 What's up y'all, it's your girl Briyani Minie and you're tuned in to another talk of the town interview and who do we have in the building today? It's good y'all, it's artists man, we here. Now is it artists or is it the artists? So it's the artists but I would like to say artists for sure. Okay, it's artists with a dollar sign just in case you're looking. Alright, so before we get into it, we're going to do a quick round of rat-the-fire questions so I'm going to ask you some questions and just give me the first answer to come to mind, okay? Alright, zodiac sign. Libra. Favorite number? Three. First initial of your first love? And? Favorite given nickname? Stink. Describe your type in three words. Damn, I don't know, smart, loyal, you got your own money. Got your own money, okay, we're going to just pretend like that was my, alright. One word to describe the music industry? Crazy. Studio must have? Blue lights. Three artists that you would go on a road trip with? Cesar, Summer Walker, and Brin Fires. Oh, no, see I'm an R&B girlie and you did your big one with that, that would be a lit ass road trip. Perfect. Okay, go to brunch order. Go to brunch order? Mm-hmm. French toast with the turkey bacon? Some eggs? Okay, so regular breakfast, are you a Bellini or a mimosa? I'm a mimosa, I love a Bellini. One drop, one little, one little drop of orange juice, okay, dream destination? Like this? Bellini. Okay, one item on your bucket list? Oh, damn, damn, what's something that you really want to do that you haven't gotten to do yet? I'm scared, but I'll jump out of a plane. Oh, I'm terrified to jump out of a plane. That's how I would do it. I agree, that's all my bucket list too, but I just don't know how I'm going to muster up the courage to do it, to be completely honest. All right, something you can't leave your house without besides a phone and keys? My wallet? Oh, something you can't leave your house without besides a phone, keys, and your wallet. My glass is stuck in. I can't see. But you can't, I was just wondering, you can't see without a wallet, fine, you got that one. Favorite thing about your hometown? We represent, like, you know, we from where we from, man. I can say that about anywhere, but all right, yeah, I think that's it. Like, I feel like everybody from North, like, you know, like, I'm from North, but no matter, like, is that something that you say, like, you know how people, like, when you get into it with somebody, like, people like to always say, like, I'm from Brooklyn, like, do y'all, do y'all do that? Like, I'm from Newark. Yup. Well, what is, like, newer, like, fuck you, you took them out. Shit, I didn't get, like, you know, like, New York, like, we talking about shit, like, fuck you, you took them out. What do you, what are y'all saying? Same thing, like, fuck nigga. Fuck, yeah. Fuck, nigga. Okay, and finish my sentence. 2023 is the year for us, man. Big intro shit. Perrier, okay. That was a nice, that was a nice little icebreaker. Okay, so we're gonna get right into it. We are halfway through the year at this point. Like, let's do a half year check-in. How are you feeling? All right, we're gonna go in order. How are you feeling mentally? Mentally, I'm getting way better from where I was in January. January to now. Okay, that's great to hear. We just came off of mental health awareness month. I'm definitely a very big mental health advocate, not only for others, but for myself, too. So I love just checking in with people, making sure that they're good. I know you put a lot of, like, your experience into your music, you're very open about talking about your experiences. So just to hear that you are in a better place now, I'd love to hear that. Thank you. How are you feeling in terms of your career? Like, your songs are taking off, your music is doing this thing. How are you feeling? Because we're gonna get into the specifics. But overall, how are you feeling? I'm feeling great, man. A lot of, like, first-time things happen so far, and we only in June, so I'm feeling good, excited for what's to come, so I'll keep working. Okay, and then socially, how are you feeling about your social life, friendships, relationships? I'm feeling like things changing a little bit socially because I feel like I gotta distance myself from certain things in order to not have my career be fucked with in any way, you know? Just taking a break from that life to really focus and hone in on the music. So you locked in right now. You and where I'm old. Are you outside this weekend? Because it's Juneteenth weekend. I hope you at least dedicate one day to pop out real quick for our people. Coach them, man. For our people, okay? All right, well, that's good, so. Let's start from the beginning. You getting into your artistry. What is like your first music memory that you have? Thinking about childhood or growing up? When you think about how music impacted you as a child, what's the first thing that comes to mind? My first music memory that I can remember would be like, I always loved to dance when I heard any kind of song, but my family has videos of me singing on a mic before I'm like one and two years old, I don't remember it, but yeah, I remember just always dancing. No matter the song, the genre, I'm gonna dance. I didn't start off singing, I started off dancing. You started off dancing, okay, so. You were dancing, were you given I'm performing in talent shows dancing, or was it just like family, friends? Every party I cook out, they know who to put in the middle. And it was you. I was wilding. What, so where did this trick, first of all, okay. I was losing it. So you were dancing, it was so crazy. I feel like I don't really see that now. Yeah, I'm working on showing that song. Yeah, okay, so Hidden Talent is what it's giving. So when did you transition from being the dancer to then being the artist, being the singer? No, I just always enjoyed doing a lot of covers. I got some old videos on YouTube. I ain't gonna be able to find them, so don't look for them. But when I'm singing a lot of covers to songs that I loved at the time. I think it just all just meshed well together. I loved to dance, I loved to sing. As a kid, you know, you're doing everything. But as I got older, I really was into basketball for real. So I didn't really do the singing thing until like 2018. That's when I really was like, all right. I'm gonna get with this shot. So you were playing basketball. Was it like a hoop dreams type