 One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10. Rock and liquor. No doubt a nigga biz. This bird rumors like a motherfucking punk biz. My bed is a bed for a kid in that victim. I love it. J-O-N. Let's go original, man, so we can get spotted, man. Play me one of them J-O-N tracks, man. They don't nobody even know about. Yeah, it's some skin. Yeah, this some father sensual workers right here. We back. We back. What you been? We back. We back. We back. Come on, man, this is going to be all that gangster grills next thing you have. We back. Spot that tongue. Oh. We back. Oh. Oh. Oh. What are you? This one's what I was waiting for. Yo. We back. Yo. We back. Yo. We back. Yo. We back. Yo. We back. Yo. Let's go. We back. Uh. Got a band for the shit. Okay. Uh. Ain't gonna lie. I'm hand up. He with y'all fools. Tom. Who this is? I hear a voice. Yeah. Look. I hear some noise. Yeah. Mr. Thanksgiving. Oh, shit. Do it one more time. You ready? Do it one more time. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Mr. Thanksgiving. Go. Uh-huh. We living. Could you know why? Uh-huh. We got. Mr. Thanksgiving. Hello. We back. I mean like a spy. If I said that we was leaving there, you know that I'm lying. Uh-huh. All the girls I had, shit, they all wasn't fine. But one thing I can say with shit, they all was mine. Okay. You done so. They ain't no nigga on the fucking low. Uh-huh. We ain't looking. You don't like a nigga. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. D-throw. D-throw to a whole nother man. Yeah. He thought that she was faithful till he found her only friend. That ain't my business. That ain't my business. Uh-huh. But she was doing it when I was gone. That ain't my business. $399. How much was it? $399. How much was it? $399. I said, hold up bitch. She ain't know that. But you're $399. It was $399, so I paid that shit. That's right. Damn. I ain't paid that shit. Uh-huh. And they gon' hate this shit. What the fuck is wrong with you, man? I like the gunshot on the mixtape. Yeah. You ain't opening up. Y'all know y'all ain't opened up. You a project baby. This nigga's open to chip like he was smacking some map. You want him off? No. That's a new car. There was a part in my life where all the music in my car was against the grill CD. Me too. I made an actual CD. I'm talking about some classic shit. Real mixtape shit. Like, all the niggas had one. Everybody wanted to listen to before they dropped the album. They had to go see a drummer and drop their dope ass against the grill's mixtape. Hold on. So it's like today, the trap, the trap going platinum. We got no break. All the way. Yeah man, cause this is not a episode. It's a mixtape. We got the one and only. Mr. Thanksgiving. No. DJ the fuck drummer. What's up y'all? It's the only way. We got this money fucking nigga that did the dates, the grills and the trap with us, man. It's a honor. It's a honor, man. Thanks for having me. Thanks for coming, man. Appreciate you, man. Love. Man, this is what you did for the streets. Nah, good looking. I'm not paying another fucking way for me. I'm talking about when it, like, when it made a whole another. You had a holla at him. I'm talking about change the game. It wasn't official. Like, it wasn't invented, but it was like he reinvented the whole mixtape game. The way people fuck with music right now is still going on like that. You feel me? Like you took, you took the attention off an album for so long. Like niggas money been trying to drop an album. They needed that mixtape. You don't get the strength to listen to earth ball. If you ain't even seen your shit for a minute and a half before the song come on, you ain't official. Right. And you took a hell of a sacrifice for the streets, too. You don't have to go to niggas fuck with the feds and all of that shit. Like, they go into jail for CDs. For music, man. For music, bro. That's crazy. And change the game, man. So we honored to have you here. Come on, man. Let's go. Okay. Let's go. DJ John in the building. Now, pleasure to be here, man. Pleasure to be here, legends only. Is it fair to say, like if I ask y'all, is Gangsta Grill is the most important mixtape series of all time? I mean, I'm talking about, you made people listen to the whole shit. Right. And it's like even artists that we weren't necessarily all the way familiar with it, that platform was so open where it's like, it wasn't the pressure of them being at the radio station having to try to freestyle and not fuck up. It was like, damn, run that shit back. But I didn't know shit. I didn't know. You can run that shit back. You know what I'm saying? I started over. Did you press the button? Did you press the radio? I'd be telling people sometimes because then, you know, like the no DJ version became a thing and everything. And I've seen people say, like, you know, I want to hit like mixtape without the drops. And there's a couple mixtapes out there without the drops, but it's just not the same feel. Like you don't want to see the trap or die without me talking that shit on there. Like, you know what I'm saying? Even for the battle, he was just trying to get the songs together. But GZ called me like, yeah, you got some of them songs, like we could play without the drops. I was like, niggas don't want to hit them. Shit's without the drops. You did? Yes, I did. Yeah, they want to hit that shit on there. Yeah, you what? You know what I'm saying? I tell you what. You take my mother and you won't do it. Yeah. I mean, but I think so. I think it's in that class. I'm talking about all the way back to, I mean, the old in the 80s, DJ Red Alert and all them types of mixtapes. Like it's in that class where it's a period in time where you couldn't hear no music without hearing DJ drama or somebody saying, when are you going to get a DJ drama against your brother? Yeah. Two of my favorite against the grill mixtapes that I felt like was the two most slept on after the whole series. Okay, slept on means it's not one of the ones. Yeah, I'm saying that it's not like, it wasn't the one that ground but like. It wasn't popular to the most kind. And break the artist to the next platform, I think, but they were still two of the dopest ones. Motherfuckers, slick puller. Four four day was hard. Oh, here in big country. Shout out to the country. Shout out to all my gods. Old beauty. Yeah, old beauty. That was my game. Drone did his motherfucking thing. If it wasn't for tip, really I don't know if gangsta girls would be what it was because, you know, he was the, like when me and him was coming up, it was because of him understanding and you know, that ground hustle like getting it. So we hooked up and did the first tape where it was literally all tip. Like that was like, I was like, okay, finally here's somebody make the type of project I wanted to make with. And we could, you know, do this whole project together because everything pretty much followed that. You know what I'm saying? So he wrapped his ass off. So what was your vision? When you say, okay, whatever you do, and this is what you was going to do, your stamp, what was the vision that you said? Like, all right, this is what I got to do for these people. A lot of my vision was really just about, like, was about branding, to be honest. Like, even when I was doing them early, like when I started with the tapes, or just even in my career, like from early on, I always wanted to make it seem like, I watched how people respond to DJs or the music and things like that. And the thing I always hated, like listening to the radio going to a party was like, I don't want anybody to leave here and just say, yo, the music was good. Or the DJ on the radio is doing good. Like, no, DJ drama did his motherfucking thing. So even with Gangsta Girls, I was like, all right, if I can make this brand strong, I can kind of create a platform for myself to even kind of get on and everything. So, you know, on the early tapes, like, nobody knew what I looked like. And, you know, they just heard my voice. Like, people used to tell me all the time, like, we thought she was dark-skinned and fat. Like, when we heard two voices. It came out, light it here. Isn't that nice of you? Yeah, it is. All that DJ drama, that's you? Yeah, it is. You look like you're gonna be in Shalemaw, baby. What the fuck? You got this Shalemaw face. You say you don't drive in DJs, right? This the Gangsta Girls shit? Shalemaw member. A Shalemaw member. Yeah, a Shalemaw member for real. So then, you know, and then outside of that, it was just really going against the grain. Like, at the time, the way I was doing my tapes and then the style that was out, people used to tell me, like, when I used to, like, just hand-to-hand them shit, they just be like, yo, when you dealing with music from the South, people that buy mix tapes, they don't want to hear it at talk and, like, up North DJs or new shit or exclusives or freestyles and all that shit. And I was like, man, shit in me. Watch how this goes. So, I literally applied a format that people said wasn't going to work. And you know, I started moving with niggas like killing Mike, doing freestyle and bone crushing tip at the time and, you know, just bringing new shit. And that shit was, like, it caught. So I was like, oh, I'm on to something here. That was crazy. It definitely caught. Like, you, the talking on the mix tapes, like you and, I'd say, bigger ranking. Yeah, yeah, bigger. You got to know the streets. Bigger ranking? You can feel it. You can feel the soul. Yeah, definitely. The streets don't love nobody though. You like, you know what? I'm going to hit this shit again. I'm going to hit this shit back. But you know what? I feel like you, you are the one who kind of, like, definitely started that. You know what? I'm not going to allow them to skip the song. Well, I'm going to tell you, yeah, for sure. I'm going to bring, I'm going to play it. Matter of fact, I'm going to let you all get to the hook and guess what I'm going to do? I'm going to bring that bitch right back and say another minute before you hear the song and tell you why I'm bringing this bitch back. And you like, you know what? Read a book. We listening to a book. Let's go crazy. I would do all types of crazy shit that I was just learning. I remember even on Dedication 2, there's a part where I play a song, I'm like, nah, it's too early for that. Right. And make niggas go to another song and then come back to that song. And I just was like, at that point I was just showing my ass. And one thing I feel like I brought to the table. I knew that. I felt that. Yeah. I was sitting there listening like, this nigga just showing his ass. I can't wait to do this motherfucker. Like that's just the arrogance of where I was with the shit at the time. I said that. Like I could just do whatever. Like that. But niggas definitely should get your ass or hand clap like, because if it wasn't for you, niggas wouldn't have even played that shit back. Man. They would have just listened to it and would just sound like a regular mixtape, but you amp it up. And I felt like, like I remember before me, mixtapes, like there's always been DJs on mixtapes and you know, shout outs and saying things and everything. But I used to listen to mixtapes and everybody be like, yo shout out to 125th Street or you know, shout out to Tone So over here and all that shit. Play the four. Right. You already know. Play the game. You know that shit kind of came from that era. You know, if I'm on top of the music, how do I make it where I'm really adding something? So I just started listening to the music and then, you know, saying, fly shit, you know, like every street nigga ain't a rapper. Every rapper ain't a street nigga. But if you figure it out, you know, That was so cold. Like just fly shit that people would add to that. Niggas have to get together. I'm not just talking about real niggas. I'm talking about real street niggas. Facts is how it came into just like that. So, you know, with that, I think that that's one thing that people liked. And you know, once the tapes will come and they understood like, oh, y'all get drunk and talk that shit. Like, it's just different. Hey, you originally from Philadelphia. Originally from Philadelphia. So, what was one of the really neat. Did that mixed shape influence, like you said, just having that background of being up north. Right. When you came down here, was it hard for people to, did you have any resistance and people accepting that type of, you know, DJing? A thousand percent. I mean, I never, to be honest, I never felt, you know, Atlanta's the type of city where it's just, you know, anybody that comes here or moves here, you understand the level of Southern hospitality or love. So, one thing I learned early on coming from Philly, I always had gotten embraced or, you know, when I moved here to go to Clark Atlanta. So, even in my early years, you know, I met people that were doing similar things that I was doing and, you know, always offered a helping hand. So, I was like, it's just different from Philly. First of all, we don't have as many outlets. And then, you know, it's just a different energy in a city where you don't, you might not have a vibrant city like Atlanta with, you know, so many black people getting so much money at young ages and everything. So, that was different. But never like, you know, I always felt like, damn, it's really love that I'm, you know, I'm a kid from out of town, even though I had lived here for some time, but getting embraced by the city, you know, by the music and everything. So, really knowing resistance I've had to say anything was like with DJs that we were, you know, in a competitive sport, but even that was, you know, that's just a competitive nature of it. DJs really debriefing. I mean, you know, it's like anything in hip-hop. Like, it's competitive. I take it with a fucking turntable. So, you know, I'm gonna bust your ass. Wait, wait, wait. So, so, okay, okay. Y'all stupid. Come on, I'll take your turntable. Okay, let's live. Now, you a DJ now, can you break down the difference between a DJ they just have a laptop and the ones they used to scratch or the ones that hosting on a mixtape. You see what I'm saying? Yeah, it's a lot of different, like, DJing is like a tree with a lot of branches, like anything, especially like now, all these years later, after literally you could pick up your computer and you know, you could technically become a celebrity DJ if you not already have it. I've been trying. I don't drive it. That's hard. I salute y'all, nigga. That's hard. So, yeah, I mean, I just look at it like, you know, there's no rulebook to this shit and I ain't wanting to say if somebody necessarily could push a button or call them not a real DJ or have you. You can rock in front of a crowd of people, you know, I salute you. You know what I'm saying? I'm glad I come from the era where I really had to carry crates and I was the last nigga in the club and like if you ain't had no real friends, you had to carry all them because them shits as heavy as a motherfucker. Like, and we said like, have like five, six, seven, eight, nine. If you had your whole record collection, you had a lot of crates. So, you know, like this era of DJs it's a lot more women. Yeah, you had to, you had to have an SUV or something with a trunk, a trunk in it or else you wasn't getting around. I remember when I first started getting money, the first car I had was a Benz and I was like, I'm never going back to SUVs like because of that. But I came from that era of carrying crates, but you know, people don't know that grind because you can just come into the club with a Louis Vuitton book bag and yeah, and yeah, what's your shit on? Did you have any DJs who you had to carry their crates for them that you get like ushered into the game that way? I never technically carried any crates for anybody, but I had different DJs during my career that like, definitely showed me the way. When I was an affiliate it was a DJ named Ghetto who was more like a scratch type DJ. He used to win like DMCs and everything because I used to study all this shit. So I was into that just as much. I was never that good. That's why I was focused on the mixtape. But then there was a DJ, you know, shout out to DJ Mars who like, used to really be moving around in Atlanta a lot. Yeah, Mars my god. So you know, when Mars did the Super Ghetto in the early 2000s, like he took us under his wing in some ways and I definitely learned some of the game from him and everything. And I remember a time when I was, I didn't think anybody was going to ever correlate DJ drama to me because I was like, that word is just too popular of a word. Other people using it ain't nobody going to think about me when they think of that. And Mars was like, nigga don't change your name for nobody. And then, you know, I never forget that advice because I didn't. I was like, nigga don't change his name. So yeah, so Mars was an early influence for me. DJ Shaquem who used to DJ for Bow Wow. You know, I saw all these guys like when they were like, you know, top of the game and I was kind of like, you know, just I was still putting together CDs and my decrypt that I was burning from Kinko. So, so yeah, but I definitely would salute Mars for, you know, help show me the way and things like that. What do you think is the most impactful not the necessarily best one, but the one that had the biggest impact on the game? I think it's two. My argument is between Trabada and Dedication 2. There you go. I was about to say, Dedication. Dedicated. And Dedication is a series as a whole as another phenomenon because it's literally six, seven of those, you know, compared to like Trabada as a stance still. But to me, Dedication 2 was the best one and then I was just like Trabada. I mean, that should change my life. Like, that should change the game, you know what I'm saying? Like, look at where we are now with the effects of GZ and that influence of that time. But between them two, like, that should, you know, can't nobody fuck with me, man. Gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen Um, you know, he came to me like, you know, in the early days, he was like, yo, I got this, this new nigga I'm working with. And they had just put a project out called Come Shop with Me. And, you know, anybody from that era will tell you, The old GZ, Come Shop with Me, Van, used to ride around the city and everything. So literally, uh, Young used to come to my crib before the gangster grills, and I used to make him show tapes. Um, when he used to come to the fourth ward, I used to just like put freestyles on there for him, charge him a couple hundred dollars and boom, boom, boom. So that's how we first got, um, introduced. And then he, you know, he, he pretty much like, like, so, not Trabadabra, the tape we did before that was called Our Streets is Watching. That was our first tape. That was literally the first mixtape I ever got paid for. They gave me like a thousand dollars at the time. And like, one thing about, about Young is that he always had a vision. Like, you know, he knew where, like, he had it laid out in a sense. And I was like, you know, I mean, I, I don't think at the time, I can definitely admit like, I never saw it becoming what it became. But, you know, gangster grills was already a brand in motion. He was like, yo, I don't even know if you know how much the streets fucking with you. So after we did the first tape, and then, you know, like it just caught like that. Like I just started seeing the reaction and my man told me like early on, you know, this is around, this is when T.I. is like on top of the world. You know what I'm saying? And my man walked up like, yo, that, that GZ tape you did, that's the best gangster grills you ever did. I'm like, the new nigga, like, where? And he was like, I'm telling you so. And then I started going on a roll with them just during the Chitlin circuit days and seeing the response and the reaction from the tape and everything. So by the time we got to trap a die where we was about to do it, you could already, you could feel in a sense the energy, especially obviously in the city and everything. But when we did that tape, like I, I, I didn't, I didn't see it becoming that. Like it was, it was life changing. It was everything. Every city I went to, I used to be on a roll with them. I would hear that shit coming out of every car. Like, you know, I think that, you know, just, just to this day, my nigga, I see people all the time that tell me how many years they did behind bars and what gangster grills meant to them in there and how they listened to them and those tapes and everything. Like it just was, it just was special. Like, and I, I believe in the universe playing a role in a lot of those things. Like, you know, when the story is told, like a, a nigga from Philly literally helped change the sound and the movement of Southern rap when it comes to, you know, that time and that place of, of, of hip-hop and everything. So that's the universe point blank period. Or the fact that I lived around the corner from fucking Coach Kada even, you know, introduced, you know, for him to introduce me to the guy that, you know, we're going to change each other's lives. Hell yeah. Coach got the game in the head last time. Yeah, for sure. 80. And has been for some time, man. I'm, you know, it's, it's, it's a, it's a good feeling to see people you came in with like still doing a more fucking thing. You know what I'm saying? Shot, okay. He always had the game. Oh yeah. So you get to a point where you got the trapper, the, the gangster grill, the trap of doubt. Like, did you, at that point, did you say, all right, this is, this is what the move is, the gangster grill series? Like, what made you say, you know, I'm going to make it this instead of just going, calling the different shit? Like you had the Streets is Watching before and not Streets is Watching. Well, I was always still under the gangster grills umbrella, but I knew by that time that gangster grills was the thing that was going to take me through there. Like I had, I was like, okay, yeah, I'm on to something with this shit. Like, because I, before those tapes, I was still, there was basically regular compilations like mixtapes, which is, you know, songs from everybody. So by the time I started getting to that space where, you know, you know, guys are coming in and we're doing whole projects. Like I knew I was, that, that was going to take me in the direction that I wanted to go in with my career and everything. And I was just telling somebody this early today, matter of fact, I was talking to Hitmaker Youngberg and he was just, he was going back, he's going back talking about, he, you know, I didn't remember this. He said I tried to, I charged him like 30 grand for gangster grills. And I was like, yeah, I was out of my mind. I was, I was just going, I was getting, I was getting, so I was going crazy. I was motherfucking 30,000. Mr. Thanksgiving. You guys hearing that, it would have echoed. But Turkey's in the hood. Yeah, I feel you. Bruh, I always wanted to see Kirk Franklin against the dude. That would have been. That'd be great. That'd be crazy. Raise the roof for Jesus. There wouldn't have been no song. You think you can hear me? All the old bitches in the front go, raise the roof for Jesus. There wouldn't have been no songs. You wouldn't have had to check as soon as he heard it. Me and him would have been. Kirk Franklin coming back, oh, you thought it was just going to be you. Yeah, and then I'm going to have to say my shit. But God already knows my time and the time to get down. That would have been, that would have been dope. Who's somebody that you wanted to do one with that you never got to work with? Who's somebody I wanted to do one that I never did? Yeah, y'all. You want to do a dance with us? I would. You would? Yeah. You know, I, you want to do your solo? He basically saying we got to do our solo first. So you want to do some comedy see? Then we can double back. You want to do this real quick. God, serious. No, he sent me some reviews. But he knows what I'm at, though. So I don't know if he's real about it. What do you mean, Mom? We've been having this conversation for two years. That's the name of the gangsta grill. I don't know if you're real about it. Hey, I am the label. That's kind of hard to know. You hear me? Yeah. You hear me? I'm about to treat you. I am the label. I'm going to fuck with it. I'm going to know if you're real about it. I am the label. This is the DC mixtape. DC know what I'm at? Nick ain't never put a dollar in me. I am the label. That's hard. You hear me? Um, let me think. What's the charge? Don't say it. I'm going to charge you often. Yeah. Oh, I heard him before. He said it on the phone. You just going to pick up the phone? Yeah, no, I'm not. You're not going to pick up the phone for free money. When he's free? We want to make, it's bad. It's ways to make money. I think he got it on tape now. I just keep- Because that's really good. I see the two of us over and over again. Remember these days? Because you know, if you don't pay me up front, then you know you just got to bust me down on, you know what I'm saying? Man, I want to try to go. Ain't no job, man. I've been out here hustling. What do you need? Need a rumor? I am the label. I answer to no one. So, so Gushi and Drake was going to do one together. Word? Yeah, that was going- That was going- We need to, we need to, we need to put that in the- Oh, you know what? I've never said it. I've never, I never told this stuff. So the Be Me Up Scotty, the Nicki Minaj. Shout the holiday. That's my brother. But originally, Nicki had hit me about, that was, that was going to be her gangster grills. That didn't happen. You know? So that didn't happen. Damn. That was Drake though. Yeah, I've been Drake. Travis Scott before the rodeo. Okay. That was going to be a gangster grills. It's a couple, it's a couple of projects out there that I might, you know- That's a cool, good, another question. Do you have to be a gangster to get a gangster grill? No, absolutely not. Absolutely not. And that was one thing early on with the brand, even when the direction I was going, I was like, I don't want to, I'd never wanted to necessarily be pigeonholed into that per se. So I remember when I first did like a tape with like Pharrell, I did one with Lil Brother. Like, I remember people being like, I mean, they don't, that's, how are you going to do it? Gangster girls with Lil Brother, you know what I'm saying? But I was like, watch this. And I just, I knew that, you know, the brand was where I would be able to take it. So I think I've stepped out enough with it that you ain't, no, it ain't about being, I mean, being the gangsters up here, clearly so. You know what I'm saying? Yeah, yeah. Because that really just, I'm just thinking all kinds of shit they could have been. They go, Mr. Biggs, gangster girl. That was Ron Isley. Some of my best ones is, is like R&B ones. The Jeremiah Late Night Gangster Girls is fire. Chris Brown's shit is fire. Like, y'all done this some good ones with some that, that don't even come in the form of me having to scream over them. Now you, you know, a lot of people might not know this, but you, the feds came and got you. Like, can't you talk about hola, hola, hola. It's over with now, yeah. I know it's over with, but they don't even like talking about old shit. You straight? Nah, I'm good. Yeah, the time, enough time has passed. All right, man, turn them on. So what, how did that happen? I mean, was it because you was, what was the reason behind that? To be honest, I don't know if I ever found out the real reason behind it. I mean, somebody, somebody was in a position, they was back in the day when they would have like music stores and everything. I think it was a peppermint, was in a, in the mall. What's the mall? I said, Morrow. What's the mall was out there? Oh, that's South. South what? South Lake. South Lake is out there. So it used to be a chicken, South Lake mall. They used to have like one of them stands in the middle where she used to sell mix tapes and everything. And I guess she was booming. So peppermint called the cops on her like, yo, it's a lady out here selling bull eggs or whatever. So then when they came to her, she was like, nah, these not bull eggs. Like, these is good. I get these from DJ drama. So I guess they looked into it and then, they like went to, they like went to my website. They started doing some like research and everything and like, you know, I ain't, you know, at the time I was like the mix tape king, I was on top of the world. So 90 million years that I have to think about something like that or that, that was even possible. You feel what I'm saying? I'm about to say, how did that possible with your music? It wasn't like we was dabbling in no other shit. And like, so, you know, one, one fateful