Q&A With Boskoe1: Talks Pursuing Music, The RoseMo Twitter Controversy & ....

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Q&A With Boskoe1: Talks Pursuing Music, The RoseMo Twitter Controversy & The Future
 
http://www.ballerstatus.com/2012/01/30/qa-with-boskoe1-talks-pursuing-music-rosemo-twitter-controversy-the-future/
 
Boskoe1 is a seasoned street vet hailing from Inglewood, California, who decided nearly three years ago -- following his last prison stint -- that he wanted to turn his life around. So, he finally made a decision to pursue a music career after years of freestyling and recording verses as a hobby. For Boskoe, things are beginning to really move for him, especially in 2011.

While last year probably the biggest of his rap career thus far, it was also his most controversial in the public eye. Boskoe became involved in a war of words with hometown peer, Bricksquad rapper Ice Burgandy, over Twitter and things escalated from there. He dropped a diss song aimed at the BSM rapper, which resulted in a physical altercation with Ice Burgandy's childhood friend RoseMo700, who set him up and recorded it. The video made it to Youtube (see here ) and spread like wildfire on hip-hop blogs. Days later, RoseMo turned up dead, gunned down in broad daylight. Due to their very public beef, Boskoe1 was looked at as the person responsible by those looking in from the outside. However, he claims that the slaying had nothing to do with him. Instead, he blames the streets for taking RoseMo's life.

Months after the controversy and damaging media attention, the Los Angeles rapper is trying to put the negative publicity behind him and continue focusing on his rap career. With a new mixtape, titled Yard Down, out now (Download it here ) and an upcoming collaborative LP with The Game's brother Big Fase 100 on its way, Boskoe1 is hell-bent on making 2012 his breakout campaign. By the end of the calendar year, he hopes his grind results in him being considered "that dude holding down the west coast."

In this recent interview, Boskoe explains how he left the streets behind him for a chance at hip-hop stardom years ago, the controversy surrounding his beef with RoseMo and Ice Burgandy, and his plans for the future.

BallerStatus.com: First off, tell us a little about yourself. Where you grew up and what it was like growing up there?

Boskoe1: I grew up in Inglewood, California. It was crazy growing up over there -- seen a lot, heard a lot, learned a lot, and went through a whole lot. It was what it was.

BallerStatus.com: When were you introduced to hip-hop as youngster?

Boskoe1: I got introduced to it as a young n****. My uncle used to listen to N.W.A. and all that sh**. But, my first memory of really being into it was with that Snoop Dogg Doggystyle [album] and Bone Thugs-N-Harmony. It was like my first two monumental albums where I just like was a hip-hop fan, really buying music.

BallerStatus.com: When did you start making music, and what influenced you to start rapping?

Boskoe1: I been freestyling forever. My relative/one of my homies, they used to freestyle. Then I just naturally started freestyling, and I guess I just got good over the years. Motherf***ers just used to hear me and be like "Man, you should start writing. You're tight." I just pursued it from there.

As a kid, growing up and in school, I was always a good writer. I used to write poetry and short stories, sh** like that... essays. I was always good at that sh**. Once I started rapping and somebody taught me the format of how to write a verse and what it consisted of, it was really no problem. I just messed with the sh**.

BallerStatus.com: Was there a point where you decided you really wanted to go after a career in music. When did that happen? And why?

Boskoe1: I started writing in '06, like really writing raps. I learned in '06. After that, I really wasn't serious about it. It was something to pass the time while I was in prison. It was like a past time, but when I got out, I had accumulated some hard ass songs. Naturally, I was trying to get to the studio and put the sh** down. When I got home, then in 2007, is when I recorded by my first song/my first studio song. I started working on a mixtape, but I had went back to prison two more times after that, so I never finished.

The last time, in '09, it was almost time for me to go home and I just made a choice like "I'm not coming back to prison." I made that decision. I had to think about it like "What do I need to do different?" I backed away from the streets a little bit and put my focus toward music. I was just tired of going in and out. I've been dealing with that sh** since I was 12 -- dealing with court systems. I just was tired. I just finally had a baby. It was just a changing point in my life. I was getting older. I'm just doing too much out here and I still wasn't rich.

BallerStatus.com: So far, what are some of accomplishments you're most proud of?

Boskoe1: Most proudly, I gave myself a name in the hip-hop industry. Its n****s who know who I am. Before a year ago, a lot of hip-hop heads didn't know who I was. The big step for me was getting attention and buzz, like a lot of people know who I am now. And, being looked at as a real West Coast representative, being respected like that and reppin it right, that's what I'm proud of for myself.

BallerStatus.com: As far as the L.A. rap scene, and West Coast as a whole, it seems as though many new artists are beginning to bubble. But, none have yet to really break out. Why do you think it's so hard to garner nationwide recognition and blow up coming out of the west coast?

Boskoe1: I don't know. The game ain't like it used to be. Before motherf***ers were cutting checks. People ain't doing that sh***. Motherf***ers ain't buying records like they used to. The motherf***er's who really on ain't f***in' with gangster rap anyway. It seems like the one's really f***in' with gangster rap music ain't buying albums either, so everybody else is trying to appeal to a different crowd. But down south and other places, real n****s got money and are really pushing it. Out here, the ones with money are Hollywood with a broomstick up they ass, stuck up motherf***ers.

