WEBVTT - NICK BROOKS - From the Kitchen to the Page 0:00:13.400 --> 0:00:16.520 Hey guys, welcome to another episode of Eating While Broke. 0:00:16.640 --> 0:00:18.560 I'm your host Coley Wick, and today. 0:00:18.320 --> 0:00:23.079 We have very special guest author, filmmaker, musician Nick Brooks 0:00:23.079 --> 0:00:23.680 in the building. 0:00:24.079 --> 0:00:24.799 How are you doing. 0:00:25.000 --> 0:00:27.720 I'm doing well. Thanks for having me excited to make 0:00:27.760 --> 0:00:28.280 some roto. 0:00:28.480 --> 0:00:29.600 I felt like a radio host. 0:00:32.240 --> 0:00:36.479 If you don't know Nick Brooks, he has this is 0:00:36.560 --> 0:00:39.599 a novel called Promised Boys. And then you have Up 0:00:39.600 --> 0:00:42.000 and Smoke that's coming out in May. You have an 0:00:42.040 --> 0:00:46.040 album that's dropping accompanying the book in May. And then 0:00:46.280 --> 0:00:49.479 I did read somewhere and you could dispel the rumor 0:00:49.560 --> 0:00:51.920 or not, but I did read that this was also 0:00:52.040 --> 0:00:54.840 picked up by Promised Boys, was picked up by Netflix. 0:00:55.080 --> 0:00:58.040 It was Obama's and produced. 0:00:57.680 --> 0:00:59.920 That's what I wanted to highlight, and produced by the OBA. 0:01:00.800 --> 0:01:03.280 So this is a really big deal. I want to 0:01:03.280 --> 0:01:05.760 cover all that. I want to cover all those moments. 0:01:06.319 --> 0:01:08.880 But before we get into a Nick, you gotta tell 0:01:08.880 --> 0:01:11.759 me what you're gonna be cooking me for breakfast today. 0:01:13.040 --> 0:01:15.640 Man, you got a great breakfast coming up. This is hotel, 0:01:16.280 --> 0:01:19.440 something I was introduced to in college. It's essentially just 0:01:19.720 --> 0:01:23.280 ground meat, turkey, beef, whatever, melted cheese, and tomatoes. 0:01:23.600 --> 0:01:27.400 Awesome, very simple, very easy. I love me a broke 0:01:27.440 --> 0:01:30.800 dish because the broker, the story broker, the dish, the 0:01:30.840 --> 0:01:33.360 real of the story, the better the story. That's what 0:01:33.440 --> 0:01:36.400 I've learned on this shed. Anytime I get a dish 0:01:36.400 --> 0:01:40.640 that has a million ingredients, you already know the story 0:01:40.640 --> 0:01:41.200 ain't gonna be. 0:01:42.800 --> 0:01:45.080 So go ahead, start whipping me up my breakfast. 0:01:45.240 --> 0:01:45.959 Okay, okay. 0:01:46.040 --> 0:01:47.119 And while you're. 0:01:46.959 --> 0:01:50.920 Whipping up this breakfast, you can't go ahead and take 0:01:50.960 --> 0:01:53.200 me back to what was going on during. 0:01:53.000 --> 0:01:56.320 The roteal days. Wait, yeah, you already went through the grees. 0:01:56.320 --> 0:01:59.080 Go ahead, yeah, the hotel days. I'll take you back. 0:01:59.160 --> 0:02:01.400 Like I said, I was introduce to Rotel in college 0:02:01.480 --> 0:02:05.040 and I'm from DC. Initially went to school in Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma, 0:02:05.080 --> 0:02:07.080 so it was a huge culture shock. The way I 0:02:07.120 --> 0:02:09.240 got there is because, like you mentioned, I'm a musician 0:02:09.760 --> 0:02:12.200 and I was rapping. I was in a group and 0:02:12.240 --> 0:02:13.400 then we were trying to figure out what we were 0:02:13.400 --> 0:02:14.959 gonna do, and was trying to get out of the city, 0:02:14.960 --> 0:02:17.560 trying to get out of DC. And I got into 0:02:17.800 --> 0:02:19.079 the school did I get into? I got in North 0:02:19.080 --> 0:02:22.079 Carolina and t and I wanted to go to Hampton, 0:02:22.280 --> 0:02:24.480 didn't get into Hamptons and my man who was rapping 0:02:24.480 --> 0:02:26.360 with he got into He got into Hampton, but not 0:02:26.400 --> 0:02:27.760 North Carolina, and so it was like, okay, that's not 0:02:27.800 --> 0:02:30.120 gonna work. And then suddenly we got a. 0:02:30.160 --> 0:02:32.280 Visit Fumus because wanted to stay together. 0:02:32.160 --> 0:02:34.040 Because we was rapping, and we was like, okay, it's 0:02:34.040 --> 0:02:36.880 one of those things. Like my mom, she was a nurse, 0:02:36.919 --> 0:02:38.760 she was real practical. Same thing with his family. He's like, oh, 0:02:38.760 --> 0:02:40.440 you got to go to college. So he was like, okay, 0:02:40.480 --> 0:02:42.120 we'll go to college, but once we get there, we're 0:02:42.120 --> 0:02:44.120 gonna still make this rap thing work. And a recruiter 0:02:44.120 --> 0:02:46.480 came to our school talking about the school Oklahoma University, 0:02:46.520 --> 0:02:48.959 which I had never heard of, and I think probably 0:02:48.960 --> 0:02:50.400 at that point I don't even know if I had 0:02:50.440 --> 0:02:52.400 been on a plane, and they took us out there 0:02:52.400 --> 0:02:55.000 to visit the school. It was an amazing experience. It 0:02:55.080 --> 0:02:57.320 was great, and turns out we both got in and 0:02:57.400 --> 0:02:59.240 we was like, we're gonna go to Oklahoma, and so anyway, 0:03:00.080 --> 0:03:02.280 that's how because people always ask me, like, Oklahoma's random 0:03:02.360 --> 0:03:04.440 from DC, but that's how we got in. That was 0:03:04.440 --> 0:03:05.920 the school we got into, and we wanted to go. 0:03:05.960 --> 0:03:07.160 We wanted to make music. 0:03:07.200 --> 0:03:08.760 And were childhood friends. 0:03:08.840 --> 0:03:10.640 Childhood friends. Yeah, it's my god brother. 0:03:10.680 --> 0:03:14.280 So I'm sure your parents were very at ease knowing 0:03:14.320 --> 0:03:15.600 that they sent the set. 0:03:16.080 --> 0:03:18.519 For sure, for sure, for sure, for sure they were. 0:03:19.160 --> 0:03:23.000 And I've always been a very independent Like I was 0:03:23.040 --> 0:03:26.280 super independent. My mom remarried at like when I was 0:03:26.280 --> 0:03:29.360 like nine, and she had three daughters, so like she 0:03:29.440 --> 0:03:31.480 had a lot going on. So I was always independent. 0:03:33.120 --> 0:03:35.720 Yeah yeah, yeah, with her, with my stuff. If I 0:03:35.760 --> 0:03:37.320 was just doing my own thing. I started working at 0:03:37.360 --> 0:03:39.800 thirteen type shit. I was always on my own. So 0:03:40.720 --> 0:03:42.520 it's funny because my little sisters, they all went to 0:03:42.520 --> 0:03:44.240 school right My mom didn't want them to go nowhere. 0:03:44.240 --> 0:03:46.920 They all right around DC. But for me, she would like, 0:03:46.960 --> 0:03:48.480 wherever you're gonna go, you know what I mean, which 0:03:48.520 --> 0:03:50.520 was fine. I ended up it turned out okay. But 0:03:50.640 --> 0:03:53.840 so yeah, we ended up in Oklahoma and I met 0:03:54.000 --> 0:03:55.560 and I started to meet different people. That's a good 0:03:55.560 --> 0:03:57.280 thing about college. I do think some of it is 0:03:57.280 --> 0:04:00.000 a little bit of a sham, but you meet people 0:04:00.160 --> 0:04:02.040 from all over the place, you know what I'm saying. 0:04:02.240 --> 0:04:04.320 I got to meet people from the South, I got 0:04:04.320 --> 0:04:07.400 meet a lot of people from Texas primarily, And so 0:04:07.680 --> 0:04:10.560 I'm in school and Rotel. Of course, you in college. 0:04:10.600 --> 0:04:12.760 Nobody has money in college from when I ended up 0:04:12.760 --> 0:04:14.240 having to train for the Howard which I'll get to, 0:04:14.360 --> 0:04:16.280 and those kids had a little bit of money. But 0:04:16.480 --> 0:04:19.560 we're in college and trying to figure out, just trying 0:04:19.560 --> 0:04:21.160 to figure it out, and we get introduced to this 0:04:21.160 --> 0:04:23.279 this It was two dishes that people made a lot. 0:04:23.360 --> 0:04:27.960 It was in Rotel. That's where it started. And now 0:04:28.040 --> 0:04:29.480 you know what, I actually know what the first time 0:04:29.520 --> 0:04:30.520 I had it. The first time I had I was 0:04:30.520 --> 0:04:33.680 at a kickback and it was out. I tried it. 0:04:33.680 --> 0:04:36.120 It was amazing, and it's like, yo, what is this? 0:04:36.320 --> 0:04:38.120 I just never had it? And it was like, it's 0:04:38.160 --> 0:04:42.880 called rotel, And so they told us it's just cheese, meat, tomatoes, 0:04:43.040 --> 0:04:43.680 and boom. 0:04:43.440 --> 0:04:45.480 You get and then the crazy on the tomatoes. It's 0:04:45.520 --> 0:04:46.080 called rotel. 0:04:46.680 --> 0:04:48.480 It really but I didn't notice that. 0:04:49.880 --> 0:04:51.320 Today. 0:04:51.720 --> 0:04:53.760 I had never I never realized. 0:04:53.320 --> 0:04:54.479 That maybe that's why they called it. 0:04:54.960 --> 0:04:58.120 Of course, of course I never realized that it's got 0:04:58.120 --> 0:05:03.960 to be right. It's too much of a coincidence. Yeah, 0:05:04.000 --> 0:05:05.720 But of course, like you said, how you just realized 0:05:05.720 --> 0:05:08.040 that today. It took me a while to realize that too. 0:05:08.120 --> 0:05:10.200 But yeah, so it's like, okay, cool with it. That's 0:05:10.279 --> 0:05:12.280 essentially where it started. It's like I was at a 0:05:12.360 --> 0:05:16.120 kickback in college in Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma, of all places, 0:05:16.480 --> 0:05:18.560 and it's the first time I had this dish and 0:05:18.800 --> 0:05:21.480 it was amazing, and I made it. We probably made 0:05:21.520 --> 0:05:22.920 it once a week and it would last us the 0:05:22.920 --> 0:05:24.320 whole week. You know what I'm saying. Make it will 0:05:24.360 --> 0:05:27.560 make it every probably every Monday, last us the whole 0:05:27.600 --> 0:05:29.640 week through the weekend any parties. It's also a great 0:05:29.680 --> 0:05:31.480 drunk food, you know what I'm saying, because it's the meat, 0:05:31.480 --> 0:05:35.440 it's the chips. You could do it for snack, do 0:05:35.440 --> 0:05:37.760 it for dinner. It's good when you're drinking. Like, it's 0:05:37.800 --> 0:05:40.560 just versatile. It's cheap, that's the main thing. It's cheap. 0:05:40.600 --> 0:05:43.320 So it's just a versatile meal, easy to pack up, 0:05:43.360 --> 0:05:45.640 easy to take, easy to store, you know what I'm saying. 0:05:45.680 --> 0:05:47.360 So that's where rotel started. 0:05:48.520 --> 0:05:52.320 Okay, so you're in college, you're with your wrap mats. 0:05:52.560 --> 0:05:54.680 Yes, what are you going to school for? 0:05:55.600 --> 0:05:59.280 So at the time, I was going to school for nursing. Again, 0:05:59.320 --> 0:06:01.760 if you remember, my mom was in there. She was 0:06:01.760 --> 0:06:03.840 the most scesful person I knew, you know what I'm saying. 0:06:03.839 --> 0:06:06.159 She my dad worked on the railroad, and then my 0:06:06.160 --> 0:06:07.680 grandfather Will I spend a lot of time with if 0:06:07.680 --> 0:06:09.800 he was a pastor. So these was really as far 0:06:09.800 --> 0:06:13.279 as adults like these, my mom was the most selfriend cool. 0:06:13.279 --> 0:06:16.680 Maybe I'd be a nurse, which I would have made 0:06:16.680 --> 0:06:20.279 a terrible nurse because I don't like people all that much, 0:06:20.279 --> 0:06:22.880 you know what I'm saying. But I ended up going 0:06:22.920 --> 0:06:24.640 into so yeah, I was doing nursing. 0:06:24.520 --> 0:06:26.360 And your mom was probably happy to hear that too. 0:06:27.040 --> 0:06:30.240 Again, security and she's practical. She And here's the other thing, 0:06:30.279 --> 0:06:32.120 it's all my mom knew for real, like she because 0:06:32.160 --> 0:06:33.800 that's just happened to be what she went to school for. 0:06:33.880 --> 0:06:37.040 I don't even think she really had too much of 0:06:37.040 --> 0:06:39.520 a concept of all the possible possibilities, you know what 0:06:39.520 --> 0:06:42.080 I'm saying. That's something that again, when you like from 0:06:42.120 --> 0:06:44.920 the city like DC, is like you're not always thinking 0:06:44.920 --> 0:06:47.360 about the possibilities. You're thinking about what's easy, was practical, 0:06:47.360 --> 0:06:49.159 and that's what she was on, and that's that's what 0:06:49.240 --> 0:06:50.920 she wanted me to be on, you know what I mean. 0:06:50.960 --> 0:06:54.000 But I was creative, you know what I'm saying. So 0:06:54.360 --> 0:06:56.840 I just did nursing because again that's just what I 0:06:56.920 --> 0:06:58.520 knew was and so that's what I That's what I 0:06:58.560 --> 0:06:59.520 initially was majoring in. 0:07:00.880 --> 0:07:05.160 Okay, so you're where did the ships come in? You 0:07:05.240 --> 0:07:07.880 realize in the middle of class that you didn't like 0:07:07.880 --> 0:07:08.520 your classmates. 0:07:08.520 --> 0:07:10.400 You said you were no. 0:07:10.520 --> 0:07:12.760 So what happened was, so I was doing like I said, 0:07:12.760 --> 0:07:14.680 I was doing nursing, but we still was trying to rap. 0:07:14.760 --> 0:07:17.360 And so what we were doing was we were rapping. 0:07:17.400 --> 0:07:19.520 We were doing a lot of college shows. We both players. 0:07:19.600 --> 0:07:21.640 Was in fraternities, so we're doing step shows, We're doing 0:07:21.640 --> 0:07:24.320 college shows, were on the radio all the time, doing 0:07:24.320 --> 0:07:27.080 features with people in the city, like making music videos. 0:07:27.080 --> 0:07:30.240 We was buzzing in this region. And so what happened 0:07:30.280 --> 0:07:33.280 was I got a call one day from actually another 0:07:33.320 --> 0:07:35.320 nursing students funny enough, and she was like, yo, like 0:07:35.320 --> 0:07:37.560 I got something to tell you. Don't tell nobody. I 0:07:37.560 --> 0:07:40.600 saw your video and I want you to know that 0:07:40.680 --> 0:07:46.080 Kanye West is my cousin. So of course I'm like, okay, 0:07:47.000 --> 0:07:48.640 you know what I'm saying. Like at that time, cap 0:07:48.680 --> 0:07:49.360 wasn't a word. 0:07:49.160 --> 0:07:52.800 But it's Okay, cap, right, but tell me more if 0:07:52.800 --> 0:07:55.280 I would even thought cap because why she didn't want 0:07:55.280 --> 0:07:57.560 to tell you. Okay, so go ahead, but I'm interested. 0:07:57.600 --> 0:07:58.560 I want to hear this phone call. 0:07:58.840 --> 0:08:00.720 Yeah, that's the first thought I had was like bullshit. 0:08:00.800 --> 0:08:02.280 And it's one of those things when you're a artist 0:08:02.320 --> 0:08:04.480 and you're trying to be an audist, you know what 0:08:04.520 --> 0:08:08.120 I'm saying that or people always giving false promises, you 0:08:08.200 --> 0:08:10.320 know how it is. Anyway, I'm like cat, but tell 0:08:10.360 --> 0:08:13.960 me more. So, Kanye's my cousin his family. He's actually 0:08:13.960 --> 0:08:16.400 from Oklahoma, his family from Oklahoma, and we're all still 0:08:16.440 --> 0:08:19.440 pretty much here and he's working on a new album. 0:08:20.400 --> 0:08:23.200 And I sent your video your latest real It was 0:08:23.200 --> 0:08:26.040 a song called Robot that was doing pretty well. It 0:08:26.040 --> 0:08:28.560 was on the radio, dollar we made a video to it. 0:08:28.920 --> 0:08:31.000 She said, I sent you a video Robot to one 0:08:31.000 --> 0:08:33.800 of our other cousins, this guy named Tony Williams. Now, 0:08:34.000 --> 0:08:35.560 I don't know if you're familiar with Tony Williams, but 0:08:35.920 --> 0:08:38.360 world famous Tony Williams is like somebody who still works 0:08:38.360 --> 0:08:40.280 with Kaye's to this day. Is Kanye's cousin. He sings 0:08:40.320 --> 0:08:42.319 on if you listen to college drop out. All the 0:08:42.400 --> 0:08:45.199 vocals are tony or let registration. All the vocals are tony. 0:08:45.240 --> 0:08:47.520 This is it was a pretty big deal at this time. 0:08:47.559 --> 0:08:49.840 So I'm like again, all right, now it's starting to 0:08:49.840 --> 0:08:52.440 make sense. Right, so I'm like, okay, put us in touch. 0:08:52.480 --> 0:08:53.199 Then you know what I'm saying. 0:08:53.520 --> 0:08:55.440 So she said, she said it. He liked it. 0:08:56.080 --> 0:08:57.960 She said he liked it. She said he liked it. 0:08:58.000 --> 0:08:59.520 They're working on a new album. They're working on his 0:08:59.520 --> 0:09:01.600 first album, Good music Play is also working on an 0:09:01.640 --> 0:09:03.559 album which I later learned what I'll tell you what 0:09:03.600 --> 0:09:06.040 album I later learned it was. So I sent it 0:09:06.080 --> 0:09:07.520 to him or I was like, yo, connect this and 0:09:07.520 --> 0:09:10.360 we'll see what happens. Because again I'm not just happens. 0:09:10.400 --> 0:09:12.640 You run into people who make these promises and you 0:09:12.720 --> 0:09:15.920 get disappointed. And again, mind you, at this time, I'm 0:09:15.960 --> 0:09:18.200 skipping a few things. But I was accepted to you 0:09:18.280 --> 0:09:21.000 on the academic probation, meaning like I had to maintain 0:09:21.040 --> 0:09:23.839 a certain GPA. Right, I've already played semester players. I 0:09:23.840 --> 0:09:26.840 got a point to GPS, so I had to exactly. 0:09:26.960 --> 0:09:28.600 So I had to go to to pay some bills, 0:09:28.920 --> 0:09:30.080 so I had to go to summer school and all 0:09:30.080 --> 0:09:32.959 types of I'm just laying some foundations so you just understand. 0:09:33.160 --> 0:09:34.760 And we're also doing all this music. I'm not really 0:09:34.760 --> 0:09:37.160 focused on nursing for real. I'm only doing nursing because 0:09:37.200 --> 0:09:39.240 I'm just have to be in college. I get a 0:09:39.240 --> 0:09:44.120 call a number I don't recognize. Hello, Yo, it's Tony right. 0:09:44.160 --> 0:09:46.320 So Tony Williams caused me, and I'm like, oh shit, 0:09:46.400 --> 0:09:47.040 all right. 0:09:47.600 --> 0:09:48.800 So it's becoming less cat. 0:09:48.920 --> 0:09:50.840 It is becoming a budget less cats. I'm like, oh, 0:09:50.880 --> 0:09:53.080 what's up? What's up? You saw your video, heard a 0:09:53.080 --> 0:09:54.959 few of y'all records, heard y'all been doing your thing. 0:09:55.240 --> 0:09:57.240 I want to take you to our studio in Oklahoma City. 0:09:57.320 --> 0:10:00.280 It's called Diamond Studio. So boom and now so now out. 0:10:00.559 --> 0:10:02.120 We're hitting the home and he's heard some bruhs. Bro, 0:10:02.200 --> 0:10:04.000 we need to ride to Oklahoma City. So we go 0:10:04.000 --> 0:10:09.199 to Oklahoma City meet Tony and it's incredible. So he's 0:10:09.240 --> 0:10:11.280 giving us the rundown. It really is him. He got 0:10:11.320 --> 0:10:13.160 on his the Jesus the Good Music chain, he got 0:10:13.160 --> 0:10:15.920 on the Jesus piece and everything, and we are huge 0:10:15.960 --> 0:10:17.800 eyes because we were like, what the fuck is going on? 0:10:17.920 --> 0:10:20.679 This is because just when we just came from DC 0:10:20.800 --> 0:10:23.280 to fucking Oklahoma thinking like and hear and that were 0:10:23.280 --> 0:10:25.760 bumping into good music. That's crazy, right, it just feels 0:10:25.800 --> 0:10:29.360 so kiss me. So we're there. We So what ends 0:10:29.400 --> 0:10:32.120 up happening is we end up working with Tony on 0:10:32.360 --> 0:10:34.520 a bunch of songs for his first album. We write 0:10:34.559 --> 0:10:36.079 two songs for him for his and this is a 0:10:36.120 --> 0:10:38.280 project's coming out on Good Music, and he ends up 0:10:38.320 --> 0:10:40.040 doing a song for us for one of our like 0:10:40.040 --> 0:10:42.040 a mixtape we were doing at the time, Average Joe's, 0:10:42.679 --> 0:10:45.880 and so as we building, he starts to say, Okay, 0:10:45.880 --> 0:10:48.280 you know what, I never forget this. It was one 0:10:48.280 --> 0:10:51.000 session that we went to Nate was in the booth, 0:10:51.040 --> 0:10:53.439 I think, and Tony took off his chain. It was 0:10:53.480 --> 0:10:54.840 a song that Tony was fucking. He was like, oh, 0:10:54.840 --> 0:10:56.120 this is hard. He took off his chain, the good 0:10:56.160 --> 0:10:58.280 Music chain, and you put it on me. He was like, yo, 0:10:58.360 --> 0:11:00.280 y'all better get just get ready, now, just get you this, 0:11:00.320 --> 0:11:03.000 get used to wearing this. I'm like, bro, this is crazy, 0:11:03.160 --> 0:11:05.400 and he's yo. We're in Hawaii right now recording the 0:11:05.679 --> 0:11:08.319 album My Beautiful Dog Twist the Fantasy. 0:11:08.480 --> 0:11:10.200 So I'm like, favorite record. 0:11:10.200 --> 0:11:12.280 But so at the time of course, I'm like, I 0:11:12.360 --> 0:11:15.880 don't know what that is, but yes, get us to 0:11:15.880 --> 0:11:18.000 Hawaii's all want to take you to Hawaii, introduce you, 0:11:18.880 --> 0:11:20.880 like I think this is I think this is a match. 0:11:20.920 --> 0:11:22.800 And then around this time, Big Sean has just signed. Right, 0:11:23.200 --> 0:11:25.240 he has been signed for a little bit. Sean was 0:11:25.280 --> 0:11:27.120 probably there like my key artist at the time. Right, 0:11:27.520 --> 0:11:29.120 he don't want to get y'all on the song with Sean, 0:11:29.200 --> 0:11:30.959 Big Sean all of this right, So again we're like, 0:11:30.960 --> 0:11:33.079 oh my god, this is crazy. So this is all happening, 0:11:33.200 --> 0:11:35.920 and I'm getting I'm slipping further and further in my 0:11:36.240 --> 0:11:39.640 schoolwork because again I'm thinking, it don't matter anyway. I'm 0:11:39.640 --> 0:11:42.080 about to get signed. I'm about to leave like this 0:11:42.120 --> 0:11:43.240 don't even you know what I'm saying. I don't even 0:11:43.280 --> 0:11:43.719 need to be here. 0:11:44.000 --> 0:11:45.760 I made it. 0:11:45.840 --> 0:11:48.520 And so it's time to put out Tony's project. Like 0:11:48.520 --> 0:11:50.920 he's getting this project the joint that we wrote wrote 0:11:50.920 --> 0:11:53.120 them records for. I'm time to put it out or 0:11:53.160 --> 0:11:54.640 getting ready to put it out, and he's hitting me 0:11:54.920 --> 0:11:57.200 and he's yo, he needed something like the vocals were 0:11:57.240 --> 0:11:59.560 off for. Basically, he needed the engineer to send him something. Right, 0:11:59.600 --> 0:12:02.120 I'm in I'm trying to focus. I'm on academic probation, 0:12:02.760 --> 0:12:05.640 and so he keeps calling me, and I step out 0:12:05.640 --> 0:12:07.360 of class and I a little bit, snap a little bit, 0:12:07.360 --> 0:12:09.440 and I'm clas d d D D dah, And I 0:12:09.559 --> 0:12:11.560 never forget the worst he said to me. We had 0:12:11.600 --> 0:12:13.520 a long conversation, but the worst he said to me, 0:12:13.720 --> 0:12:15.280 he was like because basically, I was like, Yo, that's 0:12:15.280 --> 0:12:17.959 your engineer, Like you hit me, Like, just hit your engineer. 0:12:18.640 --> 0:12:21.160 And he was like, Yo, in life, if you're going 0:12:21.200 --> 0:12:23.560 to do something, you gotta be all in one and 0:12:23.600 --> 0:12:26.160 then two if you want to If you're trying to 0:12:26.200 --> 0:12:28.080 do something, you need to make sure that you don't 0:12:28.080 --> 0:12:29.679 want doing it. Like you can't rely on somebody else 0:12:29.720 --> 0:12:31.080 to do something for you, you know what I mean, when 0:12:31.080 --> 0:12:33.559 it's an opportunity. That's called when you get an opportunity. Basically, 0:12:33.800 --> 0:12:35.840 don't rely on somebody else to follow through an opportunity 0:12:35.880 --> 0:12:36.960 for it. You need to be there to follow through 0:12:36.960 --> 0:12:40.040 on yourself. And he hung up and he never spoke again. 