Stay Tranquilo - How Consistency AND Authenticity Drive True Growth & Success w/ Hip Hop Artist OG97

Episode Date: January 30, 2024

In this episode of the Stay Tranquilo Podcast, powered by the Stay Tranquilo Network, we are joined by hip hop artist OG 97. Andre Dunand, host of the Stay Tranquilo Podcast, leads a few questions through out the podcast: - What are challenges faced when becoming an artist/musician? - What has been the biggest reward? - How music has evolved over the years? - How do you stay focused and motivated on making music? - How do you identify your personality as a musician? - What are the keys to growth as a musician and getting your music out there? AND MORE. 0:00 - Intro 4:00 - Intro to OG 7:20 - What has the journey taught OG, personally and as a musician? 10:00 - How artist & musicians evolve over time? 13:30 - Power of Authenticity 22:00 - Wildest fan experience 26:00 - 3% Rule & Process of Producing Music 32:00 - Old School vs New School 35:00 - Magic Mind for Creativity 38:00 - The Power of Risk Taking & Overcoming Fear 42:00 - Current Hip Hop Climate & Top Artist 45:30 - Wrapping it Up & Where to Find OG97 Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The biggest thing for me, you know, when it comes to, you know, people like yourself that are spying artists is like the risk-taking. And I think the biggest kind of obstacle for people is the fear, right? Like the fear is like, I want to do this, but, and then you give yourself a million reasons why not to do it, right? Like, how do you kind of, one, work with your mind on convincing yourself that you're making the right decision and just, you know, keeping the more optimistic point of view? Yeah, that's a good question. I think, you know, number one, I think you got to love it, right? Like, that's the biggest thing. You just got to love it.

I remember falling in love with hip-hop music. And I loved it. You know, if you do anything, you have to love it. Yeah. Whether you're doing a podcast, whether you're an athlete, whether you're a business owner, you're a fitness person. Yeah. And I also think having a support system is important also.

I think having that positivity where, you know, if maybe you didn't have the best day or maybe if you're facing a specific challenge, you have someone that can give you advice, someone that can be there to pick you up, to motivate you. Because if I didn't have a good support system, I don't know how much, how far I would be going along with this, right? So if you were just completely alone, like, you might not really do it.

What's up, guys? Today, we're doing something a little bit different. Well, actually more original than usually from what we've done in the past. But obviously stay tranquil was started off with a different pod than we've been doing lately. Obviously, the sports has been a big priority for us. So our core was always having conversations with authentic creators, you know, whether that's in business, that's in the music space, that's athletes, whatever your level of creation is. something that I always enjoyed because I consume them a lot

is podcasts that provide value. So I've known Oscar here for a few years now and I thought what better way to kind of kickstart this podcast again? I think the last time we recorded something like this is when we recorded the ones with Lauda and Victoria which was something around like Hispanics and just kind of that culture.

but that, you know, that's been a while now. So I wanted to bring this back, and I want to bring this back regular because there's one, I think these are podcasts that provide a lot of value. I think they're also entertaining because you never know

what's going to really come out of these, but it's a lot of storytelling that goes into all of this, and to me that's the best piece of content that you could put out there, right? Because we all have something different to offer, even though we might be similar, you know, we might have different paths,

but we all might have, like, the same journey. I think there's also, a different story and different perspective to give. And I think perspective gives people hope and gives people kind of something to lean on. So that's why I wanted to bring this back. And I think, you know, having Oscar here is a great way to kick it off. So, uh, Oscar. It's a pleasure to be here.

Yeah. Cheers, bro. It's good to have you on. I'm glad we're doing this. Oscar and I go back to our fit to run days, which we actually recorded an episode. Uh, I think it was 2020. 2020. Pre-covid.

Right? Pre-covid. And it was one, Osser was starting off his music career and, you know, we'll get into the background of everything. But that started way back in the day. And it was one of the first podcasts that I did for the state drunkena podcast. I think I recorded that one on my phone and I had one USB mic. And obviously now our setup is completely different.

We have a great space here that we're able to use. We got lights. We got pooch on the camera. And I was listening to the podcast on the way here and I was like, damn, bro, we've evolved. You know, and it gets, it almost sometimes you forget that a little bit in the process where you're just like go, go, go, go, go. And you're, you're pushing yourself like, am I really doing the right thing? Am I getting better? And I was listening to that podcast.

And it was probably a good podcast and people probably got something out of it. But I also realized, like, I'm like, damn, one, I've matured a lot since then in terms of like the things I was talking about in that podcast, some of the things that maybe were important at a time that are not so important today. and just, you know, where we are as a business and as a person, I think, you know, we evolve a lot. And I'm sure, exactly. And I'm sure you have too. So I want to go back a little bit, but I also want to kind of start off more of like where you're at right now. Tell the people, you know, what you're doing, you know, so that people know, I'm sure we have a couple new listeners now. But sure, for sure.

What are you doing nowadays in the music world? and, you know, we'll rewind from there. Yeah, definitely. OG 97, making music, hip-hop, rap music, been dropping music consistently since we did that podcast. I was probably one of the... So that podcast, you had just released the... With my first project.

Album the day before. Yeah, my first project. So I was four years ago. So we've been doing this for four years. And like you said, it's been a consistent growth. And a lot of times when you're on that growth, You don't really look back, and it's good to look back. Like, damn, we really did come a long way.

And, you know, right now, currently just continuing to release, continuing to grow, and, you know, trying to represent something and trying to make music that people could relate to and live by also. Yeah, I mean, one of the things that we spoke about on the last podcast, too, is, like, how music is in art. And I think that's something that's really true, right? Because what music you may like and I might like might be very different. and it's for completely different reasons, right?

It might hit you a little bit different. You know, there's just something about the feel of it, the lyrics. I mean, there's so much that goes, the beats, right? There's so much that goes into it. Yet you have an emotional connection to the music. And obviously, that's why some of the biggest artists today, I mean, they've created an emotional connection with the masses, right? But, you know, whether that's through podcasting,

whether that's through music, whatever that outlet may be, there's a level of connection between you and the listeners. right and I mean your numbers are impressive like thank you the things the things that you've been able to do I'm sure there's aspiring artists out there that would see those numbers in me like damn I want to be able to do that definitely definitely I try I try to you know be an inspiration for people who are starting off and are new try to give them advice try to show them that you know this is something that you could do if you put in the work and I still got a long way to go of course we still got a long way to go we're nowhere near

where we want to be where where you're like you said it's not what you're not We're not where we want to be, but we're not where we started at. Exactly. It's continuous. Absolutely. So let's actually go back, right? Because I think you brought up a good point, right? There's people that look up to you and if you can give back while you're still on your journey, right?

Just like, it doesn't matter if you're up here or you're down here. Right? There's always someone here and there's always someone here and you might be somewhere in the middle, right? So whatever you can give, I think, is always valuable. You've been doing this music now, I get, you know, since that day, four years, right? what is, you know, what is something that you've learned in the last four years? Two things that you've learned maybe, right? One, on the personal level, right?

Like, what is something that you've learned personally just as a human? And then secondly, as a musician, what have you learned? Man, that's a good question. I think personally what I've learned is, you know, by doing music, it's almost like a look inside. It's a lot of reflection. I think my music is very self-reflective, self-analytical. it's almost like a mirror, right?

Like I'm talking about experiences in my life that I hope people can relate to because we've all had similar experiences. So I think looking internally as to, you know, why am I this way? Why am I that way? Like the music is almost like therapy. I've never done therapy.

I think I'm a big advocate for people to do therapy. And I think there's a lot of different ways to have a version of therapy. Exactly. So with music, it's just, you know, when you're writing these songs and it's just looking inward, like, man, you know, growing as a person, like, I'm not where I was before.

Right. And having a different perspective, a different maturity level from where we were four years ago. I think that's important person-wise. And then, I mean, musically, what I would say, musically, one thing that I thought about recently, and it kind of ties into that. I guess it's like maybe the theme of the podcast. Yeah. I was listening to one of my old songs on the drive home yesterday.

And I was like, man, I really liked this song. It was one of my favorite personal songs. And I was thinking. you know, wow, like, I wish I could make that song again, right? Because I like the song so much. And I'm thinking, like, man, I've asked one of my producers, like, can you make a beat similar to this? You know, can I talk about a similar subject?

And I started realizing I can't make what I made three years ago, four years ago, because I'm in a different place now. I'm a different person, a different artist, different experience, different tone, different perspective. So as much as I like the old music, I just have to appreciate it for what it is. It's not who you are right now. It's not who I am right now, and I got to just keep looking forward and keep progressing. Even though the sounds might be different, sometimes it's good to hear old song and it's nostalgic and, man, that was a good moment, but now we're focused on newer moments.

And I think that's one thing that I realized, which was big as an artist. You hear a lot of fans always like, oh, I miss the old Kanye. I miss the old Drake. It's true. It's true. And that's a good point because you do look at these artists and it doesn't even matter what genre, right? You look at an artist and the albums that they come out with and you're like, damn, that was a different person than this person is, hey.

I mean, we've seen it with Drake where he's gone through his emotional side, you know, more sentimental albums. And then, you know, Drake's living his best life and he's dropping like more of like a party style. Savage and stuff. Exactly. And it really showcases the seasonalities of the journeys of life. I like that one. Seasonalities.

Yeah. It's different seasons. And we got to, we got to adapt to the seasons. because if you don't adapt, then you might get left behind. Yeah, and none of us want to get left behind. So what season would you consider yourself to be in right now? Man, that's a good question. You always ask a good question.

It's that magic mind. Yeah, yeah, not. I guess you good. I'm going to have to get on that. We'll get into it. I think right now, you know, I've done a lot of reflecting, right? And I think, like, my first year releasing music, it was like just an introduction, right? Like, oh, like, look, I'm making something.

Yeah. I think my second year was like, okay, like he's making something, but it's pretty good. Like, you can actually listen to this. You could ride to it. And I think my third year was a lot of like, okay, this is OG 97, like the sound. This is his story. This is him as an artist. So I think now year four, my season now, I think I'm just trying to go hard and just like really, really like dive into what I am, which is a rapper at the end of the day.

Okay. I want to go and I just want to rap and wrap and wrap and prioritize the lyrics, prioritize the wordplay, the flow, the delivery. Kind of taking it back to the essence. I think a lot about, you know, athletes, for example, like you think about someone like Kevin Durant or Kyrie Irving, like they just want to go on the court and they just want to hoop. They just want to put buckets up.

And there's more that goes into it, but that's what it is at its purest form. So I'm trying to tap into what hip hop is into the most pure form. I think that's my season right now. And do you think that hip hop has changed? So it's almost kind of forced you to change a little bit. Because obviously, you know, 90s hip hop was one thing, 2000s hip hop, 2010. You know, now we're in what seems to be a completely different era of music. It's very different.

And do you feel you've had to kind of adapt, I guess you could say, or kind of like change your flow or whatever that might be so that you can kind of fit. the narrative of what's going on in the world of music. So I'm glad you bring that up because when it comes to, you know, the trends and everything that's going on now, I think the younger me was taking that into consideration a little bit more. And then I started thinking like, I just have to make what I like, what I enjoy it, because that's going to make it the funest process. Right. True.

And what I put out, whether the listeners enjoy it or not, like, that's me to my truest form. I kind of think about doing analogies, but for example, Christopher Nolan, one of my favorite directors, he's not really making a movie thinking, okay, what is the audience going to think about this? Or they're going to like it or they're not going to like it. He's just going to try to make the best movie that he can. True. Whether it's Oppenheimer, Inception, Interstellar. He's just trying to make the best movie that he can. And then the people who enjoy it, love it, the people who don't. Okay, on to the next. But I think that's really my focus now where I just want to be the best version of me as an artist. And I think off, you know, the authentic side comes out of you,

right? When you're doing something that's not you, right? That doesn't bring you that joy, like you said. It kind of almost feels forced and it's expressed that way, right? So people see it and it's like, they don't need, they may not realize it's not authentic, but something about it just seems off. It's like it's not there. Whereas what's you is you, it flows, right? It comes out and it's natural. And when you're, when it's natural, it's almost more eye appealing to what, whoever the they could tell when it's natural exactly it just it's just one of those things that it just looks more pure and it looks authentic and and you people gravitate to authenticity without maybe even knowing that right they might i think it's almost hard to distinguish you only probably know

better than anyone else whether you're being authentic or not that's a fact on the outside they may not know yet naturally they're going to gravitate to things that are authentic right without maybe really knowing but they're like you know what that guy's good right and they don't really know like, hey, he may have done this, he might have tried this, but you know what? That was you in your most natural state. I agree with that. And I think, you know, one perspective also is with the music and with the podcast, right? Someone may not be a fan of hip hop music or a fan of my style of music, but I think they could

still recognize like, yo, he's authentic. And they might not be a fan of the music, but they might be a fan of you as a creator, as an artist. I think it could be the same with like your podcast, right? Maybe there's someone who's not into sports and they don't want to tune in and listen to a sports podcast, but they could recognize and be like, wait a second, like, this is something good. This is someone who's passionate. This is someone that's pushing a positive message. And they'll still be a fan.

Even if they're not a fan of the content itself, they're a fan of you as a person. Exactly. Yeah. And that's a good point because, you know, me being the decision maker on some of these things, right? When I went up, you know, I always wanted to say, you know, obviously this is, my core and and it almost hurt me to like get away from my core almost right because this is these are the type of dialogues that I do generally like to have yeah right just deep conversations get getting into you know the the truth right you know the truth and and then providing value as a

you know as like as like as much as I can as a listener right because on the other side I consume a lot of podcasts and I like to learn you know I like to learn I like to hear people's stories I like to grasp different perspective for people that are successful, whether that's financially, spiritually, physically, whatever that might be, I want to, I want to learn from them because they're doing it, right? They may not, they're not perfect, right? And I think that's where the beauty of it is. It's like, I know they're not perfect. They're just a human, just like I am, but they're still able to do it. They usually are overcoming some crazy stories, right? So that was always why this was like my brother brother. I want to

be able to do this so I can give those stories and give a platform to maybe yourself, you know, whether it's this big or this big, at least it's still someone, right? Because people will listen and people will say, you know what, I needed that. And even if you help three, four, five people, like that's big. Because then those three or four, five people might help another three or four five.

And those three or four, it's a ripple effect. It's a ripple effect. And, you know, going to your point about, you know, the sports podcast, like for me, that was big because I've always been a guy that I just love sports. You know, and I didn't want to just be one dimensional. I wanted to be, you know what? Stay tranquil is, it's not about me. but you know what i want to do the things that i enjoy i enjoy talking sports you know i me and dave

we go on there and we'll just shoot the ship for an hour talking dolphins you know dolphins lost but we'll we'll find the next thing to talk about right like golf i enjoy golf so i'm going to be able to talk about golf and you know what the doors will open for you you know things will line up because you're doing things that are true authentic to you right and the universe will say you want to do this all right let's do it right and it opened the first door and the next door and the next door, which I'm sure by you just taking that leap of faith, right, because that's what it is, right?

You have to put yourself in that uncomfortable situation because it's easier said than done to do these things sometimes, but you got yourself in the right mental space to say, hey, you know what, I'm going to do this. Whatever happens happens, right? Because you really don't know what's on the other side when you make that decision. Nobody does.

But you knew that you wanted to do this, and I'm sure doors along the way have opened up for you. Keep opening up, yeah. I mean, like your number is. now are what? Like most streamed song is up is up to what? I think my biggest song right now

is probably like close to 400,000. Imagine that, dude. Imagine you producing something. And it's funny because when we, you just released that album that day when we recorded. You were like,

I don't know what this is going to do. You know, like I wanted to create an album on this. Fast forward four years, 400,000 people on one song. On one song. Yeah, that's pretty. pretty crazy. That's wild. It's pretty crazy. That's wild. Like when you look at things like from that perspective, you'd be like, huh, maybe, you know, I'm doing something right. If I got 400,000

downloads on a song, you know, it's definitely, it's definitely serious. And, you know, a lot of times we're in the, we're in the chase and we don't appreciate the little moments. So now I think I try to like, yeah, okay, we're driving our foot's on the gas, but let me slow down real quick and acknowledge, you know, where I've been on this journey. Okay, I could let us sink in and and let's keep moving forward. Yeah, exactly. It's a fine line of not finding too much comfort in the journey when things are going great and things like that,

but also enjoying the process of the journey and where you are right now, you know, through the highs and lows, right? I love reading, and one of the things that's been a consistent theme in some of the books that I've been reading is, like, you don't want to get too high and you don't want to get too low, but that doesn't necessarily mean you can't enjoy the process and you can't enjoy the journey, right? You enjoy the good things for what they are,

but you don't cling to them, you don't stay attached to them, right? Because that same good thing is gone the next day, right? To be gone, quick. Like how you won the World Series, right? That moment is full of joy. You're extremely grateful for that moment. You work your butt off as a team to get there.

But guess what? Next year, that World Series is over, right? So it's like, what are you going to do? Just win that one World Series and be done now. You got to keep going. It's the next thing. It's the next. And it's not where you don't appreciate that moment because you appreciate the hell out of that moment.

But that moment comes and goes and there's the next moment. And the next moment, you don't know what tomorrow is going to bring you, good or bad. But you've got to be able to continue to move forward because that's what life's all about. You're not guaranteed tomorrow, right? So that's what makes life so special because you have the choice to do whatever the hell you want to do with your life. You know? And I think that in itself is valuable. and I think that's the biggest thing we forget about in the journey of all of it.

Because like you said, we're like, we're just go, go, go, go, go, go. But we completely forgot to enjoy today. Especially in this city, too. This city is fast. Don't even go later. And I think, you know, you mentioned the World Series. And one quote that I really like is the reward for hard work is more hard work. It's only going to get harder.

And it's good. You know, if you're working hard, guess what's left on your table? You're just going to have to work harder now. Yeah. And that's something that always sticks to me. Yeah, that's good. I like that. So, obviously, doing this for four years now, right?

What has been your motivator, right? Obviously, it's tough, right? Like, you obviously have ambitious goals as an artist and you want to obviously be successful in that space. But, you know, what are some of the motivators in the process of being a creator and just kind of identifying what the next, you know, the next move is? Yeah. I think as a motivator, I mean, obviously there's motivators in just life in general.

Yeah. Like my family, my mom, my dad, my girl, they're all huge supporters, my friends. Which is huge. Those are motivators. They're going to motivate me no matter what. Right. If I stop doing music, it's still going to motivate me. I think for music specific, one of the biggest motivators is, you know, every now and then

when you just get a random message from a fan and they're like, hey, I really like this song. Hey, like I listen to this song when I'm working out. Hey, I listen to this song. on my drive to school, on my drive to college. Hey, I listen to this song on my break from work. Like, wherever they're listening to the music,

it's like, man, like, this is something that you could live to. I know, like, what an impact my favorite artist had on me. Right. They had a huge impact on my life. They were like the soundtrack to me growing up. And for me to be able to provide that

to certain people, it's, that's one of the biggest motivators. Like, I know I got to continue releasing music because there's people that are waiting for it. They're waiting for it. And they're waiting for it. And they, And they want the next OG-97 song, the next OG-97 project.

So that's one of the biggest motivators that you're going. What's the craziest, like, fan message you've ever gotten or outreach? Oh, man. Craziest, crazy. Craziest, like, coolest, you know. Oh, man, I had one that was, yo, I forgot about this. It's crazy because you bringing it up and my memory just thinking, I was getting these messages consistent and, like, it comes on your request on IG.

They might follow you, don't follow them. So I was, like, look through my request. okay, a couple of DMs, and then, oh, okay, boom, boom. And I see one guy who sent, like, seven messages. And I'm like, okay, like, what profile is this? And he's sending videos, selfie videos. And he was in jail. He was in prison.

And you know how in prison they could sneak a little phone? Yeah, yeah. So he's like, yo, like, I found your music. Your music's hard. He's like, when I get out of jail, like, we got to collaborate. Wow. And I was like... How long ago was this?

That might have been like a year and a half, two years ago. And I was like, I had completely forgot. about it. You just brought it up. I remember my friends were like, oh, you might have to put some money on his commissary or something like that. I should have got more information. Maybe I could pull the DM up now. I was just like, hey, man, thank you for this was poor. Thank you for being a fan. I wish you the best. I hope you get out soon, right? I didn't want to dive too deep into the situation. No, of course not. Of course not. There's, obviously there's layers of everything. Yeah, but that was a crazy message. Shout out. Shout out to my homie. I was locked up. Yeah, hopefully. And sent that message. Hopefully you're out and you're still listening to OG's

music but damn dude that's wild that one was crazy that's wild so you write all the lyrics for your music everything i'll say 99.99% because i might get like a lyric here and there from a homie like if we're in the studio right now is that still common in today's age where artists are still writing their music or do you hear like things about ghost writers and yeah i think i think right now it's a little bit of both yeah i think it's a 50-50 i know there are some artists who are writing everything completely and I know there's some artists who are getting their stuff written for them. To each their own, I think if you're releasing music, it's your story. Right.

I can't have someone else write my story. True. I can have someone assist me, right? Like, I might have a line where I'm stuck on. I'll be like, hey, Andre, like, what rhymes with whiskey? And then you'll give me a couple things that rhyme with whiskey. And then your head starts to be like, you know what? Exactly.

I might collaborate with someone on like a lyric and edit, but for the most part is everything, me writing. I think that's, you know, one of the more challenging aspects is. you know, I write the music, I record the music. I create the cover on, I promote the music. I'm sure you know how it is. You wear a lot of hats. You have some help. Of course, exactly.

He's helping you out. Right. You have people that can assist you. But at the end of the day with your brand. The reality is as you grow, you're not going to be able to do it yourself. But also, you're going to have to do shit that you have to figure out on your own. You know, like. Nobody else could do for you.

Yeah. You don't have that luxury. But for writing, yeah, I write all my stuff myself. and, you know, I try to write consistently. I feel like I write in segments. I don't really sit down and write like a whole song in one sitting. I think I just... Are you better, like, during the day or at night when it comes to writing?

Because there's some people where, like, their creative juices, like, firing in the mornings. There's something that are just better at night? Or are you just like... I think it's a little bit of both. I think it's a little bit of both. And, you know, daytime, nighttime, whatever comes to mind, I write. it. I've been getting now into where I won't really, like, I'll write as I go where, like, I'll have a beat, I'll have an idea where I want to go with it, and I'll just hop on the mic and

say the first thing. It's kind of like a mix of freestyling and writing. I'm not going completely freestyle in the song, but I'll freestyle certain sections, and then I'll go back to it and fill it in, like, okay, I'm missing two lines here. I'm missing four lines here. Let me sit down and write what I'm missing and then kind of piece it together like that. Because one of my biggest things as an artist and one thing I preach to all other artists of any artists or listening to this, I think the first take, the first thought that comes, I think is always the best. I feel like you can't spend too much time editing it because what came out from the first moment is like what the universe wanted you to say. And Virgil, the designer from Offwhite, he has like this

theory. I think it's like a 3% theory where he says when you're creating something, you should only edited 3% right if you have if we're making this whiskey glass and boom this is a whiskey class that's presented okay if we're going to change it it might just be needed needed to change you know maybe the thickness of it or maybe change the size of it but a very minor change the first idea that you come up with a lot of times in art at least in art the first idea tends to be the best at least i think so no i i i could see that because then what starts happening is you start getting in your head and you know this start starts coming up, this start starts coming up, and then you're playing almost like a tug of war battle with yourself.

Exactly. You're analyzing and you're paralyzed from analyzing. Exactly. I think, you know, the universe is free flowing. When we have these conversations, we're not too calculated. We have these conversations with any conversation you have in life is like that. And I think when you're creating, it should have that perspective too. Yeah, no, no, it's true.

And when you get in your head, you know, you can kind of get lost in a completely different direction. And then, you know, you go down a rabbit hole, basically. I definitely been there. So for you, right, when you're going through that kind of like process of writing the music, producing the music, can you kind of like go through what that from inception of a song to release of a song? What does that process kind of look like? That's a good question.

I don't think I've ever answered this question. So I'm sure some people are. I'm generally curious, right? And I'm sure like, you know, for aspiring people out there, like they want to know. Because like how the hell do you get a song on Spotify? Right? Yeah. And everyone works differently too.

I mean, for me, I'm constantly listening to beats. Yeah. Right? Like I'm always, you know, having producers either send me beats through email or I'm on YouTube looking at beats. And I'm just always trying to find the beats that I like, the beats that fit my sound. Yeah. So that takes a big part of it. Once I have a beat that I like, right away, I know what I want to say.

I know the topic of the song. I know the chorus of the song. It just comes like lightning. in a bottle. And then from there, it's the recording process, right, where I mentioned it, you know, I might go a little bit off the top of the head, write a little bit, mix it up, record the song, engineer the song, and then I always like having an opinion, so I have like my trusted people in my circle and I'm like, okay, like, check out this song, check out this song, what do you think, and get their feedback on the song. And from there, when it's time

to release, it's, you know, planning the content, planning the cover art, which to me is very important, I want to make sure that when people see the artwork, it's captivating. And then, you know, are we going to do a music video? Are we going to shoot a reel for this? Are we going to, you know, what type of content? Where are we going to shoot it? What outfit? And then putting it up, I mean, I have a distributor.

You might have a distributor too, right? I use Distro Kid. Okay. I don't know who you have as a stream. Yeah, we were using Anchor. Actually just changed it to a site called Transitor. Okay. Yeah.

So I can house now that we have multiple shows. It housed all my shows under one account, basically. Yeah, so I have my distributor. I put it up, and I try to release it. I try not to sit on a song too long. Some people, you know, they treat their song like their babies, which it is your baby. Of course.

You want your baby to grow. You can't just put the song for a year. You never know. How many times have you heard the stories of like, dude, I honestly was going to release that song, and then it was like... It came out and it's their biggest song ever. All the time.

So I try not to hold on to the song too much. I just, you know, once it's ready to release, once we have all the creative for it, put it out. you know, while that song is being out, while that song's being promoted, already working on the next one. Yeah. Or the next one, I mean, I always try to, I tell a lot of my artist friends when they're

starting off, like, you don't want to release a song until you have more saved because creativity comes and goes. You mentioned that in the last one too. Yeah, I did. Yeah, you did. Something's never changed, right? So I always want to make sure I have a vault, right? It's like if you're going to go and, you know, open a kitchen or open a restaurant, you know,

on it. Like, you're not just going to have one type of ingredient and that's it. Like, no, you're going to have a whole stock. Yeah. So I try to keep a whole stock of ideas because if I go a month and a half with no inspiration, I can't just go a month and a half putting out nothing. Like, I still have to have. You got to have something to put out there. That's pretty much all the process works.

Okay. I didn't know that about the distributor. It makes sense exactly how the podcast world is and that makes sense. The audio world is similar. It makes sense. Music's always been intriguing for me. I'm not, I'm nowhere near, I don't know what the word is talented.

A connoisseur or a music concert. No, I am, but not like, not like that. No, you've always had good taste. I've definitely grown to appreciate it. I remember back in the day, you always have good taste. I've definitely grown to appreciate it. I think that's a big part of my music journey, like music appreciation journey.

You know, I never really had anyone there kind of like teaching me about music. You would always be showing your songs. Yeah, yeah, check this out, check this out. I knew about every album during that time, every artist. during that time. I mean, now I've kind of,

I don't listen to too much. But I don't really listen to too much music anymore either. I do, you know, when I'm in the gym, or I want to vibe and things like that. But I'm not like staying too up to date. I do consume a fuck ton of podcasts now. Podcasts are good, man. And the only time when I'm really listening to music

is either it's background noise and I'm working, right? Or I'm in the gym and it's more like get me up and energized. But you want to know what I would say is, you know, I hate to sound like an old head, but I feel like back then music maybe was a little bit better or at least a little bit more effort. I feel like nowadays with a podcast. I don't listen to anything new either. I listen to a lot of old stuff.

The old stuff. 2000s hip hop is usually what I'm listening to. 90s. You know, that's... Bro, I saw a stat that it said last year was one of the first years that, like, on Spotify, old music was streamed more than new music. Wow. because people are just going back to the old songs because

that's actually crazy. Yeah, it's a crazy stuff when you think about it. And I feel like I'm the same way. I'm listening to old music. But look, but look, that's a good point. That's a crazy statistic. But look at the way people are addressing. Everything's going back.

Everything. You're seeing a lot of like of the 70s, 80s, 90s kind of clothes. Yeah, the bag of your clothes, more retro. Yeah, retro. The, I guess the newer generation has kind of picked up a lot of that for whatever reason. That's the things I never kind of can grasp. Yeah, the newer generation knows how to appreciate like the past.

They do. That's something I would say. Yeah, they definitely do. My parents will sometimes see, you know, me or my girl with like a polo roll. They're like, they'll see me with like a film camera and they're like, why the hell do you have a film camera? You have an iPhone. I'm like, no, like the film camera is dope. And like that's what they have back in their day.

We got a little camcorder camera. The camp quarter is fired, bro. It's badass. I told him. I took into Kansas City and I was like. Cancure is far. I had gotten in it for him for Christmas. And then I'm like, dude, I'm going to get one for myself too because I just want one.

It's sick. You just walk around like that. And the content that you film is sick. It's like listening to vinyl, like those old style. We just got my boy a vinyl for his wedding. It's timeless. We got him a badass record. We got him an NPR Mac Miller version, which I didn't even know they made that.

I'm like, dude, that's sick. That's far. So we got him that. We got him like a red hot chili pepper one. I got him a Bob Marley one. That's a good collection already. Yeah, yeah. And then, you know, now he can build a collection from there.

But, no, that's good. It's just something about that old school. It's tangible. Yeah, and you appreciate it more. Like, you have to go to the record player, stick that thing on, and you're going to sit there and you're going to listen to all eight songs. And you got to flip it and you got to bring out the other things. Exactly, man.

It's not like, okay, let me just change it on to the next song, you know? Like, you grow to appreciate things when you're not like, what's the word? Like, almost like brain dead. You know, like this is so easy and so convenient. The endless scroll. You just scroll on scroll and you go and you're like, oh, I just put the song in the playlist. And it's good.

It's convenient. It does look. I love Spotify playlist and all the stuff that they do. It is good. But there's nothing, like a record you sit there and you appreciate the hell out of it because, like you said, you have to go there flipping and all that. It's, it is crazy. I'm still kind of mind-blown by that stat.

Yeah, that's crazy. One of the things that you were, you know, that we were talking to about, too, was the creativity, right? And it's something that, and I have it here. And I actually wanted to bring it to you because I thought you would be a person that would appreciate it. You could try it now. I have more in my house too, so if you want, I can give you some to take.

But these guys approach me. They're called Magic Minds. I started taking them. I want to say, I think it's been like two weeks now that I've been taking pretty much every day in the morning. You could take it with like coffee, like on, you know, however you drink. Do you drink coffee or no? I'll take a real shot.

You know what? Then this is actually perfect for you. because it's super low in caffeine. I think, let me see. I don't know if it says it on here, but it's very low in caffeine. It's got green tea, so it's not very strong on the caffeine side.

But it's not really an energy thing. It's more kind of focus, mental clarity. It's supposed to enhance kind of like your creativity. I like that. Boost energy and focus, crush procrastination, elevate mental clarity. I need those in the studio. And I was going to say,

maybe you do this or you go like, take it five days in a row before you go in the studio, You know, just see how you feel. I kind of felt something within, like, the first day of using it. You know, obviously they talk about placebo effects and things like that. I'm not a big person where, like, I take something and I'm already kind of thinking about it. I kind of go in with like an open mind. But it's got really good ingredients.

It's like how it's healthy as shit. It's got olive oil. My grandma used to tell me anything that's green is good for you. That's true. Yeah, you're greens. Exactly. It's probably good for you. Lions main is like a big ingredient that people were pushing.

It's been lab tested. by a million different labs, apparently. And, you know, they came down with this recipe. And it actually tastes good. Like, it's not like you take it and it tastes shitty. So, I mean, if you want to taste it, if you want to drink it later in the morning tomorrow. Are you supposed to, like, chug the whole thing, like one shot? I don't know.

I usually just drink it like in three sips. That's all I'm saying, maybe like a little sip. Yeah, yeah. And you want to have it cold. Like, I think that's, you know. Oh, no, it's pretty good. No, it's good. It actually tastes really good.

I've had some of these, like, similar energy shots. They taste nasty. Yeah. I'm about to drink the whole thing. I don't drink it. It's good. I personally have been using it now for a few weeks, and I do see a difference. Wow.

They say, you know, it helps you where you're not going to have that crash later in the day. You have, like, prolonged energy throughout the day. Your light's sharper. Obviously, you got to eat healthy and exercise, all that stuff. Like, they're not saying, like, you take this. Like, your life's going to change forever. They got passion fruit in it. That's why it tastes good.

I'm going to need some of these. Dude, I'm telling you. And I'll connect you with the, with a. some of the people there, but I've been taking it, dude. I love it. It's far. It's been one of those things where you kind of

just something feels a little bit different, you know, and I think obviously the longer you take it, the more beneficial. It's easy to take, too. It tastes good, bro. So I'll hook you up with those. But what was I going to say? Yeah, I mean, the biggest thing for me,

you know, when it comes to, you know, people like yourself that are spying artists is like the risk taking, right? Like, it is a risk. And I think the biggest. biggest kind of obstacle for people is the fear, right? Like the fear is like, I want to do this, but and then you give yourself a million reasons why not to do it, right? Instead of a million reasons of why you should do it, right?

Like we always look at it from a completely different lens of almost like the pessimistic side versus the optimistic side. The, you know, the view of hope and the view of like this actually could work out for you. How, like you making this decision, how have you kind of told yourself and almost convinced yourself like, hey, I'm making the right decision outside of like, I might not be making money right now. I might look like an idiot to somebody out there, right? Like, you know, all these crazy thoughts that people tell themselves, like, how do you kind of, one, work with your mind on convincing yourself that you're making the right decision and just, you know, keeping the more optimistic point of view? Yeah, that's a good question. I think, you know, number one, I think you got to love it, right? That's the biggest thing.

You just got to love it. I remember falling in love with hip-hop music when I was three, four, five. My sister was playing 50 Cent, Eminem, and I was like, what is this? Like, this sounds different than anything else, and I like it. And I loved it. You know, if you do anything, you have to love it. Whether you're doing a podcast, whether you're an athlete, whether you're a business owner, a fitness person.

Yeah. anything, I think number one, you got to love it. If you don't love it, it's not going to go far. Is it really worth it? And I also think having a support system is important also. I think having that positivity where, you know, if maybe you didn't have the best day or maybe if you're facing a specific challenge, you have someone that can give you advice,

someone that can be there to pick you up, to motivate you. Because if I didn't have a good support system, I don't know how much, how far I would be going along with this, right? So if you were just completely alone, like, you might not really do it. And there's always fun in having that support and inspiration. It is. It was something that we mentioned on the last one was that we like to win, right? Everyone likes to win, and it's a good feeling to win.

But how much better of a feeling is it when you win with the people around you? Oh, yeah. Right? Like, you win, they're winning, they're winning. Like, we're all winning together. You know, like, that is like next level satisfaction. It's crazy. I remember my first concert.

It was already a year ago here in Miami. And obviously, the concert was great. Performance was amazing, right? We sold out, like, I think, like 150 tickets. And it was a successful show. And, you know, it was being on stage for the first time. It was almost, like, speechless, right? Like, you can't explain that feeling, seeing the crowd.

Everyone vibe into your music. and performing the songs that you spent so long creating, it's very rewarding. But I think the best part for me was when the performance ended because then I get to see my mom and my dad and they come on stage and they give me a hug and they tell me how proud I am. I get to see my girl and give her a hug and a kiss

and her tell me how proud I, how she is. And my friends, right? Like everyone there, just that support. And having that, I think, is one of the most rewarding feelings. Absolutely. Absolutely. You need that. Obviously, you give yourself a certain level of like, hey, you're doing a good job and motivation, but having that external fact, you know, you don't want to be dependent on the external validation, but it is a good feeling to know, like, hey, the people that you care about

most are right there with you and they're happy for you. And that is a feeling that you want to take, you know, take to your grave, bro. You want to know that the people around you are happy with the choices that you're making and that you're happy, you know, like that's, that's special. So before we wrap it up, I want to get the current lay of the land in the hip-hop space. Like, what's the lineup right now, top five artists out there right now? Oh, man, that's a good question. Because honestly, bro, I wouldn't even know who would have said right now.

Yeah, the thing is, is OG-97, OG-97. No, yeah, OG-971, OG-972. But I just feel like right now, is an interesting place because I think a lot of the best artists are the same guys from five years ago, 10 years ago. You know, obviously, Drake, J. Cole, Kendrick, like, those guys have been top three for the last 10 years. Future, Travis.

I feel like those are the guys that still to this day, I mean. Yeah, that no one's really kind of broken that, right? That's how it feels. No one's reached that level. There's been a couple guys that have, you know, flirted with it and have gotten close, but it's interesting. I don't know the reason for it. That could be like a whole other podcast episode,

like the current state. But I mean, my five is probably the same five as always been. It's those five, Drake, Kendrick, and Cole. I feel like those are the guys that have the best bodies of work, the best lyrics, the most innovative, the best music to enjoy, whether it's for substance or whether it's for having fun. And then Future and Travis are just, you know,

just turn up, like the bangers. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, it is crazy that you would think the music world would have evolved at some capacity, and obviously it has, but to your point, I don't think anyone's really been able to break that ceiling.

What I would say, though, even though in hip-hop, they haven't broken that, I feel like in other genres, right? We're seeing... Country music, too. We're seeing Morgan Wallin. These guys are becoming superstars

where you may not have expected that. Yeah. You saw me bumping more than other day. I was about to say that, bro. I think I even told you that day, I was like, bro, the last thing I would have imagined was... But you know what? He's fire, man.

Morgan Wallin did that. Yeah. Luke Combs did that. Yeah. You know, some of these other artists, like Brian and some of the other guys that are coming up, too. They almost came with, like, a different tone. I think they marketed themselves really well, too.

They took a modern approach to that thing. They took a different, like, Morgan Wallen has a song with Little Dirk, you know? And that Little Dirk had an audience that maybe would have never, in a million years, thought about listening to Morgan Wallen, you know? And it was a banger. And that translated into a younger demographic

now listening to country music. Oh, yeah. What is it? Gen. Gen X. Gen Z? Gen Z. Gen Z has been a huge amplification for country music.

One guy I really like, which I'm not listening to music all the time, but I do like his come-up is Jelly Roll. Oh, yeah. I think he's six. He, like, one best new artist, and he's like 39. Dude, he's a beast. He's got a crazy story. Yeah, his story is crazy, man.

It's inspirational. And every time I see him talk, I'm like, man, like, This guy, he loved it, right? He loved music. He changed from hip hop to country. He became a changed man. And, I mean, he's being true to himself. Exactly.

That's the most important thing. That was the journey that was presented to him. Authenticity. That's what we said earlier. Exactly. That is the perfect definition of exactly what we were talking about. A guy that, you know, went through his journey of life, had his obstacles, his challenge and all that.

And yet, look where he ended up in all of this, right? Like, you know, he's got a story to tell for the rest of his life. and he's got a huge fan base. And that's a pretty consistent theme across, you know, a lot of people. They had some sort of adversity that led them to, you know, to some level of success that you want to call it. It's like climbing Mount Everest, right? The climb is the hardest part. Once you get to the top, you're already there.

Exactly. Getting up there is a challenge. Yep. Yep. But I enjoy this, bro. I am glad that we did this. It felt good. I hadn't done something like this in a while.

So I'm glad I was glad we did this. I'm glad I was invited to come through. Absolutely, man. Absolutely. I mean, I really want to, like I said, in the beginning of this, want to produce more of these, have more of these type of conversations. You know, I've been communicating with a few other people to have these type of conversations, share their stories.

And I just think there's a lot of value in it. And I hope today brought a shit ton of value. So before we wrap it up, obviously they can find you so people can come. consume your music. Where can they find you? And then what's some of the songs that maybe they should listen to? Rock with it. Spotify, Apple Music, right, any streaming platform, OG 97.

You could listen to my music there. On Instagram, it's still OG underscore vibes. I've been trying to get the OG 97 ad name, but it's taken. It's going to be, you know, maybe one day we'll get that. It's still OG vibes. And for songs, essential songs, I think Puerto Plata. is one song. I love that song.

Yeah, that song slaps. And, you know, it's pain homage to my hometown in the VR. So, you know, that one's special to me. That's what I went through when I, when I, when I was in the D.R. Yeah. I was a great. Yeah. I love that.

So that song is special to me. Another one that's probably important is I have a song called Regrets, which is another banger. I think it's one of the more thematic songs in mine, very conceptual. I think those are probably the two most important. If you want to get your feet wet, you start there. And then, you. you start trickling down, right?

You start finding the other ones and just listening to the ones you like, saving those, and that's a good starting point. I like it. I like it. So, thanks for being here. And I hope you guys enjoyed today's episode. Like I said, we're going to be making more of these

and hopefully having some more awesome guests like Oscar, like OG97. And if you guys have recommendations on guests, definitely let us know. But we're excited to continue this podcast that we had going on and continuously get this out. Right now I have it once here, once there. You know, there's a lot of obstacles and challenges that happen behind the scenes.

But, you know, something I think that was consistent on today's podcast was, you know, it doesn't matter, like do the things that you like and good things will come from it. And this is one of those things that I genuinely enjoy doing. So I'm excited to keep getting up. You got to keep doing it. Yes, sir. Appreciate you, go. Thanks.