WEBVTT - #225 - Akon 0:00:00.200 --> 0:00:02.559 Boutlet cap show. We got a special guest in here. 0:00:03.200 --> 0:00:06.120 He is a living legend. I appreciate that, brother. Welcome 0:00:06.120 --> 0:00:09.520 to Acon. Acon is here. Man. Hey, First of all, 0:00:09.520 --> 0:00:12.000 I just want to say props to you. Man. I 0:00:12.000 --> 0:00:14.960 always talk as a radio guy. I always talk about 0:00:14.960 --> 0:00:18.160 a few eras in music. There was the T Pain era. 0:00:18.800 --> 0:00:21.480 Before that, there was you and and T Pain was 0:00:21.520 --> 0:00:24.720 signed to you, and for about seven years straight it 0:00:24.840 --> 0:00:28.200 was hard for program directors to separate music because y'all 0:00:28.200 --> 0:00:32.080 are both on every fucking song, Man, every hook, every 0:00:32.120 --> 0:00:33.920 song it was a Coon or T Pain. It was 0:00:34.000 --> 0:00:38.960 just man, So salute to you. Man. I remember do 0:00:39.000 --> 0:00:41.760 you remember the rap phenomenon remix to your ghetto record 0:00:41.760 --> 0:00:45.240 that like green Lander did? That was my ship me too. 0:00:45.440 --> 0:00:50.320 Oh my god, that ship was crazy. Yeah Man, that 0:00:50.440 --> 0:00:53.320 was Yeah. Your first album was I mean I was. 0:00:53.360 --> 0:00:55.279 I was hooked just right away, locked up with such 0:00:55.280 --> 0:01:00.160 a special record man. So welcome man. Uh, So you 0:01:00.200 --> 0:01:02.200 tell me, because you've kind of been doing so much 0:01:02.280 --> 0:01:05.720 outside of the music space, what has inspired you to 0:01:05.800 --> 0:01:09.640 drop new music? Actually, you know what, the first go around, 0:01:09.640 --> 0:01:12.080 it was more about the business of the music for me, Okay, 0:01:12.160 --> 0:01:13.959 So I was more focused on the business, and I 0:01:13.959 --> 0:01:16.440 didn't get a chance to really enjoy it, right, you know, 0:01:17.000 --> 0:01:20.480 like I enjoy it. It was all business. But I 0:01:20.480 --> 0:01:22.160 said the second time around, I want to be able 0:01:22.200 --> 0:01:24.560 to really enjoy it, man, take it, breathe it in, 0:01:25.280 --> 0:01:27.720 and enjoy it all of this luxury that you know 0:01:27.800 --> 0:01:30.160 we work for, because it don't even make sense man. 0:01:30.240 --> 0:01:32.280 And then I watched the younger generation how they get 0:01:32.280 --> 0:01:36.800 this blessing to make this many opportunities and millions around 0:01:36.800 --> 0:01:38.120 the things that they do, and they just out here 0:01:38.200 --> 0:01:40.920 killing themselves, Like what is the purpose like to do 0:01:40.959 --> 0:01:42.839 all that to get out the hood? Just to bring 0:01:42.840 --> 0:01:46.080 the hood with you. Also, like it's probably different now 0:01:46.120 --> 0:01:47.680 because you're doing it just because you want to, not 0:01:47.760 --> 0:01:49.800 because you have to, as to where when you first 0:01:49.800 --> 0:01:51.760 got in the music industry, like this is my way out. 0:01:51.920 --> 0:01:53.600 Yeah yeah, sure, So you got to treat it as 0:01:53.640 --> 0:01:56.680 such a job. It's a bigger difference. And then, you know, 0:01:57.000 --> 0:01:59.320 like the way I feel like about you know, about 0:01:59.320 --> 0:02:01.600 the life now is like, Okay, cool, I made some 0:02:01.640 --> 0:02:04.840 good money, investments are all secured. My legacy isn't a 0:02:04.840 --> 0:02:07.920 good place. It's like, okay, now I can really go 0:02:08.000 --> 0:02:10.800 back into the music and have fun. But then again, 0:02:10.960 --> 0:02:12.600 I kind of missed the music too because it's been 0:02:12.720 --> 0:02:15.360 I didn't realize how much time have flew past. When's 0:02:15.400 --> 0:02:17.400 the last time you dropped a single? Thousand and eight? 