basketball, or you were just doing it while you were in school? Nah, fast hoop dreams. Hoop dreams for real? Hoop dreams for real? The NBA, what? So what was it that, what was your realization moment, like maybe this is not what it's hitting for? I had to get surgery on my shoulder. It was over with. When I played after the surgery, I'm like, yeah, nah. But look at you now. Like I literally say this all the time. I feel like a lot of times, like when I'm speaking to people about like how they got into their careers, it's always like a, well, I was initially thinking I was gonna do this, or I was supposed to be doing this, but then something happened that kind of like made me pivot and go into something else. I hate that you had to have surgery, but I love that you're here now and you were able to tap into your music. So when you were doing covers, when did you actually get into the studio? It was 2018. My friends kept telling me like, yo, you should like go to the studio, go to the studio. So my friend had took me to one of her friends, Crave, he had like a studio in the crib like 2018. And I did a remix to Quickie by Miguel. That was the first song I ever recorded on a microphone in the studio, engineered everything. I think it's so interesting that you mentioned Quickie because one of my favorite songs of yours is Procrastination. And when I was listening to it, it kind of gave me a Miguel type of vibe in the way that you were like, it was just the delivery. It really did remind me of Miguel. So it's money that you mentioned there. So you said that, so you got in there, you did the cover, how were you feeling? Like was this like, okay, yeah, I could really take this serious after that first two session or what did it give? Like I was like mad blown away by the way I sounded in the headphones. I'm like, oh, this shit sound cool as hell. So yeah, I did that. And then I started just finding a couple of studios in the neighborhood going there, but then I had stopped for a little bit because I was like playing college ball at SS County College in Newark. So I couldn't really do both. Okay, career. Okay. So, no, sorry, did I catch you off? No, you good. Okay, so now when it comes to your names, I was telling my mom that I was interviewing you and she asked me if your name came from or if it was inspired by Prince because I personally didn't know that Prince like up until like 2000s he called himself like the artist formerly known as Prince or the artist. I didn't know that shit either. Yeah, I really didn't. And I was like, I don't know, but I'm gonna ask him if we speak. So it wasn't influenced by him. No. Okay, so were you listening to, like who were you listening to? Wait, first, how did you get your name? What is your name? My actual name is Erika with a C by the way. I was the best with a spelling, but I started off as Erika the artist and then I said, fuck it. I'm gonna drop the first name because like, I feel like art is just who I am. Like I like the paint, I like the sand, like the draw just, I'm just into anything art. You know what I'm saying? So I feel like the artist just represented me as a person. And the dollar sign is very important. You know, man, I need my cheese. The dollar sign is very important. I mean, yes, that too. But also when it comes to just finding you because when you look up the artist, you know, there's so many, but I think that that sets you apart. So there's only one artist that I know of with a dollar sign, which makes you stand out for sure. So like I was saying before, like who were you listening to when you were growing up? So you were doing these covers. So clearly you were listening to people. Whose covers were you doing? I did a cover for Justin Timberlake. I did a Mary J. Blodge cover. I did a Chris Brown cover. Don't like the top three, I can remember. And then I used to just be looking up beats on YouTube and just saying, just singing or rapping. Did you have like a go-to artist that you like whose music you like to cover or like a go-to song that you like to sing? Push Your Love Girl by Justin Timberlake. Yeah, that was like one of my favorite ones. When I was in high school, that's all I listened to. So did people ever like go up to you like saying right now, like once they found out that you can, and that would be the song that you would go to? Nah, I was singing one of my songs now today, but back then when you was first getting started, we still in early stages of the artist. When I was first getting started, people didn't know I could sing, so they didn't know I was singing, so they never asked me that. Huh, nah. But when like- So at post-2018. When Best Part came out, but then you seasoned and heard, when somebody would ask me to sing, I'll sing that song. That's a good one. You started with then you see the verse or you going into her verse, which one? I'll sing then you see the verse. That's a real good one to pick. Okay, so did you grow up in like a musically inclined household? Nah. No? Nah, I don't have no family members that like do music or anything that's like above me, like my mom or my dad or nobody. So when you decided that this was something that you wanted to take serious, what was like the feedback that you got from your family? I mean, I never really like publicized it for real. Like it was always something I just did. I would like, if they would call me while I'm in the studio, I'd be like, yeah, I'm in the studio. And I would send them songs and they love it. My family, they support me. My siblings, my mom, they support me. Or they know all my songs, even a release. They know all the lyrics. Okay, so you have a good support system. I love that for you. So now you also, so in speaking of support systems, you also have or seem to have a very good team. You shout out fame. The best team, man. You shout out fame in interviews. You retweet fame on Twitter. Like it really seems like y'all really locked in. You was like, yeah, my first and only manager. And that's family for real. I love that. And I love like when you can move on one accord with your team, which is really what seems like it's happening. How important do you feel like it is to have a team where you're all on the same page? I feel like that's probably the most important part. Like I feel like you could have the talent. You could have the job. But if your team ain't locked in with you, bro, you might as well. Kiss you goodbye for real. And how did you even wind up linking up with