The West Coast organically birthed the sound of G-Funk with legends who graced the mic from The Game, Nate Dogg, Problem, 2 Pac, Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Nipsey Hussle and more.
One rap legend who has his foot on the city of Compton when it comes to entrepreneurship and business ventures is Jason L. Martin known as Problem.
From his influence of late 80s’ rap group N.W.A, Problem is somewhere giving back to kids, in the studio or has his hands in a situation to find the positives out of the negative. If you’re having a problem…shop with Greenhourcoffee.com and Coffeeandkushmugs.com where the G-S*** products are owned by the man taking over 2021 during COVID-19.
Problem spoke with us on Thursday about his newest single “For The Low” featuring Wiz Khalifa and gave details on how he connected with Snoop Dogg in his early days.
“He’s a boss. He’s the first person that ever paid me for music…ever! A lot of people play boss and I watched him empower his whole crew. I watched this man take a piece of the stuff that he’s earned and hand it out to everybody and even give people opportunity to help them feed they families. It’s a pleasure to call that man a friend.”
Snoop Dogg respects Problem career which made the rapper go hard comparing Snoop to Jay Z in nature of what he’s done for the West Coast. It’s more than rap songs to Problem and lucrative partnerships which he doesn’t take for granted. Last year, Snoop and Freddie Gibbs jumped on Problem’s song “Don’t Be Mad At Me” where it garnered over 1.2 million views on social media as a hit.
“Anybody who can stay relevant after 20 years…you better salute that man,” Problem said. “He’s a Crip and he never stopped gang banging through the whole thing.”
There’s no stopping Problem who is the founder of 500 Million Media Production and will launch his second short film A Compton Story Part 2 this spring.
The funny comedy short film A Compton Story Part 1 featured guest appearances by actor Jackie Long with Mike Epps as a narrator. The short film is featured on Problem’s IGTV & premiered on Tidal last April. Problem spends his entire day on a mission to prove to his woman he’s out handling business even when adversity strikes to distract him from making her happy. Part 2 will be enthusiastic picking up from the first with Deray Davis confirmed as the narrator.
One man outside of Problem’s dad who inspired him was the late Nipsey Hussle. Hussle embodied character and self-reliance as the world followed his path in a marathon placed in the heart of Los Angeles. Problem spoke about that gloomy day in March 2019 when he heard Hussle life was taken in front of the The Marathon Clothing store (TMC). When Hussle and brother Blacc Sam built their empire…Problem knew what Hussle was going to achieve beyond Slauson.
“He was about to be the biggest thing in the world…you could see it. It was just about to happen and even for us to get a chance and watch him viciously get murdered in front of everybody. That s**t just weak as f***. The way they put it all over the internet.”
In the aftermath of speaking about Hussle, Problem paid his respects to the Slauson legend alluding to his mindset as a futuristic genius.
“He was always a visionary and five years ahead of everybody. It was right here… he was like a brink away from being a megastar. As far as what I think he would be doing if he was still here. He’ll definitely be running this mutha f****. He might’ve been running for mayor or something because up here (Nipsey’s mindset) nobody had it like him.”
Outside of the streets, basketball is one of Problem’s favorite sports. Not only is Kobe Bryant the greatest of all-time in his opinion, he placed him over Michael Jordan and LeBron James for biased reasons.
Problem suggested his Los Angeles Lakers would repeat as NBA champions and that DeMar DeRozan who is a Los Angeles native should be on their list prior to the trade deadline. Deep down inside Problem knows the fear in his heart is by the Brooklyn Nets with a big three in Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant and James Harden. We let him be great and speak his blasphemous words while sold on DeRozan coming home.
“I want them to try to get DeMar DeRozan out of San Antonio right now. I need him home for all other type of reasons because that’s my partner.”
If the Wellness series Morning Walks on YouTube which featured DeRozan, Nick Cannon, Xzibit and other celebrities as Problem’s reason, he better check them stats.
DeRozan to Los Angeles? Not everyone wants to play alongside LeBron James having an easy route at making the NBA Finals. DeRozan has a base salary of $27,739,975 this season and will become an unrestricted free agent in the summer.
Problem continues to inspire his community and as a living legend, he’s a man who lives the truth and embraces reality. Coffee & Kush Vol 3 is set to release this spring after Problem gained success with Vol. 1 & 2 under Diamond Lane Music. There’s hope in turning your life around and Problem made that sacrifice giving younger men hope to live through his community involvement.
It’ll never be another Problem when the O.G. has solutions for his people to rise beyond the surface.
Flip the page for full interview with Problem, song “Just Outside” and official music video “4 The Low” featuring Wiz Khalifa.