If you want to hear “regular guy” raps then you might want to listen to Slaine, the kid from the blue-collar neighborhood in Boston. But then again there isn’t much that’s regular about Slaine. Growing up was usually a challenge and most times was filled with drug and alcohol addiction. Somewhere along the way he found hip-hop and began to pursue it. He was even managed by MC Shan at one point.

From stints at the School of Visual Arts to being a part of the super group La Coka Nostra, Slaine has experienced a lot. He has recently gotten into acting and one role he received was given to him by Ben Affleck himself. It’s never been an easy road for Slaine but his skills, his grind, and his persistence kept him on top. Sixshot.Com caught up with the New England lyricist to talk about getting married on the Brooklyn Bridge, working with Ben Affleck, and why he and MC Shan parted ways.

Sixshot.Com: You've got one of the most interesting stories I ever heard. What was life like for you in Boston before you got mixed up in some of the things you did like drugs?

Slaine: My life was pretty normal until I was about 13. My parents both came from different single parent homes where their father's died when they were infants but they both became educated despite the hardships. Maybe some of those struggles growing up never left them though. I had some pretty jarring and tragic shit happen in my family life and personal world that shattered my family at 13. I think it pushed me into hanging in the streets at a young age and becoming angry and violent.

At the same time though, both of my parents gave me a foundation in putting words together before that, and my mother gave me a fierce belief in being an individual who thought he could do anything. So even though things got really fucked up and painful, I did have a foundation of education in the home, and a loyal extended family with old school Irish Catholic South Boston mentalities, especially from my Uncle Jimmy, who was almost a father figure to me. He is probably the person that I look up to the most.

Sixshot.Com: What was your experience like getting clean?

Slaine: Getting clean is a bitch. You don’t know how to live your life without drinking and doing drugs when you grow up in that culture. As any drug addict can tell you it sucks. There are a lot of highs and lows. There are a lot of lows that make you want to get high. There are a lot of highs that make you want to get high too. Good things that happen to me are just as hard to stay sober through as bad things. I am honest though. I am not sober now. Sometimes I feel defeated by saying that but I just can’t stay sober right now. So as much as I wish I could be an inspiration to struggling addicts, or alcoholics I am sorry, I’m not. I cant be that at this point in time.

Sixshot.Com: You wanted to be a filmmaker. What was your time at SVA like and is filmmaking still something you have a passion for?

Slaine: I have a great passion and drive for telling peoples stories, including my own. Going to college was strange because I was like a fish out of water. I felt like so many of the people there were really pretentious, and the work I did was misunderstood because it was really grimy. Unfortunately I couldn’t finish the year because of some beef shit, that for lack of a better word frightened the people at the school. I guess it is what it is. It was all meant to be in the end.

Sixshot.Com: What was it like moving from Boston to NYC?

Slaine: It was different but very similar in some respects. The streets are different in the way that NYC is so diverse and huge but the hustle and addiction, aggression and loyalty are the same at least in my experience. The biggest difference would be that in New York all the opportunity in the world is right over a bridge. It builds more of a hustler’s spirit. In Boston, it is hard to see past the things that surround you. Creativity and dreams are perceived to be for suckers. Following into things that worked for our Irish ancestors seemed to be all that would work for us.

Sixshot.Com: MC Shan managed you. What happened to end that partnership?

Slaine: MC Shan was a great guy to work with. I was amazed that he felt the music I was doing. He is a legend in my eyes and he got me some major deals on the table when I was about 21. I will forever have respect for him but at the end of the day we just had a difference in what our business arrangement should be. No hard feelings. Shan was a mentor and an inspiration to me.

Sixshot.Com: The White Man is the Devil Volume 1 had a crazy impact. How did you make sure it got out there like that and did you think it would be that big?

Slaine: I don’t think that it was "that big" but what I do think it did was paint a picture of what a lot of people in my city and the surrounding areas were going through. There was no marketing or promotion. It was just the truth. People are bombarded with so much bullshit, that the truth is refreshing to them. I also intentionally multilayered the meanings of the music and the title to piss people off, and make them listen because if I named the shit "The Mixtape" what would the incentive to give it a chance be? Every dickhead with a computer and a microphone can put out a mixtape nowadays.

Not to talk in third person but Slaine is not that dude. It was really grass roots; like I gave it to every drug dealer I knew to hustle grassroots. Like when I put that shit out me and my homeboy Fuce who had just gotten out of jail were sticking stickers on windows, busses, and stop signs, grassroots. The rest of it took care of itself. If it sucked nobody would have gave a fuck about my shit. But it didn’t suck. It resonated because it was the truth.

Sixshot.Com: How did you get down with La Coka Nostra?

Slaine: Over several years, I built relationships through my DMS family in New York with cats like Danny Boy and Ill Bill. At some point it came together and became what it is.

Sixshot.Com: How did Special Teamz get together?

Slaine: I was working with The Kreators, clicked up with Jaysaun, had respect for his skills and he was cool with Edo G. and doing a group with him. We got in the studio and started making joints. At some point it became what it is.

Sixshot.Com: You've worked with many legends in the game. Would you say you've learned a lot from them?

Slaine: If I didn’t learn from the people who came before me and taught me the game, you wouldn’t know who the fuck I was. That’s probably the best way I can say it. I have been blessed to work with the people that I work with. I thank God for their friendship and guidance above all.

Sixshot.Com: What was it like acting in Gone Baby Gone?

Slaine: Really strange at first but quickly it just became like being on stage or writing a rhyme.

Sixshot.Com: What is your relationship with Ben Affleck like?

Slaine: I consider him to be a talented artist, a friend, and even more than that someone that I will forever be grateful to for giving me a chance when he didn’t really have to. People that believe in you enough to lobby and fight for you are very rare.

Sixshot.Com: Do you plan on doing more acting in the future?

Slaine: Yes. I am actually hungry as fuck right now because I am starving myself to play a heroin addict in a movie called The Fallen that starts shooting in August.

Sixshot.Com: You recently got married on the Brooklyn Bridge. How'd you come up with that idea?

Slaine: It is the most beautiful church I have ever walked into.

Sixshot.Com: You seem to tour constantly. Is it hard moving state to state like that and do you have any favorite spots?

Slaine: Yeah. I love all the places I go. I couldn't have ever imagined my life turning out like this. On the flipside it is really difficult to be away from home. I miss my wife, and our bed. She is 5 months pregnant with our first baby and I am missing the first kicks. I can’t wait to be a father.

Sixshot.Com: So Slaine what do you have coming up that we can check for?

Slaine: We have the La Coka album coming out soon. I have my debut solo album coming out soon and I hope a lot more music and films that reflect my world in the future.

Sixshot.Com: Anything you'd like to say to your fans at Sixshot. Com?

Slaine: Breath the air, stay true to the people that are close to you, and appreciate every fucking day that you have on this earth. This shit moves fast so hang on tight. Peace to all of you. Listen to the music.