YG Talks Bompton Style and Why Life is Still Brazy

In the first line of the chorus for “Twist My Fingaz,” YG declares “I just do my dance and cuff my pants.” The Compton rapper’s garb has always closely mirrored his music. In both promotional trailers for his 4Hunnid collection, the classic tropes of gangsta rap were made unmistakably clear: we witnessed blunts and 40 oz bottles, bumping lowriders and a round of dice-tumbling interrupted by police. With its thumping ’90s G-funk influence, YG’s latest album Still Brazy celebrates the lasting styles of West Coast street fashion. In honor of his latest release, YG delivers another capsule collection. In conjunction with BornxRaised, YG delivers the “BornxKrazy” line. The collaborative project pays West Coast homage once again with gothic gang lettering and a tri-color scheme of white, black and loud red. The promotional video for the collection was shot in Tokyo, where HYPEBEAST sat down with the notoriously “hard to kill” rapper during Tokyo’s BlOC PARTY for a conversation.

Why did you name your latest album Still Brazy?
That’s how my life been. Shit’s still crazy.

Do you feel added pressure due as this is your sophomore album?
I’m not going to say there was no pressure making the album. I put my all into creating the album. DJ Mustard didn’t do one record on this album. The sound is different but it’s next level. To be next level we have to make sure we’re shooting the best videos. There’s a lot of things going on behind the scenes and I need to stay focused.

From touring, doing shows, being in the studio, performing to producing music videos, how do you keep all of this fluid with one another in a way that still makes sense?
Balance is probably the hardest part about it all. I mean we have to do it. It’s not the easy part. Everything I do is coming from the heart. What I’m doing, I feel some type of way about it. I enjoy it all. People tell me it is a lot of work. This is really not work to me. It is only work because I put the time in. When you work in America from 9-5, that isn’t something you want to do but you do it just to get the bills paid.

From touring, doing shows, being in the studio, performing, producing music videos, how do you keep all of this fluid in a way that still makes sense?
Balance is probably the hardest part about it all. I mean we have to do it. It’s not the easy part. Everything I do is coming from the heart. What I’m doing, I feel some type of way about it. I enjoy it all. People tell me it is a lot of work. This is really not work to me. It is only work because I put the time in. When you work in America from 9-5, that isn’t something you want to do but you do it just to get the bills paid.

You mentioned DJ Mustard earlier. What is it about Ty Dolla $ign & Mustard that you trust to work so closely with musically and as friends?
I came in the game with them. We spent a lot of time together that I could not spend with anyone else. There was a lot of shit going on. Everybody got something to do for their success. We all got something to do. It is special.

My Krazy Life. Now Still Brazy. What is the new album focused on that you left out on the previous record?
Still Brazy is about my life the last year and a year and a half. My Krazy Life was a shorter period of time. I probably left out a lot of shit. I talk about all types of things going on. I don’t want to say too much or else I’ll spill the beans.

Can you speak about any producers or artists you worked with at all?
Terrace Martin and some of the young homies from LA.

How do you feel about Bompton becoming a brand and people out in Japan wearing it?
Shit feels good, it feels great. What I’m doing, I really want to do. To know I can do something and sell something is cool. Bompton started evolving from the music and looking back at it, people started to fuck with it. So I decided to keep pushing it. It’s way bigger than me. For me to be the first one to push that line, and to do some real shit with it, at the end of the day it means a lot.

If you had three words to describe what Bompton is, what would it be?
The soowoo version of Compton, red, burgundy.

How do you think your music is being received by the Asian audience?
Japan fucks with West Coast music. I came over for 2013 for the album and hadn’t been out since. It was nice to see that it was really popping when I went on stage. All of this is a blessing. To travel the world, to see different countries and cities that don’t speak English. When you perform and they know your shit, it’s cool.

What are one or two producers that you are keeping tabs on that you should really shout out?
Mustard and I are really cool. Keep tabs on us because we are really going to turn the fuck up. Kamaiyah. She’s really young. She opened, and she heating shit up. I’m a West Coast ambassador. I feel like I really fuck with and stand behind it.

Most artist have their own distinctive style, what is yours?
I’m on some motherfuckin’ ’80s and ’90s gangbang shit. My shit is gang-related. Everything about YG is gang-related.