 My name is Joel Ortiz, I'm a rapper, hip hop artist from Brooklyn, New York, and I'm getting better. I've been rapping since I was about 10 years old, so yeah, this has been a while. I remember coming to my building, seeing Cyphers, that's what introduced me to rap. It wasn't even being a fan of music on the radio or music that I heard, it was just Cyphers. You know, me standing in front of the building, rhyming and trying to add an L's verse to conquer that little crowd. And then from the crowd to the block, from your block to your area, and then, you know, just keep it moving. And so you're getting that studio and finding words to go over that beat correctly, you know what I'm saying? My mom's had a drug addiction, and I didn't want to leave out to college and get some kind of fucking letter or some phone call. And my mom was dead or dead or some shit like that. So I decided to give up my life at that point, to stay home with my moms and shit. But through all that, I was like one of the roughest times of my life. I was broke, you know what I'm saying? I had no job, you know what I'm saying? I ended up doing some shit. I wasn't proud to support myself and my first child then. And the only thing that was still a beauty for me, it made me, you know what I'm saying? I said, Dan, did you make the right decision with rap? You know what I'm saying? I used to write rhymes to myself, and just keep writing rhymes from writing rhymes, writing rhymes about everything. Until eventually, you know, when I was in the studio and I listened back, and I said, Dan, I got something there. That was in the session before me. I mean, after me was coming in and listening. I'm like, Dan, that is crap. You know, and I realized when I heard myself back in the studio that this might be what I'm supposed to do. There's numerous things that stand out to me. Like, the one battle I did do in my whole career when I decided to just do it. My boy, Max Blais, introduced me to the NBA Live Battle in 2005 and landed me on a video game. I was like, Dan, this is kind of fresh. I won a battle across the whole United States, you know what I'm saying? That was a fresh event in my career. I've been an actor, phone call from Dr. Dre. That was huge. I was like, this is a fucking laugh. Here I am, a New York artist trying to get a fucking record deal. Can't get one to save my fucking ass, and I get a phone call with 310. Fucking every call is Dr. Dre, ready to fly me out the next day to sign me. So, you know, those are two things that stand out to me. And of course, I can't front E1. I love phoning on this couch when they gave me my first deal, my first actual deal. Stretch Armstrong, the first time I rocked on Stretch Armstrong, me and Preeti had a single called Brooklyn Affiliate. That was dope. That was the first time I've ever heard myself on a radio. So it's not one of them, it's a bunch of things that stand out when you're talking about when I knew I was in the right direction. My game plan is, this is not a game plan. I just write rhymes. I don't have no, but I'm not no gimmick. I don't have a stage name for that reason. I'm Joel Ortiz when the lights go on and when they go off. Same thing you see at the show, it's the same thing you get death too after the show. There's no game plan. I just write rhymes. I like to rhyme. I like to be the best I can be over beats. Dre had no fucking clue who I was. He had no clue. He didn't know what movement was going on. He had no, he didn't know nothing. He heard music. That was it. That was enough for him to put me on a plane to fly me out and introduce me to aftermath in school. That was it. There was no game plan. You know what I'm saying? My CD landed on his desk. He put it in and said, what the fuck is this? I'm flying this out. He flew me out. One little dinner meeting. Next day, lawyers involved. Aftermath. No game plan. Just rhymes. And rhyming all the time doing everything I could possibly do. I was trying and standing outside of SOB's and all these small venues demanding to perform, trying to get out of that box that, you know, but they pigeon-helped me for a long time saying that I was a nice Puerto Rican rapper. You know what I'm saying? That invisible wall was up for a long time for me, real talk. So there was no game plan. It was just, I put me next to the dude that you think is hot and let everybody else decide. And you understand, like, I love who I am. I love my heritage. I love being Puerto Rican. I know what it is. Do you need to ask, you know, how does it feel to be a hip-hop artist being at your black? Like, I hate having to answer this question. Because hip-hop, they don't have a color. They don't have a nationality. You understand, like, if you've removed, if you've never seen a visual, I mean, and you pop me in, you're just listening to music. You understand, like, to music either move you or it doesn't. You don't have to know where I'm from. You just have to know what it is, like, dudes in Africa play drums. If I get an African dude to play a drum on one of my beats and the record is moving, you gonna be like, yo, what nationality do they play the drums? Like, no, it's just moving. I embrace who I am. I love who I am. Don't get it twisted. But I'm not a Latin hip-hop artist. I'm a hip-hop artist. You understand? That happens to be Latin. You understand? So, fat Joe, big Brian, B-Rills, you know, beating us only. This is hip-hop, man. They was breakdancing from crazy ladies and all. This is hip-hop. Puerto Vida? Forget about Puerto Vida. Latin, you know, it's been there since the beginning. This is not nothing brand new. You know what I'm saying? We ain't just trying to come into a game that was created by just African Americans. We was there in the beginning with big boom boxes too, man. So, I didn't understand that box when I came in. When you're shorting and you're trying to round, your goal is to be the best at rhyming. Maybe one day get on a radio. Maybe one day get a record, you're gonna move your family out of the projects. You know what I'm saying? And you wouldn't think that who you are, nationality was, could've ended that. You just thought, you know, you just think that you're actually the best, but it ain't like that. But I embrace who I am. I love my people. My hat goes off to anybody who could finish 12 years of school and wanted two more fucking schools. Hats off to you. I was fucking done in 11 days, but I just pushed it through. For the simple fact, my mom's an advice for the plumber and she wanted me to do it. So, I pushed it through. Besides the fact that I was an intense learner. I was always competitive, you know what I'm saying? Like, I always wanted to be the best that I can be amongst everybody else. No matter what. So, I don't like when you used the word nerd. I wasn't a nerd. I was just an intense learner. Work ethic is work ethic, son. You gotta do what you gotta do. Work feels like work, though. That's what needs to be understood. Like, the first word in work ethic is work. So, don't think that work ethic is gonna be easy. Like, don't think nothing's gonna land on your lab. You're not hitting the lotto. You're not hitting the mega million. It's not happening. Leave it alone. Work to the point where you could be a mega millionaire. You know what I'm saying? Like, if that's what you want to do. If you go on to school, go to school and go at it like as far as the music game. I was doing everything. But you gotta approach me that I don't give a fucking feedback. It's a crummy looking, bummy looking video with a book bag on it. You say, y'all got a mix tape and I want a freestyle. You got me. If it was a big-ass DJ or a little-ass DJ. A big-ass club on a Saturday night or a hole in the wall on a Monday in the gutter part of Brooklyn. I was performing. There is no picky, choosy shit in there probably. Too many niggas trying to do this shit. And too many relationships for you to be feeling like you bigger than what you are. One day you hot, one day you not. If you don't do everything, it ain't gonna pop for you, I'm sorry. Niggas don't respect me that picking shoes on a level where they can't pick and choose. You gotta do what you gotta do. Each one teach one a fucking show venue with eight people to turn into 64 fans once each one of those eight people tell eight people. See, I'm smart, man. Motherfucking, you gotta do whatever. You gotta do whatever it takes. I'm gonna fuck what it is. The kid in Idaho no longer exists. There is no kid in Idaho. There's no kid in Montana. All those little towns. It is gone. That's 10 years ago. The hint in that makes everybody next door neighbors. Your outlet is through the computer, my brother. There's websites. There's people you can reach out to. You can get your email along. The internet was so instrumental in my career, I can't even explain. I was one of the first people to write journal giving people an inside look at who I am as a person. When they hear me, they don't feel like a fan of a song. They feel like the fan of the person behind it. That was one outlet. You got your mind space page. Things of that nature. Twitter, YouTube, post YouTube, things up. Find out where shows are at. Crash those with your mixtape. You know what I'm saying? It's too many ways to network. Yeah, I'm in a poppin' city, but you can visit my city in one fucking clip of the return button. You can come right through here. You know what I'm saying? Grind, grind, find out. Make the phone calls you make. You already know what it is. Make the phone calls. Each phone call sets you up in a different direction. Shake hands, smile, do lunches. Embrace hip-hop. It'll embrace you back. Yeah, what? It's a boy, Joel Ortiz. Brooklyn's on several more days in the building. Stand up. Get ready to go on kicking. I'm kicking on my dude. Based out of Boston. Am I correct? P.S., we the best. Everything my dude. Keep it working. Keep it pushing. Keep it locked right here. P.S., we the best.com. Yep.