Well, we are the authorities things R and ladies and gentlemen. This is the R B Money Podcast. I'm Tank, this is Mr Ja Valentine. Were the authorities on R and B music and in the building to day. We got a friend, we got a brother, a philanthropist, a leader in the community. We got problem in the creative visage. Come on to build them. Man, Man, I feel this is smooth man. As much of a rapper as you are. Your vibe is R and B. Oh totally you are focused. Yeah, totally. R and B guy on the prize, Yeah, I think you know what. Just to be totally honest with you, the blues and the jazz and the R and B fellers have always been the ones that I finally hung the most away during my career, just because yeah, it's just more playerism on this side. And the rap guys they rap about ship and then it don't be all the way through, you know. They do songs like the police and call the police on you. They do songs like bitches and ship but holdes tricks. We're sharing everything and then we happen to do the same one. Just get the crime. I don't understand. It's like a weird place going R and B. It's just like, hey man, this is what it is. I say, what it is? Now? They don't touch this. This is we're doing. It's a toe, just a wave. I love I love her, I love her her, But come on, it's just always been that. And then you know, it's damn fooling through this ship. You know, just always been like, you know what, let me just stay where, I'm welcome right to me. Using since we're there, what is it about? What is it about wraps? When it comes to it being authentic or from a place that guys who are not authentic and from a place seem to be able to get away with. What are the things that they get away? Why are they allowed to in a sense, have we allowed it to just be entertainment for them? Um? I think? I mean bullshit? Alwaysselves like being extra, being over over over over. So you'll have some guy that will probably think that, you know, they may do things like well you know, I really believe this, but then the labels throwing gasoline on it, the managers and then women and the homies are throwing no, you gotta turn it up like you can shoot. Okay, I shot one person but now making it was like a seven, so they take that in the times order everything before and then it actually works, and then the fame comes and then you have to be that seven and you forget that, Wait a minute, I was just doing this to get popping. You actually started believing the character that's created by the circle around you. People get lost in the circus and you forget that we're coming to look at the clowns, not be the clowns, and you're just getting lost. But do you feel like that's just entertainment altogether? Right? Like if you meet Marilyn Manson, he gotta be Marilyn Manson, right or not? I'm asking it depends, It depends. It depends on what what Marilyn Manson is selling, right Like me, I've understood that that's what he was on right, right, But if you see him and catch him out, he that's what he looks like when he's just doing what he's doing, like regularly. Like I saw him coming out of studio with Gucci man full ready whopped like I was right, I'm like, yeah, that's cool. You know what I'm saying. It's like, so if you you I think I think they I think I don't know. I think it's for black people and white people is different. White people can actually create the character and becoming Black people are getting the character created, and then it's like they're fighting with if I'm really it or if I'm not, and it's just not it's just weird power struggle that come with being famous and not doing it the way you wanted to do it, if that makes any sense, not being a hundred percent authentic to what your brand and your mission is and all the time, Like when I met you, right, it was around the Molly Wood time, and I left that studio feeling like this nigga everything rapping about, right, because I was off of all kind of ship. Turned out a lot of fun at time, but I was just like and and that's the thing where I believe in the entertainment side of it, right, But I personally do appreciate when I meet somebody that's about their craft, right, if they kind of live in that space of like when when you meet a player, he all about the players ship and he's very player in real life, or if it's a nigg about you know, beating niggers up, popping his pistol, you meet him like, oh I feel the worl like I get it, like it makes sense. Like when I met fifty cent but I hung out with I was like, oh, fifty with all he with all of it. I think he got a little knife ony. You don't got me like that. You know what I'm saying. You got me like that? Huh Okay, I appreciate it. That's the same way all the time. Yeah, I feel the same. The scary selling point isn't it's scary or detrimental in a sense to like because music is so influential and so powerful in terms of people wanting to be something or sing a thing that is successful and wanting to even if it's whatever it is, emulate the success. That's the tough part of it because if you're truly being yourself, you're not doing it to be emulated, and that's where the trouble ares. Like I feel like he's being himself. Of Course, when I was doing Mollywood stuff, I was just being myself. I didn't think I was like I'm about to change this and we're gonna have me to do it. That wasn't the play. I'm just talking about my day. So it is like it's a their line because me, just me personally, I got lost in it because the music was getting hot as fuck, but I wasn't that no more. I had stopped doing this ship maybe a year or two before anybody even knew. But it was like this character got big, he got big. I was having people like it was weird things where like the crowd is cracking, but I have some young dagger walk up to my man and I just took eight of them trying to get like you. I'm like, whoa, what do you mean that's not what no, no, no, no, no, we're not doing that's after I handle my man. I hand niggas walked up to me, hand me. Hand niggas come up to me like, man, I made three million dollars that ship dropped nick ship boom, and I'm like, man, yeah, that's what's up. But that means it's a gaggas high out of here tripping, you know what I'm saying. So that's where I'm thinking about the effect, right because it's like yeah, like okay, yeah, I'm monetizing and I'm having and I'm really just telling my truth. So it's a weird, a weird line. But it's like Okay, well, what are you really here to do this? Mike is a motherfucker. Guess we're using this for good. The people evil yourself. It's hard to tell people, and that's only a hip hop. Yeah, it's hardly hip hop. It's hard to tell guys not to tell their story, right, you know what I'm saying. That's like impossible to tell, you know, to tell in our tist how to paint what colors to you is because that story read is imprinted on his gift. You know what I'm saying, Like whatever he went through, um, that's that's that was nourishing to what he's now projecting, you know what I'm saying. So it's like it's hard to tell a guy like, man, you shouldn't told the gun and you shouldn't sell the be ship when you've when you've told it the gun and sold the ship. But so got him there. So it's like so it's like it's almost