New year, new moves, new company

Damn, shits been crazy last few weeks to say the least... When I said 2010 was gonna be great, I had no idea how great... So much to tell, so little time...

First, let me start off by congratulating my homeboys for finally getting what theyve always deserved: A major deal and everything that comes with it... Far*East Movement is officially signed to Cherrytree/Interscope records! That shit is huge! I dont know anyone who deserves it more. Im happy for you brothers, but truthfully, I knew it was gonna happen... Ya'll are way too driven not to get a deal, you woulda made it happen one way or another...

Someone else is getting signed too... Some guy named IZ... mighta heard a him... haha... Yup, ya boy (not "We Run LA" ya boy, the other ya boy i.e. me) is getting signed to a brand new independent label called 454 Ent... and believe me when I say this shit is real... Too real that even Im having a hard time believing... It seems my life is caught is some kinda whirlwind. Shit is happening so fast... ya boy (yes, the other one) aint had a chance to breathe in weeks... I've seen things I never dreamed I'd see in my lifetime... and believe me, I dream some pretty big things.

To give you an example, just the other day I sat with the CEO of my company on a board meeting where they discussed the structure of the new company... Picture this: 6 wealthy white guys, (the type that sign The Rolling Stones' checks wealthy), employed by one Asian guy whose falling asleep because no ones paying him to listen are talking about how theyre going to take everyones money all over the world... Through movies, music, trickery, that sorta thing... Im talking billions of dollars... and my big homie/future boss is still sleeping kinda as if to say: "If I knew or cared what they were talking about I wouldnt have to pay them to do it"... After about 20 minutes I have a pretty good idea about the company and where its going: up. Im talking guys with medium length, flowing white hair and British accents "up"... And my big bro employs all of them... He's definitely doing it... big... These things I never dreamed of seeing...

When I started rapping, I was confident that I would be successful, if only because i knew i wouldnt take no for an answer... I knew I would do whatever it took to make it... but "making it" in my eyes was not easily definable... "Making it" meant a lot of things. Getting signed was "making it," Having a hit album/single was "making it," helping my people move forward in the entertainment industry was "making it." Any of these things would have brought me satisfaction, would have given me a sense of accomplishment... It never even crossed my mind that I would seeing and working first-hand with someone who is really on top of everything looking down. In other words, the guy that signs the checks... The feeling is absolutely incredible and I feel blessed... I give thanks to God... "God, Im not sure if I deserve this but... Im definitely gonna run with it!!!"

Ill tell you more soon!

IZ's 2008 Prison Blog: Entry 5: "The Hole"

The hole is f*cked up! That’s just the best way to describe it. The hole f*ckin’ sucks, straight up. I’ve seen a bunch of people come out the hole and say "Oh, the hole ain’t shit," but they’re not fooling anyone, especially not me, because I was one of those people. I did 30 days in the hole in 2004. When I came out I said the same thing, "The hole aint shit! I’m a "G" homie! That shit don’t FAZE ME! Ill do that shit standing on my head" and so on and so forth. But that’s not what I was saying when I was in there. I wasn’t saying anything actually...there’s no one to talk to. There isn’t shit! Me, Myself, and I don’t count either... Also, because they pepper spray u when u get into fights, they use that as an excuse to strip u down and take your clothes, even if there isn’t any pepper spray on them. So besides being bored out of your mind, you freeze your ass off too.

(Before going any further, Id like to clear up why i’m in the hole in the first place this time around. Peep this: the cells are full... That's it: the cells are full... Fuckin Bullshit... How the hell is it okay to put me in the hole because the cells are full. They should let me go to the dorms but apparently they can’t, its fuckin overcrowded. Aint that some shit?)

But anyways, as I was saying, the hole sucks. I have no idea how long i’m going to be in here and i’m almost out of paper. They give you 2 stamped envelopes and 6 sheets of paper when you go in the first day. So after you finish with the paper in the first 30 minutes, you just sit there all day staring at the walls. They give you a book to read but they might as well not. You have to choose out of an old ass bag with about 6 of the most shot-out, booty ass books on planet Earth, and 2 aren’t even in English! The funny thing is, the selection never changes either. I’ve been in the hole 4 times since 2000 and I can swear that they are the same 6 books I saw the first, second, third, and fourth time. Like I said, "FUCKIN BULLSHIT!" So after reading this "book", which might as well be "the Cat in the Hat," I’m writing this blog but also trying to conserve as much paper as possible.

Another thing that drives you crazy in the hole is hunger. In the hole, you’re not allowed to spend any of the money on your account to order anything from jail commissary, (in prison you can, but not in the county,) you can only eat what they give you, which is basically one meal, split up into 3. A grown man cannot be expected to live off what they feed you. I lose an average 10lbs in the first week I spend in the hole. What makes things worse and compounds your turmoil is the fact that working out, which is the only thing you can do in the hole, makes you extremely hungry. So either way, you’re completely assed-out. I’m actually eating a mustard pack as a snack while writing this.

