WEBVTT - Donnie Scantz 0:00:01.960 --> 0:00:10.360 R and B money, Honey, we are thanks take Valoti. 0:00:11.080 --> 0:00:16.080 We are the authorities on all things R and B. 0:00:18.200 --> 0:00:23.040 Ladies and gentlemen. My name is Tek Valentine. This is 0:00:23.079 --> 0:00:25.160 the Army Money podcast. The authority. 0:00:27.920 --> 0:00:33.040 It's the fucking authorities on all things R and B. 0:00:34.280 --> 0:00:40.560 There is a brotherhood in R and B. There's lineage, 0:00:41.560 --> 0:00:47.920 there's history in R and B that connects and dates 0:00:48.000 --> 0:00:51.600 back all the way to the beginning of even me. 0:00:53.280 --> 0:00:57.000 And we got a guy here to confirm a talent, 0:00:57.280 --> 0:01:03.440 a gift writer, songwriter, producer, business man. More importantly, my 0:01:03.480 --> 0:01:07.759 loved one man. Uh Papa John's Pizza brother and Domino 0:01:07.840 --> 0:01:08.440 Wings brother. 0:01:12.120 --> 0:01:15.080 What's up? So happy to be here man? 0:01:16.080 --> 0:01:22.640 We had many Papa John's pizza with the garlic butter 0:01:22.760 --> 0:01:26.800 sauce you can only imagine, and. 0:01:26.880 --> 0:01:30.960 The wings all the time. 0:01:31.240 --> 0:01:34.360 What So it's crazy because I knew, you know, we 0:01:34.400 --> 0:01:36.000 always go back to the to the beginning. 0:01:36.160 --> 0:01:37.880 We're gonna go back to your beginning, right. 0:01:38.360 --> 0:01:42.560 But when I, you know, as I became tank, Tank 0:01:42.640 --> 0:01:45.720 was always my nickname, but then I became tank back 0:01:45.920 --> 0:01:49.880 tank again whatever that means. On tour with Genuine and 0:01:50.000 --> 0:01:52.320 Leah because Genuine didn't want to call me the rev. 0:01:52.680 --> 0:01:58.480 He's like, nigga, you ain't got no nickname. I was like, yeah, 0:01:58.640 --> 0:02:00.720 but help me call me. 0:02:00.760 --> 0:02:08.600 That can't be black without you, can't be So as 0:02:08.639 --> 0:02:13.800 I become Tank, my first stop, my first real stop 0:02:14.480 --> 0:02:18.320 into developing whoever this Tank guy is going to be 0:02:19.120 --> 0:02:20.040 is Noontime. 0:02:20.200 --> 0:02:24.680 Wow, the legendary, the legendary legend Atlanta. 0:02:24.840 --> 0:02:28.720 And the first guy they pair me with is this 0:02:28.800 --> 0:02:30.680 guy right here there, it is. 0:02:32.760 --> 0:02:35.160 I believe that. And you wouldn't even believe how that 0:02:35.280 --> 0:02:39.680 pairing occurred, how okay, because it came at a time 0:02:40.960 --> 0:02:46.799 where I wasn't officially signed to Noontime at that time, right, 0:02:47.400 --> 0:02:52.240 I had basically privileged to be in the building and 0:02:52.320 --> 0:02:56.679 to create and shouts out to be Cocks, shouts out 0:02:56.760 --> 0:03:01.720 to to the Noontime family for allowing me that opportunity. 0:03:02.040 --> 0:03:07.280 One but how that opportunity came was an accident because 0:03:07.440 --> 0:03:10.120 there was nobody in the building, if you remember, but us. 0:03:10.200 --> 0:03:12.080 It was just us. It was just me and you. 0:03:14.160 --> 0:03:17.760 And that's really a fast forward into like the whole 0:03:18.080 --> 0:03:22.280 process of our creative relationship because before that, there was 0:03:22.320 --> 0:03:27.040 like a real hard grind going on. But Noontime was gone. 0:03:27.800 --> 0:03:31.639 They were going to New York to work with Aliyah Hyeah. Absolutely, 0:03:31.840 --> 0:03:33.720 so all of them, they just was like we out. 0:03:34.160 --> 0:03:37.200 Well it wasn't you know. It was a deal happening 0:03:37.240 --> 0:03:43.280 between Blackground Noontime and you know they had a relationship 0:03:43.440 --> 0:03:49.320 where all of the signed producers got an opportunity to 0:03:49.360 --> 0:03:53.680 go work with Aaliyah. Yeah, and I had to stay back. 0:03:55.560 --> 0:03:58.360 And it was such the fortunate experience for me to 0:03:58.440 --> 0:04:01.360 have to stay back because I got to meet you. Yeah, 0:04:02.240 --> 0:04:05.440 it was just us, bro, It was just a whole studio. Yeah, 0:04:05.520 --> 0:04:07.520 and it felt like it was like thirty days. I 0:04:07.560 --> 0:04:11.040 want to say we did some time, bro. It was 0:04:11.080 --> 0:04:14.680 like how many records you think we created? Time? Right? 