No Jumper - The Kafani Interview: Getting Shot & Paralyzed, Issues with DJ Vlad & More

Episode Date: October 11, 2021

Kafani chops it up with Adam about his come up, Saweetie sampling his song, relationships with Keak da Sneak, Wack100, how he ended up being paralyzed and more! https://www.instagram.com/kafani/ ----- NO JUMPER PATREON http://www.patreon.com/nojumper CHECK OUT OUR NEW SPOTIFY PLAYLIST https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5te... FOLLOW US ON SNAPCHAT FOR THE LATEST NEWS & UPDATES https://www.snapchat.com/discover/No_... CHECK OUT OUR ONLINE STORE!!! http://www.nojumper.com/ SUBSCRIBE for new interviews (and more) weekly: http://bit.ly/nastymondayz  Follow us on SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/4ENxb4B... iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/n... Follow us on Social Media: https://www.snapchat.com/discover/No_... http://www.twitter.com/nojumper http://www.instagram.com/nojumper https://www.facebook.com/NOJUMPEROFFI... http://www.reddit.com/r/nojumper JOIN THE DISCORD: https://discord.gg/Q3XPfBm Follow Adam22: https://www.tiktok.com/@adam22 http://www.twitter.com/adam22 http://www.instagram.com/adam22 adam22hoe on Snapchat SHOW LESS Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

No Jumper, coolest podcast in the world. And today, very, very happy to have a guy with an incredibly fascinating story. Kafani is in the building. What's going on with you, man? How you feeling? I'm feeling good, man. Just got off this good plane. Yeah.

Good La La Land. You haven't been in L.A. in a while? Yeah, I ain't been out here in like two years. Okay. It's about two years. Right. Since the last time I've been out here and shoot a video. Hell yeah.

But I just been, shit. Lately, I just been quarantining. Oh, yeah. staying out the way recording. You took COVID pretty serious? You stayed home for the most part? Yeah, I've been in a house for like the whole year and a half. Like, I just been, I mean, I go to the big studio, whatever, go, do what I do.

Right. I had a couple events to go to. But other than that, I'm at the house. I just got on plane last weekend for the first time in like two years. So it was a fucking wild feeling to get back to it after that big-eyes break. Yeah, this is my first time on a plane. This was my first time on a plane. Since January, I was in Vegas.

Okay. Hanging out, chilling for my 60th birthday in 2000. 2020, I mean. Yeah. And so, yeah, it's my first time on a plane seeing a difference. Like, I was being, hope is real, man. Yeah. You know what I'm saying?

And then with my situation, I want to make, I wasn't trying to, you know what I'm saying? I had to keep everybody away from you. Really? Yeah. has some health issues on the whole? No, it's just, it's just that part of, like, when I got shot, they had to take a piece of my lung, you feel on me?

So, like, really, really I don't want to test eating COVID because sometimes I'd be having, like, a lot of, you know, flam in my throat, like, a lot of times. Right. We'd be having, like, congested a lot, so, you know what I'm saying? So that's why I kind of, it's like, I don't want to put myself in that position. For sure. Yeah, how is your health overall these days? My health overall is excellent.

Okay. I mean, you know what I'm saying? Good to hear. I mean, I don't put on a few pounds, but other than that, you know what I'm saying? I'm good. Right. I mean, you know what I'm saying? I got diabetes, but that's under control.

It's number two, diabetes too, so it ain't like no, it ain't bad or nothing like that. I don't take no insulin and then like that. For sure. I just got to wash my weight. That's good to hear. Yeah. Okay, so tell us a little bit about, like, coming up in the game and where you were raised and everything,

just so we can get that out of the way in terms of your early upbringing in your area and a rap in general. Yeah. I was from East Oakland, East Oakland, California. Born and raised, I mean, I've been all over Oakland, though. Right. I start the rap game back in, as it's crazy. I started, when I first start really, really taking rap and seriously was, I actually was here in L.A. and on Burbank.

I stayed off the next X, I think, Buena Vista. I had my first studio, and this was like 2001. I put out an album and, it was called The Baby Face Assassins. We put out in O2. Like my first, like my first collab was like we had, was too short. We had, this dude named Kuku Kau called In My Project. He had a big song back in the day. I had, we worked with, we worked with Yuck Maw.

We even worked with, rest of the piece of badass. We worked with Razzcast, a lot of people. How did you start rapping or did you have anybody that kind of helped usher you in the game? Well, basically, what happened was I was in. in jail for a robbery. And it was like 99. And I was calling myself the baby face assassin. And I was like, man, I think I want to rap.

It was just something I thought about that I wanted to do. When I got out of jail, well, she was my ex-wife, but she was my girlfriend at the time. She went to New Orleans to go to school out there to college. And she had got me in college. I was going to the University of New Orleans over the ninth ward where it got all messed up doing Katrina. I was going to school out there.

And then my brother, my brother came out there and we all started doing music together. And then we came back to, we came back to California. And so that's kind of how we like started, started like grassroots recording in the closet. And I ended up having to go to prison. I was in jail out here in LA County for like nine months. I was in LA County, and then they sent me to the prison, and then I ended up getting out in like 2004 in the Bay. And rest in peace, Jack, I knew him,

and they had started this thing that would keep the sneak, barked from three times crazy, also, Hustler, and Rest in Peace Pretty Black, they had started a group called Doe Game. And so since I knew Jacka, I started hanging with them. And so I was just, but I was always shining like dope car, hell of jury. Like I was like in the Bay, I was like one of the first dudes to really be having custom change. And then iced out and just being like, you know, flamboyant.

And for people who don't recognize a lot of the names that you just said, I mean, that's, this is like a very, very legendary time in Northern California rap music. And, you know, like from your perspective, when you look back on that, feels kind of crazy like that there's so many legends all just around each other trying to make it at the same time yeah we's all at the same time like coming up and um and that's that's how that's how i got my start like i just kind of like lucked up and i lucked up and kind of like was around all of the up and coming grates that was coming out the bear area that i was with them so i was able to perform with them and do all that and so from there i just kept doing i was we were doing a thing called with the baby face assassins and we was rocking with Keith. We was like Keet's Knee Group and Mr. Fab, when the Hy-Fewan was taking cough, we used to open up for them.

And then we just took a viral, this one with MySpace was out. And you know, MySpace was like how YouTube is today where you make a song, you make a song a day on Monday and then shit on Friday or Saturday, that motherfucker viral already, you already got a million plays. You're getting like, we're getting 20, 30,000 plays a day, putting out a new song and they know that shit word for work, you know what I'm saying?

And it was just going crazy, going up. And then Camille, which our local radio station, was playing our music. So we started to play on the radio. And so it just kind of is we had an organic street buzz. And then with the radio, our group just started blowing up and blowing up. Right. And basically from there. How come you ended up down here recording and stuff?

And did you sign to Magdray early on or was that a little later? I never actually, I never actually signed the Magdray. People put that out there. Okay. That signed to Magdrae. I had did a project with the label with Thiz Nation. Okay. With Keelow and Jay Diggs.

I had to ask me to do a project with them. It was Thizz Nation. It was called Maserati Music. Right. So I just hooked up with the Thiz Cats. Because I always been, always been tight-knit. I always was with Mr. Fad doing shows and stuff like that. So everybody, you know, everybody, you know everybody.

So, you know what I'm saying? I just did like a one-off deal with them and did a one-off project with them. When you first started to go viral on MySpace and stuff, like how were you actually making money off of your shit? Because nowadays, you make some songs, you put them on Spotify, boom, you start getting checks. At that time, were you mostly just making money from,

I mean, could you still sell CDs? Were you just touring and shit? Basically, what we were doing, I was, um, I was had distribution, so I had my earlier projects like in a store. But back then we were just really like with the Baby Face Assassins, we really just hand-to-hand, like just really just giving that shit out. Like we just in the streets hustling getting money. And we was just handing the music out like on the hope and prayer,

hoping we, you know, get a deal. Our whole thing was putting it, you know, putting in the people's hands and putting their cars and doing that. and then we just kept pushing flyers and pushing the music, pushing the music like that. When I came to L.A., when I came to L.A., that was early on in my career. That was like in 2001.

And I was doing the same thing, just networking. But, you know, around 2004, 2005, is when the hi-fi when we took off. And so we used out there in the heart of it, our group. And then my groupmate ended up, my group make ended up, had to go out of town and left and was out of town and pretty much wasn't out here in California.

And literally like literally like a month later, I made fast like a NASCAR. And it's crazy how we made fast like a NASCAR me and Keek. And I had made the original version, I made the original version in my apartment. and I did the original version in my apartment, but we didn't like the beat. So we had like, we had like Keek to Sneak, and it's crazy because I had some vocals from Keek to Sneak. Right.

Because we had, we was cool, so we had like Keller songs together. And so I just was like, I had it just a great idea. I'm like, man, everybody starting to say fast, right, in the bay. Well, not in the Bay. East Oakland. Some of my homies were saying fast, fast, fast. It was like Kelly catchy. So I was like, I'm like, shit.

I'm like, man, I'm gonna make a song called Fast. And then my boy was like, my one boy was always like, fast, fast. And my other boy was like like a NASCAR, like a NASCAR. So I was like, man, that's shit catchy. I'm gonna do that shit. So me and my stepbrother went and made the song in my apartment.

I can always remember I have my daughter, she was a baby. She was a little born baby. She was like, She was probably like two months old or so in another room. We was in there making it like a NASCAR, NASCAR. We was trying to do different things. So we came up with it. But I was like, man, I don't like how this sound.

Like I like how it sound, but because we had a song that was on the radio called High Feet Hill, and my stepbrother made that beat. And so we pretty much told, we pretty much kind of remade that beat that was on the radio at the time. and then we was recording the fast like a NASCAR under that beat. And so it was this producer that I had been working with that I had did songs with. He had made a song that when I was with the Babyface Assassins that we had did with Keep the Sneak. That was on the, it was on TVT. They had put out this called Haifie Hits or something like that.

They had put a compilation out called Heifie Hits. and that particular song, this guy named Ampli produced that, right? He had big hip-hop art head. Nobody would ever think that he would have made that beat. He made closer by Guapalé, but he also had some shit with Green Day. Oh, wow.

So what I did was I sent the vocals to him. I sent him the vocals to NASCAR, and I went and took a, I went and found the verse that I had from, we had, like, Me and Kee Kat did like one night, we did his own one with me and his cousin, and we did like five songs. I went and grabbed the verse. I basically went and grabbed the verse that I thought would fit, that would work for that song. And we shot this, I shot this to this dude to this dude, Amplive, and no lie, this dude was on, he was on tour.

