MIGUEL REVEALS MEANING BEHIND BODY SUSPENSION STUNT

Million Dollaz Worth of Game

Wallo267 | Million Dollaz Worth of Game

Transcript

00:00:00 I mean, we right here, you see what's going on.

00:00:01 We went to Legend Miguel.

00:00:03 He was just singing some tunes.

00:00:04 I don't know what was going on.

00:00:05 If he want us to do like an album together.

00:00:08 - The intro.

00:00:09 - Like, we might.

00:00:10 - To the podcast.

00:00:12 He knew it, the new bar stool.

00:00:13 Podcast intro.

00:00:14 - He was off camera.

00:00:15 (humming)

00:00:18 - You know, he got in the morning with the classics.

00:00:21 You know, the mornings be the perfect time

00:00:24 for a classic song, you know.

00:00:26 - Yeah, that's what it's about.

00:00:28 - Man, let me ask what everybody want to know.

00:00:32 - Yeah.

00:00:33 - You broke the internet.

00:00:34 You swing it from the air.

00:00:37 - Your body suspension.

00:00:39 - Body suspension.

00:00:40 - Yeah.

00:00:41 - I want to know.

00:00:42 - Yes.

00:00:43 - At some point in the show,

00:00:45 did you say this wasn't a good hot damn?

00:00:49 - Ha, did you think it was?

00:00:50 - You know, like when I go get tattoos,

00:00:52 you know, you be excited.

00:00:53 You be like, yeah, I can't wait.

00:00:55 You get there and they be like,

00:00:57 and you like, this wasn't a good hot damn.

00:01:00 - I shouldn't have done this shit.

00:01:01 - I shouldn't have done this.

00:01:02 - You didn't know it was going to hit like that.

00:01:03 - I didn't know it was going to hit like that.

00:01:04 - Right, right, right.

00:01:05 That's like, my hand tattoo was like that

00:01:08 and down this side, but.

00:01:10 - Ho, you was scared, your hand tattoo had you,

00:01:13 your tattoo had you like, oh, this shit's painful?

00:01:15 - I was just saying like, when I got,

00:01:17 there's a couple tattoos like that where,

00:01:20 in that area right here on my elbow,

00:01:21 you know, there's moments where you're just like,

00:01:23 ooh, that's not pleasant at all.

00:01:26 And, but the first, to answer the question,

00:01:29 the first time, the initial time doing suspension,

00:01:34 the piercing was fine.

00:01:37 The piercing was okay.

00:01:39 And then it was once they had me hooked in,

00:01:44 my instructor Steve was like,

00:01:49 they kind of forewarned me that

00:01:51 there's going to be a moment where you're not going to know

00:01:54 if this is something that you can go through with.

00:01:57 And he was like, and it happens to everyone,

00:01:59 especially the first time.

00:02:00 He said, he said, and typically it's,

00:02:06 it's just a decision to trust,

00:02:09 to let go of needing to control or really,

00:02:14 what he said was, you have to trust

00:02:18 that your body can handle the pain,

00:02:20 which is the same, which is the same thing

00:02:23 that we do when we work out.

00:02:25 You go to the gym and you get to that last set,

00:02:30 or you push through, 'cause you're trying to,

00:02:33 you know, go a few more reps on your last set or whatever,

00:02:35 or you push, you know, another weight,

00:02:38 your body is telling you no,

00:02:40 because that's what your brain

00:02:42 and your body is supposed to do.

00:02:44 It's like a fight or flight response, right?

00:02:45 We get into pain, we, your body goes,

00:02:49 I need to protect you, so you can't do this, you know?

00:02:52 And so there was, there was definitely a moment,

00:02:55 but I'll tell you the, it was a revelation in this moment.

00:03:00 I was strapped in, I was still kind of on my toes,

00:03:05 tippy toes, you know, and most of my weight is on my,

00:03:08 you know, on the hooks.

00:03:10 And he said, my face turned green.

00:03:14 Like, I, like, he could see that I couldn't tell,

00:03:17 and he looked at me, he said,

00:03:19 this is where you have to remind yourself

00:03:22 that you can handle the pain,

00:03:25 and that you don't have to always be in control

00:03:28 of the outcome, trust yourself.

00:03:31 He's like, I've done this many times for many years,

00:03:35 and this is the safest, most, you know,

00:03:38 common and easiest, you know, point of entry,

00:03:40 like, you're safe, basically.

00:03:43 I think, I think it was the letting go

00:03:46 of needing to be in control that was a life lesson,

00:03:50 and it changed so much for me.

00:03:52 And it was at that point that I lifted my toes

00:03:56 off the ground, and I was fully, basically,

00:03:59 on trusting my body, and the strength of my body.

00:04:04 And it was, so by the time we'd been on stage,

00:04:08 I'd done it two times prior.

00:04:10 - So you had to do a full rehearsal?

00:04:12 - No, I hadn't rehearsed for it,

00:04:16 because every time I've done suspension,

00:04:18 it was with a purpose.

00:04:19 It was like for a deeply personal purpose.

00:04:22 It was a meditative intention.

00:04:24 There was, I'd done a lot of work,

00:04:26 and thinking, and journaling prior to,

00:04:28 and there was a reason, you know?

00:04:30 The purpose on, for the art performance,

00:04:37 was to really introduce the tone of the next phase,

00:04:42 and this next project, because I've been through

00:04:46 a lot of life since the last time everybody's seen me.

00:04:49 You know, it's not all pineapple skies,

00:04:51 and life does that, as we know.

00:04:54 Life be lifing hard.

00:04:57 Life life's hard, you know?

00:04:58 - Yes it do.

00:04:59 - Yeah, and there's joy, and there's pain,

00:05:01 and there's all of that in there,

00:05:04 but it was important to me to really open up

00:05:09 the conversation of what is acceptable

00:05:12 for when you're expected to be a certain way,

00:05:16 and you realize that your life is changing,

00:05:19 and you're evolving, you feel me?

00:05:21 So, yeah.

00:05:22 - And that's what people don't understand.

00:05:24 Like, you know, you came out what, 2010?

00:05:29 - Yeah, 2009, 2010, yeah.

00:05:31 - Even you aren't the same person you was in 2010.

00:05:36 - Who is?

00:05:37 - Like, nobody is.

00:05:39 Like, life's been lifing, so I've been growing.

00:05:42 As a person, as a human being, as an artist,

00:05:45 as just a general person in the world, I've grown.

00:05:48 I'm not, like, some people want you to stay the same

00:05:51 forever, like, it's like, nah, I'm elevated.

00:05:54 - Values, the values, see, it's like,

00:05:57 what people forget is that, like,

00:06:00 your values can remain, and should, I think,

00:06:03 should remain, unless you have values that are like,

00:06:06 don't work for you, and those need to evolve, right?

00:06:09 And this is like, just something I've learned

00:06:10 as a man growing up, you know, just growing up.

00:06:13 What is consistent about my character are my values,

00:06:16 you feel me, but my, the things that change

00:06:20 are things that either don't fit for me,

00:06:22 or they don't work for me, or they don't,

00:06:23 they're not the right representation of the kind of,

00:06:26 of my values, that they don't express my values

00:06:28 in that way, everything else, the clothes I wear,

00:06:30 like, that's like, that's, you feel me?

00:06:33 Like, that's like, seasonal, like, fashion,

00:06:35 like, fashion changes, you know, all the time,

00:06:38 and the way people express themselves through fashion

00:06:41 is going to evolve, whatever, but your values,

00:06:44 the person wearing the clothes is what it's really about,

00:06:46 you feel me, and I think art, expression,

00:06:51 these are things that are meant to express

00:06:55 maybe the tone of the value, the purpose and the value

00:06:59 for art, for me, why I express myself is because

00:07:01 I feel like emotion is what connects human beings,

00:07:06 you know, it's like, why I can hear a song

00:07:08 in another language and be like,

00:07:10 I don't know what they're saying.

00:07:11 - But this shit's hot.

00:07:11 - But this hits. - I can feel it,

00:07:12 and I can feel it.

00:07:13 - This is a banger, or this makes me feel pain,

00:07:15 or this makes me feel sadness, or whatever.

00:07:18 You may not understand it, but the emotion

00:07:21 is what we connect to, and I think that's why I make music,

00:07:25 even when I couldn't understand For All We Know

00:07:27 by Donny Hathaway as a little kid,

00:07:29 I didn't ever know pain like that,

00:07:31 pain and love, you know, and having to let go of that,

00:07:34 I never knew that as a kid, but I felt it.

00:07:38 I felt that supremely, and I wanted to be

00:07:40 the kind of artist that made music like that,

00:07:42 and I've been blessed to be able to do that,

00:07:44 you know, and so, regardless of the tone of the art,

00:07:48 the intention and the principle is pure,

00:07:53 and it's coming from a really,

00:07:56 a place that I think is greater than myself, you know, so.

00:07:59 Yeah.

00:08:01 - This episode of Million Dollars Worth of Game

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00:09:37 - Early on, going into, you know, music, right,

00:09:42 was it ever anything that you felt personally,

00:09:45 growing up, girl, somebody broke your heart,

00:09:47 and just, and later on as you grew up in life,

00:09:50 it tapped into your music, and you pulled from that.

00:09:52 Was it places like that that you pulled from,

00:09:54 relationships, experiences, that you pulled from?

00:09:58 - I mean, as a, we always are pulling from,

00:10:03 as a writer, as a songwriter,

00:10:05 I'm always pulling from my experiences.

00:10:07 I try my best to make that in real time.

00:10:12 This album, in particular, Viscera,

00:10:19 is sort of, is like a synopsis of a long period of time,

00:10:24 a large block of time.

00:10:26 So I'm pulling more from the last five, six years,

00:10:31 you know, it's not so much,

00:10:34 and sometimes, if I'm, like, I'm just writing a song,

00:10:36 just 'cause, or whatever, of like,

00:10:37 someone was to need a hook for something,

00:10:41 and they want it to be about A, B, and C,

00:10:42 and I'm not going through that,

00:10:44 then yeah, I'm going to pull from--

00:10:45 - Something else.

00:10:46 - Something that I've experienced in the past, right.

00:10:49 But yeah, that's the best answer I could probably give you.

00:10:54 - Growing up, did you ever, in a million years,

00:10:57 think you'd be in this position right here?

00:10:59 'Cause you know, some people like,

00:11:00 no, I always knew I was going to be.

00:11:03 Some people really feel like they're like, no.

00:11:06 And then some people be like,

00:11:08 Gilly, I didn't have no idea, it just,

00:11:12 I had a song, it took off,

00:11:14 and then next thing you know, I looked up,

00:11:15 and I was Mikael, the biggest one,

00:11:18 the biggest artist in the world.

00:11:20 - Nah, man, that's, I mean, not the biggest artist by far,

00:11:23 but I always knew I was, I'm here to create, you know,

00:11:28 and there was nothing else in my brain

00:11:31 that made me doubt that I wasn't going

00:11:33 to make music my career.

00:11:35 Like, this was all that there was for me, you know.

00:11:38 As a kid, I made for this, you know.

00:11:43 I've been blessed to see,

00:11:46 to have emotion that is universal come through me,

00:11:52 and those are indications.

