WEBVTT - #476 - Dee-1 0:00:00.320 --> 0:00:03.200 Whoa, what's good everybody, It's your boy at D one 0:00:03.440 --> 0:00:07.240 And you could check me out on the Bootleg cav podcast. 0:00:10.440 --> 0:00:14.120 Yo, Bootleg cap podcast. Man special guests in here. My 0:00:14.240 --> 0:00:17.160 got D one is in the building, Yes, sir, welcome, Welcome, 0:00:17.200 --> 0:00:21.400 welcome man. Twelve years later, for sure, Bro, we first 0:00:21.440 --> 0:00:25.200 linked up in twenty twelve. I was on tour with Macklemore. 0:00:25.640 --> 0:00:28.840 We stopped through Tucson or Phoenix, Phoenix. It was like 0:00:28.880 --> 0:00:32.120 ten p yep, somehow, some way, some then you called 0:00:32.120 --> 0:00:34.640 the clubhouse, yeah yep, and I ended up at the three. 0:00:34.840 --> 0:00:37.680 That was like right when like the rip shop thrift 0:00:37.680 --> 0:00:39.280 Shop started to pop. It was kind of like it 0:00:39.360 --> 0:00:42.760 started to pop in the middle of that tour. Literally yeah, literally, yeah. 0:00:42.960 --> 0:00:44.720 It's like by the time that tour ended, Maclamore was 0:00:44.720 --> 0:00:46.360 a superstar. Bro. That tour was crazy. 0:00:46.400 --> 0:00:48.720 We were doing like fifteen hundred and two thousand CAP 0:00:48.800 --> 0:00:50.800 venues at the beginning of the tour. By the end 0:00:50.800 --> 0:00:52.120 of the tour they were like, Hey, we about to 0:00:52.159 --> 0:00:54.840 run this tour back and this time we're doing full arenas. 0:00:54.920 --> 0:00:55.920 You know, it's crazy. 0:00:56.000 --> 0:00:58.040 Yeah, So that's when we met, Bro. So thank you 0:00:58.080 --> 0:00:59.440 even back then for rocking with me. 0:00:59.480 --> 0:00:59.880 I don't know. 0:01:00.200 --> 0:01:02.840 I was independent, so maybe you just saw me open 0:01:03.040 --> 0:01:04.880 up for him and you were like, oh this do same. 0:01:04.760 --> 0:01:06.280 Do I think you were doing your thing too, Like 0:01:06.319 --> 0:01:08.280 I think I remember just seeing you on Like back 0:01:08.319 --> 0:01:12.280 then it was like the blog game was still now 0:01:12.440 --> 0:01:14.759 right to yeah, shot to Shake and making those guys 0:01:15.000 --> 0:01:16.680 two Door Boys was my site. Man, I'll go there, 0:01:17.240 --> 0:01:19.200 Sam Hill. I was like, yeah, I got similar taste 0:01:19.200 --> 0:01:22.600 to these guys. So it was crazy too because we 0:01:22.640 --> 0:01:26.200 talked about like gatekeepers before we're recording. I actually like 0:01:26.720 --> 0:01:29.520 respected those quote unquote gate keepers a lot more than 0:01:29.560 --> 0:01:35.160 I respect like this algorithmic playlist like situation that's happening 0:01:35.160 --> 0:01:37.320 because at least, like I feel like those guys, whether 0:01:37.360 --> 0:01:40.880 it was sk or Shake or whoever, like they really 0:01:40.920 --> 0:01:43.360 had like taste, dad taste. 0:01:43.440 --> 0:01:46.839 They had taste. Now it's just mind control. Yeah, playlists 0:01:46.880 --> 0:01:48.360 ain't nothing but mind control. 0:01:48.880 --> 0:01:52.560 But back then it was literally people who love music 0:01:52.920 --> 0:01:55.280 who are like, if it moves me, if I like it, 0:01:55.280 --> 0:01:57.000 it's getting posted it no matter how big it is, 0:01:57.120 --> 0:01:58.960 and you go, it don't matter what label is pushing 0:01:58.960 --> 0:01:59.320 it to me. 0:01:59.400 --> 0:02:02.360 Sure you know, I mean there was integrity. There was 0:02:02.360 --> 0:02:03.360 integrity back then. 0:02:03.240 --> 0:02:05.760 And It's crazy too, because there were more gatekeepers than 0:02:05.840 --> 0:02:08.160 per se during the blog era, but those dudes at 0:02:08.160 --> 0:02:11.400 the very least have like, in my opinion, like great taste, 0:02:12.120 --> 0:02:13.640 you know what I mean. Like I found so many 0:02:13.720 --> 0:02:17.280 artists on those sites that were like ground level artists here, bro, Like. 0:02:17.440 --> 0:02:20.120 I am who I am today because of blog era 0:02:20.240 --> 0:02:23.840 hip hop. So the all hip hop dot coms of 0:02:23.919 --> 0:02:26.760 the world, shout to my man, Chuck Shaking Meccas from 0:02:26.760 --> 0:02:32.079 Two Dope Boys, the uh Tumabasa from MTV jams. 0:02:32.200 --> 0:02:36.400 You heard oh Man music now right? Yeah? 0:02:36.639 --> 0:02:38.920 John Gotti from the Smoking Section. 0:02:38.760 --> 0:02:41.480 Yo, I love the speaking of guys. The Smoking Section 0:02:41.600 --> 0:02:43.760 was one of my fucking favorite sites. Yeah, Bro, I 0:02:43.800 --> 0:02:46.000 found like rits on there was a lot of like 0:02:46.360 --> 0:02:47.440 that was a good time, man. 0:02:47.440 --> 0:02:48.239 That was a good time. 0:02:48.320 --> 0:02:50.760 Bro. So we're like like now that there's because we're 0:02:50.760 --> 0:02:54.079 talking about gatekeepers, because you've been through kind of like 0:02:54.360 --> 0:02:57.280 I would say a lot of iterations of like what 0:02:57.320 --> 0:02:58.960 it means to be an artist in terms of like 0:02:58.960 --> 0:03:01.240 your experiences with the industry, right, because you've been on 0:03:01.280 --> 0:03:04.400 a major label as well, and now you're back to 0:03:04.480 --> 0:03:06.720 kind of are you you're fully independent independent? 0:03:08.080 --> 0:03:09.520 What would you say, is the. 0:03:11.040 --> 0:03:13.960 Being a part of so many eras of the music industry, 0:03:14.600 --> 0:03:18.360 What would you say is the most like fruitful way 0:03:18.440 --> 0:03:21.520 for an artist to kind of pop from, Because like 0:03:21.639 --> 0:03:25.320 now you see guys like L Russell kind of re 0:03:25.600 --> 0:03:29.639 envisioning what it means to be independent. You know, there's 0:03:29.720 --> 0:03:33.360 offer based shows and there's a website called even people 0:03:33.360 --> 0:03:34.400 are just selling music. 0:03:34.240 --> 0:03:37.280 Sanul price for the music correct right. 0:03:37.160 --> 0:03:38.800 And so it just seems like there's like this like 0:03:38.880 --> 0:03:42.000 quiet revolution happening, like against the machine. But like it 0:03:42.040 --> 0:03:43.520 is it better than when it was, like when you 0:03:43.560 --> 0:03:44.200 got in. 0:03:44.280 --> 0:03:46.480 Yes, because there's middle class rap. 0:03:46.520 --> 0:03:46.760 Now. 0:03:47.680 --> 0:03:49.440 Back then they didn't have middle class rap. 0:03:49.480 --> 0:03:52.880 You either a mega superstar or you a starving artist 0:03:53.000 --> 0:03:55.640 trying to make it. Now there's all these artists who 0:03:55.640 --> 0:03:58.240 are making six figures a year, even a cool seven 0:03:58.320 --> 0:04:01.760 figures a year, you heard me, and half the game 0:04:01.840 --> 0:04:03.920 might not even know who they are, but they just 0:04:04.320 --> 0:04:07.440 super serve their fan base. They know what their niche is, 0:04:07.520 --> 0:04:09.880 you feel me, and they super serve them. There's people 0:04:09.960 --> 0:04:12.360 like me and like L Russell who will go direct 0:04:12.360 --> 0:04:15.680 to consumer with our music. I don't I don't ever 0:04:15.720 --> 0:04:18.720 put my music out directly to the DSPs. At this point, 0:04:18.920 --> 0:04:21.080 I go on my website first and I tell all 0:04:21.120 --> 0:04:23.560 my diehards come to d one music dot com. You 0:04:23.640 --> 0:04:26.080 heard me, name your own price if you want the album. 0:04:26.240 --> 0:04:28.320 So my new album that I just put out is 0:04:28.360 --> 0:04:30.600 called Loaded. It debuted that number two in the world 0:04:30.720 --> 0:04:33.000 on the hip hop charts, behind eminem iTunes. 0:04:33.120 --> 0:04:34.720 Yeah, on iTunes, right behind. 0:04:34.480 --> 0:04:37.440 Eminem number two in the world independent right, that album 0:04:37.520 --> 0:04:40.640 had been out for three months on your fullhand yeow. 0:04:40.839 --> 0:04:42.600 So it's like your fans got it first. Yeah, my 0:04:42.960 --> 0:04:44.039 diehards got it first. 0:04:44.040 --> 0:04:46.080 People paying up to one thousand dollars for the album 0:04:46.160 --> 0:04:49.040 cam right, literally multiple people thousand here, a thousand and there, 0:04:49.120 --> 0:04:51.960 five hundred here, two fifty there, ten dollars here, twenty 0:04:52.000 --> 0:04:52.520 dollars there. 0:04:52.720 --> 0:04:54.680 But you add that up now when I put it 0:04:54.680 --> 0:04:55.320 on streaming. 0:04:55.600 --> 0:04:57.680 To still do those type of numbers and make that 0:04:57.720 --> 0:05:00.000 type of impact on streaming, it's powerful. 0:05:00.040 --> 0:05:00.719 Well you know what I mean. 0:05:01.080 --> 0:05:04.560 And the album consists of let me see, I had 0:05:04.680 --> 0:05:07.240 Fredo Bang featured on the album. You know FREDI I 0:05:07.279 --> 0:05:10.200 think you have Frederick that's my former middle school student. 0:05:10.520 --> 0:05:11.480 I used to be his teacher. 0:05:11.640 --> 0:05:15.120 What yeah, bagging band ruge Yeah, right, so crazy. Like 0:05:15.480 --> 0:05:17.960 Fredo is on the album That's Love. That's a relationship. 0:05:17.960 --> 0:05:20.440 Project Patters on the album you Hear Me That's Love. 0:05:20.520 --> 0:05:22.680 That's a relationship. My brother star Ledo is on the 0:05:22.720 --> 0:05:24.200 album you hear Me That's Love. 0:05:24.560 --> 0:05:26.520 Try to start Leado very slept on due Mat shot 0:05:26.520 --> 0:05:27.200 out to Nashville. 0:05:27.279 --> 0:05:31.159 Yeah, bro, So this feels like the best ever ever 0:05:31.600 --> 0:05:34.080 to where if you are willing to work hard. Before 0:05:34.200 --> 0:05:37.480 it was working hard but still having to go through gatekeepers. 0:05:37.720 --> 0:05:41.200 Now with social media, you can go directly to the people. 0:05:41.560 --> 0:05:44.120 And when you form a connection with the people, they 0:05:44.120 --> 0:05:45.159 don't care who you signed to. 0:05:45.680 --> 0:05:48.480 They don't care what other artists are co signing you. 0:05:48.480 --> 0:05:50.279 You know, there was an ever where you had to 0:05:50.320 --> 0:05:52.600 have a big co sign to really get in. 0:05:52.680 --> 0:05:55.000 You know what I'm saying. It's not like that anymore. 0:05:55.040 --> 0:05:56.520 So, if you're willing to work hard and if you 0:05:56.600 --> 0:05:59.719 got a product that the fans could tell, man, I 0:05:59.760 --> 0:06:02.480 love your art, but I love your heart, They're gonna lock. 0:06:02.440 --> 0:06:05.240 In with you, bro, and that's the key to my longevity. Yeah. 0:06:05.240 --> 0:06:07.560 I was gonna say, like, it feels like, you know, 0:06:09.360 --> 0:06:14.200 there's almost artists are so ignorant. I feel like there's dope, 0:06:14.320 --> 0:06:17.040 independent artists, or even ignorant to the possibility of like 0:06:18.200 --> 0:06:22.560 doing that. As opposed, they're chasing playlists. They're chasing the 0:06:22.640 --> 0:06:24.520 wrong shit where it's like, Yo, if you even got 0:06:24.520 --> 0:06:26.599 like one hundred people racking with you, one hundred people, 0:06:26.600 --> 0:06:27.880 that's some enough to pay the. 0:06:27.839 --> 0:06:29.919 Bills straight up, I mean straight up, straight up. 0:06:29.920 --> 0:06:31.960 If you got a hundred people spending one hundred dollars 0:06:32.000 --> 0:06:33.719 a year with you, that's ten rags. 0:06:33.800 --> 0:06:35.320 Yeah, off of just one hundred people. 0:06:35.600 --> 0:06:35.760 Yeah. 0:06:36.320 --> 0:06:38.119 If you get a thousand people to spend one hundred 0:06:38.120 --> 0:06:40.919 dollars a year with you, that's a hundred rags. 0:06:40.960 --> 0:06:41.080 Bro. 0:06:42.160 --> 0:06:44.600 People don't want to think about it like that because 0:06:45.000 --> 0:06:47.919 the playlist is what it has been glamorized. Just for 0:06:47.960 --> 0:06:50.920 everybody watching this, I've been on the big playlist. I'm 0:06:50.920 --> 0:06:53.400 on them right now as we speak. I'm sure some 0:06:53.480 --> 0:06:55.640 of my singles are on some of these big playlists 0:06:55.680 --> 0:06:56.360 as we speak. 0:06:56.640 --> 0:06:58.080 That stuff don't change your life. 0:06:58.080 --> 0:06:58.279 Man. 0:06:58.480 --> 0:07:01.120 That's somebody working out in the gym or just with 0:07:01.200 --> 0:07:03.080 their music playing at the crib. 0:07:03.200 --> 0:07:05.719 They're not engaged, they're not even on, but it comes on. 0:07:05.839 --> 0:07:08.480 Yeah, it's like, oh, it's on, and then like you're 0:07:08.520 --> 0:07:12.280 making minimum money off of I think it's thirty eight 0:07:12.400 --> 0:07:14.760 hundred semi dollars off of a million streams. 0:07:14.880 --> 0:07:17.240 Yeah, so you're making one third of a penny for 0:07:17.320 --> 0:07:20.400 every individual stream. So then you do the math, and 0:07:20.440 --> 0:07:22.720 I believe, like you said, on a million streams, that 0:07:22.840 --> 0:07:25.160 might come out to like thirty eight hundred dollars. Bro, 0:07:25.200 --> 0:07:27.960 if somebody listened to my music a million times, Bro, 0:07:28.280 --> 0:07:29.600 I better be making more than that. 0:07:29.720 --> 0:07:31.520 No, it's it's it's actually crazy. 0:07:31.640 --> 0:07:33.360 It's like I feel like there has to be And 0:07:33.360 --> 0:07:37.080 then there are major labels who have ownership stake in. 0:07:37.600 --> 0:07:40.000 Some of the playlists or in pees that you go 0:07:40.120 --> 0:07:40.680 in Spotify. 0:07:40.760 --> 0:07:42.920 Yeah, and so it's like, at what point in time 0:07:43.040 --> 0:07:45.280 is this whole thing like rigged against like an artist 0:07:45.360 --> 0:07:49.320 that isn't on in that system. I wouldn't say rigged, 0:07:49.320 --> 0:07:54.040 but it's very, very almost damn near impossible, Yeah, to 0:07:54.440 --> 0:07:57.920 make a career off of music if you're just depending 0:07:57.960 --> 0:08:00.040 on like the conventional. 0:08:00.320 --> 0:08:03.920 Streaming income, yesps DSP, you're cooked. 0:08:04.280 --> 0:08:05.720 Let you win the lottery. 0:08:05.400 --> 0:08:06.320 Cap I think I got. 0:08:06.480 --> 0:08:10.000 I think I counted about thirteen income streams that I 0:08:10.040 --> 0:08:11.240 have just off of music. 0:08:11.520 --> 0:08:12.960 I'm gonna try to recall them right now. 0:08:12.960 --> 0:08:16.080 So we got streaming royalties, we got publishing, we got 0:08:16.120 --> 0:08:19.800 direct to consumer, name your own price money, we got concerts, 0:08:20.080 --> 0:08:23.320 we got merch we got speaking engagements. Currently, I'm a 0:08:23.320 --> 0:08:26.400 college professor. I me at Harvard University and a professor 0:08:26.440 --> 0:08:29.240 at Toughs University in Boston. I teach a course called 0:08:29.280 --> 0:08:32.640 the Intersection of Hip Hop and Social Change, so teaching. 0:08:32.720 --> 0:08:33.320 You know what I mean? 0:08:33.559 --> 0:08:38.160 You got features, collabs, you feel me. You got brand 0:08:38.200 --> 0:08:40.000 partnerships and endorsements. 0:08:40.000 --> 0:08:41.760 When you can get those, that's nine right there. 0:08:42.040 --> 0:08:42.440 You got. 0:08:42.920 --> 0:08:44.720 I know I'm forgetting some more because I always think 0:08:44.760 --> 0:08:46.960 about them. That's easy off the top of my head. 0:08:47.040 --> 0:08:48.120 Quick nine right there. 0:08:48.160 --> 0:08:48.680 You know what I mean. 0:08:49.080 --> 0:08:50.120 You got sink licensing. 0:08:51.200 --> 0:08:53.600 Yeah, when you get your song sinth in movies and 0:08:53.600 --> 0:08:56.760 then commercials and all that and this type of stuff. 0:08:57.160 --> 0:08:59.760 I don't know if I say it speaking engagements. Maybe did. Yeah, 0:09:00.080 --> 0:09:02.880 But this is just a quick litt ten piece that 0:09:02.920 --> 0:09:03.400 I named. 0:09:03.440 --> 0:09:03.960 You know what I mean. 0:09:04.080 --> 0:09:09.160 Some artists are just super focused on just one one, 0:09:09.600 --> 0:09:10.760 one stream of income. 0:09:11.040 --> 0:09:12.560 It ain't supposed to be like that. No more. 0:09:12.600 --> 0:09:16.720 Man, You got podcasting. I just launched my first episode 0:09:16.720 --> 0:09:19.920 of my podcast today. Congress it's called flipping tables with 0:09:20.040 --> 0:09:23.199 D one. You heard me, because so much has been 0:09:23.240 --> 0:09:25.760 happening over the past year. I don't know how much 0:09:25.800 --> 0:09:27.280 you've been keeping up, man, but I've been in some 0:09:27.280 --> 0:09:29.640 pretty high profile back. 0:09:29.520 --> 0:09:30.360 And forth back and forth. 0:09:30.440 --> 0:09:33.360 I think and Rick Ross, right, Yeah, Jim Jones meet 0:09:33.400 --> 0:09:36.120 meil Rick Ross, and Joe Buden chimed in, and it 0:09:36.160 --> 0:09:39.079 didn't feel fair to me that a brother like Joe Budden, 0:09:39.120 --> 0:09:39.439 who I. 0:09:39.400 --> 0:09:41.760 Never met before, I heard you call him out on 0:09:41.760 --> 0:09:43.120 the new Yeah, on a new song. 0:09:43.200 --> 0:09:47.080 Yeah, because he had three full podcast episodes where I'm 0:09:47.080 --> 0:09:49.680 a topic of discussion of his, you know, and he 0:09:49.760 --> 0:09:53.560 gets to in long form content, gets to speak his 0:09:53.679 --> 0:09:56.040 piece about who he thinks D one is and how 0:09:56.080 --> 0:09:58.679 he thinks D one is just a cloud chaser and 0:09:58.720 --> 0:10:00.199 not legit and da. 0:10:00.160 --> 0:10:03.160 Da da da da, and speaking down on even my faith. 0:10:03.200 --> 0:10:04.920 You heard me, the fact that I'm Christian and all 0:10:04.920 --> 0:10:08.160 this type of stuff. And I was, like day based 0:10:08.200 --> 0:10:10.160 on the way I put content out, all I got 0:10:10.200 --> 0:10:13.760 is songs and maybe ninety second reels. 0:10:13.800 --> 0:10:15.079 So I love the fact of it. 0:10:15.160 --> 0:10:18.280 Salute to you, even for with podcasting when you're really 0:10:18.280 --> 0:10:20.360 a thinker. You heard me, like you're really a thinker 0:10:20.400 --> 0:10:23.760 and a listener, so it allows you to have these 0:10:23.840 --> 0:10:27.400 longer conversations to where you can understand someone's hard and 0:10:27.480 --> 0:10:29.280 their thought process behind what they're doing. 0:10:29.400 --> 0:10:32.280 Yeah, it's almost like when you watch like the news 0:10:32.960 --> 0:10:36.360 and people like form opinions based on like four people 0:10:36.400 --> 0:10:38.160 on TV trying to each get in their forty five 0:10:38.240 --> 0:10:41.000 second point as opposed to like listening to like a 0:10:41.040 --> 0:10:44.319 politician or somebody speak on like a long form conversation 0:10:44.440 --> 0:10:45.880 where you can get like for the understanding. 0:10:45.920 --> 0:10:46.560 It's the same shit. 0:10:46.640 --> 0:10:48.679 It's like like like you said, like now you can 0:10:48.800 --> 0:10:51.760 articulate your points in a greater way if you have 0:10:51.800 --> 0:10:52.520 your own podcast. 0:10:52.679 --> 0:10:55.080 And then Kendrick Lamug just threw me the alley oop 0:10:55.120 --> 0:10:57.160 of all alley oops last week. You hear me sh 0:10:57.280 --> 0:10:59.120 Now the Kendrick shit's crazy, Like where were you when 0:10:59.360 --> 0:11:03.280 when you I was on Instagram Live. Yeah, on Instagram 0:11:03.320 --> 0:11:05.520 Live because my city in New Orleans was very mad 0:11:05.640 --> 0:11:07.760 with me. I was like public aneman number one last 0:11:07.760 --> 0:11:10.880 week to New Orleans because when the announcement came out 0:11:10.920 --> 0:11:13.840 that Kendrick was performing at the Super Bowl, so many 0:11:13.840 --> 0:11:16.880 people in New Orleans were mad, super upset that it 0:11:16.960 --> 0:11:17.679 wasn't Lil Wayne. 0:11:18.559 --> 0:11:21.120 I noticed, Yeah, And I'm from New Orleans. You know, 0:11:21.160 --> 0:11:22.040 it's my hometown. 0:11:22.720 --> 0:11:23.000 Man. 0:11:24.000 --> 0:11:26.240 For me to say like, yo, like, let's keep it 0:11:26.240 --> 0:11:28.559 a buck. You heard me, Like, where's this sense of 0:11:28.720 --> 0:11:31.319 entitlement coming from? Like the artist has to be somebody 0:11:31.360 --> 0:11:33.280 from New Orleans just because the super Bowl is here, 0:11:33.480 --> 0:11:34.760 number one and number two. 0:11:34.960 --> 0:11:35.959 I was keeping it a hundred. 0:11:36.000 --> 0:11:38.880 I'm a former middle school teacher, I'm a college professor. 0:11:39.040 --> 0:11:42.280 I'm a dude who's hip hop music is clearly message driven, 0:11:42.320 --> 0:11:45.120 you know what I'm saying. It got message mixed in 0:11:45.440 --> 0:11:48.200 with dope beats and dope flow and all that. So 0:11:48.240 --> 0:11:50.280 when we talk about the message, I was like, let's 0:11:50.320 --> 0:11:52.920 keep it a hundred. About the message that Wayne has 0:11:52.960 --> 0:11:54.680 often glorified in his music. 0:11:54.679 --> 0:11:58.000 You know what I'm saying, is that something that is 0:11:58.120 --> 0:12:02.240 necessarily conducive to one hundred million plus audience who's gonna 0:12:02.240 --> 0:12:04.280 be watching the super Bowl have to and just me 0:12:04.400 --> 0:12:06.560 saying that, Bro, it's the same stuff I was saying 0:12:06.600 --> 0:12:09.720 with Rick Ross and and you know back then almost 0:12:09.760 --> 0:12:12.559 a year ago, and the city had my back then, 0:12:12.840 --> 0:12:15.319 but now because it applied to somebody from the city, 0:12:15.400 --> 0:12:15.760 I just. 0:12:15.679 --> 0:12:18.560 Said, like obviously Wayne's a legend, but I think like 0:12:19.360 --> 0:12:22.319 if you just if you're the super Bowl and you're 0:12:22.360 --> 0:12:27.240 the NFL, Like he just did WrestleMania. 0:12:26.520 --> 0:12:28.200 And forgot a lot of his lyrics and it was 0:12:28.280 --> 0:12:29.120 it was a less. 0:12:28.880 --> 0:12:32.319 Than best performance, and like he's just had like interesting 0:12:32.600 --> 0:12:34.679 on stage situations over the last few years. 0:12:34.800 --> 0:12:36.640 He's like walked off and like, I. 0:12:36.640 --> 0:12:39.679 Just don't know if I'm like yo, Like Kendrick also 0:12:39.840 --> 0:12:42.840 happens to be like the number. I mean, like having 0:12:42.880 --> 0:12:45.679 a crazy year and he's Kendrick Lamar, Like what are 0:12:45.720 --> 0:12:49.280 we talking about? Like over the last decade, Like that's 0:12:49.320 --> 0:12:49.760 the move. 0:12:50.080 --> 0:12:52.680 He's been a glitch in the matrix in that he 0:12:52.760 --> 0:12:55.480 clearly has a message in his music that's about pushing 0:12:55.480 --> 0:12:59.839 things forward in life, right progression, but has become a 0:13:00.120 --> 0:13:02.160 mainstream as you could get you know what I'm saying, 0:13:02.280 --> 0:13:03.719 Like that's and. 0:13:03.679 --> 0:13:06.240 He's always here and he's always been that. That's rare, bro, 0:13:06.320 --> 0:13:09.520 It's never He's never not done what he is doing. 0:13:09.640 --> 0:13:11.800 So what message do we want to send to the 0:13:11.920 --> 0:13:12.640 kids at home? 0:13:12.840 --> 0:13:15.240 Do we want to send a message that it's possible 0:13:15.559 --> 0:13:18.360 to stand for something, you know, to have some morals, 0:13:18.440 --> 0:13:20.280 values and principles. 0:13:19.720 --> 0:13:22.120 And make it and make it right. That's a fire 0:13:22.200 --> 0:13:24.200 message to send you, hear me. So when I got 0:13:24.240 --> 0:13:26.600 the announcement that Kendrick shouted me out in his new song, 0:13:26.640 --> 0:13:29.880 I was on Instagram live explaining this to a lot 0:13:29.880 --> 0:13:32.240 of people in my city who were mad at my 0:13:32.320 --> 0:13:34.600 commentary on the super Bowl, and all of a sudden, 0:13:34.840 --> 0:13:37.760 the comments got flooded with a wave of new people saying, 0:13:37.880 --> 0:13:39.120 Kendrick Lamach just shout. 0:13:38.920 --> 0:13:40.840 At you out, yo, Kendrick just mentioned you. 0:13:40.880 --> 0:13:42.240 So I didn't know if it was real or not, 0:13:42.320 --> 0:13:44.520 but I was like, whether or not that's real. 0:13:45.040 --> 0:13:47.200 They say he's giving you your flowers. This is amazing. 0:13:47.360 --> 0:13:49.920 I said, the thing about flowers, y'all, is that flowers 0:13:49.960 --> 0:13:53.000 eventually die. I said, So, if it's true what y'all 0:13:53.000 --> 0:13:54.600 are saying, salute to Kendrick. 0:13:54.800 --> 0:13:56.679 I love you, my brother, thank you. But I want 0:13:56.720 --> 0:13:58.120 everybody watching his live to. 0:13:58.160 --> 0:14:02.520 Know that I do this for the approval of somebody 0:14:02.520 --> 0:14:04.280 that ain't They ain't even here, and that's God. 0:14:04.360 --> 0:14:05.480 You feel me, because for. 0:14:05.520 --> 0:14:09.000 Me, I've had the approval from the bootleg caves, now 0:14:09.040 --> 0:14:10.560 the Kendrick Lamar's, the fans. 0:14:10.760 --> 0:14:12.760 But I see how quick them same fans will turn 0:14:12.840 --> 0:14:13.040 on you. 0:14:13.640 --> 0:14:16.080 So when they talk about like you get these flowers 0:14:16.080 --> 0:14:19.280 and you're supposed to be just almost like Mama made 0:14:19.320 --> 0:14:21.240 it type of moment. I just know how to not 0:14:21.320 --> 0:14:23.480 get too high on the highest and not get too 0:14:23.520 --> 0:14:24.240 low on the lows. 0:14:24.280 --> 0:14:27.160 You know, people should do that in life. In life, bro. 0:14:27.800 --> 0:14:30.440 So I was like, Yo, it's amazing that in the 0:14:30.560 --> 0:14:35.080 same week I'm experiencing condemnation from my city, everything from 0:14:35.360 --> 0:14:37.840 people making debt threads to saying you can't come back 0:14:37.880 --> 0:14:39.840 to the city and you canceled in New Orleans and 0:14:39.840 --> 0:14:45.120 all this stuff, to elevation and validation from Kendrick saying 0:14:45.640 --> 0:14:48.280 I want to be empathetic heart like d one, you 0:14:48.320 --> 0:14:48.520 know what, I. 0:14:49.240 --> 0:14:51.160 Want to know what he was What the end of 0:14:51.160 --> 0:14:53.320 that line was, because he stopped. What you think it was, 0:14:53.480 --> 0:14:57.800 I don't know, but it was well he said, but 0:14:57.920 --> 0:14:59.760 I will, he said, I want to be empathetic. 