WEBVTT - David Banner on Losing $12M for Black Activism, Depression, & Why Integration Was Worse Than Slavery 0:00:01.360 --> 0:00:03.640 This episode is brought to you by P and C Bank. 0:00:04.000 --> 0:00:06.760 A lot of people think podcasts about work are boring, 0:00:07.000 --> 0:00:10.840 and sure they definitely can be, but understanding a professionals 0:00:10.920 --> 0:00:14.160 routine shows us how they achieve their success little by little, 0:00:14.560 --> 0:00:18.200 day after day. It's like banking with P and C Bank. 0:00:18.680 --> 0:00:21.480 It might seem boring to safe plan and make calculated 0:00:21.480 --> 0:00:24.599 decisions with your bank, but keeping your money boring is 0:00:24.640 --> 0:00:27.960 what helps you live or more happily fulfilled life. P 0:00:28.080 --> 0:00:32.879 and C Bank Brilliantly Boring since eighteen sixty five. Brilliantly 0:00:32.960 --> 0:00:35.600 Boring since eighteen sixty five is a service mark of 0:00:35.600 --> 0:00:38.840 the PNC Financial Service Group, Inc. P and C Bank 0:00:39.280 --> 0:00:42.000 National Association Member FDIC. 0:00:44.600 --> 0:00:45.279 Erness What's Up? 0:00:45.360 --> 0:00:47.839 You ever walk into a small business and everything just 0:00:47.960 --> 0:00:51.159 works like the checkout is fast, the receipts are digital, 0:00:51.680 --> 0:00:54.640 tipping is a breeze, and you're out the door before 0:00:54.680 --> 0:00:58.840 the line even builds. Odds are they're using Square? We 0:00:58.960 --> 0:01:01.320 love supporting business is that run on Square because it 0:01:01.440 --> 0:01:04.399 just feels seamless. Whether it's a local coffee shop, a 0:01:04.480 --> 0:01:06.920 vendor at a pop up market, or even one of 0:01:06.920 --> 0:01:10.039 our merch partners. Square makes it easy for them to 0:01:10.120 --> 0:01:13.920 take payments, manage inventory, and run their business with confidence, 0:01:14.280 --> 0:01:17.600 all from one simple system. If you're a business owner 0:01:17.800 --> 0:01:21.200 or even just thinking about launching something soon, Square is 0:01:21.280 --> 0:01:23.319 hands down one of the best tools out there to 0:01:23.400 --> 0:01:27.440 help you start, run, and grow. It's not just about payments, 0:01:27.720 --> 0:01:30.640 it's about giving you time back so you can focus on. 0:01:30.560 --> 0:01:32.000 What matters most ready. 0:01:32.040 --> 0:01:35.399 To see how Square can transform your business, visit Square 0:01:35.480 --> 0:01:40.000 dot com backslash go backslash eyl to learn more that 0:01:40.200 --> 0:01:45.640 Square dot com backslash, go backslash Eyl. Don't wait, don't hesitate. 0:01:45.760 --> 0:01:48.160 Let's Square handle the back end so you can keep 0:01:48.160 --> 0:01:49.400 pushing your vision forward. 0:01:51.640 --> 0:01:54.760 All right, gosh, welcome back, Yeah, Eyl, this is going 0:01:54.800 --> 0:01:57.040 to be a special episode, man, friend of ours. 0:01:56.960 --> 0:01:58.680 David long overdue man. 0:01:58.840 --> 0:01:59.240 Yeah. 0:01:59.320 --> 0:02:01.400 Before we even man, I want to tell you you 0:02:01.440 --> 0:02:04.280 guys how inspired I am by you all and how 0:02:04.320 --> 0:02:07.080 proud I am of you all and your business acumen, 0:02:07.800 --> 0:02:11.000 not just as thought leaders, but just as black people 0:02:11.280 --> 0:02:13.560 in the financial space. Man, I'm so proud of you 0:02:13.600 --> 0:02:16.360 all to be able to mobilize people the way that 0:02:16.400 --> 0:02:20.240 you all did, the way that you market, how you 0:02:20.320 --> 0:02:20.880 all put it. 0:02:20.840 --> 0:02:26.000 Together, and just just being all around, just trailblazers in 0:02:26.080 --> 0:02:27.960 that space man, because that was a space that was 0:02:28.000 --> 0:02:30.920 needed to be able to see a deficit and to 0:02:30.960 --> 0:02:33.520 be able to cover that man like I'm very. 0:02:33.440 --> 0:02:34.079 Very proud of you. 0:02:34.360 --> 0:02:36.320 Thank you, appreciate that man, Thank you, that man that 0:02:36.360 --> 0:02:38.840 means a lot, received a lot. And every time we 0:02:38.880 --> 0:02:42.280 see you, it's always been good energy. So you know, definitely, 0:02:42.760 --> 0:02:47.600 the feeling is mutual. Feeling is mutual. So, David, somebody 0:02:47.639 --> 0:02:51.600 that when most people heard of you, it was through music, right, 0:02:51.600 --> 0:02:54.560 But I've seen you transition in multiple different genres. So 0:02:54.960 --> 0:02:59.800 from a producer to a rapper, to an actor, to 0:03:00.639 --> 0:03:03.600 an activist on a certain level, to an entrepreneur to 0:03:03.919 --> 0:03:06.040 a variety of different things that you do. You're you're 0:03:06.080 --> 0:03:09.560 a renaissance man of sorts. So I want to start 0:03:09.600 --> 0:03:15.800 at the beginning. Mississippi. Right at that time, to my knowledge, 0:03:15.840 --> 0:03:19.160 there wasn't a major artist that rap artists that came 0:03:19.200 --> 0:03:21.960 out of Mississippi. Is that correct now? It was? 0:03:22.000 --> 0:03:25.119 It was some major artists. There was a group called 0:03:25.200 --> 0:03:31.040 Wildlife Society. I forgot the name of the record label. 0:03:31.080 --> 0:03:34.680 The record label almost popped really big. They had trying 0:03:34.720 --> 0:03:36.760 to think of a rapper. I know, y'all know his name, 0:03:38.080 --> 0:03:40.880 but they were they were signed to you know how 0:03:40.920 --> 0:03:43.160 Penalty back when I was on Penalty, when Nori was 0:03:43.200 --> 0:03:45.760 on Penalty. It was one of those labels, one of 0:03:45.760 --> 0:03:49.080 those subsidiary labels that was really really close to popping 0:03:49.160 --> 0:03:50.080 Life Penalty did. 0:03:50.160 --> 0:03:53.520 But there was a group called Wildlife Society that was. 0:03:53.520 --> 0:03:56.560 On I keep forgetting the name of the group that 0:03:56.640 --> 0:04:00.480 Hammer had. The Hammer MC Hammer had had a group 0:04:00.520 --> 0:04:03.400 that was out of Mississippi and they had a very, 0:04:03.520 --> 0:04:06.560 very big singer. There was the female rapper out of 0:04:06.560 --> 0:04:09.120 that group. Her name was Treasure. She actually ended up 0:04:09.520 --> 0:04:12.720 going solo and she saw some success too. So it's 0:04:12.800 --> 0:04:15.640 been you know, some groups that have been out. I 0:04:15.680 --> 0:04:19.360 think with me, it was just that I came at 0:04:19.400 --> 0:04:22.600 the right time. You know, SRC was just starting after 0:04:22.640 --> 0:04:26.080 Steve Rifkin, you know, it was coming off of his 0:04:26.200 --> 0:04:30.880 loud success, and I think it was just time spirit look, 0:04:31.720 --> 0:04:34.240 you know, me being prepared and ready for the moment, 0:04:35.760 --> 0:04:39.160 and it just all came together, bro, and it was 0:04:39.240 --> 0:04:39.520 it was. 0:04:39.640 --> 0:04:42.680 History, like a like a pimp. That's the song, Yes, 0:04:43.000 --> 0:04:45.160 were you on you on a little flip? Yes, that's 0:04:45.240 --> 0:04:46.800 that's the first time I said. It was like like 0:04:46.839 --> 0:04:52.159 a pimp and you had like a very big entry 0:04:52.160 --> 0:04:55.119 into the into the bad game. Right. So my question 0:04:55.279 --> 0:04:59.160 is coming from Mississippi where there wasn't a lot of trash, 0:04:59.240 --> 0:05:01.040 let's just say that, right, And it's not like Atlanta 0:05:01.640 --> 0:05:04.239 or New York or LA. But we always hear about 0:05:04.240 --> 0:05:07.239 like the southern hustle as far as like the stories 0:05:07.279 --> 0:05:09.360 of people selling music out of their trunks, of their 0:05:09.360 --> 0:05:11.520 CD stuff of that, like CDs out out the trunk 0:05:11.720 --> 0:05:14.000 at the car. Was that something that you you did 0:05:14.080 --> 0:05:15.320 from a grassroots level? 