WEBVTT - Rotimi 0:00:01.960 --> 0:00:06.120 R and beans money, honey, we are. 0:00:07.680 --> 0:00:10.360 Thanks take valantility. 0:00:11.080 --> 0:00:13.960 We are the authority on. 0:00:15.560 --> 0:00:18.680 R and ladies and gentlemen. 0:00:18.680 --> 0:00:21.680 My name is Tank Valentine and this is the Army 0:00:21.720 --> 0:00:25.599 Money Podcast, the authority on all things. 0:00:25.920 --> 0:00:26.400 HORR and B. 0:00:26.680 --> 0:00:29.360 Yeah, I mean today's it's. 0:00:29.200 --> 0:00:32.360 A beautiful day, man, it's today where you know we 0:00:32.440 --> 0:00:40.959 get to talk to and interact with a man who's multifaceted, uh, bilingual, multicultural. 0:00:41.280 --> 0:00:43.320 I think he got a skin care line. I mean 0:00:43.640 --> 0:00:47.280 great skin, great skin, a character to go with the skin. 0:00:48.000 --> 0:00:48.360 Uh. 0:00:48.440 --> 0:00:49.200 This is how you. 0:00:49.159 --> 0:00:53.040 Diversify your portfolio. You're seeing what I'm saying. 0:00:53.840 --> 0:00:56.160 You're always gonna be cracking in one area and you 0:00:56.200 --> 0:00:57.760 got another area to hold you up. 0:00:57.640 --> 0:00:59.080 And listen, I become the podcast. 0:00:59.080 --> 0:01:03.400 Now come on now, who will somebody gonna tell me 0:01:03.440 --> 0:01:07.720 that the podcast. That's what I'm saying, in honor of Birst, 0:01:07.760 --> 0:01:11.080 to find your portfolio and being good in every asset 0:01:11.120 --> 0:01:13.440 in that motherfucker. Ye. 0:01:15.640 --> 0:01:19.240 Hey, So, so the two languages I speak, the third 0:01:19.360 --> 0:01:23.040 language I speak it's called sexy. Yeah, it's called sexy. 0:01:23.600 --> 0:01:28.160 It's about a Scotish language. It's called sexy baby. Yes, yes, 0:01:28.319 --> 0:01:29.160 so just it's three of. 0:01:29.120 --> 0:01:30.400 Them not two three. 0:01:30.959 --> 0:01:33.080 This is your camera. I had to look at him 0:01:33.080 --> 0:01:33.759 and look. 0:01:38.600 --> 0:01:38.959 Relax. 0:01:39.120 --> 0:01:40.400 You don't speak the language. 0:01:41.800 --> 0:01:42.440 I do speak. 0:01:43.240 --> 0:01:47.200 Please, please, please, you try to. It's better when you're 0:01:47.200 --> 0:01:55.520 not here. When you're not here, is that sound horrible? 0:01:56.000 --> 0:01:57.360 It's okay. I love you. 0:01:57.480 --> 0:01:58.560 I love you. It's the truth. 0:02:00.160 --> 0:02:03.080 Not always thank you. 0:02:03.120 --> 0:02:05.680 So I could not have been in no no, yeah, 0:02:06.080 --> 0:02:11.760 having to New Jersey not even you don't coming to 0:02:11.840 --> 0:02:16.280 America to okay. You have to teach me and willing 0:02:16.320 --> 0:02:18.880 to learn. Listen, man, First of all, thank you my brother. 0:02:19.040 --> 0:02:19.160 Man. 0:02:19.200 --> 0:02:22.560 You know we're family, but you know we we we 0:02:22.639 --> 0:02:26.480 know your time is precious man, and we appreciate that 0:02:26.600 --> 0:02:29.720 you've how you've grown. Thank you, We support you, know 0:02:29.720 --> 0:02:31.880 what I'm saying. How you've been successful. 0:02:31.960 --> 0:02:32.240 Thank you. 0:02:32.360 --> 0:02:34.120 We don't take that for granted, you know what I'm saying. 0:02:34.120 --> 0:02:37.160 Even within friendship, man, we always want to salute and 0:02:37.280 --> 0:02:41.280 respect that. How you feeling, man, you got you know 0:02:41.280 --> 0:02:42.040 your fiendy two P. 0:02:43.360 --> 0:02:45.799 Thank you. You're dressing like an American today? Is that 0:02:45.919 --> 0:02:46.560 American today? 0:02:46.639 --> 0:02:47.320 I thought I was. 0:02:47.919 --> 0:02:50.360 I was putting on like some He tried to go 0:02:50.480 --> 0:02:51.840 with a little tribal prayer. 0:02:53.320 --> 0:02:59.679 It's coming. No, no, he's got the Michael Jordan's show. 0:03:01.480 --> 0:03:06.560 Yes though I did that. Yes, he showed up, Like 0:03:06.680 --> 0:03:11.800 you know what I'm saying, like the Ferrari outside freak. 0:03:12.680 --> 0:03:12.880 Nah. 0:03:12.880 --> 0:03:15.519 I feel great, bro. You know, for me, I'm in 0:03:15.560 --> 0:03:18.560 a place of like self learning, you know, self growth. 0:03:18.639 --> 0:03:21.320 Like this year, I told myself, I'm going to do 0:03:21.400 --> 0:03:24.520 a lot of things for myself, you know, Like for 0:03:24.560 --> 0:03:26.600 the last ten years I've been working, working, working, work 0:03:26.639 --> 0:03:29.320 and work and taking care of everybody doing draining myself. 0:03:29.360 --> 0:03:31.560 And it's like, dang, like what is Roal Timmy? Like 0:03:31.800 --> 0:03:34.440 who is Roal Timmy? Genuinely, like where are we going 0:03:34.520 --> 0:03:37.800 with who I am? And what do I love to 0:03:37.840 --> 0:03:40.040 do as a man? And so I'm at that place 0:03:40.080 --> 0:03:41.840 where it's like, Okay, yeah, career is great, this and 0:03:41.880 --> 0:03:44.640 this and this, but peace of mind is everything for 0:03:44.720 --> 0:03:48.400 me right now. Everything so just growing in self really, 0:03:48.640 --> 0:03:51.320 you know, and it translates to the music, it translates 0:03:51.320 --> 0:03:54.160 to everything, but just peace of mind and really enjoying 0:03:54.400 --> 0:03:55.560 doing it while I'm doing. 0:03:55.360 --> 0:03:58.280 It, Yeah, because I mean there is a discovery within 0:03:59.240 --> 0:04:02.360 within working and you know, and all the trials and 0:04:02.360 --> 0:04:05.520 tribulations that come along with that. And then but then 0:04:05.600 --> 0:04:09.040 you know, there's so much life outside of work, Yes, bro, 0:04:09.320 --> 0:04:13.040 which is which is so important when it comes to 0:04:13.160 --> 0:04:14.160 your peace of mind? 0:04:14.280 --> 0:04:15.280 Yes, you know what I'm. 0:04:15.120 --> 0:04:17.680 Saying that what are what are? And where are those 0:04:17.760 --> 0:04:21.680 recharging stations? Those things that are going to sustain you 0:04:22.120 --> 0:04:22.560 through the. 0:04:22.600 --> 0:04:26.800 Work Because as entertainers where everyone else's get away, getaway? 0:04:26.960 --> 0:04:29.320 So who's what is our? Who is? 0:04:29.600 --> 0:04:32.080 And then when we then when we don't do it, 0:04:32.080 --> 0:04:37.159 it's hey, man, can't I can't. 0:04:39.160 --> 0:04:39.479 I can't. 0:04:41.640 --> 0:04:43.560 It's like we're not human, you know what I mean, 0:04:43.560 --> 0:04:46.560 We'll just an imagination. We're fantasy. But people forget that. Yo, 0:04:46.640 --> 0:04:49.280 we bleed, we we we go through things. And so 0:04:49.440 --> 0:04:52.400 for me, like that peace of mind has just been prayer. 0:04:52.560 --> 0:04:55.119 It's been fast and it has been health has been 0:04:55.880 --> 0:04:59.040 just being still just saying, y'all, I'm not doing anything, 0:04:59.240 --> 0:05:01.800 you know, instead of doing so much like I gotta 0:05:01.839 --> 0:05:03.160 be a part of this got of people. It's like, no, 0:05:03.200 --> 0:05:05.040 I don't need to do anything. Let God take control. 0:05:05.560 --> 0:05:07.040 And that's where I literally am now. 0:05:07.080 --> 0:05:07.240 Bro. 0:05:07.440 --> 0:05:10.680 Well, I think that's also that's also a key in 0:05:10.800 --> 0:05:16.279 terms of longevity, right, and then just another nuance to 0:05:16.279 --> 0:05:19.280 add to that the quality of that longevity yes, you 0:05:19.320 --> 0:05:21.800 know what I'm saying, Like how you're around, you know, 0:05:21.960 --> 0:05:25.040 for a long time, is just as important as you 0:05:25.200 --> 0:05:26.800 being around for a long. 0:05:26.600 --> 0:05:30.240 Time, absolutely and trusting your talent. You gotta trust your talent. 