Conversations with Unc, Hosted by Lil DuvalOn this episode, Lil Duval sits with Demetrius Shipp Jr. to discuss the challenges and blessings of success, the importance of branding and diversifying, the impact of AI on the industry and its impact on human interaction, the rise of streaming platforms like Tubi; the opportunities they provide for actors, the appreciation of real talent in the entertainment industry and the need for the audience to care more. Demetrius also talks about his talents as a producer and his desire to remain behind the scenes. Duval shares his perspective on polygamy and expresses his love for America, while acknowledging its flaws, the power of comedians to provide laughter and joy in a chaotic world and more.Tune in and join the conversation in the socials below.
Rate, subscribe, comment and share.
Follow Conversations With Unc on IG
I'm a little Duval and this is Conversations with the podcast. Today's guest is best known for his role as Tupac in the twenty seventeenth bio pick All Lives on me. Let's welcome Dmetrious Ship Live and directly some boy little Duval checking in one time for the one time, you know you country cousin or your uncle, as I should say, for my podcast, because that's what it's all about, bringing them up, vibes, trying to quit, trying to put a little healing in the ecosystem. And that's what I'm here, folks. And I got a new guest here. You know, well, he not a new guest, but he's a new guest for for y'all because y'all ain't y'all ain't never seen him on my podcast. Y'all probably don't know how cool we are together. But just my man, y'all give it up on Man Demetrius Ship, y'all.
Uh, what's the deal?
G ain't just over here vibing DC what you got going over there?
Man Ship?
The same old you know, vibe Dcent myself Daddy due the same old program.
Bro Dan the dude, you got kids? How many kids. You gotta tell them many kids you got? Man had three kids, bro, That's the reason why it took us so long again on this goddamn show, because he's so busy being a real dad, nigga being a good father and his kids. Like yeah, three full time, hey, full of ship.
It was twice the show.
But ship man, you already know the kids that ship many they be running running my ass low.
Bro, you know, you know what it is. So for those of that don't know, let me give him a little bit of history of who you are and what got you to this point the way you are right now, as far as in the in the success, as far as acting and things with that nature.
Well, for you know, my introduction into acting was me landing to lead.
Role and the you know, the film, the biopic All Eyes On Me.
I played Tupac. That was your first deal.
Hell yeah, bro, I ain't never acted like that. Jumped out the porch, bro, just like that?
Did it feels huh? Did it feel so real? Like? Was it fast? Like not that you not that the dust to settle and it's calmed down that looking back that did you realize what was going on at the time? Was it just like a blur.
Man, it's a so you're the first person I'm gonna tell this part of it, like the story too. It's like it was like a blessing and it was like, it's like the gift and the curse, but.
I gotta give it to you real Like that's that. That was the whole experience.
And I didn't realize how much like the blessing and the gift part of it was. You know, I came to do this role I got, you know, changed my life around.
I'm entertainment.
I'm doing these things.
Life is evolving and changing so so drastically. I'm having fun. I'm enjoying myself, you know what I'm saying.
In the process of filming, I fell in love with acting, you know what I mean, Like it really became.
Something I loved.
I'm I'm on set learning about the cameras and the angles and the dps and the sound different departments everything. I fucking with all of the processes. But then there's like the other part when my world just got turned upside down, bro, Like my family dynamics shifted so drastically forever, bro.
And I was like when you say family man, when they saw they saw you bigger than what you was or they was. It wasn't even like uh damn.
So that's that the real detailed part of it is like you know, my immediate fanly like my mom's pops, like that, me and my dad fell out, and then that trickled down into like everything else within my family as well. You mean, like so because he had a he played a part in me getting the role. So there there's that aspect of it as far as you know, him helping me get the roll through his connection and knowing the producer of the movie and ship, and then there's like the other things you know, the yeah, like our relationship just drastically.
Changed, you know what I mean.
He was looking at me as a you know, an avenue to a success for himself again in ways to keep it short, uh, and then that just you know a lot of things just crumbled from there in terms of the fan, the immediate family dynamics, you know what I mean. And also like you're saying, it was people looking at me. It's just a lot of shit that happened, bro, you know what I'm saying.
But honestly, you just went through what everybody go through at the time, like, yeah, everybody you didn't going through nothing different, So I don't see it as a bad thing. I just I think you just got to understand how to cope through and go through it because you ain't going through shit. Nobody else ain't been through when they first get one now, So I kind of got on quick too when I first got on in the speedball. But the blessing to me, I got a good family that on trip off shit like that, So that was plessing to me.
So there was there was that aspect of it, and then there was like people that were also important to me in the journey of me getting a role losing them. You know what I'm saying in the ways that I did, You know what I'm saying, Like my best friend who recorded the very first.
Audition, I did it at his house.
It's my best friend who I go across the street to every day growing up across street with my grandparents, Like every day I'm at this your house, he recorded. He's the one that tells me, he convinces me to do the role. I wasn't even about to go out for the for the movie at all. I didn't even think it was real to begin with so anyhow, his mom and my mom like, that's that's just what it was.
Long story short, We go to see the movie on the trailer, you know.
What I'm saying, for the first time.
It's premiered in front of john Wick two and in the middle the trailer goes off and his mom was in the hospital for something that was not major at the time. But man, right after the trailer goes off, within minutes they calling us. His mom is like pretty much gone. So and then later on I went to London. The flight I got on for London my cousin. So all in all, it was just a lot of things. I was like, damn, bro, what the like was this thing a curse?
But it was every time something was but that's it, yeah now for sure.
So every time something important was happening in the like all eyes on me, there was this other thing and that was like like pulling or something drastic and major was happening, and I was like, bro, So for a good while, I just was like I actually didn't even notice until later. I was like I was very much removed from that whole entire tupac thing. For me, I was like, man, I'm going to the iddamn near was like going in the house and just chilling and just like you know, on some getting away from the getting away from all of that tension for the most part type shit. But then you know, my life kind of went on. I was grateful to get all American. Bennie Boom kind of plugged me, not even kind of he plugged me with that for sure. He called me, you know, I said, told me that he had something for me, and I was only expected to do like a one off one episode.
Ended up doing three I was supposed to do.
Then no, no, no, I got they wanted me for this one off for the episode that he was filming, and I couldn't do that because the showrunner at the time she wanted me for more. So she was like, now I want to bring you in for a little like maybe three episodd and more long story show. With that, I end up doing two seasons like fifteen episodes. And that's the blessing that that cut through. The blessing of it, absolutely, man.
But let me ask you this, like, because I mean, you're really into the into the acting in y'all, I consider you're a real actor, not like these bullshit actors. And so you right there in the meat of it, in the in the hustle of it, in the grind of it. How do you feel? What do you feel about the industry right now as a whole as far as acting and actors, not the producing part, just as being an actor or actress, like in relative to the strike or just where we are where y'all as a hold, the strike is just part of all that shit, because you wouldn't be having the strike if it wasn't where where the climate is, as far as Hollywood is at now. So that's why I'm asking you, what do you what are you optimistic about? You festimistic? Like, what do you see as far as I'm hello optimistic right now within the industry?
And I feel like because of this strike, maybe there's some sort of like balancing that may have that will now happen. You feel me, I'm both, I'm a little bit of both optimistic in terms of like I feel like, you know, the playing field I want to I don't want to say it's getting even now, but I feel like there's going to be.
A surplus of work right so.
Around So okay, cool, all right, So where you at, I don't even know yet, but I so the fact that the writers got what they were Like in favor of the writers, they got what they wanted. I feel like the actors may get the deal that they want right So if that does happen, I feel like Hollywood took an l on money, you know what I'm saying, Like with all of the you know, the time off and everything. So a lot of projects, from what I'm seeing, looks like it's going to get like once it gets back up and running, everybody gonna looking for content. Jobs gonna be wide open. But the other looming issue to me is the AI shit. So it's here and it's not going anywhere, and eventually what I imagine is that we will land.
At a space where I feel like we're.
Just pushing off available and they just they just bird theme until they get to that point like right now, they don't have no choice to like go and give them something right now, until we can grab a hold of everything, kind of like what they did with social media and everything else is just trying to figure out how to monetize it and lock it in to where they don't have to where they they you can't do nothing. So now I mean this is my thing. I might be wrong with their motherfucker don't listen to me because I don't give a fuck about the shit enough to be so in detail of it. But at the same time, from just from my assessments, it just looks like, all right, this give them something right now, and so we can get off all these projects that you're talking about for he'll knock them shits out. Then it's gonna be cause like I just told today, I wasn't yesterday when Tom Heiks was like this, mother, just use my likeness and he the biggest He wasn't the biggest in the in the shit in Hollywood.
Damn.
Oh, let me see it by the find I just say so.
So that's where I'm at because I'm like, we're on the same place as far as that, because it's only a matter of time.
So it's there's a small window. I don't imagine like.
Three three four good real years of Hollywood like Max, where this ship is kind of like on the same thing. Because that AI shit is going, they're going to start inserting it because it makes sense.
Not to cut you off. But ida Tom Hanks says AI version of him used in a dental plan and without consent. Yeah. See, so nigga be tom ain'ts nigga.
So listen, all right, let's say, and this is where I'm saying, like, there's gonna be some choices that has to be made, and it's probably gonna go in favor of what you're talking about, right if you the rock the Rock and film, he got movies lined up, you know, all year long, right, but he can only do like maybe Yeah, I'm a imagine his movie shots probably like three month minimals. So let's say he doing three movies a year, right, they what are getting like twenty thirty? Like thirty?
He gotta be getting like twenty five at least. I don't think he's doing it like that no more, because at this point he gotta get a piece of the pie. Yeah, the back end. Yeah, it'll only makes sense because the studios don't make it up. Like what when't last time you heard somebody get a big twenty million dollars check just for acting? I don't know, because the box office is back cracking. Though box office did ask my question, when the last time you heard? Because they put out all these shit all the time, such and such got this amount of deal for this that's for this movie. Yeah, I think that they did.
I think, all right, so let's say them those certain echelon of people. I think they they did go in and start like renegotiating to where they getting a piece of the pile on the back. You know what I'm saying, because it only makes sense, Like even me, I think that was the thing that they started demanding, and they kind of switched and switched it all up, like nah, don't just get the twenty million in it gonna make a billion, and only I'm stuck with that twenty you feel me?
Right?
So I think that they did start wising up and like, oh yeah, let me get a piece of that back in too. But all that to say, my point is if you're the rock and you're gonna make let's say he gonna make a hundred million a year and he worked in ten months out the year. Ai comes in, Sony introduces Ai the Rock and says, look, the Rock, Dwayne, We're gonna give you that same hundred million, and we only need you to show up to set for two months out the year. Does he and his peers at that level do they take the check? You get what I'm saying to let AI do their thing, or do they like, now we reappreciate the craft, we want to be there, blah blah blah.
How they look at to me, I think it depends on how they see technology go because if they see it like how we said, if we see the inevitable happenings, what it's like, it's like everybody's telling they publishing that they see ain't no money in the ship, so they trying to cash out. So if he looking at as a cash out deal, he's like, fucking all right, let me go ahead. I'm about fifty some years old. Now I go only do so many movies. Now, let me go ahead and knock out twenty of these motherfucker movies for twenty million apiece and ride out of the sunset exactly. How does that help everybody else? Like y'all like you, it don't, it don't. That's the thing.
It's winners and losers in this ship, and you better figure out a way to be on the winter sh That's not the.
Only thing I was like, and that's why I get went back to the beginning. It's like, do you see is it a good? Is it good? Is it good? Future? For actors and actresses said, hell no, that shit is inevitable. It's over with. So how do you know, how do you prepare for it? How do you prepare for it? Because I prepared for it twenty years ago because I kind of saw it a long time ago. So I kind of never leaned on Hollywood more so than I just focused on the people. And that's why I'm meant why that's why I'm at right now. But now that you see where it is, and so whether you how do you prepare for it and set yourself up to where because everything always changes, So how have you prepared more than change for that?
So I am I am in a process like right now diversifying and making myself as brandable as possible because with that it's like, you know, you're gonna need ads, You're gonna need commercials and so forth and so on, like you can always attaching yourself to brands. You know, it's a and especially with a lot of the abilities that I have that I haven't even kind of like done in the way of using them in terms of, uh, for entertainment, you know what I mean. But there's two ways I'm I'm trying. I'm finding ways to cleverly brand myself so that I'm a thing that can you know, be of, you know, be be around you know what I'm saying. Time goes on, Yeah, exactly, just and then also on the other side though, figuring out and starting things like a production company that I'm starting or I started right now with a couple of friends of mine, you know what I'm saying, started my own production company with Actually it.
Is it's Dope High.
Came together because it's a good friend of mine who I was in a movie with Kean Johnson and the producer of that movie. We're starting a production company together, you know what I mean. And interestingly enough, I hope I can say shot it out. It's called Mumbo Mumbo, Inc.
So uh yeah.
Interestingly enough, one of the first things that we produced and shot is a comedy special for I hope they don't Friday for Jeremy Piven.
You don't want to put it out there, just let me right cool.
Yeah, But Jeremy Piven is doing stand up comedy now, and he's been doing it for a few years at this point, but we produced his first you know, like actual like stand up that's gonna I think it's gonna live on like YouTube for to begin with.
But yeah, we just did that like a month ago.
So like again, start my own production company stuff like that that you know, you're still gonna need people to do.
You still need people to shoot some of these commercials.
Everything ain't gonna just be like super AI at the game and figuring out how I made my brand is connecting.
To people as well.
That's what I was gonna say, figuring out how my brand keeps me tethered to the people, you know what I'm saying, And so that way, you know, as time goes on, I'm not just getting lost in the shuffle and it's like, you know, everybody just AI at the game and you know we is washed.
Let me ask you this, if they came to you with with two point five and said we want to buy your likeness. What you're doing? Ooh, what what you're doing by wait? Hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on my whole.
Likeness like now you negotiate go ahead, yeah, nigga, my whole likeness.
The same thing when we were just talking about what you just said, the same thing you they give the Rock the option. I didn't say twenty million because that would be some bullshit because I do it for twenty fifty million for you. I'm just trying to make it more realistic. Two point five say, look, we need your likeness and I'm gonna give you this. We need your likeness for ten years. They don't know, they don't need it for life. It's a publishing deal. That's pretty much what they finished. Start doing publishing deals.
Damn too, that's exactly right, that's actually correct.
It is gonna be a publishing deal.
That's who stay woke.
Two point five for ten, I'm gonna have to negotiate and I'm gonna have to bring that ten down now nine ten. I think I'm gonna I think I can do if I if I if the thing now, I'm I'm gonna turn that down.
Not ten years. I'm cool. I'm betting on me, straight up. I'ma be real with you. I'm betting on me, all right. We just talked about how how the industry ate that ate that much money left in it will kind of dry and this.
Is you know, yeah, no, it just depends history. Repeat yourself. So, yeah, is drying up depending on where you put yourself.
But flipping like flipping like this. This is how I'm looking at it. All Right, they use my likeness, they could they gonna promote me free because they gotta promote my likeness. Right, I got two forty five million, put that in my production company, shoot my own right, piggyback ride, and you get bigger after ten years, You're good. I mean ten years might be a lot. You might want to negotiate, that's what think. Yeah, that's a whole decade, bro, You're crazy.
That's why I say that ten. I'm not fucking with that. Ten Nigga ten for two point five it's crazy. I gotta say that that one.
Yeah, that is a lot. That is a lot. But I'm just trying because but it sounds like a lot of those the type of contracts these companies is yet. Think about it. In the music industry, they do ten album deals, so it ain't it ain't far fetched, and they doing it for less than two point five. Trust me, they act like they're getting all that money up front. You know what I'm saying. They talking about how much they gonna put into the project two point five million, So they don't. I just it can't make sense. It just gotta you just gotta make it so all to your point, here's what's gonna happen.
There are gonna be people that take that deal and that's what's going to saturate and water to market in the industry down because it's gonna be like.
Two for ten years. Give it to me, so you know. And that's another thing. It's kind of like, it's kind of like what to be doing with with with with movies now, it's like ship. You don't want to go over there with ship. They give you the good look, the good percentages and everything else it makes Honestly, Tube is just doing Netflix used to be just like that. It's just people forgot by their group. They use niggas to build to build a network once everything. That's how. But it's not a bad thing though. You just gotta understand your place in the game. If you understand your place in the game, you can finessing and make it and make it bigger and do your old day. That's all Tyler Perry and people like that. Dude, you know what I'm saying, that's.
So so okay cool about TV movies.
Let me ask you that from an active standpoint, how you feel about to because well, I ain't watching the movie.
I ain't watch the TV movie, so I'm not gonna I don't have no like distinct answer, no depinion of it because I ain't watching nothing.
Let me DoD you thought it. Cooby has got better, bro, They're getting better. You gotta go what David Wallams just did a show that WI him and I forgot the girl that played the young girl that plays on the power, uh, the one the power that's uh that Mary J Bligoe. I don't know, it's so real. She the young girl. You know what I'm talking about, the young black girl. I don't even know well the way she she she Oh there, it's it's it's written three did it getting better? It's getting right in but in boom whatever.
Maybe that's somebody need to start putting into my you know what I'm saying into my things of to what to watch out for.
It. It's the perfect time to do it while they open to anything. You know what I'm saying you gotta do is bring something good exactly all right? Cool?
So I was about there. I was about to ask you that question. So that's the other thing about where entertainment is. This is music and film and television.
Right or filming, Yeah, movies and TV.
I'm like the quality amongst everything, especially the music is so bad.
I feel like.
The don't make real quality comes about, real talent comes about.
It's going to emergent.
It's going to like blow up.
That's where I feel now. That's my question to you.
Do you feel like we're in such a space now within entertainment that when real talent is, you know, emerges, that it'll be appreciated and recognized as such and it will go to that those next, you know, those higher.
I think real talent. I think real talent already. I just think the audience don't care enough how we want them to care. You got to sneak talent on the on the consumer. They don't care enough about it. They just consuming. So that's why sometimes you don't realize it afterwards, like man, this muffler, muffle got some shit, this muffled Like say, this is like somebody like j Cole's or Kendrick Lamar. They really talented and they show it the more and more you listen to them, But you didn't really give a fuck. You just was going about the it song at first. Are you just love them for who they are? So I feel like I feel like it's plenty of talented muffler that's like you you a talented that dude, you know what I'm say saying, but you ain't where you want to be. But so so I just feel like it's tailor out there's just and I feel like I feel like.
Well, hold on, hold on, hold music though music is entertainment, you know what I'm saying, movie see me all that. You're right, I can rock with you there because it is a lot of people getting down. I actually got to switch that. It's a lot of people that's on like on on the screen that get down. Music though music is man, I ain't rolling with that.
Music is tracking. It's a lot of good music out here.
You gotta send me some ship thing, bro, because I've been I one.
Good not the two ball. Hold but I ain't making a bad song yet. But they take me out to tech for real, take me out to the cooin for real, because it's it'll be biased, but it's a lot of good talent that. It's a lot of good music out here. I send you some ship. It's a lot of good ship out you just gotta look it and all five you know, like me right now, I like music without without lyrics. I listened to a lot of a lot of a lot of a lot of that's South African music. Yeah what I play. Yeah, that's like it's kind of like a it's kind of like an idiom but uh African vibe. It's hard to explain, but it's it's I forgot you're making that you're making. It's everything's reggae, it's everything all messed and one, but it's no lyrics. Now, it's not for them. I mean they had a little lips like blah blah blah ship like that blah blah blah ship Like, man, you had me at first, I wanted to hear it now, hold on, hold on, you had me at first. I was interested, like I need to when you do, it's one of my favorite songs. I don't know if you did. It's a low and they song below that ship is really for the club.
Hold on oh okay yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I rock with that.
I rock with that, Okay, yeah yeah, I rock with that. I did.
I heard some ship like that in like Dubai and I Care and it was yeah yeah yeah.
Because when you.
It's it's like a, it's a it ain't like so much of a lyrical thing. It's more of a beyond like ship. Yea, I'm gonna see you that that ship hard.
So let me ask you this.
Then, how did you feel about the Drake.
Honesty never mind? I mean, but bro, it's just a song. He just threw out a song with Drake Drake? Is you can't the album? That's about the album? Oh, the whole album? Yea, my whole album. It's just another one, just game.
I thought, no, no, no, no, the honesty never mind, the one that was like the you know, the I don't want to say that.
What would we called it? What will we classify that as a mix? It's like it's like dance. Ain't that Oh? Oh that one? No? I liked that? Yeah, all right, I knew you would. I knew you would. No, that is yacht music. That's both music. Man, come on now talking about why I'm bad? Nah?
Okay, so you know what I feel that? So I'm definitely on some like a rap to me, I'll say this for sure, a rap.
I'm cool. So who are you listening to? Since who you listening to?
Everything right here is is old, bro, I thought that honestly, never mind knowing about four times a week noo' lenna tell you that for the sure. Uh you know, my favorite artist is still a Lena Barage.
She just dropped some ship.
I tacked in with Travis Scott album a couple of joints.
You know what I'm saying. I know you fuck with Gunnan album. Gun Out was cool, but gun Out was cool, but I think Gunner was more so of everything that was going on. So that built up the anticipation and all that ship right right right now.
The fact I hate you earlier this year about my my r D compilation that I was putting together.
Remember, uh remember, nigga, I told you that. I don't remember. I don't remember. I don't remember.
I called you and I talked to you about doing it, and you were gonna do like the Midnight Like.
I mean, I'm doing that for you because you're a dog. So yeah.
So no, My point is now we can we can work on doing this one.
You know what I'm saying.
Doing that together type ship since you were left off the DNY album means you could put ours together.
We could do our ship together. You know, just compared yourself to Dinny. Since you're gonna do it the Didny, you matter what do it with me? Hey? I got that, Like, since you don't do a deal with Eli Musk, you matter what do with me? Hey? Look, we we put some ship together.
I feel like our ship, like especially with the idea of you talking through that, That's what it was.
That's what I was talking to you about. You was gonna talk through.
The whole album, like the intros and outros, a lot of all of the songs.
I'm with whatever you want to do, man, Like, just let me know when you want to do it. I'm with it. So you got to arn so you so you got to let them know about your R and B ship because they don't know them. Oh man.
So that's the part of me that you know.
I came up in the game. Like I've been in music my whole life. So my my postures are producer. So I've been in I've been seeing music. My postures are part of truth, you.
Know what I mean?
So I that's the world.
Truth, nigga.
The last one, the last album, I don't let me go.
Look at this ship, hold up the truth.
The very last one was Steve. It was only Stem out of my pops.
All I do is think of you.
No no, no no.
That that not that album. That's the other joints wings. If like song, I know you're probably not gonna know to the song, but it was a lost album. Okay. Yeah.
But Post was always right producing. He did, you know, a lot of music with He worked with Teddy Early, he worked with He was working with Steve, he worked with He did a lot of reget everything. Yeah, I was born in this ship. So that's my my love and passion for music being been there, feel me and then I've gone on myself to work with different artists that.
I talk about.
You showed the world because I this is the other interesting thing about me, right, I never wanted to be like a person, you know what I'm saying, like a celebrity. I never wanted to be a person that was a figure or a name that you like, had to put a fake that you could put a face to, you know what I'm saying. Type ship I really wanted to be. You know't You probably don't know me.
His producer named sound Way, but he's Kendrick Lamar's producer.
That's the type of career I was aiming for in terms of like successful music.
You know what I'm saying, entertainment.
Was like being a really really dope ass producer. You knew me? Yeah, if you knew me, you knew me, you could don't cool.
Like I've been in concerts and walk right right up to Soundway said what's up or whatever? And everybody around has no idea that this nigga curated all of the sounds.
What everything that Kendrick Lamart does sound Way do is the guy?
Right?
So that's what I was, you know what I'm saying. I always approach music from that standpoint.
I didn't want to be out and I'm still probably That's what famus So nigga. Now I'm like cool, here we are.
Now, how do I capitalize on all of you know what I'm saying, the famous and celebrity with the talents. You know what I'm saying, everything that I've accomplished, Now, how do I advance that and use it to my benefit and make you know, make that into my brand?
So what are you planning on doing? Because I mean, I know you got plenty of music. You just sound like you're scared. Oh no, hell no, I scared. You sound like why are you saying you post nothing on your social media about your music. I know you and and all the time you probably told me that and I just said yeah, because I fuck with you, but I don't. I ain't heard that one song. Well it's not me singing, first of all, so well whatever it is, Rappings singing, that's the thing. So it's producing, yeah, nigga, while you ain't send me no beats ever produced? Here, nigga, here man, that's on this show. If you're a producer, that's just like my cousin Jehan. My cousin Jehan. He kind of like said, wait, you gotta know him to know him. But this nigga got music with Taylor Swift Drake, he got everybody. Yeah, this nigga's Yeah.
Jahann's whole come up was hard, bro, because it was like if motherfuckers paid attention.
You been posting and trying what I'm saying, showing him love you watching.
Yeah, that ship, That ship is incredible, and you could tell it was organic as well, like it wasn't no like whoa.
That's the crazy point. I'm proud of it because for one, he did it all on his own. You know what I'm saying, and too, he listened, you know what I'm saying, not just to me, he listened to He listened to the right people, you know what I'm saying. So when he fuck up, if he if he know he fuck up, he can stand as straighten because you can tell everybody, you can tell everybody the same ship, but it don't go through. So you gotta give him. And he's actually talented and that's what he's that's the that's the best part of it because just like we were saying before, like it feels like talent ain't getting shown no love no more. But he's a prime example that the kream rides to the top. You know what I'm saying, People like yeah, you know, people like Bresha. You know what I'm saying. I like watching her grow, you see what I'm saying, how she blossom not just in not just in a in a business, in a in a uh in a in a business, in a career, but also in a personal.
Life right right, Yeah, that's fire exactly.
So you see, if you see good people win, you know what I'm saying, just to see you win it. I love to see it, you know what I'm saying. Every time if I'm flipping through the challenges because you don't call me and tell me, hey man, I just think that's just a man ship because we just don't like to do ship certain ship. But you can call me and say, hey man, I'm all such and such, shot me out and stuff like that there and I don't give a fun specially by fuck with you, but you gotta left me. So that's the thing too.
So it's I feel like the last few years has been me figuring out how to go about doing all of these things. So that's that's where it really has come down to me, is like, uh, how am I going to be in music? How am I going to you know, also be because it's if you look at it, like not many people simultaneously do both at the same time.
At a high level.
You're either like doing and one really well and the other one.
Is like you know, everybody that came into acting from music, they acting their music career always since.
How you feel about doing pretty good?
So that's fire you feel me because he kind of like switched over exactly, like he's definitely been able to He's he's crossed over and he stayed at it. He's stay consistent. So it's it's been me really taking the last I would say, three years to just like, all right, how am I going to make myself as brandable as possible? What is the things that I'm that I like doing? What are the things that not only do I like doing though that people are responsive to? You know what I'm saying, And that makes sense for me to do. And I feel like now I really have a real great plan on how to have.
You looked into roles where you're playing the musical artist. Bro, That's why that's crazy. I would love love to do something like that. Like I made a joke.
One time playing like.
Said I would I would play because I had these chops on set somewhere, these big as uh you know, the chops of the sideburns, yuh. And I I made a joke like, yeah, I'm gonna play. I'm gonna play ron Eisley or or Marvin Gay or some ship. But I would love to do that because I play piano, you know what I'm saying.
So I would love I mean, like, of course you want to get a bigger role, but if you do, it's like auditioning for a role like that just set up yours. You got a production company, set up your own skins, and post that ship all your pages exactly. So that's one of the things that I'm that way you slowly but surely, your audience they they by the time if you do get the movie is organically happen kind of like like Jamie Fox, he organically happen to do it. It just naturally. He's not even thinking, is he an actor? A saying kind of like me, they don't think like at first they did, but now with like go the bus shows, they expected both.
They expected yeah exactly.
But you have to you have to put the you have to do it yourself, like you gotta take the first initiative to do it. It's gonna feel weird, it's gonna feel cord now, niggas says ship like, oh lord, here he goes saying it. But nigga, now if you just doing it. But what you're what you're saying is is pure.
I take it as nothing more, nothing less than confirmation, bro, because that's exactly you're saying.
All right, you got to integrate it and roll it out on your own.
So that's exactly what the last like I said a few years have been for me to like, all right, how am I gonna do this? How am I gonna introduce this as a part of who I am and what I for the world to receive it as such, and then for things to start moving in that, you know what, in that space like I and I'm I have a lot of ideas and things that I'm going to start doing and rolling out via social media that will put me in a place of people receiving it and seeing me as you know, oh, somebody who is just more than an actor who has musicianship to them.
You know what I'm saying?
Because I do I do that and I play the drums, is well, I'm a natural drummer. That's what I started off with, you feel me? So I play drums and I played the piano. So all of those things I plan on very creatively rolling out and so that people start to like receive.
That your music, because I wouldn't hear how you play? Would I would hear you play your old keys? Yeah? I play my Yeah, nigga, I can play for the show. You ain't fucking with your HND man, Oh no, hell no, I ain't crazy. But if I get lessons, if I get some lessons. I'll tell you a story and I can with the Juilliard. Oh yeah, he cold.
I didn't heart him play for sure, Like I didn't see the family thing, the family functions. Shit, I see a nigga, you're high ge there you cold? But I knew I had something. And it's funny because last year, like last year, October like ended October, I ended up at doctor Dre house because I messed with like his sister is my people's right, so shout out to them. But we was I was in the crib chilling and and basically we got into the conversation to playing and I ended.
Up playing for Drake and this is one of the most dopest moments of my life.
He was like it nah, somebody recorded it, but they like Drey not letting no footage go, Like no, I see, I see one day it's gonna make it out for sure, And shout out my bro mark A.
The pictures in the videos. He has them, so you know he like Broke Drey and you know he very.
Particular about how he gonna let shit roll out whatever. Someday we'll see it.
But basically I was playing and Dre was like caught off guard and I was telling him I taught myself.
And it came a moment where I was playing to the point Dre was like, hey, nigga.
Like are you fucking with me? He's like, you better fuck with me? Like you really don't know how to play like that? He like, you really taught yourself.
Because I was telling him like I don't know the the keys and all of that, but the way I play this, you know what I'm saying, He's definitely something that just not like an amateur for sure.
Yeah. So all and then he told me, he went on to tem like you gotta do something with that, So that stuck with me. I think that's the first thing you should do on your social media. Just play something freestyle on the keyboard that because for one, women are open to that. You're gonna get all types of bitches, and I mean women, you'll get all types of women. Open up the door, so that show the show. Oh he's musically talented too, right, I think you should show some of that, just that part of it, and that'll open the door to show. All right, he's musically inclined because you because you gotta think about piano. You can't fake that, right for sure. You know what I'm saying. You got all type people to get up there and saying or get a beat. You can could pose you could you could build a song in the studio. That keyboard is showing your that that piano showing your row talent. So I think show that that's the best way to introduce them to all right, I'm d shipped the goddamn the entertainer.
Absolutely, that's part of playing SI video.
Old boy did is crazy, Bron, which was where he the one where uh where he did the uh the comparison to you with the with the with the car. Yeah, that's funny as fuck though, that's shit.
Funny as hell, Bron.
That's funny as fuck. All right, we're gonna wrap it up. But before I wrap it up, I give everybody one more time, one more question that asks me ask, oh that you always wanted to ask somebody, but you ain't have nobody to ask. I'm right here, so you get to ask me something right now, nigga.
So go ahead, all right, just gonna suck you up. Okay, damn No, it's not because you roll like that. I will ask you about liking polygamy and ship Okay, would you be so? Would you if you had it? How you you know what I'm saying. If the if the if the bread and everything was.
