Love & Music w/ Mighty

[00:00:01] Speaker A: I'm Leela Rhee. [00:00:02] Speaker B: And I'm Nick B. [00:00:03] Speaker A: Listen, we're just two single girls from the city of Roses discussing all things love, lust, and perception. [00:00:09] Speaker B: And roses are a symbol of all things beautiful about love. [00:00:12] Speaker A: But as you know, love can get a little dirty. So we're here to talk about it. [00:00:16] Speaker B: Dirty Roses podcast starts now. [00:00:19] Speaker A: Hey, I'm Leela Rhe. [00:00:20] Speaker B: And I'm Nick B. [00:00:21] Speaker A: And welcome to Dirty Roses podcast. I don't know why I sing song it. Maybe it's because it's a music episode today. [00:00:26] Speaker B: That would be the reason why I was super stoked. If any time is the time, now. [00:00:29] Speaker A: Is the time to sing all last season. And now we're here, and I'm gonna sing it again. Anyways, I'm excited because y'all know, or maybe y'all don't know, I used to do radio, and back when I had a radio show here in Portland, I was playing local artists and highlighting them and things. And I was introduced to this young fella here because he was doing a whole campaign thing, road to 106 in park, because he was doing them freestyle battles. And I know y'all remember those things cause they were really lit. They were. And so I got introduced to his music at that time, way back when. I won't age myself, but, yes. So I'm excited to introduce to y'all Matthias Mighty. [00:01:10] Speaker C: Hey, what's going on? [00:01:11] Speaker D: Welcome, welcome, welcome. [00:01:13] Speaker C: What's going on? [00:01:13] Speaker A: You can only assume why his name is mighty, but go ahead and tell the story. [00:01:17] Speaker C: Well, you know, everybody asks, you know, like, where'd the name come from? It's derivative of mighty Mouse, obviously. Shout out to Damon Stoudemire. When I was growing up, it was like everybody wanted to be dame, the original dame. But hooped a lot was my first love before music. And my family actually called me Mighty Mouse as a child. So it wasn't like my uncle would be like, mouse, come here. [00:01:49] Speaker D: Hey, come here. [00:01:50] Speaker C: Cause I'm short. I'm little. You know what I'm saying? But he would always say, like, I got big energy, so it was always kind of like, you know, I'm larger than life with my aura, is what my uncle would always say. So I really appreciate him putting that life into me, you know? But my mom calls me mighty. My aunties call me mighty. So we dropped the mouse eventually, and then it was like, got rid of that mouse. Yeah, got rid of that quick. And, you know, like, so a lot of people have, like, cool stories for rap names, but that was just my name. That was just kind of story, though. [00:02:23] Speaker A: Like, it's better than picking something, you know, that don't picking. Oh, you could have been like Lil Mouse. [00:02:29] Speaker C: Right? Or like, the rap. The rap name generator. I think Post Malone did that. I think Post Malone did that, if I'm not mistaken. [00:02:36] Speaker D: Yeah. Wow. [00:02:37] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. I don't know what my rap name. What would your rap name be? [00:02:40] Speaker B: Nick B. Nick B. [00:02:44] Speaker D: There you go. [00:02:45] Speaker A: Yeah. We talked about stripper names before Mike's turned on, and I was, you know, you say your middle name and the streets you grew up on. [00:02:52] Speaker B: Right. [00:02:52] Speaker A: I was Larif Fremont and Lee Ainsworth. [00:02:56] Speaker B: I think that would actually be okay, though. [00:02:58] Speaker C: That kind of sound like a grandma a little bit. [00:03:00] Speaker B: Leinsworth. [00:03:02] Speaker D: I think it's how you say it. Right? [00:03:04] Speaker B: So if you say it like Graham's. [00:03:06] Speaker C: But if you be like, welcome to. [00:03:07] Speaker B: The stage, Lee Ainsworth. That doesn't sound so Grandma e. It does. Mad day, Portlanday shift, night shift. I got Portland, Portland Day shifted. [00:03:19] Speaker A: Got it the lunch hour. [00:03:20] Speaker D: I got the rush. [00:03:22] Speaker C: Most strip clubs, per capita. [00:03:24] Speaker D: Yeah. You good? [00:03:25] Speaker B: I'm gonna get a job somewhere. [00:03:27] Speaker D: They spend it unemployable. [00:03:28] Speaker A: I love it. So, yeah, so you are, like, blowing up, like, big time right now, and it's been a joy to watch your journey into where you're at now. Long journey. Cause you said you were rapping since you were eleven. [00:03:42] Speaker D: Yeah, yeah. [00:03:42] Speaker C: Roughly eleven years old. 1011 years old, yeah. [00:03:45] Speaker B: And so you write your own stuff then, or are you more of a freestyler? [00:03:48] Speaker C: Yeah, it started out, like, you know, obviously you have to learn how to write, you have to learn bars, you have to learn how to create within the confines of what music is telling you to do. But, you know, then you start to experiment a little bit more, and then you really start to build confidence. And the freestyle game at that, you know, at that time, it was like, we had this thing called hip hop tonight here in Portland at the convention center, and, like, world rap champion like, ilmaculate would take home the freestyle championship there. And then he travels across the world becoming the freestyle champion. Right. So there's a ton of, like, culture that's behind Portland that says, like, freestyling is a thing, you know? And so everyone, every rapper has done that at some point in their career. But I always wanted to lean into songwriting and create more than just hip hop. And I think that in my life now, I've been blessed to have all that behind me, you know, and all that experience. So now it's like my pen can work in multiple different ways. Right? I don't necessarily freestyle. But you do kind of utilize those skill sets to find where you want to go with the song. So it's a little bit of everything, I think, you know. [00:05:01] Speaker A: So, tell us. [00:05:01] Speaker D: Okay. [00:05:02] Speaker A: So, recently I've been watching your post. Cause I like cyber stock. But, you know, you've been featured in Sunday Night Football. [00:05:10] Speaker D: Yep. [00:05:11] Speaker A: Blazer games have been using your music. Mlbs have been using your music. Tv shows. What reality shows have been using your music. [00:05:19] Speaker D: Now, what? [00:05:19] Speaker A: I think you had a movie placement. [00:05:21] Speaker D: Yes. [00:05:22] Speaker A: You've been at the Grammys. Now, do you have a Grammy benumbed, or you just get invited. Cause you're cool? [00:05:27] Speaker D: Right? Right. [00:05:28] Speaker B: And do you need a plus one? [00:05:29] Speaker D: Right. [00:05:31] Speaker B: We're both available, too. Hey, since I'm working the day shift, I'm off at night to attend those things. [00:05:37] Speaker C: I'll put Lian's worth on there for you. [00:05:38] Speaker D: Thank you. [00:05:39] Speaker C: I'll put that on there for you. Now, the. So sync licensing is what that kind of falls under. It's an umbrella of where, like, music is being made. You know, people always think, like, oh, like the Jamie Foxx show where you creating jingles for commercials? [00:05:54] Speaker B: That sounds like a fun job. [00:05:56] Speaker C: It does. But that ain't how it's done. [00:05:58] Speaker B: That's not real. That's not real. [00:05:59] Speaker A: Okay. [00:06:00] Speaker C: I mean, hate to break a teeth, but the reality with creating music nowadays is, obviously, we all know hip hop is the number one, you know? You know, we all know that in the world, it's number one music in the world. It creates culture. It creates, you know, and they never want to give credit to black people the way they should. It's insane. It's. You know, we all talk about it, but the reality is, culture, right, is now not a jingle. [00:06:30] Speaker D: It's. [00:06:30] Speaker C: They want you to create music in general, and then they want to use it in these placements where, you know, tv and even soundtracks. And they're all coming back to that. Commercials. You know, McDonald's is using hip hop music. You feel me? So it's like. It's everywhere. And during the pandemic, I had to shift a little bit, just like everybody did. I started utilizing my catalog from all of these years of creating music, and I just ended up hitting in some dope spots. The blazers one is very near and dear to my heart because my mother was battling with cancer at the time, and so she would be at her doctor visit or whatever, she'd be doing her thing. And then she came to her first blazer game ever. And I was the arena opening, and she's sitting courtside with me, and she just starts bawling her eyes out. And it's like, when we talk about victory, when we talk about, like, taking music and becoming, you know, successful, that's that moment. That's that moment for me. And so, you know, all those placements are dope, but that blazer one gives me a little. A little bit more. And I'm from the town. I'm from the town, you know what I'm saying? [00:07:41] Speaker B: So we recognize in your city is amazing. [00:07:43] Speaker C: And I just create music for those moods, I guess. To answer the question, I've landed because my music matches the mood of sports, of movie trailers, of that energetic, that in your face. But also, I can kind of describe moments really well in my music and storytelling, my music really well, so it matches with the movie. [00:08:04] Speaker B: Would you consider yourself more of a storyteller? [00:08:06] Speaker C: Absolutely, yeah. [00:08:07] Speaker D: Okay. [00:08:07] Speaker B: And then do you also create your own sound? So you're producing your own beats? [00:08:13] Speaker C: Yeah, I'm a part of a lot of production now. Early on in my career, I wasn't, but nowadays I am, you know, you know, what you want to hear, you know, as the artist and as the writer. [00:08:21] Speaker A: So, yeah. So tell us a little bit about growing up and your upbringing and what led you to this space that you're in now. [00:08:30] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:08:31] Speaker C: Grew up here in Portland, born and raised, man. I mean, it was me and my mama, you know, my father was in prison for 16 years, on and off, you know, and, yeah, just. I'm a mama's boy, you feel me? Like, you know, we got our hard. You know, we got our hardships, and we've been through a lot, and, you know, she left me as well, so it kind of, you know, I held a grudge for a while. She left when I was 16, and I was very. Man, I was in a tough spot in my life, but we were homeless together. We were in these moments together, my brother and my sister. I have an older brother and an older sister. They ran away. Cause the homelessness was so bad. We just never knew what was gonna happen. I have a different father, so they ran to their father. And so we were all around this city everywhere. And from sleeping in the back of, you know, a minivan or a Buick, I talk a lot about sleeping in the back of a Buick and just being freezing cold, putting hand warmers in the bottom of the sleeping bag to keep my feet warm, you know what I mean? Like, real, real life shit, you know? Sorry, excuse my friends. I know you. [00:09:37] Speaker D: Okay. All right. [00:09:37] Speaker C: Just making sure who we are on that show. Okay, good, good. [00:09:40] Speaker D: Right on. [00:09:40] Speaker C: Right on. And so, yeah, like, my life is very, you know, my upbringing is very. It was very tumultuous. It was very. It was all over the place. But I think to kind of put it into a nutshell, you know, Portland gave me that grit, that chip on my shoulder a little bit to not, you know, to figure it out and, you know, just blessed to have great friends and extended family that took me in. Didn't make me feel like the burden. The kid who just ain't got nowhere to go. [00:10:12] Speaker D: Right. [00:10:13] Speaker C: That was me. So I was just blessed to have that. And, you know, Portland, I just can't leave. I got that love. I can't leave. You know, been to LA. You know, you've been to a lot. [00:10:24] Speaker B: Of places at this point, and yet you still. This is still home. [00:10:27] Speaker D: It is. [00:10:28] Speaker C: Because when you go through that much, you know, that many up and downs with something, you know, you just kind of. I got a soft spot for poor, but musically. [00:10:39] Speaker B: Cause I feel like in the industry, a lot of people hear, oh, Portland rapper and it's dismissed immediately. And so I'm curious, why did you want to stay here where maybe you could have more access if you were in your LA area, even your New York or Atlanta areas, where there's a larger music scene? What has kept you here and yet still so successful? [00:11:01] Speaker C: That's a really good question. A lot of people just, you know, why ain't you leap is like, you know, there's. I think there's a. There's a dynamic to that question because there's not, you know, in the newer age, you don't always have to just be face to face. Right? And that was, you know, it was sideswiped by the pandemic a little bit. But the reality is, if you make, your music is gonna find who it's supposed to find. And I learned that, you know, you're not always meant to be in those circles in LA because a lot of them are empty. A lot of them, they say there's something, but they're actually not. And there's ways to be a part of things that are moving and money circles that are. That are, you know, there's a ton of money in music. As much as everybody says ain't no money in music. There is, but you just have to have that character. The people with good character and quality product and good opportunity, they're not gonna tell you there's money in music, because they don't want you over. They don't want you getting it. [00:12:02] Speaker D: They wanna keep it to themselves. Right. [00:12:04] Speaker C: So, of course they gonna act like that. [00:12:06] Speaker D: Right. [00:12:06] Speaker C: I just learned that early on, being a young artist, traveling the country, and then being on bet, meeting people that are. That have true connections, that are really, you know. [00:12:17] Speaker B: Tell me more about your role on bet. What was your involvement specifically? [00:12:22] Speaker C: So I went and did wild out Wednesday and freestyle Friday. I won wild out Wednesday with, I set a record on the tv show. So a couple people went there from Portland, but they lost. Or they, you know, I set a record. We did 50 million votes that episode. And you could vote on the app at this time. You could, like, do this little dj vote. Like, you would, like, do a little dj break, and that's how you voted. It was dope. We went up there. I performed. It was neck and neck. I ended up winning. Came back for the all star series. The creator of 106 and park fell in love with me. He was like, this kid is crazy. The performance is crazy. The people in New York was going crazy. Like, New York is like, became my second home. [00:13:05] Speaker D: Love it. [00:13:06] Speaker C: And so moved around a lot in New York. Got to connect, went back there for the all stars. The next summer, I lost by 2%. But technically, I won because the guy who won didn't even do anything after that. They put me on bet.com. I hosted bet.com for six months. I traveled with bet. I opened up for Bow wow. I opened up for Tygon tour. Opened up for a lot of people after that. Just because the connections, again, your character and who you are kind of representing you, not just being in the circle, not just being there. [00:13:39] Speaker B: With all this moving and shaking, traveling and access to so many people, what was it like balancing your career? And I imagine there was lots of ladies around. [00:13:50] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:13:51] Speaker C: That he's like, yeah, right. [00:13:53] Speaker B: Cause people now want access to you. [00:13:56] Speaker C: Absolutely. [00:13:58] Speaker B: How do you manage your career? Staying focused and staying on the grind. And now you've got lots of women that are in your face and absolutely. [00:14:06] Speaker C: Finding out who's who and who's real. [00:14:08] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:14:08] Speaker C: And not really always so genuine about it either, you know? So I feel that, you know, I've never answered a question like this on a podcast, and I like that, though. That's important. Real conversations is ones that you don't have all the time. Right, right. They're rare. They're different. So this is. That's a great question. I think it's, you know, at the time I was with you, know, you know your childhood love. You know, sweetheart. [00:14:33] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:14:33] Speaker C: The high school sweetheart type of thing. Shout out to her. She knows who she is. [00:14:38] Speaker A: I was at the time. [00:14:40] Speaker B: At the time, right? [00:14:41] Speaker D: So it ain't. It ain't. [00:14:42] Speaker B: All the high school girls are like, you know, he talking about me, right? [00:14:45] Speaker D: Cause they no names. It could be anybody. Yeah. [00:14:48] Speaker B: It ain't no mo. [00:14:49] Speaker D: That's what it is. [00:14:50] Speaker C: But, nah. So, yeah. And I'll never forget, I was not very. I was not very, man. I didn't follow the rules. I did whatever I wanted to on the road, and that was a huge learning lesson. This was my first time on the road, too. When I first. My first leg on tour. I came back, my phone was like, it died. You know, where it don't never come back on. [00:15:14] Speaker A: And was that an air quote when you said that or just really happened? [00:15:17] Speaker C: It really happened. Until she decided to turn that thing on and take it to the t mobile, and it popped open and, you know, whatever. So she finds out, and I'm in Portland, and I'm. And I'm at a cancer benefit that I'm the headliner of. I'm, like, taking pictures with kids. And my manager's over there. Like, your phone is blowing up. Oh, no, your phone. Like, you need to come take this call. [00:15:42] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:15:42] Speaker C: And so she lights me up on the phone. I guess she was acting super crazy to the women on the other side of the phone, which is, you know, whatever. But. But it was like, yo, I can't be on the phone right now. Cause I got stuff to do. So I finished it. It was one of the hardest moments of my life. I learned a lot from that. And going on tour, I'm gonna be real with you. Going on tour. After that, I was single from then on, anytime I would go on tour. But also, I knew that I never wanted to make nobody feel like that. I felt. I was embarrassed. This shit, bro. Like, people in my squad was like, really. Like, they was looking at me like, for real. And I was just like, you know, when you in your circle and you looking around like, y'all don't feel me, though. [00:16:18] Speaker D: Yeah. Ain't nobody. I'm the only one. [00:16:20] Speaker C: I'm the only one. I was 23 years old, 23, 24. I was like. I was living. And you think you ready. You