00:11:55 And also, it's like, connecting with fans,

00:11:57 to be real, is like, that feeling on stage,

00:12:02 when you're like supremely connected

00:12:05 to like tens of thousands of people, you know,

00:12:09 there's nothing more spiritual or unanimous than that.

00:12:17 And that's also like reaffirming.

00:12:19 So, no, I've never doubted that this is what I was built

00:12:24 to do and meant to do, or that I was going to do it.

00:12:27 For me, it was always in my brain.

00:12:28 It was like, it's just time, you know, time.

00:12:31 - Right. - Yeah.

00:12:32 - That's the best part about music,

00:12:33 is the performance for you?

00:12:35 - No, no, the best part is, there's like different,

00:12:39 there's different points.

00:12:41 It's surprising, surprising myself,

00:12:46 like I've surprised myself in what came through

00:12:49 and like how real it felt.

00:12:51 Like, to the point where I'm like,

00:12:53 wow, I don't know even where that came from.

00:12:55 - Right.

00:12:56 - That feels, that's what I'm saying,

00:12:57 is like that feeling is, that feeling is,

00:13:01 I can't explain that feeling.

00:13:03 It's greater than me, you know?

00:13:05 It's, sure thing, Adore,

00:13:08 and I don't remember writing those songs.

00:13:10 - Right.

00:13:11 - You know what I mean?

00:13:12 - Mm-hmm.

00:13:12 - Girl with the Tattoo.

00:13:16 - Mm-hmm.

00:13:17 - I remember the idea, I remember why,

00:13:19 but it just happened, you know?

00:13:21 Use me, you know, on Kaleidoscope Dream.

00:13:26 - Kaleidoscope Dream in and of itself.

00:13:28 Coffee, Arch and Point, you know what I mean?

00:13:32 Like, these songs are like,

00:13:33 I was either so having fun and not thinking about it,

00:13:36 and it's love, thank you.

00:13:37 - Arch and Point, that's--

00:13:38 - Come on, that's love.

00:13:39 (laughing)

00:13:40 Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:13:42 We had some good times with that one.

00:13:43 - Yes.

00:13:44 (laughing)

00:13:45 - Good times, yeah, yeah, man.

00:13:47 - What was a song for you that you was unsure about?

00:13:51 Like, I don't know, I love it, but it might not do,

00:13:55 and it was just like, whew.

00:13:57 - Songs I didn't know about, uh.

00:14:00 - 'Cause you know, some songs we be unsure about.

00:14:02 We be like, ah, you might have your homie that's like,

00:14:06 or your partner that's like, I'm telling you, man,

00:14:08 this is the one, go, man, it's the one.

00:14:09 - This is the one.

00:14:10 - And you like, this one, like, I'm telling you, man,

00:14:13 everybody love this one.

00:14:15 - No, truth be told, very first single that came out

00:14:19 as a professional recording artist, All I Want Is You,

00:14:23 Mark Pitts is like, that's my brother.

00:14:26 He signed me, and he believed in me

00:14:28 before I could even put music out.

00:14:30 He fought for me and fought for the music,

00:14:35 and he was so sure of this song, and I was like--

00:14:40 - The production and everything was crazy on that.

00:14:42 - Man, but you know, at the time,

00:14:44 people forget the context of music at the time.

00:14:47 It wasn't like, even hip hop didn't sound like that anymore.

00:14:50 It was like, hip hop was going in a different direction,

00:14:52 so we weren't getting boom bap, you know?

00:14:56 And I had been--

00:14:56 - It was more of the 808.

00:14:58 - Yeah, we were getting to, yeah,

00:14:59 we were moving to the south, which was dope.

00:15:02 It was a great, great time.

00:15:03 We were getting a lot of Atlanta, right?

00:15:07 - Yeah, absolutely.

00:15:08 - Yin Yang Twins, we were getting all the, like,

00:15:11 Crunk, you know, it was a good time.

00:15:14 But we weren't hearing a lot of that sound,

00:15:18 and yeah, I just was like, man, I don't know about this.

00:15:23 I was like, this is my first single.

00:15:25 There was a song called Quickie that I wrote,

00:15:27 and I was like, I feel like this is just,

00:15:28 out the gate, gonna be a banger, you know?

00:15:31 Which it turned out to be,

00:15:33 but in terms of introducing me as an artist,

00:15:36 he was so sure of it, and I had to trust him,

00:15:39 and he was right.

00:15:41 He was right, man.

00:15:42 - Right.

00:15:43 Thank God you trusted him.

00:15:44 - Yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:15:46 - That's a lesson to a lot of the artists out there.

00:15:49 Sometimes you gotta let the people

00:15:50 that's been doing their job for a long time do their job.

00:15:53 - It goes back to always needing to be in control.

00:15:57 It's been a life theme of, you know,

00:16:02 trusting people who truly, you know,

00:16:05 love and care for and see you, even outside of yourself.

00:16:09 - Right.

00:16:10 - I think there's something powerful

00:16:14 in being able to do that,

00:16:15 and I can honestly say it's been a journey for me.

00:16:19 That's been a journey.

00:16:20 So yeah, when we have people that love us on our team

00:16:22 who are really gonna ride for us,

00:16:24 you gotta trust those people.

00:16:25 - Absolutely.

00:16:26 - You gotta trust them.

00:16:27 - Especially when they've been doing their job

00:16:28 for a long time.

00:16:29 - Facts.

00:16:30 Yeah, yeah, whatever it be.

00:16:31 - They could just love you, they could be there for you.

00:16:33 They ain't been doing this job for,

00:16:34 I'm not making you my accountant,

00:16:36 'cause you my homie.

00:16:37 - Yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:16:38 No, you cannot do my taxes.

00:16:41 - No, we not doing it, you got me in trouble.

00:16:42 - But when you got people that's there,

00:16:44 they love you, they've been doing this job,

00:16:46 they're good at doing that job,

00:16:47 you have to trust them in doing their job

00:16:50 because that's their job.

00:16:52 You haven't been doing it.

00:16:54 - Now, with the changes of music, sounds,

00:16:59 people attention spans, eight, 12 seconds,

00:17:03 is there any fear as you go to create a new album

00:17:07 and you've been out of the game for a while?

00:17:09 Is there fear there as an artist,

00:17:11 like that artist fear where you be like,

00:17:12 how they gonna take it?

00:17:13 Are you overthinking sometime when you're creating?

00:17:16 - Man, I'm an over thinker.

00:17:20 I really am.

00:17:21 So there's definitely, I have to do work to,

00:17:27 I got to do work to get out of my way often.

00:17:31 And that's where, I don't want to,

00:17:35 I like what I love about the podcast is that it's light

00:17:40 and I feel like I don't want to make it always so serious,

00:17:43 but that's a real thing.

00:17:44 It's like, for me, it's been figuring out ways

00:17:47 to get my conscious brain out of the way of what's greater.

00:17:52 It's like we all have intuition and an intuitive quality

00:17:58 that connects us, I think, to what's greater than us,

00:18:00 to God, really, to the source.

00:18:03 And I think our experience and fear,

00:18:08 like you said, is like people expecting A, B, and C

00:18:12 and maybe this is not what they really want.

00:18:14 Or am I, is this too different for them?

00:18:18 Is this unfamiliar?

00:18:18 But then you want to stay true to yourself

00:18:23 and there's a reconciling that entails.

00:18:27 But I think when you trust,

00:18:30 one, your connection, your ideas,

00:18:36 and the work that you've put into it.

00:18:38 It's like, trust your, just really trust yourself

00:18:42 and trust what's greater and let that come through.

00:18:44 That's been the real work for me.

00:18:47 - And to truly be honest,

00:18:49 in order to truly be successful,

00:18:51 you have to be willing to fail.

00:18:53 That's just part of the process.

00:18:55 You have to be willing to fail.

00:18:57 - You got to.

00:18:58 - So, you're not willing to go out there and say,

00:19:01 ah, I believe in what I did,

00:19:02 I got to trust the work that I did,

00:19:03 I got to trust that I put enough hours in,

00:19:06 I put enough time,

00:19:07 and now I got to let that energy out into the world.

00:19:11 Maybe they might accept it this time,

00:19:13 maybe they don't.

00:19:14 But that's still, I got to come on,

00:19:16 let's come right back in and give them something else.

00:19:18 See, a lot of times people think,

00:19:21 you know, the Tricks, the Beyonces, the McGills,

00:19:25 the Weekends, the Chris Browns,

00:19:27 they forget that those people are human too.

00:19:30 They got feelings too.

00:19:33 They get nervous too.

00:19:35 They got a big project coming out,

00:19:36 the world's waiting.

00:19:38 They get little butterflies in their stomach too.

00:19:40 Because at the end of the day,

00:19:42 this is something that people are passionate about.

00:19:45 Something that they love.

00:19:46 This is like an album is almost like a child to you,

00:19:49 like I'm coming with, I'm about to drop.

00:19:51 So, of course when you dropping,

00:19:53 you want it to be successful.

00:19:55 You want the people to be acceptive to it.

00:19:57 So, let's always remember that he's human too.

00:20:01 You get a little nervous too when it's time to drop.

00:20:04 - Yeah, what I'll say is like,

00:20:07 I'm sort of, I'm not nervous.

00:20:09 - Man, but you know when it's time to drop.

00:20:12 - No, no, I really like, I've done it,

00:20:16 and this is humbly.

00:20:17 Actually, no, we not doing humble anymore.

00:20:19 Side note, I need everybody out there

00:20:21 to go look up the word humble in the dictionary.

00:20:25 - Break it down.

00:20:26 - In the dictionary, humility is associated

00:20:28 with undermining yourself.

00:20:31 We not here for that.

00:20:33 We are not here for that.

00:20:34 No one out there should be there to,

00:20:37 I like this quote, Deion Sanders.

00:20:40 I just, I like, you know, he just,

00:20:42 he with the game.

00:20:43 - That's cool saying this.

00:20:44 - Yeah, yeah, he's like,

00:20:45 "Don't allow my confidence to offend your insecurity."

00:20:49 - Right.

00:20:49 - And I'm confident that what I put into this

00:20:54 is intended for who it's intended for.

00:20:57 And I've been blessed enough to see over time

00:21:00 the music last time.

00:21:03 And I think timelessness was always the intention.

00:21:07 So when I know that I'm coming from a timeless intention

00:21:10 and I pour my heart and my soul into something,

00:21:13 that I'm confident that it will last

00:21:17 for who it's supposed to last.

00:21:18 And that's where we get "Sure Thing."

00:21:21 That's where we get "Quickie."

00:21:22 That's where we get "All I Want Is You."

00:21:24 None of which were the sound of the time.

00:21:28 You know what I mean?

00:21:29 They were always out of the box, left.

00:21:31 And I think there's,

00:21:33 I think it's more important to be clear about our intentions

00:21:38 and about where we're coming from in our soul.

00:21:43 Then you, the rest of it is like,

00:21:47 again, this is what suspension has been a real teaching thing

00:21:51 and a like visceral, not to be, you know,

00:21:54 but it's been a visceral learning experience

00:21:59 that is like, I don't need to be in control of the result.

00:22:02 I just need to trust myself, trust where I'm coming from.