He was in Germany, and he made the beat in a goddamn in a touring van. Right. and sent it right back to me in like 30 minutes. Wow. And I had the song, and I took that shit to the club, and it was a well-known big DJ, and a big DJ Mind Motion, and we was in the club,

and he was there, and one of the record promoters, my manager at the time, was there, and we had a DJ play, he had a DJ play the song, want you to hear my song. And they played that shit. They played the record,

and the club kept on rocking. He was like, man, give me that shit. And then he used to start playing that shit on a morning radio. Wow. And that shit was like literally in a five-day period. And Keith didn't even know the song. Keith didn't even know about the song.

Because he just did a verse. He didn't know what the hook was going to be on it. He didn't know nut because we had this been doing songs. We know we did songs. But he didn't know about that. And so all of a sudden, that shit was on the radio. And next thing, you know, all the other DJs driving it, playing on the radio. And then somebody hit Keith like,

bro, you got a song on the radio call fast like a NASCAR. He's like, nah, he called me and I told him what happened. He's like, bro, this is crazy. This is blowing up. And so I basically independently came Feli Fell broke it out here.

Came to L.A. Fell fell broke it. I was at all the different little, what's the wheels of steel, a little skating rink they'd be going to. Can I just say as a side note that it's pretty crazy because I always feel like nowadays

rhyme in NASCAR with fast car and Trap Star is like the most played out thing that everybody fucking rhymes but that was like a completely different era where it was like actually like a new like a word that like to me I just am amazed how every generation of rappers keep rhyming the same words together

but that's crazy to think that was from an era before that was really a thing. Yeah it was before it was for all that. Yeah. But did that completely, like, change your life, like having a song be that big? And also, you were independent at the time, too. So you're actually... I was independent and then I ended up signing a deal with Koch. Off the strength of that? And Koch is like an independent label at the time. So you were able to still be like hustling with it? Well, nah, they was, I mean, pretty much. They was big at the time, though. They had Cali at the time. Oh, okay. Yeah. This is when they were really going for it. Yeah, yeah, yeah, because I had a lot of labels talking to me.

Because I remember that being the thing during the era of like the diplomats that like some of the other diplomats will go and sign to Koch, like the more independent guys or whatever. But then it did kind of become really big at one point too, right? Yeah, but they always used to say it was a rapper's graveyard back then. It was like, you know what I'm saying? It was the rapper's last place to go to would be Koch. Right. So they didn't have really too many like new artists. You know what I'm saying?

But shit. I was honestly, like, I had meetings with Pito Paterner, who I think he's a big DJ. He was Dr. Dre or somebody, Dr. Dre, a lawyer. And I talked with them. They was trying to take me to Interscope. We was going to talk to Warner. I mean, I talked to some, I talked to a gang of late. I even talked to Temeca Wright from Rufeless.

And she was trying to sign. She really was trying to sign me where I'm like I was hearing all the stories and how how to Bone I think had just had put their last album out my own was had all the issues So I'm like I ain't going there but what made me sign with Koch I ain't a lie I was a LAX I was a LAX with a radio promoter and using this dusty trailblazer taking us to Take us to um power 106 uh and uh and DJ Kallet call it hopped in the backseat with his wife or his girl. It was his manager at the time, but his wife now.

And he was just telling me about all the stuff what Kosh could do, because that's when he was pushing that So Hood song. And he was just telling me about everything about Kats or whatever. And then they really wanted me because it was one night at a club. It was an old school club. Old school club, I performed there a lot of times. But once I popped off when I was in L.A. when I was out here, old school club 740

it was basically David Banner birthday and it was a cot's rep was there and Keith the sneak was on stage and the rep told him the crowd told them to play since Keith was on stage played fast like an ass car

and shit they played that shit they said the motherfucking they shit the motherfucking stage they were going so hypey and crazy and that's what made them sign me and I ended up signing with them for like they end up giving me, they gave me about like almost 150 up front. And that was the most they ever gave to a new artist that never had a deal.

Right. At that time, that was like way more than the average person was getting up front, huh? Yeah. Hell yeah. New artists? Yeah. Now that these new artists now, you know, be getting like 40,000 upfront. You know, get no money like that up front.

There's a lot of truth of that. Yeah. But, okay, this is kind of jumping ahead. But do you feel, you said something on your Instagram about how that song was kind mismanaged by the label and how now it's having the second life and people are playing it and all these kind of crazy pop culture situations what are your thoughts on how that song was handled and marketed uh man that song should have been way bigger um we were in talks with nascar at the time of them endorsing me so it was like they had the expectations way up here because you know you know

you know endorsement with nascar going that's instant millionaire you know what i'm talking about like it's going to be big, big. And they ended up the, they ended up clashing over the advertisements. See, now in this time, day in time, it wouldn't have mattered because we got YouTube. Right. Then you just had BET, you had BET and TV and they would blur out all the different advertisements. So in between with all the advertisements and all that is what messed the deal up.

And then after that, after that, pretty much, I was smart, though. When I went on all the radio runs and was doing everything, I was meeting people. I was getting their phone numbers. I was getting their emails. I was doing all that. So what ended up happening when I got my second win, I wouldn't even know how much house no more. And, you know what I'm saying? I stay lit on the radio for years doing it independent because I learned the game.

But just one more thing about that song Did it feel kind of weird at a certain point That you just made that song randomly And then all of a sudden you've got a son that's popular And now it's like oh fuck I'm doing free promo for this random ass race car company That I don't know anything about And I don't give a fuck about

That must have kind of weird at a certain point right? Yeah it was weird I'm like it was like man fuck man I'm thinking like man Is they feeling like I'm thinking like Because they said they wanted to get into the urban situation You feel me something like

Nowadays, I feel like they would fuck with that song way more because they probably, like, want their product to appeal to more different audiences. So guess what happens? So coming now 15 years later, Sweetie samples it. She samples the record and NASCAR grabs it. Wow. She took my, she basically, she sampled my record. She sampled my record in fast motion, went NASCAR. And we got that record is everywhere right now. That shit's like, we got the most, we got the, we got the, we got the, we got the, we got the, we got the, um, syncs and licenses so far this year of any song. Wow. Like, we in Venom 2. Um, we in every, like, shit on ESPN, shit, they run, uh, the basketball, women's basketball,

they run that commercial, every commercial for the NB, WNBA all day. And you were signed to like an independent label, so are you still seeing a very large percentage of that money? I, I, um, shit, what happened was, see, I had, I had. my masters, I never had when he got my master's back from Cots. See, I was supposed to go get my master's back, but I'm going to tell you. So I ended up, I ended up having, I had to end up

pulling some strings because I really rightfully owned NASCAR to Masters. So the money's about the master of it. And so what happened was they some, um,

one reached out the Cots and they were like, oh, we don't know who the writers is, it's been so but they sent out a little pitch to them about all the percentages they wanted for them using a song and this and and that and so I basically had to go basically had to go basically fight to get my master's back right um but ultimately you know what I'm saying ultimately behind the door you know we got some people put put some put uh who I respect in the gang right um you know what I'm saying went and put put put some work in and got me my master's that's a value you are owning your own shit at the end of the day, huh?

That somebody could do this and that you just get cut in on it in a way that a lot of legendary artists would not. Yeah, I could have got cut out, but I'm smart enough. I had my contract. I'm like, I'm supposed to be about it this. And Venom 1, they used my contract to get Keith to sneak out of his contract with E1. How? How do they use your contract to get him out of his? Because it was similar contract that me and him had.

Okay. And so he used my contract. that helped him get out of it because Venom 1, uh, venom, they were trying to claim it. And it was like, you know, a movie, you know, a movie is like $100,000, you know, both sides and it's $50,000 on publishing. And then there's another 50, probably 50,000 on a master's side. So, you know, Kott's was claiming E1, I mean, was claiming ownership of that record and claiming that.

So they was able to get their bread from the venom. And basically, so basically I had the, um, the record. hadn't came out yet, you know what I'm saying? You know what I'm saying? Shout out Wack 100. Shout out Wack 100. You know what I'm saying? He got a little process of talking to them up there to

talking, to get us in contact. Quote unquote, talking? Not, not like that. Wack puts the pressure on people. Yeah,

he got us, he got help get us in contact with the right people. No, he really is a good businessman, though. Yeah, he got the, you know,

he got the whole, he got the little, he got the little artist up blue face and two cars and all him up there and you know I think I think he weren't a part of the death death row catalog or something like that sometimes I think people really just answered whack on her his calls when they wouldn't answer other people's calls because they're a little intimidated but he does good business you know and he's really about his bread yeah you my folks yeah so basically so basically we ended up happening was basically we ended up I basically ended up getting my

masters back and so I owned the masters that I own I own 50% of the publishing and then me as being a good guy and keep the sleep my boy and a producer I split the publishing down the middle with them on it

and I took like I took about third like 30% I took about 30% third of the record and then on the master side

I got my master's and shit so I got a lovely lovely lovely lovey lovely check Does that feel kind of crazy, though, just knowing that your music could be influential enough that it could still be, you know, important enough that somebody like Sweetie could be making, you know, a big soundtrack to a lot of people's lives using your shit all these years later? Yeah, man, it's crazy.

It kind of tells you a lot about the value of music in the long run, you know? Yeah, yeah. I mean, that's the importance of owning your music. Because if I didn't own my music, I wouldn't have seen nothing but a little bit of nothing. the ownership of it, the ownership of it, I'm probably at the end of it when it's all said and then I'm probably going to make at least a million dollars off of it. We still haven't, we still haven't,

we still haven't even touched the international market on sinks yet. Oh, wow. See, the sinks and licenses is where the money's at now. You know what I'm saying? Getting on these movies. Like I never knew, like the McDonald's, the McDonald's situation was like, was like total, like, it was all split.

around, but it was like a quarter million. Right. You know what I'm saying? So you got to think about that. All I got, we got all these different deals coming off. Right. And this song, they say it's like the most song that was synced this year. What do you blame it on though?

Do you feel like that sound is just... No, it's the concept of the concept of the song. Yeah. Of her was doing, her doing all of different sports and all that. That's what made that, like, go. Okay. But do you think there's something about that, like, sort of hyphy era sound? that is like newly, it just makes sense to people again,

all of a sudden, all these years later, and they just sort of feel like that speaks to where the culture's at right now? Yeah, I think so. It's like a, you know, honestly, you know, as we always say, they still obey, still a bass sound. The whole world never gives our props, you know what I'm saying? But, I mean, you know, sweetie, you know,

sweetie says she claims she, you know, say she's from the bay, so. You still feel like that shit, the thing that people always say, all forever is that oh the bay has its own world and it's like it doesn't really necessarily trickle through to the rest of the world do you still feel like it's a problem you feel like that's like getting more improved over time I mean it's getting more improved from artists like sweetie G EZ those are different rappers have you know kind of you know made it go turn into one because it's crazy

because on a sweetie song fast motion the first the whole intro is just my whole beat is not Nothing changed. It's my whole, my whole beat is the first, to start the songs off, it's my whole beat. And it's like, they did like eight, it's like an 18, it's like an 18 second sample of it going through the song besides the whole intro. So they used, you know, it was a barrier type feeling type thing.