Butter like you needed it to, would you do polygamy?
Uh?
Yeah, I do it. There can, but it's not so much. But see my my definition, it's a little different. Like I like having the old lady and and we just like having fun with with other girls. That's to me, that's I'm cool with that. And we might have people we cool with that were tight with and that's what we kick it with. But all that happened, you gotta understand, like having a bunch of women, that's that's a that's a headache. Like that's why I never really like when I did cheat, I just used to fuck. I ain't had no girlfriends, Like yay, I'm not girlfriends. I'm gonna have one old lady and all my all my side bitch is gonna know my old lady. And that's what So every time I got caught, my old lady was looking. So I'm never one of them niggas that's gonna have a bunch of relationship. But I understand it, Like I feel like you should handle it as much as you can afford and as much you can have this mentally.
Okay, hold on, I got another question, because strong up all right with the with with AI going like it's going, and with us seeing black mirror right, and it's so much shit that that's happened.
Where we at twenty thirty? What you see money? Where where is AI taking this? What does human action interaction look like?
What are we doing? Do? We got the chips and we got the eye things, what we're doing? I think we already here. We just you can see the future. Ugg. I think we already here. We just ain't accepted it yet. Just kind of like everything that we're using now. It was dere before, it was de before twenty twenty, but we started using it more doing twenty twenty. And that's why we had the problem. That's why we have this problem in the in the music, I mean entertainment industry is because all this shit been here, it's just doing the doing the twenty twenty the networkstar resalizing, like the network start realizing, wait a minute, I don't need these motherfuckers. I don't need a staff for three hundred people. All I need is twenty people. So I feel like we already is just we gonna get adjusted and like the same thing in Hollywood, how we saying the inevitable coming. It's gonna get to a point to where it is. I mean, it's gonna it ain't gonna be a bad all good thing. It's just gonna be evolved with you gonna roll with or get rolled over. But this is the time to figure it.
Out that I ain't done. I got another question.
Let me this is a cat.
This is another question, all right?
So why would you or what other country would you move to? This?
My I think this might be my last one because I feeling like, is this just some shit that's happening in America? Right with this AI and all this chaos that's going on, Like, is there somewhere safer go inside the world to.
Jodge this shit? The maitrice real talk, ain't no place better than America, no place you the men everywhere too, It ain't no I mean everywhere else cool, it's cool to visit everywhere else. You really gotta have money. This is the only place left. It is barely getting like that, and that whole place a person can come from nothing and become a millionaire, a billionaire, where else can you do that? Everybody else that do that, they already tiedy in some type of way. They tied in as far as bloodline, they tied in, as far as businesses or family. It just is what it is where America, And it's barely like that now because shit, shit is they locking it in and locking in their families and their teams, and it is what it is. But if you ain't on that, if you ain't on that side, we see it now people getting rich and poor.
So all right, so take away the facts of like you you were born into it, you acquire it while you're here where if you say, right now, America's about to go to shit, and which it is, and you're gonna take your wealth somewhere, it.
Depends gonna take your wealth. So it all depends on if I got pool in the other country, if I if I got a setup to where I can build another business over there, Because I don't give fuck how much money you got lets you into unless you owe like my age to where it's like, all right, I only got about thirty forty more years left on earth, so I can God damn affoord the cash out at twenty million to live off there. But if you're young, still trying to like, you're gonna have to have some type of income coming in the way. The ship sets set up designed. Okay, ship costs more overseas too, depending on where you go. But listen, place twenty two dollars for this day for you lion gas my old lady right now, she'll tell you, like shit, call ga. A gallon of gas is like eight dollars a gallon on my eye. And Bahamas, yes, but that's on your island on everything, like say, for the most shit getting important from America or from from from Japan. So that's how that's how places like Bahamas make their money off of import and ship like that there. So for instance, I got a call over there my car that they charge you for duty they get your car there. It's whatever the car worth is, seventy five or eighty percent whatever the car work. So if I buy a Jeep, if I buy a Jeep for fifty thousand of them states, I'm gonna have to end up spending about thirty five forty extra to get it to the Bahamas. Damn shit costs brou And on top of that, the reason why I say America's great, it's great for us because we spoiled and we able to get everything accessible. And if you ain't used to not being without shit, you're gonna have problems going like a mile and everything closed at six. You telling me you can't just run to the store and get some get some cough drops, and hey, what you do? Hey, hey, that you do the cough drops might get fired or they're gonna be thirty dollars. Yeah, it's exactly. Nigga. Nigga wasn't the ship And one of the gas station baken is the one that costs five ten dollars in the store forty dollars the first bread. I'm telling you what I mean. I think America's great. It's just gotta understanding and take it. You gotta look at it like put it this way. This is how you this, This is how you know America is still good because people are still coming over here and coming up all right, And I'm not I'm not African's coming over here. Oh you know they're doing it. They're coming over here, coming up and taking their money and taking their hands back over there, which ain't nothing wrong with it, so that lets you know.
So that's my question though, if you have the infrastructure here right, if you got if Ridge Broke thinking, we gotta have a side conversation because I'm trying to Jay Skids, who the VP of Ridge Broke.
Let's just talk, you know. Listen, man, you think I'm gonna make this nigga ba that nigga? You got your goddamn man that Jackie bitch the here. But go ahead, you said, men an example, go ahead, you.
Crazy here, But nah, I'm being funny answered at the same time, n I don't even a position.
We need to talk rich Broke.
