 Hey, what's up guys? It's Frenchy and you are now tuned into Talk of the Town. Today I got a very special guest, a Brooklyn native. He's from East New York. Yes, yes. Kai, what? Kai Cash. I go by the name Kai Cash. Thanks for having me. You're welcome, welcome. I'm excited because I heard about you a little bit. So you say you're from Brooklyn, right? Yeah. And what part? East New York. East New York section, yes. I don't want to ask you exactly what part of East New York we don't want to drop no stuff but shout out to the East. I'm from the East as well. Okay, cool. Yeah. What did you grow up listening to as a young kid in the East? What was your your goal to? Me, I listened to a lot of biggie like growing up growing up but then you know Jay-Z of course. Yeah. 50 Cent came out I think he had the whole city just a lot. I used to listen to a lot of Mary J Blige because of my mom's. Okay. She had a real like versatile. I don't even know if you would call it a playlist back then because it wasn't playlist. Yeah. The CDs and shit like when she cleaning up the house and all that. Yeah, on a Sunday morning and shit. Fill me in like. That's how it be. What I would hear was just crazy. So I used to listen to a lot but those are like my primary. Yeah. Okay. So you said Jay, Biggie, 50 and Mary. You had to put the little army in there. Had to because she's very, very important. All right. So you know we went through the pandemic, the panty. What gonna set the, you remember what gonna set the. There's a panoramic. It's a panoramic. That's what we went through. So how did the panoramic affect you musically or did it? I definitely did. I didn't, I didn't make a song. For like the first two months. Yeah. Like I was stuck because with me and I feel like this is with most artists. You have to be able to get inspiration from something. Yes. And if we don't, we don't got nothing going on. It's just like, all right. So what am I going to talk about? You could talk about the same shit all day. But it's just like, you're not growing as an artist. And I rather try to figure out what's going on. I got a chance to learn myself a little bit more and become self aware. And it was just like, you know what, I could, I'd rather take the time and not create and try to force. Yes. Yes. Because then it's going to be trash. Yeah. You feel me? So musically, I was just chilling. Like I was dropping old music and not really writing. More so like reading it. Trying to pick up on documentaries and things of that nature. But okay. So you had the book, The Tranquil Overcoming the Experience About Mental Illness. That's pretty fucking dope. Thank you. Like that's real dope. Do you still struggle with mental illness or? It's anxiety. That's really the thing that bothers me all the time. And I never really knew what it was. I always knew it was something. Yes. And when I found out what it was, it was just like, all right. I know mad people that go through this. But nobody really knows what it is, especially in the black community. We don't talk about it. But my fault. I'm going. No, no, no, no. The question. Yeah, I do definitely still deal with it. But since I wrote the book, I've been able to kind of cope with it. Like I know how to get myself through it. How did you discover that it was anxiety that you were battling? First, I got diagnosed. I actually went to the doctor. Because the first time it happened, I ain't gonna lie that I was having a heart attack or some crazy shit. And I went to the doctor and it was just like, nah, you just have anxiety. They were telling me to breathe in brown paper bagging. What? Yeah. That sounds like a movie. Control my breath. They tried to give me pills, but I don't like pills. So yeah, I was like, I'm not taking no pills. I'm not doing none of that. And from there, I started Googling shit. Google, of course. Google was the worst. It is. But then it's good, though. It is. But then it's kind of, kind of. So how did you get over it helping? I mean, the book, did it help? Right in the book. That was the most important part of it. Because really writing was one of my mechanisms. Like I listed it in the book too. Like writing and watching some funny shit or meditating. Meditation is really fire. Like just sit with yourself. I tried to meditate one time. That was crazy. 