00:00In the state of just being a black man, I've been caught many things from my ancestors.
00:05They've been caught many things, but it's taking that negativity and being proud of
00:10it and making it to your own, and saying, I am a king, no matter what you call me.
00:23It's a little bit deeper than just the music.
00:25It's cats out here really trying to do something, and really trying to spark the idea of positivity
00:34in the community.
00:35Let me tell my story, let me tell other stories that's out here that want to do something different,
00:40but can't, because you're in an environment where you just got to adapt, and what happens
00:45is it invites people in to get another perspective.
00:49It brings a whole other side of the world to Compton, to this backyard right here, and say,
00:54okay, these are actually people.
00:57I've spent all my time in school, and escaping prison, and escaping the system.
01:05So you mean to tell me, the moment I become successful and I get some money, and I don't
01:10know how to manage my money, that you're going to throw me back in jail for taxes.
01:14So, I put that through my music to give game to the kids that's not being taught in them
01:19strings.
01:19It's up to me, because I'm going through it.
01:21So, how I put my words together, for me personally, it's a strategic way.
01:26You know, I'm not just glorifying the streets, or what not, you know, it's a reality check,
01:32but it's for the better at the end of the day.
01:34A lot of people don't have voices out here, so to see them actually express themselves through
01:39song, you know, through lyrics that I wrote, that's confirmation for me.
01:44You know, that's confirmation for me that the passion and the insight, uh, the thoughts
01:51that I put into these records, you know, is far beyond me.
01:56We say, okay, we can't control, now we see we can't control what's going on out there.
02:00You know, it's a whole other power to be, so what we can do now, we can start coming together,
02:04and figuring out our own problems, and our own solutions, you know?
02:08It takes years, and it takes wisdom to do the work that they've done. Mandela, Martin Luther King,
02:15but for the generation at the time being, I hold myself responsibility to that.
