WEBVTT - Jon B 0:00:05.559 --> 0:00:20.320 Well, Jake Valachi, we are the authority R and ladies 0:00:20.320 --> 0:00:23.239 and gentlemen, what's going on? I am Tank, I'm Ja Valentine, 0:00:23.440 --> 0:00:27.319 and this is the R and B Money Podcast, the 0:00:27.320 --> 0:00:32.360 authority on all things are and being thank God. Yeah, yeah, yeah, 0:00:32.600 --> 0:00:35.120 I don't. I don't do my bird man hands too often. 0:00:35.600 --> 0:00:38.400 I don't. I don't. I don't run them together too often, 0:00:38.800 --> 0:00:42.839 you know, because you know, I'm kind of legendary. But 0:00:42.920 --> 0:00:46.120 when the legend, the legendary gets deeper than my legendary, 0:00:46.640 --> 0:00:52.440 who get different? You just don't listen to what people 0:00:52.479 --> 0:00:58.720 say they don't know about about you and may get 0:00:58.720 --> 0:01:03.800 it out your mandus, y'allless see they don't know about 0:01:03.920 --> 0:01:06.680 this here this man said that you make some noise 0:01:06.800 --> 0:01:17.200 for Mr John Fildon. First of all, thank you, thank you, 0:01:17.319 --> 0:01:19.560 thank you. You know what I mean, thank you so much. 0:01:19.600 --> 0:01:23.920 I remember I remember back in the day listening to 0:01:25.840 --> 0:01:28.720 um one of my favorite artists of all time, baby Face, 0:01:29.640 --> 0:01:35.840 and I remember a record coming on and I'm like, man, 0:01:37.160 --> 0:01:40.480 baby facing, add a little yeah, add a little thank 0:01:40.560 --> 0:01:45.400 to his vocal and they're like, that's not baby Face. Yes, yeah, 0:01:45.440 --> 0:01:47.520 that first nome we wanted, we wanted to you know, 0:01:48.120 --> 0:01:51.120 kind of play with him, play with him. And when 0:01:51.160 --> 0:01:55.800 we saw they saw you that video, that video, the 0:01:55.960 --> 0:02:02.760 girls was like, yes he is. All black women said, 0:02:02.840 --> 0:02:07.440 yes he is, Yes he is. Um, you've been killing 0:02:07.480 --> 0:02:09.680 for a long time. Man. Like what we like to 0:02:09.720 --> 0:02:14.400 do is we like to start at the very beginning, 0:02:15.040 --> 0:02:19.240 like you know, from the first time you felt like 0:02:19.960 --> 0:02:23.160 or somebody told you that you had something. You know 0:02:23.200 --> 0:02:25.080 what I'm saying, because these gifts for us start earlier. 0:02:25.120 --> 0:02:27.400 They started church and they started all these other places. 0:02:27.840 --> 0:02:30.440 And so we want to we want to go down 0:02:30.440 --> 0:02:33.640 memory lane, get get some real history on you, and 0:02:33.680 --> 0:02:37.320 then we want to get into the nuances of the 0:02:37.360 --> 0:02:39.760 winds and the losses. You know what I'm saying, as 0:02:39.800 --> 0:02:42.839 you as you continue to take this journey the shore. 0:02:43.000 --> 0:02:46.320 So at the beginning, when did when did you know? Well, 0:02:46.320 --> 0:02:48.080 when did somebody tell you? I think it was the 0:02:48.120 --> 0:02:51.320 eighth grade Talent show, talk about it, eighth grade Talent 0:02:51.360 --> 0:02:54.520 Show and Elliot Junior High. You know, I'm performing, you know, 0:02:54.639 --> 0:02:56.400 first of all, to be able to make it into 0:02:56.440 --> 0:02:59.040 the talent show, to audition, and you know, to to 0:02:59.120 --> 0:03:01.480 get chosen to be Okay, you're good. Let's we want 0:03:01.480 --> 0:03:04.840 to see you made it. So now here's your chance. Boom, 0:03:04.840 --> 0:03:07.000 You're on stage, You're performing in from your friends for 0:03:07.040 --> 0:03:10.519 the first time. All your friends are kind of okay, 0:03:10.520 --> 0:03:12.840 that's what's up. John kind of can sing all right, 0:03:12.880 --> 0:03:14.520 you know. So it was the first time that I 0:03:14.600 --> 0:03:19.560 ever really had that that sense of fearlessness on stage 0:03:19.600 --> 0:03:21.480 that this is what I do and I'm happy to 0:03:21.480 --> 0:03:24.399 share it with you guys. But it's really not about 0:03:25.720 --> 0:03:28.600 what you think, because I'm up here because I love this, 0:03:28.760 --> 0:03:30.320 you know what I mean. It's the first time I 0:03:30.400 --> 0:03:32.760 ever getting the flex really, you know. But you have 0:03:32.880 --> 0:03:35.800 been singing though, I have been singing and playing. So 0:03:35.920 --> 0:03:38.640 I was programming all my songs on this you know, 0:03:38.840 --> 0:03:41.240 this keyboard that basically was like a workstation, you know, 0:03:41.320 --> 0:03:43.240 and I could just record everything. I had like a 0:03:43.280 --> 0:03:46.400 little four track. So I was making demos fully like 0:03:46.440 --> 0:03:48.640 you know, by the time it was middle school, high school, 0:03:48.680 --> 0:03:53.240 well at the end of uh my eighth grade years 0:03:53.280 --> 0:03:56.360 when I started really really produced. Yeah, I was basically 0:03:56.360 --> 0:03:58.640 my my eighth grade year was when I started making 0:03:58.640 --> 0:04:02.880 my first demos. So by ninth grade, I was fully 0:04:02.880 --> 0:04:06.040 and so who gets you the studio? So my my 0:04:06.120 --> 0:04:09.360 pops loaned me the money to do it. Yeah, he loaned. 0:04:09.360 --> 0:04:11.680 He told me, you're gonna pay me every single okay, 0:04:11.880 --> 0:04:21.840 okay at what age? Now, So this was probably around well, 0:04:21.920 --> 0:04:24.400 I was basically like every see I come from a 0:04:24.480 --> 0:04:29.800 family musician's okay, so for like gifts, you know, every 0:04:30.200 --> 0:04:33.400 maybe three or four years, they would say, what do 0:04:33.480 --> 0:04:35.680 you you know? What do you what are you into now? 0:04:35.720 --> 0:04:37.359 As far as your music? What do you what are 0:04:37.400 --> 0:04:39.719 you trying to do? And I would say, I don't 0:04:39.720 --> 0:04:41.240 really want to do the drum set, you know, like 0:04:41.279 --> 0:04:43.400 that it's too loud. No, you can't have a drum 0:04:43.440 --> 0:04:46.240 set in the house. But he thought, you know, let 0:04:46.279 --> 0:04:48.880 me go ahead and take one step. I hear, you know, 0:04:48.960 --> 0:04:50.839 he sees me trying to sound the chords out on 0:04:50.880 --> 0:04:52.960 the piano and trying to you know, because my mom's 0:04:52.960 --> 0:04:56.400 a piano teacher, so as I was always like watching 0:04:56.400 --> 0:04:58.560 her and just kind of I wanted to teach myself though. 0:04:58.960 --> 0:05:01.360 So I was playing by and he saw that he said, 0:05:01.400 --> 0:05:03.080 let me bind him his keyboard. So he got me 0:05:03.160 --> 0:05:05.159 my first little cassio guy, you know what I mean. 0:05:05.240 --> 0:05:07.679 And that was how I kind of cut my teeth 0:05:07.720 --> 0:05:10.359 with playing. You know, you're in the house with a 0:05:10.360 --> 0:05:13.719 piano teacher. But you don't want lessons. Didn't want lessons. 0:05:13.880 --> 0:05:15.760 I wanted to kid, you know, I wanted to hear 0:05:16.200 --> 0:05:17.960 what I wanted to play, because it wasn't I wasn't 0:05:18.400 --> 0:05:20.560 being taught, Like if I was going to study with somebody, 0:05:20.600 --> 0:05:22.680 they weren't teaching me how to play the way I 0:05:22.680 --> 0:05:26.640 wanted to. So I was learning by listening to like, 0:05:27.600 --> 0:05:30.360 you know, Jimmy jam Terry Lewis and baby Face and 0:05:30.440 --> 0:05:32.120 know what I mean, and the songs that they were 0:05:32.160 --> 0:05:34.359 right when new addition, Bobby Brown and all this. I 0:05:34.400 --> 0:05:36.360 was sort of playing these chords trying to figure out 0:05:36.440 --> 0:05:39.600 how to play them at least. So yeah, but um, 0:05:39.680 --> 0:05:41.600 the you know, the eighth grade, you know, making all 0:05:41.600 --> 0:05:44.520 those demos and playing it from my friends and getting 0:05:44.520 --> 0:05:46.960 their approval. I think that was really what made me 0:05:47.040 --> 0:05:49.800 kind of go all out. You know, by the ninth grade, 0:05:49.839 --> 0:05:51.360 I really didn't want to do it on my own. 0:05:51.400 --> 0:05:53.719 So I started forming these groups, these R and B groups. 0:05:53.800 --> 0:05:56.320 I was like, I swear we were coming me bad. 0:05:56.360 --> 0:06:04.120 Before coming, we had a black guy, Filipino guy, the 0:06:04.240 --> 0:06:07.440 United Nations, and it was it was it was, it was. 0:06:07.600 --> 0:06:10.080 It was a less situation where harmony. You know, it 0:06:10.120 --> 0:06:13.680 was um my first time really even having like a 0:06:13.720 --> 0:06:15.760 group of guys I went to church with, you know, 0:06:16.200 --> 0:06:20.000 you know found you know what the church vibes wasn't 0:06:20.120 --> 0:06:23.120 the gospel choir and getting into gospel choir and um 0:06:23.120 --> 0:06:25.520 in high school joining the gospel choir. I think that's 0:06:25.520 --> 0:06:30.760 really what pushed me vocally forward. Was they were like, 0:06:30.839 --> 0:06:33.760 all right, you know, John, come out, you know, come 0:06:33.760 --> 0:06:36.320 out that throat, get get into that chest. You know 0:06:36.360 --> 0:06:38.680 what I mean. You showed me a lot about that. 0:06:38.920 --> 0:06:41.159 When you know that I told you that. You know, 0:06:42.560 --> 0:06:45.080 it's it's so much influence in this game. You know 0:06:45.080 --> 0:06:47.080 that has taught me so much. I'm a I'm a 0:06:47.120 --> 0:06:49.120 fan of this music. I'm a study you know, I 0:06:49.480 --> 0:06:54.200 study this music um with with a passion and uh 0:06:54.360 --> 0:06:56.200 and a love for it. You know. It's a true 0:06:56.240 --> 0:06:58.479 love for for what I do and for what other 0:06:58.520 --> 0:07:01.760 others do. It's it's no really getting it wrong. It's 0:07:01.800 --> 0:07:04.240 just like certain stuff you love a little bit more 0:07:04.240 --> 0:07:06.280 than others, you know. And I want to go back 0:07:06.279 --> 0:07:08.920 and touch on stuff you said when you said, you know, 0:07:09.279 --> 0:07:13.320 as we as Jay jumped into not having the lessons 0:07:14.160 --> 0:07:20.200 and because they weren't teaching you, you know, the music 0:07:20.600 --> 0:07:23.520 in a way that made you feel like you were 0:07:23.600 --> 0:07:26.680 learning the things you were here, right, And so you know, 0:07:26.720 --> 0:07:30.120 I was. I was in the same vote where you know, 0:07:30.160 --> 0:07:32.080 they would try to send me to this music teacher 0:07:32.480 --> 0:07:34.640 who was trying to have my hands resting on middle 0:07:34.720 --> 0:07:37.600 C and I'm like, I'm like, but you don't hear 0:07:37.640 --> 0:07:45.400 what Chucky Booker is doing. You uh, you know, you 0:07:45.440 --> 0:07:47.360 don't hear what the Mississippi mass quire I just did 0:07:47.480 --> 0:07:51.640 with like that's that's not in here, right. And and 0:07:51.680 --> 0:07:55.720 so with with teaching music at that point, still being 0:07:55.760 --> 0:07:59.840 so structured and you having to come from a classical foundation, 0:08:00.400 --> 0:08:03.480 you know what I'm saying, Like, I love what's happening today, 0:08:03.520 --> 0:08:07.680 like we have. I'm actually teaching my son and my daughter. 0:08:07.720 --> 0:08:12.800 They learned at piano, but they're learning things that they 0:08:13.160 --> 0:08:17.480 want to learn, right, And so they're learning theory from 0:08:17.560 --> 0:08:21.320 you know, the Harry Potter song or you know, from 0:08:21.360 --> 0:08:24.640 the Spider Man something or in the there. That's how 0:08:24.680 --> 0:08:27.480 they're learning their theory, you know what I'm saying. And 0:08:27.520 --> 0:08:30.520 so but when we were growing up, nobody was teaching 0:08:30.560 --> 0:08:33.480 theory like that. The songs that you heard nobody was saying, 0:08:33.520 --> 0:08:36.000 well let me show you what that looks like on here, 0:08:36.040 --> 0:08:38.440 because that would have been a that approach right there 0:08:38.480 --> 0:08:42.920 would have sent us into a completely different space, you 0:08:42.960 --> 0:08:45.280 know what I'm saying, and understanding how to really like 0:08:45.360 --> 0:08:47.240 we can play you know what I'm saying. We have 0:08:47.320 --> 0:08:49.600 our ear and we can feel in all of those things, 0:08:50.040 --> 0:08:54.280 but if we could score it, oh yeah, right, like 0:08:54.679 --> 0:08:58.040 you know, Tim Carmon, I've heard of that. Tim Carmen 0:08:58.240 --> 0:09:01.520 is uh to Karman is nothing short of amazing. He 0:09:01.520 --> 0:09:03.920 was Eric Clapton's empty for the longest. Probably steal this, 0:09:04.720 --> 0:09:09.000 but Tim Carmen can feel it, he can read it, 0:09:10.160 --> 0:09:12.840 and he can write it. Yeah, it's amazing man, He's 0:09:13.120 --> 0:09:15.920 I mean, and it's very it's rare that guys can 0:09:16.000 --> 0:09:19.240 do both. Yeah, right now. I I kind of straight 0:09:19.240 --> 0:09:22.600 away from being taught stuff because I kind of I was. 0:09:23.280 --> 0:09:27.679 I had a really short attention span for for um 0:09:27.720 --> 0:09:29.680 for learning things that it was much more of a 0:09:29.720 --> 0:09:32.280 hands on type of person. And let me you know, 0:09:32.320 --> 0:09:35.400 I started my first core was a fifth um and 0:09:35.440 --> 0:09:38.160 so I'll probably like middle C or something like that, 0:09:38.200 --> 0:09:40.600 you know, and the G and just kind of combined 0:09:40.679 --> 0:09:42.599 those and kind of go all up and down. You know, 0:09:42.960 --> 0:09:44.400 I was five or six years old when I was 0:09:44.480 --> 0:09:49.920 doing this, and so combinations of different you know, fifth 0:09:50.240 --> 0:09:54.960 and so and you know, and these were my first 0:09:55.280 --> 0:09:57.360 ways of being I was five years old man. So 0:09:57.400 --> 0:09:59.600 they watched me and he said, we can't show you 0:09:59.640 --> 0:10:02.640 how to do that. That's something that we can't show 0:10:02.640 --> 0:10:05.520 you how to do. Improvisation is not something that you 0:10:05.559 --> 0:10:09.800 can really teach somebody. It's like it's it's just it's 0:10:09.840 --> 0:10:12.440 like having the charisma as an actor as well, you know, 0:10:12.600 --> 0:10:14.880 like you can't be shown that. I mean, you can 0:10:14.920 --> 0:10:16.880 see somebody act and do a really great job and 0:10:16.960 --> 0:10:20.040 say yeah, like that, but in terms of being shown okay, 0:10:20.040 --> 0:10:22.360 this is how you show charisma. It's like when you 0:10:22.679 --> 0:10:27.120 kind of comes from inside, see will, it just looks 0:10:27.200 --> 0:10:31.160 Brad Pitt. It just I'm just saying, you know, it's 0:10:31.440 --> 0:10:34.200 a trip. Because no one showed me how to how 0:10:34.440 --> 0:10:37.360 to come from inside like that. It was more I 0:10:37.400 --> 0:10:41.959 feel like, if that was a secret, how did they 0:10:42.000 --> 0:10:44.839 do that? I wanted to reverse the engineer how they 0:10:44.920 --> 0:10:47.880 did it. So my my whole thing was having templates 0:10:48.480 --> 0:10:51.000 for songs that were my favorite songs and trying to 0:10:51.040 --> 0:10:55.520 approach the music the same way, like how did that? Okay, 0:10:55.559 --> 0:10:57.480 let me find that chord. Now that I got that chord, 0:10:57.520 --> 0:11:00.480 where does that sound come from? I out of sound 0:11:00.480 --> 0:11:03.640 is similar. Now where's that bass sound? What's the snare? 