 Hey, what's up world? It's your man, Carlos Miller, man. Make sure that you head over to 85aparicode.com and grab you some fresh merch, man. Get you a hat, a hoodie, a t-shirt, some socks, a life jacket. Anything, man, we got all of that. All of that, man, from like one's is for the baby. We even got special items for the ladies coming out with my own foot massager. Well, that's what I'm gonna call it anyway. Whatever, that's 85aparicode.com. Go grab you something. And support the movement, man, because 85 South, ain't just about the 85 South, it's about all of us. Yo, Indianapolis, April 14th, I'm coming to the Helium Comedy Club, grab them tickets, because they don't sell now. Yes, I'm doing them my 600-pound LifeLive. This is the last year that I'm going on tour doing this, so you better get them tickets now, because I don't want to hear, oh, you didn't come in and do it. Yes, I'm coming April 14th at the Helium Comedy Club. Go ahead and get them tickets now. They don't sell. Literally, bro, we finished filming at 11 p.m. At 12.30 a.m. is my session. I got six hours to close out, I'm a singer. So I'm a singer, so I've been talking all day, I've been learning lines, and as you know, as I'm mentally training, bro, we are training, and then even mentally to be, to do the same line over and over and over and all day, it goes, it's hard. So anyway, so you finished, so I gotta now go into creative, and I have six hours, I don't have a hit on my project yet. What time am I, two to six in the morning? 12 to six in the morning, 12.30 a.m. to six a.m. Now, do you have to go to set the next day? I have to go to set nine a.m. I'm not gonna sleep. So I'm like, all right, cool, I gotta give them a hit. I got six hours. Niggas usually get six weeks to do what I'm about to do. Niggas get six months to do what I have to do. Six hours, I go in, play to beat, again, this is divine, this is all God, yo. They play to beat, my man plays, love rhythm. Instinctively, it was like, baby, baby, yeah, I don't say too much. That came out like, boom. I was like, yo, all right, cool. Let me just go lay this. I don't know what's gonna happen to a boo-boo-boo. They sent it to me the next day. They're like, yo, we got a hit in our hand. I sent it to the empire. They're like, this is the single. So that's just to give a perspective that doing both is literally trying to be a doctor and a lawyer at the same time. That's why most people can't do it. Who can be a doctor and a lawyer at the same time? You can't. It's impossible. Unless you have the right team, the right this, the right everything has to work instinctively and again with God. So for me, six hours, I was able to make a record that most people get six months to do and it's just, again, a testament to not being, not having the wiggle room like most people do. I have to, every time I can't miss, you know what I mean? Because then it's like, he ain't that nice anywhere. I really am an actor. You get what I'm saying? So I wear it. He was a different persona. You changed the, and ladies wear it. We two different characters, right? I mean, butterscotch is the real thing. We both are scotch. I can't explain that. Yeah, that's what I kind of. You can be most hated and most loved at the same time. Jesus is the same way, no? Jesus is the same way. Jesus is the same way. You were doing music first before all the actors and all that. Bro, my story's crazy, bro, so. Shit, we about to tell them off, look at them and watch this. Welcome back, man, to my cell phone. I'm traveling traffic now. I should have let you play that shit first. That's how we feelin'. That's how you feelin' with the vibe. I should have walked some warm clothes. Oh, it's hard, though. What you want to do, man? What way back out to play? What's up? What the fuck got coming for you? Yeah, nah. I got nothing for you. Yeah. No doubt. I love it. These things, you gotta do the intro of the day, man. These are real partners. Got it. We'll see you in a while. Sometimes, we'll see you both out there. Let me tell you something. Let me tell you something. We got my dog in the building, man. We got a real mobile. A real icon. A real African blooded alien in the blood. You understand? He's a multi-platinum artist. You dig what I'm saying? He's an amazing actor. He's an amazing father. He's an incredible friend. He's an executive. He's a producer. He's a writer. I don't think y'all understand, man. My man got so many hats. He got so many talents. None other than my dog, Ro Timmy. Come on, somebody. Come on, somebody. That's pretty cool, yeah. Come on, somebody. It feels good to be here for that. What's going on? It feels good to be here for that. It's so hard not to talk like that with you. I'm like, who needs it? I'm so happy to have you here. Who needs it? Who needs it? That was good. That was very good. I have been to Africa many times. And I am very, very happy to have someone here who I can give me the agreement. I'll leave it to him. I'll watch his stories. I don't think he... That's the most I've stalked you. When you in Ghana... Every time you go to Africa, I think I jump in the bed and be like... She go door. Yeah. And you see, every time... You walk in the shit, I be like... That nigga ain't got no shoes on. Yeah. Every time I'm over there, you see it. Ain't the time I'm over there with somebody with SDC young flying color smelly. He on the tail of the road. They know what's wrong. Bro, like this time, I was in Ghana. I'm walking down the street. This nigga gave me dap for five blocks. I'm talking about... He grabbed my hand and walked with five blocks. Man, you please, please call them. Can you call them for me, please? Just so I can see here. Look, we love you here. And then to see the type of... The way that they consume content over there is so much... Like, you don't even realize how much you've done. What? Until you go to another part of the world and see how people are consuming the work that you put in. Like, they showing me stuff that we did years ago. Yeah, they appreciate it. And I'm like, yo, I don't even remember doing this. And they're like, we love this. I'm like, you know what? This thing. I mean, yes, it feel like that. Whatever. I don't know that. That's why I always tell people. I say, yo, if you have money in Africa, you get treated so much better if you're a black man and a black woman from your own people. Because you live better. You get appreciated. You get told how amazing you are consistently. And people... There's no jealousy. Everybody wants to win. Everybody wants to win. I know we're just a culture. Oh. Right. It's like, if you show love, they show love back. Yeah. You know what I mean? Here, it's a little different. You know, if you show love, you don't know what the other person's really going to be on. Right. You know what I mean? But here, but back home, they appreciate you. They appreciate you. You don't eat here? Oh, you don't eat here? Oh my God. We all trying to get it together. Man, it's crazy. You know what I'm saying? I went, I ended up waking up one more. And this is probably about four weeks after I got back from Ghana. I'd never get on Twitter, but something made me check my Twitter. And I had like 500 mentions of people just saying, come to my house, come to my restaurant, come... I'm like, what the... What is going on? I checked and seen that I was trending number five in Ghana in the whole country for a video that I did when I was over there about the pharmacy. Wow. It brought in Ghana. Like, it blew my mind just because it was so many people that were offering things that niggas would never offer you. Yes, bro. Come to my home. I want you... Are you still here? Yes. My family wants to feed you, please. My daughter wants to meet you. And mind you, these are people that don't... that don't have as much as most of us do. Nothing. They just want to show you love. Whatever they have, they're going to dare willing to share and give to you, bro. Yes. If it's anything... I've been saying this for the longest, man, but we got to get over there just so y'all can see how much love we get over there, man. This is my mind. This is... I've been thinking about it about a year and a half. Like the year last year, come and execute. I want to do an African tour. And I want to give back, like, 15, 20 percent to whatever country, I mean, or your country that I'm in. Wherever I perform, man, I'm going to give 15 percent. Nine times out of ten, I'm going to get a seat back here. I just want to... You fuck with me. I fuck with y'all. And we just going to help each other. Exactly. Exactly. I'm so ready. I don't know. Let me open up. Let me open up. Let me open up. Let me open up. You got to come ready. You're the headliner, the nigga. Are you ready for Western skies? Are you ready for Western skies? It's so crazy because, like, you see, I saw so many people from so many different countries over there because, you know, in Ghana, from December, like from December 1st to, like, January, it's just the party. They party the whole time. And so people from all over the world come in. And, man, I'm talking about South Africa, everywhere. The Ivory Coast. All of these different places. People are like, oh, my God. I love y'all. Yeah. Like, when are y'all coming over here? Yellow Global, bro. I'm sorry. They kind of put on Africa. That's not real, bro. So fake, bro. The Africans love us. What, bro? They're scared of how if we know our real story. Yeah, our real heritage. If we know our truth, if we really truly go home, there's so much money to be made. There's so much businesses to be built. Entrepreneurship. They're afraid if we know this, we have no reason to be here. That's what they're scared of. And they're trying to keep it from us, bro. But we're still laboring, quote, unquote. Yes. We're doing all the heavy lifting. Yes. We're still doing the heavy lifting. Absolutely. All right. Ten cents a day in the arms. No, bro. That's not what you see when you get, I'm talking about Benzers, Range Rovers, Maybachs, Pirates, all that. It's money over there. And then even the people who are living, what you would consider to be, lesser, they still are working. And they ain't nobody big. And they want you. And then whatever they have, they willing to offer you. Offer you, bro. I had so many people like, please come sit with my family. Come eat. We love you. You know what I mean? And it was just mind blowing to me because my persona, the way that I felt was like, these people don't like us. No, no, no. But from the moment I got all laid with a Chico bean, my brother. Welcome home, my brother. Do you need anything, my brother? Please, my brother. I love you, my brother. I'm talking about, walk me through the airport. Make sure I got my bag. So I mean everything. And then it's like, man, I make jokes about it. But I went to, I never go to the strip club in America because I'm not doing that. Not even participate. I went to the strip club in Africa, bro. I went to the silver, it's called Silver Fox in Ghana. Where are you from? Where the girls from? The girls from Nigeria. Most of them. They come in hustling. I don't know, please. I don't. I just had things. I went in there with 500 American dollars. 500 American dollars. I look like big meat in that bitch. It looked like BNF in that month. I'm talking about, bro, I've never had that much fun in my life. And I know that I can't recreate it. So I'm only going to the strip club in Africa. I'm talking about, I had, if I gave the dude $500, he came back with a tray of African money. CDs is what it is. I'm like, bro, this, this, this, this. I'm talking about, I'm in there. I had this. Bro, I'm talking about turned up. Turned up, bro. I'm talking about turned up all the way, man. I know I'm not... Bro, you might not come back. Me the one I'm talking about... That's what I'm talking. She would never come back. No, both of these, I'm telling you. These two... Bro, they... I just couldn't wait. I gotta be there to see it. I'm talking about everything you can think of, some of the most beautiful women you ever seen. Why are you guys going to do that? My girl is tensing in. Man, some of the most beautiful women you ever seen. I like to go home. And it's so crazy. But you got a family. Bro. You got a family that's like... Yeah, I'm 100% Nigerian. Yeah, I want to go to Nigeria. But everybody be scaring me, talking about you going to get kidnapped. So it's... Bro, I'm having a conversation. That's what it got. Yo, now I was a little too focused on you. Yeah, you know what I mean? You were like, no, man. Listen, man. I'm having a conversation with a girl at the bar. It's two major hotels, right? It's two major hotels in Ghana. Like, there's a bunch of them. The one that I was staying at, it's like a bar. It's 24 hours served food and all that. So I'm sitting down there just having a conversation. I'm talking about, man, this beautiful woman just came. It was like, oh my God, your Chico P and I love you so much. We having a conversation. And she was like, you know, I worked so hard. My rent is 18,000 CDs a year. And I'm like, 18,000. I did the map. Her rent, $1,800 a year. A year. A year. A year. I had to act like that was a lot. I was like, damn, 18,000. Because I don't need her to know. This is crazy over here. Like, no, I didn't. But I thought about it. I thought about it. I bought all the drinks, though. That was like $40. But still, it was worth every dime. I mean, that's what I had to pretend like that was a lot. I was like, I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I mean, that's what I thought I had to pretend like that was a lot. I was like, 18,000. Damn. How is it? How is it, I'm going to say, how accessible is it for you to build? Build in Africa? Yeah. Oh, bro. You know the right people, bro. Because inside of Michael Jackson, he built a school over there. So I got a four bedroom condo in Nigeria. And what I did was my pops is really still tied to the culture. Like for real, for every day, you know. I was like, yo, they're building something in this specific area that in four, five years, this is right before COVID. He was like, in four, five years, this is going to be one of the biggest areas. You know what I mean? So get in now. So I was like, how much? He was like, honestly, bro, if you do a quarter million, it'll feel like it's a $4 million home for what you would get here. So I promise you. So I was like, all right, cool. Gave it to him. And now it's worth about triple that. Triple that in four, five years. So it's easy. It's not like black. Like the only thing, because the dude that I was with this time was a real estate mogul over there. So he rolled me over. Charlemagne put me in contact with Salute Charlemagne. And he rolled me around and showed me three condominiums that they built. And then also, you know, some beachfront stuff that they doing and for what you pay, for what you pay, for what you pay, bro. First of all, it's no property taxes and all that. You own it. You own it. No, it's nothing. We go. It's nothing. Pack your bags. Fuck this shit. They showed me. It's an area in a crowd where they built in a bunch of like buildings and condominiums and all that. They showed me three different ones. One, one bedroom condominium, probably like, I'd say probably like 2,500, 3,000 square foot condominium. One, 250. The two bedroom, 450. The three bedroom, 550. The presidential penthouse suite. The upstairs, downstairs, upstairs, swimming pool in it. That's about 5 million. Six, 7 million in America. Because Ghana is like Miami Beach. It's like South Beach. That's what it looks like. It's surrounded by the ocean. Oceanfront property and all that. And then if you go over outside of the coast, like outside of the main city, then you get 70, 80 grand, bro. You can build whatever cost you a million dollars to build here. Fuck I'm over here, man. So I'm going to go, I'm going to be there before, but come down December with me. See? That's going to December. Come down, come down December with me. Really? Yeah. That's where my brother was coming. I promise you, you get all the information you need, bro. I got to go. I got to go. So like how long have you been here? So now I was born and raised here. I was born and raised here, but I spent a lot of my childhood going back and forth. Back and forth mostly. Yeah. So I know, I know where I'm from. So like my mom is shout out to all my Nigerians, my West Africans. Like my mom is Igbo. My dad is Yoruba. So my mom is from the village. My dad is from the city. Okay. So my dad is like one of the area boys, which means like he was one of them dudes that was really like around Fela. So Fela is like the Michael Jackson of African music. He's a heart and soul of Afrobeat. So my dad was like one of the little, you know, runners for him doing whatever, whatever. So he was already understanding the lifestyle of being a rock star. You know, my mom was in the village. So whenever I went back, I was able to see like both worlds, like, damn the fast life and then having to walk two miles to get good water and then get the walk two miles to get the water. Then we walk back holding the water. And if you drop it, you got to go back to get it. And then when you get back to where you stand, you got to wait to boil the water to clean it. So there's a hole before you get to drink water and when my mom was at, it was four or five hours. So a lesson like that at three, four, five, six, seven years old it show you the quality of hard work. Show you how to be a man. Oh, bro, you can, you can your ass work. You can your ass work. So it's like concentration. It's like determination. It's like you hungry. So what you going to do to survive is all these things as a child is instilling in you. That's what got me to be who I am today. I'm appreciative. Cut on the fossil. Exactly. So when you go back to your, when you asked me earlier, like, do you feel like you can just, huh, now I don't even know what that is. I don't even know how to understand that. Right. Because there's no relaxation. No, they make a living out of not having. Yes. You can't complain about it. And that's so much more. Yes. Exactly. Right. Exactly, bro. It's a big Nigerian, you know, population in America. Like, so have your success kind of indoctrinated. I mean, like kind of got you in a space where people are looking at you like, okay, this is one of ours. You know, because over here as black Americans, it's difficult to get embraced by, you know, you can be the man from where you from, but you go one state over and they like, who the fuck is you? It's the same way. It does, bro. And I've been very fortunate, man, because, you know, I've always championed being Nigerian. You know, I'm like, there was a point as an artist, I was, they asked me, you know, are you going to change your name to little whoop, whoop, whoop, whoop. Like, no, I'm going to stick to Rotimi, man. That's a strong. While watching this, like, no, you better check my name. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. Why. I didn't mean to. So for me it was like, I would just like, let me just stay true to who I am. And when I did that, it was okay, let me add humor. Let me add Butterscotch, but let me let them know. He's from Nigeria. All right, cool. Let me do this R and B thing. sound to creating that wave and that's what worked for me. So when you're championing your name, you're championing your artistry and now in every interview you say in the acting world I'm African it was like man thank you so much because bro you know we was growing up bro it wasn't cool to be African it wasn't cool to be Haitian it was like you fresh off the boat it was jokes like that for us you know what I mean so. Who are some big-ass stars in Africa that's from America that don't even know they stars in Africa that don't even know like people who have no idea how big they are in Africa. Man probably Damson, Damson from Snowfall, each of them know you know he's a John Boyega another actor, man I think at this point the world's so small I think everybody kind of know but like to actually you got to go and feel that impact yeah that's what I'm saying. I don't know if they been, nigga you know, you bro that's who you and you, both of y'all got to go over there man. And feel that love bro, like I'm like sit for my kid man I'm coming to give them man we're coming back over here man. I'm serious bro like. I felt for this each other. Bro especially you because of how your mind work you know for years. I was knowing that I feel a certain energy I feel bad leaving. You would. I'd be like I don't want to leave y'all they'd be like please don't leave I'd be like don't worry about it. We finna build a line over here my nigga, wanna be from the west side? Nigga you from the west side. From the west side. Nigeria, over the line. Nobody can't see. We from big cat. We can't. You can say that shit. I can see you after you filming everything, done filming everything, spending four months there. Easy. That'll be my relaxation. That's when I'm gone. I'm like you know I'm gone. I take that little five months. Matter of fact it don't went to a half a year now. I know. It works. Just half a year. I know. I mean I ain't see no sirens, no dogs barking, none of that. It was peaceful man, the lay of the land, everything is beautiful over there one and then everything that you do here as far as you know as a consumer all of those things change when you over there because it's us, it's black people, it's not you're not a minority. It's real. It's real. It's real. It's real. It's real. It's real. It's real. It's real. It's real. It's real. It's real. It's real. Yeah. It's real. It's real. It's real. It's real. It's real. It's real. It's real. It's real. So you know the Afro beats then it took over like it's such a major genre like what did you know any of the artists that are. This is no this ring. I don't know what the ring, I don't know if it's in the beat. It's not in the beat. No, but I'm hearing it through all this talking and I just been hearing this. Yes, I get you. I don't know. Oh, you talking about that? Yeah, yeah. Oh, yeah, yeah. Yeah, I don't know what that is. Something off. What is that? No idea. You gotta close this something. Is it the speaker or something? We're gonna go find it. Yes, sir. I didn't know how to be here. You know, did you know any of the artists? Like one of my favorite burner boy, I've been listening to burner boy for years, way before it blew up. Like, did you know any of these artists that blew up prior to them blowing up here? Let me tell you, bro, back in 2012, so when WizKid first came to America, they had found out about me musically because one of my songs back then had crossed over back home. And this is before Afro beats and everything. This is before Instagram and all that. It was just, I don't know how they found it, but when it got here, they were like, yo, bro, can you come open up for Wiz? He's the first time in America, we're doing 500 cedars, can you do it? And he was a part of it. Oh, he did his walk. This is 2012. Yeah, this is early. So this is when, to a point where I got off the plane and Wiz is like, hey, bro, let me help you with your bags, man. Niz was really like, oh, we have a mission. You know what I mean? And I always love him for that because he knew he was what he was gonna be. So we're doing 500 cedars. I'm performing in front of this crowd and the conversation that we had was like, yo, in 10 years, bro, I wanna be the best actor, I just started acting then. Best actor, best artist, but this is, he was like, bro, I'm taking over the world, bro. That was his answer. So I saw the wave in 2012. Then after that, I started just falling back into, man, let me just do R&B. And that was when you know, bro, as an artist and you're young, you're like, let me try sounding like that person. Let me try sounding like that person. And those records are good because you can sing, but they don't hit because it's not true. So it took me five years to really find out who Rotimi was and remembering the conversation I had with Wiz in 2012. And in 2017, that's when it hit me like, bro, just be you, you are the definition of African American. You genuinely are. So be the bread of R&B, Afro beat all in one. And that's when the hit records started happening. So meeting him then is seeing like, oh, Africa in about eight years is gonna be crazy. Because after a while, people was like, what is this noise? I remember bringing Love Rhythm to the radio station in 2018 and then the program director was like, I can't even get on the beat of this. What is this rhythm? I can't, this is not good. They don't even understand it. And this was before Wiz and all of them had, Wiz had the record with Drake and you know, so I comfortably can say I personally brought Afro beats to America. It's a fact, you know what I mean? So like, I think it was one dance with Drake and Wiz, one dance, one dance that just afterwards it come out and not saying it was because of me, no. The timing of it. The sound, the open people's ears out to the sound. The music to all the program directors with Love Rhythm and getting them used to, hear Love Me Like Juju, all that type of rhythm. And then when that started happening, it was like, oh, I like this. Then when there's a lane for us. Of course, Drake obviously helped as well because of having Wiz on it, but then that happened. Then in the middle of that, I dropped in my bed. So it's like, oh, this is really good to work. Then the DeVito and everybody else, you know, and it was just like, so I can proudly say that I did that. But it started with that conversation in the hotel rooms like, bro, let's just be true to who we are, bro, like it's okay to be African. Because again, growing up, the jokes was like, oh, y'all dirty, y'all this, y'all that, Jamaicans, and I think it was, I think being African is a new Jamaican because how these look like, oh yeah, you Jamaican, you know what I mean? But yeah, bro, it was a tough grind, but when we found out who we truly were, now you see what the world, you know, takes you. It's crazy because it's artists that's, like you, as Americans, we get so clouded with just being the biggest thing in the world in this. You know what I mean? But when I went to Ghana, it's artists that are superstars over there, Black Sharif, Odomoto Black, all these dudes is, I'm talking about super duper stars over there, and it just ain't translated over here yet, but the fact that the people's ears over here are open to the sound, it's only a matter of time before they get one, they catch over here. Absolutely, and it's out of here, it's out of here, bro, so it's divine timing, it's work ethic, it's the right, everything gotta work at the right time for this thing to hit, bro, because there's a million artists, athletes, comedians, and access to this. They got drill music and trap music in Africa, too. Odomoto, Odomoto Black, bro. That's the definition of what that is. Be hard-bodied, bro. Man, that nigga, I gotta play some of that. They playing this. I went to did the radio when I was over there, I told you I did the radio when I was in Ghana. I walked in the radio station, they was playing the Black Cherie from Odomoto Black. I'm like, man, what the fuck is this? They're like, Odomoto Black, Black Cherie. This is it, this is it, I'm like, yeah, this is it, this shit, damn it. And you know, and Atlanta's one of the few places that championed the artists, how Africa champions the artists. Like, you ain't heard, oh boy, yeah, even just how the radio work, you know what I mean? Like, it's just all love. And politics. And politics. You know how that shit really is. I say the only place I've been that reminded me of that is not even Atlanta, it's Detroit. Like, you go to Detroit, it's Detroit. They do the same, they do, they do, they do. They play Detroit, they go to the Bay Area too, like certain places you go, you go and hear hometown music. I love that. And when I was in Ghana like that, so they played American music, you know what I mean? The mainstream stuff, you hear the Drake's and you know what I mean, those people, but for the most part, you hear their music, you know what I'm saying? And what is another dude that was over there that's real big? I can't think of his name right now to come to me, but he was, is real popular over there, but he's like, they called him like the Kanye West because he controversial, like he speak his mind a lot over there, which is, you know, controversial. I gotta think of my man name, but these are all people that I didn't, I mean, I'm riding around him with my driving, he just playing the music over and over and I'm just in there. And it just feels good, yeah, bro. You know what I mean? Who was this? Who was this? Who was this? Because the sound, like you said, but it's the fact that the sound was, he was opened up to the sound over here. Absolutely. Luckily for me, like I said, I had African partners, so he used to play me all the Nigerian music. I can't think of the name of the artist, but I don't know about it, I don't know about it. I don't know, I don't know. I can't think of what the, I don't know about it. I gotta find that shit. 15, 15, 16? Yeah, there you go. Yeah, I know. You know what, you know the melody. Yeah. I don't know about it, I don't know about it. I don't know about it. I don't know about it. I don't know about it. I don't know. I don't know. That's my shit, but it's that shit, man. Hold up, I'ma find it. I'ma go over to the one I fought with now. What? Damn, I can't. Can you give me, I can't. Can you give me, we, He took a bunch of shit. Come on, man. You know it, nigga, you know what he's saying. You know it. What, no, hold up, what, wait. I know what I'm saying the wrong. That's my nigga, man, Chateau Wally. Chateau Wally, Chateau Wally. Yeah, I'ma hold it up, we're done. Chateau Wally. Chateau Wally, that's the nigga, man. Chateau Wally, you were calling us, What's the damn song that shit is being written out? You talking about, you talking about, you talking about Drift? Just Drift. Yeah, that's not, that's not. I'm saying the whole nother world. That's all different. That's all different music. What's that? Are we black though? Drift is not. Yeah, that's, that's, that's like dancehall reggae energy. Oh. But it's still the same though. That's okay. I mean, it come from the same place, like in the same, that same essence though. We all African. Yeah, you know what I mean? Caribbean. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. You know what I mean? Yeah, that's what I'm saying. We all African. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, it's all. You know what? I want to switch the gears up. Talk to him. Talk to him again. Third, get right. Hey, what's up? It's Carlos Miller coming at you with Prize Pigs, where a single entry could be life-changing from NHL, MLB, PGA to the NBA. Getting started is a breeze. Simply register, deposit, and select more or less on two or six player stats, like points, assist, rebounds, potentially win up to 25 times your entry. Plus, if it's your first time on Prize Pigs, they'll match your initial deposit up to $100. Available in over 30 states and on the Prize Pigs. Now, use promo code 85 South for exclusive benefits. Download Prize Pigs today for your daily fantasy sports experience. Daily fantasy, made easy. This year was sponsored by BetterHelp. Hey, what's good? It's your man, Carlos Miller. Back again with BetterHelp. If you had more time in your day, what would you do? Work out, finally fix that car, read a book, check on your homies. Many of us yearn for more time in our lives. But what would we do with unlimited time? Identifying our priorities and making them a focal point can help us incorporate what truly matters into our schedules. Therapy can assist in uncovering those meaningful pursuits, allowing us to allocate more time to them. Consider giving BetterHelp a chance. If you're considering therapy, it operates entirely online, offering convenience, flexibility, and alignment with your schedule. Learn to make time for what makes you happy with BetterHelp. Visit betterhelp.com slash 85 South today to get 10% off your first month. That's BetterHelp, H-E-L-P, dot com slash 85 South. Go y'all, I know you're an amazing artist. The plaque speak for itself. Thank you, brother. Like you said, I'm just hearing you. Your journey with the acting and the music, you know, finding your ways. And like you said, in 2012, you said, all right, I'm from the store acting. Nigga, your career been popping since 2012. You've been doing shit since whenever you started. You've just been doing this shit. Being an amazing actor. Yeah. Being one of the ones that, you know, they call scene stillers. Come on now. You know about that. You know about that. Oh, I know about that. A lot about that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's why they want to give you one, two lines. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, when you're a scene stiller and then you end up having to be in five seasons, explain the process and the procedure of getting a role on power and, you know, going through the audition space and when your agent call and say, amen, I got some new shit coming out. We got time to just tell you a story. We got time. All right, because we got to start from the beginning. Start from the beginning. End of an ending. So I graduated college in Chicago. Right. At this point in time, it was just music. I was 21 years old. My manager at the time was like, yo, you're so natural in front of a camera. Why don't you just, you know, go down to the city, go down to Chicago and just try to get an agent. You're an artist at the time. You're just an artist, struggling artist. We're living in a hood in Hyde Park in Chicago. Just doing music, literally. And you're in Chicago? I'm in Chicago. I'm living in Chicago, like dead in the hood. And I was like, all right, cool, I'ma go. So no agency wanted to take me because I had no resume. Right. The only agency that, this is 2012. 2012. The only agency that took me was only because her son was a freshman at my college. So she was just looking out for alma mater. She was like, all right, well, let me just look out for you. You have no resume, it's so cool. I go in, she's like, you never act before. I said, no. She was like, all right, cool. All right, it's okay. This is a Monday. She was like, I have an audition on Wednesday for you, but the role is already cast. Don't think you're gonna go in there and get it. I just want you to get used to auditioning because I'm good friends with the casting director. I said, okay, cool. I go in on Wednesday, the show's called Boss. It's with Kelsey Grammer. So I go in on Wednesday and the directors and everybody's there and she's like, hey, this is the kid I was telling you about. If you have any pointers for him, it's his first day. Just, you know. So I get in there, but I'm on my hustle, my music hustle. Remember during that time, they had the rubber bands with the website, yeah. So I'm like, go to me music.com, go to me music, to the acting world, right? So I'm like, all right, cool. They all start laughing a little bit. So I was like, I didn't know that was a bad thing to do, but it works for me. I get up there and they're like, can you go? I do it, boom. They're like, can you do it one more? Can you try it a different way? Boom, I'll do it another one. I then realized I do it eight different ways. And they're like, so this is your first day? I was like, yeah, it's my first day acting. Boom. Two weeks later, get the call that I'm now on TV. I got the role. They got rid of the other guy, I got the role. So now my first acting class is episode one of this show. And Kelsey Grammer takes me in as my acting coach because he's like, yo, this is camera left, this is camera right, this is called sides. This is where you stand. I'm learning all this. I'm terrified, bro. I'm learning debut. But again, this is where, again, for every actor and every musician, anybody who's creative out there, yo, you never know who's watching. So episode season one goes crazy. They're like, yo, who is this kid that came out of nowhere? Literally just walked in. Courtney Kemp, Agbo. Courtney Kemp, sorry. During that time in 2012, was writing, was watching boss, watching boss and was writing power, creating power, watching me do what I was doing and said, damn, I gotta work with that kid. Who's that guy? Fast forward two years later, now this is the show gets canceled. Boom. My dad, this is a Nigerian father, yo. My dad was like, yo, the money you made for this show, I'm putting it away for you. You only got $30,000 to work with. If you say you a superstar, if you say you like that, you're gonna make this work and get the next thing. I said, dang, okay, cool. Buy a house, rent a house in Atlanta. 