For the better part of a year, YG was planning to call his sophomore LP Still Krazy, an apt follow-up to 2014’s My Krazy Life. But just weeks before its release this week, he changed the name to Still Brazy and shared the accompanying title track–a candid look at what’s transpired in the Compton rapper’s life since My Krazy Life. “I just woke up one morning and I painted my Maybach red–I wrapped it, matter of fact, red,” he says of what sparked the name change, “and I thought, ‘I might as well change my album to Still Brazy ’cause I gotta be real with myself.’”

In this instance, that meant using the B to signify his allegiance to Bloods. Throughout his lyrics, YG consistently replaces C’s with B’s, and he would’ve called his debut My Brazy Life had his team not stepped in to convince him otherwise. “They told me, ‘You don’t want to lose no fans. You want everybody to buy your album.’” Which everybody did: My Krazy Life went Gold. The K—to avoid inadvertent Crips affiliation with the C—was, thus, a compromise. Now, however, YG kept it how he wanted. “This album I was like, ‘Man, fuck what y’all are talking about.’”

My Krazy Life, as the title suggests, was remarkable not only for YG’s symbiosis with DJ Mustard, who handled the majority of the album’s production, but for how YG presented his daily routine. The narrative moves smoothly from raucous parties to solitary moments in the studio where he uses alcohol to cope with pain. On back-to-back tracks (“Do It to Ya,” “Me & My Bitch”), he goes from committing adultery to feeling hurt, frustrated, and embarrassed about being cheated on. Still Brazy, however, widens its scope of frankness to the political realm, YG says. It’s led by the Nipsey Hussle collab “Fuck Donald Trump,” a song whose title provides more than enough detail. He says too many people in his position have a platform to speak out and don’t use it. He hopes to change that.

The album is also an opportunity to highlight where he’s from. Beyond Drake (who is on “Why You Always Hatin’?” with Bay Area standout Kamaiyah) and Lil Wayne, the majority of the features are from relative unknowns with whom YG is close, like Slim 400, Marley Blu, and more. Once again, he acknowledges the platform he’s earned, and thinks it’s his responsibility to promote young rappers who deserve a chance on the bigger stage. Still, it’s about more than the city. Compton may have raised YG, but Still Brazy is “about what I’ve been going through in the past year and a half—trust issues, paranoia. I got popped and I don’t know who shot me,” he continues, “I don’t trust nobody. I fell out with a group of the homies including Mustard. I'm dealing with success.”

Pitchfork hopped on the phone with YG to talk about the new album (which is streaming now), getting political, what Bompton means to him, and more.

Pitchfork: On “Twist My Fingaz,” you rap, “I put Bompton on the map.” What does that mean to you?