Speaker 1: R and B Money.
Speaker 2: We are.
Speaker 3: Thanks take Malachi. We are the authority on all things.
Speaker 4: R and B.
Speaker 3: Land is a gentleman. My name is Tank.
Speaker 1: I'm Valentine.
Speaker 3: Oh and here's the old mother.
Speaker 1: Come on real anyway on this oh no thing. Yeah,
Speaker 1: alry be, come on with you.
Speaker 3: I've seen the cries of the people.
Speaker 2: Yeah, the customers, the customer, Yeah, yeah, they wanted to
Speaker 2: see him.
Speaker 1: You you you you you you you you you and you.
Speaker 3: Him who sings about a woman.
Speaker 1: Huh, the mixtape man himself, him who.
Speaker 3: Who loves you more? You don't know who loves you?
Speaker 3: Who loves you more?
Speaker 4: Tell them my whole hotewn round John divide.
Speaker 3: Whatever.
Speaker 4: Oh, this one's special, broes, it is. This one's special, bro.
Speaker 4: Like you know, being from the soil, bro and what
Speaker 4: we come from, who we come from?
Speaker 3: Yeah, you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 4: And to be able to have this conversation so many
Speaker 4: years later and this conversation still matter, it's big, bro.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's big.
Speaker 5: I often say, man, you know, when we're doing interviews
Speaker 5: and still hitting radio stations or just you know, talking
Speaker 5: doing blog blogs, podcast things of that nature, to just
Speaker 5: have it, you know, it's it's you look, you look
Speaker 5: up twenty years later, fifteen years later, eighteen years and
Speaker 5: you're like, man, all right, my na ain't still in
Speaker 5: the conversation. He's still in He's still in the conversation,
Speaker 5: you know, top ten, top whatever, you know. I think
Speaker 5: that that's I think that's the greatest gift, you know,
Speaker 5: the gift of longevity, you know, and mastering that. And
Speaker 5: sometimes we could get so convoluted and focus on other
Speaker 5: things as artists, or feel the pressure of social media
Speaker 5: and keeping you know, or or looking at what the
Speaker 5: next person is doing that. You know, we sometimes we
Speaker 5: don't celebrate even our smallest wins, you know what I mean,
Speaker 5: or what somebody else might measure something that's not such
Speaker 5: a big win for me. Around here, we celebrate all
Speaker 5: the wins, you know what I mean. Here I am
Speaker 5: r B Money Podcast.
Speaker 4: I also think, bro, like you've like even in you saying, like,
Speaker 4: you know, keeping those blinders on and focusing on what
Speaker 4: you do. You've been doing what you do consistently, and
Speaker 4: everything you've added to that, every ancillary piece that you've
Speaker 4: added to that, from foundations, your philanthropy, all that is
Speaker 4: on brand with who you are, and it's not just artistry.
Speaker 4: It's you the human being that has transcended time, which
Speaker 4: is man. That's that's harder to do, you know what
Speaker 4: I'm saying. It's easy to focus on one thing. I'm
Speaker 4: just gonna try to nail these records. But now you're
Speaker 4: existing in so many other spaces, and all of it
Speaker 4: feeds each other, you know, And that's that's the congratulations
Speaker 4: to you, brocase you you you do all of it,
Speaker 4: and you.
Speaker 3: Do it well.
Speaker 4: Thank you, Thank you, my brother. Give me the I wanted.
Speaker 4: I've always want to ask you this.
Speaker 3: Where does Devon come from? You know?
Speaker 5: I mean, of course you know get that from. It's
Speaker 5: the background of slavery, of course.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 5: You know, I traced my roots back to being half
Speaker 5: Camerony and the Guinea Basa and the Ticar Belanta tribes.
Speaker 3: You know, I think I think I say that again,
Speaker 3: don't Yeah, so so African Ancestry dot Com. It is
Speaker 3: some years ago.
Speaker 5: You know, I did the DNA s wid Man to
Speaker 5: figure out you know, where I'm from, you know, so
Speaker 5: so technically on West Africa. Yeah, you know, and uh,
Speaker 5: you know, shout out to all my Cameroonian family and
Speaker 5: you know, uh uh the Tea car and belong to
Speaker 5: tribes Guinea Bassa. You know which is you know, both
Speaker 5: are considered you know west, you know west the coast.
Speaker 5: One is right on the coast of West Africa and
Speaker 5: uh and I believe the other is what Cameroon is
Speaker 5: on the other side of Nigeria for not mistaken. So yeah,
Speaker 5: so that's so that's where that's you know, that's where
Speaker 5: I realized that my people come from. On my mother's
Speaker 5: and my father. On my father's side, a lot of
Speaker 5: the Divans are like you know, my dad was the
Speaker 5: youngest of uh of twelve based out of Cleveland, Ohio,
Speaker 5: you know, and then my mom's side of the family
Speaker 5: was down from like Florence, uh, Florence, the Carolinas and
Speaker 5: Florence and uh.
Speaker 3: Yeah, so I think we still kind of figured it out.
Speaker 5: I think definitely definitely the West Indies or the or
Speaker 5: the or the islands like you know, Jamaica, the Caribbean Islands, definitely,
Speaker 5: I think you know, with the where the where the
Speaker 5: Devons uh routed from a lot of people think that
Speaker 5: William Devn is my dad and we haven't when when
Speaker 5: in actuality, we haven't been able to figure out any
Speaker 5: relation to the William So William.
Speaker 3: Devon, Uh, what's what's uh dominant in the back?
Speaker 5: Yeah, yeah, William Devon, Like what's the name of the group. Yeah,
Speaker 5: he was in a group as well as Yeah, yeah, yeah,
Speaker 5: I think he from now from what I told you,
Speaker 5: I think he lives in the d V Like he's
Speaker 5: in Virginia or in that area.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 5: So, but a lot of people have thought throughout my
Speaker 5: career like that was my dad. My dad is actually
Speaker 5: was a you know, child prodigy cellist who was heavily
Speaker 5: known in the in the classical.
Speaker 3: Yeah, classical world.
Speaker 5: Yeah, he's you know, husic string of ranger, composer, like
Speaker 5: crazy with that's why you're so music. The artist he's
Speaker 5: known as. He has a lot of students that will
Speaker 5: you know, reach out and you know, I'll be somewhere
Speaker 5: and they pop up like, yeah, I'm such and such.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I played the cello.
Speaker 5: I play with you know this, yeah this orchestra, and
Speaker 5: your dad taught me, you know, how to play. So yeah,
Speaker 5: so yeah man, you know.
Speaker 4: So, so listen, since we're going there, since we're going
Speaker 4: to the beginning of the origin the bloodline, you know,
Speaker 4: how early did this start for you, Where did you
Speaker 4: just come out the wound?
Speaker 3: I'll be honest with you.
Speaker 5: So, so growing up, you know, Dad wasn't in my
Speaker 5: in my household, but he was in my life, you
Speaker 5: know what I mean. So you know, I do I
Speaker 5: technically come from what would be a single parent household,
Speaker 5: my mom, you know, between my mom and my grandmother
Speaker 5: who raised me.
Speaker 3: You know.
Speaker 5: But I would spend summers with my dad, like going,
Speaker 5: so I'd be back and forth from like DC to Jersey,
Speaker 5: whether that was East Orange or Newark, New Jersey, Backe
Speaker 5: Terrist projects, the colonnades just all kind of like landmarks, yeah, places,
Speaker 5: you know. So, so I spent with my dad, you know,
Speaker 5: going to gigs, wake up, I wake up to him
Speaker 5: hearing him practice the cello, you know, that whole the type.
Speaker 3: Of vibe he was.
Speaker 5: You know, I didn't know I was doing music. If
Speaker 5: I know what I know now, I would have learned
Speaker 5: every instrument I had. I had, but I was very like, no,
Speaker 5: I don't want to, you know, I just want to
Speaker 5: go outside play, you know what I mean. You know, so,
Speaker 5: so even me being a father now, you know, with
Speaker 5: my boys, you know, different periods of their life you know,
Speaker 5: things they may pick up they want to do. I
Speaker 5: learned to just let them figure out what your child
Speaker 5: likes to do and what they like to gravitate to,
Speaker 5: and you support.
Speaker 3: It, you know.
Speaker 5: Absolutely, you know, you know, fast forwarding to like when
Speaker 5: I became this, when I became this just this figure
Speaker 5: rahiem Devone, like you know is you know, up until
Speaker 5: the time he passed, like it was great to be
Speaker 5: able to have conversations with him at least to be
Speaker 5: you know, definitely have that support system for both parents,
Speaker 5: but to have somebody that you can talk about, like
Speaker 5: have conversations about publishing because of it, you know what
Speaker 5: I mean, Like, you know, for him to be able
Speaker 5: to come to a show and be like, yeah, you.
Speaker 3: Know, yeah you might need to get a new bass
Speaker 3: player you.
Speaker 5: Just relate to, you know, or or or I could
Speaker 5: event and have a conversation.
Speaker 3: You know.
