Spider Loc Interview
How you doin' man?
I can't complain. I'm blessed. My health is good, my children are doing good, I'm straight.
Are you officially signed to G-Unit now?
Yes sir.
What made you want to sign with them?
To be honest with you, at the point in my life when I was presented with the opportunity, I was desperately seeking a record deal. They happened to be the label at the top of the game and they had an interest in signing me before I could show them any interest in being signed to them. I had no reason to not want to sign with them.
What did they see in you that made them want to sign you?
To sum it up, I can quote 50 Cent: "I see myself all over again. I got to fuck with him."
Do you feel pressure on G-Unit to sell records?
I understand what another might perceive as pressure in this situation…I take the energy that the pressure causes but I don't take any pressure. The reason I am where I am is because I perform as if I feel the pressure. I really don't feel the pressure. There is no pressure. I've just been doing me from day one, and doing me has gotten me blessed up to this point, so I just continue to do me. The pressure is on the competition.
What do you bring to the game that other dudes in the West aren't doing right now?
I know how to look at words and see things in words that the person who defined the word didn't even see. And also, 97% of the rappers that succeed anything close to platinum on the West Coast claim to be ex-gang-bangers or active gang-bangers. There hasn't been one yet that actually was actually actively involved in any gang activities prior to them having a deal. There's very, very few. A long time ago I realized before I met any G-Unit members, or anybody else, that the best have truest stories matched up with the best possible talent with poetry. The game has been starving for me years ago and it's just been whatever God felt fit to make the path for me to get here.
When did you get involved in gangs?
Involved is a sketchy word, because I've been involved for a long time. Actively, where even my mother knew that this was what I was doing with my life, was when I was 17.
What did your mother say to you when she found out?
She said all the things you could imagine a mother would say to deter you. What she also did was pray. She spent a lot of time on her knees praying and I know her prayers were highly responsible for keeping me safe through all of the dumb, stupid, ignorant things I did.
What was it about the gangs that made you want to join?
I don't know exactly what it was. I could explain to you from being the youngest, being forced to go to private schools, living in Compton, my father living in South Central, it being my only environment. Going to school in the city bus and just being totally aware of my environment. I was most scared of what gang life was but at the same time it was my greatest desire to be a part of it. I wanted to be a part of it probably worse than the people who try to portray it. It just drew me. The whole aura of it drew me to it.
Is there anything positive you took away from being in gangs?
Not actually positive from being in gangs. I think just because I was fucking with the gang lifestyle it drove me into some negative positions in my life like prison. I had to put my mentality of not taking no bullshit to a degree where I'm able to apply that to other levels in my life. I don't allow the untruth to affect me whatsoever. If I hear statements said to me and it misrepresents something, then it's going to be shortly known to the person I'm communicating with that what they're expressing isn't consistent. Death before dishonor has also become one of my life mottos and that type of involvement that I've been involvement in fucking with the gangs in the streets, I don't know if I've ever had that pressure to adapt to those philosophies from the worst things possible that I've done. The hazards that were always present towards my person have always kept me on a real strong defense. A lot of these people run these streets and have been quite active…knock on wood I ain't never been shot. I've been shot at quite a few times because I've been involved in a few weird situations. My homeboy done died in my arms before I watched him get shot to death. Whatever gift was given to me to be alert and pay attention to my surroundings is a gift. I'm definitely blessed to be out there to have been out in the streets and have a minimal amount of harm come to me.
What do you say to kids who want to get into gangs?
I tell them that for me myself, I understand the desire for you to want to fuck with that, but I learned through experience that the shit was a mistake for many reasons. The main reasons why it was a mistake because a high percentage of the time being a gang member brings you a lot of funeral processions and a lot of incarcerations. The shit just don't add up. Then when you think about the very simplistic idea of being upset with an individual or group of individuals just based on the fact that they parents chose to live in another neighborhood other than yours, and now they're your enemy. That's one of the most ignorant things you could pledge yourself to. It's a mistake that I openly made and it's not one that I neither condone or promote. Whenever you hear me speak on my gang experiences, it's only to speak on my experiences. It's not to give it a "thumbs-up." I might not always give it a "thumbs-down." I can look at some of the most negative things in my life and find the positives in it. So I don't necessarily promote it but I feel like if I can expose it to the point where you can understand it enough than maybe something of what I have to say scares you away then that's good enough for me. I don't want to see no young Black motherfucker fuck their's up over no color. I can't help the fact that I love Blue. I can't help the fact that I got my 'hood tattooed on me. I can't help the fact that I love my homeboys. I can't help the fact that I'm not going to let nobody hurt me. Outside of that, I'm not seeking to hurt nobody.
