First Album Hits NY Times and the Mind Games Begin ft. WARA

I'm an artist, man, and I'm sensitive about my shit. I made this, it's like my music. It's me making it. Back then, I didn't realize like how important certain songs were to certain people. I was just in my world. The One More Time Music Podcast. Genuine Conversations with Genuine People. about music. Hosted by Henry with a three and playback Ben. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to another episode of the One More Time Podcast. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to another episode of the One More Time Podcast. It's Thursday. Welcome back. You know what that means. I think this is episode 21. 21. Now that we're over 20, it's like I feel like I'm gonna start forgetting. 21 is genius. 21 and 13. Well, I'm your host, playback Ben. I'm here with my co-host, Henry with a three, because Henry with an E was already taken. Henry, who the fuck do we have sitting right here in the middle seat? Welcoming in today on the One More Time Podcast.

You know him as the star of Drumline and host of Wild 'N Out. It's Nick Cannon. Nick Cannon in the building. How's things with Mariah, man? We all wanna know. Did that end sourly? Is it is it bad? I don't know, man. She took all my money. In all seriousness, we have the legend, the infamous Wara. Wara. Yeah, what the deal, what the deal. Wara, we appreciate you coming on, my man. Appreciate you. We've been having this in the works for a little bit. Right, man. I'm happy to be here. Henry been asking me to do this shit for so fucking long. Before it started. Before it started. Yeah, he should have been episode number one, but now we're at episode 21. And nonetheless, he's right here. You know, and Ben came up to me like, yo, you Wara? I'm like, yeah. He's like, yo, Henry's been telling me about you, man. Like, we gotta get you on a podcast. So shit, you know.

I'm doing this really because Henry is my brother, man. Like, we started doing music together. At the same time at the same place. Yeah, I mean, so we we've literally met some guests for the first time when they've walked in that door to sit right there. You on the other hand, not the case at all. No. How did you guys first link up? Tell us kind of the origin story of you know Henry and Wara. My brother Larry. Shout out, Larry. Shout out Shout out, Larry. Larry actually was roommates with Henry. My first roommate. Right. And we all went to the same high school. So we go back to then. I didn't know Henry then, but eventually when He was too lame for you in high school. You didn't want to associate with him. I was younger then. he was way younger than me. Okay, okay. He was way younger than me. Fair enough. So you know, him and Larry lived together and shit. And I would be at Larry's Crib all the time downtown. Like, you know, they was Georgia State. It was tight. Everybody was at their crib all the time. Yeah, we're in Atlanta.

Yeah, it sounds like a legendary house. Nah, it was. It was they was on their college shit. You know what I'm saying? And I was coming through there every fucking day. And my homie Span, I guess he was working with Justin at the studio. He kind of plugged us all with Justin. Right. Basically, man, to make a long story short, we ended up at the same studio. Henry started like learning how to produce and engineer through the big homie Justin. Shut up, I'm the big homie. You are very tall. I'm the big, I'm the big homie, but you know, I got Justin. Um, he was engineering. So he basically taught Henry. And you know, before that, I was I had just I had just been curious in recording. I wasn't even really. I started doing it, but it was like not all the way yet. You know what I'm saying? So and then once we got in there, I just kept recording. I just kept getting better, and I was like, alright, shit, I'm gonna do this shit. Yeah, I mean, you were kind of like low key about it when you were recording at first.

I mean, you mentioned Larry, he now manages you. And he said he didn't even really know that you were recording, and you had sent them this song like out of the blue that you did. This was like an ice cube freestyle. Yeah. I was rapping over like A$AP Rocky, purple swag. Okay, you know, I just heard myself back through the speakers. I was like, damn, like I'm kind of trash, but I'm good though. Yeah, I mean, he said that he heard the song that you sent him, and he like immediately saw the vision for for what you could be. I mean, what do you think that vision was that he saw? And like, what is your vision, you think, for for you as an artist? The overall vision was just that I could actually rap, you know what I'm saying, and I had the talent. But it wasn't, it didn't just happen. Like, I had already been like basically developing this talent, you know what I'm saying? Because my pops is a reggae musician. Okay, my brother was uh um like a street kid in the golden era in the 90s and shit. So and and and he was actually from New York, right?

Yeah, my brother's. or like you were actually born in New York, weren't you? Yeah, I was born in New York, yeah. So he introduced you to a lot of that. So my brother introduced me to all of it because he was a teenager during the golden era, like Wu-Tang. He's playing Jay-Z for you. Bro, he was bro. I would go, I would go in his room, he'd have tapes, just tapes. So I seen my big brother with tapes and the walkman and the fucking, you know what I'm saying? So he was that hip-hop kid. Yeah. And that's when I feel like it really started. But you know, I didn't actually start pursuing it till I just had like a moment. Like I was at like a fucking NERD concert. And you know, Pharrell and then was performing and shit. And I was like, yo, I could do this shit. Yeah. That was 2010. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? Just the crowd controlling shit. I was just like, I just had a moment, like, moment of clarity, like just seeing Pharrell for the first time. And I'm like, oh shit. Like, and the way he got the crowd on lock, I was like, yo, I could do this shit.

