New Rory & MAL - Episode 94 | DJ Drama Doesn’t Hold Back On Drake, Lil Uzi, & Roc Nation

Episode Date: August 19, 2022

Rory & Mal sit down with the legendary DJ Drama. In this interview they discuss what killed the mixtape and the classic mixtape DJ, and then get into Drama’s relationship with his previous artist Lil Uzi, where he stands with Drake & Meek after their infamous mishap, who he would challenge in a Verzuz, + more! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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All right. All right, listen, welcome to another episode of the new Rory Mall podcast. I feel crazy saying that because we're in the house. chilling and we have a very special special guest with us today. That worked when we were doing the BET Awards and had five minutes in a loud ass room. Yeah. Speaking of the BET Awards

we sat with drama at the BET Awards for the Media Hub and the conversation was so genuine and so cool we felt like we had to we had to have a more long form conversation. I appreciate that. So here we are today. Drum, welcome, man. Thanks for having me, guys.

We know you on the road right now with Wiz and Logic. y'all had jersey last night so we appreciate you just stopping by and kick it with us for you Absolutely it's a pleasure of mine What number of guests am I How many guests do you guys?

We're not like a super guest based podcast like that And it kind of has to be like friends To do the guess shit I think logic I mean who ended up becoming a friend But he was the first time I think we did a guest that we didn't know That was our first time meeting this shit Logic

Okay interesting How is that that tour with Wiz and Logic? It's dope, it's fun You know, I've been going out on Tolla Whiz since 2014. So 2014 went out with WIS. I think it was called the, what was that tour called? Something with Cush, I would imagine. I forget the name of it, but it was, no, that was Fall Out Boy Tour.

It was the one before. Paul was like the boy of, so we did. It's a wild name for a tour. The first year we went out, it was me, Wiz, GZ, Rich Homi Kwan, Sage, the Gemini and I am Sue. Then the next year I went out and it was me, uh, Wiz and fallout boy.

And that was, that was like two months. That was our longest two months. And that year was, we had just signed Uzi and we took him on the road. And Uzi would come out on my set. Then the next year we went out. It was,

uh, Wiz, Snoop, Kevin Gates, and Aico and me. And then he didn't, he, did he go out in 20?

I don't think he went out in 2017. In 2018, he went out with Ray Shimmer and, you know, for some reason, however. Does Wiz ever go home? He works a lot. Yeah, he lives on the road. Wiz is on the road. Yeah, he works a lot. And, you know, it's dope to watch somebody of his caliber be able to tour like year after year after year,

even if he doesn't technically have a hit record out, you know. I definitely remember being out when, like, what's the song called? You know, the big one. The Fast and the Furious, right? Yeah, that, yeah, what's it called? No, see you again. Like, we went out, I think that was 2015, and that was when it was like on fire.

Then I didn't go out one year, and Wiz wound up telling his manager will, like, yo, don't ever, we're never doing this shit without drama again, you know, because I'm no, like, I'm in between acts. I keep the crowd hype up, you know, excited, you know, so it's no real down top. It's just so underrated in shows, I feel like. No, it's, you know, I,

agree and I think, you know, like, what I've done with Wiz, you know, it's comparable to like what Capri would do back in the day on tours or, you know, I know, I know Cluid, I did a couple during the Def Jam era. So then 19, we went out and it was Wiz, myself, Moneybag, French, and Playboy Cardi. Playboy Cardi wound up only doing, maybe like two or three shows and then he dropped out of the tour. And then, you know, COVID hit. And then we could. came back in this year is whizz and logic, which is, which is dope. You know, I mean, you know, I'm, I've definitely been familiar with Logic and his music over the time, but, you know, I was, I can't front. I was a little surprised to see how big his fan base is. He was huge. Yeah, he's,

definitely huge. So, and, you know, going out with Wiz is, you know, WIS is somebody that, in a business, you know, I, I, I really consider like a friend, you know what I'm saying? Of course, I know everybody. I'm not really the type of guy that like you won't see me at a lot of like the quote unquote industry functions or you know I'll make. Stadier circle the guys that you connect with. I'm with the fam. Like I'm with my my business partners, my friends, you know, our people. But, you know, again, Wiz is someone I've known since 2008, 2009, since I've been going to Pittsburgh and I was definitely an early supporter. So, you know, he's a great guy. And, you know, we have a great.

relationship. So, and I love it. I just love the vibe, you know, the summer tour, you know, Wiz's fan base and going out. And what's was really crazy, I'm, you know, is like this year, it's like, even when I, like, walk on the stage, like, like, when I come out for my first set, it's like, I'm hearing these kids, like, literally chanting my name, drama, drama, and it's like, wow, it's like even eight years in the touring with Wiz, you know, I'm at a place in my career where it's, like, You know, I'm as relevant as ever, you know, and the audiences sometimes get younger and younger, you know, when I say, you know, if you was born in a year 2000 or after, you know, it's louder than, I don't think I've ever even said that on a tour, you know what I'm saying? And, you know, clearly there's more, there's majority 90s babies in there, but there's a lot of 2000s and after. And the fact that they're, you know, familiar with me or, you know, are still excited to see me as like, you know, it's somewhat surreal.

and very humbling in a way. And, you know, I know just my recent projects with Tyler and, you know, with Dreamville or, you know, them knowing me because of Jack. Like, it's, it's always interesting, like, what people know me for. You know, there's a generation that clearly knows me for gangster grills. Right. You know, I meet women who know me because of wishing. My record with Chris Brown. And there's people that know me because of Uzi and Jack.

And now there's people that know me because of Tyler, call me if you get lost. So, you know, it's just dope, like just to, you know, and then there's people that know the whole span. But there's definitely like various audiences that are familiar with me because of a significant point or period in my career, you know. Does the set have to change because of that, especially with like logic being with whiz and obviously a younger generation knowing you? Can you play the old Gangsta Grill stuff on this tour? Or do you have to kind of say? I don't really touch on it. I mean, you know, my set.

At all? Very little. I mean, like, on my first set, I like, I play some Wayne. But I don't play Gangsta Grills, Wayne. Like, I don't play Canon, for instance. Could I possibly, you know, but I know they're more familiar with a Millie. You know what I'm saying? So, but I just, I talk about, like,

you know, when I get on stage, I'll talk about like, yo, has anyone ever listened to my mixed tapes? Is anybody familiar? And I get a lot of hands. And, you know, they definitely, you know, call me if you get lost or, you know, people, people know, people know my catalog. And I hear them screaming out various things. So, you know, I've done tapes with everybody. So it's like, you know, whether it could be a Kevin Gates tape or a Chris Brown tape, like a Gucci tape. Like, you know, the span of what people, you know.

love or or you know uh uh like uh signify me with is like always interesting to me curious if the logic fans would like little way i'd be terrified to dj in front of a you know what you don't play 36 chambers but they're also 14 years old so i feel like i feel like logic fans and little wayne fans are kind of similar yeah i kind of feel like they are i mean logic is a spitter like logic's a rapper so i feel like i feel like Like if you're a logic fan, like, when you say 36th, 10 years later you're talking about like Wu-Tang? Yeah, I feel like you would have to play like that type of hip-hop.

Because I know Logic likes that type of shit. I'm sure he loves Wayne, too. But I don't know if his fan base, I feel like they would be the purest. But they're also very young. So I wouldn't even know. Yeah, I think that's going a little deep. Yeah. Because I feel like the younger fans would be the nerdy, like, research everything type of thing.

I play more Uzi and more fucking. check west or I would be terrible than I do 36 chambers per se you know I was I was surprised to find out and talking to like

like kids born in 2000 I was surprised to see how much they love Playboy Cardi like I had no idea Oh my God He was like God Yeah like I'm late to that

I didn't know another level Yeah yeah I did not know that And I'm like I'm like I'm talking my kids that are like 15 16 I'm like who's your favorite Playboy Cardi And I'm like really

Out of this world Have you seen footage of Cardi performances? Yeah, yeah. Like, this shit is bananas. It's different. I haven't been attacked online the way I have, like, Playboy Cardi fans. I thought it was the Barbes. When the Donda show happened and Playboy Cardi came out and like the shit, I think I tweeted something like Kanye brought out insane clown posse.

Oh, they was on your top. I could probably refresh it right now. This was what, six months ago? Still on my ass about that shit. Yeah, I feel like there's Uzi and there's Cardi and, you know, they are like the. the fathers of that generation in a sense. Like Thug is the grandfather and then Uzi and Cardier, the fathers. And then, you know, there's the ones.

Do you feel everything comes from Wayne? I feel like a lot comes from Wayne. I feel like a lot comes from, I feel like there was Pock, right? And then a lot came from Pock. Like the DMX's, the Jha Rules, 50, the Wayne, you know, when it comes to style and. you know, just aura or tattoos or things like that. Yeah.

And then, yeah, then a lot of, a lot of the rappers from there, in a sense, are, you know, of this generation are all weighing babies. I know you're on the row with Wiz. What was the conversation like with you and Wiz in regards to the whole DJ situation in L.A.? Um, so, you know, a friend of mine actually sent me the video before it went viral. I was in the club when he sent it to me. And I didn't really like, I didn't really get a chance to like watch it, watch it. Or I couldn't hear it.

I think I watched it, but I couldn't hear it. And I woke up that morning to it. And I had seen it went viral. And, you know, like, you know, me watching it is like, shit. Like, something had to happen. You know, Wiz is one of the coolest, most down-to-earf guys in hip-hop. you know what I'm saying and you know

to watch to watch that interaction was like ugh you know and as a DJ you know it was like or even as a man

you know off top whiz was wrong right you know like I don't give a fuck it turned into a like a rapper DJ thing

but it's just a man thing like you can't put your hands on no man like you know and him him hitting the kids hat off his head like

he was dead wrong, you know, but, you know, I also watch this, like, DJ campaign start about, like, trying to cancel whiz or, you know, we're not having this or, you know, like, and I've really felt like, and I'm going to just speak, I'm going to just speak the real since I'm with, I'm with good company. Like, DJs at times can be very sensitive creatures. I was going to ask. Do you think DJs are some of the most sensitive in the genre? Absolutely.

I think rapists are too, though. Well, let's talk about DJs first. And then at one point, I would put program directors in that box, too. Okay. Over the last seven, eight years because of streaming, program directors haven't had as much power as they once did. Right. They're also very sensitive creatures. Ebro's on camera now.

Yeah. Right. So DJs and some of it is warranted, some of it's not. But, you know, DJs are the people that a lot of times break these artists music. Absolutely. You know, and then they feel like the artists go on and become these superstars and they don't double back or show the appreciation or show the love, which is sometimes true and which is sometimes not. You know, and the thing I always, the thing about it with, so I felt like DJs were using this situation for their own personal sandbox to stand on. Yeah.

And they'd be very self-righteous in a lot of ways. And, you know, point the finger at whiz and what he did wrong and say, oh, we're not. And I'm not talking about any DJ specifically by no means. Right. I'm just talking about as a whole, like this whole DJ United thing. Like, like, cut it out, guys. Like, I hear you guys argue Yeah, like I hear you guys arguing about somebody

Undercutting the other one or doing this or like Like fucking rappers have been disrespecting DJs for a long time Right In this situation, if like there's public figures that we know In entertainment and in sports When a certain situation has become public And the next thing you know Story after story after story comes out

Like, oh, whether it deals with women or what have you. However, that's not the case with Wiz. Like, it's not like after the situation happened, everybody had a horrible Wiz Khalifa story. Right. You know what I mean? And it's like, okay, like the man fucked up. You made a mistake.

You know, I'm sure there's more to the story. And, you know, again, the DJ, uh, Mikey Danger. I know him. He's a great guy. He's a very humble kid. Like, he definitely didn't deserve that. you know, I'm sure he didn't want to be known or garnished the attention for being the kid

that Wiz Khalifa knocked his hat off, you know what I'm saying? Does he have to change his name now? That's the question you have to ask him. He has to re-bram. But... Well, he was in danger. You know, but again, like, and that was something that I felt like

Wiz owed him a one-on-one, an apology. Yeah, I agree. I know he reached out. You know, I don't know if they had ever spoken. But I also, you know, and I didn't want to come off his bias because I'm literally on tour with the guy right now. But I wanted to give him the opportunity to, you know, to at least like speak his piece. And, you know, as I saw this, the DJ's kind of like, you know, kind of like just, I don't know, like, I don't like just starting this whole cancel campaign and like ganging up on whiz. Like, I felt it was unfair.

And I actually, like, I was trying to reach out to Kit Capri. Kit Capri went, you know, made a statement. And, you know, Wiz, even him and Kid had their own conversation. And you got sat down with Envy too, right? Envy wound up calling me around that time. And I had just got off the phone with Wiz. And we were speaking. And I was like, look, we could just go on my gram.

