Chicago Santana found himself on the wrong side of the law in the last few years and facing a 30-year sentence. Fortunately, he learned and understood the law and even after being offered an 8-year plea deal, Santana fought for his freedom and came out victorious.
Wrongful entry and searches led to him being vindicated and back making music, something he perhaps took for granted prior to his arrest. Heās back in the studio and recently released a new single, āFell In LuV,ā featuring White Collar Suge. Santana also has his own label, āAlways Talkin Money,ā where he plans to work with younger artists while pumping out his own music as well.
Realizing time is not always on your side, Santana vows to up the ante and push out more music to satisfy his supporters. Rebuilding his brand and his name is high on the priority list, as well.
The DMV [D.C., Maryland, Virginia] rapper talks to Zenger about how he got his Chicago name, opens up about his trials and tribulations and lessons learned along the way.
Percy Crawford interviewed Chicago Santana for Zenger.
Zenger: You stepped away from music to take care of a very serious legal situation. How did it turn out for you?
Santana: Everything turned out good for the most part. But what I always tell people, you got real life and then you got entertainment. And from the outside looking in, it will always look like itās just entertainment, but dealing with regular life, family, legal situations and all of that, you gotta make sure home is alright first.
Zenger: What did you learn from the legal situation that you went through?
Santana: Manā¦ thatās a good question. Iām going to honestly tell you, me dealing with legal situations from a juvenile up to now, what Iāve learned is, you gotta be smart. If youāre an intelligent person, you learn a little bit. And I know some people have more challenges than others. Itās a bunch of law shows and court TV shows out there, but I learned as a person how this all works.
If you donāt have the knowledge, youāre going to suffer. I feel like thatās anything in life. Thatās why they say knowledge is power. Especially in the law system, if you donāt have any type of knowledge, you can get played with. What Iāve learned is, you have to really pay attention, know whatās going on, and not assume you know everything.
Zenger: Iām definitely not here to interrogate you, and I donāt know how much you can speak on your situation, but can you discuss some of the legal issues and what you were facing, because it was some real time?
Santana: I had a couple of different situations, but the main situation that I had, I allegedly got caught with some firearms and drugs. It was a big distribution and unregistered weapons case. Iām in the D.C. and Maryland area; you have states like Tennessee and Florida where you can open carry. Their gun laws are lenient. Out here, itās like if you get caught in New York with a gun. They are going to give you a mandatory five years for it. There are no fines or tickets; if you donāt have that special paperwork to carry it, you going to jail.
The only way you can carry a gun out here is if youāre a police officer or security. If you have a business, you have to write a motion. You have to do a lot to legally carry a gun here. But at the same time, you want to protect yourself. Because we are by the nationās capital, they make it difficult for everybody.
So, some people take their chances, and I was one of them people. But I didnāt directly get caught hands-on with it on me, but long story short, they were trying to give me the maximum for my trafficking case with the firearms, which was like 30 years. Thatās what the paper said, which is crazy because it says, if you get charged with a homicide, it starts at 25 years to life. But drugs start at 30 years. So, what I learned was, for a year to a year-and-a-half, my case kept on getting delayed and drug out. They were trying to get me to take a plea to where I would do eight-and-a-half years, and I would be on probation for the rest of whatever my sentence was.
But my thing was, I know they legally didnāt have the right to find what they found. A lot of people would think in their headā¦ this is why I hate internet street thugs. It be all these internet street clowns that aināt never been through nothing and donāt know nothing, and their first intellect on something on the internet if somebody beat a serious case is, āHe mustāve told. He must have cooperated.ā But thatās why I say you gotta know the law.