him? So one day I was on Instagram and I had, I was already, I had followed fame Monge like a couple of weeks before she posted like send song. So she had posted, she does this thing called intro sessions. At the time I wasn't really sure what it was. I'm thinking that if you submit a song, you could win free studio time. Okay. I swear. Like that's what I'm thinking it was. So. Okay. So you had your all to pride. You feel me? I submitted my song secrets at the time I submitted it or whatever. Follow me in the grant. She DM me like, oh, you tough, blah, blah, whatever. So I got the address to the session. I went, it's mad people. I'm like, yeah. It did not give what she was. I didn't know what was going on. So I went inside the room. It was fame. It was a few people in there. And I just played some music and the next day she had me in the studio. So were you looking for like management at the time or did it just kind of happen or fall into place? It fell into place. Cause I like, at the time I just was just in the studio like just making mad songs. Like I had no idea of where I wanted to go with it. What I wanted to do. I just knew I loved doing it and I would spend my last two do it. So that's really what I was doing. Okay. So when I met fame, it was just like, wow, look at God. Right. So shout out to fame of course. Fame, shout out to intro, shout out to my boy Andy the whole fucking squad. The whole team. Yes. So when it comes to now being signed, you're independent so right? Do you, are you interested in signing to a label? Are you shopping around? What you doing? Nah. No, you like your boy Brent. Cause you, you shouted out Brent earlier. Yes. He's going crazy. Staying independent for now or staying independent period. Yeah. I mean, whatever you know, as time goes on, like if it makes sense for me and my family and my team then it's something that I would consider. But right now like I'm just thinking about what's best for the people that's around me, you know? And I think that, you know, I don't know if you saw when Scarlet was on Vlad and Vlad was interviewing with Scarlet and basically was like walking her through, take two, walking her through the process of being signed and like what it looks like beyond just a dollar amount that you're giving. And she really didn't know that that was like actually how it was cause it was very clear that nobody sat down and actually broke it down to her. So I think that if you have a team that's working for you and you doing what you need to do and you're getting the results that you're looking for, if it's not broken, why fix it? You know, so if it comes up, it comes up. But in the meantime, you're doing your own thing. You're staying independent. Okay. So what kind of music do you listen to like on your free time? Outside of your own. A lot of R&B. Like I've always listened to R&B. I love R&B. I listened to some rap, some hip hop. I listened to some pop, some funk, some, I just don't listen to rock that kind of hurt my ears. Like Scream on. Like country. Yeah, but. You don't listen to Paramore? You give me like you would listen to Paramore. What? Okay. Okay. Cause you said about Paramore kind of fit in that category too. Okay, so who's like your top five artists right now? Right now I'ma go Summer Walker, I'ma go SZA. I'ma go Brandt. Yes. Love him down. I'ma go her. What's that for? You got one more. Yeah, I'ma go myself, number four. Don't do that. Okay. Give me another one. Let's go Mel. Hmm, I'ma go Chris Brown. Okay. Okay. So, you know, I'm very happy to hear that Summer Walker was at the top of your list because I really wanted to get into the BET R&B nominees for the awards. You know, the awards are coming up this weekend. Have you taken a look at the nominees? I did, but I can't remember what's top of my head, but order. For the R&B, they had SZA, Tim's, who, her names are not coming to me, but really Summer Walker was not on the list. I can't think of the other people. And Beyonce was on there. Can't think of whoever else was on there, but Summer Walker was not on there, which I thought was crazy. Yeah, that's insanity. Especially because she dropped a project. Like I personally just don't understand what the criteria is for these nominees. I'm still learning. Likewise, but I think that Summer Walker has been doing her big one, so I was very surprised not to see her on the nominee list. She performed last year at the award show, I believe. I also think that Beyonce being on the list is like a given, that's Queen, that's Mava, but I can't tell you the last time I've seen Beyonce at a BT award show. So I feel like if she's gonna be on the list, they could have put somebody else on the list. So Summer Walker aside, is there anybody else that you feel like would have been worth a spot on the R&B nominees for the BT awards? Let me think, let me think. Ooh. I have another one in mind too. I would say, dang, it's not clicking right now. Mooney Long? Yeah. I'll give it to her. Okay. Michelle, give one. I agree. I feel like, oh my, who else, go ahead. Jasmine Sullivan. Even though like, you know, but Jasmine Sullivan. Jasmine Sullivan will always do her big one. I personally feel like when I saw that they put Usher in Usher, once again, like I said about Beyonce, you're a sponsor of Solidify, but I feel like Usher dropped one song this year. I have, I can't remember. It's probably because he's going on that crazy tour right now. He is going. It is in Vegas going crazy. Probably picked up his stream in OD. He is in Vegas going crazy. I also think that Tink should have been nominated. Ooh. What the hell is it? I definitely feel like Tink should have been nominated. My tongue's coming though. They did my sister's dirty. She's gone pretty much. But like, do you think, so as an artist, as the artist, how do you feel about nominations for award shows? Like, is that something that you feel like if you aren't nominated, is that discouraging? Is it something that pushes you to go harder? What's your perspective on that? I feel like it can be discouraging, depending on the work you put in. You know, like if you put in the overtime and you're going crazy and people is locked in till then and you don't get nominated, like it's like, damn, the fuck else do I got to do, you know? But also too, I just feel like when you know in your heart that you're number one, a domination shouldn't alter that. And I also like when artists are, they take it as constructive feedback. Because