like, should guys be looking to grow out of it jay Z? But it's very hard to grow out of it. And it's in my opinion right and jay Z is a different story because jay Z was always a progressive rapper and he also came in the game as a grown man. Jay Z didn't catch didn't catch his wave until seven years old. He's talking about some of these kids who coming in a seventeen eighteen my house may be still in a mama house, are in the group whatever it is, and they're rapping about street rap. So and what we do know about the street is that the streets don't really grow. Right, we can all go back to wherever we're from and find the same ship going on that was going on there when we left. Right. So for jay Z, when I say being a progressive rapper, he was always rapping about business. And if the business at that time was the dope game, that's still a business. There's no yeah, there's no real business. And robbed the nigga shot up a couple of niggas. Are you know this bitch, and blah blah blah. There's no real progression in that. Because now when this nigga starts rapping about being married, he actually looks soft. When jay Z says what's better than one billion? There two, which is still the same thing about being married, it sounds but when you got the dog gass nigga like, yeah, but I love her. What are you talking? I can't love nobody, right, That's a very hard space to live in, especially when your finance depends on it. That's the pial, right, that's the pial, you know what I'm saying, And like like, that's when it gets tricky. And that's where this lost thing happened, where you know, I know artists that went through it and and just I'm figuring out ship, like just figuring it out, like whoa. And I'm watching a lot of my my peers, like you know what I'm saying, And I'm watching like Quo through the growing pains like that got lost in the bag chase. Do you get what I'm saying. You start looking at the let's let's just use the word analytics, since it's a good word. You look at the analytic and you see what people are buying into and sometimes you don't. You can't manage your way out of it, because this is what this is the cell, this is the you know what I'm saying, I got I got eighty nine percent right here. You know, when I post these other things, I'm you know what I'm saying, I get two percent over what I'm saying. The fall off is real. But when I do this ship, I'm at eighty nine percent. Yeah, you can become a slave to that. You can become a slave to it. Yeah, you know what I'm saying. I think you know what and this is this is funny. I'm having one of the moments. But that's probably why they always want to remember the time, Like you let us handle the books and then you do the talent. You're the talent. All of us have went through that time. That's problem. That's the part is probably why because as an artist, you still want to please no matter what nigga say. It's about you want your joint to come on in the room, light up. You want people, you want your ship, and it's nothing wrong with that. You shouldn't want to be booboo like I don't give a funk with nobody talking about you're not gonna ever sell me that. But that's the ones that we're the ones that understand both sides. You have to understand being a consumer and a motherfucking seller, you know what I'm saying. I feel like as a producer, you get that, so you can teeter the line. It's probably one you do better than the other, but you understand both sides as a writer and a producer, which most people don't know. Right, you are right, right, right. A lot of people didn't know, like your big records you produced. Yeah, yeah, you know what I'm saying, Like people didn't know that, you know, I mean, people didn't know that problem was a producer on like what you know what I'm saying, like like these records you like, I'm actually win the studio and see you making beats. Yeah, you know what I'm saying. But but aside from being a beat maker a producer, were you really in there? I mean turning things up, turning the knobs down. Okay, listen, this vocal ain't right. We gotta shift this. We need to put this on top of here. We need this type of you know what I mean, plug in on there, like that's full production, you know what I'm saying. So being in that space, like it was crazy. Man. When I first met you, I was like, Yo, this guy really is a Swiss army knife. Like this guy really a Swiss army knife. But I always wondered, right, and I feel like knowing you all these years now, I've kind of gotten my answer. I always wondered if it was going to be enough for you? What do you mean? Like right, Oh yeah, I always wanted that from the from the day I met you. You know what's crazy. The crazy thing is, like you know, y'all know, I was in the studio a lot. I'm twelve fourteen hour a day studio guy man, and it's like wow to stick my head out and say, wait a minute, a bunch of sig You get what I'm saying. And it all works the same way. You know, if you understand production, you understand writing, you know how to sell records, and you know how to make hits. If I want to sell it, I know not to send the vocal to make it real loud may get sucked up. It probably not even sound in the ask. I'm not given put them all. Make it so they can know what they've done. It that and then you know the ones like I'm on this one because they're gonna hear the difference when I sent it back. Yeah, yeah, I'm saying something. Learning when to do that has what sticking my head out has done, you know what I'm saying Like, And I wouldn't have never known I wanted more than music because the thing is that's what shocking to mean that you said I never thought about nothing else than like, man, I just like doing music, Like I just want to sit in here and do the music. Maybe I'm just trying to escape other ship, or maybe I know that this can change something. I just I don't know. Whatever it was. It was like if I got down time, if I'm gonna be sitting somewhere, I'd rather sit think where I got all my weapons, unless I'm sitting at the house or with the kids. Man ship and I can bring them, I can bring them. I can bring it here. So you mean I can I can play here here. Creative ship. Yeah, but it's other ships. You gotta learn to control all that because that's like it's get dangerous. It's just a bunch of lights going everywhere. It's like, then I'm not getting personal ship handled. Are I might be too when I go outside the personal I'm so personal that I'm not getting here. It's just finding that balance. It's what the nig had to even reach to reach that. So it's crazy that you saw that. I was just like just trying to so fine, you know what I'm saying. Whatever they could do, like we was always just figuring out something we you know, we did we just wrong. We did the wrong, like one wrong thing and we just didn't like the car before we didn't want wrong, which wasn't even that wrong, but we did some we did the wrong thing and just like I didn't like the way it felt like that, you know what I'm saying, Like that type of wrong. So like let's just hustle here and there. But yeah, yeah, I get it, just start bumping in ship. But you're taking that now, putting it to the studio off of one conversation with the homies and and then like um, the first two I was, I did myself. But then the one that paid, the homey that paid for the first guy to go, he was like, man, I should I what you if you want to go out? So he started putting it on it. You know, he's trying to seeing what I'm doing. And we all were homs anyway, Like he actually got a job, you know, doing it like that, so it ain't really shipped to him. So kept going, bro, We'll just start just learning how to work that ship. So from that point at twenty, when does it happen where you like, oh, ship that made some money somewhere somebody's offering me some real bread or I get that first radios being like when does it happen? From twenty like, how long until you get that breakthrough? Looking back now, relatively early, relatively early, within a three year span, ship we have figured out a program to where the like funking the studio, but let's get the equipment. You know, I got with ed my boy, we get to doing it. He had he had a little he had an idea it was the right entertainment if he was a little This was the first situation. He just wanted me to come be a producer for his entertainment thing. And it was like, well, look I learned ad that's brother. The fact that yeah, I'm like, I actually learned how to recourse. I'm recording them and I'm just rapping that night because they were like, man, you weak. You know what I'm saying them like, really was rapping. So I would do my ship at night, just practicing. But then I'm like, man, let's get pro to. Let's go let's just get an MPC. Let's go do this. You know that time home girls are put your set ont it was, you know, the different time. You know, and the other hustle. We're doing it. It's happening. The girl that's coming through, like no, I got this weekend. Let's just go in there. It's happening. Let's just come in. You love them, you know, like I mean, do you know what? You know what? Let's let's let's let's go get it, hold on, get it. Listen, they like they are appreciated, ladies, You are appreciate. That's how I survived for a minute when I first came to l Let's shout out to you know what I mean, to the to the you feel that, to car Bob, don't take care of me. Let's shout out to them. Come on, come on like us. They know women saying it first. Absolutely, they believe nothing is niggers. They take nothing that takes some actual winning for nothing that's built without a woman. Oh nothing, nobody. I think, how I go tell yourself that that's going on? And I would get that ship and it wouldn't know like any of that, you couldn't google it. So it's just like I just gotta just go through trialing there. Like the first beat I made on the NFC, I literally went through other people's songs and chopped sound and chopped Ship getting them all right, So we're working at Motherfucker. I'm learning. Once I learned how to do that, it was like, all right, I can record myself. Um, nobody was doing that at that time. It was just like I'm in the closet going crazy. Niggas was the word was spreading in the hood, like Niggas like nig over there we put together and you're not giving it to DJs or nothing yet. Man, we're going straight to the streets. We went it stepped, they diviudged the skin where it's like, look, we got some initial funding. Niggas had all put our money together. It was like, let's get the mixtape. Let's go buy this mini. We sell this mini. We can all make at least we can at least make twelve twelve thousand a month or something. We could all piece up and half that while we're doing this. So Ship make the music. I would probably engineer for niggas while niggas wasn't recording. We got it. We got our own studio at this time doing that. They selling CDs all day. Ship, We're so like thirteen thousands of Motherfucker's hand to hand and it really got to the radio, like, Yo, are you going to where you going by? Problem? Yeah? That's problem there because at that time I end up getting better than them because I just was in it so much, not because they weren't good. It was just I'm in the gym, right. So ship got a call from Yoyo I of nowhere. You know what I'm saying, like we're playing that song person, Yeah, songs called I'm a problem. That ship came on and it was like, whoa, that's all We're running around. We think it's cracking and going nuts. It's going crazy. I'm like, okay, we did we all it's going on. It's like, okay, that ain't enough, though, we gotta come on to another joint. I think now I'm like the only nigger out here that could really get them spikes because they seeing my team in the streets and I'm everywhere were it's like physically in the streets. So m l A. But then during that time though, from that time when we started with the NPC to that Terris Martin stumbles in my house through a drummer that we know, I know terrorist from us me getting that MPC and I know how to really work it. And so my boy Robert, who was a drummer, it's I mean, I got the snigger man Snigger he played for Snoop Dogg. This time, Sloop is the only thing, you know what I'm saying in the world. He's like on tour, he for to come on, He's gonna show you how to work it. I'm like, all right, man, he bring that nick in the walk in I never forget this and then walk and said it was kiss up y'all. So he's being his Snoop, but it's yeah, he like you got an MPC around going there, nigga. He always been that, you know, everything made. It was like, men, you can have that, my nigger, and then left, they can get that you a beat and then left. I said, this motherfucker thing, no way, I'm about three course. So I did the songs that I got the CD. Burn like, man, get that back to him. Yeah, he hear me, like I didn't you know how hard on the kiss I'm on a CD at this time? Nigger? It was like it got to him back you hard, and I'm like, I just never see nothing like that. I don't around to show you. I wouldn't play. Yeah, two thousand one. That's how I know tears. Wow. Uh we have been locked at the hip every every day sent that shouldn't crazy, and then here's this fifteen hundred comes from him. So I mean, laurens, I mean they know, we all just we've been through that time. Everybody was just grinding. So you saw the same people and the Tea has started becoming who he was. So respond to the other story where where in the streets working Now I'm starting to Tea like, man, come through, snoop, let me come through. I can get I can get. Beats all the corrupt grabbed me. He seen me in the sto udio. He like, what's up with you? I'm like, I justin't have been in the ship like this, just not. I'm like, man, just because its levels the studio that was the studio. That's the other things. A lot a lot of nicks to be out here telling their girlfriend's day in the studio. Bro ain't quarte studio. But we had the studio studio like yeah, yeah, it's like the studio with the board is going like this and ship yeah all that, and then bad luck had got signed over there right before that. Western Union level is my guy from that seven year thing, like that thing, so we all knew each other, so it was familiar faces and corrupt to the lightnings to me. So we were just He's like throwing me on ship and I'll just be rapping. I'm like, I'm I'm just like, damn, I get to do this with him, yea. Why I started spreading around the thing and ship. I had a chance to do some real work and Nigga had one shot and they just sent the right joint in and then I got the gig. For six months, I'm around the whole West coast. That ship just was like boom boom boom. Looking back at it during the time, it was like, goddamn, I'm trying. I'm sleeping on couches, my homelessening what you know, I'm getting a good ship. That's the thing. But that's the thing, man, That's that's what we love to talk about. To the process. Yeah, I got to talk about the process. How Nigga slept on the floor and Nigga slept on the couch. Bro Like Nigga couldn't leave the studio to go because I'm leaving out months and gaps on the corrupt hang was a six month guy, and he was grooming me because that's his big homies. So he ain't just gonna lett nobody around, snoop. I'm seeing now looking back at I'm watching what they you know what I'm saying. They groom me. I started just getting gang. I don't do that, don't do that, don't do this. Who whoa. It started early. They started sharpening in my nods and then etiquette, give me giving me real etiquette. I'm not sitting around like I'm sitting around the treue. This is the n w A tree, bro, this is where it begins. That's crazy. So I'm in college and Dog and Dogs such a real one and Tears had its own licens, like right now, you know y'all need to pay this time. If you need to eat, come up here. It's like, I call it the last of the big budget record. Remember now all of that. I'm talking about everything budget whatever, everything Dog said. And he had five of the motherfucker's roll And I'm like this, Nick, five budgets, five studios rolling at once. Looking back at it, I'm like that he was doing it right, was able to make some money. Ye g ship, that's what I'll be on. That's why they get it. The reason why Snoop is who he is. Come ontle swig and I don't give me all up m a little bit on there. And that's that's the reason why guys like Snoop or who they are, right man, because he gave and he gave so many opportunities. He had. He had me tears quick at our Encore and Niger had Teddy Riley at fucking uh the joint off one of the motherfucker's he had. He had, you know, all his squad and another one and he had like some eclectic version where he had like, motherfucker, he had like the real big people come through, but he had them all going at once because he's working on the shoulder and ship like that. Nigga eight months, don't nigga straight. Nigga brote everybody. Every contact I have now was through that six months, everybody, everybody. I was just just a guy in the corner and just remembering. All right, So tell me about function. You got to function. You go straight to function. That's a big let's go, let's go. That's your ship. You know, that's not trying to function at all times all the time. Time that's why he wanted to talk about this. That's what who we knew, like, I see what's going on the radio, bitch, why you know what? Do you know what? The funny thing all that attitude got developed from that story of that one, because it was a lot of start having that was just like, man, fuck everything. Yeah, I'm gonna say I've been a little too nice and so it's not coming out in the music. Was like, nah, because this is what this is going down because I'm not really gonna be playing like that. I'm not doing no plan with no niggas, not doing me and my squad. We go like this, this is our way of thinking. It may sound wild, it may sound and you might not work with it. You do this is how it goes into this into this island, and it's cool if you don't agree. We're not. We wasn't trying to recruit. Man, ain't nobody listen, We're not. It's not nah. I just had to get that out what I'm saying, to make sure to make sure we got some of that, and that was a That was an forty record, but it felt very Diamond Lane, right. It felt like it felt like in Diamond Lane and I know Forty, that's my that's my big dog. I know he did that purposely, right because Forty is a guy who appreciates, right. He's he appreciates when somebody got a gift and he lets his shine like Forty is never a guy that steps in front of people try to He's like, oh oh he got he got something I need to funk with. So he's not going to bring you in and try to change who you are. It's amazing he's he's he's so underrated and the boss talk that because the real fate is let's even just take that record at that time. There's no like Big bay l a record at all. He is him and his prospects, well he see me y g Sue made of this single. That means you put the bag behind none of us signing him. You know they don't do that at a boss and ever do that and then surrounded us like I'm on the hook. So I got to stay along for the whole the remix and everything surrounded us and put us in the spot to get a chance to when we did one or six in part like three weeks after it came out, and we was what nig we went straight to TV. It was no games. It was that ship was like now that record the rocket ship that was legal starts right, yep, was the up was in the swig House and the up. I'm okay, I'm sorry, I know we skipped some steps that I just had to get there. But yeah, Jake, because from from from the Snoop days and what you're doing there and which is your version of college or even getting your masters in a sense, right, because for a lot of us who didn't go to college, like myself when I came here, this was this was my schooling right as an adult. I learned some things as a kid in the business, but as an adult you deal with a different You deal with it direct. And I always use that same analogy right of it being college would be in my ba, my master's, my doctorate, whatever you want to call it. Ship. Right as you go from your schooling, you know Snoop corrupt all your guys there and move into diamond Lane with birds, bad luck all the things that you guys are creating over there. Mm hmm. Where the fuck are When the fuck did y'all say we're gonna take this masterpiece? How you do that? There? And turn this ship all the way up, because I will say this, and I don't know if I told you this back then. That was actually my favorite masterpiece song of all time. And young Bleep and Young Bleed cannot forget Young bleeed um and m hmm. When I first heard that record, I was like, oh my god, why hasn't someone done this sooner? When you have that moment where you're like this nigga, I was like, so you gotta you gotta explain that process. You gotta. I mean, like, I know it's a masterpiece story. Come come on, man, I got it. I got it here out here on that east side man, east side of Loss Angeles. Like all the Project Niggas when I was in high school was playing master p all they was playing. They all they were on that way early. All of the Wasatch Niggas was on the Project, all of the nigs. So we went to Centennio together, so we were here, I would hear that ship they'd be playing it, so so I would tell Centennio is a Compton and wat school, No, just it's right down the streets from Projects. So like at that time, the Gamebank she was a super high. So that was the Blood School Centennio, and they were actually closer the lot, but that's you know, it's a crypt school. So it's more so like I don't know if you want to go down. It was just it was different then, like you couldn't wear the blue shoes string and all that. Like now anybody tripping off the colors and nothing. But then it was a little different. So you you wanted to go with your FOXX, right. So but they put me up on a lot of that ship. I swear, I swear to Nicko and the boy us so me and you know, bad luck. He's from Watson, so he's heavily influenced. First time we ever do the Molly is Halloween. We're in the car and we're going far ast fun. Y'all decided to do a Molly on Halloween. Let me tell you how this whatever we do know what it was. We uh, we're going to We're going to Bird's Cousins and Shake Cotton and James Cotton. Yeah, Cotton man, Let's come on, man, check out my boy document dramas all right now to So we're headed to one of their parties. But that ship far as the motherfucker's so um holie with he coming like, hey man, I got the ships moy this ship. It's like, like, what it is, Molly, It's called Molly or something, you know. So he's like, take put on your tongue. I like, what the fund is? We? You know? I done? He feels and ship and all that, but I'm like, what is it? That's funny time, I'm telling you cool. So we take it and even think it's had just got some fast like fast cars with health cash it or something. So we're actually flying too, like Santa Clarita. We're me and look we're shitting there there my fucking hit us, Like whoa that? Molly was like, oh, we just started talking about ships, like remember that's how you do that thing, and they're gonna flip that. Like hell, we'll get back to three and ain't gonna flip. That's gonna be hard. So we talked about that. We're talking about all these things. We get back and so the next day I'm like, Nigga flipped out, you do it there ship. He's like, man, just keep talking about that one thing, Nigga. We never did it. And one day I was like, I can't remember that conversation. Start playing that ship and start learning how to play. Start playing there. I made me was ten in the morning, so you replayed it, Yeah, played it, made made the drums for him and then and by myself ten in the morning. Nigga, I must have fucking did the hook. You know, I don't write, so I'm sitting there, I'm just coming up with it. I'm like this hard the second vision I call it up. I'm like, Nigga, if you don't get up here in thirty minutes, I'm about to do this. He was like, what playing it? He was like, Nigga, I'm on the way, don't do that. I'm like, I'm telling you got thirty minutes because I got it off. I'm ready to go get this ship up. That niggag walked in and Nigga came from where we came from later, so they're I didn't like the lead I had, so I went and talk to jay Nor, like, man, you got a better version of this, So he went and found one that was closer the ship. We swapped it out hard. Yeah, nobody. It was just me and him playing it though we wouldn't have none of the homies here, like none of them, so we had a show a solid like one of the little shows. You're gonna get some money. Like I'm not really cracking yet, but they function. Money's cool. So nobody is like raining and nobody comes to the thing. But we're on the molly. We all. I'm like, the performed the ship because we just like fifty niggas with us. Yeah, I know, yeah that time. It's different times me and the tank we pull up, you know, but have you issue. I've never There's not been never, no, no, whoever noticed. So this is a different fifty niggo. We hid nigger. We just like turning new ship off and we just start doing it for the homies. The niggas was like, what's this mind? Was three people in the crap, We're just doing it. Those people like what is this song? And we did it. We just stopped performing for them and so it's time to get off because we didn't even have to really before, but were like, oh yeah, this hard. So that's how it happened. That was the first time. Yeah, the first time we blasted. That's one of the conversations on that our draw. Yeah, I would like to say awesome talk about it. I'm in that video. Yeah, yeah, yeah, you know, I don't show up like that. If you look at that video, a lot of loving. Yeah, I just came out. What I will say is that y'all brought the city together of l A right and in the in in the bay, like we supported y'all heavily because we never felt like and you know, this whole l A and they things sometimes get tricky where guys feel like, you know, the sound is uh, they took that all the l A niggas took that on. Baby niggas took this and this, They all niggas on this, and it's like we don't never truly come together. I felt like when you came along, y'all brought a lot of us together, right because because you was working with love, ran Sue Pilo myself, Um, you was working with us so heavy and then and we showed the love the same way and with EFFORTY grabbed you putting it putting on that huge record. I really y'all giving him this huge record and being part of it like that it created something different. Man. I was honestly, man, that was Bird's vision the whole time. He's like, man, let's just all be cool. And I think it may maybe rub some people the wrong way because you know it maybe was against what you know, maybe they we wasn't going against normal the way we do anything in that business, you know what I'm saying. And they can't be looked at as they can be looked at as what they think they're better than are they are. They're gonna try to rewrite this or they're gonna make it. Whatever it was. The whole point was just like, naw, fuck them's us because when we get together, we when not like we. The problem with California is this right here. They think it can only be one king. That's always been the problem with California. They don't say kings out here, and it stops to growth. No, like me, when I say I get cracking, like I become the guy out here, I don't say Now I'm not doing records with niggas. I'm like, send all that ship, let's run it up while we got somebody to give a funk about, because they'll swap us out in a minute. Now you get hot, Now you get hot. You need one here, you got one. It's actually a very Southern way of thinking, and it's why they've done what they've done and yeah, my roots is from Louisiana. I guess I don't know, and I'm around some good guy that it may look like it's a different way, but really think about it and just go look at what's in the paint, the black and white, the numbers is when I when I start going with Diamond and start going, we said we yeah, we got a club. Now y'all pulling up? How many y'all got with y'all? Yeah, they're good now when they get him here here because we look cool, right, fuck them, I'm saying. So that's that's why I think the bay rocks with us so heavy, because that's how y'all move to a certain extent, it's better than that. Yeah, but I think it's better because we don't have back then. We don't have the color. I don't have the gag bang ship right, which is is to be respected, right. But I need to stop. We need I need to stop that ship. Though. Man, I've been I've been really like trying to say something different to my homies and all of them from all levels to executives, the streets, whatever we're doing. Man, that ship is for