No Jumper - Ray Daniels on Past Beef with Adam, The Death of Street Rap, The "Steroid Era" of Rap & More

Episode Date: February 25, 2026

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My dog. Hello everyone. How's how about your doing that? Yeah, I hear you talk about your team a lot, so now. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. It's the team, man. I don't travel about myself ever. Ever?

Nah, bro. I always keep somebody with me, somebody with me. I'm kind of a lone wolf. I'm constantly getting called out by people for being alone in public, yeah. And you got swamped at that YB concert I saw. I'm like, why the fuck? But you know what it's crazy is everybody was acting so surprised about that? And I'm like, you really think, like, people are surprised that I got a bunch of 18-year-old black kids who love me.

I'm like, what do you think I'm doing that? out here. Bro, you like, you're like, what's my man name, Gene Oakland from wrestling? You know, like, you're like the referee out here. Like, all those, they know YB, they know you. Yeah, I just keep care. I just, I've been, I've been in this shit for a long time.

So I just, I treat myself like a new artist. Like, you know, the mistakes you see artists make, like, if you move like you there already, you won't have no problems getting there. Most of us can't get there because we ain't moving like we there. We're moving like, I get there. I get ready when I'm there. Nah, you got to like you there already, bro. So, but isn't that just fake it until you make it?

Well, I don't think it's fake. I think it's more preparation. I think if you're preparing, like, I always tell people, stop praying. Like, everybody pray. I'm like, you could pray, but right after you pray, go prepare. Because I, like, I'm a person that people pray to meet. And when they meet me, I want to get, like, you know, I want to change your life. I want to give you that.

And then I see you ain't ready. Right. Like, damn, you was praying, but you weren't preparing, bro. You didn't think it was going to happen, did you? 100%. Yo, so No Jumper, Coolest Podcasts, the world we're in here today with Ray Daniels, one of the brightest minds in the music business and somebody who's really taking the podcast of space

very serious, doing a lot more content and stuff at this point. How you doing? I'm amazing, man. Things are happening. Nah, I'm excited to have you in here. Yeah, we started off on... I was saying, we should talk about how we met. We started off on a weird foot. I'm trying to summon the details, but you were on another podcast and you said... I was on the radio, and basically, so I said, it's weird because I'll be honest with you, Adam. I got rules in my house. Like, we don't say names of people that we don't know. Okay.

Right. Like, so say it's somebody in my house and they say a name on love of hip hop. Like my girl say a love of hip hop in there. I'm like, don't say any name in my house. Oh, just in the house, though. You can talk about when you're in the car. In the streets all day. Oh, interesting.

In the house, it's something about saying people in the house. So my point is that when I said your name, I was, because I was thinking about it. I was like, because I like this podcast shit. I really believe like this is like the shit, the future. I think podcasting is actually kill artists because more access. And people, I'd rather hear you talk because I'd rather get to know you. It's like the. Well, you're building.

Well, you're built for it. Yeah. Because in the music industry, you're kind of expected to be quiet and off to the side. You seem like you have a hard time shutting up. I f***ed it up. So let me just, let me tell what happens. I'm on their radio station and they're like, you know, we talk about the complex list of all the podcasts and nobody from Atlanta was on there.

And they was like, and I'm like, and I'm a, I'm a thinker. So when I see it, I'm like, all right, how did he get here? How did he get here? What do he do? And they said, I was like, we can't be Adam Vlad in academics. By the way, these are my favorite podcasts. So this is not like, but it came off. Like I'm like, I'm really just telling my people, hey, look, my, we can't do what they do in this city

because you know Atlanta is different. It's like we're in here right now. Like, if this is Atlanta, the assistant will be a girl, she'll have a gun on her. It's just in Atlanta, like, it's not like LA and New York. If you go to New York, you know, like, you get a call with a gun. That's three and a half years. In Atlanta, I'm going to tell when it hit me, I was in the studio one day and I saw this famous Atlanta rapper, swear to God.

He walked around with a chopper this big around the studio. for me, I'm like, what the fuck is he doing? So my guy's like, you know, n-hs like that. They like to do that in Atlanta because he can't do that in New York. So I'm like, oh, so I'm only saying like, in Atlanta, like, bro, like, I be real beefs. Right. And it'd be like, it don't be the big dogs. It'd be everybody has guns.

You can walk in Walmart and buy a gun. Right. I can walk in Walmart and buy a chopper. Right. As long as you ain't got none of your record, you can buy a chopper. But, okay, there's a weird dynamic in L.A. where you go to the mall and you see all these dudes and they might be 40, they might be with their family, but they got a little fanny pack on them that I know what's in it.

The cops probably know what's in it. Like, they can't say nothing about it. But it's like, you know, dudes are really out here taking chances. It's not like New York, where New York, you are, you are, you get caught with a hang guy. I had a friend in L.A. And first friend, like, I've been coming to L.A. for 20 years since 2006. And I had a friend like three years ago, he had a gun on him. He was like, I'm like, what are you doing with that?

What are the laws out here, as a matter of fact? He said, no, I get caught with this is some shit. Yeah. And that's all I'm saying. And I'm like, and when you know it's drama and there's some shit, I might want to hurt that dude, but hey, he got, he's packing. Right. He got, that's why Atlanta has so many shootings. If Atlanta has violence, bro, I could tell exactly what the reason is.

Like, Atlanta's a predictable place. Like shooting outside of nightclub, of course. You want to know why? We all drunk. We all high. We partying. Somebody beat me up. Everybody got guns in the car.

Yeah. So if he, if he gets his ass with, we all know he run into the car. We know he's not leaving. Right. He's coming back to shoot. So Atlanta's a place where. You could just tell, but I was only saying, like, that's Southern hospitality. So I said your name.

And then it came off like I was saying Atlanta's gangster. And I'm like, dog, I'm, let me tell you some, bro. I want to be so far away from gangster shit. I want to be so far away. So I was like, no, I was more worried about the perception that I'm saying Atlanta's hard. I'm more like, I'll talk to fucking Adam because he does this. Like I do this. You kind of understand when your name gets you catch a stray because you hot.

I mean, I could have said a nobody name, but I mean, everybody. know you. So that was me. To me it was more of a compliment. But, you know, when you came around, you came to Atlanta and I was hitting everybody. And that's another thing. I'm a real person. Like, I'm not going to go in there, be like, yo, Adam, come see me. Like, I'm like, dog, I'm going to see this guy. Right. And I seen you at Rolling Loud. And by the way, I'm with, I'm only there with one of my guys and my son, who's 16. And my son is like, oh shit, Dad, you go, Adam 22. And I'm like, I'm going to go over and speak to him. You know him? I'm like, well, I don't know him, but we kind of said something. But I wanted you

see like, bro, it ain't no shit with me, bro. Like, I just be trying to, I'm just, what I do at them

is I always say, I'm like, I'm like a guy on the yellow brick road that somebody's praying to me. Right. Like, it's like the

yellow brick road of life. Like, I'm off to see the wizard and you run into Ray and I'm like, let me tell you what the real is. Right. That's how I see myself. So sometimes when I see young people

trying to feel like they can't be you, I'm like, bro, he's different. He's a white man. He's a white man. He's not even a bad thing. It's like, you can be a different character in wrestling

than I can be in wrestling. It's like, if we're looking at it from a wrestling standpoint, you can say certain things that I can't say. So sometimes I just want people to know, like, yo, Adam plays by different rules than we do because he's a white guy.

By the way, I wish I could fuck bitches with my girl on a podcast. But I'm a black guy. It's just certain shit that we can't, nah. We could. Adam, if I do,

everybody black going to stare at me like, you a weird motherfucker. But everybody does that to me too. Yeah, but it's different, though. because you get money doing it. It's still like, I don't know if I could do it. I wish I could, though.

But people are constantly reminding me of the fact that I get to do mad shit that black people don't feel the freedom to do. Like, you can, I can dress like shit. I can never wear jewelry. I could like, you know, have a regular ass car, all this shit. And like many times throughout my life, I remember the first time I really realized because I wrote BMX for all these years in New York, and there's these two like 16, 17-year-old Puerto Rican kids

that were riding around with me and they had Jordans on. And I look at them and I go, what the fuck you wearing $120 shoe? shoes on to ride bikes and they go, you don't get it. You can get pussy wearing vans. Yes. We can't. Like, we got to be fresh. And what they said that really fucking me up, they said, there isn't that much separating

us from the bums. Like a girl going to really look at me like a bum if my shoes ain't nice. And I'm just so taken aback about that. And over the years, I've kind of, it makes more sense to me. I tell people, it's this guy named Mike Karen. I'll show you know Mike. Mike is my guy. Mike can pull up the sign somebody and he can pull up in dockers and some khakis and a t-shirt and

a T-shirt and an Uber X. When Pee pull up, he need to have the Rose Royce, the security. Same artists. They'll accept that from Mike, but they don't. So I'd just be trying to show people like, yo, bro, we can't play those games. I know you think you can, but this is how you win. We got to win another way. So that's what I was saying, but it came up like that.

But like, bro, I want to say this. Like, I love what you built. And the reason why it's hard. And a lot of people don't understand like, yeah, it's a lot of entertainment. But this is really like a reality show going every day. And our job is a fine viewers. Yeah. And if I can't find viewers, don't get me wrong, we have fun filming, but we ain't got no money tomorrow.

And I don't know what we're going to do. So it's, I just be wanting people to be prepared for this shit. And I just want to give you that because, you know, I want to say that on camera. No, I appreciate you. I respect greatness. Because I respect people who are willing to change their mind when they're presented with contradictory evidence. And with you at first, I'm seeing it. And I'm like, who the fuck is this guy?

But then I keep seeing clips of you. And I'm like, ah, God damn it. I like this guy. And he's super smart. and there's like the exact kind of person that I want to have conversations with on camera. By the way, I said that I was like, he don't even know that he's going to fuck with me.

I just said your name in a way because I'm like, hey, nigger, it's like you come into a party. It's like when you tell your kids, hey, they can jump off the motherfucking rail and break shit. We can't. This ain't our shit. Let's come in the right way and do it the right way. Then we can break shit.

Like my kids can break shit now, but I couldn't. Right, but okay, I just did interview with Sean Cotton and he's had a bunch of success in the music business, to sign an artist and stuff like that. He dresses regular as hell. No jewelry. He come in, white t-shirt, basketball shorts.

He don't give a fuck. But at the same time, I do feel like he's maybe leaving something on the table by not necessarily playing into that because his community probably would perceive him as being more successful if he was a donning all this garb every day when he leaves the house. You have to. And especially in our business, you have to. Like, I will walk up the places and it would be people,

I will sign artists and there'll be people asking me to meet people that's not in the music business. Like, I would have an artist saying, yo, can you introduce me to Gary V? I'm like, why the fuck do you want to know Gary V? And they're like, he just knows. And I'm like, you think Gary Vee knows more about music than, and by the way, it wasn't even a bad thing.

It was like, so I've started thinking like a business, man. I'm like, man, if a label made Gary Vee to CEO, how many of these young artists were flocked to Gary V's label because they know he there? So I was like, I'm going to be Gary Vee of music. Yeah. And I went to, but the music business frown this. So me talking dog, like, I didn't get,

The first six months, I remember when I started my pot. I'm like, I'm going to start a pot. I called a couple of friends. Which was what, three years ago? No, like three and a half years ago. Like right around August, I was like, I'm going to start it. So I called a couple friends and they was like, nah, I'll wait to that shit really to that shit.

And I'm like, but I need you now. Yeah. So you start realizing like, so I had to go out on my own and just start a pod talking. And it really was puff that helped me. Puff really kind of saved my shit because. The post? Yes. Okay, the R&B thing.

Yes. That changed my life. Which I actually just Googled Ray Daniel's R&B dead and Google told me Ray Daniels is not dead. So I know you are alive. Google told me today. Yeah, but I posted that post and Puff posted it and then the copycat league. Everybody like, yo, I'm going to come to your show.

I'm going to your show and I'm like, oh, okay. But niggas are scared of me at first because I'm revealing things that they don't want, but I'm like, if we don't, this is what I say. You have to leave from the front now. That's the problem that people don't understand. You can't be the CEO in the back. Like, you don't know what the CEO Mercedes is. You don't know the CEO of Toyota is.

You don't know the CEO of Chevy is, but we all know the CEO of Tesla is. And that's why Tesla's worth more than all of them put together. That's true. We are the most valuable NFL team is who? The fucking Cowboys, Jerry Jones. So I think we're starting to figure out

that's why Rich Paul does a podcast. Everybody realizes you've got to leave from the front now. Like, you're more of a rock star than any RAC CEO. If I was a fucking label head, I would give no jumper a deal and just say, go sign whatever you fucking want. But they don't need, They don't want that you around because you're cool of it.

We're like, Yo Gotti. I ain't as cool as him. But you are as cool as him in the white world. Like, you don't have to do what he did. You don't have to play by the same rules he did. But what I'm saying is that yo Godi is still, as big as Yo Gotti is, he had to still earn that shit. Yeah.

He was still at Epic. Signed to Epic and had to do a label dealer at Enoscope. Why? That tells me something. You don't think he went to Epic first and said, I want to do a label deal and go big. And they probably said, we're looking at how much money you owe us.

We don't know if we want to add more debt on top of that. So now you got to go to Interscope. But look, Epic missed out on money bag, yo. And Gorilla and all that shit. So a lot of it be, you know, you just got to play the game. But if I'm a label head, I would give you that. So I've always thought like that. Okay.

But so you, like, for people who don't know, you really like establish yourself in the game, managing artists and songwriters and everything like that. So somebody says something about you on my show one day. Okay. You interview Acon. Shut up. Acon was saying, he said, I managed it, I had this group named Rock City that ran 40% of radio. And I had to fight with their manager.

And they manager. We fought. I'm the manager. Oh, that was you. Wow. Yes, I'm the manager. So I'm the guy. So I came in a business serving, like, I was like a dealer.

Like, I didn't know it, by the way. I was just serving labels. Like, that's how I knew everybody because everybody called me for records. So I've had hit records on the radio every year since 2007. I've had at least two records on the radio every year since 2007 hit records. But did you find yourself in a lull as far as artists? Because I heard you on another podcast expressing like frustration of how difficult it is. dealing with artists over and over, like,

did that ultimately kind of push you into the space of doing content? I was mad, no, no, no. What pushed me into the space of doing content was, I'm seeing vice president of Interscope. And when you got that SVP title, everybody wants you. Like, I'm the SVP. Everybody should be calling me.

And everybody was calling me, but they gave me a list of people that I need to call. Yo, this is hot, this is hot, this is hot. So now I'm chasing people. So now to see, that's SVP of Enoscope where I remember used to chase. Shakir, you had to chase KP to get them now. I'm chasing people. So I'm like, this ain't how it's supposed to be. Like I thought being a rock star executive, man, people chase you.

So when I started chasing people, I was realized, I'm like, yo, I never again, I'm telling the CEO of Warner. I said, he was the president of Nescobe at the time. I said, the revolution is taking place outside and we're going to miss out. And he said, what you mean? I said, there, I said, there was a point in time where they were all outside the doors waiting for us. Like, you would, you would look outside the universal building. You'll see figuratively. speaking thousands of artists like pick me pick me pick me right and whoever got in the building it was like you're lucky oh my god they let you in and now it's at a place where it's like we're like outside chasing them like pick us pick us pick us so I'm like when did we stop becoming the bad bitch

yeah like when did we become the motherfuck chasing people so you start understanding that information is the new star information is the star like like I always say like people people so busy like artists are so busy trying to tell you about their music no terrible. me about you now. Like, like, if I know about you, like, it's like, I know your girl. I feel lame. I'm from Atlanta. Let me tell you about Atlanta.

We think we're the coolest niggas on earth. We don't think nobody's cooler than us. Right. I feel lame if you, I know your girl, but you don't know mine. Like, that's an Atlanta shit. Oh, you don't know my chick, but I know yours, but you cool. You're doing shit. You're outside.

You're making noise. So I gotta know your shit. So now it becomes like, yeah, I'm a podcaster. Yeah, I got more. I got, that's why I got so many plaques. I sold 200 million records. Yeah, but you ain't Adam. You're Adam.

You and your bitch ain't So it becomes like Those things matter more Now it becomes like I don't want to be what I It's like people see me and you And they're looking at us the same No disrespect

But as far as experience I'm way at a other level But a young 21 year old kid 17 year old kid He really want you Because me and Ack have talked about this Like we both tried to sign artists Done label deals

Every time I go When I'm at the label When I'm at the label But the problem is you guys need A&Rs I'm the first person That I know if he told me That took Big U

to a record label. Wow. I took, because I got Crips around me. I got a number of young Chris around me because my brother, so I'm like,

they always say, neighborhood, neighborhood. I'm like, yo, we should do an album called Christmas in the neighborhood. I just came up with the idea. Like, just like being around

my little youngest. So I hit Big You like, like, yo, Christmas in the neighborhood. He's, I love it. I'm going to tell him it's your idea. Cool. I fly them,

I fly to LA, take him to the label, say Big You got this idea. Christmas in the neighborhood. We're going to give him this much money. He's going to get all of the rappers who crips and we're going to do an album and it's going to be celebrating like and they was like yeah yeah yeah soon as he walk out right we're scared of him i'm like bro how the fuck are we signing

street rappers but we're afraid afraid of the streets we don't oh y'all oh i'm supposed to be out there with them i'm oh i'm motherfucking 40 years old now i'm going on to my kids i'm not trying to hang around chase the annalee chopper nita le chopper i'm like yo i need to get me a young boy to run around him you know he's 17 no no you just need to be his uncle and just chase i'm like i'm not chasing a fucking 17-year-old kid I just signed around. He's fucking every girl a lot. Like what I look like.

And not only that, I'm a black man. I was once a 17-year-old black kid. He's not going to respect me. Every time I see chopper, swear to God at him, every time I see chopper, no matter what,

I ain't worked with chopper in three years. Every time I see him out, he'd be like, hey, boy, you fresh as fuck. And you can dress your hat. It's like, I got to make sure he know I'm current. Right. I know what's going on because why the fuck would he listen to me?

Yeah. And that's what people don't understand about the business. We need to teach. artist but nigga you got niggas in a suit trying to tell cool niggins what the fuck has a nigger in a suit ever told a cool nigga what to do can a nigga can a nigga in a suit tell you oh adam let me tell you how to get holes I mean I'm sure they got some game I don't know I don't talk to a lot of people who won't try they won't try that's my point bro you in the suit how the fuck you gonna tell me that's what's

me up though every time because all right when I watch you have a conversation it's like you're a networking guy like this is what you're good at you understand the value of that and that's like the number one thing that when I watch it interviews with different, I was just watching, I watched Ak and Dre London a few months ago. And that was another one where I'm like, wow, he really understood that him meeting people and forming these relationships was how he got post Malone off the ground. My main thing is like, I got famous and like got money before I ever had to do any of that. Like I never had to fucking suck up to anybody.

When I was at Atlantic or APG, I was like basically like, they would bring me into meetings. I know these people are important. I know I'm supposed to like have relationships with them and care. But it's like I can't. I've never had, I never had like a real job. I never really had to figure out how to fit into these worlds. I don't know how to massage somebody's ego and make them like you. So I felt like that was always standing in the way of me being able to play that game.

And now I kind of wish I had focused on those kind of relationships a lot more. It's so funny. I was out here for Grammys and, you know, people have discovered me on the second half of my career. So I saw Buster rhymes, right? And Buster jumped on my first artist's record that got us idea with Intersco. So I just wanted to tell him, thank you. Like, yo, Buss, what up, man? because I'm thinking he know me as their manager.

Bus is like, yo, that shit you doing? He's talking about what I'm doing. Like, yo, you are credible. We need to protect you. I'm like, bus, I'm Rock City manager. He's the one, that's you. So a lot of the times I've been the dude in the room, but I just, I play in my position.

But then I realized a motherfucker that didn't do shit was out here taking the credit. I'm like, man, if y'all don't take y'all credit, somebody else will. So that's why I got there. And you talk about a Buster rhymes or any of these dudes like me or AC or whatever. It's like it's, it's,

it's hard for people to understand how many people we meet and how much and if you view everybody through the lens of like is this person worth interviewing that consolidates who's worth like caring about down to a very small core of people because such a tiny percentage of people like drive views but really if you like this one thing I've learned is like if you limit yourself to that if every time you meet a famous or an important person you say hey we should do an interview and if they say no you're like feelings are hurt and you feel like oh you don't with me I that dude that's just like such a limiting constraint because a lot of the most important people, especially in this day

and age, understand that doing interviews does not really yield much of a result for them. No, I have only asked three people for, and first of all, I hate, I've been, this is why I like meeting people like you, because I still don't know what I am yet. Yeah. Right? It's like, am I walking a red carpet or I'm interviewing someone on a red carpet? Like, where do I fit? So I interview LL Cool J.

Now, mind you, Adam, I'm in this motherfucker. I can't believe I'm talking to LL. And then after the interview, he's like, y'all, I told him to make sure I saw you. I needed to talk to you. You know who I am? Ice Cube, same thing, bro. I told him, I wanted to see you.

You know what I mean? Everybody comes to see me is like, I wanted to talk to you. Right. I just, I'm not a fucking journalist. It's like, so now my audience is like, let them talk. I'm like, they came to ask me questions. So for me, it's been trying to figure out, like, this media shit. So I watched the people who do it.

And I'm like, he got to figure it out. That's what I said. I had to give you props first because I'm looking at you. And I'm like, you remind me, me of like the hip hop barstool sports. Mm, I'll take that, yeah. Like, you got a whole lot of personalities around you. Everything is on camera.

Everything is a foreface. Because me and Dave Porter are from like the same part of the country. And a lot of times I look at him, I'm like, oh, that would kind of be like me if I had chosen to focus on sports instead of like, yes. I spent the first 10 years of me doing media talking about BMX bikes. If you want to pick the smallest possible niche that you can make content about. And then it was only like because I just happened to be in the right place at the time the SoundCloud rap blew up that I was finally like, oh, okay, I can actually have an opinion

because I was like a blog obsessed, like, you know, 20-something, reading all these different hip-hop blogs. But I never had the confidence. I always felt like I don't have enough of a specialty. I don't have the experience to be able to be somebody really talking about rap on the internet, even though this is like the main thing that I've been paying attention to my whole life, which now sounds like an insane perspective because everybody on YouTube, what the fuck have they done? And they all making videos about the great falloff or so-and-so.

or how Jay-Z destroyed his career this week, apparently. And all this shit. It's like, these people have no credibility to hang their hat on. That's kind of what we want to talk. I was like, to me, it's funny because everybody in music is looked at me like, what the fuck are you doing?

I'm like, I'm being honest with you. I just wanted another job. I just was like, I want a new job. I feel like I'm too good to ask for a job. I got fucked out of my last job because I spoke up on some shit. So I was like, I'm not going to ask for a job. I'm just going to get hot on the internet,

hoping that a label was like, call me like, hire you and then all of a sudden I turn around and I got 200,000 people like, we love you. So I'm like, how do you monetize that? Right. Like, that's why I see people like, you know, I'm like, Adam has found a way to monetize Adam. I have to figure out a way to

monetize Ray. This is like, this is 2020, 22, bro. It's like life of death. But so what do you actually do in the music business still on top of the content? So I managed probably, I would say, the biggest writer in the world. So you know the song A, Pat, and Patte. Oh yeah. We did that.

My daughter introduced me to that song. She went to school and came back with that song. Telling Amazon, hey, Alexa played that. Exactly. Yeah, so we did that song. So I managed the biggest songwriter. So I always say. But is it the Tehran guy there?

Taran. Oh, so you're still with him. Yeah. But that's been what? 20 years. 20 years. He was working at Party City. Wow.

The last time he quit, he called me crying. Like, he can't pay his child support. I was like, quit. We'll figure it out. And I've been with him 20 years. But I tell people like, I feel like people should listen to me because I built my business with the muff f*** that block for Tom Brady.

I don't build the business. Like, anybody can walk in the room and say, I'm Tom Brady agent. Right. Everybody should know that shit. But like, who the fuck is Jeff Saturday? Unless you watch fucking SportsCenter to know he's on that.

I man, it's Jeff Saturday. Like, he, the world, the NFL universe worships him. Okay. But you can't get no money on the outside world. Like, Tom Brady can go to Nike, you know, but Jeff Saturday is like, you're a center. I got to figure out how to monetize a center. Like, okay, protection.

Like, let's turn that into a business. So, well, my guy, I knew that I managed writers. I knew writers didn't get paid. So I put myself in the front of the business. You wanna talk to them, you gotta come see me. Atlantic calls me. We got this girl. We think she's amazing.

She's been in Atlanta for a few weeks. Can you meet her? Her name is Lizzo. Yeah, she can't try and work with it. Yeah, we can work with it, but I need to see her first. So I meet Lizzo and I'm like, I'm cutting through the bullshit because I know lay was a lady. Gay white man only at the shows.

Exactly. Gay white man only, my dog. So I meet Lizzo. So once we figure that out, we come on board and we help. help. So I feel like we've been like this, I feel like we like the A team with a music business, but I didn't know that the world needed to know about me. It was like until I wrote this letter and then it changed my life. Then it was like, if I don't let the world know about me, I'm fpped. Yeah, because I love what you said about Lizzo about how she wanted to be a pure

pop star and you ended up telling her, you have to make sense to black people in order for the rest of the culture to understand where you're coming from, which I found so interesting because I've had similar versions of that conversation about like street artists and stuff because I've seen guys get signed and all of a sudden they're shooting videos in Times Square or in the studio in the beach and it's like, in this early stage of your career

they have to really believe that you're from where you're from. It goes back to what I just said. Mike Karen can pull up in some dockers and the Uber X and P has to pull up in the phantom with three security guards and a million dollars a jury. It's just you've got to know the character they're expecting.

Like it's like you if I always say if they knew that Jeff Bezos was going to eventually compete with Walmart they would have shut that bookstore down He was trying to manage learning how to do books first so he could learn the optics so now he could turn into the online store which he is Yeah so with Lizzo it was just like that's happens to so many black artists they want to be pop so bad and it's like pop just means popular Where's your base Morgan Whalen is popular? I don't know he's a popular country artist I don't even know his name because his bass lifts him up right You know what I'm saying? So when I'm meeting artists, I'm like, they want to be pop. I'm like, bro, you got to be with the audience sees first. And the audience scene, the big black girl when they saw Lizzo.

Give them that. Yeah. Give them big black attitude. Give it to them. And then you can be pop. Because they'll accept you in. But you got to be the most, it's like Cardi B. She's pop as fuck.

But she's the most hood, ratchet, Latino girl you probably ever seen in your life. Yeah, I was at a show last night and is looking out into the crowd. It's like unbelievable how many women are out there shaking ass trying to do exactly what she got the biggest ass here or the nicest one to be totally real but like the crowd just as far as you can see is black women absolutely loving and worship i texted my girl i go this is the era of store for black women for sure this is this is the store for women i went to a maria a scientist concert last like three days ago in miami and i'm talking about four thousand black girls uh i couldn't hear her sing because they sung every word and i'm looking i'm like it's like they knew her

And then my lady is telling me, this is a song she dropped when Thug went to jail. This is a song she dropped when she caught him cheating. And I'm like, that's how you monetize. That's the relationship you need to have where we are together. I want you to know I got cheated on the day. So when I dropped my song that he cheated on me in 90 days, y'all like, yeah, he cheated on. Get that motherfucker. He deserved it.

You got to leave from the front now. Nobody gets that. Nah, facts, facts. But, okay, so, you know, I just want to throw this conversation here because I was just having this conversation with Sean Cotton. but he's somebody, signed a lot of artists. His level of confidence when it comes to signing rappers right now is truly depressing. I was going to say, incredible. I was going to say, give me his number.

I feel bad for the guys that he has signed currently because his overall vibe was just doom and gloom. Like, this shit is not working. From your perspective, why are we in this sad state of affairs? Because, so I look at rap through the eyes of wrestling. Like, I am a wrestling. fan. And the way I like to tell people about wrestling is that everybody gets dropped on the elbow, right? But when you get hit with the people's elbow, for some reason, we know as the audience that that means the match is over. It's the same elbow, but for some reason

when he does this, that's the spectacle. That's letting the audience know, cue in the audience. So I look at the, I look at music through the eyes of rap. Now, here's what I think happened. I think it became too accessible, too easy, and money became on the line. So like, let's take big in pockets, the biggest example. They got to millions of records sold before they both got murdered. Now you're not in getting that chance. You're getting like, I was just looking at something on the internet. And I was like, somebody just got arrested for something.

And I'm like, these motherfuckers can't get a chance. So now it was like, and I just think the government focused on rap. The government. I think the government was like, like, like, Like, look at it like this. We got the first artist to ever put the president of the United States in the song was probably rappers. Right. I'm pretty sure, right?

You know what I'm saying? So it's like, we got a celebrity in the White House. A celebrity has more power than people that have been politicians, their whole fucking life. That is the new world we live in. So you bet. So for me, I'm trying to tell artists, I'm like, you have to put yourself out there. You have to make yourself a character. What makes you different?

Like, everybody wraps, but what's your difference? What's your people? elbow. Which your Sean Michael's leg kick? What's the Stone Coe stunner? Stone Coe called the stunner. Diamond Dallas Pace called it the diamond cutter. It's the same fucking move. Like you have to find your space. And I think we don't have things got serious.

Money got serious. And the streets took over. And once the streets took over, it was, it ain't about talent no more. Look at it through this lens too. I'm 46. So I grew up, I remember a kid grow up where they wrapped about selling dope was a bad thing. Doug, I was 10 years old when Tretch from Nardi. by nature says, if you ain't ever been to the ghetto, don't ever come to the ghetto,

because you wouldn't understand the ghetto. So I'm in the fucking projects where niggas is getting murdered around me all day. And that was pride. It was like, yeah, we got to protect ourselves. And all of a sudden, I think, I think it was Jeezy. It was Master P and then Gizi. Master P really started it. The first dope boy to rap about dope.

Right. Like, he don't rap about trying to stop selling dope. He was laughing the nigga. Massapy had a song called Make Crack like this. Yeah. I skipped school. Me and my niggas skip school to watch about it and try to make crack

because C murder gave you the whole formula on how to make crack. And it got to the point where it's like, now it's not, now the drug dealer look, I think it's all about P-Doo. I'm just be honest. The drug dealer saw the young boys getting the girls. Like, I'm putting the money up.

They like, you, he's rapping about my life. Matter of fact, somebody write me a rap, easy, you know what I'm trying to say? And it works, right? So now the street rapper takes over. So now, like any other thing, when the street rapper takes over, The talented rap is going back in the motherfuck corner.

I don't want a problem with this guy. He's a street guy, right? Yeah. And I think that right now, hip hop is in a place where I think it's done. I think street rap is done. And I believe that the only people could save it is the podcasters. And I did no bullshit. I think, because look, I discover more rappers from no jumper than I do any music platform.

Right. But it's dark days right now because we used to have this pipeline where the labels are investing money into artists to make the, them interesting to the fans and then someone like me comes along and interviews them, which obviously also part of the problem is that there's so much competition now that it's not just me trying to interview them, is everybody on. You got my fuckers outside, no jumper on the corner saying, let me interview you before you walking to the building.

Yeah. You go, what the fuck is going on? No, for sure. And now it's like you don't have the labels investing into these artists because they don't see the value in it. And, you know, us as a result, we got to pivot. We got to kind of become a soap opera because in 2016, yes, we had a constant flood of new interesting artists to have conversations.

conversations with, and now it's super difficult to even think of, you know, a handful. Like, it's like, it's like, it's like, I'm like, if we had the, me and you found the next dopeest artist. Yeah. All we can do is put them on our platform. Hmm. Think about it. Like, we can't, it's no rap city. There's no TV. Like, it's like music, music, these labels, and if y'all listen to me, please, these labels need to start investing in these fucking media platforms and immediately, dog, I tell people, last year young thug, drop

the album, right? You know what his biggest hit was? Whoop de do? Right, okay. Think about it. Like, it's like, it's still him, but it's like, it came out his mouth. It just wasn't on the rap. But when he go, we go to jail, whoop de do. Nika, that became those viral shit. And even that was just like a meme based on something that he had said in an interview a week before.

That's my point. It's like, it becomes like, it's just like, you just got to put yourself out there. But I think it's, I'm hopeful that labels are sitting around saying, who can we invest in? Because there's no more BET, there's no more MET, There's no more MTV, there's no more VH1. So right now, you got it's Ray and Adam. It's like, what the fuck? We got to work together now.

That's how I look at it. I put on that album the other day, and it is jarring. Because you remember the most viral thing from the album was the first song where he says the N-word a bunch of times, like aggressively. And I put on the album the other day and I was like, God, what a f***ing throwback. I feel like I remembered how I felt looking at Twitter on the toilet that morning after it came out and just seeing that and being like, holy shit. He said that like that.

It's a different time, man That's why I'm like I feel like everybody's snoozing I feel like nobody's paying the chance What's really happening We can't afford to be fighting each other Right now we need to be figuring out Who's the one?

If I'm you and whack I'm sitting around saying Which one of these motherfuck Do we think we can bet Who can take the west the furthest? And I'm getting, And I'm gonna tell everybody We get behind him first

You second, like how they do with sports Like I'm a seventh ranked pick Ain't anybody mad at the first six You're like shit I'm just happy I'm number seven Right I just feel that we got to get to that place where it's like who's the guys that we should put our most energy in

and that's who, and right now the business is like that, it's like who got the streets, who's the realist, who's the killer, who's the most gangster, who's the nigga who got the most money? No, who's the nigger that has the most talent? Tupac was talented. Biggie was talented. It's not about, I think it got to a place where it was like, he got the streets, he need to rap now.

Yeah, but it's like all the tricks have been kind of used up because you remember Jay told everybody on Rockefeller somebody's going to come in and DMX the game. He said 50 said it's coming. Well, then 50 ended up being the guy. I wasn't ever about Rockabella. So then 50 comes in and he's more gangster than any rapper we ever seen before. And it just completely shocks the game.

Everything. He became the son where everybody was just rotating around him. And then that works for whatever period of time. Then you, you know, fast forward to maybe like 2011, you got odd future. You got Chief Keefe. So you got like the most violent 16-year-old ever. And then you got Tyler and all his homies. was just like, this is some freaky, esoteric, crazy hipster shit.

And that completely shook the game from a different angle. And when I look back at those years, those were beautiful years of like just pure creativity. The commercial side of things was kind of at all-time low. People weren't really making money in the game at that time. But that's what happened. It was interesting. It was fascinating. Then by the time we get to 2016, 2017, we got all these SoundCloud rappers.

We were just seeing people be able to become rappers that you never thought were going to be able to be that. And then as like a reaction to that, then we get King Vaughn. And we get dudes the drill rapper side of things, but where Chief Keith was a little bit lighthearted and fun, now it's just pure violence. And people are getting killed. And it's like you're not even getting the chance

to get to three-year career. Yeah. Like, it's like either drugs or violence is killing us. So it's like, I mean, if we were thinking about a big had a three-year career, 94 to 97, but look what he fucking did at him. He had, though, I don't think people understand. He was a rap superstar.

I don't think these guys want to be rap super star. I just think they want to get the money, get the hose, and kind of be that dude. But it's so much competition that you could be that dude today. But tomorrow you got to be that dude too. And the next day and the next day. Because how many Adam 22s around here trying to be the next no jumper? Think about it. So you already know, like, I got to be in here early and I got to be in head late because I already know.

But I would be coming after me if I was me. So that just wakes us up and just keeps us focused. But we got to keep that energy of like knowing that I think the game lost it. It's like, dog, we need a Lauren Hill. We need somebody just to say something. Like, I feel like we're all tired and we just want somebody to say something that everybody feels like.

Like, it was like in 97, when Lauren was like, you know, to the men with the Timmerlands and she was just talking about all that shit and she was on that thing. Like, yo, but you still got to be a good person. Like, I see you, I see you, young lady. You find you got all these niggas on you, but you still got to be a good person to grow up.

We just need that. And for me, we don't have that. So that's, I just think it's dead, man. And I think the Drake, Kendrick beef was like kind of like the grand opening and the grand closing of this shit. Okay, so explain that because when me and Sean Cotton were talking about that, because I've heard Acts say that he feels like that kind of created division and sides in the culture and that that is kind of like holding the culture as a whole back.

Me and Sean kind of disagreed with that, but what if you think that's happening? I would look at it like WWE and WCW. Remember when Hollywood Hogan went dark? I did. And it was like, you know, he was a WWE fan. It was like, oh, he's on WC. And he's a heel?

But it's like the race to the bottom right there because you can't undo that. It's like a taboo that maybe shouldn't have been crossed. I agree, but then at the same time, where else was Hulk on go? So it's kind of like, it's like what we're doing. Like the one thing we don't give the shit, bro, is that we don't know. We could do this interview and they get one view

and everybody's like, why did you interview that guy? We could do it and they get $100 million. We don't know until we put it out there. So I never punish or I never punish somebody for effort. It's like you got to try something different. You got to try it. I just think that Drake and Kendrick, that was the WCW, WWE.

Like, dog, like, people really are still mad about this shit, bro. Like, this is a rap battle. Like, I want these niggas to understand. Tupac and Biggie got killed. Their mothers got f***ing tombstones for their son. Y'all, it's just a battle. It was just words were said, it's over. But I think that that battle killed it

because Drake was kind of like the, what's that shit they call it in the stimulus package. Drake was a stimulus package for the business. So if a little nigger in LA got hot and he had a hot record or a little nigga from Memphis got a record, shoot, shoot. Drake will come give him his biggest verse. That's his little nigga in Atlanta, little baby making noise. Here come Drake's stimulus package.

So Drake don't want to help nobody no more because he like, fuck all y'all, niggas. So now we don't, Kendrick ain't giving nobody verses unless it makes sense for where he is in his career. So now there's no excitement. None. It's like, you think about like Kendrick, I mean, 21 would drop an album and then hit him a Drake verse and

hit him to Drake's mask, but it's like, he's in a dark place now so he can't bring the light to the streets as he once did. So I feel like that played a big one. 201 did put out of album and the biggest song was the Drake collab, but it didn't... He didn't address it the way... And so I'm saying?

So now it's like wrestling. It's like, you got your ass whipped. When you come back out and get that microphone in the podcast, but you got to say some shit, let me tell you something, brother. You gotta say something, motherfucker. You can't just be like, man, fuck everybody that's fucking saw me lose.

It's weird because it's like, you know that whenever there's dark times, there's always something exciting that's going to emerge from that. It's just very, very hard to see what that's going to be because it feels like every lifeline that hip hop had has been kind of utilized and maxed out to the point where it's very difficult to imagine. Like what new trick? Like what trick can. Like, and we trick guys. Like I can think of a good trick. I'm like, what trick can we pull up to that's going to make the audience excited? When Little Knives did that walking through the street.

naked. I said, if he's not high, he's done. Yeah. Black people gave him a pass when he went downstairs and did a lap dance for the devil. He's just lost kid. You came back again with another trick. If you ain't high, you're dealing with real problems. You're done. And guess what? They drug test them. Yeah. The next day, they was like, he wasn't even high. Fuck him now. Yeah. Nobody goes. It's like, you can't even do nothing. You got to give us a great song. We don't even care about your great song because you played tricks. And the tricks are over. So now we just need real artists. doing real shit, sing real shit.

I think that's what he wants. No more tricks. Just tell me what it is. Yeah, it's like, it's hard to imagine because, all right, like, think about like the Jay Z at his peak or whatever in 2001 or whatever that era might have been. It's like he had all these rappers around him that all had careers based off of his light. Yes. And it's kind of hard to imagine that ever be in the case for hip hop again.

It's like, it's going to be individual talents. Like, we love NBA young boy and we don't give a fuck about the 10 dudes to hang out. And he's not really putting them on songs like that. And the idea that the fans are really even going to care if he did is remote. Yes. Yes. You've figured it out. You see what I see. So I'm like, where do we go from here?

Yeah. Only where we go is like I'll tell artists. I'm like, you have to work for it now. Doug, I'm not even bullshin you. I feel like you and Wack should really create a rap league. A rap. I'm not even bullshin you. Like, I've been wanting to tell us why.

Y'all should create like a rap universe because y'all are kind of like Gene O'Cle and Vince McMahon a rap. I'm not even bullshit. You're like, I'm an East car. I'm a Southern nigger. When I want to know what drama is happening in the rap and who's beefing, I look to y'all shit first. So my mind is like, why when you think about it?

You're boxing, porn stars. It's like, we already are. WWE, you just ain't turned it into rap. Whereas like, I might make a nigga battle a nigga put a song out. Then we put them in the ring and make them fight. Yeah. And then like, imagine that one of them niggas go platinum.

Just think about that. You just change the world. That everybody's like, how can I be next? I feel like we got to create excitement again. And I look to me, the only people that understand the people that can get in front of a mic and talk and make my fucking listen to me, I understand entertainment.

And I feel like we need that. So I'm telling you, you know we actually put together a rap league. And matter of fact, we have the East Coast, West Coast, right? I'm dead seriously, I'll bring news in and it might be something as simple as, I want to challenge Blueface to a this, this rap. So now he's battling Blueface and now we got,

what if he wins? We had that for a little while, well, not exactly, because you're probably talking about more like underground or up-and-coming artists, but like the versus thing. The versus was, no, it is that.

That was like fueling hip-hop for a little while and then it just torpedoed itself, right? But the problem with verses is artists fucked it up. Yeah. Because versus problem is the same thing most people problem is. Everybody wants to get that stick going like that. So it's like, you got to be, you got to take it like that, but you got to bring something down regularly.

You can't just do like this artist, this artist. And now who, it got to be bigger now. I was like, well, what do we want Michael and Pitboy? Which we did, and we got it. So it's like understanding, but verses gets it. But it's like there needs to be another way because the problem with music, here's the problem with music. And I'm talking to you because I think you're really brilliant.

The problem with music is we have no resolve at the end. What do you mean about that? Like I could bet on sports. The game gets played tonight. And now you can bet on album sales on Polymarket, which is crazy. So imagine taking that universe and bringing it into your own universe. It just, it has to be it. And you bring in the big guys.

And by the way, I start with the small guys. Like, I start shit. And it's really about entertainment. It's really about creating a spectacle. Once you can create the spectacle, Gileon Wallow are really good at it. They're really good on the East Coast to create a spectacle.

This person, I'm like, this person. We're going to fight it out. But, like, imagine if they were rappers. We just got to get more organized. But WWE is it because we know it's fake. Yeah. But we still can't wait from the go off the top road and be like, yo!

Because it's entertainment. And I think rap has to get to that space where it's like, yo, I'm just, I'm here to entertain, bro. It's just the character I do. Like, I might see Adam out with his daughter and his wife and all of a sudden I stole him cold stun him. And now he's like, you have me my wife. Tell Ray, I'm going to get his ass, bro. Like, it's like you got to almost, it's like you got to find a way to keep. You just said it.

The narrative, the storytelling. Rap needs a story now. Yeah. And I think podcasts can save it because we are the storytellers of the hip hop world now. Right. But they don't understand that they have to intertwine with us. So Smite needs to be on your shit saying y'all want this person. It's somebody come on my shit.

Now we're like, yo, Adam, I'm bringing my guy and you create the spectacle. Say we actually did that. Say they're like, you know, me and you are filming crazy skits like that, etc. It's like, or if we had rappers doing this or whatever, it's like how does that then cause people to actually care about the music? Because we're constantly seeing rap beefs that are pretty engaging. I'm glad you said that. And they almost never seem like they have an effect on the actual sales. I'm glad you said that.

My answer to you as a father is K-pop Demon Hunters. Amazing film. You know why K-pop Demon Hunters has 50 million monthly listeners on Spotify compared to every other cartoon? Because them shit's bang. Because they went and got real writers and producers.

They got the top dog. They got Favon. Savon is the one who wrote Taylor Swift, shake it off. Right. So they went and they didn't, oh no, they got the biggest writer. Like this guy is the biggest. And he made the music. So, yeah, it's a cartoon.

Yes, for our kids. But they were saying, And what if we put a little bit more effort into the music part? And that's the key. The key is taking real talented people. Do y'all know the K-pop Demon Hunters? It's the girls. Like, I know Golden, how it's done.

I know you got a daughter, too, so I know you know these records. You know there's a whole boy side. The Saja Boys. Yes, the bad guys and the boys don't like. They're demons. They're demons. That's my point. Like, rap should be that.

Yeah. He needs to be like K. Pop Demon Hunters. It's like he's just a character because the new world is beige. The world, the kids are beige. I say this like, your kid beige, my kid beige. Black and white together, that's beige. The new world is beige.

These kids don't want to talk about race the way we did. They don't like that shit. They just want to love their friends, love what they love, and be individuals. We grew up in the world where we wanted,

we needed to fit in. So I'm pretty sure you had the same thing I had. I just don't want to wear a suit and tie. Bingo, yeah. That's like the number one thing I cared about when I was young. That's why I dress what I do. I'm like, number one thing I cared about us. I did not want to wear a suit and a tie.

It was like these new kids are way more open. No one's just, no one's just investing. And it's, we're all fragmenting. And right now we all need each other. Everybody needs each other right now. Because, like, dog, like me saying, I said something about Future and Wayne. I was like, I think Future could watch Wayne and Ti. Dog, I've seen 300 videos get produced with people answering that.

Now, that's a new conversation. A podcast that did that. Yeah. Nick, I'm a label. I'm trained Adam to say, you. I think Atlantic got the worst artists. I said my shit is bad. Yeah.

Just so people can say, Adam, fuck you. This girl sing. This little 18-year-old girl sing her harder that she sings. And then I'm like, fuck you, Adam. This little girls, you just crush the little girl's drink. It's just entertainment, bro. Yeah, yeah. But a lot of it is so temporary because I searched Joe Button podcast, Ray Daniels,

because I wanted to see I knew you had been on there. And I'm listening to it. And like some of these conversations, once they're a few months old, just seems so, you know, temporary. because why are we talking about Loliotti saying that Atlanta controls what's going on in fashion and hip hop?

So many of these conversations seem really fascinating at that moment and then you fast forward a little bit and it's like, oh, like, why the fuck we're talking about that? But think about this, I'm gonna go back to wrestling. You lead up to the SummerSlam.

Once SummerSlam is over, we're on to WrestleMania. Once WrestleMania is over, we're up to the motherfuck of Royal Rumble. It's like, we got to always have the calendar going. Something to look forward to. It was like, yeah, y'all like that, we need, wait till we have this. Yeah.

It's something like that. You do, because I'm not a rap guy. I'm a hit guy. Right. Like, I'm the guy that the rappers come to to say, give me the biggest song or attempt to give me the biggest song of my career. So, like, I have a lot of big records in certain people catalogs. But you guys are rap guys.

So for me, it's like, I've been looking. I'm like, man, if they just, and by the way, Aiden Ross gets it. He understands it how he puts y'all in. That's like, I know that says, let's, It's like nothing, bro, but that's the future. It's just, we ain't made nobody serious yet. You ain't made, let me tell you something. Change one life, every time you change your life in the music business,

it gives you seven more years in it. So for every time you change your life, you get seven years of life to be in it. You change one life. Sacrifice whatever it is for one life to make one person, no jumper, face, artist, no jumper did that. Once you change your life, everybody's running to you. And that's kind of where I'm on.

My mission is different. Like, I'm a podcaster who's really looking to change someone's life in the process. Like, yeah, I want to get the whole lot of subscribers, but I don't want to be on camera for 40 fucking years talking. Like, I really want to, I want to be the Tyler Perry of hip hop. I'm a storyteller. I want to be that. So that's why I'm looking at it from that lens.

But I'm a podcast to just try to make noise. So I just think that y'all should do it. I'm here. Bro, y' y'all already had it. It was just, I wish I would have known whack because I would hit him. And I would have said, let me, I'm just use my bro right. here. I'm using an example. This kid right here. Like I said, but somebody tried to break in one of my houses, right? And my brother was like, yo, I'm

going to send this kid to you. He sends me the kid. The kid comes to me. He's around me every day. Like, he's a sign of my body. And, you know, about a month later, after being around me every day, he comes to me and says, yo, I won't let you know, I got 10 for you. Now, Adam, I'm like, what the fuck are you? Like 10, 10, what? He was like, a, nigger. 10 years. I'll kill a nigga for you today if I have to. I said, why the fuck would you do that? He was like, I'm telling you what I'm here for. I said, I'm your OG. my job is to teach you how to fucking win. That nigga mom

love me and by the way, he has a goal, he wrote Sierra Chris Brown, that's just how we wrote he wrote that. He got a gold plaque. He's about to be platinum on his back. His mom worships me. His mom loves me. Yeah, my son out there to make sure you straight. But I know you the kind of man that ain't my son

ain't going to never have to, and you there to help him win. That's our job is, oh geez. Our problem is we playing the game. So when I'm seeing you whack, I'm like, y'all are the answers. y'all are these little dog this room I'm in it's some little niggas that let you their mama to get in this room right now

I ain't tripping like they might take them up on that no they might be like mom you'll fuck at them for me please it's kids that will die to be on here my thing is is they want to be on here because y'all got the plan it's just y'all are doing your own thing but for me y'all got to drive the car because they're looking at you

they're looking at y'all and if y'all said if whack went to every young man and say yo look let me show that because most little I'm a little niggas. I was a little niggas are just lost. Most little niggas just want somebody that's just going to tap them on the shoulder and say you got potential bro, you could do it. If that was a conversation like let me show y'all all how to get rich, yeah, we're going to start drama. Yeah, we're going to say shit about each other in this room. Right. I know it sounds crazy right now we're talking about, but let me show y'all how to get y'all rich. They'll buy in.

They'll buy in. They just need to know that there's a plan. I'm telling you, I've been watching y'all. I'm like, because that's why I'm like, I can't do that. I wish I, though, I love. I love Vlad, by the way. Like, I want to meet the, like, Vlad is the best interviewer. Like, he's the best. Yeah. I was watching Vlad interview, um, what's my man name, uh, Un Rivera. Oh, yeah, yeah. By the way, Un is a legend to me, right? And Vlad is like, yo, so did Jay Z stab you? I could never ask that. People from Rock Station are going to hit me, like, what the fuck is up with you, bro? So you look and I'm like, damn, that's your advantage. Yeah. You ain't one of them. You could do shit. So I'm telling you, imagine you on

Wack coaching these little young boys up like, we're going to create a real hip hop league. Yeah. We don't know what's going to be, but if you win it, you're part of it. You might come to this shit and just talk shit one day on no jumper about who you want. And now all you need is the best people.

Now you're making records. Once one good thing come out of it. Bro, your life changed. It's interesting, man. Yeah. Maybe we are leaving something on the table with that. Let me ask you this. Does your pessimism about hip hop or street rap?

Does that extend to music as a whole? It feels like we kind of end up having this conversation about music as a whole. I think is, I think, I think street rap is the only one that's going to die because I don't think the people, I think the people who was in it at first that was investing in it, they didn't mind because it was kind of like, yeah, he might go to jail in five years, or we're going to get five years out of him. Now they're getting five months. Yeah.

You sign pushaisti. My boy signed pushaisty. Like gave him his deal. It was like, gave him a deal. And then a month later, Tusha was in jail. Yeah. And he's like, man, my company, you're looking at me because I get him. gave him all his money. I'm like, that's the game, bro.

Yeah. So now I'm like, I'm not investing another one of those unless somebody does right. One person wins, then everybody's like, you know, open up the checkbook. That's how you do it. So the music industry right now is waiting for someone, some outlet to figure it out. And if it's y'all, you'll own this bitch. Right. And that's the key. And I just, I want to do something different. I want to be around these like that, man. I just, like, I get irritated quick, man. Like, it's like, because I was an ignorant one. I'm like, dog, you want to. You want to. You want to be somebody? Yeah, you do.

So you can't act like that. And I'll just say something. Like, I'm just, I don't play with my little nags around me. Hey, bro, you're going to be a man around me. We'd be going to a little shit like going through the drive-thew. He'll give him his nickname. Why the fuck do you do that? Like, do you think she's going to know you?

And I'm like, give me a real name, bro. Like, be a fucking real adult. Like, you know what I'm trying to teach niggas how to win. And I feel like you guys are leading it. But if y'all figure out how to turn y'all shit into a league, whack and fucking Adam versus Gillian fucking Wallow. And just get y'all best. do some shit like, I'm telling you, bro.

It'll be, I will watch it. Yeah. And I wouldn't want to watch no shit like that, but I will watch it. Dude, I mean, I remember there was a moment where Wack had started his own podcast, and he summoned Gilly, Wallow, me, and academics to all do this, like, big podcast together. Yeah. And he only did a couple episodes on this platform at that time. But almost immediately, Wagg just starts bringing up Beanie Siegel, like, punking Gillie and

like smacking him in the head or throwing him on the ground. or some shit like that. And like later, I had no idea he was talking about the time, but later I found out this was a real thing. And I think Birdman was there. And Birdman said that this like really impacted

how he viewed Gilly or whatever. And Wack is just hammering him over the head with it over and over and over. And I'm sitting there in disbelief. Like he just came all the way to L.A. to do your fucking podcast and you're just going to keep reminding him of like probably one of the most embarrassing thing that's ever happened to him. This is unbelievable. But I feel like a lot of times like the beefs,

even when people try to orchestrate it, it just ends up feeling like clubhouse. slop. Like it just ends up feeling like boring gang drivel. These artists have to like achieve some level of importance in order for people want to see them do battle. You know what they need? Just need a script.

They just need a script. A good script. A good, hey yo look bro this is the character you playing. Like I'm telling you like these, because a lot of these little niggas be playing the characters for real. Like they ain't really the rap character. Like little baby is he's probably a different person with his mama and his babies, right? He ain't a little baby.

He's his self, right? I'm pretty sure when 21 with kids he ain't street 21 20 he's with his babies so you just he's pretty open about that yeah but it stands out to me that like in 2016 people seemed a lot more fascinated but 21 savage when they really thought that the only thing that's got thought about was me on that slot a gang shit i know i was i know like the new album i listened to it once or twice but in 2016 we bumped those 21 mixtapes over and over and at that time there was no way you could have told me that this was pro wrestling yes and it probably wasn't he probably was really like coming from that mentality to the point where he couldn't have told you that this was an

way, shape, or form, you know? But I think everybody's just doing what they got to do to get their bread. Yeah. And then you kind of like, like, I just like, all we want is our money, bro. And you do what you got to do and then you get your money. Then you kind of be like, well, who do I want to be now? Like, I don't want to be that guy. I feel like 21 was like, I'm street as fuck.

You start realizing people get murdered. People getting killed. People getting locked up. You can't even, my, my, his lyrics is like, you know what, bro? I live like a king in Atlanta. I'm just going to do it the way I want. I'm just going to do it this way now. Everybody in Atlanta is allergic to talking about the street shit at this point because they've seen it right in front of them.

I'm like, you're going down. I've seen Atlanta firsthand. Yeah. I'm going to tell you a funny story. I moved Atlanta in 1991. I was 12 years old. Just moved, just turned 12. Moved Atlanta, 91.

And I moved the college part. I went to middle school with Tip, by the way. He went to McNair too. Tip and randomly, Corey from the Kardashian, Corey Gamble, went to middle school with me too. He went to the middle school with us, too. but I remember when I came to Atlanta I was sitting in class and I knew every ghetto

because every kid in the in the in the class wanted to make sure you knew they knew they weren't from college park don't fucking me my family for E.Lade Meadow wasn't it my motherfuck from Boa Home?

We're from Carver and I remember just thinking I just escaped the real project like people was trying to kill us like literally seriously like I came from the real projects with pissers on the floor and I'm in Atlanta

and everybody lives in two pair of households, but they wanted to be from the hood. So I watched Gunner Hood go from Porter Ridge two pair of households to Shady Park. It's, I was in 1996. I'll never get some Porter Ridge Niggas got into it with some pine tree nits and they jumped them and they was like, Shady Paul. I'm, I'm a fucking kid, bro. I don't know what I'm going to do in my life. And then here I am 30-some years old. And now I'm seeing niggas like dying over Shady Park. I'm like, I remember when the niggas started this. It was a joke. It was like, but so I seen Atlanta trick itself out of his spot.

Like Atlanta, Atlanta is a place, bro. It's a special place for black folks. Bro, it's like we free there. Everybody free. I know a nigga in Atlanta. One of my cousins got five baby mamas, no teeth in his mouth.

Five baby mamas, but he got bitches on his dick because of who his family is. My cousin, my son, my son, Ray Daniels. And he's fucking, by the way. It's like Atlanta, black folks live so good. So when I seen the streets take over, I was like, you know, and we're going to let it happen because that's nothing about Atlanta. Like Atlanta, listen, L.A. can never have water boys.

You ever heard of water boys? Oh, yeah. LA can never. Imagine some water boys running up on kids on Beverly and La Sienega. Knock on their winter. Hey, man, I know you got, man. Come on, man, give me some fucking money for my water, man. Yeah.

Nick of the Beverly Hills police would have them niggas little locked up. But in Atlanta, it's like they're just young entrepreneurs. Little niggins will see you at the light. Okay, but you tell me if I'm wrong, it feels like people rewrite Atlanta history and they act like young thug talking about gang warfare was the thing that made him hot. And I'm like, I was listening to Young Thud the whole way. And we didn't give a fuck about that. Like we barely even knew that Young Thug was like really on that. All the shit that came out on the trial was very, very surprised to us.

We loved him because he was eccentric all over the place, super innovative musically. And like so many of these other artists too, like you love Yafin Lucci because he was a hitmaker because he was, he was. It's the smooth as fucking, like, meanwhile, L.A. rap, you can't really separate it from the street shit. That's, like, 100% part of it. Yeah, these guys were doing all that, and I don't blame them. Yeah. But I never saw that as, like, the big YSL value ad. It wasn't, but it was just, you know, man, you can't control it, bro.

When you, like, me and you started a company, a gang right now, the Adam race, and we do some shit today and some shit go crazy. It might be 10 years from now, little niggas on the block, like, we, Adam raised. We don't play that shit. We look at it. It was a joke. So for me, I think it's a lot of that. I think in Atlanta, it was just, dog, we was a shit. And street shit started mattering more.

And now it was not about talent. Let me just describe Atlanta for you in the 90s. Let me just explain to you what Thug and all of us follow behind. I went to Bannica High School with Ludacris, Young Jock, we went to school. Atlanta is different in most cities. Like Atlanta, the school you go to determines a lot. That's why have you ever heard Killer Mike talking to me, I want the Doug. Like, in Atlanta, the school you went to is the shit.

outcast went to Tri-Cities High School I saw two dudes who was a couple years old to me go from Tri-Cities High School which is up the block go sell their first album go platinum Southern Playlists of Cali like funky music second album AT aliens third album Equimini every album first one million, two million,

three million, five million stankonia and then they get the 10 million and on in the speaker box love below and then they win the Grammy for Best Rap album some niggas we went to high school with And then they just piece the fuck out. And then, you know, took over the streets.

Yeah. Do you resent Outcasts at all for not continuing that on? Because sometimes it's just shocking that they left that on the table. Sometimes I went to school with niggas like Dre. When you know people like Dre, like, if you go listen to Dre's album, The Love Below, you knew he was never rapping after that. When he, this dude is too, like, how do you go from, I hope that you're the one? But if not, you are the prototype.

Let's tip till to the sun. And now we rap about street shit or rap? Like, nah, you can't. do that. So I don't think nobody's mad at Dre, but I mean, God damn, Dre. But he in Atlanta do. He's going to do what he want to do. He's exploring the world right now. When he comes home, he's going to come back, I promise you. Yeah, there's like

two different types of people. Some people get money and they just want to keep hammering away to be great at that thing. And then there's other people who get money and realize, like, I just want to be happy. But let me ask you this. Where do you go from there? If you're Dre, I just sold 10 million albums. Yeah. I just won Grammy.

Like, by the way, they just fired L.A. Reed. Nobody talks about that. L.A. Reid just got fire from Arista. So now they like, L.A. come on stage. It was like they broke on the Beatles, bro. They broke it up. When they lost L.A., it was like when Michael Jordan lost Phil Jackson, you just knew they didn't have that person that they knew

when Drake comes in there looking like an alien because he got his nose done them like an alien nose. They knew L.A. going to be like, let's go compared to another person might be like, what the fuck is this? We might not speak about Outcast with the same reverence if they had put out a bunch of whack, late stage albums, you know. Something about leaving on a high note. Same reason we're having that conversation about Biggie and Talk. But Dr. Dre is still the man because this last album was Chronic 2001.

Yeah. Listen, leave on a high note. He's sick in the head, though. There's something really wrong with Dre that he was never able to really put shit out at a certain point. Like, how do you make two of the best albums of all time? And then you just can't bring it out of yourself to release anything. That's how. So you got to understand something.

I always tell artists, like, if you had nothing but Hennessy and that cheap-ass weed from your nigger around the corner to make your out, album, don't get successful in a second I'm going to bring in wine in the best weed. Go back to that place that made you great. Go back to that place that that tough spot you was in to make the album. That's what I suggest people like. How much of the client's true have you think has to do with the fact that people are just disillusioned with the streets in general, that same like archetype that was so fascinating to us as young kids. Like, oh, you sell Coke. That's amazing. Oh, you shoot people. That's so fascinating. It doesn't feel like the young generation has the same.

respect for that. They see through it. They think it's stupid and goofy. Yes, because I was about to say, like, it's like I use the mob as an example. Like the mob, like we knew who when I was a kid, I knew John Gotti was. Yeah. I don't know who the mob leader of the mob is. None of us like John Gotti was the end of that mob character, you know, Teflon Don, like eventually because they know if the government knows if more people see John Gotti, we're going to have more John Gotti. So we got to shut them down. I don't think they minded rappers making money. It was. just y'all niggas is rapping about the shit y'all doing and making money so now y'all

playing our face and i feel like it was a i think they're going to have to go out the radio next i think it's it's it's it's it they actually going after entertainment because entertainment is too fat too powerful that's what i think is happened or okay like just to extend upon that like it's like Sean cotton was saying that when he sits around and hears his 12 year old cousins or whatever his nephews talk about uh who they're fascinated by it's just like never rappers anymore it's irl streamers it's all these like content creators just honest people yes placing themselves and like just being vulnerable saying this is me this what i'm going that's what the artist needs to be and gangsters aren't that yeah that's why we need to get the gangsters out and let them

little emotional kids that juice world kid come in that just wants to make a record about depression and what he's feeling and that's how you bring it back but you need right now we don't have no fire starters yeah none that's scary by the way we always have a firestar and there's just so many people too that were like, we're supposed to be in the prime of Juice World's career, XXS and Tassion, Nipsey Hustle, Draco, the Rula, et cetera, et cetera. And these are all people that we lost so early on. You know, I tell people, bro, I said this.

I tell people this. I said, the problem that most of us have is that we're trying to win. You did a video one day where you said, no jumper is in trouble, right? Because I was trying to win. I was going for a bigger opportunity. I tell people, don't try to win, survive.

Yeah. Like, I was just saying, I really think that the dame, Kevin Lowe's moment killed black executives. Like when as a young 18-year-old, impressible man, when I seen Dame Dash cursing out Kevin Lows, I wanted to be Dame Dax. Yeah.

I didn't want to be Kevin Liles. Kevin Lovs turned out better, at least right now he is, right? Yeah. He just sold $300 for $320 million. By the way, he was embarrassing that moment, but he survived. Right. And mind you, Dane probably went through drama

because he was so busy trying to win every day. So I feel like a lot of our problem is, We want to win so bad that we run out of our chips. It's like if you got $30 a day, don't fucking spend it the first, like, take your time with it. I'm going to spend $3 a day. I'm going to just spend $3. Let me spend 10% of what I got.

Let me see what I can do with three and then spend five. And then slowly get there. That's what we make. That's the mistake we're making. But so people keep saying, and I don't know exact examples, but I keep hearing that the labels are signing like streamers and content creators now as opposed to rappers.

What do you think of that? Is the potential bag at the end of the range? anywhere near what it would be for artists? I'm gonna say this. My biggest problem with the music business is that we the coolest motherfuckers in the room, but we jump on everybody dick. Like, though, let me tell you something.

I don't give a fuck, if Jeff Bezos walks in the room, Leonardo DiCaprio walks in the room, and Mick Jagger. Mick Jagger is gonna get the fucking response. Because you know why? Because Leonardo, you're playing other people. Yeah.

I mean, Jeff, you're just a businessman. That motherfucker got moves like, it's just a difference. So music, we leave. the trends, but we don't control the outcomes. And that's my problem. Like, we're not smart. That's my problem with music.

That's why I kind of started talking more because I started realizing we're not smart. You know our music fucked up? You know the story of Napster? Oh, yeah. So he's how he created, but he thought, he's just a kid that was like, let me help all my favorite artists.

And here's a new technology. And they're like, thief, arrest this motherfucker. Lock him up. Hang them, man. Then they did all this. And meanwhile, Daniel Eck was like, oh, okay, all you got to do is get the licenses first.

Yeah. And he got the licenses and now he's worth $58 billion and he's worth more than everybody in the music business. Right. Because he saw, but I would embrace this. I'm going to see you. I'm like, teaching this technology because I got kids in the house. You got kids in the house.

Kids are in the technology. My daughter plays the game. Man, when we was kids, you'd be like, I'm playing the computer. Yeah. That's what we say. My daughter says, I'm playing AI. Yeah. When we're watching TV and I'm like, a commercial comes on.

My daughter's like, why do we have to watch ads? Yeah. She doesn't call it commercials. She calls it ads. So we know what technology is. So I see somebody come in. I'm like, I'm thinking about my kids. These other guys are like, no, you stay away.

You're going to hurt our business. And that's why the business sucks. Because we don't want to control our shit. We don't want to invent. We don't want to do more work than we have to. But how realistic would it have been for the music industry to have actually controlled the means of distribution? Because that seems like the main L that they took by handing it over to Apple and Spotify.

You know what they did when they handed over to Apple and Spotify? They handed over the keys to the gate. Yeah. Spotify's a gatekeeper now. Spotify's a gatekeeper now. Matter of fact, Spotify tells us when we drop our music, Mark. Spotify tells us, yo, you need to put your music in six weeks ahead of time because we need six weeks in our system.

And now think about, like, I mean when I'm turning an NLE chop album, it's like, we, in the last fucking, like, we, I got to get, the album is doing three weeks. I got to get it in. They're like, no, you're going to miss your pitch to it with Spotify if you don't give it to them within six weeks. So Spotify now controls the music business. Good for us. But you, I believe, is one of the people who's been saying that, like, streaming is going to die in some sense. I think. What does that look like?

I'm scared. Bro. Bro, that's like, streaming down is like YouTube nine. It's like, what the fuck does that look like for us? But I think it's, streaming doesn't do anything for artists.

Streaming, once again, I wish I knew them. Because I would tell them, this is a business that don't matter how good you do, the people in the front of the stars. And whatever they say goes. And that's the world we live in.

They are the stars. And streaming became the star. So now the stars are trying to find other ways. to get their light shine. So, you know, all it takes is one artist to say would do something like what A'sat Rocky did. Where he like go to like a company like built

and he's like, yo, y'all got people with all of them points they can't use. Let's take those points to an album. Then he sells, he streams 7,000 copies but he sells 97,000 copies through built. You got to find new ways to get your music heard. That's what I'm thinking. Was that really like a way for Rocky to make more money

or was that just a way for him to finesse the sales and make it look good? He made the money. He made both. He got both. I thought it was shot to Bianca. I thought that was genius. She's like,

we think about this. We have to find outlets now to go to. Music has nowhere to go, bro. That's the problem with music. It has nowhere to go. They're getting uploaded the same way. We get uploaded. Think about this for example.

Me and you sign an artist. We ain't, I'm not shooting. No, I'm not giving 5,000 for a music video. Right. You better shoot a TikTok vertical video for free. Yeah. And see if that works and do that 35 fucking times. And then hopefully the audience comes back before me

and we put up 5,000 for a video. If they're not going to watch you performing it on a fucking special at a 45 second, you think they're going to watch a four-minute video? Right. I just think that we got to start thinking, and the music business doesn't have thinkers. I think, okay, this is how streaming could die. It's like we all already pay for Netflix. Now I'm a Paramount Plus subscriber because they got the UFC.

All they have to do, all Netflix has to do is because they just introduced podcasts. All Netflix has to do is maybe they increase the rate a little bit. Now, boom, you have access to all the music across the world. Even as I'm thinking about, I'm like, why am I paying for YouTube premium and Apple Music at the same time? Really, like, because I listen to so much music on YouTube, then when I go to do the Apple Music Rapt or whatever at the end of the year, it's not even like relevant at all because I've listened to so much music that I don't even bother to post it because it looks crazy because it looks like I don't even listen to music. And when I think about it, it's like in that way, a lot of those services could really be gobbled up by other companies that are doing the same shit. All YouTube has to do is have a better interface for playing me. music and I might cancel my Apple

music subscription. What if Amazon is in music, but they're streaming, but what if Jeff Bezos lets you use points about album? I mean, I got all types of Amazon points. Like, we just got to figure out the music business doesn't think. That's the problem. You know what's around the music business? Motherfriars are not entrepreneurs. You and me wake up first and we try to figure out how to keep the fucking lights on. Every CEO of a company has a cushy check

and has a cushy, catalog that brings in money that he can play. So he doesn't even think, like, that's why Jimmy Avine was that motherfucker. Jimmy Iveen treated Enescope every day like the world was ending. Like, guys, we got to make this beast headphones

before the world changes on us. That's why he's a billionaire and everybody else is stuck here trying to figure out, like, what are we going to do? Like, so yeah. Do you listen to that Jimmy Avine interview that came a couple weeks ago, I'm sure? Bro, I listened to it three times, bro.

Three times, wow. Bro, Jimmy Avine is the only person. If Jimmy asked me to come work for him right now, I'll stop everything I'm doing. Like right now, and I know I shouldn't say that, but I'm talking about for six months for free. I would just work for him. Like, I've been around Jimmy about 20 times my life.

Every time I've been around him, he gave me something that changed my life. Every time. I'm trying to, I was in the room one time. Jimmy always said, give me a hit. He's, what was his favorite saying? I'm a dog. Hit me, I holler.

Give me a hit, I holler. So, like, you go to his meeting and you'd be like, Jimmy, I want some beat headphones. That was like his mind. Like when beat headphones came out, everybody wanted them because you couldn't get them in store. So if you had them, that mean you were like connected to the resource.

So you go to Jimmy's office and play him a record. And he'd be like, hey, yo, first thing you say, is Jimmy, can we get some beats? Guys, guys, guys, play me ahead first. Yeah. You're asking for things. I ain't heard a hit. Play me a hit.

I give him a record he likes. He gives everybody headphones. He was a rock star. He motivated us to want to be great. I just feel like we don't have that no more. Yeah. Like the podcast is that. Like, you're more influencing,

influence you than the CEO of a record label right now. And they don't know that. And that's another thing. Like, I just don't understand if I'm a record label. I'm like, who do the kids listen to? Come over here sit with me. Yeah. Adam, teach me what you know.

I'm going to be on your show once a week. But see, okay, even you being able to sign artists and stuff, I just feel like I've never really been able to execute on that. As much as I've thought about it. I got artists right now from L.A. that I've thought about it with. and I just can't imagine myself pulling the trigger and actually going all in

and actually really trying to make it happen. If you had a label head that was right like a Jimmy, what would Jimmy say, Mar? Jimmy like, yo, Ray, stay on the, stay on the Adam, don't let him move. Make sure he has everything he needs. That's the difference. So you need that machine.

We know you can do it. Yeah. But from my perspective, like the labels, they just, they give up so quick. Like, if I sign some kid, I feel like I'm indebted to him. I need to hold him down for years and years. to keep trying.

And I know that's not the methodology of the record industry. The music industry says, if it's not working, you just give up. And that's why you should be ahead of a company over one of them. Because if I'm a kid,

who hands I want to be in? The kid that's like, you're one out of 10. Go be one out of 10. Or the guy that's like, man, I feel indebted to you because I signed you because you believe to me.

Now we're indebted to each other. Now I want to show you that you sign the right person and you want to show me that I picked the right person to sign to. We don't have that no more. It's no accountability.

I'll let me say, I remember with L.A. Reed when I was working at Epic, this is one I, nobody does this. This is a true story. We're in the office. Travis Scott was on tour with Young Thug. Okay. This is, Travis don't have a hit at all. Young Thug has a few radio hits, but they were co-lining, headlining the tour. Travis had no red songs on the radio.

So I remember, L.A. was like, got in the room with Travis, and he was like, yo, like, how many kids was at the show last night raging? And Travis was like, I don't know, like, 1,500, 2000? LA was like, you know what's crazy than 1,500 kids raging? 20,000. It's like that moment on Facebook where he says, you know what's cooler than a million, a billion. He just changed the way they see it.

And he says, 20,000 kids raging. Then he goes, Travis, you know how we get the 20,000 kids? Hits. You give me a hit, I get you to 20,000 kids. Think about how that sounds. That's so easy right now. That should be every label. No label does that.

Really? Because if you give me a hit, see what L.A. did that I love was he put his balls on the line too. You give me a hit. I'll get you to 20,000. So once Travis delivers the record, and then the record that Travis delivered, actually, because I worked there, was that record,

3,500 moving slow. Only real niggas out. It was the first time two chains of future was on a record together. It was supposed to be a single. And then the way it works, the anecdote record just goes out because remember Travis kicked the kid off stage

at Summer Jam, and now he was kind of on his trajectory up, And they was like, and he caught black. That was the first time he had bad flack for it. Like Travis is, I thought Travis was the man of the kids and he told you, bro, get off the stage. So that's what he made antidote for. Yeah.

To respond to that. So that's why if you listen to the second verse, he talks about it. Like, I just didn't like how he would shoot me with his angles. But it winds up being a hit. It wound up being the sound. And now Travis is one of the top artists in the world. But that's because a label head.

Every other label is, when Bruno Mars walks in, Bruno was like, they're like, what you want to do, Bruno? Like, this is what I want to do. done, they don't never put their balls in the line. They don't never say, I'm going to do that, but let's do this too. They always say, because in their mind, if I do what you want, if it don't go well, who can I blame? But meanwhile, rap is gone in this weird direction where, like, half the rappers I know,

they don't even want to put hooks on their songs. It's supposed to be a minute and a half of, like, funny lines, and that's it. And you know what the right? And sometimes that works. You know what those rappers need at them? They need a person in the room to say, hey, bro, how much money you made on your last show? $2,500. If you put a hook in it, I can get you to 15,000.

And that's what I mean by what you and what I can do. It's really guidance. It's really helping them understand stay in the process. Because sometimes we'll really fix us up as we expect results. And those expectations of results affects our emotions. Now we disappointed. Man, it didn't go. I wanted 100.

All I got 50. I failed. No. You could have said I wanted 20 and now you got 50 and now you're happy. You just set 100. So we got to manage the expectation of these people. It showed them how to move. And the music business doesn't have that.

And that's what scares me. I don't know one label that I feel like I could send a young rapper to. And I'm really thinking about it, like that'll nurture the label from beginning to the end. That's not a boutique. That's a major. No, I wouldn't tell nobody signed directly to a major. They don't, they don't, and you know how anybody they're scared of. It's like registered for school and your parents ain't there.

Sometimes you need your dad to come tell a fucking goddess counselor, fuck with my son if you want to. Sometimes you need that and they don't have that right now. Yeah, it's crazy. I have all these memories of like 2017 and all these artists who got signed for millions of dollars that like literally nobody knows who they are. They never did anything after getting that money.

Well, I signed 2K Baby. Oh, yeah. So I signed 2K Baby. He's a door dash driver down. Yeah. Right? But like I remember signing him, like this kid had a million strings when we signed him.

We like, I ain't gonna say we fucked his life up, but we gave him too much too early. And we didn't give him the lessons. And you can try, but it's hard to tell a young black man with a million dollars in his pocket slow down. Yeah. Well, he ain't never had it before. And everybody around him is like waiting around. Like, when are we going?

You know what I mean? So I signed him. I signed Remble. I don't know if you know Remble. I signed Remble. Right. So I signed Remble. Right.

Yeah. Why you think that is? I know why it is because he was like, bro, like, it's too dangerous out there. Really? Remble was like, I'm not playing with them. This is the true story. I hope he didn't get mad at me for telling him. I remember trying to convince Remble to do an event.

and then the guy got murdered at Rolling Loud. Draco the Ruler. Yeah. Oh, yeah. It wasn't at Rolling Loud, but it was out of music festival. It was one music festival. Sorry, rolling loud,

but he got murdered. And I remember, like, I knew I couldn't convince Remble to come out the house anymore because he was just like, y'all not understanding. It's a lot of real shit happening, real problems. I will fly to L.A. to meet Remble,

and he will come to my hotel room. Like, it was like, you got to understand. Like, I'm in the business of music. And he's like, no, it's real street shit. And then when Draco got a thing happening to Draco, I was just like, I can't say nothing to him. Yeah. Because that's kind of what he was like, bro,

his haters out here, I'm hot right now music, and there's niggas that will try. And I'm not playing, and he's never performed before. That was another thing. Rumble, Rumble's funny. He's never been on the plane, never performed. Right. Ever.

So that I was trying to, you know, I'm trying to coach him up. Like, yo, let's get on the show. And he's like, you're trying to talk about music, bro. Yeah. It's real street shit happening around me right now, bro. And then I saw that guy got murdered. I was like, man, this shit is really different. Because that was the crazy thing is that Draco did a feature with Remble.

That's what kind of popped them off. Yeah, exactly. Because he made so much sense to Draco's fan base when that song came out. And everybody was kind of like, oh, shit, this is going to be the next through Draco's lineage. Yeah. And then he ended up not signing with Draco. And that created a lot of resentment from... Draco never really expressed it, but his squad, even after he died, it just became very clear,

like, oh, a lot of these people have real resentment towards... Remble because he didn't go through Draco and Draco gave him that song for free and really kind of helped put him in position. It turns out you're the guy who helped orchestrate that. I'm about to say the crazy part, but here's the crazy part. When I was me with Remble, that was his main concern. Yeah. Making sure that I didn't know,

you got to remember, I'm from Atlanta. I'm just Rebel lawyer was a lawyer Donald. Rumble lawyer was Ennelly Chapa lawyer. Just the N.A. Chapa deal. So he was like, yo, I got this kid from the West Coast. I met Remble and I was like, by himself, no manager, no nothing. It would just be me and him. He was a real dude, but

I didn't understand the politics of like people really want to kill you until he was the first artist like, nigga, I'm not, no, y'all don't understand what's happening out there. We got to let this shit die or cool off. And by that time I left the label, so, you know, but that's still my dog. It's crazy too because I felt like Rumble out of the last, you know, five, six, seven years of, like, hip hop in L.A. He seemed like he had the biggest wave at a certain point. And I always didn't understand, like, how much it was the label finessein to make it look bigger than it really was. It felt like, yeah.

I'm seeing all these girls doing TikTok dances, and even at that time I'm still kind of green to it, and I'm like, man, this kind of feels astro-turfed. No, bro. I ain't a lot. Even though it was a good song. No, listen, bro, when Remble, when we signed Remble, it was like a phenom.

Like, you don't understand. Really? Really. That I signed that I had people calling me like, I'm the A&R. Like, I'm not as manager. Like, yo, you think he'll do this show for 5,000? I'm like, a Rembo.

Remember, like, nah, call me back a couple days later because he getting hotter. You think you do it for 10? He's like, nah. He just didn't care, bro. He literally was like on some like, I know where I'm at. I know what this is. Ain't nobody going to trick me into going in these arenas

and something happened and I'm taking away from my family. He didn't play. And it wasn't no fake shit. He literally had, dog, I had everybody call me about him. Really? Dog, dog. Rembo got invited to do the BET Awards and said, and they sent the beat.

And he was like, nah. Wow. You got to understand something. Mark, we're fighting to get anybody on the BETT Wars. And they call us saying, we want him. And they sent the Calid, the Calid DJ, the DJ Calid, Lil Durk baby record. They sent that record over to the beat and they told Rumble write a verse and they go put on, and he was like, nah. What the fuck? Do you think he thought that he was Playboy Cardi, that he didn't have to play ball? No, he could just be in his mysterious

era. I just think, no, it was nothing like that. He just wanted the money. And once he got, and by the way, once he got the money, he was, I'm straight. I got enough. I'm like, yo, it's so much money. He's like, nah. All he wanted to do is get his dad out of jail. Oh, yeah. That's his only goal.

Get enough money to get a lawyer to get his dad out of jail. Yeah. I was aware. It was like he didn't care about nothing but to get his dad out. So crazy. With someone like him where it was,

it felt huge and then now it feels like it's been dead for a few years. Like from your perspective, like, is there still life after that? How do you resurrect the rapper's career? We didn't, we didn't bring him alive. He did it himself. It goes back to like,

It goes back to like one of my favorites. Like, by the way, I learned everything from movies. Like, I didn't have a teacher. Like, nobody thought I was worth investing time in as a kid. I wasn't like the guy that was like, you're going to be something. Like, I learned everything from watching movies. And I always referenced the karate kid because he was getting his ass kicked. And Miss Miyagi was like, I want to show you how to defend yourself, but I want to give you.

Basically, he had to teach him emotional discipline to be a real fighter. So he's like, wax on, wax off. So he's like cleaning all his cars. And he goes crazy. And then he's like, you got me clean. in your cars, all this other shit. He was like, shut up. I'm gonna punch you.

Wax on, wax off. And to me, I use that to say that. For me, I look at myself like, I'm that guy. Like, I'm here to help you through the process. Just trust me. And Rumble, he wasn't with it. Like, he wasn't with it. Like, chopper, like, whatever.

Rumble was like, no. Right. I know this, and I'm an Atlanta nigger. Like, that's another thing. I'm an Atlanta nigger signed a West Coast nigga. Like, he's schooling me to West Coast politics. I don't even understand. Like, no, we can't move like that.

We can't do that. out here and I don't even know who wanted to kill Remble. From my perspective, it never really felt like that. I don't think anybody wanted to kill him. I just think it was just everybody don't want to have the heat on them. Like that, like, sometimes we're weird. Like, why would you want to be the hottest nigger on earth? Like, why would you want to be puffed at it?

Like, I get it, but it's like everybody looking. Everything you do is on. Every mistake you make. And I think Remble was just like, like I said, I rap to get my dad out of jail. Yeah. I am not going to have anybody trick me in a rapping for nobody on those stage. that wasn't a part of my vision. I need to get a certain amount of money

to get a lawyer to get my pops out. And that's his goal. Yeah. I would manage your sign Rumble right now. I still feel like... He got it. Lyrically, just... It was so good while it lasted,

but he just didn't really stay on it. Yeah, and I think if I was West Coast base, I would have worked with him more, but I was only out here once a month. So I only could spend two or three days with him at a time. But like, that's my nigger, man. And he, my brother, everybody was on him.

Every rapper was on him, everybody. And he was just like, I'm like, yo, such a sister's called. They want you to do a song. Imagine that. Like, imagine telling your, yo, yo, Suncha's call. He'd be like, dope.

You know, like, I called Chopper and say, Drake went and getting a record. When do you want me, get on, you know, everybody's time? I'm like, yo, Suck and Succas just call. Hey, what you get on the song? Ha, ha. That's dope. That's crazy.

Okay, what about Choppas? It's kind of like a different problem because I feel like his messaging became convoluted. Like, it's easy when he was the young, NBA young boy style gangster dude tooting all these choppers in the video. But then it felt like his,

And I appreciate the fact that he is smart enough to have wanted to take his message in a different direction. But I feel like at a certain point for the fans' perspective, that just started to seem like goofiness. Well, I'll say this. I remember when he wanted to drop the from Doctor Light album and we was on a call. And this is like, we're on fire. We got like, we put out a Camelot. We put out the shatterflow remix of bluefin. Like, though, we made so much money on this shit.

And now he's like, I want to go from Dr. Light. So we're on the Zoom call and they're like, you know, white people, you know, a little passive aggressive, you know. So, guys, Chapa, he's not street anymore. What are we thinking, guys?

I'm like, yo, so I get on, I'm like, yo, look, Tupac said, keep your head up. And Brennan's got a baby, but he also was like, he fucked that dude bitch and he didn't give a fuck. I'm like, he's 17.

He's just growing into himself. And I think the reason, I think the problem with Chapa is, is that, to me, is that Chapa needs a musical partner around him. And he doesn't trust anybody musically. So, like, I remember when we first started working, like, I had all these beats.

And we go to studio and Choppas on YouTube searching them, and then lead Chapa-type beats. Like, it's like, and it's like one of them things where it's like, it's like sports. Like, to me, chopper's the number one draft pick. But you can be Zion or you could be LeBron. But one has to think, like, Zion could be Zion if he just stopped eating as bad

as he was eating, right? Like, just, if you just get disciplined with your fool, you could be LeBron. And I think with Chapa, it's like putting him in the room with the right producers who's going to produce him mathematically. He's made, it's hard, though, because he became the biggest little nigger in the world

without mathematics, without writing a hook, without doing it the industry's way. So trying to tell him that is like already like a problem. I remember the first time we was just, I'll imagine he don't get bad at me. First time we have our staff, I'll be with Chapa. You know, we got all these records.

you know, everybody wants to work on them. We got all these producers, and we just meet with them like, yo, welcome to the label. We want you to go in the studio with this person, this person. And, you know, man, his mama goes, raise their hand. Who got a problem with my baby music?

Y'all sign my baby for his music. Now you're trying to put them in the studio with other big producers. Everybody shut the fuck up. Wow. And we put out the records. But my thing is, is that. But then you got to, artists have to be challenged.

Yeah. Like, athletes have to be challenged. Like, and I don't think there's nobody that's challenging any artists at any label, period. And I know the labor that Chappas at that they can't, like, they can't. Chopin needs to respect you to work with you. He needs to feel like, like, dog, when I'm an A&R, when I'm working with Future, I'm working with Sierra, whoever I'm working with, like, when I suggest someone, I'm putting my life on the line. If I suggest the Sierra to get in the rule with Adam, if Adam don't deliver, I can't make another suggestion. So every time I put my name on the line, my name is on the line, literally.

So I just think that, you know, he needed somebody in the process with him. And even with the NBA young boy, I wish he wanted to done that. I understand what you was trying to do, but you're doing it to a guy that ain't going to play back with you. So it's like, I'm a strategist. I'm like, all right, we're going to put this video out. It goes crazy. What do we want to happen? Yeah.

Do we want them there? What if he doesn't respond? What then? What if nobody cares? What then? Like, or what if he does respond? What's our plan? Like, you have to sit at the table and decide any way he could go.

And I know for a fact, he don't have that around him. Yeah. His mother is around. His mother is doing what a mother's supposed to do. She's his manager, but her most important goal is to keep her fucking son alive and safe. Yeah. Yeah, we can sell 10 million records, but my son is going to be here. So I respect Angelita.

But it's also about having someone who can coach him around him every day. And to me, I feel like I was great at it because I didn't ask him for a lot. But when I would ask him, he would trust me. But that shit is built on trust, bro. When I first realized that 6-9 was a bit of a genius strategist was when Trippy Red came for him and dissed him and was trashing him. And 6-9 was very reserved. And then later, when 6-9 got bigger than Trippy Red,

he admitted that when that happened, that he didn't go at Trippy crazy because he realized that he had the bigger fan base and he wasn't in a position to go at Trippie. and then once he got in the position where he was more popular than him, then he starts heaping dirt on him. And I do think that, like,

Annalia Chabagana, young boy is just too beloved right now. He's too far ahead. That's what I'm like, it's the wrong time to diss him. He's, he didn't can't, he got the streets, he got politics, everybody trying to see this kid do good

because they know the influence he has. You shouldn't dis him right now. I would rather you get on, I would rather you get on an interview or Adam. This is me if I'm in the room. I'm like, what you want to say to NBA young boy? Let's get in the room with Adam. Say it to Adam.

because now your message to be clearer. Now it's not like the song. Now I got to listen to the song and figure out what you're saying. And that's what I mean by like, I feel like podcasters can save it because we wouldn't care about the wrestling match if they didn't stop with me and Gene Oakland and say what happened.

You know what I'm trying to say? You got to give those moments to make it. And I feel like I would have helped. But yeah. Yeah, you know, a few years ago, I remember having the observation that my own personal listening habits had gone from listening to rap all the time

to listen to on a podcast and watching YouTube videos all the time and that I couldn't help but feel like that was a big part of why rap music wasn't really doing as well was because of the fact that so many of the fan base was basically like taking their listening time and putting it into other things.

And a lot of people told me I was crazy at that time oh, a podcast isn't that big, it's not going to stop people from listening to artists. Now that seems like unbelievably obvious to me that like and granted it's not necessarily podcasting. A lot of those are streamers, a lot of its short form content. A lot of it's just scrolling Instagram.

People don't listen to music because they're scrolling Instagram and looking at whatever the algorithm throws in their face. That's what I'm saying. That's the new TV. Like, I'm like, if I'm an artist,

this is another thing I just said onto artists, why are you trying to drop an album? Why are you trying to drop a single? If I'm an artist, I'm just dropping vertical videos on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube shorts every day.

I mean performing two to three different songs and just performing it and I'm not shooting a bit. Like, I wish I had a job. I would tell this is the worst, this is the best time to be an artist and work a job. Yeah.

Like dog, but I'm working at Popeyes. I'm rap. I'm fine chicken rapping about it. I'm gonna get out this motherfucker by my mom in my house. You know what I mean? People feel that? Yeah.

That might push that and be like, this dude is hard. It's a new way to be discovered. Artists just are so used to radio on TV. And I think all of us know that that shit is gone now. So now's like, we better get them up for something or we ain't going to have nothing. Short form content is cannibalizing podcasts.

Short form content is cannibalizing. TV shows. It's cannibalizing. It's like I can get it in two. minutes, I'd rather have it than two minutes. It's just, and to me, by the way, it's way more entertaining because I can go from this place to this place and the algorithm knows me. They're going to show me some big booty chicks.

They're going to show me some funny shit. They're going to show me some educational shit. They're going to show me things that I am. So sometimes I turn on my TV and then put on a movie and then next thing you know, 15 minutes of movie, I'm scrolling. Yeah. Because the movie is moving slow. Yeah.

And do you see that clip of like Ben Affleck and Matt Damon talking about how when you make a movie for Netflix, they want you to reiterate the pot over and over? because the fans are looking at their phone and not doing it? It's a new world we live in now. Now you're telling Matt Damon how to make movies. Like say the plot. Say the rip. We better say the rip.

And I was wondering why they kept saying at a movie like, this is the rip. Oh, that's Netflix. Yeah. And it's funny because you're watching real people do it. It's like if you see a Netflix actor, like, oh yeah, that's what y'all do. But seeing Ben Affleck is like, oh, wow, they make you and Ben,

you and Matt Damon do it. That's different. Yeah, so, okay, the controversy of the week was this clip. that came out of La Russell talking about Wayne and really had like a relatively measured take about Wayne that then imploded and seems like it's maybe even like threatening his career long term because people had such a, you know,

people were so outraged by this. I'm gonna tell you story. I hope you don't get mad at me, but I just said earlier how I was obsessed with Master P. Yeah. I used to push wheelchairs in the airport. I was skycap. Master P is the only celebrity I ever saw and I cried.

Really? I couldn't believe that that was Master P. Wow. And I worshipped the man. And then I saw him drop Romeo. And it was Bugs Bunny and it was dancing and it was like, what the fuck is this? So at that moment, I had to recognize that my, I'm 18, by the way.

I'm a kid. I'm like, I had to recognize that my rap heroes are humans. Like, you tell me, you're not saying Master P, but you rap about selling dope, but you're saying your kids in private school. Yeah. It's the same concept. It's like, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, It's a contradiction.

So I look at it through that lens. Like, I can't, you know, like, if you're talking this shit, this street shit, and you're not living it, that's why hip hop is dead. Because the motherfuckers are smart enough to talk it, it's like, I'm not talking that shit. And the motherfuckers that need it bad are talking it, and they don't even know that they're blowing up

to the point where they get a check, and here comes the DA, got your ass. So it's like, it's no more chances. Yeah, but that La Russell clip, like. Oh, no, back to me. I'm sorry, back to the Russell. I was talking off. So here's the name by La Russell.

Number one, he's not wrong. Yeah. I said it to my Master P to say that I became a man. When I'm 15, 16, I'm listening to Master P. I love the man. I'm 19, 20. And now here come his son and his son is like a kid rapper. Like nothing like the No Limit brand.

And I'm mad at Master P. I don't even notice, man. I don't got his number. I'm just pissed like, why is he? Why are you doing this? And I had to realize, Master P ain't your God. Yeah. These rappers are entertainers.

They're trying to figure it out too. He might have saw Romeo and looked at his son and been like, you know what? I can't put my son in this bullshit. This street shit. It's like we got to wipe up. So I think what La Russell happens is La Russell is a rapper. He loves Wayne.

Wayne is his favorite rapper in high school. Then he goes through the journey of what it takes to be a successful rapper. The Russell's whole mission is meaningful. It's like I'm trying to build something from my community. Every step La Russell takes us with intent. Little Wayne just rapped. Yeah. So like listen to Go DJ.

Go DJ ain't about a DJ. He's just spitting on your ass. That's what Wayne, a milly about. He's just killing it, right? So when you hear you like, damn, Wayne probably, he didn't really give me nothing. Like, I'll say this on record. Jay Z taught me more about success than my father.

And my father is the greatest man to ever live. I love my, everything I am is because of who my father is. But I learned how to get rich from Hove. Yeah. When Hove was like, when Hove say this shit, he don't hold on that new shit. Niggas like, how come? Niggas on my old shit.

Buy my old albums. That fuck my life up. Because it was like, and then he goes, niggist stuck, I'm trying to do something. y'all stuck on the blueprint. I'm like, and I was one of them dudes that was saying, Jay and Dame need to get back together.

Well, I'm not going to support him. And then Jay dropped that shit. I'm like, I'm lame as fuck. I need to move the fuck on. So, and when Jay Z said, all I need is the love of my crew. The whole industry can hate me. I thugged my way through. I was trumming up in the music business.

That stuck with me. When I would get played by somebody else, like, I remember I ran up McKedar-Massonberg. And he was like, get your ass out, a little nigg. I was like, I didn't know a fuck about you. My crew loved me. Yeah. And I was just thinking about Jay.

So my point I'm saying is that, but as I get older, I see Jay differently. I'm like, I wouldn't do certain things you did. And I think that's what happened to Russell. It's my idol, but now I'm looking in the same. I'm sitting in the seat. Maybe not where he was. Yeah. Or his peak, but I'm where he was at one point.

And I'm saying like, damn, I'm a little disappointed in my goat because he never gave me nothing. Now y'all beating him down. Because when I really try to think of rappers who never put out, you know, sort of substance-less content, Jay is really kind of the person that comes to mind where, you know, you find me the Jay song that is just a bunch of garbage. Nothing.

Just a bunch of talking shit. Every song was intentional, bro. It was just, and I feel like that's why he had to fall back early. Yes. And that's why he doesn't do all the rapper things that everybody else in his special does. But even at, look at Jay Z, for example. Jay Z was at this place where he was hundreds of millions.

He was the president of Def Jam. He couldn't talk street shit no more. So what does Jay do? Yo, give me that Frank Lucas American Gangsa album. And now he talks, I'm getting there. I'm getting there. But he was talking as Frank Lucas. Yeah.

Not himself. So it's like nobody understands that Jay is every word that comes out of his mouth is meant to be a part of his story. And Wayne to go back sometimes. He'll start here and go there because he really is just, he's probably the most gifted rapper a lot. Right. So you got to give him that. But he did, I respect what the Russell said. He can feed him.

Yeah, because I feel like if you're a rap fan, you are not human if you haven't had that experience of putting on a new album from a rapper that you like and at some point by like song four just thinking listen I'm sick of hearing you talk about how gangster you are or how good at rapping you are or how many bitches you got or whatever like I just, many

albums over the years have been just full of this and that's all there is to it and if you haven't grown frustrated by that at times I feel like you're not being honest with yourself it's like you gotta grow Jay Z is my favorite rapper Kanye is my second favorite Kanye is my favorite artist of all time But Jay's my favorite rap of all time.

But I tell them, you know where Ye was at in every moment. He's the college dropout. Now late registration. Now graduation. Now mom dies. 80s and heartbreaks. I'm f***ed up. My twist of dark fantasy.

I'm trying to figure out of come back, the life of Pablo. Like I want to do gospel. Everywhere he was at, that's why they bought it. Because everywhere he was at, he told you, this is why I'm at. And I'm trying to figure this shit out. And I think artists don't do enough of that. They just want to hide behind the veil. I've seen a La Russell tweet where he was basically acknowledging that this is the first time he's ever really gotten negative feedback in his career.

Because he, as much as we talk about him a lot, or at least now it seems that we're going to be talking about him. He's not really that big. Like he's got a couple hundred thousand monthly listeners. If you look at his interviews, he's doing 10, 20,000. He's a household name and hip-hop, but you don't, like, I'm from the Bay record is the first time he's going for it. Like, y'all want to know me for a song, not just know me for my story. His story. Yeah.

His story is famous. And now him having like a somewhat edgy take in an interview seems like it's a real threat to like everything he's building because now everybody who listens to him is going to constantly be looking for substance in a way that I don't know if he can really deliver on it. And let's be real, like most people don't really want substance in every single son. They want hits and they're okay with it if you're just talking shit. So my thing to LaReso is this is because you're actually right. How I'll respond if I'm on his team is I'm like, let's keep pushing forward.

But eventually the goal need to be to get Wayne on the record. Oh, that's smart, yeah. Because now when Wayne get on the record, because that's another thing. The fans are taking it personal because Wayne has to come out and said, that's cool with me. It's like, well, he just said,

yo, that's dope. All my shit ain't that. Nobody would care, but it's like, he said, what about Wayne? We got to get his ass now. Come on, man. You got to grow past that shit, bro. You got to, like, dog,

like nobody is above criticism. Nobody, bro. Drake is top five to me, but you got to admit when you did wrong. It's like, by the way, that's my superpower. My superpower is you could change my mind. Yeah.

Like, you could tell me something. I could come in here convicted, and you can tell me something that makes me say, damn, I didn't think about that. You know what? You're right? You know what I mean?

And I think that most people, I'm tired of the people that mind can't be changed. Yeah. Oh, he's a bitch. We hate him now. You hate him now? Damn, you know the real story.

We don't care. We hate him. He said something about Wayne. We hate him. That's what we hate him. I'm like, yo, come on y'all. Y'all, y'nickers be working a life off to get here.

You can't write a motherfucker up because they said something you didn't agree with? Everybody does. Yeah. I'm a poker player, and that's one thing that is really prized within the culture of poker is the willingness to be open-minded about things. And there's been times where I was doing a Zoom call with my coach talking about a hand. And he's telling me how I f*** the hand up.

And then all of a sudden, as he's talking it through three minutes later, he's like, actually, you know what? I think this is perfect. You did the right thing. And that in itself, I have limitless respect for is like someone that could kind of continue to process this to the point. where they're able to change their mind in real time. But that's taken as being a hypocrite. No, no. In public discourse.

They don't doubt. I don't, if you can change my mind, that's what makes me powerful. I can say one thing. Like, I'm going to be honest with you because we hear, like, when I'm coming here,

a lot of people are like, why are you talking to Adam? I'm like, why wouldn't I? Oh, he does this kind. I'm like, you think that's what him and our conversation is going to be? Right.

You think we're going to sit around and like, yo! How many bodies you got ready? Yeah, exactly. It's like, it's like, y'all don't understand. My thing is, is that we do have to do more of that, more fellowship, more conversation, more talking to each other. That's really the problem.

Nobody talks to each other no more. We just watching what each other doing on the internet. We used to live in the real world and post what we do on the internet. That was our life. Now we live on the internet. And whatever we do in the real world, we have to post on the internet now to make sure that the internet knows was really happening. Yeah. It's the weirdest shit.

I do feel like my respect for the average hip-hop listeners, uh, reading conference. or, you know, listening comprehension might have dropped a little bit this weekend because, like, the two biggest stories was La Russell basically complimenting Lowein, but having a little bit of a critique of his output over the years. And then DJ Vlad writing this long sarcastic post about the Megan Tori situation, which we don't really have to get all into. And it getting like a hundred million plus impressions on Twitter, mostly by people who thought that he was being. Yeah. They wanted to believe the story. Yeah, that was crazy. Yeah, I mean, there's such an appetite for conspiracy theories and misinterpreting people that have the least charitable version of what they're saying. I think I know why.

Because we live in the pick me era now. We live in an era now where everybody is making content intentionally now. Like, we live in the era where like literally you looking at me, the difference between them looking at you and them looking at me is life or death now. And because I think because we live in that era, it's just taking way, way more serious.

Everything is there. But I'm going to just tell you something. This shit is like living in a drama. It's like living in a soul proper. Just survive. Yeah. La Russell, like Torrey Lanes didn't survive. Right.

He went to jail. Like, fuck. But if you survive and keep your name hot enough, you get out. And here we are again. You're back. Always just survive, bro. Everybody going for the big gusto.

It ain't no more big gustos, bro. All of the giants are waiting to see what we're going next. So you need to survive to figure out where you want to go next because the giants haven't even pick yet. Right. Okay, last topic is to what extent did the botting and the, you know, artificial inflation of music on streaming platforms corrupt the game because I keep seeing smaller underground artists, whatever, kind of having the realization of like, oh, I was

judging myself for all these years against people who are not playing the same game as me. I thought that I was 1% of this artist and it turns out maybe I was bigger or close on the same level as this person, but they were being propped up by these fake numbers. Anytime there's numbers in the front, it can be altered. Yeah. It's just the world we live in.

It's like, bro, like, have you seen the bots? Like, the bots are like, if you never seen it, what we've done, I just show you one. Okay. Like, the bots are like, like I can order right now three million followers on a bot for $40.

Wow. But they might say, do you want real bots? Do you want real followers or fake followers? Right. You want real humans a fake? Like, dog, like, my thing is this is that we're going to, this is the steroid era for music. The boss, listen, eventually going to all taken down because the industry is going to have to land somewhere. So to me, I just feel like, you know, like, that's just, this is going to be the bot era.

It's going to be like, I want triple platinum, but in the buy era. Well, it kind of feels like, like even seeing 6 and I have mad plays removed from his shit on Spotify or whatever. That kind of feels like, oh, shit, we're in this, like, new era where there's a lot of corrections to that, which, I mean, they keep finding new ways to artists officially inflate people's popularity, but it feels like, if anything, the streaming platforms are a lot more motivated to correct that now.

I think we're past the numbers error. I think that we just need, like I said before, I seen a footage, if I didn't see that footage, if you could be telling everybody here, man, I go to concerts, man, I get mob like the fucking Beatles. You're like, shut the fuck up, Adam. You know what I'm saying? But we've seen footage of it.

So now we've seen footage. where we know it's real. We got something, it's something to believe in. Yeah. We got to, artists got to give people something to believe in, bro. Like,

I know you, like, it's just, I just think that all of the, the goal rushes is over and all the fakes are going to fall. And I feel like, I think you feel like that for podcasts, too.

Even like, interview on me is like, he might just be wanting to pop up guys. Like, I need to see him for another 12 months. I need to see him. It's like, it's not because you're not making me qualify. I just you know how much you put in and you like,

I'm don't want to waste my time with anyone that is not of, this shit. And I think that that's what we are right now in time where it's like, you know, it's just everybody's just trying to wait to see what's real and what's not. But if you be honest,

if you're paying attention, who's killing it? The podcasters. Yeah. No, making it the Joe Button show is equivalent to being on Wooner's in Park, being number one on Wooner since apart. It's like, Joe let you come up there.

Oh, shit. Yeah. Like, it's like he's created that space for himself. Wallo and Gilly fly to go interview you. You got to be hot. When they went to go do Fennett's two times, I'm like, oh, Fenness, hot. By the way, finesse, finesse,

I just want to say this. I just, I hate when I see artists going through shit. He's funny as fuck. Yeah. He can be a comedian. Oh, yeah. He is a comedian. He's the rare person who can do the social media antics,

and it seems like his music is actually hot and that the two things don't somehow cancel each other out. And I'm like, and when he was saying, yo, Jay Prince, I'm like, bro, you're the hot as you ever been and you don't have a record out. Why are y'all not thinking? If I'm him, I'm doing, I'm doing what Lil Duval did. I'm talking shit on the internet,

and I'm gonna say one thing that's, I'm gonna say one thing, R-B, that they're gonna catch me. I'm living my best life. Ain't going back and forth with you, niggas. In the hick of a future. I'm living my best life. And the hick of whoopoldewa, you know what? I'm gonna turn it into a song.

And then it goes three times platinum. He did it in real time. Yeah. Doug, if I'm somebody, if you're at home trying to figure it out, you should be trying to get in the room with people like Adam, people like Ray, whack, people like Gilly Wallow, Joe,

because we are, we are the fucking stops on the rail of big roads. We have all the information. Everybody wants to talk to us. Like, think about that. Like, we could direct traffic. Like, yo, you want to go, hey, you should be a part of our league.

Let me show you where the traffic is going. You should be over there with that person. You are a dumb rapper. I got a dumb rap crew that I can make you a part of that you'll be, if it's perfect in. We got to start directed traffic, and I think it starts with us podcasts. The show.

All right, so speak to me about your platform and what exactly you're doing on there so that people can make sure to go tune in. And what are you building? Well, the most important thing I'm building is I'm creative director of this company called The Cut. It's a haircut app. A hundred million application, I mean 100 million appointments. We got 10 million users, 300,000 barbers.

And we have this platform we created for artists to perform because I'm seeing it. I'm like, we don't give artists an option. We're not. So what I'm really trying to do is I'm trying to be like the complex of Atlanta. I'm trying to be an opportunity zone. You want to come perform, come perform. You want to come get some game. Come get some game.

You want to come learn and come learn. And my whole shit is called Ray Dynes Presents. So I always say like, share, subscribe, follow me, but it's more about that shit don't matter to me. I know I should say it, but what matters to me more is the people at home listening and learning. If you got it from Adam's shit, if you got it from my shit, I don't care.

The most important thing is me is that you fucking get it. And you do what you got to do because we superheroes, me and you. We wake up every day and try to do what we got to do to change the world for the better or what we see it to be. And it's hard as, bro. It's really fucking hard.

So I just tell the people at the house, Man, like, it's going to be hard, but it's worth it. For sure. It's going to be worth it in the end, so that'll be it for me. You're building something that has a lot of integrity and is clearly intended to help people. I'm still figuring, like, though, I did drink champs Friday. Like, I can't, I'm, like, Norie is talking to me

and I'm still trying to figure out what I am. I'm like, I don't know, but I do know what I am. I am at the intersection of culture and creativity and coaching. Yeah. I'm creative. I understand culture, but I can coach you through that shit because everybody who's ever listened to me got rich. No artist has never listened to me and not one

because I don't give you what I want. I understand the science of what we're doing. I think you do too. You know what the fuck you're doing. When you do the no jumper is going through this and everybody knows the only fans is jumping. You know what the fuck you're doing. But what you're doing is you're being transparent

with your audience, number one, but you're telling them what's happening in real time. So now they can roll with you or not. It's like, not like, man, we're going to figure it out. So I say it on camera. And the president of our company is right there. She hates when I say this, but we still figuring it out. Yeah.

And for me to have gotten this far, that's another thing, bro. I haven't made money. I haven't taken money from this yet. Right. Like, I make a million dollars a year in music. So I can make a million dollars a year from sitting on my phone. Right. Just in music because I got so much shit going.

So, and I got royalties coming in for so many places. So I don't do that for, I don't do this for the money. I do this shit at them because I really believe that if we don't do this, our kids are going to be this as somebody else who might be leading them down it's some piece of gate shit. You know what I'm saying? So for me, it's like, we gotta talk because if we don't, who is?

So that's what I'm here for. That's real, man. Hey, Ray Daniels. Appreciate you coming so much, man. By the way, fuck me more, man. I f***ing me more, man. I love what you're doing, man. Y'all funny is fucking.

No, for sure. I'm down to do this anytime. By the way, I'll be out here all the time. I'm going to come see. Like, when I'm in Miami, I go see Danza. I'm going to come see when I'm in LA. Just pull up. Let's get it, man.

Ray Daniels, make sure you subscribe to his channel. just search it up. Ray Daniels presents, right? Ray Daniels presents everywhere and Ray Daniels. It's easy. Ray Daniels or Ray Daniels presents? That's me.

The show. No, John Burke, coolest podcast in world. Like, comment, and subscribe. We will be reading. Appreciate y'all. Let's go. Hell yeah.