July 3, 2025 • 42 mins
In this powerful episode of Culture Raises Us, Astor Chambers sits down with singer, songwriter, entrepreneur, and co-host of R&B Money, J. Valentine, for an unfiltered conversation about fame, ownership, and legacy in Black culture.
J. unpacks why he intentionally dodged the spotlight, how the pandemic inspired the launch of R&B Money, and why betting on yourself is the new wave of success. From early music industry lessons to his thoughts on MC Hammer’s misunderstood genius, J. shares the blueprint for sustainable ownership—from your masters to your mindset.
They dive deep into:
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🔑 The myth of “owning your masters” and what real ownership looks like
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🎤 Why most stars don’t help create other stars—and why we should
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🏀 How playing point guard shaped his leadership style
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đź’ˇ Lessons from the Foreman Grill, MC Hammer, and Birdman on branding and business
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🤝 The power of collaboration, integrity, and lifting up the culture without fear
Whether you're an artist, entrepreneur, or culture shaper, this episode is a masterclass in navigating the industry with heart, hustle, and humility.
Tap in for a rich conversation about music, mentorship, and the movement toward collective Black excellence.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
My whole careers have been about me avoiding being famous.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
Which is wild because you were an artist. Jay Valentine
is a prominent singer, songwriter, and producer who's worked with
the likes of Tyrese, Kisha, Cole Mario, and A Marion.
He's also a host with his longtime friend and business
partner Tank on the R and B Money podcast.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
We always run to the check. Everybody talks about owning
their masters, well, what do you do with them when
you got 'em? Did you make anything off of it?
Are you just saying that to just pump your chests
up in to now lead these kids into thinking that
if you own your masters, you're automatically rich. Stars never
want to make other stars. Most stars don't hang out
with each other. Stars hang out with people that can
(00:43):
help them stay a star, and as soon as someone bubbles,
that person somehow is not connected to them anywhere. As
a very weird thing, but very real, I'm doing me,
and I'm doing me as a good person who really
wants to help other people.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
To who much is given, much is required. Part of
that requirement is sharing. Culture is the heartbeat within our lives,
and it's at the core of so many things while
we live in a time when we are starving for wisdom.
I welcome you to your wisdom retreat. That culture raises us.
I would love to hear. When you hear culture, what
(01:22):
does that mean to you?
Speaker 1 (01:23):
Culture to me is I just think of black people.
That's the first thing that I think of, because I
think we influence everything. The American black person. You know,
this new race that was created. When we got a
new race, I mean literally, you know, say I look
at it. I look at it like you know, we
were dropped off somewhere and we made the most of it,
(01:44):
from the food to the music. You know, there wasn't
R and B music in Africa. R and B music
was made in America, you know what I mean. So
you know, yes, we brought the drum, but the black person,
a black American person, to me, that's culture.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
You know, I've had the pleasure of knowing you for
twenty plus years. I mean, you were an artist when
we first met.
Speaker 1 (02:12):
I was just it's always been at halftime. There's always
been halftime.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
And I was doing entertainment marketing at that time in Nike,
and you've always been a stand up person, first and
foremost inconsistent, and it always brings me joy to see
you winning, which I'm glad you're in that space. You
have so much experience within this music space, and we're
going to jump into that. I'd love to hear from you.
Was there a particular moment where you realized how influential
(02:43):
music culture was or is, to overall culture as we
know it?
Speaker 1 (02:49):
I think when I just couldn't get away from it.
I feel like music is just something you can't get
away from. If you're outside, you're going to get music somewhere.
If you go to a game, gonna play it between
you know, the intermissions, or to halftimes. If you're going
you know, obviously concert, if you're going, if you're at
a movie, you're gonna hear music. You turn it down
(03:10):
in your car, you're gonna hear music. Like music is everywhere.
And sometimes even when you're trying to drive with none
on somebody next to you, especially, you know when my
old school players ride up on you with that Harley
that's right playing flashlight, you know, I like, yeah, you're
doing you're playing flash like that loud. But I just
(03:33):
I feel like with music, man, it's just something you
just can't get away from.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
It's funny when you talk about even driving and having
music car. I can't not have music playing in the car.
It's almost it's too quiet. Like I need the vie,
I need the feel, I need the vibration of it.
Which it's crazy, it's wild.
Speaker 1 (03:57):
I ride sometimes, actually not a lot of times all right,
with nothing planned. Really, Yeah, when I got my kids
in the car, play music, right, like if it's just me,
just sometimes I need to I just have my I
have a little more creative moments when I'm just driving.
And I think that happened for me during the pandemic.
The roads were empty and I just needed to just
(04:21):
kind of get through my thoughts, and I was trying
to create things that I felt would be important for
me once we came out, once we came out of
the pandemic, and you know, I think I think most
people were trying to figure out, like, Okay, I can
shift now, because the world is going to be different
when everybody's back outside. So for me, I would just drive.
(04:42):
I would take these drives and I would just be
in my thoughts of Okay, what can I do? You
know what's next for me? And that just helped me
be more creative during that time.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
What are some of the things that came from then?
The podcast podcasts R and B Money. So R and
B Money came from the pandemic. The pandemic.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
Yeah, it's so crazy how him and I think like
we have we're aligned. We're aligned in a lot of
things in a lot of ways where he'll call me
and I was like, well, that's crazy. I was just
thinking about that. I'll call him and he'll say the
same thing. And that's you know, how the podcast was.
I mean for me personally, it came from listening though
(05:26):
I was listening to interviews. I would just play, you know,
through my phone and ride sometimes and you know how
on YouTube it'll go from one video to the next,
just randomly. And I don't know what the initial video was,
but somehow it ended up on a George Formann interview
(05:49):
and he was talking about how boxing. I don't I
can't think of it verbatim because I've never even seen
the actual interview. I thought I heard it right, right,
I thought I heard it, And it's funny enough. I
haven't even gone back to try to find it. It's
just like it impacted me and it astook it for
what it was. But he talked about how boxing made
(06:12):
him wealthy, but didn't make him wealthy. The fame of
boxing made him wealth made him wealthy. And then he
talked about how he was a spokesperson for other companies
at first because of his fame, which ultimately led to
him having a conversation with someone who said he needed
his own product, which became the forming grill, which was
(06:33):
already had already existed, was already a grill. They just
put attached his name to it, and he was able
to brand it and the rest is history. He made
you know, two three hundred dollars whatever you end up making.
And for me, I was thinking, like, what's my forming grill?
Like what can be my forming grill? And then I
(06:54):
thought about all of the times that I avoided being famous.
My whole career has been about me avoiding being famous.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
Which is wild because you were an artist.
Speaker 1 (07:06):
Well, I was an artist because I love music and
I love the art, and because it was also something
that I was pushed into in a really family, really
early age, so it was second nature for me. But
I never wanted to be famous. But then I realized
I'm like in order to sell products to do the
(07:28):
things that I want to do in business. It helps
if I'm a known person selling it to you and
talking about it. And my first thing that I tried
during the pandemic is I had a T shirt made
in honor of my father that I only made a
(07:51):
hundred of them. I made them limited edition, and I
sourced out all the things. I literally had someone make
a painting of a picture that my father had taken
because I had heard that that's how they did with
black exploitation back in the day, Like they would, you know,
(08:13):
for the for the posters, someone would actually paint them.
They would paint them and that's why they looked the
way they looked. So I'm like, okay, so I'm gonna
do this whole like you know, tour T shirt for
a street guy, you know what I mean, all the
places he hustled, all the place. And that's what I
made this shirt for my father. It was the ten
Toes Down tour, right, and we sold out in like
(08:38):
seven days. Eight days saw this church for one hundred
dollars vintage teas. People loved them, sold them out, and
because people had heard this story and you know, different
things with my father and then with me as well.
But I'm thinking to myself, like, oh, this is this
is how I'm going to do business. But I realized,
(09:00):
which is funny because I kind of said this to
you earlier, I don't do interviews. So I'm like, all right, well,
to be famous, you kind.
Speaker 2 (09:07):
Of gotta got a little bit of it.
Speaker 1 (09:09):
So I'll do it in reverse. I'll do the interviewing.
I'll sit on the couch, I'll ask the questions so
I don't have to be interviewed. And that's really for me,
my side of wanting to do the pot and what
was it for for Tank? His is he wants to
(09:30):
be at the forefront of everything R and B as
well as I. But that was his main focus, right
And but then as in.
Speaker 2 (09:38):
The culture, yeah, celebrating it, speaking to it the way
that it deserves to be spoken, ye too.
