homies in vietnam y'all are really driving around like this every day you know they don't got a fucking civic at the house that they

they drive around like they're really busting those lower hours all the time and I'm just like these dudes don't even know that that is not an everyday thing for almost anybody in l.A. Right. But they fucking love that culture and they still rocking the full dicky suit look the like I'm like this is insane. I can't even believe what I'm seeing. Yeah. So you know it's a history repeating itself. I feel like that, I feel like that, that, that look, that era, that, that, that feel, that's always going to be timeless.

You know what I'm saying? That never gets a hundred years from now, Kaki's, Cortez, and O.I.T. will still be an amazing fit. It will still be an amazing fit. But I think the problem is, is that for the younger generation, they feel like if they rock a look like that without switching it up, adding their own style to it, whatever, that to the past. people, it gets perceived as them basically just trying to recreate what already has happened in the 90s. And it kind of prevents you from being seen as like being the purveyor of your own style.

Sometimes I think that's the reason why the younger rappers, because I think about it, if I pull up with an eight ball jacket and a flat top, obviously I don't really have the hair for a flat top, but if I did, what's people going to say? They're going to say, oh, you're trying to look like fucking Bobby Brown. You're trying to look like some old school shit, whereas like the younger generation always trying to separate themselves and create their own thing and represent something that can separate themselves from like their fathers.

Right, right. But look like, for instance, look at the little homie. He came to mind as I was saying it. Yeah, because he's kind of got an old school style with some modern references, you know? Come on. Let me, come on, let's slide that over here. Slate that over here, see what we're talking about here.

You know what I'm saying? Like, come on, homie. Like, he ain't got to wear that plaid shirt. He ain't got to, you know what I'm saying? I do like that fit, though, because it's like traditional Oh, but updated. So what I'm saying is he's not the only one, homie. He's not the only one.

Rapping, you know, one thing. We still got a whole genre. And even when it comes to fashion, you feel me? Like the Chicano culture is just overwhelmingly absorbed in love. But again, like, you know, it's like, oh, A, the homie. Like, yeah, homies don't want to. You know, some guys are like, oh, I don't want to be that homey guy, you know, like, I get it to Easter own. Everyone has a flavor.

But what I'm saying is, that style, what we did, that thing of ours that I grew into and saw in my area and developed and was part of, that thing would be classic forever. Timeless forever. You see it in Japan. You see it in Kansas. You see it in eastern Washington. You see it. My son, my son, oh, he wears khakis. All right, where his khakis suit?

Now, would I allow him to dress like that here? Probably not. Probably not, homie. Probably not. So there's also the safety issue, homie. Would you rather wear some tight little sweats, a cute little, you know, nice little fit, go down to the garment district, you feel me, and pick up a little something and be inconspicuous?

Or do you want to wear a flannel and be out there? And some guys want to be out there. Right. Some guys don't want to be out there. out there like that. You feel me? Because, okay, the version of gangsters that I would see on music videos and shit, the shit that made me super fascinated with it when I was a kid was usually like a bunch of motherfuckers dressed somewhat similarly standing on the corner. Banging on wax. You don't really, I had banging on wax when I was in fourth grade,

1994. And I remember as a kid just thinking like, how the fuck did they get them all together to make this project, you know? So many questions. There's crazy lore behind that about how it all happened and shit. I think I watched a YouTube video about it. at one point, but, you know, that even of itself don't really happen. Like, I have all of different neighborhoods I've been to around L.A., unless it was a music video or we're filming a vlog or something, you're not seeing everybody outside reping their shit at the same time, right? You know that Astro?

Oh, yeah, we got that. I'm cool, thank you. But, yeah, I mean, part of that is people just not really being outside like they used to. Everybody's in the crib. You know, it's a lot of factors. And part of it's the cops. It's just like, you know. Come on.

It's a lot of factors. But if you can get unscathed and represent the culture, by all means. Right. Yeah. My son is. But it's not, I don't tell him like, oh, you know, like, I don't know, it's just his preference. Chugs, Cortez, you know, I bring him back some Cortez and take him back, you know, like, you know, Lake or whatever, you know, like, and that's just his preference. And I don't mind it because he's, I got him somewhere where I ain't got to worry about someone trying to kill him.

Because he identifies with his culture because I identifies with, with the love I have for the area, the love I have for where we come from and all that. You feel me? That's why I feel like also, you know, yeah, brown love is important to me, honey. I can't see it. I can't, I can't, I can't.

It's like, I push like, okay, let's be better in the hood. Let's be good people. Let's love each other. Man, but fuck the motherfuckers over there. It's like so hard, homie to keep an open mind because so many homies have been hindered

by this gang shit. Yeah, homie, like, touch mine, I'm gonna touch yours and after all this drama, you're like, no way I can fuck with you. There's no fucking way. But the only ones that are hurting our kids, homie, look at our kids, homie.

Like that fending all shit, the gang bang shit, kids getting shot now. Like, you know, I just told you about a story, you know, some kid getting shot that I saw on the news over there in Seattle. Yeah, like a baby. A baby.

Terrible. My nephew, homie. My nephew just got blasted last year in the valley. Shot in the chest, don't me? I'm so sorry to hear that, man. My boy, two years old. What the fuck? You feel me?

So that shit still, it still touches home. You feel me? Like, even though you're trying to navigate a certain way, that shit still touches home. So what are you doing those instances? Oh, yeah, man. Hey, LeBrog. Because that's my brother.

son. Hey, bro, let's go, come on, homie. Come on. You feel me? Because that's how I feel, bro. That's how I felt. That's how it feels when your loved ones are touched. You feel me? You feel awful. You feel like you need to go your due diligence to go, you feel me? Even though you know in the long run, the best thing for your people is to somehow get past this, even though we all look at that as the most difficult to obtain objective possible for any grouping of people in any city. has a history of blood shit.

You know? And it's like you gotta pick and choose your battles. I think for me though, I'm, this is me, I'm not, you know,

I don't know, like, I'm not telling you, hey, you do it like this or you do it like that. I'm just telling you, like,

my experience and how, how hindered I was when I was a kid, you know, ADHD, you couldn't fucking, like, the shit wouldn't stick,

and, you know, like, you needed that extra support and, woo, and, you know,

at the end of the day, you're just like, man, I'm stupid, homie. But that's not the case, you know, that's not the case. You get nurtured, you get pushed in the right direction, man. You know, a lot of this gang stuff is like leadership, you feel me? You get put in leadership positions, and imagine you get, you know, someone toss you a company, you feel me, toss you a business,

and you use those leadership skills to push your area, lift your family, buy a house. No one teaches us how to buy a fucking house. No one tells us about credit, homie. No one puts us on on shit is so fucked up, I mean like cost wise and, you know? Yeah, because the dream that our parents had of owning a home was infinitely more realistic than the goal of our kids owning a home

in particular in a place like L.A. where you're going to spend a million bucks on a house and most parts of L.A. and it's just so, like for our parents, like our parents would tell us stories, oh, I had a summer job and at the end of the summer I was able to buy a car and then kids listen to that

and they're doing the math in their head and they're like there's no fucking way. At the end of the like a car from working for three months like what the fuck? And that's not to say anything about the fact that

you got to spend a couple thousand bucks a month rent in most parts of LA and shit and that a lot of the rents have literally like doubled in the last four years. It's like you know it just seems so much more difficult to exist as a person

especially a young person. How the fuck you're going to move out right after high school? And do what? I asked my pops the other day, I go, how the fuck you buy a house? I don't think he even told me how you ever did that. Right. You know, like, what was the process for you during that time? How did you do that?

And what? He was like, ooh. My parents bought a house in their late 20s, and my mom was a librarian and my dad worked at a construction company. And I think about that. And I'm like, boom. That doesn't sound like enough income. to buy a house these days, especially not out here.

You know, a little fraud on the side. Well, you know. Oh, you're talking about my pops? No, no, no. No, my dad had a fraud case. That's why it's funny. Male fraud, yeah. It happens.

It happens. I don't do research. I just died reading home. I didn't do no research. No, because people always try to bring it up, and they're always like, so your dad was a scumbag criminal, huh? And I'm like, not really. You just got busted one time, dude.

Sheesh. So, you know, that's survival in LA. She just had to do what he had to do. Well, I'm from the East Coast, but yeah, for sure. Or survival in the, you know, in the U.S. You got to do what you got to do. So you've, like, all right, I'm just trying to imagine how you joining a gang or getting involved in that world might have been like at that time

versus what it's like for a young person these days. Was it just like where you're from, that's where you're from? Or was it like you had to make a choice at some point? I mean, you know, you always got choices. You always got choices. Unfortunately, I picked a choice that was going to, you know, take me in a direction that I probably, I don't know, I was like, you know, raised by immigrant parents.

Like, you know, like, even though I was Chicano, all-American kid, you know, burgers and tacos and pizza and, you know, and Alf and growing pains. They don't even know about Alf. Some of them might know, but. You know, like, so you don't, you don't be like, oh, yeah, I'm a, hey, I'm gonna be a gangbanger. Like, no, my dad would drop me off at the corner

from when we lived out in the hood, and the homies would be there. But he was never like, fuck, no, you know, he was like, oh, that's how Oswald doing. And like I know as parents, we go drink down here in Venice on Lincoln at Casa Blanca. It was a Casablanca, I think is still there. A little restaurant or a club or whatever, and they go sip there. And so it's like we, you know, it was a community. So you didn't look down on the morons, you know.

Of course, you knew a little homie was up to no good. Yeah, you wanted to prohibit them from having contact with your side. You know, it's to not, you know, spoil the boy, whatever. but, you know, turned them onto gang shit or whatever, but really, it was the, we knew, everyone knew each other. It wasn't uncommon. Yeah, he would ask, why are you dressing like that? Why are you this? Why are you there?

At that point, it's like, there's nothing you could do. It's already, it's in motion, yeah. But it was a different experience than the way that it would have been if your kids started to go in that direction. Boy, yeah, I beat your ass. You get it. To your dad, this is kind of foreign, yeah. I beat your neck.

Mm. You know? The neck instead of that. I'll beat your neck. Give him the neck slap. You know, no, you're just more keen. That's why, homie, it's important for homies like us to go out there and preach the good word. You know? And the good word is to lift your community. In my opinion, homie, urban music, rap, that's always going to be. It tells our story.

It's, you know, gritty. It's, you know, it's what it is, you know. It's just crazy because it's an art, you know. I can share the music that I love with my kid one day. But what's the other message that she's gonna get? Perkins sets are cool. Gang banging is cool. Casual sex is cool. Bidges ain't shit.

All this shit. So it's like that- It's the culture we're pushing, homie. You know? So if you could do a little bit of that, yeah, okay, it's entertained. But really, say no to drugs.

Really? Stay off of pills. Really? Stay away from fucking sniffing, whatever the fuck is, you know, is in that coke or whatever is in that shit you sniffing. You know, like, homie,

use it to do something great. But again, that's me. That's what I'm on. You know? Create a nonprofit in this last year to work with kids. You know, when I go try and do it, they're like, fuck, no.

You know? So I'm like, you know, when we work with nonprofits, we work with, you know, whoa, whoa, whoa. And I go, shit, I'll be back. I'll be back. So I created a nonprofit, locals, leading our children off streets. And to me, that's the local I want to be.

Right. That's the local I'm a west side local, but I want to be the local that leads my kids off of the streets that can tell you, hey, come in the studio with me. Come tattoo with me. Come paint a mirror with me in France. Come to Japan with me.

Let's paint. Let's go to Philly to the convention. Let's go to Jersey and I got some customers. Let's go. and line up yours because you've been working hard and your talent

is amazing and now it's time for you to lock these appointments and who-woo-woo, you gotta expose the game to the little homies. You know? Oh, no.

No. You know? So tattoos were your first foray into art or were you doing graffiti and shit when you were younger? I was blasting all the homies up. Okay. What age did you start doing all that?

Maybe around the same time that the many, straighter didn't love us. Oh, so in your teens? In high school, yeah. In high school, you started tattooing. Yeah, definitely.

Who even put you on the game? Myself, gang members. I mean, I had a dude from Venice. Shorty from Venice saw me a little homemade machine. Because it was a very different era for tattoos at that time. It's not like there's a fucking tattoo shop on every corner. It was like a legal in a lot of parts of the country, right? Yeah, it was very taboo.

It was like, I think even like if you got busted with, with, like, a tattoo kid or like patterns with gang shit on it, like, that was a, I don't know, you know, it was like a charge or it was very underground, you feel me? And nobody really had tattoos unless you were on some questionable shit, yeah. No way. I remember getting my neck blasted and, yeah, even had a home me was like, oh, no, you, you fuck. Your whole life's over. Yeah, the homie, you know? Even in the early 2000s for me, like seeing someone with a neck tattoo was shocking.

You just assumed that they were up to no good or maybe they were a tattoo artist, or they in a band or some shit, but for the most part, like, I don't know, that's a little sketchy. You know, gang members are, you know, it's like, let me identify. That's the first tool to identify.

It's like, let me see where you're from, homie. I ain't got to ask you. Yeah. You know? I ain't got to ask you. That's what the cops do when they pull you over. They want to see the tattoos so they could figure out where you're from.

And that's how they know you're not lying. All the time. You know what they do. They're going to do whatever they can to crack you. You know? Everything they can use against you, they're going to do it. So, yeah, by all means. So the tattooing thing, though, did you know you had artistic talent before that?

Or is that kind of where you discovered it? I was a little shitty. I loved because of my deficiency of not being able to learn. and absorb the material, I would sketch. I was sketch in the class. And I sit there and I draw and I doodle and I'd sketch. And then I home, it was a passion for me. And then, you know, I was excited about collecting tools

and I got into graffiti at a very, very young age. Right. So I was out here before this was all the way it is. I come out here and see hex at the graffiti shop. Hex. Yeah. He was up at the time? Oh, he was fucking legend, my boy.

Okay. Fucking legend. Hell yeah. He did the, he did the, the mural fur ice cube at the motor yard. Oh, okay. I mean, we're talking legendary writer shit, you know? For sure.

Yeah. You know, they had probably one of the only, world's only graffiti shop. And now out here at that time. Out here. That must have been kind of controversial, huh? It was, because the whole place was blasting. Because the attitude on graffiti is so different now.

So the cops sort of just let it go to a certain extent. They're not really like pursuing. that shit I forget it was on the news or something that they like dropped the budget for like a certain type of policing related to graffiti they just kind of like turn a blind eye unless they catch you in the act which is so different than the 90s where they were really putting cases together on people and shit correct chaka yeah yeah because I interviewed MTA who got the first ever was it a RICO or some shit like for that one gigantic fucking piece that they did you know what I'm talking about by the airport or whatever they there was

like a ditch that they did like the biggest MTA piece ever sick and and and and and And they got a fucking huge federal case for that. What? Well, I don't know if it's federal. I forget. It's been a lot of time. See, and I, you spreading rumors.

Yeah. No, I interviewed them. People can go verify the details on the interview I did. It was actually insane. I'm telling me about it because it's like they got the kind of charges that you normally only hear about street gangs. Self-expression. Yeah. Notority, love, recognition.

That's all. That's all we want. You know, be, you know, supportive. That's it. But unlike graffiti, you start making money from the test. two shit early on it's like a hustle right as opposed to graffiti where yeah the tattooing was was uh the tattooing was was my way to get a a a white tea and some weed you know what I mean some drink some dope right well fuck around that that was that you know but I was persistent with that you know

if I want to have shit little shit whatever I had to do that and then when I came across the music stuff 2000, 2004, five, something like that, then I just left the machine alone. But I would go to, like, different boroughs and tattoo, homies in Santa Monica, homies in Compton. I go to Compton and tattoo, homies in Compton, different boroughs,

was who come to my pad. I had a little spot in Englewood, well-known house. Everybody, oh, that's a tattoo guy from West Side Local. That's a tattoo guy, the tattoo guy. And, you know, everybody put blood. Bloods will pull up. I have Gs pull up or, you know, I had a vast variety of clients, but it was all hook cats.

It was only hook cats. Was it kind of unique at this time to be a dude that was tattooing out of the crib like that because there was just so many less people doing it? It was not as saturated. Because you probably never, would you have been interacting with? bloods and like other people from other walks of life like that as much if it wasn't for the tattoo thing I mean I didn't my my hood didn't didn't we didn't know no funk with them okay and I stayed right there I stayed in Inglewood I stayed off of Cedar and and

Cedar and Cedar and Senella a lot shot up right there I ended up getting shot up at what age? Uh I don't know a 19 20 something like that oh really 21 something like that you were just hanging out you're just doing I was living by myself already where I was tattooing out of. And you're just out in front? No, I walked across the street to, right across Settanella, there was a liquor store there. And I went to go get a pisto.

And I think, I think my, my, my, my kid's mom was, was making dinner and she's like, get some bread or something like that. I don't know what the fuck. So I grab a biston, I grab the other things she asked me to grab. And the homie that was at the register, he's like, he's like, hey, hey, you got a goal, homie. You got a fucking go, fool. And footh's from Inglewood here. You know?

And I was so brazen that I was like, God, well, fuck, let me go get something else. I think I forgot something. And he was like, you know? Your pride made you want to stick around to. Now I was going to stick around. And yeah, sure enough, like four or five carloads pull up. And as I'm walking out, hey, homie, where are you from? Where you from?

You know where you're at? You know where you at, you know? You know where you at? You know where you at? And, of course, they're trying to make me say Inkelwood. You feel me? I didn't say nothing. Lokes, gang.

I'm from the Lokes. And I remember having my pistol, and there was, like, a little-ass kid, like 11 years old. Where's he from? Where's he from? bouncing and dancing around me. Where's he from? Where's he from? What the fuck?

While old motherfuckers there, young motherfuckers there, all kind of motherfuckers there. And these are black dudes or? No, no, no, Rasa. Okay. Rasa. In World 13. Got it.

And so I did put my pistol, go across the street real quick, you know? And at that point, I'm thinking, like, I'm either get cracked in the head, they're going to, you know, something. But I thought, but I'm gone, right? I'm trucking. They banged on me. banged it back. I didn't say what they wanted me to say, and I kept them pushing, you know. So I grabbed my brew and I, but as soon as I crossed the street to get into the block,

I went behind the palm tree, quick. I'm like, because what was going to happen was, they were going to follow me. You feel me? Definitely they were going to follow me. You knew how this was going down, yeah. And they followed me. Right? I stood there for a couple minutes and I go fuck it we're clear and I start walking I was like off of the boulevard it's like two three four houses there the duplex is right there so I walk and uh and I'm looking over to see if there was any lights no lights everything clear as I get to the door there was no lights because the Ramflats had the lights off so they're coming into the the block with the lights off once I get to the door and I look over

Yeah, they had rolled by and seen exactly where I went into. Oh, shit. So later on that night, later on that night, here, you know, knock on the door, boom, boom, boom. And for the record, these are all dudes you never seen before. It's just solely. Oh, okay, so there's like a little bit of buildup. Yeah. Well, you know, Inglewood at the time was economically, if you still wanted to stay in the west side without getting gouged.

Okay. You had to go to Inglewood. you know what I'm saying so there was different bodies in Ingoard that didn't necessarily function you know what I'm saying but you had to be there because

it's what you could afford and still be in the west side okay right so that was my story it was like I was I was kind of there but you know right without going so I jump into the pad and

I remember she's cooking and I'm cracking this 40 and 20-20's on smoking his joint and the door knocks boom boom boom boom boom and hey oh me hey hey come here come here

and I go oh yeah yeah hold up hold up and I was like I don't know who that is at all at all so as I get up to go get to I had a little sod off go up to go get the side off in my room boom I hear the door break open the little screen door and it was dark, the light wasn't on outside, but you could see him into the pad because it was summer

that the screen was closed and no light outside. You can't see out there, so I like to see it was like a figure with a hoodie. Yeah, yeah, hold on, homie. Hey, homie, come here, homie. Yeah, yeah, hold on. I'm going to get my sweater. I'll be right there. I run into the quarto to get the strenu. Oh, you hear the door, you hear my, my, my, my, my kids' mom, screaming. She's on my daughters. You're screaming. And I thought, fuck. All these motherfuckers are in my house. So a bunch of dudes ran up in there. That's what I thought. Oh. To my mind, that's what immediately came to mind. Everyone is inside my house. Now, mind you, I don't know, right? It's just coincidental that this, all of this happens at the same time. You know? Coincidental, you know?

jammed up by the homies and then this happens, you know? So not to say that that's what happened, like who, who that came from or whatever, but that's what happened that night. Right. Right. That's how things developed that night.

So I'm in the closet, right? At this point, I'm in the closet getting the thing. And he's already in the room. So by the time I turn around, he got a rag on his face. He got a hoodie on low. He got a, you know, his hoodie on. and I look, and yeah, he's holding a shotgun too.

Wow. And I'm halfway inside the closet, grabbing the thrano, you know, as I'm looking, and he sprays me right then and there, boom, right? As he's partially in the door and I'm partially in the closet. And he runs out, and I casually walk out. I can hear my kid's mom screaming more. she's screaming like hell right and uh and when i walk out her face changed she was in distress and she smiled like she couldn't believe i was still standing there but when she looked at my

stomach that's where it shot you her face her face changed again yeah oh shit there it is her face changed again you feel me it changed again and so she went into into distress and I just couldn't believe that I got blasted in my stomach. And I'm, and I'm walking out trying to keep my composure, right? And I'm just looking at my, and my little homie lived in the, in the house right next door. And he runs out. He runs out with the thrano. And by then I'm already in the porch and I'm sitting there, like, kind of laid back a little bit. And I'm in and out. I'm in and out. And he's like, where do they go? Where do they, where do they go? I don't know. That way. I don't know.

And um you got over revenge in if in exchange for i need to get to the fucking hospital or something like right away or were you still focused on like no i'm gonna go blast these dudes not like the time that had passed they were probably he was not gonna be successful in finding nobody right so why send him on a goose chase but do you like are you pouring blood and shit? nah it's not that bad no it was bad but it wasn't it wasn't it was weird it was all cooked up and black and because it was so close. Oh, wow. You feel me? So, you know, big gaping hole. Then I go to MLK, Martin Luther King, Kill a King, the famous Killer King.

Why they call it that? Because a lot of gang members never survived the surgeries and, and trips to the ER there. You think that's partially because the hospital. doesn't care. The hospital didn't give a fuck. When I got there, I was sitting there for four hours before they even fuck with me.