0:05:30.480 --> 0:05:33.200 A lot of talented people don't actually trust their talent. 0:05:33.520 --> 0:05:36.359 They feel like they're gonna run out, so they rush, 0:05:36.760 --> 0:05:40.720 They rush into bad deals, they rush into doing bad things. 0:05:40.960 --> 0:05:41.520 You know what I mean. 0:05:41.880 --> 0:05:44.560 You know it's like, you know, especially in this day 0:05:44.600 --> 0:05:46.440 and age, you can't that's not going away. 0:05:47.160 --> 0:05:47.920 It's going to be there. 0:05:48.040 --> 0:05:50.159 Like maybe we're on a different subject, but when your 0:05:50.240 --> 0:05:56.080 name comes up, you know, you gotta you know, you 0:05:56.160 --> 0:05:59.040 gotta be mindful of that. And just like I said, 0:05:59.080 --> 0:06:01.880 just just trust your talent. Your talent gonna. 0:06:01.720 --> 0:06:03.800 Still be there. Do you feel like social media has 0:06:03.920 --> 0:06:06.400 like made it feel like I gotta do this, I 0:06:06.400 --> 0:06:08.279 gotta do this all you think is to label more so? 0:06:08.640 --> 0:06:09.360 Or do you feel like I. 0:06:09.360 --> 0:06:13.200 Think I think system talented people have always been impatient. 0:06:14.040 --> 0:06:15.720 Yes, yes, you. 0:06:15.680 --> 0:06:19.839 Know it's something about singing that first note in the 0:06:19.920 --> 0:06:22.760 bathroom and being like somebody gotta hear it, somebody else 0:06:22.760 --> 0:06:24.120 got to hear it, you know what I'm saying, Like 0:06:24.160 --> 0:06:27.800 when if you want to go that route. I think 0:06:27.839 --> 0:06:30.320 that you know that impatience has always been there, but 0:06:30.440 --> 0:06:35.360 now you get to see other people's Yes, you know, 0:06:35.880 --> 0:06:37.840 in front of you, you can see how impatient they 0:06:37.880 --> 0:06:41.599 are because if you watch it, you're like, you probably 0:06:41.680 --> 0:06:44.880 moving too fast, You probably should have let that bake 0:06:44.960 --> 0:06:47.400 a little longer, but you took it out the oven. 0:06:48.240 --> 0:06:51.400 And you can see that now. But and for some 0:06:52.160 --> 0:06:53.960 you see that and then you go and do the 0:06:54.000 --> 0:06:55.680 same thing, or you. 0:06:55.600 --> 0:06:59.760 Say, hey, I'm gonna chill. I'm a way too, it's 0:06:59.800 --> 0:07:01.800 my time and I'm ready. 0:07:03.000 --> 0:07:08.479 You got to be able to identify, you know, your 0:07:08.600 --> 0:07:11.360 lane or your position within all of that. Yes, you 0:07:11.440 --> 0:07:15.240 know what I mean. And so the labels, the labels 0:07:15.240 --> 0:07:20.200 are going off of old information. By the time they 0:07:20.240 --> 0:07:24.240 get the analytic, it's already happened. So they're just in 0:07:24.280 --> 0:07:27.520 a space where they're just trying to reproduce that. Right, 0:07:27.560 --> 0:07:33.360 but those results may not happen because of the same thing. Right, 0:07:33.480 --> 0:07:36.600 you may get the same results, but your output make 0:07:36.640 --> 0:07:39.120 al be completely different than the analytic that they got 0:07:39.160 --> 0:07:41.800 on somebody else that was doing whatever that They feel like, 0:07:41.880 --> 0:07:43.080 we have to produce that. 0:07:43.120 --> 0:07:45.400 And to get that exactly not true. 0:07:46.720 --> 0:07:47.440 You just have to. 0:07:47.440 --> 0:07:52.480 Do your thing your way, yes, the way it connects, 0:07:52.880 --> 0:07:55.360 and then once you either figure out how you want 0:07:55.360 --> 0:07:56.880 to super serve that or not. 0:07:58.560 --> 0:07:59.960 We got a lot of artists that are missed. 