- 4 hours ago
The Fabulous Chi-Ali (2019 [Full Movie] [Full Version]Full EP - Full
Category
🎥
Short filmTranscript
00:00:13Ever since I was young, I always had this dream that police is chasing me because I killed somebody.
00:00:26And when they catch me, they throw me on the ground.
00:00:30And as they, like, cuff me, that's always when I wake up.
00:00:44Float like a butterfly.
00:00:46Right on them stairs, man.
00:00:47What's up, man?
00:00:48How's your father doing, man?
00:00:51You know what Muhammad Ali said?
00:00:52Nah, nah.
00:00:53Not Muhammad Ali.
00:00:54Hey, wait a minute.
00:00:55You got the wrong kid, Dan.
00:00:57Wait a minute.
00:00:57You the Chi Ali from the age ain't nothing but a number, Chi Ali?
00:01:00Oh, I'm sorry, man.
00:01:02Don't get offended, there's relief of insecurity.
00:01:04Ages but a number, it's all about maturity.
00:01:07He was just this really dynamic kid, well beyond his years.
00:01:11You had the sense that he was going places.
00:01:13The girl said, hold up, who do you think you are?
00:01:16I said, I'm Chi Ali, a superstar.
00:01:18He had, like, mad tutors.
00:01:20Drez was a tutor.
00:01:21De La Soul was a tutor.
00:01:23Jungle Brothers, Thrive, they was tutors.
00:01:25So he came up under main dude.
00:01:27He's part of Native Tongue family for a reason.
00:01:30He really lived it, and the music dictated his lifestyle.
00:01:33She has that energy, man.
00:01:35He's that type of guy that wherever he's at, wherever he's around,
00:01:39he has that energy to attract.
00:01:42Ladies, man, at a young age.
00:01:44Early.
00:01:44Can you sign right here?
00:01:46Can you sign right here?
00:01:47Yeah, uh-huh.
00:01:48He was sitting there like this.
00:01:49Whenever we had shows, little girls screaming.
00:01:52You know, it was crazy.
00:01:53It was like a little Michael Jackson.
00:01:58You saw a kid living out the dream.
00:02:00He was in one of the first hip-hop movies.
00:02:03He was a dope rapper, and he had a chance,
00:02:06and he lost his chance through circumstances.
00:02:07How did it turn and just get so bad?
00:02:10To this day, I still have questions in my head.
00:02:12You would have to be God yourself to figure that one out.
00:02:15It's almost like a Greek tragedy in a way,
00:02:18to have this beautiful young talent
00:02:20who had so much promise so early,
00:02:23and then to see what happened just mere years later.
00:02:27Tonight on America's Most Wanted,
00:02:30America Fights Back.
00:02:31Chi Ali has traded celebrity for infamy.
00:02:38I was born and raised right here.
00:02:43I don't think co-op was a bad place to come up.
00:02:46I think you could rear a good child in co-op for the most part.
00:02:57Co-op city is, I would consider, a fairly rough area.
00:03:00Even though it was originally designed to be a co-op
00:03:04for the older community, it was supposed to be safe.
00:03:07Over the years, co-op city became a little bit rougher.
00:03:13Queen Latifah started hanging around co-op,
00:03:16I guess it was like the late 80s, early 90s.
00:03:19I used to always go on to the supermarket,
00:03:21help her carry her bags back.
00:03:27This building right here, this is where she lived,
00:03:30with her two dancers, Alison and Kika, the Safari Sisters.
00:03:33Here's a dance that from Al and Kika,
00:03:35bass and treble flow through the speakers.
00:03:37So it was me, my roommate, Queen Latifah.
00:03:39It's where we lived when we weren't on the road.
00:03:43So, yeah, a lot of people would come by and visit
00:03:46because, of course, Queen Latifah was part of Flavor Unit.
00:03:48We all would roll through there sometime by the day or night,
00:03:51you know, just kind of chill out, lay low.
00:03:53All the rappers used to come here.
00:03:55Jungle Brothers.
00:03:56Latifah.
00:03:57EPMD.
00:03:58Black Sheep.
00:03:58Moni Love was staying here with them for a while last summer.
00:04:01Baby Kris.
00:04:02And he was road managing the Jungle Brothers.
00:04:04MC Light used to be over here.
00:04:06Special Ed.
00:04:07LaShawn, she had that song, doing it and doing it and doing it well.
00:04:10And then she did the remix with LL.
00:04:12All the major hitters in the hip-hop scene at that time
00:04:15used to come through.
00:04:17And every now and then, little guy would pop in.
00:04:20Chi Ali.
00:04:21He would just knock on the door after school
00:04:24or during the summer, nothing to do.
00:04:25So I looked after him like a big sister.
00:04:29Our home was like his second home.
00:04:31He was literally like a little brother to us in a sense.
00:04:34He wanted to learn and he looked up to us.
00:04:36And everyone just kind of, the whole native tongues,
00:04:39just kind of took him in like family, like a little brother.
00:04:43The Native Tongue is a group of MCs who collectively came together.
00:04:47Consisted of De La Soul, Poon Latifah, Black Sheep, The Jungle Brothers,
00:04:51The Tribe Core Quest, Moni Love, and leaders and brand new beings,
00:04:56kind of like extended members.
00:04:58But those I named was the core.
00:05:00Man, The Native Tongues was a movement, an untouchable movement.
00:05:05They were winning at the time on a major level.
00:05:12I remember it was a free concert, like a benefit concert.
00:05:14Jungle Brothers, Latifah, a bunch of other acts.
00:05:17He was performing at a show at the Apollo Theater.
00:05:19He asked if he could go to the Apollo and we told him no, he couldn't go.
00:05:23And the next thing I know, there was a knock on the door and it was Latifah,
00:05:27who was not known at all at that point.
00:05:29And she said she'd take responsibility for him.
00:05:32So I got to ride in the limo with them.
00:05:34And then when we got to the Apollo, I was chilling with Chris and The Jungle Brothers.
00:05:39One of them got sick, right?
00:05:41Africa got sick of The Jungle Brothers.
00:05:43I told Chris, let me rock in his place.
00:05:46You know, let me perform.
00:05:47I was young, probably about 12.
00:05:48Chris was like, you not going to be scared?
00:05:50I was like, nah.
00:05:52I said, what you going to say?
00:05:52I told him the rhyme I was going to say.
00:05:54He was like, all right.
00:05:55I was scared to death.
00:05:56I mean, it's the Apollo, you know what I'm saying?
00:05:58It's the Sandman.
00:05:59You know, the legend of the Sandman.
00:06:01Anybody will be nervous.
00:06:02It's like, yo man, we hope that you survive.
00:06:06I just remember saying, go get it, you know what I'm saying?
00:06:08And he went out there and got it.
00:06:13That first time when you step out on stage and you're nervous,
00:06:17like, are they going to boo me?
00:06:19Are they going to like me?
00:06:20Are they going to hate me?
00:06:23The crowd was crazy.
00:06:25Go shorty.
00:06:26Go shorty.
00:06:28It was dope.
00:06:29And that was the first time I ever performed live anywhere.
00:06:34If he was nervous, I couldn't tell the difference the way he came out there.
00:06:37He was like going forth.
00:06:40At the time, I didn't realize the magnitude of it all.
00:06:43But I felt good being able to give somebody that kind of opportunity.
00:06:48You know what I'm saying?
00:06:51He was eager to get out there.
00:06:57He was ready.
00:07:01He held his own that night.
00:07:07When I got off the stage, Chris was like, yo, I'm getting ready to start this label,
00:07:13this Violator imprint.
00:07:14I want to sign you.
00:07:16You know, at the time, I was 12.
00:07:17I was like, all right, win.
00:07:20Baby Chris Lighty was a small kid.
00:07:23Talking about a kid from the Bronx.
00:07:25Went to Garoppers High School.
00:07:26Started off holding crates for Red Alert when he would DJ gig.
00:07:30Chris, I always saw him as a person that was going to take it further than just the average guy.
00:07:36You know, he was young, but he had a good mind.
00:07:38So I first assigned him as being the role manager for the Jungle Brothers.
00:07:43Chris is an open guy.
00:07:44He'll talk to you.
00:07:44You ask him a question, he'll give it to you straight.
00:07:46For us, he turned into like a big brother and eventually our co-manager.
00:07:51You know, he's not called Violator Records for nothing.
00:07:54You know, he would demand respect and take what he needed to get.
00:07:57Very shrewd businessman from very young.
