 What they gon' do with me now? I'm still a twerk of the town. Give me the sisters, I'm hoakin' them down. Hi, my name is Enrique, and you're tuning in to Talk of the Town. Today, we're here with? I see slug was going on. All right, awesome. So we like to start off with a little thing called rapid-fire questions here, a nice little icebreaker. So I'll just ask you these questions, and then you'll give me the answer. All right, bud. So three things you'll take with you on an island. Airpods, gloves and pads. All right, airpods, gloves and pads, no phone? Oh, wait, but I said I need some from my airpods. Yeah, I guess so, right? What about, what's your favorite food? Sushi. Sushi, OK. What's your favorite album? Or my favorite album right now? Oh, Casco Bain, Too Slizzy, Too Sexy. Oh, OK, good pick. So OK, on top of that, what's your favorite song right now? Like Me by Siggie Black. Shoutout to Siggie, yeah. Yeah, fact, shoutout to Siggie. He actually did the Talk of the Town theme song. Oh, for real? Oh, sure. So anytime, like in the beginning of this, people are here, what you're going to do with me now? I was like, talk of the town. Yeah, shoutout to Siggie Black. Oh, I was trying to realize that, that's crazy. Yeah, man. What's the last movie you saw? I'm in the movies every two seconds. I was just watching The Departed today. Oh, wow. I've actually never seen that movie in its entirety. Yeah, but right here, it's great though. Every watch, you know, I'm watching a lot of my movies right now, so I mean, a few days ago, I just watched Black Mask for the first time. Oh, wow. I don't know how that movie went under the radar. That's easily one of the best crime movies of all time. And that just flew under everybody's radar. Yeah, Johnny adopted a great job. Yeah, he killed it. You saw that movie? Yeah, he did a great job. Oh my god, bro, what a performance. Yeah, yeah, yeah. What is one artist you want to work with that you haven't yet? I mean, Cash and Sour, like we're really running short right now. I think that they're just bringing something back, like that hasn't been in rap since like the mid-2000s, you know what I mean, you know? So I would say probably them right now, you know? Yeah, they have a very vibrant, bouncy energy. Yeah, 100%. Yeah, you know a Cash Co. Bane song when you hear it, which I feel like you can only say about like so many people. Exactly, I feel like everything in New York would drill and everything sounds the fucking same, bro. So that's why I fucking love it. I mean, besides Siggi, you know, Siggi's actually putting good songwriting, good hooks together. Everything else is like, I'm like, no, no, no, no, no. I don't understand how people could listen to that shit all day. Same with Sour. But I wouldn't even consider, you know, Cash and Sour Joe rappers. They got their own genre of music right now. Yeah, not absolutely. I feel like they were, they're really important in helping bring that Jersey Club sound in New York too. Yeah, 100%. Yeah, yeah. And they're from like Long Island, I think, right? I don't want to sound stupid, but yeah. I don't know. Somebody fact-check us in the comments. Yeah. Okay, so I don't know. I kind of, it kind of plays into the last one, but outside of Cash and Sour then, who was your dream feature? Dream feature? I don't want to sound generic and sound like Drake, but when I say Drake, I mean, I really think he's like a fucking super talented artist. I mean, there's a reason why he's as big as he is, but shit, I would say something like Jadakiss, man. I think he's like easily like the best lyricist of all time, but I mean, it takes, shit, I don't need it. You need to give me some time to start, you know, getting up there with him, you know? I would have sound right on the track when I'm right now, so yeah. Holy shit. No, that's a great one. I honestly, I never would have guessed you to say that. I feel like Drake is a really common answer because he's the boy. Yeah, and I wouldn't just do it just because it's like, it would be a huge song. I really think Drake is just like, it just goes to show why he's that big, you know? Like if you go back and listen to like, nothing was the same, like his attitude out on that whole album is just like, nothing on anything else, you know? You'll get mixes and, you know, a bunch of different moods, but he had this like demeanor, the whole fucking album, like, it's like, it's like he really wanted his respect and I feel like you gotta whip that out. Not saying he didn't get it would take care, but that like fucking solidified it, you know? Yeah, absolutely. I feel like especially since then, it's just like a string of Drake hit after it. Even if like people are a little, like whatever their own opinions are, like CLB for example, I know a lot of people were like divided on. I thought that was the best album since like, probably nothing was the same or... Oh wow. Yeah. Oh wow, how'd you feel about Honestly Never Mind? I love that album, bro. I don't understand how people can hate on. People get, you know, people get pissed off when people, you know, when artists start changing, you know, I mean, like how much are the same, like kind of, I mean, I could listen to it all day, but like Drake's at that level, like if I was him, I would try to be doing like a bunch of crazy shit too. And it's not like it was fucking bad. I listen to that album almost every day, you know? That was just different. You know, like what rap artists, you know, are making house, you know, club shit like that, nobody, you know? I really like, I feel like that made him go from just like, you know, yeah, he's Drake. Everyone around the world is gonna listen to him, but that especially opened up the whole thing. 100%, yeah. Okay, so dream feature. What is one song of yours you wish got more love? Have fun. Have fun? Have fun, I really think, you know, there's a bunch of songs, a bunch of unreleased songs, but have fun, I just feel like the songwriting the hook and I mean, it just, everything was there, you know? The video was great too. At the time, we really didn't know what we were doing. And to be honest, you know, that song came out after I really, I was, you know, I was thinking about stopping making music, you know? Music wasn't my first, first thing. At first I didn't take it too serious. Then we had this song with Tekka blowing up and then there was like this five, six month period where I really couldn't like make a good solo song. And a lot of people are like, oh, this dude's just doing features and that's where he's getting all his revenue from. But yeah, at the time I was recording in my manager's basement and I had this one other studio I went to and it's like nothing was coming out well, you know? And I was talking to my manager, Ty, and he was telling me, oh, you know, I think, you know, these songs are good songs. Maybe you just have to try another studio and we tried another studio and it still will come out like shit. So, you know, I was just like, I really got this one last good song and it was half fun at the time. And I recorded that and wrote it when I was like 13. And I did it at this other studio