No Jumper - Vel Nine on LA Latina Rappers, Graffiti Influence, Thot Rap & More

Episode Date: February 22, 2023

Vel Nine the Wonder talks about creeps in the industry, finding her talent and space in the LA rap scene, graffiti, battle rap, the boombap scene being full of dudes, "thot rap" and more. ---- 00:00 Intro 2:30 Vel says that her last performance was her best so far 3:00 Lush asks Vel where her gritty sound originated from 4:30 Vel and Lush recount having dreams about each other at the same time 5:15 Vel breaks down playing 4 different sports all throughout school and calls herself a tomboy at that time 6:40 Vel calls herself a product of graffiti culture, credits the culture for the reason why she's rapping and her father's influences on her 8:40 Vel breaks down being a tagger in her younger days and how graffiti became a part of her life 13:20 Vel on if she felt pressured to join a crew considering being involved in graffiti culture 20:00 Vel on her parent's reaction to streetlife and graffiti 24:30 Vel on Hip Hop's involvement in graffiti culture 28:00 Vel says that painting freights really helped shape her skill and style in graffiti and really extended the reach of her art 30:15 Vel speaks on what inspired her to make music and breaks down her transition from graffiti to music 34:00 Vel says that she wasn't using any YouTube beats and calls herself lucky for being around a bunch of people that made their own beats 36:00 Vel says that her career wouldn't be nearly as great as it is if it weren't for her team and Lush asks if she would consider herself an underground artist 39:00 Vel on her experiences going to underground hip-hop events 40:45 Vel on battle rap, says that she loves fighting and calls herself a "scrapper" 44:00 Vel on being mistaken for being from the east coast for her rap style, talks "The Cypher Effect" and being a part of an all-female cypher 50:20 Vel on working at Victoria's Secret 54:20 Vel on the competitive nature that exists within female Latina rappers in L.A. 57:00 Is this the era of "Thot Rap?" 57:50 Vel speaks on the creepy men in the industry and if they've ever been an issue within her career 1:01:30 Vel speaks on being in choir being her first introduction into singing 1:04:20 Vel on when she quit Victoria's Secret to pursue music and go on tour 1:07:00 Vel talks being given the opportunity to travel and tell stories of being on tour 1:11:20 Vel speaks on being more drawn to the rebellious aspect of graffiti 1:12:20 Vel says that her album "Trophy Wife" was the moment she realized she had star power 1:14:30 Vel talks making a song about someone she really looked up to who turned to a**ction 1:20:00 Vel says that she's been an avid watcher of No Jumper for about 3 years and gives thoughts on the direction No Jumper is going 1:22:30 Vel on podcasting 1:28:00 Vel gives her top 5 female MC's 1:29:00 Vel breaks down where her stage name came from and how Lush gave her her nickname 1:30:30 Lush and Vel speak on how boombap shows are only full of dudes 1:37:19 Lush asks Vel about janky promoters, getting features and what's coming up next for her Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Put the ops down under like a wombat. We broadcast like Comcast. The world's coolest podcast. Your partner, play a partner, lush Uno. And with a dear friend of mine, it's always nice when it's like an actual friend chopping it up with.

It really is. But she's not just here because she's a friend or else there'll be a lot of people here. This is one of the dopest emcees in L.A. and beyond. Vail 9, aka Vell the Wonder, A.k.a. Bellanina, you feel me. I've adapted the nickname of Velanina, 100%. Full, full throttle.

I wasn't even going to say it, but... Did you notice? But no, I'm proud to be the origins of that name. Which is crazy. I don't know how I was the first to recognize that obvious, like, layup of a name. I was going to say the obvious layup. Yeah. It's because, you know, you're a rhyme guy right here, so...

But you're a rhyme guy. I am very much a rhyme guy As well as well A Rind gal And I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to pop about your show last weekend Oh no worry I really wanted to I saw the pictures and videos like

Headline gig And how many people were there? I want to cap 400 something along those lines People outside, mad they're going to get in Sold out show Oh people were in my DMs like begging to buy Guestless like two hours before and I was like bro nobody called me on the day of the show like you guys know this

that sense of entitlement is crazy the sense of entitlement is insane like but at least they were down to spend money oh yeah because it's not like yo let me in oh i definitely sold a couple on guestless months last minute a little hustler not mad you know what did it feel like though just like and by the way just it's in southern california but that was in orange county that was in orange county that You're not from there. No, I'm not from Orange County. So this is like, you know, a good two hours from where you're from, if not more. Oh, yeah, yeah, definitely.

I mean, it was, I felt like I was just in a room full of day once. You know, everyone knew all the lyrics. And even when they didn't know the lyrics, they were, like, just vibing. And it was great. The energy from them was up. The energy from me was, like, all the way up. I want to say, well, from my own team members, they said it was my best performed show. And I felt the same.

way, yeah, the best. And as someone that, like, you know, you make dope music, but the live experience is a big part of Bell. Oh, yeah. Oh, absolutely. Yeah, it's a, I think, like, being in the studio and, like, writing music, I'm so, I'm so comfortable. But being on stage is where I really had to kind of, like, learn to flourish because I'm, I consider myself more of, like, a held back, shy person.

But when I'm in my like superstar bag, I'm just like a little Mariah Carey on stage. Look at you. Just heartbreaking, you know. VeeV, we call you VeeV. Call me VeeV. Call me VeeV. Bibi Carrie. Yeah.

So it was great. I mean, it's been 10 years in the making. So I would hope that I felt as good as I did that Saturday. I felt great. And your whole style and what you bring, like when people see you, they're like, oh, this, she looks cool. you feel like she got swag you know real pretty girl

but then like you open up your mouth and this isn't the only thing you do but you have that real gritty grimy authentic boombap emceeing like where the fuck did that come from

I was like I feel like you're going to ask that you know I really am as cliches and sound I really am a product of my environment I'm a product of my elements. Lasena Ave.

Lasena Avenue. And then actually, did I, I previewed that album for you, right? You did. In your apartment. You did. Like eight, nine, four, six years ago. Five? Five.

Some previous times. Right, right. Yeah. I was actually, that and Trophy Wife, I got to sit in on some sessions. You did. You got to sit in. Yeah, you heard songs. You heard stories from songs about Trophy.

wife that we connected on. Yes. What's crazy, before we get into, like, Vell and I, like, are like, she's like my tokaya or something. We're like, we have this weird, like. There's an overlapping. Yeah, like, you're the homie,

and I didn't even know. And this is going to sound crazy, but we both had dreams, not like that type of dream, so you feel me, don't get it twisted. We both had dreams about each other at the same time. Yeah, it was a... Within, like, the past month. Yeah, that was a real. real. Like I was like woke up and I was like whoa okay got to check it at my homely

lunch yeah. Yeah and I and I like had a dream about you and then I was like you know that's kind of trippy that the homegirls in the dream. Yeah. And then when you said that to me I was like what the fuck. It's like some just stars aligning type. Yeah absolutely. Absolutely so no it's it's dope and I'm yeah I want to talk about some of those stories but like I want to go back to the origins of a young veil. Or were you with you were a tomboy at first, right? Oh, absolutely. Full-blown, like, didn't, anything that, like, brought too much attention to me, I didn't like, I grew up playing, like, four different sports since I was, like, four years old.

For real? Yes, absolutely. I played hardball, baseball, all the way up until high school. What? Yeah, so then they made me play on a softball team. I bet you I could strike you out. I bet you cannot. We're going to see. I was always, like, first batter, because I could always get on baseball.

Lead off. Lead off hitter. I just like, no matter what, I'm getting on base. And I'm turning third base and I'm scoring. Okay, Ricky Henderson. I mean, you know, I was also like a shortstop in center field, so I like to dominate the field. Damn.

Yeah, I'm a savage. But, so I grew up playing sports, which was my initial. With boys. With boys, but I also, like, did cheerleading, funny enough, and I hated every moment of it. But now that I look back, I'm like, hmm, like, it actually wasn't that bad. I just like I was so young and uncomfortable with myself I didn't know how to embrace it

if I was to chair now I'd probably like rock the house but go crazy no time for that I actually want to do like MMA fighting so not generally what the fuck I know let's just skip it let's go down the line we'll revisit that one but my I would say I really am a product

of graffiti culture which is the only reason the only reason why I got into rap. I mean, I grew up listening to hip-hop. I love rap. I love hip-hop. I loved, like, finding my own sense of music outside of my father, who was a DJ, who his taste was initially, like, my taste.

Okay, so I didn't know that. Pops was a DJ. A hip-hop DJ? A hip-hop DJ. Scratching and all that? He had tables. He had, like, some big speakers, and he had a, he ran with the party crew. Wow.

So party crews were like really big, like, in the 90s. In the 90s. In the 90s. So he ran with a party cruise called Divine Lovers. Wow. My dad went by DJ AA adorable Alex. So he was adorable Alex. And he was like spinning like, because that was like deep house music and stuff.

Yeah. But yeah, when I grew up, I was listening to like Biggie Smalls rate, like, like, life after death, you know. Okay. Like, it was like all, like, it was Warren G. It was big, you small. Is it safe to say you might have been conceived at a rave? Um, I wouldn't say a rave.

I'd say maybe like a backyard Elmonte party. Okay, okay. Yeah, like, maybe. Because that's very close. Or at continuation school because my parents met at continuation school. Oh, okay. And they never graduated, so. Because those, like, the vibe of those, like, like, 90s.

Oh, yeah. It's very ravey. I don't think he was like a candy kid. Right. But they were more like freestyle, like fresh to death, aquanette, you know. Bumping Diamond Girl and all that? Diamond Girl. Yeah.

It's a slap right there. Yeah, yeah, that's a great. That's a great slap. But so, yeah. And then, but so I grew up listening to what my dad really liked. And then I would say just about like middle school is kind of when I started to really like turn into who I am now. And you was a tagger? I was definitely a tagger.

It was so funny. actually had a home girl in seventh grade come tell me like, yo, we should just start, like, we should just give ourselves names to start writing in the bathroom. And I was like, okay. And we got little names, and we had little sharpies. And we would write in the bathroom, like, little names. And then after that, I met another home girl who was, that was seventh grade.

I had a home girl in eighth grade who showed me her notebook. So, you know, we used to, like, walk around with binders. The black books or no, binders. No, it was a binder. It was a binder. So I was thinking it had her, like, her schoolwork. And then she just, like, popped it up one day. and it was the clear, like, binder.

The thing that you put, yeah, yeah, yeah. But, like, people would, like, have pictures and whatnot. Every single sheet that she had in there was full of slaps. Okay. It was, like, hood slaps, like, hood tags, like, other people's tags. Like, I don't even know where she got all these tags from. Like, they were definitely not everybody in our middle school. Like, she definitely ran with some, like, older cats.

