Unrehearsed Season 2 Episode 9: "THE DREAM" Special!

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Now the audio started.

(00:26):
Oh my gosh, here we go!
Yeah, okay.
Yeah, I am good.
But I guess it's only...
How's like what's happening?
Hi fam!
What's happening?
We like, hey, we know we got season two rolling out,
but wait a minute, wait a minute,
cause we got some big news.

(00:46):
We got some big stuff that just dropped that's happening.
So go ahead, tell the people, Deshawn.
Tell the people.
Oh yeah, so sorry if I'm like,
it's just look like I'm getting stuck together,
I kinda am.
But yeah, new project, new mixtape,
just dropped the dream on all platforms.
How many platforms?
Every last one.
Every last one, okay?

(01:06):
Every last one.
Okay.
Yeah, if y'all seen the first episode of unrehearsed,
then this may look,
or this might be a bit familiar with y'all.
The first episode we did like the transparent two interview,
right?
Oh yeah, the very first.
Yeah, the very first.
Season one.
Okay, I was like, season two?
I was like, hmm?

(01:27):
And today we finna dive in on this project.
On this project.
So it's in Mo's hands.
Okay, it's in my hands.
It's in God's hands.
I'm leaving that, I'm just kidding.
So my first question is,
we know that you have an album out.
And so two things that I wanna talk about first
is what I wanna talk about,
why the dream?

(01:48):
Like why the name?
Yeah.
Why the name?
Well, that's just,
I've always been the one,
I've said this throughout the podcast
and maybe in other places as well,
but I always create in whatever space I'm in
in that moment.
Okay.
Ooh.
Not to say that I'm just now becoming
like ambitious or anything.

(02:09):
Right.
I've always been this way,
but after the real life events of transparent two,
it just kinda kicked into a different gear.
Okay.
And then along with that,
different opportunities started opening up.
Okay.
And that kinda gives you a little boost,

(02:29):
it gives you some gas.
So it's like you wanna push.
So that's the nutshell.
It's like I've been in this super passionate phase
that just kicked into another gear
over the past year and a half, two years.
Come on, I love that for you.
That's so exciting.
So then the other thing that I wanted to ask about
was the album cover.

(02:50):
Cause it's actually very,
I like it.
Honestly, it gives me like Joseph when I see it,
like coat of many colors,
like Joseph of the Bible people.
Okay.
And so I was like,
oh, and then it's called the dream.
And I was like,
did he do this on purpose?
But I was like, he probably did it.
So go ahead.
I mean, I wanted to,
in basic terms, I guess,
I just wanted to mix it up a little bit.

(03:10):
Okay.
And you did that?
You did a lot.
Yeah, like the last two cover arts for like projects,
cause the projects were so like emotionally heavy,
and then the cover arts kind of seemed that way.
But everything about this one was completely like different.
Like I wanted to have my head up this time,

(03:30):
both cover arts last time,
my head was down,
I was all depressed and whatnot.
I wanted to have my head up this time.
I wanted to have,
you know, I wanted to have some light,
some light on there.
Cause we're talking about the dream where, you know,
it's more high energy.
So I wanted to have something that reflected that.
And then I just so happened to be on,

(03:52):
scrolling through social media the day that,
shout out,
butchering her name,
Sa-Sci-Sty.
But she had made the cover art,
and she's based out of like New York,
if I'm not mistaken.
Come on.
She did amazing, you did amazing.
Yeah.
And she had made like a little art piece of art,

(04:17):
just for the heck of it,
I think for Ye, Kanye West.
And he shared it.
And that's how I found her.
Wow.
And so, I mean, you miss every shot you don't take.
So I was in the need to cover art at the time.
Come on.
So I was like, when we just shoot her a DM,
I didn't think she would respond.
And she literally responded like a few minutes later.
Oh, come on.

(04:38):
I was like, bro, what the heck?
I was kind of stuck.
I was like, ugh.
It shows that she's down to earth.
I was kind of stuck.
I was like, I didn't think I'd get this far, but.
He was like, hey.
And then I just, I told her what I wanted,
sent her some ideas, some inspiration.
And after a little less than a week,
she sent that back over.
Okay.
And then I had Brandon, shout out Brandon.

(05:01):
It's never enough.
Shout out to Brandon.
It's never an episode of Umber Hears
if we ain't shouting out Brandon,
shout out Chris, shout out Ricky.
Yes.
And I had Brandon add the actual title on the top
and then put in like the little dashes in between.
Cause you know, that's like the transparency logo,
the dashes in between.
So I was like, put that on there as well.
So that's how that came together.

(05:22):
Oh my God.
Okay.
We're about to get into it.
I'm like, so, so excited.
But first of all, your beats are,
cause how and where, how and where, like,
it's like literally every single track,
like nothing sounds the same at all, which I love.
And I just can't like,

(05:43):
literally every song is so different.
And I was just like, oh,
like every time a newbie would come on, I'm like,
this is fire.
Like, how does he do it?
Like what's going on in the dome?
How does he produce this?
How does it happen?
Still trying to figure that out.
Okay.
No, like I guess it's,
I don't know, I'm learning myself as I do this.

(06:04):
So I love everything that you hear on the project
is stuff that I genuinely love to listen to myself.
Oh, I love that.
Okay.
So like, if you go through like my Spotify,
just my liked songs on Spotify,
is the spectrum is wide.
Come on.
You know what I mean?
Yeah.
And so everything that I listen to is stuff like,

(06:28):
I wanna do that.
Like, I wanna try that out.
I wanna see if I can learn those kinds of instruments
or use those kinds of samples.
And it was just a matter of putting time in,
diving through the crates, so to speak.
The crates is all online these days.
So no actual vinyl record crates, milk crates.
But,
No, cause they had a real job back then.

(06:50):
Yeah.
And it just, it came together like that.
And me, I get antsy and bored easily.
So,
they probably have a diagnosis for that, but.
No, I don't think so.
But, so it's like, I want to hear something that

(07:13):
is great in flows, but at the same time doesn't get stale.
Yeah.
So how do you, in an age where intention spans
are much lower, how do you keep,
how would I keep myself interested?
Yeah.
We gotta switch up the sounds a little bit,

(07:33):
but not so much in a way where it's like,
it sounds or feels like he trying.
Like he trying too hard.
Yeah.
It's gotta sound real.
Yeah.
Yeah, so.
Dang.
Oh my God.
Okay, we're about to get into it, y'all.
So literally the first song, I will miss it.
I appreciate you loving the beats, by the way.
I'm very, not to cut you off,

(07:55):
I'm very passionate about that.
Like before the, before I took leaps in the songwriting,
it's like, okay, I'm actually gonna do it.
Like for those that don't know,
I've been a musician for several years.
And so I'm very passionate about like just the music.
Come on.
So when someone says, bro, your beats was fine,
I'm like, yes, thank you.
I know, I'm like, I want to expand my vocabulary.

(08:16):
I'm like, I wish I had a different word,
but like, it's just like top tier.
Oh my gosh.
Like top tier.
I appreciate it.
I'm not even kidding.
It's cause like, obviously I've listened
to your other albums, y'all.
Like it's just, like you just see your growth
like in this album, I was like, wow.
I'm like, it's just so different.
It's so different from what we've heard before.
So I just love it.
I'm just excited for you.

(08:37):
And that was intentional.
Yeah.
It's like, I was like, I wanted to pivot
and do something different.
Yeah.
You know, I didn't want to come through
with the another transparent too, for example.
It's like, I was out of that phase.
So what does this next phase sound like?
Yeah.
How do I put a sound to this new phase?
Come on.
I'm like, you're helping artists right now.
You're helping.
You're helping.

(08:57):
Okay. So the first song it's called dreams.
Dun, dun, dun, dun, dun.
Yeah.
I was like, oh, we gonna figure this out.
We gonna figure this out.
So starting with that, I wanted to ask.
So, cause you know, I like look, actually listen
to your lyrics, like deep, deep listen.
And so it says in elementary, you can do like pretty much

(09:18):
the adults are always like, you can do it all on earth
and even take it over.
Sky's the limit.
It sounds so easy, like a kid as a kid.
And then you're like, but then there's all this other stuff
that came with the like wrong people, negativity
innocence gone.
And then you get to the course and you're like
but no one ever explained how to fight for these dreams.
And I was so mad bro.

(09:39):
When I heard that I was mad.
Cause I'm like, why is that so true?
Like that's so true.
They're always like, yeah, the sky's the limit
all these things, but no one ever really does teach you
how to fight for your dreams.
So I would, so what I want to ask you is just like
in, you know, obviously finding out the hard way, like,
dang, like people talk about the sky's the limit
but you just having to like work hard through that.

(10:00):
Like, so how did you learn how to fight?
Was it just like getting into the ring?
You're like, we just go, yeah.
100%.
Okay.
You just got to get in that fire.
Okay.
You got to get in that fire with, with the intention
of not like hopping out because I'm obviously not
where I want to be yet.
We're building, we're building up there.
Yeah.
And the hopes is that this project takes us up even further

(10:23):
especially behind the scenes, but you just got to hop
in that fire and without the intent, the intentions
or the thoughts of wanting to get out
if things don't necessarily go as expected
because things don't really go as expected.
Yeah.
And so you got to know how to adjust and pivot,

(10:43):
roll with the punches and just get those, those, those scars
if you will, those calluses on your hands, get your hands
dirty, get that experience and it shapes your character
but you don't, you don't hop out that fire.
It's like, oh man, I didn't know it was going to be like this.
So now I don't want to do this no more.
Like, no way you got to remember what you got in it for.
Yeah.
So that's, that's, that's really it.

(11:04):
And me, I don't want to like hop out just because, oh man
it got rough or maybe because, oh wow, I was dreaming grand.
And then now that I see that the work is grand
to achieve the grand dream, it's like, oh no
I don't want to do this no more.
Like no.
Oh my God.
Why is that so true though?
That just hurt my soul.
I'm like, ah!
Yeah.

(11:24):
I mean, it's like, we see, we know what we want the end goal
to be if you have that figured out, but you know
you have to like work backwards.
It's like, okay, I want to go here.
Yeah.
Now let me work backwards and figure out what the steps are
to get there and then some things you can map out
but other stuff, there's like, oh wow,
I didn't see this coming, but this is a requirement.

(11:45):
I got to do this.
So you just got to push through it.
They map so good.
That was, that's crazy.
Like we just went to Bible study on Thursday.
And so one thing that our pastor was talking about was
that he was like, you know, we always know like, you know
God can't rebuild a promise.
He's like, but the hardest part is the process
because he doesn't rebuild how to get there.
And I was like, facts, facts.

(12:06):
Yeah.
You'll find that all throughout the Bible.
Yeah.
And you'll find that in your own personal life too.
You know, God may say this is going to happen
or maybe he'll loop to something, but that's the end goal.
Yeah.
That's the checkpoint.
You know, he doesn't necessarily tell you
or show you right away the road to get there.
Right.

(12:27):
Right.
That's where the faith comes in.
Right, come on.
But the process is important, I would say.
Cause like, I know one thing also that you talk
about often is just like character building.
And so, yeah, so continuing on the other thing
that I wanted to ask was like, you said something
and I remember I'm going to butcher it,
so don't get mad.

(12:47):
All good.
Okay.
But I remember that you were talking about, you know,
your dad would come in from work and you-
Oh, this is still on, this is like verse two, right?
Yeah.
You're like, my dad would come home.
Like if you were in, I was in ninth grade and like, you know,
if you were with me, you would see like,
my dad would come home for work.
And he'd be like, you need to get your education.
Don't be what you see.
And so I couldn't remember,
but your dad also went to college.

(13:10):
He went, he ended up going to-
A trading school.
Theology school.
Oh, he went to theology school.
But that, yeah, that was like, I was like,
you know what, 10, 11 years old.
He went to, if I remember correctly, he went to,
I think he majored in business at first,
like way like before the children.
And yeah, I don't know if he, I don't think he finished.

(13:30):
Okay.
I think he went, cause he had a cool job
and I think he went straight into that more so.
Okay.
Yeah.
Cause I'm like, obviously your dad has a great job now,
prison, prison ward.
You know, but it just made me-
Shout out Pops.
Yeah, shout out to Pops.
And so, but it just made me think about
just like what made him say that?
You know, cause he was like,

(13:51):
cause it just sounded like when you said it in the song
that he made it a standard, like he's like,
it doesn't matter if you want to or not,
like you're gonna get your education.
Like, and so, and then the other question is like,
so what did you see?
Or like, at least what did your dad see
to make him feel like, no, like this needs to happen.
Like y'all can't, y'all can't grow up
like how other people grew up or things like that.
Yeah, well, my dad's always been a hard worker.

(14:17):
One of his, one of the jobs he did have
required him to be out in the field, working outside.
And that, regardless of whatever the weather is,
if you're getting rained on like crazy,
you getting rained on.
Or if you were in a hundred degree wheat,
we shooting this in the middle of a heat wave right now,
you out there in that heat.

(14:38):
And so that, it wears on you.
So his thing was like,
if you don't wanna find yourself in something like this,
unless it's something you really wanna do,
then that's different.
But if you would rather do something else,
then have to be out there.

(14:59):
No matter what the weather condition is,
no matter, you know, the hundred, 105 degree weather,
he would have to be out there, you know,
or if it's like 40 some degrees and it's a storm,
he would have to be out there doing his thing.
If you don't want that, you know,
act like you don't want that.
You know?
So education, figuring out what it is that you wanna do,

(15:23):
following through with whatever your goals
and just having a plan.
So that way you don't have to be out here.
You can be out here if you want to be.
There's a difference from doing something you wanna do
versus doing something that you have to do.
You ain't got a choice.
So that was really his thing.
And he would have some long days at work

(15:47):
and I would be like 14, 13, 14.
And you know, I'm in my kid phase playing video games
or whatever, nowhere near what I'm on now.
And he would come through the front door
and you could hear the long day in his voice.
And he'd be like, man, make sure you just,
you know, he's a real mild, calm dude,
never raises his voice.

(16:08):
Like, man, just make sure you get your education.
So you ain't got to be doing stuff like this
if you don't want to type of thing.
And say it one time, okay, cool.
It might go one ear and out the other
of a 13, 14 year old.
But every single time you're coming up in here,
you're trying to drive a point home.
Yeah, no fags.
You're trying to drive a point home.
You're trying to make sure that we get something.

(16:29):
And I've, thank God, I've just naturally
have always been a sponge.
Something would stick out to me in the moment
and I wouldn't necessarily know why
until several years later.
And so those were like one of those things
as I was graduating.
Cause I wrote dreams like maybe a month or two
before I had completely finished school.

(16:51):
Wow.
And so those moments were coming back
and yeah, that's that.
Dang, aw, I love that.
I was like, shout out to your dad for real.
That is awesome. Shout out Pops.
So then I do want to ask,
so do you have mentors or people who have walked
like a similar path that kind of help you along the way

(17:12):
or are you really just learning everything on your own?
Like when it comes to fighting for your dreams?
What did Kobe say?
He says some paraphrasing, some along the lines of
like if you really want to learn something
or you set your mind at heart to learn something
like the world becomes your library, something like that.
So I do have and have had mentors.

(17:35):
Okay.
Whether it's my dad just being my dad or my grandfathers,
you know, the men in my family being who they are
or like maybe even certain, you know,
professional athletes or professional musicians
that I would like always be fond of
and look up to just listening and watching their interviews,

(17:55):
seeing how they work.
I get, I like to get my game from multiple places.
Okay.
Because everyone has their own experiences.
You know, some people went further than others.
Some people figure something out differently than others.
And so it's like, it's good to get that.
And another thing my dad would always say
will be learn from other people's experiences.
Yeah.
So I'm like, okay, bet.
I'm gonna learn from pops.

(18:16):
I'm gonna learn from grand pops and all that men in my fam.
I'm gonna learn from this dope athlete right here
that people keep saying is the greatest
or one of the greatest.
I'm gonna learn from this dope musician right here,
this producer, this content creator
that figures something out on their own.
I'm just gonna take it all in.
Come on now.
You're like the world is gonna be my library.
Literally, yeah.
That is awesome.

(18:36):
I'm gonna take it all in.
Come on.
Oh, I love that.
Okay.
And then my last question,
the heck of like my last question on the dream alone
is so fear is a huge factor.
And so one thing that you said was I overcame,
oh, that you overcame your worst fear
and now you have no fear of lost in you.
And so I don't know if it's too deep or not,
but like if you wanted to share with the people

(18:57):
about what that greatest fear was,
cause I was like, oh, that's interesting.
I'm like, so then what was your greatest fear?
And like in having that fear come true,
like how did it just overall
just almost become this like superpower
where you're like, I ain't got nothing to lose.
It was loss.
It was the fear of loss.
Oh wow.
Okay.
Fear of losing what mattered most.

(19:21):
And so that's more of like a callback to transparent too.
Okay, yeah.
I was like, wait, I saw your face.
I was like, okay.
It's more of a callback.
And I even, speaking of callback to transparent too,
dream samples moments time.
No way.
Yeah.
At the chorus fade into.
Oh, stop.
I'm gonna have to go back and catch that.

(19:42):
I didn't catch that.
That's crazy.
Samples of moments time.
So come on.
Yeah, it was that fear of loss,
losing something that meant the world to me.
Yeah.
But like after that happened and then some time passed,
it was like, well, I, the logic behind that was like,

(20:02):
okay, I went through what I felt was going to be the worst.
Okay.
Went through it and now I'm still here on the other side.
Yeah.
And I'm different. Yes you are.
And I'm better.
So like, well, if I can overcome what I felt was the worst,
then I'm good.
Okay.

(20:23):
Like I felt like I ain't,
so what if I lose something again?
Or so what if I fail or scrape my knee up, so to speak,
or go through disappointments,
I already went through what I felt was the absolute worst.
And once you felt like you came up from the absolute worst,
it thickens your skin in a way it's like, okay,
you're not really gonna be fazed by much.

(20:47):
Not much is gonna intimidate you anymore
because you already went through
what you felt was the worst.
Yeah.
Heard on that, sir.
Heard on that.
Yeah.
All right.
Thank you for sharing.
Let's talk about ain't a thing.
Ain't a thing, yeah.
Don't worry about it.
I'm with you.
I'm with you.
Anything, I'm not concerned about it.
It's whatever, I know better.

(21:08):
I'm not worried about it.
And so with ain't a thing,
you said you would have thought I did wrong
the way they fire darts at me.
It's like they wishing I would fall off.
I had to dust, oh, I'm sorry.
I'm just saying, ew, the way that I'm saying it
is so ugly, I'm sorry.
You would have thought I did wrong
the way they fired us at me.

(21:30):
Yeah.
I had to dust us off.
What's all that about?
I had to.
It's like they wishing I would fall off
or I had the chance to soar off for a second.
I might go off but I won't pay him no mind,
no time, I don't worry about it.
Wow.
Thank you.
I'm like, thank you for that.

(21:51):
So what is that about?
Like, what do you mean?
The court?
The courts?
Yeah, cause I'm like, it just sounds like you have enemies
or like you have people, you know, that are like.
Gunning for you.
Yeah, so.
Which is crazy cause I'm like, you?
I'm like, you sir?
The writer in me, and this is pretty poetic.
Okay, oh go ahead.

(22:13):
It makes sense cause you know, now we doing the.
Yeah.
But I like to personify things.
Ooh, okay.
That's really what it is.
I like to give things, non-human things,
human characteristics.
Okay.
So I, and I've done that all throughout my music.
So if it sounds like I'm, if it,
oftentimes if it sounds like I'm talking about

(22:33):
a specific person, chances are I'm not.
Wow.
Ooh, plot twist.
Yeah, it's not a specific person,
but a specific voice or a specific thought.
Okay, gotcha.
So like I'll personify my own self doubt
if I'm dealing with that or my own fear
or my own, you know, stress or worries.

(22:54):
And then make that into this person, this thing,
and then go from there.
Wow.
Does that really, does that help for you?
Is that almost like, almost therapeutic in a sense?
Yeah.
Okay.
Cause like, I like challenges, I like obstacles.
Okay.
And so.
You're rare.
If I feel like there's someone in my way,

(23:19):
then it's like, okay, well now I gotta prove you wrong,
or now I gotta show you up,
or now I gotta yada, yada, yada.
So for ain't a thing is really me speaking to those voices
or those fears or self doubt or just all of those
negative things that I have dealt with
that has really just been mind games,

(23:39):
hence the mind games written down.
Yeah, yes.
That's the point.
So it's really just me speaking to that.
Wow.
Okay.
And my boy, Paulo, shout out Paulo,
him being the antagonist is like, he's like embodying
all of that stuff.
Wow.
In that video.
Oh my gosh.
It gets so deep.
It's so layered.

(24:00):
And you say that at some point, you're like, it's layered.
And I'm like, it really is.
That's crazy.
Wow.
Now I gotta, now, see, look y'all,
when y'all hear stuff like this,
now I gotta go back and listen or go back and watch
so you can better understand.
And then you're gonna like see it
in a whole different perspective.
I absolutely love that.
Wow.
That's crazy.
Okay.

(24:21):
One thing that you did say was that your patient
is dying like a polygraph.
I don't know if you.
No, patient's dying.
Dying.
That's one.
Okay.
Then like a polygraph, I detect the line.
Yeah.
So the polygraph is on.
So like a lie detector test.
Yes.
A brand that makes them a polygraph.

(24:41):
Okay.
So patient's dying, that's one scheme over there.
That's done.
Okay.
And then like a polygraph, I detect the line.
So I detect the lies that these things are telling me.
Okay.
Like a polygraph lie detector test.
Okay.
Ooh, that was good.
You better calm down.
You better sit down.
Come on.
And then one thing that you did was you shouted out
to the big G-O-D, the one and only living guada, let's go.

(25:04):
And you also talked about your accountability
made you better.
So I wanted to ask if you can dive a little bit into that
because I know a lot of times when people are,
excuse me, reaching their dreams
and just going after what they love,
sometimes one thing that they can lack is accountability,
cause they really are just like by themselves.
And so because you had that,
like I guess how did that keep you on the straight and narrow?

(25:26):
Like how did that keep you just like still on the grind?
I think part of, for me,
Okay.
is going back to me not like not being afraid.
And what I mean by that is,
one, and we've talked about it a bit on rehearse,
but wanting to look in the mirror

(25:47):
and not just have a filter to only see the good stuff.
Yeah.
Like I want to see even the ugly things about me,
even though I really desire that there isn't anything ugly
about me on the inside.
Like I think we all don't desire that.
I wanna see what's there.
I wanna see the error of my ways,
figure out why I did that, how that happened

(26:08):
and figure out how to correct it.
And all of that stuff pushes you forward.
Okay.
Especially like with what I'm trying to do,
since it's very like, okay, I gotta work hard.
I gotta come through.
I can't allow like excuses to be made.
Like, man, if I messed up, if I came up short on whatever,

(26:28):
I gotta own that.
Yeah.
I gotta take that.
You know, if I take an L, I gotta eat that.
I gotta take that.
So that's where it comes from for me.
Oh, I love that.
And then so when it comes to rap,
one thing that you said is that rap,
you healed through rap.
So like, how has it helped to heal you, you would say?

(26:50):
Giving me a space to let it out.
Okay.
Oh, this is just making me feel so like, okay.
I internalize a lot naturally.
And I believe us men in general have challenges
when it comes to being vulnerable from multiple places.
Yeah.

(27:10):
And so first and foremost,
giving me a way of like expressing that kind of stuff
that normally years beforehand would just kinda stay inside.
Yeah.
And because of that,
I'm able to like learn more about myself,
learn more about how I think,
learn more about how my emotions work,
how I process things.
And because of that, you know, like I take this to God

(27:35):
and like, y'all actually wanna use this to like help
or to like inspire, you know,
point it back to you in some sort of way,
however you try to do it.
Yeah.
Because I see that there's a need
for this kind of stuff there.
And how can I help to provide it for people?
So.
You're such a beautiful human.

(27:57):
Yeah.
Oh my gosh.
Okay, let's talk about make it happen.
Okay.
Cause I don't know how but I wanna make it happen.
Yeah.
I was like, let's go.
So my first question is,
is resilience part of your DNA?
Yes.
That line had me weak.
I was like, I love it.

(28:17):
I love it.
But on a serious note,
on a serious note though,
inside of the song, like I just,
for myself, I just heard a lot of frustration
and just you talking about like, you know,
obviously like you don't know how
but you're gonna make it happen.
And then you're just talking about how progress is slower
and you make yourself your biggest critic.
So that made me think of like,

(28:38):
okay, so then are there times where it's almost like
the ball is rolling.
And then there's other times where it just like
really slows down and then you're just left
to kind of just sit in the waiting.
Okay.
All the time.
Yeah, I saw like a little post where it's like,
the climb up is not like linear, but it's like,

(28:59):
then you go up a little more.
But eventually you up there.
Yeah.
So yeah, it's like that.
There are like, at least in my experiences,
there have been a lot of like frustrations, you know,
cause you figuring stuff out.
Yeah.
You know, and then you have expectations,
but things you find out, okay, there's expectation,

(29:20):
there's reality, things play out a little bit different.
But make it happen, it's just about, it's not like,
one thing I don't wanna like fake my way out here.
Like, I don't wanna make it seem like,
oh yeah, this is just easy work.
I just woke up, I did this and it was good.
Like, nah, bro, yeah, I woke up, I tried to do that.

(29:41):
I got it done, but here's some nonsense that I dealt with
along the way in efforts to get it done.
You know, especially that's where the back half comes in
when the beat switches up.
Where it's looked like, hey yo, we got something promising.
Oh my.
Not quite.
First of all, you literally switch up the beat
so many times on us, but I love it.
I'm not even gonna lie.
I was like, it just like sitting there

(30:03):
and I'm like, no, he didn't.
I'm like, bro, the whole beat literally just switched.
And then you usually bring it back and I'm like,
he just out here, shocking souls, okay.
Thank you for sharing that.
So then I also wanted to, because this is like a reality
specifically in just your dream
and in the work that you wanna do,
I did want you to touch a little bit on,

(30:23):
just for the artists that are out there
that also have like walked in rooms with executives
like and didn't get callbacks or didn't get text backs.
Just like, how do you process that?
Like how do you, like what are the thoughts
that come with that for you and just how do you continue?
Like not get discouraged because you're not hearing anything
or do you get discouraged and you're like,

(30:45):
but we're gonna move forward, it's okay.
Realistically speaking, the first time sucks.
Okay.
Yeah, especially like when you,
cause they don't necessarily see what you and I see,
for example.
But if it sucks and it will,
I mean, just me, I'm all about acknowledging
like how I feel like, yo, this sucks.
I hate how this makes me feel.

(31:05):
God dang, it's a shame that that happened.
And there's other disappointments that I experienced
that just never made it on the song.
There's stuff that happened after the song was made.
Ah!
Poor, okay.
But you can sit there and wallow in it
or you can just get up and keep pushing.
Okay.
Like it's literally just that simple.
Yeah, like what I like about the chorus

(31:27):
where I say, I don't know how, but I'm gonna make it happen.
The wording is what's important throughout this project.
It's not like I'll try, I think I have the option to,
it's I have no choice.
Yeah.
And that's the theme throughout the project.
That's why there's the wording at times
is the way that it is.

(31:48):
Cause yeah, you do have the option after that
to allow to discourage you
and then you just go and sit down somewhere
or you can be like, dang, that sucks,
but upward and onward.
Yeah.
I think that we should get us sort of,
upward and onward, new merge.
How'd it be that good buddy?
Oh, I love that.

(32:08):
And then thank you for sharing that.
And then I also wanted to ask,
so then, cause there's a part where you say,
now it's back to the logical logic session.
And I was like, what did you mean by that?
So that that's recording this is where I record,
y'all probably can't see,
but my computer's right here recording the audio.
This is called Logic Pro.

(32:29):
Oh, okay.
And so when I say back to the logic sessions,
back to the studio, back to the drawing board.
Okay, that's good.
Cause honestly I thought you meant back to like
being practical about life.
That too.
So I was like, so you said logic session,
I was like, bro.
I'm here for the double entendres.
Okay, I love that.
Okay, I'm here for it.

(32:49):
That's awesome.
Okay, now we're gonna talk about regrets.
Just kidding.
We're gonna talk about regrets.
And so do you have regrets
for the way your journey has gone?
And if you feel comfortable,
please feel free to share one.
Like just the musical journey?
Yeah, musical or life journey.
I'm like, it's all about you right now.

(33:10):
Regrets for, I'll keep it music.
No, I don't have regrets for the musical journey.
Like it all goes back to me learning more about myself.
Okay.
Like I've learned that I've always been
a very passion driven or like purpose driven person.
So I can't fathom not doing something.

(33:35):
Okay.
Like what am I doing if I'm not doing?
You said being.
Right.
I was like.
Like it's just me.
Yeah.
But I just, I want to feel like,
I want to feel like I'm doing something.
And getting fulfillment.

(33:55):
Yeah, I was like, I'm so fulfilled.
Right.
And that's, this is where I get that from.
I love that.
And so even say worst case scenario,
this doesn't even pan out.
The fact that I can rest my head
knowing that I literally gave everything

(34:17):
or like pushed myself to exhaustion
and then passed exhaustion.
Yeah.
You know, even if things don't work out,
then I can live with that.
But I can't live with, oh man, I had the itch.
I had to pull the tug on my heart to try this out,
but I was like, nah.
Or I just kind of like half hearted, you know?

(34:38):
I can't live with that me personally.
Gotcha.
So continuing on, there is a line where you say
on the journey to win, do we have to lose?
Can you explain that?
Because I was like, oh my God, what does he mean by that?
It was interesting because it almost just seems
like an oxymoron.

(34:58):
Because it's like in order to win, you have to lose.
Yeah.
You're like, that's it.
Yeah, that comes with it.
That's what I learned.
Okay.
I mean, we could take it in sports.
You know, he used Michael Jordan, for example.
Yeah, he was undefeated in the finals.
But he got bounced out of the playoffs
for like nine straight years.

(35:20):
Almost, you know, like in the process
of trying to get to that.
So it's just, it's a part of the process.
Like you're going to experience some sort of loss,
some sort of sacrifice of some sort.
You know, I talked about fear of loss
and then that actually happening.
And then just thinking that, okay, this is going to happen.

(35:40):
Like, oh no, I got to take that L here.
I got to take that L there.
Yada, yada, yada.
But the goal is still the same, which is, you know,
you, and on the way of learning how to win,
you got to, you're going to lose.
Because there's lessons in losing.
Exactly.
And then that's how you figure out how to win
or like how to push and keep going.
Yeah.

(36:01):
Oh yeah.
Cause that reminds me of the question
that I was going to ask you originally,
which was just, cause everything that you had,
cause one thing that you had just said was just like,
you know, if things don't pan out,
you're like, I can go to bed like at peace,
like at peace with the fact that you did everything
that you could.
And so, but with that, would you say that you're quitting?
Cause I was like, then at some point is there,

(36:22):
is there a point where you're like,
okay, I just need to quit.
Like I just need to go on about my days
and do something else with myself.
I'm not quitting.
I'm not stopping.
Thank you. Make it clear.
Yeah.
Make it clear for the people.
Okay.
But on a smaller, like overall, I'm not stopping,

(36:43):
but on a smaller sense, like, okay,
if I want this particular project or song to do this thing,
whatever it may be, and it falls short of that,
but there's still like, with some progress there.
Okay.
Even though I missed the top goal,
I can live with the fact that I did everything

(37:04):
I possibly could, what I knew,
with what I knew to achieve that top goal.
And there's these little smaller victories there.
So now I can retool and try again.
Okay. I love that.
It's not like, oh man, this didn't work.
So now, okay, pack him up.
It's all done.
Wow. That was great.
Yeah.
You know, is it three albums?
What?
How many albums have you had?

(37:27):
This is like, what is this?
This is Ted of Band Mix tape.
This is project number seven.
Wow.
Yeah.
God, I need to go back, back.
Yeah. The first one is currently hidden.
Yeah.
On the face.
It's okay.
We don't have to talk about it.
It's hidden.
It's fine.
And so, so then one line that you had was,
I take a step and trust God to align the rest.

(37:49):
And so I wanted to ask if you could share like a moment
where you did take a step and you felt like
God started aligning things in place for you
to like move forward.
When I went on the tour.
Okay.
Yeah.
It was actually right after,
shortly after I wrote the song Dreams, graduated college.

(38:10):
Then a few weeks later, I went on a tour,
well, parts of a tour.
Went to LA first and then it was Oakland and Fresno.
And then my obligations for that tour was done.
But it was through that tour that I ended up meeting
somebody very important.

(38:31):
Okay.
I ended up meeting Mike.
Oh yes.
Okay.
I saw the face.
Met him in LA and everything began to open up from there.
And so that's one example.
Okay.
Took one step.
Yeah.
Didn't know necessarily what to expect.
And technically speaking, things did not,

(38:52):
for that particular LA moment,
things did not go as expected, but better things happen.
Wow, that's amazing.
It's like you can't necessarily predict this stuff.
Yeah.
No you really can't.
You can't really predict this stuff.
I think the most important part,
as far as a journey goes,
and I talk about it on the back half of Make It Happen,

(39:13):
is having that sense of direction.
At least just know, you know where you're going,
what you're trying to do,
and then everything else will open up.
You said bada bing bada boom.
I'm like, okay.
Alrighty.
I've searched, sir.

(39:35):
Sir, sir, sir, sir, sir.
Cause I love that one.
That one you're like talking on the track.
I was like, oh my God, I love this.
I just felt like I was like, you know, you were just there.
Like you're just like, see, I'm out here trying to do me.
I'm out here trying to do my dream.
I was like, tell us, let us know.
What was the inspiration behind this song?
Frustration.
Really?

(39:56):
Okay.
Yeah, similar to like Make It Happen,
but this one was not so much as regards to like
trying to make it in the music business,
but like just the economy.
Like the world around me, you know, outside of music.
It just so happened that like I found

(40:19):
the right piece of music.
It was a good find finding that right piece.
It's called the original piece is called Sticky Sue.
Sticky Sue.
I like that.
And I listened to it.
And when I got to that part,
that word brass, like he's like,

(40:39):
I said, like, I feel that.
Like I feel that in my own way.
And so it was just a matter of just taking all of the pieces
that I wanted when sampling this,
developing a pocket for it.
It's very like repetitive, you know, but it's a groove.
It's a funk, it's a rhythm.

(41:00):
It is, that's what it is, it's funk.
I was like, I can't put my finger on it.
Yeah.
So it was just put it, make a pocket out of that
and then just kind of vent frustration.
Okay.
That's where that one came from.
Okay, it was a good one.
It was a good one.
One of my favorites.
That beat got me though.
I was like, dang, like that was good though.

(41:23):
That was good.
For me, someone asked me like what my favorite,
one favorite song on this project.
And it's like, it's really hard to ask an artist that
cause everything is like a certain representation of them.
But if there was like a standout one for me,
it would be Off Search.
Just cause I've never done something like that.
And it's very like, it's like old school,

(41:44):
but I figured something out with that.
I can't even put my finger on it,
but I figured something out to where it's like,
I could rap on this.
And then at the end,
we're gonna be like very old school and traditional.
And then we're gonna give space for like the band,
really the sample,
but the band to just kind of like groove a little bit.

(42:05):
Where just that ending part.
But yeah, I like that one.
Wow, I can tell.
Look at that smile.
Okay.
Next, we'd love to talk about Show Up.
I just have to say,
you already know my favorite line is like,
I'm nice though.
I love the band.
I'll play y'all folks that.
I was like, he's so funny.
I love that.

(42:26):
Can you just talk about,
so I just wanna, really I wanna know how you don't,
how do you continue showing up
even after hearing different stories about other people?
Cause you say,
I've seen a couple of people go hard then they stop.
I've seen a couple of people stand tall then they drop.
And so like, how do you yourself like not get discouraged

(42:46):
or almost like become fearful where it's like,
dang, like, is that gonna be me?
Or is that?
My next.
Ah!
Yeah.
I mean, you just,
at some point it'll boil down to like,
how bad do you want it?
Okay.
You know, how bad do you,
how bad do you really want it?
Yeah.
I look at the life I'm trying to build.

(43:09):
Yeah.
And then I look at the life that I could settle for.
Not a bad life.
Yeah.
It doesn't seem like it's whack.
Yeah.
It's not, but we're going back to like fulfillment.
Yeah.
And I gotta be proud of myself at the end of the day.
Yeah, this is so good.

(43:29):
And so, I mean, okay.
They, X, Y, and Z may have dropped off.
Maybe they discovered it wasn't really their passion anymore.
Maybe it was just too much for them.
Obviously I'm having,
I've had my struggles too and continue to have my struggles
cause nothing is easy, no free lunch.
Yeah.
But if it's really what you really truly want to do,

(43:51):
then you gonna go through it.
Suck it up, I guess.
Like, I don't, I mean, at some point it's, you know,
it is what it is.
Yeah.
And you got to do what must be done.
Yeah.
And so if there's X amount of years of just building
and development, if there's slow progress, you know,

(44:14):
with me it's slow progress.
And I recognize it was going to be slow progress early
just because of the way that the music is crafted.
I personally, and I may be wrong,
but I personally don't think I make the kind of stuff where,
okay, let me just do this little tick tock dance
and it's going to go viral.
Yeah.
I think even the lighthearted stuff like show up
is too complex at times.

(44:35):
Yeah.
And so now you got to get it a different way
in terms of execution.
So it means doing a lot of dirty work behind the scenes
that the cameras are not going to see.
That means not just making noise,
but figuring out how to make all the noise
in the right places which the cameras don't often see.
And so, but if it's what you truly want,

(44:58):
then you want to stick to it.
Yeah.
So I know that you are pretty disciplined
and me, that's why you can,
that's why you can make a song like show up, you know?
Because there's discipline in your life,
praise God for that.
Yes.
And so with that being said,
how would you encourage somebody who struggles

(45:20):
in that area when it comes to discipline?
Because it's like, how do you not overwork yourself
or do you overwork yourself?
Ah, that laugh, Lord, just kidding.
Next, next.
It is overwork anyway.
Nah.
Uh.
Ha!
I was like.
How to encourage someone to be disciplined,
well, you got to start small.
I didn't wake up on a random Tuesday like this.

(45:41):
It was built over time.
Yeah.
And consistency.
So it starts off with developing a form of consistency
and you got to understand, you got to be,
you got to want even the tough things about this.
What I'm about to say is going to sound crazy
to people that don't understand,
but you got to want the sacrifices that come with this.

(46:02):
It's like, you know it's going to be very hard.
You know it's going to change.
You know you might miss out on some things
or whatever it may be,
but you got to work your mind into craving
that kind of stuff.
It's very psychological.
And just having consistency,

(46:23):
understanding that you're not going to get
to the top of the mountain if you don't start to climb.
So if you sit there at the bottom and being like,
dang, I really want to get up to the top.
You're going to be wasting all of that time.
You're going to be wasting a bunch of time
where you could be developing ways
and moving up to the top.
Yeah.

(46:44):
You know, and so it's start off with a consistency
and just developing a routine, a pattern.
Okay.
And it becomes a habit and then you keep doing that.
And then it, next you know, after a while,
it becomes a lifestyle.
Next you know, this what you do is part of who you are.
And so start small, build your way up,

(47:05):
but you got to get up and move.
Okay.
You know, yeah.
Okay.
So how do you keep from overworking
or is overworking part of the sacrifice?
Everyone's different.
Okay. You kind of made a joke.
So I was like, let's talk about it really quick.
Everyone's different, but I-
But for me.
But for me, I genuinely love what I do.

(47:28):
Okay. Oh, love that.
And I just so happen to also be a workaholic.
Okay. Wow.
So you're just like a beautiful machine over here.
It was, it was just God given by God crafted,
like putting the right qualities and stuff.
And there was little seas of this early on,
like in middle school, something like that,

(47:50):
where, you know, for example, some,
most kids maybe would come home after school,
toss their backpack down, chill for a little bit,
maybe procrastinate on the homework
till like the night before.
I would, I would come home.
And since my mind was still fresh on school,
I'm home, walk through the door, take the backpack off,

(48:10):
pull out the assignments.
We knocking this out right now.
Okay.
And just developing that kind of work ethic.
Even then I didn't even realize what I was really building.
That's crazy.
What I was doing.
I was just like, I don't want to,
I want to get this done now.
So I ain't got to worry about it later.
Yeah, right.
But I was really, you know what I mean?
So is, you got to find a balance in terms of overworking.

(48:31):
Me, I can, I can do this like all day, every day.
And then scheduled rest would be something
I would have to work on going forward.
But I, the mind doesn't shut off.
Like these ideas keep coming.
Like if you would see what is,
if you, you yourself were able to see like what's on
like my whiteboard, like concept projects and all that stuff

(48:52):
that I'm actually working on and stuff like that.
It's like, oh yeah.
Aw, I love your brain.
I love your brain.
Also wanted to remind you beautiful humans
that show up specifically show up.
And then we haven't gone into that one,
but show up has a music video.
If y'all haven't seen it, same thing as
ain't a thing has a music video as well.

(49:15):
So yeah, so make sure that y'all watch that.
No lie.
We have to do the band.
Like we don't know how we're just going to put it out there.
Like somebody, if you have a band,
like show up would be such a great band song kid you not.
So just go for it, try it.
I was like at Deshaun forest.
I'm like at voices generation.
Like just get crazy.
It is forever transparency.
Like people.

(49:38):
Okay. Next I wanted to talk about better myself,
better myself for me,
which also has a music video too.
Yes, it does.
I'm in it.
I was like, I'm in the music video guys.
You're in all three of them.
I am, let's go.
That's why I'm promoting it.
Just kidding.
I'm just kidding.
But better myself.
Okay. So I'm just going to say it.

(49:59):
Like I just, you were obviously,
are you specifically talking about females?
As for better myself.
Cause like, I noticed like in all the,
well, obviously in what you said,
and then also in your lyrics,
also in your music videos,
it's just like different women.
And so,

(50:21):
so I'm asking that because are you just,
are you just confessing that that's like,
you're just, that can be something that distracts you?
Relationships, yeah.
Okay. Yeah.
Gotcha.
I mean, it's just natural attraction really.
It's not like-
I mean, it is. It's okay.
Yeah, it's natural.
It's just not like, you know, anything crazy,
but in efforts to like lock in,

(50:41):
you got to sacrifice something.
Okay.
So if you figure out what your,
your tics are or even things that easily trigger you,
or it will take your mind off of things.
It's like, you gotta, once you discover that,
act accordingly.
So, you know,
yeah.
It was more so like, okay,
leave this relationship ideas and stuff like that alone

(51:03):
for right now.
Yeah. Cause you were, I was like,
they here the heck,
he going a little hard on this song, hold on.
Cause you were like,
we're like, wonder why I'm to myself now,
one of the middle reasons.
Not a hundred rule, it's fine.
Told me you're like trying to hit me with the bag
and just drum out on me.
I was like, dang, like,
but you were speaking facts at the same time.
Cause I was like, no, he does make a very good point.

(51:24):
And so I'm sure that, you know,
I just, I love putting it on the spot like this.
I may probably hate it, but,
but cause I feel like, you know, the people want to know,
I feel like the women want to know,
are you single right now?
Yes. Yes.
Are you mingling?
No.
Say it again. Are you mingling?
No. Okay.
Keep that in mind. Okay. Ladies.
Okay. We got to talk about Day-Day.

(51:45):
Yeah.
Bro, we got to talk about Day-Day.
So, cause you know,
I had already heard it,
but then like hearing it on the album,
but like really listening to the lyrics and like replaying it,
I was like, dang.
And I'm sure you threw everybody in there,
mama off at the end.
Including my mama.
Ah, she said literally my own mother.

(52:06):
Including my mama.
And it's just like, I know it's like a heavy,
it's a heavy song. It's a heavy topic.
So first thing I want to ask or just talk about is,
one thing that you said was oblivious.
This past birth instigated a war.
What were you speaking of?
Yeah. I was speaking more so in a spiritual sense.

(52:30):
Okay.
So the, one of the points of Day-Day,
of Day-Day is to establish that
the dream ultimately precedes me.
Ooh, this is getting good.
So me coming onto the scene is like,

(52:51):
I believe that this is my own thing.
I believe because like, okay, yeah,
the devil attacks you because of X, Y, Z.
Maybe he knows that God is going to do something or whatever.
Well, then there has to be some sort of declaration
of what will be done with this person.

(53:14):
Not, not whoever the person is not,
doesn't have to be me.
And so all I'd have to say is before I even had this dream
that I ended up being so passionate about,
the attack started years before
and it started pretty early.
And so then won't go too much into what I'm about to say next,

(53:37):
but then like fast forward a little bit.
Still before I knew what was really there,
I found myself in scenarios where it's like,
nah, I think I'll, I don't think I'll pursue music.
Like before I actually started,
like I don't think I'll, I think I'll go,
cause I was always a little really book smart
and also can work hard physically.

(53:59):
So I was like, okay, maybe I'll go here.
Something that's a little bit more safe and just kinda,
but every path kind of led me back to,
you know what I'm saying?
Yeah, I think, well now I'm thinking about doing this again.
You know what I'm saying?
And then eventually it was like, okay,
now I'm gonna do it.
And so, but yeah, day to day, yeah.

(54:20):
I was like, I'm not done though.
I'm not done. Oh yeah.
Okay.
So who was this cousin that everybody knew at high school,
if you want to share?
I was like, what is happening?
First of all, wait,
can you walk us just through your experience?
Like, obviously you had to move, you were devastated.
And then you came to high school
and you were just like, kids were just wilded.

(54:42):
Like they were just like.
Yeah, so it was one of my older cousins.
Okay, you don't have to share.
Yeah, it was one of my older cousins.
It was coming to school in general.
Okay.
Like you mean like in the-
Just public schools, public school in general.
Wasn't necessarily high school.
Oh, okay.

(55:03):
So yeah, it was that.
And then I'm sorry, I missed the other question.
It was.
I wanted to know who your cousin was.
And then I also wanted to know,
like just sharing your experience.
Cause like- Oh, with moving, yeah.
Yeah. Yeah.
Oh yeah.
So yeah, I did not want to move.
By the time we moved, I was,
I had just started my teen years

(55:24):
and I had been in the North Bay,
shout out Fairfields, the Sun.
I had been there for like nine, almost 10 years.
And so the people that I know knew at the time,
we knew each other since we were like four or five years old.
Wow, that's beautiful.
And so I'm thinking, I just assuming we're finna graduate.

(55:45):
Go through high school and graduate together.
Many of them lived in the same neighborhood as me
or right outside the neighborhood
and other neighborhoods and stuff
or right down the way past the train tracks
and stuff like that.
And so, and it was pretty abrupt.
It wasn't like, there was like signs,
you know, man, this might happen.
It was like, I came home from school one day
and boom, this is what's happening.
Okay, I was gonna ask you,
cause that's literally what you said.

(56:06):
I was like, I'm assuming that's actually how it happened.
Yeah, I came home from school one day and we, you know,
that's when my parents was like, this is what's gonna happen.
And yeah, and I was like, oh.
You know, and then-
I mean, you couldn't sleep on the ride there.
Yeah, and when the actual move happened,

(56:30):
I was just like so upset.
Cause I mean, you're a kid,
you don't have a say in the matter.
So you gotta, you know, you gotta just suck it up.
But like, you know, I felt the roots that were there.
Yeah.
So I didn't-
Being ripped out of your heart.
Yeah, I was kidding.
Yeah, I just, I didn't wanna, I didn't wanna, you know,
I didn't wanna move.
I had some partners, some friends,

(56:52):
there's people in general, families that I knew
that I was really cool with.
And they have watched me growing up
and I've grown up with their kids
and knew their younger siblings.
And you know, even with the church with a couple of them
and there was history.
And so, and I've always been like, even, you know,
an emotional kid, so it's like,
I feel that kind of stuff.
It means something to me.

(57:13):
And so when we moved to the East Bay,
moved to Pittsburgh, I was part of me, which is bitter,
just upset and just mad.
And then you run into next, and I won't get into this,
but then just running into some interesting characters
that I was not fond of.
And then, yeah, even like, yeah, that was just a mess.

(57:35):
And we're just talking about in school
or are you also talking about like neighborhood,
just like community? Just school.
Okay, just school.
But you know, all the school kids
don't live far from each other.
And so, you don't know who you might find
in your neighborhood that you just moving to.
But things got better when I ended up meeting
the cousin of mine out there.

(57:56):
And we didn't even, the funny thing was,
we didn't even know we were related.
This happens to you often, I feel.
It's happened a few times.
But once that happened and then things, okay,
this feels a little better now.
I got some family, I got some people out here.
Okay, now, focusing, yada, yada, yada.

(58:17):
But yeah.
Okay, thank you.
And so then you say, he had a friend with the same name.
And so specifically, I just wanna quote how you said,
his friend had worst battles, never uttering those
unutterable, I know you said something else after that.
I did not catch it.
But then it says, because they were vulnerable.
Yeah, unutterable, they jailed because they were vulnerable.

(58:43):
Yeah.
Okay.
Oh yeah, they jailed, we jailed
because they were vulnerable.
Yeah, and then you go into depression.
And so, you specifically talk about depression
and then you also talk about just the stress,
the pressures are fitting in.
And then you also start talking about suicide
because you're like, thoughts about placing that period

(59:03):
at the end of the life sentence.
And so, y'all were still in your teens.
Okay, so then being in your teens,
I mean, I guess how come y'all couldn't really find,
well, honestly, I just wanna talk about how hard it is
to be a man when it comes to having emotions like that.

(59:23):
For women, I feel that we're a lot more vocal about it.
We can talk about our emotions a lot more easier.
But I would say, was it really hard for you
and for this friend to almost have to wear a shell
when you go places and then just not having a safe space
or just maybe not even having the right tools or skills

(59:45):
to be able to express this is how I'm feeling.
And I just don't know how to get rid of this feeling.
I don't know how to get it out.
Yeah, I mean, it was a little weird.
I think some of it was like, okay,
now you're starting puberty,
so now you're feeling stuff you ain't felt before
and then your mind is racing on crazy stuff.
The thing with De De, the song, is that

(01:00:10):
I pieced several stories together.
Okay.
So the story of De De in the song is like,
there's the story of De De,
which is based off of true events from several stories.
Okay.
And so the, in real life story of De De,

(01:00:33):
the other day was someone that I had met
from where I had moved.
So it wasn't, okay, I moved and then I met this person
in the real story is actually someone I had met when,
back in where I originally started.
Oh, okay, gotcha.
Yeah, yeah.
I know it's not like I'm just saying,
I'm just saying I'm actually starting.
Oh, okay, gotcha.
I know it sounds confusing.
I like doing that kind of stuff too.

(01:00:53):
I like making, I like taking bits and pieces
from multiple stories and crafting one,
you know what I mean?
I know, that's an art.
I like doing that as well.
But as far as just speaking, I mean, I guess,
I mean, as guys, I think we normally internalize
a lot naturally anyway and may not always know

(01:01:15):
how to communicate that.
Yeah.
But in general, just don't normally have that kind of space
to be vocal anyway.
So one of the reasons why I love unrehearsed,
come on, we create that safe space for everyone.
Oh my God, yes.
And going, and then there's a lot of details
from the real life stories that I omitted.
Yeah, you don't have to get all into it.

(01:01:36):
But then I was, because of the stuff
that I was dealing with mentally and the fact
that I was away from what I felt was home
and I didn't even be there.
Yeah.
Because the way I processed and handled things
was to my detriment unknowingly at the time.
Yeah.
And that's where all of that other stuff started coming,

(01:01:57):
like very negative thoughts and thoughts of suicide
Because if you're under some weird kind of pressure,
naturally you're gonna want some sense of relief.
So, but the sense of relief that would come to mind
was obviously.
Yeah, the life sentence with the period.

(01:02:19):
Yeah, life sentence with the period.
But yeah.
Dang.
I'm like, it's just gonna get deeper.
I hope that doesn't ruin the song story that's happening.
No, I don't think it does.
No, not at all.
I was like, it was good though.
I was like, we could just, you know what?
I'm like, you guys, you could just think

(01:02:39):
that it was one whole person.
It's, the person is a person,
a singular person.
Yes, uh-huh.
But the story of De De was crafted
from like three different stories.
Okay.
What happened to the person actually happened.
Okay. That part.
Which we're gonna get to, don't we?

(01:02:59):
Yeah, yeah.
Okay.
But the pathway getting there was taken from that part
and that part, all of the stuff that was happening
within a certain amount of time.
Dang.
Yeah.
Okay.
So y'all, when y'all hear this song,
I'm like, oh my gosh, this is a spoiler alert.
So if you haven't watched it, literally pause it right now.

(01:03:22):
Am I gonna say anything else?
I'm gonna give you like a couple of seconds,
but pause it right now and go listen to De De.
So then when I say this next part,
it's not like a shocker to you.
I just don't want you to,
I don't want you to like hear it from me.
Spoiler alert.
And then not be, no, literally, and then not be shocked.
So it is a spoiler alert.
So pause it and go listen to De De and then come back.
And then I will continue my thoughts.

(01:03:44):
So obviously the song was going great.
It was like, dang, okay.
It's like, we're talking about depression.
We're talking, well, first we're talking
about like childhood experiences, moving,
coming to a place, like new people, finding a friend.
Oh my God, we have the same name.
That's so cool, I love that.
And then, yeah, then it's just like, like you said,
you were like dealing with puberty,
dealing with depression, dealing with fitting in.
Just almost like, yeah, it really is such a weird stage.

(01:04:06):
But there's just so much stuff happening at once.
It's weird.
And like you really trying to like.
Make sense of it.
Yeah, make sense of it.
I was gonna ask.
I don't like being confused.
So even in a confusing state,
like I will go to great lengths to try to make sense of it.
And so all that stuff was happening.

(01:04:26):
And then you're just talking about depression.
You're just talking about exactly what you said,
the thoughts that you have towards depression.
And then literally the shock of the story at the end is like,
he lost his friend to suicide.
And then it just like.
Yeah.
I remember the first time that I heard it, my heart broke.
I was like, oh my God, stop right now.

(01:04:47):
And so it really is.
Not to cut you off, but you notice just from
an artistic sake, but you notice how after that,
the sample that says my heart beats slows down
and then fades out.
I didn't, y'all have to, I was like,
now I'm really gonna have to read this.
Lord, my heart is like breaking.
Everything is intentional.
Everything is intentional.

(01:05:08):
Yeah.
So I do wanna ask you, it's like, it is deep.
So I'm just, you know how I am.
So yeah, I was like, thank you.
Just give me a free fall.
So how did that affect you?
Just hearing how you lost a friend to suicide,
because that's not something lightly.
How did you process that?
Just knowing somebody that you love,

(01:05:28):
somebody that you grew up with,
somebody that you like, they were your friend deeply.
So yeah.
It was rough.
It wasn't the first one that I lost.
It wasn't the other one that I'm thinking of.
It wasn't to off on themselves.
It was to gun violence, but both young, early 20s.

(01:05:53):
It was rough, but by that time, we weren't close anymore.
You know, it's like life took me this way.
Life took me that way.
And so there was no bad blood or anything
in the real life story.
But it felt, it was, I don't know how to explain it

(01:06:14):
other than it being hard, because like,
they were mentally dealing with the same
or similar things that I had dealt with.
So I guess what they call it,
survivor's remorse or something?
I don't know.
But like they were dealing with a similar thing mentally,
and that was too much for them.
Whereas I dealt with it and was like, yeah, it was bad.

(01:06:38):
It crushed me down.
It was the worst, but you know,
God allowed me to still be here.
So, but you never really know what someone's going through.
Not every, especially us men,
we're not necessarily vocal like that.
And so how would things have played out
if maybe reached out to them,
hey bro, it's been a minute, bro.

(01:06:59):
You been, you good, and spent some years.
Or if they had done that or something like that.
So, but it was tough.
Thank you for talking about it.
I know it's like hard to talk about.
Yeah.
I got somewhere to go.

(01:07:20):
So I'll be back.
So I got somewhere to go.
I just love this song.
I just, in this song, I feel like
you really hear your determination
and you just hear your like, like you said,
your passion, like you're just like,
we got someplace to be.
Like wherever we at, we not staying there.
Like we're about to, we got somewhere to be.
One lyric that I do want to talk about is, oh sorry.

(01:07:42):
I feel like I know what you're about to say.
Well, go ahead.
The dream won't cost me my soul,
just an arm and a leg.
Yeah.
Wait, which one do you think I was going to say?
No, say it, come on.
I thought you was going to bring up
the Rosario Dawson lyric.
The what?
The Rosario Dawson lyric.
Which is, honestly don't know who that is.
I'm so uncultured, I'm sorry.

(01:08:02):
Oh, okay, no that's fine.
I'll show you who they are.
She's an actress.
Okay.
But yeah, verse two, when I was, you know,
was tripping and lost in eyes of my Rosario Dawson,
talking about a girl.
Oh, okay.
I wasn't, you know me so well though,
because if I wouldn't have brought it up,
I would have probably brought it up.

(01:08:22):
But yeah.
So the dream won't cost me my soul,
Yeah, success won't have to cost,
success won't have to cost my soul,
Aw.
Was that a double entendre?
Or no?
I only asked because you know the music industry,
just like people, you know, selling it.
So the song was like, hmm, interesting.

(01:08:43):
My thing was like, okay yeah, it may not
cost that, or may not have to pay that price.
But you gonna pay an arm and a leg,
you know, so to speak.
It's, you know, any, these kind of grand dreams
it's gonna cost you, you know,
in terms of just sacrifice, putting the work
and putting the effort in, you know,
and you can't put a monetary price on it.

(01:09:06):
So, you know, it's an arm and a leg out here,
you know what I mean?
So that's what I meant by that.
And I just like the, I like the play on it
because, you know, because of like what you said, you know.
So it's like, yeah, you know,
success won't have to cost my soul,
Like it's still a part of you that has to go up for this.

(01:09:28):
It's ultimately what I was getting at.
Yeah.
But yeah, I like that.
That's why you put it in there, I like that for you.
I like that, especially the awe at the end of it.
I feel like that's what helps to hit you on the,
like drive it home.
Come on, I love that.
Is there something else that you would like
to share on that song?
On that song?

(01:09:49):
No, that one was, like you said,
it was very determination driven, just desiring to like,
you know, man, I got somewhere to go.
You know, if it's not, if success isn't here
and it's out there, I got somewhere to go, is what it is.
It's no, again, with the wording, it's not like,
oh, I have the option to, I can try to.

(01:10:10):
No, it's like, no, I got somewhere to go.
Yeah, I got to go there.
Come on.
I ain't got a choice.
I got somewhere to be, excuse me.
Yes.
So I love that one.
And that's another good find
where I was just like diving through the crates
and I found this gem, like I want to say
that the artist is overseas.

(01:10:32):
And I just, it's just a gem.
And I was like, yo, this is dope.
And then I found my pocket, found my groove and then boom.
There it was.
There it was.
Come on.
There it was.
It's magic.
Just gonna.
I found it.
Come on.
It's one of my favorites as well.
I love that.
And so next I want to talk about a better way to live.

(01:10:56):
I would identify this as a prayer track.
Yeah.
It is, yeah.
It definitely starts off that way.
Yeah, it definitely starts off that way.
I was like, okay.
I feel like I hopped off of that angle in the third verse.
But yeah.
Yeah, I would agree.
Yeah, but like just to start,
I was like definitely a prayer track.
And I was like, oh.
And so first things first,

(01:11:18):
are those like actual,
these are like real conversations
that you've had with the Lord, I'm gonna assume.
Yeah.
In a sense.
Okay.
And then you say, one thing that you said,
I was like, this breaks my heart.
But I'm like, but that's, I mean, you're just reflecting
was am I misguided,
am I a misguided victim of my youth's ambition?

(01:11:39):
My youthful ambition.
My youthful ambition.
Yeah.
Yeah.
What about that?
I was like just elaborate.
Oh yeah.
Cause obviously that's a thought
that you had in your head before.
Like.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So I, you know, you have those kinds of thoughts in your head.
I think they're natural.
Just be like, man, am I, is this real?
Like I know I'm dreaming big,

(01:12:00):
but it like, it, am I unrealistic here?
It's pretty much what I'm getting at.
Yeah.
Like am I being unrealistic?
Can I actually, am I actually really doing this?
That's, yeah, that's where it comes from.
Okay, dang.
But you are actually really doing this.
I'm actually really going for this.
We're actually really doing this.
You're really going for this.
This is exciting.

(01:12:21):
Yeah.
I love how in this song you identified list,
like you identified what was going on like mentally with you
and you're like, listen to this loud voice saying,
I should quit.
And so like, would you say that that voice only comes
in those moments where you feel discouraged
or you feel like even when you're like,

(01:12:41):
yeah, I'm passionate.
I got this.
I know a voice will still try to like make its way in
and be like, but you really should quit.
Like, cause you said a shout.
So I was like, this voice ain't whispering.
This voice is like, you should quit.
Yeah, it's definitely, well, you know, that,
those kinds of negative voices are definitely louder
when it's like, if there are moments of discouragement,

(01:13:04):
but you know, you just kind of power through them.
Yeah.
And there's moments where it's like, at least earlier on,
you know, this was very like early on stuff written.
There's moments where they're like quiet
cause I'm feeling like really passionate.
I'm really going, I'm doing this.
Okay. I ain't hearing nothing, whatever.
And then it's like, dang man, some ain't work out
that I was really, really hoping would work out

(01:13:25):
that really would have yielded pretty good results
had it had worked out.
And then it's like, dang, am I playing out here?
Like am I wasting my time out here?
You know, like I feel very strongly about time in general.
So I would hate to be like, dang, all of this happened
in vain, you know what I mean?

(01:13:47):
Yeah.
So that, yeah.
Okay.
I did have a follow up question with my brain.
Oh, not so much a follow up question.
Y'all know I'm comedian.
So all that's to be said, when it's like,
this voice is like, you should quit.
You're like, you should quit, right?
Okay, we're just gonna talk back to the voice, okay?
It's okay.

(01:14:07):
How does it affect you when other people can their dreams?
Like specifically in this industry?
Cause that is one thing that you did talk about
in this song.
And so I know I ask a lot of questions.
No, no, no, you're good.
Okay, but I know.
So I was gonna say like, one, like are these people
that are either close to you or that you followed closely
and then you see like, wow, they stopped.

(01:14:29):
Like. Pretty much.
Yeah. Okay.
People that I've met along the way that I knew
and that had serious like talent.
Like, yo, if you just keep getting your reps in,
you know, tuning the craft, you know, sharpening the skills,

(01:14:53):
you could really, and then of course position yourself
the right way, meet the right people.
Get out the house, go to the conferences,
go to the concerts, go just keep showing your face,
keep keeping yourself involved.
Like, bro, you really do something.
Just seeing that potential.
And I would see, you know, I would see some of that potential

(01:15:14):
and then, you know, I root for people.
I root for people.
And you know, especially if I had a chance
to develop a relationship with them.
And so if for whatever reason they stop,
and it's like, dang, yo, like I wanted to see.
I wanted to see you win, bro.
I wanted to see you make it.
And I like encouraging people.

(01:15:36):
Cause I understand how it is me being one of them.
I understand how it is.
There's moments where you could discourage yourself
if you're not careful.
Like I get that.
So I wanna give you that encouragement.
I want it to like be like, hey bro, I'm rooting for you.
This is fire.
This is good.
You know, before I pulled into the driveway

(01:15:59):
and pulling up to the set,
someone last night had sent me something
that they wanted me to critique.
And so, because, you know,
they see me constantly going constantly.
So it's like, hey bro, let me just get your thoughts on this.
Bro, I got you.
Sent some messages back.
And I was like, yo, I really like this.
You could do X, Y, Z.

(01:16:20):
And then I started sending them ideas.
Like, here's what I mean.
So I started recording ideas into my phone
and sending it to them.
I like doing that kind of stuff.
Cause I understand how difficult it can be
because the path of an artist at times,
and regardless of what kind of art,
it can kind of be a lonely one
or it can kind of be like, you know, the claps are few.
You know, and so,

(01:16:44):
I want to, if I see you doing it
and I see you for real about it,
I'm gonna be like, hey bro, you got this.
Keep going, bro.
Would you say that that happens often though
in the industry, in the music industry?
Like, cause, yeah.
I'm just like, does that happen often?
Like people stopping?
No, not people stopping.
I just mean like what you just said.

(01:17:04):
Cause like, for example, somebody sent something to you
and they're like, oh, I'll critique this.
Like, would you say that in like the music industry,
like when it comes to artists,
like is it often that there's a community
in a space created where like everyone's like, you know,
rooting for each other and they're like,
hey, like I could help you with that.
Not a problem.
Or would you say it's like a man eat man world?
Like it's like every, everybody for themselves.

(01:17:26):
It's kind of both.
Okay.
It's kind of both.
It's kind of everyone for themselves.
And at the same time, if you link with the right people,
you can create that space.
Okay.
I've seen both.
Okay.
Okay. What do you want your legacy to be?
My legacy.

(01:17:46):
I was like, talk about it.
Man, on my grand, grand skill or like,
why just, I'll just say what come to my mind.
Say it all.
I want, if I was to boil it down to the very simplistic terms,
I just want to impact, I want to impact the world.
You know, I want the legacy to be in so many words

(01:18:11):
that I did it, I did it authentically.
I did it honestly.
I did it the old fashioned way through just hard work
and being educated in the field, you know,
smart business deals and actually cared about, you know,
God's people out here.
Everyone, everyone, cause everyone was made by God

(01:18:31):
and really having that authentic heart in the art
and with the message and the approach
and the way I carried myself.
That's in simplistic terms,
it's way, way, way more deeper than that,
but that's what it essentially boils down to.
For myself, I want to be able to look at myself

(01:18:51):
in the mirror and be like fulfilled.
You like, you did that, bro.
We did it.
That was your big one.
We had a dream, we had a plan, a plan of attack
and it was grand and this isn't a kind of dream
where it's like, okay, within the next six months,
I want to get it.
I mean, there's parts of it where it's like, okay,

(01:19:12):
in the next six months to a year,
but this is like a grand,
this is a lifetime kind of thing.
You know, this is a life kind of thing.
So I want to be able to look at myself and be like,
we did it, like mission accomplished,
like, you know, all glory to God,

(01:19:33):
pat yourself on the back a little bit.
You didn't give up.
You know, you did what you said you was gonna do
and how things played out,
which is for the most part out of my control.
Yeah.
It's how I play it out.
It's what it is.
Okay.
Yeah.
I have to like save this part inside of this song
because I was like, oh my gosh,

(01:19:56):
because you said, I know, I'm sorry.
I was like, you know how I am.
Because it was like, my heart is more than crafting a bar
or people saying that my records are hard.
Yeah.
The layers to this are profound, which we're seeing.
Built up my faith that holds down the ship as an anchor.
Waves of doubt, they crash on me every day,
but we came too far, can't quit now, let's live.

(01:20:16):
Yeah.
I was like, I just wanted to share that.
I just thought that was so beautiful.
I'm like, this is so sweet.
Cause I do feel that a lot of times,
and not only that, but so I feel that a lot of times,
like we've seen it before, you know,
there's all these artists and they just come up
like super humble, you know,
and then it's like, at some point,

(01:20:37):
like they switch up on like on the people, you know,
and it's like all the people that, you know,
rocked with them, they're like,
oh, it's almost like you get to Hollywood
and then it's just like, you're a whole different person.
But as for yourself, like, I know one thing about you
is that you always have been like, you know, a man of God.
You've always been very down to earth.
Like, and you've always been about the team.
Like, you're not just like, it's all about me.

(01:20:58):
You're like, no, we have a team.
Like, you know, like there's other people
dependent on me too, and things like that.
And so all that to be said, I just thought it was like,
just such a great way to like share your heart
about how it's not just about like,
oh, like the beats are hard, which they are.
The beats are hard people, we're gonna keep saying that.
The beats are hard, but it is a lot more than that.

(01:21:19):
Cause like you said earlier,
like you really are just trying to like,
find a way to help people, you know,
and just like wanting people to hear the message.
So yeah, I just love that about you.
I appreciate that.
Yeah, you're welcome.
Next, that's all right.
That's all right.
So you're talking about how you work hard for your peace.
How do you keep your peace?

(01:21:41):
How do I keep my peace?
Well, my peace is rooted in God first and foremost.
Amen.
And just having that confidence and faith that,
you know, can I put the, hopefully with,
I know we're talking about that, that's all right,
but hopefully with a song like A Better Way To Live,

(01:22:02):
you see that I'm putting it in the hands of God.
Yeah.
I'm not just like trying to wing it
like I'm planning of course,
but like I understand that I can only do so much
and the rest is going to be up to the big dog upstairs.
So I keep my peace by just having that confidence

(01:22:24):
and that faith in God and in the sense that,
I heard a preacher say it like this,
a shout out at Elder Hamlin.
He said, God won't take you nowhere,
or where, God won't take you nowhere
where his grace won't cover you or won't protect you.
So if I've been pulled here throughout my entire life

(01:22:49):
and then I finally like, all right, finna do it,
then there's a reason for that.
And in spite of,
because everyone has their own viewpoints
In spite of what some may say over here
or some may say over there or yada, yada, yada,
God's in control.
Like if I literally get everything that I'm going for,

(01:23:14):
God be the glory.
If I get most or half or just a quarter
or maybe something I didn't even expect,
something I didn't foresee,
to God be the glory.
And like I said, my peace is in God
and then also I can rest my head on the fact
that I gave it all I got
no matter how things turn out.
Thank you.
Such a great answer.

(01:23:35):
Thank you.
Can you talk about navigating friendships?
Because I just, it was just interesting on this track
because you just talked about
how your close friends really help you
get through to the end.
But then you also started talking about how,
what did you say?
You said some swore they'd stay forever and disappeared.

(01:23:56):
Some suddenly throw backhanded compliments
or unknowingly feed fear into your ears.
And then you said, this is the part where most quit.
Man, I'm convinced.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Navigating friendships.
Yeah, that's what, but all that,
that was like a lot to process.
And I was like, wow.
Lots of impact.
I mean, it's largely just kind of going through life.

(01:24:19):
Life experiences, people come and go.
Sometimes it's deeper, sometimes it's that simple.
Just people coming and going.
And yeah, that's really what it all
just boils it down to.
But as you go and just keep going forward,
the people that are still there,
people that stick around
are the people that are meant to be there.

(01:24:40):
Okay.
And so, and I don't, I didn't mean it,
I didn't mean it from the sense of,
oh yeah, I'm doshing on the people that came and went.
Oh yeah, I definitely,
Cause I ain't go.
It doesn't go like that through the music.
It doesn't sound like that.
Cause I don't want to make it seem like
I ain't came and went out of somebody's life either.
You know?
It's everyone else.
Right.
But like it's just, you know, people come and go.

(01:25:03):
So dealing with that reality.
Some people you thought, okay,
they may stick around a little longer.
May, you know, some people are here for the chapter.
Some people are here for the whole book.
It's literally what it is.
I like that.
Quote them, quote them.
I don't know where you got that, but that was good.
Do you really love who you're becoming?
Yeah, I do.

(01:25:23):
And I'm still learning who I'm becoming.
You know, I feel like I'd understand it more.
Understand what God is making me out to be
several years down the line.
But the stuff that I have been able to see,
been able to take note of, yeah, it's different.

(01:25:44):
Yeah, it's a little different.
Okay.
And the beat goes crazy, y'all.
The beat goes crazy.
I'm gonna put it out there.
He switched it up on us again.
I was like, I cannot win this, man.
But it was so good, so good.
So y'all gonna have to listen to the whole album.
If you have not already, listen to it.
On all platforms, it's there.
All of them.
And then, oh, we're wrapping up.

(01:26:06):
Yeah.
Finding out, the song made me wanna give you a hug.
I was like, oh my gosh.
It really did.
Like, cause this song,
this is about just kind of like the now.
It's about the now that you're in now.
Not the now that you were in then.

(01:26:27):
No, I'm just kidding.
It's about the now that you're in now.
So I literally wrote the beat alone made me wanna cry.
Cause it was just such a good start.
I was like, I'm feeling it already.
I'm feeling it.
Dang.
And so you said, will I become all that I see?
Maybe.
Well, we finding out you've been grinding out.

