WEBVTT - #105 - Mickey Factz 0:00:00.040 --> 0:00:02.560 Bulet Cavs Show Special Guests pull up with the Grandma 0:00:02.640 --> 0:00:08.119 Nier Mickey Facts. Micky Yo, I don't think enough people 0:00:08.119 --> 0:00:10.240 in hip hop know about Grand Marnier because you're the 0:00:10.280 --> 0:00:14.319 only rapper I've ever seen off that Grand Marnier. Man. Yeah, Yeah, 0:00:14.360 --> 0:00:16.880 that's the way it's supposed to be. That's that orange shit. Yeah, 0:00:17.000 --> 0:00:18.800 the cool is this something like this is like your 0:00:18.800 --> 0:00:21.239 go to. It's been my go to as of late. 0:00:22.000 --> 0:00:23.840 I was heavy on it in Old nine when I 0:00:23.880 --> 0:00:26.400 did my deal at JAV and I just started picking 0:00:26.400 --> 0:00:30.040 it back up recently. All right. So I always when 0:00:30.080 --> 0:00:32.760 I think of Mickey Facts, I think of golden era, 0:00:33.120 --> 0:00:37.440 of the blog era of rap music. Yeah, at the time, 0:00:37.520 --> 0:00:39.640 there's not right, there's two Dope boys and all these 0:00:39.720 --> 0:00:43.040 just staples, and you know, really the real an rs 0:00:43.080 --> 0:00:46.280 of that era were those blog sites, right, and you 0:00:46.720 --> 0:00:51.640 were one of the forefathers of that era. I feel like, 0:00:51.720 --> 0:00:54.560 you know, you kind of you know, yeah, grandfathered a 0:00:54.560 --> 0:00:56.520 lot of that shit that was going on at that time, man. 0:00:56.560 --> 0:01:00.760 And you know, obviously was on the second Freshman cover yep, 0:01:01.160 --> 0:01:04.200 the one that really made the Freshman cover like blowing, 0:01:04.800 --> 0:01:07.280 because that first Freshman cover was cool. It was great 0:01:07.360 --> 0:01:08.800 artists on there, but it wasn't like really a thing 0:01:08.880 --> 0:01:11.440 until the second one hit. Second one hit. It changed 0:01:11.440 --> 0:01:14.679 the game because the first one as as great as 0:01:14.760 --> 0:01:17.360 I thought. It was a great cover, but it didn't 0:01:17.400 --> 0:01:20.280 do too well. It was like Crooked Eye. Joel Ortiz 0:01:21.200 --> 0:01:27.360 Loope was boozy on it, Sagon Ye Pap. It was 0:01:27.360 --> 0:01:29.240 a couple of people on it. The thing about it 0:01:29.360 --> 0:01:32.800 was like the game was changing from the streets to 0:01:32.840 --> 0:01:36.039 the to the Internet. And when Dayton Thomas got there, 0:01:36.080 --> 0:01:37.399 he was like, I want to do a freshman cover 0:01:37.440 --> 0:01:39.399 and I want to cover the blog. The people who 0:01:39.440 --> 0:01:43.840 was big on the blogs they said hell no, and 0:01:44.000 --> 0:01:45.880 he was. He fought and fought and fought and made 0:01:45.920 --> 0:01:49.240 it happen because the last one didn't sell well. When 0:01:49.240 --> 0:01:51.840 we did that one, that's like the top selling that 0:01:51.920 --> 0:01:53.720 was one of the top selling magazines. Yeah, because it 0:01:53.760 --> 0:02:00.240 was you, Asher Roth, Walle Bob Bob, Charles Hamilton, Corey Guns. 0:02:00.920 --> 0:02:02.520 Every time I hear Charles hand was his name, I 0:02:02.600 --> 0:02:05.480 just I have such a big fan Free Charles. He's 0:02:05.520 --> 0:02:07.760 locked up? Oh is he ship? Yeah? Corey Guns was 0:02:07.760 --> 0:02:14.280 ace Hood on there, Theacehood, Cuddy Cuddy currency Wow and Blue. Wow. Yeah, 0:02:14.440 --> 0:02:17.560 that's a crazy cover. That's a crazy cover. And it's 0:02:17.600 --> 0:02:20.799 funny too because at the time I remember, like the 0:02:21.000 --> 0:02:24.040 the the people who you were, like, h it was 0:02:24.120 --> 0:02:26.040 like Ace Hood. Acehood made the cover and I was 0:02:26.120 --> 0:02:29.079 like hmm. I mean, obviously Ashood went on to have 0:02:29.200 --> 0:02:31.519 hit records in like a great career and stuff, but incredible, 0:02:31.600 --> 0:02:33.040 but yeah, that was such a it was to me. 0:02:33.120 --> 0:02:39.600 It just kind of really time stamped the era perfectly perfectly. 