0:11:03.760 --> 0:11:06.120 That's the snare sound? Let me let me sample that snare. 0:11:06.440 --> 0:11:08.600 You know, it's just you just kind of like you 0:11:08.720 --> 0:11:14.000 learn to. I learned to try to really personify the 0:11:14.000 --> 0:11:17.080 people that I admired so much. And that's kind of 0:11:17.120 --> 0:11:19.760 the reason why we, you know, we went so hard 0:11:19.760 --> 0:11:22.120 while I went so hard with them showing the influence 0:11:22.160 --> 0:11:25.320 the baby face had for me on it, because don't 0:11:25.320 --> 0:11:28.280 go don't go there yet. I mean that's what you 0:11:28.280 --> 0:11:30.440 you know, you brought that up originally with me sounding 0:11:30.880 --> 0:11:33.320 just liking on that that that's someone to love record. 0:11:33.360 --> 0:11:35.720 So that's that's really the main thing, is to be 0:11:35.800 --> 0:11:39.760 able to come so far having so much admiration for 0:11:40.120 --> 0:11:43.400 the art, but not only the art, the people who 0:11:43.400 --> 0:11:47.000 are the best at doing it at at the time creating. 0:11:47.160 --> 0:11:50.040 You're paying the most attention to them. It's like that's 0:11:50.080 --> 0:11:52.080 your dream list of people that you want to get 0:11:52.080 --> 0:11:56.280 to and then you you make that move and it's 0:11:56.320 --> 0:11:58.199 not even that you think that it's not gonna happen. 0:11:58.200 --> 0:12:01.200 It's just some more like I gotta make that happen. 0:12:01.320 --> 0:12:05.160 That's somebody I have to So was that before you 0:12:05.160 --> 0:12:11.880 get to that? Did you win the contest? Yeah? I know, 0:12:11.920 --> 0:12:14.080 it's so crazy. This was so crazy about when you 0:12:14.080 --> 0:12:17.679 said Chucky Booker. Guess who was the Talent show judges 0:12:18.720 --> 0:12:27.760 Pasadena's own troop the group Truth by Chucky Booker not Yea. Yeah, man, 0:12:27.920 --> 0:12:30.800 So you know they were there. They were I remember 0:12:30.840 --> 0:12:33.040 they all had white on and they're all sitting there 0:12:33.080 --> 0:12:35.160 and like I'm I'm performing in front of them, just 0:12:35.200 --> 0:12:38.600 like okay, I'm feeling good, right, and it's like, all right. 0:12:38.640 --> 0:12:43.200 The winner of Best Vocal Performance is John that's so 0:12:43.280 --> 0:12:50.640 your first contest middle school? Yeah, judged by the legendary 0:12:50.760 --> 0:12:54.400 the legendary Trip Polished and we're from the same town. Yeah, 0:12:55.080 --> 0:12:57.400 you know what I'm saying. It was really special to 0:12:57.520 --> 0:13:00.280 have that in, you know, in my archive of reason, 0:13:00.280 --> 0:13:01.760 you know, as far as just something I can pull 0:13:01.800 --> 0:13:05.120 back every time I see Steve Russell. You know, I'm 0:13:05.160 --> 0:13:07.920 just like, man, come on, you were the first one 0:13:07.960 --> 0:13:10.120 to really believe in me. Man, you know what I mean. 0:13:10.160 --> 0:13:13.599 So even before baby Face I appreciate you, you know 0:13:13.640 --> 0:13:17.800 what I mean. So so now you have now you're 0:13:17.800 --> 0:13:22.680 making demos, Now you've got groups, championships, you got a championship. 0:13:25.480 --> 0:13:29.800 Like you're shaking the moving in terms of your development. Now, 0:13:30.800 --> 0:13:33.840 when do you get that first look, for that first 0:13:33.880 --> 0:13:37.920 call from you know this this place that's getting ready 0:13:37.920 --> 0:13:40.200 to become a major. How do you get to baby? Like? 0:13:40.320 --> 0:13:43.559 What are these steps? I was, I was my senior year. 0:13:43.600 --> 0:13:47.440 Well you know, I hadn't really I was recording and 0:13:47.480 --> 0:13:52.240 producing and building up my um my you know, my 0:13:52.240 --> 0:13:55.000 my archives are all my music um and I was 0:13:55.040 --> 0:13:58.560 also producing local talent around the area. So I had 0:13:58.640 --> 0:14:01.480 kind of built my name up in the industry in 0:14:01.600 --> 0:14:04.160 terms of being somebody who was you know, up and 0:14:04.200 --> 0:14:06.199 coming and you know you should got here. This guy's 0:14:06.240 --> 0:14:08.120 got tracks, you know what I mean, writes and produces 0:14:08.240 --> 0:14:12.200 on stuff and these things. And so you know, I was, 0:14:12.280 --> 0:14:15.160 I was dropping my my you know, CD and cassette 0:14:15.200 --> 0:14:19.040 at the time off at Motown, m c A at 0:14:19.120 --> 0:14:22.720 Warrener Brothers, and I had some interests ruined. So you know, 0:14:22.800 --> 0:14:25.080 you kind of get that buzz and our get to 0:14:25.120 --> 0:14:28.120 talking and different people start getting talking, so you kind 0:14:28.120 --> 0:14:31.080 of you hear from people. Um, I had a guy 0:14:31.400 --> 0:14:33.560 who was helping me kind of walking my music around. 0:14:34.000 --> 0:14:35.800 And I remember I was still in high school. I 0:14:35.840 --> 0:14:37.880 was still in my senior year of high school, and 0:14:37.920 --> 0:14:40.440 I was checking myself out of class because I was eighteen. 0:14:40.520 --> 0:14:42.160 So I was like, all right, I gotta go. You know, 0:14:42.280 --> 0:14:46.680 I'm officially, you know, an adult now. So so I 0:14:47.120 --> 0:14:49.080 sign myself out of class and I go straight down 0:14:49.080 --> 0:14:51.720 to Hollywood and I'm like, I walked into this little 0:14:51.760 --> 0:14:54.960 hole in the wall office because they told me, you know, 0:14:55.360 --> 0:14:58.280 they wanted to hear my music. And it was baby Face, 0:14:58.400 --> 0:15:01.280 but it wasn't the Face. It is actually his his 0:15:01.360 --> 0:15:02.840 new label that he was gonna try to do with 0:15:02.880 --> 0:15:06.640 his wife, called Evan's Record Group. So yeah, so they 0:15:06.840 --> 0:15:08.840 they heard it and it was it was a rap. 0:15:08.880 --> 0:15:11.960 I mean it was like as soon as he heard 0:15:12.000 --> 0:15:14.960 the music, he was like, is that you? And I 0:15:15.040 --> 0:15:17.200 was like, yeah, that's that's my voice, you know, that's 0:15:17.280 --> 0:15:19.160 that's I did all the music. I will, you know, 0:15:20.600 --> 0:15:22.960 you know, program the drums, played, the chords, did the 0:15:22.960 --> 0:15:26.240 baseline arrange, the backgrounds, The whole thing is on me. 0:15:26.320 --> 0:15:30.160 And he was just like he's like, you're trying to 0:15:30.200 --> 0:15:32.320 be an artist. And I was like, no, no, no, no, 0:15:32.680 --> 0:15:34.760 you didn't go in there will be an artist, I said, 0:15:34.880 --> 0:15:38.200 I said, not necessarily. I was like, I'm not trying 0:15:38.200 --> 0:15:40.880 to be famous. I was like, I just want to 0:15:40.920 --> 0:15:42.520 be a part of what you do. Can I be on? 0:15:42.880 --> 0:15:45.640 You just want to go on the staff? Could not 0:15:45.760 --> 0:15:49.440 be your Darryl Simmons, Yeah, yeah, yeah, I saw these names, 0:15:49.480 --> 0:15:50.880 you know what I mean on the credits. I was like, 0:15:50.880 --> 0:15:54.000 I just want to be one of the team. You know, listen, kids, 0:15:54.280 --> 0:16:00.240 they used to be this thing. It's called credits. I know. 0:16:00.320 --> 0:16:02.400 You guys just download things now you don't know who 0:16:02.440 --> 0:16:05.680 the broke, but we used to actually buy the c 0:16:05.840 --> 0:16:09.560 ds and open them up. You look at the pictures 0:16:09.880 --> 0:16:13.040 with a who who whoever. They were thinking like, oh, 0:16:13.080 --> 0:16:16.600 that's probably his girlfriend. The way he said that he 0:16:16.680 --> 0:16:21.160 wrote the songs, yea, And that's for you to go 0:16:21.240 --> 0:16:26.200 in there and mention other amazing writers to him, like 0:16:26.240 --> 0:16:28.920 that doesn't even really happen that. I was so excited 0:16:28.960 --> 0:16:31.360 to meet like people that I had had so much 0:16:31.600 --> 0:16:34.800 admiration for. I met Dwayne Riggins from Tony Tony, Tony 0:16:35.520 --> 0:16:37.200 and Low Town. He was working as an n R 0:16:37.240 --> 0:16:39.400 at the time, and I dropped my CD and stuff. 0:16:39.440 --> 0:16:42.280 He was really into it. I met Benny Medina, you know, 0:16:43.200 --> 0:16:47.600 interess in the industry, um, and he was really trying 0:16:47.640 --> 0:16:49.960 to sign me. I mean he was meaning all the legends. 0:16:50.000 --> 0:16:52.200 So it was crazy, it was. It ended up being 0:16:52.200 --> 0:16:58.200 a bitty war between Bennie and and Sony Epic and 0:16:58.560 --> 0:17:01.880 baby Face. You know it's his his label over Epic. 0:17:03.280 --> 0:17:06.600 But I knew, you know, my heart was with working 0:17:06.880 --> 0:17:09.440 with the people that I wanted I had always wanted 0:17:09.480 --> 0:17:12.040 to get with, you know, as far as not only 0:17:12.040 --> 0:17:14.720 just baby Face, but everyone that he has worked with, 0:17:14.800 --> 0:17:17.560 like Tony Braxton. What I mean, the list goes on. 0:17:17.680 --> 0:17:20.200 So yeah, my one of my first things he said, 0:17:20.200 --> 0:17:22.480 put a list together, everybody that you want to produce, 0:17:22.880 --> 0:17:25.680 and I want to see all this suside like after 0:17:25.720 --> 0:17:29.000 seven New Edition coming back, all these people, Tony Braxton. 0:17:29.680 --> 0:17:34.000 He literally put me in the studio within you know, 0:17:34.840 --> 0:17:37.159 a year or two, um, with every single one of 0:17:37.200 --> 0:17:39.159 those groups, and I was able to produce records for 0:17:39.200 --> 0:17:44.000 all those people. Yeah, man, TLC, I mean that's incredible. Yeah, 0:17:44.119 --> 0:17:47.240 it was really really uh, I mean the first year 0:17:47.640 --> 0:17:51.680 of my of my career. N I had tour of 0:17:51.800 --> 0:17:54.879 the entire world. I went on a world tour. I 0:17:54.880 --> 0:17:57.639 wanted to all the way Southeast Asian went down to 0:17:58.400 --> 0:18:02.960 you know, you're up all of you know. I didn't 0:18:02.960 --> 0:18:06.600 go with Face. I went as a sony Epic Artists, 0:18:06.600 --> 0:18:11.159 and they wanted me to be internationally before the record 0:18:11.880 --> 0:18:15.560 after this, right after Um some of those love had 0:18:15.600 --> 0:18:20.920 come out and Pretty Girls the single yeah right. What's 0:18:20.960 --> 0:18:25.919 the first record that you in Face did together? Was 0:18:25.960 --> 0:18:30.399 that somewe That was the first one. Actually, the first 0:18:30.400 --> 0:18:35.399 song I believe was um, pretty Girl. We recorded that first, 0:18:37.000 --> 0:18:40.640 but but it was it was just recorded first UM, 0:18:40.680 --> 0:18:44.000 and I couldn't believe when you know, I called him, 0:18:44.400 --> 0:18:46.800 It's like I got something, I got mine for you, 0:18:46.920 --> 0:18:49.320 check it out, And so he played over the phone 0:18:49.359 --> 0:18:52.560 and then he just started to sing the melody for me, 0:18:52.680 --> 0:18:55.919 and he the lyrics he had the first verse, and 0:18:55.960 --> 0:18:58.760 I was just like, oh my god, that's my song, 0:18:59.040 --> 0:19:02.199 Like it's the keyboard that I'm used to hearing, you know, 0:19:02.320 --> 0:19:09.080 on all of his and so I'm just so hype. 0:19:09.119 --> 0:19:10.920 I'm like, are you kidding me? This is for me? 0:19:11.080 --> 0:19:13.080 You know. I was a big fan of Tevin Campbell too, 0:19:13.119 --> 0:19:16.199 you know, so like production. Yeah, you know, so his 0:19:16.240 --> 0:19:18.480 production was was all baby Face at that time that 0:19:18.560 --> 0:19:20.919 can we talk big record, I'm ready. All that was 0:19:20.920 --> 0:19:25.560 was Kenny. So this kind of had that same, that 0:19:25.800 --> 0:19:28.359 same swag to it, you know. Um For me, it 0:19:28.480 --> 0:19:31.520 was a really romantic, sexy record, but it was minimal. 0:19:31.640 --> 0:19:33.840 There wasn't a lot to the track. It was. I 0:19:33.880 --> 0:19:37.159 was really surprised on how simple the track was, you know, 0:19:37.560 --> 0:19:40.479 almost reminded me of like Prince. The way the drums had. 0:19:40.560 --> 0:19:45.639 The drums was like like some Prince type ship. But 0:19:45.680 --> 0:19:50.760 if anybody knows Face or Kenny, my baby Face, you know, 0:19:50.800 --> 0:19:54.640 all of those, all those things. He's very heavily influenced 0:19:54.640 --> 0:19:57.760 by Prince. He loves Prince. Oh yeah, red Light specially. 0:19:57.880 --> 0:20:01.680 He loves he like he loved Prince record Red Light Special. 0:20:02.080 --> 0:20:04.119 That's what I was waiting when I was you know, 0:20:04.200 --> 0:20:06.440 I watched Kenny work with Michael Jackson, so I've seen 0:20:06.480 --> 0:20:08.280 that happen, but I really and I was incredible and 0:20:08.400 --> 0:20:10.480 we're not We're not just gonna be but he would 0:20:10.480 --> 0:20:14.120 not just gonna jump over that. I never saw Princeton 0:20:14.359 --> 0:20:18.040 and baby Face work together. Okay, okay, wait, wait, you 0:20:18.200 --> 0:20:24.640 were there during the Michael Jackson Baby Face sessions. Um. Actually, 0:20:25.280 --> 0:20:28.080 I was living with Kenny at at his house. He 0:20:28.080 --> 0:20:30.520 had me move into his house when I first signed 0:20:30.520 --> 0:20:32.800 to him. He's, yeah, I'm gonna show you the power 0:20:32.800 --> 0:20:35.359 of Sony epic. And you know, we fly on the 0:20:35.480 --> 0:20:39.280 lead Jett out to New York and meet Tommy Matola. Okay, 0:20:39.640 --> 0:20:41.800 and you know, I'm I'm out there. I'm just like 0:20:42.040 --> 0:20:46.600 why He's like, when we get when we get back home, 0:20:46.680 --> 0:20:49.240 you're gonna move in. And and so I was able 0:20:49.280 --> 0:20:51.240 to work with him on Madonna. I was working with 0:20:51.320 --> 0:20:54.679 him on Michael Jackson. I mean, it was crazy. And 0:20:54.680 --> 0:20:56.560 then he's like, and then you're gonna work with my brothers. 0:20:56.920 --> 0:21:00.840 After seven, He's like, there's like five or six I 0:21:00.880 --> 0:21:02.719 want to use the yours for them. I was like 0:21:02.960 --> 0:21:06.359 five or six songs. I was like, are you kidding me? Yeah, 0:21:06.400 --> 0:21:10.560 we all became like brothers. And Kevon and yeah, my god, 0:21:10.680 --> 0:21:17.520 shout out to Cavon. Kevin did me too, greatest favor 0:21:17.680 --> 0:21:20.280 of all time. When I first moved to l A, 0:21:20.840 --> 0:21:24.119 I was working with Face as well early on and 0:21:24.520 --> 0:21:27.320 through Damon Thomas and you know what I mean, and 0:21:27.920 --> 0:21:33.680 met Kevan and Kevin was one of my mother's favorite singers. Yeah, yeah, 0:21:33.760 --> 0:21:38.080 he could see Kevan sang Happy Birthday for my mother. Yeah. 0:21:38.520 --> 0:21:45.040 I will never ever ever forget that that range and 0:21:45.080 --> 0:21:49.240 you don't miss up there, don't miss you stopped it 0:21:49.240 --> 0:21:53.160 with the range. Now huh oh man, you can go 0:21:53.400 --> 0:21:59.080 you can go there. I can cheat, I can stretch. 0:22:00.280 --> 0:22:08.800 You're like trying to touch the rim, Like, yeah, I 0:22:08.880 --> 0:22:12.040 know how to cheat my rage. So all of this 0:22:12.240 --> 0:22:17.560 is in your first year, the couple of years. It's crazy. 0:22:17.640 --> 0:22:20.840 It was so crazy to experience so much Grammy nomination, 0:22:21.440 --> 0:22:23.840 off someone to love and everything. It was I'm a 0:22:23.880 --> 0:22:25.760 baby and I don't I don't know that this isn't 0:22:27.560 --> 0:22:30.360 it's not normal, but it's like I didn't know how 0:22:30.400 --> 0:22:33.240 to process it all because it was all happening so fast. 0:22:49.520 --> 0:22:52.280 So the main thing that I really knew that I 0:22:52.320 --> 0:22:54.800 wasn't gonna do was become Hollywood and fake and be, 0:22:55.200 --> 0:22:58.920 you know, worried about fame and letting that control what 0:22:58.960 --> 0:23:01.040 I wanted my goal to be because I was still 0:23:01.040 --> 0:23:04.280 the musicians, still into the craft of songwriting and producing. 0:23:04.680 --> 0:23:06.480 So even though they wanted me to be an artist, 0:23:06.600 --> 0:23:08.560 now okay, now we got we got this. Look I 0:23:08.600 --> 0:23:09.960 want you to put this on. We want you to 0:23:10.000 --> 0:23:11.640 talk like you know, we want you to not talk 0:23:11.720 --> 0:23:14.320 like this, but we want you to speak with these people. 0:23:14.440 --> 0:23:16.199 We want you to have this type of They put 0:23:16.280 --> 0:23:20.120 me with an interview coach and all this, and you know, yeah, 0:23:20.160 --> 0:23:24.480 you have a whole thing, and yeah, yeah, you learned 0:23:24.480 --> 0:23:27.560 it all very fast and quickly, you know, and it's 0:23:27.600 --> 0:23:29.280 just a lot to do at eighteen. You know, I 0:23:29.320 --> 0:23:33.600 was only eighteen, And so did you even finish your 0:23:33.680 --> 0:23:36.480 year at school or did you were you? I was, 0:23:36.680 --> 0:23:38.639 so did you get on the road? So actually I 0:23:38.680 --> 0:23:40.600 was probably nineteen to come to think of it, because 0:23:40.600 --> 0:23:44.679 you're right, I was, because this happened, um the summer 0:23:44.720 --> 0:23:49.680 of after I graduated high school. This is when it happened. Summer. 0:23:49.720 --> 0:23:51.399 It was crazy because my my pops told me. He 0:23:51.440 --> 0:23:54.320 was like, you know, you know, um, what college is 0:23:54.359 --> 0:23:57.320 you been thinking about? I was like, oh, no, I'm 0:23:57.320 --> 0:23:59.840 getting a record deal, you know, I'm not going to college. 0:23:59.880 --> 0:24:02.239 And he's like, I hope so, because if if you're 0:24:02.280 --> 0:24:03.800 living here, you're going to college if you don't get 0:24:03.800 --> 0:24:05.560 a record deal. And I was like, oh no, don't worry. 0:24:06.000 --> 0:24:09.879 So I came home after meeting Kenny and Tracy, and 0:24:09.920 --> 0:24:12.120 I was like, I got a record deal, Dad, I'm 0:24:12.119 --> 0:24:15.520 not going to college. And that was wasn't an easier 0:24:15.600 --> 0:24:19.920 conversation because you came from a family of musicians, you mean, 0:24:20.000 --> 0:24:22.680 because that's a tough conversation for some Yeah. Yeah, yeah, 0:24:22.680 --> 0:24:24.959 because I mean honestly that it's sort of like the 0:24:25.080 --> 0:24:27.320 NBA for for musicians. You know what I mean. You 0:24:27.400 --> 0:24:29.720 just got drafted in the NBA basically, you know what 0:24:29.800 --> 0:24:34.160 I mean, signed to Sony Epic through Baby Facing. Yeah, 0:24:34.240 --> 0:24:36.080 it was. It was a real deal, and I mean 0:24:36.640 --> 0:24:38.639 it was an interesting thing because I did it on 0:24:38.680 --> 0:24:41.440 my own, which felt really really good. It felt very 0:24:41.480 --> 0:24:44.120 which is really rare. Yeah, it was. I mean, it 0:24:44.160 --> 0:24:46.560 wasn't a high power manager. I mean, you're talking about 0:24:46.600 --> 0:24:49.320 the homie who just was with me for moral support, 0:24:49.359 --> 0:24:50.959 walking in there with me, you know what I mean. 0:24:51.040 --> 0:24:53.840 We were working together, but it wasn't like a you know, 0:24:53.880 --> 0:24:55.840 he was still cutting his teeth in the business. So 0:24:55.880 --> 0:24:57.280 I was like, you know, we're both trying to get 0:24:57.280 --> 0:25:01.399 on you mean, so yeah, it's a beautiful, beautiful time 0:25:02.080 --> 0:25:07.560 and I gotta get to this. I want to get 0:25:07.560 --> 0:25:13.200 to this nuance and there's someone to love record, such 0:25:13.240 --> 0:25:18.800 an important record because you know, listening to this record 0:25:20.440 --> 0:25:26.320 as a baby Face fanatic, yeah, you know, as this 0:25:26.440 --> 0:25:30.640 song is happening, I'm like, man, it sounds like sound 0:25:30.640 --> 0:25:33.240 like baby Face guessing even I just took all the 0:25:33.240 --> 0:25:38.199 base out, my boys, my baby Face got some new Hi. 0:25:38.400 --> 0:25:41.159 What's you know? What he would do with me? He 0:25:41.200 --> 0:25:43.080 would say whenever I tried to thick him up, because 0:25:43.080 --> 0:25:44.800 I have a bunch of different tonalities I do with 0:25:44.840 --> 0:25:48.359 my voice, and when I would try to go thicker 0:25:48.600 --> 0:25:52.399 with the scene, he said, no, no, no no, no, just 0:25:52.520 --> 0:25:54.960 make it like make it real sweet, like just make 0:25:55.000 --> 0:25:57.880 it sweeter, you know what I mean. I'd be like, okay, 0:25:57.920 --> 0:26:01.399 you know, like easy, and I'm just like okay, So 0:26:01.520 --> 0:26:05.560 he left you to interpret what that man, what that 0:26:05.720 --> 0:26:08.680 did for me was baking. Okay, I'm gonna do show 0:26:08.760 --> 0:26:11.600 him how I do him because it's like I was 0:26:11.640 --> 0:26:18.679 impressing the girls and that school. So so you know, 0:26:18.720 --> 0:26:21.879 here's my chance now to show that, you know, I've 0:26:21.880 --> 0:26:25.199 retained some of that sauce that you you know, you 0:26:25.200 --> 0:26:26.680 showed me how to make, you know what I mean, 0:26:26.720 --> 0:26:29.120 and so like, yeah, that's just show him a little 0:26:29.160 --> 0:26:32.119 bit of what what he already you know is about 0:26:32.160 --> 0:26:34.440 and I think that all of the great, the great 0:26:34.480 --> 0:26:36.880 artists that have worked with baby Face, they all did 0:26:36.920 --> 0:26:42.040 that baby you know, Johnny Gil was able to do 0:26:42.119 --> 0:26:45.320 that um. And so to me, I picked up on 0:26:45.400 --> 0:26:51.200 the theme behind so that his his swag was baby 0:26:51.200 --> 0:26:53.440 Face has a certain box. Since it's it's abo, it's 0:26:53.440 --> 0:26:56.639 a certain box to baby Face. Yeah, well I what 0:26:56.800 --> 0:26:59.920 I got. What I got very similar thing that Print 0:27:00.240 --> 0:27:05.000 had um In terms of his he um, he almost 0:27:05.400 --> 0:27:11.880 spoke his his words before he sang them. Yeah, yeah, yeah, 0:27:12.400 --> 0:27:14.720 what you know what it was like the beginning of 0:27:14.880 --> 0:27:22.960 yeah you you know what I mean? Sn yeah, and 0:27:22.960 --> 0:27:24.920 and it brings you, it brings you in. So what 0:27:24.960 --> 0:27:27.240 he did with me was when we did pretty Girl, 0:27:27.280 --> 0:27:29.639 he was like your lips, you know what I mean, Like, 0:27:29.720 --> 0:27:34.240 let's make that first line the line that makes people 0:27:34.240 --> 0:27:36.800 want to listen to the song. And yeah, he taught 0:27:36.800 --> 0:27:38.720 me so much. Man. It was like little things that 0:27:38.760 --> 0:27:41.760 I I didn't know that would be so affective that 0:27:41.920 --> 0:27:44.960 ended up being like defining factors and how I produced 0:27:45.000 --> 0:27:47.720 and from the way I stacked my vocals and things 0:27:47.720 --> 0:27:51.359 like that too, you know, harmony and melodies and yeah, 0:27:51.359 --> 0:27:53.439 it's just it's weird, like I feel like we're related 0:27:53.480 --> 0:27:58.280 in some sense because I'm I've we both got you know, sprinkled. 0:27:58.320 --> 0:28:04.399 That's that that similar thing. Yeah, yeah, it's called not 0:28:04.480 --> 0:28:07.199 many of you guys out there. Yeah you know what 0:28:07.240 --> 0:28:10.560 I can. You know, I'm gonna let y'all toasted a man. Yeah, 0:28:10.720 --> 0:28:20.040 you know you you wait till we get to what 0:28:20.240 --> 0:28:23.280 you have done for me man influence wise, my gosh. 0:28:25.119 --> 0:28:30.520 So the first album, first album, first album, Bro, what 0:28:30.680 --> 0:28:37.480 a kicking in the door. And what's crazy is that, 0:28:38.400 --> 0:28:46.320 you know, black people are really protective of R and 0:28:46.360 --> 0:28:49.600 B music, or of soul music culture, of the culture 0:28:50.120 --> 0:28:56.600 culture for sure. And it felt like to me, at 0:28:56.640 --> 0:29:01.920 least from my standpoint, you were welcomed with open arms 0:29:03.080 --> 0:29:07.320 because from work at one I was like, he got it. 0:29:07.760 --> 0:29:10.400 Oh man, thank you, And that's just not me, Like 0:29:10.480 --> 0:29:15.560 that's that's the culture. It wasn't interesting time, wasn't it, 0:29:15.560 --> 0:29:19.200 Because there wasn't a lot of of my template as 0:29:19.200 --> 0:29:20.760 an artist, you know what I mean, There wasn't a 0:29:20.800 --> 0:29:23.440 lot of that going at the time. I mean, we 0:29:23.480 --> 0:29:26.880 had George Michaels, and we had pop popular versions of 0:29:27.640 --> 0:29:31.280 soulful esque kind of guys. I think that the one 0:29:31.400 --> 0:29:34.480 person that makes me think so R and B who 0:29:34.560 --> 0:29:36.840 wasn't black was Team Marie. Of course, you know she was. 0:29:37.200 --> 0:29:40.560 She's staple in R and B music, and growing up 0:29:40.600 --> 0:29:44.520 hearing her really kind of sealed the deal for me 0:29:44.560 --> 0:29:47.360 in terms of like really realizing that music is music 0:29:47.440 --> 0:29:50.120 and if we love it, we love it. It It doesn't matter. 0:29:50.400 --> 0:29:52.920 You know, you can love it and be whoever you are. 0:29:53.480 --> 0:29:55.760 And but it's about like how much do you love it? 0:29:55.880 --> 0:30:01.160 You know, I can't fully get the work my knowledge 0:30:01.480 --> 0:30:04.760 about To my knowledge, you are the only R and 0:30:04.760 --> 0:30:09.160 B artist with a Tupac feature. Yeah, I don't know, 0:30:09.480 --> 0:30:13.120 Like he may have actually done some other stuff that 0:30:13.240 --> 0:30:16.840 may have never come out. Maybe something that's gonna say something. 0:30:16.880 --> 0:30:18.360 I was on death row shout out to Danny Boy. 0:30:18.400 --> 0:30:23.560 Amazing artist, amazing singer. You had a Tupac feature, bro, 0:30:24.360 --> 0:30:26.880 and so you got you got. It's my badge of honor. 0:30:27.000 --> 0:30:30.840 Really is man, it's something to feature. It's it's it's 0:30:30.920 --> 0:30:34.560 it's something that is so so you know, amazing in 0:30:34.600 --> 0:30:36.520 my heart, but it's at the same time it was 0:30:36.640 --> 0:30:38.920 it was a very sad thing to experience to know 0:30:39.040 --> 0:30:41.360 him as a person, you know, and to shake his 0:30:41.440 --> 0:30:43.680 hand and to be in the studio and have the 0:30:43.760 --> 0:30:46.920 comaraderie that we did and smoke together and drink together, 0:30:47.000 --> 0:30:50.479 and and and talk about our relationships in our life, 0:30:50.640 --> 0:30:53.120 you know, and put that in the record because how 0:30:53.160 --> 0:30:55.280 old are you at this point? And I'm you know, 0:30:55.440 --> 0:31:01.040 probably one at that point, two maybe, so, Yeah, he 0:31:01.080 --> 0:31:04.600 was really putting the once again. Someone was sprinkling that 0:31:04.760 --> 0:31:06.560 that magic on me and I was just like, wow, 0:31:06.600 --> 0:31:10.320 I can't believe this. This is amazing, you know, because uh, 0:31:10.360 --> 0:31:12.440 I was already a fan and I met him. How 0:31:12.440 --> 0:31:14.080 do you want a video? Shoot? He did, invited me 0:31:14.120 --> 0:31:17.120 down to that. How do you want how you want 0:31:17.120 --> 0:31:19.280 a video? How do you want it? How does it 0:31:19.320 --> 0:31:29.960 fit Joe to see? Yeah? What is Johnny? J Casey 0:31:30.000 --> 0:31:33.720 and Joe? Joe? I remember it was swaying Tech from 0:31:33.840 --> 0:31:36.080 you know, yeah for the you don't for the bed. Yeah, 0:31:37.240 --> 0:31:39.640 Tech was on the bus and the two parks on 0:31:39.680 --> 0:31:41.880 there and he wild and he had the Hunters. There's 0:31:42.120 --> 0:31:45.960 this Python stakes. It's all kinds of work for y'all 0:31:46.000 --> 0:31:52.920 who don't do this? Boy, don't you don't know? Don't 0:31:53.840 --> 0:31:57.640 you act like that, I don't know, shout out to 0:31:57.720 --> 0:32:03.800 have the hunter? Yeah, matter when I was eighteen and beyond. 0:32:04.840 --> 0:32:09.840 You know it was. It was very interesting here in 0:32:10.080 --> 0:32:12.200 l A. And you know, you could talk for a 0:32:12.240 --> 0:32:15.160 little bit because I've never gotten that car service she 0:32:15.240 --> 0:32:16.960 tried to send me. But you know what it was. 0:32:17.800 --> 0:32:20.120 But it's a crazy It's a crazy day, man, it's 0:32:20.160 --> 0:32:22.440 a crazy day. I met him. I met him. We 0:32:22.720 --> 0:32:25.200 played him some bets freestyle right there in front of me, 0:32:25.200 --> 0:32:27.400 and I knew we was going to do something. I 0:32:27.440 --> 0:32:30.040 was like, we just if I get in studio with him, man. 0:32:30.600 --> 0:32:32.680 So two weeks later he hit me up and it 0:32:32.800 --> 0:32:37.680 was at Canam Studios. He always worked at this one studio. Yeah, 0:32:37.760 --> 0:32:43.040 and we actually had a room there years after only 0:32:43.040 --> 0:32:47.720 Studimarion album there. Yeah, only studio I've ever seen who 0:32:47.800 --> 0:32:49.960 They had metal detectives before you got in and a 0:32:50.000 --> 0:32:52.600 security guard at the thing need the guns at the 0:32:52.600 --> 0:32:55.960 front and the safe. I was just like, okay, like 0:32:56.560 --> 0:33:00.760 it's still blass and there. Yeah, I mean place I've 0:33:00.800 --> 0:33:03.200 ever seen. Did you Did you produce that one? No? 0:33:03.360 --> 0:33:05.480 That was Johnny J god rest his soul. Man, he's 0:33:05.920 --> 0:33:09.240 amazing producer, producer. She doesn't really get his props like 0:33:09.280 --> 0:33:11.280 he should, you know what I mean. So That's why 0:33:11.280 --> 0:33:13.760 I make sure to always mention Johnny j Man, you 0:33:13.800 --> 0:33:16.479 know he's and also Ronnie King is part of that too. 0:33:16.560 --> 0:33:18.680 There's a lot of great players on that that song. 0:33:18.840 --> 0:33:25.680 Johnny Taylor. To me, it reminded me of Marvin Gay record. 0:33:25.680 --> 0:33:28.280 When I heard the track, it reminded me of like 0:33:28.360 --> 0:33:32.320 the Midnight Love era when he was doing sexual healing, 0:33:33.040 --> 0:33:37.160 and it was like it had that you know, you 0:33:37.200 --> 0:33:39.280 know that that the rim coming back at you like 0:33:39.960 --> 0:33:45.320 get like reminded me of shot there or something that's 0:33:47.080 --> 0:33:48.760 you know. It was. It just it was so smooth 0:33:48.800 --> 0:33:51.560 to me. It was interesting because I was so you know, 0:33:52.000 --> 0:33:54.680 um amped to work with him. I wanted him to 0:33:54.680 --> 0:33:57.239 to you know, I wanted to blast off on one 0:33:57.240 --> 0:33:59.840 of my songs, on one of my tracks. So I 0:34:00.000 --> 0:34:01.720 played him some songs and you know, it was like, 0:34:01.720 --> 0:34:03.360 all right, cool, then let me see what you have, 0:34:03.520 --> 0:34:06.080 you know, and then he played me that track and 0:34:06.080 --> 0:34:09.640 it was, let damn what I was talking about. I mean, 0:34:09.640 --> 0:34:12.120 I had all the gear ready to produce and NPC 0:34:12.320 --> 0:34:14.000 and then and all the you know raps and all that. 0:34:15.520 --> 0:34:17.960 Damn all this equipment. The track is ready, let's go. 0:34:18.080 --> 0:34:22.080 So we put that down on the reel from the Dad, 0:34:22.400 --> 0:34:28.120 just the two tracks, and I started just bobbing behind 0:34:28.160 --> 0:34:32.480 the board and all that, and I'm just like, like 0:34:32.520 --> 0:34:36.400 I started immediately going with that melody. He was the 0:34:36.440 --> 0:34:40.640 one to fill in the words it's all right baby, 0:34:40.640 --> 0:34:42.960 because because it's there in your eyes, like he was like, 0:34:43.200 --> 0:34:45.360 he went full RB. He went full on it. And 0:34:45.360 --> 0:34:47.600 then when I forgot how the melody went because I 0:34:47.640 --> 0:34:51.279 was kind of going doing other things, how'd I go? How? Then? 0:34:51.320 --> 0:34:54.200 How the help go again? I was like, I don't know, man, 0:34:54.239 --> 0:34:56.239 how did it go again? He's like, girl, list all right? 0:34:56.400 --> 0:34:58.879 I was like, okay, that's going to booth lay the hook? 0:34:59.160 --> 0:35:01.759 Forget how the hook? This? How goes? Man? Now? That 0:35:01.800 --> 0:35:04.600 ain't right? Girl? And something right? I'm like, So he 0:35:04.640 --> 0:35:09.880 produced the box and then when I started doing too 0:35:09.960 --> 0:35:12.680 much now, I'm hey, hey, hey, hey, I need you 0:35:12.719 --> 0:35:14.880 to feel this. John Man like go back to the 0:35:14.920 --> 0:35:18.000 top and I just want you to feel it. And 0:35:18.040 --> 0:35:20.560 then some podople walk in the room and disturb the 0:35:20.640 --> 0:35:22.960 energy or something like that. He would be like, yo, man, 0:35:23.640 --> 0:35:26.719 sit down, man, you know that's it that that that 0:35:26.840 --> 0:35:29.319 isn't there and that's y'all being there. And like I 0:35:29.360 --> 0:35:32.360 just was like are you kidding me? Like he showed 0:35:32.400 --> 0:35:36.439 me like so much love y'all, Like it was man 0:35:39.400 --> 0:35:45.719 on time one time for two time, Yes, yes, yes, 0:35:46.719 --> 0:35:51.160 producing vocals, remembering the hook, singing the hook and believe 0:35:51.200 --> 0:35:53.280 it though, he was because he was that kind of passionate. 0:35:54.480 --> 0:35:57.080 It was passionate he was. He's like, you want to 0:35:57.080 --> 0:35:58.839 hear after we got our song done, he was like, 0:36:00.040 --> 0:36:01.680 you want to hear something else I'm working on. I 0:36:01.760 --> 0:36:03.360 was like, oh, let's let me check it out. He 0:36:03.480 --> 0:36:05.239 takes me right over. He's got the other room book 0:36:05.360 --> 0:36:08.680 right next door, and he's in there and he already 0:36:08.800 --> 0:36:12.440 laid one verse of California to live and die in 0:36:12.600 --> 0:36:16.560 l A. And then he's gonna just take his lyrics 0:36:16.560 --> 0:36:19.960 and he goes in there and he p's the second 0:36:20.040 --> 0:36:22.319 verse on on me and I'm like, right in front 0:36:22.320 --> 0:36:23.839 of me, he just does it, And I was like, 0:36:24.920 --> 0:36:26.960 did that just happened that you just did that right now? 0:36:27.000 --> 0:36:30.040 And he's like yeah, man. I was like. Then he 0:36:30.080 --> 0:36:33.359 goes he does another track and does it exactly the 0:36:33.400 --> 0:36:35.120 same tour. It was like, you know how when you 0:36:35.160 --> 0:36:37.319 double your vocals and you you just stick it, it's 0:36:37.360 --> 0:36:40.920 just exactly. It sounds like one vocal. That's how he 0:36:41.000 --> 0:36:44.360 doubles his vocals, bro the pitch. Everything that was perfect. 0:36:45.080 --> 0:36:48.280 So yeah, he there's nobody like Tupac. I still believe 0:36:48.320 --> 0:36:51.560 if he was alive today, the industry would be different 0:36:51.600 --> 0:36:53.960 like it would there would be a lit There was 0:36:54.000 --> 0:36:56.680 a lot of soul that he brought, a lot of 0:36:57.800 --> 0:37:01.239 um spirituality that he brought. It didn't have to have 0:37:01.320 --> 0:37:04.160 a religion connected to it for it to be spiritual. 0:37:04.560 --> 0:37:07.200 It was it was about a human thing. And he's 0:37:07.239 --> 0:37:09.120 gonna test you to the core who you are as 0:37:09.160 --> 0:37:11.319 a human by the things he says and the things 0:37:11.320 --> 0:37:13.960 that he stands for. So if you don't like it, 0:37:14.040 --> 0:37:16.359 that's okay. But this is where he stands and this 0:37:16.400 --> 0:37:19.319 is where he's at. So meet him over where he's at, 0:37:19.640 --> 0:37:23.200 and you're gonna be transformed. Because ever since I met Tupac, 0:37:23.280 --> 0:37:25.799 I was transformed. I was. I think he puts he 0:37:25.840 --> 0:37:27.799 put some stripes on on the side of me, you 0:37:27.800 --> 0:37:31.360 know what I mean, And he fully decorated like soldier 0:37:31.360 --> 0:37:33.840 ready to go into the world and represent the culture 0:37:33.840 --> 0:37:36.600 and do everything. I'm I've been doing that for twenty 0:37:36.800 --> 0:37:40.000 seven years, you know what I'm saying. Um, So I'm 0:37:40.000 --> 0:37:43.200 just I'm so blessed man to have had that experience. Real, 0:37:43.680 --> 0:37:46.680 I don't ever take it for granted that yeah, that's crazy, 0:37:46.920 --> 0:37:50.680 but we got the we got the Devil, Yeah yeah 0:37:50.760 --> 0:37:54.560 we did. Man. Let me tell you this guy, how 0:37:54.600 --> 0:37:57.440 influential you are. Let me give you your flowers more 0:37:57.480 --> 0:38:00.400 than because I'm telling you. When I first smit you, 0:38:00.440 --> 0:38:05.279 I just thought, what an incredibly humble guy who's a 0:38:05.360 --> 0:38:08.560 one stop shop, you know. And I relate to that, 0:38:08.640 --> 0:38:10.200 you know what I mean. I relate to someone who 0:38:10.239 --> 0:38:14.280 has a personal feeling that they can express themselves, whether 0:38:14.320 --> 0:38:17.719 it be a beat maker or a lyricist or but 0:38:17.800 --> 0:38:20.920 you do it all, you know. So it was really 0:38:21.080 --> 0:38:25.440 it was really humbling for me to have you like 0:38:25.600 --> 0:38:27.960 what I was bringing to the tables, dig the track 0:38:28.040 --> 0:38:31.040 and dig the everything. You were like, yo, let me 0:38:31.080 --> 0:38:33.000 get on that. And I was like, bro, like this 0:38:33.080 --> 0:38:35.919 is crazy. So we did. The song Stronger, Stronger every 0:38:36.000 --> 0:38:39.560 Day back in two thousand four ended up being the 0:38:39.600 --> 0:38:43.560 title track of my album. Um. Basically that that that 0:38:43.560 --> 0:38:48.000 that was like represented the strength that I was trying 0:38:48.040 --> 0:38:50.319 to show at that time as an artist to be 0:38:50.400 --> 0:38:53.160 resilient through whatever the industry was gonna tell me. What 0:38:53.320 --> 0:38:55.600 is it? Whatever, don't kill you, make you stronger, right, 0:38:55.600 --> 0:38:59.400 you know, so to have you assist me on that 0:38:59.520 --> 0:39:03.560 like that Lately the first single from the album Lately. 0:39:03.680 --> 0:39:07.440 Everybody heard that and it was so hip hop and 0:39:07.480 --> 0:39:13.000 it was so that that was done by Brains the 0:39:13.040 --> 0:39:15.400 building all the time building. He used to see you 0:39:15.440 --> 0:39:17.799 all the time up there with the damon and then 0:39:18.080 --> 0:39:20.520 you know what I'm saying. So I was like, all right, Tank, 0:39:20.640 --> 0:39:21.960 you know, all right, I'm gonna see you. And then 0:39:23.000 --> 0:39:27.399 Jeromee you you you actually sold your truck to my 0:39:27.520 --> 0:39:30.960 manager at the time. Um, you actually you let him 0:39:30.960 --> 0:39:32.640 take over the least or something like that. You remember 0:39:32.680 --> 0:39:36.800 that when you said it was crazy, It wasn't you. 0:39:37.480 --> 0:39:43.719 It was a dope ass Burgundy that it was a 0:39:43.800 --> 0:39:47.799 street truck for sure. Yeah it was. It was like 0:39:47.840 --> 0:39:54.040 you have to call somebody, they come pick up. He 0:39:54.080 --> 0:39:56.560 had the Burgundy. John. I was like, I got that 0:39:56.640 --> 0:39:59.640 custom pain. Yeah, that's nobody had that. It was a 0:39:59.680 --> 0:40:05.600 street truck. I said, my cousin, he's gonna bring the 0:40:05.640 --> 0:40:07.600 car to you and then you just get him the payments. 0:40:07.600 --> 0:40:11.920 I was like, okay, I don't ask no questions. Yeah, 0:40:13.440 --> 0:40:15.360 this guy is cool, you know, what I mean, so, 0:40:15.440 --> 0:40:17.200 because you know, that was my family and everything. He 0:40:17.280 --> 0:40:20.040 was helping him out. So that was dopen and I 0:40:20.040 --> 0:40:22.600 hadn't even met you yet. And then we did. We 0:40:22.680 --> 0:40:26.560 did uh Lately, and I heard, you know, the vocal 0:40:26.680 --> 0:40:29.759 you stacked the vocals and you I mean, you're that's 0:40:29.840 --> 0:40:32.640 his voice voice on the whole hook of Lately. I 0:40:32.680 --> 0:40:35.640 didn't even want to stack over him because they didn't 0:40:35.680 --> 0:40:39.279 want to. I didn't want. I wanted people to know, 0:40:39.640 --> 0:40:42.480 like this is the background, like he's featuring on here 0:40:42.520 --> 0:40:45.239 with me basically, you know, and it was it just 0:40:45.239 --> 0:40:47.120 worked so well. And then when baby Face hurt it, 0:40:47.200 --> 0:40:49.759 He's like, I gotta get on there. I gotta help 0:40:49.840 --> 0:40:52.400 right the bridge. Let me get the bridge, and so 0:40:52.480 --> 0:40:54.319 he put his backgrounds on the bridge. So I got 0:40:54.400 --> 0:40:59.759 baby Face, come on, man, if you and loving you 0:40:59.760 --> 0:41:02.799 can't I been you gotta understand what that means, Like 0:41:02.920 --> 0:41:07.520 that is that's a that's a heavyweight moment for me. Um. Yeah, 0:41:07.520 --> 0:41:09.520 So you're on two songs on that. Where did you 0:41:09.560 --> 0:41:11.600 where was it was? Was it an album release you 0:41:11.640 --> 0:41:20.600 had in Hollywood? Yeah? Yeah, yeah, yeah, remember that that 0:41:20.680 --> 0:41:23.279 was a good time. I mean, you were just you know, 0:41:23.640 --> 0:41:26.719 it was it was it was easy, you know what 0:41:26.760 --> 0:41:28.560 I'm saying. It's like when you tap in with like 0:41:28.600 --> 0:41:32.080 minded people, it's just it's just easy. He was like, 0:41:32.680 --> 0:41:34.560 he's like my cousin, you know what I'm saying. Like 0:41:34.560 --> 0:41:37.600 like we had like we had been doing it spiritually. 0:41:37.600 --> 0:41:40.080 We had probably already been connected, you know what I'm 0:41:40.080 --> 0:41:43.719 saying in an alternate universe, just already prepping us for 0:41:43.760 --> 0:41:45.840 the moment, you know, in this phase. Like it's the 0:41:45.880 --> 0:41:49.480 same way with me and Jay, Like it was just easy. 0:41:49.560 --> 0:41:51.319 Like but the vo first song we wrote together was 0:41:51.320 --> 0:41:55.200 a hit your your voice. There's no one like you, man. 0:41:55.600 --> 0:42:01.080 And I've heard people try to sign don't like you, 0:42:01.080 --> 0:42:03.400 you know what I'm saying, And right away I'm going down. 0:42:03.760 --> 0:42:06.080 He's trying to sound like Tank, you know. And that's 0:42:06.120 --> 0:42:09.359 something when you have your own thing that you've put 0:42:09.360 --> 0:42:14.080 your stamp on, you know, singing. Baby Face has got 0:42:14.080 --> 0:42:16.399 his own thing. So when I started to sound like him, 0:42:16.520 --> 0:42:18.520 you knew I was trying to sound like baby Face, right, 0:42:18.520 --> 0:42:21.279 I had to form my own style and and and 0:42:21.320 --> 0:42:24.719 really you have a yeah, time you got to that 0:42:24.760 --> 0:42:26.960 second album. By the time you got to that second album, 0:42:27.200 --> 0:42:29.120 That's why I asked about the first one. Yeah, the 0:42:29.160 --> 0:42:32.080 second album, I really found my legs. But it's interesting 0:42:32.160 --> 0:42:34.120 because this is how it ties into tank. Is that 0:42:35.239 --> 0:42:38.240 moving on past the second album, in the third album, 0:42:38.280 --> 0:42:42.560 still singing in that kind of thinner texture quality. I 0:42:42.600 --> 0:42:46.160 hadn't really filled my voice out or played with the 0:42:46.200 --> 0:42:50.360 whole idea of taking it deeper into my um, sticking 0:42:50.560 --> 0:42:53.160 out the tone a little bit instead of being so 0:42:54.239 --> 0:43:02.720 then and breathy when h h and then put vibrato 0:43:02.800 --> 0:43:05.680 behind it. This is a whole another voice, and I 0:43:05.760 --> 0:43:09.480 found that voice in my live show by singing out. 0:43:09.960 --> 0:43:12.839 But when I heard him singing, I said, this guy 0:43:13.520 --> 0:43:15.719 he's because when I heard Johnny gil for the first time, 0:43:15.719 --> 0:43:18.400 it was a thick tone, right, and he's one of 0:43:18.400 --> 0:43:22.279 my favorite all time singers of all time. But when 0:43:22.280 --> 0:43:24.920 I heard your voice, I was like, here's a thicker tone. 0:43:25.480 --> 0:43:28.400 But this guy could really sing. This guy can really 0:43:28.520 --> 0:43:30.640 like I mean, he could sing Mary had a little 0:43:30.960 --> 0:43:34.160 and it'll be like he just you know, his tonality 0:43:34.280 --> 0:43:38.440 is just so I know that you are the catalyst 0:43:38.480 --> 0:43:43.440 for artists like you are the number one influence for 0:43:43.520 --> 0:43:48.839 Sam Smith. I mean number one influence for I mean 0:43:49.160 --> 0:43:52.200 for me. I You're up there in my top five 0:43:52.920 --> 0:43:55.960 all time favorite singers. Bro Like, honestly, um, when I 0:43:56.000 --> 0:43:59.319 when I heard you, I started to try to play 0:43:59.360 --> 0:44:01.080 with that little it, you know, in terms of like 0:44:01.360 --> 0:44:06.480 let me because when we did um, we did lately, Um. 0:44:06.560 --> 0:44:09.799 I don't think I approached that with the same tonality 0:44:09.840 --> 0:44:11.560 that I did the other records. I was like a 0:44:11.680 --> 0:44:18.239 pitty young thing, sexy younger. I mean, you know, it's 0:44:18.239 --> 0:44:22.640 a little bit more in there. And then started playing 0:44:22.760 --> 0:44:24.360 playing with it even more. And then you know, you 0:44:24.440 --> 0:44:26.759 hear that album and you're like, okay, John, John's growing 0:44:26.840 --> 0:44:29.879 up a little bit. You know. Yeah, But I think 0:44:29.920 --> 0:44:32.040 that that's really cool when you and you can find 0:44:32.440 --> 0:44:34.840 yourself and others or something that you relate to and 0:44:34.960 --> 0:44:37.439 others and then that ends up being a strong point 0:44:37.440 --> 0:44:40.840 for you. That's that's always been the gift of music. Really. 0:44:40.880 --> 0:44:43.840 It's like, you know, knowing that we have other things 0:44:43.880 --> 0:44:45.960 to do, other things to learn. There's more to it 0:44:46.040 --> 0:44:49.120 than just where we're at right now. Like somebody, you know, 0:44:49.160 --> 0:44:51.920 I'm still learning today, like the young kids are teaching 0:44:51.960 --> 0:45:10.319 me too. Sure the tracks, how we can innovate still 0:45:12.600 --> 0:45:17.160 single page is a lot of the you know, the 0:45:17.239 --> 0:45:19.759 cultures that have always sort of done this kind of 0:45:19.800 --> 0:45:22.920 these kind of rhythms are now like the African and 0:45:22.920 --> 0:45:25.880 the Latin and all that is aging now it's like 0:45:26.000 --> 0:45:29.480 it's all. It's all like if if you had to 0:45:29.560 --> 0:45:34.920 have a proudest moment in R and B, if you 0:45:34.960 --> 0:45:36.719 have to just pick one, like let's I'm sure you 0:45:36.760 --> 0:45:38.399 have many, but if you just had to pick one 0:45:38.480 --> 0:45:41.040 just for just for the sake of the show, I 0:45:41.080 --> 0:45:45.080 will say, you know, the moment that I was performing 0:45:45.680 --> 0:45:48.360 very recently, I think it was two thousand eighteen m 0:45:48.880 --> 0:45:52.279 at the Soul Train Awards when they allowed me to 0:45:52.320 --> 0:45:54.360 play someone to Love and they don't know, back to 0:45:54.440 --> 0:45:57.160 back and then I brought out Donald Jones and he 0:45:57.200 --> 0:46:00.400 did his thing, killed it and um but that Foremans 0:46:00.440 --> 0:46:04.399 particularly was I just saw something in myself that had 0:46:04.480 --> 0:46:08.920 never really seen a maturity, a seasoned kind of veteran 0:46:08.960 --> 0:46:11.400 that had really kind of been waiting for that moment. 0:46:11.480 --> 0:46:15.040 And here's the moment. And there's so many artists I 0:46:15.120 --> 0:46:17.040 know that have so many of those moments. They can 0:46:17.080 --> 0:46:19.240 look back, look at this award show, look at this award, 0:46:19.239 --> 0:46:20.680 so look at it. I don't have that, you know 0:46:20.680 --> 0:46:23.880 what I'm saying. My award shows have been very you know, minimal, 0:46:23.960 --> 0:46:26.279 So it's like when I got my my shot like that. 0:46:26.760 --> 0:46:29.080 The other one was in two thousand thirteen. I did 0:46:29.080 --> 0:46:32.719 it with Bobby Caldwell. That was an you know, to 0:46:32.760 --> 0:46:35.440 be on the stage with him someone it shares the 0:46:35.480 --> 0:46:38.640 same walk, but very earlier, you know, a lot a 0:46:38.640 --> 0:46:40.960 lot earlier. And I think that was even it was 0:46:41.040 --> 0:46:43.640 very telling. Like getting back to what I said about 0:46:43.680 --> 0:46:45.759 white artists doing R and B music, it wasn't really 0:46:45.800 --> 0:46:51.839 accepted yet. So do you feel like do you do 0:46:51.880 --> 0:46:57.360 you feel like to a certain degree your music was 0:46:57.520 --> 0:47:01.560 to R and B to be fully like, you know, 0:47:01.640 --> 0:47:05.759 maybe moved into a pop space cross stole like which 0:47:05.800 --> 0:47:08.680 is the reason why I was no longer on Epic Records, 0:47:08.719 --> 0:47:10.960 because they tried to put me with David Foster and 0:47:11.040 --> 0:47:14.279 Diane Warren and do the song there was a bilingual song. 0:47:14.560 --> 0:47:17.400 Maybe we could get an international kind of more of 0:47:17.440 --> 0:47:19.560 an appeal type of things. A song called to a 0:47:19.640 --> 0:47:22.080 more you know what I mean. It was beautiful record, 0:47:22.640 --> 0:47:25.320 but it's not my wasn't one of my choices for 0:47:25.400 --> 0:47:28.040 the album. That was I was we here doing records 0:47:28.040 --> 0:47:31.720 with nas and you know, producing records with with with 0:47:31.719 --> 0:47:36.120 with with you know, O dB and just blaze and stuff. 0:47:36.160 --> 0:47:39.080 So I was in a totally different energy, you know, 0:47:39.200 --> 0:47:42.280 than than than than that. So they tried to cross 0:47:42.560 --> 0:47:44.560 when they when they tried, I said, okay, I'll go 0:47:44.600 --> 0:47:47.799 to the studio with David Foster and Diane Warren. But 0:47:47.920 --> 0:47:50.680 you know, it's the kind of hangar it's like, oh gosh, 0:47:50.680 --> 0:47:57.000 you're so black, you know, it's just like it's like 0:47:57.040 --> 0:48:01.640 that I thought you were like a black guy. First. 0:48:04.680 --> 0:48:06.680 I was like, you work with earth Wind and fire 0:48:07.960 --> 0:48:11.840 work with did not expect you to be on that 0:48:12.760 --> 0:48:15.200 Like honestly, that was a disappointment when I when I 0:48:15.280 --> 0:48:17.200 when I met Dan Dyane Warren and she said that 0:48:17.280 --> 0:48:21.200 to me, I was like, that's not that's not soulful 0:48:21.360 --> 0:48:23.839 like for to say that to someone, it's just not. 0:48:24.400 --> 0:48:27.440 So next time Dyane Warren, I see you, you're probably 0:48:27.440 --> 0:48:30.160 gonna be like, yo, I don't like that. You told 0:48:30.200 --> 0:48:33.279 people about that about it, that was that was what 0:48:33.400 --> 0:48:37.680 you said on Twitter. I'm on the wall. It's like 0:48:37.680 --> 0:48:41.319 a quote of she's a soulful but you know you 0:48:41.360 --> 0:48:44.960 said that, you know, you know you said and I 0:48:45.040 --> 0:48:47.799 kind of I was just kind of like, okay, but 0:48:47.880 --> 0:48:49.400 you just want to stay stay true. You wanted to 0:48:49.400 --> 0:48:51.480 stay true with just the music you love. That's it. 0:48:51.560 --> 0:48:54.200 And I don't want people to like really bring that 0:48:54.280 --> 0:48:56.160 up anymore. Like the fact that I'm like like I 0:48:56.600 --> 0:48:59.719 I that's something that actually is a very annoying thing. 0:48:59.840 --> 0:49:03.319 Was something makes that seem like that has anything to 0:49:03.360 --> 0:49:06.960 do with anything. It's like, let that go, because now 0:49:07.120 --> 0:49:09.839 it's be twenty seven years of doing this, Like, let's 0:49:09.920 --> 0:49:14.160 make music. I have nothing to prove anymore. I already 0:49:14.200 --> 0:49:17.560 proved it, so there's nothing to do anymore excepted show 0:49:17.600 --> 0:49:19.720 people I still got it and I still make music. 0:49:20.120 --> 0:49:22.640 My music now if you give it a chance, it's 0:49:22.719 --> 0:49:24.680 just as good as it was back then. If anything, 0:49:24.719 --> 0:49:26.759 I think I'm doing it better just because I've learned 0:49:26.800 --> 0:49:29.319 so much and there's so much more to me as 0:49:29.320 --> 0:49:32.359 a as a as a as a man. Knowing what 0:49:32.440 --> 0:49:34.000 I want to say and how I want to say it. 0:49:34.080 --> 0:49:36.000 Now I can kind of like really lean into the 0:49:36.040 --> 0:49:39.920 curves and really, you know, I'm I'm I'm you know, 0:49:40.960 --> 0:49:43.799 controlling the narrative, you know, and I always have been. 0:49:43.800 --> 0:49:45.880 But I think that for a lot a lot of times, 0:49:45.880 --> 0:49:48.880 it was a lot of pressure just stay within this 0:49:49.000 --> 0:49:51.719 perimeter of what we felt was what they felt was 0:49:52.960 --> 0:49:56.440 you know, appropriate for someone of my my racial background, 0:49:56.440 --> 0:49:59.920 and ultimately, did you lose your deal off of that? 0:50:00.000 --> 0:50:03.120 I went. I went against the grain working with Tupap. 0:50:03.239 --> 0:50:06.920 I went against the grain working with Guru, and I 0:50:07.000 --> 0:50:09.400 work with the people that I had admiration for. I 0:50:09.440 --> 0:50:11.440 was like, I knew who to go to. Whether it 0:50:11.520 --> 0:50:14.799 was a successful move, They're like, that's not commercial rap. 0:50:15.040 --> 0:50:16.840 That's like, why don't you get with l L or 0:50:16.840 --> 0:50:18.759 something like that'd be cool too if L else down, 0:50:18.760 --> 0:50:21.399 I do it, But right now gurgles down. And I'm 0:50:21.440 --> 0:50:24.440 a big Gang Star fan, So you know, I know 0:50:24.520 --> 0:50:26.879 it doesn't mean anything for you for me to work 0:50:26.880 --> 0:50:29.280 with Just Blaze, But Just Blaze is a hot producer 0:50:29.400 --> 0:50:31.319 right now making all the you know, the Rocket Feller 0:50:31.400 --> 0:50:35.240 stuff and and everything else. So why not work with Juice? 0:50:35.560 --> 0:50:37.239 You know what I'm saying. The Joe Budden record, with 0:50:37.320 --> 0:50:40.759 the jump Off record, I was like all all over that. 0:50:40.840 --> 0:50:43.400 So I wanted to be in the studio with those guys. 0:50:43.400 --> 0:50:46.440 And so if I had a budget, I was gonna 0:50:46.760 --> 0:50:49.399 spend the money the way I wanted to. I wasn't 0:50:49.440 --> 0:50:52.560 working with the people that they they didn't see the 0:50:52.640 --> 0:50:55.760 vision of me working with tripal requests. You know, I'm cool, relaxed. 0:50:55.840 --> 0:50:58.600 I had to show them this is this is how 0:50:58.640 --> 0:51:02.080 we're gonna move at least head mohammed about powers like 0:51:02.120 --> 0:51:05.600 these guys they this is real hip hop. They if 0:51:05.640 --> 0:51:09.840 people see that this is authentic, they're not gonna question it. 0:51:09.840 --> 0:51:11.399 It's not gonna be about my race. I'm not gonna 0:51:11.400 --> 0:51:13.320 be about all that. It's gonna be about the music. 0:51:13.719 --> 0:51:16.319 So let's make good music man. You know. But I 0:51:16.400 --> 0:51:18.680 kind of had to show him because when I first 0:51:18.719 --> 0:51:20.719 turned in the you know, they are you still down 0:51:20.760 --> 0:51:24.919 with Tupac and all that? How are you gonna? Oh 0:51:24.960 --> 0:51:30.080 my god? They fought They don't know. Huh. You see, 0:51:30.080 --> 0:51:31.879 they're they're getting mad at me now and they try 0:51:31.920 --> 0:51:34.479 to like tweet and be like on something like John, 0:51:34.520 --> 0:51:37.080 that's not true. We loved. They don't know we loved. 0:51:37.560 --> 0:51:41.680 Are you still down there? Became you loved it with 0:51:41.719 --> 0:51:45.240 no shade throne. Honestly, this is just the way it happened. 0:51:45.520 --> 0:51:48.920 When we turned that record in. It wasn't nobody calling 0:51:48.960 --> 0:51:51.840 me talking about this is a hit. When he died 0:51:52.920 --> 0:51:56.120 two weeks later, God rest his soul. He passed two 0:51:56.120 --> 0:51:59.279 weeks later after the record comes out there two weeks later. Bro, 0:52:00.640 --> 0:52:02.719 the last thing my man said to me when I 0:52:02.760 --> 0:52:05.600 was leaving was he's like, all right, brother, don't waste 0:52:05.600 --> 0:52:07.680 your time. Don't don't waste your talent. Now, if you're 0:52:07.680 --> 0:52:10.719 not doing three songs a day, you ain't really doing it. 0:52:11.280 --> 0:52:13.719 So because I watched him literally get down like that 0:52:13.800 --> 0:52:17.839 and just like, okay, man, all right, bro, love you man. 0:52:17.880 --> 0:52:19.839 And it was like three in the morning, I'm driving 0:52:19.840 --> 0:52:24.760 from Tarzana back to Pasadena after drinking and smoking by myself. 0:52:24.800 --> 0:52:27.080 I'm sitting there crying with the window down, like because 0:52:27.120 --> 0:52:30.319 I'm so happy, you know, and so like to to 0:52:30.400 --> 0:52:32.120 get that news when I was in the studio two 0:52:32.160 --> 0:52:36.160 weeks later that he had got shot again. I was like, well, 0:52:37.760 --> 0:52:39.759 he's gonna make it because he's Tupac, you know what 0:52:39.840 --> 0:52:42.440 I mean. And so he wasn't here and he was 0:52:42.480 --> 0:52:46.400 still on life support, and uh yeah, we just we 0:52:46.520 --> 0:52:50.120 just we had just such a all the air of 0:52:50.160 --> 0:52:52.719 wind just taking all out of everything that was doing, 0:52:52.800 --> 0:52:54.239 sucked out of me, you know what I mean. So 0:52:54.280 --> 0:52:57.560 it was like now, what so now the labels like, oh, 0:52:57.640 --> 0:52:59.800 let's put the Tupac song out and I'm like no, 0:53:01.960 --> 0:53:03.640 and so you know what I mean, and then all 0:53:03.640 --> 0:53:05.360 of a sudden, no, we believe in this party. We 0:53:05.400 --> 0:53:08.800 think this is gonna be a record. So it was 0:53:08.840 --> 0:53:12.040 almost like a cool yet year of having that like 0:53:12.719 --> 0:53:14.759 and so it had to get leaked. It was it 0:53:14.800 --> 0:53:17.359 was a DJ who out of Atlanta, I remember who 0:53:17.520 --> 0:53:19.719 played it without asking No, He's like now they got 0:53:19.840 --> 0:53:21.840 to hear it, and as soon as they got leaked, 0:53:22.360 --> 0:53:25.319 it was just like it was all and they had 0:53:25.360 --> 0:53:27.520 to put it out. But ship wasn't giving up the 0:53:27.600 --> 0:53:29.640 rights to Tucacs, so I had to go to a 0:53:29.680 --> 0:53:33.680 phoene and uh, Phenie stuck up for me. She's like, no, 0:53:33.840 --> 0:53:36.680 my son played me Are You Still Down? He loved 0:53:36.719 --> 0:53:39.400 that song, and you know it was it was one 0:53:39.440 --> 0:53:41.879 of his favorite songs that he did because he didn't 0:53:41.880 --> 0:53:44.920 play me a lot of his music and he played 0:53:44.920 --> 0:53:46.920 me that song. He was proud of that. So she 0:53:47.040 --> 0:53:50.799 named his first album that she put out after his death, 0:53:50.880 --> 0:53:52.759 are You Still Down? It was like a compilation of 0:53:52.880 --> 0:53:55.399 a lot of records because that was the last song 0:53:55.440 --> 0:53:58.680 that he did. So yeah, man, that was to have 0:53:58.840 --> 0:54:00.440 that kind of like hit me like that. It was 0:54:00.800 --> 0:54:03.960 a lot to inherit that, you know, in terms of 0:54:04.120 --> 0:54:06.200 the burden that that would represent. He wasn't there to 0:54:06.280 --> 0:54:08.959 vouch for me anymore. It's like putting out a song 0:54:09.000 --> 0:54:12.440 with you really record with it studio, right, you know 0:54:12.719 --> 0:54:15.719 where's Tupac John? You know it's like what I mean, 0:54:16.520 --> 0:54:19.439 So it's it's been a lot, but it's nothing better 0:54:19.520 --> 0:54:38.440 on the great moments. We've got some rm B questions 0:54:38.480 --> 0:54:42.600 for you, Jim. You're thinking, I think I need a refill. 0:54:44.520 --> 0:54:49.400 You like it. I think I've never had that before. 0:54:49.440 --> 0:54:53.000 That's like vanilla. So I've always want to notice before, 0:54:53.080 --> 0:54:55.880 you know, before we can get to that. What's the 0:54:55.960 --> 0:55:00.960 b oh Man make me go country y? Yeah? Yeah, yeah, 0:55:01.000 --> 0:55:03.480 never another reason why somebody knows what the V stays for. 0:55:03.719 --> 0:55:08.200 My last name is Buck, like the dollar bill. Okay, yeah, okay, Bucks, 0:55:08.640 --> 0:55:15.680 that's that's yeah. I could have been that Johnny Bucky. 0:55:15.880 --> 0:55:17.799 You need something you need? You would have definitely been 0:55:17.840 --> 0:55:20.879 a country singer. If you're da Johnny Buck, John Buck. 0:55:21.239 --> 0:55:27.040 My real name is Johnny. Your real name is yeah right, yeah, Jonathan, 0:55:27.040 --> 0:55:31.200 are you john? I'm Johnny Johnny, Yeah, I'm Johnny Jonathan, 0:55:31.280 --> 0:55:35.120 I'm Jonathan H. J O n Ah, Yeah, makes sense, 0:55:35.200 --> 0:55:37.960 makes sense. Okay, Now I'm back man, so good to 0:55:38.000 --> 0:55:49.279 see you. Yeah, the big man. HM. So come on, chief. 0:55:49.280 --> 0:55:53.279 What you got for questions? Questions for it? Looks for 0:55:53.320 --> 0:55:55.120 this R and B. I'm in the zone. R and 0:55:55.160 --> 0:56:01.440 big guy right here. He's a guy. Guy, he's a guy. Um. 0:56:01.760 --> 0:56:07.680 Top five favorite R and B artists all time, all times. Well, 0:56:07.719 --> 0:56:12.680 I mean, here you go, okay, um, okay. Well let's 0:56:12.719 --> 0:56:20.279 say Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, you know, Michael Jackson. That's 0:56:20.280 --> 0:56:27.280 what I'm saying. And I gotta I gotta mention Stokely. 0:56:28.239 --> 0:56:30.560 I gotta say Tank you know what I'm saying. I 0:56:30.600 --> 0:56:33.880 gotta say that's that's, that's that's you made John B 0:56:34.040 --> 0:56:42.319 stop five B. Yeah, he's been cooking. I mean, I mean, 0:56:42.680 --> 0:56:45.600 and the reason why I say top five is because 0:56:45.640 --> 0:56:48.439 if this is sort of the order that I discovered, well, 0:56:48.480 --> 0:56:52.839 you know what I will say, even before Stokely though, 0:56:53.040 --> 0:56:55.520 it is Johnny Gil. I mean, it's it's a hard 0:56:55.560 --> 0:56:59.479 toss up between Stokely and Johnny Gil because Johnny Gils 0:56:59.480 --> 0:57:03.120 had to discover very legendary career Johnny Girl discovered first. 0:57:03.160 --> 0:57:06.200 I'm not gonna lie before breaking my heart. It was 0:57:06.480 --> 0:57:10.800 my mind. What I'm saying, put on that red dress, 0:57:10.880 --> 0:57:14.520 some on, put on that race. I still I still 0:57:14.560 --> 0:57:16.720 do that both of those songs in my set, like 0:57:16.760 --> 0:57:20.440 I have to show to show the the lineage and 0:57:20.480 --> 0:57:23.280 where you know where it comes. Yeah, okay, alright, that's 0:57:23.280 --> 0:57:28.120 a that's a great list I appreciate. And that's where, 0:57:28.200 --> 0:57:31.479 like I said, when I found my tone, that's when 0:57:31.520 --> 0:57:33.680 I when I heard your voice. Brother, That's what I mean. 0:57:33.760 --> 0:57:38.120 So I gotta give you a flowers were not uh 0:57:38.400 --> 0:57:50.640 top five R and B songs? Oh okay, Well, that's 0:57:50.760 --> 0:57:53.400 always been a hard question from me because there's a 0:57:53.400 --> 0:57:56.320 lot of eras of R and B. So I have 0:57:56.360 --> 0:57:59.200 to go back to my favorite era, which is which 0:57:59.240 --> 0:58:03.840 is the the eighties and nineties era, but like mid 0:58:03.880 --> 0:58:08.120 mid eighties and um, I would say Kenny Stand the 0:58:08.200 --> 0:58:10.240 Rain is probably my number one of my favorite R 0:58:10.320 --> 0:58:21.040 and B song. Um and Never Keeping Secrets by baby 0:58:21.080 --> 0:58:24.440 Face is one of the best written songs and produced 0:58:24.520 --> 0:58:26.800 songs like it's it's just such a great it's just 0:58:26.880 --> 0:58:31.200 the one he wrote. That's when I basically came into dude. 0:58:32.960 --> 0:58:34.880 Do you know that that was my entrance to the 0:58:34.960 --> 0:58:39.000 music industry. I got to play that little part dude, 0:58:38.440 --> 0:58:44.040 no face, but that was my first job for him, 0:58:44.200 --> 0:58:47.000 was to play behind him in his band. Okay, so 0:58:47.400 --> 0:58:51.640 like what dude, but he got the Soul Train Award 0:58:51.680 --> 0:58:54.880 that year for that song and you and he allowed 0:58:54.920 --> 0:58:57.960 me to play that that said. Uh so you know 0:58:58.000 --> 0:58:59.919 there was a there was a whole year of being 0:59:00.160 --> 0:59:02.520 part of his squad that I didn't wasn't you know, 0:59:02.560 --> 0:59:05.280 it wasn't even John B. I had Jonathan B was 0:59:05.320 --> 0:59:07.320 my name at that point on my on my demos, 0:59:07.400 --> 0:59:10.760 Jonathan I still hadn't dropped the the you know, the 0:59:10.960 --> 0:59:14.440 half of my name. But yeah, okay, so let's get 0:59:14.440 --> 0:59:18.200 back to the rain. Never keeping secret And this is 0:59:18.240 --> 0:59:20.160 just kind of off the head of I said, never 0:59:20.200 --> 0:59:23.160 keep it secrets because, like I said, that's the whole story. 0:59:23.440 --> 0:59:28.320 Me cut my teeth in the industry, um um breaking 0:59:28.360 --> 0:59:33.080 my Heart uh in condition absolutely one of the greatest 0:59:33.520 --> 0:59:39.040 songs from the arrangement the music never going Away live 0:59:39.120 --> 0:59:42.440 band music And when was that ever, like other than 0:59:42.520 --> 0:59:45.040 Earth Went in Fire and and and stuff like that 0:59:45.080 --> 0:59:47.960 in terms of ballads. But it just like you know, 0:59:48.000 --> 0:59:53.320 how reasons It's like, yeah, it's just just got that 0:59:53.400 --> 0:59:59.200 horn thing and it's very memorable. Yeah, I mean, everybody 0:59:59.240 --> 1:00:02.640 start going crazy. You're spilling drinks. I mean exactly as 1:00:02.640 --> 1:00:06.320 soon as I do that, they know right away, Oh 1:00:06.360 --> 1:00:09.880 that's pretty brown. Yeah, that's up there a big time. 1:00:10.720 --> 1:00:12.720 I mean, why not say my my mind because it 1:00:12.840 --> 1:00:15.520 is one of the like, it is one of the 1:00:15.560 --> 1:00:23.160 greatest written songs, and talk about uh person to find 1:00:23.200 --> 1:00:26.400 what it feels like to be grown even though I 1:00:26.480 --> 1:00:30.280 was so young. That's a very grown up, very grown 1:00:30.360 --> 1:00:33.520 up of that. The way that it sounds, it's very direct. 1:00:33.880 --> 1:00:41.720 The drums track on that is so I mean, it's 1:00:41.720 --> 1:00:48.880 so just the m is that ken, it's so classics, 1:00:49.320 --> 1:00:53.720 like you know, and it was and it was I 1:00:53.760 --> 1:00:58.480 won't say a life saver, but it was the defining 1:00:58.600 --> 1:01:02.840 moment for Anny Gil coming out of new edition because 1:01:03.040 --> 1:01:06.400 rub you the right way. We were gonna we were 1:01:06.400 --> 1:01:08.880 going to accept it because it was Johnny Gil. It wasn't, 1:01:09.400 --> 1:01:16.680 but it wasn't. That was a hell of a stroke. 1:01:16.840 --> 1:01:22.640 What would you say, stroke? You have the dad Rod 1:01:27.160 --> 1:01:31.680 the man. It was like, I was like, we'll accept it. 1:01:31.760 --> 1:01:36.640 But then when that I want to be your fan friend. Yeah, 1:01:38.520 --> 1:01:42.880 you do this to me when time aging yeah, Okay, 1:01:42.880 --> 1:01:47.280 that was hot. Okay, I got I got one for you, Okay, Alexander, Ohneil, 1:01:47.360 --> 1:01:52.040 don't you do it? Sun Show, Sunshine, sun Touch, be 1:01:52.400 --> 1:02:02.600 with Day with Sunshine. They knew had them things, man 1:02:04.040 --> 1:02:07.880 knew had them things. Man, I can never give myself away. 1:02:08.560 --> 1:02:14.080 Who's with him next to her? Those movies beaching now 1:02:14.640 --> 1:02:25.200 for my love? When that's why, that's why. Okay, So 1:02:25.280 --> 1:02:27.800 let's do this. Let's make up, let's make up. Let's 1:02:27.800 --> 1:02:30.360 make an R and B voltron. We just we just 1:02:30.400 --> 1:02:33.080 got a new nuance added to the to the arm voltron. 1:02:33.160 --> 1:02:36.080 So this is what we're gonna do. It's it's vocals, 1:02:37.840 --> 1:02:43.840 it's styling, it's it's what do we call it? Emotion? 1:02:45.000 --> 1:02:49.560 We got emotion now and performance. We're gonna take these 1:02:49.600 --> 1:02:52.960 four things and build an artist. We're gonna start with 1:02:53.000 --> 1:02:56.640 the vocals. Who are you taking the vocals from? Oh 1:02:56.760 --> 1:03:05.200 my god, that's so hard. Um, Marvin Gaye, Marvin Gaye's vocals, 1:03:05.280 --> 1:03:10.640 Marvin Is it can be someone that's that's not Marvin's. Yeah, 1:03:10.640 --> 1:03:13.160 I think that's honestly my favorite vocalist because I think 1:03:13.160 --> 1:03:16.600 it was the subtleties of his swag. It's just like 1:03:16.640 --> 1:03:22.080 Michael Jackson was a very rhythmic person. All that stuff 1:03:22.080 --> 1:03:26.280 along with all that the smoothest girl, closure run very 1:03:26.400 --> 1:03:29.720 just He's got so much texture to his voice. But 1:03:29.800 --> 1:03:32.360 I think what made him so amazing was the rhythm 1:03:32.360 --> 1:03:36.280 behind it, what made Marvin so its a very similar thing, 1:03:36.880 --> 1:03:40.320 but he was not as not as much of an 1:03:40.400 --> 1:03:44.280 aggressive rhythm person as much as almost accompanying himself like 1:03:44.800 --> 1:03:52.360 an instrument. There were multiple songs the guitar. Yeah, yeah, 1:03:52.400 --> 1:03:55.160 it's like like like a part do the horns and 1:03:55.640 --> 1:04:00.800 oh you know, just be like he's doing the horn 1:04:00.840 --> 1:04:03.200 parts and he's doing so you'd hear a vocal on 1:04:03.240 --> 1:04:07.600 the left side. It's almost like that. He was the 1:04:07.640 --> 1:04:10.800 first one to do that, right, I mean, and now 1:04:10.840 --> 1:04:14.480 that's all over our music now. Yea, So those equivalents, 1:04:16.000 --> 1:04:18.280 that's one of my favorite things that you do. I 1:04:18.320 --> 1:04:21.280 love your answer tracks. I love your main vocal that 1:04:21.280 --> 1:04:24.960 you're doing, but all these these answer things flying, yes, 1:04:25.160 --> 1:04:30.400 the flying just the compliment. Nobody sings like that, telling 1:04:30.440 --> 1:04:33.720 you man, Nobody sings like that. Bro. When I first 1:04:33.720 --> 1:04:36.800 heard Sam Smith that, I thought, there's a tank fan. 1:04:37.600 --> 1:04:45.520 There's a thing you know, spit me. Come on, man, 1:04:46.560 --> 1:04:48.440 you don't even sing like that no more. I got 1:04:48.440 --> 1:04:51.440 so many calls and tweets he doesn't. He kind of 1:04:51.480 --> 1:04:53.680 went away from a female now you know. They thought 1:04:53.680 --> 1:04:56.640 that that was my record. Everybody thought that, oh, Tank 1:04:56.640 --> 1:04:58.520 out a new record. That. Oh. I was like, I 1:04:58.560 --> 1:05:00.640 do oh a couple of and then when I heard 1:05:00.640 --> 1:05:05.080 the record, I was like this, yeah, yeah, you say that. 1:05:05.120 --> 1:05:07.040 He sent you a text. It was like we talked. 1:05:07.080 --> 1:05:11.240 We talked on man and man. Do you know who 1:05:11.280 --> 1:05:13.640 I recently made a mean acquaintance too? That was just 1:05:13.720 --> 1:05:16.320 a huge I should have mentioned him because he's a 1:05:16.360 --> 1:05:19.280 huge influence as well as Maxwell I met. I met 1:05:19.360 --> 1:05:22.800 him very researchly at the Diddy party in Vegas, and uh, man, 1:05:22.800 --> 1:05:25.000 it was a really special moment to just shake a 1:05:25.080 --> 1:05:27.120 hand and look a person in the eye and be 1:05:27.200 --> 1:05:30.920 like yo, man, you thank you. And likewise it was similar. 1:05:31.000 --> 1:05:35.160 He's a fan of music. He knows like as much 1:05:35.160 --> 1:05:38.520 as you, as much as Maxwell looks kind of like 1:05:38.600 --> 1:05:41.560 he's in his own world and kind of separated me 1:05:41.600 --> 1:05:43.880 because I mean, I think for for me growing up, 1:05:43.920 --> 1:05:47.960 Maxwell was always like this mystical character, you know what 1:05:48.000 --> 1:05:51.680 I'm saying, Like he had our brushed. He just brushed 1:05:51.680 --> 1:05:56.080 his tea. He was just set that all he was 1:05:56.160 --> 1:06:01.240 just in a difference. You know, I'm gonna brush my 1:06:01.320 --> 1:06:07.840 teeth beautiful song. Was you think that like he's just 1:06:07.960 --> 1:06:10.400 offen to his own thing and doesn't need to worry 1:06:10.440 --> 1:06:13.200 about the rest of the world. But he knows he's 1:06:13.240 --> 1:06:16.800 paying attention. He's paying attention. He's a fan of music, 1:06:17.160 --> 1:06:20.280 you know what I'm saying. That's what I appreciate producers. 1:06:20.360 --> 1:06:22.720 I mean, come on, that shows a lot of tastes 1:06:22.720 --> 1:06:25.040 and a lot of Already. Okay, so we got the 1:06:25.080 --> 1:06:29.160 vocals from Marvin. Now we need to get the styling. 1:06:29.480 --> 1:06:30.880 What do you want your artists? Who do you want 1:06:30.920 --> 1:06:35.400 your artists to look? It's time to get fly. It's 1:06:35.400 --> 1:06:43.400 time to get fly. Oh, I mean it's who I mean? Wow. 1:06:45.080 --> 1:06:49.480 Let's let's say just because for me, it's kind of 1:06:49.520 --> 1:06:56.160 like I kind of uh, I stole a lot from 1:06:56.280 --> 1:07:02.840 what was baby Face and a hit, you know, the 1:07:02.880 --> 1:07:05.040 door kind of a little bit of that vibe, and 1:07:05.080 --> 1:07:08.520 then the clean essence of like wearing kind of like 1:07:09.280 --> 1:07:13.000 cleaner kind of upscale clothing. Back then, I loved I 1:07:13.040 --> 1:07:15.200 loved the deal style. I love baby and I was 1:07:15.280 --> 1:07:18.920 very GQ, very g Q and It wasn't what we 1:07:18.920 --> 1:07:21.800 were afraid when I saw him live. It was he 1:07:21.880 --> 1:07:24.720 did three suit changes in his show, and I thought 1:07:24.800 --> 1:07:27.360 it was very fitting. It just it just worked how 1:07:27.400 --> 1:07:29.360 he hit it with swag. I was like, that's how 1:07:29.400 --> 1:07:36.760 your voice. And they faced Tony Braxton show. You know 1:07:36.800 --> 1:07:40.680 what I mean. I'm sitting here, I'm watching Tomorrow Braxton, 1:07:40.680 --> 1:07:43.760 little baby, sixteen year old Tomorrow Braxton singing backgrounds for 1:07:44.440 --> 1:07:46.840 you know, and I'm going, wow, okay, this is I'm 1:07:47.360 --> 1:07:49.320 then I see her grow up to be this artist, 1:07:49.320 --> 1:07:53.040 you know. But I watched them. That whole thing happened 1:07:53.040 --> 1:07:56.600 like from the very beginning. I caught the end of 1:07:58.120 --> 1:08:01.360 I caught I caught the riding, the way of breathe, 1:08:01.560 --> 1:08:05.160 breathe again. He was writing his I watched him make 1:08:05.240 --> 1:08:11.000 waiting to exit. Come on, man, champagne. And here in 1:08:11.040 --> 1:08:13.680 the next two year or has he poured it off? 1:08:13.960 --> 1:08:17.400 Poured all the champagne first? Mike Jackson, Madonna has watched 1:08:17.479 --> 1:08:19.880 him and watched him. Do I mean you know I 1:08:19.920 --> 1:08:22.639 could watch him more With Elder barn Did you ask 1:08:22.720 --> 1:08:26.440 him what secretary was, because that's not an actual sec occupation. 1:08:26.920 --> 1:08:28.760 I know a secretary is, but I don't know if 1:08:28.760 --> 1:08:34.360 a secretary secret is an actual occupation. Of course I 1:08:34.360 --> 1:08:39.200 would ask this secretary what the fund is a secretary? 