North Dallas rap artist Gifted Tha Go-Gitta is definitely a true hustler. God willingly, he was saved numerous times from extreme fatalities that he describes as ‘signs from God’. But in November 2004, there was a call from God that he just couldn’t ignore and as his life came to a halt. It had come full circle. All the things he never considered, he had to now. This was his last chance.

Why did you want to become an actor at such a young age?
G.T.G-G: I moved up here when I was six. And my mama saw something bright in me. She decided to get me into that at a young age. So I went and got an agent and from there they went and sent me off to my auditions. From there I just went on and got my first show; my first part. From there I just blew. It was more about that my mom was trying to get me into it at a young age. And we just kept going from there.

When you landed your first job in acting; how did you do that and continue your normal lifestyle?
G.T.G-G: I mean, it was hard having to go to a normal work job at 6, 7 years old and getting up six in the morning, 7 in the morning. And holding down a job, you know, 8 to 5. I did a lot of tutoring for school on the set. So as far as kickin’ it will a lot of homies and things of that nature, I really can’t say that also cause I had a full time job.

Do you feel acting disrupted your childhood?
G.T.G-G: A little bit. I always said that I wanted to keep going or whatever, but I just think that I did so much as far as acting that it took away from my childhood as far as going out there and hanging and playing with a lot of kids and listening to music all the time and doing stuff that normal kids do. I was so focused on learning 60 page scripts and memorizing that in my head. And having to understand that and make sure I was in bed early at night just to wake up the next morning and hold the job down.

At the beginning of the show (Barney & Friends) you replaced one of the cast members on the show. Can you talk a bit about that?
G.T.G-G: It was a cool dude named Salim Grant. He played on Ghost Dad as Bill Cosby’ son; I replaced him. I just heard there was some confrontation with him on the set with other cast and crew, whatever, I mean, that’s all I really knew about it. So I think he did like three episodes of the first season of when it first started off. And after that, that’s was when I came in.

Did you have to audition again?
G.T.G-G: He (Salim) did three shows and they replaced him with a new character, which was Derek, and so, where talking about Barney. I auditioned for the role of Derek, but I actually had to audition twice. The next day I got a call back and it was me and another dude. It was a few hundred people and out of all them, me and him got a call back. I went back the next day and that’s when I auditioned the second time and got the part.

What was the immediate change of people around you after you got the part?
G.T.G-G: I mean, when you get more money and more power in life, there’s always going to be people who try to put they hand in your pocket; even if they were there for you or they weren’t there for you. Dealing with that situation, it was like…we moved up here from Louisiana. I didn’t have a lot of homies any way when I first had got the part. I was young still and I didn’t have a lot of friends. So it was mostly me and my T Jones (mama). At first I didn’t deal with a lot of hatred and a lot of envy till I started getting a little bit older. And mostly what it was was kids who wanted to be me. They wanted to do what I’ve done. They didn’t get the opportunity; God didn’t bless them with that particular opportunity, so that’s where most of the hating came from. It came when I got older and not when I first started.

Did you feel out of place being the only black cast member on the show?
G.T.G-G: No. I didn’t feel out of place. I mix with everybody, you know, black, white, Mexican; it fell like that. It’s how the cards fell. Being the only black dude on there, it really felt like I had an obligation. I got a big chance to represent for the African American culture and bring a positive message. And no matter how you do it, it was all positive. So I’m like ok, well I can use this kid’s show and still come with a good message; people don’t really know about him (Salim Grant) so really I’m like the first black boy to put it down on Barney the TV show; the kids show. And I felt like everything was all good and me being the only black just set it off. It just set that trend.

The show depicts the cast members to be friendly. But off the air, did you guys hang out much?
G.T.G-G: I mean like sometimes JD, which was Sean, the white boy with the red hair…we kicked it sometimes, but it was more about business with me. We went in there and handled business and after scenes we’d be here and there but rarely did we kick it; the crew and the cast. It wasn’t even going on like that.

In the beginning, were you paid a certain amount and did that set value change per year?
G.T.G-G: It was contract based; I got a set fee per show. I‘d do like 30 shows a year. And after that we’d renew the contract.

