Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh - Why Michael Jackson was Taken Down & Untold Eminem Stories

Episode Date: June 10, 2026

YERRRR, the LEGEND Akon is sitting with us today. We're talking: - Stresses of having multiple wives - Working with Michael Jackson - Discovering Lady Gaga - Jimmy Iovine's genius - Missing out on Drake & Kendrick Lamar - Craziest gigs in the Middle East - Working with Eminem - Africa's potential and much, much more - INDULGE Timestamps: 0:00 Hide and seek with women 1:53 No rules in Akon City 3:08 Multiple wives, multiple responsibilities 8:36 What makes women happy + Not the nails ALEXX 10:38 Syncing up, separate homes + Equal treatment 12:43 Who's the best cook? Faces & Places 17:00 Working with Michael Jackson 27:39 Prince was a p1mp? 29:00 MJ knew rhythm, Try anything + Philanthropy 32:37 Afrobeat, Wizkid + Becoming global 38:49 Spotting trends + Building the Business 44:38 Business acumen, Ringtones + Lady Gaga 53:43 Only takes 1 + Jimmy Iovine genius 56:02 1st album in 30 days + Missing out on Drake & Kendrick 59:27 Infrastructure now 1:01:21 Craziest Middle East gig 1:07:45 The Lebanese are crazy! 1:12:03 Not touring in US, Senegal + Legacy 1:14:39 Working with Eminem + Smack That 1:21:40 How much a hit record can make 1:24:02 Co-ordinated hit on Michael Jackson 1:30:17 Upsetting the power balance + China in Africa 1:35:01 Politics = DANGEROUS, Black disunity + Racism 1:41:12 World Cup Final predictions This episode is sponsored by Kalshi. This episode is sponsored by Sesh. #akon #eminem #ladygaga Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Because you just got, you got to constantly be alert. Yeah. You know, especially if you live in the life. Like, if you live in that life, yeah. Bro, if you're not focused, you don't get outsmarted by every bit you meet. Oh, they'll get you. Because they're smart, bro.

What do you mean they're smart? You got to play chess. You got to play chess, bro. That's his chess. When they say, you know, the game is crazy, that's what they really mean. Like, it's really a game about. It's a mental game on who can outsmart and outdo who. Wait, explain.

It's hard to explain. Because they're coming to catch you. You say the... And you got to not get caught. The suitors. The suitors are coming to catch you. Yeah, they're coming to get you. It's a game.

It's about who can bag you. And you got to not get bagged. And then what is... You're like hide and seek. You know what I'm saying? Okay. You know what I'm saying? Now what is getting you?

So it's not just fucking, right? No, no, no, no. It's not, I mean, to me, that's, like, the last part. That's like the part that's like self-explanatory in the end, right? Yeah. It's either going to be the reward or the weapon. Fucking is either the reward or the weapon. It depends on how you approach your system.

What do you mean by weapon? You don't know? I just want to clarify. I just want to clarify. Like, like, think about all the horror stories. stories that you see online about a guy getting snagged and next to know he's paying like $100,000 a month on a chick he just met don't even know who she is. Got it.

Okay, okay. She's weaponizing the sex. 100%. Got it. Or they just meet and get a divorce. The next to know he's going to court, give it a half and he only known it for six months. Yeah, that's got to be. It should be, but it's not.

What are the rules on that in Acon City? What are the rules going to be? Oh, there won't be no rules in that. Acon City. There's no there's no rules going to be guidelines. That's it. How do I get dual citizenship?

Yeah, exactly. When we sign up? Yeah, you guys are naturally being citizens because I'm trying to make it to where as a partnership within the United States. So if you're a U.S. citizen, you're automatically assistant citizen. Oh, fine.

Like I wanted to make it a territory in Senegal. Of the United States. Yeah, depending on how I'll legislation is passed here, though, because some of the things that's going on here from a law perspective is not really favorable. Especially with immigration right now. You know what I mean? So I need to make sure that some of that stuff actually works for visitors to be able to come in and out. But for the most part, I wanted to be an open, like, I wanted to be a unity city, like an entertainment, unity city.

All right. We're going to get it. Just donate them a plane. Yo. Just donate them a gift. You can make anything happen. Okay. So.

I'm just, on that. Yeah, we're all chip in to get him a plane that he can use when he comes. Exactly. We were on a very interesting subject, which is like women hunting you. No, hunting, us. Us. Yeah, we're in this together, guys. No, no.

I'm, listen, we're happily married, man. Me too. That's what I'm telling you. You got a unique marriage. No, it's not unique. You have a biblical one. It's not unique. It's just culture.

Explain this culture. Well, look how excited he got this. I'm watching how excited you are. You're like, explain this coach. Now, you got to explain it, but. Tell me why. Tell me why. Tell me why it is, because obviously you think about like having multiple wives, right?

And you're just like, all right, multiple women, that's fire. But multiple wives, multiple responsibilities. Yeah, that's a very different thing to multiple wives. women. A hundred percent. So tell me why you want multiple wives, not just one wife and then multiple women. I mean, because it's the responsibilities as well, too. It makes your life a lot easier. Like, so much easier. Because you got to think, like, wives are like your best friends. They always got your back. Yeah. Like, no matter what, they're going to hold you down. They're going to support. They're going to protect. So your perimeter is already, like, you know, occupied by your

soldiers because they're not going to let none come in there that's going to define effect or in any kind of way, you know, create a bad environment for you. You follow what I'm saying? Of course, yeah. Now, one wife, some shit could get in. It can slide in. She's one line of defense. That's all you got.

You only got one line of defense. That's crazy. You only got one line of defense. You ever have one bodyguard? And think about how many are coming at you. She can't stop them all. That's why there's always problems in the household You know this

She can't defend everybody Like she's like this You got to play zones She started using her feet before you know Her feet go like this And then somebody slip in Oh shit Divorce

God damn So How many lines of defense You think are really necessary For security of a man It depends on the man Right Like I'm a very

I'm a very like Alex. What about Alex? How many lines are in the air? No, I'm just saying. You need lies in the fence, bro. See, Alex.

Chill out, bro. You're about to get a wife. Look at them calming you down. See, see, see, see, Alex. He's fragile. You're right.

You're right. You're right. Alex is fragile. I'm alone. And with Alex, we kind of all have to chip in and donate some courage over here to me. Because what happens is this, as a man, right? You don't know what you're doing right now.

No, no, no. I'm trying to help you at it. And you got to let me. You cannot stop me and allow me to you. I got to empower you. Yes. Because right now she holds the power. Yes.

And it's obvious. It's very obvious. But it's okay. You just, man, it's not. It's so obvious. You understand. You understand the kind of person I am. Alex, right? I'm in a position where

I'm the king of my household. It's very clear. Like, the fist is so heavy that no one can lift it with me. It's like that hammer. That's only one person. That's how your house has to be. If your wife can lift that hammer, she's knocking you over the head with it.

Period. One thing about women, the more you give them, the more they take. There has to be a line where she know that you're the dominant rulemaker, the dominant voice, the dominant everything. And what you say is what goals, period. Yeah, it's more of a... It's very clear.

More of a democracy in my house. 100%. But I know, the household is a monarchy. It's a monarchy. The household is a monarchy. Democracy doesn't work in a household. Because now your kids feel like they can make

decisions too. No, you can't. There's a king and there's a queen. Yes. Period. And then there's a princess, whatever, the workers, whoever, but there has to be

a top position and maker. Like, he says what it is and everybody follows. suit. And what is Alex in his house? Which position would you say he is? I have to hear more. So far, what do you think? He said it's democratic. So far

it seems like the queen runs the house. Whoa. So far. Damn. From what I'm doing. Wow. Damn, ma'am. Happy life. That's the wrong. That's the problem. That's the problem right there. That's the problem. Tell us, tell us. Because women are never happy.

Have a happy life because she's never going to be happy. Women have to be, listen. Think about it. I can just imagine A. Con's wife go, listen, if you get another wife, I'm not going to be happy. And then he's just like, when have you been happy? I got none. I got nothing to lose. No, that's the thing. That's the thing. I create happy environments. Because women have to be in a happy environment. It's not about necessarily making them happy specifically.

Yeah. Because women are very, like they're very, how do you say, indecisive. What you think makes them happy is not quite what makes them happy. What do you think makes them happy? What makes women happy is the happy environment. That's what makes them happy. Like, if you create a happy environment around them, they're going to always be happy because the environment don't allow them to be depressed.

It doesn't allow them to be sad. What they want, they provide. It's there. What they need, they don't have to look for. When they're in a position where they feel safe, that's the environment. What do you do when your women are not feeling happy when your wives are not doing? That's your issue. What happens when you're fucking up?

I find out what I'm doing is fucking it up. And you ask them directly? Not all the time because you might think you're thinking something more water, hot water. You know what I always ask too many questions. The woman is the one asking the question. to keep your mouth shut the fuck up. And then you figure it out. I know that.

I know that. I know that. I do that one. Alex, you're making us look back. Let me, don't go to talk about it. I know that one. I do that. No.

I'm trying to empower you. All right. I can tell your wife is a sweetheart because that's why you don't want to lose her. Oh, absolutely. Yeah. So she's a good one. Better person than me. Absolutely.

She paints his nails. No, she's, she's fine. Oh, hell not. God, damn. Come on. You're talking about you at your left, no, no. The tables is turts.

Not the tables of turn. At least it's the queen. No, no, no, his thing. His thing. Oh, hell. I'm a creative. You work with creators. Did the kids do that?

If your daughter did it, I'll get it. Because that's fine. No, kids did it do it. I'm just say, yeah. We'll just say yeah. Come on, man. Nah, but I'm a creative. You know, we out here.

here. We're eclectic. Yeah. You got to use closer on creative. I'm worried for Alex right now. I'm so worried for Alex. Wait, wait, wait. But what happens when they all sink up?

That must be. That's good question. A few days a few days out. No. Yeah. That's when you're going to tour. Well, no, no, well, this is the thing. Your tour happens to be the same week every month.

I'm always on the road anyway. But when I am. home, you know, everything is in separate silos. Like, everybody has their own universe. I think the worst mistake you can do is put all your women in one place. You never want to do that. So wait a minute. It's the same estate and different homes on the estate?

Everyone has their own place and their own lifestyle and their own universe. Their own place, meaning like... Like their own mansion. Okay, so they're 30 minutes away. They're 30 minutes away. They're just not in the same place. and then how do you decide when you go to them? I mean, that's all how your life is set up

and how you manage yours, you know? Everybody's different. Right. You know, like depending on what's necessary, what's needed, but you want to make sure that everyone's treated equally, though. That's very important. Can't do one without doing for the other.

