Brooklyn rapper Bobby Shmurda, government name Ackquille Pollard, recently took a plea deal for a seven-year prison sentence with five subsequent years of probation. His oft-delayed trial that had him in jail since December 2014 thanks to several denied attempts at posting bail ended up never actually going before a jury. Pollard originally pled not guilty to all charges, so it seemed odd he would take a plea deal.

In his first post-plea interview with Complex, he revealed that he took the plea deal on behalf of his friend and fellow GS9 member Rowdy Rebel.

I did it for Rowdy. They offered me five and offered Rowdy 12. They said the only way they’ll give him seven is if I took seven too. So, you know, I had to take one for the dawgs.

Pollard and Rebel also surprisingly hold no ill will toward their label Epic and parent label Sony, though Pollard believes he would have had a better chance in his trial had he been out on bail.

Rebel: The situation with Epic is the reality: We made our own bed and got to lay in it. We did expect for them to help us and get us out, but from my knowledge it wasn’t on Epic to bail us out, it was Sony, because Epic’s under Sony. So when it came to it, Epic was willing to do it, but Sony had to sign off the checks to get us out and they didn’t want to sign. I don’t hold no one responsible for nothing.

Shmurda: It’s business. These people are going to look at you a certain way when these charges come up.

And though it seems his career is most likely over, Pollard is still holding out hope that he can spin his time in prison into a relaunch after his release in seven years.

I’m rapping, I’m acting, I’m going to have some books out. I want people to hear my story, they’re gonna feel my pain. I have three years to make a book happen. I got love for 50 Cent, I got love for DMX, but my movie’s gonna be better than Get Rich Or Die Tryin’ and Belly put together, and it’s gonna be a true story. And I swear, I feel bad for somebody’s daughter because her back is gonna need some new bones and her vagina gonna need a tombstone. [Laughs.] They ain’t never gonna take my joy.

Adds Rowdy:

At the end of the day, I still don’t hold them responsible for nothing. I’m here, I’m alive, I’m breathing, I’m going to go home real soon. And we’re going to go right back to where we came from. We’ve got some new dance moves. Look out for that mixtape coming soon. It’s going to come out around Halloween, and we’re gon’ turn up.

Pollard also revealed that he has been steady writing music in prison, talked about his favorite rappers at the moment, which artists he’s received calls from for support while in prison, and his daily prison routine among other topics.