Train of Thought
YBN Nahmir on "Opp Stoppa" featuring 21 Savage.
Interview: Zoe Johnson
Editor’s Note: This story originally appeared in the Spring 2021 issue of XXL Magazine, on stands now.
“I keep a rocket in my pocket socket called a pocket rocket/If it’s war, we ain’t playin’ games, bitch, we get it started/I’m the man, clearly keep a hundred, nigga, I’m a gunna/When it’s beef, we ain’t playin’ games, we hit you and yo’ mama/ Know that choppa, that’s that oppa stoppa, hit you and your pops/I fell in love with all this fuckin’ money, you in love with drama/Say, say, baby, I’m not Sosa baby, but I keep a llama/Gonna pull up in a new i8, you hidin’ in a (Aye) Honda/All these tattoos on my fuckin’ body, she say I’m a hottie/ Why your girlfriend always wanna fuck me, wanna touch my body?/We got all type of fuckin’ guns, might even have a Tommy/I remember them days in the ’jects, still free my nigga Ryan/And free Chris, though/’Member we was bouncin’ out with fo’-fo’s/A nigga keep it silent, in L.A. I keep a clip, though/’Cause no, I can’t be lackin’ in these streets, I keep a big pole (Aye)/And I can’t have no nigga with me if they gon’ snitch on us”
XXL: For those who don’t already know, what’s an opp?
YBN Nahmir: See, for those who don’t know a opp, to me, is somebody I don’t fuck with or somebody from the other side. a.k.a. a enemy. You know that’s really it to be honest.
If someone looked up “Opp Stoppa” in the dictionary or on Google, how do you think it would be defined?
Something to use against another human being. Someone that’s not on your side, I guess. Like, it could be like a gun, a sword, anything.
How did you come up with the chorus?
To be honest, I was messing around in the studio. I was just rhyming. It was like a freestyle the whole way through. I was like going bar for bar. I was like, “Stop me right here. Let me go right here, right here”-type shit. It just came off the brain, came off my mind. I didn’t write it down for that whole song. And it’s crazy, it blew up like, a year later. I made the song in 2018, I dropped it in 2019. Yeah, it just blew up the end of 2020, and has been going crazy ever since I made the remix with 21 Savage and shit got crazy.
How does “Opp Stoppa” connect to your life as a rapper?
Well, my whole life revolved around “Opp Stoppa,” but to be honest, it really don’t connect to me like that anymore. I’ve really been on a lot of chill shit. Staying positive and making sure a lot of people around me straight and I really haven’t had to use the “opp stoppa” in a long time. And, it’s a cold-ass song. It’s really like you don’t have to have a gun or you don’t have to be on bullshit. It’s just a cool song and a fun song that people like.
What's your beef with Hondas?
Nah, I like Hondas. For real. Not all the Hondas, it has to be the specific ones like the NSX or the old little Acura, Hondas or something like that. Hold up, “Siri, is an Acura a Honda? [Siri speak- ing] ‘An Acura is a luxury version of Japanese automaker, Honda.’” Yeah, yeah, like the Acuras and the Hondas and shit. I just really don’t be in tune with them. They be fucking them up out here but I like them.
What made you decide to shout-out Chief Keef on the track?
Shit, he the influence of the youth, damn near. I’m not really the youth no more, I’m 21, but shit, I grew up listening to Chief Keef. I felt like it was a must to shout cuz out ’cause he did so much for everybody. He done opened up a whole different wave of music.
Check out more from XXL’s Spring 2021 issue including Cardi B's cover story, how rappers are legally making money from the cannabis boom and the social justice that comes with it, Snowfall's Damson Idris on how hip-hop impacted his life, A$AP Ferg reflects on the making of his Always Strive and Prosper album, Shelley F.K.A. DRAM talks about his comeback, Trippie Redd speaks on how Playboi Carti and Lil Uzi Vert helped change hip-hop, Show & Prove with 42 Dugg, Lakeyah and Blxst, the power of social media in hip-hop and more.