Chapter 1

I started this day off like I do most days. Rent due-- Gotta hustle! Kids need diapers-- gotta hustle! Need music equipment to make beats with? Gotta hustle! 

That was my theme for '92 before I linked up with 2Pac and got my shot at music production on a world wide level. 

I'm Big Tru, a 22-year-old music producer and full-time hustler, surviving out of a second-floor East Oakland apartment with my wife and two kids. Back then, hustling wasn't just an option; it was my survival. Whether it was the rent, food, or the gear I needed to make music with, I was in a constant state of grind.

The neighborhood I stayed in was aiight. It was always something popping' off though. Shootin's, dude downstairs fightin' wit his chick 'cause they both drunk & triflin', cat down the street wanna shoot up shit because he mad at the world. Typical East Oakland.  

But even amongst the chaos, I could still find a rhythm in the noise. My spot on 46th Ave, that's where I started to build something. That was basically the beginning but as they say, the devil’s in the details.

Let's get to it then.

Saturday morning in East Oakland. Sun slicing through the blinds- my favorite time to create. But not today. 

I had just gotten in the house not more than a few hours ago from taking a long ass A.C. Transit bus ride on the #40 bus from the spot where I hustle at near Telegraph & Durant Avenue a block away from the U.C. Berkeley college campus in Berkeley, California all the way to East Oakland because my car wasn't startin'. And I hate the fuckin' bus! It's always some stankin' ass, dirty ass, grimy ass person wanna sit right next to you like it ain't no other empty seats on the bus when there's hella empty seats right by.

 And the weight from the two Glock 19's I was carrying didn't make matters much better either. Why do I need to pack two Glocks with a temper like mine? Being robbed at gunpoint with a shotgun pointed at your head makes you really serious about your right to bare arms. Somebody's always plotting in my hood. The have-nots stay hungry, they just not eating off me.

   Excerpted from "Representin' 93:The Story Behind The Making Of" by Big Tru. Copyright © 2024 by Big Tru. Excerpted by permission. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher. Excerpts are provided solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.