Shut the fucking hours. Four hours in the emergency room? So when you see a movie where they say, let's shoot him in the gut, a cowboy movie, and they say, let's shoot them in the gut and leave him to die. That's because the motherfucker ain't going to die right away. He's going to sit there and it's going to be a while.

What the fuck? Do you think that still could happen now? Show up at the hospital and make it right four hours after a gunshot wound? There were several guys would have them in shots that night. Jesus. Yeah. You'd think that at least be able to send you somewhere else or something.

No, I was stuck there. Wow. And, you know, I was tripping and I'm cussing and yelling. We're going back and forth. And you could tell, you know. And even till this day, you have to advocate at the hospital. You have to advocate. You got to be like.

You can't just sit there. Nah. Let me at. You know, we just had a birth this last year. You know, my little girl, God bless. We had a little girl and, and she almost didn't make it, homie. And the attitude at the hospital was like, like, we're only following protocol. You know, we're following protocol.

And if you don't feel like it works out for you, then. And that's not the case. You got to be diligent with serving that person that's going through a very, unique and memorable and important moment. It's not like, and look it up, homie. Brown people die giving birth more than white people. I heard that, you know. Why?

It ain't because of some genetic shit, homie. It's because we're not served properly. That's crazy because, like, when my kid was born in Beverly Hills at the hospital, I walked away from it being, like, unbelievably impressed by, how professional all the doctors and nurses were and shit. And I can't even imagine how shitty it would have felt to have walked away from that feeling like they didn't care as much as I did. Bro, they're trying to give my daughter morphine

as soon as she was born because I can't remember what is called. But she had a hard time coming out. They should have done a C-section. They didn't do that. So when she came out, she was limp. I thought, fuck. They gave my daughter like that. And I couldn't believe it, homie.

They put her in a box and they, like, you know, for kids, acrylic box and they're moving, you know, to treat her, whatever. And I can't believe that we didn't have a normal, you know, situation. So I'm flying to, to, to, to Children's Hospital in Seattle. And right away, it's like, we have to give her morphine.

Oh, this is Seattle, the story that you're telling right now. Right now, because it's only a couple years ago. But it's just recently happened. Oh. But it's happened before to my other kids, you feel me? Wow. Where I got to like, and you got to ask questions. I mean, you don't know what's being administered.

Ask, what is that? You got the right. Hey, what is that? What are you doing? Oh, I'm going to give them, no. Or, oh, okay. Research that, you know? You always got to advocate.

At birth, if you don't, you're getting, I told you earlier, less, less resources than everybody else, less love than everybody else. And that's prevalent, me. That's real. That's facts. So, you know, when you see this

and you start thinking, well, I don't want my kids to go through this. I don't want my son to go through this. Let me try and do a little better in my area. Let me promote something better for my, you know, that's why I think, run, you know, like, Brown love is important to me. That's all I like to say. I think it's crucial because I know what it's like to fall under those cracks.

I know what it's like to not be served right. Do you feel like there's a lot of unity in the Mexican or brown community? Or like, do you feel like that's kind of something that, the community still struggles with because sometimes it does feel like there's a lot of unity but i can imagine there's a lot of situations where it doesn't feel like that there is i feel like we got you know a lot of strong connections through business through art through food through you know through a lot of interesting things but there's always going to be that divide there's always going to be uh uh you know the saying oh it be your own people right you know it be your own

people. It's like, don't get proactive with me, homie. Don't get proactive with me. Support me, push me, love me. But sometimes our trauma, it comes back to our trauma. You know, oh, no, let me block on this fool because I ain't going to get that. So let me, hold on, hold on, hold on, let's think this clear. Why would I share with him? If I never had shit, fuck that. But the idea is share, share, share, share, share. God will favor you, homie. God will bless you. You feel me?

He'll bless you. Be grateful. You know, it's only borrowed here. Here. Just to wrap up the other story, how long were in the hospital or, like, how long did it take you to get to the hospital? Man, I was like Tupac.

I was in for a few days, and then I was gone. Really? I didn't trust it. Wow. I left unprepared. I left pulling shit off of me. I left with. without seeing what was what.

I only came back to remove the staples, but I told them from my safety, I just was not going to be there. I didn't feel the need to stay there as long as they wanted me to. You kept living in that house? My home boy took over the lease. Really?

Locals. Locals, yeah. And so? My home boy took over the lease. We never left. That was the end of that situation? Or, like, did you even really know who the guys were and shit?

No. Really? No. And it wasn't like it started up, uh, uh, like funk. Like,

because there, you know, like I've seen different guys and I, you know, and I never feel like, oh man, like I can't, you know,

I forgive the motherfucker that did it actually. God bless them. I don't know what happened. I don't know who it was, nothing, but I, you know,

it's part of the game. A lot of times now, It feels like everybody knows who shot somebody right away. It wasn't really, it wasn't like that as much now. Because it's on phone. I, like, yeah, because even if it's not like really out there, it's like a lot of times there'll be a little breadcrumbs. I heard things, you know, like some of them was like, oh, yeah, we know, hey, that

homie got poked and praising her, you know, like, I heard, I've heard things, you know? Yeah. Oh, that guy, yeah, oh, we know who did it and he got, he got here, like, I hear things. I don't give a fuck, you know, like, and it's all. I don't know for I don't know factually you know I don't know factually but I've been there where somebody I didn't like somebody told me like yo this happened to them behind bars and I'm just like oh yeah but also like bummed out that I know I'm not gonna probably see a video of it or anything because you know right right it came out a little too late you know yeah when I you know

when I heard or when I knew it was like you know and at this point in my life that's a long time many, many, many moons ago. 100%. You know, many times, hit that particular time. I've been shot up plenty of times. But that, you know, like, you know, you live and learn, homie.

You live and learn. And I be going testing some foods in their own hood. You know what I'm saying? Oh, let me be here and see what, like, that's stupid. You feel me? That's stupid. You know?

But you got to do that when you're young. You represent when you're young. How did your life change as a result of getting sprayed up that one time? Man, we didn't learn. It wasn't like, oh, fuck, I need to do something different. Right. That's just life at that time. I was still hanging out.

I remember hanging out with the homies from Santa Monica. And the homie was like, come to, we're going to kick it at the graveyard right there in Santa Monica. by their area. And I go, yeah, Simone, I had staples in my fucking stomach still. And I remember I had a little, I had a little, a little doustoos.

And I had it in my shoe. Right here. This, this. Hello. So I had the atom up in here. Right? I had the atom up in here. And, um,

And we're in the, we're in the, posted in the graveyard in Santa Monica. That was just a regular place to chill at that time. Like, fresh out of the hospital, hang out with the, you know? Right. I had a good rapport with one of the homies, one of the homies from San Juanica came to visit me.

Brought me magazines and shit. Good old days when your phone wasn't enough. Yeah, brought me magazines and shit, like, and he was shot up. We used to, we used to kind of funk, and then one day my little homie, says, hey, I got a homie I want to introduce you. And they pull them out of the car

and they got to lift them up in the wheelchair to bring them in the pad. And I had known the homie to not be in the wheelchair. I had seen him and we want to funk with each other. We want to funk with each other. He'd roll in a big ass Cadillac, a gangster-ass Cadillac and he was like up to no good.

Yeah, it's Santa Monica on his neck. As a kid, you know. And at that time again, we're talking about visible tattoos. And so when I saw him automatically we hit it off because the homie brought him to my house and then I felt some type of way, you feel me, seeing them in a different light.

When I had saw him, saw him before he was, you know, but I think he had got in a shooting and at the beach or something, got shot on the shoulder and it left him paralyzed. Good homie, good homie. Till this day we still communicate. He's in the low riding scene. and really good camarada. You know, salute the homie.

So when you look back at that time period in your life, were you living, like, really reckless? And was it kind of like this weird balance because you want to get more serious about the tattoo shit? But then at the same time, you're in the streets. That boy, I had kids. I was a kid having kids. Right.

So I had to be responsible for the kids, you know. So I had to have things in the house. I had to provide, you feel me? I probably didn't do that great. You feel me? I probably was not the best at all those things at the time, you know. I was only a young father and I didn't. My counterpart was not that, you know, willing to invest in my progress.

She was just as traumatized as I was. She had suffered, you know, sexual abuse at a young age. And her parents migrated and brought her from Mexico. And they lived in, they lived in OC. and so that sparked the weird chemistry, you know, traumatized people, you know. Right. Yeah. What was the point where you felt like you really started to take your life more serious

to get more serious about building something for yourself? I think the music was amazing for me. The music saved me. What year you start to get more? Like 2004. Oh, so much later. Okay. So I'm like 30 at that point.

And, you know, now at this point we're like, ran into some homie that knew a homie that took us to a studio that knew a producer and that kind of sparked the interest. The guy that I knew, he was a popping rapper. And at the time... Not somebody people know now? I went to... Coming out of prison, my first introduction to Chicano music was in prison.

So coming out of prison, You know, we go to a, it was Rasa Club. We had club, I programmed to get out of the cell and go do some on a Thursday where I do this club and go get out of myself and go hang out with this club, you know, the native club. And I was part of a couple different things to program and to make my time go.

I dry and I do my thing and whatever. Right. And at Rasa Club, that's when I got introduced to Gonejo, MB riders and a bunch of this new. genre that, I mean, I don't listen to Compton's Moswane, banging on wax. You feel me, Spice One. Too short. You know, that was, you know, I grew up listening to K-Day, homie.

People would ask me, what, what, you know, back in the day was like, what's better? FM or AM? You know, AM was shitty. Right. But I always say AM was better because they play EZE, P-M-D. K-Day played all that shit. K-Day, when I first moved here, I could not fucking believe that there was a radio station that played classic hip-hop out here. Because in New York, that didn't exist.

In Boston, that didn't exist. Out here, the fact that that's able to, like, sustain its own station. Right. Now I would never even fucking think to put the radio on. But when I moved here, like, 2010, I couldn't believe it. And I still see people say that on Twitter from time to time. Like, people from L.A. don't realize how lucky they are to have a station like K-Day. Bro, that was the most amazing thing to hear these interesting sounds.

Oh, me out of that AM radio, right? Out of these little boomboxes. It was like the most incredible thing. It was a whole new, but you embraced it. You loved it. But it wasn't just West, you know. It was hip-hop also from the East Coast. They'd incorporate, you know, a couple different things.

You guys were interested in all that shit as well. East Coast shit. Everything in hip-hop you were just fascinated by. Hip hop, de la soul, a bust of rhymes when he was, you know, when he was the leaders of the news score, what was that? Yeah. You know what I'm saying? I mean, I could go on and on.

Yeah. That was the influence. And at the time, you know, that wasn't that popular rap was in, like, mainstream. It was a questionable music that wasn't going to go nowhere. Did that bridge the gap, though, between blacks and Hispanics in L.A.? From your perspective, like the music kind of brought people close? I think so. I think so.

Yeah, I think so. You got like a shared language at a certain point. For real, we shared the common pains. You know, we related to, you know, we related to it. And we weren't, you know, we're not from Mexico. So I don't know nothing about Mexico. And not, like, you know, exposing that part of the culture as a youngster. I'm absorbing what the call has got from.

for me what what the demographic is showing me you feel me for sure did you um so okay like did you feel represented that all on a mainstream level or intern because we i've had this conversation on the podcast before how it's been almost no Hispanic artists that have been able to become like true superstars like pop stars in terms of like Hispanic hip hop artists i mean it feels like we're closer now to that, but it felt like it kind of took a while. I mean, you had mellow mayonnaise. You had Keith Frost. Those were impactful things, you know?