morning, they just, they came to the door with the M16s and them guns drawn and the black tie holds up on the, on the porch with the helicopters outside. For your music? My nigga for music, bro. For music. Not a joint or fucking nine. For the CDs, bro. Nothing. They melodies. They are called melodies. They told me, so then they told me, they told me, I was, they was booking me for the Rico. So, you know, this is all. Come on, nigga, what the fuck is a Rico? The Rico, they got me for the Rico. Oh, what Rico? Bro, the next day when I got out and I was, I was on the phone, somebody was, was like, yeah, you checked your bank account? And I was like, nah, for what? I mean, they could check your bank account. That shit said zero point zero zero. Took it. Oh, they took everything. Oh, my God. They took it. And that was the first time I used, I had ever seen no real money. So I used to just look at that bitch every day. Right. Just look at the numbers. Just like this. And that shit said zero point zero zero. I'd crowd my little heart out. But I still be crying. And the scheme of things, you know, I mean, I feel like, you know, it made me more famous. Right. They put me in a sense of, faster than I was already going. They made me a martyr to the game. And then I just, I just never wanted to feel like, damn, I don't want this culture that I grew up on, I love to die on my shoulders. You know what I'm saying? So, you know, I just, that was my thing. Like, damn, I don't want niggas, I don't want mixtapes to die and it'd be my fault. You know what I'm saying? So, but it was a hell of a time. It was a hell of a situation. But you know, now, I mean, it's for, for some things that literally, like we're talking about, like, that is the name of the game now. You know what I'm saying? Like everything we're doing was literally what we have been doing at that time. And the law that they actually got me on was some shit they called the true name law, where they said, if you make a CD, you have to put an address on the back of it. So you remember how the mixtapes used to be? It was a black case. So it wasn't no back. So that's what they technically. So how did you bounce back from that? Like you go from being on top of the world, looking at the numbers every day, now your shit is in the red. I mean, I was still, you know, my, my, my shit was in the red, but I still was who I was. So, and then, you know, it was like, I still, it garnished me a lot more attention. Like they put me on the cover of Billboard after that situation. So it was like a newfound fame in a lot of ways. And then I had, I had yet to put out my first album on Atlantic. I was about to put my debut album out. So, you know, Atlantic was hype at the time. I'm like, oh, you can't pay for this publicity. Like, let's, let's, let's use this. Yeah. So that out and came out. Get him out of the job. Yeah. So that's how they came. And then, you know, so, so yeah. And never, you know, I, even when I would do interviews, I remember thinking like, this is only a chapter. Everybody who goes do anything faces adversity. So, this ain't nothing. You know, God is great. You overcame adversity and look at you. You hear me. You hear me. You talk about you hear me. What some damn melodies, man. What is like after that? 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That's Hello Fresh America's number one meal kit. Hello Fresh delivers fresh cut in pre-portioned ingredients. After going through that and seeing what it did for the culture, do you feel like, like, I don't know, like it could have, like you was chosen for that to push this forward or, or what? Or a victim of whatever they thought or what? I'd like to, I mean, I, you know, my glass has always had full. So, you know, if I had to be the one for that, like, I guess I'm thankful for that because of my outlook and never knowing that, you know, we're going to rise from this. Like this, this ain't nothing, you know what I'm saying? So, so yeah, you know, I mean, I'm, you know, I love this shit. Like I love it. So for me to be here and to think back about that and think about like, you know, it's a whole, it's a whole part of people who might know me and never even knew that should happen. But saying that's just, I never knew that should happen. Yeah. You know, that's just a, that's, to me, that's a pattern on the back of the things I've accomplished since then. You feel what I'm saying? So, you know, I look at it like that. You know, I put, I put everything in context. Albums, how does that work? Like I always see the DJs, you DJ Khaled. Yeah. Like, and you have all these artists on the album and I'm thinking this shit got to cost so much money to make because you got all these, Is the budget bigger for a DJ album? Or do you just based like, is all this a phone call? It's, it's, if you were to pay everything based upon what a DJ album would cost, that shit would 13 trillion dollars. Right. It gotta be, bro. I think about my albums and the names on there. So yeah, a lot of it is based on relationships. I mean, there's definitely money involved. But, you know, my budgets have been fair. They ain't been like overly over the top. But when you do an album like that, at that extent, you know, labels or whoever you, whoever your business partners is, know you're going to have to call in some favors because that should, that's just a pretty penny. You feel what I'm saying? So, but you know, I, you know, I've been blessed to work with the greats and some motherfucker to say I got so and so on my album. Hey, out of your whole catalog of all this, you know, music you've been a part of, what was the one in your catalog that was like the sleeper that did take off immediately that people kind of had to go back and get? That's a good question. Damn, that's a good question. Oh, no. All right. Think about that. I'm trying to think if it's a tape or, I mean, that Jeremiah late nights mix tape is still pretty fucking fire. I feel like it's a little underrated to this day. You want to fire anyone? I can't. That's just, I never heard of that. I'd be able to fire. I mean, but you know, honestly, I technically in a sense feel like that with every artist that is, that's signed to me or comes from me because, you know, I'm all, you know, one of the things about being in business with me or being a part of my label is I'm going to promote the shit out of my niggas. So, you know, I can look at pictures and look at times when I've, you know, now they're fucking some of the biggest in the world. But, you know, when I was pretty much coasting on them and nobody knew who they were per se. So I guess, you know, everything, I'm a part of my label in a sense. I don't want to say it's slept on, but, you know, I catch it from an early point and then just to watch from, you know, those days to where it's become, you know, I think just today, like, Uzi tweeted, Jay-Z said he's like Prince. So now they're going to call him the new little Prince. And I was, you know, the nigga is like, he's different. Did you see that when you first saw Uzi? No, I didn't see this. Like, I didn't. Like, he was always very confident and always had a vision and a path. I don't know if anybody can see this, though. Like, your nigga's the fucking alien. Like, he's another planet rock star, you know what I'm saying? So, I'd be lying to him. Snoop, Uzi, what's up, Nings? I'd be lying to sit here and say that I saw that, but, you know, we knew he was special. He's here, got them diving in his head. He's crazy, man. Y'all don't got nothing to be diving in. Big ass pink diamond, man. That's what it is. But like, being from Philadelphia and Uzi being from Philly, like, did you ever feel like being as though you came to Atlanta? Like, all right, I got a responsibility to go back home and get some wine now because I done did all my work down here. I owe it to the city. Yeah, for sure. And I did, I feel like I did that through the years. And one thing about Philly is like, niggas took it like, no, nigga. What have you done recently, though? Like, you know, it's just... You got to be getting somebody every three months. Oh, man, yeah, man. Come on, man. You tell us shit. Come on, man, just build it, man. So, yeah, I mean, I felt that through a lot of times in my career, but, you know, obviously, for me and Cannon, like, you know, having Uzi as an artist and then, you know, coming out the gate with it and his success and him being from the career, like, yeah, that was special. Yeah, that shit was special. What's been your fastest turnaround on a mixtape? As far as putting it together from start to finish. Um, ooh, that's a good question, too. I was... When I used to have to do dedication, I was, um, I think, like, I didn't have a lot of time. Like, I think the deadline was in a couple of years or something. Which one? The first one. Has there been an artist that requested you be in the studio the whole time they doing this shit? They asked for that, but I don't do that. Niggas, you got to be here. I need you to do it. So, you do it without them? No, it's your process. Yeah, I like that. So, do you listen to the song first? 