WEBVTT - T.I. 0:00:00.040 --> 0:00:03.720 This is what you were drinking last night. Is now 0:00:03.880 --> 0:00:07.520 to clear the whole building. You're ready to move some 0:00:07.560 --> 0:00:13.000 furnish all my life, the grinding all my life, sacrifice, 0:00:13.320 --> 0:00:17.079 hustle back price one a slice, got the dice to 0:00:17.120 --> 0:00:19.680 swath all my life. I've been grinding in all my life, 0:00:20.320 --> 0:00:24.280 all my life, the grinding all my life, sacrifice, hustle 0:00:24.320 --> 0:00:28.520 back price, one slice, got the dice to swadd all 0:00:28.560 --> 0:00:33.200 my life. I've been grinding in all my life. Hello, 0:00:33.320 --> 0:00:35.280 welcome to another edition of Club Sha Shay. I am 0:00:35.360 --> 0:00:37.720 your whole Shannon Sharp. I'm also the proprivat of Club 0:00:37.800 --> 0:00:40.320 Sha Shay. And the guy that's stopping by for conversation 0:00:40.360 --> 0:00:43.440 and a drink today is one of Atlanta's hip hop pioneers. 0:00:43.479 --> 0:00:48.879 He's a three time Grammy Award winning artist, record executive, producer, songwriter, actor, entrepreneur. 0:00:49.000 --> 0:00:53.760 I am father, trap music pioneer, hip hop icon music mogul, damn. 0:00:53.760 --> 0:00:56.720 He even changed careers, went to stand up comedian King 0:00:56.760 --> 0:00:59.480 of the South, Mister rubber band Man, Is it Tip 0:00:59.520 --> 0:01:03.200 tr hair A Ti Tip Harris? Whoever it is? Ti? 0:01:03.320 --> 0:01:05.680 How you doing? Brother? That was going on at A 0:01:05.800 --> 0:01:09.960 on five and the Baby Bank heads on absolutely yeah, 0:01:10.040 --> 0:01:13.360 how you being bro? Man, I'm chilling, man, I'm cooling, man. 0:01:13.400 --> 0:01:16.600 Anytime we get somebody from get you saw? Okay, actually 0:01:16.680 --> 0:01:20.000 this is my connact all right, it's a vsop. All right, 0:01:20.680 --> 0:01:24.319 this is what you were drinking last night? Is now 0:01:24.480 --> 0:01:28.560 to clear the whole building? You're ready to move some furnish? 0:01:29.680 --> 0:01:33.360 No at all? That was just right last night. Mm 0:01:35.400 --> 0:01:37.800 hey man, you're showing them the boots when jam made 0:01:37.800 --> 0:01:42.640 for walking up right now? No? Man, so welcome to 0:01:42.680 --> 0:01:45.360 the club. How you being man, I've been chilling. I 0:01:45.360 --> 0:01:47.319 can't complain, man. I'm glad I family made it here. Man, 0:01:47.360 --> 0:01:49.360 I've been looking at it on TV. Yeah, I'm glad 0:01:49.360 --> 0:01:50.960 you made I've been trying to get you for a minute. 0:01:50.960 --> 0:01:53.120 But I'm glad you were in the in the area. Yeah, 0:01:53.120 --> 0:01:55.880 you can stop being it real player in here. Yeah yeah, 0:01:56.000 --> 0:01:57.920 nice little lines, a little nice little feel. They got 0:01:57.920 --> 0:02:00.760 the vivid ropes right here, keep keeping them, keeping the riff. 0:02:01.880 --> 0:02:04.360 Yeah yeah, okay, we got a real vi ip. You 0:02:04.400 --> 0:02:08.680 did what I'm saying. When you hear three time Grammy 0:02:08.919 --> 0:02:14.960 winning artists, what does that mean to you? It means 0:02:14.960 --> 0:02:17.200 I was considered and acknowledged for the hard work that 0:02:17.280 --> 0:02:21.560 I put in man and the thoughts that I put 0:02:21.600 --> 0:02:25.600 into words that I put on too music, and the 0:02:25.639 --> 0:02:27.720 people that helped me push it out into the world, 0:02:28.480 --> 0:02:32.919 that we were being considered acknowledged, to celebrated by by 0:02:33.120 --> 0:02:36.720 peers and constituents amongst the elite, right. And I appreciate that, 0:02:37.040 --> 0:02:38.679 you know, but that was that year. You know what 0:02:38.720 --> 0:02:42.760 I'm saying, It's time to do something. Evolution is imminent. 