00:08:01He had a lot of insight as well and he had a lot of ability to make his vision come
00:08:06reality.
00:08:07So, you know, I told my parents, he was like, yo, I'm gonna sign you.
00:08:10And they were like, all right, like calm down, like let it happen.
00:08:12You know, they didn't really know if it was real.
00:08:15And then like a few weeks later when he brought me the contracts and they seen numbers,
00:08:20my father was like, all right, let me get into this now.
00:08:29Once he signed me, it was like he just became like my mentor.
00:08:33He would listen to beats and pick the ones he liked and then let me hear them so I could
00:08:37pick the ones I like.
00:08:38Cheese was like the first artist on his label.
00:08:40So once he started putting that project together, Chris kind of just turned around to people that he considered, you
00:08:45know, his home team.
00:08:45Of which we were included to kind of start putting Cheese project together.
00:08:50Before we started on my album, we worked on Black Sheep's album collectively.
00:08:55When we kind of meet each other, you know, like we just naturally hit it off.
00:08:58It was just a natural gravitation towards each other.
00:09:02And then people, you know, already thinking that, you know, we were related, which I think bonded us even further.
00:09:07How did you hook up with my man Drez from Black Sheep?
00:09:11Y'all cousins and brothers are white?
00:09:12Come on.
00:09:12Nah, we just close.
00:09:13That's my brand, you know.
00:09:14Now, how two people at the board look so much alike?
00:09:17I'm not buying that.
00:09:18Everyone always thought Drez and I were related because we resembled each other.
00:09:22He took on like an older brother tutelage type of role in my life.
00:09:27He taught me tremendously about music and performing.
00:09:31To the people of the world I would like to say good day.
00:09:33Had to wait a while, but the while has been waited.
00:09:36Never gave up hope in myself nor debated.
00:09:38Drez never was attracted to the bullshit.
00:09:42You know, the money, the guns, the fame, the jewelry.
00:09:46Drez always walked his own way.
00:09:48Hurry up and get a scoop before it's gone.
00:09:51You remember your verse on Past the 40?
00:09:53Well, I'm too young for 40s and too young for blunts.
00:09:57The only thing I'm not too young for is the stunts.
00:10:00The girlies, the ladies, I love them with a passion.
00:10:03But back to the mic cause I'm always down for action.
00:10:06Medium seeds fall to the dust.
00:10:08Some will rust cause I bust and I crush.
00:10:11You can't touch it.
00:10:11I'm the child of the wild, flavor of the now.
00:10:14I gave you plenty of chances.
00:10:15Still can fuck with this style.
00:10:17Now that you know Chi Ali can't be taken.
00:10:19Past the 40 cause my mom's not looking.
00:10:23There's history right here.
00:10:27Here they come, yo. Here they come.
00:10:29When Flavor of the Mum came out, that was their first scene.
00:10:32We was walking the shows.
00:10:34Like they was just starting to get money, but we were still in the hood.
00:10:36And then four or five months later, Choices popping.
00:10:39And it's like Hollywood, like it was just different.
00:10:42Who's a Black Sheep? What's a Black Sheep?
00:10:44Know not who I am or when I'm coming so you're sweet.
00:10:46The money around, it was just cleaner.
00:10:48The clothes was newer, the cars was nicer.
00:10:51That shit was the first time I ever really experienced something like that.
00:10:54Like seeing someone go basically from rags to riches.
00:10:58Pick it up, pick it up, pick it up.
00:11:00Back on the scene, crispy and clean.
00:11:02He was embraced and cosigned by Black Sheep.
00:11:05At the time, they were like one of the hottest rap groups out with hit records and everything.
00:11:11So it was immediate hype around Chi Ali.
00:11:14I remember Chris driving me home certain night.
00:11:17And I'm like mad sad.
00:11:18And he's like, yo, what's wrong?
00:11:20And I'm like, yo, you giving them all the good beats, man.
00:11:23I'm not going to have no beats for my album.
00:11:25He's like, relax, kid.
00:11:27We're going to have beats.
00:11:28You're going to be all right.
00:11:29Do, die, dip it in.
00:11:31Come on.
00:11:34The Beatnuts are considered one of the most innovative production groups in hip hop.
00:11:38We met up with Jungle Brothers, their role manager, Baby Chris.
00:11:41That's how he put us on.
00:11:43He had a next project coming up.
00:11:45That was Chi Ali.
00:11:46We're going in the studio, the Beatnuts are doing beats.
00:11:49It was just so surreal to see it all happening.
00:11:53I mean, Beatnuts, one of the greatest production duos ever.
00:11:57They was the soil.
00:11:58They were real hip hop, the truth.
00:12:01They helped me mix my whole first album.
00:12:03So to have them do Chi Ali's album was crazy.
00:12:07That was the thing going on in those days, the little kid things.
00:12:10You know, we had Criss Cross.
00:12:12So we just wanted to make this tough little kid to come and just kick ass and just, you know,
00:12:17take over.
00:12:17So we had the hardcore beats.
00:12:23Chris had a mural done in graffiti for the album cover down in Astoria, not too far from LaGuardia.
00:12:29And when I seen it, I was just like, oh shit.
00:12:31Cause like he had never told me that I was going to be the native son of the native tongue.
00:12:36So that was like, wow.
00:12:38It was illegal.
00:12:39So we needed to get that photo shoot done right away.
00:12:42We didn't have any power and I had to steal electricity off of the supermarket whose wall we tagged.
00:12:48We kept wondering when the cops were going to roll up and bust us.
00:12:52But it all worked out.
00:12:54It's the Saturday Night Master Mixed Dance Party on KISS FM on DJ Red Alert.
00:12:59The first 11 of my 30 something years on radio was on 98.7 KISS FM.
00:13:06They allowed me to start doing a rap show in 83.
00:13:09A lot of artists was broken through my show.
00:13:12Red Alert was a god.
00:13:13You know what I'm saying?
00:13:14He's still a god to me.
00:13:15My first single, Flojo, was a promo for Red Alert.
00:13:18Red Alert was everything.
00:13:20If you could get your records played from Red Alert, you felt really on.
00:13:24Cause everybody would be tuning in.
00:13:26The radio was the biggest vessel at the time.
00:13:28Because everybody had the radio where everybody didn't have cable.
00:13:32On Saturday nights, I used to kick off with a promo.
00:13:36A promo is a shortened song.
00:13:39It's basically like a snippet.
00:13:40Promos were amazing.
00:13:42Yeah, yeah, cool DJ Red Alert.
00:13:44This was about pumping up Red Alert's show.
00:13:48And one of the promos was with Chi Ali.
00:13:50Hey, hey, what you say?
00:13:51And yo, how do you do?
00:13:53Meat Nuts have made another funky funky track for you.
00:13:56How you like it?
00:13:57It's hitting, don't you think so?
00:13:59Meat Nuts and Chi Ali on the radio.
00:14:01When he came out with that song, the first one, I like, okay.
00:14:05He got a good follow behind his promo.
00:14:07And that's what I did.
00:14:09I went forth and started banging that out.
00:14:13I was like a little nephew.
00:14:15So he always showed me a lot of love.
00:14:17I mean, he played that promo so much.
00:14:18People used to request the promo like it was a recognition.
00:14:22Of course, in full effect.
00:14:24And for all you suckers, this is the flyest promo on radio.
00:14:27Believe that, you suckers.
00:14:30But it wasn't until Age is Just a Number, which was my first video aired on Video Music Box.
00:14:36That's really when my life changed.
00:14:38Hi, I'm V.J. Ralph McDaniels.
00:14:40And welcome to New York's number one video show, Video Music Box.
00:14:46The box that rocks.
00:14:52Video Music Box, the number one video show in New York City.
00:14:55All five boroughs.
00:14:57You start coming on at 4.30.
00:14:58You're in the crib watching that shit after school, Video Music Box.
00:15:01You wanted to see that.
00:15:02Friday was when he played the new joints.
00:15:04So you would always want to race home Friday.
00:15:07In the beginning, it was a lot of, you know, everything.
00:15:10But hip hop was where my audience was at.
00:15:13From Run DMC to Dini to LL Cool J.
00:15:17We were the first to really show a lot of videos that people didn't get an opportunity to see.
00:15:22You know, rap didn't have too many vehicles, especially in New York.
00:15:25So Ralph, when they have the Rap Hall of Fame, he got to go down somewhere in there.
00:15:28She asked my age.
00:15:30I said, is that what you wonder?
00:15:31Don't sweat that G.
00:15:32Cause age is just a number.
00:15:34I remember shooting a video of Washington Square Park.
00:15:36We started like 6 that morning.
00:15:38It was freezing.
00:15:39I mean, it was dope.
00:15:41Everybody turned out from my friends and family.
00:15:43Derek X, Brand Newbie, Black Sheep, African Bambada, Chris, Allegiant.
00:15:48Everybody came out.
00:15:50It was just dope, man.
00:15:51I said, how you doing?
00:15:52My name's Chi Ali.
00:15:53She said, yeah, you're the one from TV.
00:15:56The day it dropped that night, a friend of mine, my man Celo, me and him was going to the
00:16:00movies in Midtown on the east side.
00:16:02And we was on the train.
00:16:03And like, the whole train was like, yo, we seen your video.
00:16:07So that was my real first experience with being someone who everyone knew and noticed.
00:16:15We in school, bell rang, final period.
00:16:17We coming out, car service right there.
00:16:20Taking us all the way to Manhattan to a studio to rehearse.
00:16:23Remember this dance right here?
00:16:25They wanted us to do that every show.
00:16:28That was my first tour, myself, Criss Cross, and MC Light.
00:16:31To have a whole auditorium filled with kids knowing your songs and screaming your lyrics and girls screaming for you.
00:16:38And they fucking go crazy.
00:16:40That's the best experience ever.
00:16:43They just went nuts for Chi.
00:16:45We did shows, man.
00:16:47And kids would surround our cars banging and shaking the car.
00:16:52Little girls screaming and crying.
00:16:54We was like rock stars, man.
00:17:01I remember one of my dad's friends, my man Moe, rest in peace.
00:17:05He used to do security for me.
00:17:07Everywhere we went, he had his gun because he was a retired detective.
00:17:11But we were at the school tour.
00:17:13I think it was like a bunch of fifth graders and they're going crazy.
00:17:16And they started to rush the stage and Moe pulls out his gun.
00:17:21And my father's like, Moe, what the fuck are you doing?
00:17:24We're in a fucking elementary school.
00:17:29Mothers bringing their daughters to get autographs.
00:17:32And I'm saying to myself, y'all bringing your daughters to meet him?
00:17:36Y'all don't know what y'all doing.
00:17:37Girls.
00:17:40I had a good life, man.
00:17:41That's all I can say.
00:17:43Yo, he was just a little fly, Chi.
00:17:44All the young girls loved him.
00:17:46You know what I'm saying?
00:17:46He was fly.
00:17:47It was very difficult for Chi to be one man, one woman.
00:17:52We was walking down the beach one day, man.
00:17:54This dude grabbed his son.
00:17:55He said, look, look, look.
00:17:56Take old Chi Ali, man.
00:17:57Look at him.
00:17:58That's what you call a real, true player, man.
00:18:00And this guy had to be like 57 years old.
00:18:03I was dying laughing.
00:18:05Girls were online.
00:18:06I mean, literally online to come up to their hotel room.
00:18:11And I'd get up before in the morning and I'd hear this hard breathing.
00:18:14And on the living room floor would be some girl with him.
00:18:17And some nights, women.
00:18:18I mean, women that I had to look twice.
00:18:20Like, yo.
00:18:28Man, you better watch your mouth.
00:18:29I look like I saw a punk to you, man.
00:18:31Fuck, man.
00:18:31I ain't sweating, huh?
00:18:32Why the fuck you do that?
00:18:33What?
00:18:33Fuck what?
00:18:34Punk you.
00:18:35I was down with William Morris, so they used to be booking all my shows.
00:18:38Like, they set up the Criss Cross tour and a lot of spot dates I would have.
00:18:41I guess they sent me on an audition for Strapped and they probably called me on one or two callbacks
00:18:46and I got the role, but it was big because it was Forrest Whitaker.
00:18:50So that was his directorial debut.
00:18:53Chuck.
00:18:53Chuck.
00:18:55Can't fuck.
00:18:57Fuck, Chuck.
00:19:01You know, we shot the scene of me getting shot about 17, 18 times.
00:19:17I was joking with Forrest Whitaker, like, yo, man, how you killing me in the first scene?
00:19:21He said, you cheat, don't worry.
00:19:22The whole movie is based about your death.
00:19:24Without you, there'd be no movie.
00:19:26And that's what I went with.
00:19:27I let everybody know.
00:19:28You know this shit about me.
00:19:35So that was how I got over getting murdered in the first two minutes.
00:19:40It was so dope for me, like, when I started coming into the rap scene, to be able to be
00:19:45peers with dudes that I idolized and looked up to.
00:19:49That shit was so dope for me.
00:19:50It was like a year ago, I was watching their videos.
00:19:54So it was amazing to be amongst them and accepted and not like I'm just looking up to them.
00:20:01I just remember him being a little dude that was always around older dudes.
00:20:05She was mature, so it wasn't like it was a little kid around.
00:20:08It was just like a little dude that knew stuff.
00:20:11You know what I'm saying?
00:20:11Red Alert would have me in Harold's at 4 in the morning.
00:20:14I was like 12.
00:20:16Well, you know, since now that years move on, I could have been incriminated behind that situation.
00:20:22Yes, I used to sneak him in there.
00:20:24I was trying to leave that out, too.
00:20:27We were sneaking him into some of the spots, and they'd be like, yo, yo.
00:20:31I said, yo, no, he all right.
00:20:32He's not going by the bar.
00:20:33You know, you're going to keep him by the DJ booth.
00:20:35You know?
00:20:36No, no, no.
00:20:36He just wanted to see what it's like because, you know, he's making records now.
00:20:39Okay, man, okay.
00:20:41I said, I got him.
00:20:41I got him.
00:20:42Red Alert was like royalty.
00:20:43We could have went, I think, to, like, fucking a casino, and they would have let me in with him.
00:20:47He would have me at after-hour spots at 4 in the morning, sitting at the bar, and no one
00:20:53questioned anything.
00:20:54He didn't take no sips, everybody.
00:20:56He didn't take no sips.
00:20:58Being amongst them, and moving around with them, seeing the world with them, shows touring,
00:21:03I realized there was a world out there.
00:21:13That period of his life just came about so quickly when, all of a sudden, everybody knew who he was,
00:21:18and there were people around him that wanted to invite him to perform and do different things.
00:21:21And he was a little bit young to have all of that come at him at once.
00:21:24Chee was a little teenager.
00:21:26You know what I'm saying?
00:21:27And he'd be in the studio with us.
00:21:29He'd be in a club.
00:21:30He'd be too young to be in a club in the club.
00:21:32We'd take him on the road.
00:21:33Seeing, you know, literally every state, we're seeing different countries.
00:21:37Chee probably got pushed into an older lifestyle very quickly because he was such a young kid, and he got
00:21:43exposed to a lot at a young age.
00:21:46I think at that time, it was really difficult for him to be able to have a grip on reality
00:21:51because he was just living a lifestyle that was so different than any other kid his age.
00:21:56And in some ways, I think maybe he grew up a little bit too quickly.
00:22:02He was on tour once we were in California, in a limo, and everybody lit up, you know, marijuana.
00:22:09And what do I do?
00:22:10Am I the good father who says you can't smoke and embarrass him in front of the friends?
00:22:15So I just let it go at that point, which I had second thoughts of about later.
00:22:23It kind of fucked up me and my dad's relationship a lot.
00:22:26You know, I'm sure I was young, feeling myself.
00:22:29He's trying to be my dad and trying to be my manager, and probably halfway trying to be my friend
00:22:35too, so I'm sure it was very hard for him.
00:22:38I couldn't separate the career from what Good Parenting was, and it got a little out of hand.
00:22:58I was happy and excited for him. The music business is also very difficult. And even though he was very
00:23:04mature, I'm not really sure even to this day how he was able to handle that much success being that
00:23:12young.
00:23:13Man, that could be overwhelming for anybody. 14 year old kids are playing basketball at the park, you know?
00:23:20He was like, had a real job, real obligations. Had to make this interview, had to make this song, had
00:23:25to finish this album, had to make this deadline. You know, it's gotta be overwhelming.
00:23:31I'm feeling like I'm a man, but, you know, the label had the vision of the, you know, the Kenny
00:23:36Teenie Bopper image.
00:23:37We were smoking at the time, having sex, so it was like, alright, the Teenie Bopper shit is cool, but
00:23:43that's not really me.
00:23:45He experienced things. We done ran the streets, he done been around some girls, he done lived, and now the
00:23:52political content is different.
