SPICE 1 (March 2008) | Interview By: Nima Etminan

       Dubcnn linked up with the legendary Spice 1 for a three part interview, his first in-depth interview since he was shot late last year. Spice has fully recovered and is back in the studio, and took the time to tell dubcnn all about the night of the shooting, the circumstances, and his opinion on the gun laws.

This is Part 1 of 3, and a very emotional Spice 1 doesn't hold his tongue on anything, spitting that rawness that his fans are used to from his music, look out for Part 2 where we discuss his upcoming album "Home Street Home".

As always we have both the transcript and the audio for you to check and please feel free to send any feedback regarding the interview to: nima@dubcnn.com

 

Interview was done by phone in March 2008

Questions Asked By : Nima Etminan

Spice 1 Gave Dubcnn.com A Shoutout! Click Here

Full Interview In Audio : Here

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Related Media:

Spice 1 - Carried By Six (ft. Daz)

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Dubcnn: Spice 1! How you doing man, thanks a lot for your time.

Shit I'm alright man, just holding it down. I'm back in the game and doing my thizzle, you dig?


Dubcnn: You know everybody wants to know how you recovered from the shooting and what your current condition is...

Man... It was good, the recovery was like a miracle man. Everybody knows I'm a rider, with that said and the help from God, I'm back! It took a while, I was in the hospital for a few months, cause the bullet went through my lung and my lung collapsed, but I just did my first show last weekend since that shit happened, so I'm back!


Dubcnn: For those that don't know, what exactly went down that day where you got attacked?

I guess it was some cat trying to break into my truck, and he didn't know I was sitting in there. He saw a big ass nigga coming at him and shot! *laughs* I don't blame him, shit I'm 6'1, I weigh 220 pounds, and dude was kinda small... I woulda shot too with a big ass nigga coming at me like that, but he was trying to break into my truck while I was sitting in it, and he got scared and shot and ran at the same time.


Dubcnn: Have they found out who was behind it and the reasons behind it?

Nah. I don't think the nigga is stupid enough to go tell somebody he did that shit. It never got back to me, cause if it did, I'd probably be in the penitentiary for murder, like a muthafucka. Shit, this little scary ass, bitch ass muthafucka trying to break into my car, probably a crackhead muthafucka or something, some little young kid and shit, a little buster ass nigga.


Dubcnn: How would you say the incident affected you, what impact did it have?

I mean the only impact it had on me was making me realize that a nigga only got one life to live. It ain't like I didn't know that before, but you can just go at any time, whether it be getting killed by a bitch ass nigga a little punk ass buster muthafucker, or you can be killed by a hard ass nigga from the hood. Or you can get killed by the cops or anybody, it's all about timing. If you're not ready to die, or if God ain't ready for you to go, then it ain't your time, but any of us can be dropped out here at any minute, it ain't nobody allergic to bullets, that shit affects everybody. No supermans out in this muthafucka, unless they're built outta Teflon, or if their skin is out of Teflon and they got metal plates around their organs and shit.

Everybody is prone to get shot, everybody can be touched out in this muthafucka. I already knew that, but it's just that when it comes down to it, there is no self defence law in California. So I guess when somebody comes at you like that and shoots you, you're just supposed to lay there and die. And it's crazy, cause don't nobody wanna sit there and let a muthafucka shoot them while they just lay there and get shot and just leave it up to the police and that's it? You know what I'm saying?

There is no self defence law, if a dude shoots you, and you shoot back at him, then they're just gonna call that murder, they're not gonna call it self defence out here, because in California, there is no self defence law! I guess you're just supposed to lay there and die for these muthafuckas, but I'm not gonna do that.


Dubcnn: Soon after the shooting you posted a picture on the internet of you in the hospital with the laptop throwing up the Dub, was it important to you to let the fans know that ain't nothing changed?