0:02:17.520 --> 0:02:20.600 Was the last time I dropped the record? Was that? No? 0:02:20.800 --> 0:02:24.079 The last one was beautiful? Okay, okay, okay, I remember 0:02:24.080 --> 0:02:27.000 that record. Be a long time. It's been a minute. 0:02:27.160 --> 0:02:30.080 That's fourteen years. Yeah, I mean you've hopped up, like, 0:02:30.160 --> 0:02:32.680 you know, hopped on people's stuff, you know, here and there. Yeah, 0:02:32.680 --> 0:02:35.560 you know, some collapse here and there. But that's wild. 0:02:35.720 --> 0:02:38.359 That is crazy. But it was pretty crazy fourteen years. Man, 0:02:38.400 --> 0:02:42.280 I got a seventeen year old aout. That shit is wild. 0:02:43.240 --> 0:02:45.880 Obviously you're very smart, You're you know, I think we're 0:02:45.919 --> 0:02:47.960 gonna get to like just your accolades is just not 0:02:48.000 --> 0:02:50.400 only just the artist, but you're you know, I think 0:02:50.440 --> 0:02:53.480 you're one of the When we talk about CEO's eyes 0:02:53.520 --> 0:02:55.960 for talent, you're one of them ones. How would you 0:02:56.040 --> 0:02:59.600 say since two thousand and eight would have been the 0:02:59.600 --> 0:03:04.000 biggest things about the music industry that has I know, 0:03:04.080 --> 0:03:07.600 obviously TikTok, streaming all that, but just in terms of, like, 0:03:08.120 --> 0:03:10.120 you know, from when you first got into the game 0:03:10.160 --> 0:03:13.520 to now, is there anything that you dislike about the 0:03:13.520 --> 0:03:18.120 current for like, like music forecast? Anything that I dislike 0:03:18.200 --> 0:03:21.000 about the music forecast? Honestly, the only thing that I 0:03:21.000 --> 0:03:24.000 can probably say that I would put a negative stamp 0:03:24.040 --> 0:03:26.919 on is the originality. I just think there's not enough 0:03:27.000 --> 0:03:29.600 variety in hip hop, Like everything sound the same. This 0:03:29.760 --> 0:03:31.840 is true. That's the only thing that I dislike about it. 0:03:31.880 --> 0:03:34.760 But I love the hustle. I love the opportunity that 0:03:34.760 --> 0:03:37.120 that the hip hop is bringing to everybody else. I 0:03:37.120 --> 0:03:40.400 love the you know, it's it's it's it's literally taking 0:03:40.640 --> 0:03:44.360 well should take niggas out the hood, but it's it's 0:03:44.800 --> 0:03:47.880 creating opportunities that we didn't have before for sure, because 0:03:47.920 --> 0:03:49.440 before it was either it was either it was either 0:03:49.520 --> 0:03:53.640 music or basketball, right right, Okay, Now basketball is still regulated, 0:03:53.640 --> 0:03:57.680 so you can't just jump into that an alien level athlete. 0:03:58.800 --> 0:04:01.200 Whereas music, anybody can do it. It don't even matter 0:04:01.280 --> 0:04:03.360 like you can just any anybody can just go in 0:04:03.360 --> 0:04:05.560 the room now and just get on you know, garage 0:04:05.560 --> 0:04:07.080 band and make a record and go to straight to 0:04:07.160 --> 0:04:10.280 SoundCloud and go straight up SoundCloud. Because when you got signed, 0:04:10.320 --> 0:04:11.960 did you get sign off of a demo tape, which 0:04:12.000 --> 0:04:13.440 was kind of like back in the day, I got 0:04:13.440 --> 0:04:16.599 I got, I got actually signed out of creating demos wow, 0:04:16.640 --> 0:04:18.880 which is interesting because I started off as a producer 0:04:18.920 --> 0:04:22.200 song writer first, and I would write songs for other artists, right, 0:04:22.440 --> 0:04:24.680 So at one point, you know, they heard my record, 0:04:24.680 --> 0:04:25.840 it was like, man, this is a dope record. I 0:04:25.880 --> 0:04:28.039 would love him to write for our for our artists, 0:04:28.080 --> 0:04:30.520 But who's the guy singing on the songs? Who's that? 0:04:31.160 --> 0:04:32.480 You know what I mean? And that's how I got 0:04:32.480 --> 0:04:34.919 pretty much discovered. You kind of came out swinging with 0:04:34.960 --> 0:04:38.640 a record like Locked Up, which is when you first 0:04:38.640 --> 0:04:40.560 come out with a song like locked Up featuring Styles, 0:04:40.600 --> 0:04:44.800 p right and you're you, You're very like you said originality. 0:04:44.839 --> 0:04:46.040 When you first came out of the scene, no one 0:04:46.080 --> 0:04:48.400 sounded like akon nobody. That's why it was so hard 0:04:48.440 --> 0:04:51.120 to get that record played, Like Locked Up was out 0:04:51.160 --> 0:04:53.920 a whole year before I got Styles on it. Wow, 0:04:54.160 --> 0:04:56.520 Like you know, MTV thought it was too urban and 0:04:56.640 --> 0:04:59.400 BT said it wasn't urban enough. So I was stuck 0:04:59.400 --> 0:05:01.440 in the middle. It was nowhere to go. So then 0:05:01.480 --> 0:05:03.840 when Styles got Locked Up, it was like, wait, hold up, 0:05:04.680 --> 0:05:06.960 he can actually and he had the streets Bag back then, 0:05:07.000 --> 0:05:10.200 you know, oh yeah, for sure all the mix. I 0:05:10.320 --> 0:05:12.120 actually reached out to a lot of other features before 0:05:12.160 --> 0:05:15.680 even Styles, and some either evil, either charged me way 0:05:15.720 --> 0:05:17.359 too much, or just said they couldn't do it. They 0:05:17.400 --> 0:05:19.760 wouldn't do it because the record just wouldn't you know 0:05:19.800 --> 0:05:21.320 it was it was to them it was an R 0:05:21.360 --> 0:05:24.320 and B record. So when Styles off of the due 0:05:24.320 --> 0:05:26.120 the record, he actually heard it and loved the record 0:05:26.120 --> 0:05:27.640 already and was like, man, I would love to do it. 0:05:28.160 --> 0:05:30.000 So he's the one I give credits for helping me 0:05:30.000 --> 0:05:32.200 break that record. I mean, once he became on there, 0:05:32.480 --> 0:05:35.240 it became urban automatic. Yeah, it became like a rap record, right, 0:05:35.360 --> 0:05:37.279 even though, like I feel like you're kind of like 0:05:37.320 --> 0:05:39.799 one of those artists who I just look at as like, 0:05:39.800 --> 0:05:42.360 like an artist, You're not a rapper, You're city. You 0:05:42.400 --> 0:05:45.280 sing obviously, but you're kind of like, you know, when 0:05:45.279 --> 0:05:48.440 people put a title on Future Post Malone is like rappers, 0:05:48.440 --> 0:05:51.240 I'm like, nah, They're just artists who just make good music. Right. 0:05:51.480 --> 0:05:53.159 The ship might be hip hop, some of this pop. 0:05:53.240 --> 0:05:56.880 You know, I'm curious because at your peak as an artist, 0:05:56.920 --> 0:05:59.760 when you're extremely active, you were like the go to 0:06:00.000 --> 0:06:04.359 hook man. Everybody had to have an acon hook you had, 0:06:05.120 --> 0:06:08.359 you gave people careers. There was people who was getting 0:06:08.400 --> 0:06:11.000 deals or getting bags just because they had you on 0:06:11.080 --> 0:06:15.440 a hook. What was the biggest bag you got to 0:06:15.480 --> 0:06:19.320 do a hook? Well, actually mine would have come to 0:06:19.360 --> 0:06:22.000 hook bags. It was a little different because every song 0:06:22.040 --> 0:06:24.560 you ever heard me on that hath the hook on 0:06:24.640 --> 0:06:26.960 it was a record I produced. So I would give 0:06:27.000 --> 0:06:29.120 them the beat with me already on the chorus. So 0:06:29.120 --> 0:06:30.560 they had to pay for both. They had to pay 0:06:30.560 --> 0:06:33.120 for the whole thing. So like, because there's been a 0:06:33.120 --> 0:06:36.839 lot of artists who have done songs that like clearly 0:06:36.920 --> 0:06:38.760 they did for the bag. Was