The Elephant in The Room

the real mcain, Big James and Big Stairs from the streets. Hello, we welcome to the Gangster Chronicles podcast, the production of iHeart Radio and Black Effect Podcast Network. Make sure you download the i heeart app and subscribe to the Gangster Chronicles. For my Apple users, hit the purple mica on your front screen, subscribe to the gainst the Chronicles and leave a live start rating the comment you know what they do? Man,

another episode the Gangster Chronicles. Man, we're chilling with the homie Big Steal and all the other homies in here. Who ain't on camera, Junior the Homeboy farm being all the homies and everything, So what to do? Ain't this raining like a motherfucker outside there? Yeah, man, it's raining and ship's been raining all fucking week. Shit raining for the last two motherfucking weeks. But week in here, nice warm coas. I don't like the rain this ship. I know they say we need it, but I don't like

the rain. Man. Motherfucker's drive crazy. Got a gang of accidents, road slippery, you know what I'm saying. Then when you got kids out there driving, you know you you extra uh, you know, cautious and shit worried about you know, the kids behind the wheel show. You know, everybody out there be careful. If you're on the west right now, you're caught in all this rain. And that's for show. So

what's been the latest Monday that shit. I ain't been doing shit, man, just post to try and get this stuff together, you know, just just been peeping out what's been going on everything? You know, like I said, we had to you had to hip hop fifty shit, you know, a certain getting ready to go to college this summer. Um. Just trying to stay busy, you know what I'm saying. It's, you know, the first of the year, trying to get

ship cracking. I know everybody out there hard working, trying to get their ideas off the ground, you know what I'm saying. So, man, we've just been trying to stay busy, man, trying to stay you know, relevant for shilling, staying up the way of the bullshit. Especially the older you get man, you know what I'm saying. You know, we start getting a little older, they start wanting to retire you and put you to the side and tell you it's trying

to sit down. So, you know, just trying to stay relevant. Man. It's it's hard enough on top of you know, bills and trying to check money and all that shit. You know, that's for the average motherfucker. You know, we are a little a little fortunate to you know, have a job and have shit to do. Speak of the people people tuned in and shit like that. But it's just a hard struggle for people, man, right now, you know what

I'm saying. Yeah, for sure, without a doubt. Man. You know one thing that was go ask and we was talking about earlier, Man, we was talking about like to me, in my opinion, man, Gainst the rep kind of saved the music industry to a certain extent um. I mean I look at I look at music as transitions. You know what I'm saying. When I first got started with music, you know what I'm saying, there was really no gang

affiliation as far as music is concerned. Lot of the music was East Coast, you know what I'm saying, So deal with it on that aspect. But you know, we started making noise on the West Coast. I'm pretty sure a lot of people thought that, you know, the downfall of hip hop was gonna be probably great because you know, West Coast took over as far as making music is concerned around that time, from you know, the early nineties

to the mid nineties. You know, there's a lot of West Coast artists who you know, were stepping in the door and not just on gangster ship either. You know what I'm saying. We had a lot of diversity as far as music is concerned, but we had our time. You know, I'll say, you know, between ninety two and ninety five ninety six, you know, West Coast artists really

put their steak in the foundation of hip hop. You know, I'm saying, not knowing what people thought of hip hop at the time, you know, you know, I still listen to people like Llo, and I was listening to people like Trial car Quest and ed Og and the Bulldogs,

Gang Star. You know. But I don't know if people were saying that New York was losing a little bit of you know, because a lot of shit became about the dollar sign and commercialized and ship like that, whereas you know, over here on the West Coast, really we just we were dealing with, you know, shit that we dealt with basically is growing up in the hood or having to deal with the you know, what was going on on the West Coast as far as the gang

culture and you know, being a young black motherfucker in the neighborhoods, having to live in places like Compton, South Central, watts Long Beach. You know, we were we were stereotyped back then, as you know, khaki suits or T shirt and cap that meant you belonged to a gang. So there's a lot of oppression we had to speak on because we didn't have a voice, so our voice became

the microphone. Yeah, exactly, man, And we will be going through this, man, you know, over the course of the show, other episodes and stuff, we go always go back to this because I'm looking at nineteen ninety the albums that came out, It was a run. Man. I would say like probably from eighty nine to about ninety six that the greatest music ever in hip hop was being made.

That year. You had Mama said Knock you Out. That came out nine one is a joke Publican and Me, the Humpty Dance recipes of the Homie shot Gee, Welcome to the Terror Doome? Can I kick? A tribe call Quest jacking for Beats Q that was off a monster album. You know what I mean? Against the rep rock this funky joint, poor righteous teachers. You know, a tribe call Quests EPMD Burn, Hollywood Burn, Oppet and ally by nature not by nature. Tracks for him to be as g

as he was. Dog. He had the poppiest records. Dog. His records all pop. He always had strong ass hooks and his music. Shout out to tracks, man, some one of them one of my people's. Man, Oh for sure we go had to get tracks up here. You know, you had Nahs came up with New York Straight of Mind, the Ghetto Boys, the Homies mind playing tricks on me. It was just you know, Pete Rock and Seos movie

they reminisce over you. You know, slow down, brand Newbian You know, Karras Won MC's act like they don't know the other side of the town. Master Eight's got five on it. You know what I'm saying. It's like it was a it was a diverse time with music. Like I said, everybody had, you know, critical projects. If you asked me, I don't give a fuck how big they was promoted or whatever. But around that time and era, you know, it was a good time for music because

you know, hip hop was catching on. You know, the executives upstairs and the and the suits and ties and the people signing the contracts and whatever. You know, they started opening up a little bit more to our culture of hip hop seeing that it was making a gang of money around. Because look at all those releases you just named. A lot of those were the big records, all of them. That's that's the thing. Everything I named off was like a monster ass record. It was just

