During a recent interview with Nardwuar, the Fayetteville emcee was asked if it was he who put Dr. Dre onto K. Dot.
“Who told you that? Who gave you that piece of information?” Cole replied. “… The answer is, yes. I did. I’m not gonna say I was the first to tell him [...] I was like, ‘Yo, you gotta sign this kid from Compton.”
Cole said he first brought up Kendrick while Dre was working on Detox; however, one of Dre’s team members was already familiar with the up-and-coming rapper. Dre would go on to sign Kendrick to his Aftermath imprint in 2013.
“Shoutout to Dr. Dre,” Cole said. “He made the right decision.”
Nardwuar then asked if Cole wanted to sign Kendrick early on in his career. Cole confirmed this was true, but emphasized he was not in a position to make such an offer at the time.
“100 percent. I don’t know what I would’ve signed him to, you know what I mean?” he explained. “We didn’t have our business intact, but that’s how much I rocked with him at that time. I met him, and instantly was highly impressed. That would’ve been the first artist in my mind [to sign], but come to find out, he had bigger shit going on.”
Elsewhere in the interview, which took place on the seventh anniversary of Cole’s Forest Hills Drive, Nardwuar presented the rapper with a series of gifts, including a Dilla Turntable released by J. Dilla’s estate, Breaks & Beats Spaceman doll, and a number of vinyl records, such as The Golden Sword by the Gerald Wilson Orchestra recorded in 1966; “40 Bars” by Allen Iverson, aka Jewels; and First Choice’s “Armed and Extremely Dangerous,” which is sampled on “Middle Child.”
Cole also spoke about some of Fayetteville’s most iconic spots and figures including his relationship with Eib, his passion for basketball, and his early rap days under the “Therapist” alias.
You can check out the full interview up top. EarthGang, Omen, and producer T-Minus also make appearances.
Investigators reportedly called Gunnin "a known gang member" who was later arrested at his home in Natchez, Louisiana.
District Attorney Brad Burget, said Johnson had a person filming his performance when Mitchell allegedly bumped into a stage member and a fight between Mitchell and Johnson broke out. Johnson reportedly shot Mitchell in the back with a .380 pistol he had on him and continued to fire at Mitchell four more times after he hit the floor.
This isn't Yungen Gunnin's first run-in with the law; at 18, he reportedly pleaded guilty to three counts of aggravated assault in connection with a shooting that took place in 2014. In that case, Gunnin and three other teens allegedly shot at several men making their way through an apartment complex. The shooting didn't end a fatality, but three victims were injured.
In 2016, Gunnin was reportedly sentenced to "10 years in prison with five years suspended and five years post-release supervision on count one; 10 years to run concurrently on count two; and 10 years with five years formal reporting, meaning he had to report to a parole officer, on count three."
He was reportedly on probation during the Suga Shak shooting incident. Gunnin was convicted of second-degree murder and felon in possession of a firearm. His prison time for his most recent case is unclear.
The federal prison system has been placed on a nationwide lockdown after two inmates were killed and two others were injured Monday during...
