Cordae | Ep 123 | ALL THE SMOKE Full Episode | SHOWTIME Basketball

Published Feb 17, 2022, 5:01 PM

Grammy nominated rising rapper Cordae joins the Matt and Stak on the latest episode of ALL THE SMOKE. Cordae opens up abut his music career, including meeting Kanye and Diddy. Plus, he talks about his rap breakthrough, sending a song to Lil Wayne and does an ATS freestyle. 

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Welcome to All the Smoke, a production of The Black Effect and our Heart Radio and partnership with Showtime m Welcome back All the Smoke two coming to you live from l A. We got one of the young ones that's leading this new wave of music, very talented. Another one album just dropped. Welcome to the show. Appreciate you. They're feeling good to see as well. Appreciate you for having me. So we say when you get introduced now that sometimes they put that Grammy nominated behind that. How does that make you feel some fly? Ship man? It feels good honestly, Like you know, but I can't wait till it's say, Grammy winning. You know, you can't tell your trophy rooms with nominations right, Like I'm grateful for it for sure, but it's time to get that gold trophies. Man, y'all know you're someone who really understands your platform and tell me how beneficial social media is. But you trying to get your messing not only out there in music, but in life and when you're into your goals, ship man, this social media shouldn't changed my life, bro. You know, like it's a motherfucker because like it's like a terrible thing if you let it over consume you, and if you let it take up too much of your time, and especially like humans are like most humans are cheap unfortunately, and we're in this era of just massive group think and humans have always been cheap like throughout history, but now that we have social media, it gets like amplified. You get what I'm saying. So like people who are like free thinkers and are more like open minded to certain ship are outcasted in a way like it's some weird that ship. It's like, you can have an opinion on something right and this is like your opinion, but you'll see But just the average human being, they'll see they'll go on Twitter and see a bunch of people who have an opinion different from there. So they're like, oh, I must be wrong since everybody else does this way, and they fall into that. So it's a weird thing. But if you just recognize it for what it is and and not think too deep into it, like and utilize that ship, that can change your life in the dopest way. It's like it's like you're breaking the law if you go against the grain these days, you know what I'm saying, weird bro, just to be different, Like everybody want to wear this. If I want to wear that as you weird, You're okay, we we gotta we gotta block you. We can't. That's just stupid and it and it my bad in the ruck, and it puts people with influence and everybody motherfucking walking on eggshells now because like they're so afraid of like cancel culture. And I think as a creative that's like one of the worst things you can do is just not speak your mind freely because you're afraid of how it might affect your relationships. It might burn bridges or even worse, you know, your pockets and and things of that nature. So it got anybody in creatives and anybody went somewhat influenced just trying to be politically correct all the time. Like that ship is like the worst ship for real. Just dropped your second studio album. Congratulations, your Bird's eye View. What do you want people to take away from this latest project to yours? This is growth of a lot of growth on this album from the first though. Thank you. I appreciate NA, thank you so much. Real it means the world to me. Man I put a lot of like, I put a lot of myself into this album a lot of time. That's why it was like two years and some change in between them. You know the concept, it's a multiperspective album. I'm speaking on things that I've seen, things that I've gone through, things that I've witnessed, things I've seen others going through, and I'm bringing you inside this world, you know, from a bird's eye view, and paying this picture from a bird's eye view, and then you know the d double meaning behind it is just to see things from out side yourself, see things from broader a water lens, because like it's like human beings, we tend to think like the whole world revolves around us, you know, myself included sometimes and sometimes we gotta just take a step back to see things from somebody else's perspective or just from outside of ourselves. You know, talk about your upbringing born in North Carolina, but you moved to Maryland. What was life like and win Win music coming part of your life. It's dope because like down south and like Maryland, which is technically like the South because it's you know, below the Mason Dixon line, but it's it's really like East Coast more up north versus like a North Carolina South Carolina. So I think that's what kind of makes like my perspective unique in a way because I still got that like Southern drawl, like that young Southern nigga energy. And then like in Maryland, like d n V, we like we tend to think like we like the coolest ningers on earth. Like if you know DNV, like they are, don't like you can't be champed, you know, I'm saying, like you can't be lame because like like that you're gonna get like cut up. You know what I'm saying, Like we're gonna go on you. And so um Obama, you know that's like yeah, you're a batman or whatever, and so um. I think the like the fashion culture, the quote unquote like this cool nigger culture, um, and just being yourself really comes from Maryland. But still like me visiting you know, the Carolina's over the summers gave me like that real Southern drawl and bringing those two worlds together, I think musically and just perspective life wise, just gives me like just a multiple way looking at things, if that makes sense. If a teen years old, you decided to give give your rap carel try. But it was just a hobby at first. What made you fall in love with to the point where that was there, that's all he was gonna do. So I've been rapping since I was like a young, like super young nigga, and I would always just freestyle for niggas, like it'll be somebody in my neighborhood, you know, saying get a little bit of money whatever, like like yo, wrap for him, little bro, like give me