January 18, 2022 • 21 mins
Interview #130 on The Bootleg Kev Podcast we have the incredibly talented Harry Mack!
Harry first went viral back in 2017 w/ his Venice Beach freestyles & since then has carved out his own lane in Hip Hop and has been killing it. We dive in the beginning of his career starting as struggling musician as Jazz Drummer, being inspired by Wayne Brady & Supernatural. Harry Mack is now advantage of all the different social media platforms do live shows from the seat of his home . Harry Mack will be going on tour later on this year so please check him out if he's in your area! Enjoy.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Bulet cav Podcast special guests in here who just tore
down the freestyle. Go check that out on the YouTube channel.
It's there as well. Harry Mack is here, Yes, sir,
welcome Man, Thanks for having me. Man. Hey, yeah, Man,
you've been on your shit lately, Bro, Thank you, Bro.
Appreciate that. So, for people who don't know, you're kind
of known for your ability to rap very well, but
(00:21):
more importantly like off of the top of the dome,
which is something that is a lost art form. We
have a freestyle series on the show, and I would
venture to say ninety five percent of the bars that
have ever been wrapped on our show is written. We
still call them freestyles. Obviously that term is like evolved,
but like in the old school old head term that
(00:43):
me and you live by, you are the true definition
of a freestyle artist. Thank you, Bro. I appreciate that.
But no, you've done a really good job of you know,
I feel like people before you who might have had
your talent also different eras right, but like you've done
a good job of like figuring out a way to
(01:04):
build like a universe and monetize your skill. So kind
of like you've had a great pandemic. Yeah, yeah, yeah,
have Yeah. It's weird to say, you know, because obviously
there's been a lot of pain for a lot of
people through the pandemic, and I think we've all brushed
shoulders with that pain in one way or another. But
from a business standpoint for me, and just from a
creative standpoint, you know, I've had the time and the
(01:26):
space to really build, like you say, build a universe
around what I'm doing, and kind of build a brand
around being an off top freestyler, right, you know, And
I think I'm really fortunate. Man. You mentioned how you know,
cats from from the previous era weren't always able to
monetize the off top freestyle thing. I feel really fortunate
to be alive in this Internet era, you know. I
(01:46):
really do think it's almost made for that. Yeah. That's
the difference, right. It's like now we live in a
time where, you know, previously it's like if you're an
incredibly talented off top freestyler, a record label is going
to be like, yo, that's dope, we don't know what
to do with it. Sorry. You know, it's like okay, cool.
Like when you have a hit song, hit us up,
you know, Meanwhile, this talent is like insane and everybody
(02:07):
who sees it live loves it, but it just doesn't
fit in with the structure that sort of exists already. Now,
we live in a time where anybody with a phone
can get on these free platforms and build a personal
brand with whatever they're into doing, and if there's an
audience for it that enjoys it, you can monetize it.
And so, yeah, I know you've been doing this for
a while. I first saw you on the Creuse Show. Yeah,
probably four or five years ago. And what is like
(02:31):
the platform that like really first started to really like
pop off for you in like a serious way. YouTube
was definitely the first in terms of like in terms
of social platforms you mean yea, yeah, yeah, YouTube was
the first one that was the big one actually, YouTube
and Facebook. Oddly enough, because I had a video back
in February twenty seventeen. It was just called Venice Beach
(02:53):
Freestyle Part one and it was just me out there
on the Venice Boardwalk. Scary place to be nowadays, by
the way, I know, Yeah, it's a lot different now. Yeah,
post pandemic or whatever, mid pandemic through right now exactly
wherever we're at in this crazy timeline. What is time
anymore anyway? But uh no, man, Yeah, I was out there.
It was funny. We had been there all day trying
(03:13):
to freestyle for groups and stuff and just you know,
getting rejected, getting yelled at, hey, don't do this in
front of my store, no filming, no whatever, whatever, And
we were frustrated, and eventually my boy, who was with
me filming it on my phone, was like, yo, just
start wrapping and see what happens. So I started rhyming
on the on the boardwalk, and one by one, you know,
this crowd starts to form, and it was kind of
like it was very serendipitous, you know, the crowd that forms.
(03:37):
It looks like we hired people to be the crowd
because it's so like diverse. And there's like these like
preppy boys on bikes and like polos and shorts. Then
there's like this stoner couple with a big dude and
the Bob Marley shirt, smoking an em you know, and
just one by one, it's like you get sort of
this whole picture of like the diversity of the Venice
strip in front of me. We ended up with like
forty or fifty people gathered around me and I'm wrapping
(03:59):
at everybody's clothes and everything like that, And that video
went super viral, both on YouTube and on Facebook, and
that was kind of the beginning of of people knowing
about Harry mag I guess, how long have you been
doing the omeegal freestyles? Yeah? I guess. Uh, we like
a year and a half, right, So you started that
during the pandemic. I started it during the pandemic. Yeah,
(04:22):
let me ask you something, because that's a sketch place illegal.
You know, you might fuck around to go in there.
There's a fifty five year old truck driver jerking off, like,
oh yeah, absolutely, has that happened? That's specific? Maybe not
that's specific. Yeah, well he's like I didn't know his occupation,
but it was fifty five and Dick was out. I've
seen some things, definitely, I've seen some things, but not
as many. So here's the thing. It's funny actually, like
(04:43):
before the pandemic, people were making alegal content on YouTube,
and so people would be in my comments like, yo,
your shit would crush on amigal because really what I
make is reaction based content. It's about people who don't
know that I'm going to be dope and then I
do a freestyle and then hopefully I blow their mind.
And that's what's fun about watching it in a large part,
so people would hit me up and be like, do
it on amgal. But I knew kind of what was
(05:05):
up with amgal, and I think I just remember chat
roulette back in the day, exactly, and it was like
a dark place exactly. They always any any site that
randomly pairs strangers on video chat is a recipe for disaster. Yes,
like it's gonna be corrupted. So I avoided amgal for
a long time, and then you know, a few months
into the pandemic, it's like, damn, we can't go out
and shoot our regular content, Like let me check this
(05:27):
out and see what's up. And actually now it's a
lot better than it used to be because they have
these tags, interest tags or whatever, so you could type
in hip hop, it's like whatever you're into. And they
also have much and that creates a lot more filtering.
So if you don't use those, you see a ton
of dicks. If you use those, I maybe see you know,
like in all my time making the series, honestly, in
(05:49):
terms of actually seeing a dick. I've probably seen like twenty.
It's a solid money and I have like sixty episodes,
you know. I mean it's more than I would say
terrible ratio though, that's what I'm saying. I mean, I
would have liked to have not seen anybody. I mean,
it's funny. He's not bad, That's what I'm saying. Like
people assume because people don't want there to try to
find me and they don't know about the interest tags
and then so they're just like, I can't find you
(06:10):
on me. I just keep seeing dicks. Yeah, and they're like, wow,
you must have a terrible PTSD, like you should be counseling,
Like the amount of dicks are exposed too must be absurd.
But it's really not. It's not as crazy. Yeah. Have
you had like a bad experience on there, like where
you were freestyling and something weird happened. I've had some
sketch experiences on there while I'm freestyling. Yeah, like where
where I stopped the freestyling was like, Bro, you know,
(06:31):
you need to get help, like people doing like weird
drugs and stuff like on the on the screen where
like you're wrapping and then someone comes up with a
meth pipe, Like yeah, essentially, Yeah, like I don't know
what's in it, and it could be a prop, you know,
it could be they could be trolling. But it's still
just like insanely uncomfortable and I stop it and I'm like, oh,
don't don't do that. Yeah, And also and everyone can
(06:51):
see your face and like, don't do you know, people
don't understand the internet. It feels like, you know where
I'm just like, hey, man, like people forget that that
shit is there forever. Yeah, it's on a server somewhere
at least forever. And you've got to assume people are
screencapping everything you're doing. This is true. So what about
the TikTok? And I know you were on Twitch a lot, right,
So like those are obviously kind of two platforms that
(07:14):
you know, a lot of people I know, especially DJs,
took advantage of Twitch big time during the pandemic. Yeah,
and man, I know some people who are getting crazy
checks just DJing on Twitch. Hell yeah, how did the
Twitch shit for you? Like, cause you know, in the
hip hop community, we got Kenny Beads is huge on Twitch.
But like, how did you kind of turn what you
(07:35):
do into something that worked for the Twitch. Yeah, so
with what I do, you know, being being as it's
all kind of improvised off top, It's like what I
need is some kind of randomization, you know, like people
in the chat like, yeah, exactly, we just did a freestyle.
You threw me words out loud. That's always dope. That's
like the classic way of doing this, and uh, you know,
in this case, it's just a live chat feed people
(07:56):
putting words in there. Yeah. Yeah, So basically any like
live streaming platform, book, live YouTube, live Twitch, they all
work really well for what I do. The only the
learning curve was like reading it and incorporating it from
a written word as opposed to hearing it out loud.
It's different. It's like a slightly different part of the
brain or something. I don't know the science of it,
but it was a bit of a challenge in the
(08:18):
beginning because rhyme is all about sound. It has nothing
to do with how something spells, like Devil doesn't rhyme
with evil. They look like they rhyme correct, but they don't.
So you kind of it's like I have to read
it and then hear it in my head, and then
I'm like, oh, okay, now I know where to go
while you're wrapping, while you're at Yeah, it's a lot
of multitasking. It's kind of a what at what point
in time were you able to say to yourself, I
(08:38):
can fully support my life off of my skill. Wow,
that's a great question. I feel like it was like
twenty eighteen. I feel like twenty eighteen, I did a
Mitsubishi commercial and uh, it was crazy because I I
(09:00):
was used to being like pretty much broke. You know,
I'm a jazz drummer. I don't know if you know that,
but I did not know that my background. Yeah, so
my background is playing jazz gigs, and so that was
like your gig, like, like you besides rapping you were
that was like pay the bills and teaching drum lessons. Yeah.
I've been a professional musician supporting myself for a long time,
you know, I think like ten years. Yeah. But but
(09:23):
the hustle of a of a jazz drummer in the
modern world, as you might imagine, is a serious, an
intense hustle, serious hustle. It's an intense hull and it's
not you know, it's not glamorous in any sense. I mean,
I was playing like bar gigs where we're crammed in
a corner and just being told play quieter, play quieter.
You know, you're disturbing whatever, you know, don't do your thing,
(09:44):
so like stop being so aggressive, and you're out there
trying to pour your soul into this thing you love.
And it's like, you know, we're doing here for the ambiance. Yeah, yeah, exactly,
and we're getting paid fifty bucks or something. And the
first couple of gigs we got free drinks. Second gig,
they're like, yeah, the bar is not gonna do the
free drink thing anymore. But same time, you cool. And
so it's a tough grind. Shout out to all the
jazz musicians, by the way, and I have a lot
of friends who are still in that world crushing it, right,
(10:06):
and I know what it really means to be crushing
it in that world, So shouts out to anybody doing that.
But for me, you know, I was like barely making
my rant, barely barely getting by doing jazz gigs. And
then in twenty eighteen, I did I got hired to
do a commercial for Mitsubishi, which was like kind of
based on my videos where I'm dressed up like car
(10:27):
salesman at the Mitsubeci dealership and then people getting the
car to test drive it, and I'm sitting next to them,
and then I'd start rhyming about the car and shit
like that out of nowhere and get reactions and stuff.
And that was my first like check kind of you know,
and it wasn't anything crazy, but like for me at
the time, it was like more money than I'd ever seen.
It was like just enough to be like, oh, I
got to keep doing this exactly, working exactly exactly. And
(10:51):
I knew before that that I had to keep leaning
into the freestyle thing just from like the popularity of
the videos and how much energy there was around it,
but that was the first time I kind of like
got paid and uh. And then I took some time
away from YouTube and was like working on a project
and stuff like that, like an album. Yeah, and that
was cool, but I kind of like I lived off
the money from Mitsubishi for it. It It was like a
(11:13):
label advance almost, you know. Luckily I didn't owe it
back here, but I lived off it for a while
and like worked on shit and didn't really think about
like what am I gonna do when this gets low,
And sure enough it got low, and again I was
at a point where I was like, Yo, I'm gonna
have to like apply to Trader Joe's and fucking start.
I'm gonna have to like get a fucking job, you know.
Like I looked up one day and was like, I'm
gonna have to get a job. And then uh and
(11:34):
shout out to my girlfriend, who was like, fuck that,
Like you're dope, man. Like people, you have a fan base,
you just have to activate some more of this shit
and like figure out how to monetize. And that's when
I started diving deep into like, Okay, how can I
use YouTube like a YouTuber, you know what I mean?
Like how can I actually build this out and make
(11:55):
money off it? And how can I do the same
on ig and Twitch and things of that nature. And
since then, like from a business standpoint, we've been able
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was gonna say, do you think that I think? What
(12:59):
I know? This was a lot of the creatives that
I know. The pandemic kind of helped a lot of
people finally shine because it kind of like reset the
world and kind of like I feel like it kind
of everybody was starting from the same place, yes, because
you know, people were going out to the clubs. Like
you know, if you look at the Best Albums of
the Year nominees in twenty twenty, it was like Royce
(13:22):
and Jay, Electronica and Freddie Gibbs and it was just
like all this ill rap shit. Yeah, like I feel
like like a certain amount of like maybe it's time
opening up or the way people are consuming shit. But
did you feel like an uptick in your shit, like
when everything shut down big time? I think it was
a few things for everyone, and maybe a few things
specifically for me. But one was like everybody was at
(13:46):
home and everybody was scared, you know what I mean,
or uncomfortable or sad or whatever, and people were just
looking for content to distract them or to consume their time.
You know, people were just sitting on the couch one
of the watch something, you know, to pass the time.
And so people who were providing content suddenly had an
opportunity like to really step up. I think the other
(14:09):
thing is like previously, it's like Hollywood is doing these
big budgets, super produced things, and everybody else is at
home with their little webcam. But then all of a sudden,
like overnight, it was like you go on Netflix and
people are on webcams. You watch the news and it's
like the shitty webcams, you know what I mean, Like
everybody was at home proome content with the same webcams,
and like suddenly the tech part was taken out of
(14:32):
it kind of where it's like it's not such a
huge difference between a random YouTube content creator and like
what you're seeing on TV. And so that was kind
of like a leveler I feel like in a lot
of ways, Like figure it was a level playing field
in exact way. And so then it just came back
to the quality of what you're making, you know. It
just came back to like, if you're making something valuable,
then you have a you have a chance to really win,
(14:54):
right now. Yeah that's real man. Yeah. Pandemic was good
to a lot of people. I mean, obviously I'm talking
about just career wise, Like I feel like people people
definitely like the people who took advantage of the circumstances.
You know, well, what did they say when someone gives
you shit? Turn it in? Lemonade? An Atmosphere album? Yes, yeah,
isn't that an atmosphere album? It is, it is, but
(15:15):
it's something it's a twist one, not that it's a twist.
Whatever I just said is not the name of the album,
but there's some sort of atmosphere album that's close close
enough to that. Yes, what are you working on right now?
Do you have anything coming? Like? I know you're putting
out weekly videos and you're you're on your ship, but
like as far as like, are you gonna put out
original music soon? Definitely? Definitely. Yeah, I'm going hard on
the video content as always, but yeah, in terms of
(15:38):
original music, I've been having a lot of fun, man,
exploring kind of how to use my freestyling to create records,
you know, and uh, because I just don't I don't
like to write, Like I don't enjoy sitting with a
If I sit with a blank page and a pen,
I feel like I don't know how to wrap, and
I'll just sit there forever looking at it like I
what would I what would I ever write right now?
