If this man looks familiar, well, he’s the son of hip-hop legend Dr. Dre, but rapper Curtis Young isn’t using his father’s name or riding on his coat tails.
GlobalGrind caught up with the uber-talented rapper and talked about his music, 50 Cent, dream collaborations and of course, his father.
Curtis spoke candidly about wack gimmick rappers and he makes it known that he is not one of them.
Check out this exclusive interview below!
GlobalGrind: We listened to “Natural High” and think you’re really dope. How old were you when you first started making music?
Curtis Young: I started making music when I was the age of 11. I started writing, I was into poetry, so that’s why I started that … Just learned the whole hip-hop era.
Who are some of your musical inspirations?
Of course B.I.G., 2Pac, I was into Wutang when I was a kid. I like Nas and Jay-Z. Right now it’s pretty much Jay-Z, he’s a big inspiration for me and my pops, of course.
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We watched a video interview of you and you mentioned your dad. Did you not know your dad when you were young?
I didn’t know him pretty much all my life. I found out at 12 and I didn’t meet him until I was 20.
What is the story behind that?
My mom basically didn’t tell me who my father was until I reached the age of 12. Actually, I’m doing a story on my life and I’m going to go more into detail on that.
For the most part, it’s just the fact she didn’t tell me. When I found out, I found out over a pair of Jordans. My stepdad that raised me, he got angry and said, ‘That’s not my son’ and said, ‘Tell him who his real dad is.’ And she told me.
As you were growing up did people tell you, before you even knew, that you look like Dre?
Yeah, when they were clowning.
How was your first time meeting Dre?
It was crazy. It was different because the whole fact of me not knowing and then I find out over a DNA test and when we met, it was like that missing piece that you didn’t know was missing.
It all came to reality. I felt like my life was pretty much set now, I don’t have something missing besides the crown on top of my head. I’m taking over this game.
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Do you guys kick it a lot? Does he listen to your music?
Yeah, mostly holidays because he’s busy, I’m busy. When we get together, we just come see what we’ve been doing. I see what he’s been up to, he checks me out. But ultimately I stay in my own lane, I don’t ask for help from him and I do me.
Has he given you any advice on the industry, in general and the music game?
Yeah, this shit is a bunch of bullshit (laughs).
Everybody says that. It’s the truth.
Yeah it is, it really is.
He always asks me, ‘You sure you want to do this?’ and I’m like yeah. I’ma take over the legacy. I never ask him for help, advice is always good, but…
Help is totally different. A lot of kids whose parents are famous, they never want any help from them, they want to do it on their own.
I think it’s good to not want help from them. That’s just funny because people be doing that.
How do you grow up to be a man if you always asking for help from dad or mom?
How do you grow to be a man? And that’s what be killing when people ask me that. ‘Is your dad not helping you? Why not?’ Why should he?
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Speaking of your dad, 50 got on Twitter late last night. He’s been beefing with Interscope about dropping his album and he said that he was going to leak Dre’s single “Psycho” off the Detox album. What are your thoughts on that? Do you think he should do that?
I think it’s all a publicity stunt. That’s what I think that is.
You know what it is, it’s just the attention factor. 50 loves attention. Ever since I met 50, he demands attention and respect. You know a lot of people ain’t been paying attention to him like that lately, ’cause he just hasn’t been doing anything.
I know he’s working on a movie and all that stuff.
It’s just with 50 and Em, they demand a lot of attention and respect, and respect is definitely valid to them. But I think it’s a publicity stunt.
If you could collaborate with anybody, like your dream collaboration, who would you collaborate with?
Probably Jay-Z.
Why is that?
I feel his pain that he went through, and I went through some of the same things he went through, it’s just that people don’t know it.
They think I got a silver spoon in my mouth and that’s not the case. I had a hardknock life too. I had a bunch of hardknocks, I should say it like that. That’s the dream collaboration.
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If you could collaborate with any pop artist, who would you collaborate with?
It would’ve been Mike. Michael Jackson. Yeah, it would’ve been.
Where do you want to be in the next five years, musically?
Musically, I’m definitely already starting to produce. I’ve got four artists under my label.
I probably be just be working on that, more movies, getting into more acting scenes, movie scoring, just staying relevant. Working on my own clothing line.
Just pretty much just taking the hip-hop scene to another level, to a whole new era, creating a new sound and being a pioneer in this music business … and not just taking it for what it’s worth and just doing the music.
People don’t look past the music. Think outside of the box. I might make it just in clothing, or from the beats. You never know … or even on the acting side.
It’s all entertainment. People just think, ‘Well OK, I’ma just do music’ and they end up broke.
They do it and they’re not relevant no more. It’s like a fad.
It comes in and it comes out. ‘Cause now we got the skinny jean little punks doing all this stuff (laughs) but now it’s coming back to the realness of hip-hop.
That’s just me, I like to hear about the storytelling.
Cali’s your home. What part of Cali are you from?
Compton.
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Have you heard of Kreayshawn and the White Girl Mob?
No. That’s a group? What is that?
She sings the song “Gucci Gucci Louis Louis Fendi Fendi Prada.” You know that song?
No … I probably won’t ever know that. (laughs)
They’re like with the new wave coming out of Cali. They’re on the whole tip of Lil D, we don’t know what you could call that. Gimmick rap?
Right.
There’s two waves going in Cali. There’s hot music wave in Cali and there’s like not music wave in Cali.
What about heatwave in Cali? That’s how I’m coming … To come melt all these gimmick-ass rappers.
What’s like your favorite thing to do besides make music?
I play sports … basketball. I like going to the shooting range and I’m a movie junky. I stay with the latest.
What’s your favorite movie?
I have to say I’m on some Old School.
I like Belly … Of course Fade to Black, I’m into that, but that ain’t a movie but I like it.
It’s a documentary.
Right, right, it’s dope. I feel like I’ma be doing a documentary on my life.
Do you know what the documentary will be called?
Product of my DNA. That’s the name of my album too, so it would be Product of my DNA: The Documentary.
Like I said, I got a movie coming out that’s gonna drop with the album.
It’s in the wraps right now. We’re working on everything.
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What’s your most prized possession?
Most prized possession would be … honestly it would be just my faith in God. Just waking up everyday.
If you were sent to a deserted island and you could only bring three albums with you, what three albums would you bring?
Reasonable Doubt, All Eyez on Me the double disc, is that cheating? And Ready to Die. Biggie.
Can you tell us something that most people don’t know about you?
I’m a jokester. I’m a comedian and people don’t know that I can cook. I be in the kitchen.
What do you cooking?
I can cook anything. What you want? What you like? What’s your favorite food. I’ll give you a dish. I be in the kitchen cheffing up. That’s pretty much how I do.
Can you let us in on all of the upcoming projects that we can expect from you?
What I’m working on now is my mixtape. I’m not sure what I’m going to call it yet.
Then I’m working with my artist I got, his name is Philly Swing out of Philadelphia, crazy. You might’ve caught him battle rapping, just murdering everybody.
Pretty much the animal you let out the cage, that’s his style.
Then I got another guy from Chicago named Cartier Jones. Then the two R&B acts are Choir Boy, he worked with Stevie Wonder and did a lot of stuff for Musiq Soulchild. And then Sarah Sean.
So that’s pretty much the team right now. Then I’m working on and off with Bob Marley’s nephew. His name is Ifa.
Thank you so much because we know it’s early out there in Cali right now.
Mad early. It’s all good girl, I’m up. I’m up, I’m working! Early bird like me … gotta get that worm. I gotta get it.
