We're Out of Time - Apollo Liberace MUSIC Is the ONLY High That Matters!

Episode Date: November 26, 2024

Join  @RichardTaiteOfficial  for his conversation with Apollo Liberace. Apollo has spent his whole life involved in music, dating back to when he was just a young child. Now the hip-hop/R&B artist felt that it was time to share a deep conversation talking about his life, the challenges he's overcome, including triumph, loss, and perseverance. For all things Richard Taite, the We're Out Of Time podcast, and Carrara Treatment Wellness & Spa: https://linktr.ee/richardtaite For more on Apollo Liberace: https://www.instagram.com/minusgravity/ Key moments from this conversation with Apollo Liberace & Richard Taite. Intro 00:00 What is one of Apollo's least enjoyable aspects of being a musician? 00:17 Can WE get something A Cappella from Apollo? 08:37 How has Apollo avoided substance abuse being in the rap game, while he has seen others succumb to peer pressure? 11:40 Why is Apollo starting a not-for-profit organization focused on the youth? 16:00 How POWERFUL is developing a positive mindset? 21:15 How did Apollo OVERCOME his band splitting up and continue to pursue his dreams? 30:00 How has Apollo handled the discourse in his family? 40:30

He just kind of fell a while after being high and hit his head on the table. Are you willing to do something acopella right now? Man, what do we got? The younger generation, all they have are exposed to now. So, your name is Apollo. Apollo Liberace, yes, sir. Apollo, but that's with all the ice, right? You know, I'm on a light day to day.

I'm like, you know, let me go here and have a real conversation. Let me see your left hand. Keep it light. You know, got the A on here. here for a part load and heart. That's dope. My guy. I'm not anything I don't try to be.

I'm just a, I'm a nice guy that likes making music and, you know. Tell me about the shows. I actually just left Spain. I got back from Spain three days ago. Did a sold out show with my brother, Tyler Yawai. How was it? Amazing. So now, the energy there was, it was honestly one of my best shows.

Just because, like, you do things, like, you make music. music and you do this thing. And I've been doing it for a long time that I feel like since I was 10. So it's just one of those moments where you're like, damn, like, I'm on the other side of the world right now. And people are jumping up and screaming and going crazy

and enjoying themselves as much as I am. So it's one of the moments. You look back at it and you like, damn, like, everything that's been going on is been worth it. I just want to thank you for coming by today on short notice. Your energy is so good that you just even, you're, dude, you're the best. I felt as soon as I came, but you got on the, my whole, my dad's from Alabama.

My whole family's, half of my family's from Birmingham. You got on the Alabama roll tie. Come on. The vibes was already set. Roll tie. No, roll tie. Even though I'm mad about that lawsuit. To Vanderbilt?

Yeah. Well, dude, don't please. We don't have to get into it. I can't. I don't even have any ear. for it. Where else are your gigs? You just got back from Spain. Who'd you play with, by the way, there? I play with my, um, it's a guy I do all of my shows and he's like, we're like best friends, so we do most things together, even just business things. We talk to each other about everything.

My brother, Tyler Yaway. Um, so yeah, we just did Spain. And before that, I actually was on, doing a fashion show, fashion week run. So I went to New York. What do you do in fashion week for? It's like promo press and networking, basically. That's why everybody goes at Fashion Week. So everybody's in the end in all different industries are in one place. So New York, like you got art, fashion, music, entertainment and all entertainment, actors, everything. They're all in one place at one time. So it's good to get all the presses there.

So you can get press, work, shaking hands, you know, rubbing elbows. You know how it is. It's a marketing game. It's a networking game. So it's work. And like, it's my. It's one of my least favorite things to do. But it's a big part of it.

So I look at it as work and I'm... Dude, I can't do it. I try to do it as much as possible. I can't do it. I try, I do not do that. I've never been an ass sucker. That's like, that's the one thing. Nobody wants to be called an ass sucker.

No, because there is a lot of ass suckers in the world today. Like, but, you know, I just can't do it. Like, you know, any young artist coming up, you don't have to be an ass sucker. You know, just be your ass sucker. yourself and what's right for you will gravitate to you for sure because like I know a lot of ass suckers and I don't like them. I think you're the fifth rapper. I like that.

That I've interviewed. And the reason I picked you guys more than anybody. Talk to me. It's, it's fentanyl and accidental overdoses are killing the kids today. And it's prevalent in your scene, right? The underground rap scene. So that's why I started it in the first place. Yeah.

