The Letter M Interview: Future of Atlanta Rap | J. Cole | Coping w/ Suicide -

Everyone wants to be in the comment section talking about oh Drake said that first top two and not two. So did Russ. So did a few other people. But I'm not saying it to be the first one to say it. I'm saying it because I really fucking mean that shit. I'm top two and I'm not two. So get the fuck off my dick. The one more time music podcast. Genuine conversations with genuine people about music. Hosted by Henry with a three and playback Ben. We're from being oops to pants off. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back for another episode of the One More Time Podcast. I'm your host, Playback Ben, here with my co-host. Henry with a three, because Henry with the knee was already taken. Henry with a three. Who do we have in the hot seat today, my friend? Welcoming in on episode 67 of the One More Time Podcast, Adlib King and legendary hip hop recording artist. It's NBA Youngboy.

Hey, listen, I done got that shit so many fucking times. That's crazy. Good. I nailed that one. Yeah, when he told me that that was gonna be the roast, I was like, perfect. Spot on. He never agrees with me. So when he agreed. You got to use a perfect picture though, like you gotta use the perfect angle of my face and perfect picture him. and you'll be like, I see you. We'll get Ben to edit that into the episode right here. Thanks for always offering up my editing skills that are very mediocre. No problem. I'm trying to push you. In all seriousness, We do have a dope recording artist here out of Atlanta, Georgia. We got the letter M in the motherfucking building. Yes, sir. Eastside General in the motherfucking building. Eastside general. Yes, yeah. You you've made your way onto this podcast several times, either in conversation. Last time, I think it was virtually you were taking a shit on us. Um not on us. He said that he was. That that that was his one, that was the daily okay, daily. He was shitting on everyone daily. Okay, yeah. You know what I'm saying? That was a FaceTime conversation with Surf. Yep. Go go check out that episode. I might put it up in the top right corner. Rage Angel.

Yeah, so how do you know Mr. Surf Malone as you call him? Man. Yeah, I coined that nickname. So anybody that uses that know that came from the Eastside General. It's perfect. I know I like using it, but I do feel like I'm like biting it. Is it is it cool if I call him? I don't care if anybody calls it, just you know, pay homage sometimes. Okay, I will. Just if anybody asks, this is where you got it from. It's from letter M. Okay. For sure. Yeah, that's it. But um, I met him like I want to say five, six, maybe seven years ago now. Okay. Like we we was on the same bills back at like Liquid Lounge back when it was called Liquid Lounge. I don't even know what they call it now. Yeah, it's something else. Yeah, we was on the same bill, and this drummer Nemo, we had the same show, and we both got the crowd like crazy lit. And we kind of just looked at each other across the room like you know, I respect you. I see you, you know what I'm saying? And we chopped it up shortly after that, follow each other on Instagram, and we was boys ever since, like just kind of you know, showing love, support here and there. It wasn't like heavy heavy or nothing like that, but over the years, you know, fast forward to when we did Break from Atlanta. Yep, that's when we like really got close.

That break from Atlanta song just kind of like sparked something. I don't think a lot of people talk about on like this this scene, you know, with all the new up-and-coming artists. I feel like it sparked something as far as like the unity in the scene. Because them seeing me and Surf get together, and we was kind of like that next wave of artists that was about to hit, it was kind of like okay, all right. We we we know it's about to happen. And we were talking before the cameras turned on about how Atlanta is kind of seeming to have these little like you know, moments of unity. We're kind of coming together a little bit lately, I think. It's needed, it's needed right now. Like it's really needed, especially you know, them taking out on our biggest head honchos, thugs, man, like that shit. lame. Yeah. Free the guys. Free them. For real. Yeah, so I mean, you mentioned kind of this new wave of artists. Like, how are you feeling about where Atlanta's, you know, music scene is at right now? Shit. As long as I'm breathing, we in good hands. I love that. I love that. That's how I feel. Period. Other than surf, like, you know, who are some of the other artists that you're, you know, kind of tapped in with that you see, you know, have emotion in the city.

Man, um. I gotta, I gotta put my brothers on first. So, new Miko, somebody y'all need to know about. Okay. Willis the Lion, Clue, Ace Apollo. He did what I'm saying. Them just some names y'all need to go dig up the discography on if you don't know. Yeah, Byron works with Clue, right? Very closely. Yeah. So yeah, like so. I've definitely been put on Clue. But um, you know, after that, of course I gotta get Jelani and Manny in there, you know what I'm saying? Ben Riley, Muddy Maya. Like, I don't want to forget nobody. It's gonna get crap. Rob Olu. He did what I'm saying. what I'm saying. Oh, Rob, yeah, I haven't heard Rob in a while. Yeah, damn. I actually left Rob on red, I think. We were supposed to do an interview a while back. Sorry, Rob. bro. Get Rob on. I know. Yeah, Rob is tough. Rob just there's a lot of people, man. I'm trying to keep up. Yeah, there's so many people that I rock with. Like, you know what I'm saying? They know who they are. I still support their shit. I post them from time to time on my timeline. Saint, can't even get Saint. Gotta get my boy Saint in there. Yep.

You know what I'm saying? But um, I I I really just try to genuinely support anybody that makes me feel something. It don't matter if they got a thousand followers, 300 followers, or 10 10k, 80k. I like if I feel what you're saying or I feel something from what you produce, I'm gonna speak on it, I'm gonna give the credit where it's due. And I might even, you know, show love to the point where I repost it and tell the world about it. But for the most part, I might just, you know, like some posts. I might just lurk, you know, kind of just pay attention to what you're doing, you know, because I could probably just give advice, you know, helping you get to the point where I'm at, even though I'm still getting somewhere. I feel like everyone should kind of drop a gem at each level, you know what I'm saying? Like, and I feel like that's what's gonna keep the shit circulating and everybody start to win in the same pace. I feel like people are afraid to, you know, give advice because they feel like they're not at some level. It goes back to that saying we've said before, like it only takes a fifth grader to teach a fourth grader. Like you can put people on game. There's always something, you know, there's always someone who's not where you're at, and you can spread that love. Man, I think more people should definitely get on that.

Yeah, it's just the same as like Thug wanting to know, you know, more financial gain from Hov. You feel me? It's just basically the same things that like teach me versus just watching me try to figure it out all the time. Like a lot of people like to just watch you figure it out versus just kind of, hey, you know, if you do this, this might put you here. You know what I'm saying? Like even if it's just a little bit, even if it's a little bit of game. Little nudge. It don't take nothing but a few seconds of your time. You feel me? Do you feel like most people are that like have that mindset though? Or are most people guarded, want to keep the sauce to themselves? I'm starting to realize like the more and more I get into the industry that people are very guarded. Like everyone is very guarded, everyone kind of keeps up a certain um face. You know what I'm saying? And I feel like it's not necessarily to be an asshole. I feel like it's more so protection because of whatever they might have, you know, whatever might have transpired prior to them getting in the position that they're currently in, or just the relationships they had, you know, being in the position they're currently in. Like, you know, me, even me, like it's it's people that act weird now with, you know, my newfound success.

You know how they say that sometimes people try to say that you change when really it's the people around you that change due to your success. It's like people that don't really kick it with me or call me on a regular day basis, be trying to be closer now, or or all of a sudden want to, you know, send and exchange music or want my advice on things. It's like when did I become this AR? When did that happen? You know what I'm saying? When I've been here all these years, grinding, pushing myself, putting my name out here, show after show, week after week, you know what I'm saying? Damn near spamming people on Instagram and Twitter to just look at a link. You feel me? Right. It was bad. You feel me? Like, so it's like for me to go through them stages to finally not be there anymore. And all of a sudden you see, you know, certain cameos from people that you might look up to, me in the same space with them. Oh, now you respect me on that level. Now you want to get advice and get gems and get features, you know what I'm saying? So it's like, I don't, I don't treat it in a malicious way, but it's like I know how to handle those folks. Yeah, bro.