0:05:15.400 --> 0:05:18.440 Yes, So I'm going to tell you you are something 0:05:18.600 --> 0:05:22.479 just because you are who you are to me. So 0:05:23.080 --> 0:05:26.479 what happened was that nobody ever talks about is that 0:05:26.880 --> 0:05:31.039 we as independent artists because we don't talk to each 0:05:31.040 --> 0:05:34.360 other as black men. That's something that I like about 0:05:34.400 --> 0:05:38.200 our relationship. Bro. I've called you before when there was 0:05:38.200 --> 0:05:40.520 something that I didn't understand and was like, Bro, can 0:05:40.560 --> 0:05:42.920 you tell me what this means? Bro? How do I 0:05:42.960 --> 0:05:45.960 do this? Or I'm going into the tech industry? What 0:05:46.000 --> 0:05:48.520 would you suggest that I do. We've had that conversation 0:05:48.640 --> 0:05:52.360 both in person and on the phone. Right, we don't 0:05:52.360 --> 0:05:56.160 do that as artists, Bro, Like, what's happening was if 0:05:56.200 --> 0:06:02.279 you calculate the amount of money that independent are were making, 0:06:02.520 --> 0:06:06.720 especially in Texas and then the Bay Like, they were 0:06:06.800 --> 0:06:08.600 kicking the shit. Can I say shit? 0:06:09.000 --> 0:06:12.159 Okay, yes, yes, said shit. 0:06:13.839 --> 0:06:16.640 They was kicking the shit out of major labels. Bro. 0:06:17.000 --> 0:06:19.800 You got to think about like the South Park Mexicans. Bro, 0:06:19.880 --> 0:06:21.000 you gotta think broad. 0:06:20.800 --> 0:06:21.760 Thy, slim Thum and. 0:06:21.920 --> 0:06:24.800 Slim Thug little Flip. I think did eighty thousand or 0:06:24.800 --> 0:06:27.120 one hundred and twenty thousand or something like that, Bro, 0:06:27.440 --> 0:06:30.440 Think about what e forty and two short master p 0:06:30.680 --> 0:06:33.280 and all of them people. Now put all of them 0:06:33.320 --> 0:06:36.760 people together, bro, and think about the millions, and then 0:06:36.920 --> 0:06:39.080 you gotta think that's when you know we was getting 0:06:39.120 --> 0:06:42.080 ten ten dollars a record, Bro. You know what I'm saying. 0:06:42.720 --> 0:06:45.839 And so what they ended up doing, Bro, is soaking 0:06:45.960 --> 0:06:49.479 up all of the independent artists, Bro and signing in 0:06:49.560 --> 0:06:52.880 the deals in a lot of cases, this is just 0:06:53.000 --> 0:06:56.280 my opinion, with not even the hopes of them being 0:06:56.320 --> 0:06:59.680 successful to move us out of the way of their 0:06:59.680 --> 0:07:00.640 major artists. 0:07:00.640 --> 0:07:00.800 Bro. 0:07:01.440 --> 0:07:03.120 And one of the only reasons. 0:07:02.760 --> 0:07:05.840 Why I didn't fail is because I produced my own music, 0:07:06.640 --> 0:07:09.960 I marketed my own music. I had enough good people 0:07:10.000 --> 0:07:12.000 around me to tell me, like, you know, and a 0:07:12.040 --> 0:07:14.960 lot of artists thought I was crazy because you know, 0:07:15.080 --> 0:07:18.880 University was still taking out of my budget to you know, 0:07:18.920 --> 0:07:22.640 get record promoters and radio promoters and video promoters. But 0:07:22.760 --> 0:07:25.200 I still out of my own money that I made. 0:07:25.720 --> 0:07:28.280 I had my own radio promoter. I had my own 0:07:28.400 --> 0:07:31.280 video promoter because I just knew. And I went to 0:07:31.320 --> 0:07:34.280 the president of Universal one time and he told me. 0:07:34.320 --> 0:07:36.680 He was like BANNERD, like, I know you a smart guy, 0:07:37.160 --> 0:07:39.400 and you're gonna figure this out, and he really gave 0:07:39.440 --> 0:07:41.920 me the game. So the thing was, it was like, man, 0:07:41.920 --> 0:07:43.960 why are