Speaker 1: Hey, guys, welcome to another episode of Eating While Broke.
Speaker 1: I'm your host, Coleen Witt, and today we have very
Speaker 1: special guests, Jay Holidays in the building.
Speaker 2: What's what's up?
Speaker 3: Yay, thank you, thank you, thank you.
Speaker 1: I don't know if you really need an introduction. I'm
Speaker 1: trying to find some more ways to have fun with
Speaker 1: some of your hottest singles. Yeah, I like, I have
Speaker 1: my one good job, but I feel like it's all
Speaker 1: nothing can compare to that one text I had. I
Speaker 1: had this group text before when we booked you. I
Speaker 1: was like, we got Jay Holiday. I had to put
Speaker 1: it to bed, you know, and took everyone a whole
Speaker 1: day too to get it. To get it or I
Speaker 1: think just to respond damn or whatever.
Speaker 2: I know.
Speaker 1: I was sad. I was like, Yo, someone's gonna someone's
Speaker 1: gonna time back right away. But I got one ha
Speaker 1: high and that's all I needed. Yeah, it was awesome.
Speaker 2: Right.
Speaker 1: If I was your friend, I.
Speaker 2: Would be that would have been great.
Speaker 1: That would have made a lot of a lot of
Speaker 1: fun puns in your text.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that would have been amazing. I mean, but you know,
Speaker 2: it's been a while.
Speaker 1: Though, it's been a while, and I was like, who
Speaker 1: can't who would I really like to sit down with?
Speaker 1: And I was like, Jay Holliday has to be on.
Speaker 2: This list, But why is that?
Speaker 1: Though I loved it, I played your record one hundred
Speaker 1: million times. Well, yeah, yeah, I liked it. I liked it.
Speaker 1: So take me back to what you were eating when
Speaker 1: you were broke.
Speaker 2: Oh man, Well I'm not even gonna necessarily broke, because
Speaker 2: it was if this milk goes well, it starts in
Speaker 2: high school, just cooking noodles as a teenager. You know.
Speaker 2: So this is beef. You know, everybody knows the thing,
Speaker 2: all famous and noodles. A lot of people love chicken.
Speaker 2: I don't know.
Speaker 1: I love the chicken ra I mean I think I
Speaker 1: saw beef from and I said, damn, I forgot.
Speaker 2: You want to do chicken?
Speaker 1: No, no, that is not real beef.
Speaker 2: Oh man, But this is beef. So so should I
Speaker 2: not do the hot dogs because that's red meat.
Speaker 1: That's red meat.
Speaker 2: It's okay, you sure?
Speaker 1: Yeah? I mean sometimes I risk one I'll eat beef
Speaker 1: and then I'll just get sick.
Speaker 2: Because I can leave that out.
Speaker 1: All right, tell us the ingredient.
Speaker 2: Okay, so I got cabbage here. You know what I'm
Speaker 2: saying some green onions, that's for last. That we're just
Speaker 2: gonna top it off with that. That's It's like I was.
Speaker 1: I was really respecting the green onions. I don't know
Speaker 1: how broken was.
Speaker 2: No. I mean, this is vegetables. Vegetable is another expensive
Speaker 2: you know what I mean?
Speaker 1: Cabbage and green onions don't really does cabbage count as
Speaker 1: a vegetable. It's like water, What do you get from it?
Speaker 2: I think? So, I mean, well, you know that's not
Speaker 2: the hitting on the slice hot dogs, beef hot dogs.
Speaker 2: They could have gotten beating hot dogs. I didn't know
Speaker 2: that's all good, you know. So yeah, so I'm gonna
Speaker 2: start on the cabbage because that's gonna take it a
Speaker 2: little second.
Speaker 1: So this is your version of gourmet.
Speaker 2: It's just it's sauced up a little bit. I mean,
Speaker 2: really it was. It was the hot dogs in en Romen,
Speaker 2: you know. But as I got older then it's like,
Speaker 2: you know, you know what I'm saying, make it make
Speaker 2: me feel like I'm actually eating the meal when I'm
Speaker 2: really broke.
Speaker 1: When you really broke. So take me back to high school.
Speaker 1: What was going on? What kind of home did you
Speaker 1: grow up in? Two pair, one parent single mom.
Speaker 2: My dad died when I was eleven. So that's why
Speaker 2: I said in high school because when he was alive,
Speaker 2: he was cooking all the time. My mom cooked, but
Speaker 2: he was more so the U I guess, the actual
Speaker 2: chef a family, you know, So we were It wasn't
Speaker 2: no noodles and stuff like that. But so this high
Speaker 2: school she working, so you know, I'm always in the
Speaker 2: kitchen with her, learning how to cook and all that stuff.
Speaker 1: So I mean, were you both this was the main
Speaker 1: cook did Were you guys both learning together after? Nah?
Speaker 3: No?
Speaker 2: I mean she you know, she came up in the
Speaker 2: southern family, so she cooked, but my dad was just
Speaker 2: bet that was more of his like a his therapeutic thing. Okay,
Speaker 2: after work. He was a mechanic, so that was more
Speaker 2: uh therapeutic for him, you know what I mean. He
Speaker 2: was good at it, you know. But yeah, this is
Speaker 2: just high school, me in my singing groups and my
Speaker 2: mom's at work, and you know, I want to eat
Speaker 2: something when I get home. So but then the carries
Speaker 2: on to when I'm actually that starving artist later on
Speaker 2: when I moved to Atlanta.
Speaker 1: So okay, so you originally from DC from Washington.
Speaker 2: DC, yeah, well the DMV area, cause I moved around.
Speaker 2: We moved around a lot. Okay, yeah, we moved around
Speaker 2: a whole lot.
Speaker 1: Middle class, poor, rich, rich.
Speaker 2: Nah, I would say we was middle class. And then
Speaker 2: you know, when my dad passed away, it was just
Speaker 2: my mom. You know, he was in the military, so
Speaker 2: I got you know, I got benefits being his child.
Speaker 2: But I mean military benefits once they passed away is
Speaker 2: not What kind.
Speaker 1: Of benefits is the military give I'm.
Speaker 2: Going to give you money. I mean they sent they
Speaker 2: send you money.
Speaker 1: Anymore after And did your mom reached got benefits to
Speaker 1: or no or just as kids?
Speaker 2: I don't know.
Speaker 1: I don't know how the military.
Speaker 2: I never was in my mom's business.
Speaker 1: Okay, I know what I got. Okay, Okay, so.
Speaker 2: You got a check, Yeah yeah, I got a check.
Speaker 1: Okay while you were in high school.
Speaker 2: When I went to high school, when I uh, when
Speaker 2: I applied for college, okay, I applied to more House
Speaker 2: and Clark, I got into both, decided to go to Clark.
Speaker 2: Then right before school started, I was like, eh, I
Speaker 2: got cold feet. Nah, it wasn't even the cold feet.
Speaker 2: I hated school. Okay, I already hated school. You know
Speaker 2: what I mean school. I didn't feel like school was
Speaker 2: teaching me anything. Oh, it was born. I just did
Speaker 2: it cause my mom wanted me to graduate from high school.
Speaker 2: So it's like a right.
Speaker 1: But then you applied for the colleges to a piece
Speaker 1: here too.
Speaker 2: In the beginning, I think, so, you know, but you know,
Speaker 2: when you come from a certain place, you're on financial aid.
Speaker 2: So I'm like, the first time I got drunk was
Speaker 2: college orientation ever in life? Yeah?
Speaker 1: Wow, but I heard college as wild, like I'm a
Speaker 1: college dropout junior college. Well, I don't even know if
Speaker 1: that counts.
Speaker 2: Yeah, the first time I got drunk was college orientation,
Speaker 2: and my mom was down the street because my grandmother
Speaker 2: she lived there from North Carolina, but my grandmother spent
Speaker 2: a lot of her time down and actually in this area.
Speaker 2: So my mom's at my grandmother's house and I'm getting
Speaker 2: drunk for the first time. So I'm thinking to myself,
Speaker 2: if I'm getting drunk and my mom's down the street,
Speaker 2: what's gonna happen with my mom going home? You know
Speaker 2: what I'm saying, I'm about to I'm about to basically
Speaker 2: fuck this this financial aid up. So that was the
Speaker 2: fear for me. You know what I mean. Me, it
Speaker 2: was like h and it came this far without disappointing her.
Speaker 2: You know what I mean. I don't want to start now.
Speaker 1: But what do you mean mess the financial aid up?
Speaker 2: Because school?
Speaker 1: Okay?
Speaker 2: You know what I mean. I already didn't like it.
Speaker 1: Now when did you realize you wanted to pursue music?
Speaker 2: Well, I was going that was gonna be my major.
Speaker 1: I was going, Oh, you're going to school for music. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you should have dropped out. I'm talking about well but teacher.
Speaker 2: Rightly, you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1: Like, and I still have student loans.
Speaker 2: And then my group was at home.
Speaker 1: Okay, so I was leaving them.
Speaker 2: I could get a job, we could still pursue our career.
Speaker 2: I can have some money whatever, you know.
Speaker 1: So so you decide to drop out? How to Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: go for it, go for it. You know if you
Speaker 1: all seem little sick over the next couple of days,
Speaker 1: I almost gip around it. I'll take a little nibble.
Speaker 1: So you you end up dropping out of school. But
Speaker 1: you said you had a group back at home.
Speaker 2: Yeah, my singing group. I mean I never went I
Speaker 2: went to college orientation.
Speaker 1: And that trunk during orientation.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's what I'm trying to tell you. Okay, so
Speaker 2: I deferred for a year. You know, she was like,
Speaker 2: well you don't have to decide right now. Cool.
Speaker 1: But so so you went back to live with her? Yeah, okay, okay.
Speaker 1: Did she make you get a day job?
Speaker 2: Yeah? She said, but you know, you know, you know
Speaker 2: what the stipulation is.
Speaker 1: Yeah, what were the stipulations?
Speaker 2: If you drop you gotta get a job if you're
Speaker 2: not going to go to school right now?
Speaker 1: Okay? Did she make you pay bills? I had a
Speaker 1: car and she was nice.
Speaker 2: Remember I'm getting the money for my dad. Okay, so
Speaker 2: I'm like going a few kids in school like we
Speaker 2: in the hood.
Speaker 1: But how much are they breaking off these military kids?
Speaker 1: You was a teenager getting like fifteen hundred dollar checks
Speaker 1: probably around now, no way.
Speaker 2: But I mean it wasn't like I was walking around
Speaker 2: in Jordan's and stuff. My parents were frugal.
Speaker 1: So but the money you said was going to you.
Speaker 1: So what was you spending the money on?
Speaker 2: I got a car? Oh, you got my card.
Speaker 1: Not you had a cardinal in high school? And clothes yeah,
Speaker 1: oh yeah, you was flying Okay.
Speaker 2: Not even that though, because I had a job. So
Speaker 2: I'm like, I gotta get back and forth to work.
Speaker 1: Okay, but you're a teenager, So what's the next milestone,
Speaker 1: balling teenager.
Speaker 2: I'm gonna move out one of my group, one of
Speaker 2: my group members was my roommate, and that was I
Speaker 2: was about nineteen, and uh, yeah, we move out. We're
Speaker 2: doing the group stuff. We lived together for about a
Speaker 2: year before and I made the decision to move to Atlanta. Yeah,
Speaker 2: so we left our jobs. I had two jobs at
Speaker 2: the time we left our jobs. I had a corporate
Speaker 2: job and then I had a part time because mind you,
Speaker 2: I've been working since I graduated. I would start working
Speaker 2: two months out of high school.
Speaker 1: That's how doing what though.
Speaker 2: I was a foul clerk at a law firm.
Speaker 1: A foul clerk, okay.
Speaker 2: At a law firm. So yeah, then we decided to
Speaker 2: move to Atlanta. And that's where the broke starts.
Speaker 1: That's where the started. And was your mom on board
Speaker 1: with the move? She was supportive.
Speaker 2: I mean, it wasn't really her choice. I mean she
Speaker 2: she my mom's a preacher, so for her, it was
Speaker 2: kind of like, all right, she knew if I put
Speaker 2: my mind to it, I'll probably succeed, you know, but
Speaker 2: you know, she wasn't really too keen on the secondar music.
Speaker 1: You played that single for her comfortably?
Speaker 2: Yeah? Yeah?
Speaker 1: Did you do a pre face? Did you do a
Speaker 1: preface to it? Like, hey, mom?
Speaker 2: Because it was it wasn't overly sexual. I mean it was.
Speaker 2: I mean, yeah, if you could read and write, but still.
Speaker 1: Wasn't overly sexual. I mean it sounded more convinced that
Speaker 1: you sound like I'm your mom, and this is how
Speaker 1: you're convinced.
Speaker 2: It's that sounded more like a nursery rhyme. You know
Speaker 2: what I'm saying.
Speaker 1: Oh, okay, well, what did your mom think?
Speaker 2: She was proud. I think for more so for her
Speaker 2: it was the fact that I pursued it and I
Speaker 2: did it, so for her she did. I don't even
Speaker 2: think it dawned on her what it was about, or
Speaker 2: you know what I mean. But before until the interview
Speaker 2: started coming, until the interviews and then you know people,
Speaker 2: then now the subject matter of the song that talked about.
Speaker 1: Then she got a little uncomfortable. Damn. Wait, wait, I
Speaker 1: don't want to get there yet. Wait tell me how
Speaker 1: before you get to the top of the mountain. I
Speaker 1: want to know, like what transpired between you moving to
Speaker 1: Atlanta being broke before the singles?
Speaker 2: Well, so we moved into t A Anthony Anthony Tate,
Speaker 2: Anthony t A Tate. He he moved us to God.
Speaker 1: Yeah, right there, right there, Okay, gotcha than you.
Speaker 2: He moved us to Atlanta and basically he was gonna
Speaker 2: he was gonna get this a deal and we was
Speaker 2: gonna sign and and you.
Speaker 1: Know, the Dreamer and what was the deal?
Speaker 2: Like?
Speaker 1: Was it a good deal? Bad deal? Looking back, I
Speaker 1: always hear the first deals are.
Speaker 2: He was what they call a production company, like a
Speaker 2: social death bad boy. So I mean, for us, we
Speaker 2: made it, you know, even though that wasn't the major deal.
Speaker 2: We still was like we're making the right steps. They
Speaker 2: start getting us in the right rooms, you know, with
Speaker 2: the right writers and the right producers and stuff.
Speaker 1: Like you didn't write that song. You didn't write dream
Speaker 1: Road and oh Dream wrote it, freaking dream of course
Speaker 1: Dream wrote it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Dream wrote that. Okay, I should probably take this
Speaker 2: off because it's still system and that rough. But let
Speaker 2: me just place that right there. But yeah, so he
Speaker 2: moves us in the house. We do our all our
Speaker 2: meetings were sitting in front of the La reads like
Speaker 2: the Craig Countons and you know heads of ladies, you know,
Speaker 2: and nobody was signing groups. Nobody wanted nobody wanted a group.
Speaker 2: Everybody was just kind of well, we like the lead
Speaker 2: singer though, But me being lawyer, I'm like, no, they
Speaker 2: got to take the group, which led to us not
Speaker 2: getting tigned, you know, and so after trying to, you know,
Speaker 2: make that happen, it uh, it just didn't work. And
Speaker 2: I but I told them, I was like, look, man,
Speaker 2: we got a couple more meetings set up. If these
Speaker 2: meetings don't work out, I'm gonna have to separate, have
Speaker 2: to do my do my own thing, because I'm on
Speaker 2: at that point, I was on eighty five eighty eighty
Speaker 2: five percent of the songs, you know.
Speaker 1: So I'm like, as the lead, as the kind of lead.
Speaker 1: I know, you're a group, but you were the lead.
Speaker 2: Right, Yeah I was. That was what they would call
Speaker 2: the reason. Yeah, but so yeah, that's done. So yeah,
Speaker 2: Like it was just do I want to do this.
Speaker 2: I'm kind of tired of this music. We gotta do
Speaker 2: all the music because everybody in the in the industry
Speaker 2: that would sign us heard what we have and need
Speaker 2: to do new stuff, and I just wasn't you know,
Speaker 2: we I think at that point I had just kind
Speaker 2: of ugrued them in the in the mental state of
Speaker 2: I don't know if I have the energy to be
Speaker 2: doing all the work for everybody, you.
Speaker 1: Know, in the group.
Speaker 2: Well, because in a group, everybody plays their part, but
Speaker 2: I still feel like you're only as expendable as you
Speaker 2: as you make yourself really in any situation that's in life.
Speaker 2: But for me, it was just kind of like, oh, man,
Speaker 2: like I don't know if they want it as bad
Speaker 2: as I do. I don't have the time to just
Speaker 2: sit around and just watch them just be on PlayStation
Speaker 2: or whatever.
Speaker 1: I mean, you know, like their passion wasn't as heavy
Speaker 1: were you.
Speaker 2: Also, they felt complacent into being like, well, we just
Speaker 2: group members, you know what I mean. So for me
Speaker 2: that was just kind of like what are we all
Speaker 2: really here for? Yeah, you know what I'm saying. So
Speaker 2: it went from that to we didn't that meeting didn't happen,
Speaker 2: and that meeting was supposed to be with so so
Speaker 2: deafit so that meeting didn't really happen, I mean, it
Speaker 2: didn't happen, and that choice was made, you know, So
Speaker 2: right now, I'm about to Soft's package. Okay, but yeah,
Speaker 2: that decision was made, so that's what it was. And so,
Speaker 2: like I said, he moved us, TA moved us into
Speaker 2: his house. So that's where we were living. So at
Speaker 2: that point it was kind of like, all right, well
Speaker 2: he's solo, y'all. So I knew he wasn't gonna keep
Speaker 2: putting the bill for them, so everybody else have to
Speaker 2: kind of go. They spar so I'm there by myself
Speaker 2: might end up with one of these meals on one
Speaker 2: of those lights. It's not not making no money. Yeah,
Speaker 2: you know what I mean. I left my jobs.
Speaker 1: And then how did your how did you deal with
Speaker 1: your band meant members or did they have any negative
Speaker 1: things to say about you when you guys broke up?
Speaker 1: Oh you're adding more seasoning to it. Okay, I respect it.
Speaker 1: This is got the garlic powder and powder. I respect it.
Speaker 2: This is very uh high end. Okay, you know what,
Speaker 2: just just just okay.
Speaker 1: I ain't never seen somebody season the season in, but no,
Speaker 1: I don't think so except for bone Thugs. Bone Thugs
Speaker 1: went went to town. They was at a miracle whip
Speaker 1: and mustard and male.
Speaker 2: That's something else, that's something else. That's something else.
Speaker 1: But but I think they call that the spread.
Speaker 2: I don't know what they call that.
Speaker 1: That sounds like jail jail house whels. Probably Yeah, oh,
Speaker 1: it looks legit. It looks good. It looks really good.
Speaker 2: I mean, you may may not like it.
Speaker 1: You know, I'm telling you just from eyeballing it, it's
Speaker 1: gonna be salty. Was the last when was the last
Speaker 1: time you had to.
Speaker 2: See I don't use I don't use this particular brand
Speaker 2: because of the salt. Yeah, oh really, because I mean
Speaker 2: if you don't have to use the whole pack. But
Speaker 2: I figured this. You said you want it, I want
Speaker 2: want that.
Speaker 1: I don't want that one I want.
Speaker 2: I don't necessarily eat this. But yeah, you know, so
Speaker 2: that's I had a servant something, but here.
Speaker 1: We have those. We have what do you want?
Speaker 2: Okay?
Speaker 1: A servant something you want like a serving spoom, don't
Speaker 1: burn yourself.
Speaker 2: I turn them off.
Speaker 1: There we go. You got this.
Speaker 2: I didn't break my noodles, which most people do, so
Speaker 2: this doesn't happen. Okay, But I guess it's just deciding
Speaker 2: to give you all of it.
Speaker 1: Let me, let me help you out, help me out,
Speaker 1: because I try, because you should have broke the noodles.
Speaker 2: Man. Usually one usually one person would eat this, so
Speaker 2: it would just go exactly you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1: We had this discuss you got before.
Speaker 2: Guys.
Speaker 1: Here we go, there we go, there we separated.
Speaker 2: I'm so sorry for that. For what I apologize. I'm
Speaker 2: not a chef though by the way, I think I am,
Speaker 2: but I'm not. This clearly proves it.
Speaker 1: Okay, I got it, I got it. There we go.
Speaker 2: All right, so dogs everywhere? You know, you don't even
Speaker 2: have any hot dogs? And then you're good. You got
Speaker 2: because you didn't really want. Now and anyway, I give
Speaker 2: you some want some cabbage?
Speaker 1: Yeah, I got some cabbage.
Speaker 2: Right, I just want to do Can I do.
Speaker 1: The green on anything?
Speaker 2: Absolutely? I was gonna yeah, and you should absolutely to
Speaker 2: your So yeah. So yeah, I'm at the house by myself.
Speaker 2: And that's where I guess you could say say Holliday
Speaker 2: was born. That that was the beginning of my actual
Speaker 2: like real solo journey. So yeah, and I was it
Speaker 2: was a stand up decision, but it was a hard decision. Yeah,
Speaker 2: of course than my brothers. And what's funny is we
Speaker 2: just recently started a conversing again.
Speaker 1: So are they like, Yo, let's let's bring the group back.
Speaker 1: You I'm good.
Speaker 2: One of the guys was he was always the uh,
Speaker 2: the funny man in the group. You know, he's gonna
Speaker 2: always jump about it. But I know he's dead as serious.
Speaker 2: But you know what I mean, that's that's my brother.
Speaker 1: What do you say when they when they you know
Speaker 1: he's changed the subject, you'd be like, so.
Speaker 2: He's just like, I can't wait till we all hang
Speaker 2: out again and we just sing like not profect. You know.
Speaker 1: They don't ever be like, why don't you have us
Speaker 1: open for you? Man?
Speaker 2: Absolutely not.
Speaker 1: They've never said that.
Speaker 2: That's never gonna happen.
Speaker 1: All right, let's try this. Let's see how salty. Let's
Speaker 1: see how salty or unsalty. You didn't break these noodles.
Speaker 1: I didn't the whole the whole noodles is gonna be.
Speaker 2: We could just tell you haven't eaten noodles in a while.
Speaker 1: What are you talking about? I I do eating.
Speaker 2: Because I'm done. I mean, it's good, the brand that
Speaker 2: it is.
Speaker 1: You taste the hot dogs too.
Speaker 2: I usually I usually would leave more water in there,
Speaker 2: but you.
Speaker 1: It's delicious. It's fun.
Speaker 2: It's true, but no, it gets you through though. It
Speaker 2: gets you through, you know. And another good one is
Speaker 2: hash browns with chili and cheese from waffle House, but
Speaker 2: that's another story.
Speaker 1: I haven't been to waffle House yet. Guys, I think
Speaker 1: I've seen. It's not a.
Speaker 2: Crime, but that's how long you're gonna be here, you
Speaker 2: should go.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna go. I'm gonna be here till Sunday. I'm
Speaker 1: trying to get Ryan to put together the list.
Speaker 2: Go to a club, hang out till two o'clock in
Speaker 2: the morning, get really drunk, go to waffle house, and then, uh,
Speaker 2: that's the place. That's the only that's the real waffle
Speaker 2: house experience, you know.
Speaker 1: Stacey's also been telling me in Atlanta, you gotta go
Speaker 1: to the strip clubs. I don't want to go to
Speaker 1: the strip clubs, but she's like, it's a whole experience
Speaker 1: here in Atlanta.
Speaker 2: It's it. I mean, if you want to.
Speaker 1: See that response right there, that's where my head's been living.
Speaker 2: It's kind of like, you know, you don't have to
Speaker 2: and that might not be your cup of tea, so
Speaker 2: it might just be uncomfortable for you, but it's a
Speaker 2: it's a time. You know what I mean? Over real,
Speaker 2: depending on the type person you know? Are you scared
Speaker 2: of yourself in there?
Speaker 1: Scared of myself? What you mean? You know what it is?
Speaker 1: I don't.
Speaker 2: Has been known to change people, change people.
Speaker 1: I told every looks that's that tastes right there. She's
Speaker 1: been trying to get me to go to strip club.
Speaker 1: I'm like, I'm not. I'm not. I'm not attracted to women.
Speaker 1: I can tell of a woman's beautiful, but that's as
Speaker 1: far as it goes.
Speaker 2: I'd be like, she's beautiful, but it's a party. It
Speaker 2: just depends on which one you go to.
Speaker 1: No, I'm good.
Speaker 2: It's not a necessity.
Speaker 1: Though at first I thought she was talking about going
Speaker 1: on a male strip club. I was like, but I
Speaker 1: don't want to see a guy in the throng.
Speaker 2: Nah, that's that's strip club. It's going to change the
Speaker 2: whole namic of the night.
Speaker 1: Over real.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you're in Atlanta, Okay, this ain't no like up
Speaker 2: North mail review type of strip club.
Speaker 1: Wait, they do have male strip clubs there.
Speaker 2: They have one. I think it's closed now. I'm not
Speaker 2: sure because I never went.
Speaker 1: So no woman wants to see a guy in the thong.
Speaker 1: This is never there's like nothing masculine about it, just
Speaker 1: completely not masculine at all. But but so you're recording
Speaker 1: this solo album, and what's your thought process? Are you
Speaker 1: harder on yourself not as hard thinking everything's a hit?
Speaker 1: Take me to that mindset.
Speaker 2: It was new, you know, not being able to look
Speaker 2: to my left for right and see my group, you
Speaker 2: know what I mean. And the fact that I made
Speaker 2: that decision, it's like I can't tell m you know,
Speaker 2: because some people that leave their group sto't ness fatally prosper,
Speaker 2: you know, or become successful. But now I just started
Speaker 2: recording songs. I didn't even know what my sound was
Speaker 2: gonna because I've been with groups for so long and
Speaker 2: there's a song on my first album called Fatal that's
Speaker 2: actually my group. That's one of the songs we that
Speaker 2: we had, and I said, I have to keep this song.
Speaker 2: But yeah, I just I started recording songs, and then
Speaker 2: eventually I got homesick. I'm like, I'm by myself, so
Speaker 2: I went home. I went to DC for like two months,
Speaker 2: and I almost didn't come back to Atlanta. It was
Speaker 2: just one of those moms saying, eh, I can always
Speaker 2: go back to work, you know what I mean. But
Speaker 2: I got in the studio while I was there and
Speaker 2: did a song called back on My Lap. And I
Speaker 2: always tell everybody this that that was like my resignation letter, like.
Speaker 1: I'm tired, and how old were you at this time?
Speaker 3: It is.
Speaker 2: Well, I was tired of doing that, you know. I
Speaker 2: was tired of being broke, you know, going from having
Speaker 2: two jobs to nothing, two jobs, two cause crib to
Speaker 2: nothing to chasing the dream, you know what I mean.
Speaker 2: I did back on my Lap, and at this time
Speaker 2: I was twenty three every time, okay, twenty two, twenty three.
Speaker 2: Of course when I came out, they said I was
Speaker 2: twenty one. Of course, total lie. Of course I had
Speaker 2: learned to do that. But I did back in my
Speaker 2: lack and I sent it to my manager and my
Speaker 2: manager said, get back, get back to Atlanta. Immediately we
Speaker 2: got work to do, because I guess at that moment
Speaker 2: they was like he.
Speaker 1: Found his his voice or his.
Speaker 2: Thing, you know what I mean. And from there we
Speaker 2: just started. I was like, but if I come back
Speaker 2: down there, bro I need some money.
Speaker 1: So that's what I was about to ask, like was
Speaker 1: you doing it on your own money? At that point
Speaker 1: or did they send you a check or say, well,
Speaker 1: what will happened? Oh?
Speaker 2: Did who sent me?
Speaker 1: When your manager said come come back out here?
Speaker 2: Nah? It was just gonna be like I had family
Speaker 2: in Atlanta, you know, So I went to stay with
Speaker 2: family for a little bit, like my aunt. My mom
Speaker 2: is one of eleven. So there's not too many places
Speaker 2: on the East Coast that I can go that. I
Speaker 2: ain't got nowhere to stay, you know what I mean.
Speaker 2: But yes, I stayed with my aunt for a little bit,
Speaker 2: and uh, I told him, I said, if I came
Speaker 2: back down now, I gotta get some money, bro, you know.
Speaker 2: So he got me the gig to reference suffocate. I
Speaker 2: was referencing it for a mayon.
Speaker 1: What do you mean referencing it?
Speaker 2: Just singing the song so they can send it to
Speaker 2: him Dream wrote it so but I guess he didn't
Speaker 2: want to send his vocalus. His vocals weren't bad or nothing,
Speaker 2: it was just I guess they wanted to send it
Speaker 2: with a different voice on it as well. I'm not
Speaker 2: exactly sure. And my manager just says singing so they
Speaker 2: can't sell it. Cool. So that's what I did, or
Speaker 2: at least that's what I thought I was doing, and
Speaker 2: I got paid two hundred and fifty dollars to do that,
Speaker 2: so I was all right, cool, I can make money
Speaker 2: while we were still figuring it out. And long story short,
Speaker 2: getting I so once I did back of my lick.
Speaker 2: I think at that time I had fatal back in
Speaker 2: my lock a song called Ghetto that ended up on
Speaker 2: the album, and it was a song with a ball
Speaker 2: and MJG called city Boy that didn't make it, but
Speaker 2: that was my demo and that's how I got.
Speaker 1: Signed off that demo, and then the Suffocate went to
Speaker 1: a Mario's crew and then but you ended up keeping it.
Speaker 2: No I get I don't know if you heard it.
Speaker 2: I don't. I don't know. That was just what I
Speaker 2: was told that I was referencing it for him, and
Speaker 2: for whatever reason they he didn't take it or he
Speaker 2: never got it, or I don't. I'm not sure on
Speaker 2: that part, And but that comes back and later in
Speaker 2: the story. It's just I did Suffocate way before I
Speaker 2: even got signed, before I got my dual.
Speaker 1: Okay, okay, So then what happens next?
Speaker 2: Capital signed me off that off the demo. Capital signed
Speaker 2: me and did.
Speaker 1: You get a nice check hell on. Now what was
Speaker 1: the deal looking like?
Speaker 2: Because see my deal was with Music Line, which is
Speaker 2: that's that was a Tha's company. And you know, I
Speaker 2: mean production companies basically do deals with with the label,
Speaker 2: you know, and they're basically doing the deal where it's
Speaker 2: like we're providing the artists. So I'm signed to Capital,
Speaker 2: but you're.
Speaker 1: Really signed to the production company. Right, Okay, I'm learning how.
Speaker 1: I think that's how eighty five South is.
Speaker 2: Right.
Speaker 1: You guys are production companies living all quiet over there.
Speaker 1: I do that a lot.
Speaker 2: But so, yeah, we doing music. I get in with
Speaker 2: Dark Child We Do Be with Me, which ended up
Speaker 2: being the first song that we put out with the video.
Speaker 2: Then it hit, but it didn't quite you know. It
Speaker 2: was like, oh, there's a new artist on the scene,
Speaker 2: but let's see what else he can do kind of response,
Speaker 2: you know. So they was like, Yo, we need a
Speaker 2: we need a we need a single single. That's how
Speaker 2: we got Bed.
Speaker 1: And then what was your feelings when Bed took off?
Speaker 2: I didn't like the song when I first heard it.
Speaker 2: I mean, I'm not gonna say I didn't like the song.
Speaker 2: That would be a lie. I liked the song, like
Speaker 2: I said, dream wrote it, so he also referenced it,
Speaker 2: and but when the reference was in falsetto, like from
Speaker 2: top to bot and so while I was trying to
Speaker 2: record the song, I just was like, I'm not I
Speaker 2: don't want to sing this whole song in falsetto. That
Speaker 2: just feels stupid to me. Like not. It was just like,
Speaker 2: all right here, dad, that's cool. I get it. And yeah,
Speaker 2: the engine it was just he was like, well, if
Speaker 2: you was singing different, how would you sing it? I said,
Speaker 2: started from the top and that's how it came out.
Speaker 1: Okay, So when it does good, where are you? Like?
Speaker 1: What's your mindset? Are you cocky?
Speaker 3: Like?
Speaker 2: Absolutely, I'm not gonna say I was cocky? Uh. I
Speaker 2: mean it's for anybody to sit in this position and
Speaker 2: sit and lie and don't say they feel a certain
Speaker 2: kind of way, you know what I mean, like they
Speaker 2: would be lying.
Speaker 1: But tell me how you felt.
Speaker 2: I mean I felt good. I felt like I was
Speaker 2: a shit.
Speaker 1: How was you acting? It was you acting like, hey,
Speaker 1: I'm the shit?
Speaker 2: Well see this thing that would be a yes saying
Speaker 2: and no. Because I'm very knowledgeable and like the industry
Speaker 2: and contracts and stuff like that. So even in moments
Speaker 2: that I might act like that, I might act like
Speaker 2: I'm cocky, or somebody might be like, why you're acting
Speaker 2: ericant or whatever. I can also back it up on
Speaker 2: the being knowledgeable. I'm not just the artists and they
Speaker 2: hated that. They hated that about me. Who's they just
Speaker 2: label people? You know, they don't like smart artists. What
Speaker 2: do you mean they want you as dumb as you come?
Speaker 1: Were you asking questions like where's my checks? At?
Speaker 2: No? No, it was just they just never could get
Speaker 2: over on me. Oh, they never could change me. They
Speaker 2: never could make me been to their to their will?
Speaker 1: What types of things were they asking you to do?
Speaker 1: That would be like been to your will?
Speaker 2: Just if I feel uncomfortable, I feel uncomfortable, you know.
Speaker 2: And it was small, it was small situations that It's
Speaker 2: just like, if you treat your artists like you actually
Speaker 2: care about them, would have been so easy. But when
Speaker 2: it's like you're making something so small so big. Now
Speaker 2: now I have to stand on it because now I
Speaker 2: feel like you're not respecting the act that I'm telling
Speaker 2: you I'm uncomfortable.
Speaker 1: Can you give me an example.
Speaker 2: I'm growing up in church, you know, you know, when
Speaker 2: you go to church, you gotta dress a certain kind
Speaker 2: of way. And my mom was very much one of
Speaker 2: those parents until I got you know, maybe seventeen fifteen, sixteen.
Speaker 2: You know, she wasn't as hard on me about it.
Speaker 2: But like I was in church clothes all my life.
Speaker 2: So you know, when they tell me because I sing
Speaker 2: R and B, I have to dress like this, I
Speaker 2: don't want to dress like that, not at this moment
Speaker 2: in my life. Maybe I might change my mind later,
Speaker 2: who knows, but right now, you're not telling me that
Speaker 2: I have to dress that way. It's just I've did
Speaker 2: it my whole life. Let me be comfortable. I did
Speaker 2: this to be comfortable. Yeah, you know what I mean?
Speaker 2: Soo something so small, like just leave me alone about it?
Speaker 1: What they want you to be? Like a sex symbol type.
Speaker 2: I guess if that's what you call it, I don't know,
Speaker 2: you know, And there's situations that call for that, but
Speaker 2: I'm not walking around like that every day. Yeah, like
Speaker 2: my wardrobe can't just slaxing buttons outs like, I get it,
Speaker 2: But on those moments, I know how to respect the situation.
Speaker 1: Did you have a lot of conversations with your mom
Speaker 1: about your career when you were going through a lot
Speaker 1: of those.
Speaker 2: Things, not that I can not that I can say.
Speaker 2: She would always ask and I would always tell her
Speaker 2: to all the positive stuff.
Speaker 1: I never you never told her the negatives.
Speaker 2: Yeah. I just never wanted her to worry about me. Okay,
Speaker 2: you know, yeah, you know she's one of them moms.
Speaker 2: She a praying mama too, So you know, shit, I
Speaker 2: just felt like I had to call you. I felt
Speaker 2: it them a spirit, you know. So the minute you
Speaker 2: tell her something that she's just like, oh, that don't
Speaker 2: sound too good, then it just it puts worry on her.
Speaker 2: And you know, I ain't want to do that too.
Speaker 1: Okay. So during this point where you're doing extremely well,
Speaker 1: was there anything outside of the labels trying to package
Speaker 1: you a certain way that was something that was eye
Speaker 1: opening to you during that whole rise?
Speaker 2: I opened it in which way, cause I mean there.
Speaker 1: Could be you could do a negative and a positive way.
Speaker 2: I mean something that it's I mean, it's real easy,
Speaker 2: but it's just like something like so my mom like
Speaker 2: I me and my mama close, but and she she
Speaker 2: raised me well you know what I mean. And she
Speaker 2: always taught me to be a leader, not a follower,
Speaker 2: and if you get drilled in the hell in the
Speaker 2: head with that as a kid, you just kind of like, ah,
Speaker 2: I I hear you, but you know that's what she
Speaker 2: instilled in me. Yeah, So for me, it was just like,
Speaker 2: you can't tell me that I have to go left.
Speaker 2: Yeah one my mother said, I didn't have to. But
Speaker 2: now if you can explain to me what a compromise
Speaker 2: can be going left and we get to a compromise,
Speaker 2: while I'm comfortable, that's different. But they don't never want
Speaker 2: to compromise with the artists because to them, you should.
Speaker 1: Be doing what we tell you, Like we know the
Speaker 1: system works.
Speaker 2: Yeah, we know this, but they're just nine times out
Speaker 2: of ten they're trying to recreate something that they've already
Speaker 2: seen instead of just letting artists evolve like they always do.
Speaker 1: Do you like? Did you like being an artist? Is
Speaker 1: it because there was a reason why you stepped away
Speaker 1: for a little bit, right?
Speaker 2: A lot of that was more so just business.
Speaker 3: But.
Speaker 1: Well, the reason why you stepped away.
Speaker 2: Nobody never really steps away from music because they just
Speaker 2: want to step away from music. Sometimes it's just the
Speaker 2: right situations aren't presenting themselves, or you know, some some
Speaker 2: artists make it bad for themselves.
Speaker 1: Some artists what.
Speaker 2: They make get bad for themselves. You know. So it
Speaker 2: just it depends on why people Steparwight. But for me,
Speaker 2: it was just I was signed to Death Jane for
Speaker 2: two and a half years, and you know, you can't
Speaker 2: you can force the label to move, but if they
Speaker 2: don't really care, like if they're like, we're not gonna
Speaker 2: lose anything, they're not gonna move, they'd rather let you go.