0:04:14.800 --> 0:04:18.480 So legend has it that we created a record a day. 0:04:19.360 --> 0:04:24.360 We did something like that, And from that came many 0:04:24.440 --> 0:04:28.920 opportunities and shouts out to JQ because I watched his 0:04:29.080 --> 0:04:32.919 podcast and he mentioned one of the legendary records that 0:04:32.960 --> 0:04:34.960 we came up with. I brought it here with me today. 0:04:34.960 --> 0:04:39.360 By the way, we might have to put on the BIB. 0:04:40.600 --> 0:04:43.760 I like to bring some receipts. I like to bring 0:04:43.800 --> 0:04:47.640 some receipts. But the point is is there was a 0:04:47.680 --> 0:04:50.920 time when you know, I was really on the grind, 0:04:51.200 --> 0:04:55.200 and I really didn't have a footing for myself as 0:04:55.200 --> 0:04:57.039 a producer. I really didn't even have a footing for 0:04:57.160 --> 0:05:00.279 myself in Atlanta at the time because I wasn't from Itanta, 0:05:01.240 --> 0:05:03.120 and so getting to know a lot of the Atlanta 0:05:03.160 --> 0:05:06.919 community was like really working up, you know. And so 0:05:07.400 --> 0:05:10.520 I didn't have songwriters who worked with me regularly, So 0:05:10.560 --> 0:05:14.640 I wasn't necessarily writing songs that everybody was really interested 0:05:14.640 --> 0:05:18.240 in here, you know. So it was really a grind. 0:05:18.320 --> 0:05:24.000 But when they dropped you there, it was like, Okay, 0:05:24.080 --> 0:05:28.160 now now's the time to really show them something. Yeah, 0:05:28.240 --> 0:05:31.719 And that fast forwarded that I think into maybe this 0:05:31.920 --> 0:05:37.200 was my second trip to Atlanta, because ideal was originally 0:05:37.240 --> 0:05:39.760 the reason why I came to Atlanta in the first place. 0:05:39.839 --> 0:05:45.760 Shut yeah, yeah, yeah. My Houston brothers and my family. 0:05:45.880 --> 0:05:46.800 Let's go back to Houston. 0:05:47.160 --> 0:05:49.159 Let's start. Let's go back to Houston. Let's start and 0:05:49.360 --> 0:05:53.160 start there. How do you how do you even get started? 0:05:53.400 --> 0:05:54.960 Like how do you say? You know what I'm saying. 0:05:55.360 --> 0:05:58.640 Give me some equipment. I need to figure this shit out. 0:05:58.800 --> 0:06:04.599 Wow, all right, well here it goes. Only child, just 0:06:04.640 --> 0:06:09.080 me and my mom growing up, we went to Windsor 0:06:09.160 --> 0:06:13.080 Village Church. Yeah, as many of us, we start out 0:06:13.080 --> 0:06:17.200 in the church. I played drums, study jazz. And there 0:06:17.240 --> 0:06:18.920 was a group of friends that I had made from 0:06:19.000 --> 0:06:24.080 junior high school, right, Wayne Perry, Cedric Cotton, Maverick Cotton, 0:06:25.160 --> 0:06:30.000 Jay Green. This is from junior high school, sixth seventh grade. 0:06:30.520 --> 0:06:34.640 I was the youngest of our crew, and these guys 0:06:34.640 --> 0:06:38.680 were uber talented. I'm talking about like, this is the 0:06:38.760 --> 0:06:42.880 junior high school that Chris Dave went to. Johnston shouts 0:06:42.880 --> 0:06:45.680 out to Johnston Middle School, And this is how it 0:06:45.720 --> 0:06:48.800 all started. Because if you know anything about artist development 0:06:48.920 --> 0:06:52.280 during that time, you know it took years. Right, it 0:06:52.400 --> 0:06:56.360 still should take you, and it should absolutely right. And 0:06:57.120 --> 0:07:01.080 by the time, of course, through our music musical diasp 0:07:01.200 --> 0:07:04.160 or growing up, you know, we sang in the choirs, 0:07:04.279 --> 0:07:07.839 we played in the church bands, we were in the 0:07:07.920 --> 0:07:11.080 jazz bands at school. We were really into music theory. 