1:08:39.479 --> 1:08:42.679 And then you just you just gotta make a few words, man, 1:08:42.800 --> 1:08:50.040 you know face like, yeah, styling's very very early R 1:08:50.120 --> 1:08:53.599 and B g Q from Baby Face, vocals from Marvin Gaye. 1:08:53.760 --> 1:08:57.280 Who are you gonna get your emotion from? When you 1:08:57.400 --> 1:09:00.639 get your heart from? Well, that's oh man, I wish 1:09:00.640 --> 1:09:02.920 I would because I'm gonna get baby dropping down to 1:09:02.920 --> 1:09:05.080 their knee. Come on, man, that's no. But I mean, 1:09:05.160 --> 1:09:07.880 Kenny is the greatest songwriter ever bro Like, I'm gonna 1:09:07.920 --> 1:09:10.920 give him all the props right now, just because there's 1:09:10.920 --> 1:09:14.040 nobody else who can make you believe them with a 1:09:14.160 --> 1:09:20.519 love song sad happy. I mean that I'm talking about 1:09:20.680 --> 1:09:23.679 in the nineties like there was in the late eighties. 1:09:24.280 --> 1:09:27.840 I mean, when you think about tender Roni, you think 1:09:27.880 --> 1:09:30.559 about On our Own, Bobby Brown, you think about can 1:09:30.640 --> 1:09:33.759 we talk? My mind? Can't we talk? It's having Campbell 1:09:34.680 --> 1:09:39.439 the man. I mean, was it uh the end of 1:09:39.479 --> 1:09:45.240 the road? Um? Like defining moments in my life growing 1:09:45.360 --> 1:09:49.640 up and having you know, uh girlfriends and breaking up 1:09:49.680 --> 1:09:53.839 and having songs that were reconciliation songs getting back together 1:09:54.040 --> 1:09:57.760 to you know, songs that were kind of you just 1:09:57.800 --> 1:10:01.120 have playing in the background when all that debate, it was, 1:10:01.320 --> 1:10:04.040 it was how I cut my tail, Like as an 1:10:04.160 --> 1:10:08.479 R and B guy, there's nobody that I would want 1:10:08.479 --> 1:10:15.559 a song from emotion written. Write to your point, bro. 1:10:17.439 --> 1:10:25.800 I remember being at the Underdogs and and baby Face 1:10:25.880 --> 1:10:30.840 having this song that he recorded on this group. We 1:10:30.960 --> 1:10:34.040 had a hell of Phi singer in the group. No, 1:10:34.080 --> 1:10:37.000 I'm not gonna say a group hell of Phi singer 1:10:37.000 --> 1:10:41.000 in the group who sang the hell out of the song. 1:10:41.320 --> 1:10:44.760 Baby Face song sang the hell out of it. And 1:10:44.800 --> 1:10:48.639 I was like, mm hmm. It was, you know, trick tricking, 1:10:48.760 --> 1:10:52.880 a bunch of twists and turns and athletics. See what 1:10:52.920 --> 1:10:58.040 I'm saying in the vocals, right, And he's like baby 1:10:58.040 --> 1:11:06.640 Face like and then baby Face sang the song, not 1:11:06.800 --> 1:11:11.639 all the acrobatics, not all the twist and turn, all 1:11:11.680 --> 1:11:17.280 the fields, all all the fields. It was like, it's 1:11:17.280 --> 1:11:19.720 a great artist to pick from. Oh my god. It's 1:11:19.760 --> 1:11:22.479 like the way that you express yourself even when you speak, bro, 1:11:22.560 --> 1:11:25.320 It's like you you're a very charismatic person. So it's 1:11:25.360 --> 1:11:29.760 like there's there's a lot of um emotion behind what 1:11:29.920 --> 1:11:33.519 you say because you're not afraid to say how you feel. 1:11:33.880 --> 1:11:36.760 Because you're able to express how you feel, people get 1:11:36.800 --> 1:11:40.479 where you're coming from and they received that. And that's 1:11:40.600 --> 1:11:43.960 that's a gift man, because um, that means anything that 1:11:44.040 --> 1:11:47.679 you say, you know it's going to turn that statement 1:11:47.720 --> 1:11:52.000 into something else. It could be something the smallest little statement, 1:11:52.080 --> 1:11:55.880 but um, the way that you say it now all 1:11:55.880 --> 1:11:59.400 of a sudden is is what makes it so special, 1:12:00.040 --> 1:12:01.880 you know. So I feel like we all have our 1:12:01.920 --> 1:12:05.120 own little fingerprint. We could put on those those statements, 1:12:05.120 --> 1:12:07.599 our own way. We should have that, you know. But 1:12:07.920 --> 1:12:12.160 just there's certain ones that just stick around, like you 1:12:12.240 --> 1:12:14.280 can't get that. You can't even wash that off the wall. 1:12:14.360 --> 1:12:17.280 I think you know what I'm saying, just because it's 1:12:17.280 --> 1:12:19.840 so it's just he just put the stuff. He just 1:12:19.880 --> 1:12:25.479 puts the stuff on it. Fourth piece of the four 1:12:25.560 --> 1:12:29.320 pieces performance, who are you taking the performance? Well, I 1:12:29.320 --> 1:12:34.200 mean Chris Brown's me. You can do all that and 1:12:34.240 --> 1:12:38.880 then you can back and that you can temple people 1:12:38.880 --> 1:12:42.559 who can fly across the stage not be winded. And 1:12:43.680 --> 1:12:46.080 I mean the most I think if there's gonna be 1:12:46.080 --> 1:12:49.640 a Michael Jackson of our you know, of our in 1:12:49.680 --> 1:12:53.760 this era, he is our Michael Jackson. You know, I 1:12:53.800 --> 1:12:56.479 would give it to Usher because he's been just as 1:12:57.120 --> 1:12:59.880 resilient of an artist to be withstand all of the 1:13:00.760 --> 1:13:04.599 just all the things that the times and how everything's changed, 1:13:04.680 --> 1:13:09.480 and he's changed with it and he's involved another incredible 1:13:09.479 --> 1:13:14.559 influence on me as a singer. So yeah, I mean 1:13:15.280 --> 1:13:24.320 your yeah, baby Face, Kenny and Chris Bryant, Lord Jaysus. 1:13:26.000 --> 1:13:27.439 I don't know, I just can't think the look thing 1:13:27.560 --> 1:13:29.479 kind of shoot me because I don't really know what 1:13:29.560 --> 1:13:31.800 an artist should look like. But I just remember when 1:13:31.880 --> 1:13:36.320 I first started as as an artist, I was paying 1:13:36.320 --> 1:13:40.120 attention to the slickness of what was happening at the time. 1:13:40.400 --> 1:13:43.000 And I think it's really okay to get back to that, y'all, Like, 1:13:43.080 --> 1:13:45.160 let's get back to because in the nineties we will slick. 1:13:45.439 --> 1:13:47.920 He was not afraid to put on you know what 1:13:47.960 --> 1:13:50.600 I mean, fabric field. That's what bad Boy was. The 1:13:50.680 --> 1:13:53.960 party shirts party because you put on a nice shirt 1:13:54.040 --> 1:13:55.920 to go. You can't get in the club with just anything. 1:13:56.160 --> 1:14:00.240 Oh you couldn't get no T shirts allowed. Put Yeah, 1:14:00.240 --> 1:14:03.000 but don't your ship. Sure a b will say put 1:14:03.040 --> 1:14:09.400 that ship. Yeah, so I got I got a special segment. 1:14:10.439 --> 1:14:14.400 It's called I Ain't saying no names? Will you tell 1:14:14.479 --> 1:14:20.520 us a story? Funny? Are fucked up? Are both? Okay? 1:14:20.800 --> 1:14:24.439 But the only rule you just don't say their name? Okay? Oh, 1:14:24.560 --> 1:14:29.559 I could have done that with the Diane War. I 1:14:29.560 --> 1:14:36.320 mean to put you out there. Um, all right, mm hmm. 1:14:37.800 --> 1:14:42.559 Who do I want to expose? Right, it's your segment, 1:14:42.600 --> 1:14:51.920 my brother? Oh man? Um, you know it's it's always 1:14:51.960 --> 1:14:54.599 crazy because you go through the business and would learn 1:14:54.720 --> 1:14:57.760 one definitely things that I learned in the business. It's 1:14:57.800 --> 1:15:01.000 one thing to be in the corporates side of the industry. 1:15:01.000 --> 1:15:03.280 And so I grew up kind of backwards where it's 1:15:03.320 --> 1:15:07.439 like I got the most credible, powerful manager from the 1:15:07.520 --> 1:15:09.920 very beginning. As soon as I signed to baby Face, 1:15:10.000 --> 1:15:12.800 all assigned to Gallen and Morey, which was Matt Michael 1:15:12.880 --> 1:15:16.080 Jackson's management firms. You know what I'm saying. So I 1:15:16.120 --> 1:15:20.439 got Michael Jackson on the same you know management firm, 1:15:20.600 --> 1:15:23.240 you know what I mean, managed by his manager. It's 1:15:23.280 --> 1:15:27.280 like insane to start from that. You know the names already, right, 1:15:27.520 --> 1:15:30.920 and then go that's fine because I'm I'm a traverse. 1:15:31.439 --> 1:15:35.360 That's not that's not who I'm but but one thing 1:15:35.439 --> 1:15:38.000 is for sure. It's like you know, when you experience 1:15:38.080 --> 1:15:41.880 that first and then you no longer have that management 1:15:42.640 --> 1:15:45.519 and you move on to other managers and managers are 1:15:46.560 --> 1:15:52.920 they come in all kinds of different statuses. They got 1:15:52.960 --> 1:15:56.639 the super powerful, high end managers who every label would 1:15:56.640 --> 1:15:58.439 answer their phone call, and then you've got guys who 1:15:58.439 --> 1:16:03.959 are on the come up. Growing up in the music industry, 1:16:04.000 --> 1:16:07.559 I didn't know who to be loyal to in terms of, like, 1:16:07.680 --> 1:16:10.439 you know, do you stay corporate or do you just 1:16:10.520 --> 1:16:13.719 take people at face value and trust energies and vibes 1:16:13.760 --> 1:16:16.719 from people. So I was much more of a truster 1:16:17.280 --> 1:16:19.280 rather than a person that was just take your word, 1:16:19.280 --> 1:16:21.559 Oh this is who you need to corporate blah blah blah. 1:16:21.560 --> 1:16:24.479 It was much more of like industries like Biden with guys. 1:16:24.520 --> 1:16:25.920 You know what I'm saying. So if I if I 1:16:25.960 --> 1:16:28.000 like your energy, I might work with you, and you 1:16:28.080 --> 1:16:30.240 might not even have on your anybody on your roster. 1:16:30.640 --> 1:16:34.720 You might just be a totally independent manager. Anyway, I 1:16:34.800 --> 1:16:37.840 ended up working with some some guys during the time 1:16:37.880 --> 1:16:42.240 that I met you um for that project, and it's 1:16:42.360 --> 1:16:46.120 really was not the move to make because what happens 1:16:46.120 --> 1:16:49.160 when you sometimes when you work with people who aren't established, 1:16:50.080 --> 1:16:52.840 they use you as like like almost like the main 1:16:54.080 --> 1:16:56.320 thing to base off everything. I mean, I had light 1:16:56.400 --> 1:16:59.800 bills put in my name and in cars and things. 1:16:59.840 --> 1:17:01.800 You what I'm saying I found out about later on 1:17:01.920 --> 1:17:06.280 like dollar like being why what is this I'm paying 1:17:06.360 --> 1:17:09.280 for this over here and this and that. It's basically 1:17:09.320 --> 1:17:12.120 just a reason a check. They're just getting a way 1:17:12.120 --> 1:17:13.960 to be able to make money and just living off 1:17:14.000 --> 1:17:16.280 you and not not really bringing anything to the table. 1:17:16.760 --> 1:17:18.600 They'll be like, oh, such such wants to get at you. 1:17:18.640 --> 1:17:21.120 It's like, all right, cool, do I need to pay 1:17:21.120 --> 1:17:23.439 you for that? Like you know what I mean? Like 1:17:23.479 --> 1:17:26.080 it's literally you just told me now I have to 1:17:26.080 --> 1:17:28.599 go do the work, right, so I have to pay 1:17:28.640 --> 1:17:31.760 you for that, right? All right? So that's right there, 1:17:31.840 --> 1:17:34.479 you know, off of whatever check that was to you 1:17:34.680 --> 1:17:37.439 for just giving me that phone call, which is I 1:17:37.439 --> 1:17:39.840 guess it's it's it's fair, but it's not to me. 1:17:39.880 --> 1:17:44.280 It's like what what constitutes management? What is management? You 1:17:44.320 --> 1:17:46.960 know what I'm saying in terms of like what's the 1:17:47.000 --> 1:17:49.559 work that you're gonna actually do to bring to the table? 1:17:49.600 --> 1:17:55.120 What isn't already there? Because this is my table. It's 1:17:55.160 --> 1:18:00.920 not our table. This is my table. You're person sitting 1:18:01.240 --> 1:18:04.760 at my table, So what are you going to put 1:18:04.880 --> 1:18:08.439 on that? We're eating food right now, right this is 1:18:08.439 --> 1:18:14.200 my table. We're eating dinner. I'm having some food prepared. 1:18:14.720 --> 1:18:17.160 What are you going to bring to the table? That's 1:18:17.200 --> 1:18:20.960 the main thing, because at the end of the day, 1:18:21.360 --> 1:18:24.559 I paid for this meal to even happen. We're sitting 1:18:24.560 --> 1:18:29.960 at this table with a reservation because we had reservation, 1:18:32.040 --> 1:18:33.360 and I have to pay for the bill at the 1:18:33.439 --> 1:18:37.400 end of the night. So that's the thing when you 1:18:37.520 --> 1:18:40.400 learn all this backwards like I did with all the 1:18:40.400 --> 1:18:42.439 glitz and the glamour. I mean, I'm going I'm sitting 1:18:42.520 --> 1:18:45.320 right next to Whitney Houston at the Grammys my first 1:18:45.400 --> 1:18:48.960 year with baby Face, you know, for someone to love 1:18:48.960 --> 1:18:53.200 because we got nominated. That's not a regular situation. I 1:18:53.439 --> 1:18:55.920 learned backwards, Like so I had to go from that 1:18:56.600 --> 1:19:03.000 to being like okay, you know, you know, not being 1:19:03.040 --> 1:19:05.799 invited to a lot of different awards shows and wondering 1:19:05.840 --> 1:19:08.240 why and being like okay, you know, and just kind 1:19:08.240 --> 1:19:11.920 of playing the you know, the back of the scenes 1:19:11.960 --> 1:19:13.560 a little bit more, you know, and just kind of 1:19:13.600 --> 1:19:17.320 appreciate it. But it was because of of guys like that. 1:19:17.479 --> 1:19:20.320 The guy I'm describing was just not in the industry 1:19:20.520 --> 1:19:23.000 but wanted to be, but was willing to just live 1:19:23.040 --> 1:19:25.639 off of me and take what was coming to me, 1:19:26.360 --> 1:19:29.320 you know, to kind of keep me at bay. And 1:19:29.920 --> 1:19:32.679 if you spend enough time dealing with people like that, 1:19:32.960 --> 1:19:35.920 you're you're gonna fall off. Like you, there's something that's 1:19:35.920 --> 1:19:40.120 gonna happen within you that will be not conducive for 1:19:40.160 --> 1:19:42.760 the industry. The industry is gonna start saying stuff about 1:19:42.800 --> 1:19:45.559 either gonna talk about either, you know what I mean. 1:19:45.560 --> 1:19:48.000 And so two thousand four, as I'm saying, I'm stronger 1:19:48.040 --> 1:19:51.840 every day, ironically enough, was the beginning of an era 1:19:52.000 --> 1:19:56.800 that the industry for some reason wasn't feeling me. They 1:19:56.800 --> 1:19:58.880 were like, well, that's cool, where's the baby? You know. 1:19:58.880 --> 1:20:01.320 I don't know what they were thinking, but it definitely 1:20:01.360 --> 1:20:06.280 wasn't like our our song, Our song Lately went Hard. Um. 1:20:06.320 --> 1:20:08.559 I had other records on that album that We're Dope 1:20:08.600 --> 1:20:11.960 as well. I worked with Kenny on that album, but 1:20:12.080 --> 1:20:16.200 for some reason, that album wasn't as welcomed as other 1:20:17.680 --> 1:20:20.479 as other albums of mine. And I didn't know if 1:20:20.520 --> 1:20:22.400 it was the promotion. I didn't know what it was. 1:20:22.439 --> 1:20:26.080 I just but I really now know that it was 1:20:26.160 --> 1:20:28.320 the management that I had in all the people that 1:20:28.360 --> 