Are you actively involved today?
I'm not actively involved at all. I'm a rapper.
Are you worried that anything you've done in the past can come back to you now?
I'm not worried a thing under God's blue sky. The only thing I fear is the man that created me. The same way I don't feel no pressure, I don't feel no fear.
A year from now, where will you be?
A year from now I'll be in everybody's CD players, everybody's DVD, and I'll be in everbody's heart. Everybody that listens to rap I believe I'll have a place in their heart.
What does 50 Cent expect of you?
To do the best I can possibly do, because whatever he saw in me was good enough to represent him in front of the world. He just wants the best of that.
If you do a song with Fat Joe or Jadakiss…
I won't.
How come?
Because my nigga 50 don't fuck with him. I don't fuck with nobody 50 don't fuck with.
Looking at Game's situation, what happened with Game as far as getting kicked out of G-Unit?
I just believe that he had some confusion going on in his life and he made some unwise decisions at certain times that probably a lot of people could have and would have made if they were in his position. He kind of reaps what he sowed.
Are you worried that could happen to you?
No! That could never happen to me. But I have reaped what I've sown in life. But as far as the G-Unit situation, the way everybody feels, that will never happen with Spider Loc.
Do you have a problem with Game?
I don't have a problem with nobody walking this earth. I'm happy man. My kids are eating man. I'm eating man. I got people concerned about me that I never met. I'm happy.
What are you working on now?
"The Best Kept Secret." That's the title of my album. I'm working on the soundtrack to "Get Rich or Die Tryin," that's gonna be the next G-Unit album. We're doing a mixtape, "Aracknophobia" with Whoo Kid. I'm working all day every day, just working.
What producers are you working with for the album?
I have no idea. I don't have any desire to work with any particular producer. I just want good music. So it don't matter to me as long as the music is right it doesn't matter what his name is.
Who have you worked with so-far?
Da Riffs, Mark Sparks, Sir Jinx, Daryn Vegas…
Are you going to start working with Dre?
50's said that there's some Dre tracks available for my project but we haven't made any active moves to get next to him. But more than once 50 has stated to me that they have some Dre tracks that we're going to fuck with.
How did you get your songs on EA Sports games?
I got a message in my phone from Abby saying that she's good friends with Glasses Malone and she wanted to get me on this EA Sports shit. Abby made it happen, she's a hell of a motherfucker. Outside of that, Abby done got a lot of shit cracking for me.
Being on EA Sports is big, because everyone plays those games, not just Hip Hop heads…what can that exposure do for you?
All I know is I'm a John Madden freak. I've been one for years and it's always been a dream of mine to have a song on one of their albums. I know what it means as a consumer and playing the game. I know how many songs have become familiar to me because I've heard them on the game.
Who's your team?
I play with the Eagles. And I can't be fucked with, so all you rappers who think your good with your thumbs put your paper on the ground and get it crackin'!
You have had beefs with Bad Azz and Daz, are you worried about those beefs?
Not one bit! Not one bit am I worried about Bad Azz or Daz. Last week I was at the Vault350 club in downtown Long Beach. I ain't worried about none of that. I fuck with niggas that are Eastside Crip for real. Daz is not no Crip.
Does Daz lie in his rhymes?
I haven't heard Daz rhyme since his very early Death Row days. The only attention I paid to him is when I paid attention to the internet and I saw how he presented himself on there. Let me tell you something homie. If you go to the US Mint, they can spot a counterfeit so fast just because they've been around the real type for so long that a counterfeit doesn't stand a chance. This is where I'm at. Long Beach, Venice, LA, Watts, Compton, Inglewood…if you're from any of those cities and you don't know me, you know somebody that knows me. Daz is irrelevant. If he didn't have a rap deal, he'd be irrelevant in life. I don't even think about Daz. He's a joke.
What about Kurupt?
Man I know Kurupt. I heard recently that him and Daz were reforming as a group. I don't fuck with nobody that fucks with Daz. Kurupt is from Philadelphia. He claims Neighborhood 60's and I fucked with him because he's claiming Neighborhood 6-0. I'm from Neighborhood Crip and people that's from Neighborhood Crip, they're my homies. Kurupt is a rapper from Philadelphia that was accepted by the homies. If in 2050 he wants to get his signals confused and reattach himself to Daz then I don't really have any communication for him. My cousin just happens to fuck with Kurupt. Her name is Gail Gotti. They live under the same roof. That (Kurupt and Daz reuniting) is just a joke to me. I laugh at the fact of him reuniting with Daz.