Do you want to tell that amount?
G.T.G-G: Naw. Hustler’s never really tell what they really make, know what I’m sayin’?

You talked about the effect on your lifestyle in Dallas but not the effect back in Louisiana. Was there an impact on those relationships?
G.T.G-G: I mean, I really was too young to keep friends and talk to them; conversate with them on the phone. And I really wasn’t down there when I was doing the part or whatever; so, unless it was like summertime. So, with me, it was like, my moms, she recognized what it was with me and she really didn’t give me a lot of opportunity to be around a lot of people. Because she knew about the hatred and the envy and the jealousy and all that; she knew it was coming. And she knew what kind of heart I had. She already knew everything, so everywhere I went it was with her. If it were a card party or a domino party, I was with her. I wasn’t really kickin’ it with a lot of friends. The only time I really kicked it…I had like a couple, like really two. Some friends were like really in school.

What was a typical day like for you? Were you mostly by yourself?
G.T.G-G: I mean, yeah. Most of the time it was like come home; I might go outside for like an hour or something. Other than that, like I said, I hung around mostly…and my family was like all ladies. I got like an uncle, my grandpa and my cousin…all of them dead, so it was like mostly; I was just around women all my life. So, it wasn’t like no friends, it was mostly just my family and women. Just older people, like it wasn’t mostly people my age.

So, your young with all this money; did you spend a lot of it on material things or did you save it?
G.T.G-G: I spent my money on things I needed at the time; clothes, shoes, whatever I needed. I helped my mama out a lot. You know, being a single parent, it was only the right thing to do. Yeah, I mean, I could have did better things with my money but I was young and I really didn’t understand about saving and having money in your pocket. I didn’t understand about the little small things in life that people put together as they get over. Yeah, I made some mistakes with my money but I did some good things, also, with it.

Was it hard getting older on the show knowing that soon your part will come to an end?
G.T.G-G: I took it for what it was worth. I knew as I got older and started getting hair on my face, I knew I was getting off the show eventually. You know, it’s like; this dude here will be able to drink 40s on the set. I couldn’t be that old. I knew that as I got older…it didn’t hurt me. It was my first hustle in life. I did that time, I accepted that hustle and I went on to something else. It was cool. I wasn’t sad about it. I just enjoyed the time that I had. It would benefit me when I take it to another hustle.

How were you informed that your character wouldn’t return to the show?
G.T.G-G: They said they weren’t going to renew the contract.

How did you take that?
G.T.G-G: It was cool. I wasn’t trippin’. At that time I was like 14. I did 7 to 14. ’88 to ’95. At 14, my mind was on some other shit. I was on some girls; hangin with the homies. At that time I was really gettin’…forget Barney. I’m cool.

Ok. So, the show ended. What was your lifestyle like now?
G.T.G-G: Well, it was like January when I did my last show in like ’95. After that I went to work. I really didn’t get to enjoy shit. I went straight back to work a few months later. It wasn’t no enjoyment as far as like big money. I would be at work and people would be like, what you doin’ why you working here? I mean, that’s how I was raised. I got to keep a job. I got to keep money in my pocket. Go Git it…so…

Was your money all gone by then?
G.T.G-G: Naw. It wasn’t all gone, but it wasn’t all spent wisely. I had a little change.

Did you have a fan club?
G.T.G-G: Yeah. I had a fan club. I’d answer my own mail. Even when I was off the show they would send me mail to answer. Some I’d get to…some I didn’t.

How come you didn’t continue to pursue your acting career?
G.T.G-G: Just the love of other things at the time. It’s like; I got off of that…now till this day, I wish my mama had pushed me harder. I would have been strong, 15 years plus in the game, eventually.

Did she push you and you didn’t want to do it?
G.T.G-G: She wanted me to go ahead and pursue it…but umm, it was just me into females and starting to hang with the knuckleheads, not having a dad there so I was going to do other things, being bad; I wasn’t even thinking about acting at that time.

Was the transition from having money to not having money a difficult one?
G.T.G-G: Well yeah. It’s always difficult to have something in life and then not have something in life. If you’re married for 10 years and you get divorced; it will be hard. But eventually you’ll get over it. It’s like…what do I need to do? Do I need to go date? Do I need to get back with her? So it’s like all these decisions that’s put in your face and you like dang, what’s the best decision? So, at the time…not having no money like I was having it, it made me turn to other things. Yeah, it was hard on me. It was real hard on me.

