In a world of larger than life egos, bank accounts with infinite zeros, and females willing to spend their utility bill money on skin tight outfits in hopes of gaining back stage access to a concert; one thing still reigns supreme—“the crew.” Yes, that handful of individuals who dream about having Bill Gates’ money, while living the Hugh Hefner lifestyle, and having more privilege than Prince William and his brother Harry put together.

The same ones who wanted to achieve that amount of success, but now play the shotgun role instead, because another member of their little society has become their main source of caviar dreams fulfilled. Every Hip-Hop superstar has one, and in the case of Christopher “Ludacris” Bridges his support team has proven that they’re capable of handling themselves when “big brother” isn’t watching. 
 

His Disturbing Tha Peace colleagues have faired pretty well on their own by tallying over 6,176,925 in albums sold for their separate projects, and longtime friend/DTP associate Bobby “I-20” Sandamaine is looking to add to an already impressive number. After introducing himself on Disturbing Tha Peace’s first album, Golden Grain, his debut, Self Explanatory wasn’t far behind. But the MC with the baritone voice and aggressive vernacular got caught up in in dustry hoop-la, which delayed his solo career for four years.

In between then, he managed to pass the time by getting a minor role in the movie Hustle & Flow while perfecting his craft for his second go-around aptly titled Blood In The Water. By turning irritation into perseverance, it looks like I-20 will soon be in control of all the major lanes on his highway. 

SixShot.com: Your last album, Self Explanatory came out in 2004, how much have you grown as an artist since then?
 
I-20: Well when my hiatus initially happened, I can’t front because I was upset, and naturally anxious. I think that everybody wants the opportunity to come right back out again, and improve on what they did. But looking at it in hindsight, it was the best thing to happen to me, because it gave me the chance to grow like you said. So how have I grown? Right now, I have a better understanding of the industry in general.
 
I had the time to really be around Luda, and understand what my fans really want from me, and make a good mix of what I felt comfortable doing. I worked a lot on my clarity, diction, and making a better song. So now I just feel a lot more confident about being a rap artist. I feel like on my first album, I was just an “MC,” but this time around, I think I’m a better rap artist—and I’ve grown and became a better person since that.
 
SixShot.com: What initially caused your hiatus? Was there a reason behind it?
 
I-20: Yeah, there was definitely a reason. I was signed to Capitol Records, and when they signed me they signed Chingy at the same time, because they were looking to sign to some Disturbing Tha Peace artists at that time. I’m sure that you were familiar with that public rift between Chingy and Disturbing Tha Peace back then, and when he decided to leave Disturbing Tha Peace, it made my deal and his deal at Capitol null and void, because we were signed pending being signed to Disturbing Tha Peace. So when that happened, I had to wait about two and a half years to get out of my deal with Capitol. That was really the main hold up, just waiting to get out of that deal.

Once I got out of that deal, it was a situation of shopping around for a new deal. I had a couple of major places that wanted me, but I really just wanted to settle in, and be in as much control as possible, and that’s why I went over to Koch Records. I signed with Koch  like a year and a half ago, but I felt like there was no rush for me to get everything done, or come out immediately. I felt like this album right here could very well be my last, and I felt fortunate enough to even have a second opportunity. So I just wanted to take my time once I got this second deal, and put together the best possible album that I could.
 
SixShot.com: During that time when you were going through “record label limbo,” how was your mindset?
 
I-20: I was frustrated… The best analogy I can make is: It was like being a quarterback on a team, but there’s a quarterback ahead of you, and you know that you deserve to play. So you support your team, and you’re prepared to play because you really want the opportunity to go out there and show what you can do. So I was frustrated and I was aggravated, but the best thing was that I was able to get in the movie Hustle & Flow, and I was able to get my multimedia company off the ground. It taught me patience, and it also opened my eyes so I could see that I could do other things besides Hip-Hop. So for as angry and frustrated I was; I gained a lot of experience and saw different aspects on things to further my career.
 
SixShot.com: On the last Disturbing Tha Peace album, I only remember you being featured on three songs. Was that a conscious decision on your part to be featured less?
 
I-20: I think what people forget is that we had a significant amount of less artists between the first album and the second album; you know what I mean? So for a lot of the new artists on the second album, it would’ve been their first chance for the world to hear to hear them. So as a veteran, I felt like it was very important for people to familiarize themselves with the new people and what they do. As for me, I don’t have to be on 15 songs, because I feel like I’m always going to go in there and do the best that I can, and I’m going to have an impact whether I’m on two songs or twelve.
 