00:22:06 And I think most people,

00:22:07 most successful entrepreneurs will tell you,

00:22:10 you know, it's like,

00:22:11 "I just had an idea and everybody told me I was crazy.

00:22:14 And I just went for it."

00:22:15 Y'all know?

00:22:16 - Yes.

00:22:17 - Against the odds, against what was the status quo,

00:22:20 blah, blah, blah.

00:22:21 And people didn't understand it.

00:22:22 People said I was this.

00:22:24 People who were afraid themselves

00:22:28 were trying to keep me from doing it.

00:22:29 Don't do that.

00:22:30 You know what I mean?

00:22:31 Which we've all dealt with this.

00:22:33 People being like, because they're afraid of,

00:22:35 they couldn't do it or whatever.

00:22:37 - Absolutely.

00:22:38 - So I'm not nervous.

00:22:40 I am aligned.

00:22:44 - Right.

00:22:45 - Because I have my purpose, you feel me?

00:22:46 - Right.

00:22:47 - And I think that's like, you can't tell me nothing.

00:22:49 - Right.

00:22:50 - Just like they can't tell, you know what I'm saying?

00:22:51 Like when you're on your,

00:22:53 like building this platform was not something,

00:22:55 people were like, "Podcast?"

00:22:56 - Right.

00:22:57 - I'm sure you're like, "What?

00:22:58 What's a podcast?"

00:22:58 - That's how I was.

00:22:59 And then he sent me an article that said,

00:23:01 Spotify allocated $420 million the first quarter

00:23:05 to podcast.

00:23:06 I said, "What?"

00:23:07 - Feel me?

00:23:07 - "Break them fucking cameras out.

00:23:09 "We're the cameras."

00:23:10 (laughing)

00:23:11 $420 million the first quarter.

00:23:13 That's from January to April.

00:23:15 $420.

00:23:17 Oh, we're missing some money.

00:23:18 Even when I started, me and I was working for Game.

00:23:22 Like you said, you have to have the confidence.

00:23:25 Because when I was breaking it down to my friends,

00:23:27 like, "Yo, I'm about to start giving Game to the youth

00:23:30 "on Instagram."

00:23:31 Then at the end, I'm going to be like, "Right."

00:23:33 They was sitting there like--

00:23:35 - Be crazy.

00:23:35 - I would have to kind of see you do it

00:23:37 to kind of like to understand.

00:23:40 I could have let that persuade me like,

00:23:43 "You know what, maybe this a bad idea."

00:23:45 But I'm like, "Y'all don't see the vision that I see."

00:23:50 The vision that's coming through my eyes,

00:23:51 y'all could never see that

00:23:53 because y'all don't have this vision.

00:23:54 So this what I'm going to do.

00:23:57 Let me give y'all me and I was with the Game real quick.

00:23:59 To all the young people out there,

00:24:00 stop chasing women and chase money

00:24:01 because when you got money, they chase you.

00:24:03 Right?

00:24:04 They was like, "Oh, all right, we like this."

00:24:07 "Oh, I didn't know you was going to do it like that."

00:24:10 So a lot of times, man, you got to understand who you are,

00:24:14 what your vision is, and that's it.

00:24:17 You can't be deterred by somebody else's vision.

00:24:20 Well, I don't think that's going to work.

00:24:21 I never seen nobody do that.

00:24:23 That's why it's special

00:24:24 because nobody ever done this shit.

00:24:26 I'm not trying to do something

00:24:28 that everybody you done seen done before.

00:24:31 That's why you were special

00:24:33 because you said, "I came out in a time

00:24:35 "where the music was like this, but I came like that."

00:24:39 So it was like, "Oh, this is something new.

00:24:42 "This is something fresh.

00:24:43 "This is something different."

00:24:45 This don't sound like the hundred songs

00:24:47 that just came on the radio.

00:24:49 They got the same beat pattern,

00:24:51 the same, it's going at a hundred whatever RPMs.

00:24:55 - Right, yeah. - That's what the radio do.

00:24:58 - You know what I'm saying?

00:24:59 So you was willing to be groundbreaking.

00:25:01 You was willing to trust your team first.

00:25:05 You know, "We coming with this record.

00:25:07 "I don't know, I want to come with this record.

00:25:08 "This is a smash out the gator.

00:25:10 "Now this is a good introduction."

00:25:12 And look where you at now.

00:25:15 So it was a beautiful thing.

00:25:17 This episode of "Me and Oz with a Game"

00:25:20 is brought to you by New Hampshire Nambocca.

00:25:22 I got a little something new today.

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00:25:51 I just want to tell you that New Hampshire Nambocca

00:25:53 is mostly inspired by those who stay true to themselves.

00:25:57 - True. - Like me and Wallo.

00:25:58 - Yes, sir.

00:25:59 - Nothing is more true to themselves

00:26:01 like "Me and Oz with a Game," huh?

00:26:03 - Always true.

00:26:04 - Right, 'cause we don't care about what anybody thinks.

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00:26:30 Find your wins with New Hampshire Nambocca.

00:26:33 When you're out and about at your local liquor store,

00:26:36 make sure you get you some, right?

00:26:38 - And when you look at your music,

00:26:41 sure thing did like half a billion,

00:26:43 close to half a billion. - Half a billion.

00:26:45 - Close to that, it's four something,

00:26:46 but it's close to half a billion streams.

00:26:48 And you know-- - Think about that, man.

00:26:50 'Cause we not on no humble shit.

00:26:52 Think about that. - I feel like it's more.

00:26:55 - I like that, you're not on no humble shit, I like that.

00:26:58 - I feel like it's more.

00:26:59 - 'Cause Lalo checked up on it.

00:27:01 - I don't be checking the stats.

00:27:02 I get the text though, I get the text from loved ones,

00:27:06 like yo, did you see that it's at a billion plus streams?

00:27:09 And it may be, I don't know what it is,

00:27:12 it may be like, what is it like collectively or whatever.

00:27:16 But what's crazy is I've met people my age

00:27:21 who have played it for their children,

00:27:25 who is now their children's wedding song.

00:27:29 You know, it's like a stream at this point,

00:27:33 and we will get this right, you know.

00:27:35 I wish we had the, I wish music was more organized

00:27:40 in terms of unionizing and taking care of each other

00:27:46 and protecting how important music is

00:27:49 as the film industry has been.

00:27:51 I commend and applaud the film, the Writers Guild,

00:27:55 all of the actors who are really supporting each other

00:27:59 to protect the craft and to protect each other

00:28:02 and their livelihoods, because we do need

00:28:05 to get streaming right, and we're making some progress,

00:28:07 but it's nowhere near, I'm like, a stream is like .006,

00:28:14 of a penny per stream, I'm like, fuck is a stream,

00:28:18 you feel me, I get to touch lives.

00:28:21 The stream is not, the stream isn't the thing for me.

00:28:25 When I'm on stage and I'm looking at the parent

00:28:28 and their child and their, you know, it's like partners.

00:28:31 - You got a whole family in there.

00:28:32 - Yeah, see, I'm talking about grandpa

00:28:35 and I'm talking about, you know.

00:28:37 - Granddaughter.

00:28:38 - Exactly, the range is crazy, and I don't take credit

00:28:43 for that, I just say I get to be a part of that.

00:28:46 Yeah, the money's great too, you know what I'm saying,

00:28:48 like we've had great, and I have, that's all because

00:28:52 I think when you do things like we said,

00:28:54 you trust yourself, and then you trust your team,

00:28:58 and you go for what you believe in, which is the game.

00:29:02 You know, ultimately that's what it boils down to.

00:29:05 You have an idea, you execute the idea with the people

00:29:08 that you trust, and y'all go hard until it cracks.

00:29:13 That's why I said that in the song, it's like,

00:29:15 in Skywalker, it's like, you know, put the work in

00:29:20 'til it works out.

00:29:21 - Right, absolutely, that's why me and him

00:29:23 are so productive.

00:29:24 - And what's crazy about it is the work always work out

00:29:28 even when you're not working, because you know what's crazy,

00:29:31 when you put it in the beginning, even if you look

00:29:34 at somebody like you, it's like,

00:29:36 last album you dropped was when?

00:29:39 - Man, 2017, end of 2017.

00:29:41 - Think about that, all right, so you drop an album in 2017.

00:29:44 - I'm sorry, end of 2018, going into '19.

00:29:48 - End of 2018, that's about five years ago.

00:29:50 - I'm right, I don't even remember.

00:29:52 - About five years ago.

00:29:52 - It was that long ago.

00:29:53 - About six years ago.

00:29:54 - He said the money was good, he just spent the sum of it.

00:29:57 - At the end of the day.

00:29:58 - That's why I don't do my own tax.

00:30:00 - You got to think about it.

00:30:01 So you say, you don't drop since then.

00:30:04 That's why I say when you work it,

00:30:06 it works even when you ain't working.

00:30:08 But right now, it's still all the way up until today,

00:30:11 you got 27.5 million monthly listeners on Spotify.

00:30:16 Do you know how crazy that is?

00:30:17 - That's wild.

00:30:18 - You got artists that's popping right now

00:30:20 that ain't got 15 million monthly listeners.

00:30:22 - That's popping right now.

00:30:25 - You got 20.

00:30:25 - Like just put something out right now,

00:30:27 they popping right now.

00:30:28 - You know what I'm saying?

00:30:29 - With no five year layoff.

00:30:31 - Didn't take the break.

00:30:34 - Didn't take the break.

00:30:36 - You know, you got that money,

00:30:38 I think I'm going to spend some time with the family.

00:30:41 - Well, we know.

00:30:42 - Spend some of this money.

00:30:43 - No, it's love.

00:30:44 But again, if we're looking at it

00:30:46 from a business standpoint,

00:30:48 you want to create businesses that work for you,

00:30:53 like you said, while you sleep.

00:30:55 - Yeah.

00:30:55 - What is going to live while you're not working?

00:31:00 And honestly, we are experiencing emotion.

00:31:06 That's what music, that's what fine art is about.

00:31:09 That's what any art, first and foremost,

00:31:14 people don't realize is a service.

00:31:16 Art is a service industry, ultimately.

00:31:19 The best art connects people and connects through emotion.

00:31:24 And if the art is so pure that either one people can relate

00:31:29 or it's so impactful that people feel something

00:31:32 that they're not used to feeling,

00:31:33 then it has the opportunity to connect

00:31:35 at any time, 'cause emotion is timeless.

00:31:39 You feel me?

00:31:40 It's like why you can still go back to a memory

00:31:43 that was painful or joyous or, you know,

00:31:48 any emotion that was real,

00:31:52 you can go right back to that moment

00:31:54 and you can remember it like it was right in that moment.

00:31:56 - And it's crazy, you feel me?

00:31:57 - And sometimes you can tap in.

00:31:59 Sometimes, you know, it's going to bring, you know,

00:32:02 I feel like, you know, I just had a son that passed.

00:32:05 - Man.

00:32:06 - You know, I feel like--

00:32:08 - My condolences, bro, I was like, dude,

00:32:10 should I, my condolences on--

00:32:13 - Yeah, I appreciate that, man.

00:32:14 I appreciate it, but it's like--

00:32:17 - I'm so sorry, man.