I just think the bay, I don't know, it's like the bay of melting pot, and we're so diverse and we got so much different type of culture and so much music that, I don't know, I think people tend to take from it, but don't want to claim that they take from it. But, I mean, you got to, you know, like, at the end of the day, like, I honestly say, like, when I was, I was, I was, when I was popping off, I was in, I was coming to L.A. And L.A. didn't have no sound then. This was before the jerking, jerking, jerking, um, jerking, um, sound. Like a dead era in L.A. rap history, sort of.

This was, like, uh, Glass's Malone was. certified doing like a hundred doing like a hundred and twenty spins a week oh wow and we and i go do a show i go do a show with them and i'm only probably getting maybe 20 spins a week and when he performed at the party they was just standing there then when i performed they just was going crazy right and so you know the LA ended up coming with the jerky movement and so what they're doing now and the sounds kind of just kind of similar and i just feel that um the Bay area is no labels. Now we got, you know, Gazi and Empire.

Yeah. I was like one of the first artists to ever mess with Gazi before he had Empire. Interesting. I was the first. I had let him, I had a record with me and Bobby Valentino and I let him distribute that.

And I had a record with me, Gucci, and to do thorough, went thorough when he had the ice cream paint job when he was super hot. Yeah, I interviewed him a little bit ago. Yeah, I let him. I let, we had a record together. and I let Gazi distribute that and do all that for me.

This was pre-appacotch. Wow. So, yeah, I've been dealing with, it's crazy because it's crazy because the contract that I got with him is like nobody else's contract because it would be for syncs. So, like, he barely gets no, like, no sinks and nothing for me. You know what I'm saying? Because it was just iTunes then and wasn't streaming. Interesting.

Yeah, so I got a, well, a good contract with Gagie right now. For sure. whenever I get turned on a new artist from up north these days, typically a lot of times it's like very, very gang-oriented street politics, playing out in the music type shit. Do you still find yourself interested in seeing a new artist who are on that tip, or does that shit seem kind of old to you at this point, being older and everything? Yeah, nah, me being older and that shit, nah, that don't, that fuck up the money.

You know what I'm saying? On a gang street politics shit, that mess up the gang. But there's so many artists going viral from up north that are just telling you what's going on in these environments. Yeah. It's crazy, but you ain't making no money. YouTube don't pay. Yeah. You know what I'm saying?

Because I do my research because, you know what I'm saying? I do my research because, like, I put on an artist. I put on an artist. I got his name real big, Raven Justice. I don't know if you know who he is. I heard that for sure. Yeah, so Raven Justice, I'm behind him. I'm the one who got him started, you know what I'm saying?

Right. I took a chance and whatever, you know, I go with it, and you end up getting them hot and they end up doing some other ass shit, but neither here or there. But I don't, it's like, like to me, it's, I don't know, it's senseless to me because it's like you're not making no money. Like right now I'm talking to a high artist. Right now, I'm not going to say his name,

but I'm talking to him, and he's not going to say his name, but I'm talking to him, And he rapping about, like, the gang stuff and all that. And so I do my research and I go, I see they get millions of YouTube hits, but I go to Spotify and all that. Take the numbers are not getting old. They're not streaming. Yeah. Because what it is is these young kids is, these young kids is just playing YouTube off the TV.

Yeah. You know what I'm saying? At home, they just listen to YouTube off the TV, so they're not like the older people who listen to Spotify in their car or they're not driving and nothing like that. So they just straight off of YouTube. And there's a lot of artists who are like so music video oriented that the people who really fuck with them, it's like they want to see the machine guns and the lean and the crazy.

They want to see you in the projects. And like when you remove all that and you just put the audio on Spotify, there's not that many people who are that interested in following you to another platform, I feel like. Exactly. That's the whole thing. It's the guns and all that. That's like especially when you see down South,

how they're blowing up now. I mean, but they, you know, a lot of times when they blow up, they get a bigger, bigger, you know, bars with the labels, one to grab that. I mean, that's kind of the perverse part about is that the labels, like, really actively go after the shit. Yeah, they

actually go after shit. Yeah. Because it's crazy because I had a situation up with Epic when L.A. Reed was there. He flew his, he flew his, he flew his, he flew his, and R. He flew his A&R out to the had a song popping, you know what I'm saying, the APD that was at Cameo. He was, you know, pushing the record, was behind it.

We get there. I had me, Nisi, all the music got coming out. We was in there. We picked the second single to come after it. You know what I'm saying? Because I did a record with Gucci Man and Bobby Valentino, and we shot a video or whatever. And it was, you know, playing all through the South.

I did the whole Chickling circuit. And it was getting a lot of downloads. So, you know what I'm saying? So it was a good look. So it was something that they wanted to, they looked and wanted to sign. So when it came back, it was like, he told me, like, with the deal done. L.A. Reed second-guessed it. He was like, how this dude got all his jury and the Bentley and all his money and doing all this?

Like, I don't want to sign another drug dealer. But I'm like, I'm sitting here when he said this, I'm like, wasn't future supposed to be this big-ass drug dealer or some shit? and King Louis and all this. Right. Like, would make you pass, would make you pass on me.

Did you just not, you never got a good answer for that question? Because, yeah. Yeah, it was like, it was like, like basically,

damn near every rapper lying about being a drug dealer at some point in their life or acting like they were some kind of street boss. Yeah. The labels have never really turned their back on them in the past. Yeah, and then they had shot,

then they signed Bobby Smarter. I don't know. He just, he just, like, he just like passed on it. Like, everything was set up. Radio, the radio, local radio station supporting the record.

The second record was starting to get put in mixed show. You know, everything was doing what it's supposed to do. And he had, you know, he had passed on it. And he had just signed, he had just signed. Well, he already had signed John Hart where you playing with the booty or whatever song he had. And it had signed him. how they was in the bay.

And his ANR came like, man, he was like, man, he was in front of the radio guy and everything. Like, man, we go sign, you're going to make this happen. And then at the end of the day, it never, it never transpired. And that's what, that was his reasoning that it came back from the A&R. Like, man, he's scared, man. He's scared that you like into selling drugs or something. Really? Like, how you get it, you know what I mean?

How you get your money and whatever. When you got into it? to the rap game, had you been very in the streets leading up to that, or would you say that you were? Yeah, I had been in the streets. I had been in the streets. You were really out there. You were really out there? I wouldn't.

I mean, yeah, my name was ringing. My name will always be, you know, ringing in the streets. But, I mean, it wasn't on no, one on no drugs and nothing like that, though. Okay. So, you know what I'm saying? It was on other side of stuff. Yeah. But, yeah, so that was just, just like a little crazy.

experience. Right, definitely. So then after that, are you actually spending most of your time in LA throughout your career, or are you spending time in the Bay as well? No, I mean, my whole career being I've been in the Bay. Okay. I had went, I ended up signing a deal with, I did a joint venture with BitCat records. He didn't want to start at Gucci. Right. Did he sign anybody else notable besides Gucci and you, or I don't really remember who else he had around that time? He, He signed like, I think it's a young Ralph. Oh, yeah, okay. He had Kaya signed that one time.

Oh, wow. Okay. He even had Rashida from Love and Hip Hop signed, like her first. He put out of her first project. First thing I knew about Big Cat was just hearing Gucci attack him on tracks going in on him back in the day. Yeah. But I was the artist that made them be cool again.

Oh, okay. Like me and him, me and Gucci hopped on some of my records, him and Big Cap. got back cool and then Gucci hopped on some of my shit so right I'm saying so that's kind of how that went and so that's how I was introduced to the you know south I had been in the south grinding that's I heard about me because I was in the south this is all grinding and so you know it was a work it was a radio promoter that I was working with um she was like I was the first California artist since MC Hammer to hit the to hit the Chitlin circuit yeah was that a goal of yours like if I want to blow up I'm going to try to appeal to this audience as well and not just

the area where I come from well yeah because technically we don't have any urban stations on the west coast right cameo is listening as ribnick but it's considered um urban station but it's on a ribnick panel right in place urban so we don't have no um on the west coast we don't have any urban stations I think at one point I think K-day was or used to be winning back I don't know back in the day or something. K-Day was considered urban. For the classic rap on us? Yeah, I don't know. They flipped and switched so many times. I can't tell you. But, I mean, when I was out, they were playing my music and they were

moving, but I don't know. You tapped in with Zathoven? Yeah, I'm good with Zaytow. Because I feel like that's Gucci's big connection to the bay in Northern California and shit. Yeah, because Zatobbin from the bay. Yeah. Yeah. And I heard he, I heard he was the one who told Gucci to do the tape with V nasty.

Oh, for real? I don't know. He got cast out. Warner was behind that. Yeah, I'm sure. Yeah, Warner was behind that because he had to deal with Warner. Right. Yeah, Warner Cat, or she had to deal with Warner casting him out to do that tape.

So during this whole time period, though, are you beefing with anyone or having any sort of street tension playing out in your music? No. No, that didn't happen to. That didn't happen to like, me and Filthy Rich had our little beef. Right. And so, we've been beefing for hell of years. Did that spark off because there was this controversy about you and some X years leaked these photos? Was that the thing that started this?

I feel that's what started it. Yeah. But he wants to say that my artist Raven Justice had put out a record called Slide Through. And him and Keith the Sneak was on a record. Now, me and Keith's sneak, like, brother. You feel me? So why would I take Kee can sneak off the record and take him off the record? What happened was the radio, the radio dude said he wanted Raven, he wanted Raven to do the

song solo just as R&B track. But at the time, me and Raven weren't really talking and we, like, around the time he made that song, we was kind of like beefing, like I really wanted fucking with him. And so I didn't even know that he was going to go get that track made, you know, doing the song. Like honestly, I had did a song a week prior to him doing the song, doing it. The same producer made

me a similar beat. Raven basically went back because he heard because we posted on Instagram. This is when Instagram had like a little 15 seconds. And I posted the song and it sounds dead on a slide through beat. So I guess he went to the dude, like, man, make me a beat like you make a funny. So he made

the beat or whatever and he went and got filthy and got Keith to get on the song. And I think Big Vime, cameo started playing on the radio. And so he was playing it on the radio. And then, and then basically, Raven came to me saying that, the dude that cameo playing a record.

