Explicit

Cordae Part 2

Published Nov 1, 2023, 4:00 PM

Rap sensation Cordae's conversation takes a serious turn as he addresses the unfortunate situation of Gunna being in jail, shedding light on the realities faced by artists in the industry. Cordae concludes by sharing the valuable advice he received from J. Cole, offering listeners a glimpse into the wisdom and mentorship that has shaped his budding career. This episode exemplifies Cordae's determination, authenticity, and dedication to his craft. Fans of Cordae and those intrigued by the music industry's inner workings alike will find this episode of Club Shay Shay to be very thought-provoking.

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You mentioned that Meg went through what she went through with Tory, you reached out.

I mean, what was your words of advice?

I mean, obviously that's someone that you that's a very differend to you, and she's going through something. And from what I can read, I don't know either of the parties, but it seemed like they didn't believe that. Like, and I'm thinking aboutself, why is you gonna lie about somebody shot in the foot? I mean, I mean that's Meg, that's Meg. She don't need clout.

Yeah, I'm not trying to I'm not gonna over exaggerate it and say we like good friends. You know, I'm not like best friends but at all, but like I'm more so of a supporter, you know. And the fact again we was on that double exelf freshman class. Just whenever I see it's it's always good energy. And so I was just like, man, you know, God always prevails. And it might not even have been about the Tory Lane situation. It might have been like her, she's been through a lot, her losing her mother and things of that nature. But just just let just just sending good energy out there. That's it, Just sending good energy.

Gunna use him obviously, the Plea deal that he went through. Have you talked when he was going through what he was going through? I mean, man, it's kind of hard. I mean, dude got a Rico statue hanging over his head. You talking about a long long time. I ain't talking about no months we talked about, well, we talk about months, but we talk about two hundred plus months things of that nature.

So what do you say? They try to keep the spirits up.

I haven't talked to Gunner, to be honest, since like the whole situation, so I haven't spoke to him. I wrote Slim a letter, I wrote the a letter, but now I haven't spoke the Gunner. But I wish obviously prayers up for Thug. He's still in there, and I wish, you know, Gunna just nothing but the best. I wish him both nothing but the best. I just love to see black Man succeeded, you know what I'm saying. So I want to see him both excel.

And also the baby and Roddy Witch Roddy Rich.

A lot of people say, man, their music saying sounds the same, so they're not selling like they did in the beginning.

Yeah, you know what, the baby. I wanted to bring him out for Coachella too, because this is after you know, the incident happened on stage, right, well you could have you man, right, he had a show on. He was like somewhere out the country at the time. But I hit the baby because I just wanted to bring him just on some like, man, we got to just brothers in this thing. We got to stick together. Like, look, I know what you said on stage was not the brightest thing, you know what I'm saying, But like, yo, like I don't, I feel like what And again it's just my opinion. I could be wrong, but I felt like the backlash that he got from that was just like it was a little over the top. But again I could be wrong, you know, but it should be a learning lesson. Yeah, a lesson is a lesson.

We held to a high standard.

It's almost like a death sentence when a black person says something. I mean, it's like it's the end of the world.

For sure.

We held so accountable.

Nah, for sure. So I hit him up. I was just like I'm doing coach, because you know, they took him off Coachell. So I hit him up, like yo, I want to bring you on stage, and he was like, man, from the bottom of my heart, Like I really appreciate that, bro, I'm in Europe somewhere right now, but like it meant a lot to him. I had a conversation with that and with Roddy. I haven't really spoken taraate like that, to be honest. But again, like whenever again, I don't like to over exaggerate anything. I ain't finna act like I'm best friends with these and we like homeboys and we grew up together. Like it's just always this mutual love, just a I love to see a black man winning, love to see a black woman women winning, love to see everybody winning, right, And so just always just try to be a light for my peers, because nobody can relate to other artists, especially in a sport like hip hop and music and even entertainment. Nobody can relate to us more than us. So you may be able to confine within me something that like your parents may not even understand, or like your siblings may not understand. Even if you got a therapist, they might not understand because they haven't walked in those shoes. So just always try to just be a light whenever I can be, because at the end of the day, I'm still figuring this shit out too, Like I don't have all the fucking answers, you know, but just try to be a light.

What's the uh the hardest part about celebrity? And I tell what I tell people. I said, TV celebrity is different than sports celebrity.

Yeah.

One thing like for me is like if I played football, I play tight end. So if they bring another tight end out and he's trying to get my job, he beat me out for the job. Hey he took food on my table, or the guy that's going against me trying to cover me, if he covered me more time than not, I'm gonna lose my job. He's taking food off the table. But the tight end ain't going behind my back telling the coach, Hey, coach, he out here doing that, He doing that, and.

Stuff like that.

And that's the thing that I've learned about TV is that people that man met.

Man listen, that's see me. I don't. And that's the one thing within the entertainment space that's like this weird because I don't know how to halfway fuck with somebody. Like even like before when we bringing up people, I'll be like, man, I ain't gonna over exaggerate, like I'm best friends, but it's love, and I keep it at that. So if I say I rock with you, when I say like this here is my dog, like this is my real friend, like in real life, this is my brother. That's my sister in real life, like this is my man's in real life, then I'm rocking with you to the wheels fall off. Whether the world love you, the world hatre, I'm rocking with you all the way. I don't know how to mess with people, how to fuck with people halfway? You get what I'm saying. I don't know how to like I know how to draw a line between like it's still love. I'm rooting for you, but we're still peers at the end of the day versus like, no, we done met through this entertainment thing. But you my I consider you a close friend of mine. I'm inviting you at my house to the cookout. He done met my mother. You know, things of that nature. So I don't know how to halfway rock with people. So when I sense things of just like funny acting and things of that nature, I withdraw all the way back. You know. So that's what I can't teller.

But I look at it like this, Okay, man, I don't rock with Corday Okay, I don't rock with cordae Man. Cordy Man. A y'all trying to do something with Corday Man.

He'll sucker man.

That's my point. That's my point.

If you don't rock with me, why you trying to inhibit what I'm trying to do.

You don't rock with me with.

So leave it. Like hey, if it's somebody I'm wrong with a man's highway, don't cross with my lane.

I ain't in your lane.

Just keep it going.

If we go hun minds and we just don't cross the lanes. Yeah, so that's what I'm like. And then to see that actually happen and the dude like, you know, a a man shop like bro stop it.

Yeah.

I feel like it's a lot of pandering that goes on to you know, like even with like a lot of music reviewers like I. Again, everybody's entitled to their own opinion. It's a necessary thing. But I feel like a lot of like music reviewers and I rock with Fantano. I think he's like pretty dope, pretty thorough and it's a lot of other thorough podcasts and things of that nature that does music reviews in that far I believe. But a lot of these in a far as dope, but a lot of music reviewers they've pander to a certain audience. That makes sense, Like they know a certain sound that their audience likes, they know a certain artists or type of artists that they audience like, so they just want to pander to them like, oh yeah, this is an incredible when they may not even think that. So I think that's like selling your soul.

In a way. My bad.

That might've been a far right high related that to that, but yeah, just moving with snaw. Man, it's just different, bro. Like they'll smeile you in the face like man, man man, Cordy Man, you a great guy.

Man.

It's all love family. Like people use that family word. Well use they be like, hey man, all love family. I'm like, yeah, love bruh.

They call you broh. The call hey that's my brother.

People use brother so loose.

Man.

I don't like they like brother. I'm like, you gotta watch out for that nigga right there, straightened up.

You know.

It's different, like oh, yeah, what up brother, you know like black man and black man. But it's like, oh that's my brother and brother. You killing me man when I use that man that's my brother. Where I mean that like a man? Anybody talking about you around me like I'm feeling like off, shut it off? Like now you mentioned my brother, Like nah, man, that's my brother in real life.

Even if he's not my brother. If somebody is having a conversation about somebody and I have not had that experience with that individual, what about I don't have anything to add to the conversation. So bro, just exclude me because if we're having a conversation, I want to be a part of it. But if you're talking bad about somebody because you have a negative experience with them and I have not had no negative experience, I can't talk because there's a conversation that I can't join in. If we're not having a conversation, a conversation should be between you and I.

Yeah, man, he's a sucker for real, man, let me tell you what he did to me.

But if here, if I don't have that experience.

Yeah, so now what do you do?

Right?

And this is a question, like let's say you hear two people talking somebody you moderately cool about they talking trash. Do you go back to that person or you just keep it to yourself? Keep it absolutely because now I've got nothing to do with it. One but if.

It's my dog, I already know how you moving, though, Yeah, I already know how you moving.

May Listen, I be so aware. I watch the words I using what I say around people so much. It's like, oh, I already see It'll be certain managers be talking about they are telling all their artists business. I'm like, oh, I can't tell you nothing, because.

If you're telling their business, I already know what you're gonna do to me.

Man. Listen, I'll be hearing even other artists talking junk with about other artists and I'm like, yeah, man, I'm like, oh, I ain't telling They be like yeah, man, he's spends that's as much on such or such and he really like not even having it for I'm like, oh, I can't tell you a single now, I can't tell you my last name. I can't chatty Patty's is the worst. That's the main thing in this business. Can everybody just talk so much?

Can you talking about they grown?

Grown men too. The men be worse than women. You would the off for real, Like people be talking just check. I'm like, bro, like, just shut up talking, bro Like. I don't even like when somebody talking too much. I'm just like, bro like, keep that, bro, get away. I just put on my headphone.

You know what, I guess we experience. We have gone through some of the same. I like to rap, like you say, I've made seven millions and I have to do a single show. How have you been able to continuously make money outside the music business?

Just you know, obviously, and you know it's funny. I kind of regret saying that line because it wasn't like whatever, But I say this to say, it's so many other avenues, other you know, live shows are That's like, that's a great source of income, and it's the easiest for me because I'm doing what I love and getting paid that. But when the pandemic happened, you had to be I was. It was a blessing in disguise to the point where I've become more cognitive and aware of the business side of the music. That's when the YBN thing happened. Because I was able to really sit and like look at things and just be like bro, and you know, had that coment with I mean like bro, like this is like this is not it? And again that was like the main reason. It was obviously other small trinkets, but that was the main reason. But going back to the original point was just like the blessing of the pandemic was I was able to like be more cognitive and aware of business, okay, be more open to like okay, learning about real estate, learning about stocks and bonds, accept IRA accounts, Wrath accounts, open up ubs, private equity firms. Think, just learning and being more receptive and open to information, being more aware of like my brain. That's why I came up with high level like how I want my music videos to be, how I want to be approached and seen visually. One of the bad things about the pandemic, I think I became even more of an overthinker. But that's a whole other story. It give me too much time. I think it gave me enough time to think to where Okay, I got to get my business together, I got to become more proactive when it comes to business. But also maybe over the absolutely and.

So sometimes you can be a prison of your own thoughts.

Absolutely after the I don't mind as the devil's playground. Like Grandma say, so I love your granddad's quotes. By the way your granddad got I'll be like, oh, yeah, that's that southern you know, I grew up in that southern you know, that North Carolina.

Same thing.

So I got a lot of the same stuff. But you know, again, being open to a Tan talk before the pandemic, I wasn't. I wasn't even been thinking of a Ted talk, which opened so many lanes for me, Like I can get paid now to do public speaking, to do motivational speaking at college is the world. I don't even got to pay let's say a show I get paid two hundred grand I still got to pay for flights, hotels and not saying that's the number, but just using that as a ball park. I still got to play fights hotels. I invest in my show. I play with a love fans. I got my own lighting rig that we ship over. We got that's lighting program, we got a video wall screen. I got the best mic system. You know.

I invest in my show, so the time all that show exactly and again that's not the exact number, but you get what I'm saying, especially if you're a real artist, because I care more about performing a great show versus some people.

They get that two hundred theysed to be them and their DJ. They're gonna walk away. But they done messed up their hard ticket sales because it's like I could have just sat at home listen this shit in the car radio. So I say that's to say me being more proactive and realizing it's brand opportunities. I can. You know I have a you know this my Puma High Level again shameless plug. This is my shoot right here. We gotta get you a pair of these too. You know I call these the JANKI y all blacks. You know what I'm saying, Like they got a different colors.

All black, I mean, yeah, I got.

Never, I got you, they got gray red. I can see you some unexclusive release joints. You made me past the.

All black walking around all black hue at fifty five.

Yeah, I'm still in a little jankie phase of my life. Whenever I gotta get gritty, nitty gritty, you know, like man, it's producer man. We gotta put the ski mask on, throw you all blacks on. You know these my sneakers right here though, but shameless plug. But you know, me being able to do things with you know, Puma and and all of these different brands. So it's so many I think that's the blessing now of hip hop. Like I was in a super Bowl commercial. I was in a Coca Cola super Bowl commercial. Bro, if this is the eighties nineties, you gotta be the biggest artists in the world in order to get in a Coca Cola commercial. Nonetheless a Coca Cola super Bowl commercial. But me still being successful. I'm not the biggest artist in the world, but I was able to be in a super Bowl commercial with Martin Scorsese and Jonah Hill. So I think that's the beauty of hip hop now. It's so many different avenues, so many different streams of income. Like again we were saying, you can do a brand deal. There's equity plays that you can play the word like, nah, I'm good on the money, but let me get a percentage a percentage of that you can so many I have a call a week while I get pre IPO investments toward people. Okay, you can put this amount of or you ain't got putting money down if you sponsor this company, we'll give you a percentage of the company. And then five to seven years from now, when we sell this company to a Google or a larger company, you done x ten your percentage because versus let's say give me a million dollars, they just give me ten percent of the company, and so when they sell that company now it's worth times ten. I just made ten million dollars, right, So it's just so many opportunities that it's a blessing for.

