Club Shay Shay - T.I.

Episode Date: January 23, 2023

T.I. joins Club Shay Shay this week! The rapper and actor talks with Shannon about his career, the movies that he's been in and a certain Lakers game that our host was at recently... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Wake up with football every morning and listen to my new podcast, NFL Daily with Greg Rosenthal. Five days a week, you'll get all the latest news and the best analysis delivered by the time you get your coffee. The show hits every single game every single week, but I can't do it alone. So I'm bringing in all the big guns from NFL media like Colleen Wolf. Subscribe today and you'll immediately be smarter and funnier than your friends. Listen now on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, this is Mike Wright from the Fantasy Footballers Dynasty Podcast. You heard that right.

The Fantasy Footballers have officially entered the Dynasty space. Every week, we bring you the same in-depth analysis and entertainment you've come to expect from the fantasy footballers only now it's from the dynasty perspective join me and the rest of the crew every wednesday for a new episode listen to the fantasy footballers dynasty podcast on the iheart radio app apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts this ain't what you were drinking last night is no no no i'd have cleared the whole building if I was going to do that. I'm talking about, hey, man, you're ready my life. Sacrifice, hustle paid the price.

Want a slice, got to roll the dice. That's why, all my life, I've been grindin' all my life. Hello, welcome to another edition of Club Che Che. I am your host, Shannon Sharp. I'm also the proprietor of Club Che Che. And the guy that's stopping by for conversation and a drink today is one of Atlanta's hip-hop pioneers. He's a three-time Grammy award-winning artist, record executive, producer, songwriter, actor, entrepreneur. Damn. Father, trap music pioneer, hip-hop icon, music mogul. Damn, he even changed careers, went to stand-up comedian.

King of the South, Mr. Rubber Band Man. Is it Tip T.I. Harris or T.I. Tip Harris? Whoever it is, T.I., how you doing, bro? Hey, what's going on, King? A.T.L. Fire this, baby. You did. Bankhead is on.

Bankhead? Absolutely, yeah. How you being, bro? Man, I'm chilling, man. I'm cooling. Man, anytime we get somebody from, I'm going to get you. Okay. Actually, this is my cognac.

All right. It's a VSOP. All right. Yeah, well, this ain't what you were drinking last night, is it? Nah, I wasn't. This ain't what you were drinking last night. Nah, no, no. I cleared the whole building. You're ready to move some furniture. No, I wasn't doing this at all. That was just right last night.

Mm hmm. Hey, man, you're showing them boots one just made for walking. All right. No, no, man. So welcome to the club. How you been? Man, I've been chilling. I can't complain, man. I'm glad I finally made it here, man. So, welcome to the club. How you been? Man, I've been chilling. I can't complain, man. I'm glad I finally made it here, man. I've been looking at it on TV. Yeah, I'm glad you made it. I've been trying to get you for a minute, but I'm glad you were in the area and you

can stop in. It real playa in here. Yeah, it is. Yeah, it's a nice little line, nice little feel. They got the velvet ropes right here, keeping the riffraff out of VIP. Yeah, yeah. Okay. We got a real VIP.

You dig what I'm saying? When you hear three-time Grammy-winning artist, what does that mean to you? It means I was considered and acknowledged for the hard work that I put in, man, and the thoughts that I put into words that I put on to music and the people that helped me push it out there to the world that we were being considered, acknowledged, and celebrated

by our peers and constituents amongst the elite. And I appreciate that. But that was that year. You know what I'm saying? It's time to do it again. Evolution is imminent. Have you ever, you know, a lot of, we've heard, I've heard, you've heard,

a lot of people like that out on the Grammys, especially if they don't get nominated, they don't win the award when they think they should have won. Have you ever been in a situation like, damn, I know I should have won for this album, or I should have won for this song, and I didn't get the recognition that I deserve? Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I think that's like a rite of passage.

Okay. You know what I'm saying? That's a part of being in this business. You have to, not many people come out and everybody learns about them all at once at the same time. So, you know, you take your wins where you can get them and just, you know, take your lumps and bumps and move on. But I think that one moment for me was the King album. I was nominated for Best Rap Album for the King album, and I believe that award went to Ludacris.

But it stayed in that album. It stayed in there, okay. You know what I'm saying? What are some of your fondest memories? You've been in the game for two decades. A lot of ups, some downs. What are some of your fondest memory? You've been in the game for two decades. A lot of ups, some downs. What's some of your fondest memories? Man, there's a lot of them. I say, I would definitely rank the birthday bash back in

Atlanta when I was just getting out of jail and people weren't expecting me to show up. Right. So I showed up, surprised the city. That was an incredible moment. It's definitely the week we released ATL and King in the same week. What You Know About That premiered and the film ATL also premiered.

That was a pivotal moment. And the film ATL also premiered. That was a pivotal moment. I have to say, Swagger Like Us performance on the Grammy stage. Right. That was a phenomenal moment. Live Your Life performance. I believe that was the VMAs, if I'm not mistaken.

Right. That was a phenomenal moment. Performing with my son. Performing with my son. So I just recently, my last album that I dropped called The Libra. It features a song that features my son, Demine. It was also produced by my oldest son, Messiah. And we've had the pleasure of performing that song together. Just latest at the TV One Honors, the award show, we performed that song together. And that's kind of, you know, a huge, huge moment for me as well.

With it always, with it in the back of your mind, we see a situation where LeBron wants to play with his son, Bronny. We see Ken Griffey see Ken Griffey Sr. play with Junior. It doesn't happen very often that a father gets to do something in the same profession as his son side by side. Especially like the music or sports. Obviously a doctor, lawyer, we

see that a lot. You know, father, son, they in business together. But we don't see that in the music business. With that always at the back of your mind, you know what, if my boys want to do this thing and to be, have them side by side with me. Well, to be honest with you, man, first of all, I want to say that I never wanted any of my kids to ever pursue music business. Nah, man. I never did.

I never wanted any of my family to just because me being in it, I know how much treachery. There's some sharks out there. I know how much treachery. There's some sharks out there. I know how much slime it is out there, man. You know, and while I'm focusing on doing my thing, I can't really focus on everybody else and making sure to keep knives out all our backs at the same time. Correct. Yes. But it's always a blessing to see a child find his true passion. Right.

So if he finds his passion in film, in television, in music, if he or she finds their passion here, I want to support it. I want to celebrate it and embrace it as much as I can. I just know it's going to be some, it's going to be some theft. You feel me? It's going to be some theft out there. But have you prepared him for that?

Have you told him, like, look, I know you see what your dad has now, but there's a lot of water in mines that your dad had to navigate. Just understand, you're not going to get all the way to the other side unscathed. Yeah, you know, I think he's seeing it firsthand. Okay. Because to be honest with you, Demani I'm talking about, he,

his skill set is so elevated and he has such a, just an eloquent delivery and he's respected amongst lyricists but not considered, noticed,

or acknowledged amongst, you know, major labels as they're looking for artists. So he kind of peeping game and understanding now that it's a different road to travel for him than it was for me. You mentioned that everybody sees you now and what you've been able to accomplish in this business. But it didn't start off all peaches and cream. No.