You know? And then as soon as it's like okay,
play the beat and start the mic, Then as soon
(16:00):
as I start rapping, I remember how to wrap. So
for me, it's just a thing about process. But we've
actually released two little mini EPs, like little three song
projects in the last six months or so that were
either fully off top or or like a hybrid where
it's like I'll jot some ideas and then kind of
just go in the booth and go off top. And
the fan base has been rocking with them, man, and
so I'm excited to continue exploring that path. We just
(16:22):
released one called Soliloquies about a month ago that that
people are rocking with on my YouTube and stuff like that,
and those are coming out to like DSP, Spotify and
Apple Music and all that. So I want to continue
kind of exploring that process of doing what I'm comfortable
with but still being able to release like official albums
and projects. What like inspired you to start freestyling back
in the day, Like what was that first? Like you know, yeah,
(16:45):
It's funny because there's a couple of like really early childhood,
Like I saw Wayne Brady on Who's Line when I
was in third grade and I was like what I
was like, I asked my mom. I was like, wait,
what's the trick? Like they give him the stuff ahead,
he wrote it in advance and there are a plan
Like I was the skeptic in my comment section when
I first saw Yeah, because he would make songs about
(17:06):
people you know, but he would sing and stuff. It
was on whose line, but he would learn their job,
favorite color, whatever, whatever, and create this like brilliant song
with the chorus and stuff off the top. That was
the first time my mind got blown from like lyrical
improv and then from a hip hop standpoint, without a doubt,
the person that lit the fire for me was Supernatural Supernat. Yeah, yeah,
shout out to Supernat, like he's the goat freestyler. I agree,
(17:31):
but yeah, I was exposed to a project he had
called the Lost Freestyle Files. When I was in like
sixth grade. I would walk up to Music Millennium. It
was the record store by my house, and one of
the dudes who worked there was a hip hop head.
So at the end of the hip hop aisle he
would put like his top five picks of the week,
and one week, one of those top five picks was
Supernatural Lost Freestyle Files. And I didn't know who Supernat was,
(17:53):
but I was already into freestyling. We would watch like
one oh six in Park Battles and stuff like that
and just try to try to do our little freestyle.
You know. We were super whack, but we were having
fun and uh so I saw it in just off
the strength of the title. I was like, oh, freestyle files.
I like the freestyle, let's check it out. And good
thing I did, because that record definitely blew my fucking mind. Man,
like that shit, because when I heard Supernat again, it
(18:15):
was like the first time I saw Wayne Brady where
I was like, it's not possible, Like, how is it
so smooth? It sounds written, but yet he's incorporating these
things that are proving you know that it's not written,
and so like, just that alone was enough of a
spark for me to want to like do a deep
dive and try to figure that out, and from there
you you expand the universe. He had a battle with Juice,
(18:36):
so I started checking out Juice and then you get
on YouTube, and you know, we were into rhyme sayers
and atmosphere and them, and I learned about idea, Who's
another idea, phenomenal freestyler, rest in peace, So yeah, freestyle fellowship.
You know, bit by bit, we were just nerdy kids
trying to learn about the shit. And but yeah, definitely,
Supernat was the first dude in a hip hop context
that blew my mind with the freestyle and then you've
(18:57):
just been sharpening your sword. Yeah yeah, I'm upset, like
I'm it's scary. I'm scary. It is pretty crazy. Man,
you're fucking yeah. Man, that's no like, uh, you're one
of them ones. Oh thank you, Bro. I appreciate that.
I appreciate that. It is just it really it comes
down to practice and commitment and putting the time in.
(19:17):
You know. I always try to mention that because people
see what I do and they're like they're baffled by
it because they've never thought about how that would work right,
the same way I felt when I heard Supernad and
they're just like, yo, Like, how's it feel to be
born with this? Like incredible blessing and shit like that.
I think I was born with a spark, for sure.
I think I have a talent for improv and knack
for it, But for sure, my first freestyles were whack.
(19:38):
You would never hear my first freestyles and be like,
he's got it? Would you ever do? What? Have they
ever hit you? You do wilding out? No, not officially,
not officially. They got to get you on wilding out
your body. Everybody on there, I feel like you're just
too nice for wilding out though, Oh, because you mean,
like literally, like you're a sweet guy. It's true, man,
Like I don't battle. People see what I do and
they're like, you crush the battle scene Like yeah, yeah, man,
(20:00):
I'm too nice for that shit. Yeah exactly, I don't
really like this people. You don't want to just black
China and make her cry, right exactly? Wilding out? Yeah, No,
I think that would be the next thing for you.
Got to do that, wi wilding out. I would love to, Seriously,
I would love you. Yeah, I would love to, and
I think you would be uh. I mean obviously you
would kill it. You'd be the best guy on there,
you know, easily. But look, I appreciate you coming through.
(20:21):
Uh soon, it's gonna be You got a couple EPs
out now, Yeah, weekly videos, Your TikTok is going crazy.
Everything's going crazy. But the big thing right now, Bro,
I'm going on tour tour this year. Yeah, I'm going
on tour Energy Exchange twenty twenty two is then your headlining.
I'm headlining. It is my headlining tour. Wow, So you're
gonna do crowd work work the crowd. Yeah, it's a
fully improvised set, even what we'll do if we might.
(20:43):
I don't want to leave anything. But basically it's a
fully improvised set and uh, it's gonna be crazy. We
got to test it out a few times. Uh here
in LA. We've done some shows here and it goes
crazy and it's gonna be wild. So check it out.
We're starting in February and we're going across the US
all the way through through the top of May. Wow,
good luck, don't catch that omicron. I know. Hopefully we're pasting.
(21:04):
Everyone's getting it now, so I hope, I hope we
don't have a new joint by that time. I'm boom,
there it is man Harry mag
Bulet cav Podcast special guests in here who just tore
down the freestyle. Go check that out on the YouTube channel.
It's there as well. Harry Mack is here, Yes, sir,
welcome Man, Thanks for having me. Man. Hey, yeah, Man,
you've been on your shit lately, Bro, Thank you, Bro.
Appreciate that. So, for people who don't know, you're kind
of known for your ability to rap very well, but
(00:21):
more importantly like off of the top of the dome,
which is something that is a lost art form. We
have a freestyle series on the show, and I would
venture to say ninety five percent of the bars that
have ever been wrapped on our show is written. We
still call them freestyles. Obviously that term is like evolved,
but like in the old school old head term that
(00:43):
me and you live by, you are the true definition
of a freestyle artist. Thank you, Bro. I appreciate that.
But no, you've done a really good job of you know,
I feel like people before you who might have had
your talent also different eras right, but like you've done
a good job of like figuring out a way to
(01:04):
build like a universe and monetize your skill. So kind
of like you've had a great pandemic. Yeah, yeah, yeah,
have Yeah. It's weird to say, you know, because obviously
there's been a lot of pain for a lot of
people through the pandemic, and I think we've all brushed
shoulders with that pain in one way or another. But
from a business standpoint for me, and just from a
creative standpoint, you know, I've had the time and the
(01:26):
space to really build, like you say, build a universe
around what I'm doing, and kind of build a brand
around being an off top freestyler, right, you know, And
I think I'm really fortunate. Man. You mentioned how you know,
cats from from the previous era weren't always able to
monetize the off top freestyle thing. I feel really fortunate
to be alive in this Internet era, you know. I
(01:46):
really do think it's almost made for that. Yeah. That's
the difference, right. It's like now we live in a
time where, you know, previously it's like if you're an
incredibly talented off top freestyler, a record label is going
to be like, yo, that's dope, we don't know what
to do with it. Sorry. You know, it's like okay, cool.
Like when you have a hit song, hit us up,
you know, Meanwhile, this talent is like insane and everybody
(02:07):
who sees it live loves it, but it just doesn't
fit in with the structure that sort of exists already. Now,
we live in a time where anybody with a phone
can get on these free platforms and build a personal
brand with whatever they're into doing, and if there's an
audience for it that enjoys it, you can monetize it.
And so, yeah, I know you've been doing this for
a while. I first saw you on the Creuse Show. Yeah,
probably four or five years ago. And what is like
(02:31):
the platform that like really first started to really like
pop off for you in like a serious way. YouTube
was definitely the first in terms of like in terms
of social platforms you mean yea, yeah, yeah, YouTube was
the first one that was the big one actually, YouTube
and Facebook. Oddly enough, because I had a video back
in February twenty seventeen. It was just called Venice Beach
(02:53):
Freestyle Part one and it was just me out there
on the Venice Boardwalk. Scary place to be nowadays, by
the way, I know, Yeah, it's a lot different now. Yeah,
post pandemic or whatever, mid pandemic through right now exactly
wherever we're at in this crazy timeline. What is time
anymore anyway? But uh no, man, Yeah, I was out there.
It was funny. We had been there all day trying
(03:13):
to freestyle for groups and stuff and just you know,
getting rejected, getting yelled at, hey, don't do this in
front of my store, no filming, no whatever, whatever, And
we were frustrated, and eventually my boy, who was with
me filming it on my phone, was like, yo, just
start wrapping and see what happens. So I started rhyming
on the on the boardwalk, and one by one, you know,
this crowd starts to form, and it was kind of
like it was very serendipitous, you know, the crowd that forms.
(03:37):
It looks like we hired people to be the crowd
because it's so like diverse. And there's like these like
preppy boys on bikes and like polos and shorts. Then
there's like this stoner couple with a big dude and
the Bob Marley shirt, smoking an em you know, and
just one by one, it's like you get sort of
this whole picture of like the diversity of the Venice
strip in front of me. We ended up with like
forty or fifty people gathered around me and I'm wrapping
(03:59):
at everybody's clothes and everything like that, And that video
went super viral, both on YouTube and on Facebook, and
that was kind of the beginning of of people knowing
about Harry mag I guess, how long have you been
doing the omeegal freestyles? Yeah? I guess. Uh, we like
a year and a half, right, So you started that
during the pandemic. I started it during the pandemic. Yeah,
(04:22):
let me ask you something, because that's a sketch place illegal.
You know, you might fuck around to go in there.
There's a fifty five year old truck driver jerking off, like,
oh yeah, absolutely, has that happened? That's specific? Maybe not
that's specific. Yeah, well he's like I didn't know his occupation,
but it was fifty five and Dick was out. I've
seen some things, definitely, I've seen some things, but not
as many. So here's the thing. It's funny actually, like
(04:43):
before the pandemic, people were making alegal content on YouTube,
and so people would be in my comments like, yo,
your shit would crush on amigal because really what I
make is reaction based content. It's about people who don't
know that I'm going to be dope and then I
do a freestyle and then hopefully I blow their mind.
And that's what's fun about watching it in a large part,
so people would hit me up and be like, do
it on amgal. But I knew kind of what was
(05:05):
up with amgal, and I think I just remember chat
roulette back in the day, exactly, and it was like
a dark place exactly. They always any any site that
randomly pairs strangers on video chat is a recipe for disaster. Yes,
like it's gonna be corrupted. So I avoided amgal for
a long time, and then you know, a few months
into the pandemic, it's like, damn, we can't go out
and shoot our regular content, Like let me check this
(05:27):
out and see what's up. And actually now it's a
lot better than it used to be because they have
these tags, interest tags or whatever, so you could type
in hip hop, it's like whatever you're into. And they
also have much and that creates a lot more filtering.
So if you don't use those, you see a ton
of dicks. If you use those, I maybe see you know,
like in all my time making the series, honestly, in
(05:49):
terms of actually seeing a dick. I've probably seen like twenty.
It's a solid money and I have like sixty episodes,
you know. I mean it's more than I would say
terrible ratio though, that's what I'm saying. I mean, I
would have liked to have not seen anybody. I mean,
it's funny. He's not bad, That's what I'm saying. Like
people assume because people don't want there to try to
find me and they don't know about the interest tags
and then so they're just like, I can't find you
(06:10):
on me. I just keep seeing dicks. Yeah, and they're like, wow,
you must have a terrible PTSD, like you should be counseling,
Like the amount of dicks are exposed too must be absurd.
But it's really not. It's not as crazy. Yeah. Have
you had like a bad experience on there, like where
you were freestyling and something weird happened. I've had some
sketch experiences on there while I'm freestyling. Yeah, like where
where I stopped the freestyling was like, Bro, you know,
(06:31):
you need to get help, like people doing like weird
drugs and stuff like on the on the screen where
like you're wrapping and then someone comes up with a
meth pipe, Like yeah, essentially, Yeah, like I don't know
what's in it, and it could be a prop, you know,
it could be they could be trolling. But it's still
just like insanely uncomfortable and I stop it and I'm like, oh,
don't don't do that. Yeah, And also and everyone can
(06:51):
see your face and like, don't do you know, people
don't understand the internet. It feels like, you know where
I'm just like, hey, man, like people forget that that
shit is there forever. Yeah, it's on a server somewhere
at least forever. And you've got to assume people are
screencapping everything you're doing. This is true. So what about
the TikTok? And I know you were on Twitch a lot, right,
So like those are obviously kind of two platforms that
(07:14):
you know, a lot of people I know, especially DJs,
took advantage of Twitch big time during the pandemic. Yeah,
and man, I know some people who are getting crazy
checks just DJing on Twitch. Hell yeah, how did the
Twitch shit for you? Like, cause you know, in the
hip hop community, we got Kenny Beads is huge on Twitch.
But like, how did you kind of turn what you
(07:35):
do into something that worked for the Twitch. Yeah, so
with what I do, you know, being being as it's
all kind of improvised off top, It's like what I
need is some kind of randomization, you know, like people
in the chat like, yeah, exactly, we just did a freestyle.
You threw me words out loud. That's always dope. That's
like the classic way of doing this, and uh, you know,
in this case, it's just a live chat feed people
(07:56):
putting words in there. Yeah. Yeah, So basically any like
live streaming platform, book, live YouTube, live Twitch, they all
work really well for what I do. The only the
learning curve was like reading it and incorporating it from
a written word as opposed to hearing it out loud.
It's different. It's like a slightly different part of the
brain or something. I don't know the science of it,
but it was a bit of a challenge in the
(08:18):
beginning because rhyme is all about sound. It has nothing
to do with how something spells, like Devil doesn't rhyme
with evil. They look like they rhyme correct, but they don't.
So you kind of it's like I have to read
it and then hear it in my head, and then
I'm like, oh, okay, now I know where to go
while you're wrapping, while you're at Yeah, it's a lot
of multitasking. It's kind of a what at what point
in time were you able to say to yourself, I
(08:38):
can fully support my life off of my skill. Wow,
that's a great question. I feel like it was like
twenty eighteen. I feel like twenty eighteen, I did a
Mitsubishi commercial and uh, it was crazy because I I
(09:00):
was used to being like pretty much broke. You know,
I'm a jazz drummer. I don't know if you know that,
but I did not know that my background. Yeah, so
my background is playing jazz gigs, and so that was
like your gig, like, like you besides rapping you were
that was like pay the bills and teaching drum lessons. Yeah.
I've been a professional musician supporting myself for a long time,
you know, I think like ten years. Yeah. But but
(09:23):
the hustle of a of a jazz drummer in the
modern world, as you might imagine, is a serious, an
intense hustle, serious hustle. It's an intense hull and it's
not you know, it's not glamorous in any sense. I mean,
I was playing like bar gigs where we're crammed in
a corner and just being told play quieter, play quieter.
You know, you're disturbing whatever, you know, don't do your thing,
(09:44):
so like stop being so aggressive, and you're out there
trying to pour your soul into this thing you love.
And it's like, you know, we're doing here for the ambiance. Yeah, yeah, exactly,
and we're getting paid fifty bucks or something. And the
first couple of gigs we got free drinks. Second gig,
they're like, yeah, the bar is not gonna do the
free drink thing anymore. But same time, you cool. And
so it's a tough grind. Shout out to all the
jazz musicians, by the way, and I have a lot
of friends who are still in that world crushing it, right,
(10:06):
and I know what it really means to be crushing
it in that world, So shouts out to anybody doing that.
But for me, you know, I was like barely making
my rant, barely barely getting by doing jazz gigs. And
then in twenty eighteen, I did I got hired to
do a commercial for Mitsubishi, which was like kind of
based on my videos where I'm dressed up like car
(10:27):
salesman at the Mitsubeci dealership and then people getting the
car to test drive it, and I'm sitting next to them,
and then I'd start rhyming about the car and shit
like that out of nowhere and get reactions and stuff.
And that was my first like check kind of you know,
and it wasn't anything crazy, but like for me at
the time, it was like more money than I'd ever seen.
It was like just enough to be like, oh, I
got to keep doing this exactly, working exactly exactly. And
(10:51):
I knew before that that I had to keep leaning
into the freestyle thing just from like the popularity of
the videos and how much energy there was around it,
but that was the first time I kind of like
got paid and uh. And then I took some time
away from YouTube and was like working on a project
and stuff like that, like an album. Yeah, and that
was cool, but I kind of like I lived off
the money from Mitsubishi for it. It It was like a
(11:13):
label advance almost, you know. Luckily I didn't owe it
back here, but I lived off it for a while
and like worked on shit and didn't really think about
like what am I gonna do when this gets low,
And sure enough it got low, and again I was
at a point where I was like, Yo, I'm gonna
have to like apply to Trader Joe's and fucking start.
I'm gonna have to like get a fucking job, you know.
Like I looked up one day and was like, I'm
gonna have to get a job. And then uh and
(11:34):
shout out to my girlfriend, who was like, fuck that,
Like you're dope, man. Like people, you have a fan base,
you just have to activate some more of this shit
and like figure out how to monetize. And that's when
I started diving deep into like, Okay, how can I
use YouTube like a YouTuber, you know what I mean?
Like how can I actually build this out and make
(11:55):
money off it? And how can I do the same
on ig and Twitch and things of that nature. And
since then, like from a business standpoint, we've been able
to really grow. Yo. Stop of the interview. Got to
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was gonna say, do you think that I think? What
(12:59):
I know? This was a lot of the creatives that
I know. The pandemic kind of helped a lot of
people finally shine because it kind of like reset the
world and kind of like I feel like it kind
of everybody was starting from the same place, yes, because
you know, people were going out to the clubs. Like
you know, if you look at the Best Albums of
the Year nominees in twenty twenty, it was like Royce
(13:22):
and Jay, Electronica and Freddie Gibbs and it was just
like all this ill rap shit. Yeah, like I feel
like like a certain amount of like maybe it's time
opening up or the way people are consuming shit. But
did you feel like an uptick in your shit, like
when everything shut down big time? I think it was
a few things for everyone, and maybe a few things
specifically for me. But one was like everybody was at
(13:46):
home and everybody was scared, you know what I mean,
or uncomfortable or sad or whatever, and people were just
looking for content to distract them or to consume their time.
You know, people were just sitting on the couch one
of the watch something, you know, to pass the time.
And so people who were providing content suddenly had an
opportunity like to really step up. I think the other
(14:09):
thing is like previously, it's like Hollywood is doing these
big budgets, super produced things, and everybody else is at
home with their little webcam. But then all of a sudden,
like overnight, it was like you go on Netflix and
people are on webcams. You watch the news and it's
like the shitty webcams, you know what I mean, Like
everybody was at home proome content with the same webcams,
and like suddenly the tech part was taken out of
(14:32):
it kind of where it's like it's not such a
huge difference between a random YouTube content creator and like
what you're seeing on TV. And so that was kind
of like a leveler I feel like in a lot
of ways, Like figure it was a level playing field
in exact way. And so then it just came back
to the quality of what you're making, you know. It
just came back to like, if you're making something valuable,
then you have a you have a chance to really win,
(14:54):
right now. Yeah that's real man. Yeah. Pandemic was good
to a lot of people. I mean, obviously I'm talking
about just career wise, Like I feel like people people
definitely like the people who took advantage of the circumstances.
You know, well, what did they say when someone gives
you shit? Turn it in? Lemonade? An Atmosphere album? Yes, yeah,
isn't that an atmosphere album? It is, it is, but
(15:15):
it's something it's a twist one, not that it's a twist.
Whatever I just said is not the name of the album,
but there's some sort of atmosphere album that's close close
enough to that. Yes, what are you working on right now?
Do you have anything coming? Like? I know you're putting
out weekly videos and you're you're on your ship, but
like as far as like, are you gonna put out
original music soon? Definitely? Definitely. Yeah, I'm going hard on
the video content as always, but yeah, in terms of
(15:38):
original music, I've been having a lot of fun, man,
exploring kind of how to use my freestyling to create records,
you know, and uh, because I just don't I don't
like to write, Like I don't enjoy sitting with a
If I sit with a blank page and a pen,
I feel like I don't know how to wrap, and
I'll just sit there forever looking at it like I
what would I what would I ever write right now?
You know? And then as soon as it's like okay,
play the beat and start the mic, Then as soon
(16:00):
as I start rapping, I remember how to wrap. So
for me, it's just a thing about process. But we've
actually released two little mini EPs, like little three song
projects in the last six months or so that were
either fully off top or or like a hybrid where
it's like I'll jot some ideas and then kind of
just go in the booth and go off top. And
the fan base has been rocking with them, man, and
so I'm excited to continue exploring that path. We just
(16:22):
released one called Soliloquies about a month ago that that
people are rocking with on my YouTube and stuff like that,
and those are coming out to like DSP, Spotify and
Apple Music and all that. So I want to continue
kind of exploring that process of doing what I'm comfortable
with but still being able to release like official albums
and projects. What like inspired you to start freestyling back
in the day, Like what was that first? Like you know, yeah,
(16:45):
It's funny because there's a couple of like really early childhood,
Like I saw Wayne Brady on Who's Line when I
was in third grade and I was like what I
was like, I asked my mom. I was like, wait,
what's the trick? Like they give him the stuff ahead,
he wrote it in advance and there are a plan
Like I was the skeptic in my comment section when
I first saw Yeah, because he would make songs about
(17:06):
people you know, but he would sing and stuff. It
was on whose line, but he would learn their job,
favorite color, whatever, whatever, and create this like brilliant song
with the chorus and stuff off the top. That was
the first time my mind got blown from like lyrical
improv and then from a hip hop standpoint, without a doubt,
the person that lit the fire for me was Supernatural Supernat. Yeah, yeah,
shout out to Supernat, like he's the goat freestyler. I agree,
(17:31):
but yeah, I was exposed to a project he had
called the Lost Freestyle Files. When I was in like
sixth grade. I would walk up to Music Millennium. It
was the record store by my house, and one of
the dudes who worked there was a hip hop head.
So at the end of the hip hop aisle he
would put like his top five picks of the week,
and one week, one of those top five picks was
Supernatural Lost Freestyle Files. And I didn't know who Supernat was,
(17:53):
but I was already into freestyling. We would watch like
one oh six in Park Battles and stuff like that
and just try to try to do our little freestyle.
You know. We were super whack, but we were having
fun and uh so I saw it in just off
the strength of the title. I was like, oh, freestyle files.
I like the freestyle, let's check it out. And good
thing I did, because that record definitely blew my fucking mind. Man,
like that shit, because when I heard Supernat again, it
(18:15):
was like the first time I saw Wayne Brady where
I was like, it's not possible, Like, how is it
so smooth? It sounds written, but yet he's incorporating these
things that are proving you know that it's not written,
and so like, just that alone was enough of a
spark for me to want to like do a deep
dive and try to figure that out, and from there
you you expand the universe. He had a battle with Juice,
(18:36):
so I started checking out Juice and then you get
on YouTube, and you know, we were into rhyme sayers
and atmosphere and them, and I learned about idea, Who's
another idea, phenomenal freestyler, rest in peace, So yeah, freestyle fellowship.
You know, bit by bit, we were just nerdy kids
trying to learn about the shit. And but yeah, definitely,
Supernat was the first dude in a hip hop context
that blew my mind with the freestyle and then you've
(18:57):
just been sharpening your sword. Yeah yeah, I'm upset, like
I'm it's scary. I'm scary. It is pretty crazy. Man,
you're fucking yeah. Man, that's no like, uh, you're one
of them ones. Oh thank you, Bro. I appreciate that.
I appreciate that. It is just it really it comes
down to practice and commitment and putting the time in.
(19:17):
You know. I always try to mention that because people
see what I do and they're like they're baffled by
it because they've never thought about how that would work right,
the same way I felt when I heard Supernad and
they're just like, yo, Like, how's it feel to be
born with this? Like incredible blessing and shit like that.
I think I was born with a spark, for sure.
I think I have a talent for improv and knack
for it, But for sure, my first freestyles were whack.
(19:38):
You would never hear my first freestyles and be like,
he's got it? Would you ever do? What? Have they
ever hit you? You do wilding out? No, not officially,
not officially. They got to get you on wilding out
your body. Everybody on there, I feel like you're just
too nice for wilding out though, Oh, because you mean,
like literally, like you're a sweet guy. It's true, man,
Like I don't battle. People see what I do and
they're like, you crush the battle scene Like yeah, yeah, man,
(20:00):
I'm too nice for that shit. Yeah exactly, I don't
really like this people. You don't want to just black
China and make her cry, right exactly? Wilding out? Yeah, No,
I think that would be the next thing for you.
Got to do that, wi wilding out. I would love to, Seriously,
I would love you. Yeah, I would love to, and
I think you would be uh. I mean obviously you
would kill it. You'd be the best guy on there,
you know, easily. But look, I appreciate you coming through.
(20:21):
Uh soon, it's gonna be You got a couple EPs
out now, Yeah, weekly videos, Your TikTok is going crazy.
Everything's going crazy. But the big thing right now, Bro,
I'm going on tour tour this year. Yeah, I'm going
on tour Energy Exchange twenty twenty two is then your headlining.
I'm headlining. It is my headlining tour. Wow, So you're
gonna do crowd work work the crowd. Yeah, it's a
fully improvised set, even what we'll do if we might.
(20:43):
I don't want to leave anything. But basically it's a
fully improvised set and uh, it's gonna be crazy. We
got to test it out a few times. Uh here
in LA. We've done some shows here and it goes
crazy and it's gonna be wild. So check it out.
We're starting in February and we're going across the US
all the way through through the top of May. Wow,
good luck, don't catch that omicron. I know. Hopefully we're pasting.
(21:04):
Everyone's getting it now, so I hope, I hope we
don't have a new joint by that time. I'm boom,
there it is man Harry mag
Hosts And Creators
James Andre Jefferson Jr.
Bootleg Kev
Brian Baumgartner
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