How did you decide the record deal that was right for you.

At the time, Man, I didn't really do too much decided. With my initial deal, it wasn't really too much deciding that I had to do, if if that makes sense, you get what I'm saying. But with a major label deal, just me sitting down with different partners, Sylvia Browne, she was amazing. So again, with like that initial deal, it wasn't really too much deciding going on, if that makes sense, you know, just like it is what it is exactly to an extent, but whatever, that's a whole different story. But with my major label deal, I think Atlantic, Julie Craig, Kaza, Success, Dallas, all of them was just the energy that was in the room at the time. You know, it was just a lot of energy going on. And they hustlers and they like grinding, you know, they like bringing in that work. And so I just like to be in an environment to where like I'm a priority. I love to go because a lot of even not just with a major label, you'll notice it with like an agent or a lawyers, a business manager. What they do they name drop. They'll be like, oh, yeah, we represent this person, this person. They think they gonna get you just because they got all these other big names. But it's like, I'd rather go to where I am a priority, where I love, versus what I'm just ext name on the roster for you to go to other clients and get them because you use it my name. So I'd rather go to where I'm a priority and I'm love.

You know, I read where is it true that you live with your manager as you as you are a millionaire, you'd have made millions and you living with your manager?

Yeah, y'all, I was living with my manager. Yeah, yeah, man, listen, dog, I was just that was a to to over extent. But but yeah, I had I definitely had a million dollars in my bank account. Was living in with a manager, sleeping on this couch. His girlfriend was pregnant at the time.

I was going to the student, you live with yourself, Hey, it was pretty good.

Look at that that bank account. I was like, then, on me to night y'all. I know, me to night y'all.

But I did the same thing. I lived with my grandmother.

I lived in the back in the house that my brother and I got for my grandmother, and I was a million had a Ferrari park that side of But I woke up on like, man, I'm still living in my grandma still back.

One day, I woke up my bad to cut you off. I woke up that couch wasn't hitting like it was supposed to. I'm like, let me get a spot. And then I was still figuring out if I even wanted to get a spot in that area, you know. So it was it was a shout out to him.

What's been your sense? You you've made some money, what's been your favorite? What's the favorite? What's your favorite purchase?

H probably buying real estate, buying my mom a car, taking care of family, you know, just like and not like taking care of taking care because I don't want to make it seem like my whole family just like here, what you're gonna do for me? But just like being able to be a blessing the others, you know, like truly like that what really feels me like being able to be like, oh we can do this.

How do you know?

Not to how many blessings to hand out? Because sometimes you know you could, they can thank you a god like figure just like the blessings are unlimited.

Yeah, absolutely, I treated. I got great advice from Jake Cole from that treated like credit. You know what I'm saying. It's like, okay, you don't borrow from the bank. If you ain't pay off your loan or whatever the case may be, you six you into five hundreds now. But then also just not and not only blessings that were able to present are just money. A lot of the times, the biggest blessing we able to present is opportunity. Get let you get your foot in the door due to this, because of I've done kick the door down for us. So learning to plant those type of seeds in fertile ground versus planting seeds and infertile ground where you just keep having the planet. Keep pouring your water in it, but nothing's coming out of it. And so just investing in people that's gonna make the most out of the opportunity versus people that's like entitled and just gonna do like the absolute bare minimum versus people like yo. Cause I feel like gratitude is just so important. Man Like even when somebody take care of my dinner, I'm like, man, I appreciate you. I'm starting to learn, not even learn, but just show gratitude at the highest level. Like I've always had gratitude, never have again. We raised in the South, we say please and thank you for everything, always that gratitude. But now I'm appreciative for just this tiny man, the fact I done have a dag gonna escalate, had to come and pick me up from the house to bring me here. That's a blessing, you get what I'm saying. So being appreciative of what we almost consider small things but so huge. So just having people around, that's one grateful for the opportunity gratitude. Don't gotta get down your hands and knees every day now, but just sometimes you show appreciation with your actions as well. So that's one thing I'm really learning is learning how to plant seeds and other people and give them opportunities for fertile ground, because that's worth a lot more than just sending you a wire.

You know, Have you had any purchases that you regret, Like, damn, why not buy that that was so unnecessary?

I bought a house in Atlanta. Yeah, yeah, and I know long term it's gonna be good. But man, I had a car out there too. I had a house and a car, and you know, thankfully, I'm super blessed. Like I own houses in different states, some for rental properties and some just for whenever I go back home. I got somewhere to stay. So I bought something in Atlanta, a crib in Atlanta, a nice crib to a super nice crib. Had a card house just out there. But I am never in Atlanta as much as I thought I was gonna be, And so I just shipped my car actually back in DC to where I I'm out there a lot. So I'm just like, you know, I'm just sitting on his car, you know. But it's a blessing though. I won't even look that as a bad purchase, cause it's still real estate. I can always sell it. I can always do whatever it's whenever I got family in time. My mom don't live too far from Atlanta, she go just stay there, et cetera. So I won't even call that a bad purchase.

You ain't had no jewelry, no wide, no car.

No. To be honest, I haven't been like suit like you know this is paddic Philip. Maybe I can always get my bread back, you know what I'm saying for this now, this is a gift actually, But I don't really think I've spent like too much outlanded stuff. Cause even on clothes, like you look good, you feel good, you feel good, you do good, you do good, they pay good. And then also that's a business expense. It's a rite off. I can't really think about bad money, cause it's even if I spent like say you go to the strip club one night, you drop five it, it would never be a a outlanded ShaSS price, you know when you go to the club, but you go like ca SEEO, I'm a drop five hundred dollars maximum. You know what I'm saying, Like I go to the club, I've never spent a dollar. No, no, no, I'll be playing the Roulette tables twenty five dollars minimums. I'm going I ain't dropping too much on Listen, I bet on myself like I like even on certain music videos like it. Label will be like, okay, based on our projections, amount of views we think this video gonna do, We're gonna get you seventy five thousands of his budget, but the creative plan that I have the video costs two hundred thousand and so I'll spend out of my own pocket the difference in that one hundred twenty g's on a video. But I look at that as investing within my brand, within my career, within how I'm presented my visuals. Wanna give the fans a great video. So honestly, man, I'm not gonna lie. I haven't made like too much, like really dumb purchases.

On your first tour year with Juice World, and you see a lot of these young rappers dying, some he odeed, and then you see a young dolf get killed and you see pop pop smoke.

What I mean when you when you see that, you're like my age, Yeah, not for real.

Especially Juice really hit me home because this was this is my brother, Like for real like remember that combo we hadn't Like, yeah, this was my brother in real life. So again my first tour ever. I was on tour opening up for Juice World, and this is his first tour ever too. Like ever, this both of our first time hitting the stage during the tour, and at that time, I didn't have anything. I was on his me and my homies. It was on his bus and it was only me and my boy Day and my DJ. But we're on his bus. We ain't even have enough money for our own sprinter van. So we on his bus with him and his team. It was that and I realized through touring now, like that is not normal at all, Like it's like Openers, y'all got your own thing, Headliners, We got our own thing. And so I'm with this fool every day. We having conversations about God, about life, about family, about me. We free We love the freestyle. So we freestyling all day for six hours, just every single day. And so we even so that was the genesis of the relationship. And we always kept in touch, talked to him, call him on Thanksgiving. How family doing like this is like my real life brother, Like we probably kicked I'll pull up on his full house five hundred times. We only made one song, Like it wasn't even about the music, Like he a superstar. This man is a superstar. You know what I'm saying at the time, But this is my man pulling out, pulling up on his house. Man we watching anime I fall asleep on his full couch, wake up in the morning. You know what I'm saying. It's like that this is my real life homie. And so when he passed, I was I was in Dubaio on the flight from Dubai and just woke up when I landed and got the news. I'm just like, bro, what like shed a tear for my Like this is again, this is my real friend. I just talked to him a week before for Thanksgiving and we was talking about this music because we did a song. We was talking about the music video cause he called me. He had this concept for this music video that he had. He was like, Yo, what if we did it? Like there was a double XLF freshman freestyle? Cause he skipped out on that class he did. He turned it down. He was like, what if we did a double ExLF freshman freestyle? And I put out a life saber and I start like destroying all y'all whatever, So I say this say we was talking about the music video concept and then just life about God like spirituality, just like we talk about any and everything, bro, make jokes like talk about like every and anything, bro. So matter of fact, it's funny. My first time at Coachella, I just want to Coachella to watch him perform. Okay, you get what I'm saying. Like me as an artist, like usually you ain't going to no festival or nothing like that if you're not performing. But I'm going there because it's my boys first time at Coachella, support him, my first time at Jimmy Fallon. I was going there watching him like I'm with this, this is my mans. You get what I'm saying. So I was really affected by that. That really like hurt me a lot. As far as Dolphin, Pop Smoke and P and B. It's just like it's just it's just horrible, man, Like it's just horrible to see so many people, y'all. Havene made it out the hood? Like pop Smoke killed me cause he killed in Beverly Hills. Man, he done made it out the hood, made it out the trenches. Out of these environments, being able to be that guy that break generational curses with the people that breaking generational curses in our family, kicking down them doors, opening up opportunities for everybody, and then to be slain, you know. And that's why I move like super private now to where like nobody's at my house unless it's like just knocked down family. I don't never threw no parties at any of my homes in any of the states homes, and like nobody there, you know, Like it's just just a lot of even with my family. I just got on my little brother for coming to time, like hey, bro, don't just pop up Yeah not not no, you can pop up whenever, but don't post nothing inside my house, you know what I'm saying. Like that's a real I'm real adamant about that, you know. So just just safety, man, that's it just really a wake up call, like man, I really gotta move. And and me being where I'm front, me being from the hood, I'm always man. My mom always tell me, I remember when the Beach's headphones came out, She's like, don't be walking around the neighborhood with them headphones. And because she caught me walking on time ten years old, eleven, twelve years old.

Whatever.

She's like, what you're doing walking around this neighborhood man with both of your headphones and take one of them headphones out, man like look around, like stop, be aware of your surroundings. I learned that very young, especially having a young mom who a single mom, you know, so I got I always was like super aware, but now it just heightened that.

You know, how have you been able to avoid the pitfalls of being a celebrity? You know, drugs are very commonplace and the entertainment in your business. Obviously you have a lady now, so women aren't the things, But how are you able to navigate the pitfalls that comes along with celebrity?

Just balance? You know, maybe I'm not quite that famous yet to where you know, cause I can't speak for like a super a list, you know, but for me for like the level of where I'm at, not saying I ain't no, ain't no bum you know what I'm yeah, yeah, for y'all doing my thing, but just remain trying my best to remain grounded, trying to keep good people around me that that's not afraid to tell me, like if I'm slipping, if I'm wrong, and if i'm you know, on the wrong path, and things of that nature. So keeping good people around me, keeping again everybody around me that's gonna keep it a hundred with me, And and and just also realizing I'm responsible for me. I got to take accountability. And it's just like, man, we get this far to just fuck it up, you know, we here to take this even further. We're gonna here to take this to new heights, the new levels, higher levels, high level, you know. And so I realized will come with that and just being responsible.

You know what, bankstream artists, what what was the person that gave you your first your first opportunity like to be on a collab with.

Him hmm at the time, Chance, chance to rapper, Chance the rapper for sure, Like he's still to this day, he's a huge brand, huge artist, right, So him giving me that that song with bad Idea was just like a huge blessing at that And funny enough, I'm at him at that Coachella meeting with Juice. Juice, you get what I'm saying.

So so a lot of times when you a lot of times when you were going to these events the Southwest and you going to these different places.

It was like networking.

Yeah, that's the way I looked at it, because I've been making music. Bro, I've been wanting to be rappers. I was ten years old. I've been making music almost every day or like knowing, like this is what I'm doing in my free time, whatever second hour I got. I'm making music since I was fifteen years old. So I've been perfecting the craft and I'm still perfecting it, still getting better, still got new levels to get as far as creativity goes. But I was just like, yo, I'm making all of this music, but I gotta really build relationships, man, cause I can just keep dropping this song, but I gotta really I realized how important, you know, networking was and building relationships long lasting ones was so But yeah, Chance was definitely the first like major artist that gave me that look. And he flew me and my homies out to Chicago, flew a SSA all our first class this before and I was still I was popping at the time. I was up, but I wasn't flying first class. We're still that new artist, you know. It's still okay. If I sit in Roll thirty, you get what I'm saying. So he flew me and my homies out first class, got us in the fire Host five star hotel. And again, I'm an artist, but I'm still member. I'm having a million in my count I'm living with my manager at the time, so I ain't staying in the fire Star hotel. I'm not flying myself first class.

So that you're still in an ASPIRCT hotel. Boy, you hope up, no bad on Popper.

Listen, it's JANKI wanky yanky.

Mean, I'm looking at some of the people that you've been on with Stevie Wonder m d Wayne Common nods, grout, you may whiz, Chris Brown, Mee Young Young, Thudd Gunner, Q Tip, Little Dirk Anderson pack Chance.

Yeah, so who were you most surprised? Like you for real, you gonna hop on there, you gonna hop on this.