0:15:00.120 --> 0:15:00.560 I will. 0:15:00.640 --> 0:15:04.160 I will exactly, So you could imagine that for sure. 0:15:04.280 --> 0:15:06.680 No, Yeah, I thought that was super dope though. 0:15:06.760 --> 0:15:09.800 So for you, like like you said, man like, I 0:15:09.800 --> 0:15:13.840 feel like you've always been pushing positivity, always been very 0:15:13.960 --> 0:15:15.800 very like ahead of the curve in terms of like 0:15:16.080 --> 0:15:17.680 I mean not even ahead of the curve. You've always 0:15:17.960 --> 0:15:21.840 been like integrity first as a person and you know 0:15:21.880 --> 0:15:24.120 as an artist and as everything else comes after that, Right, 0:15:24.200 --> 0:15:27.880 But I wonder for you, like, does that just feel 0:15:27.920 --> 0:15:31.960 good knowing that? Like, man, you just you've got gone 0:15:31.960 --> 0:15:34.760 through it with you know, Meek, mel Rick Ross and 0:15:35.480 --> 0:15:37.800 people you know saying a B and C about you, 0:15:37.880 --> 0:15:41.960 But to like have the guy you know, in my opinion, 0:15:43.000 --> 0:15:45.840 you know, I've had Kendrick in my top five for 0:15:45.920 --> 0:15:49.520 probably like six years, and I think after this last 0:15:49.560 --> 0:15:51.960 twelve months, it's either him or Hove as the goat, 0:15:52.080 --> 0:15:54.480 you know, from being honest, like personally for my list, 0:15:54.920 --> 0:15:57.960 I always had him around four or five. But I 0:15:58.000 --> 0:16:00.480 think he's you know what it's all said, He's gonna 0:16:00.480 --> 0:16:01.760 be the greatest of all time, you know, with all 0:16:01.800 --> 0:16:02.600 due respect to jay Z. 0:16:02.720 --> 0:16:06.680 But what's that feel like though? Man? Like, it's just. 0:16:07.280 --> 0:16:10.800 It's validation that even when people try to tell me 0:16:10.840 --> 0:16:14.520 that I'm crazy or that I could go further faster 0:16:14.760 --> 0:16:16.120 if I switched my message up. 0:16:16.320 --> 0:16:19.840 It's just like it's proof that the. 0:16:19.840 --> 0:16:22.040 People who y'all look up to and the people who 0:16:22.160 --> 0:16:24.840 y'all might feel like can do no wrong in y'all eyes. 0:16:25.120 --> 0:16:28.080 Those people are actually saluting a brother that's just been 0:16:28.120 --> 0:16:30.560 consistent the whole time. And it it's like, hey, he's 0:16:30.600 --> 0:16:32.600 gonna get a where he's destined to be in the 0:16:32.680 --> 0:16:35.440 time he was destined to be there because I've always 0:16:35.440 --> 0:16:37.720 put impact over income, you know what I mean. 0:16:38.080 --> 0:16:41.080 You get into this game and if you're seeking out. Man. 0:16:41.200 --> 0:16:46.120 Just today, bro, So, Kevin Lows stepped down as from 0:16:46.400 --> 0:16:51.360 three hundred Entertainment or as the as the head guy Diddy. 0:16:51.440 --> 0:16:54.320 They said Diddy is arrested as of yesterday trying to 0:16:54.320 --> 0:16:56.640 get out on fifty million. I heard on TMZ they 0:16:56.640 --> 0:17:01.080 say he offered fifty million dollars on buying to get out. 0:17:01.080 --> 0:17:03.800 I think they denied it, you know, Bro, Like the 0:17:03.880 --> 0:17:06.480 empire is crumbling, the empire as we knew it in 0:17:06.560 --> 0:17:10.520 hip hop, to where all of this stuff that glorifies 0:17:11.280 --> 0:17:15.680