A few weeks back, VIBE’s Mikey Fresh headed out West and linked up with the krazy YG and legendary Mister Cartoon for an ink session and an interview. Below, check out the new tat YG is sporting courtesy of Cartoon, and a couple interesting excerpts from the interview, including why he chose to leave his Bompton hometown to record his debut album, and the total disconnect he had with Def Jam for years before My Krazy Life dropped.

Marisa Mendez

What made you go with Def Jam even though you are a West Coast artist?
I ended up going with Def Jam because I was more familiar with their brand, I had the Def Jam Vendetta game and all that [laughs]. I was down with the brand since I was young. Real shit, Interscope is home to more West Coast rappers but I took the hard route. Pecas and everybody at Def Jam is my niggas. They family now, but at first, it was ugly. Even when I got really hot on a bigger level in L.A., Def Jam is in New York so they couldn’t see what was happening in Cali. Straight up, there was a separation.

Then I hooked up with Jeezy and we worked for like a straight year. He knew I had something special. I was just rolling everywhere with him to work on music. I would go to Miami and Atlanta to record with him on some friend shit. I really paid attention on how he moved and worked. Things started falling into place after that .

This album seems to be getting better with time. Did you record a bunch of songs for this album and then pick?
Nah, I only did 20 something songs but I did move to Atlanta with my A&R to record most of it. We were at Patchwerk studios like everyday with different producers. First I worked with Metro Boomin as soon as I get got there, then Mustard came down for while, Ty came down for a week and Mustard came back again.

Why did you want to record in Atlanta?
I can’t focus in L.A. I got too many homies and I get easily distracted. I had to get myself out of Bompton to focus on this music. The “Bicken Back Being Bool” song was actually the first one I recorded, and that was in New York.

Check out the full interview over at VIBE.