and it just sounded like shit. And I was like, you know what, before you just completely say fuck it, try this one studio. We ended up going to Penthouse. He was like, yo, I got this one engineer. I know, let me just hook you up. If this doesn't work, then, you know, just focus on sports or whatever you want to do. Yeah. And yeah, so I gave it a try. I went in there and, you know, I did have fun and a few other songs and I thought it sounded fucking amazing. So, I mean, long story short, that song came out like when I was like 15, 16, so almost three years took for that song to come out. Wow. Yes, it's all about development, hell, but yeah, that song took fucking forever. And yeah, I just knew, like, I was like, I feel like the song writing, the hook behind this is just so well. And once I made that, I was like, you know what, sometimes it really could be the engineer stuff. There's a lot of people I hear making music out here and it's like, you know where they're trying to go and it just sounds like shit, because they don't have the right equipment or right engineer. So, you know, if you ever doubt yourself, just make sure you record it at the right place. And if it doesn't come out good at that point, maybe you can say fucking at that point, you know? But yeah, just make sure you got a good engineer, because that was really what was gonna be the breaking point of me, you know, keep going or stopping at that time, yeah. Yeah, man, engineers are so important to the process because I mean like, they're right there, directly recording you, but they can also give you that like, that great feedback because they're over there working with the system as well. And then there's the experience they pull from working with so many other people. Like, I was at an off record not too long ago and one of my boys was working with Matt Marvin. Shout out Matt Marvin. My boy was laying down the track and just going and as like he was rapping, Matt was taking the hook and just placing it over and over again, already structuring it so he could just focus on the verses. So engineers, oh, I'm sorry, go ahead. No, no, it makes a huge difference. I'm just saying like, and I realized that, you know, because when I went to this other studio, I was recording in Ty's basement for a while, then I went to this other studio and I was like, if anything, this sounds worse than me being in your basement, you know, I'm not gonna say the engineer's name, but it was just like, I'm making all these songs, spending all this money, like it's either I'm not a good artist or like, bro, I don't know what the fuck I gotta do. There's two places I went to and it's just not working out. But then one time I went to Penthouse and Ty showed me this other engineer, it's, you know, dude has his mouth shut the whole time, just, you know, put in everything like a line and like not saying anything, just bow, bow, bow, here, here, here, bro, he banged out fucking a four minute song and I recorded that song like probably less than 20 minutes and that's a four minute song, bro. We should. Meanwhile at the other place, bro, you know, fucking engineer was talking to me about WWE. I don't even watch fucking WWE, bro. No, that's what I'm talking about. Booking a session and just having your engineer like fucking talk to you is crazy. It was bad, but yeah, man, it just makes a big difference when you start getting with good people and that doesn't just go for engineering. I mean, that's a huge part of it, but then there comes marketing and there's so many aspects to music, you know, and you just really gotta surround yourself with the right people, especially in the industry, like this where everybody's a piece of shit pretty much, bro, like really, and I mean that, bro, like 95% of the people you meet in the music industry are just gonna try to fuck you over. And I don't mean like those are just like, oh, they're just not gonna mess with you and leave you alone, like they'll go out of their way to just like fuck you over for no reason. That really goes to almost everybody. Side to Siggi, shout out to Siggi. Yeah, facts, shout out to Siggi. Shout out to the engineers because they know what the fuck they're doing. 100%, man. Yo, trust your engineer most of the time. Exactly, man. He's talking to you about wrestling. Yeah. It means it's time to go, right? Yeah, and stream, stream have fun. Yeah, stream have fun, bro, that shit. I still think that is potential to blow up one day, so. Yeah. Okay, so we got over that. What show are you currently watching? Oh, I just finished shit, man, that's a good question. I mean, let me just say I am with film, bro. I can talk about film all day because that's like my main interest besides sports and everything. And, you know, I do MMA too. So eventually I want to, you know, turn pro, but I don't want to get too far off subject, but film is like, I want to become a film director eventually, so that was my main focus. That's what I'm going to be studying in college next year, bro. Oh, wow. Yeah, so I just finished watching Fouter. Sorry, I'm going way off time. No, you're good. Yeah, you ever seen Fouter? Is it a TV show? Yeah, yeah, it's on Netflix. It's about like the Israeli secret intelligence, but it's fucking wild. Because the main guy is, well, he directs it, he's the main character in it. And it's really based on a lot of his stories. So I think they wrote the first three seasons based around what he went through. Season four, I mean, season four is the best season, but it's like, all right, you could tell some of this shit, you know, it's probably didn't, maybe it did. I mean, I only saw that when season three came out and it was like, yeah, he's been through most of this. Like all those people you see died, really died in his life. Sheesh. So yeah, go watch Fouter, but my top three, I mean, I'm wearing a Peaky Blindness shirt right now. So that's my favorite show. The Boys, I don't know if you can see that. The Boys is a phenomenal show. Great fucking show. It's crazy because I saw that first episode and I fucking, I hated it at first. I was like, what the fuck am I watching? And I'm a big comic book fan. I actually have the first comic book of The Boys I read and I didn't like it, but that's a show you gotta keep watching, bro. Absolutely. That and then Gangs of London. Oh, okay. Gangs of London is a phenomenal show. So a few other ones, I mean, Daredevil Punisher, Nicky Jam, but those are like my top three, four right there, yeah. Okay. And last one. What is one lesson you've learned in the industry so far? Don't trust anybody, bro. I really mean that, bro. I mean, I'm not gonna get too specific, bro, but if I was to tell anybody just starting out that really, promotion is a huge part and you gotta work with some shitty people, but just make sure you always have contracts with everything, man. That's huge, man. If you don't have contracts or nothing that you could use in court, because most of the time you're gonna end up going to fucking court. Or they're gonna try to fuck you over and they most likely won't if you have an agreement. And if they do, then at least you have something to go back on and try to get something back out of it. But yeah, bro, I mean, just don't trust anybody, bro. Nobody's really here to make friends. Everybody's here to just try to make money and put on for themselves. Yeah, damn. Drop in game. Holy shit. Okay. All right, but so that concludes rapid fire questions. Let's get into it. Rapid fire, that shit's a crap. No, for real. It's all right, though. Okay, so you grew up in Queens, born and raised in Queens, actually. I feel like that's a really, really big thing to note. Cause I feel like a lot of people in different parts of the industry that are doing really big things, aren't like, or rather doing big things in New York, aren't from New York. So I feel like that born and raised tag really makes a difference. So what part of Queens are you from? Originally Astorius, like actually like right down the fucking block. Yeah. I forgot the name of the towers, but yeah, I was there for a little while and then I moved to Flushing and now I'm kind of bouncing around. I stayed in Connecticut for a little when I went to prep school out there. And then I went to school in Jersey for a little while. I didn't stay out there, so I was actually driving back from Queens and Jersey every day. Holy shit. Yeah, it was worth it. It's a good school, dumb basketball prep. Yeah, I played football hockey and baseball out there, so. Yeah, yeah. So you mentioned earlier that you played MMA and football as well. Oh, played MMA. You part took an MMA. Yeah, yeah, fought MMA. There we go. Thank you. Yeah, because I'm a baseball guy, so like for me it's always like, it's always play. But so music and sports, how does that come about? Which one came first actually? Sports. It's always been sports from the beginning, you know. You know, me and my manager, ever since we were super young, I mean he was the fucking man in ball, you know, he's going to LIU next year, so division one ball play. I'm going to LIU for football next year, but yeah, with me, it's always been football, hockey and baseball. Those were my three sports since I was super young. I played lacrosse for a little, but I stopped doing that. But yeah, I mean, it worked out well, because you know, after football season, you would jump into hockey. After hockey, it would be a baseball. And I loved being active, man. I was never somebody who just sits at the house and loved to hang out, you know. I loved just working, working, working. So yeah, it was always my dream to, you know. My main goal since I was young was just to make sure my parents don't got to pay for my tuition for college and I go there on a scholarship. So that was my goal. If I go pro after that, then fuck it, you know? But yeah, it was sports all the time and then music kind of just happened out of nowhere, bro. It was actually, you know, my manager, Ty, started producing for a while and he played a few beats for me while he had all his recording equipment in his basement. And that's when I just started. I came out with like a bullshit freestyle. You know, it was horrible, but I don't even, I'm pretty sure I said some gay shit here and there, but I'm not going to go into that. But yeah, so that file eventually got out to a bunch of people that we knew. And they were like, yo, make this a real song. It actually doesn't sound bad. So I went back in there, I made it a real song and there was another artist in the area that was hot at the time and we got him on it. And it was cool. It was supposed to be like a fuck around song. But I wasn't planning on making a music career. You know, I was over here just focusing on sports, but yeah, I mean, besides that, it never really interfered too much, you know? People always think, you know, I get a lot of questions like how do you do sports and you know, you play three, four, I mean four sports now and you're still able to do all these video shoots and you know, perform here and there and keep up with music and promotion. Like how do you do it? To be honest, it doesn't really interfere, you know? If you're, I mean, it's annoying, you know, maybe, but I can't sit there and just focus all day on music and making TikToks, but I don't really need that much time when I'm on the phone, you know, in between practices or driving to school and back, you know, I'm on the phone with him all day, you know? What could we do next? You know, what's the next big thing with promotion? So yeah, all the music isn't like fucking crazy. I mean, it's a lot of stressful, but it's not like super, super time consuming, you know? Yeah. So I never really interfered too much, but I mean, yeah, you know, I'm always busy. You know, like, I like being busy, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, no, I could imagine, because I mean, like I grew up, I played baseball and football and basketball, but more so on the street than like organizationally. So. Thank you, Sven. Now I'm a Mets fan, bro. Okay, okay, I like the Mets, so I'm not a Mets hater. It's not like hockey, you know, I'm a Mets fan only, but yeah, I like both two years, yeah. Yeah, I feel like I could see, or definitely I can understand like all the questions, because I remember how time consuming playing sports was, just baseball, like. 100%. Yeah, bro, practice, game. That's not even including like conditioning and exercises as well. If you're like really, like really, really trying to get at that level. So kudos. I mean, it sounds like you got a really great work ethic, bro. Yeah, thanks man. Yeah, no, especially considering what, D1 football you said, right? Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, I just graduated, so now I'm playing in L.I.U. next year. Yeah, we started practicing already, so yeah, we looked at this, I'm excited. Okay, so let's take it back to the beginning of the music bit. So when exactly, how old were you when you entirely down that track? Well, it's my freshman. 12, 13, yeah, yeah. Okay, when did you release like your first, 12, 13, right? Yeah, right around that time, yeah. Okay, what was the response like? People liked it. But it wasn't like people had any expectations. It was kind of like, oh, this kid was playing football, Marcy is a freshman, and he's doing music now. Oh, why not listen to it? It was a decent song. I don't know what came out first, was it drama or a bad little thing? It was one of those two songs. Yeah, I think it was drama. Not that I'm, yeah, I gotta tell you, but on Spotify, on Spotify, drama's first. Yeah, Ty's name on there, Ty was a man with ball, everybody knows from sports, so that's when people started catching on to it, and then over time, it started getting bigger and bigger, and I still didn't take it seriously, and saw a few thousand coming in there. So what was it like starting to take it seriously? What was the moment that made you feel like, oh, shit, maybe I should actually really start working out this thing more? Well, I'll tell you one thing about the song with Little Tech, that I definitely brought it in that direction, was even at the time when we dropped the song with Little Tech, I wouldn't consider us taking it seriously, because even at that time, I didn't drop a song that didn't have a feature on it. So I wouldn't say it was just for fun, but one thing where I saw that I kind of liked the direction it was going in, is, well, people knew, people I knew from school and from Queens, I knew Tech, and we got in touch and eventually got the hook back from them, but I was like, Ty, this song is actual hip, bro. This sounds really good, this is some mainstream shit. Let's get one more person who's big on it. Come out the fucking blue and just surprise everybody. This is like a few months after Lugard Cash drops to make 10, which is like, you know, the shit in New York, everybody in my school's posting Lugard Cash this, Lugard Cash that. And sure enough, a few days after we got the hook, we see Lugard Cash at Holy Cross. I think we were, I don't know if, yeah, we were in high school at the time. Yes, we were freshmen and they had a game and we were just chilling and I was like, yo, this is before Ty wants to cross. I'm not gonna, I'm going to off-top it, but yeah. So we were at the game and there was a bunch of people that, who else was there, bro? It was Lugard Cash, it was some big people there. What's his name? Who's in the NBA right now, bro? Co-Anthony. Yeah, yeah. So he was there, it was a bunch of big people and I was like, bro, let's just introduce our subs. Like we got nothing to lose, bro. We're fucking 13 years old. What's the worst that could happen? So Lugard Cash's people were fucking, they were really cool and Ty, you know, talked his way into agreeing with us to try to get a feature for a super low price and which at the time for us was like fucking, that was not low at all, but it was like, I forgot how much it was. I'm not gonna say anything, but it wasn't that bad looking back on it, but at that time we were like, whoa, bro, how are we gonna come up with this money? So there was a snowstorm that happened, like, it was actually going on during the game. Like, bro, let's fucking shovel everybody's house and get as much money as we can. So we got a few hundred from that with just hustling, hustling. He's over here selling his shoes. I'm over here selling my shoes, like doing whatever the fuck we can to get this feature because we knew that should blow up. Sure enough, we got him on the song and man, looking back on it, if I had that track right now, I wouldn't know what to do with it. I mean, it's still degraded, you know, over like tens of millions of streams, but man, if we had the knowledge we did now back then, we would have fucking took that song to a whole nother level. So yeah, so after that, the song actually did horrible in the beginning, you know, because we didn't have him promoted, we didn't know what the fuck we were doing. And, but I knew that tackle would blow up. I knew it would be a good song. So eventually it caught on. And once I saw, you know, the numbers and everything and I was like, bro, why don't we try doing this for real? So I was like, all right, man, but you can't keep doing this feature. You got to make an actual fucking song, you know? That's, that's when I went into that phase, you know, where I felt like I couldn't do nothing after a while, but then a half fun really, really brought me back. And that's when I realized, you know, I got a talent and just songwriting and coming up with these hooks, you know? Yeah. Yeah. I mean, honestly, you've got some crazy features. Yeah. I mean, we'll bring things a little more recent. You just dropped the track with Ron Suno today. Yeah, today. Yeah. Yeah. How did that come about? Shit. We were actually in Ty's basement just talking and, you know, I'm not going to lie. It was just at this time, I was away at prep school in Connecticut. So I didn't know what the fuck was going on in New York. You know, I'm over here. They're over here playing fucking country. I hated it out there. But I come back and bro, when I came back, it was like all this sample drill. And I remember before I left the only people, the only person who was doing sample drill was like Siggi at the time. So I'm like, whoa, Siggi must be fucking huge. I mean, they're like, yeah, Siggi's big, but bro, this guy's like K-Flock and all these guys. Ron Suno's like the shit now too. I mean, Ron Suno's been hot for a minute, but like it was just like all over the place. They're like, yo, let's make a Joe song. And I was like, all right, I made a bunch of, I'm not really, I never fell in love with the drill type of way, but I love Jersey drill. You know, I wouldn't consider that the same genre, but yeah, and I had a bunch of these Jersey songs. And it was actually that song, fuck what you, was a completely different song. I had a different verse. The only thing was that was in the version that it is now is the hook. And I thought it was the worst song I had coming out that session where I did all those Jersey songs. I showed. And so I was like, no, bro, like this is a hit, you know? And I was like, all right, you know, that's what you think was just fucking put it out. He's like, no, no, no, we're gonna follow up with this. So he started reaching out to people. We, you know, Ty's cool with Bo. And that's when eventually, you know, we got Ron Suno on it. Eventually, I'm not gonna go into the specifics, so it was supposed to be a bunch of people on that song. Oh, wow. That we have on that song. I still gotta figure out what to do. And maybe we drop it as a remix, but yeah, there's a lot more people on that song. Oh, sure. It's, right now we only put out the, I'm not gonna get into specifics, but yeah. Okay. That's how that song came about. So some possible remixes slash verses, you're trying to figure out what to do. 100%, yeah. Okay, interesting. Yeah, I mean, I think it's a really good song. I like the Rihanna sample. I don't think, I could be wrong, but I've never heard anybody sample a man down before. I thought those are really good, really good tracks. I did too. I mean, shout out to Denzel. He's been fucking killing it. He doesn't just take the sample. To be honest, I'm not a big fan of sampling shit either, but he makes it sound like, he's sampling stuff, but makes it sound original at the same time. It's, some people just leave the whole fucking sample, loop it and don't add any effects to it. This guy completely re-renders the beat. And if you ever catch up the song over Shai, Kei, and Sinki. Yeah. What he did with that beat was sick, bro. I like, that was just, I mean, I don't know whether he pitched or whatever the fuck he did, but that came out great, bro. Yeah, so shout out to Denzel. Yeah, I was listening to the catch the, to the catch a op pack. Cause you dropped another song on there too, Chico. I actually didn't even know that until like, cause I remember seeing catch a op drop. And I remember it being big cause I think respective did that video too, right? Yeah. So shout out to respective. Shout out to respective. It was on the picture right there. What's it called? But yeah, no, I had no clue that Chico dropped. And honestly, like, I really fucking like it. Yeah, thank you man. It is a really good song, bro. Like I think you're really good at finding the melodies that go right with the beat and