G.U.N. stands for Geeked Up N##ga, which is exactly what Gun40 embodies.
Hailing from Dallas, Texas, real name Christopher “G.U.N.” James “comes from the slums, struggled a little bit, but made a way with my moms.”
The rapper, producer, and entrepreneur came up alongside best friend 10k.Caash, both of whom are signed to Def Jam.
Most recently, Gun was shot twice: once in the leg and once in his shoulder in North Hollywood, California.
Instead of retaliating, he sucked it up and put his thoughts and feelings into the music.
The outcome? A 12-track project titled Rob Who Take What.
Starting with track #1, audiences are able to recount what exactly transpired and why he’s back with a vengeance.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpqR5sHr-mE
AllHipHop: What’s your relationship w/ 10k.Caash?
Gun40: That’s my little brother. Not blood brother, but couldn’t get any closer. We do everything together music-wise. Help each other, push each other. When we came up with “Aloha,” I did the chorus and the first verse. He’s on the chorus, I just wrote it. “West Coast Cure,” I produced the beat.
AllHipHop: Talk about producing and being an artist.
Gun40: Ooh, I really focus on being an artist. I don’t tell people I do beats ‘cause then they look at you a little different. It’s like a producer hazing or some s##t. But I didn’t wanna call myself a producer ‘til I got my first real check from a beat, so I finally got my first check [from Def Jam]. I only started producing a year ago.
AllHipHop: When did you sign to Def Jam?
Gun40: Since 10K signed. He signed his own, then I signed my own. They just made me a priority, so I’m trying to finish up these albums. I got like 3 finished.
AllHipHop: You were able to just drop a tape [Rob Who Take What] like that? I know major labels be…
Gun40: Nah, I definitely got cussed out. [laughs] They definitely got on my ass, but they understood. Because it was right after I got shot, it needed to happen. It needed to be done. It’s therapy for me to record music. It’s therapy, it helps me with my mental from everything.
AllHipHop: What exactly happened with the shooting?
Gun40: Aw man, like they say: never trust these hoes. I was with 2 females I felt were cool, ended up not being cool. Tried to put me in a position where 2 dudes ran up on me with their guns out. That was here in California, in North Hollywood. That won’t happen in my home [Dallas], I got too much respect.
Was at the studio, we was vibing, I was outside. I was getting ready to go into the next stu, 2 dudes pull up behind me with the gun out, just telling me give them everything I had. I’m like “I ain’t giving you s##t, so I don’t know what’s next.” Then they were kinda stunned. 4 or 5 seconds went by, I tried to pull my gun out. I had my gun because I’m licensed to carry.
AllHipHop: Because you’re allowed to in Dallas…
Gun40: Yeah, well out here too. It’s 2 different licenses: I got one in Dallas and one out here. So I pulled my gun out and tried to get him before he got me, but I guess he got scared and shot. When he shot, he hit me in my leg twice.
Shattered my bone completely, I got a metal rod from my knee to my ankle. I got a month left of healing, then I start rehab. I got shot in my shoulder. I got a bullet in my back still. You can see it, it traveled to my back. [shows bullet in back]
Girlfriend: That’s just like his leg, he ain’t tell you about his leg? The bullet ricocheted into it.
Gun40: It ricocheted and hit my bone, then came out the left side. It didn’t hurt getting shot though, it just hurt recovering. You don’t feel it. As soon as it hits you, it’s like your nerves are gone. You don’t even feel it. That’s why you see so many people, they get shot and some of them will pop up and run.
AllHipHop: You got shot and then what happened?
Gun40: I got shot, they ran off. I hopped back up. I just hopped in the car, then they took me to the nearest hospital.
AllHipHop: Who’s they?
Gun40: The girls who set me up. They ain’t get in trouble, because I ain’t snitch.
AllHipHop: Is this the first time you got shot?
Gun40: Yeah, this the first time I got shot. I got stabbed a long time ago, but that’s another story. I got stabbed in my leg, but it wasn’t bad. On some dumb s##t, being dumb and young.