With nobody, To be honest, was a surprise because when you got confidence in yourself, like and not on no cocky stuff, but it was just like it was a I'm still grateful for it. It's still like, yo, wow, that's crazy. And Anderson again, this is my brother. You know what I'm saying. I done kicked it with Anderson a million before we did a record. So that's why our records always come across so easy, so easy going, and it's such a blessing. But I think M was definitely like cause he's just like just so huge and obviously he he's a goal to everybody, just listed right its goals. And it's a blessing because it's like some people say, you all who you align yourself with, you know, or A And sometimes that gives me the confidence when I'm talking to a Wayne or a M or you know so many other uh great artists that like just have shown me love along the way when I'm doubting myself and I'm like having imposter syndrome and just again just doubt myself in a bad headspace. When they give me a call and be like, y'all, I love what you're doing and et cetera. Give me good advice, and the fact that they just call me a text me is still like a blessing, Like man, like I am supposed, ma, i am supposed to be here. It gives me a confidence, you know, like man, I am supposed to be here. But when I got that call from M, it's just like oh like yo, like whoa, that's still m bro Like that's crazy.

Who haven't you work with that you would like to?

I don't know, to be honest, man, hmm may Kareem Bailey Ray. Okay, this song on some like just different super artistic vibes. But Michael Jackson, I love to do a song, Michael Jackson. If I get them files. You know, if I can get them files, we can make it happen. I can make it happen. Hey, we're gonna make a Look.

How about this if you said you turned down ninety percent of the songs that you asked to be on, Yeah, why is that rate so high?

I think that was at my overthinking stage if that, remember I told you pandemic I got time to think, but I was just overthinking. So some things I'll just be overthinking versus now is just like, Okay, if I love this song, no matter how big or small, and it makes sense, then I'm gonna do it.

You know.

If I love the song and I like the song, I'm gonna just do it. You know, that's what's most important to me. So going back to that number of like me saying no, the most stuff and two huge names. Some names you'll be like, are you dumb? You know, but it just comes out to me as an artist, like you can't in the studio, I can't think with a business mind. I try not to think like on a business mind or a money level. You get know what I'm saying. I just try to make it just purely creative, because that's the pure part of it. And maybe that's not the best thing or not the greatest thing. But I feel like when the music it just got to strike me creatively, or I'm inspired to write something by it, you know, it's okay, I love this song. Let me see what paint I can add to this portrait more.

Do you like when blogs tweet your album selves?

Now? I think it's it's just the time that went in, because even though I was doing that in the nineties and the two thousands, but I just think today one Sometimes they be wrong, right last time they said I did nineteen K, but I did like twenty five K. But I'm not finna tweet and be like, man, y'all got me wrong. I ain't do twenty thousand first week, the twenty five thousand first week. You know, I ain't gonna do that because it is what it is, right, But and I just care more about my hard ticket sales, you know. And I did my even with my last album. It was a ten song conscious album, you know, so it wasn't like most people's songs. They're doing twenty song albums one hundred and seventy bpm, you know, faster paced, where eight of my songs on that last of that ten song album is like damn near R and B pace, damn near di'angelo type paced records. And I feel like a first week sale doesn't truly like represent like where artists stands, because it's artists that do four times the first week numbers that I do, but can't sell out the venues that I'm doing. So I much rather sell out the venues when I do a show and I do a tour in them things selling out versus a big first week number, But I'll take them both.

Into protesting you speak out of. You were arrested for the Breonna Taylor. You're protesting in Louisville, Kentucky, outside the home of Kentucky General Daniel Cameron. You were arrested twenty four more and more than twenty four hours, uh wrote defund the police at the twenty twenty uh US open either at the protests in Minneapolis for George Boyd m Floyd, your your significant other nel miosaka, you know she wore the mask with the black name the Black victims of police brutality.

He called out Kanye for being a.

Support Why at your age, why are we seeing more people that look like you your age become so much more involved in the community.

As far as protests speaking.