Speaker 5: So it wasn't until later on in my career, you know,
Speaker 5: discovering and figure out what it was, what it is
Speaker 5: that I wanted to do that I that that I
Speaker 5: realized the importance of the support that I had there,
Speaker 5: you know, from you know, from musician fellow musicians to
Speaker 5: musician and and even like now I'm finding out because
Speaker 5: for me it was just like Dad, it was very humble,
Speaker 5: you know, for for you know, he for a long
Speaker 5: period of time he retired. You know, I feel comfortable
Speaker 5: talking about it now, but uh, you know my dad,
Speaker 5: My dad dealt with mental health most of his adult life,
Speaker 5: you know, schizophrenia, which is something that that that you know,
Speaker 5: the family, you know, we.
Speaker 3: Were highly supportive of.
Speaker 5: You had to get even now like even you know
Speaker 5: now with the with the conversations of mental health and
Speaker 5: how important it is like.
Speaker 3: Now, you know, back.
Speaker 5: Then even a decade ago, you know what I mean, Like,
Speaker 5: you know, so.
Speaker 1: Was that ultimately why you decided to get into that space?
Speaker 3: Oh? Absolutely, I mean absolutely.
Speaker 5: You know it could be because that was something that
Speaker 5: that that I was carrying safe from like man from
Speaker 5: like high school, twelfth grade on.
Speaker 3: You know when when I first started to notice.
Speaker 5: That that there was yeah, that there was something there,
Speaker 5: you know, trying to kind of figure it out. But
Speaker 5: it wasn't until later on in my adult life where
Speaker 5: where where it were like you know, you know, like
Speaker 5: my sister, my cousins, my aunt like really broke down
Speaker 5: to me, like what was going on? Where I was
Speaker 5: able to connect the dots and say, oh, okay, ten
Speaker 5: years ago, that's why this was happening, you know, you
Speaker 5: know what I mean. So so yeah, it's definitely one
Speaker 5: of the reasons why mental health is a is a
Speaker 5: is AH initiative for me with the Foundation. Uh, you know,
Speaker 5: it's an old saying, you know, never call anybody crazy
Speaker 5: because you don't know what they've been through that, you know,
Speaker 5: you know what I mean, So you know it definitely
Speaker 5: I'm definitely been one of those people. Do not turn
Speaker 5: a blind eye to, you know, the person that you
Speaker 5: might see just just having a conversation with themselves or
Speaker 5: you know, like like like like altered reality, you know
Speaker 5: what I mean. Like, you know, mental health is like
Speaker 5: a really it's a It's a real thing, whether whether
Speaker 5: you're talking about from a space of uh, depression, anxiety, bipolar,
Speaker 5: you know, whatever the case. You know, schizophrenia, you know
Speaker 5: what I mean. I think that that's something in it.
Speaker 5: And recently being at the White House right on a
Speaker 5: panel for it, one of the things we just kind
Speaker 5: of do. We were just chopping it up. It's like,
Speaker 5: you know, for us in the black community, the we're
Speaker 5: often taught or that's something that where they did where
Speaker 5: they feel like, oh, we just we'll just pray it
Speaker 5: off for you, you know what I mean, like it
Speaker 5: you know, in some cases it may be something requires
Speaker 5: uh you know, therapy, medication daily, you know.
Speaker 3: What I mean, to just get a grip on it.
Speaker 3: And yeah, so.
Speaker 5: I think it's one of the things or the taboos
Speaker 5: that a lot of times that we, you know, in
Speaker 5: the passive, turn a blind eye to, especially in our community. Yeah,
Speaker 5: and you know it's I'm glad that the conversations are
Speaker 5: happening and I could be part of them.
Speaker 3: Absolutely well.
Speaker 1: We commend you on that for sure.
Speaker 4: And being able to have that conversation with pops like
Speaker 4: that musical man like my father, Like I love my father,
Speaker 4: but he's a know nothing about music. He's all air force, right,
Speaker 4: So he walks up to me one day. But now
Speaker 4: we talk more as a kid growing up yeah yeah, yeah,
Speaker 4: we had no conversations. Yeah, he's like, I'm grown as man,
Speaker 4: your last kid. Yeah, you know what I'm saying, don't
Speaker 4: really have much time.
Speaker 5: Now.
Speaker 4: But once I assume responsibility of myself and he saw
Speaker 4: me as a man, like our communication just went through
Speaker 4: the roof. And he came to me one they said, so,
Speaker 4: uh so, how you publishers doing. They're doing alright, how
Speaker 4: they making it through? I just say, you know what, yes,
Speaker 4: that my publishers of It's.
Speaker 1: Kind of like he might have heard pipeline.
Speaker 5: He thought publishers was some person for some people in
Speaker 5: a room that was doing some cool ship.
Speaker 3: I want to know how they was, And I was
Speaker 3: like that they good the real So when did you
Speaker 3: actually start singing? When did you? When did that?
Speaker 5: I was told I always had a voice, like even
Speaker 5: even young, Like there there are moments I remember, like
Speaker 5: first grade cave elementary music teacher can't remember the name
Speaker 5: and they're saying like me going up the scale and
Speaker 5: her saying like you're going to do something amazing one day,
Speaker 5: and like, okay, didn't really you know know that, you know,
Speaker 5: I mean I didn't really until you know, I graduated
Speaker 5: from high Point.
Speaker 3: You know you guys, reaated from County. He had a
Speaker 3: good had a good game.
Speaker 5: Yeah, yeah, a seventy six years.
Speaker 2: That's like what I've been telling my son about my
Speaker 2: dunk contest when I don't believe it.
Speaker 4: That was on I was on TV at the house.
Speaker 4: You know, we be on TV. I was on TV.
Speaker 5: I was a distance runner. I did track of field.
Speaker 5: This is runner cross country. It was pretty good at it.
Speaker 1: You really are Africa, I'm about to say, yeah, I
Speaker 1: really am. Rather Yeah, they didn't know. He's just that's
Speaker 1: just broth from down the block.
Speaker 3: Now.
Speaker 5: So I've always understood the concept of the marathon and
Speaker 5: therrehip put it together. Never it's never been about a
Speaker 5: sprint for me, you know what I mean. So even
Speaker 5: even in that space, I acquired an athletic scholarship with
Speaker 5: copp and State, got red shirted for S A T. S.
Speaker 5: And never really and literally the first day on campus,
Speaker 5: ran into some guys singing, and we decided we're going
Speaker 5: to be a group. And we were skipping class. You're
Speaker 5: doing all the things. Besides, you know, we enjoyed the
Speaker 5: college experience, being away from home figuring it out. You know,
Speaker 5: the original plan was to go in to to uh,
Speaker 5: you know, criminal justice or law enforcement, and and you know,
Speaker 5: and and and do my do my four years or
Speaker 5: and and and and you know what they say, you
Speaker 5: want to make your own you want to make God laugh,
Speaker 5: make your own plans, right, And I didn't last three semesters.
Speaker 3: I dropped out. You know. Of course my mother was like,
Speaker 3: what are you doing? You can't come back here?
Speaker 4: You you lasted almost one Yeah.
Speaker 5: Yeah that dad kind of got it, but I think
Speaker 5: he really wanted me to finish as well. And then
Speaker 5: from there, man, I just kind of just like started
Speaker 5: figuring it out.
Speaker 3: Uh.
Speaker 5: You know infiltrated uh Chucky Thompson's camp at the time.
Speaker 5: This is at the time this Chucky has Chuck life.
Speaker 5: He's back in d C. He has artists like Frankie
Speaker 5: and the Power Three, my Man Daoud and Constant and
Speaker 5: those guys. Uh.
Speaker 4: Uh.
Speaker 3: Guru is at the time Young Guru is going to
Speaker 3: Howard and.
Speaker 5: Working with and like DJ for like Tracy Lee and
Speaker 5: working with Non Chamant.
Speaker 1: At this time.
Speaker 5: And I'm like, I'm like connecting the dots from like
Speaker 5: reading the album credits and like I'm just trying to
Speaker 5: get trying to figure out how much.
Speaker 1: You don't know any of them.
Speaker 5: I don't know any of them personal and Andre by
Speaker 5: pure chance, I'm hanging out on on on on Hues campus.
Speaker 5: I'm in the Howard area and and it used to
Speaker 5: be the spot to just like I go hang out
Speaker 5: with I didn't go to school there.
Speaker 3: I'm just like kind of hanging out.
Speaker 1: Are you still at Compen State? Are you gone?
Speaker 5: At this point, I'm gone back home and we and
Speaker 5: so so you know, I'm doing like odd jobs here
Speaker 5: and there and things like that. You give us one job,
Speaker 5: oh man, I could get Look, I've been working since
Speaker 5: I was fifteen sixteen because when I came back from
Speaker 5: there was a period where I lived.
Speaker 3: With my dad, like.
Speaker 5: Like, hey, you got to go live with your dad,
Speaker 5: like it's just you know, and I got into some
Speaker 5: heavy trouble in Jersey, which in.
Speaker 3: Landing me back in with my mom.