How do you manage? You guys ask some questions. I can barely do that for one. How are you doing equal for all that? But sometimes one may need a little bit more attention than the other. because, you know, emotions go up and down and those things kind of be, you know. But, I mean, think about it.

Guys do that now, would they jump-offs? Yeah. They're doing now. I mean, we don't know anything about that, man. I know. That's why you got quiet. That's a different type of lifestyle. I don't even know what a jump-off is.

What's a jump-off? My spouse, look at a jump-off. See, if you get a definition for a... Let's not get in my trouble. Let's jump off the subject. I'm a good man. All you guys are great men. All of you guys are good.

Do you have different wives that you enjoy doing different things with? Like, oh, the wife I like to watch movies with? That's another thing. One woman would never be able to provide you everything. Who cooks the best? They all great cooks. Every single one of them? Or you just can't say it right now because it's going to hurt.

A wife has to be a good cook. Yeah, but there's got to be a best. I mean, everybody got different recipes that they cook better than the other. Who cooks the best, Joe Luff? Ooh. My first wife, she's the best with that. She cooks the best African food, period. Is she African?

No, she's not, actually. Asian? No, she's from the Carolinas. Oh, wow. White girl, black girl? Black. Do you have any different flavors in your wives? Well,

you know, y'all. He makes a sound so. You got to. You got a... You're talking, we were all being in trouble by the time. We could have. Like Britney Spears. He's talking like, is it a buffet?

Yeah. But, no, are there some different? flavors? Oh man. Yeah, I mean, in a situation like that, you would want to, I guess you would You want a little Epcot. You would definitely want to Epcot. You want to drink around the world. He's described it when he would want.

I'm happy, bro. I'm happy. I'm happy. I need to jump over here. I need to jump over there. I'm a happy guy. I'm just saying so with your lifestyle, when you've got different mansions, you don't want to have one mansion over here, one mansion over here, and it's the same thing.

No, I mean, it's their taste. Their taste. This is their universe. Remember, like, it's creating a very happy environment for them. Like, separately, though. Whatever makes them happy, that's what you come. What about Christmas? Well, you don't celebrate Christmas.

Yeah, I don't celebrate holidays. No holidays? Not really. Very convenient. Very, very convenient. Yeah. You don't like that. What about New Year's Eve?

New Year's Eve? New Year's Eve, I'm always working. I'm an artist. I'm always being booked for those. Like, that's another reason why I don't celebrate holidays. because I'm never there. I'm always being booked on special days, special days. Yeah, that's a big day.

They're going to have you do the ball. Yeah, it's a lot. And then birthdays, you make a special for your time? Birthdays, I'll have to be reminded. I'm really bad with numbers and names. But faces and places, I'm like photographic memory. How many watches you got?

That's entertainment. That's entertainment. Yeah. What is that thing? I was a great answer. I got a lot of different question. That's a great answer. That's fire.

I'm gonna use that. What does that mean? I don't even know what that means. It's entertainment. If you don't even know, that means you're not entertainment, bro. Damn, I'm not entertainment right now. You're not right now. You know how many minds out?

Damn. God, do you know how many minds out? That's entertainment. Yeah. Come on, man. See, that's what that does. Tell me how to use that line. It makes y'all figure it out.

It makes you think about it. Makes your research. It makes you just, that becomes a part of your entertainment. That'd be funny if you were really single, bro. That's interesting. One day I might confess. Until then, it's entertainment. Update, I'm going to be out in L.A. shooting a movie this summer, but we added some stand-up shows.

So pull on up, man. We're going to be in Pasadena, California at the Ice House, the 19th and 20th of June. Then the Ontario Improv will be there the 26th and 27th. And then the Brea Improv will be there July 17th and July 18th. And then we're going to be at the Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, Great Outdoors Fest, August 8th. So you can go grab tickets to any of those shows if tickets are still available. Theandrewshelts.com. Thank you guys so much.

And Virginia Beach, you were fucking awesome. That was incredible. Love you guys, man. All right, Mark, what do you got? Oh, I have great news. I'm going all over at the end of the year. I'm going to Plano, Texas, Chandler, Arizona, Pasadena, California, San Diego, California. And then I'm also going to a couple other spots that are going to be coming up at the end of the year, like Detroit, Michigan and Salt Lake City, Utah.

And I can't wait to see you guys all there. Mark Yagnon Live.com, Alex. Guys, my monthly comedy show is back. Cancelled Comedy is on June 24th. We have a killer lineup. Get your tickets at canceledcomedyx.com. and then my tennis series, the all loveclub.com. The tennis is on July 25th.

I'll see you guys there. The first one was fantastic. The second one's going to be even better. Peace. Shopping for a car should be exciting, not exhausting. But let's be honest. Sometimes it feels like wandering through a maze blindfolded. You're comparing prices, wondering if the deal is actually good,

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at car gurus.ca. Go to car gurus.com. to make sure your big deal is the best deal. That's c-ar-g-r-us.ca. Car gurus. dot CA. You have like the most interesting life, bro. Yeah.

Like I was just doing like deep dive on you, man. Like your life is absolutely crazy. Nah, that's amazing. Yeah, it's amazing. But like outside of entertainment, do you ever look back on it? And you're like, yo, what the fuck happened over the last few decades?

Like what an insane journey? I've been on. Yeah, and that actually happens as I'm living it. So you're present in it. You're reflecting on it constantly. A hundred percent. Because, like, for me, I didn't even know about the Michael Jackson stuff. Yeah, nah, that was my dog, man. Good dude. I literally found out about that doing research on you for it. Right. Like, I haven't known about Lady Gaga. I've known about,

like, your unbelievable success, you know, like, but the, Mike, how do you get connected with Mike? Well, we actually shared the same attorney. for years and I never knew. Like my attorney never told me. He just called me one day. He just called me one day. He was like, hey man, would you, would you do a record with Mike?

So Mike reach out to you about that? Yeah. He told him to call me and see if I would be interested to work with him. What song did he love of yours? I end up co-executive producing the re-release, the re-release of, what's the name, Thriller with him. Wow.

Okay, so you were brought in as a producer as well. Yeah. And then what, he liked your work on it? No, he had already liked my work. That's why he had me come forward. That's what I'm saying. What did he listen to from you? Did you find out the song that he listened?

Yeah, so I had already had a few records already created for Mike. If that day ever came, and it was interesting because when I did it, hold my hand was one of them. And that's the song I played first. Hold on. So you already had songs. I already set up for Mike. Just in case, did you have any idea that you might meet?

with him this is after the lawyer connection or before even the lawyer? This is way before you. This is what I was locked up. Yeah, this is my vision board. Like, he was at the top of the list to achieve one day to work with Michael Jackson. So you're writing songs for Mike while you're in prison, hoping

that one day you'll be a massive superstar and you'll get the opportunity to work with Michael Jackson. The crazy part, he said I wanted it in 10 years and then when did it happened? It happened in five years. Crazy. Okay, hold on. So you go meet him. Do you meet him the first time or this is a core sponsor

with the followers of like that? I flew out to Vegas to meet him. All right, so you fly out to Vegas to meet him. You're in the studio with him? Not out. We met at this penthouse. The first day, I met him. Okay. Do you play the music there? Let me just tell you what happened. Yeah, I'm like, shit! Give me the story!

This is insane! How many people can say they fucking went to him? No, straight up. So my attorney literally called, was like, yo, did you want to work a mic? I said, hell yeah. He said, okay, cool. You know, I represent him. I said, bro how long you've been representing mike he said for a long time i said you never told me he said well you know it's attorney client privilege i said man fuck that shit all this time you know how i felt to my mic and you never told me he said well i just waiting for the right opportunity but i think

now it was at the time you know what you mind me setting up a call with you guys and i was like hell yeah wait one quick thing did you ask him about mike stuff since he knows the allegations oh that was all bullshit see that's all bullshit all right when i met mike thank you when i Like, spent time with him, I understood what was happening. What you mean? I'll explain after. Okay. So, no, but it was all bullshit.

All, not only bullshit, but Mike had a lot of power, bro. And he owned a lot of, coordinated. Yeah. Yeah, he was, he was, see, Mike was just a smart-ass businessman. Yeah. And he outsmarted a lot of the guys at the top. And they wanted to come for that. That was, that was happening.

They was coming forward. Tell us this story and then explain that part of the mic, man. So, so boom, he calls me and Mike's like, hey, Khan, how are you? I was like, look at the fuck out of there. So I hung up the phone. You didn't know. I hung up. Because I thought my attorney was just bullshit.

Like, he was a jokester too. He was a jokester too. So then he calls back. He said, you con, I got, that's Mike on the phone, bro. Like, it's really Mike. I said, I know. So I said, Mike, is that you? Acon is really me.

That's a big other. I'll take up again. What he called the third time? That's what I knew. Okay, he's not joking. It's really Mike. So I picked up again. He's like, no, Acon, it's really me.

I said, Mike's like, where are you? He said, I'm in Vegas. I said, oh, shit. So what are we doing? We're going to work together? What? He said, yeah. You said that to you?

Yeah. Yeah. He said, no, seriously. I just want to let you know that I'm such a fan and we have to get together. I'm working on Thrillerie release and I want you to be a part of it. I said, well, shit, when?

He said, what are you doing tomorrow? I said, where you need me to be doing? What you need me to be doing? He said, okay, cool, I'll set it up and, you know, I'll see you tomorrow. So next thing you know, they call me, hit me with a text, flight information. I get to the liner, we get on a jet, fly to Vegas. When I get there, his head security guard, Mohammed picks me up. And now we're on our way to the wind.

So now I'm driving. I'm going to send myself, damn, I'm about to really fucking meet Michael Jackson. This is crazy. I'm kind of scared because I don't know how I'm going to fucking react. Like, I don't want to embarrass myself But I'm like, look at this is Michael Jackson Like, as a kid Like, this is all like

So Are you worried about like what you're wearing? No, I'm like, I don't care about none of that shit Like I'm not worried about how I'm gonna react Like as a man Am I gonna cry In front of this guy? I'm like I'm a man

You know what I mean? But it's still like you want to just hug them You're gonna get nervous You're gonna shake Exactly Now I'm checking myself like bro Just be easy And just pretend like you ain't excited

You know the shit that you, everybody tell they something before you meet somebody that you admire. People faint from Mike. Right, and you see the photos, you see the video. You're like, I know those people didn't plan on fainting. You know what I'm saying? They're just happening. Black out next thing, you're like, what's just fucking just happened, right?

So I'm like, please don't let that shit happen. Yeah, yeah. So now we go down, bro, that's when I realize there's entrances and exits and fucking Vegas that you would never ever know. No, no, bro. Yeah, yeah. We get, I don't know if I can even be saying this online.

I don't know if they want people to know this even exists. But fuck it, it exists. Bro, I'm riding. We get to this one road and we go into this parking lot and the fucking road lifts up like this. Oh, shit. And we drive in it and it closes back down. Wow.

Next thing you know, I'm at the fucking underground parking lot of a private place where it's nothing but just parking and one elevator. We're getting the elevator. that shit takes me all the way to the top. Directly to the... Straight up. Yeah. I get to the top and there's this long-ass hallway

with no doors. It's a door at the very end. Get the fuck out. Bro, the whole shit felt like it was choreographed, right? Like men and black. This is when I realized, okay, Mike choreographs everything. Like, nothing is by chance. We get all the way to the end of the door.

Five steps before I get there, the doors just start opening up. No. My nigger. Hmm. I walk in, Mike is sitting in the middle of the floor, in a chair, back turp, and the chair just starts turning. You're lying. No, you're lying.

No, I'm fucking wrong. You're lying. At this point, the door is turning. You're doing it. You know, listen, like how your chair is turning? That shit moving slow. And while I'm moving, I'm like, okay, the moment I see his face, what the fuck am I going to do? Soon as shit make the full 360 turn, well, 180.

he looks and I look I was like oh shit I froze for a second and as I was freezing the freeze automatically broke because Mike just stood up Yo ain't God whoso No My God my God Wow

Yo we're embracing it felt like we known each other Forever No way Like literally felt like we known each other Forever bro That is crazy Did he have another voice He did

He did have another voice It was deeper than the one he's normally using But it's not that deep. But it's not that deep. But it's just a little bit. Yeah. But, you know, people will exaggerate and be like, yeah,

the mood will be. But it's definitely deeper than that one, for sure. But it's like, it was like, it was like an instinct. He just knew when to turn it on and turn it off. Right. And like, when he talks shit, would he bust balls a little bit? Was he, uh... Oh, no, he was funny.

Like, Mike was funny. And he, like, we would have real conversations. Like, real conversations. Like, I was like, yo, Mike, what kind of girls are you like? And what was he saying? She's like, man. Stop, yeah. That's tired.

I was like, Mike, like, do you like fat asses? You know what I'm going to ask you? Like, do you like fat asses? You know what you know? He was like, that's entertainment. I'm too big. I like a little, just palm size. I'm like, want palms?

We would always joke. We would always joke like that. That's a little crips. Was Mike getting after with the homes or what? Oh, Mike had bitches. Really? Wow. And then none of them would talk?

Hell no. Because these girls talk like crazy. No, his system was set up. He had a system. But by the time I met him, he was older. Yeah. More mature. Yeah.

But he told me some fun times when he had him when he's growing up. Oh, really? Yeah. Wow. I always thought he just was like asexual. No, no, no. He's very heterosexual. Oh, okay.

Wow. Yeah. He's very heterosexual. How heterosexual do you think, Al? I don't know, man. You're not. Mike had the high water, the tight. Come on, man.

Mike, honestly. The glitter, glitter. I think if Mike wasn't... No, no, hold on. I think if Mike didn't live that life to where he was... He had to have been, like, a celebrity, his whole childhood. Yeah. Mike probably would have been a pimp.

No way. Yeah, he was that finessey. No, really? He probably would... No, bitches loved Mike, bro. Well, yeah, of course. That's what I'm saying. Yeah, but because he was a celebrity.

I'm just saying, like Mike, before even a celebrity, like, bitches thought he was handsome as shit. And he had a charm. Yeah, like, think about it. Like, celebrity would take you so far, right? But there's some people out there that's not celebrities that got bad bitches. That's true. Because they just got a certain level of how they move.

You know, they got a certain aura that comes with you. Mike just had that aura that was just magnetic to women. You know what I'm saying? Really? Like Prince had the same thing. Yeah, yeah. You always heard about it with Prince, for sure. And what happened?

Prince became what? The pimp. Oh, really? No, no. No, no. Prince wasn't a, like, out there pimp, but he was a pimp. But he had girls.

No, he was a pimp. Prince was a pimp. He was very heterosexual. That he was a pimp. And he painted his nails. I just, call. Bro, don't look for all. I'm just saying.

I'm just saying, that's a very heterosexual thing to do. It's not. Prince? Prince had more bitches than Mike. I wouldn't say that. I wouldn't say that I wouldn't say that I wouldn't say that

I wouldn't say that I wouldn't say that Prince that was a part of his image like you're walking in you have some bitches walking with him his band was all hoes you know what I'm saying

I'm sorry ladies but I'm just you know just figure speech it was all bad it's bad bitch but my point is it's entertainment

is a part of his aesthetic right right you know what I'm saying where Mike was true to the game when Mike was everything was quiet, silence,

mysterious, a mystery. You never really knew how he moved, who he moved with. You know what I mean? So, you guys, do you immediately get to work? Is he like, hey, let's look at some, like, samples, let's look at beats, or is it like you guys just hang? Oh, yeah, we just hang.

We just hang, we talk, and then we just create. And what do you think of this? I love that. I'll add this. What do you think about this? And it was like, we just kind of just back, you know, kind of was like sparring partners in the studio. Yeah, and here, go in there,

beatbox something and I make the actual beat to it it was really dope. And he had a recording studio in the penthouse? Or not? Actually, we went to the palm to record. Okay. The palm had a dope-ass studio and he blocked it out and we're sort of recorded. Wow. And how was he musically in terms of like production?

Oh, well. He really understands. Yeah, he understood music. But he was, he more, he more was a I thought I turned this up. He's more of, he understood rhythm. Right. What's the difference between those two? Well, music and rhythm is different things, right? So let's say from a perspective, they don't know rhythm.

Yeah, define rhythm. Music is more from like the way they, well Mike wasn't like a musician, so you couldn't really play instruments. Music is like composition. Yeah, it's more organized, noted, written down, whatever the case, whereas rhythm is just a feeling that that just rocks with you and it's it's locked in on the tempo. You follow what I'm saying? So Mike was that. Like, no matter what you did,

there have to be a certain pocket that he needed it in. And did he have instincts for what a song needs? Oh, yeah. So, like, he knows what a song needs without being able to necessarily play it. Yes, exactly.

Got it. Exactly. Exactly. Was it difficult for you to give pushback if he did something musically and you were like, I actually don't think that's it? No, that's what made men work so well together

because we would try anything to see what it sounds like first. Like sometimes people have a habit of saying Now I don't think that's going to work But you didn't do it yet How would you know? But who's saying that to Michael Jackson? No, you'd be surprised

It'd be people that do that. Really? Yeah. But Mike was to find it like Man, he was so, now I realized why he was so big as he was Because he was like he was that open-minded to it I would ask him to,

I could have asked him to bark on the record and he would have did it just to see what it sounded like. What would his bark sound like? I don't know. I'd be interested in finding out. It's entertainment. It's entertaining.

Like a poodle Like a poodle Wow Damn man Mike How many people can say that All right so you leave that session You're like did I just accomplish everything that I ever dreamed of?

No like You're already incredibly accomplished artists At that point I felt like I've hit the ceiling Do you check off every box? I checked off every box Like is there an actual feeling as you leave the hotel Or as you leave the session where you're like I'm feeling like, damn, what do I do from here?

What do I do from here? That's exactly what it was. It was like, what do I do literally from here? And then what did you think? What did you do? Did you like dream up new dreams? Did you have to like sit and reflect on it? Well, actually I didn't reflect on it.

I just kept going to see where life take me. Got it. But then I found out that's when I got actually more active in going to Africa with my philanthropy, the lighting projects and all this other stuff. Because even me and Mike was talking about creating a like a music university. Out there? Out there in Africa. almost like a Berkeley type of style university,

but for Africa, because you have the arts, you have, I mean, when you look at rhythm, arts, instruments, all of that shit come from Africa. We wanted to kind of reinvent the whole wheel, bring it in for history, and also create how we develop that instrumentation and culture for the future, like really a musical university

that would take Africa into the future. That would kind of wild. Yeah. Is it interesting for you, exciting for you to see how much African music is being embraced in the mainstream? Yeah,

I mean, interestingly enough, in the beginning, it felt tough, though. Because that was why I actually stopped doing music after I released my album in 2008. I promoted for about two years. I did the World Cup in South Africa, and then I stayed in Africa and went straight to Nigeria

and started developing what you know now is to be Afrobeat. But it really was Afrobeat was more of a political movement started by an artist named Fela and he was really big and very influential in Nigeria. He was like the rebel. There's Felakuti. He was like a rebel, but he would speak

the people's words through his music. And he would always combat the government on what they ain't doing, what they should be doing, and it became one of those kind of things. So it was more... Bob Marley-esque figure in terms of his influence? Yes, exactly. Wow, okay. That's a good, like, analogy.

So when we went up there, that music was well respected, but wasn't commercialized. And then that's when we came and kind of brought more of a pop feel to it and gave it a more rhythmic type of, you know, allowance to where people outside of Africa can actually relate to it if you wasn't quite understanding what was being said. Wait, when is this? This started from 2008 to recent, bro. When I, WizKin was my first artist that I signed. Wow. Inc. Yeah.

The lore is crazy. Your life is unbelievable. No, that's crazy. Like, his kid was how old when you met him? He was 13. Crazy. Wow. And what are you seeing in this kid?

Oh, he's a star. Like, he was a star. But at 13, like, musically, he was a star. He could perform. Man, he, like, when he walked into the room, you just knew, okay, this kid is going to be, he's something big. And he had an amazing voice. He was also writing his own little songs at that time. You know, he was managed.

ran by a guy named Banky W. at the time, that's what I partnered up with to sign with. So you're in there, you see some talent, you also see potential for this genre of music internationally. What makes you think, like what, because I imagine as a young kid growing up in the States, being African, right? There wasn't the same, like, embracing and love

and, like, we're going to connect with your roots. Like, I'm 42, so I remember there was like a distinct separation even, And, like, maybe I would even go so far as to say, like, no, no, like, everybody hit the fact that they was African. Yeah. Like, literally, people were embarrassed to be African. You know what I mean? I was probably the only one pushing it. Yeah.

All they was being clown. It was, like, African jokes. It was, like, if you had, if you was being joaned on, the Africa jokes was the most popular. Put it that way. Right. Right. So nobody wanted to be African. I apologize for my past.

