By Odeisel

Have you ever been at the wrong place at the wrong time? Everything in your world is riding high and in a split second it’s all taken away from you. Such is the story of Lower East Siders Seven Dirty and his brother Tru-Life. Even with dashed dreams of Roc La Familia and conflict with fellow New Yorkers Dipset, they had remained in the in-crowd with deals waiting both solo and as part of the Ghetto Inmates collective. Suddenly that momentum was dash in the midst of a murder case that has landed the brother in jail for the past two years.  While Seven Dirty awaits his resolution he stands unbowed and Planet Ill brings you the raw truth about scratching and surviving, beef, and staying strong in the belly of the beast.

Planet Ill: How did you get into your situation?

Seven Dirty: Unfortunately, like many other situations, I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. In the blink of an eye, the life that I knew was now gone. Imagine being on the brink of success and then waking up to reality and you’re being charged with a homicide. Welcome to my life.

The sad part is, people have false perceptions and are judgmental when they have no idea what happened that day. Me and my brother Tru are not guilty of these horrendous charges that have been brought against us. The world has to know the truth.

Planet Ill:What Is Tru-Life’s situation presently?

Seven Dirty: Being that there is no statute of limitations for a murder case, both of us are being held without bail and we’re both going through all sorts of legal bullshit. Jail isn’t the place to be. It breaks up families, relationships and it’s hard on the human spirit. Me and my brother are warriors though. I know at the end of all this we both will get our well-deserved shot at redemption.

No disrespect to Weezy but me and my brother have been locked up almost two years now and it was comical to us how the Hip-Hop community was on a Free Lil Wayne campaign when the n***a was only doing a bullshit 10 months. Support real n***as with real problems. Free Tru-Life. Free Seven Dirty. Free Lil Boosie.

Planet Ill: Your brother was involved in an altercation with Cam’ron that went from MySpace to real life. How did that develop?

Seven Dirty:Actually that problem didn’t start out on MySpace. The problem was between Jim Jones and my brother and Cam’ron got involved by gassing his little man Jr. Writer to make a song dissing my brother. Cam jumped on it talking a bunch of shit, basically co-signing it and the shit got dealt with in the streets.

From there my brother Tru Tru went in and made a mixtape dissing Dipset and so on. As far as we’re concerned though, me and my brother have bigger fish to fry. SO on that note, love is love. Shout out to Dipset. Keep doing ya’ll thing.

Planet Ill:Do you feel that Jay-Z signed on with you guys to have some young dudes ready to wild out (during his own issues with Dipset)?

Seven Dirty:No. I believe Jay saw true, raw talent and felt my brother had the potential to change the game. The music that was presented to Jay-Z was incredible. Sadly the world never got to hear it and they base their opinions on my brother by the mixtape disses they heard. They have no idea how talented my brother and the rest of my team is.

As five wild kids coming out of the Lower East Side, we had many obstacles to overcome. We were Puerto Rican, from a place that was basically unknown to the Hip-Hop world and collectively, we signed about five major [label] record deals. Not bad for some Spanish cats who were told they could never make it, huh?

Sometimes I feel Jay moved on really fast and doesn’t give us the love that we deserve, so sometimes I question the move. But overall I would say no. He knew we were really talented.

Planet Ill: How did you gravitate towards the music?

Seven Dirty: It was like falling in love with the prettiest bitch in your school or something. I knew I wanted her so bad, but I knew that m chances were slim. When you love someone or something, all you do is think about it all day. You can’t see anything but your love interest. That’s how I basically felt about this rap shit.

I basically fell in love and was willing to make any sacrifice I needed to be successful. Looking at my daughter, who is six years old, I can’t help but notice how much she loves the music as well. I think it’s in my bloodline. It was meant for us to do this music shit. That pretty bitch was meant for me and I love her.

Planet Ill: If there was anything you could change about your life, what would it be?

Seven Dirty: Honestly, looking back at my life in perspective, I wouldn’t change a thing. Everything that happens in life happens for a reason and all that I’ve been through in life has made me the man that I am today. I am fulfilling my destiny. There’s a song I did called “Do It All Again” and the video is available on line. I did it a few years ago but the song is more relevant than ever.

[pro-player width=’425′ height=’344′ type=’video’]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmzCHytSQGA[/pro-player]

I finally figured out my life and my purpose, and that purpose is to uplift the youth with my strong testimony and hopefully save some lives. I now live a purpose-driven life and all the glory goes to God. I will be successful. This isn’t the last that you’ve heard of Seven Dirty.

Planet Ill: How different is the Lower East Side from the rest of the city?

Seven Dirty:The Lower East Side is a melting pot of different races and ethnicities. I always bugged out when I met cats from other parts of the city and they didn’t like Blacks, Whites or Spanish people for one reason or the other. I remember being chased and damn near killed walking in a white neighborhood in Brooklyn because iw as walking with a Spanish girl that looked white. Growing up on the Lower East Side, I never had to go through shit like that.

My projects was filled with Latins and Blacks; the Italians lived across the street from us and all of us lived by Chinatown. I love my neighborhood and I am so proud to be from down there.  That’s why me and my fam worked so hard to put the L.E.S. on the map. Tru-Life, Seven Dirty and the Ghetto inmates live and die for the Lower East Side. Big shout to everyone down there who has shown us their undying support. We love ya’ll and best believe it ain’t over.

Planet Ill:How real did it get for your family after the La Familia thing didn’t pop off?

Seven Dirty:We had to regroup and get back on the grind. We are a diligent bunch, to say the least. When one door closes, another one opens and that’s the way you have to look at life. From there, my brother was fortunate to sign with Roc-A-Fella/DefJam and it was on again. After that didn’t work, I was doing my own thing independently and my brother was set to sign with Young Jeezy. Regardless of what, we were always set to do our group Ghetto inmates as well.

If we were to walk out of jail right now, we wouldn’t be worried about getting back in position because we’re talented and confident in what we could achieve. Matter of fact, I know in my heart, in spite of our position and all the odds being against us, we will make it out of this, bigger and stronger than ever.

Planet Ill: How deep are the streets in the music with some of these rappers?

Seven Dirty:Sometimes people fail to realize that music is a form of entertainment. Enjoy the music for what it is. If all these rappers really sold drugs or shot they guns the way they say they do in these songs, don’t you think they would be dead or in jail? Sadly the youth gets a little too influenced by it all and they’re the ones that end up in a box or being shipped upstate.

I love that Hip-Hop has grown and is so successful to the point that white kids in the suburbs get to hear our voice, but we have to be more responsible with our message that we send across the world. Whatever rappers spit, they have to keep in the back of their minds that the kids are listening.

Planet Ill: Is there anything that you would like to get out to the people?

Seven Dirty:Never take life for granted. Time is a present and the present is a gift. None of us have time to waste. Use your God-given talent an d make the most out of your life. Everything can be taken from you in a hot second. Much love to all and please keep me and my brother Tru-Life in your thoughts and prayers. Also, be on the lookout for my presently untitled book about my powerful life story. Yours truly, Seven Dirty, Ghetto Inmates.