00:23:54I was trying to be an adult and be accepted by the older guys, dudes I was around, who were
00:24:00more like my peers versus the younger little kids.
00:24:03She had his own ideas of what he wanted his music to be like, and it wasn't necessarily always what
00:24:10his manager wanted.
00:24:12He was the kiddie heartthrob for these little young girls, and I thought that would be the best play when
00:24:18I was managing him.
00:24:19But he wanted to run with and, I guess, impress the hardcore rappers more. We had a big disagreement there.
00:24:26I was going through a little identity crisis, and the label wanted this, my dad felt that, Chris felt this,
00:24:31I want this, so it started getting a little crazy.
00:24:34You look at him, you perceive him as, you know, young, took a while for his voice to crack, and
00:24:39people took that for granted.
00:24:41Coming along in the years, you know, of course your voice is going to change, you know, but you're going
00:24:46to learn to adapt as your voice change and learn how to grow along with your skills.
00:24:50Yo, now niggas don't respect my grind, nor expect my non, my wife, my kids, I'm protecting mine, so valet
00:24:58this man in sync, like quicksand, when I spray, I clear shit out like driftstand, so dump down, move quick.
00:25:03His voice changed. It was like, yo man, he sound like a man right now. You know, he don't sound
00:25:11like a little kid.
00:25:12I'm rolling bitches like TNT, step to another brother, cause ain't a motherfucker seeing me.
00:25:17That's why we had to do a lot of remixes, cause I was like, no, my voice is changing. And
00:25:22it was really causing a lot of conflict with the label, cause they really were trying to push this cute
00:25:26kid.
00:25:29Like, I just wanted to be who I was, where they was just trying to make millions of dollars. I'm
00:25:36like, yo, y'all gonna make motherfuckers hate me. They're saying, but you'll make the money and all that, but
00:25:42I'm like, but I'm not gonna be able to go anywhere.
00:25:47The first album did good. We was ready for the second album. However, Chris had inked a deal with Def
00:25:53Jam and took his Violator imprint.
00:25:55But Relativity had the option to keep me. They opted to keep me, I guess, cause the album they felt
00:26:01did good enough. However, my relationship was with Chris.
00:26:05And when Chris left and they opted to keep me, I was just stuck in the middle.
00:26:10Now that's hard. You know what I'm saying? You're a little kid, somebody changes your life, somebody tell you they
00:26:15got you, and then they go somewhere.
00:26:17So it, you know, it definitely affected them, you know?
00:26:23So my dad, who was managing me at the time, he stepped to the label immediately once Chris was out
00:26:28the picture and felt like we should get a percentage of Chris's percentage, being that he was no longer in
00:26:34the picture.
00:26:35And the label looked at it. And the label looked at it like, well, no, you guys weren't getting it.
00:26:39So we're taking it. And my dad was like, what? Y'all weren't getting it either.
00:26:44So that led into politics, lawyers, bullshit.
00:26:56My dad and our lawyers are going back and forth with Relativity and their lawyers. Chris is now out the
00:27:03picture.
00:27:04And this turned into like a year, two-year process. This is when I more or less delved into the
00:27:09street.
00:27:10I just wanted to make music and videos and be an artist. Like, I didn't give a fuck about, I
00:27:17mean, I wanted money, but I was 15, 16.
00:27:20I didn't care about the money. I had a hundred pairs of sneakers. What else could I buy?
00:27:25I didn't care about. Mad at the label, mad at my pops, mad at Chris for leaving. You know, I
00:27:32was just mad.
00:27:33So I was like, man, fuck this industry shit.
00:27:38Millions of people probably would have died to be in my shoes to be a rapper amongst the rappers.
00:27:47And I probably took it for granted.
00:27:52Life was pulling. Life was calling. And when certain things intrigue you or certain things might interest you, curiosity makes
00:28:00you move in that direction.
00:28:04Once he caught that street bug, man, that was it. Man, he had the itch.
00:28:10From a young age, I always loved guns.
00:28:12She had had an injury with his arm as a kid and a handicap from that.
00:28:16With his arm and stuff, he might not be able to fight.
00:28:18When I was younger, I was at my grandmother's house in Espadon Gardens in Harlem.
00:28:23On the terrace, they had the glass table, and I opted to sit on the glass table, and it wasn't
00:28:28strong enough to hold my weight.
00:28:30And when it broke, it broke in and, like, slipped. It almost slipped my arm.
00:28:35But I had cut all the arteries and nerves and so on. Like, there's not much I could do.
00:28:39It was a really limited movement I could do with this hand.
00:28:42At the end of the day, I'm always at a disadvantage because I have really one function in all.
00:28:47Two hands versus one, two hands is going to win the bulk of the time.
00:28:52So I remember hearing that she was carrying a gun because there were people that were threatening him.
00:28:57I think he felt a little more empowered by having something like that.
00:29:01First time I was locked up, we at Rucker.
00:29:04I'm smoking weed, and two beat walkers roll up on us.
00:29:08So he's like, you want to step out the car?
00:29:11I'm like, not really.
00:29:13When he's pulling me out the car, his partner goes to, like, start searching on the passenger side where I
00:29:19was.
00:29:19And under the seat, I had a 380, and he found it, like, fucking immediately.
00:29:24And I got booked.
00:29:27He was a cute kid, fun, telling jokes, you know.
00:29:31And then next thing you know, in the streets, you're just hearing Chi Ali terrorizing.
00:29:37You know what I'm saying?
00:29:38So it was crazy, man.
00:29:40I bet it just took a turn for the worse, man.
00:29:43I'm on probation five years.
00:29:45I'm soon to get off probation.
00:29:47In 97, I'm in Brooklyn.
00:29:51I catch another gun case.
00:29:54I ended up copping out to three months weekends on Rikers Island, three months house arrest, and five years probation
00:30:01again.
00:30:01It was a 6-5 split.
00:30:04I was living with my parents at the time.
00:30:06You know, they rule, they rules, you know how that shit goes.
00:30:09We were bumping heads a lot, and my whole thing was, all right, I'm going to be on house arrest.
00:30:13I'm going to be in here a lot.
00:30:15I can't do this with me and them going head to head, damn near every day or every other day.
00:30:22At the time, Vicky and I were cool.
00:30:24We were cool since we were about 16.
00:30:26You know, friends with benefits type relationship.
00:30:29So I asked, I was like, yo, I got to do this house arrest shit.
00:30:32Let me do it here.
00:30:33He said, you know, I needed a place to stay.
00:30:36And I said, well, you know, my daughter's always welcome.
00:30:38I was on my own, my first apartment.
00:30:40You know, my life kind of planned with my first daughter.
00:30:44And I said, okay.
00:30:45And we were good.
00:30:46I mean, it was, we didn't really fight much.
00:30:48We were friends for so long and it kind of got serious.
00:30:53We were having unprotected sex pretty regularly because we were living together.
00:30:58Um, she gets pregnant.
00:31:02I was so used to running the streets and I had to mentally tone it down.
00:31:06Like you can't do nothing for three months.
00:31:08I think in doing that, I psyched myself into thinking I was ready for a baby.
00:31:14We decided to go ahead and, you know, try to make it work and become a family.
00:31:19And August 4th, Sky was born, 1998.
00:31:36They moved into an apartment together in the Bronx and, uh, that went well.
00:31:42Uh, at least initially.
00:31:49Vicky's mother had moved to Long Island a few years prior and had left the apartment to Sean, Vicky's older
00:31:57brother.
00:31:58Vicky's mother had told us, Sean's going to jail.
00:32:00I don't want to lose the apartment being that the rent is so cheap.
00:32:03Why don't you guys take it?
00:32:05Eight months go by, Sean comes home.
00:32:09Sean's staying with us.
00:32:11It's me and his sister there.
00:32:12Like, we in the main room, the kids in that room.
00:32:14He's sleeping on the living room floor.
00:32:16He never said nothing, but I know he felt the way because at the end of the day, you know,
00:32:20this was his mother's house.
00:32:21Then it was his house.
00:32:22And he was only going eight months.
00:32:24But at the same time, we done moved in.
00:32:27We done painted, carpeted, TVs.
00:32:30You know, we done furnished and put some bread into the apartment.
00:32:33And we paying the bills.
00:32:38So one day, I get a call from Vicky, and she's crying.
00:32:43She's like real crying, but irate.
00:32:45Like, yo, he took all the lights out in the kitchen.
00:32:48When I got home from work, he drank all the girls' juice.
00:32:51There's no milk here.
00:32:52Like, they hungry.
