Speaker 1: Yo, what up? Man?
Speaker 2: Is your boy a Connor? You're checking out the Cruise
Speaker 2: Show podcast? Make sure you subscribe, rate and ship. It's
Speaker 2: worth it, I promise you. Let's go yo.
Speaker 1: Hey, conn is back on the Cruise Show. Let's get away.
Speaker 1: So many hits, dog. Now let's play intro number two
Speaker 1: because then there's a whole nother intro, so many songs. Acon,
Speaker 1: congratulations on this career yours man.
Speaker 2: You always had the most craziest intros though.
Speaker 1: Yeah, shout out to DJ Fuse for that. Yes, yes,
Speaker 1: sir smack, I see you.
Speaker 2: Good to see you, man.
Speaker 1: She was running from the law. That's why he's in
Speaker 1: the corner.
Speaker 2: You feel me.
Speaker 1: It's crazy, man. The catalog is wild, man, that's what's up.
Speaker 2: Man.
Speaker 1: Yeah, every time I see Akon, I gotta take congratulations.
Speaker 1: I got to do. There's always congratulations in order when
Speaker 1: it comes to Acon. How you feeling, how's your spirit? Man?
Speaker 2: I feel amazing, bro, Yeah, absolutely amazing.
Speaker 1: Feeling good man. You know you brought the team.
Speaker 2: Man, she's looking that's the future, that's right, lay up next,
Speaker 2: up next.
Speaker 1: I like that. You know. Akon is responsible for a
Speaker 1: few stars in this business. You know what I'm saying
Speaker 1: your hand in that. Yeah, man, beautiful day sounds great.
Speaker 1: Thank you mangratulations that good vibe that we are used
Speaker 1: to getting from Akon, right, what's the energy that went
Speaker 1: behind that?
Speaker 2: It was about just bringing just a positive vibration back
Speaker 2: to the music business.
Speaker 1: You know.
Speaker 2: When I came back from Africa and I came home,
Speaker 2: it just felt so dark man. You know, I saw
Speaker 2: a lot of the drill rappers dying, a lot of
Speaker 2: small young guys that's coming up before their career could
Speaker 2: even get to a certain level that you know, the
Speaker 2: obituaries beat you know, meet before their bios to an extent,
Speaker 2: and it was like, man, this is crazy. But then
Speaker 2: when I was just listening to I was looking for
Speaker 2: something to be more like, something that would motivate me
Speaker 2: into it, and I just really didn't hear it, you know,
Speaker 2: So I was like, you know, I think this is
Speaker 2: the time when the music just needs to shift into
Speaker 2: a more positive vibration, honestly. But what I did like
Speaker 2: is how the West Coast shifted though. A lot happened
Speaker 2: on this side, A lot happened on this side, and
Speaker 2: I love it because I know, notice that it's been
Speaker 2: getting a lot like the West Coast really been supporting
Speaker 2: West Coast music. Yeah, I noticed that since you guys
Speaker 2: like it's been needed, Yeah, it's been needed. You know
Speaker 2: a lot of local artists are now getting heard and
Speaker 2: played and actually getting recognized nationally and that and then
Speaker 2: it's and it's good like it's it's club music, is
Speaker 2: happy music. Like I was like, okay, I can rock
Speaker 2: with this right here?
Speaker 1: Yeah, nah, akon. You know, I was fortunate enough to
Speaker 1: see you come up in this business, right rolling in
Speaker 1: a van with four other artists, five other artists doing radio,
Speaker 1: you know, sleeping in the van, sleeping where you can
Speaker 1: just to get put one get belly Dancer on the air.
Speaker 1: You know, Man, I saw it, Man, I saw it right,
Speaker 1: And that's the hard way, right, There's there's a different
Speaker 1: way to go about getting I guess famous or noticed now.
Speaker 2: Right, another conversation, because I always believe that anything that
Speaker 2: you that's fast tracked don't last, right, So that's why
Speaker 2: I'm still here today. Even though the technology has advanced,
Speaker 2: it don't change the blueprint on how you get things popping,
Speaker 2: and you keep it fas like. Sustainability to me is
Speaker 2: the most important thing, right, you could put out a
Speaker 2: record that'd be great for a week. But if you
Speaker 2: could put out a record that'd be great for ten years,
Speaker 2: one hundred years, a thousand years. It's a different conversation.
Speaker 2: It's a different type of work that needs to be
Speaker 2: put into you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1: And I think you've always had this mindset. You've had
Speaker 1: it for a long time. You told T Pain, I
Speaker 1: can't give you the biggest check, but I can give
Speaker 1: you a career, right, That's what you told Ta Pain,
Speaker 1: And that's exactly what you did. And he went with you,
Speaker 1: and he chose you over millions of dollars.
Speaker 2: Yep, we sure did. Wow, you sure did.
Speaker 1: What a moment, Yeah, man, and look at him now
Speaker 1: killing it still legendary. T Pain is killing y'all. Legend
Speaker 1: Thank you. What's your biggest song in your opinion? You
Speaker 1: know there's obviously chart toppers, right obviously, Yeah, But if I.
Speaker 2: Would say, out of all my records, the biggest one
Speaker 2: will probably be.