10 minutes. Well, have a long youth. No, I'm saying that's good if you can meditate for 10 minutes. It gradually grew to 10 minutes. It wasn't like off the rip. I'm just sitting 10 minutes. I go crazy. But you said you was a home body, so you should be able to sit with yourself. I'll be watching TV. All right. All right. No, that's that's a good one too. Like anything to just take your mind off of the anxiety. Yes. And for me, writing, me being a rapper, writing was just something that helped me kind of forget about it in the moment. And I figured why not write something that can help everybody, not just myself. Yes. And then I just continued to carry out every mechanism that I wrote about. Yeah. So I still meditate. I still write. I still read. I still work out. Simple shit that just helped me keep my mind quiet. The next question I was going to ask you, how does the mental illness affect your music? But it seemed like it kind of, well, the music kind of helps that. Yeah. For the most part, and I feel like it helps the music in a sense because now, like I said, it's a form of inspiration. Like it gives me something to talk about. I can touch a whole new audience. Yeah. No real shit. So you did the school thing. You went to college. I believe you was dabbling in like fashion and then I almost forgot about that. That's crazy. How you forget? That's out of pocket. Wow. Yeah. So then how did you decide to pursue music with all of those different avenues? How you knew music was the one for you? I, the crazy issue is I kind of grew up in music. My pops was like a part of Junior Mafia. My mom wanted to become a singer, but she didn't like how the industry was. She kind of put that aside. And I made my first song when I was seven. That shit is crazy. I still have it on my phone to this day. Really? Yeah. And it's always just been a thing for me. Like when I was in school, I never placed, like I was never good at sports. I didn't like playing sports. They tried to put me on a football team. I played one season. I was just like, I'm not doing this anymore. Yeah. And as I got older, it's just like, I just became more prone to the pen. And it's just like, I want to make music. Got you. So I started creating music and it's just like a life, the way the universe works. Everything just kind of came to me while I was going for that music goal. Got you. And it's just been a passion since I was young. So I'm like, let me just stick the music out. And it's been doing me very, very well. Yes. So we see you got your group CYN. What does that stand for? I needed to figure out what that CYN stands for. Create your now. So basically it's just like, yeah, whatever your whatever your destiny, your passion, your narrative is, is living that moment and created. Don't snow. We don't have time. You got to just get it done. Who does the group consist of? Me, myself, my god, Nico Brim, King Combs, Tis the influence was a DJ, Great Dane, who's another artist, Shaq and Living, who are other New York artists, K Wells, who's our artist from Tampa, Florida. And the president is CYN president. And we all grew up together. So before we even came up with a CYN, we was all already famous. So it's a strong bond. So you got a couple tapes out of all your tapes. How many tapes you got? Three right now. Yeah. Yeah. What's your favorite tape? Last one, I just dropped 711 Deluxe. Okay. Yeah, I like the I like the deluxe better than the original because I added the I had a six more songs and it was just like six songs doing numbers right now. That's powerful. I like how I like how the people gravitated to it. And it's more I got the chance to see the growth in a few months. I dropped them months apart. I dropped the first one, January 17, and the second one, July 11. It's just like I evolved. So I definitely like that. So where the name came from 711? All right. The craziest thing is I wanted to do seven songs in 11 minutes. That was my whole theme. But it's just like that's how we're gonna do that. Every song will have to be a minute and 30 seconds. Yeah. So I was just like, I scratch that. So I was gonna do seven songs in an 11 minute short film. But that requires a lot. So I was like, you know what? You lazy. Not even that. It's just like you got to have the money and all that. Like my vision is gonna cost me a lot. I was like, you know what? I'm gonna just chill off that. We're gonna do that later. So it was just like, you know, it's seven songs. 11 is gonna stand for something. So I figured it out. I'm like, all right, 711 is a wide variety. When you walk into 711, you can pick up damn it. Yeah. This is exactly what I'm doing with the music. I'm giving you seven different parts of me. Yeah, got you. So it came together like, all right, 711 is just me giving you a wide variety of me. That makes sense. I seen when I was doing my research at 711, like they added you on Twitter. That was super fucking dope. Thank you. Now, that was a part of my goal too. I didn't know how I was gonna do it. Like if I was gonna try to collab and be like a slushie or some shit like that. But yeah, like that's like I dropped on 711, not knowing that that was the day that they catered to the story. And it's like, that's obvious. And they was just like, why are you gonna drop on our special day? What if we drop on yours? I was like, yeah, like let's work too while we at it. They answered that, but we gonna figure that out. That's still getting a little. Yeah, no, that's all I needed. Yeah, all I needed was that. Perfect. So what's your favorite song on your tape 711? Right now, Helen Keller featuring CEO Travis, my favorite song. Why? Because it's just a pop and I have fun creating a song and it's going crazy