Speaker 1: Then did they let you go or did.
Speaker 2: You not asked to be released? Yeah? And that was
Speaker 2: that was with Death Jane. Well I did that with
Speaker 2: Capital and Death Cham But okay.
Speaker 1: Were you at Deaf Jam when Jay was running it.
Speaker 2: I think I came. I got signed right before he
Speaker 2: took over. But that was where that breakdown happened. You
Speaker 2: know what I'm saying. La Re signed me and then
Speaker 2: La Re left and then came in and Jay. So
Speaker 2: you know, people that run those labels, they have their
Speaker 2: go to people that they already have in mind that
Speaker 2: they yeah, yeah, like I'm I'm up against Rihanna, Rianna,
Speaker 2: Neo Dream, Kanye, like all these people were already on
Speaker 2: this label. Yeah, you know, but you know they were
Speaker 2: they were running things. You know what I'm saying. So,
Speaker 2: I mean I can always say I was still I
Speaker 2: was signing to Depth Jam, but you know a lot
Speaker 2: of artists always wanted to be able to say that.
Speaker 2: But and I have nothing against Depth Jam, Death Jam,
Speaker 2: Brand New systemhow labels running system. They didn't do me
Speaker 2: a disservice. It was just one of those like the
Speaker 2: Death Jam play was more so uh uh, I'm not
Speaker 2: on Capitol no more. But yeah, get this boy a
Speaker 2: check real quick. That's how people get checks. You signed
Speaker 2: to a label to give you an advance there it is.
Speaker 1: So what made you say I want to get released?
Speaker 2: Oh so you know during that time, I'm doing mixtapes
Speaker 2: and stuff like that just to let people hear stuff
Speaker 2: like I'm still working. You know, I'm on Depth Jam.
Speaker 2: But they'll get to me eventually. I never nah, I
Speaker 2: never said anything bad about Death Cham. But yeah, so
Speaker 2: when I would put stuff out, you and G kept
Speaker 2: blocking my songs because I'm technically with Universal Music. So
Speaker 2: I'm like, dang, well, but why were.
Speaker 1: They block and old because you got released?
Speaker 2: Because I'm not supposed to be putting our music. This
Speaker 2: is because it's not coming through death Cham. Well, this
Speaker 2: is before I got released, but I don't. I can
Speaker 2: release whatever I want to, you know what I'm saying,
Speaker 2: as long as I fulfill my commitment as far as
Speaker 2: albums and stuff with the label if they if the
Speaker 2: label asked me for an album, I need to have
Speaker 2: an album ready.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: But there also the flip side to that, which a
Speaker 2: lot of artists don't do, is if I have an
Speaker 2: album ready and I said I have an album ready,
Speaker 2: the label is supposed to move on that too. That
Speaker 2: it's a two way street. That's how it's supposed to be.
Speaker 1: So if they don't release the album, you could still
Speaker 1: put out music.
Speaker 2: You should be allowed to do that.
Speaker 1: But but you it just depends when you when you
Speaker 1: did it? Did YOUMG? You said, UMG block blocked them?
Speaker 1: What do you mean by that? I mean.
Speaker 2: Technically property of UMG? Who blocked own? Who owns death
Speaker 2: Chair distribution? Dislike? Might be like YouTube and stuff like that.
Speaker 2: It is before YouTube there was a a monetization of YouTube.
Speaker 2: This is when you're just like, I listen to my stuff,
Speaker 2: go to my YouTube channel. People wasn't really making money
Speaker 2: off YouTube at that time, but they was. I mean
Speaker 2: and it's fair. They had the right to do that.
Speaker 1: But when you say blocking, I don't understand what did
Speaker 1: they block distribution?
Speaker 2: Did they know they could they could have? So your
Speaker 2: song can't be played in a public form that because
Speaker 2: now YouTube is like, well we can't go against Universal.
Speaker 2: We're not trying to end up in a lawsuit because
Speaker 2: of that. It's it's a whole long stretch of So were.
Speaker 1: You at least doing shows to to make money during
Speaker 1: all of this? Like how are you eating.
Speaker 2: At this point? So, I mean before all of this,
Speaker 2: when things at a high point, you know, I mean,
Speaker 2: which we skipped over a lot of that, but I
Speaker 2: mean it's like being on an Archaelly tour, going on
Speaker 2: tour with Keisha call doing this the total Trade songs,
Speaker 2: Like I did all those tours. But when things around
Speaker 2: the Death Jam time, it's like I'm still only known
Speaker 2: for my first album, but I had two albums out,
Speaker 2: you know, so you know, the shows slowed down, and
Speaker 2: you know, I mean that just happens.
Speaker 1: What was like a highlight during your career where you
Speaker 1: were like you it was a definite highlight where you
Speaker 1: were like I've arrived.
Speaker 2: When I did Jay Leno.
Speaker 1: Why particularly Jay Leno.
Speaker 2: I mean, because back then it was just like that
Speaker 2: was the thing to do. I was one of the
Speaker 2: you know, probably last people to perform because I was
Speaker 2: only like the last season. But and then I got
Speaker 2: a chance to do our sing in Hall. But yeah,
Speaker 2: those moments were being nominated for Grammy. I mean there's
Speaker 2: a list of things, like it's not just one, things
Speaker 2: that I never asked for. I thought that I would accomplish.
Speaker 2: Like my dream was to just drop a song. I mean,
Speaker 2: dropped a song myself on the radio.
Speaker 1: So surpassed that. And how was it listening to it
Speaker 1: on the radio?
Speaker 2: I mean as well as you can imagine, I will,
Speaker 2: That's the thing. At this point, I've heard sung listen
Speaker 2: to that song. I couldn't even get put a number
Speaker 2: on how many times. But it's there's always going to
Speaker 2: be something special when you hit yourself on the radio.
Speaker 2: You know, it's just like y'all playing me it no
Speaker 2: matter how old it is, how knew it is, it's
Speaker 2: it's just a because the city's listening to that.
Speaker 1: So coming or whatever. Yeah, So coming from being a
Speaker 1: preacher's kid and then getting into the industry, which is
Speaker 1: definitely not I would say, preachers, preacher kids, supportive, what
Speaker 1: kind of center center is lifestyle?
Speaker 2: Things?
Speaker 1: Did you do you the contrary to what you were raised?
Speaker 1: There certain lines that you crossed.
Speaker 2: It was a lot of weeds smoking, It was a
Speaker 2: lot of alcohol drinking, and a lot of extracurricular activities. Yeah,
Speaker 2: what they was what they would consider the world of
Speaker 2: fornication and saying yeah, I mean it's it's the industry. Man,
Speaker 2: if you're not rooted a certain kind of way, it
Speaker 2: can get you. They can get you.
Speaker 1: Can you give examples of how it could get you.
Speaker 2: Oh, man, just getting caught up into that life, that
Speaker 2: fast life, the drugs or or whatever you know, or
Speaker 2: just the fame it self. You know, fame is addicting.
Speaker 2: I don't necessarily care for it, but that's just because
Speaker 2: I'm also I'm an introvert, which don't really work well
Speaker 2: with what I do. But I know how to treat
Speaker 2: my fans, you know, I'm very respectful to them. But yeah,
Speaker 2: you can you can get lost in this and and
Speaker 2: most of these people are not your friends, you know,
Speaker 2: they're just not. But it's a it's a it's a
Speaker 2: it's a it's a networking type of industry, you gotta hey,
Speaker 2: what's going on that you gotta play the game.
Speaker 1: It's funny. I've worked like different jobs. I've worked regular
Speaker 1: jobs and I've been in the industry, and I always say, like,
Speaker 1: when I work a regular job, I walk away with
Speaker 1: real friends. In the industry, it's kind of it's interesting,
Speaker 1: like you could work with a team for ten years
Speaker 1: and walk away and those people are really your friends anymore.
