Lionel Boyce[Editor's note: Odd Future member Lionel Boyce writes a weekly column for West Coast Sound. His archives are available here.]
Over the past few weeks I've taken an interest in this new artist in the game. I'm not usually big on underground rappers, but a friend of mine was listening to this guy, and when I heard the beat drop and this man spitting some cold lyrics on the mic, I was instantly compelled to nod my head and feel this man's struggle.
A lot of people have not heard of him yet, but I feel within the next 50 years he'll be the hottest rapper out. He is to the rap game what Kwame Brown was to basketball.
His name is Young Gunshot, and I was lucky enough to run into him on the outskirts of Miami, when he was filming a music video for his slammin' song “Gunshot Wit It.” It had never happened to me before, but when I met him I was starstruck and almost fanned out.
He's a pretty cool guy, but I could barely understand anything he was saying because of his heavy Rhode Island accent. (Photos of Young Gunshot below.)
Young Gunshot; Credit: Lionel Boyce
Tyler and Hodgy had never heard of him until I began blasting “Gunshot Wit It.” “A dollar is not 98 cents, it's a dollar!” was Hodgy's response. I still have no idea what the fuck he was talking about. Maybe him and Tyler had done drugs prior to listening to the song, because they both were talking complete nonsense and sweating really hard. Tyler made several comments about being a Mexican plate, whatever that means.
But the cool thing is that Tyler, Hodgy and I were able to kick it with Young Gunshot for a couple of hours. We found out all sorts of interesting shit. Young Gunshot, whose real name turns out to be Terry Webster, told us how hard it was growing up in Rhode Island.
There, people were being killed and pimps were taking old women and putting them on the corners to make money selling their old wrinkled bodies. “Out there it was either you work at Payless ShoeSource or slang dem thangs on da block … and that's what I did — work at Payless.”
A photo of Tyler meeting Young Gunshot is below.
Tyler Meets Young Gunshot; Credit: Lionel Boyce
The last thing Gunshot told us before he pulled off on his Razor scooter was, “Gangsta music ain't dead.”
If you haven't checked out any of Young Gunshot's music, I suggest you stop reading right here. And if you have checked it out, then stop reading here. -L-Boy
Advertising disclosure: We may receive compensation for some of the links in our stories. Thank you for supporting LA Weekly and our advertisers.