Beyond Bulletproof

“To love ‘bulletproofly’ is unconditionally—no matter your conditions, no matter the circumstances, no matter what you\'re going through, no matter what society looks at you as,” Mozzy tells Apple Music. “So I\'m saying it\'s *beyond* bulletproof for me.” The Sacramento MC sounds like he’s in a great place as he explains the title of his latest album; 2019 saw him deliver no less than five separate projects, and the first of 2020 is rightfully steeped in gratitude for the many comforts he currently enjoys. “I think right now, just the state of mind I’ve been in, and me being blessed beyond measurement—I\'m in the dopest place I\'ve ever been, I’m the highest I ever been,” the MC says. “I’m enjoying life, I got two little girls that fulfill me, I’m full of love. If you pay attention to the albums before—it was *Bladadah* and *Hexa Hella Extra Head Shots*—I was expressing what I was going through. I look out for so many, whether it\'s paying for funerals or bailing n\*ggas out, or putting a n\*gga in a better predicament or position to win—*Beyond Bulletproof*, once more, I\'m just expressing what I\'m going through.” Below, Mozzy talks about how some of his favorite tracks from the project came together. **Unethical & Deceitful** “I got to give it to Granny—she was very militant, very pro-black. She always taught me to just make sure I had substance in my music. It\'s not something I think about. I don\'t say on this song, \'I\'m going to try to incorporate this or I\'m going to do that.\' I just naturally do it.\" **So Lonely** “I function with everything Shordie Shordie got going on. We just naturally click. I done ran into him in numerous of places, from the Valley to the Bay Area to LA—\[last\] studio session we cooked up about two or three of ’em. I was in love with ‘So Lonely’ and I begged that n\*gga for a week straight, ‘Let me get that muthafucka.’ He said it was Gucci and I threw another verse on that motherfucker, and there you have it.” **Betrayed** “It used to be death before dishonor, and now it\'s becoming a norm to betray the homie or cross a n\*gga. The consequences ain\'t as severe as they used to be. Just by me having unconditional love for n\*ggas, I don\'t want to see n\*ggas hurt. I don\'t want to knock a n\*gga off for nothing like that, so I just turn the other cheek. But it\'s crazy, because it’ll have a n\*gga in his feelings, a n\*gga feeling genuinely betrayed. I ain\'t like these n\*ggas.” **Boyz to Men** “This is straight *activity*. You know that\'s mandated, \'cause that\'s what my core fanbase—that’s what they enjoy from me. That\'s what they function with. I felt like the album was becoming slow, so I had to speed it up and put that Activated Mozzy in there. It\'s damn near mandatory to say that this song is the foundation, it’s the core. It\'s me.” **Can’t Let You Go** “My n\*gga threw the beat on and I wasn\'t feeling it at first. A lot of shit I don\'t be feeling, but I be considerate of my management team and their vision. And it\'s worked in my favor. I don\'t be wanting to be talk about no bitches. I want to talk about gang-banging, but I got in there, and once I just started scribbling a little bit, that shit just started oozing out. I recorded it, and I was in love with it. Soon as I recorded, like before Eric Bellinger was on there, I was already in love. And now it\'s one of my favorite songs.” **Overcame** “I was in love with this song as soon as I made it. It\'s real life, it\'s Mozzy. I was debating whether or not I should put it on this album, but it fit the story. Just expressing love and putting young n\*ggas on and putting them in position, and giving a fuck about the young life and the culture. It\'s one of the ones that I could cry to. I could vibe to it and cry to it.” **The Homies Wanna Know** “It’s a lot of shit that I done cooked up that\'s off-limits. I\'ve tweaked a lot of shit. I might say something in a song and then \[remove\] it, just being considerate of others and how they might feel. But nine times out of ten, I let the beat control the whole vibe of everything. I don\'t never prep what I\'m going to say or what the song is going to be about. I just go in that motherfucker and record. The beat talks to me and I talk to the beat. It’s gotta talk to me. It gotta tamper with my soul. If it don\'t, then it probably won\'t make the album.”

The Sacramento rapper’s new release doesn’t compromise on his bleak worldview, but the music feels warmer and more accessible.

Prolific Sacramento rapper Mozzy solidified his style over the course of countless mixtapes and collaborative projects, molding the familiar sounds of classic West Coast hip-hop around his dark and unrelenting lyrics of street violence and internal searching.