Bompton's own discusses his new album 'Still Brazy' and the newfound importance of speaking up in his music.
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YG: Shit, it feels good. I was in a dark space for a cool minute, so to be able to get that off my chest and get that out the way and start moving around out here is a good feeling.What was it like working with Terrace Martin on this album?
That's the homie. He was on the first album. He did a little bit more on this album. I like working with Terrace because he's a real musician. He's a real producer. I can go tell him an idea, or "I want you to flip this sample" and he knows how to do all of that. There's a lot of music people, and they're not producers; they're beat makers. So when you got those special people around, it's good to keep them around because that's rare.What song do you think showcases Terrace's songwriting and arrangement ability the most?
'Bool, Balm & Bollective.'Talk about writing 'Bool Balm & Bollective.' What was that like for you?
He was downstairs making a beat. I heard it and came down like, 'yeah, I like this, I got something for it.' And I just started going in. That's how it happens sometimes for me: I'll hear a beat, and if I fuck with it I'm going to go in on it ASAP.
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'Don't Come to LA' is talking about how out-of-towners come to LA, and they try to start claiming the culture, the lifestyle. And they're really not from it. That's really what's it's about. It's about how niggas need to stop letting that shit happen. It's making the shit watered down, and there's a lot of people out here who feel that way. But they just don't have the voice and the platform to speak and press the line and let motherfuckers know like, yeah, that shit ain't bool. So I had to do it.What's the story behind Drake getting on 'Why You Always Hatin''?
That's regular. Everybody keeps asking me that question. I sent the homie the song, and he said he fucked with it, and he hopped on it, and he sent it back, and it's out.What about Kamaiyah? You guys have really connected. What draws you to her music?
She's up next. She's got her own style, sound. I ain't never heard of, seen no female artist come out of Oakland on some rap shit and be successful. She's got a lot of hunger. They've got their whole shit that they go through out there, as far as the music industry and making it out of Oakland. They feel like Oakland don't get no love, the Bay period. So she got a lot of shit she's trying to prove. She's dope.What's the connection between the Bay and LA right now, musically?
We fuck with each other. The Bay fucks with me heavy. Super heavy. I've been going out there since like 2008, fucking with them, doing shows all in the hood, in the ghetto. Shooting videos, all that type of shit. Everybody's fucking with everybody's music right now, though.
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Yeah, people have been liking the therapist stuff. They said it got to them, it touched their heart, I made them want to cry. I've been hearing all type of wild shit. My peoples told me they thought I should go talk to a therapist, and I went and talked to a therapist, and we let VICE record it. You got to do some different shit sometimes.What's the weirdest reaction you've heard from it?
My pops hit me like, 'man, we need to talk. I heard some of the shit you was saying up in there, man. That shit opened my eyes up to certain different situations. We need to talk.' I'm like, 'what the fuck do we need to talk about? You're scaring me, my nigga.' But yeah.With the song 'Police Get Away with Murder,' that's a big topic right now. Why was it important to have that on the album?
That's something that's going on right now, and really we ain't got nobody from a rap side, from the rap community really speaking, pressing the line with authority, speaking up for the people out here. All that was going on when I was working on the album. It was just like me and my homies and the people around, we used to always just talk about what was going on at the time: the Mike Brown situation, Eric Garner situation, and many more innocent people that got killed by the police, all the stuff that was happening in Baltimore, and all that.
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Yeah, motherfuckers got to because this shit is watered down. I'm getting tired of this shit because there's a lot of motherfuckers who get glorified through this rap shit, and it's like y'all should feel like this is an obligation if you're a part of hip-hop culture, period point blank. That's what it was built off of. It started with the artists rapping about what was going on in they communities and in the culture and using that to wake motherfuckers up and get them involved and let motherfuckers know we out here, we're going to come together if it's really needed. And it ain't been like that, so I'm pressing that line.Your early music is all about partying, but now that you have 'Fuck Donald Trump,' you've become the face of that idea. What does that feel like, to have everyone asking you about politics?
I ain't no politician. I just know when some shit ain't right, and my people know it ain't right, and my people ain't feeling it. I'm speaking for the streets, for the people down here. I can be their spokesperson. I ain't no politician. I can't talk too much about that shit. But I know some shit ain't right, bro.Justin Staple is a producer for Noisey. Follow him on Twitter.Kyle Kramer is an editor at Noisey. Follow him on Twitter.