'Burban Street on Clean Hip Hop, Lyricism, and Finding His Way Back

Welcome back to another episode of Spin The Record - where we have conversations that hit the right note, so you can hear it, feel it and remember it.

'Burban Street is a hip hop artist who puts lyricism, intention, and storytelling first. In this episode, he talks about growing up on rock music, falling in love with hip hop, battle rapping in college, opening for major artists, stepping away from music for nearly a decade, and coming back with a clearer vision than ever.

This conversation dives into artistry vs. image, writing with purpose, making clean hip hop that still hits, and what it means to come back to music after life, family, and career took center stage. 'Burban Street also shares how Hamilton inspired him to start writing a hip hop musical, why every song he makes is layered with intention, and how he found his way back to performing.

'Burban Street closes out the episode with a performance of his original song, “Distraktion.” Tune into the Attractive Mindset Network to catch the performance of his song on the full episode on YouTube.

If you’re into thoughtful artist conversations, lyric-driven music, creative reinvention, and discovering artists with something real to say, this episode is for you. Subscribe to Spin the Record and tap in with more episodes of honest conversations and performances from independent artists.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:05

What's up, guys? Welcome to another episode of Spin the Record where we have conversations that hit the right note so you can hear it, feel it, and remember it. My name is Marcella, and today we have Bourbon Street in the house.

SPEAKER_00 0:18

Hey everyone. Hi, nice to see everyone.

SPEAKER_02 0:20

What's up? How you feeling?

SPEAKER_00 0:21

I'm feeling great, actually.

SPEAKER_02 0:23

I'm excited to have you here.

SPEAKER_00 0:24

Thank you very much. I'm excited to be here.

SPEAKER_02 0:26

Thank you. Thank you. So let's let's just dive right into it. So Bourbon, Bourbon Street actually won the How You Holding Up Showcase.

SPEAKER_00 0:36

That's right.

SPEAKER_02 0:37

Hosted by Brooklyn Boone. And that's why you're here. Because you won the showcase.

SPEAKER_00 0:41

That's right. This is I'm in the winner seat right now.

SPEAKER_02 0:43

Yes, I love that. Do you know that I was in that? Um, I was in the one before.

SPEAKER_00 0:48

I did not know that.

SPEAKER_02 0:49

And I won first place.

SPEAKER_00 0:50

So there we go.

SPEAKER_02 0:51

So this is the winner circle right here. Yeah, the full circle. I love that. I love that too. So, okay, so let's let's just dive right into everything. So you are uh you are what what it what kind of music do you do? Do you rap, do you sing? What do you do?

SPEAKER_00 1:03

So uh I am a hip hop artist. I do rap. Uh I don't really sing.

SPEAKER_02 1:08

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 1:09

Uh I can sing, but I really I don't.

SPEAKER_02 1:11

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 1:11

Uh, you know, I I don't uh on on tracks, but like I do in the shower, you know, or like in the car. But yeah, um, but I yeah, I'm a hip hop artist first and foremost. I don't like to say that I'm a rapper. I do like to say hip-hop artist because I do feel like my music especially is it's a focus on the artistry and the lyricism more than the swagger and the braggados.

SPEAKER_02 1:34

Okay. All right, so you're not like about all the chains and all that stuff.

SPEAKER_00 1:39

No, I have I have like the one gold, like the one gold necklace that you get like at your bar mitzvah. Like that's that's the that's the necklace that I've been rocking. And uh you're loyal to that one. Yeah, just that one.

SPEAKER_02 1:49

Oh, my necklace isn't out too. I like I have my necklace out.

unknown 1:52

Oh.

SPEAKER_02 1:53

There you go. See, I got mine, I didn't get it out of bar mitzvah.

SPEAKER_00 1:56

Yeah, but yeah, but you get like the one, like the one skinny, like appropriate chain, like like actual jewelry as opposed to like a statement jewelry.

SPEAKER_02 2:02

Yeah, like those gaudy ones. I mean, whatever, to each his own, whatever.

SPEAKER_00 2:06

It just, but that's not for me.

SPEAKER_02 2:07

It's not for you. And at least you know that.

SPEAKER_00 2:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 2:09

All right, so so you're a hip hop artist. How long have you been doing music?

SPEAKER_00 2:13

That's a loaded question, right? Because it's like I said I'm not a singer, but like I used to sing. So uh I started singing and writing lyrics for a band when I was in high school. Okay. And um, because I grew up uh like classic rock, punk rock, alternative rock of like the late 90s, so like bands like stained and and like the the um the pop punk bands of like the late 90s, early 2000s, like Newfound Glory and the starting line bands like that. And um I was in a band and I sang and I wrote lyrics because I didn't know how to play the guitar, I didn't know how to play the drums, but I knew that I had like these stories that I wanted to tell, these words that I wanted to get in front of people. And when I got to college, it was really hard to find people that were like in this exact same type of music that I were, had the same kind of influences that I did and wanted to be in a band like that I was in in high school. And so I just kind of stopped like pursuing music, but I continued to write and everything. And then one of my fraternity brothers was like, Why don't you like hip hop? And I was like, Well, I can't really relate to any of the music. It's just like like that, uh a lot of like the late 90s, early 2000s, there was a like a very big gangster rap was like very prevalent. So, like 50 Cent was a big artist, like Ludacris was a big artist, it's not really gangster rap, but like you know, but ludicrous was rapping about things that like I couldn't really relate to, like 50 Cent talking about things, yeah. No, I'm just gonna I'm just gonna Well no, I mean, but but I mean that's so like I wasn't out there like that. I had like a girlfriend that didn't have like hose in different area codes. I had I I had one girl, you know, down the street. That was it. Um and so you know, but also like just a lot of a lot of that just like I couldn't really relate to it. And so he got me into like early Nas and like uh artists like Immortal Technique and people that were like really telling stories.

SPEAKER_02 3:52

Uh that was that Immortal Technique like took me took me back to like the moment I heard the one song, like his most popular song. The devil, yeah. Yes, oh my god, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 4:02

And I just felt like, oh, this could be a different genre where I'm not reliant on other people. Like, I don't need a guitarist, I don't need a bass player, I just need like one person to make beats, and I could, you know, I could do this.

SPEAKER_02 4:11

And um solved the problem for you at that time, also.

SPEAKER_00 4:14

Yeah, because it's like yeah, you could find nobody exactly. So I don't have to like I didn't have to rely on anybody else. I could kind of do it more like be a solo artist and still continue to write. And then one night we had uh like we used to have these double features on campus on Friday nights that they would play, and it just so happened they would back to back. I saw uh Hustle and Flow and Eight Mile. Okay, and I come out of the movie theater and I just looked at him and I said, I could do that. And he was like, No, you can't, and I was like, Bet, let's do it. And so there was a battle like two weeks later, and I threw myself into it and I got murdered. I got massacred. I had no idea.

SPEAKER_02 4:44

I thought you were gonna give me a happy story like that. No, no, no, not the first time.

SPEAKER_00 4:47

No, I got massacred. I had no idea what I was doing. I was just like, I was like freestyling, like, what is this or whatever? I'm like, I'm like, I'm just gonna try to run, you know, and I didn't practice, didn't nothing, had no idea what I was doing.

SPEAKER_02 4:56

You were just like, I could fucking do it, whatever.

SPEAKER_00 4:58

But I was like, I feel like I could do it. And the next month rolls around, and I got to the semifinals, and then the following month I'm in the finals, and from there I was like, I don't need to do this anymore. I know that I can do it, I don't need to battle, I want to write songs. Okay, and so I kind of gave up battling and I just started writing songs, and that was 15 years ago, and I've just been doing it ever since. And I took like a 10-year hiatus to do the whole like ghetto white-collar career and like have a kid and buy a house uh track. And um, really for like the last nine, 10 months, I've been back out there uh really like pursuing it hard and I've just been writing and and creating and performing.

