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Speaker 1: What's up? It is way up with Angela Gee.

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Speaker 2: I'm Angela Gee, and we have a great guest here today, Victor,

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Speaker 2: a big Mensa is here.

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Speaker 3: How you doing?

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Speaker 1: How good?

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Speaker 3: How are you feeling good?

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Speaker 2: I know you are, you know, so congratulations on everything

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Speaker 2: that you've accomplished already. You know, you have ten years

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Speaker 2: in and that's a big deal. I saw a Chance

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Speaker 2: the Rapper the other day while he was in the

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Speaker 2: midst of doing his acid reptor that you guys are

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Speaker 2: on together. So how does that feel for you to have,

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Speaker 2: you know, been here for ten years and have people

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Speaker 2: just excited for like new music and your transformation.

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Speaker 4: It's so bless and honestly, you know what I'm saying,

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Speaker 4: Like I try to lead with gratitude and to be

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Speaker 4: grateful that I dreamt of this, that I could make

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Speaker 4: a life out of rhyming and it happened, you know,

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Speaker 4: And I've been on every continent and touched and impacted

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Speaker 4: so many real people and so many ways through music,

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Speaker 4: Like that's a huge blessing. I think I'm either focused

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Speaker 4: on the gratitude of it, or I'm focused on creating,

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Speaker 4: you know what I mean, Like, that's that's what drives me.

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Speaker 4: So I'm really I'm writing right now, you know, working

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Speaker 4: on music and locked in in that way.

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Speaker 2: When you talk about going to every continent, of course

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Speaker 2: I think of you traveling to Africa and going to Ghana,

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Speaker 2: you know as well. So when you did that, when

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Speaker 2: you have the festival that you did in Ghana, was

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Speaker 2: that how many times had you been there like prior

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Speaker 2: to that?

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Speaker 1: Was that a place you visit it often?

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Speaker 3: Yeah? I'm Ghanah.

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Speaker 4: So my father was born in Ghana and he's the

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Speaker 4: only one from his family.

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Speaker 3: That ever came to America. Okay, So I grew up

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Speaker 3: going to Ghana.

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Speaker 4: My own family lives out there. And it wasn't until

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Speaker 4: more recently though, that I started to, like, you know,

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Speaker 4: build my own relationship with Ghana and go without my

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Speaker 4: family and experience youth culture and experience music and fashion

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Speaker 4: and skateboard and.

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Speaker 3: You know, just youth culture.

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Speaker 4: And I think that time that I spent just dialing

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Speaker 4: in and tapping in with no agenda, just to soak

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Speaker 4: up game and culture and be with my people, it

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Speaker 4: really opened up the door to create the festival and

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Speaker 4: you know, do what we did in that way, did

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Speaker 4: the Black Star Line Festival fifty thousand people, me a

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Speaker 4: chance to rapper a lot of American artists, amazing artists

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Speaker 4: like Badu and Jeremiah and Dave Chappelle and so many.

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Speaker 4: But really, all that time that I spent there just

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Speaker 4: kicking it for real, I think it created the runway for.

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Speaker 1: That, right. It was authentic. It was authentic to do

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Speaker 1: something like that.

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Speaker 2: And I also want to say I had mister Easy

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Speaker 2: up here the other day. Right, He's from Nigeria, but

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Speaker 2: he went to school in Ghana.

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Speaker 3: It's Easy as a monster.

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Speaker 1: And it was.

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Speaker 2: Interesting what he was saying about how people would view

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Speaker 2: Africa in general here, Like he said the first time

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Speaker 2: he came here and he was looking at the TV.

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Speaker 2: And so for you, having traveled back and forth to

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Speaker 2: Ghana and knowing what it was really like, you know,

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Speaker 2: did it ever bother you how it used to be

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Speaker 2: perceived here in the United States, Because he said he

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Speaker 2: came here and saw stuff and was like, that is

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Speaker 2: not what Africa is like at all.

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Speaker 4: You don't think a lot of things have changed, and

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Speaker 4: many have said the same, But there's a lot of

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Speaker 4: misunderstandings and miseducation as it pertains to Africa and manufactured

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Speaker 4: division between black people of America, black people of Africa,

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Speaker 4: people of African.

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Speaker 3: And dr and pr all across the board.

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Speaker 4: That's been a tactic of white supremacy to divide and rule.

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Speaker 4: It's a very clear strategy that they set out to

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Speaker 4: So I try not to focus too much on, you know,

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Speaker 4: those divisions, but I will say that, like, growing up,

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Speaker 4: it was the African booty scratcher era.

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Speaker 1: I remember that a Berka and people did.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, that was a real thing.

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Speaker 4: So you know, once people know that you're African and

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Speaker 4: that's what's going on, and you know that was like.

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Speaker 3: A childish joke.

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Speaker 4: But I think it's also really just representative of the

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Speaker 4: Africa that was given to Americans in the popular consciousness.

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Speaker 4: You know, Tarzan etc. And just savages and loin cloths.

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Speaker 3: And now we're at a different.

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Speaker 2: Moment, definitely, Now they're running things and we could see

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Speaker 2: what it's really like, and people are wanting to travel there.

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Speaker 1: I think that's amazing.

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Speaker 2: You know. You even on the song blue Eyes that's

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Speaker 2: on this album, you talk about even yourself growing up

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Speaker 2: and being uncomfortable with certain things about your parents wanting

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Speaker 2: to have blue eyes, and you said your aunt I

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Speaker 2: think was your aunt that was in Africa, was that

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Speaker 2: was bleaching her skin?

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Speaker 3: Yeah?

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Speaker 4: Man, skin bleaching is just a a massive issue, you know,

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Speaker 4: some massive global issues.

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Speaker 3: Huge in Africa.

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Speaker 4: I think I read a statistic yesterday it said for

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Speaker 4: African women have used bleaching cream with some point in time.

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Speaker 4: It's massive in the Islands. It's a big issue in Jamaica.

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Speaker 4: And the irony of it is that we've been so

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Speaker 4: disillusioned to believe that our skin is not beautiful to

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Speaker 4: the point where we would try to remove its melanin.

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Speaker 4: But the melanin is what protects us from the sun.

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Speaker 4: You know, it enables us to like turn the sun

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Speaker 4: into pigment, and it's like necessary for life, right right,

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Speaker 4: you know, we destroy ourselves.

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Speaker 2: And I think that's you know, even for people that

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Speaker 2: we know. We heard of blackfishing too, where you see

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Speaker 2: certain people want to like make their skin look darker

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Speaker 2: or they try to appear like, you know, they're black,

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Speaker 2: even though there's no people would be like, oh, I

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Speaker 2: have a black in my family, and it seems like yeah, exactly,

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Speaker 2: some people want that melanin and they want to appear

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Speaker 2: you know, It's just crazy to me, like all the

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Speaker 2: things that people have to deal with.

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Speaker 3: It's crazy, man.

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Speaker 4: I think it's like it's a wild time to be alive,

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Speaker 4: you know, just human beings trying to change themselves. It's

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Speaker 4: like it's such a massive cycle though, because, as you said,

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Speaker 4: at the same time, as African people across the globe

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Speaker 4: are convinced by white supremacy that they're inferior and want

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Speaker 4: to white in themselves, the most prominent visible white women

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Speaker 4: in the world are changing their bodies and skin color

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Speaker 4: to look like black women.

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Speaker 1: Everybody wants of lips right now.

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Speaker 4: You want darker skin, you want the hips of a

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Speaker 4: black woman, you know, with the curves, you want the

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Speaker 4: whole thing, except the you know what come along with it.

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Speaker 4: That's what they don't want. But yeah, that's that's difficult.

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Speaker 4: But that's something I speak about in the song is

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Speaker 4: just kind of like and making that song gave me

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Speaker 4: a cool perspective because I was speaking very particularly about

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Speaker 4: the African experience, but a lot of different people, white people,

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Speaker 4: like Latino people, told me that that idea of not

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Speaker 4: accepting themselves as they are and having to work through

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Speaker 4: that is something that existed for them in their own story,

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Speaker 4: even if they aren't African, you know, even if it's

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Speaker 4: not a dark skinned light skinned thing, you know what

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Speaker 4: I mean.

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Speaker 1: Identity is an interesting thing.

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Speaker 2: Like I know, for me, I'm half Chinese and half black,

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Speaker 2: and people will try to tell me I'm not black

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Speaker 2: because I'm half Chinese. But my whole life, I've always

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Speaker 2: grown up knowing that I was black, And so now

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Speaker 2: it feels like people try to tell you what you are,

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Speaker 2: you know, and I know you are mixed to have

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Speaker 2: you ever felt like, I don't know if people try

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Speaker 2: to say things like that to you, like oh, well,

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Speaker 2: you're not really black or you're this. But for some reason,

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Speaker 2: it's been like something that's been happening. I think lately

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Speaker 2: people try to tell you you're this or you're you're

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Speaker 2: not black. But my whole life, it's never been a

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Speaker 2: question for me.

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Speaker 3: Yeah that's happening, man.

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Speaker 4: But you know, African people exists in all shades and colors,

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Speaker 4: and there's so much variation, Like black people are not

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Speaker 4: a monolith. And the entire idea of race, in my opinion,

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Speaker 4: is one that's man made. It's an arbitrary like American

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Speaker 4: and Western justification for exploitation. That's why race exists as

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Speaker 4: we know it because they had to create something to

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Speaker 4: justify robing our bodies, you know, and enslaving us. So

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Speaker 4: they created race to automatically ensure a caste system in America.

