thernbroom
Superstar
Meeting Drake
P Reign: "I met Drake through a mutual friend of mine, Hollywood. He's like one of the older dudes from my neighborhood, Galloway. We were listening to the radio one day and I was like, 'Man, who is this?' And he said, 'This is Drake. He's a new kid coming up.' Then I was like, 'Man, I might have to go at this kid. He sounds nice.' I was already trying to be that nikka in Toronto. But he said, 'Nah man, that's family. It's better you guys come together. I'll introduce you to each other rather than you two taking each other out in competition.'
When he says, 'Make them catch a body like that' what he's saying is he has people that love him enough that probably would catch a body for him. I can definitely vouch for that.
"So we ended up meeting and I remember the first time I met him being like, 'Yo this is a cool ass nikka. Like, he ain't from the hood but he's just a real down to earth dude.' And because we had mutual friends it was real easy for me and him to click. I think we built on that relationship because we were both young. We were the same age and were two light skinned dudes in the same city rapping.
"People sometimes don't understand where Drake's music is coming from. When he says, 'Make them catch a body like that' what he's saying is he has people that love him enough and have been his friends long enough that probably would catch a body for him. That's just the type of loyalty that the people around him have. He doesn't have to be speaking about himself, per say, but he's saying that people around him care about him enough to do that for him. And I can definitely vouch for that.
"I'm OVO, that's tatted on me till I'm gone and Drake will always be my brother. But I never wanted to be that guy where people said, 'Oh, you only got on because you had a song with Drake. You only got on because Drake signed you.' I want to show that I can hold my own weight.
"There has never been a P-Reign, Drake song yet but if you get Dear America, you'll most likely hear something crazy on there. I'll leave it at that."
Life's Setbacks
P Reign: "I was always a straight A student. I used to win spelling bees, I used to ace tests without studying, and my parents were really happy with my whole education. I wouldn't say a nerd because I was cool in school, but I was still good with my books. They always wanted me to be a doctor or something like that.
Me and my mother ended up getting evicted. She went back to Guyana and I was basically left out here on my own.
"It just got to the point where I was more focused on the music than anything. It definitely wasn't the way that my father wanted me to go. I remember his exact words, he said, 'Only one in a billion ever make it. So, you're wasting time and money.'
"My mom was always a strong believer. When my parents broke up it was just me and my mom on our own, and we used to live right around the way from Metro Housing, the Galloway area. We were in a crib and we just couldn't afford it. I started hustling, I was doing everything I could to pay for the music.
"I had a kid on the way, I was trying to pay a mortgage because my mother wasn't working and my father left us, but we ended up getting evicted. She went back to Guyana and I was basically left out here on my own."
Battling Criminal Charges and Having Drake Pay His Lawyer Fees
P Reign: "I had nothing to do but hustle, and I ended up getting caught up with that. I caught a few crack charges here and there. Most of them got tossed out but I got a conditional discharge on one, which isn't on your criminal record in Canada, but it is in America. So for that reason, that's why they are denying me entrance into the states. They take drug charges really seriously. I'm trying to still get papers so I can get across.
"On top of that, I was around people that are hustling too. So I ended up getting caught up with a gun charge. I went through that for a couple years and I was lucky to beat that case. I mean, they're still hounding me about the old conditional discharge from when I was hustling.
Drake was like, 'I'm going to ask my lawyer if he knows anyone who can help you out.' They hired me one of the top lawyers in North America and he represented me.
"I was headed to a club downtown when we were pulled over, and they found three handguns in my Cadillac. Me, my brother, and a friend were arrested. My brother and my friend ended up pleading. I couldn't plead because that would have been it for the whole American dream.
"We're as close as brothers can be. They tried to ask us to testify against each other, you know how that game goes, but I roll with solid dudes. My brother is a solid dude, the other guy I was with is a solid dude, so they pleaded and then that was it. It would never be a situation where one of us was tattletaling on the other. The cops tried as much as they could but that's not something that could happen with us.
"I was obviously innocent so we took it to court. I had my own lawyer, I went to pre-trial, and then Drake just came to me. We had gone to the hospital because his grandmother was sick and he was just like, 'I know you got trial coming up, I really need you out here. I can't see you go away.' They were asking for four to six years and he said, 'I can't see you go away for that long. Let me see if there's anything I can do. I'm going to ask my lawyer if he knows anyone who can help you out.'
"They hired me one of the top lawyers in North America and he represented me. We went to trial and we won, thank God. I really owe it to him. It was definitely a large lump sum of money that he put up for me to take care of me. We beat that case, and it's because of him that I even have a shot to try and go to America now and do my thing."
Rest of the interview http://www.complex.com/music/2014/01/who-is-p-reign/dear-america
P Reign: "I met Drake through a mutual friend of mine, Hollywood. He's like one of the older dudes from my neighborhood, Galloway. We were listening to the radio one day and I was like, 'Man, who is this?' And he said, 'This is Drake. He's a new kid coming up.' Then I was like, 'Man, I might have to go at this kid. He sounds nice.' I was already trying to be that nikka in Toronto. But he said, 'Nah man, that's family. It's better you guys come together. I'll introduce you to each other rather than you two taking each other out in competition.'