Speaker 1 (09:44):
But as his business partner and his manager at the time,
I'm like, they also need to see your personality. This
is why it's going to work for you. You're really funny,
very talented, charismatic, very charismatic, and I think out of
times you just get looked as like this R and
B buff guy, who's singing about love or heartbreak or
(10:06):
they're having sex and all this other stuff, And I'm like, no, bro,
you're really fucking funny, like really hilarious and have so
much more that you can show if you had a
platform for that. So we were just like I said,
we were like minds and aligned that in that situation,
and everything was as we're having a conversation, you notice,
(10:29):
and doing business and then doing and being in partnerships.
You gotta go with things where both of y'all are
like yeah, yeah, and yeah. There was never a moment
where we're like, nah, I don't know about this. We
weren't fighting it, you know what I mean. The biggest
fight was do I want to sit in front of
this camera? That was our biggest fight, getting you camera
with him? Yeah, that was our biggest fight.
Speaker 2 (10:49):
Hilarious, and he was obviously an advocate of you need
to be sitting here.
Speaker 1 (10:52):
Yes, this tank is the biggest advocate of me that,
which is very rare because stars never want to make
other stars, which is unfortunate. It's very unfortunate, but it's
it's it's the truth. I mean, we can go down
the line. Most stars don't hang out with each other,
(11:13):
stars hang out with people that can help them stay
a start, and as soon as someone bubbles, that person
somehow is not connected to them anymore. It's a very
weird thing, but very real.
Speaker 2 (11:27):
I feel like that's an opportunity for us to visit
that on this next chapter of our respective journey. The
how are we creating this collective and lifting each other
up without feeling like we're going to lose something Because
I think a lot of it comes from this thought
of well, it's going to take away from me, me,
(11:50):
it's going to take away from what we've created, and
it might stem back to the crabs and the barrelment mentality,
and there's there's there's got to be element of breaking
that and be able to show like when you get
your dollar that doesn't mean or when somebody else gets
a dollar doesn't mean your dollar is going to now
go down to fifty cents.
Speaker 1 (12:08):
Right. I think, in my opinion, I think more of
us should play team sports. Team sports like more of
us should because it just it just gives you an
outlook of brotherhood, our sisterhood, and of depending on somebody
(12:28):
else too, and you know, not feeling a way about
somebody else scoring.
Speaker 2 (12:35):
It's funny you mentioned that because you know obviously knowing you, well,
I know how you came about in this with your
family and the neutrons. You were in the group with
your brothers and all that, and I know how much
music plays a role in your character. Yeah, but I
also know how much basketball plays.
Speaker 1 (12:51):
Yeah, I love that.
Speaker 2 (12:52):
No, listen, and we have a lot like I know
how much that plays a role. And you just talked
a little bit about this about team sports, talk about
how basketball and team sports has helped to kind of
shape and mold you and those cultures and those nuances,
which I'm so glad you even attributed it to the
question prior to this. Yeah, of having stars be comfortable
(13:16):
with elevating stars, you say team sports. Talk about how
basketball has played this role for you and how the
team sports piece. Why is that so critical you think
for this next elevation.
Speaker 1 (13:28):
Well, for me personally, it's it's always just been a
source of enjoyment and relief. You know, when my when
my brother passed when I was eleven, the first thing
I went and did I went to I went to
play basketball. I just went to I went to the
park by myself and I just shot around, so it
was like I could get my mind off of Place
(13:48):
of joy, the world and the things that were going
on with me at the time. But then at that point,
I wasn't even playing organized sports because I was fully
engulfed in music. We were you know, our group and
the Neutrons, and so we weren't getting to play you know,
team sports, and but I just love basketball. Was just
being at school. And then later on when I got
(14:10):
to experience that, I realized, like, oh, I'm a person
that really enjoys helping other people succeed.
Speaker 2 (14:18):
But you're also a point guard, you.
Speaker 1 (14:22):
Know what I mean? Like so for me, and as
they would say, which they don't, I don't even know
if they truly exists anymore, a pure point guard, pure
point like I really I get. I get enjoyment off
of somebody.
Speaker 2 (14:37):
And getting a good shot rhythm, you know what I mean.
Speaker 1 (14:40):
And winning, Yes, I'm obsessed with winning, like I really,
as they say what they say, like I I love winning.
I hate losing more than I actually love winning. Like
I hate losing. I do not like to lose, not
to the point that I like to I want to cheat,
but I want to win. So I'm going to play
(15:01):
my hardest. I'm going to surround myself with people who
understand the game, you know, who don't take the bad shot.
And I think that plays and I look at that
in life. A lot of people out here taking bad shots.
A lot of people are pulling up on a double
team like bro, somebody's wide open under the basket. That
(15:23):
connects to life too, and tanking. I think our relationship
was built off of basketball one, but also of our
understanding of sports and understanding that in sports and team sports,
you need other players and you need other people to
shine for us to win as an organization, as a team,
(15:47):
as a collective. So you know, like you said, you're
talking about it as a collective. I think for me
that's been really important. And even still I've been doing
a private basketball run for almost twenty years, literally for
almost twenty if maybe maybe twenty years at this point
(16:08):
that every Tuesday and Thursday we're playing basketball, you know
what I mean, like and it's it's important to me
to and I've had everyone you can think of from
music to like professional athletes. I'm talking about from Chris
Brown to Kyrie Irving to DK Metcalf football player to
(16:31):
Michael B. Jordan, you know what I'm saying, like where
we could come and it's I guess it's kind of
been my golf course a little bit because I don't
I don't want to play golf.
Speaker 2 (16:42):
Hold up, don't say you don't want to. You have
not started.
Speaker 1 (16:45):
I don't want to. I don't like the outdoors. I
was there, no, no, no, I've been where you are,
but mine is different. I don't like the outdoors really, Nah,
what's wrong without I'm going on? If I'm going outdoors,
I'm going to the beach. I don't want to go
to crass. Okay, I don't know what I'm saying like,
and I don't.
Speaker 2 (17:02):
Documenting this right now because we're going to be resident
in years and I hope this change.
Speaker 1 (17:07):
I mean, I'm going to get older. Yeah, so I'm
about to find something else to do here. But you
know what I mean, at some point they're gonna be like,
all right, Jay, you and this pull up jumper, at
least get back up on defense, right because you're just
gonna be someone I'm not gonna be ab to get
back on defense. I get it, exactly, But golf for me,
like I'm not against it. But like I said, I'm
just not a I'm not an outdoorsy guy, so you know,
(17:28):
I don't want to either be in like the blazing
heat or go so early that it's cold and all
that's you're trying to figure out all these things. I
don't like. Alcohol is celebratory for me. It's it is
a toast. It's not like oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
pour me. Uh, I'm cool with I'm cool with what
I was.
Speaker 2 (17:46):
So there it sounds so.
Speaker 1 (17:49):
And cigars are disgusting to me. Wow, I can't wait.
Speaker 2 (17:55):
We're going to have another conversation like five to see
what I said.
Speaker 1 (17:58):
Though I didn't, I didn't, you.
Speaker 2 (18:00):
Did, And I love that. You know the thing one
of the things you said there when you talked about,
you know, being a guard and a point guard. It's
so often I look back at, you know, my career,
my time playing ball. It was very much the same thing.
But I noticed the correlation of I was a point
guard who always wanted to put people in position to succeed.
As a point guard, you have to know, Okay, he
(18:23):
likes to get the ball here so that he can
go straight up for a jump shot, or he likes
to get in a rhythm where he could just go
out with his left even though he's a righty. Right.
Once you know the key attributes of those that you
play with and you lean into that, you now not
only are helping them to be their best selves, but
you're helping the team. And that is such and you
said it so well, a transferable skill into life. And
(18:45):
now I look at my walk in my journey, I'm
still a point guard. Yes, I'm still looking to ensure
that I'm putting people in positions to be the best
version of themselves and have others see the greatness that
is within them, right, because we don't do that enough.
Speaker 1 (19:02):
No assists, We don't assist enough.
Speaker 2 (19:05):
We don't. I wonder if assists have gone down in
the lead. This just hit came, just gone down.
Speaker 1 (19:10):
I don't think they have because of the way that
the league is set up now, meaning like the extra
steps and the zeros, it still counts after this many year.
I mean, I mean, like, okay, I guess that's an assist,
you know what I mean. But I think since scoring
(19:33):
is higher.
Speaker 2 (19:34):
Right, that can also be attributed to the individual doing
the work to score more as opposed to somebody putting
in their positions to score more.
Speaker 1 (19:45):
There are many John Stocks and Jason No, I can't
think of a Jason Kidd in the NBA right now.
Speaker 2 (19:52):
Ja Kidd and the six' four that's the monster defender,
visibility like putting people in position to.
Speaker 1 (20:02):
SUCCEED i can't think of. One, no you got, ME
i can't think of.
Speaker 2 (20:05):
One, yeah it's it's.