think you know what you doing and you just don't, you know? And that's the transparency. That's where the lessons come in, you know? And then, you know, you try to still love on somebody. So we still tried to rock. And then she went and did her dirt. I felt, you know, even worse. [00:16:41] Speaker A: Ten times. Oh, okay. [00:16:42] Speaker C: You don't got me back, you know. And then we was just toxic. [00:16:46] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:16:46] Speaker C: We was just toxic for each other. And it just became. And we were better friends anyway before that. So what's cool is we got to become, you know, we were childhood friends and then became, you know, to get, you know, together later in life. So there was less pressure when we were just friends. [00:17:01] Speaker D: Right. [00:17:01] Speaker C: It was like, man, we just did it because our environment said be together, not because we wanted to. [00:17:06] Speaker D: Cause y'all so cool. [00:17:07] Speaker A: Y'all together might as well be together. Not. [00:17:09] Speaker B: You might as well. [00:17:10] Speaker A: Yeah, that's real. That's real. So okay. With that being said, then, what's groupie life like? [00:17:16] Speaker C: Yeah, that's especially. [00:17:17] Speaker B: Cause the things that you said that you were on tour with. I know they have groups. [00:17:21] Speaker D: Oh, man. Yeah. [00:17:22] Speaker C: Bow wow got group names. [00:17:23] Speaker B: That's what I didn't wanna say. [00:17:25] Speaker D: Tyga B. [00:17:26] Speaker C: Now he do, and they crazy, but he older. He wasn't doing all that back then, you know, and he was still coming up, and me and him were a lot closer. Bow wow had mad girls. Oh, bruh. It was like. And you was cool if you was number seven, you know what I mean? I was like, number eight or nine in the group, and you would just get the ones that, you know, didn't have, like, wouldn't just go all out and do whatever, you know. And so it was kind of crazy. But the reality for the team. [00:17:52] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:17:52] Speaker C: Oh, yeah. I'm not gonna cap. I'm not gonna look. No, life is not for capping, you know? Yeah, you have to. And especially on tour, too, when you're gonna be gone. [00:18:03] Speaker D: That is. [00:18:04] Speaker C: That's like the goal, man. Like, you do that and then you leave. And not no hate on no dudes. But if you saying you didn't do it, you're just lying. You just lying. [00:18:11] Speaker D: Just. [00:18:11] Speaker C: Just keep it real, bro. Like, that's what you was doing and that's what they was doing. Why did people always say, like, it. [00:18:17] Speaker D: Was dude who was doing it? [00:18:18] Speaker C: No, they was showing up to do it, too. [00:18:20] Speaker B: That's what they were there for. [00:18:21] Speaker C: Let's get some groupies on the show and interview them. See what they life was like. They husband probably wasn't happy when they know. [00:18:26] Speaker D: If you. [00:18:27] Speaker B: You can refer to us, we will reach out. [00:18:30] Speaker A: I went to a show, and I was backstage with Snoop and his whole crew. Yeah, Uncle Snoop and the security guards. The security guards ran the groupie auditions in another room while Snoop was taking pictures. And I was like, back there, they're like, don't worry about that. You guys stay over here in this area with the food. We're like, okay, no, stay with the food. [00:18:52] Speaker C: Secure the perimeter. We have a radio host trying to. [00:18:57] Speaker A: Infiltrate, checking for mics. [00:19:00] Speaker D: Right. [00:19:01] Speaker C: And, you know, I think anyone who says they didn't is just cabin. I mean, it is what it is. [00:19:05] Speaker B: And you're young. [00:19:06] Speaker C: You're living life. You should do it while you're single. Being single on the road was much more fun. Cause I didn't carry that back home. I did it one time, and it was crazy. Like, it ruined that relationship, and I know it did. You feel me? And I take that. L. Like, I still think about it. You know what I mean? As a man. You do. You like shit. [00:19:24] Speaker A: You can't. [00:19:25] Speaker C: You know how you felt. [00:19:26] Speaker B: So you say being single on the road is really the best way to go right now. We are not taking that emotional baggage with you. But is there a way to be in a relationship on the road? How do people manage that? Have you seen it be successful? [00:19:39] Speaker C: Yeah, I have. I actually toured with Twista, so he's an OG. And at the time, he was still an OG, but it was dope to watch me marry, you know, he's got kids. He'd bring his kids with him. It was dope. It was dope. And that really taught me how it was done. [00:19:53] Speaker D: He. [00:19:55] Speaker C: You don't have to. You don't have to entertain him. And there's a time where she just get old. It get old, you know? And that's to see that. It taught me a lot. You know, we was in, like, eight cities together, and that was like, you know, we're in, like, a place, like Wisconsin, where, I mean, the women have. I mean, they're like, twist up. [00:20:12] Speaker D: What? [00:20:13] Speaker C: It was just like. And like, what? [00:20:15] Speaker D: It's twister, bro. Chill. [00:20:16] Speaker C: Like, you know, nice and slow. Come on. Or not. Whatever. [00:20:19] Speaker D: Whatever. The song's called. Slow. [00:20:20] Speaker C: Slow jams. Come on. [00:20:21] Speaker D: And he. [00:20:22] Speaker C: And they lose their mind, you know, and he's like, 3000 white people. [00:20:27] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:20:27] Speaker C: Like, that's crazy. Every word, like, that's crazy. [00:20:33] Speaker A: It was going crazy. [00:20:34] Speaker D: Yeah, yeah. [00:20:36] Speaker C: And then when you're there and you realize that, it's like, it's just not worth it. And I think you got to experience it when you're younger. And then if you're gonna continue to go on about it, you learn the etiquette of, like, I don't. You know, your boundary setting is better, your ability to communicate is better, and you have more clout now as an artist, to be able to demand certain things, certain lines, so boundaries can be drawn as a. As an older artist or someone more established to say, like, I don't want that many people in my room right now. [00:21:05] Speaker A: Do you feel, like, with the maturity that you've gained over the years and have the experiences that you're more desirable because it's, like, less attainable? [00:21:14] Speaker C: I think. I mean, I don't know. I think that that's how it works. I think, yeah, bitches want me. Well, I think married men, you know, wouldn't get the ring on. [00:21:22] Speaker B: They usually want married men. [00:21:23] Speaker C: What they can't have, what they can't have. [00:21:25] Speaker B: But also, it shows them that you're capable of commitment. And since everybody wants to be the exception and not the rule, but, like, if he's like this with her, he'll be like that with me. [00:21:33] Speaker C: Right. [00:21:34] Speaker B: And even better, because it's me. [00:21:36] Speaker D: Right. [00:21:37] Speaker C: I do want to highlight, though, that there are tons of married artists that you never knew were married and that are very, very successful that we don't talk about. We don't talk about it. Ll Cool J been married for 30. [00:21:50] Speaker B: Years, and he's 30 years. But, you know, so is ice cube. [00:21:53] Speaker C: Ice cube. [00:21:54] Speaker B: I mean, it's like, we're aware they're married, but it's not put in the forefront. But they're also. You don't see them out getting caught with tabloids, which, like, you don't care about it. [00:22:03] Speaker A: That kind of leads to another question, though. Like, their wives are not, like, in the limelight. [00:22:07] Speaker C: Right. [00:22:08] Speaker A: And so do you think that it's better to date somebody that's in the industry or not in the industry? [00:22:13] Speaker C: I think you relate to a lot of people that are in the industry, so it's easy to find somebody you connect with. [00:22:18] Speaker B: Both of those artists specifically started with their person before they became. And that's who they became. [00:22:23] Speaker C: Absolutely. Kendrick Lamar is another one who's been married for a really long time. Yeah. And I think that's a huge piece of it, is knowing who they really and truly are. Artists often feel very misunderstood, and so that's why if I see another artist in this moment, if there was another artist here, they would know how I felt. Right. So it means that they didn't have a lot of love before they got famous or before they got into the limelight. So they haven't been understood yet, and now it's overwhelming. [00:22:52] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:22:53] Speaker C: So I think that that's a huge part of it. You know, I'm in a relationship now in my life and have been for a while, and that has. It's been so successful because I went and lived and got to learn and I understood. Oh, okay. That's how you do it. I've had the good and the bad. I figured it, I got to see it, and now I get to experience things the way they should be experienced. [00:23:17] Speaker B: So in your relationship now, do you take your partner on the road with you, or do you just keep everything open and honest about what's happening when you're away? [00:23:27] Speaker C: She's a nurse. She's a nurse. She's a rn. She's high up in the company. She gets a bag. So she loves what she does. She was born a nurse. One