recently too, I think it was like JT had posted something on Twitter saying that they was getting back in the studio, something like that. And somebody was like, ever since the City Girls like came out, like all of their music sounds the same, like there hasn't been any growth. Like, so what could you possibly be doing basically? And she was like, we're going to get back in the studio until we get it right. And so I love when like artists take moments like that, like, okay, maybe I didn't get nominated for this, but maybe that's because I'm not making enough noise. So let me make sure I do something bigger to actually capture their attention. Okay, so when it comes to your music, what is your favorite song of yours? It's actually unreleased. It's called Frustrated Love. I'm gonna give you all that title. I'm not gonna tell y'all where it's at. Frustrated Love. You say you're not gonna tell us where it's at. Yeah, project, I'm not gonna tell you the order, but Frustrated Love, that's like, yeah. I got a lot of music that I love of my own, but that one right there, that's go D. Okay, Frustrated Love. Now, out of the songs that are out, if somebody were to come up to you and you had like one second to give them a song to take away so that they could listen to you in a car, what song are you giving them? Soba. Giving them Soba Hard. You did your big one with Soba, for real. Giving them Soba, easy. Soba is such, I mean, I'm sure you already know, you've heard it, but you really did your thing with Soba. I feel like there's so much emotion. There's so much vulnerability. It's so real, it's relatable. I mean, I feel like that song really just like, if you've been there, you know, but that's what it like, I could live, sleep. I could live, I could eat. I'm doing my thing without you. So we tried it, it didn't work, but that's fine, cause I'm still moving on. And one thing about Soba too, I used to be like early high school years, going on YouTube, so I could be in my bag, listening to like Paula Deanda and B Major and Auburn. You put me in that feeling, like that early like 2000s, like I want to listen to something that's going to make me get in my feels. Oh, I want to listen to something that's going to talk about my last heartbreak, but it's still being my love girl bag. How do you, what is your creative process? Like how do you come up with the concepts for your music? Lately it's just been based off pure experiences. Like, but first though, like when I go in the studio, I got to hear a beat that make me feel like, and whatever that beat make me feel, that's what I sing about. And sometimes I'll attend a beat, gonna make me feel like something about love or something like that. Cause that's just where I am right now. That's what I'm getting out. You know, I'm feeling. Okay. So when it came to something like sober, how far along were you from that situation when you started writing that song? Oh yes. Yes. Okay. Yes, yes. So we had some time to marinate before you wrote about it. And the crazy thing is like, like I didn't like, like write that song. I went in the studio, it like literally came over top of my head. That's how it was. I had to write it afterwards. Like I had to write down my lyrics afterwards. So I won't forget them. But yeah, just, you know, and also too, it has a lot to do with me getting more comfortable too. Like with my sound and where I'm at in my career. So it was really easy to get through that song. Like it didn't even take me like an hour to do that. So after it came out, it started gaining distraction and everything. Did Shorty who the song was about reach out to you? I don't know. No? I don't know how it feels. I always think about this. Like if someone were to make a song about me, I don't know if I would acknowledge you or just leave it where it's at. A song like that, I probably would leave it where it's at just based on what it is. I probably wouldn't want to claim that. But are there other songs that you've written about like prior experiences that people have reached out to you like, oh yeah, I know this is about me? No. No? Hmm. Is it because of the way that the situation ended or just they just don't? Yeah. I feel like it gotta be the way situations ended because like there's no, what are we talking about? Don't ask me no questions. That's how I be feeling. So I feel like for you, like you give me very chill vibe. Like I really hate what I like feel like has happened to you through your relationship journey. Because I really don't. I wouldn't wish that on you. I wouldn't wish that on nobody. But where, how, where are you, where would you say that you are in terms of like where you were in that place relationship wise versus what you, how you present yourself in a relationship now through your experiences? I feel like I'm more, I'm more open now than I was before. Crazy to say, because you would think that somebody would be like, close you, close them, but I'm more open because I feel like if people know certain things, then they'll know not to do certain things, you know? So I'll try to just go into situations, open, honest, and just, you know, letting people know things that I've gone through or where I'm at right now, what I got going on there. Yeah. Okay. And even outside of your relationships, once again, going back to the vulnerability and just putting your experience in music, you also wrote a song, their brother, which was. Now with my dog? Yes. And you made it very clear, you know, for Else For Life, you had to snip it at the end for Else For Life. What is the importance of putting your actual experiences into your music for you? I feel like because I'm in the R&B lane right now, it's very important because we can't get away with just saying anything or singing about anything. We kind of gotta be intentional with what we put out there. That's how we gain true support. Like outside of the strings and everything, I just generally and genuinely want to help people heal from things. I want people to know like, I'm just like you. It's going to get better. Like I just want to be that example for people, you know? And I think it does give that. I think you exude that. And I think seeing you perform live, like when I saw on the radar, I saw you posted on your actual page. Like when you were posting, you had the band behind you. And there were people in the comments that were like, wow, like this actually like touched the part of me. Or like I'm crying watching