100% all the time. The whole back and forth. I go into the songs, I listen to them, and I think about what I'm gonna say. You don't think it's a better process? I mean, why not be there, though? Does that not help the process? If you're there, when the song is ready? I don't mind being... No, because I've had some fly shit come out of it sometimes when I was there, because I remember what we did when me and Meek did Dream Chasers 2. We wanted it ready or not. Now, I had some fly shit. I had just read in Time Magazine or something. It was about sleep. And the tape was Dream Chasers, so it was, like, perfect timing. But, so yeah, so there are some times where some good shit comes out of there. I don't know. I just like to be in my own zone, pretty much. How many times have you had to do one where you just be like, this shit horrible, but I got... You ain't got a name in the nigga. That's the hard one. That's the hard one. Music. Like, man, you get it, you get it. You know where you're gonna write everything. And they didn't say that you be like, oh, shit. I can't try to get on this. You know what it is? This is some bullshit. This gonna be the best bullshit you ever hear. I promise you, no bullshit is better than this. From one to ten. Ten tracks of scrapped bullshit. You niggas ain't up on this. Yo, that's classic. Oh, shit. That is grand. They gonna be like, well, I got to eat this shit again. Yeah, right here. Hey, all right, y'all. I don't take a lot of shit. All right, y'all. Get down to the show. Put down what you got. All right, y'all. That's the best bullshit you've ever heard. You got this track with bullshit waiting in the next one. They gonna be like, oh, shit. This shit worse than that. I gotta hear that. That's bullshit, y'all. Let him cut the car off my niggas. That's hilarious. What he say? Never mind what he say. Cut the car off my niggas. Oh, shit. Play your song. Fuck that. Play your song. Yeah. Just let it run. All right. Just let it run. Is that ever happened to you? Ever had that happen to you? Yeah, I think I could count on two hands. I've probably done 500 to 1,000 games a year. I probably can count on two hands at times. You was like, ah, I was gonna let you do 1,000. So how do you, how do you, how do you? Damn. It's like 500. How do you spread it out? Because I know you have an intro. You might see it go over every song if you like. Nah, I don't want to do that. I don't like doing that. Right, right. You had a song. So when you do the intro or middle, then again. As time went on and the game changed, I started going on less and less songs. Right, right. But definitely the intro, definitely something at the end. And then where it fits accordingly. I never, I don't be one, like, I never want to be overbearing. I want to blend in with the music, you feel what I'm saying? So yeah, yeah, that's important. That ain't crazy, bro. People say shit to me like, damn, I want drama to do my, my, uh, be in my graduation, be in my Eugene. You know what you gotta do, though? Where? You gotta do a GPS, though. GPS? Ooh, nigga, you're killing it as the GPS. That's hard. Make a left! Yeah, that's fine. Yo, my nigga, the destination is coming up! Yeah, that's fine. Nigga said you weren't gonna make it, but look at you! You already did! That's fire. Nah, really. That's hard. That's fast. It's hard. Yeah, that's hard. You haven't thought about expanding to the North every shit? Oh, of course. Absolutely. You'd be like Siri on the set for fire. Your voice is famous now. Yeah. You're gonna have to branch off, man. Nah, I would let it do that. I would let it do that. You're letting me answer your question. And this nigga, what it do? You're like, aw, nigga, I'm just trying to figure out this song. That's one of mine right there. That'd be dope, bro. GPA is crazy. That's hard. Don't go up there. The police to the left. You got three pounds in the car. Bust them right. Hold up. It's another police nigga. Just paw. DC, you start staying a little bit. He's coming in. As soon as you get over the speed limit, yo, nigga, stick the police ain't out here. I'm talking about the real GBA. Slow down. Your transmission's slipping. All right. Thank you. That is all. That's genius. Legendary. It'll be dope. All the DJ niggas. That'll be dope. Figure out what that is. Him big a rake and all them niggas on the goddamn GPS. My dog. I see you on your way. Don't slow down. The streets don't love nobody, dog. That's how I'm going. That's what it is. Have you ever thought about expanding in that capacity, though? I play around with it because I know my voice is like, you know, epic and no now. So I'm all for shit like that. Like I do shit like, you know, I do a lot of like voice imaging and voiceovers and stuff like that and other avenues and things. I get a real good, baby. Yeah, I do some cartoons and everything. It had to like stop your DJ voice. You're like, what up, man? What up, my nigga? Nah, I be having my shit under control. I be ready to talk normal more than anything. That's funny. I have to remind myself to turn it on because as a matter of fact, that shit happened to me the other day. I was doing some drops or I was DJing and doing something and then like they wanted me to do a drop at the end and I turned it on and he was like, I tell him it would have been nice to have that energy the whole time and I was like, damn, the regular shit was just me. Like that was just me doing myself. You wouldn't just make it and say, damn son, where'd you find this? I don't know who that is. Who is that? I don't know who that is. How do y'all be getting them shit like, damn son, where'd you find this? You know who the gangster girl drop is, right? And he will go. Lil John, right? Right, so the gangster girl drop is Lil John. You know who the, on the canon, you know that voice is? That's from the John Madden game. So who does the voice for Madden? Steps back. That's the guy Pat Summerall. That's Pat Summerall's voice. Yeah, that's Pat Summerall. Because Cannon was playing a video game and he made a character on the game and he was like, Cannon, steps back. Take three, man. Cannon. Oh, that boy cold. Why Cannon? Not all on this. Oh, because of Cannon. DJ Cannon. Yeah. Don Cannon. I get it. Trendsetters. Yeah, you see what I'm saying? Them shits, them little drops. Like, do we do, you make your own or is it like? Yeah, everybody makes their own. Everybody make their own. Everybody makes their own. So what you got new coming out? I know you got some. Man, you know, a lot of artists. Yeah, a lot of artists. And you know, the label's been booming. The energy is good. So Jack Carlow just dropped out. That's what they all say. That was cold. Yeah, Jack Carlow was coming out. Brand new shit was happening. Early, early, early. Remember, when we did that, when we did Wild'n Out, I don't think, I think he had made what's popping. It's on. No, not out. But we, it wasn't even moving. We did it a few times. Oh yeah, I mean, he did do it. The first time was sure. It was actually pretty early. You know what I mean? The second time he had started to pop at that first time. But still was, yeah. He had the SoundCloud. Yeah, that's what it was. So that was early, you know what I'm saying? And then got a new artist, Settie Hendricks. Settie. Yeah. Yeah. Go Crane. Go Crane. Nice little D-Ball. Dice and Bill. Dice and Bill. Crane. D-Ball. Settie is crazy. How do you find your artist? Like, do they find you or do you find them? Sometimes they find me. I feel like Settie found me. I think that was, yeah, because he was at the studio. He said he wound up sneaking in, like a couple of times before that. So he found me. He snuck in the studio? Yeah, he snuck in. Well, he got a mogul. Oh, wait, man. I didn't even say he got a mogul. How do you do that? Settie, how do you sneak in the studio, nigga? It's in here. David. Come here, nigga. Oh, say that, say that, say that. Settie hit Whispering. Oh, this is the artist right here. Settie Hendricks and the motherfuckers. Settie! We don't have to have Settie! Let's hang in. Let's hang in. Let's hang in. Drop your shit. You ain't got it. I snuck in it. Shit, fuck it. I'm a son. Yeah. Do it again. I bet. I snuck in the studio. I went through an engineer named David. You feel me? He from Jacksonville, too. But after that. Oh, so he ain't either inside? No, he kind of told me he was like, listen, once before we went to the studio. I'm going to be just getting the story the first time now. He had done that twice already, and I'm at the house and I'm like, you know what, bro? You not just going to be telling me you going to DJ Drums Studio the third time. I'm going. And he's like, nah, I'm like, I'm going. So he say, all right, when I go or not go in, I don't know you. I say, cool. So I go in and motherfuckers. When I walk in, you know what I'm saying? He go his way. I sit on the couch, meet this one dude. Feel me? Oh, as soon as I see him, you know what? Da-da-da-da-da-da. Right. Oh, let's go. But let me hear your music real quick. I play him these songs, molded me. He gave me the whole, the usual, yeah, yeah. Gave me a card. Never heard from him again. Right. I come back. He feel me? I meet Willie Joe. You know what I'm saying? Willie Joe is like, he heard playing him the same songs. So he like, oh, nah. He put me in the studio. Let me hear some right songs, ONBPs that bring me to a video shoot. Then I meet him. Willie Joe. And then Drone heard my music. And it was like, all right. I want to see if you do it again. He heard some more. And it was like, I want, I need him. It's rap. It's rap. It's fucking rap. Stay down. That's how you do this shit. Pull it back up. You get it? Fuck you, man. Damn. Go back in there. I thought what you said, snuggled in the studio like a nigga laying on the wall and waiting on the door to include a snuggled foot in there, bitch. Motherfucker. Now, a nigga would have seen that. They were like, hey man, who fucked that snuggler? I know, man. I know. I know. I know. It did sound like that, right? Right, right, right. You put your ear to my phone. That would be the hell of a story if it didn't happen like that. And I signed the nigga off