#83 - Payroll Giovanni

to hear it. He's a smart dude man, just kind of like a staple in the Detroit hip hop scene. All right, so shout out to perro Giovanni. Before we get into that episode, though, let's shout out our sponsors, odd Socks. Go to odd Socksofficial dot com. Use the keyword bootleg keV at checkout. You will save twenty percent off. All right, that's keyword bootle keV at checkout to save twenty percent off of everything odd socks related. So we

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the episode with Perro Giovanni. Yo, it's Bootlet Cab Podcast. We got a special guest in here. Detroit's finest, Pyro Giovanni is here. Yeah. Yeah, what though, what's up? Man? Welcome? Appreciate it. Man, I just saw you in the bay Yo, help me understand the uh what is the love relationship between the Bay Area and Detroit. It's always been a thing. Yeah, it's been before me, you know, it seemed like it's been since the beginning of the time. But a lot

of Detroit dudes used to go to get money. Yeah, so I think the lingo and the culture kind of you know, transferred game like that. So we always been like related, like cousins. Yeah, it feels like Detroit has so much in common, like especially you know, like you said, like they're just always sonically, it just feels like y'all are in the same pocket kind of when it comes to culture. And yeah, like I grew up on the

Street Lords. It was a big, big group in Detroit, and they used to have like be legit two short e forty all of them on the album. So it was like, should we started listening to them just off of that right right right right? So you know, and sound sound the same. Can we talk about I don't know if we're allowed to talk about the fact that there's gonna be a reunion album coming? Oh yeah, yeah, no boy cash out? So yeah, yeah, So so this is the first album and how long or first project?

Probably about five five six years. Yeah, yeah, we're working on it's like ninety percent done. It ain't all the way done. What motivated You've been obviously killing it on the solo shit, but like what motivated the crew to come back together? Man? We always been together, like we never broke up. Well, I mean just as far as just making you know, like making the studio and making that effort to like actually put a body of work together.

Like it just had to be the perfect time. I wanted to be organic because we didn't got in there and made music. But it just it seemed forced. I don't know, I think everybody had to get some some real money. It was like that's because we first started rapping, and it was like it was a hobby. It wasn't like we was making music to make money. It was just like let's get on here and talk some shit. And it was just a time where we just all

had we was all doing good. Everyone's doing good. Ye come together, let's do Let's do it because we want to, not because we have to, exactly, and that's the best music. Yeah, we made a project. How does it feel to be like you know, you you mentioned some of the guys you grew up listening to, But how does it kind of feel to be uh, you're kind of like low key like OG's in the city now to like a whole new way of a Detroit artist. Man, that's a blessing. Man,

It's an honor. You know. I remember just being young just watching the ogs like Blade and Street Lords and east Side Shuttle Boys, all of them on TV. Like damn, you know, I love to be in that light day in and for dudes to compare me to like Blade or Street Lows, you know, that's that's an honor. That's like the highest honor in Detroit. Yeah, Detroit seems to be like on fire right now, you know so much. I mean, listen, Detroit's always had it's place in hip hop.

You don't feel like, listen, I'm from Phoenix. We have zero place in hip hop. We've never had nothing pop off. Like it's been rough my whole life Detroit. At least, you know, going back to the nineties, you could eat you know, obviously there was always Royce or eminem and then you know Dyla and you know, I feel like even like insane clown Posse was from around Detroit, you

know what I'm saying. So I feel like, y'all, I've always had a presence in hip hop, but but I feel like, right now it feels like a whole wave, you know what I'm saying. Yeah, Detroit always just had like a super underground scene music scene, like super artists, that's our own heroes like this, our Tupac, this, our Hot Boys and this and that, and it seemed like it never got mainstream, like it just only would go to Detroit and other Midwest cities and that was it.

And we used to be like why, like, you know, dudes has got more money and more jury than these rappers on TV. So it shit sound good, Like why the fuck we don't never get there? And it used to be like a headache, Like damn what you know? What's crazy? Detroit and Chicago share two kind of things in my eyes as far as like there's two sides.

