The Breakfast Club - INTERVIEW: October London Talks New Album, Death Row Records Working With Snoop,'The Rebirth Of Marvin,'+ More

Episode Date: October 9, 2024

The Breakfast Club Sits Down With October London To Discuss His New Album, Death Row Records Working With Snoop,'The Rebirth Of Marvin.' Listen For More!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Wake that ass up in the morning. The Breakfast Club. Morning, everybody. It's DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, Charlamagne Tha Guy. We are The Breakfast Club. Jess is on maternity leave, so Lauren LaRose is filling in. And we got our niece with us today, Nyla. Big Nyla. All right. And we got a special guest in the building. We have October London. Welcome, brother. What's up? What's up? Good morning, sir. Good morning. How you feeling? I feel good. I feel good, man. Is it hard to put on a double vested suit and tie an ensemble in the morning?

Not at all. Easy. I actually love it. Yeah. Fresh look. Very fresh look. Yeah, for sure. Sometimes I sleep in it on the bus.

Now, you're signed to Def Row. Yeah. With Snoop. Yeah. Now, talk about how you got the deal and how he heard you and how that all came together for people that don't know. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I was actually on my way to graduating truck driving school. Trucking school.

Trucking school. You had your CDL? No, I quit right before I did it. He be going hard at trucking sometimes, though. I was about to. I just don't like how they drive. Yeah, yeah, it's a lot to it. But I was about to.

I didn't do it because i end up uh linking up with jazzy fay i end up you know linking up with him through a friend of a friend and i got his number and i text him like yo i got these records you know blah blah blah but i was sending them records they were rap records they're records for future they're records for all these other artists you were producing yeah yeah i was producing you know i was writing them also yeah yeah putting hooks on them and uh i happened to just kind of sneak in one of my songs that i did called colorblind that had that kind of marvin lane and uh i sent it to him i just waited and he hit me back and

was like yo you got some you got some heat you know i'm linking up with somebody he didn't tell me who it was he was like i'm not gonna tell you who it is or anything like that. But I'm linking up with somebody like a really important legend in the game. I might play it for him. I was like, oh, awesome, cool. You thought it was BS-y. Yeah, yeah, you know, I've been through the ringer, you know. So I'm like, all right, cool, whatever, whatever, you know. So I kept going back to school, all that kind of stuff as far as trucking.

And come about, we kept, you know, conversation on and off. So that was like December when I got to talking to him first. So fast forward to about February, and he hit me up, and he was like, yo, you remember I told you I was going to play your records for someone? I was like, yeah. He was like, I'm going to have him call you, or we're going to call you together, and you can talk to him, and he can, you know, tell you what's up. I was like, all right, cool.

What year was this? This was 2016 now. Okay, 16. Yeah, yeah, the 16. And the night before the Super Bowl, he hit me up and was like, yo, I got that person online. Hold on just a second. And he was with him. And he was like, yo, it's the big homie Snoop Dogg, man.

I'm a big fan. I was like, oh. How did you feel? Honestly, I was like, this has got to be a joke. This is good. This is AI generated. I was like, yeah. At that point, I'm like, no, this can't be real.

And, yeah, it was real. And he was like, yo, I'm going to fly you out. Me and Jazzy are going to link up, talk about, you know, how we're going to do this. We're going to do it together. I said, okay, cool. And a couple days after that, he was like, yeah, we're going to fly you out around March.

So, you know, I got there March 16, 2016, and that was a wrap. That's when I met him. But why just throw away the CDL dream? We need a lot more trouble. Shut up, man. But I mean, he was right there. He was right there.

I was right there, but I don't know. It just wasn't, it wasn't for me. I mean, I'm not going to pass up the opportunity to let you snoop.

I guess the question I'm really asking about is just faith. Like, how does your discernment say, man, even though I've been doing this for so long

and I'm right there, I'm going to have faith in this situation over here to come through? I don't know. I believe in God. So I just kind of was going off of him. And I really was like, no, this is going to be messed up. You need to go stick with this. Do the nine to five. It's just going to be another obstacle.

You're not going to make it. It's the same thing I've been doing for years at this point. I've been, oh, it's about to be on. Oh, now it's not happening. Oh, it's about going to be another obstacle you're not going to make it the same thing I've been doing for years at this point I've been oh it's about to be on oh now it's not happening oh it's about to be on oh I've done that several times over so at first I was kind of skeptical I was like man you're going to go out here

Snoop's going to hear your music he's going to say okay cool you're going to do one song it's not going to go nowhere what I'm thinking a million things and it just happened you know it just we got there me and him click you know me and him both are libras so we did one song he played one beat he's like yo I want you to hear

this track he played it we got it's a called top down I think it's out still and uh he played that record and I instantly started you know writing to it and I had a hook really quick, and he was like, damn, okay. All right, he's like going to the studio and, you know, record it. Went in there, recorded it. He put his verse on there. He's like, all right, let me do something else. Put another beat. And I did that one really quick.

And he was like, okay, so you got a little work ethic. And then me and him for the next six months, maybe three to six months, just back and forth, working on each other's, like, work ethic. He was like, okay, you're for real you're for how did your family feel about you being like okay I was this close but I'm gonna just go over here and do this thing cuz they've been riding the waves with you yeah yeah they've been riding the waves with me for a long time but they've been really supportive family friends everybody's been supportive I don't know how many

times I've called my boy Jamie but they in the business though your mom's a singer your dad my dad was my dad was in the business. Yeah, my dad was in the business. He toured and, you know, toured with Earth, Wind & Fire and all that, probably opening up for him, something like that, but it never really reached this level,

so he's ecstatic. Got you. So that's where you're so full, like your household was full of music. Absolutely. I hear it in all the songs you do. Absolutely, yeah. I grew up on,

before even listening to even rap or even snooping or anything, I was listening to Earth, Wind & Fire, I was listening to Confunction, I was listening to,, Wind & Fire. I was listening to Confunction. I was listening to so many artists. Frankie Beverly, rest in peace. So I've been listening to old school for a while, and then I started listening to jazz, and I started getting into that more,

a little bit of Miles Davis. So as far as music goes, I'm all across the board. So where were you before you got the call to go to L.A.? Because how does the truck driver connect with Jazzy Faye? Well, I mean, you know, it was just because my boy knew somebody that knew somebody. It was that whole you got to know somebody kind of aspect to it. So, you know, my boy DeMarco Black called me and was like, yo, come over to the house.

I got this contact. I was like, all right, cool. I was like, I really don't want to do this, man. I'm doing this. I'm about to do this 9 to 5 thing, man. I'm tired. I don't want to, you know. I went over there. I was like, okay, cool want to do this man I'm doing this I'm about to do this 9 to 5 thing man I'm tired I don't want to you know

went over there I was like okay cool let's make this call and then we ended up making the call and it just worked out were you doing all of this in Indiana

or did you like venture out to another city yeah I was doing all this in South Bend, Indiana South Bend, Indiana that's where Mayor Pete used to be Pete Buttigieg

used to be the mayor that's right yeah yeah he gave me the proclamation before he dipped out of office. What kind of town is that? That must be like a progressive town if they elected the first, well, I don't know if he's the first gay man.

He had to be the first gay man in South Bend, right? Yeah, I mean, you have Notre Dame. I live right across the street from Notre Dame, so yeah, so you have that. But yeah, it's a college town. It's not too small, and it's not a big town at all, but yeah. He gave you, what, a key to the city? No, no, he gave me the option. He said either I can give you the key to the city because he had heard colorblind and saw where i was going with

it and it's not south bend is definitely not musically inclined at all it's more sports it's notre dame or it's colts or it's all that kind of stuff so he was like you can either have a key to the city you can have the proclamation i was like okay well what does the key to the city even open up but he's like you know nothing but you can have this proclamation and i was like yeah yeah i was like well i mean i knew but i was just like i was kind of being you know i was joking joking with him like yeah what door is that what is this area you know what am i getting out for this and he was like no it's just you know i was like no i was like no i'm good i was like what's the proclamation yeah i was like just let it just go just let it go he's a great dude the secondary p is a great dude yeah yeah. Secondary P's a great dude.

Yeah, yeah. No, no, he's good. He's good. So it was like the proclamation, you have your own day and they have to celebrate you for the rest of your life on this day.

And I was like, I'll take that. Now, you signed to Death Row. Were you nervous to sign to Death Row? Because this was the relaunch of Death Row. And I'm sure, you know, with icons like Pac and Snoop and DPG and all that,

I'm sure people were assuming the first one was going to be a rapper, right? A hardcore rapper. with icons like Pac and Snoop and DPG and all that. I'm sure people were assuming the first one was going to be a rapper, right? A hardcore rapper. But it was you. Was you nervous at all? Absolutely. Yeah. I just knew.

I was in the room when he was finishing the call like, deal's done? Okay, cool. I was like, man, this is going to be dope for you, man. You're going to find some dope rapper out of L.A. or somewhere like that. And he was like, no, no, no, it's going to be you. I'm like, what?

Like, that don't even make sense. This is a gangster rap label. Like, I thought we was doing this other thing. He was like, no, no, no, you're going to be the flagship for Death Row. I was like, ah. Jesus Christ, I better learn how to crib wall. Yeah, like, you know, I'm working on it. But I'm just like, man, I don't know if that's going to work out. But it's Snoop.

You kind of roll with that. And it worked out. It was just we were like, we're going to put out this R&B album. Whatever this R&B album was going to be, we didn't figure out what it was. He knows I'm a multi-genre artist, so he's like, we're going to figure it out along the way, but you're going to be the first person that we put out. Is there any death row legacy like Dr. Dre or Suge commented on your work?

Yeah, Dr. Dre has for sure. Yeah, yeah, i've been in the studio with dr dre several times um i'm actually on the new uh dre and snoop album that's coming out this year missionary yeah missionary crazy title i love it i love it so i've i've been able to hear that whole album in full and that album sounds incredible by the way so shout out to dreams it's on that level is it because you know it's a lot of expectation dre and snoop they're saying it on that level? Because, you know, it's a lot of expectation, Dre and Snoop. They saying it's a follow-up to Doggy Styles. It's a lot of expectation. It's amazing. It meets the mark.

Yeah, it hits the mark, definitely. So, you know, Dre definitely loves my music. I've played him other stuff, too. But he really loves, and even that track that I'm on is very Marvin Gaye-esque. Because, you know, he loves Marvin. Wait, now I'm being nosy. Is the project cohesive? Like, is there a message with Missionary?

I don't want to give too much. Yeah, I don't want to give too much. I don't need Dre calling me. I do not need that. What happened with the Marvin Gaye? Wasn't Dre doing a Marvin Gaye movie and he was doing the soundtrack? Were you involved in that? Yeah, that's what I heard.

I heard that there was a soundtrack or something like that or a movie, but I don't know where it was going. I think i was going to be a part of that but i haven't really heard anything on it so i don't know when you put out the rebirth of marvin i thought you was bugged i know i saw it i saw it because i felt like you were putting too much pressure on yourself because when you compare yourself the mythical iconic ghosts like marvin that's an impossible bar to reach so what was your mindset I know you put that up I didn't that album was not supposed to come out that album was not I wasn't trying to be Marvin not trying to fill his shoes I'm not trying to do any of that that's not what I was

trying to do like I said I'm multi-genre artist I just go off of vibes so if I'm feeling oh today I'm gonna do pop today then i'm gonna go in the studio probably knock out a whole pop album real quick and i'm gonna go ahead and set it aside because that's what i'm feeling so i go off of feeling you know feeling the music and what i'm you know what i'm feeling at that time so i was in the studio and if you've been to snoop's compound he plays music 24 hours a day seven days a week through the hallways and at that time i was in the studio just going through stuff and trying to figure out what track I was going to do next and uh Marvin played like three four times so then instantly in my head I'm already in that zone so I was like okay cool then Snoop sent over a track

and I was like oh this is dope and then I started doing it and I was like oh it sounds a little bit Marvin but I'm just gonna keep doing it whatever liked it so much I was like I'm gonna do another track and then Snoop came in and was like yo this is really dope let me know when you you know finish with it because he knows I like to work in like I like to work in spurts so I don't do just one track and go to the next like I'm like well if I'm I've done two I might as well do eight more and make it an album and I just put it up a bunch of records just put up i finished the record in like a week rebirth of marvin was done in a week i pretty much freestyled the whole thing as far as freestyling i know it's different but it's like going up to the mic and just kind of saying what i

feel did that like back to your place was done in an hour my holland drive was done the hour both of those went number one wow so that's how i do all of my music so i put it away i was like all right that was fun i was in in that Marvin Lane grade. Let me put it aside now. Let me get on this Bryson Tiller Lane real quick because that's what I wanted to put out. That's what I thought Dog wanted me to do. And that's not what happened.

Dog came in and was like, what you doing? I'm like, I'm just putting it up. I'm going to start on this. He was like, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. We're putting this out. And I was like, no, nobody want to hear old school right now. He's like, trust me. This is, Lane is open. Nobody's doing it right now. He's like, trust me. This is, the lane is open.

Nobody's doing it right now. Let's just do it. All right, cool. But it sounds a little bit like Marvin. He's like, no, don't worry about that. I'm like, they're going to chew me, they're going to chew my ass up. So, you know, we started sitting with the album,

Back to Your, we put it out. We didn't even pick a single. We let the audience pick. They picked Back to Your Place. They picked Mahalan Drive. You know how many girls I know that love Back to Your Place? We put it out, we didn't even pick a single, we let the audience pick. They pick Back to Your Place. They pick Mulholland Drive. You know how many girls I know that love Back to Your Place? For real?

Yes. That song is just, I didn't even, I forget what I was playing, but I think it might've been me on Instagram, but that song, I was like, what is this song? I was telling Envy that, like, that is how I found you, because of the song, I didn't know who you were, and then I heard the song and I was like,

who is October Lyne? I started Googling, I'm like, death row. Like it just, all like it just all of it. Yeah, but it made me I was so interested I'm like, okay if Death Row is gonna go for this type of sonic sound he has to be talented So it made me want to listen to more cuz it just was completely different than what I thought Yeah, it would be but I know that like some people did have things to say But a lot of people love the music because it sounds good. But I know that Ziola Gay, who's Marvin Gaye's sister, she had made some comments that she liked the music, but she did say that she was just confused why you would want to sound like another person and not do original songs. Like, what do you get out of it?

Did you get to have a conversation with her or any of his family? Yeah, I did. You know, she seemed like she was mad as hell at me, which I knew that was going to happen. And Dog wanted to name it Rebirth of Marvin. I did not was like let's just call it the Rebirth I tried to push towards that but you know I'm I'm following you know at this point I'm like okay all right you know dog has a plan I'm just gonna go with it he's been right this whole time I've been with him for a long time I know him let's just do that and we called it Rebirth of Marvin because that's what he wanted to title it. And then, yeah, she was not happy about that because she was like,

yeah, you can sing. That's great. But you sound like my brother a little bit, and it's freaking me out. And I was like, that's cool. I just wish at that point she didn't go, you know, on wax and say all this stuff. Yeah, and I wish she just would have called me or called dog or somebody like that because then people got on her that love my music that love back to your place so then they attacked her and i'm like we have to stop this but then you know we end up

getting on a call together me and a few of the other family members and they were like we completely support you we understand now that you're not trying to be marvin you don't even want to fill his shoes or anything like that you were just in a vibe and i was like that's what i've been trying to tell everyone like that's not me i was just feeling something for people that never heard you right because we're introducing you to some people that might not never heard you listening some people might think that you are a mimicking artist right because you just said i was in a marvin zone and then i was in a bryson zone yeah yeah Yeah. Yeah. So even on the new album, it's like old, sounds like old R. Kelly a little bit.

So who is October London and where, what does the sound come from? Because when I, when I first heard, I thought it was like, well, that's his voice. He can't change his voice.

Right. He sounds like Marvin. He sounds like Marvin. Right. But who is October London then? Yeah. October London is okay. So this new album,

October nights, it's more of a transitional album. It's getting out of that lane. I'm finally being like, okay guys, let's get away from this. When it's, when you start the album, you know, you have, uh, um, you have touch on me and all those records like that. And then, yeah, like you said, R. Kelly's been, you know, my top number one artist. Cause I mean the writing style, I mean, come on, it's, it's Kells. Then once you get towards

the end of the album where you have the big record called time that's me you know i'm saying like those records that's me like enjoying myself and then the third album obviously when i whenever i do that then you're going to get all of me but right now it's just kind of showing people that i can do these waves and i know that we're missing this sound i'm not necessarily taken from everybody i just have been listening to everybody so much, like Kels and Ronald Isaac and all that. I just take just a little bit, put it here, but I don't really take from them. I'm just taking that vibe to give you that vibe,

give you that love and that pain and that, you know, what you feel, what we've been feeling for years. Though this is a transition project, I still feel like sonically production kind of sounds cohesive. Do you have like a built-in team that you work with or did you decide to work with new people for this project? I mean, usually, and Snoop will tell you, usually I do everything myself. Like I write, I produce, I mix, I master, I engineer myself because I'm like, I got

to get it done right now. Like if I feel something I need to get done right, I don't want to sit here and be like, oh, hey, engineer, what's up? I I got to get it done right now. Like, if I feel something, I need to get done. I don't want to sit here and be like, oh, hey, engineer, what's up? I can be there at 4 o'clock. No, no, no, no. I got to feel this now. So I learned to do all this stuff on my own. So I do on this album, on October Nights,

I teamed up with producers like Jeff Giddy, Pooh Bear. I got with Babyface. You know, obviously Snoop executive produced the album as well. And I got with my homie Superfly also. Everybody knows Superfly. So yeah, legend in the game. So he came through, put his spin on it as well. And it came out really well because we had kind of went through a thing

where I submitted like this album. We're like, all right, let's change this. Let's put horns here. Let's do this. And it just turned out so beautiful. I love it. I would love to know what the baby face sessions were like. Cause I know baby face,

he didn't want you to come in on nothing except for you. I'm sure. What was that energy like? It was good energy, man. We pulled up, he was just ready to get down to business. Like immediately there was no, oh, let's kick it and chill.

Let's eat. Let's have a little breakfast. And all he was just like, all right, you ready? I'm like was no oh let's kick it and chill let's eat let's have a little breakfast and all he was just like all right you ready i'm like yeah let's go in there and we did the session we knocked it out it didn't even take all day really he went to writing it i just let him do his thing because you know you're in front of a legend i'm not trying to be like well i do this and that i'm not about to do i'm about to sit here and what you need me to do give you a lot of coaching like Yeah, I mean, yeah, he did, man. In the lab, we actually, yeah, it was a lot. I'm not going, okay, I can't hold you.

It was a lot. And he knows it was a lot because I was like, oh, it was funny because we were doing the takes. He was like, oh, okay, let's do this first take of this. And I do the line. He's like, all right, let's do it again. And I do the line. I'm like, okay, that second one was perfect.

We're good. That's what I want to say. All right, we're good. Let's go. Let's go to the next line. next line he's like no let's do it again and again i'm like okay all right okay cool all right we'll do it and he's like all right cool now you're ready to really do it i'm like i thought we were just doing it i thought that was it he was like oh no i wasn't recording at all i was just making sure you were on on top of it i thought the classics get made though i'm like'm like, okay, cool. So, see, and that's, I'm not used to that.

I'm used to, like I said, Back to Your Place, one take, boom, the first line. It was just boom, boom, boom. I'd just make it quickly. And even when I told him that, he was like, yeah, no, impossible. I'm like, no, that's how I do my records. So he was like, oh, so I'm really, at this point, you know, like putting you through it. I was like, yeah, but it's cool, man. It's all good. I'm, you know, ready you through it i was like yeah but it's cool man it's all good i'm i'm you know ready to learn it's all good did you ever think um in your life that you'd probably sign the ovl or did you ever want to sign the ovl yeah i did absolutely i'm a fan of

drake so yeah i definitely wanted to i remember having conversations with snoop like hey you know who he should go to man who i should do some records well let me go over and go to drake he's like yeah yeah no for, no, for sure. Yeah, I'll call him. All right, cool. And then I wait. There go Kendrick. Messed all that up.

Man. Kendrick, that's a whole other thing. Yeah, but I like them both. Why did you ask that? Because his name's October. October. Yeah, so I wanted to be that. You know, I was like, I'm October.

Birthday's 10-17. This would be perfect fit. Or Gucci. Gucci is 10-17. This would be perfect fit. Or Gucci. Gucci is 10-17. Yeah, that's right. That's right. But Snoop is a great, great fit, man. I just love, I really love, I'm actually a happy artist.

Like, I talk to so many artists that are just so unhappy and depressed. And, you know, it's like they have people over their shoulders all the time. And that's not what happens at Death Row. Snoop is like, hey, how are you feeling this week? I'm feeling like a pop record. All right, cool. Call me when it's done. That's it.

There's no stress about it. There's no, oh, we shouldn't do that. Let's do it. Being someone who has done it all for so long, like for yourself, what was the transition like having to take the lead of like other people with your vision? Tough. Yeah.

Very. Because I've just been, like you said, I've been doing this for so long, learning, doing this engineering thing, doing the mixing, doing all this stuff. And I'm just like, okay, I can get this done because I look at a lot of artists. It's like, oh yeah, I really want Sade to drop another album it's like up eight years later I don't like it doesn't in my head because I just taught myself in my head might take that much so and now look at other artists too and I'm like well you got all the resources you have everybody's number in your phone why isn't your album getting done

quicker like why aren't you maybe they're not in a zone. Maybe they're getting pressured. I don't know. I just, like I said, I'm a happy artist, so I'm not pressured by anything. I'm financially stable. Like, I'm good. So I can go in the studio right now and be like, okay, cool. You need, all right, I'll work on a third album right now.

Or I'll work on a country record. I'll work on a pop, whatever. That's what helps me make great R&B is by switching genres, taking a break because I don't want to be Marvin, so let me not get too heavy in that bag. Let me go over here to country real quick and write this real quick and just take a break

and then go over here to something else. How was tour with Maxwell and Jasmine Sullivan? Amazing, amazing. Two great artists. Me and Maxwell are close, man. He's just a really great dude like he's been making sure everybody's taken care of and it's just been amazing the crowd is just absolutely just is i'm like i'm in awe of they sang word for word even my stuff you know and

me opening up for them like i did my first tour in January, which sold out, majority of the tour. And they were singing it then. I was like, I don't know if they're going to do it this time. They're doing it this time as well. You sound surprised by that. You say, even my stuff, like, you didn't think you would know your music? No, because I just, in my head,

I'm just still this dude in Salban, Indiana that's trying to make it. I still feel like I'm going to the studio just trying to, oh, man, I really hope they like it. I still have that. So it's a slight imposter syndrome kind of thing. Yeah, I'm just like, I'm going to the studio just trying to oh man I really hope they like it I still have that so it's a slight imposter syndrome kind yeah I'm just like I'm like man there's there's no way I don't think they're gonna like this I don't think snoops heard me say I don't think they're gonna like this a hundred times over I did not think they're gonna like rebirth of Marvin I

didn't think they're gonna like back to your place what I was like no there's no way I was like this ain't this ain't hot right now and they they love it. And I'm just like, okay. So that's why I like letting the people decide. So you let, real quick, you were kind of letting the trends of R&B guide you as opposed to what traditional R&B is. Because you make, to me, traditional R&B. But you thought because of the way people make R&B now, they don't want to hear this traditional. Exactly.

That's exactly what I was thinking when I got with you. You want to think about some hoes. Oh, my God. You wanted to redo Bitches Ain't Shit But Hoes and Tr not. They don't want to hear this tradition. Exactly. That's exactly what I was thinking when I got myself. You want to think about some hoes. Oh my God. You wanted to redo Bitches Ain't Shit but Hoes and Tricks R&B version. Bitches ain't shit

but hoes and tricks. You know, yeah. Actually, yeah, I think Dawg's going to watch this. Oh my God. I think he's going to be on that now. Man, I'm on that.

Thank you, Charlamagne. I'm definitely going to credit you on that. I'm going to send you something. I'm going to send you a gift. But that's how it broke through. When I heard it, I'm on that. Thank you, Charlamagne. I'm definitely gonna credit you on that. I'm gonna send you something. But that's how it broke through. Like, when I heard it, I was like, who is... I thought you... Honestly, I thought you were like an older guy.

Like, I really was so surprised. I was like, what is this song? And then I just kept hearing it. So to hear that you didn't even think that we were gonna like it, I'm like, that is insane. I'm so happy that you didn't get in your own way. No, no, no, no. Definitely would like to add that I went to that show at Barclays the mic was on and that was really

impressive too because a lot of people vocally live don't hit like the actual record yeah yeah yeah now the mics were on man Max's is on Japs is on mine is on I make sure I let people know like I'm not I'm not an auto-tune artist I had my phase when T-Pain came out i was all everything i have a list of albums in my heart you got everything oh that are just like so t-pain it's ridiculous you know i'm saying so i was like oh this is it boom i'm gonna do this you know i'm gonna get on like doing this and at that time we're like 10 times over like oh okay nope that didn't work out oh i got this meeting with never mind it didn't work out so

this is really random but speaking of like trying to like things not working out you were on Empire I was on Empire yeah and then you were so you did I read about it you were doing really well they were talking about making you a bigger character Empire yeah then all the Jesse Smallet stuff happened you look like a lion

though you know I know you mean it. Cause you got the look, you definitely look like the baby at Lucia's head that we didn't know about. When you walked in,

I'm like, I know he was pissed. That would have been so perfect for you. Oh, man, man. Come on,

man. No, I mean, yeah, I thought it was, that was my first time doing any type of acting. Snoop was like, y'all, we're gonna add you to Empire. Like, nigga, I mean, yeah, I thought it was, that was my first time doing any type of acting. Snoop was like, y'all, we're going to add you to Empire.

I'm like, nigga, I can't act. He was like, yeah, you can. I'm like, no, I can't, man. That's not my lane. I'm just, come on, man. And I went on, come on, man. And I went on there and did it. And the director was like, how long you been acting?

I was like, today. He was like, I think we should sit down and talk. I'm like, okay. This is the, I think we should sit down and talk. I'm like, okay. This is the thing. I still think I'm dreaming. So I'm like, there's no way, even being on here, the breakfast, I've been watching y'all for a long time. It's like, just as I was sitting in the background,

I was just like, damn, this is really happening. So that's how I kind of felt on Empire. So then when Jesse messed it up for me, I was pissed. So I thought the news was like was pissed. As soon as I dream on the news, I'm like, oh, shit! I was like, come on, man.

Come on, man. Don't do me like that, Skinny. It's interesting, right? Because these are the type of stories when you really, really take off. Everybody's going to be like, damn, this guy came out of nowhere, but you've been with Snoop since 2016. That's crazy.

Yeah, just doing background stuff like doing, you know, when I first got with him, he was like, yo, I'm about to go on tour. I want you to come on tour with me. So me doing a small crowd, it didn't start off that way. It started off with 50,000 people. So now when I'm doing this with X-Men and Max, Max is like, you're really comfortable on stage i'm like yeah i'm like small crowds make me anxious really small crowds if i'm

in a crowd of like a hundred i'm like i can hear everybody's thoughts like man they ain't hitting that note like that you know like oh you sound a little dry today you know so doing that kind of just molded me to be a better uh performer so doing that and then now coming on this tour where it's you know tens twenty thousand people it it just feels feels normal to me and being with snoop since 2016 i've just been doing that i've been touring with him several times overseas everything and um just doing like the the all the stuff with him and Martha Stewart like I did the song for the him and what Stewart show the cooking with Mark you know and I did that record and then all his albums from 2016 I've been on I've

been doing backgrounds or I've been doing hooks so I just been chilling and really caking up there's October London trust his his own talent not not not not his ability to I guess sound like others but do you trust his own talent? Not his ability to, I guess, sound like others, but do you trust your own talent? Absolutely. I've been doing it for a while, so I know exactly what I can do. I have so much stuff in the hard drive that I can't wait to drop. It makes me anxious.

Even being on the bus this whole tour, I'm just listening to the records and everybody gets together and we listen to all the records, and we're just like, yo, this is really just the starting point. Like, they have no idea what's to come, you know? Can we play a record? Oh, wait. Oh, go ahead. I was going to say, I know that you're involved on the Doggyland for kids.

Yeah, yeah. Talk to me about what exactly do you do? Yeah, yeah. So you're playing you own yeah yeah yeah no i've been that's what i'm saying so you know snoop's been looking out for a long time uh snoop came in the studio one day or one night and was like hey uh what do you think about doing a kid's record and i was like yeah that's fine whatever i can do that i made one kid's record he came back in the studio all right let me hear what you got played it he was like yo can you do another one like that i was like yeah of course this time i called my son on

facetime my son's seven uh and i was like hey i need you to add some vocals to this you know he's like okay dad you know and this time we did a record called brush brush so we ended up doing that and snoop came in he was like who was the kid i was like it's my son's nephew he was like oh snap like okay cool i think we should do an album all right cool give me till tomorrow because i'm quick give me till tomorrow tomorrow's crazy yeah color when we came out in 2016 we came out when i uh me and snoop came out with colorblind i did 18 songs in two or three days i got. I got myself sick, and he was like, all right, you need to go back to the hotel.

Because I was like, no, one shot. You get one shot. And that was my one shot. I'm knocking out eight. So I knock them out really quick. So he was like, okay, cool. So I knocked out the album, and then he called Claude Brooks. And he was like, yo, I got an idea for a show.

Let's call it Doggyland. And now I'm the co-creator of doggy land I am the voice of woofy and I do the music that's dope you don't see this type of artist development no more you don't see people just like working with an artist every step of the way you know and then most artists want it right away remember he been since 2016 most artists would have left in 2017 was like I ain't popping yet I'm gone you seen the vision

absolutely I saw the vision but Snoop would tell you I gave him a hard time too yeah absolutely I mean yeah what artists did you see pop and was like

yo that could have been that should have been me Bryson Tiller nah I wouldn't say Bryson Tiller Bryson Tiller came out of nowhere to me I was like oh

this is dope I'm actually a fan of Bryson Tiller I Bryson Tiller came out of nowhere to me. I was like, oh, this is dope. I'm actually a fan of Bryson Tiller. I don't know what artist came up. I know one artist that made me, actually kind of pissed me off, to be honest. And that was, and I'll tell you the story why. So it's 2004. Who was popping, who just came out with Just Gotta Make It. Just Gotta Make It, Trey Songz.

All day. He got the braids. I got the braids. He light-skinned. I'm light-skinned. And my boy Travis looked at me and was like, damn, don't let this nigga eat you up like that. And he just walked away. And ever since then, I've just paused. Definitely a pause moment.

Sorry. He should have paused the back door before with the key, but go ahead. Keep going. If he ain't paused that, if he ain't paused that key but go ahead keep going yeah yeah if he didn't pause that he missed it but go ahead he missed it so so at that point i was like okay cool it made me competitive so i'm super super competitive like i've been on i'm not gonna say the artists but i've been on different shows where you know several artists on this show and they'll do certain things. And I'll go in the back room and I'll put on Michael Jordan's last dance and I'll sit there for about a good 30, 40 minutes.

Watch that. And I go out there and compete. Yep. Everything's a competition. Doc Snoop will consistently like it's not a competition, man. You don't have to be like, you know, I'll be so hard on yourself. I'm like, no, no. You see that high note he did. no i can't let him live damn i love that though how exhausting was it working with tyrese you know tyrese is a is a great friend of mine he's a great dude he's a great guy he's a no great dude he's not exhausting at all he just he's passionate he's just a passionate person he puts he literally wears his heart on his sleeve and you got to give it to him sure but how exhausting was it working with him in the studio we all know him

like like i just want to know like bedroom bully how long did it take y'all to make that record that didn't take a day not with him bed i don't know how long it took him you know how long it took me so he sent he sent the record to me and was like, I got this record. He called me and said, I got this record. I think you'd be great on it. It's very Secret Garden. I was like, okay, bad. Just send it.

I was in the lab already, sent the beat, and I was like, yo, this is dope. And he had a little bit of his vocals on it, and I was like, okay, cool. So really I wanted him to do his vocals first that's the competitive part and then I was like no I don't worry about it you know it's Tyrese I ain't tripping you know we brothers I went ahead and put my part on there then he put his part on there and that was it but it took me you know 30 minutes knock that out I don't know how long it took him to get his knocked out but for me it was it was nothing but Bedroom Bully is and that's on the album too it's on his and mine.

When you do a song like that, do you feel pressure to always deliver to a woman sexually? Absolutely. Absolutely. I love cars and women. Period. Did you guys make this record before or after you almost burned his house down? That's just what I heard. This was after. This was after.

Who else? Yeah. Tyrese. You almost burned down Tyrese's house. The person that almost burned his house down is sitting right behind me. No. Oh, yeah. What, the house in L.A.?

No, Atlanta. Atlanta, okay. Tyrese's Atlanta house. What happened? Burning hookah. That's a shame that you knew what it was. Burning hookah. That's the only way you burn a house down nowadays is hookah.

The hookah called you drop and you burn a house down with hookah. We in Atlanta, right? Because, you know, we were listening to some music and we're all, you know, drinking except for Tyrese because Tyrese don't drink. And my boy Jamie was listening to the music.

He got hyped up and he was just like, whoa, you know, this record is going to be crazy. And he got up and he knocked it over and nobody noticed at first. And I turned, I looked, and I was like, I saw security moving really fast. One of the security guys moving really fast. He started patting on the floor. And I'm like, what the hell is he doing?

Stanky leg or something? I don't know what the hell he's doing. And I was just like, okay, cool. All right, I guess he's filling the record. And I look, I'm like, oh, oh, oh, the rug's on fire. His Voltron rug's on fire. I was like, oh, nice. So he's trying to put that out, grabbing the coals off the thing and all that.

And Jamie felt bad and Tyrese gives him shit every time. What flavor was the hookah? Damn it. I don't even know. I'm just trying to see was it worth it. I don't know. It might have been like mango berry cream or something. Not even no mint?

Y'all almost burnt that house down with mango berry. That's crazy. I know, right? That's crazy. That is not a good way to go out. So, you know, every time Tyrese sees Jamie, he's like, he can't come in my house. He can't come out. He owes him a carpet.

Yeah, he owes me a carpet, but, you know, he lets him in anyway, so it's good. Now, the song Time, did you have a wedding song in mind when you wrote that? Absolutely. Okay. Absolutely. Absolutely. So, Time actually is, we are in 2024, so that was done in 08, so what are we, it's 15, 15, 16 are in 2024. So that was done in 08.

So what are we? It's 15, 15, 16 years in the game. It's been sitting in my hard drive for 15, 16 years. So that's an old song. Old song that me and one of my best friends, Mike Letter, out of Miami, we did that record. And yeah, I played it for Dog. I think I played it maybe four or five, six times, and he remembers and then doesn't remember,

but he remembered it this time. He was like, yeah, we should put this on the album, and I loved it because I've been waiting to put that album out because it's just a beautiful ballad. So you didn't do nothing to it? That's how it was recorded? It remixed. Oh, okay. Yeah, it remixed, and we added some organ to it.

Superfly came in and added, like, little things to, you know, little splashes, but other than that, same record. When you wrote that in 08, what was your mindset? Was there somebody you wanted to marry or somebody you wanted to spend the rest of your life with? No, I was a sap, man, back in 08, so I was doing everything I possibly could to, you know, what I was doing the most.

What's a sap? There ain't nothing wrong with it. No, like, kind of like a, you know, was doing i was doing the most yeah i was that was sad but ain't nothing like i said no like it's kind of like a you know i was sucker you know what i'm saying what's wrong with that nothing wrong with it but you know you would tell a woman stuff like that i want to spend the rest of my life oh my god i had poems and oh poem nothing's wrong with it charlamagne had poems too cheated you was texting the poems or you would like mail them? I feel like you would mail them. I was, I was, I was. I'm just asking.

Depending on how old you are, that's the era we come from. We come from that, you know, will you go with me? Yes, no, maybe.

I just want to know because why, is there something wrong with, we always be online like we miss that, like the begging, begging, we love you,

we love you. You was doing it and you got scared out and tricked you. I was writing a lot of poems back then for some reason i can't write a single poem now who tricked you i just bought what happened no something happened man i got my heart broke so i was just i was kind of and then got my heart broken again so i'm so sorry i didn't mean to laugh no it's all right no you're just laughing my pain it's all good she ain't got nobody so just i just hate to hear that because that-

She's projecting. Yeah, she's projecting. She's been hurt. She's been hurt. So she'd like to see men that have been hurt. Well, I do not. Now she's into white men, though. She likes white men.

Oh. No, not the whole. Oh, Brad Pitt. Travis Kelsey. Travis Kelsey. Oh. Kayla Plant. But your light skin, so she's willing to meet in the middle.

Oh, nice. That's dope. Bud she with the Delaware State. They ain't lying. HBCU. All right. Y'all got more questions for him? The sappiness makes for great music.

Absolutely. That's right. That's what I was trying to say. Yeah, even the record Eternity that got on the Color Purple soundtrack, that was a 15, 16-year-old record. I did Eternity right after. Me and Mike did Eternity right after time. Third Shift was a freshly done record.

I saw you just preview that. Yeah, yeah. Was that the bridge or the hook that you was playing? Who was in there conducting this? What, the host record? For Third Shift, yeah. I went to Jeff Giddy, and Jeff was like, yo, you want to record it here?

I was like, no, I'm going home. And I flew back home to South Bend. I went to Jeff Giddy, and Jeff was like, yo, you want to record it here? I was like, no, I'm going home. And I flew back home to South Bend. I recorded there. And then sent it to Dog, and Dog was like, yo, this is something fresh. This is something new. And then went back to Jeff Giddy and got another track, which is Killshot.

So Killshot and Third Shift was produced by Jeff Giddy. So you still live in South Bend? Absolutely. Wow. I'm not, if I leave, it's not going to be anywhere. I'm not going to L.A. I'm not going to New York. Miami's my weak spot.

That's my weak spot. Is it good? Because you probably get grounded when you go home. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Absolutely. I get to be around family, friends, like people on tour with me. They're my day ones. Like I don't I feel like.

I might lose myself if I go and move somewhere where I have to be seen all the time and red carpet all the time. And I feel I just feel like I'm a lose myself. So I go back home. I can come New York, come kick it for the weekend, come see y'all. And then I'm back home. I'm right back home because my son is there. He goes to a great school there. And I just, you know, I like being with my son. I like chilling, being at home. There you go. And if I need anything or something goes wrong,

I'm right there where I need to be. Two final questions. How did your mom feel about Mama? She loved it. She loves it because we played it in the studio for a bunch of people not too long ago. I think that was maybe last month or something like that. Or maybe soon.

I don't know. Time is flying by. But we played it and she gets teary eyed every time. And one of the people that were in the studio, she's like, oh, my God, like, I love Mama so much. And it's just, does your mom know that, you know, you made this record? And I was like, she's sitting right behind you. And she's, oh, God. You know, so, yeah, the Mama record, I really cannot wait to put that record out.

I cannot wait because I love the record a lot. And I actually did that when Snoop's mom passed. Wow. So Snoop's mom passed was the inspiration for you to write that? Exactly. So when Snoop, yeah, the day after Snoop's mom passed, he was in the studio and I was just like, I got my boy. I got him.

And I went in there and I just did it. And then I was like, yo, I want you to hear something. got my boy i got him and i went in there and i just did it and then i was like yeah i want you to hear something and i played it for him and he just you know broke down it made you appreciate your mom still absolutely absolutely absolutely so you know i just think it's a great record i can't wait to drop it and that's one of the reasons you probably don't want to leave south bend ever i don't i no i just feel comfortable there people you know like everybody knows me I know them nobody really messes with me there you know nobody's messed up any of my cars yet so that's great so I'm pretty good I'm happy there you know as of right now and it's really cheap to live that's the cost of living

is important cost of living is very important so you know you go do all this and then just go back home and chill. Come on, you know. What you want to hear off the album? What you want to hear? Well, she brought up Third Shift. Third Shift. So might as well play Third Shift.

All right. Well, October Nights comes out this Friday and we appreciate you for joining us. Thank you. Thank you. Appreciate it. And let's get into it. It's October London. It's The Breakfast Club.

Good morning. Wake that ass up early in the morning. The Breakfast Club.