0:07:11.320 --> 0:07:14.280 All of these guys played an instrument, but they also 0:07:14.520 --> 0:07:17.800 sang too. And so by the time we got to 0:07:17.880 --> 0:07:21.880 high school, Ideal gets signed to Virgin Records. I was 0:07:21.880 --> 0:07:24.960 in tenth grade when they got signed. I was also 0:07:25.040 --> 0:07:27.240 in tenth grade when Chris Dave went to play for 0:07:27.320 --> 0:07:34.040 Man Condition. Wow. So a lot of our musical influences 0:07:34.080 --> 0:07:38.040 that we had grown up around that we had admired. 0:07:38.480 --> 0:07:42.160 You know. Jason Moran was also cut from that cloth too, 0:07:42.200 --> 0:07:45.800 and he's like director of the Kennedy Center Jazz. So 0:07:46.640 --> 0:07:50.840 it's like these types of musical pedigrees was around us 0:07:51.360 --> 0:07:53.840 and this was really inspired us. Now, me being the 0:07:53.880 --> 0:07:56.800 youngest kid, nobody was really listening to me. I couldn't 0:07:56.800 --> 0:08:00.920 sing a lit. My cousin, Charles Ben was in the 0:08:00.920 --> 0:08:05.120 group at the time. Too. Ideal was a five man 0:08:05.160 --> 0:08:07.760 group before it turned into a four man group, and 0:08:07.800 --> 0:08:11.680 they went to Lamar High School, so I kind of 0:08:11.720 --> 0:08:14.720 followed them everywhere they went, right and by the time 0:08:14.760 --> 0:08:17.520 I ended up graduating, which I graduated from the High 0:08:17.520 --> 0:08:20.280 School for Performing in Visual Arts, which is the same 0:08:20.320 --> 0:08:24.080 school be Cos Beyonce, all of it. You know, that 0:08:24.120 --> 0:08:28.560 pedigree went through, but they were already signed to Virgin 0:08:28.640 --> 0:08:33.960 Records and they got put on the shelf. And so 0:08:35.640 --> 0:08:39.760 by the time we get through graduating high school, you know, 0:08:39.840 --> 0:08:42.880 these guys was running around Houston singing, you know, at 0:08:42.920 --> 0:08:45.600 all kinds of events. My mother, who was like a 0:08:45.640 --> 0:08:48.760 socialite in Houston, you know, set them up singing events 0:08:48.760 --> 0:08:52.040 for Winnie Mandela, things of that such, and then they 0:08:52.160 --> 0:08:57.600 got caught the ears of this management company called Mactown Management, 0:08:57.880 --> 0:09:02.480 Too hard to Touch. This management company happened to manage 0:09:02.679 --> 0:09:08.439 this group Htown too hard to Touch. Yeah, shout out 0:09:08.440 --> 0:09:12.240 to Bishop Barrel Stick, Pat Johnson. Those guys, Now, mind you, 0:09:12.960 --> 0:09:16.640 I didn't have any skin in the game. I'm just 0:09:16.679 --> 0:09:21.000 a kid that's rolling with my friends, hoping one day 0:09:21.040 --> 0:09:22.680 that maybe I could just be the drummer to go 0:09:22.720 --> 0:09:26.120 on tour with them. That was my dream because looking 0:09:26.160 --> 0:09:29.800 at Chris Dave and what he's doing, and I'm like, man, 0:09:29.920 --> 0:09:31.880 this is what I want to do. So are they 0:09:31.960 --> 0:09:33.680 moving with the band or at this point or no? 0:09:34.280 --> 0:09:35.079 Moving with Town. 0:09:35.160 --> 0:09:37.360 No, I'm saying as far as ideal. So, like you said, 0:09:37.400 --> 0:09:38.760 you just wanted to go on a roll, So no, 0:09:38.840 --> 0:09:40.640 you're just really kicking it. You don't even playing drums 0:09:40.640 --> 0:09:41.719 at the shows, nothing. 0:09:41.640 --> 0:09:46.640 None of that, Okay, But we wanted to create music together. 