INTERVIEW: Teddy Swims Talks New Album, Toxic Relationships, Name Origin, Being In Love, Stevie Wonder + More

Published Jan 27, 2025, 4:18 PM

The Breakfast Club Sits Down With Teddy Swims To Discuss New Album, Toxic Relationships, Name Origin, Being In Love, Stevie Wonder. Listen For more!

Wake that ass up in the morning.

The breakfast Club warning everybody is t J n Vy Jess hilarious, charlamage, the guy we are the breakfast club Ess is out today.

Lauren's holding it down.

And of course we got our niece, Nola Hill, and we got a special guest in the building.

Brother, Teddy Swims.

Hang man, swim.

I'm honored here, man, I'm fine, happy to have you, really really excited dude.

We we did.

Our album lease party last night though, so uh you know again, excuse my drinking for you.

Don't drinking early in the morning.

You see that one over lest you be on the way?

What all right?

Why out here telling my business?

Sorry?

How about you say?

I was like, we need to drink.

Well, congratulated drinking a pregnant woman?

How you feel?

First of all, stop, I don't.

Have you got a man's gonna get pregnant without a man?

Oh god, it's read the whole situation. Let's start. Let's start. Can we go back to the guys from my baby all the way? Yeah? I have one other way? Absolutely, Yeah, you're drinking with a pregnant man's.

Early tell us about yourself, Teddy.

Man, that's so loaded.

Just who are you?

I'm my daddy's son.

There you go.

That's about it really.

From I'm from Georgia, from from about thirty minutes east of Atlanta and Connors, Georgia, Dale County, and you know, singing songs and I'm a good, good good boy.

It was very soulful, soulful voice. Did you grow up in the church.

Yeah, so my granddad was a Pentecostal pastor. I didn't grow up singing in the church a lot, but I you know, I definitely grew up with I guess you know, fire and brimstone for sure, man with the with the fear of God.

Yeah you know what I mean.

And you're afraid to sind Oh no, no, not not these days.

I mean, but I'm just talking about like back in the day, it was like a very.

Yeah yeah, you know, like what like like girls don't get haircuts, you know, girls wear skirts, men wear jeans like that kind of thing.

It was really real kind of tight. And I mean I'm very fortunate.

I guess I feel like I still subscribe to so many of the beliefs. I mean, not the beliefs, but the like the principles of you know, even the beliefs aren't there.

I do love that my my granddad was.

As I was growing up with my granddad, he was he was like, we wouldn't even go to restaurants that would have a bar in the restaurant, you know. And not that he ever had a problem drinking, but it was just he stood on his belief so much. The thing that I was always with him was that I didn't subscribe to the idea that like telling people that they're wrong and this is the only way to believe something. I remember he looked at other churches and be like, I think that.

The only way he believed it was right. I remember.

I remember the first time I sang at his church. I might have been seventeen or sixteen or something, and I.

Remember him saying, like coming to me and talking to me and doing like you know, I.

Want you saying at the church, Bud, But man, all these kids are like break dancing and carrying on for the Lord.

And I was like, yo, pop, like nobody's broke dance since like my.

My mom was the child, and if they want to break dance for the Lord, like let him break dance for the Lord.

You know. He was he was very you know, stern, like just by the buck. If it wasn't in the Bible, then it was a sin, you know what I mean? Yeah, hell yeah, you know.

But my mom was worse than I was. I remember, I remember getting in trouble for all sorts of shit and be like, I'm like, I'm not doing any of that. She was thought I was doing all sorts of mess. And I mean, but she was a passers kid. My mother was the But listen, I.

Wanted to you know, when you talk about rebellious, you started off playing football, all right, So yes, you was.

Her family was a big football family.

Uh huh.

So what got you from football to singing.

My dear friend? Yeah yeah, yeah you play Yeah, and an offensive offensive guard as well. Yeah.

And but I mean I just five foot seven. Wasn't really happening, you know, I just.

High school school at the time.

Yeah, but I've been.

Five foot seven since I was in eighth grade, and so I thought they thought I was gonna be big, you know, and then it just it didn't happen. I started shooting up to six foot two and three and whooped my ass off the line.

What got you into art?

Like my differend Jesse, who still plays with me. I've known him since I was a little kid.

Uh.

His dad was always in bands and stuff and and and so we we started trying to experiment and play music and stuff. And his older sister was a musical theater and got us in the musical theater. And I just kind of fell in love with singing, and you know, I can I I was so I was hooked. I was hooked that singing has changed my life. I wasn't good always, but I fell in love with it, you know. And I remember telling my mom that I was I was gonna not do football anymore and I was gonna sing.

And she was so so hurt, like brought out all my memorabilia, like I can't believe you do this to us. We would playing football, you know.

And I remember my first little we did this show called Damn Yankees. I did like two lines in it, I think, and uh I after I got done, I come off stage and she was like, I'm so sorry, baby, this is where you belong rarely.

You are a star, you know. I did like two lines, you know, but it was what do you mean by you.

Weren't always good at it? Like, how do you you so we were so bad at it.

You know he was in a group.

Well no, just me and my buddy Jesse. He still plays guitar rights and he plays guitar in my band still. And we we used to just always, you know, as we were learning and trying to build bands together and do it as kids. You know, we just were really bad. You know, we sucked, like we're just not good, like you can still fine. Actually on YouTube. I was a senior in high school. My first band, Heroic Bear, is still on YouTube, our our first little EP. And I was in like a metalcore band at the time, and so you could still hear me like screaming away and like sing and if you definitely don't pull it up now in front of me. I'm just saying, you know, because I love a cringe. But if you want to hear it, if you hear it, dude, you're gonna be.

Like, Okay, yeah you got good.

Did you get lessons or did you practice or how did you just so good?

Well? I think I was so lucky.

I mean I was in theater, you know, and I had a lot of good friends and they were singing. But I think I think the biggest thing was growing up in the like when the YouTube era was first kind of starting, you know, and if I had questions or if I wanted to know how to sing, there was always a live version of singer singing, you know, so like I could I could watch like live videos of.

How how is how are they moving their throat, how are they moving their jaws? How are they second?

You know, I could I could just sit there and watch YouTube videos and see people singing live, you know, like I remember I was a credit recovery watching David, you know, like singing Craig David singing like and Credit Recovery. I would pull up like a YouTube proxy and just have it behind the video and just like listen to Craig David just I'm walking away. I could see, I could, I could listen to buy videos and watch their them play, you know, I'm singing.

It was like, do you.

Think you like, I guess saw somebody like Craig David and like mimic Tim and that's how you found your voice?

Oh totally yeah, yeah, we you know, I mean some of the best man, some of the best that ever did it. Marvin Gaye watching I was just reading man listening to al Green, you know this, this is like the these are.

I mean, it doesn't get How do you figure.

Out what you're like your warm spot was going to be?

Even genre wise because you're listed as a multi genre vocalist, people put you in R and B, country.

Rock and pop.

So how did you At what point did you know like, Okay, it's going to be a mixture of all this or did you try different things?

I think I think I was just I love I love this instrument so much. You know this this I was.

I was so hooked on this instrument, and so whatever it felt like it would would work, I'd be I'm such a fan of this instrument. Yeah, if I hear or scream or or or saying or anybody doing anything with their mouth that I don't know how to do, I'm I don't mean it like that.

Know what you mean?

He stop?

He just can't stop. This is him.

Don't do that.

I mean we're just getting started.

I like it.

He likes it.

Keep going teddy.

Okay, see how that sounds that you said it.

I'm laughing to no.

So I mean I just fell in love with the instrument, and I was like, I want to I want to know how to do I want to know how to access that. You know, however people do it, whether it's screaming, whether it's opera, whether it's whatever it is. I want to be able to do that. I want to I'm so in.

Love with this this thing.

We're so capable of expressing emotion and lending you know, life stories that way, and I just fell in love with.

The science to it that I think people don't respect.

That's what I know you you're a real artist, just the fact that you keep calling your vocal and instrument Hell.

Yeah, man, it's it's it's such a muscle that and I think it's the only instrument that you can kind of take everywhere with you and practice at all times, you know. But it's also it's bound to you by your like your decisions or your like, uh travel, your sickness or whatever's going on.

You know.

It's it's always it's always ever changing and bound to what you know, what you did last night and wake it up at nine point thirty and sounded like shit the next day, you know, So it's it's always bound to you. And I think I think, I think, I think it's still like one thing in the world. That is like your thumbprint on the world.

You know, your your voice is is only yours.

You can you could with a guitar, or you could take the same amp, play the same lick with the same exact guitar and the same pedal and sound the same.

But with your voice, it's.

Like only you have that, you know, and it's such a special thing. And your circumstance and your your heartbreak and all that stuff is all a part of something that makes you so uniquely you.

You know.

And then you started doing these covers, right, and you started covering songs, and then you did one cover that started shooting up crazy.

So talk about that a little bit.

Oh, I think Shania Twain, I'm still the one was our like, that was the one that really kind of went crazy for us.

That was, you know, I love.

My mama and my mama loved Shannaa Twain when I was coming up. I loved Shania Twain too. That that was that was a real life changing one for us and I our first one we started out with was because June twenty fifth of twenty nineteen was the first time I never even expected doing covers, you know, online and and uh, we had found like the we found the the uh stems of Rock with You online and Michael Jackson. Yeah, and so it was it was ten years right after he passed. It was this ten year anniversary, and so I said, well, we should just do Rock with You by Michael Jackson used to pay homage to him and for the you know, and then and we uploaded it and it started doing well, and was like, man, we should just keep this.

I guess this cover train is kind of going. So we kept on for.

You know, the next few months, and I think, I think, I think the beautiful thing about starting with with Rock with You it started getting you know, like this said. The first day we woke up, we had like ten thousand views and it was so life changing for us. We like the boys, we're getting a hammered. This is sick.

And uh, I think I think it was.

It was such a weird thing because once it hit like this this critical mass of like maybe five hundred thousand views. I think people were looking at it and seeing the way I look and then seeing the rock with You, you know, and saying rock with You by Michael Jackson and me and and I'm you know, looking like an absolute redneck and saying like, either this is hilarious or this is actually really good. And I think for our benefit it was it was kind of both, you know, because just the fact that I was singing that song but doing it well was just you know, kind of funny and surprisingly good.

The first time I got put on you, it was actually in the barbershop because it was on YouTube and he had you playing, and I'm like, that is coming out of that, you know what.

I think that's a special thing for me.

And I mean it is I almost want to say it's an think, but it is one of those things that gets you attention.

Yeah, I think I think there.

I think there has been a I think there's been something that we have been able to lean in that that it doesn't look like what it you know, art doesn't look like what it sounds like, right, And I think that's been something that's been so beautiful for for me, is to be able to have such a mode of expressive voice and look like I make fart jokes, you know, and yeah, you know, because I know we all know what heartbreak is like and we all think farts a funny, you know, and that's that's just kind of my m O.

And it's not about what comes out you that's funny nowadays about what.

Can make you funny.

Kids make you look funny too, Curious curious.

That's why I got worried about you.

You tried everything with therapy.

Well, I've tried therapy.

Now there's uh, I've I'm you know, even as we're getting ready to o a kid, me and my girls have been doing even couples therapy too, which has been so wonderful and making sure we're coming in and having this child and the most healed communicative communicative good D what is the word?

You know? Uh?

Yeah, And we're trying to make sure we're doing it separately and and couples therapy and bringing bringing this baby in the you know, the right way and hopefully and well, I mean we're still gonna have baggage, of course, but most healed, safest environment possible. But I think I think name of the album that was was kind of to have that conversation and with myself, to get myself to go. I think there's just like been in generations past and even still there's this like connotation on therapy that we're like, so I know, we're not we're not allowed to we're not allowed to go to that, or we're not allowed to share our feelings or emotions. Yeah, you know, And and I just it's been life changing for me. And I did have even this in my brain and I was like, I'm not crazy. I don't need that'sh it, you know. I had this for so long that I was like, I know myself, I don't need nobody to tell me what's wrong with me, you know. And I feel like I feel like once I got it to it, it was so much different than I thought it would be too. And I feel like there was something beautiful about having that first album and not trying it and being in a place of turmoil on heartbreak with somebody that was made me feel like my feelings were invalid or not allowed to have and and having this part two coming out and being this thing of I've tried therapy, I'm back in love, I'm having a child. I've got some level of success in this and you know, we on the back of heartbreak, it does get better on the other side, you know.

And I'm just so grateful.

For Was it was you going to therapy?

Was that pushed on you, not pushed on you, but did your girlfriend kind of like influence you to do.

That or something you want.

I've been, I've been, you know again, I was, I was, I was. The plan was to have tried therapy after I put out the record. It was like kind of my promise to myself that that the first one, like I'm going to go to therapy. And I did push it off for a long time. But I think I think when we first found out we were kind of pregnant, she was like, you know what we should do?

We should do.

It was never to push on a therapy, like to me to have my own therapy, but I think I.

Think she's such a wonderful person.

I think she was just like, we should do therapy together as like a couple of therapies, so we make sure we bring our kid in. And it kind of once I felt how that was, I was like, you, I should do some therapy by myself, do you And she's like, I think that's a great idea.

So it was never kind of pushed.

It was kind of like I think she planted little seeds for me to man strong ass woman.

Come yeah, a strong ass woman.

Now.

I think she just kind of knew how to like plant plant a little seed for me to find it on my own.

Which is what it should be like. You know.

One of the things I read you talked about is you want to you're are you already back down south and left l A from the fire?

No?

No, we're in l A. Still, We're in the valley. And I mean also I think we're we're doing okay. We haven't seen like you know it was it was, had seen a little bit of smoke in our area, but we we haven't been home because of I don't want to her breathing that thing, you know, but I think I will say though, it's been so beautiful about that situation and my my prayers and prayers and prayers and so much prayers is going into that. And what makes me feel like I think us as a society's I feel like we can all be so jaded and so like tough and hardcore, but when when it's when a tragedy happens, you see how like quick people are to come together and love each other. And that that community in LA is like coming together and everybody's donating their time and their money and food and I don't know I just I haven't seen I haven't seen a place be that. You know, look, we really we we we unite when everybody's going through something together.

Yeah, I'm glad. I'm glad that that's happening.

You know, it makes me reinstills my faith in humanity that I know, when shit hits the fan, we all do love each other, you know, at the core of it all, we're all like, we love each.

Other because I think, regardless of if you black, white, gage s grade, rich, poor, when a mother nature hits none of us which is all of the mercy of mother nature, but at.

Least we look out for each other at the end of the day. And I think that's what's so beautiful.

Man.

It's this is like instilled my fate again. And like in society, I'm like, God, I love that we all have just pulled together.

And so, are you going to stay in la with the baby because you're gonna move down south?

You said, yeah, I mean, of course, I'm probably still gonna have to like rent in l A. I think I might still just rent, but I was gonna buy. And it's just spooked me. I want to I want to be able to like I might move back, you know, maybe to Nashville where I could work and still be like four hours from the parents if they want to drive up and see a baby.

But I still want my little boy to have like a little or girl. I don't know.

But that money in the South, man, yeah, you know, and your money goes far.

Baby had a little Southern accent, you know what I'm saying, Like, I want to open doors and you.

Know afternoon.

Ganging that's walking in behind you.

You know.

Donnelle Rowlins thinks that he's the reason that you're having a baby.

And he said that, y'all. I saw y'all on he was on his podcast.

He said, yeah, and you said you wanted to have a kid, and he told you that you was gonna have one.

But man, and this, I can't tell you enough how much like man when they say, don't meet your heroes, they was right. Donelle Rollins is a piece of ships, the nicest.

He's the nicest person.

You say about him.

I agree with you.

Your initial statement, but no, keep the rest of it. I want to hear that they'll be like, damn, bro, I love you. That's what been one of the nicest he sings me all the time. Man, He's like, he sends me we just talked yesterday, and uh he's He's my fucking.

Hero man Rollins.

Dude, he's such a nice.

You see when he was up here last time.

No, but he was just doing uh what was ra you? Yeah, I just missed him. We came in. I just missed him too, and he sent me.

He sent me he was on yesterday the day before or something like that, and he just sent me him.

Whose Yeah, but man, he's.

Why you don't have Donell tattooed New Year cock?

What you have?

He had Da Chappelle tattooed near his cock. Yeah, don't.

Day right here? Man? Actually?

What made you put date right there?

Though? I was just I don't have that much room laugh. He sting to do like, hey look at my No I did. I didn't. I didn't.

At the meeting like last year, he had like this gravy party and I got he was doing this open jam thing and it was cool and I got to meet him and I was like, hey, look, uh, Dave, I got a tattoo of you.

He was like hell yeah, you know. We tapped up.

About it and then I was like, I'm not going to trial, you know, and show you my tattoo.

Of course I also know what like you can show a picture.

Yeah, I don't know. Also then I don't want to. I don't want to think what he thinks, and that it's like too close to It's really not that close.

I'm not hanging that bad anyway. It's serious a couple of years.

So when a woman's down there, why are you satuated with this day?

What I'm saying is it's not It's not that close, dude, I'm not working with that much.

Man.

I thought that you said so now, yeah, he's but I thought you said it was the night of the MTV Awards that you found out. You figured you backtracked it and thought that that was the night that you conceived your kid.

Yeah, yeah, the the v m as when we conceived. Yeah.

So I had nothing to do with done now for real.

No, I didn't. After I I would.

I was in I was in Europe when I talked to Donell and we were talking about it.

That was before we knew we were pregnant.

Yeah, so I guess we might have been already pregnant at that time. You know, we were pregnant at that time, but I didn't find out until way later.

We were playing.

Austin City Limits, which was I don't know when do you guys know when we played October when we found out.

So I wanted, okay, the name Teddy Swims. We got it, We got you, we got you, got you to guess well.

I just handed that to I was like, I was like my mom would have no. No. I was just like, yes, man, no, not on a dirt road, but I mean it was paved. We had chickens, but in a fave we had chickens.

We had chickens.

Name Teddy Swims. Where did that the name come from?

I've been called Teddy forever.

My real name is Jaydon And I think as I was like going to a church and waiting tables and stuff.

And uh it just old ladies. That was tough. Jayson was real tough on them. They just Jamie James, you.

Know what, old ladies. Because for us, that's like Jane is.

I appreciate that. I don't really know how to responded.

That it's not that hard to cheat.

He heard, what kind of ladies?

Like, gosh, let me trying to avoid that.

Question, Teddy, which just you know that coin is you know, I've just been teddy. You know, it's our little Teddy. I just look like this without a beard for most of my life and that yeah, yeah, for.

Someone who I massage sexually, someone who is gonna me sometimes.

I've been just been switching it up lately, trying to think of new ones, like soft Winter in my shorts, like I've been thinking of new ones.

Someone me sometimes, Like you mean, like so you turn into this characters.

No, I don't know. It was.

I first originally found it on like this this this forum, which it was like it was like a every time swim does this swim becomes like you know, it was like it was like a drug forum I found it on. I was like people were saying someone who wasn't me, So it's like kind of like asking for a friend thing. I guess we just like added an ass on it swims like the plural form, and it was like my entire kind of group at the time. And then Teddy kind of slapped in front of it and it just eventually became Teddy swims like itself. Like it was it just kind of stuck, you know, it was like.

Swims was our unit.

And then it was like Teddy swims from like like Teddy Frum swims kind of situation, and it was.

Like, you know, just like he would maybe have like a.

Yeah, like an asap Rocky and Asap Ferg that swims was kind of our unit. So it was like Teddy swims, and then then it just stuck, can you actually swim?

No?

Wow, Jim, I don't know how.

To respond to that.

Yeah, yeah, I feel I feel like my face is getting read like the first I.

Don't know why.

I don't know, I know, I don't know.

You around your neck like mean something, represent something.

No, this is just a cute next Okay, yeah, it's like a yeah. I don't know.

I feel like like he was saying, you're outside looks so much different than what I thought you would look like from when I first heard you. I'm just curious as to like, what are some of your interests outside of music.

I'm gonna have to get back to you that because I don't know.

I've been. I've really I've really been.

I've really been in this place where we've been discussing like hobbies, you know, and I think of like I would like to have some of.

Them, you know.

I think it would be cool to have something outside this. I think I think being a father is gonna be the best thing that's ever happened to me.

Because of that, I feel.

Like I feel like I'm going to learn the how to be like President in a different way, you know. I feel currently there's I say this all the time, there's like a nine year old on TikTok who's better than at our job than any of the like to do all of our job, you know. And so I just always feel like I'm in this place of like, go get it, go get it, somebody else is getting if I'm not getting it. And even when I sit down and watch a TV show, I'm like, I should be I should be going.

I should be going, I should be going.

And I think I think what I'm really looking for that baby teaching me is that when I'm watching TV or shitting there, I know that being present with that child's gonna be the most productive thing I could be doing and.

Doing nothing at all with that child.

And so I think I'm going to make my home balance and my work balance all matter more in that way. And so I've been thinking about hobbies, but I think like I'm gonna be I'm gonna I'm gonna pick up hobbies at that baby likes like that baby wants to play football.

We're gonna be out there hit somebody. You know what I'm saying. I'm gonna be a damn coach.

Baby, I'm gonna you gonna see me like with my Netflix special, Like how like Snoop Dogg had.

The whole league going. That's what I'm trying. I'm gonna we're gonna we go be in that bitch that some what you're gonna do like that. I want to. I want to. I want to.

I want to be football coach, you know, or or whatever it is, you know, whatever whatever happens.

Cheerleading coach. I don't say, you really think it's a boy. Yeah, I hope.

So I didn't mention cheerleading cheerlead too.

Yeah, yeah, I just I just I got two little brothers that are eight and ten years younger, so I don't have to white poop off the balls, you know what I'm saying.

I think the first time around, i'd like a boy.

Yeah, I'd like it a girl right now, Like disciplines out the window for me.

I'm like, yes, ma'am, Yes, ma'am girl.

Yeah, wanted boys to but I ended up with all four girls.

I can't wait, man, my yeah, my dad, I'm one of four boys, and so he wants a girl, you know, And.

Were you a hope in a path life?

Like I was literally about were you a hope?

Like did you swim a lot the past life?

I was like maybe I was like.

A woman now where you know?

I was?

I was always, I mean I had my fun, like like after my last relationship before this one. It was the first time I was like single and famous, and I was like, this is cool. I had my little I swim down a little bit, you know what I mean.

But yeah, it's cool. I love you though, baby, But but I never I was. I was.

I was like a serial dater for a long time in my life, you know what I mean, like being loved and and and doing the same thing for a long time.

But I did have my fun before, you know.

Because they say, if you're a wope, you can't have girl. Yeah, you can only have a girl. That's why he has four girls.

You got girls too, and mid all right, I was very very sweet.

How did you know that your girlfriend right now was the one? Because you met her. You met her at a show, right, she came to one of the shows.

Absolutely, babe, you she's the one.

You see that girl, I've seen her if you're dating and like, what was the thing?

It was?

It like you saw her and you just knew.

I had been listening for music for a while too.

So my my dear friend Arsenior Archer, he's a producer. We went to high school together, and he's like, man, he came to my studio a couple of years ago. I was like, hey, man, I want to show you this girl I've been working with it. I listened to her song they've made. I don't think the song ever came out and I looked up and I.

Was like, whoa.

She was saw her?

No, like I love you. And then a couple of years later, I'm going back to Atlanta.

She was living Atlanta at the time, and her.

Roommate was like a fan.

She was like, Hey, my roommate, you know, wants to come to the show. We'd love to come to show.

Come see you. I was like, please come to the show. I would love to have you. I'll put you on the guest listen.

She came and shut and I said, you know, bold up a plate o snake and.

Like, what you say?

What did you say?

Teddy?

Shot? Hi? How are you?

And that was Hi? I love you immediately?

Aady, yeah, that's my first thing. I message a couple of years before that said shot, what's going on?

Like, I don't know you knew? You knew when you saw her?

You know.

So I think I think it's so important dude, to like and in relationships with anybody. Navigating relationships. Are just not the person to waste time with relationships. I think it's like even even with like even if if me and this person and we're both single, I'm just like, okay, let's get this. Let's just clear the air out. Do you find me attractive? I find you attractive? Do we do anything about that? Are we going to be friends?

You know?

Like, let's just navigate this before we're both thinking about it and I'm going home and I'm beating off and then I'm thinking about you.

But we're spposed to be best friends. And you know what I'm saying, let's not do all this. That's not let's not play. You know, I'm navigating conversation.

You know, I think I think women appreciate that. I mean, I don't. I don't know if it was that straightforward, but I think.

I didn't do that.

But I didn't say that.

If you think about it as I.

Didn't say that, I can say that's that's that's I'm saying just as an example of not something I would say, but as as as definitely appreciated, and.

If not, then that's cool.

We can both we can both acknowledge that we're attractive and also be pals, you know, the we're adults here. We can we can navigate relationships with beautiful women, you know.

Can I can we talk about some of this music on this new album?

Sure?

I'd love to you to leave it about four minutes.

I'm not don't check the text. You should have shut up not Your man is a very vulnerable record.

Thank you.

Have you ever really felt like you gave everything to a woman and it wasn't enough?

Yeah? Hell yeah, man. I I mean, I was.

I was in a place where I think it was important to start this one out like that. Because I was, I would have wrote this forever.

I was. I was in a place with somebody where my I know it's hard.

