WEBVTT - Tink 0:00:03.840 --> 0:00:07.760 Money ladies and gentlemen. My name is Tank Valentine. Oh 0:00:08.039 --> 0:00:11.080 and this is the R and B Money Podcast, the 0:00:11.200 --> 0:00:18.680 authority on all things what R and B. Oh, my goodness. 0:00:18.680 --> 0:00:22.200 The last part that you forgot out, the money part, 0:00:22.880 --> 0:00:25.520 the independent money part. 0:00:25.920 --> 0:00:29.120 Listen, man, I don't know where you're from. Yeah, you 0:00:29.160 --> 0:00:31.440 know what I'm saying, shout down. I don't know where 0:00:31.440 --> 0:00:37.920 you're from. I would have been through that. We've been 0:00:37.920 --> 0:00:42.519 through them street and I'm not I'm gonna say it, 0:00:42.600 --> 0:00:50.920 Shoutown's finest, y'all makes noise for taking the film. I'm listen. 0:00:51.440 --> 0:00:55.120 I'll be listening to your music and I'll be like, Okay, 0:00:55.240 --> 0:00:58.959 that's that's something I would have said, just in reverse. 0:00:59.200 --> 0:01:03.840 It's aggressive. It is aggressive aggress And so I was 0:01:03.880 --> 0:01:06.040 just going down the projects and I was trying to 0:01:06.120 --> 0:01:09.800 count how many times you said the word pussy. I 0:01:09.840 --> 0:01:12.759 was trying to count because you when I say you're 0:01:13.040 --> 0:01:16.160 you'll break it out this pussy to put the pussy. 0:01:16.520 --> 0:01:17.119 And I was like this. 0:01:19.959 --> 0:01:21.600 So early we just started. 0:01:23.400 --> 0:01:25.200 We told you we're different around here. This ain't no 0:01:25.240 --> 0:01:30.039 regular you know, I mean, you you say it the 0:01:30.200 --> 0:01:35.600 way it is, and and for me, like I'm a 0:01:35.840 --> 0:01:38.600 very visual, you know what I mean. I'm a very 0:01:38.680 --> 0:01:41.360 visual person. Like as soon as you start to sing 0:01:41.440 --> 0:01:44.560 or talk, I go straight into my imagination. And if 0:01:44.560 --> 0:01:49.800 you can visualize line by line, that's when you're a writer, 0:01:49.920 --> 0:01:51.840 thank you. That's when you are a real songwriter. That's 0:01:51.840 --> 0:01:55.640 the that's when you're creating an atmosphere, right Shi, It 0:01:55.720 --> 0:01:57.200 has to happen when your music comes on. 0:01:57.600 --> 0:01:59.400 Absolutely, my ladies, they need it. 0:01:59.560 --> 0:02:03.520 You know, it's raw, it's to the point, you know, 0:02:03.800 --> 0:02:05.880 you know how it gets as you say. I want 0:02:05.880 --> 0:02:09.280 to say this first, I'm so honored. Literally I have 0:02:09.360 --> 0:02:14.160 been listening to your music, your influence for years. So 0:02:14.200 --> 0:02:16.560 whatever you see in me is literally you know, me 0:02:16.760 --> 0:02:19.920 just taking from everything that I've heard from you, and 0:02:19.960 --> 0:02:20.880 I'm honored to be here. 0:02:21.160 --> 0:02:21.600 Awesome. 0:02:21.720 --> 0:02:23.960 I just have to throw that I'm such a student 0:02:24.000 --> 0:02:25.560 of the game and I can tell you just do 0:02:25.639 --> 0:02:26.000 not know. 0:02:26.360 --> 0:02:27.280 This means so much to me. 0:02:27.560 --> 0:02:31.400 Absolutely so we're blessed to have you because you cook it. 0:02:31.480 --> 0:02:34.240 Because you cook it, and I think that you know 0:02:34.760 --> 0:02:39.480 you represent I think we give, we give flowers, and 0:02:39.520 --> 0:02:42.799 we give celebration to anybody. What I say, who can 0:02:42.840 --> 0:02:44.960 get off that bench? You know what I'm saying and 0:02:45.040 --> 0:02:47.320 get into the space, because it's hard enough to just 0:02:47.360 --> 0:02:50.079 get in the game