Mozzy<\/a> is all smiles and good energy as he sits in a darkened studio.<\/p>\n\n\tThe West Coast rapper is hard at work on Intrusive Thoughts 2<\/em> \u2014 which he tells me unprompted, without any lead in. That tape will serve as the follow-up to April\u2019s Intrusive Thoughts<\/em>, which is why he\u2019s chatting with Billboard<\/em> in the first place. The album delves even deeper into the trials and tribulations that have come to define some of Mozzy\u2019s best work. His relationship with fame versus the streets, the loss of his loved ones to incarceration, death and more. Like his 2024 record Children of the Slums<\/em>, Intrusive Thoughts<\/em> explores difficult topics head on in the hopes of finding motivation in the darkness.<\/p>\n\n\t\u201cI would appreciate if the youth got some good game up out of it and utilized it through the gangsta s\u2014t that they gotta endure,\u201d Mozzy says of the album. \u201cI done seen a lot of young throw they life away. That s\u2014t heartbreaking and disappointing. So if I can throw a n\u2014a an alley oop and he can cram it and push for it off of that, I\u2019m gonna throw it every time.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tBillboard<\/em> chats with Mozzy about working with CMG, his new album and what the vibe is on the West Coast right now.<\/p>\n\n\tTake me through the recording process of Children of the Slums <\/em>vs. Intrusive Thoughts<\/em>. How did you approach Intrusive Thoughts <\/em>differently? How did the album start to come together?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\tChildren of the Slums<\/em>, I was more reflective of the people that I lost, people that I loved dearly. I think on Intrusive Thoughts <\/em>it\u2019s self reflection. Hoping I made \u2018Pac proud \u2014 I don\u2019t wanna be no role model, it\u2019s self reflection. That\u2019s the difference.<\/p>\n\n\tYou talk about some pretty intense topics on this record. You\u2019ve explored such tough themes dozens of times in your career at this point. Does it ever get emotionally taxing to keep diving into such intense emotions for your music?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\tI like how you said that, \u201cemotionally taxing\u201d \u2014 emotional extortion. Most definitely. But it\u2019s also helped with the healing process. I just wrote a bar the other day: \u201cI think of Skeemo every day, because I\u2019m still grieving,\u201d and he had died a couple of years ago. I\u2019m able to identify that through the music. It naturally ooze out of me \u2014 and when I get to reflecting on what I was really saying in that booth, I can hear that pain, that trauma. So I think it\u2019s very therapeutic.<\/p>\n
\n\tOn \u201cSeven 2\u2019s\u201d you rap, \u201ccleaning up my image, but there\u2019s still a glimpse of residue.\u201d How have you gotten better over the years at navigating your complex journey from a kid from the West Coast projects to the rap star you are now? What lessons have you learned along the way and what kind of \u201cresidue\u201d has been difficult to leave behind?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\tAs far as the residue, that\u2019s just the trenches. Like [Nipsey Hussle] said: \u201cMy circle got smaller, everybody can\u2019t go.\u201d That s\u2014t is heartbreaking, still dealing with losses, n\u2014as goin\u2019 to jail, expiring at an early date. That\u2019s the residue of me staying connected and still loving that part of me, but I\u2019m most definitely cleaning up my image. I\u2019m not talkin\u2019 about nobody dead ones in my music. I\u2019m providing more nutritious bars for the youth. The way I conduct myself, I\u2019m a business man now. I can\u2019t afford to go to jail\u2026 You can\u2019t play in water without gettin\u2019 wet. So it\u2019s about transitioning, bossing yourself up and understanding that you\u2019re bigger than some of these circumstances.<\/p>\n
\n\tHas navigating that journey of bettering yourself been an intentional act that you\u2019ve constantly had to be aware of, or has it become more subconscious now?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\tNah, I think it requires the same amount of intentional energy. I\u2019m forcing myself. I\u2019m currently on paper probation, and it\u2019s like, I gotta walk this thin line. I gotta deal with they stipulations but it\u2019s okay because it\u2019s forcing me to stay within my envelope. It\u2019s forcing me to focus on things that matter. Ain\u2019t nobody gonna come save me.<\/p>\n