How did you get connected to Death Row?
There was a cat named Magic from South Central. He shakes and moves in the industry. He owns the Eastside. I've been knowing him since we were young. We shake and move in a lot of the same circles. One of my homies from the 'hood was real close to Magic. One day they were together, Magic has a label named called "Done Deal Records." He had an artist named Eastwood signed to the label. He had a meeting with Suge Knight looking for a label deal for Done Deal Records. My homeboy Big L accompanied Magic to the meeting and my big homie spoke up "you need to meet my little homie." My homie called me and told me where he was at. I shot up there, brought a 16. After I spit that 16 acapella, Suge told me he wanted to do the deal. Based on that initial meeting, we commenced a two-year relationship where he was going to sign me and he never did. He offered me six different deals and I never signed them because I never thought they were adequate. It just never happened. Shortly after, I asked him to remove me from his website because my association with him was going against me in the rap game. I had to meet my G-Unit family…after I asked him that, blessings took place.
What's your relationship with Suge Knight now?
I speak to him from time-to-time. We chop it up. He gives me advice. When an incident took place two months ago in New York and there was rumors that someone got shot, he called me to make sure I was all right. I've been to his home. Everytime I communicate with him there's no hate. I don't feel nothing negative. When it comes to manhood and G shit, I'm Spider Loc and Suge Knight knows Spider Loc.
When we see Suge Knight portrayed in the media, he's looked at like a monster. Is he as bad as he's portrayed?
I think everybody has a string of niceness in them. As far as the monster they try to paint, I feel he's far from the monster. But I do feel that part of that perception, he's caused that himself.
What do you want to say to everybody out there reading the interview?
Just believe me that I've been preserved for this time and the game's been waiting for a nigga like me. I know all the gaps that need to be filled in. I'm here to fill the gaps and I know what you've been waiting on. Y'all could rest assured. I just got to tell the truth. If it comes out of my mouth, you know it's the truth. Even if it embarrasses me. When you hear me spit, it's the truth no matter what light it may put me in. If it comes out of my mouth it's the truth.
source: GUNITWORLD.COM
How you doin' man?
I can't complain. I'm blessed. My health is good, my children are doing good, I'm straight.
Are you officially signed to G-Unit now?
Yes sir.
What made you want to sign with them?
To be honest with you, at the point in my life when I was presented with the opportunity, I was desperately seeking a record deal. They happened to be the label at the top of the game and they had an interest in signing me before I could show them any interest in being signed to them. I had no reason to not want to sign with them.
What did they see in you that made them want to sign you?
To sum it up, I can quote 50 Cent: "I see myself all over again. I got to fuck with him."
Do you feel pressure on G-Unit to sell records?
I understand what another might perceive as pressure in this situation…I take the energy that the pressure causes but I don't take any pressure. The reason I am where I am is because I perform as if I feel the pressure. I really don't feel the pressure. There is no pressure. I've just been doing me from day one, and doing me has gotten me blessed up to this point, so I just continue to do me. The pressure is on the competition.
What do you bring to the game that other dudes in the West aren't doing right now?
I know how to look at words and see things in words that the person who defined the word didn't even see. And also, 97% of the rappers that succeed anything close to platinum on the West Coast claim to be ex-gang-bangers or active gang-bangers. There hasn't been one yet that actually was actually actively involved in any gang activities prior to them having a deal. There's very, very few. A long time ago I realized before I met any G-Unit members, or anybody else, that the best have truest stories matched up with the best possible talent with poetry. The game has been starving for me years ago and it's just been whatever God felt fit to make the path for me to get here.
When did you get involved in gangs?
Involved is a sketchy word, because I've been involved for a long time. Actively, where even my mother knew that this was what I was doing with my life, was when I was 17.
What did your mother say to you when she found out?
She said all the things you could imagine a mother would say to deter you. What she also did was pray. She spent a lot of time on her knees praying and I know her prayers were highly responsible for keeping me safe through all of the dumb, stupid, ignorant things I did.
What was it about the gangs that made you want to join?
I don't know exactly what it was. I could explain to you from being the youngest, being forced to go to private schools, living in Compton, my father living in South Central, it being my only environment. Going to school in the city bus and just being totally aware of my environment. I was most scared of what gang life was but at the same time it was my greatest desire to be a part of it. I wanted to be a part of it probably worse than the people who try to portray it. It just drew me. The whole aura of it drew me to it.
