Episode 262 w/ Trinidad James

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Drink Champs, the production of the Black Effect
and I Heart Radio and it's drinks That's podcast. He's
a legendary queen's rapper. He's like, that's your boy in

(00:22):
no R. He's a Miami hippoper pioneer up his dj
e FN. Together they drinking up with some of the
biggest players in the most professional, unprofessional podcast. And yet
number one sort for drunk drink is New year Z.
That's time for drink Champs. Trink up the would it

(00:48):
could be hopefully's whip boy in O R? What up
is d j e F And this is drink Champs.
Makes up that this guy that this guy that we
have here today, he might be hip hop's most unique character.
He might be a person that hustled for the hustle.

(01:08):
This guy, he is the only person I've ever known
to drop a remix. He ain't even on the right mix.
It was crazy to me. It's it's still crazy to
me when I go and research it. Uh, he's a hustler.
You know. People try to label him a one hit wonder.
He continued from two thousand and twelve, I believe still

(01:31):
dropping music in one got shows with complex got shows
with other people, and he's stay in his name out
here in case you don't know where any of the
weirdest nails ever one drinks ever if you don't know her,
So what's going on? My god? Listen, I gotta ask

(01:55):
straight up? Uh all go there? Yes, sir oh, I
would like to call it. Asked them. That's not a
hit anthem, it's anthem. I don't care where when that
came out. I don't care where I was. Whether it
was Dugel dof Germany, well it was Dubai, whether it

(02:15):
was anywhere. It was a hit hit hit hit hit.
And I believe when I googled you our search too,
it was like that was like your third record you
ever made. It wasn't my third, but it wasn't my
first twelve. It was in your first twelve. Okay, So
let let's let's just describe that moment for people who
don't know, like you're you're a new artist, if you're
taking the game serious or you're not taking this serious.

(02:36):
You independent before? So I was super independent, you know
for me. You know, music is a decision, you know,
that's what it was for me. For a lot of people,
I feel like you know, a lot of people tell,
you know, I grew up to do this. Man, I've
been rapping. No, you know, I've been trying to figure
it out my whole life. You know, I was born
in Trinion that to bego, came over here as an immigrant,

(02:57):
no green card. You know what I'm saying. My mother
had to figure it out, you know, saying, my father
had to figure it out, and so having to do
whatever we needed to do to take care of each other.
It's something that we've always done. So you know, my father,
when my father and mother split, you know, my mother
wasn't going to move back to Trinidad because it just

(03:18):
didn't make sense to go backwards. Even though let's describe
the people, because even though pop would never been to
trind that that is a beautiful place. Oh yeah, I'm
talking about the third world country. It's got its issues too,
you know, definitely. You know, I got a family in
Live and tail More. You know what I'm saying, Like
these are all projects in Trinidad, and if you go there,
you'll be like wow, you know, like it's you know,

(03:42):
it's not what you used to when it comes to
like natural projects, you know, but just in general you
know that mentality of like, well, we can't go back
to Trinidad right now. You know, it kind of put
in my mind where I got to figure it out
so we're not worked ever. Moved from Trinidad straight to Atlanta.
So my father moved to America first to figure it out.
Amica came. I think he came to Florida first. He

(04:04):
came to Florida first. Yeah, Florida feel like, you know,
as a certain type of thing. But you know, he
came to Florida first, man and then um he you know,
he was figuring it out, doing this thing. Then, um,
you know, me and my mother we lived in Canada
first because she had to take care of her sister
because she wasn't she wasn't well. Your passport to Standford
the beginning Canada. And then we left Canada, came back

(04:28):
to Trinidad, and then we left Trinidad and came to Florida.
Then we left Florida, went to New York and lived
in New York and left left New York and went
to Atlanta. Left Atlanta, North South Carolina last South Carolina.
Came back to Atlanta, you know, So I mean this
is just for me as a teenager, that's not it
was super important. From going from an all black school
in Atlanta to all white school in South Carolina. You

(04:51):
know that that gave me the best perspective I ever
had on life moving forward. While I'm successful continuously in
the game, it's because I understand people that you know
that I could. I can see people because I had
to deal with people growing up. I didn't just have
to deal with my own culture. I had to understand
why white people think the way that they think. And
you know what is also my perspective as a black

(05:12):
man compared to a Black Americans perspective, it's not the same.
Caribbeans don't think exactly like how Black Americans stay and
discriminate against each other. It's different. It's different, Like we
don't get taught racism and those type of things and
trendon that like that when I was coming up, because
black people all the predominant buns. Yeah you know what
I say, You got Indian and black, so that's brown
and black. Like the e F said on the islands

(05:33):
that I see a lot, it would be like color racism.
They just know they're just coming against Black Americans. Oh yeah,
they have an issue, you know what I'm saying, Like
you know people on the islands and call people a
black American gangs. It's really just carrying the same clunism.
Like the whole perspective. What was the country that colonized
trend that just from background history. Um, you know, I

(05:55):
don't want to say that. I don't want to say
the wrong thing. Was it? Was it any it would
be friends? I thought it would be friends. I think
I think it was friends or whatever. I don't want
to be wrong, but I think it's Franks. But yeah, man,
you know, all in all, I say, I give you
a little bit of that back story just to let
you know where it's like. And none of this time
moving around all these places music with something that's on

(06:16):
my mind. It was more of like survival. And you
worked at the sneaker store too, right right, so it
was a closer. It was a mental teak in Atlanta
called gets on top of the underground, you know, And
that is how I really got to the undergrounds of
malls in downtown right now, downtown Atlanta, right in the
heart up and downtown Atlanta. So you know five Points
train station, you got CNN Center where the things were

(06:37):
now with the Riot all that is right there the
Olympic Park when they did the Olympics ninety six. All
this is very close to where I worked. So that
central location, you deal with a lot of people. You
deal with all the colleges, you know, so you gotta
you know Clark, Atlanta, spell at Morehouse. And then you
deal with all the people that work in the companies,
like I said, CNN, the Coca Cola Center, all these
type of places. And then you got all the street

(06:58):
dudes who hustling. I would ever from Broad Street all
the way over to Peter Street, all these different places
to all these people became my people because I've always
been a person that's been styling somebody for a long time.
That was my job before I got into music, styling
and fashion. I mean I've been I was a cook
before I did long care. I didn't move. I managed.

(07:24):
So it wasn't I'm bouncing around because that's how we
do on drinks. It's fine, But wasn't ever a problem
because of what was the character from Martin? So was
there every like any like copyright characters or what's it
even going for that? Look when when you when you
when you started that, No said, you know, obviously I'm
aware of who that is because I'm a big fan
of Martin just like any person, you know, but definitely

(07:48):
wasn't thinking about that. You know, you got to understand
that the person, that character that people see and all
go everything, that's just who I am, you know, and
it's really hard for people to understand things that they're
you know what I'm saying. It's like the intro that
you gave me or whatever is one of the most
unique people that you have ever met. That's something that's

(08:08):
I've been true to that my entire life. I have
not changed the man that I am ever for anybody
or anything. That's why I have such a hard journey.
But I enjoyed my journey because I'm the only one
to understand it. But I'm the only one. I gotta
live it too, so I'm not really bothered by it.
But it's an interesting one. Like when I have the
outer body kind of just like I'm sitting there, might
be drinking the smoke and I might go back and
look at all or everything just for to do my homework.

(08:30):
Now I had to do. I had to do my
homework to day and now I look and it was
like there was two different characters there was. I didn't
see that your wrong home, right, but I saw your
version of it. And then I also saw was commute
people that I saw even though it was just you.
I saw a dude that was just like me, proud
to be from this other island, but still American because

(08:52):
you know, I'm reporto Rican and so I saw that guy.
I saw that, like you really had to Trendidad flag
and every never, almost every scene did. I saw the
hood version of who you was in Atlanta, like when
you were walking around with certain people, and I was like, wow,
this is this is interested because you're involved. You you
you embodied all of these characters. Like no character to
me was fake. You know what. That always made so hard.

(09:15):
But the thing is, I do I didentify with the
people when they say you wont me wrong? So that's
why I want to ask that question, like no Fox
or like you know, like these big studios that have
a call you and say yo, don't don't do that
character no more. I never and we never had any
issue from anybody that was literally I mean, the power
of the media is just very powerful. They're making seem
like it's an issue. But I've never had an issue
with Martin. Met Martin, like I met a lot of people,

(09:40):
you know what I'm saying. But now I have never
had a real issue with anybody misunderstandings from the media's perspective.
That's probably my biggest curse. Whatever, be just because I
stay to myself. I stay focused on the work because
the work is was gonna keep me going. There was
the issue I think you had in New York. You
came to New York and you said something that the
New Yorkers wasn't doing for New Yorker, something like that. So, um,

(10:03):
I had a show for No it wasn't. That was incredible.
I had a show for a Converse and somewhere I
forgot what studios it was. And into going through the show,
you know, I was going through some personal things just
on the business side, because this is this is still
early in my career, this is you know, but this

(10:24):
is after. You know, I didn't did three tours me
and Wis that went overseas. I didn't need the under
the influence tours amazing. You know, I didn't hung around everybody,
But you know what I'm saying, we did our thing,
and you know, you get to hear and learn a
lot of things, and you know, um, at the end
of the day, every artist, when you're you know, on
your eyes, you go through a lot of pressures because

(10:47):
for us, unfortunately, we don't have enough people around us
to be the role model. I've never had a role model.
I've never had a big home till you figuring out.
I've always have figured every single thing out myself. So
you know, I'm never gonna make an excuse about it.
The things that I said at that time, the things

(11:07):
that I said at that time were you know, very
true based on what I was hearing because I was
coming to New York City, you know, and I grew
up a huge fan basically seeing Low York City played
more up Atlanta to New York City. I've seen him
play more of everybody else than the artists who I
liked that tid. You know, it's like my story has

(11:28):
never changed. Like you know, at the time, you know,
Davis was on his rise, but he was super dup
to me. But you know what I'm saying, Joey bad As,
all these people were super dump to me, but I
never heard them on New York radio, and obviously I'm
hearing my song, but I'm hearing the me goes I'm
here and this that I'm just hearing out the thing, right,
So it was just like and then I'm also hearing

(11:50):
artists complain about New York Radio or whatever. So I'm
looking at it as like, look, man, I've always been
a person to tell the truth for some abody or
stand up for a stand up if you're getting bullied,
I'm a stand up for you, bro. You know what
I'm saying. If you feel like you're getting injustice done
to you, I'm gonna standing up you. Feel like he
was representing for the artist for me, while a couple
of artists took back of that, a couple of artists,

(12:10):
it's because of the way and that comes back to
my fault, because of my energy that I put behind it,
my personal problems that I was dealing with on my
on myself as a businessman or whatever that had me
frustrated with myself, and that also that side of me
came out on stage when I'm saying that if I
could do anything different about the situation, I would have

(12:33):
just loved to have the energy that I know that
I truly have when it comes to that. You know,
what I said was very true. There was no lies
told there, but the way that I delivered it could
have been way better. And I knew exactly at the time.
I didn't understand my energy because I had never been
in this business. You know what, I'm finding out everything

