 With rap music, there's always this energy that this good thing happens and then we've made it. Promotion, all this, like, putting your face out there stuff is cool. But it's better to play the long game and be stable than trying to play a quick game. You gotta be intentional about something real. My name is Mike. I'm a musician and I produce and I make raps. When I was younger, it was hard for me to just, like, talk about emotional stuff. Music became a thing where that was the one place where it was vulnerability. It was like, okay, for me to feel like my whole self and not just the bit that's, like, conforms to the rest of what the world wants me to conform to. Where the confidence comes from really is, like, a lot of the people that I was around, I could just see the potential. And it's what draws me to the people around me, too. I'm just, like, these people are, like, real characters. There's a badge of honor in this sense of, like, the people that we work with, like, family. Like, and it's kind of bigger than just the music aspect, it's, like, kind of, like, really, like, bringing you in, like, to the family that we have. Usually it'll probably be, like, maybe not so many of us, but, like, a little sections of us making music together. I don't know if it's just, like, not, it's, like, it's my dog, like, I feel safe with this person. I feel like I can trust all these people. We operate as, like, you know, a serious thing. There's care that's put into it. But it's just, like, no expectations, but, like, really creative and fun. The confidence comes from my friends and my family. Being able to make a safe space. People need these spaces to, like, become those people. It's crazy, but I just be thinking about the power of bringing life, like, out of nothing. Like, I had my studio set up in my room. I had got this laptop from, like, High School 2016. Basically, like, all the music I made until, like, two months ago was, like, off of that laptop. And that was, like, basically the thing that jump-started, like, my, like, career. New York is one place, like, I have a lot of family, like, a lot of people that I'm, like, close to. And the people I was going to high school with is a few homies that also, like, wanted to do rap stuff. So then we started doing, like, live shows. That's really how our name got around. I was, like, doing live shows together. Think of, like, people, sometimes I say it, like, we brought in, like, a new sound of music. As the scene kind of pertained to this lower east side Manhattan kind of, like, environment. I saw them perform, and they just seemed a bit different from what I had known about everybody else. Intentional, introspective confidence. 10K, I feel like, it really just became a thing. We're, like, making something that is, like, bigger than for just us. Like, where we could, like, kind of, like, spread our resources for, like, other people. Like, bring other people in, and, like, it's more so just, like, family and friendship. I still stutter when I talk. I still say, like, all the time, like, I'm not ready to be that type of guy, you know, but I know the guy that I am, like, in a sense, like, my style is, like, speaking about how you feel, and, like, speaking about all these things you've gone through, like, and there's people actually listening, and then, like, replying back, and, like, you're giving them hope, you know what I mean? Like, it's just, like, a different type of, like, confidence, because now you're just getting used to being yourself. All of my homies, like, I'm just keeping all these individual styles. And, like, very, like, you're bringing something, like, new to this thing. Our goal is just to, like, make sure that, like, people see the art that's being made, or, like, the different styles, like, that's, like, being created. With rap music, there's always this energy that, like, this good thing happens, and then from here, you know, like, we've made it, or, like, this is it. This is your big moment. 2017, signed this record deal. A lot of people were very excited for us when we had first went out to London. There was a lot of things that we had put forward. They'd be like, okay, yeah, for sure. And then the idea is just gone. And eventually, I was just like, I'm not gonna do this no more. Like, we were supposed to make bread from it. We wasn't able to get the bread back. So now we're just back in Brooklyn. Broke. Well, like, I came back with this, uh, this keychain. And there was a stove bucket already just in this crib in Brooklyn. Put it together, and then it became, it's, like, spectacle, you know? And, like, now that's the thing that, till today is, like, a part of my catalog. You have to fight against these people that are trying to mold you. And our first is not gonna be the easiest, but it's better to play the long game and be stable than them trying to play a quick game and lose everything. About, like, not binding to your own myth is really just trying to keep the, like, traditional methods of, like, things that you use to keep moving, like, forwards, you know? We love money. We don't get to the bag, but we also are kind of thinking about bigger things and just, like, execute money. Execute money is, like, right now, like, I have more than enough around me, you know what I mean? To do what I need to do.