you double spending your money because I know 0:07:44.040 --> 0:07:46.800 that them folks are not gonna do me right. They're 0:07:46.800 --> 0:07:47.360 not gonna at. 0:07:47.280 --> 0:07:49.840 Least they're not gonna do me like an independent artist, 0:07:49.880 --> 0:07:50.640 even though you salt. 0:07:51.440 --> 0:07:55.440 And every record that I didn't work myself failed. So 0:07:55.480 --> 0:07:58.200 what would usually happen is that if you even I 0:07:58.240 --> 0:08:00.680 don't know if people know this, but like I came 0:08:00.720 --> 0:08:04.680 into Universal with eight hundred spins on radio while I 0:08:04.720 --> 0:08:07.160 was sleeping in my van. I was homeless. You know, 0:08:07.160 --> 0:08:08.840 I don't know if y'all knew the story about my 0:08:08.920 --> 0:08:12.640 red van. Like I built the studio in my van 0:08:13.160 --> 0:08:14.880 like RV. Yeah, no, no, no, it was just a 0:08:14.960 --> 0:08:20.320 regular work van, and I went in got a what 0:08:20.320 --> 0:08:23.960 do you call those the things that you put into 0:08:23.960 --> 0:08:27.160 the lighter, You put it into a lighter and then 0:08:27.200 --> 0:08:29.840 you plug whatever into transitions. 0:08:30.640 --> 0:08:32.520 It's like an extension called on in a sense, but 0:08:32.600 --> 0:08:34.400 it's like you're using the power from the light. 0:08:35.120 --> 0:08:37.320 So I literally if you go back and listen to Mississippi, 0:08:37.320 --> 0:08:39.120 the album that had like a Pimp on it, if 0:08:39.120 --> 0:08:44.760 you listen to the interludes, you can hear the people 0:08:44.840 --> 0:08:47.760 passing in the van. And one of the things that 0:08:47.840 --> 0:08:50.080 also made me popular is like if a DJ wanted 0:08:50.120 --> 0:08:51.640 to drop, I tell them to come to my van. 0:08:52.600 --> 0:08:54.839 You know, I could even do verses in my van. 0:08:54.920 --> 0:08:55.800 That's why I tell these. 0:08:55.800 --> 0:08:58.320 Kids, there's never no excuse. Like people in the South 0:08:58.400 --> 0:09:01.439 know this story. And I was sleeping in that van, you. 0:09:01.400 --> 0:09:03.559 Know, so you you was homeless, Yes, so how'd you 0:09:03.640 --> 0:09:06.160 link up a little flip? He was already lit at 0:09:06.160 --> 0:09:06.480 that time. 0:09:06.559 --> 0:09:08.920 Yeah, Well what happened was is that What people don't 0:09:08.920 --> 0:09:11.320 know is that I produced the Holiday for Trick Daddy. 0:09:12.280 --> 0:09:15.480 So I never wanted to be a producer, but I 0:09:15.559 --> 0:09:17.400 come to find out a lot of people don't know that. 0:09:17.480 --> 0:09:21.600 People the person who I would never call him my stepfather, 0:09:21.679 --> 0:09:24.319 but the people who the person who people know as 0:09:24.400 --> 0:09:27.760 my father is actually not my biological father. He raised 0:09:27.760 --> 0:09:31.760 me from when I was three And come to find 0:09:31.800 --> 0:09:36.120 out that my biological father played thirteen instruments with the 0:09:36.160 --> 0:09:38.960 exception of you know, playing in the band or whatever 0:09:39.080 --> 0:09:39.600 in school. 0:09:39.760 --> 0:09:41.400 I've never been classically trained. 0:09:42.120 --> 0:09:47.360 And like Bro, I've co produced Quincy Jones before Maroon five, 0:09:48.160 --> 0:09:51.560 you know, Chris Brown, justin Bieber, like you know, I'm 0:09:51.720 --> 0:09:55.640 executive co executive producer Jill Scott's album right now. So 0:09:55.840 --> 0:10:00.640 like Bro, like I did it all man, you know. 0:10:00.679 --> 0:10:02.440 And that's one thing that I want to tell people 0:10:02.600 --> 0:10:07.719 that I'm learning about being a businessman. And if you 0:10:07.800 --> 0:10:10.040 all don't listen to nothing else I say, Man, it's 0:10:10.080 --> 0:10:14.559 like you have to have an extraordinary