This whole getting back into doing my shit, that’s like four years in the making. The whole three, four years, whatever it was with Shoreline, it was almost waiting to end as soon as it started. It was kinda something that was leading up to, since almost the start, basically. I almost feel like that’s what it looks like from the outside, but it’s kinda like, this shit wasn’t overnight. How did you go right back to making music after Shoreline Mafia broke up? It feels like everyone on my team is really calculated and we’re doing everything perfect and on point. I almost feel like I’m doing less now, but it feels like I’m doing more at the same time. my videos, my boy Austin has been coming up with all the treatments, doing everything with me. You know, the crazy part about it is now that I’m doing my solo thing, I feel like I have more of a team now than ever before. What’s different now that you’re an actual solo artist rather than in a group? It made me care less about everything, which I think made me better. I think before I was so consumed with making sure everyone I knew was OK, but once he was born, it was kinda like, this the only person I need to make sure that’s OK for the rest of my life. It made me kinda stop caring about so many other people. How has being a father changed your perspective on your life and career? On top of that, I have my son, so, it made me really wanna take my craft seriously. I feel like I’m more polished, I’m cleaner ’cause I sit down and I think about shit. Being on my path right now, in my solo career, I feel like I’m better than ever before. Going from not ever traveling anywhere in my whole life to just going every day, different places, for like, a year straight. Throughout my whole Shoreline career, I think I did a little bit more partying than sitting down and really thinking about shit. I think it was really just the traveling and opening my mind up, and then seeing how the culture is all around the world just made me wanna be a better artist. How did you develop as an artist early on? I was like, Man, I wanna rap, too! I been doing it ever since. Rocky was doing that shit, and I just seen like, a young, fresh movement. One of the people that was fresh out when I was 18, 19 was Rocky. I got my first mic and I was like, I’ma do it.

When did you think you could go far with a music career? All my best friends, the whole Shoreline Mafia, OTX was a graffiti crew that I’m turn- ing into a label. It was like an ego thing, so rapping just went along with it. The whole point of graffiti, it’s like an attention thing. I did graffiti my whole life up until this point, really.

It was something that always crossed my mind, but I never got to do it, I kept doing graffiti. There wasn’t really Hispanic rappers that was doin’ it how I wanted to do it. When I was in elementary school, I remember, it crossed my mind, wanting to rap, but I never really did it. OhGeesy: I been doing graffiti since I was in elementary school, so I’ve always been like a bad-ass lil’ kid. XXL: How did you start in graffiti and then become a rapper? With the release of his solo debut effort behind him, OhGeesy speaks with XXL about the ups and downs of the last year, why he feels Shoreline Mafia broke up, having Kanye West-level goals and starting anew. But, with a love for rap and Atlantic Records behind him, OhGeesy, who’s of Mexican descent, found traction, most notably with his DaBaby-assisted single “Get Fly,” which has 20 million Spotify streams and counting. Being a new father to his 2-year-old-son, Sincere, trying to navigate life as a solo artist and working on his own sound was certainly a challenge. As quarantine life began to affect the process of making and releasing music, the Los Angeles-bred rhymer, born Alejandro Carranza, persevered. OhGeesy started to record the project shortly before the COVID-19 pandemic gripped the world last year. With the group now disbanded, he remained committed to music and pushed himself to drop his own songs, leading up to his debut solo album, GeezyWorld, released this past August. OhGeesy, 28, stood out as the most popular member of Shoreline, laying claim to the crew’s biggest hooks. They all went their separate ways due to creative differences, ahead of dropping their group debut album, Mafia Bidness, last July. To fans’ surprise, Shoreline Mafia broke up in early 2020.

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