00:32:18 - No matter how long it be, when you tap into that,

00:32:23 you're going to get emotional.

00:32:26 You know what I mean?

00:32:27 It's like, there's no way around it.

00:32:28 When we tap into my cousin, his brother, Steve,

00:32:32 we going to get emotional.

00:32:35 So you're right, it's just things that you get emotion,

00:32:38 it's for life, like you can always tap into something.

00:32:42 I got friends that died, that was murdered,

00:32:45 20 something years ago that I think about them

00:32:50 and it just, you can't get away from that feeling.

00:32:54 You know what I mean?

00:32:55 So I understand truly what you're saying, man,

00:32:57 about emotions, man, and energy is everything.

00:33:00 - Yeah.

00:33:01 - You know what I mean?

00:33:02 Energy is everything.

00:33:03 That's why I surround myself with people with great energy.

00:33:07 You know what I mean?

00:33:08 And a lot of times that help you get through

00:33:10 those rough times.

00:33:12 - It's key, man, it's key.

00:33:13 - But I appreciate you.

00:33:14 - Yeah.

00:33:15 - And it's like, I think I always tell people,

00:33:19 me growing up in the 80s,

00:33:22 music was the soundtrack to the struggle

00:33:25 that was taking place in the ghetto.

00:33:27 So when you think about artists that's creating art,

00:33:31 the art and just the music,

00:33:33 it helps so many people lives

00:33:36 because a person can hear a song

00:33:38 and connect back with a moment,

00:33:40 connect back with a loved one that's not here,

00:33:41 connect back with emotion,

00:33:43 connect back with a hardship from hearing a song today

00:33:47 that they might've heard in the 90s

00:33:48 or they might've heard when short thinking.

00:33:49 It's the songs that connect,

00:33:51 oh damn, I remember I was in college,

00:33:53 I first got the Howard.

00:33:56 That's why music is so powerful.

00:33:58 You said something important.

00:34:01 You said something about what is extreme in the arts

00:34:03 and how the value on music ain't what it was.

00:34:08 When I grew up, I think it was more powerful

00:34:10 because I was a dude that had crates of tapes.

00:34:14 I had all the tapes.

00:34:15 - Yeah, he had everything.

00:34:16 - I was a tape lord, right?

00:34:18 - Yes, he was.

00:34:20 And he used to steal them.

00:34:21 - Listen, I had all the tapes.

00:34:22 (laughing)

00:34:24 - Just to let y'all know, I'm a little emotional right now,

00:34:27 but he used to steal them.

00:34:28 - Sam Goody.

00:34:29 - Do you want a sec, Giddy?

00:34:31 - No, no, no, no, man.

00:34:32 - Sam Goody, listen, you had Sam Goody,

00:34:35 you had all the stuff, so I had a bunch of tapes.

00:34:37 - You got some of your tapes still, huh?

00:34:39 - Yeah, they're somewhere probably in Nanny's basement.

00:34:41 (laughing)

00:34:43 So what happened is, this is what happened.

00:34:45 What happened is, it was an experience.

00:34:48 I remember to this day, Continuous Motion,

00:34:51 when I went and got Reasonable Doubt, Jay-Z tape.

00:34:55 Like I remember it.

00:34:57 I remember when I had E4.

00:34:58 I remember when I got certain artists' tapes to this day.

00:35:00 I remember going, because it was like,

00:35:03 you go get, it was different than it is now.

00:35:06 - It was more of an experience.

00:35:07 - It was experience, 'cause you had to go get the tape.

00:35:10 - You had to wake up and be like,

00:35:11 man, hold on, time to record stuff.

00:35:13 Now it's just you, it's 12 o'clock.

00:35:16 It's like, it's 12 o'clock, it's ready, let me listen.

00:35:18 - You had to go get the CD.

00:35:20 - Okay.

00:35:21 - And then you had to make it back home after work.

00:35:23 It might be Friday, you get paid, whatever you were doing.

00:35:25 It was an experience, and the artists,

00:35:27 you went and then they hear it

00:35:28 and play it all the way through.

00:35:29 And then you might be one of two, three people

00:35:33 in the neighborhood with that tape.

00:35:34 So now you're dubbing the tape.

00:35:36 You was taken away from the artist

00:35:38 then by bootlegging or whatever, but it wasn't--

00:35:40 - So you was doing copyright infringes back then.

00:35:42 - Yeah, but it wasn't like this.

00:35:43 It wasn't like the streaming.

00:35:44 I wasn't as worse than the streamers.

00:35:45 (laughing)

00:35:48 At least--

00:35:50 - We got Miguel, Miguel Lucas.

00:35:51 (laughing)

00:35:52 - At least they was getting their money.

00:35:54 At least they was getting their money back then.

00:35:57 - Yeah.

00:35:58 - They was getting way more--

00:35:59 - Way more.

00:36:00 - Way more for a CD.

00:36:01 So you mean to tell me now that if you had an album

00:36:04 and you had 15 songs, the album was like $17, $16, $15.

00:36:09 So if you got 15, I'm paying like a dollar a song every time.

00:36:16 - Yeah.

00:36:17 - So how you go from a dollar, $1.50 or whatever,

00:36:21 and it depends on what label you was on too.

00:36:23 - Facts.

00:36:24 - Yeah.

00:36:25 - How you, like when Tupac came out with a double CD,

00:36:27 changed our whole, we was just like, oh my God.

00:36:29 And even when Prince came out with a CD,

00:36:31 I think Prince Jones was like 50, 100.

00:36:32 It was, I forget when he came out with that one tape.

00:36:35 They was getting real money for this shit.

00:36:37 So you mean to tell me it goes from--

00:36:41 - $9 for a membership so you can stream anything

00:36:45 at any time, $9 a month does not equate to all the,

00:36:49 you know what I mean?

00:36:50 It just doesn't.

00:36:51 - Yeah, that's crazy.

00:36:52 - $10 a month.

00:36:52 - For $9 a month I can listen to everybody.

00:36:53 Anytime I want.

00:36:55 And that money doesn't, you're not paying for the song,

00:37:00 you're paying for the--

00:37:01 - Access.

00:37:01 - The ability to, yeah, exactly, the access.

00:37:04 It's crazy.

00:37:04 - I'm paying, that's wild.

00:37:05 - Listen, man.

00:37:06 - When you think about it from that standpoint,

00:37:08 that's wild.

00:37:09 - All the music, all at once, anytime.

00:37:11 And that's the value proposition to the customer.

00:37:15 But it also devalues the, sort of the perception.

00:37:20 And people forget that perception is,

00:37:22 no, this is like perception.

00:37:23 - Reality.

00:37:23 - It's really it.

00:37:25 - Absolutely.

00:37:26 - So they're like, oh, I mean, it's just $10.

00:37:29 Like, why would they value,

00:37:30 why would it be as important, you feel me?

00:37:32 - As of, it's a, so I pay $9, right?

00:37:37 And I got access to 100 million songs for $9 a month.

00:37:44 So it don't matter how, like, I got,

00:37:51 just me having access to your music,

00:37:53 I don't have to pay to have access to your music.

00:37:55 But you don't, so it's real wild,

00:37:57 because I got access to your music even though I don't listen

00:38:00 but that $9 gave me access to your music.

00:38:02 - Right, and then I put all this hard work in.

00:38:05 You pay $9, you get access to my music,

00:38:09 and then you got to stream me 4,500 times

00:38:13 before I make a dollar.

00:38:15 - More importantly.

00:38:16 - You got to put me on repeat from January 1st

00:38:19 to January the next year.

00:38:20 - Put it on repeat and just let it sit there.

00:38:22 - Right, also, like, just straight up,

00:38:27 so you think I care what you think about my music?

00:38:32 - Right, when you paying $9.

00:38:33 - You're not even paying for my,

00:38:35 you don't even pay for, like,

00:38:36 you're the person who is criticizing me

00:38:39 for what I do to express myself on any level.

00:38:43 - Yeah.

00:38:44 - That's streaming it is a passive listener.

00:38:47 I don't make music for you.

00:38:49 I'm making music for the people who really are,

00:38:51 who are really, like, connected to me and blah, blah, blah.

00:38:54 Those people are the ones who will buy my music.

00:38:56 - Yes.

00:38:57 - And I think that's more of a business lesson.

00:39:00 You know what I mean?

00:39:00 As creatives, as artists out there,

00:39:04 if you're making music, find what it is that is yours,

00:39:07 find your audience, and just serve them.

00:39:10 Everyone else can say whatever they want.

00:39:12 They're not buying your music.

00:39:13 They are passive listeners that will,

00:39:16 you know, you got a hot song or everybody playing it

00:39:19 or it's the song for the this thing or whatever.

00:39:21 - They passing by.

00:39:22 - They're just passersbys.

00:39:23 So whatever they say, whatever they think,

00:39:25 they're not the ones that are going to be paying,

00:39:27 you know, supporting you.

00:39:28 - Supporting you.

00:39:29 - They're not going to really support you.

00:39:31 - 'Cause you got supporters and then you got passive

00:39:32 supporters.

00:39:33 - Yeah.

00:39:34 - You got drive-by supporters.

00:39:35 - Straight up.

00:39:36 - Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

00:39:37 - Yeah, window shoppers.

00:39:37 - Yeah, you feel me?

00:39:38 Like, window shopping.

00:39:39 Like, yeah, yeah, they'll walk into the store.

00:39:41 They're like, oh yeah, we were just at that store.

00:39:42 It was nice, it was cool, but we didn't leave with anything.

00:39:45 - And you got to understand this.

00:39:46 - Right.

00:39:47 - There's a difference between somebody that's going to

00:39:48 listen to your music here and there and check it out

00:39:53 to a person that's going to come.

00:39:55 They're going to know every lyric to the song.

00:39:56 - Buy you merch.

00:39:57 - They're going to buy that merch.

00:39:59 They want to buy that hard ticket.

00:40:00 - Yeah.

00:40:01 - Oh, I live in Milwaukee, but he's going to be

00:40:04 in Indianapolis.

00:40:04 He's not coming to Milwaukee.

00:40:05 I'm going there.

00:40:06 I'm driving all the way there to go to the show

00:40:09 and I'm buying some merch because I know that,

00:40:11 you know, I need this piece to be a part of my collection

00:40:13 because I went to five shows the last time.

00:40:15 So it's about the whole experience.

00:40:17 Question to you, how can an artist make money these days,

00:40:22 an up-and-coming artist, from your perspective?

00:40:24 This episode of Million Dollars Worth of Game

00:40:26 is brought to you by Street Talk.

00:40:29 Are you paying too much for your wireless plan?

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00:40:59 I mean, what are we talking about?

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00:41:24 So when you're on Walmart, you paying these high fees,

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00:41:32 you got eight people in the house,

00:41:33 everybody got a phone for $200 a month.

00:41:35 Talk to me.

00:41:37 No, Street Talking is talking to you.

00:41:39 Holla at Walmart and walmart.com

00:41:44 so you could be Street Talking.

00:41:46 Right?

00:41:46 - It's not, there's a number of ways to do it

00:41:48 with streaming, to be fair.

00:41:50 There are people who are playing a numbers game.

00:41:53 They realize that every time they drop a new album,

00:41:55 whatever, their streams pick up for everything else they do,

00:41:57 which is consistent over history.

00:42:00 Even when it was just record sales,

00:42:01 when an artist would put out an album,

00:42:03 then their old cat and dog would pick up as well.

00:42:06 So there's people who are playing numbers games.

00:42:09 There are people who strictly focus on D to C,

00:42:12 which is direct to consumer communications,

00:42:15 and they're super serving their fan base

00:42:17 with products that go with the music.

00:42:20 But if you're a musician,

00:42:21 you have to remember that that's your medium.

00:42:23 So you got, and I'm sure people are like,

00:42:26 "Yeah, stick to music, buddy."

00:42:27 And I'm like, "Yeah, yeah, yeah, we coming, don't worry.

00:42:29 "I have an era.

00:42:30 "I have so much music on the way,

00:42:32 "and this will be the next,

00:42:33 "this will be my most prolific era of time

00:42:36 "between this and the next 10 years."

00:42:38 But music will be at the center of it,

00:42:42 and then I have ancillary businesses

00:42:44 that are built around that.

00:42:45 But when it comes to strictly music,

00:42:47 products and services that revolve around the music

00:42:50 and that bring me closer to my fan base

00:42:51 to, again, strengthen the D to C sort of relationship

00:42:56 and to strengthen sort of the bond that we have.

00:43:00 Because I don't need a billion people

00:43:03 listening to my music to make a living.

00:43:05 - No.

00:43:06 - You know what I'm saying?

00:43:07 I need a good 10,000.

00:43:08 - Mm, why 10,000?

00:43:11 So low, as a big artist like you.

00:43:13 - Yeah, 10,000.

00:43:14 For what I'm coming with

00:43:15 and the amount of music I'm coming with

00:43:17 and the things I'm building around it,

00:43:19 I just need 10,000, and we could rock around the world.

00:43:23 - But could you elaborate on that

00:43:25 for the listener, the artists that want to know?

00:43:27 - Again, it's just people who are,

00:43:30 you have to work backwards, right?

00:43:31 So I have my, this is my,

00:43:33 how I want to be able to move,

00:43:37 and we work backwards from that.

00:43:39 Now, I want to move a certain way.

00:43:42 I want to be able to play

00:43:43 in these different places around the world.

00:43:45 So how do I break that down?

00:43:47 Okay, I need this many people, you know what I'm saying?

00:43:50 And if they're like hyper-attentive to what I do, we good.

00:43:55 - That's major, man.

00:43:57 - So whatever it is, whoever you are as an artist,

00:44:00 as a musician, you just got to look at

00:44:04 how you want your business to be.

00:44:06 If you want to be on the radio,

00:44:08 if that even matters anymore,

00:44:10 yeah, you're going to have to.

00:44:12 - The radio makes superstars.

00:44:13 - Yeah, yeah.

00:44:14 - And the internet makes stars.

00:44:15 - Yeah, but then you have--

00:44:16 - The internet and the radio make a superstar.

00:44:18 - Right, right, okay, sure thing.

00:44:20 I'm not, you know, I've been blessed to have both,

00:44:23 straight up.

00:44:23 So the thing is, how do you want your business to be?

00:44:27 It's the same thing in fashion, which I've learned,

00:44:29 or in the business of fashion.

00:44:31 It's like, when people make clothing,

00:44:34 if you are working on a business that's direct to consumer,

00:44:37 you have more creative freedom.

00:44:39 You can make whatever you're doing

00:44:40 because you're serving a niche.

00:44:43 But if you are wanting to work in retail,

00:44:47 if you want to be in brick and mortar stores,

00:44:49 then you're going to have to deal with buyers

00:44:51 and their customers' demands.

00:44:54 So they're going to have input on what you make,

00:44:56 the same way that being with a major label

00:44:58 who's playing a major label game,

00:45:00 who wants your music to be on the radio,

00:45:01 they're going to be like,

00:45:02 "Well, everything sounds like this.

00:45:04 "This is what they're demanding,

00:45:05 "so can you make us more of this?"

00:45:07 You know, you're not serving your audience,

00:45:09 you're serving the audience

00:45:10 that fits another customer base.

00:45:12 - And a lot of times, you be serving the audience

00:45:15 of what they think people want to hear.

00:45:18 What they think, see,

00:45:20 one thing I encourage the artists to do

00:45:23 is always keep the main thing the main thing.

00:45:26 When you was coming into the game,

00:45:29 it was you and your homies.

00:45:31 And you took very little direction

00:45:34 from motherfuckers on the outside.

00:45:36 And you got the where you at.

00:45:37 Now you where you at,

00:45:38 and you got motherfuckers that didn't have no play,

00:45:40 no part to get you where you at,

00:45:42 saying, "You should do this."

00:45:44 And, "You should do that."

00:45:46 I'm going to listen to my five homies

00:45:48 who know me from day one.

00:45:50 What y'all think we should do?

00:45:51 We like this song, man.

00:45:52 - We don't really like this.

00:45:54 - Especially when it comes to

00:45:57 who you're making what you're making for.

00:46:01 How can someone who comes from a completely unrelated,

00:46:04 (laughing)

00:46:06 lifestyle, maybe not even background,

00:46:08 let's not even make it that, but lifestyle.

00:46:10 They're not living a lifestyle

00:46:11 that your music actually communicates for.

00:46:14 So how could they give you insight

00:46:17 on whether or not that is like you said,

00:46:19 if it's like, how did you say it?

00:46:22 You said, how did you say it?

00:46:24 You just said,

00:46:25 basically,

00:46:28 you make it for the people you make it for.

00:46:32 - Right. - You know what I'm saying?

00:46:33 - Absolutely.

00:46:34 - Now, again, when you get to a point where you're like,

00:46:37 "Look, I have all this money."

00:46:40 Now, those may not be the people

00:46:41 who you give it to to manage.

00:46:44 You go to someone who does that.

00:46:46 - Right.

00:46:47 - But for insight on what you're making and who it's for,

00:46:51 you should have the people who live that lifestyle

00:46:53 who are, you know, to chime in.

00:46:55 I do think that's like massive key.

00:46:58 Did that make sense?

00:46:59 - Yeah, it made a lot of sense.

00:47:01 - Now, let me ask you this.

00:47:03 We living in a time now where,

00:47:05 I know when you was coming up,

00:47:07 your tour rate changed as you went from lukewarm

00:47:11 to hot to flaming hot, like it changed.

00:47:16 We living in a space different,

00:47:17 whereas though, people tour,

00:47:19 some people tour different

00:47:20 because now it's the money,

00:47:22 the payday sometimes within the last couple of years

00:47:25 was unbelievable money people was getting.

00:47:28 But you might get,

00:47:29 it's different between doing a tour

00:47:33 and it's different between festivals, right?

00:47:35 Festivals give you a shitload of money.

00:47:37 You might ask for a bunch and they might say,

00:47:39 "All right, here, we got it right now."

00:47:40 But now you're seeing some festivals getting canceled,

00:47:44 some people, a lot of artists not selling tickets.

00:47:48 Drake and--

00:47:50 - 21?

00:47:51 - No, no, Drake and 21,

00:47:53 Beyonce came, 50 came, Baby came,

00:47:56 they came and crushed the buildings.

00:47:57 Took all the ticket sale money.

00:47:59 Beyonce just, yeah.

00:48:03 Took, I never seen, listen.

00:48:05 - That Beyonce hugging the arena, what was that?

00:48:08 She was like, "What's that, gathering all the ticket books?"

00:48:10 - She killed it.

00:48:11 And then Drake,

00:48:13 and 50 Cent came and just.

00:48:16 - Yeah.

00:48:17 - He was like, "Hey, hold on, don't leave us out of here.

00:48:18 "Gimme a fest."

00:48:19 - Yeah, let's go.

00:48:20 - Yeah, y'all, let's go.

00:48:22 - So Snoop--

00:48:23 - He said, "Wait, wait, hold on."

00:48:24 - Yeah, he said, "Oh, we got to get on set, y'all."

00:48:26 - Yes, we did.

00:48:27 We got to get,

00:48:28 so, but we went to Snoop, we went to 50, packed.

00:48:33 And what I realized,

00:48:34 it was an unserviced fan base out there.

00:48:40 And I said, "Wow."

00:48:42 Even with the hip hop, 50th year,

00:48:44 50th anniversary of hip hop,

00:48:46 so many artists that haven't performed.

00:48:47 So it was, I'm talking about crowds and crowds of people

00:48:51 coming to see the legends.

00:48:52 And music is like, there's so many,

00:48:56 with this new sound and the new stuff coming out,

00:48:58 there's so many tours that's not happening

00:49:00 of artists that really created Generation Z out.

00:49:04 Like, the music that created these kids out here,

00:49:08 they're not even talking,

00:49:09 and their parents got the money.

00:49:10 Their parents got the jobs, the retirement.

00:49:12 They got the real money to buy the ticket,

00:49:14 come and buy some merch, have a good night out,

00:49:16 buy some drinks.

00:49:16 - Right.

00:49:17 - So, 'cause you know, going to a show is like a whole--

00:49:20 - It's a thing.

00:49:21 - It's a thing.

00:49:21 - You get ready, you got a plan.

00:49:23 - You got to get your outfit.

00:49:24 - You got to get the fit right.

00:49:25 - It's a thing because I'm seeing a different show,

00:49:28 the people that go to the show,

00:49:29 from when I go to the Roots Picnic.

00:49:31 It's a different crowd, Roots Picnic, Essence Fest.

00:49:34 You just see the different crowds and different audience

00:49:37 of people that was forgot about in some type of way.

00:49:40 So it's like, when you come, it's a wrap.

00:49:43 You know when a tour come with you.

00:49:44 But I'm just saying, a lot of people ain't selling

00:49:47 the tickets because, and I had to do this,

00:49:49 a lot of people didn't build they fan base.

00:49:52 Because it's different when you're an artist

00:49:54 and you start coming up and you're getting booked

00:49:56 in clubs where it is not your fan base.

00:49:59 That Friday night, that club's going to be jumping anyway.

00:50:02 The promoter just wanted to bring you there

00:50:04 because he wanted some props and clout on his name.

00:50:06 - Right, big time.

00:50:07 - Yeah, not because everybody in that club wanted you

00:50:10 or will pay for a ticket from you.

00:50:11 So you go doing that for a year,

00:50:13 you didn't establish the hard ticket sale,

00:50:15 you didn't establish the merch,

00:50:16 you didn't establish the website.

00:50:18 So now, when you look at it, you can't even--

00:50:21 - You was hustling backwards.

00:50:23 - It's time to try to go do a show.

00:50:24 Live Nation can't give you no money

00:50:26 because they're like, you don't handle hard ticket sales.

00:50:28 You could have done it yourself.

00:50:29 On Eventbrite, you could have done it however yourself,

00:50:31 build the email, sell some merch.

00:50:34 Because I don't even think artists understand

00:50:36 the importance of merch.

00:50:37 Merch is very important.

00:50:39 - Big time.

00:50:40 - Emails is very important.

00:50:42 Website is very-- - Hard ticket sales.

00:50:43 - Hard ticket sales.