Speaker 5: So we're talking like ninth grade, tenth grade, you know, transitioning,
Speaker 5: summer school, that type of thing. So so I got
Speaker 5: a job when I came back to Maryland. So I
Speaker 5: so I worked from My first job was Giant Food.
Speaker 3: Yeah, so Giant So that's like a grocery store, grocery store,
Speaker 3: partial pick up, you know what I mean. Then you know,
Speaker 3: you learn the register.
Speaker 5: But as far as jobs, man, Giant Food, Chevy, Chase Bank, telemarketing,
Speaker 5: long Fence, I hated that job, like long Fence literally,
Speaker 5: so you literally get dropped off like they would they
Speaker 5: would basically put jump in the van, you go to
Speaker 5: the office, they say, okay, we're gonna take you in
Speaker 5: this neighborhood and just basically you go knock on strangers doors,
Speaker 5: You're getting chased by dogs.
Speaker 3: You get your people. Who is it are you selling?
Speaker 3: You're trying to sell. You're trying to sell people fences, doors, windows.
Speaker 1: So people can't knock on your doors. Yeah, so y'all
Speaker 1: don't want me coming back knocking on the door. Let me.
Speaker 3: Listen. I wouldn't be here if you have for action.
Speaker 3: That was a great job. You from the house.
Speaker 5: So that's definitely, that is great. It's gonna be some cougars.
Speaker 5: We're gonna be fly. My last job probably was my dopest,
Speaker 5: was Tower Records, The last job I had before I
Speaker 5: went full time musician.
Speaker 3: I would I could. I couldn't say I.
Speaker 5: Would have wrote the script any better than that because
Speaker 5: I learned a lot about music. The consumers who buys,
Speaker 5: you know, how they buy. I learned a lot about music.
Speaker 5: I was just around music the entire time, you know,
Speaker 5: so that was cool.
Speaker 3: You know. I went from the register to LP Lost Prevention.
Speaker 1: Just catching niggas stilling. Did you chase anybody.
Speaker 3: I'll tell you this, man, we got to get the
Speaker 3: table the people. It be the people you think that
Speaker 3: you think are the thieves or not.
Speaker 5: That Like my first, my first, my first, my first,
Speaker 5: uh person I grabbed and like chased down was a
Speaker 5: he was a professor at like g W what Yeah,
Speaker 5: he was like he was he was he was still
Speaker 5: in some gay porn. I guess he didn't feel comfortable
Speaker 5: going to the playing porns.
Speaker 3: So he was coming. So his thing was he was
Speaker 3: coming and he was coming there.
Speaker 6: With with with a newspaper right under on and he
Speaker 6: and he windows shop and when he you know, we're
Speaker 6: talking DVDs right.
Speaker 5: And he would just put the DVD in between the
Speaker 5: NewSpace stuff and just walk out.
Speaker 3: So my first day, I'm like, oh, go on, got what?
Speaker 3: Oh man? That was exciting man, like that job was
Speaker 3: like you have to like chase that. I didn't realize
Speaker 3: the days. Yeah, he tried to run. I had to
Speaker 3: chase him like.
Speaker 5: On them, I'm on coming back, come on, please please
Speaker 5: don't please.
Speaker 1: Don't nespaper opens so.
Speaker 5: So so a boy so so Tower Tower had a
Speaker 5: policy that like if it was over fifty dollars that
Speaker 5: you call those people. You gotta go. Yeah, you go,
Speaker 5: they come pick you up. You know, you go through
Speaker 5: the whole process, right, you're going to four A D,
Speaker 5: three D whatever. So it just so happened that where
Speaker 5: he where he had taken and when they did the
Speaker 5: tax on it, it came up to little like forty
Speaker 5: No way, you had.
Speaker 3: To let him go. So we had to let yeah.
Speaker 5: So so so you do a paperwork, you take a picture,
Speaker 5: they put the now your you.
Speaker 1: Can't come around here, no more. You can't come around here.
Speaker 5: No more. Professors can't come Yeah, you can't come around here,
Speaker 5: no more professor.
Speaker 3: And wow.
Speaker 5: So that was but yeah, that was my last job,
Speaker 5: me and Tower Records, you know, you know. In between
Speaker 5: that again, just like moving around, I would hang out
Speaker 5: with these with these girls that went the Howard and
Speaker 5: they put me on it.
Speaker 3: It's like it's like ninety five.
Speaker 5: And the reason I remember, you know music time timeline
Speaker 5: wise Badu had by Dude's album had dropped, and this
Speaker 5: was that was like the bible for like they playing
Speaker 5: they playing space, they got the wig burning.
Speaker 3: It's just the vibe.
Speaker 5: So we would just go there to just kind of
Speaker 5: like hang out and those group of those group.
Speaker 3: Of individuals who I'm still with ends with some to this.
Speaker 5: Day, Remy and you know I met, I met artists
Speaker 5: like West Felton, who we now are you know we
Speaker 5: we We've put out various projects together under the group
Speaker 5: named Crossroads Bar None Open Mics was happening around at times,
Speaker 5: so U Street, you know, so I'd be I'd go
Speaker 5: there work on my craft. In fact, I think that's
Speaker 5: how we kind of got cool. I go by the
Speaker 5: house and one of they ended those those those those
Speaker 5: sisters from the house, they ended up like interning for
Speaker 5: Chucky CHUCKI Thompson. So then that became so like one
Speaker 5: day I just somebody just like randomly, I can't remember who,
Speaker 5: like yo, come over. Chucky had the studio on uh
Speaker 5: in Southeast on Pennsylvania Avenue, right down in the Eastern
Speaker 5: Market area, and I just kind of just would just
Speaker 5: like go and then like I never left. I'd go,
Speaker 5: I'd sleep on I sleep on the couch, you know, man,
Speaker 5: you know there there and at some point, you know,
Speaker 5: if you know.
Speaker 3: Chuck, you was like, hey, what what what what you do?
Speaker 4: Mo?
Speaker 5: So so I was, you know, my thing was songwriting,
Speaker 5: and uh he had a few groups that I started
Speaker 5: to write for, you know, took a couple of trips.
Speaker 5: First time I ever met Mary, her mother, you know,
Speaker 5: sitting in on Faith ev you know Faith Faith Eving sessions.
Speaker 5: Chucky was like the he was he was he was
Speaker 5: just to me, it was like he was he was
Speaker 5: the R and B like he was, he was the guy.
Speaker 5: He was like the producer God like you know what
Speaker 5: I mean. It's like so it's like this is the guy,
Speaker 5: Like he's right here in the city, and and and
Speaker 5: and and now I got that connection. I can sit
Speaker 5: here and just like learn, like like leave and I
Speaker 5: ain't leaving. I'm gonna be right here, sleep something, and
Speaker 5: I'm gonna get Yeah, I'm gonna be like you you
Speaker 5: know what I mean. So yeah, man, that that that
Speaker 5: became like my I think between those things, you know,
Speaker 5: doing doing bar none Monday nights became like the Bible
Speaker 5: for me. Doing one Wednesday open mics in Baltimore and
Speaker 5: then Black Lilies and Philly. So I would just rotate
Speaker 5: and hit that circuit. So after a while people thought
Speaker 5: I was from Baltimore because I was in Baltimore at
Speaker 5: least like once a week. I was in Philly at
Speaker 5: least once a month, you know, a few times a month.
Speaker 5: And it was my ties to bar None on Monday
Speaker 5: night producer underground producer by the name of cav Brown
Speaker 5: who approached me with the indie artist Si Young and.
Speaker 3: Said, hey, you know who DJ Jazzy Jeff is.
Speaker 5: I'm like yeah again because I'm reading the credits and
Speaker 5: they're like, well, yeah, we've been working on an album
Speaker 5: with him up in Philly and we just want to
Speaker 5: take you to me and we think he would really like,
Speaker 5: like really.
Speaker 3: Like to get to know you.
Speaker 5: So they take me up and I go up and
Speaker 5: I meet Jeff and it's like jackpot because this is
Speaker 5: a this is at the time when like the whole
Speaker 5: touch of jazz movement has already been moving though, Like
Speaker 5: this is like Jill's already out platinum selling artists. I
Speaker 5: want to say, like yeah, like I think music is
Speaker 5: out there, he is already out at this point of course,
Speaker 5: by do me being a huge roots fan, this is it.
Speaker 5: And I had never been in an environment where you
Speaker 5: go into a building and it's like seven, eight, ten
Speaker 5: studios going at the same time you can go the
Speaker 5: first first time I ever I ever met Eric Roberson
Speaker 5: was was was in this advice. You got, you got,
Speaker 5: you got, you got, you got carving, and I even
Speaker 5: in one room you got the dall and dre. In
Speaker 5: another room, you got oh my god. Like this was
Speaker 5: like this was like R and B neo soul, hip
Speaker 5: hop heaven.
Speaker 3: And I didn't.
Speaker 1: Leave one deal once again.
Speaker 3: Let me go ahead.