Your biggest enemy in the hole, however, is always boredom. 24 hours a day doing nothing. You can’t even really sleep because the fuckin police bang on your door every 15 minutes to check if you’re alive, and I’m not exaggerating. They bang on your door every 15 minutes until you respond. That type of environment is not conducive to sleep at ALL! It seems like some of them get a kick out of it too. (If only they did the rest of their job with as much fervor and enthusiasm... fuckin fags)

Anyways...boredom can make you lose your mind. Your brain doesn’t work right after about 20 days in the hole. 20 minutes after breakfast, it’s hard to remember what you just ate. Hopefully I won’t be in here that long.

The really ironic thing about it is that after all of this, the next time I’m about to do something that might get me sent to the hole, I probably won’t even think about it or be able to remember just how bad it is in here...I guess that’s why people always go in and out of jail~ fuckin stupid...

IZ's 2008 prison blog Entry 4: The First of Many, Many Days

My first of many, many days behind bars...

The first day in jail is always a mystery...Where will I go? Who’s gonna be there? Are we chillin’ or is it drama? These are all good questions...
There are a lot of different types of housing: dorms, cells, barracks~ all of these have pros and cons....The dorms and barracks are all the same, busy and loud...About 60 to 200 people pretty much walking around freely, but there’s no privacy...On the flip side, the cells are quiet, most of the time too quiet...The good thing is you don’t have to worry about getting killed in your sleep, unless of course your celly does it...it happens...

The dorms are filled with mostly petty crimes, drug offenders etc...But that doesn’t mean it’s any less dangerous. When it goes down, it goes down hard, but I’ve done 90%of my time in cells because of violent crime history and gang affiliation...

In Orange County, the cell facility is divided into sectors, each sector has 16 cells, with 2 inmates in each cell...The 16 cells are divided into 4 groups...the 4 groups are let out seperately once a day for "program." "Program" is the dayroom which has phones, a shower, and a TV...The collect calls cost an arm and both legs, the TV is old and shitty, and the showers are worm infested. Take your pick. You’re supposed to get 2 hours a day minimum by law, but you’re lucky to see an hour...Furthermore, the program can get shut off for the stupidest reasons. Fights, breathing the wrong way, or because the Correctional Officer’s (C.O.’s), or "sir", as they like to be called, are busy scratching their asses and they forget to let you out...."STOP SCRATCHING YOUR ASS AND TURN ON THE FUCKING TV" is a popular request in the cell facility...

The system works to keep the violence to a minimum. You can live 5 feet from your worst enemy, looking at him every day, and it wouldn’t matter if he’s not in your group. You will never have physical contact with him. You can look at him and talk shit, but that’s about it. You can have two morons talking shit for months straight in the cells sometimes. If you ask me, it’s a waste of breath, but that’s just me. It’s a strange world...

This time around, however, none of this shit is going to matter, because I’m going to ’the hole’...

-IZ
www.real66.com

IZ's 2008 prison blog entry 3: The County Lockup: Dicks and Politics

The County Lockup: Dicks and Politics

Let me take a moment to clear some things up for those reading this blog...The intent of this blog is mainly to satisfy your curiosities about jail life and also to keep me from being bored to death in here...There is, however coincidentally, another by-product which arises out of my ranting which is far more important than just entertainment or simply killing time. This blog sheds light, albeit accidentally, on issues concerning the public jail system including but not limited to: overcrowding, lack of funding for programs as well as food and the inhumane / unlawful treatment of inmates...

Over the course of my first few days in jail, I've seen multiple instances of police brutality which were completly un-called for, nor were they investigated....I've seen inmates verbally abused and kicked around like dogs amidst racial slurs and disparaging comments. These issues must be addressed...

Decades ago in Orange County Main Jail, the staff began to permanently house inmates in a section of the facility called the IRC...The purpose of the IRC was to hold incoming and outgoing inmates until they had been classified and were ready to be moved into regular housing or be released. The IRC is a 22 hour lockdown facility which was never inteded to house inmates for an extended period of time. I once did 15 months straight in the IRC. The holding tanks then took the place of the IRC even though they are not supplied with any hygiene items such as soap or toothpaste. Requests for toilet paper are often ignored for hours by the Correctional Officers...This is not what the holding tanks were inteded for, the IRC was. Hence the acronym: IRC (INTAKE / RELEASE CENTER...)

In all fairness, I must concede that there are still good cops (I say that with extreme discretion). They do exist and it is unfair that the ones who serve with honesty and integrity should have their images tarnished by those who choose to abuse the power given to them BY THE PEOPLE. Some take their jobs much too seriously, and others dont take their vows of service seriously enough. It is a tragedy that in my personal observations, I see a tendancy towards vice and corruption among C.O.'s compared to a dwindlng number of those who do their jobs professionally without prejudice.

In short, jail SUX! To any students reading this: don't come to jail because it is equivalent to the longest detention you will ever serve...I was probably just as bored writing about the loop as you were reading about it. Imagine living through it...THE LIFE OF A "G", GLAMOUR AND FAME RIGHT!? Think twice youngstars...

