WEBVTT - Eric Benét 0:00:01.920 --> 0:00:15.640 R and BE Money. Well, we are the authorities R 0:00:15.680 --> 0:00:19.400 and B. What's going on? People who have just tuned 0:00:19.440 --> 0:00:22.959 into the R and B Money podcast. I'm Tank, This 0:00:23.079 --> 0:00:26.279 is Jay Valentine. We are the authorities on R and 0:00:26.320 --> 0:00:32.520 B music and in the building all the way from Milwaukee, 0:00:33.560 --> 0:00:39.720 mill Town. Huh anything with meal lit it mil do 0:00:43.120 --> 0:00:52.080 My brother from another mother, Eric, thanks for the invite, 0:00:52.200 --> 0:00:57.000 man waiting to come up and listen. We wanted this. 0:00:57.080 --> 0:01:00.240 We want to kick this thing off the right way. Okay. 0:01:00.240 --> 0:01:03.920 We want to kick this off the right in honor Okay, 0:01:04.080 --> 0:01:07.479 in honor of Eric Baname. Okay, let me tell you something. 0:01:07.600 --> 0:01:10.560 Let me tell you something. First of all, all you 0:01:11.120 --> 0:01:14.920 all of a sudden organic, Yeah, all of the sudden, 0:01:15.240 --> 0:01:20.040 all you in touch with the earth, people, hopeful, all 0:01:20.120 --> 0:01:24.319 of a sudden you wait, listen, I'm gonna tell you 0:01:24.319 --> 0:01:29.040 started this ship. There was a man, yeah, walking barefoot, 0:01:29.120 --> 0:01:32.440 barefoot huh. He had already had c shells attached the 0:01:32.440 --> 0:01:35.240 strings and ship, and we was trying to figure out 0:01:35.520 --> 0:01:41.959 how is he doing this? Is he listen? I'm trying 0:01:41.959 --> 0:01:45.840 to tell you every girl I knew, everyone's like, oh 0:01:45.920 --> 0:01:48.480 my god, Eric, I was like thinking on shoes up. 0:01:50.920 --> 0:01:53.440 I love Eric and I'm looking at my temple and 0:01:53.640 --> 0:02:00.640 was like stent in all the name we are not 0:02:00.880 --> 0:02:06.680 we with no shoes. I'm gonna get rid of my air. 0:02:06.840 --> 0:02:16.000 Jesus here man man, Jesus everything. It was every Dame, 0:02:17.200 --> 0:02:26.160 Lenny Kravis, Maxwell, a very small group of elite organic men. 0:02:26.560 --> 0:02:33.639 We all smell like that. You back then something ladies life. 0:02:35.080 --> 0:02:38.680 He will be on Venice Beach and then I got 0:02:38.680 --> 0:02:44.320 some opportunity for you. See this, He's been doing this 0:02:44.960 --> 0:02:48.880 so freak, you said some money Eventually eventually, now y'all 0:02:48.880 --> 0:02:52.520 coming to terms. Now you've got your feet now you 0:02:52.639 --> 0:02:55.200 now you now you're not now you hold He's been 0:02:55.240 --> 0:02:57.320 doing it and the women have been going. So let 0:02:57.320 --> 0:02:59.800 me ask you a question. Yes, as your question, please do. 0:03:00.160 --> 0:03:01.720 Was that because I want to talk about the bear 0:03:01.760 --> 0:03:06.520 feet thing? Was that on? Was that on purpose? Like? 0:03:06.600 --> 0:03:10.200 Did you know going into this like I'm gonna give 0:03:10.280 --> 0:03:14.880 them something something different, I'm going to give them something vulnerable, 0:03:15.080 --> 0:03:17.120 something you know what I'm saying a different kind of 0:03:17.480 --> 0:03:21.160 very vulnerable with with my feet out. But I'm comfortable. 0:03:21.160 --> 0:03:22.840 I'm gonna tell you about that. I'm gonna, I'm gonna, 0:03:22.880 --> 0:03:24.440 I'm gonna go a little surface with it and then 0:03:24.480 --> 0:03:27.960 I'm gonna go deep. Okay. So when I was first 0:03:27.960 --> 0:03:33.359 signed back in room, it was me and my sister. 