00:32:53I don't have no money.
00:32:54I'm sick.
00:32:55I'm like, put your brother on the phone.
00:32:57Sean, like, what up?
00:32:58I'm like, yo, what's up?
00:32:58What's wrong with your sister?
00:33:00Like, don't worry about why she crying.
00:33:01Don't tell me nothing about my sister.
00:33:03All right, well, listen, Sean.
00:33:04Do me a favor.
00:33:05Can you give your sister $40 so she can get some juice so I don't got to come up there
00:33:10and she can go get some light bulbs?
00:33:12I'm not giving her shit.
00:33:14I'm like, all right, well, give her $40 out of the money you owe me.
00:33:18I'm not giving her shit.
00:33:19I ain't got nothing for you.
00:33:21You can suck my dick.
00:33:24Now, we definitely never spoke like that.
00:33:27I say, you know what?
00:33:31I'm coming up there to get my money.
00:33:33Keep that energy, Sean.
00:33:35I hang up.
00:33:42I go straight to the building.
00:33:45When I go upstairs, Sean ain't there.
00:33:48But the house is ramshack.
00:33:50It's like a hurricane hit it.
00:33:52That shit, like, just boiled my fucking water more like I was just over the ass.
00:33:59I storm out of the apartment.
00:34:01We cut through the project towards the block.
00:34:03I don't know if something told me to go the long way.
00:34:05I go the long way.
00:34:06I see Sean.
00:34:11When I get to, like, the middle of the street, I call him.
00:34:14Like, yo, Sean, what's popping?
00:34:16So he turns around.
00:34:21Boom.
00:34:28I knew I was hitting him.
00:34:30Because, like, you see the feathers flying from his coat.
00:34:36I see someone laying in the street.
00:34:40I think I noticed his jacket, because he had just, you know, it's wintertime.
00:34:43And it never dawned on me that, you know, he was hurt that bad.
00:34:47You know, I didn't see anyone.
00:34:49Like, she, a friend.
00:34:50No one's there.
00:34:51And I just remember it was, like, really cold.
00:34:53And I'm just holding him.
00:34:56I never seen any blood.
00:34:58I'm not thinking he was shot.
00:35:00I really had no idea, you know, what was going on at this point.
00:35:04I just remember just seeing my brother there and just holding him.
00:35:13I remember getting in the ambulance, and I rode in the front, and I just was on the way to
00:35:19the hospital with my brother.
00:35:20You know, I haven't seen, you know, anyone for so many hours, and I really didn't know what was going
00:35:25on.
00:35:25I see my mother for the first time.
00:35:28And she tells me, Vicki, Sean is gone.
00:35:45Me and Sean, we wasn't enemies.
00:35:50He wasn't a threat.
00:35:53He wasn't going to cause me no physical bodily harm.
00:36:04He was my baby mother, brother.
00:36:06He was my daughter, uncle.
00:36:09I could still see Sky.
00:36:11Sky could see me.
00:36:14Sean's son, little Sean, could never see his pops again because of me.
00:36:20And that's not a good feeling.
00:36:25I was ruined.
00:36:35When we went to the east side, we was at my brother's men's apartment.
00:36:39And I think Joey and his wife had suggested, like, yo, just turn yourself in.
00:36:43Like, fuck it, it was, like, family, it was an accident, whatever.
00:36:47And my man Lloyd, he immediately tapped me, like, yo, Chi, I need you to make a room with me
00:36:52real quick.
00:36:52Yo, we be right back.
00:36:54And when we left, we never came back.
00:36:58Lloyd got me in the car, and he cried.
00:37:00Like, just a grown man cried.
00:37:02Like, yo, I don't know what them motherfuckers back there is talking about, but homie, you gonna turn yourself in.
00:37:10Like, you just kill somebody.
00:37:12Like, don't no DA give a fuck if you turn yourself in.
00:37:19I looked at life as I got nothing to lose.
00:37:22They want me for a homicide.
00:37:25It's over.
00:37:26So at that time, I went into...
00:37:33Step one, get the fuck out of New York City.
00:37:37Next step is get a whole new identity.
00:37:40Meet a girl, take her three-year-old son's social security card.
00:37:43Now I had his name in the social.
00:37:45Hook up with another girl who works at a hospital who could steal your blank birth certificate with a stamp.
00:37:51Next step, get a blank apartment lease, go to a library, type in your new address.
00:37:55Now you have a residence.
00:37:58Take the lease, social security card, and birth certificate, and go to the local DMV.
00:38:03Road test, done.
00:38:04Now you got a valid license.
00:38:07Go to the mall, fill out a credit card application.
00:38:10Now you got a wallet.
00:38:11With a license, social security card, and credit cards.
00:38:14In the state of Georgia, now you can buy a gun.
00:38:16Go into the store, look at the guns, give the clerk my ID, get a background check.
00:38:20After that, he told me you can get anything you want in the store.
00:38:25I'll never forget, I walked out the gun store with a gun and a bag and a receipt.
00:38:30I was amazed.
00:38:32Now I was strapped up, had my ID, had credit cards.
00:38:36I just kept waiting for somebody to say, freeze.
00:38:52I didn't trust nobody.
00:38:54I didn't trust my brother when he told me to turn myself, and I didn't trust no one, except my
00:38:59parents.
00:39:00I let my hair grow, and then my facial hair I let grow.
00:39:04I looked like a rasta.
00:39:05It was a nice little disguise I had.
00:39:10I didn't really leave the house much.
00:39:12People would recognize me, but not really know where they know.
00:39:16Like, they wouldn't be like, oh shit, that's Chi Ali.
00:39:18There would be something like, yo, where I know you from?
00:39:19What high school you went to?
00:39:21So, I had to be in the house all the time.
00:39:24It was boring for me, because being Chi Ali, I couldn't go out, really.
00:39:29I couldn't do nothing, because you don't know who's going to recognize you.
00:39:32We met back in the summer of 1993 at Grant's tomb.
00:39:35From that day, for about the next two years, we dated.
00:39:39We went our separate ways after dating for two years.
00:39:42Then, I'm home one night, and America's Most Wanted comes on.
00:39:47And it's his story.
00:39:49Good evening.
00:39:50Our first fugitive tonight, he was a hip-hop artist who had two quick hits.
00:39:55But when the hits dried up, he hit rock bottom.
00:39:58And as our Tom Morris shows you, things only got worse from there.
00:40:02I was in shock, total shock, because it's so unlike him.
00:40:06Nine years ago, when Chi Ali was a teen sensation burning up the billboard charts,
00:40:11his future looked bright.
00:40:13By the time he was 23, the preppy rapper had become a petty thug,
00:40:17with a rap sheet that included arrests for drugs and possession of a loaded handgun.
00:40:22Once it hit America's Most Wanted, I was like, damn, man.
00:40:26This is real, man.
00:40:27Like, this ain't, this ain't no for play here.
00:40:30I was heartbroken.
00:40:32It's just, it wasn't the same person.
00:40:35This is not the Chi I knew.
00:40:37This 13-year-old, bright-eyed boy with this talent that we love.
00:40:42On January 14, 2000, police say Chi got into an argument with his former roommate, Sean Raymond.
00:40:48It was hard for me to watch, you know, seeing Chi on America's Most Wanted.
00:40:52I was just floored, and all I could think of is, man, my brother, he's gonna spend the rest of
00:40:56his life in jail.
00:40:57If you've seen Chi Ali, be careful.
00:40:59And call our hotline at 1-800-CRIME-TV.
00:41:04So I'm living with one of my friends down in Atlanta.
00:41:08He was like, nigga, you're one of America's Most Wanted.
00:41:10Like, I can't run the magics with you no more.
00:41:13You gonna fuck my shit up.
00:41:14I love you.
00:41:16But until shit die down, get the fuck out of there.
00:41:20So I went to New York.
00:41:24Like, I'm the type, to this day, I'm never turning myself in.
00:41:28But for me, once I came back to New York, it was like turning myself in,
00:41:32because I knew that coming to New York was not smart.
00:41:38I think a big part of me was just tired.
00:41:41It was a lot with my family.
00:41:43Like, I was killing my mom.
00:41:47That's a part of my life that broke my heart.
00:41:51He killed somebody, and that was very hard for both myself and his dad.
00:41:58I was ashamed.
00:42:01Still, sometimes it bothers me.
00:42:05Cheating was a nervous wreck.
00:42:07It was just ugly, man.
00:42:10More or less, after that second America's Most Wanted Aaron,
00:42:14about two, three weeks later, I got nabbed in Parkchester.