Like, he was like, yo, let's just do something. Like, let's go on your platform and, you know, speak your piece. And I was cool with that. And I don't, I don't want to underestimate my platform. But when envy called me and he was like, yo, I'll come down there. We can do it and put it on the breakfast club. You know, for me, it was like, it's not really about me. Like I could easily so just do it myself and me go viral.

And it'd be a drama whiz thing. But I was like, yo, having envy there, you know, two DJs of our stature. And then also having that platform at a breakfast club. I was sure that the message would would gain attraction that was necessary to put it all the bit. Because at the end of the day, you know, the news was going to be old in three, four, five days and everyone was going to move on. But if, if Wiz didn't address it, the DJs might not have moved on. And I was like, yo, I've seen DJs making comments like, let's cancel Wiz. I don't even play Wiz in the club anyway.

I'm like, well, what the fuck are you talking? You don't even play the man's music anyway. Like, why are you so, why are you ready to, why are you ready to cancel? be ready to be Al Sharpton. Like, cut it the fuck out. And Wiz, to me, it was, it was surprising, one, because Wizz has always been known as the cool guy. Absolutely.

And I think he had an uncool moment for maybe the first time that I can remember. And DJs didn't like it. And like I said, I didn't even know Kit Capri had an Instagram. I didn't even know he was on social media. Yeah. I'm from the Bronx. I love Kickapri. That's disrespectful.

Probably one of the first mixtapes I ever brought was a Kickapri. And you don't follow him on the gram? I don't follow him on the gram. But it was good to see. Come on, Ma. It was good to see. money bags under Capri? No, not at all.

But it was good to see Kit Capri voice his opinion and be like, yo, that was fucked up because it was. But canceling Wiz, this is cool, bro. He had an uncool moment. That was all. And Kit's perspective was,

and he had just did their breakfast club, and he had kind of been speaking about something similar. And he was like, I just don't want Wiz to be an example of younger rappers thinking it's cool to disrespect the DJ.

It's honestly the Chris Rock, Will Smith situation. With comedians, like we have to nib this in the butt now because we're just going to get smacked every show at this point. It was, it literally felt like the same type of situation. Yeah. You know, and it was like, people were like one, like, what, WIS is such the cool guy. Like, what's going on inside of him that made him do that? Same thing they did with Will, whatever, like, yo, will, will, we never would expect that from Will.

And then, you know, here was the victim in Chris Rock or in Mikey Danger where it was like, they didn't deserve that, you know what I'm saying? And they... And I've been to Poppy when Mikey Dainj was DJ. He's not that bad of a DJ. No, he's a great DJ. Yeah, he's had Poppy turned up a few nights. He's opened up for me plenty.

No, he's a great DJ. He's opened up for me numerous times in the last decade. And he's a great kid, man. He's a cool guy. And I'm, you know, again, like I said, I'm sure just the attention and what, you know, like, you know, he probably had DJs calling him. I'm sure he has some family members that was ready to, trained to go, you know what I'm saying?

And he was dealing with his own personal stuff. So, you know, I felt for him, you know what I'm saying? He had an uncool moment, but we love Wiz. He's one of the coolest dudes in the game. Where do you see DJing going in the next 10 years? Since we were talking about program directors and radio changing, I feel like with the festival space, the DJs that get booked kind of got their name from radio, and that's how they're continuing their career.

but there's plenty of DJs that didn't get in the space you did with actually putting out projects and you're attached to things outside of just DJ. What does a new DJ do now? That's a great question because I literally had a DJ call me the other day. He was from Nashville and he called me and he said, yo, I just need some advice. I got like five artists and we're about to do a show in Denver

and I'm going out there and how much should I be charging or taking from these artists and I had to I said, wait wait, let's take this step by step. So first of all, you're a DJ trying to make a name for yourself in Nashville.

Right. You're going to Denver. In Nashville. With five artists. And respectfully, if you watch this, this is the same thing I told you. So I don't want you to take it any type of way. He's a DJ.

He will. he had five up in five artists that he was trying to break and he had a show in Denver and I was like bro you're trying to do so much at once first of all artists literally are like your children right they take your time with them yeah and they artists you know uh need a lot of attention in a way you know I mean they and rightfully so like you're you know if you're a DJ or an executive or an A&R you know, it's your job to, you know, help their career heightened. So I had to break it down to when I was like, look, bro, first of all, when I was, you know, I had to brand myself first.

You know, that was my first goal branding DJ drama and branding gangster grills. Right. So people were familiar with that. When I first started working with Tip or GZ, they were local artists. You know, T.I. was signed, but he wasn't the national guy. you know, GZ, like, Coach K lived around a corner from me. You know what I'm saying? I would make local, I would make show CDs for GZ for $100.

So, and I just tried to explain to him that he was, he was trying to take on too much at once, you know, and it's like, you know, as much as like, it's like, yeah, I came from an era where I was able to make mixtapes and attach myself to projects and artists and brands that DJs can't necessarily. certainly do. Like the mixtape space is literally non-existent right now. I mean, people are still coming to me to do tapes, but, you know, one, it's for the nostalgia of it, and it's two, because

I'm already a brand. But like a new DJ technically trying to make a mixtape is kind of difficult because mixtapes aren't what they used to be. But also, you know, I had the advantage over the OGs in my time because they didn't have the internet or they didn't have mixtape websites. So what they had to do to go hand in hand to get their name out across the country, my class was

able to do faster because we had the internet and the accessibility. And then you know, after that, you know, the debt piffs and a lot of mixtapes came. So it's like at the same time, but I also didn't have social media. I didn't have Twitter and Instagram and

TikTok to move you know, to move in that quick of a space. So I think everybody just has to take advantage of, you know, the accessibility or where you are in that space. And I told them, like, the thing I told them was like, yo, look, what I did was I didn't, you know, I took a formula that was hot up north on the East Coast and just applied it to Southern music. Like, I didn't invent the wheel.

Right. you know what I'm saying but I utilize like the the the the artists and the space where I was thankfully I was in the south where you know imagine if I would have moved to New York from Philly I would have you know been competing with fucking everybody everybody you know I was in I was in an area where honestly the guys before me the big oomps you know DJ Jelly and and and other DJs, they weren't, like, focusing on, like, dope covers and they weren't, like, talking on their tapes or, you know, the one thing I do feel like I brought to the table was I, you know, like, before me, people just would do, like, shoutouts and shout to so-ons, shout

to Rory Amall, like, 1-25th Street or what have you. Like, I started, I turned my shit into speeches. Yeah. And that was something new that I brought. But, yeah, I didn't invent the will. Like, I was, I was fucking biting the fuck out of who kid in Green Lantern. Like me and Canon just used to like, every time Who Kid or Green would drop, we would just go crazy. Like, oh, my God.

Like, look at the fucking foldouts who kid has with the MTV logos and the, and the eight-page spreads and green, like, with his drops. And, you know, there would be no gangster girls drop, little John's voice or no Canon drop if it wasn't for green. So when I told, and so I say that to say that, like, look, like, I'm not telling you to go invent the wheel, but like, you know, you have to. You have to find your lane. But you guys were a bit more hands-on, I feel like. And that's where I think DJs need to go back to brand themselves. Because it isn't, hey, submit a mixtape to me and put your drops in the front and back. Like, you and Cannon were really putting those together with the artists.

And I think that's what DJs kind of need to do, even in the TikTok era. Like, my man, Austin Mills, DJ's gigs and shit. But his biggest thing now is doing these remixes on the MPC on TikTok. And that's what's getting booked at Coachella. And then he just got a record deal, right? Mm-hmm. Yeah, so somebody like Austin Mills is great example. Like, I love watching him on the ground.

I'm not really heavy on TikTok, but, you know, the remixes that he does, like them shit's is fire. And, you know, he brought something to the table, and he just wound up getting a record deal. Like, perfect example of somebody who utilized his platforms and brought something to the table. He gets booked at festivals. His remixes are fucking fire.

And it's like, okay, dope. Like, here's a, you know, here's somebody that, that gets it and figured it out. And you just got to, you know, got to figure it out. But that's the beauty of shit getting oversaturated to some degree. Because now talent has to separate everybody. But it's always over. It's not just playing music anymore. It's not.

But it was oversaturated when I was, there was a thousand DJs out. You know what I'm saying? Like, you know. But now it's like, I think it's a different level of saturation out of. Because everybody. You don't even need DJs. Yeah. Like, everybody can have a platform on.

If you have social media, you can push your shit to everybody. For sure. See it. But it's oversaturated in general because now like every Friday or Thursday at midnight, 100,000 songs drop on DSP. So every generation has been like the OGs before us. Like if they looked at our generation, they would probably say, yo, it's a million fucking DJs

and everybody's just putting exclusives on there. And you guys aren't making real mixtapes because where you guys are making real mixtapes because we used to scratch and blend and, you know what I'm saying? So, you know, I can't be like, you guys aren't doing what I was doing because, you know, that's old guide talk. Like, yeah, it's definitely, the world is oversaturated now more than it ever has. And, you know, because of like social media and outlets, like- We get information so fast now.

With everything. So, you know, you got to, but it's a, you can figure it out. You can do it. You know what I'm saying? You got to, you just got to. You got to do it. And I look at it like if you really love it and you love your craft and bro, I was doing this shit when I could barely pay my water bill.

I wanted to talk about that. So you literally drum, you've come up through, I think, almost every level of the music industry. A&R, DJ, executive now. Like, you obviously, you obviously are somebody that loves music. 100%. 100%. To the guy. that are starting out now, like we were just talking about.

What is it, what's important for them to know going into it and as far as their, like, their goals? Like, is it, should it be money or should it just be about changing something in the culture, leaving their imprint and helping other artists and helping other, because from a college student, DJ, A&R, to now an executive of, you know, an imprint and a label with some of the most influential and successful artists that we have in the culture. I have a Grammy. And you have a Grammy winner.

Like, that's a, you know what I mean? Like, that's almost like, yo, here, look at what this guy did. Right. And try to follow that. Right. Mall, like, this is as true as I can tell it. Like, when I started DJing, my goal was to get my name on a flyer. Like, that's, that was the top of the top for me.

Like when I went to see juice and my mom bought me a turntable in a mixer, then I convinced my grandparents to buy me. I had a belt drive for DJs watching. And then, you know, the technique 1200s are direct drive. So the belt drive's like you can't really, and you jiggie, jigget, it like takes a while. So I got my technique, 1200s. You know, I bought my first mixtape on 125th Street, DJ, S&S old school part two.

Wow. I was fascinated with mixtape culture. But like, yeah, like when I was in high school and I was DJ and like, yo, I was like, when I used to go up to Broad and Erie from Central High and people would pass out flyers, I was like, man, I got to get my name on a flyer. Like, I got to get my name on a flyer, you know? So everything that I've accomplished is like, it's like, it's been extra, you know? It's like, you know.

And I've had so many moments. moments like when I made trap or die I was like how the fuck am I gonna like what am I gonna do next like then dedication happened you know or you know then I put in put my album out or after the raid and you know like I became a fucking hip hop martyr you know and um I put an actual album out or you know when I then I was like okay like I'm putting albums out but I'm not not having records that really translate. And then I made, oh, my. And it was like, I finally had a record that was heavy in the club.

And then my moment happened. And it was a top 20 record. And then, you know, we formed Generation Now and we signed Uzi. And it was like, then it was like, okay, you guys, you guys did it. But, you know, can you do it again? Right. You know, so like a lot of my career, I've felt like somewhat of the underdog at times

And I like that space Because I thrive off of it You know and even just recently Like who would have thunk 22 years later I would win a fucking Grammy for a mixtape series That I started you know In the fourth war like

Am I humble abode Where I could literally pay my water bill And you know Here comes Tyler the creator with his genius idea You know And me being a part of that You know So what I would my advice to those coming up like you know unfortunately and it comes not unfortunately but in hip hop like it's not it's it's not it's comparable to to sports in a sense like you know you go from college like like like like artists is like when they're coming up they're playing college ball.

Right. And then draft day is when you get your record deal. but then you still got to go to the league. You got to do something. And you got to really ball. And you got to, you know, once you get your deal, just like you're in the league with LeBron and Steph and, you know, Russell and, you know, Janus,

once you get your record deal, then you're in the game with Dirk and Baby and Hove and X, Y, and Z and Wayne and Drake and Cole. And so when you, if you want to become a lawyer, you have to go to law school. you have to pass the bar. If you want to become a doctor, you have to literally,

you can't just say, oh, I'm a doctor. Right. In hip-hop, anybody can technically say, oh, I'm a DJ or oh, I'm a rapper. And they could be doing it for six months and you could literally get a record deal or make a record that translates and becomes a hit record,

which is dope, you know what I'm saying? But I'm somebody that I've always felt like, one of the reasons why I'm here and one of the reasons why I've sustained a career and been through so many generations of hip hop and so many time and spaces is because I'm really a student of the game. Like, I'm really from the cloth.

