The Hi-C Interview

good friend high seat in the house. Cross. What's up? Man? What's up still? Man? Just killing man. I've been waiting to get you in here forever. Man. Man, this feels crazy because you're my bro. We talked like every day, like you know, yeah for sure. And that's why sometimes we're doing these interviews, man, with people that you're real cool with because all you're doing is having a conversation and you know everything about that person. But you asked

him about stuff you already knew. So, Man, this is special because you don't give a lot of interviews. I think I've only seen like a couple of interviews on your online There was people like I saw you did one with Tony a yeah, and I think you're doing with some baker. Yeah, that's the only that's that's it.

That's it. No social media at all. So when I told the people and um, I did a post and said, hey, I'm about to get high to see in the studio, I had like, man, maybe liked people in the thread, man, which is a lot. So you're real popular out there. Man, I'm gonna have to do one of my like like Kevin Durant is something. Give me one of them ghosts and burners accounts and ship. You have to rocking and rocking like that. You have too, dog, because people love

you out there and they want to hear from you. Man. I love him back for show. So we could go way back to the beginning. Since you don't do a lot of interviews, how when you when you first start rapping, Man, I had to be I don't want to say probably if I had to take a guess, and it's not accurate, but I want to say probably about thirteen fourteen years old, somewhere around there, because a lot of people don't know. You don't write your reps down on paper. Everything you

do is kind of like a freestyle. Yeah. Yeah, Like I said, I sit there and think about it and think about it, and it's almost like I treated like a rehearsal, you know, like if you're going to school or something you had to play that you wanted to recite. And you know one of the Martin Luther King plays that she was a part of when you was holding the M and the M is for you know. So I just felt like I wanted to have my hands free. I wanted to be able to express myself using my hands.

A lot of us do. So I was like, man, let me just start kind of like remembering, like, you know, by the time we all in the studio, because we all be you know, it'd be groups of us in the studio, and by the time dudes finished, right and their ship, I'm sitting there thinking about, Okay, I wanted in there like this and I want to end it like this. And you know, don't get me wrong. When I first started, I had like no books and ship

that I used to write down. And I remember in high school I had this like fold or a couple of folders, man, and I don't know where the hell they went. I think somebody got me or I probably to misplace them. Ships or whatever, but nor I might have some fire in there, like and you know, when you got that ship, you can't get it back because you wrote it down to a certain rain and you

can't remember exactly what it is. So I was like, damn, I don't want to lose some more notebooks, you know, So you just start keeping everything up beside the brain, you know. Um, so you mentioned that you've got rapping, start rapping real early's Quick producing there. Yeah, Quick was doing most of the like Quick was more of a producer than he was a rapper man. People don't really know that. Like he was really uh DJ quick mix,

So he was doing all the beats for you early on. Um, he was like I was messing around with stuff, you know, on my own or whatever, you know, how to get down or whatever. So but he was like he had that ship downpat Like he would take the cheapest piece of equipment or the like lower level piece of equipment

and just make wonders out of that ship. Like he got every he squeezed every juice out of that limit like he can't, you know, Like he just knew how to take something and just make that ship just sound real real good man. Yeah, because a lot of the early recordings, you guys doing the mix tapes and stuff on those Roodium Squat Meat mixed tapes. Yeah, they were doing on four tracks, right, that was done on the four track. That was Steve you the Rest in Peace

and Tony. Yeah. Yeah, those them ships took a long time to do. That's how I ended up meeting like Easy and Dr Dre you know, from from doing the Roodium stuff too. Yeah, because you go back a long way and you still look young as hell. Oh man, think you know, always look like a kid. Every time I see you. I got I gotta kick up, man, I gotta kick the gym. Man, come on, man, you know I'm you know, that's where i'd be at, and that's what I want to go into. Man, when did

you When did the crew get together? Like when did you start hooking up with Quick Second and nothing? All those guys, well ship, most of us went to school together. Quick stayed around the corn We from the same neighborhood or whatever. So man, you already know so we you know, Quick stayed around the corner and we was like real tightest friends and just used to ride dirt bikes. Man, like the stuff you see now when the dudes on

the dirt bikes. We was riding dirt bikes man, a long time ago, like just in the streets and doing our ship dirt by ride and just doing what you know, the normal badass little kids was doing. And Quick was over there doing this thing. I had another dude that I used to work with, not work with, but just make music, like just sunking around with with the turntables. His name was Sean Whitehurst, so white Hurst mixed Master

white we used to call them. Used to blend all the ship, and we had the reverbs and we didn't really have drum machines back there, so we would just get down off the instrumentals and then we started like you know, everybody was doing their little ship. Back then it was like ballers and they was making money and they'll give us, giving like a hundred dollars just to make a tape for him and say their name and the tape because they wanted to impress the girls and ship.

So they'd be like, man, I'll be like, hell yeah, I'll take this hunted. Like to me, it was like god, damn young, you know, looking at the Hunter, it was like back then, it was like God damn. That was a lot. So take the hunters say their name in there and you know, ship like that, and they wanted their own little That's when the sound systems in the car was real big, like need to shake your house like two fifteens and ship off beating down the blocks.

They had their name in the tape, and then we just kind of started like that and were with this talk about eighty something. That's one of the sound systems. That's my first Kelly. People have like five thousand watching their trunk and you just like gorillas trying to get over the Yeah, man, they ship in the cars. Man, sometimes did it take your breath like you're feeling the base in your chest and your eye lashes wiggling this ship.

You'd be like, god damn, but niggas is really into that sound ship and putting you know, doing personalized tapes and ship. You know, it was it was like the thing you know so quick was always nice then, well yeah I always had it's always had a talent and just a gift for that ship. Yeah, so y'all get together, y'all doing the mixed tapes and everything like that, and y'all got the whole cruise. I notice y'all appeared on each each other's joints, like, y'all will hear you on

second to none stuff out here? Second to none on your stuff out here? Quick on your stuff, and vice versa. So around what time did you get your first because you was working with Steve, you don't rest in peace? Yeah, I went to the Aldier man my boy, my, my my dog man. He just recently passed away man the uh my boy baby and b b me and bb um. He was like craft man, come up to the road and swap swap me with me. And I was like, what's up there? He was like, man, I'm looking for jobs,

like we can get some money up there. And I was like, no, ship. He was like yeah, So I said, man, you sure. We caught the bus up there and put up at the roodeum and he went. I think he was working with some dude that did that, sold weights and the weightlifting equipment and ship like that. So I ran into this dude that sold pants like his name, you know, named George, a little short French guy, and Ship took like smooth with the ladies. He sold women clothing.

So I was like, all right, I'm gonna get a job with him, helping him, you know, sell clothes or whatever. And so I used to always hear this music coming from this this stand, you know. She we was just attracted to music or whatever. I used to hear this music and I'm like, man, they're playing some ship over there. I gotta go see what's going on, you know. So I went over there and I saw Steve Yano, and then I end up probably meeting Tony a like a

little bit later on. But I'm looking at still. I'm thinking, you know, when I pull up over there, it's gonna be some black dude or whatever. I look at Steve. Steve Yano is Asian dude, long hair and ship like this. His wife, you know, Asian shout out the suit. She that's that's still a homie, man. So I'm looking at him like man. But one thing about Steve norm you can't judge a book by its cover, because this dude knew every fucking record, every name of a record, who

made the record. Kind of like quick dude, Like we would be riding and quickly do the same thing, like, oh that's such and such you made this, and that's the keyboard player from Janna where the Bernie, Well, he just know all the ship. You know. Steve Yano was the same way, Hey, you need to use this break and do this and this and that. He was just the king of the Vinyl So a lot of people

used to gravitate towards him to get their records. And back then, you know, we just to sample a lot of ship off a break beats and we'll go through all kinds of cratesive records just to find that little break so we can sample that ship to wrap too. So Steve had all these old school records, and the long story short, I just started telling him like, look, man, I get down. I wrapped, you know, and I've saved of some money to take my uh take my little

project to the black Hole studios. Back in the day, that was a little black hole. So I found out. I went in there and made me some little ship. It was some little cool ship or whatever. It wasn't really then I let him motherfucker here today. But it was like some little ship, you know, Like I went in there and stretched out and then he heard some of my ship and he was like, okay, you're serious.

But I'm like yeah, I'm like this is my ship, you know, And then I only that, Like I played Alto saxon junior high then I played a little bit of high school. So I was always into music, man, just always into it. A lot of people don't know because you produce yourself too. Yeah, you're you're a producer,

very good producer. Did you ever um at some point what made you decide I'm gonna focus more on my rapping than making the beat because you was doing both for a while, right, Yeah, But it was primarily because you never really put yourself out there as a producer.

No ever did, man, Because I feel like when I do something like when I'm producing, I feel like it'll be like if I'm working with you to be telling made for me and you to get down on, or if it's something for me like you know, like I would out with my producing stuff, I feel like it's more of a vogue, like a frequency, like a lower level higher level vibe or whatever we into or whatever

we're shooting for at the moment. So I felt like I wouldn't want to go and just do a whole bunch of beats and ship for somebody else that probably wouldn't understand where I'm coming from, you know, if that makes sense, like this is what I'm feeling on this or this is what I'm feeling on that. So I just kind of like let like quick and then don't get me wrong, quick is like to master at that ship.

So when he do the ship on the SP two, if he can do that ship so quick and he made it effortless, and it was like ship, that's you. That's what you do. Like if we're playing baseball, you the picture. I'm the catcher of the second baseman. We got a short stop. I don't need to be doing everything I can. Let him get down, you get what I'm saying, Just stretch out on what I can do.