0:03:34.280 --> 0:03:37.240 We were called Bene. We were first. My first record 0:03:37.240 --> 0:03:41.160 deal was with E and My Records, and so you know, 0:03:41.240 --> 0:03:44.880 we came up in Milwaukee. We did like the clubs 0:03:45.000 --> 0:03:48.960 we would do, like the obscure uh cities in Michigan 0:03:49.000 --> 0:03:51.720 and Illinois. And then we got our record deal. And 0:03:52.680 --> 0:03:55.040 I was always used to look into my left and 0:03:55.080 --> 0:03:59.160 seeing my sister right there. Okay, first record deal didn't 0:03:59.200 --> 0:04:01.440 work out so good. My sister was like, baby brother, 0:04:01.480 --> 0:04:04.000 you go ahead, it's music business ship crazy, I'm gonna 0:04:04.000 --> 0:04:07.560 get me a job. So my dumbass hung in there 0:04:07.560 --> 0:04:10.560 a little bit longer and I got my solo deal. 0:04:11.640 --> 0:04:13.480 Once I got my solo deal, I started to have 0:04:13.560 --> 0:04:15.800 to perform by myself. I was not used to that. 0:04:16.880 --> 0:04:19.760 The stage right, when you are used to looking over 0:04:19.800 --> 0:04:21.599 and see your family member and all of a sudden, 0:04:21.600 --> 0:04:24.200 it's me out there. It was. It was like I'd 0:04:24.200 --> 0:04:28.560 be backstage a little debilitated, just like stage fright would 0:04:28.800 --> 0:04:31.160 will come on me like that. So I discovered one 0:04:31.240 --> 0:04:34.200 day that if I just took my shoes off and 0:04:34.240 --> 0:04:39.279 went out on the stage. I relaxed almost I felt 0:04:39.320 --> 0:04:43.120 at home. And a byproduct was of that was women. 0:04:43.200 --> 0:04:45.200 Apparently I must have had a good foot day or 0:04:45.200 --> 0:04:47.080 something and they'd be like, oh, look at this feat. 0:04:47.400 --> 0:04:49.160 I was like, oh, y'all like this ship. Okay, I'll 0:04:49.240 --> 0:04:52.039 keep doing it because it makes me feel great. So 0:04:52.640 --> 0:04:56.480 let me flash forward. I'm a flash forward to something 0:04:56.520 --> 0:04:57.800 that I've reached. I told you I was going to 0:04:57.880 --> 0:05:01.480 go deep, something that I've just scovered, which you're probably 0:05:01.560 --> 0:05:06.120 hip to. You're so health conscious and YouTube. But um, 0:05:06.160 --> 0:05:09.159 there's such a thing. It's called grounding and earthing. Have 0:05:09.240 --> 0:05:13.720 you heard of this? Yeah, So, basically, grounding is the 0:05:13.880 --> 0:05:17.600 science based upon the fact that the Earth is just 0:05:17.720 --> 0:05:23.400 one big battery full of negative electrons. We as human beings, 0:05:23.760 --> 0:05:27.279 are basically electric beings were full of positive electrons. But 0:05:27.360 --> 0:05:29.840 when we walk around with shoes on all the time, 0:05:29.960 --> 0:05:33.719 especially rubber soul shoes, we are insulating ourselves from those 0:05:33.760 --> 0:05:39.960 a negative negative electrons, which balances our body and reduces inflammation, 0:05:40.040 --> 0:05:45.520 makes us healthy, makes us sleep better, makes sex more boy. So, 0:05:45.520 --> 0:05:49.440 So basically I've since discovered, which I didn't know back then, 0:05:50.000 --> 0:05:51.960 that ship just keeps me healthy. It keeps me young, 0:05:52.040 --> 0:05:54.640 It makes me feel makes me feel like I'm twenty 0:05:54.680 --> 0:05:57.520 years younger than I am. At least an hour day, 0:05:57.520 --> 0:06:00.839 I will walk around outside barefoot in the dirt, in 0:06:00.880 --> 0:06:04.839 the sand, in the grass. Wow. Yeah, it's real ship, 0:06:05.400 --> 0:06:09.240 you know what. And and thinking about that, I just 0:06:09.480 --> 0:06:15.480 always I wonder why my country cousin's healthiest ship was 0:06:15.600 --> 0:06:19.359 so far ahead, hairy party elements. They were faster than you, 0:06:23.160 --> 0:06:27.200 like they was driving. I was like, you're not driving. 0:06:27.920 --> 0:06:31.119 Dropping the car brough you and me both because where's 0:06:31.120 --> 0:06:34.760 your family from my mobile? Alabama? I got Alabama, I got, 0:06:34.800 --> 0:06:40.359 I got all over Alabama, Birmingham specifically, I got Arkansas, 0:06:40.480 --> 0:06:43.520 little Rock all through there. And then they all migrated. 0:06:43.640 --> 0:06:45.720 They Migrat's how they got the mill walk into Detroit. 0:06:45.839 --> 0:06:47.760 But you are, you are speaking the truth. Like we 0:06:47.800 --> 0:06:50.200 would go down to Alabama and then my other I'd 0:06:50.200 --> 0:06:52.080 be ten years old and my other ten year old 0:06:52.080 --> 0:06:56.760 cousins be like driving, got girlfriends and got everything everything. 