BY JACOB "34" KOERTGE • MAY 20, 2019
Locksmith is one of the Bay Area’s most prolific MCs. Since the early 2000s, the Richmond, California rapper has laid forth a slew of mixtapes, albums, and freestyles to bolster his catalog and put his expert lyricism on full display. In 2018, Locksmith kept especially busy, releasing full-length Ali, and a joint effort with Detroit, Michigan-based Apollo Brown, No Question. This month, the fiery MC sat down with AFH TV for an interview in which Lock’ discusses his Bay Area upbringing, his Battle Rap roots, and how a story he told on the Murs-assisted “Stars” about linking with Dr. Dre is true.
Early in the interview (3:00), Locksmith remembers playing basketball with Master P and Silkk The Shocker, long before Lock ever considered picking up the microphone. “I met Master P when he was in Richmond when I was a kid. I seen [his] record store; I went to the record store.” Percy Miller and his younger brother cultivated a business model from JT The Bigga Figga, E-40, and others, before leaving No Limit Records & Tapes storefront in Richmond to launch a movement of the same name back in his hometown of New Orleans, Louisiana.
Locksmith continues, “My memory of Master P was when I was younger, sneaking into UC Berkeley’s gym, because during the offseason, they would have an open gym. But the open gym was like a league almost, because you had Jason Kidd, you had all those guys, Lamond Murray, who were all NBA prospects who would play in the off season in the open gym and Master P would be there. We were just young guys, but we could hoop. We would wait to get our call next, and when it would be our time to be up, people would sometimes try to overlook us. Master P was like, ‘Nah, these young dudes can hoop. Make sure they get their spot.’ So we would get out there and do our thing. That was a good memory I always had of Master P.”
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