Maino Talks Yung Berg & Brooklyn Gentrification

Photography by Jimmy Fontaine

If you’re a fan of New York hip-hop, then right about now you’re probably wondering, Where the fuck is that Maino album? After scoring his first real hit over the summer with “Hi Hater,” it seemed like the Brooklyn rapper was poised to go national with the fall release of his Atlantic Records debut If Tomorrow Comes… But 6 months later, the “Hi Hater” buzz has died down and his album appears to have been pushed back to an unknown date in 2009. Damn.

But fuck it, Complex is still riding for Maino, so we decided to feature him in the “My Complex” column in our December/January issue, where he gives his two cents on the robbery of his infamous slapping victim Yung Berg:

“Rappers getting their chains took ain't never going to stop. [Laughs.] I like Yung Berg… But they've got to understand, ‘If you can't uphold it, you shouldn't have it.’ People in the streets are hungry. Niggas even tried me in my own borough before. But I got my shit together. I'm wearing my jewelry on the fucking moon. Straight up with it.”

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