00:42:17We went, knocked on the door, based upon that information,
00:42:20and inside the apartment was Mr. Griffith,
00:42:23the one with two other people who were also apprehended.
00:42:25How I got nabbed, I don't know.
00:42:26I don't know if, like, somebody seen me coming in the building and recognized me.
00:42:31Maybe someone seen me walk into the store to get a blunt.
00:42:35Hey, hey.
00:42:36Hey, hey.
00:42:37Hey, hey, hey.
00:42:37Hey, hey, hey.
00:42:38Hey, hey, hey, hey.
00:42:39By the time we got to the precinct, it was snowing.
00:42:42I'll never forget it was snowing.
00:42:43By the time we got to the precinct, like, the America's Most Wanted people,
00:42:46they had the America fights back.
00:42:49They putting caption on the picture.
00:42:52You know, they made that shit an event.
00:42:55Thanks to your tips, police have finally got handcuffs on this former rap star accused of murder.
00:43:01The young man who once called himself the Funky Roadrunner isn't running anymore.
00:43:09I called home and I think my wife said they got him, you know.
00:43:13I said, is he okay?
00:43:14They said, yeah.
00:43:15I think he was very relieved to have been captured because I think that life was very tough for him
00:43:20to be hiding out and not being able to be himself, you know.
00:43:23I think I was definitely relieved in a way.
00:43:27My mom slept better when I was locked up just knowing I was aight.
00:43:31She knew my mentality and she knew the police's mentality.
00:43:35So she looked at it as they gonna kill my baby.
00:43:39I was on Rikers Island for three years fighting my case, like, more or less going to court once a
00:43:45month.
00:43:46Lawyers putting in motions to get shit suppressed and I had caught a jail case.
00:43:52I thought my life was over.
00:43:59One day I went to court and I had a black judge.
00:44:03She told the DA I got him on Rikers Island for three years.
00:44:06He has no bail.
00:44:08Like, if y'all not ready to start trial, I'm giving him a bail.
00:44:11He got rights too.
00:44:13So that's when the offer of 22 and a half to 22 to life went out the window and they
00:44:18started offering me 15.
00:44:20It was like, alright, I got 14 years.
00:44:23You gotta do 12.
00:44:24I've been on Rikers 3, so I got nine left.
00:44:27When you 23, nine years, that was an eternity.
00:44:30So part of me was depressed.
00:44:33I couldn't see the end.
00:44:41In jail, they do random urine tests.
00:44:43They did a random.
00:44:45I smoked weed.
00:44:46They sent me to the box.
00:44:47Solitary confinement.
00:44:49When I was like six years old, my mom and dad, when they went away, they took me to Miss
00:44:54Perry's house.
00:44:55She was like the old lady who was to babysit me.
00:44:57I hated Miss Perry's house.
00:44:59I hated the smell.
00:45:00Her husband's teeth would be on the sink.
00:45:02Like I would wake up and not know where I was at.
00:45:04Like I was just like, I was a kid that was just used to be scared.
00:45:07I didn't like it there.
00:45:08And when I was in that box like that first night, I felt that same feeling from when I was
00:45:14like six years old at Miss Perry's house.
00:45:17That will drive anyone crazy.
00:45:19If you put a man in the cell and he has no contact with anyone for months, it's torture.
00:45:26It's inhumane.
00:45:27Like I'm, the box is inhumane.
00:45:32I had told she, after the two gun charges, that if he got locked up or got in trouble again,
00:45:38I'd ride him, but I'd never visit him.
00:45:44And anyway, I broke down, I don't know, probably, what, six months, seven months after he was away.
00:45:51We'd buy the box lunch or whatever it is that they sold on 58th Street in Manhattan, get on that
00:45:57raggedy-ass bus, pardon the expression, and just deal with the element.
00:46:07What a lot of individuals locked up don't realize is that your family is doing the time with you.
00:46:15They take you through so much like you're a prisoner.
00:46:19They go through your hair, you know, your clothes.
00:46:22They pat you down.
00:46:24And then inside they make your way and the whole nine yards.
00:46:28When they go to visit you, I mean, those COs, not all, but many, try to make it a living
00:46:34hell for your people who's trying to see you.
00:46:37It's like psychological welfare.
00:46:38They try to make it so they don't want to come back.
00:46:44Every trip that I made, I would instill as much as I can.
00:46:49Sometimes, oh, mommy, I don't want to hear it.
00:46:51I didn't care, I just kept talking, kept talking.
00:46:53I told him that he's got to get himself together and just think about Skye.
00:47:08I made the decision that I wouldn't have anything to do with him.
00:47:13He was dead to me.
00:47:14You know, it was like, you know, I lost two people that day.
00:47:18But if he wanted a relationship with his daughter, I wouldn't force them, but I wouldn't take that away.
00:47:33The majority of her life was me seeing her was in prison.
00:47:40That was hard.
00:47:43I just don't want my daughter to resent me for not being there, because if it's there, it could be
00:47:48in the past, but it's never going to be not there.
00:47:54Everyone gets tested in jail, the biggest, strongest, toughest, everyone.
00:47:59So it can be very humbling.
00:48:01Sometimes when we would see him, if we would be talking, I could see his tears welling up.
00:48:06He couldn't cry.
00:48:07You know what I'm saying?
00:48:09He couldn't really say what was bothering him and be a man at the same time to sustain himself in
00:48:16the prison.
00:48:16And I could see that.
00:48:21So that would hurt me.
00:48:23Still does.
00:48:30Still does.
00:48:32In 05, they send me to Elmira.
00:48:38And I was trying to get the trailer visits with my family so my mom and dad could bring Sky
00:48:42up.
00:48:43They told me I had to complete anger regression treatment.
00:48:47That's like the anger management class.
00:48:50One of the instructors, Ant, he was just on some different shit.
00:48:53Like Ant was just a positive dude, but had the utmost respect from everybody.
00:48:58And Ant one day was like, yo, you should come work with us.
00:49:01Chi was definitely hesitant, because I don't think Chi looked at herself as a facilitator.
00:49:08But Chi is a good public speaker, so he can captivate an audience.
00:49:12Remember, this is what he's used to doing as a child.
00:49:13And for a while, I was like, no, he kept bugging me.
00:49:16And then, I don't know, he broke me down, I guess.
00:49:19And sooner or later, I said, I'll try it.
00:49:21And once I tried it, I liked it.
00:49:25Me and Ant got cool.
00:49:26We just started hanging out every day.
00:49:28And he just started putting me on a different shit, but positive shit.
00:49:31And his thing wasn't, don't do that.
00:49:33His thing was, no, I'll do that.
00:49:35But let me holler at you for a minute.
00:49:36Chi sometimes does crazy things.
00:49:39And I didn't want to see him falling victim like a lot of these other young kids that come through.
00:49:43At times, he probably hated me because he felt like I was his big brother.
00:49:47But I thought it was important for me to guide him in the right direction.
00:49:51Like, at the time, I was very bitter towards females.
00:49:55He helped me see that it was cool to be married.
00:49:58Like, it was all right to be with just one woman.
00:50:01When we come to prison, we're taught not to discuss our problems, not to discuss our case,
00:50:06not to talk about our family, our children, anybody else.
00:50:09You have to hold all of that stuff in.
00:50:11And they're walking time bombs.
00:50:13I tried to curtail out and stop them.
00:50:15He made me believe in love again.
00:50:16Like, believe in relationships again.
00:50:19He changed my life.
00:50:22I went to Sing Sing, I think into 07, early 08.
00:50:26As soon as I got there, I bumped into my man Mike.
00:50:29He's like, yo, I work in the school building.
00:50:31I work for the college shit.
00:50:32He's like, yo, you should do that shit.
00:50:34I'm like, I don't know.
00:50:36He's like, yo, Chi, for real?
00:50:37You should do that shit.
00:50:38I could get you in that shit.
00:50:39I'm like, all right, fuck it.
00:50:42And there's a waiting list for that shit.
00:50:43It was a blessing.
00:50:44Like, he blessed me.
00:50:45That was love.
00:50:46And at the time, I didn't even realize that the blessing that it was.
00:50:52Once I got in, I don't know what happened.
00:50:56I got into school. Crazy.
00:50:59There was a point where he seemed to make, you know, a change.
00:51:03He started talking about education.
00:51:04He started talking about his future when he got out.
00:51:07He just said, mommy, I'm going to take the college courses.
00:51:10And I remember going to visit him and he's like, look, I've been taking some classes.
