I just read today that there’s a new Hot Boy$ album that you’re going to be working on. Is that true?

Nope. I don’t know nothing about it.

So it’s 100 percent that you’re done with Cash Money?

Yep. I’m straight Chopper City, my new label.

Why did you leave Cash Money after all you had done for one another?

Baby ain’t wanna give me my money. It was like the Birdman was trying to birdfeed me. I’ve been there since day one. Niggas were just playing all kinds of games with my money, trying to use excuses and this, that and the other. I feel like I’m one of the reasons that they are where they’re at today. Nigga ain’t want to give me what I’d earned, what I deserved. That’s how that go. I’d been there since day one. I’m one of the reasons behind their deal and their success. They weren’t keeping it real. I’m real and loyal and dedicated. They weren’t playing it fair. A lot of money has been crossed. I went platinum with Chopper City In The Ghetto and gold with Checkmate. Before the deal, when we was independent, they were getting rich off me and they weren’t breaking bread. I’m glad I realized it while I was still young and able to suck it up, take my licking and keep on ticking. It’s the same thing with my dog Juve. How could you even be that greedy? Here a nigga put you on that level and helped you make all these millions and you’re going to do him like this? There’s enough money for everybody. I don’t respect that. Then me out of all people. You shouldn’t do that to nobody, but how you gonna do that to Geezie? I made you. I’m the reason you had the deal and you’re going to do me that? It’s cool though. I ain’t tripping. I’m a real nigga, a hustler and I’m going to get mine one way or another. I ain’t broke, but I ain’t got what I should have compared to all the success I’ve had.

So break down your relationship with everybody. You still talk to Juvenile?

Me and Juve still cool. Me and Turk still cool. I ain’t got no beef with Slim. I ain’t got no beef with Fresh. My beef with Baby.

What type of excuses would he be giving you?

Just always promising me this, promising me that. Just prolonging. We stayed on the road. I trusted the nigga. Nigga raised me. I’ve been with him since I was 12 years old. Nigga had me brainwashed. As I got older, I remember him telling me I got it. I want to see it.

Are you still trying to sign Turk to Chopper City Records, if possible?

Yeah. I think we’re going to make that happen. He’s coming around. He’s seeing that shit’s real, that I’m making it happen. He trusts me. He respects me. I told him, "This is what we’ve got to do. Niggas don’t give a fuck about a nigga."

So what’s Turk up to now?

He’s just chillin, man. He just got out of jail. He’s on house arrest so once he gets out there he’s going to be able to do what he’s got to do.

Are you splitting time between Detroit and New Orleans now?

I’ve been in Detroit a lot lately. I had to get from down in New Orleans cause I’m doing my own thing. Up in Detroit, I’m more focused. I stay getting in trouble down there.

How did you come to go to Detroit in the first place?

I’ve got some people up here. My new producer’s from up here. I had got booked for a show and collaborated with some real niggas up here. I just made it happen from there.

Your new producer is named Kidd. What’s he like?

He’s a real nigga. We’re on the same page. We be working hand in hand. He know what I want, what I like, what my people want from me. We work together.

How would you compare him to Mannie Fresh?

He comin up right now. He about to get his turn. The Neptunes came out of nowhere. Everybody get their shine. I ain’t gonna compare him to Mannie Fresh, but he’s cold in his own way. He’s got his own style. When he’s with me, I be co-producing it. He’s from up North. I’m from down South. I know my sound. It’s basically like BG and Kidd together.

Why did you name your new album Livin’ Legend?

This is my seventh solo project. I’ve got two group projects. I feel like I’m young but I’ve been around for a minute. I feel like I’m a gangsta in the game. I’ve got that legendary track record. I sold little albums in the park or whatever else.

Normally you put out albums pretty quickly. Was it weird for you not to put anything out since your last album, 2000’s Checkmate?

Yeah. That’s why it’s a double disc. I feel like I’ve been out of the game too long. It was really the paperwork that I was under. That’s what held me up. But it’s cool, though.

How long did the paperwork keep you held up?

About a year.

There’s been a lot of rumors about your drug use over the last several years. What’s up with you and drugs?

I’ve been there and done that. It was something I went through. That’s dead. That’s why I’m going out on my own, to let it be known that I can carry my own weight. Niggas were holding their nuts on me, trying to figure out if I’ll bounce back like I needed to. But I got it right, got focused and here it go right here. I went through a phase, but I was fortunate and I thank God that I was able to overcome it.

So you don’t mess with it any more?

Un huh. I’m through.

What made you stop?

I ain’t wanna fool muthafuckas, saying that I was through and that I wasn’t going to make it without them. I’m not going to give up or crawl under no rock. It was either this or that.

What made you want to name your label Chopper City?

That’s what made me. That’s what I’m known for, the album that put me on the map. It’s like that’s what I represent. That’s just part of me. I feel like that’s another name for New Orleans.

Chopper City Records is being distributed through KOCH. How did you get hooked up with KOCH?

I was shopping a deal for my label and they came with the best offer, what I was looking for. They wanted to give me a label deal. I wanted to be in charge of what I was doing. I’m getting $10 a CD so I can’t complain.

What made you want to release Livin’ Legend as a double album?

I’ve been missing in action and that ain’t how I roll. I feel like I’ve got to catch up. I know the streets have been missing me so I want to give them enough to make up for my lost time. I’m talking about everything on there. It’s a complete album. I spit my gangsta shit, my stuff for the hot girls, my reality shit, my radio shit. I laid it down.

You’ve got a song "Reality Check" about Cash Money?

It’s just a reality check. I’m just speaking my mind, speaking from the heart. The truth, you can’t run from that. I’m just telling it how it is.

What about the song "Hottest Of The Hot"?

That’s me spitting a little gangsta. I just made it a little club and street. It’s just to let people know that I’m still gangsta and I ain’t changed. But I also flipped it for radio purposes. It’s just me.

Your aunt Carol has a lot to do with Chopper City Records. What is her role?

She’s like my other half. Basically, I just call her desk and she makes it happen. She handles all my business. She’s my contact with KOCH. She does booking. She does it all.

How did you and your aunt come to be close like that?

That’s like my sister. She’s been down with me since day one, since I’ve been running with them fuck niggas. But blood’s thicker than water. Who else is going to be with me?

Your brother Hakim is also on your label. What’s his style like?

He’s like me all over again. He just does his thing. He’s rawer than me when I was his age, which is when I was dropping Chopper City and all that. He’s gangsta, man. He’s with it.

When you were first getting with Cash Money, before True Story, what were you doing?

I was just beating on the desk in school. Just freestyling.

At that time, did you know you wanted to be a rapper?

No. I was just doing it just to be. Then it fucked around and went to that other level.

Had you done anything big before you got with Cash Money?

That’s who I’ve been with forever. That’s all I know.

So what’s the big difference in your opinion between True Story and Chopper City that made Chopper City the one that everyone went for?

I was about 13 or 14 on Chopper. I was more mature and hungry. Muthafuckas from the street understood that shit.

When you go in the streets now, what’s the reaction when people find out you’re no longer with Cash Money?

They’re respecting my mind. They’re respecting my moves. Everybody that knows me and knows my bank feels the same way that I feel. How he not gonna break me off?

What’s your goal with Chopper City Records?

I helped them make all those millions so I can make them for my muthafuckin self. It’s time for some new entrepreneurs in the game. I’m still young. I’m 22. But I’ve walked in the shoes of a 50-year-old.

When you stop and think about your life, what do you think about?

That I’m a living legend, man. My shit has been jumping up and down, up and down. I done survived so much and proved people wrong in so many situations. My shit’s like a movie.

What do you think it is about New Orleans? A lot of the artists have been getting into a lot of trouble lately, like C-Murder, Mystikal, Juvenile.

It’s raw down there, man. I don’t know. It’s something in the air. For me in Detroit it’s laid-back and cool. It’s nice.

How are you different mentally compared to when Chopper City In The Ghetto and Checkmate were coming out?

I’ve wizened up, man. I’ve learned a lot and I know the game. I know the good things and the bad things about it.

How come even though "Bling Bling" was your song that people don’t really associate you with that?

Because it ain’t me, man. The streets made me. That song there is history, but that ain’t my thang. Don’t get me wrong, it’s cool. But it’s no BG.

What does Livin’ Legend mean to you?

That I’m built to last. This is all I got. It’s either this or the streets and I don’t want to go back to the streets. This is where my heart’s at. I love rap.

BG
solid crew
wolf town recordings
narcocorrido
x-ecutioners
spice
swizz beatz
paris
c-bo
nelly
the grind family
dead prez
brotha lynch hung
dayton family
wc
NAS
mike mosley
kottonmouth kings
fat joe
lil jon & the east side boyz
david banner
insane clown posse
too $hort
dirty
DJ screw
DLT
E-40
eastsidaz
eightball
fredo
ghetto mafia
jt money
st lunataics
mac mall
pastor troy
petey pablo
project pat
rass kass
sammysam
the shinin
shocklee
tech n9ne
the click
xzibit
bg
a-damn-shame
doc
fifty cent
jt the bigga figga
proof
zion
bone crusher
fiend
freeway
technine
bravehearts
Chingo Bling
Diplomats
Killer Mike
State Property
Willie-D