Not now who was officially in the crew, I'm gonna try to name him off to him if I missed anybody, Yeah, you got a second and then you got quick yep, of course I see you. Then we had Homie mars Burg well before magg was the only one that wasn't from the city. But we put him on real early in the game, like A and G. Just always been good with the with another dude that produced to like produced his ass off, write his own wraps. But he was just like more like a real like rapper, rapper.

You know what I'm saying. That nigga can spit. He got bars, you know, so shut off to MG. That's my partner. I had to get him in there because he's another dude to stay off the spot. Like hell yeah, social media just around yep. Yeah. So we met G later on and then um after G Sugar sugar Free was sugar free, you know, like you know, that's that's the whole We can get into that though, but we go go through the whole thing. YEA Free came in

and then Massy was rested. Peace. That's my little nigger man. Marsburger was like when our dudes that was upcoming like but fast though, like he was, you know, doing this ship he was. He was pushing a line heavy line on. Yeah, he was hungry. Yeah, he was coming up fast. Mars Burger and I gotta mention my homeboy me and then gave me my first check, one of the guys gave my first check because I got my first piece of money through you. And then Black Tone got me my

first placement as a producer. Shout out black Yeah, shout off Black Tone, and Black Tone is doing well now he had a stroke. Yeah, yeah, he's recovering doing you know, doing pretty good. We talked on occasion and ship so man speedy recovery to black and Man for show. Okay, so we go going to the phase man to where you up at the Roodeum, And I don't think a lot of people, especially the young people, they recognized the

significance of the Roodeum to West Coast hip. I would say the rohodium and the compatence whapped meat are the two hubs for Southern California hip hop, especially back in the eighties. A lot of people got they start out those two, you know, comptence whapped meat, not the rodium. I would say, even more so the rodium because the rodium was before the comptence wapped me. Yeah, no, you're right, especially if if it wasn't before, but the music was before. Definitely, Yeah,

for sure. Because you mentioned seeing Dr Dre up there, Yeah, for sure. Dr Dre would be up there hust on his stuff, the world class wrecking crew at the time, and the easy up there. That's how many an easy Matt, You're easy, That's what I was going to. How did you guys not wind up on Ruthless Records. That's that's

that's a big question. That's a good question though, because I honestly thought, like back in the day, like when we was getting down me and Quick and all, it was like we really thought that was like because you know, like just imagine kids from the city that didn't know the industry at all too much. But we just know what we see in front of us, which is, you know,

Ruthless Records that we see on the label. We don't know how big it is or who owned it, or this and this and that, and it was like Death Jam, of course, it was just all of the what was the other label? I think it was like a sleeping bag and fourth and Broad this ship that we didn't really know if we didn't know who was what or whatever.

But we also knew the bigger labels, you know, but back then, the bigger labels catered to stuff like, you know, the stuff that our parents are listened to, like Al Green and Teddy Pendergrass and you know, Michael Jackson all the ship that you know that people listened to. So we didn't really know like the hip hop ship like until Death Jam, you know, certain months came out, so We was figuring, like, you know, damn, we want to be down with Ruthless, but Ruthless was doing their own thing,

going through their own distribution channels. So we ended up landing where we landed. Thank god, it was cool. You know, you haven't been a lot of recording sessions and everything. Man, what's the craziest thing you don't ever seen? The apping? Man? Oh man, you mean like some turn up ship turning up anything like that, especially you know y'alls some of

them death throw recording sessions. You heard about him And I don't even know if it was at the studio, but just for instance, you know your boy good niggas. So I ain't gonna say no names or whatever, but I heard. I heard it was the instance where Motherfucker's

is getting ready to make a move or whatever. And they was in the hotel, right, so you know the hotels, you know they have plush safe in the hotel, and uh, you know, they was in the hotel and uh should supposedly have put his ship in the in the um safe in this big room. And some of the homies went up there to go have a meeting with him. So I ain't gonna say they name, you know, because you know what I'm saying, I love at homies. I don't want to make it look like we're making fun

of motherfucker's. But they went up there to have a meeting with him, and she was up there, a couple of the homies or whatever, and the safe was open and it's those those safe you know that in the room, the big black safe, and so the uh and this is all what I heard. I'm telling the story because of off of what I heard. So niggas know what they did. Whatever. So it was jury and the safe. You know, he'll take his jury off through it in

the safe or whatever. So after the meeting, they had a meeting blah blah blah, this and this and that. So a couple of the homies was about to leave and a phone ring and his fat boy he said, you know, she said, hey, come back, would be a real quick and they could tell the way he said it, it sounds like some bushit. It was like oh, Ship and the homies was with him, and Ship was like, what's going on? What? What? What? And he was like, oh man, they want us to come back. And the

home was like, man, why what's going on? What's happening. So the niggas double back and coming to the hotel room. Motherfucker just got on their head and was like, man, where my ship at. I was like, what ship? Man? My jury missing? And he was like just grabbing motherfucking And from what I hear them, they picked him up off the ground. Darth Vader and the boy I'm talking about it ain't no little nigga neither, but like ready to tear here I'm talking about, was on his head.

You hear me still there? Yeah, then I you know, calling him up and ship like some real ship, like, man, where my ship at? Because back then, you know, like some of that ship is like easily like five hundred thousand dollars worth the fucking jury, you know what I'm saying, rollies and ship plushed out or whatever the stuff. No, not, no,

let me finish the story. This is what's crazy. So they got on the nigger man and I'm talking about pressing nigga and about the I don't know if they took off on him, but he was he was sucked up, like you know, pressing real hard. And my nigga the type of nigga that ain't gonna do no ship like that. So you know, the other homie was like, man, hold on, hold on, man, the homie don't do no ship like that, right,

And they didn't grab the nigga up. And I heard they probably like slap him up a couple of times or whatever. I'm just telling the story how I heard it. But the nigg got, you know, he got, he got some ship. That's when death Row was at his at his finest, you know what I mean, the safe home. He was like, man, hold on, hold on all this

motherfucking jewelry. They still you want to hear the funny ship, the slid off of the velvet pillow behind the pillow and the black safe, and the ship was always in the safe the whole time when they moved the pillow like man, it's right thereze and the HOPI just he was just like all right, damn it. Didn't even apologize. It was like all right for sure and just let the niggas go on. So it was definitely some ship going on back in the studios back in the day. Dude,

try to fight back anything. Hell no, you can't fight back big still, I'm telling you're what I'm saying on me. Death Row at his prime, full strength. It's better to take that little swallow your pride. You walk out a love full stress, shooting a few dollars for the inconvenience. The inconvenience is nigger. You made it up out of here. And when I thought, you stole my ship, what I'm saying, And then it was another answers where the home? You know what I'm talking about? But I can. I ain't

gonna say no names or whatever. But somebody had Bootleg to take and it was a real big artist coming up by the death Road that got the tape. I don't know. See if I say too much, they're gon connect the dots. But it was a real big artists, a real big artist coming up by the death row. He said, many fingers I put up, okay, okay, okay, I got you, and the audience can see that. Yeah. So it was a real big artist. And somehow one of the dudes, one of the homies, end up getting

the tape. And I heard was Bootleg and the ship or did some ship that they weren't supposed to do. And Quick might have spoke on this, and one of the records Bootleg the all lines on me, y'all gonna listen to that right there. But yeah, but that was one of them come on to you know, come up here the Red Room. They call it the Red Room meetings. And then you got his ass told the pieces. And this is another big nigger, another big nigger. Yeah, I think I knew the initials to this name. Should I

say the initials? Yeah? I won't say this will be yall, y'all, we had to do your homework on this one right here. Now, I got so much ship, you got to bring me back on. I got so much ship, crazy man, y'all, you want to look out for part two right here, because we've got some ship going on. We got some other ship we gotta talk to you all about. You know,

this real ship though. You know this ship ain't homey got you know, but I mean by right like you Bootleg and nigga ship, you taking money out of it, you know, ta the nigga his pockets out of kids, myles? Why am I like Nigga going the studio, blood sweating tears doing this ship for motherfucker just to take it and bootlegged and give it to a motherfucker so you could d you had nothing to do with this ship like I understand why dude was man like that. So then you got in that red room and boy, I

want to ask you about another whooping. If she was around for this whooping? Um, and this this got to do with her own, boy bet, because you know Sama, I just called Mosama, Osaman them on what the few people's ask open the thing and we could talk about this. Um, what was the name of that label? Man? That that that Osama And then was messing with Oh the you're talking about the Shepherd Lane, No, not shepperd Lane, this bungalow. Yeah, what was my man's name up there? Oh? Yeah, you

know his name? But a little executive I saw the homeboy Sama was in the meeting. He was talking about let's get some stuff off the table, and dude kind of got smart and got the taste slapt out of his mouth back. And that's how I used to go back in the day. Let's go back to day you talked back. He was getting slapped a rounds toe up.

And that's kind of the reason why, Like they always asked me, why I don't get into like putting out a lot of dudes or you know, producing other artists and ship like that, and It's kind of rare that you see a dude that's really about this ship, that really have that drive and really want to stay in the studio. I really want to sleep in the stayn care if they shave or take a bath. Them the kind of niggas I wanted. I didn't want to Nigga win like we did. We slept on the studio floor.

Niggas that that won't take a bath for three days. But I'm gonna write this song. I'm gonna finish this song. And these days, man to me, excuse me, but it's it's just hard to find that drive. And dudes these days they want that ship overnight. They want to be like, oh I just got a record deal and they're gonna go buy Jerry on the second day, Like Nigga, We was in that motherfucker Jerry curl, dried out, breath stinking, and they smell like whatever the funk. We smell like

two day old, what the fuck? But we're trying to get this this that word roll. Like Tupac come in there at my fucking manuty and quick and told me stories about like Tupac running both of the studios and ship like he'd coming there and funk with this beat Quick was doing, and then funk with the other producer. Man. I think it was Johnny one of them or dre track or whatever. He was going back and forth, and Quick said he had hit his cigarette and ship and smoked.

Go take a break, but he will not leave that motherfucker because his work ethic was just something crazy, bro. And I just feel like, yeah, I feel like, if if dudes ain't giving me that energy, bro, I ain't gonna waste my money or my time to be trying to produce one of fucker's ain't hold people's hand. That's why I'm not really into like doing that whole thing, man. And I know it's some dope talent out there, but it's just that's just not my I'm gonna tell you

for real, man. Digital Soapbox has a record label. Yeah, yeah, we got a record label. The actually got some little funding to a dog. And I would just rather go back and miss with the O G S like you missed with past like eight, because y'all gonna do what it takes, man, yea take we go going there. It's like, I'm gonna tell you, ain't nothing worse. I had an artist before man, and I'm not with the babysitting stuff. So I booke time. I booked time, and I go

up there about like the time it's time. It is like from four to nine. I got a book from four to nine, so I let artists do their thing. I don't police nobody because obviously I signed you. I think you're doping up the handle business. I go up to the studio, man at six o'clock. Mine, you've been up there since four. I go up there. Studio reeks of marijuana bottles everywhere, and I'm like, okay, let me hear the music. I'm expecting my Beagle Press playing and

I'm hear some incredible stuff. Oh, we ain't got started yet. We're getting the vibe. I said, what that vibe cut off? I said, man, you know what shut this ship down? Man? Never will do it again, man, because you know what you up here playing? Yeah. Man, See that's the one thing I miss about ship. Like to get you in

there when the doors open. If it's game on and you wanted the players think you better be playing, You better be hooping, you better be rocking, you better be doing something, because we ain't wasting no bread there's too many other motherfucker's that's in the line that's trying to eat too. If you're not gonna eat while you with your turn, they can move out the way. And that's just that's just how I go. Man. Yeah, man, you know, so we can take a break real quick and we

can come right back. Y'all go ahead and check out our sponsors and make sure y'all support Yeah for sure. So your first record deal was actually on Disney. Yeah, that ship was on Disney bro And that's what we gotta make a whole movie documentary on the first rapper on Disney and after me, they changed that ship to Hollywood Records, like they wanted to be in the rap game, but they didn't really want to, like the association, because like, why did y'all sign me and give me all this money?

One thing they did they failed me. They laced me up, they kept my pockets right, they giving it a check just to shut me up sometimes because I'd be in there complained and this ship, it's like and Peter Returnal was the president at the time time. He's the lawyer on Dr Dre ship right now. You know Dr Dre and M and them. I think he had something to do with the dre Beast deal. You know, Peter turn of course. Yeah, so heavyweight. Hell yeah, Michael Eisner at

the time was over everything. So I'm like, they signed, you know, they know where we come from. Quick was doing his deal that Profile second, and I was doing Profile. I think AMG was doing Select. I think it was Select Records or whatever. It's the beauty of it. We all had our own individual deals, but we was already like Votron, we was already clicked up. But everybody to get their individual back and none of them pockets was deeper than that Disney ship. You know what I'm saying.

Hell yeah, no, I mean, boy, the fucked up some good money. Just you talk about Disney Man. So at that time, I'm pretty sure they wanted to kind of censor a lot of your material. Yeah, they wanted everything to be kind of clean. Yeah, that's exactly what they wanted. You know what I'm saying, Because you didn't hear a whole bunch of Kurt your earlier records. I mean, it was a bunch of cursing on my records. That's kind

of what we like. We'll make jokes sometimes now, like well compared to today, in comparison to what they doing to day, it was kind of lightweight back then. I won't say. I won't say it was lightweight, but I'll say if it was different, but that it was different. It was different, It was different stuff. Yeah, we was more like street party, let's have some fun, let's hit the street, let's you know, party turn up or whatever. And they still do the same ship today, but it's

just in a different way, you know. Yeah, you sold a lot of records with this hell. Yeah, and that's when they wasn't really tracking ship, you know, like sound scan wasn't really That's when they was the bootleg ship was heavy. So a lot of this ship was bootleg. But yeah, we did good with him. Yeah, because I think you would sound scanning something like three hundred thousand copies, Yeah,

probably more so you figured efficiently. Now, Yeah, if you signed scanning three hundred something body across, you probably sold back in that time people on this and how big the bootleg and stuff with you might have sold six seven thousand, Oh yeah, for sure. Definitely. That's to me, that was easy. And I love the fact that Disney put me in like like the soundtracks of and seeing

a man. Certain movies that I was working with, like South Center, like certain movies I had action to, like getting in and putting my music in these these movies and soundtracks and stuff like that, because of course it was Disney, but they'll link me up a certain stuff. And then you know, I was getting breaks like like the Chris Rock ship, the cbfour movie. Yea doing a rapping, me doing a rapping, and Daddy, I was doing a rapping from step to sonic from doing the other part

of this ship. Yeah, straight out of low Cash and all that swept for my balls and shout out to Chris Rock right now. You know he hot right now because all that controversial ship. But um, and then I did another soundtrack for Chris Rock on that head of State. I think it was called some movie or something. I put one of my ships in there. So when I catch up with Chris Man, we got a holler. Bro. Yeah, for sure, you did a lot of pivotal stuff. Let

me ask you this man, this during the time. Man, we're talking about the eighties right now, and in the eighties it was just a whole another level as far as gangsterism and the streets people was really gang banging, and Quick was one of the first correct me if I'm wrong. Quick was one of the first people to really start kind of like banging the wax a little bit because he would throw a little stuff in there. Yeah, he would throw a little subliminal stuff in the records

and kind of let you know what it is. You know on the mixtapes, you know, Ship the tape, you know, the hood tape. So he just you know, we just let it be known. And then after that it was becoming kind of like, you know, the dudes that was kind of stepping up because back then it ain't gonna lie bro. It was just kind of hard to just really get out there and just kind of put yourself on the front line like that because it was really like motherfucker's that will come and test your ship, you

know what I'm saying. So you do ship nowadays, and it's still bad, don't get me wrong, but it's not cameras everywhere back then like it is today. You can't sucking sneeze or take a leak on the side of a building without the motherfucker filming you now. But back then and then it comes slide on you and do whatever, and they don't know who did it until you know what I'm saying, Like some of the greatest rappers alive,

they still don't. You know, it's unsolved. But right now, dudes got cameras everywhere, they're actually doing ship on camera. That's why I don't really rock with the social media shipped too much, like taunting motherfucker's on cameras and motherfucker's running up on people trying to get points and cloud are doing the get shipped to people on camera. That's just not my lane. I don't feel it. But if that's what niggas do, I respect that. But it was

just different back then, bro. So when you said some ship, you had to really stand on some ship. It wouldn't like now because, um I see a lot of people that claim they pie rouse their bloods and this and crips and they're not necessarily really like that and they can kind of get away with it. But back then,

you really had to stand on. You had to be a man and where the read yeah, hell yeah, you have to especially being a blood Hell yeah, you already know back then because y'all plush, y'all king in the time that where everybody has seemed like was crips at the time. That's hey, the family back back and you know I had family. I got family out of town from the South and ship and they used to be concerned about me and ship because they heard I was running in the streets and they was like, you're not

You're not running, You're not. Uh. They all they thought it was crip. Mean, they thought krip mean everything. You know what I'm saying, crip was the Mexican Games. Crip was that they didn't know, you know, you're not you're not what you're not doing the crypt now like now the what were doing. But they didn't understand it. This ship, but it was it was it was hard back then to be you know. Now, did y'all ever have any conflict with that, like because people know him, y'all it

was part rouge time. Yeah, you best God there right, let's talk about it. Man. We was the only one. We was like the first ones to come out and just they knew we wasn't you know, like they heard a lot of the ship and what we was dressed like and what we was wearing. They know we wasn't you know, we wasn't no crips. They know exactly what was going on. And it was like dudes that that, like you said, the dudes from out of town that

probably heard somebody to say something. And then you have some real niggas, Like I mean, it was one of those things I think, if I'm not mistaken, we was kind of like the first ones from from that side to really go out and tour and people be known like, okay, them niggas is dogs and you know the other niggas. Looks like we were just torn, toring torn and everywhere we go where some other. Back then before all the ship, all the ship got twisted up. Norm all the bloods

have respect for each other, loved each other. It used to be a thing where dudes and say blood love you know what I'm saying. And it was like I can go to San Diego, pull up on the dog and just share break bread or whatever. I can go from anywhere and it was like, come on, blood, let's you know who. It was cool, like, man, the nigga gout for you. But now they beet with each other

something terrible. I remember at that time, man, I remember at that time that bloods would look out for bloods and crips would look out for crips, and now it's the thing man that wears more bloods killing bloods now, and there's more crips killing crips. What do you think man? Being one of them dudes that was that's really a veteran of the streets. A lot of people don't never bring your name up. But she was a real gangster. You know what I'm saying. You're a real gangster, you

know what I mean. It was a real gangster. Of course, we've grown men now, got children and you know, responsibilities and stuff. So ain't nobody running the streets like they was. But during that time, have you ever had an incident on the road where you really thought it was gonna

go down? Man, we had a whole bunch of fucking incidents like that ship quick talking about in the record, just Liketen like being shot at this ship coming out the back of the show, and the dude like, just for instance, one night we're doing the show and I've seen the dude had on this green never forgive a color you had on green? With his change this ship he was doing this thing or whatever. Then he was in the show and joined the show singing our ship and I think that was San Antonio. I'm not if

I'm not mistaken. Dude party and they had a couple of his homies with him. I don't remember who exactly was with him, but long story short, bro, we came out and dude was laid out man shotting the dome like somebody got him and domed him out there, and he was like damn. And then we was trying to get out the building. Some motherfuckers started shooting at us. We had to throw the vest on quick and some of our our team was with us security and ship and homies and start shooting back at them. And we

got in the van. We had EMC Breed with his man and EMC Breed manager was like, what the funk going on? Y'all? This ship is real. This dude jumped here. I think he had on a white suit. He jumped on the ground and was laying under a van and got up. I was like, man, y'all, motherfucker's crazy this And then we was like, man, this this kind of high.

