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LAist Interview: Blood Raw and Slick Pulla of U.S.D.A.
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U.S.D.A. stands for the United Streets Dboyz of America, and stand for more than just the trio of rappers Young Jeezy, Slick Pulla and Blood Raw. It stands for the struggle of having nothing and being determined enough, and good enough to fight the fight, and make it on top. Their album Cold Summer dropped with Def Jam, since then they've become the self-proclaimed "Kings of Youtube" racking up incredible hit counts even when it's just some dumb kid posting a song and their album cover. LAist went to Def Jam to chat with Slick Pulla and Blood Raw.
LAist:Tell me about Atlanta, what do you guys do to party? Is it cool?
Blood Raw: There’s something to do every night in the city.
Slick Pulla: Atlanta’s got clubs, lounges, there’s a whole lot of stuff to do. It used to be just clubs, but now they got bars and lounges. Kinda like out here in LA where every club is a “Club/whatever” It really just depends on what you’re trying to do.
What’s the bad part of Atlanta?
Blood: There’s too much to do, and spendin’ money everyday, Shit. That’s the bad part. (laughs)
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Where do you guys like to buy clothes at?
Slick Pulla: We got ourselves a mean one stop shop, Walters downtown, we go there and get our shoes, our jeans, our shirts, hats, boxers. But there are a couple of spots, like um, Detail. I might get up through there because they have shoes that nobody else have either.
Blood Raw: I mean you know we really just shop at exclusive places man, we may do the Gucci thing, or the Louie thing, depending on the occation.
I didn’t know you guys would have so many tatts, where do you like to get tattoos from?
Slick Pulla: Well shoot, we got a dude that will come out to you. We got a dude Tookie, and another dude Tre
Blood Raw: Tre is out of New Orleans…
Slick Pulla: Yeah he be out of the L A, but he be down with the A. Shout outs to Tookie and Tre. Peace to them for doing a little bit of inkin’
Pshhh… I’m Jealous.
Slick Pulla: Nah man LA is the land of the tattoo. As matter of fact, I wanna get another one. But I wanna do it somewhere else, cuz I wanna see what the ink will be like. I’m gonna get some shit around my neck, a necklace around my neck, like with my kids name.
Blood Raw: I want to get this whole shit right here. Like my shoulder I want to be an angel’s wing, you know what I’m saying and build up into the whole thing.
What is up with your myspace accounts? Do you guys log in yourselves, or is it some PR dude or what?
Slick Pulla: Yeah man we log in and send responses and everything. Shoot em in the streets lovers.
Blood Raw: Yah man we got on our own myspaces and send our own responses, man. We kick it with the DJ's on myspace and the fans.
Right on, well is this your first time to LA?
Blood Raw: Nah nah, we got homies out here.
Slick Pulla: We've been out here numerous times. In fact this is like CTE West, it's like a home away from home.
Alright, so what do you guys think about LA?
Blood Raw: LA is Beautiful.
Slick Raw: You know I like LA, but there's a good side and a bad side of LA. As soon as you get on that wrong block... If it ain't right, and you ain't ready to be going down that block, don't do it. You know what I'm saying? But that's just life. That's just like how everything always has a flip side to it. But you got to take it all up and roll on with it.
So, what kinda cars do you guys have?
Blood Raw: You know, we ride big. I got a Charger and a '75 Caprice. We like new cars, but we love old school.
Slick Pulla: I like Chargers in fact I got a charger myself. A '73, and a '73 Caprice. But we got more to come, we grindin, you know?
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What's life like on the road for you guys?
Blood Raw: Life's lovely on the road.
Slick Pulla: Yeah, you know it's a blessing to go thousands and thousands of miles and be treated like you're in your back yard. It just shows that music is a language that breaks all barriers. Like if your music touches somebody it doesn't matter where they're at, they're gonna feel you.
What's your favorite shit to eat? Like... favorite food, what's in your fridge...
Slick Pulla: I like chicken and fish, and I like some shrimp, and lobster tails, and shit like that.
Blood Raw: I'm the simple one. I'm gonna stick with the chicken and rice.
Slick Pulla: Cheeseburgers! With only ketchup on it!
Blood Raw: yeah!!
Slick Pulla: Like from the Life Cereal commercial, they call me Mikey, cuz I'll eat any old thing. Give it to Mikey, he likes it.
What about restaurants?
Slick Pulla: There's some spots. But Mama Nims is the best.
Blood Raw: They're in Orlando.
What's the best thing at Mama nims?
Blood Raw: The fried chicken.
Slick Pulla: And their potato salad. That potato salad is A-1. It will just make you want to go find your grandmother and hug her.
Go get a copy of Young Jeezy Presents U.S.D.A.: Cold Summer
Photo by John Wayne Maioriello
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