Before Queen of the Ring tries to expand their brand to the west coast, they tested the waters by bringing the wonderful Looney Divine to get some love only the way the east coast could show her and that is by battling Star Smilez.  I caught up with Looney a couple of days before their battle dropped on YouTube.

 

 

Jon Rines – You don’t look Looney to me? I get Divine but Looney? Where’d you get that name from emma to loon?

 

Looney – I was always called Loon!  It wasn’t really to be specific to someone, we’d always be like ‘whateva loca’ but as we started getting older, some of us started getting more crazier than others hmmmm (laugh)

 

Jon Rines – hmmmm!!! I wonder who? (laugh)

 

Looney – (laugh) Everybody started calling me Loon then one of my homeboys called Profile, he was like ‘ Looney, you’re also Divine, like beyond everything!’ like he’d pull me away from people.

 

Jon Rines – Negro wanted imitates Martin Lawrence’ voice DAT ASS! I mean he was on it! You gotta get the cute ones when they’re young and don’t know they cute. That was my M.O.!

 

Looney – (laugh) I wasn’t as nice as I probably started becoming cause when I was younger I was very impulsive. I would do whatever and go at it.

 

Jon Rines – You was smashin left and right wasn’t you?! Man I was on the wrong coast!

 

Looney (laugh)

 

Jon Rines – Like, give me an example of something impulsive you did?

 

Looney – Well, okay. One thing I did a lot. If my friends would never fight a group of people… Like, a lot of my fights weren’t my fights. Cause if my friend gets nervous , what do you call it?

 

Jon Rines – I don’t know? Nigga need to man up?

 

Looney  - (laugh) Like I would just run out and sock the girl (laugh) I’d sock the girl you’d supposed to fight, then her home girl would run up and hit my girl then pretty much ya know. I would just start shit, not because I wanted to start shit, but because they were gonna do it but they didn’t know how so I would get it crackin and running around laughing. I don’t know. I was the Mexican girl at school that didn’t speak any English and I don’t know I was jus WILD! (laughs)

 

She got into her fast talking mode and I literally couldn’t keep up.

 

Jon Rines – You just went into one of your battle rap speed rounds yo! (laughs) But you remind me of me in a way. I cared so much about my friends, like I’d fight to take up for them before I would myself. About me I’d let it slide, but with them I was hot headed.

 

Looney – I’m very protective! Very loyal to who I have a bond with.

 

Hope she’s single then.

 

Looney- (continued) Like even if my friends bring people around I’ve never met, those are the people I defend. I’m not saying I go around looking for fights but if something happens it’s whatever.

 

Jon Rines – Where are you from?

 

Looney – I was born and raised in northern California, but I’d say I grew up in Nevada in Reno

 

Jon Rines – And where did the rapping start

 

Looney – I’ve always written, I’d say around 12 and I’m 21 now.

 

SHE’S LEGAL!

 

Jon Rines – First battle?

 

Looney – well, I’d battle homeboys around my neighborhood and a couple of girls. It started off with tracks. Like they’d make tracks about me and I’d make tracks about them.

 

Jon Rines – Well who did you say your rounds to? Like everyone has a person they say their rounds to before the battle…

 

Looney – No one.

 

Jon Rines – What? NO ONE!

 

Looney - I lost a lot of contact with people. The last 2 years have been so different. New place , new environment so I’m not close with my friends anymore and a lot of people got taken away from me.

 

Jon Rines – You meant like taken away!

 

Looney – Yeah, I’ve had homeboys deported, locked up, shot and killed.  So I keep writing to myself.

 

Jon Rines – Wow. So just you.

 

Looney – I mean I said it to my boyfriend, but he doesn’t really…. I mean you can say it to people but they don’t know what the fuck you’re saying! They don’t listen to battle rap. So they’ll say it was dope, but whatever. They don’t know.  When I used to rap with some of my friends. They were dope so it made me want to be dope, but when I moved out here you rap with people, but they way they freestyle is wack as fuck. Half don’t know about rap. I feel bad asking people to listen to my verse.

 

Jon Rines – But you got Jon now.

 

Looney – JON! You may try to set me up! You probably tell every girl you interview that. What if I get set up in some Queen of the Ring drama or somethin’

 

I do tell every girl though.

 

Jon Rines – You think I would set you up, Looney?

 

Looney – I don’t know! (laugh)

 

Jon Rines – We’ll see.  Do you know how much that Vlad interview helped you out? You gained hella fans off that.

 

Looney – I honestly don’t like that Vlad interview because I feel I made myself a target. It’s hard for me to be dishonest sometimes. If someone is nice to me then I’m nice to them. If they be mean, I start getting rambunctious and shit.