Go homie, when you're pushing this line, you know what I'm saying, And not that we was pushing in the line like that of banging on niggas, but they just knew where we was from, you know what I'm saying, So it was just made it a little bit harder. Yeah, let's talk about this. And ironically, I wish I had the homie up here today. You know, eight was from Tragnew. Eight was from Tragnew. Y'all from Tree Top, y'all local

to each other. You're both from Compton. When the beef started with him and quick, how intense did that get

for the whole camp? Man? To be honest, it was one of those things to where, man, I don't even know like how the ship kind of really got kicked off, But it was one of those things to where it didn't really it wasn't no different from the regular day to day ship with us, you know what I'm saying, because that's what we used to think about Compton, man, And you know, Norman, because you haven't been out there with us a million times. And ship Compton got so

many goddamned hoods. It's not that big, and it's it's overflowed with hoods and congested with different hoods. If you go on this side of the street, you in this hood. If you go down this way, you and this head. So we kind of just kept it pushing. It was just everyday protocol for us. You know what I'm saying, until we run into somebody. You know what I'm saying, You know that ship though we ain't really we ain't losing no sleep. I'm sure they ain't losing no sleep.

But if you run into him, we're gonna address the situation, you know what I'm saying, Like, Hey, what's happening. And then when we saw him in the airport and ship, I thought it was cool, Like Quick said, you know what I'm saying, we've seen him and the nigga was on some big boy ship and I wasn't even gonna let it go down like that. We was. It was a few of us, and I think he was by itself for somebody with one person. And then he didn't rush him or nothing like that, because we don't do

that ship. You know what I'm saying. It's like, if you want to take the faith, and then can take the faith if that's what you want to do right now. But they talked or whatever, exchange numbers and I think he changed his number and that's what kind of made Quick even matter, Like you know, what I'm saying, like we're supposed to be like when he said, you change a little deeper number. Back then niggas had pages, so he kind of changed his number. I think that's what happened.

I'm not sure though. And the thing is, man, those sixty ways since usually be so tuchi that he might not have changed his number being on some stuff. It might not have had number because I changed my number all the time, That's what I'm saying. So you never knew what the fun. You know, we don't know what the fun is going on. But at that time, it's like motherfucker's young, full of testosterone. You know, we want to be the king of the hill, just like they

want to be the king of the hill. Niggas know he had crept, they know we from where we're from or whatever. So it's it's like that tension. Everybody already looking at it like, Okay, you know, I'm motherfucker at at school. When you see a motherucker about the fight, you're like, oh, motherfucker's like they're doing all this ship, like let's see what the like. Motherfucker's just wanted to see what was gonna happen to me? And it was like no difference from like every dayhood ship. You know,

yeah for sure, and that's what goes on. The one thing I do want to say, Eight has always let it be known I see my nigga, you know, chill to shout out chill. Yeah, you know, there's some good cats, man. And that one thing I do think is cool is that that stuff did get resolved. And I'm still waiting to hear that eight and DJ Quick album. Man, that that collaboration, you know what I mean. I think it

would be dope. I think would be dope, and I think right about now it's something that we definitely could make happen. I think the world is still ready for that. Hell yeah, you know, I think the world is still ready for that. And they also also here they also ready to hear some new music from High See. Why do you wait so long in between songs man to put our projects? Man? You know what, like we do songs man, and at the time of the ship, just be right, I could play some ship right now. We

got that. Ain't nobody heard a few things that ain't nobody heard that. People will be like, man, what the funk you doing? It's dope, ist fucking this and this and that, and sometimes we just work on ship and just put it to the side or never come out and start working on some new ship. Like you know,

you know how the good ship you've been in the studio. Yeah, well, you know what what's funny man about that is like when we put let Me Know out that really it was four years old already, and the music is so good. It's timeless. It doesn't have no time stamps on or nothing like that, to where you can hear one of your records four years from now and it still sounds current and not believe that's because you guys are such great musicians. It's music and it's not tied into no trendy.

Ship is not tied into no stuff that's going on. It's like you guys always recreating your own thing. That's man, we do, man, And that that record, that particular record you're talking about. Man, we were sitting in a quick living room and just sucking around. This Nick in his boxers and we're over there just fucking around with some ship. He's comfortable, we at the house chilling, and we just

started sucking around. And everybody hear that song and be like, man, is that a sample offer, you know, is it Rogers that you know they think is a Zapp or somebody or you know, Roger Troutman or whatever the funk they think it is. But no, this is some ship that I think it did like straight, you know, just genius thinking and this me coming up with the hooks or whatever and ideas. That's one thing I love about the Click.

We always threw ship at each other lines, hooks, choruses, you know, like when you're a groupy like man, I don't know, try to say this or do this or what you think about that? Like, no, we ain't doing that like that, you know what I'm saying that It was just always that good like camaraderie, you know what I mean, Like just team effort of putting out some good ship. Yeah, for sure. And I don't think when people mention top producers. A lot of people on the

West always mention Quick's name and they top five. But a lot of people outside the West they always named Dr Dre and you know a few other people. But Quick as as Quick is not just a great producer, he's also a great engineer, also a great song writer. He does everything well. Everything He does everything well because a lot of hooks, y'all having on records to beat him singing. A lot of people don't know. They don't know NIGGI gets saying like the old Rigard prior said,

and they have to saying to get some puzzy. So I want to ask you about a few people in the crew. Man, Um, how did Masburg rest in peace? Coming to the Fold? I want to hear the whole story. Man, Moss bird Man, Baby bird Man. That's that's man, that's my dude. I missed Masburg. Massburg came into the fold. Black Tone had the shop, the baseball car store. You know Black always keep a couple of businesses here. He had the beauty salon this story. You know, Black always

getting that check. So um, he came up there and I don't know if it was one of the homies from Campanello, somebody brought him up there or whatever. And he had a little demo, man, and I never forget it was off of Michael Jackson. The doe dude did the doe dude? Dude? What is that with? Uh? Smooth criminal?

You yep, smooth criminal. And he did a song off of that, and you you gotta know Mossberg is like six five normal, what was the six four and six five ship to ninety but almost then the three and big boy, you know what I'm saying, Like big intimidating, like but young though, and he was like and serious as fun, and I just like how he was serious.

And he went by Johnny Burnt, like Johnny Burns and he had this song some something, Mr Johnny Burns is the real list this then the like he just changed it all up, and I was kind of like, man, this niked man. He I funk with him because out of all the ship you could have sampled what you did. He took Michael Jackson and did the ship off of Michael Jackson, but looking like serious, like yeah I did Michael Jackson. I saw Mallsburg was like, yeah I did

Michael Jackson. What's up? And the nick ain't gonna say that to him ship? Like you know what I'm saying, Like because that nigga is bought his ship, you know what I'm saying. And I kind of used to smirking like did Michael Jackson. But Mallsburg was hard as fun, so we kind of I just I took a liking to him. Since then I love him, like man, he was like down to like say, you know, because I'm the type of nigguy. I like Michael Jackson too, Like, uh, my cousin and his girlfriend got in my car, one

of my cars and ship. You know, I do the car shipped too, So I got a car business or whatever. I got my own dealership like ship, so I keep car. I'll be in all kinds of ships. So they got in one of my cars and I had a Michael Jackson CD in there, and they fell out laughing because they thinking like, oh, like crows ain't never listened to Michael Jackson. He's supposed to listen to. This was years ago,

Like oh all you know hard Ship. I'm like, they go like, that's one of the best sounding albums, one of the best ever. Yeah, hell yeah. So I'm like the funk when I listening to Michael Jackson. So by Massy doing that, I was like, they could go head, let's see what you got. And then we just took him in and just grew a liking to him. Yeah for sure, And he got behind them quick beats in

the rest man. That's yeah, that'ship history after that. But actually y'all did more songs together than anybody else, right, Yeah, me and Massy did we We didn't do We didn't get a chance to do all of the song. Like I said, we got Ship that ain't even came out or whatever, and Ship, but we do so much Ship norm You're like, we get in there and just get the working bro, and then when Ship get divvied up, or we want to put this on this album, do this on that album? Like, um, Ship, that's how I go.