that? Yes. We had people with the door at all the time. Damn nigga. But see, when you see a drummer, when you see a drummer, you see they pummel. Oh, yeah. You stop and pummel. Yeah. You're like, I can't. I got to stop and pummel. You know? I know he in there, though. He in there. He somewhere. He pummel. I like how you brought up Willie Joe because that's black history, right? That nigga Willie Joe looked out. What? That nigga Willie Joe drew. His name is Willie Joe. He come from a long history of niggas that looked out. Willie Joe ain't the type of nigga that used to shit with you. But he ain't gonna stop you from doing it. I'm coming in and kill master. I ain't gonna tell the front door of your life. He said the front door of your life. Willie Joe. Willie Joe. The history of Willie Joe. That's hard. Hey, like so what do you have to hear? Like all of music you did, you sing to the thousands, they say to, what do you have to hear to say, that's it? That's it. Yeah, for sure. I feel like as much as I gotta trust my ear, I don't trust my ear. So if that makes sense, all right, so boom, you say, what do I have to hear? Like I'm not fucking, I'm not the know it all be all. So it's shit that's, if I listen to it, I might say, you know what, I don't really hear it. But I'm also 42 going on 43. Like I'm not supposed to. So if that's not for my ear, yeah, let's rock with that. Let's see where that go. You see what I'm saying? And like he said, I wanted to hear it again and get an understanding. Now I ain't gonna lie. Said he shit I liked off top. There was no, he made the type of music I listened to. But there's other artists that per se, like that are huge right now that I remember the first time I heard it. And I was like, eh, but I was, I was open enough for myself to understand, like, you know, growing. Yeah, everybody. That's what I was about to ask. What's more important, the music that they're currently displaying or the star power, that some of them, they might not be where they need to be musically, but they are certified stars. Right. Well, I think that's interesting because what a star is now is different from what it used to be. Like what we think a star looks like or sounds like or how a star comes in that form. So, you know, that in a sense is, that makes it in different when you hear people's music because there's a lot of musicians now in 2021 or even the last couple years that people might not say look like a star off top. You know what I mean? Like, or just how they come in. So, you know, the music speaks volumes in a sense at itself. You know what I mean? Like, I mean, look at our, like Cardi, for an example, like, you know, like from where she started as, you know, Instagram and her personality, like she had the personality of, right, a star. Exactly. A star period, but it wasn't, the music wasn't attached to it. So, in her sense, you know, that work where the star power overpowered enough to where the music kind of caught up per se. But it was somebody you missed on, somebody that you heard and had the opportunity to jump on to you. Like, I don't see it, but it's a couple. It happens. It's a couple? They give a one. You ain't got to give a one to everybody. They give a one. I really wanted to sign Tory Lane's. And, you know, me and Tory got a great relationship. But I also don't know if I feel like things work out, how they're supposed to work out. So, so yeah, so, you know, that was before we kind of had Generation Now kind of move in and, you know what I mean? So, it worked out how I was supposed to. Generation Now, what did that name come from? That name was actually a mixtape that me and Kenny came up with because we was doing a tape with with this new guy that wasn't really gangster grill-ish, but like he had some shit to him and he was a producer and he gave me some drops to host this tape. And then I was like, damn, like we work with this guy. This ain't gangster grill, we call it something else. And me and Kenny was like, damn, so Kanye West is hosting the tape, the new nigga. And then we was like, let's call Generation Now. So the first Generation Now has Kanye and Joe Button on the cover. That was a mixtape we did in like 0304. You just don't skip over that shit. You know, Kanye West, that was the new nigga, damn. Generation, the first Generation Now mixtape we ever did was hosted by Ye. And this is like before college dropout and all that shit. So the name literally comes from his movement of what he was, what I envisioned at the time, and you know, just Generation Now, like this is what's up next, like this is right now. And then I literally, we sat on the name for years until it was time to like start the label. And it was like, you know, Generation Now is perfect for what we represent. You lost a lot of music, right? Yeah, at times. I'm saying like when that shit happened. Yeah, when the raid happened, yeah. Hell yeah. So what was some of the shit that you had that you, that's gone? Going in the wind, some Wayne verses. Damn, what songs? It was a couple songs, but on the other side, what I didn't have at the time was the outcast record. I had been trying to get Andre to fuck with me for like the last like seven, eight months because they agreed to do a song for me because we were supposed to do a mixtape. We were supposed to do an outcast against the Grills. And then they got kind of busy, but they was like, yo, we'll give you a record for your album. And I was like, all right, best. So I started sending Dre like beats literally from everybody that was anybody in the game. And he was like passing on them. So then after the raid happened, I went to Canon and I was like, yo, can you, well, Canon had made this beat for me that was kind of similar to something else that was out by Jim Jones at the time. So I went to Marsha and Brosos. I was like, listen, I need a hook. That's going to be like, yo, nothing can stop us. Like we can't be stopped. Like, you know, we're going to still be here. She banged this shit out. And I sent her the three stacks. And like literally, he was like, yo, I'm going to hit you back tomorrow. And he sent me this fucking verse for the artist storytelling for, you know, for this record I got with him in big. And it was like, I just, you know, then that's my favorite group of all time. Like, you know, Andre 3000 is literally the goat. Outcasts are the goats. So, you know, just to have them on my record, my debut album and for that song to come out, it was like, this shit's crazy. The universe again. No, it's crazy. It's probably some FBI agent son rapping. That's the shit, right? All unreleased Wayne verses. Never heard this, bro. Get in the car, bro. Get in the car, bro. I got something I never heard, bro. Thanks for grills, bro. It's done. It's done, bro. It's done. Hey, bro, are you listening to rap? Take these. That's funny. Black guy, man, I know what. That's funny. So, what was that surprise? Like, what was the surprise person that hit you that you never thought we'd want to be a part of your series? Well, they ain't that hard to say. That came to you. I'm saying, like, motherfuckers like, what? You? You don't fuck with me. Um, I mean, I know this is probably like a literally, this is not politically correct right now, but when Kel's called to do a gangsta grill, that was, I was like, this nigga R. Kelly wants to do a gangsta grill. He didn't want to do a gangsta grill. Yeah, that's the one that had that sex Olympics on it. Yeah, I remember that sex Olympics. That was one of my favorite. I wasn't going to say nothing, but since you said it, fuck it. What? That was my shit. I ain't gonna hold it. You know what I'm saying? That shit was cold, nigga. Was that the limit? Nigga, just the whole shit was amazing. Yeah, it was fire. Yeah, that definitely was one. Like, when you get those songs from them artists that's legendary already, and you get them, and now it's up to you to put your spin on it and put your flavor on it. Is it more pressure when it's a legendary hot? Oh yeah, 100%. That's a lot of pressure. But I also know they come to me for that reason. Like, you know, I mean, they reach out because they know I'm the bells and the whistles. Like, my kitchen is better than everybody's kitchen. Like, I'm Chef Roy Ardram, you feel what I'm saying? Like, they come with the chicken. I put that bitch in the oven. I turn that bitch to 375. Like, my season is impeccable, you know? So when I deliver it, they're like, oh, this is burnt, this is what I want. Like, this shit disgusting. They can do it all. GZ mixed tapes. So every time me and GZ would do a tape, I was so used to him. Like, whatever intro I did, I know he was going to come to me and be like, yo, you got to come harder. You got to come harder. So what? So a couple of times, like... That's great. We ain't got no inshirt. So get your ass up. So a couple of times when we did tapes, the first time I would do it, I wouldn't give my all, because I knew I was going to have to do it again. So I would just say some shit, and then I go in and he'd be like, you got to come harder. And I'm like, all right, Pat, let me put the real shit on there now. So even if you were just like, you know what, I'm going to just put my all right shit. And he'd be like, what, that shit was hard. You like that. Hold up. I really want to do something else. Yeah, I kept it. I'm like, all right, Pat, I'll say this shit for something else. Say that one then. Sadie, like, what you being a newer artist, like is it pressure on you knowing that there's so much history behind who you working with? Like, or you already had that, you know, that, that major influence or want to just be