0:06:56.920 --> 0:06:58.760 We're going to see these goods around the corner. You 0:06:58.760 --> 0:07:01.240 want to go out, like, I ain't him up, can go? 0:07:02.040 --> 0:07:05.480 I don't know we're gonna do get exactly the joke 0:07:05.600 --> 0:07:08.000 but that was ready to get to it. It was 0:07:08.040 --> 0:07:10.560 like and then I had two goods. Like you know 0:07:10.720 --> 0:07:13.040 what she's saying with it with the whole barefoot thing 0:07:13.160 --> 0:07:16.040 is that we shouldn't make jokes about the little drunk 0:07:16.040 --> 0:07:26.960 white girls after the club because we can stun. Let's 0:07:27.360 --> 0:07:31.200 let's keep that funny. I'm just wondering, man, how that 0:07:31.240 --> 0:07:35.440 all works. All right, let's tap into the music man. Yeah, um, 0:07:35.520 --> 0:07:39.800 let's go to Let's go to the beginning, right, we 0:07:39.960 --> 0:07:43.360 like we like to go to like the introduction of 0:07:43.360 --> 0:07:46.840 of YouTube music and music to you. You know what 0:07:46.880 --> 0:07:50.320 I'm saying, like the complete where your whole story. No, 0:07:50.400 --> 0:07:52.040 I mean you can break it down to the pieces, 0:07:52.080 --> 0:07:54.920 but the part where it's where you said, you know 0:07:55.320 --> 0:07:57.920 where it claimed you because normally claims you first. Right, 0:07:58.360 --> 0:08:00.600 you don't know what the gift is. You don't have 0:08:00.680 --> 0:08:06.360 a gift. Um, you know you're able to do things 0:08:06.400 --> 0:08:08.400 that you just think you're able to do. And then 0:08:08.440 --> 0:08:12.360 there's a moment where you recognize, oh yeah, you really 0:08:12.400 --> 0:08:14.480 hit up. You really hit on something right there, because 0:08:15.000 --> 0:08:18.760 I remember far because I can remember, Um, you know 0:08:18.800 --> 0:08:24.640 Milwaukee in grade school, sixty street school and Capital Drive. Um, 0:08:24.680 --> 0:08:28.280 you know something as simple as music class. I just 0:08:28.360 --> 0:08:34.280 remember having an ability to sing and understand music on 0:08:34.360 --> 0:08:37.160 a level that was way above like the rest of 0:08:37.160 --> 0:08:39.360 the kids. And what I would do. I don't know 0:08:39.400 --> 0:08:42.320 if you did this, but because I didn't want to 0:08:42.320 --> 0:08:46.000 stick out and be weird, I acted like I was 0:08:46.040 --> 0:08:48.520 on their level, you know what I mean. It's like 0:08:48.559 --> 0:08:50.280 I don't I don't want too much attention to me 0:08:50.440 --> 0:08:52.720 right now. It's like, you know, the music teacher would 0:08:52.720 --> 0:08:55.000 tell us, okay, class, it's like here's the scale or 0:08:55.040 --> 0:08:57.400 here's the song, and it's like I'd already be like 0:08:57.480 --> 0:09:00.720 five steps ahead of them, and look, hit me over here, 0:09:00.720 --> 0:09:04.200 and don drelle over here is like completely clueless, and 0:09:04.200 --> 0:09:06.280 I'm just like, okay, i'mna act like I'm struggling too, 0:09:06.800 --> 0:09:09.400 Isn't that weird? No? That was me in six and 0:09:09.480 --> 0:09:11.719 seventh grade, and so I was just kind of like 0:09:11.880 --> 0:09:15.920 staying here and then really saying right right, right right. 0:09:16.200 --> 0:09:21.719 It was it was almost like this played football, you 0:09:21.800 --> 0:09:24.719 s were you saying, I'm like, right right right. I 0:09:24.720 --> 0:09:26.080 don't know if I want to you know what I'm saying. 0:09:26.080 --> 0:09:29.120 Because my cousin was the lead singer. My cousin, Keisha 0:09:29.160 --> 0:09:31.320 was the one who was doing all the solos. And 0:09:31.360 --> 0:09:33.360 then when I finally tried a solo, I tricked it 0:09:33.360 --> 0:09:35.800 off really bad, saying I was like, I see how 0:09:35.800 --> 0:09:37.400 did I do? She was like, you was off? You 0:09:37.440 --> 0:09:40.800 know what I'm saying, So shock, I went back into training. 