there one of those 0:06:38.800 --> 0:06:40.400 for you where you were like, Yo, this bag was 0:06:40.400 --> 0:06:42.479 so crazy. The song might have been I might not 0:06:42.520 --> 0:06:45.320 have loved the artist, but the song it was a bag. 0:06:45.560 --> 0:06:48.839 You know what's interesting. In the beginning, there was one 0:06:48.880 --> 0:06:50.960 record that I can recall started with a bag and 0:06:51.000 --> 0:06:52.440 then I was so happy I did it because the 0:06:52.480 --> 0:06:55.520 relationship came out of it was amazing. It was Baby Bash. Oh. 0:06:55.560 --> 0:06:58.400 I love that record. You know that because I before 0:06:58.480 --> 0:07:00.599 I did that record, I had never heard of baby Baby. 0:07:00.600 --> 0:07:02.320 I'm back man, Yeah, Baby, I'm back. I never know 0:07:02.480 --> 0:07:05.480 that song. And it was interesting because once I was like, okay, cool, 0:07:05.920 --> 0:07:07.960 some good money, so I did it. But then when 0:07:07.960 --> 0:07:09.840 I met him we connected, I was like, damn, glad 0:07:09.840 --> 0:07:12.720 I did this record. He's such a cool dude. He's 0:07:12.760 --> 0:07:15.400 like the coolest guy, the coolest dude in the world. Yeah, 0:07:15.440 --> 0:07:17.160 I said, so, I was like, man, I'm so happy 0:07:17.160 --> 0:07:19.040 we connected this way. You know. Then I felt bad 0:07:19.040 --> 0:07:20.320 because I was like, if I know this, I would 0:07:20.360 --> 0:07:23.240 have never charged him. Yeah, it's crazy because at that time, 0:07:23.480 --> 0:07:25.640 you probably aren't hip to what he's doing, right. It 0:07:25.680 --> 0:07:27.720 was too different. The Latin world is so different. It 0:07:27.760 --> 0:07:31.000 was different. First major label debut and you know, he 0:07:31.200 --> 0:07:35.360 came off that franky J record, Yeah, cyclone Baby, I'm back. Yeah. 0:07:35.400 --> 0:07:37.200 He tapped in with Convic Music for sure for that 0:07:37.280 --> 0:07:40.040 first album, you know, and right after that we send 0:07:40.120 --> 0:07:42.040 him over the t Pain and got another record. Yeah. 0:07:42.520 --> 0:07:44.240 It's crazy because I talked to Pain and he had 0:07:44.240 --> 0:07:47.280 told me that you had offered him a record deal 0:07:47.680 --> 0:07:51.920 super early, and he said that a major label came 0:07:52.240 --> 0:07:55.720 and offered him like a substantially crazier amount of money. 0:07:55.760 --> 0:07:59.520 They did, but he said, I trusted a kind I 0:07:59.520 --> 0:08:03.000 believed it and his movement, and he's like, I'm living 0:08:03.000 --> 0:08:06.280 out my car, me and my girl are struggling. He's like, 0:08:06.440 --> 0:08:09.920 and I passed on the bag with this major situation 0:08:10.680 --> 0:08:13.160 and stuck with Akon and signed the deal for less 0:08:13.200 --> 0:08:16.120 money because of his vision, because of all the things 0:08:16.120 --> 0:08:18.680 that you bring to the table that money can't buy. Like, 0:08:19.120 --> 0:08:21.280 what was it about pain? Obviously he was in a 0:08:21.280 --> 0:08:24.680 group called was it the nappy Head? Yeah, Robberies my shit, 0:08:24.720 --> 0:08:27.920 by the way, that's a Tampa classic. But what was 0:08:27.960 --> 0:08:30.600 it about pain that like initially kind of struck your 0:08:30.640 --> 0:08:32.440 interest and had you kind of take a chance on him, 0:08:32.440 --> 0:08:33.719 And he also took a chance on you at no 0:08:33.880 --> 0:08:35.679 he did. I mean, to this day I thank him 0:08:35.720 --> 0:08:38.439 for just believing in me because that kind of changed 0:08:38.600 --> 0:08:41.959 your label. He was the first artist I signed on car, right, 0:08:42.000 --> 0:08:44.560 he was like literally the first artist. So it was 0:08:44.600 --> 0:08:46.320 not only