Joey Talks With Rotimi
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😹
FunTranscript
00:01Are we good?
00:02Good? Okay, cool.
00:04It's Wild9401, wild9401.com.
00:06Joey Franchise here, Papi Shampoo with the homie,
00:09the very talented actor slash artist.
00:12Man, these guys are just the jack of all trades, man.
00:14Bro, Timmy in the building. What's up, dude?
00:16What's up, bro?
00:17Now, a lot of people know you, obviously, from the TV show,
00:19but, yo, I mean, the music stuff, man,
00:20you've been doing for a little minute now.
00:22Yeah, I've been singing since I was four or five years old, man.
00:25I started playing the piano, violin.
00:29And then, you know, I was a wedding singer.
00:31A Nigerian wedding singer.
00:32Get out of here, for real?
00:33A Nigerian wedding singer.
00:34Yo, that's fire.
00:35Yeah, so I went to Apollo Theater a couple times when I was 16.
00:38So, it was dope, man.
00:39Music has been my journey, and the misconception is that
00:42people think I've been acting before I did music.
00:44Yeah.
00:45That's completely not the truth.
00:46It was the other way around.
00:47Because you've been doing it, I know, you grew up in Jersey.
00:50Yeah.
00:51I'm assuming you're a big, like, Fugees fan and grew up on all that stuff.
00:54Yeah, yeah.
00:55Lauren Hill actually went to my high school.
00:56Get out of here, you serious?
00:57Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:58Yeah.
00:59And you were also in a group.
01:00Yeah.
01:01And one of the mentors of the group was Jay-Z.
01:03Jay-Z.
01:04Yeah.
01:05When I was in high school, I was a part of, I guess, a hip-hop, R&B group.
01:11And we traveled a lot during, like, the Tri-State area.
01:14And Hove would literally have us perform every Sunday for almost like a year
01:19in his living room to see how we're growing as artists.
01:22Wow.
01:23He would go to New York and literally, like, all right, so we're doing this song today?
01:26We're doing this song.
01:27And he'll give us, like, an honest feedback.
01:28Like, yo, that was trash.
01:30That was amazing.
01:31Okay, keep working on that.
01:33I love your voice.
01:34And he was just so uplifting with us, man.
01:36So, at 17, it'd be around a great, one of the greatest of all time.
01:39If not, then, you know, you have a lot of confidence.
01:41And I'm assuming that's obviously helped you progress throughout your career, man.
01:44A thousand percent.
01:45Do you guys still keep in touch?
01:46Like, even when you got music now, does he even give you advice?
01:48Well, I saw him a year ago, and we talked, we chopped it up.
01:52And he was just like, man, I'm so proud of you.
01:54I've watched your journey.
01:55You know, we lost touch once I went to college.
01:57Yeah.
01:58But he was like, I've been watching your journey, and I'm so proud of you, man.
02:00So keep doing what you're doing.
02:02I knew you'd be at this point.
02:03So that was like a, whoa.
02:05Yeah.
02:06You know what I mean?
02:07You've been watching me half my life.
02:08You know what I mean?
02:09That's kind of shocking.
02:10Yeah.
02:11It's humbling, too.
02:12It's like, wow.
02:13100%.
02:14That feels really good.
02:15Yeah.
02:16Now you got the new project out right now, Walk With Me.
02:17Yeah.
02:18Love Rhythm is a whole vibe.
02:19Yeah, bro.
02:20Now, I know you're Nigerian, too.
02:22I feel the Afrobeat vibes, a lot of the island stuff.
02:24Where do some of those influences, like, come from?
02:26Well, I grew up listening to Fela Kunte.
02:28I listened to Bob Marley.
02:30I listened to Paul Simon growing up.
02:33But I also listened to Carl Thomas, Joe.
02:36So it was like an Afro R&B infusion for me and Lauryn Hill as well.
02:41So for me, it was just bringing out who I truly am as an artist.
02:44And the mixture of the project is a mixture of Akon mixed with a little bit of Craig David.
02:49I like that.
02:50And that's kind of the vibe of it.
02:51I'm a big Craig David fan.
02:52People sleep, yo.
02:53Yo, I saw him live, right?
02:55So I was in Miami.
02:56I saw him live.
02:57He DJs, too.
