I’ve been a hip-hop fan ever since I heard 2 Live Crew’s. Hey, we want some… You know the rest. And then it was run DMC, and then it was N.W.A., and then Boogie Down Productions and on and on and on and on. I was hooked. Which eventually led to my partners and I including Nic Adler, son of Lou Adler, the legendary Music Producer and Sunset strip Mogul, to start our first hip-hop club “Balistyx” at, where else, but the World, famous whiskey a gogo which Lou just happened to own lol, but that’s a whole other story to be told and will be told in a documentary that we’re wrapping up now. Suffice to say that the club experience brought my love of Hip-Hop to another level, Artists like the Alchemist, will I am also known at the time as Will one X & Black Eyed Peas (formerly known as the Atban clan), Xzibit and many many other artists we’re getting their start… Of course I wanted it in on the action too. And along with Nic, Lou, and some other folks we decided to drop an album with some of the Artists who were up-and-coming at (Balistyx) the club. With the help with of several different producers, including a guy named Teku, who for the life of me I cannot remember his last name, came up with my rap alter ego at the time which was “D-Lil”. “I told ya” was the first and only song I did with that group of folks, not because of any falling out of any kind, but simply because we all went on to do our own things after that.
I have much much more music in my arsenal that I still have not released due to my own perfectionism, which is not a great trait by any means. Anyway, we shot this video mostly in downtown LA., and was directed by Sanji, who has gone onto direct many music videos for A-list artists. Me and my (Balistyx) crew posses up and headed downtown to shoot in some of the grittiest places we could find. How apropos for a boy born in Burbank, and raised in the glitter of Hollywood, but hey, it’s Hip-Hop and Hip-Hop is gritty by nature. And at that time in Hip-Hop, you either had to be bad ass or go home. Hip-Hop has grown so much since then and has allowed artists from various socioeconomic, backgrounds, races, creed, sexuality, and everything else into the fold, Which I think is a tremendous thing.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed watching the video as much as we enjoyed making it. Stay tuned from tales of my second alter ego creation, Lil’ Gweed (like Guido). Also, fun fact, in Zendaya’s film last year is wearing an I TOLD YA shirt with exact same font & everything. Coincidence? I think NOT!



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