Yukmouth, the smoked-out Oakland native and Luniz rapper, makes his return to AllHipHop.com with this new, dramatic feature. The last time we spoke to the Regime Boss, he was releasing his last album on Rap-A-Lot Records called Million Dollar Mouthpiece back in 2008. Since then he released The West Coast Don in 2009 on his own imprint Smoke-A-Lot Records and has now released his latest album, Free At Last. Aside from his musical projects, Yukmouth has also been in the media lately due to an unfortunate robbery at a Ralph’s Supermarket out in Woodland Hills, CA located in Los Angeles County suburb, the San Fernando Valley. News outlets and Police statements indicated that former Death Row boss Suge Knight was involved in the incident and Yukmouth was quick to state that was not true. Yukmouth talks about that situation in this new detail as well as new release Free At Last which is now in stores. AllHipHop.com: You are back with a new album in stores now called Free At Last. The obvious reason is about your freedom from the labels, but is there another meaning behind that title?Yukmouth: Yes. For this album I was free from jail. The last album, West Coast Don, I was locked up in the L.A. County Jail. I went in for driving without a license. I literally wrote that whole album in jail. Being free from jail allowed me to network and search for the beats to match the songs. That makes a difference and this is a totally different album for that reason. I’m free from record labels. Free from Rap-A-Lot. Free from Virgin Records. I’m able to do my own thing now. When you are under contract to a label, sometimes you are not free to carry out your own ideas. For that reason, I couldn’t do the Regime album and other projects that I wanted to do. Now that I’m free at last, I can f**kin’ do whatever the f**k I want to do. I’m doing the Thug Lords album – that’s me and C-Bo. I’m finally doing The Regime album after pushing it for 13 years. I’m able to spread my wings and fly away and that’s the basic meaning behind Free At Last. AllHipHop.com: I’ve always wondered why so many rappers get busted for driving without a license or having a suspended license. Yukmouth: My thing is this; motherf**kers like us don’t feel like standing in the DMV line for hella hours. We’ve got hella sh*t to do. We have our girls or family members get the cars in their names. We just drive the thing until we get pulled over. Then the car gets impounded for 30 days and we go the f**k to jail (laughs). If you get 10 of those, then they are going to give your a** some time, like they gave me. I had 10 tickets for driving without a license and they got tired of my a** and gave me time. I originally was sentenced to 7 months but I only served 3. It also has to do with luxury cars. I’m driving nothing but Benz’ and Range Rovers, so when the cops see a young black man driving those cars, they want to pull them over. They ask questions about where I got the car or where did I get the money for it. Then they find out that I have no license – it’s off to jail.
“Motherf**kers want me to buy it back. I
ain’t buying that chain back! You can have that motherf**ker. I’ll buy a
new chain before I buy that one back. It will have more diamonds…”-Yukmouth
AllHipHop.com: Did you finally just bite the bullet and stand in that DMV line for your license?Yukmouth: Yes! F**k that! I’m licensed the f**k out! They can’t tell me sh*t anymore. I’ve got my Cannabis Club license, my drivers license – all that sh*t. They can’t f**k with me now. I’m MC Hammer – 2 Legit 2 Quit! AllHipHop.com: Tell us about your L.A. County Jail experience. Yukmouth: I was on Celebrity Row which is where they put all of the celebrities that are locked up in County. They have to keep you away from the rest of the jail population or you can sue them. They automatically threw me in there. Celebrity Row was were O.J. Simpson was held. The Game was held there too. When I was there they had Lawrence Phillips, the football player, next to me. I happened to be in the same cell that held O.J. My homie Caffeine from the movie Menace II Society was locked up with me. We all talked cell to cell everyday, passing things down the fish-line. They call it fishing when you connect the thread to something. You rodeo swing that sh*t and throw that motherf**ker down the hall. Don’t think Celebrity Row was some corny sh*t. We weren’t up there with those pink gay n****s. We were up there with n****s who were in there for serious things. AllHipHop.com: The Game was locked up at the same time with you?Yukmouth: No. He was there like a