But rich Broke is here in the States, Rich say we get rich Broke popping right, and it's the brand, that's the ship for the next you know, for the next twenty years. And you got whatever number you want. Rich Broke got you up one hundred million. Where are you you just staying here?
Yeah? Because fuck I stay here and now I ain't got to stay here, you know that, right, I ain't got to stand I know that.
But that's what I'm saying on so like there's nowhere else you would go, and like you know what I'm saying, not only that.
I love my people. I love black people in America. I love I feel like I'm here for a reason to help them. So I mean, I mean, I mean, like when I want to get out and I do move on, I stay in the Bahamas. But I also don't. I don't lean on needing people and needing that love from the community too. That's why, that's why I kind of program myself on the island where if the world say fuck me, I'm still good. You geel what I'm saying. But at the same time, America is great. Like people hate Florida. I love Florida. I'm cool with if I don't die the Bahamas, I'm cool with dining Florida. That's how much I love it. I don't see why nobody like it. It's fun, even the crazy shit I think about social media born as fuck without Florida.
Man, listen, I guess I'm just I'm just trying to see, like, so all right, exactly what you are our previous conversation of like AI and how crazy the world is. Now, that's the reason why I'm asking this, because like YO, to me, this shit only about to get more chaotic.
You used that you used ai fu for your own ship. You use it for good, like because everybody's gonna use it, so you might use it for your own ship. Like they finished this right now. If I want to say, damn, I want to make a song about love, hey make me a song about love getting breaking up? They right, all this right there for you. It sounds fucked up, but it is what it is. If you don't do it, somebody gonna do it for you. True. Same thing happened in Hollywood. That's what they learned. They're like, I can get a I just write me a whole movie, right and the shit gonna be good. Nigga, I done used it before. That motherfucker's not to put some words together, Nigga, I told, Nigga. I told the one time. I was like, tell me a little Duval Joe. That motherfucker told me a duval joke. It wasn't funny, But pretty soon it's gonna get funny. Once AI get smart and the algorithms start getting better, it's gonna get funny.
Yeah, because they just clocking us all they just clocking and watching and recording it.
Think about it. Your kids put it this way. You got kids, right, They watch you, and you see yourself and you right. Yeah, So just imagine an artificial intelligence that's watching your every fucking movies, program, you every fucking move. It already knew you. That's like what people are talking about. I'm gonna talk about. I'm gonna do this when the you know that that alarm that just went off, I'm a cup by fuck. They don't give a fuck. They already got you. You can't stop. This is what it is. That's what that's the other part about it. I'm glad, and that's what I want to say too. I had one thing that I was like, you know, I wanted to say what I.
Got on here, and it is that I appreciate and you go and see my teats about this. But like comedians, bro, the world needs to y'all are y'all are God's favorites. I'm gonna tell you why because y'all have limitless perspective. You know what I'm saying, y'all ability to zoom out on everything, you know what I'm saying in life as a whole and make that shit funny and get people laugh or enjoy inside of zoom lot like you can take you.
No, I don't know about other comedians, but for me, I understand that everybody is full of ship and everybody's walking contradiction. Once you understand that, you get it for what it is. So there's always a h a good side in the band's side, there's always there is no there's no equals. So once you understand that it's all a game, you just get on the on the winning's side and play that game. And that's how I treat it.
Like So that's I fuck with that and that's what makes me like so like in tune with comedians lately, but also what the hardship for me has been adapting that view of life but moving as such amongst people who don't kind of get that.
It's hard because.
Everybody like I deal with a bunch of slow motherfuckers my whole career. Nigga, if I can make you, you maga. This shit frustrating to this day, even simple as telling somebody record me walking out the house these niggas is horrible, man, But you gotta work around it. Man. It is what it is. Like, It's it's hard, but everybody have ship they got to overcome, man, But it is what it is.
Yeah, now that that's that's it. Okay that that lasts one when I was it though, for sure, Yeah, that's that's it. You just gotta take it for what it is. But I that limitless perspective. I'm always able to zoom out. Now, even for myself.
This is another thing I do too. This another thing I do, even with depths and everything. I put things in perspective, especially ship that you can't control. It's like you can feel down and all that if we all naturally gonna have emotions. But at the end of the day, you ain't the first and last person to go through this, and this ain't the first and last person you're gonna see it go through this. So it's just like you gotta take it for what it is. It's reality, you know. It's just like we hate the face reality because humans we arrogant if they think that we bigger than life. But defferent we ain't shit. So once you understand and have a full perspective of that, you take things for how they come, and you try to work with it and try to try to finesse the world that you can stay on the good side of the goddamn universe. And you do that just by being a genuine person.
Nah, that's real, that's just bad. Well, yeah, man, I appreciate you having me on.
Man.
I gotta hit you after this, of course, and get through the dates locked in so I can pull up.
On you in the Bahamas man, for sure. Man, I appreciate you coming on the show, man, and I thank everybody for listening. I hope y'all got some jewels from this. If you didn't, I don't give a fuck. He did, so that's all. That's maut. You got this bitch Black Effect in the house. Thank you for listen to another episode of Conversation with Me, Little Duval. We got this bitch. Don't miss an episode of Conversations with Listen and subscribe on the Black Effect Podcast Network, iHeartRadio, app or wherever you get your podcast. Conversation with Podcasts is a production of the Black Effect Podcast Network and our executive producer is Dolly Bishop and produced by Aaron A. King Ow.
