 What they gonna do with me now? I'm still a twerk of the town Holding the sisters, I'm hooking them down Reaching the smiles and the frowns Gang hop out, then we clarin' the frowns Hey guys, we're in a new episode of Talk of the Town Today we have a special guest Wayne O I'm special Yeah, I feel like First of all, I never sat down with an exec like on camera Really? No Okay, why not? Um, because they got secrets I guess they can't talk about Secrets? Nah, I'm joking But I don't know I never um They never was or people be like I want to wait to tell my story or I don't do interviews or Stories is a forever evolving thing So it's like, you know Yeah, but now I definitely be speaking to executives and stuff But like, never on camera though Well, I'm happy to be here Thank you for coming So, um, we're gonna play a game just to like Ice brick a little bit Okay I'm gonna just ask you a question, just say, just answer Quick as you could Okay Just in that kind of mind So, where you from? Harlem Bronx and Harlem Bronx and Harlem Yeah, I'm from Bronx and Harlem If you could have any accent, which one would you pick? Mine, like, I mean from New York, I'm from New York I'm from Harlem, like My accent is a mixture between Bronx and Harlem So I would just say the one I have So you wouldn't want to have any other accent? Hell no I don't want to talk like nobody else Like you mean like if I like a London accent or Yeah Nah, hell no Southern, Memphis, Memphis, the accent is going crazy now I'm too old to be changing my accent Okay, what's your sign? Capricorn Favorite song to play in the car? Favorite song to play in the car? Shit, as fast as I can Yeah, not the studio vibes in the car In the car Favorite song to play in the car? I would say, uh, what's this Frank Ocean song? Nikes, these bitches want nikes They looking for a check Frank Ocean in the car? I mean it depends, I don't really listen to music in my car Why? Because I have to listen to music all day every day So it's like by the time I get in the car I get to sit, drive, be with my thoughts I don't really listen to music that much in the car I get it, I get it Um, favorite bar? I don't really drink like that song, I got a favorite bar Like a lyric Oh, a lyric? Oh, I thought you said your favorite bar You get this bar Niggas' hot heads and the bullets as he's seeking Who's that? Jay-Z Okay, okay A one hit wonder that should have had a longer career Chinggy, Chinggy was fired, but he had more than one hit though But Chinggy, I say Chinggy, Chinggy was fired I thought he was fired Okay, um, favorite videographer? For a focus Okay, um, if you could listen to one artist for the rest of your life, who would it be? One artist for the rest of my life, oh my god, what do you- I hate those, all right, one artist for the rest of my life Okay, that's a good one All right, one artist for the rest of my life Okay, you already lived life, so it's like moving forward One artist for the rest of my life Just gonna say I'll create Tyler the creator Okay No one's ever said that, people say a little baby, a little dirt I mean, they, I mean, they still, they not new but I really enjoy Tyler the creator's music I remember, I also said with a lot of younger people Yeah, you said with a lot of younger people I was about to say Michael Jackson, but I say Tyler the creator Okay, okay, um, favorite fashion brand? Favorite fashion brand? Um, shit, I have so many, I would say, um, capital Favorite fashion brand? Yeah, capital Oh, okay, okay, okay It's a Japanese brand Oh, I say what I got on right now, Warren Lotus Okay Warren Lotus, yeah Um, best fast food restaurant? Chick-fil-A Okay Least favorite water brand? Oh, what are the same to me? For real? Yeah, all that shit the same You guys, I'm oldest, I used to drink water out the fire hydrant when I was a kid For real, we used to drink water out the fire hydrant, the fucking, the faucet in the park Like we drink water from anywhere, like we ain't kids So what, as long as it's cold, I hate room temperature water Room temperature water is like drinking sweat I don't want that either Okay, now one song, one song you hate that everybody loves One song I hate Or that you dislike, hate is a strong word One song you dislike that everybody loves A song that I dislike, oh that everybody loves It's crazy because even though I kind of dislike the song, I still know it I say one dance by Drake Okay I don't, I don't hate it, but it's like It was played out, it was played out No, but it's like, all right, so just real quick, right? I remember one day I've never turned that song on, like deliberately Like I'm gonna listen to the song Right And then one day I was somewhere and the song was playing and I knew all the words And I was like, how the fuck is, because the radio like Yes, the radio Yeah, and that was the last one But um, yeah the radio I feel like right now Do you feel like radio is important right now? It plays its part, I don't think it's as important as it was when I was a kid But it's definitely still matters though to an extent If you want to get a good publishing deal, it does Okay That's a fact Okay, I feel like the kids now are still like trying to like learn, I guess Everybody thinks streaming streaming is the thing right now I mean, it's streaming is one aspect to how you get your shit out, right? Like, um, I was having this conversation with Jim Jones Yesterday And I asked him, I said Jim I've known Jim since I was 18 years old I'm 40 I said Jim, I said How many songs you think you got? And he was like Got a lot Yeah, but because I've been around, I've seen Jim record songs that I heard I've seen him record that they never came out Mad songs, so he was like, he said that he was doing something with some company and it It was like 2300 songs that actually came out And um, wait a second, what the hell was we talking about? We was talking about streaming and stuff So this is the point that he made to me, right? He was like, um, he said Coca-Cola and Pepsi While those are like the marquee products of that brand They got a bunch of other shit that's just in stores And he was like, that's kind of how I looked at the music Like you just got to have as much shit out as possible to be heard more So it's like streaming is one aspect, but you got to remember like As much as we'd like to believe that everybody can afford $10 or $15 a month for streaming Some people can't and all they might have is the radio So radio Soundcloud, I guess Soundcloud about to start charging Lord I think I don't know. I mean, I could see how I could see why if they did but like, you know Like Soundcloud is like the entry point for every single artist. You know what I mean to get to kind of get their name out there You know me for sure. Yeah. So this month is a mental health awareness mode So how how's your mental been how you've been like staying afloat? I guess that's a good question. Um I feel like music industry be stressful. So I'll be yeah I mean, I don't really deal with like I was telling my brother that I'm with today like So many people get caught up in like the um Their jobs, right? Like I don't really like the toughest shit. I've ever gone through Didn't come from the music stuff so like For the most part I don't let work stress me out It is what it is like I'm gonna get it done if I don't get it done I'm gonna figure out it if I don't know how to get it done to figure it out I'll figure that aspect out But like for the most part my mental has been pretty good Like my my oldest daughter just graduated from college. So that was good. My yeah Yeah, my youngest daughter just graduated from from elementary. So, you know, like my son is doing good Like everybody my family is doing well. Like I'm pretty I'm pretty okay. You know, I mean I don't live in New York no more. So it's good to be back home I just I drove around past couple days and seen like it's crazy like how I can drive Yeah, no, it's insane new buildings But like yeah, just just being able to be back home has been good for me. So I'm happy. So even though you live in Atlanta, New York still feels like home to you. It's home. It is I was born and raised in New York. I know but like I mean, no, I don't live here. So I do be like y'all want to go home I mean, but yeah, but like I feel like, you know, people be liking Atlanta because it'd be spacious. They feel like I feel like Black success is kind of like what Elena is. Yeah, I mean To an extent, I feel like this the thing about oh, I don't know And I'll say the difference between like Atlanta Just the south period and like the north is like accessibility to own stuff You know, I mean like like when I was a kid my family my dad's side of family is from Fayetteville, North Carolina So I used to spend summers out there and I used to go out there like they own houses stores Strip club all types of stuff. So I got a chance to see people own this stuff like here You really know people who own you you can't own the building, you know, I'm saying it was Yeah Or people rent in most things. So it's like because the the city is It's so over capacity that it's not a lot to go around. So like an Atlanta Is is more ownership because there's more space. There's tons of land But I mean what I do like about it. I like peace I like quiet and I grew up around chaos and noise my whole like I was born in the Bronx and then moved to Harlem When I was 13. So like my whole life been noisy. You know what I'm saying? Yeah So I'm so yeah, it's just peaceful right now. So that's cool. So I feel like, you know, everybody will know how you got into music I feel like you tell your story all the time. All right, so let's take a different turn on it. We could we could talk about it Let's say when did it start being serious for you? I guess serious I mean, I've had different instances when it's been serious for me. I feel like When I got in it at very young My seriousness was just for me to be around it wasn't about necessarily making I wanted to make money, but I didn't know anything, right? Like I'm just I'm this kid who dropped side of high school gets a job Uh now I'm around all like my favorite artists Seeing them in the office as far as working in the mail room and then I'm in turning and I'm still around But I don't really know. I don't even know anything. So, you know, um I say I took it serious because I wanted to I wanted to be given a shot And I think I'm taking every I've everything that I've tried to do. I've applied myself for Like I've applied myself to get my fucking cd. Yo license before like I've done I've tried mad shit. So like everything I basically do. I give it a shot like a true shot and music was something I From from day one when I got into it. I tried to give the shot Okay, and when did you notice you were skilled in like whatever field he was in at that moment? Or do you feel like you learned it later in life I felt like I had good ideas poor execution and I was too eager when I was young But I learned that's a really good. I guess. Yeah, but I mean Shit nowadays kids think that they fucking smarter than everybody. You know what I'm saying? Like motherfuckers think they know everything and I mean, but that's all kids. You always think you know everything I don't think that that's a generational thing. That's just us as a people but um Honestly for myself, uh I started to notice that I was good like When I got to like my late 20s because like all the stuff I learned At my late teens and early 20s being in music it started to like kind of make sense So I was around I was around dame dash jazzy and bigs beanie seagoo You know, um all these guys every day. So The everything that they're doing I didn't really understand But then when it's like time for me to do something with our artists I'm like, oh, I get what they was doing like, you know, I mean So, um, so you say your late 20s You feel I be feeling like do you ever do you feel like it was a race innocence? Do you feel like it took a long time? Yes and no, I think like time is all relative to what you're trying to do at the time. So it's like I can't say it took a long time because I got into music like I literally I dropped out of high school is 16 17 I was in gd school Trade school gd school. I try to do a bunch of shit By 18 is when I got into the mirror room By the time I'm 18 going on 19 is when I'm like coming into the music shit or whatever And then I got into it like that like by 19 I was I was in it like I was in it like I'm going back to my block like yo I was just seeing cam and and gemming them today and da da da. So I was in it but like, um, my success did take some time but like Had I had the opportunity to have the success that I got when I was older, I would have fucked it up I'd have fucked it up bad like if I were at my um In my early 20s, if I would have made six figures, it would have been bad Like I probably do under jail or something Huh, you think would have blew it like yeah, yeah, because I would I was I thought I was like I would When I was younger, I thought I was invincible at one point in time So like I would I would have thought that like I could do anything or treat things However, I wanted to I didn't have I had humility but I didn't like money Money is what messes people up more than anything before you get the drugs All of a bullshit is the money like not being able to accept that responsibility for real Okay, the reason I asked that was because I see like I'm including myself in this A lot of us be like hard on ourselves because we feel like we're not where we want to be in the industry at the moment So I think that it's cool that you say and like you appreciated it later in life You know I'm saying yeah, I feel like yeah, I feel like we'll be all harder on ourselves Especially on what to expect. I think that because I did some stuff like I did a little bit of stuff Like I did some like freelance marketing stuff Yeah, a couple of the time but like I've never worked at a label, but you're very young So this the thing right like Because you got to keep in mind You're not that many years out of like your adolescence, right? Like you it's not that long ago like seven Look, there's I'm saying like seven eight years ago. You was a teenager, right? Like seven eight years ago. I was It's in my thirties. You know I'm saying so um You got to give yourself some grace in the space of like you want to do these things But you need to acquire the skills and the patience and even the mental fortitude to be able to handle it because I'm I keep reiterating like how um We we all want an opportunity. We all want to make money but Yo, when that shit comes if you ain't got it here is going to be worthless Like it'll it'll come and it'll go and of course like because you're putting in the work you're striving for something You want something but Time you can't get in the way of that shit. You know, I mean you can't get away of it Definitely needed to hear that Um, okay, but congratulations. You was on the billboard hip hop power player So in your eyes, what do you what do you feel like as a power player? um I don't know. I don't so so like Shit like that and it salute the billboard. I I I love that. I made it to um Be a billboard power player. Um I don't I'm not going to say it don't matter Because like rest in peace to my brother Hovain like we always felt a little slighted When um these lists used to come out. He's like damn like we ain't make it But we never looked at nobody was like why they made it and not us We just know that we was putting in the work. So I would say like, you know I mean, it's a good acknowledgement. But like I'm not doing it for that. You know, I mean, I'm I really do it to make money Like I mean, I care about making bread. I don't I don't care about like the accolades and all that other shit I want to make money. You feel me, right? But I mean like But even so I feel like, you know, everybody that was on there kind of had a resume. Oh, yeah So it's like Oh, I could move some shit I can oh no, listen, I mean everybody answered my calls like I could like I could call Most people or I could DM most people they going to answer me. So it's like, um What what I'm but a power player to me I just looked at it as a person who's respected in the space of like Yo, when you look at this person and you think of things that happen behind the scenes or things that Lead up to an event or things that go go good or maybe a record Maybe an endorsement deal maybe some content. I'm one of those people, you know what I'm saying and um It just it happens, you know, I'm saying like I'm a I wanted to be rich and nobody knew me It's only because I got in the media that people started seeing my face But once my face was seen that I made money off it. I was like, I'm never getting off a camera. Okay I was gonna say like, how do you balance wearing so many hats? Whereas this, you know, everything struggles He was a personality. You're still doing executive on the back end. You had I don't know if you still have the management group Oh triangle offense. Yeah, um No, I still do management, but like I don't I'm not trying to brand it like because I don't I'm not trying to I'm not fishing for my company for me to be the guy Like, you know, I mean, like I'm not trying to position myself like this is way knows company and you could sign here and that's one of the reasons why I went to qc, but um As to answer your question about like, how do I juggle so many hats? It's like I like making money I got kids, you know, I mean I got responsibilities and not just my kids and my responsibilities But I take care of people, you know, I mean and I and I provide for people and I not only I'm not just giving money out I try to provide opportunities for people And the more I work permits me to be in this the driver's seat where I could say you'll get in We're gonna go over here and do this you feel me? So I'm I just do it because like that's the hustler of me I grew up in the fucking Bronx And Harlem and watching my dad hustle and bust his ass to the day he died watching my mom Work whatever jobs she could have taken me and my sister and sometimes, you know, my cousins like That's just who we is, you know, man So it's kind of hustling you but do you have a favorite hat? Do you like wearing or? um like at all still I mean, I'm I'm all about discovery I don't get married to like to to the position because things always change and people swap out So like for the most part like, um, I do love I love doing management You know, I mean I even though management is like a thankless job then nobody gives a fuck about you Um, but I do have like clients. I do have clients though that like I really you know We got great relationships and we have great working relationships and relationships outside of that So like I do like doing management. I love doing and are like I love discovering new artists and helping them become known Um, and then I do like doing media because I like to talk, you know, so I just love everything I'm doing and it's other things that I want to get into and I'll learn to love those as well So, yeah, you said that like management is kind of like a thankless job. Why you think that? Because it is because the thing about being a manager is it's like your task with like all the The babies Yeah, you got to be responsible and other people don't want to be responsible Like if if you somewhere in your artist like you let's say hyperthagically speaking you at the club And you really don't want to be there But your artist is like, yo, I ain't trying to be in the crib I'm trying to be out and now you got to spend extra time Shit, I don't really I don't drink, you know what I'm saying? So it's like I got to sit there and I got to be the sober one I got to drive and make sure we get here to you know I mean we get home safely and all of that and I just want to be in my bed You know, I mean I just want to be chilling I might want to just be with my kids and then nobody not I don't think that you deserve a pat on the back For everything you do but like you seldomly see situations where Artists are appreciative to their managers. That's why when things don't go right. They just get rid of them Like one one or two things. Oh, I don't like this. I'm gonna get somebody else Somebody else could do bigger than you or that's what they think and yeah, you know So do you think like So It do you think it's a better way that artists and management relationships could go better? Um, it really just depends on artists or it depends on the art It depends on both because I'm not going to just sit here and just big up the managers Like it's not managers that don't do shit You know I'm saying it's a lot of managers because a lot a lot of times the manager It's like the closest role because the the the artist thinks like I just need somebody to be responsible So it'll be the homeboy first But if the homeboy is like or the homegirl is not trying to learn any skills That can amplify the artist and like you just gonna be stuck running in place So I think like the best way the best way for artist management um Relationship to work is just honesty and transparency like being able to talk when you're uncomfortable I had one of my artists called me yesterday and tell me about something that they was uncomfortable with Based on somebody we was working with and I had to like kind of reassure him that it wasn't a bad situation you know I'm saying and Um, why I had to hear him out. I didn't agree with how he felt You know, I mean now I'm like, yo, you got the right to tell me how you feel I'm not gonna tell you but I don't agree and you got to be you know honest enough to say that I can't be just like, yeah, you know what you're right. You're right. Let's just can't be a yes, man But you gotta make sense for the brand for the business and everything Yeah, because I'm just not going to stare you in the wrong way like like I've managed a lot of people I work with a lot of people nobody can ever tell say and if they did Show me the results after that I stared them the wrong way. Okay okay, okay, so So we're coming to industry back then you saw a lot of stuff a lot of stuff a lot of trends Probably back then that's not the same now a lot of trends now. We're like that back there What are some trends you feel like should have stayed in the industry? That's like not really a trend a trend habit anything habits. I only thing I wish is that like artists, um Connected a little bit more like with the artists like I feel like uh technology while it's cool that like you could be in Fucking Venezuela and I could just send you a song within five seconds and for you to get on like it's not enough like um Collaboration in a sense of relationship, right? Like I remember when I used to work with the young guns, um We're walking to sony studios and hit factories right up the block and as we walk and we see little kim, right? So like we kids like me chris and nief my man pain We just run down on little kim like what's up kim and she's like, oh, I love your song and dah dah And at the time I mean we didn't do any work with her but Later on like chris got an opportunity to work with kim and she remembered that You know, I mean when we approached her and we didn't have no ego because we was just strictly fans We grew up watching little kim and um, you know, just just that honesty Permitted them to work for a little bit and I think that like I've just seen a lot of it more when it's like Genuinely being a fan. I feel like the technology takes away from like I don't really want to tell somebody I like them because if I write this and I tell them that I like them They could screenshot it and use it against me one day. Oh that bullshit. You know me Yeah, I think that like it's like a good and bad thing We get to see like mad different You know different parts of the world, but I feel like like you said those genuine connections But I even feel like that even in the I don't want to stay in the in the like behind the scenes too Because I feel like because the artists are always indoors their team are always indoors. Yeah, yeah Absolutely, I agree and I think that like, you know, um The thing about it is is that I think that like just culturally in certain aspects of the music It kind of take has taken away from like Like artist performances, like, you know after the um pandemic like right before the pandemic I said damn shit hitting like march 2020 like I haven't been living in new york I was living in jersey. I haven't been living here in two years. It'd be august I've been going for two years, but like It used to be a thing to like go to sobs and see the next young artists, you know I mean hot 97 hot 97 who's next power one of five used to do shit in that and You know and it's like I love what a lot of the kids in the city is doing or whatever But it's like I don't even know where I could possibly go see him And if I could go see him what I want to because they beefing so much You know I'm saying so it's like where's a safe space where people can perform And we can actually see them get out there and see they crowds and all that that shit It's like it's a little bit different now Yeah, so as far as like the upcoming kids for one was I think the only one to have a like show in brooklyn And then like the cops was even all over that but like They've been having shows in jersey because like nowhere in new york is kind of letting them kind of Have that I mean, I don't work in little enforcement, but if I did I wasn't either You know what I mean like I I wouldn't I'm just keeping it a hundred because like, you know Um, you got to think right like I feel like on the internet they are exaggerating it a bit much like I feel like The artist beef me beef, but like they so amplified on internet. It makes you think it's like so big But but the internet does it but then I think that a lot of the artists play into the internet as well, right? Like I feel like this this artist that I grew up on that like I seen when I was a kid and a lot of them And I'm not taking nothing away from them But a lot of them wasn't like the gangster that they portrayed to be So I think that today it's like Nobody wants to take a loss in any sense whether it's an argument a fight a shooting whatever it is It's me versus you whatever the case may be I'm saying like hypothetically speaking if I was law enforcement and I'm studying these guys every day because I'm trying to Fucking catch them and I know that these dudes this and these do like they do they show Um, they do svu episodes on the shit now, you know, I mean like um, so it's like Yeah, where's the safe space because you can't risk another urban plaza happening Right, you know I'm saying you can't risk that type of shit. So it's like If the if the culture in the music doesn't change then it just You're gonna have to perform somewhere else That's true. I'm I'm low key 50-50 because I feel like the older artists be Trolling and as a sense of marketing now. So I feel like the younger kids is just Doing that extreme. What do you mean the older artist trolling? I mean, like, I don't know. Did you see acting a little dirt entry? Yeah, so he was like how the whole Tweet or post or something was trolling It's crazy that dirt is an older artist now though Not older, but you know what I'm saying like these all right a little dirt is somebody that older kids look up to Right. So a little duck is saying like oh, he did that because he was trolling And I'm saying now kids is thinking trolling is a way of marketing. Well, it was happening way before I mean dirt was doing it and people before him I just think that like we in a space where everybody wants to be seen right and it's like I remember I was saying this to one of my friends when they write like when I was a kid If a person like let's say something if the news came in your block I don't give a fuck if a cat was stuck in a tree Or or it was a murder or whatever it was and like a camera was there If you did this in front of camera and you was on the news for five seconds It was the biggest shit like oh my god Look at right. So so now it's like this is the news camera now Everybody can report how they want to report everybody could tell the story how they want to tell it And I mean they do it the the thing that bothers me with the music is I don't know how many people actually want to be artists or they just want to like fucking They just want to be famous and you could do this all day now. You feel me so Yeah, I'm I agree with the I don't know who want to be artists and who wants to just be famous because I feel like Even artists aren't even really getting developed how they used to back in the day But they don't but it's not that they're not getting developed. They don't want to be So I wanted I always wanted to I'm happy you said that because I've only worked at three labels in my life and I've had success inside being at a label and I've had success outside being a manager, right the thing when it comes to development is like People a lot of people say artists aren't developed artists aren't developed artists aren't developed A lot of artists don't want to be developed a lot of artists that you can provide the information because I said this On another podcast where I was saying that like you you can give an artist information about certain things that they could do for Theyself whether it's healthcare whether it's um a business manager Whether it's help with certain things and they don't a lot of them want don't want to do that A lot of people look at being an artist is just having Doing whatever you want to do get in a bunch of money and just being irresponsible And I'm not saying that's every single artist. I'm just saying that a lot of them like when you can do like Yo, it's tons of people tons of annars because people annars don't annar. How would you know? You know, I mean like it's and I'm not saying you specifically But it's tons of annars that would say all right Yo, I want to put you in the studio with this producer and they really going like vocal produce you What's that telling you how to say shit telling you how to get in pocket And you know what the artist say they they let their homies come around. I don't he'll need that How you think we gotta hear how you think it will be a lot of self sabotage It is and and I just feel like we don't even have stars anymore because a lot of these artists They think they know it all you know, I mean and I'm not saying that they don't know anything But if you want to reach a certain type of level you got to study. Yeah, I feel like A lot of artists don't Like you said I want to be developed and but I I'm They I feel like they people be giving up quickly too because I feel like I've worked with like the I don't say good, but I worked with like some drill artists and it took a lot of time to even get them To open up and listen and to accept feedback But I can see how so many people gave up on it because there was such a hard tassel Well, I think Let's also you've grown you have kids and you're not about to deal with another kid I mean the thing about it is is like Let's also keep in mind that a lot of people don't have patience because they they look at What another person has right like there's so many people that could say like a less Drill artist a b or c right drill artist a is fucking moving and it might just be because they had a really good song And it came at a really good moment drill artist b might be more talented than drill artist a you know what I'm saying and They might have um They they might have something Going a little bit, but it's taking some time drill artist c might be more talented than both a and b And they got a harder work ethic But the way that they're approaching their music is just taking a little bit more time, right? But c keeps looking at a and b and saying, you know, they got the deal that motherfucker got the watch He got the car. I'm still in the hood. You know what fuck this. I ain't doing and then Then what do you get? So that's the thing, right? Do you want what are you doing it for right? Like I'm gonna keep it a hundred all of that I want to be the best ever all that shit is cool. You need to be trying to get your fucking money up That's what this shit is about Get your paper and a lot of them ain't really trying to get no paper And I'm not saying specifically drill because it's other genres that ain't on that too, you know, I mean Yeah, it's definitely other genres. So do you feel like As an a and r So as an art discovering artists Do you feel like it's a way to ensure an artist reached their full potential? Or no, it really depends on artists. No, there's all is is nothing's guaranteed It's like I look at I approach, um, how I do a and r and all that the same way like a person recruits in sports Right, like it's like if I go back to the I think it was the 2000 and not NBA draft Blake Griffin was the first person picked The seventh person picked with Steph Curry So that means it was six people That they picked before they picked and minute the Minnesota Timberwolves had two picks They picked Johnny Flynn and Ricky Rubio And didn't pick Steph Curry now you redraft that Everybody picked Steph Curry, right? But it was about the potential and and and the longevity and with and what the person wanted So like when it comes to me Recruiting an artist because I get let me tell you something my DMs is full It's insane But the thing about it is is there's a lot of people that's talented out there But you can't have potential forever And I can't ensure this shit is not guaranteed. So it's like I've seen tons of artists that was like They had potential, but They was looking at artists a and b right and was like why not me and I'm like Yeah, you know not watching a plate. Um Okay, so when you say you see artists that you have potential, but you won't have potential forever You go based on talent. Do you go based on age? Do you go based on image? Like what do you go based on if anything? Um, it's a it's a it's a combination of like all like I say like first and foremost like Music is it depends on what I'm going after right like it's like Music is a young person's game like um A lot of people don't realize and this is from my generation that when Jay-Z put out his first album and he was 26 mace was only 20 And mace was kicking everybody ass. He was selling all the records. You know what I'm saying? It's a young person's game. So yeah age is a factor into that to an extent. Um It's not the main factor But yeah, I'm not I'm not looking to sound people that's 37 and 36 and all of that And I'm not and I'm not saying that they won't be successful, but No, he did not get on at that time two chains got on if we want to talk about getting on He was around ludicrous since ludicrous first album When he was titty boy, he was on disturbing the peace compilations all of that He had been putting on music. It's just when he found a sound he found a sound later on in his life But um Of course, I look at talent right but more than talent More than looks more than work ethic work ethic is the most important thing If I got to tell you to go to the fucking studio And I got and you are artists and you can't send me if in one week You can't send me a minimum of three to five songs. You ain't you don't want this shit Right So um, so it was a complex article and it was about ice spice and I'm saying that you know ice spice owns her masters I'm publishing and she doesn't have the traditional a and r What do you think about that? What's the traditional a and r like I don't know Listen shouts out to ice bike. I had I had the privilege of like pursuing her Before she got signed I had a meeting with her and her manager and riot um James and you know, I and would I say about ice spices that girl this before munch came out is when I met her She's very smart. She understands who she is and what she wants. Um The whole thing about her not having a traditional a and r like I really don't give a fuck about that Like I don't even know why that said because I think that um when you say things like that It's like divisive. It's like You're you're you're putting it out that Somebody doesn't need a person and a a and r is not there to tell you what to do A and r is there to help and to guide, you know what I'm saying and I feel a little I don't feel aware about that But I know somebody who works with her and I'm not saying that she's lying and nothing But I feel like that kind of diminishes what that person could bring to the table when you say something like that Like so, I mean salute to her though, you know, I mean salute to her. I'm happy that that girl I think she's a star I told her she was a star when I met her and I think she's gonna get every fucking thing she came for And more It was like some back and forth if she was like a drill artist or not a drill I mean, I think When I think a drill, I think of violence No, that's a fact. That's what drill is like if you look at the the the term drill, right? And I'm talking about when chief Keith and them came out I Was in the last year of my 20s. I was 29 when don't like came out, you know, I mean When they was talking about drilling and all that going on a drill They was talking about going to do something to somebody So I don't I mean words evolve and words change and we give words different meanings but if we talk about the like the um pure context of what drill means and That if it was in an urban dictionary, it'd be about killing shit and spinning shit and spinning blocks And I think she used elements of that Sound but she was talking about love The other thing that got her, you know, really seen what she don't look like nobody like that's one of the biggest Is you the hair her face? Like she doesn't look like anybody, you know, I'm saying and I mean, I don't I don't I wouldn't consider her a drill artist But she definitely used like drill elements in her music and there's nothing wrong with that Do you think um mba young boy make drill music? Um No, I don't think he makes drill music because he has all types of song He has more than one type of song But I do think that like mba young boy like He makes a lot of the same songs though Like, you know, I mean he has a lot of the same songs But mba young boy also uses melody too like he uses melody in a sense, but he does talk about Killing shit. I think it was just like not it's not funny, but it's like The crazy thing about um Some artists now mba young boy, and I'm not I'm not saying he's tupac I'm not gonna say that because I grew up on tupac and I seen tupac in real time as a kid But I think that the biggest thing that tupac provided was showing how humans embody hypocrisy And um because tupac One day he wanted to save niggas the next day he wanted to kill niggas One day he wanted to uplift his black sisters the next day He wanted all the bitches and that was what being a human is like you don't you can fit two Right, so I think that mba young boy Like when he did that whole i'm scared of people all that shit You know me and in the next two weeks later. He was killing shit on record. Like it's just like, oh, okay You know, I mean, but I don't I don't know he's an enigma for real that kid's an enigma The reason I asked was because you said like drugs like violence I feel like people listen to the young boy in that move also Well, I mean I'm happy you said that too because me charlamagne olive Like I have a group chat with a few of us and we talk about this all the time, but like Drill is a certain style But to me like I could go on and say that styles p was a drill artist Styles p was one of the most styles p. I love styles p to death. He's a he's I grew up as a fan of him and he became like a brother to me an older brother to me But styles p had a record called shoot him in the head Shoot him in the face of the chest then shoot him on the waist of the neck Then shoot him in the gut in the mouth then shoot him in the back and don't stop till the blood running out He said that on record I mean we like to pretend that The golden era was like this substance and all this great niggas was just Wrapping at the barbecue about good times. No niggas was rapping about cutting shit kill the locks had me carrying knives you feel me like so I think that like Everything comes from something Yeah, and everything comes from something it comes from the streets if you have if you we're talking about the streets We talking about criminal activity Whenever there's criminal activity and they translate the song you gonna give violence in that and it comes from a certain place It comes from the environment. You know, I mean whether it's right or wrong It's coming from an honest place. So you know, I don't I'm saying that to say I don't be trying to be too hard on the drill kids forever I feel like it's it's fairly new. I feel like we're still coming through it. I guess I mean I don't know. I hope it like sticks around. Do you feel like drills ending? I don't think it's ending, but I think that some things need to change because um So the biggest thing I have when it comes to like drillers that New york has not had an identity in almost 30 years What I mean by that is is like once bloods and crypts Became a thing in new york We did not have no identity because if you and I didn't learn this until I started being around like people from la Who was bloods and crypts if you go out there and you see like somebody banging a flag or something We're not even banging a flag. It don't it don't beat like it's really like a neighborhood thing It's like i'm from a building called 1900 My neighborhood was a blood neighborhood if I was if it was like la it'd be it wouldn't be a certain It'd be 1900 bloods. You know what I'm saying? So it's like when you start saying that you another place and you day 1900 blood you like they not from our building. You know what I'm saying? so What I mean by like the drill shit is they at new york Not just new york black youth in all of america has emulated chicago from 2012 from the slang To the the the slang the names the Listen, I grew up with a lot of people who did a lot of shit in the street I never seen something happen in a motherfucker disrespect a person after they they did whatever they had to do That was something that chicago was doing that Because I think that the youth of america and I said this before I feel like there's a lot of black men From my generation and the generation before me filled our children They that's what that's why we get the results that we have That's why these niggas act out the way they do because we a lot of us filled our children. Um when I look at um Like the drill scene. Yeah, these kids is emulating chief kief and them because they looked at it and they was able to see themselves They was able to look and say we'd be just like that and then you know Naturally, we gravitate to a shit and and and and the new york gang structure How it how the kids from they adapted to chicago should they could they uncontrollable? So it's a lot of the same is these kids are still sex money murders and all of this and then the third But the older dudes can't control them because they didn't guide them Yeah, and I feel like they're kind of chime in in a little late. I guess. Yeah, because like I feel like now You know once you get 1890 you and your habit you and your weights And stuff like that. So like trying to pull them out now is kind of like But you know why they're chiming in now because they didn't went to jail for the shit They didn't they didn't came home from doing 20 some years and they see in they little cousins that they left That was two years old. That's 22 now going crazy. And they're like damn This is what we you know, I mean so when you get the older you get your perspective changes And then you you want to prevent shit, but it's like I'm not saying this it's It can't change at all But it's like the reason why it's not changing at the pace that we like to is because we talking at these kids and not with them We're not really trying to Sit down and say well, what's going on? We like don't do that because We would have did it this way. Yeah, that's not never gonna work. It's a lot of that I think the whole like When the mayor was trying to ban drill music, I think artist is really bothered by that. Um, yeah And I feel like just I think that like hearing your favorite artists say like they don't fuck with drill music Is mad disheartening knowing like I think artists just be kind of like venting in the music. No, I'm saying Yeah, yeah, I feel like just hearing your favorite artists Say like yeah, they're not fucking drill music as well Because I but that's because they're not fucking with the they're not fucking with the like the moral of it Well, not the moral I say more of the foundation of like where it stems like like like they're not fucking with A lot of these kids is talented as fuck, but it's like That's why I brung up the locks as an example. I could bring up mobd But they all rapped about death and killing and this down the third, but they rapped from a sense of like Not saying that they doing it, but it could have happened when they went when when they when the older artists now Were looking back and they're looking at these kids and they saying Damn, he really that really happened. Yeah, that really had that could have been my now I can't support that. Okay, that I think that's what it but I think that instead of just saying now We can't support that it needs to be a little bit more transparency You got to pull up on it and I dug you be I love that kid. Yeah got to pull up on him and say, yo, bro Like You know, are you talented and all that but it's another way how you can handle how you're doing what you're doing Well, they be I would say is one of the ones that definitely opened up about him being depressed and like I'm just kind of going through his things. So a lot of them kind of keep that under wraps thrill. But um even like Damn, I was gonna say what I think so um, what I'm gonna say was that Okay, so how do you feel about label signing them? Um, like drill kids I feel like it'd be like a quick little cash grab to them honestly. Yeah But I feel like That's my personal thing. No, it is it is not making and that's the thing, right? People think that the sign like you said, it's not no shows going on. So where's all this money going? Well, the money It's making money, but it's really regional. So I had this conversation with an executive when I was at um Asylum and asylum is like a deriviation of Atlantic And we was just having a conversation about like it was after king vaughn died and it was just like The perception is is that You're worth more dead, but you're not You know I'm saying pop smoke family his estate his mom everybody he loves He'd be doing way more if it'd be way better if he was here You know I'm saying and I think that like People try to position like this Oh, they just setting it up. No, like We can't deny the talent. I think the reason why these kids because you can't deny the talent but then A lot of people who sign these kids They and I know for a fact because I know most of these people is my friends these executives that sign these kids They have hopes of them saying we don't want you to stop like Directly making that music, but we want you to shift And and and you still probably want to make music a certain way But like shifted a little bit and you could really turn it into something if you could leave This side away, but the problem is is that it's not enough curation. It's not enough Prevention, it's not enough and I don't want to regulate it to the big. Oh big homies. That shit is bullshit You know how many motherfuckers I know older than me do the same shit that them kids do So it's like it's it's But it's not we're not seeing true stars come out of it And a lot of these kids got a chance, you know, I'm saying a lot of them got a chance It's just it take a little bit more like, you know, I gotta salute my brother steve carless You know me over at one that he signed shai k um He signed the few a few uh upcoming kids out the city And you know, he's trying to Take that that approach in that path. So I gotta salute him for that Yeah, so one is finally like well not finally but they've got A chance to get a stage at summer jam. It's really dope. Um, I feel like that's Kind of the first one. I mean druski has summer jam last year But this is like the first actual stage with like multiple drill artists, so it's cool. Um Yeah, and then he got them on the radio and stuff. So just a little bit of all that Okay, so moving back into music though. So I feel like you see how like It's like drill then it's like jersey club and all this other stuff So a lot of songs right now. It'll be like a song Like I don't know if you've seen like to see how favorite song was going viral And then he had um cali to get on the remix And then he released something called a toxic remix with future. Yeah. Yeah So how are you feeling about multiple remixes? It's always been like that. It's been like that for a minute, you know I mean, I mean think about remember when game had one blood and he had like Yeah, he had mad differ. He had the one blood with like all the girls I think that he had one blood with like all dudes that he had the east coast one blood and the west coast one blood like people I mean It could be overkill to an extent But I'm not mad at people trying to squeeze the fucking orange as much as they can You know, I mean like get what you can out of that shit Yeah, um Yeah, I think it's a little it's overkill for me right now Yeah I mean, but the thing about it is the reason why it's over kills because people get tired of shit so fast So you got to keep something else for him. It's like, all right It's like you could drop you could what people don't realize is like the consumer When we put out a project We take months working flying here working with these producers Swapping this song for this song can't clear that and when we finally get a track list too And we and we give it deliver it to the fans that take and they listen they like oh shit. That was good. When's the next one? Like when's the next one like do you know what it just took? I tell people this all the time. Yeah I've never dealt with a Beyonce level of clearance when it comes to working with an artist But I can only fucking imagine like every time Beyonce drops, right? She got all her videos though. I think the last album she had her videos, right? But she has her videos done usually her performances set up. Do you know how much? If a motherfucker understood how much it takes to clear one song, you got to go buy it Appreciate it share it do whatever with it because they these artists taking time to be vulnerable to deliver you something Yeah, it's gonna make them money. But they put in their Heart and soul whether it's drill whether it's fucking just straight lyrical r&b I don't go fuck if you doing uh Latin shit whatever they doing if a motherfucker give you something that you could feel like it's good Make sure you get that word out for them for real because it takes a lot Yeah, and I feel like the fact that we get music every friday does not help Yeah, it's too. It's it's a lot. Yo, it's a lot. Yeah Um, okay, so I'm we're gonna play I got another game. Let's play again games over here So like I'm gonna start the sentence. You finish the sentence. Okay. I like that So My favorite campaign I worked on was Kisha by davis Yeah, why that? Oh man, it was a great. It was a great thing. I mean Dave had We were working on uh the kairushinel project And we it was just a great year for us. They've had got we had the two solar shows in japan that year We had um We had our first tour Our first headlining tour that was his tour. We had um Tons of features tons of free styles that was moving. We had offers on the table from every single um every single label and The reason why the kisha thing was so big for us was because Dave had this record where he told the story And You know me and my team helped bring that story to life It was like he just wrote it like me. It wasn't an actual thing that happened But the whole kisha thing it was um I went when Dave did it and we started talking about the video was we had a show in dc And we drove down to dc and I was driving back home and I was listening to the song I was like I came up with an idea for it and I was like I wanted the video to be Him with no jewelry on sitting in a park explaining to his homies What happened to him and it was because I watched I'm a big marvel fan and I watched ant man and in the first Ant-Man movie this character every time he told the story why he was talking He would be saying something and the character that he was talking about would would recite his words So I was like that's how the video got to be it got to be you saying this should happen And when I and and what we did was I said, yo, listen, we ain't gonna get no dominican girl We ain't gonna get no we got to go get a fire um black girl and it was this young lady um That worked in the bbc store that I used to go to and I asked I say, yo, would you be You know in this video for us and she was like, yeah, and what I did was I told mass appeal. I'm like, yo, let's make a wanted poster for her So we made a wanted poster and we posted that shit everywhere around new york So it was like that campaign. Oh man the execute we had tracy ellis raw She did a video when that shit came I was like I just heard this song from davis. I I really want to know that he get robbed Like you know, I mean it became a thing like it became a thing So I was really proud of that like it was dave It was dave's lyricism and then like, you know, all of us coming together on the market and then just making something dope happen nice Okay, my go-to track when I need motivation is My go-to track when I need motivation. Oh, excuse me. My go-to track when I need motivation is um I say Thug motivation one-on-one intro by jeezy Okay Music was the best one I was a child An artist campaign I like to be a part of is an artist campaign that I would like to be a part of um Something you see I don't know. I don't know if it was necessarily would be something I'm I'll say I'm working on something specialized with vessel. So Oh, yes Our artist that should be bigger than they are right now is K-flat um An unlikely artist collab. I want to see happen is drinking nice I wish artists these days would stop Posting everything And an upcoming artist should always An upcoming artist. She'll always Trust the process. Okay All right, that's cool So speaking of ice weather, so he did give you flowers on On on the radar and he was just kind of saying like he appreciated you forget him in the studio and stuff like that so I guess Getting artists in that groove. I guess of leaving the street life because you know it takes time So I guess how did you you kind of just what explain how your story kind of went or like how you know, I just Uh see yourself in them. So it's kind of easy to talk through No, not necessarily. I'll say um I'm a good motivator. Okay. If you if you around me long enough I'm gonna make you believe in your motherfucking self like if you if you doubt yourself if you I don't go fuck if it's if it's uh You going on any type of journey if you trying to Become a public speaker if you going to school anything. I'm a good encourager So I'll say like it varies with different artists. The thing was like ice with vessel and what he was specifically talking about was like I got him and I got baby money and um They both live in Detroit and they both from Detroit and they see each other all the time and I came up like we've been talking about them doing a tape for a minute and They be in the studio with each other and don't do no music So it's like I told them I just called them. I called vessel one day. I said, yo, I'm about to book a trip I'm about to book myself to come out to Detroit. I'm gonna tell baby money I'm tell those we're gonna go to the studio and I'm gonna bring my man I brought my man Mitch and we just came up with like we just was Making records every day every day every day, you know I'm saying so it's like Because look the funny thing was after I left they were supposed to finish after I left They didn't record no more songs together and they seen each other every day after that like almost every day I didn't say every day but almost. Okay. Mm-hmm. So you definitely had to put that battery on them to get them going Yeah, okay, so So working with so when we moved to Atlanta, was the qc job already like locked in or did you get that like when you got out there? No, no, it was already like that. Okay. It was it was already like that It was like I moved out there because I knew what I was doing like I had already been talking Me and P had been talking like since Right before the pan like right when pandemic started When baby dropped my turn like when baby dropped my turn, I still was doing everyday struggle He wanted baby on the show. I got baby on the show and then like, you know, we just had a conversation And he was like y'all if it makes sense I would let it have you be a part of qc and then when he told me that I I was nothing else on my mind. I said that's what I'm gonna do And um, I just leaned into it So I had I hadn't officially started on paper, but I was already doing stuff behind the scenes I had stopped that asylum Like like when you get a job like that, you got to get a deal just like an artist You know what I'm saying? Like you got to sign a contract So while my contract was getting work that I was just um, you know Just working behind the scenes with certain artists and shit trying to bring what I cut to the table So it was it was locked in And you I gotta look into some more artists. Absolutely. Absolutely. Shit the the the lights stay on by us Keep going. You know, I mean we can't stop with one, you know Yeah, okay, so it was a big controversy when qc sold their catalog They didn't sell a catalog or what well, you know more. I don't know if you can I don't even know that much I could speak on what I know, but I don't know that much, but they didn't sell a catalog what they did was um From my understanding, you know, when you have a business, right? You have a hundred percent of there's a hundred percent of a business and A hundred percent of a business could be divvied up between whomever's involved I don't know what this one got versus that one. None of that But what they did what I do know what I can't speak on is that Hype is a company That's a very big company, you know ran by school to brawn and a few his colleagues I don't know the guy. I can't remember the guy's name who owns Hype But I met some of the Hype people and they do really really good fucking work And they brought into a piece of qc. So we partnered they bought in, you know, I mean like yeah It's a partnership. It's not they sold qc for x amount of dollars and because it's it's and the thing about it is is like Would you rather own? What is the same would you rather own? um All of 10 10 10 percent of 10 percent of a watermelon or a hundred percent of a grape You know, I mean like you you would rather take a small percentage Like I remember um jz was just talking with kevin heart and he was like Our people are so conditioned to believe that like If you own one percent of something that you ain't got shit Meanwhile, that one percent might be worth hundreds of millions of dollars. You know what I'm saying, but Yeah, I feel like, you know, like people that don't understand the business always unexpectedly like fans and all that You know people's like, oh, he has sell out blah blah. I feel like Business and I feel like if you don't understand business, you wouldn't understand why I think it was that But that's the that's the problem that we have right speaking on things without information speaking on things without content Everybody's so fast to say something based on the headline. I'm pretty sure Nobody who saw the headline read most people who commented about it Did not read the article because if you read the article, it said What it meant, you know, I mean and that's the problem is like we so quick to jump to conclusions based on That right there instead of reading some shit, but you there's a famous saying you want to hide something from a nigga Put it in the book so, um, but um Qc also have a production company. I believe qc is a production company is a production company Yeah, but I know they didn't didn't they do the impact show also, right? So qc Is at one point in time, which it was a record label is a multi media company We have a branch that's qc quality films. We have a branch that solid foundation. That's our management company And we have a branch Qc films solid foundation and we have a branch that's qc sports, which is our sports company We have a sports agency, you know what I'm saying? We're working on other branches. We're working on building other things, you know, like Qc is positioning itself to be one of the major, you know what I'm saying? So it's like You you can't the thing about is I'm like You have to have partners And you have to have business to expand and grow and so many people don't know that and they just think Oh, you let a white man do business with you. So, you know He's like they think that's they think school to brawn is coming in the office saying way don't get the fucking work Get off your phone. Like, you know See that I have creative control for sure because Even the whole production of the impact show I felt like was so necessary at the time Yeah, I feel like reality we was in such a decline and I feel like those are all girls that all these girls look up to me We got the impact. We work with um isa random or rap shit You know what I'm saying? Yeah, we got so that was based on city girls, right? I believe it's loosely based on them. I believe it's loosely based on them But you got rap shit. You got the little baby documentary that was partnered with amazon Um with amazon prime, you know what I mean? So it's like you got it, you know, you want to Divvy up if you look at any major corporation You look at the nfl you look at the mlb the mba or you look at shit target You know, I mean like they They partner with different companies to bring certain types of product and certain types of content and different things And it's like it's when you do it in music and you partner with somebody like all you you you didn't let them in you That shit ain't real no more I feel like we need I feel like just being black. We have I feel like being black We have a cap on the amount of money. We can make technically what you mean in a sense of like Making black making money being black from black people You know what I'm saying? Yeah, but I don't necessarily agree with that I feel like so then you mean being like you think that the only way for us to be successful is to be fully black-owned No, I think we do need to partner with white people But I think that I think we need to partner with whomever Has the great who has great business opportunities for us whether they white black Chinese Korean whatever like we need to partner with whomever has great business ideologies that we can learn And we could look at their infrastructure and say, oh, that's how y'all did it on y'all side All right, well, we're gonna come in and we're gonna learn this so that we could build bigger business for us That's the reason I'm saying that is because like a lot of Our peers I guess don't learn enough to get to those levels I'll say From my own experience and I had a person tell me this is that When it comes to hip-hop specifically in hip-hop culture um And the white person told me this that we know How to create we know how to we know how to get some shit popping It's not a third but not enough of us in certain seats take the time to learn the business and that's why A lot of major corporations get over because why are we in the studio to five o'clock in the morning? Or why are we not sleeping and doing all sorts of other types of shit And not saying that we ain't up at 9 a.m. Doing the paperwork, but a lot of us are more in love with like The how it looks versus The the back end of the business, you know I'm saying like that's that's one of the reasons why I came to qc So I could learn another level of business that I hadn't known Being around a coach and pia Simone to mica everybody Brands or everybody on our team, you know what I mean? I could go and align with people that I hadn't worked with and get a little bit smarter and build Okay, okay. Do you have like um a goals for yourself? I guess do like want to do a label of your own or do you? No, I don't want no label I did that already Okay, I did that already. I don't want no label. I don't I don't want to label because like um I had to look at myself like this right and I'm not taking nothing away from myself I know that I'm very fucking good at what I do Regardless of the people who don't know what it is that I do, but I know I'm really really good at what I do and I know that I know how to um Get things going. I know that I'm trustworthy and I'm dependable, but at the same time it's like I don't want to be The man I don't want to be the michael joe and other lebron jane I don't want to be I looked I looked at myself as like, yo I want to join a team where I can still be the man within my own right within that system And I can make tons of money and tons of connections and do great things and move around how I want But I don't want to be the guy that Because I've been that guy. I don't want to do that Yeah, I don't want to be that guy. That's not like I don't want to have a label That's shit people think that that shit is not easy It's not easy and um, I guess it took your time to find the I guess perfect team for you, right? um I mean I wouldn't say this I wouldn't necessarily say I mean Think perfect perfect is I think it's real but it's like real But it's relative to what what you define what you define in it for right like for myself Yeah, everything guys is pros and cons for me. It was more predicated on like, okay I came from Rockefeller, you know what I'm saying, which was Is one of the you Depending on who you access the best label or it's not as good as that one of the other one, right? But I came from a very very prestigious label It's like going to a fucking ivy league school, right? Like you come from this big school and shit and then I learned my skills and then I applied my skills Independently and I had success and then with them with those skills and that success I leveraged that to do other things and then I leveraged those things to do other things and then I got with another label and it was like I learned that system and then when I by the time I got the qc It's like all right now. I'm taking all the experiences that I've had up until and I'm trying to add to the pot So that I could bring some shit to the table so I could grow within the system And who knows I could be at qc forever. I could be going tomorrow You know I'm saying the thing is is that I know what I'm going to be responsible for and what I'm going to bring to the table Okay Okay, and then like just I guess Adjusting from I guess working in New York to working in Atlanta. Is it a big difference or is it pretty the same? Yeah, it's a big difference Okay, so what is like some of the pros and cons I guess I mean Only thing about Atlanta everything's slow Everything's slow. I don't mean people. I just mean well with people. I don't mean I don't mean stupidity slow You know, I mean, I just think like think reaction time to certain things is is different You know, I mean like in new york, I'm used to being able to like that everything Yeah, it's out there. It's like a little bit more time a little bit things just move a little bit slower What I like about Atlanta is Um, I feel like there's a little bit more creativity Down there when it comes to the music side because Most of the producers and songwriters in the space that I work in I'm not saying in everybody's space But in space I work in a hip hop A lot of them is down there a lot of them is in miami and a lot of them is in LA New york is not the same thing even with the studios like new york studios. I feel like Super pricey Yeah, they're super pricey and it's a big divide right It's like you seldomly see a studio where like it's this open space where Yo, y'all over in this room y'all over in this room y'all over in this room And we coming together and and that's another misconception Atlanta the people from New York think that everybody in Atlanta gets along that shit is not true These motherfuckers have shootouts with each other all the time. You know what I mean? But I think that um just culturally down there in Atlanta, right like They bought their bread. So they trying to like that's why thug You know, I mean and the whole ysl shit was so embrace of a savage and 20 and savage and slaughter gang And for pf and they had their synergy and you know, I mean and that's how you get the The when it was that time the offset Metro boom in the 21 Savage album without warning because Everybody's they moving and shaking here It's it's super ego driven. It's crew driven. It's Man, I'm like I'm from I'm from the east side, you know, I mean a Harlem like It's dudes from the west side. I'm like, yeah, they cool. But those east side niggas We don't really fuck with them like that. You know what I'm saying? So it's gonna prevent us getting money Just from being geographical and it's you know, yeah, it's what it is Um, I feel like right now. I feel like there's a lot of like tiktok stars a lot of content being made Um, right now I've been seeing like a lot of artists kind of complain that like they feel like they turn into content creators I mean Listen, you could make money with all of this shit. You know how you live? I think that like the biggest thing is Look at t-pain Who was one of the biggest Man t-pain was a fucking Super sold tons of records all of that But it came to a point where people was like threw t-pain away like they didn't want to fuck with t-pain no more and Once t-pain became a content creator and made his show on twitch and all of that He said he's like y'all making more money doing this and I did Making music now. I think that you know, everybody got their own path for how they want to go after it but you know, we had a space where People accept everything that people accept different things from artists. Look at carisha. She has You know, she's the city girl carisha The city girl might young miami, but then carisha is becoming some brand But she does her talk show and she does some modeling or whatever else she's into, you know, I mean so I mean get we black people this is our culture man Get as much as you can why you can't because you can't do this shit forever. So you're saying it's not it's not a bad thing It's a bad thing if you uh Don't have a mission. I think if you don't have a mission then you just try and shit Just to throw it shit at the wall. You I think you got to have a plan. We got Four quarters of a year that's three month increments. We get that four times You got to plan january february march then april may june July august september October november december you got to plan that shit out and you know repeat Yeah, um Yeah, I feel like yeah, they just have to I feel like it began played out a little bit sometime. Mm-hmm, but I'm trying I see why they do it Um, okay last last thing once I turn no problem. I feel like r&b artists right now Aren't in the spotlight as much as they used to really Kind of and then did he this whole thing about how r&b is dead So you think r&b is right. Am I still here the hell no You know Going on right now the place that you get the most substance is r&b scissor summer walker Listen, I just in on my first r&b album of late and green. You know what I mean? Yeah late and we dropping this year. You know what I'm saying? So listen r&b I think r&b is in a great place. Um It's of course. It's not singing in the rain r&b how it used to be But at the same time, it's like, you know, things change is like things evolve like people have different perspectives Like we can't look at the generation before We can't look at the generation after us and say they doing it all wrong because we not living any times We don't know what what affects them directly, right? Um, I think that did he saying that He's diddy, but at the same time just because he did he don't mean that he and or be all right You know what I'm saying? Like his perspective comes from the fucking 90s. That's a lot Yeah, because there's people still putting pain and you got jockeys out here He's still doing work. Like I said, summer you got tink tink put together really really good albums You know, I mean, it's so many people coco jones You know, it's a lot of a lot of these young people is putting in the work And like you said imagine hearing somebody you grew up on saying that shit is trash or that ain't it And they might not even be directing it at you because did he didn't say a name? But when you hear that you like damn, bro, I'm out here. I'm trying my hardest, you know, I'm saying So just you know, I don't I think that we got us again because When I was growing up I didn't hear the same way that the younger ones didn't disrespect the elders I also didn't hear big daddy came try and say man, that's JD kids in the game really, you know, I mean like I ain't here kumo D saying that shit. I ain't here. None of them. You know, I mean So you got to let the you got to let the youth be the youth and Like we we got to guide them a bit and we got to work with them not against them film you so What what what you you'll be talking. Yeah, I feel like this was good. This is a good congo. Um, I appreciate you for having me For sure. I mean, I appreciate No, that's so good. So I'm so like what how could we I guess in keeping two with you? Um, of course Yeah, I'm about it. So I had, you know, if anybody was following my journey, um after everyday struggle, I went to amazon and I did, um Connectable way. No, I did a few like one-off shows with them We bought the bring connected back in a different unique way. Um, I'm working on some doing some amp, you know stuff Again, I just did the unpopular unpopular opinions with amp I did that with pigeons and planes and then I had my my podcast. Um, hear me out with way No, um, it's coming back, but it's not gonna be so much only me before it was like me and my producing We would just kick it and talk. Um, I'm just gonna change it up a bit. You know, I mean, but it's coming I got some shit coming. Okay. I want to talk to some young people. I'm here Of course, I definitely want to talk to the youth man, you know, like shit. That's how I stay young No, I definitely yeah, I feel like these conversations are necessary. I feel like it'd be hard to like connect with You know, everybody working everybody busy. Yeah I feel like I talked about you. I talked about Adam before too, but Not too many of the Yeah, I mean Like it'd be cliche for me to say I'm not a media person because I do work in that space But at the same time, like I never forget what it's like to just be Everybody acts with the one one nine on my my name means it's I'm from 119 for lexington avenue I never forget who that kid was growing up Trying to strive trying to be like trying to be something trying to work hard and Make something of myself. So when I see like you doing it or I see Gabe, you know I mean all of them over at and john and them over at on the radar Or I see, you know, my home girl Nala Simone doing her thing. I pay it forward Like I feel good when it like I'm able to share, you know knowledge and information And if that shit helps you get like a step further than I done my job, you know, I mean, that's what I'm about I feel like even just the motivation and pepper talks world too is helpful because yeah We kind of need to hear like we're on the right track. I feel like like I said, we all kind of hard on our shows right now I'm gonna speak for me and I'm gonna keep it a hundred as much as I'm doing right and people might I don't have this And I'm you know, I mean and and what I would say about that is because You know, and I'm not seeing you know how when you say something Yeah, I got a show and maybe like or somebody might explain anything. I got a little I got a little whatever right. I don't for me trying to do my own podcast I don't have a space where I have people that could come yet I'm working on that and people will say but you way know, right? You got it figure out. You know all these things Oh, listen, you you feel me but at the same time, right? That's why I can speak to it and say you doing your right thing because it's all about consistency As long as you keep doing this shit and you don't stop and you just listen talk There's many people as you can have the good conversation Man, listen 10 years from now, you know telling you it might have a fucking tonight show You might have a ain't no telling You know I'm saying you you you definitely in the right space You're going to be in the right space because you want to be in the right space. You just got to do the work That's where see that's where hard work beats the potential Monica, you know what I mean? That hard work that work ethic will always beat the is he or she going to be something one day? Let's see how they work. Yeah, it's crazy because I wasn't never on a on camera person I was really a behind the scenes person. I'm trying to like Get into it and I've been like I think I I've dabbled and dabbled in the music industry for real. I don't fully understand it. Yeah, listen, I'm gonna be honest I'm still learning shit as we go along like there's no there's one thing about information is information is infinite You know, I mean knowledge is the only currency that cannot be taxed from you It cannot be taken away from you when you have knowledge So the thing about it is is that you never stop learning you never stop growing up Me being a 40 year old man, I'm still growing up to be 50 and I I hope I get up to 60 and 70 and 80. So I'm still growing up. I'm still learning, you know I mean, so don't ever feel like there's a point in time where like You ain't getting it all. It comes it comes in the spurts. You know what I'm saying? It comes in the spurts and I'm hearing a lot of people like early stories and I'll be like them Oh, listen, I was broke Broke is Just even like learning like they could have made money in certain situations that they didn't Yeah, there's tons of things that I could have did what I could have made bread and I just didn't know and it's Things where I was willing to risk And and and try to make money and fail like I think that you need like a part I was saying this to you know, my brother like I wear my losses on my face like my losses is my face task I would never have a problem talking about any loss I've ever taken because when you look at my success and you look at how it's come It's a product of that if I don't embrace How you know at one point in time I might have thought that I knew this I knew that I knew the other And I learned from that then how can I pay with forward to the next person if I just act like I got this Oh, that's why I don't do the clubhouse shit because everybody on clubhouse used to be acting like They was the fucking ultimate Masterminds and they knew everything you got to be able to have the transparency because the thing about it is No, I was saying before nobody wants to take the L. Nobody wants to look like Everybody was top dog on club man. You now look I'm gonna keep it 100 You ain't gonna find no pictures and no stories of me looking crazy and me doing no silly shit But this the points in times where I didn't have much I lived in the I had Two I had three children in a one bedroom apartment me and my wife You know, I mean just us and then we moved to another apartment in the projects And then we moved up out of that because I was on my shit You feel me but the thing of the takeaway from it is don't never you know, don't don't don't doubt You gonna doubt yourself but snap out of it. I mean work hard and just keep going and you won't be good I appreciate you So, I mean if they don't know tell people where to find you find me way no one went on everything You know what I'm saying if way no one went on and everything. Um, and You know, just look out for me. I got some stuff coming on the media side Make sure you checking out baby money duke deuce Uh Fezzo We saw that Oh, it's coming soon. It's coming soon. It's a remix. We the the the thing was is like bobby did it But when he did it we had already turned the album in last year So it's a record that came out, but we bought the drop it soon You know, I mean just for the people but yeah, I mean look out for everything qc You know, we got qc sports quality films solid foundation management quality control music, you know Maybe you maybe you're out in the side of you one day. Never know