Sitdown w/ Jt The bigga Figga

Fillmoe Mike of 106.1 KMEL recently sat down with JT The Bigga Figga on this latest installment of the Wash Ya Back podcast.
Producer of this episode is Christian Montoya
Media provided by Duarte Productions and E. McGee Photography

Episode Transcript

(00:01):
Yeah, man, we're back.We're back for another special, very special
installment of the Wash Your Back Podcast. We got a legend with us today,
y'all at San Francisco native, amastermind, a producer of entrepreneur,
a world traveler. We got JT. The Bigger Figure. Ma Man.

(00:29):
Happy to be home, man,That's all I can say. Started off
like that, straight up man,straight up, for real, for real,
Man. We happy to have youhere on the Wash Your Back Podcast.
JT want to welcome you home,like you said, But we always
start to guest off of one particularquestion. Okay, it's very serious,
Come on with it. Did youwash your back today? Yes? I
did? Yes, I did.You got arms too? I know you

(00:54):
need no help. You could doit all yourself. Man. I got
in that shower man and let thatthing do what you do to hey.
Man. Like I said, Man, were happy to have you, brother.
What's up with you? Man?Tell us what's cracking with JT?
With the fig Man? You knowwhat, filmore, we call you the
fig the fig men. Listen man. First of all, Man, I'm

(01:15):
just happy to be home. Itraveled for thirteen years. I moved down
south to Atlanta. I moved toAlabama. After that, I went to
Africa, man, and being overthere for like three years working on just
trying to build something that's that's that'sbigger than me first of all, like

(01:40):
really taking my skills serious towards thingsthat have a bigger impact for other people.
Going to Africa, it was likeI just brought my skills from America
from the Bay. You know,everything I learned in the Bay, I
just took that around the world.Everywhere I went. I applied the same
thing that I had to do here. You feel me, it's the same

(02:02):
thing in any other city. Yougot to get out there. You got
to meet somebody, you gotta shakeyour hand, You got to get out
there and make something happen. SoI want when you say, you know
what I'm up to? You know, going through all of that, going
through all of that, that waslike I want to say, now training

(02:25):
for coming home, what did youachieve, my brother on your third journey?
Journey? Straight up? So Ibring back a lot of knowledge,
man, I bring back insight.I bring back the independent game more enhanced

(02:46):
as a as a as an olderguy now you know, as one of
the OG's man to my you still, by the way, you still look
like you're twenty three, but notthat somewhere younger than I am. You
ain't like me. You don't eatthose pork or nothing like that. See
ill eat pop chops and all that. Yep, I don't eat that.

(03:08):
Hey, you know what, No, that's real talk. I'm just keeping
a real JG. No, that'sreal. That's real. Yes, sir.
I think looking at the pain ofthe ups and the downs of my
journey make me more valuable now becausethe things I learned, the dudes and
the don'ts work and what don't work. It's like applying yourself in an environment

(03:35):
that you're not familiar with, withpeople that don't know you. You like
a brand new, sixteen year oldrapper right now to them, right you
know? So I approached everything froman angle of not being a rapper but
being a businessman, being a waita minute, you got to turn that

(03:57):
down. Golly oh, man,shout up to my son, but this
ain't it. Please don't do that. Shut up to my baby boy.
Man. This is Boom Boom rightthere, also known as Khalik Kali father
man. You know, brought themwith me. I bring them with me.
But cheer Brother. Just the angleof everything applying it to today right

(04:20):
now, coming home in the BayArea. It's a new terrain. It's
new players on the field. Uh, some familiar, some unfamiliar. It's
a new day. This is ayoung man's game. It's not an old
man's game. But you're only oldif you allow yourself to be old.

(04:41):
Okay, your product, if it, if it can blend into the marketplace,
then it doesn't have an age stampon its either either it's dope or
it ain't. Shut out the Fodytwo short Snoop Dogg ice Cube, you
know, the forefathers, you know, pushing the line. They make it
look good, they make it lookdoable, and I'm you know, I'm

(05:03):
under them, right but now I'man og and it's a whole bunch of
younger ones under me. Now.You know what's amazing about you? Fig
Like like your radio hit game recognizedgame is like with twenty five almost thirty
years old now right, yeah,yeah, about twenty eight years That's what

(05:24):
I'm saying. But you still relevant, like you still cracking your whip.
You still got got I had FilthyRich on their shot of Hill. You
got motion you still got motion,you know what I'm saying, Like you
still like cracking your whip. Itmay not be on the music tip all
the time, but you like independentgame. Like you, mister independent man,

(05:47):
That in itself come with a baggageof struggle. That come with pain,
man, heartbreak, It come withsadness, but guess what it comes
with the relief of knowing that usingmy God given time to through the independent
game, I'll never be broke.And that's the brothers I can put because

(06:10):
guess what I sat to get upand throw this in there without using nothing
illegal. Straight up, I pridemyself on that no type of crime involved
in the pursuit of the financial transactions. That is something that take God blessing
to come into you because in aHongry environment, we kind of do what

(06:33):
we're gonna do. I'm not sayingI was perfect coming up. I'm just
saying that concept of independent is thepain of you have to do it yourself.
I mean, I can't dress itup, I can't make it like
I'm somebody special. No. Irealized at a young age that when the

(06:56):
record labels told me no, thatwas the best thing that could have happened
because I wanted to get signed.Shut up to my brother black Seat.
He went in there and got signedoff his tape. He's bring in there
and he say he was bringing thetapes to sell it. But Jason Blaine
that in a minute record said,Man, I got a check for you
guys right now. I ain't gonnasay the number, but it was a

(07:19):
check that I would have took forsure. I would have signed whatever it
was on the paper. I probablywouldn't even went to the lawyer. You
got the check right now. I'mkeeping mind one at that point. And
man, they got a check rightnow, A check I never seen j
check. My mama never even got. Man, I gotta go and get

(07:40):
that right there. Can I askyou a question real quick? Yeah,
can you take us back to nineteenninety two and just describe Frisco, Oakland,
the politics, the Bay Area cultureat that time, like if you
can, like ninety two to ninetyfour. I know it probably was a
blur to you because you was everywhere, y'all was doing your thing. You
feel me, it's my very beginning. Okay, that's the very beginning.

(08:03):
I vividly remember it. Yeah,I do. Ninety two. Let me
tell you the biggest impact of ninetytwo Rodney King verdict and the riots kicking
off and the crips and the Blood'scoming together, and then that made philm
on Hunter's Point come together. Ohthat's the biggest thing outside of me putting

(08:24):
out two tapes in one year,which was very phenomenal for an eighteen year
old, you know at my Mamahouse man. But the biggest impact was
the unity through an event that lookedat bad. The event was bad.
What happened Ronny King got beat beatbeat, and they said that that was
legal. I'm just saying, though, that is that is exactly what kicked

(08:50):
it off. Though, that's whatkicked it off. To let me know
the reality of the world we livingin. Like we heard about Martin Luther
King and then falling out, butjust the first time I got to see
buildings burning everywhere, running downtown,kicking in windows, trying to steal the
shoes and you know, clothes anduh, running in the people from Hundred's
Point lake View. People were supposedto be beefing with but when that happened,

(09:16):
and this stow is wide open foranybody and everybody all the drummer was
out the window. It wasn't noshooting and killing at that moment. It
wasn't no thought of that. Itwas like, boy, we all in
trying to get this money, getit and everybody that gave everybody a pass
and went on through that. Meand black Sea both end up at a

(09:37):
meeting for Philmore on Hunting's Point tosquash the beef and you eighteen. I
was eighteen years old, and Ijust why I didn't get picked. I
was standing there when the call camein and it was like, come on,
we're going whoever standing here, boy, listen, this is a phil
More going a hundred's point. Wedon't know if it's a set up or
not. Whoever, we could getherup. We only grabbed about five cars

(10:01):
because they was like, come rightnow and we're gonna squash it. I'm
like, well, I don't knowwhat I got myself into. I jumped
in the car though, and I'mnow we're sitting I'm there when a call
come in on McCalister Street at thephone booth and black Sea and in ninety
green from Demons of the Mind andcreature Men and and and uh black Sea

(10:28):
and his team. They was theones on the phone. Okay, from
that one phone call, then thecommunication began. But amongst the block right
there and my OG's that was there. I'm listening because I'm like, you
know, I ain't never heard ofno squashed the beef. But I just

(10:48):
seen on the news the crips andthe bloods came together, and maybe that
got something to do with this too, because when they was rioting down there,
it was crips and blood. Theydidn't shoot at each other. It
was all about the motion of themoment. And in San Francisco nineteen ninety
two, that that came about.Another thing that impacted my life totally was

(11:11):
Doctor Dre album The Chronic, eventhough that's later, because I put my
first tape out June ninety two,putting it on the map, and then
November sixteenth, I put out Don'tStop Till We Majure cassette tapes, five
thousand copies. That was my firstorder, and Doctor Dre dropped The Chronic

(11:35):
November sixteenth. Okay, so meand him dropping on the same day,
right rapper producers and what's crazy?I didn't plan it, and I was
upset that he sold the hell outof his and minds. Wasn't selling them
fast as he you know, itwas people that was looking for me because
I'm from here, so of course, but as far as well, I

(11:58):
ain't gonna say I was mad.I was saying, damn, I need
to get big time. Like DoctorDrey boy, he got an album that
sound phenomenal called The chronic In thisalbum right here, it sounded like a
movie, like a movie soundtrack orsomething. And I just knew, like
I worked all nineteen ninety three,I stopped selling drugs and weed. That

(12:20):
wasn't no big time guy anyway.I was just getting a couple of bags,
trying to make a few dollars.That wasn't it. I said,
I'm quitting, man, I'm finnawork on my album, Players in the
Game. That's that's nineteen ninety three. That's thirty years ago. That right
there changed my life. And allI did was listen to uh, Doctor
Dreda Chronick and mcmall Illegal business Manbecause that album came out earlier in the

(12:48):
year of ninety three, and Kyriepatterned his mcmaha's album like Doctor Dreda Chronick
album. Wow, So I patternPlayers in the Game album if you listen
to it, it's a continual segueof songs. Because I got that from
Doctor Dre and I seen mac morlandid it too. I'm like, oh,

(13:09):
you know, as a producer,I'm looking at how is them songs
connected? Like that? They doingthem segways and got the police siren or
the helicopter or the train, thetrain, the train going by, you
know, the gunshots segways. Soas a producer, I'm studying that.
So the first person that I knowperiod that made an album that was patterned

(13:33):
after this new guy or not newguy, Doctor Dre, but he by
hisself now up under his name.Okay, So now a lot of people
followed this blueprint them soul beats withthe little anything with the little in there
back then, and that's why agame recognized game. You hear them saying

(13:54):
little little ticker bell type sounds,but with the drums it's okay. And
then the lyrics but them it's reallytinker bell sounds. When I listen to
Game Recognize You, I'm like,the hell this is? But it sounds
good to this day though, Andwhen they say one hit, wonder the

(14:16):
cold part about it? I said, all I need is one to get
me where I'm trying to go asan executive and as a producer, and
as a camera as a as aneditor, as a as a magazine owner.
Listen off one song I said,all I need is one. If
you notice I never been on tourmy whole thirty years. If you notice

(14:37):
I did a show here, showthere, but I'm putting out albums.
I want the money I would Ido. I like the money money part
because I don't have to compete withnobody. I can sign the next guy,
or find this product or do acompilation. You feel what I'm saying.

