In a recent interview with Crenshaw-native, Nana, he talked about his new EP “Save Yourself,” Nipsey Hussle‘s passing, West coast representation, among other things.

When discussing his new EP, he talked about why it was different from his previous works and why a core fan-base matters.

“In this project I was more vulnerable and just dove deeper and tapped into more of who I am. With every project I’m going to find a way to draw more into who I am. As they grow, artists tend to stray sway from who they are, which is why a lot of artists lose their core fans,” he said.

Nana then delves deeper into a line he had in Heaven & Hennessy reading, “I don’t wanna die at the hands of my own, in my home because I think another pill might help.” The rapper appears to look for strength from a Higher Power as he looks for other remedies to satisfy a void. He speaks on the line and what he meant when he said it.

“It’s crazy because that was actually a double-entendre,” he said. “With everything that Nip was doing, he literally died by the hands of his own, someone that looked like him. I also meant it in a way to honor Mac Miller, as he was an inspiration to me and he also was the inspiration behind this project. Whether it was intentional or non-intentional, which I think was non-intentional, he died at the hands of his own in his home. He thought that another pill, or whatever it was, would help him out and help him escape his demons and I don’t want that for myself.”

“No matter what it is that I’m going through, especially with this industry, the further deeper I go I know the crazier it’s going to be. It only gets crazier from there and people look for different routes for escaping and that was one route,” as he ties back in to Mac Miller’s passing.

Nana goes on to talk about Nipsey Hussle’s passing and how it affected him directly, considering he’s from the same city as Nip.

“That was so unfortunate what happened to Nip because was was so accessible. The neighborhood needed that, literally my neighborhood needed to see him come back and helping because a lot of people come up and they leave. He stayed, he helped and died on Crenshaw & Slauson, it sucks because Nipsey was doing everything to help out people like [Eric Holder]. I could only hope to accomplish some of the things Nip accomplished, but like he said, ‘the marathon continues.’ We can continue what he started by continuing the ideology that he believed in and all of the stuff that he was doing to bring back to the community. That’s how we keep the marathon going. Just him being an inspiration for me and being where I’m from, that’s how I’m going to keep it going.”

The artist also explains why him representing the City of Los Angeles is important to his craft. “From the way that I dress, to the way that I talk, even the music, the West coast has the musicality. Even when you listen to Nip, you listen to everything from the snare to the drums. It’s been like that since people like Dr. Dre and him adapting from Zapp & Roger and George Clinton, that’s the West coast sound,” he says.

Nana then praises his inner crew and people he’s worked with. Ranging from his photographers to his producers, he lets it be known that it’s a team effort for him. The Crenshaw rapper further mentions who he’s inspired by when it comes to his music, mentioning Kendrick Lamar, J. Cole, Andre 3000, as well as Thurz from Inglewood, Anderson .Paak, Mozzy and others.

“We’re really on a come-up as a region. I feel like eyes are on us again and people are seeing what’s going on. That’s one thing that I’m proud of, that’s why I’m so proud to be where I’m from,” he says.

Listen to Nana’s new “Save Yourself” EP below: