6. "Blue Laces 2"
Lebron James, when he won that first championship, they got footage of him on YouTube in the locker room before the game started and he was playing a song in his headphones. When he took his headphones off, I got the song blast through the headphones and it was "Blue Laces" off the original Marathon. I was real flattered. So I'm like, I wanna make a "Blue Laces 2" on Victory Lap. So I called Mr. Lee from Texas. He's a legendary producer from down south [in] Houston. I was introduced to him by Jonny Shipes, who owns Cinematic Records and originally signed me. Lee's like Rick Rubin with his ear; he's got an incredible hip-hop ear. We did the original "Blue Laces." As I'm wrapping up Victory Lap, I called him and I'm like, "Bro, make me a 'Blue Laces 2.' " He made it in two days and sent it to me. I was blown away. And I just went in the booth again and started talking.
Me and Big Reese from Lincoln Park in San Diego became really close, he's like an O.G. He's been around forever, but he just turned into a real positive dude that came up out the struggle. He was part of Xzibit's movement. So I was in the studio working on "Blue Laces 2," and by him being a part of Mike & Keys' production group, we had a studio together. So he was always in the studio with me. He heard when I did my first verse and he was like, "That's tight Hussle, where you goin'?" I'm like, "Leaving. Come back tomorrow." He's says, "Don't leave. Do the second verse right now." I did my second verse and he's like, "D*** that's tight, bro. The second one is harder than the first verse." He's like, "Finish the song right now, Nip. You've got a certain spirit right now. Don't leave."
I went and I did the third verse and the third verse blew me away; it was hard for me to get it out. I was overwhelmed because of how truthful it was and how real it was to him. I was in the booth having a moment. I got out the booth and I'm like, "Damn, bro. You was utilized by some higher power today." Cause I would have left and the verse wouldn't have been the same. I know it. So I gotta give Reese his credit on that one. That's one of my favorite records. I can binge listen to that over and over and over. It's just real natural and it's real honest. The third verse, especially, is about a moment in my life.
7. "Hussle & Motivate"
One of my homegirls did a lot of hooks on my mixtape catalog. She just got the right energy. She writes like a trained songwriter, but she got hip-hop swag, too. So I called her up and said I need a hook for this. Come through and vibe on up. And she brought this guy I never met before. I'm like, "I ain't tell you to bring nobody; I said come through!" I'm real funny about who comes to the studio [so] I was a little upset, to be honest. I'm like, "Man you brought [people] I don't know to my studio?"
As soon as the beat starts playing, everybody's bobbing their head. And as soon as the verse stops, he starts humming. And when he starts humming I'm like, "Oh this n****'s the truth! Good lookin'." So I tell him, "Don't hum it, go in the booth, bro!" So he goes in the booth. And, if you notice, half the hook isn't words, it's humming. It's like a Negro spiritual, just like an emotion.
He says, "I'ma fix that." And I'm like, "No you not! Leave that s*** just like it is." The communication on that one is visceral. You don't necessarily understand it intellectually, you feel it though. It's a vibe; it's a frequency that you capture. We were talking about getting other artists to sing it, and I was like, "We not changing nothing. Leave it just like that. He's gonna be on the album as-is." Then I went in and did the second verse.
Clearly it's a sample of the Jay-Z "Hard Knock Life" record. Shout out to Jay 'cause he signed off on that one. The hook is basically saying I don't do this for nothing. They got this narrative, [assuming we] want to be in the streets going through what we go through and taking risks. That's just the farthest thing from the truth. So I wanted to address that.
8. "Status Symbol 3 (feat. Buddy)"
I met Buddy through Mike & Keys, my producers. We built a studio and the whole goal was to create the synergy that Motown had and Death Row had, where the producers, the writers, the artists, the executive team was all under one roof. The studio [h]as four rooms, two offices and a workout room. And it was just a dope energy. And Buddy was the artist that they brought in to work on.