0:02:43.400 --> 0:02:45.800 Have you ever you know a lot of we've heard 0:02:45.880 --> 0:02:48.079 I've heard You've heard a lot of people like they're 0:02:48.080 --> 0:02:50.120 out on the Grammars, especially if they don't get nominated, 0:02:50.160 --> 0:02:51.919 they don't win the war when they think they should 0:02:51.919 --> 0:02:55.400 have won. Have you ever been in a situation like, damn, 0:02:56.200 --> 0:02:57.760 I know I should have won for this album or 0:02:57.760 --> 0:02:59.600 I should have won for this song, and I didn't 0:02:59.600 --> 0:03:02.360 get the condition that I deserved. Yeah. Absolutely, I mean 0:03:02.400 --> 0:03:04.160 I think that that that that that's like a rite 0:03:04.200 --> 0:03:06.200 of passage. Okay, you know what I'm saying. That's a 0:03:06.240 --> 0:03:09.320 part of of of being in this business. You have 0:03:09.520 --> 0:03:13.200 to Not many people come out and everybody learns about 0:03:13.240 --> 0:03:16.480 them all at once at the same time. So you know, 0:03:16.720 --> 0:03:18.680 you you take your wins where you can get them. 0:03:18.680 --> 0:03:21.200 And just you know, take your lumps and bumps and bone. 0:03:21.320 --> 0:03:25.079 But I think that one moment for me was the 0:03:25.160 --> 0:03:28.560 King Album. I was nominated for Best Rap Album for 0:03:28.600 --> 0:03:31.480 the King Album, and I believe that that that that 0:03:31.480 --> 0:03:34.280 that award went to went to ludicrous Okay, but it 0:03:34.360 --> 0:03:37.280 stayed in that level. Okay, Yeah, you know what I'm saying. 0:03:37.880 --> 0:03:40.720 What what are some of your your fondest memory. You've 0:03:40.720 --> 0:03:43.720 been in the game for two decades, a lot of ups, 0:03:43.760 --> 0:03:47.880 some downs. What's some of your fondest memories. Uh? Man, 0:03:48.880 --> 0:03:54.880 it's a lot of them, I say. I say. I 0:03:54.920 --> 0:04:00.320 would definitely rank the the Birthday bash back in Atlanta 0:04:00.360 --> 0:04:01.720 when I was just getting out of I was Jay 0:04:01.720 --> 0:04:03.640 getting out of jail, and people weren't expecting me to 0:04:03.680 --> 0:04:06.400 show up, right, so I showed up surprised the city. 0:04:06.840 --> 0:04:12.160 That was an incredible moment. It's definitely the week we 0:04:12.240 --> 0:04:16.040 released atl and King in the same week as the 0:04:16.120 --> 0:04:20.520 What You Know About That premiered, and and the film 0:04:20.520 --> 0:04:27.039 atl also premiered. That was a pivotal moment. I have 0:04:27.160 --> 0:04:30.400 to say, Swagger like Us performance on the Grammar stage 0:04:31.240 --> 0:04:34.720 that was a phenomenal moment. Live your life performance. Uh 0:04:34.920 --> 0:04:38.400 believe that was the VMA's I'm not mistaken right. That 0:04:38.520 --> 0:04:43.880 was a phenomenal moment. Uh performing with my son, Uh, 0:04:44.480 --> 0:04:47.200 performing with my son. So I just recently my last 0:04:47.240 --> 0:04:51.080 album that I dropped called The Libra Uh. It features 0:04:51.080 --> 0:04:55.040 a song that features my son the Money, and it 0:04:55.080 --> 0:04:59.120 was also produced by my oldest son, Okay Messiah. And 0:04:59.200 --> 0:05:01.520 you know, we've had the pleasure of performing that song 0:05:01.640 --> 0:05:09.599 together just ladies at the TV one Honors the Awards show. 0:05:09.680 --> 0:05:13.200 We performed that song together and that's kind of, you know, 0:05:13.279 --> 0:05:16.160 a huge, huge moment for me as well. With it 0:05:16.279 --> 0:05:20.360 always within in the back of your mind, we see 0:05:20.400 --> 0:05:22.800 a situation where Lebron wants to play with his son Brownie. 0:05:23.160 --> 0:05:26.960 We see ken Ken Griffin Senior played with Junior. It 0:05:27.000 --> 0:05:29.800 doesn't happen very often that a father gets to do 0:05:29.960 --> 0:05:33.080 something in the same profession as its sons side by side, 0:05:33.200 --> 0:05:36.560 especially with like the music or sports. Obviously a doctor lawyer, 0:05:36.760 --> 0:05:38.880 we see that a lot, you know, father son day 0:05:38.920 --> 0:05:40.760 and business together, but we don't see that in the 0:05:40.839 --> 0:05:43.159 music business. Well, that always at the back of your mind. 0:05:43.200 --> 0:05:45.159 You know, what if my boys, you know, want to 0:05:45.160 --> 0:05:47.359 do this thing and to be have them side by 0:05:47.440 --> 0:05:49.360 side with me, But to be honest with you. Man. 0:05:49.480 --> 0:05:53.440 First of all, I want to say that I never 0:05:53.480 --> 0:05:56.400 wanted any of my kids to ever pursue it. Really 0:05:56.480 --> 0:05:59.120 the music being is nah Man, I never did. I 0:05:59.160 --> 0:06:01.279 never wanted any of my family too, just because me 0:06:01.400 --> 0:06:07.760 being in there, I know how much treachery sharks don't 0:06:07.760 --> 0:06:11.800 know how much lab it is, you know, and I can't. 0:06:11.839 --> 0:06:13.920 And while I'm focusing on doing my thing, I can't 0:06:13.960 --> 0:06:16.880 really focus on everybody else and making sure to keep 0:06:16.960 --> 0:06:19.040 knives out of all live backs at the same time. 0:06:20.880 --> 0:06:23.599 But it's always a blessing to see your child find 0:06:23.640 --> 0:06:26.200 his true passion. Right, So if he find his passion 0:06:26.240 --> 0:06:29.760 and film and in television and music, if he or 0:06:29.800 --> 0:06:33.320 she finds day passion here, I want to support it. 0:06:33.360 --> 0:06:35.120 I want to celebrate it and embrace it as much 0:06:35.160 --> 0:06:38.520 as I can. I just know it's gonna be some. 0:06:38.720 --> 0:06:43.800 It's gonna be some. THELFNNA be some felf out there. 0:06:43.839 --> 0:06:46.960 But have you prepared him for that? Have you told him? Like, look, you, 0:06:47.040 --> 0:06:49.520 I see, I know you see what your dad has now, 0:06:49.800 --> 0:06:52.279 But there are a lot of water and minds that 0:06:52.320 --> 0:06:56.719 your dad had to navigate. Just understand you just don't 0:06:56.760 --> 0:06:59.080 You're not gonna get all the way to the other side. 0:06:59.120 --> 0:07:00.960 I'm scathed. Yeah, you know, I think he. I think 0:07:00.960 --> 0:07:03.960 he's seeing it. I think he's see in the first hand. Okay, because, 0:07:04.000 --> 0:07:06.239 to be honest with you, the money I'm talking about, 0:07:06.320 --> 0:07:09.760 he he his skill set is so elevated, and he 0:07:09.800 --> 0:07:15.600 has such a just an eloquent delivery, and and and 0:07:15.720 --> 0:07:22.360 he's respected amongst lyricists, but not considered notice or acknowledge 0:07:22.720 --> 0:07:26.640 amongst you know, major labelska as they looking for artists. 0:07:27.040 --> 0:07:30.240 Uh So he kind of peeping gain and understanding now 0:07:30.600 --> 0:07:32.640 that it's a different it's a different road to travel 0:07:32.720 --> 0:07:36.080 from him than it was for me. You mentioned that 0:07:36.160 --> 0:07:39.000 everybody sees you now and what you've been able to 0:07:39.040 --> 0:07:41.680 accomplish in this business. But it didn't start off all 0:07:41.720 --> 0:07:44.960 peatures and cream. You got dropped by a label. And 0:07:45.000 --> 0:07:47.480 then so when the label dropped you, what went through 0:07:47.480 --> 0:07:49.560 your mind? You're like, day help, I'm just getting in 0:07:49.560 --> 0:07:51.520 the middle of they drop your ball already. We see 0:07:51.560 --> 0:07:55.440 the thing is uh. I think a common misconception is 0:07:55.480 --> 0:07:58.960 that I got dropped, you know, due to a lack 0:07:59.040 --> 0:08:03.280 luster perform I requested to be released. Okay, after my 0:08:03.320 --> 0:08:05.880 first album came out, and it didn't. Of course, it 0:08:05.920 --> 0:08:10.920 didn't achieve the kind of the the magnitude and success 0:08:10.960 --> 0:08:15.400 that I had expected, right, and probably the label either. 