00:50:44 It's very important because when you look at this,

00:50:48 that fast money, you could take that 30,000 a night

00:50:51 in the club, you might get that seven times a month.

00:50:54 But bro, you could have took and said, you know what?

00:50:56 We're going to rent this venue,

00:50:57 we're going to start off throwing 200 people in this venue.

00:51:00 That shouldn't be hard for artists that got a little buzz.

00:51:02 And we're going to keep building it

00:51:03 because when we put these 200 people in this venue,

00:51:06 we're going to all give them 200 people a free t-shirt

00:51:09 and we're going to give them experience.

00:51:10 This t-shirt is never going to be nowhere else.

00:51:12 They're going to tell everybody about it,

00:51:13 it's going to be exclusive,

00:51:14 we're going to snatch their fucking emails.

00:51:16 - Build it into the price.

00:51:17 - And it's a wrap.

00:51:18 - It's already been paid for.

00:51:18 - And then that's going to go from two to five

00:51:21 to eight to 1,200 and it's going to keep building.

00:51:24 You know the different routes.

00:51:24 - But people don't really be jumping 200.

00:51:26 They usually go from two to 1,000.

00:51:28 - Yeah, I'm just saying, but I'm just saying,

00:51:30 when you keep it--

00:51:31 - You're talking two to four to 450.

00:51:33 - Yeah, yeah.

00:51:34 No, no.

00:51:35 - But no, if you keep it moving--

00:51:36 - But it may be a few twos though.

00:51:37 - It may be a few twos.

00:51:38 - It's going to hit a few times.

00:51:38 - Two, two, two, two, two.

00:51:39 - You know what I mean?

00:51:40 - And then it's 1,000.

00:51:41 And then it's 3,000.

00:51:42 - Right.

00:51:43 - And then it's the arena, Anthony.

00:51:44 - Yeah, but what I'm saying is though,

00:51:47 is like, from an artist like you,

00:51:49 you on another level now.

00:51:51 You know, if a festival booked you,

00:51:52 they got to get you fucking a Beverly Hills mansion

00:51:55 just to make the money.

00:51:56 (laughing)

00:51:57 - They hitting.

00:51:58 - That's what I'm saying.

00:51:59 - Yeah, we're going to hit them for sure.

00:52:00 (laughing)

00:52:01 We are.

00:52:01 We earned that.

00:52:02 We earned that, come on.

00:52:04 We earned that.

00:52:04 - You earned it.

00:52:05 - You earned that.

00:52:06 - You definitely earned it.

00:52:07 - I'm going to talk to him, Sean,

00:52:08 try to get his little, you know what I mean?

00:52:09 - Here you go.

00:52:10 - I'm going to try to give you a better price.

00:52:12 I'm going to talk to his people.

00:52:13 - Here you go.

00:52:14 - Take care of my people.

00:52:15 But what I'm saying is--

00:52:16 - You better check him now,

00:52:16 because he be somewhere talking about,

00:52:18 "You want the next podcast?"

00:52:19 Yeah, because I manage Miguel too.

00:52:21 I work out on the side.

00:52:21 - Yeah, I manage him on the side.

00:52:22 You know what I mean?

00:52:23 I got him a little, you know what I mean?

00:52:26 But it's just about,

00:52:27 I think it's important that more artists

00:52:30 that went through the system,

00:52:32 not all the time, share information.

00:52:34 Reference on your page, reference.

00:52:35 Just to get some advice,

00:52:36 because so many people out here

00:52:38 lost in the matrix of music now.

00:52:40 It's a matrix out here,

00:52:41 and they don't know what to do.

00:52:42 They don't understand the importance of

00:52:44 a good manager, a role manager,

00:52:47 an accountant, a good attorney,

00:52:49 a good publicist, a good booking agent.

00:52:53 They don't know that's the whole system.

00:52:54 They look at Miguel and be like,

00:52:55 "Oh, he just hot."

00:52:56 Miguel ain't do that shit by himself.

00:52:58 - Bruh, it's true.

00:53:00 No, the business of music is a business.

00:53:03 - Yes.

00:53:04 - And a lot of roles,

00:53:06 a lot of roles have to,

00:53:09 and the importance of roles,

00:53:10 have to do with the dynamic in the team.

00:53:13 Sometimes, like, when you see an artist

00:53:15 and their manager,

00:53:17 and you see an artist be successful,

00:53:19 it's hard to tell who's responsible for what part.

00:53:22 Maybe the artist is,

00:53:24 just they just love to do the music,

00:53:26 and the manager is like,

00:53:29 strategic, understands how to communicate really well

00:53:32 with all of the different departments

00:53:34 that make sure that the promotion is in line,

00:53:37 that the marketing is sound,

00:53:39 and is effective,

00:53:41 and so on and so forth, right?

00:53:43 Is in communication with the touring,

00:53:45 their touring agent,

00:53:49 and that the routing makes sense,

00:53:51 and then they have to communicate with their,

00:53:53 their accountant to make sure that their bottom lines

00:53:57 after all of,

00:53:58 after touring,

00:54:00 that that money, they're not in the red.

00:54:02 You know what I'm saying?

00:54:03 Like, there's a lot of things,

00:54:04 but then there's artists who are

00:54:06 very involved in all of those things,

00:54:08 and the manager's more,

00:54:11 more sort of understands that,

00:54:12 okay, they have a brain for this,

00:54:14 but they can galvanize people

00:54:16 and have great relationship skills,

00:54:17 and can keep people engaged in the project,

00:54:19 so I think it's about

00:54:22 finding what you're really good at,

00:54:25 and the things that you're not good at,

00:54:28 outsource.

00:54:29 - Absolutely, that's what we do.

00:54:30 - Find somebody who is,

00:54:31 and more than that,

00:54:33 good at it,

00:54:34 and is going to be passionate about,

00:54:35 because know-how is not always a thing,

00:54:38 but passion, passion will get you through.

00:54:41 You'll learn something if you're passionate about it.

00:54:43 You feel me?

00:54:44 You don't have to know,

00:54:45 like,

00:54:46 I didn't know how to make music.

00:54:49 I just had a passion for it.

00:54:51 I just could not stop thinking about it,

00:54:53 could not stop doing it,

00:54:54 in class, writing songs,

00:54:55 you know what I mean?

00:54:56 You know, in nutrition, writing songs,

00:54:58 at home, writing songs,

00:55:00 after school, at the studio,

00:55:01 blah, blah, blah,

00:55:02 in a cypher,

00:55:03 yeah, I'll beatbox,

00:55:04 yeah, I'll sing if you want me to, whatever.

00:55:07 I was passionate.

00:55:10 My time off was about music,

00:55:13 and it was through that,

00:55:14 that I got the know-how,

00:55:15 I earned the know-how.

00:55:16 I don't know how to write a song, great.

00:55:17 All right, well,

00:55:18 I'm doing the best I can.

00:55:20 People here is like,

00:55:21 oh, you should meet so-and-so.

00:55:23 Then you build with them,

00:55:24 teach me how to write a song,

00:55:25 spend some time with a production company,

00:55:28 learn how to write a song properly.

00:55:31 And in every facet,

00:55:33 finding people who are passionate about you

00:55:36 and believe in you

00:55:37 will actually propel them to do the work to learn.

00:55:42 Now, you don't want to be a guinea pig all the time,

00:55:45 but I heard Issa Rae something that I thought

00:55:48 that was really dope.

00:55:49 She said, "A lot of us think that we need to hustle up.

00:55:51 "Like, we need to make connections that are above us.

00:55:55 "I do think surrounding ourselves with people who are,

00:55:58 "you know, who have something to teach us,

00:56:00 "we naturally will absorb, you know, the game.

00:56:04 "We'll get that and we'll be better."

00:56:06 But hustling, I think, Issa Rae, she said,

00:56:09 "People forget that you should hustle laterally.

00:56:12 "People who are on your same level, at the same level,

00:56:14 "and have aspirations as good and great as yours."

00:56:18 Because then you can find ways to connect ideas

00:56:20 and to work together,

00:56:21 and then you come up together, you know?

00:56:24 I wish I would've,

00:56:25 I would've,

00:56:27 I did this in certain ways in my career early on.

00:56:31 I wish I would've been more attuned to that,

00:56:33 you know, at different stages.

00:56:34 And here, now, that's what I look for a lot,

00:56:38 is like, who can I hustle with laterally

00:56:39 so that we're moving forward, you know?

00:56:41 My conversations with people are, again,

00:56:43 about ideas that we can create and make things.

00:56:45 And it's like, I can be responsible for the things

00:56:47 that I love, that I'm passionate about,

00:56:49 and they can do what they're passionate about,

00:56:51 and when it wins, then we won together.

00:56:54 - You know what's crazy? - That's a prime example

00:56:56 of us right here.

00:56:57 - No, hold up.

00:56:58 You know what's crazy, it's funny you say this,

00:56:59 'cause you said lateral, I'm over here.

00:57:00 I'm like a professional lip-syncer.

00:57:03 And I think I might, you know,

00:57:04 you might need somebody on the stage,

00:57:07 doing some moves, you know what I mean?

00:57:10 I might get--

00:57:11 - It could be the sign language.

00:57:12 Have you seen the people that be doing--

00:57:13 - No, no, no, no, no, no, no.

00:57:14 - No sign language.

00:57:15 - They'll send his ass right back to jail.

00:57:16 He over there throwing up all kinds of gang,

00:57:18 don't know what he doing.

00:57:19 - I need to, I need to, you know--

00:57:21 - They be like, "Man, he just threw up the bloods

00:57:22 in the Crips, man."

00:57:23 - Yeah, yeah, I know that one.

00:57:24 - I'm about to give him a seat.

00:57:25 - He didn't say that.

00:57:25 - He started a riot in the crowd.

00:57:27 But no, you know what's so,

00:57:30 the great thing is,

00:57:32 you had somebody that's real special to us,

00:57:34 that's a part of the me and I was with a gang family on.

00:57:38 Number nine, Lil Yachty.

00:57:40 - Let's go, Yacht.

00:57:41 - One thing about him, he's creative.

00:57:42 - We love Yachty, man.

00:57:45 - He got a, he got a unbelievable pen.

00:57:47 - Yes, he does.

00:57:48 - I'ma just say that and leave it alone.

00:57:49 He's a big pen.

00:57:50 - Yeah.

00:57:52 - How did that song come about?

00:57:53 - Number nine, number nine was really,

00:57:57 I was like, what is the,

00:57:59 honestly, Mark, Mark Pitts was like,

00:58:02 "What do you think about Yachty?"

00:58:03 I was like, "I love Yachty."

00:58:05 This album, this album he had just put out,

00:58:07 "Don't Tell Yachty," I said, I guess.

00:58:10 I got the stream of the album before it came out.

00:58:14 I won't say who it came through

00:58:15 'cause I don't want to get nobody in trouble,

00:58:16 but I was like, "Here's the thing, though.

00:58:20 "No one promoted this album like I promoted this album."

00:58:23 I don't think even Boat knows that.

00:58:24 I was like, people at the studio,

00:58:26 girls at the studio, creators at the studio,

00:58:29 I'm playing this album when we're just like,

00:58:31 "All right, we're just chilling now.