Because I was probably. He was probably. You know what I mean? Okay, so that's interesting. So you grew up in this time, and now you're seeing massive artists from the region and like- Doing well locally. And I'm like, yo, this would be, this is crazy. How like they don't know about this.

But what gives you the feeling that it would be successful when you grew up at a place where there was this separation? Well, because I know in Africa was heavily popular. But I knew it just wasn't exposed in America to even get the chance to be. popular. Got it. Right? So I just knew that there's certain elements in it that I knew that made it too local

on why I would never leave and become bigger than the continent. And this is like sonic elements? Yeah, it's sonic elements. I'm knowing what the U.S. want to hear. I'm knowing what Europe want to hear. This is like taking Chinese food from China and turning it into a version of it where Western people will consume. Got it.

Ooh, so perfect. That's the perfect way to explain it. And this is just because, like, your father was a musician for him, I'm a second. So like you grew up classically trained in music. Right. So like you can consume this from this culture that you understand and it is a part of your identity, but also recognize the limitations in the music for Western audiences. And how much not to take out to keep it authentic.

Because they also need to still like it. Yes. Right. They have to love it. Yeah, it can't feel too commercialized where they start going, no, that's not the real thing. Exactly. Oh, that was a challenge. That was a challenge.

So you're saying Afrobees doesn't really exist in its modern iteration before you go there. 100%. Wow. Whoa, dude. Did you connect with Burnaboy around this time? Well, Berna, he was young at that time too. He was, he was talking 2008. He was probably trying or thinking about being an artist at that time.

But he wasn't at that level, nowhere near it. At what point do you go, oh, Afrobees is out of here? Like this sound is not global. When Weir's kid actually popped, that's when I realized, okay, we got them. Because it took a while. And when I came to the U.S. and I was shopping Wiz, they thought it was reggae. And they're like, well, reggae's not really popping right now. I'm like, it's not reggae.

It's not reggae. And it was bigger in Europe before it came to the States. But that's what made me go to London. Then when I went to London, it broke in London because London was more open-minded. And there's a lot of Africans. Exactly. Yeah. So London was where it actually broke.

And we was able to break peace. at first, which was a twin group, two twins, right? And we had a record called, Chop My Money that went fucking ridiculous, end up charting the U.S. charts. Oh, wow. But it charted in the UK charts first. You know what I mean? But at that time, those guys were like,

they were performers. Imagine if you had two ushers. And they were twins. That's what they were, but in the Afrobeat market. Right. Like, when you see their performance, it was nuts. That's how they actually got them. And then while that's happening,

Whiz Kid is more authentic at that time for what we were trying to portray whereas P.Square were more commercial. So P. Square came what actually opened the door for Wiz to bust through the door with the authenticityness of what they recognize in P. Square and then it just

once he took off, it was over. At this point, your career, can you kind of like see, do you know when the trend is going to pop? I don't know when it's going to pop, but I don't know what will pop. Right. So it's like, but is there a moment,

moment where you see something building momentum and you're like, yeah, this is out of here. In a year, this is out of here. That's exactly how I see it. And this is what you saw with. With that. That's what I saw with that. Interesting. And at that point, from a business perspective, are you starting to build up an apparatus around it?

100%. But what I realized was there was no business or apparatus to build around African music. Because they didn't understand the business well enough to know what that was. And why is that? Is there just? There was no music industry structure in Africa. Everything was black market, sold in the back market. There was no, even there was no record stores.

You would have to go to the actual market and buy albums that was duplicated in CD duplicators. Because music industry didn't see the value in Africa. So in Africa, the motto was you would sell the master to somebody. And then they, like, prime example, with Wiz's album before then, they would make it album and then sell it to someone, sell the master to them for like 100 grand. And then done. Then now they just make money off shows. And who owns the master now, he monetizes that through all the black markets throughout

Nigeria. And then later does a deal in the U.S. with iTunes, Apple, or whoever, and then he owns the master now to it. Got it. So just so understanding here, you make your album, you sell it to somebody. It might be somebody in the business. It might be somebody outside of the business. They own the rights to it in perpetuity.

Right. You go tour with your songs, and then they literally print CDs or whatever it is. Right. And then sell them in different black markets around. So you can see how someone might never break out, but be locally super hot. Exactly. And that's why I was like that. Because of that motto.

So when we came, we twisted it up. We actually taught them to business. Oh, really? Yes. You can make publishing off this. You make royalty off of this. This is your distribution costs. This goes to the label.

This goes to the artists. Now they understand. it and it was able to now understand it because now you can actually negotiate with labels in Europe and France and the UK and you know. You're putting artists on game to this? You're putting the industry folks on game to this? What is the...

What industry folks didn't like the fact that we're putting them on game to? Fuck no. Right. Because they're like, yo, we're getting a deal off this. We're giving a hundred grand. I mean, it was getting mass free basically. Right. It was basically like hey, we'll pay for the production of all this stuff. And interesting enough, in India was the same way. Because India had the same model. I've realized

something recently. Sleep. is everything. I hate to be one of these guys. I genuinely hate it because I like to stay up late and I have to wake up early because I have kids. The reality of the matter is sleep dictates everything, especially at my age. When you're like 20 years old, I don't even know if sleep is necessary, to be honest with you. And then you hit 40 and it's like if you don't sleep, there's just no way that you can be a functional human being. I didn't take it seriously until I switched to Brooklyn Bedding. Let me tell you about Brooklyn Bedding. This matrix, is different.

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please contact Connects Ontario at 1-866-531. 2,600 to speak to an advisor. Free of charge. That MGM operates pursuant to an operating agreement with Eye Gaming, Ontario. Where does this acumen come from? Because, like, even you started your label early.

As soon as you started music, you would think, in your own... Because I used to always, you know, you got to think, like, my dad was a jazz musician. Okay. And in jazz... Drummer? Yeah, he was a drummer. Yeah, he's a drummer. Yeah, he's a drummer. Percussionist. The problem with jazz is that that's a passion project.

Yeah, dude. Jazz doesn't really make money. You got to really just love music to do jazz. And if you're making it money off of it, that's fine, but you don't really care if you make money or not. You know, you hit small bars, little spots and things like that. So my pop's like, I don't know if music is what you want to do for a living. You know what I mean? But you loved it as a kid.

I don't know if that's what I want to do either, right? But I loved it as a kid. But I was like, there's got to be money because somebody's making money. Like literally somebody's making money. And I just always think about that, but then I used to always hear how artists just cry about, them not getting paid enough, and they got robbed, this and that. And I was like, I want to be the one to do that. There was a lot of money.

How do I be the guy. But somebody's making it, so let me find out how they're making it. Smart. How do you find out? I started reading books about the music business. See, back then they had books that would tell you how the music business weren't. There was a book called, what was it called? What was it?

How to Something About the Music Business. It was something about that. I forgot the title, but it was a long-ass title. Oh, it was all about the music business. That's what it was. All about the music business. And I read it, and I understood the dynamics of how it all work. And I was like, oh, so the money's made if you got your own label.

It's not actually being the artist unless you're just a successful artist that know how to tour, that understand merchandise and all this other stuff. You need the label because that right there becomes bulletproof. Right. And that's what I said, okay, cool. I'm just going to start my own label and just find a distribution. but I was like how the fuck I'm going to distribute it that costs even more money to create then I found that they had things which you call

like joint ventures where you can just partner with a distributor and give them a percentage and they have that part and you have the content and I was like that's what I want to do but there is a there is a small difference going on here which is like you can produce music

right and we have Riz on here a few weeks back and it's just like the guys that can actually create something. Right. It's different than I'm just going to start a record business. No, no, for sure.

It's way more leverage. It's the same thing, like, even in, like, you're talking about, like, scripted television or film. Right. If you can write a script, you're a very different entity than somebody who just gets placed to maybe act in a movie or maybe even just to write.

1,000%. So, and it's very unique that there is somebody who has artistic ability and business sense. Oftentimes, they're like almost diametrically opposed. No, they are. They are. So you're in a unique position that like you could, if you needed,

you could just produce all of your own music or your label. But that's what I've been doing. Of course, and it worked out. It makes sense. But not everybody could do it. Right. My favorite story that showcased kind of the business acumen tied with the creativity is the ringtone story. Which was to me basic common sense. Well, I didn't, I couldn't

believe that the ringtones were going for that much. Yo, $4.99. But we buying In second, we were. Buying them. And they were selling more than singles. That's, yeah. They were selling more than singles.

We were spending $5 for a fucking ringtone? A ringtone, bro. So break down the ringtone, what this did and how you kind of like produce songs around it. Yeah, so when I realized, okay, well, first of all, I was trying to find a solution because I wasn't getting enough radio play. Like the way my music was, it was hard to put a genre to it. But it wasn't quite rap. It wasn't quite R&B. It wasn't quite reggae.

It was like, what is it? Is this before locked up or after lockup? This was during locked up. Like, Locked Up itself, what made Locked Up actually pop was the fact that we was able to get Stiles P on there. So Stiles P made it a genre. It became hip hop. Yeah. That's why until this day.

In the eyes of the consumer. Because before Stiles was on it, we was working the record a whole year and couldn't get it to stick nowhere. out of here. Because there was no genre. Wow, I thought that's an instant. Before you get it out. What does that mean working a record? So that means like promoting it.

Going to DJs, you know, go on to radio stations, trying to get it played, things like that. So when we put Stiles P on there, it gave it. Because before then, they didn't know, okay, what do you play it before or what do you play after it? Like, what genre is? So it confused people because they just don't think, like, a good record just can go behind another good record, right? Oh, so. There's a version of Locked Up where it's just you? The first version is just sweet.

Oh, okay. So then when they put a genre to it, then they just made it hip-hop. Like that's why right now until this day, if you notice, I've never rapped a day in my life. Yeah, I never thought of you as a rapper. But if you look up A-Con, I'm under hip-hop genre. Because that was the first thing that was ever, you know, recorded as. And it stayed that way. Wow.

You know, it's so funny. Like, because I was doing a little research about you, and you were very intentional with Gaga. Right. To not sign her under, like, convict because you didn't want her to be framed in an 100 way. you wanted to have her audience find her organically. Exactly. And like, did you understand that after you went through this? I went through it, yep.

Got it, got it, got it, got it. Because I was like, she's like me. Like, what genre is she really? Yeah. And then at that time, we were doing 80s music in like late 90. I mean, late early 2000s. Yeah. And, you know, like, even right promies app with Just Dance.

They thought it was like, Just Dance was out a whole year before it actually popped. Why? Because I literally had to tour the world to push. We tried America first. Nobody bit. Nobody touched it. They was like, no, this is too old. We can't even put this in our playlist. We went to Europe. Europe was like, well, it's a little cheesy. It's not quite what it is. Then I was like, fuck, I can't let this record go. Like, this is a hit. I know it's a hit. So I had a tour in Australia. I flew all way to Australia. When I got to Australia, I said, I'm going to push it here. I know for sure they'd get it here. The record didn't work. So now, Maya, that's six and a half, seven months of me working this record and nothing getting no bite.

So now I'm at a point like, I'm just going to give up. Like, we just got to give up. And I know if I give up, there's a chance that they would really drop her. Right? Because she would always have a challenge just before I picked her up before already. So this would have solidified the fact that, okay, this just maybe not it. I was like, I can't fucking deal with this. So now I'm trying to figure out how I'm going to revive this record.

So I'm going to Australia heading back to the States. We're connecting through Canada. And I was like, should I get off the plane and go to Canada and try it? Like, what would it hurt? I'm connecting. I got five hours there. So I'm in the lobby thinking about this shit while I'm in the lounge. And I said, you know what, man, fuck the shit.

I ain't got into lose. I called a friend. At the time, he was at a Virgin Radio named David Magro. I said, you know, David, I got this record I want to test. It's out, but it's like the biggest record in Europe right now. He's doing fucking amazing. In Australia.

Australia. The hustle side. I said, bro, you guys got to jump on this shit before it reaches America. Like, that'll be embarrassing. It's the number one record on both sides. Like, you need to drop this record, test it with your mark and see what you got. He said, I come to the station, leave my bags, everything, and go straight there. He plays the record.

This shit becomes. number one on phones. The phones start lighting up. Oh my God, this record is amazing. Who is this? People are calling into the radio station. They're calling the station now. And is that how you could tell back in the day?

That's when you knew if you had something. Because they would say, listen, this is new music. Let us know what you think. And then play it. Bro, when I tell you, the phone lines lit up. So he was like, man, this record is a fucking smash. We need to add this. I said, what?

He said, can we add it to our other stations? I said, hell yeah. So now I start going through the other station. while I'm there. Fuck it. Mind you, my bags are still on that plane. That plane had already left back to the States.

I understand in Canada an extra week going to all the stations. By the time I left Canada, the record was number one in Canada. Wow. Then they called, like, yeah, what the fuck is going on with this record? I think we got something. Then Kiss in New York City picked the fucking record up in America. When they picked it up, everything changed. Kiss FM?

Yes. At that time, they were the needle. If Kiss got the record, everybody was like, okay. What about Z-100? Was that like a big pop? It was, but not like Kistow. KISS was like the generation, whereas Z was more like the older generation. Right.

You know what I mean? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Kistow was like when KISS said that was it, everybody follows suit. Follow suit, meaning all the other radio stations go. Jump on it. Wow. Okay. And you're recognized in this piece.

You believe in this artist, but is there also a version where you're like, you understand how profitable it is to have just a megastar artists under your So it's worth you taking the time It's 100% worth it All you need is one meaning All you need is one major artists

That one artist can pay the bills For the next 10 years Wow Yeah if you sign the right artists You're good And you signed Well Gago was already signed She was already at Interscope

And then you were like Hey I think she's talented Can I work with her? Yeah. And Jimmy literally, that's why I say Jimmy saved my life with that one, because he threw me the bone. He didn't have to do that. Really?

And he made me a 50-50 partner with it. Get out of here. Yeah. And is it because he knew your talent and your ability? He believed to me. Got it. So he's like, listen, we don't know what to do with this girl. She's obviously got talent.

Let him give it a try. If it becomes massive, let's take half of it. But it's the thing. Jimmy was brilliant. He knew how to put, like, parts together. Like, he knew how to marry a writer. producers, producers with artists, you know, writers with artists. Like, he knew exactly what would work. So what I called and was like, yo, Jimmy, I need this one. And he thought about it,

he's like, you know, that could be brilliant. Because at that time, I was working on the Pussycat Dawes record. I remember you were- So in his mind, he's like, dude, this is, this might, he said, you sure? I said, trust me, Jimmy, this is, I need this one on my label. He said, all right, well, fuck it. She's all yours. Wow. Like, literally thought about it like that. And then when we heard that first record, because the first record I did on her was really for the pussycat dogs. You had her singing like the scratch vocals for the pussy cat dog. Yes. Because she came on board because I had got a writer's block

and couldn't come up with nothing that week. I was so excited. I had just closed this big-ass deal. And I had just picked up Red One who was the producer that I worked on the whole Gaga album with. And he was like, I just worked with this chick last week. That's pretty dope. I think she'll help you come up with some ideas. and that's when I met Gaga, because she came into the studio.

And then I was like, yo, are you signed? Like, what's your situation? She's like, well, you know, I met Anoscope? I said, wait, wait, you had Anoscope? Hold on. Yo, Jimmy, what the fuck? Yeah, that's how it came together. Wow. And then when did you stop or have you even stopped working with Gaga?

Oh, man, we did the whole first album in 30 days. Holy moly. Literally the whole first album. And that's all those lines. That's like poker phase. All that whole first album. Wow. We did that in 30 days.

After that, then I got obviously on tour, start working on my album. Red was still a part of it, but I wasn't as active as I was on the first album on the writing side of things. So the second album, I had like, I would say 50% involvement on the creative, but I was heavily involved on pushing the album itself once it was done. And then the third album, by that time, she had her own idea of what she wanted to do. and who she wanted to work, and then she partnered with her ex-boyfriend, who was a producer as well,

and then they did those albums moving forward. Yeah. You do a cool thing with Neil on the tour where you guys go kind of like back-to-back. Yeah, back-to-back on songs that we wrote for other artists. Yeah. We call it the needle drop.

There's tracks that you're like, you worked on this? Yeah, you would not even know. No, you got to come to the show. Oh, 100%. Yeah, because people don't know. I don't want them to know until he comes to the show. Oh, we got to go.

Okay, okay. Because you'd be surprised. That's like verses when baby face and they did that. Yeah, it's like that. He was telling me something outside, where I was like, that one? Can you say any that you're not playing in it, that you might, people might not assume that. It's entertainment, yeah. Are there any artists that came along that you had the opportunity to work with or to sign that you were like, I don't know if now is the right time?

Yeah, who's the one? And then it's the fish that got away. Bro, I had, it's, the biggest fish is that's out today I had, or had an opportunity to do. And I, and I didn't know. I passed on it at the time for specific reasons. but tell us okay so drake is one of them really cardinala fish i have brought me drake originally yeah it's so interesting how you pronounce his name oh card yeah yeah so it's interesting because he was the first artist i had ever signed from canada you signed him yeah he was yeah so he was

yeah so yeah so dude yeah so dude yeah so d'nardy was like yo nigga this nigga out here now he killing the streets yeah yeah and he should play me his mixtape but i was so busy doing so much and I was so busy on the Gaga stuff. And, you know, I had just turned down Justin Bieber because I didn't have time for that because I had Kobe O'Donis. Yeah, it's like those things. And then I had a one of my security guys, two T's,

was constantly on me about Kendrick. Like literally for a whole year, like, yo, I'm telling you, Khan, you got, I'm telling you. But it just at the time was so much happening that I just didn't have the time to do it. And then Drake ended up picking up Kendring. And then Dre would beat me down to do production for Kendrick. But everybody

was needing me and there was no time. You know what I'm saying? And I never had the time to stop and listen to see, to hear that even the genius of what Kendrick was. I was just about to compliment you for your eye for talent and then I'm like, no. I didn't miss out. No, I didn't miss out.

I did. I missed it. Literally had I had an infrastructure they would have all been bagged at that time. But it was just all me doing my own A&R and doing my own everything. And everybody pulling from every direction. And I'm just focusing on what I have on a table

now and what needs to happen for that versus what more I need to add to my table. Yeah. You didn't have all the wives to help out. Wow. Wow. Crazy. So now you built out the infrastructure? Oh yeah. The infrastructure is built out now. Yeah.

Now it works in my sleep. I don't have to be a part of it at all. Could you kind of break down what your infrastructure looks like? It's like a mini-university. It's like a many universal. It's like literally like I have artists I haven't even met yet. That's been signed to my label that haven't even. So you have different A&Rs that are going and getting married? Well now ANRs we don't really use A&Rs anymore.

I just feel like A&Rs was a waste of time and money because most of them didn't really know what the hell they was doing anyway. And then have the ear for music. Like they just went to whatever they saw was popping. So they read other people's gauge to see instead of having their own. Instead of having their own. Today is like the people around me, these are the people

that was telling me, oh, Khan, I don't know about that record. And I'd be like, no, this is hit. And they'd be like, ah, I don't know. And then they was right. And I was like, oh, shit, okay, they know something that I don't know. Got it. Keep him down. Keep him, keep her, you know what I mean? Type shit, you know what I mean? Do you ever get worried that

it gets too big where you start signing artists and it could have another lady Gaga situation where you have an artist with talent sitting there but isn't being? Oh, no, but that's a part of the business. You're not going to catch everything. That's one thing that I had to realize and have to just accept that there's going to be some ones

that you miss. You know what I mean? And it is what it is. Like, everything ain't meant. Some things are meant to pass by you, but not through you. Yeah. And I've realized that had Drake been with me, he probably wouldn't be that big. Have Kendrick been with me, he probably wouldn't have been that big.

It's those things that either defying them or things that passed them by that might have motivated them to even go even harder. Because by the time I was and did have time for Drake, his price was a million. to sign. He was in a bidding war. Oh, wow. And I was like, man, I ain't got a million dollars for an artist. I can't pay a million dollars for an artist. At that time, I couldn't afford it. I'm curious, you have such an international appeal. What's the craziest, like, private event that you got booked to do with, like, a king or something like that? Exactly. It was royalty. And it was funny because... Where? It was in the Middle East. I can't say which family.

But for the most part, it was the craziest thing because they booked me. for a million dollars, right? And was like, well, you want you, you know, we want you to perform for the family. We have this huge event. And my daughter's the biggest fan. I said, okay, amazing. So we get prepared.

They do everything. Like, it was set up to where it's going to be like, I even had a dressing room with all my condiments, everything on my rider. Like, it was like top notch. So, you know, I go in and I'm getting ready for the show and everything else. It was interesting because I'm like,

the castle is so, big I don't hear any music. Right? So I'm like, wow, this is, this is huge. So they're walking me to the show. They walked me to this huge hall. But there's only

three chairs. Master stage, LED lights, lasers, everything. And I'm sitting on the side of the stage waiting for my audience. No fucking way.

Yeah. Three people came. The daughter, the son, and the wife. And she's sitting in the middle. She's just like, just cheesy, just can't wait. I walk out. And it's like, okay, this is my audience. Right?

Wow. So I go into my show, and in the middle of it, she said, no, stop, stop. And I was like, what's going on, sweetheart, everything okay? She's like, I want to hear Mr. Lonely. I said, that's it? She said, yes, can you just play that first? I said, okay, no problem. So we start singing Mr. Lonely.

She said, lonely, I'm Mr. Lonely, right? So a song finished, she's like, ah, again. Nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah. They can't treat you like a, like a, like a CD player. Again? No. We do it Again

That's all he's ever been more applicable, bro That was you on stage I'm alone right now The whole hour That's all we perform No way That's it She was like funk flex when he gets a new record

Again Again No way How many dudes are with you on stage in total No no You don't understand My whole team was there My sound guy, my lighting guy, road manager, business manager.

Because we thought it was like a major show. I mean, they agreed to everything on the rider, bro. Yeah, yeah. That's a million dollar stage. Yeah. And they set it up in a hall. Yeah. You know what I'm saying?

Like, three people. It was crazy. What do you think they spent on it total? Like the stage is a million dollars. Your fees a million dollars. It was an easy $5 million budget. Was there a part of you that was like, man, I could have just kept the $5 million

and just sung it with a karaoke. After? No, listen. Bro. It's just three. After that, in my mind, I'm like, I wish they would have just told me specifics because I would have just saved them all that money, took half of that and just been in the living room

and just sang with her, like, karaoke with her for like an hour. Yeah. It had been better. Yeah. Wow. Because, bro, like, even the jet that they sent, it wasn't like a typical jet. It was like a fucking 747.

Yeah. It had a full bedroom inside, shower, game room, like theater, like crazy. All right, guys, you know the moment that you catch your flexion, you notice your hair line receding a little bit. Well, Hymns makes it simple to actually do something about it. Guys, going bald is a choice now. You know this.

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a disaster. I was in Lebanon. Okay. Crazy show. Yo, on everything, the Lebanese. The Lebanese The Chinese crowd is probably the craziest crowd I've ever been in front of. Really? Okay, so I'm in the crowd. Well, not yet. I'm in the car, riding through the crowd.

This is probably one of the biggest events Lebanon has had since their last bombing, right? This was in 19... No, no, this was... Did I hear that right? This was 2007. Thank God. This was in 2007.

Okay. No. So this was to kind of, like, bring morale, just uplift the, you know, because it was going through some conflicts, right? And it was like, don't worry, it's going to be a ceasefire, it's going to be no issues, whatever.

Because a lot of people said they wasn't going to come. They was all afraid to come. I was the only one that was like, I'll do it, right? Because I just love the Middle East, right? Especially Lebanon, like, bitches, I'm sorry. Girls, they're party people, right? Bro, I get there. It's like 200,000 people easy.

Holy shit. It was that big. Like, it was easily 200,000 people. And we're riding through the crowd. You got the security, blah, and I'm out there performing, man. We go crazy, ghetto comes over. Oh, my God. It's like, goes nuts.

So now we're in the party side. I go into the back, and I'm in my absorb ball, like the absorb ball. Right? I've been doing it back then since then, by the way. He goes in one of those. And then you're just going through the crowd. So I'm riding through the crowd. And I see this one dude's like.

Yeah, I know he's a super fan. So I was like, okay, I'm going to roll over his way so he can, you know, because I know a moment like this for him is like... Crazy. Crazy. Like, he would never forget this moment. So now I'm rolling this way, and I see him and I just start rolling over towards him. And as I'm rolling over towards him, I'm getting close. He's like,

yeah. And next thing you know, he disappears. I'm like, where the hell did he go? And next thing, I look down on the ball and I see him. And I see him, he has his blade. No. Bro. He takes the blade. shoves it in the ball

because he's so fanatically a fan that he wants to hug me so he hits the ball and I see him going I try to hurry up and roll out the other way but he had already poked it so I'm seeing the ball slowly

started to flake no bro I'm in the middle of like 200,000 people at this time no crazy right security's not near you no I'm in the audience They can't move. They're just watch from the side.

But now I'm starting deflating. So now I said, I've got to think quick because I can suffocate in this motherfucker with all these people, right? Because I'm going to get out because you've got to open it from the outside. So then I start thinking quick. I start calming down so I can see where the wind is coming from so I can find the hole. And then I realize the hole is above me.

So I roll toward the hole is right up under me. And then I put my fingers in. I just open it up and I slide out. And then the ball just go. So everybody's like, Like, no, everybody's like scared, like, what the fuck's going on? And the meantime, I didn't came out, and I'm on my knees like this, under everybody on my way back to the stage.

By the time the ball had sunk all the way down and people realized where the hell I was, I'd already made it back to the stage. Get the fucking out of it. Bro, because everybody's working towards the ball. Nobody realized that I was crawling already towards the stage. I get to the stage, and the fucking crowd thought I was a musician. A magician. A magician.

The glass was a magician. Right? Yo, my light guy was so brilliant, as soon as he saw me, spot. Hit the black and put the spot right on me. I was like, Lebanon. He was like, ah! It was, yo, that shit was the craziest show.

I'd never forget that one. Wow. That is crazy. You got to incorporate that from now on. Yeah, that was crazy. No, because I don't want to get people ideas when I go out in the ball. So I kind of try to keep that quiet.

You just did. How come you haven't performed in the States in a while? I just, man, it was, well, for two reasons. One, they wasn't paying enough. And two, I was just so busy. Like, literally, there was like a two, almost two and a half, sometimes three-year waiting for me to get available to perform out here. Because I was so in demand on the other side to the point where when a promoter wanted me,

and they'd be like, damn, I got to wait in a year and a half? No, I just booked somebody else. And that's how it was like that. So how long has it been since you've done a proper tour in America? I would say since 2000, probably four, no 12, 2012. Wow. Yep, 2012 was to be an usher. Wow.

That's crazy. Yeah. But all this time you've been performing. All this time I've been performing internationally. Wow. Yeah. Wow. And never considered living internationally?

Because you're mostly in Atlanta, right? Well, that's the thing. I got a house in Atlanta, house in L.A., house in France, house in Senegal, house in Dubai. So I kind of do live internationally.

But I'm just always traveling. Right. You know, so there's no one place I can just call home because I'm always moving around and shit. Was there ever concern, like when you're in Senegal,

was there ever concern about safety because of just how famous you had become? No, because it's like me, I never looked at, that as a safety issue because it's all love like the people is coming from love perspective

It could be like yeah 100% trying to poke the thing Yeah exactly But more just like people wanting to see you People rushing them That was always the thing like just having Crowd Control like security For crowd control

And did that become Did it become difficult to spend time there because of that? Yeah in Senegal Senegal was one of the places It was difficult to spend time because of that So what would you do? Do you have like a compound there? Yeah, well, I got a house on the island.

And you need a boat to get out to it. Yeah. Got it. That was the only way. Are you worried about coming back to the States, like what your reception is going to be? Oh, nah. I mean, my legacy is already built. It don't even matter.

Okay. You know what I'm saying? Because the fan base is already there. And they hadn't seen me in forever. So it's a treat for the, it's starved, right? Yeah, he's starving for it. I'm going for it, I'm going to give it to him, too. And are you going out with Neo?

Yeah, me and Neo got a collabus. Our job tour now that we're doing. So we got all together 70 dates. We just did 30 in Europe. We're about to do 10 in Canada. Then we're doing another 30 in America. Wow. Yeah.

What was it like working with Eminem? I mean, I love working with M. I love working with him. How did that come to be? That was through Obie Trice, actually. Obie Trice was the one that connected me with M. Oh, wow. Yeah, because I had this record I did for Obie.

And I was like, Obie, don't worry. Don't worry, you ain't got to pay me. I just need a feature from M. Wow. You know what I just need a feature for Bev. He's like, ah, man, got to talk to Goldberg about that one. I was like, all right, well, let's figure this out. He said, but nah, he ain't going to let it happen.

We just got to find him. You got to get to him directly. Goldberg. Rosenberg. Yeah, that's a Goldberg. That's a Rosenberg. The theme of the wrestler. Yeah, Rosenberg.

So, Obey's like, yo, just come to Detroit. I just take you to the studio. And I was like, man, I don't want to be on Rosenberg's bad side. Let me just call them first. So I call Rosenberg. I said, yo, I got this record. I want to do with him. What do you think?

He said, well, send it to me. I didn't have it at the time. You know? I didn't have it at the time. I said, I got to kind of put it together. When I put together, I'm going to send it to you. He said, all, cool, just let me know. So at that moment, I put the seed down.

Right. He knew that. Yeah, there was interest there. Yeah. Yeah, let's see. I put the seed down, he knew. So then I said, okay, Obie, all, cool, let's go. We got to get the record because I got to sit at the Rosenberg.

Right? Boom. So Obie was like, all right, cool. So now we posted looking all over him. Because M, he don't never really know where M's going to be. So we post outside the studio. M doesn't show up that day. So I'm like, but he might show up at night.

Kobe was like, I mean, Obie was like, no, he'd never come up late night. Because we stay nice in studios. He said, no, now, now, M don't operate like that. I said, well, let's come tomorrow. He said, you got to come early before you come. So we come early, like 6 a.m. so we don't miss them. So it was almost like we staking out in studio. It's the funniest thing.

So EM finally shows up. He said, that that one, go right there. Come on, let's go. So then we come. And was like, oh, shit, what's up? What's up? So I come through and I was like, yeah, you, Em, man, we need to get in the lab. Like, you know, let's work.

He said, I came in my little briefcase with all my tracks and everything. That's like I got mad records for you, too. I want to play you a few records. So now I'm going to make sure I get records for him first Before I ask for something Right, exactly, yeah You're offering value first So he was like, yo, you know, I produced two

I said, really? He said, yeah, I said, well, play me some tracks So now he's playing me some tracks I didn't even know imp produced Yeah, I had no idea Wow Bro, the smack that track came on I was like, yo, this shit is crazy

Can I get that? He said, hell yeah So I'd take the track and he gave me four more So all together I picked five tracks I started on the What's the name one first though The smack that record And then after I finished on the M heard here

And I was like what do you think? He said yo this is crazy Bro, this is fucking this is a hit So this is M's production M's production You asked for it because you're like I can do something with that Are you tweaking anything in the production

Or you lay vocals on it That track was produced solely by M&M Wow A lot of people don't know that They thought I produced it too That was the only track on my album That I didn't produce by the way Wow

And produced smack that, right? So interesting enough, I'm hurting, I was like, bro, you really think it's a hit? He said, hell yeah, this is a smash. I see you should jump on it. Yeah, yeah. Right, I see, you should jump on it with me. He's like, yeah, you know, I think about it.

Okay, so he, because everybody's asking him to be on a song. Right. So it's a ballsy move to go, hey, be on my shit. Right. Like, for you, you have to find the right moment. Right. You throw it out there. I just throw it out there.

And then when he goes, let me think about it. You're like, cool, cool, cool. There's no pressure. That's nothing. Because it really wasn't. Me, it was just great enough that he's produced it. I was happy to be able to say Eminen produced his track. Yeah.

I was cool with that. Yeah. Right? So now I'm working on the other tracks. So I'm kind of hearing the song playing in the background. Not quite sure, you know, if he just listened to it to see what do you want to do from a production perspective. Oh, you're hearing him listen to it. Listen to it.

So I'm thinking, okay, now he want to tweak the beat, whatever the case may be. So he goes off the lunch. We come back. By that time, I don't work on the other tracks. five o'clock come I'm like yo where's him like M left I was like where he go

he went home I was like oh shit he just went home while we was working I didn't know that he set a timeline at the studio he comes in lunchtime he takes lunch 5 o'clock he goes home

he treated it like a real night and 5 yeah right and I was like damn that's interesting like it fucked me up because he accomplished just as much work as he's supposed to accomplish in that little time that I did spending the night there So I started to rethink everything. It was actually after that that I started to really manage my time better.

Like in life, because after that, I realized not going to make time for my kids, make time for my family, and not be consumed by the studio all day every day. He comes back the next day. He said, yo, may I did some minor adjustments to the song? I want to let you know what you think. So I'm playing. I'm hearing my verse come in. Boom.

Then his verse comes, oh, looks like another one. I said, whoa, oh shit. Oh, shit, bring that back! Bring that back! Whoa. I heard the bird. I was like, oh, this shit is so fine. So I was like, oh, this shit is going to be crazy.

Then I'm like, okay, whose record is going to be, though? Of course, yeah, yeah, that's right. So now I'm just waiting for it. You know, I'm just like, so we're going to put this on your album? So you are deferential to him, obviously. He raps on it. Yeah, you know. You're doing the respectful thing, which is like, yo, is this on yours?

Like, what do you want to do? I mean, think about it. You were producing, now your feature on it. Like, like, Prime example, what I did, I want to love you. Me and Snoop did the same thing where we actually put it on both of our albums. And that's been done before. Yeah, right? So that's when I, you know, I was like, so, yeah, what do you think?

You know, should it be on your album? What, how do you want to work this? He's like, nah, bro, it's on your album. So he just gives the song to you. Yeah, he was like, yo, bro, let's go. Like, you know. And then later, it became a bonus track off on his album as well, too, because the record became such a huge record. Wow.

And for you, there was. is no issue with that at all. You're like, hell no. It's even more spins. It was even better because now I got a bigger, broader audience on top of that to also bring this record to him. That's so cool.

Holy shit. Yeah. And then that, it just goes crazy. When you're hearing us all like this, you've produced it. So the creative part is quote unquote done. Yeah, that's the easy part. Are you going,

are you like assigning a dollar amount to what you think this song is going to do? No, never. Okay, so if there's never a financial thing, It's more just like this is going to impact culture. It's about how big the record is going to be. I'm going to perform this. If it's going to be a, yeah.

Because like the creative part is automatic. And me, if the record is a hit, the financial part is automatic. It's just going to happen. Yeah, if a hit record is going to generate money, no matter how you're living. For those of us who have no fucking clue, what does a hit record generate? It pays the bills. Of course, but like, is it, can you tell us like what it will be? Depending on how big the record could be.

Like, you got some record. that literally, because, okay, prime example, let's say smack that. Let's say smack that, for instance, right? I can't tell you the exact number, but I can tell you that that record, I'll be getting paid for that record for the rest of my life. Are we talking about, like, royalty checks? No, of course, of course. 20 million?

We're talking about 20 million? Well, that's a thing. Two million? That's the thing. You can't quantify how much it eventually will make because it will always continue to make money. Let's say in a 10-year period. Like, let's say in a, let's use it in a, let's use it in a, let's,

quarterly period every three months. Every three months, that record could generate easily about $150,000 $200,000. Wow. Every three months. And you got a lot of smack that. A lot of those. And that's for... In perpetuity,

they just can... Right, and guess what? It spiked during... And that was before digital. That was before digital with the label taking all the extra shit out. Now digital is more accurate. And when you had Spotify, you got the streaming, and you know, you have

the Netflix of the world, the apples of the world, the Amazon's of the world, now you got AI coming that's going to also bring in. The record now goes from that into digital world, it tripled off top just from that. And then when AI comes, where it now becomes even bigger and global and being attached, it can make easily up to a million dollars a quarter. A quarter? Forever.

Wow. And the record makes that, and then everybody gets their piece of that? Then everybody gets their piece of that. But the writer gets it, the producer gets it, the labor distributor gets it, whoever owns the masters gets their piece, like that, and it's kind of, it all breaks down.

And if there's an artist that has a massive, huge song, assuming they're not in like a completely, like predatory contract, like say they're an artist that they have, you know, a piece of their publishing all these things. Right.

One song, they could potentially never work again. Yeah, one hit record. One hit record, they'll never work again. Let's say one classic. And that is different than a hit. That's a hit, different hit. Because sometimes hits come and they go. But classics stick around for a long time.

So if you, and this goes back to the Michael. So the goal is to make classics. Yeah. And this goes back to the Michael thing. When you start owning... Yes. This is why Mike has so much power. Because he owned catalogs that was filled with classics.

Like you owned the Beatles at one point? Yeah. So explain that to me. So you think that this was potentially, without putting yourself in a compromising position. But like you think that there was certain people out there that felt threatened with the amount of power that might. Yeah, it was alleged that at the end of the day, he owned too much, like, he owned too many shares of Sony to where he controlled it.

Because he owned the classic records or too many of them. Wow. And then so that, so there might have been people. And he didn't want to sell. And they were like, hey, we need control. Or maybe somebody over there. So it was alleged that because he didn't want to sell. They said, okay, cool, we're going to pressure you to sell.

And if not, then we're going to devalue you to the point where it doesn't, it's not worth that much. Holy shit. And that's where that came in to devalue him. And what is devaluing him due to the records? Oh, it doesn't really do much to the records itself, but it does to his financial situation? Yeah. And now he's enforced to sell these records. Yes.

Whoa. So, okay, so this is, obviously we've all heard the side that, you know, people. have made the allegations against Mike, et cetera. So the other side, the other argument would be, he has so much power. They first try to pressure him to sell. Right. What do they do in to pressure him to sell?

I mean, like how they do with everything. They first attack your reputation, your likeness. Oh, wow. They take the power your name has and make it muddy to the point where nobody wants to be attached to it. So this is a, this is an interesting. And it always starts with allegations with women. reds, pedophilia.

You know, I mean, you see it happen with every powerful person at a certain time in their life when they don't want to play ball. The reason why it never happened to Trump because Trump didn't give a fuck. Interesting. He owned up to it and said,

okay, I did it, Ann? Fuck you, niggas, locker room talk. We all do it. He didn't say, no, I didn't do it, or he didn't try to distance himself from the allegations. He stepped up to it, and then there's no power because now you get support.

Sometimes in sports you see this where like a player's coming on a contract year and all of a sudden a video leaks of them like rolling a joint with like some cocaine on the table. Remember that happened with like Del Beckham Jr.? Right. Do you think that's the same thing? You think that's like powers that be? It depends because sometimes everyone has a backstory that you don't quite be aware of. But certain people, when they get to a certain level, there's certain things they're asked to do

that sometimes most people play ball and some people don't do it. And when you don't do it, depending on what they're asking you to do, now you seem to be not a part of the club. So when you're not a part of that club, okay, we need to remove this person because he's a threat to everybody else. It's almost like a crooked cop within a precinct. He knows where the bones are buried. So you got to get that motherfucker out of there. So you got to either play with us or somehow there's going to be an accident and a police report written that makes everybody okay and you not. Because think about it.

Yeah. That one person threatens everybody. everybody else. And why was Michael owning all the music so threatening to them? That's a very good question. Like what is that? Why couldn't they just continue to make more songs and make more hits and then have other things? See, okay, there's a word that's more powerful than value in itself and that's hope.

Mike is the most, arguably the biggest artist on the planet. and he's black. It's one thing to be a big black artist, stop it. No, but it's true. I know, I know. But to be a big black, powerful artist that runs the business, that's something different. Interesting.

If Mike can be that guy, what makes you think I can't be that guy? Or LeBron can't be that guy for NBA. So you think they were attacking the hope. It's the hope. Yes. That's what it is. Whoa. Because you've got to think about it.

We, when you talk from a cultural perspective, And I don't want to sound like it to be racist or anything, but when you look at it from a cultural perspective where there's entertainment, fashion, of sports. Yeah. Right. Black and brown people are ones that generate the billions, but we don't own the content and we don't control it.

And there's no real reason why you shouldn't be able to do it since you can generate it. Right. But the moment we put ourselves in a position to be able to do that, what would it do? You can't stop touching kids. The ones that... Come on. Yeah. Why does it happen to you guys?

Oh, hell, dude. But that's my boy. Get a little bit of power, you know. He can't be that guy. He's touching kids. But because that's so sensitive to society, that's always the first place they go to start to attack. And that's why when you see that,

you got to first say, wait a minute, what's really happening? You don't just agree with that. Find out what's happening behind it. and find out why it's going there first. And why do you think that Michael's team didn't push more of that out there? Why do you think that there wasn't more like that?

Well, you got a thing. They own the media. It's Michael Jackson. No one's bigger than him from a perspective of voice. But if you can't use the platforms that your voice can be heard in, your voice has meant nothing. So if Mike can't use it, what makes you think the people around them are going to be at use?

Oh, shit. It's a game. It's like, it's powers that. know how to control the situation. It's all about how you control the narrative. And then the companies that actually own what controls the narrative, who controls that? So it's almost like, you got to just be careful how you move. And he was talking about the predatory practices.

And then Prince was also talking about it. They all talked about it because they were all in handcuffs. But it's not much you can do. You can just say it. But the people you're telling it to is blind and deaf to it. Can I can I can I Is there a part of you That as you ascended to superstardom

And then you start shifting into More I wouldn't want to say political things But like infrastructural things Want to build Oh yeah I'm a victim of it too I was a victim 100% I mean you saw the attacks on Akon City Well that's the thing I want to ask you about

That was clearly Clearly That is where That's why I shut the fuck up So And again, we don't have to talk about a southern night you're not comfortable talking about. But like, is there a part of you that's going through it? It's like, oh, wow, now I'm attacking like system and structures.