0:02:39.680 --> 0:02:44.320 It was a perfect, perfect, perfectly balanced liked say were 0:02:44.600 --> 0:02:46.359 you know? Was there a lot of camaraderie between a 0:02:46.360 --> 0:02:47.680 lot of a lot of you guys on that cover. 0:02:47.760 --> 0:02:50.960 At the time the time, Me and Corey were very cool. Uh. 0:02:51.680 --> 0:02:54.040 I was a fan of Blue. Me and Currency was 0:02:54.080 --> 0:02:56.880 super cool. Uh. Me and Wiley had a little bit 0:02:56.919 --> 0:02:59.320 of issues. Me and Cuddy had did a record. We 0:02:59.400 --> 0:03:02.720 were cool being Me and Charles were cool. I had 0:03:02.960 --> 0:03:06.000 met Acehood that day, so for the most part, I 0:03:06.080 --> 0:03:08.160 was cool with everybody there. What was it? What were 0:03:08.200 --> 0:03:10.239 the issues you had with La? It was just some 0:03:10.400 --> 0:03:12.079 music stuff. Like I was trying to get some music 0:03:12.160 --> 0:03:15.600 done with him, meet him and push. I was trying 0:03:15.639 --> 0:03:16.840 to get a track with us three on it and 0:03:16.919 --> 0:03:19.560 it just didn't happen. So I kind of took offense 0:03:19.600 --> 0:03:20.679 to that. I was new to the game, so I 0:03:20.680 --> 0:03:22.799 didn't really understand what was going on. I didn't know how. 0:03:23.120 --> 0:03:25.200 I thought if somebody sent you a record and you know, 0:03:25.280 --> 0:03:26.920 you guys are on the same level, you're coming up, 0:03:26.960 --> 0:03:30.239 you just get it done. But he was real busy 0:03:30.280 --> 0:03:32.079 at the time. He couldn't get to it. So that 0:03:32.240 --> 0:03:34.080 was like one of my first lessons in the industry. 0:03:34.200 --> 0:03:35.600 But I took it to heart, and that's why we 0:03:35.680 --> 0:03:38.040 kind of had issues at that time. Was it awkward? Shoot? 0:03:38.680 --> 0:03:42.840 It was a very aw shoot, very awkward, but you 0:03:42.960 --> 0:03:46.560 know there was you know, darker forces behind the scenes, 0:03:46.600 --> 0:03:49.600 and when he kind of realized what was going on, 0:03:49.760 --> 0:03:51.040 he kind of spun the block and was like, Yo, 0:03:51.160 --> 0:03:54.000 my fault. You know, I understand what he was trying 0:03:54.040 --> 0:03:55.320 to do. And there was people that was in my 0:03:55.400 --> 0:03:57.440 ear at the time, so you know, he apologized and 0:03:57.520 --> 0:03:59.320 we kind of got behind it after that. Yeah, It's 0:03:59.360 --> 0:04:00.960 it's crazy because if you look at a lot of 0:04:01.000 --> 0:04:03.880 the guys on that cover, right, there's so much like 0:04:04.840 --> 0:04:08.280 what IF's on that cover? Right? Yeah, what if? Asheroth 0:04:08.360 --> 0:04:11.960 came out five years later, because I feel like Asherroth 0:04:12.120 --> 0:04:15.280 missed kind of the window to be like, I guess 0:04:15.280 --> 0:04:17.680 where Jack Harley is now or with Gzy and mackl like, 0:04:17.800 --> 0:04:19.000 like you know what I mean. I think when Asharrock 0:04:19.040 --> 0:04:20.560 came out, I don't think people really got it all 0:04:20.600 --> 0:04:23.680 the way. I think all of us. I think when 0:04:23.720 --> 0:04:26.480 you look at that cover, all of us were the 0:04:26.600 --> 0:04:30.159 guinea pigs for every other artist that came out after. 0:04:32.200 --> 0:04:35.640 You know, from you you take someone like you take 0:04:35.680 --> 0:04:38.200 someone like Asha, like you said, you know, people saw that, 0:04:38.360 --> 0:04:42.480 and then you have Mac Miller. Afterwards you look at 0:04:42.600 --> 0:04:46.840 somebody like Blue, you see that, and then you know, 0:04:46.960 --> 0:04:49.280 after Blue, you have like a Fashan or you have 0:04:50.120 --> 0:04:54.680 a Ja Cole right currency right like currency was just incredible. 0:04:54.720 --> 0:04:57.440 After that, you know, you get with w so like 0:04:57.760 --> 0:05:00.560 people saw what the mistakes that we may have made 0:05:00.600 --> 0:05:01.880 and just kind of was like, Okay, I'm gonna stay 0:05:01.880 --> 0:05:03.880 away from that and kind of do this, or I'm 0:05:03.920 --> 0:05:05.679 gonna do this, or I'm gonna work with these guys 0:05:05.720 --> 0:05:07.840 that came out before us. And what about for you? 0:05:07.960 --> 0:05:10.480 What do you think like for you, maybe you know, 0:05:11.279 --> 0:05:13.599 were the things that transpire that maybe kind of prevented 0:05:13.600 --> 0:05:15.320 you from me to your full potential because you had 0:05:15.360 --> 0:05:17.039 full you know, full record deals and all that shit. 0:05:17.200 --> 0:05:20.800 Like two main things with people taking my style being 0:05:20.839 --> 0:05:22.839 a little bit more popular than me at the time, 0:05:24.000 --> 0:05:25.920 I was the guy doing skinny jeans. I was the 0:05:25.960 --> 0:05:28.200 guy who was fashion forward. I was the guy putting 0:05:28.200 --> 0:05:30.320 a song out every week on the internet when nobody 0:05:30.440 --> 0:05:32.560 was doing it. Yeah you did that. It was either 0:05:32.640 --> 0:05:36.200 you were Crooked Eye. Crooked Eye did the freestyles. Shot 0:05:36.240 --> 0:05:38.960 the Crooked Eye. He did the freestyles every week. I 0:05:39.120 --> 0:05:41.520 was putting out songs like I put Drake. Drake was 0:05:41.600 --> 0:05:45.040 on that series when nobody knew who Drake was. Cuddy 0:05:45.160 --> 0:05:49.400 was on that series. You know, Corey was on that 0:05:49.560 --> 0:05:52.360 series like I was. When I was doing that, it 0:05:52.480 --> 0:05:54.640 was it felt different. Buckshot was on that series. It 0:05:54.720 --> 0:05:57.520 was just a whole bunch of craziness. So I think 0:05:57.680 --> 0:06:00.240 that mixed with the fashion people kind of took the 0:06:00.360 --> 0:06:02.400 skinny jinks and people were baggy like if you oh 0:06:02.440 --> 0:06:04.480 for sure, people were crazy looking at the time. So 0:06:04.720 --> 0:06:09.320 so those two things and then Jive folding. When Jive folded, 0:06:09.440 --> 0:06:11.120 that was the end. That was the That was the 0:06:11.279 --> 0:06:15.360 end of my trajectory because now I'm moving on to RCA. 0:06:15.560 --> 0:06:17.960 I did a deal with RCA because I didn't get dropped. 0:06:18.160 --> 0:06:21.320 It's just the label folded. So the people did get dropped, 0:06:21.360 --> 0:06:22.960 but I had got another deal. It's the same me 0:06:23.040 --> 0:06:25.280 and Justin Timberlake won the same label, so he got 0:06:25.320 --> 0:06:27.520 moved to RCA EPIC and I got moved to RCA, 0:06:28.040 --> 0:06:29.800 did a new deal. But it's people who didn't believe 0:06:29.839 --> 0:06:31.560 in me. And understand, yeah, the same people who were 0:06:31.720 --> 0:06:33.080 a RS, the people who brought you on the team, 0:06:33.080 --> 0:06:35.160 they're no longer they're no longer there. And when you're 0:06:35.320 --> 0:06:37.200 like that in in a building, it's like you're no 0:06:37.320 --> 0:06:39.520 man's land, no man's LANs. So that's what happened, and 0:06:39.560 --> 0:06:42.000 that's the reason why it kind of just fell apart. 0:06:42.080 --> 0:06:44.640 It happens a lot, right especially, it doesn't even happen 0:06:44.680 --> 0:06:47.400 when the label folds. It happens when someone gets fired. Yep. 0:06:48.160 --> 0:06:50.160 Then you get somebody who doesn't your president comes in. 0:06:50.279 --> 0:06:51.920 They didn't a sign you, they don't believe in you. 0:06:52.160 --> 0:06:54.560 They just following the numbers, the analytics. So that's kind 0:06:54.560 --> 0:06:56.840 of what happened to me in that space. And you know, 0:06:57.200 --> 0:06:58.880 stuff like that has happened to a lot of artists 0:06:59.120 --> 0:07:01.200 for sure, and they and a lot of them haven't 0:07:01.560 --> 0:07:05.719 recovered XV. You know XV somebody who signed with Warner 0:07:05.839 --> 0:07:08.440 and just they didn't know what the fuck to do 0:07:08.520 --> 0:07:10.880 with him, and he was an alien like actually was 0:07:10.960 --> 0:07:16.640 like Kendrick Lamar level talent, insane, insane, huge support system 0:07:16.720 --> 0:07:19.160 and fan base. But like you said, once you get 0:07:19.200 --> 0:07:22.080 into that system, then move. They were still moving by 0:07:22.160 --> 0:07:25.120 the archaic rules, you know, get a radio record, do 0:07:25.240 --> 0:07:29.720 some promo, whereas the Internet was just coming along. Spotify 0:07:29.880 --> 0:07:33.920 hadn't started yet, Spotify and it was SoundCloud was around 0:07:34.000 --> 0:07:36.440 that time when he got his deal. So like things, 0:07:36.720 --> 0:07:38.440 you know, the labels didn't know what to do. The 0:07:38.520 --> 0:07:40.440 blogs were in charge at the time, so it was 0:07:40.560 --> 0:07:42.760 tough for them to figure out how to make money 0:07:42.840 --> 0:07:48.360 off of a world where it's post Napster presently, z 0:07:48.560 --> 0:07:52.320 Share and hulk Share, media Fire, Media Fire, and then 0:07:52.400 --> 0:07:56.320 we're right before SoundCloud, Spotify, Apple Music and things like that. Yeah, 0:07:56.440 --> 0:07:58.400 that's crazy because like like when you think about that 0:07:58.520 --> 0:08:00.960 cover is like, you know, so like I was a 0:08:01.040 --> 0:08:03.120 huge Charles I mean, I was a huge fan of Bob. 0:08:03.440 --> 0:08:05.760 Bob obviously went on to have hit records and hit records, 0:08:05.760 --> 0:08:08.520 but it also took a while. Yeah, it took them 0:08:08.560 --> 0:08:11.360 two years. Yeah, you know, like even I even think 0:08:11.400 --> 0:08:13.800 about like Coal, like Cole was the year after or 0:08:13.840 --> 0:08:16.160 two years later. Cole was the year after he was 0:08:16.200 --> 0:08:19.000 on the twenty ten cover. I think it like even Coal, 0:08:19.120 --> 0:08:20.800 like they didn't know what to do with Call Forever 0:08:21.320 --> 0:08:23.760 he popped in twenty twelve. Yeah, Like it was like, bro, 0:08:23.960 --> 0:08:26.400 like it was a weird error for the industry because, 0:08:26.440 --> 0:08:28.480 like you said, like it's how do you monetize this 0:08:28.640 --> 0:08:31.640 internet buzz if there isn't a hit record because the 0:08:31.720 --> 0:08:34.360 labels now, as long as it's streams, it doesn't matter 0:08:34.360 --> 0:08:36.920 if it's played on the radio. It took them ten 0:08:37.040 --> 0:08:40.440 years to figure it out. Yeah, because Napsta pops up 0:08:40.720 --> 0:08:45.320 two oh three, and you know, then you have whatever else, 0:08:46.160 --> 0:08:48.719 uh streaming sites that was out around that time. I 0:08:48.800 --> 0:08:51.280 forgot what the other ones were. But then and then 0:08:51.320 --> 0:08:54.240 it just kept moving moving forward, moving forward, YouTube five, 0:08:54.800 --> 0:09:00.560 you know, MySpace, Twitter, everything just started. So the labels 0:09:00.600 --> 0:09:03.800 were confused. You know, when I first joined Twitter, nobody 0:09:03.880 --> 0:09:06.520 was on Twitter, right, there was no labels on Twitter. 