a crazy time and hip hop. I think too, man, And I think the biggest thing you got to look at it was a little bit more diversity because you still had the brothers like Public Enemy that was talking, you know, pushing the pro black line, you know, giving people knowledge yourself and all that you had naves to have some big records. Shoot ninety five, what are y'all dropping? Ninety five? I dropped? Or we come strapped at nine, we come strapped. What's turned out to be one of

your biggest albums. That's what I'm saying. We just had We just had bomb ass music then. I ain't gonna say that the music today ain't tight, but it's just a different area. It was more quality coming out back then. Definitely. I mean not to say that music is in quality today. I think it's just a difference of of of the times you're on I'm saying, Um, we we were very particular on on what went in as far as production

and making records. Um. It took not not to discredit any producers or beat makers, you know, because they have this distinction today of a producer and a beat maker, which which I which I would? You know, I commend that ship, you know, because there's a lot of cats who just make beats, you know, and then there's a lot of dudes who produce records. You know. It's a

difference between busting lyrics and making a song. With me, I felt like at that time, you know, more song driven, you know what I'm saying, uh, what it took to really make a song. Not to say that there aren't songs today as far as hip hop concerned with the new artists, Uh, there's just certain dudes who am to make you know, good use it feel men, and there's

just rap and then there's rappers. Not to discredit them either, but it takes a lot to make a song that a motherfucker want to spend his hard earned money on. We're back in My time, you know, motherfucker wanted to spend his hard, hard earned money on. And for the fact that you know, being able to get played on the radio and shit, Um, for me, I just wanted to stay true to the craft. So I really didn't.

I really didn't aim for radio, but it's a significant yeah, when you're going to try to be that type of artist. You know what I'm saying, Well, your songs always performed good at radio because I know the one big radio record that you did have was Mike Exam All for the Money, All for the Money. That was a big record. All for the Money was radio. Straight up minutes was radio. I mean anything could basically but be radio if you take the fucking cuss words out like we used to do.

But yeah, for real, But I know the Joe Temple eight, you know, the West Coast used to be back then, used to be poop chapoom boom chap. I don't know if you remember the era. Everything was kind of fast page, you know what I mean. I mean I didn't went into the g funk sound and stuff. Yours was always kind of outside everything else. You had your own thing going, for sure. I just want to I don't know. I just wanted to create different shit, um, not coming from

nobody's camp. You know. Um, everything I did was you know, constructed, as far as what I thought that I should be rapping to, as far as who I thought uh I was as an artist. I wanted to be very descriptive with my shit. I wanted to tell stories, you know. I didn't want to be one of those braggadocious rappers.

You know, I miss something that I miss something that I just wanted to talk about situations that the situations that I or I seen my niggas in, or families in, or just growing up where I grew up at, you know, poverty police, you know, always wanting better and dreams of better, you know. So That's what I spoke on. So I felt like I couldn't do that shit as far as trying to, you know, trying to tell a motherfucker how

hard life was for me. Now, everybody didn't go through what I went through as a kid, and not to say that my life was fucked up, because you asked me. I had a good, motherfucking life as a kid. You know, my parents got divorced, you know what I'm saying. But moms did what she did. Did I still have a connection with my dad somewhat, you know, not really moms did it all. So I just I just, you know, just growing up as a kid, I saw this. I saw that we struggled here, we struggled there. So I

felt I want to put that in music. And then I felt like I couldn't talk to people in a sense of trying to let them understand what I'm telling them. And a dance record, you get me. I just I just I don't know, I guess banging not like everybody. You know, all my niggas bang, we hood niggas. Everybody did that shit. But I just couldn't, you know, I just couldn't see myself trying to be the person I was, knowing where I came from and what struggles I went through as a kid, and my mom and family and

living where we lived at in Compton. I just didn't see no party in it. I mean, I didn't see nothing. Even when we was in the hood and flashlight was banging and niggas was getting high and we was chilling and having cookedouts and just hanging, niggas was still looking over their shoulder half the time. You had to be you know what I'm saying. It was the terror Dome back then. Yeah, we had good times, but it was

always alert time. So that's what my music was. My music was like, yeah, you know, we could kick it and low ride and smoke and funk with the girls and all that shit, but they're gonna we still got a car full of guns and we're riding in the enemy territory and ship like that. So that's where my music was. You gotta give a hat's off to which y'all was doing back then, because you mentioned something earlier.

Back then in the nineties, if you was coming out to West you had to be quoted on almost you had to come through either the tray or the NWA family tree. Right, you feel what I'm seeing. Everybody. You know, if you look at West Coast Hip Hop the daily, that's the landscape of it. Everybody in West Coast Hip Hop, with the exception of you, falls from that NWA family tree. You gotta remember Q putting mac ten on, so he

came from that tree um iced tea. He put a lot of people, and you gotta say, dub kind of put um iced tea, kind of put dube on ice put dub on. So you definitely had to come in through somebody else that was already doing a thing, because if you wouldn't coming through there, they wasn't trying to hear you. Almost. I mean I had. I mean, we knew, we knew Easy, we knew ran Um. I didn't know Q personally up until later on. I didn't know iced T. You know, King T was from Compton, Toddy T was

from the hood. But as far as like coming through a camp, um I started Compton's most wanted chill was the beat box. When we started um from there, you know what I'm saying. I started writing raps. Yeah, you know, I would write raps. Chill would bust his verse, I would bust my shit, but we did didn't have any significant motherfuckers to come through. It wasn't like, you know, I was the cousin of Dre or Easy was Chills

cousin or you know. We was just two young niggas trying to bang and music started and how we was gonna get in Hella, fuck it if I know, like I said, because we didn't know anybody. But you know, we started hanging with some niggas across the street from Chill House who was trying to get into the game. They were some singing niggas. So from there I started writing raps and shit. We had nowhere to do demo.