like flowing on them really good too. Because I mean, like, you definitely have a lot of, like bar, like bars sections, you know what I mean? But there's also like a fair amount of your lines that are like melodic as well, like writing the beat in a way. And I feel like it works really well with the whole like, the whole like, the contrast between the deep voice and like the melodies. Yeah, thank you man. Yeah, you know, I try, I want everything to sound like, you know, just fucking rapping. Everything with Joe now is just rap, rap, rap, you know? I mean, I don't think I really rapped on a Joe V yet, but if I was, excuse me, if I was, you know, I'll make sure that's a catchy fucking hook on it, bro. And some shit is just this rap, rap, rap. So I try to do my best with the hooks and songwriting. And yeah, I take it seriously. It's not just gonna be rap, rap, rap, talk about that people all day, you know? Yeah, for real. That shit, bro. No, absolutely. I think like a lot of drill songs don't really have that structure to, you know, like the hook chorus and hook are the same thing. The hook verse hook or even verse hook verse and so on and so forth. A lot of it is just like, kind of just goes in one way. Yeah. You know what I mean? And yours is, your stuff is really different. Cause it's also like, it's also not that short, you know? Like your songs are like decent length. And I feel like that's something that doesn't really happen a lot nowadays. Like you'll see somebody drop like a two and a half minute song, three minute song, maybe, but a lot of songs are like just barely hitting that two minute mark, if not like five or six seconds over. Bro, they put out snippets and the next thing you know, the fucking full song is on. I'm like, bro, I already heard this whole shit. You know what I mean? No, that's a fact. Like, you know, it's like the snippet is the song. Yeah. Yeah, pretty much. Yeah, I know. What's it called? So you have a lot of singles out. I was going through Spotify not too long ago and it's like a lot of singles. There's the two track quote unquote EP for catch it up. But you had an EP out prior, right? Yeah, it was like an album. It was at a time where, like I said earlier, I didn't know what the fuck I was doing, bro. It was kind of like recording in my manager's basement. But yeah, yeah, Trapju. Yeah, Trapju. Like I said, I was at a time where I wasn't taking shit too serious. I kind of just wanted to be funny, you know? But yeah, I mean, Trapju's a funny name. But I'm kind of glad we got that off, you know? That just doesn't. I mean, you know, there's a few songs on there that still have really good song structure on it. Like, Cut Her Off is a good song. You know, the hook on that song, I feel like. There's a few songs on there, but I just still, it doesn't match, you know, the artist I'm trying to be now. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I get that because of brand identity, I feel like it's really a big thing that not a lot of rappers really bother to care about, you know? Yeah. And I feel like it just goes to show, like, that you do care about your work because, like you're saying, you know, like, it's not representative of the artist that you are now. Yeah, exactly. So, like, it doesn't make sense for that kind of thing to continue to, like, be up there if it's not, like, you know, it's not really your thing. Exactly. Yeah. So that's really cool, though. No, I was wondering because, like, I was telling you earlier, I was looking. I didn't see it, so I was like, but it did, like, not drop. Yeah, yeah, we had to make sure we got that off. Yeah, I'm glad, though. What I'm, uh, what's it called? Do you ever, like, see yourself taking some of those songs and, like, just reworking them? A hundred percent, man. There's, uh, there's so many songs I recorded at that time where I was, you know, working with this engineer, and I was telling myself, I'm like, bro, I can record this on my phone and it'll speak back to me and tell me it's a good fucking song. I could see where I'm going, and I play it for other people, and they could see where I'm going. It's just a matter of if my vocals sound like shit or not. There's so many songs I want to go back and revisit, but at the same time, it's like I'm writing so much, and, you know, I'm so focused on all the stuff I'm doing now, but if I really go back and rework some of those other songs, I think I could have a few hits, yeah. Okay. What I'm, I mean, do you, you said you like Jersey Drill a lot. Do you have, like, a preference for a specific genre, or is it just, like, any kind of, like, hip hop? I listen to pop all day, bro. Oh, really? Yeah, I don't, I mean, nah, I mean, right now, shit, the last, besides Siggie Black, I love Cash, Cobain, and Chow, um, Drake, uh, some new music isn't really doing it for me, bro, especially in New York, man, it's just, like, I don't understand how people could, they don't get fed up with the same fucking music all day, the same, same shit, you know? That's why I kind of, like, you know, I go back and listen to, like, the pop that was hot when I was, you know, growing up around, like, you know, middle school, whatever, that shit, that was good songwriting, you know, it was good stuff right there, so I rather listen to that then. I'm like, huh, huh, huh, huh, huh, huh, huh. And it's, you know, the lyrics are bullshit, too. There's nothing to fucking call back from there. Maybe they're a little catchy, but I don't know, bro. Do you ever, like, is pop a genre you see yourself stepping into eventually? Man, if I always told Ty, if I had a fucking voice, I would've never became a rapper, bro, I would've never did rapping, but yeah, I'd much rather make pop music, or, I mean, I feel like, I don't want to say that, because I kind of like some of the songs I made when I was a rapper, but yeah, I'd much rather, I'm more invested in pop than rap, yeah. Who were some of the pop acts that you were listening to, back from, like, when you were in high school or something like that? Amy Winehouse, or some piece, yeah. She's, she's, there's never be anything like her. I thought that she was like ahead of her time and brought back some from the past that was never there, if you know what I mean. Amy Winehouse, Lady Gaga, I listen to all day, I mean, trying to think of a few more of the big pop artists. Yeah, I mean, you know, there's a few songs I have that are kind of like on the bridge of like, more of like an R&B slash pop. You know, me and Jamie Dorn fucking just did a short film that I can't wait for you guys to see, yeah. I mean, him directed it, I wrote it. Oh wow, oh shit, that's great. Yeah, it's a, you know, 10, 11 minute film. You have a few cool people in there, JoJo Scarlotta's in there, so yeah, it's gonna be good. I'm just waiting for the right time to drop that, but that song isn't a hip hop song. That's a shit, more of like an R&B pop. Okay. Yeah, I fucking love that. I can't wait to get that out, yeah. Wow. Holy shit, that's crazy. Shout out to Jamie Dolan. Yeah, shout out to Jamie, he's the fucking man. He's a, I love that guy, you know, he's so humble. He was one