Young Hootie: Interview

Remember this dude from like six years ago? For a variety of reasons, some of which I'm sure you're familiar with and some of which you probably couldn't imagine, I couldn't get this up until literally just now. It should be worth the while though. I asked him about the gay thing down at Morehouse, which he said was way exaggerated. I didn't bother to ask him whether he thought New Miserable Experience was a better album than Illmatic, since I got the idea - based on some of his other responses - that he's probably not even old enough to even know about the Gin Blossoms like that.

To start out, I was just gonna ask you a little bit about the name thing. I read a little bit on the Internet where you were saying this is basically a childhood nickname.
Yeah, yeah, definitely. That's been my name since I was like two years old. My uncle Ahmad(?) gave it to me and he's now deceased. So for me to come in the game and rap, you know, I could've come up with another name, but my type of music, man, is from the heart. I tell you true stories from my life, so I felt it's only right I kept that nickname.

Right, rather than just try to become somebody else now that you got into this.
I felt it was only right to give you who I really am just like I do in my songs. So I kept the name Young Hootie, you know what I mean.

Alright, yeah, and what was the origin of that, anyway?
The origin? Oh, I couldn't even tell you. It's been my name for so long and the funny thing about that name is I really didn't like it coming up, you know what I mean. I'd try to get away from it because, you know what I'm saying, it's kinda silly when you first hear it. People would try to say Hootie & The Blowfish. I went to sixth grade and I told all my friends from the neighborhood like, "Yo, don't be up there calling me Hootie. Don't call me Hootie, call me Lamar(?)." First day of school, man, people I didn't even know were running up to me calling me Hootie, so it was like a rap, you know what I mean. That's been my name for so long that that's me and I enjoy it and I embrace it.

Alright, moving on, tell me a little bit about Compton. You come from Compton, right?
Yeah, I'm from Compton.

You hear a lot of crazy things, like I was just reading the other day that Compton doesn't have a police force anymore.
They got the sheriffs in there. They got rid of the Compton police.

So is it pretty crazy back there or is it kinda laid back or what?
I mean, Compton, that's my comfort zone. So may if I brought you to my city you'd think it's crazy, but I'm comfortable in my city. We're on track to be the murder capital this year, you know what I mean, so a lot of people are dying and that's definitely not a good thing. So Compton, you know what I mean, it is what it is. I like it, but at the same time it's fucked up.

Yeah, I imagine that might be hard to understand for someone that's not from around there, just being able to feel comfortable in a lot of craziness like that.
Yeah, definitely, it'd probably be hard for somebody else to come in here and try to figure out what's going on, because it's a whole lot of politics. You have to know what's going on in the city in order to survive. If you don't know what's going on, you'll be dead real fast, you know what I mean.

Alright, yeah. I also read recently about something called Operation Nutcracker. Do you know anything about that?
No, I never heard of that. What's that?

Some shit having to do with the situation out there with the police. Did you hear anything about them shooting some 13-year-old kid out there?
Yeah, yeah. The police, man, that's definitely another messed up situation. You know, you got the gang situation, but the police, they're not any better, you know what I mean. Like not too long ago they shot a man like a hundred fifteen times. A hundred fifteen rounds. The dude didn't even have a gun; he was just in his car.

They shot someone a hundred fifteen times? That's crazy.
That's definitely crazy. Somebody caught it on camera and it just looked like total mayhem. I don't even think anybody got in trouble for it. That's how fucked up it is out here with the police.

So which would you say is worse, the gangs or the police? Which one do you fear most when you go outside?
I don't fear anything when I step outside, to tell you the truth. I'm just cautious. I gotta watch for both of them: I gotta watch for someone trying to kill me and I gotta watch for the police trying to do something to me at the same time.

I've been seeing a lot lately about the new West Coast. What's that about?
The West Coast is crazy right now, man. It's just a lot of new artists, and not just people out here rapping, but people that have the appeal and the situation to make it in the mainstream, you know what I mean, and make it commercially but at the same time keep it real, you know I mean. So it's like you got artists like myself, Young Hootie, [and a couple of other guys]. These are people that are making noise in the streets and on the industry side, so that's definitely what the new West Coast is, man. And it's a bunch of other people doing their thing to, so the New West is crazy, man.

As far as artists on a commercial level, you had The Game, but then before that you had Guerilla Black. Are you familiar with him at all?
Yeah, I'm familiar with them, especially with the music they put out. I meet both of them on occasion, but I don't know 'em personally. They were just the first dudes to come out on a label, you know what I mean, and make some song, but there's a whole bunch of other guys that are coming after that. The West Coast is crazy right now. Take my word for it.

So besides just being out in Compton, you also went to Morehouse.
Yeah, I also go to school down there at Morehouse. Shout out to all the kids. College is one of the best decisions I ever made in my life. To go to college, it really helped me get to where I am today, you know what I mean. It's not just like I came from Compton and started rapping and made my name in the industry. I went to school and it helped me build my character and be able to have the mind capacity to do the things I do now. I wanna stress to everybody out there and believe me but hear me talk, man: School is one of the best decisions I ever made and I have a lot of fun at school. College is... that's what's up, man.