And, but he said that the dude, I was talking to him by the cameo, he said he's going to work, you know, he's playing a record, whatever. And then basically ended up telling Raven that he wanted him to do, because he was talking to Raven by itself, because like I wasn't, like I told you,

I wouldn't really, me and Raven were really saying out of eye. He even told Filthy that. So basically he changed the song, and I guess he didn't tell him that he changed it. So at the end, they started playing a song. And what Filthy says is, Filthy Word says that Raven said that I told him to take him off the song. and Raven says he told him didn't tell him that. So there we go between

this one says this one, that one says that. But I never told the radio dude to take him off the record. I didn't take him to tell him to take none of the record. I actually told him that I think he should leave you know, Lee, Keith on the record, leave him on a record

because Keith, he got the, you know, keep got the streets. So, filthy rich one popping back then. Right. all this shit kind of comes back to like a misunderstanding well far as that far as that or whatever in terms of what started the whole tension yeah what started that and then when the ex put the little put the little picture shit out um at that time and then at that time period man we moved so me we moved so

me my crew moved so mean man nobody would nobody wouldn't wouldn't test us we put demos down on motherfuckers so my who didn't test me but what happened was us, my family, we, some of my, some of my family members who was with me, we had got into it and it was on the internet. But it was all kind of stem from the picture and shit, but we've already kind of had a little, little tension with my family members. So that kind of gave him the little juice to be able to do the little diss and no, not, no it ain't going to be no repercussions to it. Really? You know what I'm saying? And so, my husband says, man, I don't respond back to that nigga, man. He just, you know, he, he's trying to, he's trying to, he's trying to, he's

He's trying to get some fame. Trying to divide and conquer. Yeah, he's trying. He's, he's clout chasing because I was the, you know, at that time I was a big dog. I was the biggest rapper from Oakland. Right. You know what I'm saying? So, um, so basically, you know what I mean, I looked at dude.

It's just, you know, like, dude used to, like, dude, dude used to wear, dude used to, you know what I mean, when we was in a group, he came to our shows wearing our t-shirts and shit, you know what I'm saying? Right. Like, you know what I mean? That's my first time ever seen. saying this, they probably go, he'd probably go deny it, but it's a video of him wearing our t-shirts

and all that shit. And so, uh, so at the end of the day, I'm like, bro, that's a little, that's a little, like, you know what I'm saying, this dude used to wear our t-shirts and be with us and he could kick it with us, and I'm doing songs with him. I got like, I got like, shit.

I got like six or seven songs I did for him. You know what I mean? As soon as he, soon as he got his little Bentley or whatever, all right? I, he, he smashed straight to, from to the bay and we shot the video and all in the eyes. So I'm thinking we're good. So I'm like, man, fucking I'm about to do the diss song,

because I know all the type of shit about this dude. So that's what I went into. That's why I responded, because I'm like, man, I know all this shit about this, I'm from this clowning. So I just, so I just do the disc song, whatever. And it was really on some play. It was really, really on some play shit. It wasn't about, it wasn't no beef.

And we just going back and forth. It felt like a rap beef. Huh? It felt like a rap beef. It didn't feel like you were starting a gang war. Nah, it was, it was just, it was just a little, it was just a little, little thing going back and forth with me and dude. Right.

You know what I'm saying? It wasn't no, it wasn't no real, just, it wasn't no real, no, it wasn't no, fucking it wasn't no real rap beat. Because it might be hard for some people that, like, understand because we're so used to seeing real deal, street beefs play out in rap music. But I feel like at that time, it was much more common to just have a rap beef and to have it play out in bars and not. necessarily have like a real life element so that's what i'm gonna tell you in the bay area no beef

none of the beach that's going on that's surrounding that situation our situation and i say no bee nobody ain't nobody got touched by no other rapper and nothing like that you know what i'm saying with no beef um what ended up happening was i'll end up going over to um i ended up going to to the i end up going over there over that area to shoot a video because i was just like man i'm about to I'm about to go shoot the video or whatever. And this before you did it, it didn't seem like that big a deal to you. Because like sometimes when people retell the story, it's like as if you were on some crazy renegade shit, like going into a fucking war zone and that you should have known that this was going to be. Man, I had dudes from seminary with me.

I know a gang of dudes from seminary like that I'm good with. I mean, seminary dudes used to rock with his hour shows. So it wasn't, it wasn't nothing like that to me. You know what I'm saying? And it wasn't nothing like that to me. So I went over there. And at the same time, when I went over there, the people that had with me who had stress, whatever, whatever,

they was at one part. And what happened was the chick with me, she had to use the bathroom. So I had drove to the little block and made a quick little right. And she went and squatted or whatever. And then the cameraman was like, man, let's shoot right here. So I go to shoot. But I ain't paying attention to see some dudes. Right.

That was down there. And so what ended up happening was, What ended up happening was a dude, a dude walked up or whatever. And I think he said something with dudes to ask a dude, what's y'all doing? Dude said we're shooting a video. Then he walked up to my other partner, he said, I think he said he tried to shake dude hand. Dude said, back back.

Next thing you know, he in my face. And he's like, what you're doing? You shooting a video about my partner? I'm like, who was you? You feel me? So I'm like, on, so I'm like, you know, I get defensive like, who was you? You know what I mean? And so pretty much how I went,

we usually changing words back and forth if it's talking like basically and I'm like, you got a gun on you or something. And it was really the one where, it's really the one where if I were known where dudes was coming and knew we had a gun on him or something,

I could have got a body there. I could have just bounced around or something. I mean, at the same time, it's like we, you face to face with somebody. I'm face to face with another man. So we just going back and forth and then I'm,

and I'm like I felt he got a gun on him you know what I'm saying but I mean it's like I ain't go back down you know what I mean like it's just like you just in that situation and so then I so I went like this hey hey hey to my people's like that and so

that's when he that's when he like that's when I seen him reach and so I like I like back pedal like I was going to try to you know try to run I don't even think I got a chance to run like my back pedal and I got hitting the neck right here in the neck got here in the neck

I hit in the chest and I got raised in the chest and I got three times in the leg and I hit five times total and shit I was laying on the ground like man I'm dead he killed me and then all my people start running

you know after the shooting and this guy was just out of there he didn't stick around to follow up on any of this okay they ran off and my people who started running up they ran off in the cuts somewhere I don't know where the fuck they went

and so I'm just laid out on the ground I'm not feeling of my pain I'm thinking I'm dead And so they call him 911. And so they like some, like pick him up and let's just take them to the hospital. So they pick me up and they put me in a car. And all I do after that, all I remember is the next thing I think I, the next thing I remember is my ex-wife.

All I remember my ex-wife, like, grabbed my hands and you're a gangster. You got shot tonight. You're going to make it. You got to make it. You got your kids. You got this and that. You're strong. You're going to make it. And I'm like, she like, squeeze my hand if you hear me. I'll squeeze her hand. And then I just going through it. Now I'll take you back. They took me. They smashed. They smashed me to Highland Hospital. They said they got me there like probably in like from shooting, probably like six to seven minutes. They got me to the hospital. Now, when they get me out the back, they're trying to put me on the gurney.

My boy said he tried to pick me up. He said, I was like dead. When he got me, he said he tried to get me, and my body was his limp, and he dropped me on my face. So all my teeth got knocked out. I had to get my mandibles. I had to get screws and got metal rods. I never heard anything like that. You get an additional injury that bad from just getting dropped during all this?

That's crazy. Yeah, I dropped in my head. My jaw wire, you know, my jaw got metal metal, metal through all three, all three of the mandible. Holy fuck. I was D-O-A. They said, you know, hit me doing check, catch suppressions. They said, the dude, the dude actually did, they didn't get a cold for clearance yet. He risked his job with the gurney.

Right. He hopped on top of me. Brian? He was giving me to who Brian. Yeah. Shout out Brian. He was giving me CPR. And shit, they took me to the back, and they brought me back.

And so they was trying to, then so then after that, they were trying to, I don't know how long it was into it. I can't tell you, but they were trying to take me off the ventilator. So I hear them, they wake me up. I hear him arguing, like, he's not ready. and, you know, our doctors argue back and forth with each other. So they try to take the ventilator out. And when they take the ventilator out, I think I'm breathing. I'm breathing. They're like, breathe, breathe, I'm breathing.

And they like, he's about the cold. He's about the cold. We got to put him back. He's not ready. And next thing, I know I started feeling him putting the thing in my throat, and I just blocked out. And I woke, I ended up waking back up. And they had to revive me again.

Wow. And so then, after that, after that, I ended up waking up or whatever. All my people's coming to, you know, coming to see me and shit like that. And it was just, you know, that shit was crazy. But that shit, they had nothing to do with filthy. Nothing like that. It was just, it was just some shit in the streets of Oakland. Right.

Me being at the wrong place, you know what I'm saying, going there and me really just not paying attention to my surroundings Your read on that dude is that he was more like a You know, it's not like there was an assassin hired. He was just a dude who thought he was protecting the block or some shit. They never caught him or anything like that I don't know what happened with it. I don't know He ain't got caught I know I ain't got caught from my knowledge about that now For that, yeah, who knows what I have a crackhead killed him with something. I don't know But it's not it's not some of you ever seen before or you ever seen before or you have ever saw after that or anything no never seen none of that crazy yeah so I mean at that

once how long was it before you were like fully conscious and able to comprehend what it happened and and was it like a media like the next day you were you were conscious what was going on or they have you knocked out for a while or some shit and I was a CPR I was I mean I was in ICU for a couple weeks really yeah and then I After that, I went to rehab for like some months. And when did they start to have the conversation with you about being paralyzed? Like, how did that go? Man, that shit was crazy.

They wasn't supposed to tell me, I guess. My family wanted I guess supposed to tell me or something. Some lady I said, man, can you, I said, can you help me out the bed? I got to go use the bathroom or some silly ass shit. I said I was doped up. And then she's like, you paralyzed. you can't get out the bed. Wow.

And so that's how I found out from some random person, random nurse of me saying, let me out the bed to use the bathroom. How did you feel when you heard that? Shit, man. At first, I mean, I just kind of took it like whatever. Like, I'm a nonchalot person, so I really don't be too emotional. You know what I'm saying? but I think I think I think I think I think I think I probably I think I

probably like eventually like that night or some cried or something about it and then and then when I got when I got up and they told me now when I got up and I was actually talking to my family they told me that I died twice that that that died or whatever yeah the whole story then I took another thinking to route on it I started thinking about my kids. Right. I started thinking about my family.

So I'm like, shit, I'm paralyzed, but shit, I'm still here. Mm-hmm. Feel me? And that's, that's what I rode with. That was, that was it. I'm still here. I'm still here. You know what I'm saying?

