Jason From SpotOnLi Interviews Short Dawg

Just like with Shanell, Jason Pollak recently interviewed another Young Money artist – Short Dawg. They chat about Short‘s rapping career, his recording process, working with Lil Wayne and Young Mula in the studio, what it was like for him when Weezy was in jail, his Elvis Freshley nickname, upcoming projects, and more. You can read the full interview after the jump.

Shouts to SpotOnLi!

Jason: When and where you born?
Short Dawg: I was born in Houston, Texas. Mid-80’s.

Jason: When did you start rapping?
Short Dawg: When I was 18. My brother was doing stuff. They had a little group. I would just freestyle and kick it with them.

Jason: Your method of recording is quite difficult. You don’t use a pad or pen. Do you think starting out by freestyling helped you perfect this way of recording?
Short Dawg: Yeah, I think so. I think quickly and words kinda come to me fast. I think starting out like that definitely helped me.

Jason: Is that something you had to work on over the years in order to perfect?
Short Dawg: It kinda comes naturally. As I work I continue to get better with it. It’s a continual process, but I can never die out. I can always learn and always get better. I can find different techniques.

Jason: When do you think of lines? Do you think of stuff during the day or once you get in the studio? Or both?
Short Dawg: If something comes to me during the day, then that’s just that. I’ll store it in my phone to use it later. I rarely look at my phone anyway, because new music brings new ideas. I’m always inspired at the moment. Once I’m inspired, something comes to me. I have stuff stored away… I might use it one day. You never know.

Jason: I know you were previously signed to one or two other labels. What was it like when you signed to Young Money.
Short Dawg: I think it was cool cause Wayne and I had already been friends for a minute. We had always wanted to be partners. I was eighteen and going through the motions I was in. It was like now it’s official, but we had always been rockin’. So that was cool.

Jason: What has it been like working with Wayne and the rest of the Young Money crew? How do they influence you when you’re in the studio?
Short Dawg: Their like a team to me. It’s kinda like playing one on one. You’re showcasing ideas to each other. When you’re in the studio with your crew, you see what everyone else comes with and bounce ideas off each other. We just try to keep that great music pumping out.

Jason: Yeah, well you guys most certainly do. During the time Wayne was incarcerated, you had a shout out to him in almost every one of your videos. What has it been like since he got back?
Short Dawg: Yeah man, it’s cool. You never wanna see one of your peers in there. I don’t even wish that upon none of my worst enemies. It’s just not a place you want to go. It’s a place meant for people that made mistakes. He was in there wrongly accused, so that made it a little worse. It’s a tough day for anyone to go through. I have a father and an older brother that are in jail, so it hits me a little harder than most. I’ve been dealing with imprisonment my whole life.

Jason: How have you dealt with that?
Short Dawg: I talk about it in my music. I get it off my chest. A lot of people who know me, know how I was brought up and know how it’s gotten me to where I am today.

Jason: Over the years, it seems as though you have developed a crazier flow and even crazier lyrics. How do you keep digging deeper to find creative lines and flows like that?
Short Dawg: I just stay focused on what I do good. I always want to get better. I always want to challenge myself no matter how good someone says I am. I always want to be better than the last time you heard me. If I feel like I haven’t been heard enough, it pushes me and gives me that drive to work even more.

Jason: I also got to ask you, where do your nicknames Short Dawg and Elvis Freshley come from?
Short Dawg: Short was a name they gave me when I was in middle school. They used to call me Shorty. In high school I was the smallest dude on the basketball team. My home boy Frank was the starting small forward and he started calling me Short Dawg. When I started rapping, the name kind of stuck with me. Elvis Freshley was a name I came up with because I was always talking about fresh things and fresh that. It also kind of enables me to be in an alternative, creative character for me when I’m making music.

Jason: What can we expect to hear in the near future? You talk about all these different genres?
Short Dawg: World domination, haha. Got something coming out on Halloween. The Fresh album is coming out along with two mix tapes. We also back in the studio working on the second Young Money album. Just a lot of hard work, you know.