SixShot.com: Just to touch back on the subject of your hiatus, was it difficult getting back into the groove your new album, Blood In The Water?
 
I-20: Not at all man… I’ll tell you one thing; I’m that kind of person who believes that anger and frustration gives me strength. Those things give you the ability to stay focused, and I’m more focused now than I was on the first album. With the first album, I was with Luda doing world tours, a Bentley at my house, and that was one of the best things that could ever happen. Then I had to realize that is not the reality of the rap game, because that was the success of Luda, and I was associated with him, and I was getting the benefits of it, but it wasn’t directly tied into my career. A lot of times you lose focus when you have that immediate success, then you have a reality check like, “Okay, what is directly mine?” That comes into play, and it focuses you on what you can do to better yourself. 

So in that three-year period, I was down in Miami with Salaam Remi, and between that I was in New York with The Heatmakerz, and I was always recording. I recorded like 60-70 odd songs for this album. So I was still doing a significant amount of music during that time, it was just a matter of prioritizing things, going over the new deal, and creating this newfound energy. If you go on YouTube, you’ll see that I have 4-5 videos that I shot myself, and they’ve gotten a lot of good responses. Also, I’ve done things on mixtapes, and I just need to get back in and rebuild my buzz. So that’s basically what I was doing in that whole three years.
 
SixShot.com: Did you always have a good relationship with Salaam Remi and The Heatmakerz?
 
I-20: Always… Salaam [Remi] is my man, period. I asked to work with him after the first album, and he was one of the first producers that took a liking to me. The song I did for my first album; I did it down there with him. I hit him up once I got out of the Capitol deal, and I was like, “I’m not sure if I’ll get another deal, but I’m always going to be with Disturbing Tha Peace because they’re showing me a lot of love and support, so lets just work.” Then he said that’s exactly what he wanted to do, so he flew me out to Miami on his own dollar, put me up in an apartment, and we worked. So him and I are seriously good friends. 

R’sonist from The Heatmakerz is friend of mine as well, and when I left Miami, I just flew up to New York. It was the same situation, and I stayed there about a month with them and banged out a bunch of records. One thing that I was blessed with is—I may not have had an impact on the commercial world, but I was blessed to have some people in the Hip-Hop world that were really interested in working with me and that are fans of my music. I just felt like they could take my music to another level.
 
SixShot.com: Do you put any added pressure on yourself to do well just because of your association with Ludacris?
 
I-20: Luda being in my corner will never change the amount of pressure that I’m going to put on myself, or what I expect from myself. Everything I do, I give one hundred percent, and by putting in that one hundred percent, I expect it to be returned and I expect a lot of it myself. So whether I was signed with Chris or not, I would still expect a lot out of myself. I do think there are advantages when you are with an artist of Ludacris’ caliber, because it forces you to step up and say that you want more than being content with anything else. So for me, it’s a benefit to be with someone like Luda because you get to see other aspects of the game, and you get to see what the fruits of your labor can be if you stay focused and make good music.
 
SixShot.com: How did you guys first meet each other?
 
I-20: I met him directly out of high school, I met Luda when I was 17-years-old through a mutual friend who knew a girl he was dating at that time. They would tell him that I was into Hip-Hop too, and that we should get together. At first I was a little reluctant to do it because I was already in a group. But one day we got on the phone and with the competitive nature of artists; he just started rapping. Once he started rapping 2-3 times, I felt the need to respond and from there we just started talking about Hip-Hop and what have you.
 
Then he told me he was starting Disturbing Tha Peace, and did I want to become a part of it. But I was like no at first, because I already had a group with one of my cousins and two of my best friends. Unfortunately they got into a little bit of legal trouble and two of my best friends ended up going to jail for the majority of their lives, then my cousin ended up having some personal issues as well. Then I ended up getting incarcerated myself, and upon my release, Luda just took me in. I was living with him at his apartment, and at this time, he was working at the radio station, and the rest is history.
 
SixShot.com: Do you find at times that your affiliation with Disturbing Tha Peace takes away from your individuality?
 
I-20: You know what man? That’s going to always happen… When you’re affiliated with another artist that is significantly successful, you will always be directly tied to that artist, and people will always associate you with that artist. That’s one of the things that come with it, but I think the benefits are a lot better than the negative opinions that you get. Because at the same time I don’t know too many artists who don’t have an album out, still make a significant amount of money, go on tour, get on television, and get the type of exposure that I got to have and I didn’t even have a record deal. So I definitely think there are a lot more benefits that come with it, rather than anything negative.