Right. So she just had all these tags, and I was fascinated. And I also loved the fact that it was, like, women who put me on. on the graffiti. That's kind of, yeah, that's dope as hell. Yeah, I never, like, I dated, like, a few writers, but it was never, like, nobody, like, no dude ever taught me I didn't do anything. Like, I definitely learned from my home girls.

And you were, I always got the vibe that you were, like, a good kid, though, like, as far as, like, you did your homework. Oh, for sure. And all that. I was a smart, you know. I don't know. I was, you know, I was a school kid. Like, I remember one time I, um, forgot my homework.

And I was so embarrassed that I was. that I went up to the teacher, like, when class started to let her know, like, I forgot my homework. Like, please don't call me out in front of everybody. Like, I was, if someone was to, like, say something to me out loud in front of the whole class, like, I'd be the type to turn red and, like, just, like, crying on the inside. I hate attention. I hate attention. It's so crazy to think, like, what I do now and, like, I would, like, freeze at the moment

of any attention back in the day. So you start, but you start tagging at around seventh grade, which is very typical, like, six, seventh, seventh, eighth grade. It's when a lot of people start. And the area you're from is like northeast L.A., right? Like Ballin Park, Almaty. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Rose Meade, 605.

Easty. Easty. Easty. East-ish. East-ish. Yeah, east-ish. East-ish. And you, so there's always been a rich history of writers and graffiti from that area.

Oh, yeah. But also, like, there's a lot of, like, varios over there, too. Yeah, gang-banging. Yeah. So did you- I definitely saw more. hood tags than actual graffiti. Right.

Yeah. So I started taking the silver line into downtown and then like I would take the the metro like into the valley. I would go to the valley a lot because that's where most of the graffiti shops were. Absolutely. Yeah. And then I would just like man those what was? Oh yeah.

There was so many graffiti shops. Like the basement? The basement. Yeah. Oh man. The basement. And then, what was it, groove writers? Groove riders.

Groove writers. And you said Melrose, there's like workmen. On Melrose, workman. Workman. Yeah. Yeah. Man, those were such beautiful, beautiful days. And you were like on the younger side, because you're younger than me, like, by like a couple months at least.

Oh, just barely, like two, three months. Yeah, several months. Several months. Years. Several days. Right. A few hours. But you, like.

still caught, I would say you caught the tail end of that era. Oh, I feel like I caught the best era. Yeah, you think it's a good era. Because I really like, I got to catch the end of the genuine, genuine, genuine hip-hop feeling in L.A. And then it transitioned, how do I say that word? Transitions. You're going to say transgendered?

I was going to say something. Transitioned into something more along the lines of what we have now. So it was a great time for me to come in and like really show, you know, like what helped raise me. Yeah. Well, and I think that kind of gives you a little bit of an edge now because you're not like antiquated. You're able to be kind of on the cutting edge still. Absolutely. Which is dope.

And you've survived for a fat. In hip hop years, you know, you're like, you're OG now. I'm like that. Please, I'm OG. Everyone referred to me as OG. Which is crazy. And I'll get into when I first. became aware of you and all that, but we're still like the origin story.

So you wind up getting from like a graffiti crew and stuff like that. And at that time, did you feel like pressure as far as like, am I going to run with the crew? Or was there like, you know, were a lot of your homies getting into the gang shit too? Or did you kind of steer clear of that? I, so I found my, like, you know, my squad of people. I didn't feel pressure to get into a crew Honestly I was just really like about that life Like I I loved painting

I loved painting with friends I loved painting with girlfriends And and in the moments of us Waiting because you know that that's like really pre pre pre Hot boy shit which is like hot boy shit I feel like is when Fools like to hit up on on Figaroa at 5 p.m. You know like on some like daytime shit We used to wait until like two in the morning

to go paint. I think people just wait until it gets dark now. Yeah. But back then, you used to wait until like two, three in the morning to really like get out there. Sneak out of your parents' crib. Sneak out. Or we'd be like, we'd be posted up in like the homie's mobile house and like in his room. And it'd be like 10 heads in like a little room. And it was like so hot. And like the AC barely worked. And they'd be bumping like some Dilla beats, Primo beats and black books, drinking 40, smoking, blunts. And, uh, and freestyling. And that's where it all. That's where it all began.

That's where it all. The birth of Vell, the MC. Absolutely. But as far as the graffiti thing, so you, um, did you, like, do you have any close call getting caught up stories or any just? Oh, yeah. What's a crazy graph story you got? I've injured, all the major injuries I've ever received. Funny enough, as long as I played sports, I never received one from sports.

It was all from graffiti. I always got away. I've had a few. chases and I always got away. Never got caught up. Never got caught up. I mean, like, is there a living? Yeah, that's what, yep.

Never got caught up. I had a few home. I was painting a freeway at the 10 and we got lit up and we jumped the wall to run away. You're like bombing the heavens or like? No, it was the actual like, they were doing construction on the 10. So it was like the actual like side of the freeway.

Okay. And And we got lit up. I jumped over. I took off. I didn't even look back. I think one of the homies ended up, like, getting caught. But he got released. They called me.

They're like, yo, where are you at? And I was like, yo, I'm already home. Like, I wasn't about to wait for you. I was like, and I'm small. So it's easy for me to, like, jump and run. Right. So I got away. Another time I was leaving some hip-hop show.

I don't remember which one. And we were, like, doing some dumb shit. Like, riding home. And then they would pull over for me on the freeway and I would like catch tags. We used to be wilding. And then I had jumped off the car to catch another tag. And then when I tried to jump back to get to the car, I seen the cops that pulled over my homies. So then that time, too, I ran across the freeway.

And I was running across the off ramp. And there was a ditch. And I fell in. And I ended up, like, super injuring my arm. But the adrenaline, like, had me run a mile to my home girl's house. And then when I got to her house, there was. There was like some little kids in the front yard and I was like, go get Natasha. And I fell on the floor and like passed out like in pain.

So that was fun. Shout to Natasha. Shout to Natasha for helping me at that time. Another time I was actually, it was a Halloween. Funny enough, I was working at a Halloween store at that time. I dressed up as baseball furies because Warriors is my favorite movie and baseball Furious like the best, the best shit ever. So I painted my face.

I was wearing like some dumb uniform. And then I think they were going to... Are you sure you weren't insane clown posse and you're not? I was definitely not. Okay. Because it's very similar makeup. I did have homies that loved insane clown posse but not me. Shout to the juggalo's.

We need to see Bella at the gathering. I definitely learned about that in Baldwin Park. Let's see Vela at the Gathering. Yeah. But I just saw baseball theories. We were at some party, but I like was so not. not trying to party and more trying to go paint that I left. I drove myself to this like freeway spot I had been eyeing off the 91.

I painted it and then I got lit up and I dipped and that place was also getting in construction. And I hopped over the fence and when I was hopping over the fence, I had to like hold a bush out the way. But when I hopped over, the bush like went through my hands and it smacked me in the face. But I was already like, so I got to my whip and I remember I got. I got in the whip and I drove past the spot and I seen the cops already like at the spot but I was already in the whip so I drove by the spot looked gleaming it was so pretty and I'm driving home and I remember my eye kept watering but adrenaline you know again it's just you're not

gonna feel it till later yeah so I was watering I was watering I was watering I get home I went to sleep right away and these are days when I would wake up and I'd have like paint in my nose and my hair like it was pretty nasty and then I woke up and I remember I was I was still young. I was on my mom's crib. And I woke up and, like, you know, when you open your eyes and then, like, the water in your eyes kind of, like, circulates, like, what keeps your eyes, like, moist. And I opened my eye and, like, I felt extreme, like, excruciating pain in my eye.

And I remember yelling for my mom, like, Mama. And she comes, and, and, like, my eye is, like, it's shut now because, like, the pain. And she drove me to the, um, urgent care. Yeah. You had cryline in your eye? So what had happened, and I got there, the doctor put iodine in my eye. And what had happened was the bush, when it smacked me, the, like, one of the limbs or sticks actually cut my cornea. Oh.

It sliced my cornea. And he was like, yo, your cornea slash. Like, how did this happen? I said, I was climbing a tree. Of course, I said, I was climbing a tree. I was climbing around a tree. And I was running from the police doing. something illegal.

And so, I think this was like a couple days before Halloween. I think Halloween was on Monday. This was a Friday. So I went to whack to work the next day wearing a motherfucking eye patch. Wow, all right. Captain Hook. I told everyone I was

a fucking pirate. I was it. I was like, Hardy hard, bitches. Wow. Yeah, I was wearing an eye patch. You're like always been very slick, it sound like. You're just like, you're like human oil. You're not going to get caught.

It's going to be fluid somehow or not. Right. Yeah. And your parents never, like, were. So it was so funny. My parents, they wouldn't know I was coming home with, like, my backpack full of cans because they could hear it. I also looked very, like, dirty a lot of the times when I'd come home for missions, and I'd had pain and, like, dirt.

Sometimes I'd have, like, rashes on my legs from, like, walking through fields of, like, terrible. And they would always tell me, like, you can do whatever you want, but if you get caught, don't call us. So, like, that was their advice to me. So I never got caught. That's crazy because I got caught for show. Oh, yeah. I got arrested for vandalism when I was 16.

Like, yeah. It's all bad. And was it, you know, growing up in the era that I did, it was graffiti wound up becoming, like, some gang shit. It's like the era of tag banging. You feel me like and it's way more It starts out on just some like Trying to get fame catching spots

Then it comes into like some other thing Full Star trading in their fucking cans For straps Yeah Put some heat Your your little You know your tag name starts becoming like a hood name And like little lush

Yeah like it becomes like some all other shit You feel me like yeah It just becomes this whole And um Did you wind up, did that wind up happening with like with you and shit? Was it, did you kind of like have to navigate avoiding the spunkiness? Eventually I did end up getting into two crews.

I mean, I'm not going to name them right now. Yeah, you ain't got to. But shout out to both my crews. Those that know, no, no. And a lot of the people out there who should know, no. Yeah. The clues are there. The clues are there.

You ain't got to look that deep. The blue clues are there. Yeah. And those, my crews do have some beef. But I, like, for the most part, really didn't try to get into it because it was beef that's been there way before I had gotten to the crew. So as long as I stayed out of certain neighborhoods, I would be okay. And for the most part, as much as I love both of my crews,

I never really painted with them. I continue to always paint with my home girls. But you're just going to hit them up, though. Oh, absolutely. I always rep where I'm from. but I happen to know almost every single dope female graffiti writer in L.A. In and around L.A. from the Bay to New York. I just, they kind of like flock to me and I flock to them.

