The mention of Carol City, Miami normally brings forth thoughts of one rapper in particular, who started from the bottom, and rose to the top of the game with his crew behind him. While that story is the story of William Roberts, history may repeat itself. Bubbling in the underground, there is another rapper out of Carol City Miami, with a crew behind him, and they’re making their rounds, and paying their dues. This story is of SpaceGhostPurrp and the Raider Klan.
As he ponders possibly retiring from Rap, we’re gonna go back a couple of weeks to our latest conversation with SpaceGhostPurrp. He talks Trayvon Martin, race relations in the state of Florida, working with his idols, Three 6 mafia, hipsters, and who he believes is the best new artists in the game.
SpaceGhostPurrp On Raider Klan’s Growth & Recent Projects
HipHopDX: Last time we hollered at you was around the time Mysterious Phonk dropped. You liked the way it was received, but how has it been since then?
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SpaceGhostPurrp: I’ve just been cooling. Just trying to make sure niggas in the Black Money World movement get they shine on. We just did the tour; we did Coachella, and peoples was fucking with it. We just working.
DX: That’s what’s up. What do fans have to look forward to with you and the Raider Klan going forward?
SpaceGhostPurrp: Right now, we got Raider Klan records and Black Money World—that’s some hood shit. That’s in the hood in Miami. We making music…Nell got new shit coming out, and I’m just doing me. Simmie working on his shit, and Amber [London] working on his shit. My brother Dough Dough just dropped a tape, and the shit is hard as fuck too. All of us just working. Milly just dropped some shit too, so we’re doing our thing…just constantly grinding.
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DX: If I’m correct, Raider Klan is all out of Miami, right?
SpaceGhostPurrp: Yeah, but we got different cities…like my nigga Key Nyata, he from Seattle. He putting on out there in Washington, and he the only nigga out there in Washington. He talented as fuck.
DX: Now Miami is being advertised as being flashy, with the Miami Heat, and all the celebrities moving out to Miami. However, in Hip Hop, Miami is painted differently. How do you feel about the image Miami has in the mainstream as opposed to the Miami you’re used to?
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SpaceGhostPurrp: I feel like people make this shit look like it’s a paradise. Dog, this shit ain’t what it seems like. This girl from New York put on Facebook the other day, “I don’t know why they try to make Miami look like a party city, ‘cause it’s not.” She from Brooklyn, but she know me, and she know how I rock. She know I ain’t friendly, and I don’t take bullshit from nobody. Plus, she know how it is down here—this shit fucked up. This shit ain’t no different from Chicago. We see how it’s going down in Chicago right now, and we looking at what’s going on down here…same shit, different city.
How Ancient Egypt & Miami Factor Into SpaceGhostPurrp’s Sound
DX: Last time we talked to you, you talked about your influences and your inspirations. Who else influenced you?
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SpaceGhostPurrp: That Down South Gangster Rap and West coast G-funk. A little bit of that East Coast, gritty ass, underground shit…just that real Rap that they wasn’t really trying to play on the radio. In Miami, we fuck with what’s real. Back in the day, niggas used to have cassette tapes, and bootleg CDs. My big brother used to bump all that real shit, and that shit changed my life. It made me realize the type of world I’m in; I was going through shit too, so I related to it.
DX: Listening to your music, you have a lot of Ancient Egyptian references. Originally, the Raider Klan had the “Raider Hieroglyphics,” until you said you noticed people tried to copy it. When did you really get up on Kemetic culture, and why do you reference it in your music?
SpaceGhostPurrp: The thing about Egypt is, it’s the motherland. It’s a science behind it. I’m not gonna really get technical with it, but the thing about Egypt is, I think it’s real important I let the fans know that I know my history. I got Horus tatted on my neck. Horus was the Jesus; he was born on the same day as Jesus Christ. In Egypt, they looked at him as Jesus, and he was the son god of Egypt. When the sun rose, he’d rise and watch over Egypt. That’s the shit I’m on. I feel like I can protect my city and make sure the niggas in my city rise…give them that light.
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DX: At times, there are positive and inspirational messages in your music. In the close out to “The Black God” you say, “Stay true to yourself, love yourself, believe in yourself, and you’ll be your own god.” In Hip Hop, there are positive messages in the music, but sometimes if you ever go away from the positive message, you’ll get labeled. Do you ever feel like your message will get lost in the music…like people will try to put you in a box…like they’ll put you in the “ratchet” box.