We didn't know nothing about that shit. I was just a fan of music because I heard six in the Morning and I heard Toddy T with the Batta ram and I heard Keen T with paybacks a mother and shit like that. So I was like, man, I don't talk about the hood too and talk about Compton in the streets and in the police and the gangs. But we didn't have no hook up. Just by just by chance, we was fucking with these two niggas across the street. They had a motherfucking uh audition or appointment with fucking

Lonzo from the Wrecking Crew. We just happened to fucking tag along and got up there, and that's when I first met DJ Slip and I recorded a demo tape. We did a re demo tape like in somebody's fucking living room, off of a keyboard and ship. We weren't even in those studio. And I wrote this song man like long time Ago, and me and Chill performed it, and we played the niggas the demo, and you know, a greedy motherfucker looking at two young niggas, you know,

Compton is getting off, so nigga see dollar signs. I didn't see shit. All I wanted to do was put out a fucking record. So we met a known mat Linzo that DJ Slip, and a known knew I had something in me, so he automatically hooked me up with Slip Star. Fucking with Slip Star going and Slip had all the shit I was looking for. Yeah, Slip had the fucking the Fox track, he had the mic, he had the speakers, the DJ equipment I was fantasizing about.

He had already set up, already set up, So I just got the fucking with slip every day and the Slip was part of La Sound Control Mob. They used to do all the concerts. But you know, it wasn't an NWA A hook up, or it wasn't doctor Dre or you know, if you want to say that I got hooked up with Lonzo and Unknown, then that's where I came from. But we didn't come through the cube ranks. We didn't come through the Dre ranks, the easy ranks. We just started conference most wanted. I started writing raps

and it was it like that. So that's how we got in, you know what I'm saying. Knome was one of them record motherfucker's you know on the West Coast. Everybody had little labels and shit, you know what I'm saying. So we came in through Unknown. Knome hooked us up. He got us an independent deal. They put our shit out, you know, independently, and from there we went from from Big Beat, through Capital, through Orpheus to Epic in the

rest of his history. You know, it was never a co sign, you know what I'm saying, Like Dray didn't call nobody was like give Ayton and the deal or e. We didn't go through ruthless or we didn't go through street knowledge, your lynch mob. You know, we was all motherfucker's Yeah, because YO almost wound up on death Row ricords. Yeah, we um. We didn't end up on death Row, but we was at the beginning of the introduction of death Row.

I don't know how many people know it, but Unknown was fucking with Shug and he knew that they was getting ready to start some shit. Som me Unknown, Slip and Chill had a meeting one night and Unknown told us that Dre and them was from to start a label and that they was looking for, you know, names for the label. And we sat up at the table and we came up and we thought of this ship called death Row, which was spelled d ef. They had coats, leather coats and all this other type of ship. But

we were never gonna be signed to death Row. I don't know as far Compter's most wanted was concerned maybe write some songs for somebody, But I looked at it as as as you know, being a part of the

circle shit that was getting started with death Row. Never never did Unknown say that he was gonna go approach Dre, and I don't know what the fuck his intent was because Unknown was a nigga behind the scenes who did shit, you know, without our consult whatever whatever he felt like he wanted to do, as far as CMW was concerned, because at the time we were signed to his production company.

So but yeah, he came and told us that they were going to form this new label and they were calling a Death Row and it was d ef Row instead of death like it is now. I guess they changed it. I was good friends with Big Mike and three two they were that was supposed to be the first act on Death Row before Dre did his project and Snoop and everybody else. It was three two and Big Mike and I don't know what happened with that situation or the falling out of it, but uh, yeah,

they could rest in peace, my nigga. Three two. Yeah, three two's probably one of the most influential motherfuckers in the game that people don't really know. But three two was the one year big baby. Yeah. Three two was very influential to a lot of shit, you know. And I'm not gonna speak on it, but if you know three two, like I knew three two and a lot

of people you know who were close to him. He was very influential in a few people's styles and what developed from from you know, copying that you know different and they ain't taking men away from them people. They was great already anyway. But he did give people a lot of little shit that they know I'm saying. I mean, because like I said, they were all integral in in in Form and death Row. They all probably sat up together and wrote music together, fad off for each other.

And I guess that's what you do when you're a real crew and y'all all out for each other's best interest. You know what I'm saying. You help a motherfucker. You know what I'm saying, Yeah, motherfucker's trying to come up with hit records, man exactly. And you know, one of the things that didn't really go down back then like it is they I think it did go down, but it wasn't talked about as much. It's like you said, in the course of people making records together, you can

give somebody a line or to right. Somebody may contribute to a hook or something. You're trying to come up with a hit record and everything, so it ain't necessarily about but back then it wasn't a whole bunch of it. I'm a half a nigga, come through and write my whole rap for me. That's why what Easy it was such a big deal because you know, Cube was doing all this writing. The Ram was writing form, DC was writing form, you know what I mean. But that was

accept that. I didn't even think back and we even focused on that ship. Did you did you ever, like, really, when you first heard in Wa or straight out of Compton, whatever, and when Easy was busting, should you ever sit down and go, I know, Easy ain't writing now Hill, No,

he was just jamming. I never got into that type of shit until it was brought to my attension about publishing and writers and you know, you're getting money for that ship and all of that, because before the end, you I know, shit, you know, I was writing Chills wraps in the beginning when we first started comptens most wanted. But I wasn't like, oh, yeah, I'm trying to write his ship because I'm trying to collect that publishing checking

all of that. I just I would just go home and write out wraps for verses and Chill was my nigga, my partner, So I'm like shit, I'm gonna take two. I'm gonna give him too. That's I didn't look at it like, oh yeah, he writing all the songs. I just figured like nigga, motherfucker gave me a beat, they would send me home with a beat and tell me