Right. And then that's when we had to take charge. How did you feel about Cyprus Hill at that time? Cyprus Hill. Because for sure that was shit that I was listening to when I was, you know, third grade, fourth grade. That's why I didn't even know about weed until I started listening to that shit. It sounded magical.

Like, like when you hear it, you're like, yeah. For me particularly, I didn't have any Cyprus Hill albums. I was one of those rare guys that didn't go collect it, but you know, you'd hear, and you still seeing them, you know, insane in the membrane and, you know, all the classics, of course their impact on the culture is extremely prevalent, the big homies. Right.

You know what I mean? Definitely. So, yeah, you feel a sense of connection. You still feel a sense of like, hell yeah, Because we're the biggest at the time. We're like, feel like, I don't know, now, at the time, we're the biggest consumers. Rasa is, you know, the Chicano demographic.

You know, I remember going to House of Blues with my homeboys. And we go out, you know, the set, we show up and go see DJ quick. And you go in there, and there's a gang of Chicano's in there, a gang of other gang members. Yeah, there was, you know, African-American crowd and, you know, the genre of the democracy. but you could see that it was prevalent, that Rasa were going support a lot of, you know?

Even now, I was just that rolling loud. That's probably the number one demographic racially if you were to break it down. So it's kind of interesting because, like, the door's slightly open, right? The door is slightly open, but I feel like, well, yeah, that's our market. Let's open it a little bit or else, you know,

we're looking weird. not opening the doors. But literally, I don't think the doors are wide open for us, homie. We, you know, being we the biggest consumers, the biggest supporters, the biggest lovers of the genre, you know what I'm saying?

To not get, hey, we salute y'all. Thank you for, man, I bought all this because of y'all. I did all this because of y'all. Where's the love, homies? You feel me? Where's the love for your Chicano, your Mexican-American demographic that's born here?

Americans on me. We're, we're, don't tokenize this by saying we're, we're, you know, not from here because we're Mexican, we're Mexican. You feel me? It's like, man, embrace the little homies that are rapping. Embrace the ones that are coming in and push them in the, you know, not, oh, man, they're stepping in our game or whatever the case might be, you know, if it's the case. But considering that the door's ain't completely wide open for the homies and And it looks like, you know, it looks like we still need ours, you know. We still need our section, you know. And it's a blessing to see, you know, guys all over the place, you know, Latino guys kicking it off.

You know, I salute all the homies doing it. Keep doing it. 100%. You know, great music, all right music, amazing music, or, you know, media. Whatever the case might be, it's your art, homie. It's your thing. It's your thing. we to tell you, nah, don't follow your fucking dream, push hard. Give it all you got, perro.

For sure. Am I missing anything in terms of your life story before the music starts to kind of take over your life? You said like 2004. Was there anything else wild that we got to cover in there before we get into the music part? I left the tattooing alone and started focusing on that. Created a little independent label, got distribution with EMI, and my focus. was really on balancing the gang shit and balancing the music shit. It was like, you know, it was a challenge, you know? Because in my mind, I want to lift the homies up.

I want us to go travel the world like we've been, you know, that's what we started doing. Now we're going and doing tours everywhere. But did it feel like labels or, you know, venues or potential business connects were kind of scared because of the fact that you clearly, like, Like we're coming from the gang lifestyle and shit like that. Now, if you did it here, if you did it here in the land, well, yeah, it's a liability.

You know, you couldn't go to like Quiet Canyon. You can't even go and get inside looking like a homie. And you have visible tattoos and all that, you know, or this club or that. So, yeah, to book a venue. You had to do it at a small, you know, at a small bar or, you know, whatever, you know, at least for, for, what we were doing at the time it wasn't like oh hey come to the theater and we're gonna pack it out

you know because I was just watching a Bozo interview and he was saying that shout out the homie Bozo shout out to Bozo I love this fucking interview I just seen him doing Cam Capone but shout out Cam Capone We don't go see him later on today too So I heard yeah that's dope

shout out to him he does some good stuff but I heard Bozo basically saying that he still deals with that like he'll pull up with a bunch of homies to you know a show or some shit and even if it's like a a Hispanic promoter and everything like that, that it's like a clear sense of

if you're coming into that environment, you know, a lot of people who are trying to do business as soon as you got a bunch of dudes who are clearly from a hood or whatever, older guys pulling up to the venue, people get very on edge. It depends where you at. Of course, in the land,

we know what happens when that stuff happens, you know, like we know the recipe to some good des madre, some good action, you know? but go to, you know, go to Yakima, you know. Where's that? In Washington, Eastern Washington. You go out there doing an event, you feel me like, yeah, we got the same issues. Yeah, we're hindered.

Yeah, we're broken out there too. But I feel like in these places where it's not every day you're going to have homies from out of town or homies representing a sector that you have a fondness right for, then more than likely you go to New York, you go to New Jersey, you go to these places, and yeah, you're going to run the same race because you're in that environment. but I think the danger rate might be a little lower, you feel me? Like now you're out of your area, now you're being hosted, you're being, you know, supported in your endeavors,

you're being pushed, you're being promoted, you're being welcomed, you know what I mean, unless you, that guy that's attracting things, you know? But out of the, I think out of the city is where we were able to flourish, you know what I'm saying? if you hustled that way. I mean, it's like that in a lot of cities where Chicago has the biggest drill scene and then none of those artists have ever pretty much performed in Chicago because the cops are just all over it. Like any artist that's fully like talking about crazy gang banging shit out there,

the cops are on it. Same shit in New York. None of the New York drill artists have pretty much performed in New York, you know? But those same artists will have a show in Jersey, showing Connecticut, showing wherever. Like their fans have to go out of state pretty much to fuck with them because, I mean, at the very least, in New Jersey, you don't have your fucking ops next door

ready to pull up to the show. The promoters and everybody are understandably scared of it, and then the cops are trying to shut it down. Yeah, that's, that's, you know, like, you're going to get hate where you're from, unfortunately. That's the sad part that where you're from, you're going to get hit it the most. You're going to hate you.

They're going to hate you for following your dreams. They're going to hate you for succeeding. they're going to hate you for building they're going to hate you for expanding flourishing you know from doing great things they're going to see you living and they're going to see and they're going to be like

you're not relatable to us no more you're not part of the struggle no more you're not one of us no more you feel me that's and if you ain't got a thick skin for shit like that you better go get a fucking day job. Go to the market, go go do something else. You feel me, go do

construct, go do something. Because this ain't it. You get a lot of hate from putting yourself out there. I'm the pity me of that, homie, you know. How's so? You know, a lot of, a lot of the stigma and a lot of the, you know, history that we have in the music and the interactions have been predominantly negative because we up against the wall, you you know, pushing back on, again, traumatized individuals that don't want to, that gatekeep or don't want to share or block or don't want to support or down talking on you or, you know, and when you knew in the game and you're trying to navigate and do your best, and you're like, what?

He said, what about us? Wow. Or what? He didn't want us here? Or you pull up to a shop and, you know, like, you don't. do your own street teaming, your own marketing, your own, you're pushing music and you see all your shit ripped down. You feel me?

And it's only another, another homie that does the same shit you do, you feel me? Or as someone, you know, like, so it's just traumatized people. How are you, what were the primary ways that you were monetizing at that time, though? Was it all about selling CDs out the trunk and shit? Straight out the trunk. Straight out the trunk. no internet to go viral on, no nothing. It was all your hustle.

And I'd go everywhere. I'd go straight up to the bay to the Oakland Swami, homie. Really? Fuck, yeah. Mob up in there with the homies, and the homies would be like, you know what you're doing. It wasn't like, oh, no, we're not going there

because I heard a lot of motherfuckers would be like, Oakland Swami, no thank you. I'm not taking my music up there. We don't belong up there. I'm making my business to rock mob up in there. motherfucker. What a homie? You know?

Let's go. But it wasn't like, oh, nah. We had to do it, homie. So we go in there and, you know, I'd have a variety of CDs.

I meet up with this rapper. Hey, fool, I just dropped this. Let's swap some CDs. I got you. So even at that time, was it like a big fucking deal for you to be

from down south and to be going up north and trying to make money? Fuck, yeah. You felt like you were immediately going to be faced with opposition wherever you went?

Of course. That was always the attitude. You're not welcome. You know? That's just the... That's the stigma. You know, you're not welcome. So you know already...

I never had no interaction. I never done nothing to make them hate me. I never, you know, I hadn't been in that, in that environment to create that, to create that, you feel me? But did you feel like there was a chance that, you know, somebody would just know you were from down south

and pull up and try to have problems with you? Yeah, but I never would think like that. I never wanted to think like that. Right. It was like, if I start thinking like that, then I'm like in fear of getting things done. I don't want to be in fear. I had to get it done.

So we go out there, you know, pull up in Fresno and sell CDs or, you know, wherever we needed to. We go all the way up to Washington and then as far east as New York. We did it. We had to. Independently, you know, you know.

And then got with EMI Latin. Really? Got with I. Latin from all that hard push. Has so many CDs that they couldn't ignore us. Really? So you were signed in what year? Like 2005? I don't know if it was signed.

It was like some. Distribution type year? Yeah, you know. They couldn't do much for you? You know, it was the most feteer I had seen with music ever. In terms of the advanced? In a lump sum, like, no. Like, we had turning the music.

music and then after after the quarter we saw what would have generated and I mean I had never had a $16,000 check on me right I never had $16,000 and I got a $16,000 check from from my catalog in the first quarter which would be like we're probably selling a couple twice as much now with inflation and shit right and he probably didn't give me all the failure yeah he probably didn't give me all the failure you know but even though you sign that deal or you still selling CDs out the trunk Of course. Right.

So they're getting you in record shops and shit like that, but then you're also still doing your own thing. Sam Goody, the warehouse. I remember walking into the mall one day. I was like, what the fuck? I go, what the fuck? Remember that? Motherfocus.

Don't remember all those old CD stores, coconut records and shit. F.I.E and shit, yeah. Yeah, yeah. So walk in and you're like, oh, shit. Oh, shit. People forget that you had to make money to be a music fan. That doesn't make sense to people anymore.

Now you pay your $10 a month on album music and you're good. Yeah. It's like back then, like if I got, if somebody gave me a couple hundred bucks, if I got my check, a couple hundred bucks from work, I'm going to a CD store. I'm buying as many CDs as I can buy. $1, $1,79, $17.99, $7.99, double CDs for $20. $20 CDs and shit.

What the fuck? That sounds so expensive now. And it's crazy because it's not devaluated. Even though it's on a price point where it seems like a bargain to get all this music, it's still important to know that the music is golden and that without your participation

as an artist, you feel me? It means everything for you to go in and do your due diligence as a musician and do the most that you can and feed the machine and go hard. Go hard, homie. Go fucking hard.

If that's what you do, go hard and do it. Because it's possible. You feel me? But you've got to put in that good work too. Motherfuckers want to release something. Put it on Instagram and hope that it's going to work out. It's not how it works.

You feel me? You got to hit the streets. You got to hit the streets. You got to figure out creative shit online. You feel me? Right now we're running some billboards. God bless in the land. So we got a couple billboards before I flew in.