I did this because I love it. You know what I'm saying? I didn't do it. You know, we all love to make money. You know what I mean? And I love money. You know, it's great. But I didn't start doing it because

I wanted to make money. I did it because I loved music. I loved hip-hop. I loved that feeling of hearing a new song on Clues tape or going to school, listening to Smith & Wesson or fucking when Tribe would drop or when Wu-Tang Forever came out or when Outcasts would come out, like, in so many places. So I just feel like, and specifically for DJs, like, you know,

know, know your history, you know, at the minimal. Right, right. You should be able to kind of know because it's only going to help you. Like, one of the reasons why I knew, like, when me and Tip first, like, kind of came together was because I was like, okay, Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince, Eric B&Ra Kim, like, Jamassadj and Run DMC, who kid in 50, like Green and M, okay, I found my guy. Like, this is my guy that if I attach my movement to his, we come up together. And, you know, now not only am I just gangster grills and making my brand, people also associate me with this guy who's claim and showing that he's the king of the South.

So, and that was because, you know, I was a student in the game. And I knew that as a DJ, like, a dope way to come up would be to, you know, connect with an artist. You know what I'm saying? First day and ours with DJs. 100%. Anyone could play the record that's already number one. I can hit play too. Exactly.

And that's one thing about like when I get booked at gigs or doing shows like, you know, I love to play the records that are hot. But, you know, people also, I want to play something new. Even if they're looking at me like, I'm like, yo, remember where you heard it first? And, you know, there's a way to break a record. And I think that that's been. part of my success and that's what I would tell a lot of like, you know, up-and-coming DJs that there's a lot of ways for you to, um, to get to the level. Like if, if I can do it, so can you. Like, I was a fucking

kid in Philly making little mixtapes and I'm a Grammy Award winner. Like, you just, at the end of the day, though, but like, if you do it for the money or if you do it for the women or if you're doing it for the fame, all that shit is cool. And I'm not saying that you can't achieve that. And, And that's dope. But at the end of the day, I do it for the culture. Like, I love putting on for the culture. Like, I love the fact of, you know, when people look back, like, when my story is told, when we talk about legacy, like, people don't be like, yo, drum really left the stamp on the culture. Like, at this time, at this time, at this time, like over and over again.

And that's what I thrive off of. And that's why I'm so successful. because, you know, I really like, I'm really like that. Like, I'm really from the cloth. Like, and even with Gangsta Grill's, like, I loved when I was able to, like, do a little brother tape and do a Farrell tape and do a Dead Prez tape. Do a Childish Gambino tape and work with Tyler because it's like, you know, here's this brand that started, you know, as like Southern trap music. But it's like, you know, my roots, I was a backpacker rat. Like, I used to DJ Luris Lounge.

and, you know, Gangster Girls was what took off. And, you know, it's like, it's almost like John, rest of peace of John Singleton, I like to compare it to like a movie director. Like John Singleton's first movie was Boys in Hood, which was like at the time, you know, that was, those were the movies that were popular in the mid-90s. Then he went on and make higher learning and poetic justice and baby boy.

So that's how I look at my career like, yeah, I got in the door with Gangsta Grasenstein. grills is like this fucking you know trap street uh platform but now i can navigate as a director and take take my brand in so many different lanes and you know work with various artists from various backgrounds to show like you know like you know like you know i do this obviously iTunes and streaming put the nail in the coffin but do you think your success killed the mixtape say that again do i think my success killed yeah did you did you did you DJs up the attention that Gangster Grills brought and then obviously with the Fed case,

do you think that killed the mixed date? So one, yeah, when the raid happened. Like, you know an American gangster when he wore the fur hat at the boxing match. Right. Was Gangster Grills that fur coat and hat at the front of the fucking boxing ring? In a sense, I could say that it was. Like, I think that, you know, because of, like, I was top of the food chain. Like, I was the go-to guy, you know, and like, when that happened, like, the mixtape game was forever changed.

Yeah. And I felt a lot of guilt for that, you know? Like, I did. Like, I always felt like, you know, I came up, like, studying duop and Tony Touch and Ron G and S&S and Clue and all these guys. And it was like, damn, when I become, when I became that guy, the shit dies on my. shoulders like you know I I did I felt like I felt guilt like damn I don't want to be the I don't want to be the guy that killed the mixtape you know what I mean and you know so after that like I continued on going and I kept putting out mixtapes and there was a resurgence and you know after the raid dream chasers happen there is no competition happen like but for the most part those were all original music right dream chasers yeah for the most part they were all I mean, but, you know, dedication three, four, five, six happened. You know, dedication three was probably one of the first tapes we did after.

That was probably the biggest tape that came out after the raid during that time. But I also feel like, you know, the internet was becoming a, like, when I was, when I was, during my generation, like, that Piff was like the enemy to us. Yeah, because they were giving like free mixtapes. Like, we love them. Yeah, exactly. Like, like, like, Great platform. Yeah.

Like, y'all, like, give me that shit for free. Exactly. So, like, the consumer loved that Piff. My DJ class, we were like, yo, what the fuck? Y'all fucking our shit up. Like, we want to go to fucking mix unit where we're selling them for, you know,

where they're buying boxes off of us and we're selling them. Do you think that's a little hypocritical, though? Well. Because if you look at, let's say, sky's the limit. I don't know who produced that, but Mike Jones and that producer, I could say was looking at y'all, like, y'all were looking at, at that that Piff. 100%.

That's my beat and now you're making money off something without any publishing any contract. 100%. And then... Get your pH balance.

Thank you. You know, then I started getting calls. Damn, I dropped the cat. Then I started getting calls, you know, my man Tech

who manages two chains called me and was like, yo, shout to tech. Live mixtapes wants to reach out to you. They want to have a convo

and want to talk. So then I went into a deal with live mixtapes where I was like exclusively dropping tapes on their platform then that Piff reached out to me and say hey listen come on over here

we'll offer you X, Y, Z I probably made more money during the debt Piff era than I made during my early mixtape eras because that Piff was literally paying me monthly a salary so if anyone did a gangstap era

to grills, it had to drop exclusively on that Piff. Then they started cutting real checks. So first they were cutting, they were cutting checks to DJs. Then they started cutting checks to artists. Yep. All that. So let me just back up a little bit. So then at the, around the time that the raid happened, you know, the, the, um, the blogs,

the blogosphere were becoming the new mixtapes. Yep. Like two dope boys. Sure. Nah, right, rap radar. That's where people started to get their new music from instead of mixtapes. So it went into that space. They became the new mixtapes.

And then this whole crop of new artists came out where they were putting on mixtapes without DJs. Cole, Kendrick, Drake, Walet, Whiz. And sometimes a few of them at some point used DJs. But then they were also, you know, Cushin OJ, so far gone, like, um, we, you know, section 80. Like, those were all mixed tapes in a sense that were mixed tapes, but they didn't have DJs.

So I feel like a Phoenix arose from the raid. Yeah. And, you know, literally did the mixtape business be, became even bigger than ever. Like the money that that Piff was in a lot of mixtapes started throwing around to artists and the rappers was insane. Like I was making, I was making crazy. money during that time. And then Drake went and did,

if you're reading this, what's called? If you're reading this, it's too late. If you're reading this, it's too late. And he put it on the DSPs. That's where everything changed. Which was originally supposed to be a DJ drama Gangsta Grills tape. There were talks.

We did have talks about it being against Root tape. And even before all that, Future the Prince reached out to me. and because of Drake, the brand and the business, he was just like, look, we're not, we would love, we wanted it to be a gangster grills. But when it comes to Drake, there's so much money involved, whether it's with the producers or writers or label

that they weren't able, like the way that tapes were dropping before that, you know, if it's crazy because if the time, were now, it would have made sense, like what I did with Tyler. But because it was new at the time, they were like, we can't, it, it, it's just too much business involved in it where it, we have to do it this way. And it feels like, it would almost kill it because it would be sold and it's like, gangster girls are supposed to be free at that time. Exactly.

Yeah. And like, it's like, hey, we're going against what the whole shit was. Yeah. And like, you said, hypocritical, like, yo, after the raid, I, I started giving away free mixtapes. I didn't sell them. like here I'm not doing this for the money like I was loving making the money but I'm going back to for promotional news only let's put them out however we put them out so once Drake went to the

DSPs with a quote unquote mixtape project then everyone followed suit and that was when the streaming era came and then the lines got crossed that also killed the first album because you have artists that put out three projects on DSPs and then it's like here's my debut. Right. And then you sold the first three. It's not a mixtape. Exactly. So then the lines got crossed where the word mixtape just became a word used. So the pressure of the album didn't come. It was a street record. Exactly. So you could put a mixtape, but it's you still, the shit during my era, like the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, we didn't have to cross our eyes and do all the paperwork. Yeah. Right. And Wayne could just

on any fucking beat. No structure. And we put it out. Like it was the Wild Wild West. You know, once the DSPs came along, then even if it was a mixtape, you still had to do the same paperwork as you would for an album. Right. So people were literally just throwing the word around just, you know, hey, this is my mixtape. So don't feel like this is my album and hold me to the numbers or what have you.

Side note, because I do want to get back to the Drake thing in a second. when we were talking about like the DJ union coalition all coming together for whiz and all that of course hindsight's 2020 was there any talks of DJs coming together to start what is now datpiff like you guys did have the control over that whereas datpiff shouldn't be paying y'all that could have been y'all shit i always felt like damn like i could have did this like And shout to my man, KP. Great guy. You know, that Piff, I made a lot of money with that Piff. And I do appreciate them. But yeah, I thought about it like, damn, imagine if I would have created drama like the DJ. com and had that space where, you know, instead of me,

instead of that Piff paying me to drop the tapes on their site, I took all the traction. All ad revenue. And all the ad revenue and had my site where it was like, or gangster grills.com where it was like, you want a gangster grills? Okay, we got to put it out this way. And who knows, you know,

if that Piff was literally paying me 30 grand a month, like imagine what they were making where I'm thinking about damn, imagine if I had my own platform where it was mine. And, you know, Flex tried to, Flex did it to an extent. Maybe did the app. I thought that was kind of innovative. Flex did the app.

You know. The mixtape out with it. Which was a good mix tape. Like shot the Karen Civil to with her assistance with how she did in flex we trust.com. Like I felt like he he got the closest to doing it. But absolutely like I thought about that all the time during the era like, damn. Imagine if I had really created my platform where I was the one where you would drop against the gangster grills and I was getting the ad revenues. and the type of money that I would have seen.

Aside from if you're reading this, it's too late, obviously being Drake, what's one artist that you really, really, because I feel like the Tyler album now, I feel like now you can do that. It's not just rap. I feel like you can do a Jasmine Sullivan. I feel like you can do her gangster grills.

I would love to hear his drops on hotels. I've done stuff like that. Like Verde... See a ho! Like Verde terrorists. Like when I... If you hear me on Verdei terrorists, it's like... I used a very calm voice on you.

Yeah. Or Chris Brown in my zone or Jeremiah late nights. Right. Right. So I've done them in that lane. So yeah, like there's no... There's no artist that I... Personally, that I can't, you know,

put my bells and whistles on. Have you had to say no to somebody, though? And you're a really nice person. Your name shouldn't be DJ Drama. You're actually a great... I appreciate this. When I met you for the first time, I was like, there's nothing drama about this. It's like such a good person.

It's been the gift. It's so crazy. I really feel like when I chose that name, God, like, winked at me. Like, oh, I got you. Like, it's been the gift and the curse of my name because I've had my share of drama in my career. You had. You know, like, yeah, I definitely feel like I'm a kind-hearted, very humble person, especially of a man of my stature in the business.

For sure. Almost too humble. Let me just put that out there for you. And you can really talk to your shit. No, no, you're right. You have a roster and you have the stats and the numbers to really be out here talking crazy. I can talk crazy.

And I do it, Tom's. But, you know, even my team has to be like, bro, you're DJ drama. Like, get on your shit. Right. I'm saying. So, you know, I might be too humble at Tom's. Like, I'm really that guy. Like, you know.

There you go. I like, let me smoke to that. Like, please do. Like, I'm really like that. Like, there's. like okay like let's talk versus like bring it on

I don't give a fuck who you want like I'm with all the smoke so so have I ever said no and how did you say I've said no um bow wow came to me at a time

friend of the show was crazy and I would like a bow wow gangzor I was expecting bow what's crazy is I remember his DJ was shot Kim early on who now DJs for new edition And when Gangster Grills first was coming up, I went to shock him like,

yo, I want to do a Bow Wow Gangster Grill's. Yeah. And it didn't happen. And then Bow Wow came to me. What year are we talking? What is this little bow wow, bow wow, bad, Mr. 106. This is like, this was in a, it was in a time where I felt like I wasn't able to give bow to tape because of, I felt like the brand, you know, because of where the brand was,

I was a little nervous on how it, how it would be taken in a sense. So this was in the, this had to be, it was in between 2010 and 2015 around that time. Okay. So, you know, and I didn't necessarily tell him no. And that's my guy. Like, Bowles, my guy.

No, Bowles, legend. Yeah, he's a fucking legend in so many ways. Hipops, Forrest Gump is what I call. He's seen everything. And touched a lot. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

So salute the. bow. Yeah. Now, there are projects that I was supposed to be a part of that I, that I wasn't, that, you know, I don't want to say regret, but yeah, like, damn, I missed out on that. Which one? Drake definitely won in the gangster grills early on. You know, I think he still kind of might feel away about that.

About not getting one? I mean, you know. I mean, I didn't want to get into that whole thing. We can get into it now after you answer the no question. You know, I mean, listen, he's at an illustrious career. He's doing okay. Not too shabby. He hasn't done too bad for himself.

Not too bad. He's making ends meet. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm sure he's cool without having the gangster grills. But Drake is a hip-hop head first. A hundred percent. And I feel like a gangster grill is something. He did a DJ Small Southern Smoke tape.

Right. All the comeback season is Dilla Beats. Like, he's one of those. Like, yeah, there was a time in a space where, you know, he did. And, you know, I can admit it. I kind of front it. So, like, as did a lot of people when it came to training. You fronted on him when it came to doing it.

I didn't, we didn't do a tape. Right. You know, so this, I'm talking about like 07, 08-ish. Early. Yeah. Early. You know, Nikki Beem me up, Scotty was supposed to be a gangster girl. Oh, wow.

Travis, what is it before? Days before rodeo. Be me up, Scottie would make a lot of sense for a game. That was supposed to be a gangster grills. And then I was with it. Her manager, Ms. Deb at the time, basically felt like I was more team Jeasy. So, and at the time, Holiday was, you know, kind of part of their camp. Yeah.

So Deb convinced Nikki to do the tape with holiday And, you know, I kind of To be honest, I didn't fight for it. So, you know, I'm sure if I would have like been like, no, no, no, fuck that. Like I'm doing it. But so I kind of let that one go. Humble.

But I think that probably, of course it worked for Nikki and Drake. I don't mean it in that way, but. I mean, imagine if that was part of the gangster girls. That's crazy. It would have been crazy. But I don't know. That would have been. that's definitely one.

Who knows if we get so far gone the same way? Let's say the Gangsta Grills Drake mixtape goes crazy. Now Drake is pigeonholed into whatever sound jow did for that. That's happened before. I think you would have been all right regardless. I do too, but I'm saying I don't know if we get so far going the same way. Because if you see some success in a certain area and a fan base, sometimes you have to lean into it.

You go back to it. So who knows if Drake would have had to do that rather than like, I'm going to sing a lot. So far going is going to be the better 808s. I don't know if that happens. So you're saying I did him in favor. Yes. You did the culture of favor, Jerome, is what we're saying.

Oh, it's the higher power. Days before ready. Oh, then it was supposed to be a Drake and Gucci tape. That would have been crazy. Oh, when he first came home? Gucci was, was Gucci home yet? Because they did that record right when he came home. Well, remember, there was like three records they did it because they wound up on our tape.

They wound up on on the, remember he did the three Cold War series. It was one with me, one with scream and one with. another DJ. Love screen. And then the three Drake records wound up were on my tape because, you know, the first time Drake and Gucci had ever spoken, I put them on the phone together. We're on a three-way call. I never forget.

I think I was in Pittsburgh at the time. And I got Drake and Gucci on the phone. They talked. Drake told Guwop how much, you know, he was a fan of his. And, yeah, they talked about doing it. We were going to do a gangster girls together. And it, uh, it, it, it didn't come out for some other reasons that I won't, I won't dive into on camera. Um, but, and then I'm thinking there's, there's, there's, there's another one I'm missing.

Love is Rage was supposed to be against the grills. Okay. But we chose as a team as generation now to not, to do that, to not do that, um, without me. because honestly, when that project came out was right in the midst of the Drake and Meek situation. So we're like, listen, we don't want to even like let vert. And I think it worked out for the first. I was about to say that lended itself just to be a project itself.

Yeah. That's a good executive call rather than a DJ's goal for sure. Jack Harlow has definitely taken me off. I've done a lot of talking and drops for a Harlow project and have gotten removed. But, hey, it worked out. The whole Drake and Meek thing. Yeah.

I know you have relationships with both of them, obviously. I do. And you've probably talked about this a thousand times. Thousand and one. Heck yeah. The whole Drake-Meek situation. What's that? There's a little situation that happened a few years ago that may have...

I'm not familiar. Change the entire trajectory of a lot of situations in our culture. I've heard about that. I've heard about that. Your position in that whole thing. Yeah. I don't know if you've ever really talked in depth about it. I have.

But looking at things now, do you feel like your role was as big as it seemed at first in that situation? I had a role. What can I say that hasn't been said? Has accountability been said? Absolutely. Okay. I've taken accountability for my role in it.

Have you called both of them sensitive on camera as well? Say that again? Have you called both of them sensitive on camera as well? No. Okay. I've never called both of them sensitive. I'm sensitive. I'm just saying it's not an insult.

I've had, me and Drake have definitely had direct conversations about it, you know. offline, you know, and I've, I've taken accountability. What was the first Drake conversation like? The first Drake conversation... And how did it happen? The first... Actually, it was... It was 2018, and it was after Meek and Drake came out together.

Okay. And I actually, I wound up at 40-40, club with Meek and I told I say you call that nigger right now put me on the phone with them like y'all not going like you know because I watched it all happened and I'm like so me called Drake and you know and don't you hate when friends that were beefing become friends again you feel what I'm saying and now they're beefing with you yeah like you know wait y'all friends again yeah Drake was my guy like right you know we was like we was good like yeah anytime I would go to Toronto, like he would come to the club, but we'd go out to eat or, you know,

I went to multiple OVO fest and like, you know, that was really my guy. So, you know, Meek put me in a lot of fire, you know what I'm saying? And again, I've taken accountability for it, you know. But yet, the first convo was, you know, Meek, FaceTime and Drake and me getting on the phone. And I think it was around Drake's birthday. And, you know, like we spoke, we, we chopped it up and, you know, said, what's up, what's up, what's up. And then later on, you know, through DMs, you know, we had some, some small talk just about, you know, me owning up to, you know, the, the, the, the, the, my, my part and how everything, you know, transpired.

And, you know, a lot of it honestly, too, is, I mean, like, unfortunately, you know, the person that, like, suffered the most was, was Quentin, you know, and, like, my next question. My guy already. I've spoken to him before. You know, yeah, I've spoken to Quentin on numerous occasions. And, you know, I mean, I definitely, like, and even my, my quarrel with Meek at the time, like, was like, yo, bro, like, you're just, you're not, the only thing you're thinking about as yourself, like, you're messing with this man's livelihood.

You know what I'm saying? Like, you're not thinking about, like, how that's going to affect, like, his life. You know what I'm saying? And, like, his trajectory within what he's trying to accomplish, you know, all for your own personal gain, you know? And again, it's touchy for me to talk about it because it's water under the bridge and everybody has made amends. Right.

But also, you know, my career thrive, Drake's career thrived. Meek went on to, you know, do his thing. And it's like, you know, Quentin was put in a situation where, you know, out of everybody, he lost the most. And I think handled it the best as far as public view. Let me put it like this. I don't know behind the scenes. And Quint Miller, publicly I felt like Quentin minded his fucking business. And not only that.

Quentin Miller didn't do anything wrong. And he's a talented, talented. Listen, everybody did something wrong. Okay. Everybody. Quentin did something wrong. DJ Drama did something wrong. Drake did something wrong.

Meek Mill did something wrong. Nicky Minaj did something wrong. Like, everybody played a role. And we can sit here today and talk about it. And listen, everyone I named, I love y'all to death. Like, you know what I'm saying? And I hope no one takes. it takes this the wrong way.

And again, it's water under the bridge. It went down, you know, it was a hip-hop moment. You know what I'm saying? Like, it's hip-hop history. And, you know, like, there's a lot that I've, you know, those guys have gotten to tell their true side of their stories. Like, you know, I've gone on drink champs. I've discussed it.

Yeah. I've gone on ebro. I've discussed it. Talked about it with Angie. I talked about it on rap. radar. So, you know, you can go through since 2015 and hear sound bites at various times of, you know, how I felt or what I've said. But there's also a lot, a lot that I've held back on. For sure. And having put out there. One day, will it all make sense? Maybe. But, you know,

maybe some things are just left to be untold, you know what I'm saying? And, you know, like, everybody played a role in how it went down. You know what I mean? And nobody, nobody is like, was all the way, like, just innocent, in a sense. Do you still have a relationship with Quentin, though? Um, I do. I mean, Quentin, when, when me, Drake and Jack took the picture, um, at Kentucky Derby. Quentin took it?

I was about to say, Jerome, you're a sick nigga. Quentin in Kentucky. It sounds like a reality show. I don't know if it was on my page or if it was on one of the socials that reposted it, but he did make a comment.

So I think, you know, he may have felt the way, but I've also had... What was the comment? Like, I've had many conversations with Quentin over the years where you know, Quentin himself has told me like, yo, Drom, like, through it all, like, I respect you and I appreciate you.

And, you know, that he doesn't hold me responsible for how things transpired. So, you know, I'm sure when he saw Drake and me make up, you know, it was like, damn, like, they went through all this and again like he was the the one like kind of left out Nicole respectfully you know and um yeah when he saw me and drake and jack take the picture like you know he might have felt the type of way and and i get it you know from his from his standpoint like again like if we talk about me drake me and Quentin, like, there's three people that that's career since then have, has gone on and just elevated.

And then, you know, Quentin was put in a, you know, a tough spot. So what do you feel he was blackballed or maybe just didn't capitalize on the opportunity as far as eyes being on him? Of course, putting a weird situation to begin with. So I'm not even going to begin to play Monday morning quarterback on how he should have handled that. But to some degree, the. not even something.

The three of y'all were already established crazy. Right. Quentin was an up-and-coming artist and writer. So, of course, that helped and didn't help, but we get our opportunities. And, you know, that's how I met. That's how I met Quentin because we were, you know, we were interested in signing his group, the wedding crashers. You know, so it wasn't, you know, my, my relationship with him wasn't malicious by any means.

And it got painted that way, you know. know, and like, you know, I got, you know, I got a lot of fingers pointed in me like I was the bad guy and it was like, you know, I made a mistake by telling my homeboy something that I shouldn't of, you know, and he handled it the way he handled it. You know what I'm saying? But like, you know, I, you know, I got, I got a lot of the butt of the, of the, of the, of the situation. And it was like, you know, like, and again, like I said, I've, I've taken accountability in, you know, my role and, you know, we've all moved on since then. But, yeah, like, if the story was ever really told, it's a hell of a hip-hop story. Well, you know eventually in 30 years it's going to. Because we learned everything about the big and pox shit if you just go on YouTube right now. Right. Every last person that just happened to be around.

You still don't know about the big impog shit. Like the people, and yeah, you still don't really love. The names that I'm not saying. Yeah. That. Well, John, this is a safe space. Oh, I know it is. If you're just going to kick it with me, like, we can just talk right here right now.

It's just us, man. You know what I mean? And camera into the microphone. Yeah. Yeah. It's a lot deeper than those four names. Let's just put it like that. I believe it.

I've heard, I've heard rummless about what really, you know, and it's unfortunate. And it, I understand it shouldn't have happened, but it happened. Yeah. A lot, a lot of hip-hop. hip hop's finest were had their ears and eyes and and phones okay since y'all are playing double dutch

30 for 30 freestyle yeah when everyone thought he was talking about meek he was clearly talking about hove so stop double dutch it's talking about what hove talk about j z on that and that's not insider information I'm just not stupid I can I can go to rap genius

and read what he wrote yeah I mean what are you getting at I think the powers that be that were not added into this go as high as Hove and what the strategy was with this entity that Drake was that took over the music industry. And I think they saw this as an opportunity to try to lower the light of somebody that had completely taken over. I don't think it was a, I don't think it was like some coordinated shit. I really do think me probably just tweeted that shit in his crib like, yeah, what the fuck? They saw that and it was tough.

It's just my, I have no insider information. It's just my theory. Sounds like inside information. How? It sounds like he was on the inside. Hov and I are not that cool. He'd be like, yo, I was behind it. By the way, what people...

You would never do that. What never gets discussed is is that before the tweets came out, Meek tweeted a month or six weeks earlier than that these niggas don't write their wraps. Something, something, something. Push it had made note. Kendrick had made note.

It was there was rumblings. So like, and, you know, Drake is another student of the game. He knows and sees and watches everything. One of the more calculated people on planet a hit. He plays chess, not checkers at all times. Yeah. And if not, the best, one of the best.

So when Meek first tweeted it before he name dropped, you don't think Drake, saw that and was like, oh, okay, I know what's going on. Yeah. So, you know, back to the powers that be, you know, I mean, like I said, man. It's a lot to it. We could be here for a while. Do we think hip-hop was better off for it, though?

Because I think it was as messy as a moment as it was for everyone else as just a fan. As a fan of the culture, like, you know, it was. We needed that. You know. I hate that it happened because it was a lot of person. But it was, you know, it was. It was the closest we had to Naz and Hove since, like, when it happened. You know, and like back to back was a fucking smash record that played in the club.

Like, you know, you had two, like, power, you know, humongous figures within the culture. Meek, who was representation of the streets. And Drake, who was like, you know, who, what did he say? you're getting body by a singing nigga like yeah who also was a fucking you know this amazing spitter you know what I'm saying and like you know I always told people like yo like first of all like give that man credit for even being able to hear bars from quentin Miller and to see how dope they are like like a lot of people wouldn't even be able to do that They would have seen this nerdy kid that, you know, however, whatever,

and they wouldn't have even recognized his dopedness. So give Drake the credit for that. And on top of that, like, let's not act like Drake's pen isn't fucking one of the best that we've ever seen in the game. By far. He's a busy man. Yeah, I listen to that energy leak, and I like Quentin's, like, his own music. I heard that reference, and I'm like, how the fuck did Drake hear that this would be dope?

You feel what I'm saying? Like, give that man the credit. for even being able to like know, like, to even hear the the dopeness in Quentin Miller. A lot of people wouldn't have been able to do that. Right.

They would have looked right past it. You feel what I'm saying? And like, like, again, like, let's not question Drake's Penn. Like, Drake's pen is like, it's one of the greatest. And in the midst of all of that,

I always remind people, he gave us hotline bling. In the mix of all of that shit. And the midst of all that, He put a fucking smash record out. Yeah. Wasn't that in the three-pack were charged up?

Yeah, that was charged up and it was a hotline blade. That's hilarious. Shit's crazy, you know. God's playing was similar too with a diplomatic community. Like, you know, when we look back on it,

it was a hell of a hip-hop moment, you know? And, you know, I took a lot of heat, like, for years, my social media, I would have to listen to the, to the, comments or, you know, or, or however, whatever. But my, my skin is so thick. Like, none of that shit gets to me, you know what I'm saying? And, you know, after it happened, like, Generation Now, we had amazing success with

a little Uzi-Vurt. And, you know, I was on to, you know, I'm going to be here. Like, I've been here. I'm here. And I'm going to be here. Like, it's the one thing about it. Like, through all of it, through. Drake and me through Jeezie and Gucci through me

getting a fucking... That was a little different than drinking me. Getting a Rico charge. Like, yeah. I've been through Vert trying to, you know, throw dirt on Generation Now's name. Like, yeah. Listen, man, like, it's cool. I'm from the cloth.

Like, I've been doing this shit since I was fucking 13. Where's that relationship at now? Were you in, in... Invert? Oh, we're in a great space, man. Good. Um, I don't know if you saw, but we all, you know, we all took a picture together at the BT Awards myself Lake Cannon is like Rick Rubin so he

doesn't leave his house he's like a gardener so he wasn't there but um setty vert sunny Jack um we all took it we all took a we all took a pick together oh oh and um yeah you know so you know we've um you know canon's been back in the studio with vert uh they worked on the most recent project together you know we've we've we've we've we've We've, you know, we've been talking to vert, you know, consistently for the last, like, six, seven, eight months per se. So, and it's dope. It's a good feeling, you know what I mean?

Like, you know, we went what we went through, you know, it was, it became public. But, you know, that happens between family. Like, and one of the reasons why it was like, it was a tough spot for us is because, you know, vert success was our success. You know what I'm saying? And so, you know, I, instead of like necessarily coming out and feeling like we wanted to defend ourselves because we took a lot of heat. Like, you know, it was like generation now, you know, and even with the Rock Nation situation, like, Rock Nation was was put in the media as if they saved the little Uzi Verts career and, you know, from. I didn't gather that.

What? Okay. I don't look at press releases. I'm sorry. It was a free. It was a free Uzi campaign. Oh, I remember that shit. Yeah, and then it came.

I remember that. I remember that. Rock Nation saves Little Uzi. Saves him from who? From three young black men that met in college at Clark Atlanta and Morehouse, who grew up on hip hop, who were best friends, who then came into the game, changed the game, and then created a label. Like, huh?

We're not culture vultures. Like, we are the epitome of the dream. Like, what did y'all say? him from. We didn't do nothing wrong by that kid. All we did was help make him a fucking superstar. Lake was never getting a Jay-Z. Lake was an amazing manager. Canaan

was right there, you know, with his sound. You know, I was DJ drama waving the Oosie flag. What did y'all save him from? Like it didn't have to go down like that. And, you know, I love Jay-Z. I'm a,

he's in my top, whatever rappers of all time and this is not necessarily a a criticism of him per se but yeah like come on now like huh like why why was the spin

rock nation saves little Uzi Verk's career like like yo like we're like we're three young black men that like made it from from from DJ and parties for $150 to going on to having an illustrious label after after Canon

make some of the biggest records in hip-hop. And after DJ drama creates gangster grills, like, don't paint us out to be the bad guys. Get the fuck out of here with that bullshit.

Well, I mean, do you feel they did that? Sometimes the artist can create that, because I think with Meg, that's kind of been the PR stint as well with her prior production deal

and the Rock Nation thing. And I don't know who's behind all of this, but that's just been the narrative with a lot of artists, not just Rock Nation per se. Right.

But anytime someone signs somewhere else. All I'm going to say is, all I'm going to say is is that Little Uzi Verts contract was a very It's a fair And

there's there's nothing that we did on our side That was like taking advantage Of an artist or a A young kid trying to make it in the business We were three me, myself, Canada and the lake, are three individuals that split our percentage

three ways. Our percentage has always been less than Little Ousey versus percentage. So it's amazing. I don't know any, I don't want to speak on anybody else's contracts or whatever because that's not my business. Sure. But I know when it comes to our business,

we do very good business. And we do good by people. Hence why, even through, throughout my dramas, no pun intended, I've been able to get back up and move on because at the end of the day, I'm a good guy. Like, I don't, you know, again, like, yeah, the name has been the gift and a curse,

but like I'm not out here fucking people over. Did you reach out to Hove to talk about that, whole Oozeverd situation? No, I've never talked to Hove. I haven't. I never, and Ove didn't reach out to me. Okay. I think y'all should have a conversation.

I love Hove, bro. I love Hove. I think there needs to be a comic. He's one of the most inspiring. I mean, obviously that didn't come from Hove. He's one of the most inspiring people. But it's funny what in the genre, like, five-minute conversation can clear up.

I love what he's, you know, what he's, how he's elevated the game. Like, who doesn't Hove inspire when it comes to the culture? With association with Uzi before he signed with Rock, management-wise? No. So he just went ahead and did that. You had, y'all had no idea he was going to go with them. We, no, that didn't, we weren't, we weren't really speaking at the time. Prior to the free Uzi campaign shit, did you feel any type of way of him going to rock?

Um, no, I did, again, it's not that I felt any type of way. I just, the way, the feelings that I felt was, uh, us, myself, Cannon and Lake being painted as the bad guys. Right, right.

You know, and again, like, listen, when the artist of his caliber is out there tweeting or saying X, Y,

and Z, I can't go against his fan base. Like, even whatever I say, like, you know, they're going to, you know,

that man's a fucking rock star. Like, he's one of the biggest artist in hip hop. Like, they're going to, and when, with any artists.

Like, you know, when artists say what they have to say, like, that's where the people go. You know what I'm saying? So, you know, we just kind of, we sat back and played our position, you know? And, you know, what I will say is that, like, when it was going down, like, I definitely have to salute and appreciate Jack for, you know, standing by my side and waving the flag when he necessarily didn't have to. He could have stayed out of the way, you know, and when it was, when it, when it, when it, when it was really thick and in a lot of fire, you know, Jack posted a picture with me and him and set his piece and then, you know, said it, eternal a take on the way. Did him and Uzi have a relationship? They didn't.

They hadn't, had never even met. And Jack was a fan of Uzi. Yeah. Oh, absolutely. You know, Jack, one of the reasons why, you know, beyond the legacy that we brought to the table, like, Generation Now being the. label that little Uzi Verk was on, I'm sure, you know, had a part in Jack wanting to sign to us. Yeah. So, no, they hadn't had in a relationship or had even met.

And then, you know, vert went on to like, kind of like, you know, he put like a clown face on Jack. And, you know, they've since moved on to, like, last BET Awards was the first time they actually met. And we all hugged it out. And, you know, we took a picture then. And, you know, that kind of, that kind of put like a stamp where we were. It was like, okay. It was good to see it.

We're all moving forward. It felt, it was good to see and it felt great to do. You know what I'm saying? Because, you know, like, I love Vert. Like, you know, like, even when he was, had his thing to say, like, I watched this kid go from a kid, this kid from Philly, like, wide-eyed coming to mean streets, meeting thug and being on tour with Khalifa to being a fucking rock star. You know what I'm saying? I caught these kids. Yeah.

You know, like, yeah, like, you know. to watch, to take a picture with Jack and Vert originally in 21, like, it was, it felt great, you know, and then to take a picture this year with, you know, all of us, you know, minus Canon. I wish we could have cropped Canon into the picture. Like, you know, it was a full circle moment, you know? Creatively, outside of, like, the messy shit, how did you, like, and Canon strategize Uzi? because that was definitely out of the wheelhouse

that was the gangster grills brand. Because even Jack, Jack is a rapper. Of course, he's a current rapper, but it's still in the wheelhouse of what Gangsta Grills started as. How did you guys, outside of just seeing Ousey's talent, what was the strategy on that?

Because you guys don't come from that specific type of hip-hop. I would disagree because, you know, I feel like we do. I mean, like we come from all of it. like Lake can tell you from west to south to east. Like you can't you can't play a record that Lake's not familiar with. Like can in the can in the same thing, me the same thing. So, you know, our strategy was we realized that we had a dope artist that was definitely something fresh and new that came from Philly.

Yeah. You know, an argument I had with the lake. at the time was they were telling me, yo, you got to get this kid hot in his backyard. And I was like, I disagree. Especially what Philly was on at that time. Yeah, like, you know, the way when I, when we first signed Uzi, when people were like, oh, like, tell me about them. The only thing I had to kind of define it was like, Uzi is to Philly where ASEP Brockie was to New York. That's how I originally...

It's actually a really, really, really good comparison. That's how I originally used to put it in perspective. And, you know, at the time, I had more L.A. gigs than I had anywhere. So we had Virt out in L.A., like, you know, what do you want was the hottest record in the club out there. And then we took him on tour with us, you know, the Fallout Boy in Whiz Kalifah Tour and literally put him in front of 20,000 off top. Yeah. Where he got his chop. You know, he was able to really...

like get his chops just, you know, it's like throwing, it's like going from high school straight to the league. Yeah. And then Canon was, you know, the sound. Like, you know, Canon and, you know, Molly Raw, like, and Vert. Like, they literally created that sound at Mean Street Studios. Yeah. And like, Canon was the wizard behind, you know, how, how Vert's sound was.

You know what I'm saying? So they were, they were a dynamic duo. When it came to the music, me and Lake State, out of the way. Like, Cannon and Vert, they had that. Like, we say you're too humble. Cannon is too fucking humble, bro. Yeah.

Canada as a producer doesn't get talked about the way you should. Yeah. I agree. For the longevity, the eras he went through, the pieces are so iconic. When I be seeing a producer list and they be leaving my man out, like, yo, I'd be wanting to custom niggas to fuck out. Like, yo, how y'all be making these fucking lists

and not putting my man Don Cannon on there? Like, what? What producer has been in every single era that's current? bro, like, yo, like, this man may go crazy. Like, his first place was crazy had Jay-Z on it. Snigga made the fucking art of storytelling with Andre 3,000 and Big Boy. Like, what are we talking? Nicker made canon, like one of Little Wayne's most talked about verses.

Like, one of the records that everybody wants to spit on. Like, what I think is Achilles heel, which is kind of a gift and a curse, you can't tell when it's a canon beat. he's so versatile. There's so many of like the super producers. Right. I know right away who made that. He doesn't have his Farrell four count. He only has the cannon drop and he doesn't throw it on shit like that.

Right. So you don't know if it's canon. Like Canon's work with SETI, like it's been so dope. Like hands down, one of my favorite SETI records is Cannon B like. Or even I think last year like Kenna had like 21 placements. Like it's crazy. That doesn't get talked about. like, you know, he's still one of the dopest in the game.

He's, like you said, he's been through so many errors, you know what I mean? So, and that's what's so dope about us as generation now when we saw an artist because we're literally giving them our shoulders to stand on. You know, like, Uzi and Jack, I think that they, they, their drive and their passion, like they were going to be here regardless. But coming to generation now and us being able to lend no shoulders, me being able to walk Jack into sway in the morning at that point in his career or him being associated with the niggas that made gangster grills as being a white rapper. Like we can't act like that didn't help. You know what I'm saying? Who are some of the artists and getting back to the whole gangster grills thing that you want to work with moving forward? Like one of my, I would, just me being a music guy,

I would love to see a Kodak black. Fire. Gangster Grills. Fire. At this point, I'm with it all. I just tweeted out the other day like, yo, niggas is hitting me for gangster grills like it's 06 again. Who text you?

It's okay. You don't have to say. But you can say if you want. I mean, listen, a lot of people, when I put that out there, a lot of people said they would love to see a ESTG tape. That would be great. I like that. Mia, I swear Vezo.

We work in. I just did SETI's well said, Gangsta Grills. You know, I got some, I got some ones coming, you know. How does that look, though? Is it similar to the Tyler? It has to be a cleared album on DSPs.

Like, what's the strategy if the brand continues in the mixed state form? Yeah, I mean. You've changed the infrastructure of gangster group? We've had to. Yeah. We've had to because, you know, yeah, it has to. it's on DSPs now. So, but what's dope is that like, again, like, now it's back,

the nostalgia of it is back around that, like, what once, when Drake put out, um, if you're reading this is too late, like could have been now, because now, like, I can, I'm going back to my shit talking. Yep.

You know, me and Simba just did, we, we have a project coming out. Okay. Simba love. It's fire, you know. And like,

when I go to the artist, I'm like, how crazy you want me to go. And they like, man, go crazy. Yeah. So it's like, it's back to that where, you know, what once was like, okay, we have a, the drum version and then we have a no DJ version. Now it's back to like the gangster grills where it's me doing my one two and the bells and the whistles.

And, you know, like, and yeah, like, you know, the Dreamville project just happened. And, you know, now after going through the. process with Tyler like and seeing that these projects are literally albums and you know who knows we could i could be Grammy nominated again next year for for one that comes out so we we've treated it a little differently and the bag is definitely different now what's the process the process different from making the gangster rules mixtape to doing the Tyler album was how is it different Well, with Tyler, Tyler, you know, there's only been a very few artists that I've actually, I do my, my part in front of. With Tyler, we had three, we, we had three sessions over maybe a four to six month period.

Okay. And again, like, when Tyler first called me, he was like, yo, I got, I got this crazy idea, you know, and we talked. And he was going to send me the music. This was during COVID. And I got a call from Christian Clancy's manager. He was like, yo, T wants to know if, you know, again, this is still during COVID when people weren't like moving around. So he was like, yo, he wants to know if you feel comfortable just coming out here instead of him sending it to you. I was like, hell of yeah, I'll come out.

So I went out. When I got there, Tyler had already, he had found a random gangster grills and had placed my drops like my voice on the tape. where he thought it would be dope to hear something. I was like, you know, this guy's fucking... He's a producer. He's insane. The actual producer. He does it all.

Like, he literally does it all. And his, you know, he had just won, he had just won the Grammy for Best Rap Album for an album that he didn't feel was a rap album. Igor was my favorite album of that year. I love Igor. I didn't, I felt it should have won album of the year, period. I love Igor. Should have stayed out of the rap category.

Yeah. But to me, that was my favorite album. And to watch him do Igor and then go right to call me to get home. It's like, where are we ranking Tyler? Because it has to be pretty fucking high. Conversations have to start changing around. Yeah, Tyler has to be on that Mount Rushmore combo when we talk about Drake, Cole. I agree.

And Kendrick. I agree. Yeah, he's there. And Nikki for, you know, and future and Tyler. For sure. I know there's only four people on Mount Rushmore, but if we had to talk about from 2010 and 2020 those like I would have

I would Drake Kendrick Cole Nikki future and Tyler you know that would I think I think Travis creaked up towards the end little later yeah little later but I'm putting Tyler right there Yeah and so like yeah so You know I would I would literally go on the booth

Do my one two and then you know the conversations we had He was like yo bro like I'm really I'm really about to be on my rap shit like Yeah these niggas want to like like almost as if he did speaker box loblow he did and almost as if they played on his on his on his on his on his top where he was like yeah okay like let me show you where i come from he was highly inspired by the feral gangster grills sure you know i don't think there would be a call me if you get lost if there wasn't a feral in my mind the prequel and like you know he would he would like as i was doing my shit in the booth he would just say yo say on a boat. And I would say it and he would be like, oh my God. Late came to the second session, which we had maybe two months after the first one, heard the music. And he literally said right there, yo, y'all, y'all going to win a Grammy for this. And like, you know, as we were working, like, I knew it was special. Like, I knew it was

special. Can we show the Grammy? Oh, of course we can. Can we get the Grammy? There's a Grammy in my house. There's a Grammy on the show. That's kind of cool. And by the way, I was with Rory. This is full circle. I was with you when he found out. He was with me when we found out.

Did you want a Grammy? When I won the Grammy, we were instead of going to the Grammys, I, uh, here it is. That's fire. Dreamville Fest had a DJ drama set, which was one of my favorite festivals, I think, ever. Dreamville Fest had a DJ drama set. It was, it was, and that idea came.

We were in Houston. during the Legends of the Streets tour, which was myself, Jeezie Ross, two chains, fab, little Kim Trina. The next night, Cole had his show. Cole came to the concert, and, you know, we were just, Cole, Ebe, and Sasha, me and Lake,

were up there talking, and we were like, bro, we could, like, this is some shit. Like, this is really supposed to be the Gangster Girls tour. And Cole and Eve and Sasha was like, what it's jean like man i'm in like what we got to do so they came to us with the idea to do a gangst grill set during dreamville so it was you know literally my first i had done something at roots picnic a couple years prior but this was like literally like DJ drama presents gangster grills featuring little wayne ti and gzzi so i get i get to the dreamville in carolina rory's there with me

you know the whole gang's there with me to go So it was the night of the Grammys to go, you know, do our performance as I'm sitting there with Rob Markman and with Wayno. Wayno literally looks at his phone and says, this just in. Call me if you get lost, best rap album. And I'm sitting there doing an interview like, yo, this is literally one of the biggest nights in my career. Like, I win a Grammy and then I go on stage in front of $75,000 and perform with Wayne, Jeezie, and Tip. Talk your shit. How full circle is that?

Get your shit off. Get your shit off, drum. I'm here to tell you to get your shit off, drum. That's what I'm here for. And this is how hip hop drama is, like down to the core. Went from being on FaceTime with Fonte to then hopping on stage with Wayne T.I. GZ. Then getting off to accept his Grammy with Wayno. It's a pretty hip-hop. It's a busy day.

If you go down. Yeah. It's a lot of layers. A lot of layers of hip-hop. Yeah, I'm really from the cloth, man. Like, I, like, I am the epitome of hip hop culture. Like, I am, like, from the top, from run DMC, for me wanting to deed is to this. You paid your dues, brother.

To this, like. And in between Lake kicking people off stage. Yeah, Lake, Lake, man, that was one of, that was a rough night for Lake. Ooh, that was a rough night for Lake. Oh, we can't talk about what was, never mind. Ooh, it was tough. Lake and I talked about it. It was tough.

There was some drama. Late, yeah, late. Lake's a good guy. Listen, man, Lake has been putting a lot of scenarios where he's had his hands full. And he's handled that perfectly. He's an impeccable managerial person. Like the way he juggles and handles it all, it's like, you know, I wouldn't be here if me and Lake. You know, we've been friends since college, but we literally, I think it's been like,

10 years and like maybe just just a little over 10 years where we've had we had a real business relationship and we had done business before like lake's always been there through my career lake interned at rockefella like lake managed dog pound like managed bobby v like you know so like was you know was was was right next to mace for many years and was in a management position so You know, he was out paying his dues, you know, when we were friends before we started to work together. And then, like, you know, I remember when I made Oh my, I told him, I was like, yo, I got a record. And he wound up coming to hear it. And, you know, he heard Omai.

Because I was kind of off making records and songs at the time. Like I was like, I don't know if I want to do this. Then I made Omai. Then, you know, I had left Atlantic, went to E1. And, you know, me and Lake started to, like, Lake, me and Lake, as I was building Mean Streets, I did third power album, which I kind of like, almost like really just kind of rushed and put together. He helped me do that. And then we worked on quality street music together. And we literally were in the studio every day working on that album, which I feel like is my best body of work.

And even when I got my moment, like when T-M-Mintz sent me in my moment beat and I sent it to Jeremiah, Lake told me like, yo, this is going to be your biggest record thus far. And he was correct. And, you know, even with wishing, like, you know, so. And then us coming back to form generation now, like, it was just, you know, I'm really giving him his flowers right now. I know we're talking about training. And I love it.

And I love how he, he don't know how to take compliments. I could tell. He's like me. He's looking down on his phone. He's pretending he's not paying attention. He's a guy. He's now showing shit on his phone. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

You know, first of all, you, let's give him his credit on his drip. Like, he's the fabulous of generations. You know, and you'll never see it twice. His drip is crazy. And, you know, he's one of the smartest people I know. Like, and I'm so thankful to have him, you know, in my corner. And like, as a friend, you know, he holds me to the fire. He's not a yes man.

Yeah. He tells me when I'm fucking up. Very important. You know, and I appreciate that. And, you know, me, him and Ken, and we've known each other so long. So we know, we know our strengths. and we know our weaknesses. We're very open with each other about it,

like about who we are as people. And that, you know, I think we define, like, friends and business can mix. You know what I mean? Right. And, yeah, back to Dreamville. He had a hell of a night trying to, you know, maneuver through that. And we made it happen and it was dope.

I have my favorite video I've ever taken in my entire life is from that night. And I'll insert it here. This was crazy. But, but, but he, he, he warmed up. He warmed up after that. And yeah, by the time we got to like swag surf, he was, he was there. Yeah, he was there, you know, but Wayne's the goat, bro. Like, you know, just even that, like, being a part of his, his story and history.

Like, you know, even thinking about like, like, like, yo, I named dedication, dedication on a whim, on a whim. Not knowing. Not knowing nothing. Wow. Like before, like, before I had heard any music or before Katrina or like before even realizing who Wayne was going to become, like, like, I got to give myself credit for like the genius of the, the, the, the things that come out of my brain.

Like, just name, like, dedication. Like, it's, like, it's so fitting. Him and Pock would, I guess, be the most dedicated rappers as far as sitting in the studio and putting music out. It's so fitting and it's like, yo, like, you know, I said on setty's tape, like, yo, true story. Like, before all this gangster grill shit, like, you know, money was tight. Like, I barely could pay my bills. I almost, I literally almost moved back to Philly and was thinking about, like, damn, this shit just, it might not be it. Like I had a daughter.

Like I wasn't, you know, ends wasn't meeting. And imagine how many classics we wouldn't have today if I would have done that. Like, and I, you know, the song is called Can't Go. So it's like, yo, never, never go back. Like, you know, stay on your path. Right. But be dedicated. Don't give false advice to people like, oh, I'm just going to do this and not be dedicated.

And now you're getting evicted. We got some random rapid fire shit Okay Best Gangsta Grills Mix tape moment And outside of the Fed's worst gangster grills Moment Best Gangster Grills

Mipestate Moment For you Behind the scenes Not like when a record hit But like studio moment Artist moment Conversation moment I mean

Tyler is up there But we've talked about that Too much so I don't, I want to give you all something else. Damn, what else? Can a song count? Of course. Okay, so Outcast was supposed to do a Gangster Grill's.

It's going to be part of my. Wow. Me, their manager at the time, Blue Williams. No Blue. Dre and Big Boy all got on the phone. We were going to do a Gangster Grill's. They were working. It was supposed to come out before.

a wild. Okay. Right. And I got a call and they said, listen, drama, honestly, as much as we want to do it, we don't have the time. Like we're working on the soundtrack and we're working on the movie. But we want to offer you a record for your album, like an Outcast record. Yeah.

And I was like, what? No. Yeah. Yeah, like, okay. Right. also of our greatest song series ever. All right. Storytelling.

Yeah. So for this had to be, this had to be early 2007 or something or maybe late 2006. So I started sending, I started sending Dre, like every hot producer in the game beats. Like I sent them everybody's beats. I'm not going to name no name.

but every you know at the time i was you know i was on fire everybody was sending me beats who was anybody i was sending him and he was turning everything down no no no no no just dr dr dr no no three cents for the uh two thousand i'm just talking about but i was producers of a high caliber he was turning him down the raid happened um i actually had just did jim jones's seven-day theory. Okay. And there's a record on there as fucking fire. The beats fire. What's the name of it? You remember the name of it? The Jim Jones record. Forget the name of it. But it's on the seven day theory. And I asked Canada to make me a beat like that. Right. So he made me a beat similar to that. And as soon as I got out like as soon as like literally days after I got out of jail and the raid happened and everything

I had the beat and I sent it to Lake who was working with Marsha at the time and I told I called her and I was like, yo like listen I need something like like this is not the end for me like I can't be stopped nothing's going to stop us like we're going to keep going and she literally took what I told her and, you know, um, that was her hook. It's crazy because I was, you know, I didn't get any publishing on a record. It's fucked up. You know, at the time I was still young and I wasn't aware. So, um, because I definitely like assisted her and what to say on, on the, on the, on the, on the course.

She sent it right. She sent it back to me. I sent it to, I sent it to 3000. He said, give me 24 hours. And the next day, he sent it. sends me back his verse for the artist for the for that song and I was like damn who should so then I went to go see big and at the time I wasn't even like I didn't know if it was going to be outcast record I just had a 3,000 verse and then Big heard it and he was like oh yeah this is the one

and then he got on it and he named it the artist storytelling part four and yeah it's one of my most my monumental moments in gangster girls history like i have an outcast record you know i'm saying it's in hip hop history it's in hip hop history not just not just gangst grows you know i'm mad at myself again you know being young and you know not knowing what i know now that i didn't we didn't shoot a video for it because andre would have did it i he wanted he asked for 100 000 for the for the video and respectfully the label should have and probably would have paid for I think that was Andre 3000's way of saying, I'm not doing a video.

No, I think he would have did it though. Because he knew, no, I think he would have done it. I think he thought the label was not going to pay that. No, but they should have. They would have. I think they would have, if I would have had the structure of the team that I have now, we'd have definitely gotten it done.

Yeah. And to be honest, that shit probably would have got Grammy nominated as well if we would have went full thrott. Oh, for sure. I agree. I'm not doubt that. And I'm going to tell a worst moment. I'm going to think of a worst moment.

But another thing I am salty about that happened with that album was there was a record and it didn't get cleared. It wound up leaking. It's on the internet. But I had a record that Just Blaze did. It was the first time Just Blaze and little Wayne worked together. Oh, yeah. I know. It was called Million Dollar.

It was called Million Dollar Baby. And I was on that Wayne was spitting. And the hook was me pretty much being his trainer. So there's two versions on the internet. There's a version with me on there. And there's a version without me on that they leaked. Yeah. But there's a diversion with me on there is me actually as his coach talking about,

yo, you got to hit him with a left to the body, stick a move, stick a move. Okay, da-da-da, you know. And at the end of the record, it's like Wayne saying gangster grills, no braces. That was a because I had the Canon record, like I couldn't get to weighing records cleared for the album. So it never made the album and it wound up leaking sometime after. Do you play the Diddy Interlude at Thanksgiving dinners? Is that like a tradition? or?

I should. Yeah, I should. That's a hell of it. You know, your first album is like, I think I had like 20 songs on there. So I was just... All the favors that you was owed. I was trying to do the most.

Like, yeah. Just over the top. It's your first album. You're going crazy. Everything. Like, I had fucking D-DOT doing skits and Puff doing skits. And Riggs was setting up the whole Fed situation. Like, you know.

Well, that was towards... I don't want to say the demise, but GUNIT was kind of breaking up at that time. Was there talks of 50 being on the, because it's what, Banks, Yale and Buck? It's Banks, Yale, and Bucks. I don't know what, you know,

I didn't have the relationship with Fifth then that I have now. I did try to get them on a song and we couldn't get them on a record. But, of course, I definitely won it 50 on the song and on the album. But, you know, that was it

that was what during like what the Curtis era so yeah that's probably yeah I get money was out

yeah fifth was fucking on fire so yeah I wasn't able to get 50 for that out do you think

um Andre 3,000 should have fucked homie's girl she was already cheating I mean I'm not in the fucking other niggas

girl so I'm gonna say no yeah that was kind of weird um yeah what's a It's a story.

Call me when y'all break up. Why haven't we gotten a Rick Ross, gangster growth? We've just, we've missed it. You know, there was a time early on on Def Jam where it did come up and it didn't happen. But there's no, there's no, like, there should definitely be one. So, and there could still potentially be one. I mean, I'm definitely down to work with Ross.

I love Ross. I was one of his first supporters, you know, with Hustling. I'm the first person to ever play Hustling outside of Miami. And I broke it on Atlanta radio. When we had Gangsta Girls Radio, you know, I'm in the video. I think Syphus Sounds might argue with you. He might. I mean, he was in New York, but, you know, Calid played it first in Miami.

And, like, I can definitely say I was the first in Atlanta. I'm just trying to start DJ. Jeefeef, shout my man, Sife. But yeah, we definitely were very early on that record. And I was there very early on in Ross's career. And we've always had a great relationship. You know, he's done, we've had, he was on a record. Just recently I did 360 a couple of years ago with him in West Side Gunn.

I have a record on my album called Clouds on Quality Street music with Miguel Ross. Puscher and currency. So, yeah, me and Ross, you know, yeah, that's my guy. Like, that's, you know, I just think it's one of those, one of those ones that got missed, you know. It definitely sounds crazy that Ross doesn't have a gangster. Yeah, that's why I think push too. It's definitely crazy. You know, when I tweeted that the other day, a lot of people were saying push his names.

But I did do a clips tape. Yeah. We did, I did, uh, I did, uh, got it for cheap volume three. So, so yeah, I mean, in the sense, I would like to see re-up gang, gangsta grills. Yeah. That, that would be. But a re-up, it was a re-up gang. It was re-up gang.

We got it for cheap volume three. Yeah. Outside of music. Wait, so you said the word, what was the, the, oh, yeah, the worst. I'm sorry. We did miss that. What was the question? The worst moment.

Aside from the feds. What was the, in gangsteggrials, mixtape series. It may be some shit that the public never knew. something in the studio versus that didn't come in. Well, two, I mean, the biggest, the biggest mistakes of my career are two things. When I moved, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when's, girl started into my first condo, I bought my first condo, you know, I had just gotten into magazines and, you know,

I was filling myself. And I had a box of every flyer that I had, my name had ever been. been on. That's amazing. Like since fucking 93 or 94 to 2005. And I had and it and it was all in one box of my flyers. When I moved, my landlord called me and said, yo, you left this box behind. Oh shit. And I was like, I don't need it. Because I was like, I'm in magazines now. Like I don't need those flyers. And he threw it out. Years later, there was a DJ from Chicago named DJ Drama who sent a cease and desist to Atlantic and said, I own the name DJ Drama. If you guys put this album out, but DJ Drama, I'm going to sue you.

So my first two albums on Atlantic, just say drama. They don't say DJ Drama. I had to buy the name from the rapper, who was at the time incarcerated drama, who was signed to Atlantic. So I paid him 10 grand to use the name drama because I tried to give the DJ Drama, guy 50 grand he wouldn't accept it i hired a private investigator to go hunt him down couldn't find them yeah and then at the time my lawyer told me well if you can prove that you've been using that name for x amount of years and you don't have the box of flyers no yeah i threw all my

fucking flyers out crazy and just for memorabilia like where i am in my career now like yeah the fact that i don't have that is like and at t-space the whole shit yeah i was feeling yourself I was feeling my fuck them flies I'm in magazines now I'm going to fuck it So at the same time When I moved

I put all my record collection All my all my photo albums All that stuff in storage I had a storage unit

From 2005 till To my knowledge To now Just recently I went looking for it Right When COVID

I had this other phone I had another phone number It was a T-Mobile And the phone was broke and the T-Mobile stores were closed.

And that's how I used to pay my bill for my storage unit. Okay. Call me on that number. And by the time the T-Mobile, for some reason, I couldn't push 6-1-1 to open to get into the phone, right? So by the time the T-Mobile stores opened up and I went to go get the phone fix, they were like, oh, I'm sorry, we get, we don't have that number anymore. And I'm like, yo, you fucks. I've been with you off from 15 years. Like, how do you just not, how can you not give me the number?

COVID. I couldn't come into the store. Yeah. So I couldn't get the number back. So then, and again, I moved into my house in 2017. If I was smart, I would have went to my storage unit, took everything out and put it into my crib where I had space. Just recently, I started to want to go on a search to go find the storage unit because it had been so long. I didn't even remember where it was. My assistant shot to Michaelo, she finally found it. She was on Storage Wars.

She finally found it. Found it. I called them up and they said, oh, yeah, we sold it up. We auctioned it off. Of course. And I was like, yo, like, no, like, bro, that was my whole life. Yeah. So, you know, I guess the laws of storage is after 90 days, they're able to auction it off if you don't pay the bill.

And I was like, yo, I tried to explain it to them. And I was like, look, I understand the records are probably gone. but those photo album like that's history i have i had pictures of laren hill like holding my mixtape when i first got to atlanta like just shit like oh whoever bought that unit they thought they got some shit but if they're not into hip-hop hold on no that's the scam so then so i called him i was like yo if please like i'm a public figure like i know this is going against it can y'all please just help me track it down like i just want to see if i can kind of come up on it So then I want, so mind you, then I did the map from 2005 to 2020.

So they basically wound up telling me they auctioned it off November 1st. I mean, I'm sorry, November 20th, 2020. So between 2005 and 2020, I literally paid them 25 grand in monthly fees for the storage unit. I said, how much did you auction it off for? It says somebody bought it for $393.93 and $13. Is that an angel number? Not even $400. Probably has that at a pawn shop and West Bubblefunk,

no one's going to buy it. Hold on. If it was in the middle of Atlanta, maybe somebody would buy it. So then I'm like, I'm like, so then they were like, yeah, we didn't have any way to contact you. I guess the business is changed. So they didn't have an email. You know, the lady that worked there felt bad.

I was like, yo, can you at least, you know, I gave her a couple dollars on the side to try to help me find the person who bought it. Give a $400. Overpay. Found the guy. He's an older white man who buys storage units. He didn't want to, he was like, you know, you know, because people, that's people's lively.

Oh, no. He was like, yo, I don't want to be, I don't want to be known. She wound up calling him on his side. He tells her, I sold all the records to a store in Atlanta. and I threw out all the photo albums. Jesus Christ. Yo, that's crazy. That hurts.

The two biggest mistakes of my career. Yeah, that hurts. That hurts. That hurts. It hurts, bro. Yeah, that hurts. The record collection, the photo albums, my flyers. Like, that's literally my legacy.

Yeah. That I don't. That's your paper trail. Pass off the kids, yeah. Sad, bro. So, yeah. Anybody out there watching this, like, yo, hold on to your shit. Don't feel yourself too much.

Right. Even if you get a man. Be a hoarder in a good way. Yeah. Like hoard your history. Like your memorabilia. Like even for when my story's told, like when it's time to do the documentary, like. Yeah.

Yeah, that hurts. It hurts my soul, bro. Yeah. It hurts my soul. Well, this was on my rapid fire. Good transition. Where do you find fulfillment outside of work and family? I'm a movie buff.

So I literally. whether it's on my computer or at the house or in my theater room in my crib or going to the movies, like I watch movies, movies, movies, documentaries. What's your favorite godfather? Two. Yeah, definitely two. Favorite Martin Scorsese movie? Either the departed or raging bull.

Okay. I mean, there's taxi driver. Shutter Island Underrated Yeah Shutter Island's dumb underrated Um Oh I'm tripping

Goodfellas I'm bugging I was I mean This ain't hip hop If you don't say Goodfellers Yeah Goodfell is number one

Yeah Departed might be number two But just just shows Drama's career As far as doing Raging Bull to then departed That's Yeah

That's gangster grills With TI And then that's Jack Harlow Like Just totally different sides of his career I look at my career like a director.

Yeah, raging bull at the beginning and then departed was the new generation. Yeah, my bad. I mean to leave out Goodfellas like that. I was over there. We got to say Casino too. I've lived that. Now, we and Rory talked about this just last week.

Okay. Goodfellas or Casino. Goodfellas. Agreed. I don't know, man. Goodfellas. A casino, man. And it's going to sound offensive.

I don't even think it's even close. Casino is too personal to me. Like. You lost a lot in Vegas or? No, I just, I've had gingers in my life. Oh, yeah. That's why it's a better movie. Because you can relate to it more.

Nah, I need to. Nah, man. It has to be a better movie for that. Too relatable. That's what I'm saying. So those are the best movies. Oh, I can't. You can't relate.

Yeah, but if you're going to relate to something as someone that has had a few genders themselves, yeah. It's not the one thing you want to relate to. I don't need to watch this movie. It's bringing back bad memories. Yeah. Nothing Henry Hill did I've done before, so it's fun to watch.

Lake wound up watching it recently. It was like, bro, I watched it. I was like, damn, this is your life. That's crazy. Classic fucking movie. No shots. At Ginger? Yeah.

At Martin Scorsese. Yeah, rest of piece of Ray Leota, too. Yeah, man. Yeah. And besides that, vacationing. I'm a war. If I wasn't a DJ, I would want to be a surfer. I said this on Future the Movie, you know,

because, you know, I ride waves better than anyone. Like, you know, my waves have lasted. longer, you know what I'm saying? Like, I'm a surfer. Like, the way I've navigated through hip hop has been like a surfer. Like, I came up watching the roots and fucking DJN for Bahamadilla

to being a part of TI and GZ to Uzi and Jack Harlow and now Tyler and like, you know, I'm the silver surfer. Have you surfed on vacation? I've never, no. The white side. Don't tell me you never got in the water

and surfed out. I'm going to be our next segment. Three of us are going to an island and we are going to take surfing lessons. Any war, like my dream goal is to, oh, I'm a fish. Okay. Like snorkeling when they try to give you the life.

Yeah. Get that shit out of here. I'm jumping right in. No vest. Okay. Like, so I'm a fish when it comes to water. Like, I love water. I love vacationing where there's water.

And, you know, with something soft next to me. Absolutely. Yeah. It's not a vacation. Yeah. Yeah. I like that's a vacation. I like having some.

I like having some. I like having some. Yeah. But, um, but yeah, movies and vacations with oceans, you know, those are, those are where I find tranquility. Okay. Well, listen, man. I just want you to, um, oh, last question, versus who wins you or DJ Callie? So.

How about we just do it and let's see who wins? Okay. I'm with you. Do we throw a call? Clue in the mix? You can throw anybody in the mix. And let's see who wins. I like, that's the JD energy.

Whenever we're saying, Puff, Dr. JD's like, let's just do it. Yeah. No one else wants to do it. You know, I want all the smoke. I want all the smoke. And, you know, salute the Clue and salute to Calut.

Like, you know, both guys have, you know, I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for DJ Clue. Right. And Cala to set the bar for DJs to an incredible level. Absolutely. You know? But yeah, when it comes down to verses, like what? Like, I got a lot of cultural records.

Absolutely. Like, I am not to be underestimated. So, like, you know, I see Swizz and Tim going through something with verses. But, like, you know, I've been calling niggas out first. over a year now. Like, what? If my name comes, if they wanted to happen, I'm I'm ready. I'm

taking anybody. And it comes when it comes to that space. And like, yeah, do I get to play Little Uzi Verne and Jack Harlow? Because that's part of my repertoire too. Why wouldn't you? Absolutely. Yeah, if it's all my mixtape, I'm playing it. And it's my song. I just think there's a lot of stuff before you get to Uzi. And as much as I love Uzi and Jack. I just, I don't know if they even make the 20.

Yeah. It's a lot of shit. I don't know. I want to see it. Set it up. I want to see it. Set it up. I know you did mixstates for Fab and for Wayne, but how did you feel witnessing me smoke mall in the Wayne versus Fab versus on live during COVID?

Ma, what happened? That's what I want to know. A lot of the records that, first of all, in all fairness, anytime you say first of all, you know some bullshit is coming. I didn't want to do it that night. But Rory was adamant on doing this. I said, I said, I let's do it. We announced it.

I didn't realize a lot of the Fab records that I wanted to play. were not a vet. Like I had to go to like other apps to get them. Like I had to go to Datpiff. I had to go and it was just like... It was a mixed tape versus. Yeah, but I thought I had a lot of that in my laptop already.

But I didn't because I had a whole new laptop. And I just wasn't prepared for that. So you were dipset. Absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah, you didn't come prepared. Absolutely. Absolutely.

For sure. And I was kissed when said, yo, you, tech, throw something on. Yeah, Rory. Yeah. But I still think that FAB doesn't get enough credit for his mixed tape. And I think you're part of the reason.

Of course. I mean, even Fab's, even Fab's versus should have went different. Like, you know, he was too laid back and not prepared. Like, you know, kiss in his verses came war ready. Like, you know. And when you add in the locks in Bad Boy era,

Fab is a legend, but it's tough to go against that type of shit. Yeah, I mean, I mean, you know, Fab is one of my favorites of all time. And the way he's navigated his, career and is, you know, through 20 years, like I don't think he even gets the credit he deserves for his bars. Like, even with the new record, even with forever, like, you know, that verse is a little older. Yeah. And like, when I told him, I was ready to put the record out, he was mad at me because he was like, yo, like, that old-ass verse. I'm like, nigger, like, you're, it's still

out. Like, you're spitting. Like, stop it. Like, I could see if it was like an old reference in there that was like that time stamped Yeah that Tom stamped it But it wasn't like in Fab is you know Fab is is is one of those You know one of the greats with you know Great bars and Wayne versus fab is a hell of a hell of a Verses but yeah you got smoked

Yeah it was bad it's okay I'm sorry it happens And those are two guys that you know I was on there because you know I was so hyped that it was two guys that I had so much like music with too So you know from a from an egotistical standpoint. I was just...

It was going to be you. Yeah. I was just hyped to hear my drops and my voice all through it. And I was all in the comments. Like, yeah. Yeah, it was fun. I kind of missed...

That was probably the better part of COVID. When we was just trying to find ways to be entertained. I feel like Versus was better in that. Although, I'm glad we got the locks and dips where we got us. Yeah. Yeah.

I'm glad we got Gizi and Gucci and the same room. That would have never happened on Versus. I think... Probably would have been safer if it would have been on the phone. It was a safe night. I was there. It was a good night.

Yeah. I mean, it was a bunch of of them. Like, DMX is snoop. But again, like, I think the culmination of what dip set and the locks was, like, I'm sure y'all felt the same way. Like, I was literally in front of my television, like a 13-year-old girl watching a Justin Bieber concert. Oh, I still re-watched. It was.

It was. I still re-watched. We just watched it on the bus, like, on tour. Like, I'll just throw this on TV. The thing I didn't like before was online. Everybody had, like, even Roy did the dips is going to kill him. I'm like, y'all don't know. The Lox was signed with like, Rough Ruffrodis and Bad Boy.

I don't remember saying that. This was the other podcast. I know. And I remember saying that Dips will get New York, but Lox has the world. And everyone killed me for saying that. It's the other way around. I'm like, no, it's not. No, I went on.

I feel like you had the Dips want to know. I did. I went on, I went on y'all ex's show. He called me. My ex's show. And I went. Another ginger. he called me and you know I was on there saying that I thought dips was going to take it I guess

I don't know if he had heard I said it but we we had it out and I had to call and apologize that I was wrong and then style and then on a breakfast club I guess styles caught caught that um that I said that and when they asked him they was like yo who are you upset about that like you know counted y'all out and style's like I draw I'm like I did it gangster girls with drum. Like, how did drum count me out? And I was like, damn. And then kids was like,

nah, drama's getting too much money. He doesn't even know what's going on. And that's not true. I'm taking my flowers because we were at the Lloyd Banks concert backstage and I told P. right before they did it, a few days,

I said, if y'all don't come out to fuck you, you shouldn't play it. Oh, you called that one? And Stiles gave me the credit afterwards and said, yeah, when I seen Rory, he said,

play fuck you first. That's the way to start. Yeah, no, I had the locks. You did? Yeah, he didn't. And you had. Listen, it was recorded, so I could be totally wrong, but I know for a fact I told you.

Lake had the locks. You can't be signed with bad boys and the rough riders. It's just too much shit there, bro. But what I will say is the locks benefited from the way the platform was at the time. If it would have been old verses on the phones, it would have been different. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because of us seeing their chemistry as a group and because of their showmanship, Yeah.

And, you know, dipset, like... And Kiss is a better rap than people think. Yeah, like, if we'd have just been at home, they would have been playing songs, it would have rang off a little different.

But the locks put on a master class, like, you know? Legendary. And I would do the same fucking thing if I get my verses. Mm-hmm. I'm really like that. And now I think about him versus Callie,

because Calib, we know, is obviously extremely charismatic and talks, but I think you would be his, match in that, I think you could beat Khalid in the Paul's the talk game too. Set it up. Calid might outperform you. I think, I think Rock Nation, not to bring you back to it.

They would have to set it. Hold on, wait. Did you, did you not, oh, you see, you lost your wallet. So you don't, you didn't see what I did on stage. At Barclays, no, you don't, you don't see. He got robbed is what he meant. Go to my Instagram. So you got to see what I do on stage.

Okay. Yeah. Yeah, I'm really like that. Okay. Like, I'm the full package. All right. Yeah. Nobody's outperforming me.

All right. I'm going to see it happen. Oh, and I didn't even get the connection between Tyler's beef with Khalid. Oh, yeah, this could get, this could get messy. This could get really messy. I just want to beat it. Because you got to bring Tyler out against Khalid. Oh, yeah.

Oh, yeah. Yeah. I forgot about it. Yeah, I played my fucking Grammy Award winning album. Right. Yeah. So, yeah. Let's make it happen.

It'll be fun. Versus got to make that happen. It would be great for the culture, man. No, absolutely. Caled is an enormous figure within the culture. He's done some amazing things. No, Cal is a goat. Cald is a goat.

You know, I don't know if you get him on here if he's going to tell you the same about me, but. No. Calid will only talk to Elliot Wilson. He won't talk to him. Yeah. I don't have a problem with salute and anybody in the game. I'll give them their flowers well deserving.

But listen, I am like if we talk in verses and we talk in 20 records, I'm ready to go. I'm ready to go. Callad plays Wild Thoughts. What do you play? I'm not telling. Okay. I like it.

I like it. I'm not telling you. I'm trying to get this moving. But guess what? We've talked about it. We got it all set out. You have your set ready to go. I'm ready to go.

Then do we do... Respectfully, there's going to be certain artists that might have to do some records with him and then do some with me. Yeah. We definitely have... Work with the same artist. Yeah, yeah.

You know what I'm saying? That would actually be great how they did the... Locks and Dipset where it was like 15 minutes, 15 minutes. Yeah. Wayne 15 minutes back and forth. I mean, Wayne would probably get exhausted. But if you did per artist for rounds and then do Lake versus Lenny S for the undercard. Because there was a verse, there is a versus.

Look at that undercard. Lake versus Lenny. I'm taking Lake. There was a verses, wasn't there verses where artists had to come out and do a song with both or not as an. happen yet. No, you were talking about, he's talking about Ray J and R SvP, Sammy, Bobby V. Pleasure Vee. That was a great one, too.

That was a fucking classic night, babe. That was a classic night. We got a great group out of it, too. We got that for free. Have y'all watched, do you all watch Bobby V and Ray J on live? Yes. It is the funniest. I'm waiting for the show.

Did you see the one where they were like harmonizing and Ray was like, now you go. No, no, no, no, no. It's like this. It's the greatest shit ever. Yo, them Nick. By accident. There. That's the greatest action

that culture has ever gotten. We need that TV show. That's hilarious. Well, we've catch your hair long enough. Yeah, we appreciate you coming by kicking it with us, man. We wanted to just salute you and say, congrats on everything, bro. I appreciate that.

I feel like your name is not mentioned enough when we start talking about labels and executives. Like, we definitely need to start mentioning you more. So we appreciate you coming by kicking with us, man. I thank you, man. And salute on the Grammy, because that's fucking huge. Thank you. Are we allowed to talk about the shit you and I trying to put together?

Should we wait? Not trying to put together. Can we teach? We could tease it a little bit. Yeah. There is some podcast, gangsta grills. There's something in the works. Centered.

Yeah. Shout to, Synergy, all the buzzwords. Shout to my brother, King of Barris. Yes. Shout to King of Barris. And Weezy.

He's, go ahead. Not the rapper. Just Weezy. Weezy the podcast. Shout to Weezy. She said she was going to come out. She's doing her podcast right now. Congratulations to her too.

but yeah definitely have some gangster girls podcast uh situations in the works which i'm i'm really excited about yeah so dope well thank you man we appreciate you we'll see you soon we got to come catch you on the road coming one of the shows i got to see the show because i didn't see it up yeah please do because when you just said that about showmanship and on stage i got to come see it i'm so i'm sorry i apologize thank you bro we appreciate you you wanted me to talk about shit i've been talk about shit oh you yeah i love it i appreciate that um congrats to y'all man all the success and everything. Thank you.

Appreciate you, man. Love. No. On the Look Back at it podcast. From 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84 was big to me. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English.

Each episode, we picky here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. With our friends, fellow comedians, and favorite authors. Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s. 84 was a wild year. It was a wild year. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Listen to Look Back.

on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifers Show.

This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. So let's get to it. Listen to The Clifford Show on the IHeard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok podcast network on TikTok. On the senior show podcast, each episode invites you into a raw, unfiltered conversations about recovery, resilience, and redemption. On a recent episode, I sit down with actor, cultural icon, Danny Trail, talk about addiction, transformation, and the power of second chances. The entire season two is now available to bench featuring powerful conversations with the guests like Tiffany Addish, Johnny Knoxville, and more.

I'm an alcoholic. Without this truth, I'm going to die. Listen to the Cino's show on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed human.