of the only guys I met, like I said, that I could, you know, I could talk to all day and really trust he's just a good guy, you know, cause at the level he's had, he actually, you know, talking about Jamie, he reached out to me and I was just shocked cause I was like, I saw this stuff that he was doing. I'm like, wow, this guy is, you know, no business really talking to somebody, you know, at the level I'm at, you know, he's over here working with shit, Bella Hadid or whatever, one of the fucking models on, Offset and he's producing these like fucking a hundred thousand dollar videos, you know? Yeah man. I'm like, you know, and he was just like, nah, I just, I saw the vision you got and all this stuff and you sent a lot different than most of the other people in New York. So yeah, I mean, hearing that from a guy like him is awesome. So then he was like, bro, let's fucking, let's get together and make something happen. So he went out to eat. I wrote up this script for the short film I had and he really liked that, you know? He wasn't like, oh man, this guy's just trying to do a regular fucking music video with me. But no, I made sure, you know, I always had this concept of doing like a short film slash video. And right when I got in touch with him, I was like, he's the perfect guy to help me get it done, you know? Definitely. So yeah, shout out to Jamie Dorn, man. I can't wait to get that out. Yeah, it's gonna be awesome. Holy shit, no, that's awesome. Yeah, we interviewed him not too long ago. And he's a great guy, amazing conversationalist. Honestly, our interview didn't even feel like that. It just felt like I was just sitting down again to know who he is. He's dope, man. Yeah, super humble. And he's like, he's such a producer because he knows exactly where to place people. And he's looking like where to put people on next. So I feel like we need a lot more of that in the industry. Somebody like him who's like, genuine. Exactly, exactly. I agree with you on this side. Yeah, what's it called? So getting back on the topic of singles and such, do you, like, is there an icy slug project? Like, not maybe, like, not at least like in the near future, but somewhere along the line? Yeah, I mean, right now I have like probably over 100 I'm released. Oh shit. I could easily narrow it down to a good 15 songs right now, but I just don't feel like I'm at that level to put it out and feel good about, you know, promoting it. I just don't think I'm at that level yet, but there will definitely come a time. I mean, I have a whole concept behind it and I just know which way I would want to push it, but just not there, you know, I'm waiting for one of these singles to get a little bigger and, you know, start catching on a little more, yeah. Yeah, I got that. Do you, is it something you think, would it be like a hip hop album or would it just be like diverse? I would love to, I would love for it to be just a mix of a whole bunch of stuff, man. Like there is, I have, you know, I'm just all over the place, man. When it comes to Jersey, I feel like I got a bunch of good Jersey songs. When it comes to regular, you know, like a Travis Scott type hip hop song. Yeah, I have that and all of them sound good, bro. I mean, even like, you know, I just finished a few songs where, you know, I kind of had like that Cardi slash the short lonely type vibe and I was taking a lot of inspiration from this guy called Highway, if you've never heard of him, but he's dope. He's gonna get up there too, but yeah, and I thought that stuff sounded amazing too. So I have all these genres, you know, I would love to just throw it on one album so people could realize, you know, I'm not like just a one dimensional artist. You know, I could really write songs for any, any type of genre and throw a little bit of pop and R&B on there. Yeah. Yeah, I would definitely, I would tune into an Icy Slug pop album. Yeah, yeah, I appreciate that. Absolutely bro. I think, I think you got a hell of a pun. Yeah, thank you. So I'd really, especially like honestly, I'd never would have taken you for somebody who listens to Lady Gaga. Really? Not at all. Yeah, I know. Not in the fucking world. Yeah, yeah, yeah. If you rather listen to that then, I mean, there's still good hip hop. I mean, like I listen to guys like Siggy O'Day, Chow O'Day, but yeah, I just, songwriting and pop is just fucking flawless, you know? Yeah, especially because like it's, it's written with that intention of it being more universal, you know, like accepting to a wider audience. Yeah. Cause like, I mean, there are definitely hip hop tracks that I feel like do make that crossover. Oh, 100%. And it's like everybody can like it, but not every hip hop track is like that. Yeah. You know? Exactly. But I feel like every pop song is like that. Yeah. So, yeah. I see slug pop album, not bad. I think that's something to look out for in the future. Yeah, yeah, hopefully. Okay. So we were talking a little bit off camera and you were talking about how you were something of like, you were a little viral when you were younger, right? Yeah, yeah. I mean, we had a few moments. Okay. I'll break them down for us. Yeah. I mean, you know, whether it was just, you know, like a big hit or in football or, you know, tie fucking crossing somebody up, you know, we were always on the scene about, it was mainly related to sports. One thing that gave us a really big push and like started making a lot of people pay attention, at least where I was from was shit. You know, it's not like a secret, but it was, you know, on the news when I got stabbed in the head with a machete when I was like, I want to say 13, 14 years old. Yeah. Crazy, right? No, because you said that like, it was like incredibly casual, you know, like I just, I walked into a machete or some shit. Yeah. That's crazy. I mean, you're here. God bless, you know? Yeah, thank God. But yeah, I mean, I might as well tell the whole story. You know, I think it's good I tell the whole story because most people only hear, you know, the fact that I just got stabbed in the head and most people are like, how the fuck did that happen? And they don't really know. I mean, I guess one day I was on my way to school at the time and you know, me and my mom were driving me to school and this one person kept cutting us off. And my mom's a little hot-headed Puerto Rican moms, you know? Facts, I know about the Puerto Rican moms. I got one myself. Yeah, this lady kept cutting us off and you know, they started arguing out the window and we got to a light and this person gets out the car, you know, nothing in their hand at first. My mom gets out the car and you know, they start fighting or whatever. I wanna give a... I got out the car on my side and pretty much I pulled my mom off and I tell everybody to get back to their cars and this person starts fucking screaming. Let me say it's a lady because if it was a fucking guy, I probably I would have beat the shit out of him. So it was like my mom was taking care of it, let me stop. But so yeah, so I pulled my mom off. I tell everybody to get back to their cars and this bitch just starts fucking going crazy. Like, yo, ah, ah, she's