Curtis Young Talks Childhood In Compton, Meeting His Father Dr. Dre :::: #HipHopNews

If you take a look at Curtis Young, you're probably notice that he looks strikingly similar to rap legend Dr. Dre. That's because the super producer is his father, but he never knew until around 12 years old, which he talks about in a recent interview with NextShark, among other things.

Below are a few highlights:

On finding out Dre was his father: "I was very protective with my mom. I'm the first born on my mom's side. I was big brother. [My mom and her boyfriend] were arguing. And I told him, 'Hey dad, ease up.' His direct words were, 'N*gga I ain't your daddy. You wanna know your daddy is? Your real daddy is Dr. Dre."

On his childhood: "My childhood was like any childhood growing up in Compton. There was definitely a lot of trials and tribulations," Young says. "Growing up in Compton, if you wanted to be a part of a gang, you can easily jump into it. But I grew up with some good friends, and we told ourselves that we definitely didn't want to be involved with any of that. We had friends who were involved with gangs, but they went through struggles like going in and out of jail — some of them are not here with us. I wanted to do something different with my life."

On his first meeting with Dr. Dre: "It was definitely a crazy experience, just talking to him on the phone for the first time. You could feel the energy through the phone. I think we both were nervous... It was like looking in the mirror seeing him face to face. We met at Skybar in Hollywood for the first time. It's really indescribable. The best way to describe it is meeting your favorite basketball player or football player."

On the perception that he's rich: "They look at it like, 'He must have crazy money too!' It's like when you walk around, you're a target now. I'm here to set the record straight about me being spoiled. That's definitely not the case. I don't ask for sh*t from my father. I don't want nothing from my dad. When I met him, it was different. I was a kid. He got me a car and some cash, but that was pretty much for my birthday. After that, it was really just birthdays. I wasn't asking for handouts. I didn't really want anything from him; I just wanted time spent with him.
I never would ask him to help me out in business. One thing he always told me was, 'You got the name -- run with it.' Just by having that birthright of the name, it helped me push myself as a business person."