Speaker 1 (20:07):
Got a couple of little guys who passed because they're
told they have to pass the. Hand, yeah you know
WHAT i. Mean you don't got guys that are, like, oh,
Well I'm i'm the leader of the, team But i'm also.
Speaker 2 (20:18):
And i'm not even the top scorer because everybody attributes
the leads scorer to be the. Leader and, again such
transferable principles and just elements that make total. Sense but
again it goes beyond the. Sport and that's WHY i
know how much that plays a role in who you.
Are what's your. THOUGHTS i want to bring it back
(20:40):
to the music, piece which you have the heavy roots.
In was there a golden era of music for? You
was it like a moment where you're, like, yo this
time was so? Magical BECAUSE.
Speaker 1 (20:52):
I don't, know most people say NINETIES r AND, b
BUT i think eighties because Of michael's. Accident, prince we
don't like there was No Michael jackson Or prince in the. Nineties,
no you know WHAT i. Mean they were in the,
nineties But i'm saying like we didn't have.
Speaker 2 (21:09):
A new iteration of those.
Speaker 1 (21:11):
Guys so to, me the two greatest guys who lived
in that, era those are the guys That i'm sticking.
With And Marvin gay is cracking And New addition is.
Cracking LIKE i get this whole nineties nostalgia. Thing is
the music felt really, Good, yes in the. Nineties the
ship that came in the eighties n W a RUN
(21:34):
dmc like where because that was when hip hop really got,
Cracked LIKE i get. It it started in the, seventies
but he got cracking in the. Eighties in the EIGHTIES
mc Hammer Dog like, listen you know from So i'm
gonna always shout Out. Hammer this guy was doing arenas
when black people couldn't do, arenas right he was now
(21:59):
he literally AND i don't want to use, IT i
GUESS i have to use this. Term he was the
sacrificial lamb for hip.
Speaker 2 (22:08):
Hop, yeah, Yeah.
Speaker 1 (22:12):
Taco bell Commercials adam's family value like he was doing
brand partnerships when it was frowned, upon shut it. Out
he got ridiculed for. That for being a clean enough
(22:35):
artist to partner with big business in fortune five hundred,
companies he has to be, celebrated. Man he has to
be so when people are, like, oh he didn't pop
out for, this or you know why they didn't like,
listen did they have it set up right for mc? Hammer?
Speaker 2 (22:53):
Hmm so is it safe to say? SO i think
You you definitely have a point of view on an.
Error is it to? Say in terms of individuals from
AN r AND b? Standpoint the first two names you
mentioned WERE Mgm, Prince BUT i do want to hear
about the hammer piece BECAUSE i feel like they're all,
super super influential in terms of shaping not JUST r
(23:16):
AND b but music culture on both. Ends and As
i'm listening to, it sounds like from an artistry, Standpoint
michael And. Prince, yes from a business business too, though,
yeah and you can touch on that, Too but from
a business the way you broke Down, HAMMER i never
really took it through that.
Speaker 1 (23:34):
Lens, listen The brell, Brothers hammer and his Brother, lewis
monsters in, business monsters. Monsters they were diamond diamond album
you know WHAT i? Mean they. Were they start off
as an, Independent Busted records was an independent before they
(23:56):
did The capitol, deal so you, know the time were
favorable once they got in there because they were already.
Cracking they were already off the, trunk you know WHAT i.
Mean so it's like because when indie, artists when they get,
going they do good, numbers and they do enough to
get to that. Place now the label, can you, know
(24:19):
partner with, them and they're not expected to sell ten million.
Albums SO i can only imagine what that really looked like.
Speaker 2 (24:30):
Business you, know that was pre no, limit.
Speaker 1 (24:34):
Everything, everything everything those those were that was black. Ownership
Busted records was black, ownership.
Speaker 2 (24:44):
Which IS i think a great segue when you talk
about the impact of black creatives and what they've had
on what we've had on shaping music culture and cultures.
ALIKE i think there is a significant disparity though on black.
Speaker 1 (24:58):
Ownership because we always run to the. Check we always
run to the, check, Honestly And i'm not mad at
anybody for going and taking care of their, family because
to be an, entrepreneur and to be an owner of,
something you also have to know how to exploit. It
(25:20):
as an, owner you have to understand how to license.
It like everybody talks about owning their, Masters, well what
do you do with them when you got? Them you
just SAY i own my? Masters, okay, Cool now what
did you make anything off of? It are you just
saying that to just pump your chest up and to
now lead these kids into thinking, that you, know if
(25:43):
you own your, masters you're automatically. Rich, No SO i
just look at it like we have to really Celebrate
man And. Slim that's real ownership those. Guys this is
(26:08):
thirty five years of a lot of hit records and
real ownership in their product and their. Label AND i
just think we have to we have to have more of.
That we have to have more of.
Speaker 2 (26:23):
That we have to do you see that in our?
Speaker 1 (26:26):
Future, YEAH i see. IT i see it because the
music business is changing. Too if we're just talking about,
music the music business is changing in the sense, of you,
KNOW i was talking to a young fellow the other
day AND i was, like, well you, know and he's, like,
yeah you, know it's like what you uploaded through what
it is he's telling me the companies and, this and he's, like,
yeah AND i just paid a subscription fee. HERE i,
pay you know, whatever one hundred and fifty dollars a,
(26:48):
month two hundred OR i mean a, year two hundred
dollars a, year whatever it, is AND i can upload
as much music AS i, want and you know it
gets it gets my songs to the. DSPs that's ownership mm.
Hmm and he's doing. Business and now it's up to
him now to go market and promote it so that
it can get on people's. Radar and, yes it may
take longer because he doesn't have funding any things behind,
(27:12):
him in the machine behind. Him but he has ownership
in himself and he may be starting to boutique label
may start with, him like that's the new out the.
Trunk you don't have to press up CDs no. MORE
i come from those. Days wild enough funny. Story my
(27:34):
guy who Owns Empire distribution Or Empire label now ghazi
used to press CDs for.
Speaker 2 (27:39):
Me right bear, area.
Speaker 1 (27:41):
Right he pressed up my first. Mixtape it's Called Haija.
Breezy he pressed that up for me because he was
the first guy who had the machine that could make
like a, thousand a thousand copies of A cd in
like an hour or whatever it. Was and him and his.
Wife this man has a billion dollar. Company Now empire
(28:04):
is a billion dollar. Company now guy suppressed my. CDs so,
yes it can, happen you know WHAT i. Mean SO
i just you, know he built this and he'll tell
you he built this company off a credit. Card why
can more guys do? That why can more women do?
That you just have To you gotta go for. It
(28:28):
tank AND i we own our, Podcast we own it Fly.
Out nobody else we have no partners in that but
him AND. I m. Hmm we put up the bread
right when the podcast wasn't making any. Money we were
paying everyone else.
Speaker 2 (28:48):
To keep it, going to keep.
Speaker 1 (28:49):
Going bet on, yourself bet on, ourselves you know WHAT i.
Speaker 2 (28:52):
Mean, YEAH i think we're definitely getting to a season
of we need more betting on ourselves because, again that
helps unlock WHAT i call the collective. Betterment, yeah and
given the state of, Things i'd love to hear what
you're doing to ensure that the cultures and the spaces
(29:13):
that you frequent are being nurtured. Properly and what are
the recommendations are the things that you would share for
other creators and consumers to do to ensure that these
things are.
Speaker 1 (29:25):
NURTURED i think the first thing that That i'm doing
and that we are doing within our company WITH r
AND b, money is that we take care of our.
People that's the first thing we. Do good. Business it starts,
There it starts, there and we're we're changing the. Cycle we.
(29:48):
Don't we. Don't we don't sign people the bad. Deals
we're not even trying to sign people to deals that
we have ownership in. Them we just want to do,
partnerships you, Know we just we just we don't want
anybody to sign anything that we wouldn't. Sign that's, right,
Right so it starts with. Us so to, Me i'm doing,
(30:10):
me And i'm doing me as a good person who
really wants to help other people and really wants to
build with. People you, KNOW i said all the, time
even if it's even if it's just a shout, out you,
know we follow each. Other i'm sure you've probably seen
some artists that you've never heard of BECAUSE i just
saw them On instagram or SOMEBODY i was scrolling past
(30:35):
something they popped up on My explore. PAGE i liked
the video they shot AND i just posted it AND
i put them on my. STORY i don't have to
have any ownership in what they're. Doing i'm helping the ecosystem,
though and telling anyone, else which you, KNOW i try
not to tell people what to, do but to, me
what to do is to continue. That if you have a,
(30:57):
platform it don't cost nothing to say. That OH i like,
that that's, right look at. That oh you, know talk
about oh my my homeboy owns a, restaurant my homegirl
owns a, restaurant or clothing line or what does it hurt?