02:58Yeah, yeah, yeah.
02:59So he DJs, and he covers the songs that he's DJing.
03:02Yeah.
03:03And he'll sing his own songs, like, and sing his songs over, like, current beats that are hot now.
03:09Oh, that's hot.
03:10It was trippy as hell, but it was a five, bro.
03:12It was live.
03:13Like, DJ.
03:14He literally come off the DJ set.
03:15That's sick.
03:16Come back around and do a performance.
03:17Go back and rock records.
03:18Yeah, he makes a lot of money doing that now.
03:19But for me, I just wanted something that just showed who I am as a person, as an artist.
03:23And that's why I love Rhythm.
03:24And I wanted to make music that people can just dance to.
03:27You know, like, you feel good to.
03:28And that's what Love Rhythm literally was about.
03:30And Walk With Me, the project.
03:32Like, it's all about just making people feel good again.
03:35No, and the project is definitely a whole chill vibe.
03:37And, like, my girls are a fan of your music and the show.
03:40Thank you, bro.
03:41And how does it feel being, you know, Nigerian and seeing the Afrobeat, like, blow up?
03:47Yeah.
03:48When you see a lot of these artists popping off.
03:49You see Davido.
03:50Yeah.
03:51And Burner Boy and all these guys.
03:53Yeah, yeah.
03:54And the whole culture is blown.
03:55How does that make you feel?
03:56It makes me feel proud because I'm, like, the definition of African-American.
04:01You know?
04:02Like, I'm African and American.
04:03So, seeing that, I remember in 2011, man, like, I went on tour with WizKid.
04:08And it was my first tour.
04:09It was my first time being on the road.
04:11And just to see how people were gravitating towards the music then.
04:14Yeah.
04:15And it was five, six years before its time here.
04:18But just seeing how good it felt and how crazy and passionate people were, I was like, oh, this is going to be a vibe in a couple of years, man.
04:24And to be now one of the forefronts of it in the States and moving forward, man, it's a blessing.
04:29So, I'm doing what I'm destined to do.
04:31I'm really happy for you, man.
04:32Thank you, man.
04:33That's really dope.
04:34And I saw that, too, you know, being Nigerian and being African and you being a part of Coming to America, too.
04:39Yeah.
04:40Man, how does that feel, like, getting that call?
04:42It was a dope feeling because, you know, that's my dad's favorite movie.
04:46You know, and I grew up watching that.
04:47So, to now be in a scene with Eddie Murphy in front of me, Arsenio Hall right here.
04:53And we also have Wesley Snipes in there as well.
04:55Nice.
04:56And I'm doing a scene and just when they said cut and Eddie came to me and just tapped me like, hey, man, you're really funny, bro.
05:04That was great.
05:05Yo, you got co-signs.
05:06Eddie Murphy, Jay-Z, what's going on, bro?
05:08Yeah, you know, when you surround yourself with that, man.
05:11You can't talk to me regular no more.
05:13I can't be talking around regular people after that.
05:15Hey, man, you know, I hear you are the company you keep, man.
05:18So, I try to live by that.
05:20That's good.
05:21And we can expect that movie soon.
05:22You're still shooting or y'all wrapped up?
05:23Yeah, we're still shooting right now.
05:24So, as soon as I finish this, I got to go back and get back on set.
05:26Nice.
05:27But it should be, I think, next summer or next Christmas.
05:29Nice.
05:30Does it feel, like, kind of awkward sometimes just kind of being in that same place as some of these legends, bro?
05:35Nah, because I feel like I belong.
05:37You know, I feel like I'm building my life to be that.
05:40You know, I want to be that.
05:42So, you have to surround yourself around it.
05:44And I just study them, man.
05:45Even just the way Eddie carries himself.
05:47Like, even though how humble Wesley Snipes is.
05:50Even how down-to-earth Arsenio Hall.
05:52Like, I take all that and just how professional they are.
05:55So, I'm just like this the whole time, you know, and just learning.
05:58So, it's a blessing.
05:59It's a blessing.
06:00That's what's up, man.
06:01Yeah.
06:02Roll to me here.
06:03It's Wild 94.1 Joey Franchise.
06:05And, Mary, I know you got Walk With Me out now.
06:08Yeah.
06:09Jeep Music was also a bop, too.
06:11Yeah.
06:12Can you expect more of, like, another volume of the Jeep Music series?
06:16You know, I might bring it back.
06:18I might bring it back because for my core fans, I think they love that.
06:22I'm even thinking about doing a Walk With Me volume, too.
06:24Okay.
06:25You know, so I'm trying to figure out what I want to do now.
06:27But we have the records for it.
06:28We even got the next single for it.
06:30And so, everything's coming together.
06:32We actually have a cool remix for Love Rhythm, too, as well.
06:34Okay.
06:35So, we're just figuring out the dots right now.
06:37But I love the fact that Love Rhythm is growing organically in the way it is.
06:41And people are embracing it and spreading it.
06:43Like, the range is from a white little girl in Idaho to a Nigerian dude in the slums in a pofe village.
06:50You know what I'm saying?
06:51So, like, that kind of range is promising for a record.
06:54That's fire.
06:55And what I also like about you is the fact that you don't really, like, seek out features to be on your songs.
07:02It's like it's just all you.
07:03Yeah.
07:04And it's, you know, and it's sitting with the people.
07:06And it's like, look, I'm not doing this to get so-and-so on here to kind of get that extra push for it.
07:12But, like, the Love Rhythm is streaming crazy.
07:15Thank you, bro.
07:16Just, you know, I'm really happy for you.
07:17I feel like I had to prove to myself, you know, like, everyone's looking like, okay, because of the acting thing,
07:22oh, this record is going to only go if he puts this guy and this guy on it.
07:26And I was like, no, this is really what I do.
07:28Like, this is really what I do.
07:29And I wanted to make a point with making sure Love Rhythm was felt just me.
07:33Like, literally just me.
07:35And if it was up to me, I'd do the whole project by myself.
07:37But my team, my management team was like, nah, nah, you know, you kind of need to play the game a little bit.
07:42Yeah.
07:43But that's my personality, man.
07:44I don't like asking nobody for anything.
07:45And I like just doing what we need to do and build my team to where we need to go.
07:50How hard is it to, I mean, because power is so huge and your characters, especially this season, is going to a whole other level.
07:58Crazy, yeah.
07:59How do you find the time to really dedicate yourself to your music and also balance being on a huge show like that?
08:05Yeah, you know, again, three things, bro.
08:08We've had to make the music undeniable because I had to make you say it doesn't matter who it came from.
08:13Like, this is great music.
08:15And that's why we strategically didn't put my face out on the record at first.
08:19We just let it just stream by itself before people knew who it was.
08:22And then that's kind of what got it going, you know.
08:24And then once they realized it, the conversation became, oh, he's really talented.
08:28He's just really talented.
08:29So that's what we did, one.
08:31Two, we started, I had to start taking out a lot of the fun things I wanted to do.
08:37I had to go from set from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. on set, then 7 p.m. to 4 o'clock in the morning in the studio creating a project.
08:48So I didn't sleep for about a good month, month and a half creating a project, bro.
08:51So when you want something, bro, you know, you got to go get that.
08:56Exactly.
08:57So that's really what I had to do.
08:58Respect that.
08:59And what way is it?
09:00I saw during the season, too, that, you know, there was a whole controversy with the whole Trey songs doing the intro.
09:04How come they never asked you to do the intro?
09:06I would never do it.
09:07You would never do it?
09:08No.
09:09No?
09:10Why not?
09:11Because some things you just don't touch.
09:12And Trey's a family member to me, basically.
09:14And I felt like no one in the world besides Joe could have done that the way it is.
09:21Because it's a legendary intro.
09:23Like, nobody should touch it.
09:25No matter the best thing in the world, the worst thing, nobody should touch it.
09:28And so it's not even Trey.
09:30He did what he did.
09:31And knowing him, he turned it down at first.
09:33But 50 was like, nah, we need something different.
09:35Was it because he owed 50 money or something?
09:37Nah.
09:38He had to make up for it during the intro?
09:41Yeah, yeah, yeah.
09:42So the season's crazy right now.
09:43I mean, does it make you laugh just seeing some of these memes about, like, Tariq and things like that?
09:49Yeah, yeah, yeah.
09:50I love it, man.
09:51That means people are invested.
09:52Yeah.
09:53You know?
09:54So, like, as a creative, you just want people just to feel something.
