Ao, what's up? What's up this gush? She checked me out on the Bootleg CAB podcast right here.
Hey, before we start the episode, we're gonna remind everybody, man, we got one of the biggest radio shows in the country, syndicated in almost one hundred cities all over. Shout out to iHeartRadio all right, some of the latest cities that we've been able to add. Man, we want to give a shout out to ninety three point nine to beat in Honolulu. That's right, Hawaii, We over there going crazy. I also want to give a shout out Hot ninety eight three and Tucson. Shout out to Tucson going crazy.
Also want to give a shout out to Wild ninety four one in Tampa going crazy. We just got Richmond. We also just got the good folks in Bakersfield at Hot one O four to seven. So we're going crazy on the radio with my partner James Andre Jefferson Junior for the Bootleg CAV Show. So make sure you tune in and you can listen anywhere on that iHeart Radio app. That's right, let's get into the interview Bootleg CAV Show special guests in here. My guy he's back.
What's up, man man? What's popping? What's up?
Buddy good Man.
Just landed in LA. I was in New York finishing this new album, uh, the Killer Whales of Gotham. I decided, the Killer Whales of Gotham. Yeah, we went to we went to uh Staten Island. Okay, So you know, I was a garbage man and uh I met a kid who's a garbage man. And I was in the in the barber shop and they playing this kid's beats and I'm like, yeah, who produced that? Like some garbage man from stant Allen. And I was like, yo, give me his number. I called him, like, yo, you produce these beasts.
He's like yeah, his name is Casella, dom Casella and some Italian kid. And I was like, yo, I want to record. I wanted to record on these beast. He's like, Yo, why don't you just slide through over here like Stanton Allen. He's like yeah, he's like come through. He's gotta work with metha man whatever. Dang. And I was like all right, cool, Well that's kind of rap album I kind of want to be doing right now. We'll be in a rap bag. So I started this album, and I've been locked in
in New York. I haven't really came back here. Plants died in.
The crib like you're in. I mean, I feel like you've been you were in LA forever.
Yeah, I've been in LA for a while. Yeah, yeah, I mean I have to move out, you know, Like it feels like the I love La, man, I don't hate LA. I love LA. I just think, you know, you you eventually have to like move out to let people know around you, like you really are on type shit.
Right you feel. I feel like you kind of also like you've been through like so many different like you've kind of been thrown into the blender of the music industry and kind of spit out the other side. I think about, like, you know, obviously the Rock Day shit RCA. It's just like, you know, I feel like you kind of made like this like amazing music throughout your whole career, but for whatever reason, like the label would never get
behind it the way I thought that they should. Like I think about the nineteen eighty four hour, I'm like, yo, this is this. You were kind of ahead of your time, like a lot of people, kind of everybody after that after that yeah, yeah, we did. If you had sting on that ship.
Yeah, man, thank you, bro. You know, I also I recently did, like the time while we had that interview for nineteen eighty four, I was finishing Brooklyn Cowboy, which is a country album. Yeah, that was twenty twenty, and they were like, uh, we ain't doing no country album and I ended up getting in a fight with the label.
So you were already working on it before it was the thing, because that was one thing I saw you do, the country thing, and I was like, well that's kind of random.
Yeah. Yeah. I started the country album twenty nineteen, finished it in twenty twenty, delivered it. They didn't want to put it out. They said country is not the move. That's just not it, and then four years later it became the hottest shit. Yeah everybody. But I thought to get that album because I wanted to own it. So as soon as I was off RCA, started my own label on February twenty third, which is you know, off
RCA O RCA is ORCA. That's how my label started, off RCA, and I just felt yeah, off rc Yeah yeah, so I kind of felt like, you know, I kind of felt like I was a killer whale in SeaWorld. You know, labels is the sea World. So I said, yo, fuck sea World. You know, started my whole shit, got my own chain. I ain't wait for nothing.
And that's a good good reper or a good uh you know, I see it.
Thank you man. So yeah, just you know I've been You're right though, I've been put in all this and I do all types of music. I've always done it since the beginning of my career. But you know, rap and hip hop is like what got me started. If you listen to every single album I've ever put out, you always hear a hip hop or rap element, and all the albums, you know, because the culture, I feel like, you know, a lot of the songs that I was sampled then rap are not. It's not hip hop or
rap music that sample is. They sample jazz, You sample pop music, you know, So regardless, like the culture and rap always is always involved in every genre.
Yeah, and you also were the first one of the first artists I remember like, uh really kind of people finding on Spotify. Yeah yeah, when yeah, like I think it was when Tuma was running things like early rap Caviar, Like I remember you like a lot of people like like, that's I think that might be. I think i'd heard of you, but I think I really like got hit to the music just because you were on I forget what playlist it was, but you were.
Like caveat facetop hits. I mean when those playlists mattered, you know what I mean. Now it's just like whatever, Like.
Yeah, I feel like the playlist nowadays are like I don't know, man. You know, I always say that the blog era was the ship back in the day because there were gatekeepers, but at least they had a good taste.
You know. That's what I'm saying. You know, it's so funny. Man just ran into this dude, Mecca, my boy. Shout out to Mecca. Man just ran into him. I did an interview. They got this new thing called Create Diggins.
Yeah it was Mecca and Shake from Yeah.
So shout out to Shake. Shout out to Mecca. I mean, yeah, you're right. You just said it like they had taste. Nowadays, it's just like people buying slots and stuff, you know.
Or it's just like numbers. It's like where's what's the algorithm? And then there's like, okay, how much of this is like because everybody who like at the end of the day, like if you're on a major label for the most part and you're like a major priority, there is like some level of like inflating the numbers.
Yeah, I mean all the numbers is fake. You know what I'm saying. I don't want to be up here sounding like rustling shit, but like, you know, the reality is a lot of the ship is fake. A lot of the ship's bootleg. And you know it's like it's like you can't see it. You like search the numbers on your laptop, you see, Like why is like twenty million people listening to this artist in Bangladesh? Like why are they so popping in and the Philippines.
