On the surface, Boogie's got the kind of backstory often told in hip-hop: The child of a single mom and an absent father, a high-school dropout, a former gang member. He's from Compton, Calif., home to N.W.A, The Game and Kendrick Lamar. It's the birthplace of gangsta rap, but for Boogie, "It's about me showing my friends and homies that we can honestly make a change."
At the audio link, Boogie describes his introduction to music in the church, his favorite gospel song, and raising his son in a rough neighborhood he wants to empower: "I need to show him that he can be strong where he at and make a difference in this world."
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