0:08:16.000 --> 0:08:19.360 And this came at a time where La Reid had 0:08:19.400 --> 0:08:21.960 you know, sold the face, right, and you know what 0:08:22.000 --> 0:08:24.600 I'm saying, he he accepted a position as the president 0:08:24.640 --> 0:08:27.280 of Airsta Record, Okay, and all of the roster that 0:08:27.320 --> 0:08:30.600 was on the Face got kind of bound over, okay, 0:08:31.040 --> 0:08:34.360 and now, uh, instead of it being La Reid in 0:08:34.440 --> 0:08:38.280 Atlanta with this boutique label, kind of like a motown. Yeah, 0:08:38.600 --> 0:08:40.600 you know, now it's like we got to go out 0:08:40.640 --> 0:08:43.280 way to New York to the Airsta building to get 0:08:43.320 --> 0:08:46.640 stuff done, departments, heads and so on and so forth. 0:08:47.880 --> 0:08:52.880 So the album came out and it was a cult classic, 0:08:53.080 --> 0:08:55.960 Like people loved it as soon as they heard it, right, 0:08:56.120 --> 0:08:59.000 And I just did a lot of uh uh self promotion, 0:08:59.080 --> 0:09:04.839 self marketing, driving from Tallahassee to Jacksonville, to Memphis, to 0:09:05.080 --> 0:09:12.080 Chatanooga to the Greensboro, Augusta, Savellana, all of the neighboring 0:09:12.679 --> 0:09:16.040 cities and rural areas and just hand the hand in 0:09:16.160 --> 0:09:20.080 my product and and I just kind of created a swell. 0:09:20.880 --> 0:09:24.400 You know, they got the attention finally of the people 0:09:24.960 --> 0:09:27.840 up in New York are stiff. But when I got 0:09:27.840 --> 0:09:30.719 the call, uh, myself and Jason Jeter, we kind of 0:09:30.760 --> 0:09:33.720 took the position of man, we kind of been funding 0:09:33.760 --> 0:09:37.520 this movement ourselfs and we've been operating as an independent 0:09:37.880 --> 0:09:40.520 So for us to go into a second a second cycle, 0:09:40.559 --> 0:09:43.079 we'd like to renegotiate, and we want to we want 0:09:43.120 --> 0:09:47.120 a JV fifty fifty right uh or or or and 0:09:47.200 --> 0:09:49.679 we want two millions. So we could do it ourselves, right, 0:09:50.240 --> 0:09:53.520 or you could just let us go. And you know, 0:09:53.559 --> 0:09:55.680 we went to lunch. LA say, you know what, I 0:09:55.720 --> 0:09:57.520 see what you're saying. I get it completely. Let me 0:09:57.520 --> 0:10:00.320 think about it. I'm gonna go to lunch. Uh yeah. 0:10:00.640 --> 0:10:02.600 I was like, okay, yeah, cool, that's a good sign. 0:10:02.600 --> 0:10:04.200 We're going to lunch. They were like, no, no no, no, 0:10:04.360 --> 0:10:09.120 I'm gonna go to lunch. You go to last right. 0:10:09.200 --> 0:10:10.960 I was like, I right, pizza, it is right, you 0:10:10.960 --> 0:10:13.800 know what I'm saying. And uh, but what were you think, Well, Okay, 0:10:14.000 --> 0:10:16.480 I'm going to lunch, you're going to lunch, but we're 0:10:16.520 --> 0:10:18.560 not going to lunch together. I didn't have no thoughts 0:10:18.600 --> 0:10:20.360 at different. I'm like Okay, cool, we got him, That's 0:10:20.400 --> 0:10:22.560 what I'm thinking. Ok, I got him. I started spending 0:10:22.600 --> 0:10:27.720 the money already, what I'm saying. So we leave and 0:10:27.840 --> 0:10:32.040 come back, and uh we would greeted by uh the 0:10:32.160 --> 0:10:36.760 VP at the time, I believe Mark Pitts. Okay, Mark 0:10:36.800 --> 0:10:39.160 Pitts say all right, man, I thank y'all. Gonna be happier. 0:10:39.200 --> 0:10:43.160 I was like, yeah, oh oh, going in there and 0:10:43.280 --> 0:10:45.840 they say, all right, I'm gonna give you what you want. 0:10:46.760 --> 0:10:54.240 I'm letting you go. Call on dog. Not like I said, Bro, 0:10:54.320 --> 0:10:56.319 you didn't even have to call me back in here. 0:10:57.200 --> 0:10:59.880 You could have called us on the phone right anything now. 0:11:00.240 --> 0:11:02.480 But uh, but he let us go. And that was 0:11:03.400 --> 0:11:06.400 and that was the most uncomfortable elevator ride back downstair 0:11:06.400 --> 0:11:09.400 because Jason was just looking at me like, you know, 0:11:09.440 --> 0:11:11.439 I could just be like why why why did you say? 0:11:11.480 --> 0:11:14.520 Why are you giving that third option? You know, renegotiate 0:11:14.559 --> 0:11:16.720 the deal, give us two millions, or you can just 0:11:16.760 --> 0:11:18.559 release it. Why you had to put the third option? 