SPEAKER_02 5:39

And look at that, and then you went first place, so it's like you still got it. Yeah, you still got it.

SPEAKER_00 5:43

I never lost it.

SPEAKER_02 5:44

That's how I feel it's like riding a bike, you know? So then like when you were when you were on that trajectory, you know, being a family man, you didn't write at all, you didn't do anything.

SPEAKER_00 5:53

So this so this is how it c it c it all kind of came about. So I um, you know, this genre itself does not lend itself to like 6 p.m. start, 10 p.m. finish, like home at a normal hour, get up the next morning and have a, you know, like have a normal life. And so I kind of stopped performing as aggressively as I have been performing the last like eight or nine months, but I stopped performing aggressively and after a while, like it just became too much to like try to get out there and like to drag people to shows and stuff. So you know, and um I thought, well, like well, what can I do with this talent and and this this this like urge I have to continue to write? And so I originally started uh working on like a musical, like a hip-hop musical, the same way that Hamilton, it was just like a completely.

SPEAKER_02 6:38

Like you, you were writing it.

SPEAKER_00 6:39

Yeah, I was gonna write a musical. And um then um from there, like whole songs were starting to be formed, and I was like, well, now I need a producer because it's like I just have lyrics and like what am I gonna do? And I'm like, the only way to meet somebody is to like get back out there and start performing again. And so really um I kind of put myself back out there with the express purpose of like trying to further the musical. So I was was going to like any open mic, I was going to comedy open mics, I was going to any open mic just to like get in front of people and try to meet people and and network and everything. And then in March or April of 2025, I was at an open mic and I just did like one of my other songs, like a non-musical song, and uh with uh like I think I did it a cappella, and the people in the crowd were like, You should be doing this. And I was like, Okay, well then that's what I'm gonna do. And so that's really the last eight or nine months, it's just been kind of full throttle for me.

SPEAKER_02 7:30

Okay, so it was like um a confirmation when you went back out and you started doing your thing again, like, okay, let me put this on hold. I mean, you know, it's crazy how things happen because it's not like the the musical is not gonna happen.

SPEAKER_00 7:42

Oh no, I so I still I still write for that too in my spare time. So, you know, it I just put an album out on February 27th, Bourbon Street and Chill. Um, and it's not like I didn't work on the musical while I was also working on this, and it's not like I'm also not working on songs because while I was working on the musical, like I'm already thinking about the you know, the next album. I'm already I'm already thinking about you know continually putting out music because I just feel like it it never really stops. And and and anything can inspire me, any person can inspire me, any event can inspire me, the ups, the downs, the highs, the lows, whatever. There's a song on my album uh that just came out, it's called What Do You Want for Me? And it was literally inspired from a showcase I did in September where I just felt like the audience didn't respond at all. And I was like, what do you want from me? The whole drive home. What do you want from me? What do you want from me? And I was like, That's a song. And so yeah, that's that's just kind of how it has gone.

SPEAKER_02 8:27

So that's your I always like to ask um my my guests. I was like, my people. You're my people now. Welcome to the party. I always like to ask like your writing style because you you obviously can create out of nothing from what you said. You know, sometimes you you make full songs without the beat. God, I have so many questions for you right now. Cause like you got the musical, I want to know what the musical's about. You started writing for the musical, like you said it's something like Hamilton's. Was it like a history story?

SPEAKER_00 8:53

Is it like I'm so I'm Hamiltoning my life. I'm taking my life story from like the moment I decided, like, so the conversation I had with my boys about like maybe I'm gonna be a battle rapper. Uh, like from that, that's like the opening scene of the musical, essentially, is like me and some of my friends hanging out, and we're trying to figure out what kind of music to listen to. And one of my friends is is is like, oh, we should listen to rock music, and like one of my friends is like, we should listen to rap music, and like one of my friends is like we should listen to country music, and everyone's like, No, no, no. And then they're like, Well, Steven, what do you think? And I was like, I don't know. And then like this voice inside of me is like, You you should like we should make this push for rap. And then I was like, I was like, Oh, like not only should we listen to rap, but like I'm gonna rap. And they're like, No way. And like the next song is like, okay, well then like what's your rap name gonna be? And so it's like the story of like coming up with with Bourbon Street, and then um, and then it just like progresses through there, and then it kind of it just like ends the idea in my head is that like it ends like with me trying to figure out well like like what do I do now? And like it's like it becomes very meta, and it's like the like the end is me deciding to write the musical that literally was just performed.

SPEAKER_02 9:56

Ah, that's cool. This is like full circle, exactly.

SPEAKER_00 9:59

So that's the that's the plan.

SPEAKER_02 10:00

Okay, so okay, so the musical is basically like a almost like a a biography, yeah, almost. Um, at least your start into music and how it led all that, but it doesn't seem like that was your start into music because you you were already into music before from high school.

SPEAKER_00 10:15

Right.

SPEAKER_02 10:16

Um how did the musical like what was the idea of the musical?

SPEAKER_00 10:20

So I did have I do have like some kind of musical theater background. I've always been a fan of musicals. Uh I think even in middle school, they used to take us to the high school, like one, you know, to see the musical as like a field trip. And um, I enjoyed um like the movie musicals as well. So like Chicago is one of my favorite movies of all time, the one with Catherine Zeta Jones and and every and um Do you like like Pitch Perfect and shit like that? Pitch Perfect is great. I do have I had a couple of fraternity brothers that were in the a cappella groups in college, and I used I just like that style of music. I'm I'm old enough to remember Rocapella, which was the group that did the Where in the World is Carmen San Diego theme song.

SPEAKER_02 10:54

Where in the world is Carmen San Diego.

SPEAKER_00 10:56

I did not expect you to get that reference. Very well done. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, um, but like like hairspray and then the remake of hairspray, like like all of the movie musicals, and then um I just I really enjoyed like seeing them live. Like I saw Wicked before it was a movie, you know, um, and then I was in the musical in my senior year of high school. I was in a funny thing happened on the way to the forum. Uh I just had a lot of fun doing that. I did um I did Little Shop of Horrors when I summer when I was a sleep away camp. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And so um I've just I've always enjoyed it as an art form. And then when Hamilton came out, it was the first time that I was really exposed to Lynn Manuel Miranda and this this idea of like a completely sung-through musical. There's no dialogue in Hamilton, it's literally sung through the entire way, or rapped. Yeah, or or or rapped. And it was it was just kind of like this validation of hip-hop as a medium for musicals to be portrayed through. And there's just so much versatility in it. It's not like it's not like it's like boom bap the whole way through, or it's not like trap the whole way through. You know, there's there's so many uh varieties of songs, and um, just the way that he melds voices together and and the layers and then like all of the madrigals and stuff where people are singing on top of each other.

SPEAKER_02 12:08

Yeah, cool the way that that was put together. Like, yeah, I didn't see that probably until like I don't know, like two, three years ago. Um, because my boyfriend is really into like plays and and shit like that and musicals. I wouldn't say really into it, but he knows, he knows he he's into it. And one time he's like, Well, have you ever seen Hamilton? No. So I I saw it with him and I fell asleep on a couple times because I'm pretty bad with movies. Um, but I was so impressed. I was like, I I don't know what I thought it was or or what, but I was just like, man, this this is really cool stuff.

SPEAKER_00 12:42

I think I avoided like because it was so hyped when it first came out that I was like, there's no way this could possibly be good. It's like the internet hipster in me was like, There's no way. If everyone loves it, it's gotta be terrible. It's like it's like and nobody knows what they're talking about. There's no way this could possibly be any good. And then it like swept the Tonies, and it was like getting more and more, and like had a little critical acclaim in addition to just like the random fanboys, and I was like, I was like, yeah, and I was like, like, what is this about? And then it was it was on Disney Plus finally, like they did they recorded it and put it on Disney Plus, and I was like, I gotta see this.

SPEAKER_02 13:11

And I like from moment one, I was just like locked in, yeah, mind blown, like, oh my god, I could do something like this.