When you finished the show you were 14 and just starting high school. Was there peer pressure to maintain the notion of having cash?
G.T.G-G: Naw. Everybody already knew what it was. People that know me already knew. I always kept bread in my pocket. When I was in high school I done had like 10 cars. When I was in high school, I didn’t have to tell anybody. They already seen it. I just did me. If I had a dollar in my pocket or a hundred in my pocket, I kept my same mentality of who I was and people always perceived me as just the Barney boy with bread, no what I’m sayin’? I let them perceive me how they want to perceive me.

How’d you go about getting money?
G.T.G-G: After the show? I had different hustles. Like I said I worked for 2 years. That was my main income but after that I started hustling in a different way. I hit the block. I sold drugs. I got my daughter’ mother pregnant at 16 and I had the baby at 17. So, dealing with the pressure of that, you know, it just wasn’t enough.

Ok. Not to be funny, but Dallas is a big area. Where is ‘the block’? All the neighborhoods look suburban?
G.T.G-G: I mean, every city has a hood in it. North Dallas is where I used to be at. That’s where I used to grind at. That’s still my hood. That’s where I used to be all the time, getting that bread or whatever. It’s like I said. Everywhere has its own little spot where you just post up at and you make that your home or whatever. And you go git it right there and you move around into another spot. You may still be in that same city or that same hood or whatever but you just change it up. And that’s the best places. Not the places that are like the projects, it may look like a little suburb or whatever; those are the places where you get the big bread at cause you get to messing with people that got that big dough. I started off for a little bit like petty shit; nickel and dime, whatever and you move up. It’s like when you get big cash, you don’t stay in the hood. Cause that’s how niggaz try to get you. Niggaz gonna hate. You don’t just build a house in the hood. It’s like hustling, when you get that cash and you move up and you move from those pennies and nickels and you go to dimes and quarters; you move up your status. And you try to mess with all the boys with the big bread so that’s where you may try to be at some of the time. Like now, you won’t catch me, even if I decide to go back to hustling; you won’t catch me, personally going to the hood and dropping it off. I might have somebody do it. I might be on the low low. I’ll never go back to like I was unless I had to, for some odd reason, to just standing on the block, having to get it like that. That ain’t how it go in life. You’re supposed to go like this in life. And when you do like this, you’re supposed to bounce back and come back harder.

Lots of child stars have downfalls and claim they were taken advantage of and weren’t loved enough. Do you feel you were taken advantage of? And were you loved enough?
G.T.G-G: Other than my mom and my family, I got love from a few. A few hated. It really didn’t matter to me because hate sparks me. When somebody hates me, it just motivates me to…it puts fuel in my fire. It wasn’t about the love and what I expected. Because some hated and some didn’t; some were mad because they wanted the position of where I was. As far as my T Jones, she made mistakes, she’s human. Like we all do. I just felt like she could have used the money that I made more wisely to benefit me in the future, but, you know, it just didn’t happen like that. She had to handle business as a single parent. And like Pac (Tupac) was saying…I ain’t mad at yah.

Why is it so easy for young kids to get into selling drugs? Especially young men? Is it attractive?
G.T.G-G: Naw. It ain’t attractive at all. Its’ very dangerous. You got jealousy everywhere out there in the streets. It’s like when you young; when they say, with wisdom and knowledge comes age; when you young and you see all that glamour as far as getting that fast money, and you see all the females jockin’ a dude with the big bread and you see you can just go drop and you can go roll anything you want damn near; you can wear the best clothes and your pockets ain’t never gonna be empty and all that and you just look at that cause you got that young mentality and you like aww man, that’s what I want. It’s like when you see a lot of stuff on TV and that ain’t really what it is, but people are like... that’s good advertising; that’s what I want. So when I was young like that; it was very very dangerous. I ain't sayin’ it was right. But at that time back then, that’s what I went through, you know, to make them extra dollars. I don’t glorify street life, as far as selling drugs to no kid. I got a daughter. I don’t glorify nothing. In the bible it says hard labor pays off. But at that time when you’re young, you don’t think about a lot of that.