go write something to it. And knowing like Chill was my nigga and he aparted a crew, I was like, well, I'm not gonna wrap no fucking foulk verses, So I'd write two verses out for me, write two verses out for him, being go. I didn't know nigga was collecting money off of the ship and publishing, because that wasn't money wasn't even like it. And I know it's dumb to say, but money wasn't even the capture for me. Money wasn't even the you know, to sign on the

dotted line. For me, it was just being able to go on the fucking studio and look at all the equipment and see a nigga put a beat together and then I can write a song to it. Nigga out and payday for me. You give him saying I'm on the block, sitting on the corner every day trying to sell little little little dope and ship, you feel me? And I'm getting to witness this other side of life that I don't know. It was never no vision. I don't know. I don't know. When you come from the

hood and you whatever, people have dreams or aspect. But like I said, Nigga one side once, it was about gang banging and selling dope and hood rat bitches and shit like that. There was no dreams, Nigga, I made him. I gotta be a low low. I got me a spot. I gotta be a couple of chicken heads. How good to fucking go you? Life is fucking great? Ship? Are

you getting to it? And the money was a little different back then, because I remember for a soundtrack at minimum, you would fucking around to pick up twenty twenty five thousand that minimum just for turning me in a song. Oh, definitely, you got shit. Niggas was getting like thirty thousand to do samet Eys commercials and shit, my nigga, DJ pooh you feel me, um pooh? Definitely don't. Is it lucrative

like hip hop is seen today? No, because a lot of us, a lot of us struggled for those contracts and struggled to be you know, motherfuckers wanted to be them Shugs, then Birdman's, then Puffy Jermaine Dupris. But you know, a lot of us got you know, a lot of us got fucked. Remember this shit right here, A lot of us got fuck coming into the business because, like I said, as a young motherfucker, you really don't know

the business. Hey, do you remember this? Oh that's what, like I said, Saint Ice was giving out money for niggas to do commercials. So for a struggling artists, you might think a motherfucker making a gang of brand, you feel me. But for a lot of struggling artists back then, those were those were you know, extra curricular activities and nigga could do to get that side check because they were coming in with no hesitation, no negotiation or none

of that. Nigga, do us a commercial, Higgo twenty five thirty ran, So you know, it was a lot of you know, as far as how niggas make money today from streaming and podcasting and doing a lot of other different ships, it was it was kind of a struggle for an artist who wasn't getting that that easy money or that death row money or that ship like that. Nowadays you see cats man everybody getting money. Yeah, And as a cat that was always like kind of independent minded.

I was always because I had a few deals, but I was always to do that winning got because you know, I remember I was a rapper, but I had a record store too, right, so I understood how distribution works. So it never made no sense in my mind to go give a motherfuck all this and that not new. Okay, If I'm going to the ones stop when I'm paying seven dollars and the nigga talked about giving me twenty cents, it didn't make no system. I'll said, well, what the

rest of the money going to? You know what I'm saying, what is happening? I don't think a lot of I don't think a lot of artists because if if if a lot of the artists from that era knew what they knew today as far as contracts, you'd have a gang of independent motherfucking labels around. Yeah, because yeah, because you don't want no deal right now, do you? Hell fucking no a nessa nigga finna give me about thirty something million in cash me out? What's the point? Because

you can constantly as an independent. The money is better, especially now with streaming and all the other shit you can do. There's no way, like I said, unless a motherfucker finna just start off in the millions and be like here, I'm a hand you five million, but you gotta look at it. At the end of the day, you still gotta pay that five million back. And that's what I'm saying to you. They loaning you five million, then they FINDI charge you on top of the five

of what they gave you. They FINDI charge you a gang of motherfucker shit like biggas is. Like back in the days, niggas come out with any voices where they charging you for having conversations on the phone. Oh dog, And if my lawyer got on the phone and had a conversation with the label and it went on for thirty forty minutes, he was charging me for that shit you getting me? Uh if the label motherfucking they seen you on a promo tour, Oh yeah, that costs US

forty fifty thousand. And you know the fuck the part about them loans, dog, Usually when you get a loan, like a fuck walking to the bank. If I walking the wheels frog and say okay, I want to get a bank alone to buy this Rose Royce. I'm gonna go pick the Rose roy Side. I want to drive and I'm gonna, you know, and they gonna get me

the loan for it. With the Rigor label, it's almost like they spending the money up that they loaning you and then't charging you for right because you can't tell them, motherfucker's O, don't go spend half a million dollars on this shit. They're gonna go, hell, yeah, we're gonna do it. As an independent you can control that. But like you said, as a label, no, you're gonna sign that contract. They're

gonna hand you that three fold million up front. Then you're gonna go, okay, I gotta pay back this threefold million. They're gonna go, okay, when we flew you from here to there and there to there to there as another three hundred thousand when we did this. When we did that, they just spending money. Like you said, you don't get

to control the budget. At the end of the day, that three that three million they gave you up front for the record and from the back end is six You get me because all the other hidden ship that they got to pay for promotions, and I know all that shit is official, but still you don't get to control that budget. So whatever they want to spend, they spend, and they go they okay, now we're charging you back for it, motherfucker. Be like I didn't won't know, motherfucking

this or that, and they go, it don't matter. We saw that in your promotion. So that's what we paid for. And another thing too, let's say you signed the aftermath. It ain't like I think a lot of people gotten they heard that Drey is just coming to give you all them beats for free or to discount of rates charging I'm talking. Yeah. So if your budget there's a million dollars in Drake Sharks and you two fifty a track, you might only be able to afford to have one

Drade track on that motherfucker. But then how do you control Like I said, then then how do you control that, because then at the end of the day, they still get to make the call on what's usable and what's not. That's some real ship. But if you can only afford one, got to give you a discount of something. I can afford one of those two hundred and fifty thousand dollars tracks.