team. And regardless 0:10:14.600 --> 0:10:16.240 of whether you all tried to do it or not, 0:10:16.400 --> 0:10:19.280 one of the things that is very special about you 0:10:19.360 --> 0:10:22.560 all is that y'all did it as a group. Y'all 0:10:22.559 --> 0:10:24.840 did it as a family. And that's the power of 0:10:24.880 --> 0:10:28.480 America is family. And that's the reason why they want 0:10:28.559 --> 0:10:32.000 us in these boxes on these computers. That's the reason 0:10:32.000 --> 0:10:34.880 why I really think COVID happened is that we won't 0:10:34.920 --> 0:10:39.480 congregate with each other. True information is not just verbal, 0:10:40.000 --> 0:10:44.000 it's also a vibe. It's also getting together. It's sometimes 0:10:44.040 --> 0:10:47.360 it's envy. Sometimes it's competition. That's just being in the 0:10:47.440 --> 0:10:49.920 room competing with each other. Speaking to me and Little 0:10:49.960 --> 0:10:53.880 Flip Bro, people used to think that me and Little 0:10:53.880 --> 0:10:57.560 Flip was beefing because we were so competitive against each other. 0:10:58.040 --> 0:11:00.360 I remember Jim Jones was in the studio. That's one 0:11:00.360 --> 0:11:03.000 time when we was doing the song that's called it's 0:11:03.000 --> 0:11:05.640 called talk to Me Now. It's funny it's a white 0:11:05.720 --> 0:11:08.840 movie just licensed it licensed the song, and I can't 0:11:08.880 --> 0:11:11.640 wait to hear see an all white movie with a 0:11:11.679 --> 0:11:16.080 song that aggressive. Uh, if the boys won't wo talk 0:11:16.160 --> 0:11:18.160 to me now, if the boy won't wo to lay 0:11:18.240 --> 0:11:20.960 it down, motherfucker, lay it down, you bitch. And I 0:11:21.000 --> 0:11:26.280 was like to see the white boy but that record. 0:11:26.040 --> 0:11:29.280 But but, but what happened with me and Little Flip 0:11:29.360 --> 0:11:33.160 was that I was already a popping producer, like in 0:11:33.200 --> 0:11:37.400 the hood, like all over, I mean probably from Tosa, Oklahoma, 0:11:37.480 --> 0:11:41.000 the Florida and so Little Flip just told me him, 0:11:41.040 --> 0:11:43.160 being the business man that he is, he was like, Bro, 0:11:43.240 --> 0:11:45.520 you give me two beats, I give you a verse. 0:11:46.520 --> 0:11:50.200 And so I didn't even like the like of pimp beat. 0:11:50.240 --> 0:11:53.120 I'm being honest with you. It just had Pimp C. 0:11:54.640 --> 0:11:57.040 I had sample of Pimp C on the hook, and 0:11:57.080 --> 0:11:58.760 so I was like, well, I know, like little flipper 0:11:58.880 --> 0:12:01.000 like it because it got C on. I'll just get 0:12:01.040 --> 0:12:02.760 a little flip verse and then I'll go back and 0:12:02.800 --> 0:12:05.840 make the beat again. I was popping so much and 0:12:05.920 --> 0:12:08.040 moving so much because this is something that I think 0:12:08.160 --> 0:12:10.720 that will help you guys with the show that people 0:12:10.720 --> 0:12:14.120 don't know about. I ran a three state distribution company 0:12:14.240 --> 0:12:17.640 out of the back of my van. I may have 0:12:17.800 --> 0:12:21.800 been the first artist to ever put a store up online. 0:12:22.000 --> 0:12:25.199 People don't know that. And on your website you was 0:12:25.200 --> 0:12:25.959 selling stuff. Yeah. 0:12:26.120 --> 0:12:29.560 One of my friends worked at Xerox Wow, so he 0:12:29.760 --> 0:12:33.040 was in the tech before the average person was in 0:12:33.120 --> 0:12:33.480 the tech. 0:12:33.559 --> 0:12:34.880 So he set up a store. 0:12:34.640 --> 0:12:39.360 For me, right, and so anywhere within the three I 0:12:39.480 --> 0:12:43.160 said three state radius. If it was enough, I would 0:12:43.240 --> 0:12:46.920 actually take the CDs myself, especially if I was driving 0:12:46.920 --> 0:12:47.280 to go. 0:12:47.200 --> 0:12:50.480 Do beats to deliver yes himself. 