Or in fucking like you know, Estonia, Russia something crazy?
Well, I can't say now Russia is lit because you know, we sold fifteen thousand tickets in Russia, you know what I mean? So you know Russia is really streaming.
Year was this I don't even remember when the conflict I don't know. I just try to figure that out now.
It was back in the day now, But yeah, my manager did get taken taken and pushed the side they had because this passport had a rip in and so he had to wait for us to be finished with the show. Yeah, it was kind of stressful over there, but you know, fan base in Russia, Germany, Like when I did Germany, I was opening up for Playbook Cardi. I was on tour Cardi and those kids. They just
love the underground ship. They don't really care about like the number one song and this and that, Like you're not really listening to the stuff Americans are listening to over there. They like like Suicide Boys, they like like Little Peep and shit like that. You know, bones so bones. Yeah.
It's crazy too because like a lot of fans, I feel like they've been programmed to, like, you know, come up with an opinion on an artist or a song based on what their profile and Spotify looks like like if you open up if you opened up some Spotify profile and they only have like I don't know, ten thousand monthly listeners like this shit, ain't it? Like Yeah, I feel like it's a thing. I mean, you know, the problem instead of finding artists, and the.
Problem is people want people are listening with their eyes, you know what I mean, and not theirs. And it's sad because you know, you see the situation we in now. It's like music has become so accessible people don't respect it, and it's terrible. Back in our day, I mean talking about me and we were just say, it's probably thirty eight,
I'm thirty four, Like same shit. Yeah, you know, it's like you waited online, you grabbed a CD, you opened it up, you read the lyrics, you cared about it, you cared about what the artist had to say, the package and everything, and it made you feel something like when you held the CD, like this hard work. I got this shit, you know what I mean. But now it's like shit comes out at twelve. You just go skim through it and then they fucking judge you based on one listen, they skim right through it.
And I'll do like like some of these streams just so cringey.
Bro oh my god.
D I saw and you know, I got love for the Nelk Voys, but I saw Kyle from NELK and Aiden Ross trying to talk about the Drake Kendrick Beefe and it was like watching two blind people talk about it hating. It was hilarious.
I mean, what Tyler the creators say recently, he said, some people don't deserve a mic or like some people should not be able.
To, especially when it comes to like certain shit. It's like, yo, man, like y'all talk about I don't know what the fuck they talk about, but you know, just like leave the rapture alone. But now it's interesting, like it's definitely a thing because back then, like even if the album sucked, you spent your hard earned money on it, so you're gonna do your damnest to find a song that you like.
You like, like one song on there was like good enough, you know what.
I'm like, all right, well, look at least I got.
At least I got this joint that I can play over and over again.
But now it's like like you said, people once they skimmed through it. If you know it's it's damn near.
It's fucked up. Man. You know, my father used to work at Warner as a garbage man, and they used to throw the CDs out months before it came out. The demos used to bring them home, and I would just listen to them as a kid, and I would pick the singles, you know, like with the ones I liked, I would just like grab a pen and like circle the ones I liked on a CD and they always ended up being the singles on the radio too, which
is funny. So I like, somehow I ended up being my own like immigrant and who didn't speak English, but just love music, you know, love it.
Talk about like for you, you know, just what was the motivation to you know, obviously come off of doing a country album country so big, what was the motivation to get back to the grimy rap shit? Because this is really like your first like I would say, like in terms of this pocket and hip hop like project.
Yeah, I mean I've always wrapped right, but never this good right because.
Which was by choice.
Yeah, my father got sick and it kind of fucked me up and I had to go back home, and uh, I don't know, it was just like I've been through. I had a hard four years in my life and I don't know, it's just like kind of forgot what reality was being in La right.
Yeah, LA's dude. If you could put in that industry blender, you end up in all these events. Yeah, just around all these like super like finicky people who are only around you because of what they think you could do for them or.
Yeah, man, I mean I went to New York. You know what I'm saying. I just got a whole family in New York, and uh, shit got real, you know what I mean, in my life and the weather change, shit got real. I needed to feel something again, so I started to pick up the shit that made me fall in love with it, you know what I mean. And I was like, I just love the shit. And then I had my homie who from high school, my boy a Jamal. She go by Jimmy Banks. He's one
of my favorite rappers. And I put him on the album and I was like, you know what, it's time for me to give back to the people that I kind of grew up with. And I put him on the album with me, and it was just like it was like that. It was like Jordan Kobe, Like that's how I felt in school. We would kill that shit every lunch room. That was my homie. So I kind of wanted to go back to why I started the shit, because for a while, it just felt like music was
just sad and I hated these rappers so much. They're so corny and they're lame, and in real life I would never want to beat them, you know, And rap was something that's so special and it got whack, it got watered down.
Do you feel like the era in which your entry point in terms of like the mainstream of hip hop did it kind of because you kind of came in
during I would say the Dark Ages. I always say I did it kind of like just like like like because when you when you're coveted and you're doing what you do and you have the talent that you have, and you've kind of seen like a lot of people, you know, getting braced to where maybe you know, you were you were with it at the you know, ground level, and but then you see guys like uh, not even to say names, just the SoundCloud era, just people were getting signed off of antics and not music, and you
were like a true artist. So like I can only imagine like coming in at that time and trying to compete with funck shit for real. I mean it had to be like it had to be like tough.
