FULL SEND PODCAST - Cole Bennett x Nelk Boys | Ep. 57

Episode Date: September 16, 2022

Cole Bennett Tells Crazy Untold Stories of Kanye West, Justin Bieber, Juice WRLD and More Presented by Happy Dad Hard Seltzer. Find Happy Dad near you http://happydad.com/find (21+ only). Video is available on http://youtube.com/fullsendpodcast/videos. Follow Nelk Boys on Instagram http://instagram.com/nelkboys. Part of the Shots Podcast Network (shots.com). You can listen to the audio version of this podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts & anywhere you listen to podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We want out, we want out, we want out, we want out. All right, we got the man, Cole Bennett. We've been talking about doing this for a while, right? We've been going back and forth for like a few months, maybe like a year or something. But we wanted to have you on for a while because we just like, you know, being in the business world and entertainment and stuff, it's just like, it's cool to sit down with someone like you who's just like really built like such an incredible like business and just your whole production company with lyrical lemonade. it's fucking it's inspiring for us too so it's sick bet so much we're in your house right uh yes is my reactor yeah it's dope man so what's this go ahead go ahead where did it where did it all start like when were you first like man i want to make videos i want to be in this this world um well i grew up

loving hip hop music and then uh as i got into high school i saw in the cinema on film and i was like how do i you know blend these two passions together and uh i took my mom's camera that um do you hear me okay right here i took my mom's camera uh that she would like her photo camera that she would use like family photos and you know and it had a video setting on it and i had one of my friends make a song i was like i you make a song and i'll do a music video for it and we recorded the song in my garage on garage band and uh yeah i did a music video for it and i had so much fun and i kept doing more and then what age what age did you start though 16 what would you edited on the first video i movie i movie oh shit yeah no windows movie maker ever

no no strictly you been on the apple been on apple nice that's what year was that uh i started lyric culminated in 2013 um when i was 17 years old but i started shooting videos for fun uh a year two before that i believe it's 2012 and uh you're from chicago yeah yeah but this was in Plano, so about an hour outside of Chicago, and I've lived in Chicago for the past nine years. Yeah, I saw you came up on Chief Keith. Yeah. Yeah, favorite album, Finally Rich? Yeah, yeah, I love Finally Rich.

So did you like the drill rap, like the hard stuff? I loved it. I loved it. Yeah, and I actually shot drill videos for a while, too. So I love this. Yeah, yeah. Chicago rap scene's crazy. Yeah.

So what got you into it, though? Why were you like you wanted to do it? You just... I just loved it. I don't know. I looked at the Chicago music scene as a world of its own. And, you know, there's so much untouched talent and just undiscovered talent. And I was like, I want to be a part of this. And I want to just keep exploring it. And I don't know. It was just the passion. When did you know you were good at like it? When do you know you're good at making videos? Um, I still, you know, every day I'm like, am I? You know, I'm trying to get better. But I think the moment I noticed that it was something and things were working is when I started to, uh, show people it and they they were actually impressed. You know when you first show someone something like your friends, they'll be nice to you. And when I noticed like a real compliment on my work and like I noticed a true reaction,

that was when I was like, okay, this is this is something that I might be skilled at. How long were you doing it before you got that real compliment? I don't know, probably like three, four years. You know, I mean, I don't know, I'm sure I got compliments before that felt real. I don't know, that's a difficult question. Yeah. Who was like the first big name where you're like, holy fuck, this guy fucks with my shit? I remember Quavo reached out to me in 2016

and it was like when the Migos were on top of the world. I'd only been doing underground videos at that time. I was like, wow. Like he DM'd you or some shit? He'd DM me to work on something. And that was... You know what video he saw or like what? He saw this video I did.

We saw a famous Dex video and he saw this Alan Kingdom video who was this artist from the Midwest. I'll never forget when because I ended up shooting a video with Amigos a few months later it never came out but I remember I'm showing offset and takeoff

like this video I did it was so crazy the video that he was showing them it was like a video that no one really had saw so him showing them like show me that he was really tapped in with what I was doing which is cool is it true that you won't shoot videos

unless you post them on your channel yeah weren't Amigo some people that they wanted it on theirs and the label didn't want you to have it on your channel I never got that far in the process to know what that would would have been like because the video didn't end up coming out but i was going to fight for it to be on the channel regardless there's been a couple videos that didn't live on the channel like throughout the years i did a wiskly for video with

Gucci a few years ago that i like i had to do it for my childhood self you know yeah um but that didn't go on the channel so there's been a couple that that didn't but yeah over the last couple years nothing back in the day were you just like shooting music videos or were you fucking around with any other type of videos um well i i took this multimedia uh class in high school and i would do uh like like little skits and things that nature um like funny shit yeah like funny shit type shit yeah like youtube stuff but it was like for school projects and things so it like i never put it out and then um i did a documentary on the chicago hip-hop scene um when i was in college not for college purposes but just while it was in school that was like five years ago i did a short film like

six years ago so i've i've definitely explored in different different areas and i want to get into like more long-form narrative music videos is that thing that just like kind of pop for you like back in the day too right so i know i did that too like the pranks thing was like just what kind of worked for us but like we were shooting all sorts of shit like serious shit exactly that's cool you gotta tell people too because i watched something that you did on the famous decks like the whole story wasn't like gave you one night to do a whole video and i was like your test or some Yeah. The first video I did with Dex, he shot in. He was like, let's drop it the next day. And I remember being so excited to shoot this video because I just knew it was going to be a really special

moment. And he's like, let's put it out tomorrow. And I remember staying up all night and editing this video. And I actually had class the next morning and editing class, funny enough. And I missed it. And I got the video done. Yeah, there's definitely a lot of crazy turnaround time. So you went to like film school? I studied digital cinema at DePaul University for a semester and you dropped out yeah what was it like like in film school like what did you think of it um i went to like film school too really yeah that's really cool um i enjoyed after semester too actually yeah what did you think of it i enjoyed it i just thought that the way that things were being taught like the structure that that was built in the standard they were setting for like film and like how to

become a director i remember there was a screenwriting class i was in and and the professor had said something along lines if it takes you like nine to ten years become a director and you have to go through all these different. You got to start as like the audio guy. Yeah, yeah, yeah, he's a PA and I think there's a lot of truth for that too, but it wasn't, it didn't feel like my story. And I just didn't want to be in a class and be fed things that just I didn't really, you know, that didn't pertain to me. It seems so interesting to me because it's like, it's a thing that's about creativity, right? So it's like, how could you go to school to learn how to like technically be creative when it's, yeah. I understand like,

there's certain things you need to know how to like operate and do right but beyond that as far as like making something amazing that someone goes wow that's really unique and different and new yeah like i don't think you can learn that it's yeah yeah there are a lot of technicalities that you can learn those things on youtube and i would learn so much more and in such such a quicker amount of time on youtube and tutorials i'm you know it just that worked better for me and it's almost like and also when you want to learn something you're you're more quickly to learn it you know Then if you're like, I have to go and I have to do this in class and do this for class at their pace, like if you went onto the internet on YouTube specifically, it was like, I'm going to look at this type of editing, you know, this type of whatever style of shooting. You're wanting to learn it. You're more eager. So it's almost like you learn it more easily. I found too. When I was in film school, it's more like I wanted to like make like a business out of it too. And like all the kids there were like into like Japanese films and like stuff like that. And I was like, that's cool. But I never understood like it's like, yeah. how are you going to like kind of turn this into a thing you know like that's what i felt exactly

and i think with kind of what i wanted to do with lyric culminate and what's become it was it was taking a very uh different route you know it wasn't a conventional way of doing things so i knew that to to follow the story that i want to create it it couldn't be done through you know the narrative of film school and and and helping to talk there so when do you decided to just like pull the trigger and drop out. I threw a, I threw a shot. There's a lot different divisions of Lyric Lemonade and I threw a, so we do concerts, we have beverage, we have the blog, we have merchandise and so on and so forth. And so I've been throwing shows since 2013. And I threw a show with Lil Uzi Burt. It was his first time ever in Chicago.