0:12:50.720 --> 0:12:53.920 And if it was enough, if not, then I would 0:12:53.960 --> 0:12:56.920 just send it in a making the original Amazon prome exactly. 0:12:57.440 --> 0:12:58.160 You know what I'm saying. 0:12:58.240 --> 0:13:00.280 That's another one we're not thinking of about. 0:13:00.800 --> 0:13:05.480 You know, I just saw I just saw something online 0:13:05.480 --> 0:13:07.280 that said that I may have been the. 0:13:07.200 --> 0:13:09.080 First person to do NFTs. 0:13:10.000 --> 0:13:12.760 I don't know about quite know about that one, but 0:13:12.840 --> 0:13:15.360 I know that I was, probably, if not the first one, 0:13:15.360 --> 0:13:17.160 one of the first people to do crowdfunded. 0:13:18.160 --> 0:13:22.000 Let's break this down. Yeah, okay, NFTs. How did you 0:13:22.400 --> 0:13:23.360 move your involvement with that? 0:13:23.480 --> 0:13:25.240 Well, what I don't see. The thing is is that 0:13:25.280 --> 0:13:27.760 when you are the first, you don't really know what 0:13:27.800 --> 0:13:31.040 you're doing. And the thing was is that I wasn't 0:13:31.120 --> 0:13:34.240 doing it to make stuff easier for other people. I 0:13:34.320 --> 0:13:36.840 was doing it because like in my company to this day, 0:13:37.240 --> 0:13:39.640 ask any of my staff when they come to me 0:13:39.679 --> 0:13:41.000 and ask me, is it good enough? 0:13:41.720 --> 0:13:43.280 Ask my staff, what is the first. 0:13:43.040 --> 0:13:43.720 Thing I tell them? 0:13:43.840 --> 0:13:45.120 I always tell them is it good enough? 0:13:45.120 --> 0:13:49.160 For Apple? Apple was always the company from their inception, 0:13:49.679 --> 0:13:54.160 that was the company that I always competed against because 0:13:54.160 --> 0:13:57.920 this shit was so clean, it was so easy. How 0:13:57.920 --> 0:14:00.440 did they get their phone down to just one button? 0:14:01.360 --> 0:14:06.160 Even think about the packaging? How do you hot everything, 0:14:06.720 --> 0:14:10.400 everything like if you look at my god, boxes that soul. 0:14:10.600 --> 0:14:13.040 And some people said it was one of the greatest marketing. 0:14:13.240 --> 0:14:14.920 They said it was a marketing scheme. I said, it 0:14:14.960 --> 0:14:17.160 wasn't marketing a marketing scheme because I meant what I 0:14:17.240 --> 0:14:19.920 was doing. It wasn't a scheme. It was a box 0:14:19.960 --> 0:14:22.720 of consciousness. I took all the things that helped me 0:14:22.760 --> 0:14:24.720 to become conscious and I put it in a box. 0:14:25.160 --> 0:14:26.840 And what I did is I said, I wanted to 0:14:26.880 --> 0:14:31.000 cater to every sense that a human being has, so 0:14:31.760 --> 0:14:35.040 the slickness of the box. Women always tell me how 0:14:35.080 --> 0:14:37.080 good I smelled. Didn't you smell me, baby when I 0:14:37.080 --> 0:14:38.680 walked in the room. I know you did. It was 0:14:38.760 --> 0:14:41.200 quite elegant. See the way that you're looking at me 0:14:41.240 --> 0:14:44.720 in the Oh, no, you weren't locked in, but no. 0:14:44.880 --> 0:14:46.840 Women would always talk about how good I smelled. So 0:14:46.840 --> 0:14:49.600 I would spray my cologne in the boxes literally, so 0:14:49.640 --> 0:14:52.720 when they open up the box, male or female, they 0:14:52.840 --> 0:14:56.440 when they smelled it, when they touched it, like, whether 0:14:56.520 --> 0:15:00.400 we know it or not, we represent culture. And I new, 0:15:00.800 --> 0:15:04.240 especially during that time in music, anytime you thought of 0:15:04.280 --> 0:15:07.080 black and independent, people would always try to make it 0:15:07.120 --> 0:15:11.080 feel like it was low quality. So I always wanted 0:15:11.120 --> 0:15:13.600 to represent us at a level where at a zenith 0:15:13.640 --> 0:15:16.040 level where people will