Out, Yeah, well my experience was a little different. Cause again, like I was saying earlier, like I was ten years old and my stepdad had me reading Marcus Carvey. Have you read in w du Bois Thurga Marshall, Malcolm x, Martin Luther. So I was young, like before the term woke was a thing, right, I was quote unquote whoa Like I was in middle school, elementary I was in middle school, Like nah, brother, we ain't African Americans. We are Africans in America, Like I literally was. I was that kid in elementary school, middle school and nigga's like, man, niggas shut up nigga. Like I was that guy right in elementary and middle school, like just super I always love history class because I knew most of it all all the way, and I was blessed again to where my stepdad will always just educate me, give me these books. Things of that nature. Have me watching documentaries on Africa when I was ten eleven years old, to where I knew Africa was in huts and villages. I knew it was the most like super modern. I know Africa is the largest continent on Earth when they're trying to tell you it's age yet at the time, and think that all life comes from Africa and all of these things. And again even Black history, American history, a Philip Randolph, all these good folks. So I had the information and so I was again even in high school, I was that same guy. In college, I was. I went to the in college, I went to the Mike Brown, you know, Trayvon marya protest. So this is something that's always been embedded within me. The only difference is now I just have a platform, so it's I highlight when I do it, because like even with Breonna Taylor, I didn't go there with my phone now and this and that, this, and I just happened to get arrested and because I'm you know, Corda. It's the name about it is gonna make you know, national news, et cetera, et cetera. So I just just always speaking like what I believe in right at the time, you know. And so when I feel like something is messed up, and that's the beauty of social media, it's because movement police brutality is getting highlighted to it. It's always been going on, but now like the whole world, and that was the thing about twenty twenty, the whole world know what was going on in America. It's still across the world. That's still going on. You know, everybody's able to see it. People were being converted, you know, the things of that nature more so converted to the movement and understanding what's going on for just human rights, you get what I'm saying. So that's the beauty of social media. So it's just something that's always been like embedded within me.

You know, I'm to ask your two part question here, give me your Mount Rushmore rappers and then give me Mount Rushmore of this generation rappers. So I want you to go to the go the Mount Rushmore rappers who you think are the best of all time, and then you give me your four of this generation?

Okay, uh Jay z Okay, Kanye West, Kanye Nas nods and I would say big L, but he, you know, rest in peace. He wasn't able to live, you know as long, So we can't go off for full that's my personal favorite, big L. I would have to put him right there. I'm a big L for that top four. I'm a big L for that top four. Oh Wayne, No, no, no Wayne, So it's Wayne in no order, Wayne Hove nas And who is the fourth? Kanye West? That's my top four this generation. I mean, obviously you gotta go with the big three. Drake j Cole. Can Drake in that fourth spot? You gotta get at the future future Nikki. One of those two.

Do you think uh Drake gonna crack that Mount Rushmore?

You can go thug a future of Nikki for that force one of those three. I'm going thug Future Nikki.

Okay, since you was so your breastless, okay, give me your give me your Mount Rushmore.

Female rappers, female rappers Okay, Lauryn Hill, all she needed was one album. She got the job done. I love the MTV I love the TV unplug album too, Okay, Lauryn Hill, you got Nikki, you got Remy mak obviously mc shan real rock saying let me see, and I'm gonna be honest with you. I'm tapped into female rap, but I'm not. And I know the predecessors, but Mount rushmore so Top four, top ten, Top four, Top four, Okay, Lauren Hill, Lauren Hill, NICKI, NICKI Remy Mammy and you gotta go little Kim for the culture, just because she helped expand that.

You know, Okay, I like I like that group.

I like that group. You had the Warriors game. I mean, Michael B. Jordan had a very public breakup. He was dating Lauren Harvey and you were at the game with him with the news broken. They put him up.

I mean, what advice for me?

Did you say, bro, it's gonna be okay, and Sauna shine to much the son and come up tomorrow. It hurts now because it's playing out publicly.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, hmm. I didn't really give any advice, to be honest, Like, we just there to enjoy enjoy the basketball game. To be honest, we just there, man, We got got to go there on his jet. You know what I'm saying shout out my boy. You know what I'm saying. That's and again, this is my brother in real life. This is my brother for real, like not the this is my brother for real. So we just wasn't enjoying the game, to be honest, We just at the game that were able to watch the Fine's a blessing, you know, being able to watch the finals courtside watching stuff. So to be honest, it wasn't even like not even trying to be political or anything. It wasn't even a topic of conversation. It's just more like, and we're here to watch.

This game, right, you're just happy to be there.

When that had been yeah, because you know social media in the news, they can be off as far as just everything. You get what I'm saying, like just might have been.

Over for two months and then social media is just getting a hold of it and then.

Yeah, exactly. So yeah, it wasn't even a topic of conversation, to be honest. So we just enjoyed the game. So it was tight.

Appreciate, thank you, thank you, Glad we can finally get it.

There, Yes, sir, absolutely all my life, grinding, all my life, sacrifice, hustle, the price. Want a slice, Got the bat? All my life, grinding all my life, all my life, grinding all my life, sacrifice, hustle, the price, one slice the bat, all my life.

I been grinding all my

Club Shay Shay

NFL legend Shannon Sharpe—3x Super Bowl champion and member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame—sits do 
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