I thought, hey, homie, do you guys see the billboards? Hell yeah. Gang. You know? New York, Manhattan, a little quick one. I don't know what that means. but it's very like, you know, it's milestones. Like, it's not every day.

These are milestones. These are things that, you know, you chip away at to make your business better and do good stuff and try your best. And I think those are milestones that I'm excited about. Got a single with the homie, Bishop Snow. We've been promoting that like crazy. And that's been some of the marketing that we do. So, yeah, it's, you know, being on it, oh me, yesterday we shot some visuals. came for that, you know,

and then was excited to pull up here invited everybody and their mom to come and, you know, everyone was tied up and, you know, I came by myself, the little homie met me here and then we got the other little man that's, you know, shooting some behind the scenes with us and whatnot, so, you know.

Definitely. When you start to, like, kind of realize that you're more into the tattoo side of things than the music side of things? When I got exposed to the tattooed, tattooing again. I had a dude hit me up and, uh, and I, and maybe like 2015, 17, something like that, man, it's been a while now, 10 years, maybe, something like that. And when I seen the message, I go, man, this dude, he looked like a dope dealer. The fuck is up with this guy.

He looked like a dope dealer. He's looking at his shit. Tattoo artist. He's like, hey, I want to link up with you. Let's kick it. I want to buy a drink. Go. Hmm. All right. Let's go. Pips me up when we go to Manhattan Beach or Haina Beach. I don't know where. And we had a great time. We had a really great time. We had a really great time. And he only exposed me to all the new things that tattooing that the tattooing industry had.

You know, like it was not like what we were talking about before. homemade quetes and right now this is a big business people looking at you sideways now it's it's big business big had you not drawn or worked on your craft for a long ass time because of the music shit so man I wanted to kick myself in the fucking head

at that point I go fucking dumbass it's like I couldn't balance both I couldn't keep doing this and then keep doing that God knows what he does but when you're a rapper you're on the move you're hustling you're trying to be everywhere all the same time tattoo artist you post up all day not necessarily well a lot of people but yeah you tell me a lot now if you're traveling tattoo artist right then you got to go hard you got to grind you got

a trap you got to shoot out the hooks right you got to you got to you know hey i'm gonna be in this town hey i'm gonna be out here now you got to book flights get that room you got to find a spot where you gonna be at right send your clients there you got line up the appointments i mean it's a it's a it's a it's a it's a hustle, homie, like you gotta work that shit. So you've always been a big fan of taking your craft on the road as opposed to just being local? As far as tattooing goes. I think, I think once once the, the, the, the, the, my thing exposed us to the world, because that's what it did. It exposed us to the world, and then now we're doing shows in Spain, doing shows in Japan, we're doing shows in Mexico city. We're doing shows in Monterey.

Going to cultures that are extremely fascinated by your culture. And you're able to monetize being this extremely authentic representative of that. That part. Flipping CDs, flipping clothing, flipping verses. I mean, it's the early

beginnings, you know, of this genre that I see developing and all these amazing artists that grew from it, no matter where they're from. I feel like we were part of something that contributed to that growth, you feel me? We did that, you know? And I'm happy to still continue being able to do it

many, many, many moons later, you feel me? It's a blessing. Tattooing's your bread and butter? That's your primary revenue source? I got a lot of amazing collectors, you know? But then again, like the other day, I, you know, I pulled up to Wichita, and I made an amazing connection out there.

So I got a little partner, my bro Lokes out there in Wichita, you know, that flourished a little music connection. You know, like, oh, how can we get the music out here? What we need to do? And how can I, you know, how can we work together? Let's partner, let's do it. So that was music-related trapping and hustling, you know, selling verses and getting in the stool and banging out some shit

and, you know, setting that up. And then handling appointments in the day, banging out a few appointments. Tattooing a little bit, you know? Boom, boom, boom. And at this point, like, people ask me, you know, and I feel, I feel. I don't know if they heard this noise this dog just made.

Yeah, it's too comfortable. You know, sometimes you feel divided because you want to work with people's budget, you know, but then you control the market because you say this thing of ours, it's been giving away. You expecting a homie to get out of prison and you want to slide them a little 20

to blast you up. 20. You feel me? How much is a, Spanky-Locco tattoo cost per hour. My minimum is $1,000. Okay. So I don't pick up the machine for less than $1,000.

Right. But average hourly, because I haven't even gotten tattoos in so fucking long that I don't even really know what the average rate is. Average hourly, $500 an hour, something like that. Okay. It depends what we do because I'm speedy too. Like, I fuck around and do your whole sleeve right now. I do the whole thing. when guys are like,

come back next week, come back and let me check my calendar we're going to book you for three weeks and then we're, you know, like, pick more, fuck, no, homie. Sit your fucking ass down, let's do it and I freehand everything. I try it on you. The challenge of me

being, being ineffective and being regular and being average, only push me to want to do the greatest things that I could ever do. Freehand, freehand tattoos. freehand everything off of the dome, blasting your whole backup.

You never do a stencil. Nah, really? Wow. Nah. Never, I can't never say never. Right. On occasion, hey, I want my logo. Hey, my dog. Hey, my, you know, my mom,

or whatever the case might be, you know. But for the most part, to throw some prison art on you, I'll free hand the whole motherfucking thing. Wow. The whole back I'll blast you. Your chest I'll blast you. There's no, don't ask me.

Should I get tattooed? Hell yeah, get tattooed. Oh, someone said I'm too cute to get tattooed on my face. Blast your whole fucking face up, bitch. You feel me? Blest your face up. I hear that all the time. Oh, this tattooist said,

I'm too cute to get tattooed on my face. Simpa ass motherfucker. Okay, but there's a lot of tattoo artists where... That's your business, homie. How are you not gonna... How are you going to roll into the Jiffy loop and I offer them? The oil change, the window cleaning, the motherfucker, you know what I feel me?

But I've heard a lot of tattoos that if you pull up and you don't have your whole body tattooed and you say, I want to get a face tattoo that they're going to say, no. The tattoo community is interesting. Right. You got the extreme traditionalists, and then you got people who are just hustling. You know, it's a lot of, the genre is so big, you feel me? The genre is so big.

you got a little bit of everything. These diehards that think like, oh, the tattoo way and this and that. And sometimes I feel like, man, the tattoo way is blocking because it used to be if you open up a shop next to the other shop, like even like 10 miles away from a shop, five miles away, well, they'll come and throw a brick in your fucking shop. Right.

They weren't going to come and give you a fucking banana loaf and tell me, hey, welcome to the neighborhood. Hell no. Right. And motherfuckers do not understand. There's so much bread, so many fucking customers. You feel me? I'll be at a convention.

I'll do conventions too, and I lock down the whole corner. And I'll give four booths and bring six, seven homies. Shout out to homiecerio from Compton. That's my dog. Brought him on to anytime we do anything, that's my boy come and tattoo the homies, tattoo me. But he also come with me. Come with me.

Ex-felon comes out. and goes in award-winning artists now from doing these events and submitting art and now winning awards for you know putting in that good work right locked down the whole the whole area we're plowing motherfuckers blasting motherfuckers

up you know do you what's your preferred style of tattooing I want to say uh Chicano prison prison art um Chicano prison art could you mention doing like dog portraits too and I feel like a lot of really good tattoo artists

can't really do portraits. Like that's its own skill set. It is. Just like letters. I don't do letters. Really? I don't do letters. It's not your thing.

I feel like that's a very intricate, amazing, beautiful craft that you have to focus on. If you could balance both, that's beautiful because a lot of artists do. I have been unfortunate to not embrace the lettering and really develop that. I'd rather to say,

hey, my little homie does letters. Fuck with my little homie. I'm surprised just because you come from the graffiti community, and that's all about just freaking your letters. It's all about letters. Yeah. Now, I do gang blocks. Now, I don't stay away from them.

Like, I'll do some old English letters. I'll do, you know, some big gangster blocks. I'll do, you know. But when it comes to that really intricate calligraphy, it's so beautiful. And sometimes I think, like, bro, I want to make that my hobby. I want to just work on being an ill calligraphy artist. Because I watch YouTube videos of it sometimes.

And it's just like, there's just something I love about watching that shit come out of somebody's hand, man. So elegant and beautiful. And it's its own craft, you know. Yeah. You know, I've, you know, color, letter. You know, I'll try a little bit of everything. Right. You get requests for everything.

But mostly you're not really into doing the color? No, I don't get, I don't get asked to. Right. I'd love to try a little more. But really my thing is Chicano Prison Art. And I do it everywhere. I've done it everywhere. I've been everywhere to do it.

Right. Brazil, Germany, Europe, Rome. You ever had espresso in Rome? In Rome? I don't think I've actually been to Rome, no. Calabria, Southern Italy,

you know what I'm saying? Moscow. What's the number one shit that people want to ask you about in terms of... In terms of your culture. Like, what? What do people want to talk to you about? Because as a tattoo artist, you have hours and hours and hours

where you got this dude who's sitting right next to you and he could potentially ask you anything. What do people really want to know about? But I think they know, I think they assume they know because they see the movies, you know what I'm saying? You know what I'm saying? They're like, oh shit, low-riding and you hear. Low-riding and tattooing and gangster shit, you really hear.

You really hear, you know? Right. And I feel like that's the, you know, that's the excitement and connection You got low riders and shit You're into all that? I'm into that,

homie You just got like a Collection in the garage type shit Or? No, I wish I could I wish I Okay You know, we got a

You know It's an expensive habit You know We gotta work little, you know We gotta work diligently to get to Get these But I got, you know, I got a couple cars

My, my Like my prefer is the one I got On my face My coup the coup de ville I got it right there shout out the homie the homie tone

from locals car club out there in Seattle hooking my shit up right now swapping out the motor trying to get ready for for summer I just hauled it out there then I'll come have fun over here and haul it back over here right yeah

definitely I want to ask you about this before we get too far into the the current state of affairs but there's a very old video on YouTube of you running down on a guy who, from what I could tell, seems like he was somewhat of a unknown guy. His name was Night Owl. You gave him the business.

A lot of people didn't like that shit. Really? What caused that scenario in the first place? Rest in peace, Night Ow. Oh, he passed, okay. Rest and peace, Nile was a fucking legend. You feel me? When it comes to the Chicano rap shit and our demographic,

he was a legend, homie. Where was he from? San Diego. Okay. San Diego. But, you know, it comes down to, like, those instances where, like, are we being embraced by the big omies or are we being deterred by the big omies? You know?

And it's easy to be like, you know, fuck you. This is my game, you know? And that's the vibe he was giving you? That's the vibe that, yeah, that's the vibe that we got. It was like, I don't know. We had a session, we had a session, we had a session set up to work together. And I was very excited about this, you know. He had like legendary cocaine, shout out cocaine, my big dog cocaine, my carnalia.

I thought you were saying they just had a shitload of cocaine. No, no, cocaine, the musician. Got it. The legendary cocaine. I was surprised you were going to just talk about that so freely. And, you know, he had a lot of these accolades under his belt that were, you know, to admire. You know, he worked with a lot of legends, you know, I'm saying. And so, you know, reaching out and trying to connect and trying to get, make that connection.

It was like, I don't know, he probably thought like, these fools. Fuck these guys. And so he said he would come. And, you know, like we sitting here waiting for him, never came. So, you know, he used me, hey, I'll be there next week for sure, for sure, for sure, Friday. Expect me there. Friday came again, paid the engineer. Nobody came.

So there was... And that's like, if you don't fuck with me, just let me know. You know? So it wasn't just that. Fine, you couldn't make it, but whatever. Right. But there was, the internet was starting to pop off.

It was barely popping off. And now little blogs were coming up. And for our genre, we had Chicano blogs pushing our music. And I remember going on this blog, you know, I try to go on these blogs and post my links and, you know, like communicate with folks and go whatever the fuck, you know.

And I remember seeing like a post on the blog, something and someone hit me up, hey, you see what night I was writing on there? Like, you're writing some reckless shit. Like I think you're hanging out with his girl or something like that. Or, you know, someone, he was fond of or talk to or something.

She was hanging out with us. She was a home girl. She was good people. No, me, you know, that was his friend. They did they think. I don't know what, you know, what that relationship was about. But she'd come and it was, you know, all respectful. But he didn't like that shit.

He didn't like that. And so he made it his business to be like, hey, you fools, you know, like if I see that you guys around. And I was like, man, you motherfucker. fucking motherfucker like you got the audacity you didn't even show up what do you mean?

Now you're like writing me on the internet well weird shit is this you know and I didn't believe it I saw this stuff and I thought that's anybody that's not the homie but it was he went on an interview and then now he's like yeah you know he's new little rappers out here

think they hard and at the time we started like documenting what we were doing our shows our events all the street teaming where we were at And we'd compile it on a DVD if we went to, you know, Japan, we were filming that shit and putting DVDs together with the soundtracks. I mean, we were working on me.

And apparently that was, you know, like, all these guys make, you know, doing their little DVDs thinking they couldn't shit. And they sat on the other night, the fuck, me, what the fuck? So you end up seeing him at this event? You went there. So I didn't see him at a studio. Right. And from what, from what I was relayed, it was like, hey, he's here, he's with some people.

They probably strapped up. And I'm like, well, then you slap the shit out on me? Oh, no, no, no. And I, this guy. So there we go. And when we ran in there, it was like two regular-ass people, like some white boy, some youngsters, some black fools, some white. boy and then him sitting on the couch and I was like, fuck homie, like, you fools might want to leave, you know, like that way, you know,

and the homies take the homie that way and, you know, the little homie comes in, I go record this shit. What year are we talking? Oh, fuck. I don't, I don't. 2005, okay. Yeah. And, you know, we in there and, and yeah, the homie shook.

He's fucking shook. fucking Walter was like, damn, you know? And the way it's portrayed, it's like, well, all these fools came in and punked them. But it's just you in his face. You know? It's just you running up to him, though. It's like the other people were just kind of off to the side.

Yeah. Yes. So it wasn't like everyone was trying to fuck them up. Everyone was so busy that, you know, like, it was my prerogative to get with you. It was my prerogative. And when I seen, I told him, come, fool, we're going to go outside.

He was like, nah, nah, like, I ain't going outside with you. And he sat there, and he sat there, you know. I was like, come on, fool, we're going outside. And he didn't want to. So at that point, I thought, fuck, fool, this was a killer. This was a fucking killer. Like, I felt so maybe betrayed of the fondness I had for what he was doing and representing that I thought I'm not gonna punch him.

And I'm gonna slap him like a bitch. And you're right about him not standing up. Because I was watching that just thinking, like, as a reminder, if there's ever a scenario where it feels like somebody's gonna hit me, you better fucking stand up. Like, you can't just be sitting down. Because that makes you like defenseless, you know? God bless the dead.

I didn't even know he was dead. Sad, you know, like, sad because I'm not, I mean, if we could have mended that and he could could have been my big homie and he could have guided me and he could have pushed me in the direction that he knew I was trying to go, then it would have been a different outcome. If he would have embraced me and love me, then that wouldn't have, none of that would have developed, you feel me? I had a lot of respect and love for him, you know. Anyone that I meet is like, it's like the teacher at school. You get an A. You get a. You get a. You get a

A, you got an A, you got an A, you got an A. Then you start fucking nothing, you got a B. He ain't fucking some more, and he got a C. And the F, get the fuck away from me, you know? And I try my best on me, I try to be a go homie. You know, I made mistakes. I apologize. You and him never connected after that incident.

He hated me forever for that. I ruined his life for me. Oh, really? That fucked up his career? Damn. You know? And I got a lot of heat for it. People hated me for it.

And that's, that was the beginning of my, of my stigma of, man, that fucking asshole. Two gangster to fuck with. Fuck that. I don't know. But like, people are probably saying that, right? Like, I don't know. Maybe. He's too straight.

He might, he might fuck somebody up. And that, and that led to other encounters and other issues. And then I don't, and then at that point in that, fuck it. I'm no most hated. I'll eat that. Fuck it Fuck it Right

You know And then it just You just Cutting yourself off From opportunities People know you as what You're perceived to be People talk about you as being

Something that you're not Just like with that hype with You know When we talked It's like Oh that guy The guy that went into the To chase that

And it's like Oh me You know Like I'll lead it I ain't tripping on none of that. When you first made that video going at 6'9, what was the motivation? Because people forget how controversial this was, just the fact that he was moving around in L.A.

And everybody was trying to go with the narrative of like, look at how this dude can move around in L.A. I thought that this place was so gangster. How's this dude running around? This is before the snitch shit, but he was disrespecting the bloods and the Crips and all that. Were you just seeing that on the news and you were pissed off about it? Or was it more of a personal connection, homie? We had interaction. Where was that?

I told him, like, we had communicated. We were going back and forth, and it was like, hey, fool, keep pushing. Nah, homie, I don't, I don't go. I'm not, hey, fuck this guy. Let's give him a hard time. No, me. Wow. Keep pushing with your fucking crazy hair and everything.

Go hard, do the best, on me. So you had seen him as somebody who was doing something good for, Hispanic rappers before? I had seen the entertainment. I thought this guy's going to spark a lot of, you know, things, emotions. It's hard to understand what was going on there, you know? Like, what is this, you know?

And I just thought, it's him. It's his thing, you know? That's his thing. Right. Go hard, homie. And he's like, I'm going to be in L.A. I want to get all the Rasa. What do you tell me?

He goes, I want to get. the rasa or something like that. La raza, something to that effect. And automatically you're like, yeah, we're gonna get all the homies, we're gonna caravan, we're gonna, yeah, you know, I go, yeah, come down. That would have been so insane. I go, I tattoo you, we'll tattoo you, you know.

It goes, nah, nah, nah, I don't know, tattoo shouts on some music shit with the music and I thought, all right, gangster, let's go. But then I start seeing shit online that was questionable, you feel me like different things and I checked you know hey homie are you doing it it was kind of quiet and one day I go I'm gonna send him the screenshot some weird shit you know and he didn't like that he was like I go hey homie I don't know fool like the homies ain't gonna they ain't gonna embrace you like that with some of

this questionable stuff and he was like I'm gonna go to LA anyway because it was a trip lined up for LA I think and and okay and and and and and and then thinking about it I thought well what he's saying is fuck you fuck what you're homie fuck all of that I'm gonna do what I want and all and I feel like not fully understanding and not fully being where I'm at now and not fully you know thinking of of you know the bigger picture you know it's like yeah fuck well fuck this guy well fuck you fuck you know him and boom you know and that's easy to tear down easy to break and tear down and destroy quick easy you feel me so that fast no problem that would have been the craziest shit ever

if he was out here just moving around with people like you and shit that would have been just like such a crazy image if that it was actually how it played out because he did end up making uh his connection one way or another he had some people uh protecting him while he was out here for a while and that all went bad pretty quick, too? Well, you know, it's... Once it was, like, fun, and then, like, once it started being weird, it was, like, it was not fun no more.

Once it was, like, hot and weird. And people forget, too, that this was before he snitched. So it was, like, he already was mega-controversial in L.A. Before all that. Yeah. But, you know, teach their own, and God bless all the homies. Shit, do your best.

stay positive, drink a lot of water. But was that a weird time period? I agree with you on the water for sure. A lot of people are dehydrated. Yes. Especially in the neighborhoods and shit, man. Need more water. More water, less beer, less energy drinks, less coffee, alcohol, whatever.

Me too. If you got to drink something besides water, it should probably be coffee. I do. Yeah. Yeah. How do you like yours? A little bit of cream. That's a, lately I do oat milk.

Oat milk is good. little because I don't put no sweet in it. Me neither. And it gives it like a little, you know, it takes a bitterness away. Although I don't mind, you know. Look how gentrified we are. Talking about oat milk. Hot milk.

Talking a spanky logo about oat milk. Yeah. I was telling the homie, we ain't got enough of side bowls and ain't no California stuff and where I match. A bunch of hicks and Mexican foods weak? Fucking wheat. Fucking tacos with sour cream and fucking weird shit. Yeah. Damn, so the Mexican food in general out there is weak as fuck.

A couple exceptions maybe? Yeah. You know, we always set up shop. We know how to set up shop. But now, as far as, like, you in the motherland and there's a variety and there's options, little, you're more limited. So I like that a lot of places. You go there and you start looking at postmates, never mind looking online, trying to figure out where you go to eat, and you realize, like, bro, it's all chains and fucking trash and then it'll be like this spot is bomb and then when you go it's like all right but they don't know no better the best is about 10 years ago i went to london to uh judge a bmx

contest and they're hyping up this mexican spot they fucking bring that shit out bro i'm looking at this thing like i only been in l.a for a few years at this point i'm like this shit is an abomination i ate it it was the worst i can't remember what the fuck it was at this point but I just remember being like, oh, yeah, I'm not eating Mexican food in Europe. Stuff. They don't know what's going on. Nah.

They're trying, though. God bless. I had Mexican food in Europe. Shit was boo-boo. Yeah. It was boo-boo. Yeah. It was straight boo-boo.

I acted like it was all right, but shit was trash. Well, when we say Europe is kind of broad, because, you know, you got Spain and shit. I kind of almost have confidence that they could pull it off. But London? I don't know, man. Spanish food is, you know, hundreds and hundreds. of years in the making.

Yeah. And to me, I apologize to my Spanish folks. I ain't fond of Spanish. I'm sorry. I trash. I like it a lot, but definitely.

They're going to hate me for that one. If you want like the L.A. street food experience, probably not going to get it. One time we go, we was in, I don't know, my Spanish homies,

we was in Ibiza, and we're all graphing, fucking smashing an Ibiza and tattooing. And the boys, they're like, oh, the best food in,

and, in Spain and the bed and the best and we walk in the spot yeah it was packed and uh we know they got the ham and shit everywhere and we sit down I'm fucking starving like it's been a long day painting you know no breakfast and we sit down

it was like toast with like fucking tomato paste and like in like carvings of that fucking of that ham that was it that was dinner and motherfuckers were going bananas in there for that shit it was full but to me I just

I was very disappointed because I put you know different palette different everything I ain't even fun of like tomato paste on bread like that's just me though my judgment might be kind of fucked up because the last time I went to Spain we pretty much ate exclusively like the most high end

restaurant so I'm probably got a little bit of a different You got a variety of me I mean tapas and Oh I love the tapas Tapas. It's what you you get you know I don't know it's what you try Some of it is all right Some of it to me was not all right. But my apologies,

I love all my people in Spain. My folks, I got a lot of love in Spain. I always have and shut out my people in Spain. 100%. What was your relationship with Slim 400? Was it beyond music? You know, we had a common interest.