always be proud of me. That's 0:15:16.040 --> 0:15:18.040 the reason why I'm enough of a man to come 0:15:18.080 --> 0:15:20.080 on here today and say the way that you all 0:15:20.160 --> 0:15:28.240 represent culture, it it transcends just business and music, like 0:15:28.360 --> 0:15:31.480 you all are doing something that inspire people all over 0:15:31.520 --> 0:15:33.640 the world. I'm in meetings all the time and y'all 0:15:33.720 --> 0:15:34.440 name come up. 0:15:34.760 --> 0:15:38.040 Appreciate man, I appreciate that. I mean, it says a lot. 0:15:38.320 --> 0:15:41.080 And you use the word transcend and transition in a 0:15:41.080 --> 0:15:41.520 certain step. 0:15:41.680 --> 0:15:44.280 Excuse me one second. Can you go back to this 0:15:44.320 --> 0:15:48.680 camera right here? Damn, I look good. I saw myself myself. 0:15:50.200 --> 0:15:55.520 Somebody called people okay, go ahead. As we were saying 0:15:56.120 --> 0:16:00.720 the moment, the transition from being into the artists to 0:16:00.760 --> 0:16:04.600 sign artists. What is it like when you're trying to, 0:16:05.840 --> 0:16:08.600 I guess infiltrate or into a new space in terms 0:16:08.600 --> 0:16:11.200 of business, how are people viewing you when you walk 0:16:11.200 --> 0:16:14.320 into the space. Is it like, Hey, this guy's an artists, 0:16:14.360 --> 0:16:16.480 he doesn't know much. You said that they had a 0:16:16.560 --> 0:16:19.600 universe realized that you're a smart guy. But how are 0:16:19.600 --> 0:16:21.960 the other people in other forms of business. 0:16:21.720 --> 0:16:22.120 Looking at you. 0:16:22.160 --> 0:16:23.480 Where they look like this is the artists who may 0:16:23.560 --> 0:16:26.400 not know or we're not taking them serious because he 0:16:26.440 --> 0:16:27.720 doesn't come from this background. 0:16:28.000 --> 0:16:31.040 So I'll say this. I want to answer this question 0:16:31.080 --> 0:16:38.480 in a very specific way. Because I'm pretty decent with 0:16:38.520 --> 0:16:44.760 my hands. I own several firearms, and I go to 0:16:44.840 --> 0:16:49.720 tactical gun training monthly. I can be a little bit 0:16:49.760 --> 0:16:54.120 more vulnerable than the average artist, and I think it's 0:16:54.240 --> 0:16:59.160 very important for us to be honest. It's really, really scary. 0:17:00.120 --> 0:17:04.520 It's scary because a lot of these spaces, unlike you guys, 0:17:04.760 --> 0:17:09.639 if anything, y'all can fail together, if anything, if something 0:17:09.680 --> 0:17:12.320 go down, it's more than just one of y'all in 0:17:12.440 --> 0:17:16.560 most of these spaces using only one, and even more 0:17:16.640 --> 0:17:19.040 than that. And I found this out in higher education. 0:17:19.119 --> 0:17:22.679 As I moved up and higher in education, I became 0:17:22.880 --> 0:17:25.480 not only the only black male, but in a lot 0:17:25.480 --> 0:17:27.560 of cases, the only black person in a lot of 0:17:27.600 --> 0:17:30.760 these spaces. You all know this because we've bumped into 0:17:30.800 --> 0:17:35.159 each other in tech spaces. That's lonely, especially not only 0:17:35.480 --> 0:17:37.600 when you're trying to navigate yourself through it, but you're 0:17:37.600 --> 0:17:40.120 trying to learn it at the same time. So I'm 0:17:40.160 --> 0:17:43.560 trying to continue to make hit records when none of 0:17:43.640 --> 0:17:47.240 us know the real equation to hit records. I'm trying 0:17:47.280 --> 0:17:50.440 to stay current. But then I got to learn accounting. 