Striped magazine is a publication that’s sent in print to inmates in the tristate area. We work with Attorneys to offer legal information and aid, free of charge. A subscription to the magazine is free and anyone incarcerated in America can request one.
Brooklyn drill king of NY 22gz, AKA “two two,” sat down with Striped magazine to talk about new projects, his life, and prison reform.
Originally hailing from Flatbush, 22 spent a lot of his youth jumping between different NY boroughs like New bed and parts of East Brooklyn. “I was really raised in like three different boroughs” 22 said “I had three different neighborhoods; I knew a lot of people. I knew the young kids in all neighborhoods.” His movement across his city helped establish him as a popular figure in the rap scene early on.
Being a popular kid in high school, 22 started rapping as a hobbyist following an emerging trend of kids from different cliques all over city who were using music to brand their social groups as unique entities. “I started rapping for fun, I did it really just to get views, there was a trend going on all the young cliques was doing it and my shit hit a million views so I kept going. That shit is crazy, I’m shocked, but I thought the whole game plan out. I just never really thought this would come true.” Said 22.
He reflected on watching other stars rise in the rap game, and said that Lil Tecca used to make his cover art. “I watched 50 cent, Stunna for vegas, and Dababy come up. That shit’s crazy. And Lil Tecca. Lil Tecca used to my cover art like 2016. He’ll make a mixtape cover for you. And it’s crazy he blew past me in the rap game, I love it though.”
His popularity in New York wasn’t the only thing that boosted his success, 22 attributes part of his initial fame to the stunts of general “bullshit” he would perform, like dancing on the subway and playing basketball. “I was already lit in school for other bullshit I was doing whether it was dancing on the train or playing basketball, some crazy shit like that I had a little bit of clout.” Though 22 is, admittedly, a “short guy,” he excelled in basketball.
He was raised by his mom and his sisters, his father passed before he was born, and his brother in currently incarcerated. His mother is a home health care nurse, she used to be a CNA. When 22 started blowing up, the culture barrier between his mother and American hip hop music stood in the way of her being able to fully comprehend 22’s success. “That was more leaning to my sister’s side, my mom is on the Caribbean side she doesn’t know too much about hip hop. She’s starting to get it now, she doesn’t totally understand it. She know my lyrics.” Said 22. His sisters have been more receptive to his career. “My sisters love it, I came from nothing, when my father died the family kinda fell apart. My brother got locked up, so I came back, I saved the day for the family. My sisters have a better understanding of my music than my mom.”
22 released his first mixtape with Atlantic records, The Blixky Tape, in July 2019. His follow-up mixtape Growth & Development was released on April 10, 2020, and was co-produced by London-based drill producer Ghosty.
For 2021, 22 has new projects in store, he also teased a movie or documentary. “I got a new project Blixky tape 2 coming soon, I’m getting started with my whole documentary or movie that I’m working on.”
Blixky tape 2 was recorded in Atlanta, but promises the same drill inspired sound that 22 fans love. “This time I recorded in Atlanta. I live in Atlanta now. There’s a new vibe. This is the rap city right here, a lot of networking going on over here so I really came to network.” The mixtape will share 22’s side of the story, and continue to chronicle his life. “I’m tryna show people my side of the story. That’s really what it is, it’s my side it’s my point of view, my thoughts and my art. A majority is from the heart sometimes I spice it up a little bit.”
Prison reform
22 is no stranger to the criminal justice system. He was first locked up at 16 years old for a gun charge involving a .38 pistol that he tossed into the street but was later arrested. He did a few weeks at Riker’s. He recounted the experience as traumatizing. “It was my first time getting locked up I went straight to Rikers island.” Said 22 “It was crazy, usually someone’s first time is bookings then you home. But you go to jail-jail that shit was crazy. There was a lot of stabbing, a lot of slashing. I had a PD. I was tryna make the bail at the time. I was in Rikers for like 2 weeks, 3 weeks. I’m a short guy so a lot of the guys in there were big it’s not like now where I’m all grown up it was traumatizing, kinda scary not gunna lie to you.”
Being locked up put his career on pause, but he never embraced the criminal role that prison labeled him for. “I never felt labeled as a criminal, but it was a dark time and you gatta see the light at the end of the tunnel. Being in there, it’s like you froze like your life is on pause. It was kind of right before I started rapping. When I got locked up in Miami it made me feel like my career was on pause.”
In total, 22 has been locked up around 20 times and been to jail 3 times, with his longest bid stretching 6-months for a murder charge which was later dropped. “I been through the process about 20 times.” Said 22, “When I say I went to jail I didn’t do years, but 6 months, 3 weeks here. I didn’t do time-time. Jail is different you’re away from your family, I was locked up for murder. It was weird, I wasn’t even locked up in my city bro it was definitely weird. Nobody in prison knew who I was but not too much, I wasn’t in my city. Once I got home everything went up from there. The food was bad, everybody was bashing and stuff like that.”
22 believes that more can be done to help prisoners and thinks that the system should be more rehabilitative. “I feel like a lot could be changed, the food could be better, they can’t really control what people are going to do with stabbings and stuff, they can try to segregate it a little more, put more phones out, make more activity and more rehabilitation type stuff.”
22 also laments the system for locking up one of his mentors, Kodak Black. 22 is signed to Kodak’s label, and learned a lot about recording and the musical process from working with Kodak. “It was definitely a great feeling working with Kodak Black.” Said 22, “I tried to collab as much as I could and heat the street up. But he’s from a different city, so I got to see his vibes and how he recorded, so I learned a lot. The Co’s not really treating him too well, they’re kinda harassing him, they violating his human rights. I wrote him before he knows what the vibe is.”
As far as police encounters now, 22 says that the police like to target rising stars “I definitely been targeted by police for my music, I had a song with 20 million views and I can’t perform it. That’s also because of COVID-19, but I don’t get to perform it whenever I try to set up a show.”
After COVID-19 subsists, 22 plans to perform again.
22 had a simple message for inmates serving time in prison: Keep your head up, god gives his toughest battles to his strongest soldiers.
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