Willie Ringo

Words By Willie Ringo Part I I’m originally from Greenville, Mississippi. I was transplanted to South East San Diego, California at the age of 9. My parents split up and my mother brought us out to the West Coast. She wanted us to have the opportunity to grow and succeed. I started playing the drums in church and became hooked on the feeling you get when people are enjoying the music you’re making. I used to watch a lot of guys rap on the street corners and at school competitions and thoug...

Words By Willie Ringo Part I I’m originally from Greenville, Mississippi. I was transplanted to South East San Diego, California at the age of 9. My parents split up and my mother brought us out to the West Coast. She wanted us to have the opportunity to grow and succeed. I started playing the drums in church and became hooked on the feeling you get when people are enjoying the music you’re making. I used to watch a lot of guys rap on the street corners and at school competitions and thought I’d try it. At first it was a way to address the anger and turmoil that was connected with my move from Mississippi. I had left a lot of white on black racism in the South and was thrown into black on black fighting in South East San Diego, CA. I did well in school and was offered basketball scholarships at the University of Maine at Bangor and at Howard Junior College in Odessa, Texas and an opportunity to go to North Carolina A&T. But I felt that I needed to stay in California and help my mom through a rough spot. I fell in with a rough crowd and started banging at an early age with the people I hung out with, all the while knowing that I had to do better. I did everything there was to hustle to take care of my family; it was an up and down hill battle. Even though I was trying to make money to help my family, I would never hustle to get women or try to be a ‘bling-bling’ type of guy. I knew that I had a lot to say and thought that I could make a record and make some money with my raps. I was really fortunate to be introduced to T. G. Management through mutual friends. I sent a copy of my work and the next thing you know I was signing a distribution contract with Orpheus Records. It was only with the grace of GOD that we were able to make this happen--Mobbfya Blakk Records/Orpheus Records. Part II Only God can judge me! Why? My God who’s in Heaven, my mother, my father, my kids and I know my heart. They know the real reason behind the style of music I’ve chosen for myself. I was born in Greenville, Mississippi, but was raised in South East San Diego, California. Since birth, I was raised to believe in God. For nine years, while in Greenville, I knew my mother had my back. But, the move to California got the best of me! I was labeled as a Blood because I loved to wear the color red. Growing up in Mississippi, it was black on white not black on black! That’s when Willie Ringo’s life began. The young lamb had lost his way. My mother was strong. My father was in and out of the home. Poverty had gotten the best of me. I had become a product of all the things I was against. I became a gang member and a street hustler by all trades. The Feds and the San Diego Police labeled me a triple OG. Am I ashamed? Nope! I did what I wanted to do. I had a choice and I made it. I became a hoop star legend with three years varsity at Morse High School. I had a chance to go to college and had the skills for the NBA’s first round draft pick. However, my heart would not let me leave my mother, brothers and sisters to survive alone in this hellhole! Now, my music is dedicated to the ‘Stop The Genocide Movement’. I walk the walk and talk the talk. I do not sugar coat! I tell the youth of today how wrong I was-- misguided, misled, destruction terror! Not only was I destroying my race, my society, and myself, I was an embarrassment to my family, race and my God, who never gave up on me. OG Crips and Bloods are telling the youth of today to seek God and they will find what they are looking for. Ps: Thank you for taking the time out to read all of my Bio. ~Willie Ringo~ aKa Da Ghetto Poet