0:11:18.600 --> 0:11:20.439 Why not just go with the first two? I mean, 0:11:20.520 --> 0:11:23.040 because I felt like the stakes had to be raised, 0:11:23.280 --> 0:11:26.000 you know what I'm saying. He had to understand, you know, 0:11:26.200 --> 0:11:29.360 just just the magnitude of the moment, but to beyond 0:11:29.400 --> 0:11:31.360 it with you, Man, that was the greatest thing anybody 0:11:31.360 --> 0:11:34.120 in the business ever did for me. I was on five, 0:11:35.080 --> 0:11:38.120 you know, I was making like thirty thousand a show. 0:11:38.760 --> 0:11:41.800 I already had my my my first single for trap music, 0:11:41.840 --> 0:11:46.280 which was twenty folds in rotation on radio stations in Atlanta, 0:11:46.440 --> 0:11:49.040 and uh, I mean, that was really the best thing 0:11:49.080 --> 0:11:52.440 that could have happened. I wouldn't got two point three 0:11:52.440 --> 0:11:57.319 from Atlantic, and they ended up doing the deal I wanted, 0:11:57.400 --> 0:11:59.839 giving me the equity that I did I asked for right, 0:12:00.120 --> 0:12:02.040 you know, I just couldn't get it there in that build. 0:12:02.240 --> 0:12:04.600 But he did. Man, he was a real solid cat, 0:12:04.920 --> 0:12:07.839 still my brother, my mentor to this day. I still 0:12:07.840 --> 0:12:11.840 considered myself among La Face University, and he let me 0:12:11.880 --> 0:12:14.960 go and allowed me the opportunity to be a free 0:12:15.000 --> 0:12:19.400 agent with a fair market at fair market value. And 0:12:19.440 --> 0:12:21.280 I went out there and made my own way. And 0:12:21.360 --> 0:12:24.240 that's you know, the evolution began from there. And you're 0:12:24.320 --> 0:12:26.680 riding the elevator down. You're no longer with La Face. 0:12:27.520 --> 0:12:29.640 What are you saying, man, did you give yourself a 0:12:29.679 --> 0:12:33.319 timeline like I gotta get to another label? I gotta 0:12:33.440 --> 0:12:36.000 start doing mix tapes. I mean, so, what what was 0:12:36.040 --> 0:12:38.200 your thought process that you're riding the elevator? You said 0:12:38.200 --> 0:12:41.640 it was a long long here. Yeah, I mean it. 0:12:41.880 --> 0:12:44.520 To be honest with you, we was already doing mixtapes, okay. 0:12:44.320 --> 0:12:47.880 So we had already had our gangster grills with Drama. Uh. 0:12:48.000 --> 0:12:50.320 We had some mixtapes dropped in New York. Were like, 0:12:50.360 --> 0:12:55.040 we were really asserting guy selves and becoming familiar with 0:12:55.160 --> 0:12:59.880 the market. And it wasn't never about how long and 0:13:00.040 --> 0:13:02.160 until we get another deal? Okay, you knew that was 0:13:02.200 --> 0:13:05.120 gonna happen. Yeah, it was a boat make the right 0:13:05.440 --> 0:13:09.920 making this next decision the best decision for the next 0:13:09.920 --> 0:13:13.760 phase of our career, okay. Uh. And we put ourselves 0:13:13.760 --> 0:13:15.959 in a position to to catch the eyes of all 0:13:16.040 --> 0:13:20.480 the labels. But we felt that we were the best 0:13:20.559 --> 0:13:24.400 fit for Atlantic, you know, because because they needed us 0:13:24.440 --> 0:13:27.880 as much as we needed them, right you know, And 0:13:27.880 --> 0:13:31.960 and they embraced us, supported us, uh, and you know, 0:13:32.200 --> 0:13:35.160 gave us the platform and the resources to be able 0:13:35.160 --> 0:13:37.880 to push through and break break through the other side 0:13:37.920 --> 0:13:41.360 of mainstream success. Did your confidence waiver because a lot 0:13:41.360 --> 0:13:44.600 of times we get released, we get fired, something traumatic 0:13:44.679 --> 0:13:47.679 something bad happens, You're like, damn, am I as good 0:13:47.720 --> 0:13:49.560 as I thought I was? I mean, cause if I 0:13:49.600 --> 0:13:52.280 was this good, this wouldn't have happened. Did your confidence? 