In 2012, the city of Stockton filed for bankruptcy. Debt had ballooned from $3 million in 2006 to $17.2 million. Housing got less affordable, and led to the Weston Ranch neighborhood being a magnet for foreclosures. Citizens living on government pensions soon lost their longtime residences. Then there was the high crime rate, which only a decade ago led Forbes to name Stockton the fifth most dangerous city in America. (Even if Forbes is in no place to examine the heart of the city.)
But by February 2015, Stockton successfully exited bankruptcy. Problems with housing, unemployment, and crime remain, but it was a win for a city that had been through immense pain. I say this all to point out that EBK Young Jocās rough life reminds me of the rise of his home town. After the death of his older brother, who told him that rapping was the way that the family was going to rise, Joc started spitting. From there, itās been an arduous but steady climb.
To hear the Stockton rapperās music is to hear his lineage among the Bay Area legends, whose sound extends from Sacramento all the way down to south to Fresno and Stockton. After being sent to Juvenile Detention Center at 17, the Sacramento rapper Bris, hit Jocās line to chop it up. He showed up to the studio in Stockton and they immediately started collaborating, creating an essential body of work that made them one of the best duos of their generation.
Like his comrade, the dearly departed Bris, Joc sounds casually menacing. Thereās no time to waste by charming us. Where Bris had a whispery rasp, Joc has much more bark. Heās more straightforward. Bars hit as raw and clear as Nino Brownās glass plate. Even if heās relatively new at this (his first album, 21 Jump Street, dropped in December 2019), he already sounds like a veteran with multiple flows. The cadence might be the same, but the pace is different every time. He can go slow like a point guard sitting up the play and surveying where the defenders are. TakeāāReal Mafiaāā, a standout track on his second effort, The Fresh Prince of Belair, where he sounds deliberate and controlled; whereas āāGet It Littyāā is chaotic. He combines nihilism with the self medication of living in the hood, losing loved ones in his early life and disgust for his enemies.
There are many strong Bris and EBK Young Joc songs, but āāDumb and Dumberāā is the one that sticks with you the most. Itās a song that brings out exactly what made them a formidable duo. Bris is the quiet assassin who sounds like the leader in the duo. The Marlo Stanfield of Sacramento, giving out orders without raising his voice or breaking a sweat. He was always in control with his vocal tone, but still as deadly as his shooter. If Bris is Marlo, then Joc is Snoop Pearson with how he uses slang to intimidate. Their music was a combination of different rapping styles, but the same mentality. They both spit bars that are the equivalent of the M.E. saying a victim had blunt forced trauma.
Bris and Joc were building off of that with classic Bay Area piano production. The former was a clear-cut breakout phenom: He built tension with each bar like every line is building towards a main event that ends with Bris stomping you out in front of your parents house like Kendrick as a teenager. āāDumb and Dumberāā was just one song that the Bris and Joc had that turned heads with its weirdness and violent outbursts. Another one, āāJokes Upāā, dropped on June 14th, 2020. Itās the last time we heard Bris alive and he was in rare form: Even though stacking paper is his meal, cookies still make him have the munchies. On June 21st, he was shot dead in Sacramento shortly after the clock hit midnight. He was pronounced dead at the scene. He was only 24.
Thankfully, Joc is still here to carry on that legacy. Heās not just carrying Stockton on his back, heās bearing the torch for his brother and his late rap brethren. Like his city, heās endured difficult times, but he also knows he is on the rise. He maintains a humor to him that is in his music, as well as his native land. In our conversation, we spoke about Bris, Stockton, the death of his brother, and the perils of clout chasing. ā Jayson Buford
What was it like growing up in Stockton?
EBK Young Joc: Shit. It was kind of rough. Big ass city. Aināt got much out here, so it was kind of rough as a kid. We had to really get it out of the mud.
Yeah. What was your neighborhood known for?
EBK Young Joc: Getting money, at first, until we came in.
You used to skateboard as a kid. But did you do anything else growing up? What did you do in school?
EBK Young Joc: Nah. I wasnāt good with the school shit. I dropped out when I was in 10th grade.
What was that like?
EBK Young Joc: Shit, it was cool. You know the bitches. Having fun at school.
Schooling is weird. Some people need it. Some people genuinely thrive without the restraints of American education.
EBK Young Joc: Sometimes a nigga do be thinking about going back. Sometimes a nigga think in the long run, Iāll probably go back.
You started rapping after your brother tragically passed away. First of all, Iām sorry for your loss.
EBK Young Joc: Good shit, good looking, man. I aināt start rapping literally after. It took me a little time.
Do you remember the moment where you realized that it was go time for you? That you had to put the family on your back?
EBK Young Joc: Around when I was 18, 17. When I got out of juvie and my brother was like, āSo, what you going to do?ā āNigga, We about to rap.ā
What was being in juvie like?
EBK Young Joc: There were riots. Fights and shit, but other than that, it was smooth for juvenile. Thatās like kindergarten or elementary and shit, and then comes high school.
Was that shit still wack though?
EBK Young Joc: Yeah, on my mama. That shit still trash. Still getting incarcerated.
I know that your brother was also your biggest influence as a rapper because you didnāt really listen to rap before then. What was his style like?
EBK Young Joc: He was older so he was more like an older, smooth rapper. Rapping to old school beats, real weird beats.
You got a little bit of a whisper flow. How have you perfected that?
