YOUNG MAYLAY (June 2008) | Interview By: Lil Jay

Damn it feels good to be independent! Not only is it Independence Day for America, but you could also use the opportunity to drop your album that same day as a symbolic reflection. In this case, today marks the release of Young Maylay's anticipated new street album "The Real Coast Guard". Unlike most projects which drop on Tuesdays, Maylay went and got his own street date to release his sophomore project.

It's already been over 3 years since Maylay entered the game with his critically acclaimed "GTA: San Andreas" mixtape. Back then, we put the spotlight on him and announced him as an artist with a lot of potential. With the release of this new project, we can definitely say that he made that transition from being an underground rapper to an important part of the new generation in West Coast Rap. And you know you can't go wrong when you have two West Coast vets like DJ Crazy Toones and WC present the project, which, by the way, is also backed by Dubcnn a 100%.

So it's only right that we chopped it up with Maylay and dicussed "The Real Coast Guard" in this indepth interview. We get into the name changes of the mixtape, comparisons to his previous project, quality control, being inspired and guided by Crazy Toones and Dub C on the project, the West Coast state as well as the ongoing new artists vs. old artists talk, future plans and much more.

As ever, you can read and listen to this exclusive interview and we urge you to leave feedback on our forums or email them to liljay@dubcnn.com.

 

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Interview was done by phone in July 2008

Questions Asked By : Lil Jay

Young Maylay Gave Dubcnn.com A Shoutout! Click Here

Full Interview In Audio: Here

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Dubcnn: For the cats that's been sleeping, give them a little introduction on who you are and where you're from...

Young Maylay: Yeah yeah, Young Maylay off the East Side of South Central Los Angeles. I'm most famously known for my work on "GTA: San Andreas". Then I released a mixtape after that that did real good. I got a whole lot of street fame for being involved with DJ Crazy Toones' "CT Experience". That right there was on a whole other level, cause it kinda boosted a nigga's career up to where motherfuckas was paying attention. It wasn't just "Oh ok, another dude from the West rappin'!".

Dubcnn: As you said, you had a couple of spots on the "CT Experience" mixtape. But as far as your own project, it's already been 3 years since you put out the "San Andreas Mixtape". How come it took you so long for a new project?

Young Maylay: See, the whole thing was, after the "San Andreas Mixtape" I planned to come with "The Coast Guard". Then I was putting all the songs together, but I'm not one of them artists that rush shit out just to get it out or to say that it's out. I believe in quality control. I'm not just putting out no bullshit so I took my time when I recorded the album. And then we ran into a situation where it was the same name of the album being out there. So I let that go, let him do his numbers, let him do what he's gonna do. And then it's time for "The Real Coast Guard" to drop. And that's a real mixtape all around.



Dubcnn: Some artists drop new music back to back, but you're one of those that stay on the low. Do you do that on purpose?

Young Maylay: I'm just not one of them that's trying to get down on everybody's shit. If I deal with you directly, then it's [something else]. But if I don't know a dude at all and he's just blowing up cause he's got his little buzz cracking, I'm not trying to rap with everbody like that. It's more or less on a personal level, niggas you can tolerate being around. Some people say you ain't gotta be friends to make money, but it's just more comfortable to be around people that you can deal with. So I'm not one of them artists that's just jumping all over the place. And I don't do it on purpose, it's just that when that right song comes, then we put it out there.



Dubcnn: Do you think there is a downside of feeding the people with too much music?

Young Maylay: I can't say that. You know, there is pro's and con's to that, because you can look at the situation with Lil Wayne. How much shit he got out there and then he drops an album and sells a million in no time. That's not gonna happen for everybody, cause some people get tired of hearing you if you on everything they pick up. Some people believe in the game that that's the way you get heard and found, but that's not the way right there cause motherfuckas will tune you out. That's like a naggin' ass female *makes noise of a naggin' ass female*. Pretty soon you don't even hear nothing she's saying, but she's still naggin'! That's how it is when you oversaturate the game and then everything you put out ain't just bangin'. If you got a song that's just cool, then you need to go back in the studio and come back with some shit that's undeniable.



Dubcnn: Did the deal with Rockstar for the "GTA: San Andreas" videogame open new doors for you as far as your rapping career is concerned?

Young Maylay: Oh hell yeah it opened up new doors, because it gave me a gaining fanbase outside of just Hip Hop period. You got dudes in other countries that don't even like rap music, but they was on that "San Andreas" theme song. So I'm known all around the world, and when you can have a situation like that... I was blessed! Because it's nobody that gets put into that type of situation that wasn't famous before to do something like that. But it opened a lot of doors, I mean I was having like 7,000 thousand downloads in a day or two because people wanted to know who I was. It was an interest there. It introduces me to a supporter, because it was a lot of them that supported the "San Andreas Mixtape" because they wanted to hear CJ rap. I would have people get at me and say they uploaded the mixtape to the game so they ride around bumpin' my music while they playing it. It's just shit like that that gives me personal satisfaction.



