After serving 12-and-a-half years behind bars, B.G. is certainly living life as a blessing now. Fresh off the release of his new album, Freedom of Speech, and its accompanying documentary, Freedom of Speech: The Christopher Dorsey Untold Story, the jovial Cash Money legend chops it up with XXL about his post-prison struggles getting back in the booth, the recent Hot Boys reunion, advice for young street-talking rappers and more.
Since he was released from prison in 2023, after pleading guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm during a traffic stop in 2009, the 18 months he’s been out haven’t all been easy. B.G. returned to his well-established rap career, but hit a roadblock due to strict parole limitations and all types of red tape. In July of 2024, a U.S. District Judge in Louisiana imposed a condition in which the New Orleans native would be required to submit all lyrics to his probation officer before any songs could even be recorded.
However, after fighting sternly for his first amendment rights, Gizzle is now free to record and drop tracks at will. He dropped an aptly titled new album as a result, Freedom of Speech. When asked if he’s still apprehensive about the rhymes he puts on wax, B.G. says he’s always going to “talk his talk” but even that doesn’t block feelings of possible judgment and repercussions.
“If the ban that they was trying to put on me would’ve stuck, then there’s definitely a few records on there that I wouldn’t have been able to drop,” B.G. tells XXL in the video below. “And to be honest with you, I still toned it down a little bit because at the end of the day, the prosecutor’s still got the right. If he feel like I’m going too far or if he feel like I’m name-dropping and talking about active cases or real-life situations that could get people hurt, then he could bring me back in front of the judge and ask for me to be violated. I still kept it all the way B.G., but also, in the back of my mind, was like, I ain’t gon’ push it too far.”
With that, the Hot Boys O.G. offers some very solid advice for the younger generation of rhymers in hopes that they can avoid seeing their lyrics potentially land them in hot water with authorities.
“You know, you got the United States Government over your shoulder,” B.G. says. “That’s why my message to these youngsters be, ‘Man, listen, it ain’t what you do, it’s how you do it. At the end of the day, them people listening. Them people watching. So, you got to be mindful of what you put in these songs.’ Rap is on trial.”
Gizzle also speaks fondly of the recent Hot Boys reunion tour. He reunited onstage with fellow group members Lil Wayne, Juvenile and Turk as well as the Big Tymers, Birdman and Mannie Fresh. There was plenty of camaraderie among the Cash Money Millionaires on the tour. He also gets a hearty laugh about how social media ran wild with claims that Birdman eerily passed out on stage during the reunion. It turns out, it had nothing to do with drugs or a medical emergency but rather a major misunderstanding that ended up going viral.
“He was just reading the teleprompter, ya heard me?” B.G. says laughingly. “They just got him on a bad angle and we had a good laugh about it for a week. All of us laughed, josted off each other, josted off him because we thought it was funny. But it just really reminded me that the internet is really undefeated. Stunna ain’t never did no hard drugs. He always been strictly about the bag.”
Watch B.G. speak further on his life after prison, share his thoughts on why snitching is such a popular topic within the culture and getting to the bag with his original Cash Money labelmates.