Certain human beings would think, āDamn, they caught me with three guns. They caught me with a half a brick of cocaine and two pounds of weed.ā They will have in their mind that, just because the police recovered that from them, they have to get in trouble. People donāt realize, if they didnāt do A, B, and C, so they could catch you with that, then what you got caught with doesnāt even matter. When I went to court, the judge said, āIf they wouldāve found a dead body, they wouldnāt have even been able to charge you with it because they went about finding it the wrong way.ā
They did an illegal arrest on me, an illegal search, they ran up in my house on some he say-she say things. The police looking at me on the internet and running into me, a bunch of new school millennial things that police not supposed to do. At the end of the day if I wasnāt smart enough to fight it, and I just would have signed the piece of paper to take the plea, because Iāll rather do eight years than 20 yearsā¦
Some people would sign off and they ship them off to jail even though they had no evidence on them. If you let them know youāre cool with them doing that, theyāre not going to say, āWe donāt have any evidence on you.ā They going to let you sign that paper and youāre going to be in there.
Zenger: To be home and getting back to your passion, the music, what does that mean to you?
Santana: Itās full throttle now. As soon as I was done with all my legal situations, I came home, they deleted my Instagram. The Instagram that I hit you on, thatās my new one. Hopefully, I get my verified account back. I was just sitting on music. I had a name and a following, but I wasnāt taking advantage of it.
When life changes and you see a bunch of people trying to do stuff that you actually got plugs and been in the mix, you start looking at it differently. In my mind, I need to take advantage of the clout and the opportunities that I do have and grow from it and take it to the next level. If I donāt, Iām going to be in more dumb situations.
Zenger: How did the new single, āFell In LuV,ā featuring White Collar Suge, come to fruition?
Santana: White Collar Suge is my man. We came together for āFell In LuV.ā He just came home. He did about six or seven years. Not to put his business out there, but he did that time for a bank robbery. Itās one of them things where, I really know him from the streets. He been my lil man. We done bumped heads, but he cool. He official in my book. I relate to him.
He was around me before I was Chicago. There are a lot of people I might have in my songs or do music with, who donāt necessarily do music. Iām trying to turn my people on and bring my people up. Of course, Iām going to work with the upcoming artists who got talent, but other than that, Iām going to try and build up everybody around me.
Zenger: How does a DMV rapper get the name Chicago Santana?
Santana: Itās crazy that you say that, because if I could start over, Chicago probably wouldnāt be my name. I thought about changing it in the midst, but I built too much on it, and I pop up on Google too much. But the name came fromā¦ if you remember the movie āPoetic Justice,ā Joe Torry played the character, Chicago, and he always brushed his hair. I used to be the young kid with a fade, and I always had a brush on me, and everybody would call me, Chicago from that movie.
So, when I started rapping, my name is Santana and the Chicago just stuck. I just put it together. Of course, people will look at it like Iām saying Iām from the city of Chicago, but it has no relation. It was just a nickname. I called myself that not knowing how far I would go.
Zenger: You have songs with guys like Young Dolph (rest in peace), Gucci Mane. How were you able to link with some of the biggest names in the game?
Santana: When I deal with music, I know it is entertainment, but itās a business too. One thing Iāve learned, and I learned from experience and people doing it to me, at the end of the day, if you always be yourself, anybody who is real will acknowledge you for that. I mess with OJ da Juiceman super hard. He one of the realest people in the music industry. Dolph was real too. I spoke to him two weeks prior to them murdering him. Rest in peace to Dolph. Gucci is real too. Rest in peace to Bankroll Fresh too. That was definitely my man.
All these people appreciated me for being me. I was never trying to be extra. Just like the cases I done caught, I speak on life experiences and what Iāve been through. I express myself by what Iāve been through. Iāll talk about it in my music, but I donāt get around people and talk about it. I donāt tell people too much of my business. But if I put it in the music, I can go into detail about my life experiences.
Zenger: I appreciate the time. Itās good to hear that youāre back in the studio and staying out of trouble. Anything else you want to add?
Santana: Iām going to be dropping a lot of new singles. Iām running my own label now, Always Talkin Money [also known as Always Talkin Millions]. I have a few artists that Iām working with. Iām going to come out and push the youth, while upping myself at the same time. So, I have a bunch of singles and videos dropping. Iām just pushing forward and going hard with it. I appreciate you for getting down with me. I donāt know if people tell you that, but it counts to me. It means a lot.
Edited by Judith Isacoff and Matthew B. Hall
The post After Fight For Freedom, Chicago Santana Back Making Music appeared first on Zenger News.