The Breakfast Club - Symba Talks "Results Take Time", Working With Dr. Dre, Label Switch, & More

Episode Date: September 16, 2022

Symba Talks "Results Take Time", Working With Dr. Dre, Label Switch, & MoreSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hi, I'm Marie. And I'm Sydney. And we're Mess. Well, not a mess, but on our podcast called Mess, we celebrate all things messy. But the gag is, not everything is a mess. Sometimes it's just living. Yeah, things like J-Lo on her third divorce. Living.

Girls' trip to Miami. Mess. Breaking up with your girlfriend while on Instagram Live. Living. It's kind of a mess. Yeah. Well your girlfriend while on Instagram Live. Living. It's kind of mess. Yeah. Well, you get it. Got it?

Live, love, mess. Listen to Mess with Sydney Washington and Marie Faustin on iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, y'all. Niminy here. I'm the host of a brand new history podcast for kids and families called Historical Records. Executive produced by Questlove, The Story Pirates, and John Glickman, Historical Records brings history to life through hip-hop. Flash, slam, another one gone.

Bash, bam, another one gone. The crack of the bat and another one gone. The tip of the cap, there's another one gone. Each episode is about a different inspiring figure from history. Like this one about Claudette Colvin, a 15-year-old girl in Alabama who refused to give up her seat on the city bus nine whole months before Rosa Parks did the same thing. Check it. And it began with me. Did you know, did you know? I wouldn't give up my seat. Nine months before Rosa, it was called a woman.

Get the kids in your life excited about history by tuning in to Historical Records. Because in order to make history, you have to make some noise. Listen to Historical Records on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Wake that ass up.

Early in the morning. The Breakfast Club. Morning, everybody. It's DJ Envy, Angela Yee, Charlamagne Tha God. We are The Breakfast Club. We got a special guest

in the building. That Angela Yee is already offering alcohol. Yes. Well, he's already still drunk from last night, so you know what they say. And I'm taking all shots. Best way to get over that is to do another one. Come on.

Let's do it. Simba, ladies and gentlemen. Yeah, let's do it. Man, Simba is one of the most phenomenal lyricists rapping today. First off. And that is not an understatement. First off, I got to send a shout out to dog because um you've been supporting me for a minute and it's a lot of people that's you know at your stature that feel like they gotta wait to something

blow up to post it or support somebody so I truly respect you on another level not only just what you did for me what you do in the therapy community your book thank you everything I really got a lot of respect for you you too i respect what you do a lot and also my waffle color friend over here he's a legend in the game and i saw dave chappelle showing you a lot of love too that's my guy that's my guy dave actually brought me on stage he had me like rapping for 10 minutes on one of his specials i think it's about to come out soon. Oh, wait, wait, wait, wait.

How you meet Dave? So I got a friend named B who I know through my homie Cass, and he works with Dave a lot. And he sent Dave one of my freestyles. So Dave had, like, this premiere he was doing in Los Angeles. He was like, man, tell somebody to come. Tell that nigga to pull up. So I came through

and then we had a good night. We had a few drinks and then he went back to the comedy store to do like a little private show. And then I'm just sitting on the side of the stage. He was like, send my nigga, come up here and rap. So I went up there and rapped for like 10 minutes. So it was dope. Shout out to Dave, man. And it's not the fact that you can rap

that you always have socially redeeming value in your raps. There's always some content in there that make you think. Like that Big Meech line when you say... Big Meech ain't selling more dope than Big Pharma. Like, God damn. You know where I got that from? Mm-mm. I shouldn't even be shouting them out

because I'm giving them a free ad. Y'all seen Dope Sick on Hulu? Mm-mm. It's a show called Dope Sick sick on hulu and it's about basically how they created oxycontin and it was showing how many people died from how it was prescribed so they was trying to basically say that uh people was abusing the drug but really they was taking the drug to how it was prescribed to them and people was dying from it in the 80s so i was watching and i'm like shit these motherfuckers so more dope than Big Maze.

They should be the ones getting in trouble. So I felt like I had a responsibility to say something about it. Let's go back. Let's put people that don't know who Simba is. Yes, sir. Where are you from? How'd you get into rapping?

And you always say, I know they say that you, I guess growing up, you loved Jay-Z and Nas and Biggie. So let's start from there. So where are you from? So I'm from the Bay Area. From the Bay Area. And my mom was a real estate agent. So my mom moved around a lot.

She used to move around from Trenton, New Jersey. I lived in Benton, Salem for a little bit. Atlantic City, Vegas, L.A. So we moved around a lot. And I would always notice that Bay Area music, it would hit a ceiling. It wouldn't really go past our region. Yeah, very regional. So when I moved around as a kid, I'm like, damn, like, I started wanting to write music and everything.

And I was like, you know what? I got to make my music connect to everybody. And being on this side as a kid, I gravitated to Hov a lot, just how he moved, the things he said. I related to it. Big L. Even Sauce Money. I used to listen to a lot of Sauce how he moved, the things he said, I related to it. Big L, even Sauce Money. I used to listen to a lot of Sauce Money, you know what I mean? And that's just something that I wanted to incorporate

in my music when I started creating for myself. What got you into rap? Because they said you were nice in sports. Yeah, man, I got caught cheating on my SAT test. How'd you get caught cheating? We ain't gonna talk about that. Was it one of the ones where you had the hands like this? Did you write it on the calculator? I had a nice young lady that was doing something for me.

And we both got caught up, you know, so I couldn't go play ball after that. So through that process, I was sitting at the homie crib for a year. Stubborn. Not trying to listen to my coach and everything. And I ain't even like my coach at the time. I still think that nigga was racist.