Right. But I'm watching last night we did something with Dusty. Do you know Dusty? No, no, no. So I'm watching the tape last night, the raw footage. And I looked at Dylan and I go, dude, have you ever seen me happier and more comfortable in your life? And we watched the others earlier that week, this week. Yeah.

And same thing. I'm just happy. It's like, you know, there's something about, like, rappers that I just gravitate to. I love that. And I don't even, and I don't even listen to music anymore, dude. Me either, which is, I make music. How do you not listen to music and you're a rapper? I don't, I just don't listen to, I don't know, I listen to myself a lot.

I don't know. The state of music is just kind of. repetitive. So I listen to older music. When I do listen to music, if not, I'm just listening to myself or just listening to nothing. I feel like when you make so much, like, it's kind of like I look at it like when I make music, it's kind of like when your teachers used to say Rough Draft 1, Rough Draft 2, Rough Draft 3, and every song is like that. So you spend so much time critique yourself and doing so many versions of a song until you get what you feel like is the final essay in words. You write your own.

Yeah, everything. Everything. It's the best part, to me. The words and the beat. Yeah, yeah. Really? I don't play any. I play a little bit, but I don't play, I'm not a musician to the point where I play every instrument.

Yeah, I play around a little bit on piano or guitar. Oh, wait a minute. I thought that today. I'm friends with very good musicians. So I have them come and they play something. I tell them what I want to hear and I layer everything. being in the studio now, I'm to the point where it's like the Avengers, I feel like. It's like I got people that do everything.

It's probably like 10 people in the room that play different things. And I kind of tell them what I want them to play sometimes. Or they come up with something that I'm like, okay, that'll work there. So that's how the process is now. But I thought the new way to create music is with no instruments. A lot of people do do that. But I feel like producers, These days, they make production or these beats with other artists in mind.

And I'm like an energy transference person. I feel like that's all music is. Like, when you're in the studio or in the booth, whatever you want to call it, and you're in there, whatever energy you put into the microphone, I feel like that's what people are going to get back, energy, emotion, all of that. So now I'm to the point where production, I can almost hear what other producers or who they're thinking about when they're making a. beat, you know.

Really? Yeah. So they think of like, you know, whatever the top artists are because that's what at the time which is that's what they want to pitch to or they want to get a producer credit for. So they make the beats for these artists and you can kind of hear it when you hear the production. Don't you want to find one guy? Yeah.

Every once in a while, like a famous producer, like a Rick Rubin. Yeah, exactly. Or something like that, right? where you would have them knock you out one every once in a while. Of course. Who wouldn't want to work with Rick Rubin? He's a genius. He's a genius.

But honestly, like, that's how I look at myself in like a Rick Rubin type of person because he doesn't really play either. But he, it's like more of a vision thing. And my friends I work with, I do, I write for some of my friends and helped them with some production. And, you know, that's what I like. That's my favorite part of it. How many people are you playing in front of in Spain?

It was 3,000. Really? Yeah. 3,000. And you rocked the house. Insane. Do they know the words to your song? That's the funniest part because they kind of just hum.

They don't know English, you know? You have a contract? And my friend, no, I'm independent now. My friend Tyler, you know, he has pretty big hits. So even during his set, he's singing songs. And they're like, he's like, sing the words. And they're like, just humming the word because they don't really know English that well, you know. Are you willing to do something acopella right now?

Oh, man. What do we got? Fuck it. I come in dumping. We run it at the assumption. Go tell them, because it's nothing. I formed a new hypothesis. None of these people got the shit.

of these people talking. Holotosis with moving lips. I'm moving ships. It's just movie clips when I do this shit. I'm moving quick. All these Vegas trips are gonna make me sick. Fuck it. Yolo moving slow-mo.

Rosego by the boat low. Photo just for promo. Loco, I'm emotional. Rhyne roams like his postal. Mine roams by coastal. Stop talking. I don't know you. Ooh.

I signed a deal last week. Now people's hands out. But they ain't did. For me, ain't no handouts. Paralyzed with wheelchairs. We still stand out. Some little song. Did you just come up with that?

But yeah, my most popular song right now is probably a song I released about five months ago. When I brought, Tyler Yoway, it's called Paradise. It's like four months, I think. So where do you put it? Where do you have these songs? YouTube everywhere. It just hit a million views on YouTube. So shout out to my brother Tyler for hopping on that.

Yeah. What does Tyler do? He's a musician to singer, singer, rapper. And you do all your own social media. Yeah, everything. Wow. Just like he manages himself. Like my dad is a big part of my career also from the beginning, you know, so.

Tell me about your old man. He just, we learned, he was in a business before. So, but we learned a lot together, you know. I signed my first record deal. My mom was in the military. I was already doing music. I moved to Korea when I was sick, 15, 16. So we moved over there.

and my dad was managing me then and we signed our first deal together at I was 16 with a company that was with Def Jem South Korea. Really? So that was dope as a kid to do, I was 16 doing big-ass shows out there, like huge. And I was in Korea for two years and then, yeah. So you moved around a lot because your mom was in the military.

Yes, exactly. Dude, that's my biggest regret. my single biggest regret is not going into the military. Really? Yeah. Absolutely. Absolutely. I would have either been a four-star general or I'd been thrown out on my ass.

No in between. Yeah. My dad was in the Navy. Yeah. I think he got thrown out on his ass. He's like, we don't do well with authority. I don't think. I don't too well with authority either.

Yeah. You wouldn't have been good at the military. I love my country so much. You know what makes you love America even more when you leave it? For sure. And I love America. I love this country. Yeah.

And it makes me appreciate it more when I'm not here. Right. For sure. So, listen, you're not smoking a lot of pot, but you're around people. Oh, yeah. Who are smoking all day long. For sure. Yeah.

It's part of the culture. Yeah. I get it. Okay. But what about like, Fetanol, the fentanyl death. So is that happening? Do you know any people who have dropped from fentanyl?

Of course. Like, especially, I've been in L.A., probably 10 years now. I know, I know, yeah, countless people, which is really sad. That's why I don't really, I don't touch anything like that. Anybody you were close with? I wouldn't say super close, but, yeah, some people I would call acquaintances, for sure, which is still sad. Tell me about one. Sometimes it's not even fit.

No, I know, I know a guy, one of my girls' friends, he was a sound engineer, so I was, I got cool with him. He did a lot of the big clubs here, and I believe it was heroin for him. He didn't even overdose. He just kind of fell while after me and I hit his head on the table, you know. Okay. But how long ago, how long ago was that? That was about five months. ago. Okay. So then we

can assume that there was fentanyl in it. Exactly. Exactly. Exactly. You don't get heroin from a pharmacy and they're all stepping on it. You know what I think about all the time? You know the drugs you can't take them anymore when

shout out to Ozzy Osbourne, but somebody like Ozzy Osbourne is walking around right now. You know how much fucking drugs they used to do? The rock stars then? I think the drugs were a lot better than. They weren't stepped on like they are. They weren't.

You can't do cocaine anymore. No. You literally can't. No, you can't do cocaine. You can't do heroin. Okay. Dude, the cocaine was at least 70% pure then. Well, it was always pure for me because I was rocking it up and smoking it.

Love it. But, well, not really. I mean, I love to. You have to, you have stories. That's how you have a real life. Dude, I used to walk in with an ounce of cocaine, walk over, grab over, that off, throw it in there, walk down the aisle, grab some baking soda, throw it in there, walk over to the soda machine, and do bang, bang with the water, stir it like this,

take a bunch of napkins, put it on this, push number seven, I think it was, on the microwave, wave, get out, grab the ice, put it in my mouth, crash it up, put it in there, do this, walk out, throw 20 bucks on the counter in under a minute. People didn't even know it was going on. I once did it with a cop in the store. Jesus. Well, I needed to get high. Yeah, facts. Right? But fast, right? The reason I've got you on here. Yeah. Is you got how many followers you got on in man uh 500,000 I think okay so you got so you got 500,000 okay kids are going to listen to you right he's going to listen to me stop touching these press pills please it's the worst thing you can do rest of peace rich holy call it's like they're taking out people that people care about does he

does he have a family of course does he has children how old are his children young young not too older he has multiple kids This is really sad, like a life taken away. Did he have? Kids are without a father now. Does he have parents that are still a lot? I'm not fully sure. I believe so.

I think what is his mother spoke. I believe I'm not 100% sure. But I know the mother, his kid found him, thought he was sleeping on the, couch and he had been dead probably for a little while which is like I couldn't imagine that's really sad that family is never going to be the same no never they're destroyed because you recover they're completely destroyed and the children are never going to be the children are damaged forever i have a no for profit that i'm for me right now is called starting artist which is also like

our clothing bread also and it's for like you know kids that character development through the arts or kids that go through things like that and don't have an outlet or don't have these things, you know, or even street performers or different things like that, just for that reason because, like, life is rough. And, like, I feel like things like arts are like an outlet that can keep you from doing things you might regret or things that change the path of your life. Like, one person, I feel like, can... People think they don't have power, but like words, motivation,

especially from somebody that's doing a little bit of something goes a long way. One conversation, I feel like, can change the right person's life. You got kids? I actually have one on the way. Really? Yes. How far along is she? Seven weeks.

Wife, girlfriend, fiancé? Girlfriend. Really? Yes. How old is she? She is. 30 something. Really?

Yeah. She's getting in under the wire. You know, you've got to have a kid, I think, now by 38 if you want to have a second child. Literally, yeah. Yeah. I mean, I'm not a baby doctor. We can call and ask my baby doctor, but. How do you have kids?

I have two children. Thanks. And, you know, I talk to them about the fentanyl issue all the time. And, you know, I was taking my son to school. the other day. I took him today too, but I take my son to school the other day and he's getting out of the car. I start getting emotional. And I said to him, I said, I need you for a minute. And he says, yeah. And I said, look, I know we've talked about this fentanyl thing and the vape thing because it's in the vapes now. And all the drugs and pills and everything else. But

I just want you to know that at some point, because, you know, he just went into six grades. So now he's in middle school. Yeah. Different. Middle school now is different. It's different. It's different.

And I said to him, I said, it's going to happen, babe. And let me tell you how it's going to happen. Somebody's going to walk up to you and want you to participate in drugs, give you a pill, and put peer pressure on you to do it. He says, I won't do it. I said, let me finish. Okay. The only reason they're doing that and bringing you into it is because they know it's wrong.

For sure. And they know it's dangerous. And, but if they bring you in it, they feel a little less wrong because you're co-signing their, their behavior. Literally. Don't co-sign anybody's behavior, bro. Okay. I love you.

Okay. This is not something I get over. Okay. Please. and he looks at me and he goes, I love you so much, Daddy. And I was like, you know, I must have had this conversation.

That's beautiful. Dude, I left and I cried for about half the way home from school because I'm just so scared, not just for me, but for you. Yeah. And for the parents that lost their child and the children that were left,

that were left without a father. Yeah. And it's just, it's too much, dude. It's why I came back to work. Yeah. And it's why I started doing this, you know? And, you know, I'm just grateful to you for showing up because this, this is taking, this is killing everybody.

Man, it's really sad. Yeah. Not even that, the younger, the younger generation, all they have, are exposed to now, even everything is just like. It's a tough time to be a kid. I just don't even understand. Me, but I feel like it all goes back to parenting too, though. You have to, now is a time.

You have to pay attention to it. We don't let our kids have social media. My daughter's 14 years old. And it's like she's on TikTok all the time. She's like, can I, you know, I think she might have something that's private with like, I don't know, just her group of friends. Exactly. Right. But, you know, social media is tough, man.

and people are so mean. It's really crazy. You know, I was talking about that the other day. It's like you, somebody created a platform. Okay, it's a platform you're able to express yourself. You have these pages, a million pages, like ESPN, SportsC, UFC, no matter what it is, just media outlets for celebrities. And they gave people a chance to express how they felt about these other things, other people's pictures.

And 95% of everything. everything there is negative. It's crazy. Even under my comments sometimes, it's just like, you would add to your way to say, like, to somebody you don't know that

you wanted them to see that you don't like them, I guess. Like, I guess it's to make themselves feel better about their lives, I guess, but I just don't understand it. Like,

as it's like human beings in a nutshell, like we are the funniest creatures. Like, you take our time spinning and time being negative. At everything you could do online, that's what we chose as a species. You know, I had that same problem when I was a kid.

I had a model, right? My father. And what I gleaned from that was I treated people to make myself feel good. I didn't know another way. Yeah. Right.

And later on in life with therapy and I went to AA, right, in my early sobriety, I learned that's not the way you do it. Yeah. Right. I don't need to make you feel small to make myself feel big, but I didn't know. I love that. Yeah. So, yeah, dude, that's, that's, that is, that's apparent thing. that is a definitely a parent thing i know that's the crazy funny shitty thing and good thing about life

is that all we are is a product of our parents if the model is pretty though you come out unfortunately that is the case you know anybody right now that is struggling with drug addiction because I was I was really bad bro let me just start with this I was smoking crack and I'm I'm a buck 90 right now I was a buck 47 all my teeth are cracked right I'm pale but I'm got a greenish and not greenish a grayish tone to me right I'm 147 pounds dripping wet and I'm smoking between six and eight days straight great out of time, all the time. Taking a Big Mac once a week just to keep myself alive. Now, that's the way I used. Okay? You know anybody?

It's hard to find people who are using like that anymore. But because they usually die before they get to six or eight days. But I have, and I got to the point where the dungo me is like, I don't allow that. that type of energy and company around me anymore. Good for you, man. Because it's like I always compare like drug addictions to like people's relationships. It's things that I don't get in.

And like even if you feel like this girl isn't good for your friend, you don't get into that because you're right at a certain point. Okay. In time. Now we're in a different. Now we're out of time. Okay. So now if somebody's using drugs. drugs. Yeah. Okay. It, you know, their, their, their, um, their covers need to be pulled.

Yeah. Because there's somebody's kid. There's somebody's parents. For sure. Right. And we're losing everybody. Yeah. Right. So that's, that's the thing there. But I love what you said. What made you stop, um, and change your life from using drugs? Oh, dude. The life I was living was exhausting. Yeah. Just exhausting. I mean, first of all, you have to buy an ounce of cocaine every day because you can't just go buy a kilo. That's an expensive lifestyle. It's a hassle because you have to get an ounce cocaine every single day. Yeah. Okay. It's just nasty. It's all nasty. It's exhausting. It's nasty. And that was my story. Dude, you know how good that is that you've set a healthy boundary for yourself where that's just not you're going to deal with.

I'm a big, a big reason for that is my dad. Like, even before I came out here, I was probably, is you guys still alive? Yeah, yeah, he's.

Okay, tell me about your own man. He'll be out here probably in a week or two, but he lives in Atlanta. But, yeah, that's a big reason, though, is because, like, I was probably like,

when I was 10, maybe, you know what? I don't know exactly what it was. I was in the seventh grade when I was, when I'm like, I'm writing music every day. I want to do this. I'm putting everything else aside, even though I was making music since I was 10. In the seventh grade, it was like, I know what I want to do.

I'm doing this for my life. And, you know, he's like, you sure you want to do this? This is what this comes with. So he let me know. Like, I'm going to be in rooms around these type of people, even though I had seen drugs before and, you know, I was smoking weed already. Like so. But he let me know, like, this is.

is the type of people you're going to be around. These are your type of rooms you're going to be in. These are the type of people. These are the situations you going to be in. Your old man had the same conversation with you that I had with my son. That's what it made me think of, which is beautiful. And that conversation, he's going to remember that. Just like I remember that from being 13 years old or 12, 12 at the time.

Well, he probably won't remember that. He'll remember one of the 30 or 40 or 50 times that we've had the conversation. It all blitz in one good one, you know. So I came out here when I was. I was like 19. And it was that same, you know, it was just like, just like a river what I told you type of thing, which is I've been around everything by that time. But like, when I'm out here, it's L.A., you know, it's Hollywood.

So everything's magnified. So, dude, I'm going to see table mountains of cocaine here, tables and see how. How's the last time you saw cocaine? I was just in Spain, so, you know, people out there were. They're doing cocaine. Indulgent. Yeah. Really?

Yeah. I'm on a TV show on... You're on a TV show? On MTV and that's probably the only thing I didn't talk about. It's the only thing you didn't talk about. You probably should have led with that shit. Tell me about the TV show. I'm good friends with a...

She's been on TV for about 20... I don't know, a long time. It's my friend Shadot West Coast. She's on... Have you seen the show Ridiculousness? No. It's like America's Funniest Home Videos, basically. Oh, really?

And Rob Derdick, it's on MTV all the time nonstop. They just play funny videos. And she's there laughing. And she was on an MTV show before that. So I think the only TV show that has more seasons than that show is The Simpsons. So it runs. If you go to MTV right now, it's on. It's called Ridiculousness.

So she did that for 20 plus seasons. And they gave her own show, which is basically just following around her life. And I'm one of her good friends. So she kept me up like, yo, you want to be a part of it. this show. I'm like, of course, anything you need, because she's a good person. So anything she needs, you know, I'm there. How's it doing? I was doing well. The season finale just wrapped first year? Yeah, first season. Did really well. So shout out to Chanel. It's called the West Coast Hustle. It's on MTV. It's on Hulu right now. You could also get it on Prime. So

make sure y'all go check that out. The West Coast hustle. Shout out to Chanel West Coast. That is cool. That is cool. Yeah, really cool. It was a good experience. She'd it too. And what have you done on the show that's been memorable that you'll remember? Just honestly, having my music on there, while I'm on there, it's just a cool thing. You know, I'm there on the show talking and then like my solo play. You know, that's just like, you know, it's one of those other things where you do something for so long, you know, 10, almost 20 years and then like those little things that's like, yeah, this is pretty cool. That ain't a little thing. That's in-show advertising.

that's in show. That's not like, you know, you're running a commercial and people like, fuck that, and they fast forward through it. Literally. Right. And that's how good of a person she said. Shout out to Chanel. She's like, yo, what songs do you want on the show?

You know, like, that's how she is. Like, what do you need? Like, you know, I was, I'm going to talk about this and I go on to something else, but I was in a group. I was at a music group that I formed. It was called Minus Gravity. And it was three of us. And we moved out here together in 20.

14 and like slept in a truck. We had it for four years on and off. Dude, we're going to get that story. Because I want to hear that story. Yeah, we got a hotel we could. It was three of us. Like, I'm getting drunk almost every night probably, you know, just, I'm in L.A. And just to fall asleep in a car every night.

I'm like, I'll just get drunk. And after four years on and off, get hotels we could, $100 hotels, you know, just anywhere. And we signed the Capitol Records, which was like a big break for us after sleeping in our truck for four years on and off. But she was a friend during that time. And we were there with Capitol. And then we parted ways with the label probably two years later. And my group was like, they told me one day they wanted to go solo. And I caught me off guard.

I'm like, what the hell? And I actually told my dad, they never even talked to me, which was a little weird. but, you know, everybody has their own reasons. So I don't hold it against nobody, but they told me they wanted to do their own thing. And I'm like, okay, like, and to me, like, I've been around these two other members for almost 20 years at this time, you know what I mean? So, like, I remember, like, getting off the phone call, like, confused. And I remember my stomach hurting, like, damn, like, are they just giving up on the,

on what we already caught up there? We just signed a deal. We could do it again. You know what I? mean. So, like, right after that, she was one of the first people that I reached out after she found out and, like, Chanel, I hit me out. It was like, yo, you good, anything you need, blah, blah, blah. And, like, for, for, for, like, three days, I remember my stomach, I'm just feeling sick, you know, like, but then I'm like, real, like, come on, like, look at your life

and look at everything you've done and, like, and this is all I know and all I enjoy doing. And not all I enjoy doing, but it's like my main thing. And I can't really, I can't even function in regular life without being able to do my passion music. So I'm like, you know what? Like I'm back, got right back in the studio. And like I just noticed like life kind of making a way after that happened. Like it went from something that made me sick to like it felt like a weight lifted off on my shoulders.

So you're living in North Hollywood. Okay. Things are good. You've been. okay financially now. Yeah. Okay. For many years.

Yeah. Okay. When you look back at your time being homeless. Yeah. Okay. Because you don't use that word, but you're doing that for four years, right? How was that experience going through that whole four years where you're just eating a sandwich,

literally chasing a dream. Yeah. That time was, you know, it's the, it's the best, it's like the best time to think about.

You know what I mean? Because, dude, I know exactly what you mean. It's just like, the things that we were doing, like nobody knew we were homeless. Like, that was our,

like, I love fashion and like, I used to put on all type of, you know, crazy clothing, put things together. I would go to the thrift store here, thrift store there, and just put things together.

Like, people thought, we had money. So we're at these places. The first time I came to L.A., I was coming for two days, me and my group. My dad's business partner, which is, he's a business partner with me now and an investor. And he was like, you know what? I was like, I told my dad, I got to go to L.A. I was in Atlanta. Now I'm like, this city. I love Atlanta, but it's not for me. Like some places, you just fill it in your bones there for you. So he's like, you know what? Let's go to L.A. two days. So we drove from Atlanta

to L.A. altogether. So cool. We had this video on World Star that was going viral at the time. It was called it was a website called World Star Hip Hop. And it was on YouTube also. It was going viral at the time. It was called 90s babies. And as we're driving to L.A., we see this video just keep tracking

up. And we made it to L.A. probably two days later. And from Atlanta, and the video had hit a million views in two days, right when we crossed the board. That's your song. Yes. Okay. Right when we crossed the, it was the group thing. Right when we crossed the border to California, video hits a million, we landed LA. He's like, yo, I'm taking you to this place. My friend said it was good. It was a

Montreal Hotel. Right. So where it was, Hollywood, we get there. And I'm like, ah, yeah, this is just it's like, you already know. I'm like, yes. I'm there at the Mondrian. We got a room upstairs. And he's just like, all right, y'all are here. So we go downstairs and we like, we just start talking to people. We connect with these different people. I end up, um, meeting this guy. I ended up meeting other people. I got close to, in two days,

like I got real cool with, Mel B. from the Spice Girl, scary spice. And they were like, yo, we're going to a party later. We like,

cool, came, picked us up. We get there and, like, second day in L.A. And I'm in this, I'm in this,

um, what is, what's the, what's the, what's the, Mr. Child restaurant. And then it's closed down. I'm like,

I thought we were going to a party. This is kind of weird. We get there. And like, I'm with Lil Wayne, like, my second day in LA. So like that was like I was after that day I'm there at a private dinner basically with little Wayne and like cash money everybody there like there was a bunch of people there

like we were the only people there you wouldn't know off TV you basically. So after that night I'm like yeah it don't matter what happens. I'm not going home until I make this happen. This is where I'm supposed to be. So I'll tell you to you right now I'm 29. Yeah, you're going to do it. Do you know why you're going to do it. You're going to do it because you've cut off every other possibility. Yep. There's no discussion. There's no debate.

You've thanked God in advance. And that's just happening. Okay. And when you go through four years of being a homeless, and now you got your own pad, you're, you know, you're all iced up, which I don't care about. But you have a career and a following and an influence over others for positive, not always. And there's no way you're not going to hit it up.

Well, I appreciate that. There's no way. It's not possible. That means a lot. You saying that is a little extra drive for me. you have that type of resiliency, right? And then you have a singleness of purpose to the point where you're in an environment where 99% of the people are getting loaded all day long and you're walking through

straight as an arrow. That's why I love L.A. too. People always talk about, I don't like L.A. That it's fake. And if everybody's so fake here, wouldn't that be making easier for you to maneuver through the crowd? Right. It makes it really simple. What are you so worried about other people being fake for?

And also, those aren't L.A. faking natives. Those are transplants. Nope. Every single person I know from L.A. is the coolest fucking person in the world. Yeah. I'm from L.A. is fake and this and that.

Like, come on now, bro. No, no, no. The best, I have a rule. Okay? The first hundred people that we hired at Carrera were by invitation only. Think about that. Wow. Only by, and you have.

And you had to have the best soul ever in order, because that's my thing, loves my thing. Love, empathy, safety, containment, respect, attainment to one's needs before they know they have one, right? If somebody has to ask for some shit that they knew that they were going to be asking for and they didn't bring it to them, I'm pissed. Like violently pissed. Yeah. Right. But no, you were, you were, you're spot on though, because like, that is what life's about. And because I remember

around the time when we had back to where you were what you said about life because like I remember the shoddyest times like I remember being hungry a few days I remember being hungry a few days like you know what

tomorrow is going to be the greatest day ever it would always be those dips to like damn this day fucking is terrible and every time I'm like tomorrow is going to be the day And I, and almost, not even almost, it feels like every single time I said that, the next day, I'm somewhere, somewhere crazy. And Beverly Hills rubbing shoulders with like some CEO of the, some big record label, like almost every single time you get, I went to the lowest place. I told myself, don't worry.

This just means tomorrow's going to be better because this is the worst day possible, right? Were you praying during this time? Of course. Yeah. I was praying, but it was more like when I pray, I don't like to ask for things. I like to pray for other people. I feel like me praying and asking for anything. Every time I even think about doing it, I'm like, that's just ridiculous.

It's not things. It's like my prayers used to be when I was doing drugs. Yeah, of course, I want things to, I don't know what you mean. I want things to like, so I can help my family. And yeah, I ask for those things for sure. Dude, I would just say, God, I know you're. disappointed with me. Yeah. Right. Um, please just help me stay safe, right? And enjoy this run. And when it's over, we'll, we'll try again. Okay. Yeah. And then I'd say, what I always say is,

thank you, God. I love you. Amen. Right. And so I was not like you. Yeah. I was not like, oh, tomorrow's going to be a better. Yeah. No. I didn't see any better days in front of me. But I knew I was covered, right? I knew that, you know, because of my connection, I knew I wouldn't be thrown away. Exactly. Now, I didn't know what use I had in the world. I didn't know how I'd be useful, right? Because I think that life is about being of maximum service to God and to your fellow man.

Yeah. Right? But, yeah. I just believe that people that come through the hardest of times are tough like, you know, 100%. Yeah. They just toughen up. Yeah. What you went through is just like another level.

Well, dude, I didn't know any better. Yeah. I was raised by wolves. Facts. I mean, I didn't know shit. I mean, you're old man and you have VED. And that's the thing. Well, we were sleeping at a truck.

My dad was with us. In the truck? Yes. And like... Why? Because he was... He didn't have any cash either. He was hard up to at that time.

We all were just figuring it out. I love you. My dad just dropped pretty much everything. It was like, you know what? Let's do it. Dude, I got to tell you something. So like, that's why I can't really... At all those times, like, yeah, like, it was hard.

Like, it was like we weren't eating for days, but it was also like, I can't complain. Like, people. people have it way worse. I have a father. And like, even though my mom at that time, that kind of messed up my parents' marriage, basically. Me wanted to do this and, and move out here. And I have my mom. I love my mom. But at that time, like, she couldn't really differentiate me and my dad. So she stopped talking to me, which was tough on me, you know, for a long time. I didn't talk to my mom, which was terrible. terrible. But even in these times, I know I had two parents that loved me. And to be black in America,

like, just even having that is I can't complain with my life. You know, I have both parents that are there for me. So your dad did the same thing for you that I would have done for my kid. You'd have been like, listen, I'm going here. Da-da-da-da. And like, yeah, I'm going there too. And I just dropped everything. If you want to sleep in a car, I would have slept in a car. It makes the story like, real. Well, What it makes is it means that the reason you are, the way you are, is because you had good parents and they put you first. Exactly.

Your father cannot love another human being more than he loves you. There's just no. Do you have any brothers and sisters? Four sisters. Really? Is he very close with the sisters too? Yeah, yeah, of course. You still talking to your mom?

Yeah, of course. I talk to one often. You made the complete repair? Yeah, no, she's amazing. Does your dad live with you? Does he live with me now? No, no, no, no. He has his own place.

Oh, wow, that's shocking. I thought that you're, like, when my kids leave the house, I'm going with them. I love that. No, no, no, I'm going with them. It's like, this one will go to New York. We are like that, though.

Like, my, like how we are in Atlanta, like we have a house. and it's like two houses on a property but like it's weird it's a house that's set up with like the upstairs is like its whole house and the bottom is its house in both houses so my whole family kind of lives there

and it makes more sense for us because I mean I feel like that I mean that's how I would want that family to be right? Yes yeah it's in Georgia right outside of Atlanta that's how I want my family to be like we're all older but we all communicate and you all live in kind of the same

Almost every day. Exactly. That's a fucking night. You know who does that? People in Italy, when I told my guide, I said, hey, I don't want to see any of this. Because at the end of the day, that's your tribe. That's your tribe. Do you know these guys, he brought me to a, he brought me to the countryside.

I'm like, where do you live? He goes to the countryside. They said, take me there. He goes, my house? I said, yeah, bro, to your house. Your house. Okay? So he takes me to his house.

He lives on the bottom floor. Other family members live on the second and the third and the fourth. And his grandfather, who built the thing, lives on the top. Wow. And they all live together and they have lunch every day and dinner every night. We all eat dinner together. That's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. Because my dad was a chef before.

We just, I'm like. What's he doing now? He does his whipping. and trucking companies and real estate and things like that. Is he in LA? He's there often. He's there often, but he's mainly in San Antonio, Texas and Georgia. You must talk to your old man every day.

Every single day. Yeah, you guys. There's not what, if I go through a full day without talking to my dad, it'll feel like something's off. Right. Yeah. Right. Yeah, we talk every single day. I need to ask you for a few.

Yes, sir. Anything you need. I need you to look into that camera right there and I need you to say, see you next Tuesday. See what's the day when to show again? We're out of time. We're out of time. We're literally out of time. We're out of time. See you next Tuesday, baby. See you next Tuesday. subscribe on Apple Podcast and Spotify and leave a rating and a review and share the we're out of time podcast with others you know who will get value out of it see you next Tuesday