Who Is V-Nasty?

Way back in May, when folks discovered Kreayshawn and the awesomeness of her viral smash "Gucci Gucci," we were all eager to learn more about this Oakland sensation. So we clicked our way over to her Youtube page and found a video titled, "A Day With V-Nasty." That's when we first met one of Kreay's best friends, 21-year-old Vanessa Reece aka V-Nasty.

In the video, V-Nasty spit a series of amateurish freestyles ("Lick my pussy, nah give me money"), nearly got into several fights with random pedestrians, and recklessly threw around the N-word before getting high and mellowing out. Her strangely engrossing antics were something straight out of a "My teenage daugher is out of control" episodes on Maury. In other words, she seemed ready made for WorldStarHipHop.

As Kreayshawn's fame grew, so did V-Nasty's infamy. Critics pointed out her poor defense of using the N-word and her general ignorance. But wouldn't you know it? V-Nasty soon became a hot topic on her own. Next thing you know, she was outshining Kreayshawn on stage with her energeric performances and collaborating on a album with Gucci Mane.

With Baytl, her joint with Gucci, dropping today (stream the entire album here), we got on the horn with the Oakland native to find out Who Is V-Nasty? She told us why Lil Debbie got kicked out of White Girl Mob, why she still uses the N-word, and why Gucci said she's more hood than most rappers...

As told to Insanul Ahmed

V-Nasty: “Growing up in Oakland was hard all the way around, especially for me. There’s not a lot of white girls out there. It was harder for a white girl to grow up in Oakland than it would be for anybody else to really live that life. Motherfuckers always want to make me try to prove myself and shit. I don’t have to show motherfuckers no more though.

“It was hard seeing a lot of my friends that I grew up with either going to jail, fighting for a long time, or motherfuckers dying and shit.

[My dad] was Vietnamese. He was born in Vietnam during the Vietnam war. That nigga—ooh, excuse me—that man right there, he was always in and out of jail, doing hella shit. That’s bascially where I got a lot of shit from.

“My mom was always working and shit. There’s a lot of different races and stuff out in Oakland and [my dad] was Vietnamese. He was born in Vietnam during the Vietnam war. So I’m mixed with white and Vietnamese. My family’s from Vietnam. They’re kind of crazy. [I haven’t been to Vietnam but] I’m planning on going out there. Hopefully, my probation will let me go that way.

“That nigga—ooh, excuse me—that man right there, he was always in and out of jail, doing hella shit. That’s bascially where I got a lot of shit from, my father. [My father] was around, aside from the times he was in jail. Then he was in the streets a lot and shit.

“I dropped out of school a long time ago. [I went] to ninth grade, kind of. I hated that shit. [I say] kind of because I never graduated eighth grade, but I told Skyline High that I did so I could go to ninth grade. Then I dropped out of ninth grade after that. So it’s kind of stupid. I dropped out and started being in the streets more. I said fuck school and started getting money.”

V-Nasty: “I went to jail because of robbery charges. I was on bail for a robbery and I got caught [doing] another one. They sent my ass after that one. [I must have] have been [arrested] like, six times. I [can’t say what I was doing in the streets because of probation]. I’m more positive now. I don’t want to remember that life. I was working at The Chocolate Factory after I got off probation. I was on ankle-monitor. I had a job so I could get out of the house.”

V-Nasty: “What happened was my cousin was rapping and stuff, but I had never really tried it. Then my baby’s father used to always sit in the kitchen and just rap to hella beats and I’d be like, ‘Oh my God. He sounds so bad.’

“So I used to rap over him and after that I started freestyling a lot. It started like two years ago. I was just fucking around, playing and shit. We just started off freestyling and fucking around being hella funny—didn’t give a fuck about nothing. It was all just fun and then I guess people started noticing us. So I had to get more serious.

“When I got out of jail [I took it more seriously]. Before I went to jail, I was supposed to get serious, but I was like, ‘Fuck that. I’m still out in the streets. This shit ain’t about to go nowhere.’ Then I went to jail, and Kreay was like, ‘Oh yeah. It’s going somewhere.’ I was like, ‘Okay.’ I started getting fan mail in jail and shit. I was like, ‘Oh yeah. I need this.’”

V-Nasty: “I was listening to Too $hort, 3 Times Crazy, Lil Wayne. Then when I got a little older, I started listening to Gucci Mane, Webbie, Lil Boosie. I really fuck with the South a lot. Mac Dre. I listen to a lot of Bay Area music and stuff. That’s our home. DB Tha General, shout out to my brother."

