Ya ya, y'all. What's the deal?
Sha boy Reason check me out on the Bootleg Cap podcast.
Wes West. All right, y'all.
Before we get into the episode, we gotta do this. We just dropped these T shirts to celebrate five hundred episodes of the bootlet Cap podcast. Yes, this is out, little daytona five hundred vintage flip. All five hundred episodes are on the back. Yes, you can do the gray, or you could just go black. The black is fire too.
So look, if you go right now man bootleg cab dot com and you cop yourself a five hundred epis T shirt, I'm.
Gonna throwing a pair of socks.
We got the bootleg camp odd Socks. You already know the bootleg Cab podcast sponsored by odd Socks, so it's only right we're throwing a pair of odd socks for every T shirt sold. So bootleg cab dot Com, thank you everybody for supporting five hundred episodes. Let's get into the next one right now, Come on, yo, boutlet cap podcast man.
Special guests in here. My guy Reason is back, Yes, yes, finally after Yeah, he missed the podcast when he rolled out porches, but he's here. Two years later. Welcome sir, I apologize about that. It's all good, man, it's all good. You had a lot going on, yeah I did. I had a lot on the messiest album out of all time. Yeah yeah, but we're here. How you been, man, I've been good. I've been good.
Just rebuilding, you know, finalizing the team, finalizing projects. I'm trying to drop three this year, so I just been working. Like I was telling my manager Jy, like I'm exhausted, but a good exhausted, like not not like burnt out.
So yeah, I mean for you is that kind of like it's got to feel good to be like I can put out three albums this year and it's up.
To you, right, it's up to me. And knowing that, like if I wanted to come out, it'll come out. It's like little things like I was. I was talking to the team and like when we dropped out of joint with Bo's not what you think, that was the first joint that I've ever dropped that wasn't at least a year old. So that was crazy for me, Like I've never put out a song that wasn't at least like at least a year at least a year, like,
so I was still emotionally connected with it. Cause that's one of the things, like whenever I would drop music, it would be hard to talk about me because I wasn't even that person anymore.
You know, It's crazy people don't realize like artists they I guy, what you call demoitis is that in yea where you get tired of your own ship hasn't heard it.
You either get tired of your own ship or you hear it one way so long that then when it's about to come out, the label might like make a last minute change to it, and now you hate it because you're like or you're like, no, I like the original.
I like the original, or the fans don't know but the fans don't know.
Or you figure out you couldn't clear the sample, you got to remake the sample, and now you hate the record, but they love it, but you hate it.
And it's like, yeah, that's got to be refreshing, man, Yeah it feels. It feels good for you. Man. So are you strictly independent? Do you got a distro situation? Like?
What is I got like a partnership distro situation? A lot of distros came to me It was funny because a lot of labels like right when I left, of course, like I had a lot of deals on the table, but they were all just like throwing money my way. But I just kept telling them like, bro, I just got to like the last thing I want to do is you know when money comes long term, I'm like,
why would I go into another situation like that? But yeah, like a partnership distroal situation though, yeah, one that's like under Next Records. So yeah, Next Records. I think they got like Bennie the Butcher Davies, like a few people that's in that pocket. So that was another thing that interests me because it's kind of like in the wave of kind of what I wanted to do.
Speaking of waves, wave shout out to my mama. Yeah, I appreciate it, yo, Uh talk to me like for you, man, what is the last couple of years been like? Because I feel like you probably found out one who like some of your real friends are and who were just like showing the street man, what was the process like going through that? Man?
I was talking to my brother about that ship, like I didn't see that coming. There were certain relationships. There were certain relationships that I didn't know were as strong as they were, Like I left, and then we became even closer and tighter and people reached out and was just like, yo, you know, I just want to let you know, like you know, I fuck with you, our rock with you, like you've always been solid. You know, we locked in, And so I had more of those
than the other way around. But then there were certain relationships where him like niggas un followed me like yeah, like it's followed me like don't answer the phone no more,
and I'm just like all right, bet. But I always look at stuff like that as a blessing because it's it's better to kind of know than to you know, have a situation where you know, people just if they feel like they got to choose side, which I've always tried to like tread the line of making people not feel like they have to choose sides and telling the story in a way to where you know, people don't feel that way, but if they feel like they got
a cheoe sides, people choose sides. And there's just certain relationships that I had where it's still love on my end, but I could tell that it was like, oh, so you was just fucking with me because I.
Was TD, you know what I mean, which is it's all good. Was there anybody with TD that like they used to keep in contact with?
I still I still talk to Ray and then I'll still talk to DOCIH shout out to Doci. She's going fucking insane. Yeah, but I knew that was the day I met Doci. I told Moose, was like, she's fucking like yeah, Like I think.
You were there when she had a little like introduction to LA party where she performed and it was like some airplanes shure, yeah, yep, yep. I was just like, what the nah, bro?
Like the the thing about Dochi that's so special, bro, is that if you like, from the day I met her, if you have a conversation, she's always talking like long term, like she's always she was always thinking like nine steps ahead, and to be that young black woman in this industry where it's at right now because the best time for black women also talented and to have like that type of mind, I was just like, yeah, she's out of here,
you know what I mean. So those are probably the only two though that I still like keep in contact with. If I run into niggas though it's love and I just running a start not too long ago. Yeah racist, yeah, yeah, she was so purpose.
I feel like it's crazy, like how she rolled out her career because she like this new album is like really like a boombab rap album. Yeah yeah, but like her biggest record prior to this was the what it is before that, it was The Persuasion.
Yeah, that's what I tell people, bro, It's like her her bag is like I genuinely believe. And I see some of her fans, so the dochik don't come from me but I because they hate comparing. But I genuinely believe she's gonna be like as big as Beyonce in the Rap. I genuinely yeah. I literally have said that. I think she's going to be there. There will be a day where she's the biggest artist on the planet.
Yeah. I mean she had my Alma of the Year last year. A lot of people want, you're fucking crazy. I'm like, well, you haven't heard the album. And then all of a sudden, the Grammy buzz starts rolling and everybody gets hip and then that fucking uh she did that?
Uh?
DENIALA is the river with the Yeah, kids, that shit's over. TikTok. Yeah wow Yeah for you man. You said, you know when when you when you came in, you were like
kind of had to get away a little bit. Was there, like a like a reset you had to go through because I feel like you've had like a you've had like a great career for an artist, especially someone who makes fucking real ship, you know what I'm saying, But like rap rap music of get thrown in the blender in terms of like leaving TDE and some of the shit that was out there were like like how did you kind of prepare yourself mentally for like this new era of your career.
I definitely had to hit a reset. I was living like too close. I call it, like living in your work when you live in like Hollywood and shit like that, you know what I mean. Yeah, so it's like everywhere you go, you know what I mean, It's just like music or entertainment shit, you know what I mean. So kind of moved out a little bit east and whatnot. And then I just got back like in the studio alone, like just on some studio shit, like trying to rEFInd the love.
For it because I had lost the love for it.
It started feeling like I was like just clocking into work, like when I would go to the studio at the TD Base, like I would feel like literally, I started feeling like when I had a job, like Okay, I'm here and I'll be looking at the clock like how many more hours of my session?
You know what I mean.
And so when you're when you're in a creative job and you feel that way, it's never gonna go well because your mind got to be in a certain space to even want to create, you know what I mean.
And so it's funny.
I was talking to my boy about it, and I was sending him the ship from me and Kas's project coming out, and he was like, bro, you got like way better. And I told him, I was like, I don't think I got way better. I just think I started liking it again, you know what I mean. I started liking doing music again. So I wasn't kind of just punching the clock anymore and just kind of getting by.
Yeah, you love what you do, You're better at You're just better at it. You get what I'm saying, You're just better at it.
And I think that you know that RESET really helped me I got away from I wasn't kicking it, you know, at industry places no more. I wasn't kicking it with artists nomore. I was just with the homies, you know what I mean. And then when I was in the studio, I was just with my engineer, Kaitel, and we was just like throwing shit at the wall. Don't We're not looking for a single. We're not looking for We're just looking to just like get shit off, you know what
I mean. And so wrote out all of my feelings, the feelings that I can't, you know, necessarily talk about about everything that happened, just to get those out, and then started falling back in love with it.
And yeah, so yeah, yeah, I mean that's one thing that you kind of mentioned in passing. Obviously, you and Cosben, you guys had my favorite song on the on the Dreamville project. Thank you. I appreciate that. Yeah, I know the fans have been waiting to see what's gonna happen with this, Yeah, year, long time. The theory of an album between you two, Yeah, yeah, it's it's it's one
hundred percent coming. It's probably a lot easier to make happen now, to be quite yeah, yeah, and Coz has some label situations, not with Dreamville but with Interscope if I can't say that cause I'm sorry, but he's he's figured that out now too.
So now it's like super easy, you know what I mean? And uh, same thing with us Bro. We had like forty five records, and because every time we would lock in for like three months and do some records, then we would.
Hit a wall, you know what I mean.
And then it was on my end, I'm like, okay, I know with TD, I'm probably only gonna drop once every two to three years. Do I want to waste my drop with cause, like you know what I mean. So it was always a thing like that. And then with Kas, same thing, you know, with him, not the length, but just like him being like okay time and wise does it make sense? But now with me independent with him like basically independent, it's super easy. Like the track
list is basically locked in. We're just finishing up a couple of loose strings kind of like concept. No, actually it's funny because we actually like it sounds a lot different than I think people are gonna like assume it a sound.
It's it's super fun.
It's a lot of raps of course, but we got like a lot of records that like, it sounds like very very much LA. And I think that's different because me and Cos both don't necessarily sarirely have like the typical LA sound, right, Yeah, but it sounds very LA and it's it's a fun album. We had a lot of fun making this ship over the years, for real, Like we got some of my favorite records I've even ever made period on this album.
So yeah, you put Ransom and Coyote on a song together, which is so awesome and random and random is Ransom is like one of the most prolific independent rappers bro ever, Like this guy is a fucking beast.
Yeah, shout out my Doug Ransom mixtape.
Legend, Independent Legend, and the Coyote obviously on the new side of the La Ship. They're going crazy.
Yeah, I gotta, I gotta my schedule being crazy. We're shooting a video for it. But I also got to you know, they go crazy with the content. I need to catch up with them and they go crazy.
Have the best videos in the game. Crazy independent bro.
They be having mariachi bands behind them in the Instagram videos, like full blown and these are like real Mexicans, Like these are real Mexicans with the hats playing it Like that ship is crazy to me, bro, Like they.
Do not play with the content is something like because I because I knew them when they were signed with Whack Yep, and they've kind of gotten into this like funk where they couldn't release when they were kind of similar, right, so then they just started dropping it on Instagram and that's when I just saw the flips and yeah, all of that. Yeah, and then everything they do is on the phone. Yeah. Yeah, bro, that ship is crazy. But people would think that they have like a content, it's not.
It's like it's like Guapo and and they're just they they do their own ship. They just do their own cut. Yeah.
No, they're they're super They're super inspiring to me because they like so everything about me and Coyote's relationship is random. Like I met them in the barbershop and didn't even know they do me at first, and then well the that's what I'm saying, Like, yeah, so they cut next to my barber at the time, and then like.
Something ended up coming up in conversation.
I was like, y'all do music and I was like, send me some shit, and then they were hard and I'm like all right, bet, And then i started following them on the Gram and I'm seeing the video. I'm like, all these niggas is like crazy. So I met him like when they were still signed the Whack but started doing the videos and so I'm like, okay, they actually fired. So we did that record a while ago, but we did it before Porches actually, so yeah, definitely a while ago.
And I was gonna put it on Porches but ended up holding back off of it, and then they were about to put it out and I told them that they could, but then we talked about doing this project, so I was like hold on. So yeah, it ended up working out. And then Ransom I actually met him through my engineer, and I just I wanted another rapper on it.
I don't know why.
I just felt like a posse cut and so yeah, but it worked though, and they versus they smoked it.
They smoked it. Yeah. Are you already kind of like like honed in on your album, like in terms of like is it like kind of coming together?
Yeah?
Yeah, So like so so it's funny, like I know everybody's calling this one album, but it's really a mixtape, and I mean like not like everybody says, oh, I'm dropping a mixtape and then it's like an album. Like when you hear it, it's like a mixtape. You can hear you hear me talking to the fans. It's really a thank you to the fans. And it's probably something I'm gonna do continuously between albums. So it's really kind of like a life update, kind of like Little Wayne
did with the dedications when he was stopping. Just talks like that. But album wise, yeah, I'm probably like sixty percent done. I'm kind of like in feature mode, trying to figure out what features I want, figuring out like Okay,
what do we want the singles to be. I already have a concept and so yeah, I'm probably like sixty sixty five percent done, but that won't come out till that'd be the last project this year, so that'd be like my first independent like solo album, you know what I mean since the split stuff like that.