How often do you go to church?
G.T.G-G: I might go…well, I’m not gonna lie…I might go every Sunday for a month. Then I might go once a month. It just depends. I’m not in there regularly like I was, when I was a little boy. But I respect God and I love God. I got faults and everybody makes mistakes. And I sin sometimes and I admit that. I just don’t feel like me going to church every Sunday is gonna resolve all the problems, know what I’m saying? People go to church because they have problems, yes in deed, but I feel, me personally, I got to have my life right outside of church with God and that’s what really all that matters.

With hustling, a lot of elements in your life changed. Can you elaborate on what that was?
G.T.G-G: When you hustling and selling that type of drugs man, it’s so many consequences that come with that. My moms, sometimes, she’d find some sacks around the house; and yeah, it hurts her as a mother to see her son/daughter or whatever, her child, period, going through that. It put a toll on her and I was just thinking about it like, I got to do me, know what I’m saying? I’m sorry that I’m hurting you but I just got to do me. And all my life, I’ve been putting my own money in my own pocket. I’ve been getting it. I was paying for my clothes; I was paying for my lunch money. I was paying for everything. I just felt like it was me so if I made the mistake and if I bumped my head then God would show me it was a mistake and it was a lesson I needed to learn. Back then I was hard headed. I was like whatever. I didn’t care about what nobody thought.

When you had your child…was that you looking for love?
G.T.G-G: Yeah. Dealing with my baby, I’m glad she’s here. The only thing I regret is having her so young. But at the same time, she was a blessing to my life. Like I said, I grew up around women all my life. Back then you could say some words to me and put it on me and I’d be like man. But back then it was a different story. Yeah I was looking for love; trying to find love in the wrong places.

Did you recognize your life spiraling in the wrong direction?
G.T.G-G: Yeah. Probably when I got 19…I mean, I’ve done had so many close encounters with death. God was trying to give me so many messages. When I was 19, I was with a crowd that I wasn’t supposed to be messing with and my truck, I was in an SUV; had flipped 6 times down the street and I had came out with like a couple of scratches. No major injuries. I just felt like, you know, God was telling me something right then. At the time I had Big Kill, like a half a pound; gun. I had all that in the car. God was telling that you moving way to fast; you doin’ way to much. At that time he was giving me messages and I saw it, but I didn’t see it. So I went back to church every Sunday; that’s when my rhymes started becoming monstrous. They started coming hard. I was like man. Like God was just putting them in me and just having me spit ‘em out for him. And then after that I was doing good for awhile and then I went back to just living that street life again.

In your bio you mentioned that you were shot. What happened that caused you to get shot?
G.T.G-G: Basically, I was at the wrong place at the wrong time. Dealing with me; I was showing love. Just showing love to the wrong nigga. People ask me did you know the dude. I say, I didn’t really know the dude…because I thought I did but I really didn’t. Basically, I was hustling. It was a drug deal gone bad; I saw it. I felt it. And that’s one thing I would tell everybody to follow your instincts. Your first instincts are the best ones. So, I felt it but at the same time, the devil was in me about that money. And all money ain’t good money. I was just like ok, whatever…so; I was with this dude, in the car with him. He pulled out; he pulled the heat out on me. I was like what you doing? I was like damn; it wasn’t about me being scared or anything like that; it was like shock. I was like damn a gun, woa, ok…hold on. So we got to the light and I felt like God was telling me to jump out the car. I jumped out the car and he shot me in my back, point blank range. Like right there. That close. At the time I thought I was paralyzed cause I couldn’t feel my legs cause they went numb. It really didn’t hurt. It stunned a little bit but everything just went numb on me…so, I went into the hospital and stayed there for a couple of weeks. Got out the hospital, was in a wheel chair for like 3 months. Was on a walker for like 2 – 3 months; crab leg crutches, 2 of them for like 2-3 months. Went to the cane and then to nothing. You know, I still do the cane sometimes. It depends on the situation…far places or whatever you know. I got shot in my spine. My message wasn’t about, me fittin’ to suffer; my message was about you got a gift, you know something inside you that a lot of people don’t have. It’s up to you to go ahead and rise above and take it. before I got shot I didn’t understand that and if I had proceeded with my gift, I would have fallen real quick. You understand me?