stunk. It was just like weird, weird thing. It wasn't like a regular like person. They get back in their cars, my mom gets back in hers and my water bottle fell out. I had football later that day. So I was like, oh, I don't wanna forget my fucking water bottle and be over here dying. I had football practice, so I pick it up. She comes out the car with some over her head and I didn't know what the fuck it was at the time. I mean, at that time, I already got into a bunch of street fights and I was still so young that I still wouldn't be expecting shit like that. I was only 13 at the time, 13, 14. You're not really expecting anybody to pull out a fucking 24 inch machete, bro. Even as like a, I'm 23. I don't even think like if I got into a fight with somebody, like I would expect them to bring out a fucking machete. After that, that's all I expect now, you know? Oh, shit. So she gets out and I'm thinking it's either a fucking belt or like a bat, but it was bent back. So I'm like, it might be a fucking belt. The fuck is she, she's not, what is she trying to do, bro? She starts smashing my mom's side of the car, bro. Like it's breaking the metal, the glass and I start getting worried, bro. I'm like, whoa, that might be a bat. I start trying to break it. I start punching her window to get her attention to come over to me and sure enough, I got her attention and she's over here fucking walking towards me. I'm gonna fucking kill you, blah, blah, blah. This whole time I still think it's like a bat. I knew it was something, you know, when shit like that is happening, it's going by so fast. Nobody's expecting you to have a fucking 24 inch machete. And it was a lady and, you know, I was good shape at the time and I mean, there's nothing to do with it, but. I was, I just, long story short, I didn't want to fucking hit a female. Yeah, understandable. I have a mother, a sister, I would never think about hitting a female. The worst thing I think you can do in my opinion. And I just tried to grab her and throw her down, you know, without really like hurting her. And, you know, she was, it was like a few seconds, right? But she was hacking at me for a little on my form. Holy shit. I still thought it was a belt and I push it to the floor. I felt something caught in my head. So I smack it out. And the thing like smacks out right away. And I see blood squirting everywhere, Broly. Pumping out. Yeah. I'm like, no, I got worried because I was like, I thought I didn't hit her. You know, I'm over here thinking that she's the one who's bleeding. Yeah, then after that, I'm looking at the floor and I remember like passing out and my body was like shaking and shit. And I keep waking up and here and there, I'm like going in and out. And I'm just like, what the fuck is going on? There's just so much shit going on at the time. It was just like a fucking crazy, it was nuts. I see my mom going crazy and she get the lady who stabbed me gets up and gets in her car and leaves. And hearing it back, my mom told me everything that happened in between, but you don't know where the fuck you're at. I mean, I ended up having a severed artery and I got through the first three layers of my scone. I think there's only five. So two more layers and I would have been dead, you know? But- Holy shit. Oh my God. And I'm waking up and I'm looking around and bro, it's like so many fucking people and nobody's helping. Everybody's just on the sidewalk taking pictures and taking videos and shit. For a 13 year old kid, I was like, wow, this is like crazy and I hear people screaming get the fucking machete, get the machete. And I guess they were thinking, my mom was gonna pick it up or do something more. Like they don't know who did it or whatever, everybody's just sitting here like fucking taking pictures, taking videos. And eventually I, when I covered my head or whatever and was able to stop the bleeding, I guess I got some of my consciousness back and my mom was freaking out. So I was trying to calm her down. To be honest, I felt fine at the time. It was like, after all that, everything felt crazy but I really didn't feel any pain. Obviously your body's in shock. And I just remember my mom freaking out. So I was trying to calm her down. I'm like, wow, we're good. I took out my phone to take a video to like, I'm bugging out at the time. Just like doing whatever I could to keep my mom calm. Actually, I see fucking blood everywhere, bro. Like everywhere, I'm like, oh, shit. And I still really don't know if it was a machete or what the fuck happened. And yeah, I mean, took forever for the police to get there. I got to the fucking doctors and they told me they were like, yeah, okay, I don't know how you're alive right now. Cause that was one of the main arteries in your brain. And they were like, you covered it up and I guess you just stopped yourself from losing that much blood. I didn't believe it after, it was too fucking crazy. In the beginning, I really didn't think it was like that bad cause you're just, at that age, you don't process it like that. Yeah, then you go to court and everything. You see the footage and yeah, it was a shit ton of fucking blood, bro. Holy shit. Going back to where, you know, how this boosted me and everything, you know, everybody saw that shit on the video. No, not a problem, that was a lot to unpack. I mean, I could only imagine like actually going through it. Like, yo, holy shit, I'm so glad that you're okay. Yeah, thank you man, I appreciate it. Oh my God, yo, holy shit. Yeah, so that was on the news and everything. And yeah, that's when people with school started finding out and then they started, you know, looking at my music and everything, not saying that, you know, shouldn't have really been from that. But yeah, that's when people started taking it a little, not seriously, but they just started paying attention a little more. Yeah, and holy shit, was that before or after the Tekuson? Little after, so that grew to the big boost. Was it after? It was after, okay, yeah, it was after. Wow, talk about promo. Oh my God. Holy shit. Yo, that is crazy. Oh my God. Yeah. Wow, I don't even know what to say after that because that's just like, oh my God. Bro, yo, what happened to the lady? Did she get locked up or anything like that? Cause I mean like, that's what I'm on. You got stabbed in the head. I mean, amongst a few other things, but yo, how do you? Yeah, so it's crazy. So I gave it like a fucking thousand dollar bill, bro. Wow. So it's all, mind you, the whole thing is on fucking video. Body care, like, you know, I play fucking like, you know, I've seen some fucking nasty movies, some bloody, it looked like a fucking evil dead scene, bro. Jesus Christ. When you look at it, bro, I'm like, it doesn't get any worse than this. You know, I'm not saying I wish it on anybody, but how the fuck can you, I could go to CBS and take a fucking Snickers bar and get a higher bill than that, bro. Like it's crazy. Yeah, that's insane. Yeah, pretty much the whole jury decided on her not being found guilty on anything. So she got off scot-free? Well, I mean, like not scot-free, but like, they found her innocent? 