EBK Young Joc: On my mama, I got some of his flow in me. If you can tell, most of my songs, I donāt really do hooks. I donāt do choruses and shit. That comes from him because he donāt do no hooks. He said fuck a hook, so Iām also saying fuck a hook. Iām going to keep that going from him.
I saw that Bris had first hit you when you got out. Do you remember what yāall talked about?
EBK Young Joc: Yeah, he was like, āWhatās going on?ā Iām said, āShit.ā I was a fan of him. Back then, we used to listen to all of the shit. We used to listen to everybody. So, once bro hit me, I was like, āDamn. Okay. Weāre going crazy.ā So, he hit me. Heās like, āWhere yāall at?ā We like, āIn Stockton. We at our studioā because at that time, we had our own studio. Shit, Iām like, āPull up.ā He pulled up and shit by himself. He came out there, we just started shooting videos and shit. We shot a video like the next day after. We all went to the mall that day and bought clothes. Once we met each other we were like, all right, niggas understanding each other.
Why do you think you and Bris worked so well together?
EBK Young Joc: Because our minds were similar. We was head to head type shit.
What are some memories you have of making āJokes Upā?
EBK Young Joc: The dude, Armani DePaul, that we got on the song, he had hit me like, boom, āWhatās up, bro. I need a feature.ā So, Iām like, āAll right, itās good.ā Then, he hit Bris like, āHey yo, whatās up, bro? I need a feature.ā He didnāt really know we was boys. He hit me, I hit Bris, I screen shotted the shit like, āWho this dude?ā He like, āI donāt know.ā āHe hit me for a feature and shit.ā Heās like, āFor real?ā Iām like, āFor real.ā Heās like, āYeah, he trying to put me on the same song.ā So, boom. We go out there with Bris and shit. Weāre brothers. So, weāre laughing and shit, we get to the little thing. Bruh got the studio in his house, the video, the camera right there ready. Everything. Weāre laughing. Weāre just really rolling. The song wasnāt meant to really blow up like that, but Iām glad it did though. With the Jokes Up and shit, I was on some other shit with it because I was just doing a feature. I wasnāt trying to go too hard, but everybody like, āYou was going hella hardā and the reason that it really went up was because, mind you, Bris had went to jail. So, when he had got out, that was the first song we did together and once we got done, we got in the car like, āBitch, we tripping.ā Iām like, āWhat?ā Heās like, āBruh, thatās the first song we just did together since Iāve been out, bro. We got to go to the studio right now before he drops that.ā We went and made āBig Bloody.ā Thatās how that was and that motherfucker went up. Bruh dropped that motherfucker and we went from there.
What is something about him that we may not know?
EBK Young Joc: My brother was a goofy nigga but he donāt play. He was a real gangster, a real nigga, but he was a goofy. He was a cool nigga. My brother was cool, man.
Thatās a fact. How has being a father affected your life?
EBK Young Joc: Shit, made a nigga really become a man. Itās time for a nigga to do something. Back then, when I didnāt have a kid, niggas could fooling around, like we aināt really got any responsibility. A nigga spending money however he wants. Now a nigga got a kid, you canāt even do that.
So, youāve dealt with a lot of loss in your life. How have you been able to overcome that?
EBK Young Joc: To be honest, I just put it in my music. Thatās how overcome it. I sit and think a lot, so itās really just the music. Iām not like the other rappers, you see how they are around other people and shit. Iām really out here. Me and my niggas. All of my niggas really in jail. I donāt fuck with a lot of people.
EBK stands for what?
EBK Young Joc: See, we got three meanings. Everybody Killer. Everybody Kount and Every Band Kount. All my brothers count. Yep. As long as youāre my brother, every brother counts. As long as we know ā¦ weāre brothers. Thatās a different meaning from friend, or homie, or partner. Every brother counts, thatās real brother shit.
You have a small circle. Why is that?
EBK Young Joc: A lot of motherfuckers are really janky. And weāre janky too, so you canāt put two dogs in the same cage, theyāre going to fight. It takes a snake to know a snake, so motherfuckers donāt really get along with us. And we donāt get along with them because niggas donāt click right. You canāt be harder than us, and we canāt be harder than yāall, so we stick with our side. Everybody is casual here and there, but we stick with our side.
You got anything dropping soon? What are you working on?
EBK Young Joc: Yep. Iām working on this next EP and shit, so on the next one that Iām about to do, Iāve got a new video coming soon and everything. Itās called āGet Litty.āā Thatās off the album. Thatās a new video thatās about to drop. I got a couple of videos thatās in the vault that I still got to shoot off the album. I got āGreetingsā too. I be working.
Hell yeah. All right, bonus question for you. What types of people in the streets piss you off the most?
EBK Young Joc: Shit. Nerds. Niggas who donāt know what they be talking about. Niggas that aināt street smart or that be running around with their head cut off like a stupid chicken. A nigga that donāt know what the fuck heās doing, donāt know what he talking about, just swear he wants to do it. For example, nigga, if youāre 18 years old and just now trying to play and perpetrate, niggas hard and shit, stop. Please stop. That aināt it, you donāt know what you doing because you aināt been out here. I started being outside when I was 13.
Why do you think niggas clout chase like that?
EBK Young Joc: They think that shit cool. I done been shot five times. That shit aināt cool at all. Thatās coming from a real gangster, nigga. This shit aināt cool. We got to live like this.