During an interview with Vlad TV, entertainer Nick Cannon recalled growing up in Bay Vista, which is a Blood neighborhood in San Diego, California.
“I wouldn’t say I joined a gang. It wasn’t like a boys or girls club where you can walk up and sign up. I grew up in a neighborhood in Southeast San Diego, to where you know, it’s a public assistance area called Bay Vista and that was kind of the thing, the cats I grew up with. If anything, I was always trying to get away from it. Of course during the early ’90s when it was glorified I definitely was wearing my Dickies and certain colors and the Chucks.”
His upbringing is something that he never gloried,because he’s lost friends because of gang violence.
“It was a Blood set. But, it was one of those things, that’s the area that I grew up in. I mean, even if you think of Southeast San Diego, the majority of the people from down there are from different Blood sets. You know, it’s one of those things where I never even tried to glorify that, because you know, I got out of that unshaved. I lost a lot of friends to senseless gang violence. A lot of people still locked up right now. So, I always try to down play it and be like I was that cat that was allowed to get away from it.”
The former Nickelodeon star also admitted to being corny, especially after being shot at.
“I remember that too. There was a time during high school, when I actually felt like I was at a crossroads, I actually remember having this conversation with my family like, ‘Yo, a lot of my friends are getting shot, people I know who are close to me are dying. I have an opportuntiy to be in this entertainment thing and obviously everybody wants to be successful at something. But, when one day people are shooting, there are drive-bys at your school and you’re going to football games and not really making it home and the next day you can take a train ride to Los Angeles and not deal with any of that because you’re in Hollywood. Yo, man, once Nickelodeon called I locked in. I forgot about all of that stuff. I was going to be the corniest dude, especially when them corny checks started coming.”
Cannon recently made headlines after he donned a white face to promote his upcoming album, White People Party Music.
To watch the video click here.
Darry Robertson (@darryl_robertson)
