Mozzy is all smiles and good energy as he sits in a darkened studio.
The West Coast rapper is hard at work on Intrusive Thoughts 2 — which he tells me unprompted, without any lead in. That tape will serve as the follow-up to April’s Intrusive Thoughts, which is why he’s chatting with Billboard in the first place. The album delves even deeper into the trials and tribulations that have come to define some of Mozzy’s best work. His relationship with fame versus the streets, the loss of his loved ones to incarceration, death and more. Like his 2024 record Children of the Slums, Intrusive Thoughts explores difficult topics head on in the hopes of finding motivation in the darkness.
“I would appreciate if the youth got some good game up out of it and utilized it through the gangsta s—t that they gotta endure,” Mozzy says of the album. “I done seen a lot of young throw they life away. That s—t heartbreaking and disappointing. So if I can throw a n—a an alley oop and he can cram it and push for it off of that, I’m gonna throw it every time.”
Billboard chats with Mozzy about working with CMG, his new album and what the vibe is on the West Coast right now.
Take me through the recording process of Children of the Slums vs. Intrusive Thoughts. How did you approach Intrusive Thoughts differently? How did the album start to come together?
Children of the Slums, I was more reflective of the people that I lost, people that I loved dearly. I think on Intrusive Thoughts it’s self reflection. Hoping I made ‘Pac proud — I don’t wanna be no role model, it’s self reflection. That’s the difference.
You talk about some pretty intense topics on this record. You’ve explored such tough themes dozens of times in your career at this point. Does it ever get emotionally taxing to keep diving into such intense emotions for your music?
I like how you said that, “emotionally taxing” — emotional extortion. Most definitely. But it’s also helped with the healing process. I just wrote a bar the other day: “I think of Skeemo every day, because I’m still grieving,” and he had died a couple of years ago. I’m able to identify that through the music. It naturally ooze out of me — and when I get to reflecting on what I was really saying in that booth, I can hear that pain, that trauma. So I think it’s very therapeutic.
On “Seven 2’s” you rap, “cleaning up my image, but there’s still a glimpse of residue.” How have you gotten better over the years at navigating your complex journey from a kid from the West Coast projects to the rap star you are now? What lessons have you learned along the way and what kind of “residue” has been difficult to leave behind?
As far as the residue, that’s just the trenches. Like [Nipsey Hussle] said: “My circle got smaller, everybody can’t go.” That s—t is heartbreaking, still dealing with losses, n—as goin’ to jail, expiring at an early date. That’s the residue of me staying connected and still loving that part of me, but I’m most definitely cleaning up my image. I’m not talkin’ about nobody dead ones in my music. I’m providing more nutritious bars for the youth. The way I conduct myself, I’m a business man now. I can’t afford to go to jail… You can’t play in water without gettin’ wet. So it’s about transitioning, bossing yourself up and understanding that you’re bigger than some of these circumstances.
Has navigating that journey of bettering yourself been an intentional act that you’ve constantly had to be aware of, or has it become more subconscious now?
Nah, I think it requires the same amount of intentional energy. I’m forcing myself. I’m currently on paper probation, and it’s like, I gotta walk this thin line. I gotta deal with they stipulations but it’s okay because it’s forcing me to stay within my envelope. It’s forcing me to focus on things that matter. Ain’t nobody gonna come save me.
I wanna ask briefly about your bar on “10 Percent,” where you rap, “Quit asking why I signed to CMG/ Advise you guys not to get me started.” What type of push back have you gotten about your relationship with CMG? What’s your relationship like with Gotti at this point?
Everybody’s entitled to their own opinion. So, when I see n—as asking, I be feeling like, “N—a, mind your muthaf—kin’ business. Don’t ask me why I do what the f—k I do. I got us this far, n—a. Let me do my s—t, fall back, watch out.”
I’m cut from an independent cloth, so you know my independent loved ones have been rooting for me. So now, to sign is like — you just exited out the chat, you hear me? [Gotti] my thug, my loved one. Imagine someone walk you in the building and get you a million. How your relationship gonna be with ’em?
What’s changed for you on the business side since inking that deal with CMG?
I just learned how majors tweak their projects, run their roll-outs, a lot of political things. I was very asleep on the process and how tedious they is — the business they stand on is very strict. Independent ain’t that strict, you can kinda do it as you please. [CMG] just on point.
How has your expectation of rap success measured up to the reality of it?
As a kid, I expected this s—t to be like — you remember how they was trippin’ over Michael Jackson? Bobby Brown, Whitney [Houston]? Even Lil Wayne, the dopest to do it. Remember that Bow Wow era? I thought it was gonna be like that. I didn’t know this s—t was gonna be regular, and 100,000 n—as from each city doin’ the same shit. But it’s a gangsta party. It’s just about being a regular, real n—a.
You gonna meet a lot of entertainers and they gonna be on that entertainment, Hollywood bulls—t. You once looked at him like a super hero, and now it’s like, “F—k that man.” So I feel like I just don’t wanna ever give nobody that feeling. Never do no corny s—t.
What can you tell me about Intrusive Thoughts 2?
There’s most definitely gonna be a Part 2 and you can expect the same things as Part 1. Just more detail, a little more emotional about the situation, etc. I’m not gonna give you the feature list but you know I’m comin’ with my thugs!
You and Millyz just linked on “Trenches Famous…”
You think we need a whole EP or something?
I was just gonna ask. Any chance we could get a collab tape?
Shout out Millyz, that n—a the truth with what he do. One of the dopest to do it. Most definitely, I think we got an EP or somethin’ on the way.
What is the general feeling on the West Coast right now?
It’s a gangsta party, it’s been a gangsta party, it’s still a gangsta party. That’s the aura, that’s the energy, that’s the vibration. So that’s why you get that out of my project. When you hear this next one that’s gonna tell you the vibes of what the West Coast on right now.