right now. That was the one you just dropped the video for, right? Yeah, I've seen that. Yeah, I got a nice chemistry. Thank you. Everybody says that we got a lot of songs together too. Yeah. Well, yeah, I think that's my favorite song right now. And then I would have to say Never Easy, which was a song I dropped. I mean, a video I dropped before Helen Keller is my second favorite. Okay, mine's on the tape, I think is blue. That's one there. I like blue and canvas is my shit. Okay, canvas is my shit. I was bumping that. But thank you. Thank you. So what you think is your most slept on song? Yeah. I'm gonna say from the original Trinity, which is the outro. Yeah. It's real bar driven. A lot of people's attention span is not that high, including mine. My attention span is short as hell. But from the deluxe, I would have to say. So you think all your shit is? I think people pay attention. It's just Trinity. I might just have to say Trinity. I'm surprised you said the Trinity song because I listened to it and it was really like even though it's barsy, it's still like the it's still vibing. So I'm surprised that you said that. Yeah, I feel like Trinity. I definitely feel like just because how long it is to that shit's four minutes and we just wrap it. Yeah. Yeah, they got ADD. Yeah, you feel me? So how would you describe the music that you make? Exclusive simplicity. And that's always been a definition for me because it's like it's simple, but it's different. I definitely feel you on that. I definitely feel you on that. It's very simple, but it definitely does hit. Yeah, it's not like a lot of shit you hear today or a lot of shit you've heard. Like I have my own way of just doing it a lot. So I've only described it as that. What you said, simple. Exclusive simplicity. Yeah, you gotta keep saying that. So what's the top five? Your top five right now? Right now or ever? Okay, right now. She went right now. I like to do ever, but if I go right now, I gotta go drink. Okay, I gotta go. Okay, I gotta go. Kendrick and this is not even in the order. That's three. That's three. I'm he's new, but I'm becoming a real heavy fan of baby Keem. That tape was fire. That tape is crazy. I really listened the whole way and I was not disappointed because it's like, all right, I know what I'm expecting from you. So I'm not going to be like, nah, you should have did more. So I'm going to put baby Keem up there for right now. We're talking about right now and one more. I like a lot of artists. I'm a big fan of scissor. For the females. Either scissor or Keanu LaDae. I never heard of that. Shout out to the people. All right. So you're from Brooklyn. Do you plan on working with any Brooklyn artists? Yeah, I was actually in the studio yesterday with Lola Brooke. Oh, shout out to Lola Brooke. We still you. Yeah. In fact, we we're gonna come over some crazy shit. I'm not gonna lie. Um, I don't know if you ever heard of Leaf L's. He's a drill rapper. Yes, they have. That's my cousin, by the way, too. Like that's my blood cousin. We got we got work together. So I'm always working with him. But yeah, I'm open. You know, I don't live out here no more. So I don't really be knowing what's like going on in the streets. You got to tap in. I got it. Yeah. Like now that I'm back here for a little while, I've been making sure I'm outside. I definitely want to work with like Chef G Sleepy Hollow. Yeah. And who else is from Brooklyn? Five. Yeah, anybody. Five girls too. Okay. I got mad music with Capella. Me and Capella. I've known Capella for like seven years. So. Well, he wasn't right now. So that was definitely good. Yeah, me and Capella. Shout out to Capella. Um, Dizzy Banco. He's a producer. Yeah. I got bearded. I don't know if you know bearded, but he's another producer that he sees hard. Uh, this guy named Devon Tyrell. Um, and who else? Music. I'm going to let you up there. I'm going to say, yeah, nah, it's a few people. I'm, I'm one of those. I don't got no problems with nobody. So I can really work with everybody. Yeah, that's good because it's a lot of, you know, beef with politics and shit. Yeah, it's crazy. All right. So how would you describe success as an artist like to yourself? To me, success as an artist is just me being happy with whatever I make. And me being able to, to captivate millions of people. Like I just always wanted my message to get across. Gotcha. I don't really, I don't make music for money. I feel like when you do anything for money, it's not really what you love to do. You just do greedy. Yeah. When you good at something, you're going to make money regardless. So I feel like success is just the happiness in doing what you love. Okay. So what's your creative process? It's different. Sometimes I'll go into the studio and I'll go through my email and listen to some beats and write to it or I'll listen to a beat, pull the beat up and whatever I feel like saying in my head. I'll, excuse me, I get on the mic and I'll just punch in and say, and I know how to engineer