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Speaker 4: So at the same time, noticed so much beautiful artwork

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Speaker 4: and culture that has come from the specifically black experience,

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Speaker 4: you know, but it changes where you at. Like I'm

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Speaker 4: black in America every day of the week, you know

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Speaker 4: what I mean. If I go to South Africa, now

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Speaker 4: they call me colored, which is a different community's light

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Speaker 4: skinned people. It means a completely different thing in South Africa.

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Speaker 4: But if I tell them I'm black in South Africa,

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Speaker 4: they'd be like, no, beusy's black, you're colored. And then

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Speaker 4: I go to Ghana and they call me white.

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Speaker 1: That's so what they do not they call you white

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Speaker 1: and they call.

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Speaker 3: Me something called Broni. You know, it'll be the same

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Speaker 3: thing in the Jerry too.

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Speaker 4: It's like it means like white man or foreigner, you

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Speaker 4: know what I'm saying. Like I was in the house

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Speaker 4: one time and the dude that was working the house

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Speaker 4: at the time, he stopped me when I was going

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Speaker 4: out to get some food one night, and he was

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Speaker 4: like don't go.

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Speaker 3: You shouldn't. I'm like, why he like? Cause Ghannas they

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Speaker 3: don't like when white people walk around at night. I'm like, well,

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Speaker 3: y'all get up out by way.

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Speaker 4: I'm coming from the whole trenches, you know, talking about

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Speaker 4: a white person walking around at night.

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Speaker 2: And you said you've been to so many different continents.

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Speaker 2: How do you think that affects the music that you make?

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Speaker 2: You know, because you're not. I feel like sometimes hip

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Speaker 2: hop areartists you feel like you have to do like,

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Speaker 2: but you've got all different kinds of genres. I feel

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Speaker 2: like we hear different sounds mixed. And do you think

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Speaker 2: that traveling in different continents has done that for you?

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Speaker 2: And seeing different artists on your travels.

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Speaker 4: I'll definitely try to bring a worldly perspective into the music,

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Speaker 4: if it's sonically or even just in my perspective, you know,

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Speaker 4: and things I talk about the places I might reference,

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Speaker 4: you know what I'm saying. I feel like hip hop

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Speaker 4: is what I think you're getting at.

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Speaker 3: Perhaps is hip hop is Also it's.

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Speaker 4: A very local, locally driven, like everybody reps their city,

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Speaker 4: you know, hometown is such a huge aspect of hip hop.

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Speaker 3: You know, are you from New York, which part So

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Speaker 3: you be Brooklyn.

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Speaker 1: Artists?

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Speaker 4: Do you know what I'm saying. She's from the Bronx.

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Speaker 4: She's always saying something about that great now in the Bronx.

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Speaker 3: I'm from Chicago. We say it about five times every sentence,

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Speaker 3: you know.

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Speaker 4: But also, the world is a huge place, man, and

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Speaker 4: it belongs to us, you know what I'm saying, And

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Speaker 4: so I try to travel and bring it into the music,

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Speaker 4: for sure, Like the experiences I have, the people I meet,

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Speaker 4: the things I learned. It's just certain things you can't

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Speaker 4: understand without seeing outside of this American experience. And it's

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Speaker 4: a welcome break from the insanity that is America, you know.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, you know what, though it's insane here, but other

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Speaker 2: places sometimes I go and I'm like, you know, like

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Speaker 2: watching everything that's happening, like, for instance, and I know

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Speaker 2: that you've been vocal about this before, but watching what's happening,

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Speaker 2: you know, right now in Israel and with Israel and Palestine,

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Speaker 2: and a lot of people are hesitant to speak on it,

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Speaker 2: you know, which I understand because everybody has a different

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Speaker 2: opinion on it. But one thing I will say is

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Speaker 2: that watching some of those images and things that are

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Speaker 2: happening is heartbreaking, too civil to people that are, you know,

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Speaker 2: just trying to live their life.

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Speaker 1: They can't help where they live or.

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Speaker 2: Where they were born, and seeing like the horrors of

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Speaker 2: what's happening there, that's really tough for me to even

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Speaker 2: fathom into even watch.

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Speaker 4: You know, It's been on my mind a lot in

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Speaker 4: the last few days. It's definitely been like, yeah, bothering

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Speaker 4: me and and my heart goes to everybody over there,

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Speaker 4: you know what I mean. People know I've been to Palestine.

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Speaker 4: I've been a very open supporter of Palestine, of a

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Speaker 4: free Palestine, and across the board, a staunch critic of

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Speaker 4: white supremacist capitalism, racism, genocide, oppression in general.

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Speaker 3: You know.

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Speaker 4: But beyond those things, I believe in humanity. So I'm

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Speaker 4: never cheering on, you know, carnage and death.

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Speaker 3: That's not my heart. But you know, I stand where

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Speaker 3: I stand.

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Speaker 2: And I think that's what I said because a lot

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Speaker 2: of people are very like, I don't know what's going on,

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Speaker 2: and I see people writing things like I don't know

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Speaker 2: what's happening, and so can someone explain it to me?

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Speaker 2: But I also feel like, if you want to know,

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Speaker 2: there's a lot of information.

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Speaker 4: There's a lot of information, and there's a lot of misinformation. Yeah,

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Speaker 4: you know, but you know, I'm very firmly rooted in

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Speaker 4: my convictions because I've done quite a bit of research

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Speaker 4: and been there. But you know, anybody looking to kind

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Speaker 4: of understand the situation, I would point you to a

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Speaker 4: book called On Palestine by an amazing legendary writer, American

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Speaker 4: writer named Noam Chompsky. I think he's American. Dom Chompsky

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Speaker 4: is actually a Jewish Man and one of the like

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Speaker 4: prominent intellectuals of the past century. And he wrote this

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Speaker 4: book on Palestine. Just like it's a little book, but

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Speaker 4: it'll tell you what's really going on. It's not as complicated.

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Speaker 2: As ask And I want to about another song on

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Speaker 2: the album Blessings, right, Yeah, so you're two years sober now,

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Speaker 2: So congratulations, thank you. Yeah, that's a big listen. That's

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Speaker 2: not easy, and so it has to feel like a

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Speaker 2: blessing for you to be able to clearly you've been

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Speaker 2: through a lot, like I know you talk about it

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Speaker 2: in the album too, just a car accident where you know,

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Speaker 2: anything could have happened, and sometimes things like that.

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Speaker 1: Are really what you need where God is like.

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Speaker 2: I'm giving you another chance, but I'm giving you a

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Speaker 2: little shake up and a little bit of a warning.

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Speaker 2: So talk to me about that night and what happened

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Speaker 2: that night, you know that you discuss on the album

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Speaker 2: and the intro.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, that was a sign that I needed from God

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Speaker 4: at that moment, and I have been praying about a

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Speaker 4: week before for the first time in earnest I never

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Speaker 4: been a religious person. I went to the church as

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Speaker 4: a kid, but it was more of a family gathering thing,

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Speaker 4: you know. And I was in a mosque though, and

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Speaker 4: it was my first time like choosing to go and

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Speaker 4: be in prayer and asking God to get me through

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Speaker 4: the things I'm dealing with at the time seemed like

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Speaker 4: a long list of stuff, you know. But it wasn't

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Speaker 4: until a week later when I got in that car

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Speaker 4: accident and you know, it was all bad, that I

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Speaker 4: realized what I was really praying for at that time

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Speaker 4: hadn't happened yet. So when I was able to get

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Speaker 4: out of that situation and everything was all right, you know,

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Speaker 4: and like I didn't have to go to jail, I

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Speaker 4: didn't have, you know, to lose my life or to

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Speaker 4: hurt somebody else, like that's a crazy It happens every day,

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Speaker 4: you know what I mean.

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Speaker 3: And that experience, it just showed me that.

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Speaker 4: It's absolutely a time when I have to make a

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Speaker 4: one eighty change. I have to redesign myself. I got

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Speaker 4: to redesign the way I approached the world, redesign the

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Speaker 4: way that I deal with my emotions, because that's what drugs, alcohol, inebriation,

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Speaker 4: intoxication is for real, you know.

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Speaker 1: Escaping front the way we deal with all yourself.

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Speaker 3: You know what I'm saying.

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Speaker 4: Obviously, there's plenty of people that do it in a

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Speaker 4: healthy way or you know, in a healthier way. But

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Speaker 4: the way I was moving wasn't though, you know, it

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Speaker 4: was like I was.

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Speaker 3: I was risking it all.

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Speaker 4: I was in danger and everything, and so being able

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Speaker 4: to see that and take note and honor that because

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Speaker 4: I believe in I believe in signs. I keep a

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Speaker 4: list in my phone of it's called coincidences, and I

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Speaker 4: could scroll it for you know, a long time. I

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Speaker 4: take note of the little thing if some ads up

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Speaker 4: or somebody mentioned h angelae yee to me, you know,

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Speaker 4: and then I h randomly see your face on a

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Speaker 4: on a bus or something you know I'm writing that down.

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Speaker 1: It means something something, you know what I'm saying.

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Speaker 4: And I just I read this other book by Deepak Chopper.

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Speaker 4: It's called The Spontaneous Fulfillment of Desire. That's jo It's dope.

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Speaker 4: And he was just saying and like, those coincidences are

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Speaker 4: the universe's way of communicating.

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Speaker 1: With you, right, And some people tap in and some

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Speaker 1: people don't.

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Speaker 3: Get what I'm saying.

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Speaker 4: You can either take note of it and choose to

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Speaker 4: believe that it's pointing you in a direction, or you can,

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Speaker 4: you know, be oblivious and not pay attention. But I

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00:17:16,880 --> 00:17:18,359
Speaker 4: got to take note of it and pay attention.

