Meet Ise Lyfe

"We went from fighting for freedom to goin dumb for free". You gotta like that line.

I've been hearing about Ise Lyfe for a few years now, but to be honest, I really dont know much about him. I could be listening to his music as I write this and not even know it, but it seems as though that might be changing, as his name has been popping up all over the internet lately.

The Otherside of Hyphy - An Interview with Ise Lyfe
by Davey D


powered by ODEO

Lyfe As We Know It
from Allhiphop.com

AllHipHop.com: A line on there, “ My neighborhood’s filled with liquor stores, and I’m sick of it. So when I’m in the liquor store, I’m stealin’ s**t.” I like the blend of sociology and gangsterism…

Ise Lyfe: There’s a library in Oakland every 192 blocks, but there’s [on average] a liquor store on every corner. I need some national media vehicle to let us do an article on the other side of Hyphy. People ask me, “Ise, since your music has a certain intellectual backdrop to it, how do you feel about going dumb?” They try to pin me against Hyphy. Please! Hyphy is dope, it’s our roots and our principle. It’s a resistance of the system – everything in Hip-Hop is. Hip-Hop has always been a reaction to poverty. People spray-painted their names on subway trains in New York ‘cause nobody gave a f**k about ‘em. They put they name up so people had to pay attention to them. Hyphy comes out Oakland, California where they spend 77 million dollars on police and three million on education…where they take all the music out of the schools…where elementary schools are being shut down…where the mayor of Oakland runs for Attorney General. That’s how major the gentrification is around here. McConnors High School entered a class of 493 freshman students and graduated 41 of those students. That’s what Hyphy is. On one hand, it’s dope. On the other, it sensationalizes a death of a culture – can’t nobody front on that. A lot of it is love. But a lot of it is “thizz, thizz” – poppin’ a pill. I got students that weigh 120 pounds that’s smokin’ purple bud, poppin’ ecstasy pills, drink Robitussin, and eat hot chips – that’s they whole f**kin’ life. This [Hyphy] culture promotes it. Without callin’ no names, most of the cats you hear on the radio rappin’ that s**t, they drug free. Kids is followin’ ‘em thinking it’s cool.