So that was during the whole six-nine time period? I don't know. We had a common interest, you know, and that made him cool to me, you know? And that made him cool. And he embraced me. you know he was he was smooth and you know we connected and we right away yeah come come in my G come in and and I love the production that we made I love the production we made rest of peace to the

homie definitely yes when did you because like I seen you on Fox News and they were basically like the guy was Jesse Walters or whatever he's like pressing you about immigrants and sanctuary cities and shit and I'm like how the fuck did you get into the position of having these sort of like right-wing news hosts grilling you about this shit. I don't know, homie. They just sent me up. Really? They just sent me a message.

You said, we're going to have a car pick you up. Where are you at? You were in L.A.? We're going to have a car pick you up in L.A. And I go, no. Right now, I'm up in the Pacific North Carolina. Oh, no problem. Because they got studios everywhere.

They can just bring you in. So, yeah. So they had this, they had this, they had their transportation pick me up. And I didn't know, honey. Like, I, the way they made it seem, it was like, we just wanted to ask you some questions up by your nonprofit and about, you seemed a little blindsided. You're like, what?

You're trying to blame this shit on me? Hey, you remember that movie with fucking, you remember that movie with Jim Carrey? Where they, where, where the, they make him the spokesperson for the fucking, the company that's embarrassing? He's embezzling all the money. I think it was like... Fuck. He goes broke on me.

Anyway, they put him in front of the TV. And he don't... He's got no clue that they're about to ask them all kind of crooked-ass shit about this company and they just gave him the position. So he's sitting there, like, can't believe all the shit they're asking him, you know? And that's kind of how I felt on me.

I was like, wow. I was not... I was not... I was not... I was not ready for that. Because you know what their game is. They want to make you look like a dumbass or they want to make you look like a criminal or they want to make you look as bad as possible because that's how they get good content.

Correct. Yeah. But it didn't happen. Yeah, you kind of refuse to engage with what he was trying to put on you. You know, like, it's true. My experience with migration and with, you know, new beginnings has been like my, you know, taking care of the family. I don't know about like cartel shit and like, oh, my dad's so dope or like I don't know

nothing about that. My parents were very square and hardworking and they, you know, like my headfall worked really hard, sold, and then they built together, you know, built their sewing business. And in Culver City, they had a little spot and they employed a lot of, a lot of people of color. And, you know, so for me, that was not prevalent. like, you know, like, yeah, you know, and you start learning, you know, and you, you connect, and you see, you know what I mean?

Like, you understand that part of it, but like as far as being in that and the criminal part of it, and it just was not something I could answer and say, yeah, well, give you my opinion about what, you know, people that are crossing now and how it's open. I don't know nothing about that. Like you just crossed the border the other day? Yeah. Like you look the part for what they want to get across, but then it's like so obvious doing the interview

that you don't really have the lived experience to talk about what they're fucking talking about. I mind fucked them. Yeah. I mind fucked them. That was pretty funny. Thank you. Okay.

So how do you feel about the current state of like personally, as an outsider, I think it's been kind of amazing seeing what's happened over the past like three, four, five years in terms of, you know, it feels like the Mexican community in LA has so much more media presence. You can become a superstar out here in this environment without having to get co-signed by any of the sort of like major hip-hop platforms and everything like that.

I look at somebody like Lefty Gunplay. It was like absolutely mega famous within this community over the course of a couple months. And it's not like anybody had to pay attention to him besides his fucking community. Like it's kind of amazing to see that. Yeah, I followed, you know, I was like, man, it's on my feed. Man, let me, you know, follow real quick one time and support. I don't, it's not extensive my research, but I say I'm a support, you know, like support brown

homies, support that homie, go follow the other homie. Routy racks? Yeah, right. Yeah, he's going crazy too. And, you know, they know, like I already know some of the people I saw like that I know. You know, and, you know, they see I, you know, like, like the, you know, like his stuff or I like, you know, and that's until I could better understand and better communicate and maybe, you know, one day, you know, have the opportunity.

But, you know, until then, our duty is to push the homies. Regardless. Whether you like their shit, don't like their shit, whether you understand them or don't understand them. You, you know, my thing is like, brown love, push the homies, you know. And I think what's happening here, by having Chicano homies here and having artists like that, it's a, it's a blessing, homie. It's much needed, my boy. You feel me?

Like, we're the movers and shakers, but we're not, don't tokenize us. We're not only in the kitchen. You feel me? We're not just at Home Depot. Right. Like, fuck all that. You feel me? We put bread in your motherfucking pocket, you feel me?

Because somebody like Lefty is controversial because he's super, fucking entertaining he's he's interesting to people but then you're also going to get a little bit blowback from people that are like this dude kind of represents not necessarily the best representation he's kind of fucked up it seems in a lot of the videos you're drinking what you mean what you mean like how oh i didn't let you finish he shows up a little loaded to some of the interviews and stuff and then people judge him and i actually heard him say in an interview the other day the drugs thing is the only thing that people put on me like that's the only shit that you can say about I'm really from where I'm from.

I really went, sat down for 10 years, did all this prison time, whatever. The only thing that people will be able to really criticize them for is the drug thing, which I was like, that is a good point because everybody gets fucked up. It's just in different ways into different levels. You know, when you're growing and you're winning, motherfuckers don't want to celebrate that. We talked about that. It's like you're not going to, you know, like, and it be from your own fucking people. You know, so it's like, what does it take to change that mind state?

It's going to hurt you to, too, to. to support the homie even though you don't like his lifestyle. You know what I'm saying? Can you send the little homie a little prayer and be like, Come me, I know, I know you're going to do the right thing, and I know you're going to grow, and I know you're going to win. You feel me? But to wish for his demise, to wish that he fails,

to wish that any of these little homies fail, no matter where they come from, that's why, come me. That's trash. That's insecure. And you know, you know, like, I know that just because somebody's fucked up on drugs today don't mean that they're gonna be like that forever. A lot of my recordings, I was fucked up on drugs. A lot of my stuff I was trying to hide the pain, you feel me?

I was trying to hide the pain. I was trying to be somewhere else. I was trying to be numb to the things that were affecting me, you know, losing my kids, you know, having cases going into the system, you know, economically being displaced, all of that. Losing homies, losing homies, you know, to murders, losing You know, it's the prison. You know, all that, you know, it takes a toll, homie.

And it's like, you want to find the answer. And sometimes the answer that you choose is not going to be the right one. You know, like covering it or, you know, trying to forget about it by being somewhere else. You know, it's understandable. And, you know, like, you young, when you're young, you got to do it, homie. When you're young, you got you in, you, you in that motion of learning and experiencing. And, and, and that's where praying for the little homies is important because then we, you know, like, man, you're in a position of win. We want to see you win.

Win, homie. Win and succeed and do all those things that you want to do. Get up out of the hood. You know, take care of your kids. Go buy a house. Own things. Buy real estate. Open your own business.

Employ motherfuckers. Right? That's every homie. That's every home. So when you're like, fuck that, Voughton. It's like,

homie, you're, you're, you're, you're, your, you're his counterpart. You came from the same struggle

even though you ain't from his area. You can, you know the struggle, homie. So why are you being a hater? Why are you being, a, a, uh,

why are you being, um, critical like that? You feel me? Why are you being so, so judgmental of a lifestyle that you live too?

Right? You don't like the way he lives, but you, you got homies like that. right you don't love your own homeboys you don't love your homies that are that are caught up in that in that lifestyle you know what I'm saying yeah you don't tolerate it yeah you don't supply it

yeah you don't you don't you don't partaking it you don't condone it right but you're not gonna treat the homie like shit you're not gonna be like I fuck that Vato it's still a brother right that's still a brother you feel me that's a message that gets lost on the internet a lot it's like if on the internet it's like if if a person does one thing that you unlike, then you should never associate with them.

You should publicly disown them. Wack. It's like the opposite of how you would treat a close friend or a family member. Wack, and I will never do that. I never put my homies on blast. I would never put my homeboys on blast. No matter how wrong, they always right. You feel me?

I don't matter how much hurt and pain, I could never turn around. No matter how much hurting pain I ate or how much bad medicine I got served, I could never turn around and get that medicine to my homies. I can never turn around and be like, yeah, I'm gonna do this. Nah, nah.

You know? That to me is, is, it's, it's not part of the unwritten rules, you feel me? I wanted to ask you this question. How did you get a relationship going with gold toes who I was with yesterday? You know, what's interesting, that's like a, that's like a nine, ten year thing.

Oh, really? Okay. thing that's been, the guy's persistent, homie. Yes. The guy's fucking persistent. Right. You know,

like, I remember tattooing a client, and the client goes, hey, I got a vodka that wants to talk to you. Who's that? Oh, this dude from the pay, Gatos,

I heard of him? And I, yeah, I had heard of him. But right away, I go, fuck, no. You know? I go, nah.

Because you've been brought up to view him, as somebody that you're not supposed to be fraternizing with. Correct. Right. Correct. Which is interesting because we're Mexican. Got a lot more in common than you have that sets you apart.

You feel me? Yeah. And that's the interesting, sad situation, you feel me? But, but, but, you know, like, it was, you know, progressive. It wasn't like, it wasn't overnight. it was in like it's been progressive you know hey homie how you doing have a great day oh shit thank you you know what I'm saying oh oh you too hey oh grazias like I don't know I don't I don't my you know like urban urban legends like I never seen one up close I never I don't

I never I don't know what the back motivate with the motivation and you know what I'm saying like in terms of why he wanted to meet you and shit. And at the time he was like, man, you know, in prison, like there's a lot of homies that are mediating and working it out and you'll be surprised on me. There are sides that are coming together that are really hashing out their indifferencees and this and that. And I was not as in tune with that as, as, you know, as him.

And I wasn't ready to nurture that. You know, he told me, hey, for you, me, we can really push this thing of, you know, and like, you know what me, that's not my, it's not my thing, homie. It's not my thing. In terms of what, trying to bring people together? Trying to, you know, embrace bringing that type of change. It's beyond me, you feel me. It's not, it's not in my hands.

All I could do is be a good brother, be a good person, be a good man, be a good son, be a good neighbor. You feel me? A man. hollers at me respectfully and gives me flowers and loves me and respects me or acts like he does and gives me positive attention and fills my cup, then I'm going to give you the same, right? Because I got, you know, like from all this traveling, homie, I got a lot of friends everywhere. You know, like, I don't belong in New Jersey and I can't talk to my okay homies out there and see my my brothers and, you know, and, hey, salute,

and they salute me, and they know, oh, me. It ain't like, they're like, fuck L.A. Because they can, know me? The people who have never left their neighborhood are always the most serious about not fucking with people on the other side of town, and then the people who have traveled the world are usually the people that start to realize relatively quickly.