I don't know, it was tough, you know what I mean, But it was just like I was dealing with a lot of weird shit too, Like at the time, like I found, you know, I linked up with post Malone, and like I was dealing with his shit, like where we got into a beef because I dressed him up for his first videos. His first video ever was my video, you know what I mean. And it got weird because he kind of jumped into my management, Austin Rosen, who
brought me into the music business. He's like the biggest dude in music now and he's the one who discovered me. I was homeless when he discovered me, you know what I mean, Like I had nothing, and then you got this kid post Malone who just comes into the picture and it felt like like like a soul swap. It was weird because like he wasn't really doing the sound we was doing and rapping and doing all that, you know, and it felt like a soul swap. It was like weird.
We kind of looked the same and it was so weird. He like took the management. He took my management because at the time it was just Dray London, yeah, who was busting his ass to make the straight was killing it for sure, yeah at the time. And then he like grabbed my management and then he went and grabbed my producer Lewis Bell, and they took the template and just started doing.
So this had to have been because he was working with the first and Charlie Hansen pretty rely.
Yeah.
Yeah, that was before Charlie Hansen was Charlie Hansome.
Yeah yeah, I mean those kids were and.
They had they had they had like three records on sound three or four.
Yeah yeah, yeah, but that was like he was doing what iverson and all that, you know what I'm saying.
Yeah, one more, But.
He wasn't doing like, he wasn't doing the ship that I was doing, you know what I mean. And then it got to a point where it was just negative. I was being negative on that ship. It was just like a bunch of like it was just a bunch of static between us, you know what I'm saying. And I was trying to figure the ship.
It was it one sided though, because was there what did he didn't I'm sure he didn't have static towards you.
Of course he did.
He did, Okay, black ball, I didn't know that.
You go around back balling me. He took fucking he took my agent. He done. He did everything to like really try to go out of his way. Him and his team, they did everything they could realize. Yeah, bro, like I deal with that ship till this day. I deal with that ship, you know what I mean? And whatever, we saw each other at the award show, Jelly Roll came up to me and said, what up? Because he's a real one and he was sitting right next to me. They had his both front row with at the thing,
and he wouldn't looked at me. Dog, you know what I'm saying. You know what time? It is like if he was a real one, he knew he would be like, Yo, what up? Like chop it up?
But you guys haven't had any combos, no, bro.
He just he's a certified weirdough you know what I mean. And it's just like I don't give a fuck about that ship. The day I said the day because like there was a story about him. His plane couldn't land and he was about to like fucking die or some shit, and I was like, damn, Like I prayed for him. I called my mother because my mom was a Muslim woman, and I told her to say prayer for him because I like, really, I would never want any bad shit
to happen anyone. I don't move that way. I'm like, I'm I'm a child of light, you know what I mean. So when I found the plane, landed, and like I said to myself, like, yo, bro, like I never want to deal with the ship again. I'm a dead this shit, Like, I never want to deal with that shit. And that's the same month I got my record deal. And that's the same month to Rock Nation and RCA and then I signed for millions of dollars and my life changed
because I debdit that situation. I felt like I was like, let me move in this new direction, changed my sound up, changed everything. But every time I changed my sound up, it would be same ship. And then I'd be like, damn, I do the fucking this. He does do this? To do that? Do this?
He didn't do eighties though, did he?
Yes?
Oh, I don't remember.
Did the eighties ship? Did the country ship? I know?
I think you did the eighties thing? And that I remember right after Torri did it and Toy did a great job there.
And me and Tory got into it too because he was using my clips that's promo and I was like, yo, why are you using my clips? And he came at me in my DM and I was like, bro, look, I don't want to start. No.
Both of them, both of your All's albums were fire.
Yeah, one hundred percent. I like what you're Your.
Album was, Man, I remember me and my artist Alexis because yeah, we love that album.
Thank you.
That's why that's my favorite body of work that you put out.
I think I appreciate it, like, man, thank you. I ain't get no push on that, you know.
You know what's crazy about that album is like I feel like I love the Tory album, but it sounds like it was made. It was like someone making an eighties album in twenty twenty five, yeah, or twenty twenty three.
Yeah, twenty twenty whenever it was twenty.
Twenty your album. It felt like if you've got into a time machine and you just press play on the radio. It sounded like the fucking eighties it.
I mean, that's why I tried to do with Brooklyn Cowboy too, that country album. You know. It's like the thing is is like when you're making a body of work, like you need to live that shit, right, you understand. That's why when you're like, yo, you haven't been that lay in a while, it's because yeah, I dealt with family shit. But at the same time, I had to go to stant Island, right, I had to live in stand Island. I had to go to the gym and
Stanton Island. I have to like do the stand Island shit to be in New York, to be like, Yo, this is what Wu Tang was going through, like to make this, because it's like I need to have a full experience to make a whole project like that. You know what I'm saying.
Yeah, during the country shit, you were running around probably Nashville.
No fuck that, I ain't do that. No, I ain't do that. That's what he That's what they did. They went to fucking Nashville and got every feature in fucking Nashville. To make yourself look good. I went to fucking muscle shows Alabama. If you guys don't know muscle shows Alabama. Watched the documentary The Rolling Stones, Aretha Franklin, all the greats, every single hit we ever loved was recorded in this place called muscle shows. And I fucking did that shit. Bro.
I'm so happy that I went there and I recorded Brooklyn Cowboy muscle Shows, and I drove straight to Brooklyn from that and made Brooklyn Cowboy. You know what I'm saying. The hats are so dope. Put the Yankee logo on the fucking cowboy hat and it sold so much, so many hats, you know what I'm saying.
Yeah, you're like I think I feel like, you know, you got too many records, Like I think of like safety, like safeties. I got a fucking joint.
Could how did not go to radio with that with Chris Brown on that? You know what I'm saying, It is what it is. Safety creep on me changed my life. You know, I got like twelve gold records.
That's a lot, dude.
Yeah, I never had a hit though I got twelve gold records.
To I mean, even like my year, I feel like should have been like a big scene. I mean, was it a big single sink record for you? I feel like I saw.
It got paid. You know what I'm saying. My year it's weird because I always have this luck where like my music hits the sports right.