SpaceGhostPurrp: Nah…I really feel like my message—as far as my message—is wisdom. But I do have some songs that are violent. I rap about a lot of violent shit, but I’m saying positive shit on “The Black God.” I was like, “Damn, I didn’t want to put that shit out, because I didn’t want my fans out here going crazy.” But at the end of the day, I’m gonna still have to drop that violent shit, because that’s how I’m feeling. That’s what music is about, speaking how you feel on that music, and what you did in your life. What I rap about is about what I did, and how I feel. It’s gonna balance shit out.
DX: Raider Klan has had some issues with other crews we won’t really go into. But do you feel Hip Hop fans pay more attention to that stuff than the music? Do you feel like the fans pay too much attention to the extra stuff, or do you just take it as it is, and keep it moving?
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SpaceGhostPurrp: I feel like they do. I feel like people just don’t want to let shit go. The thing about the media, the media pump shit up so much. The thing about now, me and that nigga don’t even bring up each other’s name at this point. I’m trying to get money, and I know he’s doing the same. He been getting money. So I got no reason to be worried about that nigga. When I see people worried about that shit, that shit irks me, ‘cause niggas in my group are talented as fuck. I feel like we being looked at as the bad guys, and we not, ‘cause we really from the South.
We don’t gotta speak about that shit, because we living that shit. We don’t gotta sit here and make this no fad. We not trying to start beef with nobody. If niggas start beef with us, we gonna finish it. That’s why we been retaliating. But honestly, I don’t like that the fans been paying attention to that shit, because they need to just let that shit go. Let bygones be bygones. Let that group do their thing, and let our group do our thing.
SpaceGhostPurrp: Talks Trayvon Martin & George Zimmerman
DX: Last time we talked, you spoke on the Trayvon Martin situation, Trayvon being a fan of your music and you not liking how the whole situation went down. Time has passed, but how do you feel about the situation as of right now and where it stands?
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SpaceGhostPurrp: Man, I feel like fuck Zimmerman! It’s ZK all day. We scream that shit all day around here. We scream that shit, ZK, that’s, “Zimmerman Killa.” We bangin’ that, and we really live that shit. We see any nigga promoting Zimmerman, we gonna beat him the fuck up, dog. We been doing that shit. Trayvon Martin is from my hood; he’s from Carol City. He go by the name of “Slim.” He wasn’t no bad nigga, he was just a young nigga trying to get money. It’s fucked up how this state…how racist they are on the low. We still out here. My boy, Choppa Boy Nick, that’s Slim’s best friend. You can follow him on Twitter; he go by Choppa Boy Nick, and he’s straight out of Brownsville, Miami. That shit crazy over there. That nigga hurtin’ to this day, but we still riding with Trayvon. That nigga used to bump Raider Klan music before he died.
DX: Speaking on the state of Florida, there tends to be a lot of situations that go on out there in Florida. Currently, there’s the Trayvon Martin verdict, but going further back, there’s also the ballot count in the 2008 Presidential Election. As someone who presumably travels a lot, how does Florida stack up against other areas in terms of all these socio-economic issues?
SpaceGhostPurrp: I feel like I don’t like how they treat black people in Florida. They try to cover our culture with this South Beach shit. People that ain’t from Miami don’t understand that South Beach is an island off the coast of the state of Florida. That shit ain’t Miami. Once you go across the bridge—past the American Airlines Arena—yo ass gonna be in the hood, dog. Yo ass get lost, so stay yo ass in that car and don’t get out the car actin’ stupid. [I don’t like] how they treat Florida period…‘cause Florida is a ghetto. The whole state of Florida is a ghetto. Every city in Florida got a warzone in that bitch. One thing that got me hot is how they try to cover that shit up with other cultures. They try to cover it up with Hispanic culture, now they try to cover it up with this Hatian, Zoe-life culture. I got homeboys that’s Zoe, and they humble. But [Florida] trying to cover up the Black American culture, and that’s who keeps Florida on the map—Black America. We trying to keep Florida on the map, and they try to hide our culture. This shit is still the South.
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DX: Last time we talked to you, you talked about how you’re heavy into the skating culture. Hip Hop and skating have sort of always been connected as far as the underground goes. It seems like now; mainstream Hip Hop is trying to get more into skateboarding. Do you feel like the connection between mainstream Hip Hop and skateboarding is legit and will stick around, or do you feel like it’s a fad, and will go away?
SpaceGhostPurrp: I feel like the rappers that skate won’t stop. Once someone starts skating, that shit gets addicting. When I see mainstream rappers skate, I don’t have a problem with it ‘cause I’m me at the end of the day. When I was skating back in the day, niggas wasn’t rocking with it. They was like, ”That’s that White boy shit; that’s that cracka shit!” Now you got Pharrell, you got Wayne and all them. Pharrell did the Ice Cream shit, and now you got Wayne doing that. Now I actually see niggas in the hood skating. So I don’t have a problem with it, as long as the hood can be open minded more, instead of niggas out there killing each other all day.