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Speaker 2: And speaking of going to the mask, I see you

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Speaker 2: have Jay Electronica on the album. Yeah, that is my guy.

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Speaker 2: You want to hear something funny. So I was in

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Speaker 2: the club with those with him. It was a long

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Speaker 2: time ago, and you were in the club too, and

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Speaker 2: Jay Electronica and this was so long ago, and he

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Speaker 2: was like, oh my god, big Mensa is here. I

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Speaker 2: really want to meet him. He was like, I really

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Speaker 2: like his music. I promise you if I don't know

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Speaker 2: if you asked.

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Speaker 1: Him if he bad.

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Speaker 2: We were in the club and we were like trying

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Speaker 2: to figure out a way to be like Okay, let's

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Speaker 2: go over there. And I don't know, I don't even

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Speaker 2: remember if he did end up meeting you that night.

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Speaker 1: It was in New York.

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Speaker 2: And so for me to see him on the album,

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Speaker 2: because I know he doesn't do a lot.

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Speaker 4: That's so crazy. I think I met Jay Elect when

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Speaker 4: Hove was doing the It was like a B sides show.

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Speaker 4: He's done a few of those by now, right, but

356
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Speaker 4: I think it was the first one, okay, And so

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Speaker 4: this gotta be like twenty I don't know, fifteen or

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Speaker 4: something like that, and.

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Speaker 1: You were signed to that's you were already signed to

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Speaker 1: rock Nation.

361
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Speaker 3: Either was or was about to be.

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Speaker 4: And I think that's where I met Ja Elect. Man,

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Speaker 4: it was like I just remember he had a mouthful

364
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Speaker 4: of gold to he had them all and he was

365
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Speaker 4: just smiling, you know what I mean, smiling the whole time.

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Speaker 4: It was like, you know, I tell him all the time, like, man,

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Speaker 4: it's surreal for me because I grew up and to

368
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Speaker 4: this day, you know, studying Jay Elect's lyrics.

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Speaker 3: You know what I'm saying.

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Speaker 4: I remember the time and place I was when I

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Speaker 4: first heard his music.

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Speaker 3: You know when I first.

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Speaker 4: Heard exhibit A exactly what day of high school and

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Speaker 4: I got locked up that day.

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Speaker 1: So, oh my gosh, you get that, my god, in

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Speaker 1: high school?

377
00:19:06,000 --> 00:19:07,919
Speaker 3: From what it was so petty.

378
00:19:07,960 --> 00:19:10,159
Speaker 4: It was just like running from the police, okay, you know,

379
00:19:10,240 --> 00:19:12,679
Speaker 4: doing all this. But I remember first hearing it and

380
00:19:12,720 --> 00:19:16,600
Speaker 4: I was just like in the headphones, like I was

381
00:19:16,720 --> 00:19:19,919
Speaker 4: bugged out. I was like, no, way, this is this nice?

382
00:19:20,040 --> 00:19:22,240
Speaker 4: Like this can't be possible.

383
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Speaker 3: Is this live? Can I curse?

384
00:19:23,800 --> 00:19:24,399
Speaker 1: Yeah? You can't know?

385
00:19:24,560 --> 00:19:28,320
Speaker 4: Way this nigga is this nice? I'm listening to it

386
00:19:28,440 --> 00:19:32,800
Speaker 4: like you know, so, and that's that's like, oh, it's

387
00:19:32,840 --> 00:19:34,960
Speaker 4: like fifteen It's like fifteen years.

388
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Speaker 3: Ago, man.

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Speaker 1: And he's very influenced by Chicago.

390
00:19:37,240 --> 00:19:39,600
Speaker 2: But he will tell you that joining the Nation of

391
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Speaker 2: Islam is what really changed his life.

392
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Speaker 3: You know when you first met him, was he in

393
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Speaker 3: the Nation yet?

394
00:19:45,040 --> 00:19:46,199
Speaker 1: Ah? Yes it was.

395
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Speaker 2: And that's why I know a lot of you know,

396
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Speaker 2: that's why I know a lot of the FOI they'll

397
00:19:50,800 --> 00:19:53,879
Speaker 2: come to you know, like, yeah, they'll come to the

398
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Speaker 2: coffee shop. They know me from Jay Electronica, from working

399
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Speaker 2: with him.

400
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Speaker 3: That's amazing.

401
00:19:57,720 --> 00:20:00,439
Speaker 2: Yeah, which is a great thing because it is a

402
00:20:00,440 --> 00:20:02,399
Speaker 2: feeling of it's not something you know, I used to

403
00:20:02,400 --> 00:20:05,440
Speaker 2: work with for Wu Tang also, so obviously a lot

404
00:20:05,480 --> 00:20:09,119
Speaker 2: of them, you know, also five percenters, and so learning

405
00:20:09,160 --> 00:20:12,159
Speaker 2: about that. So I've always been kind of on the outskirts'

406
00:20:12,240 --> 00:20:15,640
Speaker 2: that knowledgeable right of that, but also feeling like there's

407
00:20:15,640 --> 00:20:18,399
Speaker 2: safety and security that they provide, you know, in a

408
00:20:18,560 --> 00:20:19,560
Speaker 2: very peaceful way.

409
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Speaker 4: I love the Fruit of Islam. I love the Nation man,

410
00:20:22,320 --> 00:20:24,840
Speaker 4: you know what I'm saying. I got fair kinds on

411
00:20:24,920 --> 00:20:27,400
Speaker 4: there too, yes, And I think that's like a part

412
00:20:27,440 --> 00:20:32,879
Speaker 4: of Chicago history that people don't always think of, you

413
00:20:32,920 --> 00:20:38,159
Speaker 4: know what I'm saying, Like Chicago is very often only

414
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Speaker 4: tied to violence and crime in this moment in a

415
00:20:43,240 --> 00:20:47,359
Speaker 4: public sphere, but like that history, that religious history, that

416
00:20:47,400 --> 00:20:52,920
Speaker 4: revolutionary history, just history of black community, like Nation of

417
00:20:53,040 --> 00:20:57,640
Speaker 4: Islam has been regardless of what anybody may feel, it's

418
00:20:57,680 --> 00:21:03,400
Speaker 4: like one of the largest longest standing black organizations for

419
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Speaker 4: the positive uplift of black people.

420
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Speaker 2: They represent a lot of great things and a lot

421
00:21:07,680 --> 00:21:10,600
Speaker 2: of positivity. There may be things that people don't agree with,

422
00:21:10,640 --> 00:21:14,720
Speaker 2: and that's with anything I feel like, but just you know,

423
00:21:14,840 --> 00:21:16,919
Speaker 2: the benefits that they gave us.

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00:21:16,920 --> 00:21:21,320
Speaker 4: Malcolm X, Yeah, you know, it's deep, man, It's super deep,

425
00:21:21,359 --> 00:21:25,680
Speaker 4: and like, yeah, Chicago is a super integral part of

426
00:21:25,720 --> 00:21:26,320
Speaker 4: that story.

427
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Speaker 1: Right.

428
00:21:27,560 --> 00:21:30,520
Speaker 2: So now let's go back to Jay Electronics. So how

429
00:21:30,520 --> 00:21:33,160
Speaker 2: did you guys, so you met at that and even

430
00:21:33,200 --> 00:21:35,160
Speaker 2: getting him on the album The Weeping Poets, How did

431
00:21:35,160 --> 00:21:37,240
Speaker 2: that even come about? Because I know he's been like

432
00:21:37,280 --> 00:21:39,000
Speaker 2: living in Mexico or whatever he's.

433
00:21:38,880 --> 00:21:44,360
Speaker 3: Been doing some ill. I think I had seen him

434
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Speaker 3: again periodically.

435
00:21:47,520 --> 00:21:49,480
Speaker 4: I might have seen him a handful of times since then.

436
00:21:49,520 --> 00:21:52,240
Speaker 4: But then I saw him when we were working on

437
00:21:52,680 --> 00:21:55,280
Speaker 4: Don Da album. When did that come out? Was that

438
00:21:55,320 --> 00:21:56,920
Speaker 4: twenty twenty one or something like that.

439
00:21:57,359 --> 00:22:00,399
Speaker 1: Oh, so you were in Atlanta, you sum in Atlanta, Atlanta.

440
00:22:00,400 --> 00:22:02,679
Speaker 4: You know, and it was like, he's got the craziest

441
00:22:02,960 --> 00:22:05,040
Speaker 4: verse on the album to me, just like one of

442
00:22:05,080 --> 00:22:08,080
Speaker 4: the wildest verses. And I mean, he come on in

443
00:22:08,119 --> 00:22:10,720
Speaker 4: the name of the True and Living God, the but Sent,

444
00:22:10,840 --> 00:22:13,160
Speaker 4: the Merciful, thank you for bringing me up the rough

445
00:22:13,160 --> 00:22:14,160
Speaker 4: side of the mountain like.

446
00:22:14,119 --> 00:22:16,080
Speaker 3: Earth at all. I'm like, yo, what is Earth? Tottle?

447
00:22:17,320 --> 00:22:18,520
Speaker 3: I loot that joint up?

448
00:22:19,080 --> 00:22:22,040
Speaker 4: You know, It's like a biblical story of like this

449
00:22:22,440 --> 00:22:25,080
Speaker 4: being that came up the rough side of a Mountain.

450
00:22:25,160 --> 00:22:28,760
Speaker 3: I'm like, this day, what is he reading? Like years beyond?