(12:55):
fast in the midst of it, and so you know,
the media ran with it the way they wanted to.
You know, certain artists ran with it the way they
wanted to, and for me, I was a little confused.
I believe it. Just meet you a may note. You
had the discrepancy, you worked it out. Yeah, we definitely.
I ran in tell me in person whatever you know
I said. A lot of things were said online, but
online is just not where I was. I that's not
my thing, you know, because I never I never practiced that,

(13:19):
I never experienced. Yeah, you explain what you meant. I'm
sure that they'd even agree. Yeah, the thing about it,
they appreciated when I heard him explain that. Everybody's story
after the fact as the years continued, that what I said,
like once again, it is my delivery that was wrong
because but everybody realized that it was almost like yo,
I could be for my family, but somebody else be

(13:39):
from my family. It almost seems like that sometimes like that,
you can't you can't be to do to tell me
about this is to come outside you Hey, right, you say,
little girl go upstairs. But did somebody another project to
my sister like that? Yea? And all that is fair?
That is fair, And I understood that. You know what
I'm saying. And it's probably been the hardest lesson I

(14:01):
probably learned in what nine years. I mean because this
year I'm gonna tell you, Mike, well, I'm a fan,
by the way, but I'm gonna tell you your illness
move you made, but it probably might even been your
biggest mistake. I will take a salute to your motherfucker's
your career, your motherfucking every chance. I'm not only want
a big shot because because you're the big man, that's

(14:24):
your show. I'm gonna tell you like this, Yes, sir,
I think doing the remix without you're going it okay
was the bold and ship for for a new artist.
And I'm gonna tell you why. I think it was
like your biggest mistake because it was that time for

(14:44):
you as an artist sin to shine and to like
or go I believe, I believe I know who you are.
I believe you a guy with a good heart, and
you felt like he was probably there and be worried,
you know. But it was that movement where you're supposed
to wrap with t I wrap with two change and

(15:05):
wrap with jeez and literally try to take their fucking
head off as a hartist, that's what the world wanted.
I told my people like me who was real fans
and this ship and I'm a fan of when a
guy gets his opportunity and to but what you did
was honorable. It was like the city was coming up

(15:26):
and you gave you sacrifice to your own record. But
you you hear what I'm coming from. No, I hear.
I just wanted to make sure that you finish your stuf. Okay, yeah,
because to me, I just felt like that's what I
wanted from you. Like I remember we winding the record
and saying, did this guy really and don't you say
in the beginning of the record, You're like, I don't
even need the first and I was like that before

(15:49):
you answer, was that strategy or arrogance? There was never arrogance.
I don't have to move with the arrogance. That's really
not my energy. I feel that I'm gonna be the
I promised. I've been the same person. But for the
last twenty years I can't answer for you at all.
But I could just feel your energy now that you're
not someone looked like that, but I wanted you to be. Yeah,

(16:11):
that's what I said. And the first thing I say
is I wish it was my big homie. I'm saying, like, no,
I had nobody to tell me, and I ran my
home show. I done everything myself, you know, and everybody
just facility. I still want you to asker this question.
So there was nobody at depth jam and I said, Yo,
you know what, this is your time. No, like no, no,

(16:33):
I promise you. I never had a big homie. That
the only person that's ever said something to me that.
I was like, I appreciate that it was to change
I would have And he checked me when he sent
me his verse for the All of Everything remix or whatever.
And when he said it to me, I was like, oh,
thank you, bro. But obviously I'm doing a million things
and trying to figure out life. And I didn't get
right back to him to like, listen, to the verse,

(16:54):
and he called me and pressed me. I was like, like, yo,
where somebody send you a verse my snatching? You listen
to it right now? You know I was anytime somebody
on the right staff, just you listen to it. Even
I gotta listen to the phone in my air this

(17:16):
versus hard and we go there, They're not gonna listen
to it in the right place, because once again, it's
not disrespect. But you know, to give you something that
I've never even said to anybody before. To be honest
with you, I didn't want to do a remix. I
did not want to do it. I did not want
to do a remix. Everybody else around me wanted to

(17:37):
do a remix because they wanted to make money, you know.
For me, I love Titty Boy before I turned the
two chains up on that. You know what I'm saying.
I love you know t I You know what I'm saying.
Twenty fours is on my like if I'm on I

(18:00):
stuck for the rest of my life and I need
to have ten songs. Twenty four is probably one of
those songs. You know what I'm saying. I grew up
on the jeezy that everybody loves you know what I'm saying,
So to my respect level is on the mountain. But
this is my journey. This is not their journey, and
they made it their journey, you know what I'm saying.
They want they put themselves on it or whatever, not

(18:23):
to change, but like the I think, like Tian Jesus,
they put themselves on to be on it, you know
what I'm saying. Whatever. I didn't even get a chance
to ask them or whatever. So for me, you know,
it didn't feel like the way that I wanted this
to go. And that was a hard lesson in the
business where it's like these people are not your friends, bro,

(18:45):
you know what I'm saying, like me and not in
a way better place now, But for the first beginning
of my career, I really wanted to stay away from
him because it didn't feel that he had any respect
for me. I don't unerstand because so so um all right,
so let me try to get this, Let me try
to understand this a little bit, because you have the

(19:05):
biggest record in the world at this time. Yeah, but
I should mentioned but that's hip hop, you know, you
know that, And it was more it was other he
I think that people who was doing business for me
at the time, because I wasn't just doing all my
own business myself. I was just doing the creative part
in the music and you know, trying to make connections.
But I was with an independent label, you know what

(19:28):
I'm saying. You know, they do Lucci, they do you
know people b K blah blah blah. You know, at
the time I'm doing business, they're doing the business for me,
and they know different people. And obviously everybody would want
to this a great look to do a song with
these legendary people. But once again, as you can see,

(19:48):
I don't do things traditional. That's never been me. So
to kind of like force me into this traditional wave,
it was offensive to me, but I dealt with it,
you know what I'm saying, And like you know, I'll
give you another piece information, I have to tell you
this or whatever. Like that really really ruled me the
like a crazy way about just the industry and just
in general. Like you know, I got charged forty wardrobe

(20:12):
for their wardrobe referring to Jeez tip and to change
and if you go back to look at the dog
or everything remix, look and see what t I wore,
Look and see what jess wore, Jessy having a Dickie
suit and t I had on hustle game, his old
bird finance me on my old forty bands. You know
what I'm saying, I'm my label, but I did just

(20:35):
you know what I'm saying, I pay forty I had
to pay forty. Dog, I'm a stilish dog. Before you
do that burn my soul. That burned my soul, like
I had to perform that. But you didn't pay. You
didn't pay for the verses. Okay, but because a bigger

(20:56):
look for them to do it. If you look at
the time, this is nothing. I say, it's never this,
it's never as we're just a fat person, as a
as a as a fan, and I see what everything
you're saying, like, I actually can see. I can see
where you where, I can see when people thought it
as arrogance, and I can see what you thought it
was like genius and it was genius. And but I

(21:18):
can see like I just would really wish you would
just showed your ass and just saying if you do,
I say, if you was my big home, I would
have been like so nor say I'm surprised to change
it and say that I'm surprised, geez, I'm surprised even
t it was. It was just it was different because
I didn't know them, like I've only met t I
one time, and that first occasion wasn't the right occasion.

(21:39):
That wasn't it was that wasn't have been before prior
at the studio session. It just our energy from the beginning.
It wasn't good. And it was based off of how
he approached me or whatever, because if I'm interested, how
did he get to me? Because I'm a I'm an
observer of people. I'm a people person. If anybody can

(21:59):
tell you born that you know exactly or whatever. So
I realized I was like, oh, he's coming to have
a dick swinging contests. Wait a minute, what he's coming.
He's coming to the studio to to you know, I'm
you know, working on my music, working on my craft.
You don't mean the actually you mean like you know,

(22:21):
I mean like like music so good to me. You
know you got not mentally, so you know, I peeped that,
you know what I'm saying, And I was like, damn, man,
I would think that you know, he would come to
like give me some game or something. You know what
I'm saying, this is our first time me and I

(22:42):
was already got all gold out. Yeah, like brown lit
at this point in time. Right now, I'm lit in
the city of Atlanta. I can't speak for me y
in Atlanta number one. I'm not t I spoke, man,
But I gotta tell you, man, when you had a
number one record in the the fucking world, you wore
a threat. You certain and I'm just telling you you

(23:07):
ain't suposer. That's why this goes back to the sports world.
And then like hip hop is a blood school for
the interview athletes because they'd be like, yo, what someone
to do with the rookie suons he come to the league,
they wouldn't let him know immediately. So something that's who
he was that and that was saying that I would
ever order when it started with Tipping twelve, like December,

(23:30):
you know what I'm saying, something like that's how that started.
I whenever somewhere around that earlier that went into the
league me, I was this is not I gotta deal
with you know what I'm saying Like this and I
feel like high school because I went to a lot
of different high schools. I went to a different high
school every year, so I knew, I knew what that.
I was like, alright, you know what I'm saying, so

(23:51):
said little shot side listen and I'm not outside, and
now it's not even the boutside because once again, I
do appreciate a shot. Right, we gotta take it, you
gotta take it. No, because I'm just telling you. I
could see, not to say like, because I don't really
know the energy displayed, but I can see, like certain

(24:12):
people being threatened because your first record, like the record
is a monster. It's a monster, like it's it's not
like there's people who have hits, these people who have
gold platinum records that don't have that one single Fox
that's like that. So I can see somebody being threatened, like, man,

(24:32):
tell me, did your immagies but tell me yeah, and
tell me if I'm wrong. It felt like it marked
a new era. You could feel like you did. Viral
did not exist in hip hop. It did not think
it's never I just think it going viral. Niggers had
never ever said that I'm a fan, I'm a fan

(24:56):
of hip hop or a fan of music. Listening to
every body ship but respectfully, we've never said that term
of like n I think its just went viral today.
That just wasn't in the capital until all where everything
came out. That every label from there on out and
still right now was trying to find artists to make
them go viral. That's what they did. And what Jim

(25:18):
did with you was moneymental. But but here's the crazy ship.
You threw that video out on your own without that. Yeah,
that's what I'm saying. We did that. We got ourselves
to deal. Everybody was looking at that deal started let that,
let's get that. But but but that's just money that's
out there right now, that's looking for the You explain

(25:40):
what was your vision like, because you know there's somebody
somewhere don't know nothing and they had they have the
same questions that you had. Well, I had all that
you had coming up. But let him know your your process,
your success, how you did it well. For me, I
had to learn everything on the come, and I wanted
to make sure that I played to my strong points.
So vision and image was my strong points. I knew

(26:04):
I had work to do on the on the music
side of things, but the music had already proved that
it could sell. Obviously, I never put a gun to
anybody here. He said, you need to listen to All
Go Everything. Nobody around me ever did that. We literally
just passed out of CD. Check out my new stuff
because you rock with me my energy. That's how the
first CD started moving around, because that's my boy. That
he didn't dress to me for a hundred summers, that's