Speaker 1: It's like that chapter is closed. That's it. I mean,
Speaker 1: to some degree, there is some level of friendship, but
Speaker 1: I will say like that was like I remember doing
Speaker 1: like ten years and walking away with like, wait, no,
Speaker 1: one's like.
Speaker 2: It's weird.
Speaker 1: I'd be like, we're for each other, and it's like,
Speaker 1: oh I exited.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's the sad thing. And that's across industries, but.
Speaker 1: With no Like I feel like if I worked at Walmart,
Speaker 1: I walk away with more friends than if I was
Speaker 1: in the industry. I feel like if I walk away
Speaker 1: from the industry, then I don't walk away with the.
Speaker 2: Friendships because this industry and entertainment it's about being better
Speaker 2: than the other person. It's it's stopped being about how
Speaker 2: good and the quality of whatever it is is I
Speaker 2: don't know why, but I and I'm appreciative, especially like
Speaker 2: platforms like this where people can have real conversations because
Speaker 2: a lot of it's just becapping, just too much going on,
Speaker 2: you know, and it's people will use you and be
Speaker 2: your friend, they will befriend you for what they need
Speaker 2: from you.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Sometimes I think like when it comes to the industry,
Speaker 1: there's not enough meat on the bone, so it's like
Speaker 1: a doggy dog world. And maybe that's why there's no
Speaker 1: like real authenticity, authenticity in the friendships here.
Speaker 2: I mean, but there are some here, There are some here.
Speaker 2: There are some very great relationships, but those are like
Speaker 2: one and few in between.
Speaker 3: You know.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I work with Nick Cannon for a
Speaker 1: very long time, and when I first started working with him,
Speaker 1: a lot of the things the way he moved didn't
Speaker 1: make sense. But then like by the tenth year, I
Speaker 1: was like, yo, like this dude is paying attention to
Speaker 1: everything in the room, like without looking, you know, And
Speaker 1: I started to like see, like there's like an extra
Speaker 1: set of eyes you need to have. It's just a
Speaker 1: sense of clarity you need to have and you gotta
Speaker 1: pay attention to like what's not being said more so
Speaker 1: than what's being said.
Speaker 2: Absolutely right. God couldn't set it better myself. Yeah, I
Speaker 2: mean it's so many times I could tell you that
Speaker 2: I have a better relation and you would think it's different.
Speaker 2: I mean, I have some very good relationships, especially like
Speaker 2: in the male R and B because that you know,
Speaker 2: they think that we don't know each other, we don't
Speaker 2: get along or we don't talk because we all sing
Speaker 2: R and B. But like you'd be surprised, we all
Speaker 2: actually get along very well. But even within those group
Speaker 2: of people, there's maybe a few I fight for and
Speaker 2: a few are with' you know what I'm saying. But
Speaker 2: that's because there's different relationships there, you know, and it's
Speaker 2: kind of fine. It's I ain't even gonna say it's
Speaker 2: kind of hard to find. It's very hard to find
Speaker 2: people that are authentic. But that's just because, like you said,
Speaker 2: it's doggy dog.
Speaker 1: There's definitely doggy dog.
Speaker 2: And you know, I want that money. I want that back.
Speaker 2: I mean, my mother raised me, uh, don't praise money,
Speaker 2: I mean, which is probably horrible when you're thinking about
Speaker 2: generational wealth, you know what I mean, because you kind.
Speaker 1: Of have to, well, generational wealth is likes I would
Speaker 1: say it does starts somewhere, but I like generational wealth
Speaker 1: because yeah, I feel like it's somebody gotta do it,
Speaker 1: someone's gotta Yeah, I guess started somewhere, I guess. But
Speaker 1: I will say this in the testament to the industry
Speaker 1: is that I will say that it's a male dominated space,
Speaker 1: but shout out to the women because I do feel
Speaker 1: like the women of the industry definitely stick together a
Speaker 1: little bit better. I don't see as much hater raid
Speaker 1: in the women behind the scenes. We bought be hating
Speaker 1: on y'all. Like there's a lot of manicab in the industry.
Speaker 2: The thing though, and because it's like where's the line
Speaker 2: of hate versus opinion? Now, you know what I'm saying,
Speaker 2: because like I can call any opinion you hating. Yeah,
Speaker 2: so it's like when are you really hating? And when
Speaker 2: is it still opinion? Because I feel like people are
Speaker 2: allowed to their opinion, but then it's and so we're.
Speaker 1: We're in a cancel culture age, so everyone's scared to
Speaker 1: give an opinion and then and then they scared to
Speaker 1: give an opinion. But the second like you give an opinion,
Speaker 1: you a hater.
Speaker 2: I mean, it's happened to me multiple I was just called.
Speaker 1: The hater in the previous episode.
Speaker 2: To day but my brother. But yeah, it's I mean,
Speaker 2: so I just I literally stopped having an opinion about you.
Speaker 1: Oh it's really yeah, I mean because it's it's exhausting.
Speaker 2: It's exhausting. Like when you're talking to people and you're
Speaker 2: giving them your opinion, I mean they may agree with you,
Speaker 2: they may not. When it's a world of people, that's
Speaker 2: just like if you're not on that the big opinion
Speaker 2: of the mask, they don't want to hear that, you
Speaker 2: know what I'm saying, Like nobody wants to take accountability
Speaker 2: or actually be told something is messed up.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Okay, yeah, I guess. I guess. So are you
Speaker 1: out of the music industry in totality? Like when when
Speaker 1: are we going to hear something new?
Speaker 3: No?
Speaker 2: I mean I predominantly do more touring than anything I've
Speaker 2: been recently on. This just touris R and B Kickback Tour.
Speaker 2: When Young Fly Entertainment that it's like an it's like
Speaker 2: a never ending tour. It's just well just be bouncing
Speaker 2: around all year. Wow, you know what I mean with
Speaker 2: up it's the R and B mail you know, tour,
Speaker 2: but no, I have an artist that I'm working on
Speaker 2: right now, you know, so being independent, you know, signed
Speaker 2: myself to myself for whatever I do in the future,
Speaker 2: you're gonna have to do business with Holiday Music Group
Speaker 2: because I'm I'm just not taking the other route again.
Speaker 2: I'd rather be the production company than that that does
Speaker 2: the business with the label versus me being just an artist.
Speaker 2: So I have an artist that I'm actually about to drop.
Speaker 2: His name is Rico Anthony. He sings, But that's my
Speaker 2: focus right now.
Speaker 1: That's after experiencing like how the labels handled you. Do
Speaker 1: you handle your artists with like I know what works
Speaker 1: and what doesn't? Or do you listen to him a
Speaker 1: little bit more because you got to see both sides.
Speaker 2: I tell them the truth. I'll keep it fresh, like
Speaker 2: I just I put them up on game, you know
Speaker 2: what I mean. Incorporate your company, come out being signed
Speaker 2: to yourself that way, so.
Speaker 1: You're like looking out for him while doing business with him.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, because it's you don't have to take
Speaker 2: all of an artist's money, you know what I mean,
Speaker 2: Like if you believe that this artist is going to
Speaker 2: do well, you know what I mean, Like if you
Speaker 2: think your artist is only going to make one hundred
Speaker 2: thousand dollars, then I can see how you might think
Speaker 2: ten percent is why would I want ten percent? No,
Speaker 2: we want fifty percent. Like you, just artists stay more.
Speaker 2: They stay more themselves and create and evolve better when
Speaker 2: you give them a platform to actually know that they're safe. Yeah,
Speaker 2: you know what I mean, Like some of these artists
Speaker 2: just get money thrown at them, and they're like, good
Speaker 2: because I got this.
Speaker 1: But so let's talk money for a second. So when
Speaker 1: you were at your peak of peaks, were you making
Speaker 1: a lot of money or was it like a similar
Speaker 1: TLC type situation where you weren't making as much as
Speaker 1: big as you were, Because I'm always curious about that now,
Speaker 1: especially in the world of likes.
