Word with me here, you know, BT, it's so low shout at oct no real call it what we see whole game?
Wait to batle b something.
Oh you can't stand on their own sle feet.
I already know you can't bother with me because it up with the squad of me.
They get anoder.
They called me.
He love by lovel he Love Paul Alert.
Welcome to the ball Us Show.
Podcasts available everywhere you get your podcast. Please to tell you the light subscribing say our YouTube page at ball Alert TV.
I go by the name of Fridy Simmons.
I go by the name you know BT.
See T with that living legend in the building. Yes, Jesus G. You have to snap with us, sir, Okay, snap it up. How you doing, man?
Man, I ain't never had a bad day in my life. I love what you said, my man. You told me I'm on the island twenty four seven, Sir.
We appreciate you pulling up on this, sir, and I had to do it.
Man.
We've been talking about this for a minute, so you know you my guy, So this this is special. This ain't just an interview, and this is special, Yes, sir, Adversity for sale. My first published memoir, Motivational Memoir, available in stores everywhere. Books are sold August eighth, but you can pre order it now if you haven't got it yet, you can pre order it now Audibles, Amazon wherever, and also your boy. I read the audiobook myself, so when you listen to the audiobook, it'll be in my voice.
Yeah. Yeah, it's been a little weird you in all these pages. Yeah yeah.
How long did it take you read all over?
About two three days? I think I'm sorry about the week.
I was about to say, yeah, but.
I was bouncing around, so I only had a sometain amount of time.
But it was cool though.
It was the craziest thing about reading it though, Man, it was very therapeutic because a lot of you know, because when you're reading your book to yourself, you're reading it to yourself. When you actually have to read it for people to listen, you have to go through the emotions of what you're reading. If it's an intense moment, your voice got to go up and all that. But it was very therapeutic because it was like a lot
of that stuff. I didn't realize that I had went through it, you know what I'm saying and got through it. You know, it was when you thought it was over, but you somehow way you figured it out. But a lot of that was things that I had put in the back of my mind and you know, just kind of put it on the shelf. And then when you now you got to come back around and face it, you kind of feel the same trauma that you did when you was going through it.
You know, the anxiety, It is a little it's a little weird.
So can you share one of those moments.
Well, lose my voice when I when I I didn't know how to perform because I just you know, I kind of taught myself how to do this on my own, so I was yelling a whole lot, right. It's basically I was doing like you know, small clubs where you have to perform on the speakers because there's no stage, so they don't really have a sound system. So I'm
wrapping over my vocals and I'm screaming, I'm yelling. And I had this show in a super Bowl I think it was like three or four something like that, and it was in Jacksonville, and I just remember just yelling and I just felt burnings and when I got back in the car, I couldn't talk, so I didn't want nobody to know I couldn't talk because I was freaking out, you feel me. So I kind of went through that process, and I figured out after I went and saw a doctor that I told my vocal course because I had
polyps on them. So imagine trappidize out. I'm semi working on thub motivation. I'm about ten fifteen songs in and I got to get a throat surgery, and I don't know. They don't know if I'm gonna either sound the same or either be able to talk. So your one foot in the street, you one foot out. You've got this opportunity to become a success because you see the momentum and you don't know if it's gonna work out. And then, mind you, I didn't have insurance, so I had to
pay for my surgery with a brown paper bag. Yeah, so that was embarrassing.
You know.
Did you have to change up your ways in which you took care of your voice after that?
Yes?
So, first of all, I got all the homies living in my house, Alpharetta and the mansion, right, and the mansion, the mansion and the crazy thing was like a shout out to Auntie Jan Jan does all the vocal culture for like Justin Bieve and all those people. So I had to go see her after I got my surgery, and she had me do all these and all that stuff. So I had to do this every day, right, and she gave me like a CD with the different exercise
I had to do. So I would be in my bathroom at the crib, you know, singing, you know what I'm saying, the homies walking by, laughing, you know what I mean. It was funny, but I you know, I was like waiting, embarrassed and h One time I was there and I was in the actual her office and we was doing the singing and the ups got walked in, right, so we got a package and then I'm singing and he turned around and he looked at me, and I look at him. He dropped the package. You got gez
in there singing? He like, damn, you know what I'm saying. So yeah, I went through that. It was it was.
I always think it should be a case study about you. I think you're the main person that came from the environment you came from and you made it right. I don't think the percentages are that high, right for what you had to deal with and overcome. How does that make you feel sometimes when you sit and think about that.
I mean, you know, it's crazy.
I think about it more now than I did then, because you know, I'm a strong believer in faith and a strong believer in God. But I really feel well, I felt like it then, but I know now that this was my purpose. This is why I was put on this earth, you know, to lead by example and to do what I do. Because I was I had been through so much stuff and I just didn't understand how I kept getting through it right because it wasn't me.
I'm not that smart, Like I'm not a genius in nothing.
But it's like I would just always figure it out. But it would be always when I took my time thought about it. My grandmother raised me to be, you know, believe in God like pray when you get in these situations, and I did that, you know what I mean, in some type of way, it always worked out, and I'm just like, you know what, this is my purpose.
I got to really take this serious.
So that's why you saw around recession, I started to really start to hone in and focus on who I was becoming, because before that, I was going through a lot of survivor's remorse, you know what I'm saying, Like it just kind of felt like I want to take care everybody. I want everybody to blow up. I want everybody to be great. And it's just like, you know, you got to walk that path alone sometimes, right, And that's something I had to come to grips with it.
So that means anything that you endure, you know, you got to deal with it, you know what I mean, no matter how much the pain how much, and people are scared to go through the pain, and sometimes the pain is what builds the character, right. And I don't regret anything that I went through. I just know that there's a wealth of wisdom that I have just naturally because I've been through so many things that were really like dire and life threatening and you know, and you know,
it's like a video game. If you lose, you don't get three lives, You only get one, you know what I mean.
So I think I played the game pretty well.
I wanted to bring up you talking about your homies, was living in your mansion and all this and how you wanted to help everybody. When did you know it was time to kick the homies out the mansion?
I didn't.
I got locked up on tour when I was on tour Whiz Khalifa, and we was doing like thirty thousand people a night, and I only took like the right people. I took two bus drivers, my camera guy, uh, one of the homies. It was security or to the homies, and security, my role manager, and all these people there I felt like were right for what I was doing because I didn't want to go out there and get any trouble. Mind you, I've been on plenty of tours
and things have happened, you know what I'm saying. So this was the one time I wanted to do it right and something happened in Oakland, and they pretty much blamed me. I'm the only person on the tour that's capable of this, so they say, And ten of us got locked up. They locked my whole bus up, and it was ten million dollars in bill. I had to sit in jail so I can get everybody out.
You got everybody out, yeah, I had to, And I didn't get dollars.
Yeah, it's a million dollars a piece for Bell, so ten million dollars and I had to sit there and talk and get everybody out because in my mind, you when they you could have got yourself out. No, they came to get me the first day, but you stayed.
I stayed.
First unselfish thing I ever did. You know what I'm saying, First un selfish thing. And we'll talk about that, Lord Lawyer in a minute, because I got me in a lot of trouble, But first unseelfish thing I did. And what I will say is the people that I thought that was in place that was gonna make sure my family was straight round. This was going on just on some homeboy, I got you to me called you know your people if they need anything, you know your son. I didn't get that. So when I got out, I
was I was mad. You feel what I'm saying. I was just like, I can't do it no more. But I gotta just I got I gotta do what I do, like I can't depend on people to do. And I just was talking about this and the joint with the homies, like expectations as a motherfucker, and I can't put my expectations on somebody else. I know what I would do in a situation like that, So I can't even be mad.
I just got to move on. So I didn't make a decision.
Life happened, and it made me make that decision because now I don't have a choice.
Right because now my careers wobbly.
You know, my finances is getting tricky because now I got to spend all this money get these people out of jail. No mind, they still got to go back and forth to LA to go to court. I got to get everybody.
Lawyers, you know what I'm saying, because it's on my wife.
So and then a to mention all the millions of dollars that I lost, you know, for my endorsements and my endorsements and deals that I had and my job at Atlantic Records, all that went out the window. But I'm not mad because why I was when I got out. If you there was a time, if you saw me, you know, I was like, you know, I was mean mugging everything. I was gang banging the records. You know what I'm saying, Like, I just I was.
Just got into your people and you thought they had your.
Well, I just had a lot of resentment because I had expectations, and that's not their fault. You can you know what I'm saying, I can't expect that, and I did that, But what it did was show me. And I remember getting down telling my business part. I said, Man, I'll never be a part of nothing else in this world if I don't have ownership, because they took it all, you know what I'm saying.
And thank god, you know what I'm saying.
That I was able to still get out of here and do what I do, but everything that I was banking on for my you know, for my exit plan, they took it right. So now I'm just like, I ain't doing nothing else. I ain't put my name on anything unless I got ownership. And that just started that mentality. And then when I started to move like that, people just started stopped coming around naturally, you know what I'm saying.
They kind of like, I don't.
Really you know, you wasn't aligning with the energy an right right, right, and.
It kind of just felt like, you know, I don't really want to be around that. And after a while it was just me, did.
You take on any mentors in that time?
Yeah?
I took on a lot of mentors because I started to understand that I had to go outside of my comfort zone to find the answers that I need, and that's that's one of my gifts. Though I'll do that all day and I don't know what it is. In my mind, I can like say, if it's I could be in a situation and I just go through my phone, I go straight to that person, I'm go and call them, but I see how I talk to you. And what it did was it started to open me up to see other people's perspective because.
They're not biased.
They're not like in it where they're taking a side or they feel a certain way. They're just like, well, you know if it was me, I would you know, so on and so forth. I'm not gonna just take their information to run with it, but there's bits and pieces in it. I could be like, yeah, you know what that applies to me? And then that's just how it started moving. And the biggest thing though, I had
to really give myself permission to evault. That's where it changed that because I like, the whole time I was fighting, you know what I'm saying, I was like, I ain't never changed it this way, And it's like life happened. I'm like, yeah, I need to figure this out. And then I had to say, yo, look man, you you've done enough. You kept it a solid you can keep it, but you gotta start thinking about the second half of your life.
What are you gonna do? You know?
And if you look at a lot of these guys now that are that are getting you know, like being a rappers, like the most ain't a job in the world, you know what I'm saying, So you know, and that's why I was so passionate about the bank Rove Freshes and Adobees and all, because getting there is like five percent. You're gonna be famous, you're gonna be all right, you're
gonna be financially set up. But staying alive and staying out of prison, it's like the other ninety five percent you gotta navigate because all of that come with it, right, And I think that's the hardest part to navigate, you know, because we're all talented to an extent, but you still got to navigate it, you know what I'm saying, Because if you get out here and you're moving around the world, you're not example, like look at Nipsey Awso you know, what I'm saying, and just like.
You know, it was a good dude.
You can't foresee that happening, especially in an environment with his own people, with our own people.
All the environment that those things happen. Right. So there's that I wanted to ask you.
Is this around the time when you started thinking branding wise, because that's when I started.
Seeing the alcohol right. Well, what it was was shout out the tip.
He called me one day when I did the snowman right, he said, man, that is genius. I didn't know what the hell he was talking about. He said, you got a brand. I said, what, you know what I'm saying. So in my mind I'm thinking it's like a street thing. But then I started to be like oh, and then I started to see the Snowman everywhere. I got for wearing the too. But that just opened my eyes to
what branding was right. And then with the uh with the alcohol and things was I was just like, Yo, if I'm gonna be out here and I'm gonna be talking about these things, I can't drink them for free, right, and then you can't pay me to drink them, because if I got my own bread, I don't need you to pay me to do what I want to do. Now, mind you, if you want to get into business with me, and not just because I want the money, I gotta like the I gotta like the brand or the product.
If I believe it like you believe it, then I'm down. But it has to be equity in that. And that came from being locked up the last time in LA and them taking everything right because now it's time to start moving because I had belvedere dials before, like they gave me money to promote bever deal. But it's like it didn't make sense, you know what I'm saying, because my likeness is forever for me. So if I build your brand and I walk away, you go get somebody else.
You just took my whole base and got them associated with your brand and then I walk away with nothing. Like we were more than that, So you got to give us something because we're putting all into this, Like I'm going into the clubs in the middle, I'm in fuck head, bankhead wherever, and I'm promoting this brand for you. You can't go there and get the type of respect them to get, So you gotta pay for that, you know.
And I would suggest anybody, you know, not take these capsule deals or these you know this upfront money.
It's just like nah.
I when I did Ave, I was like, yo, listen, I want to do the deal because I loved the tequila. And he ended up being one of my mentors to shout out to kend Austin.
He went on to do.
Proper thirteen with Connor McGregor, a terrimony now with the Rock. This was my mentor and I told him, I said, you know, I got to have some equity. I gotta have, you know, got to have some skin in the game.
And can you break down equity for like the you know, the young people who really don't understand what that means.
Right, So this is my water brand, rate of Divines feud right, and I love it great, by the way, but I couldn't walk around and drink this water every day just to get some upfront money. Equity is everything that you build in business, that you scale. There's there's a goal of selling it and getting out of it. When you sell this, I need my proper chunk like you're getting your proper chunk. So I need a percentage of what you guys are going to sell this for
even if it's points. So that means basically, like where somebody would give you one hundred and fifty thousand dollars too, yeah, to drink this and talk about and post it on your Instagram. On the back end, you got the potential to walk away with one hundred and fifty million. I'm saying it's a different game, right, but you got to have more skin in the game because you're not taking
any money. You're saying, I'm gonna bet on myself and I'm gonna wait until you sell this to capitalize, right, And that's the difference, you know, And that's what it's the same thing with no Yeah, yeah, same thing with shout out to Nod Nod as my new spirit. We got Coniac vodka and gen and I mean, you know, I think about it every day. You know, your boy got business partners in Corneac friends That ain't bad, baby, You know what I'm saying, ain't bad for a guy right around the corner.
You feel me.
I always wanted to ask you this question, what's your favorite album?
Mind? Yeah? The Recession?
Okay, because the Recession of my favorite album, because that was the time the things started to shift for me. And I started to like rip because I'm gonna keep it the buck mentally you mentally for sure, because I'm
gonna tell you from streets is watching. Till before I recorded the Recession, I was going through, like a lot of survivors remorse because I'm on my mission, I'm on my path, but I'm trying to figure out everything for everybody around me and how can I incorporate them and what I'm what I'm doing right, And that caused a lot of more pressure on top of what I was doing. So I wasn't happy, you know what I'm saying. I was stressed because you know, it's all the weight on me.
So I'm drinking, smoking every day. I'm talking about and I ain't just saying like drinking like DC drinking. I'm talking about like jeezy drinking, young jeezy drinking like I'm drinking like when you see me out, I'm lit, you know what I'm saying. And I'm just going through those motions getting up, you know, five six o'clock in the evening, getting ready to go hang out, to.
Go back to the club. You know what I'm saying.
That was just my life and I was just going through a lot of survivors remore. So it was around the time something happened around the recession, and I just woke up because a lot of the the whole time, I thought I was going to prison, right, So I was kind of really banking on that, like I just knew not been locked up, yeah, because everybody around me was getting indicted. Oh like, now how could I not? You know people I'm standing right next to. So it's
just like it's coming. So a lot of what you heard in the beginning was me putting everything into the music because at some point I just wanted to be heard, so even if I'm going to music could be there, right. And then I woke up and right before before I started recording a recession, I said, I'm not in jail. You know what I'm saying. I got paper, you know what I'm saying. I'm popping. I still can do this.
I'm gonna go be a star. And that's when I started to come into my own and start to like take care of myself.
I wouldn't even drinking water, man, I would go, like forever what I drink? I just just Chris Chris Stout and wilfire House. That was it. You know what I'm saying.
And I started taking care of myself and I started like dropping weight because I was like two sixty.
I got down to like one eighty five, you know what I'm saying.
I did my first show on the Recession tour in Boston and I walk on stage and by my third song, I just saw him throwing stuff on the stage.
I kept trying to figure out what it was. I'm looking at my security, like what's up. It was brawls. I'm like, oh, this is it. I'm like, this is it. You know what I'm saying. I'm never going back by the way, you know what I'm saying.
And from there, I started eating clean, taking care of myself, and the crazy I just was like reading more.
I was just I was talking about a lot in the book.
I was just like reading more, asking questions, going outside my comfort zone, hanging with different people, and I'm just like, Okay, this is a another life out there.
I got to figure it out.
And they just gave me this sense of like just knowing that there was a future in what I was doing right and I could do other things and I ain't have to just be in the club or on the block or you know, sitting in the house with you know, a hundred people and we all ain't on the same page. And I'm not happy with that because I'd rather be on the island somewhere. You can't take
one hundred people on the island. It's not gonna work, and even if you try, it's not gonna be the same experience, right, So I just got to a point I was just like, man, I just gotta just you know, go live and just do and not be afraid, you know, because it was weird. You know, you go to the gym, you see Gez in the gym, somebody yelling at you five more.
You're like, nobody yelling at me. I don't take orders. Well, you know what I'm saying.
So it was a lot of that, but I was just like, nah, I got a training, I got this now, and I got that and just started to building mentors and then also just having an outlet to talk about some of the frustrations I was going through because I felt like nobody really understood right, And jay Z shout out to Jay like he was he was very open minded to like having conversations with me about things, right, And that's when me and him really locked in as
I started to see that he really understood what I was going through because he called me one day he was like, Yo, you need to talk. I was like, hey man, yeah, the blue because you know, when when the diamonds started coming, like the label stoped picking up the phone.
He was the president.
Oh wow, you know what I'm saying.
So it was just like, yeah, Label stopped picking up the phone because it was like it was hot.
It was like he's done. Like did the Label feel like you were done?
Yeah?
I think they felt like I was done.
And I also felt like they felt like they didn't know what extent of things I had going on, so they didn't want none of that because you know, you got to think about the murder inks and all that. When all these things happened, you know what I'm saying, it could get serious, you know what I'm saying. I kind of think they just pushed back. But he was the first one to get me a call like you need to talk. Went to his office in New York and we sat down and we just really just was
just like talking, you know what I'm saying. That was the first time I was like open to tell somebody like, Yo, I'm paranoid as hell, Like I don't even know.
I'm not sleeping, I'm drinking.
I can't trust no, you know, I can't trust nobody, you know, and that and and you know, and when people he say that, I'm not saying blaming another person. I'm saying I can't because I know what I got going on. So I'm paranoid, right, and it might have something to do more so with me than it has to do with them, right, because I know what's going on.
They don't know what's going on. They just think me rapping. You know what I'm saying, what's.
Some of the advice that jay Z was giving you at that period of time.
Now, you were just telling me, like, you know, things happen, and that you know things that things that you know just to be mindful of, right, and then how to start because I was more so trying to figure out how to start transitioning in my life. And I was I was really you know, under the impressing if I changed any I was gonna lose everything I had. You know what I'm saying, I'm saying as far as like the people that was rhying with me, the people love.
Yeah, they like they love what I was doing.
They're just like, if I'm not that, then they're not gonna support anything I do. And he's like, nah, it's not like that. He'll grow with you if.
You allow him to. You know.
I was just like you sure, He's like yeah, And we just had those real conversations like that. But coming from him knowing that he's been in a situation where he had to grow, I trusted that.
You know what I'm saying.
I felt like, Okay, cool, this is something, this is something I might have to consider. And it took a lot of thinking through it, and it wasn't easy at first though, you know what I'm saying, Because who you are is who you are until you decide to be somebody else.
So I was relapsing a lot, That's what I'm saying.
You were scared to get out the like get out the streets and be like a full time entertainer and be like, yo, I'm gonna be a full time rap right.
Well I didn't. You know.
The thing was, I had start getting some money from rap, but I had like, you know, I had real bills, bro, Like I had real you know, I had a situation like I was straight, you know what I'm saying, As long as you know nothing went wrong, I was good. I was I was taking care of my family like I had. My life was set up, you know what I'm saying. So the rap just added on to that. But I had to leave that and that was like the biggest thing because it's almost.
Like you were the real life ghost, right, But.
This is this is my crutch though, Like I'm good over and if I don't got that, like what I'm like, you know, this is rap cool, but like what if it's slow up? What if I don't make no move? You know, this is between you know, thug motivation and all that. So it's like, you know what they say, you make one album, a lot of people can't come back and make another album.
Es.
Yeah, you got your whole life to make your first album and it was so successful.
Ship I'm thinking, like, I'm gonna do this again.
So when the recession drops, you know, what was your how how what was your reaction of your fans? Did they did they do like jay Z said and go with you? Initially? How was that?
I'll tell you this, I'll never forget it. I was I was, I went to spot Divus one. I think the ALM dropped on a Friday night. I went up there like Saturday, and I pulled up, you know, and ballet hopped out, and before I can get out the cars group of.
Guys standing right there.
They're like, yo, jeezy knowing you just dropping me. Oh, I'm just looking. I'm like, you know what I'm saying, And my mom like, oh, you know what I mean. And it just started. It started to be in there every where I went. I'm just like, oh, like okay. And that was like the first wave of it, right, and then the second rave was of course to put
on took off of Kanye West. But then the second wave was because you know, I had recorded my president as black like four months before he was, before he actually won, and then he won, right, so now you're a prophet, you know what I'm saying.
So now you're going through.
That because you want to campaign. I remember that, Yeah, you shout out to Barack Obama, my guy. But you know, it went from that to so imagine you're getting to love in the street.
Right.
And I had to go read a lot of books, a lot of articles, you know, just to see what was going because mind you. Now, I'm getting money, but I don't even know what's going on in the world. If you ask me what day it is, I wouldn't even know the date. Yeah, I was, man, I was living, bro. I was you know what I mean, I was. I was here first. I you know how they say you just going through the motions. I was just I was just in it, bro. I was just in and waiting
on the do date. Like like every morning I woke up and like, I'm still free. Well let me go live.
When when you finally went legit? What was that transition that trend finally was able just to like breathe and make the money that you want within your businesses.
I would say, that's that's recently, you know what I'm saying, because it's like, you know, it's it's money. Don't change anything, right, it does not, you know what I'm saying. You can give, you know, you give somebody you see on the corner of road towards He's still gonna have the same problems you got, right, it doesn't matter, you know. But what change was the quality of life? You know what I'm saying.
Because I started to give real friends. You know what I'm saying, I started to get real people I love. I started to you know, align myself with other people that had their own vision in life and they was on their path. And now we can talk about these things the hookahspot just say down, just chop it up. You know what I'm saying, right, you feel me. But that's the fulfillment because you're starting to align yourself with
other people. Then you start to build you know, your personal life, and now you know and the only want to sound you know too crazy. Now you got hobbies, you got things that you got the time off, you know what I mean. Now you got time to do the things that you want to learn how to do. And it's just a different experience because it takes your mind out of the every day hustle and bustle of trying to figure it out. Because mind you like we're
not you guys are doing what you love. There's no degree for this, you know, even if you have one, you still got to create the synergy.
So it's like.
There's no book for this, right, you just give it your all, But then you still want to be in a place that you can give it your all and still enjoy your you know what, I'm saying, you still got to have a life. You still got to have things you like. You love, your favorite food, your play, place to go, your time. You know, you might just need an hour day just for yourself, just to do whatever you like. And that's how you like, Yeah, you know, and now I can go out here and face the world.
And I had to like start to learn that because I always put everybody else first, right, And the minute I started putting myself first, that's when I started really enjoying life. And I see meaning to put myself first in the sense of if you're on a plane and that's going down, you got to put your mask on before you can put somebody else's mask on.
Right.
So we're coming to the book. Now, you decided to put all this into the book.
Why now I just feel like, like like I said, I think it's my well, I know it's my obligation, and I know it's people out there who because they don't just apply to hustlers, it's applied to anybody who's out there trying to navigate.
These are the things that I learned.
I want to share them with you because there was not one book that I could pick up that had me covered, and I feel like this is that book because you know I went through it. So I'm just telling you so it might apply to you and your corporate job. It might apply to you and your entrepreneurship. It might apply to you however, whatever. All these are different life experiences that you can break down and take
bits and pieces out. And for me, it's almost like, you know, I'm working on my second half of my life, so why not give back and say, hey, look this is how I did it.