I feel like to like the sonics of the city hip hop wise, Like in Detroit there's some of the illest boom back traditional just incredible hip hop that you ever hear, and then there's the street side of the hip hop scene. And I feel like Chicago's kind of the same way, Like Chicago's the same city that birth Chance and Kanye and Common and you know what I'm saying.

But on the other side, there's the drill shit. Like it feels like there's two separate kind of sounds and scenes going on in Detroit, but they do kind of, you know, our times come together. But why is that? I mean, because you know, Detroit is a it's a diverse city. You got the street side and you got like at the arts cy freestyle hip hop side. That freestyle ship is serious out there, Like it's dudes that go to the halls and freestyle battle and all of that,

like the ship on Black Milk or Guilty Sense. Obviously, you know what I'm saying. But we all respect each other. You know what I'm saying, Like it's all love. But you know, Detroit is a it's a street orientated city. You know what I'm saying. Do you feel like Detroit is getting better? Because I've heard that, Like the dude the Calves is like buying up a bunch of real estate and cleaning it up. Like and my boy lives in Troy. He does radio in Detroit and at the Bounce.

But he's he was saying, like ever since he's been there, he feels like the city is getting built back up, like it's starting to look better. Like, how do you feel about where Detroit is right now? I feel like it's doing a lot better. I feel like, you know, our downtown for show looked better because you like I would hear you could buy like fucking hundred dollars houses in the Troite or some crazy ship like that right there. People for the low be a fixture of her. Yeah,

but you could like out forty thousand into it. You put seventy into a house and you know you're gonna have a nice crib. How much? Really? I heard when we're in an empire in the Bay, I heard you mentioned, uh, you would talk. We got a game coming out called out of Pocket. But you you mentioned real estate? Are you? Are you pretty tapped in on the real estate side. I'm getting into it. Like my first experience in the real estate it was a horror story, so I kind

of like backed away from it, Like what happened? Man? I bought a house and uh, it was just a raggedy ass house and it just it just went bad. But I had got one of those houses. I had bad intentions with it. I'm gonna put it like, oh okay, okay, you know I had a whole plan to do with it. It just didn't go right. So I just kind of left it alone. You Like, Damn, I basically wasted like ten thousand dollars on this. It could have been worse. Yeah, yeah, yeah,

ten granted. But my man is one of my clothes homeboys. He like own like amner half our neighborhood. Seeing what he be doing, I just be learning. I'm just getting

game from him. So you're starting to get into that. Yeah, Yeah, for sure, Yeah, can you take me back because I remember when you guys signed with g Z. I was thinking, like, because I would heard of you guys and heard some of your stuff, I was thinking like wow, like dope, like some of the street shot out of Detroit was getting like a real mainstream look at the time, and it obviously seemed like it didn't work out. It didn't

work out. You know what I'm saying, What do you think when it went wrong with with the CTE situation, because I want to say, you guys came into CTE like right after Freddy Gibbs had left. Yeah, it was like the YG dope. Yeah, so it was like around that same era as CTE. Yeah, like what went wrong? I don't know, man, I think we wasn't ready for real. That was that was new to us, Like we was used to just being independent. We really wasn't taking that

rap shit serious like that. Like we kind of stumbled up on it like still out yeah, and we was following our path like Okay, now we gotta do this, do that. When we got there, it was kind of like Okay, who is your pr who's your man? We like, shit, we ain't got to learn that ship what is that? What does that mean? He was learning as we were, so you know, it was a whole type of different experience for us. And the Detroit sound really wasn't popping

like that at the time. They kind of wanted us on them, uh to attract ship them them trapped me right right. That ship just sounded horrible, like it just didn't mesh. Yeah, they like, man, it sounded like some old cash money ship. What y'all doing? Why the beat so fast? I ain't really understand it like that. Damn. I feel like at the timing wasn't good. Timing just wasn't good, not at all. I mean because the YG thing worked out? Yea, why g shit worked out? I

watched him make that whole first album. Was that like was there like a because I feel like there was like a weird period of time where like there was like all the old guys from CTE had left, like you know what I'm saying, and then you guys were like the new regime and the old guys didn't have good things to say about about Freddy years. Yeah that good, Yeah, fred it was Aaron fucking jez out. Did you guys ever feel like like you kind of had to like have Jiz's back and a lot of that. Man. Yeah,

you know, I'm here to get my money, feed my family. Man, I ain't. I ain't in here. It in no beefs man. That's smart man, Yeah, that's just serious of course, of course some music ship. I'm chilling. What was something that you learned though from that experience or maybe from j Z that you because you know, you've been doing independently a lot of boss ship the last you know, seven eight years, So like, what's something you took from that experience or from j Z directly that you've kind of

applied to your your career now. His work ethic, like, dude just non stop, like and that was like my first time ever being in the studio to like seven in the morning. Oh yeah those are them nights. Yeah, Like I never used to do that. I come in the studio two three hours and I'm gonna do what you gotta do. Get home. So when I was with him, I'm like, why are we doing this? Like we're in

studio till fucking daylight? Like I'm fucking that ship every day and I'm like, man, this dude is a multi millionaire, so we gotta put in double the work, right, So I started applying that just going to the studio every day. YO. Talk about because when was the first project when Carter was at twenty sixteen? I want to say sixteen or fifteen. I ain't sure what inspired you to do? Uh? First of all, get with Cardo, and I feel like, uh, you kind of you know, have influenced some other stuff

happening in hip hop right now. But but but I feel like you and Cardo definitely came together and did your thing. Man, we're both those projects. But how did that happen? Really? Gez Geez, yeah, Gez. He had flew me out to Atlanta and we was working on a project. What it was going to be me Cardo and Ygi and Gezi. It was gonna be a group. Really, it was all Cardo produced, and we made a whole project

that was hard. So you Cardo, Ygi and Gez. Yeah, And that was supposed to be like a super roup, was called like Paid in Full or something like that. And you guys did a whole project, whole project. We had beasts from Warren g Dazz Dillinger, what DJ Quick and Cardo did like all other beats and it was a hard project, but for some reason it never saw the day of light. Yeah, but that's where me and Cardo found our niche like we found our pocket. You know,

a lot of them nights in them studios together. How many how many songs did you guys do for that project? I think we had about a good twelve about ten twelve last album. Yeah, we all have solo songs and group songs. It was hard. Damn When would that see the day of light? If ever, I don't know who has that jesz Jzu, it's up to him. You got on a hard drive. It's on a hard drive just

sitting somewhere. Yeah, that shit, man classic. Wow, that sounds like that's like one of them albums is like gonna be focal or for now every Yeah, that shit was special. I was excited about that. Y. Yeah, are you and YG still keeping contact? I ain't talked to YG in a minute, but that's you know, it's still love for show. Yeah,

A good dude. And then obviously, just like we were talking about the scene in Detroit, Detroit seems like it's always been like historically like super divided depending on what side you're from, Like what side of town you're from. There seems to be like less of that recently, like people working together shit like that, Like is that is that? You know obviously you and PZ got a whole album together.

Like how's the Detroit scene right now? You feel like as far as just like the camaraderie and you know, it feels like there's more people moving together as opposed to I feel like it's good, Like we're in a good space. It ain't you know, it ain't really much beef going on, like everybody really just putting that shit to the side and getting their money with his music shit because that's where a bag is. And then that big Sean Ceipher was fucking crazy, Yeah, because I don't think.

I don't because I talked to side of Baby and he had like no idea that like T Grizzly was going to be on there, and like, yeah, you know, like he put just everyone. I don't think everyone did you know that? Like I had an idea everybody you know it's gonna be on there. But I get along with everybody. I ain't. I ain't here. Yeah, I wasn't like I don't put me on a song with him, Like how big of a deal. Is that like to

have like Sean do that? You know, man Sean been showing us love from day one of course, like when he didn't even have to. He been shouting us out on songs and reaching out doing songs with us. So I got I got a lot of respect for Big Sean, like he's been embracelests one. Remember you said it's about time that Shawn's been popping for a long time. Yeah, yeah,