Man, Yeah, yeah, how have the fans been because there are a certain amount of fans who are kind of just like cult members with TD for sure, with your benefit from yeah, of course, of course, right away. But then I'm sure there's also a portion of those fans who might back up off you once you leave the label. Is that something or have the fans.
Solid Honestly, the fans have been The fans have been like consistent all the way throughout, like the fans that didn't because you know, there's TV there's a wide number of TD fans, and there's TD fans that they don't like any artists besides the Big Four, you know what I'm saying, and then there's artists that you know, they only fans that they only, like I said, were shot
or whatever. So the only the fans that didn't like me before they were consistent, and they still don't like me, because when you saw with TD, there's gonna be TD fans that don't fuck with you.
It's just how it works.
But the fans have been pretty The only fans I really lost were fans that I shot myself in the foot in But I had to do that to get out of the the label deal. When the when the Dot and the Drake beef started, I felt like topping them were kind of like dragging their feet a little bit.
I don't think purposely.
I just think they had a lot of shit going on, and I knew that if I kind of like sparked a fire a little bit, that they'd be like, we got to separate from this. So I kind of like started tweeting shit on the side of Drake purposely because I saw how how yeah, so there's fans that hate.
Me for that? And wait, wait, what was the main the main tweet that fans hated you for they hated me when I remember that was just like you just like yeah, this is crazy. But I was purposely doing it.
So I was talking to my boy LTA and he was like, bro, you got to turn it up if you want to get out of here in this year, Like this is gonna drag, Like I know how because he's the lawyer. He does contracts, Like I know how this ship works, Bro, it should have take two and a half years unless you turn it up. So I tweeted, uh, it was right after Push Ups Drop. I tweeted like y'all hating this beat switch up his fire and then I like let it sit for like ten minutes and
deleted it. It went crazy and then you know what I mean, And I still had the reason TD So it looked like insane, right, look like super crazy. So I tweeted that and then I also I had a rap radar that I did, I mean, not a rap radar, the grain room.
Why am I on the radar?
On the radar, Yeah, on the radar that I did over a drake beat. But this was before the beef even started.
Wow. So they hit me.
They're like, yo, we was about to drop it, but we don't want to, you know, damage your situation.
Run that, run it, run it. Let's do it like run it.
And so that I had like five million views on Twitter, and it was like mixed reviews, like some people like this think of gas and this shit fired, don't matter.
Then other people like, what the fuck are you wrapping up? Because you know, fans think you recorded it today, you know what I mean. So if it dropped today, you recorded it today. And so we did that and then that went viral and kind of ran it. So I just knew it was sensitive times, and I knew business wise it would make the most sense for them to separate from me at that point, you know what I mean.
And that shit worked like a month later. A month later, I was expeditiously.
It was fast. It was fast.
It was like a month later it was like yo, we yeah, it's done. So paperwork was in my email.
You.
I feel like when like not to take it back too far, but yeah, were you purposely when you had the issue like the whole back on fake situation with Musa and obviously when viral and was crazy, was that also on purpose? No, that's just like you just like that was like to be honest with you.
And so the accountability I take, and I know that nobody else in that situation takes accountability, but that's okay. But the accountability I take is that I never watched anything in that podcast world, so I wasn't familiar with how they do things. I just knew, like I didn't know even though Mackwap was gonna be there, Like I thought I was doing a podcast with a D and Trail. So I hit a D in his DMS and he was like, bet, let's do it Monday, And then I text AD. He didn't answer, so I just hit up
t Reil. I didn't really know Troll like that, but I assumed that they were doing it together. So I hit up Trail and Treel was like, bet, yeah, like you good for Monday, come Monday, not knowing that there's two different ye.
Exactly.
So when Mackwap walked in the room, I just thought he was pulling up to kick it. And then when he sat down, I'm like, oh shit, like AD's.
Not gonna be here. What's going on?
Yeah, exactly, And then I was drinking Herodora and then like then, So for me, it wasn't on purpose, but I thought that it was a safe space because Trel's CU's best friend, Mackwap is qs DJ. I'm thinking, we're in a TD space and we're never gonna like the last place we're going to get into this type of situation is a is a TDE podcast. Like if anything,
we're gonna be protected. You get what I'm saying. Like, so usually when I do interviews and sit down, so when now, I'm very aware of what's going on, and so that's the accountability I take.
I just wasn't aware.
And they started off the pod with like, why are you dropping out of nowhere? You ain't had no promotion, and so I already been drinking, and so it just it kind of you know what I mean, like it just spiraled or whatever, and Yeah, I just.
I just wasn't. I wasn't.
I didn't have my intentas up you know what I mean. I didn't read the wrong you know what I mean? Good enough, and then it spiral. But it was a tough situation to get to get through. But I tell people all the time that was the biggest blessing because I wouldn't have I don't think I would have gotten out of my contract without that going so public.
You know what. That was crazy? Yeah, it was insane. One thing I had moosho. I was like, oh wait, oh no, it went left.
And that's the thing is, mind you, I'm intoxicated the entire show, So you got to like put yourself in my shoes. But I've taken like eight Like I could drink, but I've taken like eight shots at this time. You get what I'm saying. So when it all goes left, like I'm not the only thing I knew how to
handle it. The best way is to just kind of like shut up, you know what I mean, Like as much as I could, you know, I went back and forth with them a little bit, but I didn't want to crash out because the way I would have crashed out off a liquor would have been like way worse, you know what I mean.
Yeah, it's interesting because that that uh I guess like with the streaming dynamic, it's all live.
Yeah, so you can't even fix it. It ain't even like you can like, yo, hey man, that's not right, that's not yeah, let's let's just skip to you know that forty minutes. That's just not It was live, and so I'm there, I'm seeing the chat go like it's it was a lot, you know what I mean, it was it was going crazy, but uh but.
It was it was.
It was.
It wasn't as like, to be honest with you, the part that that moment didn't like I didn't even leave the place like super mad or nothing like that. The part that bothered me the most was just like afterwards, like you just kind of like what we were talking about about the relationship, Like you you're in a label that you feel like his family, and then when something like that happens and you don't see the family dynamic of it and you see yourself just kind of get
put on an island. I'm like, oh, this is just business. So at that point I'm just like I bet that I don't necessarily need to like basketball.
It's like, what you get traded, You're like, oh, bro, that's the exact way, and you just like, oh, damn. Like y'all, y'all like the nigga better than than me that traded for me. You know, when Luca got traded, You're like like a d like damn.
Like I've been grabbing boards every night, like you know what I mean. And so it's kind of like that, you know what I mean. And so to get put on the island and it not be I'm used to family being like, you know, if two people in the family fight, we keep it in the house. But like y'all just even if y'all got to catch a fade, y'all just faded out and then we're good for it to be like the way that it was. And I still got love for everybody over there. I just I
just realized it was just an eye open experience. I'm like, oh, it's just business, and if it's business, then I gotta do what makes the most sense business for me.
It was kind of like the most like it was like because TV's like the least messy label for publicly. Sure, Yeah, and to just kind of have the curtain Like yeah, I'm like, oh this is not I'm sure. I'm sure Top was not very happy. Yeah happy, He wasn't happy. He wasn't happy with me. I can't imagine he wasn't happy with either.
No, he wasn't He wasn't happy with Yeah, Top, top is. Top is very is very fair, you know what I mean. So he wasn't happy with either one of us. And you know, top is is very much like like you said, like keep everything in house, you know what I mean?
Exactly exactly. It's literally that we didn't know.
We didn't know time Brady and Bill had anything until it was over, you get what I'm saying, Like we had no idea, And that's very much how how Top is. And honestly, that was what I felt the most bad for is Like regardless of where me and tops relationship is now, Like I love Top and I appreciate everything that Top did for me. Like this is a nigga that when I was broke, would just give me money just to keep the lights on, you know what I mean.
So there's no there's almost nothing outside of like you know, saying something about a family member of mind that Top could do for me to ever.
Yeah, I think just at this point, like I think he's it's pretty much like.
It's it's it's like it's it's yeah, he's in the rafters.
But I think I think just you you be. I mean, when we think about TD you now at this point, it's like, you know, me and a problem had a back and forth about a year ago in which I was arguing that death Row because we were talking about death Brow. Yeah, and I was on the death Row side. But I think I'm on the TV side. Yeah, yeah, yeah, because when we think about just like because death Row was like a flash in the pan, right, it was like like a four year period for real, for real,
like five years tops. But like the TD run is it's a whole nine you know, with Jay Rock signed with Warnerton now it's like yeah, and then you know, if you just think about just like the biggest pop star, I mean and then Kendrick.
They have the biggest pop star, they have the biggest rapper, and then the biggest up and coming artists all on the same label.
It's crazy. It's crazy, you know what I mean.
So yeah, I think top is I mean, in my opinion, and I could be wrong, but I got them at either one or two of Label of all time.
I don't think he's number one man. Yeah, yeah, no, that's what I'm saying.
Like, I don't I don't think that you could really kind of argue with because I've never seen Like I said, we obviously don't know anything about behind the scenes and nothing like that. But but you know, for the most part, you could kind of point to any Label executive and be like they did some goofy shit.
Yeah yeah, yeah, you know, think about Russell Simmons. Don't think too much about him, because then you might then you're you know, then you like damn or like or even like Sugar or whoever the fuck you could go through it even like you know, you know, the dudes from QC have some you know, uh, the one guy.
But but Top I feel like, fuck man, like he's I don't know, man, I just and then just like the one thing about Top I appreciate is he signs reason he signs, sir, he signs like, he signs, he builds.
You don't have to have the following. Like He's confident enough that to me, that's what separates him is that a he has a better musical ear than people give him credit for. Like I always tell people everything top ever told me to do musically worked, and everything that he told me to do that I didn't do, I ended up wishing I did it, you know what I mean?
And I mean like down to specific songs, taking lines out, switching beats, like oh, you know, switching flows every single Actually there's one song I wish I didn't listen to him, but that's like minor. But yeah, every ding, like his musical ear is like crazy, you know what I mean. And so that putting an album together, like understanding when the album you know, like what fits where, Like he's super fire at that. And then like you just said, like the confidence to be like as long as the
artist is dope, yeah, nobody, nobody, Yeah, nobody, nobody. Nobody's bolded enough to do it that way. Artists developments, Yeah, so nobody's nobody's bold enough to do it that way. And I think that's what like completely separates.
I feel like a lot of people don't understand like the the like Long Trip to Scissors, Control was likesics Control came out in twenty seventeen, but like there was this huge like thing about her not dropping music and and look now and you know they're doing stadiums. It's crazy. Well, we got to talk about the beef since you brought it? Yeah, worst el than Jah rup? Is it a bigger is it a bigger el than jar rule?
I think I think it's too early to say because Joah's career, I hate even saying this on camera, became a verb. Yeah, and people said he became a verb and his career was essentially just over, you know what I mean. And so I think it's too early to call it because we don't know if Drake's career is over. I think that if Drake's career is over, which I don't, I don't think will happen. To be honest, I think he's too big. I think he's too big. That's what I'm trying to say.
So I think I don't. I think, no matter what, Drake will have a place exactly a certain level of success, exactly exactly. But I think I think it's an example of like when the people choose like. For me, I personally hate the beef, and I only hate the beef because to me, this had a potential to be like the most like entertaining beef from like a rap perspective, like I thought the black thick it was, see, I don't view with it once once it got too messy
for me. It was like it was it was hard for me to like which which it was, which rap beefs are messy, not messy like that though, like when we start talking about like hitting your significant other and pedophe Like to me, it crossed the line where I feel, I feel nasty, you know what I mean, Like the Nas and jay Z bef got extremely nasty, not pediphid, dirty cond on NAS's child's baby.
Yeah, but fucking your bitch is always going to be in rap, Like that's like a thing that's gone, that's been in rap since the history, you know what I mean, since the beginning of the time. Like to me, that's not that crazy. And I don't even mean on doc I mean on both ends, like well, listen.
On your forury. He kind of told him, like no, for sure, for sure like at the end of it, don't find out.
Exactly at the end of the day, like you know, everything that happened happened for a reason, no pun intended. But if I just I wanted to see them like like from a pen standpoint, I wanted to see them go back and forth like more. And I feel like it got so messy that it was like neither side can like go anywhere else, never.
Any coming back from it. And that's what I'm trying to say, is like like there's never gonna be a point in time where where they they cool, and like I wanted to see them and then be like, yo, there won't.
Record, yeah exactly, and so that's never gonna happen. And so that's the only part about it that I would if I could like be the constructor of how it happened, I would want that just because I'm a fan of both, you know what I mean. And I think that now we're at a point where and we're at a point just in the industry where like everybody it just feel nasty.
Everybody has to choose a side.
And when we're when we're in that space, to me, we're not like allowing like honesty and authenticity to be to live.
Like you can't.
You can't be in a space of choosing size and have honesty in it. You can't be in a space of choosing size and have authenticity in it because you have to just stand where you're at, like you know what I'm saying, and we look at it like Mal's my guy, but he's all the way on this end.
It's fucking ridiculous.
Malls wildless. And then Joe's my guy, but he's all the way on this end. It's ridiculous, you know what I mean. And so there there is no space to be completely you know what I mean, unbiased and authentic. By the way, if you just followed me on Twitter, you would think I was the West Coast mall. But for Kendrick, you've been going craze so much. The funnest thing in.
The world on Twitter for me to do right now is to just throw some red meat to the ov hose. I just throw I just I just I just bait them. Yeah, I'll throw a tweet out there and I'll just let it go. You just watch it. Just it just it just takes on a life of his own. It's like these are real people, yeah, bro like and like these Drake fans, they're like their entire profiles dedicated to this day.
And then they're gonna tweet me about not getting pussy like you, I don't even know what you look like it's.
Crazy, bro, And then do you so do you know anybody in real life that's like that?
No? So, No, Actually I have a friend about to say I who has an Ovo tattoo and he'll and I've been making fun of him for ten years. Yeah that's crazy. But now it was like, yeah, after DJ Yours truly, I'm like, bro, you got a fucking Ovo owl on your shoulder. Fuck. But no, but there's people with the song about say so.
I don't know a lot of people like that, but when you meet it when you when you were when you are cool with somebody, and then it's like that, it's like yo, bro, like it's just us here, like we can talk like like you know what I'm saying, Like we can have a conversation, you know what I mean. Like, and that's on both sides, Like I know a couple of people that's like that on drake'son and I know you know of course, because I'm you know, I was
with TD. I know a lot of people like that on on Dots and and it just makes like barbershop talk not as fun no more.
Like yeah, I mean I think if you're like if it's like you're either mal or your me. Yeah. I mean, like, I'll say this about Drake, like obviously, Drake's one of the greatest rabbers of all time, for sure, biggest hit maker ever for sure without adult uh. I think that I've always been pretty critical Drake for sure over the years that I've always there was always something holding me back from like me putting him above like a few guys.
And then you know, this Battle just kind of reconfirmed all those feelings I had.
And I think that that's why a lot of people chose the side that they chose, is because people have been having a certain perception or feeling about somebody and then it's like, like you said, like the Battle highlighted those things and so people felt I think that they
felt their emotions seen. And the biggest thing I think that the biggest takeaway that I tell artists with the Battle is Jaco just releases his podcast series and he he had he had a line from Dilated People that he said he kind of lived his career by which is worse come to worse my people first. And I think that great record the Alchemists exactly, and I love like I got relationships on on Drake's camp side as
far as like production, different things like that. But the one thing that I do feel like as an artist you could take from that situation is I think Drake over the years could have done a better job taking care of his people. Because to me, the difference in the battle Dot one regardless. So even even to me music wise, I think Dot put out the better records. But I think the reason why it got as bad as it got is because I think over the years of just being such a big artist, I think Drake
did not take care of his core. So Drake might have the bigger fan base like overall, but Dot has the bigger core. And when you are in beefs, your core is gonna be the one that's gonna like ride and ignite the fire. And let's say Drake has ten million fans and not only has five. Well, Dot has four point five million core fans, and Drake might have only had like one.
Yeah, it's almost like there's Drake fans that are Drake fans just passively, That's what I mean. And it's like, you know, it's almost like if you are a Drake fan, you might not necessarily you know, most Death got some hell because he said that Drake made great music to shop at Target to Yeah, he was out of his mind. It was hilarious. But like, but that's kind of like true because there's a lot of people who might just
be shopping at Target. I got what comes on and you're like, oh, I unders still but they but that might be the only hip hop artist they listen to, right, And then you know, you have all these Kendrick fans who have been like anointing him to be like, oh, because he for for better or worse, like Kendrick is. He's been you know, in my opinion, he's been top
five for the last like seven eight years. But somehow he's also kind of underground for someone who's doing arena you have the underground feel, yeah, for someone who's still doing arenas and doing the Black Panther soundtrack and winning all these Grammys and shit. But he's he's his art first.
He's found a way to keep his feel underground first.
So it's like if he does an entire album like Missing around the Big Steppers and it's about like therapy and like looking in the mirror in like this crazy way, and like most people don't get it, but the fans who do get it are like, y'all know crazy this shiite and this battle the way all these like like YouTubers and TikTokers broke down every single little thing. Everybody was like, this guy is surgical, and it's like, well,
he's always been he's always been away. Now it's just you're just seeing him surgically like pick another human being.
A part and like even and and the fans are having a reason to like spread it even more, you know what I mean, because because of the stage that it's on.
Well, now it's like he's the I mean, this is the I think this is the biggest run we've ever seen an artist go on. He's got a hundred million listeners on Spotify, which I mean before he two weeks in a row. Last week he was the first rapper to ever get ninety million listeners in a month. This week is the first rapper to get a hundred million
listeners in a month. And then you know Drake, And this is the thing about Drake is like Drake's just I mean, alien level talented, right, But then he puts out this party next Door album and it's a it sounds like AI there's just no feeling in it. It's it's like, I don't know. There's a couple of songs give me a hug. I like, like, I like, I like to know kill record, I like, give me a hug.
I like a spider Man a Superman. I personally liked the album because I know I knew coming out, like I didn't have felt like a bunch of throwaways from like twenty thirteen.
That that's I mean, I don't I don't necessarily like agree, but I can understand why you're saying that, if you know what I mean. But I like it because I knew what it was for, Like I knew before it came out. I put it in the box of like the Honesty never Mind, which I actually thought was no.