(26:26):
my boy. Of course I listened to it one time.
People he told he was a stallus, you know what
I'm saying. So like that right there, gravitated that would
make the first CDs move around or whatever. So that
got the CD go and got the music, and people
gravitated to to the number six, which is All Go Everything.
They just gravitated to it. I never told anybody you

(26:48):
should listen to number six because number six wasn't the
strongest song to me in my head. That's the last
song I recorded for it, and that was the one
I wanted to do for the people in the streets.
I feel like I had everybody else who I because
once again I told you, I'm dealing with college students.
I'm dealing with people who work in big You made
this record, you already visualized in the video. I didn't
visualize the visual. I didn't visualize the video until it

(27:11):
was actually time to do the video. And that what's
that video at College Park? It's now that videos on
the South Side. He just said he didn't even think
that was the record. You know what I'm saying, because
once again, I'm brand new and and there's no role models,
nobody around me, no music well enough to be like
what you said, like you got to tear these old

(27:32):
nigger's heads on this remix. You know, nobody's saying that
to me. If somebody said, if a person like you,
not even you, had sent that to me, Young Droe
could have said it to me. You know what I'm saying,
But nobody ever said that those words to me. Like, bro,
you got to take their hand because I love perspective

(27:53):
that makes sense. I'm a common sense type of guy.
If you give me a perspective that actually makes sense,
I'm like, okay, because I'm gonna tell you something. By
listening to t I and Jesus verse, it's almost like
they knew you was gonna jump, and they knew you
had no choice to like to use their verse. See
I could tell that too changes the verse they ever
sent to you, Yeah, to change, see to change. I

(28:15):
think that we had Jeezy and it's a little hard
for me to remember now, but I think we had
Teas and Jesus first and then when I was like, man,
we gotta do change because I actually, you know what
I'm saying, like I might as well, you know what
this makes sense to me, you know what I'm saying,
Like for this because I'm a music person. I've I've
always been a producer before I knew I was a

(28:36):
producer of music of how to put together a track
or whatever, like that's just my thing, that's my superpower.
And so you know, well, actually that's why I had
to learn the hard lesson would change. When he was like, bro,
he was like, I did it for the love and
rock with you, And I see he did it for
the love. But every honesty to being honest. The record
is huge. It's a great looks because he was transitioning

(28:59):
to he was transitioning also, so you definitely put your
city before you at that time. I swear to God,
like when you look at that, that was like a
Jesus move. That was like, yeah, I'm a sacrifice. Everything
been a sacrificial lamb been the sacrificial Would you be
would you be like I just been that movement, the
sacrificial land from the standpoint of like everybody has had

(29:22):
got even bigger checks than I got after me or whatever,
because people learned what to do with the artists. You
don't understand the biggest difference between me and death Chad,
which they just didn't understand. I was like the first
of my kind. You know what I'm saying. Do you
think you are? You can do on the side, But

(29:50):
for lack of a better term, it's this whole thing
mumble rap, Yes, sir. And the first mumble rap was
looked us. We was just talking about this. I didn't
think it was it was man skills. And I said,
at first it looked at it like it was. It was.
It was from the point almost like how backpack wrap
was backpack. I don't think I don't think this say

(30:12):
I'm telling you, I'm telling you. I'm just telling you
my perspective. Back mumble rap was something that people like. Oh,
but now mumble rapp is like someone respectable. Do you
feel like you're one of the kings of mumble rap?
I don't think so. I don't think that mumber I
don't because I didn't that and came after me. I
felt mumber rap came in like twenty like that wasn't

(30:36):
really my thing. Like mcconan and those guys were kind
of giving you like melody driven melody. It's different to
me than mumbling, though I'm saying, I said, nobody actually
really makes money off of like just genuinely mumbling. But
four World I told him, I can't believe that anybody
would actually say I am a mumble rapper. No, I
think that like the melody. No, I haven't now some more, sorry,

(31:00):
but I just I just couldn't see it, like I
felt like that came out as a disk more like
these are mumbo rappers backpack rap. I don't see it
the same offense. You know, that was not that that
was was That wasn't if they called you a backrap wrapper.
You know what they were saying, that's all you have

(31:22):
money to give you when you call someone back, and
they wanted there gonna start just because just cos hardcore hippop.
It was a hardcore hipoper. They don't call you back
back now, backpack wrap and you're like, okay, that's a
tiler clo like, I think it's a lot of things.
It's respect but most death it's respecting people wouldn't But
at first it wasn't. I'm just saying. I was say,
you think my rap shouldn't be respecting. I think the

(31:44):
version of Mumbo rap with the melodies like, but the
homie just said with the melody these uh they said
up mumbling. It's just you can't really articulate everything. I
think that. I'm just saying they wouldn't call themselves mumbo.
That's think another shot. Come on, you get to the

(32:05):
bottom over come on, I'll lose that, David. Let me
do a good' Come on, I see what I've really
So what I what I would say to you is this,
And I mean, I mean nine years might not be

(32:26):
a lot in this game, but we still be here.
I mean a lot to me because every day somebody
count me out every single day. So what I tell
you is in the midst of it, I still study
and do my homework on the game because you have to.
That's the only way I feel like you did your
homework to get this podcast exactly. To understand nobody would
know that the guy that the songs and for real

(32:50):
and was like a real live street could talk that
talk and that conversation with anybody. Yes, they knew you
could comic. You know what I'm saying. So that is
why I do my homework, because I mean, so many
different brothers or whatever from the playboard cardis to hole.
You know, I've meant all these people you know what

(33:11):
I'm saying, and got respect from all these people Andrew
three thousand, you know, And I realized that like when
I get to talk to him, I always talk to
a different person. I don't talk to the person that
you see see on TV. I get to talk to
the actual person. And so I know that this is
a good brother or a good sister because when I
googled you, one of the first things that popped up

(33:31):
was what hit wonder Now, I know that you're aware
of that because I'm aware of what they called me.
But do you consider yourself that or how does one
say that when they say that? Well, I think that
at the end of the day, when somebody only has
one hit, that you know, then the science of it
is you have one hit or whatever. But I mean

(33:54):
I have a lot of plaquess exactly. You know that
it's always like for me, it's kind of like how
somebody look at if you don't have your own soul plaques,
but then you're only going to get counted for the
ones that you have plaque for that of your song.
So like August have seen that that's double platinum work Remix,
that's double platinum, um Bruno Mars, that's diamond. You know

(34:18):
what I'm saying, Like that doesn't count for hits or
for me just because that's that's that's their head. That counts.
That deminitely accounts, we know because I wasn't on it exactly.
You know what I'm saying. That comes that talk what
that also saying to tell answer to get back to

(34:41):
what we're talking about, which is mumble rappers, and you
know that perspective. You know, I truly truly feel that
to actually make it in this game, it's still not easy.
So and whatever you're doing, whatever that skill craft that
you bring to it or whatever, you still got to
be the best version of it. You know what I'm saying.
You do open the door for a certain kind of

(35:02):
worms that certain people are who are sticklers of this
game will be like I hate that, I hate everything
and stands for and that's totally fine. It's people that
hate it. Uncle Luke Uncle lukek Norty Uncle Luke. Uncle
Luke ain't big, but the Uncle Luke is Uncle Luke crew.
What we're talking about everybody is the biggest thing at

(35:24):
the top of the pyramid. For me is hip hop
is keeping wrapped the number one genre because at one
point in time we wasn't and so whatever it takes
to keep us at number one, go for it. So
I'm with you. That's for me, respectfully, you know what
I'm saying, because that is what it's important. We can't
depend on the best rappers to keep hip hop number

(35:44):
one because they haven't. But that's true. When the best
rappers were the best rappers, hip hop wasn't number one
until when everybody became inclusive, everybody, everybody. That's that's when everybody.
That's when we came number one. So that's what's important.
And this doesn't take away. This doesn't take away from

(36:05):
how great Kendrick lamarco rapper or Jake Cole and the
niggas who can rap. It doesn't take away from the
way that Playboy Cardi puts his songs together. Because we
are all equally important, because the number one thing that
should be at the top of the pyramid is rap
is hip hop, and most of the lyrical very cool,
great rappers. They spacious in their times and their albums. Anyway,

(36:25):
there's no one like like you know that's supposed to
be like the best to drop the album year after
right now and then and then if Kendrick dropping his album,
which I can't wait for us, and and and they
don't live up to your height? You know now, is
he not? The Kendrick has killed it for us for
all these I'm teen years. You really truly can't please anyway. Yeah,

(36:50):
that's the moral of the story. You truly can't. You know.
Opinions is what keeps this game going and what gets
us pain and what allows us to have conversation, to
have podcast. What's the worst opinion you ever heard of yourself? Oh?
I mean that you know, I'm not gonna make it,
you know what I'm saying, Like, I'm not that this
is the worst. That's the worst. That's the worst. You
know anything else don't I probably haven't heard it, probably

(37:11):
been worse, you know what I'm saying. It's like, I mean,
my parents or whatever, But I can't be mad at
the person I see every morning. I fought with that guy.
Know what I'm saying, that's my nigger something that that's
a patty, Like I said once again, like bro, when
I got into this game, it felt like high school

(37:32):
all over again. In high school, I was pretty freak cool, man,
you know what I'm saying. I was pretty funk. That's
why I wanted to Like again, I didn't want to
take take up, take up for t'all, and like that's
my man, but I don't want to take up from them.
But I can understand, like you know, you're coming from
left field, like with this with this energy that they
don't understand, Like I don't say it's indicative of what

(37:57):
you do, like dads are my big Criz was like
that's how I tried. That's my am, right. I see
him being competitive though, and and that's at the time.
I don't think mean addict like how you interpreted it.
I think he's being in the moment. His attitude wasn't
the best attitude or whatever, and you just don't think

(38:19):
about it. Like I just watched this shit on on
on Netflix called The Crew, and it's about this NASCAR ship.
That's how much I really love Kevin James as an actor.
I hate NASCAR, but I was able to watch this
whole season and none of the people who drove cars
against each other got along. It just was like it
was the nature of the business. It was just like, alright, cool,
like we're actually cool as people. But when we get

(38:40):
to the over together, fuck you brotherfucker your brother focus
is over there, and I was like, this is him.
I was like, I was just like we all got
this one new places we hang out with, but like,
I'm still trying to take your head off. I'm still
trying to show you that I'm the I'm the man.
That was probably that was definitely that was definitely lead
his energy. He was probably just naming itself the king

(39:02):
of the South to at that time of the South.
You know what I'm saying that at that time right there,
if you go back to everything felt the same. The
reason why I came with something different because it just
felt like I got tired of what we were doing.
It just felt traditional. And once again, I've never been
a traditional person, and so I was like, Okay, I

(39:24):
got something to say, I got something to show, I
got something I want to get off my chest or whatever.
I'm gonna do my music, you know, And it wasn't
to be to go up against t I oh that
because coming from where I'm coming from, how I look
at the game at the time, I'm not coming in
with a big perspective because I don't even know. I'm like,
you know what, I'm gonna just started independently and build

(39:46):
myself up. I don't know where it's gonna go because
my life is already kind of together on the style
of side of things, running the closing store. I'm in
the streets. I'm hustling. I'm cool with everybody, the real
street niggas, you know, saying the litt college students, you know,
the people who work at all the good companies, lawyers.
These all come to the rock with me on the

(40:06):
Friday when they get paid. So they asked you because
I think the f started earlier, like you had one
of the biggest deals from Depth Jam at that time.
That time, man, at that time it came out, they
came the old labels, I believe, because it blew up
without the actually like college basketball when you high school
psychologist giving letters. So they came into and I believe

(40:30):
it's a two million out of deal. Oh I'm low.
It's around there, Okay, a little bit up, Okay, alright, cool,
So you got one record, but depth, how does that?
How does that feeling? What is that? L A Reid
at the time. No, No, that's Steve, Steve Bottles. No,
that's very wise, that's very wise. He's the he's the

(40:53):
CEO at the time. Um. The people that signed me
at the time was Boo Care Quak San. That is
because the Asian homegirl. Great people, great people. You know
what I'm saying. Um, Like I said Blue as Brother,

(41:13):
because these are the people that kind of pushed up
together shout out to I've got to give love to
Shoka um um not from Shock, the one from New York. Yeah, yeah,
you know what I'm saying. Because he had a pardon
in situations. I never knew the details of it, but
I knew he always kind of like felt the type
of way because he got finessed some type of way.

(41:34):
I had nothing to do with that have but that's
on business side. But I'm gonna give him his flowers
because thank you whatever he was saying, help my name,
you know, put my work up, you know, and he
said a different shock. It's not shocking from Atlanta, assuming

(41:55):
that's a woman from rock Nation. Yeah, you think you're
talking about the same shocking, like what used to be
Deth Jam way back used to that. That's what we're
talking to New York kre Okay, yeah, yea, yeah, this
your back about two. Don't get shot. You said shocking
to hold me like that Field was a woman saying

(42:15):
she works used to work out def jams. The woman bad.
It's a man, that's gotta be It was def Jam
so he yeah, okay, the person who got from next Okay,
I'm giving your flowers right right, cool, I gotta stick
a number about the thinking about calling them right now.
You have to kind of very very story. So you know,

(42:39):
these are the people who, you know, we're involved in
putting it together, you know. And I met with you
know a lot of labels. You know, I met with
a lot of labels, and I remember l A read too,
Lary was dope. I mean with Jimmy IRV. Jimmy Aben
is the man. Jim Jimmy Jimmy Iveen gave me courtside
seats to the like it's going well. You mad, Um
not bad or was it any disappointment when um you

(43:02):
went with Death Jam didn't go with anybody else? No,
it definitely wasn't disappointment. Looking back at it, I do
wish it I went with r C A if I'm
not mistaken, I think O r C at Columbia one
or the two I would ever be just because looking
at it, they under they go a little bit harder
for their a different type of artists. Whatever. Death Jam

(43:25):
is TRADITIONALM. And once again, like I keep saying to you,
I'm not TRADITIONALM, but not so traditional. They have flavor flame.
But it was a part of Yeah, what I'm saying,
it's part of a traditional world, like the way that
hip hop is supposed to be brand which you know,
I respect that picking up we don't know, let's see,

(43:47):
no s I just just just FaceTime, you know. So, Um,
that was the difference, you know what I'm saying, would
say that that was like one of the biggest things,
you know, I just had to learn a hard lesson,
like I didn't like, you know what. I The one
thing and if there's anything I don't like about everything

(44:09):
that went down was that, you know, if we're doing
business as grown men and women. You know, it's like
for me, if me and you're doing business, I'll never
tell nobody in here about our business, you know what
I'm saying, especially when it comes to how much money,
Like if I'm doing if you're doing a service for
me and you charge me twenty bands, and twenty bands
is what I paid you or whatever, I'm not gonna
run and tell everybody in here how much I paid you.

(44:31):
But that's just not my thing. But I just realized
that everything that you do in this game, when you're
coming in at the top of when you're at the
top whatever is, people gotta announced that they won't they won't,
you know what a validation And I've never lived in
a place of validation. So that just turned me off
from the day right after I signed or whatever, like, oh,

(44:52):
I'll see what everybody is about in this game. I
get it, you know what I'm saying, Like, I don't
fully get it, but I see it for what it is,
and I just got to move accordingly and find myself
within it because obviously I'm not gonna quit. We're here
now because I'm not gonna quit. But I see what
y'all about. From everybody from artists, you know what I'm saying,
t taught me the hard lesson. I learned a great

(45:14):
lesson from two chains, but I learned a hard lesson
from dem Sham. You know what I'm saying. Everybody taught
me very hard lessons or whatever taught me a hard lessons.
It was it like because what was the second single
after Forget its Welcome, Women's Welcome, which was you know,
way ahead of his time. Nobody was doing hipolysis. You're
going against yourself, they're lucking hearing you. You probably beat

(45:37):
that second single is probably beating the whole building. But
it's not beating. That's that's the curse. That's what do
you understand? What just no, no, no, no no, I'm understanding.
Like it's like it's like it's hood, We're gonna work.
We know what. It's like that syndrome. You know what
I'm saying. That Bugatti, you know what I'm saying. And

(45:59):
records like that I whatever, like you know with Females Welcome,
you know the type of things that I had to
deal with is like, you know, first the radio was like, man,
we don't know how to play a record that has
hip hop and E d M on it. You know
they couldn't. That was the first and I'm gonna say
it's excuse, it's just the truth. Whatever. I was like,

(46:20):
all right, someone, I wouldn't have got Juicy J on
the remix. I got Juice on the remix. I was like,
let's do this one because Juicy the man, he had
bands to make him dance. And that's when Juicy making
his resurgence. But this is great, literally Juicy Jay's label,
not Juicy because he's a great guy. He's amazing. I wouldever,
he killed the verse, send it to him. I met

(46:40):
him out of show. I asked, I say, but I
would love to have you on my real was because
this is what's happening. This situation is going on with me.
They won't play my record for my second single on
the radio because it's too different for them. I would ever,
nobody had Nobody at the time had the record that
was hip hop with the E d M in the middle.
How whatever. Then Rocky came a while for the Night
with screw X and and everybody accepted it for what

(47:01):
it is. But I kicked that off. Can't nobody tell
me different or whatever? So I changed it up, got
j on it his label wouldn't clear the verse because
I think it's commented they wuldn't clear the verse because
he had too many features on the radio. Mm hmm.
It happened like that. Look when they said that to me,

(47:24):
I was like, Yo, this right here is devised for
you to either quit be piste off all the time
or to lose you know, And so I just had
to find myself. Man. You know, all those things are
the things I was dealing with all leading up to
that whole New York situation you asked me about, you know,
so dealing with just like where dumb business? Jaka, what's

(47:47):
going on? Brother? Yo? Listen, we got we got Trinidad.
Jameson didn't drink chap and he did say that there
is a brother name Shotgun that has something to do
with this. That he didn't feel like if you got
the camera and we didn't, he didn't. He felt like
he should have gave him some props to he He

(48:07):
felt like that it was it was had something to
do with making the deal. But maybe you never got
your props. I know he's talking about. I don't. He
would have to jog my memory. But we're just in conversation.
I do, you know, I do a lot of behind
the scenes conversation. Um. And I propped the record up

(48:31):
because the record was going crazy in Atlanta. If he
who signed him? He right here, he right here, right here.
I passed the forth. What's going on? My brother, So look,
let's make him so obviously what I'm saying, we're working
right now or whatever, but just in general and from

(48:54):
this is what I story that I've heard is that
you know, you god, you were putting it work on
my record. I did, I didn't know, right, And then
they got the credit for the record referring to you
know the people who they said, Simon who signed me,
Karen Quak, Sean Pecas, Chris Atlas and Boom. Yeah, you know,

(49:17):
and the what the word is what's being said is
that you know, you felt the type of way about it,
not towards me, obviously, you know, but towards them. So
I wanted to give you the flowers that you deserved,
just in general, because obviously you know that was out
of my control. Yeah, I got there. I appreciate it. Yeah,

(49:40):
that was that was at the time when I just
anything that came out of Atlanta. I was champion, but
obviously it was a movement and I was just putting.
I was I was on people next about making sure
that they signed certain talent, and I wanted to go
through my label and some stuff. You know, we know
one you got over ride participation or whatever. Then you know,

(50:01):
mysteriously and you know, pop up in other people's It
was situation, but you know, but for Trunidad, I was
just happy and I definitely was co signing the movement
because it was off the chain when it was happening.
Goddamn mixing things to that bad shocking so much. Were
just like you looking history. Man. We love this man,

(50:22):
man love always my brother, my bros. Shocking motherfucker's do
the bay. So that that's history right there. That you listen.
By the way, for people who don't know all those
names you just named, ain't a lightweight on there. Nobody
who know who names, nobody's alive. I don't even need
you name then all you need name like you guys
said him. That's how seriousness this is. Me leaving the

(50:46):
streets and walking into meetings with people like this and
happen to say yourself, you know, when you've seen Bobby's murder,
dancing on the table, and just I'm type of meetings.
That was my meeting. I wasn't at something table, but
you know those I was me. You know what I'm
saying to like, let them know who I was. And
I've never changed. The same person talking to you right now,
that's the same person talking to them. And it's like,

(51:09):
let's do business. So when we did business and things
started happening, the things that started happening as as after
I signed my deal, it just kind of rubbed me
the wrong way. And like I said, I just never
had no big homie. What was the worst? Like, um,

(51:29):
like it's like, damn, this this is like fake industry
because I had so many moments for me where I
was just like, you know what, this is another streets
at all. Let me let me differentiate this. But what
was the first? Maybe not the worst? What was the first? Yeah,
I think was the first, But you know what I said,
your perspective on it is a perspective that I've seen
longer down in my career where it's just like, bro,

(51:50):
if you're at the top, I'm gonna come. I would
have like I watched a lot of movies I'm a
movie person. You know what if you say that you
are the best fighter in the world, like you know
what's Afro Samurai? You didn't see that samuraize an animal,
you know when he travels around and the person that
wears the number one band. You can only get it
by if you're not number two. You can only get
number one by killing number one. You know what I'm saying.

(52:12):
So I didn't you know, I didn't see that. That's
what it was in the moment, because I'm looking at
this like, Bro, I'm doing this bigger for Atlanta, for
for us in period or whatever you like. I'm seeing
it bigger. Why is you coming in here on this
weird energy? Like you know? That's how I'm looking at it. Oh, that,
but that's why I would have boom. You know you
number one, sir, I'm gonna come and try and kill you.

(52:33):
But you know I'm saying, but you didn't understand that.
I didn't understand that in the time, So it came
across defensive. It was like video games. You play video games.
That's why nobody really shows you say I'm a teacher, Bro,
I'm a I'm a silence from help work because from
the video game and y'all ain't trying to show you
ain't trying to share nobody's energy on the video games
drying across the bunk. He came from a perspectives were

(52:58):
not trying to help exactly. And so I get that
because you're gonna have people who identified with that type
of energy where it's like if you number one, I'm
in kil Mo. But you also have people that identifies like, hey, bro, Like, um,
if you look at the Judah and the Black Side
movie with first it's incredible, It's incredible with Ryan Coogler,
all those people involved in the movie soundtrack is incredible,

(53:20):
Hope and Nips. You know, my boy hit boy got
a crazy song anyways. Um, if you look at like
Fred Hampton or whatever, like he was a powerful black
brother one when they killed him. You know what I'm saying,
It's like, but he went around to the Crowns and
different Games and the the KKK and those people to like, look,
let's work together, because together they can't funk with us.