But now I gotta go to niggas who charging me a thousand dollars a track or five hundred, and like I said, at the end of the day, those niggas might not get approved because when you're gonna turn the project and they can find out speaking the beat from from from john S from down the block, who who's just started doing beats last year, and they might not approve his track. You know, they might be like, no, fuck this, because that's the truth. People don't understand that

they have to approve your album before it comes up. Yeah, unless you unless you got that pool and that power as a regular artist today, you have no you know. That's why a lot of mother fuckers come out independently. That's why you got a million artists out right now because everybody, you know, I don't have to go that route. I can go sign up to a SoundCloud or a tune core or whatever and put my shit out on

my own and let it go for the gust. Though now my ship might not have the million dollars video like DJ Kalin got, or my ship might not have the fucking produced by DJ Premier track on it get me, But the market is flooded right now, and that's what artists are able to do. Like I said, but we have no restriction on that either because let's face and a lot of that should be garbage. Now. The albumics you and Premiere did together that they come out independent, Yeah,

I mean, we push shit independent. I mean, that's the way to go now, to push independent, especially if you're you know, um, I mean, that's what's best for me. I don't know what's best for any other artists who've come from my era who's still trying to make music, or for the new artist who's down somewhere and in his girlfriend's kitchen with the set up and he's trying to get exposed and all he can make it too is the homies in the neighborhood and around the corner.

I mean it takes a lot. Yeah, you know, it's just ship. Just like football and in trying to get to the NFL. You know what I'm saying, it's a it's a million of us. It's a million motherfucker's going to high school, some million motherfuckers. But there's only a few that make it to college. It's only a few to make it dog and out of that college. You get me, So you gotta look at yourself for the same level as being an artist. It's a billion of artists out here. Man, niggas working out. You gave me.

They're working out and they kitchen right and raps George songs you give me. And are they gonna be the starter? Are they gonna be the nigga ride in the bench? You didn't ye get on the team nowadays? Now starting at the high school level, what don't matter. Fucking you pay that thousand fucking dollars. They finna getting your motherfucking uniform. Right, you're on the squad. You ain't gonna never see the

field though, And you know what do eight. I'm a loop around a little bit on some stuff because I gotta, you know, kind of address this stuff. A lot of people don't know. Whatever you want to do, whether it's music or podcasting, the best way to get on and to get favorable terms. This is a boy spending your own money and doing certain shit, right, Like you know, we got the Gangster Chronicles podcast. You got to invest

in yourself. Yeah, you gotta invest in yourself. So with a lot of people don't know, I came up with the Gangster Chronicles PODCEP. I did what nobody else around. Glasses Malone was sitting in my living room with him. It was about one thirty in the morning. You know, you're just kicking me with the homie. Were sitting in my living room and I said, nigga, I'm gonna do a podcast. We was trying to do a podcast with Glasses.

This is way back and maybe two thousand and sixteen, when the podcast stuff wasn't even cracking like adios now. It wasn't nowhere. It was only a few people doing it right, So I was messing with Glasses and it wasn't you know. He wasn't too serious about it at the time. You know, Glasses may come, he may not show up. You know, a lot of us rappers didn't. Really.

Podcasting was new still, so when you when you're trying to take a nigga from from the microphone and put it on the microphone, but in a disparate aspect, niggas was looking at it like man podcast, Glasses thought out lost my mind because he wanted did it with me? Did it? Ever? So he said Steel like, what the fuck is that ship? And you know what Glances told me said steal I fuck with you. You my big bro. He said, man, but therein't nobody out here. Go listen

to that ship, you know. So I said, watching sea man watching seats gonna be the biggest thing ever. So I had a homeboy that worked in the CBS building and he said, you know, you could use the studio up there, but they charged me. I had to pay for engineers. So when I first started the Gangster Chronicles, dog, I think I was paying like every week though this was all your idea, Yeah, this is all my da. Nobody sat down with you. No partners, no homeians, none

man less we should we should we should? We should none. The only made you call it the Gangster Chronicles. Well, because when I initially thought of a gagster chronicles, the chronicles something means to tell a story, right. It was never supposed to be just about rict bloods against ship. It was supposed that was one of my uh questions,

Like because somebody asked me that, why gangster chronicle? Yeah, because it was supposed to encompass everything that's gangsterism, from the mafia to even the motherfucking m the Arian brotherhood. That's gangster ship. You know what I mean, that's their gang gangster music, right. It was supposed to be everything to kind of run around the parameters of what normal

society yells. Right, that's considered gangster. Let's considered gangster. And you know, so Glasses was sitting up there with me. I had Reggie right in mind because he was one of the dudes that came from the Death Row era, right, I had Reggie right in mind. So I got that Reggie. Then Glasses was like, you know what it was because I was on the first four original episodes, right, and I was gonna move to a land at the time, So I said, I got to get somebody else. That's

when we brought this other caddy. And I ain't gonna say his name. I didn't want to say the other dude's name, but to put a long story short, before we made a dime out against the Chronicles, I was about probably thirty grand to this motherfucker dog because this is your pet project. Here's my pet project, baby, this is your shit. So regardless of who you selected as a host or not, Gangster Chronicles was your project. It was my project and not free and I share freely

with the mother. Actually, I was probably a little bit too free with the money, because this is how I always looked at it. I'm gonna pay for everything, We're gonna split everything down the middle. I ain't know, greedy, motherfucking you know, I get something, you're getting the piece of it. You're getting the piece of it. You know,

we all can do good with this, right. But I think people got the sense of getting too entitled after a wild dog and have a tendency to run around with the wrong people, because, as you notice, we minus the host that used to be on the show exactly. That's not my fault be mad to do dick you over there sitting with because he did this shit to you, right.