100%. She didn't do no time. On anything, bro. No, that's crazy. And you know, what? No, that's fucking wild. You know, it sounds like it's not even fucking true, you know? Oh my God. When you see all the footage and everything, it's just like, how, bro? I mean, not saying I wish it on anybody, but I know people who've done time for really just defending them fucking selves, bro. That's all they did was literally defend themselves, man. I don't wanna get specific, but yeah, I've done like five, six years from fighting for their fucking life, bro. And meanwhile, this person over here is fucking slashes a 13-year-old in the machete and just doesn't get anything. Like, it's a little weird to me, you know? Yeah, absolutely. The courts, it's crazy. There's people who get years, or used to anyway, get years, over a dime bag, bro. Like a little tiny bit of weed like this used to get you years in prison, but getting slashing someone doesn't. Well, she does it again, you know? It's just like, it makes no sense. It's crazy. Sheesh. Wow. I'm glad you're here, man. Absolutely glad you're here, you know? Holy shit. Wow, where'd even go from that? I know, right? It's nuts, man. I mean, yeah, most of it is short. That did give us a push in the right direction of music, so. Wow. God damn. I don't know, I feel like one of the lessons here, expect somebody to take out a machete at some point because like, I'm definitely gonna be on the lookout for that from now on, shit. That's crazy. But also, before anything like that happens, check out your friend's music, you know? Because like, yeah. Right? Needing some crazy shit like that. Like, yo, people gotta have more genuine intentions, like, yo. Ah, it's nuts, bro. Jesus Christ. At least like, that is such a fucked up situation. It could have been even worse, bro. Absolutely. You know, expect people to take out a fucking gun, just be prepared, man. Yeah, for real. At least you got, at the very least, like, you got a little push from it. But even then, that's just like a small upside. Yeah, holy shit. Wow, okay, let's lighten things up. Let's play another game. All right, let's do it. All right, so this one's called Finish the Sentence, and you, I say a part of a sentence, and then you finish it. Yeah. So, okay. My friends would say that I am. I don't know what to say without feeling cocky. I'll just say I'm a hard worker. Okay. But this chapter of my life is called. What the fuck is going on? I heard that. Felt that, absolutely. The most underrated song on my playlist is. Like me by Ziggy Black. Shout out Ziggy Black. Yeah, yeah, that's my guy, man. Okay, if you want to impress me, so like if somebody wants to impress Icy Slug. How? Just so loyalty and your drive, really, yeah. Your work ethic, I mean, even when I'm on the field with people or doing condition or whatever, that's why I get to see where you really are. It's how much you want to put in, yeah. Yeah, damn, that's good. My favorite song I wrote is Damn. I feel like, other than Have Fun. No, I mean, it's probably, it's a different question. I would say. Oh yeah, that's true, damn. Probably just, I would say the song that we did the short film for with Jamie. So I'm released, but yeah. I mean, it's called Here With You. Okay. When that comes out, you guys will know, yeah. All right, but definitely looking forward to that. Okay, my biggest turnoff is, or pet peeve, either or. There's so many different. Biggest turnoff for a person, a girl, or. Anything, any of them. Anything that fits the criteria, it can be multiple. If a female is too friendly with somebody, man. I'm sure it's that, bro. Sheesh. Yeah, you don't want to deal with that. That is not fun. All right, last one. I can't do business with you if. Oh man, I got some fucked up shit in my head. I'm not gonna say it. Nah, I can't do business with you if you have. Is this supposed to be rapid fire, bro? No, no, no, this is not as rapid fire. No, don't worry. You can say bad reputation. I feel like it's so general, though. I mean, not a bad answer. I'm not, I can say much other, so I'm not gonna say. Okay, so we'll just go with that. If you got a bad reputation, stay away from the slug. Don't do it. Don't come to your room. All right, but. So what, what do you have anything upcoming outside of the short film slash song that you want people to be on the lookout for? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, I shot another video with Jamie. It still needs some editing and stuff, but oh, it's video for Chico. So yeah, visuals for that. Okay. I have a bunch of plans for this summer, but yeah, I got a few big, unreleased songs. Yeah, one song I think is gonna be a hit when it gets up there, but shit, I don't really have names for these songs. But here with you is probably the main thing to look out for, yeah. Okay. It's creative, it's different. I feel like, especially at this stage in an artist's career, it's not, I feel like most people don't really put out content like that, especially being independent. Destroy Lonely did something like that recently for his album. I don't know if you saw a short film. Yeah, I saw bits and pieces of it. That's just crazy. Honestly, I don't know. I might get some hate for this, but I tried, I wasn't feeling the Destroy Lonely album. It takes time, man, because, oh man, if I think one of my guys, Diego, put me on him so long ago, my cousin too, and they're always, bro, Destroy Lonely does it. I love Cardi, but I was like, I kind of like sounds like, kind of like similar to that, you know? And when you really sit down and listen to it, and I feel like Destroy is like putting on like a whole new wave of music. Like he's the perfect hybrid between like rock and rap. Okay. But it takes time, you know? Listen to him, because I fucking, I love him, you know? And I feel like, you know, if you're a fan, it's not really pop music, but if you have a, you know, like a thing for like that, like rock kind of music that it'll eventually get to, you know what I mean? But I thought his short film was awesome, man. So something like that, yeah. Okay. I definitely got to check it out. I see Slug, thank you so much for stopping by. You guys, I appreciate it. Thank you for having me. Of course. Tell, why don't you tell the people where they could find you? Shit, anywhere, Apple Music, Instagram, I see Slug. Yeah, all platforms, YouTube, more content coming soon, man. All right, bet. So find me on the field at LIU this year. Oh, nah, tell him again, tell him again. Say what you chose. Yeah, nah, you can see me at LIU this year on the football field. Hopefully I get another fight in December. I should, okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah. December, November, right when football season is done, I'm going straight into camp. So you can see me in the octagon, too. All right, cool. I just got ordering, you know, whatever martial art it is, shit. Yeah, keep on the lookout. Keep on the lookout for I see Slug. Big things coming soon. Thanks, man, man. Appreciate it. Thank you guys for having me, bro. Of course. Thank you for tuning in to Talk of the Town. I'm Enrique, and we'll see you next time.