Dubcnn: You first named your album "The Coast Guard", and later changed it to "The Real Coast Guard". What's the story behind that?

Young Maylay: Well, a few people out there know it's a situation I had with another artist. We had the same name, regardless of what I believe or not. We had the same title of the CD, so naturally a mothafucka would be like 'Damn, what the fuck?', you feel me? But looking at it as a overall picture, he tried to do his thing and put it out there. That's where I kinda fell back a little bit and let him do him. Let him do his numbers and get his project out there. Because somebody that can get out there and move units, that ain't nothing but an added piece to the West. And that's the first thing out of town mothafuckas wanna yell, that West Coast niggas is always beefin' with eachother. But I just sat back and let him do his thang, and then I came back and stamped it with "The Real Coast Guard". It's a whole lot behind just the title itself.



Dubcnn: What can the listener expect when he's listening to "The Real Coast Guard" and how would you compare it to "The San Andreas" mixtape?

Young Maylay: The "San Andreas Mixtape" was a situation to where I was just introducing myself to the rap world on a whole project, and everybody that I was affiliated with got down with me on there. That wasn't a situation whereas on "The Real Coast Guard" it was a process of us building this up. Crazy Toones and Dub was real hands-on with me and throughout the process of recording this mixtape, I took my delivery to a whole other level. They work with artists and if you're around them dudes and you don't notice, that's because you ain't paying attention. And to answer the question, "San Andreas Mixtape" was cool, a lot of people said it was a classic. I don't put out no wack shit, but "The Real Coast Guard" is a real mixtape. I got the tightest DJ on the fuckin' planet on the tables! If you listen to the scratchin' and the cuttin' and all the time that he puts into a record, you can really appreciate it. And I promise you, I'd rather wait 2 or 3 years and put something out that people talk about forever, than put out 10 records in that time and people ain't feeling none of the songs no more.

I'm like this: I stay working. And anybody in this business should do the same thing, but a lot of people are misguided. It's a lot of people with yes-men in their camps and they'll bust a verse and they'll be like 'Yeah, that's hot. That shit is tight!'. So then you get in there to lay the shit down and record it, put the whole cd together and put it out, and the masses is not talking about you, that can fuck you up! A lot of people just listen to other people in the business that's kinda misguided themselves. "Yeah, you gotta rap on everything, you gotta touch everything!". Yeah, at one time it was like that, but as the game goes along, it always changes but then revert to something that it was before. Like when it first started off, the game was independent and everybody was getting their bread. Then it went through a period where they was giving away major record deals to mothafuckas. Okay, now it swung back around to where it ain't no major deals for people, you gotta prove yourself first, you gotta get out there on your own grind and create your own fanbase and make it all happen for yourself. So what is that? That's independent.



Dubcnn: With everybody dropping mixtapes left and right, what do you think is gonna be the thing that makes it stand out the most?

Young Maylay: Because it's a real mixtape that got scratches and blends. You could tell that Crazy Toones was really involved with the work, not just I sent him 17 songs and told him to say his name on it. We had a whole lot of fun recording that record, and you can tell when you're listening to it. You know, it's time to really get our music back to where it was at one time.



Dubcnn: What did Toones say at the end of that one song? "Wait, swallow your food before you talk!" (laughs)

Young Maylay: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah! (laughs) [She] came into the room and let him know that the chicken was good. When they hear the mixtape they gonna be laughing like a mothafucka when you just sit there! The thing is, it's so tight that when you listen to it you gonna miss something, and then when you play it back again you gonna hear something else. Because Crazy Toones, that dude is a genious. He hides little shit in the track to where you don't never hear it until later on. We stay being creative man, and we stay being relatable to our people. We don't go around trying to floss on our people or act like we don't do certain shit because we rap, you feel me?



Dubcnn: You had kinda had the same thing on the "San Andreas Mixtape", with Jazzy D doing the Gangsta Granny skits.

Young Maylay: Oh, yeah yeah! See, I'm the type of dude that follows tradition. That don't mean that I'm a follower or nothing like that, but I keep tradition. It ain't no need to be trying to talk like I'm from the South or like I'm from New York when that ain't where I'm from. And I feel like on my mixtape I'm speaking a language that only the last bread of the real species can understand. It's a certain lifestyle going on in the street, and I don't care where you're from or what set you're from. It's a street lifestyle that the majority of us can relate to. When you get to talking about how you got this type of diamond or how you just spent 10,000, you finna have somebody out there trying to go really spend that kind of money. So I just keep it traditional man.



