Young MC Discusses the I Love the 90s Tour, New Music, Producing & more!

Episode Transcript
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THEME SONG (00:05):
Rock and rolling through the cool guitars. Chucks
got the questions, digging sosharp, peeling back layers,
hitting the heart,

Chuck Shute (00:20):
that's amazing.
Look at all those records in thebackground. Wow. I've been

Young MC (00:24):
doing this a long time, so they give you, they
give you some of the, let me dosomething. Yeah,

how so? Because I know you got records from the
first album, but a lot of peoplemight not know you got a gold
record from the the second albumas well.

Young MC (00:38):
Second album also all in the same gang. Um, there's,
there's a plaque for that that'snot on that wall, uh, tone lope
stuff. And also, that big one uphere is Anastasia, and that's
the most successful record thatI've been a part of. Uh, helped
write a song called Not thatkind. And that album sold
something like seven to 8million copies. Wow,

congratulations.
Yeah, that's really awesome. Andyou've got the is the Grammy
back there somewhere too?

Young MC (01:04):
Um, no, the Grammy's in a box. I don't think, yeah, I
usually don't take the Grammyout. The AMA is there and the
billboard award is there and mydrink chance box is there. But I
usually don't take the Grammy Idon't keep the Grammy out. Yeah,
you know, on a day, on a dailybasis, I'll bring it out from
time to time, but usually,usually, I kind of, you know,

(01:25):
don't, don't, don't have it outas much.

But, yeah, that's exciting. I mean, so much
success, and you're still doingit the your latest single,
kinetic. I mean, this is great.
I feel like I got to warnpeople, though, like they have
to be careful when they'relistening to this, because it
makes you want to dance. So I'mlike, walking down this the
street in my complex, and I'mlike, I'm starting to, like,
dance. I'm like, Oh, this is,this is not a good look for me.
I gotta, I gotta, like, hold itback a little bit. So that's

Young MC (01:51):
the intent. That's the intent of the song. The funny
thing, I just got a wonderful,wonderful, just unsolicited
message from from a young ladyin Australia, just like,
paragraphs and paragraphs of howshe's really into, like, what
I'm doing now and and my thegrowth and all that. And I just
it was really heartwarming tosee, but she kind of got
everything I'm trying to dolyrically, and, you know, so

(02:12):
it's just kind of cool to seewhat you're trying to put out in
the music actually interpretedlike that by someone so this. So
it's good. I want, I want to getit out to as many people as I
can,

yeah? And, I mean, because when you perform like
you do those, I love the 90stour or whatever, and, you know,
it's like a lot of artists, so,you know, it's like, you only
get what, like five songs orsomething, and obviously you're
gonna do the hits, and then youcould throw in a couple new
songs, and that's, that's funfor you? Yeah? No, I was just
gonna say it's fun for you, andalso the crowd, because, you

(02:42):
know, sometimes when the artistsdo a new song, they're like,
Okay, it's like a chance to goget a soft drink or whatever,
or, you know, but you are,you're putting high energy
moving dance songs in there. SoI feel like that's not a good
it's not like a slow song orsomething, you know. It's like
you're putting exciting, funsongs in there. And

Young MC (03:00):
I perform by myself.
So it's just me in terms of thestage production. So a lot of
times I'm going early in thesets. So the people are, you
know, a bit a little bit morereceptive. But also, you know,
my, my, um, my motto is, they'llalways give you one, especially
a crowd like that. They'll giveyou one new one, and if they
like it, they may give youanother new one. So that's what
I try to do, is make stuff that,you know, because even before I

(03:22):
was putting out this new music,I was doing newer material that
wasn't my hit material, but Iwas doing the best stuff for
performance. So people would,you know, it was a song called
nocturnal, you know, coupleother, couple other ones that I
did. But I remember people withpeople would say, I like that
new stuff. I didn't like thatnocturnal song. I like that.
That's right song, but the onesthat weren't the the known hits.

(03:42):
So I'm like, Okay, if I couldput something out and actually
get some traction, get itcharting, get it playing on the
radio, where they may know itfrom somewhere else, and I'm
able to perform it, they maywin. And that's kind of what
I've been doing with with akinetic, fun part before it, and
even even loose at thebeginning, about a year ago.
Yeah.

So you mentioned nocturnal. I think I heard you
say that you felt like the thirdverse of that was the best thing
you've ever written. And also,yes, you have will Whedon on the
Is he the one doing the because

Young MC (04:12):
he's not the actor.
He's not, he's not the actor.
He's

a singer too. Okay, that confused me, because I was
like, I doesn't sound like him.

Young MC (04:20):
No, he's a singer.
With the he him and I jokearound. He tells me how some
people mistake him, and he getsweird IG messages and stuff like
that. But no, he's a singer,independent RnB singer. Yeah,
that's

cool. That's a good song. Yeah, I listened to a lot
of the new stuff, and I waslike, Oh, this is, like, really
good. Like, yeah, more peopleneed to hear this. So that's
cool that you're able to throwin some songs on the tour. Then,

Young MC (04:44):
yeah, definitely.
Well, that's what, that's whatkeeps it interesting for me. I
mean, I should be just happydoing my old at my age. I should
be happy doing my old stuff andjust say, Okay, it's, it's a
job. Pack a lunch, go do it,come back. But you know, there's
part of me feeling like I'mmaking some of the best music in
my life right now. Yeah, youknow, it may not be the stuff
that's that's getting out to themost people and whatever, but I
don't necessarily subscribe tothe fact that my, my best

(05:07):
creative work was done when Iwas 22 so the subsequent 35
years can kind of, you know, goby the way,

right? Well, and I think sometimes music, it means
different things to differentpeople. Like a lot of people
associate those older songs withthat time in their life, like, I
know for me, like I rememberlistening to that whole album.
My buddy, my next door neighbor,had it, and I was in sixth
grade, and we thought you werethe coolest thing ever. Like, we
listened to that so much likeprincipals office, I come off,

(05:39):
like, all those songs, like, itwas amazing, and so, like, it's
kind of surreal to talk to younow, but so I think for a lot of
people, they want to relive thatmemory. But that doesn't mean
that they can't become a fan nowand listen to the new stuff too,
which I think, again, is reallygood.

Young MC (05:53):
It's, yeah, it's an interesting tight rope to walk,
because I definitely want togive people, you know what you
know, what they want and whatwhat they what they're nostalgic
about. But also, you know, it'sdifficult at 57 years old, you
know, to say, Okay, I'm going togo up there and do principals
office and try and do itconvincingly. You see them
saying, it's like, that subjectmatter that you know. So that's
part of it, too. It's like, Iwant to have the best of both

(06:15):
worlds, where I can give, givepeople some of what, what, what
they're looking for, and alsogive them, give them some new
stuff that they didn't expect.
Yeah,

and then so you said you're also, you're doing,
you're producing other artists.
That's also kind of what you'redoing right now as well. Well,
here's

Young MC (06:31):
the thing is, I am.
There's artists that areinterested, and there's, there's
me that's interested. I want tosee what the business is of
this. So the best representationfor the label and all the stuff
I'm doing is me putting out mymaterial, and then the response
to that will dictate if and ifand how many artists I'm gonna
produce and put out. Because ifI can't see the, you know, the

(06:52):
financial gain from it. Look, Ihave my old school shows, I have
my publishing I have all these,you know, income streams. So I
have to see my new music on itsown, stand alone, making good
enough money that'll justify metaking an artist that doesn't
have any of those income streamsand saying, okay, we can put new
music out on you, and this isthe way we're going to monetize
it. Yeah. Do you like I'm reallyupfront with it, with the with

(07:14):
the artist that I'm talking to?
Yeah? Do

you like being because now you're more
experienced, you're older? Doyou like having that kind of
mentor role? Because I interviewa lot of musician and it seems
like a lot of them, they don'twant to do that, like they just
want to be a musician and theywant to perform, even in their
older age, they just don't haveinterest in mentoring. And I
feel like as you get older, likethat should be a big part of
whatever field you're in ismentoring, even if it's just a

(07:39):
part of it, a small part shouldbe something, right? I

Young MC (07:42):
would think so, because it's such an unrealistic
business, not not only from the,you know, the companies and the
executives and all that otherstuff, but definitely from the
participants. So if I'm anaspiring artist, you know,
wouldn't, wouldn't I want totake advice from a veteran
artist that's been through itbefore that's going through it
right now, you know? So, youknow, I may have someone coming

(08:05):
to me and saying, Okay, well,let's put this song, and it's
going to blow up really big. AndI'm like, Okay, well, my song
charted. I'm on the road withit. I'm in front of people. I'm
getting this kind of traction onit. I'm getting all kind of
press on it. And this is what'shappening financially. What can
make what can, what can yoursong do, to do, to do better.
And if they don't have an answerfor it, then I'm like, Okay, let
me do my thing, and then we'llkind of go, I'm just being

(08:27):
realistic, because the it's veryeasy to have unrealistic
conversations in this business,and I don't want to be that
person to say, Oh, well, I knowit's your dream. You know, we'll
do everything to make you makeit happen. I'm going through my
dream too, you know, so showingthem like what I'm experiencing
it, I think a lot of times it's,it's, uh, people appreciate it

(08:47):
when you're honest with them,yeah,

definitely. And then are you looking to, um,
what style are you looking toproduce? Because I know,
obviously you're known for rap,but you are a fan of of rock
too, like, because I saw thisthing on spin. And it was, like,
your top five records, and trainwas on there, and audio slave,
and I was like, Oh, he likes avariety of music. Oh, yeah,
definitely.

Young MC (09:08):
Mean, I don't know if I go as far as as, uh, as rock
bands, but definitely my stuffwould, would would go more
melodic in terms of the timetype of acts I'd want to put
out. Um, I was those five albumswere really the stuff that
inspires me. Or in the case ofthe train record, I had known, I
had heard, you know, train stuffbefore, and and I'd like us,

(09:29):
like the single here or there.
So I said I would buy the CD,and I put the CD on and I liked
every song for the first eightor nine. And I don't remember
another record where I did that,the one that came close to the
record I had on there, the PostMalone record, you know,
anything recent that I'd heardso many songs in a row that I'm
like, This is good. This isgood. This is good. So it's more
of a that list was more of aninspirational musical thing. But

(09:51):
in terms of music business, itwould be rap stuff, probably
some dance stuff, you know,leaning over into pop. Put.
Potentially, if there was aband, because, you know,
there's, there's a hybrid bandsand stuff that I've heard that I
liked. But once again, I justhave to see the business of it,
because this, this musicbusiness, is totally different,
you know, it's just totallydifferent right now. And if I

(10:11):
took my new music as astandalone, you know, it would,
it would be really rough, youknow. I mean, so just in terms
of the finances of it, I'mgetting great accolades. I'm
getting great, you know, I'mgetting great feedback on it,
and I know that it's, like Isaid, it's some of it not the
best music that I've ever made,because I feel like I've taken
all my life experience, musicexperience, you know, stage

(10:32):
experience, and I'm able to putthat into everything I'm doing
on the, you know, on the tracks.
So that's really helpful, and Ithink that's something I can
help artists with. But then thebusiness part comes in, because
even in the traditional,physical media days, you know,
95 plus percent of the of thealbums put out did not even, you

(10:52):
know, did not make money. Theydidn't make a profit, at least
not a profit back to the artist.
The artist didn't recoup. Iguess that's the best way to put
it. So if you're up against eyeslike that, and there's so much
music out on the internet, yougot to say, Okay, what's going
to distinguish? What can you doto, you know, to make this a
good, a good venture? Becauseit's, it's difficult to say,
Okay, I'm going to become, youknow, an internet social media
influencer at 57 you know what?

(11:18):
I mean, it's like, I'm morelooking to put my music out and
get it in front of people, andthen whatever bump I get, you
know, from social media isgreat, and then, and then try
and try and make the best of it.

Yeah, do you think that it's too because you're
right. It is very competitiveright now, anyone can put out
music. Does it help to havecollaborations? Because I know,
for me as a fan, I always lovethat when I see multiple artists
that I, like, you know, on onthe same song. I'm like, Oh,
that's interesting. I want tohear how that meshes together.

Young MC (11:48):
I mean, potentially. I mean, the thing is, is my, my,
um, my business model hasshifted over the last probably
10 years, probably, probably 10to 15 years, where it's become
really stage focused. So theonly thing you know that I get a
little concerned about is, ifyou have collaborations, are you
going to drag that other artistaround with you every time you

(12:09):
get on stage? Or they going todrag you around with them every
time you guys get on stage, justto say you had a record together
that did something, or you'rejust going to do your verse in
your set. They do their versesand their sets, and then the
whole idea of it is, like, Whoputs it out? Am I getting
jumping on somebody's record onme? Like, I don't have a lot of
guys from major labels callingme saying, oh, you know, guess

(12:30):
with me on this record, becauseI'm not one to, like, sell a
verse, or just give away mypublishing or whatever, I can
put music out and get seen. So,you know, it's, it's been a
weird thing. It's, you don't seeit with rock bands. You don't
see it with a lot of pop actswhere they need to have a collab
to, like, justify the record,but with hip hop and R B, mostly
minority artists, you have tohave collaborations. And it's

(12:53):
been something it's like eversince that, that that started
coming into fashion late 90sinto the early 2000s I've always
watched it, and you might havesome pop artists that are collab
here and there. But if JustinTimberlake or Bruno Mars or
someone else were able to wereor Taylor Swift or someone
wanted to make an entire albumwith no collaborations
whatsoever, they wouldn't blinkan eye. A rapper does it? Why
don't they have collaborations?
That's always been an odd thingfor me.

Yeah, it is interesting. Now, yeah, how do
you do that? Because you doperform, we're all in the same
gang. Sometimes your shows, andyou only obviously did one verse
of that. So how do you, how does

Young MC (13:28):
it versus, I do a hook, I do a little intro part,
a hook. Well, no, a little intropart that kind of teases the
hook. I do my verse, and then Ido a hook, and I get out, and
that's, that's fine. I couldapproach everything like that.
And you get a lot of materialin, and it's good for people
with, you know, in this erawhere people have shorter
attention spans, it's funny,because there's a bunch of us
that are on that record, and alot of people perform and don't

(13:49):
do their verses from that song.
And I just felt it was a goodthing that people knew. So when
I started putting it back in myshow, I got a I got a lot of
good response from it, so thatthat's that, once again, that's
an approach I can definitelytake, but, um, but it would be
more likely for me to do a verseon someone else's song, as
opposed to me pulling in someoneto do do verses on on one of
mine. For the simple fact that II kind of think of my songs in

(14:12):
three act structure, kinda soyou introduce your concept in
the first verse, and then thesecond verse you expand on it,
and the third verse, you wrap itup. So I've always thought like
that. And even though musicsongs are getting shorter and
shorter, I try and havesomething like that. Even if my
third verse is like a revisitingof an earlier section, like I
did my song fun part, I try mybest to be able to tell my whole

(14:35):
story, you know. So a collab,you know, is not necessarily out
of the question, but it's likethe issues that I see in terms
of being able to monetize newmusic, go, you know, go, go far.
It's not like a collaboration isgoing to

solve that. Yeah.
And I mean, I could tell youhave the the business mind and
listening to your interviews andstuff, and I don't know if a lot
of people know this about you,but I mean, your degree is in I
think it's economic. Forfinance, right? See, yeah, yes,
yeah, you would have gonepotentially, to get your
Masters, if you hadn't brokenthe music business. Potentially,

Young MC (15:09):
my parents had given me the summer to get it out of
my system, and then, and then Itoured the whole summer, and
then the record broke. And thenby that next February, I had the
Grammy, it was platinum. And,you know, along with having
written tone, look stuff. So Ihad the publishing stuff, you
know, side going, the writingside going. So I had different
avenues that I could reallypursue in terms of my music

(15:30):
career at that point. So, yeah,do you ever wonder, I I've never
written my degree down on a jobapplication, but I've gone into
meetings, and people have known,you know, that I had the degree,
and also they see how I presentmyself and present my points and
that kind of thing. And a lot oftimes they see that I'm as

(15:52):
educated, if not more educatedthan they are. But they also
knew that I had options, youknow, I mean, so not sitting
there saying, Oh my God, if Idon't get this deal, if I don't
walk out of here with a check. Iwon't be able to pay my rent,
you know? And a lot of timesthat's what a lot of, lot of lot
of people that deal withmusicians, they kind of prey on
that. So there may be deals thatI missed out on, but I, you

(16:12):
know, I feel pretty good aboutwhere I am in terms of, in terms
of what I've done business wise.

Yeah. I mean, one of the deals that I heard you
missed out on and I was tryingto figure out what this was,
because you, your manager,turned it down. I don't even
know if you did. You even knowabout it until after he turned
it down. It was a thing withMichael Jackson and I, I was
trying to figure out what itwas. Was that the black or white
song, or which song

Young MC (16:34):
I don't know, I don't know what's song, because the
track never came out. I think itwas before Heavy D got on it,
but it might have been rightafter heavy D got on his so it
may have been that MichaelJackson was, was doing his best,
you know, or wanted to, todabble in working with a bunch
of rappers. But the story hadgotten back to me that my
manager had asked for, you know,without telling me it had asked

(16:54):
for a certain amount of moneyfor me to guess the pair,
thinking, you know, Michael hasit in the whole bit. And a lot
of guy, I don't, I don't know,you know, some people I've heard
were doing it for the love, butjust for the exposure and the
like, and it was never got achance to really get presented
to me. So that was, that was thething. And so only in hindsight,
I think I was at drink champs orsomewhere, I was asked about it,
and I brought that up.

Yeah, do you, do you have any other regrets or
things like that? Like, is theresomething or, like, when you're
looking at younger artists,like, Okay, we gotta kind of
make sure we don't make thismistake. Is there things that
you look back on with yourcareer and think, I wish I would
have done this differently, or,

Young MC (17:32):
I guess there's more deal mean, because a lot of
times it's not the deals youtake, but it's the deals you
don't take that are that it'sbetter that you didn't take
them. So I, you know, I don'treally have a lot of massive
regrets of things that I did. Sopotentially, I guess there's,
you know, I could have been alot, a little bit more
adventurous, because I'm a smartguy, I think, well, on my feet,

(17:53):
you know, and artistically, youknow, it's not bad to have, you
know, music in the marketplace.
But having said that, if youlook at your career, I look at
my career like a sweater. If yousay, Okay, what? What's, what
string would you pull? Or whatsleeve would you change, or what
pocket would you take off? Youknow, in terms of what thing
would you change to make makeyour career better? Well, if you

(18:16):
take off a sleeve or take off apocket, or, you know, take take
a zipper off, or something likethat, it's not necessarily the
same sweater anymore. Sweateranymore. So, so I always look at
it that the the bad always goeswith the good. Like a lot of the
good wouldn't happen, and unlesssome of the bad had happened,
unless I hadn't, hadn't learnedfrom it, unless I, you know,
didn't have that experience topull on When, when, when the you
know, when the real beneficialopportunities came my way. So

(18:38):
rather than trying to cherrypick the, you know, the couple
of things, you know, I may havechosen something and may have
ruined everything else. So,

hmm, yeah, that's interesting. Yeah, because your
first album, it was produced by,I didn't realize it was produced
by Quincy Jones and the dustbrothers, right? Quincy

Young MC (18:56):
Jones Jr, the QD three. Yeah, Qd three. Dust
brothers, yeah, and then Mikeand Matt Ross, yeah. And

then the second, it was Mike Ross, yeah. Do you
think the second was it was youproduced it, and it was it? A
gosh, now I'm spacing on it mythird album, yeah, yeah.

Young MC (19:16):
That was my third one from Chicago. Quest, yeah,

yeah. But the second one was you and was it G,
that was somebody different,right?

Young MC (19:25):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, mainly me, yeah. Do you

feel like you should have chosen a different
like, have those same producers?
Do you think that made that muchof a difference?

Young MC (19:35):
I don't, because the first album was, like, you know,
a lot of people's firstgirlfriend, you know, so, so
they could look at my album andsay, I should have had them, and
we could have looked at, youknow, their subsequent albums,
or that any of the dust brotherswent on to do a lot of stuff in
a lot of genres. So just interms of the entire overall
production team, you know, therewas other stuff that they did

(19:55):
that didn't blow up as big asthe stuff that I had. So, you
know, it. It's not somethingwhere I sit back, because the
stuff that I'm producing now iskind of built on the back of me
producing stuff for myself thatyoung, you know, where people
now are not expecting much ofanything from me. And like I
said, I'm pretty I feel like I'mpretty much given, you know,
doing some of the best musicever.

So yeah, because that first album you have kind
of like your whole lifetime tobuild it up. Because, like, when
he, like, like, the songprincipals office, I was
thinking about that. I was like,wait a minute, because I think
that the first album came outafter you graduated, around the
time you were graduatingcollege, yeah. I mean, so I
would

Young MC (20:29):
have written principals office at 21 years
old. So I'm talking about,literally, some stuff going on
when I'm, you know, 12 to 15 or

whatever. You didn't write it when you're
told, yeah, yeah,

Young MC (20:41):
that kind of reflection back. So it didn't
mean it kind of was what it was.
And even then, I'm, you know, Iwas old. I was old for that
song, when I made that song, youknow. So, you know, just just,
it just kind of fell in likethat, yeah.

But I think that's one thing about your songs, that
from then till today, they havethis, like, fun, catchy dance
vibe, and you've kind of justcontinued that throughout your
whole career. I mean, that's onething that people you've never
done something super that I thatI've heard that's super out
there, that's way different thanpeople go, Oh, this is young MC
like, well,

Young MC (21:13):
that's the thing. It's like, when people ask me to
change my name or change mystyle or start cursing or
something like that. It's like,why? You know, I'd rather just
get better at doing the musicthat I like to do. You know, I
can make that, that dance vibe,that positive vibe, I can
communicate that in music a lotbetter now than I could. You
know, 10 years ago, definitely,definitely 20 or 30 years ago, I

(21:36):
feel I can. I can kind of sharemore of my vision in the music.
So I want to see where thatgoes. If I was in any other
business, they would say, Okay,you're using your experience to
to to make some great work. Butin the music business, you're a
dinosaur. So just kind of, iswhat it is, yeah,

when you have the respect of those other rapper
because, like, it's funny, I hadtwo neighbors when I was kid. I
remember, like, my one friend,he had, like, young MC and MC
Hammer and tone Loke and then myother next door. Never. They had
all the dirty rare they had twoLive Crew and NWA and easy. But
those you toured with NWA andeasy and those guys respected
you.

Young MC (22:12):
Sure. Yeah, they thanked me on their album. I
thanked easy and NWA and myalbum, we were peers. It was
like the local hip hop, youknow, seeing in LA, we all came
up together. So it was, it was,you know, it was like, I know,
Ice Cube as a member of NWA, youknow, I know, I know, you know,
be real, and Cypress Hill from,from being, you know, send dog

(22:32):
is Mela, man ace is relevant,you know, so, so I knew, I knew
them, you know, I knew them likethat. So it's just, I always
looked at it that I was, youknow, a local artist, and then I
had a record blow up big, andthen I became a national artist.
But my approach is pretty muchstayed the same in terms of who
I am and the kind of music Iwant to make and how I want to

(22:56):
kind of bring happiness and joyto people. Yeah,

I love that. And, like, I mean, I love that you're
you've added back, uh, we're allin the same gang, because I feel
like that song. I mean, just asa kid, you know, growing up in
the suburbs, like, I don't know,really, really understood what
was going on. But, like, it'sreally now that you look at it's
more relevant today, or it's asrelevant today as it was back
then. I mean, what a great idea.
You're getting rappers from bothcoasts to get come together and

(23:20):
say, Look, this is stupid. Like,gang violence is ridiculous.
And, I mean, you know, what isyour thoughts on that now? Like,
how do people avoid thatlifestyle? Because you never got
wrapped up in that, the gangstuff. I mean, you went to
college, right. Arrow,

Young MC (23:37):
right? And, well, the brilliance of all in the same
gang, and my conception puttingit together

is that it was your idea to put that together. I
didn't know that. No. Mike,

Young MC (23:45):
no. My conception, Mike, my conception was the guy
who put records, and so myconception put it all together.
But the brilliance of him doingthat is that he had access to
any rappers he wanted. He couldhave done just west coast guys.
He could have done just westcoast guys that that either were
affiliated or lived inneighborhoods with gang
activity, he really could, andhe went out of his way to make

(24:07):
sure that he got me on therecord as someone who's
basically an outsider. Yeah, I'mmaking West Coast hip hop, but I
didn't grow up in thatlifestyle. I I'm not affiliated,
don't you know, don't have anyconnections to it, but he felt
it was important to get myvision, or did you get my
viewpoint on that song? So mewriting my 16 verses. I'm
writing it as a college kidthat's kind of touched down and

(24:29):
and what I see and what I'mfeeling, and I to this day, I
get compliments on my verse andhow my verse stood out in that
song. And they had every rightnot to put me on it, because I'm
not, you know, born and bred laguy, but I was, I was in that
mix and experience in it, andthey felt that my voice would,
you know, would be able to speakto people, and also be able to

(24:50):
speak to someone outside who waslistening to that song and say,
Okay, I can, I can relate to hisviewpoint of seeing what's going
on from someone that's not, it'snot from it,

right? Right? Yeah.
I mean, do you think they'rethey should just, do they have a
song like that now? Like, whydon't they do a song like that
today? Man,

Young MC (25:07):
between, between all the, you know, between the
labels and the managers and themoney and the streaming and all
that other stuff. I it's not ait's not as centralized I think
it would be. And then, you know,who do you include and not
include? And not include? Andwhatever it would be, it would
be, it would be nice, it wouldit would be ambitious. But I
just don't see, I think it'stoo, too fragmented, the

(25:28):
business too fragmented to dosomething like that now,

yeah, because now he got, I hope they would. But I
mean, because people love thefeuds, you know, they love the
Kendrick Lamar Drake, that's abig thing. And everyone talks
about that. And, you know, therewas feuds back then, obviously,
and, but, like, I kind of likethe like, hey, let's all the
Kumbaya. Let's all love eachother. Let's get, you know, do
something positive. I don'tknow. I mean, maybe it's too

(25:51):
cheesy, but I like it,

Young MC (25:54):
yeah. I mean, it could be, I mean, but, but if you have
a song with an artist, or just acouple of artists, and they
speak positively with the viral,you know, the viral aspect of
it, you can get something likethat to click. You know, you get
a record. If you can get arecord like that with just a
couple artists to be as big asnot like us, or as big as some
of the other stuff in the in thebattles, or as big as the top 10

(26:15):
single of the year, it'llaccomplish pretty much the same
thing. Yeah, because wasn't theInternet has changed a lot. So
the whole idea of that, I mean,a lot of of getting so many
artists on it is to bringattention to it, right? That you
have so many people fordifferent well, people can
access music in their phones, soif it goes viral enough, it'll
get to people without having tohave a whole bunch of artists on

(26:36):
it. So it's really the thesubject matter, and being able
to market, market it, right? Or,you know, get it out to as many
people as possible. People startclicking on it. Then, you know,
I What would make them click ona song that has 20 artists on
it, as opposed to a song thatonly has two or three, if the
two of the two or three has somegreat verses or something I want
to click on, it's only a two orthree minute commitment, they'll

(26:59):
click on it. If it's 20 artistson it. You know, it's a lot.
Well, I think, I think same gangwas like 13. So even, even, you
know, putting together single,high single digits or low double
digits of artists, I don't thinkthat would be as big of a deal.
It's just getting it out topeople. Because the problem is,
is that, as part of the reasonI've been working on music for
like, a couple of years, and Ireally haven't even thought of

(27:22):
putting an album date togetherfor the simple fact that as soon
as an album comes out, it'spretty much digested in a week
or two, and then it's like, onto the next Okay, when's the
next one? And I want to give achance for myself to kind of
grow listening to what'shitting, how people are
responding to a single before Imeet the next single. And then
once I get a few, a few in, thenI'll say, Okay, I'll put

(27:44):
together an album, and I'll havea track record of singles that
people like. And then, you know,they can go through, you know,
the 4567, new tracks, and judgethe album as a whole, you know,
with the track record of thesingles. Because, you know, like
I said, you have an artist thathasn't put out a record for a
few years, and it'll come outand maybe get a week or two of

(28:06):
of of publicity and peoplelistening to it. And if there's
one song that people like out ofit all, you know, all of them,
and it can get some radio playor get some get, you know, get
get some streaming numbers, thenso be it. But then that can
easily go away. The next chartcomes out. So,

yeah, it's competitive. Would you sell a
physical copy of, like, vinyland stuff? Because I know that's
kind of making a comeback vinyl,and I've seen some artists do
some really cool stuff, likegetting very creative with, you
know, kind of, like box sets andthings. Like, I have this, like,
death metal guy on, he's got histhing comes, like, a coffin, you
know, which is really cool forthat kind of genre, like, would

(28:42):
you do something like that,where it's kind of like a box
set or gift set of some sort?
Yeah,

Young MC (28:46):
I mean, I'm definitely, I'm definitely open
to it. I'm definitely open toit, you know, it would be. But
once again, I would have to goin hand in hand with the
promotion. I would have to gohand in hand with, you know,
people knowing that it's coming,that you anticipate a date that
you don't just kind of stumbleon. It has been out for two
weeks. Oh, this came out twoweeks ago. You want to, you want
to be in a position where you'rehitting people from a lot of

(29:09):
size, they're getting a lot ofimpressions of your music. So I
think about all that stuff, youknow, making music now, yeah,

the other thing I think a lot of musicians are
doing to kind of stay afloat.
Is, is doing like those paidmeet and greets? Is that? Do you
do those? Is that part of the Ilove the 90s tour? Can people
pay?

Young MC (29:29):
I mean, not, not really. I'm an on that, on that
tour. I'm mainly an opener. So,you know, the meet and greets
are kind of part of what I dowhen, when we do have meet and
greets, they like to the openerswill get together and do meet
and greets for people. Onceagain, I get, I get some
traction on some newer music,and people want me to headline,
and I'm, you know, putting on a,you know, a bigger show, and
that kind of thing. Then I maybe in a position to do, position

(29:51):
to do that now, and I woulddefinitely be open to it. But
for, you know, for me now, it'slike a lot of times, whether it
be the. Corporate events willhave, you know, built in meet
and greet, some of the publicevents and the casinos and the
like. So, you know, I'm not, I'mdefinitely not against it. I
just want to make sure that I'min a position where I can
benefit and benefit from it, andpeople can get their money's

(30:14):
worth as well. Yeah,

I love those casino gigs, like going to those, like,
it's such a great because, youknow, sometimes you go to these
bar shows or whatever, andthere's like, six opening bands,
and you're like, I just want tosee my the one, you know, I
can't stand for seven hours. Iwant to go to the casino gigs.
They're like, get in, get outand get back to the casino,
like,

Young MC (30:32):
and see, you see that as a consumer, that's what they
that's what they're telling usas performers, that they want us
to do, like, half our set lengthto get people back on the
tables, you know? So, you know,it's, it's fine, it's, it's
worked. So I'm, I'm down to doit. So it's, you know, it I've
learned a lot. You just, youlearn a lot being on this side
of it. So that's definitely oneof those.