like five dollars, ten dollars here from there. And I knew I had talent because I was like, man, this do this paying me a little five ten dollars just to spit for him every day, and that ship used to add up for realm And I always just used to just freestyle and rap. But I dropped my first mixtape when I was fifteen years old, and my two loves basketball and wrapped. It's like every other young navy in the world, right, no different. I noticed I was a lot more just naturally gifted at making music and wrapping that I was at hooping, Like hoops, I was like subpar at best, you know, I was good enough to make the basketball team good enough to um score a couple of points here and there for the basketball team. But it wasn't nothing special. You know, we come a dome ya, real life hooper is in a real way at the highest level, and so um that within itself. When I dropped, when you drop your first mixtape, ain't going back. In my eyes, I was like, Okay, this is what I want to apply all my energy and focus into because as a kid I had I used to want to do both. I used to want to, you know, drop thirty points a game and the NBA. I used to like imagine like my own stats as a kid, and I was gonna be a platinum artist at the same time while still in the NBA doubling up. But I just had the hyper focus, all my energy and the music because I felt like that was just my calling. That's what I enjoyed doing the most. You studied artists on YouTube, Yeah, you listen to the music your dad played. That was a big influence on the way your your style is and the way you want to wrap for sure, because just I remember my I had teenage parents. You know what I'm saying. My parents a teenagers when they had me. So I was I just remember listening to whatever was hot, whatever was the cool young nigger ship that was on and UM which was like this is like early two thousands, which was like Hove, UM the Max at the time, you know, um Nas The's People. That was just just super popping at the time. And then I remember the first album album that came out really changed my perspective. I think I might have been like five or six years old when it came out, The College Dropout. That was like the first like complete like body of work. I remember like, oh wow, Like I just like how this ship sounded, should just make me feel good. So when um pause UM. But when I was like ten, you know that whatever, But yeah, that was crazy, but you're like ten eleven years old, That's when I started just like looking up like lyrics and taking it to a whole another level with my free time and just going on YouTube and just going on a YouTube binge of like Big L Nas, going through like the Big l jay Z freestyle, UM, just all of these things, just falling in love with the whole catalog. And I think that's what made me like just take my love for the craft, my love for music, and just my own paying game to a whole another level. With your appreciation for or what the younger generation will called old screw music and obviously being current and creating the wave in this, you kind of feel like you can be someone who can bridge the gap between generations because there's always that generation once you get to a point where all that needs to get some bullshit or they're old and they don't understand. So you kind of feel like you could bring be your bridge to that. Um, you know, I've heard that before. I never really thought about it like that. To be honest, I just try to like I don't like go in the studio like Okay, I gotta make something for ages eighteen through thirty eight, you know, I just I just try to be myself and just create like freely without having any like expectations or any like arterior motives. I think if you do that when you go in the studio, like you ask anybody when they make like a hit or like AUM, they don't go in there like Okay, I'm gonna make a hit today. All just happen. It just happened. So as an artist, I just try to create freely and whatever comes about that. But um, a lot of people who have definitely like this put that that that label on me is like the person that can bridge between like you've coached and the older generation. But um, I just try to be myself. You know, I don't really like put too much thought into that. You know, I want to I want to ask me this question because I know there's so many people that want to wrap, and there's so many that's in school. You prioritize education. It was serious to you, but at the same time music was blowing. It's starting to pop for you. For sure. What I'm saying for the people that for the youngsters that's in school, that that that's trying to wrap, how do you balance both? Man? I honestly, for me personally, I'm just, um, I'm an unequivocal dreamer. I was just like, you know what, what's the definition of unequivocal? I don't I don't want to give you the wrong definition, but basically I might have honestly used it in the wrong term, but unequivocal because the reason why I say that because when people come in the show, y'all know, and they say words I don't understand. I asked for the definition because I don't know what it mean unequivalent? Let me let me google it. Why don't we do that? Because it sounded good when you said it. I wanted to unequivectly dreamed too. So you know what I'm saying, Oh, in a way that leaves no doubt. So I used it perfectly, Okay, I just had to make sure I wasn't, you know, so when so I'm an unequivocal dreamer as in like no doubt. You know why I use that perfectly? Well, I'm impressed, but I just I just had to make sure. But I say that to say, um, just like it's funny because I'm reaching that point now right to where I'm here, but it's still a lot more than I want to do and that I'm gonna do. And I was just talking about this in my homie like back in the day when I don't have nothing, when I was broke, and I had like three hundred dollars to my name, And let's say if it's like a south By Southwest in like Texas, for sure, you know I would spend like two hundred and fifty dollars on that round trip flight if I got three hundred dollars to my name. I'm gonna spend two hundred to get me to Texas and the hunted on food and crash on somebody couch, just by me just having the utmost faith and belief in myself because I'm like, man, I got shipped to lose, let's go. You don't do that without confidence. You gotta have for sure. But now that I've been able to like accumulate like