So I just paint with girls. And it's never an issue. Do you like, what's like the, what do you think is the stigma that prevents a lot of girls from getting into? Graph. And what would you say to encourage them to bypass that? Like girls who like want to get into graffiti, maybe kind of like hesitant. Yeah.

Because of the like male dominance. Right. Just find another girl who likes graffiti too. You know, that's all you really need. Like there's always somebody. I mean like if you're into hip hop, you're definitely like have a love for graffiti. And that's kind of like what I did.

I just would like meet girls and we'd go like hop buses and trains and find yards and paint and it was really fun. It's like so much fun. It's a, it's so dope to hear about. Like you don't if like I didn't know barely any women writers when I was coming up. I didn't know barely any girls that did it. So it's dope to see. And obviously I knew like the history of like the like the, like the, you know. Like spun up.

Yeah, yeah, exactly. Blossom, pedal, the OGs. Yeah, and I know Blossom and even like in New York, like the origins and all that. Yeah. But it's, I didn't person, I wasn't around them, but I was always like, yo, it would be dope to see. And like, you personify that to a T.

And also it's dope to see like the elements connecting because I feel like there's a big disconnect within the elements of hip hop culture. I know a lot of graffiti writers that don't even listen to hip hop. No, for sure. I would never say that graffiti is for hip hop. I would say hip hop is for a big part of graffiti. But graffiti, like, everybody I knew was like listening to punk.

I know metal heads, yeah. A lot of, yeah, yeah. Yeah, a lot of my, like, grunge punk homies were, like, fools that I would write with. Yeah. But it's just like, you know, it's a middle meeting area. It's like we're like skaters, you know, like a bunch of skaters, like kind of gravitate graffiti. I know a bunch of skaters would go to skate parks and write their name, you know? And then eventually that turned into like, well, I'm just going to like tag now.

Right. So, but. It's your calling card. It's a calling card. And it's like we have a language that nobody else is privy to. We're walking down the streets and we see things. Oh, yeah. That nobody else sees.

And like what I was, I remember talking to my ex one day and like we were walking down sunset through Echo Park and everything. And I'm just like, she's like like like, like why you want to. Why are you staring at every single, like, tag? You see, I was like, this is like my newspaper. Yeah. Like, this is telling me what's going on. Oh, I see so-and-so's been running up and down sunset.

Yeah. Or like, oh, these fools slash these fools. Like, they have beef right now. Yeah. It's like the news, like, of the city. Oh, absolutely. I, like, forever just ditched my car and would ride on a bike. And that's, like, number one reason why I liked riding on a bike everywhere is because,

like, foot traffic. you see a lot more graffiti. You see, like, different graffiti than you do, like, just writing in a whip. Yeah. You know? Like, the cuddy tags, like the tag behind the, like, phone booths in front of the liquor store. Right.

And you're like, oh, shit, that's a dope spot. And then, like, also, there's that, but then also just, like, I remember being a youngster and, like, being on the 10 East and just seeing, like. Yeah, I would always break my neck. You feel me? Now I'm, like, that's cool. Unless somebody's spot is, like, gleaming at me. I don't break my neck as much

But yeah, when I was like first into it I was like 18, 19 I would like break my neck everywhere I go My whole life was like involved around graffiti It was like a sick bastard It is an addiction It's a straight addiction I don't know if it's the paint fumes or what

But like it's really like a Damn like I did that And then like nobody even knows that I did that But like I know I did that And everybody who knows my name It's the weirdest blend of being like overly humble and overly ego driven at the same time. Super ego driven.

But it's so cool too because like you don't know what I look like. Right. Right. Which was like I always thought was so cool. Did you think that people could tell from your writing that you were even a girl? I would say maybe based more on my name because my name had a female sounding sound to it. I don't know how to say that probably. I never drew hearts around my name particularly.

And when I did, like, draw hearts, I would do them, like, upside down. Because I thought it was kind of, like, like, the cross upside down. Right. I'm a rebel, you know. But, um... It kind of looks like a butt, damn near. Yeah, it does. But honestly, my favorite thing to do...

Once I got, so I, like, started graffiti. I was in my real, super, like, travisas stage where I was just, like, running a month. like doing really bad things that could get me into so much trouble that I just often got away from. And when I started to like kind of really come more into my like artistic bag with it, because I'm really, I'm really good. I have great hand can control. Right. I would like to say that I am a great painter.

Is when I got into painting freight. Okay. So it would always be like me and like two home girls. And we had a few yards that we would go to. And that's when I would just take my time, like really concentrating on production. So I went from like just getting up and like hot girl spots to like let me blast productions on the side of this like box car right now. So now the people that really need to see it to earn some like real respect. Real real.

And then I had I found the like the excitement of like, oh yeah, I could hit a spot on the 10 and like anybody who's driving on the 10 is going to see it. But now I can hit a freight in somebody in. New Mexico is going to see it. Somebody in Texas is going to see it. Somebody in New Orleans is going to see it. So, like, my trains would, like, travel, and I'd get pictures from ventures in, like, other states sending me my trains.

When I was in treatment a couple years ago, like, over three years ago now, and we would be, we'd, like, be in the little van. They'd take us to, like, little AA meetings and shit. I would look, and there'd be freight riding by, and it would be, like, MTA, CES. It's like, it's like a little present. Yeah, and it'd be like, oh, like.

A little candy. like, oh, the home is reaching out here. Such beautiful. Yeah. Yeah. You can't compare it to anything else. Do you have any spots that are still from like back in the day marathoning? You know what? I do. I have freights. People continue to send me pictures of my freights to this day. That people who kind of make the correlation of like me as a rapper and like my graffiti name. And they'll send me pictures of old freight. Like I just got a picture of a Valentine's freight that I just got a picture of a Valentine's freight that I just did with one of the homegirls that I did with the homegirl like five years ago.

And oddly enough today is Valentine's Day. It is Valentine's Day. It is Valentine's Day. Yeah. My bad for not bringing flowers. It's okay. Next time. I'll hold you to it. Next time. One thousand percent. So somewhere in between doing all these spots, you know, catching these spots going crazy, linking with the crew, you know, are slapping Dilla beats and all that. And little four foot three veils. Yeah, about, yeah, definitely. Starts rapping, starts busting flows. I did. With this voice that's way more powerful than you would expect. Absolutely.

And was it just off-rip? The homies are like, damn, like, Shorty nice with it. So I remember, like, I'd be in this, like, garage or, like, small room or whatever the case may be. And, like, homies would just start kick and freeze. And I was always in a rap. I didn't necessarily know, necessarily know how to freestyle at the moment. but something was so intriguing and I'm very, by nature, I'm very competitive.

I wish I wasn't as competitive but I also think that's why I'm like so driven. So in my mind, I wanted to automatically be like the best freestiler in the room. But I wasn't about to like ask nobody to show me how to freestyle. Like that's not how I get down. I was, so I went home and I taught myself how to free cell. Damn, so you learned literally just in your bedroom.

I specifically remember moments of me being in the shower and me being in the car. Is it funny the way that works? The shower? It's like your own personal stage. Yeah. You know? It's like a like you, yeah, like I don't know if it's it's a comfortableness. You're like in your natural form.

And there's no outside thoughts. There's no outside. The sound of the water kind of drowns everything else out. So I remember teaching myself in the shower and in the car. And I remember even one time I was like on the freeway like at a stop and I was like going so hard on some beat. And I looked over the side and the guy's looking at me like, what is that girl doing? Because I was probably like bobbing my head like wicked crazy just like bouncing out. But and then I would come back to the garage and they start kicking freeze.

And then I just kind of hopped in and it was done after that. I was like blowing everybody else out the water. And then how did you wind up integrating into writing? Yeah, into writing. That was, that transition was a lot harder than you think it would have been. As far as, like, me being stubborn, because I used to think that if you wrote your raps, you were not, you were a whack. You're fake. You're a wet.

You're a little Wayne. That's what I used to say. Oh, I can't believe I used to diss him back in the day. Who, oddly enough, who oddly enough doesn't even write, he, like pre-stiles a lot of his. For just a small second, I was the ignorant hip-hop head. It happens to, we've all got to do that. Who writes their raps? Like, I'm only off the top.

Like, if it wasn't off the top, I couldn't take you serious. Right. And I had one homie who was kind of already, because the other homies, like, everybody was fucking around. But I had one homie who was actually, like, trying to, like, do the rap thing. And he pulled me aside one day. And he was like, look, I'm going to let you know right now. Like, you're, you have something that nobody else has. in this room. So you should actually like really try to write, you know, like take, like take your

time, like write something that means something. So, uh, one day I was on the silver line coming into downtown from Baldwin Park and, um, I was listening to Pandora and I had Primo beats on. Just like, you know, spinning in the back. And I wrote my first like 11 bars. I didn't even, it was a, I specifically remember it was 11 because it didn't like match. Like there was something missing. But I I didn't know, like, bar. I didn't know bar, like. I didn't know bar, like, I didn't know. But I remember it was like 11 bars.

And I went to the homie's crib. He had a mic in his closet. So my first mixtape is actually called Closet Rap Mix tape because I had recorded it all in, like, a tiny-ass little closet in South Central. Oh, I thought it meant you was trying to tell us something that we didn't know. Oh, yeah, like, you figured that one out. No, I'm just playing. I know.

But, uh, I. I came, I went to the homies crib Another little room With like eight heads smoking like two blunts Super hot It was like a hot day In the middle of the summer And I recorded

And what I will say Is I was super lucky to have Friends who made their own beats So I never Recorded to a beat That I ripped off of YouTube Like I never No type beats

I didn't utilize I didn't rely on like Spitting on a known beat So all the the first songs I ever made were all on original beats. Shouted to the homie yoshi. So I spit on one of his beats, and I came out the closet, and we're all smoking bloods.

It was like my crew, like eight heads for my crew. And he plays it, you know, he plays it. He had like some big ass speakers in that little ass room, too. And when I started hearing my voice, I was, like, shocked. I was like, like, who's that? That's not me. You're not used to the sound of your own voice yet. You know, when you record a voicemail and then you listen to it and you're like, oh, I sound like shit.

Or I sound horrible or I sound weird. I just wasn't used to hearing my voice. I think like. Did you like what you heard? Yo, I was the baddest bitch. I realized like, whoa, I'm a bad bitch. Like, that shit was amazing. And I looked around the room and everybody's like jaws on the floor.

Yeah. And we're like, I think at that moment we kind of realized like the power. that was coming from the speakers, and it was a beautiful moment. That's dope, like that off rip, and this is something I notice about you, as long as I've known you, you've always had a squad around you of people that are like-minded, all pushing your line, and they're all very talented to what they do. You'll have, like, a great beatmaker with you, great photographer with you, who goes wherever you go. Great home girls.