because he was the first artist that I 0:08:46.360 --> 0:08:49.000 had to prove for future artists that I plan to sign, 0:08:49.360 --> 0:08:51.880 but because he took the chance on me, I made 0:08:51.920 --> 0:08:54.760 sure that I put whatever I had in him. M Like, 0:08:54.840 --> 0:08:57.000 because I gave a promise that I'm gonna give you 0:08:57.000 --> 0:08:59.520 a career, said they could give you a bag but 0:08:59.559 --> 0:09:01.679 I'm gonaive your career. I'm gonna give your career, and 0:09:01.720 --> 0:09:04.280 I made sure that that happened for him, And to 0:09:04.400 --> 0:09:06.200 this day, I still fight for him, even though he's 0:09:06.200 --> 0:09:08.760 off and doing his own thing. I always will always 0:09:08.760 --> 0:09:11.440 be in debt to t pain for sure. Yeah, pop pop. 0:09:11.520 --> 0:09:14.559 Convict Music off a label as a label pop yeah, No, 0:09:14.640 --> 0:09:17.120 without a doubt. It was our franchise player. Who else 0:09:17.200 --> 0:09:20.120 woan obviously Lady Gaga? Yeah, but see Gutay was on 0:09:20.200 --> 0:09:22.680 con Live. At the time, I had two labels, check 0:09:22.720 --> 0:09:25.000 you out. I had con Live, which was the pop label, 0:09:25.040 --> 0:09:27.160 and then I had Convict Music, which was the urban label. 0:09:27.520 --> 0:09:29.880 There's always speculation, are you still getting money off of 0:09:29.920 --> 0:09:32.360 Lady Gaga? No? No, not no more, no no more. 0:09:32.520 --> 0:09:36.040 How many albums in was it before the bagstop? I 0:09:36.080 --> 0:09:39.080 had her for four albums usually you had her for 0:09:39.080 --> 0:09:41.199 four albus, so after the four albums, the deal is over. 0:09:41.280 --> 0:09:44.320 But then how did she have four albums? Nah? She 0:09:44.400 --> 0:09:47.520 never got to four. So you eventually were like, hey, 0:09:47.520 --> 0:09:49.880 look well, at that time, it was a lot of 0:09:49.920 --> 0:09:54.040 moving parts, and I kind of seen where the future 0:09:54.120 --> 0:09:56.640 was going because of how the parts were moving. And 0:09:56.679 --> 0:10:01.760 that's when I made a deal for my portion in 0:10:01.880 --> 0:10:04.240 stake of her, and I bought out. I sold out. 0:10:04.640 --> 0:10:07.840 Oh so you sold your portion of whatever she does 0:10:08.280 --> 0:10:10.720 right before the dip. Oh that's smart. Do you think 0:10:10.720 --> 0:10:14.880 that that's why artists are currently selling their catalog right 0:10:14.880 --> 0:10:17.600 now like they're publishing, because they feel like it's a 0:10:17.640 --> 0:10:20.600 depreciating asset. Maybe. No, I think a lot of them 0:10:20.600 --> 0:10:23.920 are selling for because they don't know that. They don't 0:10:23.920 --> 0:10:25.880 I don't think they know the value of what that 0:10:26.080 --> 0:10:28.880 is they're selling. Yeah, because I saw like Future sell 0:10:28.960 --> 0:10:31.960 like a ridiculous amount of titles for like seventy five million, 0:10:32.000 --> 0:10:33.480 A lot of people were like, Yeo, he probably should 0:10:33.480 --> 0:10:38.000 have got more. Well, actually, yeah, that many like Future, 0:10:38.200 --> 0:10:40.160 I think you could have gotten definitely more for the 0:10:40.160 --> 0:10:43.320 amount of titles he sold out. Yeah, but sometimes they 0:10:43.320 --> 0:10:45.560 look at it differently, like when you come from the street, 0:10:45.559 --> 0:10:48.439 you're looking at how you can flip the seventy five million, Right, 0:10:48.480 --> 0:10:50.199 So maybe he has some other shit at line, maybe 0:10:50.240 --> 0:10:53.120 Future stupid like of course, smart guy, and I'm sure 0:10:53.120 --> 0:10:56.080 he's like, Okay, cool, I can go ahead pull this away. 0:10:56.080 --> 0:10:59.160 Because just people don't really even know that that interest 0:10:59.200 --> 0:11:00.800 just on that seventy five million, he could live forever 0:11:00.840 --> 0:11:03.640 and not have work ever again. Yeah, if you manage 0:11:03.679 --> 0:11:06.240 your money properly, put that part, that money in certain 0:11:06.280 --> 0:11:09.400 you know ventures you never have. That money pays for 0:11:09.440 --> 0:11:13.679 your lifestyle forever. Literally, So now everything you make on 0:11:13.679 --> 0:11:16.160 this side is bonus strip c love money. That's beautiful. 