0:08:00.000 --> 0:08:03.160 Three artists yeah you know what I mean, Yeah, who 0:08:03.200 --> 0:08:06.920 survive in this mysterious space and then put up one 0:08:07.000 --> 0:08:10.040 post and only got one post on their whole page. 0:08:10.360 --> 0:08:13.480 People in a frenzy one point. There's a lot of that. 0:08:14.320 --> 0:08:18.040 So it's just like the labels have an idea of 0:08:18.080 --> 0:08:21.240 what they see happening, but. 0:08:21.520 --> 0:08:26.800 It's already happened. Yes, yes, So it's it's all different. 0:08:26.840 --> 0:08:29.760 There is I don't think there is no right or 0:08:29.800 --> 0:08:31.840 wrong way in terms of being active. 0:08:34.040 --> 0:08:37.559 And that's the hardest thing for people who are really 0:08:37.600 --> 0:08:40.320 talented to actually say, oh, I could just be myself 0:08:40.800 --> 0:08:44.360 because you're taught to. Oh that worked that. Like you said, though, 0:08:44.400 --> 0:08:46.000 the labels were like, Okay, I got to sound like 0:08:46.000 --> 0:08:49.480 this person this person, and if you can actually sing 0:08:49.559 --> 0:08:53.320 and do it like that, you're like, oh, but it 0:08:53.360 --> 0:08:55.880 never connects. And that's what happened with me. So for me, 0:08:56.160 --> 0:08:57.880 I was like, oh, I can do this type of record. 0:08:57.880 --> 0:08:59.079 Oh I could do that too, I could do it 0:08:59.160 --> 0:09:01.360 oh I do. And when I sat back and I 0:09:01.440 --> 0:09:04.760 was like, you know what, Bro, just do what you 0:09:04.880 --> 0:09:09.160 feel is right. You are really the definition of African America. 0:09:09.280 --> 0:09:14.959 You stop right there, don't you do this? Okay, get there? Okay, okay, we. 0:09:14.960 --> 0:09:19.400 Had so much interaction before you got there. Yes, you 0:09:19.480 --> 0:09:20.839 and I personally yes, bro. 0:09:21.600 --> 0:09:22.199 So let's go. 0:09:22.280 --> 0:09:26.800 Back okay, okay, okay, okay back into time. Let's go 0:09:26.920 --> 0:09:32.960 back to the very beginning where somebody said to you, 0:09:32.960 --> 0:09:37.160 you you you got something or you realized it for yourself. 0:09:38.040 --> 0:09:40.080 Who are your daddy told you need to go be 0:09:40.120 --> 0:09:46.280 a doctor instead reality both can happen the same time. Truth, 0:09:46.600 --> 0:09:49.280 all right, So it started even before I was born. 0:09:50.000 --> 0:09:52.120 So my mom had a dream. So my mom is 0:09:52.120 --> 0:09:54.720 a prayer warrior, So she had a dream that Bob 0:09:54.760 --> 0:09:56.800 Marty came to and said, your son is going to 0:09:56.840 --> 0:09:59.960 finish my legacy. So that's what she did. And most 0:10:00.080 --> 0:10:02.880 freaking parents are always going to be like, no, you 0:10:02.920 --> 0:10:04.959 need to be a doctor, lawyer. So when she had 0:10:05.000 --> 0:10:08.080 that message, she's either like, okay, well, bar Marley was 0:10:08.080 --> 0:10:11.240 a politician. He was kind of like he was smart 0:10:11.320 --> 0:10:12.880 enough to be a lawyer. He was part of but 0:10:13.360 --> 0:10:16.200 it was the music. So when I started singing around 0:10:16.559 --> 0:10:19.319 three four, she started hearing me sing in the shower 0:10:19.840 --> 0:10:21.559 and she was like, oh, that's what it is. So 0:10:21.600 --> 0:10:24.960 she said to my dad like, listen, I know our structure, 0:10:25.040 --> 0:10:27.280 I know our family, I know everything. I know. There's 0:10:27.280 --> 0:10:29.240 no one else in the family who's ever done music. 0:10:29.600 --> 0:10:33.000 But I was given this message before he even arrived. 