Yeah. And that's when it sparked. Yeah, and I mean, you this might not have been part of your vision at the time, but you would go on to start a pretty poppin' blog. Shout out deeper than dope. Deeper than dope. You know, not sure you saw yourself as a blogger, but like, you know, it wasn't a blog. It wasn't a blog at first. At first I was like, first it wasn't, okay. Nah, it started because me and my homie wanted to like start our own sneaker shit. We wanted to like start a site where we could sell sneakers and show off our collection and shit. Oh, okay. Like a marketplace almost. Yeah, like we was on that type of time. Like that was the vision. But eventually, like I started becoming friends with niggas that could rap and do music. So I'm like, all right, I want to support my niggas, so I'ma just post that shit on here. So that shit was pre-Tumblr. That shit was we was like the first niggas with like definitely in a city with a fucking website trying to like like showcase ourselves. Yeah.

You feel me? You know and you kind of found a niche with like sneakers and hip hop on accident, just because you were trying to support the homie. It's like now all of a sudden you kind of like it's like a niche is created on accident. And I have my own site to fucking drop my music on. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? Hit and boom, yeah. Boom. That's what I that was like wow. That was crazy, really thinking about it. Cause we was already doing that shit, like posting our music on my site. Yeah, that's crazy. I mean, I mean, you ended up covering some pretty, you know, dope artists, and you got to like cover some really cool events and sneaker drops. I mean, you know, what were some of your favorite People was fucking with us? Like people was really looking at our shit to see what what's up, what's popping. Yeah, you know, like we gotta go to deeper than dope, figure out what's popping. Dude was just an ill nigga, man, and we was into the same shit. Like, dude was constantly putting me on shit all the time. So he always made me uncomfortable with how cool he was because he wasn't trying, but like he's just I would just like pay attention to him. It's just in him.

That's why we fucking linked up, man. Cause we just was on this niggas just trying to be creative, bro. Like, it's a bigger picture than what we living in and how we growing up. Like, I always seen that like, bro, like I I could do my own thing, you know what I'm saying? Like, I always did my own thing, you know. what I mean, even though you don't have to buy into the trends, right? Even though I'm like growing up in the hood and I'm still different, you know. what I mean, like these my friends, and this with everybody on, but you know what I'm saying? I'm a creative. That's how I always felt because shit, basketball didn't work didn't work. So Fuck. Fuck basketball. Yeah, but you were a hooper. You were a big hooper. Big hooper. Yeah, but that's because I grew up hooping. I feel like everybody my age, if you come from New York or Atlanta, you grew up hooping and playing football. So we all thought we was going to the NBA. Yeah. But I learned early that all right, this shit ain't it. You know what I'm saying?

Like, I gotta get some money. And then I just started being creative. What was your favorite sneaker drop from that era though? Probably the 10 Yeezys. Okay. Okay. Was that a Walters drop too? Yeah, it was a Walters drop. We camped out for those. Oh, hell yeah. That was a camp out. That's dope. Yeah, I did. I stayed out there for like three days to get them three days? Longer. Maybe longer. I don't remember. But a solid three days. So obviously, you know, you start doing music. You were, you know, alluding to that when you were telling kind of how you and Henry met. I mean, you ended up starting to do music, and then you started picking up some steam pretty quickly. I mean, your first album, I think, ended up getting reviewed by the New York Times. Yeah. Is it is that right? That was Kidnapped? That was Kidnapped. Yeah. Yeah. what did they say about your project? Was that 14? That was 2014. Well, I think it hit Pitchfork first. Or okay. And when it hit.

so what were people saying about it? Just it was a great project. Yeah. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? Like, it was a great project. At that time, I thought it was amazing until I started getting better and lit, you know, expanding my horizons with music. It's just still a great project. It is, it is, but I just kept getting better. And when you when you like your old shit, you know, as an artist, like, it's so revered to people who love it and shit. But like, bro, I be past that shit. Yeah, it shows where you came from though. Right, it do, it do. But I already be working on shit for four years from now, bro. Like, real shit. You know what I mean? You're such an artist. For real, though. It's like, but yeah, Pitchfork had gave it a good rating. I don't remember what it was. It was a seven something. And um, then it hit New York Times. That was a crazy moment because it was like, damn. I'm the only nigga that's been in the New York Times.

You know what I'm saying? That I that I know. And you had been rapping for like a year. I had to start rapping. And they was calling me fucking, of course, RZA, Pharrell, Jay-Z, all that shit. But that was cool back then, man. That was cool. I mean, being from New York too, like, even not being in New York, yeah, everyone knows the times. It's the times. If you would have written a uh a blog article about Kidnapped, what would you have said? It was a great starting point. You know what I'm saying? Because that's when I really tapped into producing because I couldn't really get beats that I was liking at the time. Like so I just started making my own beats. And plus, you know, I was around Justin. You know, Henry was there. Like, I started learning how to make beats. So then I just really went full throttle with that shit. Like, all right, I'm gonna make my whole project. Even though I did have co-production. Okay, I was gonna say, like, like, yeah, but it was only Justin. super involved. Yeah, yeah, like that's awesome.

Everybody was like, just that time, like Henry, Justin, like, you know what I'm saying? Yo, there's a uh there's a Neptunes drum kit that I downloaded because of this guy like 10 years ago. Still use it to this day, used it in a beat like three days ago. Seriously, like that's that's my kit right there. Shout out Neptune's drum kit. I was that was that was a good moment, man. Cause I had just started tapping into Radiohead and fucking um I was really tapping into rock. I had to start getting into rock like real heavy from listening to NERD. Electric guitars. Yeah, then I started listening to Radiohead, Coldplay, Fucking Pink Floyd. Named a song after Coldplay, which is actually. an epic outro. I started making my music get better because I was listening to like rare shit at that time, like Portishead. You know what I'm saying? Like niggas ain't listening to Portishead in 2014 unless you just know about them. but we were at 882 Studios. And I mean that cover art was pretty controversial.