this. I got some crazy messages. I mean like, I think that that's very big. And I personally cannot wait for your Tiny Desk episode because I already know it's going to be all of that. It's going to be all of that because you have like the perfect voice. You have the perfect vibe for Tiny Desk. And you said that people have been saying crazy things. So you read DMs and comments and all of those? I even responded to people, yep. Really? I began like long messages, homies in jail. Like, yo, it's crazy, but. How does that feel like for you to, like for you to know that first of all, this was not even the lane that you were going to go down originally and you're affecting the lives of so many people. How does that feel to you? It's still surreal. Like I still have a hard time taking it all in cause everything just been happening so fast. But man, when I think about it, it's beautiful to me. Cause it's like, damn bro, like, it's so dope that people feel like they could come to me and talk to me. They don't even know me. And they telling me life stories, but it's because I made them feel comfortable enough to want to do that. You know, they don't ask me for nothing. They just literally either want advice or they just want to let somebody know what they went through. And I mean, I think that it's great that you're taking it in that way. But I feel like at some point it can also get to be a lot because sometimes I think that there is, there's a point where it goes from sharing and getting advice to dumping, especially if it's, if you're getting a lot of it. So how do you separate the time that you take to respond to the people that are reaching out to you and the times you actually take to get your mental right? Um, I don't do it like every single day. Like I don't respond to people every single day. I don't read them every single day. Cause we do, like I do need that personal time to just unwind and chill. So yeah, I don't do it often. I feel like that's- You just do it when you up to it. When you and when you have the mental capacity to take in what people are saying. Okay. So of course, I mean, you read and stuff. What is the craziest thing that somebody has sent you? Yo, they be sending me voice notes singing the song. Like, like, yo, but like, it's so funny. Cause now you're saying it's funny. So I'm thinking they can't sing. The vocals don't be- Yo, it'd be, it'd be crazy. No, I just want to know what would make you record yourself, listen back to it and hear that you can't sing and send it to somebody who can't. Yo, they be sending me hella voice. They're singing the whole song. What you say back? Fight. I got show love, man. I get support. It's the Northeck house, I guess. Okay. Oh my God. But what, like, so no crazy D&S, no crazy, like- Yeah, I had this one dude tell me he was in jail and he heard my song, Wild in jail. And his song influenced him to write a letter to his girl. But yeah, I gotta go. Damn, I don't even know what to find that be it. So you, you clearly you have reach. They listening to you in a pen and a bag. I'm like, yo, how? Like, how'd you even hear that? No, you'll be surprised because these days I've been going on live on TikTok and seeing niggas in jail on live. So just know that they listening. You, you got an audience across the board and I love that for you. Now, even speaking of audiences, you just opened up for Dende his first ever headlines tour in Brooklyn. How was that? Let's talk about it. It was a beautiful experience. It was nice and intimate. A lot of people that were there, they didn't know that I was gonna be performing. So when they found out I was performing, like they came up to me after it was like, yo, like I actually listened to you and I fucked with you. So it was like a plus to even see me there. So that was cool. Performing was great. The crowd, they were very focused in and I love that. Like normally like when I do bigger shows, talking in the background kind of throw me off. Everybody literally was like, oh, I was on me kind of thing. It was nerve wrecking, but man, I go back to that night. Really? It was like, yo, the vibe was amazing. The band was crazy. My guitarist, my DJ held it down. So I love that. Do you always perform with the same, the same musicians? I doubt that was actually my first time performing a lot with the guitars. Okay. Then they show. So I'm gonna, I'm moving forward. Yeah. I mean it all depends on where I'm at. Like a lot of my shows may be somewhere that they can't get to. So I would like to though. Yeah. I would, I'm right now I'm currently looking for my, you know, to make my own band. So if you watching this and you play an instrument, don't hesitate man. Don't hesitate. Don't block your blessing. So what do you like better when it comes to performing or recording in studio? Performing. Performing? Do you have anything like that you gotta do to get yourself right before you get on stage? Let me be for real? Absolutely. What? Why would I want you to be anything other? I'll take a shit. Okay. No, I have to? No. So, well I can't even believe I'm about to say this on camera. But ever since I was younger and my friend and I always say like before we do something or when we get nervous we feel like we gotta fart. But a lot of the time that's really what it is. You gotta take a shit to get the nerves out. Yo, what? And then you go up there and do your thing. Or like sometimes. Wow. You know how like they used to have like the thing in a magazine like stars, they're just like us. I definitely feel like this is one of those moments. Like, so you do it for me. Like if I don't have access to a bathroom, I just, you know, I just pray about it like God, please. Wait. Be with me on this stage, man. Woo. I'm getting nervous thinking about it. Jesus, you hit your head around my stomach so that it don't slip. Okay. That's a fact. So, what was like the fanfave when you performed? The crowdfave. At the show recently? Yeah. It was between sober and secrets. Okay. Is there, because you asked recently, is there usually a difference between what it was at this performance and what it usually is? As far as what I performed, like songs? No. Well, this show recently, I performed something, a song that's coming out soon. It's unreleased, but I kind of do that at most shows. I like try to get in one release sometimes, but other than that, no, the track list, they the same. Okay. So you said sober and secrets was the faves. So now I have another