And I've told this story before. But yeah, I booked him for $8,000 and I'd been shooting a few videos. So I paid $2,000. I booked Louie Burt in Chicago. And I announced the show about two months out. And by the time of the show, I think he was going to like $60,000, $7,000. I was going to say $2K? I booked that. He was $8,000, but yeah, it was a $2,000. That's crazy. How did you get him for so cheap, though? Because he was so small this time. This is early 2016. But two months, so I booked him two months out. And by the time of the show, he was going for like somewhere between $60,000 and $80,000 a show. But, you know, he had 2016? Yeah, it's 2016. I was like his first album, right? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's right after

first out of yeah um but uh did the show and it it sold out and it was such a crazy moment and i remember like being at school and like i'm in class and i'm hearing kids talking about like the show and they'd have no idea that like i'm the one throwing the show but i'm hearing people talk about it and it was such it was such a moment and when that happened i was like i don't know if if school is you know what i want to do right now and uh i remember i made a list of uh goals that that i want to accomplish and if I could accomplish them in like a six to 10 month period, then I wouldn't go back to school. And if I couldn't accomplish it, then I would. And I remember I blew them out of the water and I never looked back. So what do you focus on after that? Because that's like the promotional

side, right? So where you like, all right, I got to start bringing artists or then were you still doing the production, like editing, all that? Yeah, everything. What came after Uzi? Well, actually after Uzi I was like, wow, shows can really be, you know, my bread and butter. And I have a lot of fun with it. It's a big part of Lyrical Lemonade. I threw the Lyrical Lemonade Summer Bash, which was an indoor show that now is the festival, which is the Summer Smash.

But the first year I did it was right after the Uzi show. And I remember I lost $9,000. And I was about to go like in debt. Like I didn't have any money. And I was about to work construction. And it was like a wake up call for me. I was like, okay, it's not always going to be like. this crazy moment you got to really think about things and you have to approach it in a certain

way but um yeah i don't know there's so many wait what do you mean you're almost about to wear construction like i was like i had it all set up like i was about to work construction job because i had no way to like make this money back and this is after the this is after the uzi shows after i dropped out and did you lose the 9k in blackjack or like no i love the it was a terrible jokes wait i didn't get it i lost that bro i'm fucking embarrassed i zoned out for second okay that hurt like wait how did how did you lose the night hey oh no we're cutting that that's fine i got yo that fuck wait that was that bad please yeah that was terrible i've lost 9k before like that okay but like that was just poor timing anyways just shut up for a second i got a good

wait wait but how did you lose the 9000 uh on the show i got the show didn't do who is the artist please i don't want i don't want to say the artist I got a question for you. You could go back and dig it up. Fuck Steining right now. Real important. Is that really that bad? Yeah, it was terrible.

Shut up. Yo, that was sad. We're cutting that. Really, really, though. You had, you, you, I did ask, dude, I don't usually, I'm not that bad with the joke. It's fine. That was like a zero out of 10. Yeah, it was horrible.

You have like, obviously, you're obviously super fucking creative, obviously a very smart guy. How did you have the foresight when you, you know, you found someone like Uzi, you got him before he blew up, essentially? And also, like, didn't you have one of, uh, juice world's, like, biggest. things wasn't lucid lucid dreams and like that was like a big moment i think for him like how did you have foresight on like what's popping like what's going to blow you know what people are going to like i mean everything i do is really just like what me and my friends are into and uh you know uzi i just was really into uzi and i remember what before i did do uzi show i was like i was about to do uzi or cardi or cardi so i ended up doing a cardi show later on but um i was just

really into uzi's music and i was like this is the artist that i want to book and it wasn't like I was trying to like craft this you know like I'm catching this artist earlier anything I just was into him and the time I happened to book him I think that was just like luck working on my and I don't want to take too much credit for like seeing it's like this this this thing that was going to blow up over the course two months just happened that way but in terms of like music videos and artists that I've gotten the pleasure to work with someone like juice you mentioned that came from you know a phone call baby called me And I have this artist that I want you to manage.

And I said, manage. I don't manage artists. I think that this could be the RIS you manage. And he sent me Juicy Music before anyone had known who Juice's was. And the first song he sent me was, all girls are the same and lucid dreams. What did you think when you heard that song? I remember exactly where I was. I was in New York.

I was in my hotel room. And I was like, this is incredible. And I just calling back, I was like, you know, I'm not really interested in managing anyone, but I would love to do his first music video. to give you a gauge of like his engagement where he's that he probably like 2,000 followers on across socials. Holy shit.

Yeah. So when I got back to Chicago, he came over because he's from Chicago too and he just hung out, we took some shroom to listen to some music and then the rest is history. I think we shot all over the same two weeks later and then maybe lucid dreams a month or two after that. How do you decide like when you hear an artist and you hear the music and then they come to you like, hey, I want to make a video, how do you, how do you make it come to fruition? Like, where do you start with, like, how it's going to look, how you're going to shoot at the setting?

Where does that whole process start? Well, when I listen to a song, sometimes it'll give me an immediate feeling, sometimes not. Sometimes I'll sit with it more and kind of just like relish on it and come up with different ideas. Usually I'll get a song, or a batch of songs, rather, and I'll pick the one that I like the most. Yeah. And then when I'm writing a treatment, I'll just have the song on loop and I'll just think and I'll think and I'll come up with an idea. It's kind of like a base structure and then I'll build off that. Like you're thinking about how it makes you feel or what?

I'm thinking about how it makes you something about how it might make other people feel. I'm thinking about, you know, is there a theme to the song that I should follow? Should I completely break the theme and do something else? I'm thinking about color palettes. It's like it really is different every time. But sometimes I start typing and I let it go from there. A lot of times I'll write something out and it's not the right idea, you know, and then I'll backspace delete or I'll send it to the artist and maybe they'll give me some

recommendations and I'll rework it. And yeah, it's just, I don't know how to explain it. Do they give you like a creative direction or they kind of give that you the creative lead? I've been thankful enough to work with artists that really trust my vision and just let me do what I want to do. That's very important for me, you know, because that's like, that's part of my art and how I create is to be my creative vision. So there's too much input coming from an artist or something. I'd rather just not work on that video and maybe we find another one that they're less than negative to. So you like creative control?

yeah i do yeah that's dope yeah thanks when you heard like all all girls were the same and lucid dreams did did you know that like juice world would be as big as he would would be um you never know you know you have a feeling and i definitely had a feeling um and uh i think once i met him and i really got to understand his heart and how his mind works and like how how passionate he was then i knew you know because he was one of those people that like was truly passionate you know he really loved music that's all he cared about and you know people often say that like you know you don't care about the rest this and that and like he really didn't care like when when juice blew up and you have to mind this happened in an eight month period um he's one of the quickest rising artists of you know this

generation and uh it's all stardom so quickly and he always he just he he just he he's just love music his music just yeah so fucking good though like yeah especially that song like all girls are the same like you could turn that on at any time too and it's just like such a fire song how much do you think the music video does for like the plays and the streams um I think it depends I think with the music video you should always be trying to create a moment that's why typically when I do a music video I like to do songs that aren't yet relief um because I like when people hear the song for the first time they're pairing it with a music video so like you know they have that that visual experience as well um but i think if you can create a moment with

the music video i think it it can elevate a song and catapult it you know look at like the first video that comes to mind this might be a bad example but the wop video you know with uh cardy b and meganostallion i mean that's all anyone can talk about and then obviously it drives interest to the song and it created such a moment that yeah i think definitely uh impact streams and things that nature And it's just, it's cool to see your favorite artist or, you know, match a visual to your favorite song. And just, it's such an experience. I think, uh, beyond just the streams and stuff, I think that experiential moment is like really, really important. So going back to what you were saying, do artists ever, because you want to have that creative lead? Are there ever artists that are like,

that want to sit down with you and like go back and forth though and be like, yo, cool, this is what I'm thinking. And are you like, strictly like, bro, I got this? Um, it's, there's been that for sure. And I can appreciate that. Uh, an artist that really wants to like sit down and be involved um i think it just depends on the artist and maybe what song it is and knowing like what their attachment is to it and uh yeah so there's sometimes how did you like assert that like dominance with like rappers and shit like i get now like everyone's like they probably just trust you they're like do whatever you want but like back then how did you like deal with rappers like kind of being divas and like how did you just

trust me bro yeah well i had to eat shit for a long time you know what i mean part of being within the rap space and just being in the creative space in general anyone knows it's like it's really hard and a lot of people walk all over you so i think it was just going through that phase you know playing the part and then getting to a stage where it's like i'm going to stand my ground and like just not do something with someone that doesn't you know see my visioner can't appreciate how i'm operating things it's it's just what it was i think you get to a point where like every video like that i do is going to go on my channel if it doesn't it doesn't matter who the artist is what the song is songism is not going to do it. And, you know, working with someone that might be a little difficult or whatever, I'm just not interested. And once I kind of really honed in on that self-integrity, I think that everything changed from there. But I had to go through the stages of like, you know. What taught you that, though? Like, what taught you that you had to hold your ground on that?

