Hecto “The Cuban Gucci Mane” Recruits Yelawolf & RiFF RAFF For “Criminal Covenant”

Anyone familiar with Gucci Mane’s story is well aware of his numerous run-ins with the law and years spent behind bars. But they’re also up to speed on his complete transformation—physically, mentally, spiritually—and his rise to the top of his game. Hecto, a Cuban immigrant who came to the United States at age 11, has been on a similar trajectory and is ready to take his rap career to the next level. 

Hecto grew up poor, the “having one pair of shoes” kind of poor; the kind of poor where food in your belly wasn’t a guarantee. Hecto’s parents felt like moving to America was the only option for a better life. After settling in Tennessee with his family, Hecto understandably felt like an outlier. The inevitable language barrier led to difficulties in school. 

“It was a rough transition for me because I didn’t speak any English,” he explains. “So my parents didn’t either, obviously. I was going to school and I’m going to class but not understanding what was being said.” 

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Hecto pressed on and by his freshman year of high school, he’d become enamored by the rap music he was hearing. Artists like Eminem, DMX and Cypress Hill were huge at the time and he he was captivated by their “attitude, grit and flow.” It wasn’t long before he was putting pen to paper. 

“I started writing songs on a notebook, first in class and then at home in my room just chilling, writing,” he recalls. “I just remember being in my room and my mom walking in, like, ‘What are you doing?’ I didn’t want to tell anyone because at first, you don’t really know if you’re serious about it or even good at it. It took a little time.” 

But Hecto’s extracurricular activities became a bit more nefarious as time went on, and he ultimately landed himself in jail. While he doesn’t directly blame the school system he was thrust into as a kid, he does believe it played a role. 

“I think growing up like that plants a seed in your mind where it’s like, ‘OK, now I’m in a different country. Now I have opportunities, o I need to make some happen.’ Unfortunately, I think what happened with me was when I got here, I kind of lost interest in school because I didn’t know what was being said, I didn’t know what’s going on, especially for the first two years, so I think that kind of led me down the wrong path. I started not caring so much about school and just going out with the homies. I started getting around gangs.” 

Hecto’s exposure to street life started in middle school. He vividly remembers a shootout at a homecoming dance, and the crazy circumstances just continued to unfold with each ensuing year. Full transparency, Hecto hasn’t been out of prison for that long. He went away on a five-year bid—which is nothing compared to what he could’ve been sentenced.

“It’s hard to do time and not let it change you as a person,” he admits. “You see a different side of the world, a world that a lot of people don’t get to see. Then you see people behave in a way that you don’t get to see a lot, even with COs, inmates and courtroom officials. 

“A lot of people who you think are your friends don’t really write you and don’t call to ask about how you’re doing. I had serious charges and so I was really fighting for my life. I could have ended up doing a lot of time. Thank God I’m here now. I guess it’s given me a lot more to talk about. I feel like I can write a lot about a lot of things that I really couldn’t write about before, or I didn’t know much about.” 

Hecto was slapped with multiple charges, including first-degree murder. As he explains, “I had two different cases. In 2016, I had a guns and drugs case where police came to my house with a special unit. I was only in for like two months and then I bonded out. The next year, I ended up catching a first-degree homicide charge, so that violated my bond stipulations and they revoked my bond. 

“I wasn’t too worried about the first case, but the second case was a lot more serious. But I just felt like everything was gonna be OK, so I just dealt with it day by day, and they ended up dropping the charges to a manslaughter, which was only six years to serve at 30 percent. I ended up just doing like, almost five years.” 

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Hecto and his two co-defendants were all charged with first-degree murder despite having no crime scene. 

“They do that s### a lot,” he says. “A lot of times they’ll have a weak ass case and they’ll come get you and your homies and assume one of you will talk. In my case, they ended up having to drop the charges for all three of us. We all got the same sentence. We did our time and got out.” 

Hecto walked out of prison in September 2021 with a renewed lease on life, determined to start over. But it hasn’t necessarily been a smooth transition—he’s been hemmed up twice since his release. 

“I ran from police about a year ago, not even a year ago,” he says. “Police kicked my door in again maybe like two weeks ago, so I’m still dealing with this b#######, but everything is going to be alright. At the end of the day, it’s nothing too serious. They want to put me away, that’s what it is.” 

But with Hecto fully tapped into music and Yelawolf and his manager, Edward Crowe, in his corner, Hecto has a chance to walk a different path. Combined with his ability to rap in both Spanish and English, he’s a formula for success and perhaps the fresh perspective rap is so desperately lacking right now. 

“We’re staying focused on the music and we’re doing these shows and you know, got new music coming out every month putting out new videos, so yeah, we’re focused,” he says. “So hopefully this will be the last time we got to speak about this s###.” 

Hecto just wrapped up the Always On Tour Tour with RiFF RAFF on November 21 in Austin, Texas at The Yard. His latest video, “Criminal Covenant” featuring Yelawolf and RiFF RAFF, can be found above.