song. I mean, I have another game to get into with you. Because in sober, you know, you poured your heart out on the track. You made it very clear, like, I'm saying all of this in, I'm sober, so I'm standing on what I'm saying. Facts, I mean it. And I know that a lot of times, you know, certain things you do, you might need a little extra liquid encouragement to do them. That's true. So we're gonna run down a short little list and you're gonna tell me whether you would do it sober. You would need a little liquid encouragement or you wouldn't do it at all. Okay. All right? All right. Performing at a sold out show. Liquid encouragement, please. And what you, tell the people your drink of choice. I'm a go, I'm a go, I'm a go. Let me get a shot of Doucet or, yeah. Well, when I'm with my team is Delion because that's, that's what they bonus. Oh, period. You acting bad. Okay. Yeah, literally. So it's gonna, so we're gonna do sober shot or won't. Okay. Sober shot. Sober shot. All right. Call me your ex for a sneaky link. I ain't doing that. I ain't doing that. Well, okay. Not the exes you'll be talking about clearly, but like if everything was copa aesthetic and y'all just partaged our ways, would you do a sober shot for a little liquid encouragement or you wouldn't do it at all? I wouldn't do it at all. Okay. So your answer is your answer, period. Okay. Get it in the middle of a dance floor. Oh, sober. I'm in there. You were in there after we just was talking about you trying to open that. Okay. You wanna know something? This summer, I know you're gonna be outside and I better see at least one video, even if not one your page, one tagged video, one something where I see you busted the move cause you- Y'all actually got a funny one here. I'm gonna probably post it tomorrow and not have to say that. Okay, very. I'm gonna be watching. One night stand. Shot or seven. Shot or seven. Okay. You might need to shot a seven for this next one too. A three song. Mad shots. Seven or 17. Okay. Singing or demand. Sober. Shooting a shot in public. Sober. Doesn't matter if you're shooting a shot to somebody who's just like at the spot or you're shooting a shot to a celebrity. If it's a celebrity, let me get a shot. Okay. Me and a girl's parents for the first time. Sober. Sober? You know some people, they be like, let me take a quick shot just to ease off the nerves. So you doing that 100% Sober? 100% Sober. Have you met parents? Yes. Do parents love you? They love me. They do? Okay, you give me like, my parents will love you. Oh my God, me and this mic have been fighting this whole time, y'all, so I am sorry. Okay. So in Sober, you also said that you spun the block. I am not a block spinner. Well, I lied. I can be depending on the situation. When you spun the block, it didn't give clearly. Do you feel like that really works? Like it's never the same to me. Once you spend a block, I don't really feel like the situation ever can like get back to what it was. How do you feel? I feel like it depends on the situation and the time spent apart and what changed between the both of you during that time. Okay. Like if you guys agree to like call it quits and then get better and see what happens later, then maybe it could work out. I guess it also depends on how it ended too. Cause I know that I could just be petty and I know like it's like, all right, we over it. But no, because really, why did you think I was like, you was really playing it in my face. Oh, like I'm gonna always try to like bring it up and I really hate that for me. But maybe, yeah, maybe I'm the problem. Okay. Um, so how would you describe yourself in a relationship versus like in real life? I feel like I'm the same both ways. Like in a relationship, I'm outgoing, goofy. Let's go take a random ride. Get some food, somewhere I will wear something. Even when I'm not in a relationship, I'm the same way. Okay. What's your like, if you had to say, have you had your dream date yet? Like, have you gone on your dream date? I'm not gonna lie. I never even thought of what a dream date would be. Really? All right, so let's think about it now. What? No, I haven't because I'm not that rich yet. Oh. Okay. So it's given expensive. Okay. So what's the dream date now? Cause it sounded like you got something in mind. Yeah. What's the look? We got to go get in the helicopter or something to go to dinner that's on the rooftop. You know what I'm saying? Where's the helicopter taking you? It's still staying in. Like, like, like, like, but are we in the city? Are we in Bali? Like you were saying, are we in, are we even here with you? Oh, I gotta really think about this. I don't know. Okay. So. It could be in like, whatever there's a, like, you see how like, you got Times Square or whatever and it's really nice. Like somewhere that has something like that, but not Times Square though. Okay. A Times Square equivalent. The only one that I could really think of right now was like Tokyo, but I don't think that that's where your dream date. I wouldn't mind Tokyo. Okay. You were giving me calm and serene. I would love Tokyo for you, but you gave me calm and serene. Okay. So something I find interesting though is when I asked you about your dream date, you said like you picking your girl up and y'all going. Yeah, me taking my personal date. Is that because you play more of a dominant role or is that just because that was the first thing that popped into your mind? Like you. I feel like, cause it, I feel like it's cause I play more of a dominant role and I always like to be the one to do. Like I don't really, I don't like to like for my partner to do so much. Really? Yeah. Like just, you know, hold it down. Cook, you know, whip up some salmon or whatever. But other than that, like whip up some salmon. I like to be the one to do the taking out. Okay. So what's like the most fire date that you've been on so far? Um, dang. Dang. Okay. Dang. All right. It's still time. Listen, like I say, are you outside on summer? So you got time. Will we circle back to this conversation after you drop the project? I'm gonna ask you what is given. Okay. Okay. So, since you've been making a name for yourself, do you feel like you've seen changes? You did kind of touch on this already. Just didn't like. You did kind of touch on this already, but have you seen changes in like the nature of your relationships, like your platonic relationships? A little bit. Cause you kind of said like you had to make like certain