How do you go from being this child star, to hustling, to almost being paralyzed?
G.T.G-G: I mean, you never think it would happen to you. When I went through that, I just analyzed my whole life. I just analyzed my whole situation. Looked at who I was; asked God what he want me to do for him. Through the music; he told me through the music. So, you look at it and say, dang, he’s a child star, he’s selling drugs, he’s out there doing bad…you know, I’m a human. I got a lot of things inside of me that I can do to make money in life. It ain’t got to be no drugs at all. I can do a lot of things, from acting, to going…I done been all up in the corporate world; I done made money in all kinds of ways. I just held it up and looked at it and I just realized who I was and do what God wanted me to do.

Were you mad at yourself?
G.T.G-G: Yeah. A little bit. I was mad at myself because I knew better. Its like, they got rules you follow in the game. It’s like I sorted broke my own G code. I don’t even mess with dudes I don’t know like that. But, when you feel, at least, a little bit comfortable with somebody, that’s when they end up screwing you. So, I was mad at myself for letting somebody get to me. That was the only thing really.

You came home in a couple of weeks. The hospital thought you were well enough to go home after being shot in your spine and the bullet is still there?
G.T.G-G: It didn’t really matter if I was well enough. I was ready to get out the hospital. If it were up to me, I would have got out before then. Even my recovery; I may not be well enough to go do what I do now but I’m a do it. I’m a go git it. If it takes a toll on me, it’ll show eventually. But as of now, I’m just trying to do what I’m here for; help some people out in life, save a few souls. And go ahead and die; be about my business. And just go ahead and leave a mark; leave a legacy that I did something good in life.

Do you think you forced your recovery?
G.T.G-G: Maybe a little bit. Maybe not. Maybe I was supposed to recover way before I did.

And your friends; where were they?
G.T.G-G: You know about understanding the real and the fakeness in life. When your going through a tragic situation, the ones that’s gonna be down for you won’t be there; it’s the ones that you don’t think will be down for you, will be the ones that’s down for you. Niggas that I would let have keys to my apartment, sleep over my crib, and eat up my food, smoke weed with…show love to. Give hook ups on thangs; its like all that didn’t even matter when I got shot. It’s like females and everybody just turned their back on me. I got a couple of visits; a couple of calls. But it wasn’t the visits and calls that I thought would happen. That didn’t happen. It just let me see about these fake ass niggas and these fake ass females out here in these streets. It just put me up on some more game.

How long were you in the wheelchair before you stopped feeling sorry for yourself; if you ever did?
G.T.G-G: I’ve been writing and doing music, like poetry since I was 13. I’ve been rappin’ since I was like 14, 15. As I started writing more and talking to God and realizing…I’m like dang, I got through all these death experiences…and then I go through an experience where I’m not really even supposed to be in the situation that I’m in. And I didn’t think of that then because I thought I could have been in a wheelchair forever. But at the time, I thought, I had been through all of this here and I ain’t dead. And I feel like I ain’t gonna be paralyzed so I just put into effect…like ending January – February, that’s where I was like I can’t take this. This ain’t who I am. Anybody that knows me knows I’m always moving. I’m always on the move or on the go. Me just sitting down like that and being helpless and having a pot by my bed when I’m having to use the rest room and having to use a capiter when I’m wanting to pee…just dealing with all that made me say I ain’t gonna give up; I ain’t gonna quit. I’m gonna do everything in my power, physical therapy or whatever, and talking to God and put me where I was trying to go. And that’s exactly what happened. I was never going to give up. I heard a pastor say, the other day on the radio, that champions don’t stay on the ground. If you’re a champion and a winner in life, you might get knocked down but you’ll get back up to succeed. And that’s exactly what happened with me.

