WEBVTT - INTERVIEW: Jon B. Talks Career Milestones, Bond With 2Pac, Babyface Business Issues, Legacy + More 0:00:01.560 --> 0:00:04.960 Every day a week ago, clicks up the Breakfast Club 0:00:05.480 --> 0:00:06.600 finish for y'all done. 0:00:07.440 --> 0:00:09.600 Yep, it's the world's most dangerous morning show to Breakfast Club. 0:00:09.680 --> 0:00:12.560 Charlamagne the God, DJ NB and Jess Hilarius aren't here today, 0:00:12.600 --> 0:00:14.640 but LLL Cool Bay Lauren Lerossa is and we got 0:00:14.640 --> 0:00:18.799 a very special guest celebrating thirty years Man thirtieth anniversary 0:00:18.800 --> 0:00:21.600 of his ri I double, A certified gold debut album, 0:00:21.720 --> 0:00:22.520 bona Fide. 0:00:22.800 --> 0:00:23.960 John b is here. Man. 0:00:24.320 --> 0:00:25.040 What's going on? 0:00:25.120 --> 0:00:26.240 Man? 0:00:26.280 --> 0:00:28.120 I'm blessed man. Good to be with you, guys, man, 0:00:28.160 --> 0:00:28.800 thanks for having me. 0:00:28.800 --> 0:00:29.440 You know, it's so funny. 0:00:29.440 --> 0:00:31.639 I saw you say somewhere I might have been blad TV, 0:00:32.280 --> 0:00:34.040 Well you were the first white R and B singer, 0:00:34.040 --> 0:00:35.599 And I'm like, damn you right? 0:00:36.200 --> 0:00:39.120 And I remember imber between you and color me back. 0:00:39.520 --> 0:00:42.280 I remember, you know, other people being in R and B, 0:00:42.440 --> 0:00:45.440 but I don't remember any of them claiming R and 0:00:45.479 --> 0:00:48.879 B the way I have. Like Michael McDonald, you know, 0:00:49.640 --> 0:00:53.559 you know he's very soulful. You know, Allan Oates, very soulful. 0:00:53.600 --> 0:00:56.640 The bgs, you know, Liz, you know Tina Marie was 0:00:56.680 --> 0:00:57.160 an R and B. 0:00:58.120 --> 0:00:58.600 You know what I mean? 0:00:58.640 --> 0:01:01.440 And she claimed R and B. So that's that's all 0:01:01.480 --> 0:01:03.560 I basically was saying, is I feel like I was 0:01:03.640 --> 0:01:05.520 one of the first ones to really claim R and B. 0:01:05.760 --> 0:01:08.120 You know, George Michaels, he was soulful, but he wasn't 0:01:08.319 --> 0:01:08.959 an ring. 0:01:09.000 --> 0:01:09.720 They were R and B O. 0:01:10.319 --> 0:01:12.200 I wonder if that was because they were white, and 0:01:12.240 --> 0:01:14.360 so the labels probably like, don't say you're RM because 0:01:14.360 --> 0:01:15.080 that would limit you. 0:01:15.800 --> 0:01:16.240 There you go. 0:01:16.360 --> 0:01:17.200 Did they tell you that? 0:01:18.080 --> 0:01:21.000 Not tell me that? They showed me in their own way, 0:01:21.160 --> 0:01:23.880 like we want you to work with Diane Warren, David 0:01:23.880 --> 0:01:26.480 Foster make a pop record, And I'm like, I don't 0:01:26.520 --> 0:01:29.240 really want to do that, but I'm gonna do it 0:01:29.319 --> 0:01:31.520 to satisfy you guys. I don't want to look like 0:01:31.560 --> 0:01:34.560 a difficult artist, you know. But I was like more 0:01:34.560 --> 0:01:36.680 interested in work with Tupac, you know, more interested in 0:01:36.720 --> 0:01:39.640 working with Babyface. Warrant is you know, real R and 0:01:39.680 --> 0:01:42.000 B and hip hop not doing pop music? 0:01:42.400 --> 0:01:45.000 What about colling Me Bad? What would they be considered R. 0:01:45.000 --> 0:01:47.240 And B but more like Latin R and B because 0:01:47.240 --> 0:01:50.120 they were more like, you know, kind of with the 0:01:50.240 --> 0:01:52.200 Latin mixed up. You know what I'm saying a little 0:01:52.200 --> 0:01:53.880 bit about that. Yeah, they had the me and more, 0:01:54.000 --> 0:01:56.880 I door, me and more they were saying. So they 0:01:56.920 --> 0:02:00.440 had that old kind of cross genre thing going on, 0:02:00.440 --> 0:02:04.120 which is cool because that was new too international you know, 0:02:04.880 --> 0:02:09.040 everybody involved. No, that's uh it was. It was a 0:02:09.040 --> 0:02:11.920 great time to see that growing up because I was 0:02:11.919 --> 0:02:13.920 trying to have groups growing up in high school. And 0:02:13.960 --> 0:02:15.799 when we saw Comedy Bad, I was like, oh man, 0:02:15.840 --> 0:02:19.040 they took our idea. We had a Filipino homie and 0:02:19.680 --> 0:02:22.120 black homie and me and we used to sing at 0:02:22.200 --> 0:02:24.600 at lunchtime. So when we saw Colored Be Bad, we 0:02:24.639 --> 0:02:27.040 were like, oh man, you know, they took our ideas. 0:02:27.760 --> 0:02:30.079 If Envy was here, he would say, where'd you get 0:02:30.080 --> 0:02:31.840 your start? I want to go back? I want to 0:02:31.840 --> 0:02:33.680 go back. Where did you get your start? 0:02:33.720 --> 0:02:37.800 John by Man? You know, just singing in in Altadena, 0:02:37.919 --> 0:02:41.600 Pasadena and talent shows and you know basically just really 0:02:41.639 --> 0:02:45.200 loving the music and being around other guys who loved 0:02:45.200 --> 0:02:48.799 it too, and demoing, you know, basically you know, getting 0:02:48.800 --> 0:02:51.359 equipment at at an early age enough to be able 0:02:51.360 --> 0:02:54.200 to make demos. You know, not everybody had a keyboard, 0:02:54.240 --> 0:02:56.520 not everybody had a you know, multi track recorder, so 0:02:57.480 --> 0:02:59.240 those things were tools. Back in the day, and I 0:02:59.320 --> 0:03:02.040 just rather and being outside playing ball or whatever else 0:03:02.200 --> 0:03:04.280 everybody else was doing. I was in there writing records 0:03:04.280 --> 0:03:07.400 and making making songs. And by the time I was sixteen, 0:03:07.440 --> 0:03:10.239 I had a full, you know, demo ready and just 0:03:10.280 --> 0:03:12.760 trying to shop it around, and by eighteen I had 0:03:12.800 --> 0:03:13.119 a deal. 0:03:13.320 --> 0:03:15.200 You think that's a lost art, like having to make 0:03:15.240 --> 0:03:17.600 an actual demo tape. 0:03:17.400 --> 0:03:19.240 Like more than one song that defines you. 0:03:19.520 --> 0:03:22.640 Absolutely, I think that, you know, now we just go 0:03:22.720 --> 0:03:24.760 straight to making records. You know, we don't even make 0:03:24.800 --> 0:03:27.280 demos anymore. I think the demo is the record now, 0:03:27.400 --> 0:03:32.160 So which is which is? You know, it's cutting a 0:03:32.160 --> 0:03:34.839 lot of a lot of red tape out of the way. 0:03:35.000 --> 0:03:38.000 You know. We had to do a whole lot, you know, 0:03:38.280 --> 0:03:40.800 to get noticed and to get heard. So we were 0:03:40.800 --> 0:03:41.600 out there hustling. 0:03:43.120 --> 0:03:43.280 You know. 0:03:43.320 --> 0:03:45.560 I remember my eighteen you know, I turned eighteen my 0:03:45.640 --> 0:03:48.200 senior year in high school. I was checking myself out 0:03:48.200 --> 0:03:50.280 of school and going to shop my demo tape, you know, 0:03:50.320 --> 0:03:53.800 in Hollywood, because I had time. You know, I was like, man, 0:03:53.840 --> 0:03:55.800 I'm not going to college, you know, I'm getting a 0:03:55.800 --> 0:03:56.280 record deal. 0:03:56.600 --> 0:03:58.600 You know what was demo tape? John be the same 0:03:58.600 --> 0:04:01.000 as like bona fide John, Did you know a lot 0:04:01.040 --> 0:04:01.280 of the. 0:04:01.280 --> 0:04:04.240 Same records were on my demo? A lot were on 0:04:04.280 --> 0:04:07.640 my first album. Actually, one of the songs I wrote 0:04:09.760 --> 0:04:12.400 on my first demo was called I Do What You 0:04:12.480 --> 0:04:15.160 Say Boo, which was on my second album. We held 0:04:15.280 --> 0:04:17.720 we held that off for some reason. It didn't make 0:04:17.720 --> 0:04:20.720 my first album. We just kept that in the wings waiting, 0:04:20.760 --> 0:04:23.200 and then the second album came and then Sony was like, 0:04:23.200 --> 0:04:24.680 we want to put that out as a single one. 0:04:24.720 --> 0:04:26.800 I was like, yes, because. 0:04:26.520 --> 0:04:28.640 That was the first song I sort of wrote and 0:04:28.640 --> 0:04:31.640 produced one hundred percent myself that was released, But that 0:04:31.720 --> 0:04:32.720 was on my original demo. 0:04:32.920 --> 0:04:34.440 That's crazy to think about because I feel like to 0:04:34.520 --> 0:04:36.840 a lot of artists now do so much different stuff 0:04:36.880 --> 0:04:40.560 because they don't know who they are, like feeling wise 0:04:40.560 --> 0:04:43.039 and sound wise. But you came in strong out the gate, 0:04:43.120 --> 0:04:44.719 like yeah, knowing that well. 0:04:44.760 --> 0:04:47.600 I mean, I was looking up to all my favorite producers, 0:04:47.680 --> 0:04:50.320 you know, Jimmy jam and Terry Lewis, Babyface of course, 0:04:51.360 --> 0:04:55.560 and baby Face you know, I'm Teddy Riley, anybody who 0:04:55.600 --> 0:04:58.200 was making noise at the time. I was trying to 0:04:58.240 --> 0:05:00.800 reverse engineer what they were doing, how they get that 0:05:00.800 --> 0:05:02.640 snare sound. How did he get that? You know, and 0:05:02.640 --> 0:05:04.640 try to you know, make my own sort of version 0:05:04.720 --> 0:05:08.480 of that. And you know, you always start off imitating someone, 0:05:08.600 --> 0:05:11.359 you know, That's the I think all of the greatest artists, 0:05:11.400 --> 0:05:13.400 I've always had a you know, sort of a muse 0:05:13.520 --> 0:05:17.400 or someone that they use as an example. And you 0:05:17.440 --> 0:05:20.000 know those guys with that for me, Babyface, you know, 0:05:20.040 --> 0:05:22.479 Jimmy James, Terry Lewis. So I just wanted to, you know, 0:05:22.560 --> 0:05:25.520 basically follow in their footsteps, you know, and learn the chords, 0:05:25.600 --> 0:05:27.719 learn how to make the beats. And that's what I 0:05:27.760 --> 0:05:30.200 spent you know, my time doing at sixteen. 0:05:30.600 --> 0:05:30.800 Yeah. 0:05:30.920 --> 0:05:33.040 Yeah, I've heard you talk about working with Baby Faith 0:05:33.040 --> 0:05:35.000 and how that helped to shape your career early. What's 0:05:35.040 --> 0:05:38.520 the most important creative or even life lesson he gave 0:05:38.560 --> 0:05:40.520 you that you still guide you right now. 0:05:41.240 --> 0:05:44.440 Man, keep it honest, Man, just be honest. The more 0:05:44.480 --> 0:05:46.719 honest you are, I think that's the special stuff that 0:05:47.000 --> 0:05:47.760 is hard to get. 0:05:48.120 --> 0:05:48.320 You know. 0:05:48.400 --> 0:05:51.400 It takes time to kind of you know, write those 0:05:51.440 --> 0:05:54.320 type of records. It's not just a throat, throw together thing. 0:05:54.520 --> 0:05:54.719 You know. 0:05:55.680 --> 0:05:57.520 Sometimes you'll have a train of thought and it'll just 0:05:57.560 --> 0:05:59.080 come out in that moment, it's boom. 0:05:59.360 --> 0:05:59.560 You know. 0:06:00.240 --> 0:06:02.159 I did that one time on this this new album 0:06:02.200 --> 0:06:05.680 I just released this called Waiting On You, And the 0:06:05.720 --> 0:06:08.680 title track Waiting on You is actually a song I 0:06:08.720 --> 0:06:11.039 sat down I wrote in one instance. You know, it's 0:06:11.080 --> 0:06:13.200 probably about a couple of hours I had this writ 0:06:13.240 --> 0:06:15.400 you know. But it doesn't always happen like that. But 0:06:15.440 --> 0:06:17.760 when you have a feeling that you're really trying to 0:06:17.760 --> 0:06:20.560 convey and your focus, you know, I know exactly what 0:06:20.600 --> 0:06:24.159 this is about, boom, It's like laser focus. You just 0:06:24.160 --> 0:06:26.440 get it done. What about from Jimmy Sam, Terry Lewis, 0:06:26.640 --> 0:06:31.000 Jimmy James, Terry Lewis, don't be afraid to be as 0:06:31.040 --> 0:06:33.159 exotic as you want to be with with R and B. 0:06:33.480 --> 0:06:35.599 You know, R and B is so vast of a style. 0:06:35.640 --> 0:06:38.320 It's not just one thing. You can't put it in 0:06:38.360 --> 0:06:40.799 a box. And they showed me that. You know, they've 0:06:41.360 --> 0:06:45.680 incorporated so many different you know, textures in their music, 0:06:45.800 --> 0:06:48.200 and I love that about them. They really really helped 0:06:48.200 --> 0:06:51.800 me kind of find my own style through theirs. 0:06:51.839 --> 0:06:53.720 You know, I always wonder, man, I guess this is 0:06:53.760 --> 0:06:56.680 a question for Jimmy jam and Terry Lewis, and baby Face, 0:06:56.760 --> 0:06:58.560 but even I guess you're you're an R and B autist, 0:06:58.560 --> 0:07:00.280 So you could add, how do y'all feel. 0:07:00.080 --> 0:07:01.200 About this news sound? 0:07:01.200 --> 0:07:02.600 To where there was a point where R and B 0:07:02.680 --> 0:07:05.240 and hip hop blended so much you couldn't tell what 0:07:05.360 --> 0:07:07.560 was what The hip hop waters was sounding like the singers. 0:07:07.880 --> 0:07:10.160 The singers would sounding like the rappers. I wonder how 0:07:10.240 --> 0:07:11.720 y'all how'd y'all feel about that? 0:07:12.200 --> 0:07:17.840 It was kind of a transition to hear like novice singers, 0:07:18.360 --> 0:07:22.160 you know, sing and be accepted for that, because back 0:07:22.200 --> 0:07:23.440 in the day and the nightso'd be like, oh, you 0:07:23.520 --> 0:07:25.360 can't sing, you know what I mean if you try 0:07:25.400 --> 0:07:28.000 to do something like that. But now it's like, you know, 0:07:28.160 --> 0:07:30.080 because if you flip it, and you know, you turn 0:07:30.160 --> 0:07:32.600 the singer who you used to you know, hearing sing 0:07:32.640 --> 0:07:34.480 into a rapper and he was to try to rap 0:07:34.560 --> 0:07:37.720 and do a whole rap song, you know, I don't know, 0:07:38.800 --> 0:07:41.120 I don't know if that would work. Yeah, So you know, 0:07:41.240 --> 0:07:44.200 the fact that we were able to accept the singing 0:07:44.320 --> 0:07:46.240 from the rappers. I remember back in the day, R 0:07:46.280 --> 0:07:49.320 and B and hip hop didn't really they didn't really 0:07:49.400 --> 0:07:51.560 gel like that all the way in the nineties, we 0:07:51.560 --> 0:07:54.120 were still saying, oh, man, you know you dress an 0:07:54.200 --> 0:07:54.480 R and B. 0:07:54.800 --> 0:07:56.400 You know what I mean? You look at real R 0:07:56.400 --> 0:07:57.160 and B over there. 0:07:57.280 --> 0:07:59.160 This is hip hop over here, and you couldn't really 0:07:59.200 --> 0:08:02.120 play hip hop music at the same time of day 0:08:02.120 --> 0:08:04.240 as you played R and B. It was not mixed up. 0:08:04.840 --> 0:08:06.880 So when we did are you still down? You know, 0:08:07.040 --> 0:08:09.360 it was very very much against the grain. We were 0:08:09.440 --> 0:08:12.200 doing something that was sort of taboo, you know, and 0:08:12.520 --> 0:08:14.400 but we were doing it because we wanted to, you know, 0:08:14.400 --> 0:08:18.280 we wanted that to, you know, be the meeting of 0:08:18.720 --> 0:08:19.400 two worlds. 0:08:19.480 --> 0:08:21.200 You know. How did that collaboration even happen? 0:08:21.640 --> 0:08:24.160 Man, just some mutual friend you know, was at the 0:08:24.240 --> 0:08:26.160 video shoot for how Do You Want It? With Tupac 0:08:26.240 --> 0:08:29.280 and he's like, Man, he mentioned my name and he's like, man, 0:08:29.320 --> 0:08:31.960 you know him, hit him up. Pop said, hit him up. 0:08:32.000 --> 0:08:35.080 So he called me and man put him on the 0:08:35.080 --> 0:08:36.920 phone and he's like, get down here, man, you know. 0:08:37.000 --> 0:08:40.120 So I came down there and he's cool, cool as ever. 0:08:40.200 --> 0:08:40.360 Man. 0:08:40.400 --> 0:08:43.000 We just hit it off. It was chemistry right from 0:08:43.080 --> 0:08:44.920 the walking through the door, you know, because I was 0:08:44.960 --> 0:08:47.679 playing my beats for him and he started freestyling right 0:08:47.720 --> 0:08:50.839 away and just you know, Casey and Jojo was there 0:08:50.880 --> 0:08:54.559 as well, and I remember there being like, oh, you guys, 0:08:54.880 --> 0:08:56.640 get that in the studio. You guys got to get 0:08:56.679 --> 0:08:58.640 that down right there. That sounded like something, you know, 0:08:58.760 --> 0:09:01.839 And sure enough to weeks later he hit me up 0:09:01.880 --> 0:09:04.040 and we made are you still down man? 0:09:04.280 --> 0:09:05.199 You'all recorded together? 0:09:05.480 --> 0:09:08.240 Yeah in the studio, man, I mean I pulled up 0:09:08.280 --> 0:09:10.679 and my my CD was right there in his in 0:09:10.679 --> 0:09:13.839 his car, my first CD, bona Fide. He had it 0:09:14.000 --> 0:09:16.800 like just right there in the front where I could 0:09:16.800 --> 0:09:19.640 see what he was playing, you know, and I said, oh, man, 0:09:19.679 --> 0:09:21.800 you might you might have been listening to my music 0:09:21.880 --> 0:09:23.679 or whatever. You know. So when I walked in, I 0:09:23.960 --> 0:09:27.760 felt real good about that. Like, you know, he was 0:09:27.880 --> 0:09:29.960 he was there early, you know, he was he was 0:09:30.000 --> 0:09:32.240 there before I was there, so he you know, he 0:09:32.320 --> 0:09:34.880 looked forward to working with me and everybody that came 0:09:34.920 --> 0:09:37.200 into the session. You know, he made sure they knew, like, 0:09:37.440 --> 0:09:39.400 you know who that is, that's John b Up in there. 0:09:39.440 --> 0:09:41.600 So it wasn't it wasn't the type of situation where 0:09:41.600 --> 0:09:44.079 I was coming into the death robe. You know, all 0:09:44.120 --> 0:09:46.840 these guys in the studio and I didn't matter. He 0:09:47.000 --> 0:09:50.200 was like nah, this is he told me. He's like, 0:09:50.240 --> 0:09:51.760 this is my crossover joint. 0:09:52.280 --> 0:09:54.760 Was it all love every time you met? Because he 0:09:54.800 --> 0:09:57.199 embraced you, but internally, like with other artists, was it 0:09:57.280 --> 0:09:59.079 always all love or was it like who was this 0:09:59.160 --> 0:10:02.959 white guy with the arm and be like how audition artists? 0:10:03.000 --> 0:10:06.600 When I so one of my prerequisites I told I 0:10:06.640 --> 0:10:09.760 told Babyface, I said, so, you know, if I signed 0:10:10.280 --> 0:10:12.560 you know this deal, I gotta work with New Addition 0:10:12.640 --> 0:10:15.079 and I gotta work with Tony Braxton that that has 0:10:15.160 --> 0:10:18.200 to happen. He's like, I can make that happen. So 0:10:18.240 --> 0:10:21.160 he put me in first with New Addition. And I 0:10:21.200 --> 0:10:24.840 remember coming to this the studio session with New Addition 0:10:25.240 --> 0:10:28.880 and being such a New Addition fan that they were 0:10:28.920 --> 0:10:31.360 all sitting outside of the studio just chopping it up, 0:10:31.440 --> 0:10:33.080 you know what I mean That before we go in 0:10:33.120 --> 0:10:35.240 and do the work whatever, we parked our cars and 0:10:35.280 --> 0:10:39.080 everybody's outside of the studio. But I was so starstruck 0:10:39.200 --> 0:10:41.120 that I just walked straight past them and I didn't 0:10:41.120 --> 0:10:44.320 even say hello, why And I walk into the studio 0:10:44.440 --> 0:10:48.000 and I'm like like, oh man, you know, because I 0:10:48.000 --> 0:10:51.319 was a little I was like nineteen, you know, and 0:10:51.520 --> 0:10:53.200 just these you know, these are my heroes. 0:10:53.440 --> 0:10:54.199 They didn't know who you were. 0:10:54.679 --> 0:10:57.560 They didn't know who I was an engineer. They thought 0:10:57.559 --> 0:11:03.199 I was an engineer undercovered. But yeah, man, So I'm 0:11:03.200 --> 0:11:04.920 in there and they think it I'm the engineer and 0:11:05.200 --> 0:11:07.600 so I you know, and they come in and I 0:11:07.679 --> 0:11:10.000 was like, hey, guys, what's up man, you know, and 0:11:10.040 --> 0:11:12.800 I'm talking to him and I'm John B. You know 0:11:13.559 --> 0:11:18.000 your John B. I'm like, yeah, man, So like wow, 0:11:18.080 --> 0:11:20.800 we we didn't know he was white, you know. And 0:11:20.800 --> 0:11:23.800 it's all good because I wrote the record for him 0:11:23.840 --> 0:11:26.840 and produced it and everything, and they loved it and 0:11:26.840 --> 0:11:29.560 they wanted to cut it. So we were already good. 0:11:29.720 --> 0:11:32.280 You know. We knew the music meant. That's what you know, 0:11:32.600 --> 0:11:36.600 we were there for. It was a song called Hey Girl. 0:11:36.800 --> 0:11:39.920 It never came out, but but the song is dope. 0:11:40.000 --> 0:11:42.800 And every time I see those guys, we always ask 0:11:43.040 --> 0:11:44.439 we always ask each other about it. What are we 0:11:44.480 --> 0:11:45.360 gonna do with that record? 0:11:45.400 --> 0:11:45.600 Man? 0:11:45.760 --> 0:11:47.560 You know, because it was actually one of the on 0:11:47.640 --> 0:11:50.440 the Reunion album. It was for the Reunion album. All 0:11:50.480 --> 0:11:51.200 of them was on. 0:11:51.120 --> 0:11:53.400 There, so why didn't come out? You know? 0:11:53.920 --> 0:11:56.040 It was there was a lot of records for that album. 0:11:56.080 --> 0:11:57.959 That everybody. You know, they were working with just about 0:11:57.960 --> 0:11:59.959 everybody on that album. So I was really honored to 0:12:00.240 --> 0:12:03.760 have just gotten a chance to collaborate. But yeah, you 0:12:03.800 --> 0:12:05.280 never know, it probably will come out. 0:12:05.520 --> 0:12:06.880 I want to go back to the Tupac thing for 0:12:06.920 --> 0:12:09.080 a second, because you know, I didn't grow up in 0:12:09.080 --> 0:12:11.720 that era, so to me, Tupac is like a mythical. 0:12:11.480 --> 0:12:12.480 Yeah, I feel it. 0:12:12.760 --> 0:12:15.200 How was he when you was around him? Like what 0:12:15.280 --> 0:12:15.960 was his presence? 0:12:16.000 --> 0:12:18.880 Like energy, just like you know when you see DMX, 0:12:19.000 --> 0:12:21.480 Like how he just kind of glowed as a person 0:12:21.960 --> 0:12:26.160 around his presence. He just had that just that that 0:12:26.280 --> 0:12:28.400 thing he did to the atmosphere of the room when 0:12:28.440 --> 0:12:31.319 he walked in. He just felt his presence. A lot 0:12:31.360 --> 0:12:33.560 of it was the motivation that he had. He was 0:12:33.600 --> 0:12:37.280 such a motivation type of guy, you know, motivating. His 0:12:37.880 --> 0:12:40.480 energy was about all right, man, let's get this done. Like, 0:12:40.559 --> 0:12:43.839 let's let's be be present and be in the moment. 0:12:44.000 --> 0:12:46.199 Like I don't care if we're drinking Hennessy and we're smoking, 0:12:46.240 --> 0:12:48.240 it don't matter, Like you better be in the moment, 0:12:48.360 --> 0:12:51.320 really really putting your best foot forward. That's what he 0:12:51.360 --> 0:12:54.200 was really about. And I remember one of the things 0:12:54.200 --> 0:12:56.080 he said was, Man, if you're not doing like three 0:12:56.080 --> 0:12:57.800 records a day, you're not really doing this. 0:12:57.880 --> 0:12:59.959 Man. You know, you need to be productive. 0:13:00.120 --> 0:13:03.480 So productivity I think was his main his main sort 0:13:03.520 --> 0:13:07.000 of like, uh, that was one of his superpowers. 0:13:07.040 --> 0:13:10.120 You know when you debuted with Bonafire, speaking of motivation, 0:13:10.280 --> 0:13:12.200 what was the sound you were chasing? 0:13:12.240 --> 0:13:13.720 What was your motivation? 0:13:14.320 --> 0:13:16.480 Well, I mean, I will say my first album was 0:13:16.640 --> 0:13:21.679 very heavily Babyface influenced, and wanted to be one of 0:13:21.720 --> 0:13:24.959 the guys that he was, you know, collaborating with. You know, 0:13:25.000 --> 0:13:28.240 I saw how he collaborated with Tony Braxton and with 0:13:28.320 --> 0:13:32.120 TLC and with Bobby Brown and with so many different 0:13:32.160 --> 0:13:35.720 other you know artists after seven and all my favorite 0:13:35.760 --> 0:13:38.040 are and be growing up. So I thought, what would 0:13:38.080 --> 0:13:40.160 it be like if I allowed him to produce me? 0:13:40.400 --> 0:13:42.439 You know, what does that sound like? What is our sound? 0:13:42.520 --> 0:13:44.920 What our what would our voices sound like? We blended 0:13:44.920 --> 0:13:47.960 them together on one record. So Someone to Love was 0:13:48.000 --> 0:13:51.000 our first time getting to do that. And uh, you know, 0:13:51.160 --> 0:13:53.920 it's it's one thing to be a fan, but then 0:13:53.960 --> 0:13:56.160 when you get to actually work with the person and 0:13:56.280 --> 0:13:59.880 you know, and hear all of the lessons learn how 0:14:00.160 --> 0:14:03.120 how do you put a course together. Oh damn, that's 0:14:03.160 --> 0:14:05.440 how many notes you have to do on the on 0:14:05.480 --> 0:14:08.240 the stack of the backgrounds. Like I remember stacking that 0:14:08.480 --> 0:14:11.480 course up so many tracks and I had never done 0:14:11.480 --> 0:14:14.720 anything like that before as a vocalist, so it taught 0:14:14.720 --> 0:14:16.800 me a lot. You know, just that first session with 0:14:16.840 --> 0:14:18.640 with with Kenny. 0:14:18.760 --> 0:14:20.680 I saw somewhere you turned down a ton of like 0:14:20.840 --> 0:14:24.200 million dollar deals to stay signed with the baby and 0:14:24.240 --> 0:14:27.200 his wife. Talk about your loyalty to him, and you 0:14:27.240 --> 0:14:29.560 know what the decision to be loyal to him, but 0:14:29.600 --> 0:14:30.960 also how that paid off for you. 0:14:31.800 --> 0:14:34.120 Well, I tell you, loyalty when you say you're gonna 0:14:34.160 --> 0:14:36.120 do something. I'm the type of guy that when I 0:14:36.120 --> 0:14:37.840 say I'm gonna do something, I'm gonna do it. You 0:14:37.880 --> 0:14:40.640 know it's not I'm gonna do it if this is 0:14:40.760 --> 0:14:43.560 you know, if if if I show up and I 0:14:43.680 --> 0:14:46.920 say that I'm down with you, that I'm down with you, 0:14:46.920 --> 0:14:48.440 you know, I mean, you're gonna have to do something 0:14:49.720 --> 0:14:53.800 pretty pretty crucially crazy, like for me to think I 0:14:53.880 --> 0:14:55.600 get it for the burn the bridge. Like I'm a 0:14:55.680 --> 0:14:58.760 very very loyal person. I'm a scorpio. I mean we're loyal, 0:14:58.800 --> 0:15:03.280 but I mean will say that it feels good to 0:15:03.360 --> 0:15:08.600 be thirty years and still have gratitude, you know, not 0:15:08.640 --> 0:15:11.160 only for what I'm getting to do right currently, right 0:15:11.200 --> 0:15:13.480 now with you guys and everything, this new album and 0:15:13.560 --> 0:15:16.520 everything and the support and all the collaborations I have 0:15:16.600 --> 0:15:18.640 on the new album, but everything I've gotten to do, 0:15:19.000 --> 0:15:21.840 you know, the thirty year career and what that would be. 0:15:22.480 --> 0:15:24.640 I don't know what that would look like if Kenny 0:15:24.680 --> 0:15:26.920 and Tracy didn't give me that opportunity. And I've never 0:15:27.000 --> 0:15:29.680 lost sight of that. You know, the business and the 0:15:31.040 --> 0:15:33.920 patience that it takes to be in this business, it's 0:15:33.960 --> 0:15:37.160 never it's never changed. You know, You're either going to 0:15:37.240 --> 0:15:41.080 have the patience or not. You know, and certain people 0:15:41.200 --> 0:15:45.600 just they it's like, you know, I could feel it. 0:15:45.600 --> 0:15:48.800 It's like the energy, the love for the music doesn't 0:15:48.840 --> 0:15:52.240 supersede how much they hate the business, so they don't 0:15:52.280 --> 0:15:54.960 continue with the music. And I don't want to be 0:15:55.000 --> 0:15:57.520 one of those guys. I don't want the music to 0:15:58.040 --> 0:16:01.040 be overshadowed by the business what it is, because the 0:16:01.080 --> 0:16:04.480 business is a messed up business. Let's let's who has 0:16:04.520 --> 0:16:07.520 like the story that that needs to be told with 0:16:07.680 --> 0:16:11.200 as far as like the business is going good, the. 0:16:11.160 --> 0:16:13.360 Whole time, the whole times at the time I came 0:16:13.400 --> 0:16:16.160 in with fantastic you know who. 0:16:16.000 --> 0:16:20.400 Has that story? But I think that, you know, that's 0:16:20.400 --> 0:16:23.360 what That's when it comes down to having the passion 0:16:23.400 --> 0:16:26.360 for what you do. You know, do you really do 0:16:26.440 --> 0:16:28.920 you believe it still? Because if you don't believe it, 0:16:28.920 --> 0:16:31.760 why should we as the listeners, you know. So I 0:16:31.800 --> 0:16:36.000 hope that what I'm doing currently now with my music 0:16:36.920 --> 0:16:39.080 conveys the point that, you know, I still love what 0:16:39.120 --> 0:16:40.440 I do. I have a passion for what it. 0:16:40.600 --> 0:16:43.080 Well, you know one thing about loyalty, like you know, 0:16:43.480 --> 0:16:45.280 you can stand on that. 0:16:45.920 --> 0:16:49.840 What is it returned? Yeah, that's the thing, is the 0:16:49.880 --> 0:16:54.320 return part is that that's where I put it out 0:16:54.480 --> 0:16:57.720 to the universe. I'd rather put good energy out and 0:16:57.760 --> 0:17:00.680 because I know that it'll be good coming back. If 0:17:00.720 --> 0:17:03.560 it doesn't come back, that's where the patience comes in, 0:17:03.880 --> 0:17:05.520 you know, because I know what it's like to be 0:17:05.560 --> 0:17:08.040 the guy to sit to, you know, sit and sort 0:17:08.040 --> 0:17:12.560 of wait for your shot, you know. And I never 0:17:12.680 --> 0:17:14.800 also wanted to be the sort of the main dude. 0:17:14.880 --> 0:17:17.040 I wanted to be a part of the nuts and 0:17:17.040 --> 0:17:19.800 bolts of what makes this thing, put this thing together. 0:17:19.840 --> 0:17:21.679 But I'm always been. I've always been sort of a 0:17:21.720 --> 0:17:24.879 team player. That's where producing really comes in. Is really 0:17:25.200 --> 0:17:27.560 if you don't need to be the main guy shining 0:17:27.600 --> 0:17:31.400 all the time, then you can also, you know, make 0:17:31.440 --> 0:17:34.720 yourself felt in other ways, like produce the track, you know, 0:17:36.400 --> 0:17:39.080 write the lyrics. You know what I'm saying, Like maybe 0:17:39.560 --> 0:17:42.040 just fall in that way, you know. And I've been 0:17:42.080 --> 0:17:45.639 able to be a part of different amazing projects just 0:17:45.720 --> 0:17:49.680 doing that, and that's just it's just as fulfilling. 0:17:49.760 --> 0:17:52.560 Really, I was gonna say, while we're talking about things 0:17:52.600 --> 0:17:54.160 being returned, I know that there was like a bit 0:17:54.200 --> 0:17:55.880 of a back and forth at one point a couple 0:17:55.880 --> 0:17:57.919 of years ago with you and Babyface over like you 0:17:57.960 --> 0:17:59.679 were saying that you weren't paid for certain things he 0:17:59.760 --> 0:18:01.560 was saying and that it wasn't his duty to pay you, 0:18:01.880 --> 0:18:03.800 and he was kind of like disappointed. He said that 0:18:03.840 --> 0:18:06.640 you let the narrative go. Where does that conversation stand 0:18:06.640 --> 0:18:07.640 now with you guys. 0:18:08.840 --> 0:18:13.080 Well, it's interesting that he would say that because I 0:18:13.160 --> 0:18:16.840 was signed to his production if you want to not 0:18:16.960 --> 0:18:20.160 call it a label. I was signed to his production company, 0:18:20.240 --> 0:18:24.200 which was called Edmund's Record Group. So that's the deal 0:18:24.280 --> 0:18:26.800 that you talk about me passing up the other deals 0:18:27.040 --> 0:18:29.680 so I could sign with baby Face. You know, that's 0:18:29.720 --> 0:18:32.440 the company that I signed with. Now, they were distributed 0:18:32.760 --> 0:18:38.200 and they had they were a subsidiary label of Epic Records, 0:18:38.520 --> 0:18:41.280 So I had basically half my deal with Epic and 0:18:41.359 --> 0:18:45.720 half my deal with Kenny and Tracy. But the deal 0:18:45.760 --> 0:18:49.200 that I signed was a cross collateralized deal with all 0:18:49.280 --> 0:18:52.560 of the other artists that they had signed to their label. Now, 0:18:52.600 --> 0:18:57.800 cross collateralized means that basically, whatever those artists spent, whatever 0:18:57.840 --> 0:19:02.879 they were given advance, any money, I'm responsible for that 0:19:04.200 --> 0:19:08.280 under my budget to recoup that. So basically none of 0:19:08.320 --> 0:19:11.440 those artists ever really came out, but they all got 0:19:11.440 --> 0:19:15.399 recording budgets and they all got living stipings and whatever. 0:19:15.480 --> 0:19:16.760 So at the end of the day, it's a lot 0:19:16.760 --> 0:19:21.119 of money, right. So basically what it was is that 0:19:21.320 --> 0:19:25.159 I'm in a situation where I'm not only recouping what 0:19:25.320 --> 0:19:30.560 I'm spending myself, I'm recouping what this entire label was spending, 0:19:30.920 --> 0:19:33.520 you know what I'm saying, And that's I think that's 0:19:33.560 --> 0:19:36.000 a great responsibility to put on a nineteen year old 0:19:36.080 --> 0:19:40.479 kid who's writing, producing everything pretty much himself. But just 0:19:40.520 --> 0:19:42.440 wants to work with his hero. You know, that was 0:19:42.480 --> 0:19:48.320 a great deal to you know, to have to you know, 0:19:48.400 --> 0:19:50.840 to sign that deal was it wasn't the greatest deal, 0:19:51.160 --> 0:19:54.360 let's put it like that, but to work with Babyface, 0:19:54.600 --> 0:19:57.040 you know, that was what I really had my mind 0:19:57.119 --> 0:19:59.439 set on. So all of the money part, all of 0:19:59.480 --> 0:20:02.200 the sort of like the business part, I really let 0:20:02.240 --> 0:20:05.680 that kind of like be not as important. So that's 0:20:05.720 --> 0:20:08.439 why it's taken so long to get to come full circle. 0:20:08.560 --> 0:20:12.080 But it's been so long that they have to come 0:20:12.119 --> 0:20:14.959 full circle now and that's where that's where we're currently 0:20:14.960 --> 0:20:18.080 at right now. It's unfortunate that he didn't really have 0:20:18.240 --> 0:20:20.840 my back, and seeing how loyal I've been all this 0:20:20.920 --> 0:20:23.399 time by not speaking on none of this, you know 0:20:23.400 --> 0:20:25.520 what I mean, and people being like, where you been? 0:20:25.880 --> 0:20:29.040 What's held you back all this time? Well? Really I 0:20:29.080 --> 0:20:32.040 didn't allow the financial part to hold me back because 0:20:32.080 --> 0:20:35.760 if I did, I wouldn't continue putting music out independently, 0:20:35.920 --> 0:20:38.600 you know, I mean, I'm funding all this myself. So 0:20:39.520 --> 0:20:42.160 you know, it hasn't been easy. But what really hasn't 0:20:42.200 --> 0:20:45.359 been easy is to be so supportive of him and 0:20:45.400 --> 0:20:49.120 then have it not be returned like in a sense 0:20:49.160 --> 0:20:52.719 of him just knowing what everything that I've sort of 0:20:52.800 --> 0:20:56.440 like you know, did to have that opportunity to work 0:20:56.440 --> 0:20:57.119 with him, you know. 0:20:57.320 --> 0:20:59.240 And that's what I meant when I said the loyalty 0:20:59.320 --> 0:21:01.600 being returned. Know about that situation in particular, but just 0:21:01.600 --> 0:21:04.280 being a loyal person. Yeah, sometimes you sacrifice a lot 0:21:04.320 --> 0:21:06.720 for yourself, but it don't never come back to the 0:21:06.720 --> 0:21:07.720 person you're being loyal to. 0:21:08.080 --> 0:21:08.960 Don't give it back to you. 0:21:09.200 --> 0:21:11.080 And that's on him, you know what I mean. If 0:21:11.200 --> 0:21:14.800 if that's how he wants to address the situation, that's 0:21:14.840 --> 0:21:17.160 on him. You know. When we when we've seen each 0:21:17.200 --> 0:21:19.320 other out in public and stuff like that, when we 0:21:19.400 --> 0:21:21.840 do shows together, it's not the same, you know what 0:21:21.880 --> 0:21:23.879 I mean, And we're not we're not really. I mean, 0:21:23.920 --> 0:21:25.639 we're cordial, but we're not. 0:21:27.040 --> 0:21:27.199 You know. 0:21:27.280 --> 0:21:31.119 It's the relationship hasn't really blossomed, you know, into what 0:21:31.200 --> 0:21:33.320 I thought it would be after all of that that 0:21:33.400 --> 0:21:35.800 I sacrificed in my in my in my career. I 0:21:35.800 --> 0:21:39.600 would have definitely wanted to see him at my wedding, definitely, 0:21:39.680 --> 0:21:42.359 one would want to see him to you know, introduce 0:21:42.440 --> 0:21:48.680 him to my kids. So yeah, like he doesn't even 0:21:48.720 --> 0:21:51.120 know my kids. We don't know each other anymore. So 0:21:51.160 --> 0:21:53.720 it's like that that part of it hurts me, the 0:21:53.760 --> 0:21:58.199 fact that we can't go on tour together because I 0:21:58.200 --> 0:22:00.639 don't really know that Kenny even really likes me as 0:22:00.680 --> 0:22:05.040 a person. Actually, you know, it's it's interesting, but I 0:22:05.040 --> 0:22:09.720 don't really care because I did what I I did 0:22:09.720 --> 0:22:13.560 what I got to do with. I care because I 0:22:13.600 --> 0:22:16.760 love the guy, But I don't care if a person's 0:22:16.800 --> 0:22:19.320 going to be negative just to be negative and tell 0:22:19.359 --> 0:22:22.439 a negative story or sort of like not respond to 0:22:22.480 --> 0:22:25.280 what the truth is, because the truth is a lot 0:22:25.320 --> 0:22:28.919 of people sacrifice a lot to work with Babyface and 0:22:29.840 --> 0:22:32.480 their stories. I don't really get. I don't really think 0:22:32.520 --> 0:22:35.480 that they get to tell their story. That story hasn't 0:22:35.480 --> 0:22:38.880 really been told for the respect of what it was 0:22:39.359 --> 0:22:44.600 to uphold the you know the you know what, the 0:22:44.640 --> 0:22:46.960 magic that we were able to create together and to 0:22:47.119 --> 0:22:49.760 respect that and to leave that alone. Nobody wants to 0:22:49.800 --> 0:22:52.200 tank the story with like, oh but the business wasn't 0:22:52.240 --> 0:22:53.959 you know what I mean, and that type of stuff. 0:22:54.040 --> 0:22:56.600 So I've never been this is the most I've ever 0:22:56.640 --> 0:23:00.600 talked about in my entire career. Right now, actually, in 0:23:00.640 --> 0:23:04.520 this moment, the information I've devoted I said, I wasn't 0:23:04.720 --> 0:23:07.440 really talk about, but I think it's important for people 0:23:07.480 --> 0:23:12.080 to understand what kind of deals we're signed back in 0:23:12.119 --> 0:23:15.000 the nineties, you know, and what kind of deals can 0:23:15.040 --> 0:23:18.000 still be signed now if you're you know, if you're 0:23:18.000 --> 0:23:21.080 not careful, just be careful to I will say, as 0:23:21.119 --> 0:23:24.240 advice to the kids coming up, be careful not to 0:23:24.240 --> 0:23:27.159 put all your eggs in one basket, you know, because 0:23:27.200 --> 0:23:30.119 that's what that's what I did. I put all my 0:23:30.160 --> 0:23:33.000 eggs in one basket instead of being like, you know, 0:23:33.080 --> 0:23:36.040 a little bit more patient and just okay, I'll work 0:23:36.080 --> 0:23:38.800 with you on a couple of records, but I'm gonna 0:23:38.800 --> 0:23:41.480 have this over here, publishing deal over here, a production 0:23:41.560 --> 0:23:43.560 company over here. I have my own label from the 0:23:43.680 --> 0:23:46.800 very beginning, you know. It's basically what I had anyway, 0:23:47.200 --> 0:23:51.040 because I was paying for everybody's stuff with my own budget, basically, 0:23:51.119 --> 0:23:51.760 you know whatever. 0:23:51.760 --> 0:23:54.200 It's interesting because I wonder about stuff like that because 0:23:54.200 --> 0:23:56.080 when I think about you know, of course, I think 0:23:56.080 --> 0:23:58.639 about the face, and then I think about, you know, 0:23:58.680 --> 0:24:02.560 the TLC situation, right, and I just wonder was that 0:24:03.800 --> 0:24:06.679 intentional or was that just the business? 0:24:06.760 --> 0:24:08.200 Like I don't know, if these people wake up. 0:24:08.119 --> 0:24:11.000 And say, hey, we're gonna take advantage of these people financially. 0:24:11.040 --> 0:24:12.360 I don't know, or was that just the way record 0:24:12.359 --> 0:24:14.040 contracts were structured, Like I don't. 0:24:13.880 --> 0:24:17.080 Know, I can't really speak on anyone else's like sort 0:24:17.080 --> 0:24:21.600 of why they you know, make contracts the way they do, 0:24:22.280 --> 0:24:25.160 because really what it does is it just it delays 0:24:25.200 --> 0:24:27.679 the process of the artist being able to have you know, 0:24:28.760 --> 0:24:33.840 you know, being compensated for their art. You know, and 0:24:33.840 --> 0:24:37.320 it's thirty years later and we're you know, we're still 0:24:37.320 --> 0:24:40.440 addressing all of this. So it's but it's a wonderful 0:24:40.480 --> 0:24:42.879 process to watch it happen because I know there's a 0:24:42.960 --> 0:24:44.520 light at the end of the tunnel that's just getting 0:24:44.520 --> 0:24:47.520 closer and closer and closer. As far as really was 0:24:47.560 --> 0:24:49.760 that light, Like well, just getting paid man, you know 0:24:49.800 --> 0:24:51.439 what I mean at the end of the days, the 0:24:51.520 --> 0:24:54.320 checks coming, you know what I mean, Oh, from from 0:24:54.359 --> 0:24:59.399 from epic, from God. Yeah, they're the they're there. The 0:24:59.440 --> 0:25:01.480 company that all of this was under, that's where all 0:25:01.520 --> 0:25:04.400 the money came from. But the fact is that all 0:25:04.440 --> 0:25:08.760 the money that was spent by the label all was 0:25:08.800 --> 0:25:09.800 recoupable by me. 0:25:10.000 --> 0:25:11.600 You say, by the label you're talking about the label 0:25:11.600 --> 0:25:12.320 with Babyface and. 0:25:13.240 --> 0:25:16.000 Baby Face and Tracy Edmonds, the Edmunds Record Group where 0:25:16.400 --> 0:25:20.000 that was the production company Slash label that I was 0:25:20.040 --> 0:25:25.440 signed to under Epic. Epic funded their whole thing, see 0:25:25.480 --> 0:25:27.520 what I'm saying. So all the artists that they were 0:25:27.600 --> 0:25:31.719 signed signing, the money would come from Epic, right, but 0:25:31.760 --> 0:25:36.080 the money was also charged to my account. So John 0:25:36.160 --> 0:25:36.760 B paid for. 0:25:36.720 --> 0:25:42.160 Everything, every water, every everything, artists, every studio time, Hey, 0:25:42.400 --> 0:25:45.320 such and such needs to get a living stipend because 0:25:45.320 --> 0:25:46.800 they need to get their rent paid. 0:25:46.840 --> 0:25:49.359 So the group that signed to them, I'm paying for 0:25:49.400 --> 0:25:52.440 all of that, recoup all of that. So all those 0:25:52.760 --> 0:25:55.879 all those budgets have to be paid back before I 0:25:55.920 --> 0:25:59.720 can see anything. That's the deal that I signed. So 0:26:00.440 --> 0:26:03.200 that's why it's taken so long. So but I knew 0:26:03.240 --> 0:26:05.800 what I was signing. My attorney told me, you know 0:26:05.840 --> 0:26:08.200 what I'm saying, Yeah, he said, he said, listen, it's 0:26:08.200 --> 0:26:09.240 gonna take a long time. 0:26:09.400 --> 0:26:12.080 You're gonna have to sell a lot of records for 0:26:12.200 --> 0:26:12.600 this to. 0:26:12.680 --> 0:26:14.000 You know, for you to come on top. 0:26:14.240 --> 0:26:15.280 How many on top? 0:26:15.840 --> 0:26:20.879 And you know we've sold you know, if I'm going 0:26:20.960 --> 0:26:24.920 to count the singles, it's over ten million, easy because 0:26:24.960 --> 0:26:30.040 I've sold you know, multiple platinum singles, but the albums 0:26:30.040 --> 0:26:33.560 have gone multiple platinum as well. So my my second album, 0:26:33.560 --> 0:26:38.520 care Relax I Believe is quaduple platinum. And you know 0:26:38.560 --> 0:26:41.280 what's cool about saying that is that we don't sell 0:26:41.440 --> 0:26:45.040 records anymore. So it's like that means that people actually 0:26:45.040 --> 0:26:49.600 went out and lot stood in line and people. So 0:26:49.600 --> 0:26:51.720 when you think about a million people going out by 0:26:51.720 --> 0:26:53.720 a record, that's like, that's kind of cool for me, 0:26:53.840 --> 0:26:57.359 you know, and I still celebrate that, you know, just 0:26:57.400 --> 0:27:00.320 knowing that those albums are part of people's lives, lives, 0:27:00.320 --> 0:27:04.080 and you know, evidently if I don't play a certain songs, 0:27:04.240 --> 0:27:06.280 theyn't want their money back in the show. You know, 0:27:06.320 --> 0:27:07.840 if I don't play that on no, do you think 0:27:07.840 --> 0:27:08.560 they did that to you? 0:27:08.600 --> 0:27:12.600 Because of how white executives have gotten over on black artists. 0:27:12.680 --> 0:27:18.159 It's a little payback probably, right. Oh, you want to 0:27:18.160 --> 0:27:25.280 be an R and B artist? You want to be artist? 0:27:21.920 --> 0:27:28.200 You want to be an R and B artist? Okay, 0:27:28.480 --> 0:27:29.919 damn old. 0:27:31.600 --> 0:27:34.720 A lot? Wow a lot? 0:27:34.840 --> 0:27:35.080 Wow? 0:27:35.280 --> 0:27:38.000 So yeah, and the and the beautiful thing is it's like, 0:27:38.240 --> 0:27:43.560 you know, the money is a byproduct of being as 0:27:43.840 --> 0:27:46.960 successful you can't hide that kind of that type of 0:27:47.040 --> 0:27:50.119 you know, because that's how successful it was. It was 0:27:50.720 --> 0:27:55.120 and and still is. It's you know, still being sampled 0:27:55.119 --> 0:27:57.919 all the time. The records of the Weekend just sample 0:27:58.040 --> 0:27:59.920 the actually someone to Love. 0:28:01.720 --> 0:28:03.960 Oh we gotta I gotta text from my producer. He's 0:28:03.960 --> 0:28:07.440 an ov ho O v ho and he said, where 0:28:07.480 --> 0:28:11.040 is it that? Where's that? I just saw it? What 0:28:11.119 --> 0:28:13.679 was it? He just texted to me, send it to 0:28:13.720 --> 0:28:14.119 me again? 0:28:14.200 --> 0:28:14.480 He said. 0:28:14.560 --> 0:28:17.560 Drake sample John B's Calling on a track off of 0:28:17.640 --> 0:28:20.080 Take Care called Cameras the Good Ones Go interlude. 0:28:20.280 --> 0:28:24.480 Yeah. Yeah, anybody that's been near Drake or been sampled, 0:28:24.520 --> 0:28:26.080 he goes crazy, Yeah. 0:28:25.960 --> 0:28:28.679 No, it's it's it's been cool. Chris Brown sample they 0:28:28.680 --> 0:28:31.960 don't know as well, Gonna and Chloe sample they don't know. 0:28:32.080 --> 0:28:36.640 Not too long ago. Yeah we we we won't go there, 0:28:37.359 --> 0:28:40.560 but but yeah, you know, it's just cool to see 0:28:40.680 --> 0:28:43.560 the music existing in this time, in this era and 0:28:43.600 --> 0:28:45.960 be I never thought I'd be the guy that got sampled. 0:28:46.000 --> 0:28:49.360 You know. I was always sampling like old seventies records 0:28:49.360 --> 0:28:54.200 and eighties records and you know, and thinking, man, you 0:28:54.200 --> 0:28:57.360 know that's where you get your samples from. I never 0:28:57.440 --> 0:29:01.920 thought I'd be part of someone's out selections, So however, 0:29:02.120 --> 0:29:05.080 I get flipped. You know, it's a beautiful thing to 0:29:05.240 --> 0:29:07.880 just yeah, be a part of the times. 0:29:08.040 --> 0:29:10.600 How How did it feel to hear your fingerprints? 0:29:11.600 --> 0:29:15.880 That's cool, man? I mean something about that song they 0:29:15.880 --> 0:29:19.520 don't know has really you know, it's resonated with people, 0:29:20.280 --> 0:29:24.240 and not only the song, but the track too. So 0:29:24.280 --> 0:29:26.520 I got to give Tim Kelly and Bob robertson their 0:29:26.640 --> 0:29:29.600 their props for such an amazing track because that they 0:29:29.680 --> 0:29:32.400 keep sampling that track even if they don't take the hook, 0:29:32.440 --> 0:29:36.440 they love that that track. So yeah, man, I think 0:29:36.720 --> 0:29:39.120 that's the one we we we just we got that one. 0:29:39.200 --> 0:29:41.400 We got we got it right with that one, you know, 0:29:41.560 --> 0:29:43.920 and if you can have one of those in your career, 0:29:44.720 --> 0:29:47.720 you know. And yeah, I penned that record myself. So 0:29:49.040 --> 0:29:51.880 that's one of the songs I'm probably most proud of you. 0:29:52.320 --> 0:29:55.840 After bona Fide and you started leaning into your own vision. 0:29:55.880 --> 0:29:58.440 Did the did the industry understand your vision? 0:29:58.960 --> 0:29:59.200 Yeah? 0:29:59.640 --> 0:30:02.800 I think so. I think that what most what really 0:30:02.800 --> 0:30:05.240 showed me was even if the labels don't really understand 0:30:05.280 --> 0:30:09.280 what was going on, and they're kind of like going 0:30:09.320 --> 0:30:11.800 with the flow, and they're kind of trusting my creativity 0:30:11.840 --> 0:30:14.959 but not really knowing how to necessarily market it or 0:30:15.720 --> 0:30:17.480 you know, they just I was signed to Epics, so 0:30:17.520 --> 0:30:19.760 they were rolling out the red carpetfore me. Don't don't 0:30:19.760 --> 0:30:21.840 get it twisted. We were having like three or four 0:30:22.000 --> 0:30:24.320 rec you know, records on be et playing at the 0:30:24.320 --> 0:30:27.680 same time. Like they knew they had to they had 0:30:27.680 --> 0:30:30.080 to do something. They just had never done it before. 0:30:30.800 --> 0:30:34.960 So I was sort of the guinea pig for you know, 0:30:35.640 --> 0:30:38.160 this this thing now that's you know, sort of like 0:30:39.400 --> 0:30:42.000 you see it all the time now, you know, But 0:30:42.080 --> 0:30:48.000 I was I was definitely like a you know, definitely trailblazing. 0:30:48.440 --> 0:30:51.040 Put it like that. At that time. Nobody expected me 0:30:51.120 --> 0:30:54.040 to be accepted right away. And I think that was 0:30:54.080 --> 0:30:57.840 sort of like the Shocker was by the second album, 0:30:58.200 --> 0:31:01.680 you know it. A lot of that went into the 0:31:01.720 --> 0:31:04.240 reason why I wrote a hook like don't listen to 0:31:04.280 --> 0:31:05.040 what people say. 0:31:05.880 --> 0:31:08.720 You know. It was like, you know, it's sort of. 0:31:08.680 --> 0:31:12.080 Like me, like literally like it was more than just 0:31:12.120 --> 0:31:13.920 hear saying it was like, no, I think I have 0:31:14.040 --> 0:31:17.320 a feeling now, like I know what I'm doing, y'all. 0:31:17.360 --> 0:31:19.800 You know what I mean, so there was a little 0:31:19.800 --> 0:31:23.680 bit of that that that confidence starting to show itself 0:31:23.720 --> 0:31:26.320 a little bit more on this second album. I remember 0:31:26.800 --> 0:31:29.040 the first the first thing I did on that album 0:31:29.120 --> 0:31:31.520 was cut all my hair off. I just went straight 0:31:31.720 --> 0:31:34.160 buzzed it off and did the fade because they were 0:31:34.200 --> 0:31:36.560 trying to, you know, they wanted me to be. 0:31:36.480 --> 0:31:37.320 A pop star. 0:31:37.440 --> 0:31:39.960 They wanted me to grow my hair longer and get 0:31:40.080 --> 0:31:42.200 streaks and all this stuff, and I'm like, that's not me, 0:31:42.360 --> 0:31:44.880 you know, straighten it out and do all this parted 0:31:44.920 --> 0:31:48.360 in the side, and I'm like, look, you're making me 0:31:48.400 --> 0:31:52.240 look a little too, you know, I don't know, it 0:31:52.360 --> 0:31:55.680 just wasn't my look. And so I buzzed it off 0:31:55.720 --> 0:32:00.640 and Coo relax was or had the season cut, you know, 0:32:00.680 --> 0:32:03.200 and the beer whatever. And so I just did that 0:32:03.280 --> 0:32:03.840 on my own. 0:32:03.960 --> 0:32:04.120 You know. 0:32:04.200 --> 0:32:06.880 That was kind of like how I grew myself when 0:32:06.880 --> 0:32:08.680 I was in high school. So I just kind of 0:32:08.720 --> 0:32:11.400 went back to my old style and that was that 0:32:11.520 --> 0:32:13.360 was a big move because I remember the labels pissed 0:32:13.360 --> 0:32:16.840 as hell when they saw I cut my hair off. Yeah, 0:32:17.360 --> 0:32:19.800 just a shape up real quick, and that was more 0:32:20.080 --> 0:32:22.480 authentic for me, you know, it's just doing me but. 0:32:22.680 --> 0:32:24.280 It's crazy to even think back in the day how 0:32:24.360 --> 0:32:27.360 much image matters, especially when you see everybody not just 0:32:27.400 --> 0:32:28.000 doing whatever. 0:32:28.480 --> 0:32:31.080 Oh yeah, your board shorts and the T shirt. Now 0:32:31.080 --> 0:32:33.640 you rock a stage, you know, look like you just 0:32:34.240 --> 0:32:38.240 going to the beach or something Coachella, you know, after 0:32:38.800 --> 0:32:41.360 not even dressed for a show. I mean, no, I 0:32:41.400 --> 0:32:45.240 think it's uh, it's different times, you know, we're living it. 0:32:45.320 --> 0:32:46.960 But one thing I love about R and B is 0:32:46.960 --> 0:32:50.560 we we are unapologetically slick, you know. We we just 0:32:50.640 --> 0:32:54.680 keep the you know, the fashion going. You know, I've 0:32:54.720 --> 0:32:56.600 always loved R and B and hip hop for that 0:32:56.840 --> 0:32:59.800 because we've been sort of the leading on the leading 0:33:00.360 --> 0:33:02.240 edge of that all of that, I think all the 0:33:02.280 --> 0:33:05.160 other genres of music sort of followed the lead of that, 0:33:05.880 --> 0:33:11.200 you know, and just every culture, whether you're whether you 0:33:11.200 --> 0:33:14.080 even like R and B or hip hop, is influenced 0:33:14.120 --> 0:33:16.680 by the culture of hip hop and R and B, 0:33:16.800 --> 0:33:19.000 whether they like it or not. It's probably the most 0:33:19.880 --> 0:33:21.920 influential style. 0:33:21.760 --> 0:33:25.280 Absolutely, you know, we have When you look at each 0:33:25.360 --> 0:33:28.000 album of your career, because you got what ten albums, Yeah, damn, 0:33:29.120 --> 0:33:32.480 where do you feel the biggest artistic evolution happened for you? 0:33:34.320 --> 0:33:34.600 Well? 0:33:34.720 --> 0:33:38.200 I think the biggest you know, probably evolution was probably 0:33:38.320 --> 0:33:41.640 making the record with Tupac because it was the most 0:33:41.680 --> 0:33:46.000 revolutionary and kind of risk taking. I remember, I felt 0:33:46.040 --> 0:33:49.640 like I was treading in water that you know, like 0:33:49.680 --> 0:33:52.560 I couldn't feel the bottom of the the sand no more. 0:33:52.600 --> 0:33:56.240 I was you know, you when you when you tread 0:33:56.240 --> 0:33:58.320 out on the beach and you just you know, you're 0:33:58.360 --> 0:34:01.880 no longer walking on the on the You're like treading 0:34:01.920 --> 0:34:04.959 water now, you know. So it's sort of like, all right, 0:34:05.000 --> 0:34:07.880 you better float or you're gonna sink. You better swim 0:34:07.920 --> 0:34:08.760 where you're gonna sink. 0:34:09.160 --> 0:34:09.319 You know. 0:34:09.360 --> 0:34:12.560 I wasn't really in my element with Tupac Shakur and 0:34:12.960 --> 0:34:16.040 the Death Row scene. That was very much like I 0:34:16.120 --> 0:34:18.600 was the Babyface R and B element and working with 0:34:18.640 --> 0:34:21.320 new Addition and Tony Braxton all of a sudden, you know, 0:34:21.320 --> 0:34:24.319 I'm you know with Tupac. But what it felt like 0:34:24.520 --> 0:34:26.200 was it was I was in the right place at 0:34:26.200 --> 0:34:28.680 the right time. We were we had the right energy. 0:34:29.160 --> 0:34:31.319 And so what that taught me was just you know, 0:34:31.800 --> 0:34:34.319 step outside your norm and don't be afraid to do 0:34:34.400 --> 0:34:36.600 things that haven't been done. Next thing, you know, I'm 0:34:36.600 --> 0:34:38.640 in the studio with nas, you know, and we're making 0:34:38.640 --> 0:34:41.680 the record together and jay Z and you know, and 0:34:42.400 --> 0:34:46.520 so it's it's just been. It's been really first of all, 0:34:46.600 --> 0:34:48.960 really dope to be one of the first ones to 0:34:49.040 --> 0:34:52.560 really trailblaze that sort of collaboration between hip hop and 0:34:52.680 --> 0:34:54.680 R and B, because there wasn't a lot of that 0:34:54.760 --> 0:34:56.759 going on. And when I started ninety five. 0:34:56.880 --> 0:34:59.960 You know, how did you feel when they named Tupac's 0:35:00.040 --> 0:35:01.320 whole album. 0:35:01.239 --> 0:35:06.240 You still down right? His mother? Yeah, his mother, after 0:35:06.680 --> 0:35:10.200 you know, his passing. I got to meet her actually 0:35:10.640 --> 0:35:14.640 at his memorial and uh, I sang at his memorial 0:35:14.800 --> 0:35:19.120 and yeah, she she felt it necessary because she's like, 0:35:19.280 --> 0:35:21.319 I'm the you know. I told her thank you so 0:35:21.400 --> 0:35:23.560 much for allowing the song to come out, because she 0:35:23.680 --> 0:35:27.399 was the main reason why the record got released. She said, Yeah, 0:35:27.440 --> 0:35:30.480 my son played that song for me. You know, he 0:35:30.480 --> 0:35:32.640 didn't play a lot of his music because of you know, 0:35:33.760 --> 0:35:37.120 you know, he didn't the lyrics, and but that song 0:35:37.200 --> 0:35:39.560 he felt really confident about and he's like, this is 0:35:39.560 --> 0:35:41.440 my song. I know you're gonna like this, mom, you know, 0:35:42.040 --> 0:35:44.719 And she loved it, of course, and that was the 0:35:44.800 --> 0:35:49.440 last song that he recorded. So Dan the least it 0:35:49.480 --> 0:35:53.680 was two weeks, three weeks before he went to Vegas. Man, wow, yeah, 0:35:53.719 --> 0:35:57.000 I remember because I went to England to go finish 0:35:57.040 --> 0:36:02.440 my album and and I found out out in England 0:36:02.440 --> 0:36:05.520 when when he got shot. And I I remember when 0:36:05.560 --> 0:36:07.480 it happened because I thought, you know, because he had 0:36:07.480 --> 0:36:10.680 already been shot, you know, and lived, shot in the 0:36:10.719 --> 0:36:15.160 head and lived. So there was this feeling of like, oh, 0:36:15.239 --> 0:36:18.120 he's gonna be all right. That's Tupac, you know, it's 0:36:18.160 --> 0:36:21.840 like he's superhuman. So there was this like I remember, 0:36:21.960 --> 0:36:25.440 it was about four or five days of not knowing 0:36:25.640 --> 0:36:29.440 what was what was happening, right, It was about I 0:36:29.480 --> 0:36:31.279 don't know how many days, it seemed like long. 0:36:32.480 --> 0:36:37.280 Seven. He died on the seventh day, I believe. Man thirteen. 0:36:37.520 --> 0:36:40.360 Oh my god. Yeah, we were, we were, you know. 0:36:40.400 --> 0:36:43.200 I'm trying to work in the studio that's basically like 0:36:43.239 --> 0:36:47.640 an old renovated Catholic church. It was called Air Studios 0:36:47.680 --> 0:36:53.680 in England's George Martin the Beatles Engineers Studios, And it's 0:36:53.760 --> 0:36:58.200 got these cathedral you know walls, you know, it's like 0:36:58.239 --> 0:37:00.720 an old church with the you know, stangle glass windows. 0:37:00.719 --> 0:37:05.279 And I'm working in this in this room and my 0:37:05.320 --> 0:37:08.200 assistant comes in and say, Pop got shot and he's 0:37:08.200 --> 0:37:11.040 in the hospital. I'm just like, we gotta call him, 0:37:11.120 --> 0:37:12.680 we gotta you know, I'm trying to get in touch 0:37:12.719 --> 0:37:14.640 with them and can't get in touch with him. Of 0:37:14.640 --> 0:37:17.759 course he can't get through, and uh yeah, we just 0:37:17.880 --> 0:37:22.120 it was it was really really horrible to go through 0:37:22.160 --> 0:37:24.440 that because it was like everything that I was looking 0:37:24.480 --> 0:37:27.440 forward to doing with him. We were talking about wearing 0:37:27.520 --> 0:37:30.080 suits in the video. You know, we were just, man, 0:37:30.080 --> 0:37:31.880 we're gonna be so clean. This is about to be 0:37:33.040 --> 0:37:35.280 you know, this is think about it. This is before 0:37:35.400 --> 0:37:38.960 doctor Dren and Eminem had even done a collaboration. No, 0:37:39.200 --> 0:37:43.680 there's been There was no collaboration really like this ever done. 0:37:43.800 --> 0:37:45.880 And we both felt like we were doing something special. 0:37:46.120 --> 0:37:48.799 You know. He invited me after we recorded the song, 0:37:48.840 --> 0:37:52.120 he invited me to come watch him work on his 0:37:52.200 --> 0:37:53.880 other tune. He was recording in the other room and 0:37:53.920 --> 0:37:55.759 he was doing to Live and Die in La in 0:37:55.800 --> 0:38:00.400 the other room, and I'm sitting there like he's going 0:38:00.440 --> 0:38:01.759 to play it for him. I think he's just gonna 0:38:01.760 --> 0:38:03.960 play it for me. But he presses record and he 0:38:04.000 --> 0:38:06.560 goes in there and he does a double vocal right 0:38:06.600 --> 0:38:09.200 over his vocal that he already had laid and it 0:38:09.239 --> 0:38:12.719 sounded like a xerox copy. It was. I was like, 0:38:14.040 --> 0:38:17.359 he's got like photographic memory of what he did, because 0:38:17.400 --> 0:38:20.040 he just did it exactly the same, right in front 0:38:20.040 --> 0:38:21.719 of me. And I was like, you just record that 0:38:21.840 --> 0:38:24.479 right now. He's like yeah, man, you know, just gotta 0:38:24.520 --> 0:38:25.040 get it done. 0:38:25.040 --> 0:38:25.279 Man. 0:38:25.360 --> 0:38:29.440 I'm like, god, you are. I've never heard any rapper 0:38:29.840 --> 0:38:32.600 double his voice like that precise. 0:38:32.760 --> 0:38:32.960 You know. 0:38:33.480 --> 0:38:34.319 It's incredible. 0:38:34.480 --> 0:38:35.239 That's why I'm sitting there. 0:38:35.440 --> 0:38:37.239 I'm like, yo, you know, he told you that he 0:38:37.280 --> 0:38:40.240 wanted He said, you should always record three songs a day. Yeah, 0:38:40.280 --> 0:38:42.160 Well he recorded with you, and then he didn't record 0:38:42.200 --> 0:38:45.120 for two weeks, and then I wonder what was going 0:38:45.160 --> 0:38:46.800 on in his life in those two weeks that he 0:38:46.840 --> 0:38:48.320 didn't even want to record. 0:38:48.520 --> 0:38:50.319 I don't know, man, I don't know. I know that 0:38:50.520 --> 0:38:53.680 he was doing a lot of collaborating with a lot 0:38:53.680 --> 0:38:56.360 of people at that time, because I had heard that 0:38:56.440 --> 0:38:58.919 he was working on a project where he was trying 0:38:58.920 --> 0:39:01.160 to unify the East and the West. 0:39:03.200 --> 0:39:04.000 For the one nation. 0:39:04.200 --> 0:39:09.440 Yeah, the one Nation, that's right, that's right. And so yeah, 0:39:09.480 --> 0:39:11.680 he was doing some things. I mean, there was rumored 0:39:11.680 --> 0:39:14.879 that he was working with Atlantis more set, Oh wow 0:39:15.440 --> 0:39:17.359 on something. I mean a lot. I heard a lot 0:39:17.360 --> 0:39:23.719 of different things, but but our collaboration, man was to 0:39:23.800 --> 0:39:24.959 say the least that was. 0:39:25.080 --> 0:39:28.759 That was the groundbreaking classic record, groundbreaking movement for me. 0:39:29.080 --> 0:39:31.279 When you think about records like they don't know you know, 0:39:31.840 --> 0:39:35.680 are you still do? Just having those big classics create 0:39:35.880 --> 0:39:38.120 pressure when you approach new music or does it free 0:39:38.160 --> 0:39:41.520 you knowing you already contributed something that's timeless. 0:39:41.080 --> 0:39:43.480 Well you're grateful for it because if the new music 0:39:43.560 --> 0:39:50.239 doesn't catch on, absolutely no. I mean you know what, 0:39:50.360 --> 0:39:52.440 it's a It's a great thing to shoot for that. 0:39:52.600 --> 0:39:54.680 You know. It's like if you have a template that 0:39:55.000 --> 0:39:57.759 you know works with people, then I feel like that's 0:39:57.760 --> 0:39:59.520 a good feeling. And if I could just get back 0:39:59.560 --> 0:40:01.720 to that fear, I have an inkling of that feeling. 0:40:02.280 --> 0:40:04.279 But getting back to what Babyface says, and I'm gonna 0:40:04.320 --> 0:40:06.640 take it back to the positive about baby Face because 0:40:06.640 --> 0:40:08.680 I love that that man. Don't get it twisted. That's 0:40:08.719 --> 0:40:11.960 my father to the game. So but one thing he 0:40:12.000 --> 0:40:15.960 will say to you is keep it honest. That's all 0:40:16.000 --> 0:40:18.360 I'm trying to be is honest. You know that was 0:40:18.400 --> 0:40:21.239 his own advice he gave me. So, you know, I 0:40:21.280 --> 0:40:23.600 feel like this this album is very honest. You know, 0:40:24.200 --> 0:40:27.400 I turned fifty on fifty one now, but you know 0:40:27.800 --> 0:40:29.680 the year I put the album, you know, March I 0:40:29.719 --> 0:40:32.279 was fifty and it is my tenth album. It felt 0:40:32.320 --> 0:40:34.400 it felt very much like this is the album that 0:40:34.440 --> 0:40:36.560 I want to be making at fifty. You know, we 0:40:36.640 --> 0:40:38.520 got Rick Ross on the album, and we have Tank 0:40:38.600 --> 0:40:41.520 on the album. Donelle Jones is on the album, Alex 0:40:41.560 --> 0:40:44.440 Eisley is on the album. And to be independent and 0:40:44.520 --> 0:40:46.759 have all that support like that people coming to my 0:40:46.840 --> 0:40:49.720 aid and want to bless me like that with their 0:40:49.800 --> 0:40:53.759 features was Yeah, it was incredible. 0:40:53.840 --> 0:40:55.800 Were you ever worried because it took thirteen years for 0:40:55.840 --> 0:40:57.680 the album to come that you talk about being honest, 0:40:57.680 --> 0:41:00.000 that you weren't going to be able to be as honest? 0:41:00.120 --> 0:41:02.840 Is because your life has changed so much or be like, 0:41:02.880 --> 0:41:05.080 you wouldn't get that feeling or that sound again that 0:41:05.120 --> 0:41:06.520 you would had in the music prior. 0:41:06.680 --> 0:41:09.719 Yeah. I think that when you mature and you get 0:41:10.040 --> 0:41:12.000 a lot more added to your life in terms of 0:41:12.040 --> 0:41:14.239 your actual what's happening in your life. In this case, 0:41:14.440 --> 0:41:17.720 I've been married for eighteen years get chills to protect. 0:41:17.719 --> 0:41:19.560 Now there's a lot more to protect, So there's a 0:41:19.600 --> 0:41:21.960 lot more I think that goes into the crafting of 0:41:22.000 --> 0:41:27.560 these songs. Like actually the lyrics, there's responsibility behind those lyrics. Now, 0:41:27.680 --> 0:41:29.400 you know, as a as a grown man, I know 0:41:29.440 --> 0:41:31.799 what I don't want to say. I know what's sort 0:41:31.800 --> 0:41:34.319 of out of my lane to say, like I'm not 0:41:34.360 --> 0:41:37.560 going to go in there and and and for the 0:41:37.640 --> 0:41:39.600 song live the plight of a single dude in the 0:41:39.640 --> 0:41:41.640 club trying to holler for the night and just let's 0:41:41.640 --> 0:41:44.239 get this done, and then and then go back to 0:41:44.280 --> 0:41:46.840 being like a married man on the next song, Like 0:41:46.880 --> 0:41:48.640 you're not going to get that on this album. You're 0:41:48.680 --> 0:41:52.440 going to get one plight, which is basically me just compliment, 0:41:52.480 --> 0:41:57.120 you know, being complimentary and romantic and celebrating relationships. You know, 0:41:58.040 --> 0:42:02.719 that's what this album is really celebrating. But I'm an 0:42:02.719 --> 0:42:05.720 atmosphere creator, so I'm always gonna have those sexy joints 0:42:05.719 --> 0:42:08.800 and joints said, you know, the baby makers. 0:42:08.960 --> 0:42:11.799 Hopefully you know what's part of your journey that you 0:42:11.800 --> 0:42:14.080 think people don't talk about it enough, Like something behind 0:42:14.120 --> 0:42:16.640 the scenes that even shake the John b We know 0:42:16.680 --> 0:42:16.960 to day. 0:42:17.880 --> 0:42:24.120 I think it goes back to just really being a 0:42:24.160 --> 0:42:28.400 fan of R and B that I would really continue 0:42:28.600 --> 0:42:32.200 to do this like for free, Like even if I 0:42:32.280 --> 0:42:35.000 didn't make money doing this, that this would be my 0:42:35.080 --> 0:42:38.440 first choice, you know, Like like this is the music 0:42:38.480 --> 0:42:40.880 I listened to at home when I'm cleaning up my place, 0:42:40.960 --> 0:42:44.319 you know what I mean. And this is the these 0:42:44.320 --> 0:42:46.640 are the clothes I put on when I'm chilling around 0:42:46.640 --> 0:42:48.759 the house, Like this is the life I live. Like 0:42:48.800 --> 0:42:51.799 I'm raising young black women, you know, I'm married to 0:42:51.840 --> 0:42:54.279 a black woman. This is the life that I live, 0:42:54.480 --> 0:42:56.560 you know. So it's like whether you see it in 0:42:56.600 --> 0:42:59.839 the video and you think, oh, that's cool, that's that's 0:42:59.840 --> 0:43:03.240 a cool like look, or she's she's pretty for the video, 0:43:03.920 --> 0:43:06.399 it's kind of representing my life, yo. And I mean 0:43:06.520 --> 0:43:08.839 my music is representing my life in a real way. 0:43:08.920 --> 0:43:11.960 It's not for show. You know. This is who I've 0:43:12.000 --> 0:43:15.319 been for thirty years, and I'm just I'm glad to 0:43:15.400 --> 0:43:18.319 have been accepted for who I am, you know, and 0:43:18.400 --> 0:43:21.080 really being able to stay true to that is really 0:43:22.400 --> 0:43:24.520 it's been really not even a challenge. It's just been 0:43:24.560 --> 0:43:26.640 an honor to do so and to sort of be 0:43:26.800 --> 0:43:29.920 the one who shows up to the gigs that I 0:43:29.960 --> 0:43:32.800 see my counterparts sort of like avoiding like the plague. 0:43:32.840 --> 0:43:33.040 You know. 0:43:33.760 --> 0:43:36.839 The places I go are like where real R and 0:43:36.880 --> 0:43:39.440 B is being felt and real R and B is 0:43:39.520 --> 0:43:42.839 being you know, celebrated. So that's where I'm going to, 0:43:43.040 --> 0:43:45.320 you know, and I'm going to continue that walk. 0:43:45.360 --> 0:43:47.279 So yeah, I don't think it's enough spaces for it. 0:43:47.360 --> 0:43:48.960 I know you got Tank on the new album. You 0:43:49.000 --> 0:43:51.520 know that I think is a great dude. And like 0:43:51.560 --> 0:43:53.239 even just creating, like you know, tank I thing I 0:43:53.239 --> 0:43:56.160 did for this R and B Money Award show. I 0:43:56.160 --> 0:43:58.799 want to see, you know, come to Fruition just because 0:43:58.800 --> 0:44:00.799 I don't feel like number one, there's not a lot 0:44:00.800 --> 0:44:02.480 of places that celebrate R and. 0:44:03.120 --> 0:44:06.200 That's right, that's right. We don't have the venues. We 0:44:06.239 --> 0:44:08.120 don't have we don't have the venues. We don't have 0:44:08.160 --> 0:44:11.920 the shows we need an R and B celebration show, 0:44:12.080 --> 0:44:14.279 you know what I mean. We have Soul Trained. We've 0:44:14.280 --> 0:44:16.400 had the Soul Train Awards, which has been our only 0:44:17.160 --> 0:44:22.319 real venue for that, and I mean that's really been 0:44:22.320 --> 0:44:24.440 an honor to be a part of the Soule Train Awards, 0:44:24.440 --> 0:44:27.719 you know, to to that's how me and Donell linked up. 0:44:27.760 --> 0:44:31.400 We both got honored that night, the same night, and 0:44:31.480 --> 0:44:33.600 it was a pleasure to see in backstage and to 0:44:33.680 --> 0:44:36.080 be like, Man, you nervous. I'm nervous too, Man. We 0:44:36.120 --> 0:44:37.960 have been on stage for so long, man, you know, 0:44:38.680 --> 0:44:40.680 let's go have fun with this, you know, celebrate. These 0:44:40.680 --> 0:44:43.719 people are here for us, you know. So yeah, just 0:44:43.880 --> 0:44:45.719 you know, getting to you know, have that moment and 0:44:46.000 --> 0:44:48.320 then say hey, let's let's collab man, let's do something, 0:44:48.360 --> 0:44:51.080 you know, and we make the song understand from my 0:44:51.160 --> 0:44:54.440 album and yeah, he's a he's a great guy. And 0:44:54.520 --> 0:44:56.640 same with Tank. You know, get to be on the 0:44:56.760 --> 0:44:59.279 R and B Money podcast and just chop it up. 0:44:59.280 --> 0:45:01.680 And I'm like, hey, man, and you know you you're 0:45:01.680 --> 0:45:03.799 the guy. Man, you've been the guy for quite some time. 0:45:03.840 --> 0:45:07.759 And that's not our first time working together. We've collaborated 0:45:07.760 --> 0:45:09.959 in the past. But but I was just like, man, 0:45:10.000 --> 0:45:11.920 you know, you've really really been like one of my 0:45:12.040 --> 0:45:16.359 main influences over the last ten you know, ever long's been. 0:45:19.040 --> 0:45:21.360 And uh, yeah, let me play this record because I 0:45:21.400 --> 0:45:23.600 think you're going to hear a little bit of that influence. 0:45:23.640 --> 0:45:25.040 And then I played it for him and he was like, 0:45:25.200 --> 0:45:28.279 I gotta be on that. I was just like, I 0:45:28.320 --> 0:45:30.759 was blown away because I wasn't expecting him to say 0:45:30.800 --> 0:45:32.400 that he was going to sing on the record. And 0:45:33.239 --> 0:45:35.239 you know, it's one thing when someone says they're going 0:45:35.280 --> 0:45:36.840 to do something, and another thing when they pull up 0:45:36.880 --> 0:45:39.440 to the studio and they're there and then you know, 0:45:39.480 --> 0:45:41.719 he's like, I don't want to change nothing. You did 0:45:41.800 --> 0:45:43.839 you body them, versus like I'm just going to add 0:45:43.840 --> 0:45:47.040 the bridge, play some piano on it, and it's a 0:45:47.120 --> 0:45:49.600 rap and that's a hit. And I was like, man, 0:45:49.840 --> 0:45:52.600 I mean, the most confident I've felt in a very 0:45:52.640 --> 0:45:53.160 long time. 0:45:53.400 --> 0:45:55.640 Wow, you lost it for a minute. 0:45:55.760 --> 0:45:57.719 Well, I mean, it's just it's one of those things 0:45:57.760 --> 0:45:59.800 where you're hoping to get one again, you know. And 0:46:00.200 --> 0:46:03.399 uh and when someone like, you know, the likes of Tank, 0:46:03.520 --> 0:46:08.360 you know, comes along and co signs for you. Especially 0:46:08.360 --> 0:46:10.120 in this day and age, there's so much music, so 0:46:10.200 --> 0:46:12.279 much more music being released than it was when I 0:46:12.320 --> 0:46:15.799 first came out. The volume of artists that come out 0:46:15.840 --> 0:46:19.319 every month is insane. So just to be somebody to 0:46:19.440 --> 0:46:22.680 even be considered, but you know, it was it was 0:46:22.719 --> 0:46:24.600 really lovely to wake up in the morning and see 0:46:24.640 --> 0:46:26.920 my video playing on b Et in the morning again, 0:46:27.000 --> 0:46:29.319 you know, with all the other new videos coming out 0:46:29.400 --> 0:46:32.480 and just the support that b Et has shown me 0:46:32.600 --> 0:46:34.960 all my career. Man, without b ET, I wouldn't be 0:46:35.680 --> 0:46:36.600 John B. Period. 0:46:36.800 --> 0:46:37.000 You know. 0:46:37.120 --> 0:46:40.279 I remember the funny story. I was in Jamaica with 0:46:40.440 --> 0:46:42.960 Beanie Man. I was working out there and we got 0:46:43.000 --> 0:46:45.879 pulled over by the police and I thought, oh man, 0:46:45.880 --> 0:46:48.000 we're gonna go to jail in Jamaica. Man, it was 0:46:48.200 --> 0:46:50.919 you know, and they were like, who the white boy 0:46:50.960 --> 0:46:54.080 in the car with you the policeman and he's like, 0:46:54.120 --> 0:46:56.799 that's John B. And they go John B from b 0:46:56.920 --> 0:47:00.360 E T. John B. Yeah, can we take a picture? 0:47:00.440 --> 0:47:00.719 Come on? 0:47:01.080 --> 0:47:03.040 So I get out and I'm taking pictures with the 0:47:03.080 --> 0:47:06.239 police and they let us go. But that's you know, 0:47:06.280 --> 0:47:08.040 I mean, it just shows you man, people know me 0:47:08.080 --> 0:47:10.600 from that you know, and that that that era, and 0:47:11.640 --> 0:47:14.359 without them, I wouldn't be, you know, wouldn't be where 0:47:14.400 --> 0:47:16.239 I'm at. So I got a big up beet for shure. 0:47:17.040 --> 0:47:20.080 How is John B as a dad to his girls 0:47:20.120 --> 0:47:22.000 like explaining like now you've got your music out and 0:47:22.040 --> 0:47:24.279 you explained to them like okay, this is what daddy does, 0:47:24.320 --> 0:47:26.720 and you know, like how are you in space. 0:47:26.960 --> 0:47:30.359 My eighteen year old is really just now really I 0:47:30.400 --> 0:47:32.400 feel like raped her. It's taking her this long to 0:47:32.440 --> 0:47:35.520 wrap her head around what I do. And now she's 0:47:35.600 --> 0:47:39.360 part of the team, you know, she's It's funny because 0:47:39.360 --> 0:47:41.160 like when we do videos and stuff, she'll be the 0:47:41.160 --> 0:47:43.400 one doing my makeup on the side. She'll you know, 0:47:43.800 --> 0:47:45.799 give me a little powder or whatever, and you know, 0:47:46.200 --> 0:47:48.279 telling me, Dad your hair straight or you know, or 0:47:48.320 --> 0:47:50.839 you need to fix this or whatever, or don't wear 0:47:50.920 --> 0:47:51.359 that like that. 0:47:51.400 --> 0:47:51.600 You know. 0:47:51.680 --> 0:47:53.600 She's sort of like a stylist for me. At the 0:47:53.640 --> 0:47:56.560 same time, she's a little bit of helping up with travel, 0:47:56.680 --> 0:47:58.720 you know, with booking all the travel because we do everything. 0:47:58.760 --> 0:48:02.239 My wife's the manager. Everything's all in the house, so 0:48:02.280 --> 0:48:03.359 everybody's helping out. 0:48:03.400 --> 0:48:03.600 You know. 0:48:03.760 --> 0:48:06.320 My eleven year old, she's still wrapping her head around 0:48:06.360 --> 0:48:09.239 what I do. I think that it's still nice for 0:48:09.280 --> 0:48:10.960 her to sort of be naive to it, you know. 0:48:11.040 --> 0:48:14.399 And she sees the shows and I'm sure it's intimidating 0:48:14.440 --> 0:48:16.680 seeing all those people standing on the side of the 0:48:16.680 --> 0:48:20.680 stage and Madison Square Garden being you know, but but 0:48:20.840 --> 0:48:24.120 at the end of the day, it's it's wonderful to 0:48:25.320 --> 0:48:27.359 come back to them and to know that, you know 0:48:28.239 --> 0:48:30.719 they're there waiting for me at home. It's it's incentive 0:48:30.760 --> 0:48:32.239 to go out there and want to work real hard though, 0:48:32.400 --> 0:48:34.319 you know, give them a good life, you know. 0:48:34.480 --> 0:48:35.799 And you're and your wife have been together since two 0:48:35.800 --> 0:48:38.520 thousand and seven, yes, the right, Okay, so she's been 0:48:38.560 --> 0:48:41.200 along for the journey for a long time. Oh yeah, 0:48:41.239 --> 0:48:43.319 this unfolding of the career part is like easy for her. 0:48:43.360 --> 0:48:44.719 She's probably just like doing it in her sleep. 0:48:45.000 --> 0:48:47.879 Well, it's it's not easy for us. I mean, it's 0:48:47.920 --> 0:48:50.799 a lot of responsibility. It's only on us, so it's 0:48:51.120 --> 0:48:54.480 no one you know, there's no labels involved. So it's 0:48:54.560 --> 0:48:56.719 it's really about But you know, that's why I want 0:48:56.760 --> 0:48:59.440 to come in my fans and thank the fans. Without 0:48:59.480 --> 0:49:02.520 the fans, I would not be here, y'all. I wouldn't. 0:49:02.640 --> 0:49:05.080 You wouldn't hear me on the radio right now, you know, 0:49:05.200 --> 0:49:08.520 without the people coming to the shows to make it all, 0:49:08.560 --> 0:49:11.720 Because the shows is what's kept me alive all this time, 0:49:12.480 --> 0:49:14.920 because I wasn't making money from the records, but I 0:49:15.080 --> 0:49:17.319 was making money from the shows, and so you got 0:49:17.320 --> 0:49:18.880 to go out and get that show money, you know, 0:49:19.040 --> 0:49:21.279 stay on the road man, that's all of them. I've 0:49:21.280 --> 0:49:24.080 been one of the hardest working R and B guys 0:49:24.080 --> 0:49:26.319 in the game. Like really, it was me for a 0:49:26.320 --> 0:49:29.840 long time. It was like me genuine and like Case 0:49:30.120 --> 0:49:32.600 and like Jagged Edge and one twelve. We were like 0:49:32.640 --> 0:49:35.720 the hardest working guys in the games. I was always 0:49:35.719 --> 0:49:37.640 out in the road with them everywhere we go. H 0:49:37.719 --> 0:49:39.719 Town two. I mean, I got to give all my 0:49:40.120 --> 0:49:44.399 guys from the nineties, we stay working because People that's 0:49:44.400 --> 0:49:46.600 some of the music, that's some of the most celebrated music. 0:49:48.840 --> 0:49:49.839 Soundtrack to People Live. 0:49:50.040 --> 0:49:52.960 Man, it's just a wonderful thing. Me and Joe and 0:49:53.120 --> 0:49:55.879 Case are going to perform in Jersey actually tomorrow, we're 0:49:55.880 --> 0:49:56.720 going to be in Jersey. 0:49:56.760 --> 0:49:57.080 Wow. 0:49:57.200 --> 0:50:03.560 Yeah, right, what We're going to be in Elizabeth, New 0:50:03.640 --> 0:50:07.520 Jersey at the Rich Yeah. So that's gonna be a 0:50:07.560 --> 0:50:11.480 dope show. And you know, it's just it's it's such 0:50:11.480 --> 0:50:15.600 a beautiful thing to be included with that that line 0:50:15.680 --> 0:50:17.480 up right there. First of all, I'm such a Joe 0:50:17.560 --> 0:50:20.120 fan and I'm such a Case fan, so you know, 0:50:21.200 --> 0:50:23.120 and both of those brothers are good, good friends of mine. 0:50:23.160 --> 0:50:25.040 We known each other for years, and yeah, that's. 0:50:24.920 --> 0:50:27.719 The night we're gonna play on Friday. That's a night 0:50:27.760 --> 0:50:31.399 of R and B with Joe and Live Band and Yes, 0:50:31.480 --> 0:50:33.319 Case and John B. How hell I ain't know this 0:50:34.480 --> 0:50:34.960 new Jersey. 0:50:36.080 --> 0:50:40.120 Yeah, gotta come on out man, R and B lovers. 0:50:40.360 --> 0:50:41.680 You know it's going to be a good night. 0:50:42.239 --> 0:50:43.960 How you know you're married to a black woman? 0:50:44.080 --> 0:50:44.319 Yes? 0:50:45.040 --> 0:50:47.919 How do you great? Great choice? By the way, yes, 0:50:48.440 --> 0:50:50.840 how do you and your wife feel about doctor Umar Johnson? 0:50:56.440 --> 0:50:56.640 That is? 0:50:57.520 --> 0:50:58.239 I don't know who that is. 0:50:58.360 --> 0:50:59.800 I don't worry about it. 0:51:00.840 --> 0:51:02.040 Brought our question over here. 0:51:05.040 --> 0:51:05.680 I'm sorry. 0:51:06.200 --> 0:51:08.040 It's totally fine that you don't know who that is. 0:51:08.200 --> 0:51:11.640 I guess speaking of so you talk. We talked a 0:51:11.680 --> 0:51:13.640 bit about your daughters. I know, he said, you don't 0:51:13.640 --> 0:51:15.240 want to talk a lot about it. But the Chloe 0:51:15.280 --> 0:51:18.239 moment when Chloe was here and she reacted to you 0:51:18.320 --> 0:51:21.160 talking about her song. You seeing her moment here made 0:51:21.160 --> 0:51:23.000 you like kind of rethink about how you said things 0:51:23.000 --> 0:51:25.840 when you were asked about her covering they don't know 0:51:26.000 --> 0:51:28.759 and you mentioned it's because you're raising black you know, 0:51:28.880 --> 0:51:31.799 daughters that He wanted to be more careful talk about 0:51:31.840 --> 0:51:34.359 that realization in real time because the world was like, 0:51:34.480 --> 0:51:35.200 what is happening? 0:51:36.680 --> 0:51:38.920 I mean, it's interesting to have an opinion in this 0:51:39.040 --> 0:51:42.360 day and age, because it's it's a responsibility. 0:51:42.719 --> 0:51:42.920 You know. 0:51:44.080 --> 0:51:47.279 Sometimes you can say what you think is the way 0:51:47.320 --> 0:51:49.560 that you say it that can be misconstrued, you know, 0:51:50.960 --> 0:51:54.440 because everybody doesn't have to like everything. You know, obviously, 0:51:54.520 --> 0:51:57.600 we live in a canceled culture like society now where 0:51:57.600 --> 0:51:59.680 if you say something the wrong way, you can be 0:51:59.719 --> 0:52:04.400 cancer very fast means. But you know, in whatever it means, 0:52:04.640 --> 0:52:08.000 I think it's the people lose respect for you and 0:52:08.080 --> 0:52:11.560 so they they don't mess with you as much. And 0:52:11.640 --> 0:52:16.560 for me, it's like I'm count on people to continue 0:52:16.600 --> 0:52:19.200 to you know, to support me, so I'm never I 0:52:19.200 --> 0:52:21.319 don't want to mess my chance up of that. And 0:52:21.520 --> 0:52:24.600 first of all, I'm a mature man. I know when 0:52:24.640 --> 0:52:28.240 to take an l and say my you know, my bad, 0:52:28.520 --> 0:52:31.239 I didn't mean that. The worst part about is raising 0:52:31.360 --> 0:52:35.240 daughters and seeing when they get disappointed, how their facial 0:52:35.320 --> 0:52:38.960 expressions look and how their voices changed, and they you know, 0:52:39.440 --> 0:52:40.600 to see that happen with her. 0:52:40.760 --> 0:52:44.000 Your eighteen year old is a Chloe fan, well yeah. 0:52:43.880 --> 0:52:46.600 I mean she you know, she she could feel her 0:52:46.760 --> 0:52:49.480 energy when she was reacting to it, so could I 0:52:49.560 --> 0:52:51.920 being that I'm raising an eighteen year old, right and 0:52:52.000 --> 0:52:54.080 she's not that much older. I mean, you know, but 0:52:54.200 --> 0:52:57.120 she's a young girl. So to see that I made 0:52:57.160 --> 0:52:59.960 her feel that way, you know, made me feel bad 0:53:00.480 --> 0:53:03.200 because I never want to insult anyone or make them 0:53:03.239 --> 0:53:07.279 feel bad, especially when they're incredibly talented like that. I 0:53:07.320 --> 0:53:10.680 guess what I want to say is, come collaborate with 0:53:10.760 --> 0:53:13.360 me for real, you know, come collaborate. Let me have 0:53:13.440 --> 0:53:16.120 a chance to really work with you. She's so incredibly 0:53:16.160 --> 0:53:19.319 talented that I just don't feel like that showed the 0:53:19.400 --> 0:53:22.040 real you know what I want to see us, how 0:53:22.080 --> 0:53:26.160 I want to see our styles collaborate together. I think, 0:53:26.320 --> 0:53:28.640 you know, it worked for what they did for it 0:53:28.680 --> 0:53:30.919 was just kind of like a jump to put out. 0:53:30.920 --> 0:53:33.320 But I don't know if I could really get behind 0:53:33.320 --> 0:53:36.400 that and say that I like that joint, you know 0:53:36.400 --> 0:53:38.799 what I mean. I felt like my song is very 0:53:38.960 --> 0:53:43.640 very deep and meaningful, and when you turn a meaningful 0:53:43.680 --> 0:53:46.600 record into sort of like a record that's just sort 0:53:46.640 --> 0:53:49.239 of like, oh, I just want to I just want 0:53:49.280 --> 0:53:52.239 to have sex with you and let's do it good 0:53:52.239 --> 0:53:54.759 and then later, you know what I mean, kind of 0:53:55.000 --> 0:53:57.120 that's fair, you know what I mean? It's just kind 0:53:57.120 --> 0:53:58.640 of like, that's not what I want to tell my 0:53:58.680 --> 0:54:01.080 eleven year old, you know, on them right now, you 0:54:01.120 --> 0:54:02.960 know what I mean. So it just kind of made 0:54:03.000 --> 0:54:05.200 me feel like speaking on it and be like they're 0:54:05.200 --> 0:54:07.319 like you like it, I'm like, nah, I don't like it. 0:54:08.080 --> 0:54:10.480 But now I'm like I feel bad about saying that, 0:54:10.600 --> 0:54:12.680 you know, because I know that, you know, we're for 0:54:12.760 --> 0:54:16.719 every action, there's a reaction, and I'm trying to put 0:54:16.760 --> 0:54:18.680 good positive energy out in the where I'm trying to 0:54:18.680 --> 0:54:20.879 build people up, not break them down. 0:54:21.080 --> 0:54:22.439 You got a joint for her? You got a record 0:54:22.480 --> 0:54:22.719 for her? 0:54:23.040 --> 0:54:26.200 Definitely got a record for her. I her and if 0:54:26.239 --> 0:54:29.319 I don't, I will make it for it. No, She's 0:54:29.680 --> 0:54:33.800 She's amazing. They're so They're so talented and so beautiful, 0:54:33.880 --> 0:54:38.479 you know, I mean, they got the full package. It's yeah, 0:54:38.520 --> 0:54:40.920 it's just a matter of us getting in the studio 0:54:41.239 --> 0:54:42.760 and just making some magic happen. 0:54:43.680 --> 0:54:46.640 How does John be want to be remembered. 0:54:47.160 --> 0:54:53.400 I want to be remembered as an atmosphere creator, somebody 0:54:53.400 --> 0:54:58.280 who was really honest with his emotions and somebody who's 0:54:58.280 --> 0:55:00.360 just made a baby maker music. 0:55:02.440 --> 0:55:07.600 Definitely made that Well that's it. 0:55:07.840 --> 0:55:12.480 Yeah, Yeah, we want know, I mean I think that 0:55:12.560 --> 0:55:13.920 you know, at the end of the day, I want 0:55:13.960 --> 0:55:15.680 I want to be remembered as a guy who was 0:55:15.840 --> 0:55:18.400 you know, uh, you know, he gave us all, you know, 0:55:18.600 --> 0:55:21.200 in terms of like everything I do really, from being 0:55:21.239 --> 0:55:24.120 a father to you know, husband to a songwriter and 0:55:24.160 --> 0:55:26.960 a performer. I sing my heart out on stage every 0:55:26.960 --> 0:55:30.640 show I do, you know, whether they're giving it up 0:55:30.719 --> 0:55:33.680 and giving me the energy I want to have or not. 0:55:34.000 --> 0:55:38.520 You know, it's because it's the passion for what I do, 0:55:38.600 --> 0:55:41.000 you know, So yeah, I want to be remembered for that. 0:55:41.160 --> 0:55:41.480 Really. 0:55:42.120 --> 0:55:43.319 Yeah. 0:55:43.360 --> 0:55:45.759 Well, John b you're doing a phenomenal job. Man. We 0:55:45.880 --> 0:55:48.160 here talking about thirty the thirty fan a Brest. 0:55:48.000 --> 0:55:50.640 You a bona fide, So that means, yes, sir, man, 0:55:51.040 --> 0:55:52.680 you and Babyface can reconcile too. 0:55:52.719 --> 0:55:52.919 Man. 0:55:53.120 --> 0:55:53.759 Yeah, me too. 0:55:53.840 --> 0:55:54.000 Man. 0:55:54.360 --> 0:55:58.799 I think that things are coming full circle regardless and 0:55:58.880 --> 0:56:01.920 because of that, you know, I think it's just it's 0:56:02.560 --> 0:56:06.320 you know, it's a matter of just us literally chopping 0:56:06.320 --> 0:56:09.360 it up one day and just letting each other know 0:56:09.400 --> 0:56:12.680 how we feel. But that's that that definitely needs to 0:56:12.719 --> 0:56:14.600 happen in a in a private setting and not on 0:56:14.680 --> 0:56:17.759 a public forum. You know where it's said I heard 0:56:17.760 --> 0:56:19.360 you say this, and you know what I mean, and 0:56:19.440 --> 0:56:21.520 then I'm reacting to that on on this thing, on 0:56:21.520 --> 0:56:24.279 this public forum over here. It's gonna go tip tip 0:56:24.320 --> 0:56:27.520 for tap forever until we just sit down as grown 0:56:27.560 --> 0:56:30.879 ass men and being like, hey, listen, still got love 0:56:30.920 --> 0:56:31.239 for you? 0:56:31.040 --> 0:56:32.359 You never tried to just call him? 0:56:33.120 --> 0:56:35.000 I feel like at this at this point, the only 0:56:35.040 --> 0:56:37.640 time that I've ever been able to get in touch 0:56:37.680 --> 0:56:40.200 with him is by going and contacting him. That's all 0:56:40.239 --> 0:56:42.520 it's ever been is me get reaching out to him. 0:56:42.880 --> 0:56:46.920 It's never been the other way. So and I just 0:56:46.920 --> 0:56:48.759 feel like there's only so much you can give to 0:56:48.840 --> 0:56:51.400 something before if it's not like you said, if you're not, 0:56:51.480 --> 0:56:54.719 it's like you showed loyalty, but it's the loyalty being 0:56:54.760 --> 0:56:59.160 shown back. In fact, I feel like from the truth 0:56:59.200 --> 0:57:02.000 that I've told, how I've been honest, it's only got 0:57:02.080 --> 0:57:05.560 it's only made him sort of more angry because you know, 0:57:05.600 --> 0:57:08.359 he doesn't want people to know those ins and outs 0:57:08.400 --> 0:57:11.200 of the business, which I understand. But in no way 0:57:11.239 --> 0:57:15.200 have I defamed him or talked you know, said Babyface 0:57:15.280 --> 0:57:17.360 did this to me, He he wronged me, you know, 0:57:17.520 --> 0:57:21.040 No it's not that at all. He only gets praised 0:57:21.080 --> 0:57:24.240 by me and get that's all I do is praise babyface. 0:57:24.680 --> 0:57:28.920 But it would be nice also to see him, you know, 0:57:29.080 --> 0:57:32.800 return in this day and age right now. Uh, that 0:57:32.960 --> 0:57:36.240 same kind of energy back my way. You know. 0:57:37.080 --> 0:57:39.439 You gotta Valentine's Day cruise having a tour. 0:57:40.400 --> 0:57:44.360 Yeah, Valentine's Day Cruise. Yeah, trying to do something I 0:57:44.400 --> 0:57:46.640 think it's fitting for the album and waiting on you. 0:57:46.640 --> 0:57:48.520 You know, it's what better way to take in the 0:57:48.560 --> 0:57:52.200 new album than to h you know, play it on 0:57:52.240 --> 0:57:54.320 a cruise ship, you know, and go We're gonna go 0:57:54.400 --> 0:57:58.440 sell to uh Encinata, Mexico, and we're gonna go to Catalina. 0:57:59.880 --> 0:58:01.800 Just a little mini cruise, you know, three day John. 0:58:01.960 --> 0:58:04.560 But it's uh, it's gonna be fun and up closer 0:58:04.600 --> 0:58:08.680 person with the fans, and you know it's a grown 0:58:08.720 --> 0:58:09.040 up thing. 0:58:09.360 --> 0:58:12.400 Let's do it. Well. It's John B. Thank you for coming, 0:58:12.440 --> 0:58:13.160 My brother. 0:58:13.000 --> 0:58:14.040 Charle Man, Thank you, sir. 0:58:14.120 --> 0:58:16.240 I appreciate you man. It's the Breakfast Club. 0:58:16.960 --> 0:58:18.600 Hold up every. 0:58:18.440 --> 0:58:21.520 Day I wake click yours up, the Breakfast Club. 0:58:22.040 --> 0:58:22.960 Finish for y'all. Done