0:09:41.000 --> 0:09:43.319 You know what I'm saying. Okay, So so you're starting 0:09:43.360 --> 0:09:45.840 there and you're and what about what time is it? 0:09:46.320 --> 0:09:48.240 So this is I mean, this is grade school. And 0:09:48.240 --> 0:09:50.720 then when I go home, like I'm I'm the youngest 0:09:50.760 --> 0:09:53.360 of a group of five siblings. We're all musical, we 0:09:53.440 --> 0:09:55.559 all sing. So that was the place, the whole house 0:09:55.559 --> 0:09:58.640 from me, from my mom playing the piano. My dad 0:09:58.679 --> 0:10:02.280 didn't really sing, but he had this extensive classical music collection. 0:10:02.360 --> 0:10:05.000 So I would be in my dad's music collection listen 0:10:05.040 --> 0:10:07.920 to Tchaikovsky and Brahms and Mozart, and then with my 0:10:08.040 --> 0:10:10.800 sisters and my brother, we would sing. We would listen 0:10:10.800 --> 0:10:13.720 to like the Silvers or the Carpenters, and we would 0:10:13.760 --> 0:10:18.920 deconstruct the harmonies and like, you know, sing them, and I, 0:10:19.240 --> 0:10:21.559 you know, before my voice changed, i'd have the soprano. 0:10:22.360 --> 0:10:25.319 So Michael Jackson, Yeah, I was Michael. I was a 0:10:25.320 --> 0:10:30.200 little Michael Jacks. So that's where music that's really People 0:10:30.240 --> 0:10:32.400 ask me who is my biggest influence, My biggest influence 0:10:32.440 --> 0:10:36.800 on my oldest siblings, because I've always equated music to 0:10:37.000 --> 0:10:39.720 love because that's how we that's how we would have 0:10:39.800 --> 0:10:41.719 fun together, that's how we would show each other. I 0:10:41.840 --> 0:10:45.480 love like like making music. So but outside the house, 0:10:45.720 --> 0:10:48.520 it was almost like, Okay, I'm gonna I'm gonna keep 0:10:48.559 --> 0:10:51.280 that talent close to my vest because it comes off 0:10:51.320 --> 0:10:56.720 a little too um, overpowering for people outside the family circle. Now, 0:10:56.800 --> 0:11:02.079 then puberty happened. So I've always been like the nerdy 0:11:02.200 --> 0:11:04.520 and you know, I kind of still am. I've always 0:11:04.520 --> 0:11:09.640 been like the nerdy science fiction book reading, um, you know, 0:11:10.320 --> 0:11:13.360 into writing my own little weird stories and making up 0:11:13.400 --> 0:11:16.640 my own songs. And so I've always been that little kid, 0:11:17.040 --> 0:11:19.560 even in like thirteen and fourteen, where I would stick 0:11:19.640 --> 0:11:24.199 to myself. Um and like I said, I still wasn't 0:11:24.280 --> 0:11:27.439 singing publicly in school. But I remember when puberty hit, 0:11:28.720 --> 0:11:32.240 there was a singing competition and nobody really know I sung. 0:11:33.240 --> 0:11:36.920 There was a singing competition in junior high school, and 0:11:37.240 --> 0:11:41.280 my sisters told me go into the contest and keep 0:11:41.320 --> 0:11:43.880 in mind I'm thirteen now, and my all my siblings 0:11:43.880 --> 0:11:49.360 are beasts, and that's when I come home seventh grade 0:11:49.400 --> 0:11:54.240 middle school. So I just grew up with older siblings 0:11:54.240 --> 0:11:57.000 who literally could deconstruct the song and we would put 0:11:57.000 --> 0:11:59.760 it back together. So I was at thirteen, I was dope. 0:12:00.800 --> 0:12:06.480 So I entered the contest. Nobody really knew I could sing. Bro. 0:12:06.840 --> 0:12:11.360 I sing Lionel Richie's truly I kill that ship. I 0:12:11.559 --> 0:12:16.400 kill that ship. That's still a no no offense, Linel, 0:12:17.240 --> 0:12:24.079 but I probably sang that. But you you you respected, bro? 0:12:24.400 --> 0:12:27.000 Can I tell you? The next day at school there 0:12:27.040 --> 0:12:29.360 were two girls I had crushes on that did not 0:12:29.520 --> 0:12:32.360 know I existed. They were waiting at my locker the 0:12:32.400 --> 0:12:34.480 next morning. I was like, there's something to this ship. 