Mozzy talks ‘Beyond Bulletproof,’ his career growth, prison reform and more

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Mozzy is putting on for the Bay Area — Sacramento to be exact — like no other. Signed to EMPIRE Records, the “Sleep Walkin” spitter is an independent machine. His numbers grow daily and when it comes to music, the 32-year-old continues to one up himself with each project he drops.

His talent for creating bangers with impressive lyricism does not go unnoticed, and he’s well on his way to becoming one of the greats to ever grace the hip hop scene. That’s why fans were so excited when his fifth studio album, Beyond Bulletproof, dropped in May.

REVOLT caught up with Mozzy to discuss the LP, his growth, prison reform, and so much more. Check out the conversation below!

How are you surviving Coronavirus?

I’m loving it. I’ve always been a social distance type of person, so this is right up my alley. I hate that there’s no malls I could walk through and feel the love from the people. I also hate that we can’t sit down inside of a restaurant and buss down. Outside of that, I’m enjoying it.

You’re quarantined with your family right?

Fasho. I’m with the squad, Gangland. I just bought a new little studio building in Long Beach.

“Overcame” visual is at 3.5 million on Youtube. How does it feel to have every video of yours hit millions?

I drop so many videos, I just keep up with the last one I dropped. In the beginning, that s**t was crazy. Right now, it’s normal. I’ll be pissed off if one doesn’t hit a million. In the beginning… I remember starting off clicking on my own s**t a thousand times. Trying to get my s**t to 10,000. When I got to 10K, I felt like a million. Now, the million comes so easy. At the same time, I’m very humble. I love it.

How does it feel to be where you are today?

It’s crazy, I wake up every day feeling like I’m living my childhood dream. I’m living everything I’ve dreamed of. When you sit on your bunk in jail, you just dream. You try to imagine s**t; imagine yourself with $100,000 worth of jewelry on. You try to imagine yourself in a $100,000 car. You try to imagine yourself buying new property. I’m really living my dream, this s**t’s crazy. I’m beyond blessed and highly favored.

We all can agree that “I Ain’t Perfect” with BLXST is one of our favorites.

“But I work on that at least!” (sings chorus) My favorite song on the album, I was mad we had to drop it so early.

Who made the executive decision to drop it as a single?

The squad as a collective. Not going to lie, I wanted some gangsta s**t. I wanted to flood it with the gangsta s**t, but they felt like it was a better look. The time that we’re in right now, everything is in sync. Everything’s merging together. I was in agreement and we ran the play.

It was the perfect single to lead into your album. BLXST killed that hook.

Hell yeah, that’s my favorite song. I wanted to drop it the day of the album, but I’m in love with the response. He was getting on that record as a writer for anybody to fill the spot in, we were going to replace his vocals with somebody who’s boomin’ right now. But, I was feeling his s**t so much, I’m like, “Nahhh, I need him.” Nobody could do him like that. He did that, he touched a n**ga. He tampered with my soul. I really f**ked with it, so we pressed play on that.

On the record, you talk about not being able to kick the cup. That’s been a norm in hip hop in general. What’s your take on that? 

It’s an addiction. Addiction is sobering up, relapsing, sobering up, relapsing, sobering up, relapsing. That’s what fighting addiction is. It’s very rare that you quit and quit forever. Some people don’t have that type of willpower. I built a relationship with that s**t. When I lost my grandmother, that’s what I turned to. That’s what I locked in with. It soothes me. I’ll be up and down with it. Sometimes I quit, sometimes I don’t.

The bigger picture to me is not promoting it to young life, not motivating someone else to pick up the cup or pour up. I’m a man, I’m going to have my own struggles. I’m going to deal with my own. That’s one thing I like about music. It gives me an opportunity to tell my truth. It’s therapeutic for me. I hope it’s a win-win situation for everybody.

Substance abuse has been a trend in entertainment. What do you think needs to happen?

It’s life. The same way stillborns are born, the same way some people are born with mental issues. It’s always going to be a constant struggle, a constant fight. You have to be able to weather the storm. I watched that happen in my family for a long time with my biological loved ones. People who were very significant to me, I watched them fight and overcome it. That’s why in “Overcame,” “Look at all the other s**t you overcame baby.” You’re going through this, whatever you’re going through right now, but look at all the other s**t you overcame. We eventually open our eyes and if we don’t, hope it opens somebody else’s.

