Having released his last album, Feet Match the Paint, in late April and set to release his next one Won’t Stop on June 18, San Diego’s Mitchy Slick is on a mission to further establish himself as an independent force on the West Coast. Although he’s been a member of the group known as Strong Arm Steady (along with Krondon, Phil Da Agony and sometimes Xzibit), Mitchy has actually been putting in work on his own since 2001 with the release of his debut Triggeration Station – a gritty album that gave rap fans an insight to the existence of the widely overlooked dangerous side of San Diego, CA. As the head of his own label, Wrong Kind Records, Mitchy Slick is working with a slew of young artists from the area they call “Daygo,” in efforts to give the region opportunities that he feels that the music industry is ignoring and sleeping on. AllHipHop.com caught up with the Wrong Kind label head to chat about this and more.
AllHipHop.com: I remember the craziness surrounding the release of the Strong Arm Robbery mixtape with Damu years ago. People were getting shot and there was all sorts of drama in San Diego.
Mitchy Slick: At the time there was so much stuff going on and it wasn’t necessarily because of my CD’s. Matter of fact it wasn’t that at all. There was a lot of stuff going on at the time in the city and the finger got pointed at us. They put it on me basically blaming the violence on our CD. At the time, a couple of innocent ladies were murdered in my neighborhood right in front of a liquor store and there was a back and forth shooting. Damu, who made the CD with me, even got shot the day it was released. But the music did show a side of San Diego that the powers that be didn’t want the world to see. I was basically doing the same thing that Cube, Pac, Snoop, Game, 50 Cent and Mobb Deep were doing – telling street stories. They weren’t feeling that though. They weren’t with me telling San Diego’s part of the story because San Diego is a crazy place when it comes to the demographics. With all of the businesses that are in San Diego, the urban side of it is hidden and you can’t tell how big it really is. That even extends to how Hip-Hop is supported there. It’s not a coincidence that nobody has made it really big out of San Diego. There is a reason for that. Bro, we don’t even have an urban radio station out here. Look at all of the cities that have artists that are moving. They all have that outlet or some type of independent movement.
AllHipHop.com: The Triggeration Station CD was an eye opener for me. I didn’t know that side of San Diego even existed. It was all just Sea World and Beaches to me. I had no idea it was that crazy like that over there.
Mitchy Slick: What’s crazy is that by traveling you get to see how much the rest of the country doesn’t know about places like Fresno, Stockton and a bunch of other little cities. It’s not just San Diego. I’m talking about off the chain stuff. A lot of artists go to Stockton and it will be the only place they’ve been robbed.
AllHipHop.com: You’ve been chilling in Los Angeles for a minute. Do you feel like an outsider there?
Mitchy Slick: Yeah but the artists themselves don’t make me feel like that. Nipsey Hussle, Schoolboy Q, Jay Rock, Kendrick Lamar, Dom Kennedy, Pac D## and all of the other cats show love. With Krondon, I’m a part of the Likwit Crew. I don’t [feel like an outsider] amongst the artists but in the streets I do to a certain degree. It’s hard being in Los Angeles with them being such a powerhouse. It’s no coincidence that the two cats that Dr. Dre put the stamp on and blew up are from Compton. I talk about things that nobody wants to. I put out records independently. Wrong Kind Records is at full speed right now. We keep it gangsta and keep sh*t going in the streets. I’m also rolling with Empire Distribution. They’re helping me get things crackin’ in this internet era of promotions.
AllHipHop.com: How is Strong Arm Steady? You guys still moving along?
Mitchy Slick: Yeah we’re still getting it in, but right now we are concentrating on solo sh*t. We are all featured on everyone else’s sh*t but we’re together all of the time. That’s my family. Krondon just put out a free album that’s dope as sh*t, man. Phil is doing stuff overseas. I’m working with the young cats on my Wrong Kind label. You know, it’s the music business man and we’ve been doing this sh*t forever.
You can follow Mitchy Slick on Twitter @MitchySlick and on Instagram at @mitchyslickiseverywhere