Great squad of home girls. My team. Making sure your hair is right, making sure you feel me. We'll be old. I'm 100, yeah. And how important is that for an upcoming artist? You know what? I will say over and over and over again,

my career wouldn't be nearly as great as it is if I didn't have the team that I had. Like, I really was, I'm so blessed to have the friends who I have growing up and, like, eventually turned into, like, my team. And they just, like, they ride for me so hard. And it's been the same people this whole time. It's essentially been the same, exactly.

people. I mean, like, I have a few home girls popping up, you know, newer, but really it's been like the same, the same squad of people. And, like, I know a lot of people are not blessed to have that. And it's made me really feel like I have, like, my team is on my back, you know. And it's interesting because, like, you are, is it fair to say you're an underground artist? Yeah, I mean, if we still call it that, yeah, for sure. Underground. I would say, like, underground slash independent. Right, indie. You're like, you're an indie artist.

And even like people, a lot of times, and this has changed because like the whole, all the different parameters for hip hop and artistry, you're so different than they used to be. But like a lot of people when they'd be coming up wouldn't want to have a team. Just like, I'm doing it myself. Yeah. But you kind of put your ego to the side to me. I come from a crew, you know. Like I've always, I grew up playing on teams.

Like I believe in like, you know, that team, like, I'm a team player. I've always been a utility player. So the fact that I get to like be team captain now and like have my team like help me and like be on my back is it's a beautiful thing. Like this the show that I did on at the soldout show I did at the observatory like my whole team just rode for me like. They believe in you. They believe in me. That's like the biggest thing. That is the biggest thing.

Because a lot of people have their homies that support them. It's actually not hard. And I say this all the time. For like a rapper, if you just want to, if you're just getting started, it's not hard to get 200 people to go see you perform for your first show. Yeah. For your second show, yeah.

Probably going to have less than half of those people who will show up. For your third show, if you're not dope, they're not coming back. So the fact that, you know, you kept these people together focused on this vision, which for all intents and purposes is your vision. for all these years. It takes a lot of mutual trust and belief. Yes, absolutely. Yeah, I mean, like, man, I'm just, like,

I'm on cloud nine most of the time when I'm at these shows. It's a great, it's a great thing to have. So then you start writing, start recording. Is this around the same? So I'm assuming what? This is like 2010-ish before? Oh, no, just around, yeah, just around that time. Because your first, like,

formal release is like 2015, I think. So my first formal release is 2014. 14, okay, yeah, yeah. But around this time, 2010, and what, you're like 18 years old, 19? Just about, yeah, something like that. You're just finished high school type shit? Yeah, yeah. Yes, actually, yeah, I just finished high school.

Right. So, and then is this a... And that was like the, that was like coming down from the prime of, like, pay dues and rock the bell. Which is what I, like, I was all about that. I think the last rock the bells was 2011. 11, yeah. So I think, yeah, 2010. Which I was at, I performed at.

Okay, yeah. Yeah. Grind time stage. Yeah, oh my God, grind time. Come on. Well, let's go. Let's talk about my battle rap introduction. But, yeah, I was stayed going to all like the rock the bells and pay-dews.

Anything that had hip-hop in it, like underground hip-hop. I even like I didn't want to go to grad night when I graduated. I didn't want to go to prom or grad night. I asked my mom to help me buy my Rock the Bell's ticket. That's crazy. So I just went to that instead. You're lit. So I don't give the fuck about prom.

I'm sure you broke a couple boys. I am the prom queen now. Yeah. You know, just living it up. Well, you graduated from prom queen to trophy wife, but we're going to get into that. We're going to get into that. We're getting a little head of ourselves. But, okay.

And is that around the same? time you start popping up in like the different cipher effects and shit like that. Yeah, so I was like, it was actually the same exact time that I had gotten into battle rap, which I've never been a battle rapper. I've definitely like battle rap the homies on some like fucking around shit, you know. But I got really into it, again, through graffiti. You're lucky that I didn't like find you back then because I wouldn't have her. I know you. Yeah, I used to get like fools like, oh, blah, blah, blah, like come battle.

I'm like, no, I don't want to battle. I like to fight. I wouldn't have left you alone. I loved fighting. Yeah? Yeah, I loved fighting. You were getting a, you were. I was a scrapper.

What the fuck? I know. I don't like take pride in it now, but I'm always ready. So, like, just throw that out there. Damn. But for that. Vell 9 was running fades? For those reasons, I was like, I'm not about to battle wrap, nobody.

Can I hear a fade story real quick? A fade story? I mean, I would just like stay ready. You ain't got to use names, but... I would be like, like I was mean. Not mean. I was funny mean. So I would be like if we were at a party and like people were just like I didn't like them, I would just clown.

And then if they were clowning back, I would be ready to swing. I don't know. I was really... What the fuck, Val? I know. I would be in like, best. backyard parties and my hands would be clenched. Like that?

Yeah, because I just wanted to fight. You've been the sweetest girl since I've known you. It's just crazy to you been like. I never thought of you like that. I can't lie. But I am a fighter. I mean, like even when I was growing up playing baseball, I would do things where I would get in a pickle

and I would purposely like crouch down on the floor and like stare at the other player to like get them mad. And then they would get worked up and they would throw it. And I would slide under their legs and like make it to the base. Right. So I would, I would, I would, I'm, uh, I'd like to antagonize to get what I wanted. So I sound horrible. I don't know. I'm not. Sorry to dig my own grave right now. But, um, yeah, I, I used to like to fight. I, I didn't want a battle rap. That'll wrap wasn't my thing, but I very much enjoyed watching it. And of course, I liked all the chicks. Like, that's how I really got into it.

And like, Flimes. Yeah. Blimes was when they're like, that's when she was like, in the bay, battle rap. Shouts of my little sis Blime. the best. Looney. Shouts to Looney. And you know how I got into battle wrap, funny enough, I rode my bike to a graffiti store in the IE. There was this chick work in there named Daisy.

And she just like, oh, have you heard this girl named Looney? And then, like, boom, I was there in the graffiti shop for like five hours watching battlewraps with her. That's dope. So again, another chick, like, you know, kind of bringing me into more elements. That's ill. And it shows how important it is to inspire. Yeah, other women.

Yeah, yeah. I think, like, fools my thing, like, girls are just walking around, like, asking guys for handsouts. And for me, it was never like that. It was, like, always other women bringing me into the element. Did you, so at this time, and we're going to, like, I like do things chronologically. Yeah. Like, at this time, you start to get known from, like, ciphers. Yeah.

And, like, and I remember the first time I saw you, I was like, who's this, like, you little Latino, tomboy? catching wreck though you feel me like yeah well it was definitely like had like there's not and it exists out here but people always considered like

the type of style you have and I wouldn't say they're right because they don't know about what's in LA like the real hip hop rugged shit in LA but it's like an East Coast style yes absolutely people always tell me like are you from Jersey are you from New York like because of the

you're Puerto Rican like yeah yeah they always because of the accent I had. I mean, really, I think it was just me, like, being inspired by all the first music that I really liked, which was, like, Bahamadilla, typical cats, like, I was the obvious big elf fan. The goat. The goat.

So it was, I definitely had my inspiration, but so around that time of, like, me really divulging into, like, battle rap. Also, the internet was, like, also becoming a huge portal for music, you know. And you were at the, the phase because you're so influenced by East Coast rap that you weren't pronouncing your R's and shit.

I was not. What arm? Yeah. What are. Whereas we're in L.A. we overpronounce our R's like, get up the core. You mark? So at that time, I stumbled upon this great little hip-hop page that had less than 10 videos at

the time. It was called the Cypher Effect. Shout us at JDS. He really catapulted a lot of L.A. heads career. And then Mexico and South America. Yeah. So great for him. But I remember they had, so I saw all the videos.

It was like all guys and they were like standing in like a little form and they'd come up do their little rap and come back. They were all black and white videos. I thought it was so cool. And there was like a little box on the screen. It said if you want to submit your music or like sign up for a cypher. And mind you, I don't even think I had an email. Like I just was not tapped in like that. But I, for some reason, I never did anything like this before that or really ever since.

I reached out and I was like, yo. And I had, all I said was, where's the all female cipher? You know, me on my like woman tip. Yeah. And I think he assumed that I was saying that I wanted to be in an all female cipher, even though I specifically remember that's not what I asked. You just wanted to see it. I just wanted to see it.

I was like, yo, all I see is a bunch of dudes. So he told me to submit my music to be considered for the. the next cipher and at that point i had written like or had recorded like three verses like on three different beats it was like very minimal but i guess it was enough to bring me on because after that he included me in this email that had eight other names in it and one of them was blimes um oh blimey that's when she was still oblimy that was and um and that was it and um i met up at a studio by Lafayette Park driving up Vermont

I remember it was a Friday and Critical Mass was happening so then I'm like driving up Vermont to go to the Cypher and these like a bunch of bikes are driving it was a moment I just I remember something like that that was like 10 years ago so I got to the room for the Cypher

and of course I was on time and like everybody else was like super late so I'm taking my time watching these girls come in I don't know any of them they all know each other. I don't know any of them. And they all know each other's. So they were just like straightening each other's hair,

like talking about shows. And they're like, who's this? They, I think until we started rapping, they thought I was a part of crew. Right. They thought I was on production. Right. And then once I start rapping, somebody's little sister. That's when they were like, yo, and I remember Gablin.

Shout out to Gablin. Shout us to Gablin. Shout us to Gabs. She's the best. She came up to me after and she was like, yo, you're like, a breath, a fresh air, you know? Like, it was really dope to be with you on the cipher. And that was really cool. Foxy also showed me mad love. Limes showed me mad love.

So it was great. That's a crazy cipher if you think about it. Yeah, it was really dope. It launched a lot of, you feel, me, like, people were the next level. I mean, at this point, all those girls, I think, had been in the scene for at least five years. They've been doing their thing. Yeah. And I, that was my very first introduction to anything, anything like that.

That was the first time I had looked into a camera was at the cypher effect. Wow. Yeah. It was my first everything. So then when the video drops and all these comments are talking about bell, bell, bell. I was so surprised I showed my dad. I was like, so I did this video and like everybody's talking about me. And he was so proud.

That's dope. For me, for him, I think it was like a 360 moment, you know, because he was a DJ. And like he sort of had to give that up to raise like not only me, but then he had my my brothers and my sister. And to see his oldest really flourish into the hip hop you know,

diamond. Right. It was... Diamond girl. Diamond. You're my diamond girl. So my parents are my biggest fans. That's so ill. And it's so rare that somebody's

first time recording a verse, it sounds butter, the first time doing a video like you wind up getting this crazy. That doesn't happen. I know, it doesn't. It doesn't. That's why I always think this is like, I mean, I don't know if it's bad to say.