0:09:47.080 --> 0:09:48.720 You know, during that time, you know how much it 0:09:48.720 --> 0:09:53.840 costs to getting studios, So we didn't we didn't have 0:09:53.920 --> 0:09:57.520 the ability to have those types of privileges, especially growing 0:09:57.600 --> 0:10:00.679 up in Houston. It wasn't like an Atlanta scene. It 0:10:00.720 --> 0:10:05.120 wasn't like there was just the music business everywhere. So 0:10:05.280 --> 0:10:12.280 when Htown and Pat Johnson and Bishop Barrell invested their 0:10:12.320 --> 0:10:16.520 time creatively in these guys, they gave them an opportunity 0:10:16.600 --> 0:10:22.000 to write and produce their own stuff. Right. Shouts out 0:10:22.040 --> 0:10:24.560 to g I Jackson, right, because he was one of 0:10:24.559 --> 0:10:27.960 the dudes in Agetown that saw me, that saw me 0:10:28.000 --> 0:10:31.040 and would invite me over to his crib and he's like, hey, 0:10:31.040 --> 0:10:34.520 play with this ASR ten keyboard a little bit. You know, 0:10:34.800 --> 0:10:40.120 let's see what you could do. Couldn't do nothing, couldn't 0:10:40.160 --> 0:10:44.720 do nothing. But it was somebody that in that nucleus 0:10:45.520 --> 0:10:48.800 saw me in a way in which that was different 0:10:48.800 --> 0:10:51.960 from how they saw my guys. And I knew my 0:10:52.000 --> 0:10:56.200 guys were talented, like I was like waving their flag 0:10:56.360 --> 0:11:01.800 like none other. And h Town would take them on 0:11:01.960 --> 0:11:05.600 like spot dates, you know, they might have an you know, 0:11:05.640 --> 0:11:10.640 an open end. Yeah. And this was long before Noontime 0:11:10.720 --> 0:11:13.080 came into the picture, long before the records came into 0:11:13.120 --> 0:11:15.480 the pictures, long before we even took a trip to Atlanta. 0:11:15.960 --> 0:11:17.719 Right, And. 0:11:20.679 --> 0:11:25.360 That thing kind of fizzled after a while. This whole 0:11:25.400 --> 0:11:29.040 time idea was signed to Virgin of the assigned group 0:11:29.120 --> 0:11:33.800 to Virgin, right directly to Virgin, not through any subsidiaries 0:11:33.880 --> 0:11:38.280 or anything like that. And so it was a privileged 0:11:38.320 --> 0:11:41.480 opportunity because we saw this growth. And it took years. 0:11:41.760 --> 0:11:44.800 It took years. It took years to get on the shelf. 0:11:46.400 --> 0:11:50.680 They had a single came out that was a Marvin 0:11:50.720 --> 0:11:54.160 Gay remake on Original Gangsters. I don't know if you'll 0:11:54.200 --> 0:11:54.560 remember that. 0:11:54.800 --> 0:12:00.720 I remember Original Man, all right, Yeah, that was that 0:12:00.800 --> 0:12:03.080 was a real uh West Coast movie. 0:12:03.120 --> 0:12:10.760 Absolutely, So that was the beginning, right for me, seeing 0:12:11.080 --> 0:12:15.559 what could potentially occur, right, and I go to college. 0:12:15.600 --> 0:12:18.760 Then when I go to college, everybody's back at home. 0:12:19.200 --> 0:12:21.400 You know. The movie didn't do too good. The soundtrack 0:12:21.480 --> 0:12:26.840 didn't do too good. I think Virgin was changing administrations, 0:12:27.320 --> 0:12:29.520 you know, and so you know, get lost in the 0:12:29.559 --> 0:12:36.560 sauce at a certain point, but we never stopped. And 0:12:36.640 --> 0:12:38.800 so I got into a car accident maybe coming home 0:12:38.800 --> 0:12:42.320 from Houston, I mean coming home from college. And it 0:12:42.400 --> 0:12:47.800 awarded me the opportunity to buy some gear. Yeah, and 0:12:47.840 --> 0:12:51.600 I bought an a SR tear and keyboard with Gi 0:12:51.760 --> 0:12:53.800 used to let me come over his crib and play 0:12:53.840 --> 0:12:56.640 with and tinkle with I bought it from Bishop Barrell Stick, 0:12:56.720 --> 0:12:59.520 So he's the guy that produced Knocking the Boots, produced 0:12:59.559 --> 0:13:04.040 all of a Town stuff. So that was my first 0:13:04.760 --> 0:13:09.439 keyboard and then I'm like, okay, we can create something now. 0:13:10.000 --> 0:13:13.360 But I wasn't a keyboard player, but this was a sampler, 0:13:14.240 --> 0:13:18.160 so I learned how to manipulate things, learn how to 0:13:18.200 --> 0:13:22.400 record their vocals into the sampler, stack them up, press 0:13:22.440 --> 0:13:24.960 the one button and it sounds like a bunch of 0:13:25.559 --> 0:13:33.199 bunch of stacks. It's like the first daw So. And 0:13:33.240 --> 0:13:37.440 that was really my first foray into the technical side 0:13:37.480 --> 0:13:40.560 of things because now I felt like I had some 0:13:40.760 --> 0:13:43.120 value to bring to the table. 