You know, live my life and do what I got to do. And, you know what I'm saying? And shit, I bounce, I bounce back. Back, bounce back. Doing my music. Shout out, E-40 had shot me a, you know, shot me a song or whatever. Yeah, like he was your first song back. He got on your first song back. What was your relationship with him prior to that that he would look out like that? I mean, I knew, I mean, I had known 40, fairly years or whatever.

Okay. Been around him and shit, we've been cool. But he was like, he really wanted to show his support by getting on a song with you right away after the incident, right? I mean, I can't really say when, you know, we didn't really talk about it. It's just, you know, I'm like, man, I need you on this song. Okay. And, you know, he got on it, you know what I'm saying?

Right. But I'm probably, from his side of it, it probably was like, you know what I'm saying? Dude going through a lot, I'm going, you know, look out. You know what I'm saying? Did you feel like the public opinion was sympathetic? Or did you feel like because of the circumstances where you were filming a video on somebody else in neighborhood, was there like an attitude about it right away where it was like almost like you were asking for it?

Well, in the beginning, getting in. It was all passionate, people thinking I'm dying. Everybody's about to die. Everybody team kaffani, this and that and that and that and that. He was my best friend and all that. But then the internet, people start talking, was talking shit, like, once I got back. You know what I'm saying? But, like, I mean, my family, like, everybody that I know, everybody that I ever known came to the hospital.

Like, my house, out from the time, you could visit to the time. in you know what I'm saying? Muffer was coming. All my ex, all the chicks from junior high school girlfriends all the way, all the way up was coming to see me. You know what I'm saying? So, I mean, it was showing a lot of, everybody's showing me a lot of love. That's fascinating, though, that you said that, like, they thought you were dead, so they were acting a certain way, and then you made it, and did you feel like a lot of those same people who were swearing that you were their best friend weren't necessarily trying to then be around you once you survived? Well, you got to understand. You got to understand, you got to understand maybe 10 days prior when that picture came out, everybody was calling me gay. You know what I feel of me?

What was the picture? Was it just you joking around with your ex? Nah, what it was, I was, I had just got out the shower. Okay. And pretty much I got out of the shower. And I was laying in a fetal position. I didn't have my clothes on. I was laying in a fetal position. And I was on my laptop. And she said something. something hell of funny. She said something to call my name and said something hell of funny. I looked at her. And so I went even tripping about the camera, taking a picture. And that was it. She just had to pick, you know, she just had the shit. And so that's how that was. And what happened that she decided that she wanted to try to use this against you?

Well, what happened was, what happened was she, it was her birthday. And I had put together dope-ass party for it and all that. You know, I'm coming home, drunk, trying to get something, and she was on some other shit. So I'm like, fucking, I'm like, I'm going. I'm like, man, fuck it. I'm about to go kick it with another, I'm about to go kick with another bitch, that shit.

Matter of fact, I'm going to put him on Instagram. So the next day, the next day, it was a Sunday. I went and kicked it. It was his girl birthday. When the chick I messed with, we'll talk to, whatever, another chick. There's like four chicks, and my partner, his chick was there. So it was like four girls.

I just took a picture with him. I was at Ruth Chris and made some post. And she called me, she called me, like, she called me probably, like, five minutes later. Like, nigger, you're embarrassing me with you, with you, woo. I'm not to embarrass you. Yeah, you better take that picture down on me and embarrass you. And I'm saying, you know, if you be, woo, hang up the phone. The next thing, next year I know, probably about 10 minutes later, my boy, like,

nigger, who's this on your page? I'm like, what? And I look, I'm like, oh, shit. It was on your Instagram? Oh, Lord. And then it went to my Twitter. Everything is connected. It went to probably my Twitter and my Facebook.

Right. But all I did was I got the phone. She had changed my password, so I had to go through my email, changed that. She didn't have my email. So I was able to change that. I erased it off Instagram. But I never erased it off Twitter because I didn't know.

But that shit was already, that shit went. Vlad Page. That she had about $3 million. On Vlad Page, I have all $3 million. 3 million views. Wow. I'm pissed off at him, by the way. I noticed.

Yeah, I'm pissed off at him by the way, man. Because, I mean, if there was anyone who wasn't familiar with your story, they certainly have been reminded of it because Vlad... He keeps bringing the show. He's probably brought it up in like 10 different interviews that I've seen. But the thing about... See, the problem is, though, this was started the last beef with me and dude. Right.

Was that him bringing shit up? The fact that he posted the pictures in the first place? Because you gave him his first... The first interview. after you got shot right yeah yeah and then he interviewed me when i was in jail when i had called my fed case how long how many years ago was that like two years or not he interviewed me that was like uh 13 i got i got shot in 2013 the end of the end of uh the end of 2013 and then the fed case was what year the fed case was uh i ended up i had to go down like i went down like a year later oh it was

only a year later okay there's a year later than i did three years so did you get caught off for shit that you were doing before you got shot more or less yeah damn yeah that's fucked up yeah yeah yeah so early that was i don't know how much you could say but that was like early era fraud type shit now everybody's on it but you were ahead of his time yeah yeah yeah yeah i'm kind of on pretrial right now about some shit i can't talk about i saw that there's a new case but yeah uh man i can't talk about it yeah it's it's a it's a it's a a a gag order. But you know, you know what I mean, you can read up on it. It's in all the newspapers, whatever. You can read up on it or whatever. Yeah. I read a little bit, but,

you know, best of luck with all that for sure. Yeah, I'm good. What, uh, but okay, so you did that interview with Vlad and then what, what sparks the beef after that is just the fact that you kept bringing it up or was there something before that? Yeah, he kept bringing it up, and then it's time he had to bring it up with lavish D and you like all you two, anything with between, uh, you and Filthy Rich, something always happening. with somebody and then, well, we don't know, you probably heard about this. And the way he'd be bringing up, I'm so sad story, such a sad story. And, bro, it's not, and I don't, nobody don't need to feel sorry for me, feeling me,

I'm living my life, I'm still doing my thing. You know, it's not having to be paralyzed. You mean, I go through what I go through, deal what I got to deal with. But it's like, keep on bringing that shit up. I still got, I still got, I still got, I still got boys, family members. that's still mad about that situation. You see what I'm saying? So that kind of bring up some stuff to where

it can get some shit going on. It gets somebody to go, want to do something to filthy. You feel me? Right. Based on the fact that they keep on bringing that up. You know what I'm saying? Because I got a gang of people that love me, that love for me and do things for me.

And you know what I'm saying? And nobody knows what goes on in the streets and what goes on behind closed doors or whatever. So you know what I'm saying? At the end of the day, the internet go talk, he's going to do what they do. You know what I'm saying? But we found me after, I mean, just after all the little shit,

we finally like, you know what I'm saying, ended the beef. So it is officially over at this point? Yes. I mean, we, we, he's going through, he's going through and he caught his fed case or whatever. I never wish jail upon nobody. And I was just on the thing they was talking about it because somebody sent me to paperwork.

Right. I didn't even know he's in jail. So nobody knew even jail, but somebody sent me to paperwork. Right. And so, you know, a court, and then they sent somebody else to paperwork. So we just talking, you know, talking about the shit. She was heated for a while, because I'm not going to lie. Him doing an interview in a wheelchair was one of the more disrespectful things I've seen in my time as a rap journalist.

Yeah, doing that bullshit, all that shit, you know what I'm saying? So at the end of the day, it's like, you know what? At the end of the day, you know what I'm saying? Somebody will end up getting hurt. You feel? Yeah. You know what I'm saying? And so at the end of the day, at the end of day, he just made itself look bad because the internet, at the end of the day, you already know what people will do behind closed doors.

There's never been one person to ever come disrespecting me in front of my face. Right. I've never been disrespecting in front of my face, no nothing. So I'm not worried about none of that. That did stand out to me a lot. But then at the same time, with all the shit that you see all these drill rappers doing this shit these days, I mean, nothing should really surprise me because that, that situation stands. out a lot maybe because it was like 10 years ago that situation seems like it happens all the fucking time right now like in terms of all these kids in New York

and Chicago and stories that are just as bad as yours if not worse I mean that it's like way too common of a story at this point yeah I mean it's common man that's another reason why I'm like that's another reason why in our city our city is so much stuff going down it's like you know if we could squads If we could squash a little beef or whatever, or, I mean, to me, it wasn't really just a beef. It ain't like nobody. We used to always talking shit to each other,

you know what I'm saying? I mean, but it's tension. We haven't seen each other. You know what I couldn't tell you what my actions would be if I would have seen him. I can't tell you what I would do. I mean, you know what I'm saying? Or try to do.

So at the end of the day, you know what I'm saying? I'm just, I'm grown. grown, grown man, and all that shit, that shit, that shit just give people, you know what I'm saying? All that shit is to give people lives, you know what I'm saying? Like, all that shit is like people, all that shit is giving people, giving people on wanting entertainment, you know what I mean, at the end of the day. And so I just, so, you know what I'm saying, when he, when he was like, man, you really want to, you want to, you want to, you want to just squash this.

I'm sorry, like, man, shit, man, we squash it. I mean... How'd that conversation get initiated, though? He reached out through mutual friends or... No, we was arguing on the internet. Oh, okay. We was arguing on... On live?

On live. Okay. This is one of those conversations. There was, like, enough conversations that you guys arguing, that I wasn't sure which one to watch at a certain point, yeah. We used arguing, yeah. We used arguing on live. And then, he's like, man, you want to just...

You want to just squash this, man? We really ain't be... Whatever he said. I'm like, shit. I ain't tripping. You know what I mean? Like, it is what it is. When you sort of like in the weeks or months after you got shot and everything,

where was your brain at? Were you thinking about revenge? Were you thinking about like pure just anger and rage? Or when did your brain start to like kind of accept it and maybe start thinking about peace or maybe just thinking about moving past it? Like what was that process like for you? Oh, yeah. I thought, oh, yeah, I was on one of them.

I mean, I was sliding. Right. And we was, we was sliding through, you know what I'm saying? So, you know what I mean? But, you know, I had to talk with some mutual people. And, you know what I'm saying? It was like, you know what I'm saying? You need to be cool.

You know what I already know what it is, the feds and all this. And, you know what I'm saying? And the feds, when they were trying to, you know, come talk to me and all that, they're saying whoever shot me is going to be a Fed case, you know, it's going to be a Fed case and all this and that. So me trying to figure out who did this or, you know, me around trying to, you know what I mean, trying to be on some shit. They basically warned you not to retaliate? No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. They said that, they said that. They're encouraging you to talk.

Yeah, they were asking questions, but I could barely. you know, I was out of it, so I didn't know what the hell, you know, really what they were talking about. But they was just saying that the case, the person who shot me, if they were found and convicted, it would be a federal case.