and to have some some success 0:02:50.680 --> 0:02:54.080 regardless of your level of talent. But you, for us, 0:02:54.440 --> 0:02:56.840 you represent a very high level of talent. You represent 0:02:56.919 --> 0:02:59.560 where we come from, like we come from, real hard 0:02:59.560 --> 0:03:02.639 workingction and true gift. You know what I mean, This is. 0:03:02.639 --> 0:03:03.440 My whole soul. 0:03:03.600 --> 0:03:05.560 I get so much song when I hear when I 0:03:05.560 --> 0:03:07.840 hear your voice, your music, That's what I try to 0:03:07.840 --> 0:03:10.720 bring to the game, to my soul. So it was like, 0:03:10.760 --> 0:03:12.480 you know, you keep it robbing kind of straight to 0:03:12.520 --> 0:03:14.919 the point. I agree, it has to be felt. 0:03:15.160 --> 0:03:21.800 Yeah, because your your truth resonates with with with everyone 0:03:21.880 --> 0:03:25.040 that's within that connective fiber, you know what I mean. 0:03:25.080 --> 0:03:29.200 You like you never you never really realize how many 0:03:29.280 --> 0:03:32.400 people now that are just listening but are connected to 0:03:32.520 --> 0:03:36.200 your journey. Like it it's beyond say that. 0:03:36.440 --> 0:03:39.280 Yeah, oh my god, the journey. Yeah yeah, I've been 0:03:39.320 --> 0:03:42.000 making music so long y'all, so I felt that word 0:03:42.080 --> 0:03:44.520 the journey. 0:03:46.120 --> 0:03:49.840 Get into that. When's the first time somebody said, bab 0:03:51.600 --> 0:03:53.040 this one right here? Got it? 0:03:53.480 --> 0:03:55.520 Well, you know, I started making music in my basement, 0:03:56.120 --> 0:03:59.720 So my journey has been for years back in twenty 0:03:59.720 --> 0:04:02.240 twelve is when I got my start. So this is 0:04:02.280 --> 0:04:05.840 like Chicago days when I didn't have a dime and 0:04:06.000 --> 0:04:08.720 all I had was a computer and my father, he 0:04:08.720 --> 0:04:11.120 would have recorded me in my basement. Your father, your 0:04:11.120 --> 0:04:15.080 father's My father was my engineer. He recorded my first 0:04:15.360 --> 0:04:21.320 two mixtapes. Yeah, shout out to my father. He really 0:04:21.680 --> 0:04:25.520 really did his did his big one. My first supporter. So, 0:04:25.800 --> 0:04:28.160 like I say, this is like really built into me 0:04:29.160 --> 0:04:31.200 from an early age. I had to be about thirteen 0:04:31.960 --> 0:04:34.599 and we started molding this, you know, this artistry in 0:04:34.640 --> 0:04:37.680 the basement. He would sit at his guitar. You know, 0:04:37.720 --> 0:04:40.240 I would get an hour on the weekends. He had 0:04:40.240 --> 0:04:42.320 things to do, so you know, I had to make 0:04:42.320 --> 0:04:45.080 sure I came prepared. It came with my my lyrics ready. 0:04:45.800 --> 0:04:48.120 And that's why I take it so serious, y'all because 0:04:48.520 --> 0:04:49.640 I've been doing this. 0:04:49.520 --> 0:04:53.440 For a long long time. Yeah, So it's in me, 0:04:54.279 --> 0:04:54.880 really in me. 0:04:55.600 --> 0:05:00.640 That is that family dynamic is crazy. Pops with the 0:05:00.720 --> 0:05:03.600 engineering and with the guitar. Was he was he in 0:05:03.640 --> 0:05:05.599 the in the space as a professional. 0:05:06.360 --> 0:05:08.600 Well, no, he was the engineer and he also played 0:05:08.880 --> 0:05:11.719 He plays piano and guitar, so he would have artists 0:05:11.760 --> 0:05:13.800 come through the basement and I would kind of watch 0:05:13.800 --> 0:05:18.400 people record. My mom was a gospel singer, so she 0:05:18.440 --> 0:05:21.119 would be around the house singing all day. She also 0:05:21.200 --> 0:05:24.560 recorded her own songs and wrote her own material. So 0:05:24.680 --> 0:05:27.080 music is just like all throughout my family. My father 0:05:27.120 --> 0:05:30.200 would record her and I would just watch this as 0:05:30.200 --> 0:05:32.080 a baby growing up, just taking notes. 