Dubcnn: Being an artist that's connected to the streets as much as you are, how do you balance the streets and the internet as promo tools? Some artists still do it the old fashioned way out their trunk, and some have completely gone digital. Where do you stand as far as that goes?

Young Maylay: Well, I'm like this man: Get it from the curb, however you get it. I don't care if you're selling them out your window. If you can move product and you can get it out there, then make it happen! And you gotta go wherever your supporters are. If you got supporters that's on the internet and they don't really go out to the mom & pop stores. Cause you ain't gonna see my shit at Best Buy and Walmart and all that shit. We ain't shooting for that, we're putting out a real underground mixtape with this. Everybody is under the assumption that if you don't have a barcode on it, then it ain't shit. When you got a barcode on your shit, you can be tracked on all the money being made. Yeah, it's a real cd and all that, but if you press up 10,000 cds with no barcode and sell all of them for 10 dollars a piece, you done made a 100,000 without no barcode. And then who knows you got that money? Nobody! So this independent game is really what's happening man. A lot of people get misconstrued and start listening to other people who think it's supposed to go a certain way.



Dubcnn: Now you're considered a new artist, but at the same time you're running with vets like Dub C, Toones, King T, Pooh. Where does that put you mindstate-wise?

Young Maylay: See, I've always been around older cats. That's why I got a sense of respect. You don't hear me just badmouthing nobody here on the West. Because for one, that ain't nobody business. And that's what niggas gotta do too, stop airing out bullshit on the internet man! But yeah, I came up with all them dudes hands-on. Not just guys that I saw before on TV, all them dudes been hands-on. And that played a role in me being the dude that I am right now. You can't be around Dub C, Toones, DJ Pooh, King Tee, DJ Bobcat. You can't be around niggas like that! You can't be around Kam, Mista Grimm, [Snoop] Dogg and all them between that time period. See, I soaked up a whole lot of shit! And that's why I spit that conversation about being traditional. I'm not trying to sound like Lil' Wayne or any of them 16 year old dudes. That ain't my fanbase. I'm just keeping it real for the people that understand what's going on in the streets, cause it's hard times out here. Gasoline is high, people doing bad, so a mothafucka just wanna make some shit thats relatable to my people. That's why you don't see my cd for 20 dollars and shit like that. We're doing bad right now, we're just trying to give them good music.



Dubcnn: Crazy Toones and WC are presenting "The Real Coast Guard". What role did they play on the project and Young Maylay in general?

Young Maylay: Man, their role is so big that I can't even explain it. Without Dub and Toones, it wouldn't have been what it is man. I ain't one of them niggas that's like 'I don't need nobody' and none of that shit. Them dudes really took their time out and were hands-on with me. They were showing me like 'Oh, you gotta come like this' or 'Hey, break this down like that'. See, you can be the tightest ball player in the world, but you still got a coach. And I like that, cause I done learned from each and every person I've been around in this game. All the niggas we've named before. So it's a blessing to even know all them dudes personally. And then to be able to put out the package that I come to the table with, cause all them niggas had a hand in that man.



Dubcnn: Does that give you any extra motivation if you have legends like that coach you?

Young Maylay: It's always motivation, because I know I'm considered a new artist. But the thing is this: I don't have room to put out a wack ass song or a song that's ok. So hell yeah, it's motivation because everybody wanna be a part of it. And you have to really be tight enough to make people wanna be a part of what you're doing. It's a lot of people out here that get verses from people however they can. But it's a different thing when somebody wanna be a part of what you're doing. And it's motivation to not let them niggas down and see their smiles on they faces when I walk out the booth. So hell yeah, it's extra motivation to be around them for the simple fact that they done been there. And it's like I still gotta prove myself, so when I'm in there with them, I'm trying to impress these mothafuckas. Yeah they the big homies, yeah we're friends, but it's that when I bust I want them niggas to fall their arms back. So it's always motivation when you're dealing with legends from over here.



Dubcnn: Evolving on that last question, the whole old vs. new rappers situation stays making noise. The young guns need to respect their forefathers, the OGs need to get with the times and respect the new generation. You know, all that. What's your take on the whole situation, being that you're kind of in the middle of it?

Young Maylay: I'm like this: if you're a real nigga, period point blank, then you got some type of respect about yourself. Now, if some of the young homies don't have that type of respect about theirself, then they've been taught a different way. I don't feel a mothafucka when they're saying a lot of the shit say, but I can understand why they're saying that. But it's like this: I ride with the G-Niggas all day long. All them niggas that been named throughout this interview, that's who I ride with. Not to say that I don't ride with none of the up & comers, because I do. And being out there, I done met some of these dudes and they're solid. You're shaking these niggas' hands and they're with the same movement, so that's a good feeling. But at the same time, when it's the old vs. new, then that's some bullshit! Because if you're a real street nigga, then there is somebody out there that you got big respect for. There is a lot of people out there you don't have respect for, but it's somebody out there you respect. If you're a real street nigga and done touched that county jail or something, you got some type of respect about yourself. But the thing of it is, some niggas get mad enough to where they don't give a fuck about having respect, so anything can fly out of their mouth. But like I said, I ride with the G-Niggas all day, because if it wasn't for them, it wouldn't be no us right now.