He definitely has this like ability to kind of turn heads, you know, and and I think that the 98 Rockefeller video. Word. Tell us what for those that haven't seen it, paint us a picture of you know what that video was. It was just me and the homies in karate suits. Fucking He's saying it so nonchalant, bruh. We was in karate suits and shit, and fucking we had got a dojo, a real we got access to a real one uh is it called a dojo? Yeah, yeah. So we sounds right to me. I don't know. Yeah, I'm just spitting and I'm in a karate suit, man. Like Pharrell liked that shit. You know what I'm saying? Like, yeah, I think that's the video that Pharrell seen, and then he had followed me and shit. So you know what I'm saying? Like he knew who I was, like he showed me love, bro. Like he saluted me for real. Yo, was that crazy going from seeing him in concert? And you said that was like your moment Yeah, that shit. you know, it just made me realize like, bro, like niggas are human. Like, you know what I'm saying?

Like, niggas are human, like, because you know, you just kind of like DJ heroes, like, but it just shows you like he's just like me, bro. Like, we one in the same. Like, you feel me? If he felt if he if he was fucking with that shit, like then he get it. Like, that's how that's how I feel. You know what I'm saying? Yeah, I mean, we Pharrell, yo, we'd love to have you on the podcast man he got his own podcast man well he can come on ours we'll come on his we'll get on his too no and his podcast is actually really dope should we do a four count for him one time like a classic four yeah you mentioned you started getting into rock music um you ended up dropping uh I don't know if it was the one right after but it was shortly after um you know kidnapped it was a follow-up project PSA yeah it was it was heavily rock it was called if guns could speak okay it was called if guns could speak and then you know the PSA that came as like a deluxe okay I'm tired of these long titles I'm tired of my long name like let's learn everything you were in a simplicity phase is that he said fuck Wara from the neighborhood I'm Wara yeah I started understanding branding bro and and people like really remembering you you know I'm saying I just want people just to remember just one thing you know I'm I think Wara is unique enough where it can stand by himself right like if if your name was John then yeah you probably want to be John from the neighborhood right so you can distinguish yourself a little bit Wara is straight though you know it's four letters it's clean like people don't have it's only half of your actual name right but it is your actual name like I think that's it's super clean. I got tired of like you know people thought I was in the band called the neighborhood and people will always be misspelling my name then when I'm doing shows bro like I gotta spell my whole name out.

Like, you know, I just got tired of that shit literally at a show. Live on stage, I was like, bruh, I'm so tired of spelling my fucking name out. And everybody started laughing and shit. And I was like, I'm serious, man. Like every time I get off stage, I gotta spell this shit for y'all and all that shit. And they was fucking with that. I swear. And uh the audience gave you the energy to do it. It's totally gonna make our thumbnail for YouTube a lot easier because if we had to put Wara from the MBHD, like it'll be really crowded. You just need to see it real quick. Like Jay-Z. Yeah, yeah. Tupac. Tupac. Like whatever. I mean, the two syllables is like the way to go. You know what I'm saying? Like fucking Master P. Henry. So yeah, so PSA was like heavily rock influenced, and it was coming off of a project, you know, that wasn't necessarily heavily rock-influenced. How do you think your fans responded to something that was a little bit of a of a left turn? In hindsight, you know, back then I didn't give a fuck.

I felt like Sure. I mean, I still don't give a fuck about what type of music people want me to make. But um, you know, back then it was like this what I'm on, bruh. I want to tap into this. So that's what I did. And a lot of people was feeling it, but a lot of people wasn't feeling it because I think people wanted me to be like this extra hip hop nigga because of kidnapping shit. But I was trying to just show motherfuckers that I got plenty styles. I think you lose some casual fans, but you gain some super fans, right? Which is worth it. And The cover was so controversial. Oh, it's so crazy. Gun to the head, right? Yeah, that shit was like, I mean, bruh, when I'm like 40, and I look back at this shit, I'm gonna be like, yo, I was crazy. I was wilding out. Crazy. I was wilding out, no, Nick Cannon. It's just interesting to hear the whole, you know, hindsight, right? Obviously, you know, no regrets, but like it was a bold move to like early on in your career. I would say, and this is just for the artists out there, right?

That are considering taking that left turn. It might, you know, take your, you know, take your your existing fan base for uh, you know, throw them a curveball a little bit. And so do what you want, but like it is uh it's somewhat of a learn, you know, of uh you know, of a lesson learned in some ways, right? I mean, right, right, right, yeah, you know, it is, you know what I mean, and that's all it is, bro. Like, it's just a learning lesson. Like, it I got better anyway. Like, I was getting better throughout that whole project, but it was you know, it was a little rough on the ears. I can feel I can understand that because it was really rocked out loud, like I'm on some fucking distortion. Um yeah, I'm on some political shit. Like, I'm on some fuck America shit, you know what I mean? Like early on, you had some pretty memorable nice. You had some pretty memorable live shows early on. So, first and foremost, you had a show in Miami. Tell the people how that went.

I I don't think it was a uh peacekeeping mission um that you know went went very smoothly necessarily between you and your uh performer counterparts. That was my first show out of town, but I'm trying to remember what happened, but I think we was performing, and I don't did somebody throw something on stage. Someone, I'll just jog your memory. Someone throws a beer on stage. Right, right, right, right. You didn't take it very nicely. Cause I had just finished performing. So the next performer was uh was Curtis from 2-9. Shout out Curtis Williams. Because he was like, we all went down there together, you know what I'm saying? So shit, we was ganged up, man. Like, you know what I mean? I think he was performing, and I was known for fighting out of town. Yeah, don't let this quietly out of don't let this quiet, like reserved, low-key personality fool you. This guy's got straight crazy Jamaican in him somewhere.