(01:26:50):
And so,
dang, honestly, I just, I feel like a lot of times
you have these moments of just like self-reflection.
And when it comes to becoming all that you see,
like we did talk about your legacy,
but specifically when it comes to the music,
like what do you see in your future?

(01:27:10):
Like what is it that you're shooting for?
What do you want?
What's your goal?
Well, a couple of things first and foremost.
Okay, yeah, go.
Will I become all that I see?
It's a little bit of a callback to dreams.
Where I, in verse two, where I'm talking as my daddy says,
ain't gotta be what you see.

(01:27:30):
Yeah.
And so now I'm finding out like,
well, will I become all that I see?
I see.
I see.
I didn't do that on purpose, but that was a good one.
Yeah, so it's a callback to that.
And then second, on a different front,
shout out my boy Donovan,
Donovan.
Credited as A-O Don.
We've known each other, we went to high,

(01:27:52):
he's squad, he family.
So we went to high school together, you know,
me, him, Brandon, Island, you know what I'm saying?
Paolo and Turner, the usual characters, the usual faces.
He's part of that group.
And he sent me that gem,
and he just wanted me to hear it and critique it.
And when I tell you, I was so proud of my dog.

(01:28:14):
Come on.
Because when he started making beats,
I had been at it for a little bit, making music,
and I had already released a bunch of projects.
And so he would come to me, similar thing,
he would come to me like, yo, I got some,
I want you to hear it, I'm finna send you some stuff,
can you critique it?
And so he would send me a bunch of stuff.
But then it was a little while where I didn't hear much

(01:28:35):
musically from him.
And then one day he just sent that out of nowhere,
and I listened to it, and I was like, bro.
Dang.
I would, I had to show it to my yoga brother.
And I told Donovan, I said, bro, I'm so proud of you,
dog, this sounds amazing, bro.
He said, can I have it?
And then I was like, what are you gonna do with it?

(01:28:56):
Like, do you have any, we just cooking up,
getting the reps in?
Do you mind if I use it?
I'm making a project, can I use it?
And he was like, yeah, bro, just go ahead and mess with it.
And it was one of those things,
I'm artist and producer, but I know how to take off one,
I know how to take off either hat at a moment's notice.
And that was one of those things where it's like,

(01:29:16):
I need that in its exact form.
I'm not even gonna mess with it.
I need that as is.
And he was like, yeah, bro, just go ahead and mess with it.
And you know, do whatever you want with it.
I was like, okay.
And I was so proud of him and so confident
in just the music itself that oftentimes I rewrite stuff,
it was just one, one go.

(01:29:39):
Nothing had to be rewritten.
Nothing had to be re-recorded.
Like I wrote it, I recorded it, I sent it back to him.
And he went nuts.
Come on.
And when the dream came out, I sent him a screenshot
because I had to hold on to the project,

(01:30:00):
not just the song, but the whole project for a while.
And so a lot of time passed before things actually came out,
but I sent him the screenshot and I was like,
there's your producer credits, dog.
And he went nuts.
Come on, I love that for him.
Yeah, shout out my dog, Donovan, bro,
I love you, hope you and the fam is good.

(01:30:21):
So man, I forgot your question.
It's just like all that stuff came to my eyes.
I'm sorry.
Yeah, I forgot my question too.
No, I think you were, we were talking about like
writing this like as something like continuing.
Yes, I was saying like it's where you are now.
Yeah, yeah.
Like I knew I wanted to, I had to end the project

(01:30:43):
a certain way.
And it was just a matter of figuring out how
with Transparent 2, I feel like that had a definite ending.
Yeah, on purpose.
On purpose, on purpose.
And I feel like with this one,
there was no definite ending.

(01:31:03):
Right, because you find it out.
It was literally like to be continued.
Well, we'll see, you know what I mean?
Here's everything I've been dealing with now,
but I'm not at the mountaintop yet and I'm not stopping.
So it's a to be continued, not a okay, this story is over.
And when Donovan sent that and I started writing it,

(01:31:25):
it was like, it was that.
It was like everything, everything that all of the stories
and the emotions that I had laid out on the project
put into, like if I had to put it into that one song,
it was like, okay, we have the frustrations.
We have the working the nine to five for the cash
to take care of.

(01:31:46):
So you talking about, okay, we talk about that.
We have this, we have the determination,
all that kind of stuff.
It's now it's like, okay, now that we got through
all of that is like, okay, we really gonna get there?
Well, we'll find it out, we'll see.
And that's where that one came from.
One thing that you talked about in that song

(01:32:06):
was how you're around folks who made it.
And so when you say that, like in my mind,
I would just assume that their success
looks very different from yours.
Yeah, this is people that,
there's some that made it in the music industry.
Okay.
But many that I was thinking of when I wrote it
was people that made it,
but in a completely different industry.

(01:32:27):
Okay.
But still achieve that entrepreneurial success
that I'm ultimately going for, but just in their field.
And that was my first time really looking at that up close.
Okay.
No longer or not no longer, but like, okay,
pausing on watching like the inspirational videos
from like Jordan or Kobe or like whatever artists

(01:32:49):
I'm looking at.
Now there's people that's right in front of me.
Yeah.
Like I'm shaking hands with them.
I'm working with them.
I'm working for them as a nine to five job.
And I'm actually able to see what hard work paying off
actually looks like on them.
And-
You like it's gonna look good on me too.
Come on.

(01:33:10):
I like how it look, you know what I'm saying?
I like how I look, it look good.
So I look at, I was like looking at them and it's like, okay,
like I could, and some of these people started way older
than when I started, you know what I mean?
You can probably consider them like bloomers maybe,
but they started and it paid off.

(01:33:30):
So I was like, okay, is that gonna be me too?
It's gotta be me.
You know, when we'll find out, but it's gotta be me.
So do you really ask yourself sometimes,
are you a genius or are you insane?
No.

(01:33:51):
Okay. That was like in your song,
it's like, am I a genius or am I insane?
And I was like, that's-
No, that was, it's like, you ever hear like,
or come across those kinds of ideas where it's like, okay,
if it works out, man, you a genius.
If not, you dumb.
Yeah, bro, yes, yes.
It was like that.
It's the dream.

(01:34:12):
For me, like if I'm gonna dream,
I want it to be that grand,
where it's either gonna be an epic success
or an epic failure.
Okay.
I wanted that grand.
I wanted that grand.
It's like either we're gonna succeed in an epic fashion
or we're gonna fail in an epic fashion.
Either way, we're gonna have a good story to tell.
I love that.
I love that.
Okay, I'm here for it.
I'm here for it.

(01:34:33):
That's where that came from.
It's like at the end, I'm either gonna,
not saying that, oh, say I succeed, I'm gonna go around.
Yeah, I'm a genius,
that's just speaking to the magnitude for me.
It's like either they gonna consider you a genius
because it worked or they gonna be like,
dang, yo, it didn't.
Dang.

(01:34:54):
Okay.
Wow.
Is there anything else that you would like to share
about the dream that I may not have covered
or that you wanted to touch on?
Nah, that's very thorough.
I think this was good.
I think it's good.
I'm proud of it.
I will say this is what I'm, project wise,
this is like I'm the most proud of this one by far.

(01:35:16):
Same.
I'm proud of mine.
I'm proud of mine.
I'm the most proud of it.
There was a lot went into this.
I said on the project that it's more than just a bar,
I'm more than just making beats,
but behind the scenes, a lot of one of this.
Yeah.
It's a lot of stuff.
Maybe one day there'll be some crazy documentary
where we can tell a little bit more.

(01:35:37):
But just quality wise, I'm proud of it.
And I just hope everyone just enjoys it.
Come on.
Yeah.
Aw, me.
So what's next?
Just got to drop the project.
What else do you have for us?
As far as what's next, obviously gotta push it.
Gotta push the project.
Yeah.

(01:35:57):
We've been pushing this since we started rolling out singles.
So this isn't new, but pushing it,
trying to get certain things that have been happening
behind the scenes, certain goals that we've had for this
to come to fruition.
Obviously doing shows.
At the time of filming this, there's a show I have
in San Francisco in less than a month.

(01:36:19):
And then there's other performance opportunities
that we're working out behind the scenes.
So it's just constantly pushing.
Come on.
So what do you need from the people?
How can we, the people help you?
The people can support for free if they can't give a dollar
and they can just support by continuing to liking,
like liking the content, the music, sharing it,

(01:36:39):
reposting, commenting, all of that stuff.
I mean, subscribing if you're not subscribed.
A little, it may seem like not much,
but a little goes a long way.
Check out the website too.
Got merch there.
Wanted to get merch going for this one.
We'll see.
We'll see about that.
There's things that need to align for that.

(01:37:02):
Okay. I would really just love your album cover.
I thought about that.
On the front of my t-shirt.
I thought about that.
It's probably basic.
It's okay.
I know you want to get a little crazy, a little creative.
I know how you are.
You know, there's, yeah.
So maybe I want to do a merch drop for this one,
but it may, it may be a little bit prolonged
because if only y'all knew like the stuff on the desk
and it's just, it's a lot.

(01:37:23):
So hopefully we can get there.
There are, yeah.
She's got to work out some logistics behind that.
Okay. But yeah.
All right.
All well, thank you for your time.
Thank you.
Thank you for, you know, just impacting our world
by your album.
And I'm just really excited to see,
to see like how far it goes, you know,
how the people react and respond.
And I know it's just, it's really just like,

(01:37:46):
the best way that I can think of it right now is just like,
it's like a ministry.
Like I know that you're really going to like touch people
and yeah, and it's going to go far.
So I'm excited for you.
Thank you.
You're welcome.
Appreciate this interview.
Your interviews are always awesome.
Oh my God. Thank you.
Sometimes I'm like, maybe I didn't ask enough questions,
but then I'm like, we might be here a lot longer.
So this is thorough.
This was good.
Yeah. Unrehearsed.

(01:38:07):
Another special edition.
Keep following us.
Keep, keep.
I mean, season two is rolling.
Come on. You know what I'm saying?
The guys on the episode should have dropped by this.
Yeah.
Trying to remember what the timeline is.
There's a lot happening, but yeah.
Continue to like share and subscribe.
Yes, please.
I mean, we appreciate it.

(01:38:27):
Yeah. Supporting the music,
supporting the podcast.
You see there's a lot that we're trying to build up here.
It's more than just crafting the bars
or just filming episodes of a podcast.
It's a lot.
So appreciate y'all.
Till next time.
Bye fam.

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