I Am Not A Gangster

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It is very difficult when you are young. When you have experience like I have now, you understand what patience is. But when you are young, full of ideas, with a lot of energy, motivation, when you want to discover the world and you have a lot of things to learn, it is not simple. You need to be surrounded by people with experience, that enable you to stay calm and can tell you things to your face. I said that we are not politicians. Politics divides people. Football, in my world, unites people. Big difference. Because I have had the chance to meet and get to know people that I would never have known if I did not play football. I have met people from all four corners of the world. We unite people. Politicians divide. If I wanted to be a politician, I would do politics. We should only do what we’re good at. Sports and politics are two different categories. If you are intelligent, you understand. There are still people who speak about old France. Oh! We are in 2021! The world is filled with mixtures, different contrasts. And it is not because you are like that that you cannot feel 100% French or 100% Swedish. But when I was young, that, you cannot understand that. You are in a phase where you learn and you collect information to have the weapons to understand. You suffer a bit. But there are consequences for all that. Mentally, when you are treated differently, because you are different in their eyes, it is hard. It is like kids who bully others at school. People would say: “Don’t worry, it will pass.” They do not know that there are psychological consequences for years later. The person who is bullied can become mentally unstable and then have trauma. I always say that it is easier to take a big hit because that hurts for 5 minutes. When you are bullied, the consequences can exist for the rest of their life. Always. The most important thing is how you start them and how you finish them, these stories. But if you achieve something, we will remember you. Tupac Shakur-- Due to an editing error in Wednesday’s Q & A with Tupac Shakur, The Times incorrectly characterized the rapper’s conviction stemming from a 1993 incident. Shakur and an associate were accused--not convicted--of holding a female fan down while a third man sexually assaulted her. Shakur was convicted on two counts of sexual abuse in the first degree for offensive touching without consent.

When I was little, I did not feel Swedish (his father is Bosnian, his mother is Croatian). Because they made me feel like I was different. I was treated differently, judged differently, looked at differently… That is why I did not feel 100% Swedish. I was made to feel that. But if they had me feel like one of theirs, I would have looked at myself as 100% Swedish. But today, I say it, I am 100% Swedish. When I was young, I thought about it differently, but now, older, I have experience, I am 100% Swedish. I represent new Sweden. It is the world now. In France, it is the same. But these people are poorly brought up, ignorant and think that they can still live in the old world. My wife is 100% Swedish. So my children have a contrast, but they are also 100% Swedish. It is wonderful. It is the world now. A world of open-mindedness.

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No. It was like putting fuel on the fire. It enabled me to do even more. On the contrary, it motivated me. I advanced with that and it served me to never be satisfied. All these criticisms, I use them to rekindle my flame and I drew energy from them. Dressed in a baggy sweat suit and bandanna, Shakur--who hopes to have a new album out by Christmas, just days before arguments begin on his appeal -- spoke about prison, the media and his music. I want to stay… Everyone wants to win a trophy that says that you are the best player in the world. Deep inside me, I feel that I am the best player in the world. It would be prestigious to win it but it is the voters who decided. You, the people who vote, you know why I have not won it (laughs)!

But, guys, do you really take me for a gangster? (laughs) You have an image of me… I am not a gangster. If I am nearly 2 metres tall and still strong, it is because I train and I work, it is not because I work out on Venice Beach and that I am “muscle guy” all day. I was born like this, my parents are big, that is who I am. I try to adapt my game to my span and age. I am not as fast as I was when I was 25 or 30, I do the best to help my team. But I am not a hard man or whatever. The thing that bothers me is that it seems like all the sensitive stuff I write just goes unnoticed . . . the media doesn’t get who I am at all. Or maybe they just can’t accept it. It doesn’t fit into those negative stories they like to write. I’m the kind of guy who is moved by a song like Don McLean’s “Vincent,” that one about Van Gogh. The lyric on that song is so touching. That’s how I want to make my songs feel. Take “Dear Mama”--I aimed that one straight for my homies’ heartstrings. Eventually Bobby was sentenced to 12 years in Britain’s most notorious prisons, along with the Krays, Charlie Richardson and the Yorkshire Ripper. Inside, he was introduced to the Open University and on his release he soon got down to business again. Only this time his efforts saw him go from custody of Her Majesty’s Prison Service to meeting with the Queen herself... I Am Not A Gangster is an explosive account of life in the criminal underworld by one of Britain’s most dangerous men, but above all it’s a remarkable tale of redemption with the biggest turnaround in gangland history.Everyone can do better. In my head, I try to do my maximum, and I do the maximum. Could I do better? Some would say yes. It is debatable. A: It influences all my work. I really like stuff like “Les Miserables” and “Gospel at Colonus.” And I love Shakespeare. He wrote some of the rawest stories, man. I mean look at Romeo and Juliet. That’s some serious ghetto [expletive]. You got this guy Romeo from the Bloods who falls for Juliet, a female from the Crips, and everybody in both gangs are against them. So they have to sneak out and they end up dead for nothing. Real tragic stuff. Q: Why do you use such derogatory terms to describe women? Doesn’t that play into the hands of critics who say rappers are misogynists? Six days after his release from a New York prison, Tupac Shakur is holed up in the control booth of a dimly lit Tarzana recording studio. You have not won the Ballon D’Or either. Are you missing the Ballon D’Or, or is the history of the Ballon D’Or missing you?