0:12:40.720 --> 0:12:45.079 He never stopped answering our calls, stopped answering our emails. 0:12:45.320 --> 0:12:47.080 I was hitting up the engineer Chris Cutter at the 0:12:47.240 --> 0:12:51.000 Diamond studios, couldn't get in touch with nobody. And I 0:12:51.120 --> 0:12:53.160 always learned a few things from that, Like one it 0:12:53.240 --> 0:12:55.960 was like one I had, it was ego, right is 0:12:56.120 --> 0:12:58.000 to be honest, I felt like in that conversation when 0:12:58.040 --> 0:12:59.640 he had first hit me, he was like screaming on 0:12:59.640 --> 0:13:01.080 me a little bit, you know what I'm saying. So 0:13:01.120 --> 0:13:04.560 I it was ego. It was all ego. And it 0:13:04.640 --> 0:13:07.120 was also those lessons that Tony said, you gotta if 0:13:07.120 --> 0:13:08.720 you want something done, you gotta make sure you there 0:13:08.800 --> 0:13:10.559 to do it by yourself or do it for yourself. 0:13:11.080 --> 0:13:12.599 And if you're gonna be in something, you gotta be 0:13:12.679 --> 0:13:15.600 ten toes in. And my boy is so crazy because 0:13:15.640 --> 0:13:17.640 my boy Nate, he was confused. He's like, Yo, why 0:13:17.679 --> 0:13:19.719 this nigga not hitting us back. I just told Nate 0:13:19.760 --> 0:13:22.400 that story maybe six months ago. 0:13:22.720 --> 0:13:24.720 Oh my gosh, you was playing like. 0:13:24.840 --> 0:13:28.280 You didn't well up, but you didn't. To be honest, 0:13:28.360 --> 0:13:29.760 it all clicked and I was like, I don't think 0:13:29.800 --> 0:13:32.000 at the time, I was ready to say, damn, just 0:13:32.000 --> 0:13:34.120 from that one conversation, he's just gonna stop sucking with us, 0:13:34.160 --> 0:13:35.400 you know what I'm saying. I don't. I don't know 0:13:35.400 --> 0:13:38.000 if that was like the thought. So I don't think. 0:13:38.040 --> 0:13:39.439 I definitely wasn't trying to lie in and be like 0:13:39.440 --> 0:13:42.080 oh shit. But but when it all did click in 0:13:42.120 --> 0:13:44.360 and I really okay, I took accountability for maybe the 0:13:44.360 --> 0:13:46.160 way I responded in that moment. I was like, okay, 0:13:46.960 --> 0:13:48.920 it makes sense. I was just I got I'm just 0:13:49.320 --> 0:13:51.280 to him. I'm probably just a young nigger. He just 0:13:51.280 --> 0:13:54.120 be like, who you talking to? Like that? So anyway, 0:13:54.360 --> 0:13:56.760 but I just told that story then Nate six months ago, 0:13:57.320 --> 0:13:58.800 and he was like, damn, bro, you should have just 0:13:58.880 --> 0:14:00.400 because here's the other lesson I learned. You should have 0:14:00.400 --> 0:14:02.240 just asked for help. Because I was in the group. 0:14:02.440 --> 0:14:05.080 I was like taking on the leadership role, right, so 0:14:05.080 --> 0:14:07.360 I'm like, I'm getting all the stuff printed, I'm the 0:14:07.440 --> 0:14:08.839 one going to the rate like it's a lot on me. 0:14:08.880 --> 0:14:11.199 So it's probably also just stress. And everybody responds to 0:14:11.200 --> 0:14:14.080 stressed differently, especially at certain phases in their life, certain 0:14:14.080 --> 0:14:16.480 phases of their career. And I think the way I responded, 0:14:16.520 --> 0:14:18.920 I was probably stressed. Whatever. But another lesson I learned, 0:14:18.920 --> 0:14:20.520 and even this is just Nate telling me this role. 0:14:20.680 --> 0:14:22.120 You should have just asked me for help. You should 0:14:22.120 --> 0:14:24.400 have just told me yo, Tony need this. I can't 0:14:24.400 --> 0:14:25.760 get to it right now. Can you just handle it? 0:14:25.800 --> 0:14:27.000 And he was like, I would have just handled it, 0:14:27.000 --> 0:14:39.080 you know what I'm saying. So anyway, yeah, yeah. 0:14:37.080 --> 0:14:38.360 Did you end up finishing school? 0:14:39.680 --> 0:14:43.560 Okay, So all of that happened, all that sacrifice, and 0:14:43.600 --> 0:14:44.760 then at the end of the semester, I get a 0:14:44.800 --> 0:14:47.360 letter from you saying I can no longer say I 0:14:47.400 --> 0:14:49.280 have to go. And so again, this is my this 0:14:49.320 --> 0:14:51.840 is everything, this is our whole. Basically, this is the 0:14:51.880 --> 0:14:53.760 moment where it's funny because this is where their meals started. 0:14:53.760 --> 0:14:55.920 But this is like when my rap career back, the 0:14:55.920 --> 0:14:59.240 first phase of it ended because I got a letter 0:14:59.280 --> 0:15:03.040 saying you because of your grades or whatever, like you 0:15:03.040 --> 0:15:05.640 can no longer continue unless you change a major start 0:15:05.680 --> 0:15:08.920 all over, you know what I'm saying, which at that 0:15:08.920 --> 0:15:12.320 point I was there for three years. So what you're 0:15:12.320 --> 0:15:13.800 telling me, I gotta literally And are. 0:15:13.720 --> 0:15:16.200 You telling your mom all this news? You're keeping it 0:15:16.240 --> 0:15:18.920 all yeah, like come on, let's have common sense. 0:15:18.920 --> 0:15:20.600 Come yeah, yeah, I'm keeping it up. But again, and 0:15:20.600 --> 0:15:21.680 this is why I was just trying to lay the 0:15:21.680 --> 0:15:23.720 felt I was real. I'm always been independent. It's not 0:15:23.760 --> 0:15:25.680 like my mom. I was paying my tuition or nothing 0:15:25.720 --> 0:15:26.920 like I had. I worked two jobs, you know what 0:15:26.920 --> 0:15:28.520 I'm saying while I was in school. On top of 0:15:28.560 --> 0:15:30.720 doing the music and making money doing music, I was working, 0:15:31.160 --> 0:15:33.280 which is another reason probably why my grades wasn't. 0:15:33.120 --> 0:15:36.840 You're juggling a lot, make it man. 0:15:37.280 --> 0:15:39.480 So I'm still Jamaica. I work hell of jobs now 0:15:39.720 --> 0:15:42.360 but all day, you know what I'm saying. But so anyway, 0:15:43.000 --> 0:15:45.080 they got that letter, told my boy I gotta go, 0:15:45.520 --> 0:15:47.640 and that was that, you know what I'm saying that 0:15:47.640 --> 0:15:49.840 that that was the end, the beginning and end. We 0:15:49.880 --> 0:15:53.280 had really tried to pursue RAP for all of those 0:15:53.320 --> 0:15:55.720 three years, and yeah, it went up in the ball 0:15:55.760 --> 0:15:58.240 of flames, as they say, Hold I turned this one down, 0:15:58.840 --> 0:16:00.760 this one, Yeah, there we go. So yeah, after all 0:16:00.760 --> 0:16:03.960 of that, but here's the thing. So that happened, and 0:16:04.000 --> 0:16:06.320 again how things just work out. My mom happened to 0:16:06.320 --> 0:16:09.160 be a nurse at Howard's Student Health Center. So I 0:16:09.160 --> 0:16:11.960 did tell her. Of course, I'm like, yo, I don't 0:16:11.960 --> 0:16:12.800 think I'm gonna stay here. 0:16:12.880 --> 0:16:13.040 I was. 0:16:13.080 --> 0:16:14.640 I don't think. I was like yo, I don't think 0:16:14.640 --> 0:16:15.680 this is what I was. I don't think I'm gonna 0:16:15.680 --> 0:16:20.320 stay here because the tuition's going up and I don't 0:16:20.320 --> 0:16:22.840 know if I can cover it. And so she was like, look, 0:16:24.040 --> 0:16:26.240 I work here at Howard. I've been here for two 0:16:26.320 --> 0:16:29.000 years now. If an employee works at Howard for two years, 0:16:29.040 --> 0:16:31.920 the children can go to Howard for free. So she 0:16:32.000 --> 0:16:33.400