0:13:52.360 --> 0:13:55.120 Did you? Did your confidence ever? Waiver nah man? Because 0:13:55.160 --> 0:13:56.920 I remember there was something that I asked for, you 0:13:56.960 --> 0:13:58.600 know what I'm saying. I remember, But did you really 0:13:58.640 --> 0:13:59.800 ask for it? Like if you don't give me a 0:14:00.120 --> 0:14:02.120 if you don't give me the raid, I'm leaving. I please, 0:14:02.200 --> 0:14:03.880 don't get please give me a raid, I don't leave. 0:14:03.960 --> 0:14:05.480 I mean no, don't get it wrong. I was asking 0:14:05.520 --> 0:14:11.600 more so for to me either way though, like you know, 0:14:12.240 --> 0:14:15.200 I mean, I'm I'm I'm I'm standing in it. We 0:14:15.280 --> 0:14:17.760 got the role with it at that point, and we did, 0:14:17.920 --> 0:14:19.920 and we wasn't in like the worst It was the 0:14:19.920 --> 0:14:23.400 worst position ever because of the work, the groundwork that 0:14:23.480 --> 0:14:25.800 had already been put in as to the reason why 0:14:25.840 --> 0:14:28.600 we were called up up to New York to have 0:14:28.800 --> 0:14:33.000 the discussion anyway. Yeah, So when you start your own label, 0:14:33.040 --> 0:14:36.120 Grand Hustle, if that's something that you are, you always 0:14:36.120 --> 0:14:38.840 wanted to have your own record label, to be on 0:14:38.960 --> 0:14:42.320 your own label, to have artists under you. I mean, 0:14:42.360 --> 0:14:45.480 I always wanted to provide an opportunity, uh for other 0:14:45.600 --> 0:14:48.360 artists to to to share their story through their art, 0:14:48.720 --> 0:14:52.000 you know what I'm saying. And I always wanted to 0:14:52.000 --> 0:14:57.960 introduce new talent to to to to market. I mean, 0:14:58.320 --> 0:15:03.960 we grew up looking at cats like man Russell Simmons, 0:15:04.720 --> 0:15:12.840 Uh Puffecy Jay Prince uh easy shoot, Luther Campbell, you know, 0:15:14.000 --> 0:15:18.600 and and and Tony Draper. We just grew up watching 0:15:18.680 --> 0:15:24.680 cats that came from from nothing turned into moguls bye 0:15:24.800 --> 0:15:28.880 bye by leading there that like the the their peer 0:15:28.920 --> 0:15:34.280 group into an industry, which was the music then. So 0:15:34.320 --> 0:15:36.800 we just understood, like you know what I'm saying, looking 0:15:36.840 --> 0:15:39.600 at Master p, looking at Baby and Schlam like okay. 0:15:39.640 --> 0:15:43.440 So the the the natural evolution of a successful rapper 0:15:43.880 --> 0:15:48.000 is to evolve into you know, uh, the owner and 0:15:48.160 --> 0:15:52.080 operator of your own label and introduced talent to the 0:15:52.120 --> 0:15:54.560 rest of the world. When you opened the door? Did 0:15:54.560 --> 0:15:56.800 you end the bad deals? We'll hear about these six 0:15:56.880 --> 0:15:59.520 three sixties? Can you explain to our listening audience what 0:15:59.600 --> 0:16:02.200 the three sixty deals or and what are some of 0:16:02.240 --> 0:16:05.920 the bad deals that you see artists sign back then 0:16:06.040 --> 0:16:08.880 and even today. What's a three sixty? Let's start with 0:16:08.920 --> 0:16:13.040 that a three sixty means that you have accepted something 0:16:13.160 --> 0:16:19.760 from the label that has given them the right to 0:16:19.800 --> 0:16:23.240 accept a percentage from everything you do of all of 0:16:23.280 --> 0:16:27.440 your they call them ancillaries, all of your ancilary businesses. 0:16:27.760 --> 0:16:33.120 That means your your tool of money. That means your 0:16:33.280 --> 0:16:37.840 your if you got sponsorship dollars, huh, your sponsorship, you 0:16:37.880 --> 0:16:40.520 gotta do with them. That ain't no, no mute an celary. 