0:09:06.559 --> 0:09:08.840 There was no news sits on Twitter, there was nobody 0:09:08.880 --> 0:09:12.280 on Twitter. So once they started to get the hang 0:09:12.360 --> 0:09:15.000 of it, then they started to put their minds together 0:09:15.000 --> 0:09:16.439 and it was like, we're gonna we're gonna take over 0:09:16.600 --> 0:09:18.640 by doing this, doing this, doing that, and now this 0:09:19.360 --> 0:09:22.800 the streaming services. It's back to the way it was. 0:09:23.280 --> 0:09:26.800 They're in control again. Yeah, it's almost like Carl Cherry's 0:09:26.840 --> 0:09:31.360 like the new sk kind of right, or like you know, 0:09:31.360 --> 0:09:33.280 because you would think, like I mean I saw with 0:09:33.360 --> 0:09:35.800 my own eyes, like if you could get Shake or 0:09:35.920 --> 0:09:38.160 Meg to post it your ship on two dope boys, 0:09:38.240 --> 0:09:43.000 you like it literally, like will change your life, life changing. Yeah, 0:09:43.120 --> 0:09:45.880 if ESK posted, you forget about it over like at that. 0:09:45.960 --> 0:09:48.240 At that in the real like early stages. Not Right 0:09:48.440 --> 0:09:51.720 was the blog period. It was not right and then 0:09:51.840 --> 0:09:53.440 you know, everyone else was coming up. But not Right 0:09:53.559 --> 0:09:55.319 was like the standard. Like if if you got on 0:09:55.440 --> 0:09:57.199 not Right, it was like, oh shit, this I got it. 0:09:57.360 --> 0:09:59.400 I listened to everything. I'm not right. I was on 0:09:59.520 --> 0:10:03.760 that right three times a week. That's crazy. Every week 0:10:03.840 --> 0:10:05.880 for the year, I was on it three times a week. Yeah, 0:10:05.920 --> 0:10:08.520 I mean, yeah, it's I missed the era of music 0:10:08.600 --> 0:10:11.400 because it did feel like those guys had like legitimate 0:10:12.920 --> 0:10:18.800 love for quality, and I think that the blog era. 0:10:19.120 --> 0:10:23.160 At least the gatekeepers, in my opinion, were the best 0:10:23.960 --> 0:10:26.920 gatekeepers we've ever had because they were the most tuned 0:10:26.960 --> 0:10:30.480 in and they you know, like I'm real. Over the 0:10:30.559 --> 0:10:32.720 years was really tight with Shake and Mac and those guys, 0:10:32.920 --> 0:10:35.839 and like they like genuinely like if they didn't like 0:10:35.960 --> 0:10:38.319 your music, they didn't post it. Yeah, And that was 0:10:38.440 --> 0:10:42.040 that's different, right, because now you're gonna get on a 0:10:42.120 --> 0:10:45.160 playlist because it's an algorithm or because like you know, 0:10:46.040 --> 0:10:48.160 even if the song sucks, if you're the bigger name 0:10:48.240 --> 0:10:49.839 or you got you're on the A label, you're getting 0:10:49.880 --> 0:10:53.800 on rap caviar, even if someone who's running that playlist 0:10:53.920 --> 0:10:56.760 is like this shit is ass as to where back then, 0:10:56.840 --> 0:10:59.520 I feel like at least the gatekeepers were like hip 0:10:59.559 --> 0:11:02.240 hop no herds, and they wrote about it it was 0:11:02.320 --> 0:11:04.240 over and they had a post where they typed and 0:11:04.320 --> 0:11:06.280 it was like yo, like they took pride to like 0:11:06.320 --> 0:11:10.120 help building people's careers like I owe my careers and 0:11:10.440 --> 0:11:13.320 right and all of the blogs on Smash to Boys, 0:11:13.600 --> 0:11:16.280 even World Star hip Hop, you know, start they would 0:11:16.280 --> 0:11:18.240 when they first were starting out, you know, they were 0:11:18.320 --> 0:11:21.400 underneath not right, and then you know, the fights helped them, 0:11:21.440 --> 0:11:23.280 But a lot of times it was the music, my 0:11:23.480 --> 0:11:25.960 freestyles that would go up there. It would help build 0:11:26.040 --> 0:11:28.880 up the site, you know. So you know a lot 0:11:28.960 --> 0:11:31.360 of these places was just starting out, even hip Hop 0:11:31.440 --> 0:11:33.920 d X all hip hop, they were just starting out. 0:11:34.080 --> 0:11:36.760 Do you remember the forum days before the blogs hip 0:11:36.760 --> 0:11:40.640 hop game, hip hop game, there was a realist nwords 0:11:40.679 --> 0:11:42.880 dot com. I used to download all my mixtapes off 0:11:42.920 --> 0:11:46.880 of Slums of Boxton Love. Oh my gosh. You know 0:11:47.120 --> 0:11:49.640 back then Jay Electronica he would post links and then 0:11:49.679 --> 0:11:53.120 delete them. Oh