2013, 2014, rent a, me and four of my guys who are just all artists. We have no sofa, no nothing, no nothing. We had lawn chairs, no TV, just a studio. We put all our money into the studio, creating records, creating records. Six months go by, nobody making money. My agent called me, he's like, yo, there's this TV show called Power that's interested in you, but you gotta fly yourself to LA, you gotta put yourself up and you know it's pilot season. So you don't know how long you gonna be out there. Pilot season is February, where it's audition after audition after audition after this. So I'm like, I was like, I looked at my bank account, but I had like $1,500 left, bro. So I'm like, so it's getting like crunch time. So I'm like, then I gotta get a flight. I gotta put myself up, I don't know. Like, all right, cool. Again, bet on yourselves, man. Bet on yourselves, it changed my life, obviously. So I like, you know, let's do it. Put 700 at the time for a flight, got 700 left. I find the cheapest motel on Hollywood Boulevard, East Hollywood Boulevard that the guy was like, he was like, yo, it's usually 40 a night, bro. I said, bro, I'm a struggling artist, man. Let me just kinda give you 20. It'll double my days, I don't know. He said, I got you, I got you, it's okay. Let me stay. Second day I get out there, I do the audition, kill it. But then two, three weeks go by. So now I'm waiting. You know this, bro. I'm waiting, cause I don't know what's going on. I gotta stay there. So now it's $20, $40, $60, da, da, da, da, da. You gotta get food. Luckily, you know, I was always a fly guy. So I had some gals, you know? So, you know what I mean? They just come cook for your brother in the motel, you know? They so, you know what I mean? So I was spacey, bro. What? Like I was on my, you know what I mean? You know, ramen noodle, all type of, it was, it was, I appreciate those times now, but it was, it was crazy in this bro. So I was able to stretch the money a little bit. I get the call. And it's like, all right, you gotta, you gotta go in for a table read. Now everybody's in there. I mean, a test read, you got everybody's in there. And the person that I always, I rarely tell this, but the person that it was down between me and LaKeith Stanfield, but Dre. So I'm like this, he's like this. I'm like, what's up, bro? Again, and I knew he was a dog then, like, cause we both looked at each other like, all right, man, what's up, bro? Like, yeah, cool, cool, cool. And I felt the energy of like, I'm trying to get this, you trying to get this. So I was like, went in, murdered. I know, and you could tell, you could tell us when somebody got the gift, right? So I knew he was lit like that. So anyway, I was like, I gotta go crazy. So went in, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. Got the role. And at that particular time I had $40 left, bro. $40 before I got the role for power. Boom, go to Florida, New York. And then Courtney tells me the story of like, you know, I watched you. So she was like, I took your audition tape and compared it to everyone else that was auditioning because what I saw you do on Boss, the other show. So again, it's like, to every creative out there, yo, honestly, please, every line, every scene, every opportunity, go hard. If you really believe in yourself, yo, you gotta bet that on the house. That sounds so familiar. That sounds exactly how the Wild'n Out worked for us. Did you see it? It's the exact same way. Nick came and did auditions in North Carolina. There wasn't a real audition. And he was like, you gotta fly yourself to New York to the audition. So I'm like, I flew myself to New York to audition, do the audition in New York. And I'm like, no money. I just got laid off of my job, no bread. And it was like, you know that joke you made about having to fly yourself up? Yeah, we gon' need you to do that one more week. You gotta come back for the main audition. So I went home. The first time I sold some clothes, because I've always been the fly guy. I see, bro. I like the shoes, yeah. But I sold some clothes that play those closet to get the first plane ticket. The second one, I went to my rental office lady and was like, look, man, I got an opportunity. If you can just let me be a little bit late. I promise you, I'll pay you. Just she was like, whatever you got going, that's fine, baby, do your thing. We go up to the main, or the group, like, which was the table reading room. Now, never forget, this man said something to me when he came in and still resonates to this day. Right before we go into audition, it was a bunch of niggas. He was like, I don't know what these niggas great do, but we great get on TV. I love that, bro. That's hard. That's hard, bro. Oh, yeah, I don't know. I mean, it was so many niggas. That nigga walked right up there because we knew each other. But we didn't go through the audition process. Different auditions, because he auditioned in Atlanta. I had to go to New York. That nigga walked straight. I seen him, I was like, what's up, nigga? He came straight up to me and said, hey, man, I don't know what these niggas great do. We great get on TV. And then it was like, we did the audition. And like you said, that three week period went past, we ain't had nothing. We don't know. The nigga called and was like, we ain't gonna be able to bring you in the workshop. I'm like, damn, welcome to the cast a while or not. I was like, fuck. That January, I officially got laid off from my job. I think it was like January 11, when they sent me the letter. That was that Friday, that Monday I flew out to shoot Wild'n Out for the first time. I ain't looked back since. That's what I'm saying, you got to put it on yourself, bro. Like, that's how even with Fly, when Fly came in, when Fly came in, Fly had already had like, you know, a buzz on social media, but nobody knew what that nigga was gonna do on TV. But I remember that first time we was in that workshop, that nigga, Fly was like, nigga, got me fucked up, watch this. And nigga was like, oh, this nigga raw for real. I couldn't go back in that block. I couldn't go back in that block for real. Like, you got to also understand, that's why I appreciate Nick so much, because it's like, he's in a position where he's in control on some, this who I want to get an opportunity to. I love that. Yeah. You see what I'm saying? And he, I remember cuz, you know, I remember my audition, he was like, I see you little nigga, I see you on Instagram. One of my, Nick was probably the biggest nigga I've ever seen in my life. He don't even know that, this is a whole fast forward because I was in drumline in the fifth grade. I remember when they taught the nigga how to punch him. I was in the fight scene, understand. So you been there too? I was just always in the mix. That's crazy. I was always in the renaissance. That's crazy, bro. I went this way. Yeah, yeah, that's crazy. So when I saw him, I was like, That's God, bro. I went right back to the fifth grade and he was like, I see you little nigga, I see you on Instagram, just do something. I did the best whatever that was. That's dope. He was just like, like he said that waiting period. I was like, I ain't getting no phone call. What? I'm just appreciative that I got the audition. And the nigga was like, while I'm not just a call, they said, you going to, I was like, oh, shit, right? Nigga? When the world gets a glimpse of this nigga, this nigga didn't even have a real audition, nigga. I didn't even have an audition slot. Oh, really? Yeah, it just showed up. I was like, man, thank you. I stayed all day. And then like, most of the people that they had the audition for the producers. But you know how a motherfucker like Nick, he showed up for like an hour or two. Right, you don't be that long. So I just got the audition for Nick. I got the audition for Nick. Nigga don't understand. My man, man. I mean, get the audition for the, I got audition for Nick. The crazy part is the shit that he did. Nick just wanted to see something. He just wanted to see you be a girl. Yeah, the shit that he did in North Carolina wasn't even a real audition. He was just doing that because he had a radio show that he was promoting it. He was just doing it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Just something to just promote the show coming back. Right time. So I went down there because Salute to Dolly. Dolly worked with Nick at the time and she was like, you know, just go and you know, do that audition. But the crazy part is I had already met him like two years prior. During his Fresh Faces of Comedy show, I went up to Gotham and did a comedy show. Then I was walking around in my creative process. I walk around, talk to myself, get my shit together. He's slowly doing that outside. I go up kill when I came down. He was like, man, you just made that up outside. I said, you talking to yourself? I was like, yeah. He was like, man, I'm around some of the best in the game. They can't do what you just did. Keep working. When I walked into that audition, he was like, I remember you, you the nigga that's talking to yourself. I was like, yeah, nigga. So help me not talk to myself no more free. What do you mean? And