ALL STAR 2011 - Ozone Magazine
ALL STAR 2011 - Ozone Magazine ALL STAR 2011 - Ozone Magazine
You mentioned your situation with Akon. Areyou signed to Konvict Music?Te Money: We’re doing the same thing we didwith Dolla; it’s a joint venture with KonvictMusic. We’re also still working on the realityTV show. It’s bigger than just music. The musicreally comes last; it comes easily to us. It’s moreabout us getting along and reaching out tohelp somebody else.What’s the focus of the reality show?Te Money: Just tryin’ to get out of the hood.A few weeks ago I told Lefty to come to the“my grandpa’sbeen to the jointand probably hisgrandpa too. everykid looks forthat fatherlyattention orrole models.you’re just a kidand don’t knowwhat directionto go, so youwant someone tolook up to. theyteach you thatshit and you pickit up. it passesdown to everygeneration.” -chinoBeverly Center. He lives like twenty minutesaway from there and had never been therebefore, even though he’s lived [in Los Angeles]his whole life. L.A. is separated by gangs, andwhen you grow up here, you feel like, “This ismy hood, so what do I need to go over therefor? Matter of fact, we beefin’ with them overthere so I’ma stay right here and protect myhood.”Lefty: Yeah, I just stay in my comfort zone.So you’re broadening your horizons. Do yousee the gang situation in L.A. getting betteror worse?Te Money: For me, since I grew up, I’d say it’sdefinitely calmed down. Especially since theRodney King [riots], L.A. has calmed down andis getting along more. It’s more Crip on Cripbeef than anything, and the blacks and brownsdon’t get along period. It’s kinda out of ourcontrol. I didn’t start the gang, I just grew uphere and got involved in it. Somebody’s gottago talk to the muthafucker that started all thisbullshit.Lefty mentioned that he didn’t want his sonto join a gang. If you had it your way, twentyyears from now, would you have gangs eliminatedperiod?Te Money: Nah, not really, because sometimesgangs are family. Some people get involvedwith gangs because they don’t have a family;sometimes that’s all you have.Lefty: They got love for you and you feel comfortablearound all your homies.Chino: Not every gang is [violent] either. Alot of gangs started out as clubs and just gotlabeled as “gangs.” There are a lot of clubs justfighting for rights and fighting for our people,and that’s what we’re here today to do.How do you think you can keep the familyand community aspect of the gangs but takethe violence out of it?Te Money: Everybody’s an individual. You can’tstop somebody from what they wanna do,you can only tell ‘em. I got homies that wentto school and were on the honor roll and wenton to play [professional] basketball and stillcome back to this neighborhood. Then I’vegot homies that shoulda played [professional]basketball but instead they were like, “I needthis gun, this dope, this money right now.”If you had grown up in the suburbs, where doyou think you would have ended up?Te Money: Lefty would probably still be gangbangin’.Some people are just fascinated by it.It depends on the individual. Sometimes youcan be born into it if your mom and dad areinto it. But I know some people that grew up inthe suburbs and just started comin’ over to ourneighborhood.Lefty: Some people are fascinated by the70 // OZONE MAG
lifestyle and think it’s cool. A lot of people startoff in it when they’re young, and after they’vebeen through so much, they’re like, “Fuck thisshit, I wanna get out of here.” I’m 21 and I’vebeen doing this since I was 12. After so long,you really just wanna get out of this shit. Yousee there’s no way out. You gotta shake thatshit off and realize [life] is bigger than gangbangin’in the neighborhood. You gotta look atthe bigger picture.Chino: A lot of times, it’s family-inherited. Mygrandpa’s been to the joint and probably hisgrandpa too. Every kid looks for that fatherlyattention or role models. You’re just a kid anddon’t know what direction to go, so you wantsomeone to look up to. We’re livin’ in the hoodso a lot of times your parents are busy workin’,tryin’ to get us out of the hood. You end upplayin’ ball with the dudes on the block andthey stay hustling. They teach you that shitand you pick it up. It passes down to everygeneration.Is there anything else you want to add?Lefty: My message is that you can do the rightthing in any situation if you try. I was at mylowest point in my life, and I coulda ended upin prison. I tried to put my effort into somethingpositive and I got into a better situationovernight. If you try, shit could be different.Don’t never give up and always keep yourhead