0:13:44.200 --> 0:13:47.599 And so they had no other main producer at this point. 0:13:48.280 --> 0:13:52.880 No, they had Stick and it was us as a group. 0:13:53.080 --> 0:13:56.960 We called ourselves at that time Abstract Productions, right, I 0:13:57.000 --> 0:14:00.360 know you remember Biyo has it of course. Yeah. It 0:14:00.400 --> 0:14:03.319 was like it was like our first bio hazard production 0:14:03.440 --> 0:14:08.079 company and it was us and we had an opportunity 0:14:08.120 --> 0:14:10.600 to go in and some people gave us. You know, 0:14:10.720 --> 0:14:13.440 we had some guys that threw us a little money 0:14:13.480 --> 0:14:18.240 and it was like the streets, right, So we had 0:14:18.240 --> 0:14:19.920 some guys that throw some money and said go in 0:14:19.960 --> 0:14:21.720 the studio and do some things. So we cut this 0:14:21.840 --> 0:14:26.520 demo and I mean, like one of these songs is 0:14:26.560 --> 0:14:30.720 called Puppy Love, right. I can't wait till y'all hear that. Right. 0:14:32.040 --> 0:14:39.480 Robert Glasper loves this song too, right. But so yeah, 0:14:39.920 --> 0:14:44.760 that was the claim the fame of my contribution to 0:14:44.920 --> 0:14:48.040 them as a group coming out of Houston, still being 0:14:48.120 --> 0:14:50.600 at Howard because I would be coming home from Howard. 0:14:51.720 --> 0:14:57.080 At Howard, I would have relationships with this guy, Eric Roberson, 0:14:58.600 --> 0:15:02.720 my right, he would be going back and forth from Atlanta, 0:15:02.760 --> 0:15:05.760 and he'd be like, man, working with these people down there, 0:15:06.200 --> 0:15:08.920 this one producer Jay Duve. I don't know who Jay 0:15:08.960 --> 0:15:12.120 Dove is until I start reading the my album credits 0:15:12.720 --> 0:15:16.160 and I'm like, oh wow. So Eric Roberson would come back, 0:15:16.280 --> 0:15:19.960 play me certain ideas. What you think about this, you know? 0:15:20.000 --> 0:15:22.680 And I'm just a kid, like nobody's still really paying 0:15:22.720 --> 0:15:25.600 attention to the fact that I got a group back 0:15:25.640 --> 0:15:29.040 at home as signed the Virgin Records, even though I'm 0:15:29.040 --> 0:15:33.440 not on no paperwork for nothing that they're privy to, Like, 0:15:33.560 --> 0:15:36.680 it's still us at the end of the day. So 0:15:37.040 --> 0:15:39.160 it gets around to the point to where like they're 0:15:39.160 --> 0:15:42.760 in limbo. They're in limbo. I'm in school. I get 0:15:42.800 --> 0:15:48.200 to mind second semester, my junior year at Howard at 0:15:48.240 --> 0:15:52.040 this point, and they find a way to have someone 0:15:52.760 --> 0:15:56.640 Leslie Bond. Actually, I'm gonna mention that name, Leslie Bond. 0:15:56.880 --> 0:16:02.680 What's up less through one of our cousins, Pete, who 0:16:03.000 --> 0:16:05.720 was a lawyer in Saint Louis, and he was like, 0:16:05.760 --> 0:16:07.680 you know what, I'm gonna take on this action and 0:16:07.720 --> 0:16:09.760 we're gonna fly off to la and we're gonna see 0:16:09.800 --> 0:16:13.560 what's going on with ideals project. So he came out here, 0:16:13.600 --> 0:16:17.720 he had a meeting with Eric Brooks. Ideal didn't necessarily 0:16:17.760 --> 0:16:21.280 have like a real core manager at this time, and 0:16:23.120 --> 0:16:28.240 they were able to convince them to put some attention 0:16:28.320 --> 0:16:32.920 on the idea. And the minute that that happened, Virgin 0:16:33.000 --> 0:16:36.360 decided that we're gonna fly him out here. We're gonna 0:16:36.400 --> 0:16:39.360 put them up, put them up in the