LEFTY GUNPLAY
Written by Adilene Gomez Santiago, Andrew Mason & Michael Pofsky
Photos by Noah Cudal
MEET OTR RECORD’S VIRAL NEW SIGNEE
UNDRGRND Magazine first got wind of Lefty Gunplay — a Latin Rap artist from Baldwin Park, CA — through our relationship with OTR Records founder, Seouless, and media persona Rosecrans Vic. Since coming out of prison in early 2024, Lefty has skyrocketed in popularity, officially signing to OTR Records at the top of this year.
Lefty began gaining traction though his freestyle raps on popular beats, and was recently featured on the Thizzler platform, freestyling verses alongside Zoe Osama, Lou Deezi, Rowdy Racks, and Lul Booga.
Lefty has released two albums so far in 2024 — “Famous Gangbanger,” and “Rookie of The Year.” He performed with Young Drummer Boy at The Observatory in Santa Ana, and even sold out shows in Arizona and Utah.
“I just kept it real, I really don’t know how I did it,” Lefty said. “I understand that I’m blessed and I’m doing some crazy shit. I know that if I dissemble we're all gonna look back at this shit like, ‘damn, he did it.’”
In March 2024, Lefty first stepped foot into UNDRGRND Studios in Downtown LA as he drove up with two white Rolls Royces and gold OTR chains hanging off the Spirit of Ecstasy. Accompanied by Drummer Boy, the two filmed the music video for their song “Letter From Lefty,” from his “Rookie of The Year” album — shot by Shooterzongo. Undoubtedly, the self proclaimed “hottest rapper in LA” left a mark on our casino set as he stood at the top of the bar.
Being a Latin rapper in Los Angeles can come with a lot of negative noise due to the long street history between the Latino and Black communities. Lefty has received multiple disses and hate as he becomes more well-known in the rap community and is seen more in the public eye.
However, despite all the connotations with the platform that Lefty has been creating, he aims to positively uplift both communities.
“I’m tryna break that barrier and bridge that gap between Mexicans and Blacks and show people of my skin color that we can rap too,” Lefty said. “I’ve seen a lot of little kids' dreams is to rap, so hopefully they see me do it and think they can do it and then hopefully they do it.”
Lefty has been recently seen working in Chalice Recording Studio with Hit-Boy and Big Hit, linked up with Busta Rhymes, and has something in the works with Ty Dolla $ign and Snoop Dogg.
Since the moment we were first in the studio with Lefty in January 2024, we knew he would be the star he is today. In this short time, he has exceeded the careers of artists we have watched since the beginning of our platform. His likeability has attracted him to mainstream artists showing him love, all the way to the underground scene.