Whether I take a position or not is not a question. It relates to what you do, and what message you want to send. Us, footballers, we produce love and joy. You cannot bring your politics into the world. I am not here to send a bad message to people. I am just here to unite, spread love and joy. This is the best means we have to do it. Football or sport. Because we are good for that. I am good for that. I am good at football. I think so. For each player it is very hard when you retire. During your career, you have a programme. Everyday, you get up, you eat breakfast, you train, you finish training, and then someone does warm down, they make you lunch, you go home, you recover, you spend time with family or something, and then the day after, it is the same. You hit “repeat.” We are programmed in our heads. And that’s how it has been for 20 or 25 years for me. The day you stop, the first morning, you wake up and you say: “What the hell do I do now?”You are no longer programmed and you enter into a new chapter in your life. And that, that scares me. What am I going to do? But I am not there yet, I don’t want to think about it. When it comes, I will deal with it. One of the best letters I got came from [actor] Tony Danza. I’ve never even met the guy, but he wrote me to say he liked my album and to keep my head up and to just come out stronger. I can’t tell you how great that made me feel. Nothing. I would simply tell him to have more patience. That the hard work will pay off. I worked hard but I did not have a lot of patience. I wanted it all to come very fast. “Zlatan, have patience. Keep working and believe in yourself.” No. I do have some vulnerability. I have emotions, weak points, things that hurt me. I am not Hulk. I am not Superman. You see me on the pitch always confident, off of it as well, but I have some vulnerability. I have my weaknesses, my emotions. That is natural.Q: A number of your songs deal with--and some people say glorify--drug dealing and gang violence. What do you say to people who say you are a bad social influence?

Exactly. When you do something good, you are loved, and then, all of a sudden, you are on longer loved. Is that love? No. I do not need to be liked. I just want people to be fair and appreciate what I do if I do it well. But that is part of a more global thing. I am not seeking love liker those who participate in certain charitable causes for people to say about them: “Wow, he is a good guy!” That is fake. If I do something, it is because I want to. Nobody will know about it. I do it with my heart. But some people, they, they do it with their head. They do charity so that we say about them: “F*** he is a good guy. He sent money to a hospital, he sent money for COVID-19.” I do it, but I do not talk about it: “Big difference.” FOR THE RECORD: Due to an editing error in Wednesday’s Q & A with Tupac Shakur, The Times incorrectly characterized the rapper’s conviction stemming from a 1993 incident. Shakur and an associate were accused--not convicted--of holding a female fan down while a third man sexually assaulted her. Shakur was convicted on two counts of sexual abuse in the first degree for offensive touching without consent. And look how Shakespeare busts it up with Macbeth. He creates a tale about this king’s wife who convinces a happy man to chase after her and kill her husband so he can take over the country. After he commits the murder, the dude starts having delusions just like in a Scarface song. I mean the king’s wife just screws this guy’s whole life up for nothing. Now that’s what I call a b----. I do not think that it would be pertinent to compare players with each other. Each one played in their own generation, with different team-mates… Difficult to compare. I think that each person has their own story and must face that. My table is therefore filled with problems.

Shakur denies the allegations but was advised by his attorneys not to discuss the case during his first interview since his release. It was the biggest in a series of confrontations involving the rapper, who was shot five times last December by a robber in New York. He has also faced criminal charges on four other occasions since March, 1993, including a weapons violation in Los Angeles , where a trial is set for Nov. 16. Speaking in an exclusive interview with France Football, AC Milan striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic talked about his legacy, the Ballon D’Or and more. I am confident. Not arrogant, not pretentious. Someone ignorant would call me arrogant. An intelligent person would say confident. Bobbing his head and grinning, the 24-year-old rapper turns up the volume on a funky duet called “2 of America’s Most Wanted,” which he just finished with label mate Snoop Doggy Dogg (a.k.a. Calvin Broadus, whose murder trial is set to begin Monday in Los Angeles Superior Court).