SPEAKER_00 13:19

Like not well, I wasn't even thinking that at the time. I was just like, I was just so I was just so mind I was just so blown away by uh not just the the music, but just like the storytelling arc of it and how um you know um there are three or four different people that are one character in the first act that then they like they come back as a second character in the second act.

SPEAKER_02 13:40

No, you made me want to watch it again. Yeah, it's like I I didn't lock in when I saw it.

SPEAKER_00 13:45

And just like the dancing and everything about it, and I was just like, okay. And then like six months later, I think, was when I was just like, oh, I could write a musical. I could take a look at it. And that's kind of when it all came together. The first time I saw it, I was really just like, I was just geeking out for like a solid three hours. Yeah, yeah. And then I was like obsessing over the songs and like listening to them a lot, and yeah.

SPEAKER_02 14:08

And you know what's crazy when like when you talk about musicals, there's a lot of people who say they don't like Hamilton. I'm like, why not? You're why not?

SPEAKER_00 14:15

Like it's well, like whatever. Are you just not are you just not a fan of good art then? I guess like, yeah, I can't take anything you say seriously after people were like that. I don't like pizza, like what?

SPEAKER_02 14:24

Oh man, I don't like tacos, or like I don't like tacos.

SPEAKER_00 14:27

Like what like what no, what do you do?

SPEAKER_02 14:29

Like, yeah, I just instantly start judging them. Yeah, I don't know, but um, what before let's go back a little bit before um before high school, because you said you always loved music. Was there somebody in your in your family? Um, like were you musically inclined in your in your family?

SPEAKER_00 14:45

So uh musical talent does run in my family. My great-grandfather uh came over from Eastern Europe. He was a violinist, he had four children, three of them were musicians, two of them played the violin, one of them played the saxophone, one of them, the one who played the saxophone, really played kind of everything. He was in like a wedding band, like on the side. That wasn't like his main job. He was an accountant, but like he just played, he played weddings on the weekend. Yeah, but he played weddings on the weekends and he did it until he was like 70.

SPEAKER_01 15:14

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 15:15

Um and my mom can play the piano, but like doesn't, she's not like a like a creator on the piano. She can play the sheet music that's in front of her on the piano.

SPEAKER_02 15:26

That's a whole different language right there. Like your music is like, wow.

SPEAKER_00 15:30

It is. Um, and then um my brother, my brother is probably a more talented singer than I like. I said, I can sing, but I'm just I'm not great at it. Uh but uh You could be. I sing, you know what it is? I do sing references for the artists that I collaborate with. So like when I when I put somebody else on a hook for one of my songs, I do sing them how I want it to go, and then I let them like real big boy voice. Yeah. Um but I would just say they're real big boy voice, they're big boy voice. I like I let them big boy voice it, but I just I'm like, I'm like, I kind of want it to sound like this, and then like I like you, like, yeah, you do your thing. Um, but my mom has always been exposing us to music from like from like pretty much birth. Um, my mom was a disco queen of like the 70s, like loved disco, but then like I grew up on like Genesis and Phil Collins and like the music of the like Gloria Estefan in the 80s, like yeah. And then in the 90s, when we were like old enough to like listen to our own music, like 949 Zeta was a radio station down here that was like just like all of the big like alternative rock station, and then I remember that.

SPEAKER_02 16:33

Like I didn't listen to it, but I remember that station being one.

SPEAKER_00 16:36

Yeah, but South Florida like gives you an opportunity to just be exposed to all kinds of different music, and so I was just like anything and everything that I could get my hands on. I was listening to, and um um you grew up here? Yeah, I grew up, I grew up in in Coral Springs.

SPEAKER_02 16:52

Okay, all right, cool, cool, cool. All right, sorry, keep going. I was just curious.

SPEAKER_00 16:55

No, no, no, yeah. And so uh, you know, it eventually it it became like my, you know, I would listen to whatever my mom was listening to. And my mom to this day is still like whatever's on the radio, she's a fan of. She loves pop music, whatever like top 40 stuff is on, she's a big fan of, but then she still has like her like oh like Rod Stewart to her is like you know, and Bruce Springsteen are like two of her.

SPEAKER_02 17:15

Who's who sings She's Got Away? Is that Rod Stewart? No, that's not Rod Stewart. That's Billy Joel. Is that Billy Joel?

SPEAKER_00 17:21

Oh my gosh, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 17:22

Forget that. I'll scratch that out. No, I'm just gonna.

SPEAKER_00 17:25

No, so I mean it's yeah, but like, but Billy Joel, Elton John, like all of those, all of those just major, major, like, you know, and even even Michael Jackson, like the the big, like, you know, Madonna, like the the pioneers of their errors. Yeah, not just not just yeah, but like the greats. They're like really the greatest of all time. Like, you know, they're they're on People's Mount Rushmores, like those kinds of artists. Um, and so um I again I never I I can I have rhythm, obviously, but I can't play the drums and and uh and my I'm just like too awkward to like play the guitar or the piano.

SPEAKER_02 17:57

I have terrible coordination. So like I I I understand.

SPEAKER_00 18:01

Yeah, but um, but I've always I've always always always loved music and live music especially. So I you know, and and then you know, when I got the chance to get to to work with some guys in high school that were like one guy was like, I play the guitar, and one guy was like, I play the drums, one guy was like, I play the drum. I'm like, all right.

SPEAKER_02 18:15

So you guys just put a band together?

SPEAKER_00 18:16

And I was just kind of like, all right, well, I can't do any of those things, but I know that I can write lyrics, so like if I can kind of sort of sing, you guys want to do it? And they were like, Yeah, let's make a band.

SPEAKER_02 18:23

And so how did you know that you could write lyrics? Like, when did you start doing that?

SPEAKER_00 18:26

So this is a funny story.

SPEAKER_02 18:28

Okay, we like funny stories. Yeah. And you're also somewhat of a comedian, too, so we gotta talk about that.

SPEAKER_00 18:32

Yeah, we'll get we'll get there. Okay, we'll get there. Yeah, we'll get we'll get there. Uh so um this, this uh, it's like third grade, and I'm going to this summer camp, and uh I have this like really inappropriate crush on this much older female counselor who's like riding the bus with us.

SPEAKER_02 18:51

Oh my god, I already I'm already laughing.

SPEAKER_00 18:53

Yeah, and well, because it's like it's like you know how like when you're when you're eight or whatever, you like you don't like your crushes are not appropriate. People have crushes on their moms when they're eight years old.

SPEAKER_02 19:01

Yeah, I was gonna say, like, I had a crush on my dad. I I I told my dad, oh, can we get married?

SPEAKER_00 19:05

Like, yeah, so I was just like, I was just like, I was like, oh, you know, I was like, I was like, oh, do you like music? Because it's like what eight-year-old like knows how to have a conversation. So I was like, oh, do you like music? And it's just like, of course I like music. And I was like, I was like, well, like who, like, who's someone you like, or whatever? And she's like, she's like, oh, like, I like this guy, Weird Al Yankovic. And I was like, okay. So like eight years old, mom, like take me the borders or you know, Barnes and Nobles or whatever it was, like wherever you got music at the time. And I bought um, I bought like a cassette tape. This again, I'm sorry. Like a weird ow. Yeah, the weirdest I bought I bought I bought the I bought a Weird Al cassette tape and I like listened to it, and I was just like, I was like, oh, he's just taking songs that exist and changing the words and making funny things. Like I'm like, I'm like, I bet I maybe I could do that. So like a big song of the time was Egggy Breaky Heart by uh Billy Ray Cyrus. And I just like I was like, I was like, what if it would be like a really funny thing where it's like the like the Egggy Breaky baby or whatever? And it's like it's like a woman like telling her husband that like she's pregnant, but like he doesn't want to have the baby, but like she's like we're having this baby, and he's like, And this is what you're thinking of at eight years old? I just thought that would be like that. And I was like, I was like, don't tell my wife, like my A like my very pregnant wife, like I don't want to have this baby or whatever. Like that was like that was just like at eight. I was like, well, that fits. And so I like brought it to the bus the next day to like show her, and she was like, This is really like really good. And I was like, I was like, okay, and then I just kind of like I didn't know what to do with that, and I just kind of like put it in my pocket, and that was you know, then I was like 12 and I was listening to like all of that like really emo, like emotional, like angry, like like hate your parents, you know, alternative rock music. And I was like, I was like, well, I want to feel that. So like I was just like, well, let me see what I can do, and like just I just started like trying to express myself lyrically, and I didn't know really know what I was doing. And then by the time I was like 16, I was in this band and I was like, I have all these songs, and they're like, Well, let's hear them, and they were like, Some of these are pretty good.

