No Jumper - The Loaded Lux Interview: Battle Rap Strategy, Joe Budden Break Up & More

Episode Date: April 5, 2021

Elite battle rapper Loaded Lux sits down with Adam to talk about his hunger for always being the best, how he prepares mentally and physically to give the most memorable performances and always elevate. Be on the look out for his battle with Daylyt! https://www.instagram.com/iamloadedlux/ https://twitter.com/iAmLoadedLux ----- CHECK OUT OUR NEW SPOTIFY PLAYLIST https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5tesvmDS8h50LkjnSAWMOs?si=j6sJD6DkR4mk5NZZWnlK7g FOLLOW US ON SNAPCHAT FOR THE LATEST NEWS & UPDATES https://www.snapchat.com/discover/No_Jumper/4874336901 CHECK OUT OUR ONLINE STORE!!! http://www.nojumper.com/ SUBSCRIBE for new interviews (and more) weekly: http://bit.ly/nastymondayz Follow us on Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/nojumper iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/no-jumper/id1001659715?mt=2 Follow us on Social Media: https://www.snapchat.com/discover/No_Jumper/4874336901 http://www.twitter.com/nojumper http://www.instagram.com/nojumper https://www.facebook.com/NOJUMPEROFFICIAL http://www.reddit.com/r/nojumper JOIN THE DISCORD: https://discord.gg/Q3XPfBm Follow Adam22: https://www.tiktok.com/@adam22 http://www.twitter.com/adam22 http://www.instagram.com/adam22 adam22hoe on Snapchat Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

No Jumper, coolest podcasts on the world, and today we got loaded luck in the building. You know, normally rappers come in here and they have a little team assembling blunts for them. Talk that tape. You got some honey here? It's not honey, it's leaves. Tumric. Yeah, I got a little bit of turmeric. And this is Neme.

Neem. What do you get from this? Like, I got this from True Story. I'll be checking out of Google. Name was Sa Gudu. That's just that crazy. Yeah, on line and shit. So I'm a fan of his.

Like, he really tap in. And he just suggested this one day. And I tried it, Neiman Tumrick in the morning. How you wide-eyed, but in the right, not like you agitated, not like you're moving. Just put the energy and everything in pocket. It'll go from like 8 a.m. to like noon, early after noon, feeling, like just life.

Yo, you got to try it, bro. You drink caffeine in the morning. No. No. You never were on that? I was. I did caffeine. But you got over it. Yeah, I had to. And it's life is better. Way better. I wonder this about myself because I'm drinking big ass coffees every morning. Yo, listen, yo, bro, you gotta try this. I'm down to try it for sure, yeah. Not for me to you.

I'm gonna take a note for sure. You gotta try it. What do you put it in your tea or something? Yeah, like it's usually the best for like hot water. I like to do neem and put a little bit of turmeric in it. Okay. Do you try some honey, with it though. When did you start taking care of your health like that? Slow process over the hell yeah. Like about 2012 I really got serious about it. Because I was I was I don't know I just wanted to challenge myself and my diet at the time I really started like really working out working out like all right I'm going to really go for the gusto right like it really was training like I was

training like I was always athletic but focusing on like how I trained and how I worked out I really started then. And when I started then, my diet wasn't complimenting the workout, though. Oh, yeah. Diage is number one. I remember I used to be in the gym every day, and I would be coming back, and I would be eating, like, you know, bacon, egg and cheese from the store, pizza for lunch, whatever. And, like, one of my homies had to actually tell me, like, yo, you know, you got to think about what you eat, too. Just because you're working out every day, doesn't mean you can just eat whatever. And I'm like, oh, I'm like 19. Like, wow, that makes a lot of sense. Yo, bro, I'm telling you, like, that shit right there, because I got a thing that it's all synchronicity. Life is synchronicity.

So everything you put in the system, you're sinking with that shit. So food is fuel. Yes. So what's the results? So I'm thinking about performance. You know what I mean? I used to like, you all right, that shit tastes good. Right. But the results is, I feel like shit. I mean, and I can't move the way I like to move. The sooner in your life you figure out that doing things that just feel good in the short term is quite often not a way for you to feel good in the long term. The sooner you can figure that out because I feel like your parents are kind of trying to explain that to you with candy and shit your whole life. Right, right, right, right, right.

But it's so hard to get. Yo, and you really get it when there's some shit you really are interested in doing. That's like school, right? They sit you down for six, seven hours a day. You're like, then they're forced. hell hostage to learn this shit. But not until I got into subjects that I was really interested in learning.

Right. Oh, okay. Yeah. Learning is now a whole other like thing. But did you have the experience? I had the experience a couple years out of high school where I realized oh, well, number one, my brain is not working the way it used to because I was really having my brain stimulated

for years and years. And then all of a sudden I get out of school and I got a couple years where I'm not reading that much or going out of my way to educate myself and I start to realize like how important learning was. I had had it forced on me for all those years in school so you never really learned to appreciate it. Truth. Truth. And that's why I say

it's when you start finding out what you really into. When you tap in and like, oh, no, I really like this. And then you figure out everything has a science to it. And you know what I mean? All right. I really like that. Like shit. I like girls. All right. Well, how do I go about

talking to this girl that I really like? Right. And that is a science. subject you know what I'm saying this is true and once you find those things that you really follow down the yellow brick road yeah yeah and then that'll really come to you like all right yeah this this is this is this is why learning is important yeah yeah that's how I found it but that lust for learning so many people give up on it early in their life and they just sort of end up you know just floating through the rest of their life just doing the same shit that they were doing at a certain point they sort of learn one way of view in the world

And that's very much like, I think people who are really successful in life, they manage to go past that. And they're constantly looking at their life from an outside perspective and sort of reviewing, auditing exactly what they think of their life. Like that's one thing for me. I'm constantly looking at my life and tearing it apart and thinking, like, what should I be doing better? What could be better? Even if I'm happy right now, like I'm happy doing interviews right now. But I think every day, I think, are you still going to want to be doing? interviews in five years. If you don't, are you going to be forced to because this is the world

that you're building around yourself? Right, right, right. But that's what it is. You tuned in to getting better, wanting to be better. And I think we never got that memo. Like, like at the premise of life, like, yo, this shit is about getting better. Right. Improving. They make you improve in one area, but they don't tell you overall, like, you know what I'm saying? Where you should be focusing your energy and why you focus on that. Right. That's why I'm, listen, man, listen, this shit is like smoking mirrors, man. And not till you start tuning in how you say to yourself and you say, yo, I want to be better.

And disciplining yourself to really, that's when you start uncovering, all right, this is beneficial. That's beneficial. I'm doing it like this because of this. But you got a fact that I didn't. Listen, that's my, listen, I tell you, everybody don't touch power. Niggas get money. You get money, you know what? Everybody don't touch power.

It's a different thing. See, you got tuned in. Like, you found things that you really liked and you was true to yourself. I want to be better. Not for this or that, but because I'm trying to get better. And whether you take the vehicle

of I'm doing interviews today, I'm filming tomorrow, I'm doing music, or I'm touching, whatever vehicle you use, it all comes back around to you, though. And you get, better. Yeah. So that's why I like your, my performance is important because I want to be better.

But when you look at your life, that's kind of the question. Like for me, it's like, do I want to just hammer away at doing a million fucking interviews? Or do I want to keep an open mind and constantly be finding new things to be excited about, to learn about, et cetera? And I feel like in a lot of ways it's the same thing with you because you know that you could just like do a couple of battles a year, make good money doing that at some point you know the clock starts ticking

you know at some point you're 50 years old and motherfuckers don't want to see you on stage anymore you'd be like when we'll do that in right but I feel like you're kind of the same way

in that like you have aspirations that go beyond just being the greatest battle rapper bro you could dig your fucking claws into that and just fight for that

for your whole life right but at a certain point I mean your ambition has to be a little bigger right but of course that's what I'm saying it's almost like the vehicle.

I found something that I was good at that I was really interested in and as I started to really delve into it wholeheartedly I started uncovering other parts of me though shit that I ain't even know I mean I just tell sis

like I'd be doing certain things and out of nowhere like I get hit with a vibe and that's the thing a lot of people don't follow down those inclinations those hunches that you get that say to you like maybe I should you know challenge myself here and that be the thing though

see like the whole art of battling it kind of puts you in that mode of challenge though that's why I take what I do serious but it's applicable in all areas right you know what I mean but but the the most important one is self how do I discover who I am truly right and if I got to use battling to do that which I have I find that in other

of areas, oh shit, I really enjoy this. I really enjoy partaking in making music or books and film. And these things are kind of associated, but they all come back to the development of me. So I watch what

I produce and the things that I project off of, you know, just my love for it and finding myself. And I, listen, I really see how, where I'm at with myself, that product that I produce, It's right in direct reflection of that.

Let me compare it to this. Let me compare it to this. You always will hear a comedian talk about how they'll spend, like on average, I think they spend a year working on material, and then sometimes it's like two years, but then at the end of that period of time, then they have a special. Then they have their 45 minutes or their hour that they can go and do their Netflix special if they're lucky enough, or maybe they just make a YouTube video or whatever. That's their hour of like amazing content.

but I appreciate the way they think about it because you might have all kinds of jokes that you are adding to that hour, all kinds of material, but then over time, as you do it on stage, you start to realize what isn't working, what's better, et cetera,

and then you end up with that hour. Being a battle rapper is like that, except you got this other guy and his 30 homies standing right there trying to fuck up your stand-up routine. The whole way through. That's why if you ever catch certain battles, like I'll be at you.

But then I look over at them. No shit, like intentionally. Because I know you betting against me. Right. Like I know you keep in that poker face on. You know I just said some mean shit. Because you're going to sit there and act like it ain't enough. I love to snatch the soul out of your whole entourage.

Oh, I live for that shit. Right. I live for that. You got to catch certain battles. I've done it. I've done it. Battles with hollow. Then it was battles with clips.

Verb. I live for that. Right. Because it's a sense of knowing. when old, I've, I've arrived. Right. There's no doubt of my mind, like, I'm in the room. Is that fight for the control of the space that I find so interesting because it's not,

like, you're both standing there either way. That's what literally exists. People on stage, people in the audience, that's it. But the thing that you're fighting for is to captivate the audience. I was watching, I was brought to that hollow battle from, I think, like five years ago. And there's just a moment where like the first round is like the crowd seems like they could go either way. On your second go, everybody is just shut up listening to every fucking word. And I notice it with myself too is like, I'm really locked in right now.

I'm really paying to touch everything. And it just hit a different level. Right. That thing right there is pretty fucking mind-blowing. Yeah. But that's life. That's the whole shit. With every room you win, it's like, all right, I'm.

I'm warming up. I'm getting. And as you, that's why the losses are lessons. Every failed attempt, no, I'm getting better. But I'm mindful of it though. You know what I'm really in tune to what I'm doing. And each way up, I'm like, nah, nah, I can do that better. Even if you felt like, oh shit, I may still be in my mind like, hmm, no, I seen where I could

have took that to another space and I know what I did in my training. my training. I know what I did in the dark to give you that. But it's other spaces that I could have went. And I know that in my heart of hearts. So, no, that's, that's kind of what's happening. As I'm in the room, I'm like, all right, you know, you here, you, you, but then I'm being one with the energy. Now I can really feel everybody. Y'all swear, I lie to you not. I was just talking to a friend of my, that's an uncasa. Shout to him. Shout out the two guns. We got some mean pieces too. I got, oh, we're doing some stuff together on the merch and all that. Wow, really? Yeah, no, I thought. We talk all the time about what the fuck happened on Kasa,

so that's good. I'm out of the loop because I had like, you know, a couple songs that I loved like 20 years ago and then I haven't really stayed in touch with where he's at right now. Nah, no, no, he just moved his creativity into a whole other space, so we got some stuff coming out. Yeah, but no, I was talking to him and we was talking about how when you take, it be spaces and moments where you can really catapult. Like you'll be present in a battle. And it's like moments where you're slipping up or different things that you didn't catch

when you spin the block back. It's like, all right, that moment right there. How do I take that and make it better? I got to spend it back. because you just hit me with that. I just went into a whole fence how woo-wee was at. Yeah, no, you know, this happens to me

and I love it, though. You have an overactive brain. Oh, my God. You do, huh? I've seen it happen in multiple podcasts with you, well. It's clear that there's multiple chords that you could follow in that conversation

and you're really excited about all of them. Oh, my God. You got to slow down and speed up because it's like the Wi-Fi starts taking hold. You know what I'm? So we'll be in the moment and I definitely want to share it with you. Because all of these times up is information and that we'll, I know we're all working to be and do what we need to do. And it's like sharing with you, I know you got coals and you got breadcrumbs that I have yet to partake in and to put in my game.

You know what I mean? So when I catch him, I'm like, oh man, I got to give you this. I got to give you that because I know all the sciences are connected, no matter what field we're in. You know what I mean? So I definitely want to share that with you. It's pretty crazy how battle rappers are just so consistently the best people to talk to and like the most thoughtful, verbose people in rap music. Like daylight, disaster.

Yeah. I mean, like, I haven't done that many battle rapper interviews, but they're just consistently always the most interesting people to talk to. Oh, man. Something about the way that your brain has to be set up to want to go into that. Yeah, no, it's, I think you, you, it happens naturally. you know what I mean we are what we are but the thing about battle rap

is you spend so much time in the pocket of not just what your abilities are and what you can do but the empathy has to set in naturally I've got to be mindful of how you're coming at me so you're doing so much soul searching

with self that is like you can't put like a standard or a bar on it it constantly grows because the battle with you is the battle with me everything that I'm going through and my life will be put to the test will be brought to the surface

you know what I mean? Constantly consistently. So I know I'm working on getting better and you'll bring the best out of me. Like I know whoever like, if you got to battle me, just the narrative of you're going to battle me because of the work that I'm willing to do for it,

it takes you to a whole other space. Like you're going to perform so much better because you know how hard I'm gonna come. You understand what I'm saying? It has to be. Because I'm not gonna play with you. Right.

And you know it from watching the way it is, oh, he's coming. But see, the other thing is you've never been in front of it. Right. You know what I'm saying? So then that creates a whole other dynamic where you're like, yeah, I've seen it, you know. But to be in the room, it's like all that training you did.

But when you get punched in the face, then, oh, you're here. But okay, so you find out tomorrow that you're about to battle. this guy. Where does your brain go? Like, do you just start meditating on what his insecurities are? It's that, but more so, where I'm at right now, I understand that it's the focus. It's the level of focus that goes into, all right, I'm going to stop everything I'm doing. 25-8 is about you. Right.

Now, it's about the will of do what I'm going to do, but more importantly is I'm reading you in a way that I don't know who's taking their time out to do what they do but it's the degree of energy that I'm going to put into reading you. That also

allows for me to double back and see myself in you. Right. So I know that's why when I talk to to people about watching other artists perform in terms of the genre of battling I really know what you had to do to produce

every thing that you put on that stage. It's like when you watch probably other podcasts and you think about how the questions flow and the interview flows and where he could have picked up there and how do you... It's a dance, you know what I'm saying? And when you're in that dance,

I know wholeheartedly every piece of space you probably had to go to get there because it's a track. It's like character building. Once you get to this space, you understand, like we was talking earlier, about, well, that fool,

I think more so in terms of long term now why I shouldn't do that and I should be disciplined in that area because I'm thinking about that. So it's the same track when you're building. It's all character. So I get to this step. I know that space. I know what's being produced at that space.

Then going further up the ladder, it's a whole other level of attributes that come with that character. That's available to you. So who's, you know, that's what we're doing. we're testing each other to see who can go further up the ladder. You know what I mean? If you had something really, like if you didn't have that real confidence,

you wouldn't be able to do this job. Because if you had something, that one thing that you were ashamed of, that if somebody brought it up, you're just, you're going to fall apart on stage. Right. You wouldn't be able to do it, right? Because you wouldn't put yourself in that environment if you knew that you had a kryptonite that was easily accessible. But that's the thing.

Who doesn't have it? why will we be here but does that make you not want to be more open personally publicly because you know that everything that you put out there about yourself is going to be

fodder for them to shit on you with or to use against you you don't want to let the world know that you're sad about something because your sadness is just you're revealing your it's something that they could use yeah you look vulnerable but I've come

this is why it's so beautiful though I'm glad you asked that like the thing that I've learned about life is it's strength and vulnerability This is true, yeah You know what I mean? The whole of life is about truth How do we get to that space

To well, listen, I'm here, man It's me That's why it's almost seem like When Eminem did that at 8 mile And he said, listen man, this is what it is Cheddar bar My mom's is this Now what are you going to say about me

But it was that moment of truth That freedom That shit sounds so cliche, right? Like the truth is that you free but it's really that I found other levels of myself getting into my truth really what

had to face it can't run from it it's right there every battle of every opponent that I face is going to bring a whole other truth or a whole other degree of my truth because at the center of that moment that we got to face off is things going on in my life and it's things going on in your life

that has truth in it and that we got to surmount to become more of ourselves. We got to deal with that truth. And what you think is going to happen? When I'm in there, not pocket in that space, digging in, my Wi-Fi open. So now I got a whole window into your whole world.

There's no separation of that. That's what I say in life, there's no lies. There's really no such thing as a lie. You just got to know how to look. The truth is always there at every point. Right. So we go really deep. We got to spend a lot of time.

When you go in there, it's like boxing, but there's nobody with me when I go to do a battle. Got a whole team, everybody, but they can't do this. They can't do it for me. They can assist me, but they can't go to the spaces that I have to go and be willing to go to open up that portal to see all of you. Right.

And if you do it, you can see all of me. It leads you in a lot of strange directions, though, don't you think? Like, have you ever had the thing like things that you want to say to someone because you know it could really mortally wound them but at the same time like you as a person you don't want to cross that line because you feel like it's in bad taste

you gotta know I can think of things you could say that would not even be funny because it's like you know real family shit real things that you know that happen to but there's probably a lot of people who maybe if you're not that bloodth

there's somebody else who's hungrier than you are, who ain't got no money in the bank, and he's willing to go there. I mean, look, you can be crass. You can do that, you know what I'm saying? At the same time, though, because it's artists that do that. Is that the, see, in the work that you display,

there's still a science to it, you can give it up. Because you could very easily look like too much of an asshole and the audience won't want to get behind you, right? me it feels ill see that's the thing that's beautiful about this shit the truth written on everybody

you know what I mean it's like let's just say the truth is headquarters you know what I mean and that's why they say you get that saying whoever God bless me no man curse because it's all written

in everybody it's like a template that you can't get rid of so really what I'm doing is I'm honing in on certain spots and I'm touching buttons that we all have but to where degree. So even if I choose to go and be crass like that, I know it's like, ew, I'm going to say

that shit and it's going to feel like, but is that the true, the truest nature of the science of battle rap? To where you can display, you know, how, how you give it up in, in that showmanship or in that bar you say, or how witty was it, how clever was it? You don't got to be crass to do that to show that I'm better than you. I don't really have to go there. You know what I mean? So that's why I say to people, even if you pick a personal spot to go at somebody, how did he lay it out artistically, though? You know, what was the degree of art in that? We've seen that with Donald Trump in the debates where he might have the banger line for the debate. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. The whole entirety of it is you looking like

an asshole and the other person looks like they're relatively, you know, well-behaved in comparison. Right. It's kind of like, well, what, you might have had the crazy. line, you might have kind of controlled the tempo of this debate, but if it all and all comes together to make you look like an asshole, then I don't think that you really won the debate, you know? It's like a Pyrrhic victory right there, right? Yeah. Yeah.

No, you point of finger, you got three point back at you. So you got to be very mindful on how you do this. And that's the thing. I take a great pride in every display up now, you know what I mean? Because it's like you say, we can go look back at that work, and there's still so many diamonds in it. If done right, you know what I mean? Like, truth don't never get old.

Right. And that's the beauty of it. Like, I want this work to speak volumes in the truest nature that I understand it. Because I might be battling or battling or, you know, whatever I'm doing in terms of producing certain projects. But I know underlining what I'm producing is a sense of a degree of love in it that you need to connect with that's inspirational to your field and which you're into. And you can take that. LeBron catch an alley and ah I feel like it does some shit about it you know or watching floyd put together a good combination it's something in it that makes me go yo that shit was beautiful

when I go back to doing what I do I got to do it to that degree right because I understand what they did to produce those moments too it's funny how much we as humans love to watch greatness yo competition yo that shit is fueling like the thing that you're getting from watching LeBron is like the same thing when I'm watching a battle though I'm getting the same thing I'm like this is greatness like this is he's standing there across from somebody who is one of the other best people in the world at doing this and he's making a dent like he's making a big ass impact on this audience yeah and that is really fucking hard to do like if you were to take 99.9% of other people and put them in your

shoes there they would crumble and fold and that includes the top selling rappers on earth you know etc etc everybody else who's in this world and that's pretty amazing you know oh man

thank you man you know it's it's definitely something that I don't know man I partaking it

and sometimes I'm having out of body experiences that really like that you're going to get this work moment it's real out of body

like it it's something that was in my makeup it's in my DNA because, you know, me and my pop should just talk like that. We see how you work, man. You know what I mean?

Because you talk, we talk our shit, but it should be like, you know what I mean? I'm going to watch you work. It didn't come out as you're going to get this work until that moment, though. Really? What's your relationship with your dad like? What did you get from him personality-wise that made you capable of doing this? Everything.

It's shit that comes out at times that I know, like, yo, that's my podcast. Like, I don't even mean to do it. And it's like, yo, that, like, there's no separation. I tell him, like, you, me, I'm you. Like, I can't help it. So as I'm reaching further into myself, you know, and figuring out new things and more things, I come back around and see that those were things he was doing, you know, when he was my age, you know, and younger.

Like, and so, you know, I'm always so. searching for it. So I can't hope that that's a part of me, but these are the things that I use to express myself. You know what I mean? And it's other same line. That's why you know, when you think a lineage, you know, that one line that

connects the whole family. It's like that train, you know what I'm saying? These are the things that we are. And our makeup is that. So, yo, but it's mind-boggling how much like, oh shit, the movements,

the mannerisms, the certain things that, yeah, man. I was thinking how, I don't know if you could really end up being great at what you do if you didn't have that strong father relationship. Oh, man. I feel like that in a lot of ways is kind of how a kid builds his confidence and sense of self at a young age. I was always trying to be better than my father. Really?

Low key. High key, I should say. Because my whole thing was like, you know, how do I prove to you first and foremost, I'm worthy? You know what I'm saying? So I definitely want to impress you. I want you to know like, yo, I arrived. Like, because I, you know, the conversations that just happened with my father has, you know, walking you through leadership, manhood, different things. And it was sometimes it was, my mother couldn't understand it for the life of just how he had that much impression on me as a child.

And the times that he came through was the times that he came through was the times that he came. through but they were so impactful. My pops, man, he moved, he doing a lot of work, putting a lot of people together. So his time was always split up, you know what I'm saying? But the time that we spent and all the time that I walked with them, it was like these conversations and these stories and the difference, it almost, I could say he dropped a dose of that storytelling or, you know, my whole presentation off to the world is definitely him. you know what I'm saying definitely one and the same because of the conversations he didn't just

tell you something like no his passion was telling you something was right no listen check this out right you remember a time where your dad's like advice that he's given you kind of had to diverge because there's like there's up to a certain point with a kid you could just be telling them do the right thing be a good kid etc and then all of a sudden like they're like 13 14 or some shit and you have to start moderating the advice that you're giving them, I think, to start to include, like, how to really actually handle yourself as a young man in this world. And there's a bit of a difference. You know, if you want to just be a good person for the rest of your life, well, I mean, I don't know,

like maybe somebody punches you in the face and you just walk away and go home. And at a certain point as a dad, you got to tell your kid, somebody punches you in the face, this is what you got to do. Right, right. And all of a sudden, it gets way more complicated. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Because you might go to jail for what you might have to do to, you know, this is all of a sudden much more complicated. But he made those moments feel like a badge of honor. Like you handle your business. You know what, no matter what.

Don't worry about that. What I need you to do is handle your business in this regard. And those, those is like those principles. Those are things, man, to this day, I know just certain things. It's just, it's law. And it's crazy because as I started, you know, searching through myself, you know what I mean? And then, you know, because at the while, you start, you know, finding yourself hearing

what your parents say in different things, but you find in your own way. Or at least you think you are at those years, those impressionable years. Right. You know what I mean? Because you don't notice that, all right, you're telling me what you're telling me now. You know what I mean? And some of it is interesting and some of it is like, I can't really relate because at the space that you're telling it to me, you know what's to come, you know what's to come.

You know what I mean? And it wasn't until, all right, I moved out of those adolescent years, teenage years, coming into adulthood. I started to really come full circle with, oh, this is why you was giving it to me to that degree. Because you knew it was coming. Right. You understood no matter what, I'm going to be in these positions. And you know what I mean? Feel rooted, feel wholeheartedly about being a man amongst men in that room.

Right. Know who you are. You know what I mean? Don't let nobody make you feel like you need to second guess or question yourself. You know what I mean? So I was always getting those, that tutelage and them breadcrumbs. And they really, really helped me as far as defining myself and feeling like, well, I don't got to go with the flow with everybody. This feels true to me.

That's such a huge thing, teach a kid. You don't got to go with the flow. You can be your own person. You know? What? Don't let. You can have the, these 10 kids think you're the biggest fucking weirdo on earth? Own that shit.

Lean into, that's you. It doesn't matter. They will love you for how weird you are at some point. Yo, yeah. It must be so hard to convince a kid to that, you know. Yo, but, yo. And shout out to, shout out to Suki G. Shout to Mom and Love, too.

Because, yeah, listen, I was the kid in the corner. I spent a lot of time on my weird old flow. Whoa. What? What? Same. I'd be in a room for like three, four hours. By myself.

drawing, writing, video games, music. Basically, like, all the cool-ass kids were, like, playing basketball. Right, right, right, right. I was just insular. Like, I wanted to work on my shit, even when I was, like, a little-ass kid. Yeah, you were the Indigo kids, too. Oh, yeah. All of the dudes that was into the arts all the way and spent a lot of isolated time,

I feel like we were the precocious ones. We advanced. We knew what we wanted to be and do very early. You know, and, yo, man, we bless. Yeah. No, definitely. And now I don't want to act like it's a big deal to be on this podcast, but, you know, here we are on this podcast. So it's apparently it's good to spend some time in your fucking room working on your shit, you know.

I swear this world will have you, oh, we got to fit in. We got to, you know, it's high school, you know what I mean. And the ones that usually, you know, do what they got to do, get what they need to be, you know, are the ones that are very sure and keen on like, well, listen, I see all of that. And, you know, respectfully, y'all doing what y'all doing. But this is what I love. And this is who I am and I'm going to be this. You know, I missed it all.

I really feel like the world is kind of set up, though, for you to find that out, though. Like, it's like necessary evil to me. But it's crazy because now it feels like the world is more set up for that. Because if you are a kid who just has, like, a weird interest, you really like, you know, a certain type of music that's not that popular or like now when you look at TikTok or YouTube or whatever it glorifies having a fringe interest. Like there's some guy for every hobby,

there is some guy with a YouTube channel. There's millions of subscribers making a video. I watch videos that get half a million views. Every upload, this guy who opens Pokemon cards every day. All he does is open it. He doesn't play it or anything. He just opens them. A million views every day, whatever.

So like to a kid who thinks like, oh, am I weird? because I want to sit around and play with Pokemon cards. No, I can give you a very good example of some dude who's made a living by being the guy who's doing that. And I wish that I kind of had that. I think I'm lucky that I started to get online around when I was like 13 years old or whatever, 14. Because I had years where I wasn't aware of that. But, you know, when I see something like that, it does make me wonder.

Because you ever see these quizzes that come out where they do polling of young kids? And it's like number one career that people want to do. is they want to be like a YouTuber slash content creator and number two is a musician, which is really, really interesting to me because I, you know, when I think about my personality said as a kid, I

definitely, definitely was, I would have picked one of those two options for sure. But it didn't seem like even a possibility. Like, what are you going to host a TV show? Right. I was thinking about that as a kid? I never even met a person

who worked in TV. I never met a guy who held a camera. You know? But you was getting, but that's the blessing that you had that affinity even before it was like pushed out to you. You know what I mean? Like that's, and look, we come back full circle. But do you think that if you grew up in this day and age with all this media online and stuff, like where would your brain have gone? I wouldn't be. I wouldn't be who I am today.

And that's what I said full circle coming back to the unconsta situation. I found it. No, that's what we were speaking about. Uh-huh. We were speaking about everything pre-online before internet was this big wave where you felt like I'm not in tune unless I'm on this device, seeing what everything is going on.

And like our whole everything is, we're hooked in. Matrix is alive like it's now. But like we were talking about everything pre-that and what it did for us. Yo, it made you have to dig. had to go in, you know what I'm saying? Well, it wasn't like, okay, it's there, and I'm just connecting with it because I'm

getting these vibes for it, and that's what everybody's doing, so I'm going to do it, and I'm going to try it, and then, okay, you know, no, it's like, I'm in tune with something, and I'm feeling that, and I'm loving that, and it's forcing me to, well, it's not there, it's not there, but I got a hunch, and I'm going in for the kid. Like, I got to fill that out. was talking about like different parties and how house parties was the thing and you know what

me how the dynamic used to go on in in the house parties and different things that were happening when you didn't have to like be online it's almost like it it killed something in terms of the degree of of us striving to find that that truth like you hold up it's not there but I love this and I don't care that it's not cool to you or you or you but yo you you that search I feel like it's what's missing for finding more of those people that

are just, just got that real thing in them. If you spend all your time just watching people do shit online, you're never going to be able to think outside of that box and how you can do something that completely different.

You're going to just keep elaborating on these ideas that exist, you know? And this is why, it's almost like, wow, what are we about to do? What are we about to create? within each other. And this is why, like, you know, I'm really truly at a point where I take

everything I do is that serious. It has to come from that space of integrity in terms of what I'm pushing out there. I want you to have this because it's really coming from love. No, it ain't about a dollar. It ain't about it because I got to be here to do. No, I really want you to get something.

So when it hits you, wow, I didn't feel that. How did you produce that? What was that? I need that. I want that. And I feel like before the game gets over saturated with a lot of bullshit, that's with the ones that know that were pre before online really, you still got them clothes, bro.

Like you still got that shit with then where you could go back when you was 10, nine, when you can go back to your room. You can go back when you was isolating. You can go in them spaces because you really got them clothes in you. It ain't been stole. You ain't, you're not on it like online. you wasn't too saturated with the games

you wasn't no you had a sense of self that came from a true space and yo that you can still reach inside of you in finals and get that to the world listening to you talk about about how much you know the whole culture of battle rap has changed

really fucking clocked me in that head because it made me think so much about how we as a people have changed and I'm forced to compare it to my own young existence like I start riding BMX bikes when I'm like 12 or 13. From that point on, my life is to just be out riding bikes.

You know, I did the same shit. We had a video camera, but we didn't bring it out every day. We'd only like film some shit once in a blue moon. And when I was like 19 or 20, I moved to New York because, again, all I wanted to do was just be outside riding bikes. And every night I'm literally just outriding bikes with the homies, like 10 hours a day, night, whatever, I would do what I had to do during the day, and then we're out riding bikes every day. And it's crazy because I see how different the current generation of kids is.

They're just media obsessed. They're filming everything with their phones. They got cameras. They're making YouTube channels. They got Instagrams. And it's cool. Like, I respect that they're trying to make something out of their passion and everything. But it is very different compared to the way I grew up where it was the whole point of being outside was to be outside.

You was outside. Yes. We're sitting at Union Square until two of us. o'clock in the morning and there is no visual record of this. Right, right, right. You know, like that's what matters. And that's what mattered. And not so I can go like this.

Yeah. With the homies. Yeah. That's, they gentrifying the whole goddamn world. A lot has changed, man. I'm telling you, it's crazy. Oh, man. It's crazy, bro.

Yo, yo. Because we were out to just, like, from my perspective, we were just out to impress like the, I guess, ourselves and the people who are around. And it's like who's around, maybe a dozen people, whatever. But now it's like all these kids realize I can have, like I can put a video clip online. Thousands of people might see it. Million people might see it.

So everything is done to ultimately maybe hit that target. That's the thing. And that's where the soul is missing. That's where I feel like you don't have a sense of true self. You know what I'm saying? You doing this shit for the likes. You doing it. What?

No, I just like what I do. And that was it. And I fell in love with that. And that's the shit that whatever somebody do, I just want a sense of that in you. I want that passion to come from you. I really, really need that. No, no, I really need the love. You meet somebody who has that right now.

It really, really, really stands up. You, listen, I'm collecting. I'm collecting people with the real shit, with the love in them. I really mean that, man. When I find that in you, look, we're talking about it. Like, I'm building with you. We're doing this. Because, yo, it's like we're a dying breed.

And it's sad to say, man, now we have to take it to another level. Like, really take it to another level. So when we hit them with it, it's like, oh, okay. Like, it kind of stops the party. It stops the show. It has to, if not, man, I'm scared to see. we'll be at not even the next five years. Next two to three, right.

Once you start basing all of your behavior on what you think that the result in terms of engagement on social media or whatever, like in the early days of Instagram, it was super common, even for like a well-known rapper or whatever to post like a shitty club photo with somebody. Like you see somebody you like in the club,

you post up a shitty-ass iPhone photo. It looks 100 times worse than the photo. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. don't see a lot of that anymore because now it's like especially with like real influencers with millions of followers and stuff i mean they get a professional photographer they take the most clean-ass but even even even just break it down to this there's a lot of people and i don't like we might all see some of ourselves in this description but you might have your best friend in the world like this kid you know since you were growing up and you know if you post a photo with him

and nobody really knows who he is that you're going to get a thousand likes and then in comparison You are at the corner store and you see Cameron. And you know if you post a photo with Cameron, you get 20,000 likes. That shit is crazy. But Cameron don't know me from a hole in the wall. You know, like that's cool. Like it's one of my favorite rappers for sure. So it's maybe not even the best example.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, like, if you're going to use your Instagram to post a photo just with the famous dude and not the dude that you really got love for that you grew up with, all of a sudden we're operating under some perverse incentives here, you know? That's some shit. And we all do that without realizing it. Yo, no, I'm victim of it too. That's a moment right there.

Where we just need to really assess like, damn, oh, man, it's the climate. And what is this to say about what are we going to be producing? You know what I mean? Moving forward. And that's really where the cycle of life is at and what it's in. We're not just up here doing what we're doing for no reason. It has to be impactful for the reason thereof. Why?

You got to really factor in. What's my why now? You know what I'm saying? And I'm really back on like fundamentals, principal shit. Just like really factor in like, yo, where am I at on the basis of just what are we doing this for? I had to really scale it back. And you know what I mean?

Like my people would tell you, man, like the regiments is different. What are we doing? How are you doing? Why are you doing that? What are we producing? And look, if we're going to do a project, Does it have a degree of what we speak about in it? You know what I mean?

Because I'm really mindful now. Like, yo, if I don't do that, then if I am an influencer and somebody sees me, then what are they taken from every time they see me? And what does that, what do they put in their tank to say, oh, I caught that? And then what are they producing? Like, it's really a love connection amongst us all. So I'm thinking about, yo, what is this shit about to be? You know what I mean?

I hate to feel like we're going in a decline with all this shit that we got to really say we can make contact and touch each other and feel like we're moving further away from that. You know what I mean? And it's, yo, man, really does something to me. So this is where, you know, my whole new fight, you know, is really at.

Now as we go in to doing everything that I'm doing and, yeah, listen, I got a battle coming up. All that, like the level in which we're about to go to, It's just, if I'm not doing more than what I did before, it don't count. It's just don't count, bro. Yeah, no. I mean, if you're not, okay, so for each battle, do you have to feel like you're conquering new challenges? What?

You have to. Because it's going to feel so dull and redundant. You can't just keep having them set up pins for you to knock down, right? That's why, listen, I make sure every time I spend the block, if I'm not doing more, you know in terms of being mindful of what I'm producing I don't want to do it because I understand what that journey is see not the result but the journey and I really

I'm in love with life in that space in that regard of that's why it's like yo what you think is life you don't know shit you don't know you don't know you don't know Like that journey when I'm going in them spaces And then I'm learning That's what I say we talk about Finding more of yourself

In each time around the bin I gotta take it up this level I learned in that In that regiment right there When I had to prepare for that battle I saw what I didn't do This time around I gotta do that And I gotta double that

I gotta double down Because not just for the result But really in the space of the journey You know how much I'm uncovering that's being unveiled to me not just about me but in relation to you and then you in relation to so-and-so and how it all connects

no it ain't just now I'm looking at the whole field and I look not only that I could touch it I could connect with it that's what it was with the unjoint I should go up in the cipher no bullshit

lot of you not you here loved one there so-and-so there so-and-so pre-in-net None of that. I couldn't study what you did, who you were with you. I ain't know none of y'all.

Right. But we're going to block to block. We're doing ciphers. All right. I lie to you not, eh. I'm watching you stand there like that. I'm looking at him. I'm looking at him.

I'm sizing up everything and everybody before you say anything. I knew who was level five mutants. I knew who was the ones already. Right. Just the way you stand. and position yourself. I could feel, oh, no, he's something to be reckoned with. Right.

All right. I know with some killers in the building here. All right. This is going to be one of the ones. I knew. Or I should know, oh, I'm about to kill. I should go in front of the dude projects. I had to do this for bread and meat.

We don't work, we don't eat. It's real shit. I was getting money like this. Right. Battles. Rest in peace, my man, 2-5. Used to run us up, Mount Vernon, Yonkers, all of that. Because, you know, we was the shit in Harlem.

Real shit before DVDs were the ones that know, no, like, you know what I'm saying? The ones that know we knew who all the killers were. So you couldn't really like run nobody into those cyphers like, oh, I know you. But two-five used to run us up the way, boom, boom, we should battle dudes. I'd be in front of your whole set, your whole projects. And I knew already. They didn't have them colds. We was hungry.

We were starving. We really did this. Cypher here. Cipher there. Shout to T. Rex. I mean, I'm not talking killers. The dudes that really like, know, like,

we used to have to be in the mix of them things. And I say shout out to T-4-T-Rex, because he was very inspirational at that pivotal moment. T-Rex used to stand outside every day, every day looking for a siph or looking for a battle. But I'm saying that to say, we come from that nature. So when he used to run us up there to be in the field with them,

they ain't built like that. So we should just run through them. But I say that to say, this is how we were so in tune to what was going on. and our energy and our truth, that I just would connect with everything around me. I knew it. Wasn't no guessing.

What no, oh, I saw you. So then now, okay, I know what you're coming with, but no, no, it took me to a whole other degree. We still got them colds. But how far were you seen into the future at that time? Like, in terms of what kind of guy you wanted to be, like, was it good enough to you at that time? Like, I'm going to be the man around town.

I'm going to be the best rapper. That me and all my friends and everybody else in this, world that I know about knows. Was that enough for you at that time? At that time? You weren't thinking like I need to have X amount of dollars in the bank. I need to have this, this, and this material possession.

Like, were you completely not thinking about that side of things? So not thinking about that. That's very pure. No, it was so, I had to be a name that was mentioned amongst them names. God, strike me down from lying. I had to be one of the ones

in them conversations when they talked about them dudes who was them dudes. had to be the man amongst men I just not to be the one but just to be no he's somebody to reckon with two the collective what what

and it's just Harlem like this this the mecca but don't get it twisted the Bronx had killers it was dudes from Queens it was certain dudes that knew all right yo if you're one of the ones then you'll pop out but like I ain't gonna hold you

it's a lot of dudes that from that part of town we held up the manu because we was just hungry oh no i got a shout out philly shout out philly philly had killers too that was just like that you know what mean you get on the chinatown bus yeah with that $20 china town church yeah it might be 20 now it used to be like 10 yeah not back then it was like oh my god it was dirty but no but okay does it kill you a little bit like yes there's that purity but i mean they're about battles from eight years ago, 10 years ago, whatever, that you can go watch on YouTube and reflect on that.

But I'm sure you've been in all kinds of crazy-ass battles that you got no proof that it ever even happened. And if you did have that video, that would be the greatest thing you could ever have. If you were to discover a video of yourself rapping that long ago right now, you'd be like, yes, I cannot believe I get to watch. This would be so amazing.

I know where you're going. I know where you go. Look, it's pros and cons. Yeah. It's pros and cons. but I just want us to be more mindful of the balance you know what I'm saying

it's cool but not don't get into a space where that's just how you say that's just all of it like yeah we're gonna reach out and do more and touch each other with it that's cool but I still need that because maybe because I'm aware of it maybe because you're aware of it

and you know it's more to it than just this see what it is I remember how how grand it was how big that playing field was. Like you would say, you're just rapping on the corner, but you couldn't tell me

that wasn't the world. That wasn't everything. You know what I love watching still is just graffiti shit because that is the ultimate thing that motherfuckers are just out going so hard, putting their freedom at risk,

spending money, risking getting arrested for shoplifting and whatever. All this. And then after you do it, You literally can't reveal your identity at all. The homies know, whatever, like the other graffiti artists know. Maybe there's some cops who even know.

But it's a big part of your job is to make sure that the cops don't know. Right, right. That's kind of a beautiful thing because it's just inherently, it can't ever really be fully blown out. You know, and it's your work. It's not who you are. Yes. It's the work.

And your work is inherently fleeting because it's going to get covered up. The train's going to leave town, et cetera. And that's kind of a beautiful thing. And that is interesting, too, because that's the number one element of hip hop that got left behind. Maybe break dancing also. Yeah.

Yo, more so, yeah, graffiti. And the crazy thing is, that's what my pastor should do. He's just running around with phase and them. Wow. Like, really. It was part of that, that startup crew running around, risking their freedom, going on trains and going in the yard.

He's just tell us all of these stories. You know what I'm saying? So yeah, man. It's like, wow, I know I'm from that lineage of energy. And I think we'll be doing such a disservice to have that still in us and don't strive as hard as we can to keep producing that. That's bullshit. But now you have to manage that with the fact that if you were to just go rap on a street corner,

I mean, like some other person is going to film it. It's going to end up on YouTube. And then you're not going to get paid and then you're not going to make any money off in general. So it's kind of like to be fully hardcore with it, you have to be a bad business man. Which sucks. Yo, yo, but damn.

And you just made me think of the last time I really bad witness to just a cipher happening. Right. I think I heard you tell that story, but you just randomly seeing it. Because I was thinking that, like, you know, you're grown. Like, you can negotiate a fucking fee to do your job.

The kid who's going to battle on the street corner and actually be able to, like, really get somewhere doing that is going to be the kid who's got absolutely nothing and that he has to do that to get his name up right right right but like you said gotta be a bad business man and is that such a bad thing though exactly because now we all want to be businessmen right but when we were like we were geeked off of gnaz turning down the Coca-Cola commercial you know like that was like that we naz needed to do that to be the Nas that we love. Yes.

Yes. That's the Jews. That's it, bro. That's really it. It's like, yo, they didn't pay me to take that essence from me. Like,

and I think we really got to go back and soul search for like really what this shit is, man. And maybe this is why I say it's going back to necessary evil. Like this shit got to probably get so saturated to where we'd just be like

that guy and what's the movie is it the TV movie where he's just screaming at the whole audience The Truman Show? Wake up! Is it the Trudeon show? Where he's like trapped inside the bubble? Not the Truman Show but with a guy screaming at the audience and he's like screaming at him for like five to ten minutes straight and he's going on a rant

It's like an old movie. Old movie movies he's going Oh man we got to look that up We got to find that. It's it It's the old guy. He's in the suit. He's in the audience and he's just screaming at them. I feel bad for the audience that's screaming the name of the movie out of the... Yeah, right?

They're looking at this stuff and they know it. They know what movie we talk about. But we feel like that guy. Like, I mean, that's what this is. It's like those that know the predecessors they knew, like this shit can, you know, perhaps go to a point where we won't get back if that just be it. And I just feel like we some of them Aalikes and them vangars that just know and you know have to say that like this is dope you got a platform bro like this that still can give you

just you know unadulterated conversation just like you know it ain't tainted you know what I mean that's a that's a beautiful thing especially when you look at media when you look at everything they tell you it's freedom of speech but is it really you know what I mean they're dang man they're dumbing a lot of shit down I want to touch about this New York City nowadays one of the biggest things that's known for is the whole drill scene side of things. I probably never would have expected this. Well,

well, like you think of hip hop as kind of being like, or society as a whole as like progressing and getting better. And then like with rap, it's kind of like, whoa. So everybody kind of like got sick of hearing people like rap and rap well. And now you don't want to hear a bunch of people rap exactly the same,

but about shooting at each other. And no offense, because obviously there's been a lot of, there is good talent that has come out of that. But it's also kind of like a format. that it feels like any old shitty-ass rapper could dump themselves into. And people will somehow gravitate to it because there's like violence attached to it. It's a very strange state of affairs.

Yeah. Part of it is because it has a real element in it. You know what I mean? So they are attracted to that. I understand that totally. And then the other part of it is it's the whole pyramid thing. You know, base column is wide. But as you go further up, it gets slimmed at the top.

So where we strive for that, look, you were praised for your excellence. But then was it, it's crazy because I could say that the business format came in and it wasn't no money in it because people couldn't relate or they somehow dumped it down. But it was more like could people at the bottom truly keep relating to it. You understand? Because that's always a problem that you'll run into is that when you really reach like an elite, level of something than the average audience isn't going to care. The motherfucker is so much UFC fights do not want to see elite technical jiu-jitsu.

They want to see someone get knocked out or choked out. But the intricacies of, you know, the best rap that you will ever do in your life will be the rap that is not appreciated by 80% 90% of people who are heard. Oh, man. Oh, my God, you said it. And I feel like it's because this microwave age, the instant gratification is killed the journey. So because they killed the journey, people don't touch power. Now we have to do like tweets where we remind people like, yo, it's normal to not be successful until you're in

your 30s or 40s. Like that, that's not out of the ordinary. Just because you, like, you see people get those tweets off and be like, well, Jay Z didn't have a record deal until he's 27. Yeah, you got to. It's like, yeah, like, why do we need to be reminded of that? No, like, of course it takes a long time to get good at something. Yeah, yeah. But that's the thing. We're praising bullshit too much. Not that it's bullshit, but you give him praise at a certain level. And these short rewards don't allow people to keep striving.

So if you tell him, yo, man, I'm getting money. You're doing bullshit, but I'm getting money. All right. So I guess it's successful. Then all right, you're getting money. All right, cool. And your best argument against that is going to be something that they might have a hard time comprehending because they're going to be like,

well, I'm getting money. Right. We get it. You get money. You know, like, that's not the end of the conversation. Right. There's more to it than just you're getting money. It's great that you're getting money, but it doesn't mean that you have to stop assessing

and dissecting your fucking motivations, dude. Yes. Yeah. And that's where we're going to get the best art, man. The best produced shit that really makes us go, this is what life is. This is what this shit is about That shit right there Oh my God

That's fucking amazing And it usually Gets killed Because somebody probably got a bag Too early And then you know I mean He didn't have to keep striving

To reach a certain level of excellence I think we got We gotta revamp this whole shit Man like Slowly but surely There's like a weird thing that's happened Where there is no underground anymore

And I'd say that in the sense That it's very tough to be A successful underground rapper who really has something going on without a label sliding in and trying to snatch it up. That's their job. They got to try to get that person young. But as a result, the underground doesn't, you know,

it's like people just graduate up out of that for a while. So it's hard to be an underground artist who's really popping because they just pull you up out of that. And they start managing your career and giving you looks. And the format that you did to get discovered, Now it's being, no, hold on, no, we're going to do it like this now. But that main thing that made you see what I was doing, you came in and then you put this, this, this, what is that? And yeah, man, it really takes somebody to really be mindful and really be true to self to say, no, I really enjoy what I do.

I love what I do and don't taint my shit. Let me, let me love. That's very, man, that's what I'm, that's what I know we're here for. How do you live your life these days? What's an average day? What have you realized is that actual stuff that you want to be doing in an average day that really makes you happy? Talk about, like, where your life is at in that regard. Because we see you whoop somebody's ass in the ring every, like, six to 12 months or whatever.

Right. I want to know a little bit more about the real day-to-day. Yeah, no, my day-to-day really consist of I'm really like an introvert in regards to I have to deal with internal affairs. first and foremost before I can even step foot out into the world. So I'm assessing where I'm at progressively, like spiritually. I'm really there. Like, you know, how to keep improving in things that I feel are bad habits, you know, only because I look at my world as how do I keep reaching these other spaces of self

and develop myself in that space for truly what I am. I'm really, all day I'm trying to discover that. And then running into things that can possibly pull me out of that. You know what I'm saying? So it's really 25, 8, how do I stay focused? Because there's a lot of people who they sort of like wake up and they get to work. And it's like there's a lot of people, myself included, who if you don't have a very strict, schedule that you're falling into, then your energy can kind of be all over the place and end up

leading you in all kinds of different ways where all of a sudden you're working on different things every day. And there's a beauty to that. But then it's also like I find myself sort of scheduling out my days a lot so that I have that like if I have big blocks. Like I love getting up to work out every single morning because then my brain does not have time to laying in bed and be like, oh, I don't know what I'm doing. I'm going to look at my phone for two hours. Right. Why? It gets you. It gets. you going and that's i think important you know and i think that's that's why i am as well i'm finding myself as from from soon as i get up i'm factoring in okay um it's like the never-ending

uh story for real it's like i love it though when the days stop separating themselves yeah no that's that shit is when the days stop separating so you like that what though when you can kind of like forget that it's wednesday right monday right now but yeah but not even just like all right It's almost like I took a nap, but I'm almost in it's the same frame, though. So I can't explain that energy because, and I'm saying that to you to say, because it's up and down like the stock market in terms of that's where the focus lies, in terms of how do I stay the course and get better so that energy can taper off if I slip a beat. You know what I mean?

So I look at, all right, I want to focus on, um, Like how you say I get up and I factor in, all right, my workouts. All right, what am I working out today? You know what I'm going to be legs? I'm hitting the gym. So all of that's in my mind. Then how my diet may shift, all of that. But I'm factoring all of that in relation to what it is that I had to do to put

what I got to put my energy into. You understand? So the workout is necessary because I know that pure energy I want to put into what the order of the day is. But the order of the day, though it may be specific things, like I got to make phone calls, I got to go to this place, I got to do that.

It's still self, though. It's still me and everything I do. I see the mirrors. I see it in you. I see it in all my loved ones. I see it in everything. So we are truly in a space where nothing is separate thereof.

You know what I mean? I'm looking at me in all of it. And how do we get all of us in this space and keep this space? This is, there's nothing more important than this. Right now, when I look at the state of the world as it is right now, now it may change, you know what I'm saying? It may get the other space. We're okay, it'd be cool.

You know, I can do different things. I can lay off and, but right now I just feel like it's totally, I'm at war. But I mean, I'm at peace in war. I really mean that. I'm truly at peace in this space. And maybe because that's just the order of the day. Right. And I feel like sometimes the world distracts us from truly what's the order of the day.

Right. And if you're not in tune with that, sometimes they can feel like, yo, I'm out of whack right now. And this is probably why you get up, you work out of, but certain things got to align them chakras. I heard somebody say that your day is about creating a sequence of small successes. So basically, like, if I can wake up and work out, eat breakfast, take a shower, go get a coffee or Starbucks, drive to work. You're creating, like, a bunch of small successes that hopefully can, like, lead to you having more and more of that. But on the other hand, if you wake up and realize somebody broke into your car and, you know, the dog's shit all over the kitchen. And, you know, if you have a bunch of bad things happen in a row early in the day, doesn't that sound?

like a day where you're not really getting shit accomplished. You know? Like when you have everything go bad, it can be kind of hard to get yourself back on track. And I think in that case, it's just really important that you remind yourself things have been shitty so far. So if I can start to get any small successes after that, then that's a W. But I think when you start your day off with these little successes, then you're really like building up towards a day where you can be mega productive.

Yeah, yeah, I agree. I agree. And then I've had certain days that might have thought, ah. But look though. I fought, though. I didn't just go with like, all, this days. I said, you know, I still went with the fight. So I've had days that started off crazy.

And then at the tail end, something amazing happened. Or I'm running to somebody or, you know what I mean? So those are the days, the days I go back and I analyze. All right, what did I do at this point? And then why did that happen? You know what I mean? And all right, how did it segue? And why did it segue?

I'm always questioning that. Always asking. always in the heart of it. And I think that that takes a form of discipline, like that you really got to like, no, all right, yeah, I'm on this mission. And that's why they say, I do time is the double playground. But that, I would be worried about somebody who really believes that. Because I think you've got to leave some empty time in your brain for your brain

to start to reveal to you. Like, that's what meditation is about. It's like, I'm going to clear my mind so that the bullshit that, I'm not, that I'm going out of my way to not think about can start to rise to the surface. I catch that. I catch that. But then they say what about active meditation then? No, that's good too for sure.

Because I find I'm doing that when I'm, if I go and I'm thinking about, how can I execute something or if I'm just writing around, you know what I'm saying? I'm still channeling. Yes. You know what I'm still having, you know, that holy communion. But have you tried to like really, like, meditate? I have such a hard time consistently doing it.

I can do it. But from time to time and it's like my brain is really scared of that because it's like if I really clear my mind what's going to come up? Like am I going to start to think about things that I don't want to think about? Like maybe I'm not happy with X and X and X

and X part of my life. And that is valuable information. And you can also assume that if there are things that are floating around your brain that you never really assess that you're kind of leading yourself into a position where that is going to somehow manifest itself negatively in your brain. Maybe something negative is going to come from you ignoring what maybe you should be thinking about.

I feel like that's the whole idea, though, right? For it to reveal itself? Yeah. And I feel like even though you go through the day consistently, it still is, though. I feel like life has a centerpiece that no matter what it's always trying to get you. you there to look at that eye in the middle and whatever you go through

it's to knock you back to this space though you know what I'm saying I think that's why Nip said it's a marathon right because you what is life but ordering up the whole day you know what I'm saying it's just putting order to this shit what I worry about though is that

with the way that our phones are and everything now is like it's set up to make sure that you really don't even have a second to be too yourself. Like, you know, you very much know that at any given moment you can go to your Instagram stories and watch 100, 200, 300 people that you know, and you can see what their day is like, which is cool. But at the same time, you know, you might be looking at that instead of sort of allowing your brain that 20 minutes to sort of, you know, like we used to do a lot of sitting back

and thinking like, yo, yeah. Motherfuckers really sit around on their phones like crazy. Now, like I remember before the phone was everything, you'd really be like when you were standing on sidewalk when you were sitting at the skate park whatever it's like dudes really talk to each other in a way that they don't anymore oh my god and that's what makes this kind of foreign now that's what makes podcast stand out now is that this just sitting and talking me and you if we just knew each other we would have done this on the steps in front of some building right for no reason right just because the vibe is like dope like oh shit doesn't that sound like something we would not do now because like we could record it and put it on the internet

for people to see. Yo, that shit is crazy. And people really like this. You, y'all, people do that. They look at this shit like an art in the museum. Yeah, that's crazy. It's like the playing field keeps getting lowered and lower and lower and lower. And you're forcing yourself to really have to understand someone.

Like, just to have a conversation on a random person that you maybe don't even know that well and to think about things from their perspective. Sometimes with this shit, I think this is almost put me in a box. where I'm not really used to have an in-depth conversations with people outside of this. You know, people in my world, yes. But then, like, at a certain point, like, when random people try to have conversations with me or some shit, it's like, my brain kind of, like, instinctually tells me, like, you don't want to waste a half hour having a conversation with this random dude for no reason. This is what you do for a living. Yo, no bullshit.

Oh, my God. Oh, this comedian. Oh, man. Ah, I don't know his name. If somebody, listen, I'm going to say the joke. Nobody's getting credit today. I'm going to just say the joke, though. And if somebody, if y'all heard it, please, like, put it somewhere.

He's not a comedian, so he don't got to give credit. Yo, it was shit was so deep and so funny. He kept going, I look at videos now, and I look at the duration of the video, and I start to think to myself, so how much time do I have for this day? Because he was thinking about, he's factoring in, like, life in when you're going to die. So he said, like, looking at this shit, do I have time for this? And he's just questioning everything that went on and asked himself, do I really got time for this?

Nah. And the way he told the joke was so fucking beautiful because his certain shit was just coming randomly out of nowhere. And he was like, I don't think I got time for that. And he just kept moving on to different things. Right. Shit was so deep. You kind of always, like when you look at YouTube, you're doing that assessment of,

Do I have an hour to watch that? Or do I want to, no, maybe there's something else. Maybe there's something more that I like more. And the mere fact that it says 20 minutes, you won't look at it. And it could be some thought-provoking shit that you can really, really use. That maybe, and I swear the mere fact that it even showed up in your scope, nine times out of ten is for you. But look what they're doing, though.

The mere fact is you so used to instant gratification, you won't even have the effort to put the time. for the journey that's necessary for your growth. So they're taking that from you. Right. Because you're not even conditioned like that. This is what they're doing with the fast pace and everything. You ain't got, look, even in battle rap, I told people this a while ago,

the fans now hate the setups. They hate a fall to eight ball getting to the point. They'll hate a scheme. They just want the punch. Look, the dopamine is on crack, for real. Right. That day just I need it I need it give to me give it to me you don't even enjoy the I remember kiss said that to me That's what me and jade was in the studio he was like you know boy I even like I even catch the buildups I catch the body before you hit the punch yeah that shit meant so much to me

Because I knew as a writer I make sure that you get in those little diamonds in there before I even hit you with the ah Just that was so beautiful and it's still so beautiful to me and the the the dudes that are writers that really respect the craft, we love that shit. But what they do, they'll sacrifice that because the fan don't want that. The fan don't feel like waiting. They don't even know, though. This is what I mean where you got to stand on your truth. You don't even know what I'm giving you.

But hopefully you'll grow. And when you get it, you'd be like, damn, I appreciate it that. But when I think of guys like you and daylight and shit, like y'all are like the definitive sort of characteristic of you is that you don't make it easy on the audience. It's like you're not like just serving it. Like being simplistic with your rap is the way that like most rappers rap nowadays is just not really going to be doing anything battle rap wise. You know what I'm going to do to be like, oh, that's crazy.

I got to throw that shit away. It just I can't I can't say it. It don't it's not it's not fulfilling. Right. And it's just I think after you reach a certain level you understand that, no. nah this is this is this is that shit like I can't stand to just say that shit and I don't care you you might ooh I but it's something missing and I feel like that's the great challenge that I feel like you know in your heart of hearts you should be going there despite the world and you trying to go with

they flow you know that and that's why the pyramid is it's lonely at the top they say but it's your integrity it's the mere fact that you did that that I know my heart of hearts someone out there going to get it. And I'm at the point where that's why I do it now. So yeah, you might not see me, you might see me once a year, you may, but I got to do it for that.

And that's why a lot of people saying, you know, me and the daylight battle are going to be the end game. Like, that's going to be it. Because, yeah, we're going to push. Without a shadow of a doubt, we don't care what you're talking about. What you think?

We know what the latter is. We know the scope of things. We really know. So this ain't about the fan fear and oh that shit out the window

with this shit you put me and him in a box that's it that's it and then you know

you can assess this shit for years on and oh pick out every piece but you're gonna have to do that it's almost like if you guys

battle since you're both so good at the theatrics so that you should both just show up in like a white

tea and jeans and just boom rap like no props no nothing crazy you took the thought I ain't coming with none of that shit

Because otherwise, it's just going to be too much. Like, if you guys both come in and one of them, you's wearing an elephant costume and the other one is, you know, like, there's just so many. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, I feel you. I mean, but this, I always said that. Like, this shit right here, this one, I said this is the one where I get to take off. Yeah, I don't got to play to the crowd because for a long time it's been about those big rooms with the fans like and, oh, you got to get it. out of that one and out of this one

just because that's what they want. And I knew in my heart of hearts, yeah, this is the one where I get to be as free as I can possibly be and I can really, you know, give you my truth. Definitely. Man, that's the shit, this shit going to be beautiful. I'm looking forward to that. The other day I was looking at a list of like the top 20 rap songs in the country

or the year or some shit. And it occurred to me. Like, there's only two, basically, two styles of rap documented on this, which is like, A, street rap. you know you got like a pooh shiasty or like whoever like all these like super mega gangster dudes talking about street shit on their records whatever and then you have like basically like pop music like that is basically being called rap music at this point and a lot of it it's just classified

under hip-hop when you listen to it it's like there's almost no rapping going on right right yeah and then i'm thinking in my head i'm like they tell us that rap is the biggest genre in the world But if they were a little bit more honest about the genre, this list would not exist like this. This is clearly two different types of music under the same list. And that's cool. But it's kind of confusing. It's like, y'all are really telling me that like rap music is the biggest genre in the world. I mean, like, yo, I love Griselda.

But like, look at the numbers on Grizilda. It's not otherworldly. It's not, it's solid. It's cool. Right. But I mean, that's like some of the most popular, like, rappers, like hardcore rappers. They sort of fit the aesthetic we grew up with

and stuff. I'm just like, like the, there's just so many of these songs are not really rap songs in any way except for the fact that it's a young black kid performing it. Yeah. You know? Yeah, it's the, it's the cadences,

it's the all the theatrics, I guess that going to it, the different, um, I guess fusions of different music that came with it and the artists thought to try and shit, but yeah, I'm in the boat with you too. That's not hip-hop. That's not the fundamental rap

that we come up on. And I think it's because yeah, well, dudes started figuring, all right, rap is now taking off and I guess you know, other mergers that come with it

and people attach certain things to it. And that's what make it is. And that's, I guess, where you got to be a vanguard, where you got to say, you know, that's not that this is how you should categorize that this is that shit this is the real

right you know and that you know yeah I guess it's pop it's just popular yeah you know what I'm saying and we can all appreciate a good pop song of course you know but it is a different thing

ultimately totally right and it need to be said and I think for people to assess what they're really listening to right yeah yeah that's weird it's like hip hop is like an aesthetic choice. It's more of like a

style of dress and how you carry yourself and what kind of person you are rather than the actual act of rapping. Yo, I just, man, this whole conversation, we are in the same world. We're watching the same shit and we're looking at how

whatever's happening right now with the things that we formerly knew has been transitioned and I can say it didn't keep the same feel that we grew up on. You know what I'm saying? But look, however you take it, I think people have to assess that with themselves. You know what I mean? That has been said. You planted, we're planting

seeds. And then now you got to listen for those that know, I say. And those that know would be the ones, I guess, would be authority figures to some degree to say, well, that's not that. This is this. And though they're going with the flow that they're going with, I got to stay true to say, yo, that's that. You know what I mean? And look, a lot of that shit

sometimes you can't even say. This goes back to us and what we produce though. And you can't say it because it need to be felt

truly. And this is why every spin around, every sci fi I go around the bin with having it, complete a new

task, a new project, and am I doing everything in my whole heart of hearts to make sure I did better

than I did last time to produce a degree of energy that really resonates for somebody as true as real.

Can't just say that shit, yeah? Because then you're a hater. Yeah. You're hating. Yeah, that's a weird thing. There's such a big incentive to not be a hater. But when you think about like the 90s and shit,

everybody was a goddamn hater. Everybody said, yo, right. They said what they felt. It was normal. Like, oh, Puffy putting out singles where he's wearing flashy suits and they're using these old samples. Fuck that shit.

Right, right. The norm was to say, fuck that shit. Yo, the truth. That's changed a lot. Yo, look. Now if you hate on something that's popular, even if you have ever reason to not like it, all you're a hater.

You're hating. Why are you hating? I'm hating. I'm the first to say this shit. I'm telling you right now. And that's, see, another thing that is, too, is people don't be having, they don't be touching power.

They don't touch power enough to stand on their shit. This is what I mean. This is how I feel. That's my truth. Popular opinion and all that. Yeah, call me a hater. Well, but it's my truth. I hate, this keeps happening to me.

I keep saying, yo, you hear that new song? That song sucks. And then somebody will say, yo, but that shit did 30 million views first week. And I'm like, I don't give a fuck.

Right, right. My reason for what I think of a song does not have a lot. Like, what are you saying? When you tell me that's 30 million views, okay, it's a successful business venture. It did well. It made money for everyone involved, I'm sure. That's great.

But I'm not going to let you say. sit here and tell me that like there's very popular rappers that I've had this conversation with and people keep saying he sold this many records. I don't give a fuck if he sold that many records. And I hate that it's so foreign for you to hear me say that

and think that I'm bugging. Because why the fuck do I care about how much money it made? I'm talking about the value of it. And I don't think I'm being that close minded because it's not like it has to be rap, 100% lyrical, shit, whatever. Like if I'm having an opinion about

something. It's like, you know, I'm open-minded to difference in styles of music and shit, but just don't tell me that it's good because it's popular. Right. Right. Yeah. No, that's what it is. And don't tell me it's good just because you're looking at the numbers and the numbers consider or say to you, oh yeah, it's the shit. Because we're in the music business. I know that these numbers are not always real. So let's start there. And even if the numbers were real, again, I don't care. You know. You said it. You said it. You I mean, yeah, it's just, it's a dirty secret. I've sat in record label offices and had label people tell me, oh, you know that song that's

like popping right now? Oh, man, we bought somebody fake plays for that song to get it going, to get it on the charts. And I'm talking about real actual hit songs that went on to become hits. But they got it popping on Spotify, but buying fake plays and all the YouTube views. And we've got to convince people, you know, nobody's going to watch it if it has 20,000 views. but if we juice that shit up to 2 million people think it's popping and then they'll all start watching me that's deep that's deep though and I had label dudes tell me this as if this is something I should aspire to

like I should be proud of them you should be happy you even know me because I'm such a fucking genius that I bought these fake plays with a song and it's like I'm kind of sitting there like that's cool but also like I think that's immoral yeah and I know that that wouldn't make any sense to you but I think that's wrong but I would never say that because it's going to make me It's not like an oldhead, but that's what I'm thinking. Yo, listen, they feeling like their success story in manipulation.

And that's where they get off. That's the craft for them, though. It is. That's the craft for them. In the music industry, for sure. That's their handywork, yeah. So this is what it is, man. It's a tug of war.

How many people you can manipulate is how you judge yourself? That's pretty fucking sad state of the face. That's sad, bro. And that's what I'm saying. That's what I'm looking at now. I'm like, oh, shit. Those that know got a, we got to go double time. Just to keep the essence.

And look, you can't just say that shit. Because, yeah, saying it is one thing, but what I produce, that's the thing that we got to hold up to the like. You like this shit that got $30 million, boom, boom, boom. But look, check this shit out. And this is why, you know, we go with this. And we got to, that's what it was, though. and a lot of the route

as far as just artistry people knew why they liked something and they really dealt with the science of it not just because all right we got numbers so we just got to move this paper mache shit this cardboard out of the way and like give people a dose of that reality again

like I said you got them cold I got them codes those that know then we got to stand on it we got to go if we're going to preserve what this shit is And look, I ain't even just talking about industry. I'm just talking about life. Real life.

Real shit. Having good conversation. Intimate conversation. That means something. You look at relationships. You go in people's bedrooms and shit like not for nothing in people homes. How real is it though? How really real?

I mean, you've been with somebody for that degree. But how real is your relationship? I mean, this shit is crossing, it's permeating through everything. Now I find myself like really trying to when I am in a human moment like as in when I'm just sitting around waiting for somebody to pick us up and we start talking to each other or whatever. And like if I find my brain going to like pull your phone on I look at Twitter, pull your phone on and look at Instagram, I try to resist the urge more because it's like a lot of that stuff I really took for granted. Why? Because you get so intoxicated from your phone. You forget about the value of, you know, and I have a baby now.

Four months old. Congratulations. Appreciate it. And I feel that in my head. And I am training myself to notice. When you're playing with your kid and you're fucking think about doing something on your phone that really is not important. That's when I'm really starting to think like, oh, okay, this shit got a hold of me. I got to fight back.

Oh, you said it. You said it. No. This is, yo, this is what's going on with all of us. And that's it. That one thing being that more mindful will just change it. That's when you say, yo, what's your daylight from top to bottom? Yeah, I could give you different experiences, but in the heart of it, that's what it is.

It's that fight right there. Stay real. That's real. You know what I'm saying? Your peoples are starting to stand up. I feel like they want to leave. Maybe they're stretching their legs. Hey, I want to tell you one thing.

I was watching you on the Joe Button podcast, and it actually really made me miss those dudes all together because we don't know if we're ever going to see them together. She was mall and, yeah, man. That actually, when I was watching you with them a couple years ago, it kind of took me back like, fuck, they were really, really good together when they were good together. Now it feels like there's been tension for a few months or whatever.

Yeah, no, it was really good vibes. Even when I was there. Like, I couldn't believe, like, the set was the same. set like real organic yeah and you're only but that shit right there is exactly what we're talking about which is for people people literally post up in front of their computer millions of people to watch three guys just get along on camera and just talk and argue and shoot the shit and talk about music and stuff like people want that connection of like just to see a few homies just hang out and talk about shit just the love connection that shit matters and it's like

human contact but instead of sitting outside on the steps Talking to the guy who lives next door for three hours, people now are like, why would I do that when I could listen to three people that are already qualified to have opinions? That's crazy. I was just going to listen to them. They're smarter than me. Yo, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. No, but look, it's.

It makes sense. But at the same time, it's all part of what we've lost. Yo, no. That's sort of simple. How the playing field has been lowered. But, yo, we got to get back. That's it. We just got to get back.

Ro, the minute, that we're talking about it. This is shit I be talking about where life shows you what's going on. Like when you say, you were talking about the meditative states and just let me clear my mind and let certain things come to me. I feel like this is it.

This is active meditation right here, right now. It's showing itself. It's just, do we know how to look? You know what I'm saying? Take it and then, oh shit. Yeah, why am I talking about that today? Oh, shit, I got to deal with that.

It ain't happening for no reason. We ain't talking about it for no week. This is it. It's showing us. This life is meditation It's real At this point I'd like to announce

That we took acid Before this podcast It's lit JK You got anything Like coming up Anything we need to know about What do you want to warn the fans about?

Shit man Just look out for the You know me and Daylight Battle Coming this year You know that shit gonna be groundbreaking I'm doing a whole bunch of shit I don't know

I'm just shameless plug it all I had a book coming. I got all first verses already out with my main DJ Don DeMarco. I dropped that guard disjoint. That's on streaming everywhere. And yeah, man, in a nutshell, just look, tap in the I. I am loaded lux. That's me on all social platforms.

Because, you know, I can sit here and, you know, but if you want to just follow along the journey, you know, shit tomorrow, we may get a new idea and then that be going on, you know what I'm saying? but that's the main thing you know i am lordelux.com look out for the me and daylight battle coming this year um oh yeah yeah oh yeah the money ain't real i think we we shit we talked about that all this whole you know what me merchant deck of course yeah what's that's the only reason i watch battle rap is just to scope all the cool new merch designs No, you know what's the best in the hollow one?

In the hollow one, there was multiple different naughty by nature logo rips on stage at the same time. That's what I was like, bro, there's too much merch out there. I need to get a white tee and just wear the rest of my life. Yo, shout out to low, man. He's genius, man. I just wouldn't just shout out to him, man. Talked me a lot. Humble this shit out of me and really.

show me another dose of life that was just beautiful, man. The way his mind works is like, yeah. No, definitely. Yeah, but also man, after being relatively isolated for the last year, seeing all them people push together on stage,

I was definitely like, man, that's going to take a while to get used to. Yeah, that's going to take a while. Yo, man, I hope we get it back, man. Oh, it's coming back for show. That's a fact. That's a snapple fact. You hear me? That's a fendi fact.

All right. Loaded looks. I appreciate you, bro. For real. Lois. It was a blast. Great conversation, man. Beautiful. Next time you round, we got to do it again. Spin the block. Cool. Cool. He's no way. No jumper. Loaded Lugs. Coolest podcast on the world. Check us on YouTube, SoundCloud, iTunes. Like, comment, and subscribe. Nojumper.com. If you want to support, appreciate y'all.