0:11:16.720 --> 0:11:19.480 You know what was was it a comparable bag for 0:11:19.520 --> 0:11:23.200 your lady? You gotta buy out? It was enough for 0:11:23.280 --> 0:11:26.280 me to retire put it out that hadn't made a 0:11:26.280 --> 0:11:30.800 record since. That's crazy. So would you say that, like 0:11:30.960 --> 0:11:33.199 obviously being a part of Lady Gaga's career, being able 0:11:33.240 --> 0:11:34.760 to capitalize off that you took a chance on her 0:11:34.840 --> 0:11:38.600 early just dance, poker face, all that shit is it 0:11:38.640 --> 0:11:40.760 was worth it. It was worth every pinny. She's another 0:11:40.760 --> 0:11:42.800 one that I treat like t pay and I'm gonna 0:11:42.800 --> 0:11:45.199 always and forever be there for How was your How 0:11:45.280 --> 0:11:48.560 was your current relationship with her? Oh? Same same? Yeah? Yeah, 0:11:48.679 --> 0:11:50.880 what was it about her? Because I feel like when 0:11:50.920 --> 0:11:54.000 she first came into the game, I don't think we 0:11:54.080 --> 0:11:57.240 really understood how talented she was because she wasn't necessarily 0:11:57.280 --> 0:12:00.839 diving into the type of records that fully show us 0:12:01.120 --> 0:12:04.880 her potential. Yeah, her range. Right, So what was it 0:12:04.920 --> 0:12:06.960 about what you saw in her early on that, like, 0:12:07.240 --> 0:12:09.480 you know, you were like, oh yeah, nah, yeah. Well 0:12:09.520 --> 0:12:11.200 the thing is I had already recognized all of that, 0:12:11.440 --> 0:12:13.360 and I was like, man, if she get the chance 0:12:13.360 --> 0:12:15.480 to be able to express herself as a real artist 0:12:15.520 --> 0:12:17.880 and not be pushed left or right for a label 0:12:17.920 --> 0:12:19.640 telling her what she can and cannot do, she's gonna 0:12:19.640 --> 0:12:22.079 be out here. Wow. Because she's the kind of person 0:12:22.120 --> 0:12:26.439 that creates like movements. And I saw that as we 0:12:26.440 --> 0:12:29.400 was promoting her and how she was creating that monster 0:12:29.480 --> 0:12:31.839 movement in itself. I was like, ooh, this is big 0:12:32.440 --> 0:12:34.680 all we gotta do now, just let her do her. Yeah. 0:12:34.880 --> 0:12:36.960 I think that's what happened with the second album, right Yeah. 0:12:37.080 --> 0:12:39.800 First album was like kind of like the first album 0:12:39.880 --> 0:12:42.840 was pushed more between me and Red One, giving her 0:12:42.920 --> 0:12:45.160 the sound that we felt could break her through and 0:12:45.200 --> 0:12:47.400 it worked and it worked, and then the second album 0:12:47.480 --> 0:12:49.840 was really more her taking over saying okay, thank you 0:12:49.840 --> 0:12:52.280 guys for the you know, training wheels, Now I'm a 0:12:52.400 --> 0:12:54.400 go disc Because like, was bad Rooman's on the second album, 0:12:54.640 --> 0:12:56.120 I was on the first. Oh it was on the 0:12:56.120 --> 0:12:59.920 first Oh shit, that's one of my favorite songs. Yeah, 0:13:00.040 --> 0:13:02.800 she's a legend, man, She's a legend without a Yeah, 0:13:02.800 --> 0:13:04.439 it's pretty crazy if you think of like Lady Guy 0:13:04.520 --> 0:13:07.240 got t pain. Everyone's career you've been involved in it's 0:13:07.240 --> 0:13:09.920 been Who else was on your ship? Was Kobe? Yeah? 0:13:10.000 --> 0:13:12.360 Kobe was there. He was actually supposed to have been. Well, 0:13:12.400 --> 0:13:14.480 he was the first, Justin Bieber put it that way. No, 0:13:14.520 --> 0:13:16.880 I remember. I remember doing that when I was an intern. 