of those people that just knows that's what she's going to be. She loves to work. That is her lifeline. It's the same way with me. She knows music is my lifeline. She knows that's what it is. She respects it. She's also a military baby, so she knows. Hey, go. Go get the bag. You know what I'm saying? [00:23:56] Speaker B: Aren't you? Opposites attract here, not physicality. [00:23:58] Speaker D: Right. [00:23:59] Speaker B: Like background and education. [00:24:01] Speaker A: A little bit of similarities, though, because given your background of having that, been homeless, having moved around a lot, she had to probably move around a lot. [00:24:07] Speaker C: Shane never had a home for real. [00:24:09] Speaker A: You know, while the circumstances of why are different, but the relatability to it is similar, it seems like it. [00:24:16] Speaker B: I was just looking at structure. Because you have military, you have structure even though you're moving a lot. It's a lot of structure in the military and then a lot of discipline just in the educational piece of becoming that versus the artistic take, which is not traditional education. It's much more emotional and it's more connected than the science. So it's like, yeah, there's a lot of differences. There's similarities. [00:24:37] Speaker A: Yeah, that makes sense. [00:24:38] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:24:39] Speaker C: It's funny, when you love somebody, you don't really think about all that. You just rocking. [00:24:42] Speaker D: You feel me? [00:24:43] Speaker C: You just rocking. [00:24:44] Speaker D: They feel good. [00:24:44] Speaker A: So I like it. [00:24:46] Speaker B: It's that vibe. [00:24:47] Speaker D: Right? [00:24:47] Speaker A: That vibe. [00:24:48] Speaker D: Right, right. [00:24:49] Speaker A: So how did y'all meet? [00:24:51] Speaker C: She was a nurse. So in my. When the pandemic happened, I went back to my day job, and so when I went back to my day job. [00:24:58] Speaker D: Hold on. [00:24:58] Speaker B: What does a day job look like for someone? [00:25:00] Speaker C: Like, what is the day job? So I'm a quality a life director for, you know, highly behavioral, you know, schizophrenic, mental, you know, I work literally in one of the craziest, if it's not the state hospital, but I, like, that's where. So, she was the nurse that was consulting this facility. We have hundreds of people that need help. I'm the quality of life director, so I have three assistants that basically tend to everything for everyone. [00:25:34] Speaker A: Okay. [00:25:35] Speaker C: And I oversee them. And I would be remote every now and then, especially during the pandemic. And then when the pandemic was, like, heavy, I had to be in there because people was coming in sick. It was just crazy. So she came in, consulted, and she was. She literally was, like, the boss of every single nurse in the entire building, and walked in just like, I'm the youngest person in the room, and, you know, she's a little bit older. [00:26:00] Speaker D: You feel me? [00:26:00] Speaker C: And so I'm just, you know, hey, all right. [00:26:03] Speaker B: You know, so I'm gonna take that down. [00:26:04] Speaker D: Just. Yeah, got the net. Like, you ain't gonna get it with a net. [00:26:08] Speaker C: That mighty mouse came all the way out. [00:26:10] Speaker D: Right, there you go. [00:26:11] Speaker C: And I think. I think I won her over a little bit, because, you know, she has a few kids, and her son's name is Mathias. [00:26:20] Speaker D: Aw. [00:26:21] Speaker C: And so she. Her friend came. Her friend comes in, like, as a consultant, you have to have someone who checks out where you're going to consult first to give you notes. So she pulls up, she's about to do the consulting, but her friend says, there's an italian kid named Mathias. He's cute as hell, blah, blah, blah. And then she comes in, she's looking around. She's, like, introduced. She already knows my name and everything. And so we at the boardroom. We're in a boardroom. You know, there's a ton of just older folks, and I'm in this meeting every day. I kind of know how to navigate. She's new to the room, but she walks in, and everybody's just like. Because she finna call you on your bullshit, you know, and that's her job, you know, she gets paid a lot of money to do that. And so when she came in, we just kind of hit it off. A lot of people didn't like her, and I was kind of. I would test the. I would test the. [00:27:05] Speaker A: It's like, I like a challenge. [00:27:07] Speaker C: I would talk shit, you know? [00:27:08] Speaker B: I don't know. [00:27:09] Speaker C: And then it just kind of worked out. We went and got a drink one time, and I don't know. Her sense of humor is crazy as a military baby. Her sense of humor is just. It's hilarious, you know? Yeah. I fell in love with her. You know what I'm saying? [00:27:22] Speaker B: We love that. [00:27:22] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:27:23] Speaker C: It was kind of an interesting story because as the pandemic's happening, you not thinking about that. You not. You not thinking, stay alive, man. It's a whole different, especially in the. [00:27:32] Speaker A: Environment that y'all was in right around. [00:27:35] Speaker B: So many people all the time that. [00:27:36] Speaker A: Are already having health issues. [00:27:38] Speaker C: So that was kind of interesting way to meet somebody. But I'm blessed, you know? And she's, I think, being a military baby, she knows what it's like to have somebody just go do the work, come back. Me will be on the table. Like, it's very, like, structure. [00:27:52] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:27:53] Speaker C: And I rock with it. [00:27:54] Speaker A: He's like, I need that. [00:27:56] Speaker C: Come on, come on. [00:27:57] Speaker D: We artistic. We ain't got no structure. Right. [00:28:01] Speaker A: Talk about your other artistic abilities. [00:28:03] Speaker D: Oh, yeah. Okay. Yeah. [00:28:05] Speaker C: So I do. I paint a lot. I do a lot of art. [00:28:09] Speaker A: Amazing. [00:28:10] Speaker D: Thank you. Thank you. [00:28:11] Speaker C: I appreciate that. I'm real. I'm very modest. Not modest in music. I feel like I've worked hard for what I do. But in art, it is very much like a get away from the world thing for me. I just have certain goals of wanting to get better and always wanting to, like, try something and something new. And art is very humbling, you know, and you just. I don't know. And so I've been blessed. I've been painting since. For about five years now. Never painted before that, but I drew all the time as a kid, and so I COuld draw, like, I could draw any, like, character in the world, like, with, like, off memory. Like, I just draw SonIc with my eyes closed, and I could just do it just. Cause it's like. I just did it so many times, you know, it was a release for me. And so then as I got older, I just started trying, like, different type of modern art and wanting to do it, and painting just took over because it was so. It's stress relief, you know, and the pandemic brought that out, and I've been blessed. I've done a mural now. I try to. You know, I had these goals. I was like, yo, I did a mural. [00:29:16] Speaker D: Here it is. [00:29:17] Speaker C: It's actually in Washington. [00:29:18] Speaker D: Okay. [00:29:18] Speaker C: It's in Long Beach, Washington, at the. At the beach, which is, like, super, super dope. It's a wellness center, and I got to do. I got to do a. It's a mother nature piece, and she's the centerpiece of the yin yang, and, yeah, it's fire. [00:29:37] Speaker B: Is it on your page? We'll have to make sure we highlight that. That sounds cool. [00:29:40] Speaker C: Yeah, it is on there, and I'd love that because I don't push my art. I don't push my art enough. I really. [00:29:47] Speaker A: Cause you had a whole art show and a tattoo place, right? [00:29:50] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:29:51] Speaker B: You're a tattoo artist also. [00:29:52] Speaker C: I'm not, but a lot of my friends are. But my art was displayed, is still actually displayed at a tattoo shop, which is like, man, them is real artists. Like, you gonna put your art up in a tattoo shop, they gonna light. [00:30:06] Speaker A: Your ass up, that part. Cause they gotta be good. [00:30:08] Speaker D: They have to be good. [00:30:09] Speaker B: You can't just erase no stuff off. [00:30:10] Speaker D: Nobody. Big shout out. [00:30:11] Speaker C: Yeah, big shout out to shade and lines art collective, they tapped in with me and was like, we would love to. And I put up 15 pieces in there, four of them sold, and they're still up. Like, I sold some really dope pieces that were close to my heart, and it's cool to see it like somebody else. It makes them feel shine. They want to put it up in their house. [00:30:31] Speaker B: You got some prints of them before you sold the original? [00:30:34] Speaker C: I do not believe in prints. [00:30:36] Speaker A: Oh, you got one of a kind. [00:30:38] Speaker C: I don't believe in prints. [00:30:39] Speaker B: Yeah, I like to keep the prints for myself. Whatever I sell, I'll get rid of, but I'll keep prints just because I'm like, yeah, I did that. This is something I did. [00:30:46] Speaker D: I did that. [00:30:47] Speaker C: I'm gonna talk with you after the show on how to do that. [00:30:49] Speaker D: I'm even locked in. [00:30:50] Speaker C: I'm still new to it. [00:30:51] Speaker A: He's like, I don't keep prints. I like it. Originally, he's like, but I really want