0:05:32.240 --> 0:05:32.440 You know. 0:05:32.640 --> 0:05:34.320 I would be trying to peek down the stairs, like 0:05:34.320 --> 0:05:37.040 who's coming in to day? You know which y'all recording 0:05:37.080 --> 0:05:40.400 what she talking about. But that's how I got my start, 0:05:40.560 --> 0:05:42.800 just watching, and I asked my father one day, can 0:05:42.839 --> 0:05:45.359 you record me or show me how to you know, 0:05:45.480 --> 0:05:45.880 show me. 0:05:45.880 --> 0:05:47.000 How to record music? 0:05:47.920 --> 0:05:51.280 And he gave me, you know, my first my first 0:05:51.279 --> 0:05:53.040 couple of records, and I took it from there. 0:05:54.080 --> 0:05:57.159 That's crazy. So Pops was doing the tracks. Well. 0:05:57.480 --> 0:05:59.160 I would find my beasts on YouTube, y'all. 0:05:59.200 --> 0:06:02.039 This is like early so I would find, like, you know, 0:06:02.640 --> 0:06:05.479 found my beats wherever I could, and my father would 0:06:05.520 --> 0:06:07.640 engineer me and then he would kind of help me 0:06:07.720 --> 0:06:10.120 mix it down and add pieces guitar here and there. 0:06:10.880 --> 0:06:14.040 So my biggest record is like treat me like somebody. 0:06:14.320 --> 0:06:17.000 We recorded that in the basement. He had gave me 0:06:17.040 --> 0:06:19.760 two hours. You know, it was just a Saturday, and 0:06:20.320 --> 0:06:21.880 you know, like I say, he had a job, so 0:06:21.920 --> 0:06:24.360 he couldn't he couldn't record all day. I had two 0:06:24.400 --> 0:06:26.160 hours to come in and do what I had to do. 0:06:27.200 --> 0:06:30.600 And that's probably one of my biggest records to date. 0:06:30.680 --> 0:06:33.760 So I owe my father so much credit, so much credit. 0:06:34.000 --> 0:06:37.000 And it's dope because it gave you, in a sense, 0:06:37.160 --> 0:06:40.960 early studio etiquette understanding, like when. 0:06:40.800 --> 0:06:42.880 I come here, I'm here to work. 0:06:43.080 --> 0:06:43.839 That's what I mean. 0:06:43.920 --> 0:06:46.440 It's it's very serious for me, like I didn't have 0:06:46.480 --> 0:06:48.960 time to play or you know, I had like maybe 0:06:49.040 --> 0:06:51.279 one loop to do the song and then we would 0:06:51.320 --> 0:06:53.000 go and do another loop of ad libs. 0:06:53.120 --> 0:06:55.400 It wasn't like you can you know kind of. 0:06:56.839 --> 0:06:58.400 And then none of that exactly. 0:06:58.560 --> 0:07:00.039 It was a one take thing. I didn't have a 0:07:00.160 --> 0:07:01.960 the time. He didn't have a lot of time. 0:07:02.080 --> 0:07:04.560 So yeah, you know that really just trained me to 0:07:04.640 --> 0:07:07.520 go in and have you have your music rehearsed. I 0:07:07.600 --> 0:07:11.120 was practicing before I went in that basement, and you. 0:07:11.080 --> 0:07:15.800 Know what, that's that's lost. Practicing before you go in 0:07:15.920 --> 0:07:20.320 the studio. That's lost because I used to do that, 0:07:20.400 --> 0:07:23.000 Like if I would was writing songs or whatever before 0:07:23.000 --> 0:07:25.160 I actually because I would write it in my basement, make 0:07:25.200 --> 0:07:26.960 the tracks and do all the stuff, and I'd be 0:07:27.040 --> 0:07:29.800 singing it and figuring, and I'd figure out my my 0:07:29.960 --> 0:07:32.080 vibe and my mode where I wanted to land. And 0:07:32.080 --> 0:07:33.760 by the time I got to the studio on them 0:07:33.800 --> 0:07:36.520 a dat's you knew what you want to do. I'm 0:07:36.560 --> 0:07:40.000 recording four or five songs a day because I already 0:07:40.040 --> 0:07:43.440 I'm already rehearsed. But that also that's also a different 0:07:43.520 --> 0:07:47.080 level of gift, right because you know a lot of 0:07:47.160 --> 0:07:52.960 times artists need songs, you know what I mean, and 0:07:53.000 --> 0:07:56.440 so the creative process for them may not happen until 0:07:56.480 --> 0:07:59.040 they get there, right. But for those that get the 0:07:59.080 --> 0:08:01.520 song beforehand, of like this is a smash, I need 0:08:01.520 --> 0:08:06.400 this record, that's the time you start building on that 0:08:06.480 --> 0:08:09.360 record and start writing on the on the on the lyrics. Okay, 0:08:09.360 --> 0:08:11.640 this is where I'm gonna go here, I'm okay, I 0:08:11.640 --> 0:08:12.760 want to feel like this on. 0:08:12.680 --> 0:08:14.560 That Like I love that I still write on paper, 0:08:14.680 --> 0:08:16.880 I still make my notes and you know you'll see 0:08:16.920 --> 0:08:19.760 a scratch sheet with me arrow up. That means you 0:08:19.800 --> 0:08:22.160 need to be a little stronger. I rolled down gets solved. 0:08:22.360 --> 0:08:24.480 I still do that to this day. So that's crazy 0:08:24.520 --> 0:08:25.040 you mentioned that. 0:08:26.080 --> 0:08:27.280 Yeah, it's like. 0:08:27.440 --> 0:08:32.880 Yeah, because like Chicago is Chicago's Chicago, Chicago's music, Chicago 0:08:33.080 --> 0:08:37.520 is music, but Chicago also has this this this undercurrent 0:08:37.720 --> 0:08:44.760 of of foolishness that you can dip into easily. Was 0:08:44.800 --> 0:08:48.600 it was it your pops in the family that kept 0:08:48.600 --> 0:08:52.600 you from being part of that because those things kind 0:08:52.600 --> 0:08:55.400 of go hand in hand town mixed in. 0:08:55.320 --> 0:08:55.960 With the streets. 0:08:56.000 --> 0:08:58.200 I feel like it was a point in Chicago where 0:08:58.240 --> 0:09:02.000 I felt like I had to be visible. And you 0:09:02.040 --> 0:09:05.080 gotta remember, drill drill rap was a heavy part of music. 0:09:05.480 --> 0:09:07.160 So I did take a couple of years where I 0:09:07.280 --> 0:09:09.640 was like, you know, I also want to mess with 0:09:09.679 --> 0:09:11.319 the rap and I can get I see, I can 0:09:11.320 --> 0:09:13.400 get some fans if I put a little aggression behind 0:09:13.400 --> 0:09:15.719 my music. So you know, it was a It was 0:09:15.760 --> 0:09:17.960 a couple of years where you know, I shot away 0:09:18.000 --> 0:09:19.640 from the R and B and I was rapping. 0:09:20.120 --> 0:09:21.440 So a lot of people don't know that too. I 0:09:21.520 --> 0:09:22.600 used to really I used. 0:09:22.520 --> 0:09:25.880 To really rap, like drill rap, like very very much 0:09:25.960 --> 0:09:28.840 hard rap, and but for me, that was just me 0:09:29.200 --> 0:09:31.080 riding a wave and I knew that people wanted to 0:09:31.080 --> 0:09:34.920 hear it. So that's why I say I'm so, I'm 0:09:34.920 --> 0:09:37.960 so kind of like multi talented. I can also, you know, 0:09:38.000 --> 0:09:40.120 we can draw bars if we want to. I can sing, 0:09:40.200 --> 0:09:42.080 I can I can get hard if. 0:09:41.920 --> 0:09:42.360 We need to. 0:09:44.080 --> 0:09:45.880 So, yeah, I feel like Chicago got a lot of 0:09:45.920 --> 0:09:48.040 influence on my music. I try to keep the lingo 0:09:48.120 --> 0:09:50.440 in there. I make sure like I don't want to 0:09:50.480 --> 0:09:53.720 sound too polished. I don't want to sound too I 0:09:53.760 --> 0:09:55.319 never wanted to get to a point where the streets 0:09:55.360 --> 0:09:58.360 don't feel me. So for that reason, my R and 0:09:58.400 --> 0:10:01.360 B still feels tough, and I still keep the same 0:10:01.440 --> 0:10:02.040 lingo in the. 0:10:02.040 --> 0:10:02.439 R and B. 0:10:03.360 --> 0:10:04.040 It's relatable. 0:10:04.120 --> 0:10:04.840 I'm blending it. 0:10:05.120 --> 0:10:09.520 Yeah, because you're a rapper as well, don't start this. Yeah, 0:10:09.920 --> 0:10:12.680 he was a terrible rapper. You were you, I would 0:10:12.760 --> 0:10:17.640 say I wasn't a terrible rapper. I wasn't a terrible rapper. Okay, 0:10:17.800 --> 0:10:21.080 I'm gonna say this is a reoccurring theme that always 0:10:21.080 --> 0:10:23.880 happens because he tries to discredit me. I had a 0:10:23.960 --> 0:10:27.000 rap called Rated R that was killing the hood. He 0:10:27.040 --> 0:10:29.600 didn't get out of the church until he was twenty seven. 0:10:29.679 --> 0:10:30.960 I was rapping while on all the. 0:10:32.640 --> 0:10:39.080 Church church, Yeah, half past. 0:10:40.800 --> 0:10:43.160 Yeah, you know the Turks over here, you know what 0:10:43.160 --> 0:10:46.720 I'm saying. Hey, no, my Midwest. I was in Milwaukee rapping. 0:10:47.160 --> 0:10:47.719 I get it. 0:10:48.160 --> 0:10:50.440 I used to compete against like you know, Vice Lawds 0:10:50.440 --> 0:10:52.280 and the Gangster Disciples and all of them, and they 0:10:52.640 --> 0:10:55.800 beat this kid coming up rapping against them. It didn't 0:10:55.800 --> 0:10:59.439 go far. But while I was young, I had the gift. 0:10:59.520 --> 0:11:03.480 I didn't even you know what you had was way 0:11:03.520 --> 0:11:10.640 before Jay z Oh, when do you feel like? When 0:11:10.640 --> 0:11:14.000 do you feel like there was a breakout moment for 0:11:14.080 --> 0:11:18.240 you where even though you know you have the gift, 0:11:18.360 --> 0:11:21.160 even though you know you have the work ethic, there's 0:11:21.200 --> 0:11:24.439 this defining moment that lets you know that you can 0:11:24.520 --> 0:11:28.120 do this on the level where you hear the people 0:11:28.160 --> 0:11:30.240 on the radio, the concerts you go to, like, there's 0:11:30.280 --> 0:11:32.400 a moment that specifically speaks to you. 0:11:33.920 --> 0:11:37.240 For me, when I met Timbaland in twenty fifteen, I 0:11:37.280 --> 0:11:38.679 felt like that was a breakthrough. 0:11:39.360 --> 0:11:40.760 Coming from the streets to Chicago. 0:11:40.960 --> 0:11:44.800 That was a big deal and it also gave me 0:11:44.800 --> 0:11:48.800 the platform. You know, our situation it worked out the 0:11:48.800 --> 0:11:52.120 way it worked out, but I did take I did 0:11:52.240 --> 0:11:54.760 gain a lot of attention and fans so I'm grateful 0:11:54.800 --> 0:11:58.200 for that. We had a record call million, and I 0:11:58.240 --> 0:12:00.120 also just was able to go to different pace pla. 0:12:00.480 --> 0:12:01.800 I was on a breakfast club rapping. 0:12:02.440 --> 0:12:04.599 I had wrapped over a record with Jay Z and 0:12:04.679 --> 0:12:07.360 Rick Ross, so that kind of had like a New 0:12:07.440 --> 0:12:10.360 York in a in a big frenzy, and I just 0:12:10.440 --> 0:12:13.520 called a lot of attention off of those baby steps 0:12:13.520 --> 0:12:16.360 with Tim. So I think I had a fan base, 0:12:16.440 --> 0:12:20.560 but the world didn't really understand who I was. So 0:12:20.640 --> 0:12:22.679 when I met Tim, that gave me kind of a 0:12:23.040 --> 0:12:26.880 what would you call it commercial commercial attention? 