Were you performing in your wheelchair?
G.T.G-G: I was writing. But I started rapping again, out in the audience, the public…I was on crutches. I did this 5K hip hop hunt. And at the time I was just going by Gifted. I went up there, performed, shut them down. I did a monster show. At that time, like I said I’m a hustler, at that time it was like $250 to get in and $100 to display your skills. Nobody really paid but me. Not to win the $5000, $2500 or the G; but to show them who I was and what I had inside of me. I showed them who Gifted Tha Go-Gitta was. But at that time I was going by Gifted; and after the show, all I kept hearing was dang man, you a true go getter. And that’s where that took me after that. Cause I was like dang…go getter, I am a go-gitta. And that’s real. And that’s where G.T.G-G comes from. I just analyze everything in my life and I say ok, well if something bad or something negative comes around, I still go git it, no matter what. I don’t let that hold me down. Ever since then, I’ve been doing shows ever since. Getting better and doing shows.

Where you intimidated by appearing on stage with crutches?
G.T.G-G: Naw. I’m never intimidated. Nothing intimidates me. Me being on stage like that just proves what my never really means. Me being Gifted. It didn’t intimidate me. It showed me more or less like, I got to show these people who I really am. That I am Gifted. I am a gift to life. I felt like the crutches…like now, I ain’t even mad about getting shot, know what I’m sayin’? I ain’t even mad about that. Even though I can’t move as fast or do some of the things that I used to do. It just proves who I am. It just proves that I am gifted. It just proves that I am a go gitta. So everything that I’m showing you is not just a name or something I ain’t showing you or something I just said or talked about it. I’m walking it. So I’m showing you. On TV you’ve seen some of it through out my younger years, you’ve seen everything I’m going through and you’ve seen when I spit that it’s about everything I’ve gone through. Just me being on crutches, it just says that is true; that you can’t hold me down. That I am a true go gitta.

All of your music expresses your life experience?
G.T.G-G: I got music that’s for everything; club, life, females; keep your head up. Everything that people go through in life that people don’t want to talk about, I have. I hold nothing back. That’s what makes me so versatile and so gifted. I’m a story teller. I explain stories. Even if it’s a club story. I give it to you like a movie. I give you an introduction, a body and a conclusion. I tell you what its like to pull up to the club, go in the club, meet some bopper and take them home and tell you what that’ like. I give you stories about how hard it is on the block and the struggle that goes on. I tell you how these politicians are big gangs and they pimpin’ us. I give you stories about everything. I don’t like to hold nothing back in life. And if I know about it and I been through it, I’d like to address it.

Rap has a particular formula. Either you talk about girls, the club, the streets or a diss record or you have nothing. Do you think you are a formula rapper?
G.T.G-G: Am I a formula rapper? I can’t say that because you might have different views on what a ‘formula’ rapper is. Like I said, I touch all angles and I touch everything about the game and life situations that we go through. And I give it to you like that. I just give you me and I just give you what I know. People say are you gangsta, are you thug? You know what? At this point, I rap for God. If they said that’s a Christian rapper, or a gangsta rapper that’s confused or a thug rapper that’s not knowing whatever…I don’t really care what people call me or what they think at this point. At this point, I’m like, I almost died 2, 3, 4 times. God has still kept me here. He’s got me here for a reason. Maybe it’s to help some of these people who were in my shoes when I was young and confused. That’s what I do. I put that to the pen and the paper and just let you know that you can go git it. All you have to do is have the focus and the will and you can go git it. You can fall in life…yeah there are things that’s gonna knock you down and make you fall, but you can also do things in life that’s going to pick you back up. That’s what I give the people and let them know. I let people judge me. I don’t know about a formula but there is a strategy that if you do anything in life, you have to plot and plan on what your trying to do. I don’t just get a pen or a paper and just start writing to make words rhyme. I don’t do that. I strategize and think about whatever I want to talk about in this song. If it’s deep, I’m a think about all the deepness I went through on a particular subject and address that.

With potential rap artists that have a background like or similar to yours; do you think those negative qualities have a mass appeal?
G.T.G-G: Controversy sells. With other rappers its really are they trying to sell records or do they just have beef? Negative sells. That’s why you see the news and its negative all the time. Rarely is anything positive. Like I said, everything that I go through in life that’s negative, I’m just gonna flip it up and let you know about it and turn it in to a positive. Cause like I said, when it’s negative you fall, I’m a show you how you bounce back and make it positive. Negative things out there that sells? That’s true to a certain extent.