0:12:35.400 --> 0:12:47.480 Both both up, both Vicky Stanton, Vicky Stanton was Vicky 0:12:47.640 --> 0:12:52.280 Vicky Vicky stand Laura Oldenberg Olden Oldenberg, Yeah, I was. 0:12:54.040 --> 0:12:57.000 You were early there too. You were early there too. 0:12:58.320 --> 0:13:01.679 I didn't learn about equal offers a way later in 0:13:01.760 --> 0:13:04.680 my trip. I don't even know if I know right now, 0:13:06.520 --> 0:13:11.400 where are you? But yeah, and from there, you know, 0:13:11.720 --> 0:13:15.040 from there it was just like my cousin George, who 0:13:15.080 --> 0:13:17.959 was always like the musician, the musician of the family. 0:13:18.040 --> 0:13:20.560 My George, cousin George played you know, he was like 0:13:20.600 --> 0:13:23.480 he's like played piano and he played the guitar, and 0:13:23.520 --> 0:13:25.720 it was just dope and my cousin George and my 0:13:25.760 --> 0:13:29.240 sister Lisa, and we started writing songs. Then I dropped 0:13:29.240 --> 0:13:33.520 out of college u W Milwaukee, joined this band and 0:13:33.760 --> 0:13:36.240 uh then we got our first record dealer one I 0:13:36.280 --> 0:13:38.880 told you about Bannet Me and my sister Let's go 0:13:38.960 --> 0:13:44.560 there too. Yeah, So between time wise, when you guys 0:13:44.640 --> 0:13:47.840 get your first deal, so when you get your deal 0:13:47.880 --> 0:13:49.760 and get your first hit wreck, a lot of ship 0:13:49.920 --> 0:13:53.520 happened between that and me having a solo deal. So 0:13:54.400 --> 0:13:56.959 what's what's the what's the time frame? So we're talking 0:13:56.960 --> 0:14:00.840 about we signed the Banet here with E M I 0:14:01.320 --> 0:14:06.719 Capital in ninety two pluck from Milwaukee in Los Angeles, 0:14:06.760 --> 0:14:12.360 and that was just culture shock, man. That was just yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, 0:14:12.679 --> 0:14:15.440 it was I mean, I love Milwaukee, but it's like 0:14:15.520 --> 0:14:18.160 you come out to l A in the early nineties. 0:14:18.320 --> 0:14:24.440 It was a whole another expansive universe of from musical 0:14:24.640 --> 0:14:28.160 like the community of badass music dudes to like the 0:14:28.200 --> 0:14:30.960 most beautiful women you've ever seen in your life to 0:14:31.240 --> 0:14:37.760 like people who are the but but a lot of 0:14:37.800 --> 0:14:40.800 people who are on a higher level of consciousness, like 0:14:40.840 --> 0:14:43.080 talking about eating right, and you know, you go back 0:14:43.080 --> 0:14:45.360 home to Milwaukee and you just eat a vat of pork. 0:14:46.320 --> 0:14:48.960 You know, it's like salt pork, you eat it. But 0:14:48.960 --> 0:14:50.880 but come out here and it's like no, you know, 0:14:50.960 --> 0:14:53.560 it's like higher level of taking care of your your 0:14:53.560 --> 0:14:55.880 mind and your body. So it was just like culture 0:14:55.880 --> 0:14:59.320 shock all the way around. And that's that's ninety two. 0:15:00.280 --> 0:15:03.760 That record did not work out. Um, as everybody in 0:15:03.920 --> 0:15:06.600 his industry has these stories where your first management deal, 0:15:06.680 --> 0:15:08.720 your first record deal, it's like, well they kind of 0:15:08.720 --> 0:15:11.040 sort of put a single out, but I didn't really 0:15:11.040 --> 0:15:15.480 put any money behind it, so we got dropped, right. 0:15:15.680 --> 0:15:17.400 It was this was one of the hardest times in 0:15:17.440 --> 0:15:21.080 my life because a few years prior, my my father died. 0:15:21.760 --> 0:15:24.240 My father was a detective for the city of Milwaukee. 0:15:25.840 --> 0:15:33.600 So Dad died. Um, my my girlfriend, UM, Tammy Stouth. 0:15:34.280 --> 0:15:40.200 We became parents, right, we became parents India, UM short, 0:15:40.640 --> 0:15:44.560 my daughter India. Shortly after I got dropped, Tammy died 0:15:44.560 --> 0:15:49.120 in a car accident. So now I lost my record deal. 0:15:49.480 --> 0:15:53.920 Dad's gone. Um, all of a sudden, single dad, and 0:15:54.120 --> 0:15:56.440 I'm just trying to figure out, Wow, how am I 0:15:56.480 --> 0:15:58.400 going to do this? Thank God I have the family 0:15:58.440 --> 0:16:02.160 I have because between my mom and my sisters and 0:16:02.240 --> 0:16:05.600 my brother, they would let me like I could take India. 