I always thought this was a fluke. I always thought this was like another lifetime, what is it? Like my parallel universe, kind of, because I never, I didn't grow up thinking I was going to make music.

Like, I never thought I was going to make me. I never thought I was going to rap. Like, I never thought I was going to be a superstar in front of the camera. I, I,

I was, I just didn't think any of this was going to happen. And the fact that it kind of just all naturally happened, like, in order, it surprises me to this day. At this time, this is going to sound weird when I ask it, but I, like, mean exactly what I'm saying. Did you know that you were cute yet? Because, like, I kind of always got the sense that you didn't know you were cute. No, no. No, not at all.

I mean, like, no, no. I always thought I was like a little ugly, dougly. But it really, like, started to flourish. I got more into my femininity. I want to say years later, it seemed like. Years later. Maybe, like, really, like, five years ago. Yeah.

From the time I started kicking it, which you left. Yeah, maybe, like, five years ago. And it was really so funny. I worked at Victoria's Secret forever. Did you? You were slang in chonies? No, so I was a braw specialist. Okay.

So I could measure your lady. If she needs a measurement, you know, send them my way. I still know how to measure boobs to this day. 36D. That's a big, yeah, yeah, that's a big. Nothing wrong with it? We love all sizes. So I was working out of Victoria's Secret.

And, you know, even then, like, I wasn't tapped into my effemnity. As much as you think I would be, like, I was just, like, always still the little tomboy. But I remember I was leaving work one day, and, you know, they have a lot of, you know, they have like the Mac stores like the makeup and the girl she was I think I went in for like some eyeliner I was like you didn't really wear much makeup though no no yeah no yeah I was still like kind of just like you know whatever whatever and then this she was like oh um like do you want eyebrow like you know something like makeup for eyebrows and I was like well I don't wear that and she was like oh because your eyebrows are like two different shapes I was like after that went home I was like

oh my god my family and I And, you know, there are only two different... There are only two different shapes because I, when I was 15, I was playing shortstop. And there was a high fly ball. And I didn't call it. And the right fielder didn't call it. And so I was running backwards and she was running forward in the last second. We both turned.

And instead of catching the ball, both of our heads collided. And I remember we flipped like this. She landed on second base. I ended up in right field. And I popped up and I was kind of like that. We were visitors, so the home team coach came to my side, and he looked at me and I tried to get up. He, like, pushed me back down. He was like, sit down, sit down.

And then my mom and my brother came. My mom was like trying to calm me down. You thought you had a concussion or something? My brother walked up and he was like, what the fuck? I had blood, like running all down my face. And on my jersey was blue and it was like red at this time. So I ended up like needing eight stitches on my forehead, which cut into my eyebrow, which is why I didn't have matching eyes. eyebrows. So I, long story short, I took that makeup, that eyebrow makeup home.

And I, she sold me on that one. She got you slivered. And then I, uh, I learned to do my eyebrows. And then I was, it was a done deal after that. Once I figured out that like matching eyebrows really makes or breaks your face, I felt so pretty after that. I was like, wow, look at me. I'm like a swan. Was it like, just get matching eyebrows ladies. But it was like, okay. message. It seems like it was a gradual process and you still have like a little bit of the tomboy in you. Oh, absolutely. You could do like the evening gown thing but like look right now you got the ones on and shit. I'm still going to wear like some sort of windbreaker. But there wasn't like blingy vell. There wasn't, you know what I mean? Yeah. Yeah. That wasn't a thing. No. I think now

I'm just like I'm more in my superstar bag, you know? I feel good. I feel great. My raps are like immaculate. You go crazy. So when I feel like, I'm just like, I'm like, I'm going crazy. So if you can rap as good as I do, like you can look this good too. That was horrible. That was horrible. At a certain point, no, but you ain't wrong. At a certain point, did you ever feel like, because I know you're so like pro-woman and all that, was there ever competition between you and the other?

Because there's like a bunch of talented women rappers in L.A. Absolutely. And like, particularly like Latina is, you know what I mean? There's like a whole bunch. I don't want to say a whole bunch, but there's a handful. There's a handful of y'all. There's a handful. There's a handful.

That are really dope. A lot of y'all been at it for years and shit. Did you ever feel like the competition, like, thing kicked in? I never necessarily felt the competition thing as much as I've always kind of felt like the outsider from that group. And I really think it has more to do with them growing up together. And I didn't. I didn't grow up with them, which is fine, you know. like I said I've always been blessed to have my own group of home girls and I've just kind of always

like hung out with them so I I wasn't like the girl like oh like you rap too let me go hang out with you for no reason you know it's like if I'm gonna link up with you we're probably gonna make some like really dope music but I never really I never really fell into that like cool girl rap group thing you know but that's fine with me like I I like kind of being the individual And, you know, at the end of the day, it's you all got your own lanes. Yes, absolutely. It don't matter. Everybody's shining doing their thing.

Absolutely, yeah. Y'all might pop up on bills together and all that. It's always love. I love to see, like, the girls doing it, you know. There's so many, like, chicks in New York that I've been tapping in with. Shout out to my home grow China Streets. Seven Dad the Genius. She signed a drum work.

A bunch of dope female producers. Shout out to Sovereign. She produces for West Side Gun. Fire. Only Vada. She produces for a bunch of New York cats. I've just been really tapping in with like the East Coast ladies lately. There's,

I've heard Lady London before? I know Lady London. She hard. Yeah, she's dope. There's a lot of dope. And you know what? I like to say like I for sure tap in with like the boom bat chicks and like chicks that rap on like Resselda type beats.

But when you go in my car, I'm playing like, you know, gangstaboo, ice spice. I'm playing like, I don't want to say Milano technically. But like... Lotto hard. She got some shit. Yeah, mm-hmm, yeah, she's good. I play like, I love ratchet shit.

Like, I really do. I love ratchet girl rap. And I don't wrap anything like that. Okay, and this is... And I refuse to talk about my private parts. Right. I don't rap about any of that. Well, this is, and I've said it several times on the podcast.

that the I would say the I said 2020 but literally the past few years has been like the era of thought rap you know what I mean and yes obviously what I what I say all the the nieces of cardi B essentially like a city girls you know ice spice lotto meg like and I'm not mad at it you know I I genuinely enjoy listening to that when I'm like getting like if I'm getting ready for my no jumper interview I'm like I'm listening to your match at me music, you know? But then like on the way over here, I turn to like some Conway just to get like in my bag. Right. Yeah. Right. But I'm a nice mixture of both, I feel. Now being being a woman, artist, have you ever encountered like rappers or producers or promoters that try to get cool with you

under like the veil of like, yo, you're dope. I want to work with you. But really, they have other intentions. Oh, like some like, yeah, like weirdo intentions. Yeah. I'm pretty very upfront about all that in the beginning. Like, I'm very good at renting people. And so if I feel like there's an even an inkling of like puppy eyes, I'm gonna let you know off the bad. Like I'm unavailable. I'm unavailable. I'll never be available. So just like, let's get that all the way right now. It don't matter if I'm single. I'm still not available. Like, yeah. I'm just like I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm all about 100% like respect and work and work ethic. And so I don't like dabble around with that.

But I mean, it's easy to cut people off too. I'm just like, skirt, okay. So that's never really been an issue for you. Particularly no. In the beginning of my career, yes. And I think I was like too shy to tell people to fuck off. And now I'm like, oh, fuck off. Right.

It's pretty easy. Right. My, like, my conscience and my safety and my career, like, mean the most to me. So I'm not going to jeopardize that with, like, some fuck boy. Your beats are cool, but, like, I can find 100 other beats that sound like that. Right. And I've always told people, like, man, let the ladies choose up. You don't know.

Please. You don't know if she likes you. If you were, like, mad cool and you, like, dress kind of cool, but not, like, overly, you know, too cool. And you just got like a dope vibe and like you bring me water. Like, I'm going to like you. Yeah. No problem. It's a message.

You got to just like let it happen. Yeah, yeah, exactly. Don't put extras on it. Girls don't need that extra. I mean, if that, if you're acquiring an extra girl, then maybe that's it. But if you want the like homebody chick who wraps really hard on boombat, then just keep it easy. So I don't only want, although you're such a, you know, boom-bapped-out MC, you do a lot of other stuff too. I do. I do.

You had like, you know, it's funny because when we were in Vegas and you were shooting the, was it the Fruit Dusts? Like, was that the video? It was, um, it was, um, Zoo was shooting it. It was gunfire. Gunfire. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. But like,

I, you know, I remember like looking at a bunch of your records and you, I was like, damn, Shorty can sing. Oh, yeah. I'm super melodic. And you and you even have like a whole side project, which is like a jazzy type band and all that. Oh, yeah, the paranoia.

Yeah, like, you have like a whole bunch of different. I have, yeah, I have a whole project of just me singing, which I don't think, a lot of people don't even realize I have that. It's called melatonics. Shout to fourth beats. And then I have. Shouts to fourth. Shows to fourth.

He's best homie. And then I have, I even have like ska music that I've sung on. Okay. All right, Gwen Stefani. Yeah, I was definitely my Gwen bag. Like, shout out to the paranoias. They're dope-ass band from South Central. They're like, they headline like every ska,

Skaw Wars. So I'm in like, I like creating. So I don't limit myself, you know? So like, even if somebody was to throw me a drill bee, like, I could probably do something really bad. No, we need to hear. That's it. I could.

Fuck that. We need to hear. I need to hear it. I want to hear you flip those cadence. Because it really, all it comes down to is the cadences. You know, and I know how to like, I know how to play with my voice. I know how to rap. So I'm not, I just like, I actually used to sing in elementary school.

I, you know how they have like the, like, choirs, like, elementary choirs. Chorus. Chorus. But my school had like a even tighter chorus underneath. So, like, anybody could join the big one. But then there was one of only 10 people and you had to try out and, like, everybody tried out. And, like, I was one of them that made it. Okay.

So that was really cool. That was, like, my first introduction into singing. So there's no surprise to me that there was a layover that, layover of that into, like, my rap career. Yeah, no, it's a, because I think I don't want to, like, create this. Although, like, look, all someone's got to do is go on your Instagram and they'll see, you tell me, you got videos with, um, with the home girls all, you know, masked up.

With the shi-sties on. And you're just like. With the poos on. Yeah. And you're spinning over like the grimy as derringy as derringer. type beat ever and just like Shouted Dyer but then I do have the the real up

like nice like Mac Miller Right sunflower sunshine type type beat too or type feel so Yeah so I just don't want people to get this The wrong impression that you only have one bag Yeah I know because although that might be your biggest bag And I think it's dope like do you ever

Like it's dope to see because I see a lot of other artists and at a certain point they start switching their styles up and there's nothing wrong with that. Like I love to see growth and artists. Like, you know, people talk about like Yadi's new album and he's like in all these different bags and it's dope to see and I like that. But there's also something to be said for like a career like gurus RIP

where he's just like the same in that bag and staying like really like... Solidified. Yeah, just, you know what I mean? Like unwavering from the Boombap style and shit. And I feel like you do that. that no matter if it's cool or not. Yeah, absolutely.