Talk about your mixtape.
G.T.G-G: Go Git It Volume 1. I just dropped the mixtape because you know, its like mixtapes are cool, but I have so much to say and I’d rather put it into an album and give you the story lines like that. I just dropped the mix tape like this: if you’re a true hustler and you got the product and you move to a city where no one really knows you, only but a few people and you got the best product in the city and its good? Then why not give them a little piece of your product and let them taste it? Or let them try on your shirt or whatever your product may be. And they like dang this is tight. They like oh man I got to get me some more of these. That’s what I did with the mix tape. I just gave them a little something. I didn’t give them too much deepness. Or too much about life. I just gave them a little bit. I will drop another one after this to let them know I got a whole other side to me. Not just clubs or talking to the ladies or about hustling. I got a deep side. Where I’m talking to the females who husbands done beat them up or talked to them bad. And just tell them to keep their head up. It’s a brighter day after a dark night. So on the next mix tape I can just hit them with that deep life. On the first I’ll give them that good music, that fun music. Then on the second I’ll give them that good music, that life, that drama and soap opera on the next one. And from there they will be ready for that album to come out.

What ingredient does the south have that makes southern artist’ more appealing?
G.T.G-G: I mean, everybody just has a time when they hot. I don’t want to say that were just more appealing than east or west coast. We just hot right now. Like the east, they got they own style, we got our own style. Most of the boys down here, we talk with our own slang. We put our own words together. It’s like a culture. Everybody has they own culture.

Rap artists are making big transitions. Any goals for your company Go-Gitta Entertainment?
G.T.G-G: I’m just trying to take over the game as much as I can, before I’m deceased. And leave a legacy behind to let people know that I did something good in life. And to provide for my daughter and not have her go through the things that I went through as a young child, as far as the negativity. And just provide for my peeps and do it big before I go. My goal is to be a successful entrepreneur; a successful business man. I know I can’t rap forever. What I do now is make contacts with people that are bound to be successful. I’m 24 years old. I make business plans now, by the time I get 40 I can sit back off my investments.

Who inspires you?
G.T.G-G: Its a few people that inspire me. When I was young I really didn’t listen to rap until I was like 12, 13 years old. I was with my moms all the time and I was listening to good feeling music of the O’Jays. She was listening to Patti LaBelle. Like the old school artists in her generation. Rap wise; when I started listening to rap, it was Tupac that I was listening to. And I would just hear his lyrical content and be like dang, that’s real talk. I didn’t understand that he was just a product of somebody else who came before him. And he got all kinds of songs. He got songs that’s club. Songs that’s deep. When I listen to him, there was stuff that I was going through as a little boy that I could relate to. That was my main one. And now, its Zero, he’s like the main one. He’s like the Tupac of the south. He touches all those aspects. He gives you some good music. He’s on a whole other level that a lot of people don’t even get to touch. I like a lot of cats from the south; you know Scarface, Bun B, Pimp C, and Pimpsta. And not just the south: I like those that do them. When you do you and you a hustler and you go git that bread by do you; that inspires me. I know somebody else can do it. I can do it.

What would you say to those who are inspired by you?
G.T.G-G: Follow your dreams. Everything that you do in life is not going to be all peachy. God will give you something in life, but he won’t give it to you when you want it. He’s gonna give it to you when he wants to give it you; when he feels ready. So you just have to follow your dreams. If you understand that there is a brighter day after that dark night; everything is going to be ok. You might not be able to pay your bills this month. You just have to pray and keep holding on. I’m a perfect example. Don’t give up. Just go and get it.

Actor Rickey Carter has 15 years of experience under his belt. Starring as ‘Derek’ in the long running children show Barney & Friends; Mr. Carter played one of the original cast members; IMDB.COM

Inquires: Gifted Tha Go-Gitta c/o Go-Gitta Entertainment P.O.Box 852804 Mesquite, TX 75185 (214) 404-0392 giftedthagogitta@tmail.com, gifted@giftedthagogitta.com, www.giftedthagogitta.com, www.myspace.com/giftedthagogitta1