0:16:05.640 --> 0:16:10.000 India was only fifteen months old mother. So I have 0:16:10.040 --> 0:16:12.920 the most amazing family in the world because I could, 0:16:13.600 --> 0:16:15.120 you know, if I had to fly out to l 0:16:15.160 --> 0:16:17.240 A to talk to some people who were thinking about 0:16:17.280 --> 0:16:19.640 signing me. You know, as a parent, especially as a 0:16:19.640 --> 0:16:22.960 single parent, you need to know that your children or 0:16:23.000 --> 0:16:25.840 your child is safe and taking care of and loved. 0:16:25.840 --> 0:16:27.560 And I never had to worry about that when I 0:16:27.600 --> 0:16:31.600 was out there trying to make the dream happened. Um. 0:16:31.640 --> 0:16:36.480 I basically got a gig in Milwaukee as an assistant 0:16:36.520 --> 0:16:43.840 engineer at a recording studio on Fondla and I between 0:16:43.880 --> 0:16:48.360 George and this crazy ass dude who is one of 0:16:48.400 --> 0:16:51.600 the baddest keyboards ever, Demante. You know Demante? Do you 0:16:51.600 --> 0:16:56.120 know Demante Posy Nigga's bad Anyway, He's from Milwaukee. Also 0:16:56.720 --> 0:17:00.560 met Demonte and my cousin George during the off hours 0:17:00.600 --> 0:17:02.600 at the at the recording studio that I was working 0:17:02.640 --> 0:17:04.880 they would let me use the studio to record demos. 0:17:06.119 --> 0:17:08.800 So between me and George and Damante, we just started 0:17:08.800 --> 0:17:12.879 writing all these songs, writing all these demos. That demo, 0:17:13.160 --> 0:17:15.560 all those demos turned out to be my first album, 0:17:15.600 --> 0:17:18.960 the first solo Eric Banat True to Myself album, which 0:17:19.040 --> 0:17:23.480 is amazing. Thank you, sir, Thank you sir. Yes, it's 0:17:23.520 --> 0:17:26.440 an incredible story. I'm riding with a girl through d C. 0:17:27.480 --> 0:17:31.240 Was this side? It might have been that's another beat 0:17:32.080 --> 0:17:34.960 was outside, It might have been signed, Yeah, it might 0:17:35.000 --> 0:17:37.520 have been sided. She did you gotta hit his I'm 0:17:37.520 --> 0:17:41.320 like it really she played that, She played that femininity. 0:17:41.480 --> 0:17:49.399 Oh ship, And at that time, that's all I like. 0:17:52.119 --> 0:17:56.359 I was like everything for me was John p. Keiray 0:17:56.400 --> 0:18:00.760 and Hammond and and then it was it was it 0:18:00.800 --> 0:18:03.560 was all that I'm saying. So when you tell me 0:18:03.600 --> 0:18:06.240 to listen to something like, at this point, I had 0:18:06.359 --> 0:18:09.200 every run in the book downloaded. That's how I lift 0:18:09.240 --> 0:18:14.360 my life. I run. I don't want to go first verse, 0:18:14.400 --> 0:18:17.480 that's not glits over that that. You don't just run, 0:18:17.640 --> 0:18:23.159 you just you kill. At that time ran, yeah, have 0:18:23.320 --> 0:18:27.080 no verse melody at all. I'm gonna run this whole 0:18:27.720 --> 0:18:31.400 five So so if you ain't doing that, I don't 0:18:31.440 --> 0:18:35.959 want it. You got running through the whole song and 0:18:36.000 --> 0:18:38.200 she started playing this song and I'm missing to the thing. 0:18:40.720 --> 0:18:43.440 He was not making the faces and ship right interesting right, 0:18:44.720 --> 0:18:49.520 and the vocal was so clean and straight ahead, and 0:18:49.560 --> 0:18:53.479 I was like, who's this again? After she didn't already tell? 0:18:55.040 --> 0:18:57.960 And then and then, and then you did something that 0:18:58.000 --> 0:19:01.680 we're doing church. What was about the three and a 0:19:01.800 --> 0:19:05.600 half close to four minute mark, you did a van Okay, 0:19:06.520 --> 0:19:09.560 you left the band played for a minute, and then 0:19:09.600 --> 0:19:12.840 you went into a van. Yeah, that's this nineteen seventies. 