So what is it like being down there? Do people follow your rap career out in California when you're down at Morehouse?
See, the crazy thing about it, when I'm down at school, I usually try to be on the low. Cuz at school, it's totally, different for me man. I came up from Compton and I had to learn how to maneuever in the gang world. It's actually like a war zone where I'm from, so I went down there, it was totally different, a different kind of people. So I was like, I wanna separate these two worlds so I can go down here and get my mind right. So I wasn't trying to stick to my rap career at school. but it's crazy, I started getting in magazines and shit and people in class would notice that was me and come up to me and ask me about and I'd be like damn, that's crazy.

Do you ever do any shows down there or do you mostly perform out in LA?
Yeah, I just do most of my shows in LA, cuz like I said, I be trying to be on the low in Atlanta.

It's a lot of big industry cats down in Atlanta too, right?
Yeah, definitely, the industry's popping down there too. Like I said, I just try to do my school thing when I'm in Atlanta, but the industry will force me to do otherwise.

Are you done down there or how long do you have left?
No, I've got like a year and a half left and I'm trying to make it go as slow as possible because I love school. But this year is really going to be trying for me because I got a bunch of shows coming up... my name is getting bigger everyday, so it's like I'm not sure how I'll be able to make it to school, but I'm going to try to knock it out because I love school, but love rap at the same time.

Yeah, I can definitely recommend trying to stretch it out as long as possible, regardless of what you do afterwards. Because when it's over, that's it.
Right, I understand that. Older people, they tell me that. I'm really the type of dude to listen to older people and the OGs in my hood, because you know with age comes wisdom. They tell me that all the time and I try to stress it to my boys. Enjoy it while you can, because when it's over, it's over. So I try to make it go as slow as possible when I'm at school. It's something totally different than I've experienced in my life, and I love it.

Moving on, how long have you been rapping?
How long have I been rapping? Yeah, I've been rapping since about 2001.

You were in high school at that point?
Yeah I was like, almost a senior in high school. Like second semester of eleventh grade I think I started picking up my pen, you know what I mean, and expressing my feelings on wax. My first time being in the studio was probably like my senior year of high school, somebody allowed me to come in the studio and do a record. The record I recorded, some people in my neighborhood heard it and liked it, so that's what inspired me to do it, you know what I mean.

So then after that you got into the mixtape scene?
Yeah, yeah, I saw how big the mixtape thing was getting, so I would put out mixtapes on my own. Like, before I got a record I would do these mixtapes and I would press up posters and wake up four in the morning putting up snipes and stuff so everybody could see me. I would press up my own CDs and I would get up at four in the morning because I wanted to go to all of the hoods in Compton. You know, I got enemies in Compton, but I still wanted them to see me, so I'd get up at four in the morning and I'd go to the streets and I'd be in the hood putting up posters so when they got up that morning they would see me. I've got a new mixtape coming out whether you like it or not.

So at this point it was just you pretty much handling everything?
Yeah, I was doing that from school. When I went to school, my heart just started boiling and thinking of ideas and shit to do and how to do my thing. So me and my boy, we purchased some studio equipment and we used to just cut records in the dorm room, you know what I mean. And I would print up the CDs and do the mix and do all that shit, man, and get back to the city and put 'em out the best way I could. And Larceny, they saw me with those tapes, they listened to the songs that I had and saw the talent I had but it was rough, you know what I mean. It wasn't the greatest shit, but they worked with me, and here I am today.

Alright, I had some people from the Internet give me questions to ask you, so you wanna go ahead and try that now?
Yeah OK, no problem.

Alright, uh... [long, awkward pause], so apparently down at Morehouse there are a lot of gay guys down there?
Yeah, there's definitely a certain amount of gay people. It's not as many as people might think, but there is a gay population. I'm not afraid to say that.

Alright yeah, it sounded to me like they might have exaggerated a little bit.
With Morehouse being an all male school, it gets exaggerated a little bit, you know what I mean, and then with the down low brothers, it definitely gets exaggerated, but there is a gay population of people there. I don't approve of it, I don't think it's cool, but it is what it is. People have their own opinions about things and that's fine.

Do you ever listen to any music outside of hip-hop at all?
Yeah, I definitely do.

Um, like what kind of groups?
Uh, a lot of people don't know this about me, you know what I mean, I'm from Compton, I'm from a gang, but I like listening to groups like Maroon 5, Yellowcard, Avril Lavigne, you know what I mean. I appreciate their music. I'm not from their reality and they're not from my reality, but I still appreciate their music; I think it's great music, you know what I'm saying.

What about Hootie & The Blowfish? You ever listen to them?
No, I haven't had a chance to listen to them much. I guess I got teased in school so much I never got around to listening to them.

Young Hootie's next mixtape should be available some time next month at LarcenyEntertainment.com