451
00:22:28,760 --> 00:22:30,480
Speaker 4: So when I when I chopped it up with him there,

452
00:22:30,840 --> 00:22:34,120
Speaker 4: and it was so funny too, because I'm like, yeah, man,

453
00:22:34,119 --> 00:22:36,320
Speaker 4: you just you just did a verse or whatever. He's like, oh, no, man,

454
00:22:36,359 --> 00:22:38,280
Speaker 4: I didn't do nothing. I didn't do nothing, you know,

455
00:22:38,800 --> 00:22:41,119
Speaker 4: he be man. I'm like, I'm like, well, I know

456
00:22:41,200 --> 00:22:43,760
Speaker 4: you just went in there and spassed out, you telling

457
00:22:43,760 --> 00:22:44,720
Speaker 4: me I didn't do nothing.

458
00:22:44,840 --> 00:22:47,399
Speaker 2: It was an interesting experience for people working, and it

459
00:22:47,520 --> 00:22:50,280
Speaker 2: was so many different people like that you could see

460
00:22:50,359 --> 00:22:53,960
Speaker 2: in that stadium right, you know, and run across. But

461
00:22:54,040 --> 00:22:56,080
Speaker 2: it was interesting because you were you had to stay

462
00:22:56,080 --> 00:22:58,480
Speaker 2: in there to work and like write, and some people

463
00:22:58,520 --> 00:23:01,080
Speaker 2: aren't used to that, like having to write with so

464
00:23:01,160 --> 00:23:03,119
Speaker 2: many people around and not being able to leave and

465
00:23:03,160 --> 00:23:05,200
Speaker 2: go home, and you know, take the beat and write

466
00:23:05,200 --> 00:23:07,920
Speaker 2: to the beat, and you know, it's a different type

467
00:23:07,920 --> 00:23:11,639
Speaker 2: of experience. And then I also think that when he

468
00:23:11,760 --> 00:23:13,719
Speaker 2: was writing that he didn't know if it was for

469
00:23:13,840 --> 00:23:18,000
Speaker 2: him or for Kanye, you know, and and then yea,

470
00:23:18,040 --> 00:23:19,399
Speaker 2: he was like, nah, I can't do this.

471
00:23:19,480 --> 00:23:21,240
Speaker 1: You have to do it so.

472
00:23:22,760 --> 00:23:26,000
Speaker 4: Amazing verse though, you know, I just remember sitting down

473
00:23:26,000 --> 00:23:27,520
Speaker 4: with him because you know, that's around the time when

474
00:23:27,560 --> 00:23:33,160
Speaker 4: I started I started demonstrating with Islam, and so I'm

475
00:23:33,240 --> 00:23:37,280
Speaker 4: just talking to him about Islam and he was just

476
00:23:37,320 --> 00:23:42,879
Speaker 4: picking his brain. And when this song came about and

477
00:23:43,080 --> 00:23:46,359
Speaker 4: the direction I took it and the samples I was using,

478
00:23:46,400 --> 00:23:47,840
Speaker 4: I was like, man, I got to send this to

479
00:23:47,960 --> 00:23:51,199
Speaker 4: jed Let and he was in Mexico. He was like

480
00:23:51,840 --> 00:23:54,760
Speaker 4: in a pyramid in Mexico and he sent me. He

481
00:23:54,840 --> 00:23:56,680
Speaker 4: sent me the.

482
00:23:56,040 --> 00:23:58,239
Speaker 3: Verse as a voice note on Apple and you know

483
00:23:58,600 --> 00:23:59,760
Speaker 3: they show you where.

484
00:23:59,560 --> 00:24:02,399
Speaker 4: It's coming from, and it was like a mock to

485
00:24:02,480 --> 00:24:04,120
Speaker 4: Pattillion or something like that.

486
00:24:05,040 --> 00:24:07,159
Speaker 3: I was like, I had looked that up. I'm like,

487
00:24:08,320 --> 00:24:09,120
Speaker 3: that's a pyramid.

488
00:24:09,960 --> 00:24:11,760
Speaker 1: I want to live a life like that.

489
00:24:11,800 --> 00:24:14,199
Speaker 2: One day, just be like I'm going here and then

490
00:24:14,320 --> 00:24:17,200
Speaker 2: just stay for years and be like I'll come back

491
00:24:17,200 --> 00:24:18,200
Speaker 2: when I feel like it.

492
00:24:18,200 --> 00:24:19,960
Speaker 3: Well, so ill, Yeah, you.

493
00:24:19,920 --> 00:24:23,200
Speaker 2: Know that's amazing because I feel like I've always had, you.

494
00:24:23,160 --> 00:24:24,360
Speaker 1: Know, to be somewhere.

495
00:24:25,320 --> 00:24:27,880
Speaker 4: I know, right, even when you just said that about

496
00:24:28,200 --> 00:24:30,600
Speaker 4: him just being in Mexico and just living there else,

497
00:24:31,160 --> 00:24:32,280
Speaker 4: my mind went in the same place.

498
00:24:32,320 --> 00:24:33,840
Speaker 3: I'm like, damn, I want to just go.

499
00:24:33,880 --> 00:24:38,280
Speaker 1: We got all these responsibilities of things to do.

500
00:24:38,600 --> 00:24:40,720
Speaker 2: But yeah, no, So that's amazing that you were able

501
00:24:40,760 --> 00:24:42,520
Speaker 2: to get because I'm like, like people would be like,

502
00:24:42,560 --> 00:24:44,480
Speaker 2: we have money for him to do this, and it's hard.

503
00:24:44,920 --> 00:24:47,960
Speaker 2: So the respect that he has that shows me like

504
00:24:48,119 --> 00:24:50,320
Speaker 2: there's very few things that you can get him to do,

505
00:24:50,400 --> 00:24:52,240
Speaker 2: but he'll only do it if he just wants to

506
00:24:52,240 --> 00:24:53,000
Speaker 2: do and feels like it.

507
00:24:53,119 --> 00:24:55,800
Speaker 4: Nah, that's a real blessing because, as I said, I

508
00:24:55,800 --> 00:25:00,320
Speaker 4: can't stress enough how much of just fancy Port a

509
00:25:00,400 --> 00:25:02,800
Speaker 4: student of jail lut I am. I always been a

510
00:25:02,800 --> 00:25:06,360
Speaker 4: student of the game, like from day one to this day,

511
00:25:06,480 --> 00:25:08,840
Speaker 4: Like I study it. I love it, you know what

512
00:25:08,840 --> 00:25:13,040
Speaker 4: I'm saying. And so I really I treated like like

513
00:25:13,160 --> 00:25:18,600
Speaker 4: sport like craft. I'm always trying to improve, and so

514
00:25:18,720 --> 00:25:22,439
Speaker 4: I'll be listening to say like still just dissecting and

515
00:25:22,480 --> 00:25:25,200
Speaker 4: analyzing things. Sometimes it's like I can't even understand how

516
00:25:25,240 --> 00:25:27,520
Speaker 4: he arrived at these conclusions.

517
00:25:27,560 --> 00:25:29,480
Speaker 1: You know, how did you come to this conclusion?

518
00:25:29,600 --> 00:25:30,440
Speaker 3: Y'all swear to God.

519
00:25:30,600 --> 00:25:33,400
Speaker 2: Now I want to ask you this, being two years sober,

520
00:25:33,440 --> 00:25:37,600
Speaker 2: how has that also changed your preference in women or

521
00:25:37,640 --> 00:25:40,920
Speaker 2: has it or dating and things like that, because sometimes

522
00:25:40,960 --> 00:25:43,439
Speaker 2: and you you know, discussing the music certain things go

523
00:25:43,480 --> 00:25:46,080
Speaker 2: hand in hand, like drinking and being in the club

524
00:25:46,280 --> 00:25:48,960
Speaker 2: and doing this and doing that. So how has that changed,

525
00:25:48,960 --> 00:25:52,400
Speaker 2: Like your approach to relationships and women, It's been ell.

526
00:25:52,480 --> 00:25:54,320
Speaker 4: You know, I've been in a relationship the whole time.

527
00:25:54,960 --> 00:25:58,080
Speaker 4: So it's just helped me to be more solid, to

528
00:25:58,200 --> 00:26:01,560
Speaker 4: be more honest, to be a better man, to stand

529
00:26:01,600 --> 00:26:08,439
Speaker 4: on principle, to live by my word more. And I

530
00:26:08,560 --> 00:26:11,000
Speaker 4: just don't do a lot of things that I did.

531
00:26:11,359 --> 00:26:12,840
Speaker 1: You know, she's grateful.

532
00:26:12,960 --> 00:26:17,000
Speaker 4: She's probably like, no, she's amazing, man, you know, like

533
00:26:17,720 --> 00:26:20,320
Speaker 4: she's amazing, Like she's she's my best friend for real,

534
00:26:20,359 --> 00:26:20,960
Speaker 4: that's my dog.

535
00:26:21,160 --> 00:26:21,320
Speaker 1: Man.

536
00:26:21,800 --> 00:26:25,719
Speaker 4: Like she don't sweat me about where I'm going, what

537
00:26:25,760 --> 00:26:29,080
Speaker 4: I'm doing, you know, because I just keep it a hundred.

538
00:26:29,080 --> 00:26:32,200
Speaker 4: I'll keep honest and mainly if I go out, it's

539
00:26:32,200 --> 00:26:32,800
Speaker 4: for a purpose.

540
00:26:32,840 --> 00:26:33,000
Speaker 3: You know.

541
00:26:33,000 --> 00:26:34,840
Speaker 4: I go out if I'm getting some money or I

542
00:26:34,920 --> 00:26:37,479
Speaker 4: DJ So that's the way that I get out and

543
00:26:38,200 --> 00:26:41,480
Speaker 4: have fun. And that helps my production too, you know

544
00:26:41,480 --> 00:26:45,400
Speaker 4: what I'm saying, Like I just don't do aimless things,

545
00:26:45,440 --> 00:26:49,480
Speaker 4: like I kind of have created a barometer in my

546
00:26:49,600 --> 00:26:51,879
Speaker 4: life to where I have to ask myself to this

547
00:26:51,960 --> 00:26:54,640
Speaker 4: actively help me achieve my goals, and if it doesn't,

548
00:26:55,040 --> 00:26:58,800
Speaker 4: then very little things like that have.

549
00:26:59,520 --> 00:27:00,159
Speaker 3: Space for me.

550
00:27:00,280 --> 00:27:04,040
Speaker 1: Right now you've started to say no to yeah, you.

551
00:27:03,960 --> 00:27:05,800
Speaker 3: Know I can. I can't then do it. I can't

552
00:27:05,800 --> 00:27:06,840
Speaker 3: pop out with you man.

553
00:27:07,600 --> 00:27:09,920
Speaker 4: You know, sometimes I'll pop out in the pursuit of,

554
00:27:10,400 --> 00:27:12,360
Speaker 4: you know something, if it's a relationship that I think

555
00:27:12,400 --> 00:27:15,760
Speaker 4: I should, you know, nurture or strengthen its just if

556
00:27:15,800 --> 00:27:16,120
Speaker 4: it's the.

557
00:27:16,119 --> 00:27:17,600
Speaker 3: Right time, you know, I'll do that.

558
00:27:17,680 --> 00:27:19,280
Speaker 4: You know, it might be in the club for six

559
00:27:19,400 --> 00:27:22,600
Speaker 4: minutes and thirty seconds to get it done.

560
00:27:23,080 --> 00:27:24,560
Speaker 1: Go in say how do you need to say?

561
00:27:24,600 --> 00:27:25,480
Speaker 3: How do you take a picture?

562
00:27:25,560 --> 00:27:28,080
Speaker 1: I was there exactly all right.

563
00:27:28,119 --> 00:27:30,320
Speaker 2: And then also, let's talk about this cannabis line that

564
00:27:30,359 --> 00:27:32,480
Speaker 2: you had, because I know that's something that you're very

565
00:27:32,480 --> 00:27:34,760
Speaker 2: passionate about. I saw you earn your Leisure interview where

566
00:27:34,760 --> 00:27:38,679
Speaker 2: you were discussing branding and how important that is and

567
00:27:38,720 --> 00:27:40,960
Speaker 2: the whole concept of gas and then the campaign that

568
00:27:41,000 --> 00:27:44,119
Speaker 2: you did around that. So what made you even decide

569
00:27:44,240 --> 00:27:46,000
Speaker 2: it's time for you to do a cannabis line and

570
00:27:46,000 --> 00:27:48,680
Speaker 2: how do things line up? Because you actually, if I'm

571
00:27:48,680 --> 00:27:51,679
Speaker 2: not mistaken, you got the first license in Illinois.

572
00:27:52,040 --> 00:27:52,679
Speaker 1: Is that correct?

573
00:27:53,600 --> 00:27:56,720
Speaker 3: No? But I was the first black brand.

574
00:27:56,440 --> 00:27:57,880
Speaker 1: The first black brand okay.

575
00:27:57,720 --> 00:28:02,160
Speaker 4: To be legally selling cannabis in Illinois, and it's called

576
00:28:02,240 --> 00:28:05,680
Speaker 4: ninety three Boys. It's everywhere in the state of Illinois.

577
00:28:05,680 --> 00:28:08,119
Speaker 4: We'll be expanded sometime soon. But we've really been locking

578
00:28:08,160 --> 00:28:12,119
Speaker 4: down home for the last year and a half and

579
00:28:12,160 --> 00:28:13,359
Speaker 4: it's been an amazing ride.

580
00:28:13,359 --> 00:28:13,520
Speaker 1: Man.

581
00:28:13,600 --> 00:28:13,760
Speaker 3: You know.

582
00:28:13,840 --> 00:28:18,520
Speaker 4: It's like I started selling weed super young, and that

583
00:28:18,600 --> 00:28:20,120
Speaker 4: was always a part of my life.

584
00:28:20,160 --> 00:28:22,000
Speaker 3: It was like the centerpiece of my.

585
00:28:22,000 --> 00:28:26,800
Speaker 4: Creative process for the majority of my time making music.

586
00:28:27,359 --> 00:28:32,000
Speaker 4: And when the laws begin to change, I was like, man,

587
00:28:32,840 --> 00:28:34,640
Speaker 4: I gotta get up in there, you know what I mean,

588
00:28:35,119 --> 00:28:39,440
Speaker 4: Because it's like, to this day, this plant that's been

589
00:28:39,960 --> 00:28:43,200
Speaker 4: used to destroy our communities and lock up so many

590
00:28:43,200 --> 00:28:46,520
Speaker 4: people that look like you and me is being sold

591
00:28:47,360 --> 00:28:51,280
Speaker 4: for the profit of billions to people that look nothing like.

592
00:28:51,360 --> 00:28:52,000
Speaker 3: Us, you know.

593
00:28:52,200 --> 00:28:54,360
Speaker 1: And the politicians who were so against.

594
00:28:54,000 --> 00:28:54,240
Speaker 4: It and.

595
00:28:55,720 --> 00:28:58,000
Speaker 3: Are some of the main ones getting licenses.

596
00:28:57,600 --> 00:28:59,760
Speaker 2: Right, and now they're getting licenses and it's like, hold

597
00:28:59,800 --> 00:29:02,840
Speaker 2: on you is arresting people, throwing a book at them,

598
00:29:02,880 --> 00:29:04,320
Speaker 2: and now you want a profit off of this.

599
00:29:05,400 --> 00:29:07,880
Speaker 3: Some of the main people getting licenses or police officers.

600
00:29:07,920 --> 00:29:11,600
Speaker 4: It's a lot of politicians who have covert hands in

601
00:29:11,680 --> 00:29:17,400
Speaker 4: cannabis business, you know, in dispensaries and brands, etc.

602
00:29:17,760 --> 00:29:20,320
Speaker 3: Its like it's very corrupt, you know what I'm saying.

603
00:29:20,360 --> 00:29:24,600
Speaker 4: And so I always had the intention to get in

604
00:29:24,720 --> 00:29:27,160
Speaker 4: and make it happen, and I have an enthusiasm for

605
00:29:27,200 --> 00:29:30,560
Speaker 4: the plant. And it's also been a way for me

606
00:29:30,680 --> 00:29:37,400
Speaker 4: to funnel some of my community efforts and philanthropic ideas

607
00:29:37,440 --> 00:29:40,560
Speaker 4: through this company, you know, so like if it is

608
00:29:40,600 --> 00:29:45,240
Speaker 4: given away to gas or sending books into the prisons,

609
00:29:45,360 --> 00:29:48,440
Speaker 4: or working with people when they get out of prison.

610
00:29:48,560 --> 00:29:51,880
Speaker 4: It's just like a lot of different things. It's become

611
00:29:51,920 --> 00:29:53,640
Speaker 4: a vessel for that for me because I used to

612
00:29:53,640 --> 00:29:58,920
Speaker 4: do a nonprofit organization that I might revamp, but in

613
00:29:59,000 --> 00:30:03,160
Speaker 4: this moment, I've been using ninety three boards to keep

614
00:30:03,160 --> 00:30:04,479
Speaker 4: a lot of those ideas alive.

615
00:30:05,040 --> 00:30:05,200
Speaker 1: Right.

616
00:30:05,480 --> 00:30:07,480
Speaker 2: How difficult was that to get because I feel like

617
00:30:07,520 --> 00:30:10,440
Speaker 2: everybody's trying to get into this cannabis space. They see

618
00:30:10,800 --> 00:30:14,200
Speaker 2: the profitability of it, but you've managed to really tap

619
00:30:14,240 --> 00:30:17,720
Speaker 2: in and make it happen. And I don't like I've

620
00:30:17,760 --> 00:30:20,200
Speaker 2: seen especially New York is really tough. I will say

621
00:30:20,240 --> 00:30:23,200
Speaker 2: that because with the licenses here and people opening dispensaries

622
00:30:23,240 --> 00:30:25,080
Speaker 2: and things like that. But for you to get this

623
00:30:25,120 --> 00:30:28,080
Speaker 2: off the ground and actually get this license and be

624
00:30:28,120 --> 00:30:30,640
Speaker 2: able to do this legally and then have your brand

625
00:30:30,680 --> 00:30:32,880
Speaker 2: so established, what were the steps that you took to

626
00:30:32,920 --> 00:30:35,720
Speaker 2: get that done? Because everyone's trying to figure it out

627
00:30:35,720 --> 00:30:37,680
Speaker 2: and crack it, and not everyone will.

628
00:30:38,400 --> 00:30:41,040
Speaker 4: You know, I'm to be real that the first thing

629
00:30:41,160 --> 00:30:46,800
Speaker 4: that led to the opportunity even really presenting itself is

630
00:30:47,560 --> 00:30:54,840
Speaker 4: all the years I spent solidifying myself in the nonprofit

631
00:30:54,880 --> 00:31:01,000
Speaker 4: community space, you know, and like all the high profile,

632
00:31:01,080 --> 00:31:06,560
Speaker 4: low profile grassroots like organizing things that I was doing, and.

633
00:31:08,440 --> 00:31:11,520
Speaker 3: Just like showing my spirit, my heart, like who I

634
00:31:11,600 --> 00:31:12,160
Speaker 3: really am, what.

635
00:31:13,840 --> 00:31:16,360
Speaker 4: I'm in it for, what I'm coming where I'm coming from.

636
00:31:16,880 --> 00:31:19,640
Speaker 4: That opened up the opportunity. Honestly, you know, my partners

637
00:31:19,640 --> 00:31:25,760
Speaker 4: really approached me because they're smart and and also you know,

638
00:31:26,600 --> 00:31:28,680
Speaker 4: have a soul, and they were like, man, you know,

639
00:31:28,680 --> 00:31:31,360
Speaker 4: we're in this cannabis thing. We want to see how

640
00:31:31,400 --> 00:31:33,400
Speaker 4: we can make an impact, how we can make a difference.

641
00:31:33,640 --> 00:31:38,680
Speaker 4: You know, my my partner's son, he runs a lot

642
00:31:38,680 --> 00:31:40,800
Speaker 4: of things for him and he's around my age, and

643
00:31:40,840 --> 00:31:44,520
Speaker 4: so he knew he knew me my music and my

644
00:31:44,560 --> 00:31:46,440
Speaker 4: community efforts and he was like, man, you know, we

645
00:31:46,440 --> 00:31:48,680
Speaker 4: want to type in with you and see what's good.

646
00:31:48,680 --> 00:31:50,600
Speaker 4: And I'm like, okay, well we could shake it, you know,

647
00:31:50,680 --> 00:31:51,120
Speaker 4: shake it.

648
00:31:51,080 --> 00:31:51,920
Speaker 3: This way, right.

649
00:31:53,000 --> 00:31:55,400
Speaker 4: So I think that's one thing I would say, man,

650
00:31:55,680 --> 00:31:58,280
Speaker 4: even to myself sometimes I have to remind myself of.

651
00:31:58,240 --> 00:31:59,120
Speaker 3: That that.

652
00:32:00,720 --> 00:32:04,720
Speaker 4: When you make deposits in the bank of the divine,

653
00:32:05,920 --> 00:32:08,280
Speaker 4: those come back with different type of interests that you

654
00:32:08,320 --> 00:32:11,320
Speaker 4: don't know. You know, I think we can get into

655
00:32:11,360 --> 00:32:18,320
Speaker 4: a mode of self serving and everything you do has

656
00:32:18,400 --> 00:32:22,720
Speaker 4: to directly benefit you in that moment. But it's really

657
00:32:22,840 --> 00:32:27,120
Speaker 4: valuable to just do good things and do goodbye people

658
00:32:27,280 --> 00:32:30,200
Speaker 4: and help people, just to be a servant because you

659
00:32:30,280 --> 00:32:34,240
Speaker 4: never know what opportunity could come randomly from somebody that

660
00:32:34,720 --> 00:32:35,560
Speaker 4: you know, you're.

661
00:32:35,400 --> 00:32:37,560
Speaker 2: So right, not expecting anything in return, just out of

662
00:32:37,560 --> 00:32:40,200
Speaker 2: the kindness of your heart, to do positive things for

663
00:32:40,280 --> 00:32:43,080
Speaker 2: other people. Because we are blessed, you know, Like you said,

664
00:32:43,120 --> 00:32:44,960
Speaker 2: it's a blessing to be in the position that you're

665
00:32:45,000 --> 00:32:47,720
Speaker 2: in and to have achieved what you have achieved, not

666
00:32:47,800 --> 00:32:50,040
Speaker 2: that you didn't work hard for it, but now it's like, Okay,

667
00:32:50,320 --> 00:32:53,880
Speaker 2: I have this, and philanthropy is important, and I don't

668
00:32:53,880 --> 00:32:56,520
Speaker 2: feel like some people tell you, boy, it's your money,

669
00:32:56,520 --> 00:32:58,840
Speaker 2: you know, do what you want with it. Nobody's obligated

670
00:32:58,880 --> 00:33:01,280
Speaker 2: to do X, Y and Z. People aren't obligated to

671
00:33:01,320 --> 00:33:03,440
Speaker 2: speak on these things, you know, in this space. But

672
00:33:03,520 --> 00:33:06,600
Speaker 2: I do feel like why wouldn't you you know what

673
00:33:06,640 --> 00:33:07,000
Speaker 2: I mean?

674
00:33:07,120 --> 00:33:10,680
Speaker 4: Like, no, you know, if you know better, right, That's

675
00:33:10,680 --> 00:33:12,320
Speaker 4: what I think is like, if you know better, you

676
00:33:12,400 --> 00:33:14,560
Speaker 4: do better, you know, And I just try to keep

677
00:33:14,600 --> 00:33:17,600
Speaker 4: it alive in my mind, like I'm always thinking about

678
00:33:17,600 --> 00:33:21,040
Speaker 4: the community ideas. I see it like songwriting. You know,

679
00:33:21,160 --> 00:33:23,040
Speaker 4: Sometimes an idea comes to me and it's a verse

680
00:33:23,120 --> 00:33:24,760
Speaker 4: or a line. Sometimes it comes to me it's a

681
00:33:24,840 --> 00:33:27,600
Speaker 4: program for kids or something. But I try to even

682
00:33:27,720 --> 00:33:30,520
Speaker 4: just if I'm at seven or eleven and say cash back,

683
00:33:30,560 --> 00:33:32,800
Speaker 4: I just be like, yeah, give me the dub. Let

684
00:33:32,840 --> 00:33:35,800
Speaker 4: me see if there's somebody that needs it outside. Cause

685
00:33:35,800 --> 00:33:40,240
Speaker 4: it's like it's a science. The universe definitely works in

686
00:33:40,240 --> 00:33:44,800
Speaker 4: one very particular way, right, and that's given you shall receive,

687
00:33:44,960 --> 00:33:46,640
Speaker 4: you know what I'm saying. So I think we need

688
00:33:46,680 --> 00:33:52,880
Speaker 4: to get more focused on given and understanding that it's

689
00:33:52,920 --> 00:33:53,720
Speaker 4: gonna come back to.

690
00:33:53,680 --> 00:33:55,040
Speaker 3: You play boy, you know what I'm saying.

691
00:33:55,160 --> 00:33:59,200
Speaker 4: Like age old practice tithing given ten percent of your income.

692
00:33:59,600 --> 00:34:03,120
Speaker 4: This is age old and it's information that we've had,

693
00:34:03,160 --> 00:34:07,000
Speaker 4: but our modern moment, I think forces us to forget

694
00:34:07,360 --> 00:34:09,960
Speaker 4: the information it's been contained in the Bible and in

695
00:34:10,080 --> 00:34:12,800
Speaker 4: the Koran and things like that, because we're more focused

696
00:34:12,840 --> 00:34:14,680
Speaker 4: on on the ground.

697
00:34:14,520 --> 00:34:16,920
Speaker 1: You know, and even seeing you a chance the rapper.

698
00:34:16,960 --> 00:34:19,760
Speaker 2: You guys have been really great about showing and proving

699
00:34:19,960 --> 00:34:21,839
Speaker 2: the stuff that you do in the community. But who

700
00:34:21,920 --> 00:34:24,640
Speaker 2: you surround yourself with is important to just the people

701
00:34:24,680 --> 00:34:27,480
Speaker 2: around you have that are like minded in that way,

702
00:34:27,520 --> 00:34:30,120
Speaker 2: but also can help you elevate and encourage you.

703
00:34:30,280 --> 00:34:31,520
Speaker 3: So I got to with.

704
00:34:31,640 --> 00:34:34,319
Speaker 2: People around you concerned, like I know, like back to

705
00:34:34,400 --> 00:34:37,120
Speaker 2: the intro of the album, but we're like family members

706
00:34:37,120 --> 00:34:40,560
Speaker 2: where people concern like, look you gotta you know? Or

707
00:34:40,680 --> 00:34:43,239
Speaker 2: was it something that you feel like they thought was manageable.

708
00:34:44,480 --> 00:34:49,120
Speaker 4: Nah, everybody was concerned about me, Okay, everybody was. My

709
00:34:49,239 --> 00:34:52,160
Speaker 4: sister thought I was gonna die. My parents probably thought

710
00:34:52,200 --> 00:34:52,959
Speaker 4: the same thing.

711
00:34:53,160 --> 00:34:57,080
Speaker 3: You know. I definitely thought the same thing for a

712
00:34:57,120 --> 00:34:58,880
Speaker 3: long time. You know. I was.

713
00:34:59,000 --> 00:35:02,719
Speaker 4: I was pretty aimless and just quite lost, you know,

714
00:35:02,960 --> 00:35:05,760
Speaker 4: very hurt and living in a lot of pain.

715
00:35:06,400 --> 00:35:08,720
Speaker 3: And I think.

716
00:35:08,560 --> 00:35:12,000
Speaker 4: It's just culminated in a way where it's like the

717
00:35:12,120 --> 00:35:17,040
Speaker 4: driving force of my spiritual evolution has been my personal problems.

718
00:35:17,560 --> 00:35:20,799
Speaker 4: So the same things that have you know, stained and

719
00:35:20,880 --> 00:35:23,359
Speaker 4: smeared me and put me, you know, in a lot

720
00:35:23,400 --> 00:35:26,040
Speaker 4: of tough positions are the things that have made me

721
00:35:26,120 --> 00:35:29,440
Speaker 4: better ultimately, though they've made me stronger. You have a

722
00:35:29,520 --> 00:35:33,960
Speaker 4: choice at that point. It's like, do I become enveloped

723
00:35:34,120 --> 00:35:37,120
Speaker 4: by all of my struggle or do I use it

724
00:35:37,160 --> 00:35:40,160
Speaker 4: as fuel for strength and triumph.

