 Now, let's talk about the sad story of losing take-off and how would you describe in no take-off and how was it just hearing the news of his passing on? It was a shock to me based upon his demeanor and his personality is not like a violent person. He might say some violent things in his music, but in real life, he was like a smooth dude. He was more like a player. So to hear that he got shot, I thought instantly robbery gone wrong. I thought instantly they fell out with a coup and it was a shootout. But him to just get shot like that first in the back of his head, that was deliberate. We thought it was an accident. They said his friend, somebody punched Quavo and then his friend started shooting. That was the first report. I mean, they even said he wasn't that. It was like a stray bullet. That's exactly what I'm saying. Argument is like a form of disrespect. If you say something, I say something, but I don't agree. So I say something back and I might throw some jabs in terms of, well, I'm better than you or I'm richer than you. Oh yeah. And then you say, oh, well, you ain't nothing. Okay? And then Quavo said, well, I'm walking away. But somebody like, nah, you already said that. So he punched him. So when he punched him, then let the guy in the yellow shoot takeoff. But it's like he was already planning it. No. It's him, but, but, but. What's up, guys? Welcome to SPM Buzz. My name is Ms. Kifinji and today I am here with a star. But before I introduce him, guys, make sure you subscribe to SPM Buzz because I mean, why not? Subscribe, all right? Thank you so much for subscribing. Now on Buzz with stars today, I am joined by JT, bigger figure. That was, that's what he calls himself, you know? He comes all the way from California, but he resides in Kenya now. In case you're wondering, who's JT? JT has worked with most of the big artists that you know, hip-hop artists. And I'm talking about Snoop Dogg, 21 Savage, Gucci Mane, I mean, and of course, Migos as well. And lots of more that he's gonna be telling us about. And we are going to be talking about hip-hop culture. We just want to understand how does it work. And before I say much more, this is JT. Hi, JT. Thank you for having me, happy to be here. Nice to have you as well. How are you feeling today? I'm feeling good, you know? Out here in Nairobi, Kenya. Yes. It's home now. America's my home, but Kenya my homeland. Yes. Okay guys, now I'm sure you're wondering why we're here today. You know, we always hear of hip-hop culture. This, you know, artists has been shot. There is gun violence. And we don't really understand, especially as Kenyans, East Africans, we don't really understand what goes on in there. And just the other day, you know, we had the loss of Migos. People I understand, someone, I mean, we lost takeoff, you know? And I understand you've worked with these people very closely, we've seen pictures. We're gonna put in pictures for them to see. And we just want to make people understand that because you have been a victim of gun violence as well. But maybe let's start from where are you in Kenya? Um, in 2017, I got invited to Bikina Faso, a place called Wagadougal, that's the capital city. And there was researching different people to bring to Africa that can help their young population. Because in Bikina Faso, like 70% of the people in the country is 19 years old and under. Okay. So they have a young population that's interested in music, they're interested in film, but they don't know the way. So I was invited to play a part in helping them with the promotion of music, what to do with the albums when they make them, how to make films. And I spent maybe 15 months there. So that is my introduction in living in Africa. After 15 months, the COVID was over where they opened the borders again and Black Market Records owner, Cedric Singleton. Yes. He had told me about this place called Nairobi, Kenya. He said, JT, you know, I live on East Africa. They speak English and I see you having a problem with most of the people there speak French. Yes. So I took a trip in December of 2020. And when I came over the first few days, I was like, yeah, I think I'll fit good here. So I got my family together and we moved here January, 2021. And I've been here ever since. Wow. Now, I mean, you even decided to bring your family here. Why? Did you feel like the environment is better? Did you feel like your kids are gonna get better education? I mean, we always think, you know, it's better out there. Well, I would say that in America, it is high education. There is high opportunities. It's a market place for what I do. The rap game started there. After I would say I moved from California to Atlanta in 2010, I made more money than I ever made. I made more movies. I bought my first houses for my mom, for my wife, for my kids, like I'm buying land. So the money that I was making, it made me feel better. But when I came to Africa, I seen that this is an opportunity similar to when I moved to Atlanta because I introduced a lot of different independent formats for artists to become, to get their fame from the films and the promotion. And then when they sign a record contract, they don't have to sign a 360 deal. That's what I kind of architected in that city, promoting like, man, we could own our masters, we own our publishing. After 10 years in Atlanta, one of the hottest cities in America to do music, I started to see the trend of killing, becoming more popular. Amongst the artists. It's hard to be a rap artist when you represent the street and then cut the street off from the business. It's like the street life, it's guns, it's drugs, it's robbery, it's poverty. But when you make money in music, now you don't have to live in poverty. You have more money, you have a bigger voice, but you still hang with the guns. You still hang with the dope dealers, the robbers, because this is our family. We come from these places, so it's hard to separate. Even when you get the money. For me, I just looked at the people from Africa inviting me to bring my talent to Africa. It was like, I knew it would be difficult. I didn't see instant dollar signs. I didn't see instant success. I just seen a place that is already familiar with music and that if I could introduce my music and also work with artists here, I could introduce the independent game. I could introduce Trap Flicks, my film business where artists, instead of just doing a music video, how about make a whole film to promote your album? And that was kind of how I was able to get a lot of fame in America at a certain point. It wasn't based on how much money I had to pay for radio or promotion. It was that I was making so many films that people would like to watch on YouTube for free. At that time, six, seven years ago, they still had DVDs. So all the tickets to buy your DVD one time with my machine, I make copies of your movie and make the money. So many people bootleg my movies. Everywhere I went, I seen my popularity so high. The violent side of it, I started to see myself becoming more violent, more gun orientated because that is almost like you have to have those when you become popular because there's people watching you and they see your journey or your car or something and they're like, oh, I'm gonna take that from him. So I never was a guy that always had security. I always was like about myself guy. So, but it made me carry more guns. I got shot a few times. I'm shooting people. It's like a back and forth thing. It's like a way of life that we already know. If you get into it with somebody, you might have to get a gun because they might wanna kill you. So coming to Africa, they told us that y'all did not like us here. They told us the African people don't like black Americans. So that's why so many black Americans don't come in network because the word over there is that we don't like them. We not welcome here is what, that's the big message that is there. But somebody started it, but I think they were white because it's like, that's what they promote. You know, Africans is just starving. They're gonna rob you. They're gonna take advantage of you. You know, you're gonna get sick over there. There's no opportunities. Everybody's poor. But when I came to Kenya, I'm like, wait a minute, these people rich. I see Kenyans in Bentley's, Mercedes. I'm seeing high rises. When I was in Burkina Faso, it's more like probably the old Kenya where it wasn't developed yet. So it's just the way that maybe the Chinese people was able to work with you guys here better. More money can come. But then over in West Africa, the Chinese people there, but they're not, they're not investing. They just getting the gold or the oil and then France and all these other people. So living in West Africa and East Africa, this place made me feel more like I was in America. It feel like Atlanta or it feel like LA or it feel like New York. And then when I look on YouTube, they say, yeah, Kenya is a place that's for East Africa. It's almost like a Nigeria or South Africa, but for East Africa, it's Kenya. So by living here now almost two years, I was able to network with so many artists, communicate with artists, begin to study my Swahili so I could become more in tune so that I could communicate with the local language. And I felt like I made a lot of success here. That's good. Let's go to here now guys. If we didn't mention JT as an artist as well, he's a producer, movie director. He just mentioned movies that he's worked on and he's doing a lot more in the art industry and entertainment as a whole. You just mentioned Swahili. Have you learnt a little bit of Swahili? Actually, I'm only on my first couple words. So what have you learnt? What have you learnt? I learnt Mambo. I learnt Poa Sana. I learnt Nyaji for the streets. Yes. Niko Fiti. Yeah, I mean you are the best at knowledge, yes. And then when they try to say something else, I say, oh, I only speak small, small. Yes. Then they talk English, I'm like, see? Everybody here, you know, at least a little English. For sure. But I could not find this in Burkina Faso. I had a translator 20, four hours a day because. That's crazy. And imagine having someone with you for 15 months straight. When he's not available, I can't go out and do business. Unless I try to use my app. Yes. And sometimes the internet wouldn't be good. So I felt more comfortable having the translator. But coming here, I was able to walk in the street and meet people on my own. And now I could use my own talent and skills to see who I'm gonna work with here. Yeah. As for direction, as for input, you know, people could teach me the Kenyan way, the customs of the people that I might not have known. Just being able to talk with somebody in the village. My boat land in McQuainley County is very dry. So in Burkina Faso, I built two water wells and I got to see the blessing of providing free water. So they say, well, if you wanna help somebody in Kenya, you need to go here. Now, Northern Kenyan needed, you know, more than McQuainley, but McQuainley is very popular for dry area and lack of extra water. So my driver is a combo and they brought me there. He brought me to his father, the mother, the chiefs of the land, the elders. I told him that I'm new in the country and I just wanna make my donation. This is the place that I wanna do it. It's a free water well for the people. So they was very happy to see a black American artist that wanted to do that. No strings attached, it's free down there. They could sell it, do whatever they want and stay for it. And they're like, okay, we making you a combo now. How do they give you that name? Moutua. Moutua. Moutua, yes, I think that's Moutua. Moutua, that's the name. Moutua, yeah, yeah. Okay, now, you just mentioned that, you know, hip-hop there in the US is more of a street and we have Gangiton, which is more street here in Kenya and you have interacted with Gangiton artists as well. What do you think is the comparison or the difference between hip-hop and Gangiton here? I think when you say Gangiton, you gotta add drill. Okay. Are you a drill, a cardinali and a Brooklyn boys, yes, yes. Yes, so my early stages here was with Breeder and Drill Kali. Oh, okay. That was last year. That was my first real song and video. Then I did a song with Team Psycho out of Kangemi. I'm not sure what exact style that was, but when I returned this year, I was introduced to the Brooklyn boys and Waka Danali and they was drill rap. I'm like, okay, last year, I didn't hear this, but this year, the drill rap scene here, they talk violence. Okay. But I don't see the violence reflected in the streets because the Kenyan people still have the common love for each other, but black Americans, we were taught to hate each other. We were taught that the rich guy is hated by the poor guy. And that's what is on the ground actually. That this is the way. The fat guy against the skinny guy. The light-skinned guys against the dark guy. The big-lip guys against the small-lip guys. The nappy-here guys against the... It's like they promoted a way for us to focus on our differences. So that is easier not to like you because maybe you have something I don't have. And then through music, we say, oh, you broke, oh, look at your shoes. Oh, you're here and not good, you know? Ladies saying, oh, I'll take your man. You know, he gonna pay my bill. So the whole thing is like a competition where when you become successful, you got to talk down on the next person through your music, which is creating the atmosphere now of the community or the guys that don't have. Look at the rappers that always talk down and say, oh, you broke, niggas, oh, y'all don't got money. Look at me, I got to change it. So the guys is up there like, okay, well, we waiting to get that. Are you gangster? Okay, well, we gonna check you out. And you can go to any city and there's some guys there that'll love to check you out. And they gonna come with their guys, their gang, their guns, and hope to catch you slipping to rob you or maybe even rob you and kill you. The takeoff situation with the Migos, it's like, it's tension between guys that's supposed to be cool. But the competition was gambling at first. So if you take my money, I'll throw some kind of way. Okay, maybe we don't shoot each other for that, but now we leaving and now we arguing about something else. It's like, it's still competition. Oh, I was better than you in basketball. Oh, I beat you in boxing. Oh, I beat you in dice game. So once somebody feel disrespected, that's when the first person swung. But when that person swing, the other person that have the gun is like, nah, it's a shot. And now they shoot back and forth and it was just standing this close. I think the record companies, we can't really blame them. They're capitalizing off our self-hate for each other. So when I hear artists here talk about, I got my Glock, I got, you know, I'm drilling, you know, I'm gonna chop you down, I got my 30, but I don't see the gang violence part here because it's just music at this moment. But I did put a message out before to the Kenyan artists that claim blood, and then you got some that claim crib, that's red and that's blue. Well, that's Walker Denali and Brooklyn boys, they both never would have did a song and everybody said JT. You know, those guys don't do a lot together. Don't talk, yeah. I say, well, I wanna be the first artist to promote unity between something that I seen that could be explosive down the road, is that if something happened between the red and the blue here where somebody important is killed, that person become a martyr and the gang always have to retaliate now on behalf of the dead friend. So we have revenge killings that might start with a father who killed this guy's father. 20 years ago, now the kid's older. This son is mad at this guy. You still have your dad and your dad killed my dad. So now I wanna kill your dad or you. Die. Either one of you was okay, as long as we can get it. And then when that happens, now there were spots and now you have 10, 20, 30 years of people killing in the name of the person who got killed 20 or 30 years ago. Yes, I get that. I got a ride for my homie. I got to stand up. Oh, they killed my little bro or they killed. So, so many people get killed. It's so many families that won't revenge. That's why you see chaos in the hip hop community. Young dog. It's a generational thing. I could use young dog as an example. Okay, he was in his neighborhood, but he still had old enemies from, you know, when as he's climbing, you have enemies, right? Yes. But then when you making more money than your enemies, that make them even more angry. You bought another Benz. You bought another necklace. You got two watches and I don't have one. I hate you. I can't wait. Plus we enemies and you getting money. All the girls in the neighborhood like you. So now you like a bigger target, not that you don't want to change your life. It's that the old past is always still available of hate. But now I really have like so many questions because if you're a big star, you came out of the hood, you're able to afford, you know, better life, living in better apartments, but you still have to relate to the people in the streets. Why is it so hard to just, you know, say that I don't want that life anymore. Let me just live this life that I've been able to achieve. I think when you look at rap music, hip hop music, music, hood music, gangster music, if you rap that, you have to maintain a connection to that to still keep your status amongst the people. Even though at a certain point when you make a certain amount of money, you should do less of being in this environment because you know, even though we wanna be in our neighborhood, and I rap my neighborhood so hard, but when I seen my neighborhood kill each other so much, I said, I'm gonna take my neighborhood name and I'm gonna just take it around the world, but I'm not gonna be part of this because if I stay here, eventually I'm gonna either get killed or I'm gonna have to kill someone. Sure. It's because you can't be successful and still be around your old friends because sometimes there's all, it only take one, the guy that killed Nipsey Hussle, he was the one that didn't mind throwing his life away as long as he could destroy Nipsey Hussle life, which was his ultimate goal. Now I can go to jail, they can wanna kill me, but I got rid of who? He would never be happy again. He would not be married to Lord London. He would not be with his children. He would not make money off this big block with all this business going on. And Nipsey Hussle, he knew that he had enemies, but he didn't know which enemy. See, he didn't anticipate somebody that would kill him in broad daylight in front of his store. That was not on his mind. For sure. Because he's so big and so popular and so strong. But the thing of black Americans is always one willing to say, man, I hate you so much, I don't care if I die or go to jail as long as I can kill you. It's almost like a woman who been with a man, but he got another woman. So he kind of been going back and forth. And then at a certain point, he said, well, I don't think we could be together anymore. I'm gonna go be with my other wife. Yes, yes. And it's a guy named Steve McNair that was the quarterback, I think, of the Patriots. And he had a wife and kids, and he had another lady that he was seeing. So she got fed up at a certain point and was like, okay, can I see you one more time? And then one more time, she killed him and then killed herself so they could be together forever. That was, that's similar to the psychoticness of a man that used to be with Nipsey Hussle. He would be around. He was, he was, he's in pictures with Nipsey Hussle. He's in the videos. He wanted to be a rapper too, but it just didn't work. So that built up jealousy. It went from me loving and supporting you and wanting to be in your position to now that I know I'm not making it. You're gonna be that. And then you don't give me something I'm asking for. That's all it's taking Black America to give me the one and key that I asked you for some, and you know I needed it. And I know you got it, but you said no. From that moment, the murder plot begins. That's Black American life. That's like Kenyan life. You know what I tell my people, I say as many gangs and hoods I've been in out here, for whatever reason, they not into killing each other. Like they might fight or somebody might get killed in a robbery with the culture of this hood, shooting this hood like, you know, kind of getting me against Kibra, something like that. In America, all it takes is one fight or one shooting. This whole neighborhood hate that whole neighborhood now. Cause they coming over here and shooting now. And then we got a number of guys that go over there and shoot. And now you just had this ongoing war between Black communities and the police love it. The government love it because they take people to jail. The funeral home make money, young Black men get shot and a liver might be worth 400,000 or their heart might be worth 2 million in American. Body parts in America is valuable. So all these young Black men dying. That's healthy. They body parts. How much is making money for Black? Yes. A dead Black man could be worth $3 million in body parts. The police work with the doctors. The doctors work with the gang unit. The gang unit work with the record labels. The record labels put more money into the most violent, most disrespectful music is what is accepted. So I know you were working with Migos right when they were starting. I want to know what were you doing for them and how was it just getting them to come to the studio and just walk with them? Well, first of all, I got a shout out. Zay told me is the producer that produced for the Migos. He brought the Migos to me maybe a year before they signed with QC and with Gucci Man. But I liked it. The talent I just didn't, I don't think I had what it take to help them go farther. So I remembered them from that. A year later, they signed to Gucci Man. Me and Gucci Man record an album together and then a few days later, he go to jail. So Gucci Man sell the Migos to Pee from QC. Then a few weeks later after that, Drake come to town at the Atlanta Birthday Bash big concert and he wanted to know who was the new hot young guys in town and then they put them with the Migos. They did a song called Versace. And within four days, that was the number one song on Black Radio. And at that time, I was like, okay, well, then I think we need to go ahead and get something done. Let me at least do the song with them and do a video and put them in my new movie. Because I believe like these dudes are gonna be something. So that was the beginning stages. I gave them their first 20,000 for the music video, for the song and for the movie. And then I said, I'm gonna do your promo for you. I'm gonna just throw that in. So I made these big A4 billboards and I had a homeless team of like 300 people. And from those people, we was able to promote them all over the south in the early stages. And then of course the labels came and got them and that's how we, that's our introduction. They blew up like within one year, they was mega stars within one year from going from nobody to mega stars. Shout out to Drake, Drake did that. When we did that song with them, it gave them the elbow room of power. Sure. Yeah, they got the middle. Look at them. They turned out to be some nice. Yeah. Now, I mean, let's talk about the sad story of course, you know, losing takeoff and how would you describe in no takeoff and how was it just, you know, hearing the news of his passing on? It was a shock to me based upon his demeanor and his personality is not like a violent person. He might say some violent things in his music, but in real life he was like a smooth dude. He was more like a player like, so to hear that he got shot, I thought instantly robbery gone wrong. I thought instantly they fell out with a crew and it was a shootout. For him to just get shot like that first in the back of his head, you know, that was deliberate. We thought it was an accident. They said his friend, somebody punched Quavo and then his friend started shooting. That was the first report. I mean, they even said he wasn't dead. It was like a stray bullet. That's exactly what I'm saying. The internet is the biggest detectives in America and all over the world. Once your video clip go, they look at each clip and see who was standing and for somehow they was able to piece up that it was a guy in a yellow hoodie with some dreadlocks. Once the first punch got thrown, he just shot him in the head, you know. And it was more, that's like jealousy still too though because these are guests. These are guests in your city. These are guests with guys and now it's coming out that the guys that they were with, they didn't bring their security. They came with those guys using their security. So when the argument about this told you in America if you have an argument, it could lead to murder. The argument is like a form of disrespect. If you say something, I say something, but I don't agree. So I say something back and I might throw some jabs in terms of, well, I'm better than you or I'm richer than you. Oh yeah. And then you say, oh, well, you ain't nothing, okay? And then Claiborne said, well, I'm walking away. But somebody like, nah, you already said that. So they punch him. So when he punched him, then the guy in the yellow shoot take off. But it's like they was already planning it. I'm not saying that's... It's probably just, you know, just took advantage of the situation. Yeah, since you want to be tough in our city, man, we could kill you right here and it took advantage of that. I hope it does. Jealousy and envy. And even with people that you think is your friends, the people that shot me, these are people I fed out of help. They had movies with me. I took them to the studio, but one day they're like, man, I want to rob JT. I don't want to wait for what he's helping us with. He has just robbed him. And I didn't agree. So me not agreeing, I had to take the shots. But God was with me. And their jealousy that he didn't have enough heart to just finish me off. He wanted to shoot me a few times, but if you shoot a man with a machine gun, you absolutely want to kill him. But the way God did it, he thought he finished it. So he ran off. Guys, let me tell you, he has shown us his gun wounds. I don't know if he has pictures that he's going to give us, you know, just to put it up for you, but oh my God. You're looking at a miracle sitting here. I know, like. My legs work, my body work, everything works. So that's how you know it's God blessing. Because the way he shot me, he stood over me. He wanted to finish me. He shot the gun. At least four bullets came out. Bop! Then plop! The little quick room. The little easy burst. Yeah. But then, you know, this one right here, that flew by my face. Yes. This is my favorite one. Because, you know, it shows that God moved the bullets because it was coming from right here. It was coming. Yeah. Yeah. So was it like one shooter, like all the gunshots that you have? Is it like from one shooter? Different, different shootouts. Different shootouts. I got shot differently. Like how many of them? I got shot in my head as a kid. With a .22 gun in Fort Worth, Texas. The bullets still in my head. The next time I got shot, it was in my foot. The next time I got shot, it was in this leg. The next time I got shot, it was right here and right here. Every time, it's like attempted robberies. And I always told myself, I got to fight back because they'll kill you anyway. You know. What's like the biggest of them? This one. The one that is there? Yeah. That's the biggest one. And in my leg, right here is a metal rod because it broke the bomb. The bullet is big. The same guns your army use? Yes. Here? The AK-47? The AK-47? That's what I got shot with. The same guns your soldiers use? Yeah. In America, you could buy a gun for $300. Yeah. You could buy a gun. You could buy a gun. Yes. You could buy a gun that is so illegal. It'll look like you or with the army. They have guns now. That's a small gun that you could put 50 or 100 bullets on and go pfft. Now that's why there's so many killings in America with black gang members because all they got to do is drive by this little black and they can get off 50 shots in like three seconds with these new things. Now the police made it very illegal. You get caught with it is very bad. Yes. The young gang members don't care. I'm just trying to think when you know you got shot as a child. Was it like a stray bullet? No. It was guns where as I was only about eight or nine. And the person in the shop was maybe 13 or 14. What? So having the guns, people would play with them and you know, we shooting squirrels or birds. But this guy was like, I man, I'm going to shoot you. It's a young kid. Yes. For whatever reason and then he shot. And then I actually got to turn my head and that's where you see this little bullet hole over here. So you wanted to say that that we will say that bullet is still there? They couldn't take it out. I got lucky. It was pulling this way and I did like this. Yeah. And it went in this way. This is only a 22, but it's still cocaine, a 22. Yeah, it's a small caliber. But as a kid, I wouldn't say that that made me violent or made me any kind of way. It just made me familiar with guns that they hurt and that I need to get one as soon as I get old enough so I could protect myself. And if I got to shoot somebody, that's what you think about. It doesn't mean that that's right. But once your life is in danger. You have to protect yourself. They kill kids, kill kids going to school. Kids come to school with backpacks. Sometimes the police find it. When they're searching, sometimes they don't. You heard about school shootings. They love to shoot the school over there. That's how you could cause the most damage. But that's a sick person. That's a person that's angry, full of pain and maybe been hurt in a life that make them be like, I want to kill. That's why it's so normal in the music. That's why when I hear the Kenyan artists talking the way they talking, I say, I hope that the problem of America don't come here of the music industry. Some artists getting bigger than others. They might be claiming a gang. And then violence happened and somebody lose their life. That person becomes a martyr instantly. And the gang that lost the person won't revenge. For sure. Especially if it's somebody they love and feel is important. Like one of their leaders or one of their big rappers here, like that could cause a real war. So I pray for Kenyan men, y'all keep the peace. I think Kenyan could help us in America by people seeing me here with all these black people and they not even killing each other. The more I show this to the black Americans, the more they tune in and say, man, I think I want to come over there. I got my kids in the next room. I got four kids here. Yes. And it's like to see these kids out here, this apartment complex in America, this place will have somebody selling drugs. It'll be somebody here that will have a gun. Maybe they hang out in the front. And then it's another apartment not far from here that it's conflict with. So you can't leave the kids outside because the guys when they come through, they just shoot at the crowd and innocent kids get here. So for me to see all these kids here and they play till they get dark and I don't see here no gunshots or no violence, I say I got to bring my kids back here so that they can grow up. I don't care if it's poor or not. To me, it's a perfect place for a black American family, man or woman to leave America and come here with your money and invest it with the Kenyan people here and build whatever you're trying to build with people here because what I found is that I found some good people. I found some bad people. I found some hard workers. I found some lazy people. But what I did find is genuine people. Yeah, I found genuine people and however they are, that's what it is. I can't change them. So I just adjust the way I move with people so that I can maintain what I learned from America. You don't waste time. You don't waste opportunities. Work hard, keep going. Do not play with your opportunity and your moments in time with this music industry or film industry because a moment can pass you by. The new moment might not have everything that you need or maybe life has put you in different positions where you can't even focus on that anymore. Like a lot of artists here that gave it their all for five, six, seven years and when I talked to them, they said, man, you know, JT, I used to do music too. I didn't make the money though, man. In Kenya it's like, you could wanna do music but in Kenya you gotta get the job. You gotta, yeah, I wanna do music JT but I gotta work the job. For sure, I mean. I gotta work the job. And I'm just thinking, these are things, you know, just living in such an environment is, you know, things we take for granted and when you hear such stories, you appreciate the kind of environment that you live in. Yes, because the stress of worrying about your life make you older. Yeah. It make you, it make you, it make you doer to love. It make you doer to wanna connect with other people because we don't know how you come in. It's like, it's like young black men, we have the reputation of we might take, we might steal or we might kill but we also had a reputation of being good people also. Not every black man feels the same way and not every black man have been impacted the way I have but just my personal life and growing up in the music, I have been, you know, I got the full spectrum of the good and bad of being a black man in America. Looking at what you guys have here in terms of maybe you don't have a lot of money in the most people, but you have all the opportunity and you don't have nothing holding you back but yourself. Okay, maybe they don't have welfare program here like America where they give people free money every month. Okay, if you're a mother with a baby, we're gonna give you this house for 2,000 a month or not 2,000, like 10,000 shillings or 5,000 shillings but you can live there for five, 10, 12 years with this cheap rent but you live in a place where it's gun and drugs. It's peaceful. Oh, here, the price is right. In America, if your price is that low, you have to live with killers, robbers, people breaking their houses, drug addicts, poverty and it's like a bad environment. But when I go into Kangemi or Kibra. Kibra, Kibra, yes, Kibra. Balindogo, Donholm, Jewel Carly over here, these places, they say with JT, it's dangerous here too. Yeah, but it's not as dangerous as it is there. I say, man, if you don't have dead bodies out here on a regular basis, in America, it's a dead body that you might be driving by to go home and they got yellow tape. Yes. So you always see it, so it's so normal but when I see the people here, I'm like, they pour, they pour it in America but they're not killing each other. Yes, yes. They say, JT, we might be poor but we love our Kenyan people. I say now, Black America, we don't know where tribe we from. Yeah. You know, when we do DNA, some of us come back to Nigeria, some come back to Burkina or Kenya. I was in Ghana, yeah, yes. We scattered, but as far as a tribe that make us one, we don't have an identity. We don't have a local language. Yeah. So you still have a local language and then even though here might be 54 tribes but at least you know you from one of them. For sure. And then you be proud of that. Okay, so but in America, we just say America. Yeah, yes. It's like a sad thing but it's part of what God made for Black people like Africa suffered through colonialism in ways that we probably don't really know but in America, we suffer from the slavery and living with people who only job is to make sure that us as a people never come up as a people. If you know this Kanye West in trouble with white people, curry, urban, these are powerful voices. Nick Cannon, people who have a platform but as soon as you say something about white slavery or something like that, you could lose your job. They could take your business. They could cut your deal. They can do so much because it's against the law to talk about white people and what they do to us. Shut up, Black man is deceptive but our generation changed a lot. Spoken up. Fuck it, man. Well, I don't have to have no deal with you. Maybe I won't be rich and famous as I could be but I got little rich and famous and I think that's mine. And I just grow that as much as I can be independent and I teach others. Like me, girls in them, I talk to them. Young Thug, I put him in the same movie. Rich the Kid, Future, before he blew up all those guys in my movie. I did all they first problems. It's like me, me, Brooklyn boys, Wacka Denali, Saru, Silverstone, Jewel, Collie, Britter. Now me putting all of them in the movie now and putting them all on one album, what would come from that? People would say, damn, JT, these guys taking flight. Those guys you did songs with, look at them. I'm like, yeah, I told you. I know how to find talent. Like, even me as an artist, I do that to maintain my voice but my money come from me being a businessman. If I never go big as an artist or not, it's okay. I know how to find the new artists. I know how to develop them. So losing takeoff, it just reminds me of the early days of how I started and how I ended up in Africa. Coming to Africa, I'm from Cali but it was through Atlanta, from Atlanta to Africa. I did some here for 10 years that made me more famous, made me more money, gave me more power but then at a certain point I seen the violence become more important to the community of artists. And I say, nah, I'm gonna separate myself and I'm gonna take a chance in Africa to see if I could do it one more time in Africa. And my history, my knowledge, there's no one in the whole Africa that have 30 years of being in the music game. Even if they have, they didn't have to do it from America where the white men take all your money, they make you a slave. Over here, people might have had chances to make bigger money. Like we didn't know who they were but they were making money. So me coming here is like, okay, well let me learn the African way. Let me learn the different nuances of genres and then create a movement. And the way that I blew up with Youngta, the Migos, Future, Rich the Kid, Snoop Dogg is by me making a film about the music and what we were doing for that moment. And that movement became, it became everything to him, all of us, get bigger. And I feel like I did the music now here. I worked with a lot of up and coming artists and name brand. Now the new film that I'm doing here that will show how the hip hop market is here, the ups and downs and a nice little story line. Watch what you're doing in America but it's gonna have, it's gonna do big here too. Because there is no film right now that highlights the music. Really nothing. So what are you expecting that? You know what, God willing, I'm halfway through it right now. So I'm looking for a Christmas release and I'm looking to release it on my own platform called Traplix. It's like Netflix, Instagram and YouTube mixed in one. And it's built here in Kenya. The Kenya's built it, some very smart people and they saying, JT, Christmas time is big for us here. It's family and so it need to be ready by then. I'm looking to have to release the film on my own platform instead of YouTube. And I'm looking to have 100 to 500 to 1 million people that's here in Nairobi to register on that platform. Because it's for Kenya by Kenyans but American men thought of it when I live here and my efforts are here now. Whatever I do in America, it'll be from here but my body, my heart, my mind, my soul, my family, my money is here in this country and I wanna see whatever God bless me to do to help many artists here. It's not how big I can get here. How many Kenyans can you help? With the knowledge you have, the way you help young thug and the Migos and them. Like that's the comparison now. So that's the challenge for me. How many people that nobody know right now that you can help bring to the light? That they could bust through the cloud and get some sunlight up here because we all up down here under the cloud. But as you rise, like the Brooklyn boys rising bigger, that's a good example. I wasn't familiar with them last year but this year I was able to get real familiar with Wakajanali, got real familiar. Big shorts, yeah. Of course, Collie Graff, I was learning about him a few years ago. And I just believe that the people that nobody know, that's the real talent. They not know yet. That's the person that's hungry. That's the person that don't have that much money to feed themselves, but they practice every day. Yeah. When they get a shot in front of that mic, in that camera, they're gonna explode. If some people that's gonna explode, some people gonna fizzle out. They didn't take their practice in series because they felt like, well, I didn't make the money, why should I keep practicing? But then you have those, I don't care about that money right now, I'm gonna just keep practicing because I believe I'm gonna make it. For sure. Those are the people that I'm looking for and those are the people I'm gonna work with. Okay, so in the film we have Wakajanali inside? Yes. Rooking voice. Everyone I worked with, I filmed everything I was doing the same way I did it. So I already got it. Okay, okay. We can't wait to see that. Yes. Now as we wind up, what else are you doing in Kenya? What are we expecting from JT? What else are we expecting? I have a vision in my mind of 10 more free boreholes for the people in Kenya that need the water because to see them people lose their cattle, lose their family members, little kids, that bothered me a lot. So I'm like, God put me in a position to make certain kinds of money. So I say, if I'm gonna bless them from God, you help get these people some free water right now and water is gonna help so many people whether they sell it, I don't care. I just wanna pay for it and it's done. I go to the next one, pay for it and it's done. So I got one down, I need nine more. And I'm praying that within these two months I have the money to pay for it. Yes. I'm using my films, I'm using music. I wanna show the Kenyan artists and I wanna show President Ruto the importance of what the music industry could do for the economy of Kenya. Of Kenya. Yes. How the music industry could help chop off a nice percentage of the unemployment people because in the music and film industry if we had more people helping we could make Kenya number one. Yes. All the unemployed people that's not doing nothing. Man, we need to harvest those people to come together in a way where they can receive some type of food or something that are offset then from being poor or just going hungry. Instead, we might help them get phones or get something where they can use the devices to help create the movement the same way that you guys doing on Twitter. But the Twitter army from Kenya not blowing up their own artists. I seen that they're blowing up the Nigerian artists and I heard it on the radio, it was a debate and I was like, how is this a, this Kenya with the, like it's a hundred songs the top 100 and only two of them is like Kenya. And it's the same artist on both top slots. I say somebody, something has happened maybe it's a misunderstanding. It got to be a misunderstanding. And I don't think the Kenyan artists is probably saying nothing like if all the Kenyan artists say something together. I think that can change the demographic not to block nobody else out but to ensure that these artists can't eat. Do you know Eric Komondi? I see him on Instagram. Yeah, he's been just fighting for Kenyans to have content played 75% of local content played on TV, radio. So he's been fighting that but you see, I mean, artists don't get the point that what he's doing. They're not supporting him. They think that he's a comedian. They're not taking it serious but he's absolutely saying some real things that unity can change the hunger level. Unity can change the crime rate. Unity can change teen pregnancy. And those things that are problems that's causing neighborhoods problems like music has helped the black community. It has helped so many black men become millionaires but we don't help our community with the money we go buy a new watch. You know, I gotta watch with all the diamonds but to feel good and to impress this beautiful lady, these ladies, I need two watches. And maybe this chain, I don't think that's enough to get y'all. I need two more chains. And you know what? I need diamond teeth. And you know what else? For this hand talking to you and this hand, I need diamonds on this. So these are the things that us black men do. I got a Ferrari outside but to impress you I'm gonna go buy a Porsche this week. So you know. And since I like you too, I'm buying a Bentley. Or maybe I'll buy one for you. But if we break up, I must take it back. And if we break up, do you hear the concept? It's backwards. We not buying land, we not buying houses. The young rapper in the book, he might've ran through $5 million this year but at the end of the year, he didn't bought so many things less investments. And maybe he ended up with $500,000 or $200,000 by December but in January he had $5 million. So that is something that I say, let me make sure that going to Kenya is not to shine. But let me do my investment to help the people and then return my hard work. And God blessing I can get the things that I want but it's not to make somebody here feel less. I feel like how about I use my budget to help as many artists get up. And that'll make me go down in history here that I came here. One man with some knowledge and some resources and showed a whole generation of artists to finally now moving forward. The info that I bring, the artists get paid. Whatever info that been here, they're not getting paid but with the information I'm giving for free, the artists get paid through digital distribution. The company called Empire and the company called Sony and the Orchard, these companies, Tunecore, CD Baby, DistroKid, these platforms, most Kenyans don't know all they need to do is register and then get a bank account and register your bank account. Now every time your music play- The money comes in. With no arguing. Yeah. You don't have to sign a record deal. Oh! I think it's this lack of knowledge but I mean you're here now so someone is watching you today. Tell them why they can reach you in case you know they need to. Okay. You can reach me on my Instagram platform for sure at JT, the bigger figure, B-I-G-G-A-F-I-G-G-A. You can also reach me on my own platform called Traplix.com. That's where I really wanna send a lot of people because platforms is shutting our voices down and now that my Kenyan people say JT, this is 100% independent, you have no one else to talk to. Yes. So I wanna make sure they know Traplix.com and yeah, those platforms right there, man, I feel like anybody who wants to know more or you think that you have something, please contact me. I'll make myself available. I'll respond to all my DMs and don't think because you didn't make money the last two, three, four, five years of your music career that it's over. Don't give up new knowledge here now that will make it easier for you to connect your music to all digital platforms and you and your family get that money direct to your bank account every month. They pay every 30 days. See that knowledge right there is gonna put some people in position. It will, it will. All right, JT. Thank you so much for talking to us. This was a very interesting conversation. You know, people wouldn't have knowledge on a few things in regards to hip-hop. Now they do. Thanks to you. Thank you for coming to see me and giving me an opportunity. Shout out to DJ Cutter. You know, he's very aware of what I've been through. Yes. He's very aware of who I work with and in my history. And I think these two years, it's kind of like been a secret that a guy like me lives here because I make myself available. But I haven't been in front of a lot of platforms. Yes. But this type of conversation I think probably is more important than me coming to perform. But me coming to share the knowledge will impact a lot of people. And I just think over these next two months, preparing to go into next year, if artists, record companies and producers, songwriters, take this information I'm sharing seriously and then research which one of these platforms you wanna load your music up, that right there will change their financial situation. Cause imagine putting up 10 songs this month and next month you got 50,000 shinnies in your account. I mean, that's money. Imagine now all this music that's playing, you actually get paid. Now I do must say this though, the Kenyan artists have to stop taking people's beats off YouTube even though it's cheaper to make your hit song that you never gonna get a dollar for. The producer gets 100% of that cause you didn't register it, they registered it. And they put it on YouTube. They put it on YouTube like a, like bait to catch a fish. Don't matter which country, it don't matter who use it. Whoever use it and load it back on YouTube, 100% of the money. So now Kenyan artists, songwriters, producers, you must register your song before you put it on YouTube. That way you can get paid for every stream go to your account, there's no middle man. Thanks to JT, now you know Kenyan artists, if you didn't do that before, you need to start doing that for sure. That's right, that's right. Yes, all right JT. We could go on and go on, but let's end this here today. It's enough for today I bet. Thank you so much. We can't wait for the film to come out. Oh, I can't wait. I think we're gonna rent a big facility and show it live too. Call us, we cover red carpets, we come and cover red carpets. Red carpets. Yes, all right JT. Much love. Thank you so much. Yes. That was JT, bigger figure. Yeah, the bigger figure. Yes. Yes. All right guys, that was JT. Thank you so much for watching this show. Make sure you leave a comment down below. What is it that you know now that you didn't know before? Yes. My name is Ms. Kepinji. Until next time, it's goodbye. Salute. Salute. Eskimo, pas, pas, pas.