that's how it started. And my man BDOT audition, he ended up getting on the show later. But I didn't even get his vantage point until afterwards he had went and didn't do well in the audition at all. Literally, that's what I said as soon as I walked in the door. So he said from his vantage point, it was no laughter. As soon as he heard seeing me walk in and the door closed, the room erupted with laughter. He was like, oh, this nigga is out of here. So, but just that process, most people don't understand that it take that cause they see you with the CS at this point and don't know that niggas was really fucked up when we got on. We just fucked up the first couple of years of being on. Like we had to make that shit work, bro. It takes 10 years to get your moment, bro. Come on, bro. I thought I was getting good at D.I.R.L. You understand me? Come on. All right, bro. Now when I realized I was like, I can finally get out of my house. What is this shit going on? Man, bro, I'm talking about, we was, I'm talking about going on the road, breaking down what, 250, 300 niggas a piece. But we was doing five, six shows in a week doing that. But just, I'm talking about colleges, everybody. You know where you're going and you know your destination. Absolutely. And you understand that God is putting you in positions to win. You realize, okay, all I got to do is apply faith, apply energy, be, go hard at my craft. Everything is going to work out. Especially once, that's how we prayed for it, just the ball to get a little roll. Just a little, just a little roll. I didn't need a little roll. And it ain't flat. It ain't got a little pump. All of a sudden it got a little out of it. Now we're bouncing. Let me, let me, let me tell you even, just to piggyback off what you're talking about, bro. Like, so when I got on power season two, Dre was supposed to get killed off season three. He wasn't supposed to survive. He was not supposed to talk much. He wasn't supposed to, he was just supposed to be there and just be, you know, the goon nigga, the hood guy. You know what I mean? That energy. And when it got to the point where I was like, okay, I only got two lines. What could I do to make a moment? And I was like, okay, I got to do everything with my eyes. So when they started seeing, like, yeah, I answer something and I do something like, huh, they'll be like, oh, we can, oh my God. They started realizing this is when Twitter was going crazy. So, oh, that Drake carried up to something, up to something because it's just putting more than just what the words say and taking advantage of an opportunity. To the point where they were like, oh my God, we got to make you ghost 2.0, da, da, da, da, da. And they had to redo my contract because it's like, yo, the moment is here. You roll the ball. I got to take it and go crazy. Well, when did you realize that being on power, when did that mode that success hit you as far as the people? Not necessarily the industry and all that, but when did you feel like, oh shit, like the people are resonating with this character? I think it was season three. Season two, it was like, oh, you parted, okay, that's lit. Season three is when the conversation started being like, oh, he's about to be on a ghost's wing. And when people started seeing it and they started seeing the similarities and how I was acting and how I was stealing scenes in that moment, it was like, okay, wow, like, girls love it, niggas respect it, old people love it, da, da, da, da, da. White people love 50, so they're gonna watch it. So it was like, oh, wow, I'm outside. And I remember when I was around, this is like Trace Song, I think it was. And everybody went crazy for him. And that's my dog. So it was like, seeing that everybody gave me the same reaction, it was like, oh, you really, and I didn't expect it. You know, that's my bro. So I'm just, we were in Vegas, we looked over the balcony, they went crazy for him. I'm like, oh, that's crazy, they're going crazy for my man. I looked over, they were doing the same thing. So I was like, oh, you really did it. And at that moment, I'll never forget, he was like, bro, congratulations, like now turn it up even more. You gotta go up. And, you know, that was the drive. Yeah, it's always, I always like to ask those moments because those are the, to me, those are the surreal moments that when the people react to you, I'll never forget for, I know one for me was when we went to that all-star game that celebrity all-star game and me and this nigga was just walking down time square. Wow, wow, wow, yeah. That's shit crazy. Like they, we thought they gave us the wrong shit on accident. That's crazy. Like they gave us some good ass seats. Like two of the best seats, that the shit. That's hard, bro. Everybody gotta walk by us. Yeah. So we just sitting there like, man, this is fucking crazy. They must, they must don't know we, thank you. This nigga say at the, he was like, fuck it, nigga, let's walk on the court. I love that. But we walk on the court. You did, you earned that. We see days and pills. So we like, and we great, go say what's up today. Gotta say what's up today. Soon as we get up on that, and he was like Carlos Chico, man, what's happening, man? Y'all don't, he was like, nigga, you know what? Wow, that's a great moment. Then we leave, when we leave, we walking down the street. Y'all don't even know, remember, remember we was walking down the street, nigga, we turned around. Yeah. It was, I'm talking about three blocks down of people following us down the street, bro. Amazing, amazing. We like. What the fuck? Bro, it could go two ways for artists or entertainers at that moment. It could go to your head and be like, oh, I'm lit. Like, oh, we good. Oh, that shit blew my mind. You know what I mean? It's time to go crazy. Or it could drive you. And this is where a lot of us stay. You know, things you don't work no more. No, it don't. No, no, no. It don't. It don't, it don't, it don't, it don't. I'm not the nigga who they gonna pay less money. Exactly. Get your shit together. Exactly what the moment is for you that was funny as fuck. You probably don't remember this, when you first came, when I say probably, it's probably about your second to third season. You was all the way settled into the process. And I guess when you were in the manual, when the manual was the, the famous person, you would go and be like, hey y'all, they go in manual. Man, that nigga did that shit to you. We was on tour, that first tour. You like, yeah. Hey y'all, it's been your fucking new love. Shit, he was like, yeah, I got you in that. It's your turn. I didn't care about being popular. And fame is different. I'm used to being popular. Facts, facts. But fame come with the annoying shit. What? So, when I used to see manual get annoyed, I used to find that shit so funny. We'll be around so you fucks be like, DC, what's up, nigga? But that's it. That's all I'm gonna get. DC, what's up? I get a picture too. DC, what's up? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. That nigga, man, he tried to get to the car. I was like, we got your manual hustling everybody here. Look at me. And I said, get out and cry. It's 40, 60 people around that nigga. He said, look at me like, I hate you. He's like boy, that nigga, boy, I'm like, yeah they have. Boy, that nigga got that nigga so vicious, man. That motherfucker said, DC, I'm fly everybody. And they be like, I'm like, I got your ass. It's a good feeling, bro. I said, I'm feeling you, bro. It's a good moment. I'm talking about you to do that. It's a good moment. Now, what was that feeling like to be a superstar in two lanes, though? You can move this shit, TV show jumping off. Then you got the music shit doing crazy numbers. It was normal. How were you able to just like balance both of them at the same time, jumping like? Honestly, bro, it was, I mean, it's gonna sound cliche, but like, it was a lot of sacrifice, bro. Like, I couldn't party like most people was. I couldn't really enjoy being out while and flying this and doing that. Nah, it was like I had a responsibility. You know, I felt like I had a whole country, a whole continent on my back that gotta represent properly. And then it was just like, I've always been able to multitask. So I love, it didn't feel like work to me for a while. Like being lit and acting and being, it just pushed me, bro. Like the most amazing feeling was when we had gotten the ratings and it said power's not the number one TV show on cable. On TV, yeah. But then I also had the number one R&B album at the same time. I see that. You know what I'm saying? Come on, man. How you do that, man? So crazy. So for me, it was just like, man, God, just give me discernment. Yes, sir. Give me wisdom. Yes, sir. Surround me around the right people, put me around the right team. Even, you know, I finally feel like I got the right team and shout out to my brother Punch. But it's a punch. You know, yeah, that's my dog. You know, so like it felt like you got to want it. You got to have a team that wanted more than you. They got to do it. Why are you wanting more than you? Not more than exactly that. They definitely got to want them more than you. They got to want it. They know how