really, he would go into these chatrooms, 0:11:53.160 --> 0:11:56.160 into these forums, post a link to like Act one 0:11:56.320 --> 0:11:59.320 or Act two and then delete it. That's crazy. Yeah, 0:11:59.400 --> 0:12:02.000 those those are those That's how I got my name. 0:12:02.520 --> 0:12:06.680 I would illegally download mixtapes and albums from those forums 0:12:07.280 --> 0:12:08.800 and then go to the swat meet when I was 0:12:08.840 --> 0:12:13.040 sixteen and sling them bitches. Wow. Yeah. I used to 0:12:13.080 --> 0:12:15.720 sell mixtapes in bootleg albums when I was in high school. 0:12:15.960 --> 0:12:17.880 That's crazy. Hey, what up man? We gotta interrupt the 0:12:17.920 --> 0:12:20.280 interview real quick to tell you about our family at 0:12:20.360 --> 0:12:22.600 odd Socks. Now. When I be riding for odd Socks 0:12:22.640 --> 0:12:25.000 so hard, man, it's because I really love the product. 0:12:25.040 --> 0:12:27.480 They got the most comfortable socks in the fucking world. 0:12:27.920 --> 0:12:30.000 I got a pair of odd socks basic song right now, 0:12:30.240 --> 0:12:33.400 go get those. They got the socks WWE joints. 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Not only 0:13:10.440 --> 0:13:12.360 they got the WW they got the scar face, they 0:13:12.440 --> 0:13:14.719 got the street Fighter, they got the Nickelodeon. They got 0:13:14.800 --> 0:13:16.960 it all. So make sure you hit that website odd 0:13:17.000 --> 0:13:20.120 socksofficial dot com save twenty percent off with the promo 0:13:20.240 --> 0:13:24.240 code bootleg keV. All right, go do that. Shout out 0:13:24.280 --> 0:13:26.120 to odd Socks let's get back to the interview. I 0:13:26.320 --> 0:13:28.439 just think, like now it's kind of it's kind of 0:13:28.480 --> 0:13:32.240 like somewhere in the middle unfortunately, like you know, like 0:13:32.600 --> 0:13:35.480 there's not as many gatekeepers, right, there's only a few. Yeah, 0:13:36.160 --> 0:13:39.280 and you know, I mean I consider call Churry a gatekeeper. Yeah. 0:13:39.280 --> 0:13:42.040 And Carl's super tuned in. He's super He is a 0:13:42.120 --> 0:13:45.240 hip hop fanatic, you know, like Carl's he was a 0:13:45.280 --> 0:13:48.120 part of the double XLF Freshman cover. Yeah, Carl's a 0:13:48.160 --> 0:13:51.800 fucking one of the good guys, I say, you know, 0:13:52.600 --> 0:13:54.880 and Carl's taking chances on a lot of artists too. 0:13:55.000 --> 0:13:56.920 Like there's a kid out of La Na Nana that's 0:13:57.000 --> 0:13:59.800 incredible that like doesn't even have ten thousand followers, but 0:13:59.840 --> 0:14:03.760 he's a fucking incredible artist. Grip, who just simon Shady Grip. 0:14:04.040 --> 0:14:05.680 That's my boy. I love Grip. You know. I found 0:14:05.679 --> 0:14:08.640 out about Grip. I had a show in Nebraska and 0:14:08.720 --> 0:14:10.599 the promoter he just kept playing Grip and I'm like, 0:14:10.640 --> 0:14:12.840 who is this guy? This guy is incredible? So yes, 0:14:12.960 --> 0:14:15.640 guy named Grip Man, he's dope. I DM Grip immediately 0:14:15.840 --> 0:14:17.679 He's fired. I didn't even know he was signing. He 0:14:17.720 --> 0:14:21.400 got album called Snubnose from twenty nineteen. That's Fire. I 0:14:21.440 --> 0:14:22.880 think that was the album I was listening to. He 0:14:23.080 --> 0:14:26.000 is incredible, and you know I hit him up like, yo, man, 0:14:26.040 --> 0:14:28.480 I think you're dope. Would love to work monf late 0:14:28.520 --> 0:14:32.360 to sign of Shady Wow, kind of break down the 0:14:32.840 --> 0:14:36.360 fake internet altercations. Obviously, you and Lup are real close, right, 0:14:36.440 --> 0:14:38.320 We're like, yeah, that's my bro. You guys like we're 0:14:38.400 --> 0:14:40.760 kind of trolling each other for a while. I don't 0:14:40.760 --> 0:14:42.600 know if he was trolling each other. I think it 0:14:42.640 --> 0:14:44.160 was one of those things where we was just kind 0:14:44.200 --> 0:14:47.280 of having conversations about hip hop, you know, just trying 0:14:47.280 --> 0:14:50.240 to you know, there was this talk about who's the best, 0:14:50.320 --> 0:14:52.960 and you know, I was just trying to conduct the interview. 