some. [00:30:54] Speaker C: But for myself. [00:30:55] Speaker D: She got a good point. For herself. That's a good point. [00:30:58] Speaker B: No, absolutely. [00:30:58] Speaker A: And then you also do laced up PDX, which is my baby. Like, a nonprofit that supports kids getting shoes prior to going to school and all those things. [00:31:08] Speaker D: Right? [00:31:09] Speaker A: Or tell us about that. [00:31:10] Speaker C: Oh, man. [00:31:10] Speaker A: Cause I feel like I'm paraphrasing all wrong. [00:31:12] Speaker D: No, you good. You good. [00:31:15] Speaker C: Laceda PDX is the. Is probably the biggest thing I've ever done in my entire life. The most incredible thing I've ever done, and it's very near and dear to my heart. I started it six years ago, and it was actually an idea five years prior to that, being a homeless youth and being for 15 years plus in my life and having hand me downs, being a part of every system and every process, every give back. You can ever imagine. And then working in the community as a, during college and providing those give backs, doing the coat drive, doing the ham drive, doing the turkey drive, doing all that and seeing the dog and pony show from both standpoints. I don't believe in how we give to people. I don't believe that's how it's supposed to be done. And so I created something that is completely counterculture and opposite of that. It's not first come, first serve. Every sneaker in that building has the child's name on it. It is there waiting for them. They are important, as they should know, as they should be. They should know that from the moment they wake up to the moment they go to bed. There's these things that a lot of people don't understand that you build as a homeless youth and as someone who just doesn't have anything, you don't understand what they're dealing with. And so laced up is totally counterculture. Nobody believed that it would work. How you do it, what's the system? How do you figure it out? [00:32:33] Speaker B: So say I partnered with a company here. [00:32:37] Speaker C: I've partnered with companies. And right now we're. It's really whoever wants to be a part every year. You know, it's an annual thing, so it's really easy to, you know, to change who's involved. We do have some core sponsors that we've always, that have always been a part, but we've worked with the likes of Jordan Brand, with Microsoft, with Illumina, I mean, massive companies. And we're just excited where the future is kind of leading us now. We've helped 15,000 families in our community. That's amazing. It's one of those things where the first year was 88 kids, I paid for every shoe out of my pocket and the homies is coming through with the food. [00:33:17] Speaker D: And we connected. [00:33:18] Speaker C: Cause we in the community for real. We're not just somebody pulling up. And it was really just awesome, like off the strength. And then as the years it went on, it just expanded. Like the second year was 280 kids, so triple. And then next year 500 some kids, next year 700. And it just kept getting bigger. And I had to learn like, pandemic hit. We was like, oh, we can't do this now. Had to recalibrate. We don't want it to get that large, but we want to help multiple times a year. What does that look like? And so now that authenticity can still be there without the disconnection of so many people because that's not why we're doing it. [00:33:57] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:33:57] Speaker B: The connection piece is what you want to hold onto, especially if your idea is to make everyone feel special and not just, like, another giveaway. You gotta keep it, I guess, small and personalized. [00:34:07] Speaker C: We provide sneakers. We provide a backpack. We provide school supplies inside of the backpack. We provide haircuts, we provide food. We feed them right when they come in. They also have an entire experience involved in it. So they get to customize. You know, there's an art room that my mother runs. My grandmother is the head of the cook. You know, the cook area. [00:34:29] Speaker B: It's a family operation. [00:34:30] Speaker D: Talk about it. That's what it is. [00:34:32] Speaker C: I love that. So my family has come together now. We weren't so close growing up, you know, and so now we've come together to help the community. [00:34:38] Speaker A: Create a space for your family to kind of come back to being a eunuch. [00:34:42] Speaker C: Crazy. That's amazing. It's not only helped, you know, the community, it's probably helped me, you know, tenfold. [00:34:49] Speaker A: How are your siblings involved now? [00:34:51] Speaker C: Yeah, my sister works the front desk. [00:34:53] Speaker D: I love it. [00:34:54] Speaker C: You feel me and her kids is up there. There's some runners. You know what I mean? We make sure everything's right. And I got a whole army that runs with me when we do it. And it's when you're a part of it, you realize, oh, my gosh, this is different because they're receiving a true gift. It's like, really a gift. You know? It's not. It's not. I hope I have your size. Hold on, let me figure this out. It's really a true gift. The shirts don't have sponsors on the back because. [00:35:18] Speaker A: Because it's not the sponsorship. [00:35:20] Speaker C: Because everybody know you broke when you. [00:35:22] Speaker D: Wear that fucking shirt. [00:35:23] Speaker A: Oh, I used to hate that. [00:35:25] Speaker B: It's a safeway on the back. [00:35:26] Speaker D: Tell me I'm lying. Tell me I'm lying. I saw them goddamn logos on the back of that damn shirt. Right? [00:35:33] Speaker C: It happened, and everything had build a bike. Last year, motherfucker was at build a bike. [00:35:38] Speaker B: We see you rocking that 2021 shirt. [00:35:41] Speaker C: So we are counterculture in everything, and everything we do is everything is the opposite. So Portland gear is a huge sponsor. I'm actually rocking Portland gear. This is actually Portland gear. So I've done a lot of their product. I've done a lot of modeling for their product. [00:35:55] Speaker D: Come through, come through, come through, come through. Z. A Z. [00:35:59] Speaker C: Come through, Z. And so they've sponsored us for about three years now, and they customized the shirts. We had one moment where their name was in the tag, and it said, like, you know, it says, I always say, it's on you. Now it's on you. So it's like, now it's on you. We didn't give it to you. Now it's on you. [00:36:18] Speaker D: You feel me? [00:36:19] Speaker C: Like it's your responsibility to take, you know, your first step, you know, in the right direction. So Laceda PDX is the. And you can donate. I want to, you know, obviously plug, you can donate at Laceda PDX.com, at laced up PDX on every social media. And, you know, it's, it's, it's one of the most special things I've ever, I've ever been able to be a part of. It is not just me, you know, everybody in my family, everybody I'm connected with since day one has stayed a sponsor and connected to it, and I love it. We're excited about moving forward and helping even more families and expand into other areas in the world. So that is dope. [00:37:02] Speaker A: And then, so with all of that being said, what does it look like for your relationship, your partner, to support you and, like, what are your needs and how do they help you with all the things that you got? [00:37:12] Speaker B: Because you got a lot going on. [00:37:14] Speaker D: Thank you. Thank you. [00:37:16] Speaker C: In a good way. Yeah, no, I appreciate that. You don't realize how much you're doing when you're doing it. You're just doing it. She supports me in a lot of ways. Like I was saying, I think it's important that, you know, men are transparent about not always having all the answers. You know, I think we're very, like, prideful, and we bring a lot of things to the table. We're not very transparent about things. And so when someone can love you for who you are and what you do, because men are only a reflection of their value from what they bring to the table. And so when you can find somebody who cares about you for that and can support you in that by showing up, by making sure laced up doesn't work without my lady. She be there. She be in there rocking, and she makes sure everything is right. And she knows when it comes up, that time of the year, she gathers the crew she knows, and they trust her, too. And she knows me better than I know me. So that's how, that's how. [00:38:15] Speaker B: That's a strong partnership. That's a strong routine. [00:38:16] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:38:17] Speaker C: And it should be like that. You know, you should be able to. We have things we do together, and I think that when we were talking earlier, kind of talking about the separation of it. Do you go and then come back? Is it this or is that. No, there's tons of things we do together, but there's also. I don't go to the office with her. [00:38:33] Speaker D: Right. [00:38:34] Speaker C: Cause you're a nurse. [00:38:35] Speaker D: I ain't trying. [00:38:35] Speaker C: You know what I'm saying? [00:38:36] Speaker D: I don't go there. [00:38:36] Speaker C: I don't do that. You feel me? I ain't in there with the masking little ball. [00:38:43] Speaker B: I cleared the insurance documents for you. [00:38:45] Speaker C: I'm not there because that's your love. You love to do it, but when you come home, when you need a good laugh, when you need somebody to kind of take away all that stress, when you just want to be held because you've been helping everybody all day. [00:38:58] Speaker D: Right. [00:38:59] Speaker C: You know what I'm saying? I think that that's a huge thing. You have to know your position in what you're doing, regardless of man or woman. You know, know your position. It don't. You know? So I don't know. I feel like that's what's made it successful is understanding the ebb and the flow of the relationship. [00:39:14] Speaker B: That's dope. [00:39:15] Speaker A: Okay, so you talked about how you guys met, but, okay, for other people who are not in a relationship that are in the industry, how difficult is it to weed out who's really there for you and not there for the show? [00:39:26] Speaker C: That's my question. I love that question because it's very. It's hard to do. You know, man, people are really good at being fake. [00:39:35] Speaker D: They've mastered it. Yeah. [00:39:37] Speaker C: Like, it's getting to the level where it's like, yeah. [00:39:40] Speaker B: Where you take that glass at. [00:39:43] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:39:44] Speaker C: And so I always say, keep a tight circle. [00:39:48] Speaker D: Okay. [00:39:49] Speaker C: And a lot of your goals should be able to be mirrored by what your circle looks like. So if you not what you're currently doing. So a lot of times we say, oh, it's my team that got me here. Well, where are you going? It's not about where you're at now. So I think that if you can realize that the people in your circle or that can penetrate your circle at certain times are there to be genuine about what the goals are, then you can weed them out based on what you are doing now. Because the minute the bad come in from what you're doing now, you'll see how people change. You know, I got. When I started doing sync licensing, I had to cut some fat off of my circle because I was making a lot of money. And I started realizing, like, we were talking before the mics was on percentages wasn't matching up. You don't gotta be. You could be honest with me and very true to my faith and very, you know, but your work, what you're bringing to the table is not the same. [00:40:47] Speaker D: Right. [00:40:47] Speaker C: So I just gotta get. Now, it's not businesses or it's not personal, it's business. And so I think if you can keep that bridge of the goal and not necessarily the relationship of who you are to me as the pillar of what you. Of who's around you, you'll be good. Keep it business. Keep it business. It's not personal. You could work with personal people and keep it business. You can. You absolutely can. [00:41:12] Speaker A: Yeah. Is there, is there a grief process that you go through and get to cut people off, especially if you've known somebody for years? [00:41:18] Speaker C: Yeah, there is. It's tough. I try to just remove them from all of my, you know, my peripherals, as I call it. I just don't want you in my periphery. I don't want to see everything you got going on. I just don't really want you all up in my face. I need to focus on other stuff. So I usually just remove them, you know, whether that's socials, whether that's, you know, events that I'm at, you know, I just try my hardest not to have you directly in my business, you know, or directly in my peripheral, you know, and for a while, and then maybe it might, you know, but I just, because I do hold. I do hold grudges. I'm not going to cap. [00:41:51] Speaker B: So on the subject of giving advice, I know family and friends that I have that are absolutely interested in the same lifestyle that you have and they currently have children and spouses, what's your recommendation for someone who's trying to break into the industry that's been putting in so much work but is still like, how do you, especially when there's kids involved. So we're not just talking about spouse stays home and she does her thing, but also being present for children. [00:42:18] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:42:19] Speaker B: How do you get to be successful in your career and still be a present parent? [00:42:25] Speaker C: That's difficult. Like a good friend of mine is a great artist out of LA and he has two sons and he makes the schedule is everything at that point, just like it always is. But the schedule just only do what, you know, you can do. Don't overextend yourself as a father and as a. Or as a parent. You under, you think that you or you want to be there for everything, right? But if you can't, you just have to communicate that. And I think the overextension is where you lose the impact. [00:42:59] Speaker A: Right. [00:42:59] Speaker C: And so my friend who has two sons, he's just extremely. He's actually very successful at it, and he's just very clear, like, I'm gonna make three games this month, son. I'm gonna watch three football games this month. So, hey, when I pull up, you better put on. [00:43:14] Speaker B: And it's just like. [00:43:15] Speaker C: But he holds him accountable, and he makes it a thing, a relational moment. He knows dad is working. He knows that. That's why his life is like that, you know? So the communication from jump is very important. And then while dad is going, mom, making sure that you re instill that as he's gone, he'll be here, and then just doing what you say you gonna do. [00:43:39] Speaker D: You feel me? [00:43:40] Speaker B: Your word is bond. [00:43:41] Speaker C: But I think that those three pieces, if you can lock those three in, you'll be surprised at how successful you can be. [00:43:47] Speaker D: Yeah. Wow. [00:43:48] Speaker A: So even to that point, for struggling artists, right? Yeah. Do you find, like, giving, like, I would say, significant spouses out of the picture, but, like, people that have, like, girlfriends or people they're just talking to, do you recommend that anybody who is still in that beginning phase of their career and that beginning phase could be years, because we know it takes a long time, but do you think that having a relationship that's not long term or that's not, like, you know, they're going to marry this person? [00:44:14] Speaker D: Right. [00:44:14] Speaker A: Like, do those relationships get in the way? [00:44:17] Speaker C: I think so. I think. I think it's because you're trying to build something. So if you're building it on inconsistency or if you're building it on. I don't necessarily know, or I have to go and do this. Yeah, it's maybe built on. While I'm going, can you hold it down for me? And I'm gonna. I hope I'm gonna win in this, right? I hope when I come down here, I'm gonna get this big opportunity, I'm gonna bring it back. And when you're able to look out for people in their ups and their downs, especially, like, a developing artist or somebody who's coming up, that's how your life is a lot. You're trying to find the opportunities. And so if someone's loving you through that and somebody's caring for you through that, I think it's important to just keep them, I don't know, keep them close enough to feel loved. But if it needs to be cut, if it needs to be no more. Then you gotta. You have to still communicate what you're not getting and so that people in the situation can learn how to be successful moving forward. [00:45:16] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:45:17] Speaker C: So I think it's just communication. To me, it seems like the key behind all of these answers. And as a musician, it's funny that most musicians don't know how to communicate when all we do is just try to communicate. [00:45:30] Speaker D: Right. [00:45:31] Speaker B: Write me a song. [00:45:31] Speaker C: Right. [00:45:32] Speaker A: I broke up with you yesterday because. [00:45:34] Speaker C: I can't, like, battling your ex. [00:45:36] Speaker D: That's crazy. That's crazy. We should do that. [00:45:41] Speaker C: If you put x's against each other. [00:45:43] Speaker A: The dirt, that would be a dirty rose battle. [00:45:47] Speaker D: Right. [00:45:48] Speaker C: Hey, you're welcome. I just want 10%. [00:45:50] Speaker B: That was a movie. [00:45:51] Speaker D: War of the roses. Right? [00:45:52] Speaker B: It would be a dopey. [00:45:53] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:45:53] Speaker B: War of the roses, 10%. [00:45:55] Speaker C: I'm just saying, I could host it, too, or something. We figure it out. [00:45:59] Speaker A: I love it. What is the craziest thing that you witnessed in the industry when it came to somebody's love life? [00:46:07] Speaker B: Oh, gosh. [00:46:09] Speaker C: Yeah. Just multiple partners all the time. Everybody cool with it. And that's crazy. That's crazy to me. Just, like, having six, like, pieces, and they're all aware of it, and it's. [00:46:22] Speaker A: A whole thing, so Nick can decide. [00:46:27] Speaker D: Shout out. Incredible media. [00:46:29] Speaker C: I rock. [00:46:30] Speaker D: So incredible. But, yeah. Okay. [00:46:32] Speaker A: Was there any, like, scenarios, like, you were on the road with a few people, you don't have to say no names. [00:46:36] Speaker C: Right. [00:46:36] Speaker A: But, like. [00:46:36] Speaker D: Yeah, yeah. [00:46:37] Speaker A: Anything crazy having, like, a girl shows up and there's another girl in the room, or, you know, schedules get crossed. [00:46:43] Speaker D: Right? [00:46:43] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah. I remember one rapper. The other rapper's there. You know, I remember coming into the lobby with. I could say names. Cause my man, he's cool with it, baby. Bash is a very close family member of mine, and Bash look like him. [00:46:56] Speaker A: Now that I