0:12:27.040 --> 0:12:28.880 Yeah, yeah, so that was a big deal for me. 0:12:28.920 --> 0:12:31.480 I still thank him just for you know, giving me 0:12:32.040 --> 0:12:34.640 the promotion, and you know, I took what I could 0:12:34.679 --> 0:12:38.040 from that situation, but that helped me elevate so that 0:12:38.080 --> 0:12:40.920 I could shake hands with different producers. I got around him, 0:12:40.960 --> 0:12:43.320 and I was kind of able to see how, you know, 0:12:43.440 --> 0:12:47.240 the studio worked in these big corporate labels. So all 0:12:47.280 --> 0:12:49.640 my relationships, I just started making sure that I was, 0:12:49.720 --> 0:12:52.400 you know, keeping good graces with everybody I've met. 0:12:52.720 --> 0:12:56.720 Yeah, and then so you say Timberland, who is my 0:12:56.800 --> 0:12:57.920 favorite producer. 0:12:58.000 --> 0:13:01.560 Of course, of course legendary all times. So grateful that 0:13:01.600 --> 0:13:04.719 we got to make anything. You know, to be in 0:13:04.720 --> 0:13:05.800 a room with him, it's amazing. 0:13:05.880 --> 0:13:09.880 So, yeah, he's he's one of those guys. Like when 0:13:09.920 --> 0:13:13.280 I was trying to figure out how to produce, I 0:13:13.320 --> 0:13:17.959 would recreate all of his beats from Aliyah to Genuine 0:13:18.080 --> 0:13:21.000 to Missy. I would get on this keyboard that only 0:13:21.040 --> 0:13:24.920 had nine tracks and try and figure out how Timberland 0:13:24.960 --> 0:13:26.199 was doing what he was doing. 0:13:26.360 --> 0:13:27.240 It's crazy. You know. 0:13:27.240 --> 0:13:29.080 He's one of the people who changed the sound of 0:13:29.160 --> 0:13:30.360 music a few times. 0:13:30.440 --> 0:13:31.600 Yeah, he changed the sound of. 0:13:31.640 --> 0:13:34.080 Music exactly, and that's what I appreciate With Tim. We 0:13:34.200 --> 0:13:36.800 definitely had a sound, and that made me branch out 0:13:36.840 --> 0:13:39.720 instead of focusing on drill. I was kind of like 0:13:39.760 --> 0:13:43.559 molding my sound and working on different type of different 0:13:43.559 --> 0:13:46.200 production and beats. So I do feel like that gave 0:13:46.240 --> 0:13:49.040 me a broader image of music and brought me out 0:13:49.040 --> 0:13:51.440 of the slums, you know what I mean, because I was, really, 0:13:52.040 --> 0:13:54.200 like I say, he found me. I was in Chicago 0:13:54.320 --> 0:13:57.839 still kind of like rapping and going into studio sessions 0:13:57.960 --> 0:14:01.440 in the hood, and so it was just a different 0:14:01.520 --> 0:14:03.880 vibration with Timberland, and it elevated me. 0:14:03.920 --> 0:14:06.720 So did you go to did you go to Miami. 0:14:07.480 --> 0:14:10.480 Yeah, we were working at because that's a whole other 0:14:10.559 --> 0:14:13.599 world because, like you say, in the hood, going to 0:14:13.720 --> 0:14:17.439 hood studios, I know what that with the Timberland Miami 0:14:18.080 --> 0:14:22.360 studio sessions and that whole vibe is, that's a whole 0:14:22.960 --> 0:14:24.480 completely different world. 0:14:24.360 --> 0:14:25.440 Completely different world. 0:14:25.520 --> 0:14:28.320 Like I said, the studios and walking in and having 0:14:28.640 --> 0:14:35.480 fresh fruit, walking in and having fresh fruit and having 0:14:35.600 --> 0:14:38.640 a runner that can bring you tea, and you know, 0:14:38.840 --> 0:14:43.040 just having time to really master the song. All of 0:14:43.080 --> 0:14:45.280 that was so different to me. I was, like I say, 0:14:45.360 --> 0:14:49.360 working in bedroom studios. So when I met him, everything 0:14:49.520 --> 0:14:53.720 was just ten times more grand, and it made me 0:14:54.200 --> 0:14:56.200 kind of step my game up because I'm like, I'm 0:14:56.200 --> 0:14:58.440 in this room. I got to make sure that I'm 0:14:58.480 --> 0:15:01.320 presenting the music right, I gotta kind to go crazy. 