00:51:14And I could definitely feel the change.
00:51:17I got into it.
00:51:18Like, I got fucking geeked on school.
00:51:20And I tried to get something out of every class.
00:51:23Dudes always talk about, fuck the system and all that.
00:51:26Ooh.
00:51:27And I'm like, yo, this is like a good way to fuck them.
00:51:31Like, this shit costs wild money.
00:51:33Like, this is like 40 grand a year.
00:51:35And they can never take this from you if you get it.
00:51:43A friend of mine came to visit.
00:51:46So I'm asking about different people.
00:51:48And I was like, what's up with Nakia?
00:51:49Because I knew Sing Sing is in Asning, which is near Peekskill.
00:51:53And I knew Nakia had moved from the Bronx to Peekskill.
00:51:57So I'm figuring, you know, she's here.
00:52:00I'm here.
00:52:00Maybe get a little visit, see what happens.
00:52:03So when we reconnected when he was incarcerated, his mental was so mature.
00:52:10He had taken parenting courses in there, doing a lot of different workshops,
00:52:15got his associate's degree, just mentally on a whole nother level.
00:52:20She had came up around Valentine's Day for the first time.
00:52:25And since then, at least twice a month.
00:52:30He was focused, driven, ambitious.
00:52:34Regardless to the fact that he couldn't do much while being in there,
00:52:38I still saw the drive and I saw the potential.
00:52:41She made me feel good about my relationship.
00:52:46From letters, visits, phone calls daily.
00:52:50And when a person's in prison, that's very important.
00:52:53I proposed to Sing Sing visit floor.
00:52:58Yup. We was on a visit.
00:52:59It was like maybe our second or third visit.
00:53:01I was in a box.
00:53:02I asked her, like, if I asked you to marry me, would you marry me?
00:53:07And she said, yeah.
00:53:09She says to this day that he always knew that, you know,
00:53:12we were going to be together, that the universe would have its way
00:53:15and bring us back together.
00:53:16It's basically, they bring you in a little room.
00:53:18Me, Nakia, and her dad.
00:53:20Probably a CO and the pastor.
00:53:25And she reads you your vows and you say, I do, I do, do, do, do.
00:53:29You may kiss your bride.
00:53:31You know?
00:53:32Then y'all leave and go on a regular jail visit.
00:53:38Once Nakia and I got married,
00:53:40we didn't waste any time to test those conjugal visits out.
00:53:45She got pregnant.
00:53:51I call her our love child because that's what our marriage was built on, love.
00:53:56It was nothing material.
00:53:57It was just love.
00:53:58It was pure, genuine love.
00:54:01Dope kid, like extraordinarily dope.
00:54:03Like just so much personality.
00:54:06She's like so much of a blast to be around.
00:54:09She's a very, very creative little girl with a lot of personality,
00:54:14a lot of love.
00:54:16She's special.
00:54:17She really is.
00:54:19That's when I really started envisioning coming home
00:54:22and what I was coming home to.
00:54:24I was so used to blocking it out and not focusing on it
00:54:28because I had so much time to do.
00:54:30Like if you try to think about that
00:54:33or think about the streets,
00:54:34think about what your girl doing,
00:54:35you go stir crazy, man.
00:54:38But the last 24 hours,
00:54:40I was just laying in bed bugging like,
00:54:44yo, this shit is over.
00:54:49They walked me out front.
00:54:53The first person I seen was my dad.
00:54:58Like, yo, we just hugged.
00:54:59Both of us just start crying, yo.
00:55:03He was just like, yo, you did it.
00:55:08And how was that?
00:55:10It was over.
00:55:21Well, okay, so we know your daughter had to teach you
00:55:23how to use an iPhone.
00:55:24Yeah, definitely.
00:55:26It's hard only because even with the computer,
00:55:28like my dad just bought me a Mac
00:55:30and he's like, yo, you got to get into the computer.
00:55:32You got to learn it.
00:55:32You got to learn it.
00:55:33It's like they just dropped me into this new technological world
00:55:37and I'm kind of lost, but I'm slowly learning
00:55:41and I mean, I got to get into it.
00:55:42You got to learn it.
00:55:43It's a process.
00:55:44It's going to take time.
00:55:45I can't expect to make up for 12 years in one month.
00:55:48So I'm just taking my time and enjoying freedom.
00:55:55Me and Dress had hung out there first or second day I came home.
00:55:59He had told me, yo, I spoke to Chris.
00:56:01Chris wants to get up with you.
00:56:02And I'm like, you think he's going to lay something on me?
00:56:04He was like, I don't know.
00:56:05He was like, with Chris, you never know.
00:56:07But he definitely said he wanted to see you.
00:56:09I was like, cool.
00:56:10While I was locked up, Chris was, you know,
00:56:13probably one of the top 50 most influential and strong people
00:56:17in the industry.
00:56:18I mean, he was managing 50.
00:56:20He was managing Missy Elliott, Mobb Deep.
00:56:23I mean, he just had everybody.
00:56:26It was an empire.
00:56:28I couldn't wait to see him.
00:56:30The next day, my phone rang his dress.
00:56:33Yo.
00:56:34He's like, yo, you heard about Chris?
00:56:36I'm like, nah, what's up?
00:56:37He's like, yo, they saying he killed himself.
00:56:40I'm like, what?
00:56:42The medical examiner has ruled the death of hip hop mogul Chris Lighty
00:56:46is a suicide.
00:56:47Lighty was found with a gunshot wound to the head
00:56:49at his Bronx home on Thursday.
00:56:51Police say they found a black handgun at the scene, but no note.
00:56:57He was my mentor in the game.
00:57:02He was somebody I wanted to be like.
00:57:08So this shit was crazy, man.
00:57:11So I never got to see Chris.
00:57:14The 44-year-old worked with some of rap and R&B's biggest stars,
00:57:18including New York acts LL Cool J, Mariah Carey, Sean Diddy Combs,
00:57:22and 50 Cent.
00:57:24When I got to the funeral, I sat down.
00:57:26Like, I was seeing everyone from Mona Scott, Ian, Hot Dog,
00:57:31The Violators, Red Alert, Rob, his son, Tribe, LL, Buster, Fat Joe.
00:57:37And no one really knew I was home, so everyone was bugging.
00:57:41And it was great to see everybody.
00:57:43It was just whack conditions.
00:57:46I was seeing them under.
00:57:51I remember standing in the back of the funeral,
00:57:54and out of nowhere, I looked to the left, and it's Chi.
00:57:57I was like, holy shit.
00:57:59Yo, Chi's out of jail?
00:58:01And he made it for Chris's funeral?
00:58:04I mean, that's some God shit.
00:58:06Me and Fat Joe linked up.
00:58:07He like, yo, shooting a video Monday in Miami.
00:58:10We're French, and Lil Wayne, I'm flying you out.
00:58:19He introduced me to French, Wayne, everybody.
00:58:23At night, we went to Cool Andre's studio in Miami.
00:58:26He was like, yo, we gonna do a joint.
00:58:28One time for the homie, Chi Ali.
00:58:30And I never thought I'd see the day they set him free.
00:58:33Madness is for Remy Ma.
00:58:34Smile from me.
00:58:36Middle finger, all you COs with styles on me.
00:58:38Suffering from post-prison syndrome.
00:58:40And pushing six-figure whips in a month.
00:58:42It's all up in home.
00:58:43Even though he was rusty, he could still rap.
00:58:46You know, and I remember people in the studio like Cool Andre
00:58:49telling me, like, yo, you know that nigga could still rap.
00:58:52Like, lyrics is on point.
00:58:53I was like, yeah, Chi, yeah.
00:58:58I was happy to see him doing his music and continuing.
00:59:01You know what I'm saying?
00:59:01Because that let me know that they didn't break him.
00:59:04I can't think of not one artist, really, that has gone
00:59:07through what he has gone through, come back and still be in here.
00:59:11And flip a positive light on his lifestyle and what he's trying to do.
00:59:14And I think that's very important.
00:59:16Since I've been home, it's more family-oriented.
00:59:24Somebody's gotta go to Target or the nail salon.
00:59:27Soccer, karate, this, that.
00:59:29It's always just something someone's doing, as you see.
00:59:36Usually, it's so much going on.
00:59:38Kelly.
00:59:40My wife and I, we had a son.
00:59:42Young Che, Che Ali.
00:59:44Not Che, but Che.
00:59:45It was dope because, like I said, I got Sky and Kelly,
00:59:49then my wife has her two daughters.