V-Nasty: "I met Kreayshawn through my cousin. [She was dating my cousin and they had broken up]. I had heard she had my cousin doing drugs, but really she didn’t. He was doing it himself. I [called her up and] was yelling and hella hyphy and didn’t give a fuck, like, ‘Bitch! I’m about to beat your ass bitch! You got my cousin fucked up!’ I was pregnant [at the time].

“My cousin was like, ‘It shouldn’t have been like that.’ I didn’t have a valid reason to not like her. I was just going off of what my auntie was telling me and shit. Kreayshawn was in front of my auntie’s house, I walked up, and I was hella pregnant like, ‘What’s up?’ After that, it wasn’t like an argument or anything like that. Ever since then it was like, ‘Hey, what’s going on?’

“[Me and Kreayshawn’s stage personalities differ in the way that] she’s laid back, and I’m a motherfucking fool. I don’t give a fuck—she don’t give a fuck either—but she laid back and more relaxed. I’m like, ‘Hey! What’s happening!’ No, [I don’t outshine her]. We work together. It’s not even an issue at all—it's White Girl Mob!”

V-Nasty: “We did that mixtape in one day, in Kreayshawn’s living room, with her engineering on Garageband. It was freestyles, all freestyles. I didn’t really take it that serious.

“When I got out of jail, I had a lot of fans asking me, ‘Where’s your music? Where’s your music?’ So I just was like, ‘Fuck this shit. I’m going to go in,’ and I freestyled hella songs.

“I think [I got fans] off of the videos that Kreay had put up before I went to jail. While I was in jail she had put up a dedication video out to me saying, ‘Free V Nasty,’ and she had a Free V Nasty campaign going on. So it was just a lot of stuff that she worked on.”

V-Nasty: “I seen that after I got out of jail. [Laughs.] Personally, I really don’t like it. It’s just funny. I don’t know, I can’t really tell you my feelings on that video. It’s just me goofing off and that’s just me. [Laughs.] I’m kind of embarrassed about who I am.

“I’m just saying, you know, like...I don’t know. It’s just funny. I’m all high, singing and shit. [Laughs.] Everybody says that’s [the best part of the video]. I’m like, 'No!' [Laughs.] But that’s just me being fun.

“You know people feel different about things after they see it... Like, other people will probably like it so much, and then you’ll be like, ‘Oh my God.’”

V-Nasty: “I get girls but most of the women I fuck with are not really for...I’m not really a lesbian. I flirt with girls a lot and stuff. I just don’t like labels. I don’t like being labeled as anything like that. [I’ve never dated a girl]. I talk to girls but I never was like, really in a relationship with a female.

“[I’m kissing Kreayshawn in my Twitter avatar because] that’s just my sister. That’s sisterly love right there. I kiss my sister every time we perform. That’s for good luck. That’s a good luck picture.

“I talk to women, but I’ve never been in like, ‘You’re my girlfriend.’ I’m not kissing, I’m not...you know. I don’t like that at all... No. [Laughs.] But more power to... I love my lesbian women. [I don’t identify as a lesbian]. I’m pimping.”

V-Nasty: “Gucci Mane reached out to my manager and said he wanted to work with me and you know I wasn’t going to pass that up—that’s my favorite rapper. So it was like, ‘Yes!’ [Laughs.] That was like my dream come true.

“Me and my friends used to be running around Oakland like, ‘Brick squad. 1017. Ayyy!’ Now it’s like, ‘BRICK SQUAD! Ay!’ [Laughs.] I don’t give a fuck. I’m just playing, but yeah, that was a big thing for me.

Gucci Mane said I’m more hood than these motherfuckers rapping right now, so I can say whatever the fuck I want.

“He went to jail the day after I finished it, so [he reached out] three months ago maybe. [We got in the studio in] September [and worked for] two weeks. Then as soon as I left, he went to jail the next day. I was like, ‘O-M-G.’

“Working with Gucci was amazing. He’s a cool person. He has a really great personality. He’s funny as hell. He was up in there shooting dice. He reminds me of some of my friends back home. So it just made me feel at home in Atlanta. You should hear his laugh though. He was cracking hella jokes and shit and laughing at his own jokes. [Laughs.]