0:15:02.640 --> 0:15:06.520 So yeah, absolutely it was. The studio was different. The 0:15:06.560 --> 0:15:09.040 people he had coming in the studio. You know, I 0:15:09.120 --> 0:15:12.560 met so many artists or so many producers, people that 0:15:12.600 --> 0:15:14.800 would just come in and listen to to Timberland and 0:15:15.040 --> 0:15:18.360 our work. So that's why I say, I was really 0:15:18.480 --> 0:15:22.640 just making relationships with everybody, and that helped so much. 0:15:22.680 --> 0:15:24.720 I was even able to get in a studio with 0:15:24.840 --> 0:15:29.480 Rihanna by you know, being under timblandce Wing. So that 0:15:29.680 --> 0:15:33.120 was just a blessing, y'all. Like I'm coming from Chicago. 0:15:33.160 --> 0:15:35.720 You gotta remember, this is like the dirty Hood. And 0:15:36.600 --> 0:15:39.680 he saw something in me that nobody else saw at 0:15:39.680 --> 0:15:42.240 the time. So I owe a lot of credit to 0:15:42.240 --> 0:15:44.720 Tim just for bringing me, bringing me up with him. 0:15:45.040 --> 0:15:47.440 You know, even if I we never dropped the album, 0:15:47.560 --> 0:15:49.440 he gave me so much inspiration. 0:15:50.800 --> 0:15:53.000 I think that that introduction and validation was all I 0:15:53.040 --> 0:15:53.520 needed to hear. 0:15:54.120 --> 0:15:54.760 Yeah, thank you. 0:15:54.800 --> 0:15:56.400 I didn't even need to hear you do anything. 0:15:56.760 --> 0:15:57.560 Thank you so much. 0:15:58.920 --> 0:15:59.200 Okay. 0:15:59.800 --> 0:16:02.040 Yeah, and Tim, like I said, he was my biggest 0:16:02.040 --> 0:16:05.720 my biggest you know, he was my biggest supporter. He 0:16:05.880 --> 0:16:08.080 was going on he was on the radios, yes, and 0:16:08.120 --> 0:16:11.640 he would just say whatever came to mind. And I 0:16:11.640 --> 0:16:12.320 appreciate that. 0:16:12.360 --> 0:16:15.040 Though. You need people in your corner that are ten 0:16:15.080 --> 0:16:15.640 toes down. 0:16:16.320 --> 0:16:18.920 So I'm sorry question for you. 0:16:19.040 --> 0:16:22.080 Yeah, so you come from that or you go to 0:16:22.240 --> 0:16:26.440 that from where you come from, and then it don't 0:16:26.440 --> 0:16:31.120 work out maybe how it was planned to. I feel 0:16:31.200 --> 0:16:35.760 like you are an artist that should be or that 0:16:35.880 --> 0:16:41.640 even should be, an artist that is inspiring to all 0:16:41.720 --> 0:16:45.200 of the artists coming up because you're you didn't just 0:16:45.360 --> 0:16:50.480 have this this career that just went like this here, 0:16:51.400 --> 0:16:54.160 you know what I mean, Like you're still going and 0:16:54.200 --> 0:16:58.040 how how life really works, and that you're the story 0:16:58.080 --> 0:17:02.120 that they don't always tell. They always talk about like oh, yeah, 0:17:02.200 --> 0:17:03.840 you heard that record with her right now, and she 0:17:03.960 --> 0:17:04.840 on tour with such and. 0:17:04.800 --> 0:17:07.080 Such like No, it's the whole thing to go to. 0:17:07.359 --> 0:17:09.719 These things have to connect and you have to not 0:17:09.840 --> 0:17:13.840 give up. So my question to you is when that 0:17:13.920 --> 0:17:17.120 doesn't go maybe the way that it was planned for you, 0:17:19.880 --> 0:17:22.360 how does what is your mindset at that point when 0:17:22.400 --> 0:17:25.000 it's like, Okay, I had this record deal, I'm with, 0:17:25.280 --> 0:17:27.080 you know, one of the greatest producers of all time, 0:17:27.240 --> 0:17:29.560 and now I'm back by myself with it. 0:17:30.160 --> 0:17:30.720 Oh my god. 0:17:30.800 --> 0:17:31.120 It was. 0:17:31.240 --> 0:17:33.399 It was extremely hard. I was. 0:17:33.480 --> 0:17:35.320 I took a season and I had to kind of 0:17:35.440 --> 0:17:37.240 distance myself from music altogether. 