park Librea 0:16:39.800 --> 0:16:46.240 before the grove was there, right, and you thought that 0:16:46.320 --> 0:16:54.040 they was just gonna leave me, right, So now I 0:16:54.120 --> 0:16:56.120 packed my stuff up. His career and I was like, 0:16:56.200 --> 0:17:00.360 I'm out. When we leave, you leave school, You're like, 0:17:00.400 --> 0:17:02.880 I'm I'm gone. This is it. I'm going at this 0:17:02.920 --> 0:17:07.199 particular point because at in school, you know, I'm still touting, 0:17:07.400 --> 0:17:10.280 you know, my guys got a deal like these the 0:17:10.320 --> 0:17:16.360 one up next. Yeah, you know, so so come out 0:17:16.359 --> 0:17:19.000 to LA And this had to be in nineteen ninety nine, 0:17:20.080 --> 0:17:24.840 right nineteen ninety seven to nineteen ninety nine. We were 0:17:24.880 --> 0:17:31.119 out here and I stayed on the couch. Virgin rented 0:17:31.160 --> 0:17:33.960 a van, you know, for us to have to move 0:17:34.000 --> 0:17:37.560 around with. Wasn't a lot of money going around, and 0:17:37.680 --> 0:17:40.520 they were getting like a monthly stipend. I was getting zero, 0:17:42.840 --> 0:17:46.040 and so you know, calling my mom, let me get 0:17:46.040 --> 0:17:48.840 some you know, rolling around money, eating money, whatnot. You know, 0:17:48.960 --> 0:17:50.840 go to Western Union, pick it up, call my dad, 0:17:51.000 --> 0:17:53.520 you know, things would you know, they would help out. 0:17:54.200 --> 0:17:57.040 But virtually, you know, I'm out here figuring it out. 0:17:58.520 --> 0:18:02.040 And so Eric broke at the time, and I'm fast 0:18:02.080 --> 0:18:04.560 forwarding a little bit. But I mean we met with 0:18:04.640 --> 0:18:08.000 like Big John, We met with like, you know, people 0:18:08.040 --> 0:18:10.800 who are at the height of their game and publishing 0:18:11.200 --> 0:18:13.760 or actually getting there. You know, I don't know what 0:18:13.920 --> 0:18:16.880 trajectory when we walked into this meeting with Big John 0:18:16.920 --> 0:18:19.320 and we're playing him all of these demos and whatnot, 0:18:20.280 --> 0:18:23.560 and they're basically like, it's like, nah, these songs suck. 0:18:27.520 --> 0:18:29.639 Come on, tell the truth about the music business. 0:18:30.280 --> 0:18:34.480 Yeah, because everybody thinks we're looking at successful people and 0:18:34.520 --> 0:18:38.840 they've always had good music to everyone. 0:18:39.000 --> 0:18:41.040 It might have been good music to you at the time. 0:18:41.119 --> 0:18:42.880 Oh it was great to us, right. 0:18:42.960 --> 0:18:45.719 But then you start realizing the reality of what the 0:18:45.720 --> 0:18:50.480 big leagues really are. Yes, And we stepped into it 0:18:50.600 --> 0:18:57.480 really quickly with not a lot of representation, basically zero representation. 0:18:57.680 --> 0:19:02.120 Less didn't have experience in the music business, even though 0:19:02.160 --> 0:19:04.000 he was a lawyer, so he knew how to kind 0:19:04.000 --> 0:19:05.680 of look at deals. 0:19:05.320 --> 0:19:09.120 And see what do what terms, but not everything right, 0:19:09.240 --> 0:19:13.239 But we were like really on our own kids in 0:19:13.280 --> 0:19:17.080 this game, like literally kids taking means with our songs, 0:19:17.280 --> 0:19:21.160 taking means with our songs. Nobody liked them. Nobody liked them. 0:19:22.000 --> 0:19:26.720 It was Do you remember the feeling of that though, Yes, 0:19:27.080 --> 0:19:29.520 because it was. I mean it's like a gut punch 0:19:29.920 --> 0:19:32.440 really and a reality check too at the same time. 0:19:33.320 --> 0:19:39.320 Because this group is undeniably talented. They will sing any 0:19:39.359 --> 0:19:43.200 group under the table. Their harmonies will like none other. 0:19:44.119 --> 0:19:47.919 So how could anything that their voices be on not 0:19:48.000 --> 0:19:55.840 be good? Yeah, it happens bro, No, it happened. It happened. 