The Breakfast Club - Reason Talks Kendrick Vs. Cole, TDE Label Frustrations, Keys To Success In Music, New Album + More

Episode Date: August 25, 2023

Reason Talks Kendrick Vs. Cole, TDE Label Frustrations, Keys To Success In Music, New Album + MoreSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Of course, we got our niece Nyla in here with us. And we got a special guest in the building, the brother Reason. Welcome. What's the deal? How you feeling? I'm a little tired. I haven't adjusted yet to the- I heard you say that. Coming from LA is a little off. Yeah, a little off. It's like seven. You've been coming back and forth the last couple of weeks, though.

I have, but I don't know why. My body don't do the adjusting thing. I just stay on LA time. Really? Yeah, it's weird. It's hard for me to fully adjust. What time did you wake up this morning? Like eight, which is like five. Five. Five, LA time. Yeah, it's weird. Like, it's hard for me to, like, fully adjust. So what time did you wake up this morning? Like, 8, which is like 5. 5, early time. Yeah.

Okay. And I don't go to sleep until super late because I'm not tired until, like, 4. So it's like I went to sleep last night at, like, 4, and then I woke up at 8. So, yeah. You got a new project out called Porches. Yes, yes, yes. Can we call this an album? It is.

It's an album. Okay. I don't like when artists do that. I hate it. Yeah, like, it's an album. It's fine. Artists, I saw, I'm not going to name his name, but he just dropped.

He dropped maybe last year, and he was like, oh, this is my second album. I'm like, nigga, you got eight projects out. They're all albums to me. Who, NBA Youngboy? I'm not going to say. You don't want to say no other artist's name. I mean, you don't got to say names,

because every artist does that. You can call everybody from TDE out. Why can't you say other artists' names? Wow, wow, that. You can call everybody from TDE out. Why can't he say all his names? Wow, wow, wow. You gonna start right there? You call up your own labels. Welcome to the Breakfast Club, baby. What's up?

Nah, but Porches, Porches is out. And I like that album because I love a good porch. Nah, don't piggyback now. We might as well just get that out. Okay. Because I love a good porch. You know what I'm saying? I'm from the South.

You know what I mean? So I love a good porch. I got a porch now. So I understand what you mean when you talk about that porch. Yeah, what I'm saying? I'm from the South. You know what I mean? So I love a good porch. I got a porch now, so I understand what you mean when you talk about that porch. Yeah, it's just a product of your environment. It's really just like a metaphor

for your environment. We're all, you know, we're coming from our environment. If me and you grow up in similar class, similar place, similar income, we're going to go through

similar shit. And that's kind of like what the album's storyline is about is realizing the porch that you're on, realizing that you are a product of your environment, and yes, you can go on to do bigger things, but we need to understand and love each other

a little bit better, knowing that we all come from the same place, especially in today's time, because we all just kind of point the finger at people when something crazy happens, not understanding exactly the things that they've gone through and whatnot. Because I was the stoop.

We call it the stoop in New York. Yeah, I was about to say, yes. We ain't got poetry. We got stoops. Yeah, and the outro, it actually says that because I got the homie, Shout Out Scrap, he's kind of like narrating the album in like an older man voice. And he said that he like New York niggas call it a stoop. Like, you know, he was like rich white people. I don't know what they call it, but they call it some shit.

You know what I mean? Like, so yeah, same thing. I love these kind of albums, man, because I love a project that I'm listening to. And then I got to look down at the track list to know what this song is because it's so cohesive yeah you know is that purposely done of course it is it definitely is um i came i started making this album um the idea behind it um on my last album new beginning so the last album ended with um a plethora of dates being said um and then this album picks up with those dates being said and now you're hearing the stories behind those dates so these are real stories that happened there were real dates like some of these things you can google

because they actually happened so it was definitely one of those things I wanted to always wanted to make a full-blown cohesive album that people could listen to from front to back I was always one of my things on the bucket list but I will say it was way more work than I thought it was gonna be like halfway through I was like I don't know if if I wanna do this shit no more. Making an album? Making it connect all the way through. That shit is a lot more work.

Especially in today's time, yeah, where everybody just kinda has the playlist albums. Lost art. People don't do it no more. With the skits and everything, it's very lost art. Yeah, and so it takes a lot of, if you wanna do it right, it takes a lot of coordination, it takes a lot of time,

and making sure that you don't miss any gaps or details or, or, you know, making sure the aesthetic of it. Like we brought in the Foley guy to do the, all the sound effects and stuff like that. And it just takes a lot more work than I, you know, thought I was kind of getting myself into. Well, if you had guidance from other TDE people, cause if he wasn't alienating everybody.

Is this where you want to go? Is that what it is? Talk to people that have done this before. Okay, this is the camp that does it a lot. Kendrick does it a lot, even though he's not there. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So people would ask, what's your relationship with TDA? Is there a problem?

Is Charlamagne saying you don't accept the guidance? What's the situation like? Don't accept the guidance is crazy. I'm always willing to accept guidance. But, nah, it's that entire situation. Like, that was a conversation that me and Moo have had behind closed doors a lot. It was just one of those things that it probably shouldn't have been. Well, not probably.

It definitely just shouldn't have been out in the public. You know what I mean? But there's a lot of misconceptions about that. Like, because it happened, there's a misconception that Musa didn't think this album was quality. Musa loves this album. Like, he helped me pick some of the records. You get what I'm saying? And so it was just one of those things

that got so nasty and so ugly publicly that now everything is a thing like everything is a headline the release party shit became a headline that's your fault though

that was my fault that was my fault I'll take accountability yeah but it was like in the flow of the context of the conversation but that's your fault you said it

I'm owning that one that one was my fault I own that one it was in the flow of the context of the conversation. He said it becomes a thing, but that's your fault. You said it. And I'm on that one. That one was my fault. I'm on that one. It was in the flow of the conversation. What I was trying to say was, because I was asked, was this a weird week that you had to be around people? I'm like, I didn't really have to be around nobody because I had a release party.

They didn't come. But I didn't, well, I did explain, but that's not in the clip. We had a listening party the week before that the label put together. And in my release party, I put it together like for the homies and family and shit. And because everything was happening, they just gave me space on it. So it was one of those things where I was like, I shouldn't have said that.

You get what I'm saying? The Cole Kendrick thing was wild too. That wasn't wild. There was no reason for that reason. For people that don't know what we said. For people that don't know what we said. He said that when Cole drops his next project, he's going to surpass Kendrick. I didn't say that.

That's what I'm saying. No, I said when Cole drops his next project, he will be bigger. Not bigger than Kendrick. He'll be a lot bigger. I said he's doing a lot more current things. I think he'll see the fruits of his labor. I said I think Dot is bigger right now, but I think Cole's going to grow a lot. I don't know who's going to be bigger, and I really don't care.

Both of these niggas are like gods to me. I don't really get into the argument of and I really don't care. Like both of these niggas are like like gods to me. Like I don't I don't really get into the argument of who's the biggest out of Drake, Cole, and Dot. Like I'll get into arguments of who I think would have a better verse on a song but Let's not. Yeah. I'll entertain that but I don't really get into like the bigger argument. By bigger

you just meant like moment. I just mean when Cole drops this album I think it'll be he will be a lot bigger. Him. Not anybody else but how big can he get pause i mean it's supposed to be his last it's supposed to be his last album um i think that i think that he's gonna go out like with a bang if it is his last album we know how this should go but i don't know if there's anybody i think that'll stand on their word i think it's cold the way did the bigger than kindred thing come from because niggas want headlines. Like, they ask who is bigger out of Dot and Cole,

and I said, I don't know, but I know this is the fall off. Dot is, I mean, Cole has been very, very consistent over the years. I think he'll see the fruits of his labor after he drops this album. I think he'll be much bigger. And it became that he's bigger than Dot. That's crazy. You know what? All I saw was the headlines.

Yeah, is that not my fault? That's my fault. You talk about everybody only being the headlines, and you don't even know the headline yeah you know why though because reason but i didn't saying about even shooting tv so much i was like damn reason again i ain't even been shooting at them like that man like i i just i said my truth my truth for me was that i wanted to be more consistent i wanted to put out more music that was what i was expressing your fault and you don't reason i've told you this a million times you are a phenomenal artist you make great songs you're because the consistency is on you that's what i'm saying is i don't that's that's not my truth and i don't want to you know because

when i go into detail it's like it looks like i'm like smearing the label i don't want to do that but that's not my truth i don't think it's my fault they don't want you to drop mixtapes or nothing it's it's it's it's tde it's just the way that they do things. Like, it's not as simple as just make a project, put it together, turn it in, and it's out. Trust me. Like, I make a lot of music. Like, I just backed up my hard drive. I had 1,300 records.

Like, I'm not an artist that don't work. Like, that's not a thing. But you do know sometimes it's like the perfect storm, right? And sometimes, I guess we fish for that perfect storm, but as a label, I'm sure they invest and they want that perfect storm. They want to make sure your rollout is right. So when it does hit, it connects the right way

and not just connect as a, okay, well, he did this and it moves on. And we've seen it with SZA. We've seen it with, you know, Dot. We've seen it with a lot of their artists. Dolce now. Dolce, like they've hit the right storm. Dolce hasn't wrote the album.

I know, but she's been cooking him so long that now she's got singles that are like, going. Yeah, no, for sure. Yeah,

she got singles that's going, but I also think that like, the artists, with the exception of Doshi that we're naming, like, bigger artists can chill for four years.

Dot took a lot of time beforehand. We're thinking of Dot now, but think about Dot back in the day. If you think about Dot before Good Kid, Mad City, Kendrick Lamar, LP,

Section 80, the one that he did all the Lil Wayne beats, I forgot what that was. Those came back to back. They were flooding. When you're a bigger artist, then you can kind of chill

and sit back and be like, yo, I'm gonna wait four years in between. We see what 21 is doing. And 21 was a nigga that was flooding all the time. And he hasn't dropped an album in maybe like three years. But it's fine because he's 21 Savage.

You get what I'm saying? Well, he did an album with Drake too, yeah. Well, yeah, yeah. But I'm just saying, I'm saying that even before that, though, I think it was like two and a half, three years before that, before the album with Drake. So they don't even want you to drop your own music? Let's say, hey, I just want to release this mixtape or whatever it is.

So you can't even drop, they're telling you they don't even want you to do that. That's what you're saying, bro? It's just same destination even want you to do that that's what it's just it's just same destination different roads like that's where we run into our issues it's like we both have we all have the same destination that we want to get to we just see different paths of of getting there and that can cause frustration you know i mean i see a path like we can do this and do it this way sometimes they see it that way and it ultimately you know what? It can kind of clash at times. But if you drop music under like another name, like explanation, instead of music.

This guy's stupid. So silly. What's wrong with him, man? But you do feel like it's the, y'all have the common goal of winning though. I think, yeah, that's what I mean when I said it was a lot of misconceptions.

Like it was like, like because that shit got so nasty publicly, it was almost like the conception was that like, I feel like they don't want me to be successful and that they feel like I'm not a good artist, which that's not it, but it got so nasty that that's kind of what it was. But I do think it's a common goal.

Top and them, they want all of their artists to be big stars, you get what I'm saying? And we all want to be big stars as well, and sometimes you just see different roads in that and you kind of, you know what I mean? You go back and forth on it. And i said that wasn't like like that was just bad because it was public we've had way worse shit than that you get i'm saying and i think if i would have responded on the spot and went back at him i think it would have been like one of

the conversations we've had behind closed doors and that was part of the reason why i just shut up even though it was hard because i didn't want it to get any worse than it already was. I feel like it overshadowed the album slightly. Slightly, yeah. Everybody's talking about reasons issues with TDE as opposed to the music. Yeah, and it's weird. It's like a double-edged sword. It gave more eyes to the album.

If didn't nobody know I was dropping an album that Friday, they knew after that. But it also, like you said, it created a different conversation instead of having a conversation about the music. And like, but the people that have listened to it, like my feedback has been incredible. Like it's, especially from all of my fans has been waiting for me. They're like, this is by far your best work, well worth the wait. Um, and you know, that just goes into like all the work that I put in, but that was an annoying thing. It's like, now this is what we're talking about instead of, you know, the visuals,

instead of the storyline, instead of, um, us, you know, announcing the tour, we're kind of waiting, you know,

for it to, you know, die down a little bit. Like I would have rather just kind of like go straight through with the music. Let me ask you a question. Why, why it's going to sound stupid, but why did you sign the TDE?

Cause you know, a lot of artists sign a TDE because they say, they got artists I can work with, I can collaborate with. They have producers that I can work with. They have a stream for me to get heard and out. What was your reason of signing with TDE, and what did you expect? Yeah, a little of all of those things, but basically it was the Lakers.

I'm from LA, and that's the Lakers for us, you know what I mean? And so when I signed, I did want to come in and work with you know Kendrick and Q and have this you know super cohesive family relationship the same shit that I grew up on watching um and I think that that's not their fault that was just me being like naive it's like signing to the Lakers you're like oh nigga I'm about to go work out with Kobe and this and then you realize like nigga Kobe don't work out with niggas that just signed to the team like he don't even know if you're gonna steal you know nigga, I'm about to go work out with Kobe, and this and that, and you realize, like, nigga, Kobe don't work out with niggas that just signed to the team.

Like, he don't even know if you're gonna still, you know what I'm saying? And so it was kind of like, that was my expectation. Like, oh, I'm gonna get in with Soundwave, and I'm gonna, you know what I mean? And it was really like, no, you're still signing to a label, and now the work begins. And I even talk about that on the album on Gang Shit.

I talk about how I thought that this was what it was gonna be. That's what that record is about. It's me taking the accountability. I thought that this was what the situation was going to be. Now that I'm here I realize it's not. But as long as Top is rocking with me it's up to me to do everything that I

have to do for my career. I signed with him for all of those reasons combined. I'm from LA. I watched T.D. grow, you know what I mean? And so, and it's like, that's another, like, it's love from, like, I have a great relationship with majority of the artists. It's weird. We live in a time now where when you tell the truth,

it sounds like you're, like, speaking down on some shit. You know what I mean? Like I said, I don't have a relationship with SZA. Everybody took that as, like, that was, like, a bad thing. I'm like, well, do the artists at Atlantic have relationships with Cardi B? Every artist at Atlantic don't got a relationship

with Cardi B. It's because of the perception that the general public has of labels. Yeah. I think labels are family. No, of small labels.

Smaller labels. Like TDE, they say with Bad Boy. I'm sure they seen it with Roc-A-Fella. I'm sure they seen it with Death Row. So it's small labels.

I know you broke down some of those lyrics because you was telling me some of those lyrics. He just said it but I mean, I feel like that about a lot of companies

working at power, I thought the same thing too so I totally understand you. They don't fuck with you? I'm playing, I'm playing. Yeah, we don't got to.

All right, so, so, okay, a few things. Do you feel like the issue between or the differences

between you and TDA is just patience on your behalf like you just gotta be patient I think it's a little bit of both I would say it's partly patience

but then as well like my last album was three years ago I don't necessarily think that that's all patience like I don't know like like I don't know

an up and coming artist that can like consistently move like with three year gaps consistently within their meal. If this was how it was going to go for the next 10 years, it's like, so yes, patience, because I do got to wait for things to get right,

but it's also like we also do kind of got to catch up with what the times are now, which is it has to be a little bit faster. How did you survive during that time? Because three years is a long time, especially during the pandemic, the outer pandemic, but you still got bills to pay. You got rent. You got mortgage. Honestly, I survived because of my fans.

New Beginners did really, really well. My fans just kept streaming it. I think it's over 130K units sold just because my fans just kept streaming. That's literally how I survived was just off of my streaming money. You know what I mean? And that was another thing why I can admit that I was a little frustrated when I was talking about certain things. Because I'm like, I got in this to make music,

but I also got in this to make money and feed my family. You know what I mean? And it is hard when you're not dropping music. Because if you're not dropping music, you're also not really doing shows like that. And then it was also COVID. And I dropped New Beginnings in the heart of COVID, so I didn't even get to tour New Beginnings. dropping music you're also not really doing shows like that and then it was also covet and i dropped new beginners in the heart of covet so i didn't even get to tour new beginnings so there's a lot

of things that kind of play into me being like yo i'm ready to get back out there and put some music out you get i'm saying so i can't remember what song it was but there's a song on the album where you're talking about how your family thinks you got so much money and you didn't you didn't change yeah yeah that's the, that's the first verse. So the first verse is about, I thought that it was family. I thought it was supposed to be gang shit. And look at how y'all act now

that I'm in this situation. You think I got all this money. You think I have all this fame and stuff like that. But that's not really how my life is. And look at how you're acting now. And the climax of the verse is my family member yelling at me,

calling me reason. And I'm like, I thought you knew me as Rob. My entire life you called me my family member yelling at me calling me reason and I'm like I thought you knew me as Rob my entire life you called me Rob like why are you now calling me reason that came from a real place like I got family members that call me reason it's weird like I've known you since I was two and they probably think you got way more than what you got way more than what I got way busier than

what I got they say things like oh you know I was gonna text you but I thought that you know I figured you would be busy like why did you why do you just assume I'm too busy to text you now because I'm quote-unquote reason like that's you know I mean crazy to me so yeah yeah right now um but I do want to start with just the intro of the projects um we're talking about porches but in it you talk about how you guys all are connected through the porches but also they feel kind of like entitled to what you got going on, good or bad. Yeah, yeah. How do you break that?

It's less of like entitled. It's more about this is kind of what comes with it. And the reason why I wanted to highlight that in the intro is because on every single hip-hop album, we always hear people talk about the negative stuff that went on in their neighborhood. It's always, I'm from the hood, niggas die, chalk out lines, blah, blah, blah. But for me, I wanted to highlight that there's great things that come with that, too.

There's persistence. You know what I mean? There's my sister taught me to be brave and take leaps on things that I want in life. You get what I'm saying? Like, my mom taught me rationality. My pops hustled. He taught me how to hustle. Like, there's great things that come from being with those places.

And all of those things kind of come into it instead of us just only highlighting, like, the negative stuff. So, yeah. On Broken Winter Break, you say, I was born in this machine. Some niggas are still in it. How did you find your way out? Honestly, I went to school in Iowa, which is crazy to say. I played basketball, and I was out there with all the white people in Iowa,

and that was like a culture shock. I had never been, coming from where I was from, I didn't have a white relationship in my life until I went out there with all the white people in Iowa and that was like a culture shock. I had never been, coming from where I was from, I didn't have a white relationship in my life until I went. I know that sounds crazy. I didn't have a white, I'm being dead ass here. Before I went to college, I didn't have a white relationship in my life. There was nobody that I talked to

in any type of consistent format that was white. And then I went to Iowa and there were three black people in my school, including me, you know what I mean? And so that just gave me a different perspective of how life is and understanding that everything is in so vain and in this box and whatnot. You know what I mean? And so it made me grow up a lot.

And then when I came back, I was just like, nah, I want to do more shit because I've seen a little bit of the world. You know what I mean? So yeah, it just put a different perspective in me. Is Broken Winter Break based off a true story? Like the world you know what i mean so yeah just put a different perspective in me okay it's broken winter break based off a true story like the story you tell like yeah it's it's about it's about my homeboy but i didn't want to put his name in there but my homeboy came back off of a winter break um you could tell that he was a little bit different of a person um ended up getting robbed and it's about the mindset of you know you come back home you get robbed he's not really tripping because he's just like i don't really care about this shit but he's feeling pressured as a man from his neighborhood

that we gotta go get it back and so he has to put on this front like yo i'm with whatever but really in his in his mind he's like i don't want to do like this shit is stupid i don't want to do it but then ultimately at the end the story is really about his little brother that's sitting there on the porch watching all this because his little brother is seeing it and this is what his little brother grows up to be and then later on the album you have bussing slash it says wb part two but that's winter break part two and so bussing is the little the little boy when he's older you get i'm saying and so now he's on a whole different mindset because this is all the shit that he saw i love how you connected that generational trauma that generational curse

that's gonna keep going and you got to be cognizant of your actions because the next generation is watching yeah and the thing i love about that story is that the the the actions aren't coming from a true place it's coming from a place of a man that thinks that he has to do that and so a lot of times we get trauma passed down because this is literally what niggas are doing every day but this story is like nah this nigga don't want to do this he just feel like he has to and even like you know with him not really having to do it, he still passes it down. And now the little kid has grown

and he's with everything that, you know, he thought his brother was actually with. Now talk to me about Caucasian Estates because you said you hated white people. You didn't start liking them when you went to Ohio. See, like, now headlines are going crazy. I do not hate them.

I don't hate white people. We do not like white people. So Caucasian Estates is like, what is that, mansions? Yeah, so it starts with me describing the porch, and then the next record is Caucasian Estates. And there's a date set in there, which is July 2017. That's when I met Musa.

And basically the mindset is, as soon as niggas get a little bit of money, that's the first thing we want to do is get a better car and go live in a white neighborhood. So it's Caucasian Estates. We want to go live in a... And so it's a braggy, cocky song because that's how

I felt when I met Moosa and I was about to sign with TD. I'm like, nigga, I'm going to have all the money, all the women. I'm about to go get me a crib out here. I'm about to drive... And that's how your mind automatically is. So yeah, that's Caucasian Estates. I know we're talking about you putting together a cohesive project and having

skits, and I love that, but I got to say I do hate some of your skits because I just don't like the way you painted the women saying there's always a new nigga who can take care of us and all that. That's not always the case. It's not always the case. That's just the truth of what I grew up around. That was not like my sister and my close friends,

but that's kind of like when I grew up around. Like, that was like, not like my sister and my close friends, but like, that's kind of like, when I grew up, like, the women's attitude was like, you know, what one man won't do for you, another man will. And that was kind of like the way that they

carried themselves. But there's also a woman in the group that she's the one that's like, she wants to stay with her dude. Yeah, she got hope. You get what I'm saying? And that was about my homegirl.

I had a homegirl that she was just a hopeless romantic. She always, no matter how much her friends was like that, she was like, I do have hope that I'll find a man that, you know what I mean, can actually be that man. So for me, that was like, it was my truth. It was what I saw.

I like when people take old sayings and kind of like update them. So you had this girl say, the best way to get over one man is to get up under another one. And then some girl goes, or in front. Or in front. I was like, oh, that's lit. Yeah, or in front of. And I let them do their thing.

That was probably my most fun part about making this project was the skits. Because it was really with the homies. We tried to get actors. And they sent me a bunch of acting auditions and whatnot. And I was just like. Sounded too proper. I was like, these niggas suck. But it's because they're not from LA.

You get what I'm saying? So I'm getting shit from people from everywhere. I'm like, nobody's going to know how to do it. So I just ended up calling all the homies. You know what I mean? And we just literally was in there, like, mic'd up and just acting it out. The Dice game scenes, I just had niggas shoot dice

for 30 minutes and just, like, go back and forth and whatnot. So it was dope because it came out as authentic as possible for me. How do you feel when the women you use for skits ask you for scissor tickets and you can't get in? Yo, shut up, man. I can get scissor tickets, man.

I don't know. I just, you know, I might not be able to, you know, go on stage. No, I'm joking. I'm joking before they take that out of context. But yes, I can get scissor tickets. Okay. Her show was incredible, actually. You are such a troll.

My goodness. I thought you were asking, can you get scissor tickets now? I thought that was a great question. You are such a troll. My goodness. I thought you were asking me to take a nap. That was crazy. All right, so on Senuta Afterlife, the outro you're saying, more money we start to make,

more danger we get in life. Love my people so damn much. Pray one day we get it right. We can build till we together. We gonna always sacrifice. Country hate us. No more sending each other to afterlife.

Yeah. Love the outro, but do you think people hear you? i it's it's probably not because it's like this is a a cycle it's like we like niggas get money and they can't or get success or even the the the image of success and money and automatically like they do become a target and to me it's just crazy because it's like i feel like we can all build together. Like, to me, it's like if there's one millionaire in a room, that opens the door for there to be four.

And then if they walk into different rooms, that opens the door for there to be eight more in those other rooms. And instead of us thinking like that, the first thing we think about is like, oh, that's a lick. Like, that's somebody that we can come up on right now. You know what I mean? And it's like the country already don't want us to be there anyway so why are we doing their job well not their job but what they act like is their job for them like why are we sitting here you know targeting each other when we can just build

together and and we can all get on so that's kind of like what it is but i mean i don't know if people hear me i hope you know what i mean but i hope that we don't have to have more rappers you know yeah yeah getting robbed or dying or having to protect themselves i hope that's the case well why'd you call gina august alcina in parentheses it's a fun record i'll say fucking on cougars like august alcina i just like the line so i just called it yeah i called it august alcina that's probably like my favorite story that's broken in like the last 10 years i love the entire like the entire will smith i want a documentary on that. That entire situation is just the most fascinating thing to me.

Why? Because it's just, Will Smith is the guy. He's Fresh Prince. I look at things in different perspectives. Everybody else saw it as, damn, I can't believe he slapped. I'm like, there's a story there. He didn't just slap him because of that night. There's something there.

A lot of trauma. There's a lot of, yeah, you know what I mean? And his wife being on the show and talking about everything and the Pac shit. They should do a documentary on that shit. That's a very, very interesting story. And I feel like people just focus on the climaxes of the story. But I'm like, it's a lot to unfold there. That's literally my favorite story.

If they're all healed. If that family's healed. If the family's healed. If the family's healed. I don't think that story becomes a story without that red table talk with will and jay i agree i don't think i agree nowhere near but even but even that is there's something to impact there it's like why is that conversation happening on red table talk there's something behind there's something there that's like that's allowing that to to out. You get what I'm saying? You don't like to see things that should be private, public. Yeah, yeah.

Similar to the, yeah. I got where you're going. Yeah. I love too much, too, the Melly Mel. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Who's Melly Mel to you? That's the homie. We used to call him Melly Mel.

I don't want to put his whole government out there, but I went to high school with him. He went to a party. He was like top ten running back in the nation. Went to a party, got into a fight. A guy got killed, and he knew the person that did it, but he got arrested for it. And so he sat in jail for a year and his entire life changed.

Lost all of his scholarships. Was like major setback, but he felt like he couldn't of course where we from you can't tell who did it so you just got to kind of sit until the whole thing plays out um and even that story that's one thing i like about all the stories on the album is that there's two stories in it it's what happened to melvin but then it's also about like black men and how we handle our issues because the other story behind is when i called him and he was in jail and i asked him how he was doing he just said he was fine and it's like that's another thing it's like we we don't talk about the shit that we're going through so it's a two-folded conversation in that and I

remember thinking like there's no way he could be like this nigga's whole life is completely gone like he was headed to the NFL and now he don't know where he going you know what I mean and so but he was just always like no I'm cool like you know it is what it is and I could just tell that it affected him. And the other thing with that song is like, there's no reward for real niggas. Yeah, there's no, it's no, it's no like, like pot of gold at the end of that.

You get what I'm saying? You sat in jail for a year, came home to what? 1,000%. But it's also like, if you do do it, like what do you come home to on that end? And that's a very real thing. I've seen it. You know what I mean? I've seen that be, become a real thing. So it's one of those things where you got to hope that the and that's a very real thing i've seen it you know i mean i've seen that be become a real thing so it's one of those things where you gotta hope that the other person

is a stand-up man and and comes forward because he knows that you sitting there but you know some niggas would just be like nah like you know what i mean like i'm just gonna ride this out and it's like it completely altered his entire life and uh even to this day like i've never had a conversation with mel about it like i sent him the, and he just called me and was like, thank you for writing about it, but we've never talked about it. Like, it's still something that I don't think that he's probably ever, like, full-blown got off his chest. You know what I mean?

I'm packed and whatnot. And like you said, in our community, that's a big thing because everybody wants to be a real nigga, but like you said, there is no award or reward for being a real nigga. At all. At all. You don't get nothing for that. You know what At all. You don't get nothing for that. You know what I mean?

You don't get nothing for being. That's why I used to love the Dave Chappelle skits when he had the real nigga. Keeping it real. Go wrong. And it's like the nigga wild out and then he lose his job and he homeless and shit like that. Like Dave was ahead of his time. But yeah, like you said, it's no reward for that.

But honestly, if he was to really open up and tell you how he really feels, do you think like you'd be able to handle it? I would, but I do understand what you're saying. But I think it's less about that. I think it's more about, like, black men just aren't taught that, like, like, we're taught from a young age, like, life ain't fair.

Get over it. Don't complain. Don't cry. Suck it up. Yeah, we're taught that from a young age. So I think it's less about the person receiving it. I think it's more about the fear of, like, I look weak if I talk about it.

Like I look like less of a man. I look like I'm complaining. Like I say this all the time to my homegirls. I'm like, girls night is the healthiest shit in the world. Y'all just gather up, drink wine and just complain, which is like getting things off your chest. You're unpacking, you're unloading and then y'all have fun

and then you leave there feeling lighter. Like guys don't have that. We get together like, like I had a homie that I went to watch a game with. We were in the bar for three hours watching the game, and we talked about sports for three hours. I leave the bar. I figure out that his girl about to damn near put him away.

He about to damn near lose his family. We ain't talk about that for the whole three hours. We just talking about LeBron and how LeBron is the greatest person in the NBA. And it's like we don't unpack those things because we're taught that you can't talk to another man about it. If you talk to your girl about it, you look weak. So it's like where do you go with it? You just kind of turn to different vices.

And I've been there. Charlamagne doesn't feel that way, by the way. He thinks it's Steph Curry. You said LeBron. What's your thoughts? Is that what you mean? Yeah, that he's the best player in the NBA. I actually agree with that.

I think Steph. I think Steph is top five of all time. I think niggas got – Yeah, okay, yeah. I got him at three. Yeah, I got him at four. I got Jordan, Kobe, Steph, Braun, and Magic. You got him after – I mean before Braun?

Yes. You're crazy. But I do have him top. I think he's the best player in the NBA right now, but I think that he's top five and niggas don't want to hear that. I got Kobe at one, Jordan at two, Braun at three, and then Steph at four. And I got Shaq at five. But clearly I'm biased because that's a lot of Laker niggas.

And history is going to show that LeBron and Steph met up in NBA finals. Yep. What, four times? Was it four? Yeah, was it four? Four times. Yeah, four times? Four times.

And Steph won. He's three to one against Braun in NBA finals. That matters. It does matter, but at the And Steph, he's 3-1 against LeBron in NBA Finals. That matters. It does matter, but at the same time, he had KD. So what? He didn't always have KD. The championship thing is weird, though. It's not all about championships.

It's about a lot of other stuff, too. It's about all the accolades. I feel like LeBron is the most accomplished, probably not athlete. That's Tom Brady. But he's the most accomplished basketball player of all time. I feel like that does matter. When you say accomplished, what do you mean accomplished? All of the accolades, all of the accomplishments that he's done,

the scoring, like where he is at in the scoring list. Assists, rebounds. Assists, rebounds. That's that, though. When I think accomplishments, I mean, he's got a lot of those. Even the All-NBA teams, All-Stars, MVP, like he's accomplished. Like he's the most. How many final appearances? Michael Jordan's got six finals MVPs, bro. He's accomplished. How many final appearances?

Michael Jordan got six finals MVPs, bro. That's fine, but he don't have as many accomplishments. That has to do with a team. I'm talking about all of your accomplishments. That has to do with you as an individual. Michael Jordan's stat sheet is crazy. Matthew Johnson's stat sheet is crazy. It's not better than Bron's.

I totally disagree with you. You think Michael Jordan's stats are better than LeBron James? Maybe that stat for accolades, when you put all the accolades. My totally disagree with you. You think Michael Jordan's stats are better than LeBron James? Maybe that stat, but accolades, when you put all the accolades. My bad, my bad. Yeah, my fault. I'm sorry.

Yeah, let's get back to the music. That's why Tom don't want to put you out much. Listen, let me talk to you. Listen, hold on. Let me go back to something you were talking about. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Therapy. That's why I'm so big on therapy, right? Because people that go to therapy have no problem having those conversations. Like when you talk about these women having girl nights out it's because a lot of them already go to therapy they're already seeking healing so it's easy for them to have these conversations amongst each other yeah i noticed with my guys that people around me that are already in therapy and seeking some healing we have no problem having those conversations for

sure i agree but i also think with women they're just naturally because i don't think a lot like i think women are doing that before they even get into therapy i think women are naturally just better at talking about their feelings and it's because of how we're brought up like women are brought up to to you know you coddle you do coddle women a little bit more so you you ask them to tell you like how do you feel like are you okay how does that make you feel whereas i remember as a kid like like going through stuff and my dad being like like suck it up stop crying like and that's not a knock at him he just doing what he was taught you know what i mean but i remember i vividly remember like being balled up with rage and not knowing how to express it and my dad's thing was like nigga stop crying like but also you also feel

like you don't want to look weak. Yeah, and that was his thing. He was like, you're going to look weak if you're crying. Like, nigga, stop crying. Like, suck it up. I'm like, but that ain't fair.

Life ain't fair. Get over it. You know how many things ain't fair for me? That's how I was brought up. If I come up here and cry, somebody's going to call me a beige bitch.

Yeah, exactly. They're going to talk about you being a light skin. That is not true. My dad has seen me do that too. That is not true. He's seen it. That was back in the day though.

But he knew we were crying over some bullshit. See? Some stuff don't even have to cry over. See is not true. See, I've seen it. That was back in the day, though. But he do be crying over some bullshit. See? See? Some stuff don't even have to cry over. See? You know. See?

I'm just saying. What else not? Yeah, we got to be able to express ourselves a little bit better. Oh, oh. I was reading some comments online, Twitter, YouTube, and they're saying that your album is one of their favorite albums of the year, right next to Mike. Killer Mike. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. How does that feel? Which is a crazy compliment, because Mike. Killer Mike. Yeah. Yeah. Which is a, which is a crazy compliment. Cause I love Killer Mike's album. Um, but I felt that way and I felt that way before it was dropped and not because it's my album,

but I also felt that way because it's been a light year for rap. Like it just hasn't been that great. I do think the second half of the year is about to be stacked. Um, I know Drake's dropping on Friday. Um, but I felt like, like when I'm listening to all the albums and they're coming out,

I'm like, Oh no, I'm going to have like probably like one're coming out I'm like oh nah I'm gonna have like probably like one of the better albums in rap this year you know what I mean and but for people to put it next to Killer Mike's like that's a huge compliment cause that was my favorite album this year like when that dropped I was like nah like this is

that's the year I was like that was the one so yeah nah that's been like the craziest compliment for sure for sure I love that y'all wanna play a record? Well, I actually just want to say this. Michael Jordan has six championships. Oh my God. Listen to me, listen to me. Michael Jordan has six championships, six finals MVPs

like I told you, five regular season MVPs, one defensive player of the year, ten scoring titles, one rookie of the year, one Hall of Fame. LeBron has four championships, four MVPs, four regular season MVPs, one scoring title, one rookie of the year. MJ played against Bums. All right, stop it now.

I want to play music back and back. Did he say Bums? Are you forgetting we played against Bums? You can't name five high-level wings that he played against. People talk about Reggie Miller. Reggie Miller's a bum compared to Klay Thompson. Klay Thompson's better than Reggie Miller. It's just a different level of... Reggie Miller was a beast.

We need to wash him off with soap, young man. It's not. Why are you doing this? Bro, it wasn't. Why are you doing this? Back then it was, back then it was bigs.

It wasn't wings. Now it's wings. Like, Bron and them have played against just better, they played against better talent. That's my whole thing. So,

yeah, we can argue about basketball later. I want Reason to leave now. Reason, what record you want to play? Gang shit? Hold on.

Should I press in on this? Hold on. What? Hold on. Hold on. Totally see why you don't let us even drop music. I'm texting Top Day. You're going to start something.

Niggas is on edge right now, man. He's going to think that I said some crazy shit. He's going to be like, what did that nigga do? Reason, we appreciate you for joining us, brother. We're going to play gang shit right now. Yeah, let's play gang shit. It's the Breakfast Club. It's Reason. Had enough of this country?

Ever dreamt about starting your own? I planted the flag. This is mine. I own this. It's surprisingly easy. 55 gallons of water, 500 pounds of concrete. Or maybe not. No country willingly gives up their territory. Oh my God. What is that?

Bullets. Listen to Escape from Zaka-stan. In hell! That's Escape from Z-A-Q-a-stan on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey guys, I'm Kate Max. You might know me from my popular online series, The Running Interview Show, where I run with celebrities, athletes, entrepreneurs, and more. After those runs,

the conversations keep going. That's what my podcast, Post Run High, is all about. It's a chance to sit down with my guests and dive even deeper into their stories, their journeys, and the thoughts that arise once we've hit the pavement together. Listen to Post Run High on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. as a kid i really do remember having these dreams and visions but you just don't know what is going to come for you alicia shares her wisdom on growth gratitude and the power of love i forgive myself it's okay have grace for yourself you're trying your best and you're gonna figure out the rhythm of this thing alicia keys like you've never heard her before. Listen to On Purpose with Jay Shetty on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. 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. Hey there, I'm Dr. Maya Shunker, and I'm a scientist who studies human behavior. Many of us have experienced a moment in our lives that changes everything,

that instantly divides our life into a before and an after. On my podcast, A Slight Change of Plans, I talk to people about navigating these moments. Their stories are full of candor and hard-won wisdom. And you'll hear from scientists who teach us how we can be more resilient in the face of change. Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.