-IZ

IZ's 2008 Prison Blog. Entry 2: The Loop cont.

"the loop" part 2
2:30AM - I wake up after less than an hour of sleep to the sound of another guy screaming... I don't give a sh*t what anybody says or how cold hearted you claim to be, but hearing a fully grown man scream because he's in pain is disturbing...It doesn't seem to be bothering the deputies though...O Shiet! WHADDAYAKNOW? It's the same guy again, this is definitely not his day...The guys next to me are debating odds on whether or not he's going to get "mashed on" again. I say it's about 50/50~ Once they've 'put hands' on you, you've already attracted too much attention and thats the last thing you want in jail: to be targeted by the cops as well as other inmates. Its definitely not a good look. (A quick side note: At this point I haven't seen food in almost 24 hours. Time seems to stand still when you're hungry...)

5:00AM - Finally! Food! I've never been so glad to see a nasty ass sack lunch in my life! Dry ass carrots grown at a prison farm by other inmates who dont give a fuck if u think the carrots are dry, stale ass bread that also serves as a bludgeon, and of course, "mystery meat"~ Anyone who's ever been incarcerated knows exactly what I'm talking about. It tastes like ass, soybeans, and leather boot...straight nasty! But hey, a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do~

9:30AM - This is where it gets ridiculous, after waiting all this time with no soap, no toothbrush, barely any sleep or food, guess what? We change back into our street clothes and get transferred to another jail...I've been through this before and at this point, all I can do is laugh at the situation. You don't like it? Don't get locked up right?...

5:00PM - Finally, the wait is over. After 15 hours in a concrete room, being handcuffed to a NATIVE-AMERICAN guy with stank-ass breath named JARRET KNIFECHIEF (NO B*LLSH!T) on a county bus, being re-booked for another 7 hours at a different jail, you get a mattress and a bunk...The mattress is only an inch and a half thick but hey...anything is better than cold-ass concrete~NAW MEAN?!


(*NOTE! All times are approximate, there are no visible clocks at any point during "the loop")

---> NEXT BLOG - The County Lockup: Dicks and Politics

IZ's 2008 prison blog. Entry 1: The Loop

- The LOOP

January 11th, 2008

1st hand description of the loop...(booking process) while it's still fresh in my mind. (As if it mattered)

3:30 PM - Enter jail, get strip-searched, go into holding tank...wait...

5:30 PM - Move from one holding tank, to another equally disgusting one...wait...(For those who are unclear as to what a holding tank is, it's a cold or hot concrete room that smells like piss).

7:30 PM - Take digital fingerprints...go to another holding tank...wait...

8:30 PM - More people are brought into the holding tank...

9:45 PM - The air begins to suffocate me...I notice the maximum occupancy sign says

16, there are more than 25 people in the room...My stomach is growling...Wait some more...

10:15 PM - Im watching 3 deputies repeatedly slam a guys face into the wall for not following directions. He looks like he's kicking (withdrawing from) heroin...He looks absolutely confused...I feel sorry for the guy...Being in the "the loop" is torture enough, to be kicking "H" on top of that....that's harsh...He's not throwing up so I know he's a few days into it already...The reason he's so confused is because hardcore heroin addicts can't fall asleep for up to weeks after they stop using...I've seen guys in jail who think that they're at 7 eleven buying cigarettes after not sleeping for a week or 2....Staying awake high on meth, and not being able to fall asleep while kicking heroin are two completely different things...On meth you're spun out and amped up, when you're kickinng heroin, you just can't fall asleep. Either way, neither is a healthy way to live...In this case, however, this guy can just be a flat out moron, there's plenty in here...

10:16 PM - Waiting commences...

2:00 AM - We strip down again, take cold showers and go into another holding tank...after the shower, the room doesn't smell as bad....Or more specifically, the people don't smell as bad~ I fall asleep...

(the loop... to be cont...)

-IZ

First letter and Intro to "What its Really Like to Live In Here"

To all my peeps on the streets:

Much luv and respect....Due to unfortunate events, and a foul-ass bitch named Priscilla Suzuki-Johnson (my P.O.), I will be incarcerated for an unspecified amount of time. I was taken into custody 1 week before Christmas, ain't that some shiet!? Some foul sh*t from a foul b*tch..

Anyways, I just want to reassure everyone that I am just as passionate, if not more passionate about my music despite this F*CKED UP SITUATION! I got plans to come back 10x stronger, and 10x harder, believe it!!!!

Until my release,however, I will be keeping a blog which will be hosted and updated frequently by kali kaliente... These blogs will give an in-depth description of the daily life of an inmate, brought to you live and direct from someone actually living it as you're reading it... As I'm writing this, I'm steadily examining 4 brick walls, a steel door, and my sanity. But that's for a later date.

So keep posted and stay swingin! Sincere thanks to all of my supporters and growing family. One love.
I'LL BE BACK MUTHAF*CKAS!!!!

-IZ
(New blog entry coming soon: Dicks and Politics 1)