IN 2009, I WROTE MY FIRST COMPLETE ALBUM, MEMOIRS OF A COBRA. IT WAS NEVER RELEASED TO THE PUBLIC DUE TO CONTROVERSIAL CONTENT. THIS ALBUM WAS THE RESULT OF A TRANSFORMATION FOR ME AS AN ARTIST. GROWING UP, I WAS THE TYPICAL WANNABE G-UNIT MEMBER, RAPPING ABOUT GUNS I NEVER SHOT, MONEY I NEVER HAD, AND A GANG OF MURDERERS THAT DIDN'T EXIST. IT WAS ALL FOR THE LOVE OF BEING CREATIVE WITH RELEVANT CONTENT, I GUESS. AS I GREW OLDER, I BECAME MORE AND MORE SELF-AWARE. WHILE CIRCUMSTANCES MAY CAUSE ONE TO DO SOME "GANGSTA SHIT" DURING HIS/HER TIME ON EARTH, WHETHER OUT OF NECESSITY OR IGNORANCE, PROMOTING THAT LIFESTYLE WASN'T ME. I WAS BECOMING AN ARTIST. A REAL ARTIST. I WANTED TO BE HONEST TO THE LISTENER, AND THAT STARTED WITH BEING HONEST TO MYSELF. I KNEW I WANTED TO REINVENT MYSELF, BUT I WAS DRAWING A BLANK AS TO HOW. PERHAPS A DRAWN-OUT RUN WITH OPIATES WERE THE CAUSE, BUT I DON'T KNOW IF THAT SERVES AS THE CORE REASON BEHIND WHY I BEGAN TO PURSUE A DARK, ALMOST GOTHIC THEME, ARTISTICALLY. AS WEEKS ROLLED BY, AND I BEGAN TO LOOK AT WHAT I HAD BEEN WRITING IN RETROSPECT, I NOTICED THAT I HAD BEEN WRITING WHAT IS CLASSIFIED AS HORRORCORE. HORRORCORE IS A STYLE THAT NEVER TRULY TOOK OFF, BUT DREW A CULT FOLLOWING IN THE VERY EARLY 90'S. IT'S ESSENTIALLY GRUESOME, HORROR MOVIE'ESQUE CONTENT OVER HIP-HOP-STYLE PRODUCTION. NEEDLESS TO SAY, I FELT VERY WEIRD ABOUT BECOMING A HORRORCORE RAPPER, ESPECIALLY DURING A TIME WHEN WHERE KANYE WEST AND LIL' WAYNE WERE SIMULTANEOUSLY THE GOLD STANDARD. HOW FAR LEFT DID I GO? I SPENT SO LONG CULTIVATING THIS HORRORCORE STYLE, WITHOUT REALIZING IT WAS A HORRORCORE STYLE, THAT I NATURALLY SHIFTED THE CONTENT OF EVERY SONG I WROTE INTO A HORRORCORE THEME.

ENTER HNIC 2. HNIC 2 WAS A FAR CRY FROM THE SOUND OF HNIC (1). PRODIGY PRESENTED A VERY GRIM, EERIE AESTHETIC; SOMETHING I'VE NEVER SEEN EXECUTED BY SUCH A NOTABLY GANGSTA RAP TYPE OF EMCEE. SURE, HE WAS STILL TALKING STREET SHIT, BUT THERE WAS A VERY DARK THEME THERE THAT KINDA MADE ME FEEL LIKE WE WERE KINDA ON THE SAME PAGE IN SOME WAY. WE BOTH BECAME OMINOUS WITH OUR SOUND AROUND THE SAME TIME. I DIDN'T FEEL AS WEIRD ANYMORE. I HAD HNIC 2 ON REPEAT FOR MONTHS. IT PROVIDED ME THE CONFIDENCE TO SAY, FUCK IT, I'M GONNA DO HORRORCORE. I CAN'T TELL YOU WHY OR HOW I WAS INSPIRED TO NAME MYSELF "THE COBRA." I GUESS I THOUGHT IT WAS AN APPROPRIATELY BADASS NAME, ALTHOUGH IT WAS PRETTY CLICHE AS FAR AS BADASS NAMES GO. I SAW "THE COBRA" WEARING LEATHER ALL THE TIME, AND BEING MYSTERIOUS, AND SHIT LIKE THAT. THE NAME SEEMED TO FIT. I ALWAYS WANTED A NICKNAME OUTSIDE OF G-CODE 4:20 ANYWAY, AS I NEVER REALLY CHOSE TO BE CALLED G-CODE. THANKS TO HNIC 2, THE BALLS TO THOROUGHLY STEP OUT AS THE COBRA HAD GROWN. I WAS READY TO TAKE ON THE CRITICISM THAT WOULD COME WITH BEING A PUERTO RICAN HORRORCORE RAPPER FROM QUEENS IN THE MODERN ERA.

AS IMPORTANT TO THE REFINEMENT OF THE COBRA PERSONA WAS EMINEM'S 5TH ALBUM, RELAPSE. I THINK PRODIGY, EMINEM, AND I HAD DRUG HABITS IN COMMON BECAUSE WE WERE ALL ON THE SAME KINDA SHIT. AT FIRST, I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT TO EXPECT FROM RELAPSE, I JUST KNEW EMINEM IS GREAT AND I WANTED TO HEAR IT. THE LEAD SINGLE WAS "3 A.M." WHEN I HEARD IT, IT WAS LIKE JESUS CAME DOWN AND TOLD ME, "YES, MY SON. HORRORCORE IS YOUR DESTINY." RELAPSE AS A WHOLE WAS 70% HORRORCORE WHICH WAS A FUCKING JOY FOR ME. NOT ONLY DID HNIC 2 PROVIDE A DIRECTION AS FAR AS SOUNDSCAPE AND VIBE, BUT ARGUABLY THE GREATEST RAPPER ON THE PLANET EARTH JUST DROPPED WHAT WAS ESSENTIALLY A HORRORCORE ALBUM. MOVING FORWARD WITH MEMOIRS OF A COBRA WAS A NO-BRAINER AFTER THAT. I TWEAKED THE MATERIAL I HAD TO BETTER SUIT A BROADER AUDIENCE (IF THAT'S EVEN POSSIBLE WHEN TALKING SACRILEGIOUSLY AT EVERY TURN) AND FINISHED THE PROJECT IN TERMS OF WRITING AND ASSIGNING PRODUCTION.