0:10:33.080 --> 0:10:35.439 So she had never told your father. She never told 0:10:35.640 --> 0:10:37.400 because she didn't know what it was, like, are you 0:10:37.440 --> 0:10:40.400 going to be you know? He was into politics, you know, 0:10:40.480 --> 0:10:42.200 so she was just like, you know, until she freak 0:10:42.440 --> 0:10:45.480 finds out. So she was like, I had the dream, 0:10:46.559 --> 0:10:49.120 and once she realized that's what it was, my mom 0:10:49.160 --> 0:10:52.240 became my first manager. So she had me singing at 0:10:52.320 --> 0:10:56.840 Nigerian weddings when I was five, six, seven, eight years 0:10:57.200 --> 0:10:59.280 at this point, so I was in New Jersey in Jersey, yeah, 0:11:00.120 --> 0:11:03.800 so Maplewood, New Jersey, actually East Strings, New Jersey at 0:11:03.800 --> 0:11:08.120 this point. So I'm singing at Nigerian weddings all over 0:11:08.320 --> 0:11:12.840 the East coast from Connecticut Phillys. So that's what started happening. 0:11:13.600 --> 0:11:15.000 And then she was like, oh, you need to join 0:11:15.040 --> 0:11:18.920 the children's choir New Jersey Children's Choir so I did 0:11:18.960 --> 0:11:22.200 that and realized, okay, I love this type of music, 0:11:22.240 --> 0:11:24.480 but this is still not me. So she then started saying, 0:11:24.520 --> 0:11:25.640 what do you want to do? I want to be 0:11:25.960 --> 0:11:28.760 like Michael Jackson. So I was a kid that every 0:11:28.800 --> 0:11:32.440 family member was like looking at and wanting to perform 0:11:32.480 --> 0:11:34.280 in front of everybody, and that's when it kind of 0:11:34.320 --> 0:11:37.200 just realized, like, Okay, I love what I'm doing. And 0:11:37.240 --> 0:11:42.400 then at fifteen, I did the Apollo Theater. So I 0:11:42.400 --> 0:11:44.640 did the Apollo Theater and I was just like, I 0:11:44.720 --> 0:11:47.200 just want to skip school on Wednesday. My mousel you 0:11:47.400 --> 0:11:49.400 me by myself. It's just me by myself. It was 0:11:49.400 --> 0:11:52.120 me by myself. And I was in the adult category 0:11:52.200 --> 0:11:55.319 because I was a late add on, so it was terrifying, 0:11:55.400 --> 0:11:58.200 bro Like, so just knowing that, okay, you got thirty 0:11:58.240 --> 0:12:00.720 five year olds, thirty two year old you know, twenty 0:12:00.720 --> 0:12:03.160 five year olds in my category, it's like, okay, yeah, 0:12:03.240 --> 0:12:06.160 I might get some mercy as a kid, but they 0:12:06.320 --> 0:12:08.280 ready to move no matter what if you know the 0:12:08.320 --> 0:12:10.520 Apollo Theaters. So I did that and end up winning. 0:12:11.480 --> 0:12:15.080 So then came back the following week and I came second. 0:12:15.120 --> 0:12:19.120 So then that's when I realized, Okay, this is really, really, 0:12:19.240 --> 0:12:22.240 really what I want to do. So yours air aired 0:12:22.240 --> 0:12:27.360 on TV. This was right before you get to there. Yeah, 0:12:27.400 --> 0:12:30.000 you get to there, you get to there. So for me, 0:12:30.240 --> 0:12:32.760 I was about to google. Yeah, I know, right before, 0:12:32.880 --> 0:12:34.800 right before I get to there. So if I would 0:12:34.800 --> 0:12:37.600 have came first, then yes, okay, So the second time 0:12:37.640 --> 0:12:42.280 came second. So then jay Z's nephews moved into town 0:12:43.120 --> 0:12:45.880 and so one of the nephews wanted to rap. His 0:12:46.000 --> 0:12:48.320 name was Ramel, so Ramel Spanky. All of them they 0:12:48.400 --> 0:12:49.959 became a group and they were like, well, yo, you're 0:12:49.960 --> 0:12:52.400 the singing nigga all everywhere around town, like, you know, 0:12:52.600 --> 0:12:55.920 join our group. So I joined the