Like, did someone ever show you that? Did someone lead the way there? I can't think of a specific experience. I think it was just knowing that we could. kind of all control our own narrative. And like if we want to, you know, take control of our life and getting that driver's seat and build an empire, then it's, we got to do it, you know? And the only way you can do that is you put your foot down and you know the direction in which you want to go. Is there ever any like earlier artists that like just didn't see the vision that you had and you were just

like, you know what? Absolutely. Oh, of course. That's all part of it. Yeah. Don't want to talk about it. Um, we can talk about it. I mean, I can't think of a specific instance. But, uh, I mean, there's that, that's, that's, that's just part of, did you ever not get paid? And we're like, no, I'm not paying you. I mean, most, uh, most of the videos I was doing when I was coming up was like, I would do a lot of free work to begin with. But I've never had someone like, agree to pay me and then I do the video and then they, they don't pay me.

Right, right. Yeah. How does that work, like, with the label? They just come to you with a budget and then you're just like, um, well, typically I'll get a song and if, if I'm interested in it. Usually that, that communication is with the artist. Okay. I've built a lot of beautiful relationships with artists,

and that's how I like to work with people, is directly me and them. And I'll start working on ideas, and then I'll let my team handle that with the label. I try not to get involved too much in the budgets or think about that too much. I try to just focus on the creative. And if it's possible, it's possible,

and sometimes it isn't, and then you just keep it moving. Yeah, yeah. Who came up with Lyrical Lemonade? What, like the name? The name, yeah, the name itself. So I was in high school, 17 years old. I was in study hall. And I knew that I wanted to create a rap blog.

I was bouncing all these ideas and names in my head. I was like, I don't know. Go home that night. I remember exactly where I was in the kitchen. I was sitting down on the floor. My mom's sitting up by the countertop of the cabinet and saying all these names. I'm telling her, I was like, I need help kind of

bounce into my ideas for what I want to name this blog. And I was like, I know I want to be something related to music. And then I wanted to be like a fruit or a vegetable. Because I was everything about like the marketing and the logo and everything. Like I want to be fun and colorful. And, uh, we're bouncing ideas. And she said lyrical lemonade and, uh, I was like, I don't know about that. It didn't stick at first.

And then I was like, wait, I think that's, that's perfect. It's dope. Yeah. So my mom's like my best friend. She's an incredible, incredible woman. And, uh, yeah. How many times did you like, maybe no one was there and you got, you were like in the studio and you're like, I'm getting in the booths to try. and see if i can rap no buddy that was that was just you no that's the shit you would do so

sure well if you're it's got to be in the back of your head at one point like no i mean i like freestyle with my friends and stuff like that like just like playful but so you never got in the booths throw on auto tune no okay that is just me no i people do that i just i just never got into it definitely you bro yeah strike two so funny really no i'm just kidding what uh what's the relationship like with some of these guys like who are you closest with some of the closest like rappers I'd say, I'd say, I mean, I have a lot of really, really close friends within the music space, but, like, who do I keep closest in contact with, like, on a regular basis every day, talk to? Probably Dirk. Dirk is, like, one of my closer friends within the music business side of thing. And we just, we have so many ideas beyond music. Like, we're starting this, this property management company together. We're looking at land. And, you know, we're just trying to think of ways that we can, you know, take care of our family for the years to come.

Yeah. He came on the show. Yeah, yeah, I saw that. What other things, what other projects do you work on outside of music? There's a lot of things that I'm kind of stepping into and exploring that excite me. We're working on, oh wow, there's so many things. I don't know. I'm getting into land and stuff, so we're working on different, experiences and retreat land and stuff like that we just got uh land in josh retreats of like um all sorts of things for like uh you know uh recovering addicts and um for musicians to go

and record music and all sorts of things like that um i have an idea i'm conceptualizing a theme park so i've kind of been uh just diving deeper into what that looks like is like a 10 year plan I want to get in movies, so I'm working on more like long-form narrative stuff. And it's just a world of things that I want to step into. But it's just, you know, day-by-day, stuff by step by stuff. What do you spend most of your time doing during the day, like writing ideas, writing concepts? I write a lot of ideas, but they kind of just come to you as they come, and some are more exciting than others, and you, you know, expand on those more when they come.

But I write a lot. And I just, I don't know. Yeah, I write a lot. Is Lucid Dreams the most streamed? It's the most viewed lyrical I made video. I think it's like... Almost at a billion. I think it's at $830 million.

Yeah. Makes sense. Yeah. But how crazy is that when you see that shit? Insane. What's it at? 800. Wow.

839 or something. Yeah. Yeah, that's crazy. It's... I still don't think I've fully processed, you know, the whole... The juice thing, you know, him becoming that type of superstar and those type of numbers and everything and how it all... It still hasn't hit.

So yeah, I see that and I'm just really cool. What other ones did you produce Bandit? I did like, I did like, I don't know, right on 10 videos in total with you. I did a lot of videos. I did the one with him and Eminem. Oh, my. Yeah. That was after, yeah, that was after it passed.

Tell us that story of how, like. The Godzilla video came about. That was actually really crazy. I get a call that, uh, I get a call that, uh, that Eminem wants me to do this music video. And on there, forget, I got the call at nighttime, and then I was, I'm going to write it as soon as I wake up. I went to bed.

I woke up at 7 a.m. and I had turned in the treatment by 10 a.m. So you had three hours? I didn't have three. I just wrote it. I just happened to write in three hours. But it was like an essay, man. It was like six to eight pages.

There's no photos. I just wrote it all out. And I sent it over and hopped on the phone with him. and he loved everything about it. And I remember the one thing, because I'd run the treatment that Mike Tyson knocks him out, but I was like, you know, if we can't get Mike Tyson, then maybe we get, like, I don't know, like Paul Kogan.

I was just, like, throwing other names in there. He's like, no, we got to get Mike Tyson. So I was like, okay. Now I've got to figure out how to get Mike Tyson. But we figured it out. And I'll never forget when I got to set that day. Book Club on Monday. Jim on Tuesday.

date night on Wednesday. Out on the town on Thursday. Quiet night in on Friday. It's good to have a routine. And it's good for your eyes too. Because with regular comprehensive eye exams at Specsavers, you'll know just how healthy they are. Visit Spexsavers.cavers.cai to book your next eye exam.

Eye exams provided by independent optometrists. It was like, it was just the most unreal feeling, you know. M&M got there. He was first on set. He was there for 14 hours, two days in a row. Second day at the beginning of the day, I got word that Dr. J was going to be there if I wanted to put him in the video. So I had to work a way to find a way to get Dr. Dre in there. We already had a scene of Eminem getting knocked out by Mike Tyson. And then going to the hospital. So I was like, Dr. Dre as the doctor worked out perfectly. But being in that room, giving direction to M&M, Dr. Dre, and Mike Tyson was such a surreal feeling. Were you nervous, like directing them? Does it ever get done?