Us IF i like? It? Right IF i like? It
you know WHAT i? MEAN i think that's something that
within our, community we're supposed to support it even if
(31:19):
we don't like. It And i'm not with.
Speaker 2 (31:21):
That right with, that excellence has to be, excellence you.
Speaker 1 (31:26):
Know WHAT i. Mean if your cheeseburger ain't worth twenty
dollars to, Me i'm not coming back to give you
another twenty. DOLLARS i don't care who own. It but
if it's amazing and the service was amazing and you
got waggle and it's, cracking, listen go get you a
twenty dollars. Burger.
Speaker 2 (31:42):
Listen, Yeah and it goes back to what we were
talking about earlier in terms of While i'm making this,
dollar it takes nothing. Away if you're going to go
make a, dollar and IF i can help you to
make that, dollar it's not gonna take my dollar to
seventy five cents or. Fifty AND i think that's one
of the big unlocks THAT i think we really need
(32:05):
to galvanize. Around AND i just haven't seen it enough for,
me AND i think we're at a point where there
has to be more that because nobody's going to do
it for. Us and you started this whole conversation with
we feed all this, culture we've created all this.
Speaker 1 (32:21):
It's whatever we don't, like don't do, it don't do.
It another reason we started the, podcast right BECAUSE i
was watching things And i'm, LIKE i wouldn't do. That
but instead of me going online and talking about what
someone else is, DOING i created an. Alternative CREATED i
created an. Alternative, hey that's not. Me i'm not a
clickbait guy in. Life i'm not a clickubait, guy.
Speaker 2 (32:42):
That's, Right so why WOULD i do it for a
check or or some form of?
Speaker 1 (32:47):
Entertainment i'm not going to do. That so and But
i'm also not going to come on here or on
my own platform and down whatever other people are doing
to feed their. Families i'm just going to do something.
Speaker 2 (33:00):
Else that's, right that's. Right you. Know, uh we're kind
of coming out of you, know seasons of you, know. Fasting.
Right we always we always talk about fastings and you
know can be more than just, food food or social,
media alcohol and all. That is there a communal fast
that you would advocate to move on to get further,
(33:22):
clarity alignment and. Focus stop.
Speaker 1 (33:25):
Hating stop hating because AND i get, it you, know
everybody has an opinion of, things but there's a there's
a hate is. Different hate is. Different you can feel. It,
yeah you know WHAT i. Mean it's stop hating fast From.
Hayden you may not like, Something oh that's not for, me,
(33:46):
cool but then running and telling a whole bunch of,
People yeah that ain't that that That's. Hayden your opinion
is you, know, okay wasn't for me mm hmm going
online and talk about it and talk bad about. It,
now that's LIKE i said, earlier you know what what
may not be for? Me i'm going to hold that to.
(34:08):
ME i DON'T i don't need to broadcast that this
is what it. Is. Yeah so, yeah if we can stop,
hating that'll really.
Speaker 2 (34:17):
Help, Listen that will help a lot of.
Speaker 1 (34:19):
It lot of, us a lot of.
Speaker 2 (34:21):
Us you, know we we always kind of close these
conversations out with talking about what are the three seeds
that you would like to share with the stewards of
culture moving forward to give them these tools to kind
of know how to, nurture shape and mold this thing moving.
(34:41):
Forward what are the three things that you would want
to equip them with for.
Speaker 1 (34:44):
That WHATEVER i would, say whatever they would want to. Do,
research really research, it really find out what you need
to do to be successful in. It you, know get
on your, ship, man, like really really read up about
(35:06):
the things you want to be a part. Of read
up on the people who've been successful in that. Space
BECAUSE i feel like a lot of times and read
up on a, journey or or watch the, journey you,
know because now we're, here now it's it's you, know
it's cameras, everywhere like watch the. Journey watch people talk
about their. Journey they don't do that, enough right because
(35:27):
but the journey is more important than the, destination, Right
AND i think that a lot of people have they
only take from when someone's successful microwave, yeah instead of,
like oh, no, no how did? You how did you
(35:50):
get to that? Point Like i've Watched Byron Allen's Breakfast
club interview over and over and watched him talk about
how he would go to the pay phone and call
these brands and try to sell ads to them for his,
show you know WHAT i. Mean or how he went
to the bank and and and tried to get, loans
(36:11):
and how he tried to find the right person to
get the loan from and and so they wouldn't you,
Know and how he was getting foreclosed on and all
these different. Things and those are the Things i'm really interested. In,
LIKE i get, it eventually you got to The Weather
channel and you bought The Weather? Channel what was the process?
Though you know WHAT i, mean don't cheat the don't
(36:32):
cheat the. PROCESS i would say that it's. Huge that's
that's one thing THAT i you, Know i'm really a
firm believer, in is not cheating the process and understanding
what you're. In. Yep another seed THAT i would want
people to, say research, research don't cheat the process and
(36:57):
understand what's for. You it's for. YOU i don't count
nobody nobody's. Pockets i'm not in competition with that at.
All my goals are my. Goals even LIKE i said
about me, WINNING i just want to win it my.
LIFE i don't see it's, funny you, know even with
(37:19):
like you see the like the players who played before
who are, like oh and these guys get. Paid i've
never been that type of. Person i've never been that
type of person to think, like oh, man MAYBE i
came to. Earlier maybe because you, know in, Music i've
been told that at certain, guys young guys that are
(37:39):
in the, game that are, successful Like, BRO i grew
up on that hard the type of music you was,
doing The Bay area style music in the it's AGGRESSIVE
r AND b and. THAT i you, Know i'm signed
to a label that don't understand it at all WHEN
i meet you and don't really understand. Me and Now i'm, like,
(38:01):
wow a lot of these guys this is where music.
IS i don't look at it like that. THOUGH i
just look at it like that's WHAT i was. Doing
that wasn't went for. Me it's been greater later for
me in another. Space so that's another THING i would just, Say,
man run your race was for you is for. You
you know WHAT i, mean. DON'T i see too many
(38:22):
people getting caught up and you, know count somebody else's
money or you, know pocket, washing And i'm not with.
Speaker 2 (38:30):
That, Yeah i'm so glad you mentioned the journey. Piece
and LIKE i started, With i've had the pleasure of
seeing a great deal of your.
Speaker 1 (38:40):
Journey NOW i mean all of my adopt journey for.
Speaker 2 (38:44):
Sure and AGAIN i go back to that word of,
consistency AND i love you got to close where you,
start which is a beautiful, thing right of seeing you
win in the comfort in which you're doing, it on
your terms and the character in which you've shown throughout.
It and there's been tremendous, growth right BECAUSE i even
(39:07):
remember to your point when we first, met you were
a signed To Electra believe or something like. That and you,
know as much product AS i was giving, YOU i
don't think you had the amount of videos or anything
to really bring all that stuff to, life right because
you were going through your trials with the label not understanding.
Whatever but you always maintain a level of class optimism
(39:33):
and you were again a good, person and So i'm
just grateful to continue to see you show that in
your evolution and having been able to see this, journey
LIKE i can't take the level of joy AS i
see with the PODCAST i see with your, kid like
all the things that is the real work that we
(39:55):
all need to be honing in. On and you have
done a great job of at, work, brother AND i appreciate,
you and you KNOW i love you deeply and thank
you for coming through and will always be a supporter
of what you.
Speaker 1 (40:07):
Do i'm gonna tell a story BEFORE i, Leave, yeah
that is connected to, us AND i THINK i may
have told her on this, podcast BUT i didn't fully you,
know put the whole thing. Together you had my father
THINKING i had A nike. Deal, no this is the funniest, thing,
Bro like he really. THOUGHT i, KNOW i told. IT
(40:28):
i told it on the episode With Snoop.
Speaker 2 (40:30):
Dogg somebody hit me and, Said, yo they're talking about
you ON r AND B money AND i. DIDN'T i
didn't check it.
Speaker 1 (40:34):
Out so With snoop where we talked about how, people
how we represent our, people everybody connected to, us and
how they're so proud of us and sometimes that makes
us feel weird toward you, know because he was Because
snoop talked about how his his auntie like kept the
picture of him And Anita, baker but it was his,
(40:55):
picture like literally brought it to her house and kept
it at her, House like you need a, baker and
that's a bakery, baker. Right AND i remember trying to
explain to my dad, like, no you, KNOW i met
s guy, man really cool guy named as he works
At nike and he's sending, me you, know he's sending me.
Shoes he Had San, francisco the whole city THINKING i
(41:18):
had signed To. Nike damn, it LIKE i had an
air nuke coming out of Somewhere Valentine And i'm, like,
no but you know, what whatever if this is what
y'all want to. Think but they THOUGHT i had a.