I mean, just hearing you say that, like, I would feel so like some type of way, man, that I don't know if I'd be able to overcome that feeling of like, fuck you, bro. You weren't there when I was down bad, when I was once again spamming people just to get a fucking look from anyone, right? Like those people that come back around that weren't showing love, like even with me, you know, grinding with the podcast and shit and starting to get, you know, guests of a certain caliber, like, I'm almost looking at like, bro, like y'all didn't hit us up when we weren't shit, you know what I mean? And so, and I can't imagine what it's like even being on that next level, you know what I mean? Having those people come around. So, you know, like how do you deal with that of still wanting to be a good person? Because it sounds like you do want to give game, but I would almost be like, fuck anyone that wants the game because y'all didn't give it to me. I mean, who who don't feel that deep down? You know what I'm saying? When you feel like you're an underdog, who don't feel that deep down. But I feel like at the end of the day, the mature way to move about it is moving with grace. It's more so knowing how to handle people, knowing that they don't have to be in the same space as you, that you don't have to allow them to be in the same space as you.

You don't have to allow them to have the same access as other people do to you. You get what I'm saying? So I keep everyone close that I was close with before all this shit popped, and that's how it's gonna stay. You know what I'm saying? Everybody else fighting to get close, fighting to prove they a friend, fighting to prove we we something. You get what I'm saying? The people that that really know me for real, they don't gotta do that. They be looking at those folks weird. We laugh at y'all. You get what I'm saying? Like, yeah, no, that's that's for sure. So what's the TikTok uh the trending audio? It's on reels now, too. It's like people be like, how come you didn't make it yet? I'll be like, how come you didn't share my shit? Oh God. Nah, that's nice. So we kind of alluded to this. You are the east side general. You grew up in Stone Mountain, not too far from here. Blenary. Talk to us just a little bit about like your experience growing up on the east side, right? Because we talked about kind of the differences in the different sides of the city, right? You know, what was uh an east side childhood like for you? You know what I mean? Like just paint paint the picture for those that aren't even from Atlanta that you know might be tuning in, right? Like, what was the east side like for you growing up?

Man, wings, ass, titties, parties, shootouts, fist fights, burnouts, you get what I'm saying? It it was it was everything from any side. I feel like you get the same culture you get on any side. It's just in a different way. You get what I'm saying? Like the east side, I feel like we don't start on the rah-rah. You feel me? It's like we we get there, you know what I'm saying? You you you kind of trigger things or put things in position to get there. But we try to diffuse it, but you know, after a while, we don't take disrespect too lightly. You feel me? So then from there we take it where we take it. Yeah, but I feel like that's anybody. But I feel like every other side probably more irrational than we are. You know what I'm saying? Like no disrespect. But they ready to shoot before we are, you know what I'm saying? We'll probably fight before we shoot sometime. But you know, I feel like nowadays everybody just got their strap, everybody ready for whatever. So you know what I'm saying? Times change, but I feel like basically what I described it as is what you would have seen growing up. Like so, did you ever kind of get into the street shit yourself? Or were you kind of the type that, you know, like a Kendrick that was like seeing all this shit going on, but wasn't necessarily like, you know what I mean?

That sounded like a Vlad type question. We're trying to get an exclusive video. It sounded like y'all trying to incriminate me. We need some clickbait content. Y'all trying to. put it in. Hey, I think the statute of limitations is long gone, Hey, man. I ain't do nothing that God ain't want me to do. There we go. Enough said, enough said. Period. So, you know, when it came to the music shit, I think you spoke on this before, but like who is the person that really pushed you to take music, you know, a career in music seriously. So there's a couple people I gotta mention. So my granddad was the first person that kind of sparked the flame in it. Yeah. Um was he musical at all? Or he he didn't. Well, he was in the church choir. Okay. So he wasn't like, you know, trying to take it to like a high level. Sure. I feel like it was more so for God. But yeah, I feel like that sparked something in me. Yeah. So he kind of just planted the seed first. From there, I was like, I was like, all right, let me, you know, wiggle my toes, let me let me get my feet wet, let me see what's happening with it. And you know, he passed before I actually got to play him any of my music or something.

You said that you said that in the first track of East Side General, right? There's a bar in there. Yeah, he didn't even get to hear my music. I mean, so it was just like for him to spark that and plant that seed, I feel like that was a real big, you know, um, weight in my life. Mm-hmm. And then the other person I gotta get a flowers to is um April. She was um one of the first close friends to me that I showed my music. April flowers. Sorry, That was kind of funny. That was a bar. So I I I got damn, it was like it was like the first time I played my music for anybody. Like I sent her this remix to Ham, Kanye West's ham. Mm-hmm. I sent her this remix that I did to it. And she was like, I actually like this. She was like, I feel like if you, you know, you know, really focus in on it and stay consistent, you'll really be good at this. But so far I like what you did. And all I needed was one. And from that point, I just hit the ground running. So I feel like those two instances were something that basically sparked all of this happening. Everything coming to this point. Sure. So, you know, on the east side, right? When it comes to the music, I feel like from an outsider looking in, like, was there a very like inclusive community where like everyone that was trying to do music was kind of you know rubbing elbows and like you know, everyone knew each other and supported each other, or like how did you view the music community like when you started getting into it, you know, being from the east side?

When I first started getting into it, it was very divided. It was very divided. Everyone kind of wanted to have their own stardom. Everybody kind of wanted to be their own superstar. It was very ego-oriented. Yeah. And um, I feel like that's kind of what broke up a lot of collectives that I knew to be. Mm-hmm. Even a collective that I was part of. You know, I feel like it broke up a lot of great things that could have existed in this day and time. And I feel like now that people see that not being unified kind of holds you back, hinders, hinders you in a way, or kind of just leaves you in the dust, they're starting to realize, okay, I need to get closer with this person that's about to go up, or I need to try to form some type of relationship with this person that's about to take this next step. You get what I'm saying? And it's like it don't gotta be like that when we could have just had this, you know, conglomerate to begin with. So I feel like it's an ego thing, it's pride. You know what I'm saying?

I feel like early on it was divided, now it's starting to find unity, and that's why people are starting to come up in waves where it's like, okay, these people seem like they've been friends for a long time on this music scene, but all of their music comes out around the same time. Mm-hmm. But it's because they're all like in the same friend circle or friend group, and they're all coming to each other's uh studio sessions, each other's shows, they're supporting, you know, whatever that artist is doing. And I feel like when you keep that stature and you keep that structure, you know, eventually the money's gonna flow through all of y'all. Eventually, those same fans is just gonna keep recycling through all of y'all. It's all gonna be on rotation. Everybody eating, everybody winning, everybody eat bread. You know what I'm saying? People always forget, like the the world is so abundant. There's like success is abundant. There's so much out there. People are afraid that if this person gets some flowers, then that's less flowers for me. No, there's so many flowers in the world. Yeah. And the group is always stronger than the single person. I ain't never been one to be like, oh, me, me reposting somebody's shit or me researching somebody's shit, don't take away from my shine simply because I know who I am.

Isn't nobody that's gonna be another the letter M. You know what I'm saying? Nobody that's gonna exude nothing that I exude. You know what I'm saying? So it's like me giving five, 15, 20 minutes of fame out my day or my time to this person ain't taking nothing away from everything I built. Right. People don't be realizing that. Yeah, and something that we talk about with the artists that we work, you know, work with a lot is that like being also in this like creative circle of like-minded people, that can only help with the creativity, right? Like, if you create in a vacuum, like I just would imagine that your shit is not gonna be as dope as it could be if you're drawing influences and inspiration, even if you're not like you know getting a bar from someone or getting a you know song idea or something, but just like the energy that's in the room when you're like in these sessions with your homies and you're all leveling up together, like I feel like that's just so much better than like if you're fucking by yourself and it's just you and your producer doing it in the same way all the time. Exactly.

man. You could pick up some little technique from someone just being in the studio with them one time that you find is the most helpful thing to you, you know? It's priceless, but it is better when it's like you know, that homegrown unit. No, for sure, for sure. So, who are some of your favorite east side artists to ever do it? Whipping out the Jeopardy music early. I gotta shout out F.L.Y. Yeah. The group, yeah. You did what I'm saying. I gotta um, I gotta shout out Crime Mob. Yes, legendary. You did what I'm saying? my childhood in a in a group. You did what I'm saying. Stone goddamn CyHi. When I speak of Stone Mountain. You did what I'm saying, shit myself. I feel like at this point, I don't need to speak on me and my niggas. You feel me?