You got dropped by a label. And then, so when the label dropped you, what went through your mind? You're like, damn, I'm just getting in the business. They dropped your boy already? Well, see, the thing is, I think a common misconception is that I got dropped, you know, due to a lackluster performance.

I requested to be released. Okay. After my first album came out, it didn't, of course it didn't achieve the magnitude of success that I had expected. Rob Markman What you envisioned. Rob Markman Right. And probably the label either. And this came at a time where L.A. Reid had sold LaFace and he accepted a position as the president of Arista Records and all of the roster that was on LaFace got kind of bound over to Arista.

And now instead of it being LA Reid in Atlanta with this boutique label kind of like a Motown in Detroit, now it's like we got to go all the way to New York to the Arista building to get stuff done. Different departments, heads, and so on and so forth. So the album came out and it was a cult classic. People loved it as soon as they heard it. And I just did a lot of self promotion, self marketing, driving from Tallahassee to Jacksonville to Memphis to Chattanooga to Greensboro, Augusta, Savannah, all of the neighboring cities and rural areas and just

hand-to-hand in my product. And I just kind of created a swell. You know, they got the attention, finally, of the people up in New York, that era stood. But when I got the call, myself and Jason Jeter, we kind of took the position of, man, we kind of been funding this movement ourself and we've been operating as an independent. So for us to go into a second cycle, we like to renegotiate and we want a JV 50-50. Right. And we want two million so we can do it ourselves.

Right. Or you could just let us go. And, you know, we went to lunch. L.A. said, you know what, I see what you're saying. I get it completely. Let me think about it. I'm going to go to lunch. I was like, oh, okay, yeah, cool.

That's a good sign. We're going to lunch. And then L.A. was like, no, no, no, I. That's a good sign. We're going to lunch. And LA was like, no, no, no. I'm going to go to lunch. You go to lunch. Right. I was like, all right, pizza it is. You know what I'm saying?

So what were you thinking? OK, I'm going to lunch. You're going to lunch. But we're not going to lunch together. I didn't have no thoughts at that point. I'm like, OK, cool. We got him. That's what I'm thinking.

We got him. I started spending the money in my head already. You feel what I'm like, okay, cool. We got him. That's what I'm thinking. We got him. I started spending the money in my head already. You feel what I'm saying? So we leave and come back. And we were greeted by the VP at the time, I believe, Mark Pitts. Okay. Mark Pitts said, all right, man. I think y'all going to be happy.

I was like, shit. Hell yeah. Uh-oh, uh-oh, uh-oh. Going in there and they say, all right. I'm going to give you what you want. I'm letting you go. Ah! Come on, dog. I said, bro, you didn't even have to call me back in here.

You could have called us on the phone or anything. Nah, but he let us go, and that was the most uncomfortable elevator ride back downstairs because Jason was just looking at me like, you know, I could just— He's like, why did you say, why did you give him that third option? You know, renegotiate the deal, give us two million, or you can just release us. Why you had to put the third option? Why not just go with the first two? I mean, because I felt like the stakes had to be raised. You know what I'm saying?

He had to understand, you know, just the magnitude of the moment. But to be honest with you, man, that was the greatest thing anybody in the business ever did for me. I was on fire. You know, I was making like $30,000 a show. I already had my first single for Trap Music, which was 24 in rotation on radio stations in Atlanta. And I mean, that was really the best thing that could have happened. I went and got 2.3 from Atlantic and they ended up doing the deal I wanted, giving me the equity that I asked for. Right.

You know, I just couldn't get it there in that build. But he did, man. He was a real solid cat. Still my brother, my mentor to this day. I still consider myself among LaFace University. And he let me go and allowed me the opportunity to be a free agent with a fair market value. And I went out there and made my own way. And that's, you know, the evolution began from there. As you're riding the elevator down, you're no longer with LaFace.

What do you say, man? Did you give yourself a timeline? Like, I got to get to another label. I got to start doing mixtapes. I mean, so what was your thought process as you're riding the elevator? You said it was a long, long ride down. A long ride down, yeah, yeah.

I mean, to be honest with you, we was already doing mixtapes. Okay. We had already had our Gangsta Grills with Drama. We had some mixtapes drop in New York. We were really asserting ourselves and becoming familiar with the market. And it wasn't ever about how long until we get another deal. Okay.

You knew that was going to happen. Yeah, it was about making this next decision the best decision for the next phase of our career. Okay. And we put ourselves in a position to catch the eyes of all the labels. But we felt that we were the best fit for Atlantic, you know, because they needed us as much as we needed them. Correct. And they embraced us, supported us, and, you know, gave us the platform and the resources

to be able to push through and break through the other side of mainstream success. Did your confidence waver? Because a lot of times we get released, we get fired, something traumatic, something bad happens. You're like, damn, am I as good as I thought I was? I mean, because if I was this good, this wouldn't have happened. Did your confidence ever waver?

Nah, man, because I remember it was something that I asked for. You know what I'm saying? I remember. But did you really ask for it? Like, if you don't give me a raise, I'm leaving. Please don't give me a raise. I don't want to leave. I mean, no, don't get me wrong. I was asking more so for the two million. Either way, though, like, you know, I mean, I'm standing in it.

We got to roll with it at that point. And we did. And we wasn't in, like, the worst position ever because of the work, the groundwork that had already been put in as to the reason why we were called up to New York to have the discussion. Right. Yeah. So when you start your own label, Grand Hustle, is that something that you always wanted to

have your own record label, to be on your own label, to have artists under you? I mean, I always wanted to provide an opportunity for other artists to share their story through their art. You know what I'm saying? And I always wanted to introduce new talent to our market. looking at cats like man, Russell Simmons, Puffy, J Prince,

Eazy-E, Shub, Luther Campbell, you know, and Tony Draper. We just grew up watching cats that came from nothing turn into

moguls by leading their peer group into an industry, which was the music being. Correct. So we just understood, like, you know what I'm saying, looking at Master P, looking at Baby and Schlem, like, okay, so the natural evolution of a successful rapper is to evolve into, you know, the owner and operator of your own label and introduce talent to the rest of the world when you open the door.

Did you enter into bad deals? We hear about these 360s. Can you explain to our listening audience what a 360 is and what are some of the bad deals that you see artists sign back then and even today? What's a 360 is or and what are some of the bad deals that you see artists sign back then and even today uh what's a 360 let's start with that uh a 360 means that you have accepted something from the label um that has given them the right to accept a percentage of everything you do of all of your they call them ancillaries, all of your ancillary businesses.

That means your tour money. That means... Records. If you got sponsorship dollars. Huh? Yeah, sponsorship. That ain't got nothing to do with them. That ain't no music.

Ancillary. Now, now... Hold on. If people actually sign that? Of course they do. I mean, now, hold on, if people actually find that? Of course they do. I mean, listen, to be honest with you,

most times, most artists are only looking for what they're getting right then. Okay. You know what I mean?

They feel like, they're not looking down the road, they're looking right now. Right here, what I can see. Because, you know, what we always have is ideas,

and what the industry has is access. Okay. So we usually exchange our ideas for their access. Uh-huh. And that's how we usually get ourselves. That's why we end up on the short end of the stick. Until we have created the leverage for ourselves where we can kind of,

you know, tip the scales in the other, in the other direction. Right. Yeah. So by doing businesses, doing business with big business, how did that help you become a better businessman?

Well, I mean, to be honest with you, um, well, you had all, you already had a business, but it was,

you know, I had been, you already have. Well, you already had a business, but it wasn't, you know. I had been. You already had. Well, it's quite different. But, nah, man, I had already been researching and reading and kind of familiarizing myself with the business. I read books like Hitman. Okay.

And All You Need to Know About the Music Business. Right. You know, I just already read books that kind of taught me what a good deal was, what a bad deal was, what publishing was, what mechanical rights was. I'd already, like, researched. And this is when I was, like, 9, 10, 11 years old. Okay. I was challenged by my uncle. He said, if this is what you want to do, you learn everything it is to know, and I'll make

sure you have the money and the resources to get you where you want to go. But by the time I read the books, he had been called a 10-year Senate, so I had all this information. And I still had it. With no bagging behind you. I had no bagging. So, you know, cut to when I'm 19 and I get my first record deal, I already know what I'm looking for.

Okay. I know what I'm supposed to be receiving and what not to give away. And at this point in my career, and whatnot to give away. And at this point in my career, I find it honorable to be able to tell new artists when they come up to me, you know, man, 21 Savage, Thug, you know, like a lot of them come up to me,

hey man, Jay give me a million, Tip. Jay give me a million, man. I don't care what you do. Jay give me a million and let me handle it from there. And I'm like, nah, I ain't gonna do that. I ain't gonna do it. Because if I give you a million man. I don't care what you do. Jay give me a million and let me handle it from there. And I'm like nah I ain't going to do that. I ain't going to do that. Because if I give you a million I got to take back something that's going to be worth way more. Right.

And we ain't going to be able to be friends no more. And you know. And I always tell him man don't worry about the money up front. Because it's going to come. Right. I mean I remember telling that to Slime. I remember telling that to 21. And even Savage, every time he see me now, he'll hit me and say, hey, he came.

Right. You know, and that put a smile on my face because I just know how impactful every generation has the opportunity to be even more than the last. You mentioned that you had been reading since you were 9, 10, 11 about what you wanted, the process of the music and what goes into it. And were the music companies surprised at a 19-year-old and your knowledge of the inner workings of how the music game went? Those that actually had an opportunity to engage with me, they were.

that actually had an opportunity to engage with me they were I mean I think that I think that we are expected to just jump on the first thing that comes to us you know I believe I even see now you know deals that are presented to certain artists and we just expected to just take, you know, the first thing that's offered to them. Art turned down three to five mil, Tip. I mean, it depends. I mean, you ain't had no money, Tip. Man, you know how that thing is, Tip. You eat them king bottom of them cornflakes.

And listen, these folks turned it down. They take it three and five thousand, you know what I'm saying? Three to five thousand? That's what I've seen deals. I've seen deals like that. Yeah. 3 to 5 thousand? That's what I've seen deals, I've seen deals like that. What? Yeah, they offer, they sign away their rights in perpetuity for like 5, 10, you know, just like 10 to shoot people, you know what I'm saying? And I'm not criticizing, because some of those deals go on to support some of the largest,

most successful, most iconic artists that this industry has known. But you just got to believe that if somebody offering you this money. They got to think you're worth more. It's obviously worth it. You know what I'm saying? Ain't nobody getting away with free money. Exactly. That's one thing people ain't getting away with, free money. Exactly.

They get away with a lot of free things. But money, you ever see somebody like, hey. I didn't even know free samples. The mixtape. In the mixtape. Uh-huh. In the mixtape game, you mentioned you got to go to Savannah. You got to go to Columbus. You got to go to Columbia, South Carolina.

You got to go to all these little small. So now you got to put miles on the car, and you got to pass it out because it's word of mouth. Yeah. What was that for you? Like, damn, is this thing going to—I sure hope this pay off. Man, I ain't never even think about it. I enjoyed the process. I enjoyed the journey.

I had fun. Like, you know, it was sort of like when you was in college going from game to game to game. Yeah, yeah, on that bus. You enjoyed the camaraderie of the teammates. You enjoyed, you know, going in another town and receiving the energy from the people who acted, whether it's positive or negative. Right. You know what I'm saying?

Right. Whether it's the love or the other side. Right. You know, it's all just, it's a part of the journey that we appreciate. And I never even thought about whether or not it would pay off. I was just like, man, I just want these people who hear what we got to say, I just want them to receive it properly. Right.

I want them to receive the art the way we intend. You know, it was never a forward thought about, I hope we get rich off this or something like that. Right, right. Money was never, we want the money because it take money to make money but man it we always just operated on principle man we really always just wanted the opportunity to let more and more people hear what we got to say because we knew once they hid they were gonna fuck with it dj drama made the big return in 2022 he's obviously one of the greatest djs how did you end up, how did you

meet DJ Drama and how did you this thing go so well between you two? I believe Jason introduced me to Drama. I don't recall exactly how they met. I know Drama spent a lot of time in Atlanta at the AU. He went to Clark.

Yeah, they don't know about the AU. Clark, Mo Brown. You feel me? Morris Brown making just an incredible return. They just got their accreditation back.

Yeah, yeah. They got a phenomenal, a phenomenal president down there working their move. But anyway, so he spent a lot of time at AU.

Right. And him and DJ Cannon and Sid, they were putting a crew together and they started like just DJing and doing mixtapes. He called me into freestyle on a mixtape. Rob Markman And that ever happened before? DJ Synths Yeah, here and there. Mostly in New York though. Mostly in New York. That was one of the first times it happened in Atlanta. Okay. You know.

So I came in and I freestyled. And then I said, King of the South in the freestyle. And he kind of raised his head like, whoa, what? What is that? What did you say? I said, you heard what I said. You heard what I said. And, you know, we just had a conversation about that.

And he gave me like, okay. You know, one of them and um i think that became the first gangster grills right i'm not mistaken yep i'm looking so the djs in 2022 like i said dj drama work with tyler the creator jack harlow little easy vert jeezy j cole when you and I'm looking at your your collab bro three stacks Kendrick Lamar, Mariah Carey, Jamie Foxx, Justin Timberlake Drake, Usher, Lady Gaga, Britney Spears 2 Chainz, Future, Nelly,

A$AP, Rock, Luda, Jeevy Lil Wayne, Rihanna, Mary J, damn dude I mean what it's been 21 years but when they call okay the phone rang. Oh, I want you on this. Right.

Weezer, I want you on this. So who was the first big guy or big person to call you and say, I need you on this feature? Man, probably Destiny Child. Probably Destiny Child for Soldier. That's probably one of the biggest features I remember getting a call for. Okay.

Okay, they called you and said, we want you on this feature. So what's going through your mind now? We on the way. We going. You mean now? You want me to do it now? You know, I was excited.

I was excited, man. Just especially because, man, we grew up listening to records. You know, I remember waiting to hear the Bone Thugs and Hummin' and Biggie record. Right. I remember hearing like a snippet. Just couldn't wait to hear the whole song. I remember hearing the Scarface Tupac record. I remember hearing California Love with Dre and Pac. I remember hearing Two of America, Mo' Wanted with Snoop and Pac.

I remember hearing the record with Big and Jay. And just so many collaborations. And I remember the energy. You know, like UGK and Jay-Z. UGK and OutKid. UGK and Jay-Z UGK and out care UGK and a sea murder I just remember waiting to hear this music because I appreciated these collaborations so much so when people call me to collaborate I just want to create that moment right for the listener like you know like that moment we created for me you want them to feel when they hear you on a feature

like you felt when you heard those other guys on a feature. Mm-hmm. Never scared. Bone crusher. That was really the one that... First one. That was the one that, like, okay. The first one.

Who is this? Who is this T.I.? Yeah, yeah. Well, actually, it was one before that. Probably nobody probably never heard. It was an R&B group called Coed. Okay. That was signed to, if I'm not mistaken, I think Bob Whitfield label.

Okay. You know what I'm saying? Patchwork. Yeah, Patchwork. I was working at Patchwork and they happened to have a label. They heard me coming up. It was like a little quiet rumbling. Right.

And they were like, man, let me get this guy real early while I can just slide him a quick 1,500 and get him on there. That was my first paid feature. Right. Go ahead. You call yourself the king of the South. Now, you know when you call yourself the king of anything. Now, listen.

Call earned the right to call. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But you already know what comes with that. Now, you give yourself a title. Pressure? Yeah. Mm-hmm. It's going to either bust pipes or make diamonds.

Right. It made diamonds. So, when you call yourself the king of the south, and you know there's some heavy hitters in the eight. Mm-hmm. Because, I mean, like during the 90s and that was that wave that started coming you yourself and the and the looters and the tis and the ghetto and not to get a boy uh goody mob yeah all you uh sleepy brown all you guys started coming it's like hold on and you say i'm the king of the y'all know what

this is right let's see this is the thing so like a lot of common misconception is taking place because we're all we're always me ludah jeezy we're always kind of grouped in the class before us right with like uh sleepy brown goody ma outcast and so on and so forth those are our predecessors right you see what i'm saying like they came before us and opened the door for us, but we were a whole other class. Me, Luda, Jeezy, Gucci. We were a whole other class. And when I came and said King of the South, it was never, you know. It wasn't by disrespect. It wasn't by disrespect, but it wasn't against. I spoke to just about everybody that I had access to that came from the class before me.

I spoke to the big boy, Andre 3K, all the good and mob. I spoke to Scarface, Bun B, who passed message to Pimp C. He was locked up at the time. 8 Ball, MJ. And I spoke to all of them right and asked amen how do you feel about me calling myself the king of the south just out of respect right and everybody told me man go ahead man do what you feel right because they knew i was cold right uh and they they kind of they kind of seen a lot of their self in me i remember sc Scarface saying something like, man, you can have it. I don't want to be king.

You know what I'm saying? And I remember 3K, Andre 3000, he was like, so what does it mean to be king, really? When you say king, like, what does it really mean to be king? And I remember Big Boy telling me, man, now you know you say you're going to be king. You can't be looking for no favors now. And I remember Big Boy telling me, man, now you know you say you're going to be king. You can't be looking for no favors now.

I'm like, yeah, but you okay with it, though, right? I don't care what they feel. Like, you straight, though. Right. But he said something real. He basically told me you're going to be putting the bullseye on your back. You're going to become a target. Right.

You say you're king. You know, the name of the game in chess is the key of the king. Right. And, you know, I came to find that to be exactly the case. But I just let everybody else know that it was okay to say they was king. Right. You know what I'm saying? But you were the king.

I didn't say I was the only king. Right. But you were the first one. Yeah, I was just the one to let you know that it's okay to call yourself that. I'm looking at Destiny's Child Soldier with Lil Wayne, Robin Thicke, Blurred Lines, and Pharrell Williams peaked at number one We Takin' Over I love that one with A'Quan Fat Joe

Rick Ross Bird and Wayne and Swagger Like Us featuring Kanye Hov and Lil Wayne what's your favorite feature? I can't say you ain't got one for you?

but nah yes I can the one feature with my son Demi and I that was produced by Messiah it's called Family Connect

off of the Libra album that's got to be my favorite I can't even count when you on a track that was produced by Messiah. It's called Family Connect off of the Libra album. That's got to be my favorite. I can't even count. When you on a track, you on a feature, and you got Hov, and you got Bird, or you got somebody, it's kind of like when we go to the Pro Bowl,

you go to the All-Star game. I got to let you know why I'm here. That's right. Now, I got to let y'all know why I'm on this feature now. So, hey, just so we know, I do this now. Yeah, it's called getting in the blender. Gotta get in the blender, man. So, your whole, you know, I mean, you hear like Weezy doesn't write anything down, Hov doesn't write anything down.

I mean, I don't know how you do it. Do you write things? I'm ambidextrous. You know what I'm saying? I've done it both ways. But it was healthy competition. Absolutely. Absolutely. Absolutely.

So I went through a period in my, it depends on what type of song we're trying to make. Right. You know, we make songs like You Don't Know Me, make songs like 24's, songs like Even Bring Them Out. You know what I'm saying? Certain songs are more about the vibe. Right. them out. Certain songs are more about the vibe and the flow, the cadence. And it's not as wordy. Songs that I actually wrote down was like, Live Your Life. Just other more

meticulous flows. I had to kind of take pen to paper. It just depends. Rob Markman I can't think of them off the top of my head. The one you did with Justin Timberlake. My Love. Is it My Love or Dead and Gone? Dead and Gone. Okay, yeah. Dead and Gone.

Is that a different vibe, Dead and Gone, as opposed to being on something with Kanye and Lil Wayne? It is. It's more reflective, you know. It's more reflective. And it pulls from past experiences. And it's definitely something that takes more time, more energy, and it just, it has to have more intention. Right.

You know? Most times when we put words to music, we're really kind of capturing a vibe. Okay. Like, this is telling a story. We're trying to kind of, I'm trying to deliver a message. Right.

You know what I mean? And it's a little bit different, so I take a different approach. Everybody, probably now, the two people that everybody wants to get on a feature, Hov and Weezy.

Right. You have both of them. How do you pick up the phone and say, Hov, I need you? I mean. Weezy, I need you. Because they're not calling everybody back. They're not picking up the phone for everybody. Yeah, I think, think bro it was a moment

in time it was it wasn't really more i need you then man let's get it to the people right now true enough i did need them you know however i feel like you know if i presented to something that's mutually advantageous for both for both of us. And it's something to celebrate each other and give the fans what they want to see. That's a different conversation than just having a one-way conversation about me just need you.

And relationships. You build great relationships because if you're down the road, they might need you. Hey, I need this. I try to be there whenever the people need me, man, that have been there for me. I try to reciprocate, you know, all levels of positive energy I can. Wake up with football every morning and listen to my new podcast,

NFL Daily with Greg Rosenthal. Five days a week, you'll get all the latest news, previews, recaps, and analysis delivered straight to your podcast feed by the time you get your coffee. No dumb hot takes here. Just smart hot takes. We'll talk every single game every single week, but I can't do it alone. So I'm bringing in the big guns from NFL media. That's Patrick Claiborne, Steve Weiss, Nick Shook, Jordan Rodrigue from The Athletic, and of course, Colleen Wolfe. This is their window right now. This is their Super Bowl window.

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Listen now on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Let me put this in sports context. If Michael Jordan, let's just say Michael Jordan because LeBron is still playing. Right. Every current player like, man, Mike, that's Mike. Yeah. Hov, do artists feel that way when they meet Hov? Like people feel like,

NBA players feel like when they meet Jordan? Mm. It's hard to say. I'm going to tell you something, Shannon. It's really difficult because although I was introduced

in the world of rap, although I was, you know, I value my presence and position in the world of rap, although I was, you know, I value my presence and position in the world of rap. I just feel like that's my introduction and I have so much more going on. Right. And I kind of divide my efforts, energy and attention. So, I don't know if I am looked at as a second coming of anything because of how much other stuff I do.

Rob Markman Right. The amount of attention that I pay to the actual music portion of my career, I don't know where they placed that because I don't know how many other people who do the same amount of other things that I do at this present moment in my career. At one time I would call it the Jay-Z of the South, you know, and that was a phrase that was coined by Pharrell. It's a hybrid. A hybrid kind of between, I guess, Jay, Pac, Puff, and like a Snoop. You know what I'm saying?

Sort of like, you know, I kind of hop in and out of. Yeah, and I take pages out of the book of legends, and I've been fortunate enough and just blessed enough to be able to have the relationship where I can sit and engage and soak up game with people like E-40, people like Too Short, people like IQ, people like Master P, people like J. Print, people like Russell Simmons, people like Puff, people like Jay Print, people like Russell Simmons, people like Puff, people like Jay. You know what I mean? I'm able to soak the game up so I could just take a page out of the book when necessary.

You know what I'm saying? And I don't have to- Rob Markman You can apply to anything that you currently do. Exactly. I don't have to just settle in one shadow. Rob Markman Right. Yeah.

You know what I mean? I can hop in and out as needed for my career. And I feel like that's what I've been blessed and able to do, fortunate enough. I'm looking at some of the producers you work with, Pharrell Williams, Kanye, Dr. Dre, Javie Faye, ATL's on, Swizz Beatz. And then you look at Dr. Dre. Right. All these guys with Dr. Dre, when it comes to producers, Dre Day, Dre is it. Right.

What are some of the similarities and what are some of the differences like when you go into the studio? Did you know what to expect to each individual guy when you go into a studio, say, with Jazzy Faye or Swears or Dre or any of those guys? What's your expectations? And then what are the expectations that they have for you? Well, I go into it with more of an appreciation than I do an expectation. You know what I your expectations? And then what are the expectations that they have for you? Well, I go into it with more of an appreciation

than I do an expectation. You know what I'm saying? I just appreciate the opportunity to be working amongst the elite. Right. And the list that you named, I mean, I value, respect, and appreciate all of, from the top to the bottom of that list. But I can't move forward talking about producers without acknowledging DJ Toon.

Rob Markman Right. Rob Markman Because that's, you know, that's the guy who was the very, very, very first professionally, you know, to come in and say, hey, I think he dope, take me under his wing, give me his beats, and kind of introduce me to the world. So that's my Dr. Dre. Rob Markman Right, okay. Rob Markman You know what I'm saying? So what we had, what we built, I think it kind of shaped and molded a sound and a genre

for generations. You know what I mean? However, you look at Pharrell. Pharrell was the first superstar A-list producer who would say, you know what? I like that guy. I'm going to work with him. You know what I'm saying? I'm going to give him access to my skill set, to my talents and my efforts.

He did that in my first album. So he reached out to you? Well, no. He said yes. Okay. you know what i'm saying uh but at the same time he said yes when he was getting a hundred some thousand dollars a track and i couldn't afford to pay that right so he had to kind of like in the sense of sports he had to take a pay cut yeah okay okay you know what i'm saying you had to take a haircut for the team to fit in the cap. Fit in the cap. Fit in the cap. So we could play together. Right, okay. You know what I'm saying? And he was gracious enough to do that. Time and time and time again.

Until we grew. A hundred thousand a track? He was. That's what he was getting. Maybe more. It's more now, huh? Yeah, of course. So how you, so, hold on.

He getting blank checks at that point. So, hold on. So you have an album. That man do 12 songs. That's 1.2. So, I mean, you better sell about three, four million copies. I mean, listen. Okay.

We getting ahead of ourselves. First of all, if you get 12 tracks from Pharrell for one album, it's usually going to be on his label. Okay. You did. Yes. However, if you get two or three, you know what I'm saying, you can expect to part ways without the consideration. Okay. Without a downward departure consideration, you can expect to part ways with about a half a million.

You know what I'm saying? And he, you know, he found ways. Exceptions are made for exceptional circumstances. Yes. And he found reason to make the exception. And he fit in my cap. Right. My first amp.

And we just developed a relationship. And we've been working together ever since. Right. And that's one of the dopest producers I've ever worked with. Jazz and Faye as well. Yes. I see Dr. Dre sold his catalog for $200 plus million. Damn.

Are you looking to get up off your catalog? No. You all up? Well, well, catalog for 200 plus million. Damn. Are you looking to get up off your catalog? No. I mean, well, well, well. Okay, okay. Listen. Everything have a price? I don't want to say that. No, I think that there are many ways to utilize the benefit and manipulate your catalog.

One of them is selling it outright. Right. And another is licensing. Right. You can license someone the use of your catalog for a period of time based on what it's earning right now. And the same way they do other companies. You know what I mean? Right. If I have an... You can sell your house or you can turn it into an Airbnb. You did. I mean, like for instance, right? So if I have a, let's say an intellectual property Club Shay Shay

you own the intellectual property and all of your episodes let's call it a hundred episodes that's under your ownership you can license it to ESPN for ten years based on what each of these episodes have earned you over a course with an 8x or a 10x

or a however many X. You can license it to Fox. You can license it to, you see what I'm saying? Yeah. And you can get the money like that. And there's a reversion period. So after that period, it revert back to you. And you get the money.

And I can let them have it again. Some more and some more and some more and some more. Or I can just say, nah, I'm going to hold on to it because I see what y'all doing. I'm going to do it myself now. You feel me? Yes. Yeah. So more than one way to skin a cat. Yeah.

You hear that, Hollywood? Yeah. We going about it all wrong. I ain't say that because everybody got to make their own decisions, you dig? You already said it. Do you know what I'm saying? I'm just saying, you know, but you got to know what's right for you because, you know what I'm saying?

They say, okay, we can do it like that or we'll just give you this $150 right now. It just depends. You dig? Hollywood, $150 million right now or we can do it like that or would you just 150 right now it just depends you did hollywood 150 million right now i'm gonna have to get up off it i ain't gonna lie sometimes it be about legacy it don't be about money you see yeah because i don't want them to do away with that you know what i mean see see see we don't want people just being able to just toss us around and put our face and our name and our logos up on anything that I input. You know what? I'm glad you said that because I was thinking about my cognac. I said, then someone asked me, would you sell it?

And I was thinking, if I sold it, what if it's because it's named my grandmother, LaPortia is Porta in French. I said, so what if they took that off there? And then I ain't got no legacy. All I got is this money that I made off of it. But what I really established, started this for is gone. So what does that work? Integrity to me is more valuable.

Can't put a price on that, huh? It can't. You know, I say the true measure of wealth is by the amount of things someone has that money can't buy. You did. Yes. Because some people are poor. All they have is money. Right. You did. You know, how much respect, how much family, how much love, you know what I mean?

How many priceless things do you have? Right. I think that's, you know, that's what I kind of try and incorporate into my decision. Man, I'm looking at Young Groce. he recently revealed that he spent five million on clothes and could not wear the same thing every day for two straight years. That's my brother. You ain't spending five million on clothes, are you?

Not no more. Oh, not no more. Oh, I done did it. Well, give me some of the wasteful things that you spent your money on. All kinds of stuff, man. I mean, jewelry. I mean, on my 25th birthday, this is something that i remember with great detail vividly on my 25th birthday i bought an aston martin vanquish and uh uh uh a mclaren slr bought them both had them dropped off same time same date then they both got out there paid for them cash right and then

they both got out having me a three-quarter of Right. And then they both got out there. Like having me at three quarters of a meal, though. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So when they got there, when they got there, I'm walking around. And when they like, you know, they loading them off the truck. Dropping them off, handing me the keys, sign for it. And I'm signing there. I'm like, I can't drive both these cars. At the same time.

At the same time. What the hell am I going to do? You know, then I told Tamika, my wife, well, she was my girlfriend at the time. I said, hey, here, drive one of us. She said, no, I want to ride with you. I said, what the hell did I just do? This was a damaged damn thing. This was a damaged damn thing.

You got two cars, but you can only drive one at a time. You know what I'm saying? But, you know, it was just all kinds of stuff. I overpaid for a house. We wanted to stay on the lake so bad. Then this was it. I was just proving a point. We wanted to stay on the lake so bad. Then this was it. I was just proving a point. It's a lake called Lake Spivey in Atlanta.

I know exactly where it is. Yeah. And it's the only sports lake, like, within, like, the metro area. Yeah. And if anybody know about Atlanta, it's landlocked. It is. Ain't no water. Good thing.

Can you imagine Atlanta with a beach? Man, I smell the salt water now. You know what I'm saying? Can you imagine when Freak Nick was at his height in the 90s, if they'd have had a beach? If Peachtree was on them water. Can you imagine if it was a... No, I don't want to imagine.

I don't want to imagine. But so, okay, so we wanted to stay on this lake so bad. It was her dream to stay on we wanted to stay on this lake so bad. Mm-hmm. It was her dream to stay on the water, stay on the lake. And we looking for houses. And she just, you know, she was rich before me. So, you know, when I got my paper, she showed me how to spend my money. Ah!

And we wanted, we found this house. It was almost finished. Right. And we had fell in love with it. I had already put in an offer. They had accepted our offer. We were going to get this house. It was almost finished. Right. And we had fell in love with it. I had already put in an offer. They had accepted our offer. We were going to get this house. And then, I don't know if a neighbor came out and saw us looking at it or some kind of way.

Got word back to the owner, the seller of the house. They wouldn't sell it to us. They just wouldn't sell it to us. I don't know if it was because I was a rapper, because I was young, because I was black, combination of all the three. Rob Markman, Jr.: All three of them. Rob Markman, Jr.: You know what I mean? But they wouldn't sell it to her. And I just saw, I don't know if it was pain or disappointment or just the anguish on her

face. I was like, man, we going to be on this late. Now I want to be. Now I'm taking this shit personally. Rob Markman, Jr.: Yeah, yeah. Rob Markman, Jr.: Man, we started knocking door to door, man. I started riding around finding houses. I'd stay there. We pulled up. Hey, y'all want to sell y'all a house?

And we found one. The one that I'm in now on the lake. It was a middle-aged Indian family. Well, Indian man who had a family. And he had just built the house maybe two, three years ago.

He said, you want this house? I was like, yeah. And I paid him about $500,000 over what it would worth. Right. You know what I'm saying? And that was one of the dumbest things that I've ever done. You pulled an Oprah. That's what Oprah did.

Oprah went up to Montecito. How wasn't he for sale? She knocked on the door. Them people left. Yeah, we did. We did that. We did that i just remember looking at him like so like like he looking at me like you uh you really gonna give me this much he gave me the number like i know he ain't gonna get it i know he ain't gonna give me this right man them folks stayed in the hotel for three months so we could buy this house you feel me

that's one of the dumbest things i've done but i still but we have so many memories in the house right raised the family children grew up it's the house that y'all see on family hustle yeah that's what i want to talk to you about what about it because you're a great family man i see you how you blended your family together and it's not easy and that's what i want to ask you about it's not easy having your life play out in front of everybody to see because everybody, oh, I wouldn't do that. I wouldn't talk to my kids. I wouldn't give this to my kids. I wouldn't do that.

I wouldn't do this. Yeah. Is it hard having your life play out for others to judge? to be emotionally attached to how they receive it. If you're going to have an emotional attachment to their opinion of what you're doing, if you gonna care about what they saying, yeah, it's gonna be hard. But if you just kinda take from it what you want from it,

and if it don't apply, let it fly. And you can, you know what I'm saying, kind of woosah yourself outside of the public opinion. Then I think, you know, because I tell you what, I have the greatest, most extensive family photo album. I have the greatest, most extensive family photo album. I can document and I can go back to when King was Eris' age. I can go back to when Major was my granddaughter's age. And I wouldn't have been able to do that if it wasn't for Family Hustle. It does come with some, you know, it's some adversity. It's some adversity to come with that. People get in your bed.

Yeah. You know, but. Are you a private man? I try to be, man, you know, but at the same time, I'm not going to. It's kind of hard to be a private man in a public life, huh? I'm not going to live my life in a bubble for some, because of some other person's, I guess, lack of awareness okay you can't get people with the least amount of information the most consideration oh okay wow you did you did

i know you know the absolute least of me so why would i give you the most consideration you know you're just talking about what you know what what you know is a minutia. I'm looking at you, the transition, ATL, Takers, Get Hard, Identity Thief, Ant-Man. How were you able to make the transition so seamlessly from being a rapper to going on the big screen? I don't know if you would exactly call it seamless. My first film was ATL.

I had the pleasure of acting in it because coming up amongst the ranks in Atlanta, it would bring me into the company of all of the legends in the city and I could not meet all the legends without coming into contact with Dallas Austin. Okay. And Dallas Austin was a huge, huge, huge producer, songwriter. I forgot about him. Yeah, man. Just an incredible talent and an incredible mogul. And he was getting into films and he had this one film and it was I was working on my first album he was telling me about his first film and you know I was always

like yo bro put me in it put me on and he was like I yeah man say less and he sent me to go read and I read they were like man you got to learn how to play the drone I'm like man I could play I could play like I could play the drone you know like now you got to learn how to. I'm like, man, I don't want to do that. I just didn't want to commit myself to it at the time. It wasn't there, you know. But I read, and I didn't get it, you know,

and that movie went on to be Drumline. Wow. So you was going to be Nick Cannon? Yeah, yeah. I was reading for Nick Cannon for it, yeah. So, you know, some nobody came and got that. I'm looking at you. You were going to move American Gangster.

But that opened the door for me to do ATL. Yeah. After I didn't get the role for Drumline, I went back to Dallas and said, man, next time, bro, just give me the role. I ain't going to read or nothing. Just give me the role. He was like, cool, you know, and he just gave me the role for ain't going to read or nothing just give me the role he was like cool you know he just gave me the role for for rashad atl and a lot of times nick kennedy and i you know

we be going back and forth you know and we get we get on each other i'll be like yeah man you took my role and he said yeah but i had to traded you for your role you know what i said i said you couldn't have did my role. Right. And we just, you know, we have that kind of a rapport. So I'm happy. You know, all things happen for a reason. What God got for you, can't no one take from you. You got two.

I'm going to get you out of here on two things. You did the American Gangster with Denzel. Bruh. That's, I mean, if you in a movie, I mean, you can't ask for a better than that to be in the movie with. I had no idea why the hell they called me for real. You know what I'm saying?

At first. Right. I was like, you sure you want me? You know, you had Denzel, Ridley Scott, Rizzo. You had Ruby Dee. You had Carmen. You had Truettel. You had just so much phenomenal

talent. Cuba Gooding Jr., you know what I'm saying? I'm like, me? You for real? And I remember the scene where I was, we was preparing, we had the

camera blocking or rehearsal for the scene that D-Dub and I were about to do together. Oh, D-Dub, that Dizell, yeah, that's what I call him. I call him D-W, D-W, that's what I call him. Nah, I'm just joking. But we had this rehearsal for this scene. As we rehearsing, I'm pacing back and forth, pacing back and forth, and

he say, what's up, nigga? You nervous? I'm like, man, I'm just making sure I don't mess it up, man. He say, hey, man, listen. Listen, y'all. They could have had anybody in here doing what you're doing right now. They could have had anybody in the world. They could have called anybody right here to do what you're doing right now, couldn't they?

I say, yeah, yeah. He said, they called you here for a reason, didn't they? I say, yeah. He said, you know what that reason is? And I start thinking. I say, yeah, I think, yeah, I do. He say, all right then, nigga, do that and you ain't got no reason to be nervous. I read that you had a famous actor get mad

at you during a table read. What happened? Say no to drugs, kids. Say no to drugs, man. Yeah, that was Morgan Freeman, man. Just to be honest, I

wasn't prepared. That was an opportunity I should have taken more seriously. And I completely accept accountability. And I've grown from that. But I will say he made me feel. This big? I mean, no. You seen Lean on Me?

Yeah. Remember on the roof? Yeah. Jump. Jump. Smoke crack say lean on me? Yeah. Remember on the roof? Yeah. Jump. Jump. Smoke crack, don't you? Jump.

Yeah. You know what I'm saying? But I feel like, man, that was something that I needed. Right. That was something that I needed on my journey because that, it was like a shock to the system. Right. You feel me? Right. It was a shock to the system right you feel me right it was a shock

to the system to let me know man I ain't never finna put myself in a position to have you know nobody be able to chastise me right that's your way right and all in all man I really do feel that you know I could have contributed to the movie and made it right better than it was, but I put myself in a position where that opportunity was taken from me and it's nobody's fault but my own. Rob Markman Tell us about the movie. T.J. Man, the movie is called Fear. Fear is a psychological thriller.

Dion Taylor wrote, myself, Terrence J., Joseph Sikora, King, Batch, Ruby, Annie, and others. And it's about some friends who meet up at a lodge during the height of the pandemic. And they don't realize that the lodge is haunted. It's haunted and it responds to your fears. You acknowledging fears, and when you acknowledge your fears and you feed into them, they bring those fears to life. So how each person responds to facing their fears is really, that's the nucleus of this film.

Wow. Wake up with football every morning and listen to my new podcast, NFL Daily with Greg Rosenthal. Five days a week, you'll get all the latest news, previews, recaps, and analysis delivered straight to your podcast feed by the time you get your coffee. No dumb hot takes here, just smart hot takes.

We'll talk every single game, every single week, but I can't do it alone, so I'm bringing in the big guns from NFL media. That's Patrick Claibon, Steve Weiss, Nick Shook, Jordan Rodrigue from The Athletic, and of course, Colleen Wolfe. This is their window right now. This is their Super Bowl window.

Why would they trade him away? Because he would be a pivotal part of them winning that Superbowl. I don't know why Colleen catch the podcast, the NFL daily with Greg Rosenthal every day, subscribe today and you'll immediately be smarter and funnier than your friends. And who doesn't want that?

Listen now on the I heart radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Best of luck with the film. Thank you. Congrats on all the success. Hey, man, January 27th. I need you to, you know what I mean?

I need you to show up and show out the way you do. You know what I'm saying? Just like you do for LeBron. That was a one-off. I need you to show up and show out. You know, now you got to lay, man. You got on Skip Ad, too. Now I seen you get on Skip Ad. You know, now you got to lay, man. You got on Skip Ad, too. Now I seen you get on Skip Ad.

You know what I'm saying? But I did. So I maintained my cool. And I prided myself. And then I let my emotions. Because I'm not going to say that wasn't me. Because that wasn't me. It was before the Kanye.

You had hated to the Kanye. Some people say that's not me. No, that was last night. That was me. That was you. That was just me out of character. But that was me. I mean, man, listen.

I think what's important to always understand for everybody, we all fall short of the glory. We do. Ain't none of us perfect. Nope. Humans are fallible. Our flesh is weak. If you're a Christian, what you understand here,

through repentance and acceptance, you're able to get a chance and a choice every day. Right. You know what I'm saying? And shouldn't nobody be pointing no fingers. And anybody who try to maintain a perfect image and try to make it seem like you don't make no mistake, that's when. It reminds you.

And as soon as you step outside the line, that's when it's going to be such a big deal. I already let you know, listen, man, I didn't mess up today. But if I do god gonna forgive me so why would i hold your word or your your criticism more than i hold to the lords and i think man that's what we got to all get into man we got to we can't keep on just holding each other under a microscope expecting us not to step outside the lines of perfection because that's something that anybody can have held against them at any time.

Right. Let me get you out of here on this. Comedy. I mean, outstanding rapper. You've been great in movies. What the hell made you say, you know what, I'm going to try this? Man, there's a – well, first of all, I didn't plan on it. Okay.

You know, I've always had an enormous amount of respect and admiration. For any of the arts. For the art form of comedy. And comedy, like going to see comedians, it's always been what me and my wife did. It was our thing. You know, we'll go out, we'll hit the comedy clubs. I've even had like big big open mic nights you know uh tripping on sundays tripping on tuesdays and um it wasn't until january 12 2022

i went to see k dub who was a partner of mine happens to be a comedian and he had an open mic night I went to support him it was somebody on stage having a horrible go of it right and we could agree that he was not doing well but we couldn't agree exactly why I felt like you know the guy you know he wasn't connecting with the audience and you know he just his confidence level was low and K-Dub was like nah he telling a boring ass story he ain't getting to the jokes And we were going back and forth like that at the bar. And he finally looked at me with a menacing scowl and said, well, I've been doing this 20 years. When you going to get on stage since you know so much?

I was like, man, come on, man. Stop playing. You tripping. And so I go back down and sit with my wife. He go up to the stage, get the mic from dude after he finished his sit. And when he get the mic from dude, he say, all right, come into the stage, whether he know it or not, Tim Harris. Rob Markman, Jr.: He put you on the spot like that?

T.J.: I'm talking about for real, bro. And so first I was just trying to shy it off and then- Rob Markman, Jr.: They going, yeah, but you crazy, man. You crazy. Next comedian, y'all come on. Quit playing. And they started clapping so loud. You know what I mean?

So I just had to think of something from the seat to the stage. And I went up there and really just talked about my day for real. Right. Talked about my day. Got my first laugh and I was hooked. You hooked. And I freestyled for like 35 minutes. And I get off stage and I see K-Dub.

He like, man, you probably need to come back. And I sit down. I knew I did something right because my wife said, how did you do that? She's never impressed with anything I do. And I started doing it every day ever since, man. And it's now 54 weeks in comedy for me now. Your family.

I mean, I think the thing is that you document that you're not perfect. Your family is not perfect. You have issues like a lot of people have with your kids. Sure. And, you know, I think King is the one that's on social media that have a little issues right now. They're my twin.

And you're like, bro, you know, I've done everything I possibly can. But something like my grandma used to say, boy, you don you know, I've done everything I possibly can. But something like my grandma used to say, boy, you don't know how bad somebody's head hurt until you bump your own.

You dig what I'm saying? And so you're like, he's going to have to find this out. I've told him the same road that he's doing. I've been down there.

I'm trying to tell him to keep him from going down there. I honestly ain't been down the road. He was down there because I've never had access to millions of dollars. Right, yeah, yeah, yeah.

But at the same time, I understand that he don't want to be like in talking to him because i have a he don't like being lecture to talk to her not really just that i have an excellent communication with all my kids i try to listen right as much as i speak okay to them right and To them. Right. And from his position here, man, I don't just want to be celebrity's kid. Like, I don't want to live off of y'all's success. I don't want to have to just be in y'all's shadows. And he really want to be kind of looked at.

As his own man? Not just as his own man, but he, he want to go through the different challenges and adversities. He want to be tested and be graded on his response to whatever his skill set is in that area. Okay. Not, oh,

well he did, he did bad cause he T.I. son. Or he did good because he's Tiny's son. You know what I'm saying? He just really want a clean slate. And I try to tell him you'll never have that, son. You'll never have that. Because you know your dad and your mama? You can't give it back.

No. You were born with it. You can't give it back. You may embrace it. We can't help who we're born to. Exactly. But I love him and i understand he has a strong sense of moral standards and integrity a fabric that most people in his generation don't really necessarily carry with them right so i appreciate that try to take the good with the bad and just let him know you go into prison if you keep it up i don't wish it on him you know what i'm. I don't wish it on him.

You know what I'm saying? I don't wish it on him. And I love him through it. Whatever he going through, I love him through it. And I can't say he a great kid enough, but the media don't talk enough about the good parts. The thing that he does. You know what I mean?

All they do is focus on the bad because they get them more clicks. Right. And, you know, I try to make them aware of that. And, you know, when we young them aware of that and you know when we young we kind of talk about things based on how we think they should be right rather than acknowledging them for how we know they are right and i just try and you know walk walking through they get better every day though and another thing i'd like to say i want to say uh about about about king right yes as much criticism as I receive about my son I would like

to shed light on the fact we all got bad-ass kids okay listen don't make it seem like I'm the only one on here who got bad ass kids we all go through you feel what I'm saying if you ain't got no bad ass kids you got one and you got lucky you hear me anybody with three or more, you got one that you don't know what the hell you going to do with. You feel me? Yeah. So I just wanted to take the time to say that. T.I., you walked in the shoes of what YSL is going through.

No, I ain't never been through that. Not close. But you spent some time. You know what you was doing. You didn't get that Rico. Uh-uh. You didn't get that Rico. you know, put on you. But if you could offer them some advice, because what is art and then what do you talk, bro,

you did that and now you singing about it? First of all, what I take, what I make a point not to do is talk about nobody case. Right. I don't talk about nobody case. Everybody got their own journey. Thugger happens to be somebody near and dear to my heart. He one of the ones that really I have a very, very, very close connection with. And I hate to say I'm going through it because I know how good his heart is. I've seen him just be so selfless and think about

nothing but the other person. You know what I mean? I've seen him give thousands to cats just to keep them out of trouble. I've seen him just throw his

earnings to the community in such a way. I just hate to see him going through it, and i don't know what to say just you know keep your chin up right keep your chest out just remember you got people out here to love you because that's really that's the truth that's the true intention make people think that they locked in a dark hole and you know they don't have no support you know like you cut off from the rest of the world make you think that they locked in a dog hole and, you know, they don't have no support. You know, like you cut off from the rest of the world, make you think like you're going through it by yourself. And I just want to make sure that you know that he ain't going through it by himself and he got people that still love him.

One thing, you ought to know this one for real. Walker says something very interesting. He says, like, once you become somebody, you can't continue to try to prove that you're still down from that neighborhood that you came with. Like shooting dice and playing cards and going to do all those things because you're not that same player, that same person that you were. You look at takeoff and it was a very unfortunate situation. They're rolling dice. I mean, obviously, you from Bankhead. First of all, I ain't seen him shoot no dice. I ain't seen him shoot no dice.

I don't know what happened. I wouldn't know. That's what would be reported. Yeah, I know it. I know it. But see, that's the thing. I didn't see it. I just try to focus on what's important. Man, we lost the life of an icon.

try to focus on what's important. Man, we lost the life of an icon. Right. You know, and even more than that, a brother, a son, you know what I mean? A nephew and a valued member of the community. And I

just want to celebrate his life, what he meant, his legacy. I don't want to get into no speculation, hopping in and out of opinions on what should have and shouldn't have. Man, that ain't got nothing. To me, that's not even important once we're talking about the loss of life. Correct.

You know what I mean? I just, man, I feel for his family. I feel for his partners. I feel for Offset. I feel for Quavo. I feel for P and Coach feel for Offset I feel for Quavo I feel for P and Coach and everybody involved man because

I know what it was like I didn't You lost your partner I lost my partner I had to come home and tell somebody's family that they wasn't going to make it back

you know what I mean Did that change you? Immensely immensely I feel like that was that was the beginning That was the epiphany was that the eye-opening was that the eye-opening moment for you like that was the beginning. That was the epiphany. Was that the eye-opening moment for you?

It was the third domino. You feel me? It was the third domino, man. And I think because that led to the paranoia, the suspicion, and the heavy heart that I had that caused me to make the decisions that led to my arrest, which led to the next part of my career and the next phase of decisions I would make. I know how traumatic and how emotionally taxing it could be. So I just feel for everybody going through it. and how emotionally taxing it could be.

So I just feel for everybody going through it, you know? And I just hope to be able to share whatever I can share to help in any way I can. But I just, the number one way I can help is not add on, you know what I mean? So I just ain't got nothing but some positive energy and some good thoughts to share to the world. Oh, boy. Love and respect.

Appreciate the 60 minutes. You feel what I'm saying? It flew by. It did. The tequila had it fly by. And I don't even look how much I had left. No, no. Shannon drunk all the hills. All my life. Shannon drunk paid the price. Want a slice. Got to roll a dice. That's why all my life I've been grinding all my life.

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