great or do that motivate you more? Bro, this nigga snuck in the studio. You think he, you think he feels any pressure? I ain't even worried about it. He ain't even worried about this shit, guy. Hell no! He asked for this life. Exactly. Like, I knew what came with knowing that, um, especially coming from Jacksonville, Florida, like I already knew what I was sounding up for. Like I, you know what I'm saying? I knew to separate myself. I knew I was going to be, he wasn't feeling to take no, no bullshit. Like, if I was going to come with him, trying to sign it, I was about to come with it. You know what I'm saying? And know that. You feel me? He doesn't believe a lot of people. That moment was like, all right, this is it. This is all I work for. I have to go crazy. We in the studio and Joe, like, matter of fact, Joe, Joe, Joe. We in the studio. We in the studio. We in the studio. Hey, that's a new video, Joe, man. We in the studio. Stop all with it, Joe. We living up to the name. We in the studio. Then Joe in there, like, hey, he feeling me. John supposed to be popping in. He feeling me, da, da, da, da, da. So just, you know what I'm saying? He feeling me, gave me a little prep. So I'm not even, we got the camera in there, HD facts in there. I'm not even, we just played a song. I'm just finishing the song. He busting in the B-room. He just walk in. Like, what's up, bro? Now at first, this with John. I don't know that I peeked by the door. At first, he ain't feeling me. He that bad, body up. He see me. He, what's up, bro? Oh, gave you the tasteful. Yeah, like, what's up? So I, I bet, get away before, wait for Ronan. Hit me with the boom. Yeah. Yeah, I say, all right, back. But he had music, like, let me hear some music. Yeah, some music. Go crazy. He automatically rocking with it. Yeah, I don't. Hold the mic. You know, don't make it real. Oh, my fault. You got that blowing going on. What's up? Yeah, man, he, tomorrow, I bet. He, uh, yeah, though. He heard music first time, just like, man, I'm on it. Yeah, man, it's cold. From the very first time you heard it, you heard it. First time? Mm-hmm. Yeah, so they want, so they like, my favorite, like, and rap. Gang shit. Gang shit and rap, too. That's dope. That's dope. I do shit, gang. How old you ever? I just turned 25. You ain't read a 20. Traitor. I'm born in 1996 or something. That was a 90 baby. 90 baby doing that thing. Can you hear it? Let me ask you this. What's up? Somebody might be watching this, that ain't never heard none of your music. Like, why do they need to hear it? So for reality, street music. Okay, right. I represent, I represent. You gonna learn something? I'm gonna drop some jewels. I'm gonna get you through something. You feel me? You gonna be able to relate to me. And whether we talking about the ladies, whether we talking about the streets, whether we talking about what's going on in the world. Ladies in the street. I'll learn. Okay. If you said you had to have one song for all those people who don't know you, what song would be the song that you're directing to the listen to first to give them that vibe of what you're talking about? Hands down. Hands down. Hands down. Then what's next? Floor of the Nights. Floor of the Nights. Because I'm gonna go look at it and go look up. I don't want that shit. Floor of the Nights go on. I fuck with Floor of the Nights. Floor of the Nights. Yeah. Or me and she. I think you'll like more than I do. She just said to me. I listen to the whole goddamn thing. Okay, okay. So you in the game now. Now you in the game and you there. Let's rap. Who do you look at as like motivation? It'd be like, I want to work with, just on the artistry, the aesthetics of it. You feel what I'm saying? Right now. Right. I'm gonna keep it up, honey. I breath my ass. Who? Breath my ass. No, you didn't. I said it right. That's it, correct? Yeah, yeah. I think it's, yeah. Breath my ass. I don't know if it's breath my ass. The way it moves, like the way he move with it. Right. The way he even off from Instagram to the way he's, he push himself like everything. He lay, yada, you don't know how he coming, but you know he coming. He coming. Breath my ass, okay. That's how I been moving my whole time in the industry. I peaked that in him. So, you know what I'm saying? That right, too. Okay. If you could do a song with one legend, who would it be? Michael Jackson. There you go. Hell yeah. Bruh, Michael Jackson would pull this motherfucker down. I was gonna say two pop, but you know what I'm saying? You know what I'm saying? Michael Jackson, you know what I'm saying? Michael, make you go in there and do that shit again. I don't like it. Dirty shit. I don't like it. Why, Mike, I just don't do it again. How you want me to say it? Be you. That's what I was looking for. Hey, Dirty Diana. Mike needed both, man. Dirty Diana, one of the hardest teams ever. DJ Trouble, how am I gonna do this? Can you talk your talk, DJ Trouble? You'd love to do it, Mike, but that's the gangsta group. Oh, my God. Yo, Mike. Tito Jackson. Tito's been coming up out to do it himself. Yeah. I might have passed on the Tito one. Yeah. I'm out of Tito. Tito got him. Tito whooped your ass. Damn, it's the shit out you now. Tito got him. Tito got a belt that still do this shit. I'm like, then it's only four. Is there any, like, speaking of artists, like young artists, like, do you have to tune out your own personal liking and music to get into the young people? Should I hear a lot of guys who've been in the game a long time say that, like, I can't get into that shit? Like, so how do you get into those? I mean, I don't know if it's because I'm a DJ or what, but I feel like I've navigated gracefully through music in a sense where, you know, it might not be what's from my golden era per se or what I listen to, but I love new shit. I'm addicted to new shit. I always have been so, and I'm thankful for that because it keeps me feeling fresh and vibrant and, you know, like, and, you know, I ain't, like, they keep me young. You feel what I'm saying? So I don't got to run around and try to be 21 or 25. I can, but I fuck with a lot of young people, so, you know, I can stay in the mix. But a lot of this shit that's come out to me is, you know, it's hip-hop, like, it ain't all. It might not all be from my ear, but I get it. You know what I'm saying? So I probably listen to more young niggas shit than most people my age per se or, I mean, I don't know. I sit in the music business. I feel like you have to if you don't. Like, this ain't it for you. Yeah, the game will pass you by. Hip-hop is a young man's sport, so it's just different. I think every genre and every, what you want to say, generation had this time when niggas were like, man, I don't want to hit that shit. You feel what I'm saying? If you go look at all the history. Every time. Well, even with the two parking tickets, it was a time when we were like, man, I don't want to hit that shit. See, so we got to, we is in that time right now, but we just got to embrace it. Yeah, I don't like that. 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Like, I see all the rock and roll artists that can still go out and sell out arenas, you know what I mean, to this day, and they 60, 70 years old, but for something to be, for a hip hop audience, like, man, get your old ass all the same. Nobody wear that shit, man. Fuck roll with your old ass, nigga. Old picture, everybody wear that old hip hop. Man, that bitch was 30 years ago. You know what I mean? Like, I think in the same way with the older generation, where they say, man, nobody want to hit that shit. What the fuck are you saying? He just moaning on the track. That shit sounds stupid. Like if we could bridge that gap, like, I think that, you know, it'll help our music last long. No, I agree. We appreciate it. We do appreciate it. Mm-hmm. I definitely agree to that. I ain't listen to that rock and roll bullshit. Them niggas be out there, all that demonic ass shit. Why they yelling shit? Shut the fuck up. They hurt? Yeah, it's like your guitar screaming, you screaming, bitch, this ain't hard. This is mother shit. This is mother shit. Listen, Luke, if y'all make a million, they ain't hate you. They make the same type of music, niggas make, they just sound different, man. Same concept. They got the strip club music. Girls, girls, girls. That's their shit, yeah. Pour some sugar on the air. If you want some of that. That's ours. That's our rock and roll community. They ain't talking about the other shit. Rock and roll hard. They be talking the same shit rappers be talking about. Yeah, they do. It's just in a whole different... It's in an up-tempo. It's real fancy. Slow the fuck down. You ever want to do a rock and roll game for drugs? I think I did one. Me and Kenny did one. I forget the name of this group. Lincoln Park? Nah, I forget the name of the group. But they kind of know now. I gotta ask Kenny about that. What genre would you jump into if you could? One that you haven't done that you think would be dope for you? Definitely in the Latin genre. Techno. You do some techno? I don't think techno exists in here. In the cuban? She looks like a Puerto Rican. Daddy Yankee. Yeah, okay. One of them Daddy Yankees. Techno, the old nigga version of EDM? Yeah. Run that shit back, Daddy Yankee. I don't think they hurt the motherfucker. Gasolina, nigga. Who that I got? Sully. No, no, no, nigga. Say it in English. Yeah, I ain't did none in the Latin world. In the Latin world? Yeah, that's right. Yeah, we putting that out there. All the Latin raps. Reggaeton. Reggaeton, it'll be a dope. That gangsta girl, man. It's a legendary series. Come get you one. They got this Latin rapper. He blowing up right now. What's his name? Nah. He's on fire. One Jay-Z just gave up. What's his name? J Balvin. Oh, J Balvin? Yeah, he killed me. All right, go on, let's do it. J Balvin is huge. He just did some shit with McDonald's if I'm not mistaken. So I think it's his big. That's what it is. Well, shit, man. Shit, nigga, nigga, ain't no exit, nigga. It ain't nothing like you just do. Just leave, nigga. Get in your car. We be like, all right, y'all. Shit. Man, this shit can go on forever. Right. It's not that the history is just exclusive. 