I didn't come up with the question, you know, and not not really you're a people just asked me questions, and you know the information is what I tell people is that you know, um, executive decisions were made, you know, not that it was it was like a hater thing or or like whatever. But you know, sometimes situations happen. You know, um, is it gonna Is it gonna affect

people in a certain way? Of course? Um? Shit. When I had a fucking contract with Epic, I thought I was gonna be signed to a fucking label forever you get me. And then I got the phone call one day to say, nigga, you we we're not gonna renew your contract. M Sometimes I lost for a minute for a second, because now I got to figure out the next step. Yeah, but somebody else eventually came along and said, hey, we want to fuck with you. Somebody else came along

and said we want to fuck with you. And then eventually I just got the ship like, well, god damn. It seems like I could be more on hands if I started doing my own shit. So that's what I started doing. I started putting our records independently, and here we are today exactly. And I ain't go well too much show on this man because I just wanted to address it because people have a tendency, you know, because I wasn't go say nothing about it because, like I

said before, I didn't want to kick James off the show. Right, I'm not the reason he's not on the show no more. You know what happened, there was two former co hosts conspired against him, and they found out a lot of information that was from his past. Now, one thing I will say, when we initially first started to show one of my partners. They hit me up and told me, man, dude, it's hot. You shouldn't fuck with him because of this, this and the third. I'm not too much big in

the rumors, and I'm a grown ass man. I don't listen to rumors. I wouldn't ask my man itself. Hey, I got told this sex, this, this and the third that you had this going on or no, that's people. Hey, ill left for the loan Dog because it wasn't my thing. And plus, it ain't like we on this motherfucker robbing banks or doing them malicious, right, we're telling stories though we're talking about Shi having a conversation, you know what

I'm saying. So it wasn't my fault. The thing that really cracks me up is that the god is responsible for all this shit is happening. Is he's sitting over there with him now doing the show. That's the person all the animosity should be pointed to. I didn't do this stuff. I just this is a business at the end of the day, dog and anything that's impeded in the business, because as you grow, the business gets bigger. Now, when I was up in the CBS building, pam my

own time doing shit like this. I had a lot more leadway to make decisions. It was all on me, right because at one time, and even with the one guy that left the show, you were talked about as a post but me and you had a conversation about Shoot taking his place, right remember, like a long time ago, so a lot of moves have been made. You came to me a while ago, right right like COVID, right before COVID, and we had a conversation about you know, doing you know, because remember I had wanted to do

my own podcast. Yeah, then we still gonna do that, the Stas Spot. He was gonna do Stash Spot, and then things transpired and you you know said what you'd be willing to come, you know, co host throwing against the chronicles. I didn't know how it would fit, you know, knowing that you and and James already was in the mix. You know, I knew about Reggie, and I knew about

the other dude, you know what I'm saying. But but it's opportunities, you know, I never looked at it as trying to be stepping on somebody's toes or taking somebody's position, But you know, a job is a job, man, and it wouldn't like that because you wouldn't stepping on toes. Because the funny thing about to do Reggie is he quit the show on his own reconnaissance. He was in jail.

He was locked up, right, Reggie was only Yeah, he was only on the show for six months, right, he was only on the show for six months, and he got locked up. Never had no problem but to do. Even still sent him money and whatever like that. I sent him money until James told me to stop sending them money. For whatever reason. They don't send him nothing else. That was his thing, and noted them two dudes over there together. It's funny to me, But I will say

this because we've grown as men. At the end of the day, dogs, I don't have no animosity against him. That wasn't a personal Again, if it was up to me in certain situations, wouldn't happen. He'll still be sitting over there, right. It wasn't nothing personal against him. It wasn't any personal against him. We all grown as men

and we'd make decisions. But when we make those decisions, we should look in the mirror as men and say this is what I want to do because hey, you know, I don't know nonsense, man, I know, yeah, I mean, because I was like, hey, what's going on? Remember I'm calling you like, hey, what are we doing? What are we doing? And then it was brought to my attention about what was transpiring. And then I was like, well,

fuck that shit. Let's just keep pushing and trying to advocate for my man James to you know, let's forget about the other shit. Let's just keep pushing forward. But I guess you know, the stress of like you said, weighing on the business, and now you have outside people who are invested in the business who feel like certain situations we're gonna bring or devalue the show exactly we are. This is entertainment at the end of the day. Of course,

don't take it for nothing else. This entertainer right here. We try to entertain with stories or our tales or of current shit or back in the day ship from what we've seen or what we've done learned from. But you know, again, it's all entertainment, you know what I mean. You know what I'm saying. Whether you whether you take something from it or not, we are trying to you know,

we are trying to get your ear. We're trying to get your ear and trying to get you to listen to our entertainment of what we feel is our perception on life in general, hip hop, sports, fucking shit, anything that you might as a regular person, because that's what we consider ourselves. And that's the thing. And I wouldn't even go say numb bro. But after a while you get tired of your name. It's like, you know, you can see motherfucker's online and then I don't have this

one cat fuck me around? Fuck you still, fuck you? You did this to James, just like you said that he was on my ship? What he was that to say? The fuck you? Still? Hold on? That's the hony glasses right there. Hold on one second, I'm gonna punch glasses in. She was at the dog hey old and I'm gonna put you on the show real quick. Hold on, I'm

gonna put you on speaker real quick. This kind of this kind of raggedy ladies and gentlemen, because we usually do some shit professional, but just the homey glasses a g I just want to ask a few questions dog and just answer yes and no questions. Right what this shit about. Hold don't matter what it's about. Just answering my questions. Just answer my mother pucker questions said, I'm just gonna ask a few questions. Dog, Hold on, I ain't gonna slid no curveball, just answering. No, this ain't

