When did you start recording?

In 2010. That’s insane. I actually started making beats first and that was before 2010. I think I was like 14. They were really bad. I used to sample like Arabic music for some reason.

So when did you join Gothboiclique? I know you were a part of Thraxxhouse first.

I was, yeah. That’s actually why I went to L.A., to join Thraxxhouse. That was in like 2014, 2015.

What really drew you to Thraxxhouse in the beginning?

Thraxxhouse found me. I kind of knew about Thraxxhouse because Thraxxhouse was formed in Seattle. So when I was going to school there as a kid, I kind of knew some of the dudes. But I wasn’t cool yet. Like literally I wasn’t. And then when I was in VA, I changed my name to “Yung Bruh” and I started making weird shit. And then this dude named Nedarb Nagrom hit me up like, “You’re fucking fire, bro! Come stay at the Thraxxhouse.” I didn’t even tell my mom. Just left.

How did you come to join Gothboiclique?

GBC was already a thing. It was like a branch of Thraxxhouse. It was really for the white boys, the emo shit. The way that I actually joined Gothboiclique is hilarious. Wicca Phase [Adam McIlwee] was like the head honcho [of Gothboiclique]. He is the head honcho. And at that time I looked up to Wicca Phase almost like on a stan level. So I had found this hand me down GBC shirt and I wore it every day, to bed, in the morning, everywhere. And I was with Horse Head, and I told him to ask Wicca Phase if I could be in GBC. When he asked him, Wicca Phase was like, “Well, he wears the shirt enough!” And that’s how I got in. I found “Lil Tracy” there. The way I became “Lil Tracy” was Nedarb was throwing away his old clothes, then there was this old Tracy McGrady jersey. I put it on and I was like “I’m Lil Tracy!” And then that shit just took off.

When did you meet Lil Peep? It was the day you made “ White Tee ” right?

We met that day.

Had he just kind of shown up or had you heard about him before?

It’s weird because when I had got locked up once, when I got out, I went back to one of my friend’s house who knew about the underground. He was like, “Bro, this dude said ‘Free you’ in a song.” And I was like, “Who?!,” because back then I was kinda like weird about people. I still am. I have beef with a lot of people. So I was like “Who is saying my name?” And then I saw the song.

So that’s where you first heard of him.

Yeah. The way that I actually met Peep was through Nedarb. We didn’t even speak that much at first. He was just like, “Yo, I have this open for you,” and then I just hopped on it. Everybody was like, “Oh my God, this is fire.” And then he was like, “Well, my homie has a yellow Jeep, let’s shoot the video.” Then the next day or so after this shit dropped, it was like, 100k, 200k, 300k, 500, 600k. Then it started a whole avalanche. It felt like we were like possessed. When we would record, it was so easy. I don’t know how to explain it.

Do you have any favorite collaborations that you two got to work on together?

I have three favorites. My favorite, favorite is “Backseat.” That shit is so hard to me. I just like how the video is. I like “I Crash, U Crash,” and then “Giving Girls Cocaine.”

Did you two write together?

We would sit down literally together, like working on a project at school. I miss that shit. We would give each other bars. It is weird because I felt like the people that were behind him didn’t really respect that shit, which I get because he’s their artist, I’m not. But at the same time it’s like to you see what’s happening when these two artists are collaborating.

I know that kind of tension with Peep’s management was hard on your relationship.

Shit pissed me off. Everyone thinks that it’s because I wasn’t shown in the “Awful Things” video that much. But that was what I used to finally just be like, “You know what? Fuck everybody.” I moved to Philly when he was on his last tour. I didn’t have a phone, or a computer. All I had was a little flip phone. I was just by myself and I was staying in a hotel. It was weird bro. Something was telling me to distance myself from everybody. And then that’s when I found out that Peep had died.

Lil Peep passed this time last year, you’re alone in Philly, and then what did you do? How did you cope?

I just got even more angry in the beginning. I was mad at myself. I am mad at like a bunch of different people. I was just very angry. Angry Tracy. And I’m starting to not be angry. The following months I just tried to be sober because I was scared. And then I almost died. That was even scarier.

What are you still mad about it?

It’s a touchy subject. I felt like certain people are just doing weird shit, using Peep’s name, dating his ex like right after. It hasn’t even been a year. I feel like people are using him for sales, and that shit is just wack. But then at the same time, they can just say, “Oh, that’s my bro.” But you never see me doing that shit really. Because people already know. It should already be known. Why do you have to say it every five seconds?

So this is where “Lil Whore” is coming from.

That’s exactly where it came from. Just seeing a bunch of bullshit online. Like Quavo, oh my gosh. When that song came out, people kept DMing me and hitting me up, saying, “You’re not going to say anything?” Just let it rest. Quavo literally said that his barber died. So you niggas look stupid again. Just trying to make everything about themselves. And that shit is wack. Like, “Oh my God, I fucking miss you. This is so hard for me.” Like, nigga shut the fuck up! To carry someone’s legacy doesn’t mean to just ride his legacy. Rep him, yes. I rep Peep, I have him in the middle of my face. It’s not a replica tat, it’s not something he had, it’s my own thing. I feel like people lack the respect and it’s kind of tainting it. I mean you can never taint his legacy. They’re tainting their own legacy.

Have you talked to anyone you reference on that song since it came out?

Yeah [laughs]. I’ve talked to Fat Nick. I be trolling him. I DMed him the other day and I was just like, “Bro, what’s your PSN?” Just joking around. I don’t hate Fat Nick. People think I hate him. I just like pushing his buttons, trying to make him think about what I’m saying.

More than anything you’re telling people to think a little differently.

Yeah. Especially TooPoor. I feel like she’s slipping. Do you know who she dates now? Killstation. I actually fuck with Killstation, except for the fact that… Well he shot “White Tee,” him and Peep were friends. But if I died and my nigga started fucking my bitch bro? I’ll probably haunt you. I’ll be jealous as fuck! What are you doing? Get away from my bitch!

I heard one song. It sounded weird and I couldn’t listen to it.

Do you think you’ll ever listen to it?

Probably, yeah. Just not now.

Did you want to be on it?

I mean I definitely would have been on it, but this is the big topic. This is what everyone wants to talk about. What he would’ve wanted. But who really knows what he would’ve wanted. We weren’t even friends [at the end of his life], so who’s to say that he would’ve put me on it, you know what I’m saying? I wasn’t gonna like push to get on it. But yeah, they put X [XXXTentacion] on there, but they didn’t put Lil Tracy on that. That’s no disrespect to X, I actually fucked with X. It’s just like “Two dead niggas, let’s put them on a track, this will sell.” It feels like I’m gonna wake up tomorrow and be like, “What the fuck was that? That dream was weird!” But this is what it is.

Do you ever feel like people have kind of written you out of like Peep’s history at all?

Bro, they were doing that while we were making history. I just feel like people don’t respect the relationship we had. I don’t even know why. People always did that. I feel like his management was just on some dick shit. They never hit me up. I’m like “Damn, what did I do wrong?” We did have one last song, it kind of sucks though. Have you heard it? “Ratchet Bitches Cocaina”? I had dropped it and then it got immediately taken down, which I get, but then they never hit me up about it. That’s why I’m trying not to ride this whole wave right now. Just being online acting sad and shit. I just be sad in my room. Putting it into my music. And that’s what Sinner was, repenting for all that bullshit.