a certain amount of money and like success, it's like a balance because I can't like just go in and just blow all my money on one thing because I'm playing with a few more chips than I was before, but still not operating from a place of fears. For like, man, I can't make a certain radical move because I don't want to lose what I have. But sometimes it takes that like a rational thinking and just going with your gut and your feeling to take you to the next level, if that makes sense. And Um, I say that to say, that's why I dropped out of college because and I'm not like encouraging anybody to drop out because that was just my path. You know, I was chosen for this. This is just something that was just ordained. Um, I believe, and so um I was just unhappy when I was in school. I was just going to college because like my dad got his g D from prison. You know, my mom um had to finish HIAU. She had me when she was super young. She had to finish high school, you know, doing night classes and things of that nature for sure. So this is like a bigger than me sort of thing. My grandma had to drop out of school in the third grade. So I'm like a first generation, like college student. And I always had like decent grades in school, so um, I was just like why not. But when I was there, I just wasn't happy because I'm always thinking about this music shop every time I'm doing class. I'm like this music ship. So I was um. When I was in college. I honestly won't even go into classes like like that. I'm just in the studio, like I saved some money, got like a little set up had in my dormal. I know, my roommate was hating, could not stand in my ass for real. And I was just spending all my time and energy into music while I was in school. So I was like, funk it. But I'm not gonna just be stacking up this debt for no reason. I'm just gonna just say, fun, this ship moved to l A and um, you just gotta know what your path is, honestly, Like you can't be like it can't be like I thought, like I want to try music, and then you just give up everything you're working for the goal with music. At this point, I already had dropped like three mixtapes like this is just my identity, like I make music. This is what I got a vision board at this point of like, you know, goals and dreams that I wanted to accomplish in music. You just gotta know what you want out of life. That's like the advice I give to anybody younger and no rush on it. But then again figure it out. Because there's so many people in this era, like and my generation that's sort of just going with the flow. I don't really know what they want to do, which is all right, but man, don't let father time catch up with you and by it before you know it. It's like, man, like what the fun was I doing? Makes the mistake? I think we have more time? You know what I mean? You never know? You mentioned vision board and goals and dreams when you start accomplishing those how does that make you feel? Crazy? Like I got a picture of my vision board in my house now, and just looking at I would put like certain people that I wanted to meet on my vision board, put like you know double X self Freshman and you know, Grammys and all of these things on my vision board, and like even doing like music festivals and visiting like different places. And I'm like, well, I've been to every single place that I listed on this vision board and and got paid to go there, you know, like that's the word. I wanted to do it, but then I got paid to do it. You know, That's why this this music ship man, like I take it seriously because this thing that took me in all the homies I grew up with all across the world, we get paid to travel the world and performed music that the concept behind that is still crazy to me, you know what I'm saying. You know, we got to travel the world to play basketball, got crazy and crazy crazy the world. So how does it feel to go to say to say that now now you traveling the world getting paid for your music, to not knowing if you're gonna play basketball musical? What to being in ditty house? Some play and your music and the whole house. You got a house full of well known rappers, rappers you respect, they're all going crazy when you're playing your music. I saw it over social media. Yeah for that feeling, like because that's your peers. Yeah for sure, Like for me to get pops from Kobe like that mean the most cause is my peers you got for all of the top dogs in the game. Yah, you're playing your music as a youngster and the whole house going crazy. What's that feeling? Like? Man? That was everything that was. That was a couple of years back too, So I really that was like right before I dropped my first album, So that really put a battery in my back and confidence in me to to release the music, you know, because it's it's one thing for fans to love you, but to truly be an elite artist and whatever filled you in, you got to have the respect from your peers. That's why when I just dropped from Birds out of You, I've been getting all different artists you know, support and texting me like yo, bro, like this is like a whole level up. So the first album, like I can hear the difference, like your pain games getting better. Yeah, you're for production is getting better. And this is from like from extremely high level artists. And I don't want to name drop, you know what I'm saying, but like people, that's one of the ones, you know, so in a several of them. So that's what that means, almost just as much as me as the fans loving it, if not even more, you know, because that's the difference between a artists that's in the game and like an elite level how you appears view you. You know, you said you grew up um with younger parents listening to people we came up on. So I'm gon list of name of h musicians. Tell me something you like about them or an album that sticks out for you. Let's start with jay z jay z Um. That was probably what I heard the most growing up, you know, just because like obviously he's like one of the greatest, is not the greatest rappers of all time, like no argument, but at the time he was, he was also the biggest, you know, so this is what I'm hearing um that volume two Blueprint. Matter of fact, even before College dropped out, Blueprint was like that first album I heard as a kid, and I was just like, wow, this just feels again, it just feels right, you know what I'm saying that I just I don't know why I like this ship, but nigger, I like this ship, and um that's what made me want to wrap like that. Probably that album in particular, really those two albums made me want to wrap. And yeah, Blueprint is probably that one for me that just like every time I even hear the album now i'm driving, it automatically takes me back to like what I was doing, me being a kid in the car where I was at that time. You know, I was four when that came out. But when I hear I'm not supposed to have distinct memories when I was four years old. Only music can do that. So when I hear that album, I can tell you, like, man, I remember I had this outfit on that day and I was at the mall. You know, blah blah this and that and um so that that's like huge for men nas um nas like influence wise is like one of my biggest influence um that somebody I like went back into and studied. You know. Um I love All Maatic. Everybody loves Allmatic. One of the greatest albums of all time any genre. Same with Blueprint. But um, I like it was written, but I talk a matter fact, I was just telling this, I told not this. I was like, ill Matic is great, it going out sanding, but I think it was written is better than Almatic. I think his pain game, his concepts, and I'm probably uh in a small minority that that that thinks that. But that album when I was making, um the Lost Boy, I was listening, I was listening to it was written every day, just because the standard of of just the penmanship was just so high level to me at that time, Like for real pop. Sure, if I died a nite, one of my one of the most well written songs. They say, pussy and paper and poetry, powering pistols, plotting the murdering motherfucker's so they get you one of the one you know, like and that's the understatement by the way. Um yeah, Pocket is just like it's nothing I can say about Park that can't be said that hasn't already been said, you know, But I'm just that him just being a true like author and documentary of the times, because I think that's what it's important as an artist to be, just like a time capsule, to showcase what's going on in the world. And and you associate albums with years of your life, like you probably remember like, Okay, this is the year I had my season of my my career, house dropping the most points every year. Um, that album came out the same year. You get what I'm saying. So that's how important music is, you know. Um, And so I said, obviously I wasn't even alive when when Pop died, but um, that his impact. It still felt, you know, big Biggie just flow Master, you know, um, ready to die, ready to die, just one of those like Pop, Biggie nas hole. These are like when I was in my infant stages of writing music, like ten years old. These are the people that like stylistically, I'm like okay, yeah, okay for sure, And yeah, Biggie's one of the ones. Man. That's why even when I did The Leakers, I had to do that that that kicking the door. Appreciate that. Thank you than I found out about you because I have twin thirteen year old boys, because like I said, I'm pushing up on forty two, so I kind of stick in my little bubb on them like no that you gotta hear him. And then when I think one of my homeboys here seen me your your leakers, I was like oh and then there like next thing I know, he's coming on the show. I was like, oh, ship, that's crazy, that's I found out about. And yeah, it's crazy how that work out A little Wayne Wheezy just takeover like that oh eight car to three era and then no ceilings. And Wayne is one of those ones to where he's been doing this ship and he was twelve years old, like and he's only just kept getting bigger, like that's crazy. And still today like he's still just like knocking it off. I'm like, you gotta love what now he killed that. I appreciate that. Thank you. I mean the world to me. But um, yeah, Wayne is just one of those like crazy like crazy, Yeah, he's one of the greatest artists of all time. Just like a matter of fact. I funny enough, man, I met you just a couple of days ago. I met him a couple of times before, but it was just on some tapping up moving ship. But I actually got to meet him and have like a a light conversation with him. To date, my album dropped. So the night that my album dropped shout out Dave Chappelle. We put up on y compound and Dave Chappelle. Actually, um, he introduced me TOA and we got to have just you know, small conversation. I got to play him some music. He played me some unreleased music, and it was just like I got to tell him, like, yo, nigga, like you probably like I know you hit this ship from everybody, nigga, but now I ain't even gonna lead as motherfucker. And just because how I used to be like when I'm around like people I idolized when I first met him, I try to just be not too cool for school, but try not to be like super fans out because you know, um, you don't want to see you. Still we are still peers. These are my idols at the end of the day. But I never wanted to be, you know, like I saut. I'm from Maryland. So the way we look at it, like man, you're on Dick too much, you know what I'm saying, Like where I come from, it's like now I don't ever be on Dick or don't be too cool, so I'm meeting like people that I idolized. I never asked for no pick you know, I never pulled a phone out, you know, dap them up. It's love. We have a dope convo. It's always like mutual respect. But I was just like, man like, when I start meeting like certain idols, I just got to tell them what they mean because like you just never and honestly, Kobe, when when Kobe passed, you know, because I got to meet Kobe a couple of times, and it sucked that I never got to tell him, like really what he meant to me. You know what I'm saying, Like how big I used to play two k and just try to score eighty points in five minute quarters with this nigger, Like when I'm boring, that's that's literally what I would do, just like just play with Kobe, trying to score eighty points in five minute quarters with him. And um, I said that to say, I got to tell you, like yo, like you are my biggest influence. And I say that, I said, whenever I'm in an interview or whenever I'm talking, I was like, I tell nig it's like, yo, Kanye West is like my biggest influence. He was like, yeah, you better say that ship. Yeah you better tell them that ship. But I say that to say when I meet these just got to get people their flowers to re released three Miss tapes as a as a teenager Anxiety. I'm so anxious, Steen and I'm so anonymous in explain those projects and each one you got better? And what was the difference between these three When Anxiety came out, I was teen years old. Um, it's funny. I got my first studio equipment, um on some Jakie ship low key so um. One of my cousins um stumbled into some items you get what I'm saying that that wasn't his or whatever, and he broke me off on something, you know. And I was able to uh translate these equitable items into cash, and I was able to invest that into a little home set up, you know. And that's how I recorded those first three mixtapes. And you get the last and and so shout my motherfucker cousin, you know who you were. I got a break matter fact when I see I gotta break you off. So I gotta break you off something straight up. And and and that roommate that was getting annoyed by the music, holla, holla, I don't know, don't started in cluing next people I got breaking like I look for nothing. Look where I'm at now? You was getting known about the music. Look where you at that? Sure? I remember just um making these It was just fun, man, But I was a kid, a teenager at this time. I'm treating these things because I remember, like Good Kid mass City probably came out the year or two years after that, and that probably drinking itself got a huge influence on me, especially at this time. That's when I'm taking music all the way serious, you know, And um, I see this, and um, I'm treating my album. I'm trying to compete with Good Kid Mass City. At sixteen years old, I'm like, nah, bro, we gotta have our interludes, gotta be right. I'm spending all this meticulous time into uh production and the sequence and up this mixtape like it's gonna be the one that changed my life. Like it's gonna get like a million people gonna hear it. You know, I dropped it and do like two thousand downloads or whatever. But I'm treating it as if it's like my debut album. And say, and what, I'm so anxious. I made that in college that that was a good time, um man, I was just having fun, you know, how well matter if I'm sure y'all college didn't yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah, you know you're straight for shore. I'm sure your college experience was a lot different than mine, but still at the same time, it's still fun. Oh yeah, no, it's still fun for sure. And so that just brings me back to college times. And that one, like my first mix tape probably did like a thousand downloads on this app called spin reller s really you know, spener for sure, um, and I'm so anxious that like two thousand downloads. So I'm like, oh man, I'm coming up. I'm getting bigger this and that. And then I remember I'm so anonymous. They're like thou hunted downloads. I'm like, oh my, like what what am I doing wrong? But like how am I declining? You know? And but it gave me the confidence with them. I felt low when I'm so anom this drop because I'm like, man, like I do something wrong and is this music ship for me? And you know, like what's going on? But then I'm like, nah, bro, like I'm him. And you got to have that confidence within yourself to just to even want to do something like be an up and coming artist. Bro, being the artists ain't cool when you got a thousand followers, being the all this ain't cool when you drop a mixtape and then do five hundred downloads and two hundred them is your friends and family, you know, like people just see that. You gotta really have the utmost confidence in yourself and and belief and just straight up almost craziness and faith, you know, to even do something like getting into music, because it's like being a a starving artists or you want to be a rapper, but you ain't lit yet, you're not professional at it yet. That's probably like the most look down upon profession and in society for sure, for sure. And yeah, just confidence, man, you know it's funny, man, I don't know why the world don't like to see like confident black males are confident black people. It's just something I noticed. They're like, nah, bro, stay humble like m for sure. Like it's something about you know, obviously, you gotta have humility, you know where you come from, and keep that in mind. And don't you know, get too much, you know, dip on your chip and don't start feeling yourself. It's very important it's a balance. But even when you have like a little bit of confidence within yourself, like the world as a as a black person, they don't like to see that. They won't nabro stay humble, stay low and again you do gotta stay humble for sure, to a certain extent. But it's something about that that don't feel right to me, if that makes sense. You know what I'm saying. Whenever anybody in any feel like an athlete, that's like like when Floyd was, you know, boast full. I mean, this nig is undefeated. Why shouldn't he be that way? A certain NBA plans when they're real boats for they're like, now you gotta stay humble. And certain artists when they boast for they're like, na, I stay humble, like bro we was four is to being humble. Not to go that far, but it's it's just the truth, you know what I'm saying. Another have a many years with segregation, we had to be humble. You know, why shouldn't we have confidence within ourselves? Na for real? So it takes that I say all that to say it takes confidence and belief in yourself to even get from what I find to to get where you want to go, being that you're human and you had went through the stage where you was down on yourself, right, did you use Was it good to have social media to continue to promote yourself? We're during that time, Yeah, for sure. I used to text people and be like, yo, nigga, retweet my ship. Like I used to do that, like for the early ones. Then the third one or the second one. I was just like, nah, bro, people gonna support it. I'm trying to just organically gain supporters and follows what I found out. Like before, I just be like, yo, text order. You used to try to cheat code it, like text whoever it was in my phone contact, I don't give a funk If it was a pre Jon the bad is joined in the school. Whoever, I'm gonna text you be like, y'all retweet this. You know what I'm saying. I text to the popping girls. You know what I'm saying. Who I went to school, We're like, yo, you're trying to do a video like with my song in the background whatever whatever. And you know, because I was just a cool nigger, like they were funk with it, and so I would just try to utilize my classmates you know, because if it's like the like the bad the local bad joint, she's gonna have like a couple of thousand follows everybody watching her and what she's doing. It might be she might even have like some cousins that follow her that's like out of state that you know, she can tell that see my music and learn about it from there. So I just looked at it like I ain't even nothing off the table. Man. It's really like it's not even weird. It's crazy. How like when you're like in alignment with everything, how just things just start connecting. Explain to us, how about you ays had a nice little run before you kind of went different directions and for sure for sure, so um, now mirror I saw the joint like the y being thing like later they was already like doing that thing. So now mirroring Jay. Um. They met each other through Xbox, and UM. I was never big on a game like that, to be honest. I just played I played two K Madden. They could just the regular ship and um, but they were like they had like a clan on on Xbox for real. That's all. Oh that's fire and that's what the world is. That's what the future honestly for sure, and there was ahead of their time with that shout out to them, and um, it's funny not me was actually um my brother Simba, who locked up right now. He rocked with Simba's music heavy, and me and Simba would do music together. So now Mirror just reached out like yo, like I rocked with you, and we were just linking up whenever he was like in Maryland, just link up with him, you know what I'm saying, make sure he was good and all that, and whenever he was in the same city, were just automatically link up. Then he was like, bro, like you gotta do this. Why being thing? And I was just like I kind of just I got my own thing going. But then, um it just made sense you know at the time, honestly, and um but I was just around them, like just just as the homie. You know. I never would like pitch myself as an artist that will be like, no, I'm trying to get on, but you know I make music too, like niggas ain't even know I wrapped, you know, And um that's always gonna be a part of my legacy, you know. I look back at those times. I mean I had a lot of fun with them niggas, you know what I'm saying. I still talked to them here, still talk to j like all the time. I mean, it was just at my UM released party. Matter of fact, you're the only one ain't being with nobody? Yeah for sure everybody. Yeah, yeah, I'm sure. I'll just keep it off the net. But now I've got no problem with nobody. But yeah, everybody got their own thing. Man, Like that ship is. It's funny though at the end of the day, it's entertaining. Man, for sure, it's entertaining as fun though, honestly it is for sure just dropping your second project. When you go back to May two eighteen, you dropped your first single, Introduction to the world. How you look back on that first single, Man, it was just fun because the realm of the unknown, you know, and it did like a million views in a day. I was just like, damn, it's like you're seeing yourself quote unquote like blow up in real time. And those were like not the most fun, but just like your first time doing everything, Like y'all remember your first time you know, being in l A are going to you know, London on all these places I'm sure y'all been to a thousand times over. Um, I see you always on some fly stack. You you man gotta live it up for sure. And I say that to say, um, it was just fun, man, honestly, like just looking back at that, because I was still in college at that time, I got a million views in the day, I'm out of here, I was. I was already dropped out. I was already not going. But that's when I all the way made my mind. I'm like, y'all for sure not doing that, Like I got a million, that's all I always said. It's like, as soon as I get a million views, that's all I need is a million views and I'm out. And when I got it in the day, I was likerurki and it came in the day for sure that the label process Atlantic Records. Yeah, shout out to Atlantic on our partners as well. Oh that's dupe. How did that come about on that partnership? Um, let me see Atlantic, you know, um, go back, go back. So, uh you know not Mary and Ja was already signed to Atlantic, So it just made the most sense. And honestly, Atlantic is probably like the number one label for rap for like hip hop and honestly it starts to prove that, you know. But um, Julie Greenwall, Mike cous of Dallas shout out all of them. YEA, yeah, for sure. Day they was just when because I met with every you know, every label wanted to sign me. But um, they were just one of the most enthusiastic, the most um like personal just like yo, like we we like whatever it takes, like we gotta do it, you know. And um, I just look at enthusiasm at the time and they were like probably like one of the most enthusiastic, and it just made the most sense, you know what I'm saying. So shout out to them for sure. The debut album, how long was the process? You the head all right? When it's an album, Like when this album stuff like I like the right because I go off the top with like some records sometimes like for a hook, I'll kind of like have mercy, I just like freestyle that. Yeah, it just depends on what the vibe is, honestly. But when I write my my thoughts are a little more organized, you know, I'm a little more like on topic versus like when I'm off top, I just say whatever it is that come to my mind, which is a dolt thing, you know, But it just depends on the type of vibe this song is. But nine times out of tend, I just like to write down my thoughts and my ideas because it's just more like organized you know. You and Wayne I was in the studio together, y'all made that, and I sent that over to him. You ain't ever seeing him, Yeah, Yeah, it's funny. We ended up connecting because he had his UM his Young Money podcast actually, and he was like, yo, like whatever you need young and like, send that John to me. You get it back the same day. And I waited like ten Yeah, I waited for sure. That's wheezy. I waited like ten months before I send him the song because it's just dawned on me. I'm like, hey, bro, this nicka Wayne told me to send him, so I still ain't send him. I was bullshit. So I just went through a bunk. I'm trying to find him the perfect song, but I'm like, I might already got it. So I went through UM Records and UM it was sinister the drint I had with Hip. We just had that joint in tucks. I'm like, I think Wayne I was in the studio with my boy in like, you think Wayne to sound good on this, my boy, and he was like, yeah, duck, I think this need to sell the dupe on it. I just sent it to him and he sent it back in twelve hours shout out before the Dave and ended thank you, no thank you. Now It's funny, man, when I'm editing, when I'm looking at the video edit and I see Wayne rapping, I'm like, that's Wayne. That's one of those moments, like because you know how it is when you in it, you it's like you gotta have a tunnel vision of like all right, we knocked this out, Let's keep it moving, let's keep it pushing, keep it going, try to get to a higher level, no pun intended, keep working and things of that nature. But it's certain moments what I've been learning more, especially like the last couple of months, you just gotta who side he's taking a moment and just have a moment of just like gratefulness. Uh, not that I've ever been like ungrateful, but just taking that gratitude to a whole another level. And that was one of the moments I'm like, wow, bro, I got a song keeping In the video, he's singing your part worth words. Yeah, when you go back and look at that like crazy, I don't know, if you watched the video, you'll notice, like I'm watching, I get this ballot like I couldn't hide it on camera. You know that's Wayne wrapping my my lyrics that I wrote down, you know. And you know he did the video a lot of times. You know, you know Wayne at doing a video. No so he won't show up on you. I heard a bunch of he's like, oh ye, I waited to show up like him be showing up on niggas, you know. So it was just a lot of respect and love for him to even just bless me, you know, being a part of it. You know, that's this man founded Drake bro Nicki Minaj, Like what in the world for real? Um, from your vision board to actually making it happen Freshman XXL two thousand nineteen. Yeah, amongst Roddy Rich and making the stallion the name a few what was that experience? Like that was dope. Every artist coming up you want to be on the cover a double X self, every artist. I definitely had it on my bill on my UM Double x Self freshman list. I even said twenty nineteen, I was gonna do it. I'm a nineteen double x self freshman all day and um and I got my classes mean by the way we got I got a mean class, Megan no Stalion like, it's some real stars on it all the way. So, um, that was definitely a bucket list thing I always wanted to do. You hit the role last year and got a chance to visit a bunch of h B c U's uh something me and Jack want to do. What was that like and what was the thought process behind that? Yeah? So my main thing was I wanted to just um, I wanted to just play my music for the people to figure it, like, to just get like real opinions on it. Because everybody who I played by music for, they're my peers. They're like superstar artists, you know what I'm saying, So they have elevated ear if that makes sense. I like playing my music for virgin ears, people who aren't in entertainment, who aint in the music because they just like either I like this song or I don't like it. I'm playing it for like other artists they like I like this song. I feel as though you can add more. You know, they're more technical with it versus like you're just playing it for fans and people that just they're just to hear it. They're just like I like this song or I don't like this song. You know, it's more single like that. And I just wanted to play for all people and give these, uh the students, like an experience they ain't gonna forget, Like, yeah, I remember when Corda pulled up to our college talking child would chop it up with them for a little bit. Get whatever game, whatever knowledge I got, because I'm just the same age as all these you know what I'm saying, So i don't got all the answers, and I'm not gonna ever pretend like I got all the answers. But whatever knowledge I got, if I can just be a light, be a little bit of motivation, then I walk away happy. And even more than that, I got to, you know, just sit down and play them to music from from top to bottle, from starting to finish, and just to get like real life reactions and how they felt about the music. And I put a battery in my back to I know like okay, okay, this is gonna be one of the ones. Okay, this is one of them. Okay, like it is ready. You know, social justice I was telling we was talking about this recently. Um. I remember my first time actually seeing you and meeting you was when I was going through the stuff with George for all my brother Minnesota and Minnesota. And for me, it meant a lot to see to see you and heard in the crowd just like everybody else, no security there for the cause, and you know it was personal for me because it was somebody was my real friend, you know what I mean. But to see you there and see y'all there, I think it meant the world, uh for me to have your support. Man. But how important for you is it to you? For people to stand up and to speak their mind on social justice issues? Are issues that you know that pertained the black lives matters. It goes back to what we were saying earlier, like you just got to speak on what you believe in, you know. And I used to always go to like different protests and when I was like in high school and in college, I remember going up Michael Brown protests in d C. I remember, you know, philandocul Still and like a thousand other names unfortunately, you know. So the only difference now is that I just have a platform, so I'm just always going to speak upon what it's real, you know, and what I feel, what I connect to and just seeing black people get killed by the police. Still this is like a hundred year, four hundred year concept. You know. The fact that we're still talking about it is it's ridiculous, for lack of a better word, and um, it's it's fucking crazy, dog and um, you know, obviously condolences, you know, I know that hit home for all of us, but it's different when you actually know the person. You know. And I say that to say, yeah, just just doing it because it's the right thing to do, and I know it's a lot of entertained is I was doing it because it's like the cool thing. It's like what's popular opinion now, But you know what, the way I look at it is, I don't