0:19:14.560 --> 0:19:25.360 Oh yeah, Chris Nick. I was so at that point, man, 0:19:25.440 --> 0:19:28.680 thank you to I was coming from you. I said, 0:19:28.720 --> 0:19:31.119 you're a problem coming from and then even I know 0:19:31.200 --> 0:19:33.600 we'll we'll get to we'll get to the later in 0:19:33.640 --> 0:19:36.560 the two thousand's. But then you started going digging into 0:19:36.600 --> 0:19:41.439 your false settle with the uh I cry sometimes sometimes 0:19:41.440 --> 0:19:47.520 like that bothered me. I took issue with that. I took, 0:19:48.960 --> 0:19:53.880 I took I felt a personal time. Okay, okay, because 0:19:55.240 --> 0:20:01.240 I took that because I'm on thromback. Let this nigga, 0:20:02.200 --> 0:20:09.000 this falsettle so clear. He's older than me. It's the 0:20:09.040 --> 0:20:15.239 only reason been connected with mending. And I hear you 0:20:15.280 --> 0:20:19.280 sing that on stage and you didn't miss a note. 0:20:20.640 --> 0:20:23.560 A no, and I'm a false settle, that's what I 0:20:23.680 --> 0:20:26.800 do you known for that? No? No, no, literally not 0:20:26.920 --> 0:20:31.760 just a falsettle, right, You're known for not missing, which 0:20:31.920 --> 0:20:35.000 is as as guys we all sing, right, we've we've 0:20:35.040 --> 0:20:39.520 been around a thousands, but not missing it is a 0:20:39.560 --> 0:20:43.000 different type of gift, right, That's just that's that's that's 0:20:43.040 --> 0:20:45.439 your special. Like you're talking to somebody, especially me being 0:20:45.480 --> 0:20:47.280 from the baby and my brother was talking about it, 0:20:47.560 --> 0:20:49.600 and he's like, man, because he's the first person to 0:20:49.600 --> 0:20:52.399 put me onto you, right, and he went to go 0:20:52.440 --> 0:20:58.200 see your yochi and he was like, Nick, he didn't miss. 0:20:59.600 --> 0:21:02.480 And you know, as singers, we all know what that means. 0:21:02.520 --> 0:21:04.119 But I had to ask again. I'm like, what do 0:21:04.160 --> 0:21:08.119 you mean miss? That's a huge conference, like he didn't 0:21:08.600 --> 0:21:11.600 And you know about this that comes from that comes 0:21:11.640 --> 0:21:15.600 from going through the ranks, like like, okay, so I 0:21:15.680 --> 0:21:19.119 dropped out of college, but my college was being in 0:21:19.160 --> 0:21:24.440 those shitty clubs all over the Midwest, right, having to 0:21:24.800 --> 0:21:27.840 it's a drunk crowd. This nigga over here is about 0:21:27.880 --> 0:21:30.560 to start a fight with this nigga. There's some something 0:21:30.600 --> 0:21:33.360 going over here. I'm gonna have to like take commands 0:21:33.400 --> 0:21:36.239 of this whole room, and I'm gonna have to do 0:21:36.280 --> 0:21:38.959 it consistently, And maybe I wasn't able to do it 0:21:39.040 --> 0:21:40.879 for the first six months I was in the band. 0:21:40.920 --> 0:21:44.080 But it was a honing process where a lot of 0:21:44.200 --> 0:21:47.400 artists today they don't have that honing process. They might 0:21:47.640 --> 0:21:51.400 they might be in their lab, in their base and yeah, 0:21:51.560 --> 0:21:54.399 doing some beats, put a couple of loops on it, 0:21:54.760 --> 0:21:57.200 you know, and they got all kinds of technologies that 0:21:58.440 --> 0:22:00.439 catch catch a record and then you put them on 0:22:00.520 --> 0:22:02.719 stage and it's like, no, you didn't go through the process, bro. 0:22:02.760 --> 0:22:05.959 I can tell you, well, I mean they're not investing. 