AllHipHop: Are you just charging it to the game?
Gun40: Yeah, I’m charging it to the game. I’m playing the game so you know, you definitely charge it. On camera, we definitely charge it to the game. But I’m still here, doing better than them.
AllHipHop: Was it traumatic for you at all? Any PTSD?
Gun40: The only trauma I really got is the fact that I wake up and be wanting to go f##k him up. I guess that’s not really trauma, that’s probably anger. But no, I ain’t worried about s##t. Ain’t scared of nothing, I don’t care. End of the day, I feel like that s##t came back around. Karma, because I did a lot of s##t.
Girlfriend: So many people told him not to retaliate, ‘cause nothing’s gonna make it better. He’s gonna kill the n##ga, that’s all he’s gonna do. [chuckles]
Gun40: Nah, I’m not gonna kill the n##ga. I’ma let bygones be bygones.
AllHipHop: Did they just like flee the scene?
Gun40: They was gone. They took off. They were scared.
AllHipHop: Did the girls feel bad?
Gun40: Hell nah, they set it up. Well, I think they do. They feel bad ‘cause they thought that it was going different. They thought that I’d just give them everything and they’ll go about their way.
AllHipHop: Did you have hella jewelry on?
Gun40: I had everything on.
Girlfriend: He had blood on his chain, it’s in his song.
Gun40: Everything’s in the song. The tape I just showed you, it’s the first song on there.
AllHipHop: Talk about recording Rob Who Take What in the hospital.
Gun40: It just popped up in my head as soon as I was in the hospital bed. My homeboys came to the hospital to see me the next day and was like “anything you want, what you want, we’ll do it.” I‘m like “s##t, the only thing I want is for ya’ll to bring the studio in here.” My engineer Purple K, he came. Producer Young God came, they loaded up some beats and I just went in for hours and hours. I made probably 20 songs, then only put 12 on there. But that s##t’s fire.
AllHipHop: I’m looking at your tracklist. What’s “DDT”?
Gun40: You ever watch wrestling? It’s when you putting somebody in a headlock, then you just drop down and hit they head on the ground.
AllHipHop: Is there a lot of pain in this project?
Gun40: It’s a lot of pain in it, but really it’s more a middle finger saying “f##k you. You ain’t get s##t.” I’m really just talking trap s##t through all the tracks.
AllHipHop: Talk about bouncing back so quickly, you’re already in the studio.
Gun40: Really, it’s a mental thing. The doctor’s like “you healing fast, your body weird.” [chuckles] They was like “you do understand you had a shattered leg, like your bones were shattered. They’re already fused back together, it’s already healing.” So a month and a half, I’ll be able to walk, rehab, and be back on my feet.
AllHipHop: Talk about your new publishing company.
Gun40: I just finalized my publishing company called Enlightenment Publishing. That’s gon’ be for all my publishing, my songwriting, also try to focus on publishing books later on. lt’s a really big deal to me. And I got a watch deal, with Meister Watches. It’s a company that does watches for big name companies. They’re doing a watch with Disney right now, they did a watch with Honda. They did the Avengers movie too, they did a collab with Marvel. They really fire, so many people f##k with them. I got a watch coming out with them.
AllHipHop: Are you good not smoking?
Gun40: Oh yeah I’m good for now. I’ma be back blowing big gas, soon as I’m healed up and I don’t gotta take no medicine.
AllHipHop: What are some goals for yourself at this point in your career?
Gun40: S##t my goal is to make sure everybody on my team eats, that we all millionaires by 2 years. But really, I do want to win an award for best music album of the year. That’s one of my goals I always wanted to do. Probably another 2 years, we’ll have that. We’ll have that real soon.
AllHipHop: Is there anything else you want to let us to know?
Gun40: Go get that Rob Who Take What. Me and CashMoneyAP album coming soon. We got a whole album together.