Yeah, it really was. All of my fans know that ain't no muthafuckin' punk ass nigga mark ass muthafucka trying to break into my truck gonna stop nothing! He ain't stopping shit! I jog everyday, I'm back, my lungs is right, that muthafucka didn't stop shit! Hopefully, the police gets him. He better hope that the cops get his ass before me or any of my niggas, cause I don't give a fuck right now, so... I don't give a fuck if the nigga is 16 or 55, he got to go! I'm popping at his ass.

He got some slugs coming when he see me, or if I ever realize who he is, or if he ever slips up and tells somebody who he is and I figure it out, then it's war, all out war! But as long as I don't know who it is, then I can't do shit. The bitch ass nigga don't wanna reveal hisself, then there ain't shit I can do, it's like you're in the dark and don't nobody turn on the lights for you. You know what I'm saying?


Dubcnn: Many of the artists we've intereviewed recently have sent their regards, how was the reaction from artists and fans after the shooting?

A lot of my fans were pissed off, they were like "I wanna kill the muthafucka!" A Spice 1 fan is a damn fool, you know what I'm saying? A Spice 1 fan is a straight gangsta, that's what I mean by that, he or she ain't gonna back down to shit! Anybody that ever listened to any of my CD's, they know goddamn well this ain't nothing but G gangsta all day over here, no matter how they put it. My fans are gonna act the same way, they're pissed off over this shit, they wanna find the muthafucka and shoot him! Believe me, there's a lynch mob after his ass, this nigga is like Frankenstein right now, he got the whole city chasing his ass!

It's just so fucked up that a bitch ass nigga can just run up on your window and blast on you and run off like a little pussy, and you can't do a damn thing about it because he won't reveal hisself, he won't say nothing. Your fans are wondering what's happening, did you ever find the muthafucka, the cops are still trying to find him, and they ain't gonna find him. The cops still got all of my jewellery and my clothes and all of that shit talking about evidence, I had to buy some new jewellery and shit because they got all my shit. So it's been wild man, hospital bills are way high up there, the bullet is still in my back! If a nigga would've have at least just had a slight chance of shooting this nigga back, he would've been dead than a muthafucka a long time ago!

The night that he shot me, I was just sitting in my car in my moms driveway, sleeping in my moms driveway! I had smoked hella weed I was high as a muthafucka and I didn't wanna wake my mom up anyway, that's why I fell asleep cause she had to go to work at like 6am. So I just rested in the car, and this muthafuckin' bitch ass nigga had the balls to come up to my car and shoot and run at the same time! I mean that just makes me so fuckin' mad, it's ridiculous! I know the Bible says vengeance belongs to the Lord and all of that, but I don't know if I'ma be able to control my emotions once I figure out who this nigga is, you know?


Dubcnn: What is that gonna change though? Are you just talking about personal satisfaction or what is that gonna get you?

I mean, personal satisfaction! If somebody slaps you in the face, instead of turning the cheek, you bomb on they ass! I don't know, it's just how I feel! But you never know what the feeling would be once it all comes down to it or if it ever comes down to it, but it's hard to be humble after that shit happens to you. You can't just get shot and be humble about it, ain't nobody ever did that. Unless they was a preacher or a priest or something, but I'm a street nigga, I can't be getting shot like that and keep thinking everything is cool and just keep walking around like everything is nice, and fine and dandy, cause it's not!

That shit is gonna affect me for the rest of my life, I'll still feel the bullet in my arm for the rest of my life, and my back and shit, my kids have nightmares thinking I'm dead and shit, all because of this bitch ass nigga, buster ass nigga and him wanting some goddamn stereo equipment out of my truck. Hospital bills hella high and shit, 70-80 thousand dollars, all because this bitch ass nigga wanted some equipment out my muthafuckin' truck, and got scared when he seen a nigga coming at him and he wants to run. All because of this!