adjustments. Yeah. With the people around you. Yeah. Like I'll be gone so much now. So that, that, that all just things a lot. Okay. I'm my home often. So I'll be on the road so much now. So do you feel like you have, are you a low maintenance friend or high maintenance friend? As far as what like, like. Like, I feel like low maintenance friends are those friends that you don't really have to talk to all the time. You know, like every time y'all link up no matter how long it's been like y'all always could pick up where you left off is nothing missing. Y'all always like you could keep tabs on your friends, but they're not expecting for you to constantly reach out to y'all. You're a low maintenance friend. Do you have low maintenance friends? Yeah. That's perfect for your lifestyle. I also see you post a lot of like uplifting spiritual posts. For sure. Does that reflect how you are in real life? Absolutely. I go to church every Sunday. And if I'm on the road, definitely on my YouTube link, watching church, man. I don't miss it. I love that. Who's your favorite person to watch? Well, I watch my, my vision. Oh, okay. Like you. Yeah. See, I haven't found a church home right now, but for right now, my girl, Sarah. Sarah Jakes? It's also a guy too. A guy in Atlanta. Oh my goodness. What is this guy's name? I'll have to look him up, but he's like real popular, real famous. The biggest church in Atlanta is crazy. Okay. And I really like too that you are very outward with expressing your faith because I feel like a lot of times people suppress like their, whether it's Christianity or whatever religion they practice. As they start like getting bigger, I feel like they kind of shy away from expressing it. But I feel like, I see you like repost a lot of stuff. Like you talk about it very openly. And you make time for church every Sunday. I think that that's dope too. Okay. So when it comes down to like this industry, you said it's crazy. Yeah. And I'm bailing. Now, before we dive into that, because I'm very curious, how do you make sure that you keep your peace of mind and you know, you keep yourself balanced while dealing with the craziness of the industry? I can't expect nothing. Like I don't expect anything. I've been to a hundred meetings and I don't expect anything because that's the first way to be let down. And I like, I got a good team around me, you know? So I'll rip my manager to be telling me like, all right, for me, this gonna happen. That's gonna happen. Like this what that is. That's what this is. Like we ain't going for this, we ain't going for that. So having my team has definitely been a big help because it's still new for me. It's all new to me. So what's been the biggest shock for you so far about this industry? Oh, they be lying yo. I'm not gonna shock, but like it's the way they be lying. You know? Like what they be doing? Like bro, you don't got to get too specific. Now I'm trying to think about how I could word it. Like, I don't know, I had this one situation where like, I had met up with them or whatever, like went out to a different state or whatever. And like, you know, of course, everybody says the right things or whatever. But it was more so like the way, the way they had went about the after conversation, the way they went about, just lying. Yeah. Why is you lying, bro? Like you don't mean nothing. I'm like, you don't got to lie, bro. Like bro, we hit. I mean, but that's really kind of the name of the game unfortunately. You believe everything once it happens. Would they say half of what you see? I don't know. The wine, y'all know what I mean, clearly. So now when we dive into the craziness, is that what it is? Like what else makes it so crazy from your experience so far? Um, people's audacity. Had to get a mic for that. Like people literally thinking I'm about to get them everything I got for nothing. As if I don't. You know, like, you know, I'm not, I'm really not like, bro. You know? Right. You understand, like. So clearly, you know your word. Yeah. Yeah, man. Does that go for like features? Does that go for performances, all of the above? Now I'm talking mainly for like, right? Well, this topic mainly on like the industry people, but as far as like features, it's like the exact. You're talking about like the exact. Yeah. I would say like the people below, people below them or whatever. Okay. Yeah. Um, as far as features and stuff go, uh, I don't know, I had some people ask me to get on with some songs that they know. Damn well, I'm not going to get them. Like, you know I'm not going to get on them. Okay. So what is an example of a song? What's an example of a song that you would get on? And then what makes a song something that you would say, I'm not getting on that? Like, like I would get on a rap song. Like I would sing a hook on a rap song, but I'm not going to go and do a drill song. You know what I'm saying? Like I'm not going to go and do a drill rap song. I just feel like I don't, I wouldn't do that. That's not really your. You know, yeah. I don't feel like I would. Yeah. Like, you know. Hmm. Yeah. Okay. Would you try it out just for fun and like, cause sometimes you never know like Taylor Swift. Listen, Taylor Swift hopped on a song with T-Pain. Taylor Swift hopped on a song with T-Pain and low keys and her thing. I'm not going to lie. So you never know. Yeah, no. When I'm in the studio, like when I'm home, like, so lately I've been like working on different beats just to expand my songwriting skills so that like, you know, I could write some songs for some people or whatever. But as far as like putting out a song, I just feel like that would just confuse shit right now. Okay, so. I'm not going to go and do that. Got it. So you're not trying to step too far to your genre? At least not right now. Like I feel like people like, like granted, I know that like some people will pay any price for a feature, but like everything is not worth it. You know what I'm saying? Like I can't just be throwing my name on anything. Like it'll start to water down. Okay. You know? So what's a song, what's an example of a song that you would hop on if it hadn't already come out yet? Like you would be a part of it. That's outside of like the R&B genre that you, you would sing a chorus to. Love, Dior Banks by L'Oderpque. Okay. Definitely. Okay. Dead single, not. Okay. Do you ever listen to music like that? Like, damn, I could have hopped on this. Yeah. All the time. I feel like, if there's going to