If I can just come in and make this majestic city within this country that I love and cherish, all the people that exist within this country and the powers be that within this country that haven't done that yet. Right. Now you're potentially threatening that power. 100%. Because if I'm a person that's living there, I'm going, well, why the fuck I haven't done? done this. Right. And then every other country in West Africa, right?

Like, he bring him Treyore, he takes over and all of a sudden, all these other countries are like, oh, why don't we do that? Yeah. After that happened, guess what? There was four more crews. And then the other ones are now preparing. And there was something that got stopped.

And it goes, so it was like, it becomes a domino effect. It's because it's human nature. It's almost like a very successful person walking through the mall. Nobody really notice it. Some do, but they're afraid to go ask for a picture. It only takes one person to say, oh, my God, can I get a picture? and then next you know, everybody's like, oh shit. So then everybody comes and does it.

So to control just human nature and the way, how we are, because we're just followers by nature. It's not that many leaders, right? The majority of humans are followers. So the ones that actually lead, it depends on what you're leading, and you've got to be able to control that.

Because if one person gets to hope to move in that direction, it can offset everything that was built. If that leadership is at odds with someone else's agenda, they need to stop. So do you think that you, You had people that were working against. Oh, yeah, it was very clear. And the goal was attainable?

More than attainable. Right. Because the outside perspective, I'm sure you were probably having to defend nonstop. I mean, I realized me defending it only made it look more, it made it look worse. That's an interesting thing because the knee-jerk reflexive reaction is that, guys, this is what I want to do. I want to do good in the world. We could do this. but the more you keep saying it

then they start looking at you like where are you involved in this corruption they're looking like okay Khan is a 100% part of Luminati I'm like what the fuck bro like you go on YouTube right now that tell you all Illuminati they start looking at my show they start seeing signs

and I'm like oh shit it made me believe I was a part of it because the way they put that shit together bro it's like this shit is so interesting it's like damn these motherfuckers are clever they do that to all of them Bro, it's like, whew.

I love the work in the way you highlight Africa. Are you still doing the work but just doing it more? Yeah, now I'm just doing it in a more smarter way to where it doesn't. Attack the powers that be. Attack the powers that be, but more support them in a way to where they can get what they want, but we can get what we want to. This is the lighting project. Yeah. So like, you know, so my thing is, okay, let's find a way to coexist.

I get, you need the resources here, but we also need the resources too. You can't just take the resources from Africa, build your country up and then ours are still fucked up. Yeah, yeah. How do we work into, and this is the agreements that was made with China. China figured out, okay, cool, we understand you don't have the liquid cash, but you do have the resources. But we need your resources.

Yeah. So give us what your resources is worth, and then we'll give you that back an infrastructure. Yeah. And that made sense. Right? So now China's in Africa building roads, roundabouts, bridges, you know, putting down fiber optics for technical futures and things like that. Whereas Europe,

America, they just took the resources and left. And didn't even send no money back to for nothing. Look that more on Europe than us. I've been doing that for a minute. No, no, no, it's more real. It's sure, completely more Europe. We do that to the Middle East. No, America only comes in when the oils. We have South America. They do Africa, too. They do Africa too.

A little bit. They do a proxy. They do it. We outsource that. I'm American, so I know. I'm straddling both sides of the fence, but I'm trying to unite us. Because I was the one in the White House trying to get America to partner with Africa before China did. But they didn't get it. This is, dude, this is the political game.

Yeah. It's a very dangerous one. No, it's very dangerous. When you attack people with real power. Yeah. It's very different. music being. Nah, bro.

You think, you think, nigga, listen, you're talking about gangster? The most gang. That shit? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Government's a mafia. Bro, they,

they, nigga, they big in the mafia. The mafia is afraid of the government. That's small potatoes. Yeah. Because those powers is something that you don't want to play with. There's something that interests me so much,

because, like, I saw you say somewhere, like something that really bothers you is the fact that black people can't work together. Come together, yeah. Yeah. Why? Like, how can we come together? I mean, the thing is that there's a lack of trust within our community, unfortunately. How can we change that?

It's hard. Only thing that can do, you can't, that's not something that can be changed overnight. That's something that they have to change from a generational, like, cycle. Because we have to teach our children, and they have to be the one to make the change. Okay. Like, we're too gone. Like, our mindset and mentality is so left that it's impossible. Like, this generation is out.

I admire that of other culture that are able to come together and, like, pull their wealth together to move up. That's how you have to do it. It sucks that we're not able to do it as a people, but it's also, it's like there's black Americans and then there's Africans and even they don't get along. Yeah, because it's the divide of how, and it's also information too. Information can be very dangerous if you know how to properly use it to create divide, right? But if it's being used to create unity, right now it can be dangerous because such a capitalist environment that we're living in and so many agendas that can actually affect, that isn't

the world's best interest to keep Africans and black people divided. Because Africa holds so much power. So if they were united. So much power. They would be able to organize around that power. Period. Tell us everything that they see it. One thing that black Americans can maybe do to help bridge that gap.

They just come together. That's it. Nobody like like literally, literally come together, put together pools, bring your investments together, invest together, and literally create and build together. How does one invest in Africa? Let me give you a prime example. The one thing that you have to respect on this planet is how small a population the Jewish are. But how unit united they are.

They're the smallest population on the planet, but they're the most powerful. Why is that? Because they come together, they pool together, they invest together, and they build together. And then when there's a problem, they stay together. what happens when there's a problem of my niggas? I don't know that, crap.

You know, no preemption over here, bro. I'll have no problems by the dick, chill. You know what I'm saying? On their side, they're like, hold on, because if that affects you, that affects us. How do we fix it? We need them conversations, and we can't continue

to blame the white man for every fault that goes on in the fucking society. Hold on now. But it's true. I mean, being real. We like to be talked about. I'm talking like, you're not sitting right now.

It's a brother conversation, but it's real. We like to be reminded how powerful we are. Don't take that away from us. If you stop blaming white people, we'll start to think we're not running shit. But that's the point. I'm really impuriated. Yeah, we just got to stop. Because when I realize, bro, as much as I travel,

that problem only exists in America and maybe two or three parts of Europe. But the rest of the world is united, and they all coexist. This is a young place, though. I think that's another thing that it's tough for us to compare to. You're looking at European civilizations that existed for thousands of years. America's a young country. About to be 250 years old. The black American experience in America is super young because a lot of the black Americans

don't even have connectivity to their roots in Africa. That's so true. So you're like inventing a new identity. And unfortunately, because of fucking. what his family did. My family was in Canada. No, no, no, we had nothing to do that. No, no, he would talk some shit.

No, no, no, no, no. I wasn't doing nothing, no, no, no, no. Sorry to the natives, but not, no, black Americans. They were coming up there as a safe paper. Yeah, right. Failed for that, trick. You're welcome. But, like, so unfortunately, like,

a lot of the experience is this, like, shared trauma. It's shared trauma. So it's, like, Eventually, ideally, you get to the point where it's like a lot of the experience is shared culture. And like the most ideal version is like we all share culture. Like that's like, that'd be amazing. We all share culture and everything is incredible. And we can all rally around being American despite us having cultural differences, et cetera.

I know that you got to get around here. But like that would be the ideal scenario. But there is a version where like what we've done in 250 years, most countries haven't done in thousands of years. That's 100%. But we still got, you know, very far to go. But to your credit, what we've done as a culture here is definitely a light at the end of the tunnel. Because right now, my kids don't know what racism is. They wasn't raised that way.

Like, their friends are from all parts of the world. It's like, it's like United Nations at my house. Right. Literally. They don't see each other from that perspective. They know racism exists, of course. But they're not experiencing. And maybe the same way that maybe you and I saw it growing up or something like that.

There's a lot of flavor over there. There's a lot of flavor. It's all in how their adults teach their children, though. Because if they keep it going, then it's going to continue to go moving forward, right? But if we allow them to be able to just be themselves and get to understand each other as they are without putting our thought and process and our ideology on them, it actually can change overnight. That's true, but you got to tell them that too. Yeah. We're working on it.

We're working on it. We'll discuss it. You've got to get out of before you get out of here, we just need your World Cup. We just need your World Cup hot seat right here. My World Cup prediction. You were talking crazy shit outside of it. I was. I said the finals is going to be Senegal and U.S.

What are the chances on Calci that we have a... What's the chances of Senegal? It's 0.8% for... For Senegal. Right. What about the U.S.? The U.S. is 1.6. 6%.

Oh, I'll take those odds. Yeah. But that's a tough one for you. You're a dual citizen. If Senegal and USA is in the final... I went both ways. But who do you root for, though? What jersey do you wear to the stadium?

Oh, great question, bro. Oh, that's actually a very good question. Great question. Yeah. Because there's the businessman in you? No, no, no. Honestly, I will get a customized jersey. It's going to be setting out in the front.

You're going to back. Why is sending out on the front, though? Yeah. The colors look nicer. Because I'm in the business of selling hope. And Senegal needs it. Settigal needs more hope. Even when it comes to soccer?

No, America needs more hope. America needs more hope. I guess Saudi-O-Mond. Come on. We got better odds than them right now. Yeah, you see, I got, bro, listen, the U.S. team is so good this year. They're really good, bro. And mind you, just so you guys know, people didn't know, there was a friendly match between

Senegal and the U.S. And you guys beat us by one. Oh, all right. I didn't even know that. That says a fucking lot. Yeah. I mean, we kind of wanted to build hope in the U.S. I don't do that. Come on, man.

Before the game, we want them, you know, the other one. Come on, you guys, we beat you before the show. I mean, come on, your hope. We need to make sure that you guys make it to the finals so we can really play. Okay. Well, I guess we'll see then. You know what I mean? But, yo, the U.S. team is really good this year.

Like, they make me nervous. I'm not going to lie. See, you got me feeling hope, man. Yeah, you got me. He hopes all of us. I already know something I was going to make it, but y'all make me feel nervous. A-Con, ladies and gentlemen. A-Con, thank you so much.

Hey, y'all. It's Kelly Clarkson with Wayfair. Ever order furniture online and wonder, what if? Like, what if it doesn't hold up? That sofa was four days old. You should have ordered from Wayfair. With Wayfair, there's no what-if. Just style you love and quality you can trust. Visit Wayfair.ca.

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