Is there anything positive you took away from being in gangs?
Not actually positive from being in gangs. I think just because I was fucking with the gang lifestyle it drove me into some negative positions in my life like prison. I had to put my mentality of not taking no bullshit to a degree where I'm able to apply that to other levels in my life. I don't allow the untruth to affect me whatsoever. If I hear statements said to me and it misrepresents something, then it's going to be shortly known to the person I'm communicating with that what they're expressing isn't consistent. Death before dishonor has also become one of my life mottos and that type of involvement that I've been involvement in fucking with the gangs in the streets, I don't know if I've ever had that pressure to adapt to those philosophies from the worst things possible that I've done. The hazards that were always present towards my person have always kept me on a real strong defense. A lot of these people run these streets and have been quite active…knock on wood I ain't never been shot. I've been shot at quite a few times because I've been involved in a few weird situations. My homeboy done died in my arms before I watched him get shot to death. Whatever gift was given to me to be alert and pay attention to my surroundings is a gift. I'm definitely blessed to be out there to have been out in the streets and have a minimal amount of harm come to me.
What do you say to kids who want to get into gangs?
I tell them that for me myself, I understand the desire for you to want to fuck with that, but I learned through experience that the shit was a mistake for many reasons. The main reasons why it was a mistake because a high percentage of the time being a gang member brings you a lot of funeral processions and a lot of incarcerations. The shit just don't add up. Then when you think about the very simplistic idea of being upset with an individual or group of individuals just based on the fact that they parents chose to live in another neighborhood other than yours, and now they're your enemy. That's one of the most ignorant things you could pledge yourself to. It's a mistake that I openly made and it's not one that I neither condone or promote. Whenever you hear me speak on my gang experiences, it's only to speak on my experiences. It's not to give it a "thumbs-up." I might not always give it a "thumbs-down." I can look at some of the most negative things in my life and find the positives in it. So I don't necessarily promote it but I feel like if I can expose it to the point where you can understand it enough than maybe something of what I have to say scares you away then that's good enough for me. I don't want to see no young Black motherfucker fuck their's up over no color. I can't help the fact that I love Blue. I can't help the fact that I got my 'hood tattooed on me. I can't help the fact that I love my homeboys. I can't help the fact that I'm not going to let nobody hurt me. Outside of that, I'm not seeking to hurt nobody.
Are you actively involved today?
I'm not actively involved at all. I'm a rapper.
Are you worried that anything you've done in the past can come back to you now?
I'm not worried a thing under God's blue sky. The only thing I fear is the man that created me. The same way I don't feel no pressure, I don't feel no fear.
A year from now, where will you be?
A year from now I'll be in everybody's CD players, everybody's DVD, and I'll be in everbody's heart. Everybody that listens to rap I believe I'll have a place in their heart.
What does 50 Cent expect of you?
To do the best I can possibly do, because whatever he saw in me was good enough to represent him in front of the world. He just wants the best of that.
If you do a song with Fat Joe or Jadakiss…
I won't.
How come?
Because my nigga 50 don't fuck with him. I don't fuck with nobody 50 don't fuck with.
Looking at Game's situation, what happened with Game as far as getting kicked out of G-Unit?
I just believe that he had some confusion going on in his life and he made some unwise decisions at certain times that probably a lot of people could have and would have made if they were in his position. He kind of reaps what he sowed.
Are you worried that could happen to you?
No! That could never happen to me. But I have reaped what I've sown in life. But as far as the G-Unit situation, the way everybody feels, that will never happen with Spider Loc.
Do you have a problem with Game?
I don't have a problem with nobody walking this earth. I'm happy man. My kids are eating man. I'm eating man. I got people concerned about me that I never met. I'm happy.
What are you working on now?
"The Best Kept Secret." That's the title of my album. I'm working on the soundtrack to "Get Rich or Die Tryin," that's gonna be the next G-Unit album. We're doing a mixtape, "Aracknophobia" with Whoo Kid. I'm working all day every day, just working.
What producers are you working with for the album?
I have no idea. I don't have any desire to work with any particular producer. I just want good music. So it don't matter to me as long as the music is right it doesn't matter what his name is.
Who have you worked with so-far?
Da Riffs, Mark Sparks, Sir Jinx, Daryn Vegas…
Are you going to start working with Dre?
50's said that there's some Dre tracks available for my project but we haven't made any active moves to get next to him. But more than once 50 has stated to me that they have some Dre tracks that we're going to fuck with.