Speaker 1: Mister Lonely, Mister Lonely. Yeah, we were listening to that.
Speaker 1: If you caught Jackie singing that, Mabe, was that a fast?
Speaker 1: The whole catalog was on black? Was that a fast?
Speaker 1: Song to make or was that a links?
Speaker 3: No?
Speaker 2: Actually, all my songs were pretty quick, you know, because
Speaker 2: they was all they was kind of written before I
Speaker 2: even did it, because it was all more based on
Speaker 2: the actual, uh situations I was dealing with. So most
Speaker 2: songs that you deal with, that's based on your experience.
Speaker 2: It's easier to write. It's really more about how do
Speaker 2: I want it to feel though when someone else kind
Speaker 2: of listens to it, you know what I'm saying. Sure,
Speaker 2: and that was the direction. But once I realized where
Speaker 2: I was going production wise, the song was done within
Speaker 2: a few hours.
Speaker 1: With all those hits, is there ever, Is there ever
Speaker 1: or will there ever be an opportunity for you to
Speaker 1: sell your catalog?
Speaker 2: Yeah? I think I think opportunities to sell is every day. Okay,
Speaker 2: that's every day, you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1: Sale?
Speaker 2: Yeah, like you at any moment, you just put a
Speaker 2: sign up for sale, and I promise you there'll be
Speaker 2: a lot of banks by it. Right.
Speaker 1: Yeah. What do you think your catalog is worth if
Speaker 1: you had to put a number on it, if I
Speaker 1: put a number on it, priceless, Yeah, for sure, I
Speaker 1: get it out of Christ. We're talking a lot of money. Here.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, I take a billion dollars a billion, I
Speaker 2: would's make it happen about that.
Speaker 1: Sure, I'll take a billion. Two let's myself in the mix.
Speaker 1: Feel Me Beautiful Day is on all streaming platforms. What
Speaker 1: a song? What's up? Jack? How does it feel to.
Speaker 3: Be so timeless? Because I was just telling the guys
Speaker 3: before that, my introduction to you is my getting.
Speaker 2: Ready, her auntie fealing her makeup.
Speaker 3: Afterwards so I could take it, and it was just like,
Speaker 3: and now you being here, It's just like, so it's
Speaker 3: just generational. How does it feel to actually be an
Speaker 3: artist that's like that?
Speaker 2: Nah? Man, it's interesting. I forgot who I was talking
Speaker 2: to about it. But when we did the Acon Superfan,
Speaker 2: I was realizing that we actually had generational fans. So
Speaker 2: you would have the mom who came with her daughter,
Speaker 2: and then the daughter brought her baby.
Speaker 3: Yeah, like we had.
Speaker 2: Literally three generations of so a lot of the venues
Speaker 2: that we chose, we literally could have flipped them four
Speaker 2: or five, six times over because of that alone, but
Speaker 2: because of the super Fan too. We wanted to have
Speaker 2: a one time, one only type experien is in that city.
Speaker 2: We realize just how layered our fan base was in generation,
Speaker 2: you know what I mean. So that's another thing that
Speaker 2: also made me say, yo, yeah we got we have
Speaker 2: to come back, because yeah, they I mean it was
Speaker 2: kids like six seven years old Numa songs.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and you know what I mean, there's not a
Speaker 1: lot of artists, I believe, right in my opinion, this
Speaker 1: is cruise. There's not a lot of artists that hold
Speaker 1: that weight, I think. Right, there's a lot of artists obviously, right,
Speaker 1: but it's a generational artist, right, right, right, I think
Speaker 1: there's a handful of you'll.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's a handful of using for sure. Straight up.
Speaker 4: I think that's to your benefit because once that younger
Speaker 4: generation catches up, then that's why music becomes so cyclical,
Speaker 4: right because then they hear that, they go, damn, that's
Speaker 4: fresh to me. Let me make something like that, and
Speaker 4: then that's when your legacy never.
Speaker 2: Dies, right absolutely.
Speaker 1: Man, it's like introducing our kids to the Beatles or
Speaker 1: whatever it is.
Speaker 4: Yeah, they got to know about Earth Wind and fire Man.
Speaker 4: It's just kind of the way that is. You mentioned
Speaker 4: Mice Lonely being your favorite or your biggest song in
Speaker 4: your mind. What do people yell at you when they
Speaker 4: see you, like at the airport, or they yell a
Speaker 4: song up.
Speaker 2: So it's interesting because it depends on what city I'm
Speaker 2: in and who's yelling. Right, So if it's somebody black,
Speaker 2: they're gonna yell locked up a kind of young Jesus.
Speaker 2: Those are two most famous from black people. Right, that's
Speaker 2: just how I go. Right, if they're white, they're gonna
Speaker 2: yell smack that I want to love you. It's interesting
Speaker 2: that that's just how it's been that. No, it's and
Speaker 2: it's the weirdest.
Speaker 1: Is the weirdest thing, you know, hilarious. Yeah, each each song,
Speaker 1: I guess has its demographic, right.
Speaker 2: No, it's so crazy, but interestingly enough because I know
Speaker 2: the Hispanic market is so kind of separated. But before
Speaker 2: when Baby I'm Back was out, anybody that I saw
Speaker 2: was that was like Mexican was singing the Baby Back
Speaker 2: record to me. Yeah, because of the Bash. And then
Speaker 2: when I went more towards like the eastern Latin side,
Speaker 2: like Puerto Rico area, day be singing the Dons I
Speaker 2: could Doudeo record back to. So it was like it
Speaker 2: was always something and it dependent on who it was singing.
Speaker 2: But for the most part, between those two, the black
Speaker 2: and white side. I get those all the time.
Speaker 1: That makes too much sense, that crazy. Is there any
Speaker 1: regrets when it comes to this.
Speaker 2: Career of yours? Oh no, no regrets, absolutely no, absolutely,
Speaker 2: not else only lessons, right, No, not absolutely, that's absolutely
Speaker 2: you know. I think with everybody, there's always certain decisions
Speaker 2: you wish you could go turn back the hands of
Speaker 2: time to actually make. But then I think about, Okay,
Speaker 2: let's say I did make that decision thinking it would
Speaker 2: have been a better decision. I'm already knowing had I
Speaker 2: made that decision that I thought I should have made,
Speaker 2: it would have been worse because I wouldn't be here
Speaker 2: today if I did.
Speaker 1: True, very true.
Speaker 2: You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1: Do you follow like an instinct?
Speaker 2: Instincts? Man? I amis you?
Speaker 1: Now?
Speaker 2: My instincts follow me everywhere I go. I don't care
Speaker 2: how crazy it sound to everybody else. If my instinct
Speaker 2: says moved this way, that's the way I'm moving. Because
Speaker 2: every time I went against my instincts, I regretted it
Speaker 2: every time.
Speaker 1: It's a lesson every time.
Speaker 4: Yeah, And it's kind of sad that more people don't
Speaker 4: do that.
Speaker 2: Right.
Speaker 4: We live in such an analytical world. Like, it doesn't matter
Speaker 4: if it's sports or it's music or social. Everybody's so
Speaker 4: caught up in numbers. They don't trust their gut. Nom.
Speaker 2: They don't trust their gut no more. And they so
Speaker 2: worried about what other people are gonna think. Yeah, you
Speaker 2: know what I mean, And you don't even know. You
Speaker 2: gotta like there's a there's an inner psyche within all
Speaker 2: of us, right, that's why deja vu actually exists, some
Speaker 2: ship that you done been through already, you know what
Speaker 2: I mean. Right, But because you lose the spiritual side
Speaker 2: of it, you don't you don't tap into it. So
Speaker 2: when you're seeing, when you're feeling something, that's the spiritual
Speaker 2: side talking to you. So when you ignore it, you
Speaker 2: always regret it, bro like all the time.
Speaker 1: Yeah, man, you're a spiritual guy. Very Yeah.
Speaker 2: You believe in a higher power, absolutely sure. You pray
Speaker 2: every day, that's right, Yeah, that's right. Do you pray?
Speaker 2: Do you say do we say thank you? Do pray
Speaker 2: for strength? What do we pray for? I pray for everything,
Speaker 2: but most most about just appreciation. Because when I pray,
Speaker 2: I don't really pray to ask I just pray.
Speaker 1: To sustain yeah.
Speaker 2: And I think that's the difference in a lot of
Speaker 2: prayers because most people, when you pray and to ask
Speaker 2: for certain things, it goes beyond the appreciation of the
Speaker 2: blessings that's existing already. Is more about telling God what
Speaker 2: you want versus thinking of what you already have you
Speaker 2: know what I mean?
Speaker 1: Yes, sir bars, I like that. Yo, Lady Gaga was
Speaker 1: your artist? Yeah, and then uh and then she wasn't. Yeah,
Speaker 1: how did that work out? You take contractor out or
Speaker 1: the contract? That was it? She moved on? Yeah? Oh man,
Speaker 1: well good for her, great for her. Yeah, right, it's
Speaker 1: all good, Oh great, because we.
Speaker 2: Both won a big way, you know what I mean.
Speaker 2: And I think it's like in any situation, you know
Speaker 2: it's gonna it's gonna last until it ends. Sure, you know,
Speaker 2: now you can continue to go further, or you can
Speaker 2: find a different direction in which you want to go.
Speaker 2: But I think she was in that stage of her
Speaker 2: career where she wanted to go in a direction where
Speaker 2: she controlled the majority of what she wanted to do,
Speaker 2: and I felt like it was it was a good
Speaker 2: move her.
Speaker 4: Yeah, man, did you see that talent when you had her?
Speaker 4: When you first saw her. I mean, because her range
Speaker 4: now is just stupid.
Speaker 1: Right.
Speaker 4: She started on the dance pop side, and I mean
Speaker 4: she's doing stuff with Tony Bennett and just she's a
Speaker 4: class and.
Speaker 1: Now she's in her joker, right, joker coming out the
Speaker 1: first time?
Speaker 2: You say she was always she was always one of
Speaker 2: those special artistic people, right. So, And when I say artistic,
Speaker 2: I don't mean from a perspective of you know, the
Speaker 2: other artistic, but I mean like creatively, she was like
Speaker 2: always amazing, Like I always knew that music would be
Speaker 2: just the beginning in the cornerstone of where she's gonna
Speaker 2: end up.
Speaker 1: Wow, you know what I'm saying. She was mult one absolutely.
Speaker 1: You know. I met her and she asked me if
Speaker 1: I knew who you were, and I'm like, yeah, I
Speaker 1: know who akon. When she was first starting out, I
Speaker 1: was working at a station in Vegas Monday morning. I'm
Speaker 1: doing mornings. She knocks on the window and it's said,
Speaker 1: I thought it was a winner, like picking up the prize,
Speaker 1: And you know, she's like, I'm lady. G guy performed
Speaker 1: at a pool party last night here in Vegas, and
Speaker 1: I was wondering if you could interview me. I'm like, yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: for sure. And at that point I had heard of her,
Speaker 1: but not much, right, so I let her in and
Speaker 1: I mean she she couldn't have been the coolest person ever,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean? And she was extremely talented
Speaker 1: and extremely hungry to get it. Yes, yeah, is that
Speaker 1: what you look for an artist? Hunger?
Speaker 2: That hunger is everything?
Speaker 1: Yeah, in their eyes or do you hear it in
Speaker 1: their voice?
Speaker 2: No? You just you know in their actions, okay. And
Speaker 2: you know a hungry artist by what they're willing to
Speaker 2: do and what they're not willing to do right, and
Speaker 2: more than anything, they're consistency and doing it. Like me,
Speaker 2: if I see an artist that's just constantly wanting to
Speaker 2: go to work, everybody want to go to club, but
Speaker 2: now they want to go to the studio, that's what
Speaker 2: you want. That's what you want. Art is that work,
Speaker 2: and their motivation is there just to make sure that
Speaker 2: they're not only good, but their families taken care of.
Speaker 2: When you got those two attributes, you got a superstar.
Speaker 2: All they need now is a hit record and a support. Wow.
Speaker 1: Yeah, one hit records don't necessarily turn into another, right right?
Speaker 1: Once you hit that one hit record, now the work
Speaker 1: really starts.
Speaker 2: Exactly because that hit record opens a door for everything
Speaker 2: you want to do, whether it's musically, whether it's from
Speaker 2: an e commerce perspective, you got products you want to sell,
Speaker 2: or just opening doors for different concepts and ideas to
Speaker 2: help you grow who you are, you know what I mean.
Speaker 2: So it's like you got to be able to find
Speaker 2: artists that knows how to walk through them doors and
Speaker 2: know what they want when they get there, because most
Speaker 2: artists don't plan that far, and those are the ones
Speaker 2: that don't last as long, you know what I mean,
Speaker 2: because they looking at it for the time being, Oh,
Speaker 2: this all waiting my record pop on my album drop.
Speaker 2: Oh it's gonna be crazy all right, But then the
Speaker 2: album drops? Now what?
Speaker 1: Wow? Exactly? Now what? Now? What?
Speaker 2: Right? That's the scariest place to be.
Speaker 1: Have you ever been approached by a major label to
Speaker 1: be head of an R or to run the label? Yeah?
Speaker 2: Many times. But I gave a job to Boo.
Speaker 1: That's right. Yeah, Boo took that.
Speaker 2: He definitely ran ran with it. I could never do
Speaker 2: it because I could. I'm not a I'm not a
Speaker 2: behind the desk guy. I'll go crazy. I gotta be
Speaker 2: moving like I gotta go find I'm the guy that
Speaker 2: eat what he killed, right, you know what I'm saying. Yeah,
Speaker 2: I gotta go out there and hunt. I gotta figure
Speaker 2: it out because I got more of an entrepreneur mentality.
Speaker 2: I just don't believe that I can. I can bring
Speaker 2: more for you going out there to bring it back
Speaker 2: versus sitting there waiting for you to give me something
Speaker 2: to Yeah.
Speaker 1: Yeah, the world right period.
Speaker 2: My landline is myself.
Speaker 1: Headliners only tour. We Burn a Boy was like, so,
Speaker 1: who who who Headliners?
Speaker 2: I'm like, it's got to be we're both headliners. Yeah,
Speaker 2: We're both headliners. And just so you know the what
Speaker 2: I'm doing with that, Kevin Hart, by the way, is
Speaker 2: my partner on it. So we got the production company
Speaker 2: together on Headliners only for the music aspect of what
Speaker 2: he's doing in Headliners And the first one I was
Speaker 2: shot was picked up by Netflix with him and Chris
Speaker 2: Rock and it was based on comedy. The second one
Speaker 2: is going to be done with me and burn a Boy,
Speaker 2: which is based on music. The only difference is after it,
Speaker 2: we actually have this huge concert which will be airing,
Speaker 2: So it's gonna be a concert film that's gonna air
Speaker 2: in all the theaters in February. Yeah, so it's gonna
Speaker 2: be it's gonna be super crazy.
Speaker 1: That's crazy. Yeah, y'all got a special popcorn bucket for this.
Speaker 2: I was gonna be playing popcorn candy, customized popcorn.
Speaker 1: You know what about that? Yeah? Because that that Yeah,
Speaker 1: that merch is crazy.
Speaker 3: The marketing for popcorn buckets now is like Disney.
Speaker 1: That would be crazy.
Speaker 2: Your idea. I'll make sure everybody New CRUs gave me
Speaker 2: the idea.
Speaker 1: I appreciate that. Appreciate that is the producer. I always wondered, like, yeah,
Speaker 1: like why aren't like merch? You know, how can merchan?
Speaker 1: Is it being sold outside of a movie for that movie?
Speaker 2: Right? Nah, he's right.
Speaker 1: They should.
Speaker 3: Being an artist and for having a career as long
Speaker 3: as you have, How do you remain so positive when
Speaker 3: this industry can be so dark place?
Speaker 2: Right? Well, I mean the thing is, you can't be
Speaker 2: a part of the industry. The industry is just a vehicle,
Speaker 2: you know what I mean. I think what happens is
Speaker 2: when people become superstars in their mind, they've already decided
Speaker 2: how they're gonna behave when they make it. The average person,
Speaker 2: Oh man, when I be an artist. I'm gonna do this.
Speaker 2: I'm aware of this is I'm gonna get this, I'm
Speaker 2: gonna be ware here. So in their mind they already
Speaker 2: have a dream of what that looks like to them, right, yes,
Speaker 2: and then they finally make it and they become that.
Speaker 2: So when you have to become something you're actually you're
Speaker 2: getting out of who you are to become something that
Speaker 2: you inspire to be.
Speaker 1: Wow.
Speaker 2: And the stereotype of someone that's famous or rich and
Speaker 2: famous is this energy, this attitude, this certain crowds, specific
Speaker 2: restaurant specific, you know, this car like It's just that
Speaker 2: that's the part that that I never really me I
Speaker 2: hate it, like with a passion. That's why I don't
Speaker 2: hang around celebrities. I'm always little key. I'm around the
Speaker 2: people that I rock with, business with or family. You know,
Speaker 2: you don't really see me out there in the circuit
Speaker 2: like that because it's that energy that it just looks
Speaker 2: plastic to me, so fake. Wow, you know what I mean.
Speaker 2: I can't be around along without feeling disrespected even though
Speaker 2: they're not doing anything. Yeah, it's because they're not doing anything. Yeah,
Speaker 2: It's like, bro, I know this is all a mass
Speaker 2: like I know you, bro, Like I know you.
Speaker 1: Yeah, like bro, I can stop stop and unfortunate. But
Speaker 1: you know a lot of artists allow when I say
Speaker 1: a lot a lot of artists see it that way
Speaker 1: and they have to be that way right and have
Speaker 1: to force themselves to become something in order to become right.
Speaker 2: That's that's the mindset, that's what they think. And in
Speaker 2: social media put exactly put the gasoline on it, because
Speaker 2: social media has become the platform where you can become
Speaker 2: whoever you want it to be, and no one can
Speaker 2: prove you're not that person right on the platform, right
Speaker 2: because I know a lot of ball there's a lot
Speaker 2: of killers little social media. I'm like where you know
Speaker 2: what I'm saying. I've seen you cry before, Like stop, you're.
Speaker 1: Right people high behind that social media.
Speaker 2: Yeah, social media is something boy.
Speaker 1: Yeah, And you don't necessarily have to are You don't
Speaker 1: have to prove it, you know yo. One artist that
Speaker 1: I was into it was sad to see him go
Speaker 1: was Coast to titch Man Rest in Peace. Man.
Speaker 2: Coast was a man, that dude he was. He was unbelievable, bro, unbelievable.
Speaker 2: He was unbelieving too soon, way too soon and Mega
Speaker 2: as well. Yeah, man, yeah, those those those are two
Speaker 2: big artists that I just knew that was gonna be
Speaker 2: another big pinnacle of my career of just breaking new talent,
Speaker 2: you know, especially Coaster, because Coaster was one of those artists,
Speaker 2: like he broke the stereotype of what Africans are supposed
Speaker 2: to look like a lot of people didn't know that.
Speaker 2: Wells imagine a more cleaner cut of six y nine
Speaker 2: yeah nine right, but could dance? His ass are better
Speaker 2: than Chris Brown bro and did I'm a piano music? Yeah,
Speaker 2: Like talent unbelievable.
Speaker 1: He's a short king, yeah, short king. But like.
Speaker 2: When you see him perform, you sold. It was like
Speaker 2: what And he was African born. Ray spoke the dialect everything.
Speaker 1: Blonde hair, but people to think this only black people
Speaker 1: exist in Africa, that it's a melting part of different
Speaker 1: you know.
Speaker 2: But it was just interesting because I was like, Okay,
Speaker 2: he's gonna break He's gonna break the barrier of the
Speaker 2: stereotype of what people think Africa is supposed to look
Speaker 2: like like. But yeah, he was. He was already going
Speaker 2: we put out his record, and the record literally was
Speaker 2: already man, he was at ten million views in less
Speaker 2: than a month.
Speaker 1: Crazy. He was, he was, he was, he man, Yeah,
Speaker 1: and we lost him.
Speaker 2: He was performing live, performing live and died on the stage.
Speaker 1: Had a seizure, I believe, or something like that. I'm
Speaker 1: not too sure, but.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it was. It was something here he had that
Speaker 2: caused the seizure. He swallowed his tongue.
Speaker 1: You can see the video on TikTok. It's wild.
Speaker 2: That's crazy.
Speaker 1: It's crazy, man. But you know he's a legend now, Yeah,
Speaker 1: he's a legend, man, young man. And I know that
Speaker 1: you you had music with him and you were.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you're working. We was literally just putting him out.
Speaker 1: Yeah you know what I mean?
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, he was. We already had a full tour
Speaker 2: routed for him. We had just left Dubai before we
Speaker 2: came to South Africa. Do that that that that show
Speaker 2: that he that he was at. It was, man, it was, yeah,
Speaker 2: it was. It was a tough time though, because I
Speaker 2: was Those are things you really can't understand. Like, no
Speaker 2: matter how spiritual you are or whatever, you question God
Speaker 2: in questions like this, you'd be like, why why him?
Speaker 1: I don't like person to blame.
Speaker 2: You don't you don't understand you don't know, so you
Speaker 2: just don't question at that point. Because one thing I
Speaker 2: realized though, is like certain things happened within reflections, like
Speaker 2: it could have been something in the future that he
Speaker 2: would have came across then that might have changed the
Speaker 2: dynamics of life. You understand what I'm saying, because with
Speaker 2: that kind of talent, he was going to be indoors
Speaker 2: that I probably wouldn't be able to control he walking
Speaker 2: into Wow, does that make sense? So I look at
Speaker 2: it like whatever decision was made for his life, it
Speaker 2: was a reason for it. But that's something for me
Speaker 2: to find out that they you know, I'm in that
Speaker 2: same situation.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, exactly.
Speaker 2: You know when we crossed that.
Speaker 1: When you say she is the future, talk to us
Speaker 1: about so she people to interview?
Speaker 2: Yes, Cruise, you the smartest God, know you the smartest guy.
Speaker 2: Know that you're the smartest guy. I promise you. That's
Speaker 2: gonna be a day when they come be like, yeah, man,
Speaker 2: I was watching that Cruise interview and they was in
Speaker 2: the back and they was talking about him. Man, they
Speaker 2: said he was gonna be this one day. Because that's
Speaker 2: what happened with Gotty. I would go to every radio station.
Speaker 2: I just have her sit right there, she just be watching.
Speaker 2: And then one day they called her up and was like, yes,
Speaker 2: who are you like, lady, just like how it is.
Speaker 2: And bro, not even two years later, she was the
Speaker 2: biggest artist on the planet until this day. They keep
Speaker 2: that same glitch like, yeah, we had her here first.
Speaker 2: No one would ever know because you just don't know.
Speaker 2: But one thing I can tell you about them, everything
Speaker 2: that I described and artists, they already exhabit. But they're
Speaker 2: the most amazing songwriters. They actually produced their own music.
Speaker 2: And they brothers. They came up from the same one
Speaker 2: went through the same struggle. Both was locked up at
Speaker 2: the exact same time. The little brother was a little
Speaker 2: more hard headed, so he took more time. Will be
Speaker 2: nice for the most part. When they got a grind.
Speaker 2: I've never seen an artist and I haven't heard now.
Speaker 2: I've never heard a whack record from him ever, wow shot. Ever,
Speaker 2: like the older one, Ellens, he has more of a
Speaker 2: confidence thing. So I think I compare him to Kanye
Speaker 2: because of the confidence of it, because he believes he's
Speaker 2: the greatest rapper alive. I love that he really believes it,
Speaker 2: though like no like for real and then when you
Speaker 2: hear them, you will understand why.
Speaker 1: Wow.
Speaker 2: So I always try to help, you know, tell him
Speaker 2: to be a little more humble because I know how
Speaker 2: great he is. So I want the people to just
Speaker 2: hear it and say it, versus him saying.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, yeah, show them, don't tell them right now,
Speaker 1: Ski is different.
Speaker 2: He's totally opposite of his brother, super quiet. He don't
Speaker 2: never say nothing, but he's a monster. Yeah, you know
Speaker 2: what I'm saying.
Speaker 3: It's almos a beautiful balance.
Speaker 2: So that's just the perfect balance.
Speaker 1: Yeah, they're totally opposite. And how did this relationship come together?
Speaker 2: Actually, it's it because there was a part of that
Speaker 2: I had previously where him did a joint venture and
Speaker 2: then eventually he allowed me to just take the group
Speaker 2: over completely. Because once me and Elan that's locked in
Speaker 2: on some songwriting stuff, the chemistry was just on a
Speaker 2: different level. So we decided to just make it full spledge.
Speaker 1: Okay.
Speaker 2: So now, yeah, So before the end of the year,
Speaker 2: they'll be dropping their first record calls. It's the name
Speaker 2: of the records called Glock on Me, but the clean
Speaker 2: version is called A Lot on Me. Okay, oh dope, Okay, No,
Speaker 2: it's the video's coming very soon. Singles coming very soon.
Speaker 2: So we'll be coming to see you.
Speaker 1: Shoot it, man, play on it, man. Yeah, we'll get
Speaker 1: fused to get on it.
Speaker 2: You know what, you get fused?
Speaker 4: What's on the other day, I saw something about, you know,
Speaker 4: the NFL talking about expanding to Africa, right and they
Speaker 4: were saying, you know, they're already doing their stuff in Europe,
Speaker 4: et cetera. And the first person I thought about was you,
Speaker 4: because I don't think there's ever been an artist in
Speaker 4: my lifetime that's done more for their continent than you.
Speaker 4: I mean, renewable energy, all the stuff that you're doing. Man,
Speaker 4: what is the next plateau for Africa as far as commerce,
Speaker 4: you know, whatever it may be, economy, sports, whatever, do
Speaker 4: you what do you feel is the next step?
Speaker 2: We? I mean the next I mean development right now
Speaker 2: is the steps that's happening right But I think Africa
Speaker 2: right now, the way it's going, it's about to become China,
Speaker 2: mainly because the Chinese have come in and gave them
Speaker 2: the blueprint of how they built China in the last
Speaker 2: fifty years, and now they're applying that same blueprint to Africa.
Speaker 2: And as you know, Africans are a little bit more aggressive.
Speaker 2: They work a little bit more harder, and they move
Speaker 2: around more and they're willing to expand beyond their culture.
Speaker 2: So I think Africa's gonna grow faster than China did
Speaker 2: because China was a little bit different. They're more quiet,
Speaker 2: they're not as aggressive, and they keep everything within culture.
Speaker 2: Africa is totally opposite of everything, so that they're gonna
Speaker 2: grow a lot faster, you know what I'm saying, And
Speaker 2: in the youth, a lot more vibrant. They're so vibrant.
Speaker 2: And then more than anything, they harness already entertainment and
Speaker 2: film in Africa already, which China also didn't have. So
Speaker 2: now imagine having all of those aspects of manufacturing and
Speaker 2: assembly plants and distribution channels and you know, e commerce platforms,
Speaker 2: and you mix it with the younger generation of Africa
Speaker 2: and the minds that they already have there, with the
Speaker 2: energy that they got with mixing with entertainment and film
Speaker 2: with almost two billion people, just imagine what that is.
Speaker 2: So if you're not investing anywhere, I promise you anything
Speaker 2: that you put in Africa, you're going ten x. Wow.
Speaker 2: Without even thinking twice, I'm gonna.
Speaker 4: Give you a twenty before I leave.
Speaker 2: Okay, I come back, come back with two hundred for
Speaker 2: you take E B TA JPL.
Speaker 1: That's are you? Are you a gambler? Do you gamble?
Speaker 2: No?
Speaker 1: I don't gamble at all, just like you don't smoke
Speaker 1: or drink. We don't gamble.
Speaker 2: It's just I've seen the there's well put it this way,
Speaker 2: anything that outweighed the bad versus the good. I stay
Speaker 2: away from. Okay, gambling. Yeah, when you win, you win big,
Speaker 2: but you lose more than you win. Yeah, right, yeah,
Speaker 2: so I'd rather not lose. Yeah, I'd rather just if
Speaker 2: I'm a gambler's gonna be on.
Speaker 1: Myself because you can win thirty forty fifty racks, but
Speaker 1: you could lose your entire home period, which is worth
Speaker 1: way more.
Speaker 2: Than exactly exactly.
Speaker 1: It's a dangerous place to be. Who's the smartest artist
Speaker 1: that you've worked.
Speaker 2: With, the smartest artist on your shoulders?
Speaker 1: Paws Like, I think you know there's when when when
Speaker 1: it comes to brilliance, you embody that is there is? Yeah,
Speaker 1: because you gotta think intelligence come in different ways too,
Speaker 1: Sure you know what I mean. Yeah, But if I
Speaker 1: would say from a perspective of creativity, or probably would
Speaker 1: be Lady Gotta.
Speaker 2: I would say that for sure. If it comes from
Speaker 2: a perspective of business, it will probably be Walker flaka
Speaker 2: Walker Fkka. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Wow, excuse us for being surprised by that. But like,
Speaker 1: he's brilliant.
Speaker 2: Business wise, he's a brilliant how so he's a whack wrapper,
Speaker 2: but he makes it up in business one hundred thousand
Speaker 2: per The kid is brilliant.
Speaker 1: I think he'll tell you that himself.
Speaker 2: Yeah, he would, That's only why I repeated it. But
Speaker 2: he was. He wasn't lying. He's super smart.
Speaker 1: Wow.
Speaker 2: And he knows how to network. He knows how to
Speaker 2: put two and two together. And I think being an
Speaker 2: entrepreneur is understanding what this value is and how this
Speaker 2: value can become something. Yes, he knows, he knows that.
Speaker 2: He gets that, and it's not that many people that
Speaker 2: understood it before master P did. Wow.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's master P.
Speaker 2: Yeah, he's the godfather of understanding that. But even before
Speaker 2: master P, there was mc Hammer that a lot of
Speaker 2: people forgot about who had the most brilliant and the
Speaker 2: best musical contract in the music business.
Speaker 1: And none of that being funded by the Oakland a's right,
Speaker 1: getting the age to fund your musical career.
Speaker 2: I mean so, I mean we all looked at those
Speaker 2: certain things that help us kind of condition ourselves from
Speaker 2: a business perspective, but we all depended on our hustle
Speaker 2: and just got in, understood it and figured out how
Speaker 2: to be creative. Right. But they came from a business
Speaker 2: perspective because a lot of those guys went to college
Speaker 2: actually had real business degrees. We just figured it out
Speaker 2: as we got in.
Speaker 1: You know what was Michael Jackson like?
Speaker 2: Off? He was a godfather. I only I only didn't
Speaker 2: mention him because he's not here no more. But if
Speaker 2: you're talking about the most the most brilliant businessman and
Speaker 2: artists in the world, he's the pinnacle. He's a pinnacle.
Speaker 2: He taught us all how to get without even talking
Speaker 2: to you. You know. But I was blessed to be
Speaker 2: in the same room and get those jewels and get
Speaker 2: that information and understand the dynamics of how the games
Speaker 2: are played in the music business.
Speaker 1: And the man he was buying catalogs understand right, he
Speaker 1: bought Paul McCartney's catalog, He understood it.
Speaker 2: He understood that it.
Speaker 1: Did you hear his real voice.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, what.
Speaker 1: That sound like? Was it deeper? Loved, deeper deeper.
Speaker 3: That's crazy because I was actually just watching a TikTok
Speaker 3: video about like his real voice, and I'm like over
Speaker 3: here trying to really listen.
Speaker 2: But it's crazy because we will.
Speaker 3: I don't think like like the impact that he had, you,
Speaker 3: like the craziness that fans had for him, the admiration.
Speaker 3: I've never seen that.
Speaker 2: Yeah, because Mike was the only person that actually lived
Speaker 2: a calculated life. Everything about him was choreograft old everything. Yeah,
Speaker 2: because you got to say he was born into it.
Speaker 2: So as a kid he learned how to manipulate, not
Speaker 2: from a bad perspective, but from a good perspective, in
Speaker 2: other words, separating the man and the artist. Yeah, he'll
Speaker 2: turn on like this, We'd be having a normal, regular
Speaker 2: conversation when in the Maid walk In his voice goes
Speaker 2: from hey, how are you? How are you? Everything? Okay?
Speaker 1: M h m hmm, like on clockwork, turn it on quick.
Speaker 2: You would never know like he knew how to switch
Speaker 2: it on it off.
Speaker 1: He was a different human being, different and a generational artist.
Speaker 1: Loves Michael Jackson and my three.
Speaker 2: Year old, and he understood imaging better than anybody. When
Speaker 2: you start talking about the perception of what this is
Speaker 2: that the world should know about him, and the perception
Speaker 2: of what his family knows. There was two different contrasts,
Speaker 2: you know what I'm saying. So he knew how to
Speaker 2: sell the audience who he was to them. But then
Speaker 2: when he's behind closed doors with friends and family, that
Speaker 2: was a whole different type of mic.
Speaker 4: Wow, he was social media before social media.
Speaker 1: He created his own filters too, headline his only tour
Speaker 1: with so many songs? Acon, how do you get all
Speaker 1: these songs done in one night? A night after night?
Speaker 2: Oh man, it's I guess. The more you do it,
Speaker 2: you start to adjust to the audience depending on who's
Speaker 2: an audience. You know, which songs that you're gonna play,
Speaker 2: which songs you're not going to play. The beauty is
Speaker 2: having a catalog big enough to decide, right, you know
Speaker 2: what I mean? So, yeah, you got music for every audience.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, man? And Beautiful Day is out?
Speaker 4: Yeah?
Speaker 1: And there was you you were were you inspired by
Speaker 1: that kid who was singing it? That? Right?
Speaker 2: There was? It was that that was actually a wake
Speaker 2: up call for me. Okay, So to hear him singing
Speaker 2: that song was one of them things was like, Damn,
Speaker 2: I did make a huge impact and an influence. You
Speaker 2: know what I mean, because a lot of people don't
Speaker 2: have a clue, but what none of my old music
Speaker 2: sounded like, and what are my older songs sounded like?
Speaker 2: That's never been released, so they never really know, right,
Speaker 2: So to hear that and hear him on that record
Speaker 2: on that on that level, it was like, damn, we're
Speaker 2: we're literally now influencing kids that wasn't even alive to
Speaker 2: see my my run. But then when I realized how
Speaker 2: crazy that song went and how viral it went, I
Speaker 2: was like, okay, I got to redo this record again.
Speaker 1: Yeah it's.
Speaker 2: And it just happened as I'm thinking that, we go
Speaker 2: to Miami connected with you Ill rod him and he
Speaker 2: was like, man, I got this idea. Is this song
Speaker 2: that I want to play for you? And he plays
Speaker 2: me that damn song? And I said, bro, we were
Speaker 2: just talking about that. It was it was it was all,
Speaker 2: it was all decid.
Speaker 1: It was meant that's right. It was meant to be.
Speaker 3: Hey, check your Richard the Cruse Show. Thanks for listening
Speaker 3: to The Cruise Show podcast. To make sure to subscribe
Speaker 3: and hey, auto download so you don't miss an episode,
Speaker 3: so so so so