group. And then 0:12:56.280 --> 0:12:58.600 Hole was like, look, if y'all serious, I need y'all 0:12:58.640 --> 0:13:02.000 to come to the crib and I read every Saturday 0:13:02.000 --> 0:13:04.320 that I'm in town, and I want you to perform 0:13:04.760 --> 0:13:07.000 all your records that you're writing during the week for me, 0:13:07.880 --> 0:13:09.880 so that was when I was like, okay, all right, 0:13:10.400 --> 0:13:12.200 how good are you roll? This is really what you 0:13:12.240 --> 0:13:14.560 want to do. You got the greatest or possibly the 0:13:14.600 --> 0:13:17.000 grades of all time, you know, spending three four hours 0:13:17.000 --> 0:13:19.600 of his weekend with you. You know, so we're writing 0:13:19.760 --> 0:13:21.439 after school every day writing right right, and so we'll 0:13:21.480 --> 0:13:25.280 go perform and he would just be like, Okay, that's whack, 0:13:26.000 --> 0:13:28.560 that's great, that's yeah. Your voice not powerful on that, 0:13:28.600 --> 0:13:30.680 but lyrics is good. Oh, your stage presence is to 0:13:30.840 --> 0:13:33.120 do it again. So we'll be doing it for two 0:13:33.240 --> 0:13:36.160 three hours. So this is now sixteen and seventeen. So 0:13:36.200 --> 0:13:40.480 by this time the group was called NBH and we're 0:13:40.600 --> 0:13:44.200 like literally performing at all the talent shows, college talent 0:13:44.200 --> 0:13:47.560 shol high school talent shows, winning everything. And then that 0:13:47.640 --> 0:13:49.200 was with the conversation that I had to have my 0:13:49.280 --> 0:13:51.760 mom like, well, I mean, I don't want to go 0:13:51.800 --> 0:13:53.800 to college, Like I want to just keep doing this. 0:13:54.080 --> 0:13:56.320 I want to join Rock Nation d D. And my 0:13:56.360 --> 0:13:58.080 mom was like a rich to mean, ya not the 0:13:58.120 --> 0:14:00.200 nephew of this mind here, what are you doing? Not 0:14:00.200 --> 0:14:02.760 going to be he doesn't have to sign you. So 0:14:02.840 --> 0:14:07.480 it was like, all right, well, I'm good enough so 0:14:07.600 --> 0:14:10.320 much I got to study better than I mean, he's 0:14:10.400 --> 0:14:17.800 cheating blood. So so so I had just gotten accepted 0:14:17.800 --> 0:14:22.680 into Northwestern for vocal performance in Northwestern in Evanston, Illinois. 0:14:23.280 --> 0:14:25.000 So I got accepted, so my mom was like, you're 0:14:25.000 --> 0:14:28.520 going to skip basically an ivory League school to go 0:14:28.760 --> 0:14:31.720 take a chance on you know, this group. And I 0:14:31.760 --> 0:14:33.720 was like, well, mom, you know we're good with winning 0:14:33.760 --> 0:14:35.360 this and this. She was like, no, as soon as 0:14:35.400 --> 0:14:37.920 they don't want to rock with dream, they go, let's 0:14:37.960 --> 0:14:40.520 let you go. But you always have a college degree. 0:14:41.240 --> 0:14:43.600 So and that was the So I went to college 0:14:43.640 --> 0:14:46.920 basically for my parents. And yeah, so I can keep 0:14:47.080 --> 0:14:50.560 keep finish. You finished, Yeah, I graduated, I graduate. 0:14:50.640 --> 0:14:52.360 Are you still doing the group and all of that? 0:14:52.440 --> 0:14:54.480 Why did you have to leave the group? So I 0:14:54.480 --> 0:14:55.800 had to leave a group. So that was the whole thing. 