00:59:51And then when everyone's together, it's like so many attitudes and makeup
00:59:56and eyelashes and barrettes and there's just mad estrogen.
01:00:00So it was just a relief, firstly, to be having a boy.
01:00:05His personality is being shaped now, so it's like I'm just wondering
01:00:09what his voice is gonna sound like, you know, who he's gonna be like.
01:00:12But he's a cool little dude, you know, as long as you hold him,
01:00:15he don't cry too much.
01:00:16You know, he be chilling.
01:00:17I mean, I'm blessed, man.
01:00:19That's definitely a blessing, man.
01:00:34Going to Sky's graduation was cool because it was like,
01:00:39she achieved something that was dope.
01:00:41Like, Sky experienced a lot of shit.
01:00:43Sky worth it.
01:00:50Sky was the only child I had when I came to prison.
01:00:53So I've really missed most of her life.
01:00:56Now that I'm home, I mean, our relationship is more of a,
01:01:00I'm not gonna say a friend relationship.
01:01:02It's more like we brothers and sisters almost.
01:01:05Being that, like, my parents kind of raised her.
01:01:07And that's part of the challenge for me now is to know that
01:01:11you're not her brother, you're not her big brother.
01:01:13You're her father.
01:01:14You're her dad.
01:01:16I don't want to be too overbearing.
01:01:18Like, I don't want to come home,
01:01:19oh, you're not doing it.
01:01:20Boyfriend, no, no.
01:01:21And, you know, she take on the attitude,
01:01:23motherfucker, where you been?
01:01:24Like, you think you're just gonna come home and control me?
01:01:28Like, it's hard for me to say no, because I did miss a lot.
01:01:32I know I missed a lot of Christmases and birthdays.
01:01:36And then at the same time, you can't let your time away from her
01:01:41deter you from being her dad or being a good dad or being stern.
01:01:45So it's just about finding that balance.
01:01:49The day of my graduation, knowing that I had both my parents there
01:01:53and present and supportive of me, no matter what my next step was,
01:01:58that feeling can't be replaced.
01:02:06I think that might have been the first time me and Vicky
01:02:10probably took a picture together since I came home.
01:02:13And it was just ill.
01:02:14Like, me and her was like, yo, like,
01:02:17and we got our baby through it.
01:02:18Like, yo, it's been some shit.
01:02:20Like, she done went through some shit.
01:02:22But, like, we did it.
01:02:24Like, I was just bugged. It was dope.
01:02:25It was dope for me and Vicky.
01:02:27And it was dope to experience that, like, something we made,
01:02:30you know, some positive shit.
01:02:47We're gonna have a whole bunch of artists coming out.
01:02:53And it's basically more or less, we're trying to eradicate
01:02:56solitary confinement for everyone.
01:02:58But our movement right now is focusing on juveniles, pregnant women,
01:03:04and the individuals with mental disorders.
01:03:06So the concert is called Hip Hop for Human Rights
01:03:09because this is a human rights issue.
01:03:10No human being should be in solitary like that.
01:03:12And she has brought national attention to this.
01:03:15Sort of being a voice for the voiceless.
01:03:18Solitary confinement is, you can lose your mind in there.
01:03:22I've seen the strongest of men break down.
01:03:25It's a fact.
01:03:25It's designed to break you.
01:03:27You can't read in there.
01:03:28You're just in that room, you start getting claustrophobic.
01:03:30It's crazy, man.
01:03:32Like, it's a mental thing.
01:03:33I've been in that room.
01:03:34It's mentally.
01:03:35It'll break you down.
01:03:36Word.
01:03:37You been in the box before?
01:03:38Hell yeah.
01:03:40Shit, I've been in the box, man, for 150 days.
01:03:43They put me in the box, man, because I wanted to get a tattoo.
01:03:48I wanted to get a tattoo.
01:03:50You didn't even get it?
01:03:50I didn't even get it, man.
01:03:51I've been in the box.
01:03:53That should just make you bitter and more cold.
01:03:56It builds a callus around your heart.
01:03:58There's nothing positive coming from that.
01:04:00The brain has irreparable damage after 14 days.
01:04:03This is information that NASA did with science from the 50s, from the 60s.
01:04:06So we know that we're damaging people by solitary.
01:04:09So it becomes a human rights issue.
01:04:11So the concert is really the community and the voices of the people coming out
01:04:14to say that they're tired of this shit.
01:04:17And it's damaging our people.
01:04:19Ladies and gentlemen, G. Ali.
01:04:22I want to thank all of y'all for coming.
01:04:24I also want to speak to the COs behind us.
01:04:27I'm challenging y'all to get through to some of these kids.
01:04:31Anybody can beat a kid.
01:04:33Any two, three, four of y'all can beat anybody.
01:04:36But when y'all do that, y'all know better than the rest of the gangs that's running around the
01:04:40jails.
01:04:41So we need y'all to be better than us.
01:04:44Way better than us.
01:04:46Anyone who's about the betterment of humanity and is about justice and is about right over wrong is gonna stand
01:04:54by that.
01:04:56I think it's great that he is turning an adverse situation or an adverse experience into something positive by giving,
01:05:03you know, back his time and his energy and his voice in that situation.
01:05:10Speaking of kids, speaking of adults, speaking of detention centers, high school, colleges, if I can help somebody avoid some
01:05:18of the pitfalls that I had to go through, man, I'm with it.
01:05:23He's gonna really help those little kids he's talking to because he really walked the walk, you know what I'm
01:05:28saying?
01:05:29And a lot of times, kids like to see a reflection of themselves.
01:05:33They like to see people who went through what they're going through to tell them something to motivate them to
01:05:37go the positive way.
01:05:39So it's very important that he continues to do that.
01:05:46You know, just moving, moving, trying to survive, trying to stay up, man.
01:05:51Just trying to stay free, provide a good life for myself, my family.
01:05:59Most importantly, stay free, though.
01:06:01Like, that's the main objective, because you can do anything when you're free.
01:06:16Yeah.
01:06:18Now feel the pain of a kid who lost his 20s like a G-spot nigga who lost his money.
01:06:24I got a daughter, she too.
01:06:26And she living in another state.
01:06:27I can't see her, because I found another mate.
01:06:30Her mama's salty.
01:06:31I tried my best, though, on a nine-to-five nigga.
01:06:34But me, I'm escrowing these streets.
01:06:36And I'm getting a little money now.
01:06:37She say I'm acting funny now, because a nigga watch costs $20,000.
01:06:41I'm doing what I do, and you ain't wanna do it with me.
01:06:44Now you catching feelings, because another bitch doing with me.
01:06:46I need space to breathe.
01:06:48I hate to leave.
01:06:49Plus you held me down, you gon' take my cheese.
01:06:51Please.
01:06:52I'm a G first.
01:06:53I gotta put me first.
01:06:55Your friends talking about you don't care that she hurt.
01:06:57But I'm a boss.
01:06:58Cut from a different cloth.
01:07:00King nigga.
01:07:01I'm supposed to have different bras.
01:07:02King nigga.
01:07:03I did my time.
01:07:04Try to live my life.
01:07:05But I wanted to include you.
01:07:07Somehow it all went bad.
01:07:09Now you always mad.
01:07:10But I didn't wanna lose you.
01:07:14But what am I supposed to do?
01:07:16When both of us are broken through?
01:07:19This might sound selfish to you.
01:07:22But I'm trying to fix me too.
01:07:24They tell me karma gon' get me.
01:07:25So I'm waiting with this four fifth.
01:07:27So Miss Karma, here I go.
01:07:29Come on, bitch.
01:07:29Can't have your cake and eat it too.
01:07:31Or what the cake for?
01:07:32I mean, tell me.
01:07:33What I'm getting all this cake for?
01:07:35I see J and B, but I'm Chi.
01:07:37And you ain't B.
01:07:38And he a real nigga, but I'm a G.
01:07:40And honestly, they on a whole different hemisphere.
01:07:4340-40.
01:07:44But this coke business here.
01:07:46Security?
01:07:47Better check my waist.
01:07:48Shit.
01:07:49Think I'm frightened?
01:07:50Better check my case.
01:07:51I'm not bragging.
01:07:52But that's just what I got knocked for.
01:07:54And all my kids, I swear, I will pop off.
01:07:57So while a child support in courtship, I forfeit.
01:08:00Norty's OPP, to me, was the only thing stopping Flavor of the Month from being huge.
01:08:06I was like, oh, God, if this record wasn't there.
01:08:08How do you think I felt about Criss Cross?
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