0:22:05.960 --> 0:22:08.480 They're not investing in the process, right. I don't even 0:22:08.480 --> 0:22:10.720 know what the is the process. Is there any reverence 0:22:10.760 --> 0:22:13.800 for it anymore? There should be, There should be, But 0:22:14.000 --> 0:22:18.000 I don't really think that we're like probably the lasts 0:22:18.320 --> 0:22:21.919 who are who are looking for people who are actually 0:22:22.000 --> 0:22:25.720 just just season in, seasoned in some type of growth, 0:22:26.160 --> 0:22:31.439 some type of development. It's taken us years to find 0:22:31.480 --> 0:22:35.480 an artist, right because we're like, ah, but they're hot 0:22:35.480 --> 0:22:37.800 in their all time. They got this record government, but 0:22:37.840 --> 0:22:43.919 you like, that's so fleeting. I remember, like one of 0:22:44.000 --> 0:22:47.080 one of the things that I so appreciate y'all telling 0:22:47.119 --> 0:22:50.159 me that that means a lot to me. Um. I 0:22:50.280 --> 0:22:54.439 remember a couple of times in my career, and as artists, 0:22:54.480 --> 0:22:56.320 I guess there's always some level at least for me, 0:22:56.359 --> 0:23:00.560 there's always some level of insecurity. Um. But I remember 0:23:00.560 --> 0:23:03.040 when I first got something, I first started doing my 0:23:03.119 --> 0:23:05.359 solo deal, and you're doing the rounds at the radio 0:23:05.440 --> 0:23:13.680 stations and Luther Vandross was just leaving an interview and 0:23:13.680 --> 0:23:17.600 and Luther was like, I'm the type of dude where 0:23:17.600 --> 0:23:20.199 it's like, if I know Luther is there, I at 0:23:20.280 --> 0:23:23.040 least want to just say thank you. I don't I 0:23:23.040 --> 0:23:24.840 don't want to crowd you. I just want to say 0:23:24.880 --> 0:23:27.359 thank you. But Luther found out I was there, He's like, 0:23:27.440 --> 0:23:28.879 oh no, no, no, no, no, no, you tell him 0:23:28.920 --> 0:23:32.080 to come here. When somebody like Luther looks at you 0:23:32.119 --> 0:23:35.720 and say, you know what you're doing it right, you know, 0:23:36.280 --> 0:23:41.679 And that's all I needed. Luther looks at me. That's it. 0:23:41.920 --> 0:23:44.200 So it's like if you thought I was dope before, 0:23:44.640 --> 0:23:46.480 that's probably when you heard me go in the studio 0:23:46.640 --> 0:23:50.000 do that. Let me show these niggs was you know? 0:23:50.240 --> 0:23:54.159 So it's like when you get when somebody like that, 0:23:54.840 --> 0:23:58.040 like a Maurice White or Luther Vandross or David Foster, 0:23:58.680 --> 0:24:02.719 that just makes me want to, oh ship if I 0:24:02.760 --> 0:24:05.480 thought I was honing my craft before, I'm gonna have 0:24:05.920 --> 0:24:09.800 I'm really happy. I'm really going in deep now. So 0:24:10.080 --> 0:24:15.240 it's those kinds of things that make me continue to 0:24:15.240 --> 0:24:18.520 to to to strive to be better to this day. Yeah. Yeah, 0:24:18.600 --> 0:24:22.119 the hunger doesn't go away, you know, the grind, the 0:24:22.200 --> 0:24:33.800 hustle never never goes away. So when you get that 0:24:33.880 --> 0:24:36.480 first hit record, right because Thank spoke about it a 0:24:36.520 --> 0:24:38.840 little bit, right, are you know you pulled up on 0:24:38.880 --> 0:24:41.680 them with shoes off, showing you know what I mean, 0:24:41.760 --> 0:24:44.239 showing them showing something on out, showing them something and 0:24:44.200 --> 0:24:48.520 the definitely showing out. What is the influx? Like? Yeah, 0:24:51.960 --> 0:24:58.280 you mean when you care you fresh from Milwaukee, Yes, 0:24:58.760 --> 0:25:03.680 you fresh from mill Walk, you get a major hit record, 0:25:04.160 --> 0:25:06.840 and but you don't but you also don't get the 0:25:06.960 --> 0:25:10.600 run of the mill hit record. You get a record 0:25:11.359 --> 0:25:15.960 that nobody's heard before, you don't get the some producer 0:25:16.560 --> 0:25:19.760 was did that record? And then your producer heard it 0:25:20.080 --> 0:25:22.640 and y'all recreated and now you get that little cheek 0:25:22.680 --> 0:25:27.040 colde hit. You had a record that set you apart 0:25:27.040 --> 0:25:32.919 from the gate, right, So it's a different it's a 0:25:32.920 --> 0:25:36.040 different level that it's a it's a different kind of 0:25:36.119 --> 0:25:43.840 vibe because back then, um, there were like you said, 0:25:43.920 --> 0:25:46.760