When he says, 'Make them catch a body like that' what he's saying is he has people that love him enough that probably would catch a body for him. I can definitely vouch for that.
"So we ended up meeting and I remember the first time I met him being like, 'Yo this is a cool ass nikka. Like, he ain't from the hood but he's just a real down to earth dude.' And because we had mutual friends it was real easy for me and him to click. I think we built on that relationship because we were both young. We were the same age and were two light skinned dudes in the same city rapping.
"People sometimes don't understand where Drake's music is coming from. When he says, 'Make them catch a body like that' what he's saying is he has people that love him enough and have been his friends long enough that probably would catch a body for him. That's just the type of loyalty that the people around him have. He doesn't have to be speaking about himself, per say, but he's saying that people around him care about him enough to do that for him. And I can definitely vouch for that.
"I'm OVO, that's tatted on me till I'm gone and Drake will always be my brother. But I never wanted to be that guy where people said, 'Oh, you only got on because you had a song with Drake. You only got on because Drake signed you.' I want to show that I can hold my own weight.
"There has never been a P-Reign, Drake song yet but if you get Dear America, you'll most likely hear something crazy on there. I'll leave it at that."
Life's Setbacks
P Reign: "I was always a straight A student. I used to win spelling bees, I used to ace tests without studying, and my parents were really happy with my whole education. I wouldn't say a nerd because I was cool in school, but I was still good with my books. They always wanted me to be a doctor or something like that.
Me and my mother ended up getting evicted. She went back to Guyana and I was basically left out here on my own.
"It just got to the point where I was more focused on the music than anything. It definitely wasn't the way that my father wanted me to go. I remember his exact words, he said, 'Only one in a billion ever make it. So, you're wasting time and money.'
"My mom was always a strong believer. When my parents broke up it was just me and my mom on our own, and we used to live right around the way from Metro Housing, the Galloway area. We were in a crib and we just couldn't afford it. I started hustling, I was doing everything I could to pay for the music.
"I had a kid on the way, I was trying to pay a mortgage because my mother wasn't working and my father left us, but we ended up getting evicted. She went back to Guyana and I was basically left out here on my own."
Battling Criminal Charges and Having Drake Pay His Lawyer Fees
P Reign: "I had nothing to do but hustle, and I ended up getting caught up with that. I caught a few crack charges here and there. Most of them got tossed out but I got a conditional discharge on one, which isn't on your criminal record in Canada, but it is in America. So for that reason, that's why they are denying me entrance into the states. They take drug charges really seriously. I'm trying to still get papers so I can get across.
"On top of that, I was around people that are hustling too. So I ended up getting caught up with a gun charge. I went through that for a couple years and I was lucky to beat that case. I mean, they're still hounding me about the old conditional discharge from when I was hustling.
Drake was like, 'I'm going to ask my lawyer if he knows anyone who can help you out.' They hired me one of the top lawyers in North America and he represented me.
"I was headed to a club downtown when we were pulled over, and they found three handguns in my Cadillac. Me, my brother, and a friend were arrested. My brother and my friend ended up pleading. I couldn't plead because that would have been it for the whole American dream.
"We're as close as brothers can be. They tried to ask us to testify against each other, you know how that game goes, but I roll with solid dudes. My brother is a solid dude, the other guy I was with is a solid dude, so they pleaded and then that was it. It would never be a situation where one of us was tattletaling on the other. The cops tried as much as they could but that's not something that could happen with us.
"I was obviously innocent so we took it to court. I had my own lawyer, I went to pre-trial, and then Drake just came to me. We had gone to the hospital because his grandmother was sick and he was just like, 'I know you got trial coming up, I really need you out here. I can't see you go away.' They were asking for four to six years and he said, 'I can't see you go away for that long. Let me see if there's anything I can do. I'm going to ask my lawyer if he knows anyone who can help you out.'
"They hired me one of the top lawyers in North America and he represented me. We went to trial and we won, thank God. I really owe it to him. It was definitely a large lump sum of money that he put up for me to take care of me. We beat that case, and it's because of him that I even have a shot to try and go to America now and do my thing."
Rest of the interview http://www.complex.com/music/2014/01/who-is-p-reign/dear-america
this nikka p reign is waaack omg. the definition of a coat tail riding tax write off. he aint never ever ever EVER gonna blow up, when you got cats like pnd and majid making waves for ovo already. this wack ass skunt aint going no where. aint NO rapper in t dot or canada for that matter getting play while drake still alive and breathing giving us that good music. one hit wonder reign better find a studio or tour job for ovo cause he missed his chance years ago when he was still on lock down. aint no one checking for his washed up ass no more.