month before me. He only did a week – so he came in and got the f**k out. It wasn’t a picnic in there. Celebrities got harassed too. Caffeine kept getting thrown in the hole. I heard Game got harassed too. The inmates that were there told me that they (jail guards) were f**king him up just because of who he was. You’ll go to take a shower and come back to find your cell tore up. AllHipHop.com: You’ve been in Los Angeles for a while now. What are your thoughts on the city?Yukmouth: L.A is cool. I came out here for the industry. I was 18 when we got our record deal as The Luniz and my focus was on the music and getting away from the hood. I was too involved in the streets. I turned a drug deal in to a record deal – literally. Virgin Records is based in Beverly Hills, so we were flying out every week and we just decided to move out there to avoid all of that. I’ve been networking ever since. I’ve got movies, a SAG card, p####’s – all types of sh*t. Things that I wouldn’t have been able to do in the Bay Area. The networking is outrageous out here. I was at Roscoe’s Chicken N Waffles and this dude was like, “You got the face! You got the face!” He did that little camera squared thing with his hands. Next thing you know I’m on flight to Phoenix, AZ dressed in some Zulu sh*t for $7,000. It’s just things like that – that happen out here and won’t happen out in the Bay Area. I also mix in with the rap scene out here too. On my new album you’ve got 211 from Inglewood, he’s a Blood. Roccett from Carson is on there too, he’s a Crip. Jay Rock who’s a Blood from Watts is on the album too. On my last album I had Glasses Malone. Crooked I is my ace. I f**k with all of the young n****s in the game that’s coming up in L.A and the OG’s too. I’ve done songs with MC Ren and MC Eiht – I get love out there.
“I saw the comments on your site with
people calling me a snitch. A snitch presses charges, goes to court and
testifies. I didn’t do none of that s**t!”-Yukmouth
AllHipHop.com: Looking back over your career, you seem to be a lightning rod for trouble with other rappers. Why is that?Yukmouth: A lot of it was due to loyalty. The Too-Short beef was out of loyalty to my record label because they had problems with his record label. The G-Unit beef was loyalty to Rap-A-Lot because they had an allegiance with Murder Inc. and they felt we should get involved with their little beef. A lot of it was just being loyal to my crew and to my record label. I’m not a bully and I don’t attract beef – and that’s why I don’t have any right now. Everything in the past was either defense or being loyal to my crew. I don’t just wake up on the wrong side of the bed and say, “F**k this n***a.” That’s not my land. I don’t have to diss someone to make people listen to my album. AllHipHop.com: I know that you squashed your beef with The Game but I have to ask you about a member of Black Wall Street named Menace holding up your chain on his Twitter after your recent robbery. He stated that he wasn’t the one who took it but it did make some wonder if there were lingering issues between you and The Game. Yukmouth: I’m break that whole sh*t down. Like I said, I don’t have any beef with G-Unit anymore or The Game. Lately n****s have probably seen me with 40 Glocc and he has an issue with that rapper you mentioned. They are beefing and doing what they do. Now me and 40 Glocc are cool but I’m not in Zoo-Life and he’s not in Regime. We see each other, we hang out, go in the studio – and that’s it. But I guess to antagonize 40 Glocc and even me for hanging out with him, he had that picture with a message for 40 Glocc to come get the chain back. Some little b*tch a** sh*t trying to involve me in their beef in which I have nothing to do with. Whatever their beef is, it’s theirs. Now if The Game had said that, it would be different. But it was the n***a that had beef with 40 Glocc that knows that I get along with 40. I don’t have beef with The Game though – we’re good. AllHipHop.com: Did you ever get the chain back?Yukmouth: I’ll let the street sh*t stay in the street. AllHipHop.com: No problem. I was just curious if it was back in your possession. Yukmouth: Naw, naw, naw. (Pauses) I’ll put it out there. I could have gotten it back. I could’ve had it the next day. Motherf**kers want me to buy it back. I ain’t buying that chain back! You can have that motherf**ker. I’ll buy a new chain before I buy that one back. It will have more diamonds and I’ll make the price sign bigger. All this has done is make me turn it up more on n****s. Watch what my next jewelry set. Most artists buy