Instantly, I saw that he was gifted. He's from Compton, but he's got a completely different style of music than what you know Compton for, and the dude can rap as good as your best rapper. He can sing as good as your best singer. And he's 100 percent free from all social pressure to be one of these type of individuals. That's what I respect about Buddy to the utmost; he's him. And he's far from a punk type of person. He's not a gang member. He grew up in a gang area but he's just him — an artist and a cool person. He got charisma; he's like a star all the way through and through. I hopped on a couple of his records just 'cause I believed in the music, and then we did the first "Status Symbol."
"Almost Forgot" was the title of this record for like a year or two. But then I started thinking and [decided], nah, it's called "Status Symbol 3." When me and Buddy come together on a record, it's gonna be called "Status Symbol" from now on.
9. "Succa Proof"
I've been known to be real positive lately, real business astute and an inspirational figure. But I have to tap back into the energy of what this is. We ain't endorsing celebrities and gang membership. We ain't doing that in my tribe. We trying to redefine the tribe. We trying to stimulate the young people that did come from jail. But I been there; we trying to be on good terms.
This ain't no subliminal diss for anybody that started bangin' after they were successful. That's Soulja Boy; that's Chris Brown. If the shoes fits, wear it. I know Soulja Boy and I know Chris Brown, but I want to be real. As far as gang bangin', they're not gang bangers. You probably are a real n****. But as far as Piru, Crip, Blood, you're not a Blood, you're not a Piru. You'll never be one, period. You're not a Crip. That's just a fact. Stop playing. I got dead homies from this, for real.
Do I feel like Soulja Boy's not a man? Nah. I respect Soulja Boy. I've been in the club with Soulja Boy. [But] if I got a little brother and he's doing goofy s***, I'ma tell him: That's goofy, bro. That ain't a hundred. But I still got love for you. You still my brother, but that's goofy and we ain't condoning that type of goofiness. Period. That's what this song is about. We ain't gonna tell you to gang bang; we gonna tell you to buy out the block. And we gonna support the businesses and create tourism around here. This is Crenshaw Boulevard. This is a famous street.
Lebron James, when he won that first championship, they got footage of him on YouTube in the locker room before the game started and he was playing a song in his headphones. When he took his headphones off, I got the song blast through the headphones and it was "Blue Laces" off the original Marathon. I was real flattered. So I'm like, I wanna make a "Blue Laces 2" on Victory Lap. So I called Mr. Lee from Texas. He's a legendary producer from down south [in] Houston. I was introduced to him by Jonny Shipes, who owns Cinematic Records and originally signed me. Lee's like Rick Rubin with his ear; he's got an incredible hip-hop ear. We did the original "Blue Laces." As I'm wrapping up Victory Lap, I called him and I'm like, "Bro, make me a 'Blue Laces 2.' " He made it in two days and sent it to me. I was blown away. And I just went in the booth again and started talking.
Me and Big Reese from Lincoln Park in San Diego became really close, he's like an O.G. He's been around forever, but he just turned into a real positive dude that came up out the struggle. He was part of Xzibit's movement. So I was in the studio working on "Blue Laces 2," and by him being a part of Mike & Keys' production group, we had a studio together. So he was always in the studio with me. He heard when I did my first verse and he was like, "That's tight Hussle, where you goin'?" I'm like, "Leaving. Come back tomorrow." He's says, "Don't leave. Do the second verse right now." I did my second verse and he's like, "D*** that's tight, bro. The second one is harder than the first verse." He's like, "Finish the song right now, Nip. You've got a certain spirit right now. Don't leave."
I went and I did the third verse and the third verse blew me away; it was hard for me to get it out. I was overwhelmed because of how truthful it was and how real it was to him. I was in the booth having a moment. I got out the booth and I'm like, "Damn, bro. You was utilized by some higher power today." Cause I would have left and the verse wouldn't have been the same. I know it. So I gotta give Reese his credit on that one. That's one of my favorite records. I can binge listen to that over and over and over. It's just real natural and it's real honest. The third verse, especially, is about a moment in my life.
7. "Hussle & Motivate"
One of my homegirls did a lot of hooks on my mixtape catalog. She just got the right energy. She writes like a trained songwriter, but she got hip-hop swag, too. So I called her up and said I need a hook for this. Come through and vibe on up. And she brought this guy I never met before. I'm like, "I ain't tell you to bring nobody; I said come through!" I'm real funny about who comes to the studio [so] I was a little upset, to be honest. I'm like, "Man you brought [people] I don't know to my studio?"
As soon as the beat starts playing, everybody's bobbing their head. And as soon as the verse stops, he starts humming. And when he starts humming I'm like, "Oh this n****'s the truth! Good lookin'." So I tell him, "Don't hum it, go in the booth, bro!" So he goes in the booth. And, if you notice, half the hook isn't words, it's humming. It's like a Negro spiritual, just like an emotion.
He says, "I'ma fix that." And I'm like, "No you not! Leave that s*** just like it is." The communication on that one is visceral. You don't necessarily understand it intellectually, you feel it though. It's a vibe; it's a frequency that you capture. We were talking about getting other artists to sing it, and I was like, "We not changing nothing. Leave it just like that. He's gonna be on the album as-is." Then I went in and did the second verse.
Clearly it's a sample of the Jay-Z "Hard Knock Life" record. Shout out to Jay 'cause he signed off on that one. The hook is basically saying I don't do this for nothing. They got this narrative, [assuming we] want to be in the streets going through what we go through and taking risks. That's just the farthest thing from the truth. So I wanted to address that.
8. "Status Symbol 3 (feat. Buddy)"
I met Buddy through Mike & Keys, my producers. We built a studio and the whole goal was to create the synergy that Motown had and Death Row had, where the producers, the writers, the artists, the executive team was all under one roof. The studio [h]as four rooms, two offices and a workout room. And it was just a dope energy. And Buddy was the artist that they brought in to work on.
Instantly, I saw that he was gifted. He's from Compton, but he's got a completely different style of music than what you know Compton for, and the dude can rap as good as your best rapper. He can sing as good as your best singer. And he's 100 percent free from all social pressure to be one of these type of individuals. That's what I respect about Buddy to the utmost; he's him. And he's far from a punk type of person. He's not a gang member. He grew up in a gang area but he's just him — an artist and a cool person. He got charisma; he's like a star all the way through and through. I hopped on a couple of his records just 'cause I believed in the music, and then we did the first "Status Symbol."
"Almost Forgot" was the title of this record for like a year or two. But then I started thinking and [decided], nah, it's called "Status Symbol 3." When me and Buddy come together on a record, it's gonna be called "Status Symbol" from now on.
9. "Succa Proof"
I've been known to be real positive lately, real business astute and an inspirational figure. But I have to tap back into the energy of what this is. We ain't endorsing celebrities and gang membership. We ain't doing that in my tribe. We trying to redefine the tribe. We trying to stimulate the young people that did come from jail. But I been there; we trying to be on good terms.
This ain't no subliminal diss for anybody that started bangin' after they were successful. That's Soulja Boy; that's Chris Brown. If the shoes fits, wear it. I know Soulja Boy and I know Chris Brown, but I want to be real. As far as gang bangin', they're not gang bangers. You probably are a real n****. But as far as Piru, Crip, Blood, you're not a Blood, you're not a Piru. You'll never be one, period. You're not a Crip. That's just a fact. Stop playing. I got dead homies from this, for real.
Do I feel like Soulja Boy's not a man? Nah. I respect Soulja Boy. I've been in the club with Soulja Boy. [But] if I got a little brother and he's doing goofy s***, I'ma tell him: That's goofy, bro. That ain't a hundred. But I still got love for you. You still my brother, but that's goofy and we ain't condoning that type of goofiness. Period. That's what this song is about. We ain't gonna tell you to gang bang; we gonna tell you to buy out the block. And we gonna support the businesses and create tourism around here. This is Crenshaw Boulevard. This is a famous street.