I don't want to talk about her in a way that because I now, as I've grown and healed and moved on, it's I I thank her for for what we went through, you know, and I'm grateful for that time and space that we had together that that pay.

But I was at the place here where I felt like I.

Was given everything and and my my feelings in my I was not validated or it was not enough, or I was crazy to feeling this way, or I was.

It was it was abusive situation. I don't know. I don't want to I don't want to say it.

Oh both man. Physically she was she was just not good. She was not a good person, and I don't you know, I'll never say it. I hope the best for her now and I don't want to say that.

You know. It's a it's a tough thing to talk about, like I won the best for her.

But yeah, it was a very tough thing to try to try to heal somebody, try to make space for someone to heal, try to give somebody everything and them to not You would think you would think if you had a if you had a passion, I'll just make it like this, you had a passion in your life, and you had somebody in your life that says you could quit your job and just focus on your passion.

I'll take care of the rest. You got it, and you don't do anything with your life. But you just go on just eat za eggs all day and lay around and blame.

Somebody for your shortcomings when you you had the opportunity to follow your dream and somebody that would support you with your dreams, and you'd be like so surprised to see if somebody had the opportunity to follow their dreams and they had everything taken care of. How many people would be like, if everything's taken care of, I don't gonna do shit anymore, you know. And and you can't. You can't put ambition and drive into somebody.

You can't. You can't, you can't heal nobody, you can't save nobody. And I've started to go on that tangent.

But from that situation, do you feel like you no longer and able because it's like, though you want to do something out of love to better somebody, sometimes it's to their own detriment.

Yeah, I think I think I Yeah, I think it's a It was an enabling at the end of the day, you know, I was doing something to help someone become but I think at the end of the day, I was enabling somebody to do nothing, and if that was inside of them, I was enabling that. And I think it's a common pattern, you know. But uh, I yes, I'm trying to heal and learn to not see somebody wants to be this and or see what somebody for who see somebody for who they are and not who I want them to be or think they should be.

That's even outside of relationships, Like, how are you handling just those type of boundaries now.

You're uh, we're you know, we're working on boundaries at all.

I'm learning those. Yeah, that's a huge step for me. Just boundaries is in general, it's it's a it's a it's a it's a full time job just navigating having them, you know.

So do you feel guilty when you're like, no, I can't.

Yes, yeah, I mean I can tell you got a big heart. But people will take advantage of hell.

Yeah, And I'm also grateful to be I don't want to say I'm grateful be taking advantage of that.

I'm grateful to be available.

You know, everybody's gonna use you, but don't let people misuse you a man.

Yeah, yeah, I heard this advice from this always meet and greet one time and this beautiful this lady, she says a therapist. She said, the way people the way people will treat you as a reflection of the way they see you. You know, the way people treat you as a reflection of the way they see the way you let people treat you as a reflection the way you see yourself. And that beautiful And it's stuck with me. Man, it's such as I'm learning boundaries.

Yes, I have a last question for you. In meeting you and just hearing you talk about first of all, it's just such a nice person. I was reading this interview you talked about because your girlfriend's black, and you talked about like when you guys are in the South, you get like looks from people and like it bothers you because love should be love. How do you guys, now you're about to bring a baby into the world. You're so positive. She seems so amazing, but the world is not always like that, Like what's your Like, how do you defeat that? Because you're really a really nice person, Like it breaks my heart.

I mean, you know, thinking about that, I hate, I hate how much she's go through and she's you know, so her her dad's black and her mom's white. So she she's she's gone through this, like tells me about stuff all the time, about like, you know, how she felt not wide enough or not blacking up, and how much her her world in her life has been such a I guess, like a juxtaposition in both sides, you know, feeling like she wasn't quite accepted by either side, you know.

And so there is not a story.

I won't I won't tell you her story because she's better saying it than I will.

I'll never tell you her story. But I see how like.

How beautiful she is and and and how how I guess how like elegant she navigates being who she is. She's the most incredible human being I've ever met.

Man for you all to talk to. I love Lamar Johnson Like.

Black and White.

The song of Money Loan that titles is a little on the nose, don't you.

Think, Yeah, Yeah, yeah, I mean yeah, I.

Think I think I think that the point of it was kind of the the.

I think to the core of love in itself is black and white, like it's a it's a black and white issue.

Love is love.

And not love is not love and loving, whether if it's a person of a different color, shape, eyes, uh, sexuality, same sex, whatever it is. I think that the thing was trying to say that we no matter what, we could come from different worlds. It's it's a true, I guess Romeo and Juliette story, you know, kind of is the basis of it is that like you know, we we come from different places, we come from different cultures, we have different things.

But when you're in love, man, love is love and and that should be enough.

And that's really there ain't nothing right about that, man, It's just love.

You know, Love is love. Maybe you know I.

Love that record and it's a good stamp because you know, money Long recently went viral for saying she's not writing soulful songs for white artists.

Did you see that?

I did not. I'm glad I got that one before.

She said exactly.

To cut off.

But that shows how much your respects to you.

Maybe she hates that song and that's why she said.

She's I done fucking Teddy man, I'll not doing that again. When did she do that song with that long did you do that a while ago?

Yeah, we did it. It's had to be a few months ago now.

My dear friend Jeff Kitty and Mickey Echo was a part of it with us too, and we we like started working on it, and I remember, uh, Jeff Kitty as has been working with Money for long years and years, and he's like, man, should we see if if Mornie wants to do this song with I was like, I mean, yeah, that's like that's we'd kind of like to do a record like this.

We would kind of need that, you know.

I would be so stoked that she'd be willing to because I knew what I kind of wanted to say. But also I can't say that, you know without having money helped me say that, you know, but also without like relying too much, you know.

I think I needed to.

We needed to say that with you know, together, and so I'm just grateful she took that opportunity to say, I see what you're trying to say. I have you say that, you know, and and said it with me, And I think I'm so grateful for her because Money's just a legend.

Man, what a bad badass.

You also said you wanted to meet one of your musical idols, were Stevie Wonder You ever get an opportunity.

Yeah, you know, we haven't met in person, but yeah, yeah, and I got I got a chance to do a record with him too. So, uh, I think he's gonna put out on his next record.

I hope.

So, I hope it's gonna come out. I'm really excited. It's it's a good record. It's called Politics Player and uh yeah, which is such.

An honor to be on Steve Wonder record. But yeah, he did FaceTime. I'll tell you that. It's so funny. Man, he FaceTime. Yeah. And here's the thing. Here's the thing. He is actually blond, y'all. He this is true life. He was blond.

I'm saying people say it. People, there's a conspiracy that he's not.

Look, I'm telling you. I'm telling you.

I was on the phone with this I was facetiming this man and he said, he turned this, he put the camera around. He said, this is my son over here, and then he said I'm over here today He's pulled and he said, and this is my niece. And then he had he had phone facing her and for the next ten minutes of the conversation.

I look as far as you are. I looked at his niece.

And he.

Was holding up he was holding the camera like he was talking like he don't all season.

I did not have the heart's.

Blind she was.

She was sitting there.

Blind. She was sitting there texts on her phone.

I didn't have the hard to say, hey, I can't see you. Well, you know, my dumb ass man, my dumb that's the reason he called me because I was in Tokyo. I was in Tokyo and I had found I had found my favorite album, all time, best album ever Songs in the Key Live. I found a CD of it. It was a Tokyo version of it, like the Japanese version of it, and my dumb ass taxing him a picture of it, Oh my goodness, like an idiot, like he was gonna see it right right, Like I just checked him.

That's what I found, Bro.

I found bro.

Saying his face time. So I was like se and my fucking dumbass too, was like you give a touch. He's definitely he didn't see it.

Bro.

I don't think.

I just just to put all those things to rest, shut.

Down It's crazy.

All these years black people have been trying to figure this out and you are the one that solved the problem.

I just I just I just know.

I was looking at his knees about fifteen minutes against bemeditated.

You gotta go for him because you gotta go do elbows, bro, Yeah, you gotta.

You gotta come back, man, I got thanks for the record too.

Let's play the what you want to be even Real?

You play that one?

Yeah, man, he got joints that she got it with Coco Jones and Glorilla. I like funeral funerals.

Really, thank you.

What you want to hear?

Hamil to the heart is my joint though.

Oh yeah, no way, thank you.

I mean yeah, put it on forgive me on man, my dog brother investing the business man.

There you have it, any swim ye.

I appreciate you for joining us.

Thank you so much, laughing at me. I'm honored to be here, truly. Thank you.

Let's get into the record are you even Real? Feature and give you on It's the Breakfast Club, Good morning.

Wake that ass up in the morning.

The Breakfast Club