0:13:16.920 --> 0:13:18.960 I did a high school mixed tour with him. It 0:13:19.040 --> 0:13:21.720 was so crazy, man, we did. But you know, his 0:13:21.800 --> 0:13:23.640 dad was there, and I just remember his dad being 0:13:23.640 --> 0:13:28.560 a weirdo. I remember being like, Yo, that Kobe kids 0:13:28.559 --> 0:13:32.280 cool as fuck, but his pop's kind of strange. Unfortunately, 0:13:32.320 --> 0:13:34.079 his father was the reason for his downfall. And I 0:13:34.160 --> 0:13:36.679 hate to say it out loud, but unfortunately that was 0:13:36.679 --> 0:13:39.000 the only thing his His father is very over zealous 0:13:39.280 --> 0:13:42.360 and kind of lived him. His his his dream through 0:13:42.480 --> 0:13:44.920 Kobee because he had some dope records. Yeah, so I 0:13:44.960 --> 0:13:48.880 think he's still I think he's still writing records. Was man, 0:13:49.240 --> 0:13:51.880 that's the only only project. Knowing what I know today, 0:13:51.920 --> 0:13:55.680 I would have moved differently. I know that at the time, 0:13:56.000 --> 0:13:58.120 I would have definitely went back and forth with the pops. 0:13:58.360 --> 0:14:00.920 But because it was father and son, you don't really 0:14:00.920 --> 0:14:02.319 want to get in the middle of blood when it 0:14:02.360 --> 0:14:04.400 comes to money, Yes, you could get weird. I would 0:14:04.440 --> 0:14:06.680 have definitely intervened. I know it would have ended up 0:14:06.720 --> 0:14:09.160 the way it did. That's yeah, I get that. Uh 0:14:09.360 --> 0:14:13.440 what you know there's certain artists. Correct me if I'm wrong, 0:14:13.720 --> 0:14:16.080 But you and Jay never did anything together. Me and 0:14:16.120 --> 0:14:19.280 j don't work together. Just crazy. It is crazy. It's 0:14:19.320 --> 0:14:21.720 not like even me. I'm like how I've worked with 0:14:21.760 --> 0:14:25.040 every artist in the globe except jay Z till this day. 0:14:25.040 --> 0:14:26.960 I don't know why it never got close to happening. 0:14:27.200 --> 0:14:30.680 It never was even acquired. Wow. Because the thing is, 0:14:30.760 --> 0:14:33.760 I think I think it was the the timing in 0:14:33.800 --> 0:14:36.720 each other's careers because at the time when I was 0:14:36.800 --> 0:14:40.080 in at peak musically and moving some way, he was 0:14:40.160 --> 0:14:44.080 moving to the executive executive right jam, And I think 0:14:44.120 --> 0:14:46.760 it was that timing at the moment when I'm going 0:14:46.800 --> 0:14:49.040 this way, He's going this way. Yeah, he'd rather have 0:14:49.080 --> 0:14:50.640 you do a record for one of his artists, right, 0:14:51.200 --> 0:14:53.280 I think yeah, Because at that time I was producing 0:14:53.320 --> 0:14:55.000 records for deaf Jam and all that. I even got 0:14:55.000 --> 0:14:57.160 to the point where my brother was in death Jam 0:14:57.200 --> 0:14:59.400 at the same time, So it was like I think 0:14:59.440 --> 0:15:01.800 it was. But to his dad, I never understood why 0:15:01.800 --> 0:15:03.480 didn't have happened? Yeah, I mean because, yeah, you got 0:15:03.520 --> 0:15:07.120 records with everybody else, right, Fuck? I never understood that. Yeah, 0:15:07.240 --> 0:15:09.240 you give Eminem one of his best club records. He's 0:15:09.240 --> 0:15:12.280 ever I feel like Smacked. That's a song that like 0:15:12.320 --> 0:15:15.920 still gets played at like fucking eleven pm at whatever 0:15:15.960 --> 0:15:18.680 club you go. Ya. But see what it was interesting 0:15:18.680 --> 0:15:21.840 because every record I ever put out I actually produced 0:15:22.440 --> 0:15:27.280 except Smack. That really did Eminem produced that record. I 0:15:27.280 --> 0:15:30.000 missed Eminem when he was crazy, Yeah, I missed I 0:15:30.040 --> 0:15:32.280 missed the Eminem producer era when he was producing a 0:15:32.320 --> 0:15:34.600 lot of his own ship. Yeah. I know, his beats 0:15:34.640 --> 0:15:37.440 weren't the craziest, but his beats were like very distinct. 