0:14:53.000 --> 0:14:56.640 I wasn't. I actually think Loop a Fiasco like lyrically 0:14:57.400 --> 0:15:00.560 as like a just pure rapper. He's he might be 0:15:00.720 --> 0:15:03.960 like top five to ten. Ever I'm not talking about 0:15:04.000 --> 0:15:07.960 like and by the way, he's got classic projects, yes, 0:15:08.440 --> 0:15:10.760 but like, if we're just talking about putting you in 0:15:10.840 --> 0:15:14.240 a room, here's a pad of paper, go crazy. I'm 0:15:14.280 --> 0:15:16.560 not sure there's many people in the history of this 0:15:16.720 --> 0:15:19.920 planet that can hang with Lupe Fiasco. I say that 0:15:19.920 --> 0:15:22.520 with all due respects. I agree. I agree he's one 0:15:22.520 --> 0:15:25.800 of the greats. He's my biggest what if. Yeah, like 0:15:26.200 --> 0:15:28.920 Lupe to me should be on the like like when 0:15:28.960 --> 0:15:31.760 I think of like Loope's trajectory and like how Atlanta 0:15:31.840 --> 0:15:33.800 kind of stalled them, I feel like Atlantic stalled him out, 0:15:33.800 --> 0:15:35.080 and I feel like at some point in time he 0:15:35.120 --> 0:15:37.720 might have maybe just lost not necessarily lost passion for 0:15:37.760 --> 0:15:40.000 the hip hop like as an art form, but just 0:15:40.080 --> 0:15:43.320 for the industry. Yeah, I mean, I think I just 0:15:43.400 --> 0:15:45.120 think he wanted to do what he wanted to do, 0:15:45.760 --> 0:15:49.920 and I think Atlantic saw the success of Superstar, right, 0:15:50.360 --> 0:15:51.800 we need more of that, We need more of that. 0:15:52.400 --> 0:15:54.360 And he's like, bro, I'm an artist. I want to 0:15:54.440 --> 0:15:56.840 do this, And then Lasers comes out and it's like 0:15:57.280 --> 0:15:59.080 shout out to my guy Poube, you know. But at 0:15:59.080 --> 0:16:01.080 the time it was going by MDMA. But like there's 0:16:01.120 --> 0:16:03.000 like a lot of these like commercial like aren't like 0:16:03.120 --> 0:16:05.600 weird R and B hooks that just didn't feel right. 0:16:06.120 --> 0:16:07.640 But it's like, yeah, that's not why we came here 0:16:07.640 --> 0:16:09.160 in the first place. It's not why Lupe has got 0:16:09.240 --> 0:16:12.160 a fucking cult following. They're not here for that ship yeah, 0:16:12.200 --> 0:16:14.080 I mean they gave him his biggest records though, I 0:16:14.120 --> 0:16:16.320 think you know, I mean obviously, Yeah, it's like you said, 0:16:17.080 --> 0:16:19.800 the record with which Tray was huge, Trey record was 0:16:20.360 --> 0:16:22.880 nuts and even you know, the Show goes On. I 0:16:22.960 --> 0:16:24.840 think that might was that on that album. Yeah, show 0:16:24.880 --> 0:16:26.760 goes On, I think huge. I think that might that 0:16:27.120 --> 0:16:29.280 is either between that or Superstar might be the biggest, 0:16:29.360 --> 0:16:31.520 right show. Yeah, it's one of those two. You know, 0:16:31.600 --> 0:16:34.000 those are the two biggest records. So you know, I 0:16:34.080 --> 0:16:36.120 think he has a love and hate relationship with Lasers, 0:16:37.120 --> 0:16:40.640 but you know he's still top five tops man. Listen. 0:16:40.800 --> 0:16:42.560 I was I don't know, was it twenty fifteen that 0:16:42.640 --> 0:16:44.920 Murals they saw Murals came out and he was rapping 0:16:44.960 --> 0:16:47.120 for nine minutes straight and it was just and I 0:16:47.200 --> 0:16:49.600 just remember like saying, anybody who thinks Lupe fell off, 0:16:49.720 --> 0:16:52.800 just press play on that Nels and it's like, what 0:16:53.040 --> 0:16:57.080 the fuck? Like that Smithsonian rep right there? Yeah, it's crazy, man. 0:16:57.200 --> 0:16:59.960 But uh, you have a joint project out with Blue. Yeah, 0:17:00.120 --> 0:17:03.040 that's my brother. Shout out to Blue. Somebody else you 0:17:03.120 --> 0:17:05.600 know his album is that? That first album with Exile 0:17:05.720 --> 0:17:08.600 was another moment and like Below the Heavens is got 0:17:08.800 --> 0:17:12.960 backpack you know moment, It was like a moment in 0:17:13.040 --> 0:17:16.639 backpack history. Yeah, that boom back, Like wow, shit, Like 0:17:17.200 --> 0:17:19.520 he was right. I want to say he was right 0:17:19.640 --> 0:17:23.520 before the blog era because that dropped in seven, So 0:17:23.640 --> 0:17:25.679 he was right before yeah, because it came out when 0:17:25.680 --> 0:17:28.359 I was in high school. Yeah, and that project is 0:17:28.840 --> 0:17:31.359 I'm a fan of that project. Yeah. So you guys 0:17:31.720 --> 0:17:35.159 originally met at the cover shoot. We actually met. We 0:17:35.280 --> 0:17:38.440 had a show together at Rock the Bells. Was it 0:17:38.560 --> 0:17:40.960 Rock the Bells? No, it was the Booklyn Hip Hop Fest. 0:17:41.040 --> 0:17:43.760 We had a show together and that's what we first met, 0:17:43.800 --> 0:17:46.000 and then we met again at the cover. So you 0:17:46.080 --> 0:17:48.639 guys have obviously kept rapport throughout the years, and now 0:17:48.800 --> 0:17:51.440 you know what was this? What was the Whose idea 0:17:51.560 --> 0:17:53.480 was it to do a project together? It was mine. 0:17:53.600 --> 0:17:55.600 We were on tour in twenty eighteen and I was like, yo, 0:17:55.640 --> 0:17:56.960 I think we should do a project while we were 0:17:56.960 --> 0:18:00.240 in the car and he was like, yep, that's do it. 0:18:00.560 --> 0:18:02.359 And I was like all right, so I went. You know, 0:18:02.440 --> 0:18:04.600 we both was reaching out to different producers to see 0:18:04.600 --> 0:18:07.639 who could do the whole thing, and we settled on Knots. 0:18:08.280 --> 0:18:10.280 Nots is a legend and nots was like, yeah, let's 0:18:10.320 --> 0:18:12.400 do it. So, you know, we just kind of went 0:18:12.680 --> 0:18:15.800 and picked beats and we put this project together. It 0:18:15.880 --> 0:18:19.000 was crazy. It's crazy. It's called the narrative. How is it? Uh? 0:18:20.160 --> 0:18:22.280 Because you know, when you're working on solo shit, you 0:18:22.400 --> 0:18:25.879 really only have to worry about like your vision, right. 0:18:26.840 --> 0:18:29.600 It is not you know, you know what your perspective 0:18:29.720 --> 0:18:31.600 is is you know how to get your point across? 0:18:31.880 --> 0:18:34.480 How is the dynamic changing when you have when you 0:18:34.600 --> 0:18:37.399 bring a whole nother prolific rapper to the table and 0:18:37.480 --> 0:18:39.720 you guys have to collaborate on like these things. For 0:18:39.800 --> 0:18:42.160 the most part, I'm a pretty easy going m see 0:18:42.680 --> 0:18:45.080 if he a lot of times Blue would have concepts 0:18:45.080 --> 0:18:46.520 and I'd be like okay, and I was just run 0:18:46.600 --> 0:18:48.720 with it. And there were times when you know, I 0:18:48.760 --> 0:18:51.119 would put I put like maybe the two of the 0:18:51.200 --> 0:18:54.239 songs together and he was like, okay, cool. I mean, 0:18:54.320 --> 0:18:56.520 once you have two people that don't have big egos 0:18:56.600 --> 0:18:58.600 that come together, they're both just trying to make sure 0:18:58.640 --> 0:19:00.800 that the project just comes to other pretty well. It 0:19:00.920 --> 0:19:03.200 was very easy project for us to put together. It 0:19:03.280 --> 0:19:05.040 took forever to come out because of the features we 0:19:05.080 --> 0:19:06.639 were waiting a long time for the features to come. 0:19:06.720 --> 0:19:08.560