0:16:42.240 --> 0:16:46.240 Now now people actually sign that, of course they do. 0:16:46.440 --> 0:16:50.800 I mean, listen, to be honest with you, most times 0:16:51.560 --> 0:16:58.040 most artists are only looking for what they're getting right then, Okay, 0:16:58.160 --> 0:17:00.360 you know what I mean. They feel not looking down there, 0:17:00.360 --> 0:17:02.880 looking right now, right here, what I can see because 0:17:03.040 --> 0:17:05.359 you know, what we always have is ideas, and what 0:17:05.680 --> 0:17:10.960 the industry has is access. Okay, so we usually exchange 0:17:11.080 --> 0:17:14.800 our ideas for their exit. And that's how we usually 0:17:14.920 --> 0:17:17.000 get ourselves. That's why we end up on the short 0:17:17.119 --> 0:17:21.160 end of the stick until we have created the leverage 0:17:21.240 --> 0:17:24.640 for ourselves where we can kind of you know, tip 0:17:24.800 --> 0:17:27.960 the scales in the other in the other direction. Right, Yeah, 0:17:28.800 --> 0:17:32.919 So by doing businesses, doing business with big business, how 0:17:32.960 --> 0:17:36.239 did that help you become a better business man? Well, 0:17:36.480 --> 0:17:40.560 I mean to be honest with you, Well you had 0:17:40.560 --> 0:17:42.560 all you already had a business, but it was you know, 0:17:42.760 --> 0:17:50.600 I had been you already. Well it's quite it's quite different. 0:17:51.400 --> 0:17:54.080 But nah man, I had already been researching and reading 0:17:54.119 --> 0:17:56.720 and kind of familiarizing myself with the business. I read 0:17:56.760 --> 0:17:59.040 books like hit Man, okay and all you need to 0:17:59.080 --> 0:18:01.840 know about the music in this Uh you know, I 0:18:02.040 --> 0:18:03.920 just already read books to kind of taught me what 0:18:04.040 --> 0:18:07.000 a good deal was, a bad deal was, what publishing was, 0:18:07.080 --> 0:18:10.399 what mechanical rights was. I'd already like research And this 0:18:10.480 --> 0:18:13.320 is when I was like nineteen eleven years old. I 0:18:13.480 --> 0:18:15.200 was challenged by my uncle. He said, if this is 0:18:15.200 --> 0:18:17.399 what you wanna do, you learn everything it is to know, 0:18:17.600 --> 0:18:19.359 and I make sure you had the money and the 0:18:19.440 --> 0:18:21.280 responses to get you where you wanted to where you 0:18:21.320 --> 0:18:23.600 want to go. But by the time I read the books, 0:18:23.640 --> 0:18:25.159 he had then called a ten year centate. So I 0:18:25.280 --> 0:18:29.119 had all this information and I still had I had 0:18:29.160 --> 0:18:32.360 no bagging. So you know, cut too. When I'm nineteen 0:18:32.480 --> 0:18:34.560 and I get my first record deal, I already know 0:18:35.480 --> 0:18:37.680 what I'm looking for, Okay, I know what I'm supposed to, 0:18:37.760 --> 0:18:39.480 what I'm supposed to be receiving and what not to 0:18:39.520 --> 0:18:43.920 give away. And at this point in my career, I 0:18:44.080 --> 0:18:50.159 find it honorable to be able to tell new artists 0:18:50.400 --> 0:18:54.520 when they come up to me, you know, man, twenty one, savage, thug, 0:18:54.920 --> 0:18:56.440 you know, like a lot of them coming to me, 0:18:56.520 --> 0:18:59.600 a man, chack, give me a meal, your tip, chack, 0:18:59.640 --> 0:19:01.520 give me a million. Man, I don't care what you do. 0:19:01.680 --> 0:19:04.040 Just give me a million and let me handle it 0:19:04.119 --> 0:19:06.960 from there. Like, Nah, I ain't gonna do that. I 0:19:07.000 --> 0:19:08.600 ain't gonna because if I give you a million, I 0:19:08.640 --> 0:19:10.800 gotta take back something that's gonna be worth way more. 0:19:11.320 --> 0:19:13.399 And we ain't gonna be able to be friends, no, right, 0:19:13.920 --> 0:19:16.160 And you know, and I and I always tell him 0:19:16.160 --> 0:19:19.040 and don't worry about the money up front, because it's 0:19:19.080 --> 0:19:22.320 gonna come right. I mean, I remember telling that the Slime, 0:19:22.359 --> 0:19:25.760 I remember telling that the the twenty one, and and 0:19:25.880 --> 0:19:28.159 even Savage. Every time you see me now, he'll hit 0:19:28.200 --> 0:19:31.080 me and say, hey, he came right, you know, and 0:19:31.320 --> 0:19:33.159 and that and that that put a smile on my 0:19:33.240 --> 0:19:38.399 face because I just know how how impactful every generation 0:19:39.160 --> 0:19:42.600 as the opportunity to be even more than the last. 0:19:43.080 --> 0:19:45.080 You mentioned that