725
00:35:40,560 --> 00:35:42,720
Speaker 3: And that's my decision.

726
00:35:42,719 --> 00:35:45,080
Speaker 4: That's why I call the album Victor really is because

727
00:35:45,880 --> 00:35:48,040
Speaker 4: to be victorious, you have to have some type of.

728
00:35:48,040 --> 00:35:50,480
Speaker 1: Struggle right, right, that makes sense.

729
00:35:50,960 --> 00:35:53,240
Speaker 2: And I want to ask you about something that Wilo

730
00:35:53,360 --> 00:35:55,520
Speaker 2: said too right And this was just a letter that

731
00:35:55,560 --> 00:35:57,319
Speaker 2: he wrote about hip hop, and I want to get

732
00:35:57,400 --> 00:35:59,000
Speaker 2: your view on it.

733
00:35:59,200 --> 00:35:59,680
Speaker 3: Spot on.

734
00:36:00,800 --> 00:36:01,719
Speaker 1: Okay, there's your view.

735
00:36:02,440 --> 00:36:04,880
Speaker 2: But he's talking about the landscape of the rap industry

736
00:36:04,960 --> 00:36:08,919
Speaker 2: undergoing a remarkable transformation, and today's fans have become more

737
00:36:08,920 --> 00:36:12,640
Speaker 2: discerning and sophisticated in their tastes, but many artists teams

738
00:36:12,640 --> 00:36:13,600
Speaker 2: have yet to catch.

739
00:36:13,440 --> 00:36:16,759
Speaker 1: Up with this evolving dynamic. It's what he's saying.

740
00:36:16,760 --> 00:36:19,040
Speaker 2: And then he talks about the numbers on YouTube and

741
00:36:19,080 --> 00:36:22,960
Speaker 2: Spotify Apple charts. He said, the reveal that they reveal

742
00:36:23,040 --> 00:36:26,200
Speaker 2: that it's not the manufactured motion or shock value that

743
00:36:26,280 --> 00:36:28,640
Speaker 2: propels artists to the forefront, but the quality of their

744
00:36:28,760 --> 00:36:32,400
Speaker 2: music and the genuine connection they established with their listeners.

745
00:36:32,400 --> 00:36:36,640
Speaker 2: So he's talking about the rap game experiencing a significant metamorphosis,

746
00:36:36,640 --> 00:36:39,120
Speaker 2: and artists and their teens must adapt to this new

747
00:36:39,239 --> 00:36:44,200
Speaker 2: reality by prioritizing musical authenticity and the cultivation of devoted

748
00:36:44,239 --> 00:36:48,280
Speaker 2: fan following rather than relying on outdated gimmicks and manufactured trends.

749
00:36:48,680 --> 00:36:50,799
Speaker 2: So you said he's spot on when it comes to I.

750
00:36:51,840 --> 00:36:54,520
Speaker 4: Read that and that it hit different. I was like, man,

751
00:36:54,560 --> 00:36:56,600
Speaker 4: Wallow really be spot on, you know what I'm saying.

752
00:36:56,600 --> 00:37:00,400
Speaker 4: And I think everything he's saying you can see the

753
00:37:01,120 --> 00:37:06,160
Speaker 4: truth of it, you know, even just scrolling through my Instagram,

754
00:37:06,200 --> 00:37:10,240
Speaker 4: it's like, I think more and more I'm getting clips

755
00:37:10,239 --> 00:37:15,080
Speaker 4: of just like lyricists, you know, something that's deep, you know,

756
00:37:15,120 --> 00:37:17,240
Speaker 4: and it's like massively viewed.

757
00:37:19,040 --> 00:37:20,960
Speaker 3: And I think that is a shift.

758
00:37:21,120 --> 00:37:23,719
Speaker 4: I think that everything else still exists in hip hop

759
00:37:23,760 --> 00:37:28,279
Speaker 4: for show on a commercial level, it's obviously far more

760
00:37:28,320 --> 00:37:31,840
Speaker 4: commercially successful, but I think what he's getting at is

761
00:37:31,880 --> 00:37:38,319
Speaker 4: that like Kendrick or Cole are even more commercially successful

762
00:37:38,400 --> 00:37:46,239
Speaker 4: than probably a lot of materialistic, like just commercial gimmicky

763
00:37:46,680 --> 00:37:55,360
Speaker 4: music in mass though. I do think that the more materialistic,

764
00:37:55,600 --> 00:38:02,280
Speaker 4: like self destructive gimmicky music serves the power structure better.

765
00:38:02,800 --> 00:38:06,319
Speaker 4: So I think it gets a lot more promotion. And

766
00:38:06,440 --> 00:38:09,640
Speaker 4: I mean, I'm coming from Chicago, so it's obvious to

767
00:38:09,680 --> 00:38:15,120
Speaker 4: me what fuels a lot of success and fame. Right

768
00:38:16,320 --> 00:38:20,640
Speaker 4: But Wallow is coming with a necessary perspective because he's

769
00:38:20,680 --> 00:38:23,759
Speaker 4: also taking note of a newer trend. You know, that's

770
00:38:23,800 --> 00:38:26,520
Speaker 4: been a trend. I think hip hop is cyclical, you know,

771
00:38:26,640 --> 00:38:30,200
Speaker 4: so if that's been a trend, clearly for the last

772
00:38:30,200 --> 00:38:33,759
Speaker 4: ten years, there's been things reaching like the height of

773
00:38:34,400 --> 00:38:39,240
Speaker 4: debauchery and like just negativity in hip hop is sometimes

774
00:38:39,280 --> 00:38:41,040
Speaker 4: it can get hard to listen to, right.

775
00:38:41,000 --> 00:38:42,520
Speaker 1: Yeah, sometimes it definitely can.

776
00:38:43,160 --> 00:38:44,799
Speaker 2: There's certain signs I'd be like, damn, I can't believe

777
00:38:44,840 --> 00:38:45,920
Speaker 2: I used to sing along to that.

778
00:38:46,160 --> 00:38:48,279
Speaker 4: It could just get difficulty even like, man, I don't

779
00:38:48,280 --> 00:38:50,360
Speaker 4: want to walk around all day. I honestly end up

780
00:38:50,440 --> 00:38:53,000
Speaker 4: not listening to a lot of music because I try

781
00:38:53,000 --> 00:38:57,080
Speaker 4: to watch my diet, you know, what I ingest, what media,

782
00:38:57,200 --> 00:38:57,800
Speaker 4: what music?

783
00:38:57,880 --> 00:39:01,360
Speaker 3: What words are living rent free in my head?

784
00:39:01,640 --> 00:39:03,200
Speaker 4: So I end up not listening to a lot of

785
00:39:03,280 --> 00:39:06,239
Speaker 4: rap because I don't want to be walking around repeating

786
00:39:07,040 --> 00:39:10,280
Speaker 4: you know, some like negative ass file and ass lyrics

787
00:39:10,320 --> 00:39:10,760
Speaker 4: or something.

788
00:39:11,200 --> 00:39:13,960
Speaker 1: It's catchy, not because I love it, you know, it's hard.

789
00:39:14,120 --> 00:39:15,879
Speaker 3: It's catchy, but it gets stuck in my head.

790
00:39:15,920 --> 00:39:20,680
Speaker 4: And now I'm walking around just singing that on repeat.

791
00:39:21,000 --> 00:39:23,279
Speaker 4: And that's been the last ten years at least, you know.

792
00:39:23,800 --> 00:39:27,920
Speaker 4: But I guess if you go back to, like, I

793
00:39:27,920 --> 00:39:30,040
Speaker 4: don't know, the nineties, you know, there was.

794
00:39:30,000 --> 00:39:31,760
Speaker 3: So much more variation.

795
00:39:31,880 --> 00:39:36,280
Speaker 4: Obviously those things existed, but you had tribe called quest

796
00:39:36,480 --> 00:39:37,160
Speaker 4: being well.

797
00:39:37,200 --> 00:39:39,560
Speaker 2: Everything wasn't so accessible to I think now it's a

798
00:39:39,560 --> 00:39:43,520
Speaker 2: lot easier for people to upload music, to put out

799
00:39:43,520 --> 00:39:46,399
Speaker 2: a video, to go viral. Back then it was like

800
00:39:46,680 --> 00:39:48,880
Speaker 2: you could everybody. You had to actually get a physical

801
00:39:49,480 --> 00:39:51,480
Speaker 2: copy of something to be able to hear it or

802
00:39:51,480 --> 00:39:53,440
Speaker 2: hear it on the radio. It wasn't like we had

803
00:39:53,719 --> 00:39:56,560
Speaker 2: all of this available with streaming and everything right and

804
00:39:57,000 --> 00:39:58,160
Speaker 2: YouTube the way that it is.

805
00:39:58,400 --> 00:39:59,800
Speaker 1: Did you ever in your career.

806
00:39:59,640 --> 00:40:03,040
Speaker 2: Feel like I have to try to do something different,

807
00:40:03,239 --> 00:40:05,239
Speaker 2: or anybody ever came to you and been like like

808
00:40:05,280 --> 00:40:06,960
Speaker 2: we got to do the song for the ladies, or

809
00:40:07,120 --> 00:40:09,799
Speaker 2: like has that ever been anything that anyone's ever said

810
00:40:09,800 --> 00:40:10,040
Speaker 2: to you?

811
00:40:10,760 --> 00:40:12,680
Speaker 3: Yeah, plenty of times, you know what I'm saying.

