Gudda Gudda

While on The Young Money Presents: America's Most Wanted Tour, Gudda Gudda took a moment before hitting the stage at Denver's Fiddler's Green Amphitheatre. Aside from being Lil Wayne's best friend, the New Orleans rapper is well known in the underground for being a fierce lyricist and former member of Lil Flip's Squad Up camp. From mixtapes to a winning verse on "Every Girl" (produced by Tha Bizness), Gudda has come a long way. Read our interview and find out how the New Orleans rapper stays comfortable the tour bus, his upcoming mixtape (Guddaville), how he hooked up with Lil Wayne, and much more!

JimmyJazz.com: What's your favorite part of Young Money Presents: America's Most Wanted Tour?

Gudda Gudda: Just performing every night and going in front of 20-30 thousand people every night. It's really different for me. I started doing underground music, so for me to go out in front of 20,000 people every night, it's a different look for me.

JimmyJazz.com: What's been your favorite state to perform in front of?

Gudda Gudda: Ahhh, I got a couple of them. Los Angeles and anywhere in Texas. And of coarse New Orleans, but we haven't been to New Orleans yet.

JimmyJazz.com: Speaking of New Orleans, a lot of fans know you from your earlier Squad Up movement through Lil Flip. What's been the biggest difference between Lil Flip's Squad Up and Lil Wayne's Young Money?

Gudda Gudda: It's just bigger [Young Money]. Young Money is a whole new wave of fans and everything. It's just a different era. When we were doing the Squad Up mixtapes, that was the grinding mixtape era, This right here [Young Money] is a new era.

JimmyJazz.com: You and Lil Wayne are from the same hometown, New Orleans, LA. How did you guys get linked with one another?

Gudda Gudda: I meet him a while back. He [Lil Wayne] use to hang out with one of my homeboy's that I grew up with. I was around 17 years old and he [Lil Wayne] was probably 15. He was coming out with his first album, and he use to come through my neighborhood all the time with my homeboy. And we use to shoot dice by my house. We ended up gambling one day and ended up being cool from there.

(Pictured below): Gudda Gudda with Lil Wayne. Gudda sports a Polo hat with matching red scarf. 

JimmyJazz.com: While on tour, MTV's Sway interviewed Lil Wanye. In the piece Wayne mentions how he wrote your first verse. If it weren't for that first moment, where would you [Gudda] be at this moment right now?

Gudda Gudda: Probably still gambling, hustling [short pause], where he [Lil Wayne] found me at. Same place he found me at, probably.

JimmyJazz.com: In a recent interview with Lil Wayne fan site, NewLilWayne.com, you mentioned that Jadakiss, Beanie Sigel, and Hov are your favorite artists -all who hail from the northern east. We wanted to know, growing up in the New Orleans, were you influenced by the talent from your hometown? Such as Cash Money and Soulja Slim?

Gudda Gudda: Soulja Slim, defiantly and the whole Cash Money movement [short pause], Outkast, Goodie Mob... Eight Ball & MJG, those are all the main ones.

JimmyJazz.com: Young Money is currently leading the music charts with the hit single, "Every Girl". What's the next single? What will top that momentum?

Gudda Gudda: I really can't speck on it right now, but we got another coming, it's hot. But we gon' keep it going with this one ["Every Girl"]. Might be even bigger.

JimmyJazz.com: As far as Young Money, is there a release date?

Gudda Gudda: We really don't have an official release date, but sometime in November, I believe.

JimmyJazz.com: Recently, Young Money President/ Artist, Mack Maine released a statement on Twitter.com, announcing the release of Omarion from Young Money. Do you care to speck about that?

Gudda Gudda: I mean, I don't care. I really don't have anything to do with that. I ain't tripping about that. Big up to him [Omarion], more power to him, but that ain't none of my business.

JimmyJazz.com: Everyone on Young Money is extremely talented. Nicki Minaj, Drake, Mack Maine, Jay Millz and yourself. What's the overall harmony with the group? Do you guys record together?

Gudda Gudda: Most of the time we go out to Miami and record together. We vibe and just knock joints out. There's no problems, everybody knows where they fit in at... where they don't fit in at. So if a song comes on and I feel I don't need to be on it, I fall back. Likewise for everybody else. Everybody just plays their position.

JimmyJazz.com: You have a strong mixtape following. Do you have any immediate plans to release a tape?

Gudda Gudda: I'm working on a mixtape right now, called Guddaville. I'm in the middle of it right now, just waiting on a few features from a few people. Probably next month it will be ready. The only reason it'll be next month is because I'm on tour right now; if I weren't on tour it would have been ready next week.

JimmyJazz.com: Outside of the Young Money camp, if you could grab some features who would they be?

Gudda Gudda: Gucci Mane, he's making a lot of noise right now. I would not mind working with him. Of coarse [Young] Jeezy. I would love to work with Eminem, of coarse Jadakiss, [Beanie] Siegel. You might hear something from me and Siegel on the tape, you might hear something from me and Gucci [Mane] on the tape. Everything is in the works right now.

JimmyJazz.com: So, on the road... what's the most comfortable thing to wear?

Gudda Gudda: I got every color Polo pajama you could name [short laugh].

JimmyJazz.com: [Laughs].

Gudda Gudda: All colors Polo pajamas you could name. All colors. With the thermal or the Polo tee, slippers. That's how you stay cool on the bus without doing too much. But all Polo [Laughs]. Gotta be Polo underwear, all day.

JimmyJazz.com: Last, where do you get your fashion sense?

Gudda Gudda: I just like different stuff. Some of it I get from home [New Orleans], some of it. A lot of it comes from traveling... being around and being in different cities and different stores and different malls... they got different things out there. I get to see different stuff, that helps me with my fashion.