for the whole Miami movement. You’ve got to understand that real beef, where I come from, is when you go to a nigga’s house and blow their brains out. Or you get your lil’ man from the hood who don’t give a fuck and give him ten stacks and he does it for you. I look at it like, these niggas are bosses over here, I’m a boss over here, and it’s entertainment. I’m fans of their music, I’m fans of their hustle, and we’re all getting money. It’s a competitive sport. Do I really want to see T.I. go to prison for weapons charges? Of course not. It’s not about beef, it’s about paper, man. It’s business. If Jay-Z goes and meets with LA Reid and Jay-Z is fighting for more percentage, that’s not beef. That’s business. That’s what everybody has to do to eat. A lot of times you have to play chess with a nigga to make a quick move to make that movie. That’s what it’s about. That’s what makes it competitive. Why do you think other cities aren’t able to put on the same unified front that Miami seems to, even when there’s internal problems? Do you think having neutral parties like a DJ Khaled that kinda keep everyone focused on the bigger goal helps? To be honest, I can’t speak on another region. I don’t know what might be going on, but as far as me, I feel like we should all just be getting money. But if it’s real beef and niggas feel like they got to do what they got to do, then handle your business and do that. But if you’re getting money in this music shit and you’re a real street nigga then you should know how to separate it. A lot of times you hear shit and it’s taken certain ways. Niggas got to boss up and let that shit walk by them and focus on getting paper. Let’s keep this game exciting. Now, if niggas want to really kill each other, that’s a whole other game. But if we’re gonna do this music thing, let’s go get rich and get new Bentleys and drop top Phantoms and drop top Rolls Royces like I just did. Yeah, I got a drop top Rolls Royce, black with the silver hood and the black interior and the red double R’s. That’s how I’m feeling. What do you think is the key to making your money multiply to the point where you can buy Bentleys and drop top Phantoms? A lot of young rappers see people like you with jewelry and blow their whole advance and end up broke. What’s the key to making it last? I learned that from coming up in the streets. It’s called trial and error. You’re going to spend some money and blow some money. I done fucked up a lot of money and woke up and said, “Damn.” I’ve gotten high and blown a lot of money before. You come down off a pill and wake up two days later and done blown a lot of shit. But by the same token, it depends on what level of the game you’re trying to go to. Right now I’m on 20 records that are in rotation. I’m on the Jennifer Hudson remix, the Mariah Carey remix, the Ace Hood single, the “Here I Am” still in rotation, the Bun B single, the Tay Dizm single, the list just goes on and on. I’m on 20 records right now but I make myself accessible to the people. I’m not one of those funny actin’ niggas. I’m in this game to monopolize, and that’s what I preach to my friends and family: E-Class, DJ Khaled, Triple C’s, Brisco, Flo Rida, Plies, Trick Daddy, the whole team, it’s whatever. In the rap game, which do you think is more important: the music or the image/packaging? To me, music is everything. It’s a lot of swag in the game but I think skill supersedes everything and that’s where I come in at. I made “Here I Am” just to show them that I can make a pop record, but “Hustlin’,” I can make a record like that sitting on the toilet. That’s easy. I wanted to do something different and threw it at them. I threw “Boss” at them. I threw “Speedin’” at them. I’m just showing niggas skill, skill. I think that’s important. That’s what really sells records.
Trilla was nominated for Album of the Year at the OZONE Awards. Why do you think it deserves that title? It’s one of the hottest albums of the year, but the people are going to decide [the winner]. Either way it goes, I’m happy to be nominated. It’s a classic LP. Recently the internet has been buzzing about some picture thesmokinggun. com found of you back in the day working as a correctional officer. You know I don’t entertain hoe shit. I’m on a money train. Ride or die. I just make great music and get money, and all that other shit is irrelevant to me. I guess that’s a “no comment”? Get money. Paper, deniro, pounds, boss.
Why does Noriega owe you 100 favors? Noriega is a real hustler. Shout out to Noriega. He should be home soon. Do you look at your music as just entertainment or an accurate representation of your life? I mean, you have published pictures of me before [I was famous] wearing $100,000 watches, so niggas will figure it out. Okay, let’s look at it as a hypothetical situation – Listen, everybody is different. Let’s look at two number one albums. Let’s look back at the BET Awards. Let’s look at the best in the game. This is my inauguration to success. R.I.P. to Biggie Smalls, R.I.P. to Tupac. Tupac gave you the rules to the game, get money, M.O.B., “that’s money over bitches cause they breed envy.” Game recognize game. Get money. My new album Deeper Than Rap is coming soon, and this shit is going to be incredible. You better get ready for it because I’m thinking about buying six ads in your magazine. I’m thinking about propelling this magazine to the next level because that’s what we do; we sell a lot of magazines. We make people read. I’m a big deal. I’m close to being the biggest in the game, and in another year or two, I’m sure I’ll be there. I appreciate the attention but the fact remains that I’m the boss. I’m eating good, my flows are getting better, and on my laptop I’ve got some of the best beats from some of the best beatmakers in the world. My flows are getting so good I might have to patent my flows. Shit is getting crazy for real. It’s deeper than rap. // Words and Photo by Julia Beverly
OZONE MAG // 91