(53:44):
If it's just left up to one of us to
do it, how are you gonna put all the responsibility
on me? Nigga? I just came in this ship. The
common sense is my vibe or whatever someone's like, instead
of trying to kill me off the map or whatever,
why don't you give me some game or whatever, because
at the end of the day, like, that's why I

(54:05):
love your thug, the stuff that I did for your
thug in the beginning of his career, which not much
or whatever, Like when I when I had my platform
to be the number one guy and that no no, no,
no no no, let me let me say, let me
say myself, say myself say when I had my chance

(54:27):
and doing my thing, and my platform is that platform
where whatever I say goes. When I went to the
radio station, I whatever, I knew that one of the
most talented people in our city was young Thug. He
had dropped. He had Danny Glover at the time. He's
just coming off a three mix tape. Came from nothing
one to three whatever. Danny Glover is the hardest song
on Earth. Nobody had the hardest song. I Don't care

(54:48):
who you were. Nobody had the hardest song. That was
the most genre bending approached to a trap song that
anybody had ever took. Any nobody creative thu future, nobody
more creative we were trying to call Danny. I called here. Yeah,
Doug had a song called Danny Glove. Danny Glove at
the most two of them. I had a song called

(55:17):
and so when I went to radio station, you know,
I made sure that I gave him his flowers and
then Doug and when you know, I've always been a
person to like, you know what, I'm gonna do my
own shows. I put my money up and do my
own shows. So when I do my own shows and
book out of venue. When I started doing my own
things or whatever, boom, I reached out to people like him,
like come performing. O there, we gotta go back to

(55:39):
how you do that? Just keep going. But that's another thing.
So I did my own show, paid for my own
money or whatever. I'm like, I reached out. I forgot
how I reached out, but I got to him or whatever,
and I was like, hey, bro, come perform. And I
think because you are the truth. I know my purpose,
I know my journey or whatever, but you are the

(55:59):
real out damn truth whatever. Come performed. So he came performed.
Peebe Longwood can't performed. Would have they're both incredible artists.
He can't perform Danny Glover. For the people who got
to enjoy that show, that was the most intimate, most
amazing experience they will ever have with you or whatever,
you know, And that is just that's how I look
at it. It's like, look, if I know somebody is

(56:20):
better than me as something, you come do this, you
come do it. I didn't. I didn't because I was
later on the energy that I put out there is
be whoever you want to be, do whatever you want
to do. I would have That's what Prince did. That's
what did you know what I'm saying, that's what that's

(56:42):
what did or whatever, because at the end of the day,
you're going to have your opinion. My nails, You're going
to have your opinion on it. His dress, You're gonna
have an opinion on it. You're titled to do that.
Names if Rick James offered me some coping, I'm sniffing
cocon all that what you said, I am molly about you?

(57:10):
Somebody singing about Molly. When you said I popped Molly,
I'm sweat. Come in, Donor said I'm in, I'm coming.
But as you and we're talking now, you know, and
you always from the first time we met, you know,
just telling somebody this. Last night, I was talking to

(57:31):
a little female and she was asking, like, how do
this come about? What you did on Nori? I was like,
you know what I meant. You know, you embraced me,
but just so it is and I would have never
thought that your energy It was like that. You know
what I'm saying, because once again, if we just listen
to somebody music exactly, you know what exactly it's like, Yeah,
I mean it's just different exactly, it's it's it's an Ora,
it's or you're gonna live in an oral like me. Firstly,

(57:53):
um like Prell changed my life. I'm being honest. When
Perrell told me that, he said, Michael Jackson all this
music that he made with Michael Jackson, but Michael Jackson
wanted the music that we made together. And it made
me realize that sometimes you gotta watch what you say
because you attracted, but sometimes you're gonna just attract something

(58:16):
that maybe you didn't want or maybe you didn't know,
but they're gonna be Justice is important, and I've always
been that guy like to be able to go to
the South early, like I've been working with David Bannam
when he was in crook at Lettics. I was working
with with Juvenile before. Yeah, I was working like like
I was like the first artist that cash Money work

(58:39):
within New York. I knew what time it was in
the South because I had family in the South connect
and yeah, and the thing is all I know, I
gotta ask it to y'all and you gotta act it
to me. We just saying it's like sorry to say
people were sick. Bro, you gotta do rag let's go.
I gotta make this is freaking up New York, right, Yeah,

(59:08):
it's good, all right. So and so it was easy
for me to actually what people call different not I
don't want to call him normal. And that's that's what
even me and this brother like, um, you know, I
was coming to the South early, and I knew what
I came to Miami. I was gonna come back and

(59:28):
I was gonna frequent and me and him develop this
relationship and that's what that's really what it is. So
you know, the world is actually small if you're actually
really getting money and you're traveling, the world is small,
like it's mad small, Like you can go to Dooms
the door of Dermany, the bumping that somebody getting Chinese food.
You know what this thing is doing? Club, so spak

(59:58):
kicking him, make fi kick thinking we know your family
owned clubs. You guys own the Branson vodka along with fifty.
You gotta ellaboration together, you and the Branson vodka. Let's
talk about it. So the Branson, um and the Champagne,
the Shimen Deloy, and that's what we're moving now. Um
love how you said that ship bad fast. I don't

(01:00:18):
think you know how to pronounce it very good the
way you pronounced it back, that's what it is. Okay,
the Branson. That's what we're moving now. And then you
know everything going on. It's not easy to be in
the clubs and move the lick at the way we are,
but we're trying to make it work as best as
we can. So what's going on with New York clubs?

(01:00:39):
Are we still shut down? We still shut down? To eleven?
Now indoor dining is back open to eleven Jersey? You
could they let in the town choose so like Elizabeth
like called the twelve but the two in the morning
so zones he's owning it. Depending when this comes out.
We don't know what's going on. But that's what it
is for right now. Everybody goes to move to Atlanta.

(01:01:02):
Why open the Texas Texas? Really, I didn't know about
Texas spak. How many Trigorda records you spent? How like
four or five? Okay? Okay, okay, okay. And New York
were a tough crowd. Listen, New York can't get New

(01:01:23):
York club all the time. He was saying that you
see nigga like just speaking ran down there. This is
I don't have to make this stuff first, Like I
literally heard it from the mouth of real New York

(01:01:44):
niggas where they don't get to support that they feel
they truly deserved. And I felt them niggas deserved it too.
Just feel like eight years ago we should feel somebody
like Pop Smoke getting all this love. But isn't it
like a bit of sweet because Pop is getting When
I'm listening, by the way, all my phones, when they
asked my address, I still put in my address now

(01:02:05):
seven seven Avenue, So everything is called is colded to.
When I listened to my app, I get the New
York commercials, I get the the traffic for the Triborough Bridge. Meanwhile,
I live it here for the last forty years. But
I listened up. Pop Smokes gets so much of this love.
But this isn't a kind of bitter suite because it's like,

(01:02:26):
wouldn't it meant more? Off? Pop was getting that love.
He was alive, but he wasn't. He was in New York.
He was getting in love. But like when I was like, man,
when I did not, but when I did the club,
it would have happened to him alive. It just happened
to be Tortue. Travis would have got that. Travis got
that there at least at least the fishes were Travis

(01:02:49):
and quite. He dropped solid process again to come on
late with the brass fifty. How you be late with
direst It was I'm blaming it on fifty every time
we go an. But when I was in Musing in Texas,
I've seen the reaction, I'm like, damn, they really that

(01:03:10):
he was going after he was going after he was gone.
So when he was here, it wasn't out of town
that big yet all. So last time we was here
before the pandemic shutdown, it was me, fifty and Pop.
We were in Miami. We did came with the Dream
and we did Booby Trap and he's performing, but they
not welcome to the party. Early state, they didn't really
know it yet. The only reason they ranking the Strip

(01:03:32):
Club because all the New York nigglas was in the
Strip Club. But Miami ain't really gravitated the way they
gravitate to it now. Miami is always like that though. Yeah,
it's still the South, you know what it's like. We
gotta look the album that he dropped before he passed away.
We had Element on it. The songs were Quavo or
whatever like that. By the time that album, I think
the momentum goodness. Now he is legit amazing, Like from

(01:03:57):
from that situation that you brought up in twenty to
where it is now. That's all I'm saying. I was like,
these artists to serve ticket their music playing, they're dope,
And what's the artist right now? From New York? Far
and fave rio, fabio, um c J J J J

(01:04:20):
I Bookie, No, it's Bookie, damn about to be o G.
You can't do that. So I don't know what it
was like. No, that's how fashion is going. But I
don't think we just got a good seventh Ace Bookie
Ace Bookie got a good what's que what's this? Homie?
Um q q al right? Who else? Who else? Put

(01:04:43):
me to some somebody? I shooting? Um? What's coming out
of New York? And Jada Prince? Where do I? Chef G?
Chef G sleepy hollow? Those dudes moving okay and they're
doing listen up, come on, come on, come on. You

(01:05:04):
ain't t't have me trap so much. Just can't watch
because when the table watch it, I just can't watch him.
He had me, had me a trap. I feel like
New York tried to come together. I think because oh,
you always see the mean Atlanta they gets stayed together, yeah,
that thing. But New York it's like they traveling and

(01:05:26):
they're still being lokey competition each other. I don't know
what it is. I was just playing to him earlier.
I think that's just the competition of the business. I
don't think it's New York New York. So I think
that New York has the biggest energy where it's like
doggy dog energy, But I think it not to have
that anymore. I think I think we're for I'm saying
from everything that I kicked off from when I got

(01:05:47):
my damn lashing from what I said, and then gradually,
as you've seen, it was just like, look, you're so
much shot spake kid, Come on, baby, man, you can't
let's go Let's go back. Don't da just go oh
smooth out too out of Brooklyn. Come on. Yeah, it's

(01:06:09):
it's it's at the end of the day. Man's look,
if you're doing good music, you deserve And I'm gonna
tell you, in two years, Atlanta is going to be
worse than New York with the competition. You think, so,
that's just not an energy. We have Southern hospitality at
our core. Y'all don't, y'all don't that's the biggest difference
what he said it though. That's that's how he didn't it.