DX: You get a lot of love in the world of Hip Hop. You were on that Taylor Allderice, and you did production on that. How did it feel to work with Juicy J, after growing up looking up to Three 6 Mafia so much?
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SpaceGhostPurrp: It happened so fast, but it was like a dream come true. Before me and Juicy J worked, we chilled, we got high, went the restaurant and we had chicken wings and shit. We was just chilling, watching the game and vibing. I got to know him, and he cool as fuck. He ain’t a arrogant dude; he humble as fuck like me. So it’s like, just being with him was an inspiration. Having Wiz [Khalifa] holler at me, that shit was cool. Wiz fuck with me. I’m pretty sure most celebrities fuck with me, but I’m just not easy to get in touch with.
DX: Who have you been working with recently?
SpaceGhostPurrp: Recently, Gangsta Boo. Me and Gangsta Boo did some shit, and I made a beat for her. She made a song called “Vibin’,” and you can look it up…Gangsta Boo “Vibin’”—that shit hard as fuck. I’m just right now fucking with her, and focusing on me.
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DX: Is there any music right now that inspires you? Or do you just stick to the older stuff?
SpaceGhostPurrp: I’m on my Muney Jordan shit; that’s what I’m doing. I don’t really bump too many people. I might bump some underground Down South rappers or some shit. Other than that, I’m just focusing on me and trying to work on my craft.
DX: Is Raider Klan bringing in new acts, or are you guys just gonna stay with the current members?
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SpaceGhostPurrp: We’re locked down. We had so many people come in and out; Raider Klan was like a fucking day care with all these kids. We done. That shit locked.
DX: For most of your career, Hip Hop has been really popular on the Internet, with the blogs and things of that nature. So how do you feel about how Hip Hop has been affected by the Internet?
SpaceGhostPurrp: It changed a lot. The hipster crowd came through. The hipster crowd be on the Internet, but they support the underground scene more than any other person. I feel like they have a lot to do with the Hip Hop scene changing. Once a new underground artist comes out, and they music dope, they gonna hop on it, and they gonna spread the word. I already peeped game on how they do, and that’s how they did me. This shit crazy…shit changed.
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SpaceGhostPurrp Praises Chief Keef & GBE
DX: Is there anything you think the media can do differently for the betterment of the culture?
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SpaceGhostPurrp: As far as the media, they just need to promote less negativity, and promote more talent. [They can] bring something new to the table, but something felt, like some real shit. I’m gonna have to say, one of the hardest acts that came out last year was GBE. I’m gonna keep it G, and I’m gonna tell you why. Them niggas really from that shit. They ain’t fakin’ that shit. To see them young niggas come from that shit, and put it on wax, made me have hope that there still some real shit going on in this Rap shit. A lot of niggas is like, “They not lyrical.” I’m not looking for that; I’m listening to what they saying. The shit they say is the same shit we be on down here. That’s the only shit I can really relate to. There’s a lot of dope rappers out there, but I relate to them the most ‘cause we be on the same shit.
DX: How important do you feel lyricism is in the game?
SpaceGhostPurrp: I feel like it’s important, whether you’re lyrical or non-lyrical. I can tell when a person raps if he means what he saying, and I can tell when a person raps just to be cool. So, I feel like that shit is important. You got kids that look up to these rappers and follow them. When a rapper keeps it real, the kids have something to follow.
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DX: Do you feel like sometimes, keeping it real could be pushing a lot of negativity?
SpaceGhostPurrp: Honestly, I wouldn’t think that. If you don’t keep it real, how would a kid know what to expect in life? That’s like the ‘90s—them niggas kept shit so real, so that when you listened to it, you can expect it. You can expect to get in that situation. Now you got rappers rapping about…they not rapping about the same shit. It may be catchy, it sounds good, but if you got kids listening to that, what can they expect? But if you got Chief Keef saying, “A fuck nigga, that’s that shit I don’t like,” then he telling you about fuck niggas, then that’s what you can expect to deal with.
DX: So, basically you’re saying that’s what they’re gonna have to face anyway, and if the artists are keeping it real, then they hear it and know what’s going on ahead of time just by listening to the music?
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SpaceGhostPurrp: Right.
DX: As we close this out, anything else you want to say? Where can the fans get at you at?
SpaceGhostPurrp:My Twitter is Muney Jordan, I just want to let the people know, we ain’t the bad guys. Black Money World, Raider Klan…we not bad guys. We just regular ass niggas trying to make music and get money. We trying to feed our family. We ain’t got time for that beef shit.
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