 What's up y'all, it's your girl Briyani Imani, and you're tuned in to another Talk of the Town interview. And who do we have in the building today? Rico. I was about to say don't do that. Thank you for coming Rico. We're so happy to have you. How you feeling? I'm chilling man. Cooling. Okay. Happy Thursday. We almost hit a weekend. How was your week? Okay. So before we get into the interview, I'm going to give you a few questions of this or that. Okay. Just to see what your head is at with a couple things. All right. You ready? Yeah. All right. Grills or chains? What? Grills or chains. Grills or chains? Mm-hmm. Can I have both? You got to pick one. This or that? Chain. Okay. Breakfast or dinner? Breakfast. Book smarts or street smarts? Street. Introvert or extrovert? Introvert or extrovert? I know. Intro. Intro? Okay. Drop on a belt or drop on a Jackie? Jackie B. Wild, bro. The Jackie is OD. That's a pack, math, traffic, big ass trucks. Nah. I'll take the belt. Too many twists and turns for me. R&B or rap? R&B. That's sweet. You don't know that. Nice song. We want to get into it. Influencer or entrepreneur shorty or nine to five? You said what? Like a shorty that's an entrepreneur influencer or a shorty that's a nine to five type structure job? I can't pick both. Is this or that? We go. Nah, man. That's not how it works. Negotiate. I tried to negotiate with the extrovert, I say introverted extrovert, but you got to pick one. Whatever makes him happy. Okay. You know what I'm saying? I'm going to let you rock with that one. Yeah. All right. You're not discriminated. So that's cool. All right. Be rich and unknown or broke and famous? You said what? Be rich and unknown or broke and famous? Rich and unknown. Period. First class or PJ? First class or PJ? I don't like flying. So I'm a kid. I'm scared of playing. So I ain't known. I'm a PJ. I'll be shut. Me too. I don't like small planes. And that's why I put it there because some people might feel like that. Yeah. Small planes and I ain't cool with those. Yeah. So good first class. Here we go. Okay. Smoke or drink? I don't drink. So. Like at all? No. I ain't drink for like 10 years. Okay. Smoke though. Oh, I know. I eat there. Cause one thing about Rico, especially when you in the studio, every picture I see you got a spliff in hand. I have two. That's a studio essential. That's what it is. Okay. Smoke and now faith or shoot for the stars in for the moon. You said what? Faith or shoot for the stars in for the moon. Shoot for the stars, man. Period. Okay. That is all this or that. Now let's, I mean, hey, I'm asking what's your opinion? All right. So we're going to get right into it. So I know that you were born in Haiti and raised in Brooklyn. Talk to us a little bit about that. When did you come to Brooklyn? So I was two years old. Oh, okay. So you've been here basically? Yeah. Okay. And when you were growing up, like what kind of music were you listening to at the time? Um, y'all listen to, I was a big Wu-Tang. I knew like every math reservoirs like no lie. You got word for word bar for bar. Okay. So at the time when you were listening to Wu-Tang as you were growing up, did you have an idea that of like you being in the music industry? No. Yo, I was playing ball. I had like regular ball dreams or whatever. But I kind of like stumbled on the music. It wasn't, it wasn't like some shit. Like when I was little, I'm playing keys and nah. So what happened? So how did it all work out? Yo, boom. Off of like Young's Buck, Young's Buck first album. Okay. It was a song one year called, it was two records. It was one called Bang Bang. And there was another one called Prices on My Head. And the Bang Bang one, it was a sample like Bang Bang. And I was like, yo, what the hell is that? That beat is crazy. And I'm in the hood and one of my old mentors, Rest in Peace Chemical, he was like, oh, my boy Needles did that or whatever. He said, yo, he produced that. I was like, what the fuck is that? He's like, yo, Needles getting like my bad Needles. He's like, yo, Needles getting like 50, 80 bands from 50 for records and shit, make beats. I was like, what the fuck is this? And I was like, yo, I'm making beats. They getting that much. So you were trying to get to the bag. Yeah. I was trying to get to the bag, man. I think that's so interesting. And this is something that we're going to get into a little later, but it's so interesting that one of the songs that you named was Bang Bang. And the song that you worked on with Nicki, she was like, Bang Bang. Okay. So, all right. So that's when you knew that that's what you wanted to get into. But at what point did you actually start making moves within the music industry? Yo, right away. Right away, like I connected with a, then I met my boy, who's like my best friend right now, Crown Beats. He's doing that produced the prices on my head. So I started hanging with him and a couple of other cats. Then one of my old partners, my boy Jason, he had an MP and he kind of like showed me how to use an MP or whatever. I still wasn't nice. As a matter of fact, I didn't even know how to make beats. Shout out to Mano. When Mano first came home, me and my boy gave him a beat or whatever. And I didn't know how to make beats. I just knew that, like how to like the ideas and how to put it together or whatever. And the thing is, everybody knew me. Like, I'm like, shout out to Duke, Duke the God. That's like my big bro. He kind of like gave me my first chance like running around in the buildings and play beats or whatever. So I'm running around with Duke in the office and whatever. And I didn't really know how to make beats yet, but they think I got the fire beat or that shit fire. Well, my boy Jason, he was like the brain. He was like, you know what I'm saying? I'm just telling him like, yo, sample this. We're not going to sample old school. We're going to sample movies because the movies be having some fire shit. So I remember I even bought this record. What movies? The Van Helsing. And we're just sampling stuff from Van Helsing or whatever. Something got placed on there. I ain't even going to mention it because they didn't even clay that shit. So yeah. And I was that. Then like, I started getting busy on the beats because my boy, he felt kind of like he kind of felt the way that we would be like in the building and everybody like, you know, gravitate to you and he would be in the back and he's like, man, I'm thinking of making the beats. Everybody fuck with this thing. So he kind of like, I am bad at it. So he kind of like started like ducking me and doing a little weird shit. Then he went and signed a deal without telling me or whatever. And they asked him, it was like, yo, what's up with the boy? You're part of nothing. And he said, no, I'm the one that do all this shit and all that. He put you out there like he just be buying the records and putting the money up and or whatever. And once I heard that, I said, oh, watch this. I said, what? What? I bought my Triton. I bought my MP all that shit in like a month. I used to work at, I had to have nine or five. I used to work at Sheraton and shit. I was taking money from the parking lot. Actually, bread, get extra money. You get some more equipment. And after that, I just turned up and I don't even think he made beats anymore and shit. I'm saying he been wrapped that up like 10 years ago. He done it. And look at you. Yeah. So, okay. So coming off of that, what was like, what were you doing that gravitated the attention of like Soulja Boy? Because I think that was like your first big place, right? Yo, everything was just, it was just like, y'all was making beats for like, I was in my crib, my mom's room, like a savage. Hot ass little room cooking like crazy. But I was cooking for the wrong purpose. For me, I was just thinking about that bread. I'm like, nah, this nigga got 50 bands. Timbo got like 400. Swiss got like 600. I was like, nah, I'm just cooking. But it wasn't clicking. So it was like, end of the summer towards like September or something like that. And I said, yo man, if I don't sell a beat, I was like, I don't even care about the bread. I was like, I just want to hit one of these motherfuckers on my beat. I'm like, yo God, fuck the money, just make one of these niggas pick my shit. And around like, it was before Halloween, my boy Rock. And Rock hit me, my boy Rock. I was like, yo, I got Soulja Boy email. I said, man, what that shit? I was like, I think it's making bad. Yo, I was like, he's making bad ringtone music. I said, man, I ain't got no ringtone beats. All my beats is like, hard trap shit or whatever, whatever. I was like, Soulja Boy ain't gonna fuck my shit. He said, all right. I sent Soulja five beats. He recorded all five of them joints. Like me and Soulja, we, like, you could ask him. He probably for God. We got like, we did like 50 records. Oh, yeah. I was just sending him beats only. Every time I sent him a beat, that nigga wrote some shit. So that means Soulja got some shit in his bag. You know what I'm saying? Towards his album, The Andre Way, whatever, I think I produced like four or five records on there. And I did the joint with him in 50. And after that, the album flopped. That shit did like 11K. Before the numbers came in, I was like, baby Jesus. Because nigga was like, yo, this nigga all record all over Soulja album. That shit gon' flatten on Soulja this. But before the album came out, this nigga just started getting mad, trouble, cat stacks. Yeah, that was like 2010. I said, damn, this nigga that gon' fucking do those fucking numbers. So when that 11K hit, I had, before that, I had a bunch of publishing companies hitting me up. My boy Walter Jones, shout out to Walter. Walter was here and then when it flopped, I used to have a thing when shit go back, I run the DR. My aunt and I created it and just hide. So I flew the DR for like three months. I fucking grew a beard and shit. I was looking crazy. Yeah. So I was just hiding. I was in Twitter just watching people tweet or whatever. And I hit, I hit Walter. I was still making beats out there. And I hit Walter. I was like, yo, bro, I got this beat. I think Kanye, it was a sample. I was like, yo, I think Kanye was doing whatever. He's like, well, that's crazy. My boy, my boy Stephen Victor, he managed Pusha T. They over there and where Kanye went. Hawaii, one of them shit. He said over there working right now. I think Kanye was working on deep fantasy and some shit. He said over there right now, I can send it to them or whatever. I said, yo, hell yeah. So he sent Stephen to beat and Stephen took my email and hit me direct. He seems like, yo, beat. I'm boy, man. I managed Pusha. Yo, you got more beats? I said, yeah. He said, beat you sent fire. Yo, send some more shit. I just sent a bunch of shit. He's like, yo, you fired. Who managed you? I was like, nobody. He said, yo, I'm going to manage you. You heard? I was like, what? I was like, this nigga with Kanye and Pusha. I was like, let's get it. It's crazy because I know that you said things lead into each other, but even in that one story, there was so many names that connected dots for things that you did. Okay. So you went to DR to like get away after the album flop. Was that like something that you did? Like, do you feel like in your early stages, you got discouraged easily? No, not really. So it wasn't out of discouragement? No, it was just like, let me get out of here, man, and regroup. And I'm saying, okay, let that 11 cake rumor die down real quick. But you want to know it was crazy that that's such a big part of your story, because if you look your name, it's the first things that come up. Before me, before I said Soju Beats, Soju wasn't rapping on no gangsta shit. Mm-hmm. From my knowledge, you know what I'm saying? Like, I don't remember Soju on like trap beats, talking about choppers and shit. I was saying, I used to be a big Soju Boy fan. I'm not going to lie. One of my favorite songs is SpongeBob that whole. He was, he was singing on SpongeBob track. So I think that I think that that's fair to say, honestly. Okay. So then we worked as an A and R. So where did that come in? That's way out. Okay. So we have to fill in the gap between Yeah. After like you working with Soju. After Soju, I'll start working with Pusher because of Steven. So me and Pusher started rocking. And then I have boom. So boom, right? Steven got to give a gap. Mm-hmm. So he started like some, I don't know what he did, but while I'm in DR, everybody started hitting me. After I spoke to Steve, everybody started hitting me. All the like publishers that wasn't trying to fuck me no more. Mm-hmm. Everybody was hitting me. Then they was like, oh, um, Pusher got this, Pusher and Kanye got this kid over there cooking all the beats. Some Kidney Rico. I was even there. I think that Steven started some shit. So like all the publishing companies started there. Walter was the IB. If you're going to fuck with Steve, if you're going to fuck with Sony or whatever, you know, that's my, so I signed with Walter over there. Then after that, they flew me to Miami. I was there for like three months working on, what was that, Pusher album? Mm-hmm. The one with I think it's my name, my name. Yeah, my name is my name. So I was working over there for like three months, me and the dream, like the album that came out, mm-hmm. That's not what we did. Like me and the dream produced it. So. So after Kanye heard it, he just took that whole shit apart. Chopped everything off. I had like 10 records. Me and Dream did like 10, 15 records on there. I ended up with one. Mm-hmm. 40 records. Yeah. I did mad records on that. So let me ask you something because I know I jumped the timeline a little bit with the A&R thing, but something I really wanted to touch on was the timeline between you working with Soja in 2010, putting out the song with Nicki and Lil Wayne that came out on the album in April of 2012. And then Exodus that came out in May of 2012. Which one came before? Pink Friday came out first. Where? Exodus came out, then Wayne's Rain's response came out after that. So I wanted to touch, talk that. Take three. Touch base on you about that because I know while you were working with Soja Boy, that's when you got the first inquiry about working with Nicki, right? That's what I heard. With Soja, nah. I was good friends with Safari. Safari. That was my boy. College and shit. All right. So somebody got to get their fashion. Because what I read was that while you were working with Soja, that was when you got your first inquiry about working with Nicki. And you said, hold on, because let me tell you what they saying out there. That you said that you couldn't work with Nicki because you had your hands tied with Soja. And I was like, I needed to ask you about that. I literally wanted to make sure that I talked to you about that because it's no way that you turned Nicki down for Soja. Safari hit me. He was like, yo, bro, send some beats. I'm going to get you on the next project. And there was in New York, yo, I cooked up like, yo, Nicki, she dangerous. I said so, but she don't play. I cooked up like 100 beats. Yeah. And she only shows one. She ain't like, yo, what's that? What's that? What's that? So Safari corn is like, yo, bro, I'm like, yo, bro, I said like 30 beats, bro. I was like, what she want? What she want? So like the bang bang, I swear to God, that was like some like a fuck she want. Like I just did some bullshit. Like something that I know like her type of flow. Like I said, she want this shit. She want this type of bullshit. That's when they said I add the little shit. And I was like, what? Yeah. I mean, that was like I even like that beat. I was like, what the fuck? And it's crazy because that was like one of the biggest songs on album too. With Lil Wayne. Yeah. Like with Lil Wayne. So how did it feel? Pink Friday drop Roman reloaded drop a month after Exodus Exodus drop coming at young money coming at Wayne. She crazy. How did that feel to you? Did you feel like because an important part of that too is Wayne's response was fuck Pusha D and everybody that fuck with him. So what was your reaction after finding out about that? No lie. No lie. Pusha my bro. That's like my day one. You know what I'm saying? We've been cool for like probably like 20 years. I didn't care. The first thing that came in my mind was like damn son. I ain't going to get no record with Drake. I ain't going to get no record with no more record with Wayne. I said, yo, it's over. I already knew it. I said, yes. Right. I'm never going to get nothing over there. That's what I was really tight about. I was like, fuck it with these these my men's. I was like, oh boy. So did you feel like it hurt any of your like business? Yeah. Yeah. Fuck yeah. Did you see it outwardly or was it something and shit? I felt the vibes. Like they knew like I would be pushing niggas don't be fucking like that. You know what I'm saying? Some of them like, you know what I mean? Shot to vinyls. That's my boy. Vinyls cool. But some other ones that's really deep in it. I don't really care. I don't really think it's it's like their personal shit. If nobody if no shots fired, nobody getting hurt, nobody rumbling. I don't really understand that. It's not real beef. It's like I think it's like some music shit or whatever it is. I don't really think it's like well, I don't be big pushers. I don't I don't be around push for him. So that's why I want to take cash in series. It'd be like it's like, you know, rap, little rap personal stuff between them. I feel like I could understand not I can understand but I think what's funny is the sample went crazy. The ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. Yo, that was that was like dream. That really went crazy. And dream like dream. That's what he do. He's like play football. You like playing NFL. So he'll go in the booth, do his thing and go downstairs play video games for like two hours. He'll hum something in the booth for like an hour. He'll hum a whole record. No words. Then go down, play his little video games. Go back and just fill in the whole record. A true musician. So while he was doing that, he's like, man, what you doing? Nigga? Nigga? Nigga? Nigga? Nigga? Nigga? Nigga? Nigga? Nigga? Nigga? Nigga? Nigga? Nigga? Nigga? Nigga? Nigga? Nigga? Nigga? Nigga? Nigga? Nigga? Nigga? Nigga? Nigga? Nigga? Nigga? Nigga? Nigga? Nigga? Nigga? Nigga? Nigga? He sent it to me, but the beat, the exodus beat is not the beat, it's not the original beat I did. Like Dream, that beat was so freaking dark and demonic, it was so up, it was mad, other sounds in there. Dream was like nah, Dream said it's too much going on, he just like took out this, he just took out mad. I think he kept like one, two sounds. Yeah, I mean it definitely didn't help the situation that the song that you sampled was What's Beef. So it all seemed very intentional. Yeah, I was like I'm a troublemaker. Yeah man, like even with the Nicki record, it was around the time when they were saying yo, Nicki's pop, she's going super pop, she's not rapping, I remember Flex was saying it and like a week later she dropped Bang. So I had, so it's just like, if you got like beef, you want some beef shit. She said Nicki pop, only thing that's pop is my endorsement, she made it known. She made it known and you had a hand in that too. Okay, so, all right, so after you worked with Nicki, you still continued on working with Pusha. Yeah, I went ghost. Yeah, I went ghost. You were still doing a lot and you were hands on and don't make that face, you have a lot of records that you're attached to. Yeah, I used to work with Ryan Lezzi too, that's my boy. You want to know what surprised me that you had a part in Tamar Braxton's album. I had a hit with her with my brother TC, what up? Tamar Down in Love and War was one of my favorite albums, so like, I was like, wow, the versatility really like spoke for itself, especially when... Yeah, because like, I tell people, R&B is like my first shit, I like R&B. Mm-hmm. I just got caught up in a rap, like I worked with Dream, me and Dream, we did some shit. So you, and the Dream, I was a big Dream fan too. Let's go. Listen, Fast Car was on repeat so much, not even like the mainstream songs, I was very much a, yeah, so you said that you got caught up in a rap. Why was that? Because the request, the demand was high? Yeah, like the people I was around, like I wanted to be on some R&B type vibes, but my surroundings is just like, you know, so I just got stuck in the rap shit. So what point did you stop sending out like beat packs and then people start coming to you for beats? Yo, you want to know the real truth about beat packs? Ask, anyway, you can ask my man, Wayne, no, shout out to Wayne, no, man. I'll make, I'll make six beats for the year. Six for the year? Yeah. I don't make beats, I don't be in the, I don't just be like, that was the early, my early stages. No, I know, but I'm saying, I don't, I don't like beat, like somebody asked for a beat pack today, and I said, yo, bro, I don't even do that, like I'll pull up on you or in the studio, we could cook it up. But, but it was, it hasn't always been like that, so that's why I'm saying at what point were you able to? Even when it was like that, I would have like six, 10 beats, and I would send it to like 50 freaking artists and just say, you pick it up. Yeah, because I make beats off of mood. I gotta be in the mood to like, you know what I'm saying? Like, I'm not just gonna, oh, today is Monday, I gotta make 10 beats for the date, nah. Now, is that something that you also practice when it comes to the producers that you manage? Because I know that you have a hand in two other producers, you know, which we'll get to. But do you like recommend for them to send out beat packs or do you let them like, yeah? They do what they want. So do you think that it's helpful for producers to send out beat packs? Yo, don't watch me. Y'all better send them beat packs out. You feel me? I'm just like, I'm just my own world. So it's very much a do what I say. But if I like, like when I like an artist, like somebody that's fired, I'll cook up. Okay. I'll send that. Like, you know what I'm saying? I'll be like, yo, yo, I need to get in with bro. Like, let's, let's see your future or some shit or whatever. I'll cook that shit up. But I'm not just going to be in the crib just cooking beats and just like waiting for someone to ask you for a beat pack. Okay. So before your name started like blowing up, did you have a list of people that you wanted to work with like throughout the stand of your career? Or was it just like you were willing to work with whoever you really fucked with as time progressed? I was trying a lot. I was trying to like work with yay. I was trying to get that yay, yay circle hard. You know what I mean? Fuck with push it. That's a circle. Like it's hard to catch it. And I kind of learned like, boom, I took a little bit from a body. Like, you know what I'm saying? That's why I'll be ghost. I'll be like, yo, you be ghost. You don't come outside. You don't do this. You don't do that. It's because like the people that I grew up idolizing or whatever and around like dream, you don't see dream outside and not a lot of shit. He's very locating. You know what I'm saying? Kanye be popping out. But it's not like before that, like nobody can meet yay. You know what I'm saying? You can't just walk in and say, oh, Kanye. You know what I'm saying? So I kind of like ran with that. Like, man, I'm going to be low key. It looked like that low key shit lit. Like when you pop out like this, you know, ghost. It gives a lot. It leaves a lot to be desired. What are you guys going on? I want to be everywhere. It's just like when Dream told me one time, don't be one of the producers. That's on every album trying to be on this out. He said, yo, be on the ones that's going to change your life that counts. You know what I'm saying? The shit that's going to change your life. Those are the ones you chase. So basically, like he'll basically say, like, nigga, you better chase them Beyonce records. Like that's right. On everything. That's cool. If you want to do that, I'm not knocking kids that do that. We are thing. But yeah, you want to get the placements that's going to get you out the hood, get your family good. Not just these kids that got like 50 placements and it's still in the hood. That's it. Yeah, that's true. So I mean, it seemed like a lot of people gave you like some good words of advice and had their hands in your career as you were growing up. Is there anything that you were told or that you learned throughout the way that still stands by you and like kind of helps you navigate the way that you handle business now? I'm kind of hard headed. There's a lot of stuff people told me. I wish I followed. I felt that. I'll be wallowing. Not I'll be wallowing. A lot of good advice. People gave me I just. Okay, so since there's a lot, what's like the top three things that you wish that you would have practiced or taken into more account that you didn't pay taxes. Oh, they got you. They got you real bad by that laugh. He don't play. Yeah. And I was getting into this stuff. Steven should tell me like, yo, man, you are spending all that bread, man. Wilding man. I bet pay taxes, man. Don't be moving. Like they'll be blowing all this bread and you do the job. I was like, yeah, yeah, yeah. Uncle Sam. 10 years later. 10 years later. 10 years later. You probably wasn't even thinking about it. But what did you think? So nobody like, well, I guess he put you on. He told you. But what you thought you was the golden one. Yeah. They wasn't going to come for you. Hey, you took money. It was like 10 years of finding a brother. I was chilling. I hate that for you. That's O.D. 10 years of built up taxes. Gold was crazy. All right. So let's continue the timeline. So what came next after you said you took a little break? Mm-hmm. Industry is so fake I had to. Ooh. Yeah. That's a very loaded statement. No, it's a fact. I mean, we know. I mean, it is a fact. It's a fact. We know this. That was the first time I learned like if you not, you know, everybody your friend, everybody next to you when you got, when you got a motion, when you like a part of some shit that's like moving and whatever. So everybody going to tap in. Yo, what up? Yo, what up? Yo, what up? That little motion slows down. Mm-hmm. All of like I used to get, like this wrapper that's like big rappers right now like these niggas just call my phone. Like what I, ugh, real quick pull up there, pull up there. And then it was. Yeah. Once your motion stopped then once I peep, I'm like, oh, these niggas ain't, oh, these niggas ain't shit friends. These is fucking. Mm-hmm. What'd you say? No friends in these? So I'm like, you know what, let me, let me go ghost. And you stay away from these niggas. So, okay. Okay, so you noticed the change once things started slowing down from the people that you thought was like Yeah, I moved to LA after that. That's why I went Super Ghost. Okay, you moved to LA? Were you making any moves out there? You said you were Ghost, but I didn't know if you were still cooking up. I was cooking up. But it was, I wasn't cooking up for no purpose. It was just because I wanted to like make beats. I wasn't trying to like send beats to nobody. Okay. None of that. Then around that time, Stephen hit me, he sent me a song. First, he had asked me for some beats and I sent him like a couple of beats. Then like a couple of days later, he sent me a song. It's just funny. He sent me a song. Oh, I thought you was about to start. Now he sent me a song and I was like, oh, shit. I said, yo, future on my joint. I said, that's future. And he not replying. I said, yo, son, I'm playing it. I'm like, yo, shit, that's future. I said, it's that future. Shit, I'm like, yo, bro, that's future. That's future. He said, nah, be this kid designer. I said, what? I said, what? It's designer. My man, that's my boy, honey. That's my boy. It's just facts. You feel me? That's the first time I heard it. So I'm like, I thought I had a record with future. Okay. So what was your reaction when he told you it was designer? I was like, what the fuck is that, bro? He said, trust me, beat his kid and it up. And I listened to the song again. I'm like, all right. I don't know what I don't really know what bro's saying. But the niggas sound like future vibes. I'm like, yo, and I told him, I said, yo, bro, that shit might bust cause he saw like future be like, you might do your thing. So was this before or after Panda was like? That's before he ain't dropped Panda yet. So obviously that's why you know he dropped. No, he ain't dropped Panda yet. And that's why you didn't know who he was yet. But you already knew that he sounded like future before it became a thing. I thought I had a record with future. You feel me? So when I told Steve, I said, he going to do his thing. Yeah, do your thing. I was like, yeah. And I think Steve signed him the year and, and bro went diamond. So, hey, what's up? So is that what got you back outside? Or were you still after that? So, so what got you like back on it? My boy Wolf, shout out to Wolf. My boy Wolf. Wolf hit me like, yo, bro, check out. He was like, yo, check out these kids. My little homies from the 90s, Bobby and Rowdy. And he said, check this video out. And I seen it. I said, it was shit hard. Then I sent it to Pusher. And I said, yo, look at these kids, whatever. And your Pusher's like, yo, what is this different? He said, yo, listen, B, I don't know what you doing in Cali. So Pusher told me, I don't know if you remember. He's like, I don't know what you doing in LA. But you need to get your ass back to Brooklyn. Download us. And get on your Manny fresh shit and like produce these little kids right here and da, da, da. And I was like, well, because I wasn't doing that in LA, but smoking weed, weed and just nothing. So I went to the town and I don't even know nobody from the 90s. And I walked and my boy, my boy cousin was with me. And he's like, yo, they be over here in the backyard. So I just walk in the backyard. I ain't know nobody. In the 90s. Yeah. Shout out to Smith Money, my man, Smith. I saw Smith. And I was like, yo, I say, yo, Bobby right here. And Smith's like, yo, who are you? He right. I say, yo, my name Rico. And I was like, yo, I'm from the Floors. My name Rico and shit. He say, oh, nah, I think I know you cuss. I heard of you cuss and shit. He say, yo, Bobby, nah, he said, Roddy and I'm not here. Da, da, da, da. And shit. But what's up? And I was like, yo, they fire. I want to bring them to Steve and see what's up. My boy Steven. And he's like, yo, not Roddy, not here right now. Da, da, da. Then I, as I had bet, then I called. I hit up Shaw Money. Shout out to Shaw Money too. And I hit up Shaw. I was like, yo, bro, look at this video. And Shaw was like, I ain't going to front. Shaw didn't move. He's like, all right, da, da, da. Because the video's not a million views yet. And I'm just going crazy. I'm like, yo, Shaw, look at this shit, bro. Shaw didn't say nothing. Then the week go by, I think it started going crazy. Then Shaw hit me like, yo, what up with them kids? Yo, da, da, da. I said, yo, bro, I forgot what. I said, I don't know, man. And I hit Steve. I said, if Shaw hit me or something like that. And I think we linked up in the city with all of them. And it was like performing in studio, playing the records. And Steve was like, what the fuck is this? Like, you know, Bobby, that's been Bobby was wild. Bobby was Bobby. You feel me? And Roddy was, you know what I mean? Steve was like, oh shit, like this shit is crazy. Steve was like, I don't understand what this is, but it's fire. Yeah, it sure was. It was a Tom. I still say now. Steve was trying to get them to sign it. Yeah, that was like, that was our main. Because, you know, yeah, it was like the biggest name we knew. Well, you know what I'm saying? Well, Steve, that's Steve, man. So everything we had, we'd be like, yo, play that shit for you or whatever. And Steve was like, yo, I'm about to play this shit for you, man. But I don't know what happened after that. I mean, yeah, that was really a Tom. I still say now that I feel like when it comes to like New York anthems, computers is definitely one of them. That was just a completely different Tom. The bros are stamped. Like Bobby Roddy, they got to have their own little statue for that time. You feel me? Because when they turned it up. They sure did. They changed the shit. They put Brooklyn. Definitely put Brooklyn back on the map. Crazy, Bobby, Roddy, what? So they got you back outside. Fake back outside facts. Okay. So I have to ask you. Did I want to go again? You just love going. Go three, go happen and be them. Then my bros got locked. I said, damn man. Like what the fuck? You feel me? So once they got like, I said, yo, I'm out here and back to Cali. So I went back to Cali. How are you going back? Okay. So let me ask you, why were you on this topic of Bobby and Roddy real quick? How do you feel about Bobby's music post release? I think people should do whatever makes them happy. What makes them happy? Like 10 years ago, he was doing that music. It's 10 years ago. So he probably, I'll grew that. Like, you know what I'm saying? That's probably not his vibe. Bobby's an entertainer. That's broke. I wish bro could be in some mood. Like Bobby could be a good actor. He has a lot of personality. He's very vibrant. Movies, you know what I'm saying? Like Bobby's like a star. So like, it's a difference with rappers and stars and shit. You know what I'm saying? Are there rappers and they stars? Like pop to me was not a rapper. Oh, he was definitely a star. I think that's undebatable. So like, yeah. So when people be like, yo, yo, this nigga nice. My boy nice. This person nice. And they be thinking like, oh, now I don't want to sign nobody or this. I'm that. Mm hmm. Y'all can't expect. I just had pop smoke. So y'all expect me to just go manage like a regular. Not trying to disrespect. But if I don't feel it, that's the thing with me. If I don't feel it, I can't vision it. Mm hmm. It's not right. It's not right. So two things that I want to follow up from that. The first is what do you think? Like what are the things that you look for when you identify a star? Like what are the qualities of a star to you? Yo, I learned that with pop. Like, I didn't know. I learned a lot of stuff dealing with pop. Like, I used to think, yeah, you got bars, you lit. You should get signed because you rapping because you got nice. You got punchlines. I used to think that was the shit. You feel me? Then when I met bro, bro said same thing probably every other song. But it's how he said it and how he made people feel. He had little kids, third graders chasing them. Yeah. Second graders with a braids like them chasing them in the street. Grown men with a braids like them too. You feel me? Yeah. Gangsters dancing. You know what I'm saying? Yeah. People changing their voice to regular to deep. That's the fucking start. You got to sign them or fucking like that. So that's my brother. So yes, our people how what are some New York artists now? And I can list off a few. Maybe we could do it that way. But what are some New York artists now that you feel like have that star quality? Like who would you call a star that's coming out of New York right now? Right right now. You know who I think got this? It's a few of them. Yo, honestly, all these kids, they could be stars in their own type of world. They just not these kids, a lot of these kids, man, they just miss like they don't got the right guidance. You know what I mean? Like they get their deals and shit. It's cool. But it's a lot of them. I don't see they got that right person in the studios telling them like, yo, now I don't do that. Like, yo, switch up the beat. Get on a different vibe. Now, don't don't don't don't say don't rap about smoking on nobody today. Let's let's rap about money and chicks and oh shit. They don't got that. So they just be in the studio put the beat on and just not put the beat on. Yeah, but I think Dougie Dougie. I think Dougie's a star. He just bro just be dealing with a lot of life situations. But I think if you could clear his shit up bro cut like Dougie could really I could shake. He could shake New York up, man. This is the energy. He got his personality. A lot of these kids don't got that. It's very infectious and you can tell that he loves what he does. I mean, it's boring. Yeah, and they do it for the wrong reasons kind of to like what you were saying when you said that when you first started producing you were doing it for the bag and not because you're doing it for the right reasons. I feel like a lot of artists now. They see what a lot of other artists are getting or what they think that a lot of artists are getting and they're doing it because they want to get the money and want to get the cloud, the attention, but not because they actually want to do it. I feel like somebody like Dougie. You could tell that he really, really. Yeah. Okay. So who else you want me to like shoot off some people? Yeah. All right. Um, but we talked about earlier. I spice. You said she what she got it right now. She got it right now. So she's a star. She's not ice. Don't I don't know what I saying you don't know what she's saying I'm saying like I don't pay attention. Like she she got it. She you know I'm saying her voice her little whatever her her little melodies about the melodies and how you sound yo like you know what else I look at how a person sound on a beat. Mm hmm. How your voice. Oh, she's a lot of beat. Exactly. One thing about ice is she can write a sound how she sound on all these beats. Mm hmm. Doing her thing. That's her lane. She now even considered her drill artist. Yeah. I think she's very well I would you don't consider her artist. I feel like she gives bad bitch drill. No, you know what drill is. So what? Yeah, I was about to ask you. So what is your artist to you? What's drill to me? I feel like it's hardcore beats for me. I'm very much a drill is the beat and not the lyrics will drill come from Chicago. I know they're very much hardcore. We smoking on this. We shooting this up. Very much. We're outside going on a drill. I know that that's where it came from. You gotta say like UK drill. Mm hmm. UK drill and drill is two different things. Mm hmm. You know what I'm saying? New York is doing UK drill. They're not doing drill. Okay. Keith is drill dirt. Herbal. That's drill. So are you saying? Okay. So before I ask this follow up question. So to you, what is the difference between Chicago drill and UK drill since they're two different things? I was just a beat. Just a beat. Yeah. Okay. I had changed in the, in like the timing of the kick and the snares. That's it. But okay. They're rapping about the same, same shit. So you think that a drill song is based on the content of the song. Yeah. The lyrics. Yeah. And a beat. Yeah. Okay. So Ice Face is not a drill artist to you because she doesn't rap about. Even though her beats is not hard and she be, she be rapping on some, some cool shit. You don't think so? I feel like it's adapted to like her sound. But I feel like this is just making you buy. It's not like drill. But I feel like a lot of the drill like is the doon doon like that, that deep bass. And I feel like she has that cause I, I don't know. I feel like they're artists right now. It's that song. What's that song? That's out. Not too much on my girl, Ice. Could you let her do that? With that girl? Who? With that fucking drill. Well, I mean, but that's not, but that's not a drill song because the boys alive was already a song. She just put ice on it. You can't, you can't. And she did her thing. She did. You can't really do that with a lot of other drill rappers. I've been in the studio with kids. You put another beat. If it's not, they don't know what to do. They don't even, they can't even put, they can't even write their name. Okay. So let me ask you something. So, but why can't she be a star in a draw? I never said she was in a star. No, no, no, no. You said she was a star, but I'm saying, why can't she be a star in a draw artist? Why you want to attack drill? I'm not attacking anybody. Attach the drill. She's a star. That's it. Boom. Okay. Cause I think that I was not going to say pop is a star. Drill pop is a star. That's it. But would you consider pop to be a draw artist? Is what would you consider pop to be a draw artist? No, pop had different records. Okay. He is very versatile. I mean, All right. We don't get that. My boy was singing. We wasn't just doing. Cause a lot of people, a lot of people with pop's name, especially when it comes to the New York drill movement. This is a whole different drill. That drill now is not what we were doing. So if you had to call it something, what would you call it? The shit right now? No, what you were doing with pop? I think it was like, pop was making people feel good. Like a melodic? Yeah. He was like a melodic gangsta feel good shit. Like, you know what I mean? Like, it wasn't like demonic and it ain't make you want to fucking go spend a block and smoking on nothing. You doing this. You dancing. You, I don't know. See, that's so interesting. It feels different. That's why I don't really, I do it is right now or whatever. But else to tell you, I don't really like drill shit right here. Oh, I know. I saw it in one of your comments that you were like, somebody needs to tell these kids the drill is like, you said drill is not it or something you said like that. I think it reached. And let me clear it. Not, not putting none of the kids down. This is what they do to like get their bread and get out the hood. I'm all for it. I ain't knocking none of that. I'm happy for all the kids. I'm friends with most of them little kids, but I think it reached like. It's plateau. Yeah. We think that it's. Yeah. How many kids got platinum plaques? Oh, we just had the number on. K fly free K fly. She just went. Yeah, she just went. Yeah. So is that you think that? Yeah, I wasn't saying. All right. So it's like. And how many artists we got in New York? Like five, five million. So out of five million drill artists in New York, because they saw they saw they sign a kid every Tuesday. Every Tuesday I show on the gram. I see a kid. They'd be like eight, nine, seven, six every Tuesday, a drill artist getting signed. Yeah. But does that mean that it's really over? Or do you think that it's just? What's lit? What sounds you hear on the radio right now? We're not talking about spice in there. Okay. Cause I was. What drill record? What shit that you hear? They playing nonstop. It depends. Yeah. I was going to say it depends on what radio station you listen into to be honest. You're not hearing nobody. Shout out to Druski for spending a record of the New York sound. Some of the kids got stuff that you could play on the radio that I hear like shy. I got a couple of joints on a couple of dudes, man, but then the radio is not playing. But you know what I think is interesting though for you is you're somebody like a big part of your story. The first thing we talked about one of the first things we talked about was you being a part of soldier boys album that flopped and you didn't take that and say, I'm not going to produce anymore. Like you went in my A for a little bit, but you didn't stop what you were doing. You evolved your sound and kept working on your craft until it went somewhere that you felt was marketable and people gravitated towards. So why can't it be the same thing? Like I'm type. Do I like to pay homage to like people that help me shout out to chasing cash and hit boy like when I was shot. Yeah, it was a period of my career. I was in Atlanta. I used to drive to Atlanta and I said, and I used to do stakeouts by studios. Me and my boy Marv. I used to be in the car with a beat CD and shit. Nice. Just like anybody. I see it's a dedication for me. Yeah. I used to just run up and that's how I met Chase. He was coming down a hill going to Zach Studios. And I just ran up on him. I'm like, yo, you chase this because I used to see him on Twitter and he'll tell you. He's like, yeah. He's like, yo, I see on Rico. I got beats. He said, yo, bro, I ain't no manager. I'm Rico. I got beat. He said, I ain't no manager, but yo, I'll put the word out and shit. Like I said, yo, bro, I'll follow you on Twitter and shit out of town. He said, all right, yo, fuck. He's like, yo, fuck with me. Then I started hanging with Chase in Atlanta for a little bit and he was about to go back to LA. And he said, yo, we're about to move back to Cali. Me and hip boy and shit. He said, anytime you're in Cali, hit me up and fuck with us. Then I took a trip out there. One time I hit him. I'm like, yo, bro, I'm in Cali. He said, what? Did he get out of the party? We want some dirty shit tonight. I said, oh, that's why I moved to LA because of that. Oh, shit. I heard about them did parties. Yeah. Then I went to that and Chase introduced me to like a bunch of people from Interscope that was there and shit like that. So, so, okay. And love that, but also want to circle back real quick because like I was saying, you did not give up on your sound and what you were doing. Even though the first thing that you had like you were heavily involved in flopped. So despite the fact that nobody in New York has become platinum yet, why do you think that that should be a measure of where drill like has come or where should end based on metrics? You don't think all right. In reality, right? We do. We do you do your work because you love it. Mm hmm. But you also want to get paid. Of course. All right. So like I just see like, all right. If nobody going platinum, nobody got nobody on the radio. Nobody's like really in the charts. Where the bread at? But we just talked about not doing stuff. But of course, getting ready is good. I mean, of course, it's kids. These kids. Yeah. Bread at why my boys ain't, you know what I'm saying? So like, so it's just not. Okay, like you feel me and I tell a lot of a couple of us here, if y'all do other beats, you might get attention of a little dirt or somebody else, a little baby of one of these guys, because they'll be quicker to jump on that than a drill beat. You know what I'm saying? Because that's not their shit. You know what I'm saying? That's not they're like floated. Like if they hear a hot ass song or some nigga in New York that's popping in the beat is like a regular track, people are going to jump on that shit. So do you think that the way they probably try to catch it and it's not going to be that. So do you think that the way we went like Nikki and the city girls like when like the mainstream artists will happen on a drill beat? So you think that that's what was that around the time that you felt like it was starting to not around that time? Like you told my way. Um, Cardi and Doug, you know, well, Cardi and then it was also Nikki and it was, it was, it had life. It was a little life there. Okay. But then nothing happened after that. You know what I'm saying? Okay. So you think that the way is trying to now guess what? It got to that because of what you just said it. Nikki Cardi. If they didn't jump on that, would it be that? I mean, I think so because that was already I feel like they got on it because of where that record will be. It would have made that. I don't think it would have gotten that big, but it was already like, yeah, it was already I'm just trying to tell you when you take the outside big artists, that's not drill. Whatever you want to call it. They make sure go and I hear you and I'm sorry. Why not try to make more songs for these type of artists, right? Jump on your shit and y'all can have more platinum plaques and you know, and I hear you and I'm going to let it go. But I would just argue that the reason why they hopped on those tracks was because of what people were doing in New York to get their attention. Yeah. So it had to have been working. Sometimes people jump on shit man. Sometimes these artists get on a record just because just they want to be down. It's just like it's a trend. A word drill is popping. Oh shit. Let me who the hottest drill artist a word. Let me jump on that. It's not like they I like to give a fuck about all they like to shit. They just want to be part of it. It's like a part of the way to be part of the mix. Yeah, it's a whole mix. It's music games mix. So if the mix is drilled and everybody talking about drilling New York, they're going to want to be in that mix. So it's not like they love the shit and not like they think it's fine because when they dropped the album, how many drill beats on there? Exactly. Points were made. So you're saying that the drill wave is just slowly. It's slowly on somebody like. I don't know man. Hold on hold on hold on hold on hold on holiday. Hold on holiday. Hold on hold on hold on hold on hold on hold on hold on. All right. Since you just said all right. Yes, you pushed your album back. I was reading press releases and stuff saying November November put the song out with shiny put the song out with for wine. Who are clearly drill artists. Yeah, for one get busy shot to the boys. Shout out to for wine. Facts. Now I wanted to talk to you about this because why was it? Why? What was it about Shawnee's record that made you put that make that your debut song from your project? She bodied it. And I love that beat. So it was hard. So did you already do you have all of the songs in the talk and you were just selecting which ones you wanted to release? Okay. So we know Shawnee. We know for one. Can you give us any other hints about who's on album? I got shy. Okay. Busy banks. Dread woo. Be love because I saw you had put out those those samples. Yesterday was savage a boogie. Okay. Huh? Shiggy black. DCG boys. Skilly Skilly baby. Oh, it's killer baby. We love the baby mellow bucks. You have a lot of like New York. Okay. See your bank robona. It's a bunch. Um, 2626. They are see Rico. Vory. Oh, okay. My boy chip. What up chip? So Rico, how dare you say that drill is. Who said that's a drill beat though? Oh, so you switching it up with the drill. I told you I had to push the album back. Oh, okay. All right. I can't even be mad at that. But you know what? So the be love song that you teased did not sound. It didn't sound like a drill beat. It sounded like a sample, but it didn't sound like a drill. The shot song that you tease though. It still gave me very much drill vibes. Yeah, I wanted to keep that. I didn't want to change that because shot sound good on it. Mm hmm. So I said, I'm gonna leave shot on that. Oh, so you have them stepping out. They come for zone. I'm very about this. They didn't even know. You know what I did? I just I took the vocals and I just took the old drill beats out and I produced new beats around the vocals. That's like my drill. That's what I did with the city black record. It was a hard drill record that me and mellow did. And after that, I just took that off and I sound like some regular shit. Now, are you doing this with them knowing that or is this? I tell them after. Okay. Like I just played busy banks, his record. He didn't hear that version version. He knew was the drill when he did. And what he said? I see them the other day. He said, oh, shit, fire. He said, oh, shit, fire. I'll fuck with it. Okay. We gonna know what he doing. I just want to show them how they sound on other beats. I still fire. I just don't got to do that. I could do this and that people hear them clearly. Like you could hear each word so much better. Mm hmm. When you put them on like a comma beat or whatever without all the noise going around and all the shit. Mm hmm. I feel like a lot of artists also give every complacent in their sound once they get like a large attention off of what they're doing. So they don't want to step outside of their comfort zone. So that's good. So now you have been trending lately. Um, not you specifically, but a conversation that you have with a fan has been trending. Yo, that kid set me up. Do you feel like he set you up or do you feel like he was going to ask you? I talk, I try to talk to every fan pop fan for one reason, because pop used to be talking to his fans crazy on the ground. And I see you like, yo, bro, why are you talking to these motherfuckers? He's a show. I love my fans. Yeah. I say what? I'll talk to him. He's not a pop impersonation. Really. I talked to all of them. I love my fans. So it stuck to my head. He said, y'all love my fans. I talked to all of them. Y'all love my fans. I was like words. So when he passed and like all these fans was on my day and I just started talking to them for like three years. I've just been talking and and they keep asking me about new music. But what I said, they kind of took it like people say, Oh, what happened to the record with me? This record I did pop me. What you mean? What happened to you? Y'all heard it. Y'all heard the snippets so you know it's there. Right. So like, but we're like thinking about stuff that's like y'all thinking there's new vocals and. Okay. So you're saying stuff that has never even been heard before. Yeah. If y'all heard the snippets, because there's a lot of unreleased and I think a lot of. Yeah. Snip it stuff. I'm not talking about those. I meant like, bruh, ain't no, you ain't going to hear a pop vocal. He told me about your 2023. No, you feel me? Whatever we heard from bro and whatever y'all hearing right now that little snippets of this snippet of that, those are there. Like the family, I think the family is working on something like, you know what I'm saying? Like, but as far as like new vocals like never heard before, honestly, it's probably there. But I don't got it. Because before I met pop, bro was recording anywhere. Pop used to recording in his homeboys kitchen and he was like any student. So especially O9 too, his boys O9 too, they probably got some pop stuff, but I don't got it. You know what I'm saying? Everything I had, you heard on Meet the Woo one two, Shoot for the Stars, Faith, like I gave all my. Okay. Now that I'm glad that you cleared that up because I was definitely wondering about that as well. But I think my biggest takeaway from the screenshot wasn't even about the unreleased. It was more so about what you said about he wouldn't approve of 99% of the music that has come out so far. Why do you think that is? Or what is it about the music that has been released after he passed? Bro, bro was like the short period of time I knew pop. I'm not saying I grew up with pop. His friends probably know him better than me. Of course, but on the business side and as far as music, he told me everything. It was together with his music time. Like he even told my, my, my attorney Bob, Bob told me this after he said, yo, listen, that's when people is like motivating me to keep working and shit. Bob was like, yo, he pop told them like one time he said, yo, they was talking about me. He said, man, I don't know. I don't know about that managing shit Rico be doing. He said, I don't know about all that shit. Damn. He said, but when it comes to what when he tells me about music, when he tells me like, yo, do this, do that, put this person on that. He said, yo, I listen to everything he says in the studio. You know what I'm saying? Like one time pop was like, yo, he want to go up. I'm like, yo, bro, you got Dior. We got to meet the world in all of that. What you mean? You want to go up? You booming. He's like, nah, like that wasn't enough. He said, nah, I want to go up. Like, and I was like, I want to go up. I said, I bet you got to stop doing these type of records. I said, yo, bro, I said, I said, check what? I said, you know what runs the world and music? I was like melodies. Right. I said, check out any all the rich popping dude from Kanye, Drake, Travis Scott. All them niggas, Malati, Quavo. I said, I said, yo, but some, you know what I mean? And I swear to God. You can even ask Steven in like two weeks after pop told me it was something. He's like, don't send him no more drill beats. I never told nobody like that. He said, you don't want to hear no more drill beats. He said, well, he's your bro. Send me some Travis Scott beats and Quavo type beats. Wow. That's so interesting because of how synonymous. Cause he wanted to like, how about this? Like, this while bro was different. Pop wanted to move away from kind of like do other records as soon as he seen everybody was doing it. That's his body. They started getting over. He's a warrior on that. No, I'm on some different shit. I'm off this. Your bro. Da, da, da, da. He's very much a taste maker. So it was like, I could see him wanting to start. Yeah, he wasn't like, he wasn't like too fond of like, you know what I'm saying? Once he seemed like the whole drill shows, he's like, you're not more fat. I'll say that was a good look because that deep voice and melodic combo perfection, like even down to like the low snippets, like imperfections is really one of my favorites. And it's like a minute long, but it's something about that melody with the voice. Like it really, it gave us something new that we hadn't really heard before. Yeah. So to what you said, so you said 99%, what would that or what does that 1% look like that you think that he would prove up was so picky. Right? Bro, even had a side of when my boy by my used to take a picture. He's he has a side that is my good side. Yo, bro, you gotta get my good side. Like when the dude tells you that that's that star so you know, like his music. He wasn't playing with it. Mm hmm. So that's all I meant. I'm not saying like it would not be released or nothing, but like bro would not just heal a tweak and he'll probably change his verse. He'll probably do something like, you know what I mean? Like, okay. Cause there were a couple of things that I felt like I don't know. I don't know the process of creating a posthumous album. Um, but there were a couple of even like features that I was like, hmm, I wonder if he was still alive. Like what these have been. I might even listen. I'm not even going to touch that because people who know pop, they know. Yeah. Who he fuck with industry pop wasn't like no industry friendly dude. Yeah. Bro, then he didn't give two Fs about working with nobody. He didn't care about no features. One person he really like, I know for like a fact he loved and besides Quavo, but he loved Quavo besides Quavo and amigos was, uh, was Thugger. Mm hmm. Love Thugger. Right? Thugger. That's why you see why he bought Thugger Spidey. I'm gonna hit me. See, oh, look at the spider. That's Thugger shit. Mm hmm. Like he fucked with Thugger hard body free Thugger. So let me notice. What does that process of a post-humance album look like? Now, you said like he really fucked with Thugger. I'm sure there were other people that he would have probably wanted to make a song with. Thugger future. Um, um, you know, he wanted to work with Bruno Mars. We had a record that he wanted Bruno Mars on it, but I think they put somebody else on it. That girl loop it. And Dua Lipa? Yeah. Now that was going to be, but that's why I was asking because how involved were the people that actually like knew him and knew what his vision was? How involved were they in the making of the post-humance albums? Um, I know that you produced like some of the songs, but like, yeah, what did that look like? I kind of like, it was a lot going on. So I kind of removed myself because like at first I gave, I gave my input. I sent a listen, right? Of what I feel pop would have liked even with the features with songs to put on the thing. And yeah, once I saw like they, they disregard it. I said, y'all do your thing. And that was for the faith album. I was like, y'all do your thing. Yeah. Um, I think I see somebody, I think somebody said I was mad because I wasn't involved or something with Joe Buttons. Shout to Joe man. I fucked with OG, but I could never be mad at that. I'm always involved in the same with pop. I just didn't like, I saw what was going on. I said, oh word. I do y'all thing. And you know, I think that that says a lot because and I understand it too. From a perspective of if you had still became a part of it and it would have went out and people attached your name to it and said, how are you live for that? Like the kids, even with, um, I forgot what record top shot to this. I go, you changed the beat. I said, what? I didn't even know the beat was changed until the album came out. I swear to God. I even know, I don't even know the tags, the producer tag. I'm a producer. Why would I take producer tags off? Right. So now, but as a manager, as his manager, I wasn't pop manager anymore. So at that point it was Stephen Victor. No, the family had control of stuff. Ah, a lot of people know that like when bro pass, people be thinking like, I'm not in like, I got no say is the family controls that like even want to clear a record. Don't hit me. I could, you could hit me. I'm gonna hit up obasi, bro, bro, bro, or the moms. I don't got no or Stephen. I think the family, if Stephen got a say is probably cause his pop was on his label. He probably could like got a say so and shit. But cause I felt like there has to be some music exact that's facilitating like all. Yeah, but pops family controls his whole shit. Right. Nothing could go down without my mama smoke saying they could go down. So I mean, I know that she, she appeared on, on faith. So do you think that like the family is happy with what has came out? Yeah, cause that's like, okay. And that's fair because I wanted to ask you how you feel. Obviously I know now how you felt, but I know from our this or that, I mean, I think that it was, it was a very popular opinion that that was not the pop that we had grown to know and love. They, they, I don't know what, I don't know what happened with that one. Yeah. I was involved in that one. All I did was that send my beat files for the records that I did for bro. And that was it. So now going back, just bridging this with what you said before about there being no unreleased unheard lyrics that you have made personally. No, no, no, no. All right. So that you have me, how do you feel about AI? How do you feel about people who are making new lyrics using the sound of late rappers to make new songs? That's trash. Did you hear the song that Timberland sampled with him and Biggie and Biggie shouted out pop in his that's crazy. What else are going to do? Y'all gonna go make one of y'all gonna bring them back. Y'all gonna have them walking in the streets. Yeah. I mean, it's very scary. I ain't with it. That's why so you think that's like killing the shit man. Right. Respect them where they are. Y'all not making the people not have special no more. Y'all fucking duplicating a voice doing weird shit. I mean, and the thing for me is it's not even like a similar sound, at least from what I heard with Timberland snippet. I mean, because I don't think ever in a million years Biggie will use the words it's not given. I really don't think that he would say that. No, it is some people need to learn to like sometimes you got to learn to just like not not move on, but just chill. And respect what has been made. Yeah, like chill, bro. Yeah, I mean, I feel like pop is one of those artists that and Biggie too, that makes timeless music. So you don't need to duplicate that and do too much. Okay. So what do you think is the difference between people who are like showing love to people who have passed away and then people who are like cloud chasing dick riding. It's a lot of cloud chasing man. I don't post. Yo, I don't even post about pop a lot. Yeah, it's not because I don't be thinking about bro. I got a lot of pop pictures and videos and moments, but I just like, I don't want to fall in that cloud shit. I don't want people like cause I'm gonna get tight. Somebody think I'm posting bro for clout. I don't do shit. You feel me before like I get out of character and love us or you posting pop for clouds. Nah, I leave you. I even got pop names still on my bio. That's the first artist I've ever managed in my life. That's probably the last one. And have you seen like, I mean, cause I've seen it just from a listener, from a consumer standpoint, but from a producer and a Zach standpoint, has there been, how do you feel like there have been a lot of people that have been attaching themselves to his legacy for cloud? Yeah, at the early, early, the early stage when he passed, yeah, there was a lot of cloud. Man, I see a lot of people posting that I didn't see pop bark that and say, you know, he said shit too and I see them posting like, bro, I'm like, what? Bro's about to beat you up. Like, come on to go. Come on, stop it, bro. That's because they know that he's not here to say anything. That's the man. Probably fuck with who you fuck with. His boys, the hood, his block on our tool, like his dread woo, the drive. Like, you know what I mean? Like his, his guys, like anything else was like extra shit. Rest in peace, pop. Um, so you fuck with Jay Guapo hard too. I got to shout Jay Guapo. Oh yeah. Shout out to Jay Guapo. Pop love Guapo boys. Yeah, they definitely, they had a track together that way. Pop love Guapo. He love Guapo chef and when he met TJ, TJ was his new best friend and I was good. Yeah. Long live pop. So you had just said, um, you are, you're very laid back. You don't post a lot. Not only about pop, but you don't post a lot about yourself either. And I think it's interesting because now a lot of people say that like Instagram is the new business card. Everybody's very like on it about like posting the stuff that they're doing in real time and me personally, I don't really post that much. I know that I could. Um, but you also don't post any much. But I think it's because your work could speak for itself. Uh, no, I just don't like posting. So do you feel like that do you think that that rings to be true though? Like I've been trying to post cause a bro and like the label trying like I got a tape coming out. So I got to like do some do some kind of promo. Yeah, I ain't had that. Yeah, cause you don't even really talk about like your, your label. Let's talk about your labels and you don't post about it. Yeah. So let's talk about it. Star life. How did that come about? What's that all about? I had that name forever. Mm hmm. I was just like, I don't remember how I came over that. Okay. Yeah. So it's a label. You have anybody signed to you right now? Um, yes and no. What does that mean? Yes and no. Elaborate how what is it? Yes. It's like you have things in the works. Is it like not confirmed yet? It's okay. So ideally speaking, if you could sign five people, who would you sign? Five people. Where to your label? Yo, honestly, I try to sign like 15 people. The first time I got my label. Okay. They turned me down. I mean, that's a bit advantageous. I sent a list cause Steven's like you're sending lists of people you want to sign. I put everybody in my hood. I had everybody on the floor somewhere, man, from fucking Quellywood to floors. Everybody. Mm hmm. And the label's like nine. You can't sign 15. You don't fucking. I was like, how the shit is a new label like that? I can't say I can't bring the hood. What the fuck is this? Love the thought though. Great idea. Um, so five, just give me five people that you would like to sign. Whether they were on your original list or just somebody right now. I'm chilling. Rico, don't do that. What? I'm not saying like, who are you actively signing right now? Who would be nice to be on your label? Like if you had like the perfect rollout. Now, even if you want to include people that are signed, I'll give you a pass and let you do that too. But what would like the perfect rollout? You're starting five for your label look like. Oh, starting five? Mm hmm. All right. You gotta be like the new kids, new generation kids. Huh? No, it doesn't. I mean, but don't, don't OD like, listen. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, that's what I was about. And that's why I got, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Hold on. Let me dial this back. Hold on. Hold on. Hold on. No, because that's why I looked at you and I did not hold hold on respectfully. I'm sitting across from you. I did not give you a yes. Oh, I looked at you and I said, don't OD because I knew you were going to go to mainstream. When I say you can include people that are and I won't post Malone. See, and you're still doing it. All right now, just for that, just because you did that mean squad or upcoming. Who's your upcoming artist? What upcoming artist would be in your starting five? Who's who's upcoming? Somebody, um, somebody like one of the kids right now, like shine them. Yeah, I mean, you yeah, it doesn't only have to be in New York either. Oh, it could be anywhere. I mean, make sure you show some love to New York. Um, I would assign, I would assign, um, female. Well, I would assign shorty from which from Memphis. That way, uh, we'll go to sign her. Okay. She she cool. I fucks with her. Um, I probably signed Dougie Dougie. All right. Spice. Mm hmm. Party school. Take care of the street. Party school. My boy. My boy. Dread. I got like, I got like favorite artists. That's like, you know, you know, um, what's bro name? Yeah, I forgot a pro name, but who else is good? You'll honestly, I'll sign all these kids and just put them on some professor X shit, right? Put them in a building and like, you know what I mean? Uh huh. I'll build them all fuckers, man. It really gives. Yeah, I think I, yeah, cause they all like, nobody's wet. Mm hmm. It's just they all missing that. I wanted to hear what words you say. I wanted to hear who you said because I want to see if he was going to throw a R&B artist in there since R&B is your favorite. R&B is firing up. Um, upcoming tone set. He's tone set. He's, he's from New York. Um, the artists, they're very upcoming though. Okay. If we want to get in like the mainstream category, I probably would sign my son Boogie, man. Okay. That's a good one. That's a good one. Fuck with Boogie. I want to sign TJ too. I want to sign everybody. I told y'all to sign all these kids, have them in a freaking, uh, uh, a school of whatever. Like I'm, and I'm professor X. You feel me? I don't know. Maybe you could do like a little rollout like a summer. And I, and I'm, and I'm give all of them these special powers and, you know, let them know who they are. Like, yo, you this, you know, like you gonna miss your crowd. You this, you that, like they don't got that. I'm trying to tell you, I'll sign everybody, man. Okay. A lot of things also that I hear, I know we got to wrap up, but a lot of things that I hear too are that like, it's not that the people aren't there to like give that instruction. Is that they're not really receptive? You fuck with Curly? Curly? Of course I do. That's my boy, shout out to Curly. Okay. So you, you would sign Curly? Yeah, that's my boy. Okay. That's Curly. Shout out to Curly. All right. But, um, like a lot of people say that it's that like these artists are very headstrong. So it's not that there. I'll sign Chef too. Things just popping up in my head. All right. All right. All right. I'll sign my boy Chef for sure. Okay. Chef will be like Chef, I'll put Chef on that spot for sure. For sure. Okay. Shout out to Chef. Him and Steve, Backcourt, Wildland. Shout out to Chef. Him and Steve, Wildland. Okay. So now tell me, Regal. I'll probably grab my son Roddy, you son Roddy. Boy, let's go, my boy. Now you, I see why you have 15 people in Atlanta. I'll tell you, I'll be willing to sign anybody. I just can't. Okay. Um, so in your opinion, what are like some of the pros? Definitely G Herbal though. That's my boy. All right. I'm going to just wait. All right. I'm going to do what the teacher used to do. I'll wait. You done? She just popping up, yeah. I mean, if you got one. I'm done. All right. So what do you think is the difference between like producing now versus producing when you first started? Is it better to be a producer now or? Oh yeah. Why? Matter of fact, I don't know. You know why? Cause the shit changed. It's kind of easier to make beats now. Mmm. You know what I'm saying? Back when I was starting, that she was like a fucking actually was like a mission. Cause the technology was like, you know what I mean? Mm hmm. To go to the studio, you have to have like, you have to bring your keyboard, your freaking MP. And you had to like to get signing to dump it in Pro Tools was a fucking hassle. But now you just do that shit in 10, like five minutes. It's very accessible. Everything's on laptop and everything. You know what I'm saying? But I think that it's like a different feel. Hmm. It's like hardware. Right now is a lot of software back in days is hardware, but like with hardware, you could feel it. It's a different feel when you're making a beat. Like sometimes when I use my MP, like my drums, like my drums be different. Hmm. You know what I'm saying? Like then on the software, sometimes it'd be a little like robotic, like it's stiff. But when you use it, when you actually like it's a different, it gives you that human type. Okay. You know what I mean? Yeah. It doesn't seem as like manufacturing. Yeah. Like, you know, the software is like, you just everything is just it's like a robotic shit. Mm hmm. But with the hardware, you could just play with it. You could do what you want. You could explore shit. It's different. Okay. And I know that you, like I said before, you manage Axel and 808 who I think are both very, they're very, very, very big. Yes. 808, Mellow and Axel, Yamaha. Everybody over there. Dumb UK producers. Gotcha. Yo, all the goats out there in the UK, man. I learned, yo, I don't even know I make drill beats before them. Like UK drill, I learned from them. I learned from Mellow, Axel and like tapping in with Ghosty and all these guys. I just pick up shit. Yamaha. And it's so interesting how the worlds collide because like I said, they're very instrumental, especially like in the drill, the upcoming drill wave year from year. Even on my project, I collab with them with most of the UK dudes so it could feel real. I'm not top UK drill producer. So like, why the fuck I'm making a whole fucking table drill. I'm not that. I mean, teamwork make the dream. Yeah. So I had to tap in with the guys that are really the founders that really does that. So it can feel like authentic. So when you hear Rico going crazy, you'll hear Ghosty in the back. You'll hear 808 Mellow or whatever. So you know, yeah, this some authentic shit. Ghosty's one of the top dogs over there and shit. So okay. So now do you have a real name? I got to shout them out, man. X 10 real shot. I love that he knew exactly who you were talking about because he said it. That's a real one. Okay. Do you ever hear songs that you wish you produced? Mm hmm. I get tight. Nope. No. She won't get me tight. Like you never hear something like I could mix that but I could have did something different with this. All right. Cause I'm sure as long as I wish I produced they fucking big hits. So okay. I get tight right there. I wish I'd you wish you were the one. Okay. So Rico, what can we expect for you? Obviously this album. When can we expect the project? I'm in front of this. This project is moving like detox right now. Mm hmm. I want my Dr. Tracia. Now I'm lying. I'm trying to drop in July. Yeah, I'm lying. I don't like the sound of that. I'm just waiting for the label to give me like the date. Okay. You think we got me July. It's like July sometime in July. You think we got some summer bops in here? What? Oh, all right. I'm gonna hold you to that because we was just having this conversation with Laura Kay. I mean, spice up the summer. I'm gonna spice it up. All right. We still looking for that summer bop. So I'm gonna hold you to that. Trust me. It's like couple of those in tape. All right. We go. So what else? So we got the project. Anything else that we could be looking forward to? Um, I got like a little. My little brand, my starlight brand. I'm turning to like a closing type. Yeah. And we need to restock that because there's nothing right now. So let's work on that. Yeah, I gotta get back on it. I've been working on the tape. Let's, well, what y'all re so? Spend a block. Come back here because we will love some words. I'm working on that and like I'm trying to like. Um, get an artist going. I got a couple of ours. I'm gonna sign. I just don't want to talk about it yet. Little situations blocking certain stuff to happen. So after I clay that out, sign my artist run New York real quick again and shit. I'm trying to like. I'm trying to like work on this like TV show. What kind of TV show? Kind of like reality scripted on the walls. Oh, whatever. Yeah, it's going to be scripted reality. Look on. What's the because it wasn't a yes or no question. So like I'm working on that. All right. We're going to keep it under wraps for now. I guess cool. Well, if you need some development, I'm a development coordinator. So I'll be in touch with you about that. All right. And what else? Anything else that you want to touch on before before we wrap up shot to New York, man. I wish I wish all the kids, man. Good luck in this shit, man. I wish all of them good. I want all of them to elevate, man. I want all of them to get out, get out the box because everybody's in the box is bumping heads right now. I want I want each of them to find a way this their own little shit and just go up, man. We want to put that out there for them and manifest that story. The date of future, man. They got to like get it going, baby. I agree. Well, we go shout yourself out for the people that don't know. Where can they find you? Where can you find? I said shout yourself out. You start though. Can't find me. But my Graham, you know, my Graham, that's it. That's the only place you're gonna find me. You're gonna find me in the streets. Yeah. Cause I definitely checked your Twitter. You really don't be active on there. You don't be active on TikTok. No socials. I don't even know how to use TikTok. We don't have to put you on games though. Cause especially as we get closer to you, you got to put your shit out there. We we're going to get you right. I'm gonna try. Well, thank you so much for stopping by. It's so good to have you. Thank you for giving us your time. And we will regroup and see you. Bye.