0:17:51.320 --> 0:17:54.280 I gotta you know, I'm going overseas, navigating myself in 0:17:54.359 --> 0:17:57.960 spaces that I've never been before. Then you know what 0:17:58.040 --> 0:18:02.480 they don't talk about is the music industry gets younger 0:18:02.520 --> 0:18:06.120 and younger, while the people who own the music industry 0:18:06.160 --> 0:18:09.960 get older and older and wiser and wiser. So master 0:18:10.040 --> 0:18:13.600 p may come up with a stellar contract that breaks 0:18:13.640 --> 0:18:17.280 down the walls, or Michael Jordan in the case of Shoes, 0:18:17.440 --> 0:18:19.800 may come up with a deal that's never been seen before. 0:18:20.000 --> 0:18:22.080 But then white folks are not gonna let that happen again. 0:18:22.920 --> 0:18:24.760 You're gonna have to find another way to do it. 0:18:25.240 --> 0:18:29.280 And every time we break through, the contracts get tighter 0:18:29.640 --> 0:18:33.600 and tighter. But we're getting younger and younger and younger, 0:18:33.800 --> 0:18:38.120 and your music business becoming more disposable and more disposable. So, 0:18:38.160 --> 0:18:42.280 to answer your question directly, in a lot of these spaces, bro, 0:18:43.680 --> 0:18:47.400 I don't even have anybody to go to and acting 0:18:47.560 --> 0:18:50.960 man like, I'm acting across from some of the greatest 0:18:51.000 --> 0:18:55.359 actors on this planet and I just got Samuel. I 0:18:55.400 --> 0:18:56.359 just got to the point where I. 0:18:56.359 --> 0:18:57.320 Can call Samuel L. 0:18:57.440 --> 0:19:01.159 Jackson. And although, yeah, I'm tough from I'm a street perspective, 0:19:01.200 --> 0:19:05.320 but I'm dealing in things and in rooms that I've 0:19:05.440 --> 0:19:08.560 never ever experienced before. And like you say, I am, 0:19:08.840 --> 0:19:13.199 I'm representing us whether I want to or not. But 0:19:13.880 --> 0:19:20.600 I'm just glad that my parents instill something in me. 0:19:21.480 --> 0:19:23.960 And hip hop from the standpoint of when I was 0:19:24.000 --> 0:19:27.600 growing up was intelligent, so I always learned to study. 0:19:28.320 --> 0:19:32.400 I'll give y'all an example. I actually my first Gatorade contract. 0:19:32.560 --> 0:19:36.239 I actually wrote the contract myself, and I wrote the 0:19:36.240 --> 0:19:38.359 contract because I went to legal Zoom. 0:19:38.400 --> 0:19:40.560 That's when legal Zoom first came out, and. 0:19:40.520 --> 0:19:45.600 I downloaded every contract that had something to do with marketing, 0:19:45.640 --> 0:19:49.040 that had to do anything with commercials and music, and 0:19:49.080 --> 0:19:54.720 I study watch what I did. Most lawyers charge you 0:19:54.800 --> 0:19:56.119 by what the hour? 0:19:56.480 --> 0:19:56.680 Right. 0:19:57.600 --> 0:20:01.000 Have you ever noticed in most cases you only really 0:20:01.000 --> 0:20:05.360 spend thirty minutes, but they always charge you by the what. Well, 0:20:05.600 --> 0:20:08.080 so every time I would read something in legal Zoom 0:20:08.119 --> 0:20:11.119 that I wouldn't that I didn't understand, when. 0:20:11.000 --> 0:20:12.159 My lawyer got his ass up. 0:20:12.240 --> 0:20:14.439 No shit, your ass back down. I got thirty more minutes. 0:20:14.880 --> 0:20:18.760 I got these lists of questions. So after about twenty 0:20:18.880 --> 0:20:21.760 times of doing this with my lawyer, I got that shit. 0:20:22.520 --> 0:20:24.560 And it got to the point where other rappers would 0:20:24.560 --> 0:20:27.040 call me and say, hey, bro, read over my contract. 0:20:27.640 --> 0:20:29.800 I could pick out what was wrong. I didn't know 0:20:29.840 --> 0:20:32.640 how to rewrite the contract, but I could pick out 0:20:32.680 --> 0:20:34.879 what was wrong. But it was because I had the 0:20:34.960 --> 0:20:37.800 internal fortitude to study and learn on my own. 0:20:38.720 --> 0:20:40.800 I hope that so you got you got your four 0:20:40.840 --> 0:20:44.439 hours worth? Oh shit, you ever get mad at you 0:20:44.480 --> 0:20:47.320 for like yeo, bro, yeah is over? 0:20:48.080 --> 0:20:50.480 Well no, I will tell you that that. Come to 0:20:50.480 --> 0:20:53.000