I mean, I'm a creative. Yeah. I feel like, you know, like the funny term now is like art hoes, you know, but like I always say like I'm the original art ho. I'll be that. I just like, I don't know. I just love, I love creating one of my favorite artists is Amy Winehouse. The best.

Yeah, I have her actually right here, tatted. She is one of my favorites. Yeah. So I'm just like, I really. I'm a product of like... If you look at my phone, I literally wrote down Amy in my phone this morning because I wanted to listen to her shit later.

And I write notes in my phone obsessively. And I was like reminding myself. I always write notes on my phone. Yeah. I wrote notes for this interview. I don't even need them. Anything that we haven't... I mean, we're not done yet, but is there anything

that we haven't touched on that you feel like you'd like to from the notes? It actually chronologically makes sense. So like once I really tapped in. Eventually I quit Victoria's Secret because even like my manager they had already like tapped into what I was doing musically and they were like yo like like leave you know like go do that you don't need to be here. So that's your last regular job. That was my last regular job. I quit that like 2015, something like that. I quit because I got a chance to go on tour for with Warp Tour

and I wasn't going to be able to like leave work for that long. Was it the, did you do the Bring It Back? Was it the Bring It Back stage? The hip hop one. Yeah, yeah, yeah. With Spliff. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, with the homie's bliff.

So you worked with Fritz. With Fritz and I went with DJ Lala. Shout out to Lala. Shout to Lala. Shout to DJ Lala. And one of my favorites. Yeah, she's the best. And the homie feel, who was like a big graffiti writer.

So he would just come and like help us out. But then he would like go paint at night. So it worked out for him too because we were going state to state. at that time. And y'all were doing some grimy shit like sleeping in like Oh, yo, a couple of the nights we didn't even have a room.

Yeah. We would like straight up sleep in the whip and then like just park in the parking lot to the next venue and like catch some Z's and that was it. Shout to my voice flip too. We were on some real like that was real independent real like out the mud. Yeah.

You know? I used to drag my merch from like the parking lot to the stage. That was at least a mile to two miles and I was dragging my own merch. And that's how y'all got paid too, right? That's how we got paid. So I really brought it through.

I got it out the mud. I enjoyed that I got to hustle like that in the beginning of my career because now I, like, I'm so humble about it. And I'm appreciative that I have people who are willing to, like, carry my merch now. Like, I'll, like, try to pick up a box and, like, my homies were like, no, like, you cannot. Right. You cannot carry your own merch. Like, you cannot be seen setting up your own merch table. I'm like, oh, that's how I used to do it.

I don't know. I've literally, though, seen so many other artists in that position just completely get, like, beyond humbled, but crumbled. Yeah. Because, like, if you're not able to get that. Because, look, at the Vans Warp Tour thing, for people that don't know, it was a little side stage. Yes. And you're basically, like, the red-headed stepchild of the Vans Warp Tour. Those kids are not going to, like, there to see.

I had to, like, catch people's attention. So what, because I'm so short, too. it was hard to see me. So what they used to do is they used to stack crates for me and I would stand on top of the crates and they were like, yo, free from like rap without the beat.

So I would start rapping and then that's when everybody would start coming because they were like I could hear this voice. Where is it coming from? And then they would see me on top of these crates and then they would come to us. So that's how we like brought people. And then you'd have to like so it's.

And then you'd have to keep them there. Keep them there. Especially when like oh you know like Someone else is on the big stage. Yeah, like you feel me? But it was, I mean, it was like, again, like such a humbling experience to be able to do something like that. So then I did warp toward, that was a blessing. It was hard and it was crazy and I slept in a car for a lot, but it was dope.

I even got pulled over in Texas. It was like we were driving from one day to another. It was like two in the morning. You're driving? I was driving. It was, you know, like you're driving through Texas, you're going 80. And then like for a one mile, it goes down to 40 because of those like little gas stations. And I didn't slow down.

I got pulled into the gas station. And then the cop came up to the car. And he was like, asks us where we're going. And I told him, you know, we're part of a tour. We're driving from state to state. Like, I'm sorry. It's late. Like, I ran through it, my bad.

And he believed us because he said that he had already pulled over other cars that were also on that tour. So he knew people were going on the tour. And he asked me what I did. And I said, I'm a rapper. And this is my DJ. Lala was in the passenger. And he didn't. believe me. Of course he didn't believe me. Everybody always thinks I'm the rapper's girlfriend.

I'm just like I am the rapper girlfriend. Um and he said if you play me a song of yours right now, I might let you go. And I had, it was like a five CD changer. Lace with Pearls was already in there. So I went to the CD. I pressed track one. It's called Ain't a Reason. I played it and you just see him like he like has his head in the window. He's like, looks at his partner. And he looks at Lala and he looks at me. He's like, this is you? And I was like, yeah. And he was like, okay, well, give me a second.

He goes, he gets my ID back and he gives me that license. He's like, all right, go ahead. Get out of here. Man, you played in the Miss Educational Lauren Hill. I was like, yeah, I totally played him. Some raw digger. Some raw digger. I totally played him.

Some Bahamania. So then after that, I did Warb Tour. It was cool. I quit Victoria's Secret. That was cool. I was super lucky to start traveling internationally. to that. And from like 2015 to 2019, I

think I went to like eight or nine different countries. And I would go and I would perform. I would meet with locals. I would perform at like underground hip hop shows. But my favorite thing to do at that moment was to go paint in every country that I went to. Because at this moment

I've already like gotten bored of painting in L.A. at this point I've, I mean I'm painting frets, but I'm not going as often just because the music thing is starting to take off. Would you say you're all city with writing um i mean like i don't want to like say i'm all city you know i had because i have home girls that are all city yeah so like i can't compare myself to that like i have a home like my home girl raquel from a t-a she's all city and like my home girl legs she's all city

shout out to but those are like my best friends yeah so am i part of all city chicks yes i am right that's my new crew actually okay which is you you heard it here first and then um so then now my new thing is like going to different countries and painting in different countries. That's ill. That was like, I just got off on that. Like I want, as soon as we get to somewhere else, I would like, latas, latas, like, where's the cans at, you know? And there's dope, there's amazing graffiti in other countries.

I was in Peru and we couldn't find any paint. So we ended up going to like this like 99 cent hardware store and got like house paint. And like that's what I used to paint. And it worked. It worked. I was in Paris painting with this like. white boy from out there who's a dope graffiti writer. But we're painting this spot, like daytime.

And then there's some other like Paris boy or French. Are they, what's it called French people? Yeah, Paris boys. French people, like some French dudes behind us kicking a soccer ball, like talking out loud. And then the guy I'm with starts like panicking. And he's like, oh, we're going over their spot. Like they're tripping. Like we should go.

We should go. But I was so not trying to go. I was like, no, fuck that. Like I'm going to finish my outline. And it's just like a lot of stories like that. of like finding, first of all, trying to find paint. And then once you get the paint, like going paint anything. So now, like, within the past several years, legal painting, legal walls and all that is like a big...

It's huge. But you kind of seem to get off on like the whole rebellious aspect of it. Absolutely. Like the hood aspect of it. Yeah, yeah. So you don't really be doing too much of the legal... Legals? No, not particularly.

I've definitely been a part of like all-female graffiti. shows, which is what I would consider, like, legal. It is. And then that's probably, like, the end of it. I don't really get, like, too legal after that. Yeah. I do like painting in, like, all Girlgraph shows, though, because, I mean, it's, like, a bunch of, like, hello kitty

chicks just fucking getting down. Going crazy out here. Going crazy. At what point do you feel like, and I want to say, again, back to the chronology, this is probably around this time, did you realize, like, I'm not

just a dope MC. Like I have real fucking star power and I'm like can impact greater than my city and like Can I tell you when? Yeah Trophy Wife. Great album.

Yeah. My dog produced it. Shout out to Chase. My brother brother. The best. Yeah, that guy's so funny. Yeah, Chase is. Yeah. I had some stories about this recording. I would honestly say that Chase Moore

is the most underrated producer that I've ever heard. I can agree. In all of hip-hop. You know what it is about him too is he doesn't have just one sound. No. He would play me everything from like

Pheness Hunter to outside. Like those beats that I used. Like they're so different, but they're so dope, you know? So it was so much fun. And that was like a crew, that creative process was about two years. So I started, we say we started in 2018.

the album got wrapped and pushed down in 2020. And also, I mean, like, how much of a, your visuals have been a big part of it, like your videos? Yeah. When did, like, did that, was that like a part of you realizing? The power. The power. Yeah, I would say that started maybe like the end of 2019 into 2020.

I dropped a lot of videos for Trophy Wife a lot. And like the value of production behind the videos, It catapulted me into the next level. Yeah. You know, because I'm not out here just like point and shoot on some train tracks. No, like, you know, you like have concepts and shit. Yeah, we leveled up. And like it all goes back to me being a creative too, like wanting to do like the best, most creative, like, cool shit.

And like I have a particular vision of what I think is cool. And like I really wanted to bring that forth because it just pushed my individuality to the forefront. And people are like, fuck with that shit. Absolutely. And I really like, there's an array of topics. The one time that I, one of the times I was in the studio with you, and we're not going to say any names. But you have a particular record and you were talking about somebody that you used to kind of look up to, would you say? Oh, my God, I looked up to her so much.

You admired her. She was like a dope chick on the scene. Yes. Had a lot of respect from everybody. and was really beautiful. Absolutely. And then... Drop dead gorgeous.

Drop dead gorgeous. I used to look at her and think like, oh, and I grow up six years for now. I want to look just like her. I used to go to a particular place that she would be at. Yes. When we were, like, I was in high school. I think she's a little older than me.

Yeah. She was like, right, but I would like go to this particular place that she was at. And just to like hope that she would like, Yeah, catch a glimpse. Is she going to walk away here? Oh, wow, wish I could hold her hand or get. Give her up. You feel me like, like it was.

You know, they didn't go to the park. You feel like, but she was like, you don't see that. Like she. Oh, yeah. But then, unfortunately, you started succumbing to partying a little too much. Yeah. And the addiction really kicked her ass. And then like, what would you say is like the moral of that song?

