S. Samuel
In a year where artists like T.I. and DMX have been arrested for probation violations, D4L Records founder Shawty Lo has revealed the keys to staying away from jail sentences.
Claiming his past jail experiences have currently affected his decision-making, Shawty prides himself in bestowing street smarts to his entourage.
“Shawty Lo a real street n*gga, I done been through it,” Shawty told DJ Vlad when asked how he has been able to stay crime-free. “I did so much in my time in the streets [that] I’m very smart. I’m street smart. If you look it up man, I got 28 arrests. I’ve been convicted 4 times. I learned from my mistakes. I know what to do and I know how to move. Like when we go to places, I have to tell my boys, they like smoke, I like smoke, but I tell them, ‘Look here, we’re not smoking until we get to where we’re going.’ It’s easy to get caught up on the road doing it. It’s all kinds of stuff. That’s the easiest way to get caught. So you know, I didn’t know how to handle my business because I’d been locked up a lot of times. I got a lot of kids to feed so you know, I’m gonna stand out here.” (Vlad TV)
Shawty’s ex-rap rival T.I. recently recalled being arrested on a drug possession charge earlier this year while in Los Angeles.
“When the cop pulled me over, I wasn’t thinking nothing. At that point, I didn’t even know what was in my pocket,” T.I. explained. “So I’m thinking, Here’s my license, come on with the ticket. And he immediately opened the door like, like, ‘Get out!’ [I thought,] This is different. You haven’t even ran my license, the tag, nothing. You just pulled me out the car and put my hands behind my back immediately. So right then, I was like, ‘This is some bullsh*t.’ And then he started patting me down, and he went in my pocket and found the pills. And I was like, ‘Ahhh sh*t!'” (VIBE)
In 2009, Southern rapper Lil Scrappy talked about rappers like Lil Wayne and Lil Boosie having to serve out jail sentences for drug possession arrests.
“I don’t know how to react cuz, ’cause it’s like d*mn, if anybody noticed, this is the most rappers that done got locked up,” Scrappy explained to SOHH in November 2009. “I’ma tell you what it is though, it’s from certain n*ggas feeling like ‘I’m a rapper, I can do whatever the f*ck I wanna do,’ and not saying I’m a boss and do whatever I wanna do. If you a boss and you doing whatever you wanna do, you still gonna do it where you gonna be good, you not gonna just be ‘Oh, I f*cked up cuz, now I got eight years.’ Nah, not like that, they gonna be like ‘Eh, I did whatever I had to do, I’m good.’ N*ggas be going out their character, cuz. They doin’ sh*t they wouldn’t even do and they get f*cked up.” (SOHH)
As of late, Shawy is reportedly working on the follow-up to his 2008 debut solo album, Units in the City.
Shawty Lo’s second solo album, I Am Carlos is set to be released soon. Artists to be featured include Rick Ross, T-Pain, Lil Kim, Bun B, Nate Butler, Lyfe Jennings, T.I., Lil Wayne, and Gucci Mane. Shawty Lo confirmed that Atlanta, GA, which features Gucci Mane, Ludacris and The-Dream, will be the first single released from the album. The album is also notable for “Roll the Dice,” a song which marks the end of the beef between himself and rapper T.I. (Wikipedia)
Check out Shawty Lo’s interview below:
