December 20, 2024 • 27 mins
Leon Thomas checked in with the Cruz Show to talk about his new album Mutt. He broke down songs & talked about his process. He also talked about working with Ye & Ty Dolla $ in Italy, touring, his long time fans and more
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Yeah times man, congratulations, Man, mut is out and it's crazy.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
Yeah. Now, listen, a lot of people are saying you're
bringing R and B back. I love that thing for you, yo, listen.
Speaker 3 (00:09):
I mean, I'm just a real fan of all the
different generations of R and B. We tried to really
fit that into this album in a great way, and
it's cool to see people respond to it.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
People love it. Man, TikTok loves it.
Speaker 3 (00:20):
Yeah, TikTok's for showing love. I'm seeing lots of dances
and things. You know, I was a little scared. I
was like it was kind of old school, but I'm
glad that really, you know, resonating with the music. It
does have that that that vibe. There's that vibe, there's
that soulful vibe, exact classic R and B vibe.
Speaker 1 (00:33):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure. Some of the vocals are
drowned out. You know, a lot of the instruments are
being highlighted, and you play in.
Speaker 3 (00:41):
The world raised guitar, drums, keys, and you know a
lot of my homies were playing on these records, and
it was cool to really jam through a lot of
it and you know, document that. I feel like that's
a piece that's kind of missing an R and B.
And I'm glad that you know, we're bringing the jam back.
Speaker 1 (00:55):
That's right. What's crazy? And then you follow it up
with a remix for Freddie Gibbs.
Speaker 3 (00:58):
Oh that's my boy. That's my boy. You know, we
go way back. You know, he's one of my favorite lyricists,
especially all the stuff he was doing with Alchemists and
Mad Live and you know, just to really highlight his
greatness as well over a different landscape like R and.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
B was really cool. It was a good mix.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
Yeah, it was great to hear him on that for that,
my boy. Yep. I was tour. How's touring going?
Speaker 2 (01:18):
Tour was amazing? Man?
Speaker 3 (01:20):
Yeah, I mean tour is amazing, But it was kind
of scary at first because you know, they were telling
me like people weren't selling tickets right now. So I
was like, man, I hope people come out to CVS,
you know, check out our music and blame on a
medical medical emergency.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (01:34):
But when when we put the tickets up, we sold
it out in two weeks and it was my first
headline run, so it was cool to travel the country
and really see people enjoying the music in real life.
Speaker 4 (01:44):
Yeah, I feel like that also contributes to like you
as an artist, you as a person that like your
core audience really you like.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
Now that's showing up, that's show with you. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:54):
Yeah, they're along for the.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
Ride, absolutely.
Speaker 3 (01:56):
And I mean I feel like a lot of my
core fan base, you know, they kind of grew up
with me back in the day, all of my Nickelodeon
stuff and stuff I was. It's kind of cool to
see all of them growing up. We're all doing all things.
They got nose rings, tattoos. I'm like, let's go, let's
get it.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
I have a nose, but I have the tattoo. It's
like one of the other yo I do.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
It's such a song, it's such a such a piece,
not even a song, it's.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
A piece absolutely.
Speaker 3 (02:25):
I mean, that's that's me manifesting wanting to be married
one day. Yeah, and like that feeling. I mean, it's
really like the core of you.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (02:32):
It's one of those records that I feel like it
could be the soundtrack to a guy who's had a
trouble past with you know, girls finally falling in love.
And I think that's a that's a real thing that
I feel like a lot of the toxic R and
B doesn't talk about as much.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
So I wanted to show both sides, you know, right
right right, like like.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
Yo, you're toxic, I'm toxic.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
Let's do this together, let's do this together.
Speaker 3 (02:52):
By let's do this together, I'm putting that away. I'm
hanging up to play a jersey.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
I feel like.
Speaker 4 (02:56):
That's something that a lot of people have been appreciating
about out is that, like you said, there's this fine
line of like, Okay, there's the non toxic and the
toxic so and it's a perfect balance of it. Do
you feel like you belong to the streets more or
do you just want to like settle down?
Speaker 3 (03:12):
Well, you know, honestly, I definitely want to settle down,
but I want to do it the right way.
Speaker 5 (03:16):
You know.
Speaker 3 (03:16):
I've seen a lot of my friends rush into long
term relationships and.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
Regret it later.
Speaker 3 (03:20):
Your time, But yeah, I'm taking my time, you know,
I'm building real friendships right now. I'm definitely not like
belonging to the streets. I just think I like to document.
I like to document what I see, you know what
I mean. I'm in Hollywood, I'm in La I'm seeing
a lot man, a lot of ups and down a
lot with everybody. So it's just like, what can I
do to kind of be the soundtrack to all these
toxic podcasts?
Speaker 2 (03:41):
You know, Like.
Speaker 1 (03:43):
It's like, oh, Mike soundtracks. You know, I've been a
case for ten years. Dog, I'm still trying to figure
it out.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
You're right, right exactly. Yeah, make sure she's the one.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
We have two kids, she's almost she's okay, someone's out
the door.
Speaker 2 (04:03):
Feelings on sit I love that, Thank you, yo.
Speaker 1 (04:06):
I love the production on it.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
This thanks a lot.
Speaker 3 (04:08):
My brother Crazy Conductor is one of my favorite producers.
Like I said, I like a lot of that, like
low five hip hop. So I'm a big fan of Griselda.
When I started looking up who was producing a lot
of their stuff, I found Conductor.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
I hit him up.
Speaker 3 (04:22):
And it's kind of funny when I when I hit
up a producer, I like, I'll usually tell him about
the person I'm working with.
Speaker 2 (04:28):
And at the time, I was working with Ya and.
Speaker 3 (04:30):
Todd Dollars signed on Vultures, so I was like, yeah,
you know, Ya, you need some joints in Italy. Yeah, yeah,
I was in Italy, which was true, but he sent
that one and I was like, man, this is perfect
for my stuff. So I ended up recording it at
the Medici estate in Italy. Man I was walking around
the guard and listening to it, writing lyrics and coming
up with vibes. Went and recorded it, and once I
(04:50):
got back home, I had a meeting with wil A
about just you know, cooking up some music and I
played it for him and he immediately took to it.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
So it took some.
Speaker 3 (04:59):
Time to get the record like completely finalized, but it
was a beautiful process of like taking a really amazing
instrumental and adding live strings to it and really cool
vocals that literally took it there.
Speaker 1 (05:10):
What is something that we don't know when it comes
to putting the song together like that? Right, Like there's
a lot of legal behind it as well. Absolutely, you
know you got to make sure everything sounds right obviously,
right with like the mix and stuff.
Speaker 3 (05:20):
Yeah, yeah, I mean, you know, music is a process.
You know, there's some people who mic awave their music,
and there's some people who take it to the oven.
You know, there's some people who Brian you know, have
it in there for a long time. This is me
like kind of like this is me kind of like
you know, acclimating it to to food. But you know,
to be real, my music is definitely a home cooked meal.
You know, nothing, mic Awave. We take our time and
(05:42):
you know, yeah, I mean it's exactly right. Yeah, it's
from scratch and we're trying to figure it out. You know,
I really respect a lot of the co producers who
really came in to help turn this into a movie.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
Crazy so La is a wild place. You know this
absolutely and heard it all right, but like, what what's
the story you You you lived in a like in
an apartment and you woke up one day and someone's
robbing your house and they're literally on your couch.
Speaker 3 (06:08):
Chill, No, man, I finally purchased my first home in
l A. I'm pretty excited. Yes, is like my home home.
So I finally purchased my crib. I'm in there for
about like a year. Everything was fine. I mean it's
a really beautiful neighborhood. But it was my fault.
Speaker 2 (06:22):
You know.
Speaker 3 (06:22):
I got some uber eats and h I fell asleep
on the couch and I just decided to go to
sleep after after I got the food, but forgot to
lock the door. My dog starts barking, and I go
to my living room and there's a stranger on my
couch just sitting there. Smell like mad Coronas. He I mean,
(06:43):
you know, I didn't want to make that. He definitely
smelled like a lot of Coronas. And my boy just
looked confused. He was like, hold look what, I'm like,
what get.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
Out of my home. Looked at me like, I'm like,
what are you doing here?
Speaker 3 (06:57):
And I'm like, yo, fam, you got to go, you
got to And what's crazy is that? Like he was like, no,
I have to tell you something. And then I just
watched John Wick, so you were hype.
Speaker 2 (07:08):
I sick my dog on him.
Speaker 3 (07:09):
I said, get him, boy, get him, get my dog
comes running out, he's barking. Guy ran out the crib.
You know, never to be heard from again. You know,
we just always locked doors. Now we locked doors, surveillance,
I have all of that. But this was this is
a lapse in judgment, man, Probably the only time I've
ever done that.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
But yeah, it was. It was a crazy story.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
Is a fun fact, I spelled like Corona's right now.
Speaker 2 (07:32):
All No, he was just there. It was.
Speaker 3 (07:38):
It was actually kind of creepy because he was just
sitting there like just looking confused, and I'm like, okay,
he was a naked or anything. Nah, the brother was
just really drunk. Man, Yeah, he was just really drunk.
Is what it is.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
Do you follow a report?
Speaker 2 (07:51):
I thought about it, right, but I'm thinking about it.
It was really on me, so yeah, I left it unlocked,
you know, but it is what it is.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
You're a nice guy.
Speaker 3 (08:00):
Yeah, I guess, so, I guess so, I guess so
did you buy a gun after that? Absolutely in your
living room? Just like nothing but like kitchen knives. Come on,
I'm around to cut myself.
Speaker 4 (08:16):
The guys judge me so hard because whenever like my
man is out of like the apartment is traveling, I
sleep with a knife on the bedside. Oh wow, I'm
just like I have taser, pepper spray and everything.
Speaker 2 (08:27):
Yeah yeah, yeah your kitchen. Yeah, it's better to be
safe than sorry.
Speaker 1 (08:35):
I ain't mad at what kind of gun did you buy?
And did you write a song about it?
Speaker 5 (08:38):
Yet?
Speaker 2 (08:40):
You brock it's that block, right, I don't want to
get it wrong. I get on.
Speaker 1 (08:49):
So yeah, you then you have to learn how to
use it, obviously.
Speaker 2 (08:52):
Then you got trying to hit the gun range trying
to get right.
Speaker 3 (08:55):
You know, my boy actually has this really cool training
facility up northern California somewhere, and he was saying I
could go over there and really become John Wick. So
that's my my next move. Man. Mario, another R and
B brother is always over there. I mean, he's looking
real good with the gun now.
Speaker 1 (09:11):
Man, it's crazy though.
Speaker 2 (09:12):
We have to protect our home.
Speaker 3 (09:13):
We got to protect it takes you know, there's a
place right here in Burbank.
Speaker 2 (09:17):
Oh really, literally right up the street. I'm not a
big gun guy. Yeah, I'm not either, but but cruises
never shot a gun? Have you ever shot a gun?
Speaker 4 (09:28):
No, I've never show them.
Speaker 2 (09:31):
I'm actually down Let's Corona, yo. Yeah I've never shot
a gun. What does that feel like?
Speaker 3 (09:45):
I feel you know, it kind of helps you understand
why people go crazy, because there's there's definitely a lot
of power associated with it, you know.
Speaker 2 (09:53):
But for me, it's it's just, you know, strictly for protection.
Speaker 1 (09:56):
Yeah, mut is out man in this quality ARM and
B with so much going on right like, thank you
have to carve out some time to make this album.
What was that process like and how long was that problem?
Speaker 2 (10:08):
Well?
Speaker 3 (10:08):
It was about two and a half years really just
finding myself. You know, I think when I dropped my
first album, I don't feel like I was rushed into
it because that one it took a long time to
make two. But you know, I knew that I had
to release two albums in my first album cycle with
my label. So there was an element with Mud of urgency,
and I really wanted to win. I wanted to show
(10:30):
Tie and Sean Baron over a easy money that you know,
they betted on the right guy. So I really put,
you know, my heart and soul into this, and I'm
just glad people are really resonating with it.
Speaker 1 (10:39):
Yeah, man, you know. And then on top of Mud, right,
there's so much work that you've done outside of that
as well.
Speaker 2 (10:44):
Absolutely Gammy with.
Speaker 1 (10:46):
His dog Yeah man, yeah, you keep the Grammy, you
keep it saying yeah, I got hit.
Speaker 2 (10:49):
In my out living room in a lock cabinet. It's
real nice, you know, yeah, yeah, yeah. When people come through.
Speaker 3 (10:55):
It's really just a great I just told them of
a lot of the hard work I've done in the
music industry. You know, I went for years without people
really noticing some of the things I was, you know,
a part of as a producer and a songwriter. So
I thought it felt really good to you know, have
that moment in the you know, in the spotlight for sure.
Speaker 1 (11:11):
Yeah. Is that frustrating, right, being so successful but not
necessarily being in front.
Speaker 3 (11:17):
Not necessarily because you know, for me, I knew I
was building a great catalog. That was mean, it's the
proby to market myself, you know. So it's the process
of building a business. And I looked at songwriting and
production and something separate from what I did as an actor.
I didn't come through with an entitled attitude. It was
just like, let me actually learn, let me sit down
with the grace like Babyface. I studied under for a
(11:38):
long time and then even working with boy Wonder, I
was able to really figure out how to curate a
good record for somebody.
Speaker 2 (11:45):
And that took time. Man, it really wasn't easy.
Speaker 1 (11:48):
You got good parents, oh yeah, really good family.
Speaker 2 (11:51):
Yeah I'm child acting day, No, not at all, man.
It was all love. It was all love. I will
say that.
Speaker 3 (11:58):
You know, that child act experience was like a startup
between me and my mom, just like coming together and
plotting about.
Speaker 2 (12:05):
Like so what do we do next day?
Speaker 1 (12:06):
Being a team.
Speaker 3 (12:07):
It was so cool to have a team member that
genuinely cared about me. She was never on some Joe
Jackson like you have to do this.
Speaker 2 (12:13):
You know.
Speaker 3 (12:14):
It was always like, well, if you still want to
do it, you got to have good grades, and I
think we should go with this network, or we should
try this role, or let's just kind of tap in.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
And I've always done my.
Speaker 3 (12:24):
Best to pay it forward for her because she's she's
such a beautiful, beautiful soul who really got.
Speaker 2 (12:29):
Me in the right direct.
Speaker 1 (12:29):
You're a breadwinner, that a yeah.
Speaker 2 (12:31):
For some time.
Speaker 3 (12:32):
For some time, I mean, because she had to quit
her job in order to even like things got real, man.
I mean, I did three Broadway plays in three years,
and then I was doing movies with Robin Williams, TV
shows on Nickelodeon, flying all over the country. It became
tough for her to really sustain her own business, which
was really successful in New York at the time. But
you know, I really respect her for pouring into me
(12:54):
in that way.
Speaker 1 (12:55):
Yeah, man, she did, man, she raised the real one.
Speaker 3 (12:57):
Not for sure, for sure love Yeah, yeah, yeah, you
know what I mean. Honestly, everything I do even to
this day is just to continue to build a safety
net for my tribe.
Speaker 2 (13:05):
It's like my tribe first, people second, you know, that's it.
Speaker 4 (13:08):
Yeah, yeah, I want to know, have you seen Wicked yet?
Speaker 3 (13:13):
I haven't seen Wicked, and I've been beating myself up
about it. But I've been on the road, so it's
kind of tough to like carve out time to go
to the movies. But shout out to Arianna. Man, that's
my friend's life.
Speaker 2 (13:23):
Yo.
Speaker 3 (13:23):
It's it's crazy, but you know what's wild. I always
knew she was going to be a mega star. She
was like good at being famous at sixteen.
Speaker 2 (13:31):
I've never seen anything quite like it. Like, she was
just really good at being famous.
Speaker 3 (13:34):
So I knew this guy, like yeah, yeah, yeah, she
understood it early, just really got the game from how
to you know, utilize social media to her advantage. She
was a YouTube star before she even really started dropping
music officially. And to see her, you know, turn that
data into into hit records was like the first time
I saw it happen and I was like, Okay, that's
(13:55):
the formula.
Speaker 2 (13:55):
You know, that's an actor is there?
Speaker 4 (13:57):
Kind of like, uh, I guess what's the biggest difference
when it comes to Broadway stage acting and studio acting.
Speaker 3 (14:04):
Well, I feel like for Broadway you have to perform
for the people in the back of the audience. For film,
it's all in the eyes, it's all in the intention
and listening, you know, to the other person. It has
to feel like a real conversation. On Broadway, I feel
like you kind of have to overact just a little
bit in order to, you know, for everybody to feel
it exactly.
Speaker 1 (14:24):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, your whole body story exactly exactly on Broadway,
Downtown Broadway.
Speaker 3 (14:35):
I've done something pantages, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (14:40):
Man, man, you stay working, man.
Speaker 2 (14:42):
It doesn't stop. It doesn't stop. Man.
Speaker 3 (14:44):
But but I'm really blessed to do what I do.
I think about all the other jobs I could have
had about it. I'm really happy that I'm that I'm
doing something that I'm passionate about. And it's it's really fun,
you know. I Mean, there's this ups and downs, but
overall it's really fun.
Speaker 1 (14:57):
Yo far fest with tie dollars sign right, like you
guys get that done in Italy as well.
Speaker 2 (15:01):
No, no, now far fetched.
Speaker 3 (15:03):
I put together a long time ago, right around the
time when I was doing like some of the stuff
a certified lover boy, and it was a track that
was really fun. Do you guys remember Ryan Leslie? Yeah,
it was like a Ryan Leslie moment for me. So
I'm in the studio.
Speaker 1 (15:19):
Remember YouTube channel.
Speaker 2 (15:21):
Yeah, I'm super inspired by him. So, like bro, I
still watch that.
Speaker 1 (15:25):
It was a Ryan was the instrument and with it
pays for it with his black cars.
Speaker 3 (15:30):
Some of the best YouTube series moments ever seen in
music production.
Speaker 2 (15:33):
But I've always been inspired by him.
Speaker 3 (15:35):
And far Fetch was a song that was kind of
built in that same breadth and me just really jamming
out on different instruments. And I had the song for
a long time and my boy boy Wonder was like, Yo,
you should finish that. And I couldn't think of a
second verse. So I played it for Tie and he
was like, man, I'm down, let's do it.
Speaker 2 (15:51):
Yeah yeah, and it turned into magic. I'm like, well, yeah,
let's go. Let's go.
Speaker 3 (15:57):
Had an La legend lock in and really like take
it two x.
Speaker 1 (16:01):
He also plays many instruments. Oh yeah, he's a writer.
Speaker 2 (16:05):
We just had the l A show, you know.
Speaker 3 (16:06):
We had we had Todd Dallas on pop Out and
he was playing bass while I was playing guitar. I
was doing a solo, he was on his knees weld
and now with the bass.
Speaker 2 (16:15):
It was a it was a real rock star moment.
Speaker 3 (16:17):
And it's cool to be signed to somebody that understands
the different sides of me. You know, obviously I'm really
into R and B, but there's so many layers to
who I am as a musician.
Speaker 1 (16:26):
Is there a song that we would be surprised you
listened to a Carpenter or Life?
Speaker 2 (16:33):
No? Not well, I mean you shout out to the
Swifties because Taylor she is amazing. No, but.
Speaker 3 (16:45):
The collabs always but like, actually I'm actually down for
a collab. But I listened to like Radiohead, like Fake
Plastic Trees, I listened to led Zeppelin, Black Dog, you know,
like I listened to just a plethora of different things.
McKee know, his new albums amazing. I've been rocking that
a lot. But but I'm just inspired by by the drama.
(17:06):
Oh yeah, for sure. Black Sabbath was a huge inspiration
for even my artwork, Like the the kind of blurry
of it. Yeah yeah, from like the Paranoid album, you know, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (17:17):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 6 (17:19):
Yeah, that's that goes down as one of the best
rock records ever.
Speaker 2 (17:22):
No, for sure, for sure, they said that's the beginning
of the metal.
Speaker 6 (17:25):
You know, so it sounds like that you enjoy a
good guitar riff because.
Speaker 2 (17:31):
Yeah, you like that guitar drums combo.
Speaker 3 (17:34):
It's like emmyburn bassed drum combo, like that, that that
feeling when when when when everything is kind of you know,
based off of a lead melody.
Speaker 5 (17:43):
You know.
Speaker 3 (17:43):
I think that's like a really cool part of rock
and roll to me. And it's something that I even
used on my own album with a joint like Dancing
with Demons, I have like a guitar part that's that's
kind of you know, in Unison with the bass because
it was super inspired by all the Black Sabbath stuff,
that's right, that's right, Beatles and Beatles for sure, Beatles
for sure, rolling Stones, you know, to me, Pink Floyd,
(18:06):
just the psychedelic like energy and vibes and definitely all
infused in what I do on R and B and
and I hope people understand the different sides of me,
and I always do my best to like not get
too left, but you know.
Speaker 2 (18:19):
But yeah, because you know, it's it's a game.
Speaker 3 (18:21):
But but but I'm definitely excited to show more more
sides myself on the next prod.
Speaker 1 (18:28):
I just haven't here.
Speaker 3 (18:30):
Yeah, but you see what's happening in the bass and
the guitar like in unison in a really special way.
Speaker 2 (18:36):
Yep, together exactly in a way together.
Speaker 1 (18:38):
That's also a white strip club classic.
Speaker 7 (18:41):
It is a white strip club classic, classic New York
stripper classic. That's right, beautiful woman is about to walk
out crazy with the blonde.
Speaker 1 (18:57):
Hair flips for sure. String you feel too easy, bro,
that's where you know. Jackie's a fan of your TV work.
Speaker 2 (19:05):
Yea fautching you.
Speaker 4 (19:07):
So this is kind of like a not kind of
It is a full circle moment for men, like literally
from Victorious to like Backyardigans. Like I was just like,
oh my god, like this is so wild and like
I personally as a fan, like I am super proud
to see your like progress and the fact that you're
finally getting your shine.
Speaker 2 (19:29):
That's beautiful. Thank you so much.
Speaker 3 (19:30):
It's been a long journey, you know, but I always
respect how I started and the fact that they even
allowed me. I remember I had like this big board
meeting with the Nickelodeon executives, and I was like, please
don't irkle me. Dog, Like, if you can't make me cool,
make me cool, because like I still want to do
other things after this.
Speaker 2 (19:49):
And that's when I was like thirteen years old. Thirteen.
Speaker 3 (19:52):
I was definitely having that conversation about brand and marketing
and being able to journey out of what we do
after after the fact. They definitely respected that in real ways.
Obviously I had.
Speaker 2 (20:03):
Goofy episodes from time to time, but like.
Speaker 3 (20:04):
You're allowed to perform, allowed to perform. They allowed me
to write songs on the show too. It is my
first time really understanding the process of writing a song
and putting it out.
Speaker 2 (20:13):
I hit the Billboard chart to like sixteen.
Speaker 1 (20:15):
You know, so crazy it was.
Speaker 3 (20:17):
It was a cool experience and you know, really shout
out to Nickelodeon and Viacom holding me down.
Speaker 4 (20:22):
I was telling Cruise like right before this too, I
was like, I really liked your character because you were
like really the only sane one.
Speaker 1 (20:28):
Yeah, it's just like it was purpose. Yeah, the fall
hard for sanity. Yeah for sure, because like you know,
if you if.
Speaker 3 (20:37):
You let them know, I have you, you know, doing
some pretty wild stuff on there.
Speaker 1 (20:40):
Yeah, so you gotta be careful, right, yeah?
Speaker 2 (20:43):
Is they're a worry about being typecasted exactly?
Speaker 3 (20:46):
I think, you know, comedy is a beautiful thing, and
I understand comedic timing because I've done sitcoms my whole life.
But you know, I knew for a fact that if
people only saw me as a a curator of jokes,
they wouldn't necessarily be able to take me serious when
I wanted to do my music and.
Speaker 2 (21:04):
Get in depth.
Speaker 1 (21:05):
Would make the transition a lot.
Speaker 2 (21:06):
It would have made it kind of tough, you know.
Speaker 3 (21:08):
I mean, we've seen actors transition into dramas, but it's
kind of tough to see comedian jump into music like
I'm trying to do right now?
Speaker 1 (21:14):
Yeah, yea, I mean Jamie Fox had a run, right yo.
Speaker 3 (21:17):
Jamie Fox is such an anomaly in that clazy man.
It's it's like sick insane. Yeah, that's a generational talent.
Speaker 1 (21:24):
Right.
Speaker 6 (21:24):
There's Backyard against bro or such a part of my household.
I got two teenagers back against Live my g parties.
The Cheats and Eats a Pizza is my favorite episode.
That's my favorite episode. But but man, it must feel
great to be able to have your fans now call
back to those days and you have an impact on them.
Speaker 2 (21:45):
Man, because children in TV.
Speaker 6 (21:47):
Man, that's like, you know, that just brings back so
much nostalgia when you grew up.
Speaker 2 (21:52):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (21:53):
Yeah, yeah, I mean it's a it's a really cool thing.
I mean we've been doing like meet and greets before
you know, my shows, and to see how the journey
has affected people and how grateful they are that I
kept going and didn't let the industry beat me down.
Was it was just a beautiful exchange, you know, And
I'm gonna stay resilient. Man, I'm down to keep going.
Speaker 1 (22:13):
Yeah for sure. Man, have you given yourself time to, uh,
to kind of break down what's going on between Kendrick.
Speaker 3 (22:19):
And Drake, you know, to be completely honest, I let
the Titans fight, you know, like right now, I'm still
learning my Yeah. Yeah, I'm still learning my superpower. So
I'm you know, I'm letting them just kind of do
their thing. But you know, I'm a big fan of both,
you know, and it's and it's you know, it's kind
of unfortunate. I really hope that we could all coexist
a little bit differently, but you know, it has bred
(22:40):
some amazing records.
Speaker 2 (22:41):
So it is what it is.
Speaker 3 (22:43):
But it's a little unfortunate though, because I would love
for both of them to be able to just rise
to the occasion and be great at the same time.
Speaker 1 (22:50):
If possible, that'd be great, that'd be great. But I
don't necessarily see that happening.
Speaker 3 (22:55):
I don't see it's it's it's a it's gonna be
a journey. I'll just say that much.
Speaker 2 (22:59):
It's gonna be a it's gonna be a journey.
Speaker 3 (23:00):
Next year is gonna be a big year, though, And uh,
I don't want to count the underdog out.
Speaker 1 (23:05):
Okay, okay, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, now we totally got that.
Speaker 5 (23:11):
I overstand you Overdr're right, okay yeah yeah, oh no,
I mean, like I said, white flag baby swizzling over here.
Speaker 2 (23:23):
Peace, I'm here for peace. I'm here for peace, chicken grease.
Speaker 4 (23:28):
We're talking about all the instruments that you've play. Is
there an instrument that you still want to learn?
Speaker 2 (23:33):
Absolutely?
Speaker 3 (23:34):
You know, I'm a big fan of strings and my
mom plays the viola, but I want to learn how
to play the violin would be really nice. I mean,
I use strings on a lot of my records, and
if I could really like figure that out. It would
be one less check I'm spending, you know. Yeah, just
like you know, you don't even have to be that amazing.
Speaker 1 (23:55):
You just gotta gotta have a good tone, you know,
that's for sure. And get for the movie Detroit had
to like chop off your hair, right Yeah, to cut
my hair again?
Speaker 2 (24:02):
Absolutely not.
Speaker 3 (24:04):
But I mean, you know, to be completely honest, man,
my life hasn't been like a super crazy trajectory financially.
Like there was times where I needed the money for Detroit,
and it was like, you know, well, if I want
to continue my journey and if I want to continue
to act, I know I can get more roles if
I cut my hair off right now and it grows
back as you can see.
Speaker 2 (24:25):
You know what I'm saying, it's you know, a corero
right now.
Speaker 3 (24:27):
But but yeah, man, I just knew for a fact
I had to I had to fight, and this was
an opportunity to keep going.
Speaker 1 (24:34):
Yeah. No, man, listen, man, you're doing it. Dog congratulates.
Speaker 2 (24:37):
Oh, thank you, man.
Speaker 1 (24:37):
I appreciate that. We love to watch the growth and
the success. Man, you know, we love to see the winning. Man.
Speaker 3 (24:45):
It's it's a it's a real journey and I'm so
thankful and it's tough.
Speaker 1 (24:49):
It's tough.
Speaker 3 (24:49):
The attitude is gratitude, yeah, because Thanksgiving just popped up,
and even prior to Thanksgiving, I mean, I just had
to switch my perspective.
Speaker 2 (24:57):
There's there's certain times where.
Speaker 3 (24:58):
You think, like, man, I should be doing in this
so you see other people playing bigger rooms or doing uh,
you know, more TV slots or getting that festival you want.
But I think just like getting to the basics of
gratitude in the present moment is gonna help me, you know,
better things in the future.
Speaker 1 (25:16):
The attitude you gotta stay there's no traffic in there.
There's no traffic exactly. Yeah, yeah, you know, so here
you gotta stay there. What's up?
Speaker 6 (25:22):
A quick question? You travel a lot obviously with tour.
You know, when you want to kind of get music
out of your brain for a little bit. You ever
flip over and be a fan of TV?
Speaker 2 (25:31):
Do you watch?
Speaker 6 (25:31):
You have some favorite shows or movies that you hit
while you're on the road.
Speaker 2 (25:34):
Oh?
Speaker 3 (25:35):
Absolutely, you know. When I'm on the road, I'm really
on my Tarantino kick. I was I was watching like
pulp fiction, reservoir Dogs, you know, like you could watch
one hundred, one hundred times and it's always gonna work.
And you know, this is my first time doing like
a tour bus, uh tour. So I had like a
(25:55):
nice TV, nice sound system. I was back there vibing,
you know.
Speaker 2 (25:58):
Yeah, you just looked up the people ate literally yesterday too.
Speaker 3 (26:01):
That's a good film. That's a film, underrated, under radio
rated for sure. I thought it was really dope.
Speaker 2 (26:07):
Yeah, that's a good one too.
Speaker 6 (26:09):
Man they come to Yeah, that's just such an amazing scene.
The way they work music and he's very good about
his musical.
Speaker 2 (26:18):
Oh absolutely. It is a big piece to scoring a
lot of those.
Speaker 1 (26:24):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (26:26):
And I actually found this dope Mexican spot called l
Coyote from Yeah, I've.
Speaker 2 (26:31):
Been going there ever since.
Speaker 3 (26:32):
Man, a lot of places, Julie the word that's over
there too.
Speaker 2 (26:39):
I love a good film location, man for sure. Like
they actually put me on.
Speaker 1 (26:43):
Man for sure. What are your tour bus rules?
Speaker 2 (26:46):
My tour bus rules.
Speaker 3 (26:47):
I don't really have to make on the bus, right, Yeah,
well there's definitely you can't do that.
Speaker 2 (26:52):
That goes what I'm saying.
Speaker 3 (26:53):
I'll say, if you're gonna roll a spliff, make sure
it's leveled out, like I don't want the whole bus
smelling like tobacco.
Speaker 2 (26:59):
That's a you know. Yeah. Yeah. Other than that, I'm
pretty exactly I'm kind of chilling, you know.
Speaker 1 (27:05):
So yeah, man, listen, dog, congratulations, Bro, thank you. Let's
get it. Bro, come see us any time. It's too
easy for sure.
Speaker 2 (27:11):
I really appreciate you all for having me.
Speaker 1 (27:13):
We appreciate your time and energy and your music as well.
And if you bring to it, man.
Speaker 3 (27:17):
Nah na, and I'm definitely gonna keep going. It's just
the beginning of something really dope.
Speaker 1 (27:20):
Your breast stress are man, appreciate appreciate that, man, Tom's
Cruise Show Real ninety two three. Let's get it
Yeah times man, congratulations, Man, mut is out and it's crazy.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
Yeah. Now, listen, a lot of people are saying you're
bringing R and B back. I love that thing for you, yo, listen.
Speaker 3 (00:09):
I mean, I'm just a real fan of all the
different generations of R and B. We tried to really
fit that into this album in a great way, and
it's cool to see people respond to it.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
People love it. Man, TikTok loves it.
Speaker 3 (00:20):
Yeah, TikTok's for showing love. I'm seeing lots of dances
and things. You know, I was a little scared. I
was like it was kind of old school, but I'm
glad that really, you know, resonating with the music. It
does have that that that vibe. There's that vibe, there's
that soulful vibe, exact classic R and B vibe.
Speaker 1 (00:33):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure. Some of the vocals are
drowned out. You know, a lot of the instruments are
being highlighted, and you play in.
Speaker 3 (00:41):
The world raised guitar, drums, keys, and you know a
lot of my homies were playing on these records, and
it was cool to really jam through a lot of
it and you know, document that. I feel like that's
a piece that's kind of missing an R and B.
And I'm glad that you know, we're bringing the jam back.
Speaker 1 (00:55):
That's right. What's crazy? And then you follow it up
with a remix for Freddie Gibbs.
Speaker 3 (00:58):
Oh that's my boy. That's my boy. You know, we
go way back. You know, he's one of my favorite lyricists,
especially all the stuff he was doing with Alchemists and
Mad Live and you know, just to really highlight his
greatness as well over a different landscape like R and.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
B was really cool. It was a good mix.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
Yeah, it was great to hear him on that for that,
my boy. Yep. I was tour. How's touring going?
Speaker 2 (01:18):
Tour was amazing? Man?
Speaker 3 (01:20):
Yeah, I mean tour is amazing, But it was kind
of scary at first because you know, they were telling
me like people weren't selling tickets right now. So I
was like, man, I hope people come out to CVS,
you know, check out our music and blame on a
medical medical emergency.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (01:34):
But when when we put the tickets up, we sold
it out in two weeks and it was my first
headline run, so it was cool to travel the country
and really see people enjoying the music in real life.
Speaker 4 (01:44):
Yeah, I feel like that also contributes to like you
as an artist, you as a person that like your
core audience really you like.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
Now that's showing up, that's show with you. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:54):
Yeah, they're along for the.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
Ride, absolutely.
Speaker 3 (01:56):
And I mean I feel like a lot of my
core fan base, you know, they kind of grew up
with me back in the day, all of my Nickelodeon
stuff and stuff I was. It's kind of cool to
see all of them growing up. We're all doing all things.
They got nose rings, tattoos. I'm like, let's go, let's
get it.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
I have a nose, but I have the tattoo. It's
like one of the other yo I do.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
It's such a song, it's such a such a piece,
not even a song, it's.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
A piece absolutely.
Speaker 3 (02:25):
I mean, that's that's me manifesting wanting to be married
one day. Yeah, and like that feeling. I mean, it's
really like the core of you.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (02:32):
It's one of those records that I feel like it
could be the soundtrack to a guy who's had a
trouble past with you know, girls finally falling in love.
And I think that's a that's a real thing that
I feel like a lot of the toxic R and
B doesn't talk about as much.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
So I wanted to show both sides, you know, right
right right, like like.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
Yo, you're toxic, I'm toxic.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
Let's do this together, let's do this together.
Speaker 3 (02:52):
By let's do this together, I'm putting that away. I'm
hanging up to play a jersey.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
I feel like.
Speaker 4 (02:56):
That's something that a lot of people have been appreciating
about out is that, like you said, there's this fine
line of like, Okay, there's the non toxic and the
toxic so and it's a perfect balance of it. Do
you feel like you belong to the streets more or
do you just want to like settle down?
Speaker 3 (03:12):
Well, you know, honestly, I definitely want to settle down,
but I want to do it the right way.
Speaker 5 (03:16):
You know.
Speaker 3 (03:16):
I've seen a lot of my friends rush into long
term relationships and.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
Regret it later.
Speaker 3 (03:20):
Your time, But yeah, I'm taking my time, you know,
I'm building real friendships right now. I'm definitely not like
belonging to the streets. I just think I like to document.
I like to document what I see, you know what
I mean. I'm in Hollywood, I'm in La I'm seeing
a lot man, a lot of ups and down a
lot with everybody. So it's just like, what can I
do to kind of be the soundtrack to all these
toxic podcasts?
Speaker 2 (03:41):
You know, Like.
Speaker 1 (03:43):
It's like, oh, Mike soundtracks. You know, I've been a
case for ten years. Dog, I'm still trying to figure
it out.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
You're right, right exactly. Yeah, make sure she's the one.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
We have two kids, she's almost she's okay, someone's out
the door.
Speaker 2 (04:03):
Feelings on sit I love that, Thank you, yo.
Speaker 1 (04:06):
I love the production on it.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
This thanks a lot.
Speaker 3 (04:08):
My brother Crazy Conductor is one of my favorite producers.
Like I said, I like a lot of that, like
low five hip hop. So I'm a big fan of Griselda.
When I started looking up who was producing a lot
of their stuff, I found Conductor.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
I hit him up.
Speaker 3 (04:22):
And it's kind of funny when I when I hit
up a producer, I like, I'll usually tell him about
the person I'm working with.
Speaker 2 (04:28):
And at the time, I was working with Ya and.
Speaker 3 (04:30):
Todd Dollars signed on Vultures, so I was like, yeah,
you know, Ya, you need some joints in Italy. Yeah, yeah,
I was in Italy, which was true, but he sent
that one and I was like, man, this is perfect
for my stuff. So I ended up recording it at
the Medici estate in Italy. Man I was walking around
the guard and listening to it, writing lyrics and coming
up with vibes. Went and recorded it, and once I
(04:50):
got back home, I had a meeting with wil A
about just you know, cooking up some music and I
played it for him and he immediately took to it.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
So it took some.
Speaker 3 (04:59):
Time to get the record like completely finalized, but it
was a beautiful process of like taking a really amazing
instrumental and adding live strings to it and really cool
vocals that literally took it there.
Speaker 1 (05:10):
What is something that we don't know when it comes
to putting the song together like that? Right, Like there's
a lot of legal behind it as well. Absolutely, you
know you got to make sure everything sounds right obviously,
right with like the mix and stuff.
Speaker 3 (05:20):
Yeah, yeah, I mean, you know, music is a process.
You know, there's some people who mic awave their music,
and there's some people who take it to the oven.
You know, there's some people who Brian you know, have
it in there for a long time. This is me
like kind of like this is me kind of like
you know, acclimating it to to food. But you know,
to be real, my music is definitely a home cooked meal.
You know, nothing, mic Awave. We take our time and
(05:42):
you know, yeah, I mean it's exactly right. Yeah, it's
from scratch and we're trying to figure it out. You know,
I really respect a lot of the co producers who
really came in to help turn this into a movie.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
Crazy so La is a wild place. You know this
absolutely and heard it all right, but like, what what's
the story you You you lived in a like in
an apartment and you woke up one day and someone's
robbing your house and they're literally on your couch.
Speaker 3 (06:08):
Chill, No, man, I finally purchased my first home in
l A. I'm pretty excited. Yes, is like my home home.
So I finally purchased my crib. I'm in there for
about like a year. Everything was fine. I mean it's
a really beautiful neighborhood. But it was my fault.
Speaker 2 (06:22):
You know.
Speaker 3 (06:22):
I got some uber eats and h I fell asleep
on the couch and I just decided to go to
sleep after after I got the food, but forgot to
lock the door. My dog starts barking, and I go
to my living room and there's a stranger on my
couch just sitting there. Smell like mad Coronas. He I mean,
(06:43):
you know, I didn't want to make that. He definitely
smelled like a lot of Coronas. And my boy just
looked confused. He was like, hold look what, I'm like,
what get.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
Out of my home. Looked at me like, I'm like,
what are you doing here?
Speaker 3 (06:57):
And I'm like, yo, fam, you got to go, you
got to And what's crazy is that? Like he was like, no,
I have to tell you something. And then I just
watched John Wick, so you were hype.
Speaker 2 (07:08):
I sick my dog on him.
Speaker 3 (07:09):
I said, get him, boy, get him, get my dog
comes running out, he's barking. Guy ran out the crib.
You know, never to be heard from again. You know,
we just always locked doors. Now we locked doors, surveillance,
I have all of that. But this was this is
a lapse in judgment, man, Probably the only time I've
ever done that.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
But yeah, it was. It was a crazy story.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
Is a fun fact, I spelled like Corona's right now.
Speaker 2 (07:32):
All No, he was just there. It was.
Speaker 3 (07:38):
It was actually kind of creepy because he was just
sitting there like just looking confused, and I'm like, okay,
he was a naked or anything. Nah, the brother was
just really drunk. Man, Yeah, he was just really drunk.
Is what it is.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
Do you follow a report?
Speaker 2 (07:51):
I thought about it, right, but I'm thinking about it.
It was really on me, so yeah, I left it unlocked,
you know, but it is what it is.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
You're a nice guy.
Speaker 3 (08:00):
Yeah, I guess, so, I guess so, I guess so
did you buy a gun after that? Absolutely in your
living room? Just like nothing but like kitchen knives. Come on,
I'm around to cut myself.
Speaker 4 (08:16):
The guys judge me so hard because whenever like my
man is out of like the apartment is traveling, I
sleep with a knife on the bedside. Oh wow, I'm
just like I have taser, pepper spray and everything.
Speaker 2 (08:27):
Yeah yeah, yeah your kitchen. Yeah, it's better to be
safe than sorry.
Speaker 1 (08:35):
I ain't mad at what kind of gun did you buy?
And did you write a song about it?
Speaker 5 (08:38):
Yet?
Speaker 2 (08:40):
You brock it's that block, right, I don't want to
get it wrong. I get on.
Speaker 1 (08:49):
So yeah, you then you have to learn how to
use it, obviously.
Speaker 2 (08:52):
Then you got trying to hit the gun range trying
to get right.
Speaker 3 (08:55):
You know, my boy actually has this really cool training
facility up northern California somewhere, and he was saying I
could go over there and really become John Wick. So
that's my my next move. Man. Mario, another R and
B brother is always over there. I mean, he's looking
real good with the gun now.
Speaker 1 (09:11):
Man, it's crazy though.
Speaker 2 (09:12):
We have to protect our home.
Speaker 3 (09:13):
We got to protect it takes you know, there's a
place right here in Burbank.
Speaker 2 (09:17):
Oh really, literally right up the street. I'm not a
big gun guy. Yeah, I'm not either, but but cruises
never shot a gun? Have you ever shot a gun?
Speaker 4 (09:28):
No, I've never show them.
Speaker 2 (09:31):
I'm actually down Let's Corona, yo. Yeah I've never shot
a gun. What does that feel like?
Speaker 3 (09:45):
I feel you know, it kind of helps you understand
why people go crazy, because there's there's definitely a lot
of power associated with it, you know.
Speaker 2 (09:53):
But for me, it's it's just, you know, strictly for protection.
Speaker 1 (09:56):
Yeah, mut is out man in this quality ARM and
B with so much going on right like, thank you
have to carve out some time to make this album.
What was that process like and how long was that problem?
Speaker 2 (10:08):
Well?
Speaker 3 (10:08):
It was about two and a half years really just
finding myself. You know, I think when I dropped my
first album, I don't feel like I was rushed into
it because that one it took a long time to
make two. But you know, I knew that I had
to release two albums in my first album cycle with
my label. So there was an element with Mud of urgency,
and I really wanted to win. I wanted to show
(10:30):
Tie and Sean Baron over a easy money that you know,
they betted on the right guy. So I really put,
you know, my heart and soul into this, and I'm
just glad people are really resonating with it.
Speaker 1 (10:39):
Yeah, man, you know. And then on top of Mud, right,
there's so much work that you've done outside of that
as well.
Speaker 2 (10:44):
Absolutely Gammy with.
Speaker 1 (10:46):
His dog Yeah man, yeah, you keep the Grammy, you
keep it saying yeah, I got hit.
Speaker 2 (10:49):
In my out living room in a lock cabinet. It's
real nice, you know, yeah, yeah, yeah. When people come through.
Speaker 3 (10:55):
It's really just a great I just told them of
a lot of the hard work I've done in the
music industry. You know, I went for years without people
really noticing some of the things I was, you know,
a part of as a producer and a songwriter. So
I thought it felt really good to you know, have
that moment in the you know, in the spotlight for sure.
Speaker 1 (11:11):
Yeah. Is that frustrating, right, being so successful but not
necessarily being in front.
Speaker 3 (11:17):
Not necessarily because you know, for me, I knew I
was building a great catalog. That was mean, it's the
proby to market myself, you know. So it's the process
of building a business. And I looked at songwriting and
production and something separate from what I did as an actor.
I didn't come through with an entitled attitude. It was
just like, let me actually learn, let me sit down
with the grace like Babyface. I studied under for a
(11:38):
long time and then even working with boy Wonder, I
was able to really figure out how to curate a
good record for somebody.
Speaker 2 (11:45):
And that took time. Man, it really wasn't easy.
Speaker 1 (11:48):
You got good parents, oh yeah, really good family.
Speaker 2 (11:51):
Yeah I'm child acting day, No, not at all, man.
It was all love. It was all love. I will
say that.
Speaker 3 (11:58):
You know, that child act experience was like a startup
between me and my mom, just like coming together and
plotting about.
Speaker 2 (12:05):
Like so what do we do next day?
Speaker 1 (12:06):
Being a team.
Speaker 3 (12:07):
It was so cool to have a team member that
genuinely cared about me. She was never on some Joe
Jackson like you have to do this.
Speaker 2 (12:13):
You know.
Speaker 3 (12:14):
It was always like, well, if you still want to
do it, you got to have good grades, and I
think we should go with this network, or we should
try this role, or let's just kind of tap in.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
And I've always done my.
Speaker 3 (12:24):
Best to pay it forward for her because she's she's
such a beautiful, beautiful soul who really got.
Speaker 2 (12:29):
Me in the right direct.
Speaker 1 (12:29):
You're a breadwinner, that a yeah.
Speaker 2 (12:31):
For some time.
Speaker 3 (12:32):
For some time, I mean, because she had to quit
her job in order to even like things got real, man.
I mean, I did three Broadway plays in three years,
and then I was doing movies with Robin Williams, TV
shows on Nickelodeon, flying all over the country. It became
tough for her to really sustain her own business, which
was really successful in New York at the time. But
you know, I really respect her for pouring into me
(12:54):
in that way.
Speaker 1 (12:55):
Yeah, man, she did, man, she raised the real one.
Speaker 3 (12:57):
Not for sure, for sure love Yeah, yeah, yeah, you
know what I mean. Honestly, everything I do even to
this day is just to continue to build a safety
net for my tribe.
Speaker 2 (13:05):
It's like my tribe first, people second, you know, that's it.
Speaker 4 (13:08):
Yeah, yeah, I want to know, have you seen Wicked yet?
Speaker 3 (13:13):
I haven't seen Wicked, and I've been beating myself up
about it. But I've been on the road, so it's
kind of tough to like carve out time to go
to the movies. But shout out to Arianna. Man, that's
my friend's life.
Speaker 2 (13:23):
Yo.
Speaker 3 (13:23):
It's it's crazy, but you know what's wild. I always
knew she was going to be a mega star. She
was like good at being famous at sixteen.
Speaker 2 (13:31):
I've never seen anything quite like it. Like, she was
just really good at being famous.
Speaker 3 (13:34):
So I knew this guy, like yeah, yeah, yeah, she
understood it early, just really got the game from how
to you know, utilize social media to her advantage. She
was a YouTube star before she even really started dropping
music officially. And to see her, you know, turn that
data into into hit records was like the first time
I saw it happen and I was like, Okay, that's
(13:55):
the formula.
Speaker 2 (13:55):
You know, that's an actor is there?
Speaker 4 (13:57):
Kind of like, uh, I guess what's the biggest difference
when it comes to Broadway stage acting and studio acting.
Speaker 3 (14:04):
Well, I feel like for Broadway you have to perform
for the people in the back of the audience. For film,
it's all in the eyes, it's all in the intention
and listening, you know, to the other person. It has
to feel like a real conversation. On Broadway, I feel
like you kind of have to overact just a little
bit in order to, you know, for everybody to feel
it exactly.
Speaker 1 (14:24):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, your whole body story exactly exactly on Broadway,
Downtown Broadway.
Speaker 3 (14:35):
I've done something pantages, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (14:40):
Man, man, you stay working, man.
Speaker 2 (14:42):
It doesn't stop. It doesn't stop. Man.
Speaker 3 (14:44):
But but I'm really blessed to do what I do.
I think about all the other jobs I could have
had about it. I'm really happy that I'm that I'm
doing something that I'm passionate about. And it's it's really fun,
you know. I Mean, there's this ups and downs, but
overall it's really fun.
Speaker 1 (14:57):
Yo far fest with tie dollars sign right, like you
guys get that done in Italy as well.
Speaker 2 (15:01):
No, no, now far fetched.
Speaker 3 (15:03):
I put together a long time ago, right around the
time when I was doing like some of the stuff
a certified lover boy, and it was a track that
was really fun. Do you guys remember Ryan Leslie? Yeah,
it was like a Ryan Leslie moment for me. So
I'm in the studio.
Speaker 1 (15:19):
Remember YouTube channel.
Speaker 2 (15:21):
Yeah, I'm super inspired by him. So, like bro, I
still watch that.
Speaker 1 (15:25):
It was a Ryan was the instrument and with it
pays for it with his black cars.
Speaker 3 (15:30):
Some of the best YouTube series moments ever seen in
music production.
Speaker 2 (15:33):
But I've always been inspired by him.
Speaker 3 (15:35):
And far Fetch was a song that was kind of
built in that same breadth and me just really jamming
out on different instruments. And I had the song for
a long time and my boy boy Wonder was like, Yo,
you should finish that. And I couldn't think of a
second verse. So I played it for Tie and he
was like, man, I'm down, let's do it.
Speaker 2 (15:51):
Yeah yeah, and it turned into magic. I'm like, well, yeah,
let's go. Let's go.
Speaker 3 (15:57):
Had an La legend lock in and really like take
it two x.
Speaker 1 (16:01):
He also plays many instruments. Oh yeah, he's a writer.
Speaker 2 (16:05):
We just had the l A show, you know.
Speaker 3 (16:06):
We had we had Todd Dallas on pop Out and
he was playing bass while I was playing guitar. I
was doing a solo, he was on his knees weld
and now with the bass.
Speaker 2 (16:15):
It was a it was a real rock star moment.
Speaker 3 (16:17):
And it's cool to be signed to somebody that understands
the different sides of me. You know, obviously I'm really
into R and B, but there's so many layers to
who I am as a musician.
Speaker 1 (16:26):
Is there a song that we would be surprised you
listened to a Carpenter or Life?
Speaker 2 (16:33):
No? Not well, I mean you shout out to the
Swifties because Taylor she is amazing. No, but.
Speaker 3 (16:45):
The collabs always but like, actually I'm actually down for
a collab. But I listened to like Radiohead, like Fake
Plastic Trees, I listened to led Zeppelin, Black Dog, you know,
like I listened to just a plethora of different things.
McKee know, his new albums amazing. I've been rocking that
a lot. But but I'm just inspired by by the drama.
(17:06):
Oh yeah, for sure. Black Sabbath was a huge inspiration
for even my artwork, Like the the kind of blurry
of it. Yeah yeah, from like the Paranoid album, you know, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (17:17):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 6 (17:19):
Yeah, that's that goes down as one of the best
rock records ever.
Speaker 2 (17:22):
No, for sure, for sure, they said that's the beginning
of the metal.
Speaker 6 (17:25):
You know, so it sounds like that you enjoy a
good guitar riff because.
Speaker 2 (17:31):
Yeah, you like that guitar drums combo.
Speaker 3 (17:34):
It's like emmyburn bassed drum combo, like that, that that
feeling when when when when everything is kind of you know,
based off of a lead melody.
Speaker 5 (17:43):
You know.
Speaker 3 (17:43):
I think that's like a really cool part of rock
and roll to me. And it's something that I even
used on my own album with a joint like Dancing
with Demons, I have like a guitar part that's that's
kind of you know, in Unison with the bass because
it was super inspired by all the Black Sabbath stuff,
that's right, that's right, Beatles and Beatles for sure, Beatles
for sure, rolling Stones, you know, to me, Pink Floyd,
(18:06):
just the psychedelic like energy and vibes and definitely all
infused in what I do on R and B and
and I hope people understand the different sides of me,
and I always do my best to like not get
too left, but you know.
Speaker 2 (18:19):
But yeah, because you know, it's it's a game.
Speaker 3 (18:21):
But but but I'm definitely excited to show more more
sides myself on the next prod.
Speaker 1 (18:28):
I just haven't here.
Speaker 3 (18:30):
Yeah, but you see what's happening in the bass and
the guitar like in unison in a really special way.
Speaker 2 (18:36):
Yep, together exactly in a way together.
Speaker 1 (18:38):
That's also a white strip club classic.
Speaker 7 (18:41):
It is a white strip club classic, classic New York
stripper classic. That's right, beautiful woman is about to walk
out crazy with the blonde.
Speaker 1 (18:57):
Hair flips for sure. String you feel too easy, bro,
that's where you know. Jackie's a fan of your TV work.
Speaker 2 (19:05):
Yea fautching you.
Speaker 4 (19:07):
So this is kind of like a not kind of
It is a full circle moment for men, like literally
from Victorious to like Backyardigans. Like I was just like,
oh my god, like this is so wild and like
I personally as a fan, like I am super proud
to see your like progress and the fact that you're
finally getting your shine.
Speaker 2 (19:29):
That's beautiful. Thank you so much.
Speaker 3 (19:30):
It's been a long journey, you know, but I always
respect how I started and the fact that they even
allowed me. I remember I had like this big board
meeting with the Nickelodeon executives, and I was like, please
don't irkle me. Dog, Like, if you can't make me cool,
make me cool, because like I still want to do
other things after this.
Speaker 2 (19:49):
And that's when I was like thirteen years old. Thirteen.
Speaker 3 (19:52):
I was definitely having that conversation about brand and marketing
and being able to journey out of what we do
after after the fact. They definitely respected that in real ways.
Obviously I had.
Speaker 2 (20:03):
Goofy episodes from time to time, but like.
Speaker 3 (20:04):
You're allowed to perform, allowed to perform. They allowed me
to write songs on the show too. It is my
first time really understanding the process of writing a song
and putting it out.
Speaker 2 (20:13):
I hit the Billboard chart to like sixteen.
Speaker 1 (20:15):
You know, so crazy it was.
Speaker 3 (20:17):
It was a cool experience and you know, really shout
out to Nickelodeon and Viacom holding me down.
Speaker 4 (20:22):
I was telling Cruise like right before this too, I
was like, I really liked your character because you were
like really the only sane one.
Speaker 1 (20:28):
Yeah, it's just like it was purpose. Yeah, the fall
hard for sanity. Yeah for sure, because like you know,
if you if.
Speaker 3 (20:37):
You let them know, I have you, you know, doing
some pretty wild stuff on there.
Speaker 1 (20:40):
Yeah, so you gotta be careful, right, yeah?
Speaker 2 (20:43):
Is they're a worry about being typecasted exactly?
Speaker 3 (20:46):
I think, you know, comedy is a beautiful thing, and
I understand comedic timing because I've done sitcoms my whole life.
But you know, I knew for a fact that if
people only saw me as a a curator of jokes,
they wouldn't necessarily be able to take me serious when
I wanted to do my music and.
Speaker 2 (21:04):
Get in depth.
Speaker 1 (21:05):
Would make the transition a lot.
Speaker 2 (21:06):
It would have made it kind of tough, you know.
Speaker 3 (21:08):
I mean, we've seen actors transition into dramas, but it's
kind of tough to see comedian jump into music like
I'm trying to do right now?
Speaker 1 (21:14):
Yeah, yea, I mean Jamie Fox had a run, right yo.
Speaker 3 (21:17):
Jamie Fox is such an anomaly in that clazy man.
It's it's like sick insane. Yeah, that's a generational talent.
Speaker 1 (21:24):
Right.
Speaker 6 (21:24):
There's Backyard against bro or such a part of my household.
I got two teenagers back against Live my g parties.
The Cheats and Eats a Pizza is my favorite episode.
That's my favorite episode. But but man, it must feel
great to be able to have your fans now call
back to those days and you have an impact on them.
Speaker 2 (21:45):
Man, because children in TV.
Speaker 6 (21:47):
Man, that's like, you know, that just brings back so
much nostalgia when you grew up.
Speaker 2 (21:52):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (21:53):
Yeah, yeah, I mean it's a it's a really cool thing.
I mean we've been doing like meet and greets before
you know, my shows, and to see how the journey
has affected people and how grateful they are that I
kept going and didn't let the industry beat me down.
Was it was just a beautiful exchange, you know, And
I'm gonna stay resilient. Man, I'm down to keep going.
Speaker 1 (22:13):
Yeah for sure. Man, have you given yourself time to, uh,
to kind of break down what's going on between Kendrick.
Speaker 3 (22:19):
And Drake, you know, to be completely honest, I let
the Titans fight, you know, like right now, I'm still
learning my Yeah. Yeah, I'm still learning my superpower. So
I'm you know, I'm letting them just kind of do
their thing. But you know, I'm a big fan of both,
you know, and it's and it's you know, it's kind
of unfortunate. I really hope that we could all coexist
a little bit differently, but you know, it has bred
(22:40):
some amazing records.
Speaker 2 (22:41):
So it is what it is.
Speaker 3 (22:43):
But it's a little unfortunate though, because I would love
for both of them to be able to just rise
to the occasion and be great at the same time.
Speaker 1 (22:50):
If possible, that'd be great, that'd be great. But I
don't necessarily see that happening.
Speaker 3 (22:55):
I don't see it's it's it's a it's gonna be
a journey. I'll just say that much.
Speaker 2 (22:59):
It's gonna be a it's gonna be a journey.
Speaker 3 (23:00):
Next year is gonna be a big year, though, And uh,
I don't want to count the underdog out.
Speaker 1 (23:05):
Okay, okay, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, now we totally got that.
Speaker 5 (23:11):
I overstand you Overdr're right, okay yeah yeah, oh no,
I mean, like I said, white flag baby swizzling over here.
Speaker 2 (23:23):
Peace, I'm here for peace. I'm here for peace, chicken grease.
Speaker 4 (23:28):
We're talking about all the instruments that you've play. Is
there an instrument that you still want to learn?
Speaker 2 (23:33):
Absolutely?
Speaker 3 (23:34):
You know, I'm a big fan of strings and my
mom plays the viola, but I want to learn how
to play the violin would be really nice. I mean,
I use strings on a lot of my records, and
if I could really like figure that out. It would
be one less check I'm spending, you know. Yeah, just
like you know, you don't even have to be that amazing.
Speaker 1 (23:55):
You just gotta gotta have a good tone, you know,
that's for sure. And get for the movie Detroit had
to like chop off your hair, right Yeah, to cut
my hair again?
Speaker 2 (24:02):
Absolutely not.
Speaker 3 (24:04):
But I mean, you know, to be completely honest, man,
my life hasn't been like a super crazy trajectory financially.
Like there was times where I needed the money for Detroit,
and it was like, you know, well, if I want
to continue my journey and if I want to continue
to act, I know I can get more roles if
I cut my hair off right now and it grows
back as you can see.
Speaker 2 (24:25):
You know what I'm saying, it's you know, a corero
right now.
Speaker 3 (24:27):
But but yeah, man, I just knew for a fact
I had to I had to fight, and this was
an opportunity to keep going.
Speaker 1 (24:34):
Yeah. No, man, listen, man, you're doing it. Dog congratulates.
Speaker 2 (24:37):
Oh, thank you, man.
Speaker 1 (24:37):
I appreciate that. We love to watch the growth and
the success. Man, you know, we love to see the winning. Man.
Speaker 3 (24:45):
It's it's a it's a real journey and I'm so
thankful and it's tough.
Speaker 1 (24:49):
It's tough.
Speaker 3 (24:49):
The attitude is gratitude, yeah, because Thanksgiving just popped up,
and even prior to Thanksgiving, I mean, I just had
to switch my perspective.
Speaker 2 (24:57):
There's there's certain times where.
Speaker 3 (24:58):
You think, like, man, I should be doing in this
so you see other people playing bigger rooms or doing uh,
you know, more TV slots or getting that festival you want.
But I think just like getting to the basics of
gratitude in the present moment is gonna help me, you know,
better things in the future.
Speaker 1 (25:16):
The attitude you gotta stay there's no traffic in there.
There's no traffic exactly. Yeah, yeah, you know, so here
you gotta stay there. What's up?
Speaker 6 (25:22):
A quick question? You travel a lot obviously with tour.
You know, when you want to kind of get music
out of your brain for a little bit. You ever
flip over and be a fan of TV?
Speaker 2 (25:31):
Do you watch?
Speaker 6 (25:31):
You have some favorite shows or movies that you hit
while you're on the road.
Speaker 2 (25:34):
Oh?
Speaker 3 (25:35):
Absolutely, you know. When I'm on the road, I'm really
on my Tarantino kick. I was I was watching like
pulp fiction, reservoir Dogs, you know, like you could watch
one hundred, one hundred times and it's always gonna work.
And you know, this is my first time doing like
a tour bus, uh tour. So I had like a
(25:55):
nice TV, nice sound system. I was back there vibing,
you know.
Speaker 2 (25:58):
Yeah, you just looked up the people ate literally yesterday too.
Speaker 3 (26:01):
That's a good film. That's a film, underrated, under radio
rated for sure. I thought it was really dope.
Speaker 2 (26:07):
Yeah, that's a good one too.
Speaker 6 (26:09):
Man they come to Yeah, that's just such an amazing scene.
The way they work music and he's very good about
his musical.
Speaker 2 (26:18):
Oh absolutely. It is a big piece to scoring a
lot of those.
Speaker 1 (26:24):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (26:26):
And I actually found this dope Mexican spot called l
Coyote from Yeah, I've.
Speaker 2 (26:31):
Been going there ever since.
Speaker 3 (26:32):
Man, a lot of places, Julie the word that's over
there too.
Speaker 2 (26:39):
I love a good film location, man for sure. Like
they actually put me on.
Speaker 1 (26:43):
Man for sure. What are your tour bus rules?
Speaker 2 (26:46):
My tour bus rules.
Speaker 3 (26:47):
I don't really have to make on the bus, right, Yeah,
well there's definitely you can't do that.
Speaker 2 (26:52):
That goes what I'm saying.
Speaker 3 (26:53):
I'll say, if you're gonna roll a spliff, make sure
it's leveled out, like I don't want the whole bus
smelling like tobacco.
Speaker 2 (26:59):
That's a you know. Yeah. Yeah. Other than that, I'm
pretty exactly I'm kind of chilling, you know.
Speaker 1 (27:05):
So yeah, man, listen, dog, congratulations, Bro, thank you. Let's
get it. Bro, come see us any time. It's too
easy for sure.
Speaker 2 (27:11):
I really appreciate you all for having me.
Speaker 1 (27:13):
We appreciate your time and energy and your music as well.
And if you bring to it, man.
Speaker 3 (27:17):
Nah na, and I'm definitely gonna keep going. It's just
the beginning of something really dope.
Speaker 1 (27:20):
Your breast stress are man, appreciate appreciate that, man, Tom's
Cruise Show Real ninety two three. Let's get it
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