0:19:56.040 --> 0:19:56.280 You know. 0:19:56.440 --> 0:19:59.520 So even if you like do like I mean when 0:19:59.520 --> 0:20:01.080 you place the stuff, you do like to do a 0:20:01.119 --> 0:20:01.720 deep dive. 0:20:01.800 --> 0:20:03.800 Like I've listened to some of my old records and 0:20:03.880 --> 0:20:05.720 I'd be like, damn, I. 0:20:05.760 --> 0:20:12.800 Was exactly listen nobody, nobody back to a thousand. 0:20:13.800 --> 0:20:15.879 We can still go back and listen to this Puppy 0:20:15.920 --> 0:20:19.159 Love record. And I'm sorry, but that record was fire. 0:20:19.200 --> 0:20:21.040 But were y'all playing Puppy Love for people too? We 0:20:21.080 --> 0:20:23.080 were playing that, but nobody liked it. 0:20:23.080 --> 0:20:25.600 It was like it was jazzy. It was like, it's 0:20:25.640 --> 0:20:29.439 also called puffy Love. We gotta I want your. 0:20:29.280 --> 0:20:31.400 Grown nigga to play me puppy love. 0:20:33.040 --> 0:20:33.480 Right here. 0:20:33.840 --> 0:20:35.560 This is really hot called puppy Love. 0:20:35.680 --> 0:20:39.680 Niggas is twenty three guys. Oh, we're just talking about 0:20:39.720 --> 0:20:40.400 all the puppies. 0:20:40.480 --> 0:20:44.879 And we're not thinking we've nurtured over over the years. 0:20:45.160 --> 0:20:47.840 We're thinking we some real musicians out here, and you know, 0:20:47.920 --> 0:21:03.400 we are adding some value to puffy Love. What had 0:21:03.480 --> 0:21:10.160 happened was is Ideal found someone in Virgin Records, right, 0:21:11.480 --> 0:21:17.400 and they asked her to come and manage them. Okay, right, 0:21:18.160 --> 0:21:22.879 And so now there was someone who spoke the language 0:21:23.240 --> 0:21:27.880 of the business, who probably didn't have any experience managing 0:21:28.080 --> 0:21:33.159 at that time, but who worked in there that worked 0:21:33.160 --> 0:21:38.280 in that building. Her name was Carmenic Roberts. Carmen. Okay, 0:21:38.920 --> 0:21:46.760 I'm saying that shouts out to Karmeny, because the moment 0:21:47.080 --> 0:21:51.760 that she started to speak for the group, then we 0:21:51.880 --> 0:21:56.240 started to see things happening. You know. It was somebody 0:21:56.240 --> 0:21:58.960 who believed in the group, somebody who was willing to 0:21:59.160 --> 0:22:03.240 take their time and energy and speak on the behalf 0:22:03.359 --> 0:22:07.320 of right those who can't necessarily speak for themselves a 0:22:07.359 --> 0:22:10.640 certain kind of way, right. And she happened to Winter 0:22:11.040 --> 0:22:17.399 to go to Howard and so back channel. Now I 0:22:17.440 --> 0:22:21.879 got my little cousin b Cox calling me too while 0:22:21.920 --> 0:22:25.560 he's at Clarke Atlanta University, because there was a period 0:22:25.600 --> 0:22:28.760 of limbo before we moved to LA where I was 0:22:28.800 --> 0:22:35.080 working at Mars Music, right, and he was in Clarke 0:22:35.080 --> 0:22:38.120 Atlanta and trying to figure it out, right, And part 0:22:38.119 --> 0:22:41.200 of his story is he's walking around, he finds this 0:22:41.560 --> 0:22:46.760 flyer on the ground, right, and he calls them up, 0:22:46.800 --> 0:22:50.520 and he's trying to get over there and go in turn. Hey, look, 0:22:51.520 --> 0:22:54.760 I don't want to be paid. Just give me studio time, right, 0:22:55.520 --> 0:23:03.480 guy from Houston, PVA well trained musically, right, So back 0:23:03.600 --> 0:23:07.719 channel Cox and them already knew Idea was signed, like 0:23:07.920 --> 0:23:10.840 since we were in high school. He was an underclassman 0:23:11.119 --> 0:23:13.760 to us, right, so we're like seniors. He was like 0:23:13.760 --> 0:23:18.280 a sophomore, right, and he worked at the Guitar Center, 0:23:18.320 --> 0:23:20.800 and so we just, you know, we just try to 0:23:20.840 --> 0:23:24.440 figure out ways that how we can really just make it. 0:23:24.640 --> 0:23:27.160 So by the time we get to LA, things start moving. 