(01:06:32):
That's the it's the truth that the South before two
years it's okay, but I'm gonna tell you this. I'm
Atlanta has always been ahead of everybody in terms of
their unity. Man. Yeah, but I've also seen the footages
talking about it recently, I can't say nothing other than that.
Talking about the footages, I think that I think that's

(01:06:53):
at least saying like I think that this happens. What
you're saying that it is correct. But you're saying amongst
the I don't think that's the music. I think that's
the undersmellingship. Same cold. These younger I like a little baby.
I like little baby, little baby, show up. He didn't
did songs with TI. He did songs for all these
older guys. And you know one thing, I'll give alan

(01:07:15):
cred the younger hearted. They always pay how much to
Jeez Gucci and they love to the older niggas New
York niggers. Now they're gonna tell you that They're not
gonna tell you that do a young New York artists
show love to older New York niggas. Funk Jest started
like making niggas do songs with him or doing songs
doing him like you got something. I'm just saying, Look,

(01:07:38):
I'm a t J too. I can tell you that.
I'm just saying. You know what I'm saying. It's like,
that's that's why it times back in it again. Young,
I don't see this was crazy? You know what's crazy? Um?
I think I said this with Lords of the Underground,

(01:08:01):
Is there or it'd be important for the older dudes
to keep looking good. I don't think that's the I
think that the old, the middle class and the young
are on the same rat race. It's one chart and
we perman rator right Erban radio is one chart right,

(01:08:21):
and we're talking about industry and industry because we we
miss conscrewed culture and industry and there's a cross road.
But there's two different day so you have to use
For example, you have t I Le and uh chef
g all competing for the same spot of Herban Radio,

(01:08:41):
which is like different age range. You know, tis his
age's his age, chefs age. Because there's only one chart,
it's only one charge. It's not like, oh this is
the twenty and under charge. This is the understand what
you say, one charts totality, but overall, I don't think
we're compete for the same But there's there's different platforms though,
because as an artist is big on TikTok, where he
not big on radio. Isn't this powerful radios? Last I'm

(01:09:05):
gonna be on the club. We're here in the club
and the record of break like this is it. Then
it gets on radio after it's old to us now
because it's like they're playing they added songs now from
pop on radio it's like, Bro, that's two years old.
How is that being added now? That's because they running
on a song. They just trying to keep him on
the radio. That they shut you a fifty down with
the Aces club. What happened with what club? Police? I

(01:09:28):
thought you had a club together, you fifty and Aces,
And then I heard the police said, it's not gonna happen. No, no, no.
My brother started Lust in Brooklyn. Lust and Brooklyn Lust
and Brooklyn. We had the club. They the cops kept
doing nove on wone calls. Come to find out the
cops were running, uh drugs and gambling around the corner

(01:09:48):
in the hotel. So the cops they were trying to
put that test on us. It was then they got rated.
They all got fired. It was a whole bunch of ship.
I went to Beat, I went to We're not gonna
But it was just crazy that it was always attack
on us. Bro. But that was a place that I
felt was like a s ob Sits one of the

(01:10:14):
best quality of what I'm saying because a lot of artists,
a lot of artists came out of there and be honest,
Boogie Fettie designer, a lot of young and maid Bobby
Smirt when he first came up, came out. Yeah, it
was that moment where everything like when Hot Nick came
on the first time in that club, seeing that reaction,
it was just it was different from Credible song. It
was different than the strip club. It was kind of

(01:10:35):
like a showcase. Was everybody through their hats. No, yeah,
that's what I obviously thinking. But I thought up he
could come home. It was your brody Roddy home. You
knew we rowdy, you know, I never I never got
to meet both of them, but huge fans. I noticed
that if I meet them, I'll just give them them flowers.

(01:10:57):
You know, I don't need to be we don't need
to be friends or anything or whatever. But like I
just respect that, like they respect each other. I love
people who work in unity. I love people that stay down.
You know what I'm saying when I don't know how
true it is. But when they said that Bobby took
more time, so that Roddy you know what I'm saying,
Like you know what I'm saying, Like he could have
got out earlier, but he took more time because he

(01:11:17):
wasn't gonna stitch on this man. To me, there's things
that just don't happen at often in life, not even
your first record. You said, I don't folk with nose snitches.
That's just not my thing. You know what I'm saying.
It's like I live by the moral code that every
man should live, you know what I'm saying. They might
not look the same as all did you do it?
But I still live about the same for you or whatever,
and it shouldn't be, but it's not. And we know

(01:11:41):
that a simple as that. We'll make you take that
as prost because you say, like you know, you your
style and people you was, you know, working at a
boutique store. But we'll make you still take that same
morral code as a person that is, you know, sleeping
crack twenty four something. I mean, I think that at
the end of the day, man, if I don't have
me the man to get when I look in the
mirror in the morning, and I will never have me.

(01:12:02):
The artists together that was like the big defining moment
for me or whatever. It was like, Look, if I
can't figure out who I am and who I love
to be, then whatever you think of trind that James,
that's just gonna die real soon or whatever, because I
have to know who I am as the man, because
the man was the man before y'all labeled me. The

(01:12:24):
man has Trinda James. Trinda James is a title. But
I was, like I said, I had a great high
school career. I was lit in the streets before I
came into the game. I love the streets that because
I know how to do business in it. You know
what I'm saying. I love that. I hate that we're
in the pandemic. I hate that. But it got me
back to my old hustles. It got me back to

(01:12:46):
my fashion. It got me back to cannabis, and I
was legal. You know what I'm saying. You know what
I'm saying that it's a whole different experience than when
I was trying to make it out here in the
streets as an immigrant with no green card. Completely different.
He's yourself with on the shop. Both of y'all know,
seperate cup, separate cup, separate cup. This guy separate cup

(01:13:11):
from the regular drink because I want you to still drink,
but you have this is a shot cup. You know
what I mean? That we're over here, baby, Let's do it,
how y'all Jesus that one hit hard, So what's next?

(01:13:31):
So for me, I'm on my business stuff. You know,
I'm really crazy on black owned businesses. I brought black
owned food restaurant. Talk to me. Still on complex, still
with the same complex we got. We're in season nine.
We don't need a hundred plus episodes full size what
you did the drive revolt to right, so revolt. I
was doing the Dad talks where I do affirmation with

(01:13:52):
the day. That was incredible, Right, that was incredible. But
I love that revolt. I love when people give a
funk about positive stuff because the reality the industry don't
give a about positive stuff. They want to make negative money,
negative negative money. That was the best money on earth.
And ask me telling like mediam negative negative Like it's

(01:14:14):
not like, ain't nobody still want? You want to control negative?
When you control your negatives, when you can train negatives different.
I just want to talk about taking mollyg because I
think Molly is a great thing. But you talking about
but you talk about the mayor, don't talk about you.
You talk about you taking Molledge. Other man talking about you? It, Yeah,
it's you gotta relax, talk crazy talt to be doesn't man?

(01:14:40):
You correct me apart wrong. I think Molly is fucking fantastic.
Molly is incredible. I've been done it in a long time.
That's not something you do every day. It's like weed. Yeah.
I mean to the person who doesn't every day, power
to you. No, no, don't you gotta relax. You're different, different.
There's people that do coke every day. For me, you should,
you should talk everything. But people that something goes wrong

(01:15:04):
give us a cocaine story. So I can't give you
a cocaine story. Don't do cocaine. That's not my thing.
Don't do it. I've never never done cocaine. I feel, actually,
take a shot. Let's take it on the shot cocaine.
I don't say we have some here, it's cocaine. I

(01:15:27):
got it right here. You know, you ever gonna shot cool? Something?
Little is the best drink. Champ stories in the world.
Trade that wants and they got shots. But take it
where you was that? What was that? So? You know
right now, where I'm at with it is we're in

(01:15:48):
a We're in a pandemic. You know, if anybody looking
at this, whether it's twenty years from now, two years
from now, we're in the pandemic, and the only people
that's going to make money, the only people that's going
to be happy with themselves, people that's adapting to what's
going on. You can't do no shows right now. I
just I dropped the album. And my album is incredible
that I dropped. I dropped in August. It's called Black Filter.

(01:16:09):
You know what I'm saying. For people who don't know,
check it out. I know that it's fired, you know,
but you know I did twelve videos out of thirteen songs.
You know how hard it is to videos independently at
your own pocket. It is what it is. But I
put that work in. But at the end of the day,
we can't do no shows. And you know, the show
is what makes us lit. The shows what really bring
us in that back end, that brings us in the
front end, that really bring us in the money to

(01:16:30):
keep going or whatever. So at the end of the day,
we're in the pandemic. I know, I just had to
figure it out, like I gotta adjust because once again,
I still don't have no big homies. I'm still I'm
my big homie. I'm everybody else's big homie. That's the
truth world piece. That's my big that's my big homie.
That's what you got together. So he does his own

(01:16:52):
He's doing his own basketball league, and I'm helping him
with it. You know, he's a very very smart brother.
You know. His basketball league is to help everybody because
you know, the NBA is the NBA, right, but just
because you don't make it the NBA, and I don't
mean if you're not a good basketball player, that don't
mean that you can't make money for playing basketball leading.
So he's building the league to bring that concept to
players who you know, you're the truth, but you might

(01:17:15):
not can't get into the league and still be able
to find runs to play in to get scouts to
come out and look at you. We also got that
league too. We just had a smooth champs all of
the out. Listen, listen, did you see right? And you
mosted to know he know academics that had no choice,

(01:17:41):
but by the way we was. We also interview Tory
Lanes when he first had the surgery, when he first
had y'all me when it right? Did he admit that
I don't want to remember he was. I feel that
he was like Tories, like bro, that's a gotta understand
for it, and we're men here talking you know, and

(01:18:03):
want it. No great hands. My ball paid on me
every time he came here. When he lives that hair
or like your hairline is not right, and when you're
not as a man, that funks with your ego. It
does no matter what the type of man you are.
So the fact that he was able to find what
helps him be a better man. Once again, if you're

(01:18:24):
the man or right you the artist would be great. Yeah,
he like twenty nine, like under the thirties, so like
it might be fucking ju human like takeing sign out there.
It's different different differently. It's the holy and this one

(01:18:53):
was crazy. Anybody who was doing you got to take
his hat off, could go sign my story. By the way,
we didn't. Things are gonna come. We had a whole
weekend playing Smoke Chace Week and Smoke Chats podcast. So
Friday we had hamball, handball, real handball? Are you really
good at hand? This ship a right? Listen, I get

(01:19:21):
back to that. Get somebody trying to still my idea.
On Friday had handball. On Saturday we had basketball. Now
I was injured on Friday. Somebody injured me because they
knew what I was going to do on Saturday, and
I feel like it was him, even though he was
nowhere around heah yeah, look at that. So this Saturday

(01:19:47):
and then like mind you, I'm like, you know, I'm
not thinking too are we're gonna come through? But I
think he's gonna come through. I know, you know what
everything that's going on. He knows the camera's gonna be
he did to him. I don't know what you mean
right now, he's the code. You know, the camera's gonna

(01:20:09):
be an So I'm not you know that the homeline
he pulls up, give him a shirt, so I don't
really realize what's going on. He jumped on the court
and now everybody like, yo, y'all they clear his hand
like that. I didn't know what they were talking about,

(01:20:29):
and I'm alright, cool. You know, the thought it was
a different dude. You know, y'all think they're artistic because
in there they're artistic. Somebody's guys artistic. He's artistic. He's autistic. Autistic.
Like twenty minutes later, as were there in the shade

(01:20:52):
room posted it as weird there and I looked and
the comments just like, look at it's George Jefferson, and
I was like, oh, they disrespectful. You don't remember Jorge
it you know what we know. But Tore gets the jokes.
He has it happened. I mean, he knew and he
don't give it that. He don't have a person to
do something like that on purpose, because he is in