SPEAKER_02 20:44

And I was like, All right and then the songs that you made, like you didn't you didn't have beats on them, it was just literal lyrics.

SPEAKER_00 20:49

So, I mean, those those songs I was just kind of like writing and like trying to like rhyme and and figure out like how like what story I wanted to tell or what emotion I wanted to convey, you know, because it was it wasn't really hip-hop at the time, so there was there wasn't like a beat. I was just like in my head, like this is how it sounds, or whatever. Um, I just had words, I didn't even have you know, I kind of would change how I sang it based on whatever my guitar players would come in.

SPEAKER_02 21:10

Okay, okay, okay. So you you had something in your head, right? Yeah, and then once you got in the band, then you guys made the songs, uh like made the music around the songs, and you kind of would just adapt.

SPEAKER_01 21:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 21:20

Okay. Wow, all right, that's really cool. So this, but I I assume you started making like newer songs also as you Yeah, so yeah, then sometimes somebody would come in and be like, Oh, I just wrote this great riff, like what do we got?

SPEAKER_00 21:30

And I was like, I don't know, give me an hour, let's play it over and over again and let's see what I got. You know, we would like record things, you know, by like on a eight on a four-track, and then I would bring home the cassette and I would just listen to it on repeat until the cassette tape burned apart, and then I was like, Yeah, and then I would try to write to that.

SPEAKER_02 21:43

So you were you were uh you are a lyricist before anything else.

SPEAKER_00 21:48

I would I would a hundred percent identify myself, yes, as a songwriter slash lyricist before any other that's really cool. Thank you.

SPEAKER_02 21:54

So then then you got into acting, you did the whole play thing.

SPEAKER_00 21:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 21:57

Um Wow, so you're like a full Multifaceted artist.

SPEAKER_00 22:01

I really can't dance. I'm gonna I'm gonna throw it. Yeah, I'm not a triple threat. I can't I like I I know I know all the basic white boy moves. I can one two, one, two, one, two, one, two. If it if the dance has a name, I can do it.

SPEAKER_02 22:11

Okay. Right?

SPEAKER_00 22:12

Like if there's a music video that teaches me how to Dougie, whatever, yeah, I can do that. Yeah, yeah, I can do, I can do that. But like I'm just like, yeah, and I enjoy doing it, but I know I don't look good doing it.

SPEAKER_02 22:21

I hear you. Yeah. I um I used to think I could dance, but I used to also drink a lot. So I think that that had a big um bit of it.

SPEAKER_00 22:29

It turns out I it turns out I just like I know how to like I'm just comfortable with my body when I'm drunk. It's not really dancing.

SPEAKER_02 22:34

Exactly. Yeah. So now like when I try to do shit, I'm just like, ugh, that's that's that's not right.

SPEAKER_00 22:42

I'll definitely have nights where I was like, I was like, oh, I was killing it on the floor, and then someone will show me a video and they were like, You were not doing any of the things that you thought you were doing. I was like, My perception is twisted, but I felt good doing it, that's all that matters. I was smiling when I was doing it. So yeah.

SPEAKER_02 22:55

All right, well, whatever. Can dance. That's one thing you can't you can't have it all, right?

SPEAKER_01 22:58

That's yeah.

SPEAKER_02 22:59

All right, so whatever. All right, so you um, I'm trying to go through the transition of your life. So, um, all right, so you you got into acting, um, and you discovered a love for musicals, yeah. Um, which obviously went into you being a lyricist because you're like, oh shit, I could do this myself.

SPEAKER_01 23:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 23:16

Um I would say from what you you said that like the spark for the whole musical came from watching um Hamilton, or at least that was uh the seed that was planted, right?

SPEAKER_00 23:26

Yes, that was that was definitely the seed. I don't think I don't think it ever occurred to me to write a musical. I thought at some point in time, you know, it maybe I would write a book. Okay, you know, um I used to I wrote uh for the newspaper in college and then I wrote for a lifestyle magazine, like as a side job, really. Like uh but it was just an excuse to like interview famous people.

SPEAKER_01 23:44

Fair, all right.

SPEAKER_00 23:45

Uh for a couple of years out of college, just like on the side for extra scratch. And um, so I always thought like I, you know, I have this writing talent, even if I'm not writing songs, I could, you know, so I thought maybe I would write a book.

SPEAKER_02 23:55

And then when I saw the musical, uh, when I saw Hamilton, it was really just like nope, that's what we're something called you and you listen to it, which is most important that you actually listen to it. So I'm excited. I like I want to see, I want to hear your musical whenever you do.

SPEAKER_00 24:09

Yeah, I know it's a work in progress, you know, we might not hear it until we're like fucking 70 or whatever, but I hope, I hope, I hope, I hope it's like not that, but but yeah, I do, you know, it's it's hard because right now as Bourbon Street is really taking off and and and them as the momentum is growing, it's kind of hard, it's hard not to shift my writing priority to like to that you are now.

SPEAKER_02 24:33

Yeah, and as an artist, you know, we're constantly transitioning and becoming something else, reinventing ourselves. So were you always Bourbon Street before your tenure hiatus?

SPEAKER_00 24:41

Yeah, so I never I never rapped under a different name. I I used to I joked at one point in time, like, what am I gonna be like MC like first name? Like, I'm not gonna do that. Uh and so I really I just uh it the conversation was it was really short. Like I threw out like three or four like random like like puns or plays on words, and one of my fraternity brothers was just like, no man, you're from the suburbs. We're going to college in New Orleans, it's just suburban street with an apostrophe. We're just gonna spell it different, call it Bourbon Street. It's everyone's gonna freak out. It's it makes so much sense. There's literally no reason for you to talk about any other names. And I was just like, Yeah, no, that, yep, 100%. You're right.

SPEAKER_02 25:17

Well, I made it easy for you. Yeah, no, well, shout out to that friend. Are you still friends with him?

SPEAKER_00 25:20

I am not.

SPEAKER_02 25:21

Oh, but that sucks. All right, well, at least it gave you a cool name.

SPEAKER_00 25:25

Yeah, no, I'll always be forever grateful to that person, but like that person, uh they they went on a very different piece of shit.

SPEAKER_02 25:32

It's fine. Uh I wouldn't, it's not a good thing. Okay, I'm sorry.

SPEAKER_00 25:34

I'm just gonna No, you know what it is? Uh we naturally fell out of touch, and then when I did attempt to like re-look that person up, they had gone in a completely different direction lifestyle-wise. And that was it was pretty much. Let me not uh get back over there.

SPEAKER_02 25:49

I hear you. Okay, fair, fair. All right, so during your um tenure hiatus, what did you do like for for for work?

SPEAKER_00 25:57

Uh I'm I am and still have been an accountant. I've always been an accountant.

SPEAKER_02 26:00

Okay, okay, cool, cool, cool.

SPEAKER_00 26:01

Yeah, all right.

SPEAKER_02 26:02

You did mention you love numbers.

SPEAKER_00 26:03

Yeah, I know. I was a yeah, I was a math lead uh ever since fifth grade. Uh shout out to BCCTM, the Broward County Council of Teachers of Mathematics. It was like my first math competition in fifth grade. Um, but um I was I've always been a numbers guy. Um they did it like math just makes sense to me.

SPEAKER_02 26:20

And um I love numbers too. Yeah, so I used to I used to play with my numbers. Like eight is cool, nine is eight's boyfriend, and like I would do stupid shit like that.

SPEAKER_00 26:29

Oh, I didn't I don't know that I ever got really into that, but but but just like all the all it but all the applications of mathematics was really was what was fascinating for me was like, oh, like yeah, addition and multiplication is cool, but like did you know that you can also like figure out how fast something is going or how tall something is based on that? Like the all of that was really cool to me. And so um from there, um, when originally I got to college, I thought I was gonna be an architect. I wanted to go to to school to to do that. And I ended up failing history of architecture the same semester that I got an A in financial accounting. Because like my thought process was like, if I'm gonna be an architect, I want to run my own firm, I should get a business minor.

SPEAKER_02 27:04

I hear you.

SPEAKER_00 27:05

And that semester I was like, oh no, I'm just in the wrong major. I'd like I, you know, I don't I don't love architecture as much as I thought I do, but I love accounting. So like I just like threw myself into that. Okay. And then uh yeah, I've been an accountant since college.

SPEAKER_02 27:16

All right, well, that's good to know. I was just curious, that's why I asked. And and before you took your tenure hiatus, because this is like you know, like the BC and the AD, you know, like that's really what it feels like.

SPEAKER_00 27:27

You're right. That really is what it feels like.

SPEAKER_02 27:28

All right, so in before break, um you were obviously you were an artist. Um were you performing like you are now?

SPEAKER_00 27:37

So the the bef the before time, uh, you know, um, it was uh it felt like a rocket ship that then hit like a ceiling that I didn't really know how to break through. Um what had happened was um I was just I put out like a four-track mixtape, like I produced the I produced the songs myself like in Fruity Loops, I put out four tracks and I was just like, I don't know how to find places to perform. I'm like 23 years old. Um you know, I I don't know promoters, I don't know producers, I don't know what to do. And uh it just so happened that um one night one of my fraternity brothers, we were out for his for his birthday. I see this guy standing in front of uh the this of the bar, he's wearing a shirt that says, like, here we go, entertainment. I was like, Oh, are you a record label? Just like just starting a conversation. He's like he's like, No, I'm a promoter company. He's like, Why? I'm like, Oh, because I'm a rapper. He's like, No, you're not. So one of my boys started like putting on a beatbox. I rapped one of the songs, and he was just like, Oh shit, you're a rapper. He was like, he was like, All right, well, next week or whatever, I'm doing a show at the House of Blues, and like currency's gonna be there, and DJ Raj Smooth is gonna be on the ones and twos. Like, you should just come. And I was like, Okay. And so I just started going to like this guy's events, and I just started I started meeting some people. And um in September of 2009, I ended up like I opened for Lil Wayne in front of like 2,000 people at the auditorium at my college. I came back down to South Florida and I I did a thing where like I opened for Crazy Bone at one point at something, it's like a venue in like West Palm.

SPEAKER_02 29:12

But then And that's all from you performing and people, you know, word of mouth.

SPEAKER_00 29:16

Yeah, and I but like I just I like I didn't know what to do with that. I just I wasn't like emotionally mature enough to like to like pursue it. I like I didn't know like I just I wasn't I wasn't all in and I didn't I I didn't I had no direction and I just like like right after that I was like I was like well like nothing's happening here like what like how do like how do I get my songs on the radio? How do I meet pr producers? How do I like I just I didn't know what to do and I had no team and I had no I had It was all you yeah and I had no friend group I had no like I wasn't like networking with other artists I I wasn't doing any of the things that I'm doing now and from there I was just like all right well this I just kind of feel stuck and I was like I was like I'm just gonna put this in my back pocket for a hot minute and like focus on my job and like focus on like that avenue of my life and that's kind of where the break came in.

SPEAKER_02 30:03

Okay, so it wasn't because you had a kid that you stopped before.

SPEAKER_00 30:09

Yeah, my kid my kid is five. Uh the break is it's like a if the break was really like 20 like 13 give or take.

SPEAKER_02 30:16

Okay. Wow, all right. So you decided on your own that you wanted to take a break, not because you weren't good, just because like you said, you didn't know.

SPEAKER_00 30:23

I just I didn't I didn't know what to do. And I like I again like I just I didn't have uh any of the knowledge that I have now. I didn't have like and and it was also like kind of like the beginning of like the like the you like like the SoundCloud and YouTube era and like I didn't know I didn't like have a social media presence, I didn't know how to like promote myself that way. I didn't I didn't I did just I didn't know I really didn't know and I So but now you know I I feel like I have a better idea okay so what are you doing differently now?

SPEAKER_02 30:52

Because now first of all, you started going out performing just to look for producers for your project, for your your musical.

SPEAKER_00 31:00

So that's yeah, that's kind of what put me out there, was just like I was like, I was like, well, like I know it doesn't matter how good the lyrics of this musical are, if this if the music isn't good, it's not I'm not gonna be, I'm never gonna get anywhere. And so like I got to at least start like talking to producers. So like that's what brought me back out. But then people's reaction to my songs was like, maybe I put the musical on hold and I try to make Bourbon Street a thing again. And so from there, uh I met some other artists, they put me on to a couple of different producers. From there, I got a lot of the beats that I've been using for my songs. Uh, that for the I put out a mixtape in August of last year, and then I put out the album uh Bourbon Street and Chill in February of this year, and like all those beats came from like networking and and and all of that.

SPEAKER_02 31:40

But that all happened pretty fast because you went, you say you just basically started last year, sometime in March, and then you already put a mixtape. Well, obviously you're you're a writer, so you're writing quickly and you're constantly making stuff. Put it out a mixed stape in August, and now in February you released an album.

SPEAKER_00 31:56

Yeah, so the the mixed the mixed statement August was uh was five songs, and two of them were written like before. And the songs were I just felt like they were good enough to carry okay, timeless. Time, yeah, exactly. Uh and then the album that came out is 12 songs, and those are all uh with one exception, those are all written um kind of in the in the in the time between like the mixtape and now. There were a couple of songs that I I I I um the the first out the mixtape, there's it's not a there's no collabs on it, right? Because I'm a little bit of a control freak and I didn't know like I didn't want to just like, hey, do you want to write a song together with somebody else? Because like what if they're not gonna be able to do it?

SPEAKER_02 32:36

No, you had your vision, you know exactly what you want us to do.

SPEAKER_00 32:38

And so on this album, the on the album, all the collabs, I, you know, was just like I'm like, I'm gonna write the hook and just have somebody else sing it. I just got inspired by going to all these open mics and these showcases by all these other fantastic singers, and I was like, okay, um, if I ask all these like different local singers that all have different styles to sing different styles of hooks for these songs, like that's and that's the idea. It's like Bourbon Street and Chill. So like the first half of the album is the Bourbon Street half, those are the solo tracks, and the second half are all the collabs, like that's the end chill. It's more of like a it's a different vibe. And um, and the idea behind it was um I'm just gonna like you know, kind of control everything and like I'm gonna write the whole part for them. And so as I was kind of discovering the the the tenor of everybody's voices, like like what like what's your strength? Like, oh, like you could you're great at high notes, or oh, you're a great RB singer.

SPEAKER_01 33:31

Like the songs for you.

SPEAKER_00 33:32

Well, no, it just it made me want to write the song to maximize their talent. So, like um, and so I actually thought that the album was done at one point, and then I was I got thrown into a different uh like a 24-hour, 24 artists in the studio, like on 24 different tracks, like massive collaboration project. And um, I met another artist and I heard her sing and I was like, nope, the album's not done. And I immediately went home and I was like, I gotta write another song because I gotta get her voice on the album. And that's that's kind of how it's it's been going on. And I think this next album that I'm already like three songs into, not recorded, but like in the writing process. Um, the idea behind this one is um I just uh it's like real songs for about real people. So like this is more so like I'm inspired by the subject matter, and then like who do I think can fit that? Can help me uh like tell that story or express that emotion.

SPEAKER_02 34:21

Okay, that's pretty cool. So it's like it's um it's a concept behind your art also. Like well, at least for this new album. I mean, it seems like there's a concept behind everything.

SPEAKER_00 34:31

I try I try to say that everything I do is with intention, like even the even the track order on the album, like it there's there's intention behind it. Like there's some kind of Easter egg behind like every every person's every song's like number. Uh there's something behind it.

SPEAKER_02 34:44

So that's super cool. I'm like, I'm so like interested, like because you seem like super organized, you know. Like obviously you're an accountant, you know. So like I'm I'm super interested in I want to go back and hear your album, the one that you just released. What's it called?

SPEAKER_00 35:00

It's called Bourbon Street and Chill.

SPEAKER_02 35:02

Bourbon Street, that's right. My bad.

SPEAKER_00 35:03

No, it's okay.

SPEAKER_02 35:04

All right, and then do you have an idea what this next one's gonna be called?

SPEAKER_00 35:06

Yeah, so this next one, I think the next one's gonna be called Real Songs for Real People.

SPEAKER_02 35:10

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 35:10

Uh, because it's just like I said, I think uh the certain people that I've met and or certain types of people that I've met. So like some albums that are some songs might be about like a specific person, and some albums might or some tracks might be about as like a type of person, but that you like kind of run into or that everybody has an experience with.

SPEAKER_02 35:26

Okay, you know, I uh I feel like this is gonna sound kind of fucked up, but like don't you feel well whether you do or you don't, I feel like when we meet people, I feel like they have a lot of recycled personalities. And that's why a lot of people can relate to like, oh, I met somebody like like this and this and this, you know, like oh yeah, or you you start to like meet people and you remember somebody in your past that was kind of like this person. It's just like recycled tendencies, recycled, like I don't know. So when you just said that, that's what that made me.

SPEAKER_00 36:00

You know what it is? There's well, there's it's like there's only so many different personalities out there, and so it's it's like you know, it's that's why horoscopes are like people people like believe horoscopes, right? Because if you say things vaguely enough, whatever, there's well that kind of applies to everybody and in the you know, and so um no, and and there's also personality types.

SPEAKER_02 36:18

There's this there's like a um I don't know how many, I don't I don't know, but there's like a list of certain personality types.

SPEAKER_00 36:25

Depending on which test you use, but like there could be anywhere from like four to sixteen, right? If you're like a Harry Potter fan, like which house are you in? Oh, you're a Gryffindor, you're a Silver, and whatever. Right, but then like if you use like the uh what is it, the MMRI or whatever, where not um where it's like like, oh, are you an INFTJ or like are you a you know with the Yeah, that that's yeah. So that that there's 16 combinations there, there's four different houses in Hogwarts, you know what I'm saying? So like you know, or type A or type B personalities, like some people just like it's like yeah, there's two types of people people that group people into groups and people that don't, you know, like that's um just class classifications of I like I like to I like to joke all the time that like uh you know the lottery's a 50-50 shot, right? Because either you win it or you don't, right? There's one or two outcomes.

SPEAKER_02 37:05

So um that's one way to look at it, I guess.

SPEAKER_00 37:08

Right? It's so uh, but that's that's kind of how it is, right? So there's only so many different kinds of personalities out there, and people might be like, Oh, you remind me of this person, but you're also this, or like, you know, and so like there's you know, mix and match kind of, but a little bit of everything and everybody, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 37:25

Everybody's relatable, we're all human, you know. So um I wanted to ask you about the songs that you are going to do today, or the song that you're gonna do today. What song are you gonna do today first?

SPEAKER_00 37:37

I want to do a song from my first mixtape, actually. It's called Distraction.

SPEAKER_02 37:40

Like first mixtape like back in the day?

SPEAKER_00 37:42

No, first the first mixtape that came out uh AD after the break. Yeah, it's still after it's still after the break, but it's it's a s it's a song called Distraction. It's on um, it's on uh how it started, how's it going, or how it's going, which is the the e the mixtape that I put out uh last year, last in August. Um but I wanted to do that because I just feel like it's a song that I have in my repertoire that I don't perform a a ton. Um because I do think that like while it I think everyone can relate to the song. The song is about um like people who you thought were gonna be there for you when you needed them, and then they weren't. They they left you on red or they were they ghosted you. And um it's a song that I feel like really, really passionate about because I had a lot of people like that in my life, people that I thought were gonna be like my ride or dies, and then when the when the S hit the fan, so to speak, I was like, I was like, where are you at? And they're like they're like I like new like I don't know you. And um that feeling stuck with me. Yeah, and but it also stuck with me for a long time, and it was just like I was like, I need a chance, I need to, I need to be able to express that anger and that disappointment. And so that's uh that's the the idea behind this song. This song's called Distraction.

SPEAKER_02 38:49

Okay, yeah. All right, well, that's interesting. I mean, everybody can relate to that, unfortunately, you know. Um, I also wanted to ask you, um, because I saw, I saw, you know, unfortunately, I didn't, I didn't didn't, I wasn't there, I didn't get to see your performance, but I saw like pieces of your performance and you're like really crunk, you know, like you're like super hype. Um and then like it seems like when I was kind of you know skimming through your page, like it seems like you are you're a little funny in your songs too. Um so it's cool because now meeting you, like, yeah, you're you're pretty funny, right? But you're also like like somewhat serious in the way you put things together, you know? And I guess you kind of have to be, um, obviously if you want things to work, and especially if you want them to work um properly, you know. I mean, look how fast things are working for you. You like I said, it's been basically a year since you decided to come back in and take this serious and and look at you. You're releasing albums, you're performing, you're winning first place at showcases.

SPEAKER_00 39:57

So um be deliberate and move with intention.

SPEAKER_02 40:01

Yes, you were definitely moving with intention, and and you can sense that in in your planning, in your just the way you're telling me that you're putting your next album together, like when do you expect that one to come out?

SPEAKER_00 40:13

Oh, uh, I don't want to throw a release date on it. I would, I would like, I would like to be like maybe like mid to late summer. I would I would I would I would like maybe six months from the last one. So the last one came out February 27th, so maybe like end of August. Like a six months later, I feel like that's like an appropriate time.

SPEAKER_02 40:30

But you're just going with the flow, because you don't know who you're gonna meet, who's gonna inspire what, right?

SPEAKER_00 40:34

Right, but I also so it's funny, I have I had a song on the on the the actual album, it's called Challenge Accepted, and uh the opening line of the song is that I'd rather be prodigious than be prolific. So like I'd rather put out great things than put out a lot of things, and that's how I feel about my albums too. Like I if I I could I could write a song a night, I could, you know, but would it be like Am I gonna love it, love it, love it? Yeah, am I gonna feel the way about it? Right. And so that's that's kind of how I feel about it. So like maybe yeah, I would love it to be end of August, but like if it's September or if it's July, you know, yeah, whatever. Um, but that's how I feel.

SPEAKER_02 41:11

No pressure. Well, I'm excited to to to see that. You know, now obviously I'm gonna be following your journey and everything, and especially now that I know more about it. And I don't know, I just think it's cool that you you took that step to basically start over, even though it wasn't with you being or um you know, starting over with the intention of you being the artist again. Um I just think it's cool that you never let go of your passion and you always listen to it and you kept you know navigating towards something in the music. Um so I'm I'm actually like really excited about this musical. Like I'm like I can't wait for it to come up, but I know that it's not something, it's something that is you know a constant work in progress. So um I'm happy for you in in like a proud kind of way, you know? Um because you know, I I understand that life changes every day, you know?

SPEAKER_00 42:09

Man plans, God laughs. That that song is also coming soon, I guess, apparently, because I've been saying that a lot recently.

SPEAKER_02 42:14

Well, there you go. That's a sign, right? Um and then you know you took your break for for family life, family life changes, and now you have an opportunity to kind of like step back into you. Now you have the time to to do that again. So um I don't know. I just like I'm I'm eager to see where it's gonna go from here. So like me too.

SPEAKER_00 42:35

Honestly, I really like I had I I mean I had um you know, February, March, April, May of last year. I was like one open mic a month because it was all I could find that or I was all I knew that I could do uh you know in my area. And I was performing at the Arts Garage in Delray Beach. And um then in June I started coming down to Broward a little bit and uh exploring a little bit further north and in Palm Beach and and finding more opportunities. And then in September I performed at um at uh Arts Park at Young Circle in Hollywood. I was a part of uh Southwater Recovery Network's uh recovery month event that was there. That was a you know a big, big stage for me, just like kind of out of nowhere.

SPEAKER_02 43:20

And uh, you know, just kept grinding and kept grinding and then that's just from you going out hustling and looking meaningfully.

SPEAKER_00 43:26

Yeah, I don't yeah, I don't have a manager, I don't have, you know, I have like it's my team right now, is unfortunately, not fortunately or unfortunately, is really just myself and you know, like in the whatever networking that I've I've been able to do.

SPEAKER_02 43:37

But then how do you find the events?

SPEAKER_00 43:40

So like I started with like Eventbrite and Google, just like it's like South Florida. Like I performed at the South Florida fair in West Palm Beach uh in January, which was wild, but I just was Googling like South Florida talent show, South Florida. This, you know, like you know, and and and like uh I ended up auditioning for that and I I got that spot. And then um at the end of January, I had like the like the first time somebody like paid me to put. I performed a propaganda in Lake Worth and shout out to those guys because they're going through it right now. So um, you know, and then in in May, um, it's kind of coming full circle. I'm gonna be at at uh Arts Park at Young Circle again as a part of this festival called Oxfest, which is like this major, major, major, major festival. Link in my bio if you follow me on Instagram. Um, but um, there's a huge festival there. There's gonna be like 25 to 30 artists that are performing in in Hollywood, and there it's like year one where like they people think that it could be like the next rolling loud. So it's really like some of the biggest and uh best uh not just hip hop, there's also some stuff.

SPEAKER_02 44:33

A UX fest, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 44:35

So it's like the artists united experience uh festival. And there's there's like a there's gonna be a fashion show as a part of it, but it's like this big, big thing. They think like there's gonna be 3,000 people there. So wow, that's exciting.

SPEAKER_02 44:44

Yeah damn, that's so cool that you're doing this like just like all on your own. Um that you're finding these things on your own. Like you really had some fire just like ignite after like you decide you made the decision, like I'm gonna go find producers. Oh no shit, I'm gonna be my own artist. So, like, I mean, obviously, again, you were an artist before, but the fact that you are like fully 100% gung-ho about doing this, like, look at all the things that are coming to you because obviously you're looking for them, you're executing, you know. So, like, that's something that I feel artists, well, just people in general, don't do. Um, they either believe in themselves half-assed, um, that makes them not execute. Like, I'm I'm speaking like from experience, you know. Um, and I just I I think it's admirable that you just like you just said, fuck it, I'm gonna go all out.

SPEAKER_00 45:35

My one of my favorite movies of all time is the Karate Kid, right? And people talk about Mr. Miyagi, the advice he gives Daniel Sun, like wax on, wax off, like blah, blah, blah. One of the lines that gets missed in that movie to me is uh when they first get started, he's like, Daniel Sun, you ready? And he's like, I guess so.

unknown 45:50

And Mr.

SPEAKER_00 45:50

Miyagi's like, no, no, no, no. You walk left side of the road, safe. You walk right side of the road, safe. You walk middle, like grape. You karate yes, or you karate no, you karate guess so, like grape. And that's the idea. Anything that you want to do, if you really want to do it, you either do it or you don't do it. Like, you know, Yoda, do or do not, there is no try, that whole thing. I I prefer the Miyagi thing. Um, but that's that's what this is. This is not like if you want to have fun and and just like perform for you know six people at Kaba bars and and whatever, then you know, by all means, then do that. Yeah, switch what I think. Yeah, but if you if you have any like if you have any intention of making it to the next level and the next level and the next level, then you have to put yourself like really into it. And you have to don't be afraid to punch up, don't be afraid to go outside your comfort zone. You know, for me, like I said, like the the collab thing, I wasn't I would I was so unsure about what it was gonna be like bringing another artist in the first time I did it. Um, this this fantastic RB artist, shout out Fran Lavoie.

SPEAKER_02 46:47

Um my god, I love her. I'm friends with her.

SPEAKER_00 46:50

I yeah, Fran is challenging Fran is the hook on my challenge accepted.

SPEAKER_02 46:54

I don't fucking wait.

SPEAKER_00 46:55

I wrote I wrote I wrote the song before I even heard Fran sing. And I was like, I need a voice on this. And I saw her perform at the classic at 10th level tavern, and I was like, I think that's my voice. And I approached her and I was like, Hey, how would you feel about this? And she's like, I don't know. And I was like, and I brought her in the studio, and it was just like I was so nervous because I'd never worked with another artist before. And if that hadn't gone well, I don't know if any of the other collabs that followed would have she probably was a perfect for me. She was she was fantastic, and I love Fran to this day.

SPEAKER_02 47:26

Like I'm just gonna love the Fran, we love you, Fran.

SPEAKER_00 47:29

Yeah, I go see Fran, Fran comes to see me, so I'm yeah, I'm a big Fran fan. And then, but from there, that was that was kind of like that was what gave me the courage to then reach out to other artists and be like, hey, I know your voice. I think I have a song for you. Would you be interested? And no one, no one has said no. Um, but I all the songs, I'm so happy with every single song on the album. I really like because it when you when I'm writing it, I hear it in my head, and then I'm like, I'm so afraid when I get to the studio, like, oh, is this gonna sound like the way I want it to sound? And the artist steps in the booth and I have this moment with every single artist that I brought in. I have this moment where it's like I just like I feel like I got I feel like I got my song. I feel like yes, like that's what I wanted.

SPEAKER_02 48:08

Well, that's more reinsurance that you know, you trust your instinct and you're you're doing the right thing, you're picking the right people. So that's awesome. I thought I think that's so cool that you know Fran, and that she was the person to um to start that off for you. So oh, that's exciting. Now I'm really I'm gonna listen to the album anyway, but now I'm gonna listen to it like more excited, you know? So, what can we expect? I mean, I know you got a lot going on right now with all these upcoming shows. What is your ultimate goal with your artistry? Like, do you wanna get signed? Do you wanna you say you won't you you you're not trying to just do little performances for six people that are covered by, you know, like you obviously want to grow, you want to expand.

SPEAKER_00 48:52

So, my my whole my whole thing is my entire approach to hip hop as a genre, and this is not to poo-poo on any other artist that's doing it any differently, but all my music is clean, right? So there's no curse words, there's no drug references, there's no sexually explicit lyrics, there's no violence, there's none of that. Uh, and it's not to say that like if you do do any of those things, that like that's wrong. No, that's just your your style. You're right. But my like my thought process is is first and foremost that. And then second of all, I take a lot of pride in the lyrics as I present them, and then the deeper meanings behind the lyrics, right? I like to think that like when I write a song, I'm actually writing two songs. I'm writing the song that you hear, and then I'm writing the song that you listen to, right? So when you hear it, you're like, oh, this is a cool song. But then like when you listen to it, maybe you read the lyrics and you like really see like, oh, he chose that word deliberately because it's a homonym, or he like, oh, there's that's like an Easter egg, because it's like he said this one thing in the third verse, but he said this other thing in the first two verses that like links it all together. And I do that a lot. A lot of my songs are like that. Um, and so I just I really just I want it, I want it to be art again and not just like some mass-produced like whatever, like whatever, like, oh this this song's bumping in the club or whatever. Who cares what they're saying, you know? And then, you know, like no substance, right? And so that's really what I want. And so I don't know if it's eventually that I'm like writing for someone else, or like if, you know, because like I'm again, like I'm I'm not.

SPEAKER_02 50:17

Have you ever written for oh well, yeah, because you were writing music before, right?

SPEAKER_00 50:20

Yeah, but I've never I've never like actually like I've never ghostwritten for a song that's like so that other people have heard before. I have I have assisted people in the writing process, but I've never but I've never like it's not like like there's a song out there that like Kendrick is doing that I wrote. Not that I've got to be.

SPEAKER_02 50:31

Okay, and obviously you've written songs for like for the people who are singing on your tracks.

SPEAKER_00 50:36

Right, yeah, but I didn't write the whole song for them. I just wrote their part of my song. It's still my song, uh, you know, and so um, but like I don't I don't know necessarily what like the end end end end goal is for me, but I know that I want to try to take it as far as I can. Okay, and then I have the musical to fall back on. I have, you know, it maybe ghostwriting or whatever it's a fallback on. I don't know that I'm like going on a world tour this year, but maybe but maybe next year.

SPEAKER_02 51:01

I mean, who knows? Right, no. You probably didn't think you were gonna be releasing albums, you know, a year ago.

SPEAKER_00 51:06

That's true. I probably didn't think that either. So really I just I'm trying not to like limit myself by saying like this is my goal, and once I get there, whatever. I you know, the sky's the limit. Um, but I I also don't I don't um I don't have a specific end goal in mind either. I just you're just doing yeah, I just I know that I don't have a lot of time before it's like oh man, he's like 60 up there with a walker. Like I, you know, I'm I'm I'm not trying to be like that. Uh so I'm just trying to, you know, have as much fun as I can and be as successful as I can in the time that I have.

SPEAKER_02 51:35

I love that for you.

SPEAKER_00 51:36

Thank you.

SPEAKER_02 51:36

That's that's like an inspiration to others right there, you know, because you're going all out, you're you're doing it right, and then you're you're just like you're just doing it, you know. So congratulations to you. I love that for you. Um, you know, one thing I always like to ask my um my guests. Yeah, what do you want people to hear when they hear your music? Like, what do you want them to leave with?

SPEAKER_00 52:05

The first song on my album is called Picture of Me. And that's that's it. Every single song that I put out, it's like if you close your eyes, you you know, like, oh man, that's that's a burp of show track. Because like I chose every word, every syllable, every enunciation, every cadence, every like every every component of the song is is with a purpose. There's some there's some reason behind that. And uh what I want people to take away when they listen to my music or when they see me perform is like man, he just made he made a lot of choices, and like I like I can appreciate all of that.

SPEAKER_02 52:55

So you want them to appreciate your your thought process, your your the the the method of the creation process. Okay, all right, fair. I like that because you obviously you put your heart into it and it's good to be appreciated, right?

SPEAKER_00 53:10

You know what it is, it's just I mean, I think it's a basic human need that people want to be seen or they want to be heard, they want to feel like they matter and like that's their legacy. And like I have a kid, right? That's I mean, that's part of my legacy too. But like my music, like I'll always leave behind my music, and I you know, like that'll that could potentially live on too. And so that's that's you know, that's a the piece of me, the picture of me that I'm leaving behind.

SPEAKER_02 53:29

I love that. Now I can't wait to hear that. So now that I know like specifically what you said about it, now I'm going to listen to it with a different with a different ear, you know. I'm gonna look for shit, you know? Obviously, not shit, it's good shit.

SPEAKER_00 53:43

No, no, no. But like I said, I want you to I want you to hear it, but then I also want you to listen to it.

SPEAKER_02 53:48

Well, I'm definitely gonna listen to it.

SPEAKER_00 53:50

Thank you.

SPEAKER_02 53:50

I'm excited. I'm excited to listen to to Distracted now.

SPEAKER_00 53:54

Distraction.

SPEAKER_02 53:55

Um Distraction, get it right, bitch. Get it right. Um all right, well, the next question I'm gonna ask. Well, before I before we we get into that last question, I just want to first and foremost, thank you. Congratulate you for winning. Thank you. Thank you for sharing your whole story from start to finish. You know, I mean it's never finished, you know. It's not finished, it's a lot of fun.

SPEAKER_00 54:17

From start to present.

SPEAKER_02 54:18

Correct. From start to present.

SPEAKER_00 54:19

There we go.

SPEAKER_02 54:20

Um, and just thank you. Thank you for being you, you know, like that's all you can be, right?

SPEAKER_00 54:25

I was gonna say it'd be weird if I was somebody else.

SPEAKER_02 54:27

Yeah, that would be a little strange.

SPEAKER_00 54:28

I don't even think that hat would fit.

SPEAKER_02 54:29

So yeah, no, probably not.

SPEAKER_00 54:31

No.

SPEAKER_02 54:33

Um, how do you feel? Uh is there anything you you want to add, anything you want to say?

SPEAKER_00 54:38

Um just um I just want to like thank everybody who's been a part of this journey. Uh I would be remiss if I didn't like thank the people that collabed on the album. So again, like shout out to Fran, shout out to Forbes, shout out to Jester Helltrain, Jess Heltrain, uh, shout out to Jazz the Cipher. She's on two tracks. She was amazing. Uh, Too Deep. I love you guys. You were fantastic, and you guys kind of gave me a song back that I thought I would never get recorded. And and to Rose, uh, thank you guys so much for being a part of the album. And then thank you to uh to Wesley Otero and Papa Wafer. Like you guys have been like stands from from day one. Like the second I hit the floor, you guys were like, oh my god, like what is this? And then obviously a big shout out to Verse One and White Dude, uh, who've just kind of taken me under their wings and been like, we're not gonna let you like you're like you should be VIP. We're not gonna let you like perform for small crowds anymore. We're gonna like kind of bring you along. So uh the people that have that have helped me and that have been a part of this journey for me, like you guys have been amazing. So thank you.

SPEAKER_02 55:35

Oh, I love that.

SPEAKER_00 55:37

Oh, and Brooklyn, thank you for the opportunity, man. Thank you for putting me on. Yeah, and Chasm Chasm DOG for being a part of that as well.

SPEAKER_02 55:43

Yeah, awesome, awesome. Well, I you know, when you are you express gratitude, you always get that back, you know, um, and more. Um so thank you for taking the time to thank everybody who has affected or played a part in your journey. Cause I don't think I think like maybe a couple people have done that. Don't go doing that now. But I'm just saying that's that's um that's sweet. That's that's awesome. That's cool. Thank you. Well, I enjoyed this um this whole conversation, just you know, getting to know you because I I truly didn't know anything about you. And um again, I'm I'm I'm proud of you, you know. If that sounds weird, like I'm just like I'm proud of you for like doing what you're doing, you know. I congratulate you and um I'm excited to see where where you go.

SPEAKER_01 56:27

Absolutely. Can't wait.

SPEAKER_02 56:29

It's limitless, really, especially when you you hit the ground running the way that you have. So um, so spin the record got eyes on you, man. We're gonna and we're gonna keep supporting you the whole way through.

SPEAKER_00 56:40

Absolutely. I can't wait. Thank you so much. I appreciate it.

SPEAKER_02 56:42

Nice. Now I gotta ask you the last question, which is the biggest question. Okay. All right, are you ready?

SPEAKER_00 56:47

I I mean, I was I checked my birth certificate. I was born ready.

SPEAKER_02 56:52

All right. Well, the question is are you ready to spin the record?

SPEAKER_00 56:55

Yeah, let's do it. Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 56:57

Let's go get the pack.

SPEAKER_00 56:58

Let's go.

SPEAKER_02 57:00

All right.

SPEAKER_00 57:00

I'm not flexible enough to like Ben on the back.

SPEAKER_02 57:02

It's all right, that's good, that was good.