Interview with Messy Marv
Continuted from Murder Dog vol 14 #4
Interview by Black Dog Bone
Photo by Marcus Hanschen
You said you’ve been reading up on Black power. What brought this on?
I know. Because I went to jail and when I went to jail I really seen how fresh my people’s skin was and how intelligently they was talkin. Bein behind bars for so many years just woke my game up on a whole ‘nother hype. This Blackness, they’re scared of us. They lock us up for years and years because they’re scared of us. That’s why I’m speakin on this shit because when I went to jail this last time it woke me up. But I’ve always been about my Blackness. You can ask Dead Prez, you can ask Kweli. I always pop this Blackness wherever I’m at. Yeah, there’s this Gangsta side of me. But hell, I’m a product of this society. This is where they put me. This is what I do! This is where y’all put me. I got to eat! You muthafuckas ain’t gonna feed me, right? You ain’t gonna give me no money or no opportunities, so don’t talk about what we doin out here. We doin this shit to eat. We snatchin the purse, not because we want to snatch that bitch’s purse. It’s cause we hungry, homeboy. Don’t give us that title, like we just doin wrong. All of this shit is about Blackness. Whether y’all like it or not, y’all muthafuckas ain’t gonna give me no choice. You ain’t gonna feed my son. So if this is how I live then this is how I’m gonna get it. Show me some respect
It seems like being in prison woke you up to another side of life. You met some people in prison that brought some understanding into you?
Naw. I’m a man. I don’t get it from other people. I sat on my bunk every fuckin night, read my bible and thought about direction for when I touch down. That’s all I did. As far as me writin raps, I didn’t do none of that shit. I’m not a rapper. I am a chemist. I am a street nigga. I am me. This is what I am.
But when you were in prison, you started seeing things differently.
That’s right. But I can only say so much. You can’t really put no bad name on me. I live how I live. I get it how I get it. I’m a product of society. This is where y’all put me. This is where I am and this is how I got to get it. We ain’t never had no time to go to school. We all dropped out early. I can only speak for me, I dropped out early. I ain’t had no time to do that shit. I had to put some food in the fridgerator. I like new things. I like them nice things. I like bad bitches. So I had to get out and make my money. So don’t say no punk-ass shit about, "Them niggaz is this and them niggaz is that." Cause truly, what is you niggaz doin for the community? We givin away bikes on Christmas. We’re givin away turkeys on Thanksgiving. We out fuckin with and interacting with our people. Nigga, we doin way more than they doin for the community. So leave that shit where it is. If y’all wanna come fuck with us come fuck with us. If not, we’ll see you on top.
You say you’re not a rapper, but you’re something else….
I’m a prophet. I’m a prophet from the street. I’m just giving you my story. This is me.
You’re using Rap as a vehicle for that?
Not necessarily Rap. I’m using pimpin as a vehicle to get this shit out. Bitch, when you’re out there on the track tell everybody out there, "Mess is sending me for a good cause!!" I’m using all this shit for an outlet. When I’m out there on the radio, all this shit. We’re using this shit to better our situation.
You say you’re not a rapper, but no matter what you have a talent with music. You’ve got the lyrics and you’ve got the flow. That’s why we’re here talking today.
No. It’s not because of that. It’s because you understand my story and you might have listened to a few of my songs and said, "Man I went through that. That’s real" or "I might go through that." That’s the reason why. Not because I’m a rapper, but because you understand my story, Black Dog Bone.
But I know you take your music seriously.
Right. That’s why you don’t hear Messy Marv on 10 or 20 or 30 album features. Because that shit is bullshit. If you want Mess, come spend them chips ASAP. If you want a concert, come spend them chips ASAP. Other than that we don’t fuck with you. If you ain’t family we don’t fuck with you and we don’t need to fuck with you, man. We got our own problems. We got our own situation and we gonna push a hard line. This is what we do. Whether you wanna fuck with us or not, y’all gonna have to deal with us.
You’re considered one of the top rappers in the Bay. I think you take that serious.
I take all of this serious. Life is serious. Don’t get me fucked up when I say I’m not a rapper. I’m just sayin that people understand my story. I take all of this shit serious because I eat off of this shit. You got to separate the real shit from the fake shit. That’s what I do.