You know what I'm saying? That's what they were basically saying. Right. And then also we had to address the thing, too, me and him had to address while he's live because when I was locked up and when I was in jail, that said that his brother shot me and I snitched on his brother.

So we had confirmed it, we had confirmed it with a big homie, confirmed it and got on the internet and spoke on it, and that that was false because me and Phil was on the phone with each other or whatever. And then, you know, so for the record, for the record, we got there and put it on the record like, did I, did I, did your brother shoot me? Nah, did I snitch, you don't understand on your brother? Nah, you know what I'm saying?

It's the kid like, because it was a website. It's a website free J-Bay and they got all this bullshit talking about he shot me and all that. He shot me and I snitched on him and all this shit. And that's kind of like the standard shit that we've seen now with all the drill rappers and stuff where somebody gets shot. A whole bunch of people want to take credit for it. A whole bunch of people want to say that so-and-so snitched is like all this messiness that comes from it. And a lot of times none of it is anything that they could prove. It just makes it messier.

Yeah. I'm weighing motherfucker in Minnesota. Yeah. Locked up in Minnesota. I'm wearing where I go and with courtroom I go to. Just say, who shot? Say that his brother shot me. So, you know what I'm saying?

But then at the same time, I was still, I was still just mad about it because I felt like, shit, motherfuckering didn't discredit it or nothing like that. At the same time, you was just sitting around lingering for years. Right. You know what I mean? So, you know, at the end of the day, the internet is never,

is undefeated. So no matter what, you'll get, you always go get, you always go get, you always go have these clowns that's hiding behind the internet talking shit.

Right. It'll be in the comments now if there's right here talking shit. And then, you know, but at the same time, when I do my positive, when I'm doing my positive shit on my page,

doing what I do, is all positive. Right. It's never negative. The only time, the only time I get something negative is, only time I get something negative is when

the only time I get something negative is when there's something when me and him going back and forth and that's when I get you know all the negative you know

the negative feedback and when did you kill the beef like a year ago or it wasn't that long ago right what the beef killing in terms of you

and filthy and everything like that that ended two weeks ago two weeks that's it holy shit yeah two weeks ago

two weeks ago it's funny it's funny because I was like we talking about, yeah, you can't go, you can't go to, like, kept on, always kept on making references about rappers, can't go to field, go to seminary and all this and that, then I got shot, you know what? I'm like, you know what? I'm going to go to seminary and shoot a video.

Fuck it. So I went to seminary and shot a video. At the end of the day, nobody owned these blocks. None of us own property on that block. It's a, it's a public area. I'm from Oakland. I'll go wherever I want to go. So I went over there and shot a video, and I was that. Where he shoot his videos at? I went right over there and shot,

shot some scenes, saw some scenes. Like I was going through that night, that night I was that one night. It was just more of a thing, like, you know what I'm saying? Even those will get backlash, because you never, never anything you do is go always be some shit like motherfuckers. will go talk about you know what i'm saying but even if it's just a tiny bit of offense that the fans

are going to make it more than it originally was right yeah they always like basically they talk shit like oh you ain't never did nothing or you ain't going to go over there then when you go over there oh you're stupid you went over there what happened to you look what happened to you last time you're trying to get yourself killed and you know what i'm saying all this shit like no i'm not going to get myself killed i know what i'm doing you know i mean i just i just that one night i just happened to slip up right you know what i'm saying it's crazy the shit that people come compare it to because I can't remember every time that Vlad has brought up your shit, but one thing that I compare it to, or that I think he might have compared it to at one point. There was a kid in L.A. This kid, Blockboy, with two C's in the block. And he basically was on a campaign for a while. I don't know if you know about this, but he was violating every hood in L.A. pulling up to all the worst projects, neighborhoods and just doing these little videos, talking shit, making fun of people who got killed over there, yada, yada. He starts getting a little bit of a name for himself doing that. Boom, they kill him. and you know but he was really going out there he wasn't a rapper or nothing he wasn't a gangbanger

he's just going to people's hoods disrespecting and when that kid got killed i don't know if i ever saw one rip you know like nobody gave a fuck because he violated the protocol that like runs the whole city that like you just don't you don't violate these blocks you don't talk shit about it it seems kind of unfair to like compare what happened with your situation to that even though I feel like to some people, they sort of like conflate the two things of, like, you were really going there and saying, nah, fuck this whole neighborhood and some hero came out and shot you or some shit when it was really not like that, right? No, no. At that time, at that time, honestly, he wouldn't, at that time out there, he wouldn't even, he wouldn't even had seminary like that. Like, you know what I'm saying?

His whole little campaign really blew up after that situation. Right. You know what I'm saying? He kind of really blew up after that situation. He already was like starting to do, like doing certain things. But like I said, in Oakland, like I started flossing. And, you know what I mean? Like I was the boy having all the year old whips, all the Bittlies and moderates

and doing all that shit. So I've been done that, been there, done that. So, you know what I'm saying? At this point, I'm not hanging on that dude's success, you feel? I'm happy for him, you know what I'm saying, putting on for Oakland. You know what I'm saying? I'm still putting on for Oakland. You know what I'm saying? I'm still doing my thing.

So, you know what I'm saying? At the end of the day, it's like, it's just something that happened. And it's a lot of politics that end up happening between, for that situation with, you know, like, you know, with artists working with each other and different stuff like that. So it's more of a situation with me, like, I'm going to kill the beef. Like, we all trying to, like, we basically everybody like, you know what I'm saying, kill all the beef in the politics. So, you know what I'm saying? Everybody in the city just, you know what I'm saying?

Rock out and try to, you know, try to make something out of Oakland, try to try to get these kids to, you know what I'm saying, to be able to be mainstream artists and be successful like me and do, you know what I'm saying? You know what I'm saying? So, you know, from Oakland, out of my generation, you know what I'm saying? Probably one of the, between Mr. Fab and a couple other people, I mean, from Oakland, I'm talking my generation, it ain't really nobody that really was that successful out of Oakland, only a few of us.

Right. So, you know what I'm saying? So pretty much, pretty much I had my success. I mean, you know what I'm saying? I was all over radio, all over TV. I didn't do everything there is to do as a rap. as an artist. I've done everything and I'm continually doing things and climbing to higher heights. Did it fuck up your motivation to make music or how long did it take before you felt

at home again on the mic? Like, how did that process go? It was instant. I went right back to making music. Music is my therapy. Music is what keeps me going. Like music is what keep, is what would keep me, it's what really keeps me going, you know what I'm saying? As far as I always want to, you know, like like you know what I'm saying just doing everything putting it out there working on stuff you know what I'm saying just starting like my me and my producer over there DC we and we cook up we cook up from scratch we cooking up from scratch cutting samples doing our thing you know what I'm saying so I just been I just been on that and then I got my little other artists that's part of you know

Ice King music BFA we still we still you know still doing our thing and I'm always out trying to help other artists come up in the game and help other artists out. You know what I'm saying? I always been cool. I ain't never been like, I ain't never been a dude that's been, you know, cocky and nothing like that. I always been a cool dude and somebody to reach out to. Especially like people who are paralyzed, you know what I'm saying, in certain situations. If they hit me up on Instagram and DM me or something, I see it.

I always take the time out to talk to them and respond to them and stuff like that. And also go out to different places and talk to people who are paralyzed and, you know, saying, and be a motivation. Right now, my whole thing now has been a motivation, you know what I'm saying? People seeing me doing his video with you as a motivation to like, oh, yeah, he, you know, with Adam 22, he, nose jumper, you know what I'm saying? You know, you're doing this thing and it's motivation, you know what I'm saying? because you don't see too many people in wheelchairs,

rappers in wheelchairs out, you know, really just, you know, and mainstream, you know, doing anything. Right. So, like, even with Keep the Sneak got paralyzed and shot. And how many years after your situation was that? He got shot in 2017. Okay. And so, like, his first little show back, I went with him

and, you know, made him get on stage and go do his shit. you know what I'm saying and got him back rocking you know I'm saying and you know I gave him a lot of game and told him with the the stuff to expect and you know we talk on the phone you know talking on a lot and you know discuss you know different stuff about what's going on with him what's going on with me and there's a different situations that we that you know that we got going on that we deal with right I mean I got this thing called a starting up as a called hip hop with disabilities.

So I'll be looking out for that. Really, really I just want to put, I really just want to put a spotlight on that, that. And hip hop with disabilities is not also just physical disabilities, mental disabilities, mental health and everything like that too. Right. You know what I'm saying? Because you've got a lot of people that has mental health issues also

and don't have nobody to talk to or, you know, do different things and when you want to kill a self or some crazy stuff like that. So, you know what I'm saying? So I hadn't made a post where I was saying, I'm about to kill myself, but I was, I was playing. And I said it at the end of the thing, like I'm telling the hit the suicide hotline

and all the stuff, but people really thought, because, you know, people don't pay attention to listen to everything. Right. They start really thinking and saying that, I'm about to kill myself. And so I had a gang of people hit me up, and I'm like, nah, no, I'm,

I'm doing this to help somebody out, you know, other people out to do things like that. But I'm just tapping into, you know, more, just into everything, man, just tapping into the whole mental illness thing, you know, and the disabilities and just trying to be a, just trying to be a booklet information just to let people know, you know, you know what I'm saying. Life is good. It's good to wake up, man. live life. Because I'm curious how your mental health was affected through going through the process of realizing you were

paralyzed and everything because you must have had to really adjust a lot of your expectations in life or a lot of the things, a lot of your plans, a lot of how you view yourself. A lot of that stuff kind of changes once you're in the wheelchair, right? Like, as far as how your mind was doing through all that,

did you go through a lot of these like real depression? Did you get depressed? Did you go through these cycles? Um, and... It's got to be hard to just go through that and jump right back into hustling and grinding like it was the same, right? I went back. I kind of went back. I kind of went back and was on my grind.

Right. I mean, me on my grind and me being on my grind is like take me away from even thinking about it. I don't even think about being paralyzed. Like, you know what I mean? Like, I don't... Like a lot of people, okay, so safe. for instance, right? A lot of people, a lot of people like me, before I was paralyzed, I'd be in the bed. I used to be in the bed a lot, watching TV or doing my work, doing what I got to do.

You know what I'm saying? So now that I be in the bed, you know, I'd be in the bed, it don't really bother me. Sometimes when I'm in my wheelchair or my scooter or something all day, I'd be sore as hell at the end of the day, being in that shit all day. Like, you know what I'm saying? Like today, I'm going to be sore as hell when I get home because flying on it, you know, flying on the plane and doing all that. I'm gonna be tired of shit. You know what I mean? A body will be hurting like hell, but you know what I'm saying? So at the end of the day, it's like,

it's like some time to be able to just chill and laying in the bed and be comfortable. It's cool, you feel me? So, and then also, you know, sitting in wheelchairs and all that for too long and stuff. You can get bad sores, I mean, like sores and shit like that. You got to be, you know, watch out. I got a good temperate bed and I'm good. Don't have no bad sores. on none of that.