even give a funk if you're doing it for pure and pure reasons, because as long as you you know what your platform, whether it's pure, it's coming from a pure place, So you're doing it from your personal game or not, it's still shedding light on something that needs to be shed light on so like it, you know, because I used to get mad about it, Like, man, these niggas is like, you know, I was quote I hate this term. I was quote unquote wote won cool back then he was woke a little bit in twelve you was a conspiracy theory, you know what I'm saying, Like it was not you wasn't getting no coach being woke in twelve whether year was now you can woke yourself into some puss, you know what I'm saying, like for real, like and and not that people hopefully nobody do it for that right, but it's just the truth. But but um, I just always like to speak upon things that I just connected with. Like I was young reading about w E. B. Du Boys, reading about Marcus Garvey, reading about Huey Newton. I was a little nigger ten years all reading these things. I used to read Harry Potter all the times, and my stepdad was like, yo, if you can read Harry Potter, you can read you know, books on Thurgo Marshall, w E. B. Du Boys, Um, Malcolm Max, Marcus Garvey's I'm ten years old getting all his knowledge. So I'm like the little nigger in school with the with the dashiki on. You know what I'm saying, like, and back then it wasn't cool to have an understanding. You know. It's just James borrowin quote to be even, and I might be misquoting it, but to paraphrase it, it's like to be like significantly aware is to be just a little bit socially conscious. And to be black in America is to be enraged all the time. And if you're smart and you know what's going on, you mad but sure like but um it's it's am like I said that, I'm just glad more light is being shad on it, even if it's coming from an impure place from people like it, at least as the conversation. You know, we're coming down. We actually had more time. But when we're coming down to the end, we got quick hitters here. So the first thing to come to mind letters. Now I'm gonna put you on the spot right here. Okay, use all the smoke in a quick freestyle. Okay, let me see. Uh make a couple of millions from the bars I wrote, And if nigga got a problem, we want all the smoke, you know, quick. Top five lyricists of all time, in your mind, your opinion. I'm gonna give top five artists because I value artist, street and good music over just okay. Um, let me see my top five artists of all time. Gotta go ya, Kanye West, Um, gotta go hold. This is just my personally. You gotta go. I'm on top five. Gotta go Kayane West, Um, gotta go hold. Give me Kendrick m h nas nasty. Give me Drake Nice Nice to five. I like he's stuck on the island. Three shows or movies you have I'll repeat, Am I by myself? Now you can? You can have a guest if you like. Okay, if I'm by myself, I don't watching. I get that hub on I'm working with you. I'd give me one channel. I'll breaking down for nothing with you. Probably Friday. Um uh trade in places. I love that movie, and yeah and and uh Dave Chappelle Show, The Chappelle Show all day, talking about that's one of the best shows of all time. Or Boom Dave Chappelle Show, Bone Docks and Friday, those three right there in the hub. If I got a fourth one, don't forget about the hub. Five dinner guests that are alive. Okay, Michael Jackson, Tupac. Um, let me see, Michael Jackson, Tupac. That's a mean too. Um, just depends on who paying right, Uh, let me see. Um you gotta now you're good right, all right, that's a good too, right there? Um hm hmm Ooh Kobe, Yeah, I gotta have Kobe up there. Um, gotta put Hove up there. You know the five hundred thousands. Then it with jay Z. Somebody needs to make like an actual parody to get a hole like you know, man, why doon't you take the fine on it? Yo? Like question about that? Right? Um? Damn, Michael Jackson. We gotta bring some joints at the table. I just can't have all niggas at the table. You know, they gotta have some feminine energy and mm hmm ah I guess Oprah, like, yo, what what what's all niggas here? You know? What's that? If you can have one guest on All the Smoke, who would it be? But before you answer the question, you have to help us get your answer on here on the show. Oh that's good okay, um huh, I would love to see um m hmm all the smoke? Do you know a lot of people. Yeah, yeah, I know. I'm trying to get somebody that because I'm a man of my word, you know what, So I want to have I want to get somebody that like I can for sure call yes, um, I would say Dave Chappelle, but he don't really do. I don't want to promise over promise on the the lever, but you can try that because you know hen he smoked too. So once you put the press on, let me know then I'll texting right after you. We put the full corp press here for sure? Huh all the smoke? Who I want to see on here? I just noticed you ain't light now one for you? Oh damn that. I'm on my fast for me when when I finished my fast, I need the vowel, I need a seventh Take that with me. Now take that with me, my outbouting. I got you, I got you. Next time I'm up here, I'm deaf. I'm coming with one. I'm coming. Yeah, I like it. I like it. I'm still locked in, like I'm finishing up. I'm low key working on a whole another body of work right now, like as we speak. So when I got this joint, it's not go time like for real, when it's time to kick and let us know all day and we appreciate you coming. Man. We came not let you leave. All the smoke. Come on, y'all, swag it out however you feel when you feel you did what I'm saying some hot qualities, you know. So yeah, we're gonna work around. We ain't. Y'all got the label on. Yeah, Yeah, I gotta y'all some gear to some high level. Yeah. I need that need that, we need all the smoke that store birds our view, Go get it man, Corday. We appreciate you. You come back man, all the smoke. Check out the album from a bird's eye view and can cancelus Showtime Basketball, YouTube, and the hard platform Black Effects see you all next week. This is All a Smoke, a production of The Black Effect and Our Heart Radio in partnership with Showtime

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All The Smoke

ALL THE SMOKE pairs two of the most outspoken and controversial players of their time. Known as fier 
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