myself and I produce now. So for the most part, I'm becoming like this one man band where I can just go in the studio by myself and do everything. That's really it. All right. Where do you get your inspiration from? Everyday life, really. Like I'll, I don't know, it's, it's weird. Like I wake up and see some shit and it's just like, I want to talk about that today or I'm in a relationship. So like, my girl will get me mad or me and my girl doing some cool shit and it's just like, I'll talk about this. So you feel me? Yeah. That's the thing too. Like people love when you dive deep into your relationship. Yeah, because they can relate. You feel me? And that too, like relatable, just relatable shit. Yeah. That's really what I get inspired by. So we're going to bring it back to Brooklyn, being that you're from Brooklyn. What's your thoughts on the music scene right now? Like the little drill and I feel like I love it strictly because it's like we have our own sound granted. This kind of is going everywhere and it was in London and shit like that before Chicago had their own version, but our version, I feel like it's so wavy and it's so, I'm not going to say it's super different, but it's appealing and it's bringing a lot back home for all of us. Like rest in peace, pop, smoke. I feel like he did a lot for us. Five years doing a lot for us. That whole scene in general, like whether these things be having beef with each other or not, I know that they all know what they're doing for back home and what they're doing for the coach and it's important. So I definitely feel like right now the music scene is dope, but I want to see what's going to be next. Yeah. I'm definitely ready. So any artist that you want to collaborate with? I got a goals list. I want to work with Brent Fias, Cash Page. Damn, who's on my list? Don Toliver, Hove Always. I got to catch that man though. He might, he might just. Yeah, but the pen's still fired up. His pen is still amazing, but I just like one day he's gonna be like, I'm, I don't want to rap. With nobody, with nobody at Facts, I'm praying it's no time soon. There's your Blige as well. She's always been one of my favorite artists. I know I'm missing mad people. It'd be like that. It's just like every time you get asked the question you just miss everything. I want to work with Pharrell, Future, Doug for sure. And I'm just, that sounds dope. I'm just leaving that down right now. It's mad, it's mad at the people I work with. Yeah, it's endless. I mean, yeah, Facts, I'm just leaving that down. How you feel you improved on your musical journey? Like from first tape? Well, I started, yeah, from when I started. For one, and we talking tapes, I feel like I've grown ridiculously. My first tape was just like, I don't even listen to it no more. Not to say it's bad, but it's just like, yeah, I don't, like, I feel like I'm more relatable now. I'm more comfortable. I mean, I've grown to be more confident in my musical journey. Like, before I used to not even want to have certain people hear my shit. Like, just hear it when it come out. Now it's just like, I walk into a session and I just start playing. So I'm definitely more confident and more comfortable. That's dope. That's dope. So what's next for you? Like, what you're trying to do? I'm about to drop this project called Highway Music in like a month or two. You said highway? Highway Music. Yeah. It's just, that's really the theme of it. It's just like, imagine you being on a highway for however long the project is. Just listening straight through it. It's going to have skits and firebabs. And I'm trying to, I'm trying to put a tour together with some upcoming artists like myself. I had to cancel a show at SOB because there's vaccine mandate. But that's pretty much it right now. I got the Mental Health Mondays podcast too, where I'm going to kind of cater to artists, entertainers, things like that. Because I feel like they don't talk about their mental health enough. They don't. And that's pretty much it right now. The music is my focal point though. That's the most important thing. That's dope. That's dope. So I want to ask one last question. Are you planning on getting vaccinated? I need to know. No, you're not going to lie. No. Like I feel like they got to get that situated first. Because I feel like it's still all over the place. I'm not against it. I'm not against anybody getting vaccinated. I wouldn't tell you not to get vaccinated. But me personally, I just feel like if I were to get vaccinated, it wouldn't be right now. Like I'm not ready. I could stay in the crib. Gotcha. Gotcha. That ass. So I ain't getting vaccinated either. Not yet. Not yet. Not yet. I'm just not ready yet. Like I feel like they still want to try to add some new shit. You can still catch COVID. See. So this is Frenchy and this is Talk of the Town. We here with podcast. Thank you for coming on. Go check out 711, the deluxe, go tune in, CYN, all of that hot tangs. So thank you so much for coming on. Appreciate you.