Nigga if you gonna rob a muthafucka, if you gonna shoot a muthafucka, make sure it's some real money in that car or make sure it's some real shit out there cause it ain't even worth it! Now, this nigga's life is mine, his ass is mine, he's gonna be looking over his back for the rest of his muthafuckin' life, cause I'm there, I'm looking for him and I'm coming! All you muthafuckas out there, if ya'll gonna get down, my message all of the jackers out there, all of the niggas that think they're hard, little bitch ass niggas running around with pistols and guns like they're hard and shit, you ain't seen nothing nigga! Shoot a muthafucka at point blank range and do it real G over some real shit, not over some car stereo equipment, bitch ass muthafuckin' crackhead bitch ass niggas.

That's a crackhead move! If any of you niggas is out there shooting niggas over car equipment, that's a muthafuckin' crackhead move, you're a creackhead, even if you don't smoke crack, that's a crackhead move if I ain't never seen one in my muthafuckin' life! Nigga bust for some real money, some millions, some G's! The shooter didn't even know I was in the car, so he had to be trying to either steal my car or steal what was in my car, and none of that is worth getting shot over, period. I don't give a fuck what it is in there, TV's, rim's whatever the fuck, ain't none of that shit worth getting shot over! It's just some dumb ass niggas out here. Niggas slanging their mommas dope!

When I was 15-16 years old I was out on the block slanging crack to these niggas mommas, and now they done had babys and these niggas running around, crackbabys acting some goddamn fools! So I mean shit, it's just a crazy fucked up cruel ass world out there, and muthafuckas who don't realize that will end up in the hospital or dead. Everything ain't dandy and fuckin' beautiful, shit is crazy, this is real life out here. I could have been laid the fuck out in front of my momma over this bitch ass nigga wanting some equipment out of my truck, or a TV, some rims or speakers or some shit. Shit ain't worth it.


Dubcnn: Yeah that was a crazy week, that shit with you happened, and I think like a day later Pimp C passed away.

Yeah! That was fucked up, waking up in the hospital and finding out that Pimp C was really dead and shit. That was like the real kicker, on top of everything that happened. My homeboy from Texas died! What he died from I don't know, you hear a lot of different stories just like you hear about me. But the fact remains that my nigga is dead and that was a sad day in Hip-Hop just like when 'Pac died, Biggie died and when I got shot muthafuckas thought I was gonna die, and I could've been dead. That's just by the grace of God, God decided to bring Pimp C up there with him and leave me down here, maybe I got some more work to do before I go up to ghetto heaven. That's a new song I got on my album, "Ghetto Heaven", so we're really taking that shit serious.


Dubcnn: The first track you released afterwards was "Carried By Six" featuring Daz, tell us how that song came about.

I knew a lot of people wanted to know what really happened and how it went down and shit, and I figured the best way for me to explain it is me making a song about it. I just let everybody know that all my shit has been real over the years, and I wanted them to hear what happened. They say I described some vivid stories and tales, so I figured if I make a song about it then everybody can kinda picture in their head what happened. I'll probably end up making a video about it. But that's what really happened, no extras, none of that shit. Everything was real about it, and what I was basically saying in the song is what I was saying at first: ain't no self defence law in California. I'd rather be judged by twelve, going to the penitentiary and still have my life, than being carried by six muthafuckas in a coffin.

That's the whole point of the song. We as Americans just gotta sit there and die and take slugs to the muthafuckin' head and expect the cops to take care of it when you're dead and gone? It says in the declaration of independence that we got the right to bear arms, especially when you're protecting your life! That's my life I'm trying to protect, my life was a gift from God! No human being ever gave me life except for my moms and my life is gift from God, I'm not gonna sit back and let somebody take that shit, you know? Just because they have a gun and I don't! That shit ain't right!

Out here you're supposed to lay down and die? Fuck that, these people is out of their fuckin' mind if they think that people is gonna walk around here with people jacking, stealing, robbing, all kinds of shit, criminals out here with guns and shit, and I know, cause I used to be one my muthafuckin' self! So there shouldn't be no way in hell that I should be walking around here without no muthafuckin' pistol! I got six prior gun cases, that's all from trying to protect myself, not cause I'm out there tryign to rob or shoot nobody, it's trying to protect my life and what I have and what I've accumulated over the years. I guess as a black man, or just as a ghetto individual in general, just me being from the hood in general no matter the color, it just matters to them what I look like and what they think my actions could be.