Because he was on his way man, and then um, he was murdered on the fourth of July weekend? Correct ye and michaelrect How how did that impact the whole camp? If fucked everybody up? Bro? Until this day, until this day, I really don't go nowhere on the fourth of July. I can't get the ship out of my head. Like it's I don't even like to go nowhere on the fourth Bro, y'all Remember when it was fourth of July and I started running with y'all? Remember Black Tone and

called me and said, hey, where are you at. You said, I'm at the crib. He said you should probably stay there, and he said, don't go nowhere on the fourth. To this day, I don't think none of y'all going nowhere on the fourth of July. Yeah, but I just don't my my spirit be down. I don't know, it's just don't get me wrong. I like the Independence Day and like the kids and ships. Some of them don't even know the back story, they too young or whatever, but

it's still bothered me to this day. Man. And if I come out on the fourth, it's a rare occasion that I come out on the four. I just like the chill, you know, because you a l A and ship and this with us. It could be fireworks and then it could be it could be a blammber. It could be anything. You know what I'm saying. It could be a grenade. Niggas out here be OsO bullshit, So it could be. You don't know what the funk going on now? Who came in? Sugar Free came in before

Masbro right, Yeah, Free came in before Mosburg. That's the one I want to know. How did y'all discovered sugar free? Who discovered sugar free? Man? I'm gonna tell you, Like this, Black Tone has sugar free and sugar Free had a sugar Free? Was Royal Rock or the Pure Pimp and he had, uh man, I can't think of my boy that was producing, but it was Tones, uh Tone people was producing. He had a different producer and just to be real, like Black and Quick wasn't really speaking at

the time, wasn't seeing eye the eye or whatever. And I got that Black. I'm like, man, I like sugar Free and he was like yeah, this and this and that. So Tone did a couple of songs. Don't even he was working on ship and um, you know, like Tone, we all from the same neighborhood or whatever. So I was going back too quick and I was like, man, Quick, you need to hear this ship, this sugar Free ship, and I don't. He heard it and he was like, oh, yeah,

that sound kind of cool. It reminds me of like like the Homie, you know, like Earl Ship like forty and he was like, yeah, I got that vibe. He was like. I was like yeah, it's like, no, you really need to hear this naked get down and seen. So not trying to take the credit to my own horn, but I got the niggas kind of like squash. The differences of a settled without Quick end up coming to the Black Tone Mom's house, in Compton and start working on free Ship. Right there. The niggas got a vibe

and it just kind of took off ever since. Then changed his name to Sugar Free. And I told the story before though about to get your money while you bush. And I was done in my studio in North Hollywood and ship Quick was in my shower. He said, he was in my shower and he heard my pipes. You know, the pipes when you're trying to off, they go cuck cuckoo. And he said, the pipes was going clo clo, cuck clu cuck cuck cuck clu cu cu cu cucko. The

nikka hopped out of my shower. And you know, I got showers and a couple of showers in the spot or whatever. Sw I'm in my ship just doing me or whatever, and I got equipment everywhere so we can

just get up and rock. Because I kept the North Hollywood studio spot some otherfucker's I'll contact where I lay my head at with my family and how you know, you know that ship, I won't know everybody you know and there, so I kept that ship up there like that, Quick jump out the shower, bloom boo bloom bloom bloom boom bloom bloom bloom bloom bloom bloom boom bloom boom boom. And when he started working with that ship, bro I said, God damn almost funked up now because I told quick.

I was like, nigga, don't get that ship to nobody. That's your new ship. You're back. You know, this is the new you're back on. And he was just rocking with you know, quicker, go for a beat. You here that my fucking rocket for forty eight dollars straight like, and then again I'm just bobbing my head to it

like this ship. It's hard like this the ship. So the nigger free came over and he said, some ship a couple of lines, take times out of pimp you a house and you still won't know you want overuse. But man, this nigga starts saying this ship me and quickly like that at each other, like hell no, this this niked beat like to this day, right off the record in the club today it's still goes off like it's like it's back in the nineties. Yep, it still

goes off. So y'all got all this stuff going on, man, And and that that, and I think that's a big thing A lot of fans want to know. And I say, week as I was around doing them times, we could have had one of the most powerful cruise of all the time was everybody was on dog. Hell yeah, we

still can. And all ninas had to do is put their differences to the side and just power up and just do the ship like it's easy to do ship when you're doing it with a crew and you ain't got a late three verses on your song, you know what I'm saying, you recording on him? You know this ship Still if I got to do three verses, I got to sit there and write three verses to a song.

But if I'm doing a song like I put you on my album, I'm gonna do the first verse, Big still gonna do the second one, and Free or Quick might do to you know what I'm saying, the second to none and AMG might come and do this and it makes the ship easier. And then like I said, we get the exchange ideas and bounce it off of each other and ship like we always do. Because at one time, I know, at one time Quick was doing some stuff with death Row because he had this situation

with Priority Records. Profile. Yeah, it was a profile. Yeah, he was a profile, and I think he was making a transition from profile to airs to something like that, and they weren't letting him release no music. Yeah, it was something going on. I ain't gonna sit in here in a line about it. I don't remember exactly what was going on, but it was a transition between profile and then ARISTI with Claude Davis. He was, you know, because I know what I was gonna ask about this.

He was doing a lot of stuff with death Row at that time. For sure, he was doing some stuff with death Row. And I know we speak on it, or we cannot speak on it, but you know, this was the Gangster Chronicles. We got to ask about it at one time. And I ain't gonna say what it was behind everything, but one time y'all wound up outside the gates of death Row Records, and it was because of you that didn't go down. You saw somebody knew you and they was like craw with the hill going on,

and y'all was cool. But she was the reason why it didn't really go as bad as it could have. I'm gonna say part of the reason why But you know, when we went up there, man, it was just a lot of a lot of fucking like tempers was flaring and and honestly, man, we went up there and it was like it was one of those things to where like if it if it would have been like a car backfiring or anything like a nigga would have shot of firework off the ship that went real left Norman.

She could have went bad home because Niggas was up there strapped up. Niggas is up there. And then we found out later though I heard I don't know if that's true, but some niggas is on the roof, you know what I'm saying. Else So we was on the outside of the gate, you know, black Tone for sure. A couple of the homies. I don't even want to get on, you know if they But we was out

there with the with the hoovers with the groove. The groove was with us on our side, and then we was looking on the other side of the gate and it was some of the homies too. So when the homies see me, he was like, man, what's up? Man? He said, Man, I'm up here and I don't even know what the fun going on. They just called me and I said, yeah, Ship, we just got the call to like, you know what I'm saying. You know, wh niggas get that call. So we're like we're there and

ship and um man, dude, Like I don't know. It was just one of the things to like, like, bro, we we're the same type of niggas, you know what I'm saying, So we're not gonna be pressed. We're not trying to press, but we're the same type of motherfucker. So we wanted to see what's happening, Like what's good is the niggas Do we have to squabble up? Because I'm looking for the nigg of my size, you know, I'm I'm there. I'm probably like one of the shortest

niggas there. I'm like, okay, I'm gonna get down with him. I remember one of the homies from the Groove, uh, I think his name was Boom. He wanted to get down with Bounchy because then nigga about the same size. And I just like how the ship was going far as that aspect of it, Like it wasn't know, like, oh, I'm looking for the weakest link or I'm trying to pick on the little with nigger type of ship and and uh niggas had you know, strapped up ship and

they and they waste bands and they. I mean, it could have got crazy, norm But Nigga is just really kind of knew, like, Okay, you you're working with some real niggas. They know we're some real niggas, and we're gonna let this ship. We're gonna figure this ship out and straightening out. And we end up getting that shipped straight, bro. But it could have went left it. That was. That was a real story. Like people talking about the ship online, but it was a real story. Like it was a

real story. And you know, we ain't gotta mention the whole bunch of people's names and stuff like that, but I knew it could have went down. That was. That was a scary time. Oh yeah, for sure. And I'm talking about broad daylight man. And they were saying that the police was driving by and then motherfucker' wouldn't even stopped. They were scared, like they looked at the ship. It was like so it was just a big It was all out in the middle of the street like that.

It was by the gates, you know, Wilshire it was by the gate. You know what the old death Row ship used to be. Yeah, because we used to go to death Row. Like Nigga's talk all the death Row ship. But if he wasn't going to the to the death Row that was on the train tracks that I think that was a Canamn or whatever studio. That was the Red Road. We haven't been all up through the motherfucker, you know what I'm saying. So and Nigga's weren't doing

that back then. They wasn't really doing the death Row ship. Yeah, not know for the record, Tony should did it make peace? Eventually it was all good. Oh yeah, for sure, it was all good. And I'm gonna say this bro, And I never really said this ship on camera, But sug Is is a cool nigga bro. Like he one thing about ship. He will go straight in your situation out. He will go figure out what's going on. A good nigga.

And like always, niggas used to be like hey man called fat Boy fat Boy, that's what you know, the little nickname, or niggas before they called him Simon or whatever because Simon said to do something that niggas to do it or whatever. But shug was always a cool like me and Shugar always had the best relationship because he big old nigg and he always said, what's up, littlenigga, Like like we was at the gate when the ship

was about to go down. The nigga came out the gate that came to me and you know, tap me on the starting like I guess he was checking to see what kind of strapping or whatever. But what's up, little nigga? I was like, what, man, what's the going on? If you wis got all this ship going on from the same you know niggas homies and ship you know so, but he always been a good nigga. Now the thing is to me, just my this is just my opinion. Normal.

