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Stone Cold Jzzle

Source: Courtesy of Stone Cold Jzzle / Stone Cold Jzzle

A weekend partying in Houston has been about as common as waking up during the pandemic. Despite restrictions on venues being within capacity, parties and events have continued with many places reclassifying from clubs to restaurants. During Martin Luther King Weekend 2021, everything shifted. 

There was no hidden secret about the city being “open” and some took advantage of it, hosting a massive selection of parties across different venues. It, in turn, created a few viral moments, from Bow Wow being singled out for performing at Clé Houston on January 15, an All Black Affair being shutdown on January 16 at Spire and a back-and-forth between the “Fresh Az Im Iz” rapper and Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner.  Since the parties, three clubs have had their liquor licenses suspended.

One of those viral moments occurred on January 18 when New Orleans rapper Stone Cold Jzzle made an appearance on Fox 26. When asked about whether he feared the coronavirus, Jzzle went into full joce mode, a playful New Orleans act of joking around in a moment when you’re expected to be serious.

Of course, the 7th Ward native is a full believer in the pandemic but the opportunity was there for the taking. During a phone conversation, we learned more about one another, the art of jocein’, how he got the name Stone Cold Jzzle and why did he pull up to Houston, not expecting for it to become near international news.

First off, how did you get the name Stone Cold Jzzle?

Man, I got it from Stone Cold Steve Austin, ya feel me?

Of course. Now, what compelled you to come down to Houston for MLK Weekend?

I ain’t gon’ say no names cause I don’t want no backlash on my dog, but I came out there for a birthday party, a lil’ birthday weekend. Sh*t went federal and you know, when sh*t go federal during COVID, them people get involved. 

A lot of people know Houston seems wide open, Atlanta seems wide open. So it’s like, do I make the drive east or do I go west?

Exactly and I’ma go to Houston cause Houston’s a little closer. Ain’t nothin’ but a 45-minute flight.

Now while you are rapping and got tracks like “Yup” making noise, you are one of the practitioners of Jocein.

Oh yeah, my jocein’ is bad.

A lot of people saw you on the news and thought you were serious!

Ha, man, they gotta get used to the art of jocein’. It’s a very unique art. Cause people thought I was on that bullsh*t. I was real-life dancing with the fire marshals, hitting the Dougie with them, I’m thinking these n*ggas lame, I’m tryna turn up! And I read one of they tags and it said inspector then I said, ‘Oh sh*t, he must be an inspector too!’ I saw their little clipboard and sh*t and said, ‘Oh man, it’s over with.’ They about to shut this b*tch down! Real talk.

The general nature of kinda, making light about it is what we do as Black people. Cause we know COVID is serious and the pandemic and our nature sometimes is to lighten up the mood while also recognizing, sh*t is real out here too. 

Real talk! I know the sh*t is serious and all but I’m not the Mayor of Houston, I ain’t have that b*tch open, I just came and participated and it was already going on.

Would you call yourself one of the main people who are kings/queens of Jocein’ in New Orleans?

Oh, I’m upper echelon fosho. I’m top chef fosho. 

Who else you think are at the top of the game?

Oh man they got Blair, Hustle Man, Nick Nack Paddywack, oh it’s beaucoup people bruh.

What made you dive into music super serious?

I ain’t gon’ lie, I was going through some sh*t in college and so it was kind of a gateway. People was f*cking with it, I had partners doing music for years and I had got a lot of attention in the little time I spent doing it so I was like, ‘I might have a skill or two with this sh*t here.’

Wait, how do you wind up getting locked out of both your Instagram and Twitter accounts before all this happens?

Bro, I don’t know how that happened. The Twitter, I think somebody was tryna hack me or something but the Instagram, once I got the blue check, you hear me? You can’t really check to see who unfollowed you. That’s one of the guidelines rules of that sh*t so when that happened, they sent the code to a phone I didn’t have any more, so I had to hit somebody on the backend who work high and low and they hacked me back into my account. I had to activate that two-factor authentication on that b*tch, they got me f*cked up.

What is about 7th Ward New Orleans that feels like it’s its own world?

I can’t even explain it but that’s all of New Orleans. Even though the 7th Ward is the best ward, it’s from the air to the mannerisms and we got beaucoup unwritten rules you don’t know about we abide and everybody from out of town pick up on that sh*t so it’s crazy.

It’s New Orleans and the State of Louisiana. There are two totally different places.  

Real talk.

You got a couple records blowin’ up on YouTube right now…

Shid, I learned how to drive a stick shift car off YouTube.

There’s “Water,” there’s “Yup”. So let’s break down “Yup” right quick. G Herbo cosigns it, the record now has on a new life.

That record, I ain’t gon’ lie, I had a vision of making some anthem-like sh*t people could turn up to. I ain’t gon’ lie, it was going up a bit before the interview but now it has a newfound life. I think a lot of my records gon’ go like that. And I’m dangerous.

You might wanna trademark “Cause I’m Dangerous.”

See, I ain’t even gon’ take it that far [Laughs]. I ain’t gon’ cheese it up like that.

RELATED: Bow Wow Feels ‘Singled Out’ By Mayor Sylvester Turner Over COVID-19 Violations At Club Events