up.Chino: I want to stress the point that you’vegotta be thankful for what you’ve got. Whenyou ain’t got it, it makes a big difference. A lotof times we take stuff for granted and end upin a predicament and forget what we’re reallytryin’ to do. I just want to help my people andtake care of my family and do something positiveso I can show the next man a way out. I’mjust gonna try to remain humble and do this tothe fullest.Te Money: We’re just tryin’ to promote positivity,not just in L.A., but state to state. To all thegangbangers across the world: we’re gettingalong, and you guys should do the same. Putall your positive energy into yourself and yourfamily.Where can people find out more informationabout your music and your movement?Te Money: Our website is www.TheGangEnt.com. There’s links up there to Twitter andMyspace, and we’ve got our music, photos,and interviews up there. //OZONE MAG // 71
- Page 20 and 21: fense to that. Do you believe in Je
- Page 22 and 23: goal you want to see this generatio
- Page 24 and 25: 40 GLOCC, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS BIGBAD
- Page 26 and 27: song by “40 Glocc.” It kinda pu
- Page 28 and 29: TERRACEMARTINWords by Randy RoperPh
- Page 30 and 31: YA BOYWords by D-Ray30 // OZONE MAG
- Page 32 and 33: 32 // OZONE MAG
- Page 34 and 35: NEWBOYZWords by Julia BeverlyPhoto
- Page 36 and 37: is in a good state, and it feels go
- Page 38 and 39: THE PACKThe Bay Area foursome follo
- Page 40 and 41: dance flavor. The album is called W
- Page 42 and 43: NIOTHA GIFTWords by Ni SweetPhoto b
- Page 44 and 45: PROBLEMWordsby Julia BeverlyPhoto b
- Page 46 and 47: names I just mentioned are included
- Page 48 and 49: JAYROCKWords by Julia BeverlyPhoto
- Page 50 and 51: AFTER GETTING RELEASED FROM WARNERB
- Page 52 and 53: MESSYMARVWords by Julia Beverly52 /
- Page 54 and 55: MESSY MARVEverybody knows you’re
- Page 56 and 57: DOMKENNEDYWords by Randy RoperPhoto
- Page 58 and 59: 25th Hour. I started up with my cou
- Page 60 and 61: BOBBYBRACKINSWords by Julia Beverly
- Page 62 and 63: It probably won’t peak for anothe
- Page 64 and 65: 64 // OZONE MAGFORMER GANGBANGERS (
- Page 66 and 67: Tell us about The Gang.Te Money: Ch
- Page 68 and 69: Jim Brown started called “I Can,
- Page 72 and 73: AFTER AN APPEALS COURT OVERTURNEDHI
- Page 74 and 75: How did you learn how to read?One A
- Page 76: 76 // OZONE MAG
lifestyle and think it’s cool. A lot of people startoff in it when they’re young, and after they’vebeen through so much, they’re like, “Fuck thisshit, I wanna get out of here.” I’m 21 and I’vebeen doing this since I was 12. After so long,you really just wanna get out of this shit. Yousee there’s no way out. You gotta shake thatshit off and realize [life] is bigger than gangbangin’in the neighborhood. You gotta look atthe bigger picture.Chino: A lot of times, it’s family-inherited. Mygrandpa’s been to the joint and probably hisgrandpa too. Every kid looks for that fatherlyattention or role models. You’re just a kid anddon’t know what direction to go, so you wantsomeone to look up to. We’re livin’ in the hoodso a lot of times your parents are busy workin’,tryin’ to get us out of the hood. You end upplayin’ ball with the dudes on the block andthey stay hustling. They teach you that shitand you pick it up. It passes down to everygeneration.Is there anything else you want to add?Lefty: My message is that you can do the rightthing in any situation if you try. I was at mylowest point in my life, and I coulda ended upin prison. I tried to put my effort into somethingpositive and I got into a better situationovernight. If you try, shit could be different.Don’t never give up and always keep yourhead up.Chino: I want to stress the point that you’vegotta be thankful for what you’ve got. Whenyou ain’t got it, it makes a big difference. A lotof times we take stuff for granted and end upin a predicament and forget what we’re reallytryin’ to do. I just want to help my people andtake care of my family and do something positiveso I can show the next man a way out. I’mjust gonna try to remain humble and do this tothe fullest.Te Money: We’re just tryin’ to promote positivity,not just in L.A., but state to state. To all thegangbangers across the world: we’re gettingalong, and you guys should do the same. Putall your positive energy into yourself and yourfamily.Where can people find out more informationabout your music and your movement?Te Money: Our website is www.TheGangEnt.com. There’s links up there to Twitter andMyspace, and we’ve got our music, photos,and interviews up there. //OZONE MAG // 71
Change language