500 to 1,000 gangsta girls. What's y'all favorites? Dickies. It's y'all, man. Damn. That's R. Kelly. That's one of mine. Dedication. Dedication three. Dedication three is hard. Dedication three. What's the one with the red? And he was leaning on the car. Black or white? He got red anyway. He leaning on the car. They all got red. I think, I don't know. Big-eyed pants on that long-haired belt hanging on. Like that. I told you mine, too. I was like, slick. And then the one with T.I., uh, with T.I., where he said that line. He said, uh, I'm Huey Newton with a, uh, where he said, I'm Huey Newton with a Ph.D. Or maybe Martin Luther King with a G.A.T. That's one of the hardest lines. I think that was that one. L-butt, nigga. Let me see them sweatsuits. I got some sweatsuits for y'all, too. Welcome back. Yup. Yup. We need to borrow some clothing. Hell, yeah. Hell, that's how I ain't nobody ever borrow no clothes. What you got? New faces. New faces. Actually brought some gangsta girls. That's Willie Joe, by the way. Willie Joe. Willie Joe. Willie Joe. Willie Joe. Hey! That's where your knicker, Willie Joe. Actually brought some gangsta girls. Hey! Some real old J.O.U. Yeah, man. I want that one, man. Yeah. Oh, that's a lot. My brother, yeah. That's my guy right here. I know he a classy. You should have spoke about this moment, right? Woo! Oh, shit. Oh, it's on magazine. Yeah, this after they, uh... We talked about before it was the gangsta girls. Yup. Welcome to the Shiver Gang. You should have said he got paid for it. This tape, I was still moving them on campus myself when I did this one. Huey Longwell. That's one of my ones, too. Yeah. That's a good one. There's a good one. Oh, yeah. Run around the lot, bitches. Hey, ball, M.L.G. Oh, yeah. That's my first album. One new favorite. We're going to get you in the museum. Willie Joe, all right? Hey, Willie the Kid. First shit. Willie. Willie the Kid. Yup. And Willie the Kid. That was our first artist. What Willie the Kid from? He from Michigan. Buck. I thought Willie the Kid was from St. Louis. Nah, he from Michigan. He's a man of snowmen. Classy. Jesus, snowman. This is where I came in. I went a time on my registry. That's where I came over with Mr. Thanksgiving on now. Watching the state patrol, the state patrol, the state. Look at that, bro. But, bro. Man, how you ain't got no dust or nothing on these motherfuckers, man? The bird friend. The bird friend. Oh, the bird friend was classy. Oh, yeah. That's classy. Damn, look how long my shirt was. Yeah, look how long the chain was, nigga. Fuck. What year that was? A billion snickers. It's like 07. He had made 2007. Was this the beef? They was giving them out of measurements. Oh, damn. This one, it was beefy? Yeah, probably so. Who? We're losing it, too. Yep, I was around that time. Yes, sir. Oh, you did both of this track, didn't you? Nah, I just was, I was rock. I was grand hustle at that time. Right, right, right, right. I was, damn, it's classy. Get you up. Oh, yeah, go ahead. What does it feel like to see all this work? Like, just putting in perspective, boys, of how much work you to lay down? Yeah, it's pretty humbling and inspiring and just, you know, I'm appreciative. But it's like, I was telling somebody even back in, I remember thinking like, all right, you got here. How you stay here? Because by this, it's the product. Right, real. Some of the bootlegs. It's okay. Well, I mean, that's the way. The bootlegs, by the way, is right around the corner. They used to, they used to bootleg all their shit, right around the corner. Some of the bootlegs are actually the real copy. That's what I'm saying. Like, how did that work? I would let them rock. I didn't give a fuck. Because the more bootlegs this meant, the more people they wanted it. So for me, it was like, man, the more the merrier. Flood the streets with that shit. That's good stuff. So I used to always, anytime I used to see bootlegs, I would get excited. I'll be hype. Well, we'd be crazy to help with it and ask you, what advice would you give somebody who's trying to get into the music business? I know a lot of people would ask you, like young artists and producers and shit like that. Honestly, man, I just think, I think everybody should just trust the process. You know what I'm saying? Like, you know, we all. Stay the course. You gotta stay the course and you gotta, you know, if you really love it and you're passionate about it and you know, like, you know, it's definitely important to have good people around you. You know, and when I say good, I don't want to put too much definition on that because good can come in a lot of different ways. And, you know what I'm saying? And I just think it's important to have real people around you in some form or facet. And nobody does it alone. You know, know that you're going to have missteps and know you're going to have ups and downs and everything. But I just think in today's day and time, like it's, you know, there's so many different, we have so an abundance of so much, but it's also a blessing. Like when I was coming up or a kid, I didn't, all we had was the radio at 10 o'clock where I could hear rap shit and catch rap city and yo, MTV raps. So over the net, I just had to wait till the next time. Like we have everything. We have y'all podcasts. We got other podcasts. We got, you know, you go on YouTube, look up your favorite video. So with that being said, it's just, it's, you know, there's no reason why you can't create opportunities or find, find creative ways or anything. And, you know, you got to walk a fine line. Like there's a fine line between being persistent and annoying, you know, when you're trying to get your business off or introduce yourself to people. But, but yeah, man, more than anything, I just say, like you said, walk the course and trust the process, you know, and do it because you love it. And then, you know, make something with, it means something to you. Like I think about so many things, just sitting Atlanta alone, like Atlanta is such an amazing city of how many people have come from this city just really trying to impress their neighborhood. And it turned into like global stars and made these, these records that like, you feel what I'm saying? Like I think about a record like swag surfing all the time. Like in a million years. Travis Porter. They ever think like that was going to become what it became like to the extent and represent what it represented. So, you know, Tom will tell them. That's a little to you for having a hand and all of that. You played a major part in all of this coming together. And this is, this is like, you know what I mean? See, I just know for me seeing all of these CDs and just remembering, you know, the CD case and riding and going through and then you get that new, that new gangster grills, man. And when they go on the CD player, it just, you know, you about to hear something that's going to make you not go home straight away. Like I got to ride around for a little bit because I got to hit us in the car. Like, and that's amazing, man. Salute to you brother. Good luck in your office. You and DJ M if you talk. Yeah, that's my guy. All right. Yeah, we talk about that shit all the time. We go up there. Yeah, we always fuck with them. Yeah, man. You know, when you and DJ Travis, you know, we always gun. Yeah, that's my guy. We definitely fuck with them. Every time we go up there, you were sitting over that bitch. Man, we was wrong, man. Okay, I'll talk about it. So like I said, we're right into it. We fuck with them up there, man. No, but let me tell y'all for, and congratulations to y'all and salute to everything that y'all are doing in the car. Thank you, brother. You know what I'm saying? Kudos. I know skies are limits. You know, incredible things, man. You know, we supporters, we fans, whatever y'all need on our end, for sure. Amen, close us out. Just as well for you, man. Come on, close us out. One time. Hey, yo, listen, man. Once again, man, it's the 85 South Show. Y'all know what the fuck is going on. Shout out to SETI Hendricks Generation now. It's here. Loso. We out this week, brother. BC. You did. You know what I mean? What you want to tell them? What I want to tell them? What I want to tell them? Shit, nigga. We got the motherfucking international gangster grills coming. Feature a DJ drama, whoever come and me. I'm speaking Spanish on that bitch. You're speaking Spanish on that bitch. She gone. She gone. You're speaking Spanish on that bitch. I'm speaking Spanish on that bitch. We gone. And we gone. And we gone. Ow! Hey, we going to win this, nigga. Oh, I wish you got it, bro. No, I appreciate it. I appreciate it, bro. I appreciate it, bro. My nigga. My nigga. That shit all the way. That shit all the way. That shit all the way. That shit all the way. Dang! Come on, shawty. All right. Motherfuckers, these niggas. You ain't got a shit in there doing your nigga. Huh? Shawty, all right. What's up? What's up? She ain't here. Come on. You know, I don't really, I don't really appreciate it. That's all you, that's what you do.