BallerStatus.com: While you've been making music for years, many became introduced to you in 2011 through issues you had with other rappers. I recall seeing you call out 40 Glocc, and obviously the incident you had with RoseMo. Were these blown our of proportion?

Boskoe1: Yea, a lot of it. You know how sh** go... motherf***ers just feed off controversy. A lot of it get blown way out of proportion. Motherf***ers take sh** and run with it.



BallerStatus.com: The RoseMo problem was highly publicized, and following his death, there was a lot of controversy. Can you address the situation a lil, and tell us how things got out of control?

Boskoe1: I just had exchanged words with another cat of his, and it just ... everybody felt the need to get into it. I had released a diss song (listen here ) and I guess they weren't too happy about it. Me and a mutual acquaintance meet up, and they had them n****s come get me. I come outside, get beat the f*** up ... they come with the cameras and all that. Y'all seen the news.

What I don't like about it was... RoseMo, whatever happened to him, happened to him. But everybody try to look at me and blame me, like he wasn't a gang member and out here doing the sh** that he was doing. Sh** happens every day. It's crazy. I'm just really trying to get past the situation. I'm the victim here. A lot of people wanna point the finger at me like I'm the bad guy, like I did something wrong. I ain't did sh**. I'm the victim in the situation. I ain't did nothing but keep it real with n****s. N****s came, jumped and attacked me. Whatever happened to him was unfortunate, but it's not my fault. Why should I live my life feeling like a guilty man? I ain't did it. Had nothing to do with me.

BallerStatus.com: After all that, how has the situation affected your career?

Boskoe1: Probably shed a lot of negative attention on me. People might feel like it's dangerous being around me. Or, record labels might feel like I'm a trouble maker ... just a lot of negative attention. I didn't get at him sideways. Ice Burgandy got at me sideways, all I did was respond. But everybody making it out like I'm the bad guy or some bully. I ain't no bully. I wasn't trippin' off them n****s.

Even Ice Burgandy, I supported that n****. I didn't have no problems with him. When he started doing sh** in the rap game, I wasn't mad at him. I was happy for him, because I considered him my homies -- he's from where I'm from. These fake ass n****s is fake. The little incident happened with Game, so this fake n**** was feelin' himself. Sh** just happened. The streets is alive, they watching. N****s gotta be held accountable for their actions. They gotta watch what they doing out here. When you doing sh** in front of all these people, there ain't no telling how the sh** gotta turn out. You feel me?

BallerStatus.com: Just so the people are clear. That's not what you're about tho...

Boskoe1: I came where I came from, I grew up in this sh**, but I don't wanna let that be the focal point of my life. The focal point of my life is my music, my family, and being a real n**** like what I proclaim to be: Boskoe100. I keep it real. I'm not finna cut no corners. I'm not lying. I ain't no fake n****. I'm not portraying something I'm not. I am a gangsta. I grew up in this sh**. I done did what I did to survive out here. I ain't got no bad name in the streets. My whole goal in life is to get a check out this rap sh**. I been doing this too long, so I'm trying to get my check. I'm trying to show the people something different. Everyone done told their story, I just wanna tell mine.

BallerStatus.com: I don't wanna keep going back to beefs. But, what's your take on rappers beefin' on the Internet these days?

Boskoe1: Twitter is f***in' wack. Everything I say, some weird motherf***er got some sh** to retort back. It's f***in' weird. I can't say nothing without it having to do with RoseMo, like everything I say somehow ties back to him. That sh** is crazy. I'm trying to get past that whole situation. I'm not even focused on it. It seem like the whole world around me is focused on that sh** and don't wanna let the sh** go. Let that man rest in peace.

Twitter is wack. I don't wanna abandon it, so I just try to say as less as possible because it all gets twisted.



BallerStatus.com: You dropped your "Yard Down" mixtape in December. Tell us a little about that project, and the theme, the title, etc?

Boskoe1: That's killin' em. It's on DatPiff.com. Yard Down came from my time in prison. It was a time in prison when something happen on the yard, a fight or whatever, the alarm go off and they lay the yard down. So, what you hear "Yard Down," you know something's poppin' somewhere. It's active, it's turnt up. My life is kinda like that. A lot of the emotions I was feelin' when I recording Yard Down, it just took me back to that time. That's why I named it that.

Also right now, me and Big Fase 100 just recorded A Few Hunned More, set to drop any day now. Everything's done. Big Fase is just a real n****. Me being a damu, he was one of the first real damu's I seen in this industry sh**. Before I was even rapping, when he came in with The Game, I always knew who he was. So, once I started doing my thing in the rap sh**, naturally we just ended up crossing paths and hit it off. He was a real n**** and we always had a chemistry so we did some work together. It came out tight and decided to do a whole album together.

For more on Boskoe1, follow him on Twitter @BOSKOE1, or on Facebook at Facebook.com/Boskoe.AddictedTwoInk. Photos taken by Estevan Oriol. Visit him at EstevanOriol.com, or follow him on Twitter @JokerBrand.

http://www.ballerstatus.com/2012/01/30/qa-with-boskoe1-talks-pursuing-music-rosemo-twitter-controversy-the-future/