(01:21:12):
control of his negative. To go back to what you're saying,
he's in control of his negative. Ever, for the time,
he wasn't in control your negatives time in the beginning,
like people wouldn't like you one of your situation. I
wasn't controlling my negative. I wasn't would if I knew better,
I would know to like no, no, no, no, no,
no no, I'm going to pull up on somebody in

(01:21:33):
New York. I actually stopped coming to New York for
two years because I felt like prior to that, the
whole New York was working with me hard. I didn't
Santo Santo the Playhouse. Shout out to my girl, Lola Santos,
that's the lect acoustic place. It was crazy or whatever

(01:21:55):
me cool. We shut that place down. That was definitely Santace.
So you know, I don't want to make it exact.
I wouldn't make this up. I don't have to make
things up. I don't live in that world. Exaggeration, go ahead,
don't you know? So you know, as far as not
being in control of my negative if, like I said,

(01:22:15):
if I had a big homie or somebody at the
time to be like, hey, bro, look you're saying what
you said. You meant what you said, but you didn't
deliver the right way. Go clean that up, go make
that right or whatever I said. Man, I just felt
like New York portrayed me. I just left New York
alone for two years and I ain't come for two
years because people who I was cool with and like

(01:22:36):
showed when I get yeah no the New York comments,
so you know he's talking about it. In December, I
did a show um for a Converse right, and coming
into the show, I felt the type of way towards

(01:22:57):
the business that was going on in my life. And
so every time I do a song between my intermission,
I'll just start talking, talking or whatever. Everything I was
saying what's true from the standpoint of I felt that
New York needs to support New York. Hard is more money, Yes,
But I wasn't the person to say that I wouldn't

(01:23:18):
the person was supposed to said that, I've never lived
like you're from New York. Know, that's what people say,
That's what people said. For me, I'm saying the truth
because I only know the truth. If I'm on tour
with all the ASTAT crew and all these people, and
and everybody's complaining about how New York Radio New York

(01:23:38):
DJs treat them, I'm like, damn, these dudes hard as fuck.
These dudes are dope. We just did a whole tour together.
I know these brothers are dope. I know that they're amazing.
I love their show. They're great. Y'all need to get better.
And the person that you always challenge if you want
to make a change is to people. It's power to
the people is the consumer. The consumers who always going

(01:23:59):
to make the biggest difference. If the label counts you out.
If you look at Sure, if you look at if
you look at Shaggy Shaggy, if you look at the
story of Shaggy and it wasn't what is the story
of shaky Man? No, no, no, A great, great story.
But I can't do that, sty I'm gonna use that. Yeah.

(01:24:21):
Cheers it's gonna be nice what you're doing. That cocaine
let me. I went to con and I was let
and this is gonna happen. This, it's gonna happen. This

(01:24:41):
a little bit farewell for me. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Everybody
shot guys. So you know, it's one of those type
of things where I learned my lesson. I learned my lesson.

(01:25:03):
I can't help. But two, I felt that I and
I looked at my power, maybe the wrong way, but
I looked at the power that I had would all
go everything, but that I need to speak up for them.
And obviously I didn't think it was gonna be taken away.
They was taken but when I look back at it,
it wasn't right. Let me ask you something, Right, it's

(01:25:26):
been a time right when I had to flag and
I gave people the flag, and then I realized when
they had to flag, they at anyone look at me.
You ever went through that, meaning like when you had
the biggest stage and you're life, you gave somebody or
you shared that stage with somebody. Has it ever been
a time when that same person had that time in

(01:25:47):
their life? Oh? I love that question because they can
ti U back to what we're talking about with Young Thug.
That's why I love Young Thug. And if I wasn't
to make it till tomorrow, Young Thug got to know
that he's the realist person that I ever dealt with,
because remember showing him that love. Like I told you
about Boom when it was a time when I came
to his show in l A maybe three years ago.

(01:26:09):
Somebody that two years ago, I don't know, and um,
you know I'm there. I'm supporting. I love him. He's crazy.
He's one of the best artists on the earth to me,
you know. And you know I'm supporting him as love
or whatever, like I bought him stuff for his birthday
or whatever. I love his sisters, I love the family.
I love his mom. I'm cool with his mama. You
know what I'm saying this love like I got the

(01:26:31):
utmost respect dude, Gunna, all these people like I've known
Gunna before Gunna was part of YL. I knew him
when he was coming up and trying to figure it out,
you know what I'm saying, Like coming to fly Kicks,
which was a dope store in a land off Peter Street. Whatever,
I've seen these people come up, you know what I'm saying.
So like when they make it to me, that gets
me fucking excited because that's what I care about. I

(01:26:53):
don't care about being the best nigga. I'm an immigrant
from the Thug showed you love back so boom, he's
doing the show or whatever, Like I'm there for a
long time. You know, when you come to somebody to show,
you might come too early and he don't go on
to he ready to go on, and you don't be
in there. You've seen every opening and act, right, I'm

(01:27:16):
not saying everybody security things security. He's so boom, you
know he's performing whatever. I was like, you know what
I've seen because I've been to numerous Young Thug shows.
I've seen the show. You know, boom. I appreciate it.
I got things to do. I leave out, I leave

(01:27:37):
the show. I wouldn't getting to leave. Somebody run out like,
hey bro, young thug, I want you to come before
or whatever, so we gotta run back in. Boom boo
boo boom. And he brings me out to perform in
front of his l a crowd, which at the time
was a big deal. According to what project was, it
was no No, it was amazing, you know, and it's

(01:27:57):
just things like that. To me, that's the really ship
that ever happened. That's the that's like, that's the real questions.
But is that is that one of the only people
that you show love or is there other people that
showed you love that after a time because they're like
listen and reggae, don't let me stop. You may not
even go there, Go ahead, go there, man, but there

(01:28:19):
already show love too that when they had that same chance,
they didn't show a love to be bad. There's a
lot of people in WRAP that did the same chance.
I mean, I can't say it wrap, this wrap I
circled around too many times, but I wouldn't need to
ask you. Is there anybody that, like you, showed super
love to it and you was disappointed to when it
came time for you to receive that reciprocal love that

(01:28:40):
your forty acres in your mule for lack of the
pre term, well, I don't look at it as the
forty acres in the mule. I look at it as
as a mutual respect, you know, to be reciprocated. Right
now on the record, no, t I know, are you
sure to change. I haven't asked, but you don't know.
Don't say no for sure? Maybe they would. I love

(01:29:04):
that energy. I love the energy. Look like, I don't
want you to just shut it out because that you
don't want to be told no, so you'd rather just
not asked. I don't. I don't like that. I don't
like the answer now because if I say yes to you,
it's so one hundred and ten thousand percent, And it's

(01:29:28):
not just I'm saying yesterday. I'm nobody yes man that
if I ask you for something, I'm not trying to
come up off for your frame or whoever you are.
I'm literally I love music. I'm an incredible producer of records.
That's why I do really good in the writing world.
You know what I'm saying. I got a number one
last year with Queen Nigel writing records. You know what
I'm saying. It's like, I love music. I love making

(01:29:51):
people be better. Like I said, my background is being
a stylist. What does the stylish job to make you
feel better about yourself going out? So that's my background.
So if I asked you to do something, dog, I'm
a grown ass man, I'm actually something because it's goned.
Somebody you asked to do something, they didn't do it.
So I'm sorry to ask your question. I feel like August,

(01:30:13):
I've seen it off top off top. I'm gonna go
there because I felt that, and I understand why it
went that way. This before the entanglement. This is before
the entagle Man, This before the entagle, This before the entacle.
You know what I'm saying, Like, if we're gonna if
we're gonna go there, we gotta go there. You know
what I'm saying. I seen him. I feel like I

(01:30:37):
was what happened when it was time to come back around.
I felt that the industry captivated them and it really
hurt that brother, and that that affected the way that
they treated somebody who was actually genuine with him because
he couldn't trust somebody. But you say this is after
because after all, right, like the pole juice, right, do

(01:30:58):
you get dryed? Anybody get dropped from Labory? You got
the Poople juice. It wasn't the time you had the
Poople juice, because that's like two thousand juice. Yeah, I
understand where it's coming from. So let me give you
the companies. Let me now, let me get you. I tweeted,
I tweeted to people or whatever that boom boom. People think, definitely,

(01:31:22):
I've never dropped me. They never dropped me. That's the
fact that people love Nike and Jeff jampor Temina. They
dropped me. I would love a niked death genera temen
they dropped I would love it. The actual reality of
the situation is that I requested from and it took

(01:31:43):
two years for them to be like, all right, we'll
let you go. I requested to be let go of
the label, to be let off the label because nobody
was there for me. Period. Nobody has never been there
for me. I had to be there for me, which
I'm not complaining about because right now, in this very moment,
I'm there for me. And that's what it's about. Like

(01:32:04):
Kanye never helped out, Kanye reached out. Can you reached out?
I remember Kanye reached out. Can you reached out? Or whatever?
But I just feel that I do you see thinking
people you still think about it, like, bro, I respect you.
You You're Nori to me. I respect you, but if
the way that you approached me is not respectable, then
I ain't gonna deal with you. Bro, what you mean?

(01:32:26):
So Kanye came, So Kanye, Kanye reached out through his
man's who is my man's to do something? I want
my man's right, And the way that he reached out
for me to do something for him, I felt like
he didn't care about me. I got tired and I
already went through this with t I. I went through

(01:32:46):
this with je Z where I felt like these o
g s because to me, I'm from Atlanta, Bro, these
are o gs. To me, You're not a hot rapper.
To me, you're O G who's a legend you up
there with? You know how I look at Andre, how
I look at Big Boy, how I look at Cel,
you know how I look at Dungeon family. So it's like, Bro,

(01:33:07):
these people always gave me knowledge. Like the first thing
I asked Andre, he did say no to it, but
he still gave me knowledge that made me a better artist.
You see what I'm saying. And I couldn't get that
from them. And maybe that's not how their parents but
even maybe that's not how their parenting skills go or whatever,
you know what I'm saying. But I'm still a young
brother trying to figure it out. And they knew that.

(01:33:30):
They knew that. If you talk huh, we're talking about
we're talking about all those people. We're talking about the
the t S, the j Zys, these people. Uh that
for my past. We're a great place for us in
New York. We were. We think that they're not. We
look at y'all like y'all old, get along everybody new artists.