00:58:32 "Let's just play a song."

00:58:33 I'm playing the whole album.

00:58:35 Like, listen to this album.

00:58:36 This is crazy.

00:58:37 I'm recommending it to people.

00:58:38 I'm talking about it.

00:58:39 Even to people who I feel are creatively established,

00:58:45 I know they're not going to do anything crazy,

00:58:46 but they would love it.

00:58:48 I'm sending the stream.

00:58:50 And it's kind of like you were saying,

00:58:52 like '80s, '90s, when you were excited about music,

00:58:56 you shared it in a different way.

00:58:58 - You want to be the first.

00:58:59 See, the excitement of music is,

00:59:01 and it's a little different now

00:59:02 'cause everybody got it right there and there.

00:59:04 I used to be the one that wanted to be the first one

00:59:07 to let you hear something that I know you didn't hear yet.

00:59:09 Oh, you ain't down with this.

00:59:10 - Right.

00:59:11 - Yeah, listen to this.

00:59:12 - You ever heard this one?

00:59:13 - He was the first to let me hear Mason J to "Kiss on the Roof."

00:59:15 - I introduced him to that.

00:59:16 - Freestyling.

00:59:19 - I was the first one.

00:59:20 - He was.

00:59:21 - In reasonable doubt.

00:59:22 - And Master P, I love you Master P,

00:59:24 but when he put that shit on in 1996,

00:59:26 I was like, man, he sound like he got to take a shit.

00:59:29 (laughing)

00:59:30 I was like, what?

00:59:31 - Yeah, you were not with it.

00:59:32 - He jumped right in the car and talk about,

00:59:33 you ain't heard this?

00:59:35 P came on, (groaning)

00:59:37 I was like, I didn't hear this, you are right.

00:59:40 - The first one on the East Coast.

00:59:42 - Man.

00:59:43 - You know, that's when the East Coast--

00:59:44 - That's where it came from.

00:59:45 - Yeah.

00:59:46 - Before the South really took over

00:59:47 and the East Coast, I'm gonna keep it all the way real,

00:59:50 we didn't really have a true appreciation for the South.

00:59:53 - No one did.

00:59:54 - And what they was doing.

00:59:55 - At the time.

00:59:56 - But a brown, he introduced me to that about '96, '97.

01:00:00 - '95.

01:00:01 - '99, P was my man.

01:00:02 - Come on.

01:00:03 - Yeah.

01:00:04 - He was my man, I was bumping him then.

01:00:05 - Him and all in no limit.

01:00:07 - 'Cause it had grew on you, C Murder.

01:00:09 - C Murder.

01:00:09 - They was running it.

01:00:10 - Silk the Shocker.

01:00:11 - Silk the Shocker.

01:00:12 - And they was all going platinum back to back to back.

01:00:13 - Man, back to back.

01:00:14 - Everybody was going platinum.

01:00:16 Platinum and Gold Fiend, Mia X.

01:00:19 - Mia X.

01:00:20 - Everybody, they was going crazy, C Murder.

01:00:23 - And that's, and platinum back then

01:00:24 is when a million people actually had to go to stores.

01:00:27 - Had to go to the spot that actually bought the album.

01:00:28 - So you got to understand, a person like Nelly,

01:00:31 who sold 10 million records.

01:00:33 - Damn, I'm glad Nelly killed him.

01:00:34 - 10 million people.

01:00:35 - Nelly destroyed him.

01:00:36 - Went to the store to buy your record.

01:00:40 Think about that.

01:00:42 That's unbelievable.

01:00:42 - That was, number one records were hard record sales.

01:00:45 - Oh my God.

01:00:46 - Only thing you got now is the hard ticket sales.

01:00:49 - Yeah.

01:00:50 - It's physical, you got to get a ticket.

01:00:52 But it's different, and it's one for one.

01:00:54 Now, the music.

01:00:56 - So the album, can you tell us a feature or two

01:00:59 on the album?

01:01:00 - Well yeah, Yachty for sure.

01:01:02 Boats on there for sure.

01:01:04 Rocky's on the album, nobody knows that.

01:01:09 - ASAP.

01:01:11 - Yeah.

01:01:12 - ASAP, ASAP, ASAP.

01:01:13 - Shout out to ASAP, man.

01:01:14 My daughter just did a song with ASAP and Brett Favre.

01:01:17 - Yes, shout out to ASAP.

01:01:19 - Rocky, shout out to ASAP.

01:01:20 - Bro, Rosé, Primo, I'm going to leave it there.

01:01:23 I'm going to leave it there.

01:01:24 - All right, we ain't going to give you too much.

01:01:26 - We ain't going to give you too much.

01:01:27 - He gave you about four of them.

01:01:28 (laughing)

01:01:29 You know, he ain't going to give you too much.

01:01:31 - There's a legend, someone I've always wanted to work with.

01:01:33 - Oh Lord.

01:01:34 - On the album.

01:01:35 Yeah, we've got some--

01:01:36 - But you can't just say that on Million Dollar River Game

01:01:38 and not say who the legend is.

01:01:40 - Legendary, just like legendary.

01:01:41 Responsible for a lot of innovative, hyper-creative music.

01:01:46 - Pharrell.

01:01:48 - Yeah, yeah.

01:01:49 More classic, not as modern as who I'm talking about,

01:01:57 but yeah, that would be crazy though.

01:01:59 That would be crazy if Pharrell's on it.

01:02:00 - Can you say somebody responsible?

01:02:02 I'm thinking, I'm like, wow, I got to do Pharrell.

01:02:04 I'm going to leave it alone.

01:02:05 I don't want to guess it.

01:02:06 - Pharrell.

01:02:07 - Pharrell, I'm guessing.

01:02:07 - You and Pharrell never did anything?

01:02:09 - We've been in for sure.

01:02:11 We've been in for sure.

01:02:12 I love P.

01:02:13 - Mm-hmm.

01:02:14 - I love P.

01:02:14 P is a big inspiration.

01:02:18 People forget the context of Pharrell.

01:02:21 P came out, skateboard, P was like, what?

01:02:23 Black alternative.

01:02:24 - They didn't understand it.

01:02:25 - They were like, whoa, huh?

01:02:27 And this is exactly where I was like,

01:02:29 you know, I'm in high school and I'm like, yeah, yes.

01:02:32 - Fresh on the draw.

01:02:33 - This, this, you know?

01:02:35 - Can you get this lap dance here?

01:02:37 - I didn't even know who was cooler.

01:02:38 Like, who was cooler than P?

01:02:39 - P came out.

01:02:40 - P came out hard.

01:02:41 - N.E.R.D. was just, they was on some shit.

01:02:43 - Man.

01:02:44 - They was just different.

01:02:45 They came out and he stood on that shit

01:02:46 and he's still here.

01:02:47 - Yep.

01:02:48 - And you got to understand, they came out

01:02:49 and was like the nerds when being nerds wasn't cool.

01:02:54 - This was before Tyler.

01:02:55 - This was before.

01:02:56 - This was before Tyler and Naebo, right?

01:02:57 - Way before.

01:02:58 - Like, this is before.

01:02:59 This was like when the nerds came out,

01:03:03 it was like, ah, nah, they just smart kids

01:03:05 that don't really interact with everybody.

01:03:08 They just stay to they self.

01:03:09 This was when nerds was that.

01:03:11 - Yeah, and meanwhile.

01:03:12 - And he came out and accepted it like,

01:03:14 no, I'm the shit.

01:03:15 - Oh, cool, skinny jeans.

01:03:16 - Yep, yep.

01:03:17 - Trucker hats.

01:03:18 - On a skateboard and a trucker hat.

01:03:19 By the way, meanwhile, producing like Super Thug

01:03:23 and then doing the, what was that,

01:03:25 Wait a Minute with RJ, working all day.

01:03:28 That shit was hard.

01:03:30 - All his, he did Noreen, oh no.

01:03:33 - That's what I'm saying.

01:03:34 - That's what I'm saying.

01:03:34 - Yeah, yeah, yeah.

01:03:35 - All his stuff was big, big, big.

01:03:37 - Go back and play all of that shit was hard.

01:03:39 Like, no one had heard anything like that.

01:03:41 And then, of course, they went, and then N.E.R.D. came out.

01:03:44 They did their thing.

01:03:45 They put the first album out and it was programmed

01:03:48 and then they went back and did it live.

01:03:51 The live album is, that's--

01:03:53 - They're crazy.

01:03:54 - You know?

01:03:55 - Yeah.

01:03:56 - I'm a rock star, quick on the drop,

01:03:58 quick on the drop.

01:03:59 - Lap dance, lap dance was crazy.

01:04:01 - Come on, lap dance.

01:04:01 - Oh baby, you want me?

01:04:03 - Oh my God, I just want to (vocalizing)

01:04:06 tape you all night.

01:04:08 Go back and listen to that album.

01:04:10 - And do you listen to--

01:04:11 - You was listening to lap dance in jail?

01:04:13 - No, shut up.

01:04:14 - Do you listen to--

01:04:15 - I'm just saying this, 'cause you was like,

01:04:17 lap dance was incredible.

01:04:18 I'm like, wait, you was locked up?

01:04:20 - It was, you know.

01:04:21 - You was listening to lap dance in jail?

01:04:23 I'm just saying, I just had to ask.

01:04:25 - But do you guys think about this?

01:04:27 He produced the whole Khalees album, the Clips album.

01:04:31 Man, the production was crazy.

01:04:33 But before we get out of here,

01:04:34 I'm going to put you in the high seat.

01:04:36 You got to pick one.

01:04:37 - All right.

01:04:38 - Feature, this is going to be dangerous.

01:04:42 - All right.

01:04:43 - Feature, listen.

01:04:44 Feature, perform with,

01:04:48 feature, perform with,

01:04:51 pass.

01:04:55 - Okay.

01:04:56 - And I don't know if I could do this, but I'm going to do it.

01:04:58 Feature, when you do a song with,

01:05:00 you just perform with, and you pass.

01:05:04 - But you was the pass.

01:05:05 - No, I'm ready to give you people.

01:05:07 - Oh, okay.

01:05:08 - This shit ready to get dangerous.

01:05:09 - Oh man, all right, here we go.

01:05:11 - All right, all right, I'm ready.

01:05:13 - Anita.

01:05:15 - Feature.

01:05:17 - Shorty, hold up, you better hit his three.

01:05:20 - Okay.

01:05:20 - Anita.

01:05:21 - Okay.

01:05:22 - Anita.

01:05:23 - Not Anita Baker.

01:05:26 - I can't do this.

01:05:26 - Anita Baker.

01:05:27 - Yeah.

01:05:28 - Yes, Anita's out.

01:05:29 - You know what, you know what?

01:05:30 - Yeah, that's how.

01:05:31 - No, no, no, no, no, no.

01:05:32 I'm going to just say pick one,

01:05:32 because I can't do this in a way.

01:05:33 - Yeah, you can do it.

01:05:34 - You can't pass.

01:05:35 - You can't, because it's kind of hard.

01:05:36 - No, no, no, I want you to pass.

01:05:37 - No, go ahead and say it.

01:05:38 Say it.

01:05:39 - Anita, shorty.