their sh*t back but I don’t do that ransom sh*t. I’m a real street n***a and rap n***a. You’re not going to get me like that cashing out – f**k that! I’ll cash out at the jewelry store for another one before I do that sucker sh*t. AllHipHop.com: When I roll to Ralph’s Market, I’m in my sweats and slippers. I’ve been wondering why you were at that market with all of that jewelry?Yukmouth: Let me get this clear. I was coming from my video shoot. I was shooting for “The Hard Way” in Woodland Hills, CA at a Mansion. I’m coming down the street and I pulled over at Ralph’s to talk to somebody. That’s when the motherf**kers got up on me, jumped me and robbed me. I pulled up to Ralph’s to go holler at one of my people’s. I don’t go to f**kin’ Ralph s with $80,000 worth of jewelry. I was on my way to the next set of the video shoot so I had my outfit on. AllHipHop.com: Do you feel you were set up? The circumstances look a little fishy. Yukmouth: No. I just think I was caught slippin’. I shouldn’t have pulled over to Ralph’s. That market is on the main street. You know how many people drive down Ventura Boulevard? N***s saw me, bust a U-Turn, came to the lot and did what they did. I never should’ve pulled over to stop. I just caught slippin’. A set up is someone calling you somewhere and then having someone there to get you. I was the one that pulled over. It happens to the best of us. You are from L.A so you know how things go down. These n***as touchdown at every B.E.T. Awards and event. N****s get robbed at restaurants, hotels, and broad daylight. This was my first incident and it wasn’t at gunpoint. A lot of n****s jumped me and they snatched my chain. Ask these rappers. I ain’t even going to say names. Ask the biggest producers and your favorite rappers how many times they’ve been robbed out here. That sh*t happened in a confrontation. I wasn’t at a hotel room or at Roscoe’s where n****s come in and rob me at gunpoint. For me to get jumped and having my chain snatched as opposed to n****s getting shot like Waka Flocka – I’m good. I got jumped but I came out looking like Mohammed Ali. I wasn’t looking like Lil B The Base God, Waka Flocka or none of them n****s. I shot a video 3 days later with no black eyes or anything – so I’m good.
AllHipHop.com: The police indicate that Suge Knight was involved and then you stated that he had nothing to do with the robbery. What is the truth?Yukmouth: I pulled over to talk to Suge. The police asked me what was I doing with $80,000 worth of jewelry on and I told them that I pulled over to talk to another mogul. This is my n***a Suge. They decide that they were going to put it on him. I’m like, “No! It was 11 n****s that pulled up and surrounded the both of us!” Suge got up on out and they got up on me! But since I said that I pulled over to talk to Suge, they decide that he was involved in it and they forgot about those 11 other n****s. They didn’t even pay attention to what the witnesses at Ralph’s said. They were the one’s who called the police. Let me make that clear because I did not call the police. There were people in the Ralph’s parking lot that saw everything go down. They called the Police and they rolled up in there hella fast. Police out here got TMZ on speed dial. AllHipHop.com: I appreciate you clearing that up. Yukmouth: I had too! I saw the comments on your site with people calling me a snitch. A snitch presses charges, goes to court and testifies. I didn’t do none of that sh*t! N****s need to watch what they say when it comes to me. I never did any of those things, so how am I a snitch? The cops want to go after Suge because he’s a big name and they want to make a name for themselves with a big story. They are trying to false accuse this man because they want him. They don’t give a f**k about the 11 n****s who surrounded me with their cars. All you hear is Suge, Suge, Suge. Man I was just talking to this n***a! Suge was about to get robbed too! AllHipHop.com: The last time we spoke to you in 2008, you told us how you were at odds with your Luniz partner Numskull. Has there been any progress since?Yukmouth: I don’t have any problems with Numskull. Whatever his problem is with me, it is what it is. That’s still my brother for life. He’s in jail right now so all we can do is pray for him and his family. When he gets out hopefully we can heal the wounds and do a Luniz reunion album. It’s on him. I’m always game. I created everything about the Luniz from the name, the logo and our rap names. Why would I ever quit that? I came up with the whole formula. It’s Luniz for life with me.