great you are. You know what I'm saying? Like when you have that team that understand your greatness and understand where your strength can be displayed. And they're like, I got somebody that can be. We're too busy saying, look, you need to go talk to them. Why should I not be telling you to go talk to them? Bro. You should already know the importance of talking to them. Bro, like the best thing we can do as creators is know that we're brilliant in what we do, right? But we have to surround ourselves. And me and Punch talk about it all the time. You have to surround yourself with experts that are great at what they do and allow them to do what they do to maximize the ability of where y'all gonna go. If I'm doing this, I want this. First of all, that means you don't trust your team. Then you take it away from what you really got to do. It's energy consuming. It's energy consuming. So you can't succeed if your team ain't right because you got a force to do everything. At one point I was a booking agent. This isn't it. I was doing, you know what I'm saying? And like, that's when I felt the most pressure. And I felt the most, I almost got depressed. I almost hated music. I almost hated entertainment because I had to wear so many hats. But it was like, hold on, let's put ourselves and let me put my people in position and trust them to do it. And then you start seeing the money come in, start seeing the roles, start seeing the music, hitting everything and the tour and all that because it's just also surrendering to the process. What do you look for? What did you look for in those people? Ben, as though you wore all those hats, like you had that responsibility, it creates a level of understanding from each position. So what did you look for in those people when you put them in place? What were some of the qualities you looked for? You gotta be a dog. You gotta be tenacious. You can't take no for an answer. You know what I mean? You gotta look at me and if I'm up at four, you up at four. You know what I mean? So that mindset, then you have to be able to really prove and show that you are really good at what you do. You have to breed results, you know what I'm saying? Then also, I love it when someone isn't... I'm not breed people. Yeah, for real, you got two, bro. So, and then also somebody who's not phased by fame. Because if you put somebody who's not around it, around it and they start losing their mind because they become the artist. I've seen that happen six times with people I work with. I'm not the artist, I'm the manager. They want to do all the other things, but then it's like when they know that this is a job, we got a mission, we got a point to prove, we got a dissonance, then that changes everything. You know what I'm saying? And then also spiritually, they gotta respect where I'm coming from and then I respect where they're coming from and don't put me in harm's way, I'll put them in harm's way. Well, that fame is a drug. Like when you said that, though, it's a lot of people who still like, they ain't all the way in it, but they will if they ain't nobody looking. I'm gonna tell you what. Why you think clout, clout shit, who gonna get viral? They're a little more fucking like, any attention and good attention. Anything, no it's not. To me, all it is to make people who don't know you act like they know you forever and people who know you forever act like they don't know you at all. That's all fame does. It's just people who don't know you or run up on you and act like you been in their family forever and people who been in your family and know you your whole life or treat you like a stranger. They even said that so that mean that people who chase clout have lack of love. Yeah, they looking for validation from the validation that they think they see. You think I'm right? Yeah. They think I'm right. Right, right. And they don't even understand the importance of being able to have people around you when fame comes that it can tell you you wrong. Yes, honestly, I forgot to say honesty, bro. Yeah, I mean, I don't want nobody around me who can't tell me niggas stop, stop that ain't it. You look crazy. You don't all look at each other when we don't say some shit and be like... Nah, that ain't it. That ain't it. Like look at that, how I feel it. Like some people are scared to hold people accountable because they're afraid that that's gonna be, I can't say nothing because that ain't gonna... Absolutely. Oh, I'ma lose my... I can't handle by around because I can become a danger to myself and everybody. Absolutely. Because when things start working and working and working, you think that every idea you have is the right ideal. Everything that you want to do is the right way to do it. Yeah. And it takes that vantage point for somebody to be like, that's why I love the black women so much because they understand us to where they can stay. Absolutely. Hey, hey, niggas. Absolutely. Don't do that. Absolutely. That ain't the thing to do. Absolutely. You don't even have to say it. Yeah. It's a look. These black women get you like, I ain't saying don't do what you're doing. Yeah. But I know you and you wouldn't do what you do. You're doing it. You're doing it. Fuck around with your blood and be like, you're really about to do that. Yeah. That makes, that's not even worth it. Now I was about to do that. I was about to do shit. I was about to say it. I'm glad that you thought I was going to do that. Exactly. It'll slap you out of it. Wait, wait, wait. Hey, you. Oh, man. I don't want to see what you're going to do. Yeah, exactly. But like Terzi Yoshi. Bro, it's so true. Like, even on a way here, I'm like, we were just talking, just driving up and he was reminding me of something like, and no one else would tell me straight up like, like, bro, don't do this. Make sure you don't do that. Remind this thing that you think you, like that and it's like, wow, if I make this whatever mistake or whatever situation or whatever, I'm at fault and it affects everybody. So the fact that like it's this mindset of my brother, do right, do this, do this. Let's think of it this way. Let's think of it this way. You need that in all capacity to succeed, yo. Facts. So what does Rotini want? Because I'm hearing the journey. Right, bro. I'm hearing the journey. Did your music always, cause you was always in music or did your music in your acting start round? Hey, did you know that even if you had a 401K for retirement, you can still have an IRA? Robinhood has the only IRA that gives you a 3% boost on every dollar you contribute when you subscribe to Robinhood Gold. But get this, now through April 30th, Robinhood is even boosting every single dollar you transferred from other retirement accounts with a 3% match. That's right. There's no cap on the 3% match. Robinhood Gold gives you the most for your retirement thanks to their IRA with a 3% match. This offer is good through April 30th. Get CC at Robinhood.com slash boost. Subscription fees do apply. And now for some legal info. Plain ads of quarter one, twenty-four, validated by the radius, global market research, investing involves risk, including loss, limitations applied to IRAs and 401Ks. 3% match requires Robinhood Gold for one year from the date of the first 3% match. Let's keep Robinhood IRA for five years. The 3% matching on transfers is subject to specific terms and conditions. Robinhood IRA available to US customers in good state. Robinhood Financial LLC member, SIPC, is registered broker dealer. Like the same time. No, so music started when I was, okay. So my mom is a prayer warrior. Okay. So when I was, she had a dream and Bob Marley came to her and said, your son is gonna finish my legacy. So a lot of people don't know. God damn, mama. That's crazy. I want you to put on a nigger as a young nigger. What? Don't let Bob Marley do that. That's cool. Damn, bro. So if you know any Nigerian friend, you're part of the Nigerians. So they parents, our parents are like, you have to be a doctor, lawyer, engineer, video fiction, librarian. That's it. So when I came out singing, my mom was like, I remember this dream. I have to nurture this gift. Oh, man. So at three years old, four years old, my mom had me as a Nigerian wedding singer. So I was going from. Houston, Connecticut, Philadelphia. You and I together. Yeah, all right. Jesus. You and I together. Hallelujah. What are you going to do, man? You're going to go so far. That dude waiting in a four-year-old. Come on. I want to thank everybody for coming. Literally. Literally. In a three-piece. Three-piece. I'm going to send y'all the picture. I'm going to send y'all the picture. I'm going to send y'all the picture. Say hi, hallelujah. Literally, literally. Literally, bro. Bro, but at Nigerian weddings, they throw money. They throw bread, you know, so. They throw, you get throw money. I'm getting what? Oh, man. I'm like, so I'm, brother, I'm four. So I'm getting like, literally maybe five, six thousand because of as many, because it's a spectacle. It's like, it's a four-year-old singer. So my daughter, come on, man. I'm in there. Nigerian wedding singer, let's do it. So when I'm realizing that, that stick with you. You all right, man. Like, my gift is breeding