Dubcnn: Do you think some of that old vs. new is blown out of proportion?

Young Maylay: Yeah, people can take it out of proportion. It's easy to start some bullshit and to have something crackin', like the New West vs. the G-Niggas. It wasn't nothing like that! It would be situations where people might take one piece of a conversation and blow it out of proportion and turn it into some shit that it really wasn't. Because all the niggas that's young and up & coming, you gotta be tight to even get noticed right now. See, as a West Coast artist period, they done locked us out the game so long to where if you don't have that special little certain niche about yourself, you ain't gonna get noticed! Everybody can go to a guitar center or wherever and get some equipment, play that shit and make a rap. Look at MySpace, prime example!

I understand all the dudes coming up, they grind. The thing of it is this too though, you gotta be mentally condition for all the fucked up shit that's gonna happen to you in this record business. A lot of mothafuckas try to make it like it's all gravy, they got all this money and shit. Well, a lot of them get exposed. All these niggas don't have all this money they're talking about they're having. Everything ain't what it's supposed to be.



Dubcnn: What is your opinion on the state of the West Coast in general?

Young Maylay: Man, come back strong! But everybody been dropping records over here. They might not be big all the way on the East or in Europe, but we're steady coming. Cube, Dub, [Snoop] Dogg, Xzibit dropping records. Everybody is playing their part. But I'ma tell you this, I don't give a fuck: The West ain't never been this strong! So it ain't like the West is coming back, we already surfaced, we're already here! Mothafuckas is putting out records and getting noticed!



Dubcnn: Do you feel the local support from where you're coming from?

Young Maylay: Yeah, hell yeah. There is a lot of local support. When you got dudes that probably wouldn't have nothing to say to you period when they see you, and you got them coming up to you shaking your hand and saying they've been waiting on the cd. Because we had to bless home before they just got out, so it was a few advance copies on the streets of Los Angeles. We were getting good response just in a couple of days. It wouldn't be no situation where it was 2 or 3 weeks before it came, but we had to bless our people with it first.



Dubcnn: What's next after "The Real Coast Guard"? Can we expect a full-length album from you anytime soon?

Young Maylay: Yeah, I'm working on an album. But I will not tell the title again! (laughs) And we gonna know when we're gonna drop it. But I got something that I wanna put out. Fuck it, I was gonna call it "Brushfires and Earthquakes", cause that's California all day. On the brushfire side I come with just straight heat spittin' like a mothafucka. And then on the earthquake side I'm coming for the mothafuckas that like to get out there in traffic and show you they got some sounds. But that's gonna be more or less like a mixtape. The album is in the works. I'm not trying to just take songs that I didn't use off my mixtape and put it on a cd and call it my album. I can't really put no timeline on it, we're working everyday. So it ain't the fact about getting songs done or nothing like that, timing is everything man.



Dubcnn: And are you looking for the right label situation too?

Young Maylay: We got a few things on the table, but we're working the program of how we get down. Just because things is on the table doesn't mean that you gotta start acting different or catering to nobody different. We're out here pushing the program, and I feel like I'm in good hands. The overall situation that I'm in, I feel like I'm in good hands. So however it works out period, I'm pushing for the unit that I'm with. Whether it's indy, whether it's major, whether it's whatever. But I know you ain't gotta worry about making no motherfuckin' nipple-rubbin-songs and no shit like that, just to have a record deal. That's what ain't gonna happen!



Dubcnn: Is there anything else that you wanna say that we haven't touched on?

Young Maylay: Not really, just that I appreciate it for grabbin' me on this interview. And the fans that's supporting me on Dubcnn. It's a good look, it's a good outlet for dudes that's out here on the West trying to do their thing. Shouts out to Dub, Toones, the whole family. And when you put the cd in, you're really gonna enjoy this motherfucka. I'm excited that it's coming and that motherfuckas finna really be talking about some real mixtape shit, you feel me? So, y'all just keep your ears to the streets for me man, and we're gonna make it happen. All the upcoming niggas, just keep grindin', you know what I mean? Keep grindin', cause it's gonna happen. If you're undeniable and they don't wanna sign you, then build your own fanbase and get your money.



Dubcnn: Alright cool. So 4th of July, huh?!

Young Maylay: Oh yeah, oh yeah. We're gonna be poppin' fireworks, all types of shit. I don't wanna talk to loud man, cause motherfuckas might put me on a terrorist list! (laughs)