Almost Famous - Bearing The Cross
Born and raised in LA to a Colombian father and Mexican mother, Omar Cruz is steadily rising in the West Coast Rap scene. Having three mix-tapes (City of Gods, Blow, 2007 B.C. - Before Cruz) under his belt, he is currently set to release his highly anticipated debut album, Sign of the Cruz, off of BYI Entertainment/ Interscope but still had time to chat it up with ULM.
So Omar, how'd you get into the business?
The business chose me. Hip-hop saved me from the streets and I've been able to avoid the freefalls that a lot of artists encounter. Growing up in Los Angeles, there are a lot of pitfalls out here. You know...I don't want to say [Rap] is like therapy, but for me it's like a religion. It's actually my way out. Years and years of honing my craft and going from potential deals here and there that wasn't really poppin' off. A couple of managers tried to make it pop off but it didn't really happen. Then I met my boy Lulu who was the CEO of BYI Entertainment. I let him hear some shit and he said, "I've been looking for you." Now we have a 50/50 joint venture with Interscope and Geffen Records.
How did your parents feel about your decision to become a rapper?
You know I was told that "this Rap shit ain't gonna work." In one of my mixtapes I said something to the effect of, "...Hip-hop is for the Black guys papi. It's not meant for you." In the beginning, they came to this country to make a better future for their children. They made the trip over here so that maybe
I could be a lawyer or a doctor. Granted I wasn't the best son. The point that I started to do this and became committed and dedicated...it was all because you start to lose faith in friends and family.
What are things like now that they see the progress?
I keep my family close to me. It keeps me grounded. I don't have "yes" people around me. Most of my friends I've known for years. They always let me know when I'm fucking up.
Who had the biggest influence on you?
What really changed it for me was when Big Punisher came out. Man that was like...it gave me a green light like, "I could really do this." Since Pun, there hasn't been another Latino rapper to have the same impact.
Why is that?
I think the problem is that the period of time between the great Latin hip-hop artists.that window is too long. What [Big Pun] did for NY, I'm trying to do for LA and bring the West Coast up and represent Latinos in hip-hop and raise the bar for hip-hop period.
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