Ruben Martinez

Kadillak Kaz

After serving 128 days in jail on charges of carjacking and second-degree robbery, the cell bars slid open unexpectedly for Santa Ana rapper Kadillak Kaz at 12:45 a.m. on Feb. 20. Released into the cold, early-morning air and hitching a ride from his father, who took him to stay with a nearby relative, he was confronted with the decision of what his next move would be.

The day before, the MC with two felony strikes on his record was summoned from the jail to stand trial in Central Justice Center, facing a maximum of 23 years in prison for allegedly taking a female friend's car after an argument inside a business-office complex in Tustin, driving it to the other side of the building without her knowledge, leaving the keys in the car and taking off shortly after the incident between them occurred (read more about it in our recent cover story). As a man with a checkered legal history that includes drug dealing and former gang ties, the prospect of him going to jail for at least part of the maximum sentence seemed like more than a possibility, even though he claimed innocence.
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It's not often that tales from OC's hip-hop scene grace the cover of the Weekly. But when it involves a local gangster rapper, a third strike prison sentence and Snoop Dogg (er, Lion...whatever) you better believe we're on the case.

This week's cover story highlights the jailhouse saga of Kadillak Kaz, a Santa Ana emcee who landed behind bars on a flimsy car jacking and robbery charge just months before meeting the Dogg Father to begin talks to negotiate a record deal with his label, Doggystyle Records.

In a handful of interviews with Kadillak during his current incarceration at Central Jail in Santa Ana, we spoke with the rhymeslinger born Deron Hollins about how his decision to park his former girlfriend's car down the street without telling her turned into a warrant for his arrest.While there's plenty of twists and turns to this story that prove Kadillak spent most of his life as a bad seed, it's also apparent that he's facing a 23-year sentence at a time when his career and life were finally starting to get on track. The question is: Is he guilty? Read the rapper's head scratching story here and check out a sample of his music after the jump.

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