If you borrow something from shig if you asking Ship for money, are you trying to come up on Shigar Are you trying to get it to me? If you asking for something, that that's when the ship get a little bit tricky, because Sugar is the type of saying, Hey, I'm gonna get you, I'm gonna put you in the studio, or I'm gonna give you. You know, you need to you know, Ship, you need to go do this and

this and that that might slide it to you. But the first he wanted his bread back, and the first time he called you and he said, hey, we're doing this uh Oprah Winfrey show and you need to come perform. Oh man, I'm I'm down in Uh my car ain't working and this and that all right? All right, blood, when you get up there again, you might get the ship slapped out of you might. Yeah, but I'm just saying,

you're making the deal with the think of that. Ain't fucking around of playing those games, you know what I'm saying, So you gotta definitely know what the deal is you're dealing with. Yeah, And that's just and I ain't necessarily saying borrow money, but I'm just saying, if you ask him for something and you yeah, he's gonna deliver, so he expects the same in return. Bro. And that's the only thing I've seen with that's just once again my

assessment of it and ship. You know, I think that's most people's assessment from what I hear, because I'm hearing that anybody that did have a problem with Sugar, when you check the back story, they don't got money from him, they don't try to take advantage of them somehow, and he just wasn't going for oh not at all. And to be honest with you, the way the music in the three is designed, you need a sugar night and

you need a Tony laying around. Yeah, And I want to touch on Black Tone a little bit because Tone don't never really get the credit he deserved as far as being an executive because at one time he had had his label on the streets. Hell yeah, and no I ain't. Once again, I'm doing the interview, but bro, I'm not too my own horn. But Tone was like more of a dude that was getting He had his own businesses in the eighties, Bro, like the car shops and all this ship. Tone do business like. He was

a businessman in the beginning. But the Nigga street you know, Tone was like you know ship like they called him Osama being lad. That's that's black black hat businesses. He wasn't even thinking about the record ship. And I used to always tell him he was like raw man, funk

this music. Man, I don't want to be dealing with all these weird you know, don't say everybody he's a buster as then you know that man ain't dealing with all these buster as, weird niggas and ship like the Man the niggas, and I'm like, Black, you got too much influence out here on these streets, Homey, you gotta do something. And He's like, man Crawf, I don't feel like dealing. I'm end up slapping the shoot out. You know. I'm blo. I'm gonna slap the shoot out of one

of you. Keep up playing with me, I said, tone, No, bro, And I was the one that norm that I kept. I kept. I was in the nigga ear in the nigga ear. Well, that's why I'm asking you about the crow because for y'all to don't know out there, Craft should have been named the Fixer. A lot of situations that got resolved, a lot of situations that got fixed was him behind the scenes, really convincing somebody not to make that next move or to make that next move for show Man. And that's just how I am in

my harbor. I'm I feel like, you know, piece the nigga by the ship. But if I can bring peace or squat some ship or just some stupid ship, did this nigga say something about your mama? No, didn't He can say nothing about your mama, knowing that the nigga did. I'm just that type of nigga that try to dare the ship for it escalate. But I was pushing the line, Black, you need to do this, do this. So he ended up just getting into the ship. That's how the Sugar

Free you know, Wallsburg was it there for a time? Man? That um Lane Way and death Rog almost got linked up in any kind of way. Was there some talks to that um man? You know what, I like, like, uh, Black and Sugar you should talk, you know what is cool whatever? Black and Sugar used to talk. And I don't even know if I was I think Black told me. I don't even know if I remember the whole story, but Black told me I was kind of like one of the first ones to kind of get them to

talk because we heard something. I forgot what should had of something? Black and I'm like, man, this should and he was like man who and this and this and that and knowing that his people stayed on the east side or whatever, and the twins and all that. I don't know how the ship win, but we always was in the mix with each other, and I think they used to talk about trying to do something together and and you know, like when you deal with two of

the funders, that's just the juggernauts of the era. They're gonna respect each other like gentlemen. You know, real niggas moved like gentlemen, and ship don't be don't know all that, but I think they always had to think of like I'm gonna do my ship over here, this is my empire, and should had this empire already, And that's kind of

how it always been. But I knew it was kind of probably some talks are like like should always be like man, bt you know, bet blood come over with me, understand ship and like, I don't know, but I know it was some talks, But I don't know if how far that ship was sometimes to the realist king sit in the same room, you know, some some sometimes it just don't happen like that, man, And I know it was a lot of success throughout the years. Man, what's

the most what's the biggest moment that you remember? Man? Just music wise, from the whole crew, what's the biggest moment? Uh? Man, one of the biggest moments I could say that was like just to me, that was dope. Like it was just a moment, man, it was like, God damn this ship. It's like live when we did the Summer Jam or one of them, I think it was Summer Jam and

the LDD bars came out. You've seen that footage, the old footage over and we was all out and that it was just like you looked to the back of the crow. You couldn't stop seeing motherfucker's. That's how many people was there where it was just waves and waves and waves of people. It was just waves and motherfucker's And it was like when they came out, they knew all of the high Sea Ship, they knew all of the Second and None ship, they knew all of the

a MG ship. Of course, they knew all the quick ship. And then they didn't even think that the Nigga would bring out eld bars. And when the eld D bars came out, it was like, I swear I saw girls in the crowd naked. That's what I thought I saw. I ain't gonna lie, was throwing their paintings on. Like this ship was crazy and it was like one of those moments to where and normally you know how I move, man, I'd be most of the time I'd be by myself

or whatever. But I'm always humble and and I really feel like it's a blessing and then continue blessed and to be in the game like that, you know, to make it. I feel like I tell people sometimes it's like hitting the lotto, if you hit the lot of you and this ship. A lot of motherfucker's dope motherfucker's never made it for sure, never made it, Just like

playing ball. The badest motherfucker's don't make it because the niggers probably can't read or they got to get a you know, some system that they made those and they've gotta have an A plus to be average or whatever, which to me don't want. Some people just don't want to buy by the bullshit, because whenever you're in music, sports there's a lot of bullshit. It is bro and to me sometimes I think it's the way to level the play and feel like why I got to be

a scholar. If I know how to shoot this ball or I know how to you know, do Hooper write this song? I don't need to be getting no straight they I don't need to know rocket science to do this ship. You know what I mean, I do what I do good, and I don't be no fucking dummy and let people rip you off and take your money. But to me, it was like, okay, I'm not gonna let him get this scholarship because he didn't carry this particular grade average, you get what I'm saying. But he

dope as fucked. So now he comes to motherfucker with less talent might your white boy, It's like, okay, you can get this, you know, because you're you're a scholar or a student, but you can't boop like him. But hey, it's a spot for you, m So you know I

should go. Man, Yeah for sure. You know. One of the things that we will say about black tone, you know, we gotta have the black people always talking about the negative that somebody do right, but black tone man, like I said, he got me my first check as far as my first place. Man, you got me my first piece of money, you know, like you know, coming to business and everything and taking me on the road and everything. And you know what they asked me about Noir, the

Malibu is most wonted? Is that big steal in there when you was on the on the movie. Yeah you got me, Yeah, I went up there and Um, I never will forget that day. I went up there with you on some hanging out stuff. You was like norm with audition, and that's when they had to let's go in the room kind of battling each other. Yeah, we got to go in there, and I wanted to wash Chenie's ass, you know, because Chene was in there. He was talking about some being and I don't even remember

Cheney being there shout out, that's my boy. Many was up there, man, you know, you know, thank god I wound up getting that feature. You know what I mean, you're in that moment. That was a nice look check at text that we're still getting to this day. Yeah, we still get that check, you know, we still get them. Yeah, to this day, man, we get them checks. Man. It was a bunch of cats up there that day. That's how I am. Man. I if I can make some bread,

I'm a break bread with tommies. That's how I'd be, like, you know, yeah, for sure, man, And I want to go back because I think we got to talk about this. Man. Y'all linked up at the Rodium. That's for your first man's Yeah, when did y'all decide? When did y'all start

making records together. Man, I'm gonna be honest. When I've seen Tony like start scratching and mixing, and he knew a ship because when you look at tone, it's like back especially back then, I'm like, I don't know if this motherfucking no, you know, like, do he really like you know how like we was young, you know, you're sizing my fuck up, just like this ship with the street ship, like you you can see how the nigga walk or how you move or how you how you act,

Like Okay, this is this is real one rka cool. This ain't even affiliate like kind of like that. So I kind of just looked at him and I was like, I don't know if if I don't know if he really you know, got it, you know what I'm saying. So the motherfucker start mixing and doing this little shit. I'm like, God damn, this is motherfucking though. And he knew how to blend records and he was scratching and ship and I'm like, oh, hell yeah, I'm gonna funk

with him. And we just started recording. Man, and I went to Womanton went to his house, and it just took it from there. Man, we just kind of build a relationship. Yeah, So he was from a real because at that time Womanton was women want to be played with, you know women. So for Shure, like we was out there doing ship and we just took it from there. Bro.

It was like he impressed me, bro, like with some of his mixing skills and like the ship he could do with scratching this and that, and then his producing and he just had a knowledge of ready to get all of like the like the oldie type of hits and ship. And I was kind of like the first one that because my thing is like I like to

paint pictures and tell stories and ship like that. So he was the type that will find this like Okay, let's just do this or this and this will go good with that and just putting ship together on the mix tapes. And also like when that motherfucker was doing the mix tapes, that's when you know he got ice cube. I think to get down on one um dre easy, the one we do easy e uh. Like man, everybody like you said that was coming here looking for vinyl

and ship like that. You know what crazy thing about that Crows is you always had a really really huge Mexican audience. Yeah, you know, like Parks said, it wouldn't be La without the Mexican So shut out to all the Mexican armies. This out there doing a thing, and I think something that was real genes that you did. You know Mexicans love the oldies. Yeah, they loved most cats loved. Yeah, what made you all decide the sample? I'm not your puppet man? Who who was that man?