01:05:41 - Okay.

01:05:42 - Mariah.

01:05:46 - I've already had a, Mariah Carey.

01:05:51 I've already had a song featured with Mariah, so.

01:05:54 - Whitney Houston, take her out of there.

01:05:56 Throw Whitney in there.

01:05:57 - No, we can't go with Whitney,

01:05:58 because when he pass, you got to make sure Whitney is cool.

01:06:01 So you going to make sure Whitney is cool.

01:06:03 - Okay, so my grandmother, rest her soul, rest in peace,

01:06:06 favorite artist, Anita Baker.

01:06:08 So that's for sure a feature.

01:06:11 Mariah's always, I already have a song with Mariah.

01:06:19 - So that's the pass.

01:06:20 - Shout to Mariah, I love you.

01:06:21 And I perform with her as well.

01:06:25 So only on the basis of we've already done that.

01:06:28 - You got to pass on shorty.

01:06:32 - No, I would say we, I would perform with shorty.

01:06:35 - And you'll pass on, all right.

01:06:36 - He's saying shorty, like.

01:06:37 - Shorty.

01:06:38 - Shorty, let's go.

01:06:39 - Oh, I'm ready to get him.

01:06:41 You don't know how old she is,

01:06:43 but she's still badder than the mom.

01:06:45 - I'm ready to get him though.

01:06:46 All right, now, here you go.

01:06:48 - You know what?

01:06:48 I got to flip-flop that.

01:06:50 Because I would want to sing something

01:06:53 like that my grandmother loved.

01:06:55 So I would perform with Anita Baker.

01:06:58 Hopefully it would be like a song that is already hers.

01:07:01 ♪ Giving you the best that I got ♪

01:07:05 ♪ Baby ♪

01:07:06 Come on, so many bangers.

01:07:07 But yeah, to perform with Anita would be a dream.

01:07:11 And my grandmother would love that.

01:07:14 And then, yeah, to feature Sade would be crazy.

01:07:16 - So you'd be right in the studio.

01:07:17 ♪ This is no ordinary love ♪

01:07:22 ♪ No ordinary love ♪

01:07:25 - All right, now this one.

01:07:26 - Hey, okay, okay.

01:07:28 - No, don't do a little background.

01:07:30 - Who's trying to take my spot for a minute?

01:07:31 - You as a lip-syncer.

01:07:32 - It's the same thing.

01:07:33 - Like, humiliate, humiliate Vanilla.

01:07:35 - No, no, no, no, people play, no, they was legends.

01:07:38 People play the music and be lip-syncing too, so.

01:07:40 I mean, now, this is a hard one.

01:07:44 Prince Michael Luther.

01:07:47 - Yes.

01:07:48 - Guilty.

01:07:50 - Wow.

01:07:55 That's rough.

01:07:57 - Feature, perform, pass.

01:07:59 - Feature, perform with or pass.

01:08:04 No, no, no, take Luther out there and put Martin there.

01:08:06 - Martin?

01:08:09 - I meant Marvin, Marvin.

01:08:10 - I was going to say, Marvin is the king, nigga.

01:08:12 (laughing)

01:08:14 - I had a kaleidoscope dream.

01:08:17 (laughing)

01:08:20 - That one day, Marlon would come home from jail

01:08:23 and do the right thing.

01:08:24 - Now, now, now, that one, that one,

01:08:26 I'm going to have to say Nelson, Malcolm, Martin.

01:08:29 - Oh, okay.

01:08:30 - But go back to that other one.

01:08:33 - Okay, okay, okay, so Prince, Michael, or Marvin?

01:08:36 - Yeah.

01:08:38 - Perform with, all right, feature.

01:08:40 - You got to go Michael Jackson on the feature.

01:08:44 - I know.

01:08:45 - Y'all in there, why, why, tell him that it's human nature.

01:08:49 Why, why, did he do it that way?

01:08:54 Just imagine you in the air, you flying around,

01:08:56 Mike below you moonwalking.

01:08:58 (imitates jet engine)

01:08:59 - He moonwalking on the clouds, he got the same joint.

01:09:01 But Michael had a harness joint on him.

01:09:04 'Cause Mike was saying, "I'm rocking a harness."

01:09:06 - They gonna go to the set.

01:09:07 - He'll come in on a jet pack.

01:09:09 He won't come in, doing a robot on a jet pack in the air.

01:09:13 - Mike, see for the concert, we gonna lift up the harness.

01:09:16 You know, they gonna put the--

01:09:17 - Mike would've said, "That's gonna hurt, Miguel."

01:09:19 - That's gonna hurt, don't do that.

01:09:20 - That's gonna, that's gonna bruise your back, Miguel.

01:09:22 - Don't do that to me.

01:09:23 I wouldn't do that if I was you.

01:09:26 - You're my man.

01:09:27 - No, actually, yeah, feature, feature,

01:09:29 yeah, Michael, for sure.

01:09:33 You have to feature Michael.

01:09:35 I performed with Prince on stage,

01:09:37 I've been on stage with Prince one time in Baltimore.

01:09:40 He's little known, but he did a benefit concert.

01:09:46 He called and invited every artist to come out,

01:09:50 any artist that wanted to come out and support.

01:09:51 I believe it was, I'm trying to think who it was,

01:09:55 but it was, it was, you know, police had shot and killed.

01:10:00 - Oh, someone, yeah.

01:10:04 - Someone un, you know, unarmed,

01:10:08 and you know, it was just,

01:10:09 it was police brutality at its worst.

01:10:11 - You talking about Freddie Gray?

01:10:12 He came down Freddie day?

01:10:13 - I think it was Freddie Gray.

01:10:14 I think it was Freddie Gray, thank you.

01:10:15 - Yeah, he came down Freddie Gray.

01:10:16 - There's been so many, there's been so many,

01:10:19 and he invited everyone to come out there,

01:10:21 and so I flew out, and yeah.

01:10:24 - And you performed on stage.

01:10:27 - It was a surreal, surreal moment,

01:10:31 but I would do it again.

01:10:33 - All right.

01:10:34 - I would do it again.

01:10:35 - And you would pass on Marvin?

01:10:36 - Not pass on Marvin, but I would respectfully

01:10:41 just be like, that's Marvin.

01:10:43 - Like, it's Marvin, but this is Michael and Prince.

01:10:45 - Love you Marvin.

01:10:46 - No, I love you.

01:10:47 - Love you buddy.

01:10:48 - No, let me ask you a question.

01:10:49 - I just want to say, I just want to say,

01:10:50 before you ask any more questions,

01:10:52 like, what do you say when you get a call from Prince?

01:10:56 - Seriously, yo, if you want to come down and perform,

01:10:58 like, you know, you're welcome.

01:11:00 - You got to go, like.

01:11:01 - No, it was more of a, I can't even front,

01:11:04 like it was like, he called me personally.

01:11:06 He was just like, look, I'm doing this,

01:11:08 and any artists that want to come,

01:11:10 you're absolutely welcome.

01:11:11 - But that's an open invitation,

01:11:12 like, you get a chance to go kick it with Prince or Micah.

01:11:14 - You stop me at your tour, hold up,

01:11:16 you're going to wait, that city got to wait.

01:11:17 I got to go kick it with Prince.

01:11:18 Now, when you went down there and done it,

01:11:20 did he give you any gain?

01:11:23 - You know, he was, it seemed like there was a lot going on,

01:11:28 and he had called it in a very short amount of time.

01:11:30 So, I met him real brief, I walked down a long corridor

01:11:35 of, like, pipe and drape, it opened up into a small room,

01:11:39 and he was just sitting in the corner, chilling.

01:11:43 And he got up, and I looked at him,

01:11:45 and I stopped behind his head,

01:11:47 I literally just was like, thank you.

01:11:50 And he just was like, he just kind of motioned me over,

01:11:53 gave me a, you know, a hug,

01:11:57 and he was like, thank you for coming.

01:11:58 And I'm like, thank you, what else could I say?

01:12:02 Just like, thank you.

01:12:04 And he was real gracious, and we did the thing,

01:12:08 we did a song by the Sledge, Sister Sledge,

01:12:12 we did a song by Sister Sledge that night, it was crazy.

01:12:14 - Well, listen, man, the album is coming.

01:12:19 - Viscera, October, around my birthday.

01:12:22 - What's going down?

01:12:23 - Scorpios, no.

01:12:24 - Oh, Scorpio.

01:12:25 - I'm double Scorpio on the cusp of Libra Scorpio.

01:12:29 - No, what's a double?

01:12:30 - How you going to be a double if you on the cusp?

01:12:31 - What's a double Scorpio?

01:12:32 - So, like, Rising and Scorpio, like, Moon and Sun,

01:12:36 yeah, Moon and Sun type shit.

01:12:38 - Okay, well, man, listen, we appreciate you for coming

01:12:41 and tapping in with us, brother.

01:12:43 It's always an honor, man.

01:12:44 - Going down.

01:12:45 - Appreciate you guys, thank you so much.

01:12:47 - I appreciate you.

01:12:49 Y'all get ready for the album,

01:12:49 y'all get ready for the tour,

01:12:51 y'all get ready for him swinging,

01:12:52 you know, he messes back up about y'all.

01:12:54 You know he love y'all.

01:12:56 He messes whole shoulder blades.

01:12:58 - Yeah, I'm going to do that on the next live show,

01:13:01 I'm doing that.

01:13:02 - You next?

01:13:03 - Yeah, I'm going to do that.

01:13:04 But I'm going to have, like, some clear tape,

01:13:06 there's going to be tape in my back, I ain't.

01:13:09 - The duct tape?

01:13:10 - Some strong human tape, because I say to myself,

01:13:13 I say, he got fake skin on his back, that's not real.

01:13:15 I'm telling people, I say, you know,

01:13:17 they got the Hollywood skin.

01:13:19 - I just don't understand how they can lift you up

01:13:21 in the air from the skin on your back.

01:13:23 - It's been practiced, it's been practiced.

01:13:26 - And you still hit every note.

01:13:27 - Over centuries by many indigenous cultures,

01:13:31 many ethnic indigenous cultures.

01:13:34 Yeah, it's been done.

01:13:35 - I couldn't do a concert with just another grown man

01:13:38 just pinching my neck like this, like, I couldn't.

01:13:42 If another grown man just stood on stage

01:13:43 and pinched my neck, like, I couldn't get through

01:13:45 the concert, like, ah.

01:13:47 - Yeah.

01:13:48 - You suspended in the air, singing beautifully.

01:13:52 - Crazy.

01:13:53 (humming)

01:13:55 ♪ The very, very first time ♪

01:14:01 ♪ I've been suspended ♪

01:14:05 ♪ I almost thought my life ended ♪

01:14:09 ♪ I couldn't know this wasn't the one ♪

01:14:15 ♪ But he was caught up ♪

01:14:19 ♪ In physical attachment ♪

01:14:24 ♪ But to his satisfaction ♪

01:14:27 - Oh my God.

01:14:31 - We appreciate you for coming through, man.

01:14:33 Until the next time, man, this is Miguel, this is a legend.

01:14:36 - A million dollars worth of gain.

01:14:37 - And it's just like that.

01:14:39 - Right!

01:14:40 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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