“We just kicked off. As soon as we got there, we acted like we knew each other already. He was like, ‘What’s up, V Nasty?’ I was like, ‘What’s up with it?’ [Laughs.] Gucci said get ‘em! Gucci said I’m more hood than these motherfuckers rapping right now, so I can say whatever the fuck I want. That’s what he said.

“The album is something that people didn’t imagine. You get to hear me actually rapping, instead of playing around. They’re about to hear the real side of me. Instead of being hella judgemental, they’re going to see where I’m coming from basically.”

V-Nasty: “I go straight to Lids, Foot Locker, Champs—whatever. I’m in every shoe store. You know I have to have my tennis shoe game up. Hat game: snapbacks all day. White v-neck, black v-neck, whatever else I throw on after that. That’s just my everyday thing. My syrup chain, my Juicy Couture, my nose-ring... Nah, I’m just kidding.

“A lot of people [feel I’m a tomboy]. I don’t know. I guess I am a tomboy, but I just like the way I dress. I don’t like wearing booty shorts. I don’t like wearing high heels. I don’t like wearing girly shoes. I used to [play sports]. I played football, baseball, basketball. I played at school sometimes, but I played on the streets though.

“I can’t even grow my hair back. It’s so fucked up. It’s hard. I want to just cut it all off and go Britney Spears. No, I’m just kidding. [Laughs.] I cut it off like two years ago. I tried once to grow it back but I was like, 'Uh uh.' My hair is thick and curly. So it just does not work.”

V-Nasty: “I met her through Kreayshawn. The police called Kreayshawn’s phone because a while back she had took somebody’s phone. After that I was just like, ‘Whoa. What’s going on?’ This bitch gave the police Kreayshawn’s number and basically snitched on her. She told the police hella shit.

“Me and Kreayshawn got a charge off that shit, that's when Kreay was like 15. We forgave her after that, [but at that moment] I was just like, ‘I‘m not fucking with her, because If I get snitched on...’

This bitch [Lil Debbie] gave the police Kreayshawn’s number and basically snitched on her. She told the police hella shit.

“So we was like, ‘Okay.’ I was like, ‘I’m going to stay away from her.’ Then Kreayshawn started bringing her around, she started being around my cousin. Then we became friends, and she would drive around Oakland with us and come to Oakland.

“She was more of our square-type kind of. [She] had more stuff than us because her momma was rich and shit. She was from Albany with a big house and shit, and we’d never seen that type of shit.

“So we went over to her house, I’m getting hella of her clothes, hella of her jewelery, like everything! [Laughs.] She had hella shit that we weren’t used to. So we were always with her. That was our rich partner. Our rich, square cuz.

“She’s currently not in the White Girl Mob. She got kicked to the curb! [This recently happened] on September 24th, Kreayshawn’s birthday. You don’t even wanna get me started!

“We had a show scheduled in Philadelphia and [Kreayshawn] also had something scheduled in L.A. two days later. Me and [Lil Debbie] were together and we missed our flight, so I get on the phone [with Kreyshawn] like, ‘I’m coming’ and [Lil Debbie’s] like ‘I’m coming.’

“Next thing you know, I hear her on the phone asking should she not come. Why shouldn’t you come if it’s your best friend’s birthday? This is a show we’re about to go perform. How you gonna cancel a show after she—just other shit! That bitch gone, fuck that!

She’s currently not in the White Girl Mob. She got kicked to the curb! [This recently happened] on September 24th, Kreayshawn’s birthday.

“Basically, she didn’t want to go out there to L.A.. She didn’t want to miss her club appearance which was the next day [at another spot]. She’d rather miss her sister’s birthday, who made a club appearance possible for her dumb ass.

“Our flights were scheduled to get there before hers. It was all scheduled out and at the last minute she was like, ‘No, I’m not coming.’ Also, some more things. She was saying she was DJ’ing and she never even DJ’ed.

“We basically told her off and after that we went our own ways. It’s too bad.

[As far as how Kreayshawn feels about it] you can ask her. I mean, there’s a third [member to make up for Lil Debbie’s departure]. Y’all will see, sooner than later. Like it or not, it’s in full effect. I don’t know when we’re bringing her out. She’s out, but she ain’t ‘out.’ She gon' come with a [bang]. We can’t tell anybody [her name] yet. It’s a secret.”