I think we started off doing that ship on the mix tape, and the reaction of the response that we got from that ship, from the mixtape version of it, it was like it was automatic. It was like we got to do this on the recording and go in the studio and do it professionally. And we did it at uh uh Audio Achievements. I think it was Donovan's student. We did n w A was doing and they had the top notchi equipment and I got to look at some of Dr Dre ship and seeing that Dre, I've

seen what you was doing, Dre years ago. This nigger had and I could tell it now because I know drein even tripping away. He had an eight oh eight that was meetied up and if people don't understand, you don't understand, don't even think about it. But the mid cable to a fucking eight oh eight, and I'm like, this, dude is not playing like every time that eight oh eight hit, it's coming right out the machine. It was fresh.

I'm that's how they should be sounded so cracking. But we went in there to record I'm Not Your Puppet and came out with that sound. That's why I sound like sonically clear and ship like that. It was like one of those records that that everybody was like, man, when it's coming out. We had to do it, so shot the video at the Rhodium. It was just automatic as dope. Dog. Do you think that's your biggest record to date? I think it is, bro, I really think

it is. I really think that's, like, you know, one of the biggest records today that that I did. And just you know, all the features that we did on each other ship, Like on quick album we got Medley for a v like Snoop Me and Snoop was on the air and g like all of us the older bars like them records like people don't hardly know about. But I was just thinking about that the other day, like all the features that we did with different motherfucker's. Man, it's like we got so much ship. Bro, Yeah, we

we definitely. Man, Well, I'm gonna do everybody. I'm gonna go outside. I'm gonna go over Cross House one day and I'm gonna go in to vote y'all and I'm gonna steal all them songs he got that he don't want nobody to hear, because I'm gonna tell y'all he got some heaters in there. Man, for sure, Are we ever go get any more high seat music? Man? You know what I really be feeling like? You know when I get that inch norm you know how we are we gyminizing ship, get that itch man and that ship

turned on and you get that creative juice, you just might. Man, that's one thing about You're not gonna put a record out before his time. And you just don't go on the studio for the sake of going to the studio. Hell no, because I ain't pressed like that. Like to me, when you're pressing and you're trying to do this, and you gimmicky and you want to do I gotta do this, or I gotta do that or or motherfucker's that try

to bait motherfucker's into a battle and ship. I've never been that type of motherfucking Oh did he say something about me? Or did he? Was he dissing me? I gotta diss him, like all that old bullshit to me. And if that's how you live, don't get me wrong, that's more power to you. But I don't look around like that. I do it when that ship feel good and it feels natural, like let me get in here

and this is it I feel like doing at the time. Yeah, for real, man, And you've always been consistent with that too, always been consistent with that. I remember when I came with my first album and I like you. He was like, Norman, you've got one got one time to put your first record. You need to do this and that over again. I was mad, but I went back and you did, man, and I appreciate you for that. And I remember that ship like yesterday you called me, was like, I got

ten songs, I'm ready. I'm like, norm, hold on, you're gonna do ten songs three times before you're gonna do ten songs five times. You're gonna have fifty of the motherfucker's before and then you called me back. Remember what you said? He was like, yeah, crawf right, because I don't even like that other ship. I did something. I'm like, you should hear this new ship, and I'm like, damn, nor got some ship. Yeah I did, man. You know what,

that's one of my biggest regrets. Dogs. I think when you're younger, you're getting the race for time, especially when you start hitting that twenty nine thirty year old mark. You get this kind of like thinking that I need to put this out before I get you old, because you know hip hop, man, it's a young man's game. It is. But now you've got brothers like Hole he fifty something, he's still out there tearing down microphone. You got the Whoop Tang class. They're still putting up music

and you know some of them acting. I think it comes to a thing. Man, when you get older, you start expressing your creativity in different ways that because you the growth. Yeah, it's growth. It's like it's like I don't have no desire now to put out no records or nothing like that. Dude, I think this is my thing right now, like creating content. No, that's and you you're smashing this ship. No, I'm like, I tell everybody,

man still got this ship cracking. But to me, no, let me let me just say this, or I ask you a question, like I understand why people retire in sports. So they want them to retire because your reflex is your quick twitch muscles and ship like that. You can lose, you know, you lose mobility, you get injured. You can fund yourself up in the in the music game, or or or the hip hop game, or any genre of music. Like, why do we have to retire because season now I'm

gonna even say, oh that we veterans. My throat didn't get like, I still I speak well. I feel like I'm intell intelligent enough to make songs. I can do this. I can still create. So I ain't gotta go out here and jump or slam dunk or run no motherfucking uh for two in the forty or do whatever the fuck you know what I'm saying. So why do they put this label on us? It's hip hop? Like we

got to do that. I know the attention span and the lifespan of some of the hip hop ship is short, but you look at that bands like the Stones or Chicago and motherfucker's love them. Bro, even answer it for you Cross right now. You know what I believe it is, Bro. I think it's something that within our people, our culture, right, Black people don't respect um. I'm trying to find the right word. They don't respect maturity almost because if you

look at the average brother today that's online. You know, some of these guys online, these dudes anywhere from forty five years old acting like little kids. They acting like the nineteen eighteen year olds, um and and I almost think that's an insult to the younger generation because some of these people is more immature than my five year old niece. You know what I'm saying. They have like they act like on the level they almost like borderline. If you looked at him, you would say, Man, are

these people retarded? Because that's just what they do. You've got a lot of people and I think us as Black people, man had always come back to the Willie Link stuff. We hate to see We hate to see the next man shine rather than applaud, you know, rather than applaud because theoretically, I think the older people get, the better they bars get. They've seen more, they've been around the world, you know, they've got more experience. So I think that's why. Now you can probably hear some

of jay Z's best music. You hear some of what's that kid's name? Being the kid? But he older dude, Man, I think he was signed to brock Nation. Man, that dude is a beast. Though I can't think of his name. He only put out one album. But that dude is in his fifties. Man, he row looking sugar free, sugar free Damn Nick sugar Freed almost got a resurgence going now and sugar free in his fifties and he's nasty. Man. To me, it should always be about your music, man,

you know, change change as that. If he ain't in his fifties, he's up there, And I think, man, what it is is that you just got to create a character like Snoop Dogg is probably the biggest rapper of all time brand wise. You know everybody knows Snoopy Snoop ain't no Spring Chicken. But he's going forever being able to go on stage and make music. I think because he's always stayed in character. I think that's all you gotta do is just stay in your character. Too short.

I was listening to too short when I was sixteen and seventeen years old, too short still making the same music and might wrong to have a hit record on yours and short dog is dope, man, it's forty is the same way we was on the road with him when he was going out man and watching uh forty and short man like sing their songs and the whole crowd responding no word for word. And then I'm sitting up here looking at the forty his features and ship like he got all this ship at the time, and

ship and all that. But then he jumped on the ship with I don't funk with you, like all this new ship, and it's like he touching both both worlds. You know what I'm saying. The same thing was Short when he was doing the ship, but you know what he was doing, the collaborations and the features and ship like people funk with him like just off the rip, bro,

Like it's crazy how they gravitate towards them dudes. Man, Well, I think what's happening now man, that you're getting the resurgence because you've got a lot of younger kids, the casts in their twenties, five years old, twenty six, They grew up listening to that that they grew up. So now they've got an opportunity to collab with one of their favorite artists. And I think that's how I was going.

Because Forty Steele got barrows. You can't tell me he forty can't wrap no more because he years old or whatever's the time. I don't at that ship bro and a voice ain't slow down. My throat still good, And I think it should be a personal choice, man, because I still right wraps for a lot of people. I don't. You know. Of course, I can't just put it out there and say what else necessarily because you gotta keep stuff on the low. But I write a lot of stuff,

and I'll actually write my dopest stuff. It's like because I've been more places of sound, experience more things, and I'm talking from a place of what I know versus when I was you know, when I was broke, I was talking about having money I've never seen. And now get a little bit me. You didn't went to Japan and ship together. You haven't been on the other side of the motherfucking O. For sure, have experienced some things that's gonna stay over thein't Japan? You know what I'm saying,

don't talk about this ship. Nor we don't need to talk about dog. Some stuff we don't need to talk about. But I know Japan. The thing about Japan, man, is they treat you like you a guy over there. We went over there, man, they was treating Crawford like Crawford was getting treated like a king over there. Crazy and they like the second album I did. It was like really like one of the big albums over there that they funk with, and I appreciate it. I'm ready to

go back now when you're already bro in China. You know China as well. China got some ship too, o for sure. But one of the things I'm gonna start doing, Bro, we gonna start doing over here digital Soapbox is we gotta streaming network coming to twenty four hour music channel that's coming out like um, I think we launched in September, late September, early October. One of the things we're doing, it's gonna be kind of like MTV was, but it's gonna be all hip hop, all hip hop and rap.