This shit don't matter that much. What brings us together is more important than what divides us. You know? So it's like That's why it's important to be culture It's important you go try new foods It's important to talk to new people Important to think outside the box

Like right But I'm you know it's it's It's not my movement But respectfully I respect those that respect me How about that? I respect those that respect me You feel me? Interesting story, homie

Last night you know, shooting, shooting images and doing, you know, working out. I came to work and doing stuff with the homies and shooting and doing stuff. It's like, it's like you start, you know, contemplating like, well, like, you know, it's easy to break and tear and destroy. And, like, honestly, I don't want to, I don't, I've done all of that, homie. I've done all of that. time and time again. One rapper, and then history repeats itself, another rapper,

and then another one, and like this and like that. And I don't know. Like, I don't know. And the place that I'm at, I don't want my, my, my legacy to be like, oh, this fool, you didn't give a fuck up by shit, fucking asshole. You know? At this point, I go into, like, the Youth Academy in Washington. Shout out all my youngsters at the academy.

24-1, 24-2. And these are all kids and, you know, models that I pull up with and I take things to painting supplies, candy, I bring candy. The keys are mine. When I go there, the institution, they stay there. They got to catch up on credits. They got to work with administrators to do better

to work at their credits for school, they're borderline in trouble. But what's interesting is for that institution to have a majority of Chicano's in there and a small percentage of everything else, it really makes you think, homie, like you're, like you're, like you see who's hindered, homie.

Socially, you get to going into these institutions and you see it's only brown faces. You feel me? So my point and my point, am I putting in my life? I'm thinking like, man, I don't want to destroy. I want to love. I want to lift.

I want to push. I want to see you win. And that's always been my attitude. I don't think I've ever been that guy that's like, man, damn, these shoes are nice. Fuck that guy. I'm going to take them shit. I'm going to take them. You know?

It's like, yeah, it's just interesting. You go in there and you know the need is there. And that's, I think my priority is lifting. you know, doing different things. I told you I'm on some whole other shit, homie. I'm on some whole other shit. Talking to the little homies, I had a little Norteño,

my, in the institution, he's like, I don't want to ask for no favors because I know you don't fuck with me. I say, homie, come here. Little vato, little youngster, homie, come here, come here. You're the one I'm going to fuck with the most.

Because it pains me that you think that, homie. It pains me that you think that I'm going to give everyone else attention and I'm going to tell you to go fuck yourself. You feel me? At that moment, I got to think that these are kids. I got to think that these are children.

I can be thinking like, oh, well, let me pick and choose who I'm going to help. Let me work with the homies. I'm only work with the homies. I'm only work with them in this institution. I got to work with Pacific Islanders. I got to work with the blacks. I got to work with homies. I got to work with, you know.

That surprise element that surprised me, you know, then I'm like, whoa, what do I do with this? What do I do with this, right? Especially as you get older and you start to have kids and you start to like think about the world that you want for your kids and you can't imagine wanting to teach your kids to have the same biases that you have. I take my son in there. I take my son in there.

My son goes with me where they're together. You feel me? So I don't know, my position is a lot different than just the rap thing. My position is a lot different than just the street thing. You know, I want to, like, serve my people. I want to lift our people. I see the damage that's being done and the damage that I've been a part of, you know? And if I could somehow use my situation to lift us, that's the plan, oh me?

That's the goal, you know? Would I like to be a doctor and maybe put the, You know, the urban shit, yeah, but I don't have that. Can I live off of my generational wealth? So I don't have to rap no more. And no, I don't have that, me? I don't have that. So it's like, work with what you got.

But be careful what you put out there too. My opinion. And I love all the homies. I love all the homies right here on my side. I love all my homies because I understand them. I feel their pain. I see their struggle. I know and I, you know, like a homie feels a certain way.

I'm going to be like, oh, that's how you feel? Well, I don't feel like that. Don't go by, you know, like, oh, I'm evolved. Don't talk to me. Like, I understand, me. I see you. I understand, me. And forgive me if you think that I'm two-sided,

or if you think I'm feeling. to love someone else on top of loving you. I love you and I love you and I love you and I want you to win. And if you think that I'm less because I want better for people, then so be it, homie. And I chunk them with niggas. I chunk them with motherfuckers, you feel me? You know, it's easy to fall back and be like,

oh man, this is the only solution. This is the only solution. This is the only thing that's going to kill this funk. So come on, let's go. And it's happened, homie, plenty of times. Plenty of times. Hey, homie, all right, come on. Because I don't want, I don't, I'm passionate, homie.

I'm real about this journey of mine and this legacy that we built up and these things that have put us in this position to be this, right? And use what we got to, to feed our kids and survive. But don't pimp the culture. Don't disregard that we're a big factor in the culture. Don't, don't, don't tokenize us. Don't disrespect us. Don't make us less, homie, because we made, we made the game.

We're the market that made the game. How about that? Respect. So, okay, would Spanky Local ever move back to L.A.? Are you addicted to just being out in the wilderness? No, no. I mean, I'm here, you feel me? Right.

We got a little spot here in the west side. I come and see my family. Come and see my, you know, come and see my people. We back and forth. But you just really appreciate that serenity out there? It's a spot that I'm at now. Who knows? May I go to Europe for a year?

You know what I'm saying? I'm right in the homies in, you know, out of the country. Hey, what's the studying the economy? Looking at shit remotely. What can we do, you know? I would love to see how people look at you walking down the street in France. Let's go. I would love to just see like what.

what the reaction is. It's got to be very interesting. Yeah, it's always different. I got people that, you know, they pull their purse like this. Yeah, yeah. You know, where I'm at, you know, go to the market, I'm with my kids,

and I, you know, some, pull the purse this way. Like, letting me know, like, you ain't shit. You're like, don't even come next to me. You're a brown, ugly motherfucker with tattoos on your feet, you're a piece of shit. Let me pull my purse this way, just to let you know that I'm diligent of your look and your being and who you are

and what you represent, right? Easy. Yeah. But to get to know me You get to know me You get to love me You feel me Love me or hate me

100%. What do you want people To keep an eye out for In terms of new stuff You got coming? Man, we back on this music stuff Going hard. Shout out the homies in Mexico

Shout out Buffon, Illuminati We got a single coming out Out of Mexico Shout out the homie Bishop Snow You feel me We've been doing a lot of great production Beast Melody

Yelstra out of St. Petersburg, Russia. Really? Boy, it goes hard as a motherfucker on these beats. Shout out the little homie. Shout out Russia. Shout out Russia. Yellow, Hill.

Good little homie that I just tapped into, the good Westside homie that I just tapped in with. We got a little banger coming out, so great things with him, an amazing guy. You know, we still. You've been interviewed on this platform before. Yeah?

Not by me, but, yeah. Amazing. He's got shit on here. I like him. He's a good little homie. I want him to win. I want him to win. I want him all to win.

Jay Worthy, I got a little son with Jay Worthy. I've already had a record with him that I'm excited about. Yeah, he's dope. With this cocaine album that we put together. Got a project with cocaine, legendary cocaine. And, you know, West Side Worthy and me,

been talking about, you know, moving forward on doing records, this West Side movement. So that's been exciting for me to, you know, be able to manifest that. Shit, I got quite a few things that I've been pushing clothing. I brought you some gifts, though. Oh, sweet. Do people bring you things for me? Sometimes.

Like, how often? Somebody gave me this hoodie. Not for no free promo. Like, really, like, here, this is for you. When does that happen? I feel like I don't feel like I'm a gift giver. I never, like, besides my girl and my kid, I never really give people gifts. so I feel like people don't give me gifts,

which I'm okay with because I feel very awkward receiving gifts. Yeah? You're going to feel awkward right now, play? Shit. Here we go. Oh, shit, the backpack itself. Spanky local backpack, wow. Oh, here we go.

Okay. Fire. Thanks so much. What does it say? Be good people. What's up with that? It's a good message. What you think about that?

I like it. That's about us. important and as basic as it gets. Be good people. No problem. And then what is the other sleep? Say something? Okay. No problem. So, wait, am I reading something? So loco. So loco. There we go. So local's the brand. Fire. So local brand. Tees, hoodies, you feel me? That's what I. Aprons, tattoo aprons, rolling trays, ash trays. Did the dog lay on that motherfucker? As asshole. And then I got some milk.

Oh, shit. It's a coloring book. Wow, the spanky local coloring book. Now, I really do like obscure hip-hop memorabilia, so this is actually pretty sick. So I'm going to get one for my niece, right? For your daughter so that she could color it, and then one for memorabilia.

Oh, that's fire. Come on. I like it. Cultural, homie. Love a sad clown. What images does it have? Like, images that are not common in a color. book, right? This is all drawn by you.

Oh, yes. All of them. So when the little homies open the book, can you imagine the feeling they get when they see people that resemble them in that book? That's dope. No, for sure. You know? Religious figures, homies, clowns. Homies. Come on.

Color them. Fire. You feel me? My kid would love it. Yeah? Hell yeah. And then this one's the collectible. Oh, shit, okay. Put this motherfucker on eBay. Really? In a couple years for $100,000. Hell yeah. Thank you so much, man. Beautiful, man. Yeah. Hey, I respect the independent hustle, and you definitely got an amazing story over all these years. I really appreciate you sharing it with us. Thank you, God, man. Thank you so much.

Fuck you. Glad we were able to finally get this done. You got a very inspirational story, and I like seeing you spread positivity and push this positive message. A little unorthodox for this podcast, but I think it's very important, oh, me? Yeah. Right? Definitely. It's crucial. I think this is a crucial perspective in comparison to, you know, yeah, sometimes you have conversations with people that are a little hyped up on.

I'm fucking hyped up too. No, but I mean, I hyped up on the shit that's not necessarily the best to be hyped up on. But I'm refraining myself. Oh, okay. I'm refraining myself. You feel me? Right. I could open the faucet on me and let the fucking water run.

But I'm, you know, you got to pick and choose your battles on me. You got to be careful, like what energy you put out there. Definitely. Right? And right now the energy is win. Win, homies. Go hard, homies. Get it, homies.

Y'all got it. Win. Win. Because when we win, homie, things start changing. You feel me? We're losing. How long we don't keep losing?

How long we don't keep with this trauma? Fuck this guy. Fuck that guy. He ain't taking nothing from you. Eat. prosper and wish the next motherfucker great things

because you don't know their story homie you don't know what they're going through right you don't know you never know homie and if even one person watches this interview and they choose to go in a incrementally positive direction with their life as opposed to some other

shit that they might be on then then we did our work it's been a good afternoon's work we did our work yeah um we're going to spread positivity again soon. Let's do it. Another saint of the only time.

And it's a blessing to be here with you. You know, I've been excited to connect and, you know, excited for your, for your development and all the great things that you've been doing in these six years that we've been back and forth. So congratulations to you. No, I appreciate. I'm glad we got it done

at this point. Actually, it would have been sick if we had one from 2018, too. Then we could be looking at this one and be like, damn, look at the growth. Look at the change. Yeah. But, hey, we've got to start somewhere. Good. I prefer to do this one. For sure.

I prefer God knows why. God knows why it didn't happen then. You might have been tripping a little bit harder back then. I would have been really tripping. So, you know. Hard to believe it's the same guy from that video. It really is. Yeah.

And I think the most gangster thing you could do is be good people. That's the most gangster thing you could do. That's a fact. Right? Doose, doose, my dog. Duce, deuce in the bubble goose. Don't make me Spanky logo Hey I appreciate you G for a

My dude Spanky logo tap in turn my man up on all Streaming services I like this dog If I brought my dog today It would have been a fucking nightmare trying to control them They would have been barking the whole time What would have fucked the vibe up

Spanky loco man much respect I hope everybody enjoyed this if you did please smack the like button no drummer coolest podcast in the world the coolest tap in let's go