(01:33:50):
You've got the biggest bro record of the world, the
all co tiing you spinking said that. He said it
earlier where it's the mean where it's like Atlanta artists
spot I didn't get together. I'm gonna tell you this,
And if I'm wrong, you know, you don't figure listening
I Land for or whatever. That's not true, bro. You

(01:34:11):
know everybody's true city. That's that bullship. It's not that's
really bullshit. That's really how ship from New York class.
How we're doing. Reason why the me was made it
is because people see don't because you But if you
really know people like look at the niggas over there,
it's like father Land the niggas on one song. Yility,

(01:34:33):
opportunity and support is two different things. My brother's opportunity
and supports to that maybe, but I can make you
my nigga, you gotta come do my if you if
I can make you w let then you have to
do my remix my nigga respectfully, respecting respectfully. You know

(01:34:56):
what I'm saying, and that and that's got a little shot.
That's just what I'm saying straight up. But I mean,
you know where we're at now. You know those are
all lessons. You know, we're talking about the past. And
I'm a person to be honest with Snory. I don't
live in the past. I don't think about the past.
So my success on the plaques that I got in
my crib, you know that, I don't even they're not

(01:35:18):
even put up on the wall because I don't live
for that. What can I do? New? You know what
I'm saying where I'm at now, I want you to
put them blacks up? Why the blacks up? Because you
gotta know how I feel, you how dope. It feels
like when I walk around my crib. Excuse me, I
don't even have them inside my crib. I have them
on Mike. What's that ship called the four year? You

(01:35:42):
know this is a little like but it just makes
me feel good because I don't know, I just like it.
I like it. You gotta understand that you have confidence
some ship. Sometimes you put your accomplishments to the side
because you're always thinking about the future. But us think
about what you did to get here. Never not never,

(01:36:03):
just lever down, play it. You got to get here
because you're like, I'm the journey so that you can
see the future. Yeah. Yeah, the journey is super important
to me, and and it lives in my mind and
I know it. But like I said, I really like
I said right now, with all these people in my
personal opinion, like we were just all together not too
long ago, referring to like these two chains, and you know,

(01:36:24):
I see cheesy from time to time. Like my respect
for these people they don't change, but how they treated me.
I just didn't appreciate it at the time because I
didn't understand what was going on in the game. And
I was like, you know, what I'm saying is like,
when you're a rookie, you're gonna make rookie rookie mistakes.
You it was was high school freshman, it was the

(01:36:46):
freshman in high school. You really yeah, but listen, we're
gonna salute your careers. So that's wanted to say that. Man,
I think I think you've understood the energy, or maybe
I could be wrong, but hopefully I am right. I

(01:37:09):
don't think you've mis understood the energy. And I think
that it was exactly how you interpreted. You went back
to high school and there were certain people, and you
know what, he was a freshman at that time, so
maybe he wasn't as cool as a freshman as he
was that man. College is now you're a freshman and
the senior is trying to prove. I think it's start

(01:37:30):
and I think that's what it was, because I think
your city is to ask you great city was one
of the right first cities I came to, and it
just it was just black excellence, like black excellences. No,
it definitely is. Don't get a mistaken. It definitely is.
And every no matter if you're doing music that you know,

(01:37:51):
helps us push forward. What I told you, what's the
top of my paramn hip hop rap? So whatever it
takes to get us there, from the playboard card, the
little yachties who are the mccona's, everybody is important. Even
if you got one hit that helps us stay number one.
And that's and That's what matters to me. So you know,

(01:38:11):
that's why I got into writing music. Now, I write
for people. I only I only work for I only
work with women. Women, you know what I'm saying. Because men,
you know, we have this weird ego, you know, and
I don't live with ego. My egos at the door
right now, at this table. My ego is at the
door behind me because I don't have to have an
ego in order to have a good conversation with you.

(01:38:33):
That don't prove important to me every person that has
ever came in contact with me. What you're gonna say
about me, I'm always me. That might offend you when
you're away from me, but in my face here I'm
here to respect you. I just want to respect reciprocating,
and we know how that works. Has grown as men,
you know, and so like you know, all in all

(01:38:54):
to end out, because I know we're about to close out.
You know. I appreciate every play that I'm able to make,
you know, and I appreciate you bring me on drink Champs.
I appreciate you, appreciate you dream. I appreciate opening and
showing us the side of you. You know, we truly
appreciate that because it's like, don't limit yourself. I'm never

(01:39:15):
gonna limit myself. I'm gonna always be doing something where
it's like damn, there he go or whatever, because it's
bigger than just doing music. I love music, because music
is one of the most incredible things that you could
ever get a talent there. Still, it's just a vehicle,
it's not a house. It's likely supposed to take music
to exactly you know. And and if it's the last

(01:39:37):
thing I got I must say before I get out
of here is make sure that you support black owned businesses.
Let's talk about please. You know what I'm saying, like
shout out was the fool you bro? So you know
I did Caterine. Now, I brought cater into drink Champs
because you know, I wanted the staff to going down
the street from me. So Ray Allen owns this restaurant,

(01:40:00):
call with him and his wife. Shout out to Shannon.
You know it's a black own restaurant. You know, you
know no South southware yeah area, you know. But just
in general, support black owned businesses. That if if I
don't all that stuff we talked about, if stuff that
people have opinions on the opinion that matters to me

(01:40:22):
the most is where I'm at now, you know, because
I'm on my I'm back on my you know, my
street ship. I'm back with the people or whatever supporting
black owned businesses, you know, And I'm saying around the
corner from my family. You know what I'm saying, Like,
supporting black own businesses is something that I didn't realize
that was needed from you, our own coach. You see

(01:40:44):
it from killing Mike, But I've seen that one aspect,
and he gave a real perspective. If you wanted to
go your whole month, which is supporting black owned businesses,
You're going to be in a crazy place because there's
a lot of things that we have not got to
that place that we need to be at yet. And
just in general, I'm just trying to help the narrative.
Controlling your narrative is the best thing that any person

(01:41:04):
of color can do. Controlling your narrative at whatever, Like
how y'all said about people controlling their negative, controlling your
narrative is the most important thing that you can ever
do for yourself. And so supporting a black owned business
is the most important thing to me right, I can't
take you know, yeah, I'm not thinking what do you
mean he tapped? It's no, I don't tap out, trust me,
And I'm not talking out tapping more than you know.

(01:41:28):
I'm thinking. You gotta take the past. You know what
I'm saying, But like, support black owned businesses. What's support
black owned businesses? Black book? Support black owned businesses? Man,
you know what I'm saying, four black owned businesses, more
black owned business style? You know what I'm saying, different

(01:41:48):
stuff or whatever, like even my bag. You know, tell
far this person this brother one designer of the year
last year in fashion, which is not an easy a
war to win. You know, it's not like nothing France
or something, you know, and the whole world designer of
the year. This brother one that it's Telfair. You know
what I'm saying, Like, can tell Far Telfair T E.

(01:42:12):
L F A R. One of the biggest brands. This
is this is a New York breaking right here. Wow,
this is the New York Burking. This is the Brooklyn Burking.
According to who are you? Where You're from? You know
what I'm saying, like, this is one of the designer
it's a black designer break it down for us. So
you know, just in general, I mean, I can't tell
this man's whole life. He can tell it better than me.
But just in general, black designers are really killing everything

(01:42:35):
I got it. I feel super proud and everything I
got on is from a black designers. Travis Scott did this,
McDonald's collapse, Travis Scott boom. You know, Travis Scott did this.
I would have This is freak off from Atlanta with
a little oozy. This is Brownstone. This is a black
owned brand on the pants, my shoes or whatever are
from a black owned customizer. These are my socks or whatever.

(01:42:58):
You know what I'm saying to you, I'm a fashion
guy where black people. I wasn't wearing black people designs
to be able to do that now on this entirety,
That's what I'm passionate about. You know, obviously, I'm telling
you right now, I dropped the hardest album. But Black
Filter is the hardest album. But for me, my energy

(01:43:20):
is I've never put a gun to your head to
force you to believe in my music. Why would I
ever do that? If you are cool. Cool niggas don't
tell people they're cool. They fly rappers don't tell niggers.
They wrap what they do. They get on the mic
and they wrap. So at the end of the day,
you know, however, your opinion is, hey, rock on, because

(01:43:44):
you know we're nine years in, we're going on ten
for two, Like you know what I'm saying, that's gonna
be a decade in this ship or whatever. And I'm
still doing my thing. And if you pop into a place,
niggas know what time it is with me, simple as that,
no matter what it is, because all I've been doing
my entire career is show improve Double xcel. Shout out
to my girlfriend. That's a over that v over there.

(01:44:06):
You know what I'm saying, Like, show improve is the
thing that they do on Double x cell. Show improvement
is all you can you know, And everybody look at
look at success differently. And I respect your opinion to
a certain extent because if that's the knowledge you have,
then that's the way you're gonna think or whatever. But
for me, you know, right now, man, you know, I
want people to support black owned businesses, support black owned designers.

(01:44:30):
You know what I'm saying, That's what I care the
most about. And to understand that, like in order for
us to stay number one. We're all important. So whether
you're a mumbo rapper or the best rapper alive, you're
all equally important. And that's all I care about. What's
that what you're doing? Um, Like I'm a single out

(01:44:51):
right now with ot Genis and for him, you're shooting
a video for that next month. I got bats go ahead.
So then uh, I dropped my candle lins last year
and we dropped like two hundreds. And when I went
to Kane's France and I think the candle there we
sold out with the production slowdown school. We come back
out with that over the year and then um, same

(01:45:14):
fashions and fashion stuff, um the music stuff. Because right now,
like what he said, it's the true pandemic hustle us
how to still hustle. If you were hustle, you gotta
get to and you gotta figure it out. So the hustles,
the men became men, and the boys state boys in
the pandemic time. And that's all it's about. I went
from doing eighty parties a month to nothing eighty parties

(01:45:36):
about fifteen the week I was outside DJ and club
to club, state to state. Now I'm finally getting back
to him in Miami. I go to Atlanta, I go
to Landom in New York, Texas, so I'm able to
get back move. It's not the same though, Bro. They
had me doing the strip club at eight o'clock in
the afternoon. Bro, this is kid for niggas who don't
know what's up, because I've seen this man rock not

(01:45:56):
even on something like, oh, I don't booked at his club,
like I just came two clubs and this is what
a popping DJ look like. So for him to say
that to you, that's how big fucking deal for niggas
who don't get that. Oh God, God, straight up, I'm
gonna tell you how up the game is. Bro. You
see girls on Instagram with Birkins and all this ship, right,

(01:46:18):
bartenders became strippist. I'm gonna just leave that. Don't there
like that. But let's take it to the shop. You
know what I'm talking about. Dogs, that's how bad TikTok TikTok.
But yeah, that's what And we're just trying to you know,
if you if you got the money, advice to anybody

(01:46:38):
in the business. DJ's artists invest now because everything is
lower now, So when they get back. Wooman, You're gonna
be on top. That's all it is. You gotta stay prolonged.
You can't live in the meantime and try to follow
what everybody else doing. You gotta do your own things.
Stay ahead of the game. Damn. Let's make your North
take these flicks the pictures. Thanks for joining us for

(01:47:01):
another episode of Drink Champs hosted by Yours truly, d
J e f N and n O r E. Please
make sure to follow us on all our socials. Let's
at drink Champs across all platforms at the Real Noriegon,
I g at Noriega on Twitter, mine is at Who's
Crazy on I g at d J e f N
on Twitter, and most importantly, stay up to date with

(01:47:21):
the latest releases, news and merch by going to drink
champs dot com. For more podcasts from my Heart Radio,
visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you
listen to your favorite shows.

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DJ EFN

N.O.R.E

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Episode 262 w/ Trinidad James