You know, we gonna be showing our podcasts on that. We got original series we're doing. But one of the things that I am bringing back, man, is we gonna start shooting music videos to classic classic songs. We actually go go get artists, and we got a couple of people that's re recording classic albums like, um, we got eight He's gonna re record straight Up Menace, you know

the album. He's gonna record the album. And Uh. One of the things we talked about doing was like taking a song like growing Up in the Hood that's a classic and putting scarface on there and shooting a whole new video for it and just bringing it to this whole new generation because a classic is gonna always be a classic. You don't matter time with this, bro, It's gonna always be climates. And one of the things I always gonna holid at you about is doing redoing one

of your classic albums. That's easy, the same music, doing a thing, but just getting different features on their different look. You know what I'm saying. I think that would be dope. Man. That's easy to do because I got my own masses, you know, on the ship, So you know that's what I want to do. When you do that, I want to be the anchor on the on the video ship, you know. MTV used to have I forgot my man name.

Used to be the anchor. He used to be on everything and be like this is the videos and tune in. Sure I got you his anchor on there. I've been telling you everything I'll do. You included in on bro man, let's rock. You know what I'm saying. And I appreciate you coming down and sit down will be the day dog. Y'all don't know this interview don't been a long time in the making. But Crawford really was a big busy guy. He's a busy got got a lot of business is

going on. We got a car dealership, different stuff like that. Man, a lot of stuff going on. So y'all be on the lookout, man, because I'm gonna you know, he like to lock nest monster. He only come out of the water every few years. But I'm just trying to pull them out a little bit more. Yeah, I'm gonna come out a little bit more. And I'm working with me,

no family, my loved ones. I can come out and be safe, you know, man, Yeah, for sure, And um, I know you don't got no social media channel, so I guess when people see you, they gets running to you. For sure. I haven't got no social media to give you off of my guy, y'all. Just so I don't know, y'all get out of my guests on the gangs of chronicles page or whatever. Relate the message, just good messages, and I relate the message. Man. So is it anything out there that, man, that you want to lead to

the people? Man before we jump up off of here, man, Man, honestly, bro, I just I like to hear new ship. I like to hear a new vision, a new direction of ship. So what I want to say to just just this ship right here, man. Far as like the music in the streets, and I'm starting to notice that the streets and more tied into the music now, and it's more like, you know, like I hear the term that they're using.

It's not our term, but the gang gang. You've heard them say that ship, you gang gang, Like we don't say that ship out here, and it's not not no knock on it or whatever. But we used to hit niggas up like, hey, where you froming? You bang? You you bang? Are you gang? That same ship? Whatever? But I'm starting to see a lot of that ship is entwined into the culture. Man, And It's just one of those things to where you gotta really, to me, be about that ship and know what you're doing before you

start doing all this ship bro. And if you're not really about that, like, you don't need the funk with that to be up. You got dudes like um like uhn J Cole. That's to me like a cool niggas that wrap their ass off. That's doing very well without saying, Hey, I'm from blank blank blank A care I'm affiliated with this. You got dudes that's that's in the ship, like the homie from from the neighborhood, but here about that ship, y g that's that's the homie, say from the same

neighborhood or whatever, but he about that ship. Those are two different artists on two different paths. But you could tell that this dude is about the ship because that's what he talked about. J. Cole is about that ship and that's what we talked about. So to me, I want dudes to find a lane. I wish they would find a lane. Don't just talk about the same ship. How many times we're gonna be in the street, how many times we're gonna do this, how many times I

want to hear some new ship. I want to hear some ship like when Wu Tang came out and it was just like a crewe motherfucker's doing something different. They took the karate ship and made a whole motherfucking career out exactly. That's what I'm looking for. What I'm saying. You know what's funny about you saying that I was telling somebody. The other thing is when do we go get another bone thug, you know, just somebody to come out with something that's so different. I'm waiting on that

ship now, That's what I'm like. So that's like I'm

gonna close with kind of with that ship. And I'm really surprised at how And it's no not because a nigga from where he fund we did the whole street ship or whatever, like you said, we don't grow man and business ship now, but I'm surprised at how like they're making this this street ship so like acceptable and it's cool and this and that, and it's just so like to me, it's kind of like water down or sugarcoated, like just like the gang ship like that's and then

it reaches out of out of California like I don't. I don't want that ship to be out in the South. I don't want that ship to be on the East Coast, and I don't want that shipped to be you get what I'm saying. No, don't get me wrong, because it's my fucker's that then put it on the line. It's reputable, reputable motherfucker's in every city restate. But it's just a certain way that you carry let their own way. Like when I go down to New Orleans, I don't want

to see no crips and bloods down. I want them doing their stuff and calling us whoa and doing their thing. What I'm saying, because that's the coach or let me get some of that culture. Let me get some of that. The East Coast, let me get some of that, you know what I'm saying. That the the up North ship, let me get some of that that Chicago, let me

get you know what I'm saying. It's like, but we can do that ship without being you know, funked up towards each other, turning up on each other or whatever, because the Nigga is still then touched all these different cities. And like I said before, but like we talked about at the death Row Ship. The real nigga recognized. The real nigga we pull up in any hood. We ain't coming to disrespect, and we ain't coming to say all we in your hood, this and this and that. We

come with respect. So when you come out here, you're gonna get the same respect from us. You get what I'm saying. But we want to go to Chicago and get the Herald's chicken. We want to go to uh to uh St. Louis and ship and go into into the Pink Slip. The pink slip, I heard clothes down. That's a stress. I don't the real nigga know what I'm talking about. But you know what I'm saying. You want to go over there and get your your experiences. Like you said, you want to go to the quarters

and get you some Benyat's. And you know what I'm saying. You want to keep you want to keep the coachure authentic. It's like, you know, the crypton blood and stuff is a West Coast thing. And not to say that the brothers in Kansas City, because they're doing it. They've been doing it since the eighties. Now at this point, you know, you know they've been banging out there for thirty or forty years now, and I think what happened was the

old dope routes. They kind of went out there and they brought their coature out there, the different people and that kind of just still the test of time and stayed out there. But I hope people stay authentic to what their culture real. And I think that's what you're saying. That's exactly what I'm saying, bro, because I'm honestly norm

I'm the nigger that was in content. But I listened to a lot of hip hop from from fucking um KRS one two UM, I mean everybody, bro, like uh j Ice, I mean dudes that's back in the day g rap I listened to all that ship. Bro. I was one of them to Slick Rick all the ship that was kind of like the master aththing. I mean a lot of New York. I was influenced by a lot of the East Coast ship honestly, Bro. And it was like to meet them dudes was just dope and

how they create ship. My nigga j Ruda Dammager and that was one of your biggest New York was one of your biggest York for sure, man, they funked with me. Man. And it's it's funny like when I see a couple of dudes, Like sometimes I run into method Man and he would be like high seat, you know, Like we'll be like yeah and he's like oh yeah, like he give me that, Like uh, like I heard you, you know, like the nod and ship. So I'm like, you know,

we was listening to their ship. We was influenced by it. Now it seem like it's just the l A ship is like touching everybody for us? Is you know the street culture ship man? And I just I'm just looking at it, like, bro, if that's not really you lead that ship along, Let the real nicks do that. There's other ways to get your bread. You know what, Before you go, I'm gonna ask you this question, Bro. You

can answer it whether you want to or not. What do you think about the whole thing where cats, certain cats is going online trying to expose cats for snitching and all that type of stuff. Man, you think that's dangerous? Man, then who ship we gotta hold? Look, it's a whole another motherfucking five guy. But it's like to me, I'm gonna say it like this like the old people used to tell us, if you can't do the time, don't

do the crime. So if you're getting out here fucking around and you know some ship, don't look at what you're gonna gain or what you're about to win. Look at what you jeopardize. And then you're about to leave

your kids behind? Are you about to leave somebody behind or your son behind or whoever the fuck because you got in this moment, or you got in your feelings or you wanted to try some dumb ship or some stupid ship, think about what you're gonna lose before you think about what you're gonna gain or what you're about to do, and turn up. And I'm saying that to say it won't put you in a position to where you have to get down on somebody or you have to snitch on somebody, because you know how to go.

When they started saying, oh, well, hey you're looking at are you looking at thirty? And most mothercker's like thirty? I can't do thirty? So such as such, did Black Black Blake x y Z. You know what I'm saying. When they started hitting them with the big jersey numbers, this ship, the oh you got you looking at fifteen, but the real motherfucker's nor Hey you're looking at twenty. Come on with it, Come on, that's that's the way to be. But but what do you think as far

as cats going online and actually pointing people out. Man, it's a tricky situation because you pointed. But look at what you just said, right, you point the nick out for snitching. But what you're doing when you're pointing the figure you snitched on the snitch. Because what I was always told bro, you know uncles man, they stayed in the penitential and they told me this exactly. They said, Man, if you go expose somebody, you gotta be willing either

handle your business or don't say nothing at all. It was one of them things like handle your business that don't say about So I feel I agree he right about that, because if I'm saying this nigga snitching, I'm snitching that he's snitching. Yeah for real. And if I know he funked up, you know what, the best bet, the best thing to do is my best bet, stay though, fuck away from this knee Like I don't funk with you affiliated like you can't call me as I'm just

yeah for real and there it is. And y'all be on the lookout man, because Crowt don't say it to me. You can't want to show. I got witnesses. We gotta. We got a lot of people to listen to this man. So y'all, I got witnesses. Now crossing when I hit you up and say, hey, man, I got the shooting schedule ready, we're about to do this thing. I want to do something on the roadeum for sure. Man, Let's do it big. Still. You know I love you, man. You the only nigger that could put me out the

cut man and just make me come out. Man, whenever you call them coming, you do. You put up the best thing on me for shore. So y'all heard him, and we out of here. Hell yeah,