And so, I mean, honestly, I try to, I try to creep from stressing and not really, I try to, if I, if I, if I feel like I'm stressing about something, I try to think about something positive. You know what I'm saying? Because I'm dealing with other situations, you know, as we speak. And, and I just, you know, I just, I just, I just always try to take my mind and think on something positive. Right. Because there's always going to be, it's always something, you got to, you know what I'm saying? You got to turn them to negative. to a positive, you know what I'm saying? Because life is all about how you view it. It's like you could very easily wake up every day and think, you know,

fuck I'm in a wheelchair, etc. Or like you said, you could wake them and think, I could see my kids grow up. And if those bullets hit a little bit different, if the bullet went a couple inches to the side, then I'm not here. And I don't get to see my kids grow up. It's like that's something so massive to be thankful for, even in the face of dealing with, obviously, being paralyzed, one of the worst injuries that you could deal with. I mean, the fact that you're still here, and you got, I mean, I got a shitload of friends.

I'm sure you got a shitload of friends who got killed, overdosed, et cetera. It's like the fact that you still have the opportunity to do all these things is, you know, it's kind of incredible. Exactly. I mean, make you, it, what really, we're really, like, honestly, honestly that made it the easiest was to know that I died. knowing that if they would have waited for the ambulance, I would have died. Because as we notice, we all notice, when you see all these rappers getting shot,

there where they're dead on the ground, they're on the ground still alive, but guess what? Police trying to talk to him. As they said, Nipsey Hustle was still alive after you got shot. They said for like, what, 30 minutes or something. But why wasn't he rushed to hospital? Or was he?

I don't know. But that's the thing. When it comes to like dealing with people with when it deal with the with black and brown people. Why can't even see black and brown people? Why I say everybody, man, the police don't hear about nobody's shit. That is legal here. You know what I'm saying? They ain't doing nothing.

and the amylums and the amylums cannot will not go the amylums will be right right a block away but they can't do nothing until the police come and sometimes just because it's a crime scene

yeah because it's dangerous and then another thing is the police is not going to come in the crime scene until they have bag up you're not going to see one hero cop going there somebody got shot and go run

up and run up and go try to check on the victim, they're more likely to go chase out to the criminal. Because when they get to you, all they're trying to ask you is what's their name, who did it. Right. See what I'm saying? So I would tell anybody out there, if you get shot, one of your friends get shot, do not wait for no police, take them to the hospital. You better off saving them. You're taking a chance. You better off. They're better off for you to take them because if you wait on the authorities to come their chances are dying

is real real you know what I mean because if I will it might be a lot of people still here if they wouldn't have waited on the ambulance. I know stories of people I used to be I was part owner of clubs club as club was popping club club club 17 in Oakland and

two two dudes shot each other boom boom boom and one dude one dude one dude, two dudes, it was a total of three dudes that I killed, I mean, got shot. One of the dudes who shot himself is people drove him to the hospital, and then other two that stayed there. The police was on the corner and drove off, and it took about 20 minutes for the police to come, for them to come there. The dude already had passed away. They saved the one dude,

and he was alive for 20 minutes. That's crazy. Yeah. How does this change, like when you, Me younger artists or when you, you know, see artists or, you know, still in the streets or whatever, like, how does it change how you talk to them or what you, what message you want to get across to them? I try to get across to him. Like, man, that life is precious. Like, you don't need, like, like, like right now, like, right now with one of the dudes that I'm talking to, I see getting all these views and he got the potential to, you know, he got the potential to actually do something. And it makes some money because he, because he gathering and following, but it's like you need to kind of change it up what you're doing, but still do what you do, but just kind of switch it up about, try to get it away from, get it away from being, tell your stories, but don't tell the story. Don't make these stories be so true to where your beef, like your beasts, like, take, get out of those beasts. Right. But just still tell a story because that same story that you're telling, people going to want to listen. Because they probably might think it's a real story, but you're making it up.

You know what I'm saying? Tell that same story, but not what you're doing. Change it up. And that's my thing that I be talking to these youngsters and trying to tell them, like, when I talk to them. Because, like, our generation, like, my generation coming up, we were able to kind of, like, do songs with the past generation. know, there's like a lot of the artists that came from the Hafeu movement and artists past the Haifu movement, we still do songs with Too Short, Yuck Mouths and all, you know, barrier, you know, the barrier legends or whatever, you know what I'm saying.

And now our generation, my generation, we're not really doing songs with these younger artists. Like it's kind of like this impacts. It's not just the, like the barrier sound and music is not the same. It's not the same no more. And like Oakland more divided than ever. Yeah. You know? The whole is divided.

It's like I've had artists in here where I were kind of talking to him like, do you think there could ever be an artist who fucks with people on both sides of shit? And they're just like, no. Like it ain't happening. You know, unless you're completely, they were like if you're a white boy, maybe if you're like a Mexican type rapper who don't necessarily affiliate with the, like maybe. But in terms of like the average rapper, it's like, It's more divided than ever.

They can't even, you know, you can't touch both sides of the same time a lot of times. Exactly. That's the problem. Me coming up, me coming up as a rapper, we used all together. And mob and making money. You know what I'm saying? These dudes can't even do shows because they'll get shot up. I can still, you know, I'm still able to go tour and go get my money.

You know what I'm saying? And it's sad that they came. That's the worst part of, you know, that's the worst situation. like they can't even really make no money like you get these views on youtube or whatever but you know youtube i mean you know you got to have a podcast for people to be listening to you watching it for a long period of time to make some money with a quick video you're not trying to make no money on a quick video you know you might get a name on youtube slash in the streets slash whatever but i mean are you really like building a business or a career exactly not so much a

lot of times you know that audience is there to hear you do one thing violate the other side of town etc etc and waiting for somebody to die that's a sketchy thing to build a career on top of you know very sketchy very very very sketchy it just occurs to me that like the young kids it's like it's so impossible to make them understand to think long term you know it's occurred like there's been multiple times where i pulled up to people's hoods and shit and like i see right on on front street you got all these big strong dudes with crazy tattoos and drugs, whatever. And there'll be another couple guys who are in wheelchairs. And it's like, there's a part of me that wants to like tell these dudes who think that they're

fucking Superman like, bro, like you do not want to like you can't be this way forever. Like you got your home, your homie right there in the wheelchair is a sign of what's going to happen to you if you keep playing around with this. And that's like if you're lucky. And it's like if they don't get a headshot. And it's hard to like get that through to kids. They just, they all think they're fucking invincible. And we were we were both the same.

way probably yeah exactly exactly see out here out here they probably see it more like more likely seeing people in wheelchairs and stuff like shit like that in Oakland you I mean I don't know in Oakland I mean it's a lot of people it's a lot of people it's a lot of people it's a lot of people that get paralyzed then people really know like you got think about it like Oakland this year we had we got like the most murders in a long time we like well over a hundred but think about so we got a hundred murders. Think about all the, think about all the shootings that we didn't have, and they missed. And the thing about it is, is if they're using hollow tips, the holo tips is we most likely paralyze you.

Because when the hollow tip hits you, it spreads. So, and that's what the first bullet that hit me in my neck did, is spread it. And so, but I don't know what happened if it didn't do that because it, you know what I mean? and went through my neck. And it barely missed my jugglers. But when it spread it, I'm like, you know what I'm saying? They like, it barely almost missed my heart too. So I don't know.

You know what I'm saying? It is there with it, you know, God has his plan. It is what it is. But it's crazy. But like, you know, in the bay, in the bay, you don't really see a lot of people in wheelchairs. But there's a lot of people in wheelchairs because they're not, they're not, you know, not coming outside. And then another thing is when people don't know.

is that when you when you get shot a lot of people these dudes that's getting shot they don't got they family you don't got money in the hood they don't got no money so if they stay in an apartment that got stairs and all that they don't got nowhere to go so they may end up in a rest home yeah because they don't got nowhere to stay you know what I'm saying you know lucky for me I've you know a big support system I'm able to you know live comfortably so and do what I want to do but It's other people not so lucky. I came up across a dude that was, he was paralyzed and been at the, he's at the little thing at there for like two years.

Because he was just, you know, when I was going there to the little rehab, he was just showing me some stuff, like, you know, showing me certain things on how to, you know, how to get in my wheelchair, easy and different stuff. And, you know, he had been there for literally, like, like two years because his family was was waiting to find a place that was accessible for him that didn't have no stairs to get in because where they had stayed at has stairs and they didn't have enough money to move yeah so it's crazy some real shit yeah so I'm just you know my thing now is

just to try to just keep the message out there and at the same time still I'm still doing my music and doing what I do right and you know I have a solid fan base so I'm able to you know I'm able to make a decent income and whatever and do what I do you know I'm saying doing my music and you know everything opening up so shows coming back and all that so yeah so and if you're making a million dollars off a sweetie record then that sounds like a pretty decent income oh over over over some time over some time but still you know that's it could be it could be it could be faster you never you never know right is but but but um

Just from how they was analyzing it. It was like, yeah, you probably can make about a million dollars off this over the life of it, just off the life of the sinks and the movies, because it's all these movies. So, you know, movies, you get paid forever for that shit. Pray for sweetie. Pray her career goes great, and then you'll be eating good forever. Yeah, yeah, yeah, thank you, sweetie.

What's the stuff that helps keep your mind on track, whether it's, like, things that you do in your current day-to-day that helps keep your mind focused or is there certain things you tell yourself do you have a belief in a higher power or something like what what is it that helps keep you on track especially with the case hanging over your head the shit that you're dealing with now i mean what what keeps you aligned i just have a you know like i said i'm deeply rooted with my family um and um you know you know i pray to a higher power and you know what i'm saying and at the end of the day it's like you know, I'm here for a reason.

You know what I mean? I'm here for a reason. And at the end of that, I just, I just, I just, at the end of day, I just, I just, I just, I just don't worry about shit, man. I just, I just, I just, I just live, I just, I just live my life and I don't, I don't be tripped. I don't, I don't, I don't stress myself and over, overthink things and, and, and there's trip off small stuff. Like, I see people with tripping on small stuff. I'm like, man, the world is a whole lot of way bigger. Like, I always tell people, man,

there's always somebody in the worst situation than you and stop tripping on this petty shit. Like, you know what I'm saying? And my main thing is just not tripping on no petty shit and just being around people that, you know, love and care for me and just, you know, live my life and be chilling, you know what I'm saying? Corona kind of messed it up far as, you know what I'm saying,

and being able to just go out and do more things because I'm not really trying to catch it. I ain't trying to catch it. So I kind of like always kind of like stick around the house. But you know what I'm saying? Like I said, my main thing is being able to do my music every day. Kind of my music is taking me, take me into another, you know, another, another, you know, another world.