see. [00:46:56] Speaker C: Shout out to Bash. Shout out to Ronnie is his name. Shout out to Uncle Ronnie. And, you know, he's. [00:47:02] Speaker D: He's. [00:47:02] Speaker C: I think he's actually married now. But. But, man. [00:47:05] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:47:05] Speaker C: His tour life, his tour life. Females that. Sugar, sugar, how you get so blah, blah, blah. [00:47:10] Speaker D: We was on tour. [00:47:11] Speaker C: That thing was going. Females was fighting in the lobby. Like, for real. Like, sugar, sugar. And latin women do not play. Latin women do not play. I mean. I mean, I seen a girl pull a knife on another girl. [00:47:26] Speaker B: They crazy. [00:47:27] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:47:27] Speaker C: Like, really on some, like, coming out to. Just coming out the elevator, and it's a melee. Like, and it happened multiple different times, and it was normal. Like, that's how it would be like, we would do car shows. A lot of car shows we would perform at, and. Yeah, they just. You get lit enough and that. That they find out where you at, find out what hotel you at, and it's. Yeah, you have to relocate because it's. You feel me? Like, yeah. [00:47:52] Speaker B: Waiting on you. [00:47:53] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:47:53] Speaker C: Those are some of the craziest moments. I never felt, like, afraid of just a crowd of females like that, you know? And it was like, oh, wish popcorn. [00:48:00] Speaker D: Yeah, like, it was crazy. [00:48:03] Speaker C: I was super young at that time, too, so I was kind of, like. I was just studying the OG on tour, and it was kind of. Yeah, he was telling me, like, bro, don't ever, like, you know, is it. [00:48:14] Speaker B: Weird moving with security? Cause I feel like out here, you can obviously move around pretty easily, and it's not a thing, but when you're on tour with some of these names, is it weird to move with security like that? [00:48:24] Speaker D: Yeah, you. [00:48:25] Speaker C: Yeah, it's a totally different essence. You gotta. You know, you don't walk through the door. The same is very, like, you wait for certain cues and, you know, and you usually have. You know, you're usually pulling up at certain time frames. You're going through the back door, you're walking in, you're going into the venue through the kitchen. I mean, like, is that exciting or. [00:48:44] Speaker B: Do you feel like you missing out? Like, well, what are they doing over there? [00:48:47] Speaker C: Oh, it's exciting. If you in it for that, it's exciting. You know what I mean? Like, mafia used to come in through the kitchen. [00:48:54] Speaker D: You know what I'm saying? [00:48:54] Speaker C: Like, it's some mob shit. Kind of a little bit like, you, you, you that important that all I. [00:48:59] Speaker A: Can imagine these two big ass security. [00:49:01] Speaker B: Guards in front of him, and little model, like, little. [00:49:04] Speaker D: Little hiddy bitty ass boss baby. Boss baby. [00:49:11] Speaker B: Grabbing snacks off the kitchen sink. [00:49:13] Speaker C: That's gotta be an instagram blip right there. [00:49:16] Speaker D: Boss baby. That is great. [00:49:17] Speaker A: Oh, my God. [00:49:18] Speaker B: Hilarious. [00:49:22] Speaker D: Sorry, I still got the visual. Yeah, you're good. [00:49:24] Speaker C: I'm with it. [00:49:26] Speaker A: Like a double breasted suit. [00:49:27] Speaker C: Yes, I got you. [00:49:28] Speaker B: No, but I think about, like, how? Cause I, you know, I follow my Kardashians. I'm one of those folks that keep. [00:49:34] Speaker C: Up, and I just. [00:49:35] Speaker B: I look at how they're constantly kind of being ushered through things, and it's like, well, don't they ever just miss being able to just walk amongst people and not be a spectacle? That's the only part that I'd be like. It seems like it could get old sometimes. [00:49:49] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:49:49] Speaker C: Bash would tell me all the time, like, man, it's just. I wish I could just go to the mall, bruh. I wish I could just go shopping malls, just go pick up something. [00:49:55] Speaker B: I need to pick something up real quick. I can't do it myself, right? [00:49:59] Speaker C: I mean, I'm a grown man, and my lady go to the grocery store. I ain't trying to do that. I just ain't doing that. You know what I'm saying? And I ain't famous no way. [00:50:05] Speaker D: You feel me? [00:50:05] Speaker C: Like, you know, I just ain't doing it. But that's the thing is, you know, and she let her shop. That's her thing. [00:50:11] Speaker D: She let her do it. [00:50:12] Speaker C: She do what she loves to do. But I think that for people like that, when it's every single anything you do. Yeah, he can't go get a coffee. You feel what I'm saying? And that's like, he would tell us in the hotel all the time, like, damn, bro. He's like, I'm just stuck in the hotel till it's time to go. [00:50:27] Speaker B: Like, to go to a city and not be able to see the city because you have to have, like, an entourage. It's crazy. [00:50:35] Speaker C: Or when you're a part of, like, festivals, too. He's a part of a lot of festivals a little later in his life, and, man, it's, you know, you're a part of the biggest thing in the city, so anytime, you know, everyone's there for days leading up to it, so you really can't experience nothing. You think if you get there, you know, five days early, you're like, okay, I'm gonna let my lady come through. My son gonna come. We gonna go to the, you know, theme park or something. Hell, no. [00:50:59] Speaker D: Right? [00:51:00] Speaker C: And so, yeah, that's tough. Like, so maybe in the. In some of the previous questions that y'all asked, maybe. Maybe that's another piece, like the experiences with your children. [00:51:09] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:51:10] Speaker C: You know, the. The impact on your family. Being able to go experience things outside of who you are. [00:51:16] Speaker D: Right. [00:51:16] Speaker C: Would probably be very difficult. [00:51:18] Speaker B: Like, you have to have that type of money to be able to shut down a whole theme park, to enjoy the theme park with your family. [00:51:24] Speaker C: Right. [00:51:24] Speaker B: Otherwise, it's a spectacle. And you can't really, like, see Disneyland with your kids the way you want. Cause everybody wants your phone. [00:51:30] Speaker A: His wife and Gianna coming out of Disneyland when we were. When she was little, little, we seen them coming out, and it was like, regular day. [00:51:37] Speaker B: I was like, oh, they didn't have people around them. [00:51:41] Speaker C: I think that's why people moved to LA like that, though, because it's. Yeah, it's. [00:51:45] Speaker D: It's a. [00:51:46] Speaker C: It's a way of life, you know? Kobe's just. Kobe lives in LA, you know, so it's like. I mean, I think that's why he. [00:51:52] Speaker B: Can'T even blend in, man. He was so tall. Like, not even, like, he could be like, no, that wasn't me that you saw. [00:51:57] Speaker D: Yeah, it was you. Yeah. [00:51:59] Speaker C: NBA players, they got it the worst. You larger than life, and you larger than life, like, you both like that. And literally, that would suck. At least I could hide behind some shit, maybe some security guards, you know, duck nail. [00:52:13] Speaker B: Really? [00:52:14] Speaker D: You could barely. You see me on this podcast right now. Look, all you see is glasses and a beanie. That's it. Look. [00:52:19] Speaker A: And the flower jacket. [00:52:21] Speaker D: Yeah. Oh, yeah. [00:52:21] Speaker C: Cause I love that jacket, though. [00:52:23] Speaker D: Thank you. I appreciate it. [00:52:24] Speaker A: That is amazing. [00:52:25] Speaker C: I be trying to be fly a little bit. I be trying. I be trying. [00:52:29] Speaker D: I love it. [00:52:30] Speaker A: What would be your one piece of advice for anybody who is struggling to navigate their personal and professional? [00:52:39] Speaker C: Yeah, I would, man. I would say. I would say the energy that people give you initially, always, always trust the initial energy. I think us trying to second guess what things are and reanalyzing things, and I think initial energy for me is very. Everybody says, oh, match that. You will match my energy. No, no. Initial energy is so telling. And I think we often forget about that because we can edit the. We can edit the photo, we can edit the video, we can. Everything is just so you can redo it, you know, you can do it again. And initial energy is very. Has helped me through my life. I feel like even if I stayed too long with something, I always reference the initial energy, and I'm like, ah, okay. It's still a lesson. Maybe I lost some time behind it, but it was a lesson because now I can reference that initial energy and re approach in a new way to new things. So I would. My advice would always be initial energy, whether that be love, music, whether that be just opportunity in your life, initial energy. Make sure that you take that in and you encapsulate it in how you treat people and how you operate within those opportunities. Take notes along the way, and you're gonna be good. [00:54:05] Speaker D: You're gonna be good. [00:54:06] Speaker C: Because everything, no loss is gonna happen. It's only gonna be lessons. The dubs is gonna be big, but the l's is gonna be lessons. They not gonna be losses because you kept that information. [00:54:17] Speaker B: I don't know how much time we have left. [00:54:19] Speaker C: We got