Shooting and this is Before Travis scott Sign artists or signed.
Speaker 2 (41:38):
Paid for that a whole different.
Speaker 1 (41:40):
Deal you just get some product and then you, know
you get some boxes and you get you, know some
new fresh. SHIP i was signed To nike bro because of.
Speaker 2 (41:47):
You i'm like you to thank. You, absolutely we truly
appreciate your because it helps us fulfill our mission of
promoting cultural awareness and personal. Development please click the subscribe
button below to help ensure and solidify our mission
My whole careers have been about me avoiding being famous.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
Which is wild because you were an artist. Jay Valentine
is a prominent singer, songwriter, and producer who's worked with
the likes of Tyrese, Kisha, Cole Mario, and A Marion.
He's also a host with his longtime friend and business
partner Tank on the R and B Money podcast.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
We always run to the check. Everybody talks about owning
their masters, well, what do you do with them when
you got 'em? Did you make anything off of it?
Are you just saying that to just pump your chests
up in to now lead these kids into thinking that
if you own your masters, you're automatically rich. Stars never
want to make other stars. Most stars don't hang out
with each other. Stars hang out with people that can
(00:43):
help them stay a star, and as soon as someone bubbles,
that person somehow is not connected to them anywhere. As
a very weird thing, but very real, I'm doing me,
and I'm doing me as a good person who really
wants to help other people.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
To who much is given, much is required. Part of
that requirement is sharing. Culture is the heartbeat within our lives,
and it's at the core of so many things while
we live in a time when we are starving for wisdom.
I welcome you to your wisdom retreat. That culture raises us.
I would love to hear. When you hear culture, what
(01:22):
does that mean to you?
Speaker 1 (01:23):
Culture to me is I just think of black people.
That's the first thing that I think of, because I
think we influence everything. The American black person. You know,
this new race that was created. When we got a
new race, I mean literally, you know, say I look
at it. I look at it like you know, we
were dropped off somewhere and we made the most of it,
(01:44):
from the food to the music. You know, there wasn't
R and B music in Africa. R and B music
was made in America, you know what I mean. So
you know, yes, we brought the drum, but the black person,
a black American person, to me, that's culture.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
You know, I've had the pleasure of knowing you for
twenty plus years. I mean, you were an artist when
we first met.
Speaker 1 (02:12):
I was just it's always been at halftime. There's always
been halftime.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
And I was doing entertainment marketing at that time in Nike,
and you've always been a stand up person, first and
foremost inconsistent, and it always brings me joy to see
you winning, which I'm glad you're in that space. You
have so much experience within this music space, and we're
going to jump into that. I'd love to hear from you.
Was there a particular moment where you realized how influential
(02:43):
music culture was or is, to overall culture as we
know it?
Speaker 1 (02:49):
I think when I just couldn't get away from it.
I feel like music is just something you can't get
away from. If you're outside, you're going to get music somewhere.
If you go to a game, gonna play it between
you know, the intermissions, or to halftimes. If you're going
you know, obviously concert, if you're going, if you're at
a movie, you're gonna hear music. You turn it down
(03:10):
in your car, you're gonna hear music. Like music is everywhere.
And sometimes even when you're trying to drive with none
on somebody next to you, especially, you know when my
old school players ride up on you with that Harley
that's right playing flashlight, you know, I like, yeah, you're
doing you're playing flash like that loud. But I just
(03:33):
I feel like with music, man, it's just something you
just can't get away from.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
It's funny when you talk about even driving and having
music car. I can't not have music playing in the car.
It's almost it's too quiet. Like I need the vie,
I need the feel, I need the vibration of it.
Which it's crazy, it's wild.
Speaker 1 (03:57):
I ride sometimes, actually not a lot of times all right,
with nothing planned. Really, Yeah, when I got my kids
in the car, play music, right, like if it's just me,
just sometimes I need to I just have my I
have a little more creative moments when I'm just driving.
And I think that happened for me during the pandemic.
The roads were empty and I just needed to just
(04:21):
kind of get through my thoughts, and I was trying
to create things that I felt would be important for
me once we came out, once we came out of
the pandemic, and you know, I think I think most
people were trying to figure out, like, Okay, I can
shift now, because the world is going to be different
when everybody's back outside. So for me, I would just drive.
(04:42):
I would take these drives and I would just be
in my thoughts of Okay, what can I do? You
know what's next for me? And that just helped me
be more creative during that time.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
What are some of the things that came from then?
The podcast podcasts R and B Money. So R and
B Money came from the pandemic. The pandemic.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
Yeah, it's so crazy how him and I think like
we have we're aligned. We're aligned in a lot of
things in a lot of ways where he'll call me
and I was like, well, that's crazy. I was just
thinking about that. I'll call him and he'll say the
same thing. And that's you know, how the podcast was.
I mean for me personally, it came from listening though
(05:26):
I was listening to interviews. I would just play, you know,
through my phone and ride sometimes and you know how
on YouTube it'll go from one video to the next,
just randomly. And I don't know what the initial video was,
but somehow it ended up on a George Formann interview
(05:49):
and he was talking about how boxing. I don't I
can't think of it verbatim because I've never even seen
the actual interview. I thought I heard it right, right,
I thought I heard it, And it's funny enough. I
haven't even gone back to try to find it. It's
just like it impacted me and it astook it for
what it was. But he talked about how boxing made
(06:12):
him wealthy, but didn't make him wealthy. The fame of
boxing made him wealth made him wealthy. And then he
talked about how he was a spokesperson for other companies
at first because of his fame, which ultimately led to
him having a conversation with someone who said he needed
his own product, which became the forming grill, which was
(06:33):
already had already existed, was already a grill. They just
put attached his name to it, and he was able
to brand it and the rest is history. He made
you know, two three hundred dollars whatever you end up making.
And for me, I was thinking, like, what's my forming grill?
Like what can be my forming grill? And then I
(06:54):
thought about all of the times that I avoided being famous.
My whole career has been about me avoiding being famous.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
Which is wild because you were an artist.
Speaker 1 (07:06):
Well, I was an artist because I love music and
I love the art, and because it was also something
that I was pushed into in a really family, really
early age, so it was second nature for me. But
I never wanted to be famous. But then I realized
I'm like in order to sell products to do the
(07:28):
things that I want to do in business. It helps
if I'm a known person selling it to you and
talking about it. And my first thing that I tried
during the pandemic is I had a T shirt made
in honor of my father that I only made a
(07:51):
hundred of them. I made them limited edition, and I
sourced out all the things. I literally had someone make
a painting of a picture that my father had taken
because I had heard that that's how they did with
black exploitation back in the day, Like they would, you know,
(08:13):
for the for the posters, someone would actually paint them.
They would paint them and that's why they looked the
way they looked. So I'm like, okay, so I'm gonna
do this whole like you know, tour T shirt for
a street guy, you know what I mean, all the
places he hustled, all the place. And that's what I
made this shirt for my father. It was the ten
Toes Down tour, right, and we sold out in like
(08:38):
seven days. Eight days saw this church for one hundred
dollars vintage teas. People loved them, sold them out, and
because people had heard this story and you know, different
things with my father and then with me as well.
But I'm thinking to myself, like, oh, this is this
is how I'm going to do business. But I realized,
(09:00):
which is funny because I kind of said this to
you earlier, I don't do interviews. So I'm like, all right, well,
to be famous, you kind.
Speaker 2 (09:07):
Of gotta got a little bit of it.
Speaker 1 (09:09):
So I'll do it in reverse. I'll do the interviewing.
I'll sit on the couch, I'll ask the questions so
I don't have to be interviewed. And that's really for me,
my side of wanting to do the pot and what
was it for for Tank? His is he wants to
(09:30):
be at the forefront of everything R and B as
well as I. But that was his main focus, right
And but then as in.
Speaker 2 (09:38):
The culture, yeah, celebrating it, speaking to it the way
that it deserves to be spoken, ye too.
Speaker 1 (09:44):
But as his business partner and his manager at the time,
I'm like, they also need to see your personality. This
is why it's going to work for you. You're really funny,
very talented, charismatic, very charismatic, and I think out of
times you just get looked as like this R and
B buff guy, who's singing about love or heartbreak or
(10:06):
they're having sex and all this other stuff, And I'm like, no, bro,
you're really fucking funny, like really hilarious and have so
much more that you can show if you had a
platform for that. So we were just like I said,
we were like minds and aligned that in that situation,
and everything was as we're having a conversation, you notice,
(10:29):
and doing business and then doing and being in partnerships.
You gotta go with things where both of y'all are
like yeah, yeah, and yeah. There was never a moment
where we're like, nah, I don't know about this. We
weren't fighting it, you know what I mean. The biggest
fight was do I want to sit in front of
this camera? That was our biggest fight, getting you camera
with him? Yeah, that was our biggest fight.
Speaker 2 (10:49):
Hilarious, and he was obviously an advocate of you need
to be sitting here.
Speaker 1 (10:52):
Yes, this tank is the biggest advocate of me that,
which is very rare because stars never want to make
other stars, which is unfortunate. It's very unfortunate, but it's
it's it's the truth. I mean, we can go down
the line. Most stars don't hang out with each other,
(11:13):
stars hang out with people that can help them stay
a start, and as soon as someone bubbles, that person
somehow is not connected to them anymore. It's a very
weird thing, but very real.
Speaker 2 (11:27):
I feel like that's an opportunity for us to visit
that on this next chapter of our respective journey. The
how are we creating this collective and lifting each other
up without feeling like we're going to lose something Because
I think a lot of it comes from this thought
of well, it's going to take away from me, me,
(11:50):
it's going to take away from what we've created, and
it might stem back to the crabs and the barrelment mentality,
and there's there's there's got to be element of breaking
that and be able to show like when you get
your dollar that doesn't mean or when somebody else gets
a dollar doesn't mean your dollar is going to now
go down to fifty cents.
Speaker 1 (12:08):
Right. I think, in my opinion, I think more of
us should play team sports. Team sports like more of
us should because it just it just gives you an
outlook of brotherhood, our sisterhood, and of depending on somebody
(12:28):
else too, and you know, not feeling a way about
somebody else scoring.
Speaker 2 (12:35):
It's funny you mentioned that because you know obviously knowing you, well,
I know how you came about in this with your
family and the neutrons. You were in the group with
your brothers and all that, and I know how much
music plays a role in your character. Yeah, but I
also know how much basketball plays.
Speaker 1 (12:51):
Yeah, I love that.
Speaker 2 (12:52):
No, listen, and we have a lot like I know
how much that plays a role. And you just talked
a little bit about this about team sports, talk about
how basketball and team sports has helped to kind of
shape and mold you and those cultures and those nuances,
which I'm so glad you even attributed it to the
question prior to this. Yeah, of having stars be comfortable
(13:16):
with elevating stars, you say team sports. Talk about how
basketball has played this role for you and how the
team sports piece. Why is that so critical you think
for this next elevation.
Speaker 1 (13:28):
Well, for me personally, it's it's always just been a
source of enjoyment and relief. You know, when my when
my brother passed when I was eleven, the first thing
I went and did I went to I went to
play basketball. I just went to I went to the
park by myself and I just shot around, so it
was like I could get my mind off of Place
(13:48):
of joy, the world and the things that were going
on with me at the time. But then at that point,
I wasn't even playing organized sports because I was fully
engulfed in music. We were you know, our group and
the Neutrons, and so we weren't getting to play you know,
team sports, and but I just love basketball. Was just
being at school. And then later on when I got
(14:10):
to experience that, I realized, like, oh, I'm a person
that really enjoys helping other people succeed.
Speaker 2 (14:18):
But you're also a point guard, you.
Speaker 1 (14:22):
Know what I mean? Like so for me, and as
they would say, which they don't, I don't even know
if they truly exists anymore, a pure point guard, pure
point like I really I get. I get enjoyment off
of somebody.
Speaker 2 (14:37):
And getting a good shot rhythm, you know what I mean.
Speaker 1 (14:40):
And winning, Yes, I'm obsessed with winning, like I really,
as they say what they say, like I I love winning.
I hate losing more than I actually love winning. Like
I hate losing. I do not like to lose, not
to the point that I like to I want to cheat,
but I want to win. So I'm going to play
(15:01):
my hardest. I'm going to surround myself with people who
understand the game, you know, who don't take the bad shot.
And I think that plays and I look at that
in life. A lot of people out here taking bad shots.
A lot of people are pulling up on a double
team like bro, somebody's wide open under the basket. That
(15:23):
connects to life too, and tanking. I think our relationship
was built off of basketball one, but also of our
understanding of sports and understanding that in sports and team sports,
you need other players and you need other people to
shine for us to win as an organization, as a team,
(15:47):
as a collective. So you know, like you said, you're
talking about it as a collective. I think for me
that's been really important. And even still I've been doing
a private basketball run for almost twenty years, literally for
almost twenty if maybe maybe twenty years at this point
(16:08):
that every Tuesday and Thursday we're playing basketball, you know
what I mean, like and it's it's important to me
to and I've had everyone you can think of from
music to like professional athletes. I'm talking about from Chris
Brown to Kyrie Irving to DK Metcalf football player to
(16:31):
Michael B. Jordan, you know what I'm saying, like where
we could come and it's I guess it's kind of
been my golf course a little bit because I don't
I don't want to play golf.
Speaker 2 (16:42):
Hold up, don't say you don't want to. You have
not started.
Speaker 1 (16:45):
I don't want to. I don't like the outdoors. I
was there, no, no, no, I've been where you are,
but mine is different. I don't like the outdoors really, Nah,
what's wrong without I'm going on? If I'm going outdoors,
I'm going to the beach. I don't want to go
to crass. Okay, I don't know what I'm saying like,
and I don't.
Speaker 2 (17:02):
Documenting this right now because we're going to be resident
in years and I hope this change.
Speaker 1 (17:07):
I mean, I'm going to get older. Yeah, so I'm
about to find something else to do here. But you
know what I mean, at some point they're gonna be like,
all right, Jay, you and this pull up jumper, at
least get back up on defense, right because you're just
gonna be someone I'm not gonna be ab to get
back on defense. I get it, exactly, But golf for me,
like I'm not against it. But like I said, I'm
just not a I'm not an outdoorsy guy, so you know,
(17:28):
I don't want to either be in like the blazing
heat or go so early that it's cold and all
that's you're trying to figure out all these things. I
don't like. Alcohol is celebratory for me. It's it is
a toast. It's not like oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
pour me. Uh, I'm cool with I'm cool with what
I was.
Speaker 2 (17:46):
So there it sounds so.
Speaker 1 (17:49):
And cigars are disgusting to me. Wow, I can't wait.
Speaker 2 (17:55):
We're going to have another conversation like five to see
what I said.
Speaker 1 (17:58):
Though I didn't, I didn't, you.
Speaker 2 (18:00):
Did, And I love that. You know the thing one
of the things you said there when you talked about,
you know, being a guard and a point guard. It's
so often I look back at, you know, my career,
my time playing ball. It was very much the same thing.
But I noticed the correlation of I was a point
guard who always wanted to put people in position to succeed.
As a point guard, you have to know, Okay, he
(18:23):
likes to get the ball here so that he can
go straight up for a jump shot, or he likes
to get in a rhythm where he could just go
out with his left even though he's a righty. Right.
Once you know the key attributes of those that you
play with and you lean into that, you now not
only are helping them to be their best selves, but
you're helping the team. And that is such and you
said it so well, a transferable skill into life. And
(18:45):
now I look at my walk in my journey, I'm
still a point guard. Yes, I'm still looking to ensure
that I'm putting people in positions to be the best
version of themselves and have others see the greatness that
is within them, right, because we don't do that enough.
Speaker 1 (19:02):
No assists, We don't assist enough.
Speaker 2 (19:05):
We don't. I wonder if assists have gone down in
the lead. This just hit came, just gone down.
Speaker 1 (19:10):
I don't think they have because of the way that
the league is set up now, meaning like the extra
steps and the zeros, it still counts after this many year.
I mean, I mean, like, okay, I guess that's an assist,
you know what I mean. But I think since scoring
(19:33):
is higher.
Speaker 2 (19:34):
Right, that can also be attributed to the individual doing
the work to score more as opposed to somebody putting
in their positions to score more.
Speaker 1 (19:45):
There are many John Stocks and Jason No, I can't
think of a Jason Kidd in the NBA right now.
Speaker 2 (19:52):
Ja Kidd and the six' four that's the monster defender,
visibility like putting people in position to.
Speaker 1 (20:02):
SUCCEED i can't think of. One, no you got, ME
i can't think of.
Speaker 2 (20:05):
One, yeah it's it's.
Speaker 1 (20:07):
Got a couple of little guys who passed because they're
told they have to pass the. Hand, yeah you know
WHAT i. Mean you don't got guys that are, like, oh,
Well I'm i'm the leader of the, team But i'm also.
Speaker 2 (20:18):
And i'm not even the top scorer because everybody attributes
the leads scorer to be the. Leader and, again such
transferable principles and just elements that make total. Sense but
again it goes beyond the. Sport and that's WHY i
know how much that plays a role in who you.
Are what's your. THOUGHTS i want to bring it back
(20:40):
to the music, piece which you have the heavy roots.
In was there a golden era of music for? You
was it like a moment where you're, like, yo this
time was so? Magical BECAUSE.
Speaker 1 (20:52):
I don't, know most people say NINETIES r AND, b
BUT i think eighties because Of michael's. Accident, prince we
don't like there was No Michael jackson Or prince in the. Nineties,
no you know WHAT i. Mean they were in the,
nineties But i'm saying like we didn't have.
Speaker 2 (21:09):
A new iteration of those.
Speaker 1 (21:11):
Guys so to, me the two greatest guys who lived
in that, era those are the guys That i'm sticking.
With And Marvin gay is cracking And New addition is.
Cracking LIKE i get this whole nineties nostalgia. Thing is
the music felt really, Good, yes in the. Nineties the
ship that came in the eighties n W a RUN
(21:34):
dmc like where because that was when hip hop really got,
Cracked LIKE i get. It it started in the, seventies
but he got cracking in the. Eighties in the EIGHTIES
mc Hammer Dog like, listen you know from So i'm
gonna always shout Out. Hammer this guy was doing arenas
when black people couldn't do, arenas right he was now
(21:59):
he literally AND i don't want to use, IT i
GUESS i have to use this. Term he was the
sacrificial lamb for hip.
Speaker 2 (22:08):
Hop, yeah, Yeah.
Speaker 1 (22:12):
Taco bell Commercials adam's family value like he was doing
brand partnerships when it was frowned, upon shut it. Out
he got ridiculed for. That for being a clean enough
(22:35):
artist to partner with big business in fortune five hundred,
companies he has to be, celebrated. Man he has to
be so when people are, like, oh he didn't pop
out for, this or you know why they didn't like,
listen did they have it set up right for mc? Hammer?
Speaker 2 (22:53):
Hmm so is it safe to say? SO i think
You you definitely have a point of view on an.
Error is it to? Say in terms of individuals from
AN r AND b? Standpoint the first two names you
mentioned WERE Mgm, Prince BUT i do want to hear
about the hammer piece BECAUSE i feel like they're all,
super super influential in terms of shaping not JUST r
(23:16):
AND b but music culture on both. Ends and As
i'm listening to, it sounds like from an artistry, Standpoint
michael And. Prince, yes from a business business too, though,
yeah and you can touch on that, Too but from
a business the way you broke Down, HAMMER i never
really took it through that.
Speaker 1 (23:34):
Lens, listen The brell, Brothers hammer and his Brother, lewis
monsters in, business monsters. Monsters they were diamond diamond album
you know WHAT i? Mean they. Were they start off
as an, Independent Busted records was an independent before they
(23:56):
did The capitol, deal so you, know the time were
favorable once they got in there because they were already.
Cracking they were already off the, trunk you know WHAT i.
Mean so it's like because when indie, artists when they get,
going they do good, numbers and they do enough to
get to that. Place now the label, can you, know
(24:19):
partner with, them and they're not expected to sell ten million.
Albums SO i can only imagine what that really looked like.
Speaker 2 (24:30):
Business you, know that was pre no, limit.
Speaker 1 (24:34):
Everything, everything everything those those were that was black. Ownership
Busted records was black, ownership.
Speaker 2 (24:44):
Which IS i think a great segue when you talk
about the impact of black creatives and what they've had
on what we've had on shaping music culture and cultures.
ALIKE i think there is a significant disparity though on black.
Speaker 1 (24:58):
Ownership because we always run to the. Check we always
run to the, check, Honestly And i'm not mad at
anybody for going and taking care of their, family because
to be an, entrepreneur and to be an owner of,
something you also have to know how to exploit. It
(25:20):
as an, owner you have to understand how to license.
It like everybody talks about owning their, Masters, well what
do you do with them when you got? Them you
just SAY i own my? Masters, okay, Cool now what
did you make anything off of? It are you just
saying that to just pump your chest up and to
now lead these kids into thinking, that you, know if
(25:43):
you own your, masters you're automatically. Rich, No SO i
just look at it like we have to really Celebrate
man And. Slim that's real ownership those. Guys this is
(26:08):
thirty five years of a lot of hit records and
real ownership in their product and their. Label AND i
just think we have to we have to have more of.
That we have to have more of.
Speaker 2 (26:23):
That we have to do you see that in our?
Speaker 1 (26:26):
Future, YEAH i see. IT i see it because the
music business is changing. Too if we're just talking about,
music the music business is changing in the sense, of you,
KNOW i was talking to a young fellow the other
day AND i was, like, well you, know and he's, like,
yeah you, know it's like what you uploaded through what
it is he's telling me the companies and, this and he's, like,
yeah AND i just paid a subscription fee. HERE i,
pay you know, whatever one hundred and fifty dollars a,
(26:48):
month two hundred OR i mean a, year two hundred
dollars a, year whatever it, is AND i can upload
as much music AS i, want and you know it
gets it gets my songs to the. DSPs that's ownership mm.
Hmm and he's doing. Business and now it's up to
him now to go market and promote it so that
it can get on people's. Radar and, yes it may
take longer because he doesn't have funding any things behind,
(27:12):
him in the machine behind. Him but he has ownership
in himself and he may be starting to boutique label
may start with, him like that's the new out the.
Trunk you don't have to press up CDs no. MORE
i come from those. Days wild enough funny. Story my
(27:34):
guy who Owns Empire distribution Or Empire label now ghazi
used to press CDs for.
Speaker 2 (27:39):
Me right bear, area.
Speaker 1 (27:41):
Right he pressed up my first. Mixtape it's Called Haija.
Breezy he pressed that up for me because he was
the first guy who had the machine that could make
like a, thousand a thousand copies of A cd in
like an hour or whatever it. Was and him and his.
Wife this man has a billion dollar. Company Now empire
(28:04):
is a billion dollar. Company now guy suppressed my. CDs so,
yes it can, happen you know WHAT i. Mean SO
i just you, know he built this and he'll tell
you he built this company off a credit. Card why
can more guys do? That why can more women do?
That you just have To you gotta go for. It
(28:28):
tank AND i we own our, Podcast we own it Fly.
Out nobody else we have no partners in that but
him AND. I m. Hmm we put up the bread
right when the podcast wasn't making any. Money we were
paying everyone else.
Speaker 2 (28:48):
To keep it, going to keep.
Speaker 1 (28:49):
Going bet on, yourself bet on, ourselves you know WHAT i.
Speaker 2 (28:52):
Mean, YEAH i think we're definitely getting to a season
of we need more betting on ourselves because, again that
helps unlock WHAT i call the collective. Betterment, yeah and
given the state of, Things i'd love to hear what
you're doing to ensure that the cultures and the spaces
(29:13):
that you frequent are being nurtured. Properly and what are
the recommendations are the things that you would share for
other creators and consumers to do to ensure that these
things are.
Speaker 1 (29:25):
NURTURED i think the first thing that That i'm doing
and that we are doing within our company WITH r
AND b, money is that we take care of our.
People that's the first thing we. Do good. Business it starts,
There it starts, there and we're we're changing the. Cycle we.
(29:48):
Don't we. Don't we don't sign people the bad. Deals
we're not even trying to sign people to deals that
we have ownership in. Them we just want to do,
partnerships you, Know we just we just we don't want
anybody to sign anything that we wouldn't. Sign that's, right,
Right so it starts with. Us so to, Me i'm doing,
(30:10):
me And i'm doing me as a good person who
really wants to help other people and really wants to
build with. People you, KNOW i said all the, time
even if it's even if it's just a shout, out you,
know we follow each. Other i'm sure you've probably seen
some artists that you've never heard of BECAUSE i just
saw them On instagram or SOMEBODY i was scrolling past
(30:35):
something they popped up on My explore. PAGE i liked
the video they shot AND i just posted it AND
i put them on my. STORY i don't have to
have any ownership in what they're. Doing i'm helping the ecosystem,
though and telling anyone, else which you, KNOW i try
not to tell people what to, do but to, me
what to do is to continue. That if you have a,
(30:57):
platform it don't cost nothing to say. That OH i like,
that that's, right look at. That oh you, know talk
about oh my my homeboy owns a, restaurant my homegirl
owns a, restaurant or clothing line or what does it hurt?
Us IF i like? It? Right IF i like? It
you know WHAT i? MEAN i think that's something that
within our, community we're supposed to support it even if
(31:19):
we don't like. It And i'm not with.
Speaker 2 (31:21):
That right with, that excellence has to be, excellence you.
Speaker 1 (31:26):
Know WHAT i. Mean if your cheeseburger ain't worth twenty
dollars to, Me i'm not coming back to give you
another twenty. DOLLARS i don't care who own. It but
if it's amazing and the service was amazing and you
got waggle and it's, cracking, listen go get you a
twenty dollars. Burger.
Speaker 2 (31:42):
Listen, Yeah and it goes back to what we were
talking about earlier in terms of While i'm making this,
dollar it takes nothing. Away if you're going to go
make a, dollar and IF i can help you to
make that, dollar it's not gonna take my dollar to
seventy five cents or. Fifty AND i think that's one
of the big unlocks THAT i think we really need
(32:05):
to galvanize. Around AND i just haven't seen it enough for,
me AND i think we're at a point where there
has to be more that because nobody's going to do
it for. Us and you started this whole conversation with
we feed all this, culture we've created all this.
Speaker 1 (32:21):
It's whatever we don't, like don't do, it don't do.
It another reason we started the, podcast right BECAUSE i
was watching things And i'm, LIKE i wouldn't do. That
but instead of me going online and talking about what
someone else is, DOING i created an. Alternative CREATED i
created an. Alternative, hey that's not. Me i'm not a
clickbait guy in. Life i'm not a clickubait, guy.
Speaker 2 (32:42):
That's, Right so why WOULD i do it for a
check or or some form of?
Speaker 1 (32:47):
Entertainment i'm not going to do. That so and But
i'm also not going to come on here or on
my own platform and down whatever other people are doing
to feed their. Families i'm just going to do something.
Speaker 2 (33:00):
Else that's, right that's. Right you. Know, uh we're kind
of coming out of you, know seasons of you, know. Fasting.
Right we always we always talk about fastings and you
know can be more than just, food food or social,
media alcohol and all. That is there a communal fast
that you would advocate to move on to get further,
(33:22):
clarity alignment and. Focus stop.
Speaker 1 (33:25):
Hating stop hating because AND i get, it you, know
everybody has an opinion of, things but there's a there's
a hate is. Different hate is. Different you can feel. It,
yeah you know WHAT i. Mean it's stop hating fast From.
Hayden you may not like, Something oh that's not for, me,
(33:46):
cool but then running and telling a whole bunch of,
People yeah that ain't that that That's. Hayden your opinion
is you, know, okay wasn't for me mm hmm going
online and talk about it and talk bad about. It,
now that's LIKE i said, earlier you know what what
may not be for? Me i'm going to hold that to.
(34:08):
ME i DON'T i don't need to broadcast that this
is what it. Is. Yeah so, yeah if we can stop,
hating that'll really.
Speaker 2 (34:17):
Help, Listen that will help a lot of.
Speaker 1 (34:19):
It lot of, us a lot of.
Speaker 2 (34:21):
Us you, know we we always kind of close these
conversations out with talking about what are the three seeds
that you would like to share with the stewards of
culture moving forward to give them these tools to kind
of know how to, nurture shape and mold this thing moving.
(34:41):
Forward what are the three things that you would want
to equip them with for.
Speaker 1 (34:44):
That WHATEVER i would, say whatever they would want to. Do,
research really research, it really find out what you need
to do to be successful in. It you, know get
on your, ship, man, like really really read up about
(35:06):
the things you want to be a part. Of read
up on the people who've been successful in that. Space
BECAUSE i feel like a lot of times and read
up on a, journey or or watch the, journey you,
know because now we're, here now it's it's you, know
it's cameras, everywhere like watch the. Journey watch people talk
about their. Journey they don't do that, enough right because
(35:27):
but the journey is more important than the, destination, Right
AND i think that a lot of people have they
only take from when someone's successful microwave, yeah instead of,
like oh, no, no how did? You how did you
(35:50):
get to that? Point Like i've Watched Byron Allen's Breakfast
club interview over and over and watched him talk about
how he would go to the pay phone and call
these brands and try to sell ads to them for his,
show you know WHAT i. Mean or how he went
to the bank and and and tried to get, loans
(36:11):
and how he tried to find the right person to
get the loan from and and so they wouldn't you,
Know and how he was getting foreclosed on and all
these different. Things and those are the Things i'm really interested. In,
LIKE i get, it eventually you got to The Weather
channel and you bought The Weather? Channel what was the process?
Though you know WHAT i, mean don't cheat the don't
(36:32):
cheat the. PROCESS i would say that it's. Huge that's
that's one thing THAT i you, Know i'm really a
firm believer, in is not cheating the process and understanding
what you're. In. Yep another seed THAT i would want
people to, say research, research don't cheat the process and
(36:57):
understand what's for. You it's for. YOU i don't count
nobody nobody's. Pockets i'm not in competition with that at.
All my goals are my. Goals even LIKE i said
about me, WINNING i just want to win it my.
LIFE i don't see it's, funny you, know even with
(37:19):
like you see the like the players who played before
who are, like oh and these guys get. Paid i've
never been that type of. Person i've never been that
type of person to think, like oh, man MAYBE i
came to. Earlier maybe because you, know in, Music i've
been told that at certain, guys young guys that are
(37:39):
in the, game that are, successful Like, BRO i grew
up on that hard the type of music you was,
doing The Bay area style music in the it's AGGRESSIVE
r AND b and. THAT i you, Know i'm signed
to a label that don't understand it at all WHEN
i meet you and don't really understand. Me and Now i'm, like,
(38:01):
wow a lot of these guys this is where music.
IS i don't look at it like that. THOUGH i
just look at it like that's WHAT i was. Doing
that wasn't went for. Me it's been greater later for
me in another. Space so that's another THING i would just, Say,
man run your race was for you is for. You
you know WHAT i, mean. DON'T i see too many
(38:22):
people getting caught up and you, know count somebody else's
money or you, know pocket, washing And i'm not with.
Speaker 2 (38:30):
That, Yeah i'm so glad you mentioned the journey. Piece
and LIKE i started, With i've had the pleasure of
seeing a great deal of your.
Speaker 1 (38:40):
Journey NOW i mean all of my adopt journey for.
Speaker 2 (38:44):
Sure and AGAIN i go back to that word of,
consistency AND i love you got to close where you,
start which is a beautiful, thing right of seeing you
win in the comfort in which you're doing, it on
your terms and the character in which you've shown throughout.
It and there's been tremendous, growth right BECAUSE i even
(39:07):
remember to your point when we first, met you were
a signed To Electra believe or something like. That and you,
know as much product AS i was giving, YOU i
don't think you had the amount of videos or anything
to really bring all that stuff to, life right because
you were going through your trials with the label not understanding.
Whatever but you always maintain a level of class optimism
(39:33):
and you were again a good, person and So i'm
just grateful to continue to see you show that in
your evolution and having been able to see this, journey
LIKE i can't take the level of joy AS i
see with the PODCAST i see with your, kid like
all the things that is the real work that we
(39:55):
all need to be honing in. On and you have
done a great job of at, work, brother AND i appreciate,
you and you KNOW i love you deeply and thank
you for coming through and will always be a supporter
of what you.
Speaker 1 (40:07):
Do i'm gonna tell a story BEFORE i, Leave, yeah
that is connected to, us AND i THINK i may
have told her on this, podcast BUT i didn't fully you,
know put the whole thing. Together you had my father
THINKING i had A nike. Deal, no this is the funniest, thing,
Bro like he really. THOUGHT i, KNOW i told. IT
(40:28):
i told it on the episode With Snoop.
Speaker 2 (40:30):
Dogg somebody hit me and, Said, yo they're talking about
you ON r AND B money AND i. DIDN'T i
didn't check it.
Speaker 1 (40:34):
Out so With snoop where we talked about how, people
how we represent our, people everybody connected to, us and
how they're so proud of us and sometimes that makes
us feel weird toward you, know because he was Because
snoop talked about how his his auntie like kept the
picture of him And Anita, baker but it was his,
(40:55):
picture like literally brought it to her house and kept
it at her, House like you need a, baker and
that's a bakery, baker. Right AND i remember trying to
explain to my dad, like, no you, KNOW i met
s guy, man really cool guy named as he works
At nike and he's sending, me you, know he's sending me.
Shoes he Had San, francisco the whole city THINKING i
(41:18):
had signed To. Nike damn, it LIKE i had an
air nuke coming out of Somewhere Valentine And i'm, like,
no but you know, what whatever if this is what
y'all want to. Think but they THOUGHT i had a.
Shooting and this is Before Travis scott Sign artists or signed.
Speaker 2 (41:38):
Paid for that a whole different.
Speaker 1 (41:40):
Deal you just get some product and then you, know
you get some boxes and you get you, know some
new fresh. SHIP i was signed To nike bro because of.
Speaker 2 (41:47):
You i'm like you to thank. You, absolutely we truly
appreciate your because it helps us fulfill our mission of
promoting cultural awareness and personal. Development please click the subscribe
button below to help ensure and solidify our mission
Host
Astor Chamber
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