no goofy shit. Dog? But how long was a gainst the Chronicles thought of before it actually came to effect? You know, goddamn well, you made that show. Why are you stop trying to pump shit to the public. Mante people just entertained, Yeah for show, That's what I'm gonna do. Then I just want you alone time. But why are we talking about You cannot argue over the neck? You know, goddamn what you came up with the idea? Why are

we talking about these? That's all I wanted to hear. Bro. Yeah, but you can't plu this to nobody else, and you shouldn't be trying to prove this to nobody else. Everybody making content at the expense of a show and you just going along with it. Don't do that shit. Everybody can make their own fu content for real, That's what it is. Nowadays. Everything is about content. Man. You just had You just had a conversation with with the nigga the other day, and the nigga told you the same shit.

You get here for real here, it's real shit. Nigga just told you the same shit. And my nigga who you talked to is one of the biggest niggas who in this content would you say, Gee, I'm gonna say this. Look when you came to meet with Gangster Chronicles and Ship and I got the side there for a podcast called Gagster Chronicles. At that time, you only had Reggie right in mind. I remember that I brought you to who my giant this is before was even on land.

This is when he just had this little piece with the dude that was doing all of the toolproc stuff. That dude, And I was like, Man, I knew who this nigga was because I heard of me. My whole life is being a figured from out the city. So I was like, man, you should use him because I believed him, and you should use alleys. The idea was already there, It was already common inly doub But you cannot win these debates own mind, because they're not really

meant to be winning things. You can't win a lose. They not meant to be that, They meant to capture the public's imagination. This shit sit me. You know, God, there will This ain't the first time that this has happening. This shit normal, I would just not even get involved in it. It don't make no fucking sense. But just leave that ship alone. You're gonna make another This is another show. This showed y'all down right now is a

fucking hit. That's showth gonna be huge, way bigger. So when it's every time you try to debate your brilliance for other people, man, it's gonna be a problem because the Internet don't have like normal sense. They're just gonna make their own finger n Hey, I'll call you back, bro. I'm gonna call you back, bro. And that was glass of Malone. You don't't have to prove shit nowadays, and

that's why this a start content nowadays. It don't give a fuck whether the shit is true or not all all all we need to do is get motherfuckers to start listening to some outland this ship, and it's gonna go because you know what I could do right now, man, I can go on this motherfucker and say whatever I want to say and half the motherfucker's out there, go believe it, just because they want to take a side. Like I had this dude, Andy didn't give a fuck.

Eight I'm I'm sitting at home and my motherfucking million dollar crib, my million dollar condo, My nigga, you're sitting at home and yo, shit, feeling good, right, you know when showing yourself writing joy in life, and you gotta brotherfucker telling you fuck you because he feels like you don't done something wrong. But one of his heroes I don't know. And you don't know this motherfucker from them day or not. You don't know him from a cannon. Just people who feel like that. Man, I tell people

every day, I'm not gonna please them all. And sometimes, like I said, motherfucker, you could put out a song and it could be a nigga you ain't never seen in your life. He had just come on and be like, man, fuck you, and it's all the it's all just to start some shit. Now. You know what that motherfucker gonna do. He gonna take that shit, He's gonna post it on this page and go look, I'm going back and forth

with the MCA. Yeah for realness, and that's gonna motherfucker told me and I laugh because I was in the bathroom. Actually I laughed. I see who is this? Motherfucker? Fuck you Still? I see it? Damn. I might call this episode that fuck you big Still. Yeah. This episode was called fuck you be Still fuck Still day. Yeah. Actually, get some T shirts made if y'all want to get them. Motherfucker's. But like Glasses just said, why why throw gas on fire?

I mean because basically you can let the ship burn itself out. You give me. We've all had to deal with some type of ship since this internet ship, this podcasting shit, whatever, you get me. I had to go through the ship. You're going through the ship. James had to go through the ship. Reggie had to go through the ship. Who ain't went through some ship? You get me. As far as people not disagreeing with what's your point

of view is, it's just what fucking happens. But what you gotta learn how to do and we have to do is grown men and black men and motherfuckers who can avoid controversy because that's what it is. Like a nigga just said, it's off of content. We're gonna talk talk, talk, and talk and get motherfucker's to tune in. But at the end of the day, what do you what's the what's the end game, what's the end result at the

end of the day, what's the end game? You know what? Man, all you're doing is providing content for another motherfucker to creator go back and forth, because this is not what makes it right. Yeah, that's gonna make some bread, right, That's that's what That's what it's all for the end of the day. Motherfuckers want to get paid. So this ain't the only way I get paid. It ain't the only thing I'll do either. You know, I got other forms of trying of getting paid. You're getting me, and

that's what I've been doing all my life. You go up next level, the next level. So not to disrespect nobody, because like I said, I ain't got beef with a motherfucker, and I don't have beef with somebody over a podcast. Damn. You know, nothing's personal, especially nothing person mostly when I've given you more than on paper which you're supposed to get. I ain't inclined. Like I said, I'm the newcomer, and I know my position and I know what it is. But like I said, man, you know, at the end

of the day, it is what it is. It's not personal. Niggas don't have a problem with nothing as far as who you are as a man, who motherfuckers are as a man. Shit is business. If you've got a personal motherfucking problem with some then maybe that needs to be worked out the issues of whatever that shit is. But shit is business. At the fucking end of the day. You get me, just like I can get canceled tomorrow. You get me and then, And that's the thing. Who

the fuck want to go through that. It's like, I'm not sitting there pick doing this show by myself, and they your celebrity is twenty times bigger than mine could ever be. And I don't even like that. I don't even like looking at myself as a celebrity. I like to look at myself as a regular nigga. I've done records, I've done some movies, you know, I've done some video games and podcasting. Now I just look at it as as as a next transition. I can't wrap forever, right,

like y'all saying, we we we we all diggers. We can't be raptored forever y'all want us to give up the fucking mic right now, so we have to. We have to transition. You get me. And it's nothing like I said, none of this shit is personal because this ain't got shit to do with my kids, right, It ain't got shit to do with with with my family being you know, hurt or whatever. My fucker I've been hitting.