I like honestly never Mind.
Yeah, I thought it was fire too, That's what I'm saying, Like, so I put it in that box, and so I didn't come into the I didn't come into listening to it.
I think it's the worst Drakeout ever because I think honestly, never Mind's better, and you think I think it's the worst Drakeout member. And I think that's a problem when you're Drake and you're like, yo, if you're gonna come out with the slow jams on Valentine's Day, dog, you're capable of making Marvin's room full, Like not, what have you been doing the last eight months? Crying? I feel
that like you should be you. I was expecting, like, oh, Drake's coming with like the hardest R and B shit we've heard from him ever, because this is this is his first release for real since See.
But do you feel like that is affecting the way that you see the album though, because I didn't view it and will do it twice, like I didn't view it like this is going to be the hardest RB you get.
I'm staring on with my wife in the car, and three songs in, she was like, this is new Drake. This sucks Jesus Christ. And I was like night with even dinner. I'm like, oh, the new Drake came out. I was throwing on. She's like this is new. I'm like, yeah, like my thoughts terrible, See and ship that's all the other ship is. I tried, No, I give you listen thing I want you.
I give you credit for putting it on because that's like kind of like against you know what.
I mean you've been. It's weird because I actually like, uh, I enjoy a lot of Drake music over the years. I was, of course, I just you know, for me, it's like, I don't know, man, it's just man, I just feel dirty putting it on now. It's weird, even though I love dude, like, nothing was the same as a fucking and I always I always say this because people will get on my head because I say Drake
doesn't have a consensus hip hop classic. And what I mean by that is, if you put like a hundred of like the top hip hop heads journalists in a room, if you ain't getting ninety five percent of them, motherfuckers to say that's a classic, it's not a classic like a good Kid, Mad City or Dogy Style. Now. To me, Drake's got like three classics to me. To me, I got a me at four class I think the first mix, well, not the first mixtape, the.
Well we count that I got him at five. If we count so far gone.
So far gone, I got so far gone, I got take Care and nothing was the same. I know a lot of people like the if you're reading this, it's too late, that's a classic. To me, I just can't get over the fact that I heard the fucking references. I can respect that one hundred percent. Yeah, I can respect one hundred percent. But those are those are to me the three that I'm like, Yo, Drake's so I'm like, I'm listen, I'm a hater, but uh, if I'm being honest,
like I love all three of those out. Yeah, Yeah, for me, so Far Gone.
Made me like, I think so that's about saying I think so far Gone is the consensus classic that you were talking about. I don't see you getting in the room with hip hop has and them saying so far gone is not a classic point. But for me, I got so far gone to take care nothing was the same I do have. If you're reading this, it's too late, and I got the future joint what It's time to be alive? For me, how I judge classics is different though.
I judge it where if you can just put it on and let it play and not have to press skip, And that doesn't mean that there's no song you don't like. It just means that you never get to a point to where you feel obbly.
Yeah, what It's time to be alive? Had that was crazy it was actually and so I judge it off of that.
I judge it off for impact, which is why I always say now like there's no such thing as like there's gonna be no new artists that can put out classics anymore because of impact, because there's it's the game is so convoluted that unless you're like a huge, huge artist or about to be huge, I think it's really hard to put out an impact Like I think, don't she put out I think, don't she put out a classic? But I'm saying like, you have to have that level
of impact. So if you're you know, an artist that just can't make an impact in that way, it doesn't matter how good the music is, it's gonna be.
Yeah. I think it's hard, man, because at the end of the day, like you said, there's just so much, just so much shit. And it's not even just music.
It's you know, it's it's almost like movies, it's podcast it's it's everything, you know what I mean. Like Shannon Sharp was having sex on the internet that lasted for two days, Like when when it wasn't so much shit going on, we would have been talking about that for weeks.
You talked about that for maybe thirty six hours. We're in this like a weird media space where the streamers, you know, like a kid like Aiden Ross, like people like his opinion on hip hop, people reachmatter matter, He's not to know anything about hip hop.
I love Kay Sannatt to death. I think everything kys Sanata is doing is fucking phenomenal. But even the fact he's obviously not a hip hop head. That's what I was gonna say, obvious, the fact that you have people dropping hip hop albums and feel like they are obligated to stop at Kay sannat spot which and he's dope, and you know, Kyle, I love Speed. I think I think the one is is fucking phenomenal in there. I
think their visionaries, especially to be so young. But like you said, it's I and he don't even try to act like he's a hip hop He no. And that's one of the reasons I love Kay is because Kay's and I don't try to be nothing that he's not. He don't give he don't give a fuck like they're killing them right now because of what he said about Die, But he genuinely don't give a fuck, And that's what I love about him. He's just authentically Kai all the time.
But I say this to say, you got you know people that are thirty three, thirty four feeling like obligated that they got to stop there and spend a night to get their album to sell. You get what I'm saying, like for real, Like and it's like to me, that's the part of the game that like, I just I just hate that we're at now, is that nobody's doing anything, Like nobody's doing shit because they love it anymore. Everybody's treating it like a fucking job. And that's what I hate.
Like you don't see big rappers sitting down with keVs or Charlemagne's or whoever. That like people that actually love rapping. They're just going to wherever they think makes sense for that album.
That's all. Like a lot of artists now, if they're a certain level, they're just gonna go do kaisonat that's it. That's it, bro. Like Nicki Minaj, the only piece of media she did, she went and spent the night with Kayson And it's like, bro, like like I don't love you spend the night.
I don't think she spend the night, but like with like I love Nikki to dead.
But with all due respect, why the fuck is Nicki Minaj spending like or it's like popular, No, no, it's like it's okay to do that, but it's like also do jothing where we just have a music conversation about like I don't.
Know, just but see, I'm gonna take it a step further. I don't think it's I don't think that she should do that. I'm gonna be honest with you. I don't think she should do that because Nikki. To me, I have Nikki as the best and biggest female rapper ever. It's not even a debate.
I agree.
So you are big enough to where like whatever the fuck you do is it? And that is one thing that I do I have always like liked about Drake is that, like, like Drake did on the radar, on the I became a spot.
You know what I'm saying.
Like to me, it's like when you're in that spot, like do groundbreaking ship because you are the wave.
Like. But then the other thing dra will do is he'll he'll, he'll, he won't go do it because this I agree with that as much as I don't agree with academics. And you know, academics has invited me to suck his dick on his stream. Wild guy. Uh. We we got on the phone though, We're fine, but I'm like, yo, Drake, go do academic ship. Why are you doing these random little Canadian white dudes and the gambling on stream like this is no? I agree with he as fuck I
I and I and I agree. I feel like that's what I may know is like to me, go do Moriam mall Bro go do Rory and.
It no.
But that's what I mean is like that's fire. Like I thought it was dope that Dot just sat down with Ebro Like to me, it's like that was a part of.
The super Bowl and it was one of super Bowl. But I'm like, don't sit with.
Is that like bro like to me? Like, and so that's what I'm saying, Like, this is not like a biasing. This is not like a pick sized thing. To me, hip hop is in the space that is in because people pick features off of clicks and what's gonna benefit them. They pick interview, they pick everything based off of what makes sense for the algorithm and not what makes sense for the culture. And that's why the culture keeps dying,
Like regardless of where this beef is. It's like hip hop is not in the best space that it's it's not in the best space because people do that. So like you'll get a big artist that it might make sense for them to work with a boogie, but Boogie's maybe not hot enough, so they go work with a nigga that they don't even know his catalog, but somebody told him, like, yo, go look at this artist. He going crazy, and so they go work with him instead of doing that when it's like you're not at that point,
you're not feeding the ecosystem. We don't feed the ecosystem enough. Like we need to keep our media that is in the world that we love, that really cares about this world. We need to keep them as the hottest media.
How do you do that? Pull up? You get what I'm saying.
If Nikki pulls up you know to I don't fucking know name whoever is a person?
And that I was about Q. Yeah, Q going and doing background FIG was dope to me.
That was fire Like that was fire, bro Like, like go do back on FIG because that is like the people that fuck with you know what I mean?
Like, what what you represent?
That's the ecosystem you should be feeding and like when you're a bigger like, I understand it for up andcoming artists because you just trying to.
Get whatever like you can get.
But if you are like Nikki, you Nikki, you can go sit down with a nigga that we ain't never heard of before and they're gonna be the biggest thing because you're gonna bring a bunch of abauty.
The other thing too, though, is a lot of artists now like they just go straight to fans. They'd rather just go on Instagram live. Like, for sure, Cardi B be fucked up on Instagram line titty out, for sure. I've seen Cardi B's aeral on and meat a lot lately. But it's it's like anything you need to know about her and her fucking just go straight to the fils bro for better everything that's happening with her and offset. Yeah,
that's that's a fact. But of course you could go sit down in an interview and they ask, so what's going on with you? Went off? Just go watch my drunk live from three nights ago? Do you know exactly what the fuck happened? But we had sex six hours ago and now I hate them, but I also fuck with that because that's feet that's feeding her ecosystem. For sure,
I'm saying that's that's what I mean. Yeah, And then the other on the other side, it's like, unfortunately, with the streaming and like some of this ship like artists have also adopted what they call in the streaming world clip farming, like the clip farming uh model where you're just like, Okay, I'm rolling out the album. What are like three or four moments I can create.
Exactly that is just gonna get clipped and then we're gonna send it to all of the pages and they're gonna post and so yeah, yeah, yeah, no, for sure.
We'll see I mean, I like I saw. I think, like the one thing with the Kendrick thing and like Dochi winning Best New Artists or I'm sorry best hip Hop Album she got wrong for Best New Artists? Who listens to Chappelle Room, Yeah, I didn't even know who that was anyway, But I think it's like promising we'll see you know, we'll see man. But yeah, I'm I'm hopeful. But yeah, the ecosystem of media is it's just becoming a lot, dude. Bro.
The ecosystem of media.
And I'm not even hating on anything. I love, Like you said, I love speed, but there's always like the Playboy Max guy. I feel like he just popped up like a month ago. Yeah he did, he did, and he's lit now, but I didn't know the fuck he was like forty five days. And to me, I don't think there's anything wrong with it.
I just think that like that ecosystem should exist over there because it's the thing.
They feed their ecosystem.
Like Kai puts on a bunch of streamers, he's just talking about the stream university that he wants to do doc. That's something he's a visionary. But I'm like, they feed their ecosystem. The issue with us is that we don't feed our ecosystem like our goats or our idols and shit like that. They don't go sit down and feed the ecosystem. They don't do records with up and coming artists.
That you'll have an artist, they'll have artists A who praised them so much that when you listen to artists as music, you can hear it in their music how
much they are influenced by this artist. And then they have artists B that kind of likes them, but they hot and they popping, and then they'll just go do a feature with artists B, which is like, that's cool and it's gonna help you, but it's not gonna help the ecosystem because if you do it with artists A, they're gonna get bigger and then they're going to a praise you for doing that and putting them in a
bigger light. But then also be they're gonna then feed the ecosystem because now they're bigger, so now they can do bigger features with other people.
Yeah, I think, you know, I think back to the Drake rap Ratear interview a few years ago, and I think like it would be if if artists of that caliber every few years just did one of those sit downs, not necessarily just with with someone who.
Wants aware of just pick one, like literally, if you could put them in dice and roll the fucking dice out, sure, and just just pick one, bro, and it'll keep our you know what I mean, Like ecosystem in that space.
Random J Cole stepping out probably best decision ever, right one. When you talk you talk about visionaries, visionary he said, I wouldn't.
Hey, man, everybody knows knows this. That's the reason fan Like I'm a diehard cold fan. That is my goat, like on a Big three. I was hot when I figured it when I heard it while I was on stage. Actually, I was on stage and I talked to about the crowd a lot while I'm performing, and somebody in the crowd told me like J Cole just apologized because I made a joke about the beef. And right when I got off stage, I looked a him like, oh my god,
my heart was hurt. But hindsight you talk about you talk about twenty twenty.
I saw a punch. I saw punch maybe like three or four days before that, and I was like, hey, this before push ups came out. Yeah yeah. I was like, hey, Drake, Drake, don't want to smoke it. Cold cool, cold, Yeah, he's one of the cold. That would have been a fire battle though, that would have been man. I'm like I told him, I said, hey, but dude, dream Dreamville Fast is coming, Like there's a lot of like Q was on it, sisor was on it. I was like, yeah,
what's gonna happened? Like this is weird, you know, And dude, I don't know.
I genuinely think dot what's supposed to be at that Dreamville fest. I genuinely believe that.
I'm glad man, because you know, there's there's this, uh version of a Kendrick and Cole album that was started that will never hear, you know, but those two guys to me are always like you know for sure guys you know yeah, uh, any idea when your mixtape is going to you said before the end of the year.
No, So this mixtape is dropping on the twenty eighth. So the album, yeah, the album my bad album I'm
aiming for I'm aiming for third quarter. I just I'm kind of like, kind of tired of all of my projects are dropped in third quarter, and then when we tore porches it was like freezing cold for sure, and so I kind of I want to drop third quarter, but I also kind of like maybe I should wait till fourth That way I can tour it like maybe like March aprilish and it won't be as cold, so it'll probably end up like leaning towards fourth quarter.
Who's who also on the tape besides obviously who we've seen.
On the the mixtape twenty eighth. Uh, this dope up and coming artist Ben Riley. I want to say he's freestyle on my fire fire bro like, yeah, fire, shout out to the group chat. We got a group chat with U, and I apologize if I miss anybody but me Ben Riley, Deonte Hitchcock Bro. This group chat is so fucking fire bro Seeddi Hendricks Like, It's just a bunch of a bunch of fire niggas in the group chat.
So that's how I met Ben.
But Ben, we got a record that we we flipped We Made You sample by Kanye Kanye super Fire, and he does have a better verse of me. I'm gonna just put that out there. He's super super crazy. So Ben Riley, of course, you know the Coyotes Ransom by hit Boy got a verse. It's funny because people saw it and they thought it was production. But I've been a big hit Boy rap fan for a long time, So shout out to him and Surf Club.
He's on there.
I feel like I'm coded the friend and coded the friends on there.
Yeah, he's on.
Actually, my favorite song on the project I have been for the last month. Happened because I've been too busy. But that's been like you know, my love. We just want our championship, the adult league championship. So I take that very seriously. And I got most improved because the first season I was so bad and coming off of just being drunk all the time. At the second season, I had nowhere to go but up. So you played.
I played in college the racist college coach. Ever find out that you clowned him, I don't know.
So many people putting shit together. Bro, they put it together too, they like I saw, like they found it. This is the coach.
They got it, Bro, they found it. But I don't know if he ever did because I never talked to him. But my assistant coach did hit me and was like, Bro, you're crazy for saying that. But I understand, but I understand why you did it.
He was like, bro, like that.
He was like, the way you were treated over there was fucking nasty. So yeah, excited about Luca. It's super excited about Luca. I hated losing Anthony Davis though, I will say that, And then he got injured his first game with the Mavericke and I was like, God, I'm like, bro, like you know what I'm saying. Like I was talking to the hommies that they hated the trade, because you know, Laker fans, we fall in love with players that.
We really love. You knew Laker fans that hated the trade. I do.
I did know Laker fans, which is crazy because it was a thing where it was like Ad was carrying us this season. So it wasn't so much that they hated the trade. They just hated to see a d go. But I told him, like, bro, like it is what it is, like you know what I mean. Like, but but I will say this, like the MAVs were right in the standpoint of like, look, I got to lose
some weight, bro, that shit. When I saw him run up and down the court, I'm like, come on, yeah, but like, but he'll be fine though.
Like that took him to the finals. You should never know. This is the thing.
They were right in saying that he was fat. But that's not a good enough reason to trade thirty eight. That guy is not enough reason to trade it.
Fat. He could be fat, Yeah, fat guy. Whoever that guy is, Nick, Nico Richards or whatever. Nick, he's fired. He's not gonna be here long. Bro. I can promise you I'm glad. I'm not a Mavericks fan. I'm a Sun's fan. I'm tortured, But if that would have happened, I might have been in that. I would you know, they say he's getting death threats, I would have been in those threats.
Honestly, the fans is better than me because to me, as a fan base, you supposed to boycott games until they fire.
I would have you supposed to boycott. You're supposed to be outside the arena.
You're supposed to hit them they where they hurt, in they pockets and buy no tickets. Was gone just quiet? It should have been quiet. Like when I saw the game, I saw many people was there. I was like, oh, y'all, y'all not serious about this ship. If they would have traded Kobe Nigga, if they would have traded Kobe, it wouldn't have been nobody in that Kobe.
It's like if they would have traded Kobe when he was thirty seven, maybe you'd have been like, yeah, but if you if traded created Kobe number eight bro after he took after he took his team to the finals, like you trade that Kobe, Bro, the Steple Center would have been dry outside. It would have been cracking riot. Yeah, they would have sad some cars on one percent. So I'm like the mass fan.
They clearly don't take their team serious enough because trading Luca, y'all supposed to be you're supposed to be demanding Nico's head on a stake.
Yo. Once Luga got traded, I started just wrapping my head around, like damn, I guess they could trade Booker if Luca got traded, Like, bro, anybody, Nobody's off limits at this point. Like I'm like, bro, like the Wolves could trade a you know a. Like it's like what you're being saying, but you're being said, Yeah, anyway, Well listen, I think the only person who's probably untradeable for real, it's two people Wenby. Yeah, yeah, I agree with that. I agree with that.
No, I agree with that whole heartedly. Yeah Wemby, you trade Wenby? You you must have cancer and the doctor told you have four must live, So you was just trying to like make a splash before you you get what I'm saying, before you kick the bucket or something.
All good man. So the mixtapes dropping on the twenty eighth, Yeah mixtape dropping on twenty eighth, Go Support, Go Support, please please be on the lookout.
Me and COS will be following up pretty soon after that. Like it won't be a large yeah, it won't be a large gap. It'll be like, yeah, probably we'll probably start rolling out, probably start rolling out around Dreamville Fest. Fire, So it'll be soon dream Belfest like first week and that's the last one, right, yes.
That's the last one. That is the last one.
So this should be a very very fun and interesting Dreamville Fest. I hope cold drop song like I just want a Cold album, like a real album at this.
Yeah, I think. Unfortunately it's crazy because my deleat this later like kind of got Lost in the Sauce last year, is such a great body. He worked out that brought.
I revisited it the other day and I'm like, this is a really good project, bro, like a really and you know, yeah it is. Everything got lost in the sauce stow with the beef. The beef, just the beef just was a tidal way to everything here it is.
Man, Well, I appreciate you pulling up reason my guy, Thank you, brother, appreciate it.
Fire