nervous like directing those type of superstars that's the one thing it doesn't i just when you're in that moment you're just i'm so in mode that it feels good it's empowering it's exciting like i'm excited to lead and i'm never nervous in those moments i think maybe sometimes leading up to it or even sometimes after i'm like what this happened what's your never in the moment what's your role i'm like on set like on set like what do you do like when you like walk on set when i walk on set it's it's there's a lot of moving parts to bigger production, something like that. And to sum it up, it's really just to get the vision across with the idea I had. It's a lot of, you know, communication, a lot different people. And it's just leading, you know, I think it's the best way to put it's just

leading. How did that, like, role evolve over time from like back in the day to like now, like what your roles were on set? Well, when I started, I mean, up until just a few years, years ago, I, it was just me and a camera, you know, and then maybe like my friend holding a light, I got out of frame, wiggling it. And, uh, so, and, and now it's gotten to a point where, you know, just two days ago, we were on a crazy set and there's so many moving parts. And it was just, I don't know. I think it just, it evolved and I think I just became more of a storyteller. I think it came from just me like being killed with the camera into me becoming a storyteller and a leader and really finding a way to express my vision. That would be the best

way I'd put it. Was there any people like you coming up in the game in the business that you really looked towards as like inspirations to get to where you are, where you wanted to be or how you want it to be? I mean, I look at people like iconic people within the space. You know, there's Hype Williams and all these people, but that came up in the MTV space in the 90s and all that. but uh and then there's people from chicago like a day production and de gains who were like shooting those drill videos and they were like the first one that kind of did what what what i was doing as well and uh that's that's the closest the closest there is to what i was doing but have you done any like the the drill like in Atlanta or anything like that uh like low production and shit

Chicago videos. Yeah, I used to like, like, I used to go around shoot like Chicago Joe videos. Those ones are the best, though. You really shot like something. You love that shit. Right. Yeah. Like all the boys, like the day ones in the hood, just like at the camera. I remember one time I was, that's your dream to be there. I was shooting this video on. God, dude, hold on. Look this. Why is that so funny? No, I'm sorry. What? You're doing great. You're doing great. I don't feel that way. I got to be honest. You're doing amazing. Really? When the guys from over there talking shit, then it's like, I'm in my dude you got this dude i believe in you i got you fuck man you're gonna have to give this guy a whole

therapy session after that what do you what do you think you had the most fun doing to this point the most fun that i've ever had uh i don't know i think just getting out there and going i love being on set it's just such an exhilarating feeling i don't know how to say it's uh have you ever had to shred someone on set like put them in their place um you ever had like a stony saying dumb ass jokes no i pretty much everything has been pretty cool i I remember when I worked with Kanye on, well, I did the mixed personalities video for Y&W Melly and Kanye's on the song. And I remember we had, we had, me and Kanye were in communication up until the video because

he was very involved in the process. And he calls me while we're on set. We had just laid out 8,000 square feet of turf because like turf was like a big part of the video. He's like, yo, like I'm not going to be able to make it today. He was like, shoot it in like three days, like my part in like three days. in calabasas he's like could you bring everything in calabasas like we just like spent like a whole day rigging all these lights and laying out this turf and i was like yeah we can make it happen now and uh

so we bring all the turf to calabasas and we where was the shoot at currently um it was it was in um it was right by the airport so we saw the melody scenes and he had to go to florida he had to uh turn himself in for something that unrelated to what he's in there for now and uh he had to like i don't know serve a month or something. And so I go, I shoot the Kanye scenes three days later and we lay out all this turf and everything. We don't even shoot any of the scenes on the turf. He didn't want to shoot any scenes on the turf. He only wanted to shoot. Initially, I shot him on this white backdrop. And he was like, oh, is that good enough? And I was like, I need at least one more shot. And I was like, there's this plexiglass scene that we were shooting through. And I'd rigged up

this turf above him. He shot that as well. Everything was cool. And then the night before the video came out keep in mind melly's locked up at the time so like he's he's trusting that i'm following the initial vision that that i brought to him what you know we had talked about there's a strong color palette within the video blue and green and and kind of uh hits me the night is supposed to drop it the night before and he's like yo let's make the video black and white oh and i was like man it's it's all edited and shit already yeah it's finished but what do you say to conier i told him no i said i said uh did you guys get a texting more yeah i wish i still I had to text.

I want to hear that. I don't hear that. I don't know. So you just said no? No, I just told, I didn't, I didn't say it just like that. I said, you know, we have to kind of think about Melly here. Like, you know, this is his song at the end of the day. This is his vision.

He's also not here to have an input on it. So, like, I really think we should follow the initial vision that we all had. And he's like, let's, you know, he's like, that doesn't match my color palette. Like, but he was on set the whole time. And this is what he told me the night before I dropped. But it's what you expect that was something like kind of. I ought to work with someone like Kanye and I actually really appreciated it because like I said, that self-integrity element of like knowing what he liked and what's true to, you know, his,

his artistry. But yeah, that was. So is he cool with it in the end? Yeah. You can respect you at the end of the day for that. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. Yeah. I think they do. I think I think I think we'll stand up to that dude, bro. When it comes to creative. What do you say? If that, if you go watch that video, if you watch mixed personality and then imagine it in black and white it's just it's not right just didn't feel right were you like trying to explain it to him and he just was like fading it yeah he got who's i don't know he was upset you know he uh he said my color palette is very important to me what about after it came out did he say like you know what that turned out oh i love it um so funny color palette war yeah it was a

color palette war like uh no fashion i i forgot exactly how he he agreed to it and the video came out. I mean, he saw what the video looked like. Did he ever say afterwards? Like, yo, it was dope, though? That's what I just asked. He liked the video. Like, I remember him and I would send him cuts leading up to it. He posted all the swipe up some black and white. He put a filter over and he's like, yeah, this

bang like this though. Yeah. No, but were you like laughing at all because you're going to texting more with Kanye West? Or were you just like, bro, like, I was, I was upset. Okay. Because you know, that the color palette that we had for the video was very important to me. And I think he was upset as well.

wasn't like aggressive it was just it was a conversation it was a debate you know damn yeah that's crazy yeah have you ever any other other situations like that or just like he's that might have been pinnacle of it definitely i'm trying to think what it would be um but there's for sure been situations like that um can't think it's like the most easygoing guy you've ever worked with uh or just someone where you're like yo i love working with this guy time. Really, I enjoy working with just about everyone. I really, I really love to work with juice. I love working with ski math. Eminem is always a wonderful person to work with. But M is cool because it's like he's done it all. He's, you know, he's one of the best and the greatest

of all time. And to see him be on set and be passionate, truly passionate and like give it is all, was really cool because i've worked with people who are uh you know superstars who haven't even scratched the surface that he walks on and uh aren't that way you know so to see someone who's as successful as he is to be as driven as he is still that's cool so based on how far you've gone right to someone's like a kid up coming he's like i want to be like this guy one of the music videos want to be a director like to the level that you're at right what would you say is the most important thing for that person to focus on as far as like to to get there obviously there's a total there's a giant road in between right but like to that kid starting out

like I guess to yourself starting out what would you tell that young kid that's really important to focus on or things to think about or you know what I'm saying I'd say make sure you love it that's like first and foremost I think a lot of people see things and think that they they would be into it because they see the money yeah yeah you know all the things around it or maybe it looks cool once you reach point success. But first of all, make sure you love it, make sure something you're passionate about. And then I think it's important to dream big, but I also think it's important to be realistic. You know, I never envisioned any of this. Like I really couldn't have imagined this in my most wildest dreams. And I think being realistic and step by step with my

goals was a really important part of the process. And I would say it that way. I'd say, you know, take it day by day and make sure you're passionate and one thing will lead to the next and just have to trust the process a big moment recently was the few months ago was the Bieber video how did how did that come about um the Bieber video came about uh we talked about doing a video like like over the past couple years like there was always talks of it and then we really locked in on a Halloween last year uh it's a funny story actually uh I was uh I was, me and Zach were the guys from Wayne's World. And I, I didn't watch the movie recently.

I'd seen it when I was younger, but I, fire movie. Great movie, but I didn't watch the reason. I wasn't, I wasn't fresh on it, you know? And I walked in and Justin walks up to me and he's like saying lines to me from the movie. And like, I don't really know what he's talking about. Like I understand what's going on, but like I have nothing to give back to him. You know what I mean?

And so I was keeping moving and then I go to the bathroom and, uh, he was in the bathroom and i see him in the bathroom and then he's like you know who i am he was uh he was uh he was a it was a ryan reynolds movie uh forget the movie the dude's wearing like a dress shirt with the tie i don't know a new movie right yeah it was a newer one anyway uh and he's like you have you seen this movie and i had i had watched that movie recently but once again like wasn't too fresh on it like didn't he's starting to say the lines and like same type of thing like i just don't have anything for him like back in that conversation So, um, so that we keep going.

And then I remember I was sitting down and, uh, he just comes and sits down next to me. And we just, uh, there's just one shot glass. We're just taking shots to see what, open the backwood and hanging out and talking about life for like an hour and like really just had a great, uh, exchange. It was really cool dialogue. And then I get a call like three, four days later that he wants me to direct his, uh, tour visual, like that he walks out to. and it's like this really cool message that he did put together and so i worked on that with

them and i remember right after the first shot he pulls me aside he's like what's like your schedule for the next month like we got way more work to do and then from there we did the music video and just built a really really special friendship damn that's dope yeah so how many employees do you have now really it's like it's like eight of us it's like eight of us you still have the like headquarters in chicago everything's in chicago like our primary homes in chicago or headquarters in chicago uh yeah it's it's fun there it's like a it's like a little fantasy back you said you were on set a few days ago you have anything coming out or anything you're working on uh yeah me i just did a video a couple days ago me uh i directed a video for jack harlowe

and estg really really cool and i'm excited i'm excited is that a new song or is it already new song it's not out yet but that should drop sometime this month and uh that was mine and jack's first time being on set since what's popping oh yeah you did that one yeah yeah so it was a diner right yeah yeah yeah what's it like to see jack evolved since like what's popping to now the coolest thing man the coolest thing about jack is just how he moves he's so so confident self-aware and i think that's a big part of his success you know he just knows who he is and uh seeing him rise rise of stardom is surprise um for me and uh i just love watching him navigate it all and and keep his composure through you know the highs and the lows it's a cool thing his come up's insane like it's crazy

from what's popping now like he's like he's like super stuff really loves this shit you know that's what like sets him apart from like that's what i'm talking about some of those guys those select few guys like really love this shit and um he's very very strategized with everything he does He knows what his next move is going to be and he thinks everything through. There's an overthink, but he's going to think everything. You could tell he's very smart. Yeah. Can you tell from people, like, who's passionate?

Like, could you tell, like, you know, this guy might not be around that long? Just from how involved they are? I mean, I mean, you could just tell, like, exactly how involved someone is and how dedicated they are to the craft and, you know, how far are you willing to go. I mean, everyone is going to, like, not everyone, the people within the music space that find success, they're going to have that moment, right? And some moments are bigger than others. But if you pay close attention, like, you see how some people operate versus others. And, you know, there's a special theme that's consistent through all the people that are here to stay. Is it like a vibe? It's like an energy. It's like people who are grateful and thankful

to be there and don't take it for granted and know that it could be gone tomorrow, you know, but understand that they love it as well. You know, I think when people kind of get a little sloppy or lazy or too comfortable is when, you know, you got to be on it at all the time. Some people can't do that. What was it like working with Mac?

Man, working with Mac Miller was probably, like, one of the biggest highlights in my career. I'd grown up listening to Mac, He was a very big part of my formative years. So that video came about, Carnage calls me. He's like, hey, I want to do a video. Carnage is a close friend of mine. So he names me off a few records of people who are on these different records.

He says a Mac, he has a Mac record. I think, yeah, I need to do that one. And he's okay, cool. Like, let me call Mac. Calls Mac, calls me back. He's like, yo, like, I called Mac. And I was like, yo, like, you know, it's Cole Bennett kid. Like, yeah, like, I don't fuck with him.

And Carnage calls me back. He's telling Carnage, like Gordo? Yeah, Gordo. Yeah, yeah. Shut up, up as fuck. Yeah. Sorry, you said Max said that. He didn't fuck with you.

Yeah, he said Max said. Max said didn't fuck with you. Yeah, but it was a joke. He's like, I'm just joking. Yeah, no, it was part of the joke. We got cut off right before that part. That was a good joke. Yeah.

Sorry. Get over it. No, no, this actually happened. This is Gordo, Carnage, Diomante, whatever you want to call him. He calls me and he tells me and I was like, damn, I was crushed. I'm just fuck with you. He said he's done to do it. Yeah.

Um, so, uh, I got to LA like the next week and, uh, Mac called me over to his house. I went, we hung out. We had sushi and, uh, I told him I had this idea for the video. We have like, just a ton of puppies and like make it real simple and fun. He was super into it and, uh, you just, you just kicked it off, man. He was incredible. He's one of those people like, you know, I've gotten to work with a lot of my, my idols and people that I've looked up, uh, looked up to growing up.

And he was the one that was like above and be. beyond the coolest like everything i imagine him being more really yeah i'd say out of everyone he was he was the one that was like this guy is exactly what i wanted him to be damn that's dope yeah yeah it sucks when you meet someone you like you're like you like fucking look up to you mean you're like oh this guy's a dick yeah that's terrible yeah has that happened yeah yeah i guess we're not name dropping on that yeah well that's happened to you probably too yeah it's happened to everyone probably yeah i think everyone when i first met you i was like this guy's probably cool when you're a fucking asshole so it's like no surprise you thought it was an asshole no i thought you'd be a nice

guy but oh i'm super nice guy brad spends times with fans for sure always yeah i mean you show up like you try to dog me right now i can tell you you feel hurt because of those jokes dude it's okay all right whatever bro no that's okay they know they know they're good yeah i'm not going out tonight no i'm serious i'm going home after this i saw you turn down like two like what like 30 million dollar deals or some shit like that. Yeah, brand partnership. Why just survive back to school when you can thrive by creating a space

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Nah, it was a, so in like 2017, like when Lyric Laminate was hitting that first stride, like all the, you know, record labels wanted to make Lyric Lominate like a joint venture label. So we'd sign artists, you know, under them. And I was never really open to the idea of ever becoming a label or signing artists. I just loved being on the creative side of things. I just didn't want to be tied to an artist for a certain amount of time. and like our relationship is based on you know the success of their music and things that i just want to be creative and have fun it's an insanely hard thing to turn down though because you could fucking blow an artist up right yeah exactly but that's never been somewhat tempting at all never shows a lot to

your character because i mean like you really cared about what you were doing creatively yeah because you could have taken that you never think it would be cool to like find an underground artist and blow them up or you just don't want i mean i was already i was already i was already doing that and i thought It was so cool that I was doing that with, there was no, you know, financial tie with that. Right. You know, like, I was doing it because I loved it and I wanted to help people and I wanted to make cool shit. Like, that's way harder to me than, like, been some $30 million deal and signing all these artists and being attached to them. And, like, you know what I mean?

Like you have to do it. Yeah, that's just the side of the business that I was never into. I appreciate the people who are. You know, I think that there's people who are passionate about that stuff. It's just not me. What about, like, the money? It never excited me. because I knew that the money's going to come.

You know what I mean? I'd rather the money come way down the road. It could be less money, it could be more money, whatever it be. But, like, for something that I'm into and, like, I'd rather take the long route. That's always been my method. And that's just where I'm at with things.

And I knew that since a young age. Like, I can't let money excite me. Because if money excites me, then I'm going to, you know, get off this path I'm on. Then I'm going to, you know, be motivated by the wrong things. You know, I just... Who taught you that? You just always been...

You just knew it. It just me. know I just special yeah so they were both like record label deals um so yeah one of one's a record label deal and then there was another uh there was another it was like i forgot the amount but yeah it was it was right up there uh for the uh lemonade for our beverage it just didn't make sense um so yeah it was one was the beverage one was the uh record label but there's a lot of record record label officer came in but that one was the highest one what what's it like being in like the drinks business because i guess we're in a two with happy dad well you guys are fucking

feeling it by the way it's fun i guess it's different because alcohol there's so many rules too but what's it like like how did how's that been on like the business side of that the beverage side things was so it was so crazy i did it i met with gary v when i was in new york like four or five years ago and he like records everything so like we're talking and like he's recorded he put on YouTube like two days later and we uh I was telling him about this idea I had to make lemonade you know the name just happened to be lyric lemonade it's always kind of been in the back of my head to create an actual beverage an actual lemonade and I'm telling him about it and he puts this video on YouTube and I think like two weeks later I had like a ton of samples of lemonade

at my front doorstep like the different you know companies sending me different uh formulas and things of that nature and then kind of just spent that a whole next year uh you know me and my team like learning about the beverage industry and that space and that was a lot of funds because there's so much to it and it's so different than what i'm what i'm currently in but uh i mean you guys know it's just a whole different world it's crazy i guess the hardest part for us is just getting it on the shelves you guys doing it's easy but yeah it's great i was a target or somewhere there day I saw it and I guess are everywhere beautiful to see hell yeah congratulations do you have anybody you haven't worked with yet that's like you've always wanted to or you're waiting to hit

you up uh Drake and Tyler creator like the two people I haven't worked with it like I really really would like to yeah yeah we've talked about them multiple times hit me before it says yo I got the record coming at night never came why does it never happen you think um I don't think there's any specific reason. I just think like it's just the timing. Drake's a huge timing guy. He's got just, yeah, he's very strategized. It's just going to be the right time when it happens to happen. I know it will happen just a matter of when and I never try to force it. Yeah. 100%. If forcing shit normally just makes it not scary. Yeah, it either doesn't happen or it makes shit weird. Yeah. Either or not a good place. Yeah, just be patient.

Yeah. Any hobbies or anything you do in your personal time outside of all this music stuff? I don't know. Someone just asked me that you have hobbies. I was like, I don't know. I'm trying to build more hobbies. Like hanging out with my friends. Like watching movies. Um, I don't know. Regular, regular shit that we all do. I don't know. How do you like stay humble with all this? It's not even like something that it's not like an intentional thing. Like I'm trying to stay humble or anything. I think this is who I am. I think I like what I like. I like what I like and I operate how I operate and I like being around the people I like being around and that's really the extent of I think there are moments where I that are like tempting maybe to do this

or do that and I think you'll have those moments where you kind of step outside of your comfort zone and then you'll realize like okay this isn't me and then that that humbles you and brings you back to be grounded and where you need to be I think just being aware is like the biggest thing be aware of every situation you're in. So has there ever been a time of period in your life when you're like, yo, like I'm drifting off in like a place that don't want to be like going? Yeah, I think so.

I think like you'll find you, you have seasons of life where, you know, you might, uh, you know, you might be going out more. You might be doing this or doing that and it's kind of like,

as long as you realize it and recollect yourself. But yeah, there's going to be stuff like that happens both. I know. And you get in the party mode sometimes. For us, it's either like you're partying a lot or like you're not. partying at all you're just like dialed exactly yeah when you get too much into that party

phase it gets to be it's a dark hole exactly but it's fun to have fun yeah we need to normalize having fun i think a lot of people within the business space um they're like you can't have fun you can't do this and like i think it's it's a balance but i think people should definitely enjoy what's up yeah what's good with these two guys what's going on here dude how did you like what's what's up with these two i like what's happening yeah uh i fuck with clowns um really why i don't know i think i think i think it's It's funny because clowns were created to, like, bring kids, like, joy and laughter and, like, we get parties and shit.

And, like, over the time, it's, like, become the exact opposite. Yeah, it's, like, kind of creepy. Terrifying, creepy creatures. I just, I think that's hilarious. And I don't know, I enjoy clowns. I love the colors on them. I love, I love how, I don't know, I just tripping out. I came around the corner, I was like, the fuck's going on in here.

Yeah, no. What's happened? No, it's dope, though. I get it. I like clowns. Yeah. Clowns are hard. Yeah.

Have you had a project that, like, didn't do as well as you thought or you weren't happy with the 100% what are you doing that happens is the artists upset or like that's a really good question um i think i think an artist yeah i'm sure they're bumped out like i think when i when anyone does anything like we want to perform well of course of course like that's just the name of the game right but those are good moments when when when you have something that might not you know become what you expected to be because it grounds you know and then and then it also makes you realize two things things. Not everything is going to be like a huge success. And then also like, let me fall,

like, let me, let me not like have expectations. Let me not, uh, fall in love with the idea of the result, you know, and let me just, I think like we need to have those moments where like we unlearn the idea of everything being super successful. Like it's good to like have balance. It's good to have those moments and we learn so much. And those contribute to, you know, successful project moving forward. That's how you actually get. there right it's like yeah you're always caught up and like it needing to be this way and you're chasing this thing sometimes it gets further away from you yeah and it's it's dope you realize that man it's it's that's that's probably why you have so much success in what you do because it probably

allows you to focus on the moments like getting it done like the smaller portions along the way to to the bigger vision yeah because i know you said you said you said you were talking earlier about like not getting caught up in that and getting like piece by piece yeah and that's definitely why you have your success it's it's clear to shows thanks it's really cool though When you have something that streams hundreds of million and then like something doesn't do as well, then it's like, it gets you back to square one. You're like, I've got to get motivated again, right? Yeah, it just reminds you that not everything is going to be the biggest thing. Yeah.

You know, I think everyone goes through that. We have to realize that. There's going to be moments that are incredibly, like, successful. And whether, you know, you're measuring that by views or whatever it may be, ticket sales, anything. Those are special, you know, but they're not. always going to be like that and when they do come you appreciate it even more when you've had those those lower moments what was the like a video that you did where you were just surprised that took off like crazy and you were like whoa i did not expect that um i mean just a couple months ago put out

the central c video the doja video like 40 million views in a month i mean i don't think we expected that that's crazy yeah how about the opposite one that you thought was going to blow and it just tanked or not tanked but like didn't do as well as you thought uh uh I can't put my finger on a particular one, but I think that's more of like when you're working with maybe like a big artist. And, you know, it just doesn't perform that way. I think that's always sometimes like a little bit surprising

because, you know, it could be a superstar and it just shows you that, you know, people are getting like what they're gonna like. Sometimes they don't like this shit. So that's part of it. What's a dream project that you have, anything that you haven't done like outside of music or you wanna direct like a short film,

from crazy um so actually this story uh but i want to get into like movies that's like like like directing a movie yeah directing movie like future films that'll be sick and um earlier this year uh i get a meeting i where i get a call go with my manager stats is meeting and it's early in the morning sit down and you know we take meetings like you know i'm used to meetings i'm a little I don't know exactly which one I'm walking into. I don't know what I wasn't told or briefed on what I'm walking into. I sit down and it's a room with people and man looks at me and like your life's about to change. What's the crazy thing to say? And and, you know, the people around and we're like, you know, we've been having our eye on you for like the last year and we want you to direct, you know,

the such and such is a really big big movie like one of the biggest movie franchises of all time we want you to direct this movie and uh it was a 300 million dollar budget movie and um i couldn't even believe what i was hearing you know and i was like my life's that it is about to change forever like this is what i've been working for this is the next chapter this is my story and this is how it's getting told and uh i couldn't i really couldn't believe it and uh we're getting into a work, we're conceptualizing ideas, you know, really get into it, talking about all sorts of stuff, character development, color palette, everything. And, you know, we go through this for a month, maybe two months, and, you know, really anticipating everything. And then I get a

call. One of the heads at this, you know, very large studio house was replaced by someone else. And then the new people came in and essentially said it's too big of a budget for a first time. director you know and i so it was like feeling like the craziest moment of my life about to happen and then feeling it like fall right to my fingertips in the same week um my my brother passes away in a fire like it was like the craziest like like time period and then like i went through like this this this stretch of depression and then i pulled myself out of it it was like a low point and i pulled myself out of it and now i look at that you know that little moment of life is like one of the most life-changing impactful moments um of my story but

but yeah to answer your question um yeah i want to get in the movies and like i've had it there's been some opportunities that have been getting brought to me and i'm just kind of feeling it all out and seeing what makes the most sense yeah fuck his question i want to talk about this time in your life that was really like tough was that how long ago was this this is march april yeah this year so what what what yeah it's recent like what did you learn most like glaringly through it like what did you think you learn about yourself the most um I think you know well there's there's a few things right the the brother passing and this movie opportunity to even think the brother thing I'd say I didn't know how to process that moment and that was really difficult for me I've had a lot

loss in my life and that one was one that was really difficult for me to process and I think finally getting to a moment where I did process it was very healthy for me to like accept and understand loss in any area and aspect of my life. And then with the movie, when I pulled myself out of it and how I look at it and I was like, it made me so confident. You know, there's two ways I could have taken it. I could have gotten super discouraged and felt like I wasn't worthy, you know, or valuable or ready to do something like this.

But I took it as this is one of the biggest studio house, one of the biggest movie franchises of all time. And they took their time to think that I could be the one to direct this. And that gave me the confidence. I've always been so hesitant of how I take this next step in my career because it's a big step and it's intimidating. And I think it gave me the confidence to do it and start exploring it more. So I'd say that's what I learned.

Do you believe like everything happens for a reason though? I do. I do. I don't think anything is a coincidence. Like that opportunity just wasn't meant to be. Is that how you look at it? Yeah, absolutely. And it was a beautiful opportunity.

And I literally I told them, I said there's no one better to direct this film than me. and I know that and I and to this day I know that but there's also a lot going on in my life in other areas I'm building a whole company still and there's there's a lot of things I'd have to put on autopilot to get myself in mode for that which I was getting ready to do but just wasn't the right time we just weren't ready for it just like the world just yeah it just wasn't the right time probably in a few years you'll look back and like fuck you know what if I did do that yeah it might have not been right time I'm sure I'm sure when I look at you know 10 years from now or 20 years from now when I'm kind of looking back at my timeline of things I'll think what

What would have life been like if I did do that movie at that point of my life? I think that's happened to me too. Like sometimes you look back at like in the moment, you're like, fuck, I can't believe this happened. And then you look back like three years like in the future, you look back like, holy shit. If I did that, it was in fucking garbage. Thank God I didn't do that. Right.

You seem to be like super like introspective, like looking inward. When did you start to develop that in your life? Like, was it through? Do you think it's because you're so creative that you think about yourself and? I think honestly, I don't. I don't know if I was like that when I was like younger. I'd have to ask my mom or maybe some like childhood friends. I don't think I was like that when I was younger.

I think when I went away to college for the first time, you ever have like, I'm one of those people where like I always miss like what just happened like a chapter before me. Like I'm like, I'm not great with change. So that's how it was when I was younger at least. Like when I got to college, I like missed all my high school friends so much. And like, you know, I missed like being home with my family and all these things.

I remember going through this phase where I was like I just need to like work incredibly hard and become so busy that I can't feel any emotion and like I relate to that yeah that's my whole life yeah I think when I tapped into that I don't know I think there's I don't know how it's too tied together but there's like an introspective element that came with it yeah I think I think that would be it do you think you have a hard time sometimes balancing like the rest of your life like personal relationships and yeah for it's all hmm yes I but I but I make a very strong effort to you know maintain you know the the friendships important relationships in my life my family and people I love so yeah it's a priority of mine have you got do you think you you had to get better with that over time yeah because we're on this ever you know there's never ending battle of learning how to find balance but we're getting better with the day by day right so yeah shit's consuming yeah that's the hardest it's like this never enough thing too it's great interesting great that's probably something we all struggle How old are you?

22. Okay. Hungry now. Now. What about now? Whenever it hits you, wherever you are, grab an O. Henry bar to satisfy your hunger. With its delicious combination of big, crunchy, salty peanuts

covered in creamy caramel and chewy fudge with a chocolatey coating. Swing by a gas station and get an O. Henry today. Hungry, oh, Henry. Sharp. I think a sharp guy. What about doing like a documentary type thing? Like, did you watch Little Baby's thing? Did you watch Little Baby's thing?

I've been meaning to watch the little baby shit. I think documentaries are great, and I think documentaries are only going to get more popular. I currently, I think I'm going through a little phase where I enjoy documentaries more than movies right now. I got to tell you, it's nothing like a good doc night. No. Yeah, you learn some shit.

It seems like almost every rapper has a lot. like a vlog camera on them at all time. Yeah, you're funny. So I'm sorry. No, I asked a really good question if we go back to that. Oh, yeah, no, go for it. Yeah, run that. I'm going to re-ask it.

This is the first of the whole podcast. Make up for the blackjack joke. Please run it. Yeah, let's hear. We're going to cut this, but I'm just going to tell you that was the dumbest thing I was like. We're not cutting. We're not cutting.

You're not cutting. No. I think we need it. That was a golden moment. Just like he said, you got to go through shit. Wait, wait, wait, wait. I said, what's your vision? Is it stay in or is it?

I think it stays there. Yeah. It's, it's, what is it? I don't even, bro, I don't even know why I fucking said that. If that doesn't stay in, Cole wants to scrap the whole pod. I was just thinking about losses, and I gamble, and I was just like, what the fuck. But, um, 9K just sounded like a number that you'd lose on Black, but, yeah, well, I did. I think the vision is its thing.

I know how that feels. Go ahead. I was just saying, it seems like every rapper now, like, even I'll see in stories. Like, if you saw a little baby gifted, hardened 250K, all these rappers just have vlog cameras. So it seems like everyone wants to have that documentary. Bro, it's crazy. I think it's very important. When I went to Diddy invited me over for dinner a couple months ago.

Oh shit. Yeah, I saw that. And it was really, really cool. How did you see that? I saw him in his IG. Yeah, I posted a photo on Instagram. But he told me, he gave me a piece of advice, he said, because everything was recorded. There's a camera at all times.

And he told me, he's like, I've been documenting everything in my life since 1992 or whatever it was. He's like, I have footage of everything. And he's like, make sure that you bring a camera everywhere. It's important to document your life and to be able to look back on these moments and maybe be able to one day share these moments with other people and they can draw inspiration from it or whatever may be. Do you have like a behind the scenes from any of like previous videos you've done? Yeah, I just started doing behind the scenes on all of my videos like two years ago.

But like there's there's BTS footage like randomly of videos in the past. I think there's actually a little bit of footage from the lucid dreams behind the scenes. I need to retrieve that. Yeah, yourself would be crazy, bro. What's the best music doc of all time, do you think? I don't know. There's so many good ones in different. Have you guys watched the Woodstock 99 documentary?

Yeah, I already talked about that. Shit is crazy. I haven't seen yet. Never say never by Bieber, like being straight up. Like, it's actually fire. I think I did watch that, actually. That's fine. I'm not deuce.

I like it. I wouldn't say anything. No. I haven't say that. Probably not going to watch that, but I'm going to miss that one. All right. It's fire. Have you ever watched like a music video or anything and been like, okay, that was cool, but I would have done this differently or anything?

Yeah, I think our eyes always operate that way. I'm sure you guys probably watch like podcasts or you watch, you know, a workout video or, you know, whatever it may be and you're like, that dude's doing this wrong or, you know, this is incorrect or, you know, I could do this better. Or sometimes like, you know, it's done really well. You know, it's done it really well. You know, it's good. Yeah. Yeah. It's very accurate.

Yeah. Damn. You mailed that one. Yeah. Do you take the full send protein supplement? No, what he takes, we don't offer, actually. I do not. Yeah. Fire back at you.

No. You say what I take is what? We don't. Nothing. I didn't say shit. Yeah, okay. Yeah. So you guys are hitting the weekend tonight?

Did you go last night? No, I didn't go last night. I'm going to go to night, though. How crazy? Like, are you just plugged up, like, any show you want to go to your backstage? Like, you just hit somebody up and then you're there. I mean, you have to, if that's, like, where I want to be, then, yeah. But do you like, do you like going to shows and, like, seeing these guys perform live?

I really enjoy it. And, like, so on, like, the weekend, you get to, like, admire, like, you know, superstar at work, you know. Like, that's like a, you know, you only get those type of artists once every few, you know, is a generational artist, so it's going to be cool to watch. Two fucking sold-out shows. Everything you sell out. What's the capacity of where you're supposed to? We just did nap earlier today, so he was talking. about the weekend too.

Bro, oh, yeah. He sells out everything. Huh? He sells out everything. Yeah. It's insane. He's one of the guys. He's one of those few. Have you ever worked with any of these guys, like, when they were earlier on,

and you just saw the money catch up to them, and they just weren't the same person? Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. You keep one of them, you want to name drop. No, but I'm just, no, I'm just asking, like, does that kind of bother you when you're like, bro, like? No, I don't think it bothers me. I think everyone, you know, we have to understand.

understand that, like, everyone grew up differently, you know what I mean? Everyone has different perspectives on life. And I try to, like, always, like, understand that in every moment that I'm in. So when I see someone act a certain way, like, that's what they're doing. And there's probably a reason for why they're acting like that. Or maybe, you know, success came at the wrong point in their life or whatever. They're just not mentally grounded enough to handle that moment or whatever it may be. And I just try to be open-minded about all those things.

So you've got to let people do what they do. And I never offer advice unless it's asked, like, for so i don't know i think it's interesting to see how people have success yeah for sure mart motherfucker right here yeah it's pretty crazy that's what i would say straight up that's why i wanted to do this one damn i'm impressed that's what i'm so curious where is it just comes from your experience is life experience or i mean you dealt with a lot of loss you said what would you lose uh well i i lost my my i grew up without dad my dad committed suicide when i was two so i was raised by my mom and my two sisters.

My mom obviously worked a lot. My sisters were incredible. My mom is like a one-of-one lady. I could talk about her all day. We could spend this whole podcast talking about my mom. We would have, like, had stuff to talk about. I lost my father when I was six. He hung himself.

My dad hung himself too. Whoa. Yeah. Yeah. That hit me. Yeah. So I think that and then, you know, the juice thing was, you know, a big loss in my life. Mac impacted me, you know, and then my brother.

So I'd say those things for sure, but I would give credit to my mom. I don't know. Like, I don't know, I'd regret to my mom for the compliments that you're throwing at me. I appreciate them. I'm sure she would too. Yeah, man. It's crazy, fuck. You figured it out.

I'm impressed. Thank you, sir. I'm really impressed. You ever think the rap scene's going to change because, like, all these young dudes? like there's a lot of young guys that are passing away young right and it's like it's happening a lot yeah i think that's ever going to change where people like fuck man we can't be taking all this shit and doing things a certain way it's a really good question um i hope so um i hope so i i think it there's you know drug usage and all these things are they're very normalized in music and

and especially in rap music and yeah i don't know if i have the proper answer for that i don't know what's going to happen but i hope it gets better yeah it seems like it's hard to be that guy that's like yo you got you got to chill out to tell somebody that yeah i think it's it's all about how you bring it to someone i think a lot of people are like get defensive you know and i've learned that like people who are addicted to to substances like if they want to change then yeah it's up to them then it's up that no one could tell them so i think like leading them to the water is always great but being very um not being too forceful with anything because then you just there's you guys are going to separate you know sure push each other away so i think helping someone recover or like

you know breakthrough addiction is being there for them and like you know spending good time with them and being like a positive force in their life and then that can maybe inspire them but if they they have to make change themselves i'm sorry i want to go back to to this dad thing. I'm just so interested in this. Why did you, do you know why your dad took his life? So there's a couple attempts prior to when he actually did it. And I think my theory that I've come up with for it,

that brings me peace is the idea of he knew how incredible my mother was. And I think that maybe he had some of his own issues of, you know like I don't know that he he he was like uncomfortable he's very I don't know if insecure is a proper word but he like the way my mom tells it at least like he didn't really want her to do many things and like he kind of wanted to like be the man of the house and like tried to provide even though like he wasn't really bringing in much money and we were prayed for but he didn't he also didn't want my mom to work because there's like this weird I don't know what the proper word would be.

But I think... Power struggle. Yeah, it was like a power struggle, I guess. And I think he saw the potential in what my mom could be and how she could raise, you know, all the children. And I think it was like a sacrifice that he made that he knew he had to make that would, you know, take our family in the best direction possible. I just feel like he knew he couldn't be the provider that he should be.

where did it when you first uh were confronted with that do you do you remember obviously you're very very young but your first i guess realization of your father's gone you know how old were you probably like five i i remember like all my friends obviously like had you know two parents and their dad at least or whatever it may be and uh i remember um like they'd play catch and like you know their dads were football coaches and things like that i played football my whole life like sports and stuff so i remember just not having that and that was like always uh uh you know that that was something that i always noticed you know and that was when i but my mom would like catching me in the front yard like she tried to play both roles so she did a really good job of that but yeah i'd say like

you know dad's just doing dad's that that stuff with their kids and those being my friends and like seeing that and noticing like i didn't have that you know yeah sorry yeah i'm not trying to make it all sad and should i know you're good it's i just don't talk about it often so it's it's enjoyable when it did it like did it do you think it changed you do you think it made you think you think or look at life differently because i know it changed me man for sure no i think a hundred percent it changed me because it put me into a different role within my family you know i felt like i was like i had you know i was on a mission to you know lead and and and take care of these amazing woman in my life and you know be the man at the house kind of thing

that's probably why you you're in the position you're at now at such a young age right being in even being in those like circumstances where you talk about like with m and dray and all these this amazing place that you've come to at 26 years old it's like so fucking impressive man like it's it's incredible sit back and be like what you've accomplished like holy shit like you're not like 40 you're not you're so young doing this Yeah, no, it's crazy. I think sometimes maybe it's, it's always moving. You never, like, never stop.

And, like, I think it's important you stop and, like, like, take account and take inventory of the things you're thankful for and then you keep on moving. But, man, I feel like I'm living in a dream every day. Like, I'm very, very thankful. I'm very happy. Like, I'm having so much fun. Yeah. I'm in the best state of mind.

I think I've ever been in right now. And I think a big part of that is just remembering, every day to be like very very thankful and like understand that like this is a very special and unique life and you know i get the opportunity to you know tell my story and and people that trust me to tell theirs too i think that's key that you just have it seems like you have so much more that you want to achieve too i feel like that's such a key thing as to like you're not like comfortable with where you are like you still have like the movies the docs like probably so much other shit that you're like the theme park like so do you feel like you're not even like

like people will say like yo like how do you feel but you're like you're not done yeah type shit right well i think we should never get comfortable i think as soon as you start to get comfortable goes back to what we're saying about people who you know kind of mismanaged their success is like i think it's the best way to put it with you like they get comfortable and i think you can never get comfortable and you can always continue to have ideas and aspirations and ambitions then you know then you'll always be disruptive it's a good it's a way to good way to simplify it yeah i mean it's also how you learn the most right because like you're gonna if you're if you're continuing to try to move forward and you're gonna fuck things up and something's

gonna work something's gonna stick and it's just like that's how you become the best version of yourself and also the best version of like whatever you're trying to actually accomplish exactly right because you you you fuck it up and you'll learn from it exactly and and like to go back to kind of what you're just saying too like what you guys got going on like i look at i look at it and it's just like it blows my mind um because like i watched you guys doing like the pranks and stuff with you and like the the uh the college rooms and and fucking around with people and going to the the grocery store and stuff and seeing what you guys have built it into is like really really cool and i think it's it's the same mindset of like never getting comfortable it's like knowing that

there's things in completely different industries that we can you know we can disrupt and we can have fun. There's so many areas that have fun and we just can't limit ourselves to box ourselves in. Like you guys are fucking seltzer like you. Yeah. You guys are pretty similar. Kind of like come up stories like Yeah. I think believing in yourself

that's something I noticed too. Like you just say you I'm going to go with my gut and that's what it takes when you get to that point. Self integrity. Because people can always tell you what to do or give you opinions but at the end of the day if you trust yourself and that's where you've gotten to right. Because people always think they're like yo this is it. Like it's kind of like

yo like there's so much more to do like you know but i think and that's what makes it so exciting and yeah it's so exciting but you get comfortable you're just like that's it that's when you start doing shit you're not supposed to be doing you're like you've achieved everything you want to achieve and then it's like you go down a bad path that was amazing man yeah you got any more jokes uh no i'm tapped out i mean if there's there's any untold crazy stories you want to give us a night out or something i got a lot of crazy Yeah, what's like the you gotta have some shit where you were just like woke up the next morning, we're like, whoa, what's like a crazy like you've been you must been to some crazy parties in LA, right? Yeah, I've seen a lot of stuff. What's like is there any. Is there any crazy party LA story you could tell us that won't get you into trouble? It won't get me into trouble. I don't know. I feel like they all get you in the trouble. Yeah, I don't know. Don't say that. I definitely don't get invited at the same ones you're going to. Yeah. They're probably pretty crazy. They're pretty crazy. So like we can. We can't know. We can't know. We can't. I don't know. I definitely don't get invited to the same ones you're going to. They're pretty crazy. So like, we can. So like, we can all roll together tonight if you guys want us four this is i thought i was just a us three thing yeah it's like

us four thing cool so there's only two spots in the spurny oh yeah yeah cool i'll follow all right man all right i think so what do you guys think so that was that was right bro you're a legend thank you you guys this is one of our most uh fire episodes let us know you guys think in the comments i really enjoyed that for real it's good to have brad too on these ones uh shut up to call man right you're on a weekend tonight yeah we're all yeah it's gonna be lit oh i can't wait oh yeah bro we appreciate it let's go shout at the call

all right man thank you yes yeah it's fun