Because I always thought it was really interesting. It was, is it more like kind of like believe in yourself and don't look to outside places to find that? So I remember I was like in the whip with a couple of homies really dope homies that like do videos but they're also just like a part of the scene like hip hop and then also like they're from the valley

so like you know valley hip hop but I can't particularly remember why this like that individual had gotten brought up but I had relayed the story about how I met her how I looked up to her I thought she was the most gorgeous thing she was like a butterfly to me I was like I want to look just like her

even to this day I think a lot of the way I like dress and how I look is inspired by her from like 10 years ago and then I had mentioned how it was really sad to see what she ended up succumbing to you know I mean not to say that she passed away I don't think she didn't

yeah but but just like you know it was like watching a butterfly like kind of crisp. She looks like now, I would say like you could see that it was a pretty girl there at some point but life kind of got to her. Yeah. So then I, the homie and the whip was like,

yo, you should you should make that a song. Like it's a touching story. So then I wrote a song about it and like, you know. And it's crazy. Yeah. Because I knew I was like when. Yeah. So you were in this, you were in the studio while I was recording the song.

And I don't know. I think you figured it out. I did. Yeah. I did. And I didn't even know you knew. Yeah. I didn't know you knew.

Yeah. Well, she's like way closer and age to me. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. She was older than me.

But I looked up to her as that like, wow. Because when I had a crush on her and stuff, like I was still in high school. This is like 1999, 2000. You feel me? I hadn't even. I graduated in high school. You were like 10 years. You were like 10 at the time.

No, yeah. I met her like at least. I think I met her like in 20 or 2009 or something like that. That was. tail end of her. If you had seen her when I, like you would have been like, damn. Like, it was a whole other thing.

But it's also crazy because it's, now look, I'm never, I'm not going to ever say that I was a bad bitch like that, but drugs and the effects of drugs fucked me up. Yeah. You know what I mean? And I still like, like I'm luckily because I know a jump right now, I got a dentist that's fixing

all my teeth. So when a couple, like, all the jokes you got on my teeth, I've said it several times. Get him out now. Because you feel me? Mr. Columbia is coming out. You dig? I'm about to have my bell nine pretty soon. Shining on y'all motherfuckers, you feel me?

So, but yeah, like, so that, it was, like, relatable on multiple levels to me. And you, like, I don't know if you even realized how fucked up I was when I was around you, like, but I was, like, in a very dark place. Yeah. For a lot of those times. Yeah. So the glow up is real. The glow up is beautiful. You like, I mean, just because I think we've known each other for the past, just seeing you flourish on No Jumper, which No Jumper, I mean, like, other than this interview, it happens to be one of my favorite channels to watch, just to like stay tapped in, you know?

And so when you started coming on and I saying like everybody loving you, I felt like, that's my homie right there. You know what, too? Thank you so much. Well, also, like, you had told me years ago, and I think we talked about this once, like, I'd made a. tweet like what do y'all want to see more for me? Oh yeah you said I had said something about podcasting yeah well I was like I was like I was like do more music do want me to see me do more battle events or do you want me to see like help put on dope artists through like interviews and shit like that and you're like interview dope artist and I was like at the time I was kind of like

damn like she doesn't like my rap you know what I mean like I think like my foresight is that your personality is so big you know like you you can't just just like stick to one thing. You gotta like really like blow all the way out there. So to see you like being like to me like the superstar of no jumper right now. I mean I love it. That's like telling everybody like my homie Lush, she's going to interview me.

Come on. Come on. We lit. And you know what? So you being like a avid watcher of no jumper for like the past several years would you say? I would say avid watcher for at least the past three years. Okay. Yeah.

So you've seen a lot of like... Ever since, like, when they were on Melrose, on some shit store. Right. And then I, and then they... Yeah, and then I started watching, like, the new shows. Like, the very beginning of at the end of the day, before at the end of the day was cool.

Right. It took about... It took on like 100 episodes before I think they really tapped all the way in. Hit the groove and all that. Like, no pun intended. But, so what are your thoughts about the direction that no jumper has gone recently as far as all of the internal drama and shit like that is it does it like is it something that you find entertaining or do you kind of wish that the energy would switch back to the

way it was before or it doesn't deter me away from the channel because of course everybody's like oh what's like what's the tea you know but i personally like i don't like to see shows demising you know, or like succumbing. I'm a huge fan of disconnected. I like consider myself a misconnected. You're a misconnected. So are you going to, are you going to be watching reconnected? Oh, I'm already, I'm already subscribed.

That's right. Shout out biggest bros. Shouts to the homies, man. But I mean like I also understand that there's still like a love. Yeah. You know, there's like it's not like there's any, I don't think there's any beef. No. Not with me.

No. So, like, to see them, like, venturing off and now being able to have full creative control of what they put out, I'm equally as excited. And I'm still a huge fan of No Jumper Show at the end of the day. You know, I'm not like the Monday show. I don't know, like particularly. It's gone now. Is it gone? It's gone now.

Okay, yeah. But, you know, like, I'm still, like, excited to see what is to come because I've seen the shows that, then the success that has come within the last year. Yeah. I mean, I think there's only room for more. I was even a fan of the Selena show. Yeah. The two episodes at her and Liza. It got a lot of fucking views, I'll tell you that.

If Selena has a, it comes on no jumper, like, I'm clicking. I think a lot of people are, to be honest with you. It's kind of like watching a little, a cute train wreck. And I'm, like, do you see yourself getting into podcasting? Because I honestly, like, you have a great personality. And I, like, I know it's, like, scary because you don't want to, like, venture away from. To detour. Yeah.

No, actually, yes. And I'll tell you why. Because I listen to more podcasts than I do music. And this is like me solidly for like the last three years. Like I'm addicted to listening to podcasts. Like if you look at my Spotify, it's like all these podcasts and then like one ratchet playlist. Like that's it.

Like I really don't listen to music as much as you think I do. And like a lot of the podcasts I listen to are either like hip hop podcasts or like crime. Right. True crime investigative. I'll be watching those shows on the IP network and all that. Oh my God. Like I just, I have to get my fix.

No, I feel you. And it's crazy because like literally, and we pre-recorded the Tuesday show because everybody out eating in box right now. Oh, yeah, doing some stupid shit. Yeah. So we, we filmed that yesterday.

And literally you'll see it's like airing, I think right now as we speak low key. Yeah. And we were talking about Adam was like, it's very adamant about the fact that, people are that hip hop is at a low point right now and more people are listening to podcasts and watching podcasts than they are fucking with music yeah and so many rappers are starting podcasts but i did look at no jumper and it's like that that's this is hip hop in a podcast exactly this i think

that's why i enjoy like watching it so much i'd like to see you on like i'd like to see if i can bring you on some more shit over here like yeah because i feel like you'd be you know like you'd be suited for it. I think I'm tapped in. You definitely are. Yeah, and I have a stride, you know, and the women flock to me. It's just, it's just what it is. You got a lot of bitches. I can't front.

I mean, I'm telling you, it's like a mass. It's like I'm wearing a magnet. I don't know where the magnet's at. Do you feel like, I mean, there's, like, do you feel like that's kind of unique to you? Because I, like, a woman artist could be very polarizing and could actually attract a lot of female fans or could repel

them. Yeah. Um, I think what it is is a lot of girls who think that they can't be as big or as shiny as they could see me and realize like, oh, wow, like, it is possible. Because, you know, I didn't come out like a shiny little star from, like, you know, I grew into it. So, like, I like to say that my story is inspiring because I'm really, like, from the mud. Yeah, absolutely. So. Absolutely. And, like, you've gotten, like, put on the past few years I've seen you on.

some really big collabs. Like, who is it, Blue and Who else? Yeah, I had a song with Blue and Self-provoked. Yeah, that was really dope. I was also the only West Coast artist. On the Rosenberg show. On the Rosenberg album, I was not only the only chick, but I'm the only West Coast artists.

Are you like the first track, I want to say? I'm track number one. Yeah, like... So you play that album, it's Methamask, Diles P, Conway, West Side, a bunch of other dope cats, Ray Kwan, but I'm track number one. That's so ill. Yeah. So I loved that I got to like represent where I'm from and like my gender and the same time.

And I'm not always always just pushing like, oh, I'm a chick. You don't rap about that at all really. No, I don't. Yeah. Like I think like if you look at me, it's one thing. But then when you hear what I rap or like how I sound, it's like, oh shit. Because I feel like this bitch is up to bat. Yeah, you're not like I think that you're kind of trying to shatter and you have Shatter the illusion like, oh, she's dope for a chick. It's like, nah, like this is like someone that I could listen to. You know what I mean? Like people always talk about bringing it back to the thought rap Glorilla.

I was just about to say that like how people say like Glorilla is the only girl that I could put on my rap list. I'm like there's so many other bitches out there. Yeah. And even like I mean like if you're into the boom bap shit there's like chain noir, there's R&R. There's R&Ber. There's R&P gangster boo. Like no matter what your, you know, niche is.

There's a lane of dope chicks. But I've also like, I have homies or just know people that like have a heart like won't listen to they'll listen to like a woman singer but don't want to listen to a woman emcee for some reason which is super fucking weird because it's like it's so skills or skills ultimately it don't matter i have a like one of like there's a thing where i think a lot of people don't have common sense and i've kind of realized that in the past 10 years of like meeting and talking to people the common sense isn't as common as you think no and like i i know people tell me things and they're like backhanded compliments essentially

where they'll be like, I fucking hate all women, rappers, and you're the only one I'll ever listen to, and I'll destroy any other female rapper. Like, I'll never listen to her, and I'm just like, but why? Like, why? I don't, I don't get that theory. It's lame.

I mean, it's just like, I'm not the only one. Like, I have, like, people that I come from, you know? And, like, those dope, why don't you listen to them? Or, like, why wouldn't you listen to somebody after me? like I'm not the only one out here. If you don't like Lady of Rays, you're not a fucking hip hop fan. I mean, it's just like it's such a backhand compliment to me. Like, oh, like you're the only female rapper I listen to.

And it's like, damn. And I feel sorry for you, son, because your playlist is probably lacking. If they tell me I'm the only white rapper they like, I'm like, fuck yeah. Good for you. R.ipina McMiller, though. You feel like that. But do you have a top five female MC list of all times? Let me think

Without thinking too hard Bahamadea I think she's number one Shots to Philly I think she's number one for me I'm a huge Queen Latifah fan of Black Rain

UNAT Y Like Please that was gold I ain't a bitch or a ho I ain't a bitch on a ho I love that shit You know Like

And then who else I mean if those are like two OG heads I think I'm at top of my head If we're talking like new new All time Jesus there's like a whole list You know All time

Like I'm telling my girl China Streets She's just killing right now I can't wait to see her thing she comes out Shane noir is really dope She's hard Seventhad of the Genius She's like just coming out But she's rapping like crazy

And I'm always gonna throw my name in there Because I like Consider myself like top here. Okay. I mean, there's, I'm in, there's no way around it. If you go to a Vell, now, okay, is it Vell the Wonder or Vell 9 form it? It's Vell 9. It is, because on Spotify, it's Vell 9. Yes. Like, you used to be Vell the Wonder. Yes. And then you transition to. Yeah. Because, you know what? I never gave myself that name, like, it came from someone else. So I never really, like, I never felt it, you know? Like, I think like you're supposed to feel

something like in your heart. And I didn't feel. as connected to that as I did Val 9 and I think Val 9 has a graffiti background for me because of my crews and my name. Like I said, you ain't got to look that deep. You ain't got to look that deep, boy. And then I've just always gone by Val 9 also.