Motherfucker's been talking shit about me for a long ass time, and records and everything, and they go talk shit about motherfucker's forever. Because at the end of the day, dog, that's what it is. All of this shit is meant to a list of the conversation. That's all. It is a list of the conversation. You know what I mean. Whatever we say, everybody ain't gonna agree with it. And my whole thing is this, I'm not trying to be the most popular fucking the world. If motherfucker out there

don't care care for me, whatever, that's your prerogative. Some motherfucker's want to be that and some people don't. Some of us just want to sit in a comfortable seat. And you know, you sit at the table and a comfortable seat. I ain't trying to ask for no more no less, give me what the fuck I deserve and that's it. But I'm not gonna force you to like my shit. It's like, can't I can't force the motherfucker to buy my record. You get me. But I'm not

gonna tell a motherfucker. Oh well, so what you know what I'm saying, Just keep buying my shit, even if you don't like it. You get me. Just keep buying my shit even if you don't like it. Fuck it. Just just just you know, man, you can support me in a better way. Man, you know what I'm saying. Yeah, let's get let me go go back to the music for a little bigcause I didn't even mean for that

to go for as long as it did. But I want to ask you one more question for we skate about this motherfucker right you in Compton, motherfucking California, Right in Compton, California. Man, you haven't done all this legend debby gangster Ship. One of my homeboys hits you up to jump on this record, and this motherfucker winds up being one of the biggest recording artists in the world. Shut up to Little Homie KP. I loved at Little Nigga man, he ain't a little nigga, no more kinder

growing up on me now. But I don't know this since he was sixteen man, you know, always been incredible little dude. How you wind up on that on such a monumental West Coast trunk check though, it was kind of just befitting, you know what I mean? You know shit, you know the Compton GUIDs were lined up. I guess

you know. Um, I want to first say just you know, from from the work that I've done as far as uplifting Compton, representing Compton, whether you thought it was a good song or bad song, I've always my whole career have been invested into glorifying the city of Compton. Uh. It gave me my start. It's where I you know, got all my research from, you know, Um, It's where I got to see live firsthand, you know, growing up in the hood. So after that, UM, I don't know.

I guess they were sitting up talking, you know, Kay Punch and all the homies, you know, and I guess when they were getting ready to put the record together, they were like, you know, who do you think would fit this record? You cue that. I don't know if they want to keep it authentic Compton, because there were a few choices because from what I heard, you was only supposed to be doing some talking, and you messed around a buff the whole verse. Are you supposed to

do nothing? No talking but maybe an eight bar verse or something like that. I got to the studio, you know, Kendrick had already you know, kind of lined me up for you know, and that's something about him as far as you know. Usually when I go in the studio niggas, I'm like, what's the concept what we're talking about? Niggas is like, man, just do you And so he was like, you know, I'm trying to do this. I'm trying to

do this. He let me listen to, you know, a little bit of a hooker, and he was telling me about what he was thinking. He was telling me about certain shit he wanted me to say, and I'm like, oh, this, my nigga got direction. He already. Yeah, he's a little

brilliant dude. Man, he's a brilliant motherfucker. So when I got there and we talked and I heard the beat, I already knew it was gonna be cracking because that was one of my favorite songs out from Cube Bird in the Hand, Um, I thought that was just one of the most that's what that was. It was a flip of bird Man. I just thought it was one of the most brilliant records even today. Bird in the Hand was the shit man that number one. Motherfuck me.

Y'all got jay Z's and y'all got you know, Ken Driggs, and we got the Drakes and we got there. But Man, Cube was my nigga. Man. Nobody could fade Ice Cube man with that microphone. So, um, when I heard Bird in the Hand, Man, and I just I just went off on the record. It wasn't even a second thought. As soon as I heard the beat, I went to the car and I wrote the verse in the car and I came back in. So you went to the car wrote the verse. Yeah, Yeah, it was one of them.

It was one of them type of songs that you knew was gonna be significant. So I didn't just want to stand there and just write just some dumb shit, you know, just yeah man Compton and you know the hood, and I wanted to really and I didn't even hear his verse. I just heard the beat and heard he was telling me how the song was gonna go. And then when he told me what he wanted me to say after his verse went off, and you know, and I was like, oh man, this is my fuck gonna

be cracking. So I went to the car, wrote the verse, Dingo came back in and laid it they was going now to be honest that I think they was gonna use it. Uh No, I've been on a lot of songs with you know dudes who it just happens like that. It might make the project, it might not. Sometimes it

just don't fit it exactly. So, and then coming from you know, coming from my Nigga and them from TDE and then coming from Aftermath and know you're dealing with Dre and then knowing you dealing with you know, Punch and my nigga Top Top like this motherfucker. But that

concludes another episode of Against the Chronicles podcast. Be sure to download the iHeart app and subscribe to The Gangster Chronicles podcast For Apple users, find a purple mica on the front of your screen, subscribe to the show, leave a comment and raiding executive producers for The Gangster Chronicles podcast and Norman Steeve, James McDonald Aaron mc tyler, our visual media directors Brian White and audio editors Taylor Hayes.

The Gangster Chronic the production of iHeartMedia Network and The Black Effect Podcast Network. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app Apple Podcasts wherever you're listening to your podcasts