Continuted from Murder Dog vol 14 #4
Interview by Black Dog Bone
Photo by Marcus Hanschen
You said you’ve been reading up on Black power. What brought this on?
I know. Because I went to jail and when I went to jail I really seen how fresh my people’s skin was and how intelligently they was talkin. Bein behind bars for so many years just woke my game up on a whole ‘nother hype. This Blackness, they’re scared of us. They lock us up for years and years because they’re scared of us. That’s why I’m speakin on this shit because when I went to jail this last time it woke me up. But I’ve always been about my Blackness. You can ask Dead Prez, you can ask Kweli. I always pop this Blackness wherever I’m at. Yeah, there’s this Gangsta side of me. But hell, I’m a product of this society. This is where they put me. This is what I do! This is where y’all put me. I got to eat! You muthafuckas ain’t gonna feed me, right? You ain’t gonna give me no money or no opportunities, so don’t talk about what we doin out here. We doin this shit to eat. We snatchin the purse, not because we want to snatch that bitch’s purse. It’s cause we hungry, homeboy. Don’t give us that title, like we just doin wrong. All of this shit is about Blackness. Whether y’all like it or not, y’all muthafuckas ain’t gonna give me no choice. You ain’t gonna feed my son. So if this is how I live then this is how I’m gonna get it. Show me some respect
It seems like being in prison woke you up to another side of life. You met some people in prison that brought some understanding into you?
Naw. I’m a man. I don’t get it from other people. I sat on my bunk every fuckin night, read my bible and thought about direction for when I touch down. That’s all I did. As far as me writin raps, I didn’t do none of that shit. I’m not a rapper. I am a chemist. I am a street nigga. I am me. This is what I am.
But when you were in prison, you started seeing things differently.
That’s right. But I can only say so much. You can’t really put no bad name on me. I live how I live. I get it how I get it. I’m a product of society. This is where y’all put me. This is where I am and this is how I got to get it. We ain’t never had no time to go to school. We all dropped out early. I can only speak for me, I dropped out early. I ain’t had no time to do that shit. I had to put some food in the fridgerator. I like new things. I like them nice things. I like bad bitches. So I had to get out and make my money. So don’t say no punk-ass shit about, "Them niggaz is this and them niggaz is that." Cause truly, what is you niggaz doin for the community? We givin away bikes on Christmas. We’re givin away turkeys on Thanksgiving. We out fuckin with and interacting with our people. Nigga, we doin way more than they doin for the community. So leave that shit where it is. If y’all wanna come fuck with us come fuck with us. If not, we’ll see you on top.
You say you’re not a rapper, but you’re something else….
I’m a prophet. I’m a prophet from the street. I’m just giving you my story. This is me.
You’re using Rap as a vehicle for that?
Not necessarily Rap. I’m using pimpin as a vehicle to get this shit out. Bitch, when you’re out there on the track tell everybody out there, "Mess is sending me for a good cause!!" I’m using all this shit for an outlet. When I’m out there on the radio, all this shit. We’re using this shit to better our situation.
You say you’re not a rapper, but no matter what you have a talent with music. You’ve got the lyrics and you’ve got the flow. That’s why we’re here talking today.
No. It’s not because of that. It’s because you understand my story and you might have listened to a few of my songs and said, "Man I went through that. That’s real" or "I might go through that." That’s the reason why. Not because I’m a rapper, but because you understand my story, Black Dog Bone.
But I know you take your music seriously.
Right. That’s why you don’t hear Messy Marv on 10 or 20 or 30 album features. Because that shit is bullshit. If you want Mess, come spend them chips ASAP. If you want a concert, come spend them chips ASAP. Other than that we don’t fuck with you. If you ain’t family we don’t fuck with you and we don’t need to fuck with you, man. We got our own problems. We got our own situation and we gonna push a hard line. This is what we do. Whether you wanna fuck with us or not, y’all gonna have to deal with us.
You’re considered one of the top rappers in the Bay. I think you take that serious.
I take all of this serious. Life is serious. Don’t get me fucked up when I say I’m not a rapper. I’m just sayin that people understand my story. I take all of this shit serious because I eat off of this shit. You got to separate the real shit from the fake shit. That’s what I do.