0:14:55.840 --> 0:14:59.880 Like we're great today, but that was the whole thing, absolutely, 0:15:00.080 --> 0:15:01.440 like oh dang, you think you better. It was like 0:15:01.480 --> 0:15:03.640 it was a whole There was a whole thing, you know. 0:15:03.680 --> 0:15:05.320 And I felt like I was betraying him. And it 0:15:05.400 --> 0:15:06.880 was like, Dan, you're not even really one of us. 0:15:06.880 --> 0:15:10.040 You never believe it. And again, we're all sixteen seventeen, right, 0:15:10.160 --> 0:15:10.360 you know. 0:15:10.360 --> 0:15:10.800 What I mean. 0:15:10.840 --> 0:15:14.120 So it's a tough conversation. It's hard you guys. You 0:15:14.160 --> 0:15:17.400 spent that much time with Yes, you said, sixteen seventeen, 0:15:17.440 --> 0:15:19.800 sixteen seventeen. So at this point in time, we've been 0:15:19.920 --> 0:15:23.000 working and going to Hole's crib you know, off and 0:15:23.040 --> 0:15:24.560 on for almost a year and a half, you know, 0:15:24.680 --> 0:15:27.840 so you're gonna throw it all away for this and dang, like. 0:15:28.160 --> 0:15:33.080 I love a dream birusu reality what Yeah, yes, especially 0:15:33.120 --> 0:15:37.280 when you believe yes, you, when you when you're that close. 0:15:37.040 --> 0:15:40.560 You're yes, Like you're sitting across from someone who could 0:15:40.640 --> 0:15:41.360 change your life. 0:15:41.760 --> 0:15:43.480 And there and they're saying you're good. 0:15:44.200 --> 0:15:45.040 You know what I'm saying. 0:15:45.240 --> 0:15:46.880 So like you got an end too, because you got 0:15:47.240 --> 0:15:49.280 I'm in a group with. 0:15:49.760 --> 0:15:53.320 Yeah, nephew, but I don't think. 0:15:53.480 --> 0:15:55.880 But we also knew that the pressure was on us 0:15:55.960 --> 0:16:00.320 even more because they had to be that good knowing 0:16:00.400 --> 0:16:02.600 better than good, better than him type of energy. So 0:16:03.200 --> 0:16:05.840 it was like a lot of it was a lot 0:16:05.880 --> 0:16:09.480 of stress, good stress that prepared me for life later 0:16:09.520 --> 0:16:11.720 down the road because you're starting to see like, oh man, 0:16:11.880 --> 0:16:13.920 you have to bring your a game every day even 0:16:13.920 --> 0:16:17.400 though you're mentally not developed yet, you're still like okay 0:16:17.560 --> 0:16:20.280 the dog and you was born at that time for real. 0:16:20.840 --> 0:16:23.640 And so so you got a vocal degree, no, no, 0:16:23.680 --> 0:16:27.360 hell no, so listen, So I went to vocal went 0:16:27.400 --> 0:16:31.000 to school for vocal performance, and I realized so in college, right, 0:16:31.080 --> 0:16:34.760 so you got like so every credit, every class is 0:16:34.840 --> 0:16:39.160 one credit and you need about four credits to get 0:16:39.200 --> 0:16:41.720 past the semester. Right, Okay, so you can have like 0:16:42.440 --> 0:16:47.040 four classes or two classes at equal one. Right. So 0:16:47.160 --> 0:16:49.360 in vocal performance and the Western At the time, I 0:16:49.400 --> 0:16:51.760 don't know how it is now, but vocal performance, every 0:16:51.840 --> 0:16:55.440 class was like zero point five point three point two. 0:16:56.120 --> 0:17:00.600 So you gotta do music theory, music and the music keyboard, 0:17:00.640 --> 0:17:04.200 blah blah blah. So you there from seven am. Then 0:17:04.200 --> 0:17:09.400 inquired you there from seven am to nine pm. I'm like, now, 0:17:09.400 --> 0:17:11.400 there's too many joints on campus, but I'm not gonna 0:17:11.400 --> 0:17:12.480 be here doing this every day. 0:17:12.720 --> 0:17:15.240 You're talking to a dropout and it never went so 0:17:16.680 --> 0:17:18.080 what you're saying right now? 0:17:18.240 --> 0:17:18.840 Oh y'all good? 0:17:19.160 --> 0:17:25.399 Nah, champ. So I'm in a full scholarship. Look, I 0:17:25.400 --> 0:17:30.399 thought about it. But now to the audition. Yeah, high school. 0:17:30.440 --> 0:17:33.359 My high school music teacher was like, yeah, so you 0:17:33.359 --> 0:17:34.400 know I went to you know. 0:17:35.200 --> 0:17:37.639 School of Music, Berkeley School of Music, and you know 0:17:37.680 --> 0:17:39.720 I have some connections. Man, I would love to Yeah, 0:17:40.000 --> 0:17:41.080 you know, I'm a seven audition. 