 

Jon Rines – But what’s wrong with that?

 

Looney – Put yourself in my shoes, Jon. These people are looking at you like Awww. They give you sympathy.  They’re like, “Okay, she doesn’t think she’s better than us so it’s okay” You wanna be friends with the nice people, but you don’t want to be friends with someone that you see as a threat to you.

 

At this point, a picture of O’fficial comes to mind.

 

Jon Rines – Did you look down and read the comments?

 

Looney – I mean, I try to read comments. I read some comments on my battle and I’m like fuck this. Some are cool but some are unnecessary.

 

Jon Rines – I just laugh. It doesn’t bother me at all.  So let’s go back to this preparation.  So you get the call from Debo to battle Star Smilez and what happened.

 

Looney – You know what. Some people told me about this Queen of the Ring a year ago, but I didn’t pay it much attention and barely watch the battles. Then one day I decided to watch and I see this Star Smilez girl and I’m thinking ‘Yo this bitch is wacky yo!’  Then a year later my wack ass lose to the bitch! (laughs)

 

Jon Rines – Your “ass” isn’t wack though. It’s perfectly shaped…

 

Looney – Huh?

 

Jon Rines – Nah, but um…

 

Looney – But I can’t believe I lost to her knowing I am better than her. I meant what I had said about she’s not fuckin with me but I feel bad I set that to myself but couldn’t prove it to myself. I didn’t wanna battle her. I wasn’t inspired but I should have since I was the first girl from westcoast and Debo believed in me.

 

Jon Rines – How did you feel about the battle with Gattas?

 

Looney – I feel like that was the beginning of my losing streak, SHIT! I lost. Gattas is good. I feel she was more seasoned and she was my third battle. I was still running around in Reno. I didn’t care.  I knew how to rap to my standard. The average little Latin girl down the street.  She did good! In a way she taught me a lesson.

 

Jon Rines – When you won your battles, you won from your aggression and insults. I think the kind of crowd you were in loved that.  Do you think it hinders you from making more clever bars since you win in crowds that don’t’ look for that.

 

Looney – No I don’t think so. Cause they like that shit too.

 

Jon Rines – I mean, I think if I took you and raised you up over here, you’d rap differently.

 

Looney – Well ,yeah. East coast when it comes to the rhymes they like to think more ,but over here we like more gutter hyphie movement shit.

 

Jon Rines – So what did you think of 40 versus Bonnie.

 

Looney – I love how 40 spits. She’s really lyrical. But I feel like it just wasn’t Bonnie’s night. It wasn’t like she’s horrible. Maybe life was saying ‘Don’t get your head too high up Bonnie’ you never know.

 

Jon – I was kinda distracted that battle because 40’s ass was so small. (laugh)

 

Looney – I ain’t gone lie I was watching 40’s ass the whole time! And I don’t do that! I mean even while Bonnie was rapping I was watching 40!

 

Jon Rines – Well I wasn’t turned on at all? (laughs) Debo gave me pictures of you to use for this interview so I was looking at you as 40 and Bonnie played in my ear.

 

Looney – Shut the hell up! (laughs) I didn’t even know 40 had ass like that!

 

Jon Rines – When I interview people there ass grows!

 

Looney – Wait? You interviewed her after the battle.

 

Awkward Silence.

 

Jon Rines – So you’re in Queen of the Ring now so who’s next?

 

Looney – I want a Hispanic chick!

 

Jon Rines – Like who?

 

Looney – Dutchess!

 

Jon Rines – I think you gotta control your own destiny so this interview is the start of you versus Dutchess.  If Dutchess reads this, what do you want to say to her.

 

Looney – Why the long face?

 

We both laugh!

 

Looney – who did you say would win between me and Star? I know you said she’d 3-0 me!

 

Jon Rines – I said I’m team Looney and you’d win 2-1!

 

Looney – Did you really say that?

 

Jon Rines – No, I said she’d 3-0 you.

 

Looney – Why?

 

Jon Rines – Because I thought the crowd wouldn’t mess with you, you’d come with aggression and personals and Queen of the Ring won’t like personals unless you can flip them into schemes are hot Bars.

 

Looney – They actually gave me love! And trust me, I’m taking this serious and working on my flaws.

 

Jon Rines – Yeah I hear you. Heard you did good. Okay, so my famous last question.  Tell me why shouldn’t I have you in my top five?

 

Looney –  NOT?

 

Jon Rines – Yo, I’ve asked every person I’ve interviewed this question.

 

Looney – Choking.  But that’s a good question, I see why you ask that.

 

Jon Rines – Well you’ll be okay with that and your new dedication to it so I look forward to seeing you in the future.

 

 

 

 

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