Well, the casino gigs and those festivals and
like the cruises and stuff, Iwould assume those pay the most.
But I would think, as an artist,the funnest thing would be a
headlining show where you couldplay, like, an hour and a half
and do all the deep cuts, thenew stuff like and you have your
real hardcore fans there thatare gonna love it all.

Young MC (31:15):
Yeah, I mean, in theory, that's, you know, in
theory, that's great if you knowthat you're enough of a draw to
fill whatever venue as theheadliner the word, the last
thing you want to do is be aheadliner, and then, you know,
you see the ticket sales aren'tthere. And that's that's
happening for everybody. So theone thing I can kind of hide
behind is being in a SupportAct, is that, you know, I know

(31:35):
that I can bring a certainamount of people, but I don't
necessarily have to make sure Ifill it to capacity. So, um, you
know, once again, you know, getsome traction on newer music.
You never know what happens,

yeah, I think so. I mean, it's like, yeah, again,
maybe you, you, you're not goingto be able to fill stadiums and
do a whole tour, but like someshows like that, for your die
hard fans, I think that would befun for you and the fans.

Young MC (32:00):
Absolutely. Yeah, absolutely.

Dude, could you ever do headlining shows?
Because you're in Scottsdalehere, you're in the same city as
me. Do you ever do shows herelive?

Young MC (32:10):
Not, not a lot.
Because a lot of times, I guessthey assume that I'm just that
I'm going to have a massiveguest list, or people aren't
going to show up, pay to show upto come see me. So a lot of
times I'll have tours that I'mon, come to come to Phoenix and
Tucson. And I was there was likea Tucson show I was supposed to
be on, and they pulled me off asthey shrunk the number of acts
down. So anything I do here isgoing to have to be, you know,

(32:32):
unless, unless something bigcomes up, it may, may have to be
something I put together, whichI'm working on. I've been
talking to a lot of people inthe scene here. So, so that's,
it's not out of the realm ofpossibility that I, that I do
something local here. Yeah,

that'd be cool. I'd like to come see you. Um, I
haven't even seen these. I lovethe 90s shows. I've heard about
them. I mean, you've got, it'skind of, it's so it's like a
different it's a variety ofartists, like, they kind of
switch it up because there's noice. Color me bad. Salt and
pepper, CNC Music Factory,right? There's some of them.
Well, yeah,

Young MC (33:05):
salt and pepper hasn't been on for for a couple of
years now, but, um Yeah, VanillaIce. Color me bad. Rob base,
tone Loke on some. Um myself,sometimes. Montel Jordan, awful
one. Sometimes, you know, someso and you know, it's been fun,

(33:25):
not only meeting people andseeing the crowds reaction, but
they're fun nights. They'rereally, they're really fun, fun
events to go do. Is Mark

McGrath on some of them, too. Mark McGrath has been
on a few, yes,

Young MC (33:36):
yeah. I think he started in 2017 and he had, he
had done some some with us, andhe's on some from time to time.
Yeah,

yeah, that's cool.
I heard you talking about howyou saw him and DMC covering the
Beastie Boys and you and you andbut you didn't post about it
because you're like, I'm justgoing to be a fan. This is so
cool.

Young MC (33:56):
Oh yeah, no, yeah. I, I recorded. They did fight for
your right at this it wasactually a birthday party for a
friend of marks, and I was on itand couple other acts, and I
just stood there and was a fan.
It was, it was a great night.
Mark's a great guy. We went tocollege together, so, you know,
he's, oh, you did. I didn't knowthat he was at your SC when I
was Yeah, that's so weird. Wedidn't know each other there,

(34:19):
but, yeah, but, he was therewhen I was there.

Oh, that's funny.
Yeah, it's so weird. Like, oneday he just, like, followed me
on Instagram. I was like, Whatthe hell he was so weird. But
I'm friends with, like, uh,Brett Michaels guitar player,
and he and so he was telling mehe's like, yeah, no. Mark is a
huge music fan. Like, he knowsmore. Oh, yeah, anybody about
music?

Young MC (34:39):
His drummer, Dean is me and Dean Butterworth will sit
and have massive conversationsabout all different kinds of
music, and any questions I haveabout drummers, or drummers that
I like, or drummers that I'veworked with, he'll describe
their styles. I mean, it's thatwe've had some very, very
involved music conversations,and it's pretty cool to have.
It's coming from a rapper. Usand to hear, you know, some

(35:02):
ideas or thoughts I have onmusic, or some confirmations
based on what he's telling me.
Well, I

thought one drummer that you worked with that I
thought was really cool was aFaith No More, Mike Borden. I
was like, Oh, he was your secondalbum. I don't know if you ever
did if you were in the studio. Alot of times you're not there or
whatever, but he's

Young MC (35:20):
he's left in my guest room. No, so my board and slept
in my guest room at the houseand then came in the studio and
did the session. No, absolutely,that's

awesome. Wow. Did you have there's

Young MC (35:31):
a video out there of me getting on stage and doing
epic with them at the Palladium.
I could not sing for anything,but, yeah, but I ran up and did
that. No. Patton was great. Asthe years go on, people have
seen how talented Patton is. Iactually went to a Mr. Bungle
show with my lawyer, and it'stotally different. But he he
sings like an angel. He's got,like, one of the strongest

(35:51):
voices in rock. So it's like Ifelt so privileged to be able to
be around them and andexperience that. And Borden was
a great drummer, and those guysare still doing stuff or
whatever is just, just reallycool, like that many years to to
kind of look back.

Oh yeah, I love Fidel Moore patent. He's getting
like seven different bands, butyeah, he's crazy talented. Yeah.
Did you have other, I know fleaplayed on your record too, from
Red Hot Chili Peppers and that,

Young MC (36:17):
yeah, that one I didn't even know about until
after it was fun. The labels didall the label did all that.
Yeah, so, yeah, yeah.

But they're on capital. Some of the other
artists on capital at the timewhen you were on there, poison
Megadeth, Nine Inch Nails, IronMaiden, Sammy Hager, great white
Allison chain, but

Young MC (36:34):
I mean capitals all over the world. I would go to
the tower in LA, you know, andI'd see the guys that I knew
there. But it wasn't like I wasgoing to a lot of functions and
seeing a lot of the artists Imet, the guys from Crowded
House, and a couple other, youknow, couple of other acts and
and things like that, but that Iwas in a place where I'm
literally trying to get my, youknow, keep my career going. So
there wasn't even a thought ofof of the reaching out, because

(36:57):
I never really was in a positionwhere I felt grounded there. I
had two albums there, and theneverything was independent after
that.

So you didn't run into those guys, or did you run
into any other rock bands,either at festivals or backstage
at award shows, or have any runins with I

Young MC (37:13):
mean, yeah, weird stuff, I um, oh, what is it
called? Um, switch foot. I metthem on a plane. The lead
singer, Hooper stank. I metoutside of an hotel. I mean,
just where, you know, um, no,oh, God, closing time. What's

(37:33):
the, what's the name Sonic, Ithink it's called. So he's a the
lead singer is a greatsongwriter. So I met him outside
of a cafe. He had written forthe Dixie Chicks and alike and
their second album. I mean, ifthe first album was good, and
there's, there's other singleson that that would that were
great, and the second album waspretty strong too, but, but I
remember meeting him outside ofa cafe on Third Street in LA and
having a long conversation, um,just a lot of people I met. I a

(37:56):
friend of mine had sent me thatthe night that I was on stage of
Faith No More. I had taken apicture with Ozzy, Osbourne, Pat
and me, and I didn't realize,and I've the lead singer of
Metallica, and I didn't realizewho, who all was in the picture
until my buddy had sent me thepicture, you know, the other
day. And I'm like, Oh my God,you know, every I remember

(38:19):
meeting Ozzie, and I rememberobviously being there, you know,
for Patton. So, yeah, yeah,

wow, that's so crazy. Such a like a whirlwind.
And I know I think I heard youtell a story that Bruce Hornsby
was one of the people thattaught reach out to you after
you won a Grammy and treated youlike a respected musician. It

Young MC (38:36):
wasn't even reached out he was there that night, or
there were the events around it,because I think his his stuff
was bigger, he was still around,you know, hanging, you know,
going to the events and thelike. And I just remember having
really nice interactions withhim. And he's such a musical,
you know, you know, musical guy.
And it just felt so good to bewelcomed like that. Because a
lot of musicians that, you know,musical people that didn't

(38:57):
really feel that rap was likewas, was as musical as it
actually was. So you're kind offighting through that and kind
of showing that you're kind ofrepresenting a genre that's
going to be around, that's goingto stick around, that's going
to, you know, have impact. Andit's not just, you know, guys
got, you know, guys sampling andturntables and not much else
talent. So it was just good toto get that kind of validation

(39:19):
with somebody like BruceHornsby.

Yeah, I love that.
I love Did you ever have, like,a a rock rap collaboration?
Because I know there was, thatwas a big thing, obviously, your
boys in public enemy and had onewith Anthrax, and then I heard
this one. I don't think it'sever been released, but Guns and
Roses did one with easy E and Idon't think it ever came out.
But was there ever one that youdid that didn't get released. I
I

Young MC (39:43):
did, um, oh God, because I'm aging. There was a
song I had on my one hit. Was itmy one hit wonder album, a song
called Mr. Right now, um, and Ihad actually performed it with
him one time, and it was a moshpit in front. It was more of a
more of a punk band. Oh, man.
And I have to, I have to look itup.

Oh, so what? But it was released. Then, yes, yeah,
it was released. Okay, let mesee, I can see if I can, if I
can Google that one, yeah, cuz Iwas, I was going through your
discography, and, yeah, there'sa lot. There was another thing
that you had that was, like,demos or something. And I was
like, Oh, these are, these arereally interesting. Like, there
was a song you had called Allthat and a bag of chips. And I
was like, this is a pretty goodsong, like, and I remember when

(40:27):
that scene was big, so that musthave been from the 90s or
something,

Young MC (40:31):
right? Um, yeah, yeah.
It was interesting, because itgot to the point where I was,
where I was digitizingeverything that I did, and I was
digitizing everything I did, andI had a bunch of songs, not not
tons, but I had a bunch of songsthat hadn't come out for
whatever reasons, and the onesthat didn't have massive samples
or clearance issues or anythinglike that. I'm like, let me just

(40:53):
put these out and and, yeah,it's so all that bag of chips is
one of those that it just nevermade an album, but it had kind
of a new jack swinge feel to it.
I'm like, Okay, that would begood, just as a retrospective
for people to kind of, you know,kind of get this gonna get get
this out and get it seen.

Yeah, and then the other one was a, I don't even
think it's you recorded it, butthere was a song you wrote.
There was supposed to be, like aLakers theme song with tone Loke
that never got put out, but youhave the lyrics somewhere, like,
written down or something.

Young MC (41:25):
Yeah, it's called, oh, it was about the Lakers. It was
about the Lakers, three peat.
And I'd written the song, andwe'd put it in and, you know,
put it in, and Tone, Tone neverwent in the studio and made it
it was supposed to. Supposed tobe like a third single, but wow,
thing had lasted so long andfunky. Coviddina was such a

(41:47):
massive hit behind it that youknow that by that time it
actually bust, the move washappening. So, so I think that
that was part of it too, that Imay have stepped on some of it,
yeah, with what I was, yeah,that's

awesome. And then you also, because you also,
besides music, you've also kindof dabbled in, in film, right? I
mean, you've acted a little bitand, uh, directed a little

Young MC (42:12):
bit, made a film called, made a film called, uh,
zero sum in 2015, um, yeah, itwas, it's something kind of a
bucket, bucket list thing. Andalso, like I said, I write my
songs in three act structures.
So kind of like it felt good todo something where I actually
played out three act structure.
And going through thatexperience actually helped me as
a producer and as a as amusician going forward in terms

(42:35):
of the editing process andgetting your whole story out.
Storytelling, yeah, oh, by theway, the name of the group was
rubber neck. Rubber neck was thename of the rock group. Yes.

Okay, I'll have to off to check that one out. Yeah,
that's cool, yeah. Because, Imean, I feel like that's the
with the films and stuff too.
And obviously your music is inso many commercials and movies
and TV shows like that. That issuch a big part of income for
musicians now, because, youknow, they just obviously the
record sales, even if you sellmillions, it doesn't their
streams or whatever. It doesn'treally do anything so, but
getting your your music and filmand TV and commercials, that's

(43:07):
really lucrative, right?

Young MC (43:11):
Yeah, yeah. Oh no.
Most definitely, mostdefinitely, especially if you're
in a position where you you havefull ownership, at least some
ownership, or some kind of stakein the master and the publishing
and, you know, those, thosethose deals are made. Those are
the deals that keep the recordcompanies and the publishing
companies afloat, you know,regardless of what the music
business does.

Yeah, and then, like, when you were in that
movie, up in the air, and youkind of played yourself at like
a corporate event, is thatthat's a real thing, right?
Corporate events, they hirethese big name musicians, and
they they pay really well. Haveyou ever done those kind of
shows? Sure, yeah,

Young MC (43:45):
definitely, definitely. We've taken the 90s
tour, and we've done corporateevents with it, within with 90s
lineups in different indifferent iterations, because a
lot of times those corporateexecutives are in the age group
that would appreciate what wedo. So definitely, and
especially doing somethingclean, especially doing
something that, you know, beingeasy to work with and the like,

(44:06):
and, you know, because you'redealing with corporate
executives and all and all theoffice politics as well, as you
know, everything that goes onwith putting on a show,
regardless. So, yeah, those havebeen fun to do. Oh, it's

fine, okay, that's good, yeah. I mean, I'm assuming
that's like, lucrative too. Imean, if it's a big company,
it's a private show, they couldpay, I

Young MC (44:25):
mean, I mean, they're not stupid. They didn't, they
didn't, you know, a lot of thesecompanies did not become, you
know, multi million or multibillion dollar companies by
overpaying people. So they, theydeal with real agents, they deal
with real, real, real folks interms of putting the business
together. And, you know, I'm notgoing to say that they don't
pay, well, they're they don'tpay well. They do pay well, but
it's not like, you know, youcontinuously get exhaust,

(44:47):
especially being in my positionwith, you know, a big record
from 30 plus years ago, you'reusually going to get paid close
to what you normally get paid,you know, for something like

that. Do you negotiate all that stuff
yourself, or do you have a.
Manager at this point? No,

Young MC (45:01):
I have a booking agent that does that. And then he'll
come to me and and we'll decide,we'll decide together what I'm
taking and not taking. Sometimesit's better to take less, if
that's what the marketplace issaying. Sometimes it's not,
sometimes it's, you know, youhave to kind of see what
whatever, not only what everyoneelse is doing. But, you know,

(45:21):
you don't want to go out thereand undervalue yourself, you
know. So I want to make surethat I get, still get a good
chance to get out there andwork. But I don't want it to be
that I'm the cheapest guy in theblock and and if, you know, want
a big hit with a, you know,cheap show, just call, call, you
know. Yeah,

yeah, you, you. So again, I'm back to Vanilla Ice,
because you've done, you've donea bunch of shows with him,
right?

Young MC (45:42):
Couple 100. Yeah, several 100, yes. But you didn't
be

become friends with him or have relationship until
later.

Young MC (45:51):
I knew him from before, I guess we didn't do the
word in contact until, you know,until this tour, but, but, but I
knew him from back in the day,when you know his stuff was big,
and meet him in a war shows andother places. Well, I always

wondered, like, back in the day, like, what did,
what did rappers think of likevanilla ice and like white
rappers, were they like, whatdid they make fun of them?
Because I feel like, when youwatch Living Color, they've kind
of made fun of Vanilla Ice, likethey kind of thought he was kind
of a joke. Is that what you guysthought of vanilla ice when he
first came out, like backwhenever it was 90. Thing is, he

(46:24):
was

Young MC (46:24):
put out on EMI, which is part of capital, so part of
their flag waving over there wasthat, you know, we have, you
know, hammer that did 15 millionand vanilla ice that did, you
know, 810, 12, whatever it was,million. From my standpoint, you
couldn't laugh at that. I couldif I could have done, if I could
have done half of that there,I'd have, I'd have been happy
about where I was. You know whatI mean. So, um, and remember,

(46:49):
this is coming from a guy that,you know, I made a crossover
record, and people were sayingstuff about me and making jokes
about me when, you know, when,when, when Buster move was a big
pop record. You know, a lot oftimes, you know, where guys wish
that they had a proper wish,where they're capable of making
a pop record like that. So Iwould always look at the
criticism of someone likevanilla ice or or hammer, or me,

(47:10):
or even I've seen when Dr Drewent platinum, I heard, you
know, I saw comments about him,and a lot of that is just coming
from a place of jealousy. Islike, Oh, that can't be me. So
let me, you know, just talk crapto just say that it's not, it's
not valuable. But I go outthere, I'm in front of the
people. I see the crowds. Youknow that are fans of his as
well. So, yeah,

but now, when you mentioned Dr Dre, you knew them.
You You opened for them whenthey were in WA. You knew him
back then. How? I mean, thisguy, it's so cool his story.
Because, you know, obviouslyhe's a good rapper. He's a great
rapper. I loved him in NWA. Hewas able to evolve and have a
solo career. Then he's able toevolve and have Beats by Dre. I
mean, I think, is he abillionaire? Like, I mean, this

(47:50):
guy has parlayed his hand somany times. Like, did you know
that back in the day like that,like you looked at him and you
relationship, like, you justknew this guy was, like, really
smart, good businessman. It

Young MC (48:01):
was producing. He was producing for NWA, and then, um,
and then easy stuff, his solostuff, after math, you know,
death row at the beginning, youknow, he was doing. He was
behind all of that. So justbeing able to parlay that. And
then the beast by Drake. Thingwas him and Jimmy Ivy. And Jimmy

(48:22):
Ivy, and it was just, it wasbrilliant. So I knew Dre was
creative, and he produced me onall in the same gang. So even
that experience, I was able tokind of parlay into my own
production and even other stuffthat I did creatively. So I've
always, always had a goodfeeling, you know, in terms of
his talent, in terms of whatDrake could do,

yeah, have you looked at that and thought, I
mean, obviously now you're doingproducing too. Are you looking
at maybe some sort of, or haveyou tried, like, some kind of
side business, like headphones,or, you know, vitamin 50 cents,
got vitamin water and stuff likethat. I feel like that's just
some of these guys have theirhands in so many different
things. It's like, it's but it'ssmart, it what seems to work out
for them? Well,

Young MC (49:00):
that's the thing. It's like, you got to make sure that
you're in something that you youknow, that you can, you know,
hope that you can, hopefully seeworks out. Not saying you want
to predict everything, but just,you know, a good, solid business
opportunity. I'm always openfor. So I definitely be down,
you know, for some things I got,I got some stuff going with the
AI. Now that I'm, that I'm thatlooks really promising in terms

(49:21):
of what that, you know, whatthat space is going to evolve
into, especially with me usingit in music and showing actual,
you know, practical applicationsand records that are charting
and, you know, and branding andthat kind of stuff. So that's
where I've kind of put my headin so, so it'll be interesting
to see how that turns out. Yeah,

talk about how you're using AI in the music,
because it's not like you'remaking the whole song with AI,
you're just using it as asupplement. I mean, just like
rappers would use records andsample things, like you're using
it as a tool. I think it's cool.

Young MC (49:51):
Yeah, that was my thing. Is that it was like a
zero to 60 thing. Either someonewas making the entire record
with AI, or people were just poopooing AI and saying. You know,
we had no use for it at all. AndI said, Well, there's a happy
medium, yes, that I can still becreative, still make my music,
but, um, have an element of itthat that's intriguing. And I'm
actually in the process ofgetting the visuals together to

(50:14):
take that on, on the road withme. It's quite expensive, and I
have, like, three, fourdifferent companies involved and
the like, but to be able to beon stage and performing the
records and watching AI answerme, you know, in the songs, and
having, you know, interludes andthat kind of stuff, that's going
to be fun. So this is kind ofthe pinnacle of what I've been
working on for several years,putting all this together. So

(50:37):
probably by the summer, I'mhoping to have it integrated
into the shows, or at least onthe 90 shows, I'll have it. So
that's what I'm really lookingforward to see what the response
is, not only from the old schoolfans, but fans of the newer
music, because obviously the AIis actually integrated into
newer music, and then also fromfrom from tech companies and AI

(50:57):
companies and the like. Just toshow, once again, practical
application of a fullygenerated, you know, AI
generated character being in themusic and interacting with the,
with the with the musician andthe audience. Oh,

that sounds really intriguing. I got to check that
out. That sounds really fun. Itreminds me too, because you did
a, you have a song, your biggesthit, Buster, move. It was
remixed by Diplo. How did thatcome about? Because he's, that's
a big name. I never heard ofhim. And so we were at a concert
one year, it was in Scottsdale,and they're like, oh, Diplo is
performing. Like, who's, I don'tknow who this is. And now,

(51:30):
obviously he's huge. How didthat come about? Did he just,
does he have to get permissionto do that? Or he just

Young MC (51:36):
really was, it wasn't me. It was it was the the master
owner. So it would have beendelicious vinyl, or Concord at
the time. And, you know, I don'tknow, I would assume they
approached him and and went outto do a remix. The the irony of
it is, and because I've doneremixes as well, it's like the
remixes on on bustling move justdon't get much traction. You
know, like it, it. No one hasever asked me to do a different

(51:59):
mix of busted move on stage.
They only want to hear theoriginal, you know. So whether
it doesn't matter, Diplo thinkAaron, not sure if Aaron the
crate or, you know, some, butdefinitely several people have,
yeah, have remixed directly, andthe fans only want to hear the
original. And my remix, I wasable to take my break verse
because I had a reverse that Ido in the breakdown, and that's

(52:21):
never been released on, youknow, on an actual record,
except my remix. So even thatthey, you know, if you're going
to do it, you know, do it overthe original song. Yeah,

and you do a, you do a freestyle, uh, rap in the
in the tour as well. Is thatsomething that you rehearse, or
is it literally like on thespot, you just different every

Young MC (52:42):
time it's something I rehearse. And that's, you know,
once again, some of the shows,like the casino shows and stuff
like that, when they want you togo quick, you know. So that's
mainly meant as an encore, but,but, yeah, no, no, it's
something that I've done. It wassomething the fastest rhyme for
my first album. So that's cool,yeah,

yeah. That's exciting. You are back. To, I
was gonna ask you about trainbecause I know you said you're a
fan. I noticed they follow you.
Because when I, whenever I goto, you know, look at somebody's
like, Who do we have in common?
Oh, train. Oh, train followsyou. Have you ever, like, had
any interactions with them?

Young MC (53:15):
Little bit in that, that mainly, was from that list.
So just cool, you know, thepleasantries and and passive,
you know, Pat's a cool guy. So,so we've talked, so, yeah, I
mean, once again, it's good,because doing this like, you
know, as long as I've done it, Iknow the success I've had and
the like, I know, you know, Iknow what it's like for my

(53:36):
standpoint. But if you talk tosomeone who you respect, and you
respect their artistry, youknow, they've had a lot of
success. They know who you are,and they respect what you've
done, and that kind of thing.
That's good, you know. So, sothat was a cool thing with that,
with that whole experience,yeah. I

mean, you've got a lot of people that are fan like,
Will I Am, and Flavor Flav, andall these people that follow
you. Russell Peters

Young MC (53:57):
a good friend. It's funny, because I literally grew
up as a fan of flavor, flavor,and then I got some few months
back, I get a text from him witha video of he's in a karaoke bar
and a guy's on stage doingBuster move, and he's singing
along with a showing a wholecrowd. And he sent me the entire
video. I'm like, That's FlavorFlav sending it to me, you know?
I mean, so that was, that was,that was a cool moment, you

(54:19):
know, once again, never, I'll,I'll never share anything like
that. But just to get thatexperience is, like, very cool.

Yeah, did you ever do shows with Public Enemy, yes,
yeah,

Young MC (54:30):
yeah, that would be a fun day. I want to say a few, a
few shows back in the day. Yeah,back

in the day. Okay, yeah. Because, yeah, it's hard
to find uh, records. I know youtoured with, with NWA, and then
Europe, and also Millie Vanilli.
And so I was just trying tofigure out, what other man that,
you know, there's a wholesummit, yeah, that was
interesting, because I heard yousay that, you know, people were
saying, oh, like, you know, theylip synced. And you were like,
well, there was actually a lotof artists that lip synced.

(54:57):
They're just the ones that gotcaught. And. That was like that.
I was like, whoa. And

Young MC (55:02):
also, their mics were live. So it's not like their
mics, you know them, they weresinging over but they were
backing tracks. But there were aton of the point I was making.
There were a ton of artists thathad backing tracks, like, had
substantial vocal backing tracksin that day, but no noted, you
know, made that big of a deal.
It's like, if you're jumpingaround, dancing all over the
place, falling out of breath,but the verse and the hook are
totally perfect. Lyrically,there's something, you know,

(55:25):
there's something to that,which, once again, if that's
what the audience is lookingfor, then that's what the live
performance is. I just, I justdon't like the the bashing, the
bashing of Milli Vanilli, youknow, like like, they what they
did was so egregious that otherpeople didn't do it number one
and number two, you know, theysaying how the Grammy being

(55:46):
taken away was justified. Andlike, Okay, well, then who did
the Grammy go to? Like, ifyou're going to take it away,
then, then it's taken away fromsomebody deserving. Is it to the
background singers it sang on arecord? Was it to the act that
came in second place? Theyreally didn't care about any of
that. They more cared about justtaking it away from Milly
vanilla. And I'm, you know, soat that point, I just thought it
was, you know, some somewhat ofsour grapes and people industry

(56:07):
people being upset that thatthat secret got found out.

Yeah, no, it is, did you watch that documentary
about it? It's reallyfascinating story. I

Young MC (56:19):
haven't, I need to, I need, I definitely need to. But
I, I haven't. I think I handedthem the Grammy, if I'm not
mistaken, so that. So that waswhy that was brought up to me,
but I haven't gone back andactually looked at it, because
then I know how sad it was. I'dspend a lot of time, and Rob's,
Rob's passing was heartbreakingfor me. So, yeah,

I mean, we've, you've had a few that are close
to you. That's, I think, themost recent. You know, my
condolences, because you wereclose to Coolio and he recently,
and everyone was kind of reallyshocked about that one. Like,
how do we avoid these kinds ofthings from happening with, I
don't want you to betray histrust or whatever, but is there
something we can learn fromthese kinds of passings of
people too young?

Young MC (57:00):
I mean, you just hope that people see it and and and
learn from it. I can't really,you know, I can't really say
much more than that, you know,it's just, it's heartbreaking to
go through. But having saidthat, you know, we're getting to
the age where, you know, justregular people are passing away
from, you know, from fromregular events in normal life.

(57:22):
So, you know, it's just you dealwith loss the best you can,
sure, yeah, something like that.
You know, you take it as ateaching moment to try and keep
yourself as healthy as you can,and, and that's it,

yeah? Well, that's what I also find so interesting
about you. You never, because Ithink you talked about how you
had some sort of liver issue asa kid. So by the time that you
were old enough to try alcohol,you didn't like it, and so you
didn't really ever drink verymuch or smoke. You didn't do
drugs. You stayed away from allthat stuff.

Young MC (57:49):
Yeah, I mean, and a lot of the things that would
lead me down to it, I kind ofdealt with them very self
confrontational. So if there'ssomething that has to be dealt
with, My motto is, do what youhave to so you can do what you
want to. So a lot of times theyhave to is, like, the annoying
stuff or the stuff that wouldgreat at you. So instead of
letting that linger and and playin the back of your head, you
just get that done, and then youget to do the stuff that you

(58:11):
want to do. You know, need anysubstances or anything like that
to to, you know, kind of getthrough things. So that's,
that's how I've dealt with,that's how I dealt with stuff,
because it's really easy to fallin in this business. Man, oh,
they don't like you anymore. Oh,you're not as popular as you
used to be. All that otherstuff. And just you kind of take
it with a grain of salt, take itfor what it is, and you try and
live the best life you can andmake the best music you can.

Yeah, well, you've inspired so many people, and
you've you've made great music,and you're still making great
music. And I think that's theimportance of doing interviews
like this is to let people knowthat you're still out there,
you're still making music,you're still touring like you're
doing great stuff, and just gotto let the world know absolutely

Young MC (58:49):
no, look, I've been happy with the response that
I've gotten. It was a fight atRadio initially, and now, you
know, the more people that haveopened up, I've been able to
get, you know, more tractionwith my music, and it's allowed
me, you know, kind of promptedme to make better music. So I'm
can't wait to see what thefuture holds, not only

(59:11):
creatively, but, like I said,putting the AI into the live
performance and really seeinghow people respond to it.
Because a lot of times, a lot ofaudiences I'll go in front of,
they won't know any of the newmusic, and the AI will just seem
like a stage prop. But if I puton a good performance, it may
get them into the new music. Andthen, and then have have just
that, that technology kind of,you know, open up some other

(59:34):
opportunities. Yeah,

I think too. You mentioned radio. But I would
also say the the big thing nowis, like getting on the
playlist, right? Like, you geton so and so's playlist, then
then everybody listens to thatplaylist, and then they listen
to you. Yeah,

Young MC (59:48):
sure, no, no. And definitely, I mean, and that's a
business that I'm, you know,still learning more about and
get, you know, I have more of anentrenchment and people, you
know that there's not a lot ofpeople in playlist that. That
were around when bust The movecame out. But there's a ton of
people on the radio that wereso, you know, that once they
realize, like, Oh, he's comingwith stuff like he did before, I

(01:00:09):
think that, you know, one onekind of influences the other, so
that that's what I'm, you know,keep pushing and absolutely

Chuck Shute (01:00:16):
well, thank you so much for doing this. This is a
bucket list interview for me. Ireally appreciate it. Anything
else?

Young MC (01:00:23):
No, just follow me.
Young MC 89 I love the 90s tour.
There'll be other touringopportunities, maybe some, you
know, private casinos, that kindof thing. But I'm definitely out
there. Definitely do it. And I'mlooking forward to being in
front of people this summer,years to come. And my hope is to
get some get some music outthere that some new music where
people can really see what I'mdoing and and really, really get

(01:00:48):
a vibe. So kinetic, fun part,loose eye videos for all of
them. You can see all those onYouTube. So once again, young MC
89 on Instagram. Please followme and looking forward to see
you out there in the world. All

Chuck Shute (01:01:00):
right, thank you so much. Thank you. All right,
we'll see you later. Bye, bye.
You.

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Young MC Discusses the I Love the 90s Tour, New Music, Producing & more!

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