Yeah, about to say, I remember seeing it on the sports.
Yeah. So when Toronto won, they played my year. They ain't play no drag record, they played my ship. When Yankee started their season, they played my year. So my year was played. It's been something they play all the time, you know what I mean. It's like it's like I'm Mariah Carey of New Year's with that shit. You know, it's like really cool because they play it every New Year's.
I see the streams jump up, you know. And recently I did a song with Whiskey Leaf called Better, and every game the Knicks used to hype before the game. So I'm at when I said there at the games, I'm like, damn, this is really my song and I'm doing it independently.
You know, have you got to hang out with Gorilla Nems out there in New York yet?
No? I haven't.
Man, Look, you mentioned the Knicks. I'm je like you guys got I feel like you guys are like you and Ems hanging out in Coney Island. That's my guy. He's the most hilarious motherfucker alive. And he's also like just an amazing artist, Like really, but he's he's fucking hilarious.
Yeah, I've seen him a few times.
Man, he's a rapper.
We never really have a conversation, but like, I respect what he does. I remember where I was. I was in like Texas or some shit. I ran to Paul Rosenberg and he was telling me about Oh.
Yeah, because Rosenberg signed MS took Aliath.
Yeah, he was telling me. I mean, I love it, man, I think I think I love the fact that like he does him, he's in his own world. And I don't know too much, but from what I heard where I see the freestyles and stuff, you got bars, he's super dope.
So what is I guess? You know with this album? Would you say sonically it's very much like nineties?
Yeah, it's nineties, but it's still new. I got some I got newer ship too on there, just because I need the streams. Yeah, Like I got a song called Rings okay with Gez on there because it's like I want to.
Get And he was out in New York too for he Yeah, I think he just left. Yeah he was out there for like.
At least a year.
Yeah he got another apartment Okay, I saw he moved down in his apartments. I don't know if he got a new one.
He lives out here too. Yeah. Rings kind of different than I got a song called London with Gigs on there. That's not New York. It's just but I need these records for people that don't listen to Griselda all the time, don't listen to Alchemists.
Well, and then you have like a worldly audience too.
Yeah, you know what I'm saying. All the European show, all my European shows sold out, you know what I mean. Like that's what that's where the money's at. So I got to still feed them that ship that they liked in my years and all that. But majority of the album, it's all like I produce the majority of the ship. Oh you made the beats too, Yeah, it's just all like simple samples. It just loops me wrapping on them.
Nope, not a lot of drums.
Not not a lot of drums, no hooks either.
That's the new ship.
Yeah, it's just me rapping.
Man, It's just like and then I guess it's not that new now because then this has been cracking for so long.
Yeah, and then it's me introducing my favorite rapper too, you know what I mean.
They got Banks.
Yeah, he's the fucking I think Jimmy I put Jimmy Banks. I think Jimmy Banks is better than any rapp in New York right now period. Dope. I put him against anybody like like it's it's it's a no brainer, like this man crazy? Yeah, Yeah, what.
Is uh for you?
Man?
Like you obviously.
You know.
You come from immigrant parents.
You know.
You are somebody who you know was not born in the United States but change your life by moving here. What do you What is your take on what's going on with all this mass deportation.
Ship going on us? Heartless and crazy. I don't fuck with it. I think it's terrible. I saw this video, man, That shit brought me to tears. There was this girl screaming at her mom from a gate, telling her she's gonna get her out and bring her back. And I mean, bro, like it breaks my heart. And it's because it hits home. You know. I was born in Libya, bro, and we were trying to get into America for so fucking long, bro, And every time we hit a country where they didn't
accept us as refugees, we would be sent back. So it's like a video game and you'd have to start all over again.
Should they tend you back to Libya?
Yeah?
And this is Goodafi's Libya? Yeah Yeah.
And you know what I'm saying, Like, Bro, my parents never decided to go to America. I would probably be a Muslim man married with kids right now in Libya. Like my life would never be signing to jay z RCA putting out these records, like right, I grew up on Arabic music, right, all my melodies are Arabic, you know what I'm saying. And I'm Albani and I'm not even right right, right, right, right, this is crazy, Like,
you know, I can't believe it. I just feel like you got to believe in God, man, like I believe in God so much, because it's like I had to be here, like I was a mistake. My mother didn't even know she was gonna have me, you know what I'm saying. She found out they issued my dad was like, nah, you know, we can't have them, and she ended up having me on the kitchen floor in Libya in like
a big refugee building, you know what I'm saying. And then from there I just feel like I changed that life, you know what I'm saying, Like this it was meant to be, you know what I mean.
Yeah, I think it's just sad because there's just so much like there's like zero nuance or context. It feels like put into any of these people getting like swept off the street outside of you know, maybe they're saying things about a foreign country that we're not allowed to say anymore. I guess, but it's kind of messed up twild times we're living.
I was supposed to have my best friend come meet me to go to Coachella with me from Germany and they have a list like they're not letting people in from Germany. Oh shit, not letting people in from certain countries. And it's just weird. I don't understand it.
That's get into Did you go to Coachella this past weekend? Nah, you're going this weekend.
I was supposed to because I was supposed to be a few things. Yeah, you know, shout out to my publicist, you know, Forefront Group. You know, they were supposed to get me a bunch of shit.
And you've done Coachella, right.
Uh? No, I I was supposed to do it. I didn't do it, Okay. I kind of just been waiting for me to have my moment, you know what I man to have, like the Jelly Roll moment, the fucking moment of like the Doja Cat moment.
Yeah, the Jelly Roll thing, Like I'm really I've been friends with Jelly since like twenty and eleven or twelve something like that, and uh, you know, I would always tell that full like you know, as soon as people anyone who meets him loves him, and he's always been he's always been the same guy. So it's like like, hey, dude, as soon as you fuck it the world meets you, it's over, you know what I mean.
Yeah, Yeah, he's amazing. Yeah, No, he's he he he linked up in Nashville.
He's gonna be as I just told him, Like I was like, you're gonna the white Snoop Dogg bro.
Yeah, because you know why, that's a crazy, yo, that's crazy.
He's the white Snoop And like, like it doesn't even matter musically what happens, He's always going to just be, like he's gonna be. Just being him is good enough for him to be straight for like Snoop Dogg, Like he's being able to get bags just for being like it's crazy, like he just got an American bag.
You said that, man, that's a bro. You know what you're talking about. It's so dope. It's because his name matches him. Yeah, Snoop Dogg matches Snoop like you put the name to the face. It's like the branding is so perfect.
Yeah, And like his story is so crazy, like if you know him, like and just the shit he went through and like the drug shit and yeah, yeah shit with his daughter. It's just beautiful to see. But yeah, like you said, I feel like you've had you've been closed. I mean it's it's interesting though, because you are so big outside of the US in terms of like Europe, Like you're massive, dude, So like, what is your biggest A market outside of the States.
Germany Parish? Yeah, got Kosovo, Albania, everything in Europe from London, they're always top listeners, you know.
Yeah, I'm sure Cosovo Albania has got to be fun to go to and go back to the homeland. It's like you Action, Bronx and Dualipa. Yeah yeah, I think that's the big three. Yeah.
Yeah, shout out to Bronson, man, I love him, that's my guy. I just love my country, you know what I'm saying. I love my people. I love my women too, Like the alband girls, like some of the most beautiful women you have ever seen in your life, you know, yeah, being women. It's like, yeah, it's like I love allband girls. You know, they're the best.
Why why did you name it the Killer Whales of Gotham.
I named the album the Killer Whales of Gotham because I saw Wales in New York City and I didn't know we had Wales by the Statute of Liberty, right, And my whole new shit is fuck sea World because the labels of Sea World, you know. And I felt like I was Willie bro I was being contained my whole career, right. I love that. Yeah, And I need to find a way to jump over that wall and be free from all this bullshit telling me what to do. Is A and R is are artists that never made.
It, yeah, and they all have their own.
Ulterior motives exactly so they failed and they want to see you fail, so they feel good about it for sure. And I was like, fuck this ship, man, I gotta get out of here. But I thought, how dope would it be if there was Killer Whales and Gotham, New York. So I came up with the whole you know, it's a shark invested fucking business man. How sick would it be when the Killers Killer Wales come around and all the sharks run away? You know? So the Killer wells Gotham.
I started a group all my favorite rappers in New York that I grew up with or in the group called the Killer Welles's dope. Yeah, I love that.
So you're going to do like a are you going to do like a whole project eventually?
Yeah, I mean we do a whole project. Like it's about putting people along, you know, huh, you never know, you know what I'm saying, But it's about putting people on. I mean, last time we seen that was ASAP for sure, it's.
Been a while. Yeah, it's I mean Griselda to Yeah, obviously, Griselda's a crew label.
You know that.
Everybody has had a lot of success on In terms of the main three guys.
I love Griselda, man, I think, I think. I think Griselda and Doci made me want to rap again too.
Yeah, because Doci's an alien.
Yeah, she's fucking dope. She's so talented, so talented, she's so dope. Everything about her is just a one. She's dope and her team is incredible.
When you look back at your albums twenty sixteen with Stairs all the way to now, what's your favorite project?
I think my favorite album is nineteen eighty four.
It's a great album.
Thank you man. I loved that album a lot. I was very confident on that album. And then I would think the new one, Killa Well is a Gotham is going to end up being my favorite one, even though Brooklyn, Cowboy Elevators, all of them are so dope. But like this new one, and it's just.
What was the most successful one?
Got you? Yeah? The self titled Yes, because they put money behind it. That's the first one.
Yeah, your biggest records are on that one.
Yeah, like two hundred million. A lot of every song on there is over one hundred million.
That what you're I forget what you what you're doing to drop the four from your name?
Oh? Twenty eighteen, I signed to him, though, like you need to take the party name G four. She I was the first one to put a four on my name, you know what I mean a lot of artists now they put fours in their name, do they? Yeah? I don't know, dud Joey Franchise.
Of course, shout out to my brother.
Joey Franchise played my new record on the radio.
In Tampa and Wild ninety four one. I do nights there. I'm the night show there.
Really, yeah, man, shout out to Joey Man, that's the first dude to ever put me on the fucking.
The Hertford goat right there, yeah, Connecticut.
G Yeah, that's the first dude to put me on on Uh.
He is a serious sneaker fetish that I feel like, Uh, the tariffs are going to fact.
Yeah, it's crazy because like we used to go around because I went to school in Massachusetts.
So where'd you go? You mass right?
I went to you mask, got left there after a year and I went to a c I met Joey and he like put me on his radio show.
He's doing radio in Boston, yeah too, yeah.
Yeah, And then we went to Connecticut. He put me on the radio in Connecticut. Good guy. Joey's the real one. Man. Like, there's nothing for me to say except for show love because he's just a real, real, real solid dude and he's been supporting me since I shout out to Joey franchise.
Yo, you can you tell me what it was like torn with Cardi back then?
I mean, let me tell you, bro, Like the Cardi I know now and see now, I don't know how recognized I went there, but look, bro, I've toured with this guy named black Bear.
Shout out to black Bear, very talented.
Yeah, he's a bitch, And I think it's so crazy because he's the biggest hater ever.
Yeah, he lost a lot of weight, he got his drug addiction under control from IC.
I don't know, I don't give a fuck. Okay, he's pussy And I think it's so crazy the fact that, like he we killed the show so bad. He made like security guards take shits in my green room, used the towels and abused me until I had to like say something. He turned the lights off on the show because everybody would like come to see me, and then after the show they would leave. Yeah here, they'd fucking leave. And he hated it, and his management was like, well,
we made a mistake having him opened up. We should have gotten somebody that was not as popping. And it was just rude, you know what I'm saying. And he would do things that well here was that like I don't know two that was nineteen or something, and so what show we were at Philly turned all the lights off while I was performing on stage. That embarrassed me and I ended up falling and hurting my kney really bad.
Almost told my acl and I decided to walk off that tour, and he tried to as team and with like trying to like get me to like be cool and just be like, hey, we're sorry and trying to make me a bottle and whatever apologize to me. And it was just like, nah, bro, you cross the line. You know what I'm saying the whole tour. You were doing that.
At the whole tour.
You abused me the whole tour. And I was trying to be cool because I was just thankful to be.
There, just to be there, yeah, because yeah, twenty nineteen, it was a good year for him.
And good year for me, you know, and he was just not He was just not a good person, you know what I'm saying. And I'm over it. Obviously. I don't care. I don't even give a fuck about that shit. But you know, I'm not going to sit here and be like play the fucking card of being like politically correct or whatever, like just play the card to be a nice guy, like fuck him, you know what I'm saying.
But then the opposite is like Playboy CARDI. You got a kid who's like three years younger than me and brings me on tour let's me open up for him in Europe and was the sweetest man in the world. Playbook Cardi is the sweetest man in the world. He's so real. It's mad bitches. Like I remember, I was in the other green room at the time. I ain't really have money. It was just me and my DJ and he came in with his whole squad rolled the blunt up was like, yo, here's a blunt for you.
And then he was he came in with mad bitches and he was she was He's like, which one you like? And I was like, oh, you know, it's cool, Like we cool. And he's like, y'all I need you to like like pointed at the girls, like y'all need you to fuck my man. It's like, god us mad pussy, he got us weed, he got us drenks like serving
you up. I like that. Carti's like so real, bro, Playboo Cardi is like, look, bro, there's a lot of rappers, new rappers that don't live that life like Playboy Cardi lives that life really fly, really cool, really dope, really a real man, and he doesn't hate. It's not the bro bro. I never felt no hate even when I killed it. I'm telling you right now. CARDI knows. There was some nights where people left and he was performing, like nobody. I literally killed that.
Ship and then people were leaving.
He performing, Bro, he would not hate nothing. He would finish the He come up with me, brother, you killed that ship, bo, like showed me mad love and and I think that's what a real artist is. That's why he's where he's at.
Yeah, he's he's on. You know, his whole thing is so crazy. We saw him wrong loud and it.
Was like he's so fire man. So you know, it's like that experience was so dope because now watching him become this huge star, it's like I'm not surprised.
But he's also like he's a big start. I mean I think he's like four or five weeks straight at number one or something. Yeah, but he's also still underground.
I know.
It's like he's still underground as fuck. Like you know what I'm saying, Like he really like his music is still very like acquired types of kids. He's just got the kids, bro.
Like, yeah, he's doing it right though, you know he's doing it right for sure. Yeah, but like, yeah, that was a good experience, and I started doing my own tours, you know, and I just feel like it's been a while since open up for like for a big artist to me whatever, and I kind of just been doing my own ship, touring my own shit, and it feels good to just be a hard ticket sales act, you
know what I'm saying. That's what my idea is is like people be like, Yo, why why is it Why is it such a big deal to sell hard tickets? It is because it's hard, Yeah, Like it ain't easy, you know what I'm saying.
Yeah, it's like the difference between like having those numbers we talked about earlier, were people listening with their eyes if they're not. If they're listening with their eyes only, they ain't coming to fucking buy a ticket to see your ass.
That's what I'm saying is people don't understand, Like, Bro, there's a band called there's a band. It's a fucking band that I recently, not recently with whatever. I listened to them like years ago, and this fucking band was at like five hundred thousand monthly listeners. But they were selling fucking stadiums and they were selling like arenas, like doing fucking big rooms and that ship don't mean nothing, bro, Like,
if you can sell tickets, that's what it means. Like I'm trying to do like the Suicide Boys, like.
Oh yeahming it. You know they're doing they're doing uh you know they're doing arenas.
Yeah, fuck with them, bro, like them. Shout out to them, like you know what I'm saying, and it's just.
Now movement pooh yah and uh yeah Fat Nicks my dog.
Yeah yeah yeah, I like Fat Nick. That's only has a little peep. I love that show.
Yeah, that's my boy brother. Dont guys, I just saw that. Actually, me and Ot just went to a show.
In la At.
Uh fuck, what's the show in k Town? The Wiltern.
Yeah, fuck with them, they dope. Man, shows are important. We're building the ship, building the whole ship. I think that's that's what we're doing right now. And it just feels good to be out here after sixteen years, you know what I'm saying. Still doing that, still putting projects out, still having the fan base. We sold out Toronto a few days ago. Like, still doing that, still pushing it. Don't it don't change?
Are you gonna do? Like, because I feel like when you get into that country space, you're kind of like in a whole new like ecosystem because it is its own. I always tell people, like country music is very much it's like own isolated industry away from I don't funk with it because, like you know, it's like it's like when we think of the music industry with the New York in LA, but like all that shit don't matter. You gotta go to fucking Main Street in Nashville.
There's all these I don't think I'll ever do country again, okay, period, Like I don't like to sour taste in your mouth, Yeah, I don't fuck with that, you know what I'm saying. I don't like the I don't like the fact that somebody called me a Puerto Rican cowboy and they didn't try to hear me out anything. It felt really racist when I was there. When I did go there, I felt very unwelcomed the fact that, like I wasn't like
the typical white dude, you know what I mean. I don't fuck with how racist A lot of the people, not all, majority of the people in that genre of racist as fuck, and I don't stand with it. I don't fuck with it. That shit left such a bad taste. I don't fuck with them. It is what it is. I don't give a fuck about it. I love my music. I love the fact that I tried it. It was awesome, But I wasn't going to pack up and move there and try to do all that weirdo shit, like, no way,
like that was just me doing. I've been doing all different genres my whole career, so but that was the only genre that I did. When I went there, it felt super racist. It felt very unwelcome. And if you think some fucking genres a gatekeepers, just.
Go over there and you know that's the gatekeeping, and yeah, that's a gatekeeper. Country is very much a gatekeeper Colder.
Yeah. And it's like some people are cool as fuck. There's artists there that I fuck with, like Jelly Row and people like that. Those are the Jelly's a rapper, you know what I'm saying. So like he gets it, but like a lot of them over there, very very unwelcoming and made me feel like you feel me.
It's like if you go there and you're like chosen, they'll put you in with the riders and did that. They're there hand you a number one hit without even like you even knowing what happened.
You know what I mean, I don't fuck with I think it's fake. I don't fuck with it. I think it's bullshit and it is what it is. I respect the people there that this show me love. Shout out to Shaboozi, shout out to the artists that this showed me love and and fuck with me and said they love my album. But you know all the gatekeepers and all that saying the ship that they were saying about me and the ship that I heard. You know what I mean, I just like, I don't fuck with it.
The country is I can. I feel like it's in a cool place now because it's like there is, like the Shaboozies, there's there's a lot of like just dope songwriting. I said that about country is the songwriting. Yeah, when you listen to hip hop and you listen to country, you're like, oh, there's actually like still because I feel like a lot of hip hop's like the writing of songs.
Yeah, but culture wins for sure. What I'm saying like country will never be hip hop no matter what, no, no, no, for sure, it's like hip hop and rap music controls, like controls the world and rules the world, and it's like.
Sh and Latin music rules the rule.
Yeah, but like all of that, it's in the same kind of thing, and it's like no country is a here thing, yes but whatever, Like you know what I'm saying, it's just like.
Yo, but there is Like I just feel like the songwriting is like some of these motherfuckers.
Like this just thought to sound the same, all of it on the sound.
Have you heard of John Morland, the ball dude. He looks like Bamban Bigelow.
He's tough. Probably. Yeah. I just got such a fucking weird feeling. I just be skipping that ship now about listening to it. I'm actually, you know what I'm saying, doing everything that I might do it. Jack.
Do you do any of those songs on tour?
Yeah? Yeah, yeah, I just we did what's the fucking ship? Santa Monica? Uh, I don't know. It's like iconic venue. I don't know. Fucking there's so many right there on Dohani and Santa Monica. It's like right on the corner. It's a legendary, all the big dudes. I just sold that out and performed only the country album, and people love that fucking album. I've had people tell me like, ya, I can't believe you're not a country for sure. Yeah, thank you, Bro, And you know, a lot of the
shit went Bro. I did bigger numbers on brook My Brooklyn Cowboy album independently than nineteen eighty four with Arcia Crazy.
Would you do another time Piece project?
Yeah, I am. I got a nineteen eighty nine album coming out my birthday because everybody thought I eighty four was my birthday. I'm like, nahs, you know what I'm saying.
But like, I mean, yeah, that's a five year jump that you can kind of hear too in terms of like where music was at. Yeah, from like eighty four to eighty nine, like that.
Yeah, nineteen eighty nine I like that. I like that, but it's like eighty four, it was the best.
Year ever for music you're saying for everything.
Michael Jordan got drafted first Apple commercial, Prince Purple, Rain Shade, Diamond, Ninja, Turtles, Michael Jackson did it, eighty three popped off from the eighty four, The biggest George Michael eighty four, forty album by Van Helen, everything that was anything in culture with nineteen eighty four. It changed our life forever, like nothing will ever be the same after that year. So my parents man got married that year, and I just felt like, yo,
that's why I'm gonnaname this shit. I love it, man, But people thought it was my birthday and I'm just like, damn, get off.
My dick, like like, damn, I'm not that old, That's.
What I say. Like you have me at twenty eight years old being like, yo, you nineteen eighty four, Like yeh, that's funny. Yeah all right.
Look though, when I'm dropping the four album.
I don't know, I don't know. Yeah, I ain't got a date. We're rolling out this new song means you easy for the NBA.
Playoffs called Rings of course.
Yeah, I got to send you so you could play to Gerald. Yeah, shout out to Jeezy Man.
I think it was his mom's birthdays today too.
Recipes man.
She was a great lady.
Yeah, rest the piece. I love Gerald Man. He's a real best jeez. He's a dope, dope, dope person, dope artist.
I proposed to my wife on stage of this show. No way, Yeah that's my that's my I love g manh.
Yeah, he's a fucking road. I know that. That's so fucking dope. Shout out to j Z Man. That's my that's my dog, and he keeps it real, you know what I'm saying.
And who do you think has had a who's more of a headache on the road? You were G easy when it comes to our boy Solomon having to handle you guys at a fucking nightclub.
Yeah, G easy, Like that's an easy answer, Like G easy ship, you know what I mean, Like this dude is just wild, bro, He's like he's like American psycho for sure.
You know.
But yeah, if you catch him on the right night, you'd be like, yeah, right.
Now, he's you know, but yo, shout out to j Z Man. He paved the way for artists like Jack Harlow and sure, for sure, you know what I'm saying, a lot of artists needed like give him his flowers. You know a lot of these a lot of these other dudes would not be here without G Eazy, And I.
Just, yeah, I feel like he kind of also like, uh, you know the thing about G I feel like that he did that he kind of got that direct to fans. Shit going early.
Yes, it's hard tickets and you.
Know, I remember when he was I guess underground what you would call it, and he was just doing like I remember the way he would package his merch and you know, yeah, I've been seeing G come up since shit man.
I mean yo, like G took some of the realist artists on tour, had him open up.
For his shows Kailani forty, yg Helo, yg Yo, Gotti Yo.
He's boozy, He's a Bay legend.
Yeah, who's the open for him?
That's what I'm saying, you know what I'm saying, Like it's like for some reason, it's like they try to like sleep on him sometimes, Like you know what I mean.
I think the thing with G Man is like it felt like everybody was rooting against him because he got so big, and they were like, yeah, wait a minute. Because if you think about it, like G's probably I mean like obviously there's two short Andy forty, but in terms of like overall numbers in the last like twenty years, like no one's bigger than GZ out of the Bad Hell no, in terms of like if you just look at the numbers, you know what myself and I is like a pop red bro.
He has real hits stuff for sure, No Limit, No Limit, all these other songs, the Tumbler girls, like all these songs. Bro, what like, what are we talking about? I just bro, it's like that quote. It's like you can do the same ship he's doing, but they won't hate you because it's you doing it right.
I just think like a lot of the Bay Area taste makers too, were just waiting for that, like they were like they always were hating on that full.
Like well they could suck a dick even though he was.
Like putting on real he was bringing people on the road.
Man, anybody that got a problem with jeez, he was bringing period.
Yeah, he brought the whole Bay on every tour.
He shows love man, you know what I mean. It's usually like that. People that show too much love, they don't get no love back because people being they take that ship for granted out to g Man.
Listen album on the Way new song with.
G Rings and I got a bunch of other artists ars in this real New York album.
Any other features on the album?
We got Yay produced on that which I don't want to talk about.
On Tony West Yeah, oh ship, Yeah he did. You're able to use the beat like he's clearing it.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, we're good.
At this point in time. I feel like, you know, it don't matter.
You don't give a ship.
He doesn't get he don't give a fuck.
We got few rappers on there that legendary, you.
Know, Rake one.
I'm just throwing. I want the ship to come out, you know what I'm saying. We got some dope ship on there. You know, great album, my favorite. If you like rap, this is gonna be your favorite album by me. And if you if there's pops, if you see something that's too crazy in there, like too dancy, just no, I got to feed my kids, man.
You know what I'm saying, was there was the Kanye beat, like a Kanye like like sample.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'll play for you all right.
Yeah, well listen, bro, I appreciate you pulling up album on the way go support. Uh. I know you got a new that you got new a few singles out right now?
So yeah, ring a song called Pimpals with your boy, right Yeah. I produced that my boy Jimmy Banks. And then I got hit with Jimmy Banks again Halos and Draco's.
And Jimmy Banks is signed to you sign.
Affiliated to my label. Yeah, I don't want to sign my man, it's like I don't. I don't do that.
That's fair.
I don't want to sign none of my friends. He's he's a he owns a part of company like me. So anybody that's around me, they own a percentage of my label with me. So you know what I'm saying. That's signing ship. It's old, it's whack. It is what it is, bro, like you feel me, you sign I signed pop artists. I don't sign my friends. You know what I'm saying. So I could like sign you make money with you, and I don't want to deal with you.
Keep it moving, you know my friends and my friends like I want to put people on because a real boss would show you how to get it, you know what I mean. And somebody trying to little brow you nin's what you want to be dealing with.
You know, facts, facts, facts.
Well.
I appreciate you, man, man.
I appreciate you too. Bro. Thank you for having me and always showing me love in the beginning. Bro, like you know, and it feels good to be back here, especially like you know, if motherfucker went through some ship, you know what I mean? And and coming back here, coming back to l A. I went to I got a Marathon Burger yesterday.
That sh it's amazing.
Yeah, I love that rest of me. You know, you know, the first artist on the East Coast to do a song with them. I remember you. I remember.
I think we talked about this, like you met him with you were like, damn, you're eighteen.
Nobody know what I mean. I was sleeping in the studio, man, like you know, but like that really paying for the future, Yeah, we well, I didn't the homie paide Johnny shipes. It was like nothing. It was. It was just like we paid for his time to come to for his flight whatever. And he was just so dope he is about re releasing that. Nah No, I just like it's like he's
just dope. Yeah, he's dope. I respect him every time I land in la If, I play park, right after I play Face the World or seven days a week. I mean, I love him. I've always been a fan. I'm the one who reached out. Nipsey was not even that popping when I reached out to him to do a song with him, you know what I mean. And He's like, yeah, you gotta pay for the.
Flight and he was doing his thing on the blogs, but like he was definitely like you know, I feel like if if it was the Ship's days, people weren't really.
Know, they weren't really hip to him. And the thing is, I love nip way before you know, man, I still do still play it every day, and I just think, like, bro, like he raps, he sings, he has a real story, He's real, he's bro Listen, Like, there's a lot of ship that you know, a lot of people make bullshit up when somebody passes, like they may they make them seem like they're more legend.
Yeah, I feel like yeah, but I feel like if you knew like nip and you like, like you said, there's people who will pass away and you'll be like yeah. But I feel like the people who were fucking with nip like they.
A one bro for sure, Bro, a one brother. You can't say anything to make me look at that man differently, like a one bro Adam.
The first time Nipsey was ever on my show, it's on YouTube. It was freestyling on my show and nine damn, that's the round time I met him. I was Yeah, it was like it was two thousand and Superstar Bro Soisey Idaho doing radio.
Really yeah, he came all with he.
Was on tour with the game The Lex Twow.
Yeah. Shout out the game too.
Man, games. Yeah, legend. I love the game super that's another black Sam. They got that burger together.
Yeah yeah, yeah yeah, I love that uh Man. Like I said, Bro, you a legend. Thank you so much for always supporting me of course, man, and always having me come back here and anytime. I love these interviews, man, I think these interviews are the ones that always last for sure.
Gashy new album coming soon, The Killer Wells, Gotham Liberation, Let's Go, Let's go. Boom