V-Nasty: “[With my use of the ‘N-word’], I don’t say it in the public eye or in my music [anymore], but with my friends I’m not changing it for nobody. They mad that I even stopped saying it in my music now! Around my home with everybody where I’m from, I’m not changing it.

“I said it on the Gucci mixtape—well maybe, I don’t know. I don’t think so, but I think I said it once. I respect people’s opinion, so I backed off of [using it] because I don’t want anybody feeling disrespected or anything.

[With my use of the ‘N-word’], I don’t say it in the public eye or in my music [anymore], but with my friends I’m not changing it for nobody. They mad that I even stopped saying it in my music now! Around my home with everybody where I’m from, I’m not changing it.

“People think I’m rich. Whatever they feel like is how they feel. They don’t even know me. For anybody who speaks on me even saying the N-word, or even have something to say about me personally, they don’t know me, so at the end of the day it’s not even a valid comment.

“Why would they even talk on my name if they don’t even know me? They don’t even know my nationality. They don’t even know that I come from a different background. Motherfuckers don’t know where I come from, how I am, or who I am.

“Go through Oakland and see how many motherfuckers really know me. Ain’t nobody never told me to my face [anything about my use of the N-word]. All I’ve seen is the Internet talking shit about me saying the N-word. I don’t even condone that shit. At first, I was like, ‘Whoa! What’s going on?’ Now I’m like, ‘Whatever. Y’all mad at me for—whatever.’

“[I choose to not use the N-word in my music] because [the criticism is] what makes me. They basically say, ‘Oh, she’s just saying this so she can get...’ I’m gon’ show motherfuckers that it ain’t like that.

“[It’s not a publicity stunt] at all. I never even knew I was gonna be this big. It was just me. Whoever knew that someone was gonna watch my video where i said the N-word hella times—hella times! I didn’t know that. I’m just being me.

It ain’t no color in Oakland. I don’t understand why people even think it’s a color thing. It’s not in my nature. I understand the history of it, but come on now! I’m half white, half Vietnamese and I grew up in an all-Black community.

“I never knew there would be anything like this—not in my lifetime. I’d rather be here than where I was. [My use of the N-word goes back to when] people use to call me like, ‘What’s up? You my n—you know!’ It’s just how it is.

“It ain’t no color in Oakland. I don’t understand why people even think it’s a color thing. It’s not in my nature. I understand the history of it, but come on now! I’m half white, half Vietnamese and I grew up in an all-Black community.

“I’m not saying that I wanna be Black. I’m not saying I want to be anything. It’s just how I grew up. Motherfuckers never told me to don’t do it or that I was doing something wrong.

“[Using the N-word] is no issue where I’m from, so that’s why I’m actually trying to make a change now because I never seen a problem with it. Now that other people from other places are seeing this, it’s like they’re probably going through different things that I’m going through. I’ve never seen that shit, so how could I know?

“It’s not a problem where I’m from, but now that I see it’s a problem I’m trying to fix that. I want people to respect me instead of not respecting me for something that I grew up saying. I’m just a product of my environment. I'm way much more than that word. I know that. If that’s what makes them hate me, then that’s their problem, not mine.

[Both my baby daddys are] black as hell [Laughs.]. No [they don’t mind my use of the N-word].

“[I use the term ‘bitch’ because] shit, everybody a bitch. If you act like a bitch, you a bitch! It don’t mean no gender. [Taking race out of the N-word and gender out of ‘bitch’] is exactly the same.

“It’s a curse word to my kids. If my kids say that shit, I’m gonna slap they ass [Laughs.]. Nah, I’m kidding. [My kids are] five and two. [They’re not from the same father, but] they from the same momma though.

“[Both my baby daddys are] black as hell [Laughs.]. No [they don’t mind my use of the N-word]. It’s not a problem out here. We’re all the same people in the same struggle. What color are we? Nothing! We use the same rules. We all talk the same way. Same poor, same streets, same stoplight, same police, same drugs, same money.

V-Nasty: “I’m dropping a mixtape and working on my album also. I’m gonna be there so I hope motherfuckers are ready. I’m here, and I’m not going nowhere! Be prepared for V-Nasty. V-Nasty gonna have hella shit—White Girl Mob!

“Right now I’m working with myself, me and Kreayshawn. We’ll see in the future what goes off. People have gave me deals, but I have not took no deal. I wasn’t ready. It was too early for me. I want to build myself more to let people see that I’m better than the stuff that I put out [previously]. I’m gonna work on myself before I go into something.”