AP-9 of the legendary Mob Figaz

Apollonia: I'm sitting here chopping it up with AP-9 of the legendary Mob Figaz. For those who ain't up on game, can you tell us a little bit about yourself and the Mob Figaz?

AP-9: It's five Mob Figaz and I'm AP-9, one of the chosen five. We've been in the rap game since like ‘96, and we signed with C-Bo around that time. We dropped our first album in ‘98, which sold over 160,000 independently. Ever since then, we have been doing shows, dropping solo albums and collaboration albums and compilations and just doing it Mob.

Apollonia: What is your relationship now with C-Bo?

AP-9: We still tight. That's big bruh right there. We have never fallen out or stopped keeping contact. He got us in the game and we took the game he gave us and ran with it. We started opening up our own labels and everything. He's also featured on my new CD, titled "The Grinch," which is scheduled to be released next month. We have never lost any type of contact or had any fallouts; it's been the same love since Day One.

Apollonia: Tell me a little more about your album "The Grinch" and why you chose to call it that.

AP-9: I chose to call it "The Grinch" because I feel like I'm stealing the rap game right now. I'm a leader and not a follower, so whatever I'm going to do, it's just like the Grinch stole Christmas; I'm stealing the rap game. I'm stealing the business side of the game and just going hard. Personally, I believe I am one of the hardest working rappers in the game right now. As far as constantly dropping albums and running my label Mob Shop Entertainment, I called it "The Grinch" because I'm just taking over the game right now.

Apollonia: My big bruh JR has a good relationship with Husalah of the Mob Figaz, and we all know that he is behind enemy lines. JR wants to know how he's doing right now. Have you been keeping in contact with him?

AP-9: Husalah is good; we email each other every day because in the feds you can get email, so I email him and chop it up with him every day. I got my blackberry and I hit him up every day. It's not a joke and when he comes home, he's going to be able to tell you that AP-9 emailed me every day.

He's doing good. He's holding his head up and he will be home in 2010, so until he get out I'm holding it down. I'm keeping it Mob and keeping the movement going.

We're a family, so we all are giving our support to him 100 percent. He's doing good; he could be in a better position if he was out, but due to the circumstances that he is facing now, he's keeping his head up. That's all you can do when you're in that type of situation is keep your head up and go strong. That's what it is.

Apollonia: So when can we expect another Mob Figaz album? Are you guys putting something together now, or are you waiting for Husalah to be released?

AP-9: We're working on that right now. We have a lot of material from Husalah, but we really want Husalah to be around before we drop another Mob Figaz album. If we wanted to, we could drop an album right now. That's our pride and joy, being together as The Mob Figaz. As a group, they can't fuck with us; that ain't nothing to play with.

We've been doing albums, like the "Mob Trials," with three of us at a time. We've been really holding back because we have the material to drop another Mob Figaz album right now. We've just decided to wait until Husalah comes home, so we can do it the right way instead of just piecing it together and taking a verse that Husalah already laid down. We're going to hold it down until he get home.

The real Mob Figaz album when Husalah comes out is going to be a real classic. We are also working on getting together again with C-Bo and doing another Mob Figaz album with him. Everywhere I go people are asking when we're going to do another Mob Figaz album, and I just want to let our fans know and the hood know that we are going to make that happen and give them what they want.

Apollonia: Tell me more about your new album "The Grinch." Is there a song on the album that you feel is really going to hit the streets and make people know who AP-9 is and the talent that you possess?

AP-9: There is a song on the album called "Block Rock." I'm going to run with that because I have never really been on the radio, I just have a lot of street credibility and the streets and hood can respect that song because that's what I do with my music: rock the block. I think the whole album period is hood and it's a good album that people are really going to feel.

I believe every time I drop an album, I step it up even more. The streets and the people in your community are your best critics and I believe they are really going to enjoy this album. If anyone wants to check out that song on the album or hit me up to inquire about shows, they can log on to my myspace page at www.mysace.com/ap9. They can also check my page to see what shows and other events I have going on.

Apollonia: Any messages for the streets?

AP-9: I just want to say thanks for supporting me and my music career. Thanks for supporting the Mob Figaz and supporting our career as we try to continue grinding in this music industry. I'm going to keep going strong and running my rap label, Mob Shop Entertainment. I have a few artists coming out on there: my boy Kill Mac, my boy Tony Streets, my brother Young Gas and we're just going to keep this Bay Area shit lit. We're going to keep this mob reality movement going on. Off top ... free Husalah and RIP Mac Dre.

Email Bay View staff writer Apollonia Jordan at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

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