Like, we we we the new school, we we we the new legends, we the new superstars. We've been building this platform for a while now. So, you know what I'm saying? Everyone else that had their time, they had it. I feel like I don't want to keep, you know what I'm saying, shedding light on them. I'll give them their flowers when it's time for that. For sure. I feel like right now, it's about us. It's a new wave. It's a new wave. How important do you think is it for artists to have the confidence level that like you do, right? Because we've had some artists on here for sure that have kind of like matched that energy, right? Where they're like, I'm the best to ever do it. I mean, shit, even Shah de God thinks very highly of himself. And like, I think that's great. And I think hip-hop specifically, that's a big part of it, right? I don't know if it's the same across other genres where like a country artist is talking that shit of like I'm the best to ever do it. You know, but maybe I don't know much about other genres as much as hip-hop. It would be fun to hear that, though. It would for music to get that competitive. I would love to hear Ed Sheeran and Justin Bieber beefing. Like you know how fucking crazy that would be to see an Ed Sheeran and Justin Bieber beef.

Like, come on. Like they just beefing about who got the the most hits on the charts right now, or or they like who who could put on the best show, and then we get like some type of tour where they're doing the verses, like yeah, or they drive uh fucking diss tracks. Come on, man. Come on, man. Hey, I ain't gonna lie, Bieber belly will cook his ass. I don't know. Ed though can rap. Ed can rap, but don't play with Bieber belly. On the Russ song, on the Russ song, yeah. Don't play with Bieber belly, man. Let's not sleep on Justin. No one's sleeping on Justin, but Ed also. He's like, Ed might cook him on. That's hilarious. I think it'd be a good competition. I would like to see that. You know what I'm saying? Is it is the competitive part of hip-hop something that like made you fall in love with it? Yeah, it's a part of it. Like, honestly, early on, I wanted to be like the best rapper alive. But I feel like as I started to truly find my myself all the way as an artist, that's when I realized I just want to be the best artist I can be. Yeah, I just want to put out the best music possible, the most timeless music possible for anyone to relate to in a therapeutic way. I think that's how you can be the best rapper ever.

Like, it's by starting with just being the best rapper you can be. I think it starts there for sure. Yeah. Because I think best rapper also gets thrown around. I don't know if everyone actually means like the best person rap, like ability-wise. They still look at like just the artistry, maybe when they're like commenting that. You know what I mean? But it's it is art still. You can't, it's it's it's an opinion at the end of the day. It's all broken down into categories because you could talk about the best lyricist, you could talk about the the best songwriter, the best hit maker, the best, you know what I'm saying? It could be broken down in several different ways. So that's why I just say the best artist I can be. Yeah, for sure. So is the East Side General is that a new aka? Have you always had that for yourself? Is that something you want to keep long term? Like, you know, that's my first like self-coin nickname. Okay. I would say uh as an artist, you know, in my career, because prior I was just going by like Slim, which is a childhood name, you know what I'm saying? My day ones called me that.

So if anybody else called me that and I don't really know them, they're gonna get a weird look. Like, so can I call you that? Or are we cool now? I feel like at this point, y'all could. Yeah, okay. So slim. So slim, let's let's let's get to the facts. Uh so how has the name evolved? Because I think you've had an evolution from Slim to the letter M. How did it evolve? Um, and I want the backstory on letter M too, because I still don't know where it came from. So honestly, Slim, I just clearly I went with it because it was a childhood nickname. But um, when I truly started diving into you know music and being a true student of the game, I wanted to be more appealing. I wanted to have more mystery to myself. So, you know, when I heard a name like Travis Porter, I was like, is that one person? Is it you know what I'm saying? I didn't know it was. Three people, none of them named Travis. Strangest, most confusing brand ever. I'm not gonna lie, you know what I'm saying? Then then I heard, you know, like a like a PND party next door. I'm Like, okay, is that a group?

Then you find out that that's one person. Right. You know what I'm saying? So I was like, what if I do something like that and just get bring some, you know, mysteriousness to myself, and I just go by the letter M. Cause you know, my first name is Malik. That's my real name. Okay. So I was like, if I just go by the letter M, like a one-man band, that that'll make everyone question, like, okay, what the what the fuck does that mean? Yeah. You know, where did that come from? So it's like, you know, eventually I just did some studying on M and shit, and I'm like, oh, Roman numeral means a thousand, you know. But that's that's like the level of rarity I keep with my music as far as authenticity and stuff. So it's like I feel like it, I just wholeheartedly embody it, you know what I'm saying? So went with the letter M. It's not as you know, drawn out or in depth as people might want it to be or think. No, but I like to keep it at 1,000. Yeah, like I never thought about it that way. That's kind of cool. So it's like, that's the only way that I came up with that. And I just kind of ran with it ever since and just been building my own brand around it. Yeah, but didn't you go by parentheses, M, parentheses? He dug it up.

I wasn't even gonna speak on that. Before the letters. I wasn't even gonna speak on that. So and didn't someone say, like, bro, we can't like have that on a flyer. Like, what the fuck is that? So there was this. Um, I think. He casually was like, yeah, it just went from Slim to the letter M. And like magically forget that middle part. Perfect brand. Try to lead it up. Yeah. Pulled it out of me. Yeah, we're trying to speak on it. Let's go. that's like the 2016 era of me when I had uh it was lit, it was lit project out. That was what I would say is like my first body of work where I was trying to put out like an album of some sort. Okay. I had Young Baby Tate on it. Um, shout out to YBT. Uh FKi 1st, he was, you know, particularly low first. Yeah, so um it was a good job first. Yeah, you know what I'm saying? It was it was it was a pretty crazy moment in my life to put something like that out. Even the cover art was some crazy detailed animated artwork, you know what I'm saying? But the parentheses around my name was more so I thought it would have made me stand out more in, you know what I'm saying, in a more creative way. But I realized it just made it more harder for people to find my name because they like, I gotta put some fucking parentheses first, and then after the M.

But I was like, shit, just put the title of what I put out, and then put that, and then you might find it. So you're asking way too much of people. Yeah, and that's that's what I got. That whole like 2016 to 2017 era. Like, it was just like, bro, you gotta change your name. Yeah, you gotta find something better. And I was like, all right, give me some time. Yeah, but who who was one of the ones specifically, do you remember? I would say Mike from A3C. Mike Walbert. Mike Walbert. Who was running A3C at the time. Shout out Mike. Yeah, he's with Rock the Bells now, I think. So I had this song that I performed at the at the A3C event that I won on the artist's own stage, I think it was called. They were like, you win. It was on stage. But I won. But he it was the song I did called On God. It's currently on my SoundCloud from the Cold Summer EP that's currently out on streaming still. I dropped I dropped that song, performed it. Everyone went crazy. A lot of people knew the words from me doing it at other shows. Okay, wow. He pulls me to the side at one of the A3C conference events and was like, why is this song not out? Like, I was like, uh, we were trying to get somebody to premiere, we wanted to blog Of course. he was like fucking stupid.

He was like, that's probably the dumbest thing you could have ever done. He was like, you gotta put that song out right now, right now, right now, right now, right now. He was like, in in your name. He was like, why why the parentheses? I was like, I was like, uh, I don't, I I thought it would make it easier for people to separate me from other people. Yeah. And he was like, it honestly makes it way harder to find you than anybody else. So I was like, all right, I'm all right. And Mike's a smart guy. Yeah, so me and my manager took heed to that, and we just changed it up once I once I figured it out from there, and then started to build a whole persona image around it. That's that's hilarious. Yeah, well, well, so I actually spoke with Mike about 808 Blake. We had 808 Blake on the podcast, you know, dope producer manages Metro Mars. Um, I spoke with Mike in preparation for Blake's episode. I did not know that he was the one because I thought it was Mark Gianni. Nah, Mark, Mark wasn't the one that said I had to change. Uh okay, so it was Mike after the A3C because I didn't know it was something to do with like that showcase. Mark probably, Mark probably like said something as well, but Mike was the first one to say something about it. Like I vividly remember him being the first one to say something about it.

He's the one that got you to take action. Yeah, yeah. Like Mark probably like said something in conversation. So I won't take that away from him, but I definitely feel like Mike was the first one to be like, yo, what the what the fuck? Like for sure. He didn't, you know, he didn't say that, but I like his facial expression, you know, like how he talked. Like, what are you what was you thinking? Yeah, he's definitely matter-of-fact. Yeah, um, so you know, the project East Side General, coming from that, you know, first tape that you spent some time on the cover art and like this body of work, right? Like, what inspired the East Side General project specifically, the certain song selection? Like, talk to us a little bit about a little bit about the creative process and like what the messaging behind that project was. So, like I said, I had went on like this journey trying to truly just find myself, not only as a person but as an artist. And when I truly found myself, East Side General was calling. So I was on this journey of just truly, you know, fully coming into who I see myself to be. And I took uh 3.5, almost four-year hiatus to do it.

And that's all of the music that you currently hear on that project. Like, I was basically cutting, stripping, tweaking, trimming all types of shit to put that together through, you know, everything I was experiencing through that 3.5 year span. You know what I'm saying? And so was it hard to take a break like that? Not necessarily because I was able to kind of sit back and watch everybody else and observe, you know, everyone's trial and error, whether you know it was success or whether it was a mistake. I got to see how to fully construct my own formula. So I don't make the same mistakes. And just living life. Like you have to live some life to be inspired to write about something. More to talk about. I just think asking artists to like pause and recalculate and like reset and do this for the long term, right? If you want to be a career artist, sometimes maybe it does take that. That's still maybe like a tall order for some people to you know to be able to like pump the brakes. What the fuck are we doing?

Who am I? What is my sound like? What am I doing here? Watch some people fuck up and succeed to learn. That's not exactly it's easier said than done. at all. I mean, just hearing it be like three and a half, four years, like that's a I feel like I feel like it just depends on the type of artist you are. Like with me, I just care about my music that much to where I'm not just gonna be dropping a project every week or every month just to say I can drop that much music. Like I could very well out put a way bigger output than half of these artists out right now. I have so many bodies of work that I'm sitting on, but I'm all about time and instruction. Yeah. Like I want it all to make sense and I want it to last. I don't want you to just hear it one week and give it praise for two weeks, and then next month you worry about the next artist. You know what I'm saying? I I truly care about what I put out and truly care about what I say, and I'm intentional with everything, so that's why all my music comes out in spans of time. If you look at all my bodies of work and the years that they come out, it comes out in spans of time. Especially the months that they drop.

That's not even planned, but it just takes time. Cause I'm like, I want it to be perfected. I want it to feel like it's supposed to come out at this point. I want it to feel like it's time for this to drop. Everything gotta have a certain energy around it for me. You know what I'm saying? Like, so that's why East Side General didn't come out until 2021. And the last thing I dropped before that was in 2017, which was cold summer. So everyone was kind of on the edge of their seat to see, am I gonna drop something worth hearing after that long? Or you know what I'm saying? Or, you know, damn, this shit was really worth the fucking wait. And it was really worth the fucking wait. Period. So so you feel like the expectations that you had for yourself even were, you know, were met with the for sure. Yeah, okay, good. it was exceeded, I feel like, because I ended up getting signed after that. So okay, so that is okay. So that's how the the uh signing with with series A happened. Basically, basically, this we dropped the um standalone song statement with the video. Yep.

And that had kind of put social media in shambles. Like everyone was kind of like, yo, what the fuck? This man just just said, fuck it. Like, he tired of being broke, basically. Like, you know what I'm saying? so. For those that haven't seen the video, I did have this on like you know, my list of things I wanted to talk about. Tell like paint the picture of what the fuck happens in this video. This shit go. I'm gonna definitely put it in the description for sure because the video is crazy. I like left like scared, and I don't even know what actually I felt after this. Like, man, shout out the S2S, something to say productions. Yeah, that's that's uh Kevin and those guys. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? They're hard, man. My guys, and and you know, my team, the key to collective. You know, we all got together and and collectively brainstormed this idea to put together this cinematic video for this song. Because when I was creating the song, this uh, and I one, I really write. I rarely write music. I punch in a lot of my songs off the top of my head. You've seen me come and do it, you know what I'm saying? So it's not Kevin, you know what I'm saying?

So uh this is a song that I actually sat in the back of my manager's car for maybe an hour on the way home writing. And He'd he'd even tell you himself that his windows was fogging up from just the intensity of what I was doing. Like, no, no bullshit. Like it was it, like it sounds like cat, it sounds crazy, but like his windows is dead ass fogging up. Cause I was just, I was going through a lot at the time. You know, my kid was on the way, and um my girl was pregnant at the time, and I was just like, bro, I really need to put something out that's gonna just jumpstart my career in a different way. Like, before I dropped this project, I was just like, I need to come out with a with a crazy ass haymaker. So a big swing. And I'm writing this song, and I'm just going bar for bar. I'm like, man, I'm about to show niggas like they want to talk about rap. Like, I'm gonna show niggas what rap is. Like, dude, this hip hop. Like, and yeah, it's like 300 bars. I don't know. It's like it's like four and a half minutes of just like bars straight. I didn't stop.

I just blacked out. I just blacked out. You know what I'm saying? Bro, I felt like I was blacking out after the video, like was over. So I blacked out, and when I went to record the actual song, my manager was sitting in a session and he's watching me record the song. And him and my producer at the time, Chris Garrett, he um he was sitting there, we all was sitting there just kind of in shock, like, bro, you you really going the fuck off. Like this, this is different. Like you, you in a different mode, you're in a different bag. I was just like, bro, I'm I'm just tired, bro. Like, I'm I'm tired of not seeing no results from this shit. So I just started putting all the the pain and and passion that I was feeling in myself into this music, like letting it be more fuel than it is, you know, what it is. You feel me? So and all that did is catapult me. And then my manager ends up sending the song to S2S, and they like, bro, we got the perfect vision for this. Like, we about to do like some horror flick shit almost. But like, I know you're gonna like do what you gotta do in the role, but we're gonna fully bring this song to life. So I ended up doing like a two-week boot camp with my manager in the gym.

That's why I look so fucking big in that video. Like, we we was in the gym heavy, just for me to look stocky for that role for me to seem really crazy. Like it, you know what I'm saying? Like to give off what we wanted to give off from the song, because it's exactly what I'm feeling. You know what I'm saying? So in the video, you see that. So that's why I look real sick in the head. I look real sicko mode. You feel me? Like, it was no games. That's just how I feel at this point. Like, I ain't playing with nobody on any beat, any feature, it don't matter. You know what I'm saying? I'm out for blood. Like, that's just what it is. And there was a lot of blood in this video. And that's what that's what the message is behind statement. It was I'm out for blood. That's literally what it is. So that's why I'm you know, I I I called people out. It wasn't like I was dissing them, but it's just letting you know, like, I want your spot. That's that's all that was. And people, and I and I gotta speak on this. Everyone wants to be in the comment section talking about, oh, Drake said that first. Top two and not two. So did Russ. So did a few other people. But I'm not saying it to be the first one to say it. I'm saying it because I really fucking mean that shit. I'm top two and I'm not two.

So get the fuck off my dick. Damn. Y'all heard him. Y'all heard the man. So is that video? I mean, it starts circulating the internet, it's getting reposted. I mean, blogs and artists, academics posted it. It was everywhere. Like, it just, it's it really just was like spreading like fucking wildfire. So that happened. And then next thing you know, Series A ends up sliding into my DMs, asking what I got going on. Do I got any labels, you know, on the table? And I did, but you know, nobody was talking about anything worth hearing. And then, you know, Series A ended up telling me, you know, certain relationships they got. And that's how 300 came into the conversation. You know what I'm saying? And we have a partnership with them where you know it's a distro, you know what I'm saying? And we we basically just putting this shit together. Everything I I produced, they getting behind, and we just gonna go to the top with this shit. Yeah, so it was from that video, and then so Eastside General, it that was your first project via the series A and 300 relationships.

It was brewing that whole time. Okay, and I put it out in the midst of all of that getting finalized. Okay. And from there, dropped a few more visuals, like the Karma's Revenge video, where I'm fucking flying. You know what I'm saying? Like a lot of cool shit started to happen in this span of time. So it was just like it all kind of just lined up. It was almost like God kind of just moved all the chess pieces in place. Yeah, I still think Magma is my favorite. I love that song. Every time. Because that live too. I think it's just because I've seen it live. Every time I do it live, people lose their mind. It's like crazy, bro. I love Magma. seriously. It's so lit. That was I'm glad you said that. Yeah, most definitely. I'm trying, I'm trying to get it synced so it can be like on Magma 2K commercials. Yeah, you need that. ESPN, all type of shit like that. I'm trying to get into sync, bro. How are I mean if you find someone that's good at getting songs played? Um, so I did want to, you know, not to, you know, put this on a kind of deeper level, but I did want to talk about the song LLL. Okay.

All right, because I too, you know, have lost a loved one to to suicide, and so you know, yeah. So like for you, how did you cope with losing someone who I mean I assume Lemon was a close friend of yours, right? Childhood friend for sure. Yeah. Shit, sure. Literally, blood couldn't make us closer. Um honestly, I'm still coping with it. Yeah, me too. It's like a daily fucking thing, right? But I feel like I've learned to live with it more. Yeah. That's that's the best way I could put it. Like I wouldn't say that I really healed, I just learned to live with it more in healthier ways. Before, before when it first happened, I wasn't, I wasn't living with it healthier anyway. I was just turning to every vice, every thing. same, bro. Um it got dark. Yeah, it got it got real dark. You know what I'm saying? But I feel like once I started to get back to myself, I just started to figure out healthier ways to live with it. And I feel like I have more happier memories when I think about it than sad ones. So, you know, I'm I'm probably laughing with tears more than I'm crying with pain.

You feel me? Did the song help? Yeah, it was it was like it was like a um to me, it was more of like that that sad celebration. You know, how a lot of times people say they don't want you to be uh sad at their funeral. They want you to turn up. Yeah, it was like that. Like I, I remember before he went, he was saying, he before he went, he was saying that um, and I'm not even saying like it was in the same space of time of like around the age he passed, but like when we were when we were younger, he would speak about not wanting his funeral be sad and shit. He don't want people there crying and moping over his casket and shit like that. And I think I still bawled and fucking tears over his casket, but it's like after that, I was like, no, I gotta make a song where we celebrate you. And that's exactly what I did in the video. I went and got everybody that was close to him or loved him any type of way and put them in the video to just, you know, give him his flowers and respects is what he asked. You know, we we really went out and celebrated him, celebrated his life, celebrated everything he meant to us, and that's what that song is. It's like, damn, like I don't even want to believe this shit, but you know, it happened. But you know what I'm saying, this this what it this is what it felt like for me.

Yeah. Now I I feel like that to be able to like put something out that in your mind and others, of course, is such a like great body of work to have it be a part of like that project and live forever, like timeless through music, like that's amazing, you know. Yeah, I I didn't have a similar creative outlet, right? To honor, you know, you know, my aunt's legacy with that, but like that sounds like something that would be like very therapeutic in ways, you know what I mean, and and almost like such good like homage to him, you know. I got so many people that um come into my DMs from time to time about that one song, saying how it you know helps them, you know what I'm saying, because they lost somebody the same way or in a similar way, but it helps them. Yeah, and that just lets me know I'm doing exactly what I'm supposed to do with this music. Yeah, that's a beautiful side effect. Yeah, no, I mean, even East's song who's about his brother that he lost to suicide at a really young age. I mean, his brother was like 12, I think, or 13. He wrote a song called Forever about that, you know, whole experience.

And I mean, to this day, he gets tons of fan outreach of being like, bro, this song, and you know, amongst others that like have that like deeper, kind of darker meaning to them, but it's real shit that everyone else, you're not the only one that's dealt with that. Clearly, you're sitting with the guy who has as well. So there's tons of connection. Yeah, it's really saying something tangible, you know. what I'm saying? A lot of this shit be luxury rap, or or you know what I'm saying, things is not really tangible for the next person, things is not really obtainable for the next person just yet. So it's hard for them to relate, or it's hard for them to feel something from it, you know what I'm saying? Or it's hard to even teach them something, you know what I'm saying? Music is supposed to teach you things, it's supposed to make you feel things, it's supposed to give you a message, supposed to, it's supposed to show you a form of guidance in some type of way. That's why music is one of the most powerful things in the world, besides money. You know what I'm saying? Like, people don't think about that. People play with it with this shit. People who really talented at this shit, they play with it. You know what I'm saying? They get lazy. You know what I'm saying? I don't ever plan to get like that. Ever.

Like, I'ma always be probably that one artist that just keeps that passion and wants to keep pushing the envelope, and y'all gonna keep hearing the same hunger. And if and if I ever fall short of that, I'm not gonna be the artist to get mad at his fans for reminding him. You know what I'm saying? Like that might be that wake-up call where I'm like, oh, let me get back in my bag. We'll point you back to this podcast. You get what I'm saying? For sure. No, that's huge. So, you know, on a lighter note, I want you to tell us about trip nine. What was trip nine? Oh man. Taking you back. Who the fuck brought that? up? Taking you back, bro. Who did who did you talk to about this? Don't worry about it. That's not important. That is wild. Trip nine. Y'all are like Nardwuar with this shit. I I just watched an amazing Tower of the Creator and Nardwuar interview. They've done like five interviews over the last like several years, and their energy together is unmatched. But anyways, don't skirt the question. Trip trip nine. Tell the folks what that was. So um, trip nine was this motherfucking dance group.

Yep. And uh because you're a dancing ass fool. You got moves. Yeah, it was this dance group in high school that I auditioned for because it was like the school dance collective, and I was like, man, I could unofficial. Unofficial, yeah, yeah. Yeah, like it was like. Yeah, it wasn't like the Stevenson dance team, it was it tried to become that. Didn't really work out. that way. Stevenson was like, We're not gonna co-sign this. Yeah, no, it didn't really work out that way because everyone wasn't on the same level or could keep up. You know what I'm saying? So it didn't work out that way. But it was something I was trying to showcase my skills in, and then eventually found music, and I was like, I'd rather do this. Yeah. Or showcase this more. So it's like, I still get down. I still cut a rug. People still seem to catch videos of me time to time when I'm when I'm cutting up in the club or somewhere or at a party release party or something. I I end up pulling my dance shoes back out. Yeah. So it happens sometimes. Even when you're performing, I feel like that's just a great complimentary skill to have as an artist. It happens sometimes. You know? Yeah. Absolutely. Chris Brown out here.

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I feel like I'm on his ass. I'm on his ass. Exactly. I feel like you're coming for a spot. Oh, yeah. I keep telling people, I've been saying it since I was about eight years old. I'm gonna have a pay-per-view battle with Chris Brown. Put up, it's gonna be like, you know, them boxes, them boxing matches where y'all both walk away with money. Yeah. It's gonna be like that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. win lose a draw, we both walk away with some millions. Wow. Not even a versus a full-blown pay-per-view. A full-blown pay-per-view dance battle. Wow. It's great like that. I'm on his ass. It's happening. It's happening. Somebody let that boy Chris Breezy know what's going on. If you know Chris, attach Chris with it. Tag Chris in the comments. No, no, I already, I train for it if you think I'm not worth it. I train for it. We can both get a month for training. You did what I'm saying. But like in hip hop, right? And I mean, you know, we were even talking off camera about how like you could even be considered a rage artist in some ways, right? Like, do you find it hard to incorporate the dancing into like your image and brand at all? Like, is that like a challenge? Not at all, because I've always been someone that just exudes who I am from start to finish, top to bottom, head to toe. I ain't never fake the funk with who I am.

I've always been me. So people gravitate to that one aspect of me. They just like, bro, this man just wholeheartedly unapologetically be himself. You get what I'm saying? So it's like you can't hate that. And if you do, hate that, fuck you. Fuck them, we ball. You feel me? Like, that's just how I feel. So I ain't never felt like I had to change myself for nobody. So I feel like that's that's why it's not hard for me to be me, to dance and show my funny side and then be ready to slap the shit out of somebody to the next. You get what I'm saying? Like, it's just like I show you all of that every time you see me in person. You see who I the same person you see on social media, the same nigga you get in person. So people can't play with it. They can't pull my card or they can't call my bluff on it. They like, uh, that's that's that's him, that's buddy. You feel me? Like, that's just what it is. For sure. Have you done like a, you know, because I tried to tap into as much as I could of your well, you know, your visuals and stuff. Have you done like a dance in like your music videos yet? Or is that coming or it's on top. I ain't did it, I ain't did it full out yet in a video.

Yeah, see, we need that, bro. It's on the way for sure. Okay. How about TikTok? You dancing on there? Uh not on my TikTok. You'll find it. in my reels, on my Instagram. Yeah, but for someone that's got moves, bro, TikTok started with dancing. I know. So look, early on, before I like rebranded my TikTok, like the way it looked, I had to basically restructure my page. I had a bunch of dance videos on there. And they weren't hitting or what? No, they was hitting. So it was going like I was starting to get a thousand thousands of views on there. But like I took them down because my team and I had some back and forths about what my image should be. And you know, and that's what I meant. That's why I was kind of saying, like, is that tough, you know? I I mean it was to me, it wasn't tough to show that. But my team felt like people wouldn't take me as seriously with me showing that up front before I had more of a following. So this is before the verified check, before you know the double digit following. So it was like around maybe my 3K, 4K following mark. Yeah.

And he was like, bro, if we gonna get, you know, out of this, before you start showing that, I need we gotta get people to take you more seriously. So you gotta kind of take some of them down. So I was definitely posting dance videos a lot. Showing it a lot. I'll probably eventually. I wish I would have seen those. I'll start to dish it out more now. You know, now that I I have more of a platform to where I can show, you know, my team, like, bro, they people don't people want to see shit like this. You know what I'm saying? So it's like now that I have more of that platform to stand on, you'll see it more. Yeah, I mean, I just talked with another, you know, manager about this concept of when it comes to like artist branding, just because you can do X, Y, Z doesn't mean that from the get-go that you need to necessarily be like leaning into all those things, right? So an artist that can make multiple types of music, it can and like they have multiple parts of their image, it can be overwhelming and confusing for an audience to understand like who is this guy the letter M. So I see what they're saying, and once again, us us business people like to you know be very bring us creatives down exactly.

No, it's just it's just it's just they always want to put us, boy. We'd be stressed out. You can't have parentheses in your name. Come on, man. No, that was a great advice. That was actually a good advice. I just want to be different. Shout out to Mike. Shout out to Mike. But so on on the dance tip, if you were to be on dancing with the stars, who would be your partner? Ooh. Who we bringing out? Who we bringing out? Who we bringing out? Who we bringing out? Who we bringing out Who we bringing out on dancing with the stars? The letter M and who's your partner, bro? Who's taking it to the top? Who's winning the fucking is it competition? I've never seen it. Can I can I choose two people? Okay. Sure. That's fine. Young baby Tate. Shout out Tate. Oh, wait, baby Tate. She took me out. She's not young anymore. Baby Tate. BT. Coi Ray. Wow. I love it. Feel like we'll put together, you know, the greatest dance routine ever. Wow. It's amazing. Speaking of Tate, you guys have tons of unreleased records, I've heard. Maybe four. That's it?

Yeah, we someone described it as tons. I'm gonna have to check that. fact. I wouldn't say tons. Okay, so at least a handful of unreleased baby Tate and the letter M records. What was she like though when you first met her and like first started linking up with her? I always been ahead of her time. That's that's the best way I can put it. She's always been ahead of time. She's always been sure of herself. She always knew exactly where she wanted to take this shit. And everything she was saying back then, back then is everything that she's doing right now. Like watching it unfold. How's that been seeing that career trajectory of hers? Nothing but a round of applauses. Crazy, right? You know what I'm saying? I'm just happy for her. At the end of the day, it's like all she did for me was put more fuel to my flame to where I'm like, okay, I see it's possible. Now I need to work harder. You know what I'm saying? Like I just love seeing her reach each height that she's reached, even the fact that she's still going right now. Because a lot of people get to certain positions that she got to and kind of just stopped. Plateau, yeah. She hasn't done that at all.

She didn't do that yet. Talk about being unapologetically yourself, too. I love her content, everything too. Not even just her music. Like I mean, I mean, the way that she's like, you know, accepted who she is, like physically and what like she's done this whole very like body positivity movement and stuff. Like, you know, that like it's amazing to see like how comfortable she is in her own skin, and like she's just unapologetically her, unapologetically her, and it seems like you've got a lot of that in you, like the unapologetic, like I'm the letter M. Fuck it. You know, if you like it, awesome. If you don't, fuck off. Like, I don't care. Yeah, yeah. You make it you don't put no bread in my pockets right yeah you you you don't right you ain't raised me your opinion does not matter you ain't got yeah you don't follow in them three lanes I don't give a fuck that's hard so I will admit when I first found your page right I saw a J. Cole follow bro talk to me I don't know if it's the J. Cole stan in me that needs this this story told. spoiler alert it is yeah it is it is I need to know how the legend himself came to follow and be tapped in with the letter M's career how the fuck did that happen?

Man so I uh fast forward I was in LA I was doing some sessions like a songwriting camp for my label. Mixed artists, mixed producers in the industry, it was it was real cool it was like a dope experience kind of like what Dreamville did and separate from the label off my own face card me and EARTHGANG have our own you know relationship one half EARTHGANG me and Doc he um had reached out to me a few weeks before this trip happened and was like you know you know I've been following you lurking on your page for a minute I know you hard I've been told you was hard we need to work I want to you know make like several songs damn near like a joint project together I'm like nigga let's do it you know what I'm saying I was like let's do it so we was trying to set it up schedule it and I was like but I'm about to be in LA soon so I don't know how it's gonna work out and then next thing you know he was like well shit I'm about to be in LA too so you know if you got time while you're out there let's make it happen so fast forward we in LA now and it's the second to last day I'm there before I'm about to leave, like the night before I'm about to get on the flight, type shit. And he hits me around like 11 30. He's like, yo, you still out? You working?

I was like, shit, I'm about to rap he's like, shit, slide. He's like, Cole rented out five studios in Santa Monica. I was like, nigga, what? I said, we on the way. I looked at my manager. I said, we on the way. So we get in our Uber, we slide. We get there about 11:45, 12 o'clock. I walk in, he's working on his unreleased record. And I'm not even supposed to be on this one. The one he sent me to open for, he ain't pull up yet. He working on his unreleased record. He come out the booth, he sit down, he's like, Shit, you trying to get on it? So I'm like, hell yeah. Mind you, the whole time I'm in LA, I'm cutting every verse like 15, 20 minutes off top, punching in, just going crazy. Everybody looking at me like, yo, where you said you was from again? And I said, Is that how you usually work? Or were you just like feeling it? All the time. Okay, that's your usual process. The longest it takes me to record a song is maybe like an hour to two hours if I'm fully focused on trying to make it perfect. But it takes me like 20 minutes, 30 minutes, tops to make full songs. I can back that up. Like, so Verified. You know what I'm saying? It's it's it's second nature to me at this point. But so he he come out, he asked me if I want to do it, I knocked the verse out, and they playing it back.

They play it back one time. And the engineer is like, yo, this nigga snapped. Like he looking at Doc like, yo, this shit crazy. And Doc looked back looking back at me, smiling, because he knew what I was about to come do. So Doc was kind of like just having this sinister grin, like, I knew I know exactly what I'm doing. My plan is coming together. Like, like this evil genius type shit. So I was like, bro, what's like I'm sitting here squinting, like, bruh, for like I kinda know what you're doing. So then he they're about to pull up the other beat, but then Jermaine fucking cold walks in. And I'm like, I couldn't have planned this in a million years, couldn't have guessed this in a million years. I'm sitting here like trying to keep my composure because this has been my favorite rapper since I was like 16. Yeah. So I'm sitting here like, bruh, like I'm like, bro, I'm like trying to keep my composure. I look at my manager, like, nigga, that's the song. You know what I'm saying? He like, bro. So he he he wildin' a little bit too. So we get we get it, we get it together because he ain't even see it yet. Like the door opens, he walk in, he don't even like ask who nobody is. He kind of just dap everybody up. So he shakes my hand. Still spazzing it as soon as he shakes my hand, I'm like, bro, this nigga just touched my hand. bro, bro, bro. What?

So I'm sitting here, I'm like trying not to fan out. Then he's standing, he's standing like right in front of me and he put his hands in his pocket. And I'm mind you, he has the regular cold fit on, you know what I'm saying? He got the regular casual tees, sweatpants, and the Crocs. Yeah. Nothing too much. No, no ice, no jewels. You feel me? He's just down the earth as I thought he would be. And he's like, play it back. And I'm sitting here like, yo, this nigga about to hear my motherfucking verse for the first time. Some shit I ain't even write. Like I'm sitting here, like, bro, maybe I should have wrote. Like, you know what I'm saying? Like, I'm sitting here like, bro, what the fuck? Like, so they play it back one time, he bobbed his head. You're Looking at him the whole time. Like, yeah, I'm watching, I'm watching close. So, you know what I'm saying? It first came on, it's playing Doc's part, you know, he bobbing his head. I feel like he already knew how Doc was gonna probably come on it. But then when he got to my part, he like genuinely starts jigging, and he like, damn, you know what I'm saying? you tell you really love it. he fuck with it. And then he turns around at the song off, and he's like, that was you on the second verse? And I was like, hell yeah. And then he and then he ended up dapping me up. He was like, You smoked that shit, nigga. And then I was like, What's your name again?

Bro, I hadn't even told him yet. Like, I he's just like, you smoked that shit, nigga. And then he turned back around, he was like, shit, play it again. So after he wants to hear it again, I'm kind of just not there anymore. I'm like, yo, this shit is different. Like, uh, what the fuck? This is two days after my 26th birthday, by the way. So next thing you know, he about to leave out the studio room. He about to hit the corner. I pop out the door behind him, I'm like, yo, go. He turned around, he's like, What's up, nigga? I'm like, bro. I said, let me rap with you right quick. So he pull up, he was like, What's up? I was like, man, you've been my favorite rapper since I was 16. Y'all can talk forever about that shit. But right now I'm here on business. I said, two days after my birthday, I'm here on business with one of your artists. So you can tell I'm working. I said, if you do one or two things for me, it'll mean the world. He was like, What's up? I was like, you can either follow me back on Instagram or shout out my EP, Eastside General Streaming Services. That shit, bro, it'll mean the world to me right now. Forever. Like he was like, he hesitated. He shook my hand again. He was like, You smoked that second verse, nigga. Reiterated. So at that moment, I was good.

At that moment, I was good. You didn't, I didn't need nothing else. And then he was like, I'm gonna follow you back though. Okay. Walks down the hall. I'm sitting there stuck, because I'm like, what the fuck just happened? And then next thing you know, I walk back in the studio, maybe five to ten minutes later, the notification come through. Real Cole World is following you. I said, I threw my phone at my man. I'm sitting there, let's go. That's amazing. That's amazing. Lost my mind. Shoot your shot, people. Yeah. Shoot your shot. Yeah, because that wouldn't have happened if you didn't, you know, pull him aside. He left the room. Yeah. Yeah. And like it was already cool. He was already vibing to your song. Most people would borderline, like, stop there. That's how I got to talk to him and tell him, you know, I'm the letter in from Stone Mountain, and you know, this what I'm working on, this is what I'm doing. And he was like, all right, you know what I'm saying? That's how that happened. And I feel like, and he's still following me to this day. So it's just like, bro, that's just crazy. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, what's crazy is artists need to be prepared to give their like elevator pitch, is what it's called, right? Where you have like 30 seconds of someone's time. Producers too.

Maybe less than that. Anyone. Maybe less than that. 10 seconds. Some people be like, Who the fuck are you? I gotta go. Like, yeah, who the fuck are you? Why should I care? Why should you care? And just get the point across. Like, what kind of music do you make? Like, whatever the fuck you want to get across. So you were clearly ready, bro. Straight to the point. Yep. And then a little call to action at the end. He gave him the choice too. One or two things. That's a good strategy. You know what I'm saying? Amazing, man. He was like, I can't really pose to you, but I'll give you the follow. Because I don't know you enough to post your project. Yeah. Because what if he co-signed us some bullshit? So I got that. You know what I'm saying? Like, what if he just posted the project and it was ass as fuck? Yeah. He's like, I mean, that one verse was hard, but I have no idea how this whole EP was going to be. You know what I'm saying? So yeah. I don't have to listen to your album to follow you. So here you go. All right. Yeah. Exactly. Shout out. I'll take that. Yeah. I'll take that. So we already mentioned his name, but I do want to just reiterate Cyhi, Your name's been brought up probably more times than anyone else's name on this podcast. Tane Runo already promised us that he would hit you up to do the episode. But let her in, I'm going to ask you the same thing. Will you contact Cyhi

and ask him to do an interview? I will. I will. I'll take some comments. We're shooting our shot now. We're taking your advice. I got you. I hit him up. Thank you. I hit him. I can't make no premises that he'll come through it. of course. But because he's a busy man, but I I hit him up. He was one of the people, just like you actually originally that said, Yeah, I'm down to do an interview. And then like you actually are here now today. So I'm thinking that this Cyhi one's gonna happen. It might happen. Because he already agreed to do it. Manifestation. Because he found us through one of a like one of our social content clips that we posted where someone was shouting out him as like their favorite rapper and inspiration. Is that Dre? And Dre started just spitting like crazy Cyhi bars. He just started like rattling off his favorite Cyhi bars. Cyhi commented like just the you know the typical like fire emojis or some shit. And I was like, yo, let's do an interview. And he like liked the message, you know, whatever, blah blah blah. I feel like he basically agreed. I feel like he'll do it. I feel like he'll do it. I feel like y'all, We're in Stone Mountain, too, by the way. He's like, he's somebody, full court press. I feel like he's somebody that that kind of just gets caught up in what he got going. Oh, he's got a little bit going on.

I feel like you know, when he makes the time and you catch him at that right time, yeah, it's lot. Most definitely. So what's next? So obviously, the Eastside General General, you know, this is this will be airing probably like sometime later in August of this month. Um, but that was last year. Right. So, like, three and a half more years, or what are we thinking? What are we doing, bro? Nah, nah. I'm I'm I'm I'm about to pop outside again real, real, real, real, real soon. Can you tell us anything? I could tell you that a new body of work is on the way. Okay. Do we have a name? Can't say the name. God is this series A telling you you can't say it, or is this you? It's me. Oh, goddamn. It's me. I just wanted to blame the label. It's it's it's simply because every title that I choose, it always comes to me in like random, like moment. And this title hasn't came to me just yet. Okay, so it's not there yet. It's not there yet. Okay, but it's coming. Should we come up with one right now? I mean, you want to brainstorm a little bit? Nah, nah, nah. I'm playing. The project is done.

Okay, the body of work itself. is done. I'm shooting visuals to, You know, have the whole rollout coming. Okay. And um, how does it compare, like sonically? Can you give us any kind of insights on how it sounds? Man. Massive fucking growth. It's disruptive, it's undeniable, it's unpredictable. Ooh. And that's the best way I could put it. That was fire. Who are some of the producers that we can expect on the project? Man, Super Mario, honorable C note, winner's circle. Shit. How can you go wrong? Fucking perfect 10. Let's go. Yeah, it's getting crazy in there. Amazing, man. Well, yo, you've had such a cool story so far, but you like you said, like, okay. You're not even can't forget Levi Bandito. Let's go keep it going. And see it real. You know what I'm saying? Let's go. Rest in peace, Lil' Keith. You did what I'm saying. Yes, perfect. But yeah, amazing stories so far. Can't wait to see where you take this shit. You have entered a final segment of the One More Time podcast.

Henry, where the fuck are we at? I don't know, motherfucker. This is the Rapid Fire Rampage. It's gonna be a three-part rampage, Em. I hope you're ready for this. I'm gonna hit you with some short answer questions for the first part, real simple. Okay. Gonna do a little this or that on the second part. Two choices, you pick one. Okay. Last section is gonna be a little word association. I'm gonna give you one word, and you just give me the first thought off the top of your head right back at me. Okay. It's gonna be a great time. Let's do it. Are you buckled in? Let's do it. Episode 67 with the letter M. This is the Rapid Fire Rampage. Rampage! Em, if you were forced to go by a different letter- What would you choose? And why? Fuck, man. Uh what is this wheel of fortune? All right. Fuck, I'll go with a B. So I could be worth a fucking billion. Hey. I like that.

You know? Tell us if you were a beverage, what would you be and why? Hmm. I'd be tequila. Bitches like tequila. They they love it. Casamigos specifically. Is that what you'd be? A big giant bottle of Casamigos? Reposado. you know what I'm saying? Whatever, whichever one. Casamigos is overrated. He'd be some legit non-celebrity endorsed shit, I think. Well, okay. Maybe, maybe see, maybe Diddy. You know what I'm saying? Diddy. Diddy. right? Maybe some DeLeón or whatever it is. DeLeón. something like that. Maybe some Terramana, like the rock, you know? You can maybe meet- I mean, I'm just saying. This is okay. We're moving on from that question. This is not this is not rapid. Y'all are disappointing me. My bad, my bad. Em, you can have dinner with any three people, alive or dead. Who are they? Alive or dead. One dinner. One dinner. Fucking. Andre 3000. Frank Ocean. Tupac. Wow.

Hard to beat that great meal. Indeed. Talent. Work ethic. Money. Pick two. Work ethic. Money. It'll be bad all day. Take that money and the hard work. Because shit, The talent can come later. Yeah. Well, and and talent is so much more subjective. Everything takes hard work. Yeah. And we all love money. Because if you're working hard it's something, that can become your talent. That's true. But talent and work ethic could equal money. That's the rare. That's the slept on answer. True. I'm gonna keep that one running back for the podcast. You can't change your answer, by the way. I see you looking at me. It's locked in Em. Sorry. Sorry, B. I'm not changing it. Sorry, B. I'm standing on it. I'm calling him B from now on. I'm standing on it be a slim actually. But how hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard. Boom. Facts. That's true. God dang it. Drop me a bomb. Yep. What do you do to get what do you do to get your mind off music? what do you do to get your mind off music? What's your favorite non-music hobby?

I like to skate, cascade. Mm-hmm. Cascade kid, yeah. Roller skating. Yeah, there we go. Like roller skating. You go to All American right there? I would. I used to go there too. Yeah, yeah. Eastside shit. Yeah. I know about it. Em, Is a thumb a finger? No. Em, the third biggest ever Mega Millions was just hit. What would you do with the money? I don't think I should tell anybody. That's a good answer. Okay. Yeah, no, we'll take it. We'll take it. Yeah. Just let the minds wander. He'll have to kill us if he tells us. Exactly. I'll tell you, you gotta die. Yeah. If you could be any age forever, what age would you pick and why? 35. And why? Because I just feel like that's the perfect middle age of life. To just, you know what I'm saying? Like you kind of, you got you got good enough into adulthood, but you're not too young to do what you want to do. And then you also are old enough to have some type of wisdom and knowledge and experience to, you know, segue through life.

You know what I'm saying? Shit like that. Love it. Love it. Letter B, on average. God dang it. On average, how many times do you look at a text before responding to it? And you can't lie. It's a lot in that. Between five and ten. Ten. Wow. It's very bad. I agree. Because I'm a mental responder. Yeah. And I and I do a lot when I'm doing shit. So it's like I could be about to respond in your text, but then something might happen in real life. Or a thought might happen in real life. And I'm like, I just flip straight out of text thread and I go to something else. I'm like, yo, and then it's just not happening. That's why I asked that question. I think a lot of us are like that now. So it's more so that he's easily distracted. He's not actually like thinking so hard about the answer. I'm not saying fuck you. You know what I'm saying? Because that's like a total fuck you.

Like, bro, you just look totally at my message. Damn. What are three things we'll find in your fridge right now? You like looked at me for approval. I'm like, I don't know if it's in your fucking fridge. You'll find lemonade. Okay. You'll find some sandwich meat. Okay. And you'll find some chicken. That'll work. Em, you have to donate a body part to science. Which body part do you do you choose to donate to science? Uh my kidney. That's like a very smart answer. Because can't you like lit, you know? I think you need it without like I think you need it, but I'll let him. Don't you have like two kidneys? I don't know. You're thinking of what am I thinking of? Something else, I think. You don't even know.

I don't. Don't come for me when like it's possible. Last one of the short answer. Em, What is your favorite curse word? Bitch! Perfect. Part one of the rampage. Oh, I'm doing great. Great answers. Yep. Loving this pace that we got going so far. Let's see if we can keep it up in part two. It's the this or that. Shut your ass up. I was just like, I was like, I didn't do it. Don't talk about my sound effects like that. Then he did it again. Yeah, he did it. One more time, Henry. No. No. The other one. One more time. And then we go. This is not rapid anymore. We've taken 30 seconds just to Okay, speeding it back up here. Yep. Rapping or singing? Singing. Slow beats or fast beats? Slow. Stacks or ad libs? Stacks. Hooks or verses? Hooks. Keys or strings? Strings. Become a full-time dancer or leave the music industry.

Leave the music industry. Write a song about fluffy ponies or a song about monkeypox? Run that back to our bones. A song about fluffy ponies or a song about monkey pox. It could be like an awareness song. Monkey Pox. Yeah, I think it's a good choice. In today's climate, yes. Fluffy ponies, a lot of fucking moments. Yeah. I mean, I don't really know how monkeypox is gonna work its way into a song, but that's what makes it a great question. It could work. It is. Letter B, you have to either fight Letter B, it just is hilarious. You have to either fight an angry 15-foot anaconda or 15 angry koala bears. Me and Anaconda could go at it. Because 15 angry koala bears probably rip me apart in like five seconds. I could I could figure out some smart shit with that big ass anaconda. If they separate, you know, and they go like on all sides. Oh yeah, they surround me. It's over with.

It's fucking done. They get a tree. What they have strategy now? They get in the tree. I can't climb the tree. That's true. Good answer. Nice teeth or nice legs. Teeth. Too much salt. Yeah, you got a pretty good set of uh pearly lights. there. Some chomper. Yeah, nice chomper. It's got a nice smile. For sure. I was talking on, well, I didn't specify, but I was thinking of on your significant other. Anyway. I was thinking on the letter B. You can either have too much salt or no salt. No salt. Be inside a porta potty when it's tipped over, or lose three weeks off your life. Lose three weeks off my life. Fuck that portion. Man, he doesn't want it. Straight on shit. So far, it's 100% three weeks off the life. Life doesn't mean much to people, I guess.

Anyway. Permanently charged phone or permanently fueled car. Hmm. Permanently fueled car. Move to France or move to Montana. Montana. Man, Legalize all drugs or legalize dueling between consenting adults. Legalize all drugs. Fuck Fuck out of here. I'm dead. Slim, are we gonna eat ranch dressing? The smooth changing of the name. I know. It's it's nice. This is different. Are we gonna eat ranch dressing with every meal or never have ranch dressing again? Never have ranch dressing again. It's gone. Last one of the this or that. A guaranteed headlining tour around the southeastern United States. Or a 75% chance of a global headlining tour. I'll take the 75. Going for it. I'm like that. Let's go. I'm like that. Part two.

Amazing. Great job. Yep. Listen, you could go down in rapid fire rampage history if this last portion sticks up to the level that you have set so far. Now listen. This is the word association. I'm here. One word at you, one right back. Rampage! Hip hop. Wayne. Nice. Hamburger. Cheeseburger. Ooh. Riches. Wealth. Family. Loyalty. Auto-tune. Death to auto-tune. Sweat. Perspiration. God. Baby Jesus. Perp. Baby Jesus. Perp. Double cup. Microphone.

Styrofoam. Think about it. Think about it. It rhymes kinda. All I did was flip your last question with this answer. Ooh, and made a bar out of it. Yeah, you do what I'm saying. Damn. Yeah, yeah. Think about it. Play it back. Play it back. He's got so many points for that. Roach. Nat twin. Synonym. Strip club. Magic City. Flow. Flow the ghost. Flavor. Kool aid. Lil. Young. Op. Spin. Love. Reciprocate. Ninja. I got a katana in my career right now. Wow.

Wow. How'd you know, Henry? Had a feeling. Some good research on your part. Yep. Cryptocurrency. Wanna do more research? Smart answer. Podcast. Love them. The right ones. The good ones. One more time. Thank you. Jeez. Ad lib. Ah. Yeah. Contract. Sign for the right amount. Right terms. Of course. Right logistics. Smooth. Criminal. Eastside. General. Let's go. What a rampage. We've had the East Side General in the building. The letter M. Go check out that EP and the next one. Hopefully, we'll be on the way soon. On the fucking way. Once again, amazing story so far, bro. Love what you're doing. Keep it up. Love what y'all are doing, man. Enjoyed it. Appreciate it. That was Love, man. Henry, until next week.

What are we doing? Getting out of here. We're getting out of here. Peace.