You know what I'm saying.
And again, the reason why the book is called Adversity for Sale is because people always want to sell you success, but that ain't how they winning. They ain't winning because of this success. They just happened to stumble up on success. But they not telling you, boy, all the times they lost and what they had to do to get through that. It's almost like, yo, look at me. You know how Instagram's going. Instagram everybody winning, everybody Instagram. Ain't nobody lose it.
We will be right back with more of The Baller Alert Show. You're listening to a special edition of The Baller.
Alert Show, boy Jeezi, and you are now tuned in to the Baller Alert show, we.
Talk about Agency ninety nine. At what point made you create that?
Why? Agency nine and nine? Why did you call it?
Agency ninety nine was created because I always live by the model of, you know, giving everybody ninety nine percent, keep it one percent for yourself, you know what I'm saying. So anything that I'm invested in, I want to give it my all, but I got to keep at least one percent for myself. AGENC ninety nine was started as a management company because there's a lot of things that I went through when I was being managed that I
didn't understand. So I wanted to set up a company where you got your own CPAs, your own accounts, your own press, your own this, you own that, and it's boutique style.
So we got, you know, shout out to Haiti Baby.
Rory Simmons, nod Definance Fuel, So we manage brands, artists, people, whatever and what it is. We take our infrastructure shout
out to Agency ninety nine. We take our infrastructure so that we can help whoever we are in line with right and it's a lot of the reasons why you see people go to Rock Nation a lot because they have an infrastructure of things that you just don't have the reach to get those resources, right, And if you go over there, you get all this and that's how and we're setting it up so if you come over here, you get all of what we got. So any bit like you might come and say, I got a business idea.
We know exactly who to go talk to. You might want to say, you want to do some real estate stuff. You know exactly who to bring.
Y'all don't want to stop shopped.
Yeah, So if you need a banker, we got to because all these things are through experiences. I had good bankers, bad bankers, you know, good good lawyers, bad lawyers, So we kept the.
Good ones, you know what I'm saying.
So it's like you might want to try him out, and it's real because I went through, you know I talked about in the book, I went through a situation where you know, you know, somebody I want to see a business with really tried to suit me for you know everything. You know what I'm saying. And if I hadn't had a good lawyer, I would have had to come off of that. You know what I'm saying, Because once you get in court, it is what it is, you know, you know, you got you got. It's a fight,
right And my business partner brought me. Somebody said Yo, this is the guy and walked in there. Everything we walked down. I had to go to trial, and I remember was in trial. So everybody got get up there and say they piece you know, they telling their stories about you.
Whatever.
He leaned over, he said, boy, it's a bad day to be you.
You know what I'm saying, because basically it was throwing me under the bus. You tat me. He said, I don't worry about it.
We got this and we won the case, and he's been a part of my team every since.
Now you talked to lawyer, I'm gonna keep you.
Oh yeah, but anybody did that. But that's the thing. You got to really think about it. It's all built on resources, you know what I'm saying.
So if you get if you if you get good it's almost like having good friends.
You know what I'm saying.
You got a group of good friends, you got a very high quality like life, like you got good people around you. If you got good business people around you, it shows in your business, it shows in your moves, you know what I'm saying. And by the way people measure success differently, Like you know what I'm saying, I'm not measuring success by a dollar amount. I am measured success by the things that I want to get done and the best people to do it. And Magic Johnson
said it the best. If you want to be the best, you got to hire the best. You got to have the best you would Yeah, you feel me. And that's the thing though, because that's what I look at, because it's just like a lot of people don't even like especially this generation, they don't even probably know Magic Johnson and Shaquille O'Neill basketball players, they know that, but they know their business the business boy.
Going to Starbucks and even though they're drinking from the cup of magic.
Right, you feel me.
But the thing is is you got to have that other side of life, you know what I'm saying. Me and Roby talk about it all the time. It's like, you got to set yourself up for the other alf. You're gonna need money forever, you're not going to box, and then you want to live. You want to live the life you want to live after you did all
this work. But then you also still want to have something that's bigger than you that you're that you're applying yourself to every day, because that's a sense of purpose. Because if you don't have a sense of purpose and you just out here moving, you kind of just going through the motions like you don't know what you're doing, Like you don't even know where you're going. It's like get in the car and you know, somebody telling you to take me to California. You ain't got no GPS.
You know, you got to figure it out, you know what I'm saying.
What's some things in a book that's really gonna shock people.
I think the vulnerability.
I think the times me telling you, like how I really felt about something, what was really on my heart, what was really in my mind because you know we don't we don't talk like that, you know what I'm saying, and writing it down in pages again was very therapeutic for me because I was able to express it.
Was almost like journalists pages here, you know what I'm saying.
Yeah, So it was like just you know, just being open, you know, transparent, open book. Because you know you might hear a lot of my records. I'm gonna tell it, you know music, I'm gonna tell it to you the best way possible to make me sound like the hero.
You know what I'm saying.
But in the back of my mind, I'm like, oh, oh my god, what we're gonna do?
I was gonna say.
I really love that BT highlighted you for the Hip Hop fifty.
Yeah, yeah, it was who contact did they did they reach.
Out to actually shout out to Jesse Collins and uh Latina up at Ut and.
Latina depth Jams. She was like, you're doing this.
I'm like, I don't want to do it.
It was a moment though.
No, I loved it, don't get me more.
I loved it.
But you know, I just I got this thing with the war shows. Man, It's like, you know, I just I don't know why you like the war shows. It just ain't the same like going to rock Hud like a crowd for like real people.
You feel like it's a bunch of peers and everybody else kind.
Of like it's kind of like now that last week, ain't standing up you talking to the phone last night?
You know.
But when you when you're when you're when you're doing it for your your your core, you give them what they give you. Yeah, it's like we we we we battle each other. It's like it's like a thing. It's like church. You know, you go to church and you hear great sermon.
He talking to me. That's what it's like when you're doing it.
But I will say that was probably the best Award Show performance.
I man, why that song?
I love that song? Yeah, long lived Shorty Low and they know, they know, and I felt like I just wanted to spread some love there.
Man.
You know, Shaty is a big part of what we do. And they was doing Dolph right before me and RP to Dolph and I was just like, man, it'd be dope through the Shorty Low and plus we all know is jamming, and it just made sense. And I just knew it was gonna catch the moment because we're talking about hip hops or why not kill two birds with one stone?
So my man, his legacy, some love and then you know, do what I do.
Now, I know what we was talking about earlier, like how you know being a rapper's like one of the most dangerous jobs. I feel like a lot of the rappers, the new generation, don't have mentors. Now, what's some of the advice that you would give these the new generation of artists on how to protect themselves.
I mean, just when it first starts all by knowing that you're in a position of leadership. So people around you gonna move how you move. So if you move a certain way, then you got to know the extensions of you were gonna move that way.
So that's the first part.
So if you out here and you yourself in situations, then your people are gonna put you in situations right. And I would say for the most part is just like get good people around you.
It's gonna be straight up with you.
Because the thing that I've noticed in this you know not so much now I got a great team shout out to A ninety nine, But people don't be real with you because they need you and you're their livelihood, and they'll let you jump off a cliff, you know what I mean, just to make you feel like they down right. And then the second thing is, you know, we always want to look out for everybody because that's how that's what you're supposed to do to a certain extent.
But you can't let people say just because I was with you from here, that you you're obligated to do A B and C just because I was around, because it got to be like, more so, what are you contributing?
Like, are you an asset or a liability? Right?
Because if that's the case, you know, you know, you you owe everybody that you you know, right because they all being a part of what you did, they all told somebody about your song or whatever. But it's almost so like if you got a lot of that around you, you're not gonna have like real energy because their expectations are gonna be different than yours. So that's gonna cause a lot of resentment. So that's just bad blood you
got in your camp. And once you start getting that bad vibe of your camp, you can't really you can't really you can't really be productive and growth like you can't because people around you will be sabotaging everything you're trying to do. In some safe form of fashion, it's gonna happen.
I've seen a lot of people talking about how hip hop is, like, you know, kind of declining. Do you think that's because of all these charges that these rappers are getting hit with for their lyrics? Do you think that people, you know, rappers are kind of like holding back from the things that they actually want to say in albums Now.
No, I think it's more so that it's just so saturated. Okay, you know what I'm saying. It's just so much you know, it's so so much music coming out as hard for somebody that's to stand out for a long period of time. You know what I'm saying. I think that it's set up that way. But what I will give them they flowers on is the fact that they're able. They're better
businessmen if you ask me. You know what I'm saying, because they most of them are going straight to consumer or building their their notoriety of so big these labels got to come to them and give them Lebron James checks.
When we was getting Michael Jordan checks. You see what I'm saying.
Like they're getting a different type of money because they're building themselves up. So by the time a label get involved, they're already there. They don't really need the label. They're just taking the money, right, And I think that's the difference.
We'll be right by. Stay tuned with more of The ball Er Alert Show. You're listening to a special edition of The Baller Alert Show.
Boy Gez and you are now tuned in to the Ball of Alert show.
I wanted to give you some flowers real quick and just tell you you changed my life. For the two years I traveled in country with you, I never and I tell bt DC and everybody all the time, can't nobody talk about you, right? But I just wanted to tell you changed my life because nobody had never took me under their wing and been a real big brother to me. So super Bowl weekend when you put this on my.
Wrist, yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, Because I.
Remember I had to go back to work and I was like, yo, Jesus, just put this on my wrist. And I remember Kenny Burns is like, what are you gonna do?
I was like, what do you mean? I keep learning it?
So I wanted to say that, And I also wanted to say, like, just being around you, I learned how to.
I learned.
I watched you personally and I watched you as a celebrity, and at one moment that of course we shared some moments that I never tell, but I want to say that you definitely taught me a lot. You want to tell you on camera you already noticed, but I overly appreciate you because I've applied their ways in my life, I've learned the ways of the Hey, you know what I'm saying, Like, let me try to articulate myself, because
I'm losing it a little bit. But I'm trying to say, I learned from you how to keep keep my composure.
I've learned my bad job.
What else did I learn? I just learned a lot. But I've learned how to become I don't want to say a man, but I learned how to become a important person because I saw how you carried yourself so presidential. Every traveling with you was the best.
That take care of his people.
Yeah, like we traveled well.
So I just wanted to tell you, man, I took notes every time I was around you, and and even out, still receiving every day I received that. I'm always taking notes.
I received that, brom and I'm I received that, Bro. And I tell you all the time. I shoot you a text every now. Yes, yes, I love to see it.
I'm pride. I'm happy for you, man.
You I tell all over the place when you first got.
Oh yeah yeah, yeah, Bro. At the same time, I keep telling people like that's a new riots. Crist y'all playing He's gonna be bigger than life, you know what I'm saying.
They want to comment on the take care of the people.
Yes, no, I was saying, but you could take care, but you just got to make sure that that's what they want. Like when we talk, he knew exactly what he wanted. So our conversations was just like about how to get to that, and then we throw him back and forth ideas you know what I'm saying, like, yeah, that work, you know that don't work, and then we just and I just started to watch him.
But he wanted it and he still does.
And that's what I'm saying, Like, if you're giving somebody information or knowledge, they got to want to want to either use it or want to get the way they're trying to go, because you can't make nobody get in the car.
So helping people who help themselves, right, got you right?
I like that. See that's a bar bars, she said basically.
Now, I learned so much throughout this interview. I'm so grateful that you took the time to come out. I think you guys man, the vulnerability that you're sharing in this book, I can't wait to read it and listen to the audio version.
Laughing at me.
Now documentary or a movie to follow?
Yeah, we've been, We've been thinking about it. You know, of course, I got a million one things going on. I definitely want to because it's different, you know what I'm saying, like doing a book and really putting your life on pages. So I want to just see how this feels for me, right, and I love the office space. I wouldn't be surprised if you got another book before you got a movie. I like it. It's something I like and you can.
Sell that right basically, Yet made it after watching this. You give motivational speak like I think every time you open your mouth, and you know, I think that's just your gifts.
Yeah, I learned.
You know, it's crazy because I learned a lot of what I learned and I talk about in the book through music, Like I learned through like Tupac. You know, like people just listen to the music and like it. But I was actually like in church, you know.
What I'm saying.
You know, some people just go to church on Sunday, but a lot of people go to church. They's sitting there and they hanging on every word. And I just hung on a lot of his words because he had he had morals, he had values. So I took a little bit of that and that's why my first album was called Thug Motivation, you know what I'm saying, because you know, he took thug life, he made it a movement. It wasn't just about thug and it was about standing for something, so that you get a lot of that.
But yeah, so this is like, you know, this is this is a long time coming, you know, and I hope people really understand it. I'm trying to help. I'm trying to give back and I'm trying to enlighten. I'm trying to motivate. I'm trying to expire inspire and you know, ain't none of us perfect.
We all try and figure it out.
But everything we can do for each other in the process, because that's all it's really about resources, relationships and advice.
Well, we're still were still going to church because every time you in Atlanta and you go to the club in Atlanta, it's a jeezy set.
Yeah, and that part I remember nights. I don't remember nice people in the club.
Do you think that that don't you think that's dope? Because the young generation doesn't have to embrace. But they are embracing you and they're saying your ship word for word, and you weren't even that.
But you know, when people tell you I was five, you know, I was in middle school, I'm like, yeah, I gotta tell me that. I think it's I think it's dope, man, because Lord knows, man, I went through it all to put those words together, man, like you you had no idea, like I went through the five and the fact that it's still there lets me know
there wasn't in vain, you know what I'm saying. So every day, every time I'm even when I hear the stage, I'm like, you know, I'm gonna perform songs like I just came out yesterday, you know, because this is this is my life.
I love it, you know what I mean.
And I love the fact that I was able to put together somebodies of work that they captured that, you know, because a lot of times, you know, you can miss the mark.
And I feel like, like I said, I think this is going into a whole different new life, Like you got the books right now, but I feel like it's gonna turn into a documentary TV series, like they have to be a meth.
It'll be like.
Something with your Jane Saint Patrick. I'll take that.
Yeah, you know, you know, and it's a whole story, you know, and we could just you know, we can audition to something already.
I already know the part you need to play.
Gonna be dope.
It's gonna be dope. We get out of here. That's your camera. Get these folks some motivation.
You know.
If I can tell you anything, I just tell you know, if you can hold it in your head, you can hold it in your hands. And that's what I live by, Like if you can think of it, you can do it. And that's real, Like I hope, I'm living proof that no matter what your circumstance. So you know, if you stay down, you stay committed, and you stay you, it all come back around.
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