And he's been known to throw some bows, especially outside the city of Atlanta, maybe probably inside the city as well, but particularly on the road out of town. And so when you out of town, you out of town, man. It's time to wild out. You know what I'm saying? Like, apparently don't nobody gotta know what's going on. It's out of town. Like, but we was young. I'm not saying like that's the thing to do, because you can't just do that as a grown man. Like, as some young niggas, like on some raps shit, like you know what I'm saying? Like, that's gonna happen, man. So, what happened? Um, somebody threw a beer on stage, yeah, and bro, we just jumped off stage and started. We seen a nigga that threw it, and we just went after that nigga. We just started anybody that wanted the fight, we was fighting like it was like a full-on brawl. It was a whole brawl. That just breaks out, Damn. Bro. and I think it was the performer that went before you. I think it was someone that went before you, yeah.

He was just on some like mad shit, yeah. He was just hating, like whatever. Hey, he had performed right before Wara. And then he was in the crowd, and he was in the crowd, you know. It's you know, What the hell. You know, it's a low-key show, and then he throws a beer and then doesn't think that he's gonna have the whole 2-9 crew and wara and like whatever. I guess it was it wasn't, it was just a couple of us. It was just a few, yeah. Yeah, well, whatever. However, many of them there were, they all full force proceed to we just jump this guy. and his friends. We from Atlanta, man. We from Atlanta, man. you're representing your city at that point. That's what niggas do here, man. Niggas jump off the stage and start fighting. man. Apparently, that's what we apparently. So another funny story of one of his earliest shows. Do you remember your first uh South by Southwest trip? I do, I do, I do. Do you remember what happened there? I got in a fight there too. Um I wasn't even going there, but of course you did. I mean, why would you? I thought that's what you meant. But a lot of shit happened.

No, so you you so you check into a hotel. Uh-huh. It's like a, you know, you're not on a major label budget or anything. So it's a cheap, it's a cheap, kind of nasty hotel. You don't want to spend much time there. You guys really don't even, I don't think you even go back to the room. It's just a place to crash. Yep. Until the end of the trip. You proceed to go into your room, and you're going to pack your bag, and there's no clothes. Word. That was the second South by Southwest trip. That was the second South by Southwest trip. That was the second one. Yeah, completely got robbed. Do you remember this? We was staying in some fucking run-down ass motel, bro. And like, um, I think they had already got us, but we ain't noticed till like the next morning when we was leaving. And like, bro, I knew I had put my sneakers in a certain spot right there. I knew I put my pants right there. And when I was getting in the car, I had realized, like, damn, hold on, I'm missing some shit.

And that shit was gone, bro. Like, niggas seen me bring this. I think I got the sneakers from some event or some shit. And I just remember putting them on the floor and they was gone, bro. Like, yeah. So that mean the motherfuckers. Like all of your stuff. Motel employee? Anything you brought. motel employee, the one employee. I don't remember if it was a dude. I just remember they was on some sketchy shit anyway. Yeah. Y'all came in dressed too nice. They were like, let's check this guy's room out. But that that come with it, man. And so then another memorable one, um, or at least, you know, pretty uh significant accomplishment, I would say, early on in your career. You I mean, you got to perform at Fader Fort in New York. Yeah, tapped in with Fader. I had just started rapping when that shit happened. Yeah, you know what I'm saying? So how did that happen? Um, my guy Jay Dirt, man. Shout out Jay Dirt. My homie, Jay Dirt, you know, from Baller's Eve. You know, shout out to Baller's Eve, man. Shout out my brother Jay Dirt.

He was working with Trinidad a lot too at the time. Yeah, yeah, yeah. For sure, for sure. Um, he was cool with the fader. So when we gave him the video, they loved it. He sent it to them, they loved it. Which which video is that at that point? It was one of my first videos called Belly. Okay, produced by um Childish Major. Childish Major. Thank you, God for it all. Childish, my brother. We'd love to have you on the podcast, man. Sure. It was for that song, and they fuck with it heavy, and they was doing Fader Fort that fall. So they had hit us up, like, yo, we want you on Fader Fort. And it was like me, um, Travis Scott, SZA, Vince, pretty good company. Isaiah Rashad. Come on, man. Damn. Fucking, I think this band called Deer Hunter. Oh from Atlanta. Okay. Some shit like that, man. But it was it was all the stars. Yeah, so so over the years, you've you've taken down a lot of your music that you've that you released.

What why, you know, why have you decided to do that over the years? Um for one, I'm an artist, man, and I'm sensitive about my shit. You know what I'm saying? I'm an artist, and I'm sensitive about my shit. I'm Fragile. It wasn't really a smart move, but me, I'm always evolving. So I just felt like if I I ain't gonna lie, if I felt underappreciated for like putting out some next level shit, and it wasn't doing what I was doing. I was already on some new shit anyway. So I just didn't really think it out, like really care to delete a song or take it down. Like it's like it's my shit. Like, you know what I'm saying? So it was never really like to like kill my fan base or nothing. It's just like I'm on some new shit, bruh. Like, you know, so it really was that you you didn't like it. It didn't meet your kind of standards now. I I I don't know.

I don't know because it's like I made this, it's like my music. It's me making it, you know what I'm saying? So like for me, I guess at back then I didn't realize like how important certain songs were to certain people. I was just in my world, you know what I'm saying? Like this group of motherfuckers might really love please, or um, you know what I'm saying? Like it's people that really love slanging. Yeah, you know what I mean? But that song kidnapped. I'm just like the Loosies and shit I dropped over time, it's like you get it, and now it's gone, bro. Like, fuck it. Do you still feel the same way now? Nah, nah, nah. Because everything I make, like I'm all the way confident in it because I've learned and I've gotten better. So it's like I'm not gonna put it out if it ain't what I want out there. Because before I was just making so much music, I was putting it all out. You know what I'm saying?

Like I was putting out everything, even shit that is still shit you probably got that never came out. I got some stuff. I'm pretty sure it's stuff. Bro, should we leak some old war? I'm bro. I got so much music, bro. Like that's so crazy when I think about it because I really have a lot of music that I've made, bro. And that's why, you know, I just got better because I always make music. Like I'm always recording. Some of it might not come out, but everything ain't meant to come out. You know what I'm saying? Like, you know. So if you could give yourself advice looking back, would you have just been more selective about what you released? I'm already selective, but I would have strategized with my releases more. So I can actually do something. You know what I'm saying? Instead of just like you felt like the music didn't get its its roses like it needed to. I I'm not ever trying to keep up with anybody, but niggas is dropping music. Okay, let me drop music.

Like, you know what I'm saying? Like so you kind of caved into some of the like release pressures, of course. And didn't really think through like, you know, fully how to maybe execute against him, and then you felt like, well, shit. Right. That wasn't my best approach at releasing. So then that's kind of what so you've released a few songs over the last uh year and change, I would say, you know, starting in 2020. Uh, please don't take them down, by the way. Oh, please don't take them down. No, no. no. for us fans' sake. I can't do that no more, man. Okay. Great. I can't do that. I can't waste that time no more. I'm glad to hear it. I can't waste time trying to update people no more, bro. I love it. I feel like motherfuckers just got what they need to be caught up. And all right. Bro, I'll I feel like you have to leave. Oh, you lose a casual fan to gain a super fan. And that's that's a positive transaction. You know what I mean? You can lose a fan for one fan to be like, oh, but I like this that he did too, you know? And then they'll follow you with whatever you feel like doing. They're just a fan of your artistry, period.

Yep. Versus a fan of one project. Yeah, so Breathe Easy was the first one, I think, in 2020 that you dropped. That was with uh Oliver Blue, who we were talking about before. Shout out Oliver. Producer Extraordinaire Oliver. We'd love to have you on the podcast, man. Shout out. He also, I think, is managed by Larry, right? Yeah. Yep. So that's you know, an awesome relationship there. What inspired that record for those that don't know it? Um, that was another political moment because that was when they killed George Floyd. Okay. You know what I'm saying? And I always gotta make songs like that. Yeah, like all that shit was bro. That that moment, and then the pandemic and shit, bro. That's what it's about. The pandemic, and the that's why it's called pre breathe easy, because we fucking out here with this COVID shit and niggas can't breathe. And I'm just saying, like, bro, like we just gotta just be on our toes. We gotta pay attention.

Like, we gotta come together. You know what I'm saying? Yeah, what's it like working with Oliver? Um, man. That dude is like, I tell him all the time, bro. He's like a meal that works a meal Emile Haynie or no? That works with Kid Cudi. Oh, okay, yeah. And uh where is that thing? Yeah, he's like he's like pursuit of happiness and exactly he's like, bro, he's like fucking danger mouse, bro. Like he's fucking because he's a multi-instrumentalist, you know what I'm saying? So and that's why I always wanted to hook, I mean, link him and uh Henry up because they both like engineer nerds, like tech nerds, yeah. He's a tech nerd, so it's like man, like y'all would be in here all day fucking talking about the EQ of Q and a snare, all that shit, bro. It's the same thing, you know what I'm saying? So yeah, we'll go hoop while they're talking about fucking uh EQs of snares, yeah.

But yeah, man, um we linked up as soon as me and Ivano, his real name is uh Ivano, but as soon as me and Ivano linked up, um dog, we just started cooking. We just started cooking, you know what I mean? And I met Vano through my boy Ray, you know, Ray, uh the living. Um he's a guitarist, he's with he, you know, bias, fucking um Ray that he was at the grip show. He yeah, yeah, yeah. Is that Ray in real life or whatever? His uh his Instagram handle is, I think. He He was rehearsing for the Keenan Ruff. Yeah, that's it. Yeah, Ray's dope, man. They band is um fuck um my guy's band? What the fuck is they band called? Shout out to whatever their band is called, but yeah, so both you and Oliver were a part of Grip's latest project. I died for this. He had a grip, man.

He had a production credit on there, I believe. You were part of the lead single, right? Gutter was the lead single. Yeah. Yeah. And it's you know done. And the song came out before the project. It's done very well. The you know, video is once again right up your alley as far as a very controversial, kind of shocking, you know, video. How did you and Grip first link up? Um, we linked up through Tig, man. Like, I was chilling with Tig one night, and um it's crazy because I had already met Grip before that, but I didn't know he was Grip. And um we was in like where we I was with this nigga, Kendall. I was with this man. We was in the back. Shout out to Kendall in the background, yeah. Everyone who can't see. Yeah, I was um in the playing for keeps hat. Uh-huh. That's right. I was we was walking from the store, and like Grip had just came up to me, like, yo, you were. I was like, yeah, he's like, I fuck with your shit, bro. And I was like, appreciate it.

He was like, Yeah, I'ma see you. And like, you know, and then I was chilling with Tig that literally that following week. And Tig was like, yo, let me play my boy Kyle that I'm working with. Yeah. And I was like, okay, he came into my life twice in a week. I'm supposed to know this guy. That was literally like the next week. bro. That's a sign. It was literally like the next week. And he was playing his shit, and I was like, who the fuck is this? He was like, This is my boy. But mind you, I didn't know that grip was Kyle. It's the same guy. I didn't know that he was him. You feel me? Like, man, this Kyle guy sounds a lot like Grip. So, yeah, man. Um he ended up playing the music, and I was like, bro, link us up. And it was the beats was so crazy. It was two, you know what I'm saying? Shout out Too. Right. But I had already met two before that too, and didn't know he was two. Well, yeah, when was this? This was I think this was like the year before. This was I had met him at an event, but I didn't know who he was, you know what I'm saying?

Yeah, but like what year was this? Because I met I linked up with both of them in 2017. Okay. Okay. So this had to been, I had to met two in 2016. Yeah. Yeah, because you and Grip had done at least a record, if not a handful of records together before. Yeah, when Me and Grip linked up. We did a song, ASAP. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? Like, that song bombs away. Yeah. Yeah. And uh that's that's that's KELS. Like when we when we linked up, we did that. Um, and yeah, we was he was already fucked with me, and when I heard his shit, I was like, yo, this shit, bro. link me with these niggas, bro. Yeah. fucking shit, we just been cooking since, you know what I mean? Let's play a snippet from gutter, bro. Definitely play a snippet from gutter. You say about the pain that pertains to your colors. Just wait to get appraised by some lame motherfuckers. How you figure I'm larger than life, nigga, ain't picking no side with shit. We gonna ride till we die, flip a nigga like switches, I'm about my riches, when we step up in the building, put your hands in the sky.

Yeah, so that was a snippet from uh gutter by Grip and our boy Wara. All caps, by the way, just like Henry with the three. Yep. Caps. Yeah, so and also who else is all caps? Come on. Who just died? Can't say. And make sure it's all caps when you spelled a man's name. Yeah, MF Doom, man. Doom. Doom. Exactly. So what's next for you? What can we expect? You working on a project right now, more singles, kind of some loosies? What are you, you know, what are you working on? Um, I'm finally in them final stages where I'm ready to let my new shit go, man. You know what I'm saying? So it's been done. It's been done so many times, bro. I can't even tell you how many times it's done. But he's more selective now. He's smarter. You know what I'm saying? Like, I'm just one of those people who believe, like, bro, it ain't done till it's out. You know what I'm saying?

Like, I'm gonna keep working on the shit till the last day. You know what I mean? If I can. Shout out Donnie. But uh it's just one of those things, man. It's just I've been working on it for so long that I gotta make sure that when it's when it when it does come out, it's seen in the light that it needs to be seen in. Cause it's bigger than me. You know what I'm saying? Like, it's bigger than me. Like, I'm just I'm just a vessel, man. You're the vessel. I'm just a vessel, you know what I'm saying? So it's like the music is like I try to really make songs that that's like you know, relatable for everybody. Like, even if it's on some some, like some streets on fire shit, like Lupe Fiasco, or some guerrilla shit, you know what I'm saying, or some rapping shit like the motion, you know what I mean? Like, that's this that's the shit I was listening to, like trying to figure out how to make real songs, you know.

what I'm saying is that gonna make the project, the motion? Uh yeah, yeah. That's on there. okay. cool. That's on there? That's on there. All right, hell yeah. But um well, for today at least, maybe not tomorrow. Nah, it's it's on there, it's on there. But you know, I've been working on this for so long, and it means so much to me. So I'm like, all right, bro. I just want to make sure that I have a good release, and that's once it's out, I'll be the happiest person, bro. Yeah, I'll be the happiest person because it's like, you know, when you feel like you got some gold, you just want to make sure that you get what you need from it before because once I put it out, it's it belongs to the world now. Like, ain't no more taking music back. Like, I'm not taking music down, I'm not I'm not backtracking, bro. Like, so I'ma just make sure that it's how I want it, and shit, it's gonna come, you know what I mean. I don't know when. Right. But no guarantees on it. But when it does, yeah. I'm never tripping off the timing, man. Cause I know when it comes out, it's gonna it's gonna be dope.

You know what I'm saying? Hell yeah. I love it. Well, Henry. Is it time? You know what time it is, my friend. Oh shit. Yeah, drink drink up, Wara. Get get hydrated for this. Yep. Introduce the segment, man. You gotta introduce the segment. What segment? That's what you're introducing. Henry, this is the final segment of the One More Time Podcast. One more time. It's everyone's favorite. It's gonna be Wara's favorite. Let's go. I can guarantee it. Henry, where are we at? We are at the rapid fire rampage. Rampage! A Little segment we like to do at the end of every episode. I'm basically gonna break it down to three parts. I'm gonna ask you some short answer questions. I'm gonna do this or that. Just give you a couple choices, pick one. I'm gonna do a word association. I'm gonna give you one word. Just give me one word back. So, and I'll break that down again. But here we go. Starting with the short answer questions, episode 21. 21. One more time. One more time.

Music. podcast. Blackjack. Wara. Still from the neighborhood, but not in the name anymore. Here we go. Rampage! What is that shit saying? Rampage. Have you seen Archer? Rampage! Nah. I don't know about Archer. Same guy does the voice of Ken can't hear the uh the sound effects. Yeah, yeah. I wish you could hear what's going on here. Yeah, it's okay. One of these days, Ken, we'll get you on. Ken, we'd love to have you on the podcast. Ken, We'd love to. Here we go. Short answers. Starting with give us two of your top five artists of all time. Jay-Z and Tupac. Give us your favorite project of 2021 so far. I really like that. I really like Drake's shit, man. I fuck with that shit. I do. I fuck with Kanye shit too, but I was at both of his shows, so it was like that was really dope enough for me. You know, the show did the two shows he did back to back in Atlanta, that shit was tight.

Legendary. Not to mention he made millions of dollars before the project even came out. Yeah, that's what that's what was what was um the dopest part to me was how much money he made before that shit even came out. The music is like one thing. He's a marketing genius, man. Shout out to Ye. Ye. I'm trying to, I'm trying to I'm trying to get there. Yeah. Kanye. We'd love to have you on. And Grip, he didn't mean it. He meant to say I died for this is his favorite project of 2021. Featuring himself. He just he was too humble to admit that. He can't pick a project that he's on. That's why not. Okay, moving on. Here we go. How many golf balls could fit on an 18-wheeler? You mean like the bed? Like the bed of the truck, the trailer? Yeah, in the trailer. Like three million. Such a calculated answer. I have no idea if that's even close. Sounds right. Moving on. You've been given. It's supposed to be rapid fire. Here we go. Sorry. You've been given an alligator as a gift.

You can't give it away or sell it. What do you do with it? Put it in the backyard and fucking feed that shit raw meat, man. It's just a new pet. Boom. Okay, you've just blown up overnight in Asia. And tomorrow you have. Hang on. You're leaving for a six-month tour tomorrow. What are the first three things that you pack? My draws. Good one. Um very important. A fresh pack of white tees. Mm-hmm. And uh whatever the whatever the uniform is, you know what I'm saying? Whatever I'm I'm wearing that the time I'm there. Yeah. That, you know what I'm saying? Show outfits, the stage apparel. Yeah, like I feel like it could be your denim suit if that's like the outfit of the Canadian tour. Yeah, you gotta, you gotta, you gotta rock out with with one crazy fit.

Yeah, you know what I'm saying? Oh wow. And that's how you create the moment. That's how you create the era. Yeah. That's the experience. He was wearing that. He was wearing that. It was that tour where he was wearing the fucking denim suits. That's a good one. That's great. That's that's how I learned. Like you gotta be like a character for an album. Like you gotta tap in, you know what I'm saying? Like on some Andre 3000 shit. Like every time you see him, he got on some crazy shit, but you know it's gonna be some ill shit though you're the main character of your movie exactly man it's like yeah like those those shows that OutKast did you know where he was wearing the you know overall exactly exactly yeah with the words on it exactly exactly those were crazy exactly all right so you've just been put on death row for felony murder charge of over 1000 beats what is your last meal hold on one more time he's like wait wait the first part was basically just a compliment that's so that's so that's crazy when I think about it That shit is called one more time because everybody, that's the number one thing an artist says when they're recording. one more time that's why it's a thing that's why it's a tag I've done it to you I've taken you saying one more time and put it in like it snuck it in the intro and he'll text me like yo what is that intro bro what the hell you you left a part in there on accident but I think he's I I think he's the first guest that's like said it inadvertently though yeah to make you repeat the question yeah because it happens all the time in the booth but like it hasn't happened as much as we'd hope. on the podcast as much as we'd hope it would on the podcast I appreciate that one more time, dog. yeah One more time. this was not planned or curated in any way this was all real life what I had said was you've been put on death row for felony murder charge of over 1000 beats what is your last meal definitely some some uh Thai food Mm. some Thai food for sure let me get a let me get some Thai shrimp fried rice man and some oh and the Thai iced tea. Okay.

I'm hungry now. Let me get it. Let me get the I'm getting Thai food on the way home. Large. Whatever the biggest size. The big the biggest the family, the family meal family meal. Yeah. You know what I mean? And that shit lasts you for like two, three days. Yeah. Thanks. Yeah, but it's your last meal. It is your last meal. It's my last meal. They're gonna kill you right after you eat it. So there's no leftovers. I'll go out with that, man. Okay. Good pick. If you were one part of this bicycle, which part would you be? The the the frame, the blue frame. You're the you're the you're the Why? why? Nothing works without him, man. Yeah, like that's the holds it all together. That's the coolest part. Like you could hang a bicycle frame on your wall. You know what I'm saying? Yeah. I can put the handlebars up there. It's a good idea. We should hang that on the wall, Henry.

That's not bad. On a scale of one to ten, how weird do you think you are? Ten. Boom. And I love it. And I love it. How do you like your eggs? Uh fried. Fried eggs. Here we go. Part one of the rampage. Fried or scrambled. That's only part one, Wara. Friday scramble. That's only part one. Moving on to part two of the rapid fire rampage. Buckle up. It's Getting hot. It's getting hot in here. Keep your clothes on though. Rampage. Keep your denim jackets on. Here we go. Moving on to the this or that. I'll give you two uh choices. I'm on my John Lennon shit. Okay. Shout out, John. Uh what's what's the music video? Are you if you like look at a John Lennon poster, really like stoned or something? Okay, John. Oh, that was Please. That was Please, yeah. Did that ever come out? Of course that came out. Yeah, this or that. Yeah, man.

This or that. Here we go. Whichever one sticks out to you more. We're gonna start with lyrics or flow. Flow. Atlanta or New York. Atlanta. Atlanta for sure. I was gonna say Donda or CLB, but I think we got that. I gotta take that back. I love New York just as much as I love Atlanta. Oh shit. I'm I'm I'm a mixed breed of both. You know what I'm saying? Like, I seen New York. I still go to New York, of course. And Atlanta is my home though. That's why I asked it. I wanted to make you like be like, ah, but yeah, I rock with Atlanta, man. I'm I rock with Atlanta teams. Good. You know. That's the real test, yeah. If you're a fan of the sports team, of course. Mind reading. I don't really rock with the Falcons like that. Well, listen, no one does, right? Listen. Mind reading or talking to animals. Uh mind reading.

Netflix? Nah, talking to animals. What? What? You wouldn't want to do that. Nah, I would rather be able to talk to animals. Oh, okay. Say it's over mind reading. Okay. Yeah. Oh, there you go then. He heard himself say the answer. He was like, what am I fucking talking about? Take it back. I could talk to that alligator that I have to deal with in the backyard. You could talk to his alligator. It would be awesome. What do you want me to do with you, buddy? Right. Wow. Netflix or YouTube? Uh Netflix. But Netflix gotta step up the movies. The content game. They gotta step up the movies. Like, I'll be trying to drift off the hulu to see what's on there. Like, I have a subscription to every fucking one. I feel like it's ridiculous. And another thing that gets on my nerves, bro, is when I realize that the movie's gone. When they take it away, yeah. These temporary content. I could have sworn they had Belly on there before, bro. they probably did. They probably maybe they didn't, but they done had shit that's gone. And I'd be like, bruh.

Happens all the time. You know what I'm saying? Come on, man. Yep. Squid game just dropped on Netflix. It's number one right now. It's it's fine. Yo, that's the new thing. So he just told me. Yeah, I've been hearing about that. She keeps talking about that. Go ahead and watch. I'm gonna need to watch. I'm almost done with it already. It's insane. In studio or on stage. I mean, on stage, I'm a whole nother person, bro. Um in studio, that's like I feel like maybe the best part, because that's when you creating the shit, and I like being alone. So the studio is yeah, yeah. The studio is just like your own little world. Yeah. It's an intimate little world. You know what I mean? Like, yeah. But on stage, that's a hard one too, bro. Cuz on stage, I just lose it. I don't give a fuck, you know. Blackout, just blackout on that's when you get the blackout, and it's okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

that's an acceptable blackout. Tom or Jerry? Jerry, the underdog. No, only because of his character, but we don't fuck with mice, man. We don't fuck with rats. There you go. But we fuck with Jerry. That was a nice, that was a nice disclaimer. I like because Jerry outsmarted Tom. Tom thought he he could never get Jerry, bro. He thought Jerry was a little stupid mouse, and that man was always 10 steps ahead of Tom. Wisdom. Exactly. That's that's a good answer. Phone notes, pen and paper, or mental. Phone notes. Yeah. Since when did this or that have three options? Sometimes it has three. But but voice memos though. Yeah. I use my voice memo. Big key. So that's how well. I can't give away that secret. But you know, that's how I make music, like with the voice memo.

Because you have to be able to at any moment in time, whenever you're inspired, you have to be able to say it. Yeah. Just play that shit back. I play that shit back all fucking day till I got the song, and then boom. Crucial. You know? Ninjas or pirates. Ninjas. Shooting hoops or rolling dice. You could shoot hoops for money too, so it's mostly the gambling. He's like just shooting money. Shooting hoops. Part two of the Rapid Fire Rampage. Part two. But rolling dice too. Yeah, these are not exclusive. Well, they are in the sense of our game, but you have to pick one, but it doesn't mean you hate the other one. You know what I mean? Anyway. Last part of the rampage. This has been an amazing rampage. It's the word association. I'm gonna drop you one word. Just give me the first word back off the top of your head. As little thought as possible. Here we go. Rampage! Vinyl. I'm so sorry.

Tell me the rules again, bro. I'm gonna say a word, and you just give me any word. First word off the top of your head. Just literally word, word, whatever. Or two words, maybe sometimes, but the idea is to get your first reaction to whatever I say. Okay. Okay. So vinyl. Radio. Chihuahua. Right. Wilder. Went the other way with it, I like it. Fear. No fear. Like it. Auto-tune. Melody. Anime. Shootouts. Water. Aquarius gang. Are you an Aquarius? What are you, February? Yeah. Yeah, me too. February 17th.

My guy. Are you 17th? I'm 13th. Okay, okay. See, Michael Jordan was 17th. Michael Jordan was 17th. That's me and MJ. Gang. Yeah, for sure. Children. Um. Priceless. Military. Um, why? Billboard. Album cover. Bass. Um. Bass. My bad. Uh, I wish you could hear the Jeopardy music right now. It'd be way funnier. Chords. Nice. So, like, yeah, chords on top of the bass. Lemon pepper.

Honey hot. Just said fuck your lemon pepper. I like it. NASA. NASA. Um. Rasta. It's just something that kind of rhymes with it. Rasta. Joe Biden. Malcolm X. Bracket Road, Stomping Grounds. What a rampage, folks. What a rampage. What an episode. What an episode. You know, he he mentioned he hadn't done an interview in a while. He's been very selective about it. So we really do appreciate you coming on, man, We're blessed. Thank you. You know, help you tell your story. Um, it's been an amazing ride so far, and I think you're just getting started. Really seem to have kind of, you know, honed in on what you want to do and how you want to do it. Right.

Which I think is, you know, incredible. So we're really excited to uh to get more Wara music in our lives. But until then, go binge everything that you can find that's out. W A R A All Caps. tap in with at WARA.live on Instagram. Henry, and until next week, what are we doing, man? We're getting the hell out of here, man. Appreciate y'all. We are getting the fuck out of here. Bye-bye. Peace. One more time. Bye-bye.