1:20:31.200 I had closest to me around me that were the 1:20:31.800 --> 1:20:35.680 made that whole. So I don't almost lost my house. Um, 1:20:35.720 --> 1:20:38.439 I mean, it's it's the management. It's tough, it's a 1:20:38.560 --> 1:20:41.400 it's a real miracle that I still live where I 1:20:41.439 --> 1:20:43.640 live because of the fact that we were able to 1:20:44.040 --> 1:20:48.200 work everything out with with my my current business managers 1:20:48.200 --> 1:20:50.200 and stuff like that. But it's it was a lot 1:20:50.360 --> 1:20:53.080 to have to to to to bail myself out or 1:20:53.479 --> 1:20:56.120 you know, first, I was the divorce of a high 1:20:56.120 --> 1:20:58.360 school sweetheart that I'm married, you know, like straight out 1:20:58.360 --> 1:21:00.320 of high school, trying to didn't want my life to change, 1:21:00.800 --> 1:21:02.960 so I tried to marry her and that was a 1:21:03.000 --> 1:21:05.320 bad deal. So we you know, we got divorced. And 1:21:05.840 --> 1:21:09.000 right after that, you know, it was like three years 1:21:09.000 --> 1:21:13.640 of being sort of in this limbo place where it 1:21:13.720 --> 1:21:16.439 was like because of these managers, and I was just 1:21:16.560 --> 1:21:20.200 really I was mad at the music industry. I was like, 1:21:20.240 --> 1:21:24.240 I've already done. I've already sold platinums. What why do 1:21:24.320 --> 1:21:26.720 I have to keep proving myself like this. I just 1:21:26.760 --> 1:21:29.479 want to celebrate the music now and and do me, 1:21:29.600 --> 1:21:32.040 you know. But it was there was a lot of 1:21:32.080 --> 1:21:34.720 a lot of voices around me at that time that 1:21:34.840 --> 1:21:37.640 kind of being like, well, they're just I don't know, 1:21:37.720 --> 1:21:41.040 I can't really get people to fight on this. I 1:21:41.040 --> 1:21:42.680 can't you know, I don't know if they're feeling it. 1:21:43.439 --> 1:21:46.360 Promoters don't really you know, it's like, what hold on, man, 1:21:46.960 --> 1:21:49.880 back off. Maybe it's as soon as I moved those 1:21:49.920 --> 1:21:53.720 people out of the way and I will I will 1:21:53.760 --> 1:21:58.960 say the defining moment was when I met my wife, Um. 1:21:59.000 --> 1:22:02.639 I had already known her for like ten years before 1:22:02.640 --> 1:22:06.799 we were more romantically involved, but basically she was started 1:22:06.800 --> 1:22:10.080 off as a friend of mine and we kind of 1:22:10.960 --> 1:22:14.200 established ourselves and you know, more than that after after 1:22:14.360 --> 1:22:16.960 knowing each other, like even liking each other and flirting 1:22:16.960 --> 1:22:19.160 and all that. But it was it was the one 1:22:19.200 --> 1:22:22.400 thing that kind of I related to her so much. 1:22:22.439 --> 1:22:24.320 I was like, why don't you just try to get 1:22:24.320 --> 1:22:26.439 me some gigs? Like you try? You know. She was 1:22:26.479 --> 1:22:29.000 like all right, well cool, and so we It was 1:22:29.000 --> 1:22:31.400 that kind of out of necessity because we were both 1:22:31.439 --> 1:22:35.280 so disenfranchised with management. The whole idea of giving so 1:22:35.360 --> 1:22:37.880 much power to someone and then they could take it 1:22:37.880 --> 1:22:41.120 for grant to do whatever steer you into essentially where 1:22:41.120 --> 1:22:43.800 you don't want to be. Um. Yeah, So I was like, man, like, 1:22:43.920 --> 1:22:46.799 let's just try this. And we've been rocking together ever since. 1:22:46.840 --> 1:22:49.759 And I mean we turned my brand around. Man, we 1:22:49.760 --> 1:22:53.720 we turned everything around. And I mean everything that we've 1:22:53.720 --> 1:22:58.479 done has been independent for the last fifteen years. It's 1:22:58.479 --> 1:23:01.519 been crazy that I've been a was stay, a float 1:23:01.680 --> 1:23:03.640 and more than a float. I mean, I'm one of 1:23:03.680 --> 1:23:13.600 the hardest working men. And the beautiful, beautiful tour we 1:23:13.640 --> 1:23:16.120 did at the City one around was telling you love 1:23:16.200 --> 1:23:19.599 that venue and the fans just it's just such an 1:23:19.680 --> 1:23:23.560 incredible opportunity to reconnect with my fans. You know, the 1:23:23.880 --> 1:23:26.200 COVID took us out for eighteen months man, when he 1:23:26.240 --> 1:23:28.960 wasn't gigging. So it's just such a blessing. We know, 1:23:30.000 --> 1:23:34.240 we know he was like, yeah, you know what hey man. 1:23:35.920 --> 1:23:38.679 You know, I was like, I gotta get on the road. 1:23:38.920 --> 1:23:40.960 I was like, come on, I gotta get on this road, man. 1:23:41.000 --> 1:23:44.280 This is I was just I was really disappointing because 1:23:44.360 --> 1:23:46.639 I had just done a record with my man, don 1:23:46.640 --> 1:23:48.639 El Jones. We got in the studio and we did 1:23:48.640 --> 1:23:51.559 it song. I played the record on the road. We 1:23:51.560 --> 1:23:52.800 were on the road and I played it to him. 1:23:52.880 --> 1:23:55.160 He's like, man, I like that, and I was like 1:23:55.240 --> 1:23:58.040 you do. I was like, let's cut this, let's let's 1:23:58.080 --> 1:24:00.840 get it. So he was so cool about it. Man. 1:24:00.840 --> 1:24:03.200 He sent me the file right back. I was like, 1:24:03.280 --> 1:24:05.599 let's do this video. He came to shot the video 1:24:05.680 --> 1:24:08.000 with me. Man. I was like, honored, man, And it 1:24:08.080 --> 1:24:11.000 was really h uh, you know, an honor for me 1:24:11.080 --> 1:24:14.080 to work with a legend like that shout out, we 1:24:14.080 --> 1:24:17.519 need the that's this is where you want to be, 1:24:18.080 --> 1:24:19.839 this is this is where you want to mar you money. 1:24:19.880 --> 1:24:22.040 This is what he He's one of us, that's what 1:24:22.080 --> 1:24:24.120 he does. So that's why it was that. It was 1:24:24.160 --> 1:24:26.160 a huge blessing to haven't come blessed me on that 1:24:26.160 --> 1:24:29.040 that track. Understands the name of the record. I wrote 1:24:29.040 --> 1:24:32.080 and produced it myself and shot that video. Man, it 1:24:32.120 --> 1:24:33.880 was like it felt real good, like all right, this 1:24:33.960 --> 1:24:37.599 is something new. Put this out and then COVID HiT's 1:24:37.720 --> 1:24:40.080 like you know. We had another song we put out 1:24:40.080 --> 1:24:42.000 called Priceless as well. We did a video for that 1:24:42.040 --> 1:24:44.160 as well, so check them out, man, if you haven't 1:24:44.200 --> 1:24:47.600 checked it out, understand and Priceless are available now. But 1:24:47.640 --> 1:24:50.439 that kind of the whole COVID then kind of shut 1:24:50.479 --> 1:24:52.560 the album process down because it's like, all right, what 1:24:52.600 --> 1:24:55.200 do we do now? You know? Um? What I ended 1:24:55.280 --> 1:25:04.760 up during doing during the the the whole the Anoramic, yeah, 1:25:05.520 --> 1:25:09.080 was I did these online performances man, which was was 1:25:09.160 --> 1:25:11.519 really cool. I found a really cool venue downtown. It 1:25:11.600 --> 1:25:14.599 was like a loft kind of energy with like dim lights. 1:25:14.640 --> 1:25:16.960 We brought the you know, we brought the crew with 1:25:17.000 --> 1:25:19.160 the cameras and we just it was a multi camera 1:25:19.200 --> 1:25:20.920 set up so it was like it was it was 1:25:20.960 --> 1:25:24.599 shot well, you know, like moving cameras, a little movement, 1:25:24.720 --> 1:25:26.680 you know what I mean, a little panty and we 1:25:26.720 --> 1:25:29.160 had a little you know, mark audience kind of just 1:25:30.320 --> 1:25:35.920 maybe ten fifteen people showing um and uh. We put 1:25:35.960 --> 1:25:39.200 that on and every every month I got in touch 1:25:39.240 --> 1:25:40.439 with my fans. I was like, what do you want 1:25:40.439 --> 1:25:43.040 to hear this one? You know? And he was going 1:25:43.120 --> 1:25:45.880 direct to consumer, so it was it was a great 1:25:45.880 --> 1:25:48.080 way to kind of test myself too, Like all right, 1:25:48.160 --> 1:25:50.840 I haven't done this one a long time. Let's break 1:25:50.880 --> 1:25:53.559 this went out from the first album or whatever. So yeah, 1:25:53.560 --> 1:25:56.639 it was really really fun. And some of those songs 1:25:56.680 --> 1:25:59.880 that I actually dusted off, you know, dusted brought out 1:25:59.920 --> 1:26:02.000 of crazy. I was like, uh, I was like, man, 1:26:02.040 --> 1:26:04.559 I'm scared to sing this one because the range was 1:26:05.320 --> 1:26:10.400 when but boys like, it's good to sing those songs man, 1:26:10.560 --> 1:26:12.559 you know, and and bring those back and now some 1:26:12.640 --> 1:26:14.760 of them actually made it into my current set now. 1:26:14.920 --> 1:26:19.960 So it's a fun time. Brother John B Dam Mr 1:26:20.040 --> 1:26:25.439 bucks Man big Bucks Big that was like a game 1:26:25.439 --> 1:26:29.240 back in the day. No ways big Bucks, no Wammy, 1:26:29.520 --> 1:26:35.360 big R and b Bucks Um. One thing that you know, 1:26:36.200 --> 1:26:39.640 one thing that I've always been impressed about you is, 1:26:40.000 --> 1:26:44.520 you know, along with your humility, you're just extremely gracious 1:26:44.960 --> 1:26:49.879 cheers bro, You're just extremely like you know, it's always 1:26:49.960 --> 1:26:53.720 a smile and it's always like, well at least we've 1:26:53.720 --> 1:27:03.000 got water, Like you're oh, I'm I'm definitely the glasses 1:27:03.040 --> 1:27:06.719 have full. Like I'm definitely that. But you're like you're 1:27:06.760 --> 1:27:10.080 like my mirror image and you're probably step further. I 1:27:10.080 --> 1:27:12.479 wish you could hear the news I haven't about to 1:27:12.520 --> 1:27:16.479 put out it's called waiting on you. Right, man, You're 1:27:16.520 --> 1:27:19.519 like the number one influence for the song, and you 1:27:19.560 --> 1:27:25.479 are the person that is the reason why I felt 1:27:25.520 --> 1:27:29.080 like that. There's there's only so many people I can 1:27:29.080 --> 1:27:33.639 say can reflect an emotion that's similar like this, and 1:27:34.000 --> 1:27:37.439 I hope that's a It says how much you've affected 1:27:37.479 --> 1:27:39.599 me as an artist. You know, when when you can 1:27:41.040 --> 1:27:43.439 relate to someone so much that it's like you don't 1:27:43.479 --> 1:27:47.639 have to try. The grown man John By has has 1:27:47.640 --> 1:27:50.200 been around the tanks, you know what I'm saying and 1:27:50.400 --> 1:27:54.800 taking some notes and be like, nah, you know when 1:27:54.800 --> 1:27:57.320 you when you crow the way and you you could 1:27:57.360 --> 1:27:59.800 be like bent over and kind of like no, but 1:28:00.080 --> 1:28:03.240 you yeah, back lifted and you just know you're gonna 1:28:03.280 --> 1:28:06.200 get that weight up right. That's the way I'm approaching 1:28:06.200 --> 1:28:09.360 what I'm doing now. This is a different confidence. Has 1:28:09.400 --> 1:28:13.800 a grown man the muscle developed muscles well without being 1:28:13.800 --> 1:28:19.120 physically you can't really compare that, no, you know, but 1:28:19.160 --> 1:28:21.920 I will say I'm working on those things, preserving those 1:28:22.160 --> 1:28:26.519 you know here part time trying to man, I just 1:28:26.640 --> 1:28:32.680 randomly got I'm trying to John today. If it's a 1:28:32.800 --> 1:28:36.880 rap job to get a sixth bag I'm not doing 1:28:36.920 --> 1:28:40.040 We're not doing that. No. If I take my shirt 1:28:40.080 --> 1:28:45.040 off on stage, who never, you never ever see that. 1:28:45.080 --> 1:28:47.720 I think it's only you probably weren't that twite one 1:28:47.800 --> 1:28:52.880 or two times you got the voice music? Yeah, you 1:28:52.960 --> 1:28:57.840 got you got it all. Man. We have been honored, Um, 1:28:58.320 --> 1:28:59.720 we have been honored to spend a lot of time 1:28:59.760 --> 1:29:01.599 with Man. We just we I don't even I don't 1:29:01.600 --> 1:29:07.200 even been counting how long to talk vibe and to 1:29:07.280 --> 1:29:10.320 hear your story and you know, and to tap into 1:29:11.320 --> 1:29:14.400 you know, just hear about all of these awesome legendary 1:29:14.520 --> 1:29:17.120 artists that you just came in the game and just 1:29:17.920 --> 1:29:22.639 tackled like that's just that's not normal, man, It's not normal. Man. 1:29:22.760 --> 1:29:29.040 Salute to you and you're you're still your your ever 1:29:29.080 --> 1:29:31.800 growing career. Man. We always see each other on the 1:29:31.880 --> 1:29:36.040 road and it's always love. It's always a beverage always 1:29:36.120 --> 1:29:39.479 and and I promise you, man, that is never going 1:29:39.560 --> 1:29:42.960 to change from you. Don't even know what that means 1:29:42.960 --> 1:29:44.760 to me, Bro, to run into you like this and 1:29:44.800 --> 1:29:47.840 had this opportunity to reconnect with you, bro, because I mean, 1:29:47.880 --> 1:29:50.640 we we got history. We've been rocking together for some 1:29:50.760 --> 1:29:53.040 years now. I remember when you first came out. I 1:29:53.120 --> 1:29:56.880 was in London talking on radio like I got this 1:29:56.960 --> 1:29:58.800 new single I'm about to you know, because we had 1:29:58.840 --> 1:30:01.760 just worked. It was right not too long after your 1:30:01.760 --> 1:30:06.000 first first couple of singles worked and so you know, 1:30:06.040 --> 1:30:10.000 they hadn't really gotten you yet over in London yet. 1:30:10.040 --> 1:30:12.720 They were on their way, but it was just just 1:30:12.760 --> 1:30:14.920 starting the bubble and I was like, no, Tank is 1:30:14.960 --> 1:30:18.320 the future. Tank is the future. You know, Lately is 1:30:18.360 --> 1:30:20.559 about to be. And you know we made it to 1:30:20.600 --> 1:30:23.800 the top top. It was a top five record in London. 1:30:24.360 --> 1:30:26.080 A lot of people that don't know that that was 1:30:26.200 --> 1:30:30.759 Lately made it. I went to t rl MTV in England, yeah, 1:30:30.920 --> 1:30:34.200 to go talk about the video on the song and 1:30:34.200 --> 1:30:40.160 working with you and so yeah, ladies and gentlemen, I 1:30:40.200 --> 1:30:42.200 don't know who you get to hang out with, you 1:30:42.240 --> 1:30:44.720 know what I'm saying, you know, doing your afternoons and 1:30:44.840 --> 1:30:47.000 just kick it with and get good information from there. 1:30:47.240 --> 1:30:49.760 But if the Rmy Money podcast, me and my brother 1:30:49.880 --> 1:30:53.200 Day Bound the time we got the kicks, Mr John Man, 1:30:53.320 --> 1:31:12.599 please make some Lloyd's for my brothers, then R and 1:31:12.640 --> 1:31:17.559 B Money. R and B Money is the production of 1:31:17.560 --> 1:31:20.800 the Black Effect podcast network. For more podcasts from I 1:31:20.920 --> 1:31:24.800 Heart Radio, visit the irheart Radio app, Apple podcast, or 1:31:24.800 --> 1:31:27.519 wherever you're listen to your favorite shows. Don't forget to 1:31:27.560 --> 1:31:31.000 subscribe to and rate our show, and you can connect 1:31:31.000 --> 1:31:33.960 with us on social media via at R and B 1:31:34.080 --> 1:31:37.080 Money podcast or at The Real Tank or at j 1:31:37.280 --> 1:31:37.840 Valentine