0:17:38.160 --> 0:17:39.040 I took a year away. 0:17:39.560 --> 0:17:43.160 Literally, I didn't post, I was kind of I turned 0:17:43.200 --> 0:17:47.320 into a ghost on social media. But I had to. 0:17:48.160 --> 0:17:50.600 I had to go and find myself as an artist. 0:17:51.200 --> 0:17:56.040 That was the season for me to rebrand. And I 0:17:56.080 --> 0:17:59.280 think a lot of the greatest artists we have seasons 0:17:59.440 --> 0:18:03.240 they have seasons where they come back as somebody different, 0:18:03.640 --> 0:18:06.440 and I had to kind of, I guess, you know. 0:18:07.640 --> 0:18:09.200 Become tink, you know what I mean. 0:18:09.280 --> 0:18:12.520 Like I was young, like I said, I was maybe twenty, 0:18:12.640 --> 0:18:14.480 and at that time, I didn't have a chance to 0:18:14.520 --> 0:18:17.480 really grow the fuck up. And so that year I 0:18:17.520 --> 0:18:21.600 took time to, like I say, get my business in order, 0:18:22.760 --> 0:18:26.240 rework my team. I had to find new management, find 0:18:26.240 --> 0:18:28.719 a new attorney. I went back into my paperwork and 0:18:28.840 --> 0:18:30.440 just really focused on. 0:18:30.400 --> 0:18:31.360 What was right for me. 0:18:33.000 --> 0:18:34.760 Like I say, when I signed, I was so young, 0:18:34.880 --> 0:18:37.520 I was moving fast, so I just had to tighten up. 0:18:38.040 --> 0:18:40.560 And I think that's as an artist, every year were 0:18:40.560 --> 0:18:42.840 supposed to tighten up, and it's nothing wrong with taking 0:18:42.960 --> 0:18:47.760 some time to you know, rework your vision. So for me, 0:18:48.320 --> 0:18:50.879 I really needed that. I needed to sit down. I 0:18:50.920 --> 0:18:53.480 needed to think about what I wanted to present to 0:18:53.520 --> 0:18:57.879 the world. And it just gave me that push, you 0:18:57.920 --> 0:18:59.440 know what I mean, Like when you know you got 0:18:59.440 --> 0:19:03.359 something and it's like, okay, I'm trying it this way. 0:19:04.400 --> 0:19:06.080 If that doesn't work, I got to find a way 0:19:06.160 --> 0:19:08.520 that I can get through this door. So that gave 0:19:08.560 --> 0:19:11.719 me that push, that that motivation y'all, Like, you know, 0:19:11.760 --> 0:19:14.600 the game really got me messed up. I'm about to 0:19:14.640 --> 0:19:17.520 do something. I have to find a way, and you 0:19:17.560 --> 0:19:18.119 took a person. 0:19:18.359 --> 0:19:20.960 I took it personal. I really I really did. And 0:19:21.840 --> 0:19:23.720 like I say, I had to come hard and that's. 0:19:23.560 --> 0:19:26.760 When I got in my independent bag and my music 0:19:26.840 --> 0:19:27.960 became more authentic. 0:19:28.520 --> 0:19:32.040 And I wasn't trying to please the studio. It was 0:19:32.119 --> 0:19:34.119 for me, you know. 0:19:35.200 --> 0:19:37.760 And who went on your way back? Who was the who? 0:19:38.000 --> 0:19:40.719 What was the call? What was the like, you know, 0:19:40.840 --> 0:19:43.000 oh we're fucking with this, we need to lock in 0:19:43.040 --> 0:19:43.280 with you. 0:19:44.359 --> 0:19:45.640 Honestly, it wasn't a call. 0:19:45.800 --> 0:19:48.760 It took years and to rebuild, you know what I 0:19:48.840 --> 0:19:51.760 was what I was trying to do, and I honestly 0:19:51.760 --> 0:19:53.600