On “Overcame,” you say, “I was only worth a hundred when I left Sac.” What was Mozzy like then?

Same n**ga. The only difference is I was a little grimier when I was broke. I was more on offense, more offensive. Looking for a dollar. I’m hungry. If I can find a come up, I’m going to find a come up. If I can [finagle] somebody out of their chicken McNuggets, then I’m going to [finagle] somebody out of theirs… Now, I’m up. I’m leaning more towards what can I do to assist versus n**ga, what can I do to profit?

May was Mental Health awareness Month. How was it having your therapy session filmed?

It has its pros and its cons. I’m talking about individuals that I love dearly. I don’t ever like to rub anybody the wrong way. That whole therapy session was me telling my truth. A lot of s**t was edited out. I ran the whole play like it was a real therapy session. I really talked to that lady. I said a lot of s**t that I wouldn’t want the public to hear about people I love. Outside of that, I got a good response. I just fear that somebody I love would take it personal.

Do you believe in therapy?

Not really, that’s why all of this s**t was new for me. I remember my grandmother tried to put me in therapy sessions when I was a kid due to recommendations of school. I tried that s**t out for two, three weeks. Even dude himself told me this s**t would never work for me based on I wouldn’t open up. I didn’t know how to tell a n**ga what I was really going through. I was lying and hiding s**t, so he couldn’t really penetrate the surface. I do believe in therapy because my grandma was therapy for me. That’s the person I talked to, so for sure. Most definitely.

Now, music is your therapy.

Yes! It is. It’s crazy because my own music is my therapy. I don’t have to wait for somebody else. I f**k with a lot of other people’s s**t, but my own music — for me to write it, for me to recite it, for me to hear it, it’s very therapeutic.

How excited are you for Beyond Bulletproof?

Hella extra. My dopest album thus far, this motherf**ker’s yay yay, I’m in love with it.

Who’s on the cover art?

My gang members! My uncle and them. I met him the day of the video shoot, they jumped in a load and we took a picture. The picture ended up being the album cover. We looked at the pictures and they wouldn’t let me post it. They said, “This is for the album.” That’s unc, somebody we met off of Skid Row. We double backed on him again and did another video. It was love. We took him to eat at Bossa Nova, smoked some dope, rode around the city with the top drop.

Would you consider “Tomorrow Ain’t Promised” gangsta? 

That’s with lil bro on there, Rex. That’s gangsta, that’s dope. I f**k with that whole song, too. You still f**k with it? It’s been two or three years.

Talk about sampling Mario on “Big Homie From The Hood.”

That’s my s**t. “You should let me love, you should let me be the one to” (sings). That’s my dawg, I f**k with Mario. I grew up on that gangsta s**t. When the beat came on, it was natural. Dave-O recommended I do the song. He threw the alley-oop, I followed through. I’m in love with it. I try not to do too many songs on that side of the field. I like to do all pure gangster s**t, but he said we needed one for the album. After I did it, I was in love with it.

Beyond Bulletproof means to love one unconditionally. I love that.

Bulletproof is basically saying “love you.” We transformed the words “I love you” into bulletproof. When we’re in prison and we’re about to leave one of our comrades, we let them know it’s bulletproof. Bulletproof love — not even the system could penetrate that. Not even death could penetrate that. The love is bulletproof.

All I‘m doing on this album is spreading love. I give a f**k about the young life, so I’m dropping a lot of jewels. I’m shouting out the less fortunate. Big ups to the fathers, the single mothers. This album is full of love. When I stepped in the game, it was Bladadah, [and] Hexa Hella Extra Headshots. Now it’s Beyond Bulletproof. To love one unconditionally. You can see the growth in the titles alone.

Talk about the Bail Project. How important is prison reform to you?

We’ve been building for six or seven months now. I thought it’d be dope to incorporate them in a roll out. Try to find anyway I can uplift them, vice versa. I have a lot of people locked inside their system. Any laws pertaining to prison alone, I feel strongly connected to. It’s my people in there, my loved ones. I vote for any laws they can benefit from. I spread the word when I can. I’m all for it. Free the Gangland! Emancipation proclamation.