that. Don't give me the rules. I didn't I didn't subscribe to that, so that don't come here, Like I've been really spreading that around the nigga's brod, I'm in the music business. I don't deal cracked, so don't whisper around me. Well, this is not that deep. We're selling intellectual property. Bro, I don't understand why everybody is so discreet and and so we're like, bro, no, I don't like everything. I got kids and ship that's deep. Like I got you know, a village of women that I have to like make sure they're okay. That's deep. They've tried to make this that. Not that I don't respect that, but if I want to get into that, let me go over there and get put on. And those are the rules. No, nigga, we're not dealing crack here. Shouldn't be this deep, bro, this should be real deep all the time. So I've been kind of trying to like and I'm not trying to it's not tougher then this is not any of that. This is more so like not really want it gets to chill out because if we do it, if we do it the way that that I'm that I'm talking about, we probably can all make money instead of niggas just watching niggas get popping and hoping they reached down. Why that's not. I don't like shopping by myself. That that's not that. I'm like, well that's not. That doesn't make sense. No, I don't come from that. So now I think people get it now that everybody's went through this year of having to really go against their labels and find out how much the streams is and have to go really you have to get back just back in the in the grarded things and really do for yourself. The labels making you gonna shoot your own videos that they're they're making you figure it away and then if you get it right, this it is in that, and I'm watching people struggle with it. To me, I don't know no other way. So that's why I'm like, I don't understand the problem. No that I'm comfortable. This is no. This is what independent is. This is what really goes like y'all been able to have been spoon fed, but it also goes to a level of professionalism too and understanding everything that you do. Know. I don't even think it's you don't you're not, you're not. I think that's kind of like because you're not missing on any level of your infrastructure. And so when when the guys that can't survive in this type of space, they are missing on a certain level of their infrastructure that they just don't understand. I wish, you know, I can say, hey, man, like try it, this wire, this is and that. But just that hasn't That's not been the way it's been out here. You know what I'm saying. I just won't. I just want people to like, look, don't be nervous, don't be nervous. Don't because man, I know, but I told y'all we've been saying this for a long you know, rt be money. Your life changed when you say hello, nigga, we changed it like that. Hey, I don't like you. They don't you knowing that they said, Hey, it's funny because because because uh me and Jay we had a lawyer at the time at the time, and so we because it's the O G lawyer O G like Errol Smith representation o G type, like he big money. So we like, well, you know, we tell him, we say, well, look, this is the new deal we want to do, and this is what we want. And he said, why are they gonna give you that sh shoot me the go to gunfight, all right, this is the guy that god. He said, why are they gonna give you that? Like with this place, Why are they gonna give you that? And I said he thought JA was a little punky little. I said, because we're gonna ask him. He said, all right, whatever, okay, all right, you're the one. He called up two days later he said, I don't know what you said that those people up there, man, but they're gonna give you everything. And uh was zone O, motherfucker blesten. Man, it feels good more your shoulder. But the benefit of betting on yourself, man, on yourself. We are bro, we are blessed. We are blessed to be able to create somebody air man. Let's let's not let's let's don't even I don't even know how it feels. That's just a I hate to not be able to grab a gift, right And and we really don't take the time to appreciate that that time last to literally wake up and be like, oh yeah, it is like that know that and that and that's there's people go up. There's people out here going through some fucked up times. Called me in the morning with like the thirty things he didn't picked out of the sky, like hey man, and then and then and so just so just imagine though, like that's that's your reality, right. So to the outside man, they're like, man, well I gotta go flip this frod. Yeah, you know, I gotta go listen to that guy listen and that. So when I like, when I get to like, yeah, man, the touring's down, and a man just like, man, this real ship happens. So that's another reason why we are not selling act. This ain't stop. I don't care what they taught us. No, it don't have to go nothing like that. If we started company and we say, let thirty thirty thirty and we're gonna find t werena five for lawyer, we're gonna have five, We're ready to sell. We could do that right right. See, it's not that deep. It's never gonna be that deep till we started making Indeed, So this transition right from producer rapper uh two now coffee you know, I mean hold on, got it, got the bad and I mean ground coffee breakfast blends. Yeah, that's great. Hour the originally got a CBD as well. Yeah, so this don't got nothing in it because I thought I was gonna tweak off this. No, you're not gonna You're not gonna tweak at all. That's what that is. It's just another way to get it from the looking for the tweet. Now I gave you that bag, I gave you another for the best weed in the town. But no, no, no, So what puts you in the space to say, Man, you know what a new coffee? Uh? The music? I right, the music, the music I was doing, but I had changed like the whole way out in my process. Instead of recording the night, only recorded in the morning. So in the morning, this is what I noticed I was doing. I was smoking weed, have a cup of coffee. I made it where I'm gonna wake up and do this and then from this time this time. I'm gonna do this because I wanted to do all these things, but I knew my I lacked organizations. So I said, fucking I'm just gonna really write me out of schedule. I'm gonna work on my music this time and work on this from this time, and record from this time and this time. So during that process, I'm like, man, what am I gonna call this? Because it was just different for me to style of music. I was waking up and just talking about the first thing I was thinking about as just as opposed to being at night. I hadn't been loaded all day, and it just was a different thing. But I felt this different balance, you know what I'm saying. My life was just changing. I'm like, ship, Let's call the ship Coffee because it's gonna be the name of the albums. It was more so like, let me figure out a way that I can keep a three month income coming off an independent sale. It was a math play, honestly, and I was like, I know what I generate streams, this, this, and that. I know this can't go like this boom boom boom. I can set up a few of these throughout the year. Really, That's how I started. So I started liking the Ship and I had I'm like, I'm doing the music and I'm like, okay, cushion, orange juice. I'm like, man, what what what I wonder? Why is it where it started? Orange us coming been cracking. I'm like, well, fuck it, let me at a coffee. I want to make sure I have some merch, make sure I have some things to go with this that you know, just build it out. And that's when the brand shout started. It was like, well Ship, what kind of coffee could I do? You went down the rabbit. I was like, well Ship, I don't want to do weed coffee. That could be different. There's some homework on that legal Ship was weird. CVD coffee was untouched. Nobody was there. So it was like, well Ship, I could put to spin on coffee. I'm new, I'm I'm a new face. Nobody over is even over here in this all little artists are doing different kind of drinks, like, well Ship, let me just figure out how to do it. And then went through the process of learning started and Ship got the bags in front of us. But that was during the process. It was more so just stemming off of trying to build off of the music. Yeah, what I'm saying because I think that's the that's the biggest thing too with with music, right, I tell people at this point, the music is free to a certain degree. Right, We're gonna make our money off streams. They chopped that Ship off what they chopped off, But it's about being able to use the music, which is the cool actually sell everything else. And it's always been just merched. Right. Everybody's like I'm gonna tell the teacher, I'm telling hoodie, which is all good because people want to represent that, But what about these other things that we can sell, like this coffee right, like this has a price point right no matter what. People to drink coffee that love coffee. They may not even know who problem the rapper is, but they just like somebody else who did no problem to rapper was drinking it. It was like, men, you should try this. Yeah, we wanted, we definitely want the brand to not I wasn't even telling people at first. It was more so I just wanted to stand along, like I like the name to kind of speak for it, but theah man, like I wouldn't. I really looked back that, like I went through this rebrand thing just mentally in my life and I was just changing, and I looked at like instead of looking at all the wrong ship that we probably did, Like, what did I like about the money would run? I was like, well, the smart thing a product got created may have not been legal. The trap got moment and made millions of dollars for somebody, somebody right right right. It was something that was already there, but we didn't know what it sounded like. Coffee is there, weed is here. We don't know what them together sound like. Well, let's create the sound of it. Let's create the universe. Illo how we did with and you're generally are genuinely part of that. Yeah. Yeah, I get up in the morning. I was want to start about meeting all these new people, like just you know, they noticed that I was smelling like weed. Thought, so, you know, my yoke alone the legs, And I'm like, man, ship, see what I'm doing. You know, I met so many people just having my I remember I don't some high socks that a ween leaf on it on all the all the guys came over to me like sure love those socks. Man, you'd be surprised. So I'm like, wait a minute. It's like a secret society. It's not so secret anymore. But I'm like and then I noticed, like I'm seeing the same people every day like here. I'm like, but they all look hella comfortable. They look comfortable. They look like they just said that they want to be here. It's not like I need to get here to start my day. You can tell them ones, No, they're sitting there you know, Capital conversation. It's just and then I start seeing the world and I went on tour for the first time and I actually really saw Amsterdam. Was like, whoa, this is real. That that was last year right around this time. That was the first time. I want to aswer that that was my first time overseas. What exhibit Yeah yeah, I remember that, yeah yeah, right before it closed up. I got to see it one good time. Oh man, it was great, bro, it was it was he was and he was in the space right, he's in He's in the space, the CBD cannabis space. Right, he's in the case. He's he's in the boy He's Yeah, he's in the cannabis. You got a chance to really see it up close from a professional and a professional like yeah, we all seen at the houses, meaning like even with the show m a professional. Yeah, he trying to rock you for who you are, little nigga, the big nigga in my show. I'm I'm sipping yeah. And then just watch it go and to just to know that, like oh, breakfast, the whole ship I had, you know, I all my tours I funded, so it was different. You know, I had to pay style as we had to make sure my folks. I'm security too. It's like it's just different. I actually just got to just come and just experience tour at a high level because he's not going nowhere. Were no book, We're not doing it, so I got to see it fly right, like, oh yeah, fuss with this. I'm like, okay, But I had no idea that the shift I was rapping about was sitting over here. I had heard that. I didn't see this the people. I got to sit out there and turn it on because I had done all the music by there and just sit there and smoke and the water by ILF. Oh yeah, I'm not even talking. I'm not even talking to that. I don't even know what's going on. This is crazy to me. I'm like, how did I I didn't even It's like, oh ship, and I'm like, oh, this is called green door, green hours. Oh this is problem already setting U to play when I get back, Like, I'm gonna make these coffees. I'm waiting for him. Who straight like that? So how has that business been for you? We are the coffee man is fucked up right now? Yeah? Man, that ship if we had had so many issues banking issues, bro, Like they really try to keep us out of that business man. Yeah that like not marijuana. I'm not even talking about that. Just that ship making so much money, bro, they're trying to no, no, so your banking gotta be just right in anytime, and that like they try to act treat it like his weeding's not. And then you know, black man, you know, I got black people calling and just when I send black people in this company, and before all of the racial stuff got big, like you know, after that, they was trying to fix the ship faster. But before that, oh well, we had to took like as it took like about eight months to a year to even get a bank to pick us up. So I was man shout out to Chase inform the man he got the shop to role in the merd Park. It was really like I gotta busting him out of there. But it made it where this is the exclusive black coffee shop now out here. So that's the only they sold out. But he was like, man, we need some more to keep coming, like ship all right, bring some more here. So I was able to like really put him in cash after it's just like white. It was like a mix tape. It's like it's like ship out of done. Before the principals, I was right hold and then the ship and I'm like, man ship, you know what, I'm gonna shoot videos that just lets it's running in. Let's go. So then we were able to get the bang and then was gone. I wasn't ready no more. I saved something for the months though, I'm gonna give them out like twenty four free bags and this first shipment. I appreciate being one of the guys. Yeah, yeah, I appreciate. You know. You gave me a mug and I know you gotta smoke on the mug. You don't even I just I just want no, don't know, I don't. I'm gonna try. So that means I'm gonna leave you and need a couple of couple of buds. Yeah, definitely, you know what, and I'll make sure you know what. I make sure Steve set you up a real nice back to Yeah, you know, start a kid and support my guy. Put it on the ground. Bro. Let's tell you it's kind of like this. You might bump and just some real use, some real fly people coming in and out there. Because I know I didn't notice many people smoked weed and drunk coffee. Man in a different level of places. Yeah yeah, man, Well we don't want to keep you long. Brother, Um, you know your family more than you're welcome, consuc come on, but we gotta you know. Valentine has a segment that he likes to ye shown that you know something you just want before you do this, you got to really be a part of this got a great part of this show. Man. It's called I ain't saying on that no names right and the story can need to be funny or funked up? Are both right? And you tell your story. You tell your story without saying the names, but you give enough information to where people was like, okay that such and such from the such and such from the such such? Do you feel you feel? Man, dude this I know you got a lot of I know you got a nah, it's just I need a good one though. Now I'm just saying it's like I don't know names. Well, okay, that's what I give you because I can't give you like nobody naming the way. So it's got to be like a on one experience there because we could be can I give the other people's no I ain't saying no name. You can give their gender. You know, you know Becky with the good hair, you know what I mean, my nigga with the Lord Jesus part. Little fun that was gonna go almost dropped it. I'm gonna take it fun. I'm gonna take it's gonna fun. Damn. Come on, dude, you got me sit there flying down this a holiday went that uh okay, before it was on, but it was like a little bit on, but it was, it was on, but it wasn't on. Uh sure, lady m she uh not from out here. She was out here. You know, I'm moving around trying to get herself started or whatever. And you know, somehow we end up, you know, talking or whatever, and then I end up going over to our place and she's spoken in the language or whatever, but like, why don't you ever talk like that that we have different conversations, and then I end up you know, we we we can't. We got intimate, you know what I'm saying. Yeah, um, And I didn't know at the time that she was probably with one or the other one of us, and like a little thing that was blowing up out here. And I think that's why me and somebody else. I didn't get along, and I'll just get stopped. There is I tell anyone is that it did? I do it right? I'm trying to y'all want to know. It's your story. You get it, I get it. I think I'm playing it too safe. You definitely play this. I don't want to. I don't know. You're definitely playing it safe. But I know what it is. It goes back to our initial conversation about some of the things that's different in WRAP than they are in R and B. That's why I'll be trying to sing with y'all. Listen and you listen. You write that R and B two definitely right there are made me come to Lampline people. People don't know this. It's a fun fact. The only feature on the t G T definitely the fourth member of tv T for sure. You're just gonna kick me off the group. Okay, cool, bro, I'm actually I'm listening. I wasn't there right right like you, I'm I'm lazy bone. What's the one that when I was in jail? Yeah, but like he's the silhouette on the um, crazy wishing, flesh, flesh, flash flash boned. T G t he's because we're going, because we're going. Uh. Yes, Steve Lobel, he's the glue together together. I see Steve every night. What the fuck running around trying to find him niggers. He'll be trying to find him niggers. Steve was everywhere a good guy, good guy. We're working, were working again, I've been you know. Um, I'm still I don't care. I still want. I want to get the grou back together. But you know, flesh wants to put I want to see the five R man get back like all that he fights. Don't think that fight for for fun. I'm not going to don't need to fight for fun to sway his judge. He is what he thinks. Okay, is exactly. But listen, it's a new way. You know, we can just send the vocals and put it together. You know you don't have to sing all the same. Listen because you know what, man, Listen, you know what man, I was there, Okay, it was man great and listen, I get it. Man. I know everybody want to swing. They dick and all that. Man, put that sh up, everybody, just everybody. I'm like me, bro im myself. I'm not talking to you. I'm just in general, I have to humble myself in a lot of situations. I know I did a lot of things wrong. How the types of honors for that, But doesn't mean you destroyed nothing. You just grow and learned. As long as everybody is willing to own on on their moment of ego you know what I'm saying, and and be willing to like you said, stop swinging long enough to make something historical happiness. I get it. It's a big, big business, man, I understand. Man. Let's just listen it. Listen, bro were singing song. Niggas got real kids. I know nig's got baby mamas and all of that ship. We gotta get listening on some man ship. We gotta start, man, Man, we gotta start showing better. We gotta do better. Better. Man. I saw another reason why that music for me works now, because it's like I feel like, let me tell you why, instead of like, man, I think you should do this, let me let me just fucking I'll hang myself. Yeah, this didn't go right for me. Won't you try it this way? I did this this way because damn, and I slipped through it like this. Blah blah, blah. But at the end of the day, bro, it's just it's not just deep. But we get paid to to be art. Man, nigg has better chill out, man, I know Nigga's got I'll see this world has shown and this bigger things going on. Sure we'll look y'all. Man, this is Jesus. This has been the Army Money podcast. Man, we didn't this and turned into to a real vibe. Don't spot spot. I'm a second hand. You know what I'm saying. On that second hand, we get on me. You know what I'm saying. Put it out So I didn't want to smoke at all like that. Oh it's cool, you know, feel pretty good about myself this ship. Thank you all for tuning in. Man, this is the arm By Money podcast. And thank this is Mr Valentine. We had the authorities on R and B. And this is our brother, this is our loved one. Um, this is gifted. This is the problem. Man. We thank you man having me Man, Man, yeah yeah, Man, and let your brother money. M H R and B Money is a production of the Black Effect podcast Network. For more podcasts from I Heart Radio, visit the ir heart Radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you're listening to your favorite shows, don't forget to subscribe to and rate our show, and you can connect with us on social media via at R and B Money podcast or at The Real Tank or at j Valentine