for sure, long ass time for sure. Man. It's crazy because like I feel like his album with the Detroit two was like it's his best, his best body of work so far. Man Sewan cold, man, he's been cold like that though he used to record at the studio. He used to record it before he I think before he signed with Kanye. Oh wow. Yeah, like he been taking that raption seriously. Yeah, it's crazy to think his

first album came out ten years ago. He celebrated the ten year anniversary and I just was like, fuck, I'm old man as hell. I remember when that ship for came out. Old is it like him and Mike posing and running around dode mixtapes and shit, And it's crazy. So you I know you have so that the double Cash, that album is coming, and then you're you got a new solo album. Yeah, working on it, which is is how close is that to being done? About ninety ninety

five percent? Waiting on a couple verses people, and I heard you talking about it in San Francisco. A bit kind of breakdown, like the concept of the album, Like it's called Giovanni's Way. It's something I've been like promoting for like five six ers. Every time I was about to come out with it, something else presented itself, like Cardo or something, and I just get sidetracked. But I'm finally about to drop it. It's basically like everything that

led me to this point. I'm basically just speaking on all of that, all my experiences, everything, What features are already on the project, uh t Grizzly and Pasy Cash dolluh sh. I think that's it right now, Detroit, Yeah, Yeah, I'm reaching out to other people too. But if you had it for show, wanted Detroit on her be. If you had to pick someone from the Bay to do a whole project with, who would be somebody from the Bay. Yeah, man, I fuck with a lot of Bay Area. I feel

like you, Larry June or Cargo, Larry Jone. You know, we got a whole project called Game Related. I didn't know that. Me my man's HBK Larry June, all Cardo Beats All Cardo b We just like threw it out there like it wasn't really promoted, none of that. Who else, like from the bait would you kind of consider to be? Like, you know, you're in the Bay a lot, Like, who's somebody who you would kind of consider to be, you know,

more than a hip hop affiliate. Everyone fucks with each other, you know what I'm saying, But there's very few friends. I fuck with a lot of dudes on the Baby Man Filthy Rich of course, Yeah, of course, E forty be legit, a lot of og you know og catch. You know what I'm saying. I'm getting hip to the younger dudes though. Yeah, there's a whole there's a lot going on. Yeah, the Bay's like Detroit. I feel like there's like so much new coming out and it's just

like I can't even keep up with it. That's how the trade is. Like I'll be like, what is this? Like I see everybody singing in the club. I'm like, oh, I'm supposed to know what the shit is? Like, what is you know? It's crazy, it's crazy. Yeah. What about like, you know, in terms of like let's say ten years from now, man, where do you like, like where where do you want your legacy to stand that you still want to be rapping? Do you still want to like do you want to kind of have some other ship

going on at that point in time? I want to be a CEO man, I want to just fall back, you know, kind of play the background. Just have a bunch of successful artists out there. So you're signing artists, Yeah, yeah, that's most definitely like my next thing I'm about to get into. You know who's done a good job of that is I think that I always give got to give him his prosper yo got yeah, so amazing. He raised the bar like he raised the touch. It's crazy.

Yeah yeah, And like you know, I think what's important about that is like you got to actually want whoever you're signing to be bigger than you. If you're going to be an artist who signs other artists, like you have to put your ego to the side and genuinely want that person to be bigger than you ever were. It make your legacy bigger, like all these people came from up under him, Like you know, that's that make your legacy huge, make it go forever. One hundred. Yeah.

How did you react to just the pandemic Detroit? Was it like super close down there? Yeah, it was shut down for a minute. It was shut down for a long ass time. But everybody was balling. Everybody's getting money. Everybody's getting that money. Man, it was. It was like fucking the eighties. It was crazy that that that fucking PPP money. Yeah boom. Yeah. I went to the uh we got a mark called Somerset. It's like the high end mall it was, and she was like a zoo.

It was just people in there, just fighting and shooting and robbing. I'm like, god damn, like people in this mall had never been in this mall in they life. Yeah. No, I know. I have like close friends of mine who have hit serious six figure government looks during the pandemic. It's it's wild. Yeah, it's just you have a dude, young dude. Put It's like tax season times one hundred. But it's like everyone's got It's it's insane, man. Yeah, it's like serious as hell, like I'm about to get

it for a right next week. Careful. Yeah you might want to be careful. That might be a red flag. Yeah, you might want to, you know, get one of them ten thousand other houses. Yeah, yeah, no, they ain't think about that. Yeah, it's it's wild. Yo. How how how does like the you know, because I'm a big sports guy and obviously there's Detroit is a big sports city,

y'all got out all the fucking teams. But how how like how does the you know, the Pistons, Allions, Tigers like coincide with the culture in the city, Like, because I feel like, you know, some cities will see like Quavo on the fucking on the hardwood at the Hawks game, ship like that, and I feel like the Pistons are trash. Oh I don't do it. I mean, I mean they are. You guys got the number one pick in the draft.

That doesn't mean you're good. I mean I'm not. I'm not a big sports dude, right, but I like support the players, like tapping with the scene out there. Yeah yeah, I just did something with the Pistons, just did something with them. We're coming with some whole ship, you know, So you did something. What are you doing with the Pistons time? I ain't gonna really you know, I don't think I could speak of it yet, but you know, they come with like their own show through the years.

Was there like a player on the Pistons or the lines that like you ended up like like really connected with them, fucking with that. Really got to embrace what was going on in Detroit, because I feel like the players be on the Pistons ain't had a franchise player in a minute, they'd be they be in there like year two years and they out, Okay, No I ain't, ain't I ain't connect with nobody for real. No, I'd have ran into them here and there they show love.

It's been a while since it was Ben Wallace and Rip Hamilton and that's actually who I ran it too. I ran Ben Wallace at the club the leg show Love. You know, was this recently? This is about probably about four years ago. That's still crazy. Ben Wallace had the Love. Yeah, that's like ye Upscale club, you know, gotta be a nice place. Yeah. What do you think is the biggest misconception about perro Giovanni That I'm an asshole? And I

mean because I don't talk much. Like if I don't know you, I don't I'm not gonna talk to you. I'm not gonna introduce myself to you. That's just some Detroit shit. Like we you know, you kind of be standoffish, but I'm a cool you know, like back cat Man. Is there anything that you can do to like get you because I feel like you're super chill. Right. We see T Grizzly doing Twitch and playing games and ship and like we can see a whole nother like side

of Ta Grizzly that nobody ever would know existing. Is there anything like that that you might, you know, get into, whether it's doing some podcasts and ship or or I mean, I'm open for it, you know, I'm over for it. I was actually thinking about doing my own podcast or something just to share my thoughts and things like, yeah, that shouldn't be up. Know what I feel about this and feel about that, But I'd be like man in the world so sensitive get you might get canceled. They're

gonna hang you, or they're gonna love you. Hey. I feel like Boozy is like cancel proof, you know, boot don't give He said the most craziest ship and everyone still loves them. Yeah, Boots don't give he don't give

a fuck manu with Boosy too. Hey. When we would always hear, like, you know, coming up in as fans of a hip hop like always would hear about Trick Trick and the no flies one thing, right, and then there's the historical instance of Ross not being allowed to perform, which was a real thing that happened people who don't know.

I don't know the details right right, right right, but but that that no flies on thing, like it's like it's like almost like hip hop Folkalore where it's like if you feel like when you go to Detroit, you gotta check it with somebody. Is that something that's like real? Or is it more like is it Trick Trick? Most definitely is real? Do I know that Trick Trick is super like? Trick Trick and Google Squad ain't dudes, ain't for no games man, they've been they've been doing that

is the nineties. I just did a song with Trick Trick too, that's the Trick Trick man. He just had the hip hop uncovered on FX. He actually got a show Sunday, big show out there in Detroit. Yeah, I'm hoping I can make it too. That'll be big. Yeah. I thought it was dope. They did that FX series

about Yeah, that was like fucking super dope. Yeah. Do you think Eminem does enough for like the scene in Detroit, like he never left, he still lives there, right, but do you think like he's done enough like to kind of help put on other Detroit artists. I feel like he didn't put on some people. You know, he put on Trick trick for real. Yeah, like you know, Proof, Like Proof was real like street crazy, you know what

I'm saying. The Pa Boys and all that. Yeah, you know, but you know, the street side they feel like, you know, they don't know him and this and that. What's It's like, I don't know many people probably on the street side like that. I know personally that are like listening to Eminem, you know what I'm saying. A lot we grew up listening to m though yours came like we was like

damn this hard. We was just happy it's from the d and then him dudes new Proof and then they did a fucking movie called A Mile, like based in the city. You know what I'm saying that people were just like Oh what is this? Like? It was it accurate at all? It didn't really represent like the Detroit I come from the trash Detroit repents, like the freestyle battle culture. Like it's Detroited diversity, you know what I'm saying.

Like it's different, different sides of that ship. Who are your like top two or three favorite new artists out of Detroit that you're that you're just a fan of? Uh new artists? Man, there's a lot of them, man, so many of them fuck with tape. B let me see baby money. Uh, I don't know a lot of them, man. They like from my era. So like you mean like new like younger, ye, just like you know, there's a lot of new. Like we were talking about the Bay, there's so much new ship going on. It's like it's

so many man. Yeah, I fuck with tape being your money. I'd be you know, I'll be banging that ship all right. My producer Cook is a diehard fan. Cook. You get one question. Appreciate that too, man, one question from the producer Cook. Many any coming out? Yeah? Yeah, Me and Carlo are always working, man. We were actually working on Big Boston three. Yeah, and then so like well Big Boss of one. You guys had to put the one in the half of because of samples for Yeah, that's

some weird record label ship. I never even listened to it actually, right, yeah, yeah, It's like it was cringing for me, like why did they do this ship? But you know, yeah, I guess it was sample reasons. You have some You got that real fan ship to ask one of my first songs. I appreciate that you saw the short movie. Hey, interrupting the interview to tell you about our good friends at odd Socks. Now, as you can see, I always have my odd socks on. Baby.

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chucky draws. What you know about top ramin underwear. All right, Go to odd socksoficial dot com, use the keyword bootleg Kevin checkout, and you'll save twenty percent off of your order underwear, masks, slippers, socks, whatever you need. They got it. Odd socksoficial dot Com, keyword bootleg cabat checkout, save twenty percent. Yo, Appreciate you for pulling up. Appreciate you. So what's the timeline on the album? So you say, you know, we

just talked about three different new albums. Yeah, man, hopefully uh g of Ane's way be out here by like August, but don't hold me today, So that'll be the first thing we're waiting for. Yeah, Okay, then then then Doe Boys cash out and I got a project with Zaytoven I'm working on too. Oh shit, is a Tooven coming with a whole other bag on this ship? Like this ship sound different? So you got four projects on them?

Like I probably got more than that for real? Any other collab projects with any other artists, like full collab projects, not with no artists. I got something with different producers though. Yeah, me and Hellivan of course, me and Hellova and uh the Olympics. Okay, yeah, of course. Yeah, Man's Knoxville is there? Uh? You know you and PZ linked up for a project.

Is there another artist in Detroit that you would love to do just just a full on collab album with I'm out open to anything for real, but you me and ps actually talking about doing another project too. You know who's gonna I think think they're just killing shit ever since they really went straight independent and they were independent before. But I swear Vessel been on this ship, like yeah, yeah, l he stayed matching on the gap.

He's been killing it. Yeah. I know he was on that Motown situation and you know they kind of started him out a little, but like now it's my deal situation. He broke free and off independent straight gas. That's how Detroit artists worked though, Like we better independent with our own freedom. There it is, man, Look, Pero Giovanni, appreciate you for pulling up four or five or seven albums coming soon? Yeah, about five six of them there, movies all that. Hopefully we hear this, yg g Z. Yeah,

we're gonna speaking into existence. Man. The next time I eat a full album there it is perfect the show. Appreciate you man