0:15:37.480 --> 0:15:40.600 You heard it and you knew his sound. He knew it, right, 0:15:40.680 --> 0:15:42.360 And I'm like, oh, that's dope. At least got his 0:15:42.360 --> 0:15:45.160 own skins. Remember he was doing he was He produced Renegade, 0:15:45.600 --> 0:15:49.720 he produced the Cross for Nas on God's Son. He 0:15:49.760 --> 0:15:51.960 produced a lot of dope ship. But I don't know, 0:15:52.000 --> 0:15:53.160 I think he got I don't know if he got 0:15:53.200 --> 0:15:54.840 away from it, or maybe I'm tripping or he just 0:15:54.840 --> 0:15:57.320 stopped sounding like that. But I feel like the last 0:15:57.320 --> 0:15:58.800 album had a lot of his own ship that I 0:15:58.840 --> 0:16:02.280 was like, Oh, That's what I was always had. There's 0:16:02.320 --> 0:16:05.200 always some small little sounds that thing. It was something 0:16:05.240 --> 0:16:06.800 minute that you just I think it was like it 0:16:06.880 --> 0:16:09.160 felt like I was like, oh this eminemb. I can 0:16:09.200 --> 0:16:13.360 tell ye had some heat rocks that day. What up, y'all? 0:16:13.360 --> 0:16:15.000 We got to stop the interview to tell you about 0:16:15.120 --> 0:16:20.600 our new sponsors, our family at Hardan, Lost Vegas. You 0:16:20.640 --> 0:16:23.520 see what it is. You see what it is. Welcome 0:16:23.560 --> 0:16:26.000 to the family hard Dean Man. We're so excited. I've 0:16:26.040 --> 0:16:27.800 been going to Hardeen for so many years. For people 0:16:27.800 --> 0:16:31.400 who don't know, Harden is that premium cannabis dispensary, the 0:16:31.560 --> 0:16:36.320 number one award winning dispensary in Loss, Vegas. I'm talking 0:16:36.400 --> 0:16:39.400 the biggest and best selection of cannabis products, and of 0:16:39.440 --> 0:16:43.080 course in Vegas, but I'm talking about worldwide. 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NFTs have taken a shit the whole 0:17:50.160 --> 0:17:52.879 entire whole market fil well, the whole entire space is 0:17:52.960 --> 0:17:56.960 like it felt a little predatory, right, So I feel 0:17:56.960 --> 0:18:01.280 like you've gotten some negative feedback for your project. Explain 0:18:01.359 --> 0:18:03.960 your project and why it is obviously, is it still 0:18:04.000 --> 0:18:06.479 going on? Is that's the thing? A coin is an 0:18:06.480 --> 0:18:10.560 African coin, Okay, So most of the things that's happening 0:18:10.600 --> 0:18:12.840 in the US, it doesn't really affect us because we 0:18:12.840 --> 0:18:16.800 have our own currency in mind. Was turning mobile minutes 0:18:17.280 --> 0:18:19.719 into currency because out there you have to fi your 0:18:19.720 --> 0:18:23.080 minutes still, right, Yeah, so it's a whole nother concept, 0:18:23.119 --> 0:18:27.000 whole number you know, like our exchange rate for minutes 0:18:27.600 --> 0:18:30.320 don't even exist in America, Like because they don't, you 0:18:30.320 --> 0:18:33.800 can't turn your mobile minutes into actual spending money here. Yeah, 0:18:33.840 --> 0:18:37.200 because bandwidin Africa is like less, it's so much less. 0:18:37.200 --> 0:18:39.800 But a lot of people don't know that cell phones 0:18:39.840 --> 0:18:44.000 have been operating in Africa since ninety six, way before 0:18:44.000 --> 0:18:46.800