come a time where I get on a song with Dirk, I'm going to probably get on a song with Herb. I'm not going to lie. I would only do them because they're Libras, like me. So that's another reason. But yeah, now like, I feel like I could, I always wanted to like, and I used to listen to a lot of music. John Legend, he's a guy that I like a lot that he sings on a lot of rap songs. Okay. And that shit is mad. Like it's just mad poetic. And that's another thing with you two. You don't really have that many like features. So let's see. We did your top five already. Let's get into like top three artists that you would like to have a song with. Like you would like to do a collab with. Meek Mill. And they can't be, okay. Meek, before you say your next two, they can't be people that you already listed in your top five. I got you. Meek Mill. Music Soul Child. Wait, does it, wait, it gotta be art. Can it be any genre? Oh, I see, okay. Give me three. Now we're going to go from three to five. Three out of your genre, two in. Three out of my genre. Dirt, Meek Mill, and J. Cole. And in my genre, I would go old heads, not old heads, but like back in the day, I would go Music Soul Child in Long Hill. Okay. That's good. I can see that. I can see that. Okay. So you mentioned this project that you're working on. Let's talk about that. Sure. What is this, do you have a name for it? Yeah, but I don't know if I'm, I don't know if we're going to give it all yet. I don't know if I should give it all yet. I personally think you should because it's talk of the town and why not talk about it. Damn, I don't want to get in trouble about fame. All right. How about this? This is a safe space. Okay. So, save you feel, you know, I'm going to say that. Yeah, I don't mind saying it now because it's coming out soon, it's done. And if fame says that you shouldn't, we'll just cut it out. No worry. All right, so my project is going to be called Art Cos. Yes. Not Art Cos, but Art Cos. Art Cos, yeah. I like that. Okay. Yeah. So is that because this is incorporating some of the songs that you've had in a talk or what's that about? Nah, it's just, I feel like all the music that's going to be on it, it's, it's like I'm coming out of hiding, you know? Like I'm telling y'all, I'm being open, being honest, being vulnerable with things I've gone through, things I've experienced, so yeah. Art Cos. You know, I like you on the Grammy, you go Art Cos, you go Hot It or something, throw it away. Okay, I like that. Thank you for sharing that with us, by the way. So, what are the vibes that we can expect from this project? Definitely R&B, but there are going to be some upbeat vibes on there so that like y'all could see the range a little bit. Mm-hmm. Keeping it, you know, my style, but giving y'all something that's more familiar to the earful, like a better term, I guess, you know? Okay. And that's one thing I like to derange, cause like I was saying, procrastination is one of my favorite songs, cause I feel like that's very grown and sexy, like I said, it gives me Miguel vibes, but pink is also one of my favorites, not only because my color, my favorite color is pink, but also because it brings me back to that time like I was saying when I used to listen to like that In Your Bag, just like teenage young love songs. So okay, when can we expect this project? Do you have a date yet or no? No date, but y'all gonna get it and before August, after June, maybe July. Okay, I mean July is before August and after June, so that would be the perfect, the perfect time. Okay, so Summertime Bob. Yeah, I would say so. I haven't really seen you post like snippets or anything like that. Yeah, not yet. You know, not yet. I don't want to give it to them too soon. How do you feel about snippets? I feel like they are good, but it could be a little difficult, cause if your snippet go off right now, but the song don't drop for a month from now, you gotta hope that that same momentum you got now, you gonna have it when the song drop, cause it might be hard for that shit to come back around. So many songs have failed by the hands of having a snippet that was much littered than their actual song. But I'm learning that as I go, so like the way I'm approaching this next, with this next drop, I'm announcing it when they can have it within a few days reach, you know? I like that. A month reach. Not keeping people waiting, not dropping, snippet after snippet after snippet with no song release, love that. Okay, so what else can we expect? Like I said, we're halfway through the year. We still got six more months left. What else besides this project can we expect from artists? Expect for me to just be outside, man. I got some more opportunities coming my way. I'll be doing like my first festival soon. So that's exciting. Okay. More shows and just give me all the content that y'all deserve. Still working on myself as an artist and you know, healing and going through the motions. So y'all gonna see it all. I'm gonna work on being more open, more vulnerable. I'm gonna show y'all how I can dance. Right. I'm gonna show y'all how to paint and yeah, man. Okay, so creativity for the rest of the year, putting yourself out there. I love that. Is there anything else that you wanna talk about? Anything else you wanna let the people know before we wrap up? If you got some, you're going after, man. Stay the course. Cause like, I know like with Soba going crazy, I probably think this shit happened for me overnight, but I put literally like blood, sweat, tits, money. Like this shit is not cheap, by the way, for those that don't do music. This shit is crazy. But keep going, man. It's gonna happen. And just stay true to yourself. Like don't try to alter who you are to fit in, bro. It's never gonna work out for you that way. Yeah, let's keep going crazy. Our coms coming out. Yeah, our coms coming too, man. Our coms coming out soon. Okay, thank you so much for stopping by. I enjoyed myself, thank you. I enjoyed myself, thank you. Talking to you, yes, likewise. And let the people know where to find you. Hey, y'all can find me anywhere. Just type in the artist with a dollar sign for the S. All socials, all musical platforms. You can find me there. The fucking artist. Yeah, the old shit, my fault. Yeah, so on Instagram and Twitter and TikTok it's T-H-E-F-C-K-N artist, straight like that. Period. All right, well thank you again for coming. Thank y'all, man. And we'll see y'all on the next interview. Bye y'all.