0:17:41.720 --> 0:17:49.520 Oh yeah, wrong, back to the black I go. So 0:17:49.760 --> 0:17:50.920 you ain't want to go at all? You were just 0:17:50.960 --> 0:17:53.800 talking so you had no planning going college. 0:17:55.160 --> 0:17:58.359 For music, but all definitely not for music, because for music. 0:17:58.440 --> 0:18:01.440 So I had another opportunity in high school because that 0:18:01.640 --> 0:18:04.399 already it was weird for me because I had already 0:18:04.440 --> 0:18:09.360 done music professionally, you know what I mean. So when 0:18:09.400 --> 0:18:12.000 my brother, when my brother passed, we moved back to 0:18:12.080 --> 0:18:16.399 San Francisco, and you know, I had just been on 0:18:16.440 --> 0:18:19.320 soul train six months before, you know, so when I 0:18:19.359 --> 0:18:21.520 get back, I'm the kid that was just on that. 0:18:21.840 --> 0:18:24.520 Now I got to figure out how to be regular 0:18:24.600 --> 0:18:27.600 in the hood again. So I didn't sing for a 0:18:27.640 --> 0:18:29.040 couple of years. I didn't sing at all for a 0:18:29.080 --> 0:18:30.400 couple of years. A couple of people tried to get 0:18:30.400 --> 0:18:33.959 me to get in groups and some different shit. And 0:18:34.000 --> 0:18:37.440 then when I got in high school, I realized that 0:18:37.920 --> 0:18:39.919 if I took music, it's. 0:18:39.800 --> 0:18:42.280 An easy a. I just looked at it as an 0:18:42.280 --> 0:18:46.000 easy a. So the first music teacher was like, you 0:18:46.080 --> 0:18:47.919 probably should go look at, you know, the School of 0:18:47.960 --> 0:18:50.680 the Arts. I'm going to school to play basketball and 0:18:50.800 --> 0:18:53.760 go to a basketball school. And the teachers like, there's 0:18:53.760 --> 0:18:56.000 a School of the Yards in San Francisco too, that's good, 0:18:56.080 --> 0:18:58.240 blah blah blah, And I was like, you're talking about 0:18:58.240 --> 0:19:00.960 them kids that we're all black all day and trench 0:19:01.000 --> 0:19:04.120 coats smoking cigarettes at the bus stop. I ain't fun 0:19:04.240 --> 0:19:07.960 with it right. The music school niggas was weird to me, 0:19:09.040 --> 0:19:10.120 so didn't do that. 0:19:10.800 --> 0:19:12.520 Never never went because they were trying to hook me 0:19:12.600 --> 0:19:14.080 up to go check out the school lyards. 0:19:14.080 --> 0:19:14.520 Didn't do that. 0:19:14.600 --> 0:19:18.320 So then senior year comes same conversation, like, listen, you 0:19:18.320 --> 0:19:22.119 can go to school for free as a singer. I 0:19:22.200 --> 0:19:24.679 might go to school for free as a singer for 0:19:24.760 --> 0:19:27.040 some ship I already been paid for as a kid. 0:19:27.240 --> 0:19:29.760 It's backwards like. 0:19:30.320 --> 0:19:32.119 That, don't really you know, it just didn't. It didn't 0:19:32.200 --> 0:19:33.320 like you said, it didn't add up. 0:19:33.359 --> 0:19:34.159 So I was. 0:19:34.280 --> 0:19:34.679 I was more. 0:19:34.720 --> 0:19:36.119 And at this point I was just in love with 0:19:36.160 --> 0:19:39.000 playing basketball. I had a you know, affinity for that. 0:19:39.000 --> 0:19:39.880 That became my thing. 0:19:40.000 --> 0:19:42.800 So, nah, I couldn't do it. I couldn't do it, 0:19:42.840 --> 0:19:44.359 bro and I didn't. I didn't want to be I 0:19:44.400 --> 0:19:46.200 didn't want to be a starving student either. I feel you, 0:19:46.240 --> 0:19:47.800 but I had no. The thing is, I don't even 0:19:47.840 --> 0:19:50.160 remember one thing I learned in school. That's the thing, 0:19:50.440 --> 0:19:53.879