09:57You know?
09:58So, like, if you go to Instagram, if you go to something where people can just watch you and connect and love or laugh or hate or whatever it is, that means you've affected their day.
10:08Yeah.
10:09You know, they got their money's worth.
10:10If you're taking your time to create a meme for me, that means I've affected you.
10:15And that's, like, what you want, you know?
10:17And so I love it.
10:18And it only can just keep building for me as I go.
10:21Now, on a personal side with your character this season, I want to get your standpoint, like, what would you do, you know, if this was actually you and not Dre?
10:28Yeah.
10:29If this was Rotimi, who were you siding with, Tommy or Ghost?
10:32Uh, I'd have to choose neither.
10:36Really?
10:37Yeah, because Tommy despises Dre.
10:41Ghost is too slick.
10:42They're like, Ghost and Dre are the same type of person.
10:44Like, they're very calculated, really, really messed up people.
10:49Yeah.
10:50You know what I mean?
10:51And narcissistic people.
10:52So, like, you can't really trust a narcissist like that.
10:54So, you can't go there.
10:56Nah, I think Dre would just focus on himself.
10:58Copy that.
10:59Yeah.
11:00I want to ask, too, because I saw that 50 wants to do a biopic on the 6ix9ine.
11:04Yeah, I saw that.
11:05If he gave you a quote, would you want to star it?
11:08Would you want to be starring it?
11:09Nah, nah, I'm cool.
11:10I'm cool.
11:11I'm working on coming to America right now.
11:12Copy.
11:13Well, yeah, you want to know the level.
11:14Yeah, that's next level stuff right there.
11:15I'll focus on that one.
11:16Like I said, man, this is a different conversation you're going to start having in the next several months.
11:19Hey, and then I wanted to ask you, too, Mr. Butterscotch, bro.
11:23Yeah.
11:24So, tell everybody who's probably not familiar with you on the Rotimi Instagram about Mr. Butterscotch.
11:29So, ladies, ladies.
11:30Which camera is Mr. Butterscotch?
11:31Yeah, this one right here.
11:32This one right here.
11:33Is it this one?
11:34Yeah.
11:35I walked to this one.
11:36Let me.
11:37Ladies, ladies.
11:38No, no, no.
11:39Mr. Butterscotch is one of the people that I play.
11:43He's a ladies man from Nigeria.
11:45I created this character, man, honestly, when I was filming Power and I wanted people to
11:50see, like, another side of my personality.
11:53I was creating the music at the time.
11:55So, like, there was nothing I could do to kind of just take them away from Power.
11:58So, it was getting too strong.
11:59Like, okay, Dre, Dre, Dre, Dre, Dre.
12:01And I was like, hold on.
12:02Let me do something to kind of just take it out the box.
12:05So, I created Mr. Butterscotch and it just went insane.
12:09What lotion are you using?
12:11A face creamer?
12:12Kilts.
12:13Kilts?
12:14Yeah.
12:15They need to cut that check, bro.
12:16Hey, come on.
12:17We working on it.
12:18We working on it.
12:19I see Shiggy and all these guys, you know, love it and they imitate it and do their own
12:23versions.
12:24What advice?
12:25Before we go, what advice?
12:26I need you to look in the camera.
12:27Yes.
12:28Some ladies' advice coming from Mr. Butterscotch exclusively.
12:31Ladies, listen to me now.
12:33So, when you are with a sexy Nigerian Butterscotch man like myself, which is only one in the
12:37world, right, you have to do certain things.
12:40You have to rub the feet, right, brush your teeth, and make sure you smell good, baby.
12:45Yes.
12:46Uh-huh.
12:47It's fine, man.
12:49Yo, Rotimi, Walk With Me is out right now.
12:52Love Rhythm is the vibe.
12:53Yes, sir.
12:54Later, I know where they can follow you on the socials where they can get all the music.
12:57Yes, yes, yes.
12:58Love Rhythm is available on every platform.
13:00Walk With Me is available on every platform.
13:03Instagram, Rotimi, R-O-T-I-M-I.
13:06And I will be coming out here to perform very, very soon, trust me.
13:09I like that.
13:10Bet, man.
13:11It's Wild 94.1.
13:12Yes, sir.
13:13Cool.
13:15Vibes.