(14:58):
I found the way that do ajoint album. I started that joint
album Movement and Dads, then juvenilewhole projects. You feel me like that
concept was away for me to continuemy career without having to even put no
pressure. And I get to workwith some of my favorite guys and I
can own it paying them. Andthen I got his mind, Kevin Gates.

(15:22):
We got a whole album together that'seven going to twenty eleven, that's
years into the future. But theconcept of independency and capitalizing off the moment
when I interact with anybody, ifthey set my money. That's my pack
period. If they hold on,we clear now if they set my money
manager or not record deal or notJT putting this pack out period. If

(15:46):
the rapper is set my money.Yeah, so I just want to make
because they you know, they starttrying to oh with Jay One's supposed to
do it. Now if he septthe money, I'm not listening to no
manager. Man, you better checkyour artists, because he sept it the
money, right, So yeah,yeah, you know you know it was
disputes. I heard about them inthe community with my name. I'm like,

(16:07):
well, hold on right if I'mpay see, and in this game,
sometimes you will pay without the contractright then and there because you just
want to get them hard drive orget to this or the that. I
feel it. So one thing,I got a hell of questions for you,
blood because you'll start talking and Igot like three questions off what you

(16:30):
just said. But one of thequestions I just wanted to ask you just
some some literal simple ship figure yoube everywhere, Like why you were like
you know, Philmo, we knownfor wiggling, but Nigga, you the
ultimate wig You'll be here, You'llbe there. You was talking earlier on

(16:52):
your live it was either there yesterday, but one of the things you said,
he was like you was talking toMinister Fair and one of the things
he said was that we got touse this platform. Don't let them just
let you say anything on your onour platform. Realize what you're saying and
basically like make it mean something.And he told you this. I think

(17:15):
you probably talked on what twenty fivetwenty years ago that conversation, but that
was deep to me, bro,like just as far as just like you
know what I'm saying, like usingyour platform for the right reason and not
just saying anything, man, brother. And my question is though, like
how do you just get in themrooms? Is it you? Is it
JT? Cause you know other peopleget the situation, but they not gonna

(17:38):
they not like they don't know howto how to get the gap, They
don't know how to talk. Whatdo you do to make people just this?
JT? The bigger figure out?You feel me? Everybody ain't got
what you got. I think it'sa gift from God. I think it
is rbidity to be a simple person, even though I grind and do what
I do. I think it's theability to bring something to the table that's

(18:06):
unique for the moment, or Ihave a history of doing something and then
someone can invite me into a circleor a situation. But in the past,
I used to invite myself to situations. Hey, man, such and
such in them downtown. Okay,come on, y'all, let's get down
there. Oh jay Z then performingtonight. Boy, we got to open

(18:26):
up tonight. You know, Ijust cubing him coming man, we got
to be at that back door earlybefore everybody gets here. Like it's application
of yourself first of all. Butthe magnetic pull, Like how people be
attracted to me? Yeah, LikeI don't know. I think I'm weird.

(18:48):
Like when they be like, oh, somebody weird, I accept it
because geniuses are weird, straight up. Nah, I figured it out real
talk because I'm like, damn,I'm weird. I'd like to do shit.
Everybody think think I'm tripping or I'mnot. I don't even watch sports.
Bro got on the Nineers right now, Bro, we would it represents
my city. But I ain't watchone game. I can't tell you the

(19:10):
lineup of not one name on theteam right now. But guess who I
do know Jerry, Rice, RogerCraig. I know them, them names
is why I still were it isright, So Brock Perdy, I don't
even know that. I never heardof it. I promise you no no
smoke to him. And I hopethe new dudes get on the map.

(19:33):
But I don't watch sports. Iam a sport. I got a bet
on me and I don't even bet. But I'm saying that everything got to
be a play about making something happen, because boy, yesterday ain't coming back.
So if you get a bunch ofyesterday's within a thirty day time period,
you have now put yourself in adeficit for financial transactions that could have
been coming to you the following month. Work a whole month for some that

(19:57):
might be coming next month. Butbut wait, delay, kick it,
watch sports, video games, havefun, go on dates, be partying
all night. Listen. If youdo that in a one month thirty days,
If you do that for twenty days, you in a deficit because twenty
of them days was something you didtoday that get you paid tomorrow. The

(20:19):
phone call you made to drive intothis office, or going to meet your
homeboy homegirl to talk about something thathey man, I need you to see
about this, your folks that dothis. But you if talking over the
phone is one thing, but thenyou drove and she's thirty minutes away or
he forty five minutes away. Igot him. He gotta see me face

(20:40):
to face on this because I needthis play to go through them phone calls
trying to convince your folk, andthat could be your love on, your
brother, your cousin, your mother, or whoever. But when you gotta
make it happen, it's an investmentof your time. And if you got
a whole day just went by,I feel horrible on my days. I
got some horrible days behind me rightnow, now, right I absolutely didn't

(21:02):
do nothing. I was send backplaying with my son scrolling. You feel
mean nothing done that was towards mytransactions for today. So that's my own
fault. So I'm just sharing thatwith everybody else. Your fault too.
You kicked it this much, yougot a deficit, you had a loss.

(21:22):
So you're gonna have to do somethingthat gets your transaction on the spot
on all your new transactions going intothe new month, so that the bills
can be paid based upon real transactionsthat you made off whatever you sell or
your service you provide, or youbought some and you set at this price
set. Hey, you better makesome cold some cold cast transactions now because

(21:45):
you could have been lining things upon it the month of them yesterday.
See I'm speaking about yesterday. It'sa cold world, bro. But do
you think like doing that working theway you work and like basically seem like
you platting seeds. It may notcome to fruition. You know, it
may not come to a fruition fora month from now, but you playing

(22:07):
seeds to try to make it happen. So when it do come, when
it do bear fruit, I'm gonnabe eating for surely. Do you think
that's the reason why you kind oflike still relevant because you're planning all these
seeds Boom boom doing this, menot wasting the day where I did it
achieve, Like me coming here tonight, I brought my son with me.
I'm like, I got to bringboom boom with me, but I gotta

(22:29):
go make this because this was alreadysomething talked about then I thought about it.
This is good for me to doanyway. Why Because the more press
I've been doing this, the mostpress I've been done in years, because
I've been gone for years, right, so I ain't did nothing like this.
I mean I came up here.I think I talked on somebody else
show before. But I'm just sayingas me coming home, it's cool that

(22:51):
you over there all that that's great. Now that I'm home, I got
to dribble the ball in a certainway to make an impactful moment and invite
those that's here to participate under myleadership. Now y'all can find and do
it. How y'all been doing,You're doing great. But if my track
record, my track record is whenI go places, I meet people and

(23:15):
God make them take flight. Ididn't make them take flight, but they
paid attention to my demographic on theseinstructions play by play like I'm explaining right
now. Somebody could take this videoand rewind it and break down the pieces
like Okay, yep, I gotsome flaws right here. He ain't lying.
Yep, I did that too.He ain't lying, you feel me?

(23:36):
Because I'm a man that this isall I know is independent. So
I had to bust a play toeat. I got seven children. I'm
not a one child person. Sevenchildren is like seven times to get something
done, sir, right time seven. Now, if you do that,
if you do the math right,people will mote. Children shouldn't be less

(24:00):
active, should be more active.Right, But I know there's you know
the opposite. Well, man,I got these shit kids now, ship,
I'm a go on it. Nah, we gotta make places happen from
the house. That's where the phonefall. That's what a computer fold like.
It ain't no excuses. I'm comingfrom Africa where they got Android phones
that ain't even a good version,and they running whole operations off an Android

(24:22):
phone from a village. He doingwhole book reports, he's doing data sheets,
he's doing organization of data and information. Emails, is going out word
documents, getting prepared right on thislittle cheap crack their phone. You feel
me, so my my, myunderstanding now of seeing and witnessing man and

(24:45):
coming back to America, and yougot a board like this right here,
you got you got cameras moving andstuff up in there. You feel me.
You got like this is but overthere this it don't it don't look
like this. In some places youwill find this, you feel me.
But in reality now being back inAmerica and being back in the Bay I
say, I have to utilize everyasset that's available and network with those that

(25:10):
have like minded that's trying to makesomething happen, because I think we still
had a potential here. But ifit ain't no unity here up under some
direction, then everybody just scattered bumblebees. Right now, there is no harness
thing. That's not the power ofthis Bay Area location. When I go

(25:33):
other places, I don't hear nothingabout the Bay. I promise you that
I don't hear the local rappers outthere straight up. And you know it's
crazy that we hear all they music, but they don't hear our music.
You feel me. The Bay Areaartists don't travel enough as a unit to
go make things happen. Shout outto Larussell though, I see he be

(25:56):
getting a real buns and he'll godry somewhere and shout out to Larry June.
I see he'd be having a bushe going somewhere. Shut out to
RBO. I know, uh theydoing they little, not little, It's
big. I was finna say littleto it. Nah, it's big.
I've seen all them dates. Thatsounds pretty sweet to me. And they
all somewhere else so I got thesame uh struggle, and I got the

(26:26):
same obstacles in front of me asthe newest guy here in the base just
starting, or the hottest guy.Whatever. The obstacles that exist, they
in front of me too. Ican't come back and say I got a
golden pass. I actually I absolutelyhave it harder. Come on, figure,
you already was older man. It'sover. Nah, I'm sorry about

(26:48):
that. It ain't over till Isaid it's over all. God says over,
but I can't say. Let yousay it's over. That's why the
dribbling of the ball and the multitaskingof different talents and blueprints that come from
my mind, it's all gifts fromGod. It's like an idea come in
everybody here, but who willing totake the pain to make the idea turn
into reality? Now that's the thingthat separate people. But that's what you

(27:12):
do. You have an idea inyour mind and then you literally you make
it happen by God grace, andeach of us possessed that same talent.
It's called do for self. Ican't put you know, it ain't no
religious term. It's due for selflike that is the whole basis of what

(27:37):
I learned, and I got toshout out the honorable Minister Lewis far Khan
and the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, becausethese are the architects to help to help
us black men who have been brokenand lost and have not had a chance
to be put back together based uponour dependency of others to feed us and

(27:59):
find nance and budgets and grants.And we never thought, or we have
yet to take our collective minds andput them together and bring all our talents
together in a collective way. Everythingwe need is within our collective group right
here. Now, circulate the dollarbetween this group, like Black Wall Street

(28:22):
in nineteen twenty one, TOAs toOklahoma, them folks like, well,
they don't want us in they cityor they part of town. Then we
just make our own and they said, and then they said, we don't
even want to go over there nomore. Were gonna just spend it,
and they became something big. SoI'm just saying, in this modern time
right now, do for self.Every person gonna have to do it,

(28:42):
even when jobs be on the lineand a person might have just got married,
or a person might have just signedup a mortgage for a house twenty
five twenty five years, six percentinterest or some whatever it is right for
it's twenty five years, and thenthey playing with the job. It's people

(29:06):
going through that right now. Howdo you deal with that? If you
just signed up for a mortgage andthen things go left? What is the
alternative? If your money have beenbased come on, boom bo. If
your money based on this job,then you will either sink to the bottom

(29:27):
of the ocean very fast, oryou will start applying to do for self
package, even if that's going tospend some of the family money on a
generator and a power washer and awater tank and go do some go do
some car washing wash? Yes,how much of car wash? Right now?

(29:48):
Like? Okay, let's say wegot the sweet deal for fifteen all
day in and out, you gotthe vacuum cleaner, you going to Walmart?
Park? Is you hearing the dofor self? This ain't with't Nobody
woke up this morning talking about Igotta wash cars. But do you want
to be flat broke today or doyou want to at least make you your
first one hundred dollars off your newbusiness of do for self? But the

(30:11):
ego of a man sometime or maybea woman too, could be like,
man, man, I ain't finnado that for no honey, because I
was just getting paid four thousand amonth. I'm at one thousand dollars a
week, and now I'm finna startfrom scratch. Well, let's do the
math. If you did a hundredtoday and a hundred for a hundred to
day for the rest of the month, you will be at three vans.

(30:32):
But you busting your back washing it, you know. And some days you
might have a two hundred dollars aday. Some days you might raise the
price. Hey, you know what, because you're adding wax to it.
Now, maybe buy one of themgloves. Maybe you added that. That's
another double. If you hearing menow, this day they went up to

(30:52):
a poty. Yeah, I needto do ten a day. Did you
keep in the play? Well,I'm saying yes, sir. That's an
analogy. Let's go to another analogythat black people do from time to time,
most times for funerals. But somepeople have figured out they can do
this even to pay their rent.What is that selling plates? You took
it right out of my mouth.Why because plates pay for funerals in the
past. But now plates can bepaying for rent, it can pay for

(31:17):
the gas, It could pay forthe child, child care, it could
pay for you know. Uh,there's women and men that know how to
make a meal that's so cold andmake it look like the kind that be
on the pictures and right, butthey ain't applying selling. They didn't go

(31:37):
to the restaurant deepot and go geta hundred pounds of chicken and go get
the you know, the hundred potatoesor I don't know, whatever they're gonna
be making in boke and go buythem plates. Go get the lemons for
the lemonade, the sugar, goget the cups, get the get to

(31:59):
get the all the utensil. Sevenup cake. Yeah all that you got
people right now that know how tomake seven up cake. That she makes
them crazy. Okay, but listen, did you know if she got a
hundred pounds of flour a hundred pounds, I'm talking about buying it about a
pound. Now, we ain't talkingabout this one for you were talking about
looking at the oven in your houseas a drug. Come on, boom

(32:22):
boom, stuff that beery looking atit, like how do drug dealers look
at their products. Right, theyget it, they package it, they
cooking it, they doing whatever.Did you know there's guys right now.
They hit a lick on the train. They came up on some ovens.
Well, these ovens is pretty talland they pretty well looked like some pizza
ovens down there. But it gotrolls. These boys start buying two three

(32:46):
hundred pounds of sugar, flour,nutmegs, cinnamon, all that right,
oatmeal, raisins, cookies. Man. Them boys was making cookies. Man,
that looked like a steering wheel fora dollar, okay, for a
dollar. Listen the young dudes takingit to the streets selling it for two

(33:07):
dollars or three dollars. These thingsis oatmeal raising with the crispy edges,
with the gooey little center, youknow, with the criss crazy. I'm
saying, they treat cookies and cakeslike dope. They're doing two three hundred
pounds of this and four hundred eggs. And because they Grandmama and them and

(33:30):
Auntie them is the ones whipping itup, and they got a team selling
it. It's like drugs wrapped ina simple little plastic straight up oatmeal raisin
cookie looked like a steering wheel,seven up cake, the yellow cake with
the black with the chocolate, yeah, the regular cake. Yeah. I'm

(33:52):
just saying any type of thing theygot to do with pastries, they cashing
out. So I'm just saying,somebody who lost a job, do your
girl know how to cook a goodass meal? Then I think y'all might
have to sell them. Man,I ain't selling no dinners. Feed Okay,
cool, go only do what you'regonna do. Then let these days
go by, and then they mightkick in, Like damn he an he
right, if we invest two hundred, we could at least make a three

(34:13):
fifty off these plates, right,maybe four hundred. I don't know what
you gotta wait, you know,I don't know what thing is gonna to
be the thing to make you makethe profit. But I remember when I
sold places in May six hundred dollar. Ye one day. I remember,
so shout out to the grade side. I stilled there, me and the
war they stay over there, Manshout out the legend over there, like

(34:34):
man shout my guy. Jock.He was like, man, j T
was right there selling place. Hesaid, you was giving away place too.
I was doing that to get myname. Popping man I got a
hell of a chef that I didn'thire. Right here, man, we
got it. We got we gotfish, chicken fries, we got macaroni
and cheese. We got lemon cakes, velvet cake, we got lemonade.
Boy, listen, French fries.Man. Look when I found out that

(34:54):
this man know how to season thisstuff that make you when you eat it,
you want more, right, Andthat's what I did. I said,
I'm gonna give it to him first, and then when the night time
coming, they smoking it in theirlittle spots. Figure, you got some
more of them? Uh yeah,twenty dollars my way off. Nah,
real talk. So it worked out, it did? I mean? So
man stutter the green side there likeanother fillmore. Dude came over here.

(35:20):
J you the bigger figure. I'mlike, yeah, man, I know
boy. He was like yeah,he was out there moving b But anyway,
you moved me everywhere you go.Man, we ain't we we thirty
five minutes in. We ain't evengot to the g O P. What
you see in demo self and Quinn. But I want to talk about Atlanta
and I want to talk about Africa. So you was in you was in
the baby, did you get tiredof the bay? Was you sick of

(35:43):
it? I was sick of you, okay at the bab sick of it,
sick of it. I was sickof the self hate. I was
sick of the self hate amongst theteammates that once was cool. I was
sick of the popular the popularization ofkill your brother if we get into it,
if you are, I got sickof it. It's down there too,
though, but out here it hurtmore when it's your people, and

(36:05):
it make you more in danger ofWell, you still cool with them,
So maybe one day that's how Igo. Dudes got killed that didn't know
they was finna get killed. Whyyou still cool with them? Well,
man, I ain't anything, butyou be over there. Boom boom boom.
That's how I go. So meremoving myself from that. Yeah,
not that I have nothing to dowith it, but everybody that I loved,

(36:25):
they like, well you still lovethem? Feed Oh man, we
own you. Then that's how easyit could go, right, So,
and I didn't feel like I thinkI did everything I could do in the
Bay at twenty ten was the endof my vision of me believing about this.
Two thousand and nine, I waspreparing I'm getting up out of here.
I didn't tell nobody until it wastoo Listen, people didn't know I

(36:49):
was gone to twenty eleven. Thewhole twenty ten. I didn't hardly say
nothing about nothing. Yep, I'mlike because I remember in that movie,
was it minus to Society? No? Not. Society is a mental society.
When the man say with Jada Pickettmin Mayby, let's move to Atlanta,

(37:10):
I don't want to move. Idon't want to move. Then one
day, all right, let's doit. You're right, baby, Let's
get the up out of here.The day he moving, they come,
get them right. And that's whatI said, ooh you. I don't
learn nothing else. I learned thatfrom men Society. If you moveing to
Atlanta, don't tell nobody why,because that movie has showed us so you're

(37:32):
finna go start a new life.That's the concept. I never looked at
it from that boy. Listen,if you make it down there, you're
not dealing with the stress that we'redealing with out here. You talk about
that a lot. You be likeman. You you talk about you be
like man. She was se whatthe bay or she was America give you,
like, this is what America haveto offer you. You talk about

(37:52):
the violence and the bullshit that wego through out here, and it's almost
like you saying, like, bro, you could go, you could go
over here, trying to yell y'all, y'all need to go to Africa.
Y'all need to move from here.I think the Africa thing, but it
started with an invitation, and whenI got over there, I liked it.
The work that God was having medo by building water wheels and buying

(38:12):
land and here. So I seenthat two hundred dollars I could feed two
hundred people. Wow. So ifI got two thousand, I could spread
this out for a month and Icould do a great job right here.
With the same two thousand, Icould have won shopping for some clothes over
here or something. But I waslike, nah, I know God gonna
bless me for this. These peoplehave nothing right and the rich man drive

(38:34):
right by him every day and it'sbeen in the room. Listen when I
saw that, I'm like, man, I wish I was rich right now.
I cast this whole area out manfor whatever they need. Hne.
I don't want a dollar, man, I just want to help my people,
and I'm gone get my blessing mind. They remember they waiting on me
to get back. What day theybe texting me, my brother? When

(38:58):
are you coming back? My brother? I said, Man, I gotta
go to America. Now, y'allhad me for three years, right,
I want to be there. IfGod say the same, God willing let
me complete my thirty year run.This is my thirtieth year as JT.
The bigger figure, actually thirty one. God willing I be fifty this year.

(39:21):
Fifty. Then it's the fifty yearsof hip hop. It's a great
place to end it off one moretime and the next time they see me,
God winning next year. I'm asoftware developer. I'm a real estate
agent, right, I'm a communityactivist, right, all of that,
yeah, slash, I'm a filmmaker. Oh, we're gonna get in to

(39:43):
the movies. But man, itwas hell of funny. I mean it's
not funny. It was beautiful.So it was like I forgot when this
was. But I'm on Instagram.You out there field more Africa, Like,
man, that's hard. Yeah,because I knew my hood, man
was my hood needed a rebirth man, and I wanted to plant my hood

(40:07):
like I did. Film More Atlantanta. Yeah, Obama, Film Are Africa
was the next. That was thenext step. I'm like, if God
blessed me to do that. Look, I just went to two of the
Heart. It's it's hard cities everywhere, man, Atlanta hard place to crack
man. So to get the motionthat I got, it only was got
by God help. I was bymyself. I didn't have no big budget.

(40:29):
I didn't have nobody with me.You just hopped up and left and
went to Atlanta because they Toven livedthere. I taught him how to make
beats. Got you, Yeah,so he was the doorway from me too,
Like come on, yep, thatwas another way. Yeah, because
it's big time progress. Oh Jaythe juice man. Man, he used
to sleep on the couch. Boyhe ain't that ain't the old j now
he Hey hey, hey, manreally talk. So I'm like this dude,

(40:57):
Gucci him at the house, BradMom's house, bru. I know
these dudes like that. So it'slike an invitation, like they always like
when you're coming back out here,and I'm like, damn, why do
I leave? Right? But Iwasn't paying attention and I wasn't dick riding.
That wasn't my purpose either too.So I said, when I go

(41:17):
back, I got to build myown face from scratch, point blank off
time. So like you had Zaytovenout, there was the transition. Was
it like you you you on everythingmoving or was you allowing that kind of
like zatoven to kind of like pointyou into the right direction? Help me

(41:37):
get to artists? Okay, gotyou, but me on you hanging out
in the studio, you ain't payingyour face. I had to go to
the projects. I had to goto the gutter. I had to go
to the corner stoves, the bootyclubs, the late night bars, the
magic cities, through flames, uhfolk, seasoned projects, thomas Ville.

(41:58):
You had billboard, you have peopleholding up I found human beings. I
said, I ain't throwing no moneyin the strippers no more. I've learned
my lesson. I accidentally got downthere and started thinking I was big nietching
them because that's part of the culture. You get in the club next day,
you know, they play your song. Listen when you're the new guy
and they play your song, yougotta throw some money. Got to look

(42:20):
like the por man. Now,you don't got to throw all your money,
but if you have a few drinksand hit anything, you can start
feeling yourself. Were running that songback one more time? You don't know
that's for you to throw more money. Ooh, I learned the game.
We got j T in the house. Oh shit, goddamn it, get
the song home. You felt thepressure. J T the man, j

(42:50):
T the man in there to night? Straight up? Little did I know?
Everybody's the man when you throw themoney. And this is a program
that I seen repeated over and over, not a certain problem like hold on,
I can't pay my way to thetop like this. A thousand ones
can hurt, five hundred ones hurttoo, and two hundred ones hurt when
wifeies tell you in two days weneed to pay for this it. So

(43:17):
I'm just saying my concept switch toif I'm gonna throw money, I'm not
doing it. I'm gonna give itto the homeless people and ask them to
hold my signs. And they said, yes, what you got man,
I got a hunting for all yourman, Give me that hunting man.
Hell yeah, stay out there allday. Four hundred dollars. Stripper's not

(43:37):
doing that. Nah, they're notgonna they're gonna do that. They're gonna
dance for three minutes to your andthen that's it. Straight up, these
dudes start holding the sign. Igot addicted. I spend a thousand dollars.
I could have a bunch of peopleworking for a couple of days.
Make me look like make me looklike the dime. I started looking like

(43:58):
Master pr straight up updated version ofMatthew pa. We started okay, I
was the man. Then it switchedto heat the man on my rebirth starting
in Atlanta, my film game andmymend to talk about that the films man
trap flicks Man trafflicks was a thingthat gave me fresh bread Man. That's

(44:21):
the future. Downstairs, tell themthat man, you said, j T,
we got fig here on the washerbackpodcast is filled with Mike JT.
The bigger figure. You was tellingme downstairs that you said movies is the
new You was like, movies isthe new game, and then you said
platform is the new record label.Yes, that's the break about that,

(44:43):
because when you look at content andrevenue, right, the chances of you
breaking a new artist to make enoughrevenue to make your money back it's a
fifty to fifty chance. Literally,if you make an independent film, it's
much it's much less costs, andyou loaded up through a platform and from

(45:05):
that platform they distributed to other platformslike tom Corp. And the revenue off
of film let me no listen,incredible returns on films to be. You
can put a cheap movie on twoB and then three months, if that
movie halfway decent, you could beat thirty forty fifty thousand dollars in three

(45:30):
months. If you put it onYouTube, you might make five hundred one
thousand dollars maybe, But on twoB if you do it right, or
if the film is just just agreat film, it's not how much you
spent, it's what type of filmyou made. So what made you get
like you did? Beware those backin the day ninety eight, right,

(45:50):
and then traffics came with twelve thirteenyears later almost fourteen, traffics came twenty
fourteen, right, so almost likesixteen years we like what happened in the
gap? And then did you just? I said? I made films right?
And then by twenty fifteen I startedmy app got you? So everything
I felt with all the different moviesthat hit in the hand, Beware of

(46:14):
those. The Independent Game Part one, two and three, Dirt on My
Boots Part one, two and three, the instance Starker Chicago movie called Chirac
before Spike Lee did it. Idid the real first Shireck movie. I
did Chyrack two. I did ABig Dog for New Orleans. I did

(46:35):
Independent Game three in New Orleans.So I did Snoop Dogg movie mouse Trap,
And basically by doing all in thefilms, that's what made me want
to have my own platform. Soit was like, this is my record
label if I get the app done, because I could run everything from the
app, I can showcase what Iwant, when I want, how I

(46:57):
want, I can monetize. Andthe films were easier and cheaper to make
than making albums. What because yougotta pay for studio time, you gotta
pay for mixed downs, you gottapay for producers. Oh man. Then
just to break one single, yougot to spend some money for promo,
and that could be anywhere from onethousand dollars to a million dollars. Yea

(47:19):
a million, Yep, you're runningon your budget. Yeah, just to
break one single, to break oneartist, right now, you're gonna have
to spend for some YouTube ads.You're gonna have to spend on some Instagram,
Facebook ads, Twitter or you know, to be a ro cool.
It's money. Yeah, it's moneyto get in front of the odds.

(47:40):
You might need to put put somethingon, say cheese. You know that's
money. Academics, I don't know, but however it go, I know
it's money. But making a movieyou could promote it too for less money.
Because down South you got to payDJs, paying DJs in the club
to spend your records and throw themoney to the strippers like breaking the record.

(48:01):
You gotta go. You gotta physicallygo to these places to promote you
because this is your song, sowe need to see you when people go
on a promo run. But amovie you could do a promo run too,
But it's not the same concept.It's just you promoting your movie and
methods in the ways you know thatyou can, whether it's whether it's flyers,

(48:24):
whether it's the QR code and peoplecould just get right to it.
Yeah, or from the comfort ofyour home. You pay for ads.
You don't go nowhere right you maketrailer clips to get people enticed, shout
the Christian he be doing our clipson this day podcast. Yeah you got

(48:45):
hello shit, we got hell clips, so you already probably. Oh man,
come on with it, Man,come on with it, Come on
with it. I had a question, man, Uh, you said you
talked about coming back home. SoI seen that June teenth. Then,
for y'all that don't know, Juneteenthis like you when I was younger.
Man, First of all, wasat Kimball Park. They didn't moved a

(49:06):
couple places. But the thing is, the rappers would come back home and
you know, foll Timember when you'refote, you fhote and U sugar Free
was on there. Sugar Free dida freestylet. He was like he said
something, he said, I madea left on him visit Darrow. I
was like, oh, it's lateman. So you see all the community,
see all the local you see allthe rap stores coming out. So,

(49:27):
uh, you came back home.Hold, you came back home recently
and did the Junie teenth? Howdid that feel? You had gopos,
you had Seth Seth came back.You had a queenn in there and demo.
Man, how did that feel?Man? That felt so great?
Right there? Man, to actuallybe back with my original day ones who

(49:49):
are started with and to resolve andput old issues and leave them in the
past, and to let the communityknow that, you know, this is
just an example of what needs tohappen. That was beautiful to see,
man, yep, because our hoodis in Champagne, you already know,
and we can't get no motion basedon the violence, right, and there's
so many people that lost their lifenow that make it so extra hard to

(50:10):
have unity amongst that pure group becausethey everybody either in fear or they angry,
right and they into you know,uh, wanting to have an answer
to their pain. You know.So me looking at the Juneteenth, I

(50:30):
just felt God came in and madethat happen. That was tight and it
wasn't no shooting. Well nah hellnah, yeah, yeah, that was
beautiful. I just want to askyou a quick questions about the other three
members when you put the group together. What did you see in Seth?
What did because it's sick, theyall kind of represent something different, you

(50:52):
know what I'm saying. Demo Quinn, Super Rap Nigga and the demo Crabbit
Seth real street guy. Well,you know, to be honest, Demo
was the rapper first. Yeah,yeah, was the rapper. So I
wanted to be like Demo okay,got his bars and like that before Quinn,
before Seth, it was Demo gotyou. Me and Demo used to

(51:15):
be together, yes, sir,but you know we rock with Seth two
though. Yeah, Quinn was younger, but he didn't come around till later.
Demo it started in ninety two.I mean it started in and really
like eighty nine eighty eight, likewe was kids. But coming up to
the GOP time frame, when Itook the Rap series and me and Demo

(51:39):
did some songs, that's when Ilooked at myself now as a rap art
as a rapper. Now do youlook at yourself as more SOLF producer?
No, I was a rapper first, okay, gotcha. Yeah, I
was trying to just be a rapper, okay, But and then it made
you kind of like, Okay,once I did it, once I did
once I did the GP album.I'm certified producer, but I produced Players

(51:59):
in the Game two though then myfirst two four albums that I produced every
beat. So, but the GLPcame as a concept because we already interacting
and after Frisco niggas ain't no punks. That's when we added Quinn okay,

(52:20):
because it made sense, you knowwhat I mean. He was younger,
he was from a different part offilm, but I didn't care about that.
I'm like this little bro. Lethim come on. I went and
introduced myself to his moms. Sheshe said, go ahead, work with
j T. Y'all do y'all thing. Demo already was with it. But
he kept going to jail. Sohe got out as soon as I did.

(52:40):
Players in the game, so hewas able to get his album done
finally, but he would have beenhad an album out. Seth, you
know, he was he was theladies man, so he automatically you know,
when he busts his boars, he'stalking straight to them. He to
the gangsters, you know. SoSeth had you know, he was a
major factor definitely. You know,he had swag that I wanted shout out

(53:05):
to step the gap definitely had toclose. And the girls, right,
he had closing girls and I'm like, man and he had that curl too,
and my hair on bron real talk. You know, girls used to
you know, the curls that hangin the man that he had that.
He had that. Yep, hehad that, them curls, the short

(53:28):
on top and then on the backof shape that he was girls like,
oh your hair, your hair lookcute, sip its ugly if you didn't
have that, If I had that, I'll be the cute one right now
with the no shut out the gapman. That's my brother though. But
nah, So when when we allcame together though, it was a no
Brunner got you yep, shout outto pushing out honorary player p Honorary uh

(53:54):
black Nate uh a ride blow Eye, blow j D and scat you know
black Nate like the dB Yeah,the guys that made it on that project
or forever be legends. Hey,I had a question for you as far
as and I hate to say thistoo, I got to get him back

(54:14):
at a certain time, so Idon't know how long much more time y'all
need even get whatever? I'm ready, but and I know you could cut
that too. Yeah, but yeah, I'm looking at the time and ship,
Oh you gotta cut you know Igot this. Yeah, Yeah,
I got you, I got you. Yeah, Okay, for sure,
I feel it blod yeah, becausehe's finish. Start doing something else interview.
Now, it's all good. Canwe do part two? We could
do a part two, j T. Anything for the Let's do it.

(54:37):
But you see I came, yeah, you see, I brought my responsibilities
off top. I appreciate it.I'm looking at the timeline and I got
you. I got you. ButI appreciate it. Definitely. Let's get
up out of here. Man.No, but but we can wrap.
We can end it with so youcould cut that part out. We got
it. We gonna go like this. It's all good. It's all love.

(54:58):
Man. We had a legend there. We gonna do. This is
only part one. We're gonna doa part two. You know what I'm
saying. JT. The bigger figureto wash it back podcast. I want
to thank you. I want tothank colleague for his little patience talking to
you. Man. I appreciate It'sall good man, Hey man, we
got this day. Man. Peaceout, y'all. Be smooth. You
don't forget wash your back, washyour back man. No, it's number

(55:22):
love y'all,