812
00:40:12,680 --> 00:40:17,720
Speaker 4: And I think, honestly, I'm really just hit my stride

813
00:40:17,760 --> 00:40:20,319
Speaker 4: and understanding myself, you know what I'm saying, and understanding

814
00:40:21,040 --> 00:40:24,759
Speaker 4: what my voice is, what I want to say, what

815
00:40:24,880 --> 00:40:28,319
Speaker 4: processes work for me, you know, And I think that

816
00:40:28,400 --> 00:40:32,560
Speaker 4: there's a way to do all those things, you know

817
00:40:32,560 --> 00:40:35,000
Speaker 4: what I mean, And it does make sense. That's that's

818
00:40:35,040 --> 00:40:38,279
Speaker 4: a tried and true age old formula of hip hop.

819
00:40:38,320 --> 00:40:40,080
Speaker 4: It's like, man, you don't want all them niggas at

820
00:40:40,120 --> 00:40:45,160
Speaker 4: your shows? You definitely don't, right, you know what I mean,

821
00:40:45,480 --> 00:40:47,799
Speaker 4: hands up like this, Yes.

822
00:40:47,840 --> 00:40:48,640
Speaker 3: You don't want that.

823
00:40:49,320 --> 00:40:51,920
Speaker 2: What I remember when I worked for Wu Tang, they

824
00:40:51,960 --> 00:40:53,600
Speaker 2: would be like, why is it all white people at

825
00:40:53,600 --> 00:40:55,680
Speaker 2: our shows? Because it was a period of time when

826
00:40:56,320 --> 00:40:58,359
Speaker 2: that was happening too, when they were on the road

827
00:40:58,400 --> 00:41:01,799
Speaker 2: and all the shows. Was like, you know, I don't

828
00:41:01,800 --> 00:41:03,480
Speaker 2: even know why that was. But they did go on

829
00:41:03,560 --> 00:41:04,760
Speaker 2: tour RAISEE against the Machine.

830
00:41:05,120 --> 00:41:07,840
Speaker 4: That's hard. That would have been an amazing tour. Was

831
00:41:07,840 --> 00:41:08,759
Speaker 4: that back in the day.

832
00:41:08,920 --> 00:41:11,320
Speaker 1: Yeah, that was that was back in the day.

833
00:41:13,239 --> 00:41:18,839
Speaker 3: That was funny with I was just joking, that's crazy tour.

834
00:41:19,080 --> 00:41:22,480
Speaker 4: I missed Rage just now, man, Like I've seen Wu

835
00:41:22,520 --> 00:41:27,120
Speaker 4: Tang a bunch of times. Never seen Rage against the Machine,

836
00:41:27,760 --> 00:41:31,600
Speaker 4: but like to see Wu Tang in that era though,

837
00:41:31,800 --> 00:41:34,919
Speaker 4: is something I've always like wish just because I grew

838
00:41:35,000 --> 00:41:37,160
Speaker 4: up on all that music, you know what I mean, Like,

839
00:41:37,200 --> 00:41:42,440
Speaker 4: that's the music that lays the foundation for so much

840
00:41:42,440 --> 00:41:46,600
Speaker 4: of my understanding of the world and of music, of

841
00:41:46,880 --> 00:41:51,719
Speaker 4: hip hop lyricism. It's all rooted in nineties early two

842
00:41:51,760 --> 00:41:54,520
Speaker 4: thousands hip hop to me, and like to have seen

843
00:41:54,719 --> 00:41:59,000
Speaker 4: Wu Tang like at that time, Oh yeah, I've seen

844
00:41:59,040 --> 00:42:01,120
Speaker 4: a lot, Like I've watched out of videos, you know

845
00:42:01,160 --> 00:42:04,759
Speaker 4: what I mean. Like, I just love Wutan man. I

846
00:42:04,880 --> 00:42:09,400
Speaker 4: was playing chess with.

847
00:42:07,640 --> 00:42:10,400
Speaker 1: With Oh you were you know, it's amazing.

848
00:42:10,480 --> 00:42:13,000
Speaker 2: He actually plays on an app, right, so he gets

849
00:42:13,040 --> 00:42:16,200
Speaker 2: paid to like play people at chess. It's like I

850
00:42:16,239 --> 00:42:19,040
Speaker 2: get paid now to do something that I do for free,

851
00:42:19,200 --> 00:42:20,600
Speaker 2: and that's like the goal in life.

852
00:42:20,880 --> 00:42:22,439
Speaker 1: I would have been doing this anyway.

853
00:42:22,800 --> 00:42:23,479
Speaker 3: Is so ill.

854
00:42:23,640 --> 00:42:25,520
Speaker 1: And he taught me how to play chess.

855
00:42:25,320 --> 00:42:28,040
Speaker 4: He did, you know, I brought my boy over there,

856
00:42:28,080 --> 00:42:30,200
Speaker 4: who's like, I'm not teaching me how to play chess.

857
00:42:30,560 --> 00:42:33,200
Speaker 4: My boy is wicked And even gonna say what happened

858
00:42:33,200 --> 00:42:36,759
Speaker 4: because I gotta s respect to the old chief. But

859
00:42:37,560 --> 00:42:42,960
Speaker 4: even thinking about Ji, it gives me some insight to

860
00:42:43,000 --> 00:42:45,880
Speaker 4: what I was just speaking about. That that was a

861
00:42:45,920 --> 00:42:48,960
Speaker 4: timeframe when you could have an artist like him explaining

862
00:42:49,000 --> 00:42:53,759
Speaker 4: the history of the universe and like the cosmos and

863
00:42:55,040 --> 00:42:56,959
Speaker 4: laws of physics, or like.

864
00:42:57,000 --> 00:43:01,680
Speaker 3: The entire animal kingdom. All this education and knowledge.

865
00:43:01,239 --> 00:43:04,680
Speaker 4: That he clearly had to study and learn, but he

866
00:43:04,680 --> 00:43:06,880
Speaker 4: could put it in music and it could be fresh,

867
00:43:07,239 --> 00:43:11,719
Speaker 4: you know, like being smart was cool in that way,

868
00:43:11,800 --> 00:43:12,719
Speaker 4: or he could make it cool.

869
00:43:12,760 --> 00:43:13,480
Speaker 1: He's a genius.

870
00:43:13,600 --> 00:43:15,840
Speaker 3: You know, he's just a genius.

871
00:43:16,280 --> 00:43:19,000
Speaker 1: You know he talks at Harvard. You know how amazing

872
00:43:19,040 --> 00:43:21,120
Speaker 1: that is to go to Harvard.

873
00:43:20,920 --> 00:43:24,440
Speaker 4: As Yeah, it's just as the genius. And so that's

874
00:43:24,480 --> 00:43:28,839
Speaker 4: what I say about about hip hop now, is that

875
00:43:29,800 --> 00:43:35,439
Speaker 4: definitely a lot of what's marketed is like antithesis of that.

876
00:43:35,880 --> 00:43:37,800
Speaker 4: You know, it could be like maybe the more ignorant

877
00:43:37,840 --> 00:43:40,759
Speaker 4: you are and the more people resonate with it. But

878
00:43:40,800 --> 00:43:42,560
Speaker 4: I think Wallo was spot on though, you know what

879
00:43:42,600 --> 00:43:45,400
Speaker 4: I mean. I think there isn't there's a new seed growing.

880
00:43:46,160 --> 00:43:49,120
Speaker 4: I don't think it's reached. It hasn't reached the size

881
00:43:49,160 --> 00:43:52,320
Speaker 4: of the past ten twenty years, you know what I'm saying.

882
00:43:52,360 --> 00:43:55,080
Speaker 4: But there is a new seed growing if people wanted

883
00:43:55,160 --> 00:43:55,719
Speaker 4: something more.

884
00:43:56,480 --> 00:43:58,680
Speaker 1: All right, Well, thank you so much, big Mensip for

885
00:43:58,760 --> 00:43:59,080
Speaker 1: coming in.

886
00:43:59,200 --> 00:43:59,759
Speaker 3: Really, thank you.

887
00:44:00,000 --> 00:44:01,839
Speaker 1: We've been trying to make this happen for a long time.

888
00:44:01,920 --> 00:44:03,000
Speaker 3: Appreciate you so much.

889
00:44:03,200 --> 00:44:05,680
Speaker 1: I'm glad that we were able to and Victor is

890
00:44:06,160 --> 00:44:06,600
Speaker 1: out now.

891
00:44:06,600 --> 00:44:08,480
Speaker 2: It's been out for like a month already, but guys,

892
00:44:08,719 --> 00:44:11,560
Speaker 2: it's been getting amazing responses and reviews, so I'm happy

893
00:44:11,600 --> 00:44:13,880
Speaker 2: for you for that because it is. It is a

894
00:44:13,920 --> 00:44:16,759
Speaker 2: really great body of work. Just so, all the things

895
00:44:16,800 --> 00:44:18,759
Speaker 2: that and all the things that you represent in real life.

896
00:44:18,760 --> 00:44:21,879
Speaker 2: I think we feel a connection to an artists music

897
00:44:21,920 --> 00:44:23,919
Speaker 2: even more when we actually like the person in real

898
00:44:23,960 --> 00:44:27,040
Speaker 2: life and they have some great interviews and things to say.

899
00:44:27,040 --> 00:44:28,160
Speaker 1: But thank you so much for coming.

900
00:44:28,320 --> 00:44:30,040
Speaker 3: I appreciate all right.

901
00:44:30,080 --> 00:44:32,200
Speaker 1: It's way up at Angelauee

902
00:44:33,760 --> 00:44:34,000
Speaker 3: Way