But basically I was just trying to protect myself, and after I caught the six muthafuckin' gun cases, I figured I ain't gotta take my pistol everywhere. Now I end up almost getting killed in front of my momma's house, where I'm supposed to be safe at! I don't understand where the fuckin' logic is in that shit, where they say "You can't carry a pistol" and then they got the most robberies and jackings out here in California than damn near anywhere! Then they tell people not to carry guns? It's like you're set up to get killed out in this muthafucka. Then when they shoot you one time, you just gotta scream and run and lay down and die, but don't nobody wanna do that shit! Don't no real person or no real soldier wanna sit there and take no slugs to his chests and his arms and all of that shit and can't do nothing about it! These people is fuckin' crazy with the self defence law out there!

Everywhere else, Texas, Mexico, certain places where shit don't even happen like it do out here, and these muthafuckas got the right to walk around with firearms! The mistakes that I've made when I was younger, I wouldn't even call them mistakes, cause I was 21 years old, walking around with 50-60 thousand dollars worth of jewellery on. So for me to carry a gun back then, that made a whole lot of fuckin' sense! As far as what I'm doing now, I'm a legendary rap artist and I have a lot of nice things. For me not go have no firearm with me now would be stupidity, it would be dumb! I've already been shot just because of my car. Right now I've got on maybe 20-30 thousand dollars worth of jewellery, I can't just be walking around like this with no pistol.

They shouldn't put the shit out there for us to buy, if we're gonna get killed wearing the shit, if we can't walk around with no pistol. All of that shit adds up. Or you gotta have some bodyguards, but I don't want no muthafuckin' bodyguards walking around me 24/7! I ain't that type of person, I'm a people person, I like fuckin' with people and have people feel comfortable around me instead of having some bodyguard sitting there looking at them all crazy. I consider myself a real nigga and I just can't be out there like that! Like I said in that song, I'd rather have twelve people judging me in the court of law, from me having a gun. I'd rather go to prison than to be laid up in a fuckin' coffin somewhere! That was the whole point of that song. I'd rather be in jail, and doing 20 to life, than just doing life in a coffin. Regardless of who tells me not to carry a pistol.

That's why when it comes down to it, niggas like me be like "Fuck the police!" and fuck everybody else who says don't carry a gun, like I'm just supposed to lay down and day. They can kiss my black ass. I'm over here heated up like charcoal in more than one way! How are you supposed to survive out here, where nobody respects the law like that, when they're hungry, while we're in a state of recession. Everybody out here is broke! How do they expect for people not to carry a pistol out here now, when the fuckin' president got us in a fuckin' recession? It's so many hungry muthafuckas running around here, whoever got some money better have a pistol on them or something! Shit our dollar is lower than the Canadian money, damn near the same as the Mexican money! America is broke right now, we will fuckin' be a third world country in a minute with the president that we have now.

Everybody out here is broke as fuck! He the only one benefiting over some oil and some gas, got the troops all the way out there and shit. I wouldn't be surprised if it's a lot of muthafuckas out here getting shot, cause they ain't walking around with a pistol. I've been in shootouts before, I've been in shootouts all my life, thank God I never got hit before, but this wasn't even no shootout, this was just some random bitch ass nigga trying to break into my shit and ain't seen me sitting in my car. That's what makes me real mad about it. I'll probably never know who it is, and I'm a gangsta muthafucka, I don't like muthafuckas coming up behind me and hitting me in the back of the head and when I turn around the muthafucka don't show hisself. This shit makes me mad, that's a pussy ass move! So the muthafucka will never reveal hisself and I'll probably never find out who it is.


Dubcnn: So what are your plans now, musically? What can the fans expect from you?


Be on the look out for Part 2 of this exclusive three-part interview coming to dubcnn soon!