MTV’s Direct Effect boasted his mixtape Industry Co-Sign II is packing more heat than the last four episodes of The Wire.
L.G. is standing at success’ doorstep. Over the years, he’s been featured heavy on mixtapes by DJ Envy, Big Mike, Sickamore, DJ
Drama, Absolute and DJ Vlad…just to name a few. As both The Source‘s April ’04 Unsigned Hype elect and one of MTV’s Direct Effect Mixtape Monday picks, it looks like L.G. is moments away from major label recognition. For L.G., it’s not a matter of anymore, just when…His destiny is a turn of a knob away.
When did you know you wanted to be a rapper?
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I have an older brother that was heavy into hip-hop, and he would come home from the studio and play new material. So of course, me being a young shorty, I appreciated that. He put me on to Big Daddy Kane, Slick Rick, Kool G Rap, LL. I started loving it. I used to do it just to see if I could do it. As time went on, I started freestyling. That was my thing back in the day. My peoples were always telling me, why don’t you write it down? I forced myself to do it. I started noticing I was good. People were respecting what I was doing. At that point I was like, I really need to make something out of this. I think there might be a future in this. Just from people telling me constantly that they believed in me and I was nice, and I was better than a lot of MCs that had deals. That gave me confidence.
What does Lord’s Gift mean?
After learning how nice I was and getting the respect I was getting, I started believing, It ain’t that I’m the nicest dude in the world. It’s something that I’m bringing to these people, that they can respond to, that they can believe in, or that they feel is so different, so to the left of what they usually hear. I feel like I’m a gift, like I’m something different. I was put here for a reason, to do my thing. Cause the average artist now, they talk about how rich they are, which is all good. But I can’t relate to it. I’m in the hood. I’m broke. There’s nobody really speaking to me. I got rent to pay. I got girl problems. I get my heart broken. I fall in love. Nobody’s talking about that. But I do that. I may not have a deal right now because I do, but that’s what it is. I’m not trying to settle and be like everyone else and get a deal. I got to be myself. That’s the only way I’m going to prosper.
I read you went to college.
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I went to Delaware State University for four years with all my dudes from around the way. We experienced a lot there.
What was the last job you had?
Working with kids in an after school center in Brownsville. Ages 5-13. It was in the hood so I wanted to be a positive influence on them. And I was writing. So that helped me also because I realized a lot of things that I put in my music, these kids pay attention to. They know artist’s albums word for word more than I do.
Talk about your company, Dreamz R Real.
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It’s a production company, management company and promotional company. We throw parties and do things to promote the artists, me and Kenny Dark. Basically we raise revenue for whatever projects we got coming up and keep people aware of what we’re doing on the music side. We have two producers, J.Fess and b>Lmazeg. B [Bonsu Thompson, Music Editor, XXL] is my right hand man and we’ve been doing this for years. He recognized talent and wanted to see me prosper. We had a vision. We sat down one day and decided we needed to control our own destiny, do as much as we can. There’s so much to be done. We have a team. We’ve been riding together for years.
We started from scratch maybe 3-4 years ago. We got the beats, studio. We use the party money for our music. We try to do as much as we can on our own so people respect us, and they do. Labels and A&R look at us now. We’re doing it. And when
labels do offer us something, they can’t offer us no bullshit. Ultimately, we want to be our own label.
What has been your biggest success?
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I was mentioned on MTV’s Direct Effect Mixtape Mondays. I was featured as the hottest mixtape for Industry Co-Sign II. They said “packing more heat than the last four episodes of the The Wire. That made me feel a whole lot better. Especially when I got my mom asking me why I don’t have a job. She believes in me but she doesn’t understand the grind and sacrifice it takes. The world is starting to know my name.
How do you get on so many mixtapes?
Being at the right place at the right time. Going to industry events, making connections, meeting people face to face, giving out my CDs, politicking, letting them know you’re a real dude and developing relationships. I don’t believe in paying nobody to get on a mixtape.
I also read that your dad was a heroin addict. How has that affected your life?
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It impacted me tremendously. I was just writing a rhyme and one of my lines was, “I don’t even know if my pops is dead or alive.” I haven’t spoken to him in so long, and he lives in Brooklyn. He had an addiction and tried to kick it but it didn’t work. I had to become a man through trial and error. It is what it is. I ain’t going to lie and say I don’t have a grudge against him. He chose drugs over being a man and taking care of his responsibilities. It’s only going to make me be a better father. I’ll give 120%.
Talk about your collaboration with Scram Jones for “When Animals Attack.” It’s like a modern-day “Reservoir Dogs.”
My manager gave him my CD and he was loving it. He said, “I’ll give him some beats.” He gave my manager a beat CD and there was this joint. It was bananas. That was the one Papoose took. I heard it and wanted it. I thought “When Animals Attack.” We recorded over a different beat than the one I originally heard. I got the four hottest upcoming dudes. I was feeling Saigon. I had met him a few times. My manager knew Grafh. Curtainz from Brooklyn. It came out lovely.
How’d you hook up with Alchemist?
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He’s a cool dude. Bonsu gave him a CD. Next thing he was quoting my lines. We kicked it, recorded. He loved the song so much he asked that I perform that song at his album release party at SOB‘s [in NYC]. He’s a real dude, a great producer and a genuinely nice person.
So right now, Dreamz R Real is your full-time job?
This is what I believe in. It’s easy to get a job and make somebody else rich. Or you can start your own company and control your own destiny and get people working with you. This is a 24-hour thing for me. Cause everything I sleep, eat and dream is Dreamz Z Real. I’m always thinking. This is a lifestyle for me. This is what we do. We breathe and eat this. If anything messes up I can blame myself. I ain’t got to blame nobody else. It’s not even a question anymore. It’s inevitable. It’s a matter of time. I just have time now to perfect my craft so I don’t waste my recording budget later. I’m a problem now. I’m going to be a beast when it eventually happens.
