YG: “People like dangerous shit"

In a way, My Krazy Life embodied the sound of hip-hop in 2014, yet at the same time offered something completely inimitable – I mean, putting your personal story on record is hardly something that can be replicated. I’d like to think that if Tupac was reincarnated (although YG may make a claim for his current existence) and wanted to know what hip-hop in 2014 sounded like, you’d play him my My Krazy Life, and he’d probably want to keep the record on loop until he’s back as a hologram next time round.

Conspiracy theories aside, what made My Krazy Life a standout debut release was the timeless blend of real life storytelling and a reignition of the West Coast sound that launched the careers of Snoop and Dre back in the so-called golden era of hip-hop. Fast-forward to today and you’ve got YG and his production counterpart, DJ Mustard, as their nearest audible doppelgangers.

While the record certainly has that West Coast sound (often courtesy of Mustard’s now trademark 808 kicks and claps), there’s something that made the narrative accessible outside of California. “It’s how I was telling the stories, like you understand what I was talking about,” says YG. “I’m giving you that gangbanger lifestyle experience, that West Coast lifestyle experience. So If you ever wanted to visit the West Coast and you listen to my album, you feel like you’ve visited before because it’s just broken down like that.”

Following the arc of My Krazy Life, you are sonically guided through YG’s story - all compressed into one day (or 17 tracks, presuming you’re listening to the deluxe version of the album). “That’s all different parts in my life. I put it together and it just seemed like it was all one day,” explains YG, whose real name, Keenon Daequan Ray Jackson, is shouted on the album’s opening track. “I get put on the hood, we go party, we back in the hood chilling, then we end up in jail. It’s like a little story, but it’s all parts of my life.” So where there are songs made to turn up and blast on repeat (“I Just Wanna Party”, “Left, Right” et al.), you’ve also got tracks that guide you through these “gangbanger” experiences (“1AM” or “Meet the Flockers”). Not to mention the album cover of Jackson’s mugshot following the burglary described on record.

While it’s often – if not always - the case for hip-hop to be laced with bravado, you have to wonder if it’s difficult to imprint these IRL events within the album? “I mean, my lifestyle is like a movie, you feel me? Everyday it’s still like a movie. It’s crazy. I feel like I’ve got some stuff I can talk about that people will probably be interested in.” Interested may be somewhat of an understatement when his latest video for “Bicken Back Being Bool” has reached over a million views in less than a month. And it just so happens that the Blood-affiliated track (replacing ‘c’ words with the letter ‘b’) navigates an average day bicken back with his friends, before ending up at a home invasion that alley-oops the following track-cum-description of the robbery. “People like dangerous shit. That shit like entertainment,” says YG, covered head to toe in tattoos, and a ‘Bompton’ hat atop his head. “So if you come up and you’ve got a dangerous lifestyle, you can rap about that shit and people will like it. Part of my life is dangerous. Of course, right now I’ve got success and all that, so it’s a little different. But there’s still dangerous shit around and dangerous shit going on.”

So how exactly have things changed on the back of this success? “I be like one foot in and one foot out now, because it’s real dangerous. I still be riding around by myself. I ride around in my car and everybody know my Porsche – the red Porsche, everybody know I’m the only motherfucker in LA with a red Porsche,” elaborates Jackson, with the kind of confidence that comes with a record that debuted at number 2 on the Billboard 200 chart. “I go to the mall by myself, so I still do that type of shit that I shouldn’t be doing. I’m real, I don’t act like I’m a celebrity or none of that. But I’m like one foot in, one foot out.”

My Krazy Life is out now.