0:23:27.200 --> 0:23:33.560 Carmenique starts moving. He's in Atlanta. Carmenique sets up this meeting. Well, 0:23:33.600 --> 0:23:39.080 here's how it happened. Jay Dubb submitted some tracks and 0:23:39.240 --> 0:23:43.440 before we got to Atlanta, he came to LA and 0:23:43.920 --> 0:23:46.479 I think that there was something going on between the 0:23:46.520 --> 0:23:49.760 Noontime relationship. But Jay Dub was out here rolling with 0:23:49.840 --> 0:23:54.560 tr and they went to the Music Grinder studios talk 0:23:54.600 --> 0:23:59.760 about the music the Music Grinder studios, right, and recorded 0:23:59.800 --> 0:24:02.520 this that we all set in the Circle in the 0:24:02.520 --> 0:24:07.760 Park Librea and we wrote about a breakup that my 0:24:07.840 --> 0:24:11.399 cousin Pete had. Right. A song called tell Me Why. 0:24:11.520 --> 0:24:14.840 It's on the Ideas first album, right, This Ja Doub 0:24:14.880 --> 0:24:18.119 produced track. This was before we got to Atlanta and 0:24:18.200 --> 0:24:22.719 started to realize that our songs were trash, right, But 0:24:22.800 --> 0:24:25.119 this song actually made it yah because it was on 0:24:25.160 --> 0:24:28.600 a jaduve B and the five of us in the 0:24:28.680 --> 0:24:32.240 room wrote it, and so we were like, yeah, we 0:24:32.280 --> 0:24:35.080 could do this thing. Start feeling ourselves a little bit. 0:24:35.160 --> 0:24:38.440 We worked with Jay Dubb, you know. And so now 0:24:38.520 --> 0:24:42.320 on the other side of the management's back channels, Carmanique 0:24:42.359 --> 0:24:45.119 is on the phone working out, well, how can we 0:24:45.160 --> 0:24:49.920 come down and get some more noontime records? Right, so 0:24:50.000 --> 0:24:54.199 they work out a chunk of a deal. You know, 0:24:54.240 --> 0:24:55.800 there was a lot of money going around in the 0:24:55.880 --> 0:25:00.600 music business back then, all right, And they they flew 0:25:00.600 --> 0:25:04.120 down to Atlanta. I wasn't on that ticket because, mind you, 0:25:04.400 --> 0:25:13.160 I'm not the guy that anybody's let's just get what 0:25:13.160 --> 0:25:17.879 do you what are you even doing? The guy is 0:25:18.200 --> 0:25:21.000 the guy, you know. And and there was you know, 0:25:21.840 --> 0:25:24.800 ran around LA working with a bunch of songwriters and 0:25:24.840 --> 0:25:29.359 producers here, and you know, things just weren't sticking, you know, 0:25:29.480 --> 0:25:34.160 for them. But I was also making relationships too, and 0:25:35.480 --> 0:25:37.919 I remember making a relationship with this one producer and 0:25:37.920 --> 0:25:40.679 who would invite me over to his studio and to 0:25:40.760 --> 0:25:44.240 do some drum programming for him, and I just learned 0:25:44.240 --> 0:25:46.760 a lot about the technical aspect of it. And I 0:25:46.800 --> 0:25:49.520 was really just sewing my oats. You know. I wouldn't 0:25:49.560 --> 0:25:53.040 just lay on the couch just waiting for ideal to 0:25:52.760 --> 0:25:53.800 to do something. 0:25:54.320 --> 0:25:54.600 I was. 0:25:54.640 --> 0:25:56.399 I was going to use the best of my time 0:25:56.440 --> 0:25:58.920 out here in LA the best way I could, and 0:25:58.960 --> 0:26:01.840 that was making, you know, relationships with other producers who 0:26:01.880 --> 0:26:03.840 could teach me things, because people were telling me all 0:26:03.880 --> 0:26:06.359 this one little keyboard that you're working on, it's not 0:26:06.480 --> 0:26:09.760 industry standard enough, so you got to get your game up. 0:26:10.440 --> 0:26:15.199 That's crazy that they will say that, right, Yeah, but 0:26:15.320 --> 0:26:17.200 I didn't know anything about sound design. 0:26:18.520 --> 0:26:22.200 Well, no, the A s R ten was just I mean, 0:26:23.480 --> 0:26:26.440 at that time, we're talking Timblin. 0:26:27.960 --> 0:26:29.440 Yeah, we are talking like. 0:26:29.400 --> 0:26:33.760