What’s the meaning of your name, Dirtbag?
Really, it came from ‘ol girl. I used to dirty up my clothes and come home and shit and she’d be like, “Oh, you lil’ Dirtbag.” But the real meaning of Dirtbag is – don’t ever forget where you came from. I was doing real bad at one point in my life, I was a real shit-eater. Shit was not excellent. One of my homeboys would let me rest my head at his house. I gotta keep that title over my head: you’re a Dirtbag, nigga, and don’t you ever forget it. ‘Cause once you forget, that’s when you slip. I’m okay being the lucky loser. Why? Because I lost before. But I also win. To somebody who’s always won and never lost, they could never understand that. That’s why it’s my moniker, to remind me. Nigga, you have been a loser. Nigga, you have been a shit-eater. Nigga, you have been a Dirtbag, and it’s okay ‘cause you have the ability to come back out of that shit. Some muthafuckers crack under the pressure and fall off, nah. I done been there. Usually, muthafuckers who win all the time, they lose once and fall off. Shit, I been fuckin’ up my whole life, so I’m used to this shit (laughing). But I always found a way. That’s where the Dirtbag comes from. I’m the lucky loser, the fuck-up that makes big bucks.
Speaking of big bucks, did you use your $2 mil deal for any luxury purchases?
Shit, they ain’t give me the whole two mil upfront. It’s politics and bullshit. People ask me that all the time, though: “You ain’t gone to the mall and bought nothing?” Nah, the only things I bought is houses and cars, that’s it. I got three houses that I grabbed up in Silver Lakes pre-construction. I put like 35k down, built a house. Started off at 232k, it’s at 265k now so hopefully when it gets finished in February it’ll be up to 310k. I’ll rent that bitch out for three grand and pay my houses off, that way I ain’t got no bills. You gotta always find a way to eliminate your bills first. I don’t really spend money on luxury shit, not until I sell some records. See, your advance money is your flip money. Believe me. I’d rather live broke and have these cribs. I went to go get me a Rolex, right? They shut down all the gates, security came out, and they showed it to me and told me to put it on. I said, “Bitch, how much it is?” Forty grand. I said, fuck that, I’m buyin’ me a house. Forty fuckin’ grand?!? I woulda got it for like twenty, twenty-five, but forty fuckin’ grand? Man, kiss my ass. That ain’t worth it. I’d rather go ‘head and get me some cribs and pay the bills. Once the CD drops and I sell some records, that’s when I can go get some chunks. But the advances and the publishing money, naw. That’s flip money, ‘cause you never know. I’d rather the shit pay itself off.
Why is it called Eyes Above the Water?
If you got your whole head above the water, you just tryin’ to survive. We ain’t tryin’ to just survive, we creepin’ right now. See, I’m a real-ass nigga. Strong niggas just survive, but smart niggas creep and go through the heat and make a positive situation out of a negative. That’s the difference. A strong nigga says, “Okay, I know this is what I’m doing for the rest of my life. I can deal with it. I’m okay with drivin’ a bus for the rest of my life, I’ll survive.” A nigga like me will be like, “Nah, fuck that.” I might drive this bus today, but I’m gonna do this here and turn a negative situation into a positive.
You’ve got such a thick Southern voice, how do plan to extend beyond this region?
‘Cause of the words, the lyrics. I mean, the South is runnin’ shit anyway, but this is real music and real situations that go down everywhere. Niggas in Cali are doin’ the same shit that that I’m doing down here, there’s niggas in NY doing the same shit. It just snows up there and we always hot, but it’s the same shit. I bump Jay-Z, Fat Joe, ‘cause real niggas are all the same. You’ve got the flaw-ass niggas you ain’t gonna get my shit, just like you got the flaw-ass niggas that I ain’t gonna get along with. That’s why I don’t come in this industry tryin’ to make friends ‘cause I realize it’s bullshit. Real DJs that play my shit and love my shit, I’m friends with them, but niggas on that other shit? Fuck them. Real rappers that wanna do songs with me that’s down with me, that’s cool. But other rappers that’s just tryin’ to catch my region, fuck ‘em. And I know that now. I ain’t no friendly-ass nigga no more. Chris Lighty was like, “Go holla at 50 [Cent and G-Unit].” Nah, nigga, I’m straight. I ain’t get to where [50] at yet. If you step to a nigga before you sell records you look like a muthafuckin’ shit-eater. Once you done served three or four platinum records, then you step to ‘em. The rap game ain’t the same as the street game, but I use the same methods. I won’t step to a nigga and ask him to throw me a half unless I done moved four or five quarters already.
So you’ve got five kids? How do you balance a family life with your career?
Well, I ain’t doing real good at it now, ‘cause my baby mama crazy and she ready to leave me. But it’s like I always told her, “I could be whatever you want me to be, but more than anything, I’m a provider.” That’s it. I might not be a father who’s there all the time, I might not be a father that hugs ‘em all the time. I be smelling like weed when I hug ‘em, breath stankin’. But they know when they get up and go to school, when they come home daddy’s there to greet ‘em. There’s a dollar lunch money, ice cream money, shoes, clothes, no matter what, I’m a provider. And of course my girl say, “Oh, those things count, but…” At the end of the day, that’s what really counts though. When my kids grow up, they can say, “My daddy provided.” He was a drunk crazy shit-eatin’ muthafucker, but he provided. He wasn’t there all the time to tuck us in and read us a story, but he provided. Lights never went off, belly was always fed, shoes never started talkin’. You know what talkin’ shoes is, don’t ya? I had a couple pairs of those myself. Sometimes I just put ‘em on to remember (laughing).
Aside from your family, what other things cause you to lose focus on your career?
A lot of things get in the way, but it’s like wood to the fire. All the shit that gets in the way helps me write, so I gotta take the good with the bad. Haters get in the way, there’s niggas you gotta chin check. Taxes, police, it’s a lot of things that all add up. Labels talkin’ over your music, telling you what sounds better. You know, that really gets me hot, dawg. I hate to be like that, you know, I ain’t no argumental type of nigga, but when we get on the phone and they tellin’ me something that really gets me hot. We on the right page now, but all that frustration comes straight back to my music so it really helps. I’m kinda glad that fucked up shit do happen, but that’s just my way of makin’ it happen. Even diamonds get found in the dirt.
