Our very own Shady Records artist, Westside Boogie, showcases his Compton pride, weighs the advantages of stepping into a beef, and talks about the painstaking creative process in a recent interview.

Power 106’s Rosecrans Vic invited Boogie to Hat Club LA to record an episode of the Crowned podcast. In the episode, Boogie discussed everything from his love for fitted hats to his upcoming music projects.

When asked about his personal heroes, Boogie named G Weer (who helped him get signed), Kendrick Lamar (a neighbourhood homie), Serena Williams (a legendary athlete), and DJ Quik (a musical inspiration). He even threw himself in the mix, recognising his own achievements.

Boogie didn’t shy away from the recent hip hop beef. While acknowledging Drake’s contributions, he admits his bias towards Kendrick (being a fellow Compton native). He sees the whole situation as a win for the West Coast, praising them for dropping music back-to-back and keeping the energy high.

I’m going to be biased, and I’m going to be a delusional LA native always. Kendrick was my favourite rapper before this, and because he’s from my neighbourhood, I’m always going to side with him. But I think it was super dope for hip hop, not to discredit anything that Drake has done for hip hop. The city got a W. We won it, in my opinion. In this era where we’ve all got this short attention span, they gave us music back to back to back to back, and you got to see Kendrick’s strategy, stepping all over releases, I think it was dope!

Speaking fro a personal perspective, Boogie welcomes a friendly lyrical competition. He believes it can be a defining moment in a rapper’s career. However, for him, disrespect and genuine animosity are prerequisites – it has to go beyond playful jabs.

I always wanted that. I love competing. I feel like, if you say you’re competing, you’ve got to have that moment in your career where you go at somebody and see if you could survive and it could define you, so I think it’s dope. I’m waiting for the smoke. It’s hard for me to picture myself having a problem with somebody just on some rap shit. I got to really not like you. You really got to say something disrespectful about the person and even get the point across.

The most anticipated news is that Boogie is working hard to overcome overthinking and finally drop his third album. He’s focused on filtering ideas and crafting a clear message with this project.

Trying to get out of my head and drop a third album. So, that’s the plan. With artists like myself, who spend a lot of time working on lyrics and making sure to put out the best product, you get caught in that overthinking, so this year is the year I’m trying to actually drop. The message I want to deliver with this project is still in the early stages. I got a lot of records done, so it’s about filtering out my ideas and making sure I’ve got tunnel vision of what I want to do with the project and what message I want to deliver.

This interview gives a glimpse into Boogie’s creative process, his unwavering Compton pride, and his hunger for growth. It is intriguing to see what new ideas Boogie will ring to life after his carefully crafted previous Shady Records release, “More Black Superheroes”.

Watch the video below: