The Statement out of Shelltown

"We want to try and take this from being a gangster party," says promoter Phil Wasted. He dropped local rap artists Cricket, the BLGZ, and Young Sicc from a rap-meets-porn event to be held at El Cajon's Royal Palace on March 3.

"He is discriminating against the music," says Young Sicc, 27. "I never met the guy in person. He should have come at me like a man and tell me to my face instead of telling other people behind my face....

"I grew up in Southeast San Diego. I grew up in Shelltown, around 38th and National Avenue. I never forgot where I came from. Everybody has a story to tell, growing up in the 'hood. I think if [Wasted] wants to cancel us because of our gangster background, he shouldn't have booked us in the first place. He called us. I didn't call him...."

Young Sicc's second CD is called The Statement. "I wanted it to be a statement that there are Mexican-Americans who can rap.... The Latin rap movement is finally gaining respect. But I have a problem being stereotyped as Latin rap. I consider myself Mexican hip-hop. You don't see Mexican hip-hop on MTV or [Black Entertainment Television]. Hip-hop is dominated by the African-American culture. I want to be the first Mexican to break through."

Young Sicc says the San Diego hip-hop community is too small to have any black-versus-Latin struggles.

"That shit happens in L.A. But we don't really battle each other down here. We all know each other. Everybody respects one another's hustle."