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YG’s 2015 was supposed to be enormous, seeing that he released arguably the most enticing rap album the year before. However like the title of his studio debut album My Krazy Life allude to, having one red Converse in the Los Angeles gang culture and the other in the entertainment world can often breed nearly deadly results.

Such is the case for the afternoon of June 13 when Keenon Daequan Ray Jackson suffered from one bullet and three exit wounds while recording new music in Studio City, California. In his new cover interview with The Fader, YG addresses (or not) his would-be assassin and his current status with DJ Mustard.

No Fame, No Gain

Since the news of the shooting broke, it’s become more difficult for YG to move around in L.A. Many studios have stopped returning his calls, and he’s had to start taking additional precautions. A bodyguard named Gloves beats him to every destination and posts at the entrance to every room. To date, there have been no leads in the investigation of the shooting.

“We ain’t gon’ speak on ‘em, we ain’t go give ‘em no fame,” he says. “I ain’t gon’ shed no light on they careers, or they life, or whatever the fuck they doing. I feel like this: Los Angeles County is sick right now. It’s bad. Everybody mad out here right now.”

Straight Outta Bompton

It’s almost no surprise, then, that in 2014 YG penned a 20-minute short film, Blame It on the Streets, from the back of a tour bus on his iPhone. Spend time riding with him and it becomes clear that his is a life made for the big screen. During a late cruise on my last night in town, I ask YG what he thought of Compton, the N.W.A biopic that swept box offices this summer. “That shit is A1. On 10,” he says, enthused. “I went to audition for the movie and shit. I’m walking out the audition, I see [Ice] Cube son walking in. Real shit. I was auditioning for MC Ren.” He didn’t land the role, but doesn’t seem the least bit sour, whipping out his phone to show me the acting pitches he’s now fielding from Tyger Williams, the screenwriter behind 1993’s Menace II Society and this summer’s The Perfect Guy. Just then, he gets an unexpected call.

Less Mustard On The Beat, Hoe

Sickamore and YG are back at it for Still Krazy, but DJ Mustard is noticeably less in the mix this time around. In January, a conflict between Mustard and YG over label payment spilled onto social media, giving rise to rumors of bad blood, but it wasn’t long before they publicly reconciled. They spent a few weeks in the studio together over the summer and Sickamore hopes the pair will get more time in soon. Mustard declined to be interviewed for this story, but YG is quick to play down any hint of a lingering issue. “That’s how it be sometimes when niggas is, like, homies and business,” he says, speaking deliberately. “We solid. We A1.”

YG’s Fader issue hits newsstands on December 15.

Photo: Instagram/Fader