So it wasn't crazy for me to like switch over to Val 9 like officially. But then, you know, once like I changed my spot of my Twitter name to Velanina, I just so happen to call myself Velanina all the time now. I actually call myself Velanina. I can't believe I get credit for that.

You get totally credit for that. That's so ill. Val not on how lush gave her her nickname. There's, I have a lot of like home girls that when they've seen us together or whatever, like on IG stuff, they'll be like, oh, I love Val. She's so dope. Like people that I wouldn't even expect to be up on you that aren't into like underground, indie hip hop or whatever. So if you go to a Vell show, there's going to be a lot of women there. It's like, would you say it's half and half?

I would say it's half and half. Like split down the middle of the year? Split down the middle. Because like even my Spotify numbers, they're always half and half. Which is ill, but like hip hop shows like Boomab in particular. They're cockfuss. A lot of dick. Yeah.

Oh, like an extreme amount. Like to the point where I'm going to the ladies restroom and there's like crickets. It's crickets. Like me and the girls are like drinks, taking videos in there like running up all the stalls for no reason. And it's because there's no chicks around. Yeah. So I would like to say that if you're looking for your next honey-dew, just go to a beljo.

Yeah. But don't hit on her too hard. Remember, you got to be slick with it. Yeah, don't. Bring her a cup of water. She's looked like she's sweating. But it has to be screwed on. Yeah.

Like, we're not taking like open gas. A bottle of water. Yeah. And I need the seal to be 100% single. We're not doing that. Yeah. I ain't that type of party. Yeah.

Like, although Although it's kind of cool It's like at the same For you to be at those shows You know, like, do you feel like What could get women into Wanting to go to those type of shows And why don't they fuck with it?

I think you mean like Like male dominated hip hop shows Like if you go to like a, you know Like a rock Marcy show Oh yeah like a rock marsy show Like her Griseldah Or dope ass Some of my favorite rappers, you know what I mean?

Like, yeah, Rock Marcy is like one. I love Rock Marcy, great producer, great rapper, super underrated. Yeah, he's tapped in. He shows me love. I want to interview you, Rock Pop Up, you feel me, like would love to have you on the show. A lot of, like, a lot of these dudes. And actually, he's not even the best example because there's probably more girls in his shows. Yeah, yeah.

Because he's on his P-Shish. Yeah, because he's a player, and he's smooth with it. Girls like that. Like moose. Yeah, you know, but there's a lot of. I remember, like, Some of my first Griselda shows that I went to was like 20, 18, 19, something like that before they got really big. And there was no chicks there at all.

It was like me and like the two home girls that I brought from San Marino. Like it was just like real cutty. I think now it's a little different just because like they can now like they're like the guys. So like there's, it happens like chicks flock to like the guys. Right. But I think times are changing. I think girls are starting to tap more into like that type of that type of rap. You know, it's less about like the bubblegum pop wrap and like more about like the gritty shit.

Do you think that? And I also think once like these groups like Ressela start collabing with like chicks like me, it really starts to open up there, the genre cap for them, you know. Benny Conway, get at the home girl. They're tapped in. They already know they know. But I want to see the collab. Everybody's stabbed in.

I want to see the collab. I want to see the collab too. Is it, um... Do you feel like it's because the tempo of that music is like a little bit slower, so it's less danceable? Oh, it's absolutely the tempo. It's absolutely like the beats. It's the fact that, like, you can't really, like, shake ass too hard to it

or, like, play while you're getting ready. Although I love to, like, listen to that shit when I'm getting ready, you know? But it's a different wave. I think, like, now, like, You know, like, girls are starting to, like, get more on it and, like, realize, like, that type of rap is, like, it's dope. I think that I would rather listen to that than, you know, some, like, other type of rap. If I see a bad bitch twerking to MF Doom, just know that we're getting married. I mean, hokeeks is a song.

You feel me? Like, we... A hokekes is a song for a reason. You feel me? Like, we are getting married. I don't give a fuck. I know a gang of chicks that listen. doom though. That's what I'm saying. More chicks that was in a

doom than Griselda. But it really is like, just give it a time. You know, like a couple of years from now, Griselda show is probably like half half bitches for sure. That'll be so tight. I was at, that'll make me make me want to go. But, no, I love Griselda.

You feel me. Boom, boom, boom. Boom. There was I had a show at a strip club in the IE a few years ago. Oh gosh. Yeah. It was actually lit but um there is a chick there one of the dancers and she was stripping

to neck to necro yeah that doesn't surprise me and I was like yo Necro and like naked women go hand in hand Yeah for sure yeah that's not surprising But I was kind of like yo like you're A rare bird I fuck with you I would love if I went to a strip and like some bitch

was getting down to like Katie by Conway I'd be like yo this beat is hard These these bars are hard like this chick is hard. What's the one Conway song with the, what's the shorty's name that's signed to them? The Liz, what's her name? Oh, Armani.

Armani Caesar, yeah, yeah. They have a song together and I was like, this is like jiggy right here. Yeah, yeah. I could see chicks turning up to that. Yeah, yeah. Do you, like, when you make records or do you have a specific audience in mind, like, this is for the, you feel me, the head knot or boom bap heads, this is for the grapheads, this is for the ladies, like, or is it just kind of?

I think I think about it. But then quickly I remember to just throw it all out. Like don't write music for people, write music for yourself, and they'll come to it. You know? So I try not to like necessarily think too hard. I really, to me, music has always come to me, like, turning on a water faucet.

So I just turn it on. I let it all flow out and then I turn it off. Val, what we doing next? What's the next move for Val Nina? You feel me? I'm, you know, I have so much music. I'm just, like, I'm stacked on music. And it's the best music I've ever, like, unreleased.

When I called you the other day, you was in the stew. I was in the studio. I live there if I can. Yeah. But I'm also, like, it's really hard because I have to be a businesswoman, too. I've learned to, like, have to be a boss, a businesswoman, a media, a content creator, email replyer, you know, negotiator. but really like the hat that I love to wear is an MC.

Okay, just because you brought it up, sparked a little you feel me tangent in my brain. As a businesswoman, and I know obviously you have a squad that's going to, of advisors and people that are going to help you. I go back and forth all the time. They're going to navigate these murky waters. You know, being in the hip-hop scene, there's a lot of janky promoters. Do you have any stories of like having to deal with like a promoter that was shady,

trying to like fuck with your money or do some weird shit and you had to flip the script on them all the time let's hear something like every single time almost uh i i mean like like i've had like you know people promised the world and then when it comes to down to it it's like oh actually can only give you half the world oh and i'm like no boy that's not a house not gonna work and i'm like i'm i'm small but i'm like i'm i'm very like i'm like i'm i'm very like i could see look like I'm seven feet tall when I want to. Right. So I've definitely had to check some fools for sure.

And unfortunately, I think just independent hip hop, you have to deal with a lot of that, you know. So I've had to deal with that. I've always get my money, though. Don't fuck with me. Okay. Rainslider snow. I'm going to get that check boy. You don't get to the bag.

So, yeah. I mean, it's just something that I've had to deal with. I've even had, like, I'm not going to throw any names out there, but I've even had big people who are, like, big in L.A., like, people love them to death, promise me some low ball number and then not even deliver that low ball number. Damn. Yeah. So then I've obviously, like, cut ties with people for that reason. But I don't, like, no love loss. I also don't walk around, like, bashing people because it's, like, I'm focused on me. Like, my number one competition is always going to be me. It's never going to be anybody else. Yeah, absolutely. But this is art, but this is a business. It's a business.

And you've been supporting yourself for several years and you have like a whole squad. That motherfucker's got to eat too. They got to eat. I take care of my team. I make sure like when I get, when I book spots, like that payment, that fee I'm asking for is not just to pay my rent. It's like to pay my team and to reinvest back into the business. So I got lucky. I got to like get to ask for what I want and I get it.

So new project coming. Do we have a name? I have a project with Nug Life coming out. Okay. Shout to my boy. Fire. Nug Lai. Absolute fire.

He's tapped me in with so many people. I'll always have love for that guy. Nug Life is with Nug Life. I feel like he low-key. My first blue song is with Nug Life. I feel like he low-key up next. I was just talking about that. Oh, baby Al-Bimus.

Yeah. He's up next, my boy. Especially when we drop our ship through the roof. Oh. Our shit is dope. We have something like, yeah, our shit is dope. I'm tapped in, yeah. You might need to send me some damn sneak previews.

I might have to send you the sneak piece. It's really dope because it's also, I'm rapping, but I'm doing like the melodic thing too on some of the joints. So it just works. It's very, like, updated Lauren Hill, you know? Ooh. Yeah. A lofty comparison.

Can I throw that out there? Can we say Lorena Hill? Can I? Larina, Larina Hill. Your soul. Lorena. Hill 9, Hill 9. We might need to run with that.

We might have to run that one. So, yeah, I got the, I got to join with Nug Life. I got another one with Fourth that's been cooked. That's crazy. Would you say Fourth is like the, the pre-moder your guru? Absolutely. That's like the. Yeah, yeah.

Me and Fourth are like, he's like my little bro. And we just, like, we probably came from the same womb in another parallel universe. Because we just, like, we click. But, like, also, like, he's my little bro. So I'm on him. but in a loving way, you know, where I'm like, like, let's get this shit up. Like, come on, like, you know.

And he's great. He's just so naturally talented. And so, yeah, I got one with Nug. I got one with fourth. I've got some works going on with some other really dope producers. Okay. You know, who, like, eventually all that will come to light. So I'm just working.

I love working. I love working. I love being creative. And I love that I get to do what I do for. we're living. And we love to get to hear it. Any final words for the people before we sky up out of year? Um, you know, keep your head low and just fucking keep marching because that's really how you're going to get through the mud. Like, even when shit looks like it's taking too long or like you don't want to go on because shit is hard and it gets really hard out for us. Um, just remember

why you started and like it'll fall into place. Everything always falls into place. and keep your motherfucking eyebrows even. Bro. This is sexy now. The bush, I got the bush going. The bushy eyebrows. Come on.