And then also I know that what I'm doing is something that's going to be, that it's something that's going to outlive. me you know what I'm saying and my my my my kids gonna be able to eat off my my success so that's my mom that's one of one of my main things was always to be able to say to get to build generational wealth and be able to and be able to make sure that my that my kids and should go that my name be able to live on and and and you know make sure that my kids is good and so that's that's the main thing just continuously put out music and

you know, to continue to collect those royalties and how that shit going out there and just, you know what I'm saying? Just keep my name living on, you know what I mean? That's kind of like how I feel about it is like, you know what I mean? It's like a lot of people, a lot of people would love, artists would love to have been able to do the things that I've done. And so I don't take it for granted that, you know, that I come from a place where people really don't make it in music and I've actually made it. So it's like, it's like, you know what I'm saying? I think about that all the time. It's like people don't make it because I have people coming up to me like, man, what I got to do? What I got to do? I'm like, man, I didn't did thousands of shows.

I didn't do all the type of stuff. Like I couldn't, I couldn't imagine going back and doing all the stuff that I did, you know what I'm saying? I used to go to the club six days a week for years straight you know what i mean so um but you know just on a day-to-day basis and music my therapy that's the biggest thing for me is just being able to being able to go i got my fast studio at the house and they're able to just zone out right and show show my boy dc you know what i'm saying making all you're breaking the beats and stuff and and you know i'm giving the ideas and we putting it and we put it we put it we put it together and um you know And, you know, just basically just making, just being able to say,

be able to say that I have people that tell me on the day of the day, that they look up to me and that I help them get through the day, that I inspire them. So all these, all these people that tell me these things will make me keep going harder and harder because I know I got people out there that that's dependent on me to help them. so I mean it's definitely an inspirational story just what everything you've been through and the fact that you still have such a positive head on your shoulders I mean I can't help but feel kind of moved by everything that you've been through and the fact that you still have such a good mind state yeah I mean that's I mean you know I don't know this is it's just me I also feel like you look flyer now than before you got shot like the hair the chain the fucking designer I felt like seemed like you seem like you're like you seem like you're like you're like you're like you're getting money. You look like you're getting money. Yeah. Yeah, the music is doing good. For sure. Okay, so for the people out there that want to stay up to date on everything that you got

going on after this interview, what would you recommend for people that want to stay in touch with your career and everything? Instagram, obviously. Yeah, Instagram, Kaffani, K-A, F-A-N-I. And then, you know, saying, just go look up that music, go to YouTube. and search Kaffani, you'll find out a lot of stuff. You'll see a lot of, like, I don't work with everybody in the industry. Like, people really don't, you know, people don't really, you know, people don't really, you know, like, I'll play a song for them and they're like, damn, that's, that's you? Like, you know what I'm saying?

Like people, sometimes people get me mixed up from the Fast Like a NASCAR, Kaffani. Right. They don't know that the fast like a NASCAR car, Kaffani is the She Ready Now Kaffini. It was a song I came out with she ready. She ready now. She got on the remix, but it was a super big song in the Bay Area. Right. I had big songs down south that didn't even play in the Bay Area.

You know what I'm saying? So I done a lot. Like, you know, when ozone was around, I was always in the ozone magazines, covers, and doing all type of stuff. And, you know, for my jury, I was in a source or the, double XL and ozone, all the different for the chains and, you know, for the jury and all that. I didn't, I based, I didn't did everything, right, I've seen the basement, with a, uh, uh, multiple videos on 106 and Park and all that, man.

I, I, I didn't do it. I didn't done it at all. Like, anytime I drop, anytime I drop a video and I want to send it to the, you know, BET jams that, you know, I normally get, you know, at least a, a mixtape look or whatever, you know what I'm saying. I still try to tell people that YouTube isn't everything. People think that YouTube is everything. It's like, nah, bro, the radio still gets you. You still need the radio and different stuff.

Like, you know, like locally in my local radio station, I probably then had like 20 songs on the radio, you know what I mean? And I had multiple and multiple radio songs down south, like songs on the radio on their big stations out there, And throughout that whole chilling circuit, I had multiple, you know what I'm saying, songs on the radio out there and just moving around. So, you know what I mean? I don't have a lot of, I don't have, it's crazy because I don't have a lot of videos with millions of views. But the, it was, it was just that a lot of the music that I had put out was, was radio was bigger than YouTube.

It's like people know the music. when they hear is it's like YouTube is like a more of a younger kid thing. And we forget that during that era, a lot of times I'll go back to some song that I thought was legendary as fuck in 2011 and on

YouTube it'll have like a million views and I'll be like oh right, the internet was like not nearly as big. That song was huge to us at the time but having a hit internet song 10 years ago it was not as big a deal. Now a big internet hit

got like 100 million views or some shit Yeah, but see, but people who fell to realize it's the listeners, it's not about the view. It's all together listeners, that's all it's really about. So if you got to play on the radio, I mean, if you get played in a market like LA and you got the number one song,

just one week, just one week getting played number one on like power is equivalent to, is equivalent to is equivalent to two million to two million views. There's two weeks of app power equivalent to two million views. And now you could be big on TikTok. You know, there'll be like the number one song on TikTok and you head over to YouTube.

It got like a million plays. But it's like on every fucking video on TikTok. So it's like there's a hundred different arenas that your music could be popping in now that all culminates together to make you a relevant artist, you know? Exactly, exactly. So, you know, at the end of the day, it's like, you know, my streams, I still get, I still get, I still get a lot of streams. I put my new music out, streaming.

You know, right now I'm working on, right now I'm working on a new project. Working on a new project called a suicide. And that project right there, I'm really going to go hard and go hard with the, go hard, with the promotions and really just, you know, really just push it, I got a lot of, I got a lot of deep music on there on this, on this project. So I'm gonna really go in, I'm really going promoting and push it, you know what I'm saying, and make sure. I mean, I know what it is, I know what it is, how to break a record and make a, you know, how to make a record go. I mean, I know exactly what it is with, with Fars with, with labels and, you know, how you got to go about it and do it.

So it's just about a matter, it's just a matter of how you want to do it. want to do it if you really want to is if you really if you really if you really want to if you really want to spend that money on marketing promoting to to to take your music to to where you want it to go because that's all it is at the end of the day is just it's the marketing promotions of anything is this but is just spending the marketing money dollars into it to to to do that so um you know not always not always can go to you know put it go through empire what have you and use a team and put stuff together and do stuff and utilize them to help me push it or, you know, however I want to do it.

I mean, I know everything, you know, I pretty much know everything, all the basics, how to do everything to push the record, you know what I'm saying? And at the same time, it's just like waiting, you know, waiting for that right one. You know what I mean? You know, it's just, I know the formula, you know what I'm saying? And it's crazy because a lot of DJs in Clubhouse was talking. And I was on there a couple times, and then they was like, man, why you ain't making that music you was making in 2010? Like, the whole R&B and rap thing is like still, is wide open.

It's like all these dudes. It's like everybody right now is just they rapping about, they raping, they sing rapping about guns and this and that. And you know what I'm saying? That lane to the females is still open. Like, why you ain't doing it? You know what I'm like? I'm like, man, my head ain't been there like that. You know what I'm saying?

But my head, you know, my head back, my head back open wide, and I'm doing an array of different music. I'm not trying to be, I don't want to be stuck in the same class of artists that I've always been. I want to try, I want to try a new, you know, new things and do different, you know, just doing different shit, you know what I'm saying, instead of being known for one, one thing, you know what I mean? So I was trying to, just working it out. But I, but I always get.

a lot of support and whatever, you know, when I drop something and really, you know, get it out there. My thing is is make sure I got to get it out. I got to go out there and make sure I get, you know, push it from, you know, saying, do some promotion. As long as I do some promotion and, you know, I'm good. For sure. I get the numbers. 100%. Yeah, man, I appreciate you telling us all about your story and everything.

It was very inspiring and really helps put life in perspective, to be totally honest. you've been through the fucking ringer and you're still going. Yeah, yeah, man. So much respect. That's why I like, that's why I was like, man, I can't continue this beefing. I can't continue beefing with filthy because it's like, it's like I'm trying to do these positive things. And so then it puts a damper on what I'm doing when I'm going back and pushing, you know, going back and beefing and shit. But that's why I went, it goes back.

to, you know, a motherfucker's stay pushing that narrative out there going back. It just brings you back. You know what I'm saying? When somebody, you know, every time somebody mentions something about my story or bring it up, and somebody hit me with a link and I hear that shit, I used to piss me off. Get more mad every time? Yeah, like, but, you know. I'm glad we could revisit the full story, the whole story and really like flesh it out.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Nah, it wasn't, it wasn't like no. There wasn't none like no gangster shit and nothing like that went down. And it wasn't nobody put no hit down and wasn't none of that. You know what I'm saying? Like at the end of that, I can't even, I can't even, I can't even, I can't even, I can't even, I can't even, I can't, I can't blame filthy for the situation. I can't, I can't, I can't, I can't, I can't, I can't, I mean, shit, I took my ass up over there and did what I did and, and, and met it. And, and I met up and ran into somebody that, you know what I'm saying, that was, that was on what he was on.

and I was on what I was on and it just went down. How should go down in the streets? You know what I'm saying? But I can't play him dude because dude didn't have nothing to do with it. You know what I'm saying? Because if it,

because honestly, if it was really, if it was really that serious, like if it was really like on, on like that, somebody, somebody would be dead or in jail by them. You know what I'm saying? Because you may not go just play with it. Like, if it was really like that, it's going to be like that.

Right. So at the end of the day, It's like after you get a certain age, it ain't really like that. You know what I'm saying? There ain't no bloodshed going on. So, you know what I'm saying? Nobody ain't, I ain't trying to kill him. You ain't trying to kill me.

At least I don't think he's trying to kill me. So, you know what I mean? And I ain't, I ain't trying to kill him. So, you know what I'm saying? So just let it leave it at that. Respect. Yeah. Fani.

Check his shit out. Turn my man up on all social media, streaming services, etc. Check me out. Check me out. I got some good music out there, man. all you y'all got to do a search bangers bangers work with everybody in the industry so yeah shout out kaffani no jumper coolest podcast in the world check us on youtube sound cloud patreon only fans all that like comment subscribe nojumber.com if you want to support appreciate you

much love man there we go