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9/12/2005 I know this is a very difficult time for you. How are you doing? We've just been trying to make it. Most of the people I know are just trying to survive. This is a survivor situation for real. How's your family doing? Luckily we have family in Houston, so my family in New Orleans migrated to her house. There were 30 of us in her house, and now we're branching off in apartments to clear out the house. We're just trying to keep on. When were you able to get out of New Orleans? Luckily for me, I was on the shore, and we left early Friday before the floods were really serious. But that's what really killed us because we couldn't touch back home to get the things we needed. Our family was evacuated without us, so we had to go meet back up with them. Do you know how your house is? Man. I just bought a nice new house in New Orleans East. I just bought me a new one. Ooh, it was nice. It had a nice pool and everything. My neighbor stayed, and he got evacuated off the roof. He said when the first wave hit, he said when the first initial wave hit, the water was six feet deep in the house, and he got evacuated from the roof. They estimated that there was a good ten feet of water over the house, so it had to get about 25 to 30 feet high. Where do you see the future of New Orleans going? It's really sad to say. I'm looking at it as being more of a hotel and casino-type place for tourists. I'm looking at the insurance, nobody's going to want to insure that area no more. Have you been able to keep in touch with your friends? Man, I'm swinging day-by-day by the Astrodome, picking up other people I know and dropping them off at hotels. I'm working down here, I'm volunteer working. What's a normal day like for you today? I'm dropping people off at Red Cross, or bringing them to get food stamps or look for apartments. I'm taking some people and helping them find the rest of their family. How do you stay positive in a situation like this? You just have to look for the good out of the situation. Maybe it's for the best. God wouldn't throw nothing you can't handle at you. A lot of people are getting a new chance on life, and you've got to keep on rolling. What responsibility do you see yourself having in this situation? You've got to be a real man and step up to the plate and hold your family down, and get to the point where they can live comfortable again. What are your plans for the future? Right now, I'm going to rebuild in New Orleans. I like it there. But I'm going to get me one somewhere else, because it's bound to happen again. It's hurricane season, another one's going to come through next year. I'm just going to rebuild, and I'm going to hope for the best. What makes you want to go back to New Orleans? I love New Orleans. There's no city like it. I would run for mayor if I could. Did the city of New Orleans prepare its citizens for what was coming? No they didn't. They knew a Category 5 was coming and they could only handle a 3. They ordered a mandatory evacuation just 12 hours before it hit. How is it mandatory only 12 hours? You don't have enough time to get your people out. Everything was handled wrong. It was set up for the people to die. What do you think of the way the news has covered everything? I think they're wrong [about the so-called looting]. I think they're wrong for the single fact that everything was insured. Things were being taken so that it could help people get along. They wasn't just looting because of nothing. They didn't just up and say one day "let's loot." They were looting because they were going through some trauma and they needed supplies and had no information. That's human nature. How do you feel about the way the U.S. government has handled this situation? Oh it was horrible. That was totally horrible. The best kept secret they got is that the dam didn't break, they blew the dam on one side. They blew the dams. I got people that stayed close that heard the boom, and they knew that people were there. What kind of message do you feel that the government is sending to the people of New Orleans? That we wasn't their top priority. Do you feel that Kanye West's statement hurt or helped the situation? I didn't really see the whole thing but I heard he was going off on Bush. He said "George Bush doesn't like Black people," and then they cut the camera off him… That was real. They didn't want to start a racial situation on their station probably. Do you feel like this situation can be looked at as a racial situation? I don't look at racial as Black and White no more. I look at it as poor and rich. If it's a poor and rich situation, then yeah, I see it like that, but as a Black and White situation, I can't say so. What keeps you motivated right now? I get motivated when I hear about what happened at the Superdome. I have cousins that were led out of the Superdome at gunpoint. And when one cousin wanted to leave because he had a kid with him and there was violence going on in there, they wouldn't let him leave. I don't understand that. What do you want to say to the rest of the world about what's going on and what needs to be done? What's going on is that we're in desperate need of help, everybody from New Orleans. You already know how the governments going to watch, somebody's going to get kick-backs from the money that anybody gets, regardless. But I'm asking, if you see us, one-on-one, just help as we need help. Do you see the situation getting better? Some people still haven't come to grips with reality yet. They're still evacuating people today. The New Orleans people as a whole, it'll still be a week or two before we get a grip on what's happening, and how we're going to go back and what we are going to have to do to survive. Do you think a lot of people are still in shock about what's going on and what's happened? Yeah. My step-mom is still traumatized from standing on the roof for a few days with no water, walking around shaking. They're still in shock, some people can't even believe that it's America they were in. People are dramatically traumatized by this. What's your reaction to everything that's happened? Damn. It happened to us. The whole city was wiped out. I stay across the interstate from the Six Flags, and the water was up to the roller-coasters. It's hard to imagine. How has this situation changed your outlook on life? Man, don't cherish nothing because it can all be gone in a day. You have to always have your ace in the hole and a secondary plan because ain't not telling what could happen. How are the conditions in Houston and at the Astrodome? It's like a concentration camp right now. A lot of people are trying to get out as best and easy as they can. They're putting bands on their wrists, tagging them like animals. "You go here, you go there…" Is there enough food and water? Yeah. There's plenty of supplies (laughs). There's plenty of supplies there. Is everything clean there as well? Yeah, the Astrodome is up-and-running. As far as help, they're getting a lot of help. And I have to say love to the city of Houston, they took us in and showed us a lot of love. Juvenile set up a charity, what responsibility do you, Juvie, and Wacko have as artists? Right now, my main goal is really touching the people of New Orleans. I used to be in the streets a lot, and I show the people, I'm going through the same thing y'all are, just to keep it real with them, not on no superstar-level. How important is music in a situation like this? Music is still going to be a top priority in my life. I stay writing, and this experience needs to be talked about. My music comes from personal experience, and I write about the struggle that my people are going through. Do you feel like your music is helping people get through this situation? I think right now, I think seeing my face is helping more than the music. They know my music and all, but seeing in me in the same place as them, it makes them feel better like "it affected everybody." Is there anything else that you want to talk about? I just want to talk about how my people are mistreated so much. The mayor was in the dome next door to the Superdome, and when the Superdome started leaking, he wouldn't let them come into his dome, and he had a generator and water. There are people suffering! These are your people, you are the mayor! And this was a Category 5 hurricane, and you knew that the city could only hold a Category 3, so what'd you put the people in the Superdome for? To die? How you didn't get some buses? You put the people there to die. He had water and power in the next arena! It's his hockey team, he built the arena! When the president came to New Orleans, that's where he met him at. And he wouldn't give his people nothing. The mayor's face wasn't seen until after four days! That's why there was so much anarchy. I know police officers that quit. They're telling police officers to "fire on these people, stop rescuing them and fire on them." I know firemen that quit because they couldn't take it no more. They quit because they knew he was wrong. Before the hurricane, they had investigations on city hall, RTA, the regional transit, the whole place had gone crooked. And that's not even counting the murders.

By Brian Kayser

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