you had been reading since you're nine, 0:19:45.160 --> 0:19:48.080 ten eleven about what you wanted, the process of the 0:19:48.200 --> 0:19:51.440 music and what goes into it, and well the music 0:19:51.520 --> 0:19:54.480 company is surprised at nineteen year old and your knowledge 0:19:54.720 --> 0:19:56.880 or the inner workings of how the music game went. 0:19:58.720 --> 0:20:01.880 Those that actually had an opportunity to to to engage 0:20:01.960 --> 0:20:09.080 with me, they were, uh, I mean I think that 0:20:11.880 --> 0:20:14.359 I think that we are expected to just jump on 0:20:14.480 --> 0:20:17.320 the first thing that comes to us. You know, I 0:20:17.440 --> 0:20:20.479 believe I even see now you know, deals that are 0:20:20.560 --> 0:20:23.160 that are presented to certain artists and we just expected 0:20:23.240 --> 0:20:26.400 to just take, you know, the first thing that that's 0:20:26.440 --> 0:20:28.760 a turned down three to five meal till I mean, 0:20:29.080 --> 0:20:30.439 were you and you at I mean, you ain't had 0:20:30.520 --> 0:20:32.360 no money till man, you know that thing you'll tip 0:20:32.359 --> 0:20:34.880 you eat them? King bottom of Little Cornplex hadn't listened. 0:20:34.920 --> 0:20:37.000 He fol turned it down three that they they take 0:20:37.040 --> 0:20:38.960 it three and five thousand. You know what I'm saying, 0:20:39.000 --> 0:20:41.240 Like three to five five That's what I've seen deals. 0:20:41.320 --> 0:20:45.720 I've seen deals like yeah, they offered the day they signed, 0:20:45.760 --> 0:20:48.960 the way they write some perpetuity for like five teen 0:20:49.280 --> 0:20:52.840 you know, just like tendish paper. You know what I'm saying, 0:20:53.440 --> 0:20:57.040 And I'm not criticizing right, because some of those deals 0:20:57.119 --> 0:20:59.760 go on to support some of the largest, most successful, 0:20:59.800 --> 0:21:03.879 most kind of artists that this industry is known. Uh, 0:21:04.680 --> 0:21:07.399 but you just got to believe that that that if 0:21:07.480 --> 0:21:10.320 somebody offering you this money, they gotta think you worth. 0:21:10.480 --> 0:21:13.080 It's obviously working. You know what I'm saying. Anybody getting 0:21:13.119 --> 0:21:15.360 away free money exa one thing people ain't getting away 0:21:15.400 --> 0:21:17.200 free money exactly. You wear a lot of free things 0:21:17.480 --> 0:21:19.240 for money. You ever seen somebody like, hey, I didn't 0:21:19.240 --> 0:21:25.600 even know free samples the mixtape in the mixtape game, 0:21:25.720 --> 0:21:27.960 you you mentioned you gotta go to Savannah, you gotta 0:21:28.000 --> 0:21:30.640 go to Columbius, you gotta go to Columbia, South Carolina, 0:21:30.880 --> 0:21:33.680 you gotta go to all these little small so now 0:21:33.800 --> 0:21:36.000 you gotta put miles on the car and you gotta 0:21:36.040 --> 0:21:39.440 pass it out because it's world of mouth. Yeah, what 0:21:39.680 --> 0:21:41.720 was that for you? Like? Damn if this thing I 0:21:41.720 --> 0:21:43.760 stul hope this payo offf man, I ain't never even 0:21:43.840 --> 0:21:46.560 think about it. I enjoyed the precess, I enjoyed the journey. 0:21:46.680 --> 0:21:50.119 I had fun, like you know, it was. It was 0:21:50.200 --> 0:21:52.560 sort of like when you was in college, go out 0:21:52.600 --> 0:21:57.360 from game to game together, enjoyed to come right aready, 0:21:57.680 --> 0:22:01.480 the teammates you enjoyed, you know, going in another town 0:22:01.680 --> 0:22:04.560 and receiving the energy from the people who act to 0:22:04.600 --> 0:22:06.959 whether it's positive or negative, you know what I'm saying, right, 0:22:07.119 --> 0:22:09.560 whether it's the love or the other side, right, you know, 0:22:09.840 --> 0:22:11.960 it's all just it's it's it's a it's a a 0:22:12.080 --> 0:22:15.959 part of the journey that we appreciate. And I never 0:22:16.080 --> 0:22:18.960 even thought about whether or not it we would pay out. 0:22:19.000 --> 0:22:21.920