time. [00:54:19] Speaker D: We do. Okay, good. [00:54:20] Speaker B: So while you were talking, my other question I had is, when you were coming up and you were starting to really make your way, how did you negotiate your worth when it comes to money? Cause I feel like a lot of new artists often undercharged themselves because they want so badly for someone to work with them that they're like, oh, I won't cost that much, please, like, make sure you work with me. But then they end up devaluing themselves because it looks like they're cheap. How did you handle finances on your come up? [00:54:51] Speaker C: Yeah, that's a really good question. And for artists listening, please turn the volume up a little bit. You feel me? Because it's hard for us. This is a big thing. I'm actually now in sync licensing. You know, I don't know anyone hitting like this right now. Like, I'm in hip hop, in sync licensing. I'm taking home a bag. And that is not because I underpriced myself or overpriced. Now, in a lot of ways, as a young artist, you can devalue yourself because you want the opportunity. The opportunity seems as if it's the compensation of the price that's given, which is understandable, but it's a problem when you price yourself out of an opportunity. So a lot of people do that, and they think, we got this whole trip going on right now on social media, thinking like, oh, you know your worth. You know what I'm saying? [00:55:48] Speaker D: Put it. [00:55:49] Speaker C: Know your worth. [00:55:50] Speaker D: You ain't. [00:55:50] Speaker B: You can't afford me, bro. [00:55:51] Speaker C: No, you can't afford to not have the opportunity. So you have to understand and analyze. And this is where somebody in your love life could really help. They can help you, you know, with the analyzing of situations and really getting an alternate perspective on why you should or should not take an opportunity, because they have your best interests. A lot of artists sometimes don't understand what that means. And so, yeah, I think early on in your career, I've taken a lot of things that were for a price that was very low. I just got a call yesterday from shout out to DJ Og one. But he was like, yo. And he knows I done had two seasons with the blazers, like, without his connection. He's like, bro, you really hitting bro. Like, when I tell you, like, it's different. And I'm like, okay. So he's like, yo, if I get you for this thing, you know, what's your base price? And I'm like, well, for you, Og. Right? For you, Og, I'll do it for 500. I'll do it for 500 because that's how much I would do. Do a little eight bar verse for. But also I rocks with you. I understand. It's for the community. I'm gonna do this, I'm gonna do that, and I'll bring my energy to the event. I'll do it. I'll make it happen. It's all good. Now. 16 bars is a thousand. That's just how it's gonna work. But I'll do it for whatever you need. I'll do it for five. And he was like, I love hearing that because you getting paid way more, and we gonna make sure you get paid way more. But I like how you just broke down the purpose of your value. If you don't communicate the purpose of your value, it may seem as if you don't understand your value. And so, yeah, I might take advantage of it. [00:57:22] Speaker B: So then, in your early stages, were there a lot of situations that you were taking advantage of? [00:57:28] Speaker C: Absolutely. Yeah, there were. [00:57:29] Speaker B: Did you know it then? [00:57:31] Speaker C: No. I found out there's a lot of empty meetings in LA. [00:57:34] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:57:34] Speaker C: I actually know somebody who took my money in LA. They took my bread. They actually still owe me money. [00:57:41] Speaker B: You know where to find me. [00:57:42] Speaker D: Yeah, yeah. [00:57:44] Speaker C: And he know, but it's also one of them things like, you just take. You take that type of l. You know. But then also empty meetings. You feel me? Empty lunches. I tell this one story where, like, I was in LA, I only had enough money for the Uber one time. I only had one. And I went out. They rescheduled the lunch. The lunch in for, like, 04:00. I was out at the luncheon at 1230. So I'm walking around, I'm moving around. I ain't got no bread, bro. Like, I got one trip back on the Uber, and I stayed out there for, what, 5 hours? They was late to the luncheon. The luncheon was trash. I got nothing out of it. Got back to the hotel. I was over in Compton. I'm over in, like, the. You know what I mean? And so I gotta get back. It's twice the Uber. I'm in my negative. I'm in the airport, ain't got no. You know what I'm saying? So, like, a lot of people don't realize that you don't talk about that on social media when you ain't got that, you know? And I may have over extended myself for something like that, but do I look at that and say, damn, you feel me? I don't know like, I know it's not the pricing question, but it is also something that you need to realize how far and, you know, your boundary line is where is it? And that does correlate directly to your value. [00:58:55] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:58:56] Speaker D: Right. Yeah. [00:58:57] Speaker A: Okay, well, you got any upcoming projects or things and activities you got going. [00:59:01] Speaker B: All the way through spring? [00:59:02] Speaker C: Yeah, absolutely. So I just dropped a sync licensing ep. So they do these things where, you know, you just. I do a lot of songs for a lot of different people. And if they don't land or if they shortlist, I just put them on an ep with the company and put it out. It's called the power pack. It's like for sports music, it's fires. It's out right now. Just dropped like two weeks ago. So where can I get it at? Spotify, iTunes, the whole nine is called power pack, PWrPV CK. And it's with formation sound and Farnell Newton and all them. Shout out to them. Shout out to easy mccoy. And then also I'm dropping in Q two of next year. A huge project. And then I have another pseudonym project dropping out of LA that I just got the bag for. And that's dropping in February. So congrats to all of that. [00:59:56] Speaker D: Thank you. Thank you. [00:59:57] Speaker B: So where is that? [00:59:59] Speaker C: Yeah, for sure. [01:00:00] Speaker A: I'm gonna ask you something. [01:00:01] Speaker C: It's mighty.com. It's mighty.com. [01:00:02] Speaker D: Okay. There you go. [01:00:03] Speaker A: I was gonna say, but here we go. [01:00:04] Speaker D: You're gonna be like this for me? [01:00:05] Speaker A: $500 for this? Drop us a freestyle real quick. [01:00:08] Speaker D: Okay. Yeah. Come on. [01:00:09] Speaker A: We ain't got no beats but you. [01:00:11] Speaker C: Gotta know your value. And right now I feel valued, guys. [01:00:14] Speaker D: I do. Okay. [01:00:16] Speaker C: Like we. Yeah, I got you. So I'm ahead of my time. You a hair late. Talk is cheap. But I guess if you broke, that's a fair rate. Referring to me as the turtle when the tortoise in the hair race today. See these bars with their own eyes scared straight. Call it how I see it. Narrate flow saucy so they soak up game marinate. Who dare relate to a rapper who's like a bear with a grizzly cuz like a Lil Wayne outfit? I get busy. Is he as dope as they sayin? No. This flow speaks for itself. They won't. You can go with the flow. We ain't in the same boat. Have you seen my track record, Hussain boat? Word is I have everything the game don't. Standing out like a black sheep. They some scapegoats. If you don't know what I came for. I'm all about my bread and my butter. Let em know the game's toast. Dirty Roses podcast, baby. [01:01:01] Speaker D: I love it. You got it here first. That's right. [01:01:04] Speaker A: So where can they find you if you wanna be found? [01:01:07] Speaker D: Right? Right. [01:01:08] Speaker C: I'm trying to be found, y'all. [01:01:10] Speaker A: I'm found. [01:01:11] Speaker C: Yeah. So it's mighty at itzmighty. M I g h t y, like the mouse. And that's on everything. It'smighty dot. You can also go [email protected]. Man, we help the community. We help, you know, young artists. We create music for some of the biggest brands in the world. So if you are a big brand watching this, just know I have what you need, you know what I mean? And really just out here living and loving life and trying to represent my town in the best way that I can. Big shout out to y'all. Thank you so much for having me. And first time I've ever had to answer questions like this in a public setting. He's like, yo, bros do this all the time, though. [01:01:52] Speaker D: Bros be talking. Bros be talking. [01:01:53] Speaker C: But it's like, it's just dope to be able to kind of give a perspective to the depth of what those connections are in love and in life and opportunity. So, yeah, man, much love, y'all. You know what I mean? [01:02:09] Speaker A: Nick be, where can we find you. [01:02:11] Speaker B: So I can be reached on all platforms of Dirty Roses podcast. May that be our website, our Facebook, our Instagram, our TikTok. If you want to find me personally, I can be found on Instagram. Ickbe nickb. That's nick with a K. And Miss Lee Laree. Where can we find you? [01:02:27] Speaker A: I can be found everywhere. Lee Laree. L E I G h l a R I E. On all platforms. And of course, 30 rosespodcast.com dot. And you will catch us here next time. [01:02:36] Speaker B: Guess what, Rose buddies? We are thrilled to introduce our new sponsorship packages. Be sure to hit us [email protected]. To inquire how we can showcase your brand on our platforms.