Untitled Document

Af ter rolling for nearly two years as a member of Bad
Boys' Da Band, it all came to an immediate halt when
Diddy disbanded thegroup, initially only agreeing to continue
working with Babs and Ness! Little did we all know, Diddy would be calling Chopper, now known as Young City,
back to make him an official member of the newly formed Bad Boy South foundation. Read on to see what this
Uptown New Orleans bruh has to say about his new solo career and much more.

It's good to finally catch up with you man. How are you doing?

Young City: Oh, vice versa man, I'm on the grind
just like everybody else. I wanna sort of rewind back to the beginning.

What area of New Orleans did you come up in?

Young City: I'm from Uptown New Orleans.

The third ward ? What was it like for you growing up
there?

Young City: Rough (laughs).

Rough in what sense?

Young City: It was a struggle, but it was like, I was a
product of my environment! I'm trying to make it out baby.

All in all, how long have you really been following music?

Young City: All my life.

When would you say that you first realized you wanted to get into rapping?

Young City: The first time I wanted to start rapping was when I heard 2Pac.

What song of his inspired you to want to do it? Young City: I get around.

How old were you when you wrote your first rap?

Young City: Probably like, around twelve or thirteen.
And when you did that, did you init ially think you would end of going anywhere with it?

Young City: I mean, when I first put it together, you know, it was more like I wasn't really on the writing tip. When I was
twelve and thirteen, we was in school beating on the table. I'd be around the neighborhood just rapping, just like everybody else. It was a fun thing at first. Everybody was just having fun
with it, you know, people that couldn't rap was rapping. Rap was just like that and we was all just doing our thing.

Now with Cash Money and No Limit both being in your area, did you ever try and get down with them at all?

Young City: I mean, I really didn't want to be a
statistic. Being with No limit, I wasn't going to
be a star because it was just too many [people].
I would have been a statistic. Just another New
Orleans rapper. I wouldn't have been able to
get my shine on because it's just too many
people on both sides of the scale. So my plan
of it was, you know, to go out of town, get
signed with an east coast label, and become a
star from that. A South rapper with an east
coast army, it's a beautiful thing baby.

So how did you first hear about the auditions for
Making The Band with Diddy?

Young City: My manager.

So when you first auditioned, where did it take place?

Young City: I was in New Orleans, and my manager flew me to Baltimore.

How many people were there when you first auditioned? Young City: It was a lot of people.

Was there ever any thought that you might not make it through to the end?

Young City: No, because I was like…..16,
17…..I was confident. I knew I was going to
make it?

So once you actually got picked, what was it like for you to have to adjust to your life being recorded 24 hours a day?

Young City: At first, I didn't even know I was
going to be recorded. I thought I was just going
to get signed straight to Bad Boy. I ain't even
know it was going to be a TV show.

So when was it that you actually found out?

Young City: When we signed them contracts.

Looking back at everything you guys had to do and
all the stuff that may have seemed unnecess ary, do you see now what Diddy was trying to instill into you?

Young City: I most definitely do! Everything he do is for a
reason. Puff had to work to get here, and he the type of guy that ain't going to give you nothing easy. He's not going to
give you nothing! You going to have to work just like he did with Andre Harrell. He want you to starve, he want you to
stink. He want you to feel like he did when he was hungry! That's how he want his artists to feel. It's more of a
military thing with Bad Boy. You all worked real hard to put things together. What was it like for you to see Da band's album finally hit stores?

Young City: Actually, we ain't work that hard. We did that cd in like 2 or 3 weeks. We put like 60 songs together. My opinion, I thought Da Band album was hot, you know what I'm saying? I actually thought it was too many people, but it was a blessing that people came out and supported us. We got diehard fans, and it's a blessing. You once said that the best part of your new life was the fans.

Do you still feel that way?

Young City: That'll never change.

Would you say that you have a lot of fans in your area of New Orleans?

Young City: Yeah, you know, I got die-
hard fans. Everybody waiting for Young
City album to come, and here it come.

What has the reaction been like for
everyone there knowing that you are
signed to Bad Boy now?

Young City: You're welcome Chop, you're welcome
Chop! Represent for uptown! Even the Cash Money and No Limit people, they all show me love, because I didn't go to
them just to come up. I caugh Greyhounds from town to town, and I went through the struggle.

Now at the end of the show, it seemed at first that your roll with Bad Boy was gonna be over. Were you expecting the call from Puffy to join Bad Boy South?

Young City: I mean, it ain't over with Young City. The name speak for itself. I kinda figure it was going to happen, because
Diddy just kept giving me chances. I ended up
winning anyway, because you can't deny a hot
rapper. Hot it Hot. You can't deny hot grits! Hot
grits is hot grits.