Speaker 2: I was speaking good money. I mean I still make
Speaker 2: good money, but I mean I was obviously a different time.
Speaker 2: But I know I've never been in the three sixty though,
Speaker 2: so I don't know what it feels like to not
Speaker 2: get certain things that just are old to artists.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so like you get all your touring money, you
Speaker 1: get all.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I will label will never get my tour money.
Speaker 1: Okay, that's a great deal.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, I've never been in I didn't even sign
Speaker 2: a three sixty when I signed the death job.
Speaker 1: Okay, but I think that's right around the time when
Speaker 1: they started dropping those, wasn't it.
Speaker 2: They was they were starting to come in quick. They
Speaker 2: was covering there quick. For sure. They was just hitting
Speaker 2: everybody with three sixties. But yeah, so, I mean then
Speaker 2: it was you gotta think coming and that comes from
Speaker 2: my mom, like I said, was one of eleven. They
Speaker 2: had a lot of you know, they didn't get a
Speaker 2: chance to build any kind of wealth growing up, so
Speaker 2: there was nothing to pass down to any you know
Speaker 2: what I mean. So it's like now I have to
Speaker 2: be that person that you know, and it ends up
Speaker 2: being like that for a lot of people that make it.
Speaker 2: So when I was making that money, I was more
Speaker 2: so playing catch up, whether it be for myself or
Speaker 2: taking care of my mom or you know, helping family members.
Speaker 1: I mean that's just were you able to invest any
Speaker 1: of it into something outside.
Speaker 2: Of the absolutely not. I mean, yeah, that's crazy.
Speaker 1: I'd be like generational or whenever I think generational wealth,
Speaker 1: I think real estate. You know. I think it was
Speaker 1: bow Wow's mom that took a lot of his money
Speaker 1: and put it in real estate. When he was very
Speaker 1: early off, you didn't get to do you didn't get
Speaker 1: to do any.
Speaker 2: Of that or but I see when you have certain tools,
Speaker 2: like your your access to things never in you know
Speaker 2: what I mean. So I'm just not so like I've
Speaker 2: I've done movies, you know what I mean. We don't.
Speaker 2: I don't talk about a lot of interviews, but yeah,
Speaker 2: like I was in a recent movie from maybe a
Speaker 2: year two though. So I'm just I'm focused on other things.
Speaker 2: But now being able to have the mindset of everything,
Speaker 2: everybody's good now, and it's sad that sometimes it takes
Speaker 2: that long for everybody to be good. Now that I
Speaker 2: can focus on myself and actually do all of those things,
Speaker 2: you know, I just never I just never spent time
Speaker 2: to do it. It's not that I couldn't, I just
Speaker 2: it just wasn't my focus.
Speaker 1: So if you're the production company, there's no need for distribution,
Speaker 1: So there's no need to do any partnerships with labels.
Speaker 2: Now, right, I mean, if nobody's ever going to get Beyonce,
Speaker 2: Taylor Swift, Chris Brown, us you're big not being signed
Speaker 2: to a major label. You don't think it's not.
Speaker 1: Gonna happen, even with the way social.
Speaker 2: Media can happen, even with the control everything.
Speaker 1: Really, I didn't know that. Why do you think that
Speaker 1: because they control that much even even though these indepen
Speaker 1: but the independent you don't even have to Who cares
Speaker 1: about being that big anyways? All that is the money
Speaker 1: at the end of the day.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, if you're a million then no, you
Speaker 2: don't need.
Speaker 1: To Like who wants to be Beyonce can't go into
Speaker 1: freaking mall.
Speaker 2: But the point is to spend other people's money.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, that's always been the you know, but
Speaker 1: that's what I'm saying. Like, as an independent, if you
Speaker 1: went independent without the labels, you're gonna make way more money.
Speaker 2: Now, Oh no, absolutely. But when I say some of
Speaker 2: these labels are so greedy. They they like to think,
Speaker 2: all right, let's just get this deal. They it's like
Speaker 2: stocks and stocks for them.
Speaker 1: So if you had any advice for anybody, you would
Speaker 1: you would be still be anti label. Nah.
Speaker 2: I mean every every situation that everybody gets a different deal,
Speaker 2: you just got to make sure that you negotiate the
Speaker 2: right deal. You know, I've been in some great deals,
Speaker 2: but between playing catch up with family and going through
Speaker 2: different things with labels. You know you certain things slip
Speaker 2: through the cracks, you know what I mean. That's just
Speaker 2: how it be for some people. A lot of artists
Speaker 2: should be overwhelming sometimes.
Speaker 1: What advice would you give to anyone trying to get
Speaker 1: into the game at this stage? And do you think
Speaker 1: you could give it?
Speaker 2: But what I said, don't do it now I'm playing.
Speaker 1: It's hard to tell you you sounded hell is serious?
Speaker 2: No, it's just just know what you're getting into. That's
Speaker 2: all I can say. And that's in any part of life.
Speaker 2: But just know what you're getting into. Just know it's
Speaker 2: a dirty game. No, know your stuff, know your business,
Speaker 2: or get some people around your team around you that
Speaker 2: know it. You know, so you're not being taken advantage of.
Speaker 2: Or it's so many different levels and avenues and streams
Speaker 2: that people don't even think about because people don't think big.
Speaker 2: Think big.
Speaker 1: Given an example of different streams.
Speaker 2: I'm just like, why didn't anybody in my circle capitalize
Speaker 2: on certain mattresses or the sleep number bed or or
Speaker 2: Cadillac or you know what I'm saying. My album was
Speaker 2: called Back of My Lack, Like, why that's not my
Speaker 2: area of business.
Speaker 1: So I don't know, I see what you're saying. Yeah big,
Speaker 1: think big, but know your stuff.
Speaker 2: You know what I'm saying, know your stuff.
Speaker 1: Damn did you think You didn't even think that, not
Speaker 1: once when you were doing at the time. But now
Speaker 1: you look.
Speaker 2: Back, like, damn the way people making money now? You know,
Speaker 2: it's so easy now, especially with social media and the Internet.
Speaker 2: And so that's you.
Speaker 1: Know, one of things easier with social media or harder
Speaker 1: with social media.
Speaker 2: Depends on if you wanted the people that gotta buy running.
Speaker 1: Your page about running page?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean it. Everything can be bought, simple as that.
Speaker 2: I can, I can buy. I can spend the money
Speaker 2: to make my page look a certain way. And then
Speaker 2: now I'm coming across your timeline and you don't even
Speaker 2: know how mm hmm.
Speaker 1: Look at the social social media girl there. Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2: You gotta you got you gotta spend money to make money.
Speaker 1: Okay, Well, where can people keep up with j Holiday?
Speaker 1: Everything you got going on my Instagram?
Speaker 2: Really Instagram King Holiday? Dot about say dot com k
Speaker 2: j I King J Holiday? Or you can go to
Speaker 2: Facebook Facebook, you know, bad page.
Speaker 1: Jay Holiday and then you stay touring.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm always I'm always on the road and like
Speaker 2: I said, I'm working on my artists. He'll be out
Speaker 2: very soon.
Speaker 3: You know.
Speaker 2: We got some photo shoot stuff and all that.
Speaker 1: So oh nice. Well, I'm glad you came by and
Speaker 1: blessed me. But a good meal. It's good. I'm gonna
Speaker 1: finish it, guys. I don't want I don't want to
Speaker 1: eat all into.
Speaker 2: No, it's good. Mhmm, Okay, that's good.
Speaker 1: All right, guys. Thank you for tuning into another episode
Speaker 1: of Eating While Broke.
Speaker 2: Peace.
Speaker 1: For more Eating While Broke from iHeart Radio and The
Speaker 1: Black Effect, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever
Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows.