The Breakfast Club - LaRussell Speaks On New Music, Russ Partnership, Dealing with Success +More

Episode Date: October 28, 2022

LaRussell Speaks On New Music, Russ Partnership, Dealing with Success +MoreSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....

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Starting point is 00:02:55 Good morning. We got a special guest in the building. LaRusso, welcome back. Man, my guy. What's up, my brother? How you feeling? Last time he came, he was on the block for a hot minute, came and he dropped like a good 40 balls, 60
Starting point is 00:03:07 balls, and then got out of the dog. 60-point game, man. Come on. Yeah. He got the new project out. I don't even like to say you got a new project out, because I feel like you drop every week. You know, we got to. I hate when life's going great. Yeah. What's this, number 21? Number 21. Why so much music?
Starting point is 00:03:24 Um, why not? Okay 21. Why so much music? Why not? Okay, you right. Why not? What makes this one more special than the other 20, though? I think they're all special in their own way because they're different time stamps in my life and in my journey. This one is very reflective of my current process and just going through the journey of success
Starting point is 00:03:44 and navigating what I've been going through. So it's just special because it's in this moment. It's now. We'll never get now again. Now, you also talk so much about being independent and the value of that. Come on. And starting your own businesses. We know you have a good company, but you do have a deal. What's the deal with Russ? So I have a partnership with Russ, a 50-50 profit split and that's for one project
Starting point is 00:04:06 which I'll probably deliver at the top of next year and he's just going to, you know, do what he do best and I do what I do best and deliver music but yeah,
Starting point is 00:04:14 it's partnered and we split it up. What made you do that partnership? This is not the one? I thought this was the album. No, no. This is a different one, right? This is a different one.
Starting point is 00:04:21 We got a lot of music. Yeah, we got a whole lot of it. We got a whole lot of it we got a whole lot of it you said what made you partner up with him um man he was just early in and very um very resourceful and just you know he showed a lot of love early and appreciation and being that he went through this process he understood what i needed more than the majors like they weren't offering me what I actually needed to get to this level right it was it was too much it would have been restricting
Starting point is 00:04:50 I dropped 15 albums just from the period of me going viral till now if I would have signed to a label I probably would only got three out and maybe they would have got a bigger push but maybe not you know so it was like they were stifling what I was actually trying to accomplish, and he was very hands-off. Most people, when you sign a deal, you can only release music under that deal. I've been releasing music. Everything I've been releasing since then I've owned completely, so I'm just still able to do my thing.
Starting point is 00:05:17 But is it lucrative? Because, you know, you drop so much music, right? Do people get a chance to really ride to it and understand it and sit with it and live with it? is it so almost like it happens so much if you sell ten products you know versus one during a period of time of course is lucrative because I get paid into perpetuity I own it for the rest of my life I'd rather be getting paid rent from ten houses than just one But the people get to digest it enough like, you know
Starting point is 00:05:58 Cuz you sit with music with sometimes music like when when sometimes when artists have too many tracks on the album You don't really get to get to track 26. You know what I mean? Because, you know. I think it depends on how great the music is. The people who want to digest it does, and the people who don't, don't. You know, my thing is I'm never worried about that.
Starting point is 00:06:16 I'm just creating from my heart. I'm not really creating with the idea of, can you digest this or not? This is just what I'm feeling and I'm sharing it. You can either accept it or not. It's a different day and age too where artists have a lot more freedom because I think there's so many more resources and ways to just reach people directly
Starting point is 00:06:34 and not have to go through a whole system to get that done. Definitely, and it's beautiful. So this last album we actually sold prior to it releasing to DSPs through a platform called Even, and I sold it direct to my fans. We sold 4,000 albums and did $100K in revenue prior to Even coming out. Most artists would have to wait for DSPs and wait for streaming. To make that amount through streaming, you'd have to stream 25 million times. And streaming pays quarterly, so you wouldn't get that.
Starting point is 00:07:01 I wouldn't see what I made until next year probably if i had to rely on streaming it would be interesting to see what an nba young boy would have done if he was gonna be insane because he puts out as much music as you do he doing if any of them drake kendrick cole any of them run this play the way i've ran it they'd make far times more and they should like you should buy the art from the artist there's no way there's no reason you should want a la russell product but gotta go somewhere else to get it that doesn't make any sense it's like my shows we sell our own ticket and if you want to see la russell you have to talk to la russell or can we talk about your growth as a human being and as an artist and how that's reflected in your music even in your name using your real name now definitely i mean completely
Starting point is 00:07:44 i'm just able to speak on things I wasn't able to prior because I didn't have the knowledge or the insight or the information or the emotional intelligence. Like a lot of people hit me about certain songs. They like, man, this was exactly how I'm feeling. A lot of us are feeling these things, but we can't express it because we don't have the ability. So, you know, as I've grown as a person, I've just been able to express more. And the music has gotten better just because it's closer to home. It's realer. That's one of the things I love about you, the fact that you are able to talk about the traumas you've experienced.
Starting point is 00:08:16 But more importantly, the healing you've received. When did that journey start? When did you start getting that language? When did you start doing that work on yourself man um i i was working at this job uh called utc and i sat across from this girl named rita and what did you see first of all it's like an aerospace uh company okay and they do a lot of contracting for military different stuff but i was working across from this uh lady named rita she was from singapore and uh like her english was broken so people didn't used to really talk to her much but i used to chop it up with her and one day she gave me this book called uh
Starting point is 00:08:49 the freedom simplified it was a short read but that shit changed my life it was like a it's kind of like buddhist texts just like life principles and that was the first time i read in a long time i used to be like i'm not reading because in high school I always had to read, you know, stuff based on school that wasn't interesting. But that just shook me up. I went on Amazon and ended up buying a hell of books after that. And it just started slowly growing. I started getting around people who had similar thoughts. And the homies started pouring into me.
Starting point is 00:09:19 And just life through experience just naturally growing and learning more. So you never went to therapy or anything like that? I just recently growing and learning more. Oh, you know, what's the therapy anything like that? I just recently start going to therapy and I don't know if it's for me and I don't know if I'm getting uh, I feel like I had an expectation going into it and you know that always kind of Deviates the process a bit because you may not get what you expect So I'm not sure how it is for me, i started going recently all right what made you go um just wanting to kind of work through some of the emotions i've been dealing with and just kind of like uh you know some days you wake up and you
Starting point is 00:09:58 tired of doing trash stuff or like being a certain way for that moment you feel me and then in the moments it's like i'm gonna go to therapy right and then you start and then you know through that process you either love it or you don't your title of the new project man it it sticks out to me just because i feel like self-sabotage is at an all-time high i hate when life's going great yeah you know that's something that i had to talk through with with my therapist like you know when things are going great. Yeah. You know, that's something that I had to talk through with my therapist. Like, you know, when things are going good, embrace it. Right. Don't think that, you know, the other shoe is about to drop or something bad is about to happen.
Starting point is 00:10:32 Just embrace it. Is that what that title signifies? Definitely. That's exactly what it is. You know, I've struggled throughout this journey to stay on a high. And not that you're supposed to stay on a high. You know, you're supposed to kind of go up and down and and stay kind of neutral but I'm usually extreme I'm very high or I'm very low and that title is very reflective of just that process going through
Starting point is 00:10:55 the changes that comes with success and and just all the anxiety and all the pressures that come with it as well it's a lot of work for you too the way that you operate it as well. It's a lot of work for you, too, the way that you operate. It's a lot. It's more than the average person, but people feel like they can really connect with you. I saw you did a pop-up show in Brooklyn, and they said you were outside greeting everybody. Yeah, of course. I'm in the line, man. We sold out 500 tickets in eight hours.
Starting point is 00:11:21 Wow. I literally was up the night before and was like, man, I want to do a pop-up show. On your own platform, right? Yeah. And I sold the tickets to a platform I own,
Starting point is 00:11:29 Equity Inn. It's called What's TBA? Black-owned tech. And yeah, I was like, I want to do a pop-up. And originally, we thought it was going
Starting point is 00:11:36 to be like 50 to 100 people, just something light. And we ended up doing over 500 tickets. That's dope. And I see that you actually do research to see where the demand is
Starting point is 00:11:44 so you know where you're going to go next because you can see where people are huge LaRusso fans. So it makes sense to go here because then we'll sell those tickets. Right. And our base is really tapped in. I'm able to go to a city and say, hey, I'm here and get a whole
Starting point is 00:12:00 bunch of, you know, like we have a high engagement rate. And you do the pay what you want deal, right? Did you do that for Brooklyn? These shows are offer based. So we do proud to pay shows where you could pay absolutely anything. And sometimes like at home, we'll do that. Like right now we're doing a cafe.
Starting point is 00:12:17 You can pay whatever. Words in their seat. Exactly. But these shows are offer based. So you go through the site and you make an offer on what that ticket is worth to you. And we either accept or decline the offer. Is that is that lucrative? Because I see you do that. You do that with your mom's cafe. You do that with the merchandise. Is that lucrative? Very. OK, because you're like so for the backyard shows.
Starting point is 00:12:39 Across a span of four backyard shows, people don't know what the backyard shows just explain. So I built a residency in my backyard so we don't know what the backyard shows. Just explain to them what that is. Yeah, so I built a residency in my backyard so we don't have to deal with the politics of the venues. And we did four really big shows in the summer. Everybody was coming out. This is my crib, my childhood home. And across the four shows, we generated about
Starting point is 00:12:57 $75,000. And it's because only 200 people can come to each show. So off 800 people, right? And it's because when you do offer-based, you never know what you're worth to someone else, right? If I change your life through music or if you just really love LaRussell, you're going to shoot me a little bit more. You know, a lot of artists my size, they go do shows and their ticket price, probably like $25, $15. My last show, the average ticket price was
Starting point is 00:13:26 $75. And that's because we allow the people to choose what that experience is worth. But we also provide so much more. I'm at the front door doing wristbands. After the show, you could actually talk to me at the crib. My pops is cooking. My mom's here. So it's a different experience. But you're putting the wristbands on people? Man, I'm wristbanding people. I'm doing everything. I'm kissing babies, man. Come on. Are you putting them on tight so they can't slide it off and pass it to somebody else?
Starting point is 00:13:50 Man, my fans don't even do that. We don't even have to worry about it. We built great energy. They fuck with me. You don't feel a way with people knowing where you live? Nah, because I've lived there my whole life. People already know where I live. There's just more people now.
Starting point is 00:14:04 They already know. But, I mean, what we've built is like a safekeeping hood. Like, everybody looks out for it. It's like, no, this is ours, you feel me? So we don't have to deal with that. Have you had anybody, like, just pop up when it's not a show? Like, I want to meet LaRussell. Has to be all the time.
Starting point is 00:14:20 Yeah, yeah. A couple have. A couple have. And, you know, that's nothing but a trip outside. And, hey, don't you come around here again, but I'm going to show you that love. We're going to embrace you. I'll tell you something, man.
Starting point is 00:14:31 I love LaRussell, man. I love him for a bunch of different reasons. Number one, he's a dope lyricist, very intelligent young man. But also, it's not about what you say yes to. It's about what you say no to. Come on. I saw you say no to some really, no need to say no names but talk to some really incredible earlier that i know would make the average young man be like oh i'm absolutely
Starting point is 00:14:51 doing it and i remember you hit me like nah this ain't right it wasn't right and i was like all right i mean it don't be right it don't be right and um that's the thing like when you don't say no later on you're gonna feel it no matter what and you're gonna have to sit with it and i'm somebody it'll bother me it's gonna absolutely bother me so those no's early really saved me because like i said if i would have took them early deals i would have been hindered i wouldn't have been as big as i am now how long ago is that a year it hasn't been a year it's been about a year? Hasn't been a year? It's been about a year, roughly. Yeah, it's been one year. It was like 3,000 followers
Starting point is 00:15:28 at that point to now almost over 500k. So it's been one year. I remember when Hovane first hit me about you, he sent me the freestyle that Wallo posted. Yeah. And I didn't get a chance to listen to it because I was traveling. Hov don't ever
Starting point is 00:15:43 do this. He texts me back like, you ain't listen to that freestyle, bro. Right. Clearly. Because he knew that if I heard it, I'd be on it. And I'm like, God damn, who is this? Come on. And it was you. Come on. And I saw you say on Power 106 that you were willing to die to try to get as big as Drake independently.
Starting point is 00:16:00 Yeah. You think that's possible? I think it's very possible, especially now like early when i was thinking it i was uh i used to tell we used to go on label meetings and i used to ask them do you think it's possible to be as big as drake as an indie and we used to get a lot of doubt and and like i don't know you'd have to go through this this through this system and it's like if i got here independently i can only get bigger you know i know what i did to get here so if i do it times 10 that means i'm gonna get a 10 times multiple on my growth if i do
Starting point is 00:16:32 that times 100 i'm gonna get 100 times multiple so yeah i definitely believe so i mean i'm here and i'm completely independent you feel me on this platform most of the people who come on here have a label behind them it's part of their pr roll out the people who come on here have a label behind them. It's part of their PR rollout, the press, but we don't have a label behind it. What what are some of the stresses that you deal with, though? Like I said, it is a whole lot more work when you do run things independently. But I understand the financial payout is greater. But what are some of the stresses? life uh just not having adequate time to to cater to everyone and everything um dealing with the emotional trauma that kind of comes with the changes that come with success like uh just the change of dynamic and relationships um not being able to to do certain things like
Starting point is 00:17:22 i usually take my daughter to school and pick her up so like when i'm out and gone i don't able to do certain things. I usually take my daughter to school and pick her up. So when I'm out and gone, I don't get to do that and get to cultivate that situation. It's really the time spot that stresses me most. Whenever I do something that's against my soul or I feel like I'm not being the greatest human or I didn't I didn't act in my best interest of a situation could you see yourself doing a more long-term situation a deal a partnership yeah definitely but I think the way that we structure it would be kind of different than labels do deals so they like to do things in like four albums or five albums versus I'm somewhere where it's like if we do long term it's like okay
Starting point is 00:18:05 I'll release music with you for a year or so and we'll split back in but I you know it's just it just has to be restructured a different way because how they do it now doesn't make sense like one offer I got offered a 360 for like 10 percent of of a three of me right but they didn't offer me a percentage of the company which is crazy it's like why would you want a percentage of mine without giving me a percentage of yours people want to sign to you know the rock nations and the death jams because of the artists that was there prior but they don't have equity in those companies i'm only going to go sign a rock nation because cole was there rihanna was there yay was there but you're not going to give me
Starting point is 00:18:44 them equity for bringing me here, right? So TDE, everyone wants to be there because Kendrick was there, but he may not have equity in TDE, so it's like they're offering us these things that just doesn't fully make sense. But instead of the equity, wouldn't they be investing in you? Wouldn't they be giving you
Starting point is 00:19:00 probably money, resources, access to things that you probably couldn't get in your... Man, that's a one-time loan for a lifetime of equity on their end. $250,000 right now for a lifetime of equity? Ain't no fuck that. That's nothing.
Starting point is 00:19:16 They can pay for the rest of their life. Well, the label will say that when they make an investment, but I mean, you're different, but when they make an investment into an artist, they might sign 100 artists. 90 of them break out. 90 of them we never hear about. Whose fault is that? What that got to do with me?
Starting point is 00:19:31 You made bad decisions, nigga, don't put that on me. That ain't got nothing to do with my deal. You feel me? Like, nah, that's not real. And it's like, bro, we make the product. I don't really care what you're doing. Like, you selling my shit. I made what you're selling.
Starting point is 00:19:49 Everything that you're making money off of is something that I made. How am I getting the lesser end of it? So what would be a fair deal to you? I think 50-50 profit shares are fair with the proper amount of equity to establish what you're trying to create. I think that I also don't have a problem with people getting paid into perpetuity off of houses they helped build. Right. But if you come into a system that's already fully established, you should be assistive. You shouldn't be taking over. We created this. We already got this motion.
Starting point is 00:20:27 It's different when you help build someone from the ground, but if you didn't help build a house from the ground, why would you, you know, like, they're just some things that don't make any sense. I'm wondering if in the future it's going to be, like, more licensing deals that labels do with artists. Yeah. When they're established, I think so.
Starting point is 00:20:42 Yeah. Yeah, and that's starting to happen now. You're seeing a lot of that, like, people are licensing so yeah yeah and that's starting to happen now you're seeing a lot of that like people are licensing the music and that's because they understand like man we're getting to the point now where we're realizing the labels really it's not much that they're offering when you're somebody who has something going already beyond capital it's not much they can really do for you. You get the visibility. You get the eyes. It's not too many platforms you can't get on. I've seen you
Starting point is 00:21:12 do everybody, just about. So I get it. And you also practice what you preach with your business. I saw you've been for a while now filming videos with artists as well, and you don't charge them, right? Never. You guys just do 50-50 on the back end.
Starting point is 00:21:28 Not even 50-50. Sometimes it's less than that. Like, I split the back end however it makes sense to accommodate what we're getting done. So, like, especially with us, we don't walk away with 50 because we have a whole team that help. So some of us are only getting 8% to 10%. Then, yeah, the artists get the greater half of it because they created the product. But, yeah, we don't charge anyone.
Starting point is 00:21:47 We just split the back end. No, he's really about it. He's tried to give me splits. I'm like, no, bro. I don't do that. See, but you have to. But, second, I wouldn't do that. I wouldn't take that from you anyway.
Starting point is 00:22:00 Which is crazy. Why is it illegal? Because it would sway what DJs play or what personalities talk about. Like, I like to keep my stuff organic. Like, if I'm talking about you, it's because I actually genuinely enjoy you. You know what I'm saying? You can't pay for my opinion on something. Right, but if you talked about someone and showed them love
Starting point is 00:22:18 and then they give you equity after, how does that sway you, right? They can't sway you because you already did the deed. You feel me? And I feel like you should own equity in things that you help build. Like, you posted me so many times that my platform grew. Why wouldn't you have equity in it?
Starting point is 00:22:34 Now, I remember you were striving towards veganism for a period of time. Did you get there yet? I think I lasted a good two, three months. And then I started missing the good things in life. Nah. But I did pretty well.
Starting point is 00:22:50 You know, black bean patties really helped me get through that. It was rough. I didn't have all the proper knowledge, so I went into it amateurish, which led to me just kind of eating the same as I was already eating, just— Without the meat. Exactly. So what made you even want to do that? What was that damn doc the VL it was me right
Starting point is 00:23:10 it was that money I know you're talking about and what was the name of that shit it did it to me it did it to me the conspiracy or something it was one of those
Starting point is 00:23:18 man it did it to me I was like I need to change my life what's meat what was the name of that doc? Yeah. Did it make you feel any different during that period of time?
Starting point is 00:23:32 Things was a blur down that period of time. Life was kind of moving. Life was life during that period of time. Right. Oh, What the Health. What the Health. That was the name of it. What the Health.
Starting point is 00:23:43 I want to go back to the name of the album. I Hate When Life's Going Great. Yeah. You know, people assume that that's what you live for, what life is going great. Right. But you say you hate it. Right.
Starting point is 00:23:52 What moment made you hate life being great? Not one specific moment, but like a culmination of things. Like I say, just having to seeing your relationships change and some relationships where you once like this and now you start to kind of grow apart that's really the most tedious part for me because I've started this with a a large group of people but as you kind of progress in scale everyone can't go to the top of the mountain and it's like you start to realize that everyone wasn't climbing some people was on your back right and you just can't make it up that way because it's not the same journey so just really as as you go and progress that's the biggest part for me is is having those
Starting point is 00:24:36 relationship dynamics change and just like i say having to go through the different emotions that comes with that who in your family is a man? Because you got a level of spirituality about you that I can tell is just rooted in you. Somebody's in the church or somebody's a pastor somewhere. I'm not sure, man. It's a lot of sad guru. I be watching a whole lot of sad guru and a whole lot of reading. So when I first got back into reading, I would only read books that was by Indian mystics. So I was getting a lot of like eastern wisdom versus ours and um
Starting point is 00:25:06 it's just really changed the way i view life and see the world and the way that i navigate it how does it change the artist that you used to like because i know you've referenced that too that we're your heroes but now you're like i can't really relate to that type of right right rhetoric anymore. Man, it changes it a lot. But it also makes me just more receptive to how human everyone is. Like, you know, it's really great to see your heroes without their cape. So you don't, you know, when they stop being super, you're not let down or disappointed because you realize, oh, that's just a regular nigga.
Starting point is 00:25:45 You feel me? But when you're not looking at it like that, you see them as this big thing and you give them some sense of hierarchy and that could really just destroy everything you once felt for them. So I just no longer put people on that pedestal. It makes you realize that the success is probably more attainable than you ever thought it was. Oh, man. Very much so.
Starting point is 00:26:05 I don't feel like there's anything I can't do. If it just comes down to work, there's nothing I can't do. And that's why now we feel it's like, you know, we don't need a label. I do feel like I could become as big as Drake as an indie because I know it's just work. And that's one thing I'm willing to do. And you've been getting calls from a lot of the big dogs, right? All of them.
Starting point is 00:26:28 You know, I want to know, back to your childhood crib. When you called your moms and said, Mom, I want to do a concert in the backyard. How was that conversation? How did she reply? Exceptional. I said, hey nigga, we about to build a pergola
Starting point is 00:26:43 in the back. And she grabbed a hammer. She said, what's a pergola? I said, you about to see build A pergola in the back And she grabbed the hammer She said What's a pergola I said You about to see And next thing you know We built it up You know
Starting point is 00:26:50 It was My mom is just The realest Coolest In the world On earth You know It's like
Starting point is 00:26:57 Whatever we say We gonna do That's what we doing She ain't got no issue with it That's dope And y'all put out The Tales from the Town project Yeah
Starting point is 00:27:04 Yeah That was with The People's Project Yeah Okay What's it called The People's Project Wish you with it. That's dope. And y'all put out the Tales from the Town project. Yeah, yeah. We're doing that G-Eazy. That was with the People's Project, yeah. Okay, what's it called? The People's Project. So they're a group in Oakland that really helps the community, really serves out there. Like, they feed the community.
Starting point is 00:27:17 They give clothes, hygiene, and they've been building for a long time, and they just tapped me in to be a part of that project. So it was a really dope community thing. They got a lot of the Bay on there. Who's on the G-Eazy? Wap Dad, All Black, All Set Gym. It's a heavy Bay lineup. How do you become such a lyricist coming from the Bay?
Starting point is 00:27:37 Not like, you know, the guys from the Bay weren't snapping, but your sound is different than a lot of them. Man, when I was growing up, my pops played a lot of Hov than a lot of them man when i was growing up my pops played a lot of hove and a lot of nas like i grew up on a traditional bass last but i also grew up on just a range of music and uh when i got to the age where i started being able to consume music on my own i was heavy on the kanye's and the 50 cents and then i finally got in the hole and and you know Drake Wayne so I didn't really um all of my influences was was a lot of you know heavy lyricists and you wear Crocs like brothers in Brooklyn with yeah they on right now I see when did that start probably like 2018 uh i don't even remember how i got to the crocs i think uh my daughter's mom
Starting point is 00:28:31 sister had bought me some like the first pair she had some and i was like man let me try them and i put my foot in them things so comfortable comfortable ever since you should do something with or make your own Crocs see I was thinking about that but I really love Crocs so hopefully they just tap in cause you know
Starting point is 00:28:49 they do a lot of the little things the jewelry and stuff not jewelry but whatever that you can put on and those do really well
Starting point is 00:28:55 so we made our own we actually have some yup we got Croc buttons we got jibbers yup you know what's so crazy like I love
Starting point is 00:29:01 I love the easy slides and I always say I hope the easy slides don't become a symbol of hate. And every time I say that, somebody be like, buy Crocs. Wear the Crocs. Right. I'm like, what?
Starting point is 00:29:12 I don't know. Now, Crocs is cool, and then they got the little piece on the back. So if you got to move, you got kids, you got to move, you just put the thing on the back. Yeah. You out of there. When you think about that, though, since you bought it, can you separate a person from the music that you love or even from the brand that you love? Like maybe somebody is like, I still love the Yeezys, I'm still wearing my Yeezys. Or are you like, you know, this person did this, I don't mess with them anymore, so therefore none of their products or music? It depends on to the degree of which they've done.
Starting point is 00:29:50 Because I feel like throughout life we have to separate product from people. A lot of these people are kind of sick. We just don't know the people behind the product. And they all have the same. We don't know who owns a lot of radio. And I can probably tell you if you do, we never know. It's a lot going on there you've been but yet we still support it and we consume it so i think it just depends on the degree of what they've done um i'm able to separate the art until it's like ah you're you're a little extra sick and i just
Starting point is 00:30:19 can't support it because i'm putting money in your pocket and i'm generating revenue for you to continue doing what you're doing. You know, it's interesting to me, and I want to discuss this, too, how you look at women, right, and your growth and maturity in that respect and taking accountability for things, but also saying I'm not using the word bitch anymore to refer to my girl because a lot of people do. Yeah, that's my bitch. It's supposed to be a compliment. And the intention is not supposed to be bad. But words do matter. So can you discuss your growth in that area?
Starting point is 00:30:49 Oh, a journey that I'm still traveling. I haven't been the best towards women like previously just throughout my journey and sometimes even now. But I think that's something that's self-reflective. I don't think men can respect women until they respect themselves. And a lot of men can't respect themselves because they don't know how. They've never been respected throughout their journey in life and through their childhood. They've never been nurtured or nourished or just poured into. So it's very, very difficult for you to go pour into someone else and you don't even know what that's like that's real i mean healed people heal people right like you know like if
Starting point is 00:31:31 you can the people i talk about you projecting hurt you can project healing as well definitely yeah yeah you um you opened up your mom's cafe and that cafe is pay what no not my mom's it's called momos oh i thought that was your mom's cafe. Oh, okay. But it's a pay-what-you-want cafe. Yeah, so we just made it proud to pay to the end of the year. And I just covered the bills for the next three months so everyone can just go eat. Where is it?
Starting point is 00:31:57 It's in Vallejo. Is it a place that was already there? Yeah, it's been there for years. It's your favorite restaurant. Yeah, it's one of my favorite spots to go to. And the owner there is a big fan of the platform. And he just, man, I tossed him an idea earlier this year to do like a one-day brunch, right? And a bunch of people came out, paid what they wanted.
Starting point is 00:32:17 So this time we're just in a grander position. And it's like, let's make sure people can eat. At the very least, we just want to make sure everybody can eat you shouldn't have to go through the day hungry I thought you bought the place no but next year we're actually going to be going into partnerships so I just bought it out we know that yeah we know you love a partnership yeah at what point do you think you'll love when life's going great What do you think you'll love when life's going great? I think that's something that could happen any day once the work is done internally.
Starting point is 00:33:01 Because life is actually exceptional right now. It's just some days I can't fully accept it because I'm still working through things that I've done or, you know, still trying to get past things that I feel emotionally about the past. But once that's through, I think I'll really be able to enjoy it. And I'm currently on that journey of just working through all that now. I bet you it's helping you to appreciate the money more. Because in Famous, you said, you know, money can't make you rich. At all. Money't make you rich at all money cannot make you rich and uh yeah man i i'm very appreciative because the money is just a tool
Starting point is 00:33:31 you know like it allows me to do a lot of things that i wasn't able to do like i could feed the community for the next three months now you know so money to me is just a tool i don't really um i don't really splurge or get excited about I'm not impressed by most things. So I'm really able to utilize this money to truly help and cultivate my team and have my homies with me and change my family's life. What was the significance of dropping on your birthday? Man, universal alignment. I don't know. It just felt right. It just felt like the time. You know, on my birthday, I always try to do something. Somehow, I always end up giving a gift, you know, instead of getting one. And it just felt like universal alignment.
Starting point is 00:34:13 It was the right time. I feel like I'm just coming of age, and life is just kind of traveling right now. So everything just kind of aligned for it to happen. And I'm still waiting on the LaRussell, Simba project. Come on. When is that coming? Come on. I don't even know.
Starting point is 00:34:29 You know, me and Simba just be kicking it. We're never in the studio creating music. We just be hanging out. Like, I'm somebody where all of my artists homies, I'm always just like, pull up. Let's ride bikes. Or we just rehearsing and chilling. It's never really on music. i don't really collaborate much i like to just be in my space when i create and make music and if i feel inclined i send stuff sometimes but it's never really about music to me music
Starting point is 00:34:55 is just an extension of who i am and what i do are there any producers you you want to work with i love atl jacob shit uh as of recent um but i don't really have any too many specifics i just you know i love to work with the people who want to work with me yeah all right well look you know we can't uh let you leave without hearing some bars come on you know we know we gotta come on bars come on you need a You want acapella? What you want to do? Let me get a beat. Yeah, we got to send one in. Come on. You got a beat? Yeah, of course.
Starting point is 00:35:29 Hit your P.A. Let's do that. Teyeta, can you send J.S.X.? Oh, she ready. She like, I know this rapping ass dude. She got the phone. She ready like, yeah. Vallejo.
Starting point is 00:35:38 There we go. We here again. NY. Breakfast Club is not the same. A year later. Toe. J.S.X. Check-insins, we don't do TSA. Still got shoebox money, we don't do BFA.
Starting point is 00:35:52 We don't do net 30s, unless it's biz credit. Billion evaluation, that's where the biz headed. I heard the crown heavy, lucky I'm big headed. Lucky I'm big hearted, I would've crushed niggas. Offer me breadcrumbs. Offer me tea with it. They say it's just business. I don't agree with it. We on the masses now. We on the pub too. We on the parking lot. We bought the club too. Integrated vertically. Y'all niggas blew it. Came out the dirt. That mean we grew it. This ain't a prophecy. nigga we knew it Huh?
Starting point is 00:36:26 Ayy Witnessing God work, witnessing black gold Knew it was less travel, still took the back road We spent the home bread, we spent the home loot Why would I outsource, hire my own crew? I'm getting better at it 100k deals, still dressed like I never had it Renovations is expensive Flipped it five times and I still got my Crocs on.
Starting point is 00:36:46 My mama got a podcast. I'm finna put my pops on. Give me two years, I'm hating the jersey up. I'm the new AI. They playing with they jersey tuck. Please do not compare me to them. I am he, I am him. Godbody, I got scars on my limbs.
Starting point is 00:36:59 I got mud on my Crocs. I got blood on my hands. I'm revered worldwide. I get love when I land You can play it, you can plan, y'all can never understand I chop my arm off before I take these niggas' hands And end up like Mufasa trying to trust these lying niggas JSX check-ins, we don't do TSA, still got shoebox money
Starting point is 00:37:20 We don't do BFA, we don't do net 30s, unless it's biz credit Billion evaluation evaluation that's where the biz headed i heard the crown heavy lucky i'm big headed lucky i'm big hearted i would have crushed niggas offer me bread crumbs offer me tea with it they say it's just business i don't agree with it huh i want to ask the russell one more thing because you said something that LaRusso Yeah LaRusso What we doing? I want to ask LaRusso One more thing Cause you said something In that rap
Starting point is 00:37:49 That made me think of it And I saw Drake Say this the other day Stop the beat I saw Drake say this The other day And Drake was like You know people say things like
Starting point is 00:37:56 It's business never personal But no it's always personal It's always personal They say it's just business I don't agree with it The way you do business Is a reflection of your being. I don't do bad business because I'm not that type of nigga. If you're able to fuck somebody over and do bad business, that's because of who you are.
Starting point is 00:38:14 It wouldn't sit well with you if you wasn't. Word. Well, LaRussell, ladies and gentlemen, we appreciate you joining us. Way to follow you, LaRussell. Tell them way to follow you. Yeah, I'm at LaRussell on everything. Got good company. It's not the same. It's the Breakfast Club, LaR follow you. Yeah, I'm at LaRusso on everything. Got good company. It's not the same.
Starting point is 00:38:27 It's the Breakfast Club LaRusso. Yeah. Hey, everyone. This is Courtney Thorne-Smith, Laura Layton, and Daphne Zuniga. On July 8th, 1992, apartment buildings with pools were never quite the same as Melrose Place was introduced to the world. We are going to be reliving every hookup, every scandal, and every single wig removal together. So listen to Still the Place on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.
Starting point is 00:39:21 Welcome to Gracias Come Again, a podcast by Honey German, where we get real and dive straight into todo lo actual y viral. We're talking música, los premios, el chisme, and all things trending in my cultura. I'm bringing you all the latest happening in our entertainment world and some fun and impactful interviews with your favorite Latin artists, comedians, actors, and influencers. Each week, we get deep and raw life stories, combos on the issues that matter to us, and it's all packed with gems, fun, straight-up comedia, and that's a song that only nuestra gente can sprinkle.
Starting point is 00:39:51 Listen to Gracias Come Again on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hello, my undeadly darlings. It's Teresa, your resident ghost host. And do I have a treat for you. Haunting is crawling out from the shadows, and it's going to be devilishly good. We've got chills, thrills,
Starting point is 00:40:16 and stories that'll make you wish the lights stayed on. So join me, won't you? Let's dive into the eerie unknown together. Sleep tight, if you can. Listen to Haunting on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Daphne Caruana Galizia was a Maltese investigative journalist who, on October 16, 2017, was assassinated. Crooks everywhere unearths the plot to murder a one-woman WikiLeaks. She exposed the culture
Starting point is 00:40:47 of crime and corruption that were turning her beloved country into a mafia state. Listen to Crooks Everywhere on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Starting point is 00:41:13 On Thanksgiving Day, 1999, five-year-old Cuban boy Elian Gonzalez was found off the coast of Florida. And the question was, should the boy go back to his father in Cuba? Mr. Gonzalez wanted to go home, and he wanted to take his son with him. Or stay with his relatives in Miami. Imagine that your mother died trying to get you to freedom. Listen to Chess Peace, the Elian Gonzalez story, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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