You play basketball or football? Basketball. Basketball, okay. Yeah, I was stuck in the crib, in my homie crib, and he had a studio. So I just started rapping in his studio every day and I fell in love with music more than I did with basketball at the time. I got tired of waking up at six in the morning going to shoot.

So I was like, you know what, I'm gonna just do this. And I just stayed at it. Got good at it. I'm more concerned about the young lady, man. What happened to her? Don't talk about her. You got to give her a job or something. Nah, man. She cheated on me.

You were cheating off her? She could go to hell. See, all this cheating going down. She could go to hell. So let me ask you this. So you also wrote for a lot of artists, too. Yeah. Right?

So was your goal always for you to be the artist, or did you enjoy being in the background more at first? My goal was just to get the job done. Like it was it was times I used to be in studios. People thought I was just the weed man. But I used to just come through with the weed, be talking to everybody, rolling up. They'd be like, oh, that's the weed man. They didn't even know I rap. So my job was just like I always looked at it like do what you got to do to get to where you want to be. So if I had to write for somebody, if I had to hold somebody bags, if I had to turn the session up and just be the fun person in the room, I was down to do whatever I had to do to get to where I want to be. So that's how I ended up writing, because a lot of people, you know, don't write their raps. So, you know, I came in to write a lot of raps for people.

Were you surprised by that, the amount of people that didn't write their own music? I would say what surprised me more was people that can't rap not writing their raps. Just because they got a good voice. People you thought was lyricists. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, that's what shocked me the most. But at the same time, as I'm learning, this is a business, right?

So you got shows, interviews, you on the road. Sometimes you really ain't got time to sit down and write all goddamn day like that. So I had to learn that just even for myself. Shit, I'm starting to look for writers to write for me because I ain't got time to just be sitting in the studio no more. You have a very, you have a, you got a, that's a very honest. Hooks and just ideas, period. That's an honest thing to say. Yeah, not verses

I talked to Quentin Miller last night man shut up man I'm serious you wanna see my phone I talked to him last night you talking hooks and ideas

not actual bars hooks and ideas no I'ma always write my verses but I ain't you gotta clear that up cause people people be like damn someone don't write

his raps no I write he said he's looking though he didn't say he doesn't I write everything like all my verses all my freestyles, I write everything. But at the same time, it's things I may miss.

Somebody might have an idea or something that I'm not thinking of. You know what I mean? And if that could compliment me, it's a business. We need hit records. I just ain't trying to be freestyle man my whole career. Man, I'm so glad you said that. Because when I first heard you, this was a while ago, I'm like, yo, this dude is really dope,

but I hope he can make songs. And I can. I'm old enough to remember these super lyricists that we used to love their freestyles on the Kool mixtapes and everything, but then they couldn't make songs. Where are they now? Word. Where are they now, right? At the end of the day, this is a business.

People know I can rap, but I'm growing, and it's like at this point, I got to deliver records, you know, and that's what we're giving them where results take time this friday is is actual songs i'm not just rapping on beats i'm rapping on records i love the meaning behind the title uh results take time then you got songs like overnight yeah and find a way and sacrifice it all tells this story of results taking time do you feel like you're getting the results that you've been looking for definitely okay definitely um i'm somebody that embraced the process all the way around so it's like Do you feel like you're getting the results that you've been looking for? Definitely. Okay. Definitely.

I'm somebody that embraced the process all the way around. So it's like I remember doing shows in the Bay. I had like three people in there. Moved to L.A., ain't nobody knew me. I'd do shows at the Roxy. It'd be about 15 people in there. I just sold the Roxy out last month. Wow. So that was a real accomplishment for me because it was letting me know,

like, okay, things is working and you're growing as an artist. Let's just continue to get better. That's crazy. You go from a song like Unknown to GOAT. Yeah. You know, and so first it's Unknown, but now the status is you are striving to be the GOAT of all of this. And that should be the goal for anybody that does this.

Who want to be second or third or fourth or fifth? We all in this to be number one. I'm sure when y'all got in this game, y'all didn't look like, I'm going to be the third best person on content media. It's like, no, I'm here to be the best. That's what it's about. I was going to ask you, with moving around, of course, rest in peace to PNB. Yes, sir.

But moving around, you said you were in Trenton. You said you were in Vegas. You were in Atlantic City. You were in California. You've been new york the last couple of days uh talk to the people about la culture when it comes to the streets in la definitely sometimes i think people when they go to la it's sunny it's beautiful there's palm trees it's nice cars beautiful people expensive stores but they don't understand that it's it could nasty. So the first thing you got to realize, I'm from the Bay Area, so the first thing I learned about L.A. is it's a difference between L.A.

and Hollywood. A lot of us think Hollywood is L.A. Hollywood is not L.A. That's Hollywood. L.A. is something different. It's protocol. It's people you got to tap in with. You can't just move around L.A. thinking everything is going to be cool especially right now you know we just got out this pandemic niggas and hit for that ppp

money they didn't got them loans they didn't created a new lifestyle got new cars and new cribs and they got to pay for this shit so everybody outside looking for somebody to get so we as artists we got to be more responsible about the things we do like security only costs shit three four hundred dollars you know what i mean like make sure you got a security guard with you um i think when you say tap in you know that that term tapping has affected people for years especially artists because niggas got egos right they got egos and too much pride but i'm i'm never too prideful to protect myself i got a kid i got to get back home too i got a mama you know what i mean so it's like i'm never finna just be out here

moving reckless or doing things that I just think I'm free. I got shit, $150,000 worth of jewelry on. I'm not just finna go. I don't even know if you want to say that. I'm just, look, I wasn't wearing it last night at the Brooklyn Chop House. That's right.

You in the interview. That's real. That's right. That's right. You know what I'm saying? I'm going to leave it to where it need to be It's like I'm not trying to flex on nobody To keep it real, I don't even like wearing this shit

It's just like a rapper costume For real, like this It's like a business card, you know what I mean But I don't like wearing it because it's really kind of like A symbol of like stunting on your own people It's like we get money to show people I got more than you I think that's some lame shit

I think I'ma stop wearing jewelry I feel what you're saying you know what i want us to start flexing about like how many people we we we causing to get the work you know i mean how many jobs are you creating for people how many businesses are you creating to create other opportunities for the folks that's what we need to start talking about and that's that's the most important thing like i got my best friend right here. We've been together since forever. You know what I'm saying? But it's like now he come from the streets, like the

street streets. He done been in a lot of shit. Jail, he been shot, everything, but his mind on being an executive now. That's right. You know what I mean? He was in the room last night with Julie Greenwald. You know what I mean? He talking to Mike Kaiser now. So it's different. Like that's the goal is for us to make it out of these circumstances to provide more opportunities for the people we around and people we could bring up as well

that you just brought up right yes so before that you were signed to Columbia it was terrible all right what what makes it terrible and what made you feel like okay I'm ready to sign to another major because sometimes people people do a major label deal, they get so turned off, they're like, I'm not doing that again. So how did you know that was the right situation? And what was terrible about Columbia? So when you're a new artist, like, this shit don't come with no brochure. So the only way for you to get the information is to fuck up a little bit.

So when I, can I cuss? Yeah. Okay, my bad. fuck up a little bit so when i um can i cuss my back okay okay my back um so when i first got my deal i realized fast like i'm not a priority and i played this wrong so i got my advance and i blew my money like in like three weeks i owe people i had to pay certain things back went and bought clothes went and bought a maserati went went and got a new apartment and everything. What was the advance? It was nice. That's a lot of things you did.

It was nice. But at the same time, what I was supposed to do with that advance was create an infrastructure for myself. So when I got out of that deal and I got my new deal, the first thing I did, bought a laptop, bought my cameraman a camera uh hired a digital team hired my own pr hired my own people around me that could help advise me to move forward rather than just spending the money on myself and i think as artists sometimes we got to realize like we just not rappers we a business right and as a business you got to run it like a

business you need people in play to help you sustain where you trying to go. That was one thing I learned. But also it was a regime change. So I can't just say it was terrible because the people who brought me in was great. They just had left at the time. They went to a different label. So when they left, Columbia was going into a new business model to where they only wanted like TikTok artists and they wanted like social media artists and shit like that. And I like i'm a word of mouth artist i'm somebody that you gotta

meet you gotta touch me you gotta smell me you gotta feel me i'm not just gonna get on there yeah do a dance and it go up so um they ended up letting me go i was independent for a little while me and my homie trying to figure it out spending money and i ran into dallas martin and dallas martin kind of changed my life for real that's like the first a and r that really like sat with me and gave me the game and be with me to this day we was together last night till four this morning and he up at the office right now dope that's my dog shout out to dallas you know i like what you were saying earlier too, just about how you move as an artist saying it's okay to have security, because we're the culture that literally bragged

about being in the hood with all our jewelry on with no security. That shit has gotten so many people killed. We be bragging about the wrong shit. Like, it's stupid to go around a bunch of kids and young men who fighting for these things.

Like, they can't even really feed themselves. You know what I mean? And you round them with this big-ass chain. That's going to make them feel some type of way. So you got to protect yourself. You ain't being no sucker, or you ain't being dumb. You know, you being smart. That's right.

You know what I mean? So you got to protect yourself. Like, I advise everybody to get security, especially today. Because these young boys today, like different they different they gonna run up on you any place anytime like Philly uh Philly reddit now is there man I was just in Philly well while on Gilly suit the wall on give that out my brothers um and they showed me this YouTube page called Philly reddit and it's like all these kids that's just like dissing each other and killing each other.

Like they literally doing the police job for them. Literally on camera. They grabbing like ring footage from people's doorstops, showing the person that walked the dude down four blocks down. It's like a whole investigation. Damn. On YouTube. Damn. It's like we got to do better, man.

We got to do better. What's your thoughts on, you know, this was big in the last couple of months, where artists, they're using the artist's lyrics in court. I don't agree with that. Artists are telling on each other, though, on themselves. So it's two sides to that, right? I don't agree with that, because at the end of the day,

as a detective or police, whatever, you still got to do your job. So I don't think your job should be minimized to what somebody saying in a song now the problem with that is if somebody actually dies and you get on a song and say where this person died and what you did and how I went down that's your fault that's what's happening though that's your fault it's not like it's not like they just listen in the raps and saying oh he just talked about killing somebody let's go it actually happened it actually happened it actually happened so if it's actually happened you can't you can't

get mad at them people because you making it a lot more easier but if if they're using this against you and this is something you was enhancing or something that didn't really happen then i can understand where it could feel unfair but at the the same time, if you just getting on there just saying what actually happened, it's like, bro, that's your fault. Like, I don't feel bad for you at all. Now, what's your relationship with StatQuote? Because on the project, you said...

Oh, man. You said he told you something that you wasn't feeling. I don't want to say it because I don't want to misquote it. Say it. I can't remember what it was. StatQuote told me my music would never hit, and if I ain't have a gimm gimmick then people wouldn't give a shit Yes, okay

It's crazy how nigga who ain't never made a list and make you feel like you can't go where you trying to get now Why's that cool get that shot man? Because stat and I got love for stat right it wasn't like me trying to like tear him down or nothing But at the same time right he's an older black man and i was a young black man still a young black man but at the time it's like bro don't just tell me where i'm going wrong without giving me some advice on how to get it right you just tearing me down in front of people so we used to be in these offices and he had just oh you ain't got no identity oh you need to grow your hair out you need to do this you need to do it i'm need to do this. I'm like, bro, why I got to do that? Like, what's another way we could do it?

He would never tell me. He didn't know, though. Exactly. Exactly. You know what I mean? So it's like, don't put what happened to you on me. Like, help me get it right as a young black man. Don't just tear me down in front of these people

and ruin my opportunity because yours didn't work. You know what I mean? So it was like, I had to say something about that because I feel like this is the first time the world watching me and i want to know what i've been through so what's the connection though i was like what's doing stat worked at the label i was originally at before atlanta oh got you he was at columbia he brought a little zan over there yeah he had little zan as his artist yeah oh i didn't know that i used to imagine me coming in the office rapping high rapping he got a little zen in there telling me what the fuck I'm doing wrong. You got a point.

You know what I'm saying? It's like, bro, help me get it right. Did he say anything to you after he heard that? I heard recently it ain't out yet, but my boy sent it to him because he cool with that. He out there, Marcus. He sent it to him and he felt the way, but it's like, I felt the way.

You know what I mean? When you was putting me on blast in front of these people rather than helping me trying to get it right, you was just tearing me down. It's kind of crazy because Stat Cole, he's a rapper rapper. So it's like, I would feel like he would see you. Man, Stat used to tell me I'd never sell a ticket. Damn. I can't believe Stat was talking like that.

Damn. You ain't got no identity. You need to learn how to do this. Your clothes is terrible. What are you wearing? I'm like, bro, okay, help me got no identity. You need to learn how to do this. You got no... Your clothes is terrible. What are you wearing? I'm like, bro, okay. Help me get it right. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Don't just tell me where I'm going wrong. Help me get it right. But you know, for Stat, and I don't know the brother, but he might have been... That's what they might have been telling him.

For sure. When he was coming up. For sure. I actually know Stat pretty well because I worked with Eminem. So we were all on tour together and everything.

Yeah. And I remember his manager, Zeke, and you know, the things that together and everything. And I remember his manager, Zeke, and the things that Stat went through. And then I thought it was interesting when he did start going on the other side of things and being at A&R. No, but that was dope as Stat making that transition.

I feel like that's something we all got to understand as artists is like music ain't going to last forever. So you got to do it again someplace else. 50 did it in film and television. Jay did it in business. Kanye doing it in fashion. Stat did it in an executive role, right? But as an executive, bro, don't just tear me down.

You know what I mean? Don't just tell me what I'm doing wrong. Tell me how I could get it right. I'm not no sensitive-ass person. I see. You know what I mean? You were like, just tell me what to do then. Just tell me what to do and I'm going to get it right.

But he would never tell me that. He would just tear me down. But not only that, I guess you look at it like he was in your position. So the fact that he got power, he should be pulling up all the steady notes. Yeah, I get it. Facts. I watch you do it with people. You be giving people real estate game.

You know what I mean? You tell people where to get it right. There's a lot of people I didn't talk to that just said, yo, Envy put me on this or Envy didn't put me on that. That's what we got to do as a people. We already like 13% of the population. So we already outnumbered. So it's important for us to kind of like give each other the information

so we can get it right to move forward. You talk about Dallas and how as an A&R he's really helped you a lot. So what are some things that Dallas told you that have helped you? Dallas is like, first off, I don't think no A&R work harder than Dallas. Dallas be at the studio longer than the artists. There's times I didn't went home and went to sleep, and he calling me at 5 in the morning with a feature he didn't put on the song. Wow.

There's times where he didn't told me, bro, you shouldn't put this in the video because video because you gonna come across this certain way you shouldn't speak about these these things said in a different way um having an identity understanding who you are as an artist what's your message who you speaking to build your underbelly out first before you chase a hit record so imagine an anr telling you that when they usually gonna tell you we we need a hit. We need a hit. But Atlantic, they allow you time to develop. So Dallas always gave me the time to develop my fan base and develop who I was, especially within the pandemic because I had a big moment with the freestyles. LeBron posting me. Shaq posting me.

But I can't go outside and do a show. I can't go outside and host nothing. I can't go meet y'all. You know what I mean? I can't do nothing, so I'm stuck. So meet y'all you know what i mean i can't do nothing so i'm stuck so he had put me back in the studio okay let's move forward let's try this uh let's try this type of song people feeling this type of way in the house let's make something for that let's do a freestyle for that so he's been with me like every step of the way just giving me

game telling me when i'm wrong telling me when i'm right and i appreciate him for that you know i love uh never end up broke yeah you know and on that record you know the hook is money can't buy back time my nigga yeah what does that line mean to you like sometimes like sometimes we get money and think we could go back and correct the things in the past right but it already happened so it's like you got to get that money and move forward and make sure you don't make them same mistakes that you made in the past you can't just like most people get bread

and try to go back and get the girl that turned them down you're like nigga she passed you you know what I'm saying she running around with Julio Jones go let her do that that sounds very personal no it's not I'm just saying I'm a Tom Brady fan so? You could have said Andy Nance. You could have said Taylor Brown.

You could have said Andy Nance. I'm a Tom Brady fan, so I know he got Julio now. You know what I mean? So shout out to Tom and Julio Jones. But you can't go back in the past and change things because you got money now. But you can learn from those things and let your money be applied to where it is you try to move forward to. That's really where it came from. If you could buy back time, what time would you buy back uh time in your life would you buy back trying to

build a relationship with my dad i never got to really meet my dad my dad went to jail when i was one and he died in prison and he died on some like some janky shit like we still trying to figure it out you know what I mean? So I never really got, like, a father figure in my life. My mama was, like, both roles. So it's a lot that I feel like I could have, um, I probably wouldn't have been a rapper if I had my dad in my life. You think?

Yeah, I probably would have done something different. Okay. But, um, me looking for a male father figure, I looked up the rappers. You know what I mean? I looked up to Hov. Hov taught me how to talk to women. Hov taught me how to represent myself,

and I learned that from hip-hop. But not having a dad in my life, it kind of hindered me a little bit. I didn't go to college. That's something I probably would have did. Respecting women a lot more. You know what I mean? Coming from the Bay,

we kind of come from this pimp culture. You know, and our OGs tell us, oh, man, fuck the man, do this, do that. But it's like, man, that ain't really the way we should be operating out here as black men. You're right. We did a lip service live in the Bay, and let me tell you, it was wild.

The guys and us, like, all of us going back and forth. Yeah. Just how they were talking and how we were talking, but it was like a cultural thing. Yeah, nah, we got a crazy mentality, the way we kind of see things in the Bay. But I'm trying to like break that cycle a little bit because we got to respect our people more.

It ain't just about, you know, women or men. It's about us as a whole, as a community. Absolutely. We got to respect our people more. I don't think people should PNB rock. You know what I mean? Rest in peace, PNB rock. I don't think somebody should lose their life

because they got a chain on. You know what I mean? You're going to grab this chain, get what, five, $10,000 from it, spend that shit in two weeks, and then you're going to be looking to rob and kill somebody else. We got to put more respect on our people.

And that's only if you stay free, which doubt it's gonna happen which exactly you know the cops are trying to find out they're looking at all the pawn shops now to see who is going to turn in this chain and try to get some money that just made me feel like the cops don't have a have a lead which is wild for something like that to happen in a roscos and broad daylight with all them cameras it's got to be that was a wild Roscoe's, though. Yeah, yeah. They say people normally, when they do that, they try to sell it really fast. They're not going to a pawn shop, though.

They're not going to go to no pawn shop. But the problem is, they'll sell it to somebody. Somebody going to say that they sold it to them. This person going to tell somebody. That person going to tell somebody. And before you know it, they caught up in an indictment. They done lost their life. Yeah.

I was going to ask you. No, hold on. I'll go back to your father real quick. I'm glad that you said that because there's so many men that are starting to have that conversation now about wanting that connection

with their fathers. You know what I mean? I tell people all the time, first time I had a breakthrough in therapy was realizing the daddy issues that I had. And I'm just like, I'm just glad that you're

saying that out loud because, man, we be acting like fathers are disposable. Nah, bro, we need that. Like, I just had a son. Like, my son's two years old so i'll be watching him just do little things i do um so it'd be making me aware of like okay let me not smoking my videos you know i mean let me not drink so much around him like let me do certain things to where he could look at me as a role

model i ain't had it i used to look to other men for that. Like, I remember when the All-Star game in 2000, it came to Oakland. And I went to the game with my cuddy, David, and his dad, right? And I was just watching him. You know what I mean? Like, he like, look, son, we getting autographs from, like, Kevin Garnett and Shaq and everybody. But he running up on them like, hey, you can sign this for my son and i'm just like damn i wish i had that that's real you know

what i mean like i wish i had somebody to do that for me but it was always my mama and there's a woman like they ain't into sports you know what i mean or like they ain't into certain things we into as young black men so it's like it's only so much she could tell me. So not having that in my life, I feel like it hindered me a little bit to where I learned a lot of things later that I had to unlearn, things I had to unlearn that I thought was the right things to do because I didn't have a male figure in my life to tell me that. So is that why you took the name Simba? Nah, that shit just came from me watching The Lion King too much.

That's what I mean. Simba lost Mufasa early and had to figure it out on his own. I gotta watch that. You still never watched The Lion King. You never seen The Lion King. And she's never been to Disney World. I went to the play. Yeah, you out of pocket. You out of pocket. I went to the Broadway play, but I just haven't seen the movie.

But you ain't never seen the movie? No. And they got a new one. You ain't even seen the new one. The new one's trash. You out of pocket. So why'd you take the name Simba? What about that character resonated with you? Well, originally, I used to just watch The Lion King a lot as a kid. So my mom used to work, like, three different jobs.

So I would always go to my grandma's house. And I had all my cousins over there. Shout out Swain, Kenny, Danny, Baby Al. I used to always be in berkeley with my family and um i used to watch just the lion king a lot and everybody would just be like hey you little simba like that's all you want to watch little simba so that wasn't my name when i was playing basketball they'd be like little simba so when i stopped playing i already had the nickname and i just ran with it wow you know that movie is really if you you know i wrote about this

in the last chapter of my book it taught that's really the plight of the black person in America but I mean if you watch if you watch the Lion King. You know what's crazy too I'll be noticing like you notice like all Disney movies be kind of starting off with death mmm like the character be dying in the beginning and then the kid just kind of be trying to figure it out like I always wonder why that is It's a good story arc, you know because you can just say like especially in the Lion King like

That story in particular like he's supposed to be king like he was born to be King King Yeah, it's like yo nobody taught him to be that king, you know So but once he was just reminded it was kind of like in his DNA facts, you know figured it. They figured it out We gonna always find a way. Oh, way. Hey, tough record. Tough record. I was going to ask, when you first came out in the Bay, was the Bay very supportive?

Hell nah. Because you don't have a Bay sound, per se. Man, I went through so much. I say a line on the project. Kinnard told me I needed a feature from Kefani if I wanted to support. Kinnard was his program director in the bay from the time and um like i said i would move around with my mom and i would notice we kept hitting the ceiling so i would bring my music up there like yo i'm trying

to expand our sale and i'm trying to touch every region they'd be like nah that ain't it that ain't it you need something faster you need a club record you need this i'm like bro that ain't who i am you know i mean we got artists to make music for the club let me make music for when they on the way home let me make music for when they getting up in the morning and going to work and people just used to like bash me for that a little bit like i was doing something wrong but the people rocked with me though like the people in the bay always rocked with me it was just the politics that looked at me like a weirdo, like I was doing something wrong or breaking culture when I was just trying to expand it for real.

Put us on to who Kefani is, because I thought you said Kalani. See how crazy that is? I thought you said Kalani. And shout out to Kefani. Kefani is an artist, but like you just said, you don't even know who that is. I heard that line. I was like, Kalani.

But they made me feel like I had to be him to make it up here. So he's an artist from the Bay? He's an artist from the Bay Area. Remember that song, Fast Like a NASCAR, NASCAR, NASCAR, Fast? Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. That's Kafani. So they used to tell me, make records like that when I'm rapping like this. Got you, got you, got you.

You had everybody have it. Because I'm fed up. I know the feeling. I'm fed up. You don't forget none of those people who told you that you wasn't gonna make it they put me through it all they put me through it all do you still write

for other artists now hell yeah I can't tell you who but yeah I'm writing people's freestyles now when they go to the radio

that's amazing so is it easier for you to write for other people than to write for yourself, like to tell made-up fictional things? It's way easier because a lot of artists, like with me, I have trouble making songs about nothing.

So you know how some artists could just be in there and talk about their car, how many women they got, how many shoes they done bought. I have a hard time making songs about that. So I be needing like a concept, what I'm going to say, how I'm going to approach this. And then for some artists, like they just want some dope lyrics.

You know what I mean? So I just make a bunch of shit rhyme and give it to them and they rock with it. So who was your favorite MC lyricist that you love to listen to now? Future. Future.

Future is probably my favorite rapper ever. People sleep on Future so much. Remember when they was having that Mount Rushmore conversation? And it was like Kendrick, Drake, J. Cole. I'm like, the fourth is Future. Of the last decade? Facts.

No disrespect to nobody else, but Future changed culture. Facts. And I think because it's not the traditional way of hip-hop, people look at it as if he's not lyrical. But he's very lyrical. If you really listen in detail to what he say, he's very lyrical. And it's a lyrical. If you really listen in detail what he say, he's very lyrical. And it's a lot

that I learned from him just slowing my pockets down. You know what I mean? How to reroute my words and certain things. So shout out to Future, man. He definitely in my top five.

Why you didn't reach out to him for Results Tech Time? I see you got Key Glock on there. You see Megan Thee Stallion? $250 for a feature? I ain't got that yet, y'all. Oh. I was thinking like, no, this is it.

But look, you got Roddy Ricch, but I guess y'all on the same label. That's my dog, though. Me and Roddy had a song before this one. We just couldn't get the sample cleared. Okay. So it never came out. But I've been knowing Roddy for a minute, and he always just rocked with me. Roddy was the one person that allowed me to have a courtside seat to his success.

So I was in there when he made every season you know what i mean like i was in certain sessions kiefer which is a part of his team that's my dog so i was able to actually see them go from like nothing to a diamond record you know what i mean he allowed me to be in certain studio sessions and everything and um the way the record happened was through Dallas. You know, I had just came back from New York. I was doing this, what was we doing? Me and Drama was in the studio doing the Gangsta Grills. I came back, I had this photo shoot that was like,

it was like a 12-hour photo shoot. I went to the studio, I was tired. Went home, went to sleep. Dallas called me at like 4 in the morning. Roddy had just pulled up and he listened to the whole project front to back. And he was like, bro, I'm about to jump on this right now. And that's actually one of my favorite verses on the project because he's actually telling me what happens at the next level. You know what I mean? So he's telling me when you get your Richard take some time to process you gotta keep it prolific through the progress

stay solid for your dog on the foleyard even if you PJ'd up with the go yard you know what I mean so like that was that meant a lot to me just cause bro always

rock with me I always rock with him and for like my moment he gave me that verse who'd you connect with first cause I know Roddy was under Nip as well at one point

so who'd you connect with first Nip or Roddy cause I saw you on the Facts Podcast Lute the Fuzzy and Q shout out to Fuzzy and Q for sure I under Nip as well at one point. So who'd you connect with first, Nip or Roddy? Because I saw you on the Facts podcast, Lute, The Fuzzy, and Q. Shout out to Fuzzy and Q for sure. I met Nip in like 2012 in Atlanta. Okay. I met Nip 2012, and this one, like,

Cookies first came out. Y'all know Burner? Yeah. Shout out to Burner. So in the Bay, we had the Cookies before anybody knew it. So Cookies, if you ever smoke it, it got this distinct smell. Like, you could just smell it.

You could tell from anywhere it's at. You know what it is. And we was in Atlanta, and we was smoking in a club. And then Nip kind of came over. He was like, hey, bro. He's like, what's that y'all smoking? And I was like, it's some cookies. He's like, let me get some of that.

I'm like, boy, you Nipsey. I ain't about to sell you no weed. You can have this shit. You feel me so uh we ended up smoking he gave me his number he was like if you ever get back to LA hit me up and I straight up lied to him I was like I live in LA I ain't even living in LA I was in Atlanta I live in LA and he was like all right well hit me when you get there so I flew back to the bay like two days later and i my car was parked at the airport and i got in the car and i didn't even go home and get clothes i just drove straight to la and from the bay to la it's a six hour drive so i just jumped

on the road to la and i got through the grapevine i text him like what's up bro just landed back in la let me know when you're in the studio he You feel me? And he was like, we in there tonight. Pull up. Pulled up. He had the studio downtown. Knocked the verse out. And he had this wall full of books, right? And one of the books, he was telling my cameraman, Demondre, at the time, like, pick any book you want.

And Demondre picked the 22 Immutable Laws of Brandon. And that book changed all our life. That's when i figured out how to sell myself right what my identity was what i was gonna stand on so that whole day of just meeting him was like a whole life-changing experience for me and then every time when i moved to la i would see him he he remembered me he always showed me love it was a 7-eleven by the studio i always see him there he'd be like what's's up, bro? You still doing your thing? I be like, yep. So he always rock with me, man.

Rest in peace to Nip. That's a real legend right there. You know, you FaceTimed me one day, man, and you put me on the FaceTime with the super, legend ain't even the right word. Dr. Dre. Yeah. What's getting that call me when Dre call you and say,

yo, come to the studio. Let's do something. Everybody shut up and sit down. You feel me? Quit telling me I need to make a hyphy record. You feel me? Let me do me. But, nah, it was special because I actually met Dre through Keon, which is his nephew.

I met Keon at a studio session. He was in the room playing beats. And I'm somebody that's like, I'm open to everything. My big dog that I'm signed to, Donnie Meadows, he always be telling me, like, boy, you too nice. You talk to any and everybody. It be interns in the studio sometime

playing beats. I just come in there and start rapping on they beats. But Keon was playing beats, and I just went in there and started freestyling he was like man i gotta introduce you to my uncle i'm like who your uncle he like dr dre i'm like man come on bro you know in la everybody knows somebody that knows somebody that knows somebody that actually know the person so i'm like man come on bro like he's like no that's really my uncle i'm like all right bet take my number i give him my number the next day, he FaceTimed me with Dre on the phone. And Dre was like, man, I seen your LA Leakers freestyle.

Like, I done heard a few things about you. Like, when I finish with this Super Bowl, I want to get in the studio with you. So I'm like, bet. So the Super Bowl happened. And I think it was two days later. It was like a Wednesday or Tuesday or something. I was in the studio with some people, and Keyon hit me. He was like, I want you to pull up.

He sent me the address. I didn't even tell nobody where I was going. I think they thought I was going to the bathroom or something. I just got up and left. I just got up and left, drove straight over there. By yourself? Yep. You got to.

Straight by myself. I ain't bringing nobody over there. You can't do that. Hell nah. But I went over there, and I was over there for about four days and we just was cooking, cooking, cooking, cooking. And everything he taught me is really what motivated this project because I didn't really know where I wanted to have some type of resemblance of like where I was at in my career right now. Right. Like I ain't got no number one album. I ain't got no number one record, but I'm going to get it. And I wanted to express what that feels like being in this moment right now. So being around Dre, he kind of like taught me how to act out my lyrics and say things different. It's a song called Can't Win For Nothing that Charlamagne told me the production sound cheap. So we had to beef up the mix a little bit.

I ain't lying, though. No, and I appreciate that. I appreciate that. But it's a song on there if you listen to it. Before I was with Drake, I would have rapped the first lyrics like, I woke up this morning with all these thoughts in my head, jumped out the bed and stuck my toe in the edge. But Drake taught me how to say it like,

I woke up this morning with all these thoughts in my head, jumped out the bed and stuck my toe in the edge. But Drake taught me how to say it like, I woke up this morning with all these thoughts in my head. Jumped out the bed and stuck my toe in the edge. So you could actually feel me hitting my toe. He taught me how to act out my lyrics and stuff like that. And he also taught me that a lot of people's beats be terrible. You know what I mean? When you get around him, when you start hearing them beats,

you be like, damn, why I even rap on these other niggas? You know what I mean? But he's a GOAT. That's what make him Dre, so... Shout out to Dre, man. He always teach me a lot. He give me a lot of game.

There be times where I be lost on what to do, and I text him, and he hit me right back. Do this, do that, say this. You know what I mean? Be a man of integrity. How many songs y'all got together you're probably gonna kill me for saying this uh then don't do it now we on the breakfast club I'm saying it then we got about six okay okay about six you know where they going or I don't all right

I don't let me ask you this earlier we were talking about never change featuring Roddy Rich do you feel that people around you sometimes change? Because I know that's a common thing I hear. Yeah. Like, they'll tell you you change. Yeah. But really people treat you differently. Facts.

When things start to happen. Facts. I'm going through that right now. Like, I got a bunch of people that'll look at, like, all my attractions and all my movement. And they just think because we friends they supposed to be there. But it's like, grab a flight. like grab a flight you know what i mean pull up get here as long as you get here i'm gonna make sure it's cool but it's like i can't just be funding everybody flights and everybody room and everybody food right now i know it look nice you know what i mean but that ain't where we at like everybody

playing their role that's why i keep my dog with me fee he been with me from the beginning you know i mean ain't never asked for nothing we've been rocking from the beginning but it's so many people that feel like because they know you they feel like they entitled to get something from you that's right and it's like bro like help me don't just always try to take from me like this is a tough business right it's very tough. Artists get, like, what, two, three years at the max sometimes? Now it feels like a year and a half. Yeah. What's that ball like from that joint you got where you be like,

and when they want more, they act like you never did nothing. You could do everything for somebody. I done gave people verses, wrote them songs, and then they'd come to the show and be like, bro, I don't want to pay for no ticket. It's like, bro, support me. The ticket the ticket 20 you know what i mean support me like make me look good too like i gotta sell tickets i gotta sell i gotta book an agent they looking at how many tickets this nigga selling right you know what i mean like don't just buy one bring a bunch of people to

bring some people but they want to come with everybody get they people in free to make them look like the man so sometimes people be around you to really benefit where it is they want to come with everybody, get their people in free to make them look like the man. So sometimes people be around you to really benefit where it is they trying to do. Yeah. You know what I mean? So that's something I'm dealing with right now. Just like learning like where to place people, learning who could come and who can't. You're also going on tour with Joyner Lucas. Yeah.

Shout out my dog Joyner. Joyner. Shout out Joyner. We going on tour this Friday. This is my first tour. Oh wow, that's soon. Yeah, it's my first tour too. I'm excited.

Well, congratulations. How did that even happen um so joiner had hit me back in june and he was like um i appreciate like you keeping bars a lot you know i mean like there's very few of us that's like really trying to stand on rapping and he was telling me he was getting ready to go on this tour and um if i wanted to come out you know he was extending his hand i'm like hell yeah i ain't never been on no tour kovic got in my way so um this is actually the first artist to bring me along and share share his platform with me a lot a lot of artists don't do that they feel like you're gonna you know steal they shine or you know what i mean take from what it is they do but he really extended his hand and brought me on he even offered for me to go on his bus you know what i mean but i was like man i'm about to pull up with a couple big niggas i ain't bringing all extended his hand and brought me on. He even offered for me to go on his bus. You know what I mean?

When I was like, man, I'm about to pull up with a couple big niggas. I ain't bringing all these niggas on my bus. Y'all got 18 dates, right? Yeah. So I'm excited about this just to see, like, the fans, how they react to the music, what music they like the most. So I'm excited about it. And are you and LaRussell doing a project, man?

Because I'm trying to figure out. First of all, I want to know what's in the water that got you and LaRussell sounding the way y'all do. That's number one. First off, that's my dog. Love that dude. That's my dog right there. I literally, anytime I'm in the bay. What's crazy is LaRussell live not too far from my mom.

So every time I'm in the bay, damn, I shouldn't have said that because everybody be in his backyard. Now they're going to know my mom. You're right. But no, every time I'm out there, I shouldn't have said that because everybody be in his backyard. Now they're going to know my mom. You're right. But every time I'm out there, I hit him. And it's just motivating because it's like he really running a business with his family. That's right. Like literally, like I went over there, like they pressing up their own tees. They having marketing conversations.

They in the backyard having rehearsal and it'd be making me wish like damn i wish i had this before i was going to major route but it was hard for me to build a team because everybody was thinking for self he got a bunch of people that's literally supporting him like they want to see him win i had a bunch of niggas around me that just wanted to see us win rather than see me win so we could all get the win that's right and um he just inspired me bro he like really inspired me we've been talking about this project um i was actually supposed to come to his residency that he just did but i had to um go out of town and film this video but um it's crazy to say residency and it's in his backyard that's incredible though that's incredible like he literally just had like 400 people in a backyard at his crib you know i mean that bought

tickets and bought merch it's incredible especially for a bay artist it's tough for us and he went through the same thing i went through people telling him you need this type of song you need that certain blogs in the bay didn't want to post him because he don't play into the politics. And he cut through. He cut through. His music expanded. It was bigger than the Bay. So we definitely, I don't know when it's going to come, but we definitely going to put that together.

We done talked about it a few times. So it's going to come. It's just, you know, he got a lot going on, I got a lot going on. But once we get some down time to really knock it out, it's going to come together. All right. Let's play a song off the album, man. What you want to hear? Never Change

featuring the homie Roddy Ricch. Alright, well here it is. Simba's album is out today. Results take time out today. Make sure you pick it up. Yes, sir. Simba, you're going places, my brother. Come on, man. I appreciate y'all for having me. Also, you know, like I always tell you, I appreciate what you do with the Black Effect Network.

Yes, sir. Thank you. Because it's important for us to have black media. You know what I mean? We always get hot and feel like we got to run to the other man, not the brother man. That's right. You know what I mean? That's right. So everything you do from all the smoke to every podcast you got, man, I salute you.

Thank you, brother. Also salute you on your future endeavors. I actually like one of your co-hosts. I'm going to get at her later. Uh-oh. Lip service. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Not you guys. Yeah, yeah. Also salute you on your future endeavors. I actually like one of your co-hosts. I'm going to get at her later. Uh-oh. Lip service. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Not you guys.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. She fine as hell. She said, that's you guys. We know what the hell you mean. What the hell you mean? And shout out to you too, Envy, man. You're a real legend out here, man. You got a lot of people in the Bay that always speak highly of you.

You know what I mean? I got a lot of people from Hampton that always talk about you. So you're a legend, man. And everything y'all do for this culture, you know, for the last, what I want to say, 12 to... Maybe 13 years. You know what I mean? We always, as young artists, wake up and watch this show

to get information, to learn what it is we should be doing. I learned a lot from this show, so it's a blessing to be here, and I appreciate y'all for having me. Yes, sir. All right, well, Simba, it's The Breakfast Club. Good morning. Hi, I'm Marie.

And I'm Sydney. And we're Mess. Well, not a mess, but on our podcast called Mess, we celebrate all things messy. But the gag is, not everything is a mess. Sometimes it's just living. Yeah, things like J-Lo on her third divorce. Living. Girls' trip to living. Yeah. Things like J-Lo on her third divorce. Living. Girl's trip to Miami.

Mess. Breaking up with your girlfriend while on Instagram Live. Living. It's kind of mess. Yeah. Well, you get it. Got it? Live, love, mess.

Listen to Mess with Sydney Washington and Marie Faustin on iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, y'all. Faustin on iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And John Glickman? Historical Records brings history to life through hip-hop. Each episode is about a different inspiring figure from history. Like this one about Claudette Colvin, a 15-year-old girl in Alabama who refused to give up her seat on the city bus nine whole months before Rosa Parks did the same thing. Check it. Get the kids in your life excited about history by tuning in to Historical Records. Because in order to make history, you have to make some noise.

Listen to Historical Records on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.