How did you get your songs on EA Sports games?
I got a message in my phone from Abby saying that she's good friends with Glasses Malone and she wanted to get me on this EA Sports shit. Abby made it happen, she's a hell of a motherfucker. Outside of that, Abby done got a lot of shit cracking for me.
Being on EA Sports is big, because everyone plays those games, not just Hip Hop heads…what can that exposure do for you?
All I know is I'm a John Madden freak. I've been one for years and it's always been a dream of mine to have a song on one of their albums. I know what it means as a consumer and playing the game. I know how many songs have become familiar to me because I've heard them on the game.
Who's your team?
I play with the Eagles. And I can't be fucked with, so all you rappers who think your good with your thumbs put your paper on the ground and get it crackin'!
You have had beefs with Bad Azz and Daz, are you worried about those beefs?
Not one bit! Not one bit am I worried about Bad Azz or Daz. Last week I was at the Vault350 club in downtown Long Beach. I ain't worried about none of that. I fuck with niggas that are Eastside Crip for real. Daz is not no Crip.
Does Daz lie in his rhymes?
I haven't heard Daz rhyme since his very early Death Row days. The only attention I paid to him is when I paid attention to the internet and I saw how he presented himself on there. Let me tell you something homie. If you go to the US Mint, they can spot a counterfeit so fast just because they've been around the real type for so long that a counterfeit doesn't stand a chance. This is where I'm at. Long Beach, Venice, LA, Watts, Compton, Inglewood…if you're from any of those cities and you don't know me, you know somebody that knows me. Daz is irrelevant. If he didn't have a rap deal, he'd be irrelevant in life. I don't even think about Daz. He's a joke.
What about Kurupt?
Man I know Kurupt. I heard recently that him and Daz were reforming as a group. I don't fuck with nobody that fucks with Daz. Kurupt is from Philadelphia. He claims Neighborhood 60's and I fucked with him because he's claiming Neighborhood 6-0. I'm from Neighborhood Crip and people that's from Neighborhood Crip, they're my homies. Kurupt is a rapper from Philadelphia that was accepted by the homies. If in 2050 he wants to get his signals confused and reattach himself to Daz then I don't really have any communication for him. My cousin just happens to fuck with Kurupt. Her name is Gail Gotti. They live under the same roof. That (Kurupt and Daz reuniting) is just a joke to me. I laugh at the fact of him reuniting with Daz.
How did you get connected to Death Row?
There was a cat named Magic from South Central. He shakes and moves in the industry. He owns the Eastside. I've been knowing him since we were young. We shake and move in a lot of the same circles. One of my homies from the 'hood was real close to Magic. One day they were together, Magic has a label named called "Done Deal Records." He had an artist named Eastwood signed to the label. He had a meeting with Suge Knight looking for a label deal for Done Deal Records. My homeboy Big L accompanied Magic to the meeting and my big homie spoke up "you need to meet my little homie." My homie called me and told me where he was at. I shot up there, brought a 16. After I spit that 16 acapella, Suge told me he wanted to do the deal. Based on that initial meeting, we commenced a two-year relationship where he was going to sign me and he never did. He offered me six different deals and I never signed them because I never thought they were adequate. It just never happened. Shortly after, I asked him to remove me from his website because my association with him was going against me in the rap game. I had to meet my G-Unit family…after I asked him that, blessings took place.
What's your relationship with Suge Knight now?
I speak to him from time-to-time. We chop it up. He gives me advice. When an incident took place two months ago in New York and there was rumors that someone got shot, he called me to make sure I was all right. I've been to his home. Everytime I communicate with him there's no hate. I don't feel nothing negative. When it comes to manhood and G shit, I'm Spider Loc and Suge Knight knows Spider Loc.
When we see Suge Knight portrayed in the media, he's looked at like a monster. Is he as bad as he's portrayed?
I think everybody has a string of niceness in them. As far as the monster they try to paint, I feel he's far from the monster. But I do feel that part of that perception, he's caused that himself.
What do you want to say to everybody out there reading the interview?
Just believe me that I've been preserved for this time and the game's been waiting for a nigga like me. I know all the gaps that need to be filled in. I'm here to fill the gaps and I know what you've been waiting on. Y'all could rest assured. I just got to tell the truth. If it comes out of my mouth, you know it's the truth. Even if it embarrasses me. When you hear me spit, it's the truth no matter what light it may put me in. If it comes out of my mouth it's the truth.
source: GUNITWORLD.COM