money at this particular time and it sticks with my parents. They're like, oh, we have something. So they nurtured it, nurtured it, nurtured it. And to, you know, I'm from Jersey. So the Apollo Theater is what's big, it's big in New York for us, you know what I mean? So for everybody. Yeah, for everybody. So I performed at the Apollo Theater when I was 14 and I won. Came back the next week, I won. So then Jay-Z's nephews moved into town when I was 15. And they rapping. They was doing music. So they were like, yo, like, I hear that you, the singer, around here, like, you want to join our group. But if you really want to do this, we got to be serious because our uncle put the pressure on us to be better than our uncle at the time. So Ho was like, listen, if y'all really want to make music, y'all got to come down to my condo. Oh, yeah, 15. So I had to go, he was like, come down to the condo and write all your music, perform all of it in front of me. Let me critique everything. I got to see personally what's going on. So about six, seven months every three weeks, we were taking a bus, taking a car to go to Jay-Z crib, performing in his living room. And he was like, yo, bro, that was good. Nah, but your voice is a little too strong here. Ba-ba-ba-ba. So I'm getting critiqued by one of the greatest at 15. And he's telling you, yo, like, you got it. You got it, bro. Please understand you have it. I said, okay. So that propelled me at that point. What about the nephews? You ain't tell them shit. He told them, he told them. He told them, he told them, he told them. Hey, give me a bag, man. Bro, you keep thinking. You get this goddamn luggage, man. Man, shout out to Spanky, Ramell, all that. But like, they put me on that situation and it changed my perspective as a creative, bro. Right? At 15, you're impressionable. Hell yeah. So you got Jay-Z saying, you like that. That's a love drive. It's enough drive to last you for your lifetime as a person. So that, you know, that driving, I got to college and I was just making music and selling my mixtapes while I was on campus, skipping class, standing at the corner and selling my mixtapes. It was a regular music hustle. It was a regular try to get on since I was four. But then you said you also had a song that go big over there in your country. Yes. Right now. So I had a record called Beautiful Music that I recorded in my dorm in college. And when I graduated, we just put it out and this is where my space. So you adding top five, you adding everybody to your music page at this time. And I used to do that for eight hours a day, eight hours a day, eight hours a day for the whole summer. And I started realizing like fans, building fan bases all around the world. And I'll say that I was Nigerian. So one of the top, his name was Tino, Tito, something like that, T something. He found the music from my space and the song Beautiful Music kind of just took off over there. And they were coming down to America like four months later. And that's when, you know, so again, you just got to put the work in and invest in yourself, man. So what's next, man? You know, I mean, I personally, you know, hate that question just because, you know, the fact that you don't know when you got that type of history, like if a nigga would have asked you what's next when you left J.D. Absolutely. What's next? Nigga Platinum. Yeah, yeah, yeah. What the hell left you talking about? Yeah. I got to give you a sense. Man, what's that nigga Platinum? Nigga left J.D. in the living room. Now I'm gonna fuck what a nigga did. He not lying though. Well, I mean for real. Where is the power franchise had hit it? Where is it? Where is it hit it? What can the fans expect from that? Oh, bro, I ain't been a part of power for six years, bro, bro. So I don't even know anything. Yeah, bro, I don't know nothing was going on. Honestly, I mean, I think, I think I think five for changing my life, but it's a job. You know, it was my job. It wasn't, you know, it's, I did my job and I move on, you know what I'm saying? It's gonna be your only thing, you show back up and you die. Oh no, they burned my character ass, bro. Nigga, they didn't broke my fucking face. I'll be a ghost? Yeah, you wanna be a bus. I can't do that. I can't do that. I can't talk. You can't do this. You can't do this. Then go back, then go back in time and see like your name move. Yeah. You know what I mean? Nah, nah. You know what I mean? Hold that and go. That's the aimless one. Hold up my aim. But before, fuck, I'm asking wrong questions. Nigga, what's next? Nigga, you got a skin care line. We ain't talking about, yeah. Speaking of being burnt up. Nah, you got a skin care line. Thank you, bro. What made you wanna do a skin care line? No, it's for you, it's for you. So nah, so yeah, it's already, I already used it though, but you can use it. That's some African shit right there. You can use the rest of it. You can use it to make sure it was good for you. To make sure it was good. Look at my skin. Look at your skin. Look at you. You had to make sure it was good for you. So basically what happened. There's some good lotion right here. So it's called Favorskin, right? Let me get some of that. And what happened was during the pandemic, thank you, bro. It's minerals from the Dead Sea, 100% natural. So what happened was 2021, it was COVID and I started breaking out cause I was stressing and I was just going crazy and I was using bad stuff on my face. And I was like, I gotta call it again. Divine time in God, Andy Hilfiger calls me from the Hilfiger time, Hilfiger brand and all that. Called me and it's like, yo bro, I see your butterscotch videos. What do you put on your face? What's going on with your, like, what is that? What is that? I said, oh, I just used this other brand. She was like, yo, what, are you gonna, have you thought about endorsing something? I said, bro, if I'm gonna get into skincare, I wanna own my own skincare. And he was like, okay, cool, dude, let's do it, man. You wanna go 50, 50? I said, yeah, it was like, yeah. So look, I have a companion, Israel. They have this stuff from the Dead Sea and the Dead Sea is like a healing. It's like a healing. That's in here, got minerals in the mouth. Yeah, the minerals. You said, my friend, please, yes, please, don't break my heart, please, please, please, please, put this on your skin, please, please, please, please, please, please, let me show you something. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So the Dead Sea, so if people don't know, it's in Israel and it heals like skin cancer. It heals like psoriasis, it heals eczema. So I was like, yo, honestly, man, I wanna make something that black brothers and sisters can use on their skin without any preservative and it's all natural and it's a healing place. Healing thing from the source. And Israel is the Holy Land, you know what I mean? Like it started there. So for me, it was like, I want something that will change people's lives. So I called it favor because it's like, when I started realizing that it was changing my life and doing what it's doing to my face, I could change people's lives because a lot of people's insecurities come from their skin, a lot of people's insecurities come from a lot of outer stuff. So I was like, let me be a part of that healing process. We created it, so it's about to be in target. We're about to do a meeting with HSN. Man, she's doing good, man. And the testimony, I got you, I got you, I got you. But like, favorite skin in it. And it like, when I put my finger in my hand into the Dead Sea, I saw like the dirt come off. It naturally exfoliated everything and it was a natural glow. So, you know, we're the only ones that got mineral from the Dead Sea in the States. You know, so I think it's changing. And then the testimonials that we've had, like we've had about four, five thousand testimonials of people using it so far. And it's like, you've changed my life. You helped me, man. Like they showed me before and after pictures, our whole team. So it's just been a blessing, man. So if you want to get it, it's favorite skin from both men and women. Well, we got you some 85 South Show gift. Oh, thank you, bro. My brother. Thank you. You took your skin care. Get your skin care. Will, at least. We're gonna do a promo code 85 South on it as well. 85 favorites. Oh, yeah. Oh, 85 favorites. 85 favorites. I like that. I like that. Yeah, yeah. You love it. Thank you, bro. Thank you, bro. Make sure y'all go get anything, bro. Timmy put out. Got new singles dropping. Yeah, sir. New faces. Y'all got a track, too. So y'all got a track. Yeah, we got a record out, man. That's going crazy. And also, I got a double album that's coming out in July. Oh, no. We got a double album coming out in July. It's called, not yet, but it's half Afro B, half R&B. All my fans get seven records at R&B, seven records at Afro. And it's going to be that. You know, this is your first time stopping through here. Yeah, brother. Don't let it be the last. I'm here. This is all my family, bro. Yeah, that's what I was saying. My family, bro. I mean, I got to get you to sign the table, man. Yeah, sign the table. That was your first time at R&B, bro. We out. And get a flick, man.