\n\tI wanna ask briefly about your bar on \u201c10 Percent,\u201d where you rap, \u201cQuit asking why I signed to CMG\/ Advise you guys not to get me started.\u201d What type of push back have you gotten about your relationship with CMG? What\u2019s your relationship like with Gotti at this point?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\tEverybody\u2019s entitled to their own opinion. So, when I see n\u2014as asking, I be feeling like, \u201cN\u2014a, mind your muthaf\u2014kin\u2019 business. Don\u2019t ask me why I do what the f\u2014k I do. I got us this far, n\u2014a. Let me do my s\u2014t, fall back, watch out.\u201d <\/p>\n
\n\tI\u2019m cut from an independent cloth, so you know my independent loved ones have been rooting for me. So now, to sign is like \u2014 you just exited out the chat, you hear me? [Gotti] my thug, my loved one. Imagine someone walk you in the building and get you a million. How your relationship gonna be with \u2019em?<\/p>\n
\n\tWhat\u2019s changed for you on the business side since inking that deal with CMG?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\tI just learned how majors tweak their projects, run their roll-outs, a lot of political things. I was very asleep on the process and how tedious they is \u2014 the business they stand on is very strict. Independent ain\u2019t that strict, you can kinda do it as you please. [CMG] just on point.<\/p>\n
\n\tHow has your expectation of rap success measured up to the reality of it?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\tAs a kid, I expected this s\u2014t to be like \u2014 you remember how they was trippin\u2019 over Michael Jackson? Bobby Brown, Whitney [Houston]? Even Lil Wayne, the dopest to do it. Remember that Bow Wow era? I thought it was gonna be like that. I didn\u2019t know this s\u2014t was gonna be regular, and 100,000 n\u2014as from each city doin\u2019 the same shit. But it\u2019s a gangsta party. It\u2019s just about being a regular, real n\u2014a. <\/p>\n
\n\tYou gonna meet a lot of entertainers and they gonna be on that entertainment, Hollywood bulls\u2014t. You once looked at him like a super hero, and now it\u2019s like, \u201cF\u2014k that man.\u201d So I feel like I just don\u2019t wanna ever give nobody that feeling. Never do no corny s\u2014t.<\/p>\n
\n\tWhat can you tell me about Intrusive Thoughts 2<\/em>?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\tThere\u2019s most definitely gonna be a Part 2 and you can expect the same things as Part 1. Just more detail, a little more emotional about the situation, etc. I\u2019m not gonna give you the feature list but you know I\u2019m comin\u2019 with my thugs!<\/p>\n
\n\tYou and Millyz just linked on \u201cTrenches Famous\u2026\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\tYou think we need a whole EP or something?<\/p>\n
\n\tI was just gonna ask. Any chance we could get a collab tape?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\tShout out Millyz, that n\u2014a the truth with what he do. One of the dopest to do it. Most definitely, I think we got an EP or somethin\u2019 on the way. <\/p>\n
\n\tWhat is the general feeling on the West Coast right now? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\tIt\u2019s a gangsta party, it\u2019s been a gangsta party, it\u2019s still a gangsta party. That\u2019s the aura, that\u2019s the energy, that\u2019s the vibration. So that\u2019s why you get that out of my project. When you hear this next one that\u2019s gonna tell you the vibes of what the West Coast on right now.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Aller \u00e0 la source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mozzy is all smiles and good energy as he sits in a darkened studio. The West Coast rapper is hard at work on Intrusive Thoughts 2 \u2014 which he tells me unprompted, without any lead in. That tape will serve as the follow-up to April\u2019s Intrusive Thoughts, which is why he\u2019s chatting with Billboard in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-160475","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-musique","et-doesnt-have-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160475","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=160475"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160475\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=160475"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=160475"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=160475"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}