Speaker 5: You know, I got me a tooth fresh. I got
Speaker 5: me some wet whites, you know what I mean. Like,
Speaker 5: but I'm you know, saying close, I'm ten toes down,
Speaker 5: I'm you know, back and forth.
Speaker 3: You know. At this time, I have an indie group
Speaker 3: that I'm part of called Urban.
Speaker 5: After thirty one. We're doing college. We're doing a college circuit.
Speaker 5: So I'm making enough money to you know, to to
Speaker 5: to perform as an independent artist. But I never had
Speaker 5: that desire to stop pursuing to be a soul and
Speaker 5: R and B artist, you know. And I always kind
Speaker 5: of just like straddled the line like I was. I
Speaker 5: felt like I was just as much as an R
Speaker 5: and B singer as a.
Speaker 3: Soul artist, you know what I mean.
Speaker 5: I just had this appreciation for different genres of music,
Speaker 5: and being with Jeff just just intensified it because you know,
Speaker 5: touring and going going overseas, eventually meeting Kenny Dope and
Speaker 5: Louis Vega, who were like incredible DJ's matches at work,
Speaker 5: DJ Terry Hunter, who actually produced you.
Speaker 3: It just that period of my life it was. I'm
Speaker 3: so thankful for it.
Speaker 5: As a as a as a songwriter and as a musician,
Speaker 5: as an entertainer because I got a chance to see
Speaker 5: the world. I would me and Me and Me and
Speaker 5: Va Skills Mass Skills hosted Jeff's like parties like.
Speaker 3: He would, he would, he would.
Speaker 5: I remember I remember him taking us to Spain the
Speaker 5: first time were in Spain.
Speaker 3: We're on the beach.
Speaker 5: It's like m t V taping and he's DJing and
Speaker 5: like me and Skills are like the the I guess
Speaker 5: you could say that the MCS ceremonies for the You know,
Speaker 5: there be things I kind of like follow with and
Speaker 5: I'd be like, in all honesty, like you know, I
Speaker 5: always had a I think, a natural thing for the stage,
Speaker 5: but I was like following Skills, leading a lot of
Speaker 5: spaces and Jeff would give me a moment. You know,
Speaker 5: y'all was learning while in the process. You know what
Speaker 5: I mean and yeah, man, I like just thankful for
Speaker 5: those those those connections, so many, so many great relationships
Speaker 5: like brotherhoods, sisterhoods, and music has come from those connections,
Speaker 5: you know, when I when I when I, you know,
Speaker 5: back from like Lincoln with Chucky, back from you know,
Speaker 5: Lincoln with Jazzy Jeff, you know, those are definitely like
Speaker 5: my ogs, you know, me and Kenny, Kenny Dope was
Speaker 5: like a big brother to me, you know what I mean,
Speaker 5: I wouldn't know Ken if it wasn't for Jeff.
Speaker 3: You know.
Speaker 1: Legends, yeah, man, and they just legends.
Speaker 5: Man. It's just like you know, so, so I've so
Speaker 5: I've always been able to thrive in other genres or
Speaker 5: be part of things that unconventional things, you know what
Speaker 5: I mean.
Speaker 1: So you were so was your main thing at Touch
Speaker 1: of Jazz was to be a writer for the stuff
Speaker 1: that they were working on.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it was.
Speaker 5: It was writing. It was it was writing, definitely. I
Speaker 5: was just kind of just going with the flow. It
Speaker 5: was definitely writing because like you, I wasn't signed. I
Speaker 5: was and at the time at the time I still
Speaker 5: was going back to d C because I also was
Speaker 5: being was at this point, I was being managed by
Speaker 5: by By Juke, By Jerry and cliff you know what
Speaker 5: I mean.
Speaker 3: Now I met Clifford Jerry. I met Clifford Jerry. I
Speaker 3: want to say that. I mean I met Bob and
Speaker 3: Kurk first.
Speaker 5: I'm trying to remember how we I think we maybe
Speaker 5: met at maybe like maybe like knife Flight. It could
Speaker 5: have been like Knife Flight. I'm trying to remember the
Speaker 5: whole how I actually met Kurt and Bob.
Speaker 3: But it was Curt and Bob.
Speaker 5: That like took me under date, like like oh yeah,
Speaker 5: we gotta we gotta get him to the backwoods, you
Speaker 5: know what I mean. So this is so this is
Speaker 5: like you know, this is this is like uh, this
Speaker 5: is like they got the pub deal, you know what
Speaker 5: I mean. They've been you know, working with g you know,
Speaker 5: I'm seeing so I'm like you got your motion going,
Speaker 5: you know what i mean. So I'm so I'm just
Speaker 5: kind of just like and I would just like meet
Speaker 5: Kurt like at like random places, Like Kurt would be
Speaker 5: like I was living like a law at the time,
Speaker 5: and he would be like, yo, meet me at meet
Speaker 5: me at Capitol Heights station. So I'm like taking the
Speaker 5: bus to the train. I'll get you back, but you
Speaker 5: gotta you know, testing me, see like how bad I wanted,
Speaker 5: you know what I mean. So I'd get there right
Speaker 5: and and and they were just it was just it
Speaker 5: was just cool because it was an environment where one
Speaker 5: I had to pay for studio time, I was gonna
Speaker 5: learn something. And I think they were, I think they
Speaker 5: were they were early impressed by the way I worked
Speaker 5: because of the the fact that, like I didn't write
Speaker 5: anything now, so the process is just like I would
Speaker 5: just go in and listen and then go in the
Speaker 5: booth and then just start to create this storyline or whatever,
Speaker 5: and then and and and then and then and then
Speaker 5: we knock one out and be like, hey can we
Speaker 5: do another one? And they're like yeah, yeah, Like.
Speaker 3: Hey can we do another?
Speaker 5: And it might be like you know, it may so
Speaker 5: so in some days it might be two or three
Speaker 5: you know for.
Speaker 3: Crash out and wake up, you know what I mean.
Speaker 5: And it was just it was just, you know, it
Speaker 5: was they provided a space that was just like where
Speaker 5: I could just like shed and learn and grow. And
Speaker 5: it wasn't too many times that like they would shot
Speaker 5: shoot an idea down and be like, oh that's whack.
Speaker 1: It was just you rock out.
Speaker 3: Just let me rock out. Yeah, that track wack. So
Speaker 3: you got to work on your drums. And I think
Speaker 3: it's probably you know, well you had you had.
Speaker 4: What you had done is you had been to a
Speaker 4: different kind of school already that I hadn't been to.
Speaker 4: You know, when I got with Cliff and Jerry, I
Speaker 4: was literally fresh out of chick man, I know, you
Speaker 4: know what I mean. So in terms of like, you know,
Speaker 4: my R and B production and figuring out even my
Speaker 4: identity in an R and B space.
Speaker 1: I had none can play a different sounds completely different.
Speaker 5: And I'd say this like, you know, be like that
Speaker 5: environment versus like a jazzy Jeff, It's like night and day,
Speaker 5: and you would you would back then, there was already
Speaker 5: a division that had kind of been created in black
Speaker 5: music where it was like, okay, either you R and
Speaker 5: B or you neo.
Speaker 3: And my thing was like why can't can't I'm both?
Speaker 3: Like why can't you? Why can't you be both?
Speaker 5: So you got this so so so there was always
Speaker 5: this very R and B backpack I guess you know,
Speaker 5: R and B back that was there was this there
Speaker 5: was this very I had this very R and B
Speaker 5: one side is very jiggy vibe and then there's a
Speaker 5: but then there's a there's a very conscious vibe to
Speaker 5: me too, you know what I mean, Like you might
Speaker 5: you might catch me with some stones on one day,
Speaker 5: you might see me with some diamonds on the next day,
Speaker 5: Like you know what I mean.
Speaker 3: Like if that, it's just really about the vibe.
Speaker 5: Of what you know what I'm on a creative yeah,
Speaker 5: but so so musically again, to be in those two
Speaker 5: different environments like simultaneously, like kick it, you know, be
Speaker 5: in the studio with Curtain Bob for two or three
Speaker 5: days and then and then jump on the train and
Speaker 5: then be up in Philly with Jeff in them for
Speaker 5: a week. Yeah, it's just yeah, and and and and
Speaker 5: and and and and and the thing with like with
Speaker 5: the Jeff, with the environment, with like Jeff being being
Speaker 5: as though that he's a DJ, and the peers and
Speaker 5: a lot of his peers that he put me onto
Speaker 5: our DJs.
Speaker 3: I learned. I learned.
Speaker 5: I started to learn about this different like tempos and
Speaker 5: just music beyond just the things that the DJ.
Speaker 1: It's so important in music.
Speaker 2: And I you know, it's funny because people when you
Speaker 2: talk about it it's like, oh yeah, but I still
Speaker 2: don't feel as if the DJ gets the respect that
Speaker 2: they deserve. I mean, I mean ultimately there in other
Speaker 2: spaces they get it. Yeah, but they're also they're really
Speaker 2: they're the producers because they hear so much music, and
Speaker 2: they hear so many transitions, and they know how what
Speaker 2: what matching, what sound right on the radio and what
Speaker 2: they take record.
Speaker 5: Before the politics of you know, things everything getting corporated
Speaker 5: out and including you know, radio and to rest your
Speaker 5: radio the like DJ's that you know, they set the
Speaker 5: tone for the culture, like they diy tate, you know,
Speaker 5: even if it's to bring it back, you know, you know,
Speaker 5: to bring that good feeling back right to say, hey,
Speaker 5: this is the this is the BPM that that matters
Speaker 5: right now, you know, the ones that break the records
Speaker 5: and just just all of that. You know. So just
Speaker 5: being in those two environments was just like it was dope,
Speaker 5: man and really important, you know. But I but I
Speaker 5: still didn't, you know, going and working it just wasn't enough.
Speaker 5: So so one day I cornered Cliff and Jerry. I
Speaker 5: think I cornered Jerry at like Omega Studios in Rockville, Maryland,
Speaker 5: and I'm like, you know, I'm still kind of in
Speaker 5: between odd jobs. I just know it's something more and
Speaker 5: I know that I know the data plug, you know
Speaker 5: what I mean. So so I'm like, yo, I want
Speaker 5: to I want to do music like I want you to.
Speaker 5: I want you to manage me like I want you
Speaker 5: to manage me. And he was like, I, you know,
Speaker 5: kind of I think he was came him out of
Speaker 5: conversation with or like let me think about it, whatever,
Speaker 5: and and and then I just jumped out and I
Speaker 5: was like, and if it's any opportunities to same background
Speaker 5: vir ginuine, I want to do that too, or whatever.
Speaker 3: Like I was feeling balls.
Speaker 5: And then I got the call and it was let's
Speaker 5: say it was on a Tuesday, and it was like
Speaker 5: and I think I I think I kind of been
Speaker 5: you know, I went around, I met G. I had
Speaker 5: met G know G at this point, you know, and
Speaker 5: and and and and you know and G and Jerry
Speaker 5: used the introduction as a means to say like, hey,
Speaker 5: this is this like this the kid I've been telling
Speaker 5: you about. He may be interested, you know, we may
Speaker 5: bring him on to do some work that. So then
Speaker 5: I get the call. They had a show like in Baltimore,
Speaker 5: and it was like a Tuesday was like, Yo, so
Speaker 5: there's a show tomorrow night.
Speaker 3: It's gonna be there.
Speaker 5: You're gonna this is you want to sing background, it's
Speaker 5: your opportunity. Like so, I'm like, is there a rehearsals? Like?
Speaker 3: Nah, what I need to learn? All three albums?
Speaker 5: I was already I was already a fan the music. Yeah,
Speaker 5: I knew the music. I knew the music. I'm reading again,
Speaker 5: you know, I'm looking at the who did what static?
Speaker 5: I'm like trying to figure out who you know what
Speaker 5: I mean, I'm trying to figure it all out right.
Speaker 5: So I pull up, we we we, I.
Speaker 3: Pull up to the show. You know, they got the
Speaker 3: hand dog flying. It's like.
Speaker 5: And I'm like yo, and and so so that was
Speaker 5: my ricking red with this was this was this was
Speaker 5: this was my this was my audition.
Speaker 3: Our whole Lives concert.
Speaker 5: Yeah it is and and and and uh and then
Speaker 5: you know, after we were done. I remember coming in
Speaker 5: and she was like he was like he was nervous,
Speaker 5: he was scared.
Speaker 3: He was he was like, Noah, you did you did good.
Speaker 5: He was like man, he was like he's all right, man,
Speaker 5: you win or whatever and then and then you know,
Speaker 5: and that and that was my in my introduction to
Speaker 5: the music business singing background from GST Listen.
Speaker 1: Podcast.
Speaker 5: And and I already know the history, so I already
Speaker 5: know you know, like you know, you had already went
Speaker 5: through the machine of that, you know what I mean.
Speaker 5: So I'm like, oh, man, I want that, I said,
Speaker 5: so so on my mom, I'm like, yo, if he
Speaker 5: could do it, I could do it too, Like you
Speaker 5: know what I'm saying, you know, you know, you know
Speaker 5: what I mean, And and and and and man, man,
Speaker 5: I learned a lot. I had a lot of fun.
Speaker 5: And this is and this say, this is g like
Speaker 5: in this prime. This is like before we go on
Speaker 5: tour with like Jaded Jackson and Seek and just like
Speaker 5: all all the things, you know what I mean. Yeah, man,
Speaker 5: that experience man, and I and you know, and to
Speaker 5: go on the record and say that like he is
Speaker 5: one of the greatest entertainers man. That like if you're
Speaker 5: talking about Roses in terms of stage performance and being
Speaker 5: on and just like you know, like I had a
Speaker 5: front row seat and and and definitely I think I
Speaker 5: think a combination of that.
Speaker 3: Of course, our ties at home and as it relates to.
Speaker 5: The go go community and just and knowing the energy
Speaker 5: of the room when go gos happened, and and and
Speaker 5: how how how the bar is set for the entertainment aspect,
Speaker 5: the exchange of energy that like you know, from artists
Speaker 5: to music lever and back and forth. Like I've been
Speaker 5: able to pull from pull from that, and and and
Speaker 5: and and and put it into what I do, you know,
Speaker 5: like you know, the artistry of being on stage and performing.
Speaker 1: How long were you on the road with you, man?
Speaker 5: I think we I think what he did, I did.
Speaker 5: I was on the road with g at least for
Speaker 5: like I want to say, maybe two years, like you know,
Speaker 5: off and on, you know, talking about touring, spot date stuff.
Speaker 5: And then I remember doing a tour and there was
Speaker 5: a there was there was another young brother.
Speaker 3: That came in to do background singing.
Speaker 5: And he came in and he was the new guy,
Speaker 5: so he was like the rookie, and I remember kind
Speaker 5: of taking him in under the wing and he yeah,
Speaker 5: he kind of like falling my you know, kind of
Speaker 5: fall on my hands, you know what I mean. And
Speaker 5: and and then I remember seeing like the process of
Speaker 5: where you can be out there and that shit can
Speaker 5: change you too, you know what I mean? And and
Speaker 5: and I and I also and I also I also
Speaker 5: quickly learned that, like, you know, being in a position
Speaker 5: like that, you're gonna have people that like really depend
Speaker 5: on you, right, And I had to make a decision
Speaker 5: to say whether or not, you know, do I want
Speaker 5: to be Is this something that I want to do permanently?
Speaker 5: Is it something that I want to do for three years?
Speaker 5: Is this something that I want to like like not
Speaker 5: do and pursue like figure figure figure out my thing?
Speaker 5: And I just remember being on that that particular tour
Speaker 5: and just having an epiphany that like, like, yo, this
Speaker 5: is gonna be my last you know, this is gonna
Speaker 5: be my last tour, like like I wanted, like it's
Speaker 5: trying to you know, they had to push him out.
Speaker 3: You're better than me, I had and look and I
Speaker 3: and I and I and I and I and I
Speaker 3: and then it.
Speaker 5: Was some stuff that happened, you know what I'm saying, Well,
Speaker 5: it it's like yo, like, yeah, I ain't trying to
Speaker 5: do this no more not And it wasn't for it
Speaker 5: wasn't because of g you know what I'm saying. It
Speaker 5: was just like, yeah, this ain't this ain't I want
Speaker 5: to be I want to see what the other side
Speaker 5: of this feel like too, you know what I mean.
Speaker 5: And that ain't no disrespect to nobody that stays because
Speaker 5: you know, just jumping off of this tour with Lettocy, right,
Speaker 5: you realize and I'm sure you can relate to this
Speaker 5: that whether whether it's the band or the Light Man
Speaker 5: or the m D or like, like, man, we can't
Speaker 5: do this ship without ourselves. I mean, we can't do
Speaker 5: this shit without other people.
Speaker 3: Being being involved. You know what I mean. It's no
Speaker 3: it's no I in the world tea.
Speaker 5: Yeah, so so so to have you know, you know,
Speaker 5: there's some there's people in my circle that I look
Speaker 5: up that's like, you know, been around a decade longer whatever.
Speaker 5: They see me go through management, they see me work,
Speaker 5: go through these different business.
Speaker 3: Transitions, and they're still here.
Speaker 5: And I'm like, I'm like, man, it's crazy to see
Speaker 5: you dedicate your life to me in this way.
Speaker 3: Mm hm, you you know what I mean, Like that that.
Speaker 5: Level, that level of commitment, you know what I mean.
Speaker 5: And and again, so I think you know, the time,
Speaker 5: for the period of time that I was out there
Speaker 5: with g it served its purpose, Like I look, you know,
Speaker 5: I'm so thankful for it to that ship. It ain't
Speaker 5: I can hear, I could be in the I can
Speaker 5: be in a I can be anywhere, and A and
Speaker 5: a dude and a G record to come on. It's
Speaker 5: like it's like it's like being shell shocked, man. But
Speaker 5: but like some of the best times of my life
Speaker 5: on the road total rock star R and B rock
Speaker 5: star moments. Man, like this before, the before, the the
Speaker 5: you know, the I G before and the social media
Speaker 5: and the phones and just like all of that, man,
Speaker 5: like just you know, just memories man.
Speaker 3: You know valuable though, yeah yeah, yeah yeah, because that
Speaker 3: was a that was a that was a.
Speaker 4: Real school genuine wasn't a guy that that hoarded the
Speaker 4: information or even the spotlight for that matter.
Speaker 3: He was like he genuine was like, let's get it.
Speaker 4: That's giddy. Yeah, it's giddy. You get some of this.
Speaker 5: My first video he pulled up, Yeah, did a cameo
Speaker 5: in the video. I feel like we needed we needed,
Speaker 5: we needed a vehicle for I think another another video.
Speaker 3: He gave us a car to youse Like he just.
Speaker 5: Always been solid man, you know, and and you know,
Speaker 5: I definitely you know again you want you can't you know,
Speaker 5: I don't know.
Speaker 3: I'll say it. You can't.
Speaker 5: You can't talk Usher Chris Brown. We can go down
Speaker 5: the list and not talk about g.
Speaker 3: Chimberlake.
Speaker 4: They finally got in the same room in Atlanta and
Speaker 4: seeing Genuine and Chris Brown in the same moment at
Speaker 4: the same time, like like I almost got emotional because
Speaker 4: of how how close in spirit and animal them two.
Speaker 3: Guys are bro Like, yeah, you want to talk, you
Speaker 3: know you want.
Speaker 5: We're talking roses and we're talking like talent and we're
Speaker 5: talking dancing and we're talking like entertaining and diving out
Speaker 5: in the crowd and just like like we're talking. We're
Speaker 5: talking like you pull up to the hotel and they
Speaker 5: wrapped around the ready.
Speaker 3: Read it's hell left, Hell left.
Speaker 5: Like you're talking, you talking, You're talking like R and
Speaker 5: B movie the nineties, what you see or what you
Speaker 5: would think.
Speaker 3: It has to be a movie. Man, Listen, I'm doing Listen.
Speaker 5: Week between the two of us, we like we got movie.
Speaker 3: Yeah on the wine and me to the grade with it.
Speaker 5: You know what I'm saying, It's understood, don't need to
Speaker 5: be Yeah, we gotta we gotta tell tell the movie.
Speaker 3: Yeah, the saving for the for the movie.
Speaker 5: What we do because he's he's one of one, Yeah
Speaker 5: for sure.
Speaker 4: Man, So get me from because you said genuine pulled
Speaker 4: up to the first video, Get me to the first love?
Speaker 3: How do we get how do we get the deal?
Speaker 5: So so okay, So so again I'm going back and
Speaker 5: forth from I'm I'm working on what what what would
Speaker 5: be the love experience at the time, not knowing, you
Speaker 5: know what I mean. A lot of the songs that
Speaker 5: I recorded with Curtin Bob in the Backwoods made that,
Speaker 5: you know, work that that was a love experience, and
Speaker 5: and and the reject and and and the other half
Speaker 5: of us what I did in Philly, you know, like
Speaker 5: with Jeff you know what I mean.
Speaker 3: Cliff Cliff Jones goes into.
Speaker 5: Uh Job Records at the time for a totally different meaning,
Speaker 5: like to a whole nother artist. And he was meeting
Speaker 5: with Jamie Jimmy Mainis at the time and who who
Speaker 5: eventually became my A and R. They meet, he's playing records,
Speaker 5: he plays he plays a record that I that I
Speaker 5: did or demo, don't know what the record was, and
Speaker 5: and and then he plays something else and He's like, yo,
Speaker 5: go back to the other thing, like what was that?
Speaker 5: And that kind of kept happening in the meeting, and
Speaker 5: you know, I think Jimmy kind of like simultaneous like
Speaker 5: steps out, makes a call to DC, you know, hey,
Speaker 5: yours anything about this kid, Rahien? And and at this point,
Speaker 5: like I'm buzzing like the piece of man at home
Speaker 5: because because I'm already moving around like I'm moving around
Speaker 5: like I'm doing, people are already familiar with me with
Speaker 5: the open mics, like you know, I'm in this, I'm
Speaker 5: in I'm in two groups that's like socially conscious groups. Yeah,
Speaker 5: I'm in Urban at thirty one. I'm in the Crossroads
Speaker 5: with West Felton, which is a duo group. I'm hitting
Speaker 5: this open mic. I'm up in Philly with Jeff. I'm
Speaker 5: in the Backwoods with Kurt. Yeah, so so so so
Speaker 5: so they say, Yo, we want them to come up
Speaker 5: and do a showcase.
Speaker 3: So I get a call and Mayo.
Speaker 5: This is after we've hit like every label, like you know,
Speaker 5: a couple of times we thought we had to deal already.
Speaker 3: Yeah yeah, yeah, so I'm calling. So I'm so why
Speaker 3: all this is going up going on?
Speaker 5: You know, every so often I'm getting a call from
Speaker 5: like Juke or Cliff and it's like, yo, r c
Speaker 5: A want to come once you come meet with him
Speaker 5: due showcase. So we're getting up, were calling up Bob,
Speaker 5: were taking the train up, we do the showcase. And
Speaker 5: they'll be like yeah, you know, and then and then
Speaker 5: and then and if they be like right there and
Speaker 5: it don't happen. Right, So at this point we think
Speaker 5: we pretty much have exhausted all the possibilities of who
Speaker 5: can call and who wants to meet and then and
Speaker 5: then job record says they.
Speaker 3: Want me to come do the showcase.
Speaker 1: So do you second guess that?
Speaker 3: Never?
Speaker 5: Not, not at all because because this again love that
Speaker 5: like I'm on five, I'm already doing shows, our show,
Speaker 5: sixty minute joints for you. It's just another yeah, it's
Speaker 5: just another thing. So it's just like so it's an opportunity.
Speaker 5: So they so they say so they kind of like
Speaker 5: pre prap me, like, hey, this is you know, this
Speaker 5: is it. This is just just you know this, you
Speaker 5: know you you don't get no bigger than this. And
Speaker 5: the people that's in the meeting at the showcase, you're
Speaker 5: only going to do like three tunes.
Speaker 3: That's it.
Speaker 5: I end up performing for like sixty minutes where they
Speaker 5: were just like, yo, don another another, listen more they
Speaker 5: and at that point they were like, yo, we want
Speaker 5: to do a deal with you, Like we want to
Speaker 5: offer you a deal. When to offer you a record deal?
Speaker 5: When your publishing deal. I think I said something like
Speaker 5: I said something like all right, cool. All I'm saying
Speaker 5: is like, you know, if y'all make fifty, can I
Speaker 5: at least make five or something like that? Everybody can'd
Speaker 5: bust out laughing and then and then yeah, man, like
Speaker 5: it really, you know, it got real.
Speaker 3: We got real, We got real.
Speaker 5: Okay, my brother, she got over there. Man, listen, man,
Speaker 5: you know Raheem is here man, so.
Speaker 1: You know I had you know, he got the information.
Speaker 4: You don't have to get to this Piana, the Piana
Speaker 4: brother Raheem.
Speaker 5: M hm.
Speaker 4: You've been privy to a lot of great music as
Speaker 4: you are from the soil. Indeed, you've written some of
Speaker 4: your own break music. But now we want to talk
Speaker 4: about the music.
Speaker 5: That has.
Speaker 3: Inspired the divine. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Yeah, the people want to know what they want to know.
Speaker 1: What the people want to know?
Speaker 3: People want to.
Speaker 1: See people me.
Speaker 3: Yeah, top fun yeah, your top five.
Speaker 1: That's right, that's where we at. That's where we at.
Speaker 4: Fun.
Speaker 3: Come on saying your top fun.
Speaker 1: That's what the sing Yeah what else are so come on?
Speaker 5: We all to know you got to show West.
Speaker 3: Yes, R yes.
Speaker 5: Five yeah yeah, and this is your top five moment
Speaker 5: with the Less King of sold R and B rahoem
Speaker 5: divie dialog dialog dialog R.
Speaker 3: Yes, your top five R and B singers.
Speaker 5: Oh man, I'm gonna play in no particular, no particular
Speaker 5: your world.
Speaker 3: I'm gonna play.
Speaker 5: I'm gonna put a ritha Franklin on there. Yeah yeah,
Speaker 5: but you better bea Franklin on there. I'm gonna put
Speaker 5: I'm gonna put Mic on there.
Speaker 3: Why not all four voices? Mm hmmm.
Speaker 5: I'm putting Mic on there for for for for a
Speaker 5: couple of reasons. I'm gonna put a wild card and
Speaker 5: I'm gonna put Bob Olly on there.
Speaker 3: Yeah mm hmm yeah, i'mnna put the infectious vocal man.
Speaker 3: That's three right, Yeah, damn.
Speaker 5: I realized the hardest well episodes was like run it off.
Speaker 3: Once you're in the hot seat.
Speaker 1: It's different, it's different.
Speaker 3: It is different.
Speaker 5: It's different when you're in the hot seat. I mean,
Speaker 5: these are my top five. I gotta put prints on there.
Speaker 1: Yeah, mm hmmm.
Speaker 3: And I got and then I gotta put Margaret.
Speaker 4: I was waiting for that. Yeah, I was waiting for
Speaker 4: you to say Mark, and.
Speaker 5: It's and it's and you know it's personal. Yeah, reasons,
Speaker 5: you know what I mean?
Speaker 3: Yeah, Okay, your top five.
Speaker 5: My uniable mention, I mean seven, I mean I gotta
Speaker 5: do you know Stevie? Yeah, yeah, And I'm gonna stop there. Okay, okay, stop, okay.
Speaker 3: That was good. That was good.
Speaker 5: Now now now, if you're talking entertainers and just the
Speaker 5: other different your top.
Speaker 3: Five R and B songs mm hmm. I'd go with.
Speaker 5: Blame It on the Sun mm hmm by Stevie, Wonder
Speaker 5: What's going On by Marvin Gay mm hmm.
Speaker 4: Uh.
Speaker 3: I don't know if that counts R and B. I'm
Speaker 3: gonna go with Uh. I'm gonna go with.
Speaker 5: H Let's fall in Love by the Ozzie Brothers, which
Speaker 5: I just remade top top fifteen right now, top ten.
Speaker 3: Take it out the way he is, the way.
Speaker 1: He's always in the way.
Speaker 3: It's a D n B thing. You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 3: You know, what I mean. All right, So so those
Speaker 3: are what that three? That's three? What was my three?
Speaker 3: Just now?
Speaker 5: It's just like, uh, I used to smoke a lot
Speaker 5: of weeta. Uh wonder yeahs blaming on the sun.
Speaker 1: What's going on?
Speaker 3: What's going on? Going on? Marvin Gay? Uh? Brother brothers.
Speaker 3: We are the world? Wow?
Speaker 2: Yeah, Fire, You're the first person in the name we are.
Speaker 2: We are the work Yeah yeah, yeah, I mean the
Speaker 2: greatest selling all times.
Speaker 3: Big Yeah.
Speaker 5: We are the technical and the commodore zoom, the common door.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 5: And I'm so mad because I want to say, like
Speaker 5: I got like I got like Switch records.
Speaker 3: You're making him happy. I got switched right, I got
Speaker 3: I got, I got I got.
Speaker 5: Uh not that I got Spinners, I got the Spinners.
Speaker 3: What's the least single from the Spinners?
Speaker 1: We're talking about Cadillac?
Speaker 5: He was, he was, he was, He was like a finisher.
Speaker 5: I think I feel like Rob study him a lot.
Speaker 3: Uh.
Speaker 5: The lead singer from the Spinner from Yeah, from you,
Speaker 5: not from the Spinders from because the Spinners.
Speaker 3: Was Yeah, no is the Spinners. It was a mighty love.
Speaker 3: What's the lead singer on the Spinners?
Speaker 5: Man?
Speaker 3: I can't it won't come to me, right. But I saw,
Speaker 3: I saw, I saw, I saw, I saw.
Speaker 5: There was like a documentary on him and the Spender.
Speaker 5: But the finisher Man, he's the finisher of records.
Speaker 3: I mean, you know, I think, I think, I think,
Speaker 3: I think. You know those.
Speaker 4: Bobby Steel Smith, Yeah, was it Bobby maybe Bobby Smith
Speaker 4: principal lead singer, Yeah, for the Spinner, Yeah, yeah, Googles.
Speaker 4: But I think you know, we're in, We're we're in.
Speaker 5: We're in the era now it's kind of harder to
Speaker 5: termine who's who because things are like sonically a lot
Speaker 5: the same. We talked the newer R and B you
Speaker 5: know what I'm saying, the vibe, whereas like the bbs,
Speaker 5: you know what I'm saying, and and and but but
Speaker 5: but but but there was an error you know with artists.
Speaker 2: Just sounds like very distinct, you know what I'm saying,
Speaker 2: Like like there was a time where it wasn't like woman.
Speaker 3: He wasn't gonna catch Rick James sounded like Prince, you
Speaker 3: know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1: And if you call Prince sounded like Rick James, James
Speaker 1: is gonna pull.
Speaker 5: Up closer, like the closest thing you they may have
Speaker 5: in common is the heels or the you know what
Speaker 5: I'm saying.
Speaker 3: You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1: I know you stole left from nigga.
Speaker 3: Yeah, you know what I mean.
Speaker 4: So yeah, stepping on my toes.
Speaker 3: You heard stepping on my toes nigga. Yeah, Yeah, Jerald
Speaker 3: was cold. We got to get back to that Jerald.
Speaker 3: I seen Gerald rest is soul. Jerald.
Speaker 5: We was I forgot. We was like an ample theater.
Speaker 5: And Gerald used to have him teddy bears. So he
Speaker 5: get those cheddy bears out and girl went from one
Speaker 5: into the stage and.
Speaker 3: He rolled.
Speaker 5: What you mean like like like like roll like yeah,
Speaker 5: like like he was on fire, like like from one
Speaker 5: up the state and singing, singing the whole time.
Speaker 4: I will be rolling on the Army Money Tour and
Speaker 4: the big homie crazy bro to roll. Yeah, he was
Speaker 4: the one, not the two man. Let's build your Vultron,
Speaker 4: your super r and b artists. I want to know
Speaker 4: who's gonna get who You're gonna get the vocal from
Speaker 4: the performance style, the styling, the passion of the artists.
Speaker 4: And since you are a song writer, who's gonna write
Speaker 4: for this artist? We're gonna get the one vocal from
Speaker 4: to build your super R and B artist in terms
Speaker 4: of like who's building a super artist?
Speaker 3: What voice? What voice? You still in the building. I'm still.
Speaker 1: Ship man.
Speaker 5: You asked all the other people this, Yeah, who vocals?
Speaker 3: Whose voice? I'm stilling to do it? Build it, you
Speaker 3: build it, build it.
Speaker 2: Uh.
Speaker 5: Ship let's be let's live out the box. I'm gonna
Speaker 5: I'm gonna take's voice.
Speaker 3: No box. Yeah yeah, yeah, I mean like you know, yeah,
Speaker 3: that's that's that's international.
Speaker 1: You want to heal somebody.
Speaker 4: Let's do you talk about a vibe before it was
Speaker 4: even called a vibe, we.
Speaker 3: Don't even know what to call the angel. There's something.
Speaker 5: So let's do performance style on stage, performance style on stage.
Speaker 1: Let's do Prince Okay's voice Prince performance. So it's gonna play.
Speaker 4: Because listen, because Prince said, the vibe a lot of
Speaker 4: different vibes though I used to get hes gonna set
Speaker 4: the vibe.
Speaker 3: He's gonna take you on a on a He's gonna
Speaker 3: make you wanna play patty Cake.
Speaker 5: He gonna he's gonna you know what I'm saying, He's
Speaker 5: gonna make you wanna touch yourself. Yeah, he's gonna know
Speaker 5: but he's gonna also get You're gonna give you moment.
Speaker 5: He's gonna give you tear Jersey, the moments where you cry,
Speaker 5: you're gonna you're gonna you know, you're gonna connect with
Speaker 5: God up in there, you know what I mean.
Speaker 3: Uh yeah, he's gonna give you.
Speaker 5: He's gonna give you moments if do you appreciate the
Speaker 5: instrumentation and there's no vocals.
Speaker 3: You don't get your rock and roll ro like, you
Speaker 3: know what I mean?
Speaker 5: So yes, I would So I would say styling, styling.
Speaker 5: I would say, Briar Stinson, who is good my people?
Speaker 5: If you know real styling? Yeah yeah, yeah, she made
Speaker 5: this this leather piece right here.
Speaker 2: Yeah yeah.
Speaker 5: Yeah, so b I would say, you know she came
Speaker 5: up under like Tamika Foster. Yeahma as well, you know
Speaker 5: what I mean. So like, yeah, I would think, yeah,
Speaker 5: she would have her taking care of her, taken care
Speaker 5: of the stops. She's gonna have a band, she's gonna
Speaker 5: have an artist looking like yeah, you know from you
Speaker 5: name it, from us.
Speaker 3: The Lizo or whoever.
Speaker 5: Like she's killing it and she she's a black own business.
Speaker 5: So you know, shout out the bridge bre he.
Speaker 4: Look piece, the passion of the artist, heart of the artists,
Speaker 4: the passion of the artists.
Speaker 5: Does it have to be an R and B artist
Speaker 5: could be Okay, so your ship, the passion of fantage shoes,
Speaker 5: fantas shoes, kick them off, fan.
Speaker 3: Swept the hair outage.
Speaker 2: Hit every note while you're doing crazy legendary get on
Speaker 2: my nerve?
Speaker 4: Yeah, so cold? And who's writing for this artist?
Speaker 3: Leon Ware?
Speaker 5: You're gonna write this drops Mike, the sensual Minister. Yeah,
Speaker 5: rest in peace, he said.
Speaker 3: Forever forever with the sensual Minister leon Ware. I spent
Speaker 3: that I spent the old day.
Speaker 1: Will Yeah, what she got over there champ.
Speaker 3: Here?
Speaker 1: It's that time.
Speaker 3: I ain't saying no, nick, I ain't saying no. Next
Speaker 3: saying no. I ain't saying no. Was what you did? No,
Speaker 3: I ain't saying no name.
Speaker 1: I think you got to make a go go version.
Speaker 3: I sharing no name you give me.
Speaker 1: I think you gotta make a go go version of
Speaker 1: that song too.
Speaker 5: Oh yeah, yeah, we gotta take up in here.
Speaker 3: I say what I said, what now? No no name?
Speaker 3: Hold it now now, no name?
Speaker 5: Say no names out side of here?
Speaker 3: Say what now? No name? Shout the big G from
Speaker 3: B y B.
Speaker 2: The go go version man, I listen, I'm here with
Speaker 2: my brothers from the DV.
Speaker 3: But I had to requested answers to say what say
Speaker 3: what now.
Speaker 1: To start saying sexy ladies.
Speaker 3: Yes, indeed, just hold sexy ladies out there. Yes, indeed,
Speaker 3: that's the old school talking boy. You gotta do what
Speaker 3: you know. I got go go band, Go go man?
Speaker 3: How many group I gotta go? God?
Speaker 1: Even any more groups than Johnny Gills?
Speaker 5: Like Yo, got I got a go go band. We
Speaker 5: called the Crank Crusaders. We do shows when I'm off.
Speaker 5: You know when I crank Cruise Crusaders.
Speaker 3: I know you're cooking too. Bob just sent me some
Speaker 3: some joints from backyard to do too. Yeah, that's got
Speaker 3: the cook Okay, give me get so.
Speaker 2: Yeah, we're at the very important segment of the show.
Speaker 2: I ain't saying no names. Will you tell us a
Speaker 2: story funny or fucked up? Are funny and fucked up
Speaker 2: throughout your travels in this thing, man, in all your
Speaker 2: fifty seven groups that you'd have been in.
Speaker 3: I ain't saying no names.
Speaker 1: Oh he could, right, but but but I can't.
Speaker 3: But but I could have been on.
Speaker 5: I was, I was, I was I was baited to
Speaker 5: be on one of the largest reality shows to play
Speaker 5: someone's boyfriend.
Speaker 3: Okay, and.
Speaker 5: The woman that I was dating at the time that
Speaker 5: I'm not saying her name that everybody on the planet knows,
Speaker 5: was like what.
Speaker 3: You was not fit to go do that? Like, you
Speaker 3: ain't going to do that reality show?
Speaker 1: Like that ain't happening, So you thought about doing the show?
Speaker 3: Now you know what it's like.
Speaker 5: I never, I never, I never considered doing the reality show.
Speaker 5: It was it was the thought of what it gave me,
Speaker 5: what it would give me, access to visibility, you know
Speaker 5: what I'm saying. And that's always a challenge, right. And
Speaker 5: as bad as I and I am doing some this
Speaker 5: some some television and things happening films, you know, I've
Speaker 5: done a few movies and stuff like that, right, But
Speaker 5: it ain't about you know, typically when you do reality TV,
Speaker 5: it's for one of three reasons. It's one, it's for
Speaker 5: the visibility, of course, if it's something involving dating, it's
Speaker 5: because you're actually looking to to publicly date and you
Speaker 5: want to be part of that machine. Right, And it's
Speaker 5: for money, you know what I mean, right, And you know.
Speaker 3: Money.
Speaker 5: Never I've never been I never made a decision based
Speaker 5: upon like money, Like that's you know, when you make
Speaker 5: a decision based upon the bag, you might make some
Speaker 5: of the worst decisions of your life, you know what
Speaker 5: I'm saying.
Speaker 3: So just saying like you know about the money, right, And.
Speaker 5: Then you know, I've always just been, like I think
Speaker 5: because of being a parent, being you know, so I've
Speaker 5: been conscientious about just what I want to be perceived,
Speaker 5: and just like having a have a conversation, you know
Speaker 5: what I'm saying with my son, Uh, that might but
Speaker 5: you know, anything that's compromising in that space. And and
Speaker 5: then more poorly though, like you know, I know what
Speaker 5: I want to be, and in every other aspect of
Speaker 5: my career, I make control. Like I'm my own boss,
Speaker 5: you know what I'm saying, own masters, you know, you
Speaker 5: know what I mean, you know what I mean. And
Speaker 5: then and then and then I still understand the culture
Speaker 5: of like the mystique of you know, there's something that's
Speaker 5: there's an art to still there's an art to being
Speaker 5: to being accessible but not accessible that comes with you know,
Speaker 5: with what we do in social media. And it's crazy
Speaker 5: because people can just like you know, it's this concept
Speaker 5: of like oh, I follow you, I like your picture,
Speaker 5: and then somebody run up on you and be like, yo.
Speaker 3: Hey you remember me, Like hey, I'm your friend or whatever.
Speaker 3: And it's not that.
Speaker 5: It's not that that that's not the case, right, but
Speaker 5: you know, a lot of what we do and see
Speaker 5: is the perception of the reality of it.
Speaker 3: You know what I'm saying. So you know what I mean.
Speaker 3: You know, at the end of the day, we're just
Speaker 3: all human trying to exist, and but we also like
Speaker 3: being a public figure is a different thing. You know
Speaker 3: what I'm saying.
Speaker 5: You gotta you gotta think it out, you know what
Speaker 5: I'm saying. I just try to think out the worst
Speaker 5: case in best case scenario and everything. So you know
Speaker 5: what I'm saying, not knocking nobody who's done one or
Speaker 5: or you know, you got you know, do to just
Speaker 5: how we talk about using it, using you know, the
Speaker 5: DSPs to the you know smarter or wiser, you know,
Speaker 5: algorithm wise or what platform works best for us musically,
Speaker 5: you know, we have to that that applies to you know,
Speaker 5: television and the decisions that I'm gonna make that like
Speaker 5: especially if you're going like this, because you make the
Speaker 5: wrong move and then you're looking crazy. Crash they all
Speaker 5: come crashing down, you know what I mean. So shout
Speaker 5: out to her and them and all the names we never.
Speaker 3: Mentioned ye.
Speaker 4: With my brother Raheem Devon. Yeah, you know, I appreciate you, man,
Speaker 4: We appreciate you. You know, I've I've always looked at
Speaker 4: you as a brother, you know what I'm saying, As
Speaker 4: I mean as a family member more so because it's
Speaker 4: like we literally we literally walked damn near the same
Speaker 4: same walk and journey, and I think I think, you know,
Speaker 4: I think you were smarter early on in your journey
Speaker 4: than I was, Like the way you were able to
Speaker 4: utilize things and create the mixtapes and things like that.
Speaker 4: Like I commend you for that, brother, like you you
Speaker 4: really like you really like took control of that thing
Speaker 4: in a way that I had no concept about that
Speaker 4: early in the game.
Speaker 3: You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 4: But you know, we come from that terrain and we
Speaker 4: come from that place man where you know its like
Speaker 4: you said, it's like a love hate relationship, you know
Speaker 4: what I'm saying, depending on how you can view it,
Speaker 4: and as a as a brother from that place.
Speaker 3: With you, I love you brother than you I love
Speaker 3: you too, man, and and thank you for that.
Speaker 4: I want nothing but the best for you. And and
Speaker 4: at some point, you know what I'm saying, we got
Speaker 4: to figure out how to this is. This is the
Speaker 4: first step in the people seeing us together, no doubt,
Speaker 4: you know what I'm saying. And now I think the
Speaker 4: city needs to see more of that. Oh no, for sure,
Speaker 4: you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 3: And here we get in that. We get in that
Speaker 3: dojo and put something but also do some touring and yeah,
Speaker 3: man like like they deserve that. Man.
Speaker 4: And we done worked hard enough man, in between the
Speaker 4: both of us, man to put something cool together, something
Speaker 4: ship man.
Speaker 3: So you know, I think I think I get people
Speaker 3: what they want. Get people. Man, that's the gentleman.
Speaker 1: Not even take Valentine.
Speaker 3: And this is the R and B Money podcast, the
Speaker 3: authority all things R and B. And this has been him, man,
Speaker 3: This has been my brother from another mother.
Speaker 5: Man.
Speaker 3: This is one of the MP's finance of all times,
Speaker 3: rocking Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, R and B Money.
Speaker 1: R and B Money is a production of the Black
Speaker 1: Effect podcast Network. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the
Speaker 1: iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your
Speaker 1: favorite shows, don't forget to subscribe to and rate our show,
Speaker 1: and you can connect with us on social media at
Speaker 1: Jay Valentine and at the Real Tank. For the extended episode,
Speaker 1: subscribe to YouTube dot com, Forward, slash r, and b
Speaker 1: money